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CORNELL UNIVERSITY LIBRARY 
 
 3 1924 071 190 296 
 
Cornell University 
 Library 
 
 The original of this book is in 
 the Cornell University Library. 
 
 There are no known copyright restrictions in 
 the United States on the use of the text. 
 
 http://www.archive.org/details/cu31924071190296 
 
JOHN DE WITT 
 
 VOL. I. 
 
LONDON : PRINTED BT 
 
 ePOTTISWOODE AND CO., NEW-STREET SQUARE 
 
 ASO PARLIAMENT STREET 
 
s. 
 
 JOHN DE WITT< 
 
 . — ^ 
 
 GRAND PENSIONARY OF HOLLAND 
 
 TWENTY YEAES OF A PARLIAMENTARY REPUBLIC 
 
 M. ANTONIN LEFEVEE PONTALIS 
 
 TRANSLATED BY S. E. AND A. STEPHENSON 
 
 IN TWO VOLUMES 
 VOL. L 
 
 LONDON 
 LONGMANS, GREEN, AND CO 
 
 1885 
 
 All 7'ights reserved 
 
TEANSLATOES' PEEFACE. 
 
 The Teanslatoes believe that no apology is needed for offer- 
 ing to the English public the life of a man whose history is so 
 intimately connected with that' of the England of his day as 
 was John de Witt's. They give it in all its details as related 
 by M. LefSvre Pontalis, omitting only the many footnotes 
 relating to State papers and other documents which he has so 
 laboriously searched in order to obtain a complete picture of 
 the man and his surroundings. For those who wish to study 
 the whole question in further detail, the notes in the original 
 are useful ; but a translation is not intended for the student 
 so much as for the generaJ reader, who will probably be 
 gladly spared the trouble of constantly glancing at the foot 
 of the page to notes which he has no opportunity or intention 
 of verifying. The .references to published works arkl manu- 
 scripts — Dutch, French, and English — are very numerous, 
 and testify that no pains have been spared by the Author to 
 secure accuracy in all points, great or small. The Trans- 
 lators have been careful to verify all quotations from English 
 sources, and have in some instances corrected misapprehen- 
 sions which occur in the original work with reference to 
 English affairs. 
 
PREFACE. 
 
 Cardinal Touknon once asked Amyot why he took such pains 
 to bring to life again the heroes of Plutarch. ' Because it is 
 profitable,' replied he, ' to converse with the dead.' Among 
 these illustrious dead, John de Witt holds a place. In him 
 we find a man of worth greater than any mere statesman- 
 ship, and character higher even than his talents. He lived 
 and died in the service of the cause he had made his own, 
 that of the liberty of his country, which he never ceased 
 to defend. Charged in his capacity of Grand Pensionary 
 with the government of Holland for twenty years, from 1652 
 to 1672, he has left a name inseparable from the history of 
 the seventeenth century. Abroad, his ministry secured to the 
 republic of the United Provinces a place in the highest rq,nk 
 of European policy, by gaining it entrance into the circle of 
 the great powers — France, England, and Spain. At home, 
 John de Witt gave and maintained to the republican party 
 victory over the friends of Orange during the minority of 
 William HI. The catastrophe of his tragical death recalls to 
 us the violence of the popular reaction which restored the 
 powers of the ancient stadtholders, and made the Prince of 
 Orange the defender of the United Provinces against foreign 
 invasion. 
 
Till PEEFACE, 
 
 The history of John de Witt has already been the theme 
 of a number of works, Dutch, German, and English, which 
 cannot be passed over without mention. We have first that 
 of Van der Hoeven,* which appeared in the eighteenth century, 
 and which, although not drawn from the original sources, is 
 nevertheless indispensable for reference. Herr Simons has 
 added no new documents in his three volumes more recently 
 published. Judging by the title he gave them of ' John de 
 Witt and his Times,' ^ he appears to have intended to relate 
 the general history of the republic, rather than the life of the 
 Grand Pensionary. Quite lately Mr. Geddes ^ has undertaken 
 researches which leave nothing to be desired, but he has as 
 yet published only one volume, which stops short at the first 
 two years of De Witt's administration. In Prance untU now, 
 M. Mignet alone has touched lightly, but with a master's 
 hand, upon this period of history, in some chapters of his 
 justly celebrated work on the Negotiations relative to the 
 Spanish succession. As to the minor publications which do 
 credit to Dutch authorship, and which it would be sufficient to 
 collect to gather the materials for a complete history, they are 
 too numerous to be all referred to here ; they will be found 
 mentioned in the notes to these two volumes. It is impossible, 
 however, to pass over the instructive commentaries which 
 accompany M. Chair van Buren's edition of Wicquefort, or 
 the many singularly learned notes of Messrs. Veegens and 
 Schotel, or those articles, bearing the stamp of professorial 
 
 ' Tan der Hoeven, Leven en Dood der Heeren Gebroeders J. en C. de Witt. 
 Amsterdam, 1705, translated into Prenoh and abridged. Utrecht, 1709. 
 
 * Simons, Johann de Witt und seine Zeit. Erfurt, 1835, 1836. The third 
 volume was published in Dutch at Amsterdam in 1842. 
 
 " Geddes, History of the Administration of John de Witt, vol. i., ending 
 with the year 1654. The Hague, 1879. 
 
PEEFACE. IX 
 
 authority, of Messrs. Vreede, Fruin, and many others, not 
 omitting M. de Parien among Frenchmen. 
 
 Fresh researches and unpublished documents may confer 
 some interest on the present work, which has been for many 
 years in preparation with the aid of much valued assistance. 
 It was composed in the Library and Archive Office at the 
 Hague, thanks to the obliging help of the learned Director of 
 the Koyal Library, M. Campbell ; of the Deputy-Keeper of the 
 Archives, M. de Jonge, who was prematurely called from his 
 work ; and one of his most distinguished assistants, M. Haig- 
 man. It is by studying the public and private correspondence 
 of the Grand Pensionary year by year, that his history can be 
 most faithfully written. 
 
 Another source of information has been applied to with no 
 less success, that of the family papers and records, freely 
 communicated both by M. Hoeufft van Velsen and by Messrs. 
 van Sypestyn, of whom only one now survives, but who both 
 acquired for themselves honourable notoriety by their writings 
 and researches. On this point no help could be more valuable 
 than that obtained from the last lineal descendants of the 
 Grand Pensionary, the venerable Madame Hoog and her son 
 M. Hoog, whose important inherited collection has lately been 
 in part acquired by the Eoyal Archives. 
 
 The collections at the Hague were supplemented by those 
 of London and Paris, and notably by that at the French 
 Foreign Office, whose inexhaustible treasures have been largely 
 made use of. The author has had the good fortune to be 
 able to add to these the archives of Chantilly, which were 
 thrown open to him by the gracious kindness of Mon- 
 seigneur the Duke d'Aumale, and which have enabled him 
 to study in the correspondence of the great Conde the history 
 
X PliEFACE. 
 
 of the preparation and conduct of the war with Holland in 
 1672. 
 
 Something more than historical interest may be found in 
 this work; political instruction may, perhaps, be gathered 
 from it. During the laborious years of his ministry, John de 
 Witt succeeded in the difficult task he had undertaken. In 
 the end he succumbed to it. The success and the downfall of 
 his labours are equally instructive. The services which he 
 so gloriously rendered to his country are sufficient to prove 
 that the prolonged duration of power, worthily exercised by 
 a great minister, is the best guarantee for the liberty and 
 prosperity of a republic. On the other hand, the public 
 calamities, under the weight of which he succumbed, demon- 
 strate with equal clearness that a nation, whose independence 
 is menaced by conquest, cannot defend itself better than by 
 placing itself under the guardianship of an ancient dynasty. 
 
 LEFEVEE PONTALIS. 
 BoissY : November 1883. 
 
CONTENTS 
 
 OP 
 
 THE FIEST VOLUME. 
 CHAPTEK I. 
 
 THE EEPUBLIC OF THE UNITED PEOVINCES — THE FAILUEB OF A 
 COUP d'etat — PAELIAMENTAEY COVEENMENT IN THE SEVEN- 
 TEENTH CENTUEY. 
 
 The Eepublie of the United Provinces enfranchised and constituted — ^War 
 of Independence — Twelve years' truce — Eenewal of hostilities — Treaty of 
 Miinster — Prosperity of the republic — Her maritime and commercial power 
 — Her colonies — Wealth of Holland — Development of arts, science, and 
 letters — Domestic manners — Family life — Religious belief — Civil liberty — 
 Organisation of a federal and municipal govermnent — The Princes of 
 Orange — Their powers as Stadtholders — William I. the founder of indepen- 
 dence — Maurice of Orange — Political and religious differences — Conflict of 
 the Stadtholder with the States of Holland — Sentence and execution of 
 Olden Bameveldt — Frederick Henry and the conclusion of the war — 
 William II. — His ambition — Dismissal of troops — Dispute with the States 
 of Holland — The States-General take the part of the Prince of Orange — 
 His tour in Holland — Offers of a compromise — Attempted coup d'etat — 
 Arrest of the deputies — Failure to surprise Amsterdam — Measures of de- 
 fence taken by the Town Council — Negotiations for an agreement — Libera- 
 tion of the deputies — Their exclusion from public office — New plans of 
 William II. — His death — His posthumous son — Critical situation of the 
 family of Orange — The Princess Dowager and the Princess Eoyal — Their 
 differences — Count WUHam Frederick of Nassau — Prince John Maurice of 
 Nassau-Siegen — Reaction against the Stadtholdership — The Great Assembly 
 of 1651 — New Constitution of the republic — The States-General — The States 
 of HoUand — The Town Councils — The Hague, the seat of the Assemblies 
 — A free government in the seventeenth century .... Page 1 
 
XU CONTENTS OF THE FIRST VOLUME. 
 
 CHAPTEE II. 
 
 THE BAELY LIFE OF A GEEAT MAN — EDUCATION — PEIVATB LIFE, 
 AND COMMENCEMENT OP JOHN DE WITT'S POLITICAL CAEEEB. 
 
 A great minister necessary to Holland — Birth of John de Witt and his brother 
 Cornelius — Their family — Their education — Their conduct during their 
 father's captivity — John de Witt's entry into public life — He is appointed 
 pensionary of Dordrecht — He is sent to the Grand Assembly of 1651 — His 
 report on the coup d'etat — His deputations in Zealand — His provisional 
 appointment as Grand Pensionary — His definite nomination — His private- 
 correspondence — His relations to his family and in society — His marriage 
 with Wendela Bicker — His political friends, Nieupoort, Tan Beuningen, and 
 Beverningh — His official functions— His character— His portrait . Page 79 
 
 CHAPTEE III. 
 
 THE WAE WITH ENGLAND— THE ACT OF EXCLUSION— PEACE AT 
 HOME AND ABEOAD. 
 
 Eivalry between England and the United Provinces — Demands of England — 
 Navigation Act — Naval forces in the two countries — Tromp and Blake — 
 Success of the English fleet — Death of Tromp — Obdam succeeds him — 
 Financial and military steps taken by De Witt — Dispersion of the fleet of 
 the States by a storm — Distress of the United Provinces — Portugal takes 
 from them Brazil — Their diplomatic isolation — Their negotiations with 
 Europe — Their relations with France — Embassy of Chanut to the Hague — 
 Direction of foreign affairs by De Witt — Internal troubles— Hopes of the 
 Orange party — Resistance of the States of Holland — Popular dissensions — 
 Insurrection of Enckhuyzen — Dangers incurred by De Witt and his father — 
 Efforts of Zealand on behalf of the Prince of Orange — The States of 
 Holland stand on the defensive — The disturbances are appeased — Necessity 
 for peace — Negotiations with England — Embassy despatched to London — 
 Demands of Cromwell — Proposal for the exclusion of the Prince of Orange 
 — Clause of compromise accepted by the States of Holland — Hesitation of 
 the States-General — Imprudences committed in the negotiations with 
 Cromwell — Conditional signature of the treaty of Westminster — Act of 
 Exclusion imposed on the States of Holland — Private correspondence 
 between De Witt and Beverningh — No complicity with Cromwell to be 
 imputed to De Witt — Deliberation of the States of Holland — Vote for the 
 Act of Exclusion — Irritation of the Orange party — Protests of the States- 
 General — Deducticm of the States of Holland drawn up by their Grand 
 Pensionary — His conduct— His preponderating authority . . . 130 
 
CONTENTS OF THE FIEST VOLUME. Xlil 
 
 CHAPTEE IV. 
 
 A GOVBENMENT GAINING IN STRENGTH — THE EBPUBLIC AT 
 PEACE AT HOME, AND POWERFUL ABEOAD. 
 
 The Orange party — Its oliief the Prince of Nassau — His forces — Change of 
 government in the province of Overyssel — The republican party — It is led 
 by the States of Holland — Ascendency of the Grand Pensionary de Witt — 
 Appointments to military commands, to the courts of justice, to important 
 offices —Eolations of the States of Holland with the States-General — Disputes 
 about jurisdiction — Trial of John of Messeu — Vacancy in the post of major- 
 general — Agreement between De Witt and the Prince of Nassau — Projected 
 union — Internal govermnent of Holland — Beduction of rate of interest — 
 It is the work of John de Witt — Obedience enforced on the army and the 
 clergy — Administrative measures — Attempt at coalition amongst the other 
 provinces for the nomination of a major-general — It is baffled by the 
 States of Holland — Their supremacy — First re-election of John de Witt as 
 Grand Pensionary — Foreign relations of the United Provinces — Naval 
 expeditions— Prosperity of the Colonies —Embassy on behalf of the 
 Waldenses — Dangers of a rupture with France — De Thou ambassador at 
 the Hague — Disputes settled — Negotiations with England — First mission of 
 Downing to the Hague — Mutual concessions — Continuation of hostilities with 
 Portugal — Wars in the North — Fears of the preponderance of Sweden — 
 Alliance with the Elector of Brandenburg — His defection — Intervention on 
 behalf of Dantzic — Treaty of Elbing — Invasion of Denmark by the King of 
 Sweden — The States assist Denmark — Their naval victory in the Sound — 
 Mediation — Convention of the Hague— Battle of Funen gained by the 
 Swedes — Capture of Nyburg — Treaty of Copenhagen — The United Provinces 
 resume their position in Europe Page 198 
 
 CHAPTEE V. 
 
 A EEPUBBIC IN ITS EELATION TO TWO MONAECHIES — SUPEEMACY 
 OF HOLLAND — JOHN DE WITT EE-ELECTED GEAND PBNSIONAEY. 
 
 1660-1663. 
 
 Eestoration of Charles II. — Honours paid to him at the Hague — Fresh demands 
 of the Orange party — Early education of the Prince of Orange — Negotiations 
 between De Witt and the Princess of Orange —The States of Holland take 
 upon them the guardianship of her son — Eevocation of the Act of Exclusion 
 — Death of the Princess Eoyal — Confliots of authority between the States 
 and the other guardians of the Prince of Orange — The States resign the 
 guardianship — Embassy of Beverwaert to London and of Downing to the 
 Hague — Treaty between the United Provinces and England— Concessions 
 made to Charles II. — Peace concluded with Portugal — Extradition of 
 Charles I.'s judges — Negotiations with France — Embassy of Van Beuningen ' 
 
XIV CONTENTS. OF THE FIEST VOLUME. 
 
 to Paris — Hostile dispositionsof tlie ministers of Louis XIV. — Disputes to 
 be settled — Treaty of alliance and commerce — Claims of Louis XIV. to tlie 
 Low Countries — The Grand Pensionary seeks for the basis of an agreement — 
 Embassy of Count d'Estrades to the Hague — His relations with De Witt — 
 Offers of an understanding evaded by Louis XIV. — Promise of a preliminary 
 agreement — Internal pacification — Agreement with Zealand — Securities 
 taken against the Orange party — Dispute between the Count d'Estrades and 
 the Prince of Orange — Alteration in the public prayers — Supremacy of the 
 republican party — Be-election of the Grand Pensionary — His new functions 
 — His family relations — His children — His works — His share in Delacourt's 
 book, ' The Interest of Holland ' — The manifesto of his policy . Page 246 
 
 CHAPTEE VI. 
 
 THE SECOND ENGLISH WAE — A EEPUBLIC VICTOEIOUS OVEE 
 A MONAECHT. 
 
 Eivalry of England with the United Provinces — Charles II. and his court — 
 Preludes to a rupture — English hostilities in Guinea — Useless attempts at 
 conciliation — Eeprisals by the States-General — Euyter's expedition to 
 Africa — It is prepared by the Grand Pensionary de Witt — Declaration of 
 war — Belations of the republic with Prance — Bequest for assistance evaded 
 by Louis XIV. — Financial measures — Maritime forces — First naval cam- 
 paign — Defeat of the Dutch fleet — The flag-ship blown up— Death of 
 Obdam — Euyter admiral-in-ehief — John de Witt with the fleet — He takes 
 it out of the Texel — Dispersal by a storm — Vain attempt to renew the battle 
 — Expedition of the Bishop of Miinster against the United Provinces — 
 Conquest of the province of Overyssel — Insufficiency of the land forces of 
 the States— Cornelius de Witt sent to the army — Necessity for French 
 assistance — Despatch of a French auxiliary corps — Little service done by it 
 ^Declaration of war by France against England — More apparent than 
 
 real — Negotiations of the States with Denmark and the German princes 
 
 Quadruple alliance— Treaty of Cleves with the Bishop of Miinster — Second 
 
 naval campaign — The four days' battle — Eetreat of the English fleet A 
 
 fresh engagement — Dispersal of the fleet of the States — Incursion of the 
 enemy — The French squadron holds aloof — Firmness of John de Witt— He 
 
 returns to the fleet — Internal troubles — Eevival of the Orange party Secret 
 
 negotiations of Buat with the King of England — His trial and condemna- 
 tion — Proposals for peace — Congress of Breda — Beverningh ambassador of 
 the States — Delays in the<jonfereuees — Eenewal of hostilities — Expedition 
 to Chatham — Destruction of the English navy — Cornelius de Witt with the 
 
 squadron' — Correspondence of the Grand Pensionary and his brother 
 
 Success of the negotiations — Treaty of Breda — Eewards offered to Euyter 
 and Cornelius de Witt — Honours paid to the Grand Pensionary . , 305 
 
CONTENTS OP THE FIRST VOLUME. XV 
 
 CHAPTEE YII. 
 
 EESISTANCB OP THE UNITED PEOVINCES TO PEANOE — INVASION OP 
 THE NBTHEELANDS BY LOUIS XIV. — THE TEIPLB ALLIANCE — ' 
 GEEAT DIPLOMATIC VICTOET. 
 
 Louis XIV.'s projects of territorial aggrandisement — The death of Philip IV. 
 determines him to put them in execution — Kesouroes of France — Exhaustion 
 of Spain — Diplomatic controversy — ' The Buckler of State and of Justice,' 
 published by Lisola — Invasion of the Netherlands — Their rapid submission 
 — Uneasiness of the United Provinces — The promises of agreement violated 
 — Negotiations of Louis XIV. with Europe — Isolation of the States-General 
 — Dangers of a rupture with France— De Witt endeavours to bring about 
 an agreement to prevent the annexation of the Netherlands to France — 
 Louis XIV.' modifies his demands, but reftises to giVe guarantees if the war 
 recommences — Negotiations of the United Provinces with Sweden and 
 England — Sweden detached from France — The King of England is obliged 
 to yield to public opinion, by renewing intercourse with the States-General 
 — Temple's Mission to the Hague — Agreement between Temple and De Witt 
 — Conditional adhesion of Sweden — Signing of the Triple Alliance — Secret 
 articles — Consequences of the treaty — Public rejoicings — Deception of 
 Louis XIV. — His secret treaty with the Emperor for the division of the 
 Spanish monarchy — Renewal of hostilities — Fran'che-Comt6 conquered in a 
 fortnight — Louis XIV. reassured as to the Triple Alliance by communications 
 from Count d'Estrades and by the tact of John de Witt — Van Beuningen's 
 new embassy — Spain is compelled to accept Louis XIV.'s offers — She con- 
 sents to give up to him his conquests in the Netherlands — Irritation of the 
 King of Prance on hearing of the secret articles of the Triple Alliance — 
 His attempts to divide the allies — Energetic policy of the States inspired 
 by De Witt — They secure co-operation of Sweden by forcing Spain to pay 
 subsidies to her — Their equipments — They guarantee peace — The extension 
 of the truce — Final difficulties overcome — The congress and the trea-ty of 
 Aix-la-Chapelle — New diplomatic situation of the republic — A change of 
 alliances — The United Provinces the arbitrators of Europe . Page 396 
 
 CHAPTEE VIII. 
 
 INTEENAL PACIFICATION — THE PEEPETUAL EDICT. 
 
 The Orange party without a leader — Death of Prince William Frederick of Nassau 
 — Eivalry between Zealand and Holland — Eevival of the Orange party in 
 Holland — Kesignation of Beverningh as treasurer-general — Manifestations 
 in favour of the Prince of Orange — Eesistance of the Grand Pensionary — 
 His attempt at conciliation — The States of Holland undertake the educa- 
 tion of the young Prince — De Witt assumes the direction of it — Advan- 
 tageous position in which the young Prince is placed — The King of France 
 
XVI CONTENTS OF THE EIBST VOLUME. 
 
 restores to him the principality of Orange — Project of agreement for his 
 entering the Council of State, and for the separation of the civil and 
 military offices — The Grand Pensionary's plan changed by the proposed 
 abolition of the Stadtholdership — The Perpetual Edict voted by the States 
 of Holland and sworn to by the town councils — ^Irritation of the other 
 provinces — Attempt at a coalition against Holland — Project of Harmony 
 prepared by De Witt — The provinces of Guelders and Overyssel give in their 
 adhesion to it^Negotiations with the provinces of Priesland, Groningen, 
 and Zealand to obtain their consent — Apparent good terms between the 
 Prince of Orange and De Witt— Success of the home and foreign policy of 
 the Grand Pensionary — His happiness in private life — His correspondence 
 with his wife during his mission to the fleet — His children, his fortune, his 
 home — Death of his wife — His sorrow — Letters of condolence — ^His fourth 
 re-election as Grand Pensionary — The services which he rendered — The 
 remuneration which he received — His virtues and his merits as a statesman 
 — ^His portraits , . • Page 464 
 
JOHN DE WITT. 
 
 CHAPTEE I. 
 
 THE EBPXJPLIC OF THE UNITED PROVINCES — THE FAILUEB OF A 
 COUP d'ISTAT PAKLIAMENTAEY GOTERNMENT IN THE SEVEN- 
 TEENTH CENTURY. 
 
 The Republic of the United Provinces enfranchised and constituted — War 
 of Independence — Twelve years' truce — Eenewal of hostilities — Treaty of 
 Munster — Prosperity of the Eepublio — Her maritime and commercial power 
 — Her colonies — Wealth of Holland — Development of arts, science, and 
 letters — Domestic manners — Family life — Eeligious belief — Civil liberty — 
 Organisation of a federal and municipal government — The Princes of 
 Orange —Their powers as Stadtholders — William I. the founder of indepen- 
 dence — Maurice of Orange— Political and religious differences— Conflict of 
 the Stadtholder with the States of Holland — Sentence and execution of 
 Olden Barneveldt — Frederick Henry and the conclusion of the war — 
 William H. — His ambition — Dismissal of troops — Dispute with the States 
 of Holland — The States-General take the part of the Prince of Orange — 
 His tour in Holland — Offers of a compromise — Attempted coup d'etat — 
 Arrest of the deputies —Failure to surprise Amsterdam — Measures of de- 
 fence taken by the Town Council — Negotiations for an agreement — Libera- 
 tion of the deputies — Their exclusion from public oflfice — New plans of 
 William II. — His death— His posthumous son — Critical situation of the 
 family of Orange— The Princess Dowager and the Princess Eoyal — Their 
 differences — Count William Frederick of Nassau — Prince John Maurice of 
 Nassau-Siegen — Eeaction against the Stadtholdership —The Great Assembly 
 of 1651— New Constitution of the Eepublic— The States-General — The States 
 of Holland— The Town Councils -The Hague, the seat of the Assemblies 
 — A free government in the seventeenth century. 
 
 In the middle of the seventeenth century the Seven United 
 Provinces had achieved the glorious and sanguinary conquest 
 of their independence, and, detached from the Spanish mon- 
 archy, vyere constituted by the Union of Utrecht into a Ee- 
 public, uniting in the bond of a confederation destined for 
 
 VOL. I. B 
 
2 JOHN DE WITT. 
 
 the common defence Holland, Zealand, Utrecht, Guelders, 
 Overyssel, Friesland, and Groningen. For many years the 
 victim, of religious persecutions and political proscriptions, 
 they had at last forced their ancient sovereigns, the kings 
 of Spain, to acknowledge themselves vanquished by those 
 whom, untU now, they had treated as rebels. Mistress of 
 herself, the Kepublic assumed as her emblem a lion amidst 
 the waves, as a just homage to the indomitable valour of her 
 people, with the proud motto, expressive both of her trials 
 and her hopes : ' I struggle, but I overcome.' 
 
 The nation which had thus freed itself, and had won the 
 name of the Country of the Netherlands, had inherited as its 
 birthright one dominant passion, the love of liberty. De- 
 scended from the most heroic of the German tribes, her 
 ancestors were those Batavians and Frisians who opposed a 
 constantly renewed hostility to the Eoman dominion, and who, 
 in the reign of Vespasian, had held in check the imperial 
 legions. Her independence once regained, she had preserved 
 it intact, and even Charlemagne had been forced to respect it. 
 During the whole of the middle ages the men who in later 
 times were to find a common country in the Republic of the 
 United Proviuces kept up an unceasing contest with their 
 feudal superiors, to win from them the recognition of their 
 rights. 
 
 On the accession of the House of Burgundy they entered 
 upon a determined struggle for the maintenance of these 
 rights. Associated as they were with the destinies of the 
 Belgian Low Countries, and incorporated into the domains of 
 Burgundy with the wealthy inhabitants of Brabant and 
 Flanders, they offered energetic opposition to the arbitrary 
 and tyrannical government which their new sovereigns claimed 
 the right to exercise. So early as the fifteenth century they 
 obtained from the Duchess Mary the Great Charter, or 
 Great Privilege, which, by giving them deliberative assemblies 
 for the voting of taxes, and town councils possessing muni- 
 cipal freedom, guaranteed their political liberty. 
 
 The Eeformation in the sixteenth century put in peril 
 these acquired benefits and soon provoked the implacable furies 
 
EEVOIT OF THE LOW COUNTEIIS. 3 
 
 of religious tyranny. The Low Countries were transformed 
 into a blood-stained arena, and Charles V., impatient to crush 
 the rising revolt of conscience, gave the first and as yet feeble 
 signal for persecution. Some victims had already been made 
 when he was succeeded by his son, Philip II. On taking 
 possession of the inheritance of his fathers, Philip assumed 
 to himself the task of imposing upon his States unity of faith, 
 and the will of one masetr ; he determined utterly to crush 
 both heresy and the power of the Assemblies, being resolved 
 to endure no obstacle to his rule. After ten years of a reign 
 which had not yet exhausted the loyal obedience of his sub- 
 jects in the Low Countries, he replied to their remonstrances 
 by addressing to his sister, the Kegent Margaret of Parma, 
 his definite resoluti'on ' not to grant one of the alterations for 
 which they petitioned, whether in matters of government 
 or of religion.' He refused to convoke the States, that he 
 might continue to levy taxes at his pleasure, and would not 
 restrain the powers of the Inquisition, so that he might more 
 surely count upon the extermination of heretics. When the 
 letters of the King of Spain were read at Brussels in the 
 Council, William, Prince of Orange, stadtholder or lieutenant 
 of Philip II. in Holland and Zealand, left the hall, saying, 
 'Now we shall see the beginning of a great tragedy.' He 
 was not mistaken. The tragedy was heroic in its action and 
 lasted eighty years. 
 
 The first signal was given by the great lords of the 
 country. One of the councillors of the Duchess of Parma 
 having spoken of them as begg-ars (gueux), they proudly 
 assumed the title which had been flung at them in scorn. At 
 a banquet given in Brussels, at Cuylemburg House, one of 
 their number, Brederode, the gayest of all present and a 
 descendant of the ancient Counts of Holland, beckoned to his 
 page, who handed to him a leathern wallet, such as beggars 
 then carried, and a large wooden bowl, which also formed 
 part of their usual equipment. Brederode took the wallet, 
 filled the bowl with wine and emptied it at one draught, 
 crying as he replaced it on the table, ' Long life to the 
 Beggars ! ' And thus among a gathering of nobles excited by 
 
 B 2 
 
4 JOHN DE WITT. 
 
 wine, and met together for pleasure, there arose the cry which 
 was soon to resound over land and sea and to create a free 
 country. 
 
 The party of resistance seemed, kowever, to be in a de- 
 sperate condition, and the brutal fury of the iconoclasts who 
 were devastating the Catholic cathedrals could but hasten 
 its destruction. Freedom was to be bought only at the cost 
 of the martyrdom of a nation. Before two years were over, 
 the Duke of Alva was sent into the Low Countries with an 
 army of 10,000 picked veterans. ^Vhen he had covered the 
 country with scaffolds, with gibbets and stakes, sparing neither 
 the most illustrious nor the most obscure victims, he believed 
 that he had succeeded in his mission, and wrote to Philip II., 
 amidst the cries of agony of a whole nation : ' There is no 
 country in the world more easy than this to govern, if one 
 knows how to rule it.' To rule was to massacre. 
 
 On February 16, 1568, by a decree of the Inquisition, all 
 the inhabitants of the Low Countries were condemned to 
 death as heretics. A few persons mentioned by name were 
 alone excepted. Ten days later a royal proclamation con- 
 firmed the sentence of the Inquisition, and ordered that it 
 should be put in force without distinction of sex, age, or rank. 
 The lives of 3,000,000 human beings, men, women, and 
 children, were disposed of thus at one stroke. 
 
 But an oppressed nation is like a great river checked in its 
 course by the frosts of winter. So long as the sky is dark- 
 ened and the sun shines with only a feeble light, you may 
 cross it safely and trample it under foot as if it were paved 
 with stone. But suddenly a sound is heard of cracking, both 
 deep and dangerous, and the stream, awakened and revived by 
 the beams of a spring day, parts asunder the blocks of ice which 
 imprisoned it, breaks its fetters, and resumes its course with 
 the irresistible impetus of recovered freedom. 
 
 Deliverance came, as it commonly does, from the quarter 
 whence it had seemed impossible to look for it. Elizabeth of 
 England, whose interest lay in conciliating Philip II., repulsed 
 from her ports some refugees who had sought shelter there. 
 Two hundred and fifty 'sea-beggars,' as they called them- 
 
DETERMINED RESISTANCE TO SPAIN. 5 
 
 selves, tinder the command of the famous William de la Marck, 
 put to sea, famished and anxious to re-victual their ships. 
 Storm-tossed and repulsed from every shore, these men had 
 no country but what they could make theirs by conquest. 
 The tempest having stranded them at the mouth of the Meuse, 
 they seized the fortress of Brill ; and this city of refuge, 
 occupied by outlaws, became the cradle of a new State destined 
 one day to be the guardian of the balance of power in Europe. 
 
 The capture of Brill took place on April 1, 1572 ; the 
 wealthy towns in the neighbourhood at once surrendered or 
 were seized, and a week later Eotterdam declared itself inde- 
 pendent. The cause was no longer that of a handful of de- 
 sperate men, but the rising of a nation. The States of Holland 
 assembled at Dordrecht, July 15, 1572, and appealed to William 
 of Orange, while Guelders, Overyssel, Utrecht, and Priesland 
 yielded simultaneously to the impulse of patriotic revolt. The 
 arrival of a body of 15,000 French troops under the command 
 of Coligny was already announced. But, instead of this 
 expected succour, the defection of Fra,nce, made still more 
 sinister by the massacre of St. Bartholomew, annihilated the 
 hopes of the Prince of Orange. Proof against discouragement, 
 however, and full of courageous resignation, he wrote to his 
 brother, John of Nassau, ' I am determined by God's grace to 
 maintain myself in Holland and Zealand, and to make my 
 grave there.' 
 
 From this moment the Spanish monarchy lost hold of its 
 prey and never recovered it. The pecuniary exactions of the 
 Duke of Alva added to the horrorcaused by his persecutions, and 
 secured to the party of revolt the support of the small traders, 
 besides uniting Catholics and Protestants against a common 
 enemy. The latter exhausted itself in sieges, and weltered in 
 the blood of whole provinces. But the siege of the town 
 of Alkmaar, defended by 800 soldiers and 1,300 citizens, 
 and the indomitable resistance of Leyden set bounds to the 
 successes of Spain. The breaking down of the dykes, behind 
 which a whole nation was gathered in arms, forced the 
 Spaniards to retire under penalty of drowning. When 
 the Duke of Alva, who boasted of having caused 18,000 
 
6 JOHN DE "WITT. 
 
 persons to be executed during his government, returned to 
 Spain in 1573, his successors found it impossible to undo the 
 ■work of liberation. 
 
 They persisted in the struggle, hut it was beyond their 
 powers. The last -victories which Spain succeeded in gaining,' 
 remained barren,, and when Philip II. in his discouragement 
 decided to recall the Duke of Alva,, the gulf which had been 
 opened between the oppressors and the oppressed could no 
 longer be closed. Eequesena, notwithstanding his temporis- 
 ings and his apparent. moderation; Don John, the victor of 
 Lepanto, in spite of the prestige of his fame, the seduction of 
 his promises of paisdon,, and. his successful feats of war; 
 Alexander Farnese, Duke of Parma,, with his military genius 
 and great d^lomatic abilities,, all disappeared in a few years, 
 like figures in a pageant. Four generations of soldiers were 
 exhausted by them,, and the Spanish dominion came to an 
 end. The Union of Utrecht was formed, in. 1579 between the 
 seven provinces which, having declared for the reformed doc- 
 trines of Calvin, had to guard both their religious and their 
 political liberty. Two years later the rupture with Philip II., 
 which until then- had remained, doubtful, was finiilly accom- 
 plished by the deposition of the King of Spain and the pro- 
 clamation of. a^ federal republic. Henceforth the successors 
 of Charles Y. were never again to bring under thek yoke the 
 subjects who had set themselves free ; a new nation, which 
 would neither die nor live as slaves,, had sprung into life. 
 
 The whole seventeen praviaces of the Low Countries, both 
 Catholic- and Protestant, drawn together by the wise tolerance 
 of the Prince of Orange,. had all but united in one independent 
 State, notwithstanding the differences, of religion. The pacifica- 
 tion of Ghentin 1576 seemed to have joined them in one league ; 
 but the skillful negotiations of the Duke of Parma reconciled 
 to Spain the Walloon provinces, Artois andHainault, while at 
 the same time jealousies and internal discoi-ds destroyed the 
 work that had been begun. The assassination of the Prince 
 of Orange and the taking of Antwerp, by the Duke of Parma 
 
 ' At Mooi, undfir Eequesens •„ at. Grembloux, under Don John. 
 
ALLIANCES WITH PRANCE AND ENGLAND. 7 
 
 were irreparable blows to the Union ; and the hesitating policy 
 of Henry III. of France, who could not make up his mind to 
 accept the sovereignty of the Low Countries either for himself 
 or for his brother the Duke of Anjou, the equivocal assistance 
 given to the United Provinces by Queen Elizabeth, and the 
 disorderly administration and arbitrary rule of her envoy, the 
 Earl of Leicester, culminating in his audacious attempts at 
 usurpation of power, all combined to restore the southern 
 provinces of the Low Countries to the rule of their former 
 masters. 
 
 Spain was none the less reduced to act on the defensive. 
 The diversion attempted by Philip II. against England, fol- 
 lowed by the destruction of the Invincible Armada and his 
 intervention in the civil wars of France on the side of the 
 League, diminished his forces in the Low Countries. He 
 could no longer prevent the capture of fortresses of which he 
 had imtil now retained possession, such as Nimeguen in 1590 
 and Groningen in 1594, by Maurice of Orange, the son of 
 William I. The independence of the United Provinces was 
 established beyond all danger by the alliance concluded with 
 Henry IV., and renewed with Elizabeth in 1596, and the twelve 
 years' truce from 1609 to 1620 would have ended all hostilities 
 if it had not been the interest of France that they should be 
 resumed iii order that she might be secure of a powerful ally 
 against Spain, with whom she was still at war. 
 
 During twenty-seven years after the termination of the 
 truce, the possession of Brabant was disputed between Spain 
 and the United Provinces in a series of sieges which shed 
 lustre on the military science of Frederick Henry, Prince 
 of Orange, and of the Spanish general Spinoa, but which 
 did not rekindle the former animosity between the belligerent 
 parties. The battle of Eocroy brought this state of things 
 to an end. Defeated and crushed by France at Kocroy in 
 1643, exhausted by the expenses of a war which in the 
 last eighty years had cost her nearly eighty millions, fearing 
 to lose the provinces which still remained to her, and finally 
 relinquishing the hope of reconquering those she had lost, 
 Spain was ready to demand peace at any price, and con- 
 
8 JUHN DE WITT. 
 
 sidered herself fortunate in disarming the United Provinces 
 by recognising them in the treaty of Munster in 1648 as a 
 free and sovereign State. 
 
 The little republic had vanquished the great empire. In 
 all respects the victory was astonishing. On one side we have 
 the Spanish monarchy, of which the Atlantic and Mediter- 
 ranean alike seemed tributary waters, enjoying a favoured 
 climate and fertile soil, boasting of splendid and populous 
 towns — Madrid, Cadiz, Granada, Toledo, Valladolid, and the 
 recently conquered Lisbon ; mistress of Sicily, Lombardy, and 
 Flanders ; whose domains had been extended by Christopher 
 Columbus to the confines of a new world of which the riches 
 seemed inexhaustible; ruling a third part of the known world, 
 so that the sun never set upon her dominions, and having 
 at her disposal the greatest soldiers of the day, the finest in- 
 fantry in Europe, the best equipped and most numerous 
 fleet both mercantile and royal. On the other side, to support 
 the burden of resistance to Spain, we see Holland, a little 
 province half submerged in the sea, consisting in part of 
 sands and marshes. It is not man here who has sprung 
 from the earth, but the earth which has been created by man, 
 formed by his labour, and conquered from the ocean by the 
 formation of dykes, the enormous task of whose construction 
 gives some measure of the laborious industry and the inde- 
 fatigable vigilance of this people. The soil of Holland con- 
 sists only of 100,000 acres of cultivable ground, which if sown 
 with wheat would not yield more than a couple of pounds of 
 bread for each iahabitant. Her population, which in less 
 than half a century was to double itself, amounted to barely 
 1,240,000 souls at the beginning of the war of independence. 
 She was governed almost entirely by traders and artisans, and 
 could expect but little help from the other provinces with which 
 she had made common cause. But she found in herself all that 
 was needed ; statesmen, captains, soldiers, a whole generation 
 of citizens to whom no sacrifice was too great by which they 
 might win and retain their liberty, and who transformed their 
 land conquered from the sea into the rock against which the 
 colossus of Spain was to be broken. 
 
RISE OP THE DUTCH EEPUBLIC. 9 
 
 Amidst the fogs and marshes of this country of lagoons, 
 the spectacle of the ancient resistaince of Greece to the all- 
 powerful monarchy of the Kings of Persia, and of the more 
 recent struggle of Switzerland against the Archdukes of 
 Austria and the Dukes of Burgtlndy, had thus been revived 
 with similar determination and similar success. The United 
 Provinces in their stand against the Kings of Spain had 
 proved once more that the safety of a nation does not always 
 depend upon the number of men it can muster in arms, 
 but upon the courage with which it holds its own and the 
 confidence it places in the goodness and justice of a great 
 cause. 
 
 The little new-born republic soon took her place amongst 
 the greatest States of Europe by means of the rapid develop- 
 ment of her riches; and she deserved all that she gained. 
 She turned to profit the weakness of the great kingdoms 
 which, exhausted hke Spain by the Continental wars and the 
 divisions of a falling monarchy, enfeebled like Prance by the 
 discords of the Fronde, or convulsed like England by the shock 
 of a revolution, had no longer either trade or ships. She 
 became the Phoenicia of modern days. Having possessed 
 themselves of the Scheldt, the United Provinces could close 
 the outlets of Antwerp, and thus inherit the commercial great- 
 ness of that wealthy city, which a Venetian ambassador of 
 the fifteenth century had compared to Venice. They wel- 
 comed also into their principal towns the artisan population 
 of the Low Countries, who fled from the tyranny which Spain 
 attempted to exercise over their consciences. The woollen 
 goods, the tapestries and embroideries of Groningen, Eriesland, 
 and Overyssel, became as much sought after as had been those 
 of Tournay, Ypres, Brussels, and Valenciennes. The manu- 
 facture of cloth, linen, and stuffs, which gave employment to 
 600,000 of the inhabitants of Holland, opened new sources 
 of labour and profit in the future to a people who had hitherto 
 been content with the trade in cheese and salt fish. The 
 fisheries had indeed already suf&ced to enrich them. Nearly 
 a fifth of the population of Holland lived upon the pro- 
 ceeds of fishing, particularly upon the herring-fishery. 
 
10 JOHN DE WITT. 
 
 Three hundred thousand barrels of salt fish were annually 
 produced, returning to, Holland alone more than 320,000L 
 The fisheries, were more luerative than the silver and gold 
 mines discovered by Spain in the New World, and in popular 
 parlance Amsterdam,, the wealthiest city of the United Pro- 
 vinces, ' was built upoa herringsJ 
 
 The maritime and. commercial greatness of the republic 
 developed rapidly. The mercantile marine of Holland alone 
 mustered 10,000 sail and 168,000 sailors, and gave the means 
 of livelihood to 2.60,000 souls. Thus- was held in reserve a 
 naval militia full of courage and confid-ence,. aad the peaceable 
 dominion of the seas was secured to the United Provinces. 
 They had monopolised thegreater part of the trade of Europe, 
 had added to it since the peace the entire transport' of mer- 
 chandise between America an.d Spain, had in their hands the 
 service of the French ports, and maintained an impart trade 
 valued at thirty-six millions. In the northern countries, 
 Brandenburg, Denmark, Sweden, Poland, and Muscovy, access 
 to which was given, by the Baltic to the United Provinces, they 
 found an inexhaustible market for their exports; importing 
 in return the products which they required — namely, wheat, 
 wood, iron, copper, kemp, and fuxs. Thirty millions of capital 
 were engaged in the Baltic carrying trade, and the total value 
 of the goods shipped each y«ar in Dutcli vessels on all seas 
 exceeded forty millions sterling. ' The Dutch,' according to 
 the saying of a contemporary, 'had made themselves the 
 common carriers of the world.' 
 
 It was by means of h.er colonies that the republic had been 
 enabled to give so great a development to her maritime com- 
 merce. She had the moaopoly of all Eastern products. The 
 richest, countries of Asia had become her purveyors, and 
 furnished her with the provisions and spices with which she 
 in turn suppUed Europe to the value of 700,000L or 800,000L 
 annually. The powerful East India Company, which was 
 founded at Amsterdam in 1602 with a capital not exceed- 
 ing six and a half millions of florins, had founded in Asia 
 an empire composed of possessions conquered from the 
 Portuguese. In 1650, being mistress of the Cape of Good 
 
SUPEEMACY OF HOLLAND. 11 
 
 Hope and thus secure of a harbour for her ships, she reigned 
 supreme at Ceylon and on the coasts of Malabar and 
 Coromandel. She had founded a seat of government at 
 Batavia, in the wealthy island of Java, and had extended her 
 trade as far as China and Japan. Meanwhile the West India 
 Company, whose fortunes were more rapid but less secure, 
 had fitted out 800 vessels for war or trade, and had 
 made use of them to appropriate the fragments remaining of 
 the Portuguese dominions on the coast of Guinea and in 
 Brazil, that ' land of gold and diamonds,' of which the greater 
 part had been brought under her rule. 
 
 The republic of the United Provinces had tlius become the 
 general mart of exchange for all nations. ' Its inhabitants,' 
 wrote a contemporary author^ ' sucked honey, like the bee, 
 from all parts. Norway has been called tkeir forest ; the 
 banks of the Ehine, the Garonne, and the Dordogne, their 
 vineyards ; Germany, Spain, and Ireland, their grazing lands ; 
 Prussia and Poland their granaries ; India and Arabia their 
 gardens.' The various parts of the world seemed thus to be 
 their tributaries. 
 
 Holland was the true sovereign of the Confederation. She 
 had profited by' her almost insular position on the shores of 
 the ocean, at the mouths of great rivers, and sheltered at the 
 extremity of a gulf, to take the first place amongst the seven 
 confederated provinces. Amsterdam, called by a French 
 ambassador ' the great bell of Holland,' lent money to sove- 
 reigns, and treated with them on equal terms ; her bank, 
 founded in 1609, had become as it were the metropolis of 
 the trade of the world; her artisan population counted not 
 less than 54,000 workers. The great city, with its streets 
 intersected by vast docks bordered by spacious quays under 
 the shelter of avenues of trees, its long lines of walls, its 
 sumptuous edifices, its wealthy mansions with their flights of 
 marble steps, its hospitals testifying to thoughtful humanity, 
 caused some envy even to the subjects of Louis XIV. 
 
 To the beauty and riches of her other towns, the Hague, 
 Dordrecht, Delft, Leyden, Haarlem, and Eotterdam, Holland 
 added also the charms of a landscape enlivened by green 
 
12 JOHN DE WITT. 
 
 fields where numerous flocks and herds found pasture, crossed 
 by canals which served for high roads, and dotted with wind- 
 mills in constant movement, like ' a scene on the stage some 
 twenty miles long.' ' For decorations she had gardens of 
 herbs and flowers, the cultivation of which was the favourite 
 occupation of her inhabitants. The prosperity and comfort 
 of the people, with the small number of really poor, who, by 
 the abundance of work and the readiness of assistance, were 
 spared the misery then so common, completed the holiday ap- 
 pearance of this republic of traders, who had been freed by 
 war and enriched and made famous by the arts of peace. 
 
 Prosperity and freedom combined had been for the United 
 Provinces the signal of a sudden blossoming of arts, science, 
 and letters. Beside their almost legendary heroes, William 
 the Silent, Count Bgmont, Marnix de Sainte-Aldegonde; beside 
 their statesmen, their diplomatists, their great warriors, their 
 captains and admirals, they found place for an illustrious 
 group of painters, poets, and prose-writers. They could boast 
 of having seen in the brief period of one half-century the 
 birth and development of that great and prolific school of 
 Dutch painters, worthy of being named as rivals to the great 
 masters of Flanders, Germany, and Italy. These painters did 
 not indeed strive after the ideal; tlie change of faith had 
 closed to them the great source of religious inspiration by 
 establishing iu the, United Provinces a form of worship 
 without images. They paid no heed even to what was passing 
 around them, and only as rare exceptions ever reproduced the 
 great scenes of contemporary history. Nature and mankind 
 were sufficient for their studies, and the Dutch school limited 
 the work of art to the representation of these subjects, with all 
 the fidelity and perfection of its di-awing and all the wealth 
 of its colouring. Nothing escapes it ; landscape, cattle, ship- 
 ping, seas and canals, streets, houses, booths, people of all 
 conditions, from men of wealth and leisure to the humblest 
 and most ill-favoured of fortune, municipalities with their 
 banquets and their business, all Uve again on its canvas, 
 the exact and speaking likeness of the country without the 
 ' Miynoire de HoUande, p. 82, par Madame De La Fayette. 
 
DEVELOPMENT OF AETS, SCIENCE, AND LETTEES. 13 
 
 smallest attempt at embellishment. We have Paul Potter, 
 who at twenty-three years of age painted his masterpiece, the 
 famous Bull ; Bakhuisen and Van de Velde, with their sea- 
 pieces; Wouvermans, Hobbema, and the greatest of land- 
 scape painters, Euysdael, who, painting by the light of his 
 own sentiment, with natural and touching simplicity, has 
 made use of the temperate and subdued rays of a northern 
 sun to illuminate the sober scenes which he delineates, and 
 to lend them a charm peculiar to himself. To these may 
 be added the most admirable portrait painters : Netscher, 
 Terburg, Metzu, Mieris, Van der Heist, Franz Hals the most 
 refined and life-like of all ; besides Van Ostade and Jan Steen, 
 the faithful and sometimes bold delineators of popular life in 
 its minutest details ; Gerard Dow, whose most homely pictures 
 of interiors are finished to the highest point and even touched 
 with pathos ; Cuyp, whose works form a complete representa- 
 tion of Holland in the seventeenth century ; and above them 
 all, throned in solitary grandeur, Eembrandt, great thinker as 
 well as great painter, whose life and works alike offer the 
 contrast of bright lights and heavy shadows, and who can be 
 compared to no other whether for greatness of inspiration or 
 for originality of genius, being without a rival in his glory. 
 
 In the other domains of art all the faculties of the mind 
 were equally on the alert. Vondel,' the reformer and almost 
 creator of Dutch poetry, which owes to him its purity and 
 marked simplicity, was the first dramatist of his country and 
 deserved the name of the Dutch Corneille; Cats, statesman 
 and poet, charmed his contemporaries by the facile verses in 
 which unstudied elegance perhaps supplied the place of the 
 true poetic inspiration. The revolution which had established 
 the national independence found its historian in Hooft ; aiid 
 Wicquefort, afterwards to become historiographer to the States 
 of Holland, was busy with his great work which he com- 
 pleted under persecution, and to which his learned volumes 
 on the functions of an ambassador are a supplement. Grotius, 
 equally renowned for his merits as a statesman and for his 
 talents as a writer and jurisconsult, called by one of his 
 ' He died in 1679, aged 91 years. 
 
14 JOHN DE WITT, 
 
 contemporaries 'the raan of most universal knowledge that 
 the world has seen since Aristotle,' and who fell a victim to 
 the resentment of the Stadtholder Maurice of Orange, was 
 now being eagerly courted both by Sweden and Prance, and 
 was to bequeath to posterity, in his treatise on the rights of 
 peace and war, a complete code of the diplomacy of his 
 time. Spinoza was there, staggered by no problem of philo- 
 sophy, and himself putting forth the boldest speculations. 
 Finally, Descartes, who had gone through the war of inde- 
 pendence as a volunteer, gave to the United Provinces their 
 highest literary distinction by settling himself there to complete 
 his immortal works ; it was in the shade of the woods at the 
 Hague that he uttered the axiom of the new philosophy which 
 in itself resumed the thought of the whole centuiy : ' I think, 
 therefore I am.' 
 
 Neither was Protestant theology inactive. Arminius and 
 Gomar had renewed the controversy upon Grace and Free- 
 will ; the new doctors, Voetius and Cocceius, both chiefs of 
 opposing sects, gathered round them numerous disciples. 
 The Cartesian philosophy, defended by one party and attacked 
 by the other, had divided them into two hostile camps. 
 
 The study of antiquity was awakening the taste for 
 imitation of the Eoman writers and poets. Barlaeus, Heinsius, 
 Justus Lipsius, and 'Scaliger had opened new paths for learn- 
 ing. Isaac Vossius, who corresponded with St. Evremont, 
 lived in familiar intercourse with Hebrew, Greek, and Latin 
 literature ; and new editions of Virgil and Horace did honour 
 to the learning of Heinsius. At Amsterdam Louis Elzevir 
 acquired a celebrity, which still endures, by the typographical 
 perfection of the works which he sent out from his printing 
 presses. At the same time a long course of military renown 
 had caused the United Provinces to be considered as a school 
 for the formation of soldiers and commanders. Many 
 strangers came during the last campaigns of Frederick Henry 
 to learn the art of siege and defence ; and the study of 
 strategy and the art of fortififiation gave scope to the talents 
 of military engineers such as Euze, and Cohorn the Vauban 
 of Holland. The necessities of navigation encouraged the 
 
SCHOOLS AND UNIVEESITIES. 15 
 
 study of geography, and the maps of the bookseller Jan Blaes, 
 sheriff of Amsterdam, were sought for in all parts of Europe. 
 Mathematical and natural scierrees Tvere mot behindhand. 
 Huyghens, one of the most learned men 'of the day, had won 
 renown by his geometrical studies, hi^ discoveries in mechanics, 
 and his astronomical observations, to which Louis XIV. 
 himself awarded formal recognition. Nature herself seemed 
 to have opened her secrets to the penetration of Zwammerdam 
 and Graaff. Zwammerdam .applied the microscope to the 
 observation of insects, that be might study their metamor- 
 phoses. Graaff made use -of anatomy to estaJblish the law of 
 the development of germs a<nd the mysteries of human 
 generation. Inventors were not lacking either. A bell- 
 founder named Hermong discovered a •combination of metals 
 which enabled him to cast bells with a tone -aia soft as that 
 of an organ, so that people went to hear the chimes as 
 they might have gone to listen to music. A Frenchman 
 named Dessons, established at Eotterdam, exhibited there to 
 the French ambassador, 'Chanut, a vessel with paddle-wheels 
 which he had constructed to be 'sent to sea without sails, oars, 
 or ropes, and which he boasted would make fifteen miles an 
 hour. 'He had,' he said, 'preferred to try the experiment 
 of it in a free country, which could appreciate this sort of 
 work, rather than to attempt it in France, where the civil 
 wars had destroyed the taste that would formerly have 
 delighted in such curiosities.' It seems as if ttie discovery of 
 steam was nearly anticipated by a century and a half. 
 
 Thus it will be seen that the republic of the United 
 Provinces took an -active part in the intellectual movement 
 encouraged by the brilliant example oi France, and followed 
 it with ever-increasing emulation. In the universities ot 
 Leyden, Groningen, and Utrecht, renowned for the lectures of 
 the most eminent professors, in the gymnasium of Amsterdam 
 and the Latin school of Dordrecht, were collected many and 
 serious students in the \-arious branches of knowledge. The 
 , university, demanded and obtained by the town of Leyden in 
 recompense for her defence against Spain, counted 2,000 
 students, and had in a very short time acquired European 
 
16 JOHN DE WITT. 
 
 celebrity. Twenty-two years after its foundation, Henry IV. 
 of France, in his treaty of alliance with the United Provinces, 
 declared, as a proof of his gratitude to the States-General for 
 the aid they had given him against Spain, that all academic 
 diplomas given by the professors of the university of Leyden 
 should henceforth be accepted in France, and that the degrees 
 of her graduates should also be recognised. At Dordrecht, 
 literary assemblies formed a part of the every-day habits of 
 society ; young and beautiful women of cultivated minds and 
 refined sentiments there met and distinguished themselves 
 by their poetical essays and their more serious studies, as if 
 to rival the most illustrious Frenchwomen of their day ; and 
 this distant reflection of the splendour which illumined the 
 Hotel Eambouillet gave a stamp of elegance to the society 
 of a mercantile community which riches could never have 
 bestowed. 
 
 Independent of external influences, and enjoying the 
 benefits of a civilisation fertile in resources and fruitful of 
 glory, the people of the United Provinces had remained 
 faithful to those traditions of simplicity and virtue which 
 make nations free or worthy to become so. * Although they 
 are far removed from the ancient parsimony of their fathers, 
 they still retain some of that moderation which is so rarely to 
 be found with wealth. Great frugality at table, a small number 
 of servants, sobriety in dress and furniture, little ambition to 
 raise themselves above the rank of traders, the unpaid cha- 
 racter of most public offices, which are rather indemnified than 
 salaried; finally, the spirit of the popular assemblies, which 
 place on a comparative equality all who form part of them — 
 all these things combine to keep together riches which would 
 soon be squandered in the luxury of Courts, with the desire 
 of advancement inseparable from those who live under a 
 monarchy.' This testimony from the Marquis de Pomponne, 
 ambassador from the King of France to the Hague, and one 
 of the advisers of the war declared afterwards by Louis XIV. 
 against the United Provinces, is that of a judge as competent 
 as he was impartial. 
 
 Luxury, that evil accompaniment of wealth, had not yet 
 
SIMPXICITY OF MANNERS. 17 
 
 •spoiled the old simplicity of manners. The people of the 
 United Provinces avoided all appearance of sj)lendour in the 
 exterior of their houses, which, however, within were hand- 
 somely furnished and kept with the most scrupulous care. 
 They treated their own persons as they did their houses, and 
 took no part in the extravagances of French and English 
 dress of that period, which only provoked their amazement. 
 'Everything is topsy-turvy in France,' we read in their 
 accounts of travel ; ' the women are like men and the men 
 like women. The women are queens in their households, and 
 rule everything. The men usurp the coqueti-y, the elegance 
 and splendour of dress of the women. The latter take pains 
 to look pale, and all seem to have the ague ; to improve their 
 appearance, they wear patches and powder on their cheeks. 
 They sprinkle their hair with flour, which makes their heads 
 white, and surround themselves with hoops from casks, which 
 they call vei-tugadins, and which give them a very dignified 
 appearance. The men even in frosty weather appear in their 
 shirt-sleeves, with chests uncovered, their cuffs hanging helow 
 their sleeves; they are always booted and spurred as if for 
 riding, and for. the rest of their dress are generally in red 
 like cardinals.'' ' They wear round thek legs hoops, which 
 they call "canons," as if to caricature the women who wear 
 them round their persons, and these are made so horribly and 
 monstrously large that the wearers are quite hampered and 
 unable to walk straight. The rest of their clothes are of such 
 a mixture of colours that they look like artists' palettes ; they 
 cover them with lace and costly embroideries, and wear plumes 
 as long as a fox's brush, and on then- heads a second artificial 
 head, which is called a wig. Such is the dress that I must 
 wear to be in the fashion here, where everything is exaggerated, 
 according to French taste. '^ 
 
 As to English society, the French ambassador in London 
 a few years later, in the reign of Charles II., giving, in one of 
 his despatches, an account of the scenes which pass before 
 
 ' A contemporary letter on the French fashions in 1603, published by 
 Monsieur Schotel, Oud HoUandsch Suisgezin der seveniiende Eeuw, 1868. 
 2 Diary of a Journey, Paris, 1657-58, published by M. Faug^re, 1832. 
 VOL. I. C 
 
18 JOHN DE WITT. 
 
 him, writes what would certainly shock the modern English- 
 woman, 'If I had the means of living in this country, 
 I could amuse myself here better than some people. The 
 ladies of the Court do not displease me at all. I can no longer 
 endure Madame Desbordes' shoes ; there are none so neat as 
 the English, fitting the foot well, with very neat silk stockings 
 and short petticoats. The Englishwomen are not at aU shy of 
 showing their legs, and I have often seen some worthy of 
 being painted. Green silk stockings are the fashion, and 
 black velvet garters are worn fastened below the knee with 
 diamond buckles ; where the silk stocking is wanting, the skin 
 is white and smooth as satin.' The inhabitants of the United 
 Provinces did not allow themselves to be carried away by the 
 taste for frivolous expense of which the subjects of Louis XIV., 
 and afterwards of Charles II,, set them the example. At the 
 beginning of the seventeenth century there were no coaches 
 to be seen excepting at the Hague and one at Amsterdam. 
 In 1610 the first coach was seen at Dordrecht.' By an edict 
 of the city of Amsterdam, which stiU remained in force, it 
 was forbidden to a bridegroom to present his wife with jewels 
 of a value exceeding the twentieth part of his fortune.^ A 
 clergyman with a salary of 500 florins was content to supjDly 
 his wardrobe with a coat once in two years and a cloak 
 once in ten.^ The chief personages of the State preserved 
 faithfully their old habits of economy. Some young Dutch- 
 men visiting Paris relate that at their reception by the 
 ambassador of the States-General ' they were regaled after the 
 Dutch fashion, with beer, cheese, and butter, all served in 
 china dishes and very suggestive of Amsterdam.' 
 
 Amongst other witnesses, the French writers Gourville 
 and Saint-Evremont bear testimony to the primitive con- 
 dition ID which Dutch customs remained. 'M. de Lionne 
 having asked me why the Dutch are so wealthy,' writes 
 Gourville, who had long lived away from France after the fall 
 of Fouquet,' I told him that this was the result of their 
 
 > Schotel, Oude Zeden en gebruiken in Nederland, 1859, p. 26 
 2 Veegens, Notice sur Wendela Bicker. 
 ' Schotel, Ovde Zeden, &c., p. 75. 
 
DOMESTIC LIFE. 19 
 
 commerce, and still more of their economy. I informed him 
 that in good houses meat was hardly ever eaten ; at the most 
 it was only smoked beef, lightly scraped and spread upon 
 slices of bread and butter, and that everybody as a rule drank 
 beer.' Saint-Evremont, when obliged during his exile to 
 leave England and return to Holland on acoountof ihis health, 
 complained bitterly as .a man of pleasure of the dulness of 
 his stay in the United Provinces. 'I had still,' he writes, 'five 
 or six years in which to enjoy music, /the theatre, and good 
 cheer, and now I must content myself with orderly lisving and 
 frugal fare, and get what poor amusement I can from a con- 
 templation of Dutdh virtue.' All entertainments, however, 
 were not unknown. Balls, which in Pari-swere often deserted 
 in favour of gaming, were frequent in the society of the 
 Hague ; but they were never made an -occasion for show, and 
 were simply 'meetings for pleasure with no - attraction of 
 intrigue. The most frequent entertainments were those given 
 by the Corporations. The ward banquets, of which some 
 curious reports have been preserved, lasted for several days, 
 and were the occasion of various amusements. They were 
 enlivened by music and shows, and so .far was any idea of 
 excess at table from these assemblies, that every young man 
 was bound, under penalty of a line, to bring with him some 
 young woman, and wives and children came with their 
 husbands and fathers. While the men smoked, the women 
 drank tea, which a contemporary narrative <3alls ' the ladies' 
 pipe.' 
 
 In this school of manners conjugal fidelity was preserved, 
 and domestic scandals so frequent elsev/here were avoided. 
 The Dutchwomen were remarkable for their beauty and the 
 vigour of their constitutions. Accustomed irom childhood to 
 the greatest freedom, the_y had acquired more open and unre- 
 served manners than the women of other countries, while at 
 the same time their conduct was irreproachable. The young 
 girls were left free to please themselves in their marriage 
 engagements, and, once married, they contented them- 
 selves with the authority left to them in their own houses, 
 and had no desire for anything beyond their domestic attach- 
 
 2 
 
20 JOHN DE WITT. 
 
 ments. ' It is not that there are not some very charming 
 ones amongst them/ writes Saint-Evremont again, with the 
 licentious recklessness habitual to him, 'hut there is nothiug 
 to hope from them, be it from prudence or from a coldness 
 ' which serves them as a safeguard. Whatever the cause may 
 be, there is a certain habitual prudence universally established 
 here, and a sort of ancient tradition of continence which is 
 handed down from mother to daughter almost like a religion.' 
 In the matter of the education of children, paternal 
 authority and solicitude were alike noteworthy. A father 
 writes to his son : ' When you write to me, you should sign, 
 " Your most dutiful son and very humble servant," for it is 
 always proper to humble yourself before your parents.' This 
 severe etiquette, which extended to the most intimate relations 
 and caused even brothers to write to each other as ' Su',' made 
 the fathers of families especially careful of their duties. In 
 those burgher families which handed down from one genera- 
 tion to another as a duty and an honour the guidance of 
 public affairs, the parents had an interest in preparing the 
 future of those who were to succeed to their offices, and they 
 accordingly superintended the education of their sons with 
 most vigilant care, supplying the want of fortune, if needful, 
 by the sacrifices which they imposed upon themselves with 
 that object. They brought them up to love work, and spared 
 them neither good example nor good advice. The letters 
 written to his son by the father of a young man destined to 
 play a great part in the affairs of his country, Jerome de 
 Beverningh, are a model of the domestic correspondence of 
 the day. ' I wish you,' he wrote, when his son was only six- 
 teen, ' to lose not the smallest particle of time, for, in order 
 that you should become at all a distinguished man, nothing is 
 more necessary to consider than the careful disposal of your 
 days. I am constantly occupied about you and your studies, 
 and I could wish that your application in reading and re- 
 reading the best authors were equal to my care. The more 
 you know, the more you will wish to know ; it is only after 
 having read a good author two, three, or even four times, that 
 you can completely appreciate his charm. If you rule your 
 
PATERNAL AUTHOEITY. 21 
 
 conduct according to my directions in this letter, and I hear 
 a good report of you accordingly, my affection for you will be 
 increased, and I will let you want for nothing which can be of 
 service to you, as your good father.' 
 
 He desired him to be in no haste to leave the Latin school 
 for the university of Leyden. ' You may take it as an incon- 
 trovertible fact,' he writes to him, ' that the more .advanced 
 studies afford no knowledge to those who have not already 
 worked hard, and who do not begin bj learning to walk before 
 they attempt to run. You must not be .one of those of whom 
 the professors say : Aceipiamus pecuniam et admittamus asinum. 
 Besides, living is dear at Leyden, and whatever I set apart for 
 your expenses I must economise at the cost of jour sisters, 
 which I would not do did I not expect a great deal from you.' 
 The height of the paternal ambition betrays itself in another 
 letter written for the encouragement of the young scholar, on 
 a day when he had to deliver an oration before his masters 
 and fellow-students- ' I hope,' writes the father, ' that you 
 will acquit yourself creditably ; spare neither pains nor labour. 
 Keep in mind that I shall know what abUity jo\x have shown 
 under the circumstances, and remember how agreeable to me 
 it will be that you should receive praise. Consider that this 
 is your first public action. Who knows for what ends the 
 Lord may have decreed your birth ? ' Happy are those who 
 have had such gentle and loving counsel from the good 
 advisers of their life ; still happier those who, Hke the young 
 man to whom these letters were .addressed, have known how 
 to profit by it ! 
 
 The family feehng, which attained almost to the height of 
 a religious sentiment, was encouraged ,by the habits of a 
 sedentary life. In one of the pictures oi the day two women 
 are sitting together; the old mother is listening while the 
 younger one reads the Bible, and between them is an infant 
 asleep in its cradle. The father is absent,, but you see his 
 2Dlace kept for him by the hearth, and his jetm'n is expected 
 as a matter of course. Looking at these walls, so simply and 
 unpretendingly decorated,, and lighted by the blazing hearth, 
 one may surely .say i Happiness is here- 
 
20 
 
 JOHN DE WITT. 
 
 The liberties enjoyed by the United Provinces contributed 
 no less than their domestic habits to the felicity of the people. 
 Eeligious beliefs were not troubled by. the oppressive Pro- 
 testant rule which, alike under Cromwell's republic and after 
 the restoration of Charles II., ceas.ed not to prevail in England. 
 Neither the war wi'th Spain nor the recollection of the perse- 
 cutions esercised by Philip II. had hindered the founder of 
 their independence, William I., from respecting the rights of 
 Catholics. Notwithstanding the intolerant fanaticism of the 
 principal sectaries of the reformed religion, he had steadily 
 pursued his objeet of religious liberty. Having himself 
 changed from an almost indifferent Catholic to a fervent 
 Protestant, he was determined not to allow his former co- 
 religionists to be disturbed in then- beliefs. 
 
 The requirements of Protestant orthodoxy, however, were 
 still asserted in an imperious and vexatious fashion. Thus, 
 the Grand Pensionary, De Witt, was commissioned by the 
 States-General to call to account the envoy of the republic in 
 Poland for his presence at some Catholic ceremonies which 
 had accompanied the coronation of the Queen, and at the 
 mass which was supposed to have been celebrated. He did 
 not conceal from- him ' the displeasure that would be felt by 
 the States should thej learn that he had taken part by kneel- 
 ing or uncovering his head, or by giving any mark of respect, 
 at the risk of causing scandal to those of the reformed religion 
 in this country.' Eeligious toleration, of which the French 
 Government, still faithful to the promises of the Edict of 
 Nantes, set the praiseworthy example, left much to be desired 
 in the United Provinces. While there might be seen in 
 France five Protestant Marshals — viz. La Force, ChatUlon, 
 Gassion, Eantzau, and Turenne — the Catholics of the United 
 Provinces were excluded from all public offices, even from 
 municipal functions. The free exercise of their own form of 
 worship even was subjected to numerous restrictions. They 
 might not haxe any bishops, and for churches were forced to 
 content themselves with private houses, undistinguished by 
 any external sign, some of which remain to this day. If they 
 had mass celebrated in their own houses, as the ambassadors 
 
RELIGIOUS BELIEF. 23 
 
 of the Catholic Powers were used to do, they might not admit 
 any persons not belonging to their household. 
 
 It is true that the ordinances to be found in the register 
 were seldom put in execution. ' In the larger towns of Holland, 
 with the exception of Leyden,' writes the French ambassador, 
 Chanut, ' mass is openly said, and the authorities wink at it, 
 for payment of a small subsidy.' At Amsterdam, the magis- 
 trates of the town restored a church to the Catholics, who were 
 numerous ' there, thus recognising the open exercise of their 
 religion ; and Louis XIV., to whose intercession this satisfac- 
 tion had been accorded, thanked in consequence ' his very dear 
 and good friends the magistrates of Amsterdam.' The States 
 of Holland, more tolerant than those of the other provinces, 
 seemed disposed even to employ Catholics in their service, and 
 would have been ready to say of those who served them what 
 was said afterwards of himself by Count Tilly, when an officer 
 in their army. ' If the heart is Papist the sword is Pro- 
 testant.' 'The Catholics in these provinces,' writes again a 
 French ambassador, ' have never enjoyed so much liberty, and 
 I exhort them, so far as it is in my power, to use it with dis- 
 cretion and self-control, that they may preserve it.' As to 
 the Jews, their active share in the commerce of the country, 
 which made their services appreciated, protected them against 
 all ill-usage ; far from being harassed, they were allowed free 
 use of their synagogues. Although there was but one domi- 
 nant religion in the republic — namely, the Calvinistic, whose 
 churches were supported, clergy paid, and their expenses as- 
 sured by the State, religious liberty was thus becoming acclima- 
 tised on the soil of the United Provinces, and was firmly strikmg 
 root there. Eespect for the rights of conscience might not 
 have sufficed to secure its recognition, but it was protected by 
 reason of public utility. ' No better method exists,' so we are 
 told in an important document of the time, 'to attract the 
 natives of all countries to come and establish themselves in 
 Holland, than to leave them free to exercise their own religion.' 
 
 Eeligious belief had rather gained than lost by this liberty, 
 which allowed churches, chapels, meetuig-houses, and syna- 
 ' De Thou, the French ambassador, estimates the number at 30,000. 
 
24; JOHN DE "WITT. 
 
 gogues to exist peacefully side by side. As against the bril- 
 liant expansion of the Catholic religion, which appeared in 
 France full of life, rich in good works and ruler of all even the 
 most worldly hearts, the austere discipline of Calvinism had 
 in the United Provinces set its seal upon the education of 
 men's souls. They were marked by a religious faith, tempered 
 by the still recent trials of persecution, which strengthened 
 the conscience by the ever-present thought of God and of 
 eternity, and which, however insufficient it might be, was yet 
 a fruitful source of their attachment to domestic duties, as 
 well as of their fidelity to the obligations of public life. One 
 of the sisters of the Grand Pensionary de Witt wrote to her 
 nephew after a great naval battle : * A common sailor said 
 to us, "We fought indeed, btit God gave the victory, and we 
 thank this fatherly Providence for ,our preservation." We 
 were surprised to hear a rough man like this speak in so pious 
 a fashion, but a lieutenant told us that piety was very general 
 in all the fleet, and related to us that during the battle, when- 
 ever the sailors had a moment's rest, they knelt down to ask 
 the blessing of God.' Eeligious sentiment, it will be thus seen, 
 retained its wholesome and practical influence upon these 
 maritime populations. 
 
 The liberty of the press had taken a firmer hold than reli- 
 gious freedom in the pubhc estimation. Its very cradle was in 
 the United Provinces, where the first newspapers belonging to 
 private proprietors had been published, very different from those 
 issued by the Governments themselves, such as the ' Gazette 
 de France ' in France. The most noted were the 'Dutch Mer- 
 cury,' the 'Amsterdam Gazette,' the 'Extraordinary News' of 
 Leyden, the ' Gazettes ' of the Hague and Eotterdam, and the 
 ' Haarlem Gazette,' whose editor, Abraham Casteleyn, had a 
 European reputation. They were printed in medium form in 
 two columns, at first once a week, then twice, and later three 
 times a week, and gave news from all countries, which was sup- 
 plied to them by highly paid correspondents. They were not 
 originally intended to be in any way controversial, and aimed 
 merely at gratifying public curiosity, but none the less were 
 they full of startling and exciting revelations and reports of 
 
FEEEUOM OF THE PRESS. 25 
 
 State matters, withotit fear of offence or indiscretion. They 
 made known, in a few lines of announcement, projects of war or 
 treaty, revealed diplomatic mysteries, lifted the veU from Court 
 intrigues, and denounced public abuses, thus, under very modest 
 appearances, laying the foundation of that precious guarantee 
 of publicity, which has sometimes been disgraced by shameful 
 excesses, but without which there can be no free people.' 
 'The Gazette,' says Bayle, 'is the vehicle for all the evil- 
 speaking of Europe, and it is a common threat to say, " I will 
 expose you in the ' Dutch Gazette.' " ' Already it had become a 
 power which recognised no frontiers. ' At Constantinople, at 
 Smyrna, at Cairo, in the Levant, and in both the Indies,' writes 
 a contemporary, ' the Dutch newspapers are read as much as at 
 the Hague or in the Amsterdam coffee-houses.' ' Eepublics, ' he 
 continues, ' are more favourable to this sort of business than 
 monarchies, where apparently reasons of State demand that 
 there should be but one will and one newspaper.' The diplo- 
 matic corresjDondence of the time accordingly show us the fre- 
 quent complaints of the French Government, which could not 
 tolerate the audacious indiscretions of the Dutch gazetteers 
 and pamphleteers, and was perpetually demanding that they 
 should not be permitted with impunity to trifle with the re- 
 putation of sovereigns. ' Make inquiries privately,' writes 
 Louis XIV. to d'Estrades, ' as to who is a certain Italian, a 
 Genoese by birth, living at Amsterdam, who busies himself with 
 distributing news-letters in manuscript, most impudently con- 
 cocted, concerning the state ©f my affairs and my future pro- 
 jects, and if you discover anything about him, let me know 
 before you do anything to keep in check this worthy man's in- 
 solence.' The ambassadors of Louis XIV. could only reply 
 that in a republic the liberty of speech and writing was not 
 repressed as it was in a monarchy, and represented to him 
 that he must put up with it. ' They would forego anything 
 here,' WTites one of them, 'rather than newspapers, which 
 are the principal freight of their boats and waggons.' 
 
 Pamphlets were even more numerous than newspapers. 
 
 ' See Lss Gazettes de Hollande et la presse clandestine auVJ ""= et au 18""= 
 siicle, Hatiru 1873. 
 
26 JOHN DE WITT, 
 
 In the voluminous collections in -which they have been pre- 
 served for us, such as the ' Duncaniana Collection,' may be 
 seen the immense number and variety of these almost daily 
 publications, which form a living witness to the often feverish 
 activity of the political hterature of the day. This liberty was 
 sometimes checked by the intermittent severities provoked by 
 diplomatic demands, by the necessities of the public peace, or 
 the duty of repressing the virulence of calumny. But it was 
 none the less exercised mth a boldness Avhieh judged men and 
 things indifferently. ' There is no penalty here,' wrote a 
 French ambassador, ' for those who create a bad feeling against 
 the Government.' 
 
 The Constitution of the republic lent itself to this publicity. 
 There was no danger to liberty of the press in the United 
 Provinces, from the power of prince or assembly ; it depended 
 almost entirely on the municipal authority, under whose 
 shelter it had been born and nurtured. It satisfied the love 
 of discussion of public affairs which all the populace shared. 
 'As everyone can easily be acquainted with them,' we find 
 written in an unpublished contemporary memoir, ' seeing that 
 they are transacted almost under the eyes of all, people inquke 
 and compare each other's opinions upon them, and, if they 
 have any talent, they insensibly learn a good deal about 
 politics. Thus in this country judgment and reflection are 
 more developed than elsewhere. Ordinary money-changers 
 converse about the government of the State as they would 
 about their own private business, with such thorough com- 
 prehension of the state of affairs that one might suppose they 
 were Government officials.' The United Provinces had become 
 a nation of citizens capable of self-government. 
 
 This freedom simplified the exercise of government. The 
 just protection given to all interests, public and private, added 
 to the wide distribution of wealth, and the extent of then- 
 commercial resources, enabled the subjects of the republic to 
 support the burden of taxation without feeling its weight too 
 oppressively. The common revenue amounted in ordinary 
 seasons to about twenty-five millions of florins, of which 
 Holland alone collected twelve or fourteen millions. Each 
 
CIVIL LIBEKTY. 27 
 
 province had to furnish its quota towards the common ex- 
 penses, which comprised those of the army and the fleet, the 
 ambassadors, and the interest on the federal debt, valued at 
 thirteen millions. It had besides to provide for the expenses 
 which fell to its private share, and a large proportion of which 
 consisted of the payment of provincial debts, which had 
 helped to supply the funds for the war against Spain. Many 
 imposts had been established, and Holland, which supported 
 the greater part of the expenses of the confederation, had 
 multiplied taxes of all kinds, direct and indirect. ' The people 
 cannot warm themselves, can neither eat nor drink, without 
 paying something to the State,' writes a contemporary. The 
 duties upon provisions were such that a dish of fish paid no less 
 than thirty different duties. The most necessary commodities, 
 wheat, flour, and salt, were subject to dues. The produce of 
 the taxes upon provisions was seven millions. Bargains and 
 all business transactions alike were heavily taxed. Succes- 
 sion duty was not less than five per cent. Land paid twenty 
 per cent, on leases, and houses twelve and a half per cent, on 
 their rent. In war time, income-tax, hearth-tax, and a tax 
 on horses and carriages, besides a surtax of one-fourth on 
 travelling fares, provided the extraordinary resources. Not- 
 withstanding the burden of such taxation, the dues were paid 
 without difficulty. It was said that there was no country in 
 the world where the inhabitants were so highly taxed and so 
 well to do. The United Provinces never knew the suffer- 
 ings which made excise and custom dues and all forms of 
 taxation so detested by the ratepayers in France towards the 
 end of the reign of Louis XIV. ' As taxes are borne equally 
 by great and small,' writes Pomponne in his memoirs, ' as there 
 is no exception made in favour of rank or dignity, and the 
 plenty produced by commerce gives occupation and profit to 
 everyone, the populace contributes willingly to what it con- 
 siders needful for its liberty and welfare.' 
 
 Equality as well as liberty was an instrument of govern- 
 ment. The monopoly of power might be in the hands of a 
 few families, but the governing class, consisting of the magis- 
 trates of towns, possessed no caste privileges. It enjoyed no 
 
28 JOHN DE WITT. 
 
 exemption from taxation, and contributed more than any other 
 to the expenses of the Commonwealth. It was careful also to 
 avoid any parade of superiority, gave no occasion for offence 
 by pomp or insolence, and desired to escape notice as much as 
 most people desired to receive it. ' The magistrates here 
 labour for the safety of the inhabitants of the towns, with no 
 expectation of gratitude or reverence, even for services rendered. 
 They are frugal in the expenditure of public moneys, severe 
 in the execution of the laws, haughty in their country's 
 interest towards foreign nations, but at the same time peace- 
 able and not easily offended with their fellow-citizens, and 
 courteous to all sorts of private persons.' The homeliness of 
 their manners made them popular, and the report of a civic 
 banquet mentions amongst those seated at the table of the 
 burghers of the ward not only magistrates of the city, but 
 also the first Minister of the xepublLc, De Witt, and the 
 young Prince of Orange. Authority was exercised without 
 distinction of rank, and so was found easily endurable. 
 
 These habits of social life, while they brought aU conditions 
 of people together, softened the asperities of democratic rude- 
 ness, which was seldom allowed full course. They could not, 
 it is true, prevent the inevitable mixture of vice and virtue, 
 and notably left free access to corruption, which, notwith- 
 standing some memorable examples of integrity, often found 
 an opening. In spite of all the precautions taken, gifts of 
 money, which the donors called ' marks of politeness,' were a 
 sure means for foreign ambassadors to gain credit. Promises 
 of employment were equally in use to obtain votes necessary 
 to the success of certain deliberations, and were useful aids to 
 persuasion. However this might be, the watchful supervision 
 of public opinion prevented or detecied most abuses, and if 
 the Government sometimes turned the exercise of power to 
 its own profit, at least it could not use it to the damage of any 
 other person. 'It is pleasant,' iMrote a French exile at the 
 Hague, ' to live in a country where the laws protect you 
 from the arbitrary will of men, and where to live perfectly 
 secure you have only to be secure of yourself.' 
 
 The constitution of the United Provinces had since the 
 
PEDEKAL AND MUNICIPAL GOVERNMENT. 29 
 
 fourteenth century encouraged these tastes and traditions of 
 popular Hberty and civic authority. The government created 
 by it was a confederation of provinces represented by the 
 States- General, and each province, represented by its pro- 
 vincial States, was little more than a confederation of towns. 
 The distinction of orders, which in France constituted the 
 fundamental maxim of the public law of the ancient mon- 
 archy, was, so to say, only fictitious in the organisation of the 
 republic. In consequence of the change of religion, the 
 clergy had ceased to form a body in the State, and the 
 apparent power which they retained in the province of Utrecht 
 alone had passed into lay hands ; the canons of Utrecht, who 
 were divided into five chapters, were merely proprietors of 
 ecclesiastical estates, who sent eight deputies from their body 
 to the States of their province. The nobles, or equestrian 
 order, who represented the rural population, and who included 
 all those who had the right of administering justice on their 
 own estates, had no preponderance of power. In Guelders 
 pnly, the most aristocratic of all the provinces, did they share 
 with the deputies of the towns in the exercise of political 
 power. Everywhere else, and especially in Holland, they 
 took only a very subordinate part, and had but a single 
 voice in the assemblies. In Groningen and Friesland, indeed, 
 they were even confounded with all landed proprietors, 
 without distinction of birth. The citizens of the towns, 
 enriched by trade, had the upper hand almost everywhere ; 
 they reigned supreme in the councils or senates of the towns 
 called magistracies, from which, except in Guelders, the 
 nobles were excluded. 
 
 The town councils in some provinces, in Overyssel, in 
 Groningen, and in the capital of Zealand, Middleburgh, were 
 chosen more or less generally by the votes of the inhabitants. 
 Elsewhere, in Utrecht and Holland, they were self-elected, 
 sometimes with the aid of a small number of privileged 
 electors,' and those who belonged to them enjoyed a pension 
 
 ' At Dordrecht, the oldest town in Holland, and the birthplace of John de 
 Witt, according to the municipal organisation which lasted until 1650, these 
 electors were the eight delegates of the Corporations and the forty delegates 
 chosen from a list of a hundred notables. 
 
30 JOHN DE WITT. 
 
 for life. The numbers composing them were according to 
 the importance of the towns. The Council of Amsterdam was 
 composed of thirty-six members, and that of Utrecht, which 
 had a share in the government of the province, consisted of 
 forty. Generally there were about twenty members. They 
 delegated for terms of from one to three years the executive 
 power and the administration of the finances to governors, 
 who were known as burgomasters. In Holland this civic 
 magistracy was completed by other members of Council, 
 called Sheriffs, who exercised judicial power in many, both 
 civil and criminal cases — in Amsterdam by a Bailiff ap- 
 pointed by the Assembly of the States as chief of the police 
 and of the public forces. The town councils and governors of 
 Holland were assisted also by a Pensionary, whose office was 
 to accompany the deputies of the Council to the assemblies of 
 the States and to speak in their name. Each town, like each 
 province, was a State in itself, joined to others, but retaining 
 full possession of its own autonomy. The municipal power 
 thus exercised served as a basis for the political constitution 
 of the United Provinces, and helped to constantly recruit a 
 civic oligarchy united by community of interests, accustomed 
 to the handling of public affairs, jealous of their independence, 
 and worthy of becoming the governing class of the nation. 
 To bring together all these scattered elements of government 
 and unite them in an association of seven provinces, each 
 governed by its own Assembly, had been the work of the 
 Union of Utrecht. The States-General, entrusted with the 
 diplomatic and military interests of each province and assisted 
 by a Council of State, formed the bond of confederation, 
 but a bond which would hardly have sufficed had not the 
 authority of the Princes of Orange drawn it closer and made 
 it indissoluble. 
 
 The republic of tlie United Provinces, to whose successful 
 Constitution a central power was necessary, had the good 
 fortune of having in their midst a family of princes to whom 
 they owed their independence. The Princes of Orange had 
 been their liberators, but had never been allowed to become 
 their masters. They had been invested with double authority, 
 
THE HOUSE OE ORANGE. 31 
 
 military and civil, as commanders-in-chief of the naval and 
 military forces, and as stadtholders. Entrusted by the 
 States-General with the offices of Admiral and Captain- 
 General, they held command in the army and in the fieet, 
 and had the right sometimes of presentation, sometimes of 
 appointment to military rank, a right rather controlled than 
 shared' by the States. The office of Stadtholder, which 
 depended upon each province, gave to the Princes of Orange 
 the appointment of municipal magistrates, burgomasters, and 
 sheriffs, of whom the town councils had only reserved to 
 themselves the power of presentation. It carried besides the 
 right of sitting in all the Assemblies. The Stadtholder was a 
 member of the Council of State, a member of the States of 
 Zealand in his capacity of premier noble and sole representative 
 of the nobility in their province, a member of the States of 
 Holland as chief of the whole nobility, and President of the 
 Court of Justice common to Holland and Zealand. Finally, 
 the office of Stadtholder gave the Princes of Orange power to 
 intervene in any differences arising between the provinces. 
 The more inevitable these differences were, in consequence of 
 the necessity of a unanimous vote on the most important 
 deliberations in the General Assembly, the more the frequent 
 exercise of this right of arbitration had strengthened the 
 authority and extended the prerogative of the stadtholders. 
 It was no royalty, however, that they enjoyed. By making 
 the office of Stadtholder elective by law, although hereditary 
 in fact, the States had remained the sovereign power. Up to 
 this time they had escaped the dangers of usurpation, but 
 these dangers always remained to be feared. The prestige of 
 birth of the Princes of Orange, the splendour of the services 
 they had rendered to tlie national independence and the 
 reformed religion, the vast territorial possessions which made 
 
 ' The appointment of majoi-generals, lieutenant-generals, and admirals 
 belonged to the States-General ; the provincial States reserved to themselves 
 the presentation of three candidates for the command of vacant companies of 
 their contingent of the forces, excepting the foreign companies, which were the 
 most numerous, and in which the appointments were left unreservedly to the 
 Captain-General. 
 
32 JOHN DE WITT. 
 
 a part of Zealand dependent upon them, the prerogative of 
 mihtary command and of the first civil magistracy which had 
 devolved upon them, seemed to leave open to them the road 
 to supreme power. They had worthily acquired and retained 
 intact as an inheritance the devotion of the army, the fidelity 
 of the nobility, who were still powerful in Guelders and 
 Overyssel, the gratitude of the Calvinist clergy, and the 
 passionate attachment of the populace, who had no interest in 
 maintaining a republican Government in which they had no 
 direct share. 
 
 In considering themselves indispensable to the safety of 
 the country, and in desiring to found a dynasty, the Princes 
 of Orange might therefore look upon themselves as called upon 
 to satisfy the general desire. The citizens alone were reso- 
 lutely opposed to this traoisformation of their power. They 
 desired not merely to defend their municipal and political 
 liberties against all encroachment, but also to guard the m- 
 terests of their commerce from the dangers of foreign war. 
 Haters of oppression rather than lovers of liberty, they were 
 bent upon maintaining the principles of a pacific and economical 
 order of government. Whilst the Orange party found partisans 
 in the States- General to whom the authority of the stadt- 
 holders seemed a safeguard to the federal power, the party of 
 the burghers was supported by the States of Holland, which 
 represented their policy. Thus, under disguised and modified 
 forms, the struggle was kept up between Monarchists and 
 Eepublicans. The two parties were face to face, with nearly 
 equally balanced forces, and were destined more than once to 
 come to blows. This almost incessant rivalry, which is the 
 key to the internal history of the United Provinces, i)repared 
 for John de Witt the part he was to play and the fate which 
 awaited him. 
 
 The deliverance of the United Provinces seemed as if it 
 ought to secure a kingdom to the House of Orange. William I., 
 who had been their liberator, was descended from a princely 
 German family, that of Nassau, whose origin may be traced 
 with certainty as far back as the eleventh century. His 
 ancestors had, as Dukes of Guelders, exercised sovereign 
 
"WILLIAM THE SILENT. 33 
 
 rights in the Low Countries 400 years before the acces- 
 sion of the House of Burgundy, and had faithfully served 
 the princes of that house. Engelbert II. was one of the lieu- 
 tenants of Charles the Bold and of Maximilian ; he left his 
 possessions to his brother John, whose two sons, Henry and 
 William of Nassau, divided the inheritance. William suc- 
 ceeded to the German lands and died young, leaving seven 
 daughters and five sons. He was the father of William I., 
 --the descendant of his second son, John the Old, now occupies 
 the throne of the Netherlands. 
 
 Henry, the elder brother of William of Nassau, who had 
 received for his share the family estates in Luxemburg, 
 Brabant, Flanders, and Holland, was tutor to Charles V., of 
 whom he became afterwards the confidant. His son, Eene of 
 Nassau- Chalons, was heir by his mother Claude of Chalons to 
 his uncle Philibert of Orange, and thus inherited the little 
 principality of Orange, from which air his family took the 
 historic name that it has ever since preserved. He had no 
 children, and, dying at the Emperor's side in the trenches of 
 Saint Dizier, left his great inheritance to his first cousin, 
 William, who thus, at the age of eleven years, found himself 
 heir to the wealth and power of his whole house. 
 
 He was educated at the court of Charles V., and, from the 
 trust reposed in him by the Emperor and by Philip II., was 
 early called to high commands and charged with important 
 negotiations, and, being also Stadtholder of the provinces of 
 Holland and Zealand, he seemed destined to lead a life of 
 leisure, taking part in numerous fetes, and keeping open house 
 in his splendid Nassau Palace at Brussels, where he displayed 
 all the luxury of a splendid hospitality. He was thus naturally 
 placed at the head of the Netherlands nobility, and it was 
 from his castle at Breda that he published the declaration 
 known by the name of the Compromise of the Nobles, which 
 has deserved the name of the Serment du Jeu de Paume of the 
 sixteenth century. 
 
 He obtained the name of the Silent from the imperturb- 
 able calm with which he received the news of the projects for 
 the extermination of the heretics, prematurely confided to 
 
 VOL. I. D 
 
34 JOHN DE WITT. 
 
 him by Henry II. of France. Determined to gain time before 
 undertaking the defence of the inhabitants of the Low 
 Countries, he waited to declare himself a Protestant untU the 
 measure of oj)pression was full; but having once given this 
 irrevocable pledge of his devotion to the persecuted cause, he 
 sacrificed to it repose, fortune, and life. The lessons of courage 
 and holiness that he had received from his mother, Julie de 
 Stolberg, had tempered his character, and armed his mind 
 against all weakness ; he was proof against all reverses. His 
 proud motto, ' I will maintain,' became the cry of hope of a whole 
 nation, and the ' Song of William,' a true hymn of war, 
 written by Marnix de Sainte-Aldegonde, has never ceased, 
 during three centuries, to sound the echo of patriotic tradition 
 in Holland. 
 
 But William I. founded no dynasty. He refused the sove- 
 reignty offered to him by the seven provinces which had 
 formed between them the Union of Utrecht, and only ac- 
 cepted full powers during the time of war. He remained the 
 civil and military chief of a republic, and was sm-named the 
 Father of his Country. Surrounded by brothers as valiant 
 as himself, three of whom met a glorious and prematm-e 
 death on the field of battle, like them he paid with his life's 
 blood for the liberation of his country, and died by the dagger 
 of an assassin, thus leaving to his descendants the glory both 
 of his life and of his death, the fame of a liberator and of 
 a martyr. His son Maurice,^ though only seventeen years 
 of age and still a student at Leyden, was considered as his 
 successor. He was immediately summoned to a seat in the 
 Council of State, and soon afterwards was invested with all 
 his father's offices. As Captain and Admiral-General of the 
 Union, Stadtholder of Holland, Zealand, Utrecht, Guelders, 
 and Overyssel — his cousin, William Louis, son of a brother of 
 
 William I., being Stadtholder in Friesland and Groningen 
 
 he contmued his father's work and added to the inheritance 
 of fame that he received from him. But the powers given to 
 him, the successes which he had won, and his great name as 
 a commander, only roused instead of satisfying his ambition. 
 
 ' The son of his second wife, Anne of Saxony. 
 
MAURICE OF ORANGE AND OLDEN BARNEVELDT. 35 
 
 He thought himself master of the repubhc. Discontented 
 with the attempts made to hasten the peace, he entered into 
 a dispute with the States of Holland, who showed themselves 
 unfavourable to the continuation of the war, and were alarmed 
 by the encroachments of his power. He claimed to lay down 
 the law to them on the question of the religious differences 
 which divided the republic into two sects, forming as it were 
 two hostile camps. One was that of the Arminians or 
 Eemonstrants, so called from the remonstrance or declaration 
 of faith which they had addressed to the States of Holland ; 
 the other was that of the Gomarrists or Counter-remon- 
 strants. The former upheld the doctrine of Free-will, the 
 latter that of Predestination. The States of Holland pro- 
 nounced in favour of the Arminians, and the Stadtholder 
 Maurice of Orange, who was seeking a pretext for a rupture, 
 thought the opportunity favourable for invoking the assistance 
 of the States-General against them. The Advocate-General 
 or Minister of Holland, Olden Barneveldt, undertook to resist 
 him. The soldierly courage of which he had given proof in 
 his youth, his diplomatic experience, the part which he had 
 taken in the foundation and preservation of the republic, the 
 authority which he exercised in the Assembly of the Provincial 
 States, all combined to make Barneveldt a formidable rival to 
 the Prince of Orange. He thus found himself exposed to 
 an implacable resentment, to which he finally fell a victim. 
 Maurice paid no respect to his great age or to the six-and- 
 forty years he had spent in the service of his country. Unable 
 to reproach him with any crime, he determined to withdraw 
 him from his natural judges, the States of Holland, and cause 
 him to be condemned by commissioners appointed for the 
 purpose ; and he finally sent to the scaffold the venerable man, 
 seventy-two years of age, who had guided and directed his 
 own early years, the man who, according to the widow of 
 William I., had always acted not merely as a friend, but as a 
 true father to the House of Orange. The fame of the victories 
 by which the liberation of the republic was completed could 
 not efface this stain of blood, and the avenging shadow of his 
 
 D 2 
 
36 JOHN DE WITT. 
 
 victim seemed evermore to interpose between the Prince of 
 Orange and the royal power, and to prevent the son of 
 William I. from making himself a king. 
 
 The third stadtholder, his brother Frederick Henry,^ the 
 son of William's last wife, Louise de Coligny, who himself 
 married late in life Amelia of Solms, observed a moderate 
 and conciliating policy which caused to be forgotten the 
 abuses of power of which Maurice had been guilty. Eecog- 
 nised as one of the first captains of his day for the resolute 
 determination with which he carried out his plans, for more 
 than twenty years he showed himself equally skilful in con- 
 ducting military operations and in establishing and preserving 
 civil order. By a constantly affable demeanour and a loyalty 
 which offered no ground for suspicion, he merited what 
 was said of him, 'that he made every man his friend, and 
 seemed to have enemies only that he might be reconciled to 
 them.' 
 
 At his death in 1647, Spain was on the eve of fully recog- 
 nising the independence of the republic by the treaty of 
 Munster, and Frederick Henry having brought to a successful 
 issue the cause of the enfranchisement of his country, trans- 
 mitted to his son William II., not indeed a throne, but an 
 inheritance of pubKc gratitude, which might weU take the 
 place of a crown. 
 
 William II. was young and enterprising, and not at all 
 disposed to follow the pacific example of his father. His 
 imprudent ambition provoked the separation of the two parties 
 which were disputing the government of the republic, and his 
 attempt at a coup d'etat only prepared the way for an inter- 
 regnum. While still a child he had ' inherited his father's 
 offices, and, later on, his family alliances had also helped to 
 give him a taste for power. He was brother-in-law to the 
 Elector of Brandenburg, who had married his sister Louisa 
 Henrietta, and son-in-law to Charles I. of England and 
 Henrietta Maria, the sister of Louis XIII. He was connected 
 thus with the two first royal families of Europe. The proud 
 descendant of the Stuarts, the Princess Mary, who had been 
 ' He succeeded Maurice in 1625. 
 
.WILLIAM THE SECON'D. 37 
 
 married to him when hardly more than a child, thought it 
 beneath her not to be the wife of a sovereign, and encouraged 
 her husband not to be satisfied to remain merely ' the official 
 of a republic' Thus encouraged, the son of Frederick Henry 
 cherished the secret purpose of transforming the elective 
 stadtholdership into an hereditary monarchy. 
 
 He had been recognised after his father's death as Captain 
 and Admiral-General, and also as Stadtholder of six provinces 
 of the confederation, and he was secure of the seventh province, 
 Friesland, which retained as Stadtholder his cousin Count 
 William Frederick of Nassau, who was devoted to his interests, 
 and whose succession was promised to him. William II., how 
 ever, was not contented with even these widely extended powers 
 which seemed to him insufficient for the execution of his 
 design. He needed supreme authority to enable him to render 
 assistance to Charles I., threatened by the revolution which 
 was to cost him his throne and his life, and he could not 
 remain deaf to the despairing appeal of his mother-in-law, 
 who had taken refuge in France, and was there reduced to 
 extreme poverty. 
 
 Finding in the opposition of the States an insurmountable 
 obstacle to his wish of intervention, he sought the support of 
 France, who could assist him in offering assistance to his 
 father-in-law, and who besides was tempting his ambition with 
 the offer of new conquests. France had not forgiven the 
 republic for having concluded peace with Spain against her 
 opposition, and in disregard of the convention which forbade 
 either of the two allies to treat separately with the common 
 enemy. William II., supported by the province of Zealand, 
 had vainly opposed the conclusion of this negotiation, and was 
 now ready to come to an understanding with Mazarin to break 
 the treaty of Munster and wrest the Netherlands from Spain. 
 Mazarin promised in return to help him to assert his authority 
 over the States. 'You may suggest to the Prince of Orange,' 
 he wrote to the French ambassador, Servien, 'that circum- 
 stances might arise in which, if he were assured of the protec- 
 tion and good-will of their Majesties, he might attain to a great- 
 ness far other than that of his predecessors.' The astute cardi- 
 
38 JOHN DE "WITT. 
 
 nal had observed that it was easier to govern a prince than an 
 assembly, and he was accordingly interested in subduing the 
 United Provinces to dependence upon their Stadtholder. 
 
 But if WiUiam desired war, the United Provinces, and in 
 particular the province of Holland, could not dispense with 
 peace. Now that they had been set free they desired to enjoy 
 their liberty at their ease, and refused to ruin themselves in 
 the service of France, who, by declining the proposals of 
 Spain, had almost justified the defection of her ancient allies. 
 So overburdened were they with taxes that they had been 
 forced to neglect their navy, which had been the great instru- 
 ment of their prosperity. The maintenance of their land 
 forces, amounting to about 57,000 men, exhausted their 
 means. They could not consent to keep up an army which 
 was not needed for their defence, and might be menacing to 
 their freedom. 
 
 The province of Holland, which contributed more than 
 half towards the expenses of the Confederation, crushed under 
 the weight of the new loans which were intended to meet an 
 annual deficit of eight millions of florins, had demanded and 
 obtained from the States-General the dismissal of 21,000 men, 
 thereby reducing the army to 36,000 men, and saving the 
 State an expenditure of two and a half millions of florins 
 annually. Not content with this, a further reduction of 7,000 
 men was required according to the agreement formerly made, 
 which would be chiefly carried out by the suppression of fifty-five 
 foreign companies, and would reduce the army to an effective 
 strength of 29,000 men, the expense of which was calculated 
 at 5,560,000 florins. The States-General had consented to 
 this. There only remained to be arranged for the disbanding 
 of the twenty-nine companies of infantry, numbering about 
 2,900 men, who were part of the contingent of Holland. 
 This last step was the only one disputed, and concerning 
 which the settlement remained doubtful. The safety of the 
 country was not concerned in so small a reduction, and 
 Holland would no doubt easily have obtained the satisfaction 
 she demanded had not the Prince of Orange sought to turn 
 the difference to account instead of pacifying it. 
 
HIS DISPUTES "WITH THE STATES OF HOLLAND. 39 
 
 Such was the origin of a conflict which almost degenerated 
 into a civil war. For the furtherance of his plans it was 
 necessary for the Prince of Orange to replace the army on a 
 war footing, and he could not in any case resign himself to 
 the disbanding of the foreign regiments in whom he had 
 entire confidence. He flattered himself that he might move 
 the States-General and even the States of Holland to renounce 
 their pacific policy. The States-General were displeased with 
 the pretensions of Holland, who seemed to them disposed to 
 domineer over the republic, and there were attached to his 
 cause in the federal assembly several deputies who were 
 desirous of obtaining commissions in the army for their sons. 
 On the other hand, the Grand Pensionary of Holland, the 
 national poet Cats, weakened by age (he was then seventy- 
 three), seemed to him more disposed to yield than to struggle, 
 and he flattered himself that he should easily gain the votes 
 of the principal members of the States of that province. With 
 this object, the Princess Eoyal, who, according to a contempo- 
 rary account, was so proud that she never returned any visits, 
 stooped for once to pay familiar visits to such of the burghers' 
 wives as had the reputation of ruling their husbands. The 
 Prince of Orange hoped thus to retard the disbanding of 
 the forces, which he had been putting off for a year. But 
 his expectations were disappointed. The States of Holland, 
 determined to put an end to a debate which seemed to them 
 unreasonably prolonged, frustrated the perpetual adjourn- 
 ments of which they had complained, and themselves fixed 
 the period for the disbanding of the twenty-nine companies 
 whose dismissal had been promised to them. After twelve 
 days of useless deliberations they issued definite orders to that 
 effect. The step had been provoked, but it was precipitate 
 and might give rise to a legal contest as to their competency. 
 The Prince of Orange, therefore, eager to hasten a struggle 
 from which he expected an easy victory, chose to consider the 
 resolution of the States of Holland as a signal for the rupture 
 of the Union, and the very next day solemnly demanded 
 reparation from the States- General, who in their turn issued a 
 counter order. The Prince made skilful use of the rivalry of 
 
40 JOHK DE WITT. 
 
 power between the two assemblies to obtain for himself extra- 
 ordinary powers which were contrary to the laws of the 
 Confederation. By the terms of the resolution, which was 
 passed by only four j)rovmees,' of which two^ were represented 
 by but one deputy each, he was authorised to take all mea- 
 sures necessajy for the maintenance of order and peace, and 
 particularly for the preservation of the Union. ' The States- 
 General consequently commissioned him to visit the town 
 councils of Holland, accompanied by six members of the 
 States-General and of the Council of State, with all the pomp 
 of a military escort, including a large number of officers. He 
 was charged to address them with remonstrances and threats 
 intended to intimidate the provincial States.' 
 
 This was the first act of the coup d'etat that he had 
 prepared, and his mistake was quickly shown him. The town 
 councils, not allowing themselves to be either discouraged or 
 dis-united, proved almost unanimously determined to make 
 common cause with the provincial States, who were their 
 lawful superiors. They were on their guard against the over- 
 tures made to them. Some evaded them by merely replying 
 that they would send in their reports to the States ; others, 
 more bold, complained of an interference which deprived 
 them of the freedom they needed for their deliberations. The 
 Council of Dordrecht, of which Jacob de Witt, father of John 
 de Witt, was burgomaster, consented to receive the stadt- 
 holder on condition that he should propose no resolution 
 subversive of the rights of the CouncU or of the States of 
 Holland. The Prince, having been admitted, desired one of 
 the members of the deputation which accompanied him, 
 Aartsbergen, to make known his proposals. He demanded 
 the censure and disavowal of the deputies of the town who 
 had voted in the Assembly of the States for the dismissal of 
 the troops. The Council waited till the Prince had retired 
 before deliberating, and contented themselves then with justi- 
 fying the accused, and declaring that they had merely obeyed 
 their instructions. William having demanded and obtained a 
 
 ' Zealand, Overyssel, Friesland, and Groningen. 
 '' Overyssel and Friesland. 
 
HIS TOUR THROUGH HOLLAND. 41 
 
 second hearing, June 10, 1650, Aartsbergen declared in his 
 presence, ' in bitter and insufferable language,' that the envoys 
 of the States-General would not retire before the Council had 
 declared whether it withdrew from the ruj)ture of the Union 
 which had been imputed to them ; he openly accused the de- 
 puties who represented the towns in the provincial States, and 
 denounced them ' as worthy of punishment in life and goods.' 
 The Council in defending them decided to adhere to their 
 first declaration, but repelled at the same time the offensive 
 accusation, which they qualified as injurious and calumnious, 
 and resolved to bring it before the States as offering an affront 
 to the authority and freedom of the province. They ventured 
 to communicate to the Prince this haughty manifesto, and 
 having by his desire again deliberated upon it, unanimously 
 adopted it anew. 
 
 To avoid exposure to such scenes, the Council of Amster- 
 dam, guided by the energetic exhortations of the two brothers 
 Bicker, Andrew, the former burgomaster, and Cornelius Bicker 
 van Swieten, the then burgomaster, sent two councillors, 
 Anthony Aetgens van Waveren and Peter Hasselaar, to meet 
 the Prince and represent to him that his journey was use- 
 less, and that he could not be received as the envoy of the 
 States-General. William took no heed of this warning, but 
 the Council of Amsterdam was not to be intimidated by his 
 appearance. They made known to him, while still outside 
 the walls of the town, that he should be received in his capa- 
 city of stadtholder, but that he must not hope to obtain an 
 audience if he insisted upon being accompanied by the depu- 
 ties of the States-General. The Prince refused to yield, and 
 the Council, which had taken all military measures for defence, 
 declared that all its sittings should be adjourned until after his 
 departure, and merely sent excuses to the Prince. 
 
 On his return to the Hague, William did not conceal his 
 resentment at being thus set aside. Having reported the re- 
 sults of his tour to the States-General, he entered the 
 Assembly of the States of Holland, gave them notice of his 
 protest, and demanded reparation for the insult which he com- 
 plained of having received from the Municipal Council of 
 
42 JOHN DE WITT. 
 
 Amsterdam. ' He took so high a tone,' wrote the French 
 ambassador Brasset, ' that even the members of the Assembly 
 who had been most irritated agreed in concluding that the 
 Prince might be in a humour to risk the last extremities, 
 and that the best thing would be to consider some means of 
 giving him satisfaction and of bringing matters to a compro- 
 mise.' The deputies of the town of Amsterdam apologised to 
 him for the behaviour of the Council, hoping thus to induce 
 him to withdraw his complaint, but this the Prince refused.' 
 Meanwhile the States of Holland were making all possible 
 advances necessary to bring about an arrangement. By 
 William's own avowal, given in his Memoir on the events of 
 the year 1650, they requested that he would himself make 
 some proposal concerning the war establishment, and they pro- 
 mised to revoke provisionally the orders given for the disband- 
 ing of the troops. 
 
 After some renewed conferences, the Prince promised them 
 to come to an arrangement with the CouncU of State, which 
 shared the executive power with him, for the transmission of 
 new proposals for an amicable solution to the States-General. 
 The States of Holland made choice of commissioners to ex- 
 amine these proposals and determined to communicate them 
 to the town councils. The only point to be settled concerned 
 the reduction of about 1,300 men. The difference might 
 now be considered as arranged. ' The business of the reduc- 
 tion of the troops was in a very fair way,' wrote a little later 
 one of the principal deputies of Holland, 'it would be pro- 
 bably settled by the towns without a dissentient voice, the 
 nobles alone not agreeing, and all that was needful now was 
 to follow the conciliatory advice which the Pensionary had 
 undertaken to put in writing, according to the opinions of the 
 members.' 
 
 The States of Holland, however, did not feel themselves 
 completely reassured. They feared still to be exposed to 
 further visitations of their province by the Prince of Orange. 
 
 ' Memoir oonoerning the Amsterdam affair, written by the Prince's own 
 hand. Archives de la Maison d'Orange, published by M. Green van Prinsterer, 
 vol. iv. p. 371. 
 
ATTEMPTS AT A COMPEOMISE. 43 
 
 Determined to prevent this, they declared that the stadtholder 
 and the deputies of the States- General might not be received 
 by the town councils without their permission. The Prince 
 having demanded an explanation of this resolution, which he 
 said was contrary to the agreement just re-established, the 
 States of Holland addressed to the States of the other pro- 
 vinces a solemn manifesto claiming the future free exercise of 
 their sovereign powers. In this they stated how easy it would 
 be now to come to an agreement, since all pretext for any dif- 
 ference concerning the reduction of the forces could easily be 
 set aside, unless it was determined to take aggressive measures 
 towards them. 
 
 This was no overbold suggestion. Since his return to the 
 Hague the Prince of Orange had only allowed his negotiations 
 to continue that he might have time to prepare the measures 
 already concerted. His partisans had long been advising 
 the most audacious attempts. His cousin. Count William 
 Frederick of Nassau, Stadtholder of Friesland, encouraged him 
 warmly to make the weight of his power felt. ' Keep no 
 terms,' he wrote to him, 'with these traitors and enemies of 
 the State, whom I should heartily like to see on the scaifold. 
 I trust they will be punished according to their deserts and 
 their disloyalty.' On the eve of the action which the Prince 
 of Orange was about to attempt he wrote to him again : •' As 
 I was passing near the Assembly of the States I saw the 
 deputies you had mentioned to me exchanging salutations and 
 compliments ; I hope that to-morrow your Highness will have 
 them all together, and that all whom your Highness knows to 
 be your enemies, and consequently the enemies of the State, 
 will be of the party.' 
 
 It was he also who suggested the idea of depriving the 
 States of Holland of all power of resistance by the seizure of 
 Amsterdam. The thing would be done, hd said, if the Prince 
 would give him some good officers, and some cavalry and 
 infantry. But he recommended him to say nothing of it 
 beforehand. ' Threats only help to put people on their 
 guard,' he wrote ; ' you should let deeds and blows speak for 
 you,' 
 
44 JOHN DE WITT. 
 
 William had allowed himself to be easily persuaded, and 
 had made Amsterdam the principal object in the enterprise 
 he contemplated. He considered this town as the enemy of 
 his House. The burghers of Amsterdam, proud of their 
 wealth and passionately attached to their independence, had 
 never shown any gratitude for the services of the Princes of 
 Orange. They said that it was only fair that they should be 
 well served for their money, and that if the stadtholders did 
 not properly fulfil their office of Captain-General, they could 
 find others to do it for the same price. They had offended 
 William also by allowing allusion to be made on the stage to 
 his connection with a French actress named Labarre. The 
 Prince had revenged himself by sneering at the ladies of 
 Amsterdam, accusing them of being too masculine in their 
 appearance, and saying in jest that they were more fitted to 
 make prisoners of war than captives of love. He was said 
 also to be tempted by the forty millions deposited in the city 
 bank, and to intend to make use of them to raise himself to 
 the sovereignty of the United Provinces. He calculated at 
 least upon securing the establishment of a new Council more 
 submissive to his authority. 'When we have marched the 
 troops into the town,' he wrote in his instructions, 'we must 
 change the magistrates, and must have ready the list of those 
 whom we wish to set in their places.' 
 
 He was secure of the goodwill of the army. ' Do not fail,' 
 advised one of his counsellors, ' to flatter the troops, and take 
 pains to make yourself popular, so as the more easily to make 
 an end of your enemies.' The Count of Nassau wrote to 
 advise him to be sure to make the most of the fact of the 
 States of Holland, and particularly those of Amsterdam, 
 having wished to retrench the pay of the soldiers, which would 
 affect all these poor people, and they would thus be more 
 zealous and more eager to be employed; — small things like 
 this were often of assistance in great affairs. The most 
 minute orders were carefully given to all those who acted as 
 accomplices of the Prince. The Count of Nassau, his chief 
 adviser, of whose discretion and energy he had already made 
 proof, was charged with their execution. To him was joined, 
 
PEOPOSAL TO SEIZE AMSTEEDAM. 45 
 
 as confidential adviser, the son of the former ambassador of 
 the republic in Paris, Aerssen van Sommelsdyck, colonel of 
 horse, member of the States of Holland, and one of the 
 Vifealthiest inhabitants of the province, who was recommended 
 by his coolness and moderation. He had secured also the 
 assistance of his cousin Frederick, Count Dohna, colonel of 
 the Guelders regiment, who was warmly attached to all the 
 family interests, and whose father was governor of his princi- 
 pality of Orange. The plan of attack was drawn up with the 
 utmost secrecy. The Count of Nassau had begun by recon- 
 noitring Amsterdam and the suburbs of the town ; each day's 
 march of the troops and the positions they were to occupy 
 had all been pre-arranged. The Nimeguen and Arnheim horse 
 were to march at a given signal, as if only for exercise. The 
 garrison of Utrecht had orders to be ready for a sally, under 
 the pretext of meeting the Princess Eoyal, William's wife, who 
 happened to be passing near the town. In order to ensure 
 by stratagem the entry into Amsterdam, it was resolved to 
 make use of the Utrecht boat, which arrived very early in the 
 morning. Fifty officers, under the command of a resolute 
 chief. Major Gentillot, were selected to conceal themselves on 
 board. Once landed, they were to seize one of the gates, 
 called that of the Eegulars, which would yield without resist- 
 ance, and thus open a passage for Count William's horse. 
 Finally, measures had been taken for the arrest of the two 
 chief magistrates of Amsterdam, Andrew Bicker and his 
 colleague, Aetgens van Waveren, who were to be sent to 
 Utrecht to confer with the Prince, so that, deprived of their 
 advice and assistance, surprise and alarm might induce the 
 other councillors to give up the town more readily. The 
 expedients commonly employed to throw dust in people's eyes 
 concerning all such undertakings were not forgotten. ' In 
 order not to alienate the people of Amsterdam,' wrote to the 
 Prince of Orange his confidant, Van Sommelsdyck, ' it will be 
 necessary to issue a brief proclamation, in which the cause of 
 quarrel will be declared to be merely with certain of the 
 magistrates of the city, accusing them of wilfully breaking 
 the Union which has been the security of the republic, and of 
 
46 JOHN DE WITT. 
 
 desiring to change the form of goYernment for their own 
 advantage and the ruin of the State.' 
 
 William II. was envious of Mazarin's good fortune. Six 
 months previously Mazarin had caused to be imprisoned at 
 Vincennes the Prince de Conde, the victor of Eocroy, Pribourg^ 
 Nordlingen, and Sens, with his brother, the Prince de Conti, 
 and his brother-in-law, the Due de Longueville, as companions 
 of his captivity. ' On hearing the news of this arrest, the 
 Prince of Orange,' writes Brasset, the French ambassador to 
 the Hague, ' did not mince matters in the expression of his 
 feelings of admiration and pleasure at such a success. You 
 may be sure that this is not mere affectation or civility, for 
 I know that he takes every opportunity of blaming those who 
 forget the duty and obligations of subjects towards their 
 sovereigns. He easily persuaded himself,' adds Brasset, 'that 
 it will be rather to his advantage than to his prejudice to 
 imitate the French proceedings.' 
 
 The day after that on which the States of Holland had 
 published their letter of justification to the States of the 
 other provinces, William thought himself in a position to put 
 his plan in execution, and the attempt was very near being a 
 complete success. Six deputies of the Assembly of Holland 
 seemed to him responsible for the ungracious reception he 
 had met from the town councils of that province. He feared, 
 too, that they would head the party of resistance to him, 
 which might call him severely to account for his attack upon 
 Amsterdam, and perhaps might make him bitterly rue his 
 audacity. These were Jacob de Witt, bm-gomaster of Dor- 
 drecht ; Duyst van Voorhout, burgomaster of Delft ; John de 
 Waal, burgomaster, and Albert Euyl, pensionary of Haarlem ; 
 Nanning Keyser, pensionary of Hoorn, and Stellingwerf, 
 pensionary of Medemblick. He allowed no scruples to hinder 
 him from securing then persons. On Saturday, July 30, 
 1650, at eight o'clock in the morning, the Prince summoned 
 them to his palace, each unknown to the others, under 
 pretext of seeking for some means of coming to an under- 
 standing. As they arrived, unsuspiciously, he caused them in 
 turn to be arrested by the commandant of the Guards, Lieu- 
 
AEEEST OP THE DEPUTIES. 47 
 
 tenant-Colonel Meteren, each being conducted to a separate 
 room, where he was closely guarded by two soldiers. Pre- 
 cautions were meanwhile taken to prevent any rising. The 
 Prince's palace was garrisoned by his own regiment of Guards, 
 400 strong. The town was filled with troops belonging 
 to the neighbouring garrisons of Eotterdam and Delft, who 
 were summoned in turn so as to create no alarm. The next 
 evening, the six prisoners were taken in two of the Prince's 
 coaches, by roundabout ways and under a strong guard, to 
 the castle of Loevestein, the Vincennes of Holland. 
 
 To parade his authority, and to enjoy the confusion of his 
 adversaries, the Prince of Orange informed the States-General 
 of the use he had made of his powers, promising to communi- 
 cate to them the reason for his action. At the same time he 
 sent for the Grand Pensionary of Holland, Cats, to desire 
 him to announce to the Assembly, together with the news of 
 the arrest of the deputies, the departure of the troops sent 
 against Amsterdam under the orders of the Count of Nassau. 
 The Grand Pensionary, unable to hide his concern made, 
 however, no remonstrance to the Prince. He contented him- 
 self with requesting him to give in writing the names of the 
 deputies whom the stadtholder had imprisoned and the 
 reason for their incarceration, because, as he said, he was not 
 sure of his memory,' and William readily consented to satisfy 
 him. The announcement threw the Assembly into great un- 
 easiness. The rumour had been spread that other members — 
 Beveren, of Dordrecht, Meerman, burgomaster of Leyden, and 
 Nieuport, pensionary of Schiedam — had only escaped by their 
 accidental absence from sharing the fate of their colleagues. 
 Several deputies fearing that the same fate threatened them, 
 left the hall of Assembly hastily, to retire to their own towns. 
 Of six deputies of Amsterdam only two remained ; Kok, lord 
 of Purmeraud, immortahsed by Eembrandt's picture, and the 
 pensionary Boom. To conceal their anxiety the Assembly 
 broke up, having adjourned till the second day following, 
 knowing well that by that time the success or failure of the 
 
 ' Aitzema, Zaken van Staet, vol. iii. p. 445. Mimoiree de Van der CapeUen 
 vol. ji. p. 281. 
 
48 JOHN DE WITT. 
 
 stadtholder's enterprise would place them at the mercy of the 
 victor, or restore them to the free exercise of their own 
 power. But while the Prince flattered himself that he could 
 win by a surprise the submission of the town, accident 
 frustrated the execution of his plan. The cavalry had been 
 ordered to assemble at five o'clock in the morning, that they 
 might form a vanguard to the infantry. They were to march 
 from Scherpenzel and to meet under the orders of Count 
 William of Nassau at Abcouden, two leagues from Amsterdam, 
 and in order to disarm suspicion they set out in small detach- 
 ments. Notwithstanding the summer season, the night was 
 dark and rainy ; the lights by which the road was to be known 
 could not be seen, and the principal division, comprising twelve 
 companies of horse, under the command of Caj)tain Mom, 
 lost themselves in the underwood on the plain of Amersfort, 
 and, in spite of their having a guide, only rejoined the head- 
 quarters at eight o'clock in the morning. They had besides 
 met the Hamburg maU, and Captain Mom, not knowing the 
 object of the expedition, had allowed it to continue on its way. 
 The alarm had thus been given to the town early in the 
 morning. 
 
 Of the four acting city magistrates, Valkenier, president 
 of the Council of Burgomasters, had died a few days previously ; 
 two others, Nicholas Corver and Anthony Aetgens van 
 Waveren, were absent or detained at the Hague ; Cornelius 
 Bicker van Swieten was alone at his post, not having 
 responded to the invitation of the Prince of Orange, which 
 had seemed to him suspicious. Without allowing himself to 
 be alarmed or disheartened, he at once proceeded to concert 
 arrangements with the President of the Council of Sheriffs, 
 John Huydecooper, lord of Maarseveen, and to their vigUance 
 Amsterdam owed its safety. The town council, summoned by 
 them, met that same morning, and means of resistance were 
 at once improvised. The gates were shut, and the draw- 
 bridges raised. The thirty civic companies of arquebusiers, 
 the National Guard of those days, were placed under arms 
 and took possession of the posts assigned to them. Two 
 thousand troops of the militia {waartg elders) were enrolled in 
 
TAILUEE TO SURPRISE AMSTERDAM. 49 
 
 five companies and taken into the pay of the city. The 
 sailors were enlisted and armed, and were employed to drag 
 ninety pieces of cannon to the ramparts. Meanwhile the 
 eight frigates and three men-of-war stationed in the harbom* 
 took up their places in the basin of the Amstel, and on the arm 
 of the sea called the Y, which surrounds the town with a 
 girdle of naval fortifications. Some very bold proposals were 
 deliberated upon, which were supported by Cornelius Bicker 
 and his brother Andrew, and only adjourned by a majority 
 of two votes. It was decided, however, that in case of ne- 
 cessity the dykes should be cut and the surrounding country 
 flooded, in order to secure the safety of the town against any 
 attack. 
 
 The preliminary steps for letting in the waters were already 
 in full activity. To gain possession of Amsterdam it would 
 now be necessary to lay regular siege to it ; and there were 
 insuperable obstacles to the siege of a town situated at the 
 head of a gulf, amidst easily submerged marsh lands, and 
 only to be reached by roads and narrow paths intersected by 
 canals. The enterprise, therefore, was a failure as soon as it 
 was discovered. The confederates, who had been hidden in 
 the Utrecht boat, and who were to have opened the door to 
 the invaders, were surprised by daylight, before the arrival of 
 the latter, and, going out to meet them, informed them that it 
 was useless to advance any further. 
 
 The Count of Nassau advanced within range of the town 
 ramparts as far as Gudekercke, that he might deliver to the 
 magistrates the Prince of Orange's letter explaining his 
 arrival ; and two sheriffs, Huydecooper van Maarseveen and 
 Van der Does, were sent in an armed boat to meet him. They 
 undertook that the Council should hold further deliberations 
 which might satisfy the Prince, and requested him to withdraw, 
 declaring haughtily ' that he might find cause to regret 
 forcing the townspeople to resort to those means of defence 
 with which God and nature had endowed them.' 
 
 When the Prince of Orange was informed of this check by 
 a letter from the Count of Nassau, in which he declared him- 
 self ' much troubled,' he could not conceal his vexation, but 
 
 VOL. I. E 
 
50 JOHN DE "WITT. 
 
 left the dinner-table hastily, and shut himself up in his closet 
 without speaking to any one. He persuaded himself, however, 
 that his own presence amongst his troops would turn the tide 
 of fortune in his favour, and seemed determined to achieve 
 by force what he had failed to win by surprise. Vainly his best 
 advisers tried to hold him back. Aartsbergen, who had accom- 
 panied him in his visits to the Town Councils of Holland, and 
 who until now had seemed to encourage a policy of violence, 
 represented to him that if he went on he would inevitably bring 
 about his ruin, and that, once he allowed his authority to be 
 destroyed, he would never be able to reinstate it. He was, 
 however, deaf even to the respectful remonstrances of the 
 Courts of Justice, which offered their mediation, and leaving 
 at the Hague his company of guards, he mounted his horse on 
 Monday, August 1, in the court of his palace, in the presence 
 of the deputies of the States-General. He was followed by a 
 large number of officers eager to distinguish themselves under 
 his orders. Amongst them were the Count of Brederode, a 
 major-general in the army, his maternal grand-uncle; his 
 cousin the Prince of Tarentum, who had left France after the 
 Fronde, and had come to seek his fortune in the army of the 
 United Provinces ; Frederick .de Schomberg, his chamberlain, 
 who became afterwards a Marshal of France, and returned to 
 his service after the revocation of the Edict of Nantes. But 
 suddenly, near Haarlem, halfway on his journey, there came to 
 meet him Louis of Nassau, Lord of Beverwaert, one of his most 
 devoted and most enlightened councillors. He put before the 
 Prince the danger which threatened him if the dykes were 
 cut, and represented to him that that he was exposing himself 
 and his forces to the risk of perishing in the midst of an 
 inundation. ' The inhabitants of the town,' writes Pomponne 
 in his memoirs, ' had already opened several sluices, and the 
 water which had spread over the low-lying lands had forced 
 the troops to seek more raised ground, and to retire to the 
 high roads. It lay with them to open all the others, and to 
 imperil the army by submerging the country.' They paused 
 before the dangers of a civU war, which would not have been 
 less fatal than an inundation to the interests of commerce. 
 
NEGOTIATIONS FOR AN AGREEMENT. 51 
 
 The fear of finding themselves isolated assisted also to 
 deter them from over-hasty action. No one of the other 
 towns appeared to support them. Haarlem allowed her gates 
 to be opened freely to the Prince's army; the citizens of 
 Leyden carried pickaxes, spades, and other such material to 
 the camp. As to the States of Holland, taken by surprise by 
 the arrest of their principal members, held in check by the 
 garrison which the Prince had left at the Hague, and treated 
 with suspicion at least, if not with enmity, by the deputies of 
 the other provinces, they dared not give the signal for resist- 
 ance. They contented themselves with consulting with the 
 States-General in order to call upon the Prince to desist from 
 the siege of Amsterdam, and to obtain the despatch of 
 commissioners with power to recall him. William, on his 
 part, having failed in his attempt, saw the necessity of not 
 persisting in it, but did not choose to appear forced to re- 
 linquish it. He accordingly gave orders to his lieutenants to 
 occupy the principal high roads so as to secure the troops 
 against any danger from inundation, and at the same time 
 showed a disposition to take the first steps towards an under- 
 standing. In the hope that these might be well received, he 
 wrote a letter to the burgomasters, which he sent by one of 
 his officers, complaining of the refusal of the authorities to 
 admit the Count of Nassau, and demanded an audience for 
 himself.' 
 
 The Council was summoned. The principal deputies re 
 presenting it in the Assembly of the States, Corver, Geelvinck, 
 Hasselaar, and De Graeff, had already returned to take their 
 places in it ; and those who had remained at the Hague, Kok 
 and the Pensionary Boom, had been recalled. Notwithstand- 
 ing the obstinate firmness of Cornelius Bicker, the policy of 
 conciliation won the day. Four commissioners were sent to 
 the Prince to offer him their compliments, and to assure him 
 that he would be received. ' I told them,' writes the Prince 
 in the memoir he left behind him, ' that I would not enter 
 
 ' The Prince's memoir. This memoir, as well as the correspondence of the 
 Prince with the commandant of the fortress of Loevestein, has been published by 
 Van Hasselt in the Becueil de Oids, 1843. 
 
 £ 2 
 
52 JOHN DE WITT4 
 
 their town unless I had my troops with me. They replied 
 that they had orders to permit my entrance only with the 
 usual escort.' William waived that point, and assured them 
 that, so far as he was concerned, he could conclude the business 
 quite as well outside the town, provided that they showed him 
 regular powers for treating. He even offered to come to an 
 underijanding with them as to the withdrawal of his forces. 
 The next day the deputies returned with full powers to nego- 
 tiate. The Prince then notified to them in writing the one 
 condition on which he would enter into any arrangement, 
 namely, the exclusion of the burgomaster, Cornelius Bicker 
 van Swieten, and of his brother Andrew. This unjust demand 
 would certainly have broken off the conference, if the secret 
 iealousy of the commissioners of the influence of the two 
 brothers had not induced them to yield. The treaty was signed 
 on August 3 ; and the burgomaster, far from opposing it, in- 
 sisted that the Council should accept his resignation and that of 
 his brother. No finer example could have been given, and no 
 higher title to the honours of public life could be found, than 
 thus to have saved their fellow-citizens from political servitude 
 by courageous resistance, and from civU war by a timely resig- 
 nation. The municipal council of Amsterdam was not slow 
 to render due homage to the two burgomasters in a procla- 
 mation which defended their conduct, and which was sent to 
 WUliam while he was still encamped under the walls of the 
 town. 
 
 The Prince of Orange might not, however, have obtained 
 this satisfaction if he had not used such haste in concluding 
 the negotiations. Hardly had the members of the Amsterdam 
 Council started to sign the agreement with him, when a 
 deputy from the States- General arrived in haste in the town 
 to persuade the authorities to refuse the demands of the 
 Stadtholder. Whilst he was assuring them, too late, that the 
 States-General had just despatched orders to recall the Stadt- 
 holder, William sent them word that the business was con- 
 cluded. 
 
 This convention left undecided the fate of the arrested 
 deputies. Tney had been sent to Loevestein under the escort 
 
CONSTANCY OF THE PEISONERS. 53 
 
 of Meteren, a lieutenant-colonel in the Prince of Orange's 
 guards, who was appointed commandant of the fortreps. 
 Within the walls of that old castle they found the remem- 
 brance still existing of one of the most illustrious victims of 
 the tyranny practised by the Stadtholder Maurice, uncle of 
 WUliam II. Grotius had been imprisoned there before them, 
 and had only escaped after two years of captivity by the 
 ingenious device of his wife, who had smuggled him out in 
 the chest which she had used to convey his books to him. 
 Measures had now been taken to frustrate every attempt at 
 liberating the prisoners of the Prince of Orange, who, fearing 
 an attack, had sent a supply of powder to the commandant of 
 the fortress. 
 
 The unjust persecution endured by the deputies did not 
 shake their courage. They were so closely guarded that they 
 could hold no communication with any one, even by letter. 
 But, notwithstanding the perplexity in which they were placed 
 by their ignorance of events, they were not tempted to yield 
 or even to waver. Twelve days after their arrest, the Prince 
 of Orange made a complaint to the commandant about a 
 letter which they had written to him. Annoyed, no doubt, at 
 his failure to induce them to ask for mercy, William sent 
 the following orders to increase the severity of their imprison- 
 ment : ' You are no longer to receive any letters from them, 
 nor to permit them to send any to any person whatsoever, and 
 to take particular care also that none shall reach, them from 
 outside.' He was not long, however, before mitigating his 
 severity, and the very next day began to give permission for 
 visits. But he still enjoined the strictest vigilance ; he 
 required reports of the prisoners' conversation, and wrote 
 again, at the very moment when he was about to release 
 them, ' You may allow M. Keyser to walk oecasionallj' upon 
 the ramparts, but never without sufficient escort.' 
 
 Notwithstanding their courageous attitude, the example of 
 Amsterdam had been in favour of the party of compromise 
 rather than of resistance. The Council of Dordrecht, it is 
 true, had not wavered in its courageous firmness ; it appealed 
 boldly to the rights which had been attacked by the kidnap- 
 
54 . JOHN DE WITT. 
 
 ping of their burgomaster, and called upon the deputies 
 representing it in the Assembly of the States 'to use their 
 utmost efforts for the deliverance of the captives before 
 accepting any proposal made.' But the other Town CouncUs 
 did not show themselves disposed to adopt the same line of 
 conduct. They consented to negotiate with the Prince of 
 Orange, and offered to obtain from the prisoners the resigna- 
 tion of their offices as a condition of freedom. The Pen- 
 sionary of Delft, Duyst van Yoorhout, had already caused 
 his relations as well as the Town Council to intercede for 
 his discharge, and now took the initiative in requesting 
 the favour of being relieved from all employment, on the 
 score of age. The Council of Dordrecht itself recognised 
 the necessity of submission, and on August 14 Jacob de 
 "Witt sent in the papers in which he resigned all pubhc 
 office. The Prince obtained a similar pledge rom the other 
 prisoners, and then set them at liberty after a captivity of 
 three weeks. 
 
 Angry feelings could not be so quickly allayed, and the 
 two parties remained facing each other in a hostile attitude. 
 To avoid the difficulties of a public entry at the Hague, the 
 Prince spent a few days on one of his estates, and then 
 returned in his hunting-dress. He contented himself with the 
 letter which he had addressed to the States of the province, 
 in which he represented his conduct as having been in con- 
 formity with the first orders given him by the States-General 
 to re-establish order and to preserve the Union. The States 
 of Zealand notified to him their unqualified approval. The 
 States of Friesland were equally cordial in theii- congratula- 
 tions. The other provinces were satisfied to express then- 
 thanks in terms more vague. Bat the States of Holland, to 
 whom he had especially addressed his defence of his conduct, 
 did not consider it necessary to take any notice of his memo- 
 randum, and desired Cats, their Grand Pensionary, to lay it 
 by unopened. They succeeded also in obtaining the satisfac- 
 tion they demanded, in the dismissal of a part of the forces, 
 to which William had been so much opposed. The States- 
 General finally disbanded fifty-five companies of foot and 
 
APPAEENT AGREEMENT. 55 
 
 twelve of horse — altogether about six thousand men. The 
 question of the dismissal of thirteen hundred men, to which 
 had finally been reduced the difference which provoked the 
 conflict, was, it is true, adjourned, but only for a short time, 
 and the States of Holland might congratulate themselves on 
 a compromise by which they partially gained their cause. 
 They were obliged to promise not to take upon themselves 
 again the right to dismiss their contingent of troops, but they 
 still reserved to themselves freedom to grant or refuse their 
 payment. With this condition they voted for the reduced 
 military establishment as proposed. 
 
 The agreement was only apparent. The republican party, 
 convinced by William's attempt that he had intended to 
 change the government of the United Provinces, maintained 
 an attitude of suspicion towards him. Amsterdam was espe- 
 cially bold; the companies of the civic guard were raised 
 from twenty to fifty-four men, and were kept constantly exer- 
 cised ; numerous soldiers were taken into the pay of the town, 
 and the work of the fortifications was actively pushed for- 
 ward. ' These worthies of Holland,' writes Brasset, the 
 French ambassador, ' have bent, but have not been broken.' 
 The opponents of the Prince of Orange treated him as an 
 enemy, and their hostility is thus explained in a contemporary 
 pamphlet : — ' If my goods are stolen; my hands tied, my free- 
 dom taken from me, what matters it to me if he who does 
 this is a Spaniard, a barbarian, or a fellow-countryman ? If 
 I lose my liberty and become a slave, the fashion signifies 
 little. Freedom is a noble and delicate thing, which must not 
 be touched by any one, and which desires only to be let alone 
 and not troubled.' 
 
 William, on his side, notwithstanding the satisfaction he 
 pretended to feel, could not disguise from himself that his 
 coup d'etat was a failure. He had succeeded neither in making 
 himself master of Amsterdam, nor in breaking down the 
 power of the States. He had obtained no other advantage 
 than the retirement of eight obnoxious magistrates, and he 
 foresaw that such of their partisans as from fear or policy sub- 
 mitted to the present state of affairs would seize the first oppor- 
 
56 JOHN DE WITT. 
 
 tunity to renew their action. He did not, however, renounce 
 the idea of getting the government into his own hands. ' He 
 has resigned himself to the dismissal of the troops,' writes 
 Brasset, ' and is making the best of this disagreeable neces- 
 sity ; but I feel sure that, seeing what a game there is to play, 
 he is still thinking how to push matters on so as to annihilate 
 as far as possible a party which he distrusts.' 
 
 While he seemed occupied only with hunting-parties on 
 his estate of Dieren, in Guelders, that he might the better con- 
 ceal his ambitious designs, he was still endeavouring to further 
 them by the project of a secret treaty which he was negotia- 
 ting with France. Arrogating to himself already the right to 
 dispose as he pleased of the repubhc, he signed a convention 
 with Count d'Estrades, whom he had summoned to the Hague. 
 By this the King of France and the Prince of Orange en- 
 gaged themselves ' to attack conjointly the Netherlands on May 
 
 I, 1651, with an army of 20,000 foot and 10,000 horse, to 
 break at the same time with Cromwell, to re-establish Charles 
 
 II. as King of England, and to make no treaty with Spain 
 excepting in concert with each other.' The Prince of Orange 
 guaranteed a fleet of fifty vessels besides the land contingent, 
 and in return for his co-operation was promised the absolute 
 possession of the city of Antwerp and the Duchy of Brabant 
 or Marquisate of the Holy Eoman Empire. William thus in- 
 terested France in the success of his cause by making ready 
 to resume the war with Spain, and calculated, as he told his 
 confidants, on profiting by her assistance to disperse the cabal 
 opposed to him, in which effort he was himself incessantly en- 
 gaged. 'If he had lived,' writes Eacine in his 'Historical 
 Fragments,' ' we may pretty confidently assert that there 
 would have been an end of the republic in Holland.' 
 
 The internal pacification amounted then to no more than a 
 truce, when three months later the Prince of Orange, having 
 over-fatigued and heated himself in the chase, was seized with 
 small-pox, of which in a few days he died. He was thus car- 
 ried off at the age of twenty-four, in the full force and flower of 
 his age, leaving only one son, born a week after his father's 
 death. William II. had lost the best part of the inheritance 
 
DEATH OF WILLIAM THE SECOND. 57 
 
 he might have bequeathed to him, the attachment of the 
 repubhcan party which he had irretrievably ahenated. One of 
 the allegorical medals struck by his enemies after his death repre- 
 sents a fiery steed rushing towards the sun which is rising 
 over Amsterdam : on the reverse appears the fall of Phaeton, 
 with this inscription : Magjiis excidit ausis—' By his great 
 designs he destroyed himself.' 
 
 His attempt at a coup d'etat was destined to press heavily 
 and long upon the fate of the posthumous son, who had to 
 wait twenty-two years before succeeding to his ancestral func- 
 tions. It closed the succession to him for many years, by 
 making the stadtholdership a standing menace to the public 
 freedom. The name of the Castle of Loevestein, put forward 
 as a war-cry and rallying note, was to be made use of hence- 
 forward to perpetuate irritating recollections, and recall the 
 constantly reviving fears of the party opposed to the House of 
 Orange. By one of those sudden changes of fortune which 
 generally follow too ambitious a grasp at supreme power, the 
 death of the Prince of Orange, following so closely his attack 
 upon Holland, left the future destinies of his house at the 
 mercy of his enemies. It was the signal for a change of 
 government. ' These people,' wrote the French ambassador, 
 ' appear to intend to profit by the opportunity to govern 
 themselves.' Milton, the great republican poet of England, 
 addressed pointed congratulations to the States- General on 
 the opportune death of the Stadtholder which enabled them 
 to escape from servitude. 
 
 The son of William II., an orphan before his birth, and 
 named William like his father, seemed destined to succeed to 
 little more than the paternal name. No child, indeed, could 
 have succeeded to the powers exercised by the late Stadtholder. 
 The family of Orange, which for nearly a century had been 
 invested with the principal civil and military authority in the 
 confederation, was only represented now by an heir so delicate 
 and fragile that it was doubtful if he would live. And the 
 weakness of the house was still further increased by the divi- 
 sions which took place round his cradle. The rivalry of the 
 two Princesses of Orange, the Princess Dowager and the 
 
58 JOHN DE "WITT. 
 
 Princess Eoyal, the mother and widow of William II., and 
 their hostility towards Count William of Nassau, who alone 
 could have given them efficient aid, favoured the attempt 
 made by the republican party to establish a new government 
 without a stadtholder. 
 
 The Princess Dowager, Amelia of Solms, formerly maid- 
 of-honour to Elizabeth, Queen of Bohemia, had not sufficient 
 force of character to enable her to rally round herself the 
 partisans of her grandson. She was affable and gracious, 
 as we see her in her portrait in the Amsterdam Gallery, and 
 according to the English ambassador. Temple, who knew her 
 well, ' she was a woman of the most wit and good sense in 
 general that he had known ; ' and there could be no doubt that 
 the young Prince, so early deprived of his mother, owed to the 
 care of his grandmother the many great qualities he possessed. 
 But she had the reputation of not being disinterested, and was 
 said to be fond of intrigue. She liked to play a double game, 
 and affected a desire to come to a good understanding with 
 the republican party; while, according to the reports sent to 
 Mazarin by the French ambassador, 'if she showed any 
 cordiality towards the chiefs of the party of Holland, it was 
 only in order to obtain the continuation of the pension usually 
 accorded by that province to the widow of their Governor.' 
 At the same time her dislike to her daughter-in-law, the 
 Princess Eoyal, induced her to appear averse from all 
 monarchical ideas ; and she went so far one day as to say, in 
 presence of the French ambassador, ' that she considered 
 Cromwell as a great man, who had known how to execute 
 a lofty and perilous design.' Not all her advances, however, 
 towards the republican party could obtain her credit for 
 sincerity. ' She is detested and despised by the Dutch cabal,' 
 writes a French correspondent, ' although she lent her aid to 
 make peace with Spain.' 
 
 She had been successful in looking after her own interests. 
 ' None ever showed more the force of order and economy,' writes 
 Temple, ' than this Princess, who with small revenues, never 
 above 12,000L a year since her husband's death, lived always 
 in as great plenty, and more curiousness and elegance than. 
 
THE PKINCESS DOWAGER AND THE PEINCESS EOYAL. 59 
 
 is seen in many greater courts.' Her furniture was magnificent, 
 and she was served always on gold plate ; all that she touched 
 even was of that metal. When she did not reside on her 
 estate of Turnehout in Brabant, or at Zevenbergen in Holland, 
 she lived at the Hague in the Brantwyck Palace, which is 
 now the royal residence. Her favourite abode was the Forest 
 House, which she had built in the woods of the Hague, in 
 honour of her husband, the Stadtholder Frederick Henry. 
 It was designed by the skilful architect Peter Poot ; and nine 
 of the greatest painters of the day, including Eubens and 
 Vandyke, had decorated the principal apartment, the Orange 
 hall, which has remained intact for two centuries, and in 
 which the last Queen of the Netherlands preserved, even in our 
 day, the tradition of a princely hospitality. 
 
 The Princess of Orange, Mary, daughter of Charles I., 
 known as the Princess Eoyal, left at nineteen a widow, and 
 about to become a mother, nearly fell a victim to her grief. 
 Born on the steps of a throne that had been overturned to give 
 place to a scaffold, married to a Prince who might have been 
 expected long to enjoy the authority of Stadtholder, but who 
 had now been struck down by death, she yet found in her 
 hopes of motherhood strength to support the weight of her 
 misfortunes. She resolved to remain constant in her widow- 
 hood, because^ as she nobly said, she desired to be married 
 only to the interests of her son ; and, notwithstanding her 
 youth, she might have been found capable of ruling the affairs 
 of the State, for she had wit, judgment, and a great deal of 
 prudence. But she injured the cause of the young Prince by 
 a pride, of which the fine portrait by Van der Heist in the 
 Amsterdam Gallery has preserved the expression. She was 
 persuaded that, in remaining faithful to her, the friends of the 
 House of Orange did but fulfil their duty, and thought it due 
 to her birth that she should stoop to no familiarity, ' which 
 does not at all please people nowadays,' wrote some Dutchmen 
 who had gone to pay their respects to her before starting on a 
 journey to France. She habitually neglected to secure by 
 any advances on her part the support of the wives of the 
 principal deputies, who might easily have won over their 
 
60 JOHN DE "WITT. 
 
 husbands to the interests of her son. She admitted no one 
 to her table. Thus, when the French ambassador paid her a 
 visit at her country seat of Honsholredyck, as he would not 
 consent to eat with her attendants, he was obliged, as he 
 naively writes, to suffer the inconvenience of travelling there 
 and back without refreshment. She continued with her 
 son to inhabit the apartments of the Stadtholders at the 
 Hague, ia a wing of the old palace of the Counts of Holland, 
 of which the States-General and the States of Holland occu- 
 pied the other part. Her principal adviser was Kerckhove, 
 Lord of Heenvliet, Grand Forester of Holland, whom she 
 appointed steward of her household. He had won her 
 favour by the memory of his connection with the King of 
 England, by whom he had been employed in several negotia- 
 tions, and by the English bu-th of his wife. But he betrayed 
 the confidence reposed in him, and his disloyalty becoming 
 known at last brought him to deserved disgrace. 
 
 Jealous of the free exercise of her natural rights, the 
 Princess Eoyal had no intention of sharing them with her 
 mother-in-law, whose lower origin she scorned, and she allowed 
 no occasion to pass of treating her with arrogance. 
 
 The disputes raised as to the guardianship of the young 
 Prince embittered the animosity of the two Princesses, and 
 made them public. As they could not arrive at an amicable 
 arrangement, they appealed to the States of Holland, who 
 referred the case to the provmcial law courts. Whilst they 
 were examining the matter, the Elector of Brandenburg, by 
 his support of the pretensions of the Princess Dowager, whose 
 eldest daughter he had married, and by his appeal to the 
 rights of succession which would accrue to him in case of the 
 death of his nephew, only injured her cause by his interference. 
 After vain attempts to bring about an agreement, the judges 
 finally decided in favour of the claims of the Princess Eoyal. 
 She was acknowledged as chief guardian, and the most 
 important part of the guardian's authority was left in her 
 hands. The Princess Dowager and the Elector of Branden- 
 burg appealed to the Great Council, which had the power of 
 confirming or reversing the sentences of the Court of Justice. 
 
CRITICAL POSITION OF THE HOUSE OF OEANGE. 61 
 
 Two months afterwards the Great Council pronounced for 
 them, and a compromise was thus arranged by which the 
 Princess Eoyal recognised their right to take part in the 
 guardianship ; her share in it, however, being equal to that 
 of the two others combined. 
 
 The only chief round whom the Orange party might have 
 rallied was Count William Frederick of Nassau, Stadtholder of 
 Friesland and Groningen, the grandson of John, surnamed 
 the Old, youngest brother of 'William I. He had distinguished 
 himself in the war of independence, was brave and enterprising, 
 as well as frank and open, and added to natural kindness of 
 heart the most winning courtesy of manner. But the recollec- 
 tion of his attempt against Amsterdam was against him ; the 
 failure of that audacious enterprise had made him doubtful 
 of himself, and he feared to expose himself again to the re- 
 sentment of the States of Holland. The antagonism of the 
 two Princesses could not fail also to discourage him. The 
 Princess Dowager, whose daughter he afterwards married, 
 began by repulsing his offers of service. ' I have been twice 
 to court,' he writes to one of his correspondents, ' to see if her 
 Highness had need of me, or wished to make use of me, but 
 she has never done me that honour.' She believed him to be 
 incompetent for the offices to which he might have aspired, 
 and added ' that in case he should ever attain them she should 
 prefer to quit the country.' The Princess Eoyal was even 
 less well-disposed towards him; her whole confidence was 
 given to his declared enemy, Louis of Nassau, lord of Bever- 
 waert, a natural son of Maurice of Orange. Count William 
 Frederick's conduct provoked this hostility. Immediately 
 after the death of William II. he had got himself appointed 
 Stadtholder of Groningen, instead of seeing this part of his 
 paternal inheritance transferred to the young Prince of 
 Orange, and he had even attempted to obtain the stadtholder- 
 ship of Overyssel. The two Princesses consequently looked 
 upon him as a champion rather to be feared than trusted for 
 the young Prince, and dreaded lest under the cloak of a pro- 
 tector he might secretly become his rival. 
 
 His cousin, Prince John Maurice of Nassau- Siegen, godson 
 
'62 JOHN DE WITT. 
 
 of Maurice of Orange, and through his father John the 
 Young ' equally descended from William I., had no temptation 
 to grasp at the enjoyment of power by violent means. He 
 was now lieutenant-general of cavalry and governor of Wesel, 
 and had at the age of sixteen acquired military renown, which 
 he had since brilliantly justified. He had been entrusted by 
 the India Company with the government of Brazil, and had 
 during a period of seven years rendered eminent services to 
 the republic both by conquest and administration, so that to 
 him the colony was indebted for a brief prosperity. For the 
 last ten years now he had been again living at the Hague, and 
 had there built for himself, amidst gardens which formed the 
 chief ornament of the town, the splendid palace which bears 
 his name, and has since become the habitation of the Museum. 
 He was in correspondence with all the learned men of the day, 
 and occupied his leisure in the composition of works on natural 
 history which are still justly valued. In 1644 the office of 
 Stadtholder of the Ehenish provinces was committed to him 
 by the Elector of Brandenburg, who had known him in his 
 youth at the University of Cleves. His proved valour, his 
 affability, and the conciliatory temper which, in the opiuion 
 of a contemporary, ' caused him readily to accept the view of 
 any one who spoke to him, without preventing his pursuing 
 his aims as adroitly as any man living,' might well have con- 
 duced to his popularity. But his commission from a foreign 
 potentate kept him at a distance from the territory of the 
 republic, made him an object of suspicion, and damaged his 
 credit. His only anxiety, however, was to secure the favour 
 of the dominant party. A few days after "William's death he 
 presented himself to the States- General to declare to them 
 ' that he was a good and loyal .servant of the republic, and to 
 beg that they would so consider him.' He cherished the hope 
 of being called upon, rather than his cousin, the Count of 
 Nassau, to succeed William as captain-general, and was care- 
 ful to do nothing that might compromise his interests. 
 
 Whilst the House of Orange thus offered to the world the 
 
 > John the Young was the youngest son of John the Old, brother of 
 William I. 
 
THE GREAT ASSEMBLY SUMMONED. 63 
 
 spectacle of its divisions, the republican party, firmly knit 
 together and boldly led, was profiting eagerly by circumstances 
 so favourable to the foundation of a new government. The 
 religious pomp and public rejoicings which celebrated the 
 baptism of the young Prince, the honours which the deputies 
 of the States-General, and of the States and principal cities 
 of Holland, vied in offering to him, were but hollow testimonies 
 of djmastic loyalty. Measures had none the less been con- 
 certed beforehand to profit by the infant's minority, and not 
 to leave to him as his hereditary right the government of the 
 republic under the power of a regent. 
 
 Three days after the death of William II., the former 
 deputies, whom he had treated as state prisoners and deprived 
 of all their offices, were recalled to take their seats in the 
 Assembly. At the same time the provincial Town Councils 
 assumed the power of nominating their own magistrates, 
 which had almost always been left to the pleasure of the 
 Stadtholder, and thus obtained the full enjoyment of muni- 
 cipal freedom. The States of Holland, on their side, grasped 
 the authority hitherto exercised in their province by the 
 Prince of Orange, and claimed successively all the rights 
 of sovereignty. The States of Zealand, notwithstanding the 
 loyalty which they had always preserved towards the House 
 of Orange, exhibited the same eagerness to free themselves 
 from all subjection, by abolishing the dignity of premier 
 noble which had given to the ancestors of the Prince the 
 right of appointing a substitute to represent the whole body 
 of the nobles, and to preside over their deliberations. Thus, 
 before declaring the stadtholdership vacant, the office was 
 deprived of its prerogatives. 
 
 To complete this transformation of the government, the 
 States of Holland took the initiative in summoning to the 
 Hague a great assembly of the Confederation, which met at 
 the beginning of the year 1651. They were resolved to take 
 the leading part, and accordingly carefully prepared the pro- 
 gramme of all the propositions which they submitted to it ; 
 and, to ensure them a favourable reception, they sent deputa- 
 tions to the different provinces composed of the best accredited 
 
64 JOHN DE "WITT. 
 
 representatives of their policy. The congress was called upon 
 to decide between two forms of constitution. The question 
 was whether the United Provinces should be a republic 
 governed by the States-General, or whether the government 
 should belong to the States of each province, with only a 
 reservation in favour of the obligations imposed by the Act of 
 Union. Was each province to be sovereign in itself, or subject 
 to the federal power ? Such was the problem, the political 
 importance of which was even greater than the rivalries of 
 the Orange and republican parties. 
 
 Holland was the province most interested in this great 
 debate. The republic was maintained principally by her re- 
 sources, more than half the expenses of the Confederation were 
 borne by her, and even in the sixteenth century she had been 
 described by a French ambassador as ' the best part of the 
 equipment, the rest being merely secondary.' She had the 
 I'ight of appointing the ambassadors and ministers who repre- 
 sented the republic at the courts of France, Sweden, and 
 Germany.' And she shared also, by the appointment of one 
 of her deputies, in all extraordinary embassies. Having 
 already this advantage over aU the other provinces, Holland 
 could not submit to the supremacy of the States-General, 
 which would reduce her to the level of the other members of 
 the Union, and would leave her the disposal of only one vote 
 in their deliberations. She feared that their power, which had 
 already been turned against her by the Stadtholders Maurice 
 and William H., might become the means of enslaving her. 
 She desired, therefore, to leave in their hands only strictly de- 
 fined powers, that her independence might be secure from any 
 attack. The condition of success for this policy was the 
 abolition, or at least the vacancy of the stadtholdership, which, 
 combined with the offices of Admiral and Captain-General, 
 had concentrated in the hands of the Princes of Orange all 
 the executive power of the Confederation, without which the 
 States- General would be reduced to impotence. It was for 
 Holland then to bring roimd to her own views the other pro- 
 
 ■ The States-General maintained ordinary embassies only in France and 
 England ; Zealand had the right of appointing to the English embassy. 
 
REACTION AGAINST THE STADTHOLDEKSHIP. 65 
 
 vinces who had contrary interests to defend. It was for this 
 purpose that she had convened a solemn meeting of all the 
 deputies. The great hall of the court of the old Counts 
 of Holland, which still remains intact in the old palace of 
 Binnendof, was prepared for their reception. It was deco- 
 rated with all the banners won from Spain during the war of 
 independence. Three hundred members were here assembled, 
 and the States of Holland, more effectually to secure their 
 own preponderance, sat in a body. The session was opened 
 by their Grand Pensionary, Jacob Cats, in a speech which 
 declared the necessity of their convocation, and which placed 
 before them for immediate discussion the most urgent ques- 
 tions concerning the maintenance of the Union of Utrecht and 
 the command of the federal army. 
 
 The maintenance of the Union of Utrecht seemed to de- 
 mand the continuance of the stadtholdership in all the pro- 
 vinces, so that the Stadtholders might continue to act as 
 arbitrators in all differences, and might remain the guardians 
 of a good understanding between the confederates. But 
 Holland vigorously maintained the right of each province to 
 govern itself with or without a Stadtholder, and made known, 
 for her part, the irrevocable determination to dispense with 
 the stadtholdership of an infant. This declaration even did 
 not appear sufficient. Desiring to prevent the Stadtholder 
 chosen by any of the other provinces from taking any active 
 part in the internal affairs of the republic, and especially in- 
 terested in avoiding any intervention from Count William 
 Frederick of Nassau in his capacity of Stadtholder of Fries- 
 land and Groningen, the deputies of Holland secured the 
 passing of a resolution that the oiEce of arbitrator in all dis- 
 putes between the confederates should belong to the deputies 
 of those provinces that were not interested in the difference. 
 Henceforth, whether the stadtholdership were retained or 
 abolished by the other provinces, it could no longer cause any 
 uneasiness to Holland. 
 
 To make her security complete, there remained only to 
 provide against the military power which had always belonged 
 to the Admiral and Captain-General of the Union, who was 
 
 VOL. I. F 
 
66 JOHN DE WITT. 
 
 appointed by the States-General. She feared the use which 
 might be made of these powers to her detriment, and the still 
 recent recollection of the coup d'etat of the last Stadtholder 
 quickened her anxiety. There was no one, indeed, but the 
 young son of William II. who could be chosen for these offices, 
 and it was equally certain that during his minority his place 
 would be filled by the Count of Nassau, who had incurred the 
 enmity of Holland by his expedition against Amsterdam. 
 Holland, therefore, desired only to retain the command of 
 major-general, which was filled by the Count of Brederode, a 
 member of the Provincial Assembly, who since the death of 
 William II. had joined the republican party. In order to pre- 
 vent any other appointment, she put forward the objections 
 both of the tender age of the young Prince, which made it im- 
 possible for him to exercise any military command, and of the 
 peace concluded with Spain, which allowed the republic to dis- 
 pense without danger with a commander-in-chief.' Notwith- 
 standing the resistance of the deputies of Friesland, the 
 other provinces recognised the impossibility of imposing their 
 choice upon Holland without provoking a breach of the Union ; 
 and contenting themselves with leaving the supreme command 
 in reserve for the young heir of the House of Orange, they re- 
 nounced for the present the appointment of an admiral and 
 captain-general. The provincial States shared henceforth with 
 the States- General the command of the federal army; they 
 took into their own hands, not merely the nomination to all com- 
 missions and the appointment of commandants of fortresses, 
 but also the issuing of marching orders called patents, to 
 which they reserved the right of sanction whenever any troops 
 other than those of their own contingent should be summoned 
 into their territory.^ The military power was thus divided and 
 
 ' The States-General continued to dispose of appointments to the staff. 
 The provincial States reserved to themselves the appointment of colonels, 
 captains, and lieutenants in the regiments and companies composing their own 
 contingent. 
 
 ' The recollection of the use which William II. had made of his right of 
 issuing patents when he was preparing his coup dYtat, caused Holland to insist 
 upon a multiplication of precautions to prevent any abuse. This important 
 prerogative of the Stadtholders was henceforth to be exercised by the States- 
 General, but subject to the preliminary approval of the pro/incial States. 
 
LEAD TAKEN BY THE STATES OE HOLLAND. 67 
 
 lessened. It might be found insufficient in time of war, but in 
 time of peace it would no longer be dangerous to internal freedom. 
 
 Thus protected for the future against all violence, Holland 
 had only to obtain reparation for the past by inducing the 
 other provinces to annul the resolutions they had passed 
 favourable to the late Stadth'older's enterprise. She was quick 
 to seize the first opportunity which presented itself to obtain 
 this satisfaction. The Grand Pensionary of Holland, Cats, 
 had received from the late Stadtholder a sealed paper, intended 
 to justify the imprisonment of the deputies and the attempt 
 against Amsterdam. The Assembly of the States had left it 
 in his hands. But on the eve of resigning his office he 
 thought himself bound to give up this document, and the 
 majority of the deputies demanded that it should be read. 
 Their indignation was soon aroused, and, indeed, seemed 
 justified by the audacity with which William appealed in 
 defence of his conduct to the violence offered to Olden Barne- 
 veldt in the name of the States-General thirty-one years 
 previously, by the Stadtholder Maurice, The States of Holland 
 lost no time in opposing to this memorandum a solemn re- 
 futation in which they gave free expression to their just 
 resentment. While the towns, whose deputies had been 
 arrested, certified their innocence and restored them to the 
 exercise of their municipal offices, the States, notwithstanding 
 the opposition of the deputies of Leyden,. declared that 
 ' Messrs. Jacob de Witt, de Waal, Euyl, Duyst van Voorhout, 
 Keyser, and Stellingwerf, as well as the two brothers Cornelius 
 and Andrew Bicker, burgomasters of Amsterdam, had only 
 obeyed the orders of their lawful sovereigns, and the prompt- 
 ings of the zeal and loyalty due to their country.' To this 
 declaration they added a vote of 5,000 florins, to compensate 
 the city of Amsterdam for the expenses incurred in resisting 
 the attack of William II. 
 
 They at the same time boldly assumed the offensive, and 
 rather from a well-calculated policy than from any eagerness 
 for reprisals, instituted proceedings against the advisers and 
 accomplices of William's attempt, and in particular against 
 Aerssen van Sommelsdyck, colonel of horse and a member of 
 
 F 2 
 
68 JOHN DE WITT. 
 
 their assembly, who had executed the first orders of the 
 Stadtholder. They were the more disposed to act with rigour 
 towards him, that they could not forget the part taken by his 
 father, who had been one of the principal councillors of 
 Prince Maurice of Orange, in the condemnation and execution 
 of Barneveldt. The deputies of Friesland, foreseeing the 
 danger to which these proceedings exposed their Stadtholder, 
 William of Nassau, who had taken an equal share in the 
 coup d'etat, urged the States-General to propose to the States 
 of Holland a general amnesty, accompanied by the annuUiag 
 of the resolutions which had given offence. The deputies of 
 the other provinces were readily disposed to accord a satisfac- 
 tion which had no appearance of being forced upon them, and 
 which might became a pledge of public peace. The States of 
 Holland for their part consented to drop the legal proceedings 
 already commenced against Sommelsdyck, on condition that 
 he should for the present cease to take his seat in the Assembly 
 of the States ;' and, proud of the honourable reparation offered 
 to them, were easily persuaded to forego a useless revenge. 
 The disavowal of past proceedings might well suffice them. 
 
 The Assembly of the States- General, known as their High 
 Mightinesses, was in future under their dominion. Having 
 no longer either a civil or a military chief to enforce obedience 
 from the different provinces, it was deprived of the pre- 
 ponderating power previously exercised by it. It was composed 
 of deputies from the seven provinces, to each of which the 
 presidency fell in weekly rotation. These deputies were paid 
 by the States of their province.^ They generally numbered 
 thirty or forty, but their votes were only counted by 
 provinces.' The Assembly sat permanently. It fixed the 
 
 ' Sommelsdyck sat in the Assembly as a member of the nobility. 
 
 ' The deputies of Holland to the States-General received four florins daily ; 
 those of the other provinces, who had some distance to travel to the Hague, 
 received six florins. 
 
 ' The members of the States-General were delegated from the States of 
 their respective provinces, sometimes for three, sometimes for six years, accord- 
 ing to the particular constitution of the province. Some sat during their whole 
 term of office, as the Councillor Pensionary of Holland. Others, like the 
 deputy of the nobles of Holland, and the members for Utrecht and Zealand, 
 held their seats for life. 
 
NEW CONSTITUTION OF THE KEPUBLIC. 69 
 
 contingent of the army and the fleet, and divided all com- 
 mon expenses amongst the provinces. It had the right of 
 making treaties, of deliberating and voting upon questions 
 of peace and war, and upon the measures, both financial and 
 military, which concerned the defence of the country. It 
 received foreign ambassadors, and treated with them and with 
 their sovereigns in the name of the republic. The appoint- 
 ment of general officers in the army, and of the principal 
 commanders in the fleet, belonged to it. The superintendence 
 of the colonies and the government of conquered and annexed 
 territories, such as Brabant, which were called countries of 
 the Generality, formed also a part of its functions. Its 
 principal officer was a Secretary- General, who was assisted by 
 a Treasurer and a Eeceiver-General. The Secretary of the 
 States-General, who held his appointment for life, had charge 
 of all correspondence, drew up and prepared resolutions, had 
 the right to be present at all committees and at conferences 
 with foreign ambassadors, received the despatches of the 
 ministers representing the republic abroad, and thus shared 
 with the Grand Pensionary of Holland in the direction of the 
 government. 
 
 The powers of the Federal Assembly, extended as they 
 were, were yet subordinate to the authority of the States of 
 each province. The States-General represented the sovereignty 
 of the members of the Union, but were not themselves sove- 
 reign. The States of each province issued instructions to 
 their delegates to the States-General. Their unanimous 
 consent was necessary to give the force of law to the resolu- 
 tions of the Federal Assembly. In reality the States-General 
 exercised no authority, even nominally, in the different 
 provinces, and they could not publish their resolutions with- 
 out the assistance of the provincial States, to whom they were 
 forced to appeal. The confederation of the United Provinces 
 was, like that of Switzerland, only with the federal bond more 
 closely drawn, a league of States which, while combining a 
 part of their resources for mutual protection, none the less 
 preserved intact their internal independence. 
 
 Beside the States-General was the CouncU of State, which 
 
70 , JOHN DE WITT, 
 
 in the first days of the republic had presided over the direction 
 of both the home and foreign affairs of the confederation, but 
 was now reduced to scanty powers, which the General Assembly 
 had recently still further restricted. It was composed of 
 twelve members, distributed among the provinces according 
 to their importance ; ' each member voted for himself, and 
 questions were decided by a majority of votes. The Council 
 of State was assisted by a secretary, who in reality took the 
 lead in it. The Stadtholders of the various provinces had 
 seats in it, as had also the officers of the States- General, such 
 as the Secretary, the Treasurer-General, and the Eeceiver^ 
 General. Its principal functions consisted in jurisdiction 
 over the countries known as the Generalities, in financial 
 administration which was also controlled by a court of audit, 
 and superintendence of military matters. The Council of 
 State shared with the States-General the supreme command 
 and direction of all warlike operations, and was more especially 
 charged with the administration of the army. It concerned 
 itself with the levy of troops, with their armament and 
 discipline, and with the maintenance and care of the fortifiea^ 
 tion and frontier places. It drew up each year a detailed 
 report of the common expenses, known as the war report, or 
 the budget of the confederation, and which was laid before it 
 by the Treasurer-General. It decreed the distribution and 
 employment of the revenue, but had no share in the imposition 
 or levying of the taxes,^ which had been arranged between 
 themselves by the provinces in an Act passed in 1612,^ and 
 the proceeds of which each province remitted directly to the 
 Eeceiver-General. The Council of State had no other function, 
 therefore, than to assist the States-General, of which it was in 
 some sort an auxiliary. 
 
 ' Of these twelve councillors, three belonged to HoUaud, two to Guelders, 
 two to Zealand, two to Friesland, one to the province of Utrecht, one to 
 Oberyssel, and one to Groningen. They were generally elected for three years, 
 but some sat for life. 
 
 2 The right of levying taxes only belonged to the Council of State in the 
 countries of the Generality. 
 
 3 The division of this contribution was approximatively thus:— Holland 
 paid 58 per cent. ; Friesland, 11 ; Zealand, 9 ; Guelders, 5 ; Utrecht, 5 ; 
 Groningen, 5 ; Overyssel, 3 ; the countries of the Generality, 1. 
 
THE STATES-GENERAL. 71 
 
 The States-General had only a very limited share in the 
 administration of the maritime affairs on which the power 
 of the republic depended. This was in the hands of the 
 admiralties, and was divided between five boards — the 
 admiralty board of the Meuse, which sat at Eotterdam ; that 
 of Amsterdam, of North Holland, of Zealand, and of Friesland. 
 These boards, of which three belonged to Holland, were 
 composed of deputies elected by the provincial States or by 
 the municipal councils of the towns having a right to be 
 represented on the board. The preponderance of votes was 
 secured to the deputies of the province where the board 
 sat. This organisation gave a just supremacy to Holland, 
 since she contributed five- sixths of the equipment and arma- 
 ment of the fleet, one-third of which was borne by the city of 
 Amsterdam alone. In time of peace the admiralty of Fries- 
 land was reduced to a single vessel, and that of Zealand to 
 only eighteen, while the admiralty boards of Holland could 
 send to sea a hundred and six vessels, North Holland being 
 bound to equip sixteen, Eotterdam twenty, and Amsterdam 
 seventy, of which the smallest was armed with fifty guns. 
 The admiralties kept up each their own squadron, of which 
 the expenses were defrayed by the harbour dues on incoming 
 and outgoing merchant ships, ^ and by the extraordinary 
 subsidies of the States-General. They appointed the lieu- 
 tenants of their ships, and submitted the names of the 
 captains to the States-General, and each in its own district 
 exercised maritime jurisdiction. As to the lieutenant-admirals, 
 vice-admirals, and rear-admirals of each squadron, they were 
 appointed by the States of the province from which each 
 admiralty depended. The States-General could only appoint 
 to the command in chief of the fleet, and even to this the 
 States of Holland had the right of proposing a candidate. It 
 belonged to them, however, to fix the increase or decrease, as 
 well as the use of the naval forces of the republic, which in 
 time of peace mustered a hundred and fifteen ships of war. 
 
 Immediately after the Great Assembly of 1651, the pro- 
 vincial States, who had gradually freed themselves from all 
 ' In 1660 and in 1668 these produced at Amsterdam two millions ol florins. 
 
72 JOHN DE WITT. 
 
 dependence on the States-General and the Council of State, 
 and were now for the most part, excepting Friesland and 
 Groningen, ■antrammelled by the supreme authority of any 
 Stadtholder, and not even subject to the control of a com- 
 mander-in-chief, became thus possessed of the entire govern- 
 ment of the provinces. Their administrative, financial, and 
 military power was completed by the judicial authority; 
 the appointment of the judges was now in then- hands, and 
 justice was delivered in their own name, in default of a Stadt- 
 holder, without any intervention from the States-General. 
 Some provinces, like Holland and Zealand, might have common 
 tribunals, but none depended upon a federal court. Even the 
 settlement of disputes between the provinces was withdrawn 
 from the functions of the States-General. According to the 
 decision of the Great Assembly of 1651, these differences 
 were in future to be reconciled by means of an almost 
 voluntary arbitration; and before the Assembly dispersed, 
 every precaution had been taken, in case of dissension even 
 between one province and all the others, to protect the rights 
 of the minority against the will of the majority. 
 
 Thus left to themselves, but incapable of maintaining 
 themselves single-handed, and no longer able to invoke the 
 authority of the States- General as a protection against the 
 domination of Holland, the different provinces must needs 
 fall into dependence upon Holland, and would surely be 
 brought under her ascendency in spite of the resistance of 
 Zealand, which could alone though unsuccessfully attempt 
 rivalry with her. Some years later, Huybert, the Pensionary 
 of Zealand, wrote accordingly, ' Our ancestors had reason to 
 foresee and fear, whUe they were still so fortunate as to possess 
 a chief of the State, that in default of such a chief that 
 province would attempt to make herself the centre of all, and 
 to exercise supremacy over the confederates, as we see now 
 has been done.' 
 
 Freed from the counterbalancing power of the Stadtholder, 
 Holland to a great extent absorbed the federal power, and was 
 the gainer by all that that power lost. The supremacy to 
 which she aspired was justified not merely by the contingent 
 
THE STATES OF HOLLAND. 73 
 
 of men, money, and ships, which she furnished to the con- 
 federation. The division of all the powers of government 
 between the States-General, the Council of State, and the 
 provincial States, made the guardianship of Holland the more 
 necessary that by it alone could the dissolution of the republic 
 be averted. 
 
 The States of Holland then were called upon to fill the 
 vacancy of the stadtholdership. This assembly, destined 
 henceforward to be the principal instrument of government of 
 the republic, was composed partly of nobles and partly of 
 deputies from the towns. 
 
 Of the nobles, among whom were counted all holders of 
 fiefs, only ten had seats in the States. They were appointed 
 for life, and recruited by election among themselves, and in 
 later times obtained the privilege of hereditary succession. 
 As members by right of birth they took part in all assemblies 
 and all councils, both of the province and of the confedera- 
 tion, and had besides obtained for themselves the sole right 
 to several offices, both on the admiralty boards and in the 
 courts of justice. Their political authority, however, was 
 very limited. They had but one vote in the States, and could 
 not therefore balance the preponderating power of the deputies 
 of the towns. 
 
 Eighteen towns had the right of being represented in the 
 States. The deputies whom they sent and whose expenses 
 they paid were appointed by the councils or senates, from 
 whom the delegates held their powers and received their 
 instructions. They were reappointed every three years, and 
 had almost always the Pensionary of the town as their 
 official speaker. Each town having but one vote, whatever 
 number of deputies might be sent, the assembly consisted of 
 only nineteen voters, although the numbers were from 100 
 to 150. 
 
 The States of Holland, known under the name of Noble 
 and Great Mightinesses, sat four times a year — in February, 
 June, September, and November. They deliberated upon all 
 matters concerning the province of Holland, or having refer- 
 ence to the numerous offices of which they had the disposals 
 
74 JOHN DE "WITT. 
 
 Proposals affecting the confederation were also submitted to 
 them, their delegates to the States-General' being bound 
 to consult them before any vote of importance was taken. 
 Their decisions were generally settled by committees formed 
 by the deputies of the principal towns. A bare majority was 
 not always sufficient; unanimity of votes was required in 
 questions of taxation, of peace or war, or of the internal 
 government of the province. Each deputation, in fact, repre- 
 sented a free town, and could not bind any other by its vote. 
 'It is a fault in those States that there should be so many 
 members,' we find in a diplomatic correspondence of the day; 
 ' every member has a head of his own, but all the heads must 
 be under one hat before anything can be done.' In point of 
 fact, however, some skilfully contrived compromise was gene- 
 rally found to smooth away any difference of opinion, and the 
 minority desisted from offering any obstacle to the final 
 adoption of important measures. The common consent might 
 not be given immediately, but it was hardly ever really 
 refused. 
 
 The Grand Pensionary was the minister of the States of 
 Holland. He was appointed for five years, and represented 
 them in the States-General. They had besides the services of 
 the Councillor deputies {gecommitteerde raden). The board of 
 Councillor deputies consisted of ten members, one of whom 
 was appointed for hfe by the nobles, and was president, and 
 the others sent for two or three years by the chief towns of 
 the province, and in regular rotation by the smaller towns. 
 The authority enjoyed by the Council of State in the con- 
 federation was very much the same as that exercised by the 
 Councillor deputies in the provinces. They had the administra- 
 tion of the finances, decided questions of taxation, directed 
 military matters, and had the right to appoint all officers 
 below the rank of captain. It was their business to convoke 
 
 ' The deputies sent by the States of Holland to the States-General were — 
 rone deputy from the nobles, appointed for life, two deputies sent alternately 
 from the eight chief towns, and one from North Holland, who were all three 
 appointed for three years, without counting the Grand Pensionary, who sat for 
 the term of his office. 
 
THE TOWN COUNCILS. 75 
 
 the states of Holland, whenever their assembly was to be 
 summoned at other times than its regular sessions, to prepare 
 all measures, and to secure their execution. They sat in a 
 body in the assembly, and had seats also in the States- 
 General. Two Councillor deputies were always on duty there, 
 besides other members of the States of Holland. 
 
 The various administrative boards of the province were 
 appointed by the States, and depended upon them. These 
 were — the three admiralty boards ; the six boards of Counts 
 or judges of the dykes (dyckgraaf), with their councillors 
 {heemraden), who were entrusted with the superintendence of 
 the waters, roads, and bridges in their district, and, with the 
 levying of the dues for their maintenance ; the board of curators 
 of the University of Leyden, the courts of audit, and of public 
 domains, the two courts of justice, the Provincial Court and the 
 Grand Council, which exercised jurisdiction in Holland and 
 Zealand. The Provincial Court, or Court of Justice properly 
 so called, had supreme authority in criminal cases, and heard 
 civil suits in the first instance; the Grand CouncU sat on 
 appeals in civil cases, and performed also the functions of a 
 court of error. 
 
 The authority of the States was recognised as supreme by 
 all these boards, and was inferior only to the municipal councils, 
 to whom, through their election' of its members, the Assembly 
 of the States was subordinated. To confirm their supremacy 
 more effectually, however, they resolved that in futm-e the 
 magistrates and governors of all towns in the province should 
 take an oath of allegiance to them. The domination which 
 the States of Holland now proposed to extend equally over 
 the other provinces was the more easily imposed by them, 
 that the whole government of the confederation was in some 
 sort concentrated round their assembly. By establishing 
 their seat at the Hague, the States- General had made that 
 town the metropolis of the United Provinces. It had been 
 formerly a hunting-seat of the Counts of Holland, and seemed 
 marked out for a capital by the traditions of luxury and taste 
 which had taken root in it, and by the beauty lent to it by its 
 canals, its stately avenues and verdant lawns, its ancient 
 
76 JOHN DE WITT. 
 
 forest, and the near neighbourhood of the sea, which made 
 Scheveningen the favourite walk of its inhabitants. In its 
 capacity of a federal city it was not represented in the States, 
 and was directly subject to them. The commissioners of the 
 Hague, when summoned to speak in their assembly, gave their 
 opinions standing and with uncovered heads, and the city 
 enjoyed none of the attributes of sovereignty. Open on all 
 sides, having neither fortified gates nor drawbridges, nor even 
 chains drawn across the roadway to prevent people going in 
 or out at any hour, the Hague seemed formed to be the seat 
 of a pacific and liberal government founded upon pubHc 
 confidence. 
 
 The old palace or court of the Counts of Holland, the 
 hereditary dwelling of the Princes of Orange, which served as 
 a hall of assembly for the provincial States, and in which sAt 
 the courts of law, was also the meeting-place for the States- 
 General, and for the Council of State. The States of Holland 
 were thus both the guardians and the host of the federal power. 
 The palace was built in the form of a square, and enclosed be- 
 tween its wings a large inner court (the Binnenhof) some fifty 
 paces long, in which was a covered hall where the great assem- 
 blies of the confederation were held. It was built at the end of 
 the sixteenth century, in the severe style of the architecture of 
 that period, and with its brick walls, which remain perfect to 
 this day, it recalls the ancient majesty of the traditions of the 
 republic, preserves the noble and tragic memories of past 
 centuries, and seems the very dwelling of history. The south 
 wing rises abruptly from the great basin or fishpond where, 
 round a green island where swans disport themselves, stretches 
 a sheet of water to the very foot of the walls, opposite to 
 which is a terrace shaded by fine trees (the Vijverberg), which 
 skirts the edge and forms a sort of quay. It was in this part 
 of the building that the States-General and the States of 
 Holland found themselves neighbours in almost adjoining 
 halls. The States-General sat in the hall now known as 
 the Hall of Truce. The hall which the States of Holland 
 occupied a few years later, and which is now used for the 
 
A FREE GOVERNMENT IN THE SEVENTEENTH CENTURY. 77 
 
 upper chamber of the kingdom of the Netherlands, added by- 
 its gorgeous decorations to the prestige of their power. 
 
 It was situated on the first floor, surmounted by a dome, 
 and had five windows looking to the water. The walls were 
 hung with tapestry representing the inhabitants of different 
 countries. At each extremity was a marble chimney-piece, 
 enriched with sculpture and paintings. In the middle was an 
 enclosure or reserved space, surrounded by a balustrade. 
 Within this space sat the nobles and the deputies of the 
 eighteen towns that had the right to vote. In the centre the 
 nobles occupied the first table. At the end of this table, 
 facing the west fireplace, was placed the Grand Pensionary's 
 chair. Behind this chair were the benches for the councillor 
 deputies. Next to them a second table belonged to the 
 deputies of Dordrecht, Haarlem, Delft, Leyden, and Brill. 
 Opposite sat the deputies of North Holland. Above the 
 benches of the councillor deputies three other tables were 
 arranged in graduated steps : the first, for the deputies of 
 Amsterdam ; the second, for those of Gouda and Eotterdam ; 
 the highest, for the deputies of Gorcum, Schiedam, and 
 Schoonhoen. Bach table had a raised desk for the pen- 
 sionary of the town, whose seat faced those of the deputies to 
 whom he was attached. Outside the enclosure, on either 
 hand of the western fireplace, were the seats of the secretaries 
 of each town. A staircase communicated from this room with 
 that in which sat the councillor deputies on the ground-floor, 
 close to the private room of the Grand Pensionary. 
 
 Within these walls the political freedom of modern times 
 was to take a bold and glorious flight. England, which had 
 already enjoyed parliamentary government, had now passed 
 from those attempts at absolute power for which Charles I. paid 
 so heavy a penalty, to the rude and sullen dominion imposed 
 upon the English nation for ten years by the strong hand oi 
 Cromwell. France, dazzled by the budding fortunes ot 
 Louis XIV., disgusted with the intrigues and weary of the 
 troubles of the Eronde, was disposed to seek only for the 
 glories of arms or genius, and to allow herself to be governed 
 rather than to bear the fatigue of governing herself. 
 
78 JOH.V DE WITT. 
 
 "What a contrast to these two countries, of which one was 
 on the verge of a revolution little favourable to freedom, and 
 the other becoming accustomed to subjection for the sake of 
 military glory, are the deliberative and sovereign assemblies 
 of the States-General and the States of Holland ! They recall 
 the best days of the ancient republic, only with slavery omitted 
 and Christianity added to them. With them government is 
 neither the privilege of one man nor the right of the multi- 
 tude ; it is divided amongst all those who seem most capable 
 of exercising it, and who have passed through a preliminary 
 apprenticeship in the councils of their native towns. Power 
 belongs thus to citizens who devote their time and labour to 
 public business almost without recompense, realising the idea 
 of a cheap government. They hold their offices from no 
 popular election, but by choice amongst themselves, and are 
 subject to the control of a free press, which, without indulging 
 in license, serves as a protection to all interests and a safe- 
 guard against all injustice. If they enjoy political privileges, 
 these are justified by the good administration of town and 
 province, the honest management of the finances, the econo- 
 mical use of public money; they are the enemies of all 
 unnecessary wars, but are at the same time jealous for the 
 greatness of their country ; heroes when the need arises, but 
 without arrogance or pomp ; honest servants of a government 
 founded upon the respect due to the dignity of man, and 
 pursuing without fear of obstacle the glorious design of raising 
 and maintaining a republic to an equality with the greatest 
 monarchies. 
 
79 
 
 CHAPTEK II. 
 
 THE BABLY LIFE OF A GEEAT MAN — EDUCATION — PEIVATE LIFE, 
 AND COMMENCEMENT OP JOHN DE WITT's POLITICAL CAEEER. 
 
 A great minister necessary to Holland — Birth of John de Witt and his brother 
 Cornelius— Their family — Their education — Their conduct during their 
 father's captivity— John de Witt's entry into public life — He is appointed 
 pensionary of Dordrecht — He is sent to the Grand Assembly of 1651 — His 
 report on the coup d'Stat — His deputations in Zealand — Hi-s provisional 
 appointment as Grand Pensionary — His definite nomination — His private 
 correspondence —His relations to his family and in society — His marriage 
 with Wendela Bicker — His political friends, Nieupoort, Van Beuningen, and 
 Beverningh — His official functions — His character — His portrait. 
 
 Called upon by the vacancy in the stadtholdership to the 
 government of the United Provinces, without any legal power 
 of enforcing obedience, Holland required a statesman who 
 could secure this political supremacy and use it for her 
 benefit. The nomination of John de Witt as Grand Pen- 
 sionary placed at her service one of the youngest members of 
 the assembly. She made him Prime Minister, and he, by 
 his superiority of talent as well as of character, made her 
 mistress of the confederation. The preponderance of his 
 authority enabled him to combine in one compact form all 
 the forces of the Dutch oligarchy, so as to give them a con- 
 siderable share in the government, and made him in some 
 measure an absolute president of the republic. The origin 
 and traditions of John de Witt's family had prepared him for 
 that great part which he was to play for twenty years. His 
 first beginnings marked the way he was about to tread. They 
 explain his whole life. It was that of a great and good man 
 serving a grand cause to which he linked his own fate, and it 
 
80 JOHN DE WITT, 
 
 exhibits in all their brightness those public and private virtues 
 which do honour to human nature. 
 
 John de Witt, born at Dordrecht on September 24, 1625, 
 between one and two o'clock in the afternoon, was the youngest 
 of the four children of Jacob de Witt and Anna van de Corput. 
 His elder brother, Cornelius, who shared in the vicissitudes of 
 his career, was older than he by two years ; but although he 
 eventually reached a stature above the common, he was born 
 so feeble and delicate that he owed his life to the extraordinary 
 heat on the day of his birth. 
 
 John and Cornelius de Witt had two sisters, older than 
 themselves. The elder, Johanna or Jeanne, was married to 
 Jacob Bevern de Zwyndrecht, who belonged to one of the 
 principal families in Dordrecht. The younger, Maria, married 
 Diederich or Theodore Hoeufift, whose uncle, John Hceufft, 
 had settled in France for the purpose of reclaiming the 
 marshes in the neighbourhood of La Eochelle, and who 
 himself succeeded by inheritance from one of his brothers to 
 the French property of Fontaine Pereuse, whence he took his 
 title.i 
 
 The paternal family of John de Witt, which had always 
 had its residence at Dordrecht, counted eleven known genera- 
 tions before him. It dated back to the later years of the 
 thirteenth century, and had twice changed the spelling of 
 the original name Die Witte (White), to De Witte in the 
 fifteenth century, and in the sixteenth century to De Witt.^ 
 Their hereditary arms represented two greyhounds pursuing a 
 hare. 
 
 From the third generation to the fifteenth century they 
 exercised municipal functions, and took their place among the 
 notabilities of the town of Dordrecht, to which they furnished 
 in turn councillors, sheriffs, and a burgomaster. They in- 
 cluded amongst their number Catholic priests, priors of 
 monasteries, and nuns, one of whom belonged to the Convent 
 
 ' See Almanach de Hollande, 1850, p. 91 : ' Letters from John de Witt to 
 Diederich Hoeufft,' published by M. Lotsij, formerly Minister for Naval Affairs, 
 and a descendant of Hoeufft on his mother's side. 
 
 ■■' These details and a few of those which follow are mentioned in a recent 
 work by Mr. Geddes, The Administration of John de Witt, The Hague, 1879. 
 
JACOB DE "WITT. 81 
 
 of St. Agnes established in the town. In the Ubrary of 
 Dordrecht a missal has been preserved which was presented 
 to it at the commencement of the fifteenth century by one of 
 John de Witt's oldest ancestors. His grandfather, Cornelius 
 de "Witt, contemporary of William the Silent, was the first of 
 his family who professed the reformed religion. After having 
 received at different municipal elections the testimony of the 
 confidence of his fellow-citizens, he was called upon in turns to 
 sit in the Assembly of the States of Holland and in that of the 
 States-General. His father, Jacob de Witt, who was born on 
 January 10, 1674, surviving his glorious sons for more than 
 a year, had three sisters and two brothers, of whom one, 
 Andrew, exercised ad interim for several months the office 
 of Grand Pensionary of the province after the death of Olden 
 Barneveldt, and became eventually one of the judges of 
 Holland. 
 
 Jacob de Witt had from his youth up formed one of the 
 Council of Dordrecht. After having been a long time sheriff, 
 he was made burgomaster and six times re-elected. He was 
 collector of taxes, superintendent of dykes, and custodian of 
 the town library, and he further distinguished himself in 
 foreign negotiations and in the deliberations of the Assembly. 
 Designated as a member of the embassies to Denmark and 
 Sweden, he received from Queen Christina a gold medal bear- 
 ing on one side the royal portrait embellished with diamonds, 
 and on the other the arms of the kingdom. On his return 
 to Holland, Jacob de Witt was sent as deputy from Dordrecht 
 to the Provincial States, represented them in the States- 
 General, and was charged with fresh negotiations to the 
 Hanseatic towns. Austere in his manners, and becoming as 
 age advanced somewhat misanthropical, shunning rather than 
 seeking society, having a great inclination for solitude, pre- 
 ferring to remain in the contemplation of his religious faith, 
 he had no luxurious habits, and lived at Dordrecht with the 
 simplest of households. Andrew Colvius, one of his con- 
 temporaries, called him ' the glory of his native town.' His 
 portrait, painted in the great Eembrandt style, represents him 
 as an old man dressed in black, with his head erect, having 
 
 VOL. I. G 
 
82 JOHN DE WITT. 
 
 thin hands with long taper fingers, a stern, look, and a proud 
 and stiff bearing. 
 
 His wife, Anna van de Corput, born April 24, 1600, and 
 married at sixteen, belonged to a great Brabant family. 
 
 She was the daughter of the Sheriff of Breda. Her mother, 
 Maria Biiysen, had married a second time John Berck, secre- 
 tary to the town of Dordrecht, and ambassador in England 
 and at Venice. She had four sisters. One, Maria, who lived 
 to a very advanced age, and with whom John de Witt 
 always kept up a very intimate correspondence, had married 
 Van der Meer, one of the judges of Holland; the second, 
 Gertrude, was the wife of Cornelius van Sypesteyn, a member 
 of the Chapter of Utrecht and one of John de Witt's early 
 patrons; the third, Cornelia, married Quentyn de Veer, who 
 was a bailiff at the Hague ; lastly, the youngest, Antonia, was 
 married to Anthony Vivien, whose son was the faithful 
 companion of John de Witt through good and evil fortune. 
 
 Anna van de Corput was called 'pious and strict' by 
 the friends of the family; her portrait represents her still 
 young, in a rich dress, one of those handsome Flemish 
 matrons whose type has been immortalised by the great 
 painters of the time. She had taken the greatest paias with 
 the education of her children. 
 
 She encouraged their early studies, and if she did not live 
 to enjoy their greatness, had at least the merit of having 
 paved the way for it. She died January 22, 1645, at the 
 age of forty-five, far from her husband, who was detained 
 in the service of the republic on an embassy to Sweden, and 
 was buried in St. Catherine's Chapel m the Cathedral of 
 Dordrecht. 
 
 Jacob de Witt, on hearing of the death of his wife, ' with 
 a trembling in all his limbs,' as he writes in his official notes, 
 addressed to his colleagues the following letter, which gives 
 testimony to his religious sentiments : — ' Yesterday I opened 
 my despatches and learned with much disturbance that it had 
 pleased the Almighty God to call my dear and worthy wife to 
 His heavenly kingdom. Although I have been brought up to 
 believe, and well understand, that all events foUowiug on the 
 
LEARNED SOCIETY AT HIS HOUSE. 83 
 
 will of God should be received and accepted as good, I am, 
 nevertheless, beyond measure afflicted, so much so that I 
 have resolved to start immediately for Colmar, that I may 
 have a few days in which to settle about my mourning, and 
 to try and calm my grief.' 
 
 The family mode of life had, from their earliest years, 
 familiarised the sons of the Dordrecht burgomaster with 
 public affairs ; it had also taught them to court those intel- 
 lectual pleasures for which Dutch society had great taste. 
 Jacob de Witt, in his capacity of curator of the Latin school 
 at Dordrecht, collected at his house the pastors, professors, 
 learned men, and writers of the town.' 
 
 Anna van de Corput was herself on intimate terms with 
 many distinguished pastors of the Calvinist Church, with 
 the celebrated doctor and professor Beverwijek, whose, Latin 
 and Greek verses in celebration of his domestic joys and 
 sorrows have been reproduced in the memoirs of the times. 
 She held her place worthily in the midst of her illustrious 
 contemporaries, who were ardently devoted to the culture of 
 literature, and who, according to the panegyrics of the times, 
 ' made the town of Dordrecht the throne of the Muses, as 
 well as the paradise of the Arts.' There were Anna von 
 Blockland, to whom Beverwijek dedicated his work entitled 
 ' The Excellence of the Female Sex ; ' Maria de Witt, who at 
 sixteen carried on a correspondence in verse with Cats ; Anna 
 Maria van Schurman, who joined to the culture of the arts 
 a knowledge of dead and living languages f Margaretha 
 Godewyck, the most celebrated of all, who, versed in the 
 profoundest studies of philosophy and astronomy, united to 
 them the gifts of imagination, writing Latin, French, and 
 Dutch poetry, and was surnamed, ' the precious pearl in the 
 virginal crown of the town.' 
 
 The statesmen of Dordrecht, John van de Corput (John de 
 Witt's maternal grandfather), John Berck (the second husband 
 of his maternal grandmother), Euysch, Halewyn, Slingelandt, 
 used to meet in this learned company, whose Maecenas,, 
 
 ' Sohotel, Ovd Hollandsch Huisgedn. Id. Geschiedkundige Letter, 1840. 
 '' Schotel, Vie d'Anna Maria Van ScMirman, 1853. 
 
 G 2 
 
84 JOHN DE WITT. 
 
 Cornelius van Beveren, exercised his kindly hospitality in his 
 abode at Develstein.' The most illustrious foreigners had for 
 some time been attracted to Dordrecht by the prestige of 
 their literary renown. 
 
 The municipal registers attest the passage of Guy Patin, 
 of Montaigne, and of Descartes, who had acquired, through 
 the solution of a geometrical problem, the friendship of Isaac 
 Beeckman, the great mathematician and philosopher, and 
 rector of the Latin School in the town. 
 
 John de Witt had thus been enabled from his childhood to 
 profit in the intimacy of his family circle by its relations 
 with a select society, which could not fail to assist in the early 
 development of his mind. He had, like his brother Cornelius, 
 begun his studies in the Latin School of Dordrecht, whose 
 teachings enjoyed a justly acquired celebrity. Before the 
 plague of 1635, which decimated masters and pupUs, it was 
 frequented by more than 600 scholars coming in great numbers 
 from the different provinces of the Confederation, and even 
 from France and Germany. When John de Witt entered the 
 school in 1636, the curators had just solemnly inaugurated it as 
 an ' Illustrious ' or High School,^ in order to stop the flight of 
 the pupils, whom this contagious disease had caused to be 
 recalled to their families. They instituted chairs for Natural 
 Philosophy, Medicine and Surgery, Greek Literature and 
 History, which they confided to the most learned professors, 
 to whom they offered a salary of 200 florins. 
 
 Doctor Isaac Beeckman, who had fallen a victiin to the 
 plague, had been replaced, his successor being the pastor 
 Gaspard Parduyn, beloved and respected by his pupUs, with 
 whom, according to a writer of the period, ' he used neither 
 rod nor ferule.' 
 
 It was under his direction that John de Witt completed 
 his studies. He began by learning the language and literature 
 of his country : these were taught him by Peter Godewyck, 
 w,ho has left many verses written in honour of John de Witt's 
 family, and afterwards dedicated to his distinguished pupil. 
 
 ' Sohotel, De Hlzistre School te Dordrecht, 1857, p. 75, 
 " Idem. 
 
EDUCATION OF JOHN AND CORNELIUS DE WITT. 85 
 
 John Goris was his professor of history. He studied Greek 
 and Latin with Abraham Beeckman, a brother of the former 
 rector of the school. He joined to his knowledge of the dead 
 languages that of English and especially of French, which he 
 spoke and wrote with great facility. His flexible mind, his 
 good memory and solid judgment, lent themselves to the most 
 varied acquirements. By the pious care of his parents, his 
 religious instruction had been intrusted to the pastor Peter 
 Wassenburgh. John de Witt had been educated in the doc- 
 trines of the Eeformed Church, to which his father and mother, 
 who belonged to the Walloon sect founded by the Protestants 
 of the Spanish Netherlands, were faithfully attached. He 
 drew thence a deeply-rooted belief, which armed him all his 
 life against weaknesses and temptations, and gives to his 
 private and public letters a tone of gentle resignation. His 
 piety was combined with great tolerance ; far from showing any 
 hostility towards Catholics, writes a contemporary ambassador, 
 ' he seemed inclined to accord them the most perfect freedom 
 in their religion.' 
 
 Moreover, the opinions of his masters and his family 
 relations inclined him to follow the philosophy of Descartes, 
 but the furious zeal of the pastors who combated it could 
 not later pardon in John de Witt either his Cartesian doctrines 
 or his principles of moderation, which they regarded as con- 
 trary to Protestant orthodoxy. 
 
 Having quitted the Latin School at sixteen, he was sent 
 with his brother to the University of Leyden, where they were 
 both entered on October 24, 1641.' They lived there with the 
 professor of law Bernard van Schooten, who had formerly 
 made his mark at the university in Friesland, and who, 
 according to the testimony of a contemporary, enjoyed 
 universal esteem for his personal qualities as well as in his 
 capacity of learned man and teacher. The university course 
 was divided into five faculties — namely, law, philosophy com- 
 
 ' The record of ' Civium aoademicorum ' of the University of Leyden makes 
 John de Witt in 1641 eighteen years of age, and Cornelius de Witt twenty, 
 whereas John was sixteen and Cornelius eighteen. Was this an intentional 
 error to give John de Witt, by adding some years, the right of entrance to the 
 University ? 
 
86 JOHN DE WITT. 
 
 billed with science, theology, literature, and medicine. John 
 de Witt for four years followed the private and public law 
 classes, completing at the same time his mathematical studies 
 which he had begun at the Latin School. The records of the 
 University bear no trace of any degree having, been taken 
 by either of the brothers on leaving it, after the death of their 
 mother, to go to France and England. The account of this 
 excursion, unfortunately reduced to a mere list of stages and 
 expenses, without any remarks, in no way resembles the in- 
 teresting volume entitled ' The Journey of Two Young Dutch- 
 men to Paris in 1657 and 1658,' recently published. 
 
 It has been preserved in a note-book of John de Witt's 
 belonging to the family records. The two brothers, starting 
 October 14, 1645, after having traversed the Spanish Nether- 
 lands and visited Antwerp, stopped for a fortnight at Paris, 
 and then established themselves at Anger, whose University 
 was famous in Europe. 
 
 They stayed there three months and took their degrees as 
 Doctors of Law. Although there is no registry of the entrances 
 to the university, which had been intermitted since 1636, 
 John de Witt's note-book leaves no doubt as to this. It bears 
 the following entry : ' To the Eector for om- diploma, one 
 hundred and two florins.' Having obtained their diploma, 
 the two brothers, ' furnished with horses,' started for theu- 
 tour of Prance. They travelled over the west and south of 
 the kingdom, visiting Orleans, La Eochelle, Bordeaux, Nismes, 
 and Montpellier, where, ' finding some pleasant society,' they 
 stayed for several weeks. Having reached Marseilles and 
 Toulon, they then went to Lyons, and returning in October to 
 Paris, remained there for some time. They did not leave till 
 the spring of the following year, continued their journey to 
 Brittany and Normandy, and embarked at Calais for England, 
 where they only remained six weeks. They arrived just at 
 the moment when Charles I. had been seized from the 
 custody of the Parliamentary Commissioners, and taken to the 
 head-quarters of the army to be given up to Cromwell. No 
 trace of the impression such events must have made upon 
 them is to be found in John de Witt's note-book. It merely 
 
THEY ARE CALLED TO THE BAR. 87 
 
 mentions that, after visiting the principal monuments in 
 London, they travelled over the south-west of England, stop- 
 ping at Bristol and Oxford, and that they were invited to join 
 in several shooting-parties. 
 
 They ended their journey in company with the old am- 
 bassador of the States-General, Joachimi, who was on his way 
 to the King, whom Fairfax had brought into the neighbour- 
 hood of London. After having been received by the Lord 
 General and the Parliamentary Commissioners, who were in 
 conference with Charles I., the ambassador had an audience 
 with the King, at which, apparently, the two brothers were 
 not present, no mention of it being made in John de Witt's 
 note-book. A week later they quitted England, and returned 
 to their family after an absence of about two years. 
 
 After having taken their oath as advocates in the Law 
 Courts, they separated. Cornelius de Witt remained at Dor- 
 drecht, where he lived with his sister Maria Hceufft ; and, al- 
 though not absolutely indifferent to the many distractions of 
 social life, he gave evidence of such sober tastes that his father 
 got him appointed in the following year sheriff of the town. 
 John de Witt, although retaining his municipal domicile at 
 Dordrecht, settled himself at the Hague, where he worked 
 under the direction of the retired lawyer Van den Andel. His 
 first pleadings showed his powers of speech. His scientific 
 tastes turned his mind towards mathematics, to which he gave 
 up his leisure time during his years at the bar. The earliest 
 letter to be found amongst his correspondence in the archives 
 at the Hague is one written to him by his uncle, Anthony 
 Vivien, to congratulate him on his interpretation of four 
 geometrical problems according to Descartes' method. On 
 the other hand, his travels had taught him to compare the 
 situation of the other European States with those of his own 
 country, and had . thus prepared him for public life. His 
 success at the bar, his varied knowledge, and his great apti- 
 tude in applying it, with his growing renown for wisdom and 
 talent, seemed already to point him out for a great destiny. 
 According to an account of the time, the jurisconsult Vermeu- 
 len, who had frequent intercourse with Jacob de Witt, had 
 
88 JOHN DE WITT. 
 
 been asked to examine his son John on the constitution of the 
 republic, when he was barely eighteen, and he had shown 
 much astonishment at finding in so young a man those bril- 
 liant and solid gifts of a political education which are gene- 
 rally the result of long study and an advanced age. 
 
 Exhorting him to continue thus, Vermeulen had predicted 
 that he would make himself a name lasting to long future 
 ages.' 
 
 This serious employment of his early youth in no way 
 deterred him from worldly pleasures or from efforts of imagi- 
 nation. Before being sent to the university he had eagerly 
 joined in the dancing classes at Dordrecht, which were 
 not spared the censures of the Protestant Consistory.^ He 
 habituated himself to declamation, and was often with his 
 brother given the principal parts in the Latin and Dutch 
 tragedies performed by the pupils of the Latin School. At the 
 same time he accustomed himself to bodily exercises, and 
 became particularly skilled at tennis. To the practice of 
 dancing he joined the study of music, and was remarkable 
 for his talent on the violin. He learned backgammon, chess, 
 games of cards, and even conjuring and sleight-of-hand tricks. 
 He could thus take his part in social amusements, and bad 
 learnt the art of pleasing in company, where he was much 
 sought after.' His let.ers to his sisters and their answers show 
 the pains he took with his dress, asking them for ruffles, hand- 
 kerchiefs, and boots, and taking charge, on his side, of all their 
 household commissions, notably in the choice of a French 
 nurse for his eldest sister's children. ' No one worked harder 
 at his studies and business,' writes a contemporary; 'but 
 neither was anyone more cheerful at meals or more amiable 
 in his diversions.' His correspondence tells of the festivities in 
 which he took part, and which were often given by his uncle 
 Cornelius van Sypesteyn. He there met all his cousins, with 
 other young men and girls of the same age. The poetical relaxa- 
 
 ' Duncaniana, vol. iii., 1672. Koyal Library at the Hague. 
 ^ Schotel, Olid Holkmdsch Suisgezin der zeventiende Eeuw, 1868. 
 ' DMTCcawiana, vol. ii., 1672. Historischverliaal,l(>bo-l(i12. See Bilderdjck, 
 vol. X. p. 236. 
 
JOHN DE WITT'S LITEEARY PRODUCTIONS. 89 
 
 tions in which John de Witt liked to join formed the princi- 
 pal amusement at the meetings. One of his contemporaries 
 calls him the master of the seven liberal arts ; another speaks 
 of the success he would have had as a ' tuneful poet,' had he 
 chosen to occupy himself with poetry. Anxious, no doubt, to 
 obtain other approbation than that of his father's friends, he 
 followed the example given him by those around him. He wrote 
 for the ' Dordrecht Bazaar,' or ' Noah's Ark,' one of the 
 literary productions of his native town, intended probably for 
 young girls, some elegant lines, in which, however, lightness of 
 touch is generally wanting. He used an easily recognised 
 pseudonym ; translating into Latin his name of De Witt, he 
 signed himself Candidus. These attempts were followed by a 
 more serious work — the translation into Dutch of Corneille"s 
 Horace.' John de Witt might have seen the great poet's tra- 
 gedies acted in France during his travels. He had certainly 
 heard them at the French theatre, which the Stadtholder 
 WUliam II. and his father Frederick Henry had established at 
 the Hague. Nevertheless, as he dedicated his work under the 
 name of ' Charles,' to the celebrated Amsterdam actor Charles 
 vail Gerrnis, of whom no doubt he had taken lessons in 
 declamation, and to whom he applied to get it printed, he pro- 
 bably preferred to remain unknown. 
 
 As he intended to enter public life, it was for his interest 
 to respect the scruples of the presbytery of Dordrecht, which 
 severely condemned the theatre, and scarcely tolerated a few 
 representations at fair time. He therefore contented himself 
 by putting his initials, J. J. Z. D. J. — that is to say, John, 
 Jacob's Zoon (Jacob's son). Doctor of Law. The translation 
 was, however, later attributed to him without dispute. The 
 piece thus translated was often played at Amsterdam, and the 
 first publication was followed by four other editions. One of 
 these editions bears in full the name of John de Witt. 
 
 This simple designation, unaccompanied by any title, fixes 
 the identity of the author, and forbids its being taken for 
 that of an obscure namesake. However it may be, this trans- 
 
 ' See Veegens, Notice sur l' Horace de CorneiUe par de Witt, and Schotel's 
 De illustre Sclwol te Dordrecht, p. 77, and Soiries tilbourgeoises, p. 129. 
 
90 JOHN DE WITT. 
 
 lation does not add much to the fame of John de Witt, nor do 
 much honour to his poetical genius. It merely serves to show 
 his knowledge of the French language and hterature.^ Preceded 
 by a high-flown and pretentious sonnet, it is mostly cold and 
 colourless, and spoils the concise eloquence of the model by 
 misplaced elaborations.^ Nevertheless the lines run smoothly, 
 there is no want of harmony in the rhythm, and when the 
 author keeps to his text he renders the French lines in all 
 their masculine energy. Some passages, such as CamiUe's 
 imprecations, have preserved all their native beauty in the 
 foreign language. This translation has, moreover, one merit, 
 which is a sufficient recommendation ; it was the first work 
 of a young man of three and twenty. 
 
 John de Witt had no leisure to perfect himself in the art 
 of poetry. Time equally failed him to acquire those merits as 
 a writer which are generally wanting in his public and private 
 correspondence. Ignorant of the art of polishing and adorn- 
 ing his style, he neglected the use of those refinements of 
 expression and studied elegancies or classical quotations 
 familiar to some of his contemporaries. He always wrote as 
 he would have spoken, without giving any colouring to his 
 thoughts, only intent on using the term which could best lead 
 him straight to his point, although he could be pleasing and 
 persuasive as well as stern or bitter. Being always thoroughly 
 masteV of what he wanted to say, and stating it clearly, he 
 only wished to make himself understood.^ Neither his letters 
 nor his other writings contributed to his literary renown. 
 
 The events to which his father so nearly fell a victim called 
 the young lawyer from his poetry to the stage on which he 
 was so soon to become illustrious. He found himself engaged 
 in struggling with the trials of pubhe life, and ready to bear 
 them with precocious vigour. The imprisonment of his father, 
 following on the coup d'etat attempted by William III., pledged 
 
 ' Scheltema, Mengelwerke, vol. iii. p. 119. 
 
 ' The famous Qu'il viourM is paraphrased in the lines : ' What would yon 
 have him do ? — At least, I would not have him take flight, but rather 
 voUmtarily give himself over to death.' 
 
 ' Yeegens, John de WUt als publiciste, De Gids, 1867. 
 
JACOB DE WITT'S CAPTIVITY. 91 
 
 him irrevocably from his first entry into political life to oppo- 
 sition to the stadtholdership. 
 
 Transported as a prisoner of State with his five colleagues 
 to the Castle of Loevenstein in the night of August 1-2, 1650/ 
 Jacob de Witt seemed in danger of sharing the fate of Olden 
 Barneveldt and of Grotius. His children must have dreaded 
 for him, if not the condemnation to which the first was a 
 victim, at least the perpetual imprisonment which Grotius 
 would have suffered but for his .escape. Jacob de Witt 
 employed the first hours of his captivity in reassuring them 
 in a letter which gave them an account of his arrest, and 
 which he addressed to Cornelius de Witt. As it had to pass 
 through the hands of his gaolers, who had orders to show it 
 to the Prince of Orange, he avoided all recriminations which 
 might have tended to compromise him ; and to avert the 
 anxiety of his family he expressed great confidence, strength- 
 ened by his religious faith. His Christian resignation helped 
 him to preserve his strength of mind, which is shown in the 
 following proud words : ' Be you equally courageous, and do 
 nothing towards my deliverance but what is honest and proper, 
 having the fear of the Lord always before your eyes.' 
 
 The sons to whom he made this appeal were worthy 
 recipients of it. Deprived of news of their father, whose 
 letter had not yet been delivered to them, and alarmed as to 
 his fate, they had started in haste to be near him. They had 
 no knowledge of the notice which Jacob de Witt had hastened to 
 give them, by warning them in a postscript to his letter ' that it 
 would be useless for them to come, no one being as yet admitted 
 into his presence ; ' but even when they had convinced them- 
 selves that they would be refused admittance they were not 
 discouraged. 
 
 Whilst Cornelius de Witt returned to Dordrecht to take 
 part in the deliberations in justification of his father's conduct, 
 and to negotiate for his release,^ John de Witt remained in 
 
 ' For the correspondence between Jacob de Witt and his sons during his 
 imprisonment, see De Qids, 18i5, article de M. Von Hasselt ; De Gids, 1867, 
 article de M. Veegens, and Archives of the House of Orange, Groen Van 
 Prinsterer, vol. iv. p. 396. 
 
 - Aitzema, Zaken van Staat, vol. iii. p. 451. 
 
92 JOHN DE WITT. 
 
 the neighbourhood of the fortress. He was lodged at an inn 
 bearing the sign ' Au Vaisseau de son Altesse.' 
 
 His first attempt to obtain access to the prisoner met 
 with complete success. He managed to convey to him a 
 private letter giving him the information necessary for his 
 defence. He succeeded afterwards in getting into the prison, 
 and had a first interview with his father, in the presence 
 of the commandant, Lieutenant- Colonel Meter en, thus con- 
 triving to have remitted, or to elude, the order forbidding any 
 visits. 
 
 John de Witt hastened to give an account of this successful 
 attempt in a letter to his brother also unpublished, and which 
 enables us to follow him step by step. 'This morning at 
 six o'clock,' he writes to him, after having begun by telling 
 him of his secret correspondence with his father, ' I went to 
 the castle accompanied by the commandant, to whom the 
 messenger from Dordrecht had just delivered a letter addressed 
 to our lord and father by the magistrates of the town. 
 After he had read it, I received permission to enter his room. 
 There, standing before his bed, in the presence of the com- 
 mandant, I conversed with him for a long time. I shall 
 remain until the arrival of further news, and I feel quite 
 confident that I shall again find an opportunity of secretly 
 conveying notice of it to our father.' 
 
 This correspondence contmued, whether with or without 
 the knowledge of the commandant. ' Very dear and beloved 
 children,' wrote Jacob de Witt, ' I have learnt with pleasure 
 by yours of the 10th ultimo that there is a chance of matters 
 being arranged. I am certain that it will come right, and I 
 have no doubt that the deputies of Dordrecht will help us 
 as much as possible. I wait patiently. I am in good humour 
 and very well, of that you may assure yourselves. I am 
 always your affectionate father.' 
 
 A fortnight after the arrest of their father, Jacob de Witt's 
 two sons, by a letter from the Prince of Orange to the com- 
 mandant of Loevenstein, received permission to be admitted to 
 him. ' You will allow them,' he writes, ' to converse for two 
 or three hours with their father, the soldiers remaining at the 
 
CONDUCT OF HIS SONS. 93 
 
 door of the room, but you will not permit these young men to 
 see any of the other prisoners.' 
 
 Six days later Jacob de Witt was set at liberty, after an 
 imprisonment of three weeks. The submission of the town' 
 coimcils who had consented to receive the resignation of the 
 imprisoned deputies had satisfied the Prince of Orange. The 
 magistrates of Dordrecht, after having opposed an obstinate 
 resistance, ended by giving way; Jacob de Witt having let 
 them know ' that he resigned his municipal offices, without 
 prejudice to the honour and reputation of his family, because 
 he could not conform himself to the present conjuncture of 
 affairs.' 
 
 His sons, interested as they were in his release, were none 
 the less resolved to make no act of submission to attain it. 
 They held their father's honour at a higher price even than 
 his deliverance. A contemporary states 'that, exhorted to 
 address a demand to the Prince of Orange that the prisoner 
 might be set at liberty, they refused, declaring that they would 
 not, by interceding for him, appear to place their father in 
 the light of a culprit.' This is no imaginary account; a 
 letter from John de Witt to his brother confirms it.' He 
 strongly urges upon him to send the order of release to his 
 father, either by Berck, secretary to the town of Dordrecht,^ 
 or by some other delegate from the municipal commune, ' so 
 as to show,' he writes, 'that it is the town of Dordrecht alone 
 that has treated with the Prince.' ' It is of importance,' he 
 adds, ' not to let it be supposed that we have ourselves taken 
 part in the negotiations, which should be avoided at any cost 
 for the preservation of the reputation of our lord and father, 
 and even for the reputation of the country.' For the same 
 reason he hastened to Dordrecht to prevent the vessel 
 destined to bring back his father from being despatched before 
 the arrival of the messenger who was to convey to him the 
 order for his release. ' I cannot think the matter so pressing,' 
 
 ' Letter from John de Witt to Cornelius de Witt, August 17, 1650. Eoyal 
 Archives. 
 
 2 It is by mistake, no doubt, that Berck is spoken of as pensionary. The 
 pensionary was Euysch. Berck was a son by her second marriage of John de 
 Witt's maternal grandmother - Maria Biiysen. 
 
94 JOHN DE WITT. 
 
 he writes, ' as to justify the risk of causing any scandal for 
 the sake of gaining a httle time.' John de Witt thus subdued, 
 by the inflexible honesty of his political opinions, the im- 
 patience of his filial affection; in the same way that, once 
 intrusted with the first magistracy of the republic, he sub- 
 ordinated all his feelings and interests to the service of his 
 cause and his country. 
 
 Jacob de Witt's disgrace, softened as it was by the most 
 flattering testimonials from the magistrates of Dordrecht, was, 
 moreover, but a passing ordeal. Two months and a half after 
 his removal from the town council, the unexpected death of 
 William II. reopened to him the path of honours. At the 
 same time it assured to his son, by a sudden turn of fortune, 
 a compensation for the persecution which he had suffered. 
 The letter ' in which John de Witt gives an account of the 
 event which was to decide his destiny is curious to read. It 
 is addressed to his uncle, Cornelius van Sypesteyn, and is 
 thus expressed : ' H.H. the Prince of Orange died yesterday 
 evening, between eight and half-past. God keep his soul ! 
 His condition seemed to show that all danger was over. The 
 pastor, Stermont, was sent for to him. Some say that he 
 was then unconscious ; others that he showed great resigna- 
 tion, and that the pastor having recited some prayers, and 
 asking him if he understood and had trust in them, his 
 Highness answered distinctly "Yes," and shortly expired.' 
 De Witt winds up by praying God ' that so unforeseen an event 
 may tend to the public welfare.' He was eager to turn it to 
 his father's interest. No delay should, he thought, be suffered 
 in restoring Jacob de Witt to his municipal functions. ' An 
 adjournment,' he writes to him, ' would do harm to your 
 lordship's reputation, because, if it were permitted, the council 
 would seem to approve of what had passed, while there is now 
 no fear of violent measures, which could oblige them to 
 deprive you of the exercise of your functions.' At the end of 
 the month he is glad to acquamt one of his relations that 
 ' within the first week which followed the Stadtholder's death 
 
 ' November 7, 1650, Collection Hoog, from theEoyal Archives. See account 
 of the Prince's last moments by Pasteur Stermont, Aitzema, vol. iii. p. 457. 
 
JOHN DE WITT PENSIONAEY OF DORDRECHT. 95 
 
 liis father had re-entered the Assembly of the States of Holland 
 to resume the seat which belonged to him.' He could not 
 fail himself to profit by this signal reparation of his father's 
 disgrace. The death of the Prince of Orange caused the 
 removal of the obstacle which would have shut him out 
 during his youth from the threshold of public life. He was 
 not slow to take advantage of it. The nomination of the 
 Pensionary of Dordrecht, Nicholas Euysch, to the post of 
 Eegistrar to the States-General left vacant an office which 
 tempted his ambition. It was at the disposal of the two 
 burgomasters of the town, and his personal qualities as well 
 as his family connections caused it to be confided to him. 
 
 He fulfilled the conditions exacted by the Council of 
 Dordrecht, who required of their pensionaries a knowledge of 
 French and Latin and the degree of Doctor of Law. 
 
 The office with which he was invested gave to the holder 
 the title of pensionary, because it was remunerated by an 
 annual pension. It demanded many and solid acquirements, 
 as well as great powers of speech.' 
 
 In fact, the pensionaries of the Dutch towns had become 
 their principal representatives. They had at first filled no 
 other functions than those of jurisconsults, either to be com- 
 missioned as advocates with law-suits relating to the affairs of 
 the commune, or to help with their advice the sheriffs or 
 elective judges of the city, who were chosen by the magistrates 
 and often unacquainted with the study of the law. They 
 had gradually obtained admission to the sittings of the Council 
 as well as to the meetings of the burgomasters, and gave their 
 opinions on all questions concerning either the municipal 
 rights or the constitution of the country. They had added 
 to their original attributions prerogatives much more extended, 
 those of pohtical power, in acquiring the right of accompanying 
 the deputies from the town council to the States of Holland. 
 Being almost always charged to speak in their name, they could 
 the more easily assume to themselves the principal authority as 
 they had a permanent right to a seat in the Assembly of the 
 
 ' Moens, p. 67. Thise, De Munere i}ensio7mriorum civitaium, Lcyden, 1789. 
 
96 JOHN DE WITT. 
 
 Provinces, whilst the other deputies, sent by the magistrates' 
 of the towns, were constantly changed. 
 
 In a government enjoying freedom of debate and where 
 oratory was the instrument of power, they were naturally 
 pointed out for the confidence of the State. 
 
 The Pensionary of Dordrecht, by reason of that town 
 ranking first at the sittings, had the privilege of replacing 
 the Grand Pensionary of Holland. 
 
 It was not, therefore, any subordinate post that John de 
 Witt was about to occupy. He started in pubUc life with 
 functions which naturally led up to the higher rank to which 
 he was soon to be raised. From his earliest youth he had 
 seen freely opening before him that career as a statesman 
 which was to be so gloriously filled and so tragically ended. 
 
 The events which tended towards his rapid fortune in- 
 volved him in the political career which he followed up to his 
 death. 
 
 His father's disgrace left a vivid impression on his mind, 
 and Jacob de Witt had taken pleasure in strengthening it. 
 
 If one may put faith in rather doubtful evidence,' he often 
 entered upon the subject with his sons, saying, ' Eemember 
 the prison of Loevenstein.' Nevertheless, John de Witt was 
 too high-minded and intelligent to allow his conduct to be 
 governed by private wrongs. It was in the interest of Holland 
 that he meant to serve by opposing the maintenance of the 
 stadtholder's powers, of which William II. had made use in a 
 manner which threatened the independence of the province, 
 and which it seemed to him must inevitably be abused by 
 the Orange party during the minority of his son. 
 
 The power which devolved upon him in his capacity as 
 Pensionary of Dordrecht, and the still recent recollection of 
 the persecution of his father, were guarantees for his influence 
 in the great Assembly which had just instituted the new 
 government of the Confederation. He played an active part 
 in its deliberations, and in the mission with which he was en- 
 trusted soon gave evidence of that talent of persuasion with 
 which he was gifted, and which was soon to help bim hi 
 ' Mimoires de Quiche, vi. Introduction, p. 50. 
 
HIS PART IN THE GREAT ASSEMBLY OF 1687. 97 
 
 governing the republic. Despatched with three other deputies 
 of the States of Holland to the States of Zealand, he spoke 
 in their name' in the Assembly of that province, to dissuade 
 them from appointing William II. 's son to.be Admiral and 
 Captain-General. The memoir with which he furnished 
 them represented the inutility of giving to a child a power 
 which he could not himself exercise and the danger of a pre- 
 mature engagement dispensing the young prince from proving 
 himself worthy of public confidence. At the same time, 
 to give satisfaction to Zealand, De Witt was instructed to 
 promise that Holland would not proceed to the nomination of 
 an admiral and captain-general without some preliminary 
 agreement. This assurance, which guaranteed the young 
 prince against the competition of any other candidate to the 
 military command, happily re-established concord. 
 
 John de Witt soon acquired fresh titles to the sympathies 
 of the party he was about to lead. When the Grand Pension- 
 ary Cats made known to the deputies of Holland the memoir 
 in which William II. sought to justify his coup d'etat, he was 
 instructed to report upon it. He proposed to reply to this 
 apology, not only by energetic protestations, but also by 
 pressing demands to the States-General to suppress the 
 resolutions, in which the Federal Assembly had pronounced 
 in favour of the late Stadtholder's undertaking. The States 
 of Holland prudently qualifying the conclusion of this re- 
 port, preferred to wait for that satisfaction from the States- 
 General, which was soon offered to them spontaneously. 
 They contented themselves with publishing the refutation of 
 the Stadtholder's memorandum, and with giving a formal ap- 
 proval of the conduct of the deputies whom William II. had 
 deprived of their office. John de Witt had thus the good for- 
 tune to obtain justice for the outrage done to his father, as 
 well as to the States of his province, and to satisfy at once the 
 private and public grievances, which made him consider that 
 change of government had given him his revenge. Neverthe- 
 less his firmness did not exclude moderation, as he proved 
 
 ' Aitzema, Zaken van Staat, vol. iii. p. 560. 
 VOL. I. H 
 
98 JOHN DE "WITT. 
 
 by the part he took in the vote of amnesty accorded to the 
 accomplices in the late Stadtholder's coup d'etat. One of his 
 correspondents in Zealand, Justus de Huybert, a member of 
 the regency of Middleburg, congratulated him on having, like 
 his father, contributed with such wisdom, prudence, and de- 
 cision to the happy work of re-establishing order in the republic. 
 His political foresight was equally manifested by the part he 
 took in the resolutions designed to consoHdate the power of the 
 States of Holland, it was upon his report that the governors 
 and magistrates were bound to take an oath to them, and in 
 thus contributing to the recognition of their supreme authority 
 he soon found himself in a position to exercise it himself iu 
 their name. 
 
 One year after his nomination as pensionary of Dordrecht, 
 the office of first minister of his province was open to him, 
 and power, so to speak, came to meet him half-way. The day 
 on which the Grand Assembly dispersed, the pensionary of 
 Holland, Jacob Cats, aged seventy^three, more celebrated as a 
 poet than as a statesman, had resigned. He fell upon his 
 knees before the whole House ' to thank God for permitting 
 him to give up his office in peace, and retired to his little 
 property near the Hague to finish the popular work of his 
 ' Fables.' His successor, Pauw d'Heemstede, who had already, 
 once before Cats, exercised the functions of Grand Pensionary, 
 in the course of which he had incurred the enmity of the Stadt- 
 holder Frederick Henry, was with difficulty persuaded to 
 accept a second nomination. He only yielded to the entreaties 
 of the States of HoUand, who appealed to his patriotism. 
 Scarcely had he entered on his office than the States-General, 
 hoping to avert the imminent danger of a war with England, 
 sent him on an embassy to London in spite of his repugnance 
 to absent himself.^ During his absence, De Witt, in his 
 capacity as pensionary of Dordrecht, was summoned to re- 
 place him. This short tenure of government, lasting scarcely 
 more than a month, sufficed for him to prove that the conduct 
 
 ' Hollandsch Mercurius, September 1651. Eesolution of the States of 
 Holland, September 27, 1651. 
 
 ' Besolutions of tlie States-General, June 13, 1652. 
 
HIS DEPUTATION TO ZEALAND. 99" 
 
 of public affairs might safely be entrusted to him. Moreover, 
 when the Grand Pensionary Pauw returned, De Witt continued 
 to assist him, remaining in charge of the diplomatic corre- 
 spondence. He was thus beginning his apprenticeship to the 
 first magistracy of the republic when a new occasion offered 
 of distinguishing himself and adding lustre to his growing 
 reputation. 
 
 The government which the Great Assembly had just 
 established was again called in question. Zealand, which had 
 with difficulty been restrained the previous year, gave for- 
 midable signs of a popular rising for the purpose of forcing 
 upon the States- General the re-establishment of the Prince of 
 Orange's authority, if not as Stadtholder, at least as Admiral 
 and Captain-General, with Count William of Nassau as lieu- 
 tenant. The deputies of Middleburg were commissioned by 
 their town council, who were governed by the seditious party, 
 to transmit this proposition to the States of Zealand. 
 
 Fearing thenceforth that the other provinces, secretly 
 encouraged by the Count of Nassau, ^ might respond to the 
 appeal, the States-General hastened to check at its outset 
 this sudden reaction. They sent commissioners to the 
 States of Zealand to convey to them the most urgent remon- 
 strances. John de Witt, who had already succeeded, during 
 the Grand Assembly, with the negotiations with that province, 
 was by common consent chosen to make one of the deputation. 
 Arrived with his colleagues at Middleburg on August 81, 1652, 
 after crossing a country disturbed by popular demonstrations, 
 De Witt urged the re-assembling of the States of Zealand. 
 But before they were assembled, the populace of Middleburg 
 had already risen, ' taking the bit between its teeth,' as 
 De Witt wrote to his father, in giving him an account of his 
 mission. ' Many people had warned us,' he added in the same 
 letter, ' that the population here had been conspiring and in- 
 tended to massacre us, either on our entrance into or on our 
 leaving the Assembly. Nevertheless, measures having been 
 
 ' See letters of Mauregnault to the Prince of Nassau, July and August 1652. 
 Sypesteyn, Oeschiedkimdigs Bijdragen, vol. i. Bijlage, pp. 192-208. 
 
 H 2 
 
100 JOHN DE WITT. 
 
 taken for our safety, we felt it our duty to acquit ourselves of 
 our commission.' 
 
 To leave them more at liberty to proceed with caution, the 
 deputies of Holland had been apparently charged only with the 
 settlement of certain matters interesting the two provinces, and 
 altogether foreign to the resolutions relative to the nomination 
 of the Prince of Orange ; but the inhabitants, easily guessing 
 the object of their mission, and resolved to oppose it, sur- 
 rounded the house where they were lodged. ' The dispositions 
 in which we found the people here,' writes John de Witt, with 
 good-humoured banter, ' have caused us to observe that they 
 would willingly prevent our being annoyed by the fevers of 
 Zealand or any other malady, so much so, that they would 
 spare us the expense of our return and of provisioning our 
 vessel for the journey. But fortunately the States of Zealand 
 have made all arrangements necessary for our arriving ia 
 their Assembly with whole skins.' 
 
 The town council, which was half an accomplice in the 
 sedition, gave them to understand that they acknowledged 
 themselves incapable of protecting them, and recommended 
 them to avert by a prompt retreat the danger to which their 
 lives were exposed. 
 
 The firmness of the deputies of Holland was shaken. 
 They consulted together as to whether they should not retire 
 and send their proposals in writing to the States of Zealand. 
 They would, no doubt, have preferred this more timid ex- 
 pedient, had not John de Witt courageously represented to 
 them that they would fail alike in their duty and honour if 
 they succumbed to violence. He declared his determina- 
 tion to execute the commands of his sovereigns the States, 
 even if his colleagues would not venture with him. His proud 
 resolve restored their confidence, and they determined to 
 proceed to the Assembly of the States of the province. 
 Nevertheless, combining prudence with courage and justly 
 doubtful of the measures taken for their security, they sent 
 for some officers and men from the neighbouring garrisons, 
 to insure them the .protection of an armed force. 
 
 Under this escort, the deputies of Holland made their way 
 
DISAGKEEMENT BETWEEN THE TWO PEOVINCES. 101 
 
 through the crowd without troubUng themselves about its 
 outcries. They escaped the fury of a populace thirsting for 
 blood, ' who,' says De Witt, ' would have raassaered me had 
 it not been for the assistance of one of my colleagues ; ' and 
 entered the Abbey of Middleburg, where the States were 
 sitting, to communicate to them the instructions they h;id 
 received. They made the most of the necessity of preserving 
 unity between the two provinces; they dwelt upon the 
 assurance given the year before by Holland, which had under- 
 taken to make no proposals for the re-establishment of the 
 office of Captain- General without a previous understanding 
 with Zealand, and energetically demanded that no notice 
 should be taken of the proposition of the deputies of 
 Middleburg. It was nevertheless submitted to the town 
 councils. 
 
 Uneasy at such a concession to popular exactions, the 
 deputies of Holland returned to give an account of their 
 mission. Their fears were soon realised. The resolution 
 which called for the nomination of the Prince of Orange as 
 Admiral and Captain-General was voted for by the States of 
 Zealand, and elicited the strongest remonstrances from John 
 de Witt, addressed to the secretary of their Assembly, Justus 
 de Huybert. 
 
 ' The resolution of the States of Zealand having been 
 communicated to me,' he writes to him, ' I must acknowledge 
 in my own name, as well as in that of the deputies of the other 
 provinces with whom I have conferred on this subject, my 
 astonishment at not finding in it any sign of the harmonious 
 relations so long maintained with Zealand.' ' It even seems 
 to me,' he adds, ' to be inspired, in several clauses, by a 
 desire of recrimination in regard to Holland. As to the 
 truth of its accusations, I leave them to the judgment of 
 those who are disturbing the peace, and who for some time 
 past have forced me to be a witness of unjust and inopportune 
 measures. At all events, they do not appear to me to be what 
 one would have expected from the wisdom and prudence of the 
 States of Zealand.' 
 
 Still the stand made by the deputies of Holland was not 
 
102 JOHN DE WITT. 
 
 ■without result. It prevented the States of Zealand from com- 
 municating to the States-General the determination to which 
 they had come. They contented themselves with sending 
 their deputies, MM. de Mauregnault, De Tholen, and 
 Stavenisse, the pensionary of Flushing, to the Hague, where 
 they entered into communication with the States of Holland. 
 The latter gave acting powers to several commissioners, 
 amongst whom was De Witt, in his capacity of pensionary of 
 Dordrecht. He speaks of the Zealand negotiators as ' three 
 hot-headed young fellows,' although he congratulates himseM 
 on their courtesy, good manners, and friendly deference. He 
 strongly urged them to set about the reconciliation of the two 
 provinces and moderating their impetuosity, whilst prolonging 
 for six weeks the conferences on which he was to report. To 
 make this report more conclusive, the States of Holland added a 
 manifesto, which was also given into his hands, and was unani- 
 mously approved. They recalled to mind the undertaking of 
 the provinces in the Great Assembly of 1651 — to leave vacant 
 the post of captain-general, unless in case of necessity. 
 They stated that nothing appeared to them to call for its re- 
 establishment, as there was no army in the field, and declared 
 that the military power would not without detriment be placed 
 in the hands of a child. They also declared against the 
 nomination of the Count of Nassau as lieutenant to William 
 II. 's son, calling to mind the fresh jealousies which might 
 result between the two branches of the House of Orange, 
 but made no allusion to any grievance on account of the Stadt- 
 holder's coup d'etat, that they might not be supposed to be 
 irreconcilable. 
 
 This policy of resistance without provocation was success- 
 ful. ' I hope,' writes De Witt, ' that the affair of the captain- 
 general will no longer interrupt the deliberations of the States 
 of Holland. The zeal of its promoters is greatly cooling 
 down, and its hopes of success have been seemingly destroyed 
 by the unanimity with which the Assembly opposes itself to 
 all change of government.' In thus baffling the attempts of 
 Zealand, which alone could give the signal for an Orange 
 
JOHN DE WITT GEAND PENSIONARY OF HOLLAND. 103 
 
 restoration, De Witt had secured to himself the gratitude of 
 his province, which recognised in him a most energetic defender 
 of the new government. The perils which he had braved 
 made his intrepidity conspicuous ; and the difficulties which he 
 had just overcome, during the progress of the conferences 
 now happily ended, no less contributed to the appreciation of 
 his merits as a negotiator. The part which he took in the 
 direction of foreign affairs, in the committees charged with the 
 negotiations with England and with the other Powers, com- 
 pleted the precocious pledges which he gave of his political 
 experience. The surname of ' The Wisdom of Holland ' had 
 already been bestowed on him, when, at eight-and-twenty, less 
 than a year after his mission to Zealand, he was chosen by the 
 States of Holland to be their prime minister. 
 
 The Grand Pensionary of the province, Adrien Pauw 
 d'Heemstede, had just died at the age of sixty-eight, after a 
 short ministry of eighteen months. The States of Holland 
 were not yet assembled when his illness again obliged him to 
 delegate his functions to his usual assistant. The councillor 
 deputies, hoping perhaps for his recovery, postponed for some 
 days the convocation of the Assembly. But on the afternoon 
 of the day on which the States resumed their sittings they 
 received the news of his decease, and on the following day ' 
 they adjourned all resolutions until after his funeral. The 
 choice of John de Witt was so pointed out, both by his special 
 position as pensionary of Dordrecht and by the personal 
 influence which he exercised over the Assembly, that the 
 councillor deputies waited to summon the States untU he was at 
 liberty to come, according to custom, and direct their debates. 
 By a unanimous vote he was at once elected to fill the place 
 which the death of the Grand Pensionary left vacant, and to exer- 
 cise its functions until a successor had been definitely named. 
 
 His father's encouragement was not wanting. Jacob de 
 Witt, who had not yet returned from a diplomatic mission 
 which he was fulfilling at Liibeck, wrote to him : ' In the event 
 of their casting their eyes on you, it would be better, in my 
 opinion, not to stand out too seriously, only to express some 
 
104 JOHN DE "WITT. 
 
 modest doubts, and to leave the authorities of Dordrecht to 
 conduct the affair as may seem best to them.' 
 
 It was a formidable task which John de Witt had to fulfil. 
 He found the United Provinces engaged in a war with England, 
 under the weight of which they were in danger of sinking, 
 and he took up the heavy burden of power at a time as critical 
 for the maintenance of the new government as for the in- 
 dependence of his country. When the States of Holland 
 reassembled for their summer sitting, there could be no 
 further hesitation in definitely bestowing upon him the office 
 of Grand Pensionary. Nevertheless, after having made out 
 the instructions for the benefit of the minister whom they 
 were about to elect, they prepared a hst of nine candidates 
 all qualified as Doctors of Law. The deputies of Dordrecht, 
 out of deference to the scruples of their pensionary, were the 
 only ones who named Euyl, the pensionary of Haarlem, one 
 of the deputies imprisoned by the late Stadtholder, but all 
 the other votes were given to John de Witt. He was thus 
 summoned by a first election, destined to be three times 
 renewed, to undertake functions which demanded the con- 
 secration and sacrifice of his life to the interests of the re- 
 public. Before accepting them, he was obliged to obtain the 
 authority of the Council of Dordrecht, and to be relieved of 
 the oath by which he had engaged to accept no other employ- 
 ment than that of pensionary of that town. This formality 
 was promptly complied with, and a few days later, on July 30, 
 1653, his nomination was unanimously sanctioned. ' He is a 
 young man, under thirty years of age,' writes the French 
 ambassador, ' and who already possesses such fine qualities, 
 as, brought out by this very important situation, may here- 
 after render him eminent.' 
 
 He had not sought this post. Fearing the formidable 
 task confided to his youth, he was rather disposed to refuse it, 
 in spite of the legitimate ambition which so tempting an offer 
 of power might awaken even in the most modest of men. 
 He only accepted it as a public service, which was imposed 
 upon him and which he could not evade. The letter in which 
 he informs his father of his nomination gives proof of his 
 
FOEE WARNINGS OF HIS FATE. 105 
 
 indecision. 'Sir and Father,' he writes, 'their Noble 
 Mightinesses have to-day asked, and unanimously voted me, 
 to fill the vacant office of i^ensionary of Holland. There- 
 upon I have asked and obtained some days for reflection on 
 this important matter, and also to confer with you as well as 
 with the magistrates of Dordrecht, to whom I owe obedience 
 and respect; to which end, their Noble Mightinesses having 
 given me permission to make a journey to Dordrecht, I intend 
 to start to-morrow, of which I will also give notice to my 
 brother, who is now in Amsterdam, and I have no doubt that 
 on receipt of the letter he will immediately go to Dordrecht. 
 I ask you, quitting all other business, to go there at once, 
 and I conclude, confident in your doing so.' ' I have conferred,' 
 he writes a few days later to Van Beuningen, ' with the burgo- 
 masters, and magistrates of the town of Dordrecht, as well as 
 with my nearest relations, as to the heavy charge to which 
 their Noble Mightinesses have been pleased to call me, and 
 all have encouraged me to take this burden upon me, in spite 
 of the troubled times.' The fatal destiny which awaited him 
 had been predicted. Amongst his brethren at the bar ' there 
 were some,' says a memoir of the time,' 'who shook their 
 heads, saying, " This young man flies too high; he will not 
 die a natural death." ' 
 
 He must often have thought over the grave counsel 
 addressed io him at the end of an encouraging letter by the 
 friend and companion of his father's captivity in the castle of 
 Loevenstein, the Deputy Keyser, who wrote to him : ' Once 
 become Grand Pensionary, it should be a matter of indifference 
 to you whether you are put into your coffin whole or in pieces.' 
 De Witt proved himself to his last day to be one of those who 
 trouble themselves little as to whether they live or die at 
 their post, provided they have valiantly and faithfully done 
 their duty. 
 
 In default of memoirs which he had no time to leave, his 
 private correspondence, as it is preserved in the family papers 
 and in the registers of the archives, allows us to follow him 
 
 ' Historisch Verlmal, van C. en J. de Witt, 1677. Eoyal Library at the 
 Hague. 
 
106 JOHN DE "WITT. 
 
 ia his home Kfe after his entry on his functions, and to live 
 again, so to speak, in intimacy with him. In spite of a some- 
 what ceremonious reserve, which is rarely absent, it omits no 
 details, even the most familiar, of his daily life. It shows us 
 the man himself, and this knowledge of the man is of no less 
 importance to history than that of the events in which he took 
 part. 
 
 The exercise of power in no way altered the simplicity of 
 taste which was habitual to him, and strengthened rather 
 than loosened his family ties. Once elected Grand Pensionary . 
 of Holland, he had quitted the quarters of the deputies of 
 Dordrecht, called the White House, where he had till then 
 resided, and established himself in a large house resembliag a 
 fortress, of which he no doubt occupied but a portion. His 
 private fortune, which only amoimted to 10,000 florins, 
 according to his declaration on the tax papers, and his salary, 
 which did not exceed 3,000 florins, obliged him to content 
 himself with a very modest establishment. The direction of 
 his household was confided to the care of his eldest sister, 
 Johanna, eight years older than himself, who had married 
 Beveren de Zwyndrecht, and had always testified the most 
 tender solicitude for him. He commissioned her to procure 
 for him the necessary furniture. For the sake of economy 
 she sent him furniture purchased second-hand at Dordrecht, 
 bought him the requisite linen, and sent him his provisions, 
 to which later his father added a supply of wine. She had 
 found for him a trustworthy and hard-working maid- servant, 
 who sufficed for the internal care of the house, and advised 
 her brother ' to give her help once a week, so that the work 
 should not be too hard for her.' When he wished to buy 
 some horses, one of his uncles, Cornelius van Sypesteyn, 
 adjured him not to stick at a high price, ' being,' he said, ' of 
 opinion that such an equipage was a part of his gilded 
 slavery.' John de Witt, on the contrary, preferred ' to procure 
 for the sum of forty or fifty florins some horses which would 
 not be too spirited and would not cost him so much. As to 
 the coachman, he proposed to employ him in looking after the 
 garden and in doing commissions.' 
 
HIS PEIVATE CORRESPONDENCE. 107 
 
 His correspondence furnishes the most touching proofs of 
 his father's assistance. Jacob de Witt corrected his son's first 
 political letters, supplied him with notes, and gave him counsels 
 of moderation and prudence. Sometimes he urges him to 
 avoid useless collisions, and suggests to him precautions to 
 be taken to satisfy the council of Dordrecht ; sometimes he 
 warns him to mistrust certain connections ; and John de Witt, 
 with docility to this advice, answers that he will be on his 
 guard. His maternal uncle, Cornelius van Sypesteyn, also 
 evinced the strongest regard for him. ' I am at your service,' 
 he writes, ' and I shall always be happy to do anything for 
 you, for the sake of the affectionate regard we shall bear for 
 you to our lives' end. I know of no one in the world, except- 
 ing my wife, who would so willingly be of use to you as I 
 would, and the love which Orestes testified to his friend when 
 he said, " Me, me, adsum qui feci : in me convertite ferrum," is 
 not more than what I feel for you. I pray God that you may 
 never be unfortunate enough to have to test it.' Cornelius 
 van Sypesteyn had acquired a large fortune by cultivating the 
 dunes, and possessed a country house at Hillegem, between 
 Leyden and Haarlem, where he liked to exercise hospitality. He 
 collected the most agreeable people there, and often arranged 
 shooting parties in which John de Witt and his brother Cor- 
 nelius used to take part. ' It seems,' he writes to his nephew, 
 ' that you are so much taken up with tending your goats and 
 lambs that you no longer care to come here and look after the 
 young shepherdesses.' A few years later Cornelius de Witt 
 writes to his brother that ' he is sorry not to meet him at his 
 uncle's, that they might shoot rabbits together, try a first-rate 
 basset and hunt with ferrets.' 
 
 When John de Witt could afford himself a holiday, it was 
 at Hillegem that he went to spend it. He often thanked his 
 uncle for the pleasure the latter had given him, and, wishing 
 to prove the interest he took in his game, he sent him a bill, 
 passed by the States, which he had brought forward for the > 
 destruction of birds of prey. 
 
 Public affairs did not prevent the young minister from 
 keeping up the closest intimacy with his numerous relations. 
 
108 JOHN DE WITT. 
 
 He often wrote to them to give them the benefit of his advice 
 and assistance, and even sent one of them legal opinions 
 in Latin. He still took pleasure in famUy gatherings, 
 as his coiTespondence shows. He received in the following 
 terms an invitation from one of his aunts, Maria Van de 
 Corput, whose son-in-law Heydanus, a theologian of Leyden 
 had won the friendship of Descartes by his defence of his 
 philosophy. 'I must tell you,' she writes to her nephew, 
 ' that my son-in-law has a great desire to see you at his table 
 with a few professors. But he knows so well how precious 
 your time is, that he only dares to write to you through me. 
 If you will at your convenience grant him a Saturday or any 
 other day, he would be glad to know the evening before, to 
 send out a few invitations.' 
 
 "When it is a question of a wedding, to which John de Witt 
 was unable to go, because he had been called upon the day 
 before to exercise provisionally the of&ce of Grand Pensionary, 
 ' I should have been in my element,' he writes, ' and you know 
 me weU enough to be aware that under such circumstances I 
 am as much at my ease as a fish in the water.' 
 
 The world had also great attractions for him, and he took 
 pleasure in affah-s of gallantry after the fashion of French 
 society in the seventeenth century. Amongst the great ladies 
 of the Hague there were several who used to apply to him, as 
 humble clients, to obtain some favour or employment for their 
 relations. He kept up correspondence with them, in which he 
 generally employed French, which was the language of refined 
 society. He showed the most graceful readiness to listen to 
 their requests. When his scruples did not allow of his satis- 
 fying them, he took the greatest pains to preserve their good 
 graces. 
 
 Sophia Margaret of Nassau had made him feel the charm 
 of her society at the balls of the Hague. A grand-daughter 
 of a brother of William I. and sister of John Maurice, 
 governor of Brazil, she was still unmarried when at forty- 
 three she first met John de Witt. Her brother. Count Henry 
 of Nassau, commandant of the town of Hulst, had just died, 
 
HIS SOCIAL RELATIONS. 109 
 
 and she was anxious that the company which he had com- 
 manded for twenty years should be given to his son, her 
 nephew WilHam of Nassau. She earnestly sought the favour 
 of John de Witt, begging him to continue his friendliness to a 
 family 'which,' she writes, 'is called not Orange, but Nassau.' 
 She took great pains to keep herself aloof from the family 
 which was shut out from power, and made the most urgent 
 appeal to the good-wUl of the Grand Pensionary, reminding 
 him at the same time of the payment of the pension which 
 had been for five years owing to her sister-in-law. She told 
 him that if he did not entertain this petition he would lose 
 the good opinion she had of him, and promised to prove her 
 gratitude by a work of her own hands, which she hoped he 
 would keep as a remembrance. A month later she sent it to 
 him, adding a note in French verse, which ended thus — 
 
 Et ne sera jamais dit 
 Que je me dedie, 
 Tant que j'aurai de vie, 
 Votre trfes fidele amie. 
 
 De Witt, who in conformity with his instructions refused 
 all presents of whatever nature, did not feel at liberty to keep 
 a gift to which he nevertheless attached great value. ' Had I 
 robbed you of what it pleased you in your goodness and 
 generosity to send me,' he writes to the princess, ' I should 
 feel no weight on my conscience ; I should keep it all my life 
 as having belonged to one whom I can never forget, treasuring 
 up always what comes from her as I now guard and cherish 
 for ever what I stole from you on that joyful night we lately 
 passed together. But permit me, I beseech you, to remain an 
 honest man, and not to break a promise which I have made 
 and confirmed by a solemn oath. That you may not impute 
 to ingratitude or a want of affection what arises from absolute 
 necessity, I here send you (with the enclosure, which only 
 leaves me drawing my heart with it) an extract from the 
 instructions which are my law, and, though reasonable 
 under all other circumstances, very hard in this one.' He 
 announced to her at the same time the postponement of 
 
110 JOHN DE WITT. 
 
 her sister-in-law's petition, 'which,' he says, 'will be no 
 pleasanter to you than to me.' 
 
 To avoid incurring her displeasure he offers her a watch, 
 ' to pay,' he writes to her, ' what I owe you since the fair at the 
 Hague.' 'Deprived of the satisfaction of her presence,' he 
 commissions Admiral Obdam to give her this present, and 
 winds up his letter with a compliment which bears the impress 
 of the affected tone of the time. ' This moveable instrument 
 should be the more agreeable to you since you have this in 
 common with others of your sex, that mobility is not disa- 
 greeable to you, of which I have had proofs at those assemblies 
 where dancing and sporting were the pastimes.' 
 
 The correspondence of John de Witt with Baroness Amelia 
 de Slavatha gives us a no less interesting insight into his first 
 youthful inclinations. 
 
 The Baroness de Slavatha was the daughter of Major- 
 General Brederode, whose support was of great importance to 
 John de Witt. She presided at the gatherings so often held at 
 his uncle's, Cornelius van Sypesteyn, and held the title of 
 Grand Mistress of the Order of the Union of Mirth, a society 
 which had for its aim the most varied social amusements. De 
 Witt was too anxious to belong to it to excuse himself from 
 the demands made upon him by the Baroness Slavatha. 
 ' Madam,' he writes, ' if it were permissible in a poor knight, 
 who is only admitted into your order by a great piece of luck 
 which Heaven has most unexpectedly sent him, to express 
 what he thinks of the actions of the Grand Mistress, I should 
 say that you do injustice to your greatness by using terms of 
 supplication towards one whom you have the right to com- 
 mand, from which I should fear that you doubt my promptitude 
 in obeying your behests. Never can I have greater happiness 
 than when I succeed in the undertaking and execution of 
 something which I know will please you, praying God to create 
 occasions more favourable than those you mention, so as to 
 confirm the above, not by words only but by deeds, and begging 
 you therefore to honour me with your commands, always and 
 whenever you deem me capable of rendering you some service. 
 Do not again, then, use any supphcations or prayers, although 
 
MAEEIAGE OF COENELIUS DE WITT. Ill 
 
 your prayers always stand to me in place of eommands, but 
 treat me as I am, in truth, your very humble and obedient 
 servant.' 
 
 Another time, De Witt again takes the opportunity of 
 pleasing her by obtaining, according to her wish, three months' 
 leave for her husband, a cavalry captain in the service of the 
 States, and he promises to have it extended if Baron Slavatha's 
 affairs should keep him in Germany. 
 
 ' Your attractions,' he writes, ' and the feelings which the 
 recollections of your marvellous beauties must awake in M. de 
 Slavatha, wUl no doubt spare me the trouble of working for this 
 extension, as the same beauties, and a thousand other quali- 
 ties which I admire in you, give me life, and leave me ever in 
 your service.' Some years later, when Baroness Slavatha lost 
 her husband, he hastens to offer her his condolences. 'I 
 admit,' he says, ' that the loss you have sustained is irreparable 
 for you, but as it is also inevitable, and as God gave you time 
 to prepare for it, I do not doubt that with the strength of 
 mind and good sense which appear in all your actions He 
 will have equally given you the force and determination 
 necessary to resist such severe trials.' 
 
 We must not, however, look for the expression of a youthful 
 passion in this correspondence. In fact, it is by the inter- 
 vention of Baroness Slavatha that De Witt offers his no less 
 gallant attentions to other ladies, with whom he appears to 
 have been equally fascinated. ' I shall not trouble myself to 
 send my compliments to your coadjutrix,' he writes, ' as I am 
 myself always with her, my soul perpetually rendering her 
 that homage which is her due, although my body, by an in- 
 evitable impediment, is absent.' Moreover, these somewhat 
 trifling friendships were but transitory. He needed, on enter- 
 ing on his career as a public man, to ensure himself a peace- 
 ful refuge in conjugal life, as in a harbour against a storm. 
 His brother Cornelius had encouraged him in matrimony by 
 his own example. In the month following his father's 
 imprisonment, he had married Maria van Berkel, whose 
 father, John van Berkel, had been receiver-general to the 
 province of Holland, and whose mother, Elizabeth Prince, 
 
112 JOHN DE WITT. 
 
 belonged to one of the noble families of Eotterdam. Only 
 eighteen years of age, she was already gifted with an im- 
 posing style of beauty which was the visible sign of a strong 
 mind and a firm will. Her hair, which she wore in a coronet 
 round her head, her brilliant complexion, her great black eyes, 
 shining with a glowing light, her somewhat full but bright red 
 lips, her splendid figure, her majestic bearing, all betokened 
 energy. Her portrait, by Van der Werf, as it is preserved by 
 the last descendants of the family, represents her in all the 
 bloom of youth. An orphan on the father's side, she had re- 
 ceived a portion of about 10,000 florins. She exercised the 
 greatest power over her husband. The masculine force of her 
 character justified the weight of her advice, and her brother- 
 in-law himself sought it more than once in the correspondence 
 which he kept up with her, recognising thus the superiority of 
 her mind as well as the correctness of her judgment. 
 
 Two years had scarcely elapsed since the nomination of 
 John de Witt as Grand Pensionary, when his marriage com- 
 pleted the measure of good fortune which was reserved for 
 his youth. It was to his interest to contract for himself an 
 alliance which would assure to him the support of a poHtical 
 connection in the council of one of the towns of Holland, and 
 he sought one which might best confirm his power by guaran- 
 teeing to him the co-operation of the magistrates of Amster- 
 dam. After having vainly paid his attentions to the daughter 
 of one of the former burgomasters, the celebrated physician 
 Nicholas Tulp, he found a more favourable reception from 
 Wendela Bicker, who belonged to one of the pruicipal burgher 
 families in Holland, which was noted for its attachment to 
 the republican party. 
 
 The ties of friendship, of services rendered, the recollection 
 of recent trials suffered for the same cause, already united the 
 family of Bicker to that of De Witt. The two elder brothers, 
 Andrew Bicker, an old colleague of Jacob de Witt in his 
 embassies to the northern courts, and Cornelius Bicker van 
 Swieten, had both distinguished themselves by their patriotic 
 resistance to the Stadtholder William II. Their wealth made 
 them sovereigns of the Amsterdam Exchange. Cornelius 
 
THE BICKER FAMILY. 113 
 
 Bicker van Swieten, after having made his fortune in the 
 India Company, had sold his shares to carry on business on 
 his own account in Brazil, and his profits amounted to more 
 than 100,000 florins a year. Vondel writes in some of his 
 verses that the flag of the Bickers overshadowed the ocean, 
 ■which was ploughed by their ships, bringing to Holland the 
 golden harvest of far countries. The third brother of this 
 wealthy family, John Bicker, who had taken no part in the 
 events of 1650, had just died in the exercise of his duty as 
 burgomaster, which he had filled in his turn as a sort of 
 fraternal inheritance. 
 
 He had married Agneta de Graeff, a sister of two of the 
 principal magistrates of the town, and acquired a large fortune 
 partly by himself and partly through his wife. He had con- 
 tributed to augment the prosperity of Amsterdam by his 
 undertakings, and his name was given to one of the islands 
 of Holland, Bicker Island. He left five daughters, who had 
 each a portion of 5,000 florins. They spent the first year of 
 their mother's widowhood in their father's country house at 
 Beverwyck. The two eldest were married — one, Elizabeth, to 
 a nephew of her mother's, Jacob Tryp ; the other, Gertrude, to 
 a rich merchant, John Deutz, who had made a contract with 
 Spain to furnish quicksilver to the amount of a million to 
 the Spanish colonies, and to whom John de Witt afterwards 
 confided the charge of his pecuniary affairs. It was upon the 
 third,Wendela, born in 1636, that the Grand Pensionary's choice 
 fell, attracted by the budding charms of her beauty and the 
 gentle amiability of her character. He was most assiduous in 
 his efforts to please her. He speaks in his letters of the weeks 
 during which he was absent from the Hague in Amsterdam, 
 while yet uncertain of succeeding in his suit. "When he 
 obtained the desired assent he hastened to show his happiness 
 to his betrothed. 
 
 'Although up to this time,' he writes, 'I have, in obe- 
 dience to a formal though strict order, abstained from writing 
 in this manner, I hope in the future to be able to avail myself 
 of such converse without offending you. Although I have not 
 yet received an express permission, I thought it would not be 
 
 VOL. I. I 
 
114 JOHN DE "WITT, 
 
 disagreeable to you to be informed by this of the arrival, in 
 good will and good health, of him with whom you have in 
 future determined to pass your life in order to insure his 
 happiness. The expectation of this creates much happiness 
 in my soul, and that happiness would be complete were it not 
 troubled by the impatience of my desires. I do all I can to 
 master them, but I find that the nearer I approach to the en- 
 joyment of that blissful day which is promised to me, the more 
 this impatient ardour increases and gets the better of me. If 
 it continues thus to goad me with increasing passion, I fear I 
 shall not pass through this period of waiting without falling 
 ill, unless in my sufferings I am solaced by the sweetness of 
 your presence. I entreat for it, therefore, while endeavouring 
 on my side to enjoy it as soon as possible.' 
 
 Apparently Wendela coidd not conquer her timidity and 
 reserve sufficiently to respond to this declaration. She merely 
 gives her opinion as to the house which she was to occupy, say- 
 ing that she wished it to be big and warm, but that she thought 
 the one of which a plan was sent her would suit her perfectly. 
 She informs her betrothed at the same time that there is no 
 need to trouble himself about the invitations rmtil the wedding 
 is settled. ' You can ask whom you like,' she writes to him, 
 but takes care to add : ' My mother tells me that the numbers 
 will not be very great.' • The marriage was celebrated with 
 much pomp. John de Witt, although accustomed to the 
 austere simphcity of his father's house, had to conform him- 
 self to the more elegant customs of his new family. 
 
 Wendela Bicker, when she left her mother's house to go to 
 the church, wore a magnificent dress, and was crowned with 
 jewels. She had with her her uncles on both sides, who 
 formed an illustrious retinue. Cornelius Bicker was there, 
 as well as Cornelius and Andrew de Graeff. They came to 
 seal an alliance which, by uniting their two illustrious families 
 to that of the Prime Minister of Holland, gave them in 
 common the same traditions of honour and devotion to their 
 country. On the side of John de Witt the friends and relations 
 
 ' February 16, 1665. See the interesting pjtmphlet by M. Veegens on 
 Wendela Bicker. 
 
MAERIAaE OF JOHN DE WITT AND WENDELA. BICKER. 115 
 
 were still more numerous. His father, his brother and sister- 
 in-law, his two sisters, De Zwyndrecht and Hoeufft, with their 
 husbands, his uncle Van Sypesteyn, his cousins Vivien and 
 Focanus, all came in response to the invitations they had 
 received. They were accompanied by the members of the 
 Council of Dordrecht and a few particular friends, such as the 
 advocate Van den Audel, with whom John de Witt had 
 pursued his legal studies, and Jerome van Beverningh, who, of 
 the same age and opinions, was a friend and companion in 
 arms in public life. 
 
 All the guests assembled at a mirthful banquet. Songs 
 and recitations succeeded it. The great poet Vondel addressed 
 the young couple in one of his finest odes,' in which, follow- 
 ing the mythological fancies of the time, he celebrated the 
 happy meeting of the goddess of Liberty with the goddess of 
 Love to take under their protection the welfare of John de Witt 
 and his wife. In it he rendered eloquent homage to the 
 public' virtues of the young minister. 'De Witt,' he writes, 
 ' in the prime of his manhood, stands at the helm, and lets no 
 storm tear it from his hands. No favours discompose him, as . 
 no hatred alarms him. His prudence restores swords to their 
 scabbards, and he promotes that much-desired peace with 
 England which exempts the citizens from heavy taxes, and 
 leaves the peasants free to cultivate their fields where gold 
 and silver are springing up.' He congratulates him on his 
 alliance with the illustrious family whose renown is added to 
 his own, and engages him to taste the joys of the new life 
 opening before him. ' The work of the State,' says the goddess 
 of Liberty, ' requires a support, a gentle solace. When my 
 faithful guardian is seated in the midst of papers which sur- 
 round him as a rampart, when he argues m the Council and 
 is daily assailed by the cares of government, his wife alone can 
 give him rest and comfort by her gracious welcome. Advance, 
 then, goddess of Love, and place in the hearts of this young 
 couple your chaste fervour, that this timid girl, united to him 
 who loves her, may henceforth set at nought the crosses of 
 
 ' Vie et Mart de C. et J. de Witt, by Van den Hoeven, p. 71. Amsterdam, 
 1705. 
 
 I 2 
 
116 JOHN DE WITT. 
 
 life, and receive with joy into her arms the young hero who 
 has pledged her his faith.' 
 
 The congratulations of the first personages of the States 
 completed the eulogies of the poets. Major-General Brederode, 
 the young Prince of Orange's uncle, writes to John de Witt : 
 ' It was with much satisfaction that I heard of the resolution 
 you have made to change your condition, and to ally yourself 
 with a family so eminent in your country. I pray God that 
 this marriage may succeed to His glory and your content- 
 ment, so that you may see continued in your race those great 
 gifts which have been given to you for the service of the 
 republic of the United Provinces.' 
 
 Nieupoort, the ambassador to the States- General in Eng- 
 land, hastened to address him with good wishes in these terms : 
 ' Peeling sure that you have relished the flavour of the fruit 
 so long desired, I wish you under the circumstances the 
 happiness which M. Cats wished to me with a solemn coun- 
 tenance at the college of the deputy councillors after my 
 marriage — that is, " that you may live long enough to wear 
 one another to rags.'" 
 
 He adds to this rather vulgar compliment an invitation 
 from Cromwell, who had expressed his desire to receive the 
 young couple in London. 
 
 De Witt declined this invitation, not wishing to leave the 
 Hague. 
 
 During the three weeks which followed his marriage he 
 had remained at Amsterdam with his wife's family, to keep out 
 of the way of business, and to give himself up entirely to the 
 first effusion of conjugal affection. ' This loving occupation,' 
 as Nieupoort calls it, interrupted the usual regularity of his 
 despatches. He writes to Boreel, the ambassador to France : 
 ' My long absence here and my domestic happiness have 
 caused me to discontinue our correspondence. I hope you 
 will forget my negligence, which I wUl endeavour to make up 
 for.' 
 
 When he brought back to his hearth her whom he had 
 chosen as the companion of his life, he recognised that he had 
 found in her with that grace which captivates the eyes, the 
 
JOHN DE WITT'S WIFE. 117 
 
 devotion which wins the heart. Her portrait by Nescher 
 represents her with lovely fine hair falling in fair ringlets on 
 her forehead, grey eyes with a tender light in them, a swan- 
 like neck adorned with a necklace of pearls, a slight and 
 graceful figure, and a look of great refinement. She is dressed 
 in a petticoat of brown material, which just allows a glimpse of 
 a very small foot, and a blue satin bodice edged with white 
 fur. The painter has placed her in an attitude which reveals 
 a submissive character. Her early education had been 
 neglected, like that of the generality of girls at Amsterdam too 
 much taken up with worldly life for serious occupations. Ten 
 years after her marriage she asks John de Witt not to be vexed 
 at her writing or the style of her letters. Nor did she ever 
 attempt to influence her husband ; she was too humble and 
 difddent of herself to take any part in public life. She signed 
 herself writing to him ' your unworthy spouse,' and feared her 
 husband's time was too valuable to be spent in reading her 
 simple letters. She apologises for her weaknesses and many 
 failings, that she may not seem too importunate ia her wish 
 to keep him beside her. 
 
 Full of respect and admiration for his character, doing 
 homage to his superiority, she had no other thought than that 
 of making his home life pleasant and peaceful. She gave her- 
 self up to the cares of the household with active superintend- 
 ence. De Witt calls her in his letters to her ' the dear and 
 worthy commander of my home.' When she went away, 
 at rare intervals, to spend a few days at Amsterdam with her 
 family, she showed herself solicitous for her husband's comfort, 
 desiring him, as he had promised, not to fail ' to breakfast 
 every morning, which is good for your health,' and not for- 
 getting the necessary instructions for the good order of the 
 house. 
 
 She timidly attempted a few verses, or rather rhymes, to 
 wish him many happy returns of his birthday — something in 
 these terms : ' I wish you, John de Witt, a year of peace and 
 repose. Such is the desire of your loving wife, united to you 
 by the bonds of matrimony. I wish you a happy year, I who 
 am your second soul, to whom you are the dear half of mine.' 
 
118 JOHN DE WITT. 
 
 She adds, as if to excuse herself : ' It is all I can do.' There 
 was no need for any eloquent expression of her affection, it 
 was shown on all occasions. According to one of the family- 
 traditions, Wendela Bicker was nicknamed ' The Gentle Sheep; ' 
 while her sister-in-law, Maria van Berkel, is reported to have 
 worn a man's dress.' Living only for her husband, and 
 having no emotions but those of conjugal life, she died without 
 having experienced any of the trials and misfortunes of him to 
 whom her fate was united. She only knew his prosperous 
 days, and brought him nothing but happiness. 
 
 This domestic interior, enlivened by social amusement, and 
 cheered by the sweet radiancy of reciprocal love, brings out in 
 its true light the individuality of the public man. Around 
 the prime minister were grouped those who had served him in 
 some measure as civU lieutenants, ready to second all his 
 views and to help him with their counsel in the direction of 
 diplomatic negotiations, as well as in the management of 
 internal politics. There were, amongst others. Kaiser, Nieu- 
 poort. Van Beuniugen, and Van Beverningh. Kaiser, the 
 pensionary of Horn, who had been despatched by the States to 
 Copenhagen, was one of the most devoted friends of John de 
 "Witt's father, and was most faithfully attached to the son. 
 
 He had encouraged him to accept the nomination as grand 
 pensionary, without disguising from him its perils, and had 
 such confidence in him that he writes to him : ' I teU this to 
 no one but you, who stand to me instead of all. Tu mihi unus 
 instar omnium.' 
 
 Nieupoort, though eighteen years older than John de Witt, 
 always showed the greatest deference to the young minister 
 of the States of Holland. He had carried on his hterary 
 education in France, and had entered on pubHe life as 
 pensionary of Schiedam. He took an active part in the 
 deliberations of the Great Assembly, and held at the service of 
 his country the knowledge he had acquired of English affairs 
 when he accompanied the ambassador Joachimi to London 
 as his secretary. The feelings which he professed for the new 
 
 ' Lotsij, Ging Uttres du grand pensionnaire De Witt (Dutch Almanack 
 1850, p. 77), 
 
HIS POLITICAL PRIENDS. 119 
 
 pensionary of Holland are shown in the following letter, which 
 he writes to him on the subject of his nomination. ' It is 
 good,' he says, ' to be able to apply to the navigator who stands 
 before the compass for directions for those at a distance, that 
 they may be enabled to follow him, especially in bad weather 
 and with contrary winds.' Van Beuningen, the companion in 
 years and in studies of John de Witt, long one of his most 
 useful allies, and afterwards his rival, was born at Amsterdam 
 in 1622. He was the son of the burgomaster of that town. 
 Left an orphan at an early age, he had successfully pursued 
 his studies at Leyden, and had been made a doctor of law. 
 He showed no vocation for public life. It was the entreaties of 
 his grandmother which induced him to accept the offers of the 
 illustrious Grotius, an exile from the United Provinces and 
 ambassador at Sweden for the French Government. 
 
 Grotius attached him to his person, and thus enabled 
 him to profit under the best auspices, by his sojourn in 
 France, for the completion of his political education. 
 
 Eeturned to Holland, and elected as secretary to the 
 Council of Amsterdam, he gave himself up to his taste for 
 solitude and his iaclination to misanthropy, and retired to his 
 seat near Leyden, depriving himself almost of necessaries. 
 
 There he became acquainted with a band of friends, who, 
 under the leadership of the baker Oudaan, father of the poet 
 of that name, professed a belief in the millennium — that is to 
 say, in the earthly resurrection promised to the faithful, in 
 which they were destined to enjoy a thousand years of 
 happiness. He participated in all the exaggerations of their 
 religious zeal. His relations succeeded in detaching him 
 from them, and in awakening his ambition. This was soon 
 satisfied by his nomination to the important office of pensionary 
 of Amsterdam, which he obtained without any competitor 
 disputing it with him.' 
 
 Volatile and unstable, though not really false or perfidious, 
 impetuous and impatient of contradiction, but redeeming 
 these failings by the most brilHant qualities, he had inex- 
 haustible resources of imagination at his disposal, assisted by 
 
 ' See Booh, Dictkmnaire biograjghigue. Eoyal Library at the Hague. 
 
120 JOHN DE WITT. 
 
 gifts of speech by turns persuasive and seductive. Always 
 prompt of decision, he was never at a loss to overcome 
 difficulties or turn aside obstacles. 
 
 It is related that the Grand Pensionary De Witt, in the 
 days of their intimacy, used to amuse himself by putting 
 to him political problems, for the sake of the marvellous 
 cleverness with which he would answer them. He was always 
 realdy with the most unexpected and ingenious methods of 
 solving them, and the expedients which he would invent to 
 avoid any failure often seemed to De Witt worthy of remem- 
 brance, to be turned to account in case of need. 
 
 The services which he could render in negotiations soon 
 opened to him the diplomatic career. Sent in the first place 
 to Stockholm, ia the capacity of minister to the States- 
 General, he gave free vent to those patriotic sentiments which 
 he always retained with generous warmth. He watched with 
 anxiety the vicissitudes of the war in which the republic was 
 engaged with England. ' If we do not vie with each other ia 
 burning zeal,' he writes to De Witt, ' in ceaseless activity and 
 great readiness, to make the most strenuous - efforts ever 
 hitherto demanded by the State, my fears will be more than 
 I can express; and it might be that the disgrace and mis- 
 fortunes suspended over our heads would go farther even 
 than I dread.' In another letter he laments the indifference 
 and ill-will of certain magistrates, who, in hopes of a speedy 
 peace, put off the armament from motives of economy. ' If 
 we are too keen to keep our property and our wealth when 
 the republic has need of them,' he declares, ' we shall lose all.' 
 ' How I wish you were here,' answers De Witt, ' to work with 
 me, assisting me with your indefatigable zeal to obtain from 
 the members of our Assembly those vigorous resolutions, and 
 that open-handedness of which we have such need.' The 
 confidence they had in one another appears in the following 
 letter, which Van Beuningen wrote to De Witt to congratulate 
 him on being nominated Grand Pensionary. 'I could not 
 have received more welcome news, nor you a higher or 
 more illustrious position, for the display of those gifts of 
 wisdom, bravery, and goodwill, in the service of the State. 
 
JEROME VAN BEVEENINGH. 121 
 
 Neither could any other have been found upon whose 
 shoulders so heavy and important a burden could have been 
 placed with so much security, so that I have reason for the 
 most hopeful prospects in the direction of the affairs of the 
 State, and for the first time I begin to hope that the course 
 which has appeared so desperate is not irremediable.' These 
 assurances were a guarantee to De Witt of a devotion upon 
 which he could safely rely. 
 
 Jerome van Beverningh, born in 1614, and destined, like 
 Van Beuningen, to make himself a name in the service of the 
 republic, was a grandson of John van Beverningh, who had 
 been lieutenant-general of the army of the United Provinces 
 during the war against Spain. His father, Melchior van 
 Beverningh, who had served under Frederick Henry, had but 
 a meagre fortune ; but if he left little property to his son, he 
 spared no sacrifice to give him the benefit of a thorough 
 education. He also tried to encourage in him a taste for 
 work, reproaching him ' for being too fond of walking, 
 swimming, and amusing himself,' and blaming him ' for being 
 too timid,' making great efforts that the young student might 
 do honour to his family and his country. 
 
 After having completed his studies at Leyden, and married 
 a young Flemish girl, Jeanne le Gillon, Jerome van Beverningh 
 entered the Council of Gouda, and a few years later, at the 
 age of six-and-twenty, he was chosen to represent the regency 
 of that town in the Assembly of the States of Holland. He 
 took an active part in the debates which culminated in the 
 coup d'etat of William II., spoke with warmth and firmness 
 against the undertakings of the Stadtholder, and became one 
 of the principal members of the Grand Assembly charged 
 with the founding of the republican government. He made 
 himself so marked by his powers of work and his eloquence, 
 that Van Beuningen already counted him amongst the men of 
 most value to the State who best merited the attachment 
 and esteem of the country. When the Grand Assembly dis- 
 solved, the States of Holland sent him to sit in the States- 
 General, which hastened on their side to recognise his services 
 by confiding to him the important office of Treasurer- General 
 
122 JOHN DE WITT. 
 
 to the United Provinces. Called to take a great part in the 
 most inaportant negotiations, and fortunate enough to have 
 been always successful, he shov?ed, in the judgment of a con- 
 temporary, ' an uprightness and integrity which made him 
 incapable of crooked dealing in anything that he deemed 
 advantageous to his country.' No one was better disposed to 
 share with De Witt the heavy task of government. On learn- 
 ing of his nomination as Grand Pensionary, he wrote to him : 
 ' I confess, without compliment, that I rest my chief hopes 
 on your great qualities, your courage, and your diligent 
 care.' 
 
 Beverningh was fond of literature and science, which were 
 his relaxations after public business. He had, besides, a taste 
 for flowers, which he cultivated at Lokhorst, his country 
 house, near Leyden. Later^ in his retirement, he gave himself 
 up to the study of botany. 
 
 His last office was that of curator to the University of 
 Leyden, whose library he enriched by his gifts. He never 
 departed from the most simple habits, carrying them even to 
 affectation. He was not much to look at. It was only by the 
 expression of his countenance that the superiority of the man 
 could be recognised. He had a broad forehead, a long and 
 slightly hooked nose, his eyes were bright and penetrating, 
 his lips parted by a slight and melancholy smile. He had 
 had his portrait painted in a cloak and black dress, with his 
 hand on a table from which hung seven great seals of .office, 
 indicating the powers that had been so often intrusted to 
 him. Underneath is an oyster, showing between its rugged 
 shells a fine pearl, with these words of modest pride, ' Ne me 
 qusesiveris extra.' 
 
 John de "Witt had need of such useful allies in politics to 
 overcome the obstacles which he encountered in the exercise 
 of his functions. In fact, the prerogatives of his office made 
 him master neither of the government of the Confederation 
 nor even of the government of his province ; and it was less 
 by the authority which belonged to him than by his able use 
 of power that he acquired and kept the direction of public 
 affairs. 
 
OFFICIAL FUNCTIONS OF JOHN DE WITT. 123 
 
 Nominated for five years only, but always re-eligible, the 
 Grand Pensionary of Holland, who originally bore the title of 
 Advocate- General, had been at first charged with the judicial 
 affairs of the province.' His powers had been successively 
 extended, and he became at the same time president and 
 minister of the States^ He sat in their Assembly amongst the 
 nobles of whom he was the titled pensionary, having power to 
 speak in their name, with right of priority. The ordering of 
 the debates lay with him. Obliged to be present at each 
 sitting, from nine to twelve in the morning and from three to 
 six in the afternoon, the order of the day had to be followed' 
 as he fixed it. He communicated to the Assembly the motions 
 of the members, called to order those who wandered from the 
 point, and could always address the meeting either to plead 
 the authority of a precedent or to bring the debate to a con- 
 clusion, though without a vote. He collected the votes and 
 announced the result, embodied in a resolution which he read 
 out the next day, or in case of necessity the same day, so that 
 the Assembly might give it the force of law. On occasions 
 when the majority of votes was insufficient, or where unanimity 
 was required, he had the right of postponing the vote, and 
 taking any measures that might secure agreement. He 
 was thus the guardian of the law and the arbitrator of public 
 peace. All matters concerning the administration of the 
 interior of the province came under his jurisdiction. He 
 watched over the observance of the laws and regulations, and 
 took note of all demands made to the States, receiving all 
 letters addressed to them, which he was bound to communicate. 
 Having no concern with the finances, and unable in any way 
 to deal with the funds, ^ he nevertheless had charge of the 
 fiscal measures required for the interests of the public. He 
 had also to render an account each session of the resources 
 of the treasury. In the interval between the sessions he was 
 associated with the councillor deputies, towards whom 
 
 ' See De Munere consiliarii pensionarii Hollandice, by Van Teta. Leyden, 
 1836. 
 
 ' Oudaan, Biponse justificative d Lambert Van den Bosch en faveur de 
 jean de Witt. Danoaniana, 1672. 
 
124 JOHN DE WITT. 
 
 he filled the same functions as those with which he was 
 invested in the Assembly of the States of the Province, and 
 he carried on under their control the government of Holland. 
 
 As to the powers which he exercised in the States-General, 
 they were shared with the secretary commissioned to assist 
 him, especially the diplomatic correspondence, and were, more- 
 over, subordinate to the necessity of an amicable understand- 
 ing with the deputies of the other provinces. Nevertheless, 
 they sufficed to make the Grand Pensionary of Holland the 
 true head of the government of the Confederation. He sat 
 below the president for the week, and when Holland presided 
 took his place on his right. He formed one ia all the com- 
 mittees of the Federal Assembly, and was in all the debates 
 the representative of his province, in whose name he had 
 al'Ways a right to be heard. 
 
 The direction of foreign politics, which had been placed in 
 his hands, gave him the most extensive powers. The States 
 of Holland, represented at the principal embassies and the 
 greater number of missions by members of their Assembly, 
 had easUy caused the authority of their Grand Pensionary to 
 be recognised in the conduct of negotiations. All diplomatic 
 correspondence was to be addressed or communicated to him. 
 In addition, he was in correspondence with the ministers of 
 the foreign courts accredited to the United Provinces. If they 
 were granted audience by the States-General, it was with the 
 Grand Pensionary that they treated. De Witt, almost from 
 his entry into office, was even authorised to transmit to them, 
 if required, such communications as did not appear to him to 
 be opposed to the public interests. His privileges were those 
 of a minister for foreign affairs. 
 
 A provincial code specified the prerogatives and obligations 
 of his office. The Grand Pensionary had to take an oath 
 punctually to fulfil them, and was specially bound by one 
 article to which John de Witt firmly adhered, and which 
 enjoined him ' to preserve intact the rights and privileges of 
 Holland, as well as the lawful authority of the States of the 
 Provinces.' 
 
 On their side the States granted to John de Witt, on 
 
HIS KESIDENCE. 125 
 
 the very day of his entry into office, an act of indemnity by 
 which they undertook ' to guarantee him against all molesta- 
 , tion, and to give him compensation for any damage ' — an 
 empty promise, which could not save him from a violent 
 death, in return for a whole lifetime consecrated to the 
 service of his country. 
 
 The office confided to him afforded none of those opportu- 
 nities for ostentation and display which would have satisfied 
 a vulgar ambition. The Grand Pensionary of Holland only 
 received the moderate salary of 3,000 florins, to which, in the 
 fifteenth year of John de Witt's office, the States added on his 
 behalf an annual grant of another 3,000 florins, which was 
 judged insufficient for his successor. He could accept neither 
 pension nor present. No show of splendour gave any outward 
 prestige to his functions. He took his place at all public 
 solemnities after the members of the States of Holland and 
 their councillor deputies, had no public patronage, and could 
 recommend no candidate for nomination. 
 
 He was strictly tied down as to residence, and could not 
 absent himself from the Hague even for a night without 
 permission. Lastly, he could count upon few subordinates to 
 assist him in the discharge of his duties ; he had under his 
 orders, at the office, only a secretary appointed by himself, 
 but who took the oath to the deputy councillors, a director of 
 the foreign despatches, and four writing clerks. 
 
 The Grand Pensionary occupied with them four small 
 rooms in the court of the former Counts of Holland, which was 
 now the Government House. The one which he used as an 
 office, with an ante-room for his secretary, was on the ground 
 floor at the corner of the building ; it joined the Hall of the 
 Councillor Deputies, and communicated by an inner staircase 
 with that of the States of the Province. It looked on to the 
 great square, the Buitenhof or outer court, which extends in 
 front of the ancient edifice, and on to the basin or pond which 
 washes its walls. It was occupied until lately by the president 
 of the Court of Audit, and the internal arrangements re- 
 mained unchanged. The old clock which was then still 
 there may have once regulated the hours of the Grand 
 
126 JOHN DE WITT. 
 
 Pensionary Be Witt. It was to these narrow quarters that 
 the prime minister came each day to direct the government 
 of the repubhc and to negotiate with Europe. 
 
 In taking possession of his office, De Witt accepted in 
 anticipation its severe labours and heavy demands. A states- 
 man in the noblest and fullest acceptation of the term, he had 
 a genius for governing, and could use it with ease. ' He is young 
 with regard to the importance and dignity of his office,' writes a 
 contemporary, 'but he has great merits, which enable him 
 to acquit himself of them.' He was helped by an extraor- 
 dinary capacity for work, which astonished all those who came 
 in contact with him. 'Being very studious,' writes the 
 French ambassador, ' whereas most of his countrymen are 
 extremely idle, he alone has a perfect knowledge of affairs, as 
 they all pass through his hands.' 
 
 In one of the last letters which he wrote he apologises to 
 Beverningh for writing to him so hurriedly, ' not having yet 
 had a single meal, although it is nine o'clock at night.' An 
 ambassador asked him one day how he found time to do so 
 many things, when he spent the afternoon either in resting 
 or paying visits connected with his office. De Witt repHed 
 'that he ate and drank with moderation, put aside all 
 thoughts of business when he went to bed, rose early in the 
 morning, going to work without interruption, never doing 
 more than one thing at a time, and taking for his motto. Ago 
 quod ago.^ Sleep restored to him strength for the occupations 
 of the day. Van Haren, who accompanied him in 1655 on 
 his mission to Texel for the equipment of the fleet, was as- 
 tonished at his powers of sleep in spite of so many pre-oceu- 
 pations. ' From my youth up,' he says, ' one blessing has 
 never failed me : the moment I put my foot into bed at night, 
 all cares leave me.' 
 
 His orderliness in business matters enabled him to get 
 through them very quickly. His principle was to postpone 
 nothing to the next day, and, he said, ' his day was never at 
 an end till all was in order.' That he might never be taken 
 unawares, he always carried about with him two note-books, 
 
 • Sclieltema, Milanges historiqiies el litUraires, vol. v. pp. 105, 106. 
 
HIS CHARACTEE. 127 
 
 ■which have been preserved in the Archives, and which served 
 him as political handbooks. One contained the various reso- 
 lutions of the States of Holland and the States-General, re- 
 gulating the principal attributions of the public powers ; the 
 other gave a table of the financial state of the country, and 
 enabled him to see at a glance what funds were disposable. 
 
 He arranged his correspondence in the most methodical 
 manner. All letters which he received, both private and 
 public, and the copies of those which he wrote, or had 
 written for him, were carefully collected each month in 
 bundles. He used French, which was the diplomatic language, 
 in the letters which he wrote to the ministers or ambassadors 
 of foreign courts or to the different members of the House of 
 Orange. Transferred after his death to the Archives, where 
 they form a collection of forty volumes, and published, but 
 only partially, up to the year 1669, John de Witt's correspon- 
 dence brings to life again after two centuries all his titles to 
 a great political renown. 
 
 It equally brings out in honourable relief the principal 
 traits of his character. Setting aside all personal interest, 
 and having only the public good in view, he was indifferent to 
 all feelings of self-esteem, and would have had all his friends 
 equally so. 
 
 Nine months after his entry in office, on the occasion of a 
 question of precedence with Beverningh, the States ambas- 
 sador to England, he wrote to him : ' I must say, that if I 
 were in your position I would give no pretext for saying that 
 I worked, not for the glory of my country, but for my personal 
 reputation, although if it were a question of a matter concern- 
 ing the interests of the national service, there is nothing that 
 I would not take upon myself.' 
 
 Jealous only of the free exercise of his authority, he 
 showed a dignified pride in causing his office to be recognised 
 and respected. Kesponsible for the conduct of diplomatic 
 negotiations, he desired to have the direction of them, and 
 for the whole duration of his ministry he did not cease to 
 demand that he should be supplied with copies of the de- 
 spatches addressed to the secretary of the States-General. 
 
128 JOHN DE WITT. 
 
 These letters also show the scrupulous disinterestedness 
 which regulated his conduct. The shghtest suspicion of any 
 failure provoked his youthful susceptibilities. They were 
 shown on the occasion of the appointment of his brother-in- 
 law Hoeufft as bailifif of South Holland, when he received the 
 complaints of the Council of Dordrecht. Not content with 
 looking upon this appointment as an infringement of their 
 privileges, they attributed it to personal interest, and at- 
 tempted to have it superseded. De Witt, who was at that time 
 only pensionary of the town, took offence at the accusation, 
 ' which concerned him in the highest degree,' he writes, ' and 
 seriously displeased him.' ' We consider,' he adds in his own 
 name, as well as in that of the town deputies, ' that not only is 
 our personal dignity assailed, but the good name of the town 
 is also involved, and will lead to a diminution of our credit in 
 the Assembly.' He announces his intention of publicly 
 protesting against an attack which seems to be directed 
 against himself unless it is retracted, and appeals to the 
 evidence which can be brought forward ' in favour of his 
 abnegation, and of his upright and sincere zeal.' An indo- 
 mitable will, which by a special gift of nature was joined to 
 much pliancy of mind, made the exercise of authority easy to 
 him. ' Immovable as a rock,' so writes an English ambassa- 
 dor, ' he never turned aside from the object he was in pursuit 
 of; no difficulty deterred him.' His power was constancy. 
 His obstinacy was tempered by his careful observance of 
 such connections of business and friendship as were necessary 
 to the execution of his projects. Never falling foul of any 
 opinion for the sake of contradiction, and, according to the 
 testimony of the French ambassador, d'Estrades, so thoroughly 
 master of himself 'that no one had ever seen him angry, 
 as courteous and poUte as he was bold and energetic, he was 
 gifted with powers of speech both valuable and briUiant, 
 joining persuasiveness to great clearness. He united to the 
 charm of youth that weight of authority which usually belongs 
 to a riper age, and which he had acquired from his very entry 
 into public hfe by the integrity of his manners, the strict 
 simplicity of his habits, and his firmness of mind. 
 
HIS POETEAIT. 129 
 
 To complete our knowledge of him, he must be depicted under 
 the aspect of a young man, as he is represented in a family 
 portrait. His thick black hair floats over his shoulders, sur- 
 rounding a high and broad forehead. The face is oval ; it only 
 became rounded by age. The countenance, as a contemporary 
 remarks, is of a southern type, and seems to bear the 
 Portuguese characteristics. The eyebrows are very marked ; 
 the eyes, which are somewhat prominent, have that steady 
 and searching look which is a sign of decision and determina- 
 tion. The cheeks, being somewhat hollow, give greater 
 prominence to the nose, which is strongly arched, long, and 
 with a sharp ridge. The mouth, large and well- shaped, 
 furnished with a thickish moustache, betrays much shrewd- 
 ness in the set of the lips. The hands have that look of 
 high-breeding so prized in the seventeenth century ; and the 
 bearing is in perfect keeping with the pensive and serious 
 cast of the countenance, a dignified and imposing presence 
 without stiffness. 
 
 Such at seven-and- twenty was the young man who was to 
 preside over the destinies of a free government, whilst direct- 
 ing the debates of an Assembly whose perfect confidence he 
 enjoyed for nineteen years. 
 
 His great power was acknowledged both by the States- 
 General and by the States of Holland, who voluntarily sub- 
 mitted to a superior genius. The son of a burgomaster was 
 to take entire possession of the authority which had belonged 
 to the stadtholders, and the interregnum of twenty years 
 during which John de Witt filled the ministry had enough 
 of glory for the United Provinces to enable them, finding 
 in him a great minister, to dispense with a master. 
 
 VOL. I. 
 
130 JOHN DE WITT. 
 
 CHAPTEE III. 
 
 THE WAE WITH ENGLAND THE ACT OF EXCLUSION PEACE AT 
 
 HOME AND ABROAD. 
 
 Eivalry between England and the United Provinces — Demands of England — 
 Navigation Act — Naval Forces in the two countries — Tromp and Blake — 
 Success of the Englisli- fleet— Death of Tromp — Ohdam succeeds him — 
 Financial and military steps taken by De Witt — Di-spersion of the fleet of 
 the States by a storm — Distress of the United Provinces — Portugal takes 
 from them Brazil — Their diplomatic isolation — Their negotiations with 
 Europe — Their relations with France — Embassy of Chanut to the Hague — 
 Direction of foreign affairs by De Witt— Internal troubles— Hopes of the 
 Orange party — Eesistance of the States of Holland — Popular dissensions — 
 Insurrection of Bnckhuyzen — Dangers incurred by De Witt and his father — 
 Efforts of Zealand on behalf of the Prince of Orange — The States of 
 Holland stand on the defensive — The disturbances are appeased — Necessity 
 for peace — Negotiations with England — Embassy despatched to London — 
 Demands of Cromwell— Proposal for the exclusion of the Prince of Orange 
 — Clause of compromise accepted by the States of Holland— Hesitation of 
 the States-General — Imprudences committed in the negotiations with 
 Cromwell — Conditional signature of the treaty of Westminster — Act of 
 Exclusion imposed on the States of Holland — Private correspondence 
 between De Witt and Beverningh — No complicity with Cromwell to be 
 imputed to De Witt — Deliberation of the States of Holland— Vote for the 
 Act of Exclusion — Irritation of the Orange party — Protests of the States- 
 General — Dediiction of the States of HoUand [drawn up by their Grand 
 Pensionary — ^His conduct— His preponderating authority. 
 
 John de Witt was taking over the direction of the government 
 under threatening auspices. Scarcely was the new govern- 
 ment, of which the Grand Pensionary was to be in some sort 
 the pilot, launched on the wide seas like an ill-fitted vessel, ■ 
 than it was driven amongst the rocks. At the very moment 
 when the interests of the United Provinces were inseparably 
 bound up with the preservation of peace, a foreign war took 
 them by surprise at a time when they were not sufficiently 
 prepared to carry it on, and domestic troubles, on the point of 
 
EMBASSY FEOM ENGLAND. 131 
 
 springing up afresh, added the fears of civil war to danger 
 from without. To these assaults of ill-fortune De Witt was to 
 oppose a resolution and a coolness which left no room for 
 weakness. 
 
 The United Provinces had found a formidable enemy in 
 the ally on whom they appeared to have a right to count. 
 After having concluded peace with the CathoHc monarchy of 
 Spain, they had entered upon a struggle with the Protestant 
 republic of England, and the two governments, which a com- 
 munity of pohtical and religious interests seemed to draw 
 together, had entered upon a war which disappointed all 
 expectations. 
 
 The first communications of the States-General with the 
 sovereign ParHament of Great Britain, far from being favour- 
 able to a good understanding, had imperilled it. Of the two 
 envoys sent by the English republic, one had not been granted 
 an audience, the other, Doreslaus, a Dutchman by descent, had 
 been assassinated by some English royaHsts who had taken 
 refuge at the Hague, and who revenged themselves upon him 
 for the judicial murder of Charles I., one of whose judges he 
 had been. Moreover, the last Stadtholder, William II., son- 
 in-law of the unfortunate Charles I., had refused to sanction 
 the recognition of a government which he could not forgive 
 for the death of his father-in-law, and he felt himself en- 
 couraged in this refusal by the popular horror which such a 
 crime had aroused. But after the death of William II. the 
 United Provinces were no longer deterred by the same re- 
 luctance, and Holland, interested in peace for the sake of her 
 commerce, easily obtained the re-opening of negotiations. A 
 new embassy was sent in great pomp by the English 
 Parliament. The two ambassadors. Lord St. John, lord 
 chief justice, and Sir Walter Strickland, made their entry into 
 the Hague in brilliant array, accompanied by a numerous suite. 
 They were received by the States-General in solemn audience, 
 with the most cordial marks of friendly consideration, and 
 commissioners were immediately appointed to settle any differ- 
 ences which might delay the conclusion of the treaty of 
 alliance. 
 
 K 2 
 
132 JOHN DE WITT. 
 
 War was to result from these preparations for peace. 
 Elated by the downfall of royalty, the English Government had 
 yielded to the temptations of an mibounded ambition. The 
 Parliamentary envoys were commissioned to obtain the consent 
 of the States-General to the union of the two nations, under 
 the authority of a great common council, which should sit in 
 England. This was to demand from the United Provinces the 
 sacrifice of their independence, by obliging them to accept the 
 laws of the stronger state. The association of a great, com- 
 pact, and well-united republic with a confederation of provinces 
 each of which had its own government, could only end in 
 giving England the lion's share, as she had everything to gain, 
 while the United Provinces had everything ■ to lose. The 
 States- General, therefore, rejected with one accord a proposal 
 destined to bring the republic into slavery, or at least into 
 vassalage. The demand which was imperiously made upon 
 them to banish from their territory the sons of Charles I. and 
 their chief partisans found no greater favour with them, and 
 the Parliament began to show irritation at being unable to 
 dictate to them its orders. 
 
 The resentment of the Orange party, attached by family 
 interests to the cause of royalty, hastened the rupture of the 
 negotiations. The parliamentary ambassadors, who had not 
 been spared rude treatment during their stay, left the 
 Hague in a haughty and threatening mood. Their departure 
 was followed by two measures, which showed clearly the 
 arrogant and aggressive policy of the Enghsh government. 
 The Parliament announced its warlike intentions by the cele- 
 brated Act known under the name of the Navigation Act, 
 which prohibited all foreign vessels from importing into 
 England any merchandise except the products of the soil or 
 of the industry of their own country; thereby aimiag an 
 irreparable blow at Holland, whose transport trade, valued at 
 40,000,000L, was her chief source of wealth. The Navigation 
 Act was followed by letters of marque given to English 
 traders, authorising them to indemnify themselves for pre- 
 tended damage inflicted on them by the navy of the United 
 Provinces. Soon after, the seizure of seventy merchant 
 
FAILURE OF NEGOTIATIONS. 133 
 
 vessels, carrying the Dutch flag, showed the States-General 
 that they had no longer any consideration to hope for, in spite 
 of the departure of the plenipotentiaries whom they had 
 accredited to the Parliament. 
 
 The accidental though almost inevitable encounter of the 
 two fleets, commanded, one by Admiral Tromp, the other by 
 the English Admiral Blake, who had seized on the pretext of 
 the refusal or delay to salute his flag for commencing the 
 attack, gave the signal for hostilities. Night alone put an 
 end to the first encounter, which had lasted five hours. 
 'Your Highness,' wrote De Witt to one of the Dutch pleni- 
 potentiaries, ' will learn with displeasure that the beginning of 
 a rupture, which it was so much to be desired might be 
 averted by the prudence of one admiral or the other (God 
 knows which was to blame), must now be feared with reason 
 as an imminent misfortune.' 
 
 The attempts at negotiation had failed irretrievably. 
 Eighteen months before he was elected Grand Pensionary, 
 John de Witt was appointed to direct them, by acting as 
 pensionary of Dordrecht on the committee of the Dutch 
 deputies, to which they had been more especially confided. 
 He complained of the ill-will and of the bad' faith of the 
 English Government, who put obstacles in their way, and, in 
 order to facilitate a reconciliation, he insisted on the necessity 
 of abiding only by the official reports in the States of Holland 
 as well as in the States-General. 
 
 The last hopes of peace died away after the useless embassy 
 of the Grand Pensionary of Holland, Pauw d'Heemstede. 
 The States, 'knowing what a pledge of moderation he 
 furnished, had sent him to join the other plenipotentiaries 
 in England, in order to show by this selection how much they 
 desired a reconciliation; and to do them a service he had 
 overcome his reluctance to leave his country.' He continued 
 without success for three weeks the most strenuous efforts for 
 an agreement ; and, not wishing to give them up, even after 
 his departure from England, he commissioned the resident of 
 the Hanseatic towns, the historian Aitzema, who happened to 
 be in London, to continue the advances which had no longer 
 
134 JOHN DE WITT. 
 
 any chance of being favourably received. The arrogant 
 obstinacy of Parliament, encouraged by popular irritation, 
 hastened the declaration of war. The two republics, having 
 begun by negotiating a treaty of alliance, entered into a mari- 
 time conflict — the United Provinces with sorrow and regret, 
 England with joy and confidence. 
 
 The States-General had good reason to dread a naval 
 campaign. All the advantages appeared to be on the side of 
 England. Cromwell had reconstructed the fleet, which the 
 civil war and the retirement of its officers had threatened to 
 disorganise. He could put to sea 106 vessels, which he ulti- 
 mately increased to 131. The ' Sovereign of the Seas,' later 
 the 'Eoyal Charles,' which reigned over the ocean for sixty 
 years, carried 112 guns, and was manned by 600 men. Other 
 vessels, armed with sixty or eighty guns, were manned by 
 crews varying from 300 to 500 men. The smallest had not 
 less than from five to eighteen guns. The system of forced en- 
 Hstment, known under the name of press-gang, gave facilities 
 for the recruiting of an army of sailors, which might amount 
 to from 16,000 to 30,000 men. The administration of the 
 navy was entrusted to the Board of Admiralty, with 
 absolute control over naval affairs. The fleet was placed 
 under the orders of Blake, who, after having distinguished 
 himself in the service of the republican party by raising at 
 his own expense a band of partisans, had rapidly given proof 
 of his high qualities as an admiral. His lieutenants, Monk 
 and Dean, who up to that time had commanded as generals 
 in the Parliamentary army, were assisted by experienced 
 naval officers, among whom were Ascue, William Penn, and 
 John Lawson. 
 
 The navy of the States-General was far from being equally 
 flourishing. It had been neglected by the last Stadtholder, 
 who was quite willing to sacrifice the maritime power of the 
 republic to the maintenance of a land force. In spite of 
 the pressing demands of the States of Holland, only fifty 
 vessels were in a condition to put to sea at the beginning of 
 the war. The year following, when, under the vigorous 
 impulse of John de Witt, preparations were actively pushed 
 
NAVAL FOECES OF THE TWO COUNTRIES. 135 
 
 forward, the fleet comprised 130 vessels, but it still had only 
 sixty- six line-of -battle ships, and the eighty- three merchant- 
 men which formed a part of it could not hold their own 
 against the English vessels, real floating citadels. More- 
 over, their equipment left much to be desired, both in the 
 number and calibre of their guns, and in the strength of the 
 crews. The flag-ship had only fifty-four guns and 250 men. 
 The best armed of the thirteen other line-of-battle ships only 
 carried from forty to forty-six guns, and from 130 to 150 men. 
 Thirty-eight others carried only twenty-five guns, and the 
 numbers of their crews did not exceed sixty or eighty. ' I can- 
 not understand,' wrote the minister of the States-General at 
 Stockholm, Van Beuningen, 'how it was possible to be so 
 blind for so long a time as not to perceive the necessity of 
 supplying this deficiency.' 
 
 The maritime population, who preferred fishing to fighting, 
 were only enlisted with difficulty, and it was necessary to 
 increase the number of sailors by soldiers ill-exercised in naval 
 pursuits. The States-General had reason also to fear the 
 defection of the Scotch regiments which they had taken into 
 their pay, and whose fidelity it was the interest of the 
 Parliament to corrupt. Finally, the supplies were incomplete, 
 and would not allow the fleet to prolong a naval campaign. 
 The Boards of Admiralty, which sufficed in times of peace for 
 the ordinary expenses of the navy, found themselves unable 
 to meet the cost of the war ; and the States of the Provinces, 
 obliged to take upon themselves the extraordinary expenses 
 of the armament, were inclined to leave them to be borne 
 by Holland. The division of power between the Boards of 
 Admiralty, the States of the Provinces, and the States-General 
 was fatal to naval operations, and encouraged the relaxation 
 of military discipline. 
 
 The fleet of the United Provinces, which had acquired its 
 fame in the war against Spain, had nothing in its favour but 
 the superiority of its principal leaders, above all that of 
 Tromp, called fifteen years before by the choice of the Stadt- 
 holder Frederick Henry to replace the lieutenant- admiral of 
 Holland, Van Dorp. Tromp had distinguished himself on 
 
136 JOHX DE WITT. 
 
 several occasions by his victories over the Spanish fleet. En- 
 dowed with every military vktue, as far-seeing as audacious, 
 he had gained the confidence and the attachment of his officers 
 and men, who called him then- father. His name seemed a 
 presage of victory. 
 
 Still it did not depend upon one admiral to give an im- 
 provised fleet to the United Provinces, and the States-General 
 were fated to perceive that then- naval power had lost as much 
 as that of England had gained. Events confirmed their most 
 melancholy previsions. The first battle was lost by Vice- 
 Admiral de With,' who behaved valiantly, but was deserted by 
 some of his captains. ' There is wood enough in our country 
 to make gallows,' he told them indignantly, with threats of 
 not leaving their cowardice unpunished. The Enghsh fleet 
 remained mistress of the sea. To revenge this defeat Lieu- 
 tenant-Admiral Tromp, having under his command a picked 
 staff including Vice- Admiral Evertsen and Eear- Admirals 
 Floriszoon and Euyter, was chosen to command all the naval 
 forces. The republican party, which had dismissed him at 
 the commencement of the campaign, because it mistrusted 
 his attachment to the Orange party, was thus obliged to have 
 recourse to his services to inspire confidence in the sailors. 
 Tromp maintained his previous renown by surprising the 
 enemy's ships near Dover. Having obliged them to put back 
 into the Thames, he sailed victoriously over the British 
 Channel, carrying as an insulting challenge a broom at his 
 masthead. 
 
 At the beginning of the following year, 1653, a fresh battle, 
 fought off Portland and continued obstinately for three days, 
 left victory uncertain, but gave none the less a fatal blow to 
 the resources of the United Provinces by the loss of nine line- 
 of-battle ships and eighty merchantmen. The destruction 
 of an English squadron surprised in the Mediterranean by 
 Admiral van Galen proved only a passing advantage for the 
 States-General ; a more decisive engagement determined irre- 
 vocably the superiority of England. Tromp had advanced to 
 
 ' Vice-Admiral Cornelius Witte de With, born at Brill of a plebeian famOy, 
 was in no way related to the Grand Pensionary de Witt. 
 
TROMP AND BLAIiE. 137 
 
 meet the enemy's fleet at the moment when it was enfeebled 
 by the absence of Admiral Blake, whose squadron had just sailed 
 north, and he had hastened to open battle, between Eamsgate 
 and Nieupoort, with the two Admu-als Dean and Monk, who 
 had only about an equal number of vessels to oppose to him. 
 At the first attack Dean was struck down by a cannon-shot, 
 but Monk, throwing a cloak over his body, prevented the news 
 from spreading, and the battle continued to rage with un- 
 abated fury without any marked result. The following day 
 the two fleets continued the engagement off Dunkerque ; the 
 fleet of the States-General was overpowering that of the English, 
 when the unexpected arrival of Blake, who had been hastily 
 recalled, deprived Tromp of all chances of victory. After the 
 most valiant resistance, he was forced to retreat to the shores of 
 Holland, leaving the enemy in possession of several ships and 
 of 1,300 prisoners. He immediately sent pressing demands 
 for reinforcements and supplies to the States-General, and 
 repaired with his principal officers to Flushing, to complain 
 to the commissioners who had been sent there by the 
 Assembly of the Confederation of the insufficiency of the 
 naval forces placed at his disposal. His lieutenant, Euyter, 
 in spite of his well-known courage, declared that he would not 
 return to sea if the fleet were not to be better armed. Viee- 
 Admiral de With, called upon to give his opinion, set forth 
 the danger with the rude boldness habitual to him. ' The 
 English,' he said, ' are completely masters of us and of the 
 sea.' These alarms were only too well justified ; the enemy's 
 ships blockaded the mouths of the Texel, and the fear of a land- 
 ng kept all the inhabitants of the coast on the alert. But the 
 States- General were not to be discouraged : they caused the 
 damaged vessels to be repaired, and hastened the departure of 
 fresh reinforcements. They then ordered Tromp to proceed 
 to offer battle to the English fleet, in order to force it to leave 
 the Texel, where it had shut up the fleet of Admiral de With. 
 This manoeuvre was successful, and enabled the naval forces of 
 the republic to unite again. 
 
 After sustaining alone the pursuit of the enemy, Tromp, 
 overtaken by the vessels which he had detached, gave the 
 
138 JOHN DE WITT. 
 
 signal for a fresh attack off Catwyck, in sight of Scheveningen, 
 under the eyes of the population of the coast, drawn there by 
 the excitement of a spectacle in which the destinies of their 
 country were being decided. Confident of victory, he forced 
 his way through the line of the English ships for the purpose 
 of throwing them into disorder, but his retreat was cut off and 
 he fell, struck by a cannon shot, whUe pronouncing these 
 words, worthy of his great soul : ' It is all over with me ; but 
 do you keep up a good heart.' With him died those sudden 
 inspirations of command which might have ended the 
 struggle in favour of the United Pro^Tnces. After three 
 obstinate attacks the two fleets separated, and withdrew, one 
 to the Texel, the other to the Thames. Their losses were 
 about equal ; but the death of Tromp, which placed the whole 
 republic in mourning, appeared more fatal than a defeat. 
 ' We have lost,' wrote John de Witt, ' a sea-hero such as the 
 world has seldom produced, and will perhaps seldom produce 
 again.' 
 
 A successor had to be found. The States of Holland had 
 the right of presentation to the command of the fleet, which 
 was left to the apparent rather than the real choice of the 
 States-General. They would gladly have appointed Yice- 
 Admiral de With, who had deserved their confidence by his 
 attachment to the new government; but they were aware 
 how unpopular his haughty disposition made him and they 
 shrank from the danger of displeasing the naval forces. Not 
 choosing, however, to put any other superior officer of the 
 fleet above De With, they placed their squadrons under the 
 command of an officer of the army, the colonel of a cavalry 
 regiment, Jacques d'Obdam, lord of Wassenaar, who belonged 
 to the highest nobility of the province and could give them 
 every pledge of political fidelity. John de Witt was sent to 
 him with some of the mernbers of the Assembly, to make 
 known to him his nomination to the rank of lieutenant- 
 admiral of Holland, which paved the way for that of admiral- 
 in-chief. Obdam, 'accustomed to habits of expense far 
 above his means, which induced him to ask for more than was 
 offered him, and gave him in the event of a refusal the ad^ 
 
TEOMP SUCCEEDED BY OBDAM. 139 
 
 vantage of a grievance,' wished to place a high price on his 
 acceptance. He demanded, besides the promise of a pension 
 for his wife and children in case of his death on service, the 
 right of nomination to the captaincies which might become 
 vacant, and the promise of a speedy increase of pay. These 
 demands prevented the title of admiral-in- chief being given 
 to him, and he never was nominally invested with that office, 
 though he exercised its powers. ' Never having sailed any- 
 where but on the canals of Holland,' writes a contemporary, 
 ' he was obliged to make up by his good-will and courage for 
 the naval experience in which he was deficient.' 
 
 The assistance of the most efficient lieutenants was assured 
 him by the choice of his vice- and rear-admirals. One of 
 the chief commands was given to Eear-Admiral Euyter, who 
 was appointed vice-admiral by the Admiralty of Amsterdam. 
 Euyter, who under the rude exterior of a sailor hid the soul 
 of a Cincinnatus, offered a prolonged resistance to his pro- 
 motion. The Grand Pensionary succeeded, however, by the 
 persuasive force of his advice, in overcoming his scruples, 
 and thus prepared the destiny of the great warrior, who was 
 destined to restore in better times the wavering fortunes of 
 the republic. The staff of the naval army might still there- 
 fore, in spite of the death of Tromp, sustain without disadvan- 
 tage the burden of the war. 
 
 De Witt had, moreover, spared no pains in order that the 
 republic should find all the resources necessary for its defence. 
 The struggle with England had lasted fourteen months when 
 he was definitively appointed Grand Pensionary, in the month 
 of July, 1653 ; but he had taken preliminary steps to place the 
 United Provinces in a position to sustain it, as soon as the 
 provisional exercise of the office was entrusted to him. 
 Wishing for peace, but at the same time determined to make 
 every effort for the continuation of the war, he had begun by 
 giving his attention to the finances, the low condition of which 
 was an obstacle to fresh armaments. The war with Spain, 
 prolonged for the purposes of conquest by the Stadtholder 
 Frederick Henry, and which had only been terminated five 
 years before by the peace of Munster, had left to the re- 
 
140 JOHN DE WITT. 
 
 public a debt of 140,000,000 of florins, bearing interest at 
 5 per cent., to which was added a sum of 13,000,000 for which 
 repayment might be demanded. Opposed to fresh loans,' 
 De Witt sought for supplies in voluntary contributions, in 
 reductions in the public offices, and in the produce of duties on 
 the import and export of merchandise. In order stiU more 
 effectually to provide for the financial needs, he obtained from 
 the States of Holland not only an increase on the income-tax, 
 but also the levy of a tax on capital. In addition to this he 
 tried to re-establish the directorial authority which was 
 wanting, by obtaining for himself a power of superintendence 
 over the conduct of maritime affairs. To supply the in- 
 adequacy of the naval forces the number of war vessels was 
 increased to eighty-six ; the Admiralty of Amsterdam bought 
 two large ships constructed for the republic of Genoa ; a 
 purchase of vessels was in process of negotiation with Denmark, 
 and the finest of the East India Company's ships were put in 
 requisition. De Witt took with equal care the necessary steps 
 both for the improvement of the artillery and for the enlist- 
 ment of a larger number of sailors, to whom an increase of 
 pay was promised. To provide against the defection of the 
 Scotch troops in their service, the States of Holland exacted 
 from them fresh oaths, and granted to the officers and men 
 who were not disposed to take part against the Parliament 
 permission to quit their service. 
 
 The States-General, on their side, exhorted sailors and 
 soldiers to do their duty, promising assistance and pensions 
 to the wounded and to widows, and offering rewards to any 
 who should distinguish themselves in boarding and capturing 
 the enemy's ships. They did not restrict themselves to these 
 promises : in order to restore discipline, they threatened with 
 death any captain who should refuse to obey the signal to 
 attack. The examples of patriotism which were set rendered 
 their task easier to accomplish. A professor of theology, 
 Eobert Junius, asked to be allowed to fulfil his pious office in 
 the fleet. The secretary of Amsterdam, Gerard Hulst, offered 
 
 ' During the first war with England there was only one loan of 800,000 
 florins, dated June 25, 1654. 
 
DISTRESS OP THE UNITED PEOVINCES. 141 
 
 his services as volunteer, and equipped at his own expense 
 twenty-four sailors, undertaking to find them in pay and 
 food. The minister of the States-General at Stockholm, Van 
 Beuningen, declared himself ready to endure any sacrifices, 
 whatever taxes and loans might be imposed, and offered to 
 contribute to the amount of 6,000 florins towards the expenses 
 of the war.' 
 
 A fresh disaster rendered these preparations for defence 
 useless. Before the fleet had taken the ofl^ensive again, it was 
 attacked by a fearful tempest, which occasioned irreparable 
 losses and destroyed the hopes of the new campaign. The 
 United Provinces were not in a position to endure the pro- 
 longation of a war which caused them an annual outlay 
 of 400,000 florins. The sources of revenue which had 
 hitherto formed the wealth of the State, such as fishing and 
 commerce, were almost exhausted ; workshops were being 
 closed, labour was suspended.^ The Zuyder Zee had become 
 a forest of masts. The country was filled with beggars ; the 
 richer families were emigrating to Flanders ; grass grew in 
 the streets, and in the town of Amsterdam 1,600 houses 
 might be counted to be let. A contemporary pamphlet 
 repeated in these words the public lamentations : ' Unfortunate 
 Low Countries, whose ports are besieged, whose merchants are 
 perishing; all manufactories are stopped, the fishing-boats 
 are in harbour, even the herrings are not brought in. Con- 
 fusion, dissatisfaction, and uneasiness increase day by day.' 
 'You may impose peace on any conditions you like,' was 
 written repeatedly by the secret correspondents maintained 
 by the Protector at the Hague, to Thurloe, Cromwell's chief 
 minister. 
 
 While the United Provinces were engaged with England, 
 they were attacked by other enemies, against whom they 
 were unable to defend themselves. Their maritime defeats 
 
 ' He offered these 6,000 florins for the fitting out and maintenance for six 
 months of 160 picked sailors. 
 
 ^ A glove maker who engaged forty-eight workpeople had to become a work- 
 man himself. A manufacturer of black lace who had employed from 300 to 
 400 now only employed three. 
 
142 JOHN DE WITT. 
 
 encouraged the enterprise of a little nation which coveted 
 their colonial spoils. Portugal was preparing to retake from 
 them Brazil, which they had seized from her when she formed 
 a part of the Spanish monarchy. El-governed for some years 
 past by the West India Company, the Dutch possessions in 
 Brazil had been forced to defend themselves against an insur- 
 rection of the native population, which was secretly fomented 
 by John IV., king of Portugal, in spite of his pacific declara- 
 tions. His ill faith having been discovered by the seizure 
 of some intercepted letters, which are still preserved in the 
 Archives of the Hague, the republic determined to take 
 summary revenge ; but the war with England, which deprived 
 the States-General of the free disposal of their naval forces, 
 assured to John IV. an impimity of which he hastened to take 
 advantage. He fitted out a fleet of sixty ships destined to 
 assist the insurrection. 
 
 The negligence of the Company had left the colony no 
 means of resistance ; everything was wanting — ships, troops, 
 war materials, and provisions. Admiral de With, who had 
 been sent to the relief of Brazil with a fleet of twelve ships 
 and a landing force of 6,000 men, wrote in justification of his 
 return : ' I would rather, if I had the free exercise of my 
 religion, serve under the Turks than under the Company's 
 directors on the Mount of Hunger.' It was thus he designated 
 the reef of Pernambuco, the last place remaining to the 
 Company. The subsidy furnished by the States-General had 
 long been insufficient, and they could not continue to pay 
 even that. Incapable of saving itself and deprived of succour, 
 the colony was fated to perish, and the Portuguese easily 
 completed its conquest. 
 
 Euined by the war with England, peace was necessary to 
 the republic to enable her to repair the misfortunes of which she 
 was the victim, and peace was delayed by the severity of the 
 conditions under which it must be purchased. To escape from 
 the crisis through which they were passing, the United Pro- 
 vinces would have required the active assistance of some other 
 Power ; but no government was disposed to help them, and 
 their isolation added to their distress. They were bearing 
 
DIPLOMATIC ISOLATION. 143 
 
 the penalty of the arrogant prosperity which had drawn upon 
 them the envy of great and small States, who rejoiced secretly 
 at their present misfortunes and were ready to profit by them. 
 ' Courteous and amenable in times of trouble,' wrote Count 
 William Frederick of Nassau, 'we are stiff and hold aloof 
 when we think we have nothing to fear.' Thus, no sooner 
 had fortune turned against the States-General, than friend- 
 ships cooled down, and half-extinguished enmities began to 
 flame up again. In diplomacy as well as for the multitude 
 the vanquished are always in the wrong. It sufficed for 
 Cromwell to have been victorious, for other governments, in 
 spite of the revolutionary origin of his power, to have made 
 him the most flattering advances, with a timorous and servile 
 eagerness of which the example was set by the chief monarchies 
 of Europe. 
 
 The direction of foreign negotiations imposed henceforth 
 on De Witt a most ungrateful task. He had served his 
 apprenticeship under the ministry of the Grand Pensionary 
 Adrien Pauw, and the whole weight fell on him as soon as he 
 succeeded to the office. Without heeding the disappointments 
 which were iri store for him, he set to work with courageous 
 perseverance. His daily letters give proof of his activity and 
 of the knowledge which he had acquired of all the political 
 and commercial interests confided to his care. The republic 
 found in him, from the first, the minister best able to restore 
 to it, by the loyal skill of his diplomacy, the good-will and 
 confidence of the other governments. 
 
 The United Provinces were above all interested in engaging 
 Denmark and Sweden on their side. Masters of the Baltic 
 Sea, these two Powers were the arbiters of war by their 
 geographical position as well as by their maritime forces. The 
 amicable relations between Denmark and the United Provinces 
 were aided by the mutual good-will of their envoys. At the 
 Hague, the Danish minister Ulefelt had gained the favour of 
 the Dutch party by his republican opinions, and by the dis- 
 tribution he had made of the order of the Elephant to the 
 principal deputies of the States of Holland, whose vanity he 
 had thus flattered. At Copenhagen, the minister of the 
 
144 JOHN DE WITT. 
 
 United Provinces, Nanning Keyser, had contrived to gain ear 
 much influence that Queen Christina said, with a play upon 
 the words, ' In Denmark, it is no longer a king who reigns, 
 but a Kaiser (emperor), who does everything.' After attempt- 
 ing for a long time to remain neuter, the King of Denmark 
 suddenly decided upon a bold stroke. Twenty-two English 
 ships returning from the North, laden with merchandise, had 
 entered the port of Copenhagen to await the escort which was 
 to accompany them back to England. Frederick III. had 
 them seized, and the cargoes sold for his benefit. This act 
 of violence, which was equivalent to a declaration of war, 
 obliged him to unite his interests to those of the States- 
 General. By the terms of the stipulated convention the 
 United Provinces were relieved from the annual sum which 
 they had undertaken to pay to Denmark for the right of 
 passage through the Sound ; they supphed her, on the other 
 hand, with subsidies, in return for which Frederick HI. under- 
 took to close the Baltic Sea to English vessels, and to provide 
 a fleet for his new alUes. But ha%TLng equipped it at their 
 expense, he took care to keep it for the defence of the shores 
 of his kingdom, threatened with Cromwell's vengeance. 
 
 The favourable intentions of the King of Denmark with 
 regard to the United Provinces were, moreover, rendered 
 powerless by the hostility of Sweden, which appeared disposed 
 to form an alliance with England. The throne of Sweden 
 was occupied by a heroine of romance rather than by a 
 queen. Christina, daughter of Gustavus Adolphus, suc- 
 ceeded him at the age of seven years, under the guardian- 
 ship of Axel Oxenstiern, the chancellor of the kingdom. 
 Arrived at the age at which she could govern by herself, she 
 left the exercise of power to her chief minister, and set all her 
 ambition on dazzling her contemporaries by the adventm-ous 
 activity of her life, her passion for study, and the brilliant 
 protection which she afforded to the greatest authors of all 
 countries. Endowed, in place of beauty, with the charms of 
 conversation, enjoying the homage paid her by all those whom 
 she attracted around her, Christina divided her time between 
 sport, the perusal of Greek, Latin and French authors, in 
 
QUEEN CHEISTINA OF SWEDEN. 145 
 
 giving audiences, and in literary correspondence. Descartes 
 and Huet, whom she received at her court ; the Dutchman Hugo 
 Grotius, who, banished from the United Provinces, had adopted 
 Sweden as his second country, and whom she sent as ambassador 
 to Paris ; Naude, who became her hbrarian ; Saumaise, whom 
 she would have liked to keep at Stockholm ; Benserade, 
 Scuderi, Chapelain, Scarron, and Pascal, who dedicated to her 
 his calculating machine, were her habitual correspondents, and 
 procured for her the reputation of a crowned MaBcenas. In 
 the midst of this briUiant constellation, she loved to forget 
 her sex and her rank, caring little if she lowered herself as a 
 queen, and liking to appear a free-thinker in politics, as 
 well as in religion and morals. She had received Cromwell's 
 portrait, with some Latin verses- by the poet Milton, and had 
 become infatuated with the government and the person of the 
 Protector. ' Your general,' she said, to the English ambas- 
 sador, Whitelocke, ' is one of the most delightful of men ; 
 he has. done greater things than any man of his time. I 
 respect and honour him as much as any man living, and I beg 
 you will tell him so from me.' 
 
 The States-General had attempted to divert her from this 
 preference for their enemy, and the choice of their minister 
 was calculated with a view to gaining her good graces. They 
 sent to the court of Stockholm their most highly educated and 
 well-read diplomatist, Conrad van Beuningen. The conversa- 
 tion of the young ambassador, which was as serious as it was 
 brilliant, if we may judge by the tone of his dij)lomatic corre- 
 spondence, was sure to make him welcome to a queen who had a 
 taste for wit. Van Beuningen, who hoped to succeed in bring- 
 ing her over to the side of the States-General by flattering her 
 vanity, accepted eagerly her offers of mediation, but he soon 
 perceived that the queen was too deeply engaged with the 
 English Government for her arbitration to be of any value. 
 Euled by the Spanish minister, Pimentel, the declared enemy 
 of the United Provinces, whom she had made her favourite ; 
 mistrusting the negotiations set on foot by the States-General 
 to appease the differences between Sweden and Poland, she 
 appeared only to seek an occasion for a rupture, and openly 
 
 VOL. I. L 
 
146 JOHN DE WITT. 
 
 pressed the King of Denmark to be false to the engagements he 
 had made with the repubHc. Van Beuningen succeeded at least 
 in delaying a declaration of war, which would have been a fresh 
 disaster for his country. Cliristina only signed the treaty of 
 alliance between Sweden and England with Cromwell's ambas- 
 sador, Whitelocke, on the eve of her own abdication, and at the 
 moment when the United Provinces were about to avert the 
 danger of this coahtion by a peace which every day rendered 
 more necessary. 
 
 De Witt had continued to send advice to Van Beuningen, 
 recommending him to employ himself in gaining time. Even 
 at the period when he was only assisting the Grand Pensionary 
 Pauw d'Heemstede, he wrote to the ambassador of the States- 
 General at Stockholm : ' With regard to the circumstances in 
 which you find yourself placed at this moment, in my opinion, 
 you should on the one hand not strain the cord so as to break 
 it, and on the other not leave it slack, which would look 
 as if you despaired of success; and I may remark that, to 
 saU between these two rocks without wrecking the ship re- 
 quires great dexterity and circumspection, in approaching now 
 one, now the other, according to the changes of wind and tide ; 
 there never was a more important occasion for the most skil- 
 ful of pilots to display his art. May God send him a better 
 wind than that which has blown hitherto, so as to bring him 
 into a safe harbour ; for I fear that with all his activity and 
 vigilance he may not sail through without great difficulty.' 
 
 The States-General, having nothing to expect from Den- 
 mark and everything to fear from Sweden, had not been any 
 happier in their relations with the Hanseatic towns, Hamburg, 
 Bremen, and Liibeck, which might have materially assisted 
 them by the number of ships at their disposal. They had 
 negotiated ineffectually with their representative at the Hague, 
 Leo Aitzema, a learned man as well as a diplomatist, who, at 
 a later period, was the first to publish all the official documents 
 relating to the history of the republic. They had no better 
 success with the embassy which they sent to them, and of 
 which Jacob de Witt, father of John de Witt, had the chief 
 direction. The frequent letters which he exchanged with his 
 
THE GEEMANIC CONFEDEEATION. 147 
 
 son describe the unfavourable reception given to his proposals. 
 Interested in the ruin of the trade of the republic, the Han- 
 seatic towns only sought to take advantage of her misfortunes 
 to deprive her of the navigation of the Baltic. In spite of their 
 declaration of neutrality, England never ceased to obtain from 
 Hamburg all the munitions of war she required. 
 
 In the Germanic Confederation the disposition towards the 
 United Provinces was uncertain, and had perhaps not received 
 sufficient consideration. It was in vain that De Witt pressed 
 for the despatch of an ambassador to the Diet. ' When their 
 High Mightinesses employed me in Germany,' wrote Boreel, 
 the minister of the States-General in France, ' I found that 
 country very well disposed. The Germans would agree with 
 us better than anyone, and would keep their word better. 
 They are the nearest neighbours of the repubhc, and if they 
 entered into a close alliance with her, she would not have to 
 seek for one elsewhere.' But the difficulty of treating with so 
 large a number of princes, often rivals one of another, and the 
 fear of obtaining only at a heavy price useless and perhaps 
 deceptive alliances, had made the United Provinces indifferent 
 to relations with Germany. The disasters of the war which 
 they were carrying on with England no longer permitted 
 them to attempt successfully advances which they had failed 
 to make at a more opportune time. They had kept aloof from 
 the Elector of Brandenburg, who in his position of uncle to 
 the young Prince of Orange incurred the distrust of the 
 heads of the republican government. At Vienna the Emperor 
 Ferdinand III., enfeebled by age, and governed by his favourite 
 minister. Count Auersperg, displayed malevolent rather than 
 favourable dispositions towards them. Moreover, they con- 
 ceived themselves to be threatened by the army of observation 
 of 4,000 men, which the princes and the towns of the circle of 
 Westphalia were arming on their frontiers. They feared that 
 Cromwell might gain these over by his subsidies as auxiliary 
 troops for England, and dreaded a diversion which would have 
 put it out of their power to defend themselves on land, while 
 the maritime war absorbed all their forces. 
 
 The attitude of Spain gave, them still greater uneasiness. 
 
 i.2 
 
148 JOHN DE WITT. 
 
 Obliged to recognise their independence, Spain could not for- 
 give them for having conquered it. The proximity of her 
 possessions in the Low Countries was the cause of constantly 
 recurring differences between the two States. The establish- 
 ment of a tribunal of joint authority or mixed court, to which 
 these contests were to be referred, had been a measure of precau- 
 tion which proved insufficient to settle them. The steps taken 
 by the court of Madrid to obtain the alliance with Cromwell for 
 which it was contending with Prance added to the preea- 
 riousness of its pacific relations with the States-General. The 
 ambassador who represented Spain in the United Provinces, 
 Antoine le Brun, was treated with suspicion at the Hague, in 
 spite of the great qualities which caused him to be called by 
 one of his contemporaries ' one of the greatest statesmen 
 in Christendom, and the most capable of comprehending the 
 interests of all the nations of Europe.' Though he was as subtle 
 as he was wise, he had taken a false step which the States of 
 Holland could not forgive him. He had proposed to the 
 Stadtholder William H. to come to his assistance in his coup 
 d'etat, and had offered him the forces of the king his master 
 for the reduction of Amsterdam. The Prince of Orange had 
 answered nobly that the King of Spain had no right to inter- 
 fere in the affairs of the country, and that if he caused his 
 troops to advance, the entire forces of the States would soon 
 be seen united to oppose the foreigners. The ambassador, 
 wishing to repair his first fault, had committed a second in 
 demanding from the States of Holland a solemn audience in 
 order to congratulate them on the agreement that had been 
 concluded. As soon as they knew its object, they begged he 
 would allow them to postpone it to another time; he was 
 therefore obliged to return home, having received something 
 of an affront. Determined to have his revenge, the Spanish 
 ambassador opposed himself to all policy of reconciliation 
 with the republic of the United Provinces. 
 
 The only power on which, under other circumstances, the 
 States- General might have usefully relied had gradually 
 withdrawn from their cause. France had ceased to be to them 
 the ally of former times. The peace of Miinster, which they 
 
RELATIONS WITH FRANCE. 149 
 
 had concluded with Spain, had drawn upon them the resent- 
 ment of the French Government. Their maritime commerce 
 had been ruined by piracies for which they could obtain no 
 satisfaction, and they were making preparations to take advan- 
 tage of the troubles of the Fronde to exact reparation, when 
 the disasters of the war with England, taking them by surprise, 
 showed them the necessity for a reconciliation. Their ambas- 
 sador at Paris received orders to negotiate a treaty which 
 should assure them the support of which they stood in need. 
 
 They had been represented at the French court, since the 
 year 1650, by William Boreel, baron of Vrendijke, who had 
 begun life as advocate of the East India Company, and had 
 become pensionary of Amsterdam. He had rendered the 
 republic many diplomatic services at the northern courts, and 
 subsequently in England, where he had been commissioned to 
 offer his mediation between Charles I. and the Parliament. 
 Having remained faithful to the House of Orange, in whose 
 service his son was employed, he did not possess the confidence 
 of the States of Holland, although he tried to deserve it by 
 the regularity of his correspondence. He allowed himself to 
 be easily persuaded by the hopes held out to him of a renewal 
 of the alliance, and showed himself quite confident of the 
 success of his negotiations. Attached to the traditional 
 policy of alliance between the two countries, he professed the 
 most royalist opinions in favour of the kingly descendants of 
 Henry IV. Twelve years later, while still fulfilling the 
 functions of ambassador to France, which he continued till 
 his death, he reminded one of the ministers of Louis XIV., 
 on the occasion of the birth of the Duke of Anjou, ' that in 
 his early youth, in 1603, the valiant and benignant hand of 
 the great King Henry had been laid on his head, and he had 
 then received the royal benediction, which had attached him 
 for ever to that king's posterity.' 
 
 The favourable dispositions of the French Government, on 
 which Boreel thought he could rely, were more apparent than 
 real. Deterred by the victory of the Parliament and the 
 triumph of Cromwell from any idea of assistance to the royal 
 cause, Mazarin henceforth turned his ambition towards 
 
150 JOHN DE WITT. 
 
 obtaining the good graces of the Protector, which he was 
 anxious at any price to divert from Spain. But at the same 
 time he did not wish to offend the States-General. He feared 
 that, once abandoned by France, the United Provinces might 
 make peace with England, and consent, in despair, to a union 
 of the two republics, the proud dream of Croniwell. He was 
 interested, therefore, in giving them sufficient encouragement 
 to induce them to continue a war which served aU his 
 purposes by weakening, to the advantage of France, the two 
 great maritime powers of Europe. 
 
 Having put down the Fronde and returned to Paris, he 
 drew up the programme of this twofold policy. The French 
 resident, Brasset, enfeebled by age, and suspected by the 
 republican party on account of his attachment to the House 
 of Orange, did not appear to him capable of being usefully 
 employed in these diplomatic manoeuvres. Instead of showing 
 any willingness to reward the long and faithful services ' in 
 which Brasset had grown grey, and almost blinded him- 
 self by continual labour for forty years,' Mazarin resolved to 
 supersede him. To gain the confidence of the States-General, 
 he made choice of an ambassador extraordinary, Pierre Chanut, 
 who, having been treasurer of France at Eiom, had entered 
 upon a diplomatic career, and had already distinguished him- 
 self by his embassy to Sweden. His manuscript correspondence, 
 of which the literary merit does him honour, reveals the quahties 
 of the negotiator, as well as those of the moralist and the 
 Christian philosopher. According to the curious narrative of 
 a journey made about that time, 'he possessed all that was 
 necessary to please in a republic, uniting to the rarest gifts of 
 a mind at once acute and lofty, disdain of all pomp and 
 vanity, and studying to live as a Stoic' 
 
 Faithful to his instructions, Chanut made well-calculated 
 advances to the States-General. He began by offering his 
 hand to their deputies on his first day of audience, thus 
 conceding a point of etiquette which his predecessor, President 
 de Bellievre, had refused to them the year before. He then 
 ' exaggerated,' according to the very words of the despatches 
 which he had received, ' the displeasure which the war with 
 
EMBASSY OF CHANUT TO THE HACJUE. 151 
 
 England caused to the court of France,' wishing to prevent 
 her from being suspected of encouraging the continuance of 
 hostilities, but sufficiently circumspect to avoid at the same 
 time any declaration which might give umbrage to Cromwell. 
 He undertook, moreover, to reassure the chiefs of the 
 republican government, who were uneasy at the preference 
 hitherto shown by France to the Orange party, and he had 
 the skill to establish close relations with De Witt, as well 
 as with the principal members of the States of Holland. 
 
 Still, the latter were not disposed to be the dupes of his 
 friendly overtures, and, having little hope of securing the 
 doubtful support of the French Government, except by yield- 
 ing to all its demands, they delayed, without interrupting, 
 the course of negotiations. De Witt had .early divined the 
 aim of the French policy, which was to make use of the 
 repubUc instead of helping it. Before he was appointed 
 Grand Pensionary, he had already discovered the persevering 
 projects of the French court which did not despair of bringing 
 about the rupture of the peace of Miinster, concluded by the 
 United Provinces with Spain. With this object, France 
 offered them the fortresses of Gravelines and Dunkirk, 
 closely invested by the Spaniards, wishing thus to engage the 
 republic in a conflict which would set her at issue again with 
 her old enemies ; but she had not as yet succeeded in gaining 
 acceptance for her proposals. Mazarin renewed them with 
 still greater persistence, and attempted to force on the States- 
 General, as the price of the intervention of France against 
 England, a declaration of war with Spain which would enable 
 France, wholly or in part, to conquer the Low Countries. De 
 Witt was too much impressed with the dangers of such a 
 proximity to engage in an enterprise which would infallibly be 
 fatal to the independence of the repubho. Firmly decided to 
 pursue towards Prance a line of conduct from which he never 
 deviated, he did not choose, in order to ameliorate the present 
 situation of the United Provinces, to sacrifice, to the detriment 
 of their security, their guarantees for the future. Whatever 
 might be the advantages of the French alliance, he preferred 
 not to treat at all rather than to treat on conditions of which 
 
152 John' de witt. 
 
 he could not hide from himself the danger. Having deter- 
 mined henceforth to evade an agreement with France, he only 
 continued negotiations in the hope of reaping some advantage, 
 for the purpose of escaping from the difficulties of the war 
 with England. 
 
 The United Provinces found themselves reduced, therefore, 
 to counting only on themselves for the prolongation of an 
 unequal struggle. Moreover, domestic troubles forced upon 
 them the speedy conclusion of peace. Eenewed party discords 
 had finally weakened the republic, and were exposing it to the 
 attacks of its enemies. Van Beuningen wrote from Stockholm 
 to De Witt in 1652, before the latter was appointed Grand Pen- 
 sionary : ' The State, in consequence of its stOTmy and turbu- 
 lent deliberations on the stadtholdership, is in danger of falling 
 into contempt abroad.' ' The bad effects of the prolongation 
 of disputes about the government of the country,' he added 
 in another letter, ' extend even to the court of Sweden, and 
 cause us to be censured, and may, perhaps, encourage 
 dangerous projects.' Ten months later, Beverningh confirmed 
 this testimony. ' So much weight is laid in England,' he 
 wrote from London, ' on the insubordination and disorder in 
 our State, that our enemies think themselves amply assured 
 that, with the addition of the troubles from without caused by 
 their troops, we shall be reduced to subscribing to any sort of 
 condition, As long as the now vacant stadtholdership had 
 not been definitely replaced by the rule of HoUand, a corner^ 
 stone was wanting to the structure of the republic' ' This 
 point of union, which we possessed by means of a head which 
 at least guided if it did not command us, having been taken 
 from us,' says a contemporary writer, ' it is to be feared that 
 we may quarrel amongst ourselves, each town thinking only 
 of its own interest, each province seeking only its own 
 advantage, and each individual working only to aggrandise 
 his family at the expense -of the public' 
 
 The system of government estabHshed by the General 
 Assembly of the Provinces, which was contrary to the ancient 
 traditions of the republic, did not appear to possess sufficient 
 stability to resist the shock of a disastrous war. The House 
 
LOYALTY OF THE PEOPLE TO THE HOUSE OF ORANGE. 153 
 
 of Orange found, in the trials through which the new govern- 
 ment was passing, a return of influence and popularity, which 
 seemed to threaten the dominant party with a sudden change 
 of fortune. The loyalty of the people was being re-awakened. 
 They were still filled with the recollection of the services 
 they owed to the Princes of Orange, who had rescued 
 them from the yoke of Spain, and they had been accustomed 
 for so many years to live under their government, that they 
 looked upon those of them who remained as entitled to 
 exercise their authority. Thus, although the States of 
 Holland would have wished them to fear the present prince 
 as the son of the last Prince William, they only saw in him 
 the heir of WUliam, of Maurice, and of Frederick Henry ; 
 and his youth, which the States put forward as an obstacle to 
 his elevation, only gave them a warmer feeling towards him. 
 The Calvinist clergy studiously encouraged these inclinations. 
 The Protestant ministers, displeased at having been unable to 
 induce the General Assembly to share their furor of religious 
 intolerance, had besides remained attached to the interests 
 of the House of Orange, from a recollection of the services 
 it had rendered to the reformed religion. They appealed 
 incessantly to these services in reproach for the ingratitude 
 of the republican party, and took upon themselves to offer 
 public prayers for the young prince as heir to the offices of 
 his father, without any regard for the sovereign power which 
 belonged to the deputies of the province. 
 
 The States of Holland did not allow themselves to be 
 intimidated by these evidences of regret and discontent. 
 Determined to have themselves recognised as the legitimate 
 successors of the Princes of Orange, they were anxious to 
 suppress the honours that had been paid to former stadt- 
 holders. They demanded that an order to replace the prince's 
 flag by that of the States-General should be addressed by the 
 Boards of Admiralty to the commanders of the fleet, but did 
 not succeed in having this resolution put to the vote in the 
 Federal Assembly. They did not venture to proceed with it, 
 from the fear of displeasing the sailors, who had just mutinied 
 at Amsterdam with the object of claiming full payment of 
 
154 JOHN DE WITT, 
 
 their arrears, but they indemnified themselves by altering the 
 city standards, on which the arms of the House of Orange had 
 hitherto been preserved. They secured themselves also 
 against abuses of the press and of speech, which might have 
 endangered their power. By a resolution proposed by John 
 de Witt, and written by his hand on the register -of the States, 
 they threatened with the severest penalties all authors and 
 printers of seditious pamphlets and other publications. To 
 prevent preachers also from making their ministry an in- 
 strument of disorder, they prohibited them from making any 
 allusion to public affairs. One of them, Jacob Stormont, was 
 even temporarily excluded from the pulpit, because, secretly 
 encouraged by the partisans of the House of Orange, he had 
 given free vent to invective and denounced the States of Holland 
 as usurpers whom God would judge. As the pastor Hultius, 
 one of those who by a rare exception appeared contented, 
 wrote to John de Witt, ' the preachers must rest satisfied with 
 their vocation, which is to study and to preach the word of 
 God, and to assist the poor and afflicted as well as the sick.' 
 
 The grievous disappointments of the war with England 
 rendered these precautions insufficient, by giving an irresistible 
 impetus to popular discontent. The spectacle of the fleets of 
 the republic, formerly victorious in Spain, and now vanquished 
 by England, seemed a chastisement of the republican party, 
 punished thus for having seized the power from the hands 
 of the last heir of the Princes of Orange. The re-establish- 
 ment of the chief authority, civil and military, in favour of the 
 son of William II. was henceforth demanded as the sure pledge 
 of better fortune. Pamphlets, profusely distributed, recalled to 
 mind the example of Prance, which in the fifteenth century 
 had driven out the English by the aid of a young girl. The 
 partisans of the House of Orange invoked the remembrance of 
 Joan of Arc, in order to obtain the same confidence for an 
 infant in the cradle, whose ancestors were the founders and 
 protectors of the independence of the country. A letter 
 written to John de Witt by his uncle. Van Sypesteyn, is one 
 long cry of distress, and shows with the impressiveness of an 
 impartial witness the irresistible current of public opinion. 
 
INTEENAL TEOUBLES. 155 
 
 'I cannot conceal from you,' he writes, with a wealth of 
 literary quotations which does not exclude sincere emotion, 
 ' what I hear every day with great regret. There is a general 
 expression and feeling that the country is betrayed, as if the 
 prisoners of Loevenstein had given it up. It appears to me, 
 having leisure to inquire closely into the feelings of the people, 
 that the old spirit of disturbance or the ghost of the late 
 prince has been sent once again on earth to set the whole 
 country at war. This calamity is probably brought upon us 
 by those who ought to sound the trumpet of peace and 
 obedience amongst the people. What reason can this body of 
 disloyal pastors have for acting thus ? They dare to say 
 publicly in their pulpits that the States order affairs for the 
 worst, that their Noble Mightinesses desire nothing so much 
 as that the navy of the State should be destroyed in order to 
 bring about an agreement with England, and, what is still 
 worse, that they know well that there will be an insurrection, 
 of which they understand the object, and other things of the 
 same nature. I do not think their Noble Mightinesses know 
 all that is whispered amongst the people, and I fear that the 
 conflagration may be lighted up before it is expected : Scinditur 
 incertum stvdia in contraria vulgus. Some are for the prince, 
 some for the State ; but the prince's party is now the stronger. 
 What will become of us when the flame which is now smoulder- 
 ing shall have risen above the houses ? For myself, I am not 
 uneasy. Si fractus illahatur orhis, impavidum ferient ridnee. 
 But I have defenceless children, and friends who are dearer to 
 me than myself, and quorum pars magna fuisti, since there has 
 been placed on your young shoulders too heavy a burden, 
 beneath which old Atlas himself would bow his head.' These 
 fears were not exaggerated. De Witt himself shared them 
 when he wrote to Beverningh : ' Attempts are being made to 
 fish in troubled waters and to give the people the impression 
 that they can do without a master. This opinion is so 
 generally received that there is hardly one inhabitant in a 
 thousand who does not share it.' 
 
 Scenes of disorder, occurring on all sides, soon gave the 
 signal, which seemed expected, for the overthrow of the govern- 
 
156 JOHN DE WITT. 
 
 ment of the States. At the Hague, hands of citizens who 
 had met together on the occasion of the town fair, heated by 
 the wine that they had drunk before the house of Count 
 WUham of Nassau, fired on the standards, to protest against 
 the removal of the arms of the House of Orange which had 
 been taken away from them, and paraded with cries of ' Long 
 live Orange ! Long live Nassau ! ' It was ia vain that cavaky 
 were sent to pacify the tumult : they were forced to take part 
 in the demonstration, and Major-General Brederode, who 
 commanded them, could not himself avoid joining in it. To 
 satisfy the rioters, the ancient standard had to be restored to 
 the detachment which mounted guard at night at the town 
 hall, and the States only prevented further troubles by sending 
 for reinforcements of troops to the Hague. At Dordrecht 
 and Delft also the Orange party gave free course to then- 
 demonstrations. ' At Eotterdam,' writes Cornelius de Witt to 
 his brother, ' the magistrates cannot prevent the levies for the 
 fleet being made in the prince's name.' At Haardigen the 
 sailors, before enlisting, demanded that this concession should 
 be made to them, and the States of Holland commissioned 
 their councillor deputies to take the necessary steps to prevent 
 it. In the whole of North Holland the partisans of the House 
 of Orange gave public utterance to their hopes. Count 
 William of Nassau, who had arrived in the island of Texel 
 with some troops from Priesland to reassure the inhabitants 
 threatened by a landing of the English, was received in 
 triumph as a liberator by a population against which the 
 States no longer dared to act. 
 
 At Enckhuyzen the ringleaders were quite reckless, and 
 took a skilful advantage of the poverty to which the war with 
 England was reducing the inhabitants. After provoking the 
 populace to pillage the house of one of the burgomasters, they 
 incited them to revolt, put them in possession of the arsenal, 
 and forced them to depose the magistrates of the town. The 
 regiments sent in haste by the States of Holland found the 
 gates closed and cannon levelled on the ramparts, and the 
 squadron that had conveyed them was obliged to retreat to the 
 Texel, leaving the insurgents masters of the town. The 
 
DANGERS INCUERED BY DE WITT AND HIS FATHER. 157 
 
 commissioners of the States were no better received. They 
 were empowered to arrest the chief culprits, to send them 
 prisoners to the Hague, and to impose submission. The 
 withdrawal of the troops did not allow them to fulfil their 
 mission. In spite of the dangers which threatened^ them, 
 they approached the town without allowing themselves to be 
 intimidated by the clamours of the rioters, who shouted to 
 them from the ramparts : 'You shall not enter ! Speak, speak ! ' 
 They demanded that the gates should be opened to them, 
 declaring that they had orders to speak to the magistrates. 
 ' We are the magistrates,' answered the crowd ; ' we are the 
 burgomasters ; we do not choose you to enter.' 
 
 Having vainly parleyed till the evening, they were obliged 
 to depart. On the road they were overtaken by delegates 
 from the town council, who held out to them hopes of an 
 agreement with which they were obliged to be satisfied. The 
 success of this insurrection was an example which might 
 become contagious. 
 
 It was against John de Witt and his family that popular 
 passions were let loose with the greatest animosity. The office 
 of Grand Pensionary, which he had filled provisionally for 
 some months, and in which he had distinguished himself by 
 his energy, led him to be considered by the Orange party as 
 the pubhc enemy who must be got rid of in order to bring 
 about the overthrow of the government of the States, which 
 found in him its most valiant defender. His father, Jacob 
 de Witt, who sat in the Assembly of Holland as burgomaster 
 of Dordrecht, nearly fell victim to an assassin. As he was 
 returning to his house, accompanied by Beaumont, the 
 secretary of the States, he was addressed by a passer-by, 
 who exclaimed, thrusting his fist at him : ' I will teach you to 
 speak against the prince.' Some paces further on he was 
 met, and informed that an unknown man had knocked at his 
 door and produced a weapon, saying that he would make use 
 of it that very evening. He nearly succeeded in carrying out 
 his sinister project close to Jacob de Witt's house, where he 
 was lying in wait for him. The States, informed of this 
 attempt at murder, commissioned the Court of Justice to 
 
158 JOHN DE -WITT. 
 
 institute criminal proceedings. At Eotterdam Cornelius de 
 Witt did not venture to go out at night without an escort of 
 his servants. Sis weeks later, John de Witt, to whom the 
 functions of Grand Pensionary had been definitively com- 
 mitted, was in his turn exposed to the resentment of a mis- 
 guided multitude which threatened the States of Holland with 
 a revolution. 
 
 Disturbances, encouraged by the growing audacity of the 
 Orange party, had been recommenced at the Hague by a 
 tumultuous mob of children, who, to celebrate the return of 
 the yormg Prince of Orange, amused themselves by marching 
 in procession with flags and paper scarves bearing his colours. 
 Having caught sight of him at his windows in the arms of one 
 of his nurses, they blew their trumpets in his honour and 
 saluted him with acclamations. The States, fearing that this 
 demonstration might be the signal for an insurrection, issued 
 orders for its cessation ; but the parents intervened, and when 
 the fiscal or officer of justice, Cornelius Boys, advanced to 
 disperse the mob, a barber drove him back with the most 
 insulting language. The crowd pressed forward, but was 
 driven back by the cavalry called together in haste, who 
 threatened to resort to arms to force them to disperse ; but 
 under cover of the night the rioters returned to the charge. 
 They divided into two bodies, one of which proceeded to 
 wreck the windows of the house occupied by the fiscal, while 
 the other indulged in the same excesses at the residence of 
 the deputies of Dordrecht and Amsterdam, whom the Orange 
 party considered as the principal chiefs of the republican 
 party. The house of the Grand Pensionary narrowly escaped 
 pillage. ' Where is that scoundrel, that traitor, that enemy 
 of the prince ? ' was shouted at his door by the more fm-ious, 
 thus giving him at the very opening of his public career a 
 foretaste of the popular hatred. The States, to protect them- 
 selves against this violence, sent for fresh reinforcements 
 into the town. But they no longer felt themselves safe there, 
 and, fearing the contagion of revolt, they were beginning to 
 make preparations for abandoning the Hague, in order to sit 
 at Delft, a fortified town where their Assembly could more 
 
EEVOLT OF ZEALAND. 159 
 
 easily be defended against an insurrection. It would have 
 been all over with the new government if the boldness of the 
 attack had caused the energy of the resistance to waver. 
 
 The revolt of Zealand rendered the danger still more 
 threatening. The Orange party had regained possession of 
 that province, and given the signal for a change of govern- 
 ment in the town of Ter-Goes. The standard of Orange, 
 floating on the tower of Middleburg, seemed to enjoin the 
 States to give way to the popular wish. They siibmitted with 
 a good grace, and commissioned their deputies to the Federal 
 Assembly to demand the nomination of the young Prince of 
 Orange as captain and admiral-general, in conformity with the 
 resolution which they had themselves taken the previous year, 
 but which they had hitherto left in abeyance. The deputies of 
 Friesland and Groningen received this proposal favourably. 
 The offers of intervention of the Princess Dowager did not suffice 
 to reassure De Witt, who regarded them with suspicion. He 
 replied ' that she would do better to testify her good-will by 
 actions rather than by words, by persuading the magistrates 
 of Zealand to support her opinions instead of acting contrary 
 to them.' He appealed with greater confidence to Major- 
 General Brederode, to whom he thus testified his uneasiness : 
 ' Sir, you have doubtless been informed of the communication 
 which the deputies of Zealand have made this day to the 
 States-General, and since you know with what energy it is 
 necessary to meet the bad impression which it has created, I 
 have thought it my duty to address to you this request, in 
 which I beg for your presence here to-morrow evening, in 
 order that by your wise and prudent behaviour an evil may 
 be prevented which later would be irreparable. I venture, 
 therefore, to hope to see you here to-morrow evening, if you 
 love our fatherland and the good cause, which I in no wise 
 doubt.' 
 
 Threatened with the intervention of the States-General, 
 while forced to defend themselves against the popular sedition, 
 the States of Holland had, up to this time, not given way to 
 any weakness. But the union of the members of their 
 Assembly began to be shaken. The Council of Haarlem 
 
160 JOHN DE WITT. 
 
 having been gained over to the cause of the young prince, 
 now pressed them to join it also. This proposal was confided 
 to the charge of Euyl, pensionary of Haarlem, who, after 
 having been imprisoned at Loevenstein by William II., gave 
 thus, by a sudden change of opinions, proof of his devotion 
 to the interests of the House of Orange. This was to require 
 the States of Holland to capitulate. 
 
 But scarcely was the breach opened by this attempt at de- 
 fection than De Witt closed it again. Incapable of discourage- 
 ment, he entered upon a conference with the pensionary of 
 Haarlem, and succeeded in convincing him of the inopportune- 
 ness and danger of his proposal. He persuaded him to offer 
 remonstrances to the town council, which ended by taking 
 them into consideration. An agreement once come to, the 
 States of Holland took advantage of the energy with which 
 they were led to take defensive measures against the other 
 provinces. Fearing still that they might be disposed to renew 
 the coup d'etat of William II., they prohibited the town 
 councils from receiving any deputations that might be sent to 
 them, either by the States-General or by the States of the 
 other provinces. At the same time, to justify their policy of 
 resistance, they determined to make known in writing their 
 opinion on the proposal of Zealand. A long report drawn up 
 by their Grand Pensionary set forth the reasons which induced 
 them to oppose any change in the constitution of the republic 
 during the minority of the young Prince of Orange. In order 
 to prevent the restoration of the offices of captain and admiral- 
 general without showing any Ul-wiU towards the son of 
 William II., they put forward his tender age, which pre- 
 vented his exercising the command on land and sea or taking 
 any part in debate ; they even claimed to be serving his cause 
 in not giving him for his lieutenant the Count of Nassau, 
 who might thus have been led on to supplant him. They 
 drew attention also to the fact that since the republic was 
 engaged in a maritime war the functions of captain-general 
 of the army were useless. Finally, to show their distrust of 
 the military power, they pointed out the dangers of too great 
 authority being given to one man, who, being no longer 
 
APPEASAL OJF THE DISTUEBANCES. 161 
 
 balanced by any counterpoise, could not fail to overstep the 
 bounds of his duties. 
 
 They were not satisfied with discussing, they knew how to 
 act. Their energy soon got the better of the revolt, which was 
 now confined to Enckhuyzen, and was there braving the autho- 
 rity of the new government. De Witt made use of the powers 
 of Grand Pensionary, with which he had just been invested, 
 to press the adoption of conciliatory yet firm measures which 
 might arrest this dangerous attempt at civil war. Obedient 
 to his suggestions, the States of Holland, to bring back minds 
 that had been led astray, and to put an end to all fears of 
 reprisals, passed in favour of Enckhuyzen an act called Act of 
 Non-prejudice, by which they guaranteed to the town the pre- 
 servation of its rights and privileges. But they determined 
 at the same time to send a garrison there, and despatched 
 secretly some companies destined to force, if necessary, an 
 entry into the town. A cleverly concerted stratagem prevented 
 any resistance ; a messenger from the States, introduced 
 into Enckhuyzen, invited the people to the town hall, in order 
 to make known to them the Act of Non-prejudice; the in- 
 habitants collected in crowds, and the gates left undefended 
 were occupied by the troops. The citizens, weary of the in- 
 surrection, received them favourably. No vengeance was 
 taken ; the more guilty fled or were condemned only to the 
 payment of a fine. The submission of Enckhuyzen prevented 
 the Orange pa.rty from taking up arms, and disconcerted the 
 plan of attack of the other provinces, who had flattered them- 
 selves with ensuring in this manner the prompt success of a 
 restoration. The States of Holland had recovered that power 
 of resistance which in times of disorder is the safeguard of 
 Ijublic authority. 
 
 By opposing thus with invincible energy a change of 
 government, De Witt was saving his country from fresh and 
 irreparable disasters, and giving it the chance of a peace 
 without which the United Provinces were doomed to become 
 the vassals of England. Surprised by an enemy who over- 
 powered them by the superiority of his resources and weakened 
 by their political isolation, they were sinking under the weight 
 VOL. I. m: 
 
162 JOHN DE WITT. 
 
 of their trials. The continuation of a war whose disasters 
 gave the most formidable encouragement to popular passions 
 was not less fatal to the interests of the governing party 
 than to those of the republic, attacked in its prosperity and 
 threatened in its independence. 
 
 The speedy conclusion of a treaty could no longer, there- 
 fore, be delayed with impunity. But the bold attempts of the 
 Orange party put obstacles in its way ; they hindered Cromwell 
 from an agreement by giving him cause to fear a restoration 
 of the power of the family of Orange, united by close ties of 
 relationship to the descendants of Charles I. ' We think it 
 our duty to tell you frankly,' wrote Beverningh from London 
 to De Witt, in a confidential letter, ' that we' should not be 
 admitted to negotiate, nor even to be heard in audience, if any 
 public proposal were made to designate the Prince of Orange 
 to the offices of his ancestors, which would infaUibly be known 
 here, and would render aU our negotiations fruitless.' By 
 disturbing the revolutionary power of the new ruler of 
 England, the Orange party could not faU to make him intract- 
 able ; the resistance opposed by the Grand Pensionary of 
 HoUand to all attempts for the restoration of the Priuce of 
 Orange was henceforth the chief condition of peace. 
 
 By turns renewed and broken off, the negotiations had 
 followed their course in spite of the continuation of hos- 
 tilities, and John de Witt, charged with their direction, did 
 not hide from himself that ' on their issue depended the safety 
 or the ruin of his beloved country.' He refrained, therefore, 
 from any act of imprudence which might have made the two 
 belligerent powers irreconcilable. In order not to abandon 
 this reserve, he constantly refused to come to any agreement 
 with the heir of Charles I., which might obHge the States- 
 General to become parties to a restoration. Wishing -to 
 reserve full liberty of treating with Cromwell, he studiously 
 avoided any occasion for taking part against his government. 
 In vain did Charles 11. propose to join the Dutch fleet, in 
 order to induce by his presence the defection of the Enghsh 
 ships in which many officers attached to the royahst cause 
 were serving ; the Grand Pensionary opposed an unvarying 
 
FRESH NEGOTIATIONS WITH ENGLAND. 163 
 
 refusal to his courageous offers of assistance. Some months 
 later, the States, fearing that ' his arrival in the provinces 
 might be dangerous,' determined that no foreigner of distinc- 
 tion should enter Holland without their authorisation. ' To 
 bind the interests of the republic with those of the King of 
 England,' they had declared already,, ' was to put it out of the 
 power of the United Provinces to make peace without him, 
 and to perpetuate the war with the. English, while they could 
 more surely put an end to it either by their victories, or by 
 the exhausting of their finances, or by reasonable proposals 
 of peace.' 
 
 It was the more necessary to be on guard against any 
 policy of adventure, because such a policy might strike an 
 irreparable blow at the hopes of peace which had sprung up 
 again. In the beginning of the month of February 1653, the 
 Grand Pensionary Pauw d'Heemstede had been informed by 
 private letters of the more conciliatory dispositions of Cromwell, 
 whose ambitious designs were hindered by the prolongation 
 of the war. This communication was made by Lieutenant- 
 Colonel Dolman, an officer in the service of the United 
 Provinces, who had been sent to England, where he had con- 
 trived to form useful connections. The States of Holland were 
 immediately informed- of this, and determined that a private 
 letter making known their pacific desire should be addressed 
 by the Grand Pensionary to the master of the ceremonies, 
 Oliver Fleming. Dolman did not think this sufficient, and 
 insisted on the necessity of a declaration being made by the 
 States of Holland, more disposed than those of the other 
 provinces towards the concessions desired by Cromwell. 
 
 De Witt took advantage of the powers that had just 
 been conferred on him to support this proposal, and requested 
 the deputies to bind themselves by an oath to keep the 
 deliberations secret. He submitted to them a fresh letter 
 drawn up by Euyl, the pensionary of Haarlem, two copies 
 of which were to be transmitted to England — one to the 
 Parliament, the other to the Privy Council. They were invited 
 thus to take the initiative, without awaiting the decision of the 
 States-General, on whom the Orange party, interested in 
 
 u 2 
 
164 JOHN DE WITT. 
 
 carrying on the war against Cromwell, might have forced a 
 policy contrary to peace. 
 
 This was the prelude to a separate negotiation, which De 
 Witt was to resume at a later period. The deputies of Leyden 
 were the only ones who opposed the vote, and demanded the 
 previous consent of the States-General. The States of 
 Holland, to avert a conflict, commissioned the deputies who 
 represented them in the Federal Assembly to give the other 
 provinces all the explanations they might ask for; but they 
 determined, none the less, to take the initiative in diplomatic 
 measures. 
 
 They reckoned on success for their justification. But the 
 publicity given to their letter, which was printed in London 
 under the offensive title of ' Kespeetful Petition of the States 
 of Holland, imploring peace from the British Government,' 
 disappointed their expectations, and the official correction 
 which they insisted on gave them poor satisfaction. To cut 
 short all hopes of conciliation, the Parliament declared in their 
 answer that they persisted in treating only on the conditions 
 proposed before the war, hoping thus to impose on the 
 republic an act of submission to which it eould not subscribe. 
 The States of Holland were subjected thus to a humiliating 
 disappointment, which disconcerted their premature attempt 
 at reconciliation. Their precipitation, which had exposed the 
 United Provinces to the arrogance of the English Govern- 
 ment, did not fail to bring on them the reproaches of the 
 Assembly of the States-General, and the deputies of Groningen 
 demanded that the negotiations should be disavowed. Moderate 
 counsels were on the point of being cast aside, when De Witt 
 interposed and gained for them a hearing. In spite of the 
 abstention of the deputies of three provinces who wished to 
 refer the matter to their provincial assemblies, he prevailed 
 on the States- General to reply to the ParHament, without 
 weakness but without irritation, declaring themselves willing 
 to appoint ambassadors who should have fuU power to settle 
 the conditions of a new treaty. 
 
 An unexpected event had, moreover, made the States- 
 General more favourable to a policy of conciliation. The 
 
EMBASSY DESPATCHED TO LONDOK. 165 
 
 government of England had just been changed by a bold 
 stroke. Cromwell had driven out the Long Parliament, in 
 order to exercise "with a high hand an undivided authority. 
 The despotic usurpation of a man of genius became thus the 
 climax of a revolution, begun by resistance to the arbitrary 
 power of royalty. With the new dictator, the States-General 
 might resume the work of pacification, which the Long 
 Parliament had hindered. Thus, in spite of the demands 
 imprudently set up by Zealand, the persevering persistence 
 of John de Witt prevailed, and caused fresh negotiations to be 
 entered into. He made, however, several ineffectual attempts 
 to get them put into the hands of a single envoy, to be 
 designated by the States of Holland. He was obliged to 
 consent to the choice of several plenipotentiaries, two of 
 whom were nominated by Zealand and Friesland, in their 
 position of maritime provinces, and the other two reserved 
 for the selection of Holland. 
 
 The States of Holland fixed their choice on one of the de- 
 puties of their Assembly of whose political experience they were 
 assured, Nieupoort, pensionary of Schiedam, who was designated 
 as chief of the embassy ; with him was associated Beverningh, 
 burgomaster of Gouda, ta whom De Witt accorded his entire 
 confidence. The States of Zealand and of Friesland dele- 
 gated on their side Van de Perre, pensionary of Middleburg, 
 and Jongesthal, a member of the court of justice in Friesland, 
 who was devoted to the interests of the Count of Nassau, 
 stadtholder of that province. They were charged with the 
 duty of watching Nieupoort and Beverningh and controlling 
 their conduct, but they were too wanting in diplomatic 
 penetration to prevent the latter taking the lead in the 
 negotiations, of which John de Witt had the real direction. 
 His intimate connection with Nieupoort, and still more with 
 Beverningh, assured him of the fidelity with which his 
 instructions would be carried out. Distrusting the noisy zeal 
 of Jongesthal, he wrote to them : ' If you remain in England 
 I will send you a cipher. Do not let any of your commissioners 
 see this letter, and do not leave it on your table.' 
 
 Before he was enabled to proceed with the work he was 
 
166 JOHN DE WITT. 
 
 anxious to complete, De Witt was nearly being compelled 
 to give it up altogether. The speedy arrival in London of 
 Beverningh, who was a week in advance of the other ambas- 
 sadors, was of no avaU in inducing Cromwell to change his 
 policy. Beverningh, having been received in solemn audience 
 by the privy council, represented to them in vain the interests 
 of religion, government and commerce, that should have 
 united the two countries. The original demands, to which 
 the republic of the United Provinces had already refused to 
 yield, were rigorously maintained ; and when Beverningh had 
 been joined by the other plenipotentiaries, the attempts at 
 conciliation, renewed ia numerous conferences, had no better 
 success. Cromwell, not daring to disappoint the people of 
 England of the proud dream of domination entertained by 
 the Long Parliament, allowed the privy council to renew the 
 original condition of a union of the two States in one 
 republic, whose power would ensure the triumph of the cause 
 of Protestantism in England. 
 
 Eeduced to this extremity, the States-General were not at 
 liberty to retreat from a continuance of the war, whatever its 
 perils might be. The proposal of annexation, which Crom- 
 well's government refused to abandon, was a threat of 
 subjection, which did not permit negotiations to be continued 
 any longer. The pacific policy, which De Witt had never 
 ceased to uphold, was not consistent with a peace which 
 would destroy the independence of the republic. Convinced 
 of their inability to triumph over the haughty demands which 
 were made them, the plenipotentiaries determined to return 
 and give an account of the state of affairs. Two of them 
 quitted England. In accordance with the advice of John de 
 Witt, the two others, Beverningh and A^an de Perre, remained 
 in London, in the hope of bringing about a better chance of 
 agreement. 
 
 The refusal opposed by the States-General to his inadmis- 
 sible demands, soon showed Cromwell that he had gone too 
 far. His political genius arrested him on the path he was 
 treading, and the prudence of De Witt, who had opposed the 
 recall of the two envoys left in London, enabled him to 
 
DEMANDS OF CEOMWELL. 167 
 
 continue the negotiations. He himself pressed for the return 
 of the two other ambassadors, who were detained at the 
 Hague for more than a month by the ill-will of some of the 
 provinces, and as soon as the conferences were resumed he 
 demanded a concession, which he flattered himself he should 
 easily obtain. The proposals which he made to the pleni- 
 potentiaries consisted of twenty-seven articles. The union of 
 the two republics was no longer exacted as a condition of the 
 treaty ; but other demands took the place of the incorpora- 
 tion of the United Provinces, vhich Cromwell gave up. The 
 States-General were to recognise the maritime supremacy of 
 England, by submitting to the payment of a right of fishery, 
 and to the limitation of their naval forces in the British seas. 
 Further, by the twelfth article of the treaty, they were bound to 
 consent to another guarantee stUl more important for Crom- 
 well, by engaging never to grant to the son of William II. the 
 civil or military powers that had belonged to his ancestors. 
 This exclusion, which had been hinted at some months before 
 in the despatches of the French ambassador in London, gave 
 the chief of the English republic a political security almost 
 equivalent to that he would have obtained by annexation, 
 by closing the way to his ancestral offices for the Prince of 
 Orange, who, as a grandson of Charles I., would infallibly 
 have put his power at the service of his famUy, for the pur- 
 pose of replacing it on the throne of England. 
 
 Cromwell reckoned also on profiting by this clause in the 
 treaty to perpetuate domestic rivalries and render irrecon- 
 cilable the two parties who were disputing the government of 
 the United Provinces. He persuaded himself, moreover, that 
 the republican party would not hesitate to give him their co- 
 operation, and thus oppose a fresh obstacle to the restoration 
 of the House of Orange. Accustomed to stop at no scruples, he 
 expected to find De Witt and his friends ready to accept with 
 eagerness any sacrifice demanded from their country, provided 
 their own political interests were satisfied. But John de Witt 
 was too sincerely honest to lend himself to such a compromise. 
 In spite of the accusations against his political conduct, which 
 were not spared him, and which history, deceived by appear- 
 
168 JOHN DB WITT, 
 
 ances, has often repeated, the study of pubhc and private 
 negotiations makes it clear that, far from acting in concert 
 with Cromwell, he offered prolonged resistance to his projects, 
 and, if he ended by yielding, it was from wisdom and resigna- 
 tion, not from premeditated complicity. 
 
 Imperious as its attitude still was, the English Government 
 had already drawn back; it no longer demanded from the 
 United Provinces the sacrifice of their nationality. At 
 the same time, while recognising their independence, it was 
 determined to malie them recognise its own supremacy, and to 
 condemn them to a sort of political vassalage. The envoys of 
 the States-General, in spite of their desire to hasten peace, 
 could not lend themselves to such concessions. They declared 
 tha.t the United Provinces would not submit to the domination 
 of England, nor to her intervention in thek internal govern- 
 ment. De Witt shared this opinion without reservation. 
 When he became aware of the fresh demands of Cromwell, he 
 wrote in a confidential letter that he considered the negotia- 
 tions in a desperate condition. ' What we at any rate gain by 
 them,' he declared, ' is that we now know what we have to 
 expect from England, and can take our measures in conse- 
 quence.' He announced these forthwith in the Assembly of the 
 States- General, where he made a forcible speech, of which the 
 historian Aitzema gives a summary. ' Holland,' he said, ' was 
 determined to make use of all internal and external means of 
 resista,nce. The internal means were the equipment of a 
 powerful fleet, for which she would spare no expense. Ex- 
 ternal means must be sought for in alliances with France ; with 
 Poland, in order to oppose her to Sweden ; and with Denmark, 
 to induce her to unite her fleet to that of the United 
 Provinces. 
 
 This appeal to resistance could not leave Cromwell indiffer- 
 ent, and he detained in London the ambassadors, who, despair- 
 ing of obtaining satisfaction, were inclined to retire. A week 
 had hardly passed before he had got rid of the Barebones 
 Parliament, which he had caused to be elected, and had 
 obtained for himself, under the title of Protector, the investi- 
 ture of a power little short of monarchical. Freed thus from 
 
EEJECTED BY BEVERNINGH. 169 
 
 the pressure of the repubhcan party, he brought back his 
 foreign poHcy to more reasonable views. He showed himself 
 ready, if not to abandon, at least to modify his pretensions 
 with regard to the supremacy over the sea which he claimed 
 for England, and concentrated all his demands on the 
 proposal of exclusion, which had become for him a dynastic 
 question. 
 
 The negotiations were thus entering on a new phase. 
 The more they brought into play the personal interests of the 
 Protector, the more intractable he was likely to prove. 
 Beverningh perceived at once that if he wished to obtain 
 peace on better conditions, he must seek for a compromise, 
 instead of opposing to every demand of guarantee a prompt 
 refusal which would render a rupture inevitable. He con- 
 tented himself with representing to Cromwell that the States- 
 General would consider the abandonment of their sovereign 
 rights too humilitating for them to consent to renounce them. 
 The Protector, changing his tactics in order to arrive the more 
 surely at the same end, declared that in default of an under- 
 taking from the States-General, he might content himself with 
 that of the States of Holland, hoping to detach them the 
 more easily from the other provinces, as they had already 
 excluded the young Prince of Orange from the government, 
 by leaving the stadtholdership vacant. 
 
 Beverningh having rejected this first overture, Cromwell, 
 without definitively waving his demands, appeared disposed to 
 be satisfied with either a secret undertaking from the States- 
 General or a resolution of the States of Holland, which would 
 confirm the one taken some months previously opposing the re- 
 establishment of the offices of captain- and admiral-general for 
 the benefit of the son of William II. ' This latter expedient,' 
 as Cromwell himself described it, was probably not agreed to, 
 since the day following the interview in which he had sug- 
 gested it to Beverningh he insisted on his first demand that 
 the exclusion should be pronounced by the States-General. 
 
 It was probably in these diplomatic conferences that a new 
 article was proposed, stipulating that every captain- and 
 admiral-general should bind himself by oath to respect the 
 
170 JOHN DE WITT. 
 
 treaty of peace concluded with the republic of England. This 
 clause, called Clause of Compromise, appeared sufficient to 
 guarantee to the Protector the alliance with the United 
 Provinces, and to make it a law of the State, to which the 
 Prince of Orange must submit, if he were ever appointed to 
 command their army and fleet. Cromwell replied to this offer 
 of a compromise neither by consent nor refusal, ' although it 
 had been communicated to the ambassadors on good authority 
 and by a person of distinction.' His indecision gave an 
 opportunity for the continuance of measures which would 
 speedily have ensured the success of the negotiation, if they 
 had not been interrupted by an act of irreparable im- 
 prudence. 
 
 The Protector, determined to be revenged on the King of 
 Denmark, who, in confiscating some English ships in his 
 ports, had made a declaration of war, had signified his refusal 
 to allow him to be included in the treaty of peace. The 
 plenipotentiaries of the United Provinces could not, without 
 dishonour, consent to abandon their ally, and tried in vain to 
 induce him to give satisfaction. After fruitless remonstrances, 
 Beverningh and the two other ambassadors, Nieupoort and 
 Jongesthal,' resolved on proceeding to ask for instructions from 
 the States-General, and proposed to Cromwell to leave in 
 London one of their number, with whom he might perhaps at 
 length come to an understanding. Cromwell not haviug 
 replied, they started, intending to embark, but they were soon 
 overtaken by an envoy from the Protector, Dolman, who 
 came to press for their return, begging them not to despair of 
 an agreement. The plenipotentiaries, fearing by too great 
 precipitation to encourage the measures which Cromwell was 
 trying to impose upon them with regard to the Prince of 
 Orange, and hampered by the responsibility of coming to a 
 decision, stood on their guard against these advances, instead 
 of trying to take advantage of them. Beverningh and 
 Nieupoort would willingly have yielded to the request made 
 to them, but their colleague Jongesthal would not hear of it. 
 
 ' The third, Van de Perre, had died. De Veth, deputy of Zealand, was 
 afterwards chosen to succeed him. 
 
EETTJEN OF THE AMBASSADORS. 171 
 
 He was obeying the suggestions of Bordeaux, the French 
 ambassador in London, who, interested in delaying the con- 
 clusion of a treaty by which France did not appear likely to 
 profit, encouraged the distrust of the deputy of Friesland 
 towards his colleagues of the embassy by persuading him 
 that they had, unknown to him, entered into secret negotia- 
 tions with the Protector against the Prince of Orange. To 
 baffle these manoeuvres, Jongesthal threatened to depart alone, 
 and thus obliged them to accompany him. Before leaving the 
 country, the envoys of the United Provinces, hoping to avert 
 Cromwell's displeasure, assured him that they would press the 
 Assembly of the Confederation to give him a prompt answer ; 
 but he sent them word, ' that he threw on them the responsi- 
 bility of the disasters which such a delay might cause, and 
 that he held himself absolved before God and man.' The 
 fault was committed. An inopportune hesitation had caused 
 the favourable opportunity to be lost, and fresh tergiversations 
 which disconcerted the latest efforts of John de Witt were 
 about to render still more onerous the conditions of peace. 
 
 Immediately on their arrival at the Hague the pleni- 
 potentiaries gave an account of their mission to the Assembly 
 of the States-General. Their report only bore on the clause 
 of compromise ; it ignored the overtures made by Cromwell to 
 Beverningh, for obtaining from the States of Holland an 
 undertaking to oppose the restoration of the House of Orange. 
 The States of Holland foreseeing the danger that might arise 
 from this sudden return, and wishing at any rate to avert its 
 fatal consequences, sent pressing demands, in the name of the 
 committee entrusted with diplomatic affairs, that the ambas- 
 sadors should be sent back to England with orders to sign the 
 treaty as it had been drawn up ; but the other provinces had 
 not the good sense to respond to this appeal. They distrusted 
 Nieupoort and Beverningh, suspecting them of having taken 
 the initiative in the secret proposals made to Cromwell. 
 Besides, the majority chose to show their zeal for the Orange 
 cause by rejecting or vehemently debating all the conditions 
 which would place the government of the republic in subjection 
 to the Protector. They caused it to be decided therefore, on 
 
172 JOHN DE WITT. 
 
 the demand of Guelders, that the articles of the treaty should 
 be submitted for examination to the different provincial 
 States. They thus created difficulties which were destined to 
 bring about the rupture of the negotiations. 
 
 De Witt forthwith set to work to preserve his country from 
 the dangers of this short-sighted policy. In accordance with 
 his advice, the States of Holland, after a prolonged discussion, 
 approved by a unanimous vote the draft of the treaty which 
 contained the clause of compromise. In the hope of causing 
 this example to be followed by the other provinces, they 
 immediately informed the States- General of their determina- 
 tion. At the same time they hastened to communicate it to the 
 Protector, to whom they sent back Beverningh, without, how- 
 ever, having obtained for him from the States-General the 
 diplomatic powers indispensable for the fulfillment of his 
 mission. 
 
 On his return to London, Beverningh immediately per- 
 ceived that Cromwell's dispositions were changed. The 
 ambassadors of the United Provinces had already incurred his 
 animosity by hastening their departure when he wished to 
 detain them. When he learnt that Beverningh was returning 
 alone without being accredited by the States-General and 
 without being authorised to recognise him, henceforward, in 
 his quality of Protector, he considered himself offended, and 
 gave free vent to his anger. It was skUfuUy taken advantage 
 of by the war party, who pressed him to refuse all concessions. 
 Beverningh imparted in a secret despatch to De Witt the 
 anxiety he felt. ' Inclinations are not adverse, at least in 
 appearance, but there has been much annoyance felt with 
 regard to formalities, and I do not know how it is to be obviated. 
 I was asked a thousand questions, why we left without signing, 
 and why I returned alone, without any powers. I was not 
 received by his Highness, and the only answer made me was 
 that I was looked upon only as a private individual, and 
 therefore no communications could be entered into with me. 
 I fear that the article relating to the Prince of Orange is a 
 stumbling-block. To remedy that which I am afraid to men- 
 tion, I see no other means than to hasten affairs, or in th§ 
 
THE CLAUSE OP COMPEOMISE. 173 
 
 event of a delay that I should be furnished with some docu- 
 ment which will obtain me a hearing.' 
 
 This advice came late as it was, and the States-Genera 
 made it useless by their prolonged disputes. The deliberations 
 referred to the States of the Provinces were interrupted by 
 constantly recurring obstacles. Encouraged by the pressing 
 importunities of the ambassador Chanut, some of the pro- 
 vinces, zealous for a French alliance, insisted that France 
 should bb included in the treaty of peace, while Cromwell 
 opposed an obstinate resistance to this demand. De Witt 
 dissuaded the States-General from persisting, representing to 
 them that ' their bark was too small to tow so large a ship ; ' 
 and the French ambassador, to avoid the humiliation of an 
 apparent refusal, declared haughtily ' that the King his master 
 could quite well do without the services of the United Pro- 
 vinces.' 
 
 Other debates equally stormy threw further difficulties in 
 the way of some of the conditions of the treaty and excited the 
 distrust of the Orange party. The article which excluded 
 from the territory of the two republics ' their common enemies ' 
 raised suspicions. Guelders, supported by some of the other 
 provinces, demanded that it should be drawn up in such a form 
 that it could never be made use of against the House of Orange. 
 To reassure the Princess Dowager, De Witt represented to her 
 that this interpretation did not enter into the Protector's 
 views, and that, moreover, the States of Holland could never be 
 induced to give their consent to it. The clause of com- 
 promise, instead of being looked upon as a concession to be 
 obtained from Cromwell, did not itself escape ; the States of 
 Friesland, alleging that it obliged the commanders of the land 
 and sea forces of the United Provinces to swear to observe the 
 treaty of peace, demanded that the Protector of England 
 should be bound by the same oath. The States of Zealand, 
 fearing that any concession made to Cromwell would only 
 provoke fresh exactions on his part, refused to consent to the 
 compromise, unless an agreement was come to to reject any 
 other condition that concerned the Prince of Orange. To 
 overcome their resistance, this clause had to be added to the 
 
174 JOHN DE WITT. 
 
 treaty under the form of an additional article, so as not to 
 form an integral part of it. 
 
 The Protector could not fail to be still further exasperated 
 by the unseasonable delays which had till now prevented his 
 government from being acknowledged. Friesland demanded 
 that no congratulations should be addressed to Cromwell 
 before the return of the two envoys of the States-General, 
 Nieupoort and Jongesthal. Holland obtained with difficulty 
 and after some delay an authorisation for Beverningh to 
 precede the two ambassadors, in order to give the chief of 
 the republic of England the satisfaction which he impe- 
 riously demanded. At the same time she urged the States- 
 General to draw up the draft of the treaty in its definitive 
 form, leaving the various provinces free to make their 
 proposals of modifications, provided these modifications, if 
 not accepted by Cromwell, should not be an obstacle in 
 the way of the conclusion of peace. On the day when the 
 votes were to be given, all was once more undecided. Zealand 
 was represented in the Federal Assembly by only one of her 
 deputies. Aylva, the deputy of Friesland, refused to accept 
 the office of president ; while of the two deputies of Utrecht 
 one, Eenswonde, objected to replace him, and the other, 
 Amerongen, only consented to fill the office of president if 
 the deliberation was dated the following day, on which the 
 weekly turn for the presidency of his province came round. 
 The system of government of the United Provinces, where, as 
 the French ambassador wrote, ' everything, even the most 
 secret negotiations, was done to the sound of the drum,' could 
 not fail to keep Cromwell informed of these manifestations of 
 ill-will, which appeared to him in striking contrast with the 
 obsequious demonstrations of other governments. 
 
 The hostility into which the Orange party imprudently 
 allowed itself to be drawn was still more intolerable to him. 
 Already, while in London, Jongesthal had compromised the 
 success of the negotiations by his ill-advised proceedings. 
 ' Our colleague, Jongesthal,' wrote Beverningh to Nieupoort, 
 ' in addition to the harm he has done both to the State and to 
 us, has left a sad reputation behind him. The Protector has 
 
HOSTILITY TO CROMWELL IN THE UNITED PEOVINCES. 175 
 
 been only too well informed, not only of his disaffection, but 
 also of certain remarks which he has imprudently let fall, and 
 which have been pertinently and fully reported. I have been 
 told, for instance, that he was heard to say : In case of the 
 non- success of the treaty, the State is determined to declare 
 war against the Protector in person, while offering its friend- 
 ship to the nation, which must have annoyed the Protector ; 
 and I am sorry for it with all my heart, since the State has 
 never had any intention of the kind, and it is an absolute 
 invention.' 
 
 In the United Provinces, hostility against Cromwell had 
 never ceased to be displayed. At Utrecht, a pamphlet was 
 publicly sold in which the Protector was nicknamed the 
 ' Were-wolf.' To avert his resentment, the Court of Holland 
 condemned to fine and imprisonment the authors of another 
 libel, entitled ' Machinations of the Protector,' and forbade its 
 being printed under pain of death. The Count of Nassau 
 secretly encouraged these manoeuvres and attacks. In spite 
 of his apparent, rather than genuine, protestations in favour 
 of peace, he advised resistance to the demands of Cromwell, 
 from a fear that they might render him more insolent if 
 they were submitted to. 'I consider him,' he wrote, 'as a 
 traitor to his country and his king, and as a violator of 
 the laws I maintain that no confidence ought to be placed in 
 him.' 
 
 Eegarding this as an insult, Cromwell renounced those 
 conciliatory observances to which he had appeared disposed. 
 Up to this time he had been satisfied with the communications 
 made to Beverningh before the abrupt departure of the 
 ambassadors; and if since the return of Beverningh the 
 clause of compromise no longer satisfied him, he had not yet 
 pronounced himself with regard to the new conditions con- 
 cerning the Prince of Orange. The honours which he caused 
 to be paid to the two ambassadors, Nieupoort and Jongesthal, 
 when the latter returned to England with their new diplomatic 
 powers, appeared even to give ground for hopes of the prompt 
 conclusion of peace. The articles definitively settled upon 
 in the conferences which had just been resumed only awaited 
 
176 JOHK DE WITT. 
 
 his signature, when suddenly his pretensions were again dis- 
 played with the most inflexible obstinacy. 
 
 At their very first audience with the English commis- 
 sioners, the ambassadors of the United Provinces were in- 
 formed that the treaty would not be signed till it had been 
 revised. At the same time, Thm-loe, the secretary of state, 
 requested an interview with Beverningh, and represented to 
 him that, if he wished to induce Cromwell to give up the 
 article which stipulated for the exclusion of the Prince of 
 Orange by the States-General, he must undertake that this 
 guarantee should be given him by the States of Holland. The 
 Protector thus returned to his original intention, and Bever- 
 ningh, who thought he had obtained a definitive concession, 
 found himself once more face to face with the same demand. 
 He did not, however, weary of resisting it ; but in the two fresh 
 interviews which he had with Thurloe he was obliged to 
 recognise the fact that he was henceforth only renewing fruit- 
 less efforts. A last attempt to move Cromwell was not more 
 successful. Beverningh and Nieupoort represented to him 
 without avail that they were not authorised to enter into any 
 engagement with him in the name of the States of Holland. 
 They could not avoid, however, transmitting officially to the 
 Grand Pensionary the demand of exclusion, in order that it 
 might be communicated to the deputies of their province, but 
 they concealed this step from their colleague, Jongesthal, who 
 would not have failed to frustrate it. Without as yet re- 
 nouncing the vain hope of inducing Cromwell to yield, as they 
 explained to De Witt in a private letter, they declared in their 
 despatch, intended to be read to the States of Holland, that 
 the necessity of either giving or refusing to him the concession 
 which he demanded could no longer be evaded. 
 
 At this price only, Cromwell consented to sign the articles 
 of the treaty, which the ambassadors would not leave any 
 longer in suspense, from the fear of fresh changes; but he 
 took care to state that he would not execute it unless he 
 obtained the resolution of the States of Holland, ' under a form 
 and within a period which he would consent not to limit too 
 strictly.' It was the only concession which he would make. 
 
TREATY OF WESTMINSTER. '177 
 
 While obtaining peace, tlie States-General were obliged 
 to purchase it under disadvantageous conditions. To enable 
 their ally, the King of Denmark, to participate in it, they 
 guaranteed in his name the important sum of 2,450,000 florins, 
 which was demanded of him as indemnity for the seizure of 
 twenty-one English ships in the port of Copenhagen. No 
 satisfaction was refused to England. They not only conceded 
 to her the salute of her flag in the British seas, but also 
 pecuniary reparation for an old injury of which she had never 
 ceased to complain for more than thirty years, the execution of 
 five British subjects convicted of having attempted to seize the 
 island of Amboyna from the East India Company. Besides 
 this, the States-General undertook to refuse any assistance, 
 and even any shelter, to the enemies of the English Govern- 
 ment; and the banishment of the royal family was also 
 guaranteed to the Protector. Finally, to secure Cromwell 
 from an abrupt change in the policy of the United Provinces, 
 they were to cause every commander whom they should select 
 as captain- or admiral-general to swear observance of the 
 treaty. 
 
 The only advantage of the treaty for the United Provinces 
 was the cessation of the war ; but the prolongation of the war 
 would have rendered the ruin of the republic inevitable. 
 According to the testimony of a contemporary writer, who 
 would not have allowed the opportunity to escape of incrimi- 
 nating the policy of John de Witt, if it had given any opening 
 for his often passionate attacks, 'thfe treaty of Westminster 
 is the only matter with which the English have to reproach 
 Cromwell in what concerns the glory and interest of their 
 nation. On this occasion he has sacrificed it to his own 
 advantage, since he could, by continuing the war, have 
 made Holland tributary.' Chanut, who, in the interests of 
 France, had shown himself hostile to the negotiations, had 
 ended by himself recognising the necessity of hastening their 
 conclusion. ' The resumption of the war,' he wrote, ' would 
 have given such advantages to England that nothing could 
 have resisted her on the seas. I therefore thought that we 
 ought to hope for peace ; the evil is visibly great enough for 
 
 VOL. I. N 
 
178 JOHN DE WITT. 
 
 a respite to be desired, if we wish for the continued existence 
 of this State.' 
 
 The necessity of satisfying Cromwell by conceding to him 
 the Act of Exclusion was henceforth imposed upon the States 
 of Holland. It weighed heavily on De "Witt, as head of the 
 government, and as the leader of a party. As head of the 
 government, he must fear compromising Holland, and usurp- 
 ing for the advantage of one small province the diplomatic 
 powers of the States-General. As leader of a party, he must 
 recognise the danger of a compliance which subjected the 
 United Provinces to the exactions of a foreign government, 
 lately their declared enemy, and which would thus arouse the 
 national feeling in favour of the Prince of Orange. The 
 agreement between his public despatches and the private 
 letters which he addressed to Beverningh, and some of which 
 have been recently discovered, proves that he had made no 
 compact with Cromwell, and suffices therefore for his justifica- 
 tion. 
 
 The Grand Pensionary had been made acquainted, since 
 the month of December, 1653, with the first overtures made 
 by Cromwell to Beverningh and Nieupoort, to obtain from 
 the States of Holland the vote of exclusion of the Prince of 
 Orange. He had rejected them without a second thought. 
 On January 2, 1654, before the ambassadors left London, he 
 wrote to them confidentially : ' The point which concerns the 
 Prince of Orange causes me the greatest anxiety. The promise 
 demanded will doubtless be refused by some of the provinces, 
 and will certainly not be obtained from the majority. Not 
 only will it be out of the question for each province to give it 
 separately, but it will be equally impossible to hope for it from 
 the States-General. I had always reckoned, and had always 
 wished, that the English Government should leave to the 
 States-General and to each of the provinces the most absolute 
 liberty of appointing the prince or not, according to then- 
 good pleasure; but admitting, on the other hand, that it 
 should be equally at liberty, m the event of his appointment, to 
 renounce the treaty or to continue to adhere to it.' This was 
 the line of conduct which he proposed to follow, and during 
 
CORRESPONDENCE BETWEEN DE WITT AND BEVERNINGH. 179 
 
 Beverningh's stay at the Hague he had given him no other 
 instructions. The letter in which Beverningh, after his return 
 to London, complains ' of having been treated by Cromwell 
 with want of courtesy and even with rudeness,' is sufficient to 
 dispel any suspicion of connivance. ' I am glad to think,' 
 writes De Witt to him, ' that the clause of compromise may 
 bring about the success of your negotiation with the Protector 
 on this subject, from what I fancy I noticed in your report.' 
 
 It was only the fresh communications made by Beverningh, 
 after his return to England, which began to undeceive the 
 Grand Pensionary. ' As regards the affair of the Prince of 
 Orange,' suddenly announced the ambassador of the States, 
 ' I think it will be allowed to drop ; but I have no longer any 
 certainty, this point not being included by the secretary of 
 state, Thurloe, in the general declaration made by him as to 
 the immutability of the articles of the treaty.' The imperious 
 demands of Cromwell soon justified these alarms. They 
 soon proved to De Witt the necessity of yielding; and 
 not flattering himself with being able to resist, without 
 hastening the ruin of the country, he prepared to make up 
 his mind to submission, though still hoping to avoid it. The 
 following letter, which he addressed to Beverningh, gives 
 proof both of the last hopes which he retained and of the 
 precautions to which he had recourse, in case no concession 
 could be obtained. ' The English proposal, as it has been put 
 before you,' he wrote, ' does not prevent a hope that the Act 
 of Exclusion of the Prince of Orange may be avoided, and 
 that confidence will be placed in the wisdom and good- will of 
 their Noble Mightinesses, who, once the treaty concluded, will 
 give no ground for fear as to their favourable dispositions. 
 Still, if the hopes of peace should be desperate, in default 
 of the said Act it would be necessary not only to certify 
 this to the States of Holland, but also to renew this assur- 
 ance at intervals of a few days, even if it should be in a 
 despatch confided to a courier. It is also, in my judgment, 
 very necessary that you should assure them continually, pro- 
 vided this assurance is in conformity with the truth, of the 
 positive determination of the Protector, in order to dispel 
 
180 JOHN DE WITT. 
 
 the suspicions that ill-disposed deputies might attempt to 
 spread.' 
 
 The superiority of John de Witt in poKtical strategy sug- 
 gested to him promptly the best steps to be taken for the 
 execution of the plan which he had traced out for himself, 
 and of which he foresaw all the difficulties. Without allowing 
 himself to be deluded by the advantage that might be antici- 
 pated, and not wishing to be taken by surprise, he employed 
 himself in preventing the Act of Exclusion from being, on the 
 part of the States-General, the signal for the rupture of nego- 
 tiations. Informed, in the last despatch addressed to him by 
 Beverningh and Nieupoort, dated April 15, 1654, of the now 
 irrevocable determination of the Protector, he delayed the 
 communication which he had to make to the States of 
 Holland, and pressed them to separate in order to take their 
 Easter holiday. As soon as they had prorogued their sitting, 
 he took advantage of the. interruption of their meetings to 
 obtain from the States-General the ratification of the treaty, 
 in the form in which Cromwell had now approved of it. These 
 latter having at length voted for it, without referring the 
 matter to the States of the Provinces, he hastened to conclude 
 the secret negotiation which held in suspense the conclusion 
 of peace. 
 
 Eecalled suddenly to the Hague by the councillor deputies 
 whom De Witt had been obliged to take into his confidence, 
 the members of the States of Holland were immediately 
 required to take an oath of secrecy in the deliberation 
 about to be commenced. This pledge once given, the Grand 
 Pensionary communicated to them the letter of the two 
 ambassadors, which he was commissioned to impart to them. 
 The despatch informed the States of the conferences in which 
 Cromwell had rigorously demanded the Act of Exclusion ; it 
 stated the fruitlessness of the efforts which had been made to 
 dissuade him from it, and warned the States that the treaty of 
 peace was dependent upon this condition and upon their con- 
 sent to it. This unexpected communication was received with 
 melancholy surprise. Complaints were made that the dis- 
 positions of Cromwell had not been foreseen or notified sooner. 
 
DELIBERATION OF THE STATES OP HOLLAND. 181 
 
 An adjournment was decided upon in compliance with the 
 demands of several deputies ' who considered themselves bound 
 to consult their town councils. To avert the dangerous eon- 
 sequences of this delay, which might compromise everything, 
 De Witt contrived that the communication should only be 
 made to the burgomasters of the towns, without being trans- 
 mitted to the members of council, unless the burgomasters 
 should refuse to pronounce an opinion. He demanded that 
 the oath of secrecy should be imposed upon them, and ob- 
 tained a decision that the debate should be resumed in the 
 Assembly of the States at the end of three days. 
 
 On May 1 it was resumed in two consecutive sittings, with 
 unusual vehemence. The deputy of the nobility who as presi- 
 dent of the councillor deputies voted first was Count Brederode, 
 great-uncle of the Prince of Orange. Desirous of retaining the 
 chief command which he exercised in his capacity of major- 
 general, he approved the proposal submitted to the States. His 
 opinion was shared by five members of the nobUity ; four others, 
 on the contrary, opposed it energetically, and one of them, 
 attacking Vice-Admiral Wassenaar d'Obdam, who voted in con- 
 formity with Major-General Brederode, reproached him with 
 ' wishing to be a little Cromwell.' The suffrage of the nobles 
 was given in favour of the Act of Exclusion by a majority of 
 only two votes, but at the second ballot, which took place at 
 the afternoon sitting, the dissentients gave in their adhesion 
 by a unanimous vote. 
 
 The deputies of Dordrecht, the principal representatives of 
 the party opposed to the Prince of Orange, showed no hesita- 
 tion. They considered that the blessings of peace would not 
 be purchased too dearly, if it were necessary to sacrifice to 
 them the cause of an infant prince ; they added that this 
 sacrifice would cost the States of Holland but little, as they 
 had, since the death of William II., kept his son aloof from 
 power. They therefore urged the Assembly to accept a con- 
 dition which the disasters of the war did not allow them to 
 reject without imprudence. The deputies of Amsterdam, 
 strengthened by the unanimous vote of their town council, 
 ' The deputies of the nine towns. 
 
182 JOHN DE "WITT. 
 
 supported the deputies of Dordrecht, and their opinion, which 
 represented that of the most important town in the province, 
 was confirmed by the majority of voters, amongst others, 
 those of Gouda and Eotterdam. 
 
 Stni the defenders of the proposal found some adversaries 
 who were determined to oppose it, notably Euyl, pensionary 
 of Haarlem, Wevelinckhoven, pensionary of Leyden, and 
 Shagen, pensionary of Alkmar. The deputies of Haarlem 
 gave the signal for resistance ' with persuasive eloquence.' 
 
 After accusing the ambassadors of having been guilty of 
 dissimulation, in keeping secret the latest proposals that had 
 been made them, they rejected the Act of Exclusion, as in- 
 jurious to the liberty of the State and to the House of Orange. 
 Declaring that they preferred to continue the war sooner than 
 submit to this humiliation, they demanded that the Act should 
 be communicated to the States-General. The deputies of 
 Leyden, supported by those of Edam, proved even more 
 intractable ; they disputed the power of the Assembly of the 
 Province to come to any decision which should compromise 
 the interests of the entire Confederation, and demanded a 
 preliminary agreement, at least with the States of Zealand. 
 So decided a difference caused a hesitation in the minds of 
 some members, who, before giving their opinion, desired to 
 wait till the minority should give way to the opinion of the 
 majority. The absence of several deputies prevented the 
 closing of the debate, which had been resumed in the after- 
 noon ; it was definitively adjourned tUl the following Monday. 
 
 From the very commencement of this fresh sitting, the 
 hopes of conciliation appeared to be frustrated. The absence 
 of Major-General Brederode, kept away by illness, put De Witt 
 in a dif&culty. The deputies of Haarlem, Leyden, and Edam, 
 renewed their opposition, in which they were joined by the 
 deputies of Enckhuyzen, who had just arrived. The Act of 
 Exclusion was none the less voted by all the other members of 
 the States, though the representatives of the four opposing 
 towns would not consent to yield. The deputies of Alkmar tried 
 in vain to rally the Assembly to a unanimous vote, by demand- 
 ing the definitive abolition of the stadtholdership rather than 
 
VOTE FOB THE ACT OF EXCLUSION. 183 
 
 the exclusion of the House of Orange. Their proposal not 
 being supported, and a second ballot showing the same dis- 
 agreement, the obstacles put in the way of a definitive vote 
 appeared now insurmountable. The Grand Pensionary now 
 spoke and tried to convince the dissentients by the most over- 
 whelming arguments. He represented to them that by giving 
 their verdict on the condition made by Cromwell to the treaty 
 of peace they would vote for the safety or the loss of the 
 republic. Unable to conquer their resistance, he demanded 
 that a' decision should be come to by the majority. The 
 deputies of Haarlem and of Leyden contested the legality of 
 this proposal. They declared that the resolution demanded 
 of the States must be unanimous, because it concerned, at 
 once, the question of peace and of a change of government ; 
 but De Witt persuaded the majority to proceed. Anxious to 
 put an end to a debate which had lasted till half-past seven in 
 the evening, he took advantage of this prolongation of the 
 sitting to have conferred on the ambassadors the definitive 
 authorisation for which they were waiting. He succeeded in 
 carrying this, and immediately withdrew, to put in writing the 
 Act of Exclusion. A few minutes later he returned to the 
 hall to read it to the deputies. ' I think I have drawn up the 
 Act,' he said, ' so as to preserve as far as possible the liberty of 
 the State, and, at the same time to fulfil, if it must be, the 
 desire of the Protector.' 
 
 The States of Holland, to satisfy Cromwell's demands, 
 agreed to give no power, civil or military, to the Prince of 
 Orange in their province. They promised, moreover, to refuse 
 their consent to his nomination as captain-general of the 
 forces of the republic, if it should be proposed to the States- 
 General. Fourteen members of the States confirmed this 
 resolution by their votes; four rejected it by a protest 
 which they caused to be registered : one abstention, that 
 of the deputies of Alkmar, completed the nineteen votes of 
 which the assembly was composed. The Act of Exclusion was 
 thus adopted by the majority of votes. The sacrifice so long 
 delayed was accomplished. 
 
 The measures taken by De Witt narrowly escaped being 
 
184 JOHN DE "WITT. 
 
 defeated by the imprudence of Beverningh in not sending 
 him his secret correspondence by private hand. ' I was much 
 embarrassed,' wrote the Grand Pensionary, ' by the receipt 
 of your two letters, which were handed to me during the 
 sitting, at the very moment when some members were com- 
 plaining of the conduct of affairs and pretending falsely that 
 information was kept back from the government. The packet 
 was so large that it could not fail to attract attention, and cer- 
 tain members may demand that in future letters should be 
 opened and read at the sitting. You would not see without 
 distress all the private matters which we write of to one 
 another in our intimate friendship read before the whole 
 Assembly. You must therefore address your communications 
 to me away from the Assembly, at my own house, and join to 
 them a short letter which I can show to everybody.' 
 
 These precautions were not intended to conceal a double 
 game, nor to abuse the confidence of the States of Holland. 
 De Witt, after obtaining the full powers which authorised him 
 to satisfy Cromwell, did not despair of evading the necessity for 
 making use of them. His latest letters to the ambassadors, 
 public as well as private, entirely exonerate him from any 
 suspicion of servile compliance. The Act of Exclusion, in- 
 stead of being addressed directly to Cromwell, was only 
 sent to Beverningh and Nieupoort with strict injunctions to 
 keep it privately in their own hands, and not to deliver it, or 
 even to communicate it to the Protector. 
 
 The two ambassadors were to represent to Cromwell that 
 Holland had pronounced herself strongly enough against the 
 restoration of the Prince of Orange to render it unnecessary for 
 him to demand the guarantee of a diplomatic engagement which 
 would be the signal for internal divisions. ' We have thought 
 well,' wrote De Witt to them in an official letter, ' to send you 
 this Act, of which you may make use to bring about the conclu- 
 sion of the treaty of peace, in such a manner, however, that before 
 handing it over or letting any one know that it has been drawn 
 up and sent to you, you shall use all possible diligence to cause 
 the Protector to renounce it, and to induce him to be satisfied 
 with the compromise. We have every confidence that you will 
 
lERITATION OF THE ORANGE PARTY. 185 
 
 use all your efforts to act in conformity with these directions 
 in a matter which is of such importance to the State.' 
 
 The Grand Pensionary repeated to them, confidentially, on 
 several occasions, the same request. While the States of 
 Holland were thanking them for not having yet delivered up 
 the Act, and exhorting them to redouble their efforts to avoid 
 doing so, he continued to let them know secretly that ' in the 
 event of its being still possible to evade the Act, it would be 
 so much the better.' He promised them, as a reward for the 
 success of this negotiation the gratitude of the members of the 
 Assembly, representing to them, without the slightest hesita- 
 tion, that the latter were not satisfied with what had taken 
 place. Beverningh and Nieupoort followed his instructions with 
 the most scrupulous fidelity, without allowing themselves to be 
 discouraged by the obstinacy of Cromwell, who, while causing 
 peace ,to be solemnly proclaimed, had taken care to declare 
 that the treaty would be null and void if the Act of Exclusion 
 were not delivered to him. A fortnight after the vote in favour 
 of the Act of Exclusion, they still persisted ui resisting the 
 demands of the secretary of state, Thurloe, pretending that they 
 had received no fresh orders from the States of Holland. The 
 following day, in an audience of three hours with Cromwell 
 himself, they insisted afresh on his renouncing his demands, 
 without allowing him to believe that the Act was voted, and 
 tried to gain time, in the hope of being able to take advantage 
 of some better opportunity. At length, not before May 29, 
 they wrote that all their efforts had proved fruitless, ' the Pro- 
 tector holding to his opinion in so firm and decided a manner 
 that he would prefer, sooner than change his mind, to resort 
 to the last extremities.' Before they were constrained to yield, 
 they had at least spared no effort of resistance. 
 
 The noisy opposition of the Orange party had prevented 
 the Protector from making any concession, and it had now 
 closed the last loophole which De Witt was keeping open. 
 Scarcely had the States of Holland decided on the Act of Ex- 
 clusion than, in spite of the oath of the deputies, the secret 
 was divulged. 'It was beginning to be talked about with 
 great excitement in the boats and coaches.' There remained 
 
186 JOHN DE WITT. 
 
 now nothing to be done but to release the deputies from their 
 promise of secrecy. The dehberations of the Staltes of Holland 
 having thus been made public, the family of the Prince of 
 Orange, taking advantage of the popular emotion which was 
 being freely expressed, hastened to take measures for obtaining 
 reparation. The Princess Dowager, who courted the good 
 graces of the republican party, would wiUingly have held aloof ; 
 but she did not dare to show herself indifferent to the interests 
 of her grandson, and found herself obliged to act in concert 
 with her daughter-in-law. The two princesses, joined by the 
 Elector of Brandenburg, who shared with them the guardian- 
 ship of the son of William II., addressed remonstrances to the 
 States of Holland, who contented themselves with receiving 
 them with respectful reserve ; they also appealed to the States- 
 General to solicit their intervention. Count WOham Frederick 
 of Nassau, on his side, ' fearing that, the principal stem of 
 his House being cut down, the branches might also be lopped 
 oif,' did not remain inactive. In compliance with his instruc- 
 tions, Hautbois, deputy of Friesland to the States-General, 
 one of the most violent partisans of the Orange party, took 
 the initiative in the Federal Assembly for the purpose of 
 causing a protest to be registered against the private negotia- 
 tion which Nieupoort and Beverningh had entered into with 
 Cromwell. 
 
 The deputies of the other provinces, moved by this pro- 
 ceeding, pressed the deputies of Holland for explanations. 
 The latter represented that they must consult the States of 
 their province ; and although the deputies of Groningen did 
 not wish to accord them any delay for the purpose of clearing 
 themselves, the debate was adjourned. "When it was re- 
 sumed, the recriminations against HoUand were only em- 
 bittered. The deputies of Friesland accused her in the most 
 violent manner of usurpation and treason against the republic, 
 ' without regard for the dignity either of the place in which 
 they were speaking or of those to whom they spoke ; ' they 
 pressed the States-General to take active steps to obhge her 
 to give an account of her conduct. Notwithstanding the 
 vehemence with which the Grand Pensionary replied, the 
 
PROTESTS OF THE STATES-GENERAL. 187 
 
 various provinces approved this proposal. The town of 
 Utrecht alone refused to join in it, but was disavowed by the 
 nobility and clergy of that province, who made common 
 cause with the Orange party. The most hostile feelings were 
 displayed. Some of the deputies to the States- General pro- 
 posed to brave Cromwell, by proceeding to the immediate 
 nomination of the Prince of Orange as captain- and admiral- 
 general. Others demanded vehemently the recall of Bever- 
 ningh and Nieupoort. More temperate counsels prevailed. 
 After a stormy sitting, the States-General contented . them- 
 selves with deciding that the two ambassadors should be 
 desired to communicate the acts and orders which had been 
 sent to them. The deputies of Holland offered in vain to 
 inform the members of the States-General individually of the 
 resolutions which had been come to by the Assembly of their 
 province, in order to avoid a fresh debate, which would make 
 the Protector more determined to exact openly declared sub- 
 mission to his wishes. The States-General wished to con- 
 strain the States of Holland te make known publicly the 
 negotiations which they had carried on with Cromwell, and of 
 which the latter claimed to have no account to render, alleging 
 that they had made no engagement except for their own 
 province. 
 
 As soon as the Grand Pensionary had informed them of 
 this resolution, the States of Holland, who were sitting in per- 
 manence, took steps to prevent at any cost the annulling of 
 the Act of Exclusion, being convinced with good reason that it 
 would inevitably be followed by another war, from which no- 
 thing but disasters were to be expected. Believing themselves 
 to be now relieved from all necessity for keeping terms, 
 they determined, in spite of the protest of four opposing 
 towns, ^ that they would authorise their ambassadors to de- 
 liver the resolution whicli had been sent to them. In a con- 
 fidential letter dated midnight, which gives another proof of 
 the sincerity of his conduct, De Witt wrote to Beverningh and 
 Nieupoort : ' We have learnt with pleasure the efforts which 
 
 ' Haarlem, Leyden, Enokhuyzen, and Alkmar. Three other towns were not 
 represented at the sitting. 
 
188 JOHN DE WITT. 
 
 you have made to carry out our instructions in order to 
 induce the Protector of England to be satisfied with the com- 
 promise concerning the Prince of Orange, and not to persist 
 in demanding the Act which we have sent. But though we 
 had desired and hoped for a more satisfactory result of these 
 efforts, our very serious wish is that you should try once 
 more, without any loss of time, and by every possible and 
 imaginable means, to induce the Protector to consent to the 
 compromise, and that in any case you should persuade him 
 to declare himself clearly on this point, since it is of the 
 highest importance for the service of the country that this 
 affair should be concluded now without delay, either by the 
 ratification of the Clause of Compromise or by the dehver- 
 ing up of the Act.' 
 
 On the day following, the States- General having re- 
 assembled, the deputies of Holland declared, on behalf of the 
 States of their province, that the latter had done nothing 
 against the union ; but they contented themselves with that 
 Justification, and gave no information as to the orders ad- 
 dressed to the ambassadors by the Grand Pensionary. The 
 States-General, however, confirmed tbeir resoludon of the 
 previous day, in which they enjoined on Beverningh and 
 Nieupoort to communicate the correspondence that had taken 
 place ; but they consented to postpone sending their despatch 
 till the States of Holland had had another opportunity of 
 giving them spontaneous satisfaction. The States of Holland, 
 whose precautions had been taken beforehand, had no longer 
 any interest in refusing it. But while granting it, they never- 
 theless protested against this injunction and asserted their 
 right to settle the interests of their province without the 
 intervention of the Federal Assembly. 
 
 ' Yesterday,' writes De Witt to Beverningh and Nieupoort, 
 ' we clearly foresaw what has been determined to-day, that the 
 States-General should write to you to order you to send them 
 the copy of the Act of Exclusion of the Prince of Orange. 
 Although we should have preferred, this matter not being with- 
 in the competence of the province, that it should have hap- 
 pened otherwise, we do not desire that you should be placed 
 
ACT OF EXCLUSION DELIVERED TO CROMWELL. 189 
 
 in the difficulty of choosing between our orders and those of 
 the States-General. We therefore permit you, if on the 
 receipt of the missive of the States- General the Act should 
 be still in your possession, to send them a copy of it, observ- 
 ing, however, that we abide by the terms of our letter of 
 yesterday, by which you will regulate your proceedings.' 
 When the States- General met again for their evening sitting, 
 thinking themselves now sure of being obeyed, they addressed, 
 in all confidence, a despatch to the ambassadors, calling upon 
 them to communicate to them without delay the Act of Ex- 
 clusion. They never imagined that on the previous day the 
 latter had been authorised by the States of Holland to deliver 
 it into the hands of Cromwell. 
 
 De Witt had employed every proceeding, every expedient, 
 and even every subterfuge to prevent the ambassadors of the 
 republic receiving the orders of the States-General in time to 
 obey them. Not only did deliberations, skilfully prolonged, 
 delay the despatch of their resolution, so as to enable the 
 messenger of the States of Holland to be beforehand by one 
 day ; but, in addition, by excess of precaution, it was drawn 
 up in cipher, in order that the time required by the ambas- 
 sadors for translating it should give them leisure to acquaint 
 themselves, first, with the letter which conveyed to them the 
 orders of the States of Holland. De Witt had not been 
 mistaken in his able calculations. While Beverningh and 
 Nieupoort, with the assistance of their colleague, Jongesthal, 
 were causing the orders of the States-General to be deci- 
 phered, Beverningh received those of the States of Holland, 
 and hastened to obey them. Having demanded of the Pro- 
 tector a final interview in which he renewed useless repre- 
 sentqitions in the hope of inducing Cromwell to desist from his 
 demands, he delivered to him the Act which he could no longer 
 refuse him. 
 
 This proceeding anticipated the extreme measures which 
 the States- General were preparing to take, of sending imme- 
 diate orders of recall to Nieupoort and Beverningh. But, on 
 the other hand, this abrupt conclusion of peace exposed the 
 States of Holland to menacing attempts of vengeance. The 
 
190 JOHN DE WITT. 
 
 States-General commenced hostilities by j)rotesting against the 
 Act of Exclusion. The States of the Provinces, on their side, 
 fearing the defection of some of their deputies in the Federal 
 Assembly, took care to recall those who were suspected of 
 being favourable to Holland. But a plan of campaign was 
 wanting, and they confined themselves to isolated proposals, 
 without being able to agree in carrying them into execution. 
 Friesland denounced Beverningh and Nieupoort as state 
 criminals who ought to be excluded from the assemblies of the 
 republic, and joined with Zealand in opposing the nomination 
 of Beverningh as treasurer-general by annulling the votes 
 that had been previously given to him. The States of Gro- 
 ningen urged the other provinces to address interpellations to 
 Holland, and to send her each in turn deputations commis- 
 sioned to insist upon the revocation of the Act of Exclusion ; 
 they proposed, moreover, a speedy retaliation by demanding 
 the nomination of the young prince as captaiu-general. 
 
 The States of Holland were too well accustomed to such 
 demonstrations to allow themselves to be taken by surprise. 
 They began by appeasing the animosity of the two Princesses 
 of Orange, to whom they showed the most courteous deference. 
 The Grand Pensionary, accompanied by several deputies, 
 visited them for the purpose of giving a fresh denial to the 
 false reports which were being circulated to the effect that 
 the States would concede to Cromwell their expulsion. He 
 represented to them that the States had done everything to 
 evade the necessity for the Act of Exclusion, and that they 
 did not despair of finding another favourable opportunity of 
 proving their good-will towards the House of Orange. These 
 conciliatory measures diverted the two princesses gradually 
 from the path on, which they had at first entered, and the 
 fear of irrevocably compromising the cause of the young 
 prince soon induced them to moderate their behaviour. 
 
 The Princess Eoyal, yielding to the pacific counsels of her 
 wisest adviser, Beverwaert, gave notice that she intended to 
 confide in the affection of the States of Holland, in the hope 
 that they would eventually take her son under their protection. 
 She promised to do nothing ' to solicit the provinces or to stir 
 
DEDUCTION OF THE STATES OF HOLLAND. 191 
 
 up the people,' and she quitted the Hague in order to proceed 
 to Spa. The Princess Dowager, in her studied eagerness to 
 appear satisfied, paid no heed even to proprieties. According 
 to the report made to John de "Witt, she declared ' that she 
 was so devoted to the public interests, that if she had had a 
 voice in the Assembly of Holland, having regard to the 
 explanations which had been given her, she would not, in this 
 matter, have voted differently from the States themselves.' 
 She did not follow up the protest which she had thought her- 
 self bound to make. When, therefore, the Count of Nassau, 
 now isolated, prepared to make a fresh appeal to the provinces 
 in favour of the young prince, the friendly representations of 
 the States of Holland sufficed to arrest the execution of this 
 project. 
 
 Having nothing to fear for the moment from the Orange 
 party, the States of Holland took advantage of their restored 
 security to justify themselves by an appeal to public opinion. 
 A report, in which De Witt was chiefly concerned, was care- 
 fully drawn up by a committee, with the consent of all the 
 members of the Assembly except the deputies of Leyden and 
 Edam. It was read to the States of Holland in two conse- 
 cutive sittings of the States- General occupying five hours. 
 The States of Holland offered not to publish it if the other 
 provinces would consent on their side to the suppression of 
 their documents ; but passions were too much involved for this 
 offer to be accepted, and the report was forthwith ordered to 
 be printed. A Latin translation appeared necessary to ensure 
 for it diplomatic publicity, and Thysius, the professor of 
 elocution at Leyden, was commissioned to prepare it. 
 
 This long report, as learnedly worked out as a mathematical 
 demonstration, and known under the name of the ' Deduction 
 of the States of Holland,' was the manifesto of the political 
 party represented by this Assembly. It began by setting forth 
 the negotiations carried on with Cromwell to evade the Act of 
 Exclusion, and imputed their failure to the imprudent hostility 
 of the States-General, which had deterred Cromwell from com- 
 ing to an agreement. It disavowed all responsibility on the 
 l^art of the States of Holland, alleging the tardy communica- 
 
192 JOHN DE WITT. 
 
 tions of the ambassadors, without, however, mentioning the 
 first despatches which the latter had addressed to the Grand 
 Pensionary. The most conclusive arguments were then cleverly 
 adduced to prove the necessity and the legality of the conven- 
 tion concluded with the English Government ; according to 
 this statement, the Act of Exclusion had been the means of 
 safety for the republic, threatened with being the victim of a 
 fresh war if Holland had refused to Cromwell the concession 
 on which the Protector had made the treaty of peace to depend. 
 Moreover, this Act did not exceed the powers which the pro- 
 vinces had often used, without having ever been accused of 
 failing in their federal obligations. In making agreements 
 with Cromwell, therefore, relative to the government of their 
 province, the States of Holland might with good reason claim 
 that they had only consented to a private convention which in 
 no way concerned the rights of the other members of the 
 union, or those of the States-General. 
 
 They were not satisfied with exculpating themselves. 
 Having made it clear that they had not abused their rights, 
 they were bent upon proving that they had made good use of 
 them. The Act of Exclusion was defended, in the second part 
 of their memorandum, as a measure of wise policy, which 
 would ensure to their province the guarantee of its liberty 
 against any attempt at subjection, and would thus prevent a re- 
 newal of the attempt of which the last Stadtholder, William II., 
 had nearly made them the victims. No consideration was 
 omitted in bringing forward the testimony of history to the 
 imprudence of nations who had favoured the elevation of a 
 princely family, and the dangers of hereditary offices under a 
 republic were carefully compared with the guarantees given to 
 the confederation of the United Provinces by a government of 
 assemblies. 
 
 With regard to the services rendered by the House of 
 Orange, the States of Holland recalled the fact that they had 
 been already largely remunerated; to prove that they had 
 amply repaid their debt of gratitude, they had recourse to the 
 statement of a calculation which resembled a bill, and which 
 marred this last argument by reasonings as paltry as they 
 
IMPEUBENCE OF THE STATES OF ZEALAND. 193 
 
 were misplaced. They concluded by referring to the preference 
 shown by the States of Friesland and Groningen to the Count 
 of Nassau over the son of William II., in order to prove 
 that they had nothing to reproach themselves with when they 
 refused him admission to power. In thus attaching the Act 
 of Exclusion to the principles of their constitution, instead of 
 making it the mark of their submission to England, the 
 States of Holland claimed to have their resolution considered 
 not only as irrevocable but also as spontaneous, and flattered 
 themselves that they saved their dignity in not appearing to 
 yield to the injunctions of England. 
 
 Fresh acts of imprudence on the part of the States of 
 Zealand brought this humiliation uipon the republic. The 
 complaints and demands which they addressed solemnly to 
 Cromwell, without any possible hope of his consenting, in 
 consideration of them, to renounce the Act which had been 
 delivered to him, could not fail to irritate the Protector. 
 They were followed accordingly by two letters, in which, 
 under cover of friendly assurances, he notified to them that a 
 rupture would follow the revocation of the Act of Exclusion. 
 This declaration had been suggested to him by De Witt, who, 
 even at the risk of failing, by too obsequious an attitude, in 
 the reserve which he had hitherto maintained, was bent upon 
 preventing the danger of fresh debates. ' There is no surer 
 mode of ending them,' he wrote to Beverningh, ' than for the 
 Protector to let it be clearly known that he only ratified the 
 treaty in order to obtain the Act of Exclusion, and that he 
 will from this time forward steadfastly refuse to renounce it.' 
 In thus forcing Cromwell to declare himself, the Grand 
 Pensionary no longer had any need to fear encouraging him 
 in his exactions ; he only wished that the other provinces 
 should not be allowed to think that they might with impunity 
 escape from the obligations which had been imposed on 
 Holland. He was restraining them from a hazardous policy 
 and rendering fresh services to the republic by the care he 
 took that Peace, his beloved child, should not perish in its 
 cradle. The other provinces were henceforth obliged to 
 refrain from useless displays of annoyance. ' The affair and 
 
 VOL. I. 
 
194 JOHN DE WITT. 
 
 the child will now be left to sleep,' writes Beverningh to De 
 Witt. This prevision was justified. The States of Guelders, 
 after determining that they would demand from the 
 States-General the nomination of the young Prince of Orange 
 as captain- and admu-al-general, postponed their proposal. 
 The States of Zealand, not following up their resolution of 
 claiming the powers of Stadtholder for their province, contented 
 themselves with publishing a refutation of the ' Deduction of 
 the States of Holland ; ' and, in order not to appear to be 
 wanting in arguments, the latter responded to their complaints 
 by a fresh manifesto. 
 
 Thus terminated this negotiation, which gave to the 
 United Provinces the blessing of peace, without which the 
 safety of the republic would have been irrevocably com- 
 promised. Holland had entered upon the war unwiUingly, 
 and might with good reason impute it to the provocations of 
 the Orange party. She bore the chief burden of it, and 
 suffered its hardest blows. Could it be expected that she 
 should prefer to be its victim sooner than sacrifice the rights 
 of the Prince of Orange, while she had reason to fear that the 
 elevation to power of the son of WiUiam H. might be fatal to 
 the government which she bad chosen and which she wished 
 to preserve ? Such an effort of virtue has no place in any, 
 even the most scrupulous policy. De Witt and Cromwell 
 may assuredly have had identical interests, but it sufiices for 
 the honour of the Grand Pensionary that he was no accomplice 
 of the Protector's exactions, and history may record as a final 
 verdict the opinion of Chanut, the French ambassador, who, 
 after severely criticising his conduct, did him tardy justice in 
 the following terms : ' Any idea of a preconcerted under- 
 standing between the chiefs of Holland and the Protector 
 was only a false supposition. The truth was that, by reason 
 of the inferiority of their forces and of their resources, the 
 States had ceased to place any hopes of safety in their troops 
 and ships. They were running after peace with such pre- 
 cipitation, that they preferred to accept it in a hurry and at a 
 disadvantage rather than to be deprived of it.' 
 
 However this might be, by consenting to the Act of Ex- 
 
CONDUCT OF DE WITT. 195 
 
 elusion, when forced to accept it, Holland had entered into 
 engagements which deprived her of the free possession of 
 herself, and rendered her dependent on a foreign government ; 
 she had, moreover, struck a blow at the integrity of the diplo- 
 matic authority which should have belonged to the States- 
 General. She might in future incur the reproach of having 
 lent herself, if only by submission, to a policy of abasement 
 which affected the whole republic. It was necessary for her 
 to wipe it out in future by repairing the humiliations of a 
 disastrous war. Having purchased peace on onerous condi- 
 tions, and imposed it on the other provinces, she could 
 only secure pardon for it by making it salutary and glorious 
 for the confederation. John de Witt's ministry was to enable 
 her to accomplish this work of reparation. 
 
 It had needed nothing less than his dexterity and perse- 
 verance to triumph over the troubles of war abroad, and at 
 the same time to restore internal peace. His great political 
 qualities had quickly ripened in the stern school of events. 
 His adversaries could not baffle him ; he opposed to them, as 
 he writes to Beverningh, ' sometimes the most imperturbable 
 coolness, sometimes the most impetuous vivacity, without 
 finding any difficulty in giving sharp rejoinders.' The reports 
 of the sittings in the States confirmed by contemporaneous 
 testimony show him always in the front, now bearing the 
 burden of the most important debates, in which he took part 
 with indefatigable ardour, now resisting the force of passions 
 which spared neither his policy nor his person, now making 
 unheard-of efforts to extricate himself from the difficulties in 
 which he was placed by the letters of the ambassadors, con- 
 stantly skirting without injury the rocks of a double negotia- 
 tion, at once public and private, in which he might be accused 
 of having gone beyond his instructions, equal to everything 
 and providing for every contingency, without ever allowing 
 himself to be discouraged or disconcerted. 
 
 The instrument of his power was the Assembly which had 
 chosen him as minister, and over which he had succeeded in 
 gaining the mastery. If the least weakness were displayed, he 
 left no stone unturned to restore discipline and enforce obe- 
 
 2 
 
196 JOHN DE WITT. 
 
 dience to himself. The deputies of Dordrecht to the Assembly 
 of the States having abstained from voting at an important 
 sitting, when justification of the Act of Expulsion was in 
 question, he wrote to his father : ' I cannot refrain from 
 saying that I saw with extraordinary surprise (at a moment 
 when peace and the liberty of our dear country would be 
 clearly in danger, without the prudent and wise assistance of 
 brave men) the conduct held by the town of Dordrecht, which 
 had never before failed on simitar occasions. She sent here 
 deputies who, at the mere name of a child and the receipt of 
 a letter from two widowed princesses, allowed themselves to 
 be intimidated to such an extent that they ignominiously 
 deserted their post without its being possible to induce them 
 to resume the places which had been assigned to them, in 
 spite of reiterated interpellations. I ask you, therefore, very 
 humbly to act with still greater vigilance towards them, for 
 a vessel may sometimes, from the inexperience of an ignorant 
 pilot, strike against a rock or a sandbank in such a manner 
 that the most skUful navigator would not know how to get 
 her afloat again. If we had not been so much on our guard 
 here, we should doubtless never have returned to port.' The 
 authority which he exercised with such vigilant and imperious 
 energy was due to the confidence he had gained and on which 
 he could depend. On one occasion, when he had repulsed in 
 the Assembly of the States-General the violent attacks of the 
 deputies of Friesland, indignantly denouncing 'their false 
 assertions, their injurious invectives, and the violence of then- 
 language, such as civilised men should never make use of 
 towards one another,' he was obliged to justify himself for the 
 words which were imputed to him. The States of Holland, 
 as soon as they met, interposed to take up his defence, and 
 gave him public testimony of their approbation. He found 
 thus steadfast support in their loyal co-operation. 
 
 It was for their cause that he had never ceased to work, 
 and he had now ensured its success by depriving the States- 
 General of all power over their independence, and thus 
 freeing them from any subjection to the federal authority. 
 From the very outset of his pohtical career he had declared 
 
INDEPENDENCE, OF THE STATES OF HOLLAND. 197 
 
 himself the resolute partisan of this autonomy, which consti- 
 tuted the programme of his policy. ' The English,' he wrote 
 to one of the ambassadors in England a year before he was 
 nominated Grand Pensionary, ' call the United Provinces a 
 republic ; but these provinces do not form one republic. Each 
 province by itself is a sovereign republic ; the United Provinces 
 ought not to be called a republic, in the singular, but federal, 
 or united republics, in the plural. The vote in favour of the 
 Act of Exclusion was an assertion of this provincial sove- 
 reignty. By putting it beyond the reach of attack, De Witt 
 had ensured the duration of the government whose destinies 
 were confided to him, and which possessed in him the brilliant 
 personification of a great statesman. 
 
]98 JOHN DE WITT. 
 
 CHAPTEE IV. 
 
 A GOVERNMENT GAINING IN STRENGTH. THE REPUBLIC AT 
 PEACE AT HOME, AND POWERFUL ABROAD. 
 
 The Orange party -Its chief the Prince of Nassau — His forces — Change of 
 government in the province of Overyssel — The republican party — It is led 
 by the States of Holland — Ascendency of the Grand Pensionary de Witt — 
 Appointments to military commands, to the courts of justice, to important 
 offices — Relations of the States of Holland with the States-General — Disputes 
 about jurisdiction — Trial of John of Messen — Vacancy in the post of major 
 general — Agreement between De Witt and the Prince of Nassau — Projected 
 union — Internal government of Holland — Reduction of rate of interest — 
 It is the vjork of John de Witt — Obedience enforced on the army and the 
 clergy — Administrative measures — Attem.pt at coalition amongst the other 
 provinces for the nomination of a major-general — It is baffled by the 
 States of Holland — Their supremacy — First re-election of John de Witt as 
 Grand Pensionary — Foreign relations of the United Provinces — Naval 
 expeditions— Prosperity of the Colonies —Embassy on behalf of the 
 Waldenses — Dangers of a rupture with France — De Thou ambassador at 
 the Hague — Disputes settled — Negotiations with England — First mission of 
 Downing to the Hague — Mutual concessions— Continuation of hostilities with 
 Portugal — Wars in the North — Fears of the preponderance of Sweden — 
 Alliance with the Elector of Brandenburg — His defection — Intervention on 
 behalf of Dantzie — Treaty of Elbing — Invasion of Denmark by the King of 
 Sweden — The States assist Denmark — Their naval victory in the Sound — 
 Mediation — Convention of the Hague— Battle of Funen gained by the 
 Swedes — Capture of Nyburg — Treaty of Copenhagen — The United Provinces 
 resume their position in Europe. 
 
 Free governments do not permit statesmen the easy satis- 
 faction of crushing all opposition, but impose upon them the 
 necessity of constantly renewed struggles. The Grand Pen- 
 sionary de Witt was not to be spared these during the whole 
 duration of his ministry ; he had still a hard task to accom- 
 plish before he could succeed by persevering efforts in making 
 Holland mistress of the government of the republic. 
 
 The Orange party, humiliated and irritated by the Act of 
 
THE PEINCE OP NASSAU. 199 
 
 Exclusion, was not disarmed, and had found at last tlie chief 
 who had till now been wanting. Count William Frederick of 
 Nassau, after long hesitation, had at length responded to its 
 appeal. Stadtholder of Friesland and Groningen, grand 
 master of the artillery, having recently married the daughter 
 of the Princess Dowager and become thus the uncle of the 
 young son of William II., he had shortly before obtained 
 from the Emperor of Germany the title of prince. Notwitji- 
 standing the authority conferred on him by his birth, his 
 parentage, and the offices he held, he had remained in retire- 
 ment after the death of the last Stadtholder. The indecision 
 of his character, which is referred to by the French am- 
 bassador, Chanut, had prevented him from placing himself at 
 the head of the Orange partyt He had, moreover, been dis- 
 couraged by the ill-will of the Princess Dowager and by the 
 jpersistent hostility of the Princess Eoyal, who both feared to 
 find ia him a rival to the Prince of Orange. The popular 
 discontents provoked by the war with England and the nego- 
 tiations relative to the Act of Exclusion had, however, aroused 
 his ardour. The occasion seemed to him favourable for 
 appearing once more on the scene and for displaying his loyalty 
 to the House of Orange. ' If you will not give anything to 
 the young prince,' he wrote to one of his confidants, ' you 
 must at least take nothing from him, which would be unjust, 
 cruel and wicked. It is not to be found in any history 
 that merits so great have ever been recompensed by such 
 heathenish ingratitude. Spain, who was such an enemy of 
 his House, has not deprived the prince of the hope of one day 
 being one of her generals. Thus, you may see from this 
 how unjust those of the republic have been towards the prince 
 in declaring him excluded from the offices of his ancestors. 
 Neither will God leave them unpunished, I am certain ; the 
 Almighty hates ingratitude too deeply.' 
 
 To prepare the way for the success of a restoration the 
 Prince of Nassau was forming plans both of alliance and of 
 insurrection. He was trying to interest Mazarin in the 
 Orange cause by declaring himself in favour of a treaty with 
 France, and was negotiating to obtain the support of the 
 
200 JOHN DE WITT. 
 
 French Government in the event of Cromwell, not content 
 with the engagements entered into with him by Holland, 
 choosing to interpose with the view of obliging the States- 
 General to acknowledge the Act of Exclusion. At the same 
 time that he was trying to obtain the assistance of foreign 
 troops he was redoubling his efforts to levy partisans in North 
 Holland, which he visited under pretence of inspecting some of 
 the garrisons. He tried to gain over the commander-in-chief 
 of the army, Major-General Brederode, who wrote to John de 
 Witt : ' He made so much of me that I was ashamed, and 
 made me speeches that I should not like to confide to paper.' 
 He was surrounded in the States-General and in the 
 States of the Provinces by numerous deputies who encouraged 
 his hopes. In Guelders his most faithful ally was Huyghens 
 de Zuylichem, the former secretary of William II., deputy of 
 Arnheim, who had enriched himself by three consecutive 
 marriages, was allied to the family of the late Grand Pen- 
 sionary of Holland, Pauw d'Heemstede, and combined literary 
 merits with all the qualities of a statesman. Beside him 
 the two brothers Henry and Alexander Van der Capellen, 
 sons of the former chancellor of Guelders, distinguished them- 
 selves by their devotion to the interests of the Orange party. 
 In Zealand, Peter de Huybert, afterwards pensionary of the 
 province, and John de Mauregnault, deputy to the States- 
 General, were even more ardent and kept up a constant cor- 
 respondence with the Prince of Nassau. In the province of 
 Utrecht, Eeede van Eenswoude, who had filled the post of 
 ambassador at the court of Charles I., rallied around him all 
 those who regretted the ancient power of the Stadtholders. 
 In Overyssel, the two most trusted representatives of the 
 Orange party were Mulart, whose wealth aided his ambition, 
 and Kipperda, one of the negotiators of the Peace of Munster, 
 who by his marriage had become a member of one of the 
 principal families of the nobility of Holland. In Friesland 
 and Groningen, the more zealous of the partisans of the House 
 of Orange encouraged one another. Amongst them were, in 
 Friesland, Van Haren, whose son afterwards rendered signal 
 services to the republic by his embassies, and Joachim Andre, 
 
JEALOUSY OF OTHER PROVINCES TOWARDS HOLLAND. 201 
 
 one of the confidants of the Prince of Nassau ; in the province 
 of Groningen, Eisenga, burgomaster of the town, Hautbois, 
 burgomaster of Sneck, and Clant, ' a quiet and peaceable 
 man, whose private interests attached him to the Princes of 
 Orange.' 
 
 The temper of the various provinces, who could not forgive 
 Holland for concluding the peace with England, raised the 
 hopes of the Orange party, and seemed to guarantee their 
 co-operation. Friesland and Groningen, of which provinces 
 the Prince of Nassau was Stadtholder, had everything to gain 
 from the success of a restoration that would secure for their 
 deputies the good offices of those in authority. Zealand, on 
 her side, might almost be called a fief of the Princes of 
 Orange on account of the great domains they possessed 
 there, and which constituted them the greatest landowners in 
 the province. She had already declared herself more than 
 once in favour of the nomination of the young prince, either as 
 Stadtholder of the province or as captain- or admiral-general. 
 She had, moreover, been foremost in her remonstrances agamst 
 the Act of Exclusion and had never ceased to demand its re- 
 vocation. Guelder s, which, as an ancient duchy, had a right 
 to the highest rank in the States-General, showed jealousy of the 
 preponderance of Holland; the families of rank who inhabited 
 that province regretted the offices about the court and the 
 military commands they had enjoyed under the Princes 
 of Orange. The two orders ■ of the nobility and the clergy of 
 Utrecht shared the same sentiments and in 1654 demanded the 
 immediate restoration of the stadtholdership of the province. 
 In Overyssel, an eager party, impatient to hasten events, had 
 the young prince chosen as Stadtholder, and nominated the 
 Prince of Nassau to act as lieutenant during his minority. 
 The Princesses of Orange, informed of the resolution of the 
 States of Overyssel, eagerly testified their gratitude, and the 
 Orange party held itself in readiness to take advantage of 
 this election in order to reinstate the son of William II. in 
 the offices of his ancestors. 
 
 This fresh coalition seemed to threaten Holland with the 
 most formidable dangers. . But it was speedily dissolved by 
 
202 JOHN DE WITT. 
 
 unavoidable dissensions of which she took advantage. In 
 Zealand, the town of Middleburg separated itself from the 
 Orange party, from the fear that a change of government 
 would render inevitable a renewal of the war with England, 
 from which her trade must suffer. 'Most of the partisans 
 of the House of Orange, especially in this province,' we read 
 in a contemporary letter, 'have only followed the popular 
 current, for just now, the people being tired of crying " Long 
 live the Prince ! " and being occupied with other matters, fresh 
 disputes have caused the old ones to be forgotten.' As for 
 Guelders, she was skilfully won over and her interest satisfied. 
 The States of Holland had already made themselves answer- 
 able for that province's share of the subsidies due to the 
 King of Denmark; they now proposed to her the most 
 advantageous mode of repayment, by charging her with the 
 maintenance of three Dutch regiments, and thus putting at 
 her disposal several military appointments. In the province 
 of Utrecht, the capital, which kept up a close intercourse with 
 Amsterdam, declared itself against the nobles and in favour 
 of the republican government. In Friesland, the jealousy of 
 the nobles and the obstinate arrogance that was displayed 
 endangered the authority of the Prince of Nassau. In the 
 province of Groningen, the rivalry between the town and the 
 country, the Ommelandes, dominated the great interests of 
 political parties and roused the animosity of local passions. 
 Finally, in Overyssel, the resistance of Deventer opposed to 
 the provincial States assembled at ZwoU the authority of a 
 rival assembly in which certain members of the nobUity and 
 some deputies of the smaller towns took their seats. The 
 Orange party could not have taken possession of the province 
 without the aid of military intervention, which the States of 
 Holland hastened to prevent. They began by forbidding the 
 officers commanding troops in their pay to take any part in 
 these dissensions, and prevailed on the States-General to issue 
 the same prohibition to the troops of the other provinces. The 
 civil war was thus kept within limits, and could no longer be 
 either extended or prolonged. 
 
 By the aid of these domestic quarrels and ' with the help 
 
ASCENDENCY OF THE GRAND PENSIONARY. 203 
 
 of concessions which they knew how to make,' the States of 
 Holland gained numerous partisans. The burgomasters of 
 the large towns, amongst others Beck, burgomaster of Deventer, 
 and Hoick, burgomaster of Utrecht, declared themselves on 
 their side, as did the principal deputies of Guelders, such as 
 Dorth, one of the wealthiest men in the province ; Bronkhorst, 
 who aspired to the reputation of being independent of the 
 prince and preferred to be distinguished as the friend of 
 liberty, and Van Ghent, ' who, without any great fortune, lived 
 in a somewhat expensive style, and who, having hitherto been 
 on very intimate terms with the Princess Dowager, now 
 appeared disposed to change sides with the change of fortune,' 
 the Grand Pensionary de Witt having obtained for his eldest son 
 a regiment of infantry, and thus made him favourable to the 
 interests of Holland. Even in the province which was the 
 head-quarters of the Orange party, Zealand, the pensionary 
 of Middleburg, Adrien Veth, declared himself altogether de- 
 voted to liberty. He was an honest, incorruptible, bold, 
 eloquent, and loquacious man, who possessed useful allies in 
 his brother and in his brother-in-law, Eugersborg, the one 
 bu.rgomaster, the other town councillor ; he possessed the entire 
 eoniidenee of the pensionary of the province, John de Brune, 
 whom he was to succeed some years later. ' Holland is the 
 mistress of many offices which gain for her votes,' wrote the 
 correspondent of the English minister Thurloe from the 
 Hague ; ' she appoints to many embassies, to numerous 
 military commands ; she can, as is said, give away entire 
 provinces, and she possesses baits for attracting to herself the 
 foxes who scent out their advantage.' 
 
 De Witt occupied himself with far-seeing solicitude in this 
 skilful handling of private interests with which statesmen, 
 even the most rigid, cannot with impunity dispense. He held 
 in his hands all the springs of government. Euling the States 
 of Holland by his authority as first minister, he eventually 
 succeeded in putting in subjection to them the Assembly 
 of the States-General, the great military commands and the 
 court of justice, thus ensuring to the citizens of Holland, 
 already possessed of the chief authority in the town councils. 
 
204 JOHN DE "WITT. 
 
 that political supremacy for -which they would be indebted to 
 him. 
 
 The secretary of the States-General, Nicholas Euysch, 
 who shared with the Grand Pensionary of Holland the chief 
 functions of government in the Federal Assembly, was one of 
 the most devoted partisans of his policy. He had succeeded 
 Musch, son-in-law of the former Grand Pensionary Cats, who 
 had been devoted to the interests of the Prince of Orange, and 
 who, accustomed to be at the service of every government 
 that paid him, had been obliged to resign in order to escape 
 being condemned as guilty of venahty. De Witt had suc- 
 ceeded Euysch as pensionary of Dordrecht before being 
 elected Grand Pensionary of Holland. They were thus 
 related to one another by a common origin and by the tradition 
 of the same offices held in succession. Their family ties and 
 similarity of opinions promoted an intimacy which lasted 
 twenty years and was never troubled. During the entire 
 duration of Euysch' s term of office, which he held till his 
 death, his loyal co-operation enable De Witt to assume and to 
 keep the direction of the States-General. 
 
 The fleet and the army had, moreover, passed under the 
 dominion of the party of Holland. While the powers of 
 admiral of the fleet, which had been vacant since the death of 
 Tromp, were exercised by Admiral Wassenaar d'Obdam, who 
 had omitted no advances to the new authorities, Major- 
 General Brederode had under his command the land forces. 
 John de Brederode, descended from the ancient Counts of 
 Holland, had distinguished himself under the Stadtholder 
 Frederick Henry by his brilliant military services, in recompense 
 of which he had been made first lieutenant to the captain- 
 general. The post of captain-general not having been filled 
 up after the death of William II., the chief command devolved 
 on him. Having contracted a liecond marriage with the elder 
 sister of the Princess Dowager, Louise Christine of Sohns, 
 and thus become by alliance great-uncle of the young Prince 
 of Orange, he had violently broken with the traditions of his 
 family by voting for the Act of Exclusion. This defection had 
 lost him the public esteem. On the occasion of a popular 
 
MILITARY AND CIVIL APPOINTMENTS. 205 
 
 entertainment at the Hague, he wished to offer wine to the 
 passers-by in front of his house : some refused, others accepted 
 without saluting him. Some months later, having accom- 
 panied the Prince of Nassau and the Princess Dowager on a 
 journey, he heard the name of Cromwell murmured in his ear 
 as a term of reproach bestowed on him. Anxious to gain the 
 good graces of the republican party, in order to obtain in 
 the event of the appointment of a captain-general the re- 
 version of the military authority of William II., he had paid 
 assiduous court to John de Witt and gave him many proofs 
 of his confidence. ' If, in our province, and especially in our 
 body of nobility,' he wrote to him, ' there is the slightest 
 hesitation on any occasion, I beg you wUl declare publicly that 
 I give my vote in accordance with your wise and just opinion.' 
 He was thus a devoted and docile ally of the Grand Pensionary. 
 The successive vacancies of the two presidencies of the 
 great courts of justice had given the party of Holland still 
 further opportunity for favouring its followers. Although the 
 two courts were common to Holland and Zealand, Holland, 
 in consequence of the number of her councillors and the turns 
 of presidentship which had been assigned to her, had easily 
 ensured for herself the pre-eminence. The president of the 
 provincial court, Wyngaerden, having been pronounced unfit 
 to continue his functions, the States of Holland nominated 
 as his successor one of those who had gained for themselves 
 the greatest right to their confidence, John Dedel. They ob- 
 tained the sanction of the States of Zealand, and induced 
 them to proceed conjointly to his installation. Two years 
 later, a successor being required for the president of the grand 
 council, Cornelius Haga, who had just died, the States of 
 Holland invited the States of Zealand to a full meeting, in 
 which they caused their candidate, Eeynier Pauw Van der 
 Horst, to be chosen. With regard to appointments that 
 only depended upon their own Assembly, they could not fail 
 to be even more favourable to the most decided partisans of 
 the new government. Thus they reserved for Cornelius de 
 Witt, brother of John de Witt, the office of Euard of Putten, 
 one of the best in the province, from the extent of its functions. 
 
206 JOHN DE WITT. 
 
 which included those of bailiff and of dijkgraaf, or superin- 
 tendent of dykes, in one of the most important districts in 
 the province. 
 
 The Orange party, who had not yet desisted from their 
 struggle in the other provinces, appeared to have capitulated 
 in Holland. Their chief representatives had been superseded 
 in the States ; some had been driven from them ; the rest 
 only wished to continue quietly in the enjoyment of the posts 
 which they occupied by causing themselves to be forgotten. 
 Cornelius Aerssens van Sommelsdyck, who had been com- 
 promised in the expedition of William II. against Amsterdam, 
 had only obtained the benefits of the amnesty by retiring from 
 the Assembly of the province. Bronkhorst, lord of Wimmenum, 
 on whom the partisans of the old government thought they 
 could count, ' was too wise to confound his interests with 
 those of the House of Orange, and, in spite of the authority 
 conferred on him by his numerous functions, he renounced 
 the pretensions of leader of the party, which he had been 
 unable to support.' Senior of the body of nobles, ' although 
 his family was not amongst the most illustrious or the most 
 ancient in the country, he was president of the board of 
 councillor deputies, and joined to those important functions 
 those of curator of the University of Leyden, of grand hunts- 
 man of Holland, and of bailiff and superintendent of dykes 
 in the district of Ehynland. He had thus secured to himself 
 an income exceeding 20,000 florins, and had no ambition beyond 
 that of retaining it. 
 
 The growing strength of the new government had increased 
 the number of its followers. In addition to the men who 
 served its cause in the embassies, such as Kaiser, Nieupoort, 
 Beverningh, and Van Beuningen, others showed no less loyalty 
 and zeal as deputies or pensionaries of the towns. Amongst 
 the nobility, Noordwyek, governor of Sluys, made public 
 profession of his attachment to the maxims of the dominant 
 party and pronounced boldly at the Hague the word republic. 
 Besides the Grand Pensionary of Holland, John de Witt, and 
 the secretary of the States-General, Euysch, the town of 
 Dordrecht contained quite a body of statesmen : Cornelius 
 
GROWma STRENGTH OP THE KEW GOVERNMENT. 207 
 
 Tan Beveren, auditor-general, and Jacob Beveren van Zwyn- 
 dreelit, who had married the sister of John de Witt and was a 
 deputy to the States of Holland ; Slingelandt, pensionary of 
 the town, and afterwards secretary of the State Council of the 
 Confederation, and Anthony Vivien, first cousin of John de 
 Witt, who succeeded Slingelandt in his municipal office. Bol, 
 one of the magistrates of Haarlem, who became councillor 
 deputy of Holland, is mentioned in the diplomatic corre- 
 spondence of the time as possessing the entire confidence of 
 the Grand Pensionary. Meerman, son of a lawyer of Leyden 
 and pensionary of Delft, a bold and audacious young man, 
 who was commissioned to prepare the publication of the 
 golden book or register of the resolutions of the Assembly of 
 Holland, was already reckoned amongst the most energetic 
 defenders of the authority of the States. 
 
 At Amsterdam, the family which John de Witt had entered 
 by his marriage had supreme power in the magistracy. His 
 wife's uncles, Cornelius Bicker van Swieten, former burgo- 
 master, whose courage had saved Amsterdam by preventing 
 the Stadtholder William II. from taking it by surprise ; Cor- 
 nelius de Graeff, lord of Zuidpolsbroeck, one of the principal 
 members of the town council and councillor deputy of Holland, 
 and Andrew de Graeff, successively councillor and burgo- 
 master, placed their experience and authority at the service of 
 the young minister of the province. They increased their 
 influence by introducing into the town council fresh and young 
 recruits : Van Hoorn, one of the confidants of the Grand 
 Pensionary, who was shortly afterwards made burgomaster, 
 and De Groot, who continued to the last one of John de Witt's 
 most devoted partisans, and who was appointed soon after to 
 the office of pensionary of the town. The republican party 
 found in these men the most valuable servants, who guaranteed 
 to them a loyalty that was beyond doubt, and the most valuable 
 co-operation. ' We experience, thank God, more and more 
 every day in the province of Holland greater sympathy, 
 harmony, and confidence amongst the members of our As- 
 sembly,' wrote De Witt to one of the ambassadors of the 
 republic. 
 
208 JOHN DE WITT. 
 
 This good understanding ensured to the States of Holland 
 the free exercise of their authority. They took advantage of 
 it to rid themselves of all dependence on the States-General. 
 Two incidents, the trial of the councillors of Brazil and the 
 nomination of Beverningh as treasurer-general, will sufEce to 
 show the resistance which they opposed to the domination of 
 the latter. 
 
 After the loss of Brazil, which was retaken from the 
 republic by the Portuguese during the war with England, the 
 two councillors of the colony, Haeck and Schonenburg, and 
 Lieutenant-General Schaep, who commanded the troops under 
 their orders, had been impeached; the States-General had 
 referred the case to the council of state of the confederation. 
 John de Witt, as soon as he was informed of this resolution, 
 fearing that the States-General might take advantage of it to 
 extend the prerogatives of their jurisdiction, undertook to pre- 
 vail on the States of Holland to claim their right of judging 
 one of the two councillors of Brazil, Haeck, who was a native 
 of Holland. A compromise was at length proposed and 
 accepted. The States-General appointed judges for Haeck and 
 Schonenburg ; but the judges they selected were those belong- 
 ing to the provinces of which the two councillors were natives. 
 Haeck was arraigned before the court of Holland, Schonen- 
 burg before" the court of Groningen, and the trial of Lieu- 
 tenant-General Schaep was referred to a court-martial. The 
 proceedings ended in an acquittal, and this struggle for juris- 
 diction, which placed an unfortunate obstacle in the way of 
 the course of justice, struck a blow at the authority of the 
 federal power. 
 
 The States of Holland showed themselves no less careful 
 of their prerogatives in refusing to the States-General the 
 right of making an inquiry into the embassy of their deputy 
 Beverningh, who was accused of having suggested to Crom- 
 well the Act of Exclusion. In order to oblige him to render 
 to them an account of his negotiations, the States-General, on 
 the proposal of the deputies of Friesland, determined, so long 
 as he had not exculpated himself, not to allow him to occupy 
 the post of treasurer -general of the republic, to which he had 
 
TRIAL OF JOHN DE MESSEN. 209 
 
 been named eight months before. The States of Holland, who 
 claimed to be the judges of his conduct, declared that, as the 
 Act of Exclusion only engaged their own province, they alone 
 were qualified to receive his solemn oath of justification. To 
 impress upon the States-General that they must rest content 
 with this, they decided, on the proposal of their Grand Pen- 
 sionary, that, untU his definitive appointment as treasurer- 
 general, Beverningh should sit in the Federal Assembly as an 
 ordinary deputy of the province. 
 
 The States of Holland, unable to forget the assistance 
 which the States-General had given successively to the Stadt- 
 holder Maurice of Orange, when he had caused their Grand 
 Pensionary, Olden Barneveldt, to be condemned, and to the 
 Stadtholder William H., when he nearly made them the victims 
 of his attempt at a coup d'etat, thought they could not take 
 too many precautions to oppose the supremacy of the Federal 
 Assembly. They wished to put into practice the system of 
 government of which John de Witt had drawn up the political 
 programme, and according to which ' the United Provinces, 
 while forming only a single state in their relations with 
 foreign sovereigns, remained none the less seven independent 
 states as regarded their internal affairs.' 
 
 StUl, their security was not ensured so long as the States- 
 General might attempt to confer on the Prince of Nassau the 
 government of the Confederation. On that account the Grand 
 Pensionary employed numerous confidential agents, in order 
 that he might be enlightened by frequent reports on the 
 prince's conduct and proceedings. He interrogated the 
 burgomasters of Holland with whom the prince had had inter- 
 views, removed from Dordrecht the regiment which was under 
 his command, and reinforced the garrison of the Hague with 
 regiments whose officers gave pledges of loyalty to the States. 
 De Witt soon had cause to perceive that his distrust was justi- 
 fied ; the preliminaries of the trial of Messen, his chief clerk 
 or secretary,' revealed to him the manoeuvres which were 
 
 ' The account of this trial has been published in a remarkable article by 
 M. Nedermeijer de Rosenthal, in the Becueil des pUces historigues et archiolo- 
 gigues dupays, vol. x. Part III., 1855. 
 
 VOL. I. p 
 
210 JOHN DE WITT, 
 
 intended to ruin him, and in •which the Prince of Nassau had 
 taken part. 
 
 John de Messen had occupied -n-ith the two last Grand 
 Pensionaries of Holland, Cats and Pauw, the post which he 
 continued to fill after John de Witt had succeeded' them. 
 Offended by De Witt's somewhat haughty manners, unable to 
 forgive him the order he had received to speak to him with 
 uncovered head, contrary to custom, and annoyed by the pre- 
 cedence which the Grand Pensionary had given in his office 
 to a new-comer, the lawyer Hallingh, he determined to be 
 revenged. With this ^iew he accepted the overtures which 
 had been made to him by Theodore de Euyven, treasurer of 
 the Prince of Nassau, and communicated to him the most 
 private matters of which he had daily cognisance. Euyven 
 was not satisfied with transmitting these to the Prince of 
 Nassau ; he conspired with Messen to falsify and pervert the 
 correspondence of John de Witt, in order to arouse implacable 
 resentment against him. Thus he had caused a rumom- to 
 be spread that the Grand Pensionary had suggested to Crom- 
 well the Act of Exclusion, that he had even requested that 
 the English fleet should be sent to the coasts of Zealand to 
 overcome the resistance offered by that province to the States 
 of Holland, and that he had gone so far as to advise the 
 Protector to cause, if necessary, some of the towns on the 
 coast to be occupied by his troops. Euyven supported these 
 false imputations, and persuaded the Prince of Nassau that 
 evident proof had been found in a pretended despatch written 
 by the Grand Pensionary to Beverningh and Nieupoort, 
 the draft of which John de Witt kept carefully concealed in a 
 casket. By the help of these calumnies, he cast on the 
 Grand Pensionary the weight of an accusation which seemed 
 unanswerable. He had even carried the forethought of hatred 
 so far as to keep careful notes of the communications which 
 he forwarded to the Prince of Nassau : he entered them in a 
 journal, and intended to hand them over some day to the 
 young Prince of Orange, in order to convict De Witt of having 
 wished to deprive him of the power of his ancestors by 
 taking the initiative in the Act of Exclusion. The two culprits 
 
MESSEN IS FOUND GUILTY. 211 
 
 could not long conceal their intrigues ; De Witt at length 
 became aware of them, and appealed to the court of Holland. 
 
 Messen was immediately arrested, and, having been sub- 
 mitted to a preliminary interrogation, his wife was brought 
 before the court, and her avowals, confirmed afterwards by 
 his own, left no doubt as to the guilt of Euyven. The latter 
 was immediately thrown into prison, and it was necessary to 
 use force in order to obtain possession of the papers which he 
 attempted to conceal. 
 
 The Grand Pensionary had now proofs of the misdeeds of 
 his secretary, as well as those of his own justification. He 
 bad discovered in Messen's desk the journal kept by Euyven, 
 who had thus prepared a witness against himself of his own 
 frauds. De Witt took care to refute its assertions by bring- 
 ing forward the authentic documents. He communicated 
 them to the commissioners of the court, who examined them 
 most minutely. Brought into the presence of his judges, 
 Messen tried to extenuate his faults by alleging that he was 
 ignorant of the use which Euyven had made of his revelations, 
 averring ' that he had in the end refused them to him.' 
 Euyven would not at first acknowledge his forgeries ; he 
 declared in a preliminary examination that ' out of Christian 
 charity' he pitied Beverningh for having to exonerate 
 himself by oath from having promoted the Act of Exclusion. 
 But when his journal was put before him with the irrefutable 
 annotations of the Grand Pensionary, he was obUged to con- 
 fess that he had distorted every fact. The latest confidential 
 letters which the Grand Pensionary had exchanged with the 
 ambassadors in England, and which were brought forward in 
 court, completed the discomfiture of Euyven, and caused 
 entire justice to be done to John de Witt's conduct of the 
 negotiations. Euyven could not continue to deny that he had 
 known of these despatches, and his dishonesty was thus made 
 evident. 
 
 There could be no doubt as to the verdict. Messen was 
 pronounced ' treacherous and infamous,' and banished for 
 ever from the provinces within the jurisdiction of the courts 
 of Holland, Zealand, and the province of Utrecht. Euyven, 
 
 p 2 
 
212 JOHN DE "WITT. 
 
 ■who was apparently the most guilty, was only condemned to 
 exile for six years. The sentence pronounced against him 
 declared his journal to be calunmious, seditious, and scandal- 
 ous, and prohibited its publication or the preservation of a 
 single copy or fragment under pain of punishment as a dis- 
 turber of the pubhc peace. The punishment might appear 
 mild for those days, and according to the words attributed to 
 him by a contemporary, ' John de Witt was sm-prised that 
 only a fox's brush should have been used to chastise the 
 culprits.' ' I could have wished,' he wrote to the ambassador 
 Nieupoort, ' that Euyven should have been forced to make a 
 still clearer and more complete confession. However, I wil- 
 lingly leave the verdict to others, knowing that, when a judge 
 has satisfied his own conscience, one ought to be content.' 
 The indulgence of the court was easily explained. The re- 
 spectful reserve which it had shown towards the Prince of 
 Nassau, compromised as he was by his correspondence with 
 Euyven, by only mentioning him casually in the sentence, 
 and speaking of him only as a person of high position outside 
 the province of Holland, proved how anxious it was to keep 
 on terms with him. In not punishing too severely one of his 
 principal agents, it gave him a no less evident proof of con- 
 sideration. It feared to incur his resentment, in the antici- 
 pation of a speedy turn of fortune in his favour. 
 
 The vacancy of the chief command of the army appeared 
 indeed likely to turn to his advantage. Major-General 
 Brederode had just died. Attached, in spite of his relation- 
 ship, to the cause of the republican government, Brederode 
 had given the first minister of the States of Holland a last 
 mark of confidence by choosing him as one of his executors, 
 though De Witt refused to accept the ofiice, which seemed to 
 him incompatible with his post of Grand Pensionary. His 
 succession could not faU to excite the ambition of the Prince 
 of Nassau, who, in his capacity as Grand Master of the 
 Artillery, occupied the principal military command next to 
 him. He had obtained the withdrawal of his cousin. Prince 
 John Maurice of Nassau, former governor of Brazil, and 
 lieutenant-general of the cavalry, who might have been his 
 
VACANCY IN THE POST OF MAJOR-GENERAL. 213 
 
 rival ; his candidature, which appeared to make his speedy 
 nomination certain, reawakened the hopes of the Orange 
 party. While the greatest honours were paid at Amsterdam 
 to the Princess Dowager, who had come there to negotiate an 
 alliance between her son-in-law, the Elector of Brandenburg, 
 and the United Provinces, the dissensions which had been 
 appeased threatened to spring up again even in the Assembly 
 of the States of Holland. The health of John de Witt had 
 kept him absent for a month, and his absence had encouraged 
 the intrigues of those who were trying to supplant him, by 
 asking for him the post of ambassador extraordinary to 
 Sweden, where the interests of the republic might profit by 
 his services. 
 
 Fearing that the post of major-general might be conferred 
 by the States- General on the Prince of Nassau without the 
 States of Holland being able to oppose it, the Grand Pension- 
 ary undertook to satisfy him, by inducing him to accept the 
 conditions of an agreement. The advances of the Prince of 
 Nassau made reconciliation easier. He had shown his appre- 
 ciation of the assistance which De Witt had just given him 
 by helping him to settle his differences with the nobility of 
 the province of Groningen. ' I am happy,' he wrote to him, 
 ' in having learnt to know you better, as I have found you 
 quite different from what you were represented to me ; for I 
 have found nothing in you that is not honest, upright and 
 just. I hope you have found me also different from the 
 reports that have been made to you about me, as I am of 
 quite another sort of temper and principle, not at all over- 
 bearing or ambitious, but loving justice and moderation.' 
 The trial of Euyven and Messen could only confirm him in 
 the favourable dispositions which he disjplayed, by convincing 
 him that he had entertained unjust prejudices against De 
 Witt. 
 
 The Grand Pensionary took advantage of these senti- 
 ments to obtain frequent interviews with the Prince of Nassau, 
 ' about which the bolder republicans began to be uneasy.' 
 He explained to him the advantages of a mutual understand- 
 ing, and negotiated with him secretly with regard to the post 
 
214 JOHN DE WITT. 
 
 of major-general. Having obtained his consent, he easily 
 induced the States of Holland to accept a proposal which was 
 submitted to the States-General on the report of Van Ghent, 
 deputy of Guelder s, and to which the name of Project of 
 Harmony was given. By the terms of this agreement, the 
 States of Holland undertook to nominate the Prince of Nassau 
 major-general, provided this post was declared incompatible 
 with that of stadtholder. The Prince of Nassau was, however, 
 confirmed in his office of stadtholder of the provinces of Fries- 
 land and Groningen, and only called upon to renounce the lieu- 
 tenancy to the stadtholder ship of Overyssel; but he was bound, 
 on the other hand, to engage by oath to observe the treaty of 
 peace concluded with Cromwell, and to undertake nothing 
 against the Act of Exclusion. The exclusion of the son of 
 William H. was thus ratified, and, according to the shrewd 
 remark of a contemporary, 'what had hitherto only been 
 painted in water-colours was now painted in oils.' Moreover, 
 this separation between the civil and the military authority, 
 which the Grand Pensionary made the constant aim of his 
 policy, allowed a leader to be given to the army without ex- 
 posing Holland to the domination of a master, and thus 
 guaranteed her against the danger of a change of government. 
 ' The Project of Harmony is a proof of your great prudence 
 and wisdom,' wrote one of his uncles to De Witt, and De Witt, 
 not concealing his satisfaction, expressed it thus to his father : 
 ' I cannot wish for anything better than what I have ob- 
 tained.' 
 
 The opposition of the Orange party, who could not 
 forgive the Prince of Nassau for his compliance, put difficulties 
 in the way of the execution of these conventions. The pro- 
 vinces of Zealand, Friesland, and Gronuigen obstinately 
 refused to make the promises demanded of them. But Holland 
 gained rather than lost by this ill-will. To obtain her consent 
 to his nomination as major-general, the Prince of Nassau 
 resigned his office as lieutenant to the stadtholdership of 
 Overyssel, and thus alienated the partisans of the restoration, 
 who, no longer reckoning on his services, continued to leave 
 vacant the post they had destined for him. This disunion 
 
IXTERNAL GOVERNMENT OF HOLLAND, 215 
 
 disarmed the Orange party, and the States of Holland had no 
 longer for the moment anything to fear from its enterprises. 
 
 They took advantage of this security to strengthen their 
 government. They had already given all their attention to 
 the good administration of their finances, and had thus 
 ensured the resources necessary for acquiring the political 
 preponderance which was to render them the masters of the 
 confederation. The charges which the budget of their province 
 had to support annually exceeded the receipts, and made 
 Holland resemble a fine edifice with a splendid exterior but 
 whose foundations were undermined and ruined. The 
 Grand Pensionary set to work with the most vigilant care to 
 restore by order and economy the good administration of the 
 public revenues. He obtained, by degrees, the suppression of 
 privileges exempting from taxation, the revision of arbitrarily 
 conferred pensions, the retrenchment of superfluous allow- 
 ances for the benefit of the army and the more equal distribu- 
 tion amongst the provinces of diplomatic expenditure, which 
 had risen from 79,154 to 237,462 florins,' but was in future 
 to be laid to the charge of the federal budget, instead of being 
 almost exclusively borne by Holland. 
 
 Still, this reduction of expenses did not suffice to put an 
 end to the deficit ; it was necessary, in order to restore the 
 financial balance, to have recourse to a more efiicacious 
 measure, for which Holland was indebted to the Grand 
 Pensionary. The sums which she had been obliged to borrow 
 in order to carry on the war with Spain, after the expiration of 
 the ten years' truce, had imposed too heavy a burden on her 
 finances. Her debt had risen to 153,000,000 florins, of which 
 140,000,000 were borrowed at interest, requiring an annual 
 payment amounting to 6,907,700 florins. By reducing these an- 
 nuities from five to four per cent., John de Witt freed Holland 
 from engagements which were exhausting her resources. 
 
 This operation was difficult to carry through. Already, in 
 1640, the interest on the funded debt of Holland had been 
 reduced from 6 J to 5 per cent., but this saving had not effected 
 
 ' In 1663 the Grand Pensionary increased these expenses to 258,309 florins 
 in spite of the opposition of some of the provinces. 
 
216 JOHN DE -WITT. 
 
 any reduction in the expenditure, which had even increased 
 by 500,000 florins owing to the expenses of the war. It 
 seemed rash to renew fifteen years later an operation which 
 had failed in its object once before, and which involved the 
 risk of destroying the confidence of the creditors of the State. 
 The latter would besides be very little inclined towards a 
 measure which deprived them of part of then* income ; and as 
 they were to be found principally among the magistrates of 
 the towns of whom the States' deputies were the delegates, the 
 plans of the Grand Pensionary might be hindered. No sooner, 
 indeed, did he make them known than several towns, amongst 
 which were Leyden and Alkmar, refused their consent ; others, 
 of which Eotterdam was one, demanded that the reduction 
 should not be beyond 4J per cent. But at the end of five 
 months all the members of the Assembly, sacrificing private 
 to public interest, had allowed themselves to be convinced, and 
 on the report of Van Beuningen the plan of the Grand 
 Pensionary was definitively adopted. 
 
 Holland thus gained an annual saving in interest of 
 1,400,000 florins, representing a capital of 28,000,000 
 florins. The rights of the fundholders were no less considered 
 than the interests of the treasury; a delay of two months 
 was granted them to demand repayment, if they would not 
 consent to the reduction. This scrupulous respect shown by 
 a republic to its creditors might be advantageously compared 
 with the summary proceedings which took place in France, 
 and of which Boileau complains in the following terms : — 
 
 plus pWe' qu'un rentier, 
 
 A I'aspect d'un arret qui retranche un quartier. 
 
 By reducing the payment of interest from 7,000,000 to 
 5,600,000 florins, the States of Holland did more than save 
 themselves from a present difficulty ; they took their measures 
 for the future and secured a sinking fund. They appropriated 
 to this the interest, amounting to 1,400,000 florins, which 
 they saved by the reduction of interest, added to it 250,000 
 florins which they saved out of their ordinary estimates by 
 means of the reduction of the army, and thus employed, with 
 the interest of the capital sunk, about 2,000,000 florins for 
 
OBEDIENCE ENFORCED ON THE ARMY AND THE CLEEGY. 217 
 
 the gradual redemption of the debt, which they hoped to pay 
 off entirely in a space of forty-one years. In order to save 
 the credit of their province from all risk of danger, the States 
 of Holland induced the States-General to follow their example 
 in reducing the federal debt, the amount of which was incon- 
 siderable ; by putting an end to all further transactions in the 
 5 per cents., they prevented their own 4 per cents, falling into 
 disfavour. The increased means which they obtained by the 
 conversion of their debt and the prudent manner in which 
 they were employed, could only strengthen the security of 
 their creditors, and ensure themselves against any demand of 
 repayment. The Grand Pensionary's experiment was hence- 
 forth completely successful. He spoke of the conversion of the 
 funds as ' the important affair on which he had bestowed all 
 his strength, in order to gain for Holland greater respect at 
 home and abroad.' He had thus applied with advantage the 
 maxims of political economy which had been the object of his 
 persevering studies, and borrowed from financial science far- 
 sighted combinations with which the other European States 
 had not yet become familiarised. 
 
 Secured against the aggression of the other provinces by 
 their agreement with the Prince of Nassau, possessing 
 pledges of internal security in the good administration of 
 their finances, 'which gained them the popular favour and 
 placed them in a better position than any monarch for makmg 
 laws for their subjects,' the States of Holland were ceaselessly 
 occupied in all measures favourable to the preservation of 
 the republican form of government. With this view, they 
 took steps to secure themselves with regard to the army and 
 the clergy. To avert any military movement which might 
 place their authority in danger, they reconstituted the regi- 
 ment of guards which had continued quartered at the Hague, 
 and divided it into four companies under the command of 
 captains on whom they could depend. Strict subordination 
 was exacted from the troops, not only by the order issued to 
 the commanders forbidding them to take part in any demon- 
 stration, but also by the prohibition of military duels. 
 
 The States of Holland were equally anxious to impose 
 
218 JOHN DE WITT. 
 
 respect for their authority on the ministers of the Calvinist 
 clergy, some of whom showed themselves disposed to encourage 
 by their sermons the most erimiaal violence. They could not 
 forgive the Grand Pensionary his opposition to the promotion 
 of the Prince of Orange. One of them, Goethals, having 
 met one day two of his colleagues, ventured to ask them if it 
 would not be lawfial to cut De Witt's throat, giving his own 
 opinion, in which one of them agreed, in the affirmative. But 
 Stermont, a pastor of the Hague, detested these sentiments, and 
 declared that his conscience would not allow him to take part 
 in their councils, adding that the man of blood would not live 
 out half his days. To calm the irritation of the clergy 
 against the Act of Exclusion, De Witt persistently put before 
 them Cromwell's attachment to the Protestant cause ; but they 
 were with difficulty persuaded, and it was only by the sternest 
 injunctions of obedience to the new government that their 
 flights of eloquence could be controlled. Still the States of 
 Holland thought it necessary to satisfy them by making at 
 least some concessions to their demands of religious iutolerance. 
 Having refused the expulsion of priests of the Eoman Catholic 
 religion, they consented to the passing of a law of exception 
 which rendered Catholics incapable of exercising municipal 
 functions, and prohibited them from making by will any gifts 
 in favour of the ministers or establishments belonging to their 
 religion. It was a melancholy denial of the principles of 
 religious liberty in a country which gloried in having conquered 
 it, but which sometimes failed to respect it. 
 
 The theological quarrels which threatened to arise again, 
 and which would not have faUed to keep up the excitement of 
 the preachers, was another cause of anxiety for the States of 
 Holland, and rendered their intervention necessary. Twenty- 
 five years previously these quarrels had cost their Grand 
 Pensionary, Olden Barneveldt, his life, when he took part 
 against the Stadtholder Maurice of Orange in the struggle 
 between the Arminians and the Gomarists, which was a 
 struggle between innovation and orthodoxy. They gave 
 occasion for the same vehemence with regard to the philosophy 
 of Descartes, which was defended by the disciples of the pro- 
 
PEETEKSIONS OF THE ORANGE PAETY DISCOUEAGED. 219 
 
 fessor Cocceius and attacked by those of the theologian 
 Voetius. In spite of the preference of the principal deputies 
 of Holland and the Grand Pensionary De Witt for the 
 opinions of Cocceius, the States of Holland took the part of 
 the Voetians who were supported by the CalTinist clergy. In 
 the hope of pacifying these differences, they undertook to con- 
 clude a treaty of division between theology and philosophy, 
 which assigned to them ' the bounds and limits within which 
 they must restrict themselves, without encroaching upon one 
 another, so as to avoid all confusion and disorder.' 
 
 The States of Holland were still more interested in taking 
 advantage of every opportunity for discouraging the preten- 
 sions of the Orange party. They held out, therefore, against 
 all concessions, granting to the young Prince of Orange no 
 exemption from taxation, insisting that petitions presented in 
 his name should be drawn up on stamped paper like those of 
 all their subjects, and refusing to designate him in official 
 documents by the title of Highness, which they considered 
 would perpetuate the outward signs of the stadtholdership. Not 
 choosing to make any engagement in his favour, they also 
 declined the offers of the States of Zealand and of the 
 Princess Dowager of Orange, who proposed to them that they 
 should take part in his education or his guardianship. They 
 contented themselves with showing the respect due to his birth 
 and to the services of his family by allowing him to inhabit 
 the palace of his ancestors, and by giving orders for the pro- 
 secution of the authors of all libels which insulted the House 
 of Orange. 
 
 This determined attitude overawed the other provinces. 
 Having resigned themselves to the cessation of all contests with 
 the States of Holland, they consented to acknowledge Bever- 
 ningh as treasurer-general, without paying any attention to 
 the persistent opposition of the deputies of Friesland, who 
 could not forgive him the Act of Exclusion, and they yielded 
 to the representations of the Federal State Council point- 
 ing out the prejudice which would result to the republic 
 from the vacancy of so important a post. Holland thus 
 obtained reparation for the ill-will that had lasted for two 
 
220 JOHN DE WITT. 
 
 years, and might consider her adversaries as finally reduced 
 to submission. 
 
 The sudden attempt which the latter made to resume the 
 offensive was unsuccessful and only served to show their 
 impotence. At the beginniag of the year 1657, by a precon- 
 certed understanding between the deputies of Friesland and 
 those of Overyssel, one of the former, Epo Boetsma, taking 
 advantage of the weekly turn of presidency which was the 
 right of the province of Overyssel, renewed inopportunely the 
 proposal for the selection of a major-general, and demanded 
 of the States-General that they should not allow themselves to 
 be stopped by the opposition of Holland if it were stUl per- 
 sisted in. The recent nomination of Beverningh gave him an 
 opportunity for adducing the strongest arguments, as the 
 choice of a commander for the army was more important to 
 the republic than that of a treasurer-general, and a unanimous 
 vote of the provinces could not be required for one of these 
 posts when a majority of suffrages had been considered 
 sufficient for the other. The opportunity seemed favourable 
 for a vote to be carried by surprise ; the Grand Pensionary 
 was absent, the States of Holland were not assembled. The 
 deputy of Overyssel, Mulart, who presided over the sitting of 
 the States- General, caused it to be decided at once that the 
 question should be settled in the sitting of the following day. 
 After stormy and vehement debates, the majority of the 
 provinces having given their decision, he announced in their 
 name that the commission of major-general would be made 
 out without delay, in order that so important an appointment 
 should not be left any longer in suspense. The remonstrances 
 of the councillor -deputies of Holland, who in the interval 
 between the sittings represented the States of the Province, 
 were vainly supported by the Grand Pensionary, who had 
 returned hastily from Amsterdam; he only succeeded in 
 obtaining with great difficulty an adjournment of a fortnight. 
 
 The States of Holland took advantage of this delay to 
 resume their sittings, and the Grand Pensionary succeeded in 
 preventing any dissension being displayed in their Assembly. 
 Strong in their union and determined not to allow themselves 
 
UNEASINESS OE DE WITT. 221 
 
 to be dictated to, they voted against the appointment of major- 
 general, to which they had previously consented only on con- 
 dition of a preliminary agreement on the Project of Harmony. 
 Their resolution, which had been embodied in a report care- 
 fully prepared by John de Witt, was communicated to the 
 States of the other provinces with a letter which left no 
 further doubt as to their intentions. They concluded it by 
 announcing that in the event of the selection of a major- 
 general being carried out in spite of their opposition, the 
 troops in the pay of Holland, which represented the greater 
 part of the army, would no longer obey, at least in times of 
 peace, any but a commander of their own, whom they reserved 
 to themselves the right of nominating. They appeared dis- 
 posed to confer their command on Louis of Nassau, lord of 
 Beverwaert, in whom they counted on finding a general 
 ' esteemed by military men and who would not hesitate to 
 obey them.' 
 
 Still it was not without uneasiness that De Witt looked 
 forward to these extremities, which would imperil the eon- 
 federation of the United Provinces ; he dreaded a violent 
 colHsion between Holland and the other provinces, which did 
 not appear disposed to yield. 'What I fear,' he wrote to one 
 of his relations, his habitual confidant, Zuidpolsbroeck, 'is 
 that the other provinces, with their appointed chief, may 
 make themselves masters of the frontier towns situated out- 
 side this province and place Holland under the necessity of 
 submitting. Perhaps I exaggerate; but it is my habit to 
 consider important affairs under their most serious aspect, so 
 that I may always be prepared and on my guard against any 
 event which may happen.' 
 
 Under these circumstances, everything depended upon the 
 more or less pacific course that would be taken by the Prince 
 of Nassau. He could not show himself indifi^erent to his own 
 interest. John de Witt had failed in obtaining from him a 
 disavowal of his partisans, or in preventing his applying to 
 the States of Holland for their consent to his nomination. 
 But the latter were the less disposed to accede to his request, 
 that Cromwell, whose implacable enemy he had always de: 
 
222 JOHN DE WITT. 
 
 clared himself, had once more taken alarm, on account of the 
 clamorous attempt made on his behalf.' Moreover, the few 
 partisans whom the young Prince of Orange still preserved, 
 instead of making common cause with him, continued to 
 display feeliags of jealousy and distrust towards him. He 
 soon perceived, therefore, that any hasty step might be pre- 
 judicial to him, as the post of major-general would no longer 
 be of any advantage to him if the contingent of the troops of 
 Holland were placed under the command of a leader of their 
 own. Fearing that the States of Holland might make choice 
 of his rival Beverwaert, he preferred to await the opportunity 
 of a foreign war, which would make it impossible for the 
 military command to be left any longer vacant. He hoped 
 that this patient moderation would leave open to him the 
 command of the army, by securing to him, when the opportune 
 moment should arrive, the gratitude of the party of Holland 
 and of the Grand Pensionary. His cautious policy discon- 
 certed the warlike dispositions of the other provinces and 
 prevented them from carrying out their enterprise. The 
 States of Holland were thus encouraged to persevere in their 
 policy of resistance. At the suggestion of John de Witt, they 
 published a manifesto intended to justify it, in which they 
 renewed their vindication of the sovereignty of each province, 
 even at the risk of exaggeration, and declared ' that their 
 intention of opposing the nomination of a major-general was 
 henceforth krevocable.' 
 
 Provoked by the rash aggressions of the other provinces, 
 they had renounced the wise projects for an agreement which 
 might easily have been concluded, but their opposition was de- 
 trimental to the interests of the republic. The army, being no 
 longer commanded, was condemned to inevitable deterioration. 
 All military rule having ceased and been replaced by that of the 
 civil authorities, the commands which still remained were 
 independent of one another. Prince William Frederick of 
 Nassau, in his capacity of Grand Master of the Artillery, Prince 
 John Maurice of Nassau and the Rhingrave Salms, one 
 lieutenant-general and the other commissary-general of the 
 cavalry, had no authority over the other bodies of troops. 
 
DISORGAJTISATION OF THE AEMY. 223 
 
 The Infantry, whieh consisted of 26,000 men, had no longer 
 any leader. Frederick Henry, the last but one of the stadt- 
 holders and captains-general, had, in his time, abolished by 
 degrees the principal commands, in order not to have, even 
 below him, any one to share in his authority, and he had 
 restricted himself to a major-general. The post of major- 
 general having become vacant, there remained only colonels 
 to exercise the command. Beverwaert, whom the States of 
 Holland would have been disposed to make captain-general 
 of the troops of their province, had only, save in time of 
 war, an honorary post in his capacity of sergent de hataille or 
 chief of the staff. The principal officers whom the States- 
 General had in then- employ were Francis de I'Aubespine, 
 Marquis de Hauterive, governor of Breda, who, ' deaf and 
 gouty, had retired to France, where he employed himself in 
 embellishing his house of Montrouge, although he preferred, 
 as he said, the diversions of Breda to the splendour and 
 magnificence of Paris ; ' Wenberge, ' old and infirm,' who on the 
 death of Major-General Brederode had obtained the governor- 
 ship of Bois-le-Duc ; Kirkpatrick ; Pugler, governor of Schenk ; 
 Starrenburg, colonel of the guards, and Percival, one of his 
 captains, described in a contemporary report as an engineer 
 particularly skilled in the construction of fortifications. 
 Eegiments had also been given, to Dolman and Bampfield,' 
 both of English origin, who had gained by their devotion the 
 confidence of the republican party, and who kept up a military 
 and political correspondence with John de Witt. The States 
 were satisfied with appointing a colonel when they wanted to 
 unite a body of troops under one command, but they then 
 only entrusted to him a temporary authority, whieh could not 
 therefore be efficient. De Witt was too far-seeing to be in- 
 different to this military weakness, which was disorganising 
 the army. At his proposal, the States of Holland hastened 
 to satisfy the objections of the Council of State, which drew 
 attention to the appointment of youthful and inexperienced 
 
 ' Bampfield had accompanied the Duke of York to Holland, at the com- 
 mencement of the revolution in England, after having assisted him in escaping 
 from St. James's Palace, where he was kept prisonei'. 
 
224 JOHN DE "WITT. 
 
 officers, the abuse of leave granted by the States of the 
 Provinces without the knowledge of the Council of State, and 
 the weakening of the numerical force of the regiments. The 
 following year they employed themselves with equal solicitude 
 in new regulations for the constitution of the army, and de- 
 manded that an end should be put to the sale of military 
 commands by a general prohibition which they were unable 
 to procure ; but these were only palliatives, very insufficient to 
 cure an evil which was daUy increasing. 
 
 Still, the danger was too remote to arouse uneasiness. 
 The States of Holland had no longer anything to fear for their 
 internal security, and could enjoy at their leisure the dis- 
 couragement to which their political adversaries were reduced. 
 The vacancy in the post of major-general succeeding at an 
 interval of three years the Act of Exclusion, deprived the 
 Orange party of all hopes of a restoration. The dissensions of 
 the other provinces, which were a prey to constantly renewed 
 disturbances, made Holland the arbiter of the confederation 
 and enabled her to exercise the powers of the ancient stadt- 
 holders. Thus she was commissioned to intervene as mediator 
 between the two factions who were contending for the govern- 
 ment of Overyssel. In response to their appeal, De Witt and 
 his uncle Cornelius de Graeff, lord of Zuidpolsbroeck, burgo- 
 master of Amsterdam, were appointed negotiators, and pro- 
 cured the acceptance of a plan of pacification in accordance 
 with which any proposal for the nomination of a stadtholder 
 in Overyssel should be postponed till the majority of the 
 young Prince of Orange. ' We have at last pronounced our 
 decision,' wrote De Witt to Nieupoort, ' in the presence of those 
 interested, in the Assembly of their Noble Mightinesses; it 
 will be published in the name of their Noble Mightiaesses, and 
 under the name of Holland, to serve as instructions to the 
 States of the province of Overyssel.' 
 
 Having thus acquired the peaceable enjoyment of a 
 supremacy which was henceforth uncontested, the States of 
 Holland turned their attention to the marks of consideration 
 due to them, and the outward signs which might make their 
 sovereignty in some sort visible. ' In order,' they declared. 
 
AITTHOEITY OP JOHN DE WITT. 225 
 
 ' not to be -without the titles proper to the dignity, the rank, 
 the honour, the grandeur, and the sovereignty of the province,' 
 they required all the foreign ministers accredited to the re- 
 public to cause their governments to adopt invariably the 
 formula of a.ddress thus laid down : ' To the Noble, Great, and 
 Mighty Lords, the States of Holland and West Friesland.' To 
 enhance by outward show the splendour of their power, they 
 made use of another hall for their sittings in the ancient 
 palace of the Counts of Holland, which they caused to be 
 magnificently decorated. The magistrates of Amsterdam, on 
 their side, had taken possession of a new town hall, an im- 
 posing edifice which had taken seven years to build, had just 
 been decorated by the greatest painters of the century, and 
 the inauguration of which, celebrated with great solemnity, 
 served as the subject for a commemorative medal, with this 
 proud inscription : ' Salutem et cives servare potens.' 
 
 John de Witt had opened to the States of Holland this 
 road to prosperity, along which he guided them with equal 
 firmness and forethought. Although only charged with the 
 execution of their orders, he had contrived to gain such 
 authority, that those whom he called ' his masters ' were 
 freely and submissively subject to his direction. It was 
 without flattery that the ambassador Nieupoort wrote to him : 
 ' You who are intimately acquainted with what takes place in 
 this state can best judge what ought or ought not to be done, 
 to which I and those with me have only to conform.' ' John 
 de Witt,' wrote the ambassador Chanut, 'is the most im- 
 portant person in the whole state, through the power of 
 Holland over the other provinces, and that which he possesses 
 over the ten or twelve principal leaders of the governing 
 party.' 
 
 He carefully avoided, however, all appearance of domma- 
 tion. When his powers as Grand Pensionary had legally 
 expired, he surrendered them to the States of Holland, and 
 wrote to them with the humblest deference the following 
 letter : ' On this day five years ago you confided to me my 
 office ; I now place it in your hands, thanking you for the 
 long patience with which you have borne with my imperfect 
 
 VOL. I. Q 
 
226 JOHN DE WITT. 
 
 services. I can assm-e you that if I have committed faults 
 that are inseparable from human weakness, I have never done 
 so from premeditation, or wilfully. I hope that your kindness 
 and favour will grant me the pardon which I ask from the 
 Assembly in general, and from every member in particular. If 
 I may be released from my functions I shall wish for no 
 greater reward, as the faithful servant of my country.' 
 
 The States of Holland were too much interested in the 
 continuance of their trust in him to forego his services, and 
 by a unanimous vote they re-invested him in his office. More- 
 over, to guarantee him in anticipation the recompense which 
 they reserved for him, they engaged to give him a seat in one 
 of the courts of justice, whenever he should cease from his 
 functions as Grand Pensionary. This re-election, by prolong- 
 ing his powers, enabled him to enjoy the success of his own 
 work. Since the day on which he had entered upon his office 
 as first minister, each step that he had made along a path 
 interrupted by obstacles had been a step in advance. Com- 
 pelled, at the very outset of his ministry, to defend his party 
 against the attempts at a restoration which, by giving the 
 power to a child, might give cause to fear the dangers in- 
 separable from a minority, he had found himself obliged 
 besides to preserve the United Provinces from the dangers 
 of a war with England, which was ruining them and which 
 might destroy them irretrievably. He had passed happily 
 through these trials. His home policy had now guaranteed 
 the independence of Holland against all attacks and en- 
 sured her the federal supremacy. His foreign policy had 
 not been less skilful or less fortunate ; it had gained for 
 the republic, once isolated and humbled, alliances, victories, 
 and treaties. 
 
 Internal divisions following on the disasters of the war 
 with England had weakened and discredited the States-General 
 abroad. Their minister at the Court of France, Boreel, never 
 ceased lamenting this in his correspondence with De Witt. 
 ' Everyone imagines,' he wrote, ' that the state is in a position 
 in which she may be insulted with impunity.' The Grand 
 Pensionary was eager to reassure him, and confided to him, in 
 
NAVAL EXPEDITIONS. 227 
 
 the following terms, his patriotic hopes : — ' You and all the 
 ministers at foreign courts can indeed easily judge — even 
 better, perhaps, than we who are here — how important it is 
 for the state to put an end to all jealousy and distrust between 
 the members of the union. For some time past, with all my 
 feeble power, I have worked for this with all my heart, and I 
 expect a prompt and real success. If it should be so, the 
 allies of this state may expect more efficient proofs of our 
 friendship, and those who are not well affected to her will 
 have greater cause to fear her.' Neither did he neglect any 
 opportunity for restoring to the republic the credit which she 
 appeared to have lost. He was more interested than anyone 
 else in procuring satisfaction for the national pride, in order 
 to obliterate the humiliations of the treaty which he had con- 
 cluded with Cromwell. 
 
 The commerce of the United Provinces, which had been 
 injured by the last war, was actively watched over and defended 
 on all seas. Vice-Admiral Euyter, having been despatched to 
 the Mediterranean to defend their merchant shipping against 
 the African pirates, sailed to Algiers, which he was unable to 
 attack, but where he spread terror, overran the coasts of 
 Morocco, seized several pirate vessels, and advanced on a 
 second expedition as far as the coast of Tunis. He succeeded 
 in this manner in repressing a system of piracy which had 
 long remained unpunished, and re-established friendly relations 
 between the native sovereigns and the republic. The kings of 
 Morocco and Fez made choice of three envoys, who repaired 
 to the Hague to renew the treaty formerly concluded between 
 their masters and the United Provinces. ' M. de Witt,' who 
 was always curious to know thoroughly all the states of the 
 world,' writes the French ambassador, ' took pains to do them 
 all sorts of kind offices, and caused them to be received at the 
 expense of their High Mightinesses.' 
 
 In the colonies, also, the republic repaired with happy 
 promptitude the blow that had been inflicted on her by the loss 
 of Brazil. It was in the far limits of Asia that she sought for 
 compensation, and the East India Company owed to her 
 negotiations as well as to her conquests a prosperity hitherto 
 
 Q 2 
 
228 JOHN DE "WITT. 
 
 unknown. She took advantage of the revolution which had 
 just abandoned China to the Tartar invasion to obtain free 
 entry into that great empire, and her ambassador, who was 
 sent back to Pekin with costly presents, was received by 
 the emperor with expressions of satisfaction. Eelations 
 with Japan were not less favourable to the Company. In 
 spite of the expulsion of the Portuguese, and the massacre of 
 Christians which had stained the country with blood forty 
 years before, it had preserved its settlements and retained a 
 right of trading in the island of Decima, opposite Nagasaki. 
 The Company had, it is true, only obtained the recognition of 
 these privileges at the price of humiliating conditions and by 
 means of pretended religious apostasy forced upon its agents. 
 But anxious only for its pecuniary interests, it cared for 
 nothing but trade, and secured on all merchandise of which it 
 had the monopoly profits valued at 160 per cent. 
 
 In Europe, the United Provinces could not resign them- 
 selves to a timid and retiring attitude, and they were im- 
 patient to recover the credit they had lost. A fresh attempt 
 against religious liberty, the rumour of which spread far, 
 enabled them to appear on the scene again, and gave them 
 an opportunity for assuming with ostentation the patronage 
 of the Protestant cause. The Waldenses, cruelly persecuted 
 by the Court of Savoy for their religious belief, were seeking 
 protectors, and the States-General responded to their appeal 
 with eager sympathy. They supported energetically the 
 remonstrances in which Cromwell took the initiative, added 
 a subscription of 200,000 florins to what had been collected 
 in England, and despatched one of then- deputies, Van 
 Ommeren, on an embassy with orders to go first to Switzer- 
 land, in order to consult with the delegates of the cantons 
 belonging to the reformed rehgion. The Court of Prance 
 took alarm at this intervention of the Protestant powers, and 
 to forestall it obtained by the treaty of Pignerol a much-needed 
 pacification, which was not, however, intended to last long. 
 None the less to the States-General belonged the merit of 
 having caused the persecution to cease. 
 
 The renewal of friendly relations with the great powers 
 
DANGER OF A RUPTURE WITH PKANCE. 229 
 
 was indispensable to the United Provinces to enable them to 
 recover their freedom of action abroad and to participate in 
 the affairs of Europe. Spain had recognised their indepen- 
 dence, and was now too much weakened to cause them any 
 alarm. Their treaty with Cromwell, by which they had sub^ 
 mitted to the political exactions of the Protector, made England 
 once more their ally. It was only their alliance with France 
 that was in danger, and before the Grand Pensionary's skilful 
 diplomacy had been able to secure it, they were exposed to the 
 danger of a rupture. 
 
 France, who feared that she might be isolated in the war 
 which she was carrying on against the Spanish monarchy, had 
 never ceased reproaching the States-General for thek defection 
 in concluding the peace of Miinster with Spain. She found 
 fresh cause for displeasure in their treaty with Cromwell, 
 which she would have liked to delay, in order that she might 
 be included in it. She had, therefore, stirred up maritime 
 quarrels with them, by claiming a right of capture over all ships 
 belonging to the republic which carried Spanish merchandise, 
 in accordance with the old proverb ' that the enemy's coat 
 forfeits that of the friend.' In vain the States-General, by 
 demanding the renewal of their maritime treaty with France, 
 sought to obtain the recognition of that great principle of 
 maritime law that the flag protects the cargo, which was to 
 be one of the tardy conquests of modern civilisation ; the con- 
 ferences held by the Grand Pensionary with the ambassador 
 Chanut had been of no avail. Far from relaxing her ex- 
 actions, France continued them more imperiously, when 
 Mazarin, bridging over, after a fashion, the abyss which seemed 
 to yawn between the oldest monarchy of Europe and a regicide 
 republic, had obtained, by means of concessions, an alliance 
 between Cromwell and the French Government against Spain. 
 
 In order to complete this coalition, Mazarin attempted to 
 force the United Provinces to join it, by imposing on them a 
 defensive and offensive alliance. Instead of giving them credit 
 for the good-will which they displayed, he could not endure 
 the resistance they offered to his exactions, and deter- 
 mined to overcome them by the most unjust severity. Not 
 
230 JOHN DE WITT. 
 
 content with withdrawing from the subjects of the United 
 Provinces the privileges which had hitherto guaranteed them 
 exemption from certain onerous taxes, the French Government 
 imposed upon them a new freight duty of fifty sols, or one 
 crown, per ton, on all foreign ships which should load or unload 
 merchandise in the kingdom. Moreover, it declared lawful 
 capture all vessels carrying a Spanish cargo. Under this 
 pretext the French privateers captured, on all seas, more than 
 328 ships belonging to the mercantile navy of the United 
 Provinces, representing a value of twenty or thirty millions. 
 ' No justice can he obtained here,' writes Boreal, the ambassador 
 of the States-General, from Paris, ' and if we ever do obtain 
 it the sentences are not carried out. Where the United Pro- 
 vinces are concerned, the most obvious crimes are winked at 
 and the plainest reasons are not listened to. Why should 
 this be, except to force us to do what is vvished here — in order 
 to engage us in a war with Spain ? The Dutch consul at 
 Marseilles has actually been attacked by armed men and left 
 for dead on the spot, because he had delivered to the king's 
 commissioners several sentences favourable to the subjects of 
 the republic' 
 
 The States-General, unable to endure such arbitrary 
 measures, resolved to repel force by force. Euyter, in the 
 execution of their orders, surprised and seized two ships, 
 which had just before plundered some Dutch vessels, and sent 
 them with their crews under an escort to Amsterdam. Without 
 waiting or admitting any explanation, the French government 
 retaliated by confiscating all ships and merchandise belonging 
 to the subjects of the repubhc in the French ports. 
 
 The United Provinces would not allow themselves to be 
 intimidated. A policy of reprisals was eagerly advised by the 
 States of Holland. 'I think,' wrote De Witt to Nieupoort, 
 'that it would be well to adopt the resolution of giving 
 directions to the vice-admiral to attack French vessels, both 
 merchantmen and hne-of-battle ships, to take possession of 
 them, and to continue to act thus resolutely till the embargo 
 has been taken off by order of the King of France.' The 
 States-Genera], more cautious, but equally determined to 
 
DE THOU AMBASSADOB AT THE HAGUE. 231 
 
 obtain justice, contented themselyes with ordering that forty- 
 eight vessels should be fitted out. At the same time their 
 ambassador, Boreel, forestalling their instructions, waited on 
 the young king, to whom he represented, with lofty pride, 
 the iniquity, of the orders which had been issued. ' No 
 ambassador ever spoke so freely at this court,' said Mazarin 
 to him, 'and you may have to repent of it.' Boreel was 
 obliged to be satisfied, as sole answer, with the declaration 
 that the remonstrances of the States should be transmitted to 
 the French ambassador, who had just started for the Hague. 
 
 The negotiator selected by Mazarin was Auguste de Thou, 
 a member of one of the great parliamentary families of the 
 kingdom, whose father had distinguished himself as a states- 
 man and historian, and whose brother, Pran9ois de Thou, had 
 been one of the victims of the implacable policy of Eichelieu. 
 Assisted by Gentillot, a lieutenant-colonel in the service of 
 the United Provinces, whom Mazarin employed as one of his 
 agents, he undertook to gain the confidence of the States by 
 appearing disposed to conciliate, although his instructions 
 forbade him ' to make the first advances.' ' These people,' he 
 wrote, ' are not to be either scolded or hurried, but must be 
 treated gently and leisurely.' Having been received in solemn 
 audience on April 28, 1657, De Thou warmly urged the 
 States-General to disavow and make reparation for the conduct 
 of Euyter. But they persisted in their refusal to give up the 
 two captured French vessels, so long as their own ships had 
 not been given up to them. The French Government havmg 
 refused to grant them this preliminary satisfaction, the severe 
 measures proposed by the States of Holland appeared to be 
 justified; they prohibited the entry of French merchandise 
 into the United Provinces, issued orders for blockading all 
 the ports of the kingdom, and concluded by declaring that 
 all French vessels met with on the seas by their fleets should 
 be lawful capture. 
 
 France had not at her disposal the necessary naval forces 
 to allow her to brave with impunity such a danger as this, 
 and, in order to avert it, De Thou showed himself disposed to 
 give the States- General pledges of satisfaction, which he 
 
232 JOHN DE "WITT. 
 
 undertook to have ratified. The terms of agreement were 
 debated and agreed to, thanks to the earnest intervention of 
 the Grand Pensionary, of Beverningh, and of their mutual 
 friend De Groot, who thus brought about the happy termina- 
 tion of a painfully prolonged negotiation. The States- General 
 insisted on a promise of the removal of the embargo placed 
 on their ships and merchandise, the execution of the judicial 
 decrees pronounced in favom- of then- subjects, the speedy 
 conclusion of a maritime treaty, and, meanwhile, the pro- 
 visional enjoyment of all privileges accorded to the inhabitants 
 of the most favoured states. In consideration of these 
 engagements signed by De Thou, the States-General consented 
 Avithout further delay to the satisfaction demanded of them. 
 It was the triumph of a policy equally removed from weakness 
 and rashness, decided in its pretensions, which it never 
 exceeded, warlike from necessity, but peaceable from inclina- 
 tion. ' "We only desire to guarantee due respect for the state, 
 and the tranquillity of its subjects trafficking on the seas,' 
 wrote De Witt to Nieupoort, ' and it api^ears to us that we 
 have now attained our ends.' 
 
 The ill-will of Mazarin delayed, it is true, the ratification 
 of this agreement, in spite of the remonstrances of De Thou, 
 who never ceased to represent that these subterfuges were 
 vreakening and destroying the credit of France. Not choosing 
 to be the dupes of then- own confidence, the States-General 
 fixed a period of ten days, after which the resolution which 
 they had taken to exercise reprisals would be irrevocably 
 carried out. Mazarin, obliged to take notice of the complaints 
 of the shopkeepers of Paris, who carried on with the republic 
 a trade valued at 20,000,000 florins, was forced to yield. 
 A letter from the king, 'calculated to satisfy the most 
 difficult,' was solemnly delivered to the States-General by De 
 Thou, and gave them entire satisfaction. 
 
 An unforeseen incident, however, nearly furnished France 
 with a grievance which might have prevented the conclusion 
 of the negotiations. It was one of those quarrels about 
 precedence, in regard to which the representatives of the 
 King of France were ordered ' to go to any extremity sooner 
 
DISPUTE BETWEEN FEENCH AND SPANISH AMBASSADOES. 233 
 
 than yield.' The ambassador, De Thou, returning from 
 visiting the Princess Dowager in her new country house, 
 on August 11, 1657, had met the Spanish ambassador, 
 Gamarra, at six o'clock in the evening, on the public promenade 
 of the Hague, the Voorhout. Their coaches, that of the 
 French ambassador drawn by six horses, and that of Gamarra 
 by two, having met in the carriage road, had disputed the 
 place of honour, without either choosing to turn one step out 
 of his way. Their servants were on the pomt of coming to 
 blows, and the people, attracted by the noise of the quarrel, 
 and irritated by the outrages committed in France against 
 the subjects of the republic, were preparing to take part for 
 the Spanish ambassador. De Witt and some of the members 
 of the States, informed of the tumult, hastened to interpose, 
 summoned the guards on duty to disperse the crowd, and 
 undertook to settle the dispute amicably. After parleys pro- 
 longed for three hours, Beverningh proposed an expedient 
 which was agreed to ; the barrier which enclosed the carriage 
 road, and along which the coaches were stationed, was taken 
 down; the Spanish ambassador passed on the right of the 
 French ambassador, thus appearing to obtain the advantage ; 
 while De Thou, satisfied with having obliged Gamarra to make 
 way for him, attributed to himself the honours of j)recedence. 
 
 The pacification of the quarrel entered upon with France 
 left the United Provinces still exposed to the exactions of the 
 French Government so long as the latter stood in need of 
 their assistance against Spain. The continuation of the war 
 between the two rival monarchies gave them reason to fear 
 that the Low Countries might be conquered by France, and 
 that this conquest might give them a formidable neighbour. 
 The peace of the Pyrenees, concluded soon after, in 1659, re- 
 assured the States-General. It enabled them to enjoy the 
 benefits of a neutrality which they had not chosen to depart 
 from, and which was now no longer threatened. Their alliance 
 with France, which had been till now in danger, was thus 
 secured. 
 
 They had been obliged meanwhile to observe a policy of 
 great circumspection in order to remain the allies of England. 
 
234 JOHN DE WITT. 
 
 Their ambassador, Nieupoort, had contrived to win the con- 
 fidence of the Protector by the cheerfulness of his disposition 
 and the charms of his conversation. Cromwell sent for him 
 without ceremony, hked to spend in his company the hours 
 which he devoted to relaxation from business, invited him to 
 hunt with him, and even to play at bowls with him in the park 
 of Hampton Court. 'As I was not acquainted with that 
 game,' wrote Nieupoort to De Witt, ' he made me bet with him. 
 After continuing this exercise for two hours, he invited me to 
 sit down with him, while the other gentlemen remained stand- 
 ing, and had me reconducted to my carriage by the secretary 
 of state, Thurloe.' Nieupoort did not fail to respond to these 
 advances by courtier -like attentions. Cromwell having given 
 him to understand one day that he wished to purchase his 
 handsome barb, Nieupoort left it intentionally in the stables at 
 Hampton Court, and refused to take it back. 
 
 This interchange of courtesies was all the more neces- 
 sary as great difficulties might be anticipated at the Hague 
 in carrying on diplomatic relations with the English envoy, 
 George Downing, in whom the States-General could not put 
 any confidence. Having started in life as tutor to some young 
 Enghsh gentlemen. Downing, appointed chaplain of a regiment 
 in the army of the republic, had brought himself under the 
 notice of Cromwell. Pleased with his readiness and aptness 
 for intrigue, the Protector had commissioned him to super- 
 intend the work of his spies and secret correspondents. 
 Allied by marriage to the House of Howard, one of the most 
 illustrious in England, Downing soon obtained for himself an 
 entry into diplomacy, and was sent as minister to the States- 
 General. Immediately on his arrival at his post, he com- 
 menced a policy of chicanery and disputes from which he never 
 afterwards departed. ' Trusting only,' according to the testi- 
 mony of a contemporary who had known him well, ' to the 
 knavish tricks on which he even prided himself, and from 
 which he did not derive much advantage, he had not sufficient 
 honesty or prudence to believe that there is no minister who 
 deceives more surely and more agreeably than he who never 
 deceives at all. 
 
NEGOTIATIONS WITH ENGLAND. 235 
 
 The States were obliged, therefore, to be on their guard in 
 order to avoid any cause for a misunderstanding between the 
 two governments, and to furnish no pretext for recrimination. 
 Thus Holland, having purchased peace with England at the 
 price of the Act of Exclusion of the young Prince of Orange, 
 in his capacity as nephew of the last King of England, showed 
 herself eager not to tolerate any conspiracy on the part of the 
 sons of Charles I., and, to reassure the Protector, excluded 
 them from her territories. In return for this compliance, 
 Cromwell, though he would not accede to the conclusion of the 
 treaty of commerce which the States-General never ceased to 
 demand, showed a conciliatory spirit towards them by re- 
 nouncing the right of search which he claimed to exercise over 
 their vessels, to prevent them from carrying on any trade in 
 Spanish merchandise. The States-General feared none the 
 less that the violent measures of which the Court of France 
 had set the example might deter the Protector from the policy 
 of moderation which he had adopted ; but they were reassured 
 by their ambassador. ' As regards the apprehensions which 
 I expressed to the secretary of state, Thurloe, with respect to 
 the conduct of his government,' wrote Nieupoort to De Witt, 
 ' he assured me that the intentions which appeared to be sus- 
 pected at the Hague were in nobody's mind here, and never 
 would be ; adding that we must have confidence in one another.' 
 Cromwell, whose mind was filled with the idea of having him- 
 self proclaimed king, and of founding a dynasty, was not dis- 
 posed to stir up conflicts abroad. The war with Spain, which 
 he renewed with fresh activity when forced to abandon his 
 ambitious projects, and which put him in possession of Dun- 
 kirk, might, it was true, have exposed the United Provinces 
 to fresh disputes on the subject of their neutrality. But they 
 were spared these by his death, which followed closely upon 
 his new conquest. The events to which it gave rise, and which 
 soon deprived his son of power, to place it in the hands of 
 other chiefs of the republican party who were equally unable to 
 retain it, could not fail to be favourable to the United Pro- 
 vinces, by rendering it impossible for England to make any 
 pretensions to supremacy abroad. ' We have,' wrote De Witt, 
 
236 JOHJT DE "WITT. 
 
 * nothing to fear from the present Pariiament, which is more 
 hkely to stand in need of us in order to avoid shipwreck.' 
 The slow dissolution of an expiring republic gave the States- 
 General the most perfect seem-ity, and even appeared to put 
 then- old rival at their mercy. 
 
 Freed henceforth from all anxiety with regard to France 
 and England, they took advantage of the opportunity to 
 carry on the war with Portugal, and to secure their interests 
 in the North by an armed intervention. Unable to obtain 
 from Portugal the restitution of their important colony of 
 Brazil, which had been taken from them while they were 
 occupied in defending themselves against England, and further 
 provoked by the seizure of their trading vessels, . they deter- 
 mined to obtain justice by force. A fleet commanded by 
 Pvuyter proceeded to blockade Lisbon, and obliged the Portu- 
 guese Government to make proposals of peace, which were not 
 accepted. The States-General purposely delayed the conclu- 
 sion of negotiations in order to continue the war in the 
 Indies ; the Portuguese, driven out successively from the 
 island of Ceylon and the island of Celebes or Macassar, lost 
 their last colonies. These conquests were of advantage to the 
 Bast India Company, and made up to the United Provinces 
 for the loss of Brazil. 
 
 Events which had happened in the North imposed still 
 more forcibly upon the States-General the necessity for inter- 
 vention in order to preserve intact their maritime power. They 
 thus secured to themselves a proudly acquired supremacy over 
 Brandenburg, Denmark, and Sweden. 
 
 Sweden threatened them with a dangerous rivalry by seek- 
 ing to resume the position which the Thirty Years' War had 
 conferred upon her. The sudden abdication of Queen Chris- 
 tina had caused her rights to pass into the hands of her 
 cousin Charles Gustavus, an ambitious and enterprising prince, 
 who, finding on his accession to the throne that the royal 
 treasury was exhausted, was impatient to acquire fresh 
 resources by means of conquest. Having at his disposal a 
 well-seasoned army, commanded by one of the great soldiers 
 of the day, Marshal Wrangel, he considered himself bound to 
 
WABS IN THE NORTH. 237 
 
 continue the work of his uncle, Gustavus Adolphus, and wished 
 to secure for himself the dominion over the Baltic Sea, of which 
 he proposed to make a sort of Swedish lake. 
 
 Such an enterprise, if it had been successful, would have 
 instantly destroyed the sources of the maritime prosperity of 
 the United Provinces. It was the Baltic Sea that furnished 
 them with their provisions of wheat, and with the necessary 
 materials both for the construction and the maintenance of 
 their ships ; their mercantile navy employed more than five 
 hundred vessels in this traffic. When the King of Sweden, 
 therefore, having made a sudden invasion into the states of 
 Casimir Vasa, king of Poland, took possession of his kingdom 
 ' without spending more time about it than would have been 
 required to travel through it in regular stages,' this invasion 
 spread alarm in the United Provmces. It justified the fears 
 of the Grand Pensionary, who wrote to one of the ambassadors 
 of the republic : ' To see the King of Sweden master of the 
 horizon would be one of the greatest of dangers for this 
 state.' The treaty concluded between the United Provinces and 
 Sweden some years before prevented them from interposing 
 to hinder such a formidable extension of power. They there- 
 fore accepted with eagerness the unexpected offers of alliance 
 made them by the Elector of Brandenburg, who feared that 
 the King of Sweden's conquests might soon put himself at 
 his mercy. 
 
 Frederick William, who, by his persistence in a policy 
 which always remained superior to bad fortune, became in 
 some sort the second founder of his dynasty, and merited the 
 appellation of the Great Elector, had succeeded fifteen years 
 before to an impoverished heritage. Deprived by Sweden of 
 Pomerania, he was not even the independent possessor of the 
 Duchy of Prussia, which was only a fief of Poland. Brought 
 up in Holland, he had married the eldest daughter of the 
 Princess Dowager, Louisa Henrietta, sister of the last Stadt- 
 holder, William II., whose name is still held in honour on 
 account of her piety, and in whom he found, as he said 
 himself, the most unfailing of his advisers. This relationship 
 had made him rather hostile than favourable to the United 
 
238 JOHN DE WITT. 
 
 Provinces, since the change of government which had deprived 
 his nephew, the Prince of Orange, of all power. This ill-will 
 towards them was encouraged, moreover, by his envoy to the 
 Hague, Weyman, ' an obstinate and violent man, who had 
 begun life as a village lawyer, and had thus acquired a 
 taste for chicanery.' The fear of Swedish domination, how- 
 ever, overpowered the prejudices he entertained against the 
 party which governed the republic. By the treaty of the 
 Hague, concluded with the United Provinces, he undertook to 
 assist the kingdom of Poland, in consideration of the promises 
 made to him and of the subsidies, amounting to 40,000 crowns, 
 which he received on account. This aUiance ended only in a 
 speedy defection. Alarmed by the rapid conquest of Poland, 
 and disconcerted by the entry of a Swedish army into his 
 dominions, he hastened to offer submission to the King of 
 Sweden, at the risk of being accused by the States-General ' of 
 an act of treason which the Grand Pensionary De Witt attri- 
 buted to his vulpine conduct,' thus reproaching him with wish- 
 ing to act the fox's part. By the treaty of Konigsberg he 
 made common cause with Charles Gustavus, and five months 
 later, by the treaty of Marienburg, he united his troops to 
 the Swedish army, in order to complete the overthrow of the 
 King of Poland. 
 
 The last bulwark of resistance was the town of Dantzic, 
 the granary of plenty of the United Provinces, to which it 
 furnished 70,000 measures of wheat. The States-General 
 could not allow it to fall without imperilling the interests of 
 the republic, and, while resorting to diplomatic negotiations, 
 they soon perceived that, if they wished to save it, they must 
 rely on themselves alone. Although the Grand Pensionary 
 was averse from war out of respect for treaties, he neverthe- 
 less supported an energetic policy. A military demonstration 
 proposed by the States of Holland was agreed to by the 
 States-General; they despatched, under command of Lieu- 
 tenant-Admu-al Obdam, a fleet of forty-eight ships, which 
 landed at Dantzic 1,300 foot soldiers, the command of whom 
 was entrusted to Percival, one of the captains of the regi- 
 ment of guards. Intimidated by the assistance thus ren- 
 
TKEATY OF ELBING. 239 
 
 dered to the besieged town, Charles Gustavus, who feared a 
 rising in Poland, appeared disposed to negotiate articles of a 
 treaty which were settled without difficulty in the Conference 
 of Elbing. The States-General renewed, under conditions 
 advantageous to their commerce, their former alliance with 
 Sweden, and the town of Dantzic retained her liberty of re- 
 maining loyal to the King of Poland, while undertaking not to 
 furnish him with any assistance. The free navigation of the 
 Baltic Sea was thus ensured to the United Provinces. 
 
 The rashness of the King of Denmark exposed them to 
 still more serious dangers. Frederick III. only awaited a 
 favourable opportunity to recover from the Swedes the latest 
 conquests they had made in his kingdom. The renewal 
 of hostilities by the King of Poland against Charles Gustavus 
 gave him the signal for which he was impatiently waiting. 
 Not only did Casimir Vasa recover his kingdom from the 
 King of Sweden as rapidly as the latter had conquered it, but 
 he also deprived him of the alliance of the Elector of Branden- 
 burg, whom he secured on his side by acknowledging him as 
 sovereign of the Duchy of Prussia. This sudden change 
 in the fortunes of the King of Sweden emboldened the King 
 of Denmark, who, without considering the inferiority of his 
 forces, declared war against his ambitious neighbour. But his 
 invasion of the Duchy of Bremen was followed by a prompt 
 retreat, and he soon found himself threatened in his own 
 dominions, without the power of defending himself. In vaui 
 had the States- General addressed to him the most earnest 
 remonstrances, to dissuade him from such imprudent conduct, 
 of which the Grand Pensionary pointed out to him all the 
 dangers. In vain they then advised him to accept offers of 
 peace that would secure to him the integrity of his kingdom. 
 Frederick III. was so imprudent as to try to gain time, hoping 
 to drag the States-General into a precipitate rupture, from 
 which they were saved by the prudence of the Grand Pen- 
 sionary. His hesitation only profited the King of Sweden, who, 
 breaking off negotiations, completed in a campaign of a few 
 days the subjection of Denmark, and approached Copenhagen 
 at the head of an army of 15,000 men. Yielding now to the 
 
240 JOHN DE WITT. 
 
 councils of despair, Frederick III. submitted to all the con- 
 ditions that were imposed upon him by the victor, and ceded 
 to him the greater part of his dominions, by signing with him 
 the treaty of Eoskild. To preserve the rights of toU in the 
 Sound he was obliged to promise to prohibit all foreign fleets 
 from entering the Baltic Sea. ' I have seen in the port of 
 Amsterdam the wooden keys that will open it,' said the am- 
 bassador of the States, Van Beuningen, haughtily, to the 
 Eng of Sweden, alluding to the ships of the republic, which 
 did not allow the passage to be closed to them for long. 
 
 Although the United Provinces did not lose less than 
 Denmark by this convention, the States-General would not 
 perhaps have ventured to give the signal for a fresh war fi-om 
 which De Witt was trying to dissuade them had not the King 
 of Sweden, making himself the aggressor, offered them the 
 oj)portunity for which they were waiting to recover their 
 liberty of action. Impatient to attempt a sudden stroke that 
 might put into his power the last remnants of the Danish 
 monarchy, Charles Gustavus complained that the treaty of 
 Eoskild had not been executed, and declared it broken off. 
 All resistance gave way once more before his impetuous onset. 
 Having obtained possession of all the strongholds of the kintr- 
 dom, he proceeded to lay siege to Copenhagen, intending 
 to raze it to the ground, Frederick III. having shut himself 
 up there with his wife, the courageous Queen Sophia Ameha, 
 to encourage the inhabitants to resistance. AU hope for Den- 
 mark was at an end if she were not promptly rescued. 
 The ambassador of the republic. Van Beimingen, therefore, 
 after valiantly exposing himself in the besieged town, em- 
 barked in haste, to implore speedy assistance. 
 
 Immediately on his arrival, the States of Holland re- 
 sponded to the pressing appeal of the Grand Pensionary, 
 whose pacific scruples were overcome by the necessity for 
 war. They repaired in a body to the Assembly of the" States- 
 General, to whom they represented the imminence of the 
 danger and demanded that the violation of the treaty should 
 not be left unpunished. It was immediately determined to fit 
 out a powerful fleet. To cover the expense the States of 
 
NAVAL VICTORY OF THE STATES IN THE SOUND. 2-il 
 
 Holland had recourse to a loan and increased their debt by 
 2,600,000 florins. Six weeks later Admiral Obdam de 
 Wassenaar set sail for Copenhagen, haying under his orders 
 thirty-five ships carrying thirty-eight regiments. He was 
 furnished with written instructions enjoining him; not only to 
 assist the King of Denmark but also to destroy the Swedish 
 fleet. 
 
 A naval engagement soon followed. Forty-five Swedish 
 vessels were in line ; they had been placed under the command 
 of Wrangel, major-general and admiral-in-chief, who ap- 
 peared destined to sustain his mihtary renown on sea as well 
 as on land. The King of Sweden, hoping to escape from the 
 necessity of fighting by not allowing his fleet to take the 
 offensive, had not despatched it against that of the States, with 
 whom it might have disputed the passage of the Sound ; but 
 it was overtaken at the entrance of the Baltic Sea and could 
 not avoid the attack. The Swedish admiral's ship was 
 assailed in turn by the Dutch Vice-Admu-al de With, who 
 commanded the van, and by Admiral Obdam, who suc- 
 ceeded in disabling it, but who, kept at a distance by a fire- 
 ship, could not obtain possession of it. The struggle was a 
 desperate one between Vice- Admirals de With and Bielkoen- 
 stiern. After valiantly defending his ship, which had run 
 aground, the Dutch vice-admiral, mortally wounded by a 
 cannon-shot, refused to, surrender and went down with his 
 ship. The second vice-admiral, Floriszoon, shared his fate, 
 and met with an equally glorious death. Obdam, unable 
 any longer to hope for assistance from his lieutenants and 
 surrounded by seven of the enemy's ships, sustained their 
 fire for four hours, succeeded in getting away and rallied the 
 fleet around him for a fresh battle. Admiral Wrangel, who 
 had lost eight ships, could not bar his .passage and reduced to 
 seek refuge in the harbour of Landskroon left him in posses- 
 sion of the sea. Copenhagen was saved. Two thousand 
 men were disembarked there under the command of Colonel 
 Pugler. The King of Sweden was obliged to give up the idea 
 of storming the town, but could not make up his mind to 
 retreat, and contented himself with a siege in form, which he 
 
 VOL. I. R 
 
242 JOHN DE WITT. 
 
 tried unsucessfully to terminate during the course of the 
 winter by a surprise, which was easily repulsed. 
 
 Diplomacy nearly deprived the States-General of the ad- 
 vantages of their victory. England and France, who showed 
 jealousy of them, were secretly disposed to intervene on behalf 
 of the King of Sweden, and were negotiating a convention 
 which should put an end to the war in the North. The Grand 
 Pensionary skilfully took the initiative in proposing to them a 
 mediation and succeeded in getting it accepted, on condition 
 that the States-General should unite with the two mediating 
 powers against whichever of the two kings refused to make 
 peace. Negotiations were prolonged for more than two 
 months and ended in the convention of the Hague. The 
 States-General insisted on the modification of the clauses pre- 
 judicial to them in the last treaty concluded between the King 
 of Sweden and the King of Denmark ; they succeeded in obtain- 
 ing the opening of the passage of the Sound to foreign ships 
 of war, thus putting an end to a prohibition which constituted 
 a threat and a danger to the United Provinces. 
 
 In spite of the intervention of the mediators, Frederick 
 III. and Charles Gustavus showed themselves little disposed 
 to accept proposals of peace. The King of Denmark re- 
 fused to leave to the King of Sweden his conquests and was 
 indignant at the States wishing to force him to sign a treaty 
 which he considered ignominious. ' Make peace, su-e, if you 
 do not wish to be made to do it,' said the envoy of the United 
 Provinces, Vogelsangh, one day in a threatening tone. ' Who 
 will make me?' answered the king; 'neither the States- 
 General nor the de^-il himself can force me. If I must perish, 
 I will perish as a man of honour and courage ; but in fa llin g I 
 shall drag your masters with me over the precipice.' This 
 obstinacy was the source of unceasing perplexity to De Witt, 
 and caused him to fear lest the refusal of mediation might 
 oblige the States-General to mtervene against their ally. 
 Taking advantage of the weakness of the Parliament, which 
 felt itself threatened with a speedy restoration and was allow- 
 ing the foreign policy of England to drift, he succeeded in 
 getting the Convention of the Hague completed, by a clause 
 
OFFERS OF MEDIATION REFUSED BY THE KING OF SWEDEN. 243 
 
 favourable to the King of Denmark, which restored to him, 
 besides the bailiwick of Drontheim, a part of Norway. 
 Frederick III., satisfied with this concession, promised to 
 accept the treaty of peace which was offered to him. But his 
 consent was followed by the refusal of the King of Sweden, 
 who declined to lay down his arms, in the hope that the King of 
 Denmark might incur the responsibility of the rupture of nego- 
 tiations. Disappointed in this expectation, Charles Gustavus 
 took advantage of the alteration which had been made in the 
 Convention of the Hague to declare that he considered it as 
 a violation of the engagements made with him, which might 
 justify him in breaking off negotiations. He gave vent loudly 
 to his anger before the plenipotentiaries of England and of 
 the States-General, whom he received in his tent with every 
 show of military power. Having refused to take cognisance 
 of the project of mediation accepted by the King of Denmark, 
 he addressed them sharply, and, laying his hand on his sword, 
 concluded the interview with these haughty words : ' You, 
 gentlemen, make treaties on your fleets ; I make resolutions 
 with my sword. Withdraw your ships out of reach of my 
 forts if you do not wish me to drive them away with cannon- 
 shot.' 
 
 The mediating powers could no longer remain neutral, the 
 final period of delay fixed for mediation having expired. The 
 retreat of the English squadron, which had been taken back 
 to England by Admiral Montagu, who was desirous of taking 
 part in the approaching restoration, left entire freedom of 
 action to the fleet of the States-General. De Witt had made 
 up his mind to the great blow to be struck, and writing to 
 Vogelsangh, he quotes this fine sentence from the poet, 
 wdaich he is entitled to claim as his rule of conduct : 
 
 Hie murus aheneus esto 
 
 Nil conscire sibi, nulla pallescere culpa.' 
 
 Orders to resume hostilities were given to Ruyter, who 
 had succeeded Obdam in the command of the fleet. To con- 
 
 ' ' Let it be your rampart of steel, to have no reproacb to make to yourself, 
 and no fault to blush for.' 
 
 B 2 
 
241 JOHN DE wirr. 
 
 foim to the instructions which he had received, he transported 
 his troops and those of the Danes to the island of Fionia and 
 landed them at Odensee, under the enemy's fire. The 
 Danish cavalry at first fell back and threw confusion into the 
 ranks of the mfantry. But a French captain, Henri de 
 Culant, lord of Buat, employed in the service of the republic, 
 who commanded the Dutch regiment of guards, threw himself 
 into the water up to his waist, sword in hand, shouting : ' I 
 go first, follow me ! ' His example carried away the troops, 
 who drove back the Swedish cavalry and forced them to 
 abandon the shore. The allied army, joined by reinforce- 
 ments sent by the King of Denmark and the Elector of Bran- 
 denburg, took advantage of this first success to march with- 
 out delay on Nyburg, where the Swedish troops were en- 
 trenched. The infantry of the States-General, amounting to 
 3,000 men, commanded by Colouels Killigrew and Meteren, 
 made, pike in hand, an irresistible charge, which put the 
 garrison to flight, and forced it to retreat in disorder into the 
 town. Kuyter's ships bringing their broadsides to bear, thun- 
 dered upon it with their guns, and obliged it to surrender at 
 discretion, with the eleven regiments which were shut up in it. 
 A hundred guns and a hundred and ten flags or standards 
 remained in the hands of the conquerors. 
 
 Charles Gustavus, who had kept away from his main 
 army in order to continue the siege of Copenhagen, was over- 
 whelmed by the weight of this disaster, and only survived it a 
 few months. His death in 1660, which left the succession to a 
 king only five years of age, and made the Senate masters of the 
 government, exposed Sweden to the difficulties of a minority. 
 The ministers of his son Charles II. saw now the necessity 
 for consenting without further delay to the conditions of 
 mediation, and completed the pacification of the North by 
 the treaty of Oliva, concluded with the King of Poland. 
 They were grateful to the States for not yielding to the eager 
 solicitations of the King of Denmark, who was impatient to 
 recommence the war under more favourable conditions. Be- 
 sides, they did not wish to compromise the safety of the 
 Swedish fleet, blockaded in the port of Landskroon by Euyter's 
 
TEEATY OF COPENHAGEN. 245 
 
 squadron, and for which the French ambassador, the Chevalier 
 Terlon, had been vainly demanding free exit. When this 
 was granted, peace between Denmark and Sweden was finally 
 concluded at Copenhagen, under the guarantee of the media- 
 ting powers. 
 
 Denmark left to Sweden almost all her conquests, but 
 regained, in addition to the part of Norway which she had 
 lost, the castle of Cronenburg, which gave her back the key 
 to the passage of the Sound, of which the revenues were also 
 restored to her, on consideration of the payment of 35,000 
 crowns per annum. The treaty of Elbing, which at the very 
 commencement of the warlike enterprises of Charles Gustavus 
 had been intended to guarantee the interests of the United 
 Provinces, received at length the ratification which had hither- 
 to been delayed. The explanatory clauses, called clauses of 
 elucidation, which made it still more advantageous for the 
 republic, were inserted without any reservation. 
 
 The States- General were thus reaj)ing the recompense of a 
 policy at once bold and temperate. They prevented Sweden 
 from establishing in the North a preponderance which would 
 have been fatal to them. They obliged her to leave open the 
 entrance to the Baltic Sea, of which they remained the masters, 
 no other navy being capable of disputing their supremacy. 
 The superiority of their fleet, the valour of their land forces, 
 the skill and firmness of their diplomacj', had caused the 
 credit of their government to be acknowledged. Weakened 
 and humiliated in their last war with England, they had 
 resumed their rank amongst the great powers. De Witt 
 declared, according to a contemporaneous account, that 
 during the war in the North ' he had always kept before his 
 eyes, like two beacons, the honour and reputation of the 
 States, as well as the interests and security of its commerce.' 
 He might with good reason boast of having followed them, 
 without deviating from his path. These two beacons had 
 shown him the port, and they had successfully guided him in 
 entering it. 
 
246 JOHN DE WITT. 
 
 CHAPTEE V. 
 
 A KEPUBLIC IN ITS EELATION TO TWO MONAECHIBS — SDPEEMACY 
 OF HOLLAND — JOHN DE WITT EE-ELECTED GEAND PENSIONAEY. 
 
 1660-1663. 
 
 Eestoration of Charles II. — Honours paid to him at the Hague — Fresh demands 
 of the Orange party — Early education of the Prince of Orange — Negotiations 
 between De Witt and the Princess of Orange —The States of Holland take 
 upon them the guardianship of her son — Eevocation of the Act of Exclusion 
 — Death of the Princess Eoyal — Conflicts of authority between the States 
 and the other guardians of the Prince of Orange — The States resign the 
 guardianship — Embassy of Beverwaert to London and of Downing to the 
 Hague — Treaty between the United Provinces and England— Concessions 
 made to Charles II. — Peace concluded with Portugal- Extradition of 
 Charles I.'s judges — Negotiations with France — Embassy of Van Beuningen 
 to Paris — Hostile dispositions of the ministers of Louis XIV. — Disputes to 
 be settled — Treaty of alliance and commerce — Claims of Louis XIV. to the 
 Low Countries — The Grand Pensionary seeks for the basis of an agreement — 
 Embassy of Count d'Estrades to the Hague — His relations with De Witt — 
 Offers of an understanding evaded by Louis XIV. — Promise of a preliminary 
 agreement — Internal pacification — Agreement with Zealand — Securities 
 taken against the Orange party —Dispute between the Count d'Estrades and 
 the Prince of Orange — Alteration in the public prayers — Supremacy of the 
 repubHcan party — Ee-election of the Grand Pensionary — His new functions 
 — His family relations — His children — His works— His share in Delacourt's 
 book, ' The Interest of Holland ' — The manifesto of his poHcy. 
 
 The Grand Pensionary of Holland had re-opened to the United 
 Provinces an era of prosperity which they seemed likely hence- 
 forward to be able to enjoy at their ease. He was about to 
 complete his work of recuperation by making the republic the 
 ally of two great monarchies, without the necessity of pur- 
 chasing those alliances by a change of government. The more 
 difficult it might appear to obtain these diplomatic successes, 
 the more they would redound to his honour. 
 
 The restoration of Charles H., whom England, weary of 
 
RESTORATION OF CHARLES II. 247 
 
 anarchy, had recalled to the throne, made a rupture more 
 likely than a treaty. The States of Holland were in danger 
 of finding in him an irreconcilable enemy, who would never 
 forgive them their alliance with Cromwell, his father's mur- 
 derer, nor their hostility towards his nephew, the Prince of 
 Orange. They anticipated, moreover, that he would inevitably 
 demand the restoration of the stadtholdership in favour of the 
 Prince of Orange. 
 
 The position was one of peril, and John de Witt set all his 
 political ingenuity at work to avert its dangers. Determined 
 to maintain the republican form of government as a trust 
 confided to him, and not to sacrifice it to royal antipathies, he 
 was all the more anxious to keep up friendly relations with 
 England, under the reign of Charles II. as well as under the 
 protectorate of CromwelL He was conYinced, as those about 
 him said, ' that if the devil himself were sovereign of Great 
 Britain, it would be necessary to live on friendly terms with 
 him.' 
 
 On the first intelligence of the events which were prepar- 
 ing, Charles II. had hastily quitted Brussels, fearing that the 
 governor of the Low Countries might detain him there, in 
 order to demand from him the restoration of the conquests 
 made by Cromwell in Spain. It was at Breda, on territory 
 belonging to the States-General, that he received the declara- 
 tion of Parliament restoring to him his kingdom and inviting 
 him to come and take possession of it. 
 
 It was of importance to the States- General and the States 
 of Holland that they should not allow themselves to be fore- 
 stalled. On the very day on which the Parliament recalled 
 Charles II. to England, the States- General had sent some of 
 their deputies to him, to thank him solemnly for having 
 arrested his steps on the territory of the United Provinces. 
 At the same time the States of Holland, anxious to make him 
 forget that they had formerly prohibited him from entering 
 then- province, in order to please Cromwell, invited him to 
 repair to the Hague, where they were desirous of having the 
 honour of receiving him. 
 
 Some days later, Charles II. made his solemn entry mto 
 
248 JOHN DE WITT. 
 
 that town with the princes his brothers, the Princess Eoyal, 
 and the young Prince of Orange. He was accompanied by 
 the commissioners who had gone to meet him, followed by a 
 train of seventy-two carriages, and escorted by 500 English 
 gentlemen on horseback; the municipal troops, and the 
 regiment of guards formed a double Ime as far as the 
 house of Prince Maurice of Nassau, which had been prepared 
 for his reception. The following day the States-General and 
 the States of Holland came to offer him their congratulations, 
 and the Grand Pensionary harangued in French the royal 
 guest of the republic ; he sMlfuUy referred in his speech to 
 the fidelity of the United Provinces to their alliance with 
 England, in order thus to justify then- conduct towards Crom- 
 well. ' We consider it,' he added, ' in the highest degree an 
 interest of state ; we must even admit that for some years 
 past that interest of state has done violence to our natural 
 inclinations, since it was not in your august person that we 
 found the representative of that country, and thus your Majesty 
 may judge with what affection and zeal we shall in future 
 cherish and maintain union and close correspondence be- 
 tween your kingdom and this republic; since, now that we 
 see your Majesty restored, our natural inclination and the 
 interests of the State are united.' The answer of Charles II. 
 was at first somewhat curt, but the compliments paid him in 
 thanking him for his courtesy induced him to throw aside 
 his reserve. ' I am determined,' he said, ' to enter into a very 
 close alliance with this State, and that is why, gentlemen, I 
 should be jealous if you chose to prefer the friendship and 
 alliance of any other prince to mme.' ' That alliance,' 
 answered De Witt, ' ought to be as close as possible, and the 
 principal one of both States.' To leave no doubt as to 
 his opinions, Charles concluded as follows the conversation, 
 every word of which has been faithfully reported in the secret 
 proceedings of the States of Holland : ' I take into considera- 
 tion that you were forced to treat with people who, having 
 revolted against my father, were equally persistent against 
 me ; but now you will have to do with men of honour.' 
 Those whom he proclaimed men of honom- were the same 
 
HONOUES PAID TO CHAELES II. AT THE HAGUE. 249 
 
 ^vho, later, were, by their dtiplieity, to cause the repubhe to 
 regret the intractable rudeness of the Protector. 
 
 Banquets succeeded to visits and deputations. Indepen- 
 dently of two solemn feasts offered to Charles II. by the 
 States of Holland, the expenses of his table were magnificently 
 defrayed. Five deputies were his guests every day, ' whereby,' 
 says a contemporary sarcastically, ' they did themselves quite 
 as much honour and pleasure as they did the king.' Charles 
 could not be indifferent to the sumptuous reception that was 
 given him, nor to the marks of respect which he received. 
 He was, moreover, anxious to secure for the young Prince of 
 Orange the good-will of the States-General and of the States 
 of Holland. With this object in view, he determined, after 
 having contrived to hold several interviews with the Grand 
 Pensionary, to attend their Assemblies in person. 
 
 In the week followmg his arrival at the Hague, commis- 
 sioners delegated by each province came to fetch him from 
 the house of Prince Maurice of Nassau and conducted him 
 to the largest hall in the palace, where the members of the 
 States-General were met together to receive him. The presi- 
 dent for the week, Jacob de Veth, deputy of Zealand, ceded 
 to him his place, and Charles stood bareheaded under the 
 royal canopy which had been prepared in the Assembly where 
 the representatives of a republic held their sittings. He 
 renewed to the deputies his protestations of attachment. ' I 
 love the United Provinces,' he declared, ' more than do all the 
 other kings put together.' The deputies of Holland, who 
 had come to meet him on his departure from the sitting of 
 the States-General, then accompanied him to the hall of their 
 Assembly, to receive, in their turn, his visit. He thanked 
 them for their hospitality, assured them of his friendship 
 and recommended to them the interests of his family. To 
 give more weight to this recommendation, he delivered to the 
 Grand Pensionary a declaration signed by himself and con- 
 ceived in these terms : ' Gentlemen, since I leave here in your 
 hands the princess my sister, and the Prince of Orange my 
 nephew, two persons who are extremely dear to me, I beg you 
 will take their interests to heart and let them experience the 
 
250 JOHN DE WITT. 
 
 effects of your kindness, on all occasions on which the 
 princess my sister shall request it of you, assuring you 
 that every effect of your good-will towards them shall 
 be recognised by me, as if I had received it in my own 
 person.' 
 
 De Witt, who would have hked to avoid making any 
 engagement in favour of the Prince of Orange, was embar- 
 rassed by this pressing request, and betrayed his perplexity 
 by the ill-concealed exaggeration of his flattery. ' As we do 
 not deserve the honour of this illustrious and splendid visit,' 
 he said, ' we could not hope that your Majesty would have 
 condescended to stoop so low; but since your Majesty is 
 pleased to assure us afresh of the honour of your friendship, 
 we venture to hope, sire, that your Majesty will have read on 
 our countenances, as well as on those of our subjects, the 
 true joy and pubhc rejoicing which we feel at your happy 
 restoration ; and, indeed, we should have wished to give stiU 
 greater proof of it, being constrained to admit that its effects 
 have not been in proportion with the royal and august dignity 
 of your Majesty.' By the help of these protestations, De 
 Witt avoided committing himself too far, being honestly 
 anxious not to promise what he could not fulfil. ' Your 
 Majesty,' he added, ' recommends to us the interests of the 
 Princess Eoyal and of the Prince of Orange her son ; we can 
 assure you that we shall not fail to carry out your wishes. 
 The mere consideration that they have the honour to be so 
 closely connected with your Majesty would suffice to incline 
 us to this ; but we may add that we were already moved by 
 several other reasons, amongst them the affection which the 
 princess has always displayed for the special good of our 
 province, and with regard to the Prince of Orange, by the 
 recollection which we cherish of the merits of his ancestors.' 
 The following day, the States of Holland came to bid farewell 
 to their guest. The Grand Pensionary, in his address, still 
 further surpassed in his adulation the marks of respectful 
 deference which Charles II. had already received, without, 
 however, making any fresh engagements in favour of the 
 Prince of Orange. 
 
CHARLES n.'S DEPAETURE FOE ENGLAND. 251 
 
 In order to pay Charles royal honours up to the moment 
 of his departure, the States of Holland, joined by the deputies 
 of the States-General, solemnly escorted him to the harbour 
 of Schevening. He bowed his thanks to the Assembly, pressed 
 De Witt's hand, and was conducted in a barge dressed with 
 flags to the admiral's ship, where Lord Montague immediately 
 hoisted the royal standard. His sister and his nephew joined 
 him there : he only took leave of them towards evening, 
 when he sent an escort with them back to the shore, while 
 the fleet set all sail for England. ' The whole population,' 
 said the ' Dutch Mercury,' ' seemed to have met by appoint- 
 ment to witness the departure of a king who had been seen, 
 some months before, walking in the streets of the towns, 
 without attracting the least attention from the passers-by.' 
 
 This brief reception had cost the United Provinces nearly 
 half a million of florins, and the States of Holland had con- 
 tributed towards it more than 350,000. ' It had procured for 
 them,' observes a contemporary ironically, ' treasures of pro- 
 mises, of which Charles II. was never niggardly,' and in which 
 the States-General, ' who were not familiar with princes,' had 
 full confidence. With more penetration, a deputy of Holland, 
 Nicholas Stellingwerf, one of those whom the Stadtholder 
 William II. had caused to be imprisoned at Loevenstein with 
 the father of John de Witt, remarked ' that it would have 
 been better to employ the money which had been spent in 
 feasts and banquets in the purchase of cannon, cannon balls, 
 and munitions of war.' This sombre prevision did not pre- 
 vent the States of Holland from following, with regard to the 
 King of England, a persevering policy of friendliness and 
 concessions. Obedient to the advice of John de Witt, they 
 proved to him their desire for conciliation by their care for 
 the interests of his nephew. 
 
 The restoration of Charles II. was an unexpected turn of 
 fortune for the House of Orange, and could not fail to induce 
 hopes that the end of its trials was at hand. Its interests 
 had hitherto been constantly endangered by the hostility 
 which had always subsisted between the grandmother and the 
 mother of the young prince. Their rivalry had shortly before 
 
252 JOHN DE WITT. 
 
 given Louis XIV. a pretext for occupying the principality of 
 Orange, the government of which was contended for by the 
 two princesses. The King of France seized the opportunity 
 to intervene as a mediator, and obtained possession of the 
 town from its governor, Count Frederick Dohna, nephew of 
 the Princess Dowager, only undertaking to restore it when the 
 Prince of Orange should have attained his majority. The 
 education of the young prince had not, however, suffered from 
 the misunderstanding between the two princesses. Not wish- 
 ing him to be a spectator of their disagreements, they had 
 agreed together to take the first step for his education by 
 sending him to Leyden at the age of nine years, and they 
 communicated their determination to the States-General, who 
 thanked them for their message. They chose as his governor 
 his uncle, Frederick of Nassau, lord of Zuylestein, a natural 
 son of the Stadtholder Frederick Henry, by whom he had 
 been acknowledged, and who bore the reputation of a man of 
 courage and sense. He displayed a passionate attachment 
 for the House of Orange, and on the occasion of the birth 
 of the young son of William II. caused the entrance gate 
 of his residence to be adorned with texts taken from the Old 
 Testament, in which he applied to him all that the prophets 
 had predicted of the Messiah. The direction of the young 
 prince's education was confided to the Calvinist minister 
 Cornelius Trigland, who, having taken his doctor's degree at 
 Leyden, had made himself known as a preacher at the Hague, 
 and justified the maternal choice by his religious instructions 
 as well as by his patriotic counsels. He wrote for his pupil 
 the ' Idea or Portrait of a Christian Prince,' as Fenelon later 
 wrote ' Telemaque ' as the manual of education of the Duke 
 of Burgundy. He lived long enough to see him restored to 
 the power of his ancestors, and, in a farewell letter which 
 he wrote to him before his death, he was able to exhort him to 
 make a good use of it. The best masters were associated with 
 Trigland in his duties. Professor Bornius was appointed 
 director of the young prince's studies. A Frenchman named 
 Cha;puyzeau, ' who had written some comedies, and who was 
 master of the Latin language as well as of the French,' was 
 
EARLY EDUCATION OF THE PRINCE OF ORANGE. 253 
 
 to assist him as preceptor. The former secretary of the Prince 
 of Orange, Huyghens de Zuylichem, father of the scholar 
 Huyghens, was charged with his instruction in Dutch htera- 
 ture. An estabhshment was provided for the young prince 
 with as much ceremonial as if he had retained his father's 
 offices ; the posts of first gentleman in waiting, of first equerry, 
 and of first steward were filled by the sons of Heenvliet, 
 Eenswoude, and Boreel, all three members of noble families in 
 the republic. Diplomacy was interested in the surroundings 
 of the young prince, in anticipation of the destinies which 
 might await him, and Louis XIV.'s ambassador at the 
 Hague, De Thou, recommended the French Government to 
 spare no expense ' in gaining over his governor and his 
 masters.' He was thus being prepared by his education to 
 take advantage of a turn of fortune which sooner or later was 
 inevitable. 
 
 The death agony of the republic of England, in paving 
 the way for the inevitable restoration of royalty, had already 
 shown the republican party the necessity for coming to terms 
 with the House of Orange. In the previous year the magis- 
 trates of Amsterdam, on the occasion of the marriage of the 
 Prince of Anhalt to Henrietta Catherine, second daughter of 
 the Princess Dowager, invited the family of the young prince 
 to a splendid entertainment. Immediately after the restora- 
 tion of Charles II., they accorded a solemn reception to the 
 Princess Eoyal and her son. The Grand Pensionary himself, 
 by well-timed advances, gave proof of the most conciliatory 
 intentions. A month before the recall of the King of England 
 he took part in a banquet given by the corporation, at which 
 several of the adherents of the House of Orange assisted, 
 and at which his father, formerly prisoner of the Stadtholder 
 William II., was the first to propose the health of the young 
 prince. 
 
 Charles II. once seated on his throne, good intentions 
 were no longer sufficient, but must be followed by actions. 
 De Witt was inclined to concessions, but wished to limit 
 them. He proposed to obtain for the King of England's 
 nephew the protection of the States, by making him, as he 
 
254 JOHN DE WITT. 
 
 was fond of saying, ' the child of Holland,' and by reopening 
 to him the entrances to his ancestral offices, which had been 
 closed by the Act of Exclusion. But, on the other hand, he 
 did not wish that either the powers of stadtholder or even the 
 military commands exercised by his ancestors should be dis- 
 posed of in his favour, although declaring that the office of 
 captain- and admu-al-general could not fail to belong to him 
 when he should attain his majority. He thought it far 
 preferable thus to place him under obligations to the States, 
 rather than encourage his princely ambition, by acknow- 
 ledging his right to his paternal inheritance. A restoration 
 brought about for the benefit of a child appeared to him to 
 render inevitable the supremacy of the Orange party, which 
 would thus be enabled to satisfy at its ease its pohtical 
 animosities and its leanings towards the King of England. 
 This insurmountable distrust, which John de Witt himself 
 confesses to, prevented him from entertaining a bolder 
 project, the immediate restoration of the son of William H. 
 to his father's offices, under the direction of the States, who 
 should assume the regency till the majority of the young 
 prince. By thus sealing the alliance between repubhcan 
 liberty and the power of the Prince of Orange, De Witt 
 might have found the solution of all the difficulties he had to 
 overcome, and under the weight of which he was destined 
 at last to sink. He contented himself with expedients, and 
 mistook a compromise for a solution. 
 
 The first offers of an agreement were made to him by the 
 Princess Eoyal, on the subject of a proposal made to the 
 States of Guelders by the deputies of Nimeguen to appoint 
 the young prince captain-general. In order to gain over the 
 Grand Pensionary to her son's cause, she had recourse to the 
 intervention of one of his intimate advisers, Laurent Buysero, 
 who acted as his secretary, and who has kept a curious 
 register of all the negotiations which were confided to him. 
 But at the very beginning of the conferences, De Witt, not 
 wishing to encourage his hopes, declared that the proposal of 
 the deputies of Nimeguen appeared to him inopportune, and 
 that the youth of the prince did not allow of his being put in 
 
NEaOTIATIONS BETWEEN DE WITT AND PEINCESS OF ORANGE. 255 
 
 possession of the ancestral power which was his by in- 
 heritance. 
 
 To leave an opening, however, for negotiations, he gave it 
 to be understood that he might be able to induce the States of 
 Holland to take upon themselves the education of the young 
 prince, as well as the administration of his property, under- 
 taking to pay him a considerable pension. ' If the States 
 adopt him as their ward,' he said, ' they will give him the 
 greatest possible proof of the interest they take in him.' 
 The Princess Eoyal was disappointed rather than satisfied by 
 these offers. She said as much to De Witt, who had come to 
 see her at her country house of Honsholredyk, and represented 
 to him that she had thought it right to consult the King of 
 England, who made higher claims for her son. Ten days later, 
 she repaired to the Hague, to inform De "Witt of the answer 
 which she had received from Charles II. ' This answer insists 
 on the immediate nomination of the young prince to the 
 great of&ces of the state,' writes the Grand Pensionary. 
 ' Her Highness has declared to me that this is a command 
 which she does not dare to disobey.' She thought she could 
 reckon on the magistrates of Amsterdam, and, in particular, 
 on the uncle of John de Witt, Cornelius de Graeff de 
 Zuidpolsbroeck, with whom she had conferred ; but, deterred 
 from any compromise by the urgency of John de Witt, they 
 finally refused their co-operation to the young prince's mother. 
 
 irritated by this resistance, she determined to force the 
 States of Holland to give her satisfaction by threatening them 
 with the displeasure of the King of England and the revolt 
 of the Orange party. She addressed to them a message, 
 which she also communicated to the States-General, announ- 
 cing to them that, being on the point of visiting the king her 
 brother, she offered them her good offices. ' But,' she added, 
 ' I hope to take with me the assurance that my son will 
 obtain the civil and military posts which his forefathers have 
 honoured since the origin of the republic, and that the States 
 will in the meantime take the charge of his education.' 
 
 The States of Zealand, led away by the popular move- 
 ment which was stirring up afresh the towns of the province. 
 
256 JOHN DE WITT. 
 
 hastened to respond to this appeal. They granted to the 
 Prince of Orange the title of premier noble, which gave him 
 the right of representing alone the whole body of the nobility 
 in their Assembly, with the restriction that he should not 
 make use of it before his majority. At the same time they 
 decided that their deputies to the States- General should pro^ 
 pose to reserve to him, in advance, the offices of captain- and 
 admiral-general of the republic, in order that he might exer- 
 cise those functions at the age of eighteen. They sent also a 
 solemn deputation to the States of Holland, under the leader- 
 ship of their councillor pensionary, Adrian Veth, to demand 
 from them his nomination by anticipation as stadtholder of 
 the two provinces. Notwithstanding the moderation of the 
 first minister of Zealand, who kept up the most friendly 
 relations with De Witt, this step, encouraged by the States- 
 General, could not fail to be the signal for a fresh coalition 
 against the States of Holland. 
 
 Symptoms of disunion were beginning, moreover, to be 
 displayed in their own Assembly. One of the most highly 
 esteemed members of the nobility, De Wimmenum, president 
 of the board of councillor deputies, after having enjoyed the 
 favours of the republican party, appeared desirous of giving 
 proofs of his devotion to the Orange party. He induced the 
 nobles to pronounce in favour of the restoration of the stadt- 
 holdership. The deputies of Leyden and Enekhuyzen sup- 
 ported this proposal, while those of Haarlem and Alkmar 
 demanded that the post of captain- and admiral-general should 
 be guaranteed to the prince, even if it should be to the ex- 
 clusion of that of stadtholder. The Grand Pensionary was 
 inclined to this compromise, but, fearing that he might fail in 
 getting it accepted, he gave the partisans of the son of 
 William II. to understand that they could not but gain by wait- 
 ing the course of events, and brought round the Assembly to 
 a fresh proposition. The States of Holland, hastening to 
 accept it, consented, by a unanimous vote, to direct the educa- 
 tion of the young prince, in order, as they stated, ' to bring 
 him up in the practice of all the virtues which might render 
 him fit for the functions, dignities, and offices which had 
 
EEVOCATION OF THE ACT OF EXCLUSION. 257 
 
 belonged to his predecessors.' They promised besides to 
 watch over the preservation of his lands and goods, and to 
 provide sumptuously for the expenses of his education, paying 
 him at the same time an annual pension. But they avoided 
 any engagement by which they might have appeared to agree 
 to the appointment to the stadtholdership demanded on his 
 behalf. To re-open to him, however, an entrance to the 
 powers of his ancestors, they revoked the Act of Exclusion, 
 and declared that they had only consented to it in order to 
 satisfy the demands of Cromwell. WhUe refusing to restore 
 to the Prince of Orange his ancestral offices, they thus left to 
 him the hope of some day resuming possession of them. 
 
 The Princess Eoyal, though her hopes were not entirely 
 satisfied, saw the necessity for proceeding cautiously, and 
 before embarking for England she followed the advice of her 
 ^^■isest counsellors, who urged upon her to accept the offers of the 
 States of Holland. Having on September 29, 1660, sent them 
 a first answer, still savouring somewhat of menace, she now 
 addressed to them a letter in which she showed herself disposed 
 towards an agreement, by submitting to them the choice of the 
 commissioners who were to superintend her son's education. 
 She proposed some members of their Assembly whom they 
 could not look upon with suspicion and joined to them the 
 Grand Pensionary De "Witt, to whom she paid the most flatter- 
 ing testimony. ' Since your Noble and High Mightinesses,' she 
 wrote, ' have consented to use your prudence in taking care 
 that the prince our son shall be perfectly instructed, from his 
 earliest age, in the privileges and customs of this country and 
 the character of its inhabitants, in which we have found by 
 experience that the Councillor Pensionary De Witt is pro- 
 foundly acquainted and is accustomed to give freely and 
 undisguisedly his excellent instructions, it will be very agree- 
 able to us if your Noble and High Mightinesses will include 
 him in the said commission.' 
 
 The rivalry between the two princesses was nearly hinder- 
 ing the conclusion of this compromise. The Princess Dowager 
 remonstrated at the appointments made by her daughter-in- 
 law without the participation of the other guardians. In 
 
 VOL. I. s 
 
258 JOHN DE "WITT. 
 
 accordance with the advice of the Elector of Brandenburg, the 
 young prince's uncle, she proposed the nomination of com- 
 missioners hostile to the republican party, in order to regain 
 thus the confidence of the Orange party, who were displeased 
 at the concessions made by the Princess Eoyal. The States of 
 Holland, however, gave the preference to the commissioners 
 designated by the young prince's mother. These were Louis 
 of Nassau, lord of Beverwaert, known for his moderation, De 
 Noortwyck, one of the most loyal partisans of the new govern- 
 ment, Abraham de Beveren, lord of Barendrecht, burgomaster 
 of Dordrecht, Cornelius de Graeff, lord of Zuidpolsbroeck, 
 burgomaster of Amsterdam and Peter Forest, town councillor 
 of Alkmar and president of the Court of Audit ; the last three 
 friends or relations of the Grand Pensionary, who was appointed 
 to assist, or rather to direct them. An annual sum of front 
 36,000 to 40,000 florins was voted for the education of the 
 young prince and the powers . given to the commissioners 
 were carefully limited, so as only to be exercised with the 
 participation of the two Princesses of Orange, but under the 
 sovereign control of the States. Beverwaert, who had been 
 sent to London as the ambassador of the republic, was com- 
 missioned to represent them with the Princess Eoyal during 
 her residence in England. 
 
 The reconciliation seemed to be accomplished. The 
 Grand Pensionary of Holland proposed to take advantage 
 of it in the interests of the prince as well as in those of the 
 state. 'We ought,' he wrote confidentially to Beverwaert, 
 ' to keep to the two following rules : first, to neglect nothing 
 in teaching the prince virtue and learning, as well as a perfect 
 acquaintance both with the customs and rights of this country 
 and with the character of its inhabitants, in order that he 
 may acquire their love and affection; secondly, to conduct 
 this education in such a manner that the magistrates and 
 inhabitants of this country may perceive that it could not be 
 confided to men more honest or more attached to the House 
 of Orange.' The Princess Eoyal, perceiving the loyalty with 
 which De Witt had kept his word, showed on her part the 
 most favourable dispositions, when suddenly these hopes of a 
 
DEATH OP THE PEINCESS EOYAL. 259 
 
 good understanding were sadly disappointed. Six weeks after 
 her arrival in England, the sister of Charles II., attacked by 
 small-pox, to which her husband, the Stadtholder William II., 
 had fallen a victim, died suddenly of that disease, on De- 
 cember 24, 1660. This event, which left the young Prince of 
 Orange an orphan at the age of ten years, was an equally fatal 
 blow to the Grand Pensionary of Holland. In her will the 
 Princess Eoyal implored the King of Great Britain to act as a 
 father towards the son she left behind. In response to this 
 last appeal, Charles II. informed the States of Holland that he 
 had accepted the legacy of the maternal guardianship, and 
 appointed a commission presided over by the lord chancellor, 
 to superintend in his name the interests of his nephew con- 
 currently with the Dutch commissioners. In spite of the in- 
 terchange of the most friendly notes, this intervention awakened 
 uneasiness in the States of Holland, by leading them to fear 
 inevitable rivalries. Moreover, the death of the Princess Eoyal 
 restored to the grandmother of the Prince of Orange her au- 
 thority in the education of her grandson, and the Princess 
 Dowager, dissatisfied with the choice of commissioners ap- 
 pointed on the nomination of her daughter-in-law, appeared 
 little disposed to come to an Tinderstanding with them. She 
 insisted that they should work in her house and in her pre- 
 sence, not choosing to acknowledge any authority but her own. 
 Constantly renewed conflicts of authority set the guardians 
 of the young prince and the States of Holland at variance. 
 Thus they disputed for the possession of a coffer which the 
 Princess Eoyal had left at the Hague, and in which were 
 inclosed some secret papers which had belonged to the late 
 Stadtholder. The States of Holland, fearing that it might be 
 made away with, were determined to keep it in their custody 
 till the majority of William II.'s son, while the Princess 
 Dowager arrogantly claimed it and refused to submit to the 
 authority of the court of justice, which at length got the 
 better of her resistance. ' It was,' wrote De Witt, ' a preten- 
 sion to which no Prince of Orange had ever dared to raise his 
 thoughts, and which is so highly offensive to the state, that 
 it would be a sufficient reason, if such sentiments were 
 
 a 2 
 
260 JOHN DE WITT. 
 
 inspired in the Priace of Orange, to prevent the state from 
 ever confiding to him any authority or power.' 
 
 The private advisers of the young prince seemed at the 
 same time determined to provoke the States of Holland, by 
 wishing to occupy those parts of the ancient palace of the 
 Princes of Orange which had remained empty ; they obtained 
 possession of the keys, and the States, who claimed, in their 
 position as sovereigns of the republic, to be the masters of the 
 public property, demanded that they should be given back to 
 them. ' It is sad to see,' said John de Witt on this occasion, 
 ' that all sorts of means are tried to render useless to the Priace 
 of Orange the resolution taken by the States of Holland with 
 regard to his education, and that the said States are as much 
 disgusted as their commissioners, who are, however, so well 
 disposed to the service and promotion of his Highness. 
 
 The King of England continued to encourage this ill-will 
 by the animosity which he showed towards the States. The 
 ambassador of the States-General in London, Beverwaert, re- 
 presented to him vainly, with his accustomed frankness, ' that 
 if his own son were concerned, he would rather see him 
 recognised by the States of Holland as the child of the re- 
 public, than have him forced by a premature nomination on 
 the acceptance of those in authority.' Charles persisted 
 nevertheless in deciding on all occasions against the Dutch 
 commissioners who were charged with the education of his 
 nephew. On one occasion he withdrew his favour from the 
 Princess Eoyal's secretary, Nicholas Oudart, whom he could 
 not forgive for having previously made him sign a letter ex- 
 pressing to them his satisfaction. On another occasion he 
 addressed to them the most offensive complaints, reproaching 
 them, amongst other grievances, with not having placed a 
 dais in the apartments of the Prince of Orange. It was more 
 especially towards the Grand Pensionary of Holland that he 
 displayed these hostile sentiments, reproaching him with 
 having usurped the power which ought to have belonged to his 
 nephew. Instead of givmg him the satisfaction which De Witt 
 had hoped to obtain, Charles refused to send back the Act of 
 Exclusion, which the States of Holland had just repealed. 
 
CONFLICTS OF AUTHORITT. 261 
 
 The Grand Pensionary would have desired, moreover, that the 
 King should have attested 'that this article of the treaty 
 concluded -with Cromwell, far from having been suggested to 
 the Protector, had been rigorously exacted as a condition of 
 peace, without any persuasion having been spared to induce 
 him to renounce it ; ' he had himself drawn up the terms of 
 this justification. But Charles evaded the demand which 
 he had promised to comply with and on which De Witt was 
 careful not to insist. The Grand Pensionary expressed never- 
 theless his indignation at the allegations of the King of 
 England, who pretended to have received from him at the 
 Hague, on behalf of the Prince of Orange, as the price of ob- 
 livion for his past conduct, promises which he had not fulfilled. 
 De Witt repelled this injurious accusation. 'It appears to me 
 scandalous,' he wrote to the ambassador of the States, 'that 
 in his interview with you the chancellor should have let it be 
 understood that in consequence of my promises the king had 
 deigned to forget what had passed, as if we had demanded of 
 his Majesty a pardon of which, thank God, we have no need.' 
 ' I am not surprised, however,' he adds, 'that I have the repu- 
 tation over there of being opposed to the interests of the Prince 
 of Orange, for I have, at all times, placed them after those of 
 the state.' 
 
 These mutual recriminations threatened an approaching 
 rupture. The signal for it was given by the convention signed 
 between the King of England and the Elector of Brandenburg, 
 who was passionately attached to the interests of the Princess 
 Dowager, whose daughter he had married. The King and 
 the Elector, as uncles of the young prmce, shared with his 
 grandmother the guardianship of their nephew, but left in 
 her hands power amounting to unlimited authority. As re- 
 garded the States of Holland, they did not appear inclined 
 to do much more than tolerate their participation, and only 
 consented to admit it in order that the son of William II. 
 might continue to receive his pension. They were careful, 
 moreover, to show their distrust of the States, by claim- 
 ing the right to impose upon them fresh delegates for the 
 superintendence of the young prince's education. They 
 
262 JOHN DE WITT. 
 
 required them not only to add to the members of the Assembly 
 already charged with that of&ce the commissioners that the 
 Princess Dowager had before proposed, but also to recognise 
 the right .of the other provinces to be represented by deputies 
 chosen by themselves. 
 
 The States of Holland were indignant at such changes 
 being made without their consent in the conventions which 
 they had agreed to with the Princess Eoyal. Forced to 
 abdicate if they yielded, or to come to a quarrel if they 
 resisted, there remained only one step for them to take, the 
 least dangerous and the most cautious, that of renoimciag 
 the education of the Priace of Orange the moment that they 
 found themselves no longer free to direct it as they pleased. 
 De Witt had already let it be seen that he would not hesitate 
 to withdraw, in the event of contests arising. 'If those 
 who are the nearest relations of his Highness,' he wrote, 
 'make it clear that they do not perceive that if the Staies 
 took upon themselves the trouble of the guardianship, it was 
 in the interest of his Highness and in no way for our own, 
 there will be less difficulty in inducing the States not to 
 meddle any longer in the said guardianship, than there was in 
 inducing them to make up their minds to do so.' 
 
 This prediction was justified. In answer to the provoca- 
 tion offered them, the States of Holland, notwithstanding 
 the contrary advice of eight towns, amongst others those of 
 Eotterdam, Haarlem, Leyden, and Enekhuyzen, determined 
 to renounce for the present a superintendence which com- 
 promised their sovereign dignity, from the moment when 
 they could no longer exercise it except with the approbation 
 of the other guardians, two of whom were foreign princes. 
 
 In wishing, as he himself declared, ' to make himself 
 master of the republic through the ties he had contracted 
 with the Princess Dowager and the Elector of Brandenburg, 
 and by their intrigues,' Charles II. had detached the States 
 from his nephew's interests. ' He found them determined not 
 to permit him to meddle in the affairs of the prince, through 
 whom he would have liked to reign over them himself.' The 
 Grand Pensionary, disappointed in the efforts at conciUation 
 
EMBASSY TO ENSLAND. 263 
 
 for wMch lie had loyally striven, showed himself the decided 
 partisan of resistance. According to the despatch of a French 
 agent, he expressed himself thus : ' No doubt,' he said, ' good 
 policy demands that we should show the greatest deference 
 towards so great a king ; but if it is assumed that the King 
 of England's authority should oblige free states to do any- 
 thing by force, I shall oppose it in the name of Holland ; 
 supposing that Holland does not agree to this opposition, I 
 shall oppose it in the name of the town of Dordrecht, of 
 which I am the deputy ; if the town of Dordrecht will not 
 authorise me, I shall oppose it in the name of my family ; 
 and finally, ia the event of my family not being of my mind, 
 it will remain to me to oppose it alone, as far as I am able.' 
 
 The disputes with regard to the guardianship of the 
 Prince of Orange could not but be fatal to the negotiations 
 entered into by the United Provinces with the new King of 
 England for the conclusion of a treaty. They had till now 
 rendered useless the embassy sent to London with the object 
 of making Charles II. the ally of the republic. The States- 
 General had hastened to recall the ambassador Nieupoort, 
 who, in consequence of his close relatiotis with Cromwell, and 
 the opposition he had made to the restoration of Charles 
 II., could not be left with the new king. They had designated 
 as his successors four envoys extraordinary : Simoji van 
 Hoorn, burgomaster of Amsterdam, one of the most trusty 
 confidants of John de Witt, Michael van Gogh, deputy of 
 Zealand, Joachim Eipperda, deputy of Groningen and Louis 
 of Nassau, lord of Beverwaert, who, by dissuading the 
 Stadtholder William II. from besieging Amsterdam, and 
 thus preventing him from provoking a civil war, as a conse- 
 quence of his attempt at a coup d'etat, had won the confi- 
 dence of the republican party without losing that of the 
 Orange party. Beverwaert, whom they had chosen as the 
 chief of the embassy, and whom they had sent on in ad- 
 vance, was likely to be welcome to Charles, from his birth and 
 connections. A natural son of the Stadtholder Maurice of 
 Nassau, he was the devoted adviser of the Princess Eoyal, 
 and his particular friend was the Marquis of Ormonde, the 
 
264 JOHN DE wnt. 
 
 King of England's minister, Avhose son, the Earl of Ossory, 
 married his eldest daughter. His second daughter married, 
 later, Lord Arlington ; the youngest, Charlotte of Nassau, 
 hecam« celebrated in London at the meetings presided over 
 by the Duchess of MaTiarin, surrounded by her train of men 
 of letters— Saint-Eeal, Saint-Evremont, and many more. 
 All three were "worthy of their mother, who, endowed with the 
 most seductive charms, was the best auxiliary of her husband's 
 negotiations. Beverwaert's scrupulous honesty contributed, 
 moreover, to ensure for him the confidence of the Enghsh 
 Government. 
 
 Scarcely had he arrived in London when he was informed 
 that, unknown to him, Charles 11. had bestowed on his son 
 Odyk, whose irregularities and debts were a dishonour to his 
 father's name, a portion of the profits obtained by the import 
 of Ehine wines, and he believed that this liberality amounted 
 to an income of 400Z. This appeared to him opposed to the 
 oath by which the ambassadors of the republic engaged to 
 accept no gifts. That he might not be accused of failing ia 
 it, even involuntarily, he sent in his resignation, refusing even 
 to carry on his functions till the States, better informed than 
 himself, had pronounced that his son did not enjoy the 
 privilege which had been promised him. The interests of 
 the I'epublic could not be confided to a diplomatist better fitted 
 te serve them by means of his good reputation. 
 
 While the States had made choice of an ambassador as 
 loyal as he was conciliatory, and who gave the new king the 
 most entire satisfaction, Charles II. had sent back to the Hague 
 Cromwell's intriguing minister, Downing, well known for the 
 hostile sentiments which he had never ceased to display towards 
 the United Provinces. Compromised by his services to the 
 republican party, he had not waited for the restoration before 
 insinuating himself into the favour of Charles II. WhUe the 
 latter was at the Hague, where, notwithstanding the prohibi- 
 tion of the States of Holland, he had come secretly to visit his 
 sister, an individual in disguise was shown into his presence. 
 
 Downing, having made himself known, begged the prince 
 to forgive a course of action which the misfortunes of the 
 
TEEATY BETWEEN THE UNITED PEOVINCES AND ENGLAND. 265 
 
 times had forced upon him, and advised him to withdraw with- 
 out delay, the States having promised to deliver him up to 
 Cromwell. According to the same narrative, Charles II. 
 taking advantage of the warning, departed in great haste ; and 
 Downing, in order to convince him of the service which he 
 pretended to have rendered him, sent trusty persons to arrest 
 him, after giving him time to place himself in safety. Even 
 supposing that this story was only an invention. Downing, 
 it is certain, took steps to regain the favour of the new king, 
 through the intervention of his brother-in-law. Lord Howard, 
 who had openly declared himself in favour of the royalist 
 party. After a long interview with him, Charles II. created 
 him a knight, and promised to leave him in possession of his 
 post. His return to the Hague, signalised immediately on his 
 arrival by fresh disputes about etiquette, soon showed, as De 
 Witt wrote, that 'the English always remain English, and 
 that changes of government produce no change in their dis- 
 positions.' 
 
 The King of England appeared, moreover, to have lent 
 himself to negotiations only to supply his financial needs, and 
 he applied vainly to Beverwaert to obtain for him from the 
 States a loan of some millions of florins. The quarrels which 
 he stirred up made an agreement hopeless. Not wishing to 
 derogate from Cromwell's pretensions, Charles II. refused to 
 allow a right of fishing within a radius of ten miles along the 
 coast, to the great prejudice of the trade of the United Pro- 
 vinces. Their fishermen had even been driven with violence 
 from the British seas, and the States-General could not get 
 their complaints listened to. ' I have declared to Downing,' 
 wrote De Witt, haughtily, ' that sooner than acknowledge this 
 imaginary sovereignty over the seas, or even receive from the 
 English, as a concession, that freedom of navigation and fish- 
 ing which belong to us by natural right, we would shed our last 
 drop of blood.' 
 
 A year later, the negotiations, which seemed to promise no 
 hope of success, were happily concluded. Beverwaert, obliged 
 to return to Holland on account of his wife's health, and dis- 
 heartened by the unfavourable reception given to his proposals^ 
 
266 JOHN DE WITT. 
 
 had sorrowfully renomiced the completion of the work of 
 his embassy. The other plenipotentiaries who remained in 
 London after his departure had also received orders to return 
 home immediately, when the Enghsh Government made up its 
 mind to give them the satisfaction so long delayed. By the 
 terms of the treaty, dated September 4, 1662, the right of fish- 
 ing was restored to the inhabitants of the United Provinces, 
 while on the other hand the right of English ships to a salute 
 was no longer disputed in the British seas, and in compensation 
 for the losses which the East India Company might have caused 
 the Enghsh, the island of Pouleron was restored to them. The 
 two powers, moreover, engaged to refuse shelter or protection 
 to exiles and rebels who should seek a refuge on Enghsh or 
 Dutch territory. No engagement was entered into in favour of 
 the Prince of Orange ; and Charles II., having thus desisted 
 from his demands, renewed the most friendly declarations. ' If 
 we yield to you the honour of having been the first to put the 
 treaty into execution,' he wrote to the States- General, thanking 
 them for having restored to him the island of Pouleron, ' we 
 shaU at least have the honour of carrying it on, and of making 
 it appear by our actions that we shall be the last to infringe it. 
 The Grand Pensionary gladly acknowledged ' that nothing 
 could be added to the contentment felt by the States at the 
 sentiments of confidence and friendship which his Majesty 
 expressed towards them.' 
 
 In order that dispositions which had hitherto been hostile 
 should have suddenly become so favourable, it had been neces- 
 sary for the Grand Pensionary not to allow himself to be dis- 
 heartened by any failures. Determined to refuse to the King 
 of England any concession that might imperii the preservation 
 of thQ republican government, to which he had sworn fidelity, 
 De Witt tried to gain his good graces by sparing no efforts 
 towards securing efficient support among those who sur- 
 rounded -him. With this view he appealed to the Queen of 
 Bohemia, aunt of Charles II., at whose court she had sought 
 refuge, in the hope that she would show her gratitude for the 
 hospitality afforded her during her residence in Holland. 
 Perceiving that she did not possess sufficient influence to ren- 
 
PEACE CONCLUDED WITH POETUGAL. 267 
 
 der him the services which he expected from her, he attempted 
 by means of a bribe to gain over one of the king's ministers, 
 the Marquis of Ormonde, who, like most courtiers, promised 
 much and did nothing. The support given by the Earl of 
 Clarendon was more sincere and more efficient. ' I do not 
 doubt,' writes De Witt to the Chancellor of England after the 
 conclusion of the treaty, ' that you will give the last touches 
 to a work which is in reality your own, and that you will be 
 the instrument which will cause it to produce the effects neces- 
 sary for the preservation and strengthening of friendship and 
 intercourse between the two nations.' 
 
 The peace with Portugal, concluded by means of the urgent 
 intervention of the Grand Pensionary, was at the same time a 
 cause of satisfaction to which the King of England, who had 
 just married the Portuguese Infanta, could not venture to 
 appear indifferent. The republic had refused, hitherto, to allow 
 Portugal to retain the conquest of Brazil, which she still hoped 
 to recover from her ; but negotiations had been abruptly broken 
 off by the treason of the Portuguese ambassador, Ferdinand 
 Telles de Faro, who forsook his post in order to go over to the 
 service of the King of Spain. They were resumed by Count 
 Miranda, who carried them through in spite of the opposition 
 of Zealand and Guelder s, who were both concerned in the 
 West India Company, and to whom the loss of BrazU would 
 therefore be prejudicial. Under pressure from Holland, the 
 States-General in August 1661 voted, by a majority, for the 
 treaty, in favour of which Schulenburg, deputy of Groningen, 
 the president for the week, who was accused by the States of his 
 province of having allowed himself to be bought over, had given 
 his decision. According to the conventions stipulated on each 
 side, the United Provinces, abandoning Brazil to Portugal, re- 
 tained the Portuguese colonies which they had taken possession 
 of in the West Indies ; and in addition, the States-General ob- 
 tained the promise of an indemnity of 8,000,000 florins, payable 
 in sixteen years, as the price of their renunciation of Brazil. The 
 exchange of the ratifications of the treaty was stUl kept in sus- 
 pense for more than a year, in consequence of the intrigues of 
 Downing, who did not wish to leave the merit of it to the States- 
 
268 JOHN DE ■WITT. 
 
 General ; but De Witt's firmness overcame all these difficulties, 
 and he was able to take credit to himself with Charles for the 
 efficient co-operation which he had given to Enghsh diplomacy. 
 
 Further displays of good-wUl appeared to De Witt no less 
 necessary for satisfying the King of England, who had been 
 irritated at his opposition to the restoration of the stadtholder- 
 ship, and he consented to concessions from which his reputa- 
 tion has suffered. Since the return of the new king to 
 London, the promises of amnesty had been succeeded by cruel 
 acts of reprisal, and the English Government, impatient to give 
 effect to them, had complained on several occasions of the 
 shelter afforded in Holland to the judges of Charles I. Six 
 months after the restoration the French ambassador at the 
 Hague, De Thou, writes : ' It is stated that three of the late 
 king's judges are at Amsterdam, and that if Charles H. 
 demands that they should be given up, he will not be refused, 
 but they will be allowed to escape.' This information was 
 correct. Downing, therefore, did not wish to let himself be 
 taken by surprise if the presence of the regicides were notified 
 to him. No outlaw being at that time on their territory, the 
 States, notwithstanding some hesitation which was combated 
 by De Witt, yielded to the request made to them by the 
 English ambassador, without suspecting that they might have 
 cause to repent of it. In conformity with his demand, they 
 furnished him with a blank warrant, with directions to the 
 Grand Pensionary to execute it whenever he should be required 
 to do so. This violation of the law of nations was in ac- 
 cordance with the manners of the times ; it was frequently a 
 mark of consideration from one king to another. Louis XIY. 
 had shortly before given up to Charles II. an English refugee, 
 and some years later he caused a Protestant agent, Eoux of 
 Marseilles, to be carried off from Sweden by means of an am- 
 buscade, and mercilessly executed in Paris. It would have 
 appeared, however, that a republic which prided herself on 
 giving shelter to all outlaws could not without dishonour in- 
 fringe the laws of hospitality, and it was in defiance of all 
 her traditions that she set them aside. 
 
 Seven months after the consent so imprudently given to 
 
EXTRADITION OF CHARLES I.'S JUDGES. ' 269 
 
 Downing by the States of Holland, the three judges of Charles 
 I. whom the magistrates of Amsterdam had on a former 
 occasion shielded from him returned secretly to Delft to fetch 
 away their wives, believing they had no longer any danger to 
 fear. They were Barghstead, formerly governor of the Tower 
 of London, Corbet, and Okey, the latter of whom had been 
 Downing's benefactor, having obtained for him his first employ- 
 ment under Cromwell. Downing, who troubled himself little 
 about gratitude, having been informed of their arrival, pre- 
 sented to the Grand Pensionary of Holland his demand that 
 the blank warrant which had been given him should be 
 executed, quoting to that effect the last resolution of the 
 States. De Witt, bound by his instructions, thought himself 
 obliged to obey them, hoping perhaps that before they could 
 be arrested the three ex-members of the English Parliament 
 might have time to take to flight. But Downing had caused 
 them to be so closely watched that it was impossible for them 
 to escape his search, and he had them arrested before they 
 had had time to suspect the danger which threatened them. 
 He hastened to demand their extradition, and the States were 
 not at liberty to refuse it without bringing upon themselves 
 a declaration of war. In vain they tried to throw upon 
 the magistrates of Delft the responsibility of giving the 
 orders, either in the hope, by fresh delays, of affording the 
 prisoners a last chance of escape, or to spare themselves the 
 humiliation of giving them up. Without paying any attention 
 to the earnest supplications addressed to them, and in spite of 
 the courageous resistance made by some of the deputies of 
 their Assembly, they delivered up to Downing the victims for 
 whom Charles II. 's vengeance was waiting. ' They wished,' 
 writes De Witt to the Chancellor Clarendon, 'to anticipate 
 what could only be demanded of them in virtue of the treaty,' 
 of which they hoped thus to hasten the conclusion. 
 
 ' The weakness into which the Grand Pensionary had allowed 
 himself to be hurried caused him, however, some remorse. ' It 
 would give satisfaction here,' he writes to the ambassador 
 Beverwaert, ' if the King of England would allow himself to be 
 persuaded to pardon the culprits, on the intercession of their 
 
270 JOHN DE WITT. 
 
 Noble and Higli Mightinesses. Will you be so good as to feel 
 your way discreetiy and give me your opinion, for such an in- 
 tercession cannot be made without the almost certainty of its 
 not being refused ? ' Charles II. cared little about these barren 
 wishes, and before the ambassador of the repubHc, convinced 
 of the uselessness of taking any steps, had ventured to ask for 
 their pardon, the three regicides had been executed in London 
 on a charge of high treason. 
 
 A clamour of indignation arose in the United Provinces 
 at the iniquity of this concession, with which De Witt was 
 reproached as an act of cowardice. The King of England's 
 ministers hastened to testify their gratitude, of which Charles 
 II. did not fail to give him compromising proofs. The Grand 
 Pensionary felt himself embarrassed by these encomiums, which 
 ascribed to him the merit due to Downing. ' I should have 
 been better pleased,' he writes to Beverwaert, ' if in showing 
 his satisfaction the king had not named me, or at any rate if 
 you had been so good as not to refer to it in your despatch. 
 Making it the glory and the aim of my actions to uphold my 
 superiors, the States of Holland, I should be unable to succeed 
 if I did not cause the justice that is their due to be renderedin 
 full to their Noble and High Mightinesses.' Thus, in the letter 
 which he addressed to the Chancellor Clarendon, while over- 
 stepping the bounds of the most obsequious protestations, he 
 defended himself from having contributed to satisfy Charles II. 
 otherwise than by his own good- will, and by supporting the 
 friendly sentiments which he had observed amongst the mem- 
 bers of the Assembly. He had no intention, moreover, of 
 giving any opportunity for fresh royal exactions. He had there- 
 fore caused to be inserted in the resolution on the extradition, 
 ' that the authorisation given to Downing is only available for 
 this once, and is to be no precedent for the future.' 
 
 These concessions, humiliating as they were, would not 
 perhaps have sufficed to bring back Charles II. to an alliance 
 with the United Provinces : it was the fear of a union between 
 the republic and France against England which obKged him 
 to conclude with the States-General the treaty which he had 
 refused them for the last two years. 
 
EMBASSY OF VAN BEUNIJiTGEN TO PARIS. 271 
 
 In order to obtain it, the States-General hastened the con- 
 clusion of the negotiations begun with France by their am- 
 bassador in ordinary, Boreel, and recognised the necessity for 
 giving him the assistance of another envoy. The disordered 
 condition of his private affairs, the retirement in which he 
 lived with his wife Jacoba Car els, described, in a contemporary 
 narrative, as ' a good, fat housekeeper,' a ' regular old woman 
 of Amsterdam,' and the exaggerated simplicity of his mode of 
 life, prevented him from keeping up the relations which were 
 essential for his credit. ' Somewhat misanthropic and even 
 surly,' say some of his contemporaries, ' he would have been 
 better suited to a Northern court than to that of Prance. 
 The States, out of consideration for his long services not wish- 
 ing to recall him, appointed, as ambassador extraordinary, one 
 of their most skilful diplomatists, Conrad van Beuningen, who 
 had already represented them at the court of the King of 
 Denmark during the wars in the North, and to whom the 
 Grand Pensionary accorded his entire confidence. They asso- 
 ciated with him John van Ghent, deputy of Guelders, who was 
 attached to the interests of Holland, and Justus de Huybert, 
 deputy of Zealand, pensionary of the town of Zierikzee. 
 
 Conrad van Beuningen, who had caused his inflexible 
 firmness to be appreciated in the negotiations of the war in 
 the North, was to have a great part to play during the period 
 of his embassy in France. His somewhat haughty stiffness 
 might stand in his way, and the art of concihating sometimes 
 faUed him ; but he joined to an obstinate inflexibility of 
 character the resources of a mind fertUe in expedients and 
 a power of speech which never failed him in repartee. Charms 
 of conversation, ease of manners, and the most varied ac- 
 quirements, completed his diplomatic merits. Having a high 
 opinion of himself, he did not allow himself to be intimidated 
 by the majesty of royalty. After holding his own with im- 
 perturbable coolness against Charles Gustavus, king of Sweden, 
 he did not find himself in any degree more embarrassed in 
 treating with Louis XIV. amidst the splendours of Versailles 
 whilst not submitting subserviently to monarchical etiquette. 
 The King of France having one day laughed at an incorrect 
 
Ji72 JOHN DE WITT. 
 
 expression which escaped him, ' Sire,' he said, ' if I made 
 use of it, it was to enrich the French language.' He 
 had the gift of readiness ; the king's ministers reproach- 
 ing him jestingly with no longer receiving .their statements 
 with the same confidence which he had shown them at the 
 beginning of his embassy, he retorted, ' When I arrived 
 here, as a Protestant, I believed that we were saved by faith ; 
 but now that I am living in the midst of Catholics I believe 
 that we are only saved by works.' Proud of being a citizen 
 of Amsterdam, he boasted of having placed the republic 
 which he served on a level with the greatest kings. 
 
 The ministers of the States-General found France not 
 only freed from the yoke of factions, but also delivered by 
 the treaty of the Pyrenees from the foreign war which fostered 
 internal dissensions. Mazarin, who was approaching the end 
 of his career, had just succeeded in pacifying the kingdom and 
 enlarging its boundaries. He had triumphed over the Fronde 
 and imposed peace on Spain, from whom he recovered her 
 greatest conquest, the great Conde, whom civil dissensions 
 had Tinhappily made the ally of the enemies of France. 
 Mazarin could now die in peace ; he left the crown to a 
 prince twenty-two years of age, who was ambitious to govern 
 alone, and had prepared himself for the exercise of the 
 royal authority. Van Beuningen extolled ' the promptitude, 
 clearness, judgment, and reasonableness which he employed in 
 the expedition of business, the amenity of his address, his 
 patience in listening, and the art which he possessed of ex- 
 pressing his thoughts with a force and often with an eloquence 
 which astonished those who heard the decision with which he 
 spoke on public affairs.' He knew both how to make himself 
 loved and how to make himself feared. 
 
 In taking on himself the government of his kingdom, 
 Louis XrV. was gratifying the wishes of his people, who, 
 wearied out by the fruitless agitations of party strife, pre- 
 ferred to be governed by a sovereign rather than by ministers. 
 He held in his hand, so to say, the entire nation, which sub- 
 mitted voluntarily to a master. Mazarin dead, and Fouquet 
 disgxaced, he had no longer anything to expect from his 
 
HOSTILE DISPOSITIONS OF THE MINISTERS OE LOUIS XIV. 273 
 
 councillors but obedience to his will. The States-General 
 had none the less to consider the line of conduct which 
 his ministers might induce him to pursue in the direc- 
 tion of foreign polities. The post of secretary of state for 
 foreign affairs continued to be held by Lomenie de Brienne, 
 who had remained faithful to the ancient traditions of French 
 diplomacy in favour of the United Provinces, and whom 
 Louis XIV. jestingly reproached with being ' a true Dutchman.' 
 Two other ministers shared his opinions, the chancellor, 
 Seguier, and the secretary of state for war, Michel le Tellier, 
 who had just been authorised by Louis XIV. to associate with 
 himself, with right of reversion, his young son Louvois, in 
 whom the United Provinces were hereafter to find their most 
 implacable enemy. They were eagerly supported by Marshal 
 Turenne, who was directly related, through his mother, 
 Isabella of Nassau, daughter of William the SUent, to the 
 family of the Princes of Orange, under whose orders he had 
 served his first campaign in the War of Independence. The 
 services which he had rendered to the royal cause during the 
 Fronde had earned him the gratitude of the French court, 
 and he appeared disposed to use his influence in the interests 
 of the republic. 
 
 But a new policy, one of hostility to the United Provinces, 
 was beginning to find favour. It was encouraged by two 
 ministers, of whom one wished to establish the commercial 
 supremacy of France, and the other was determined to obtain 
 for her fresh accessions of territory. These were Colbert 
 and Lionne, who had both been bequeathed by Mazarin to 
 Louis XIV., and who formed with Le Tellier the ministerial 
 triumvkate of the first years of his reign. 
 
 Colbert, son of a shopkeeper of Eheims, had been em- 
 ployed in the service of the cardinal, who had discovered and 
 appreciated his merits. The enemy of Fouquet, he had con- 
 tributed to his downfall and had supplanted him. Admitting 
 no distraction from public affairs, to which he devoted sixteen 
 hours daily, as hard towards himself as towards others, 
 obstinate and imperious, he had succeeded in pleasing Louis 
 XIV. by contenting himself with a subordinate position, until 
 
 VOL. I. T 
 
274 JOHN DE WITT. 
 
 he was invested with the title of controller-general. Sure of 
 the royal confidence, Colbert was able to pursue the execution 
 of his great designs in all security, aided by the resources of 
 his genius. He had undertaken to create industry and com- 
 merce in France. He stimulated manufactures, and, emulous 
 of placing the French market beyond the reach of competi- 
 tion, he determined to close it to foreign products by means 
 of heavy duties. Further, to assist navigation, and to 
 give an impulse to the mercantile marine, he encouraged 
 the foundation of great companies, which in the Baltic, the 
 West Indies, and in the East, were to put a check to the long 
 undisputed supremacy of Dutch commerce. He was there- 
 fore more disposed to treat the republic as' a rival than as an 
 ally. 
 
 Hugues Lionne, a gentleman of Dauphine, born in 1611, 
 and nephew of the former secretary of state, Servien, owed, like 
 Colbert, his fortune to Mazarin. Appointed private secretary 
 to Anne of Austria, entrusted with the task of preparing the 
 conclusion of the treaty of peace between France and Spain, 
 a skilful and fortunate negotiator in the Ehine Confederation, 
 he had easily obtained, after the cardinal's death, the direc- 
 tion of foreign affairs, which was of&ciaUy conferred on him 
 when he succeeded as secretary of state to the post of 
 Lomenie de Brienne. Industrious, although fond of plea- 
 sure, his temperament was easy, supple, adroit and inex- 
 haustible in resources. A complete master of the art of 
 diplomatic corruption, knowing the price to be set on con- 
 sciences in every court, he made himself familiar with the 
 manners, language, politics and interests of the dififerent. 
 nations of Europe. He could, therefore, easily assist by his 
 negotiations the ambitious designs of Louis XIV., and thus 
 contribute to the greatness of his reign. Impatient to avail 
 himself of the weakness of the House of Austria, in order to 
 resume the interrupted work of Eichelieu and Mazarin and 
 to obtain the Low Countries for France, he had little hope of 
 finding the States-General favourable to this work of aggran- 
 disement, and was determined if possible to do without their 
 help in obtaining the annexation which he coveted. 
 
DISPUTES TO BE SETTLED. 275 
 
 The offers of a renewal of alliance proposed by the States- 
 General had hitherto, therefore, been evaded. Moreover, the 
 political antagonism of the two governments, the one founded 
 on maxims of absolute power and the other on the principle 
 of the free discussion of public affairs, placed obstacles in the 
 way of friendly relations, by causing frequent occasions of 
 collision between the king and the republic. The unpublished 
 correspondence of Cardinal Mazarin and the French ambas- 
 sador at the Hague, De Thou, shows the extent of the demands 
 made by the French Government. He desired the States- 
 General to prohibit their subjects, under severe penalties, 
 ' from publishing in future any book relating to France without 
 having previously obtained the authorisation of the king's 
 ministers.' The States, notwithstanding their friendly dis- 
 positions, could not submit to such pretensions. There were 
 other differences even more prejudicial to the negotiations. 
 The edict of 1659, prohibiting foreign vessels from trading in 
 the ports of France, except on payment of a crown per ton, 
 drew forth vehement remonstrances from the United Provinces. 
 They declared that the Dutch people, having been exempted 
 by Henry IV. from the d/roit d'aubaine, which prevented 
 strangers from inheriting property in France, were entitled to 
 enjoy the same advantages as French subjects, and to obtain 
 on that account the remission of a tax which weighed heavily 
 on their commerce. But Colbert, who considered the tonnage 
 duty as indispensable to the prosperity of the French mer- 
 cantile marine, had constituted himself its obstinate defender. 
 ' It wiU require much time and much prudence to convince , 
 him,' wrote Van Beuningen. The guarantee of the integrity 
 of their possessions demanded by the States from France was 
 another obstacle to an understanding between the two govern- 
 ments. The French court refused to include in it the town of 
 Ehynberg and the lordship of Eavenstein, whose possession 
 was disputed with the republic, the one by the Archbishop of 
 Cologne, and the other by the Duke of Neuburg and the 
 Elector of Brandenburg, who each maintained his right to it. 
 The States-General, on their side, considering Ehynberg as 
 
 T 2 
 
276 JOHN DE WITT. 
 
 one of the ramparts of their dominions, would not renounce 
 their claims to occupy it. ' To speak of the restitution of 
 Ehynberg,' writes De Witt, ' would he enough to upset every- 
 thing.' 
 
 The free right of fishing still more directly concerned 
 the States- General ; they could not prevail on England to 
 allow them the , enjoyment of it so long as it had not been 
 accorded to them by Prance, and they therefore made it a 
 condition of their treaty with Louis XTV. ' The commissioners 
 charged to report upon it to the States,' writes De Witt, ' were 
 unanimous in their opinion, and considered that we could in 
 no way relax the terms demanded for the guarantee of fishing 
 rights. The first order which our ambassadors are about to 
 receive will be their recall, whether they succeed in concluding 
 the treaty according to their instructions or are forced to leave 
 without doing anything.' Fortunately for the United Pro- 
 vinces, the King of Prance took offence at the demands of 
 England. ' I must admit,' he declared to his ambassador ia 
 London, ' that I have the same interest in this guarantee as 
 the Dutch, since the right of fishing may just as well be refused 
 by England to my subjects as to those of the States-General.' 
 The chief difficulty which was delaying the treaty between 
 Prance and the republic was thus removed, and it was shortly 
 afterwards signed on AprU 22, 1662. 
 
 The alliance was both offensive and defensive. The King 
 of Prance engaged, in the event of an attack on the United 
 Provinces, to send them an auxiliary force of 12,000 men, and 
 the States-General, in return, were to place at his disposal 
 6,000 men if required. On both sides the military contingent 
 might be replaced by a subsidy in money fixed at 10,000 francs 
 a month for every thousand soldiers. Moreover, the two States 
 guaranteed to each other all their possessions, including in this 
 reciprocal guarantee the free right of fishing. Pinally, the duty 
 of a crown per ton, which had given rise to so many disputes, 
 was no longer to be demanded from the subjects of the United 
 Provinces, except on their merchandise exported from Prance, 
 and was, moreover, to be reduced to half a crown for vessels 
 employed in the transport of salt, which constituted their chief 
 
TREATY OP ALLIANCE AND COMMEECE. 277 
 
 export trade. The duration of the alliance was extended to 
 twenty-five years. 
 
 The States-General learned with satisfaction the conclu- 
 sion of the treaty of Paris. The Grand Pensionary's cousin, 
 Cornelius Ascanius van Sypestein, who was attached to the 
 embassy of the United Provinces in Paris, acted as messenger 
 to briag to the Hague the copy signed by the King of Prance, 
 and was rewarded with a gold medal for the rapidity with 
 which he had performed the journey in three days. ' We are 
 happy to learn,' writes De Witt to Van Beuningen, ' that at last 
 the troubles of this long negotiation are crowned with better 
 success than could have been hoped. This close alliance, and 
 the advantages of the conventions relative to trade, wipe out 
 the wrongs which so many delays had done to the credit of the 
 State in protracting the settlement of affairs.' 
 
 These expectations were in danger of being disappoiated by 
 fresh procrastination. Charles II., obliged to provide for the 
 insufficiency of his financial resources, had sold Dunkirk to 
 the King of France for the sum of five millions. Louis XIV., 
 by retarding the ratification of the treaty, hoped to obtain 
 from the States the territorial guarantee therein stipulated, 
 not only for this fresh acquisition, but also for Lorraine, which 
 Duke Charles IV., ignoring the right of succession claimed by 
 his nephew, had just ceded to him. The States-General took 
 alarm at these pretensions and refused to submit to them. 
 Mutual concessions put an end to the dispute, which had lasted 
 a whole year. Louis gave up the guarantee of Lorraine, 
 and the States-General accorded to him that of Dunkirk, 
 obtaining on their part a guarantee from France of the 
 treaty which they had just concluded with England. To 
 testify to the States his friendly intentions, Louis con- 
 sented to the ratification, till now deferred, of the treaty, 
 without insisting that the Act of Guarantee of Dunkirk 
 should be previously delivered to him. ' I thought,' he writes 
 to his ambassador at the Hague, ' that there would be no 
 imprudence on my part in trusting the word of so honourable 
 a man as the Sieur de Witt, as you will be careful to assure 
 him.' 
 
278 JOHN DE WITT. 
 
 The interests of France were even more deeply engaged 
 than those of the United Provinces in a conciliatory and 
 considerate policy. For a long time past French policy 
 had coveted the Spanish Netherlands, bordering upon the 
 territory of the republic, the possession of which would en- 
 able France to extend her northern frontiers, which were too 
 close to the capital. Eichelieu had proposed to form the 
 Netherlands into a Catholic republic, of which France could 
 easily have secured the direction. Mazarin had at first 
 other ideas in his mind. Meditating the annexation of these 
 provinces to the French monarchy, he had sought to profit 
 by the negotiations for the treaty of WestphaUa, in order to 
 acquire the Netherlands and Franche-Comte in exchange 
 for Catalonia, of which France was then in possession. These - 
 proposals having led to nothing, he recognised the necessity 
 for coming to terms with the republic of the United Provinces ; 
 and although disappointed by the peace of Miiaster which the 
 latter had concluded with Spain, he did not despair of inter- 
 esting her in the execution of the plan conceived by Eichelieu. 
 The project of forming the Netherlands iato an indepen- 
 dent republic, called ia the despatches of that time the Can- 
 tonment, became henceforth the aim of his negotiations, and 
 he flattered himself that he would easily obtain the consent 
 of the States- General. 
 
 De Witt gave his entire adhesion to this policy, which 
 appeared to him to be favourable to the interests of the 
 United Provinces. He entered upon the matter with the 
 principal deputies of the States of Holland and overcame the 
 opposition of some of the magistrates of Amsterdam, who were 
 in favour of an alliance between Spain and the republic, 
 through the good of&ces of his uncle Cornelius de Graeff de 
 Zuidpolsbroeck, who had great influence in the town council. 
 To prevent the annexation of the Low Countries he was 
 willing to consent to and to encourage their cantonment. He 
 had adopted as his device the old saying, 'Galium amicum, non 
 vicinum ' — the alliance, not the vicinity of France. Believing 
 that Spain, weakened and exhausted, would be unable to 
 defend against French conquest these provinces now isolated 
 
CLAIMS OF LOUIS XIV. TO THE NETHERLANDS. 279 
 
 and left to themselves, fearing besides that she would not 
 desire to keep them and might return to the proposal already 
 entered into with France of an exchange, he sought security 
 for the United Provinces in the freedom and independence of 
 the Netherlands; he desired to take them from Spain, but 
 not to give them to France, hoping to bind them to the 
 United Provinces by the ties of a confederation which might 
 easUy be established between the two republics. ' The can- 
 tonment of the Netherlands,' he said at a later period to 
 the French ambassador, ' would have given repose and security 
 to both.' To hasten the fulfilment of these projects, he went 
 so far as to urge the French Government to send an army 
 against the principal towns of Flanders, in order to force them, 
 as he said, ' to take up arms for their liberty.' It was the 
 Belgium of to-day that he proposed, so far back as the seven- 
 teenth century, should be added to the number of the States 
 of Europe, in his statesmanlike forethought thus anticipating 
 by nearly two centuries the work of modern policy. 
 
 The fresh pretensions of France were about to imperil 
 once more the agreement which had apparently been secured. 
 The marriage of Louis XIV. with the Infanta Maria Theresa, 
 which was the result of the peace of the Pyrenees, threatened 
 the United Provinces with unexpected dangers, and was pre- 
 paring for Europe more than half a century of wars vainly 
 interrupted by treaties. Maria Theresa had, it is true, 
 renounced the crown of Spain, and Louis XIV. had ratified 
 the renunciation in consideration of the promise of a dowry 
 of 500,000 gold crowns. But scarcely was his marriage 
 concluded when he sought to evade this engagement. He was 
 the more interested in withdrawing from it that the only 
 heir of Philip IV. king of Spain was a sickly child who did 
 not appear likely to survive his father. Louis would not 
 admit that any treaty could set aside the ancient and funda- 
 mental law of the Spanish monarchy which allowed females 
 the right of succession to the throne; moreover, the dowry 
 not having been paid, he considered the renunciation as void, 
 and was determined henceforth to preserve intact the rights of 
 the queen, his wife, over the whole of her paternal inheritance. 
 
280 JOHN DE WITT. 
 
 He was preparing at the same time to Invoke other titles 
 of inheritance which should enable him, on the death of 
 Philip IV., to establish his claim to the greater part of the 
 Netherlands and thus to dismember the Spanish monarchy 
 without waiting tUl the succession became vacant. According 
 to a custom of Brabant which was followed in some of the 
 provinces of the Netherlands, the patrimonial possessions 
 belonged to children born of a first marriage. A second 
 marriage transmitted the inheritance to them, and the father 
 who had married again only retained the revenue of his 
 property. It was this purely local law of civil right, called 
 Law of Devolution, which Louis XIV. wished to invoke for his 
 own benefit. The Infanta of Spain, Maria Theresa, now 
 queen of France, was the only daughter of Philip IV. by his 
 first wife, Elizabeth of France. Louis XIV. asserted that the 
 King of Spain, in contracting a second marriage with Maria 
 Anna of Austria, had no longer a right to more than the 
 revenue of that part of the Low Countries which was governed 
 by the Law of Devolution ; he therefore claimed the right of 
 possession in behalf of the Infanta Maria Theresa, his wife. 
 This claim appeared to have small foundation. It was abro- 
 gated by the Act of Eenunciation, which annulled all rights 
 of succession, whatever they might be. Besides, it only rested 
 on a custom purely applicable to private rights, and foreign 
 to political rights. Finally, it was difficult to admit that a 
 monarchy could be deprived of some of its provinces in virtue 
 of a right of succession contrary to the fundamental laws of 
 that monarchy, so far as they regulated the transmission of 
 the royal authority. 
 
 De Witt had been informed of the dispositions of the 
 King of France whOe Van Beuningen was negotiating with 
 him the treaty of alliance which had just been concluded. 
 The acquisition of Dunkirk by Louis XIV., by giving him 
 an advanced post towards the conquest of the Low Countries, 
 confirmed the projects attributed to him. The Grand Pen- 
 sionary of Holland could not fail to be alarmed at them. In 
 the hope of inducing the French Government to renounce its 
 ambitious designs, he pretended to desire an alliance between 
 
EMBASSY OF COUNT D'ESTEADES TO THE HAGUE. 281 
 
 the United Provinces and Spain, and despatched to Madrid, 
 as ambassadors extraordinary, three envoys from the States- 
 General. On the other hand, far from rejecting the advances 
 of Louis, he determined to encourage them. Without 
 renouncing the idea of cantonment of the Netherlands, he 
 appeared disposed to accede to a partition of those provinces 
 between France and the republic, if a partition was necessary 
 iu order to avoid annexation. By appearing thus to approach 
 nearer to the views of the King of Prance, he hoped to gain 
 time and thus to succeed in obtaining concessions. This 
 policy of subterfuge and evasion which concealed so many 
 dangers was about to show conspicuously the Grand Pen- 
 sionary's prudence and suppleness of mind and to give proof 
 of his diplomatic experience. Louis XIV., whose interest it 
 was not to be too hasty in the execution of his designs, 
 desired, on his side, to continue the course of negotiations 
 and to secure in case of necessity an agreement with the 
 United Provinces. Thus, making choice of a new ambassador 
 whom he thought likely to receive the most cordial welcome 
 af the Hague, he replaced De Thou by Count d'Estrades. 
 De Thou was in ill odour with the French Government in 
 consequence of the secret despatches of Wicquefort, whom 
 Lionne employed as one of his regular correspondents. The 
 haughty arrogance that he displayed in his last communi- 
 cations with the deputies of the States served as a pretext 
 for hastening his recall. D'Estrades, on the contrary, enjoyed 
 the entire confidence of his sovereign, and was likely to find 
 no difficulty in insinuating himself iato that of the States. 
 He joined to his high reputation as a diplomatist the military 
 renown which he had acquired in attaining successively to the 
 ranks of major-general and lieutenant-general. Appointed 
 mayor of Bordeaux for life as a reward for the services which 
 he had rendered in Guyenne during the Fronde, he had been 
 sent as ambassador to London after the recall of Charles II., 
 and had just induced the King of England to sell the town 
 of Dunkirk to the King of France, who held him in high 
 honour in consequence of the success of this negotiation. 
 Moreover, Count d'Estrades was not looked upon as a stranger 
 
282 JOHN DE "WITT. 
 
 when he arrived at the Hague. He had served his first 
 campaign in the war of the United Provinces against Spain, 
 under the orders of the Stadtholder Frederick Henry, who had 
 rewarded his courage by giving him the rank of colonel. 
 Employed at a later period, before the peace of the Pyrenees, 
 in negotiating an agreement with the States -General for the 
 purpose of attempting, though unsuccessfully, to engage them, 
 together with Cromwell, ia a fresh naval war against Spain, 
 he had contrived to open useful relations in the United 
 Provinces, which, joined to his profound acquaintance with 
 the institutions of the country, contributed to the success of 
 his embassy. 
 
 The closest intimacy was speedUy esta^bhshed between the 
 French ambassador and the Grand Pensionary of Holland. 
 D'Estrades, who hoped to gain by his hberahty the good 
 offices of the principal deputies, and who induced Beverningh 
 to accept in default of a pension the portrait of the king 
 surrounded with precious stones, was at first disconcerted by 
 the disinterestedness of John de Witt. Obhged to acknow- 
 ledge, as Turenne had warned him, the uselessness of offers 
 ' against which the Grand Pensionary prided himself on 
 exercising his virtue,' he writes to Louis XIV. : 'As for this 
 man, he is incorruptible; he only wishes for esteem and 
 kindness on your Majesty's part.' Not only did De Witt 
 oppose to all attempts at bribery his own impenetrable 
 integrity, but he also determined to baffle them by exacting 
 from the deputies an oath to take no pay or salary from 
 any foreign sovereign. 
 
 Far from allowing himself to be gained over by D'Estrades, 
 De Witt won the latter by his manners and behaviour. He 
 gratified his vanity in the first instance by courteously re- 
 fraining from exacting that the first visit should be paid by 
 him, though D'Estrades would not allow himself to be excused 
 from it. He was careful at the same time to consider his 
 interests by obtaining from the States of Holland the pay- 
 ment of the arrears which had been due to him for twelve 
 years as colonel of one of their regiments, thus procuring for 
 him a donation of 25,000 francs. The Grand Pensionary at th& 
 
HIS EELA.TIONS WITH DE "WITT. 283 
 
 same time renewed his declarations of zeal and devotion towards 
 the King of France. ' The saying of your Excellency in the 
 speech made at your reception, that his Majesty wished to 
 imitate Henry the Great and had the same friendship and 
 affection for this state as that great prince,' he writes in the 
 first letter he addressed to him, ' gives me an opportunity of 
 saying that we hope his Majesty will be a father to us as he 
 was, and will bear with our shortcomings, oftener caused by 
 the constitution of our republic than by lack of good-will.' 
 D'Bstrades allowed himself to be easily persuaded, and went 
 so far as to bear testimony to the Grand Pensionary. ' I 
 could not myself,' he declared to Louis XIV., ' be more 
 zealous for the greatness and prosperity of your Majesty than 
 M. de Witt appears to be.' The King of France, on his side, 
 did not stint his praises. ' You may place the direction of my 
 affairs,' he writes to D'Estrades, 'in such good hands as his, 
 and leave the entire conduct of them to his zeal and experi- 
 ence. It is plain that God created him for great things, and 
 I think myself that the acquisition of so good a friend was 
 not a mere work of chance, but of the Divine Providence, 
 which disposes early the instruments which it intends to 
 employ for the glory of this crown as well as for the advan- 
 tage and the safety of the United Provinces.' 
 
 Assured of the confidence of the French ambassador, De 
 Witt sought to avail himself of it to discover the designs of 
 Louis XIV. With this view he undertook to set aside the 
 proposals made to him by the Spanish ambassador, Gamarra, 
 of bringing about a defensive alliance between the United 
 Provinces and the Spanish Netherlands. But he demanded 
 in return that the French Government should declare in 
 favour of the enfranchisement of the Netherlands, thereby 
 obliging it to renounce the ideas of annexation which Louis 
 had not yet ventured to make known. 
 
 Determined to prevent any delay, he repaired to Count 
 d'Estrades to announce to him that two Flemish deputies had 
 come to demand on the part of the six principal towns of the 
 Netherlands the assistance of Holland for the purpose of 
 promoting an insurrection destined to deliver them from 
 
284 JOHN DE WITT. 
 
 Spanish domination. Unable to evade the promise of co- 
 operation that was asked of him, D'Estrades allowed himself 
 to be disconcerted. He answered that ' the States would find 
 it more to their advantage to take steps which would enable 
 them to ensure their weU-being in future, without prejudice 
 to the rights of the King of France over Flanders.' He thus 
 indirectly made the first overtures towards the partition. 
 
 De Witt took advantage of the admission made by the 
 French ambassador to request him to make known the rights 
 to which Louis XIV. laid claim. The ambassador referred to 
 those of the queen, Maria Theresa, alleging that no renuncia- 
 tion could hold good against them, since the dowry which she 
 was to have received had not been paid. De Witt thus found 
 himself in possession of the secret which he was . anxious to 
 discover ; but he promised not to allow it to be suspected until 
 the king should have made known his answer. 
 
 Louis, on receiving his ambassador's despatch, readily 
 perceived the fault which D'Estrades had committed, and 
 attempted to repair it. To cut short the projects for a 
 union between the United Provinces and the Spanish Nether- 
 lands, he determined to encourage the proposals made by the 
 Grand Pensionary. De Witt's fears were not, however, allayed, 
 though he concealed them. He could not be satisfied without 
 an undertaking on the part of Louis that he would desist 
 from his pretensions, and he intended to leave no stone un- 
 turned to obtain it. 
 
 Impatient to attain in this manner the end of his policy, 
 he offered the King of Prance an agreement by which Louis, 
 as the price of his co-operation in the enfranchisement 
 of the Netherlands, should annex those of their frontier 
 towns which were contiguous to his kingdom, on the condition 
 of leaving to the United Provinces those which were nearest 
 to their territory. D'Estrades, far from accepting this pro- 
 posal with eagerness, affected a disinterestedness of which the 
 Grand Pensionary did not allow himself to be the dupe. To 
 force him to lay aside his reserve, De Witt put forward reso- 
 lutely the plan of partition, but without any desire to bring it 
 to a conclusion. In answer to the invitation which he skil- 
 
PLAN OF PAETITION, 285 
 
 fully caused to be addressed to him, he drew up a long and 
 remarkable report, in which, without renouncing the canton- 
 ment, he offered the King of France the co-operation of the 
 States to put him in possession of the Netherlands after 
 the death of the King of Spain and that of the Infant. 
 This assistance was to be given on condition of obtaining in 
 return for the United Provinces that part of the Netherlands 
 which extends as far as Ostend. He thus postponed and 
 limited, to the great advantage of the States- General, the 
 claims of the King of France. By persuading Louis to 
 await not only the death of PhUip IV. but also that of the 
 Infant, before claiming the inheritance of Maria Theresa, he 
 obliged him to renounce the Law of Devolution. 
 
 Louis XIV., who wished to give his policy an appearance 
 of moderation, in order to encourage De Witt to continue the 
 negotiations, accepted with apparent satisfaction the plan of 
 the Grand Pensionary. To maintain his confidence, the latter 
 appointed a secret meeting with those deputies of the States 
 of Holland with whom he was most closely united ; he called 
 them together at Ilpendam, in the country house situated at 
 the gates of Utrecht which belonged to his uncle De Graeff 
 de Zuidpolsbroeek, and boasted to the French ambassador 
 that he had forced them to perceive the necessity for a speedy 
 agreement. De Witt by these means obtained from Louis an 
 injunction to D'Estrades ' to permit him to conduct the affair 
 at his pleasure,' and obtained the full powers which he desired. 
 
 De Witt, however, only intended to make use of them for 
 the purpose of forcing the King of France to explain himself, 
 not doubting that Louis XIV. had some concealed intentions 
 which would soon come to light. He therefore brought 
 forward, as if against his wUl, unexpected objections to the 
 project of a partition. He alleged more especially the insur- 
 mountable resistance of the deputies of Amsterdam, who 
 feared that if Antwerp were once annexed by the States- 
 General the free navigation of the Scheldt, which Spain had 
 been obliged by the peace of Miinster to renounce, would be 
 restored and might cause the inevitable ruin of their com- 
 merce. He therefore undertook, with apparent reluctance, to 
 
286 JOHN DE WITT. 
 
 persuade D'Estrades that he would be obliged not only to be 
 satisfied with the cantonment of the Netherlands, but per- 
 haps to renounce even that, ' if he could not make his friends 
 more tractable by enlightening them as to the rights which 
 the King of France might be disposed to claim.' 
 
 Louis, persuaded by D'Estrades that there was no artifice 
 concealed in this, did not thiak himself entitled to refuse 
 the appeal. He determined to make known the motives 
 which might induce him to declare the nullity of the renun- 
 ciation of the queen to the inheritance of the King of Spain, 
 letting it be understood at the same time that, if the republic 
 would acknowledge his rights to the succession, he would 
 refrain from putting them forward for the annexation of the 
 Netherlands. 
 
 Th^ Grand Pensionary awaited with impatience this decla- 
 ration and seized upon it with his habitual dexterity. He 
 began by secretly urging the King of Spain to pay Maria 
 Theresa's dowry, in order not to leave the King of France the 
 pretext that Louis XIV. brought forward for considering the 
 renunciation of the Infanta as null and void ; but he could 
 not prevail on the Court of Madrid to foUow his advice. He 
 also attempted to take advantage of the communications of the 
 King of France, who had hitherto asserted no claim to the 
 Netherlands except those of succession to the whole Spanish 
 monarchy, in order to prevent him from making any attempt 
 on these provinces, so long as the death of Philip IV. and 
 that of the Infant had not left- vacant the succession to which 
 Louis pretended. Fearing that he might find himself irre- 
 vocably engaged, the King of France was forced to unveil his 
 ambitious designs, and, without hesitating to disavow his 
 latest declarations, he asserted that the death of Philip IV. 
 alone would give him a right to claim the Netherlands, thus 
 appealing to the Law of Devolution. 
 
 Now that he was undeceived as to the apparent concessions 
 of the King of France, De Witt, who was clear-sighted and 
 did not allow himself to be easily led, tried to influence the 
 resolutions of Louis XIV. by leading him to fear that the pro- 
 posals for a confederation between the United Provinces and 
 
CONFEEENCE SUMMONED BY DE WITT. 287 
 
 the Netherlands might be favourably received at the Hague ; 
 they were, in fact, eagerly renewed by the Spanish ambassador, 
 Gamarra, who had remained for seven hours in conference 
 with the commissioners of the States. But the Grand Pen- 
 sionary soon perceived that the King of France was more 
 offended than alarmed at this attempt at intimidation. ' I do 
 not choose,' he wrote haughtily to D'Estrades, 'that the Sieur 
 de Witt should lead me into everything he chooses and when 
 he chooses by the terrors of this league. My affairs have not 
 yet arrived at that point.' ' Such threats,' he added royally 
 in another despatch, ' rouse my spirit, and if I chose to give 
 you a precise answer, I could not perhaps refrain from order- 
 ing you to say things to him which would not l?e agreeable to 
 hear. He may easily by his proceedings give rise to thoughts 
 which are not now in my mind, and engage his superiors in a 
 disagreeable business by his too great desire to serve them 
 better.' 
 
 De Witt now perceived, with his usual prudence, the neces- 
 sity for a compromise. Although he had handed to D'Estrades 
 another memorandum intended to demonstrate by historical 
 examples going back as far as Charlemagne that the Law of 
 Devolution rested on no foundation as regarded the succession 
 to the Duchy of Brabant, he would not persist in disputing it, 
 provided he could succeed in preventing, even by means of a 
 partition, the annexation of the Netherlands to France. In 
 a conference to which he summoned the principal deputies, 
 amongst others those of Amsterdam, who were the most 
 refractory, he set forth, with the powers of persuasion 
 natural to him, all the motives calculated to dissuade the 
 United Provinces from breaking with France by means of an 
 alliance with Spain. In order to convince them finally, he 
 expressed his opinion to the States in a long report written 
 by himself, which showed his statesmanlike penetration. 
 After comparing the weakness of Spain to the growing 
 strength of France, which could not fail to encourage Louis 
 XIV. in claiming the succession to the Spanish monarchy, he 
 considered how the Netherlands might be placed beyond his 
 reach. On the one hand he showed the necessity for a league 
 
288 JOHN DE WITT. 
 
 to protect the cantonment of those provinces in the event of 
 their wishing to form themselves into an independent republic, 
 and on the other hand he pointed out its dangers, Spain not 
 choosing to allow them to be taken from her, and Prance being 
 doubtless disposed to consider the league as a provocation. 
 The proposal of leaving the Netherlands to Spain appeared 
 to him no less difficult or dangerous, and he drew attention 
 to the weakness of the allies to whom the republic might 
 appeal. He considered the German Princes and the Kings of 
 Denmark and Sweden as too dependent upon France for any- 
 thing to be expected from their aid. He represented in striking 
 terms ' the empire as a skeleton, of which the different parts 
 were kept together, not by nerves, but by a brass VTire, and 
 which had thus no natural movement ; ' Spain ' as a broken 
 reed which could only be defended by engaging in a war of 
 which the republic would be obliged to sustain nearly all the 
 expenses.' ' The Netherlands,' he added, • were open to 
 France by the fortresses which Louis XIV. had conquered, and 
 appeared, moreover, more inclined to become French than to 
 remain Spanish. There was, therefore, no guarantee against 
 their annexation to France except a speedy treaty. Accord- 
 ing to his proposals, the States were to leave Louis entire 
 liberty to put forward the claims of the Queen of France to 
 the Netherlands immediately on the death of the King of 
 Spain ; but they were only to undertake to give him their 
 support when the succession was actually open — that is to say, 
 after the death of Philip IV. and that of the Infant— and with 
 the reservation that at one period or the other the United 
 Provinces should be put in possession of the fortresses con- 
 tiguous to their territory. ' It is better,' saidDe Witt in con- 
 clusion, ' to share with France than to attempt fruitlessly to 
 dispute the enjoyment of his rights with a powerful king who 
 irour ally.' 
 
 The deputies of the States allowed themselves to be con- 
 vinced by these considerations. But encouraged secretly by 
 the Grand Pensionary, and not wishing to remain exposed to 
 the inconsistencies of French policy, they declared that they 
 would not consent to the proposals for a new treaty unless 
 
PROMISE OF A PEELIMINARY AGREEMENT. 289 
 
 D'Estrades undertook to obtain its approval from the King of 
 France without any alteration. 
 
 Unable now to find any further subterfuge, Louis XIV. 
 refused definitely to pledge himself, and De Lionne, who had 
 dissuaded him from making any concession, wrote haughtily to 
 D'Estrades : ' The real design of his Majesty is to remain 
 free, without digging for himself ditches which would prevent 
 him from walking straightforward and with ease, according 
 to what he may consider conducive to his glory, his advantage, 
 and the greater welfare of his country.' The King of Prance, 
 notwithstanding, thought himself under the necessity of con- 
 ciliating the good-will of the Grand Pensionary. Foreseeing 
 the suspicions which De Witt would not fail to spread if he 
 refused to continue the negotiations that had been entered 
 upon, he authorised his ambassador to assure the first minister 
 of Holland ' that he would never make any attempt upon the 
 Netherlands otherwise than justly and with the participation 
 of his allies.' 
 
 This was the only satisfaction that the Grand Pensionary 
 could obtain ; it left, at any rate, the future open. By remaining 
 loyal to the alliance with France, he hoped to be enabled to 
 impose on Louis XIV. the necessity for concessions, and to 
 prevent him from precipitating the execution of his plans. 
 Moreover, having discovered his designs, without, it is true, 
 being able to alter them, De Witt hoped to be able to take 
 timely steps to arrest or restrain his ambition. In spite of 
 the uneasiness still felt by the United Provinces, the chief 
 danger he had feared, and which he had pointed out some 
 years before in a confidential letter, viz. the diplomatic 
 isolation of the republic, was now at an end. The two treaties 
 that had been successively concluded with England and 
 France, in leaving to the States-General a free choice of 
 alliances, seemed to be a lasting pledge of external security. 
 The medal which commemorated them bore for its inscription 
 this line of Virgil : ' Deus nobis hsec otia fecit,' and on the 
 reverse were these words : ' Peace, crowned with olives, unites 
 the United Provinces to France as well as to Great Britain, 
 and this union renders the State prosperous.' 
 
 VOL. I. u 
 
290 JOHN DE "WITT. 
 
 The persistent policy of the Grand Pensionary had also 
 accomplished successfully the work of internal pacification. 
 He had sought to secure this by the union of Holland with 
 Zealand. In order to promote the success of the negotiations 
 entered into between the two proviuces, De Witt had secured 
 the consent of the pensionary of Zealand, Adrian Veth, who 
 had occupied that post for the last four years, and had 
 acquired preponderating authority in the Assembly of the 
 States of that province. He had subdued and intimidated 
 him by the lofty and somewhat arrogant firmness he 
 displayed towards him, if one may judge by the letter ia 
 which he reproached him with not having kept his first 
 promises. ' My sentiments are such,' he wrote, ' that if I 
 intended to do something that I judged necessary to my 
 honour, I would not assert to anyone that I would do the 
 contrary ; if I had once promised anyone that I would do 
 anything, and if later I foimd myself obliged to alter my 
 conduct, I should not hesitate a moment ia acquainting him 
 with it. If I had acted on my part in such a manner towards 
 you, you would have reason to say that it had been a breach of 
 faith ; but this is entirely contrary to my custom, and if such 
 a manner of acting is in accordance with yours, I do not know 
 whether the old proverb, " True man, good Zealander," could 
 be justly applied to you.' De Witt had, on the other hand, 
 adroitly paid him every attention that could gain bim over to 
 the interests of Holland, and had used his influence on behalf 
 of one of his brothers who was threatened with being ex- 
 cluded from the provincial court. Having earned his gratitude, 
 he made him his ally. 
 
 The agreement between the two provinces was now con- 
 cluded without difficulty. The States of Holland, to please 
 the States of Zealand, settled in their favour the legal dififer- 
 enc6s raised by the organisation of the court of justice common 
 to the two provinces ; they promised, besides, to renounce in 
 their favour a certain number of offices which depended on 
 the selection of the Prince of Orange, and of which they 
 would have the disposal if they took him again under their 
 guardianship. In return for these concessions, the States of 
 
AGEEEME^fT WITH ZEALAND. 291 
 
 Zealand engaged not only not to elect a stadtholder without 
 a preliminary agreement with Holland, but also not to demand 
 of the States-General the restoration of the son of William II, 
 to any of the offices of his ancestors before he had completed 
 his eighteenth year. The Princess Dowager vainly opposed 
 this compromise. According to a contemporary author, she 
 openly declared that ' the Act of Exclusion of the Prince of 
 Orange, passed ten years before by Holland and Cromwell 
 combined, had not been more fatal to the interests of her 
 grandson.' By the loss of the support of Zealand the Orange 
 party seemed reduced to capitulation. ' I should have been 
 glad to be of use to the young prince,' writes D'Bstrades ; ' but 
 I now see clearly that for a long time to come his will be a 
 fallen house.' 
 
 A year later the ambassador of the King of Prance showed 
 publicly, by his behaviour towards the last descendant of the 
 stadtholders, that he did not consider him as the inheritor of 
 their authority. He seized the pretext of another dispute 
 about etiquette to refuse to pay him any marks of respect. 
 Their two carriages finding themselves side by side in the 
 promenade of the Hague, the Voorhout, which was enclosed by 
 barriers for carriage traffic, the prince wished to take the place 
 of honour on the right hand, the nearest to the barrier ; 
 D'Estrades' coachman, attempting the same manoeuvre, barred 
 his passage. Neither would yield, and the dispute almost gave 
 rise to a tumult. The people whom the fair at the Hague had 
 collected in the streets of the town were crowding round the 
 carriages and beginning with violence to take the prince's part, 
 while D'Estrades was sending orders to all his followers to 
 come to his assistance. The Grand Pensionary of Holland, 
 informed of the danger, hastened to the spot with some of the 
 deputies of the States, and, in deference to the remonstrances 
 of the ambassador, sent for the Princess Dowager, who pre- 
 vailed on her grandson to leave his carriage under pretence of 
 joining her. To satisfy the King of Prance and prevent the 
 renewal of a similar dispute, the States of Holland hastened 
 to issue an order which obliged all their subjects, without any 
 exception, to take in future the left hand in the promenade 
 
 V 2 
 
292 JOHN DE -WITT. 
 
 of the Hague. The pretensions of the Prince of Orange had 
 thus only brought upon him fresh humiliation. 
 
 Impatient to enjoy their supremacy at their leisure, the 
 States of Holland determined to have it officially recognised, 
 by ordering an alteration to be made in the public prayers, as 
 recited in their province. They proposed to modify them 
 in such a manner as not to allow any precedence to the 
 States-General. Many pamphlets had been published for and 
 against the revision of the liturgy. The one which made 
 most impression was the work of the Grand Pensionary's 
 cousin, also called John de Wit,' who had pronounced in favour 
 of the new liturgy with the authority derived from his rela- 
 tionship. The Grand Pensionary had not encouraged him in 
 thus taking the initiative, having no inclination for such 
 innovations. 'It was forced on him,' wrote the French 
 ambassador, 'by his friends, who sometimes obliged him to 
 speak against his own opinion, and to make concessions, with- 
 out which he could not have retained his power.' After the 
 discussions had been prolonged for three weeks, the States of 
 Holland enjoined on all ministers of rehgion who were their 
 subjects to offer prayers first for the States of the province, 
 their sole and legitimate sovereigns ; then, for the States of 
 the other provinces, their allies, and for the deputies who 
 represented them in the Assembly of the Confederation. The 
 States-General, who personified, so to say, the union and 
 sovereignty of the United Provinces, were thus deposed from 
 the rank which they claimed, and which had hitherto legally 
 appertained to them ; since they decided all questions of peace 
 and war, the conclusion of treaties, and even the maintenance 
 of religion. Their supremacy was nevertheless questionable, 
 since their resolutions might have to be submitted for the con- 
 sent of the other provinces. Under the appearance of a fresh 
 quarrel, the old struggle was being kept up which the States 
 of Holland had entered into with the federal power, whose 
 superior authority they refused to acknowledge. 
 
 The other provinces, who could not escape from their sub- 
 
 ' His family name, De Wit, was written with only one t. 
 
ACT OF INDEMNITY. 293 
 
 jection to the States of Holland except by opposing to them 
 the authority of the States -General, hastened to respond to 
 the appeal of the States of Friesland who protested against 
 this usurpation of power. The States of Holland paid no 
 heed to their remonstrances, and, to dissuade them from a use- 
 less resistance, sent them a carefully studied message drawn 
 up by John de Witt with the assistance of one of the pastors 
 of Dordrecht, Jacob Lydius. In this manifesto, which won 
 for him the most flattering commendation from the King of 
 France, the Grand Pensionary explained to the other provinces 
 that Holland was only making a regulation for the use of her 
 own inhabitants, and to reassure them as to the import of the 
 new form of prayer, he represented to them that they kept in- 
 tact the right of acting as they pleased for the maintenance 
 or revision of the ancient liturgy. The precautions which he 
 caused to be taken that these political discussions should not 
 degenerate into theological controversy, and to prevent the 
 Galvinistic clergy from taking part in them, removed all pre- 
 text for religious passion and ensured the easy execution of the 
 orders given by the States. 
 
 Accustomed to consider no measures of precaution as 
 superfluous, the Grand Pensionary of Holland was careful to 
 maintain confidence and union in the Assembly of the pro- 
 vince. With this view he caused an Act to be passed, known 
 under the name of the Act of Indemnity, which was intended 
 to guarantee protection and reparation to ministers and 
 deputies who might suffer any loss in the service of Holland, 
 as well as to their widows and children. On the other hand, 
 he gave satisfaction to the nobles, by obtaining for them the 
 grant of certain prerogatives of judicial authority in their own 
 domains. He interposed with equal solicitude to conciliate 
 the rival pretensions of the towns, which were disputing for the 
 right of being represented by their deputies on the various 
 boards of the Confederation. The necessity for ensuring to 
 the republic the means requisite for the common defence 
 appeared to him no less imperative, and at his suggestion the 
 States-General determined to compel those provinces who did 
 not pay their subsidies to discharge their debt, even by 
 
294 JOHN DE WITT. 
 
 force, if necessary. No success was wanting to his policy 
 when he had obtained the appointment as secretary of the 
 Federal Council of the State of Govert van SHngelandt, who 
 had distinguished himself by the success of his negotiations in 
 Denmark and Sweden during the war in the North ; this 
 appointment was, in fact, a fresh guarantee of the supremacy 
 of the States of Holland, who possessed another most faithful 
 ally in Euysch, the secretary of the States-General. Euysch, De 
 Witt, and Slingelandt, who had each in turn been pensionaries 
 of, Dordrecht, occupied henceforth the three most important 
 posts in the repubhc, and their triumyh-ate made the States 
 of Holland masters of the government of the Confederation. 
 Prince William Frederick of Nassau, who alone might have 
 disputed this domination, only sought their good graces and 
 placed himself at their service. 
 
 Assured of the gratitude of his masters, the States, De 
 Witt was able to regard the past with complacency and to 
 look forward confidently to the future. ' Never,' writes a con- 
 temporary, ' have the States testified so much friendliness and 
 satisfaction towards their Grand Pensionary as they did at 
 their last adjournment, when the nobles and towns thanked 
 him with extraordinary affection, so that whereas, formerly, 
 there were towns which still spoke on behalf of the interests 
 of the Prince of Orange, there is not one that does not speak 
 to-day of the sovereignty and liberty of the province of 
 Holland.' 
 
 He had just received the reward of his services in his reelec- 
 tion as Grand Pensionary, in July 1663, this being the second 
 time that he had obtained the renewal of his commission. 
 Six weeks later, having asked and received the authorisation of 
 the Council of Dordrecht, John de Witt resumed the exercise 
 of his ministry for another period of five years. The States 
 hastened to grant him a fresh guarantee of indemnity and 
 confirmed their promise of reserving for him, on the expha- 
 tion of his functions, a seat in one of the courts of justice of 
 the province, ' to which he looked as a safe and honourable 
 retreat.' He had already, three years before, joined to his 
 office that of superintendent or president of the Coui't of Fiefia 
 
EE-ELECTION OF THE GEAND PENSIONARY. 295 
 
 and keeper of the Great Seal, which had long been in the 
 possession of the former Grand Pensionary, Cats, who had 
 retained the emoluments, amounting to 3,000 florins, up to 
 the time of his death. As it was necessary, in order to 
 become superintendent of fiefs, to prove that he possessed 
 landed property, De Witt made use of his wife's dowry to pur- 
 chase four estates or lordships in the province of Holland, and 
 thus obtained investiture of his new office. 
 
 The powers which he exercised had been of service to his 
 family. In the year following his first appointment as Grand 
 Pensionary, the post of Buard or bailiff of Putten, one of the 
 most important in the province, from the extent of the prero- 
 gatives that it carried with it, had been bestowed on his 
 brother, Cornelius, sheriff of Dordrecht. Three years later, 
 he obtained for his father, Jacob de Witt, the post of auditor- 
 general for Holland. Unable himself to interpose on his 
 behalf, he encouraged him to solicit the votes of the members 
 of the States, -pointed out to him with the most minute care 
 those who he thought deserved his confidence, pressed him to 
 write to them, or to call upon them, and thus traced out for 
 him a complete programme of parliamentary canvassing. 
 
 De Witt, though disinterested on his own account, was 
 anxious to be of use to his family. He hoped that his own 
 authority might be strengthened by the satisfaction given them. 
 Still, in spite of the reproaches which he may have incurred 
 of being too well disposed to serve the interests of his rela- 
 tions and friends, the complaints of those whose demands he 
 had been unable to comply with are an irrefutable proof of 
 the limits he imposed upon himself. Thus his cousin, John de 
 Sypesteyn, who solicited the command of a regiment, reproached 
 him with ' showing too much timidity, and not giving himself 
 trouble enough.' In his correspondence with his father, De 
 Witt referred to the unjust accusations of nepotism that had 
 been made against him and represented that, if he had 
 incurred them, ' it was because some of his near relations and 
 connections had been promoted to offices into which, how- 
 ever, they had not been thrust by force, but to which they 
 attained with great ease, either through the support of other 
 
296 JOHN DE WITT. 
 
 friends, or else in consideration of their personal qualities and 
 of their capability.' 
 
 However that may be, De Witt appeared necessarily the 
 more accessible to considerations of relationship from the 
 fact that he was on the most intimate terms with all the mem- 
 bers of his family. Thus he repaired to Dordrecht to take 
 part in the festivities on the occasion of the marriage of one 
 of his nieces, the daughter of his eldest sister, Alide Beveren 
 de Zwyndrecht, who had married Pompey de Meerdervoort. 
 He continued to reside frequently with his wife at the country 
 house of his uncle. Van Sypesteyn; he thanks him for 
 his presents, and, in the formal style of the day, ' for the 
 terrier dogs,' of which he had always been as great a lover 
 as himself, and consults him with regard to buying a pro- 
 perty in his neighbourhood. He kept up a constant corre- 
 spondence with his brother Cornelius, and, having himself as 
 yet no son, congratulated him on the birth of a second boy. ' I 
 was' happy to hear,' he says, ' that the addition you have got 
 this time is of the favourable sex, by which the lack in our 
 famUy will be supplied in a worthy manner.' His eldest sister, 
 Johanna Beveren van Zwyndrecht, who had managed his 
 establishment before his marriage, still continued to do so and 
 employed herself with maternal solicitude in the selection of 
 a nurse for his first child. 
 
 The death of his mother-in-law, whom he had lost shortly 
 after his marriage, had not disturbed the close union which 
 existed between John de Witt and his wife's family. ' I spent 
 the season of Christmas,' he wrote, ' at Amsterdam, where I was 
 more occupied in devotions and family meetings than in busi- 
 ness.' He displayed sincere affection towards his two young 
 sisters-in-law, who were not yet married, and often invited 
 them to visit his wife. They were very fond of the pleasures 
 suited to their age, if we may judge by the following letter 
 which they wrote to De Witt : ' We cannot start for the 
 Hague just yet, for we have a great deal to do while staying 
 with our eldest sister Trip, and, first of all, to go to the fair 
 of Amsterdam, which we have never missed; for you know 
 that we like very much to be wherever there is anything 
 
HIS FAMILY EELATIONS. 297 
 
 amusing going on.' One of them, Cornelia, married her 
 paternal first cousin, Gerard Bicker van Swieten, son of 
 Cornelius Bicker, who inherited his father's great possessions, 
 and who had such habits of luxury that he drove in Amster- 
 dam in a carriage and four. The other, the younger and 
 prettier, Jacoba Bicker, married her maternal first cousin, 
 De Graeff, son of Cornelius, lord of Zuidpolsbroeck. On the 
 occasion of her marriage, John de Witt addressed a compli- 
 ment in verse to each of the guests, thanking them for their 
 kind reception of him and eulogising the young couple. 
 
 His wife's uncles were loyal advisers of the Grand Pen- 
 sionary : they placed at the service of his policy the authority 
 appertaining to them in the Council of Amsterdam, and De 
 Witt never failed to consult them or to ask their co-operation 
 in the direction of internal affairs or the conduct of the most 
 important negotiations. Andrew de Graeff, burgomaster of 
 the town, was re-elected seven times, and always showed 
 himself worthy of the confidence of his fellow-citizens. 
 Cornelius de Graeff, lord of Zuidpolsbroeck, the eldest of the 
 family, a deputy councillor of Holland, who had been associ- 
 ated with John De Witt on several missions, had acquired the 
 most varied information, joined to a profound knowledge of 
 business. ' He may be described,' writes a contemporary to 
 Cromwell's minister, Thurloe, ' as a man of whom Aristotle 
 himself might learn the polities, being as much Orange party 
 as good Hollander in making a Misce,fiat potio, whereof men 
 do believe that he will give to drink to the said great pen- 
 sionary.' De Graeff had earned the confidence of the repub- 
 lican party by bringing about the agreement between the 
 town of Amsterdam and William H. after the coup d'etat 
 attempted by the last stadtholder ; on the other hand, after 
 the death of William II., he won the gratitude of his widow, 
 the Princess Eoyal, by the friendly feelings which he dis- 
 played on the occasion of the domestic discords iio which the 
 guardianship of the young prince gave rise. Of the two sons 
 of Cornelius de Graeff, Jacob and Peter, the youngest, Peter, 
 who married the sister-in-law of the Grand Pensionary, Jacoba 
 Bicker, was always united to him in the closest friendship, 
 
298 JOHN DE WITT. 
 
 and justified his confidence in the day of his disgrace and 
 misfortunes. 
 
 The joys of paternity had completed the happiness of 
 John de Witt's married Hfe. His wife had already,borne him 
 three daughters, of whom the eldest, Anna, endowed with a 
 precocious intellect, was always the object of her father's 
 predilection. His wishes were fulfilled by the long hoped-for 
 birth of a son, called John after his father. -His uncle. Van 
 Sypesteyn, who lived to the age of sixty-nine, congratulates 
 him on the occasion with touchiag warmth : ' My dear 
 nephew,' he writes, ' I cannot express with my pen how much 
 the happy delivery of your beloved one has rejoiced my wife 
 and myself: you would not believe it, though my tears of 
 joy might be sufficient proof. I wish you, as well as the 
 charming invalid, much happiness with your first-born son, 
 praying you both, however, only to consider this charming 
 doU as such, and not as an idol, as some parents do ; for God 
 does not wish us to make too much of His merciful gifts, 
 and experience teaches us that such a course does not bring 
 happiness on those who act thus. I end by wishiag you 
 both, as well as your new-born son, all sorts of happiness and 
 blessings.' 
 
 Public affairs and domestic joys had not detached him 
 from the studious tastes of his youth. Philosophy continued 
 to find in him a faithful disciple. His correspondence with 
 the pastor Andrew Colvins, one of his early instructors, shows 
 the interest he took in the publication of Descartes' manu- 
 scripts. His favourite study was mathematics and in one of 
 his letters he expresses the satisfaction which he had ex- 
 perienced from reading a treatise on the Differential and 
 Integral Calculus ; he congratulated Huyghens, with whom he 
 liked to correspond, on the experiments which he had made 
 at sea with some chronometers intended for long voyages, 
 and suggested to him that he should demand a patent for 
 them from the States-General. He worked out the most 
 varied problems as a recreation, and applied his scientific 
 calculations to useful objects. It was thus that he dis- 
 
HIS WORKS. 299 
 
 covered a means for reducing the number of weights used for 
 different commercial purposes, and was the inventor of the 
 chain shot which did such important service to the Dutch 
 navy. 
 
 He had even pubHshed in Latin, under the title of 
 'Elements of Curved Lines,' a treatise he had no doubt 
 commenced during the studious years of his youth, and 
 which soon acquired a well-earned reputation. Francis 
 van Schoten, professor of mathematics at the University of 
 Leyden, with whose father he had resided during his stay at 
 the university, published it, with several other scientific works, 
 as a sequel to Descartes' ' Geometry,' edited by him. De 
 Witt corrected the press with scrupulous exactness, profiting 
 by the observations of the celebrated mathematician, Christian 
 Huyghens, and by the assistance of Van Schoten, who revised 
 the manuscript which was dedicated to him. He had divided 
 his work into two parts. 
 
 In the first, which is a treatise on pure geometry, he treats 
 of the parabola, the ellipse and the hyperbola, and shows, by 
 an original and ingenious process, how these curves may be 
 derived. 
 
 He deduces clearly the principal characteristic properties 
 of each, points out the different methods by which each may 
 be investigated, and proves their common origin from their 
 common properties. 
 
 The second part, which is a treatise on analytical geometry, 
 explains the method of determining the positions of geome- 
 trical points in a plane or in space. The author shows how 
 the properties of a curve may be deduced from its equation, 
 demonstrating that a simple equation represents a straight 
 line and a quadratic a curved line, viz., a circle, a parabola, 
 an ellipse or a hyperbola. 
 
 In a concluding chapter he investigates the general method 
 for constructing, in a plane or in space, the figures which are 
 represented by these equations. 
 
 But politics did not allow him to devote much time to 
 science. He gave up to them even the little leisure left to 
 
300 JOHN DE WITT. 
 
 him by the exercise of his functions ; and in order to defend, 
 not only by words, but also with his pen, the government 
 which he indefatigably served, he came forward as a public 
 writer. His contribution to the work of Pierre Delacourt, 
 entitled ' The Interests of Holland,' which has often exercised 
 the sagacity of the bibliographical critic, gives positive proof 
 of his opinions. Delacourt,' who was devoted to the republican 
 party, to which, in spite of the trials of ill- fortune, he remained 
 loyal till his death, had early developed a taste for examining 
 into public affairs. At the age of twenty-three he had written, 
 for the benefit of his native town, a pamphlet which was never 
 published, entitled ' The Prosperity of the Town of Leyden.' 
 Three years later he incorporated it in a more fully developed 
 treatise, called ' The Interests of Holland.' 
 
 The fame of this book extended beyond the limits of the 
 United Provinces. 'If you can find a volume entitled "The 
 Interests of Holland," in which they say all the secrets of 
 trade are contained,' wrote De Lionne to D'Estrades, 'you 
 will oblige me by sending me a copy, and M. Colbert stiU 
 more by sending him another.' This curiosity was justified 
 by the importance of this study of political economy. The 
 work was instructive on account of the commercial and finan- 
 cial information contained in it, and remarkable on account 
 of the maxims of free trade that it professed. The author 
 had added not only an inquiry into the alliances and diplo- 
 matic interests of Holland, but also an accurate estimate 
 of the new form of government she had adopted, with a 
 statement of the grievances which might be adduced against 
 the stadtholdership. He had used it as an accusation brought 
 by the city and commercial party in the towns of Holland 
 against the power of the Princes of Orange. The Orange 
 
 ' Delacourt, haTing been threatened in 1672 with sharing the fate of 
 J. de Witt, on account of his notoriously favourable sentiment towards the 
 Grand Pensionary, thought it prudent to withdraw himself. He repaired to 
 Antwerp, where he found several of his compatriots, amongst others De Groot, 
 his particular friend. He returned to Amsterdam at the end of the following 
 year (1673), continued there his literary labours, and died in 1683, leaving behind 
 him a posthumous work against the stadtholdership, entitled Fables and 
 Maxims, which the editor calls in the epigraph The Song of the Swan. 
 
' THE INTERESTS OF HOLLAND.' 301 
 
 party was moved; the refutation of 'The Interests of Holland' 
 by one of its most able public writers, Parival, did not appear 
 sufficient, and the Princess Dowager demanded that the court of 
 justice of Holland should institute a prosecution, in order that 
 the attacks which the author had ventured to make against 
 the Princes of Orange should not go unpunished. 
 
 The Synod of Leyden had, on its side, taken proceedings 
 against Delacourt's book, and ascribed to him a still more 
 aggressive publication, the ' Political Speeches.' This was 
 really the work of his brother, but had appeared anonymously, 
 and Delacourt allowed it to be attributed to him. The Synod 
 pronounced ecclesiastical censures upon him, forbidding him 
 the sacrament ; induced the burgomaster of Leyden to pro- 
 hibit the booksellers of the town from selling his book ; and 
 appealed to the States to confirm the prohibition as well as 
 the judicial condemnation. The States paid no attention to 
 this denunciation ; it was only seven years later that they 
 followed it up. A new edition of the ' Interests of Holland ' 
 having appeared anonymously, under the title of ' Statement 
 of the Principles and salutary Political Maxims of the Eepublic 
 of Holland,' the States, who had at first, through the interven- 
 tion of the Grand Pensionary, given their sanction to the work, 
 withdrew it a few months later 'as having been surrepti- 
 tiously obtained.' The author's theory of foreign alliances, as 
 to which Delacourt cautioned Holland to be on her guard, 
 appeared a dangerous one to sanction, and the States, who 
 were in need of protectors abroad, were obHged to disavow the 
 work. They even thought it right to prohibit it; but this 
 prohibition was rather apparent than real and did not pre- 
 vent the issue of a third edition three years later. 
 
 De Witt had not remained indifferent to nor unacquainted 
 with this publication. His letters to Delacourt and to De Groot 
 show that the author of the ' Interests of Holland ' had re- 
 quested the protection of the Grand Pensionary against the 
 threats of judicial proceedings, and that De Witt, through 
 the interposition of his friend De Groot, imparted to him 
 observations and information on the new chapters destined 
 for the second edition of the book. Other evidence gives 
 
302 JOHN DE WITT. 
 
 manifest proof of a still more direct participation. A contem- 
 porary relates that De Witt, having gone to Leyden to visit 
 Delacourt at his brother-in-law's ' house, found on his table, 
 while awaiting his return, an unpublished pamphlet on the 
 interests of Leyden, and that on perusing it he was so pleased 
 with it that he begged the author to apply his learned re- 
 searches to Holland. Delacourt, it is said, agreed to follow 
 this advice, and communicated his new work to De Witt be- 
 fore having it printed.^ De Witt is said to have taken advan- 
 tage of this communication to revise the manuscript and to 
 add to it two chapters. This statement is confirmed by the 
 manuscript itself, as it was discovered : it bears traces of the 
 revision of several passages corrected by the Grand Pensionary 
 himself. 
 
 As regards the addition of the two chapters, if they were 
 not written by his hand they are none the less his work ; 
 Delacourt has taken care to let it be known, by a note added 
 to his manuscript, that they were to be ascribed to him. 
 Moreover, in the preface to the second edition he expressly 
 acknowledges himself to be indebted ' to very illustrious per- 
 sons, so profoundly versed in the knowledge of everything 
 relating to the affairs of the United Provinces and the govern- 
 ment of Holland, that everything mentioned in these chapters 
 passed through their hands.' He declares that 'the merit 
 must be attributed to him who himself did what he talks 
 about.' In conclusion, an examination of the manuscript 
 makes it evident that one of the chapters written by Dela- 
 court, and which was not published, is replaced in the work 
 by two others that have been substituted for it : they are 
 those numbered XXIX. and XXX., and entitled, ' Of the 
 Eeasons why Liberty has not brought with it more Advan- 
 tages since the Death of the Prince of Orange.' ' Of the Good 
 Fruits produced by the Beginnings of a Good Govern- 
 ment.' 
 
 ' The burgomaster Eleman. 
 
 ■'■ It is proved by authentic documents that Delacourt's manuscript was sent 
 to J. de Witt on July 10, 1661. The manuscript has numerous corrections in 
 J. de Witt's handwriting. 
 
MANIFESTO OP DE WITT'S POLICY. 303 
 
 It was therefore under the cleverly chosen title of ' Memoirs 
 of John de Witt ' that there appeared in the next century a 
 French translation of the second edition of the ' Interests of Hol- 
 land,' although Delacourt's preface, retained at the commence- 
 ment of the translation, contradicted its pretended origin. 
 Moreover, certain portions of the book, in which Holland was 
 asked to give up her interest in foreign affairs, by renouncing 
 all part in foreign politics without concerning herself about 
 alliances or treaties, are so manifestly opposed to the policy of 
 the Grand Pensionary, which was always energetic, scrupulous, 
 and far-sighted, as his correspondence shows, that this compa- 
 rison would suffice to prevent the entire work being attributed 
 to De Witt. On the other hand, the two chapters of which he 
 was the author only sum up the maxims and opinions which 
 constituted the programme of his public career. In one he 
 stated the wrongs which might be imputed to the government 
 of the stadtholders, whom he reproached with the useless pro- 
 longation of the war with Spain, the excess of military ex- 
 penditure, the lowering of the naval power of the United 
 Provinces, and their exclusive care for dynastic interests, 
 which they set above those of the republic. In the other 
 chapter, De Witt set forth the services rendered by the States 
 of Holland since they had in some degree inherited the powers 
 of the stadtholders. The titles to confidence that he put 
 forward on their behalf were the reduction of interest and the 
 diminution of the army, making it possible to reduce the 
 taxes on food and to diminish the debt, which might be paid 
 off within a period of thirty years. The peaceable solution 
 of internal differences, the large increase of naval resources, 
 and the pledges of security resulting from them, completed 
 this defence. 
 
 In thus giving undoubted co-operation to Delacourt's work, 
 De Witt was publishing the manifesto destined to justify the 
 change of government. He had been anxious to bring into 
 notice the reproaches addressed to the last stadtholders and 
 the praises bestowed on the new holders of power. The 
 patriotic satisfaction he displayed with regard to the work 
 which had been already accomplished during his ministry 
 
304 JOHN DE WITT. 
 
 seemed fully justified. The party of which he was the leader 
 had governed the republic for ten years, and in extolling 
 the policy of Holland, after having gloriously directed it, the 
 Grand Pensionary put forth that panegyric as a conqnevov 
 writes his bulletin of victory. 
 
305 
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 THE SECOND ENGLISH WAR — A REPUBLIC VICTOEIOUS OVER 
 A MONARCHY. 
 
 Eivalry of England with the United Provinces — Charles II. and his court — 
 Preludes to a rupture- -English hostilities in Guinea — Useless attempts at 
 conciliation — Reprisals by the States-General — Euyter's expedition to 
 Africa — It is prepared by the Grand Pensionary De Witt — Declaration of 
 war — Relations of the republic with France —Request for assistance evaded 
 by Louis XIV. — Financial measures — Maritime forces — First naval cam- 
 paign — Defeat of the Dutch fleet — The flagship blown up— Death of 
 Obdam — Euyter admiral-in-chief— John de Witt with the fleet — He takes 
 it out of the Texel — Dispersal by a storm — Vain attempt to renew the battle 
 — Expedition of the Bishop of Miinster against the United Provinces^ 
 Conquest of the province of Overyssel — Insufficiency of the land forces of 
 the States — Cornelius de Witt sent to the army — Necessity for French 
 assistance — Despatch of a French auxiliary corps — Little service done by it 
 — Declaration of war by France against England — More apparent than 
 real — Negotiations of the States with Denmark and the German princes — 
 Quadruple alliance — Treaty of Cleves with the Bishop of Miinster— Second 
 naval campaign — The four days' battle — Retreat of the English fleet — A 
 fresh engagement — Dispersal of the fleet of the States — Incursion of the 
 enemy — The French squadron holds aloof— Firmness of John de Witt— He 
 returns to the fleet — Internal troubles— Revival of the Orange party — Secret 
 negotiations of Buat with the King of England — His trial and condemna- 
 tion — Proposals for peace — Congress of Breda — Beverningh ambassador of 
 the States — Delays in the Conferences — Renewal of hostilities — Expedition 
 to Chatham — Destruction of the English navy — Cornelius de Witt with the 
 squadron — Correspondence of the Grand Pensionary and his brother — 
 Success of the negotiations — Treaty of Breda— Rewards offered to Euyter 
 and Cornelius de Witt — Honours paid to the Grand Pensionary. 
 
 The policy of the Grand Pensionary of Holland, whicli up 
 to this time had been attended with constant success, was 
 now to be submitted to severe trials, whence, however, it was 
 destined to issue with triumph. Every precaution that might 
 secure to the United Provinces the benefits of peace had been 
 taken, and yet they were now to be called upon to support the 
 
 VOL. I. X 
 
306 \ JOHN DE "WITT. 
 
 burden of war. The alliance with Charles II., which they had 
 just concluded, and which seemed as if it ought to protect them 
 against the ambition of Louis XIV., was but the prelude to a 
 rupture. Within three years of the signature of the treaty 
 between the two States, their fleets were again to dispute the 
 dominion of the seas, and, having been formerly entertained 
 by the States as their guest, -the King of England was to be- 
 come the enemy of those who had been the first to hail his 
 restoration. 
 
 Once replaced on his throne, Charles II. had lost no time 
 in throwing overboard all the interests of his kingdom, that 
 he might be free to occupy himself with pleasures to which he 
 sacrificed his duties as a sovereign. He might easily have 
 realised the hopes of England, too happy to escape from the 
 misfortunes of anarchy and the dangers of military govern- 
 ment by the re-establishment of an hereditary monarchy. 
 His good-humoured condescension had conciliated popular 
 favour to him at once, and he had won all hearts by his 
 readiness of access. He charmed all who were presented to 
 him, and who might come without hindrance to see him dine, 
 sup, dance, or play at dice, or to listen to him when he was 
 pleased to relate his adventures. But these surface attrac- 
 tions could not compensate for the qualities in which he was 
 deficient. He had been brought up in the school of misfor- 
 tune, but his character had not been matured by the course 
 of events ; his mind was as fickle as his heart, and incon- 
 stancy in his attachments seemed as natural to him as infi- 
 delity in his alliances. He was insensible to glory and indif- 
 ferent to flattery, but gave himself up to the most careless 
 indolence, and was tenacious of power rather from love of 
 repose than from desire to rule. The French system of 
 government, by which Louis XIV. was free from all control, 
 seemed to him the only form suitable for royalty, and the 
 embarrassed condition of his finances made the dependence 
 in which he was held by his parliament still more insupport- 
 able. He preferred to be ruled by his favourites, and had 
 taken as his acknowledged mistress Lady Castlemaine, -whom 
 he afterwards created Duchess of Cleveland. Surrounded by 
 
CHAELES II. AND HIS COURT. 307 
 
 courtiers who laughed at all beliefs and ridiculed all virtues, 
 he set the example, speedily followed, of every species of 
 license, exhibited in broad daylight without restraiat or 
 reserve. Three years after the restoration. Brand, the envoy 
 of the Elector of Brandenburg, writes to his master : ' There 
 is frightful corruption in the English court ; none but women 
 are to be found there, and nothing but love affairs spoken of. 
 The king does nothing but amuse himself with his mistresses, 
 and the whole court is daily sinking deeper into contempt 
 with the country.' The sensualist philosopher Hobbes, whom 
 Saint-Evremont called the greatest genius of England, 
 moulded public morality to his doctrines. Death or absence 
 left many vacant places in the royal family round the throne. 
 One of the king's brothers, the Duke of Gloucester, had been 
 prematurely snatched away in the flower of youth from the 
 affections of all Englishmen. One of his sisters, the Princess 
 Mary, the mother of the young Prince of Orange, had 
 returned to the old palace of Whitehall only to fall a victim 
 to a brief illness. From his second sister, the Princess 
 Henrietta, he was separated by her unhappy marriage with 
 the Duke of Orleans, brother of Louis XIV. As to the queen- 
 mother, Henrietta of France, Henry IV.'s daughter and 
 Charles I.'s widow, whose courage and pious resignation had 
 equalled her misfortunes, she had returned to end her days in 
 her native country after a passing visit to her former king- 
 dom. She lived in retirement in her country house of 
 Colombes, near Paris ; and, some months before her death, 
 which occurred on August 3, 1669, was reduced to hu- 
 miliating remonstrances to obtain from an ungrateful son 
 the payment in full of her pension, of which she had 
 been deprived of one-fourth. The new Queen 'of England, 
 Catherine of Braganza, daughter of the King of Portugal, 
 had no children, and was neglected by her husband. The 
 king's brother, James, duke of York, stood alone on the steps 
 of the throne. Notwithstanding the long-continued refusal of 
 the queen-mother, he had married the daughter of the prime 
 minister, the Earl of Clarendon, with whom he had carried 
 on an intrigue during his exUe, and who had a son by him. 
 
 X 2 
 
308 JOHN DE WITT. 
 
 He had acquii-ed the confidence of Charles 11. in spite of their 
 total dissimilarity of character. His intellect was narrow and 
 sluggish, his will obstinate; and his Hking for business, so 
 opposed to Charles's love of pleasure, completed the contrast 
 between the two brothers. The royal prerogative was to him 
 an article of faith, and he encouraged Charles in his ideas of 
 absolute monarchy, while the sincere behef which determined 
 him in later years to abjure Protestantism was in accordance 
 with his political predilection for the Cathohc religion, which, 
 by enforcing submission to religious authority, seemed to him 
 to secure the obedience of subjects to their sovereign. 
 
 The ministers were reduced to a secondary authority. 
 The Marquis of Ormond, master of the king's household, who 
 had been one of the last defenders of Charles I., the lord 
 treasurer, the Earl of Southampton, the secretaries of state. 
 Sir Edward Nicholas and Morris, even the Lord-General 
 Monk himself, to whom Charles owed his crown, all gave way 
 before the Lord Chancellor Hyde, Earl of Clarendon. He 
 had been the faithful adviser of Charles II. in his exile, and 
 now became, after the restoration, the first personage in the 
 kingdom. But the credit which he owed to his long experi- 
 ence, and the recollection of his services, had lost rather than 
 gained by the marriage of his daughter with the Duke of 
 York. In spite of the apparent opposition offered by him, 
 the royal family could not easily forgive his having become 
 father-in-law to the hen- to the throne. His high position, 
 enhanced by this relationship, exposed him to envy. He had 
 many detractors around the king who could not pardon his 
 attachment to his duties, his devotion to the interests of the 
 kingdom, or his resistance to the fancies and extravagances of 
 the royaUst party. His incorruptible honesty and his serious 
 tastes left htm to stand alone in the midst of a licentious 
 court ; whUe his political opinions, which admitted of no con- 
 cessions, estranged from him the popular party. Having 
 thus no support in his government, he was forced to foUow the 
 course of events instead of guiding them. After vainly attempt- 
 ing to dissuade Charles from coming to an understanding with 
 France, by the sale of Dimkirk to Louis XIY., he reluctantly 
 
PEELUDES TO A EUPTUEE. 309 
 
 allowed him to provoke a breach between England and the 
 States-General without offering any resistance to this short- 
 sighted policy. 
 
 The King of England believed it to be for his interest to 
 wage war with the United Provinces. He not only cherished 
 the secret hope of thus forcing Parliament to grant him the 
 large subsidies that he needed, but he also counted upon 
 gratifying the feelings of the English nation, which manifested 
 an implacable jealousy of the prosperity of Dutch commerce. 
 In thus setting England and the United Provinces against 
 each other, he had also in view his family interests, and 
 flattered himself that by a successful war he might force upon 
 the States-General the re-establishment of his nephew the 
 Prince of Orange. He took pride, besides, in the idea of 
 humiliating a republic which had been the ally of Cromwell, 
 and which gave offence to the Court of England by the 
 rigorous observance of the Calvinistic form of worship, by the 
 austerity of its morals and the freedom of its institutions. 
 Charles had not awaited his return to his kingdom to give 
 secret expression to his real sentiments, and at the very time 
 when the States were giving him a solemn reception at the 
 Hague, he was already proposing to show his gratitude by a 
 long-premeditated rupture. According to Wicquefort, when 
 he embarked in Holland to cross over to England, there were 
 persons in his suite, and even among those most in his con- 
 fidence, who had not feared to say to the friends of the 
 House of Orange to whom they thought it safe to open their 
 minds, that it was not to be supposed that the good things set 
 before the king could reconcile him to those whom he would 
 rather chastise than caress. 
 
 This animosity on Charles's part could not have been 
 better served than by Downing, his minister at the Hague, 
 who was never without expedients to conjure up and perpetuate 
 differences. An article in the last treaty furnished him with 
 the pretext he required to prelude the rupture by a war of 
 pamphlets and legal disputes. This was the clause which 
 permitted the owners of the English vessels, the ' Good Adven- 
 ture ' and the ' Good Hope,' ' to proceed with the lawsuit which 
 
310 JOHN DE WITT. 
 
 they had commenced.' This lawsuit, which had lasted twenty 
 years, originated in the capture of these two vessels, whose 
 owners had obtained damages from the India Company to the 
 amount of 42,500 florins. But one of the parties interested, 
 having declared that this sum had been improperly paid to the 
 person who had previously made over to him his claims, and 
 who had become insolvent and banJirupt, had brought an 
 appeal before the sheriffs of Amsterdam. After long debate 
 a compromise was proposed by De Witt, and seemed about to be 
 successful, when Downing overthrew it, by professing to be 
 able to obtain double the indemnity offered. In order to fix 
 the sum at his own pleasure, he bought up the claim and 
 transferred it to the English India Company for the sum 
 of 850,000 florins, and then alleged that the case, being no 
 longer one between private persons, ought to be moved into 
 another court. He insisted that it should be taken out of the 
 hands of the sheriffs of Amsterdam ^and submitted to com- 
 missioners from both nations. The States, foreseerag that if 
 the case were once submitted to EngHsh commissioners agree- 
 ment would become impossible, offered to call in the arbitra- 
 tion of foreign tribunals; but this offer was refused, and 
 Downing accompanied the refusal with threatening expressions. 
 The Grand Pensionary De Witt was not to be intimidated. He 
 boldly exposed the subterfuges of the Enghsh envoy. Indignant 
 at the audacity with which Downing affirmed that he had in 
 his hands a letter which proved that the controversy concern- 
 ing the two vessels in dispute ought to be decided as an affair 
 of state, and not as a mere suit between private persons, he 
 flung down his hat upon the table and challenged bim to 
 produce the letter, promising to give him satisfaction as soon 
 as he had shown it. Downing attempted some vain excuses, 
 saying that he would not give them the trouble of waiting. 
 De Witt retorted that he might take his time in searching for 
 the letter, and promised to hold himself in readiness to receive 
 it until midnight. But Downing had no mind to profit by this 
 proposal, and by evading it disclosed his imposture. The 
 firmness of the Grand Pensionary had disconcerted him. De 
 Witt declared afterwards ' that for his part he thought they 
 
ENGLISH HOSTILITIES IN GUINEA. 311 
 
 ■were a free state no longer if they should yield a point that 
 they not only knew the English had no ground for, but were 
 sure the English knew it as well as they.' ' It would be better,' 
 he wrote to the Prince of Nassau, ' to resist to the last extremity, 
 that that nation might not become stUl more insolent. Accord- 
 ing to the old saying, " He who too easily endures old affronts 
 prepares for himself new ones." ' The Court of England was 
 quite ready to give up any such pretensions. ' What need,' 
 asked Monk, ' to insist upon the restitution of the two ships ? ' 
 The real question was quite another matter : the thing was that 
 England should extend her commerce. ' Must that of Holland, 
 then,' asked the envoy of the republic, ' be sacrificed to it ? 
 Commerce is surely a treasure which all men's labour does but 
 increase.' ' Yes,' replied Monk, ' but at any cost our nation 
 must have her share, or peace will not last long.' 
 
 It was in order to make the war popular that Charles II. 
 had entered into a legal dispute unworthy of a great nation, 
 but which was favoured by the English character. ' This 
 country,' wrote the ambassador of the States in London, ' is 
 full of fancies and wedded to all that it takes up, of an arrogant 
 temper and, above all, obstinately contentious and taking a 
 sort of pride in being so.' Unable, however, in this manner to 
 give sufficient satisfaction to the national vain-glory, the King 
 of England determined to provoke a violent outbreak of 
 hostilities by seizing, without any declaration of war, those, 
 colonies of the republic which offered, a formidable competition 
 to the trade of his kingdom. 
 
 For half a century past the Dutch had been founding 
 factories on the coast of Africa and in South America, which 
 were now in a flourishing condition. Not thinking that any 
 attacks from without were to be feared in time of peace, they 
 had just recalled Euyter's fleet, which had been cruising for 
 the last two years in the Mediterranean, winning glory by its 
 chastisement of the Barbary corsairs. While his ships were 
 returning to the Dutch ports, four and twenty English vessels, 
 under the command of Kobert Holms, were despatched on an 
 actually piratical expedition to Africa. Holms began by seizing 
 eleven merchantmen which he met on his way ; and then, at 
 
312 JOHN DE WITT. 
 
 the beginning of the year 1664, took possession of the 
 island of Goree, of Cape Verde, and of most of the stations 
 belonging to the States-General in these waters. Pursuing 
 his course along the coast of Guinea, he continued his facile 
 conquests, sullying them by massacres which marked in blood 
 the progress of the English dominion. He next directed his 
 course to North America, occupied the islands of Tobago, St. 
 Eustace; and New Holland, which he re-named New York in 
 honour of the King of England's brother. The English 
 government pretended ignorance of these acts of violence, and, 
 instead of disavowing them, put forward a claim to recover 
 these possessions, by appealing on the one hand to a supposed 
 gift of the King of Portugal of the territories on the coast of 
 Guinea, and alleging on the other that the American lands 
 had been formerly conceded by James I. to one of his subjects, 
 the Earl of Stirling. Public opinion encouraged this offensive 
 policy. On the opening of Parhament the House of Commons 
 had presented an address to the king to urge upon him the 
 necessity of protecting English commerce against foreign 
 competition. When Parliament was prorogued, the Speaker, 
 in returning thanks to the king, recommended to him the 
 interests of his subjects, and the city of London lent him, a 
 million to fit out a fleet, the destination of which it was easy 
 to foresee. 
 
 On receiving the first news of this violation of the rights of 
 nations, the States-General made another effort at conciliating 
 the King of England on a point which he had seemed to have 
 at heart. In the preceding year Charles had expressed his 
 displeasure with the States for not having sent to him any 
 ambassador since the conclusion of the last treaty. He had 
 forbidden his ministers to hold any intercourse with the 
 secretary of the embassy, who had remained in London in the 
 capacity of resident, and had informed him that he would 
 receive no diplomatic communication excepting through his 
 envoy at the Hague, Mr. Downing. To satisfy him, the States- 
 General now urged upon Zealand, to whom belonged the 
 selection of the English ambassador, to make the appointment 
 so long delayed. The embassy, which had at first seemed 
 
VAN GOGH SENT AS AMBASSADOE TO ENGLAND. 313 
 
 destined for Boreel, nephew of the ambassador in France, was 
 given to Michael van Gogh, pensionary of Flushing, who had 
 already, in company with Beverwaert, taken part in the 
 negotiations for the last treaty with England. To secure him 
 a favourable reception, the States-General, ' who had not much 
 confidence in his very limited capacity,' sent with him Colonel 
 Killigrew, who was of English origin, and the friend and 
 kinsman of Monk. 
 
 Faithful to their pacific policy, they sought only to avoid 
 the necessity of replying to the provocation offered to them. 
 They had just sent Euyter with twelve ships to the Mediter- 
 ranean to exact the maintenance of the conditions of peace 
 from the Algerian pirates by whom these had been violated. 
 On his way, Euyter met the EngUsh vice-admiral, Lawson, 
 who was returning with seven sail from a cruise in the same 
 waters. He fired a salute and dipped his flag, the English 
 admiral returned the salute but did not dip his flag ; Euyter 
 was indignant, and resolved in future not to dip his, alleging 
 that he was not in British waters, and declared that he had 
 verbal orders which authorised him to abstain from so doing. 
 De Witt was informed of Euyter's proposed conduct by De 
 Mortaigne, the States commissioner with the fleet, and replied 
 at once, in the name of the States of Holland, that the treaty 
 must be strictly observed. He added that this salute by dip- 
 ping the flag ought not to be limited to British waters, as that 
 might be interpreted into subjection to the English dominion. 
 He did not hesitate even to disavow Euyter, and represented 
 that an officer who was in the habit of receiving written orders 
 could not be dispensed from a salute by any verbal directions ; 
 and in anticipation of the event of Admiral Lawson refusing 
 a second time to dip his flag, he intimated that it would be 
 sufficient to report the matter to the States. 
 
 The Grand Pensionary was resolved to neglect no precaution 
 that might prevent a sudden rupture, and was meanwhile 
 endeavouring to turn to some account the negotiations 
 already commenced. Notwithstanding the inexperience of 
 Van Gogh, De Witt had confidence in the effects of his 
 diplomacy. ' We have heard with pleasure of your arrival,' he 
 
314 JOHN DE WITT. 
 
 writes to him, ' and we hope that you will have an opportunity 
 of convincing the king and his minister of the injustice of 
 their pretensions.' His wish for conciliation is equally apparent 
 in the letter that he wrote to Boreel, the ambassador of the 
 United Provinces in France : ' The States of Holland are of 
 opinion that in order to have a conscience ^t ease before God 
 and man in ease matters should come to the last extremity, it 
 is well to yield as far as possible whenever there are two sides 
 to the question.' 
 
 But this wish for a good understanding did not make the 
 Grand Pensionary of Holland lose sight of the imperative 
 necessity for reparation. ' Without satisfaction for the attempt 
 made in Guinea,' he wrote to Van Gogh, ' it would be impos- 
 sible to expect peace.' This satisfaction was demanded in 
 vain, and as Downing constantly evaded it by illusory promises, 
 the States- General determined that they would not be attacked 
 with impunity. They ordered the armament of twelve ships 
 for the defence of Guinea, although Downing declared that 
 their leaving harbour would be equivalent to a declaration of 
 war. Even when this resolution was taken, it did not seem 
 possible that it should be executed before the English fleet had 
 received its sailing orders, in which case it might be before- 
 hand with the Dutch squadron. De Witt undertook to hasten 
 the projected expedition, and at the same time to keep it secret, 
 that England might be unable to offer any opposition. What- 
 ever obstacles he met with, the ingenuity of his mind and the 
 strength of his character made him always discover expedients 
 to ensure the prompt execution of his plans. ' So long as he 
 believed,' wrote in after years the French ambassador at the 
 Hague, ' that he could settle the English affair by means of 
 negotiations, he took all possible pains to that end ; but when 
 he lost that hope, he took upon himself the dangerous re- 
 sponsibility of counselling the imposition of peace or making 
 war on a great power.'- 
 
 Euyter's squadron, which had just been sent back to the 
 Mediterranean to enforce upon the Dey of Algiers respect for 
 treaties, might suf&ce for the defence of the colonies of the 
 republic. He was lying off the coast of Spain, and was there 
 
EUYTEES EXPEDITION TO AFEICA. 315 
 
 ■within reach of the African factories, to protect or reconquer 
 them before the Enghsh fleet could come up with him. But 
 Euyter could only be charged with this mission with the con- 
 sent of the States-General, and the temper of some of the 
 members who had been gained over by Downing seemed to 
 make almost inevitable the divulgenee of the orders which they 
 might give him. The Grand Pensionary kept the secret by 
 means of a subterfuge. 
 
 A committee of seven members, of whom he was one, had 
 been named to receive the report made by Euyter of his expe- 
 dition to the coast of Africa. This committee had knowledge 
 of the proposition just made by the States of Holland to send 
 Euyter to Guinea with orders ' to retake all the forts seized by 
 the English, and to destroy all ships which had done or should 
 do any harm to the Dutch merchants.' This proposition 
 having been approved and signed by the committee in the form 
 of a resolution, the question was only how to obtain executive 
 authority for it from the States-General. In order to obtain 
 the consent of the Federal Assembly without its knowledge, the 
 committee, by the advice of John de Witt, appended the re- 
 solution which they had drawn up to one taken two days 
 previously, for the equipment of a new squadron, and which 
 was to be read a second time. Euysch, the secretary of the 
 States-General, with whom De Witt was on the most intimate 
 terms, was taken into their confidence ; he was instructed to 
 open the communication that he was to make to the Federal 
 Assembly by the reports of Euyter's expedition, and then to 
 read rapidly the resolution attached to it, so as to create the 
 beHef that it referred only to the preceding matter. The 
 members of the committee were careful also to keep away the 
 deputies whom they mistrusted, and whose indiscretion was to 
 be feared. Deputy Kann, of the province of Friesland, who 
 had not acquired much knowledge of public affairs in his former 
 practice as a surgeon, had just been summoned to the office of 
 president for the week now beginning ; he had not been present 
 at the sitting in which the first resolution had been passed, 
 and paid no attention to the second reading. One last 
 formality remained to be accomplished, that of the signature. 
 
316 JOHN DE "WITT. 
 
 According to the rules of the States-General, this was to be 
 affixed by the president who was in the chair on the day 
 when the vote was taken. The resolution for the fitting out 
 of the squadron having been passed on the previous Saturday, 
 it was the last week's president who had to sign it. In order 
 to avoid any risk to the success of their manoeuvre, the com- 
 mittee were careful to make no distinction between the two 
 resolutions, and dated both alike, thus antedating by two days 
 that just taken for despatching sailing orders to Euyter. The 
 president of the preceding week, John van Eeede de Eeus- 
 woude, deputy of Guelders, unsuspiciously signed both papers 
 among the mass of documents presented to him. The secret 
 thus guarded by this parliamentary ruse was religiously kept 
 by those acquainted with it. Notwithstanding his usual 
 scrupulous respect for formalities, De Witt had eluded them, 
 in the persuasion that he was only faithfully interpreting the 
 opinion of the States-General by making the second resolution 
 the necessary complement of the first. 
 
 The instructions prepared for Euyter were sent to him 
 confidentially by the members of the Amsterdam Admiralty, 
 who had entire confidence in his discretion. He received them 
 while at Malaga and prepared immediately to obey. He put the 
 English fleet, now returning from Algiers, on a false scent, and 
 not till he was in mid-ocean announced to his captains the 
 expedition that he was about to undertake. The factories which 
 the English had seized made no resistance to his attack. 
 After surprising and taking the ships stationed at Goree, he 
 forced the fort at Cape Verde to surrender. Sailing next to 
 the Guinea coast, he retook the island of Sierra Leone, made 
 himself master of the fortress of Tacorari, sailed up the 
 river Gambia, attacked the fort of Cormantin and carried it 
 ^y assault, leaving to the English only the fort of Cabo-Corso, 
 which he could not take without the assistance of the natives, 
 who remained faithful to their English alliance. 
 
 This daring enterprise was kept secret from the English 
 Government^ long enough to delay the despatch of any rein- 
 forcements. Its confidence remained unshaken as long as the 
 ships which were to be sent to Euyter remained in harbour. 
 
DEMAIJDS OF CHARLES II. 317 
 
 Some vague rumours, however, having raised suspicions, 
 Downing received instructions to get to the bottom of the 
 mystery which was beginning to cause uneasiness to his em- 
 ployers. Downing, who Hked to have it thought that he ruled 
 the whole republic, called upon the Grand Pensionary. Con- 
 vinced of De Witt's rectitude, and knowing that he never 
 deceived anyone, he did not hesitate to ask him if orders to 
 proceed to Africa had been sent to Euyter, and thought to 
 confuse him by adding that he considered him too upright 
 a man to utter a falsehood. According to a contemporary 
 account, De Witt, who could never be taken at unawares, was 
 not content with eluding his curiosity, but also, without de- 
 parting from the truth, dispelled his suspicions while he flat- 
 tered his vanity. ' You may be sure,' he said, ' that the States 
 of Holland have given no orders which could give any un- 
 easiness to the king your master. As to the States-General, 
 it is not necessary for me to tell you what passes in that 
 Assembly, since there is nothing done there in private that is 
 not known to you, so that there is no need for me to inform 
 you.' Downing, easily convinced by this answer, assured the 
 English Government that matters were secure, and imparted 
 to it his own presumptuous confidence. 
 
 Charles therefore stUl hoped to gain time, and so to take 
 by surprise the United Provinces before they could assume the 
 offensive. Accordingly, he would not yet openly break off 
 all negotiations, though still continuing unyielding. He de- 
 manded, before laying down his arms, that he should be re- 
 imbursed the sums expended on the equipment of his fleet, 
 and as the States-General were not disposed to grant him this 
 satisfaction, he declared ' that not only would he send more 
 ships to the Guinea coast, but that before six months were 
 over he would begin war in Europe.' 
 
 When the news of Euyter's expedition was received in 
 London, the first feeling was one of stupefaction. ' It has 
 caused such apprehension,' wrote the States ambassador. Van 
 Gogh, ' that public opinion has turned against the war.' It 
 was with this hope that the Grand Pensionary had hazarded 
 80 bold a stroke. In a private letter to this brother-in-law he 
 
Si 8 JOHN DE WITT. 
 
 writes : ' When the English see that the republic maintains 
 the motto of the Batavian lion, "Nemo me impime lacessit," 
 they will perhaps return to more pacific sentiments.' 
 
 His expectation was, however, deceived. Pear soon gave 
 place to anger. The King of England expressed such irrita- 
 tion that the secretary of state, Morris, said to Van Gogh : 
 ' If your Excellency were not personally so much liked at 
 court, I do not know how you would be received ia future. 
 The ministers summoned together in all haste declared unani- 
 mously that no further terms should be kept, and the Duke 
 of York, who was passionately in favour of the war, offered 
 to take command of the naval forces. Van Gogh, who up to 
 this time had been too much inclined to accept in all good 
 faith the advances made towards him, was no longer to be de- 
 ceived ; he even expressed some apprehension of ' plans which 
 might be resorted to for the burning of the ships and maga- 
 zines in Holland.' De Witt, persuaded at last, though un- 
 williagly, of the uselessness of negotiations; acknowledged, as 
 he now confessed, that it was impossible for him to beheve ui 
 any accommodation being brought about. ' Concessions would 
 serve now,' he wrote to the ambassador of the States, ' only to 
 throw oU upon the flames.' 
 
 The English Government was too impatient to avenge the 
 enterprises of Euyter to wait for a declaration of war. A 
 powerful fleet seized a merchant convoy of a hundred and 
 thirty vessels laden with wine from Bordeaux. The Smyrna 
 fleet, with its rich cargo, was also attacked ; but it was escorted 
 by some men-of-war which offered a gallant defence. After a 
 sanguinary encounter, in which the commander of the escort 
 was kiUed, the English were obliged to retire. They had to 
 content themselves with the capture of two vessels while the 
 rest of their coveted prey escaped them. It was easier to 
 lay violent hands upon aU the merchant ships which had un- 
 suspectiagly remained in the English harbours ; their goods 
 were seized and sold without scruple. Letters of marque 
 were issued to all English subjects, while the States-General 
 on their part, though they had recourse to privateers, were 
 content to prohibit the entry of English goods, and offered no 
 
DECLARATION OF WAR. 319 
 
 reprisals to the confiscations from which their commerce suf- 
 fered. The House of Commons, eager to encourage by libe- 
 rality the policy of the Government, voted for the expenses of 
 the navy two and a half millions, payable in twelve instalments, 
 on the security of which the merchants of London advanced a 
 iniUion. Nothing was wanted to complete the rupture already 
 begun but the declaration of war, hitherto delayed by the 
 chancellor who continued to desire peace. In March 1665, 
 the English Government published it, as if to comply with 
 a neglected formality. In their proclamation they made 
 known that they refused all guarantees with regard to neutrals, 
 without exception in favour either of the country from which 
 the goods were shipped, if they were carried under the Dutch 
 flag, or of the flag under which they sailed if Dutch merchandise 
 were carried in foreign vessels. It was not enough for Charles 
 II. to destroy their fleets ; he desired also to ruin their com- 
 merce. Thirteen years previously the States-General had 
 waged against the head of the English republic a disastrous 
 war which had imperilled their independence. They were 
 now, on the morrow of the restoration of English royalty, 
 to defend against the successor of Charles I. the freedom of 
 the seas without which their republic could not exist. 
 
 The United Provinces had a right to expect protection 
 from France against this new aggression, to oppose which 
 they might appeal to the last treaty of defensive alliance that 
 they had concluded with Louis XIV. In the hope of obtain- 
 ing its prompt execution, Van Beuningen, the ambassador 
 who had conducted the negotiations, was sent back to Paris 
 on an extraordinary mission. But although the Court of 
 France had long been displeased with Boreel, the ambassador 
 in ordinary of the States, whose recall indeed had been asked 
 for, the choice of Van Beuningen gave offence. The French 
 ambassador, Count d'Estrades, recalled to the Grand Pension- 
 ary what De Witt had himself said to him concerning ' his 
 difficult temper, his obstinate and headstrong character, and 
 habit of subtle distinctions, so that he himself had difficulty 
 in getting on with him • although he was his best friend.' 
 D'Estrades thought it would be better ' to leave him at home 
 
320 JOHN DE WITT. 
 
 to philosophise after his own tastes, and not to run the risk of 
 sending him to a court formed of people who had a great dislike 
 to any abrupt way of dealing with husiaess. De Witt finally 
 overcame these prejudices. He represented that the city of 
 Amsterdam had the right of appointing the ambassador to 
 France, and would be satisfied with no other choice. He 
 made the most of the support given him by Van Beuningen 
 in opposing the proposals of Spain in favour of a league 
 between the Low Countries and the United Provinces, and 
 protested that he had never ceased to be in favour of the 
 French ahiance. Van Beuningen declared also to D'Estrades 
 that he had made the States promise that they would not 
 oblige bim to remain in France a single day after the king 
 should have notified to him that his presence was not 
 agreeable. The French ambassador allowed himself at last 
 to be convinced. After delaying his departure for six 
 months. Van Beuningen arrived at the court of Louis XIV., 
 and met with a reception with which he declared himself 
 satisfied. 
 
 The Dutch ambassador was commissioned to claim the 
 fulfilment of the engagements by which the king of France 
 was bound to furnish a force of 12,000 men to the States- 
 General. But Louis had stipulated for a delay of four months 
 before he should be required to take part in the war ; and, 
 besides, he had only promised assistance in case the States- 
 General were not the aggressors, and should be attacked in 
 Europe. The caU made upon him might therefore be evaded 
 by delays and disputes, which it was to his interest to take 
 advantage of. He would have been glad to keep terms both 
 with the United Provinces and with England, in order to 
 prevent them fi-om declaring in favour of Spain, whenever 
 the death of Philip IV. should allow him to put forward his 
 claims to the Low Countries. He coidd not conceal from 
 himself, however, that if he abandoned the United Provinces 
 they must fall under the dominion of the King of England, 
 who would keep them in subjection, by re-estabhshing the 
 authority of his nephew, the Prince of Orange, who would act 
 as a sort of viceroy to Charles. But if he were to consent ta 
 
RELATIONS OF THE REPUBLIC WITH FEANCE. 321 
 
 alienate England by assisting them, he wished, at any rate, 
 to get some advantage in return for the help he gave. The 
 intention of Louis XIV. was to obtain, as the price of his 
 intervention, the recognition of the rights he claimed over 
 the Spanish Netherlands. To this purpose, both at Paris 
 and at the Hague, the most pressing advances were made by 
 Lionne to Van Beuningen, and by D'Estrades to De Witt. 
 ' Everything is thrown into confusion,' wrote Lionne to the 
 Dutch ambasssador, 'by the bad policy of insisting upon a 
 barrier between the United Provinces and France.' Mean- 
 while D'Estrades was commissioned to make the most to the 
 Grand Pensionary of the interested advances of England, 
 ' which offered to allow the King of France free action in all 
 that he might desire towards this portion of the Spanish 
 monarchy.' De Witt could not, however, bring himself to 
 give up the point ; he would not consent ' thus to re-open the 
 question of the treaty of alliance which had been concluded with 
 the French Government,' and from which he did not believe 
 that Louis XIV., ' bound by his kingly word,' could free himself. 
 The King of France was obliged to recognise that 'this 
 man could not give up his original idea,' and he could only 
 console himself with the hope 'that some ill-success might 
 befall the States, and reduce them to a more pliant condition.' 
 Henceforth he resolved only to assist the United Provinces in 
 case they should be reduced to the last extremity, and instead 
 of troubling himself to avert the menaced war, he proposed to 
 interfere, merely to increase its duration. The weakening of 
 both belligerents seemed to him his best security for conquer- 
 ing the Low Countries. With this idea, Lionne was care- 
 ful to leave the States ambassador a prey to ever-recurring per- 
 plexities, by opposing to his urgent demands formal objections 
 and pretexts for adjournment. In order to prolong this state 
 of uncertainty, Louis XIV. offered his mediation to the two 
 governments, to whom he even proposed himself as arbi- 
 trator. But he took no steps to carry out his offer, and only 
 despatched the extraordinary ambassadors whom he was 
 sending to London on the very eve of hostilities, when the 
 differences between the two countries could no longer offer any 
 
 VOL. I. Y 
 
322 JOHN DE WITT. 
 
 hope of conciliation. These delays could not fail to throw 
 doubts on the sincerity of the King of Prance. The suspicions 
 of the States-General were the more justified, that ' his envoys 
 acted as if their only instructions had been to gain the friendship 
 of the King of England at the expense of the United Provinces.' 
 
 In other ways too, far from coming to their aid, the 
 Prench Government rather took up an aggressive attitude 
 towards them. A decree in council, suggested by Colbert, 
 threatened with immediate seizure the Dutch vessels then in 
 Prench harbours. This violent measure was resorted to by 
 Louis to force the States to deliver up three ships of war 
 purchased at Amsterdam by the Prench India Company. 
 The States, on the other hand, contended that they had the 
 right to retain them in their own ports, by reason of a general 
 regulation forbidding the exit of vessels constructed for 
 foreign powers, as the whole naval strength of the republic 
 was needed for use against England. They contented them- 
 selves with offering pecuniary compensation for any damage 
 that might result. The King of France imperiously repeated 
 his demands, and after endeavouring to evade them by con- 
 ciliatory offers, the States gave way, rather than leave him 
 any pretext for displeasure. 
 
 De Witt was too far-sighted, and too well-informed by his 
 diplomatic correspondence of the secret intentions of the 
 Prench Government, not to have been troubled with well- 
 grounded alarm. His fears increased when he heard that an 
 envoy from Charles II. had arrived secretly in Prance, and 
 had been received in private by Louis XIV. He was aware, 
 however, of the necessity of concealing his suspicions. Two 
 deputies from Haarlem and Dordrecht having produced letters 
 which announced the good understanding between the two 
 monarchs, he told them in presence of the Assembly that these 
 letters were concocted by Downing, to keep alive the misunder- 
 standing between Prance and the republic, and added that the 
 King of Prance was the father of their nation, and that he 
 would not abandon his children. He never ceased, moreover, to 
 address remonstrances to the ambassador of Louis in language 
 at once bold and conciliatory, in the hope of thus obtaining equit- 
 
ISOLATION OF THE UNITED PROVINCES. 323 
 
 able conditionB in an arrangement with England. But public 
 opinion was not to be deceived by the double game played by 
 French diplomacy. ' No doubt is felt,' wrote D'Estrades, 
 ' that the delays which appear in your Majesty's inquiry as to 
 which of the two nations was the aggressor, are an indication 
 that your Majesty will give them no assistance, and will allow 
 them to enter into the struggle with England so as to profit 
 by their dismemberment. Such is the general talk in the 
 assemblies, and in all society at the Hague.' 
 
 The States-General were obliged therefore to rely upon 
 themselves. ' Although there is still some hope that the King 
 of France may fulfil his obligations,' De Witt announced 
 boldly to Van Beuningen, ' nevertheless their High Mighti- 
 nesses take action as if they must act alone, and put their 
 trust in the grace of God.' ' We have no resource now but in 
 our arms,' he said to D'Estrades with proud resignation, 'and 
 as remonstrances are of no avail, the States will wait until 
 the King of France executes the treaty of his own accord.' 
 Thus, at the moment when the republic which had formerly 
 been allied botla with France and England was attacked by 
 Charles II., and had need more than ever of the alliance of 
 Louis XIV., she seemed reduced to despair of any such aid. 
 
 The confidence of the Grand Pensionary was not shaken 
 by this unlooked-for isolation. The preparations for war, to 
 which he had given the most assiduous attention, had been 
 carried on with vigour and forethought, unslackened by the 
 scourge of the plague which was raging in the principal towns, 
 and which in Amsterdam carried off fifteen hundred persons 
 in one week. The States-General had devoted the utmost 
 care to the maritime forces ; they had ordered the construc- 
 tion of a large number of ships, and had enlisted more sailors. 
 The land forces had been at the same time re-organised and 
 augmented. The fear of a war with Charles obliged the States 
 to disband the English and Scotch troops in their service. But 
 they retained under the banners of the Eepublic those officers 
 and soldiers who refused to return to their own country, and 
 having required them to renew their oath of fidelity, they 
 distributed them into three regiments commanded by colonels 
 
 T 2 
 
324 JOHN DE WITT. 
 
 in -whom they had full reliance. This reduction in the foreign 
 troops was compensated by new levies which enabled the 
 effective strength of the companies to be raised, as well as the 
 number of the regiments to be increased, and a body of 
 marines was also formed of 6,900 picked soldiers. The army, 
 which had formerly consisted of only 25,000 men, was thus 
 raised to 32,000. 
 
 The States-General showed the same foresight in providing 
 for the financial demands. They voted a sum of twenty-four 
 tons of gold ' for the expenses of the war, and laid a tax upon 
 wine and vinegar solely for the construction of new ships. The 
 province of Holland set an example of self-sacrifice. Of the 
 twenty-four tons of gold, representing 2,400,000 florins, levied 
 by the States-General from the seven provinces, Holland under- 
 took to furnish fourteen (1,400,000 florins), and was undaunted 
 by taxes or loans to meet the extraordinary expenses which she 
 was called upon bear. Her revenue in ordinary times amounted 
 to 6,836,445 florins, of which 1,336,445 florins was deducted 
 for the boards of admiralty. To add to this the States of 
 Holland re-estabHslied the income tax of a half per cent, 
 which had been raised during the first war with England, and 
 had immediately after it been reduced to a tenth ; but there 
 was dif&cidty in collecting it and it never produced more than 
 600,000 florins, which was not above half what had been anti- 
 cipated. The tolls on roads and canals were also greatly in- 
 creased, and produced more than 500,000 florins per annum, 
 in consequence of the great number of passengers, which 
 an^ounted to about 40,000 annually on the boats between 
 Amsterdam and Haarlem. A new tax was levied upon ovens 
 and chimneys which produced 300,000 florins. The land tax 
 was doubled. The new demands thus made upon the tax- 
 payers did not, however, suffice, although they were estimated 
 at five and a half millions of florins. It was necessary to 
 make use of funds which for the last ten years had been em- 
 ployed to pay off the debt, and nothwithstanding their honest 
 repugnance to burdenmg the future, the States could not avoid 
 the necessity of borrowing. A first loan of four millions was 
 ' The ton of gold was worth 100,000 florins. 
 
FINANCIAL MEASURES. 325 
 
 voted bearing interest at four per cent., and with contingent 
 annuities of six per cent. Four months later a second loan 
 of another million was added to this. The next year three 
 more were raised ; the first of a million, the second of 
 500,000 florins, the third of a million again. The English 
 war thus increased the public debt by 8,000,000 florins. 
 On all sides the appeal was responded to with the most 
 patriotic zeal. The municipal governments all gave their 
 consent ; they pressed forward the collection of the taxes, and 
 some even offered to advance the amounts. The receiver of 
 Amsterdam declared that if a payment of 20,000,000 were 
 demanded of him, ' he should receive them with no more 
 delay than would be required to count them.' The magistrates 
 of this city professed themselves ready to interrupt all com- 
 merce for a year, by drafting into the service of the State the 
 12,000 seamen and the numerous vessels employed in the mer- 
 cantile marine. The public interest demanded the sacrifice 
 of all private interests, and the demand was nobly complied 
 with. De Witt was not content with encouraging the patriotic 
 zeal exhibited by the States of Holland, so as to put the 
 republic in a position to meet the charges of the war. He 
 spared no exertion to obtain an equally ready response from 
 the other provinces. The maritime states shared the ardour 
 of Holland, and the States of Friesland, whom Downing had 
 represented to Charles II. as not intending to contribute 
 towards the cost of the war, had recourse to a loan to antici- 
 pate the payment of their quota. But the provinces which 
 were not directly interested in naval affairs, amongst others 
 Guelders and Overyssel, were less prompt in mating their pay- 
 ments ; ^nd the Grand Pensionary of Holland was deputed by 
 the States-General to represent to them the necessity of settling 
 matters with the Confederation. ' Purses cannot be filled,' he 
 said to the deputies of the States of Overyssel, in a speech 
 that attracted notice at the time, ' nor are debts paid by words, 
 but in sterling coin. Public business cannot be carried on 
 without money, money forms the sinews of war, and their 
 High Mightinesses have for this reason ordered us to see that 
 this assembly responds to their demand with all due speed.' , 
 
326 JOHN DE WITT. 
 
 When the war became more and more imminent, and tlie 
 only uncertainty left was as to the day on which it might be 
 declared, eight commissioners were sent from the States-General 
 to superintend and hasten the departure of the fleet. They 
 made a tour of the coasts, to put them in a state of defence 
 by the despatch of garrisons, the construction of forts, and the 
 establishment of entrenched batteries. They distributed arms 
 to the peasants in all the villages along the coast, and found 
 30,000 of their inhabitants ready to oppose the landing of the 
 enemy. They visited also the ports selected for the assembly of 
 the squadrons, and appointed as a meeting-place for the whole 
 fleet the roads of the Texel, to which they sent the deputies 
 from the Admiralties. They settled with them all the arrange- 
 ments for the embarkation of the troops, over which they 
 themselves presided, going from ship to ship until nightfall. 
 De Witt seemed to multiply himself ia order to accomplish 
 this task. He had acquired as complete a knowledge of naval 
 affairs as if he had studied them from his infancy. ' He 
 might be seen,' wrote Count d'Estrades, ' dressed in grey with 
 gold buttons, his sword at his side, his cravat tied with a flame- 
 coloured ribbon, and a cane in his hand (urging forward on 
 the spot the equipment and despatch of the fleet), and never 
 taking any rest. In truth,' adds the French ambassador with 
 disdainful approval, ' though a lawyer by profession he is a 
 man of courage and of great merit.' 
 
 The fleet at the disposal of the republic consisted of 103 
 line-of-battle ships, 11 fireships, and 12 galiots, besides 40 
 vessels intended to serve as a reserv-e squadron ; it carried 
 4,800 guns, and was manned by 22,000 men. The captains 
 appointed were worthy to command it. It was placed under 
 the orders of Wassenaar Obdam, who had distinguished 
 himself in the Northern war, and had been by common con- 
 sent appointed lieutenant-admiral-general. In order to in- 
 crease the number of general officers, the States of HoUand 
 created three appointments of lieutenant-admirals for each of 
 their Admiralties. For the Admiralty of the Meuse they 
 selected Cortenaar, who had like Obdam served with distinc- 
 tion in the Northern war ; for the Admiralty of Amsterdam, 
 
NAVAL PORCES. 327 
 
 Buyter, who had not yet returned from Guinea ; and for the 
 Admiralty of North Holland, Van Meppel, who had taken part 
 under Euyter in the expedition to Cape Verde. They were 
 supported by three vice-admirals, Van Nes, Tromp, son of the 
 former admiral of the republic, and Volkert Schram. The 
 Priesland division was commanded by Stellingwerf and that of 
 Zealand had for its intrepid commander John Evertz. 
 
 Seamen of such renown formed a splendid naval staff for 
 the republic ; the crews might well be proud to obey them. 
 To encourage them in the performance of their duty, the 
 States had not merely increased their rations, but had promised 
 assistance and pensions to the wounded, and in case of death 
 a double pension for the widows and children. Eewards were 
 voted also for the capture of the enemy's ships, and a recom- 
 pense of 25,000 florins to whoever should take the flagship ; 
 finally, large gratuities were reserved for the shipbuilders who 
 had furnished vessels for the campaign. On the other hand, 
 the surrender of a man-of-war was to be punishable by death, 
 which was to be equally applicable to officers withdrawing 
 from the battle without orders. Having thus put in action 
 all the means at their disposal, the States-General appealed to 
 the Divine protection for aid, and prayers were ordered to be 
 offered in every province. On the suggestion of the States of 
 Holland they were to be repeated weekly as long as the war 
 lasted. ' Nothing,' wrote D'Estrades, ' can exceed the resolu- 
 tion of the chiefs, and of all the sailors and soldiers, nor yet 
 their unanimity ; they are so persuaded of the success of the 
 struggle that greater cheerfulness was never seen, nor so great 
 a desire to come to blows.' 
 
 The English fleet with which they were to measure their 
 strength numbered 109 line-of-battle ships, 21 fireships, and 
 7 galiots, carried 4,192 guns, and was manned by 21,000 sailors. 
 The Duke of York held the chief command, and had under 
 him Prince Eupert, son of the former King of Bohemia and 
 of Elizabeth, sister of Charles I., one of the most valiant 
 champions of the royal cause against the parliamentary 
 party, to whom he had made himself formidable both by land 
 and sea. The other lieutenants of the Duke of York were 
 
328 JOHN DE WITT. 
 
 Vice- Admiral Montague, now Earl of Sandwich, and Kear- 
 Admirals Lawson, Miags, and Ayscue, who had proved their 
 courage and capacity in former wars. The superiority of the 
 English fleet was mainly due to its good discipline. ' Nothing 
 can surpass the splendid battle array of the English navy,' 
 writes a contemporary who had witnessed the spectacle ; ' their 
 ships form the most perfectly straight line you can imagine, 
 and they thus bring their whole broadsides to bear on those who 
 approach them ; the only way to get the better of them is to 
 break their line and board them. They fight hke a weU- 
 driUed body of cavalry which concentrates all its efforts on 
 repelling the enemy, while the Dutch advance hke a troop 
 whose squadrons break their ranks and charge separately.' 
 This unanimity of movement was to be the means of securing 
 victory to the English fleet. 
 
 De Witt, confident in the superiority of numbers, was 
 impatient for an engagement. By his direction anchor was 
 weighed, notwithstanding the objections of the pilots, who 
 under protest of danger in leaving the roadstead were desirous 
 to keep the ships in harbour so as to retain for their wives the 
 trade in provisions for the crews. The Grand Pensionary 
 hoped, by commencing hostilities without delay, to baffle the 
 intrigues of the Orange party. The sympathy shown by 
 Obdam, as soon as he was named admiral, for the cause of the 
 Prince of Orange, made him suspicious of so sudden a change 
 of opinions. He feared that Obdam desired to remain within 
 reach of the shore, in order to be ready to support a rising in 
 the interior, which the Duke of York seemed to be counting 
 upon, to judge from his intercepted correspondence. Not 
 liking to leave him in full command of the fleet, he had pro- 
 posed to go on board, but the friends and relations of the 
 admiral had prevented the acceptance of his offer, and he was 
 thenceforth more anxious to bring Obdam speedily face to face 
 with the enemy, never doubting that, the struggle once begun, 
 he would prove himself the loyal and trusty defender of the 
 republic. 
 
 The States-General shared in the Grand Pensionary's 
 hopes, though not in his suspicions ; they believed themselves 
 
FIKST NAVAL CAMPAIGN. 329 
 
 secure of promptly concluding the naval campaign by a 
 victory. They accordingly sent to Obdam the most pressing 
 orders to assume the offensive. ' They had no doubt,' they 
 wrote to him, ' that before receiving their letter he had already 
 reached the English coast, or was within reach of the English 
 fleet. In case this should not be so, however, they desired 
 him to use all diligence to come up with the enemy without 
 loss of time. But, having neglected to take advantage of the 
 wind, which had been for two days in his favour, Obdam was 
 now checked by the dead calm which detained him at the 
 mouth of the Meuse, and he wrote to the States to request 
 fresh instructions, informing them that the enemy had the 
 wind in his favour. He received, however, orders to attack, 
 under pain of being called to account for his conduct. He 
 at once summoned a council of war, and the principal officers 
 having voted for delay, he told them that although he shared 
 their opinion he could not avoid obeying his orders, adding 
 that he would only return to Holland covered with laurels or 
 with cypress. The republic was to pay dearly for this precipi- 
 tancy, imprudently encouraged by John de Witt. 
 
 At daybreak, Obdam weighed anchor and proceeded in 
 search of the English fleet, and at four o'clock in the morning 
 of Saturday, June 13, 1665, the battle commenced, ten miles 
 off the coast of Suffolk opposite the little^ town of Lowestoft. 
 The vanguard squadron, commanded by John Evertz, lieu- 
 tenant-admiral of Zealand, and by Stellingwerf, lieutenant- 
 admiral of Eriesland, who was one of the first killed, soon gave 
 way and spread disorder among the fleet. Meanwhile Cortenaar, 
 the lieutenant-admiral of the Meuse Admiralty, who was to 
 have taken the command in case of the death of Admiral Obdam, 
 was killed by a round shot at the very beginning of the action, 
 and his son fell at his side a victim to the same fate. Desiring 
 to conceal so fatal a calamity, the master of his ship still kept 
 his flag flying, while the crew yielding to a cowardly panic, 
 seized the command of the vessel from their officers and let 
 her drift away from the enemy. Part of the squadron of the 
 Meuse at once obeyed the signal, and twelve or thirteen ships 
 thus parting from the fleet left it open to attack. 
 
'330 JOHN DE WITT. 
 
 Obdam, who could not foresee this sudden retreat, had 
 made it still more dangerous by a daring mancBuvre which 
 only increased the confusion, and whose result proved utterly 
 disastrous. In order to recover advantage of the wind, he 
 had determined to break through the English liae, resolved to 
 set fire to the Duke of York's ship as soon as he should be 
 alongside of her. ' Impelled by a passionate desire to engage 
 with the enemy,' wrote De Witt afterwards, ' and being on 
 board a fast sailing ship, he distanced all who were not so 
 swift and who were making every effort to keep up with him, 
 careless if he were followed or no, and at great risk of break- 
 ing his own line.' 
 
 His audacity almost succeeded. In company with the four 
 best ships in the fleet, he opened a broadside on the Duke of 
 York's vessel. The Duke, closely pressed, showed much 
 personal gallantry, three officers of his staff being killed at 
 his side. Vice-Admiral Lawson and Captain Smith hastened 
 to his assistance and surrounded the Dutch flagship. Her 
 powder magazine took fire, either from a shot or from the 
 carelessness of the crew, and suddenly about three o'clock in 
 the afternoon the ship blew up, exploding into a thousand 
 pieces, while the hull went to the bottom, not one survivor 
 remaining of the five hundred men who had been on board 
 her, and amongst whom were many volunteers belonging to 
 the first families in the United Provinces. While this disaster 
 spread terror amongst the fleet of the republic, two Dutch 
 ships ran into a third, and entangled their rigging so closely 
 with her bowsprit, that two hundred sailors vainly endeavoured 
 to free it with their axes ; the English at once despatched a 
 fireship which reduced all three to ashes. The battle was 
 lost, but it was still continued with fury, and the defeat was 
 made glorious by many brilliant exploits. 
 
 Lieutenant-Admiral John Evertz, to whom the chief com- 
 mand fell after the deaths of Obdam and Cortenaar, vainly 
 attempted to stem the advance of the victors. He renewed 
 the attack upon the Duke of York's ship, in the defence of 
 which Vice-Admiral Lawson lost his life ; but after sustaining 
 the enemy's fire for more than twelve hours, and being no 
 
DEFEAT OF THE DUTCH FLEET. 331 
 
 longer able to keep afloat in a vessel that had been pierced by 
 seventeen shots, he followed the instructions which had been 
 given him for the re-assembling of the fleet, and turned his 
 course towards the Meuse. Most of the captains followed him, 
 although he had not hoisted the admiral's flag, being unable 
 to resign himself to giving the signal to retire. Tromp re- 
 mained alone with his squadron at his appointed post, although 
 deserted by some of his crews, who mutinied against their cap- 
 tains, forced them to remain inactive under penalty of death, 
 and even surrendered three ships to the English. With 
 a small escort only he retired in good order, covering his 
 retreat by a courageous defence, and resisting the enemy's 
 vanguard until nightfall. He took the route which seemed to 
 him the shortest, although it was the least secure, and arrived 
 the next morning with ten or twelve ships at the Texel, where 
 he found fifty more which had arrived before him. 
 
 The conqueror did not know how to profit by his victory, 
 which might have enabled him to destroy the entire fleet of 
 the Eepublic while it was still dispersed and at his mercy. 
 The States-General had lost nineteen large ships, seven 
 thousand men, of whom two thousand were prisoners, their 
 admiral-in-chief, and three lieutenant-admirals, while the 
 losses of the English were confined to four ships and fifteen 
 hundred men. King Charles II. believing himself to be 
 henceforward lord of the seas, caused a medal to be struck 
 which attributed their empire to him, with these words as a 
 motto : Et pontus seniet (the sea also shall obey him). An 
 English nobleman who was then passing through the Hague, 
 did not fear to assert that within two years the ocean would 
 be cloEed to all Dutch shipping. Peter de Groot, pensionary 
 of Amsterdam, replied only by appealing to the mysterious 
 decrees of Providence. ' The change or ruin of States,' he said 
 to him, ' is a work which depends solely on the will of God, and 
 of which, as Sovereign of the world. He reserves to Himself 
 the disposal.' 
 
 The misfortunes of the defeat were aggravated by popular 
 tumults and by the feebleness of military ardour. The lieu- 
 tenant-admiral, John Evertz, who had only abandoned the 
 
332 JOHN DE WITT. 
 
 struggle at the last extremity, after distinguishing himself by 
 his indomitable valour, was none the less cruelly ill-used by 
 the populace on his return. As soon as he landed at Brill 
 he was insulted by a furious mob, thrown into one of the 
 canals of the town, and would there have been stoned to death 
 but for the assistance of two deputies of the States, who, hap- 
 pening to be on the spot, summoned the troops to extricate 
 him. He was kept prisoner in a house close by, and guarded 
 closely until he could be conveyed to the Hague at night 
 under an escort. Here he was shut up in prison in order to 
 give an appearance of satisfaction to the popular discontent, 
 and the States-General, after examination, sent him for trial 
 before the court-martial sitting at the Texel ; but he offered 
 so complete a vindication that his judges were forced to do 
 justice to his conduct. Even the most intrepid shared in the 
 general discouragement. Tromp resisted the injunctions of 
 the three commissioners from the States, who had been sent 
 to him with instructions to put to sea again with his remain- 
 ing ships, for the protection of the coasts. He replied ' that 
 he would not expose himself to the loss both of reputation and 
 life in the company of a pack of cowards who had neither 
 courage nor honour,' and he went so far as to threaten to send 
 in his resignation. The sailors, on their side, as soon as they 
 had got back to the Texel, rushed into the boats to go ashore, 
 in spite of their officers, and were only kept on board by the 
 promise of leave to each in turn every week. 
 
 The constancy of the States-General was not shaken, and 
 De Witt lost no opportunity of strengthening it. ' I saw M. de 
 Witt immediately after the battle,' wrote D'Estrades to Louis 
 XIV. ' I found him as proud and collected as ever. He told me 
 that he was going to the Texel, by order of the States, to recom- 
 pense some and punish others, and hoped soon to be able to 
 send the fleet to sea again, adding that they were determined 
 to offer battle a second time.' His courage did not belie his 
 words. On his way to the Texel he saw from the shore some 
 vessels in flight, pursued by the enemy. According to his 
 own account, he at once threw himself into a fishing-boat to 
 overtake them, got on board one without troubling himself 
 
JOHN DE WITT WITH THE FLEET. 333 
 
 about the leaks of which he was warned, and himself piloted 
 them into port. He was impatient to direct a new naval cam- 
 paign. He had formerly unwillingly relinquished the idea of 
 accompanying the admiral on board ship, and the disaster to 
 which Obdam had just fallen a victim did not deter him from 
 seeking the post of danger as the most enviable privilege of his 
 office. 
 
 The States of Holland had refused until now to consent 
 to his departure, fearing that his absence would leave them 
 without a leader. Even when he had induced them to give 
 their consent he was very nearly obliged to renounce his 
 intention. On the day of the sitting when his commission 
 was to be given to him, he had withdrawn in order not to be 
 obliged to read the resolution in his own praise. His kinsman, 
 Vivien, pensionary of Dordrecht, who took his place as presi- 
 dent of the debates, refused to put it to the vote, not choosing 
 to be responsible for the danger which he foresaw, and De 
 Witt was obliged to return to the hall, that he might himself 
 put to the vote the authorisation which would allow him to 
 expose his life in the service of the republic. The consent of 
 the States- General seemed still more difficult to obtain. The 
 deputies of Zealand and Groningen, jealous of the fresh powers 
 that would thus be given to the Grand Pensionary of Holland, 
 were persistent in their opposition. To win their favour, 
 however, De Witt took care to request the appointment of two 
 other commissioners, and this division of authority, which 
 was more apparent than real, enabled him to perform his 
 desu-ed mission. He set out in company with John Boreel, 
 burgomaster of Middleburgh and deputy of Zealand, and 
 Eutger Huygens, deputy of Guelders, an old man of seventy- 
 eight, who had offered himself, in spite of his great age, for 
 this perilous service. The three commissioners, after taking 
 an oath to the States-General, went on board, surrounded 
 by a military retinue. Their staff included two colonels 
 and two lieutenant-colonels, and they had for escort twelve 
 halberdiers, besides a guard of ninety- two sailors; they repre- 
 sented the majesty of the republic, and in order to give full 
 recognition of their authority over the fleet, the States had 
 
334 JOHN DE WITT. 
 
 put at their disposal the most imposing panoply of command. 
 Their mission was to re-establish discipline. They began 
 by summoning a court-martial to try the captains who had 
 retired without orders, and who had thus contributed to the 
 victory of the enemy. Three were executed and six degraded, 
 while funeral honours were paid with all solemnity to those 
 who had died in the performance of their duty. Two monu- 
 ments were erected in the great church of the Hague, to per- 
 petuate the memory of the services and the glorious death of 
 Admiral Obdam and Lieutenant-Admiral Cortenaar. But it 
 was not sufficient to punish the guilty and to pay honour to 
 the dead ; it was necessary to remedy the disaster by repairing 
 the losses sustained by the United Provinces. The reserve 
 funds were again employed for new armaments, and by a 
 resolution of the States- General the Council of State was 
 charged to apportion among the provinces the contingents 
 towards the sum needed, which amounted to 450,000 florins. 
 The appointment of a new commander for the fleet was 
 no less urgent. John Evertz, against whom the popular fury 
 had been let loose, could not be chosen. Euyter had not 
 returned from his distant expedition. Among the rear-admirals 
 Tromp was the only man who could replace Admiral Obdam. 
 He was popular among the sailors, to whom his name was a 
 recommendation, distinguished as it had been by his father 
 in many victories, and his valour justified his renown ; but, 
 according to the judgment of a contemporary, ' he was known 
 as a young man with more zeal than discretion ; ' and besides, 
 his resistance towards the deputies of the States, the protec- 
 tion he had extended to the captains who were put on their 
 trial and his hereditary attachment to the House of Orange, 
 all made him an object of suspicion. The States of Holland, 
 however, and their Grand Pensionary sacrificed then doubts 
 to the necessities of defence. They appointed Tromp to be 
 lieutenant-admiral of the Meuse Admiralty, in place of 
 Cortenaar, and gave him the command of the fleet pending the 
 nomination of an admnal-in-chief. Far from being content with 
 this, Tromp did nothing but loudly complain of the choice of 
 the commissioners sent to him by the States-General, to whose 
 
EETUEN OF EUYTER. 335 
 
 authority he was by no means disposed to submit. He attri- 
 buted their selection to De Witt, to whom he proposed, he 
 said, ' to testify his displeasure by exposing him to such 
 dangers as should cure him for ever of his mania for directing 
 campaigns, and would make him repent having come on 
 board his ship.' But the Grand Pensionary was indifferent to 
 these marks of annoyance, and was preparing to lead Tromp 
 to the assistance of the different flotillas returning from 
 Smyrna, the Indies and America, when the news of Euyter's 
 return restored his confidence. 
 
 Kuyter, whose absence was a public calamity, after leaving 
 the African coasts for America, to carry on in the Antilles his 
 warfare against the English colonies, had just entered the Ems 
 and anchored before the fort of Delfzil, three hours' distance 
 from Groningen. He brought back with him nineteen vessels, of 
 which twelve were line-of-battle ships, manned by two thousand 
 sailors, with captures which flattered the national pride, and 
 valuable cargoes which restored prosperity to the commerce of 
 the United Provinces. There had been great anxiety for the 
 fate of Euyter and his squadron, and the exhibition of the 
 national joy at their happy return was vehement in proportion. 
 The States-General called upon the provincial States to desire 
 thanksgivings to be offered. The inhabitants of Friesland 
 and Groningen crowded the shore and put off in boats to the 
 ship, where Euyter received them with his usual cordial good 
 humour. Women of the better class embraced him according 
 to the custom of the country. He was received with re- 
 joicings, as the predestined saviour of the republic. 
 
 The States of Holland were determined not to let slip the 
 opportunity of using his popularity to insure the success of a 
 new campaign. Even in the preceding month, before any 
 news of the expedition had been received, several members of 
 the Assembly had desired to appoint him admiral-in-chief. 
 As soon as his arrival was announced, the proposal was re- 
 newed at the demand of the members for Amsterdam. The 
 States of Holland hastened to follow suit by naming Euyter 
 lieutenant-admiral-general of the squadrons of their three 
 boards. The same day the States-General offered him the 
 
336 JOHN DE WITT. 
 
 command-in-chief, under their three commissioners, who 
 requested him to take up his office at once. 
 
 Anxious to assist the ships on their way home from the 
 Indies, they did not wait for his arrival to take out the fleet 
 which was bound by contrary winds in the Texel. The ener- 
 getic determination of the Grand Pensionary of Holland 
 surmounted the obstacles that were opposed to this bold move, 
 and that seemed to make it foolhardy. Putting to use his 
 knowledge of mathematics and relying also upon experiments 
 which confirmed his preconceived ideas, De Witt found, in spite 
 of the contrary opinion of the pilots of that coast, that of 
 thirty-two different points of the compass from which the 
 wind might blow, twenty-eight were favourable to the passage 
 by three channels. He himself too went out to sound the 
 shallows, of which the pUots warned him, and proved to them 
 that, contrary to their allegations, the channel of the Span- 
 jaarts Gat, a mUe long, but on account of its breadth the 
 safest, contained sufiGicient water for the passage of the fleet. 
 Confident in his discovery, he gave the order for departure, 
 and undertook the personal charge of the two largest ships. 
 The others followed easily ; and in remembrance of this sally, 
 the Spanjaarts Gat was surnamed John de Witt's channel. 
 
 The Grand Pensionary was equally successful in overcom- 
 ing another difficulty which remained to be conquered. The 
 resolution taken by the States-General to appoint Euyter 
 commander-in-chief of the naval forces gave satisfaction to 
 all the principal officers ; but it offended Tromp, who could not 
 resign himself to the second place, after having been untU 
 Euyter's return in possession of the chief command. Unable 
 to conceal his mortification, Tromp requested the commis- 
 sioners of the States- General to excuse him from a second 
 campaign ' in which it would be repugnant to him to serve.' 
 They vainly endeavoured to bring him to a better frame of 
 mind, and the States-General to whom they appealed, gave 
 them full powers either to refuse or accept his resignation. 
 The States of Holland on their side showed great displeasm-e 
 at his conduct, and did not spare him their reproaches. Tromp 
 did not venture to face the public indignation roused against 
 
EUYTEE'S EARLY DAYS. 337 
 
 his personal pretensions, when the interests of the country- 
 required their sacrifice, and allowed himself to be gradually 
 brought round. He began by remaining on board, and when 
 Euyter had rejoined the fleet at sea, he showed himself 
 wUling to retaia his command. De Witt, who had restored 
 him to his duties by gentleness and firmness combined, might 
 congratulate himself on having thus prevented one of the 
 best of the republic's servants from abandoning her service. 
 The naval force so promptly made ready to put to sea again 
 was divided into four squadrons; the first commanded by 
 Euyter, the second by Cornelius Evertz, brother of the former 
 lieutenant-admiral, the third by Tromp, and the fourth by the 
 lieutenant-admiral of Friesland, Heddes de Vries. The vice- 
 admirals were Van Nes, Bankert, Van der Heist, and Koerden. 
 Two colonels, Dolman and De Mauregnault, and two lieu- 
 tenant-colonels. Van Ghent and Van Sauten, had the command 
 of the troops, whose embarkation was watched by De Witt with 
 the most active vigilance. The preparations had been vigor- 
 ously pushed forward; 93 ships, 12 fireships, 20 galliots, 
 4,800 guns, and 20,000 men, composed the force assembled by 
 the United Provinces for their defence. 
 
 No one could have been more worthy or more capable of 
 command than Euyter, and the United Provinces had in him 
 the greatest admiral of the century to maintain the honour of 
 their flag upon the ocean. He was born of working-people 
 at Flushing. The son of a brewer's journeyman, he had 
 been the architect of his own fortunes. He began to earn his 
 livelihood by working in a rope-walk, and at eleven years of 
 age went to sea as a cabin-boy. Four years later he trans- 
 ferred his services to the land forces and was sent into the 
 Duchy of Cleves as a gunner under the orders of Prince 
 Maurice. He then again returned to sea as an able-bodied 
 seaman, and rose to being pUot. His first owners, doing 
 justice to the experience he had gained in his distant voyages, 
 sent him several times to Brazil and the Antilles in charge of 
 a vessel which enabled him to trade on his own account. On 
 his returning from these mercantile expeditions he was ap- 
 pointed by the Stadtholder Frederick Henry to the command 
 
 VOL. I. z 
 
338 JOHN DE WITT. 
 
 of a ship in the States navy, and the first naval combat in 
 which he took part, in an expedition to the coast of Portugal, 
 gave a fair sample of his intrepid courage. 
 
 He returned to the merchant navy, but was recalled to the 
 service of the repubhc during the first war with England, by 
 the States of the province of Zealand, of which he was a 
 native, and the States-General gave him the command of one 
 of their squadrons. After the death of Lieutenant-Admiral 
 Tromp, he was raised to the dignity of Vice-Admiral of the 
 . Board of Amsterdam, which he had thought himself bound to 
 accept in answer to the urgent appeals of John de Witt, and 
 he had offered innumerable proofs since then of his untiring 
 devotion. Since peace had been concluded with England, he 
 had been successfully employed in putting down the Barbary 
 pirates, by an unrelenting pursuit of them, and it was to him that 
 the States had at once turned when they resolved to obtain 
 from France, by beginning a system of reprisals, reparation 
 for all the captures made from the mercantile marine of the 
 United Provinces. His share in the northern war — which he 
 had brought to an end by the blockade of the Swedish fleet — 
 and the result of his last expedition to the Guinea Coast, 
 pointed to him as the successor of Lieutenant- Admiral Obdam, 
 he alone seeming to unite every claim to the command of the 
 naval forces of the United Provinces as soon as it became 
 vacant. Thus at forty-eight years of age he arrived at the 
 summit of fortune, and might be said to have the whole 
 fate of the republic committed to his hands, in being thus 
 charged with the naval defence of its threatened independence. 
 During ten successive years, he never failed in this task, and 
 it was on board his own ship, at the moment of victory, that 
 he ended a life that had been exposed in fifty-five engagements, 
 of which fifteen were great battles, a life entirely consecrated 
 to the service of his country. 
 
 He united in himself the qualities which make both the 
 great commander and the great citizen. His intrepid courage, 
 which never failed him amidst the most threatening dangers, 
 was enhanced by his coolness and prudence; he had the 
 gifts both of reflection and of decision, the two great virtues 
 
HIS TALENTS AS A COMMANDER. 339 
 
 of a commander. His long experience, acquired in his many 
 Voyages, and based upon profound knowledge of every portion 
 of the seaman's art, assisted too by an unfailing memory, 
 suggested to him every precaution that could ensure victory. 
 He was inflexible in the maintenance of discipline, but won 
 the love of his sailors by the fatherly interest he showed 
 towards them, and inspired all who served under his orders 
 with his own valiant confidence. He knew how to obey as 
 well as how to command. Submissive to the States his 
 sovereigns, he carried out their instructions with the most 
 scrupulous fidelity, confining himself to the exercise of his 
 powers as admiral, and never pretending to any share in 
 politics. He sought in the privileges of his office no other 
 satisfaction than that of the fulfilment of a great duty to 
 his country. He had never solicited it, was incapable of any 
 meanness for the sake of retaining it, and proved himself 
 later on disposed to retire from it that he might remain true to 
 those whose fortunes he desired to share. Such high qualities 
 made him peculiarly fitted for the service of a republic, and 
 justified the confiding friendship which never ceased to unite 
 De Witt to Euyter. 
 
 He had never been dazzled by grandeur. Averse from all 
 flattery, he disliked luxury, and when not at sea cared only for 
 family life. His simple habits were encouraged by a piety as 
 sincere as it was tolerant. He attributed to God all his 
 successes. ' I never,' says a contemporary, ' saw him other 
 than himself, and when victory declared in his favour he 
 always said : " It is given us by Grod." ' He studied the Scrip- 
 tures assiduously, and during his winter evenings on shore he 
 used to read them to his wife and children as they sat round 
 the family table. In the Divine services held daily on board 
 he always led the chanting of the Psalms, ' taking much pleasure 
 in singing,' as Brandt the historian naively tells us, 'both for 
 the edification of those who listened and because he could 
 sing well.' 
 
 His portraits represent him with all the external appearance 
 of health and strength. Of medium height but good figure, 
 with a broad forehead, a ruddy complexion, black and rather 
 
340 JOHN DE WITT. 
 
 prominent eyes full of fire, a thick, pointed moustache, his 
 grave yet gentle countenance stamped with candour and 
 honesty shows us the very type of a s6aman, such as he 
 appeared to the admiration of contemporaries and the respect 
 of posterity. 
 
 De Witt was worthy to share with him the community of 
 peril and glory. On the eve of the new campaign now about to 
 commence, he determined to remain on board the fleet with 
 the two other commissioners of the States. He had gone on 
 board from doubts of the political fidehty and the military 
 prudence of Tromp ; but when Tromp was replaced in the chief 
 command by Euyter, who offered every security to the Grand 
 Pensionary, his friends urgently advised him not to absent 
 himself, in the fear that the Orange party might profit by his 
 departure to resume possession of the government. De Witt 
 however, opposed to them an immovable determination. ' He 
 is preparing for the voyage,' writes one of the correspondents 
 of the French Court, ' and so arranging his private afi'airs that 
 death may have no fears for him, and that where the service 
 of the State is concerned he may not have to consider his 
 many children, who are all still young, nor the approaching 
 confinement of his wife. He has but one anxiety, that of 
 being unjustly suspected of desiring by absence to escape the 
 resentment of his enemies and the hostility of the populace.' 
 He himself wrote to Van Beuningen, November 19, 1664 : 
 ' I do not doubt that the rumours set afloat by the Enghsh 
 and some other persons, that odious reasons of fear had 
 induced me to embark on the States fleet, have died a natural 
 death.' 
 
 The fate of his own person and of his authority seemed 
 to him boimd up with the safety of the State, which depended 
 upon the success of the war. 'A second naval battle,' he 
 wrote, ' will either strengthen or ruin at a blow both one and 
 the other.' The motives which justified his conduct are ex- . 
 pressed in the most noble sentiments in a private letter which 
 he wrote to his sister-in-law, the wife of Cornelius de Witt, 
 whose strength of character deserved the confidence he reposed 
 in her. 'I have always supposed that you had so much 
 
LETTEE OP JOHN DE WITT TO HIS SISTER-IN-LAW, 341 
 
 courage and strength of mind, that I could not expect from 
 you such tender anxiety as you manifest at the end of your 
 letter. My determination to take part in the expedition is 
 based upon absolute necessity. Those who have not been eye- 
 witnesses will perhaps refuse to believe that a naval force of 
 some 20,000 men, commanded by officers who have studied 
 their art from infancy, should contain no one capable of 
 leading and directing it. There is urgent necessity to remedy 
 this, and to endeavour to infuse new Hfe, so to speak, into this 
 force. To attain this object the presence of commissioners 
 has been judged needful to guide the counsels of the leaders 
 which might otherwise be contradictory, and restore confidence 
 to the sailors by m^ns of persuasion. It was necessary that 
 choice should be made of a representative of the States-Gene- 
 ral whose influence would be sufficient to make his opinion 
 preponderate. As most of the deputies of Holland have 
 agreed upon this point it is only reasonable that near relations, 
 whose too great affection prevents their seeing so clearly as 
 indifferent persons, should submit to that decision and calm 
 their excessive apprehensions. They must soothe themselves 
 with the thought that if our Lord God will bless the under- 
 taking the liberty of the country will be confirmed. With this 
 object, we should without fear venture to hazard ourselves, 
 our lives, our goods, and our blood, and if your fears can in 
 any degree be allayed by my honest confidence, I can in all 
 sincerity assure you that during my presence here no gloomy 
 thought has ever harassed my mind.' 
 
 His patriotic self-devotion did not suffice to disarm his 
 adversaries. . ' I had some trouble to keep myself from laugh- 
 ing at the sight of a lawyer convinced that he can restore 
 courage to panic-stricken people,' writes Count de Guiche in 
 his Memoirs, ' and that with a smaller number of ships he 
 can by his own merits win a battle against a victorious fleet 
 in all respects superior to his own. There is in this a really 
 uncommon excess of presumption.' Elsewhere the same 
 writer continues : ' The Grand Pensionary caused it to be said 
 by his agents that the Eomans had taken men from the plough 
 to command their armies. The most modest of his servitors 
 
342 JOHN DE WITT. 
 
 compared him to the Venetian nobles, and for his own part, 
 he though* himself capable of any warlike deeds, and went so 
 far as to change even his style of dress, and wear a doublet 
 covered with gold lace and an embroidered sword-belt from 
 which hung a long sword.' We recognise in this disdainful 
 and mocking tone the feelings of the great noble and courtier 
 who cannot forgive a mere citizen for usurping to a certain 
 extent those military virtues of which the nobUity claim the 
 monopoly. It did not hinder De Witt from proving himself 
 worthy to take his place in that choice company of the great 
 men of Athens and of Eome whose lives belonged entirely to 
 their country, and whose services shed such lustre over the 
 republics of antiquity. 
 
 The Grand Pensionary justified his presence with the fleet 
 by the promptitude with which he had it equipped and sent 
 to sea. He was eager to send it to meet the ships returning 
 from the East Indies, which had rallied round them all the 
 merchant convoys of the Mediterranean. The loss of these 
 sixty-seven vessels, with their cargo of a hundred-and-twenty 
 tons of gold, would have been an irreparable disaster to the 
 republic. They were forced to go out' of their course to escai)e 
 the enemy's cruisers, and were very near being surprised in 
 the port of Bergen in Norway, the governor of which was 
 vainly called upon to deliver them up. The English squadron 
 attacked them here, but was repulsed by the guns from the 
 town. Even then they would have had to pay the ransom of 
 a hundred thousand crowns demanded by the governor, if the 
 fleet from the Texel had not arrived in time to release them 
 and serve as an escort. Their hopes of a safe return were in 
 part destroyed by the storm which overtook them on September 
 8 and 9, 1665. The north-easterly gale blew with such fury 
 that before it was possible to come up with the enemy the 
 fleet of the, States-General were scattered, notwithstanding 
 the efforts of Euyter and John de Witt to rally them. The 
 Grand Pensionary was on board an old craft, and, careless of 
 danger, he never left the tiller so long as the storm lasted, 
 that he might direct the signals. But hardly forty vessels 
 remained in position, and while the dispersed squadron slowly 
 
HIS FORTITUDE IN ADVEKSITY. 343 
 
 collected again, the English fleet had drawn off, content with 
 the prizes they had picked up during the gale ; five line-of- 
 battle ships and seven merchantmen, of which three India 
 ships were valued at four millions, had fallen into their hands. 
 Fresh losses thus unhappily took the place of the hoped-for 
 victory. 
 
 The Grand Pensionary opposed an unalterable serenity of 
 mind to all the assaults of an adverse fortune ; he humbled 
 himself before the shock of calamity, but he was not dis- 
 couraged. His report to the States-General of the disasters 
 they had sustained was as follows : — ' We know that people 
 will cry out at pain ; and we accordingly foresee that we shall 
 not be exempt from calumnies and unjust accusations, but we 
 must hope that their High Mightinesses, considering all that 
 we have done, may take into account that this is really a fatality 
 which has come upon us from the hand of God, and that th^re 
 has been no negligence on our part. It pleased God to make 
 use of the wind, that inconstant element, to disperse our fleet, 
 in such manner that we can only say what is always in our 
 hearts — man proposes but God disposes. We hope, however, 
 that this same God will give proofs of His mercy and of His 
 goodwill to this nation in some other encounter of greater 
 importance, and He wUl thus show that if He strikes 
 with one hand He heals with the other according to His good 
 pleasure.' 
 
 Thus supported by his patriotism and by his Christian 
 faith, De Witt had no other thought than that of making new 
 efforts to force an engagement which should allow the republic 
 to make some profit from her naval forces. It having been 
 proposed that the ships should be recalled into harbour and 
 dismantled on account of the already advanced season, he 
 wrote thus to Vivien, the pensionary of Dordrecht, who had 
 taken his place in the assembly of the States of Holland : ' I 
 think that if it had pleased God to bring safely into harbour 
 the men-of-war and the India ships, the States might with- 
 out prejudice to the public welfare, and without compromising 
 its own reputation, resolve to dismantle them. But since 
 the Providence of God has ordered matters otherwise, I am 
 
344 JOHN DE WITT. 
 
 of opinion that it will be more advantageous, and more honour- 
 able to the States, to make another effort before the EngUsh 
 have had time to reinforce their fleet, by means of the riches 
 they have taken from the subjects of the States and the men- 
 of-war they have captured. My advice is consequently that 
 we should put to sea at once, to look for them again, and I 
 think that with so fine a naval force, there is everything to be 
 hoped for by God's blessing.' 
 
 His advice was adopted by the States. The fleet, which 
 had reassembled at Goeree, received orders to sail for England. 
 Unable, by reason of contrary winds, to attempt an attack on 
 the fireships and the men-of-war at anchor in the Downs, it 
 proceeded 'to blockade the mouth of the Thames. The Grand 
 Pensionary on his galliot made a careful exploration of the 
 river, which he turned to account two years later, to insure the 
 glorious success of a new campaign. Sixty of the enemy's 
 ships were at anchor in the river, and according to the most 
 probable expectations would endeavour to force their way out 
 at any price, so as to reopen the Thames for navigation ; but 
 the suppositions of the Grand Pensionary were overthrown by 
 their inaction. Attacked by the plague which was decimating 
 London, the English fleet had suffered too much to venture 
 upon a battle ; and that of the States, after vainly defying it, 
 was forced by sickness and bad weather to return to harbour. 
 De "Witt and his two colleagues sent in their report to the 
 States-General and received solemn thanks in return. On the 
 same day the Grand Pensionary gave an account of his mission 
 to the States of Holland, who had already sent him encourag- 
 ing messages, and who renewed to him the assurance of their 
 satisfaction. The most flattering praise that he received was 
 that of Euyter. When the admiral who shared John de Witt's 
 title to the public gratitude appeared in turn at the bar of the 
 two assemblies, to be congratulated upon his services, he 
 declared ' that in all the deliberations of the councils of war 
 in which the Grand Pensionary had taken part, he had always 
 received from him the most useful aid, and that he cordially 
 acknowledged his rare sagacity.' He made a point also of 
 openly showing the attachment he professed for him, by 
 
BERNAED VAN GALEN, BISHOP OF MUNSTER. 345 
 
 passing in his house the time of his sojourn at the Hague. 
 De Witt might well glory in the ■witness to his conduct offered 
 by such a judge. Content with having satisfied his employers, 
 he refused all recompense, declaring ' that he had not under- 
 taken his expedition with a view to receiving presents, Iput to 
 acquit himself of his duty, and to serve his beloved country, 
 for which he was always ready to make any sacrifice.' By 
 taking the fleet to sea again, in spite of defeats and storms, 
 De Witt had retrieved the honour of the flag, and strengthened 
 public confidence. And he did justice to himself when he 
 wrote to Van Beuningen : ' Although it has not pleased 
 Heaven to bestow every blessing that we could have wished 
 upon the employment of the fleet, I am, nevertheless, per- 
 suaded that my presence was not useless, especially in prevent- 
 ing its return in disorder and short of provisions after having 
 been defeated and dispersed by the storm.' If it had not been 
 able to regain the victory, it had at least repaired the humilia- 
 tion of defeat. 
 
 While the republic was thus struggling with the formid- 
 able trials of a maritime war that exhausted her resources, 
 she was stiU more dangerously menaced in her independence 
 by the aggression of one of her neighbours, the Bishop of 
 Miinster. By allying himself with him to attack the United 
 Provinces, Charles II. had created a diversion which might 
 put them at his mercy. 
 
 Bernard Van Galen, Bishop of Miinster, who ruled his 
 states for twenty-eight years, dying at the age of 71, in 
 1678, continued in the middle of the seventeenth century 
 the traditions of the warrior-prelates of the Middle Ages. 
 In times of peace, he fulfilled with regularity the duties of 
 his ecclesiastical of&ee, and administered his diocese with 
 paternal care, proving himself, according to Johannes ab 
 Alpen, one of his former ministers and his biographer, an 
 equitable, humane, affable, and merciful prince. But having 
 passed his youth in the military service of the Elector of 
 Cologne, he had never renounced his first vocation, and seemed 
 better fitted to bear a sword than a crosier. As soon as he 
 found himself in the field, he resumed the manners of the 
 
346 JOHN DE WITT, 
 
 camp, and passed a portion of his days in joyous banqueting. 
 Joining to the resources of a singularly subtle mind an obstinate 
 determination of character, he was always ready to parade 
 the turbulent ambition which made him a stranger to all 
 scruple. Full of confidence in himself, he wished, he said, to 
 make plenty of noise in the world before leaving it, and 
 declared that if he ever came to lose his states, he should not 
 think himself in any the worse condition, having money enough 
 in the bank at Venice to buy a cardinal's hat. 
 
 It was at the expense of the United Provinces that he pro- 
 posed to increase his principality. The States-General had 
 repeatedly provoked his resentment, without having been able 
 to reduce him to the impossibUity of harming them. Eight 
 years before they had undertaken to assist the town of Miinster, 
 which refused to acknowledge his authority and claimed the 
 privileges of a free city. On the energetic representations of 
 John de Witt, they had assembled a body of troops consisting 
 of about 7,000 men, whose despatch was held in suspense by 
 the opposition pf Amsterdam, while the bishop, warned in 
 time, pressed forward the conclusion of an agreement which 
 made all preparations for intervention unnecessary. New dis- 
 putes had given him pretexts for complaint. The States 
 refused to recognise his pretensions to the lordship of Borkelo, 
 which belonged to the province of Guelders. They had besides 
 taken part against him in favour of George Christian, Prince 
 of East Friesland, within whose territories they occupied 
 the strongholds of Liroort and Emden, as advanced posts 
 to the town of Groningen. The Bishop of Miinster having 
 taken possession of the town of Deyl, or Eydeler, in this 
 principality, which secured him free access to the United 
 Provinces, they gave the command of an expedition to 
 Prince William Frederick of Nassau, who easily succeeded in 
 retaking it. 
 
 The following year the bishop signed the preliminaries of 
 a secret treaty of alliance, offensive and defensive, with 
 Charles II. As soon as he had received the considerable 
 subsidies promised to him, he sent to demand from the States- 
 General reparation for the injuries of which he complained 
 
INSUPFICIENOY OF THE STATES ARMY. 347 
 
 and, without waiting for the return of his envoy from the 
 Hague, gave orders to his troops to invade the territory of the 
 United Provinces. 
 
 He had mustered, in the course of two months, 8,000 horse 
 and nearly 5,000 foot, with a considerable body of artillery. 
 Further reinforcements soon raised his army to 18,000 men. 
 He sought to ensure success by the rapidity of his attack. A 
 few weeks sufficed to put him in possession of the county of 
 Zutphen, and of a part of the province of Overyssel. With 
 the exception of the fortress of Borkelo, which held out for 
 some days under the command of an ensign named Eck, all 
 the towns surrendered before any measures could be taken 
 to assist them. The States had reason to fear that the 
 enemy's army might hasten its march without meeting with 
 any obstacle. But it divided into two detachments, and the 
 vigour of the attack was thus diminished. Confiding in the 
 hopes held out to him by Sehulemburg, a former deputy of 
 the States of Groningen, who had recently been condemned as 
 a traitor after some political disturbances which had occurred 
 in the province, and persuaded that Sehulemburg would cause 
 the gates of Groningen to be opened to him, the bishop sent 
 a part of his forces in the direction of that town. He hoped 
 to surprise the fortress of Delfzyl with the help of a descent 
 by the English, and thus to complete the rapid success of his 
 expedition. ' The Batavian lion, it was said, was allowing 
 itself to be defeated by a sheep, when one stroke of a paw was 
 all that was needed to ensure success.' 
 
 The military forces which the States could oppose to the 
 invasion were insufficient. Their army had been imprudently 
 reduced to 24,000 men ; the new levies which they had decreed 
 had not yet been completed ; their best soldiers, to the number 
 of about 7,000, formed part of the marine forces with the 
 fleet, and they had hardly more than 6,000 men to put into 
 the field. Besides, the fortifications of the frontier towns had 
 not been repaired, the magazines and arsenals were empty, 
 and finally, the suppression of a great number of commissions 
 and the vacancy in the chief command had disorganised the 
 army. The States-General had not contented themselves 
 
348 JOmiT DE WITT, 
 
 with leaving the companies without lieutenants, refusing 
 all new appointments ; they had not even replaced Major- 
 General Brederode, who had now been dead ten years, the 
 States of Holland having refused to allow a successor to him 
 to be named. Cavalry, artillery, and infantry, henceforth were 
 under the orders of chiefs who were no longer dependent upon 
 any military authority, and who were themselves reduced to 
 an inferior position. All military powers had been vested in 
 the Council of State. ' They are so jealous of their authority 
 and of their title of sovereign,' wrote D'Estrades, ' that they 
 appear to prefer to sustain very considerable damage, and 
 themselves perform the part of commander-in-chief, rather 
 than allow those to act who are capable of doing so. The 
 States of Holland had too easily sacrificed to their political 
 fears the imperious necessities of defence. De "Witt recog- 
 nised the danger, and spoke of it in the following terms : 
 ' The bad opinion entertained of the land forces of this State 
 is not without foundation, and I own to you that to my mind 
 it cannot be employed in great operations ; but if the projects 
 that I have made to remedy these evils can be put into execu- 
 tion, I do not doubt of success in restoring it to a satisfactory 
 condition.' 
 
 To repair former errors it was necessary at least to pro- 
 ceed without delay to the choice of a commander-in-chief. 
 William Frederick of Nassau, stadtholder of Friesland and 
 Groningen, and grand master of the artillery, who had com- 
 manded the last expedition against the Bishop of Miinster, 
 was dead. Louis of Nassau, Lord of Beverwaert, chief 
 of the staff, who possessed the confidence of the States of 
 Holland, followed him to the grave a few months later. There 
 remained for choice only two general officers, the Ehyngrave 
 Frederick Magnus of Salm, governor of Maestricht, commis- 
 sary-general of cavalry ; and Prince John Maurice of Nassau- 
 Siegen, formerly governor of Brazil, stadtholder of Cleves 
 for the Elector of Brandenburg, commandant of Wesel, and 
 lieutenant-general of cavalry. 
 
 The States of Holland were suspicious of the latter both in 
 his engagements with the Elector and his relationship to the 
 
PEINCE JOHN MAURICE, COMMANDER-IN-CHIEF. 349 
 
 House of Orange, and also objected to his great age. They would 
 have liked to put forward the Prince of Tarentum, colonel of a 
 regiment of horse, whom they had just appointed governor of 
 Bois-le-Duc. But the other provinces had all declared in favour 
 of Prince John Maurice, whose long services they desired to 
 recompense, and they refused to allow the House of Orange to 
 be deprived of the command of the troops. The States of 
 Holland, driven by necessity, gave their consent, but required 
 that the powers entrusted to the Prince should be limited to 
 the duration of the expedition. He entered upon his office at 
 once, with a salary of 2,400 crowns annually for his equipage 
 and of twelve florins & week for his table. The Ehyngrave 
 had the command of the cavalry. ' The honour done to me,' 
 he wrote to the Grand Pensionary of Holland, ' is due only to 
 you and your good counsel, to which I shall be indebted all 
 my life. I hope with God's help I shall acquit myself worthily, 
 and that you wLLl never be ashamed of having recommended 
 him who is till death your very humble and very faithful 
 servant.' 
 
 The States-General, making use of the powers which be- 
 longed to them, sent five deputies from their assembly to 
 represent them at headquarters, and John de Witt, being 
 unable to accompany them on account of his mission to the 
 fleet, took care that his brother, Cornelius de Witt, councillor 
 deputy of Holland, should be appointed as one of the com- 
 missioners. The attacks upon them, to which Count de 
 Guiche has given free vent in his Memoirs, show plainly a 
 fixed intention in his haughty disparagement of the represen- 
 tatives of civil power thus transformed into military delegates. 
 His usual one-sidedness surpasses even itself in the account 
 which represents Cornelius de Witt ' led into the trenches by 
 the Prince of Nassau, who exposed him to the fire of the guns 
 while conversing with the most perfect coolness, whereas the 
 former suddenly left his company, and so made the lookers-on 
 laugh greatly.' The proofs of intrepid valour by which Cor- 
 nelius de Witt distinguished himself in his naval campaigns, 
 and which are testified to by all his contemporaries, take away 
 all sting from such audacious accusations. 
 
350 JOHN DE WITT. 
 
 The States took measures, though tardily, to supply the 
 deficiencies of their defensive preparations. The new levies 
 which they had ordered were raised and reinforced by 6,000 
 waartgelders or militia, enrolled by the States of Overyssel. 
 The guns of the towns were sent into camp. Steps were 
 taken for repairing the fortresses and supplying the arsenals. 
 The States of Holland had besides, in the month of July, 
 proposed to the States-General to subsidise for the service of 
 the republic the troops offered to them by the princes of the 
 house of Brunswick-Luneburg — George WUliam, Duke of 
 ZeU, and his brother Ernest Augustus, Bishop of Osnabruck. 
 The conditions of this agreement were arranged with the 
 States-General through the means of their envoy Count 
 Waldeck, who had served the States as a captain of horse, 
 and who, ' having a high opinion of himself,' flattered him- 
 self that he might one day receive the command of the mili- 
 tary forces of the republic. For the sum of 140,000 florins 
 down, and subsidies of 11,112 florins per month, a contingent , 
 of twelve thousand men was promised. 
 
 But the money to obtain this was wanting. Prepara,tions 
 for the new naval campaign absorbed the already strained 
 resources. Zealand, whose maritime trade was ruined by the 
 war, found it impossible to pay her financial quota. Guelders, 
 Overyssel, and the provinces of Friesland and Groningen, over- 
 run and devastated by the Bishop of Miinster's army, were re- 
 duced to straits which brought them to the very verge of insolv- 
 ency. Holland, obhged to support almost unaided the burden 
 of taxes and loans, ' could not,' wrote D'Estrades, ' continue for 
 a year thus weighted, without bringing about a revolution 
 that would change the government. If in such a conjuncture 
 one or two towns should declare that they would contribute no 
 longer towards the financial burdens, we might look for 
 changes, since they would inevitably be upheld by members of 
 the States who were known to be unfriendly to M. de Witt.' 
 ' The State is so overburdened with expenses,' the Grand 
 Pensionary himself confesses, ' that we cannot meet them, 
 however much we may promise ; it is to be feared that some 
 of the troops newly levied may desert for want of pay. The 
 
NECESSITY OF EEENCH AID. 351 
 
 same thing is to be feared for the Luxemburg forces.' The 
 United Provinces were therefore placed under the impossibiHty 
 of providing for their defence themselves. 
 
 In this situation the republic could not dispense with the 
 aid of France, which had been assured to her by the last 
 treaty of alliance, according to which 12,000 men were to be 
 furnished to the States in case they were attacked. Up to 
 this time Louis XIV. had been procrastinating, notwithstand- 
 ing the urgent representations of Van Beuningen, the ambas- 
 sador of the United Provinces in Paris. He had contented 
 himself with renewing his proposals of peace in London, and 
 with threatening the Bishop of Miinster with his intervention. 
 But the death of the King of Spain, which he had been long 
 awaiting, imposed upon him the necessity of showing some 
 consideration for the United Provinces, in order to deter them 
 from an alliance with England, which might put obstacles in 
 the way of the execution of his projects with regard to the 
 Spanish Netherlands. De Witt had skilfully contrived to 
 rouse the French king's fears of such a reconciliation, by 
 causing negotiations to be resumed by Van Gogh, the ambas- 
 sador of the States, who had remained in London. ' I have 
 declared to Count D'Estrades,' he wrote to Van Beuningen, 
 'that if the king does not speedily put matters straight, I 
 shall be able no longer to find fault with those who believe 
 that we should purchase peace with England at any price.' 
 
 Interested in the prolongation of the war so that the 
 United Provinces and England, by remaining in hostility, 
 should leave Spain open to his attack, Louis XIV. readily 
 recognised that he could not avoid assisting the republic, in 
 order to re-establish the equilibrium between the belligerent 
 powers. But, unwUling to depart more than was necessary 
 from a system of neutrality so advantageous to his interests, he 
 contented himself with intervening merely against the Bishop 
 of Miinster, thus limiting the assistance which he gave to the 
 States and taking care besides to render it more apparent than 
 real. 
 
 A body of 6,000 men was sent into the field, under the 
 command of Lieutenant-General Pradel, governor of Bapaume. 
 
352 JOHN DE WITT. 
 
 He marched by short stages along the frontiers of the Spanish 
 Netherlands as far as Maestricht, where he was received by 
 the deputies of the States. The hopes of co-operation which 
 this intervention might have raised ia the republic soon 
 vanished one after another. The French cavalry, which in- 
 cluded two companies of the king's musqueteers, was indeed 
 a picked body; but the infantry, consisting of 4,000 men, 
 was a mere military mob. They were as badly armed as 
 they were Ul-clothed, and the States- General was obliged to 
 buy for them ' 4,000 pairs of shoes and 4,000 pairs of stock- 
 ings.' Discipline was equally wanting. According to the 
 report of the commissary of the army the musqueteers them- 
 selves, though belonging to the aristocracy of the kingdom, 
 set the example of disorder and violence. Convoys pillaged 
 and their drivers Ul-used, cattle carried off, houses burnt, the 
 exercise of the Calvinist form of worship insulted : such were 
 the traces left by the passage of the French soldiers. ' They 
 paid nothing as they passed, or false money,' writes Sir 
 William Temple to the English Government, ' took the best 
 treatment the Dutch could make them with scorn and inso- 
 lence, and drank his Majesty's and the Prince of Miinster's 
 health in the market-place at Maestricht; a strain, I suppose, 
 of their extravagance, rather than good meaniug.' They be- 
 haved in an ally's country as they would have done in an enemy's. 
 The junction of the French auxiliary corps with the troops of 
 the republic at Arnheim only made the disappointment more 
 complete. The mistakes made by the bishop seemed, how- 
 ever, as if they must ensure the speedy success of the cam- 
 paign and allow the time lost to be retrieved. The attempt 
 of his lieutenant, D'Ossery, against Groningen had failed. 
 Protected against all surprise by a garrison of 4,000 men, the 
 town had valiantly defended itself. The Princess of Nassau, 
 Albertina Agnes, widow of William Frederick, the last stadt- 
 holder of Friesland and Groningen, had shut herself up here 
 with her young son, Henry Casimir, to encourage the resistance 
 of the inhabitants. The detachment of the episcopal army 
 which had advanced to the attack of the town allowed its 
 communications to be cut with the main force which had 
 
INDECISION OF PEINCE JOHN MAURICE. 353 
 
 invaded Overyssel. Fearing to be surrounded, D'Ossery en- 
 trenched himself in a strong position at Winschoten, near the 
 mouth of the river Ems. In order to release him, the bishop 
 moved to Meppen and employed four or five thousand peasants 
 to construct across the swamps a dyke two leagues in length, 
 which was finished in six weeks, and bears his name to this 
 day. 
 
 To destroy this vanguard of the bishop's army it was only 
 necessary to attack it before it could be reinforced. But 
 the 15,000 men whom the arrival of the French troops per- 
 mitted to be used against him, and who might easily have 
 been marched across the enemy's country in the- absence 
 of his army, remained inactive. The French commander, 
 Pradel, no doubt in obedience to secret instructions given 
 him by Louis XIV., alleged the insufficiency of his camp 
 equipment and the lateness of the season, in opposition to 
 the continuance of the expedition, and required that the 
 troops should be dismissed to their winter quarters. His 
 resistance only increased the indecision of Prince John 
 Maurice, who ' from weakness and too easy compliance,' 
 writes John de Witt, ' did not get beyond deliberations.' 
 
 The States commissioners, after vainly reiterating their 
 complaints and remonstrances for three weeks, finally obtained 
 orders that the allied forces should quit their cantonments 
 and should be marched to the further side of the Yssel. But 
 the dOatoriness of their movements, increased by the bad 
 state of the roads, rendered the expedition useless. The sole 
 result of the campaign for the States-General was the sub- 
 mission of the little town of Lockhein, which was only defended 
 by 400 foot-soldiers, and which capitulated, once the trenches 
 were opened, after three days' resistance. To secure Pradel's 
 consent to this operation. Prince John Maurice went so far as 
 to assure him that the States would be content with this 
 proof of his complaisance. Pradel, accordingly, insisting upon 
 the want of forage, imperiously demanded that the order for 
 retreat should be given, and the commissioners of the States 
 were obliged to withdraw the army, while the bishop's cavalry 
 scoured the neighbourhood unmolested. 
 
 VOL. I. A A 
 
354 JOHN DE WITT. 
 
 The expedition was postponed until after the -winter, and 
 the troops returned to their garrison. The invasion had 
 hardly been checked, and instead of being freed from it the 
 States-General had reason to fear that it would soon resume 
 its course. The deputies hastened to report the result of 
 their mission to the States-General, and Prince John Maurice 
 was also called upon to give an account of his campaign. In 
 his report, which was drawn up carefully, he haughtily repelled 
 the reproaches addressed to him, appealing for his justification 
 to the judgment of his officers, and blaming the improvidence 
 of the States with regard to the military stores. The States of 
 Holland and their Grand Pensionary did not conceal from him 
 their dissatisfaction ; but the other provinces insisted that the 
 command should be continued to him, and even obtained for 
 him a vote of thanks. 
 
 Instead of drawing closer the good relations between 
 France and the republic, this campaign had displeased and 
 disquieted the United Provinces. The States had been 
 brought to desire the recall of the French troops as im- 
 patiently as they had looked for their arrival. The corre- 
 spondence of Count D'Estrades explains only too well the 
 fears their presence excited, when it is seen that he pro- 
 posed to Louis XIV. to profit by their presence^ in order to 
 secure the provinces of Friesland and Groningen by seizing 
 the stronghold of GoeVerden. ' It would thus be possible,' he 
 wrote, foreseeing the opposition that the States would make to 
 the projects of the King of France against the Spanish 
 Netherlands, ' to assist those who should declare in our favour 
 when the event occurs, and bring Holland to reason if she 
 should deviate from her duty.' Hoping, however, to make 
 the republic dependent upon Prance without so audacious a 
 violation of the rights of nations, Lionne urged D'Estrades to 
 negotiate for the acquisition of Maestricht, or at least for the 
 occupation of Wesel. He went so far as to advise him to 
 obtain the command of the troops belonging to the States. 
 Such were the fears aroused that a project of introducing 
 French garrisons into the towns of Holland, improbable as it 
 was, having been attributed to John de Witt, one of his father's 
 
FEAKCE DECLAEES WAE AGAIKST ENGLAND. 355 
 
 most faithful friends represented to him that by putting it 
 into execution he would run the risk of sharing the fate of 
 Olden Barneveldt. 
 
 The tardy declaration of the King of France in favour of 
 the United Provinces against England, did not dissipate these 
 anxieties, but rather helped to justify them. Louis XIV. had 
 delayed it until now ; he permitted it at last, from fear of 
 discouraging the States by further delays, and thus of dis- 
 posing them to receive the offers of mediation sent by the 
 Emperor of Germany to the Hague. The States, on their 
 side, in order to reassure him, recalled their ambassador, Van 
 Gogh, from London, and pledged themselves to receive no 
 proposals from Charles II. without giving information to the 
 ambassador of France. While they showed themselves re- 
 solved to adhere strictly to their promise, Louis, less scrupu- 
 lous,, continued his negotiations with the envoys of Charles at 
 the houise of the Queen-Dowager of England at-ChaOlot; but 
 he was disappointed in his expectations, and they were broken 
 off after a few weeks of useless conferences. 
 
 The question now was how to bring about a junction of 
 the French fleet with that of the States. The King of France 
 had announced the despatch of a squadron of thirty sail, 
 commanded by his admiral, the- Duke de Beaufort ; but he 
 refused to give any assurance for the reciprocal saluting of the 
 flags. According to the regulation which he had ordered, but 
 had not ventured to publish, Louis required that the admiral 
 of the States should be obliged to salute not only the admiral 
 of France, but also the vice-admiral and rear-admiral of the 
 French squadron. He claimed also that the chief command 
 should be given to the admiral of France alone, while the 
 States-General required that the two admirals should be asso^ 
 ciated together. ' It is impossible to pledge ourselves,' wrote 
 De Witt to Van Beuniugen, ' to obey exclusively the signals 
 of the admiral of Fr9,nce, who has never yet been in any 
 naval battle, and that especially in a decisive engagement on 
 which depends the safety or ruin of the republic' 
 
 Even when the agreement had been with difficulty con- 
 cluded, the States were condemned to a delay of many months 
 
 A A 2 
 
356 JOHN DE WITT. 
 
 before the arrival of the French fleet. The Duke de Beaufort, 
 who ought to have put to sea in February to join the ships 
 being equipped by the King of France in the Atlantic ports, 
 remained in the Toulon roads until the month of April. He 
 stopped at Lisbon, and only took his departure thence at the 
 end of the summer to rejoin the Dutch fleet, never, how- 
 ever, advancing beyond La Eochelle. ' If he is to remain in 
 the Tagus until he has received fresh orders from the King,' 
 wrote the Grand Pensionary to Van Beuniugen, ' I foresee with 
 sorrow that he will not be of much help to us. And I cannot 
 'disguise from you that the conduct of the French court is 
 subjected to much comment here.' Van Beuningen, on his 
 side, ceased not to complain vehemently ' that the declaration 
 of war had been only upon paper, as the King of France had 
 only sent out his fleet to amuse itself, and had never intended 
 that it should rejoin that of the States.' Far from defending 
 himself from these accusations, Louis XIV. took pride in them, 
 and in the following year he desired De Euvigny, his ambas- 
 sador in London, to let the King of England know ' that he 
 did not think that Charles II. could desire other results from 
 his friendship than those he had in every way shown him 
 during the said war.' 
 
 However this might be, the French alliance was not with- 
 out use to the United Provinces, notwithstanding the insufficient 
 assistance of which they had a right to complain. It prevented 
 them from being crushed, and favoured the success of their 
 negotiations with other powers which put an end to their 
 political isolation. The States-General had reason to fear the 
 hostility of Sweden, which had not forgiven their recent inter- 
 vention in favour of Denmark. The commercial concessions 
 which they desired their envoy, Ysbrandt, to offer to the Swedish 
 Government contributed to deter it from an offensive alliance 
 with England, and the representations of the French ambas- 
 sador, the Marquis de Pomponne, induced them to engage not 
 to promote any interests contrary to those of France. The 
 alliance of Denmark seemed more easy to obtain, notwithstand- 
 ing the ill-wUl of King Frederick III. who was related to the 
 King of England, and who, forgetful of the services he owed to 
 
NEGOTIATIONS WITH THE STATES OF DENMAEK. 35 7 
 
 the United Provinces, seemed disposed to seek new protectors. 
 The cordial advances of the Grand Pensionary of Holland, the 
 negotiations of Amerongen (the envoy of the, republic), and the 
 pecuniary satisfaction which the States- General consented to 
 grant to the amount of 1,800,000 crowns, helped to the con- 
 clusion of a treaty which was at last signed at the Hague. 
 The secret articles attached to it stipulated for an alliance offen- 
 sive and defensive between Denmark and the States-General, by 
 the terms of which forty ships were to be put at the disposal 
 of the United Provinces. 
 
 Frederick William, Elector of Brandenburg, followed this 
 example. The neighbourhood of the French troops despatched 
 against the Bishop of Miinster gave him some uneasiness. He 
 feared that the States, if driven to extremities, might give up 
 to France the town of Wesel, situated in his duchy of Cleves, 
 which he had never ceased to reclaim. His hostility to the 
 Grand Pensionary seemed, moreover, to place an insurmount- 
 able obstacle in the way of any attempt at an understanding. 
 He had gone so far as to write that he could not consent to 
 leave the education of the young prince to the States of 
 Holland, because his nephew's life would not be secure in the 
 hands of John de Witt. He had even attempted to intimi- 
 date him by threats of the same ill-treatment and disgrace as 
 one of his predecessors had formerly suffered. But German 
 interests, of which he never lost sight, made him anxious for 
 an agreement, to which the States lent themselves by the 
 settlement of their pecuniary differences with him. The latter 
 related to a sum of 100,000 crowns lent by the States to one of 
 the ancestors of the Elector, which with interest now amounted 
 to 1,200,000. His desire for a good understanding was such 
 that he proposed to visit the Hague, that he might there 
 converse with the Grand Pensionary, and place himself in 
 relations of confidential friendship with him. By the treaty 
 which was shortly concluded, February 16th, 1666, satisfied 
 with having obtained from the States 200,000 florins in ready 
 money, and subsidies of pay amounting to more than 50,000 
 florins a month, the Elector promised them a contingent of 
 12,000 men. 
 
358 JOHN DE WITT. 
 
 The United Provinces gained by this treaty something more 
 than the assistance of a powerful neighbour. Once become 
 the allies of the Elector of Brandenburg they could make sure 
 of the intervention of the Princes of Brunswick-Luneburg, 
 who did not dare to assist them so long as Frederick William 
 had not declared himself in their favour. The States thus 
 found- themselves in a position not merely to repulse the attack 
 of the Bishop of Miinster, but also to force him to make peace. 
 This was signed at Cleves on April 18, 1666, within the 
 dominions of the Elector of Brandenburg, and it was to 
 Beverningh's conduct of the negotiations that they owed their 
 prompt success. The bishop undertook to maintain not more 
 than 3,000 men for the security of his principaHty, to restore 
 all the towns he had taken, and to break the convention by 
 which he had pledged himself to give his assistance to the 
 King of England against the republic. 
 
 Six months later, these various treaties were completed and 
 confirmed by a definitive league concluded at the Hague be- 
 tween the States-General, the King of Denmark, the Elector 
 of Brandenburg, and the Princes of the House of Brunswick- 
 Luneburg. This quadruple aUiance assured to the States, in 
 consideration of a reciprocal engagement on their part, a 
 further contingent of 10,800 men, and bound the contracting 
 parties to assist each other with all their forces, during a period 
 of ten years, in case of any fresh attack. It reUeved the 
 United Provinces from dependence for defence upon the mercy 
 of France, who would have liked to remain their sole protector 
 so as to be able with greater ease to dictate to them. Diplo- 
 macy thus repaired the disappointments and disasters of the 
 war, by negotiations whose success was assured by the foreign 
 policy of the Grand Pensionary of Holland. 
 
 The naval war against England might now be renewed 
 under more favourable auspices, and in order to pave the 
 way to its fortunate issue, the States-General, having left no 
 allies to Charles II., prepared to seek enemies for him even 
 in his own kingdom. As early as the month of May 1665 the 
 project of a descent upon Ireland had been mooted in the 
 Council of Dordrecht. Eeports had been submitted stating 
 
PATLUEE OF THE FLEET UNDER EUYTER. 359 
 
 the chances of a rising. Arms were demanded for 7,000 foot and 
 3,000 horse, and it was shown with what faciUty the most im- 
 portant towns such as Limerick and Cork might be surprised. 
 At the same time measures were proposed for inciting to a 
 rebeUion in Scotland, by taking advantage of the commimity 
 of rehgious belief and commercial interests which bound 
 Scotland to the United Provinces. De Witt, who had secured 
 secret intelligences in that country, called for the prompt 
 co-operation of the King of France, that the signal for a rising 
 might be given. With this object Louis XIV. kept up com- 
 munications with two of the chiefs of the republican party, 
 Algernon Sidney and Ludlow, but made no haste to profit by 
 the offers which they made to him. 
 
 In spite of his procrastinating counsels, the States- General 
 were eager to despatch their fleet. By leaving it inactive the 
 Grand Pensionary feared not merely to provoke popular dis- 
 content and to dishearten the crews, but also to give the 
 English time to put to sea with a new squadron. In a long 
 and weighty report he exposed to the ambassador of France 
 the political and maritime considerations which forbade 
 any delay in the naval operations. He repaired to the Texel, 
 accompanied by several deputies of the States-General, in 
 order to hasten the final preparations for departure. To spur 
 on Count D'Estrades to demand the speedy arrival of the 
 French squadron, he expatiated on the number and good 
 order of the ships, as well as on the spirit both of ofiicers and 
 crews — ' as gay as if they were going to a wedding.' ' Every- 
 thing is just as we could wish it,' he wrote to the French 
 ambassador, ' so that nothing remains but to pray God that 
 he will be pleased to facilitate the junction of the allied fleets, 
 and to bestow upon us His blessing in battle.' 
 
 The fleet set sail in the beginning of June under the com- 
 mand of Euyter. The Admiral-in-chief was on board the 
 ' Seven Provinces,' a ship which had been buUt by the 
 Admiralty of Eotterdam, and which carried the red flag of 
 the States-General on which was represented the Batavian 
 lion. Three squadrons were united under his orders. He re- 
 tained for himself the command of the first, that of the 
 
360 JOHN DE WITT. 
 
 Admiralty of the Meuse, with Lieutenant-Admiral Van Nes 
 as his second in command. The second squadron was under 
 the orders of the heutenant-admirals of Friesland and Zea- 
 land, Cornelius Evertz and Hiddes de Vries. The third, com- 
 posed of the ships of the admiralties of Amsterdam and of 
 North Holland, had Tromp and Meppel for lieutenant- 
 admirals. The fleet, whose equipment cost the United Pro- 
 vinces 5,800,000 florins annually, consisted of a hundred sail, 
 of which seventy-two were liae-of-battle ships; they carried 
 4,700 guns, the ef&ciency of which had lately been greatly in- 
 creased by the invention of chain-shot, due to John de Witt, 
 and they were manned by 22,000 men, including both saUors 
 and soldiers. 
 
 The English fleet, of about equal strength, had fewer ships 
 and more men. The command had been entrusted to Monk 
 and Prince Eupert. It was similarly divided into three 
 squadrons : that of the Eed, the White, and the Blue, under 
 the respective orders of Monk, Admiral Askew, and Admiral 
 Allen. A flying squadron of twenty ships had been deputed, 
 under Prince Eupert's orders, to watch the movements of the 
 French fleet, if the latter should attempt a junction with that 
 of the States. Monk, who wished to reserve to himself the 
 honours of victories, had been careful thus to dismiss a rival 
 to his glory, at the risk of weakening the naval force at his 
 disposal. 
 
 Friday, June 11, 1666, the two fleets met off the Downs. 
 That of the republic was at anchor, wind and tide being 
 contrary. At the first approach of the enemy they cut their 
 cables, and at one o'clock in the afternoon the attack began on 
 both sides with equal determination. The third squadron, 
 which was to have formed the rear, owing to the direction of 
 the wind became the van, and took the largest share of the 
 fighting. Tromp, whose ship had been struck by a red-hot shot, 
 which set fire to his stern gallery, told off half his crew to extin- 
 guish the flames, without ceasing to foUow up the enemy with 
 his usual intrepidity; but having unfortunately come into 
 collision with a Dutch vessel, he lost his masts, and was obliged 
 to remove to another ship, on board of which he continued the 
 
THE FOUR DAYS' BATTLE. 36 1 
 
 battle until five in the afternoon. At that hour, owing to an 
 imprudent movement, the English fleet was obliged to tack, 
 and thus threw into his hands with another ship that of the 
 vice-admiral of the White, Admiral Barklay, the Duke of York's 
 brother-in-law, who had been struck by a musket-ball after 
 making a valiant defence, and left only his dead body to those 
 who boarded and seized his ship. Euyter, on his side, had 
 been engaged with Monk. The two admirals had obstinately 
 sought each other out, but had not long remained within 
 range of one another. Monk, having lost his mainmast, was 
 forced to withdraw, while Euyter was repelling the attack of a 
 seventy-gun ship, which he finally sank. Two French volun- 
 teers who had made a point of assisting in this naval engage- 
 ment under his orders, Count de Guiche and the Prince of 
 Monaco, did honour to France by their valour. They had em- 
 barked on board Captain Terlon's ship which caught fire and 
 was in danger of sinking, and were preparing to leave it by 
 throwing themselves into the sea, when another ship came 
 within reach, on board which they were able to jump. After 
 fighting there as gaily as if they were dancing at a ball, im- 
 patient to share the dangers of the admiral-in-chief, they paid 
 a high price to be conveyed in a boat, under the enemy's fire, to 
 Euyter's ship. This first day was disastrous only to the Zea- 
 land squadron, whose lieutenant-admiral, Cornelius Evertz, 
 had engaged with the English rear-admiral, Harman. The 
 Englishman, whose crew was reduced from 300 to only forty, 
 defended himself with extraordinary courage, and brought off 
 his ship in safety. In the attack Evertz was struck down by 
 a shot. His two sons concealed his death, in obedience to his 
 instructions, and thus prevented it from disastrously affecting 
 the issue of the engagement. The next morning, at six o'clock, 
 the battle was renewed with equal fury. The sea had calmed, 
 and was more favourable to the use of the guns. The fleets 
 in order of battle passed each other three times in the course 
 of the morning, without being able to come to close quarters. 
 At noon, Tromp, consulting no one but himself, and wishing 
 to profit by the favourable wind, undertook to turn the flank 
 of the English fleet and take it in rear. This manceuvre 
 
362 JOHN DE WITT. 
 
 disturbed the order of attack and was unsuccessful. Of the 
 two ships which followed him, that of Vice- Admiral Van den 
 Heist, who was kUied on board her, was disabled, and the 
 other was sunk by a round shot, while Tromp himself was 
 forced to abandon his own vessel, which was completely dis- 
 abled. 
 
 Euyter, who was just about to give the signal for boarding, 
 seeing the perU to which his lieutenant's squadron was ex- 
 posed, resolved to pierce the enemy's line, and come to his 
 assistance. The enemy, unable to bar his passage, attempted 
 to enclose him in an impenetrable riug, and the leading ships 
 of the Enghsh squadrons attacked him in turns by firing 
 broadsides and despatching fireships against him. Supported 
 by the squadron of North Holland, which he had agaia rallied, 
 he repulsed the attack with invincible determination, and 
 sank six of the enemy's ships which were closely pressing 
 him. But the damage which he had himself sustained 
 forced him to retire, and he was obhged to leave to his heu- 
 tenant-admiral. Van Nes, the task of harassing the retreat 
 of the enemy, who retired in good order towards the 
 English coast. This pursuit won for the fleet of the States 
 an important prize, which shed lustre on its victory. Admi- 
 ral Askew, who commanded the squadron of the White on 
 board the ' Eoyal Prince,' the finest ship in the English navy, 
 carrying ninety guns and a crew of 600 men, had run 
 aground, and, finding himself in danger of being set fire to by 
 the Dutch fireships, was forced to surrender. Tromp was 
 already flattering himself with the idea of bringing this 
 splendid prize into the ports of the republic. But Euyter, 
 who had now come up with him, whether as Tromp asserted 
 to rob a rival of this honour, or because he feared, if the 
 fight recommenced, to be unable to guard so large a vessel, 
 caused her to be burnt. 
 
 The English fleet had only apparently retired, in order to 
 take measures to resume the offensive. The next day, June 
 14, 1666, Prmce Eupert rejoined Monk with his squadron : 
 they again set sail, and immediately formed themselves in 
 line of battle. The Dutch fleet, favoured by the wind, was 
 
RETREAT OF THE ENGLISH FLEET. 363 
 
 ready for action, and the captains showed themselves eager to 
 respond to the patriotic encouragements addressed to them by 
 Euyter. The battle began eight leagues from the shore off 
 the coast of Flanders. At the first onset, De Liefde, vice- 
 admiral of Tromp's division, hard pressed by the vice-admiral 
 of Prince Eupert's squadron, was forced to shift his flag on to 
 another ship. Euyter and Prince Eupert both came to the 
 assistance of their subordinates. Prince Eupert's ship, riddled 
 through and through with shot, was run into by a fireship, 
 and very nearly burnt. Vice-Admiral Algernon, who was 
 following him, was mortally wounded. At the second attack, 
 Tromp, constant to his favourite manoeuvre, cut through the 
 enemy's line, and for an instant threw it into disorder ; but 
 his squadron was so damaged that it required the greatest 
 efforts on his part to bring it off. Towards the end of the 
 day, Euyter, whose ammunition was beginning to fail, deter- 
 mined to force a victory by giving the signal for attack to the 
 whole fleet. After sustaining the shock for two hours, the 
 enemy was forced to give way, and vainly endeavoured to get 
 to windward to reform the line of defence. Monk and Prince 
 Eupert, whose ships had been too much injured to continue 
 the battle, could not prevent a precipitate retreat. Euyter 
 urged on the pursuit in the hope of destroying the hostile 
 navy, until he was checked towards evening by a thick fog. 
 The next day, the English fleet, having regained its own har- 
 bours, could no longer be overtaken ; and that of the States, 
 fearing to venture near the sandbanks off the coast of England, 
 returned in triumph to the mouths of the Scheldt. 
 
 The account of the battle, sent by John de Witt to Van 
 Beuningen, assumes from his pen the tone and even the 
 very phraseology of a military bulletin. ' One ship of the 
 squadron of the White, supposed to carry 50 or 60 guns,' 
 he writes, ' sank along side Admiral de Liefde, who had given 
 it its quietus. It is certain also that two of the enemy's 
 ships have been burned, one on the second and the other on 
 the final day of the battle, for some of our sailors are wearing 
 breeches made from the fore-sail of one of these vessels, 
 which they had visited in the ship's boat for purposes of 
 
364 JOHN DE WITT. 
 
 pillage whilst they were burning, so that one may truly say 
 that they carried off their booty from the very jaws of hell.' 
 A few days later, reverting to his usual train of thought, he 
 writes : ' We have only to pray that the Lord will continue 
 to this fleet the succour which He has already given.' He had 
 gone down to Flushing to welcome it, accompanied by his 
 sister, Maria Hoeufft, whose husband was a member of the 
 Board of Admiralty of Eotterdam. Her religious belief was 
 as fervent as that of her brother, and she was touched with 
 ' the pious and at the same time valiant dispositions ' shown 
 by the sailors. 
 
 The States had lost three vice-admirals, 2,000 men and 
 four ships. The losses of the English amounted to 5,000 men 
 killed and 3,000 prisoners ; the battle cost them besides seven- 
 teen ships, of which nine remained in the possession of the 
 victors. Public thanksgivings were ordered in the United 
 Provinces. Simultaneously, bonfires were hghted in London, 
 although according even to the testimony of the English 
 historian, Burnet, the celebration of such rejoicings in England 
 was ' to mock God and to trifle with man.' 
 
 The honours of the victory were shared between Tromp 
 and Euyter ; ' of whom one,' wrote Count de Guiche, was ' the 
 sword, and the other the shield of the republic' Tromp had 
 disconcerted the enemy by his impetuosity. When they saw 
 his flag successively flying from six different ships, on board 
 which he had embarked in turn ' to give battle, as a man 
 changes his horse in the middle of an engagement on land, 
 the English asked themselves if there were five or six Tromps 
 in the fleet.' Still, by rushing into the midst of the enemy's 
 forces on the second day of the battle, without sufficiently 
 considering the danger, he had obliged Euyter to risk every- 
 thing to save him. ' This daring mancEuvre,' wrote D'Estrades, 
 ' might another time destroy him and his whole fleet.' As to 
 Euyter he had failed in no point in the exercise of the chief 
 command, and the success of the engagement was due as 
 much to his decision as to his prudence. 
 
 Both fleets had suffered so much in this obstinate encounter 
 that they were forced to remain in harbour to be put into con- 
 
FRESH ENGAGEMENT. 365 
 
 dition to go to sea again. The Dutch fleet was ready to set sail 
 first, thanks to the indefatigable care of the Grand Pension- 
 ary, who looked after everything, ' gave himself no rest, and 
 performed almost impossibilities.' It put to sea on July 4, 
 and set sail for the Thames and the Downs ; its mission was 
 to burn the enemy's ships and to make a descent upon Eng- 
 land, on the faith of information which De Witt had too hastily 
 accepted. During this expedition, which had no results, the 
 English made good use of their time to increase their naval 
 forces, and their fleet, which numbered a few vessels more than 
 that of the republic, then sailed down the Thames to meet it. 
 They came up with the Dutch towards evening, and, anchoring 
 near Norfolk's Land, made ready for battle on the morrow. 
 Before engaging in it, Euyter received from the Grand Pen- 
 sionary a despatch thus worded : ' If there is still time, take the 
 most minute precautions for safety. Traitors have determined 
 to set on fire and blow up several vessels of your fleet, no doubt 
 including that on which you are, by means of barrels with false 
 bottoms containing machines which are already on board and 
 whose smouldering fires may take effect at any moment.' 
 These fears were unfounded, and the searches instituted pro- 
 duced no discoveries. 
 
 The battle was no less fierce than the preceding one, but it 
 was far from being so fortunate for the Dutch fleet. Monk 
 and Euyter found themselves again face to face. Monk with two 
 new vice-admirals, Thomas Allen and Jeremiah Smith, Euyter 
 with his former ofiicers, to whom had been added John Evertz, 
 the old comrade of Obdam. He had resigned his command on 
 account of his advanced age, after the battle lost in the pre- 
 ceding year, but had urgently implored to be allowed to resume 
 it, to replace his brother, who had been killed in the last 
 engagement, and whose death he desired to avenge or to share. 
 At the very beginning of the action, the van formed of the 
 squadrons of Zealand and Friesland advanced too rapidly, 
 and the two lieutenant-admirals in command were killed. 
 John Evertz had a leg shot off by a cannon-ball and succumbed 
 at once to the wound. His father, his four brothers, and one 
 of his sons had perished in the service of the republic, like 
 
366 JOHN DE WITT. 
 
 him, sacrificing their lives for their country. Hiddes de Vries, 
 one of the most skilful seamen of his time, whom Euyter 
 considered fittest to succeed himself, shaded the same fate, 
 as did also Vice- Admiral Koenders. Disheartened by the death 
 of their chiefs, the Friesland squadron made a shameful 
 retreat. Vice-Admiral Koenders' crew mutinied, refused to 
 execute the manoeuvres ordered, and gave the signal to retire, 
 which was obeyed by the whole flotilla of the van. As to 
 the rear division, it put the finishing touch to the chances 
 ,of success of the engagement by an act of fatal imprudence. 
 Tromp, who commanded in conjunction with Meppel, the 
 lieuteuant-admiral of North Holland, after waiting long to 
 attack the enemy, had boldly assumed the offensive against the 
 squadron of the Blue. He set fire to one of the largest of the 
 enemy's vessels, and disabled the admiral's ship. But he 
 allowed himself to be seduced into a pursuit of the English 
 squadron, which had pretended flight to separate him from 
 Euyter, whose safety was thus imperilled. 
 
 The admiral-in-chief, now reduced to his own squadron, 
 and of this even a part was dispersed, found himself exposed 
 to an unequal encounter in which it seemed that he must be 
 vanquished. After valiantly defending himself during an 
 entire day, with eight or niae ships against twenty-two, he 
 took advantage of the fall of night to repair the injuries of 
 his vessels and to take them out of range of the enemy. He 
 hoped that Tromp's squadron would rejoin him, and that 
 his signals would recall to action the van division, but his 
 expectations were disappointed. He found himself the next 
 morning as much isolated as he had been on the previous even- 
 ing, with a part of the EngUsh fleet ranged in crescent form 
 round his ships. The murderous fire to which he was exposed 
 rendered the destruction of his ships inevitable. In this 
 extremity he sent for his vice-admiral. Van Nes, to come on 
 board to advise with him as to the course that should be taken. 
 They decided that as they could not continue the fight they 
 could render no better service to the State than by beating a 
 retreat, and separated with a mutual promise of sharing the 
 same fate. 
 
DISPERSION OF THE DUTCH FLEET. 367 
 
 Whilst Euyter was opening a way for himself by bringing 
 his guns to bear on the ships surrounding him, Monk, who 
 hoped to take his great rival prisoner and carry him in 
 triumph to London, pursued him at full speed. After obsti- 
 nately firing into his vessel he determined to attack it with a 
 fireship. Euyter at once lowered three boats to keep off the 
 danger. Four French gentlemen who had come on board as 
 volunteers, the Chevaliers of Lorraine and Coislin, the Chevalier 
 Cavoi, and Baron Busca, jumped into them to claim their share 
 of the risk. The danger to which the admiral's ship was 
 exposed was imminent ; the fireship had arrived within range 
 without the possibility of keeping it. off ; there only remained 
 on board the pilot and the sailor who was charged to set fire 
 to the powder. Euyter owed his escape to the promptness 
 of his movement. He suddenly put about, thus escaping 
 collision with the fireship, and after attempting to sink it 
 with his guns, he had ordered the boats to take possession of 
 it, when the enemy set fire to it. Monk, fearing that the 
 flagship might escape him, turned upon her the full fire 
 of his batteries in the hope of sinking her. Euyter had lost 
 200 men, and for a moment he felt his courage fail him. 
 ' The circumstances were such,' he wrote in his report to the 
 States, ' that I saw nothing before me but the total loss of 
 what still remained.' He was in despair at not having been 
 killed by one of the balls falling around him. But when his 
 son-in-law, De Witte, captain of marines, proposed that they 
 should kill themselves together, he overcame all weakness and 
 redoubled his efforts to defend himself. He succeeded in 
 approaching the Zealand sandbanks, where Monk did riot 
 venture to pursue him. He had left behind him three vessels 
 threatened by fourteen English ships, and he now sent out 
 to their rescue the Zealand squadron which he had at last 
 overtaken near shore. While the hostile fleet was obliged to 
 retire to avoid running aground, he cast anchor near the island 
 of Walcheren, off Middleburg, without leaving one ship in the 
 enemy's hands. 
 
 The English remained none the less masters of the sea. 
 The United Provinces paid dearly for their inability to dispute 
 
368 JOHN DE WITT. 
 
 possession of it, which was more fatal to them than a defeat. 
 One of the hostile flotillas carried fire and sword to the 
 ill-defended entrance of the Texel. A hundred and sixty 
 merchantmen under the convoy of two liae-of-battle ships 
 had retired into the roads of the Flie, notwithstanding the 
 warniags given to them to seek a more secure harbour ; they 
 believed themselves to be here safe from danger, behind the 
 sandbanks. An English frigate, followed by five fireships, 
 found an entrance. She was piloted by a refugee, Captain 
 Heemskerk, who, after the naval defeat of the preceding year, 
 had been banished the republic for his cowardly desertion of 
 the fleet. The two men-of-war were run into by the English 
 fireships and reduced to ashes, and the enemy, profiting by 
 the confusion that ensued, set fire to the merchant vessels, of 
 which only eight or nine escaped the flames ; the losses were 
 estimated at twelve millions of florins. The island was Hi- 
 guarded, and the English crews, 1,200 strong, might easily 
 have made themselves masters of the magazines belonging to 
 the India Company and to the States, if their landing had 
 not been prevented by the rains. To compensate themselves 
 they made an incursion into the isle of Schelling, favoured by 
 the high tide, and, contrary to all the rules of war, set fire to 
 4,000 houses. In retiring they seized Plodorp, which they 
 likewise burnt, and massacred its inhabitants ; they were only 
 overtaken at the mouth of the Elbe by a Dutch squadron, 
 which revenged their devastations by burning four of the 
 enemy's ships, on one of which the traitor Heemskerk lost 
 his Hfe. So audacious an enterprise seemed, however, to deal 
 an irreparable blow to the power and security of the republic. 
 These disasters were stUl further aggravated by the dis- 
 sensions between Kuyter and Tromp. After his impru- 
 dent pursuit of the English squadron with which he was 
 engaged, Tromp had not rejoined the fleet until the day after 
 the return of the admiral-in-chief, at the risk of falling a 
 victim to his temerity. Euyter ' with impetuous vehemence ' 
 accused him of having caused the loss of the battle. Instead 
 of excusing himself, Tromp, whose pride was incorrigible, 
 ventured to retort upon Euyter, reproaching him with having 
 
DISMISSAL OF TEOMP. 369? 
 
 lost the opportunity of cutting off the Enghsh vanguard and 
 of having thus let slip the victory ; he even forgot himself so 
 far as to address to the States of Holland complaints against 
 him as unjust as they were violent. The States, fearing the 
 results of this breach, hastened to despatch their Grand 
 Pensionary to arrange matters. On his way to Flushing by boat 
 De Witt very nearly fell into the midst of the enemy's fleet. 
 Having escaped this danger, he set heartily to work to pacify 
 the dispute. Notwithstanding his friendship for Euyter he re- 
 ceived Tromp well, listened kindly to his explanations, and ac- 
 knowledged that Euyter had reproached him in too harsh terms. 
 He endeavoured to bring them together by inviting both to 
 dine with him. The States of Holland were less conciliatory ; 
 suspicious of Tromp and anxious about his connection with the 
 Orange party, they determined to replace him by Van Ghent, 
 a colonel of marines, although Tromp vainly endeavoured to 
 melt them by his submission, declaring to De Witt ' that he 
 would resign without a murmur the command of his squadron 
 in the next engagement, if only he might be given a ship as 
 second in command to Euyter.' De Witt would have been 
 glad to dissuade the States from such severity, but they 
 refused to be satisfied with Tromp's promises. In the inter- 
 ests of discipline they dismissed him, and the crews of the fleet 
 did not, as might have been feared, take his part. 
 
 The Grand Pensionary was impatient to resume the naval 
 operations by means of the tardy assistance of the French 
 fleet which he demanded ' in all haste.' The King of France 
 confined himself to empty expressions of goodwill. To do 
 honour to the exploits of Euyter, he had just sent him the 
 insignia of the Order of St. Michael, suspended from a gold 
 chain, and his portrait set in diamonds. Euyter in expressing 
 his thanks to Louis had answered meaningly ' that he would 
 prove his gratitude better when the French admiral by joining 
 the Dutch fleet should permit him to fight by his side for the 
 common cause.' After advancing as far as Brest with sixteen 
 ships, the Duke de Beaufort had there anchored, fearing to ex- 
 pose himself to attack from the English fleet, which had taken up 
 its position off the Isle of Wight. Euyter, who had gone out to 
 
 VOL. I. B B 
 
370 JOHN DE WITT. 
 
 meet him, waited for four days in vain in the roads of St. Jean, 
 near Calais, for news of the movements of the French squadron, 
 whUe the Duke de Beaufort, without giving him any notice, 
 sailed for Dieppe, where he only remained one day. De Witt, on 
 receiving accidental information of this, caused the order of re- 
 call sent to Euyter to he countermanded, and new instructions 
 were sent to him to continiie his advance. He executed them 
 with a readiness to which Count d'Estrades himself bears 
 witness. But the channel was closed to him on the night of 
 November 27 by a terrible storm which scattered his ships. 
 Louis XIV. evaded the reproaches of the States, and accused 
 them of having made Euyter leave the roads of Saint Jean too 
 hastily, and, rather pleased than annoyed at the obstacles 
 which prevented the junction of the fleets, he put off till the 
 following spring the performance of his engagements. 
 
 The Grand Pensionary determined none the less to continue 
 the war, and to prove that the United Provinces could suffice 
 for themselves. With this view he had already obtained 
 authority to rejoin the fleet, no longer commanded by 
 Euyter, who had been wounded in the throat by a lighted fuse, 
 which had endangered his life. The letters which De Witt 
 wrote to the Duke de Beaufort lamenting his retreat, to the 
 principal deputies of the States, and to those of the ad- 
 miralties from whom he called for a speedy despatch of pro- 
 visions, bear witness to his impatience to encounter the enemy. 
 His hopes were, however, disappointed. After vainly offering 
 battle, the Dutch fleet was forced by stress of weather and ill- 
 ness to return into harbour. It had at least retaken possession 
 of the sea and restored the honour of the flag of the United 
 Provinces. 
 
 Whilst the Eepubhc was bearing the burden of a foreign 
 war, she had to defend herself at home against the intrigues 
 of a powerful party which made itself the accomplice of the King 
 of England in seeking to force peace upon the States. Ever 
 since the preceding year, after the fatal engagement in which 
 Admiral Obdam had been killed, the popular discontent had 
 been freely expressed. To take advantage of it, the English 
 minister, Downing, had remained at the Hague, in spite of the 
 
downing's INTEIGUES. 371 
 
 war, justifying himself by the residence in London of the 
 ambassador of the United Provinces, Van Gogh. ' The States,' 
 wrote Louis XIV. taD'Estrades., 'nourished in him a danger- 
 ous serpent.' 
 
 Downing declared that the King, his master, desired to live at 
 peace with the republic, and he accused the Grand Pensionary 
 De Witt of an obstinate determination to make war upon him, 
 out of hatred to the uncle of the Prince of Orange; he 
 demanded that an extraordinary assembly of all the provinces 
 should be summoned, which should be invested with full 
 powers, and from which he expected the restoration of the 
 Prince of Orange. He did not indeed attempt to conceal his 
 relations with the Orange party. He showed himself in public 
 with the young prince's tutor, Zuylestein, who had married 
 an Englishwoman, and often spent the evening with him, 
 in company with the prince and his advisers. He had 
 besides taken into his service as his principal agent, Oudart, 
 who had formerly been secretary to the Princess Eoyal, and 
 he employed him to gain over the principal deputies of the 
 provinces, in the hope of forcing Holland to put; an end to 
 the war, and placing her at the mercy of Charles II. The 
 States of Holland, who were closely watching these intrigues, 
 gave orders for the arrest of Oudart, notwithstanding De 
 Witt's apparent hesitation. A month later his fate was 
 shared by Gringam, Downing's secretary, of whose seditious 
 practices they had received information. They thus avenged 
 themselves for the arrest of Cunaeus, the secretary of the 
 embassy in London, who had recently been imprisoned, at the 
 moment when he was preparing to visit the sailors who were 
 prisoners of war. Downing began at last to fear for his own 
 liberty, and, hearing that it was threatened, quitted the Hague 
 precipitately. His departure disconcerted the partisans of 
 England, and the proposal made by the deputies of Overyssel 
 to the States-General, that the young Prince of Orange should 
 be sent as ambassador to Charles II., was not persisted in. 
 
 But in the following year, the general discouragement that 
 naturally ensued from the disappointments and disasters of 
 the last campaign revived the hopes of the Orange party. They 
 
 H B 2 
 
372 JOHN DE -WITT. 
 
 attempted to turn it to profit by urging an agreement with 
 England, in order to make that the prelude to a change of 
 government. These secret negotiations were conducted by a 
 gentleman of French origin, Henri Fleury de Coulant, Lord 
 of Buat. He belonged to an ancient family which had given 
 marshals and admu-als to France, and had married the 
 daughter of Muysch, the former secretary of the States- 
 General. After being page to the Stadtholder, Frederick 
 Henry, he became captain of the guard to William H., and 
 having continued to serve in the army of the States after the 
 death of the last Stadtholder, he had distinguished himself by 
 his courage in the war against Sweden. He had acquired the 
 confidence of the Orange party, which, according to the 
 testimony of a contemporary, ' made the mistake of attempting 
 to transform into a diplomatist a man who was more fitted to 
 fight than to meddle with politics.' Buat had been careful 
 at the same time to keep on good terms with John de Witt, 
 who on his side behaved with consideration towards him, 
 hoping to discover by his means the intrigues of the King of 
 England. It was no doubt with this object in view that the 
 Grand Pensionary welcomed his first communications, and 
 encouraged him to receive the overtures made by Charles, 
 ' although he was not disposed to trust to them.' After 
 consultation with the States of Holland, he authorised Buat 
 to continue the preliminaries, but warned him to ' avoid any 
 compromising measures,' and enjoined him to make known 
 the answers given to his letters. 
 
 Buat immediately put himself in communication with the 
 English Secretary-of- State, Lord Arlington, under the apparent 
 direction of John de Witt, whose instructions, however, he lost 
 no time in evading. Instead of acting in conformity with them, 
 he allowed himself to be entangled in political intrigues, and 
 determined to precipitate the conclusion of peace, in order to 
 serve the interests of the Orange party. With this object, and 
 under pretence of being better informed as to the disposition of 
 the English court, he sent to London one of his friends, 
 ■Gabriel Sylvius, son of a pastor of the church at Orange, and 
 formerly in the service of the Princess Eoyal. He undertook 
 
COEEESPONDENCE BETWEEN BUAT AND ARLINGTON. 373 
 
 besides to collect the partisans of the House of Orange by 
 bringing them into an association called the Society of Good 
 Friends, which held its meetings at Eotterdam, and with which 
 the young prince established relations. He flattered himself 
 that he should obtain the concurrence of several deputies of 
 the towns of Holland, and repaired secretly to Antwerp, where 
 he had arranged to meet Sylvius and impart to him his plans. 
 An intimate correspondence was maintained henceforth between 
 Buat and Arlington, by the help of a cipher which Sylvius 
 conveyed to the English Minister, and the unimportant letters 
 were all that Buat contented himself with showing to De Witt, 
 heedless of the danger of such conduct, of which the former 
 suspicions shown by the Grand Pensionary might have warned 
 him. 
 
 These proceedings might have continued for some time 
 longer if Buat had not ruined himself by his own imprudence. 
 Having gone one morning to visit the Grand Pensionary, ' who 
 was in haste to go out, he handed to him at his request the 
 last letters he had received, without perceiving that he had left 
 among them one which it was important to him to conceal. 
 It had been written to him by Sylvius, and had on the cover 
 these words : ' For yourself.' It was in these terms : ' I must 
 tell you that it would be convenient if the towns that 
 are well disposed towards a good peace could unite closely 
 together with this object, and come to some vigorous reso- 
 lution among themselves, on which we could place solid 
 reliance. In that case, I dare assure you, that the moment 
 anything real was visible, more open steps would be taken on 
 this side, and that a more detailed correspondence would be 
 entered into, which should furnish privately aU the means 
 that might serve to favour a good arrangement.' 
 
 Such a letter, in spite of the intentionally vague terms 
 employed, was sufficient to give the alarm and to reveal the 
 plot. Buat did not perceive his fatal mistake until he had 
 reached home, and he then ventured to return to the Grand 
 Pensionary and ask for the letter which he had given up. De 
 Witt replied that, in obedience to his official instructions, he 
 was bound to hand it to the councillor-deputies of the province 
 
374 JOHN DE WITT. 
 
 Having failed in sufficient boldness to re-possess himself of it, 
 were it at the sword's point, Buat did not even take advantage 
 of the intimation given him by the Grand Pensionary on pur- 
 pose to afford him a means of escape. De Witt, in fact, was 
 interested in preventing a trial which might compromise him- 
 self on account of the encouragement he had given to Buat's 
 correspondence. But instead of taking flight, when, accord- 
 ing to a contemporary account, he had ' only to take horse in 
 order to be out of Holland in five or six hours' time,' Buat, 
 bewildered or over-confident, did not even think of providing 
 for his safety by destroying the compromising papers that 
 remained in his hands. Ke waited till the guards of the States 
 came to arrest him in the evening, having had the whole day 
 in which to escape, or to baffle all researches. 
 
 The papers which were seized in consequence of his inex- 
 cusable carelessness confirmed the proofs of connivance with 
 the Orange party, which the Grand Pensionary thought it right 
 to make knovm to the young Prince arwi to the Princess- 
 Dowager. They rested particularly on the copy of a letter 
 from Buat to Arlington written five months previously. ' We 
 have formed a large party for peace, and consequently for my 
 young master,' he had written, ' and we have taken our 
 measures that he may be able to carry matters with a high 
 hand over the other party which has always kept uppermost 
 uiitU now, in such manner that the King need not doubt that 
 my young master will be able to stand, and that, before many 
 days have passed, our good friends may obtain his recognition 
 by means of the assurance which Sylvius and I have given 
 them, that his Majesty has the best intentions in the world 
 towards the peace, which has won the hearts of all the good 
 people here.' 
 
 The fact of a secret correspondence commenced long before 
 was conclusively revealed by the imprudent words which 
 concluded this letter : ' To avoid the seizure of my last de- 
 spatches I have thrown them into the fire.' The discovery of 
 this document could not fail to result in Buat being sent 
 for trial before the court of Holland. His accomplices, in 
 their haste to escape prosecution, aggravated the accusations 
 
AEEEST AND TRIAL OF BUAT. 375 
 
 which hung over him, and their flight, which was an avowal 
 of guUt, contributed to his ruin. 
 
 On learning his arrest, one of his confederates, Euyven, 
 who had been banished ten years before for his intrigues, and 
 who had returned within the last four years to Leuwaarden in 
 Friesland, thought himself no longer in safety, and hastily 
 retired to Antwerp. At the same time two other of the 
 associates, Kievit, Tromp's brother-in-law, and Van den Horst, 
 magistrates of Eotterdam, the former a member of the 
 Council of State, and the latter councillor -deputy of Holland, 
 fearing to be compromised by the seizure of his papers, 
 sought refuge, one in London and the other at Brussels. 
 The important position which they held gave credit to the 
 suspicions of a vast plot intended to place the United Provinces 
 in subjection to the Prince of Orange, and thus to make them 
 vassals of England. Louis XIV. took the alarm, fearing that 
 the republic, detached from the French alliance, might fall 
 under a foreign domination. Accordingly, having commis- 
 sioned his ambassador at the Hague to congratulate the 
 Grand Pensionary upon the arrest of Buat, he hastened to 
 demand a speedy and severe sentence. He expressed im- 
 patience at the slowness of the proceedings, and was 
 ready to accuse the States of Holland themselves of a secret 
 understanding with England ' which he should know well 
 how to punish.' This intervention of the King of France 
 determined them to prove themselves implacable, and to 
 retain his assistance they gave him a sanguinary proof of 
 their compliance. 
 
 De "Witt committed the unpardonable weakness of lending 
 himself to this policy. He sacrificed Buat to the uneasiness 
 of Louis XIV., as he had, five years earlier, sacrificed three 
 regicides to the resentment of Charles II., not succeeding, by a 
 just retribution, in permanently gaining for the republic the 
 benefit of alliances bought with the price of blood. He was 
 not content with forcing the Prince of Orange, alarmed at 
 the threatened revelations, to hold timidly aloof, while he 
 publicly disavowed the conduct of Buat; he interposed 
 directly in the trial, by addressing himself to the president 
 
376 JOHN DE WITT. 
 
 of the court, Van Dorp de Maasdam. 'I hope,' he wrote, 
 'that in this affair the court will proceed with vigour 
 and promptitude, otherwise there would be great danger 
 to fear : Quis nescit maximam esse peccando illecebram impuni- 
 tatis spem ? ' (' Who does not know that the hope of im- 
 punity is the greatest encouragement to evil ? ') Guided by 
 the suggestions of the Grand Pensionary, the States of 
 Holland, suspecting the court of a disposition to leniency, 
 charged them to do justice, and determined to summon the 
 judges before their assembly. The president contented him- 
 self with replying that the judges would do their duty. 
 
 Dissatisfied with their prolonged indecision, but not 
 daring, in spite of the proposal of some members, to require 
 them to pronounce sentence in their presence, the States 
 deputed seven commissioners to make declaration before the 
 court that they considered Buat to be guilty of the crime of 
 high treason. They thus perverted the law into an instru- 
 ment of political power, according to the evil examples of the 
 times, of which the EepubKc of the United Provinces had been 
 unable to resist the pernicious contagion. After dehberating 
 for more than five hours, the court, which had not been 
 spared, on the other hand, either intrigues or remonstrances 
 from the French ambassador, allowed itself to be dictated to. 
 Of the eight judges who sat, three were in favour of banish- 
 ment ; five — of whom two belonged to the Orange party — voted 
 for the penalty of death. 
 
 Guided by the suggestions of the Grand Pensionary, the 
 States of Holland, suspecting the court, possibly with justice, of 
 a disposition to leniency, had determined to summon the judges 
 before their assembly. But after Ustening to the speech, in 
 which De Witt, speaking in their name, called upon the 
 judges to do prompt and decided justice, the president merely 
 replied that the court would do its duty. 
 
 Buat's accomplices were not spared : Van Euyven and Kievit 
 were, like him, condemned to death, while Van den Horst, 
 who was alone treated with more indulgence, was punished 
 only with exile ; but they had all placed themselves in safety, 
 and the sentence of the court could strike only one victim. 
 
BUAT'S CONDEMNATION TO DEATH. 377 
 
 According to some accounts the real author of the sentence 
 was Van Dorp de Maasdam, who, as senior judge, replaced pro- 
 visionally the late president of the court, Dedel, to whom no 
 successor had yet been appointed. It is true that, upon the 
 suggestion of the Grand Pensionary, the States seemed de- 
 sirous to reward his obsequious compliance, by granting him 
 the salary of president and dating his reception of it from the 
 day when he first filled the vacant office ; and that this favour 
 was granted to him upon the very day. May 3, upon which 
 the sentence was pronounced. But at least he may be cleared 
 from the base intrigue imputed to him. Not content with 
 finding Buat guilty, Van Dorp is said to have manoeuvred to 
 ruin him more surely by getting rid of Van der Graeff, the 
 judge most leniently disposed towards him. Summoned to 
 Buat by a fictitious message, the visit he made to the prisoner 
 was said to have been used as a pretext for excluding him from 
 his place among the judges, and this exclusion — failing which 
 the majority of votes would doubtless have been for exUe — 
 had sufficed to secure the capital sentence. The official notes 
 of the trial refute this assertion. It is true that Van der 
 Graeff did visit Buat to inquire after the prisoner's health, 
 taking care to be accompanied by the gaoler in order to avoid 
 any accusation of a private interview. This imprudent step 
 having been noised abroad and reported to the Council of 
 Dordrecht, Van der Graeff came to an explanation with his 
 colleagues, and Van Dorp de Maasdam was only one of those 
 who voted in favour of the resignation offered by Van der 
 Graeff and not forced upon him. 
 
 The States of Holland, having by this condemnation in- 
 timidated the partisans of the King of England, might have 
 proved themselves merciful. They continued inflexible. De 
 Witt was with the fleet, and they dared not, without consult- 
 ing him, show mercy to the culprit. In vain did the States 
 of Zealand claim the right to judge Buat in his capacity of 
 captain of a company in their pay ; in vain the Elector of 
 Brandenburg endeavoured to obtain at least a reprieve. The 
 application of the States-General themselves was denied, not- 
 withstanding their complaint that Buat had been withdrawn 
 
378 JOHN DE WITT. 
 
 from their jurisdiction. Notwithstanding that the peace nego- 
 tiations, which formed the subject of his trial, belonged to their 
 prerogatives of federal power, they could obtain no attention to 
 their protest, although their president for the week, De Wit, 
 deputy of Holland and cousin of the Grand Pensionary, had 
 made himself the mouthpiece of it. Six days after his con-^ 
 demnation, Buat was executed, the popular imprecations 
 against his judges resounding to the very foot of the scaffold. 
 His death did not disarm the French Government, which 
 pushed its animosity so far as to complain that the crime of 
 high treason had not been specified in the sentence, so as to 
 justify the confiscation of the property belonging to him in 
 France. By taking every means to ensure his condemnation, 
 although he had vainly allowed him the chance of escape, De 
 Witt had sacrificed justice to political expediency, either to 
 satisfy France, or to discourage the Orange party. He had 
 no excuse to offer but that of reasons of State, the usual 
 pander to all sins of public life, which it attempts to justify, 
 but can never exonerate. 
 
 A¥hen once the plot of the secret negotiations had been 
 baffled and cruelly punished, the Grand Pensionary, having 
 no longer any fear lest peace should be imposed on the 
 republic, had no further interest in the continuation of the 
 war. The King of England, on his side, could hardly bear 
 the cost of it. He was involved in all the embarrassments of 
 an exhausted exchequer. He had to fear besides in Scotland 
 the risings of the Presbyterian party, and in Ireland" the 
 insurrection of the Catholics. De Witt urged the King of 
 France to send arms to the Irish, ' who,' he said, ' awaited 
 only an opportunity to shake off the yoke.' Meanwhile, the 
 calamities befalling London spread consternation through the 
 kingdom. The plague had ravaged every quarter of the 
 town, and had carried off in less than six weeks seventy 
 thousand victims. Hardly had this scourge ceased, when a 
 terrible fire reduced to ashes two-thirds of the city and its 
 finest buildings. Parliament, after granting the King a fresh 
 subsidy of a million, expressed itself strongly in favour of 
 peace, and when the States sent back to London the body of 
 
PROPOSED NEGOTIATIONS WITH ENGLAND. 379 
 
 Admiral Barklay, who had been killed in one of the late 
 engagements, Charles himself took pains to assure them of 
 his pacific dispositions. These were, however, rather appa- 
 rent than real. He did not yet despair of bringing the 
 republic to his feet by new intrigues. It was with this object 
 that, having first, though expecting a refusal, proposed London 
 as the seat of the negotiations, he then suggested the Hague, 
 which it seemed impossible should be declined. 
 
 The Court of France dissuaded the States from accepting 
 this, fearing lest Charles H. should profit by the return of his 
 minister, Downing, and the despatch of the plenipotentiaries, 
 to give fresh encouragement to the Orange party, and to 
 detach the republic from the French alliance. Neither did 
 De Witt desire to expose the republic to this danger. Not 
 that he was to be moved by fears of a plot against his life, 
 with which the French ambassador attempted to alarm him, 
 representing that Downing would have greater facilities for 
 instigating such at the Hague than anywhere else. He 
 showed himself so little concerned that he proudly refused the 
 proposal made in the assembly of the States of Holland, to 
 give him a guard. But he did not conceal from himself the 
 intrigues which the King of England might easily set on foot 
 under the shelter of diplomatic immunities, if the peace con- 
 ferences were held in the town where the States sat in 
 assembly. He resolved then to oppose a refusal to Charles's 
 proposal, notwithstanding the favourable reception which the 
 deputies of the other provinces seemed disposed to give it. 
 By his advice, the States of Holland, presenting themselves 
 in a body in the federal assembly, declared that they could 
 not be held bound against their wishes to permit the assem- 
 bling of a congress on the territory of their province. The 
 States-General allowed themselves to be persuaded. To mis- 
 lead Charles II. as to their true motives, they expressed fears 
 that at the Hague they should be unable to protect his envoys 
 against the popular irritation, reminding him of the disastrous 
 fate that had befallen those of Cromwell ; they thanked him 
 none the less for his advances, and offered him his choice of 
 Breda, Bois-le-I)uc, and Maestricht. 
 
380 JOHN DE WITT. 
 
 After vainly endeavouring thus to provoke internal 
 dissensions, ' which is a great feature of English policy,' wrote 
 De Witt to Van Beuningen, ' and one which it requires dexterity 
 to parry,' Charles abruptly changed his tactics, and resolved 
 to hasten forward the conferences at any cost. He proposed 
 to profit by them to resmne intercourse with Louis XIV., and 
 to break the ties which united France to the republic. Cir- 
 cumstances appeared to lend themselves henceforward to a 
 change of policy, and aroused in him the hope of depriving 
 the United Provinces of their ally. Louis appeared impatient 
 to commence the dismemberment of the Spanish monarchy, 
 and was preparing to invade the Netherlands, sword in 
 hand, to claim their succession. The Engh'sh Government 
 foresaw that the States- General, feehng themselves threatened 
 by this annexation, would consider it their duty to oppose it, 
 and would thus themselves alienate the King of France from 
 their cause. Charles, therefore, hoping to isolate them, 
 instead of finding fault with their refusal to allow the congress 
 to meet at the Hague, hastened to inform the States that he 
 would comply with their wishes by making choice of Breda. 
 
 The Grand Pensionary could not refuse to accept this 
 fresh offer of negotiation. He had no settled aversion from 
 peace; the projects of Louis XIV. against the Spanish Nether- 
 lands appeared to him now so formidable that he recognised 
 the absolute necessity of treating with England. With the 
 wish of assisting towards a reconciliation, he had recourse to 
 the intervention of Peter Coyet, the Swedish ambassador in 
 London and formerly his fellow- student at Leyden, to propose 
 the mediation of Sweden, which was accepted. He had, 
 indeed, never desired to make the republic the irreconcilable 
 enemy of England, and had refused, shortly before the Fire 
 of London, to take any part in a plot for burning down that 
 town, declaring ' that he did not wish to enlarge and render 
 irreparable the breach between the two nations.' Later on, 
 when hostilities had been resumed, De Witt stiU wrote ' that it 
 would be unprofitable and unchristian to set fire to the towns, 
 and that it was far better to have some consideration for the 
 inhabitants.' As soon as he learned that Charles was ready to 
 
CONFEEENCES OF BEEDA. 381 
 
 send to Breda his two ambassadors, Denzil Holies and Henry 
 Coventry, he urged the appointment of the plenipotentiaries 
 of the republic. Obliged to leave to the States of each 
 province the right of nominating one of their deputies, and 
 fearing that so numerous a deputation would easily be dis- 
 united, he caused it to be decided that full powers should be 
 entrusted to only three of the negotiators, Jongestal, president 
 of the court of justice in Friesland, Peter de Huybert, pension- 
 ary of Zealand, and Beverningh, to whom the chief place in 
 the embassy was reserved. The King of France sent as his 
 representatives Count d'Estrades and Courtin; the King of 
 Denmark, whose participation had been insisted upon by the 
 States, was represented by Clingenberg and Charisius ; and 
 the King of Sweden, in his capacity of mediator, by Flemming 
 and Count Dohna, who had been selected to succeed the lately 
 deceased Coyet. In order to obviate all questions of etiquette 
 or precedence ' a large enclosed round table was surrounded 
 with exactly similar chairs, with eight wickets corresponding 
 with the room-doors, so that the negotiators, on entering, 
 might immediately take their places as they came, without the 
 possibility of any dispute.' 
 
 It was at Breda, as afterwards at Aix-la-Chapelle, and 
 later still at Madrid, that Beverningh justified his reputation 
 as a statesman, and took rank amongst the first diplomatists 
 of his day. According to his contemporaries he was born 
 with the gift of appeasing dissensions, and he merited 
 the surname of the ' Pacific' ' No affair is too complicated 
 for him to disentangle it, if he chooses to take the trouble,' 
 declared those who treated with him. His perspicacity and 
 correctness of judgment were invaluable towards the success 
 of an embassy. Gifted, besides, with a readiness of speech, 
 which often rose to eloquence, he knew how to combine mode- 
 ration with firmness. 'Less severe than John de Witt, he 
 more readily encouraged confidences, when they were not 
 opposed to the welfare of the state.' To excuse his occasional 
 outbursts of temper he was apt to attribute them to purposely 
 affected intemperance, a fact mentioned in all the reports of 
 the French ambassadors. 'He likes to drink,' says Courtin, 
 
382 JOHN DE WITT. 
 
 ' and the first fumes of the wiiie go to his head.' ' With his 
 morning sobriety,' observes Pomponne, 'he often loses the 
 intelligence and capacity that he possesses before dinner.? 
 D'Estrades writes later : ' A few extra glasses of wine often 
 make him much more open in his talk.' Under cover of this 
 excuse he allowed himself a violence of language and de- 
 meanour which were calculated to hasten the conclusion of 
 diplomatic negotiations and assure their success. 
 
 The States relied upon him to disconcert, by the speedy 
 conclusion of peace, the secret projects of alliance between the 
 two kings of France and England. WhUe the English am- 
 bassadors endeavoured to throw suspicion on the Grand 
 Pensionary by accusing him of complicity with the King of 
 France, who, they said, * would make him Count of Guelders 
 as soon as he had conquered the Spanish Netherlands,' they 
 themselves showed the greatest eagerness to come to an 
 agreement with the French negotiators. The envoys of 
 Louis XIV. responded by encouragements to these advances. 
 They exhorted the plenipotentiaries of Charles to maintain 
 the pretensions of England, while they dissuaded those of the 
 United Provinces from yielding on any point. These intrigues 
 were not difficult to discover, and had roused the mistrust 
 of the Dutch ambassadors who imparted their suspicions to 
 the States-General. ' Those persons who are most in credit 
 at the Hague,' owned Count d'Estrades, 'apprehend that 
 peace may be followed by a close union between France and 
 England.' John de Witt on his side writes to Beverningh : 
 'From the information that I receive and from my own 
 personal opinion, I believe that we have no assistance to 
 expect from France towards the success of the negotiations ; 
 but I cannot yet believe that they will use treachery and 
 make a treaty without us ; we may, however, act as if the 
 French might be capable of such an infamy, and we will do 
 so accordingly, for it is my fixed rule always to be prepared 
 for the worst.' 
 
 To baffle these manoeuvres, the plenipotentiaries of the 
 States sought to obtain the conclusion of peace by the most 
 sincere and urgently made offers. They proposed that the 
 
ENGLISH DEMANDS. 383 
 
 belligerent powers should have the choice, either of recovering 
 all that belonged to them before the war, or of keeping what 
 they had now got, and renouncing all previous claims. The 
 English envoys accepted this last offer, but refused to accede 
 to the subjoined condition. They wished to reserve to the 
 King of England the right of renewing the disputes which 
 had served as a pretext for the rupture of the last treaty, and 
 thus to secure him an opportunity for recommencing hostili- 
 ties whenever he chose. They added to their demands that 
 of an amnesty which should allow the accomplices of Buat 
 to return to Holland, and proposed thus to encourage fresh 
 intrigues against the government of the States. Their objec- 
 tions made the conferences useless, and might give rise to fears 
 that they would soon be broken off. To this policy of inten- 
 tional delays and premeditated Ul-will, the Grand Pensionary 
 resolved to oppose a bold stroke which overwhelmed England 
 under the burden of an unforeseen disaster and enabled the 
 United Provinces to conquer peace by victory. 
 
 While the King of England, giving himself up to a fallacious 
 security, was reducing his fleet to a peace footing, and dis- 
 mantling a part of his ships, the States-General, with more 
 foresight, had taken measures for the possibility of a renewal 
 of the war, without taking any notice of the negotiations. 
 De Witt had urged them to provide for the cost of another 
 campaign, towards which fifteen millions of florins were 
 furnished to the admiralties. The States of Holland under- 
 took to provide eight millions of this sum. To meet this 
 increase of their contribution they could no longer have 
 recourse to loans, which, since the beginning of the war had 
 exceeded twelve millions of florins. The sale of some lands 
 did not produce sufficient for their wants. They could no 
 longer spare the taxpayers, and, consequently, reimposed the 
 tax upon capital to the amount of ^ per cent., raised the 
 income-tax from 10 to 15 per cent., and doubled the chimney- 
 tax. The generous eagerness of the town councils, who, 
 following the example given by Amsterdam, offered to advance 
 the amount of their contributions to the public treasury at 
 their own cost, came to their aid most usefully. 
 
384 JOHN DE WITT. 
 
 Thanks to the employment of these resources, the fleet which 
 was ready to put to sea consisted of 66 ships carrying 3,300 
 guns. It had on board 28 companies of foot equipped for a 
 landing, and employed in its service several English pilots — 
 deserters —who had been carefully enlisted in view of a 
 maritime invasion of England. The Grand Pensionary had 
 been long meditating such a step. During the preceding 
 year he had pushed as far as the mouth of the Thames in order 
 to reconnoitre the channels which might be passable for the 
 Dutch ships and would thus enable them to destroy a part of 
 the English fleet ; he had, besides, urged Euyter to prepare the 
 means necessary for the execution of this project. As soon as 
 the equipments were completed, he easily obtained orders for 
 the departure of the Dutch squadron from the Texel. 
 
 Himself prevented from leaving the Hague, where he was 
 detained by the necessity of watching the negotiations, he 
 sent in his stead his brother Cornelius, whom the States of 
 Holland appointed as their plenipotentiary with the admiral. 
 The instructions for the offensive character of the expedition 
 were drawn up secretly in the committee of deputies in charge 
 of naval affairs, to whom the States-General had trans- 
 ferred their authority. John de Witt took care that they 
 should not be divulged ; writing to his brother he desired him 
 ' not to address to the States any letter concerning the pro- 
 posed expedition without giving him preliminary information.' 
 
 When the fleet had arrived at the mouth of the Thames, 
 off Harwich, a council of war was held. It decided that a 
 squadron of thirty vessels, comprising seventeen line-of-battle 
 ships carrying from thirty to sixty guns, and thirteen frigates 
 accompanied by ten fireships, should be despatched against 
 the English ships stationed in the Thames and in one of its 
 affluents, the river Medway. The command was given to 
 Lieutenant- Admiral Van Ghent ; and Cornehus de Witt, 
 jealous of sharing his perils, claimed the right to accompany 
 him. 
 
 The squadron detailed for the service saUed up the Thames 
 beyond Gravesend, but without overtaking the English ships 
 which retreated towards London, and seized the fort of 
 
ATTACK UPON CHATHAM BY THE DUTCH FLEET. 385 
 
 Sheerness, which commands the junction of the two rivers. 
 After a heavy cannonading they then took possession of the Isle 
 of Sheppey, victoriously entered the Medway and sailed up 
 to Rochester, thirty miles from London. The object of the 
 expedition was Chatham, the principal arsenal of England, 
 where the largest men-of-war in the English navy were lying 
 at anchor half-dismantled. They seemed secure here from 
 all dangers. Batteries on both banks of the Medway — the 
 fire from which was supported by companies of fusiliers — four 
 line-of-battle ships and two frigates ready for action, two 
 large vessels and four fireships sunk in the stream, and only 
 leaving open a narrow channel closed by an iron chain, 
 opposed apparently insurmountable obstacles to any attack. 
 Ruyter, who had overtaken in his launch the van of his 
 squadron, gave the signal for their removal. The Dutch 
 fleet, contenting themselves with keeping up their fire, had not 
 ventured to advance, till Captain Van Brakel, undeterred by 
 the risk of the attempt, took upon himself boldly to force a 
 passage. He had been placed under arrest for having allowed 
 some of his crew to land, but begged permission to return on 
 board his frigate, promising to undertake the destruction of 
 the enemy's ships. He was not to be stopped by the fire from 
 either batteries or ships ; without firing a shot, he sailed close 
 up to the chain, and then, suddenly discharging a broadside 
 at the nearest frigate, boarded and took possession of her. 
 At the same time Captain Daniel van Rhein, who had followed 
 him with a fireship, encouraged by his example, forced his 
 vessel against the chain, broke it, and set fire to one of the 
 enemy's ships which had been protected by it. The passage 
 being thus open, the other frigates, carried forward by an 
 irresistible impulse, advanced impetuously, silenced the fire 
 from the shore batteries, and took advantage of the enemy's 
 confusion to complete the success of the day. A second Ime- 
 of-battle ship was fired, whose captain, the valiant Douglas, 
 refused to forsake her ; and the ' Royal Charles,' the flagship 
 of the Duke of York, which had carried Charles II. back to 
 England, abandoned by her crew, fell into the hands of the 
 conquerors. 
 
 VOL. I. c c 
 
386 JOHN DE WITT. 
 
 To complete the victory, the seven frigates that drew least 
 water, commanded by chosen captains, sailed still higher up 
 the river, and burnt under the very guns of Upnor Castle, four 
 other ships which had taken refuge there. These orders were 
 carried out with the most daring gallantry under the eyes of 
 Cornelius de Witt and Euyter, who had followed on board a 
 fireship, and in view of the Duke of York and Monk, despairing 
 spectators of the disaster. Only one ship escaped, and the 
 English, not" having succeeded in time in sinking the other 
 three, which were all flagships, they were fired by the Dutch, 
 whilst a body of sailors was landed, who took possession of the 
 batteries, spiked the guns, and destroyed all materials which 
 could be of use in the equipment of a fleet. 
 
 Terror spread even to London, where the sinister sound of 
 the enemy's guns, heard at a distance of twenty-five mUes, 
 was listened to for the first and last time. Business was 
 suspended ; the populace — out of work — assembled in the 
 streets crying ' treason.' ' The distraction and consternation 
 of the court and city,' writes a contemporary, ' was as great 
 as if the Dutch had not only been' masters of the Thames, but 
 had really landed an army of 100,000 men. There seemed 
 nothing to be done but to await the arrival of the enemy 
 without any hope of resistance remaining. The Eepublic of the 
 United Provinces thus avenged itself for the alarms created 
 by the landing of the English at the Texel, and repaired 
 almost in a single day the misfortunes of which she had been 
 the victim through the war. 
 
 WhUe this victory was being celebrated in the United. 
 Provinces by religious thanksgivings and with all the outward 
 signs of patriotic joy, the Grand Pensionary seemed impatient 
 for new successes which might allow the destruction of the 
 English fleet to be completed. With this object he de- 
 manded the often vainly promised assistance of the naval 
 forces of France. As soon as he learned the happy result of 
 the expedition, he urged the ambassador, D'Estrades, to 
 decide the King of France to place at the service of the 
 republic some fireships that had been built for him at 
 Amsterdam, by sending them as reinforcements to the Dutch 
 
OBSTACLES TO A FtETHER ADVANCE. 387 
 
 fleet, which was insufficiently provided with them. Louis 
 XIV. evaded the request; he was too much interested in 
 keeping on terms with the King of England to assist the 
 United Provinces in crushing him. He contented himself 
 with announcing that his admiral, the Duke de Beaufort, had 
 received a copy of the new convention already agreed to for 
 the junction of the two fleets, with orders to act accordingly. 
 But Lionne was not afraid to own that the orders had been 
 countermanded, in the expectation that peace would be soon 
 concluded, and the Duke de Beaufort continued for two months 
 longer patiently to await the end of the war in the port of 
 Brest. 
 
 Other disappointments put obstacles in the way of the 
 plan whose execution the Grand Pensionary still obstinately 
 persisted in. The undertaking which had just been so 
 gloriously accomplished had, until now, justified the bold 
 advice he had given to his brother. When the fleet had 
 sailed from the Dutch ports, he had carefully pointed out to 
 him, with the most minute detail, the means of entering the 
 Thames and the Medway. Some days afterwards, in a letter 
 which crossed on its road the news of the victory of Chatham, 
 making use of the secret advices he received from England, he 
 pointed out to him the enemy's ships which might be taken or 
 destroyed. When he saw that his previsions had been justi- 
 fied, his only fear was of delay in the final blows that he 
 desired to inflict upon' the enemy. ' If the only difficulty lies 
 in contrary winds,' he wrote to his brother, 'you must take 
 to the oars to advance. In any case I depend so much upon 
 your determination of character that I am sure that every- 
 thing possible will be attempted, and in the state of conster- 
 nation in which England now is, nothing is difficult to a force 
 so formidable as that at your command. It must not be said 
 hereafter : Vincere scit, victoria uti nescit — " He knows how to 
 conquer, he knows not how to profit by victory." ' The 
 States-General shared in the inspiration of this bold policy. 
 They had just learnt that the expeditionary squadron, finding 
 no more of the enemy's ships within reach, and made uneasy 
 by the assembling of the militia summoned from all quarters 
 
 c c 2 
 
388 JOHN DE WITT. 
 
 to repel a landing, had left the Thames. Displeased at this 
 retreat, they sent orders to it 'to re-enter the river and 
 advance as far as possible up stream, and thus to keep the 
 enemy in continual alarm.' John de Witt accompanied this 
 despatch by a letter addressed to his brother, in which he 
 seems to find fault with the indecision which checked the 
 prompt execution of his recommendations. 'I hope,' he 
 wrote, ' that the officers in command, having seen that under- 
 takings long deemed impossible are altogether practicable, 
 will prove henceforth the more disposed to make further 
 attempts, even if they may appear to them somewhat difficult. 
 The commissioners of the States for naval affairs pray God 
 to inspire with such zeal and forwardness all officers, both of 
 land and sea, who are with you, that you may have to restrain 
 their ardour.' In a subsequent letter he blamed his brother 
 for asking for orders from the States-General, instead of 
 giving them himself, by making use of the full powers en- 
 trusted to him, and expressed an impatience which took heed 
 of no obstacles. 'We cannot understand,' he wrote again, 
 ' why our superior officers, who should surpass you in courage 
 and resolution, cannot fall in with your ideas, and why our 
 ships remain inactive.' 
 
 The presence of the Grand Pensionary with the fleet was 
 wanting. His brother could not replace him, he was too much 
 accustomed to obey his instructions to be able himself to take 
 the lead. Embarrassed by the different orders he received 
 he did not venture to supplement them by a prompt determina- 
 tion, and his courage could not supply the place of the missing 
 authority. In obedience to the orders he had received, Euyter 
 resumed the offensive, but his efforts were vain to inflict on 
 the enemy fresh losses which might have completed their ruin. 
 He did not venture to advance as far as the coast of Scotland, 
 in spite of the possibly rash advice of John de Witt, who urged 
 him to attack the port of Montrose, so as to raise a false alarm 
 by the aid of which he might then fall upon Leith and Edin- 
 burgh, which were unfurnished with troops. To satisfy the 
 States-General he attempted to re-enter the Thames, but found 
 that he could not without risk ascend the stream above 
 
THE SOUTH COAST THREATENED BY EUYTEE. 389 
 
 Gravesend, as the English had blocked the channel below 
 London by sinking several ships. He contented himself with 
 leaving a squadron under the command of Lieutenant-Admiral 
 Van Nes, at the junction of the Thames and the Medway, 
 so as to prevent all exit from the river, and set to work to 
 search out the enemy's ships in all the neighbouring ports. 
 The attack which he attempted upon Harwich on leaving the 
 Thames not having succeeded, he appeared successively before 
 Portsmouth, Dartmouth, Torbay, and Plymouth, and advanced 
 to the furthest point of the south coast. But the winds were 
 contrary, the harbours had been fortified and rendered in- 
 accessible, and all the success of the enterprise reduced itself 
 to a landing at Torbay, where some merchant vessels were 
 burnt. During this expedition the squadron under Van Nes 
 was very near being destroyed ; he had had to repulse two 
 attacks in which the enemy's fireships had placed him in danger, 
 and when Euyter returned he had quitted the Thames, which 
 he continued to blockade, but only by anchoring at the mouth 
 of the river. 
 
 Although the latest attempts had not entirely fulfilled the 
 hopes of the Grand Pensionary, the success of this naval 
 campaign, so boldly won, could not fail to hasten the completion 
 of the negotiations. The pride of England had been lowered : 
 formerly sovereign of the seas, she had been reduced to the 
 inability of preventing an invasion of her territories, and her 
 fleets flying before the enemy's ships had been unable to defend 
 her. She had been humbled by a republic whom Charles's 
 ministers had boasted ' that they would chastise with rods,' 
 and the conflagration of her ships made it dangerous to prolong 
 any further the resistance ihey had till now opposed to the 
 conclusion of peace. At the first news of the resumption of 
 hostilities the ambassadors of Charles II., supported by the 
 French ambassadors, had, it is true, proudly declared that 
 they only remained at Breda to await their letters of recall ; 
 but the disaster which dealt so fatal a blow to the maritime 
 power of England forced them to conceal their resentment. 
 They received instructions to hasten forward the negotiations, 
 and thus to obtain peace without delay. The States on their 
 
390 JOHN DE WITT. 
 
 side were not disposed to abuse their victory. The Grand 
 Pensionary, notwithstanding the warm encouragement he had 
 given to the late expedition, had never lost sight of the idea 
 ' that its special object was the speedy termination of the war ! ' 
 Faithfully interpreting his brother's views, Cornelius de Witt, 
 not yielding to any warlike impulses, wrote in these words to 
 the States-General, the very evening of the fight, on board the 
 Eoyal Charles, the trophy of their victory : ' We render thanks 
 to Almighty God, that it has pleased His Providence to confer 
 such glory on the arms of their High Mightinesses, and we 
 cannot doubt that, to their great contentment, peace will be 
 obtained.' 
 
 It could not indeed be delayed without fatally compromisuig 
 the interests of then- foreign policy. The invasion of the 
 Spanish Netherlands by Louis XIV. had just startled the United 
 Provinces. As long as they were at war with England, they 
 could not attempt to check the conquests of the King of France, 
 and, in order not to be reduced to the impossibility of opposing 
 them, the States-General were the more urgent to hasten the 
 conclusion of the negotiations. Their moderation completed 
 the work begun by victory, and the persevering efforts of 
 Beverningh, which won for him the most flattering expressions 
 of satisfaction, removed the last obstacles. ' It was with regret 
 that I saw my country dragged into a baleful war,' wrote De 
 Witt to the minister plenipotentiary of the Emperor of 
 Germany, ' and it is therefore with extreme satisfaction that I 
 see her issue from it, both on account of the repose she will 
 enjoy, and because I hope that this particular peace wUl be a 
 step towards a general peace throughout Europe.' 
 
 The envoys of Charles II. who wished to appear to cede 
 nothing to contrary fortune, having renewed some of their 
 original pretensions, the envoys of the States did not take 
 advantage of this to oppose fresh demands ; they confined 
 themselves to their first proposals, unchanged by the success 
 of the late expedition. These proposals, hitherto rejected by 
 the King of England, formed the articles of the Peace of Breda, 
 signed by the belligerent parties through the mediation of 
 Sweden on July 31, 1667, and ratified a month later. They 
 
THE PEACE OF BREDA. 391 
 
 mutually acknowledged all the conquests which had belonged 
 to each before the war. England retained New Amsterdam or 
 New York, and New Jersey in America. The United Provinces 
 obtained the restitution of the colony of Surinam which they 
 had lost, and although they had formerly promised to restore 
 to England the island of Pouleron, one of the Moluccas and 
 perhaps the wealthiest colony belonging to the India Company, 
 they now retained this, alleging that they had never given up 
 its possession. 
 
 The King of England renounced also all the claims which 
 had served as pretexts for war. He gave way on some points 
 of the Navigation Act, and allowed Dutch merchantmen to 
 convey to England the products of the soil of the republic, as 
 well as the merchandise of Germany and the Low Countries. 
 He even consented to renew the treaty of commerce which the 
 States had obtained with such difficulty five years previously, 
 and had hardly had time to profit by. He insisted, however, 
 on the saluting of the English flag, but the States would only 
 undertake to comply with this demand towards ships of war, 
 and that only in British waters, with the proviso that it was 
 only accorded as a mark of courtesy. They hoped thus to 
 secure themselves against insulting demands, which might 
 after a few years' interval provoke a fresh rupture. The envoys 
 of the King of England signed two other treaties on the same 
 day, one with France and one with Denmark. By the first, 
 Charles restored to Louis Nova Scotia, and recovered posses- 
 sion of a part of the Antilles. By the second treaty he 
 secured to the King of Denmark a share in the benefits of his 
 alliance with the States- General, and declared that he resumed 
 his former amicable relations with him. 
 
 The Peace of Breda, thus imposed upon England by a 
 victorious expedition, was a title of glory for the republic, of 
 which the Grand Pensionary of Holland had a right to be 
 proud. He received on all hands congratulations which 
 appeared to embarrass his modesty, and to which he replied 
 by declaring ' that he had no other merit than that of ardent 
 and unfailing zeal in his country's service.' If he prided 
 himself upon anything, it was on the renown that she had 
 
392 JOHN DE WITT. 
 
 acquired. ' I assured you in December of last year,' he writes 
 to a friend, ' that I considered it as certain that within two 
 years the United Provinces would be in a better position and 
 held in higher consideration than ever before. I am confident 
 that you will be of opinion with me that this prediction is 
 accomplished, since firstly, by the blessing of God, the forces 
 of this State have penetrated to the heart of the enemy's 
 country and have obtained so glorious a victory over him ; and 
 secondly, by the grasp of this State, as it were, upon his 
 throat, he has been reduced to consent to a peace such as was 
 yesterday concluded at Breda with conditions which it has 
 been hitherto impossible to exact.' 
 
 The news of the signature of the treaty was received with 
 manifestations of joy in the United Provinces. Free expres- 
 sion was given to popular satisfaction and patriotic pride. 
 Numerous medals were issued in commemoration of a peace 
 so gloriously obtained. That which the States-General 
 caused to be struck represented on the reverse Concord hold- 
 ing in one hand a cornucopia with this motto : Irato helium, 
 placato numine pax est (' When God is angry, there is war ; 
 when He is appeased, there is peace '). There was this inscrip- 
 tion besides : Rediit concordia mater. Breda, 1667 (' Concord 
 like a mother has returned to us '). On the face. Concord, in 
 the guise of Minerva, holding the seven arrows, which were the 
 arms of the United Provinces, attached to her lance with a 
 lion and a lamb at her side, was represented crushing Discord 
 with this device : Mitis etfortis (' Gentle and strong '). In the 
 distance were seen ships in flames and a village on fire, and 
 over the head of Discord these words were to be read : Procul 
 liinc mala bestia regnis (' Away with the monster so fatal to 
 nations ! '). 
 
 The publication of the peace was made in state at Breda, 
 before the doors of the ambassadors' houses and in front of 
 the town-hall. In the evening the ambassadors of England, 
 France, and Denmark set conduits of wine flowing in the 
 public squares. A bonfire ^yas lighted in front of the town- 
 hall, and the deputies of the States gave a great collation 
 there to which all the maidens of the town were incited. 
 
EEJOICINGS IN THE UNITED PROVINCES. 393 
 
 ' We drank sommetjes with them, as healths are called here,' 
 ■wrote D'Estrades, ' and this is how it is done ; wine and sugar 
 are put into a glass, the girl first drinks a mouthful, then 
 returns the glass to whoever offered it to her and kisses him 
 on the mouth ; the man does the same thing in turn, and so 
 on till there is not a drop of wme left in the glass. This 
 continues far into the night.' At the Hague, the Grand 
 Pensionary gave a sumptuous banquet, and during a part of 
 the night the townspeople, in whose amusements he joined, 
 danced and sang before his house. It is interesting to learn 
 the opinion he expressed upon these pomps and rejoicings. 
 After the festivities held in honour of the victory of Chatham 
 some months previously, he wrote to Beverningh : ' I know 
 that those public illuminations cause a good deal of excess 
 and imply a good deal of pride ; but as they are also the 
 means to impress upon the people the idea of benefits received 
 from God, and to induce them to take more interest in the 
 successes obtained, I have thought that this last success above 
 all deserves these manifestations of public joy.' 
 
 The States- General and the States of Holland did not 
 forget the victors. They successively congratulated both 
 Cornelius de Witt and Euyter. The States of Holland, in 
 order to perpetuate the memory of the service they had 
 rendered to the republic in the last expedition, presented to 
 them, as well as to Van Ghent, magnificent gold cups, valued 
 at 5,000 florins each : these were adorned with medallion 
 paintings in enamel, representing the attack on the fort at 
 Sheerness, and the taking and firing of the English ships near 
 Chatham and Upnor ; the stand was engraved with festoons 
 of flowers, and on the cover was a red lion, the emblem of the 
 arms of the province. The States of Holland did not consider 
 this gift a sufficient recompense for Cornelius de Witt. The 
 following year a proposal was made to buy him an estate — 
 the manor of Spikenisse — but was not favourably received. 
 Notwithstanding the persistent disapproval of some deputies, 
 he received, however, an annuity of 30,000 florins. The 
 Grand Pensionary, who had carefully abstained from inter- 
 vening in the debates, did not conceal his satisfaction at these 
 
394 JOHN D£ "WITT. 
 
 expressions of gratitude, which he considered fully justified. 
 He writes to Valkenier, one of the deputies of Amsterdam, 
 'that the great constancy and inflexible will of his brother 
 had won for the States the success of the expedition which 
 had been, by the grace of God, the instrument of victory and 
 consequently of peace.' The Council of Dordrecht, of which 
 Cornelius de Witt was burgomaster, was foremost ia render- 
 ing him the honours which were his due. They commissioned 
 John de Baan, one of the iirst painters of the country, to 
 execute his portrait; two years later the picture, splendidly 
 framed, was received in state and placed in the great room 
 of the town-hall. Cornelius de Witt was represented on the 
 bank of a river on which were the English ships in flames, 
 his baton of command in his hand, and a cornucopia beside 
 him, to symbolise the blessings of peace for which the United 
 Provinces were indebted to him. The inscription adorning 
 the picture recalled ' to all generations to come, the exploits 
 of the great citizen who in an heroic expedition had destroyed , 
 the most powerful ships of England in the very rivers of the 
 hostile kingdom, had taken from her the empire of the seas and 
 forced her to make peace.' The return of Cornelius to his 
 native town had the splendour of a triumph. When he drew 
 near Dordrecht in his boat, he was greeted by salutes from the 
 guns and salvos from the burgher guard, while the trumpets 
 blew a blast. When he landed at the quay the magistrates 
 came forward to meet and congratulate him, and, followed by 
 
 11 the inhabitants, accompanied him to his own house. In 
 the evening the town was illuminated, and the next day a 
 thanksgiving sermon was solemnly preached in his honour. 
 
 Public opinion encouraged these marks of consideration. 
 The poets of Holland, and especially those of Dordrecht — 
 amongst others P. Godewyck, the former tutor of the two 
 brothers — vied with each other in publishing praises of John 
 and Cornelius de Witt, to which were joined those of Euyter, 
 as may be seen in a contemporary collection. Vondel 
 wrote songs of triumph in their honour. The learned Jacques 
 
 Leydius, pastor of Dordrecht, obedient to the same inspiration, 
 published shortly afterwards his fine Latin work entitled 
 
THE REPUBLIC MENACED WITH FEESH DANGEES. 395 
 
 ' Belgium gloriosum ' — ' The glory of Holland ' — in which he re- 
 called, with rare elegance of language and often with eloquence 
 equal to the great writers of antiquity, the successes of the 
 republic and the happy conduct of the late war, and allotted 
 the principal merit to the Grand Pensionary and his brother, 
 whom he called ' the good geniuses of the State.' 
 
 This prosperity, brilliant as it seemed, could not deceive 
 John de Witt, neither was he permitted the satisfaction of 
 enjoying it at leisure. Dangers, which were constantly re- 
 newed, menaced the independence of the republic, forced to 
 defend herself alternately against her powerful neighbours. 
 Peace with England was hardly concluded, when already a 
 rupture with France seemed imminent. 
 
396 JOHN DE WITT. 
 
 CHAPTEE VII. 
 
 EESISTANCE OF THE UNITED PROVINCES TO FRANCE INVASION OP 
 
 THE NETHERLANDS BY LOUIS XTV. — THE TRIPLE ALLIANCE 
 
 GREAT DIPLOMATIC VICTORY. 
 
 Louis XIV.'s projects of territorial aggrandisement — The death of Philip IV. 
 determines him to put them in execution — Resources of France — Exhaustion 
 of Spain — Diplomatic Controversy — ' The Buckler of State and of Justice,' 
 published by Lisola— Invasion of the Netherlands — Their rapid submission 
 — Uneasiness of the United Provinces — The promises of agreement violated 
 — Negotiations of Louis XIY. with Europe — Isolation of the States-General 
 — Dangers of a rupture with France— De Witt endeavours to bring about 
 an agreement to prevent the annexation of the Netherlands to France — 
 Louis XIV. modifies his demands, but refuses to give guarantees if the war 
 recommences — ^Negotiations of the United Provinces with Sweden and 
 England — Sweden detached from France — The King of England is obhged 
 to yield to public opinion, by renewing intercourse with the States-General 
 — Teinple's Mission to the Hague — Agreement between Temple and De Witt 
 —Conditional adhesion of Sweden — Signing of the Triple Alliance — Secret 
 articles — Consequences of the Treaty — Public rejoicings— Deception of 
 Louis XIV. — His secret treaty with the Emperor for the division of the 
 Spanish Monarchy — Eenewal of hostilities — ^Franche-Comt6 conquered in a 
 fortnight — Louis XIV. reassured as to the Triple Alliance by communications 
 from Count d'Estrades and by the tact of John de Witt — Van Beuningen's 
 new embassy — Spain is compelled to accept Louis XIV.'s offers — She con- 
 sents to give up to him his conquests in the Netherlands — Irritation of the 
 King of France on hearing of the Secret Articles of the Triple Alliance — 
 His attempts to divide the allies — Energetic policy of the States inspired 
 by De Witt — They secure co-operation of Sweden by forcing Spain to pay 
 subsidies to her — Their equipments— They guarantee peace — The extension 
 of the truce — Final difficulties overcome— The congress and the treaty of 
 Aix-la-Chapelle— New diplomatic situation of the EepubUc — A change of 
 Alliances — The United Provinces the arbitrators of Europe.' 
 
 The invasion of the Netherlands by Louis XIV. placed the 
 States-General under the necessity of choosing between the 
 
 ' The principal work consulted for this chapter is Nigociations relatives d 
 la Succession d'Espagne, by M. Mignet, vol. ii., Part 3, Section 2, and Part 4, 
 Sections 1 and 2; the documents found there being supplemented by the 
 Archives of the Hague, and by the able memoir of M. Combes (1864) on the 
 unpublished French correspondence between John de Witt and Sir William 
 Temple, relative to the Triple Alliance. 
 
AMBITIOUS PROJECTS OF LOUIS XIV. 397 
 
 alliance and the proximity of France. The Grand Pensionary- 
 had foreseen this dire extremity. When he received at his 
 house some years previously the Cardinal de Eetz, then exiled 
 from France, he had foretold the events which already ap- 
 peared to him inevitable, saying that, whatever pains he might 
 take to maintain the friendship between the republic and the 
 King of France, it was evident that she would be forced to 
 oppose him and lay herself open to his resentment. 
 
 Louis XIV. was on the verge of provoking this crisis. He 
 had taken up with the ardent ambition of a conqueror the pro- 
 jects of aggrandisement which Mazarin had bequeathed to 
 him, and which were destined, by the annexations of the pos- 
 sessions remaining to Spain in the north of his kingdom, to 
 insure the preponderance of France in Europe. The death 
 of Philip IV. gave him the pretext for which he was waiting 
 publicly to announce his claims, and it would have needed but 
 little to induce him to enforce them at once by violence. 
 
 Nevertheless, after much hesitation, as testified by his 
 memoirs, he seemed wUling to content himself with diplomatic 
 measures to obtain satisfaction ; but the court of Madrid 
 having given him to understand that it could not entertain 
 them, he made arrangements to conquer the inheritance which 
 he coveted. The war between England and the United 
 Provinces seemed to favour the execution of his projects : ' the 
 two neighbours most concerned in the defence of the Nether- 
 lands being deep in a quarrel between themselves.' He would 
 not, therefore, wait for the conclusion of peace to commence his 
 enterprise, but resolved to precipitate it, profiting by the 
 exhaustion of the two rival powers. 
 
 The prosperity of France and the exhaustion of Spain left 
 him at liberty to hazard anything. The state of the revenues, 
 and of the army and navy under the direction of such ministers 
 as Colbert, Lionne, and Louvois, left nothing to be desired. 
 
 Order had been re-established in the finances under the 
 energetic administration of Colbert, and the receipts nearly 
 doubled although the taxes had been reduced. ' The revenues 
 are sufficient for all expenses,' writes the ambassador of the 
 States, ' the farming is so much improved that it brings two 
 
398 JOHN DE WITT. 
 
 millions a month into the king's treasury and the " TaUle " 
 thirty-two millions a year.' The increase of the public re- 
 venues, which had risen to ninety-five millions, had tended to 
 encourage trade and commerce, whilst it had developed the 
 military power of the kingdom. The navy had acquired an 
 importance hitherto unknown. Lionne, to whose department 
 it belonged, had given it full play. In 1667, it consisted of 
 110 ships carrying 3,713 guns, and manned with 21,915 men, 
 exclusive of officers. The land force, disciplined, organised, 
 and equipped by Louvois, ' the Colbert of war,' had been con- 
 siderably increased. It consisted of 72,000 men, divided into 
 600 companies of infantry, and 120 troops of cavalry. The 
 French guard, and the Swiss, gave them in addition a picked 
 body of 6,500 foot soldiers ; and the king's household, including 
 the body-guard and the musketeers, with the gendarmes and 
 the light cavalry, furnished a reserve of about 2,000 men. 
 The improvement of the infantry arms and the construction 
 of some powerful artillery also contributed to prepare for the 
 success of a new war. 
 
 In view of the expedition which he was meditating, 
 Louis XIV. had collected 50,000 men in the two provinces 
 nearest to the Netherlands and counted thus upon an easy 
 victory. 
 
 The skilful direction given to French diplomacy by 
 Lionne enabled the King of France to lay down the law for 
 Europe, which seemed resigned to accept it. The Pope, 
 Alexander VII., himself set the example of submission. Not 
 having made what appeared a sufficient reparation for the 
 violence offered to the Duke de Crequy, the French ambas- 
 sador, by the Corsican guard, he only avoided an occupation 
 of Eome by the French troops, by humbly submitting to such 
 atonement as was imposed upon him. Leopold, Emperor of 
 Germany, threatened by an invasion of the Turks, owed the 
 safety of Austria only to a French army corps which arrested 
 the Ottoman conquest by the glorious victory of St. Gothard. 
 As to the King of England, Charles II., Louis XIV. had 
 nothing to fear from his enterprises, since he had obtained 
 from him at the cost of five millions the sale of Dunkirk, one 
 
DEATH OF PHILIP IV. OF SPAIN. 399 
 
 of the keys of France ; and the war which he had declared 
 against him, in favour of the United Provinces, was too harm- 
 less to provoke his resentment. All obstacles which might 
 have been opposed to the conquests of the French king were 
 henceforth removed. 
 
 Spain had lost what France gained. ' 'Tis like a great old 
 tree which has lost its branches and leaves, et trunco non 
 frondibus efficit umbram,' writes a diplomatist of the time. 
 She had worn herself out in the sanguinary and obstinate 
 war, which she had maintained against the United Provinces 
 to keep them under her yoke, and had spent upon it nearly 
 eighty millions Stirling. Her revenues, far from sufficing for 
 her expenses, did not exceed eighteen million reals, in spite of 
 the wealth she drew from America, and only brought twelve 
 millions into the treasury. Her frontiers were exposed to the 
 enemy, her fortified towns were in bad condition without 
 garrisons or provisions, her fleets had vanished from the seas, 
 her dockyards were empty. Trade had fallen off in the 
 towns, while the fields remained uncultivated. Spain was, as 
 it were, buried alive. ' It is impossible that, in such a con- 
 dition, the kingdom should last another century,' was the 
 verdict of the first Cortes, assembled by Philip IV. ; and one of 
 the councillors of the regent, the Duke Medina de la Torres, 
 said in the council, ' If in the past we could plume ourselves 
 on being conquerors, we are now in danger of being con- 
 quered.' The death of Philip IV., by exposing Spain to fresh 
 dangers, reduced the Spanish monarchy to the last extremity. 
 Philip IV., who had allowed it to go to ruin in his feeble 
 hands, left as his successor a child of four, so fragile that it 
 had not seemed likely to survive him. His natural son, Don 
 John, who had distinguished himself at the head of the 
 Spanish army in Italy and Flanders, had fallen into disgrace ; 
 it was therefore to PhUip's widow. Queen Maria Anne of 
 Austria, sister of the German Emperor Leopold, that the 
 regency was confided. 
 
 He had instituted for her assistance a council or junta of 
 regency, composed of six members ; the Count of Castrillo, 
 president of CastUle, justiciary of the kingdom ; Don Christoval 
 
400 JOHN DE WITT. 
 
 Crespi, Vice-Chancellor of Aragon ; the Cardinal of Sandoval, 
 Archbishop of Toledo; the Cardinal of Aragon, Inquisitor- 
 General; the Marquis d'Ayetona, representing the grandees 
 of Spain ; and the Count de Peneranda, Councillor of State. 
 The first act of the Kegent was to appoint a new councillor, 
 her confessor, Father Nithard. She obliged the Cardinal of 
 Aragon to give up to him the office of Inquisitor-General, 
 and soon gave him the direction of the government, although 
 he had none of the qualities which would have fitted him to 
 be prime minister. 
 
 The Netherlands was the possession of the Spanish 
 monarchy which was chiefly threatened. Having no efficient 
 support to hope for from Spain, they could offer no opposition 
 to any aggression. The governors who had succeeded one 
 another since the Archduke Leopold had either been unable 
 to put the country in a state of defence, or had neglected to 
 provide for its security. The Marquis de Castel-Eodrigo, 
 appointed three years before, had bravely set to work to extri- 
 cate them from this embarrassment, and to resist the French 
 invasion which he foresaw. Nevertheless, in spite of the 
 demands for money and troops which he never ceased to 
 make to Madrid, he had but twenty thousand men at his com- 
 mand, distributed amongst all the garrisons, and could only 
 count for support upon the German regiments furnished by 
 the Court of Vienna. ' If the French attack us in the spring,' 
 he writes, ' I see nothing short of a miracle which can save 
 these provinces.' 
 
 Too confident in his own courage and activity, Castel- 
 Eodrigo thought he could dispense with allies. Believing 
 himself to be equal to the public demands, in spite of the 
 gout which frequently confined him to his room, he was 
 jealous of possessing the whole authority in political as weU 
 as in military affairs. He thus deprived himself of the aid 
 of the Prince de Ligne, the greatest noble of the Netherlands, 
 whose disgrace had turned the Flemish nobility against him. 
 He had also hitherto held at arm's-length the only clever and 
 experienced officer at the disposal of Spain — the Count de 
 Marsin, a former companion in arms and lieutenant of Conde, 
 
FBANgOIS DE LISOLA. 401 
 
 alienated fcy the Fronde from the service of France, and to 
 whom the Court of Madrid had confided the command of the 
 troops in the Netherlands. The Spanish province thus aban- 
 doned seemed a prey offered to the first comer. Spain at 
 this juncture had found two diplomatic defenders of her cause : 
 one in her own service, the other in the service of the Em- 
 peror of Germany — Don Estevan de Gamarra and Baron 
 Lisola. Don Estevan de Gamarra, Spanish ambassador at the 
 Hague, had held the principal military commands in the 
 Spanish armies. He had been raised to the rank of Major- 
 General, and had been made governor of the citadel of Ghent . 
 Sought after and appreciated as a negotiator, he was aided by 
 a great affability of character, and much acuteness of mind. 
 ' His cheerful and open disposition made all intercourse with 
 him pleasant and agreeable,' wrote a French ambassador who 
 had known him well, ' and however much our interests were 
 opposed, we lived together in perfect freedom and intimacy.' 
 But he had not hitherto been able to turn the course of events, 
 and had made vain efforts to wean the United Provinces from 
 the French Alliance. 
 
 Fran9ois de Lisolat also gave proofs of rare energy and 
 activity, joined to great talents as a writer. He was born in 
 1613 at Salins in Pranche-Comte, and was therefore a Spanish 
 subject, but in his early youth he entered the service of the 
 Emperor of Germany, who, after having employed him in the 
 most important negotiations, sent him in turns as ambassador 
 to London and to the Hague, giving him the title of Baron. 
 He had early drawn attention to the dangers of the French 
 power, and had confided his apprehensions to the Grand Pen- 
 sionary of Holland, thus entering upon the path which he 
 followed to the end of his life : that of a resolute and deter- 
 mined adversary of the domination with which Louis XIV. 
 threatened Europe. Kept informed by secret communica- 
 tions which he had contrived with all the courts, even with 
 that of Louis XIV., of all the projects and manoeuvres of 
 French diplomacy, he did not have recourse to futile intrigues 
 to baffle them. His plan, which he carried out, was that of a 
 coalition against France. 
 
 VOL. I. D D 
 
402 JOHN DE WITT. 
 
 The cry of alarm which was raised on the publication of 
 his first pamphlet, ' The Buckler of the State and of Justice,' 
 successively translated into all languages, made a great sensa- 
 tion. He published it in answer to a manifesto entitled, 
 ' Treatise on the rights of His Most Christian Majesty over 
 the divers States of the Spanish Monarchy,' which Louis 
 XIV. had just published. Eenouncing all concealment, the 
 King of Prance audaciously asserted the right of the Queen 
 his wife, not only to profit by the law of devolution, by 
 which she would receive a portion of Philip IV.'s inheritance, 
 comprising the greater part of the Netherlands, Franche- 
 Comte, and Luxembourg, but also, in the event of the 
 death of Charles H., to the inheritance of her brother's 
 kingdom, in spite of the renunciation which she had 
 made of her claim to the succession. To dismember the 
 Spanish monarchy before it fell vacant, and to possess himself 
 of it when Charles II. should have ceased to live, was the in- 
 satiable ambition of Louis XIV. — who threw down the gaunt- 
 let, as it were, to Spain and Europe. Lisola made a decided 
 repudiation of these claims, in which he put forth aU his legal 
 knowledge and controversial eloquence in the service of a 
 righteous cause. His memorial, which does honour to the 
 political literature of the time, broke down aU Louis XIV.'s 
 arguments, and victoriously put an end to aU controversy on 
 the subject. Lisola contested as unjustifiable all claim on the 
 part of the King of France to extend the law of inheritance 
 of paternal property, as applying to the children of a first 
 marriage, to the sovereignty of the state. He proved by incon- 
 trovertible arguments that the law of devolution could not 
 legally avail the Queen of France as daughter of Philip IV.'s 
 first wife, but must remain exclusively applicable in dvU. 
 cases. He finally laid it down that the Netherlands being 
 united to Spain, where the law of devolution was unknown, 
 must be subject to the law of that kingdom, and he ingeniously 
 pleaded in favour of his argument the Salic Law, which in 
 France superseded all others ; so much so that none of the 
 provinces successively united to the crown could be again 
 detached, in spite of any rights of which the daughters might 
 
INVASION OF THE NETHERLANDS. 403 
 
 otherwise have availed themselves. He wound up with the 
 reminder, made with the authority of good faith, that the 
 Queen's formal renunciation had been the condition of the Peace 
 of the Pyrenees, and that to refuse to recognise its validity 
 would be to infringe all principles of public rights. He 
 pointed out plainly that Louis XIV. was engaging in no civil 
 action, but was only seeking some pretext for the violation of 
 a treaty. ' The course of a lawsuit,' he said, ' did not allow 
 of warfare, contracts were never fought out with the sword, 
 nor a first summons made with forty thousand men. But it is 
 only too clear that the King of France wishes for no arbitra- 
 tion but that of arms ; he makes his throne a tribunal, and 
 his soldiers judges.' Lisola wound up his memorial by point- 
 ing out without any reservation the danger of conquest which 
 threatened all courts and all people. ' Let us then make 
 common cause,' he adds, ' and not put all our faith in the 
 favour of the Cyclops ; which only profited Ulysses by an un- 
 hoped-for piece of luck.' He thus appealed beforehand to the 
 European league, which was later to serve as a barrier to the 
 encroachments of Louis XIV. 
 
 But untU this appeal was responded to, diplomatic 
 memorials would do little for the defence of Spain — Lisola's 
 answer to the manifesto of the King of France was not pub- 
 lished before Louis XIV. had recourse to arms. His military 
 preparations being finished, the pacific assurances with which 
 he had up to the last hour deluded the Spanish Government, 
 seemed to be no longer necessary. As soon therefore as an 
 order only was requked for his troops to cross the frontier of 
 the Netherlands, he sent notice directly to the Qiieen-Eegent 
 of his intention of occupying before the end of May the pro- 
 vinces which he claimed in the name of the Infanta Maria 
 Theresa, his wife. The only course left open to the Spanish 
 Court to avoid spoliation was a voluntary abandonment. 
 'Here is a change of scene,' writes Lionne to the Arch- 
 bishop of Embrun, the French ambassador at Madrid, ' which 
 will make some disturbance in your court.' While Philip IV.'s 
 widow to try to gain time declared herself ' ready to seek 
 means of accommodation,' the King of France had rejoined his 
 
 D B 2 
 
404 JOHN DE WITT. 
 
 army, which he had placed under the command of Turenne, 
 and four days before the end of May he entered the Nether- 
 lands as a conqueror. 
 
 To reassure Europe, Louis XIV. spoke of his invasion as a 
 journey which he was undertaking to enter into possession 
 of the countries belonging to him. He made preparations 
 as for a festival, and at the head-quarters at Amiens, where 
 the Queen had come to join him, to show herself to her new 
 subjects, the reviews were intermingled with grand balls at 
 which the royal tent was arranged like a reception-room at 
 Versailles. 
 
 Nevertheless no military precautions had been neglected. 
 Two divisions, each of eight thousand men, had been detached 
 to resist any opposition, one under the command of Marshal 
 d'Aumont between Lys and the sea, the other under the orders 
 of the Marquis de Crequy on the frontier of Germany ; and it 
 was with the third corps, thirty-five thousand strong, that the 
 King of France opened the campaign. He misled the enemy 
 by moving towards Charleroi, which had been evacuated, and 
 by threatening Brussels, so as to oblige the Marquis Castel- 
 Eodrigo to recall his best regiments for the defence of the 
 capital of the Netherlands. This feigned attack having at- 
 tained the proposed end, Louis XIV. suddenly turned towards 
 the Scheldt, and two weeks sufficed for the Flemish fortresses 
 of Ath, Tournay, Douai, Courtray, and Oudenarde to fall into 
 his hands after a defence more apparent than real. The in- 
 undation of the approach to Dendermonde having saved that 
 place, which was the key to Brussels, Ghent, and Malines, the 
 royal army arrested its victorious march, and redescending 
 the course of the Scheldt, besieged Lille, where it was joined 
 by the division under Marshal d'Aumont. 
 
 Lille was defended by a garrison of two thousand five 
 hundred foot and six to seven hundred horse, commanded by 
 brave and able officers, and by fifteen hundred of the burgher 
 guard, who had promised the governor, Count de Brouay, to 
 stand by him to the last. They were, moreover, expecting help 
 from an army corps of twelve thousand men collected at 
 
FALL OF LILLE. 405 
 
 Ypres by the Count de Marsin, to whom the Marquis of 
 Castel-Eodrigo had made a tardy appeal. But the work of 
 investment under the direction of Vauban was conducted with 
 such activity that the hopes of the besieged were shattered. 
 A week sufficed to open a double line of trenches ; at the end 
 of a fortnight the two demi-lunes which stood in the way of an 
 assault were carried after an obstinate resistance, and the 
 townspeople, faithless to their oath, called upon the governor 
 to surrender. Upon his refusal, the people ran to the ram- 
 parts, stopped the firing, and Lille opened her gates to the 
 King of Prance, who made a triumphal entry. The Spanish 
 cavalry, which the Count de Marsin had brought up for the 
 succour of the besieged city, only arrived to see the fall of the 
 town, and, after a futile attempt at resistance, was dispersed 
 and driven back with great loss on the frontier of the United 
 Provinces. 
 
 Louis XIV. thus made himself master of a line of places 
 which, strengthened by Vauban, would give France what he 
 called ' her iron frontier.' Notwithstanding her late prepara- 
 tions for defence, Spain seemed incapable of disputing with him 
 that part of the Netherlands which he had not yet conquered. 
 Leaving the army under the command of Turenne, he rejoined 
 the Queen, who had preceded him to Arras, and went with her 
 to Saint Germain in the beginning of September, ' accompanied 
 by the acclamations' of his people, and the admiration of the 
 entire kingdom.' 
 
 Notwithstanding the iniquity of an enterprise in whose 
 favour only legal subtleties could be invoked, Louis XIV. had, 
 in executing the great designs of Henry IV. and Eichelieu, 
 made use of his ambition for the furthering of the power and 
 glory of France. 
 
 This conquest, threatening for Europe, was still more to be 
 dreaded by the Eepublic of the United Provinces. It placed 
 it, according to Van Beuningen, in the greatest peril it had 
 ever encountered. ' Flanders once in the power of Louis XIV.,' 
 writes Temple, ' the Dutch feel that their country will never 
 be more than a maritime^ province of France.' 
 
406 JOHN DE WITT. 
 
 He was not mistaken. If the Netherlands passed under 
 the French dominion, the United Provinces would assuredly 
 be ruiaed or conquered. Antwerp once become a French 
 town, the closing of the navigation of the Scheldt, on which 
 depended the wealth of the Dutch commerce, could not 
 fail to be again an open question. It was easy to foresee 
 that Louis XIV. would not tie himself down by that clause of 
 the treaty of Miinster which had been wrung from the feeble- 
 ness of Spain, and the republic would henceforth find itself 
 exposed to an irreparable disaster. Moreover, the invasion of 
 the Netherlands by the King of France laid open the United 
 Provinces to the same fate. It was to be feared that, once the 
 Spanish succession open, the King of France, proclaiming 
 himself heir to Charles V. and Philip II., would claim them in 
 turn as former possessions of Spain. Moreover, the preten- 
 sions which Louis XIV. was now making to Brabant, of which 
 a part had been ceded by Spain to the republic, were sufficient, 
 however cautious he might be, to alarm the States-General. 
 
 Their apprehensions were the more justified that the King 
 of France had refused to enter into any engagement either to 
 enfranchise the Netherlands and constitute them an indepen- 
 dent republic or to divide them with the United Provinces. 
 In spite of the skill which ,the Grand Pensionary had shown 
 during the negotiation of a treaty which had been always 
 evaded, he had obtained no more than the promise of a pre- 
 liminary agreement. He had persistently confided in it, and 
 would not be discouraged by the little reassuring news which 
 was constantly re-echoed in his correspondence with Paris and 
 Brussels. ' I know,' he wrote to D'Estrades, ' that this State 
 would be very willing to assist the pacific intentions of the 
 king your master, by an agreement between his Majesty and 
 the King of Spain, and for myself individually there is nothing 
 I would not do to second the counsels of those who might sup- 
 port any moderate proposals of his Majesty. He will, no 
 doubt, lean towards all that may best exhibit his justice and 
 generosity, and wiU reflect that at the present conjuncture of 
 affairs he can no longer defer his overtures to his most 
 attached friends and allies, who are convinced that he will act 
 
D'ESTEADES LEAVES BREDA FOE THE HAGUE. 407 
 
 in concert with them in this important matter in accordance 
 with the assurances which he has given.' 
 
 These illusions had been followed by a cruel disappoint- 
 ment. When Louis XIV. thought that" he had no further 
 need of their support, he. abruptly put an end to the measures 
 of policy which he had hitherto made use of. Before giving 
 orders for his troops to take the field, he wrote to Count 
 d'Estrades to leave Breda, where the French ambassador had 
 gone to take part in the negotiations for peace between 
 England and the republic. He ordered him to return imme- 
 diately to the Hague, and to give notice to the States-General 
 of his resolution to unite the Netherlands to his kingdom. 
 To justify this undertaking, D'Estrades was commissioned to 
 distribute amongst them copies of the memorial setting forth 
 the Queen's rights. He was at the same time to reassure 
 them by persuading them that the King of France would con- 
 tent himself, in return for their neutrality, with that part of 
 the Netherlands which did not touch their frontiers. 
 
 This communication, which embarrassed D'Estrades, was 
 overwhelming to John de Witt, who was the first to receive 
 it. Although he was beginning to be uneasy, he had not 
 expected such a frustration of his hopes, and when, on Sunday, 
 May 15th, 1667, D'Estrades communicated his despatches to 
 him, the Grand Pensionary, ' although he did not lose control 
 over himself, could not conceal his surprise and dismay.' He 
 reminded him of Louis XIV.'s last promise to undertake 
 nothing without the knowledge of the States-General. He 
 protested against the eagerness with which the King had 
 resolved to precipitate a rupture, instead of applying to the 
 States who would have been quite ready to assist him in pro- 
 curing satisfaction from Spain. The French ambassador, 
 disarmed by these remonstrances, was forced to explain 
 to De Witt that the King had fulfilled the promise of a pre- 
 liminary agreement between the two governments, by send- 
 ing to the United Provinces the first communication of the 
 manifesto which had announced the taking of the field by his 
 troops. 
 
 The assembly of the States-General, of whom he demanded 
 
408 JOHN DE WITT. 
 
 an audience on the next day, May 16, shared the sentiments 
 of the Grand Pensionary. They listened with equal astonish- 
 ment and irritation to the letter which Louis XIV. addressed 
 to them, and announced to Count d'Estrades, through their 
 president Claes Kann, the deputy of Friesland, that they 
 would deliberate on the answer to be sent. The ambassador 
 of France was to learn, as he recognised later, ' that there was 
 nothing that the members of the States would not undertake 
 rather than that the Netherlands should belong to the king,' 
 ' for they cannot be convinced,' he adds, ' but that if that 
 occurs, their republic would be lost in a couple of years.' 
 
 To arrest Louis XIV.'s conquests the States-General had 
 need of allies, but they found themselves alone. Engaged in 
 a war with England which was exhausting their resources, 
 they seemed reduced to be the impotent witnesses of the 
 French invasion, unable to count upon any assistance 'to 
 protect them against the rays of that sun which it is said 
 intends to burn up all before it.' 
 
 By his able and farsighted measures, Louis XIV. had 
 insured, if not indifference, at any rate inaction, on the part 
 of Europe. Leopold I., Emperor of Germany, head of the 
 house of Austria, brother-in-law of Charles II. the young King 
 of Spain, .and heir-presumptive to the Spanish monarchy, 
 was specially interested in taking in hand the defence of the 
 Netherlands. The victory of St. Gothard, gained by General 
 MontecucuUi, had saved him from the threatened invasion of 
 the Turks, and obliged the Sultan Mahomet IV. to accept 
 peace. But he was none the less forced to leave unanswered 
 the urgent appeal of the court of Madrid. 
 
 French diplomacy, in fact, under the inspiration of 
 Mazarin, had taken guarantees against the Emperor of 
 Germany, even in the empire, by insuring the co-operation of 
 a certain number of German princes whose estates were situ- 
 ated between Austria and the Netherlands. Louis XIV. had 
 made use of their alliance for his own purposes by making 
 them promise to refuse a passage across their posses- 
 sions to the imperial troops. To complete his measures of 
 precaution, he was paving the way for an insurrection in 
 
CONVENTION BETWEEN CHARLES 11. AND LOUIS XIV. 409 
 
 Hungary, thus insuring the Emperor's neutrality by the 
 threat of a dangerous diversion. He even attempted to 
 bias him by offering him a share eventually in the Spanish 
 monarchy. Though nothing came of this proposal at the 
 time, the Emperor's chief advisers, won over by the French 
 king's liberality, had received it favourably. Louis XIV. 
 ■was not satisfied with depriving Spain of the assistance of 
 the empire. He attempted to strengthen his alliance with 
 the northern powers, Sweden and the Elector of Branden- 
 burg, who were beginning to fear the dangers of the French 
 supremacy. 
 
 To reassure them, he had given up the idea of placing the 
 Duke d'Enghien, the son of the great Conde, on the Polish 
 throne, and relied, in the event of the abdication of the king, 
 John Casimir, on the candidature of the Duke of Neubourg. 
 He counted, moreover, on the subsidies of France to force 
 Sweden, if not to help him, at least to stand aloof. On the 
 other hand, by winning over the Elector of Brandenburg's 
 ministers by his bounties, he was successfully negotiating a 
 treaty by which the Elector engaged to take no part in the 
 war with the Netherlands. Lastly, in the south of Europe 
 he took measures to prevent the conclusion of the peace which 
 had been negotiated between Spain and Portugal. Although 
 the treaty of the Pyrenees stipulated that France should cease 
 to give assistance to Portugal, he nevertheless offered to the 
 Court of Lisbon an offensive and defensive alliance which was 
 eagerly accepted. He thus succeeded in keeping Spain in a 
 state of perpetual alarm, which prevented all despatch of 
 assistance to the Netherlands. 
 
 The King of England himself had been won over to the 
 French policy. In declaring war against him, so that the 
 United Provinces might not succumb to an unequal struggle, 
 Louis XIV. had been careful to adhere to the appearance only 
 of a rupture, and counted on reaping the reward of the con- 
 sideration he had shown towards him. He had therefore 
 confidently proposed to him a convention by which the two 
 kings promised ' not to form any connections which would not 
 be for their mutual advantage, for an entire year.' Charles 11. 
 
410 JOHN DE WITT. 
 
 promised this in a letter written to his mother who was in 
 France; and Louis XIV., satisfied with this declaration, trans- 
 mitted a similar engagement to the Queen-Dowager of England. 
 'It is seriously to be feared,' writes the Grand Pensionary 
 de Witt to one of his correspondents, ' that France will unite 
 with England, with a view to the conquest of the Netherlands, 
 for anythiag may be looked for in times when there is nothing 
 but treachery and corruption.' Deprived thus of all help, and 
 obhged at the same time to maintain a war against England, 
 the States- General had but two paths open to them, to ally 
 themselves with Spain, or to temporise with France. 
 
 If they allied themselves with Spain, they could not hope 
 for the time being to gain over any of the other Powers, and 
 they placed themselves in open rupture with France. Never- 
 theless, imder the weight of their resentment and apprehen- 
 sions, they would have attempted some interference in the 
 struggle, at whatever risk, to give the signal of resistance to 
 Europe, had not Spaia repulsed them. Believing that the 
 United Provinces had more interest even than herself lq her 
 defence, Spain maintained that she ought not to be called 
 upon to make any sacrifice for the welfare of the Netherlands, 
 and already regretted the proposals which the governor, of the 
 Netherlands had addressed to the States-General to obtain 
 their co-operation. The former had just negotiated with them, 
 through his first minister. Baron de Bergheyck, a plan for 
 a defensive alliance. According to the terms of this conven- 
 tion, the States promised to assist Spain with a loan of three 
 millions and a reinforcement of twelve thousand men, in return 
 for the occupation of the towns of Ostend and Bruges and of 
 a few fortresses on the frontiers of the Netherlands and the 
 United Provinces, which they were to garrison. But the 
 illusions which it pleased the court of Madrid to entertain, 
 and the growing security which had been given to them by 
 the check of the French expedition on the approach of winter, 
 soon changed their mood. England also claimed, as the price 
 of the assistance demanded of her by the Spanish Government, 
 a cession of territory, so that Spain, forced to share the 
 Netherlands between the King of France and her two allies, 
 
LOUIS XIV. WITHDRAWS FEOM THE NETHERLANDS. 411 
 
 would have been, as the Marquis of Castel-Eodrigo ironically 
 observes ' chastised with three rods at once.' According to 
 the latest instructions given to him, he declared himself only- 
 authorised to pledge the forts and revenues of Waas, already 
 devastated by the French troops. 
 
 The States-General were incensed at so absurd a proposi 
 tion. As soon as they saw that Spain was trifling with them, 
 they refrained from taking any further steps, and De Witt 
 sent word to the Spanish ambassador at the Hague, Don 
 Estevan de Gamarra, ' that if his masters had no other friends 
 than the States, they might boast themselves of having none 
 at all.' 
 
 The indecision of Spain served the policy of the Grand 
 Pensionary, who feared as a desperate measure any sudden 
 rupture with France. His political programme is summed up 
 in the following sentence in a letter which he wrote later, to 
 the ambassadors of the States-General in England, Meerman 
 and Boreel : ' To abandon Spain is to make France a present 
 of the Netherlands ; to take her defence upon ourselves alone 
 would be folly. There only remains therefore conciliation.' 
 De Witt was determined not to give way to opposition, and to 
 prevent the French dominion extending over the Netherlands. 
 But on the other hand, he was too prudent not to consider 
 that the republic would compromise herself without avail, if 
 she could not insure the aid of powerful allies. He resolved 
 to gain time by negotiations, at once the wisest and most 
 sagacious decision. By so doing, it remained with the States- 
 General to follow up the projects of agreement with Louis XIV. 
 if the French king moderated his demands, and if the inaction 
 of Europe obliged the republic to compound with him, whUst 
 at the same time they remained at liberty to unite sooner or 
 later with the other powers against him, if his ambition, 
 exceeding all measure, should open the eyes of Europe to the 
 danger of his conquests. 
 
 Louis XIV. himself favoured the Grand Pensionary's plan 
 by putting an end to the campaign of the Netherlands before 
 the weather forced him to do so. The taking of Alost 
 by Turenne ended the expedition, which seemed therefore 
 
412 JOHN DE WITT. 
 
 postponed till the following year. ' Never were French ardour 
 and promptitude less conspicuous than on this occasion,' 
 wrote John de Witt to one of his correspondents. The wish 
 to return to Versailles and enjoy the lustre of his triumph, 
 would certainly not have sufficed to arrest the King of France 
 in his enterprise, had he not thought it better to yield to 
 political advice, and show unexpected consideration towards 
 the States-General. 
 
 The first steps towards agreement had not yet been very 
 cordially received by him in spite of the eagerness of the 
 Grand Pensionary. Although the invasion of the Netherlands 
 by the King of France appeared to be an infringement of 
 the preliminary agreement which Louis XIV. had made with 
 the United Provinces, De Witt had to some extent set aside 
 his legitimate resentment, so as to leave open a way for nego- 
 tiations. He had resumed his correspondence with Count 
 d'Estrades, who, to put an end to disagreeable conferences, had 
 returned to Breda. ' Those who have been assured by word 
 of mouth and by letters,' he writes to him, ' that no active 
 steps would be taken in regard to the rights of the Queen 
 over the Spanish Netherlands, without a previous communi- 
 cation to them, and that nothing will be undertaken except in 
 concert with them, and who, in consideration of this formal 
 promise, have given a like assurance to those of the States 
 most esteemed for their prudence and worth, now find them- 
 selves incapable of shaking off their distrust and effacing the 
 disagreeable impression which they have received. In fact, 
 they find themselves as much defrauded by the effect of thesa 
 assurances as those who depended upon their statements and 
 thought to have secured the required peace and safety. 
 I therefore implore your Excellency to remind his Majesty 
 of all that has passed on this subject, that he may still fulfil 
 the promise, so solemnly made.' To give more weight to his 
 demand he caused Louis XIV. to be informed 'that the 
 States of Holland would willingly induce the States-General 
 to interpose with Spain to obtain reasonable satisfaction for 
 him, provided the King of France would openly state his 
 intentions to them.' He urgently demanded from Louis XIV. 
 
DEMANDS OF TEE FRENCH KING. 413 
 
 this proof of good faith : ' I implore you to be persuaded, and 
 to impress upon the court, if necessary,' he writes again to 
 D'Estrades, ' that the matter wUl not brook any further delay, 
 and that I will set to work on all that depends upon me, so 
 that we may come to an understanding in this important 
 affair, unless it is made quite impossible to me by a longer 
 retarding of the overtures for which we are waiting.' 
 
 Louis XIV. made no reply to these advances. In spite of 
 the advice given him by Count d'Estrades, warning him 
 that he was exposing himself to the imminent hostility of the 
 United Provinces, he gave notice to his ambassador ' that he 
 would not enter into any imaginary negotiations which would 
 give the Spaniards time for defence, and bring foreign aid to 
 the Netherlands.' 
 
 Nevertheless the Grand Pensionary furthered his proposals 
 with such skill and perseverance that he succeeded in resuming 
 the negotiations, whilst by charging Van Beuningen to offer 
 to the King of France, besides Pranche-Comte, the towns of 
 Cambrai, Saint Omer, and Aire, he undertook to recall him 
 to the projects of agreement to which the invasion of the 
 Netherlands seemed to have given an irreparable blow. The 
 peace between England and the United Provinces, which the 
 French Government had vainly attempted to retard, and the 
 negotiations for an alliance, which were rather suspended than 
 broken off between the States-General and Spain, induced Louis 
 XIV. to show himself less exacting. He did not consider Van 
 Beuningen's offers sufficient, but he nevertheless showed a 
 disposition to consider them. Eenouncing his claims on the 
 Netherlands, he cdntented himself with demanding the places 
 bordering on the frontiers of France — Douai, Tournay, 
 Bergues, Cambrai, Saint Omer, and Aire, and giving up the 
 town of Lille which he had conquered, in exchange for a strip 
 of territory which enabled France to advance in the Nether- 
 lands as far as Charleroi. He demanded as compensation 
 that the Spanish Government should give up not only Franche- 
 Comte but Luxembourg. He exacted, moreover, that the 
 States-General, to make up to him for that portion of the 
 Netherlands which he relinquished, should undertake to coerce 
 
414 JOHN DE WITT. 
 
 Spain, in the event of her not accepting the terms of the 
 treaty, by giving France armed assistance. 
 
 The Grand Pensionary of Holland took care to evince no 
 objection to these proposals, however inadmissible they seemed 
 to him, and received them as a token of reconciliation. He 
 considered the success of his policy as assured if he prevented 
 the Netherlands from becoming French provinces. If only he 
 could be secure of this, he was ready to make any concessions. 
 With this view he only made some reservations, beginning by 
 contesting Louis XIV. 's claims to Tournay, Charleroi, and 
 Luxembourg, which, if abandoned to France, seemed to leave 
 the Netherlands at his mercy. 
 
 Dreading, moreover, to find Louis intractable, should 
 further successes encourage him to return to his ambitious 
 projects, he demanded a suspension of hostilities during the 
 time given to the court of Madrid to make known its determi- 
 nation. 
 
 The forethought of the Grand Pensionary extended even 
 further. He was not content to limit the pretensions which 
 Louis made to the Netherlands, before the Spanish monarchy 
 fell vacant, but he wished to prevent his putting them forward 
 when the death of the young and feeble King of Spain should 
 allow the King of France to claim the inheritance of all his 
 dominions. He also wished to secure to the United Provinces 
 an engagement by which Louis XIV. should definitely re- 
 nounce all portions of the Netherlands which were not now 
 given up to him. To obtain such a declaration as would give 
 the Eepublic a perfect security in the future, he offered to 
 guarantee to him by a secret treaty the aid of the States, ia 
 the event of the succession to the Spanish monarchy being 
 again reopened. He hoped, by means of this offer of eventual 
 co-operation, not only to avert the imminent danger of the 
 vicinity of France, but to prevent its ever recurring. 
 
 Louis, tempted by the hope of an understanding which 
 would one day help him to the inheritance he coveted, and 
 fearing, moreover, that too prolonged a silence would induce the 
 States to enter into irrevocable engagements with his enemies, 
 ended, after much hesitation, by desiring Count d'Estrades to 
 
LOUIS DECLARES HIMSELF READY TO MAKE CONCESSIONS. 41 5 
 
 inform the Grand Pensionary of Holland that he had resolved 
 to come to an agreement with him. He avoided all mention 
 of giving up the Netherlands in the event of a re- opening of 
 the Spanish succession, ' not wishing,' he writes to D'Estrades, 
 ' to dig trenches which he would have eventually to cross.' 
 But although thus reserving his liberty of action for the future, 
 the King declared himself none the less ready to make con- 
 cessions. He gave up all claim to Tournay and Charleroi, and 
 only demanded Luxembourg in the event of the Spaniards 
 preferring to keep Franehe-Comte. To make his wish for 
 conciliation more evident, he offered to content himself with 
 the possession of the conquered places, and, wishing to leave 
 no doubt of his pacific intentions, he consented to prolong 
 to six months the three months' suspension of hostilities de- 
 manded of him. 
 
 This last proposal, however conciliatory in appearance, left 
 the United Provinces, by the alternative offered, exposed to two 
 dangers : the fear, still distant, of Louis XIV.'s claims upon 
 the Netherlands, in the event of the opening up of the Spanish 
 succession, and the immediate necessity of a rupture with 
 Spain, if the negotiations did not tend to peace. This 
 necessity was the more imminent that the King of France 
 insisted upon the court of Madrid recognising the indepen- 
 dence of Portugal. It would suffice therefore for Spain to 
 refuse to come to an understanding with Portugal, for the 
 United Provinces to be formally required to aid the King of 
 France to possess himself of the Netherlands. The States- 
 General would not consent to so compromising an engagement. 
 They considered a rupture with Spain equally prejudicial to 
 their political and their commercial interests. After the 
 glorious termination of the war with England through the 
 peace of Breda they found themselves more at liberty to resist 
 the French claims. Doubting the sincerity of Louis XIV. 
 they were ready to receive the offers of confederacy, skilfully 
 renewed by the Marquis of Castel-Eodrigo. 'Whatever the 
 wisest among the government may wish in such a case,' wrote 
 D'Estrades, ' they must follow in the ruck.' Those most 
 opposed to France gave expression to this hostile feeling, even 
 
416 JOHN DE WITT. 
 
 claiming a fresh undertaking from Louis XIV., by the terms of 
 ■which the French King, contenting himself with the for- 
 tresses he had conquered or proposed to acquire, should 
 recognise as valid the renunciation he had made of the 
 succession to the Spanish monarchy which had been the con- 
 dition of his marriage with the Infanta Maria Theresa. Van 
 Beuningen, the ambassador to the States-General at Paris, 
 who had obtained leave of absence to return to the Hague, 
 warmly encouraged this offensive policy, at the risk of com- 
 promising the last chances of agreement. 
 
 The Grand Pensionary of Holland was too prudent to risk 
 making such a humiliating proposal to the King of France, 
 knowing well from the haughty language held at Paris and the 
 Hague by Lionne and D'Estrades that Louis would never con- 
 sent to it. ' M. de Witt, whose greatness of mind and capacity 
 are far above the ordinary,' wrote Lionne, ' saw at once that 
 that string must not be touched by either party.' He further 
 interposed with Van Beuningen to induce him to relinquish 
 exactions which only served to irritate the King of France. 
 By remaining faithful to the policy of conciliation which he 
 had always followed, De Witt hoped to succeed in diverting 
 Louis XIV. from his designs on the Netherlands. ' The Grand 
 Pensionary,' writes D'Estrades, ' implores your Majesty to con- 
 sider that such great affairs, involving so many interests, 
 cannot be treated of without taking precautions which are 
 not in use in kingdoms where the Sovereign's will decides 
 everything.' According to his representations to the French 
 ambassador, it was only at the cost of fresh concessions from 
 Louis that he could prevent the States from demanding from him 
 the renunciation of the Spanish succession, and assure him of 
 their co-operation should it be opened. He also required that 
 Louis should limit his claims to keeping his conquests, and 
 content himself if he again went to war with forcing Spain to 
 leave them to him, but should abstain from extending them. 
 To prevent, moreover, the King of France from yielding to any 
 temptation to break the peace when once made, he insisted 
 that the clauses of the treaty which he proposed should be 
 guaranteed by the States- General, and by such princes as 
 
DIFFICULTIES IN COMING TO AN AGREEMENT. 417 
 
 should offer their mediation. Such a project was a check to 
 the hopes of Louis XIV. ' It took the game out of his hands,' 
 wrote Lionne, ' by preventing him from profiting by the re- 
 newal of the war if Spain should decline peace.' 
 
 Nevertheless, in spite of the angry remonstrances which 
 his ambassador was charged to address to the States, Louis 
 recognised the necessity of showing at least some appearance 
 of moderation. Fearing to make his intentions of renewing 
 war too evident if he objected to a treaty of peace being 
 guaranteed by other States, he declared himself ready to 
 accept this latter condition. To insure the States-General, 
 moreover, against any necessity of breaking with Spain, which 
 they wished to avoid having forced upon them, he forbore to 
 insist upon it, in the event of war being renewed in conse- 
 quence of Spain refusing to grant peace to Portugal. He 
 only demanded such a rupture in the event of Spain not con- 
 senting to relinquish to him that portion of the Netherlands 
 which he had conquered. He went so far even as td make 
 known to Count d'Estrades that ' to accommodate himself to 
 the ideas of those with whom he had to deal, instead of push- 
 ing matters to a climax, he would be content to obtain from 
 the States a promise of refusing a passage to any troops who 
 might come from the German side to the aid of the Spanish 
 possessions.' His only reservation was with regard to the 
 demand made upon him to renounce the prosecution of his 
 conquests in the Netherlands in the event of Spain refusing 
 the terms of peace, and to forego his claims on that country 
 should the death of Charles II. enable him later to make 
 good his title to the Spanish monarchy. ' His Majesty,' he 
 says himself, in the memorandum which he sent to D'Estrades, 
 ' could not be supposed to be capable of such a mistake, as it 
 would be to tie his hands for ever.' 
 
 It was upon this last condition that De Witt met with an 
 unconquerable resistance from Louis. Hitherto, during the 
 five months of negotiations which had just expired, he had 
 managed so skUfully as to induce him gradually to abandon 
 those claims which gave most offence to the States- General ; 
 and he still did not despair of gaining his cause, even if it were 
 
 VOL. I. E E 
 
418 JOHN DE WITT. 
 
 at the price of fresh concessions. Eenouncitig for the time, 
 in spite of Van Beuningen's remonstrances, any attempt at 
 obtaining an engagement from Louis not to claim the Nether- 
 lands in the event of the Spanish monarchy falling vacant, 
 he contented himself with endeavouring to shield them from 
 his grasp, by obliging the court of Madrid to accept the 
 proposals of the King of France, so as to force upon the 
 belligerents the conclusion of peace. 
 
 The States of Holland, conforming their policy to his 
 advice, resolved to inform the Spanish ambassador ' that they 
 thought the offers of the King of France too reasonable to be 
 repulsed with impunity, and that, in case of need, they would 
 ask the States- General to have recourse to the most forcible 
 measures to impose them upon the Spanish Government.' 
 While this resolution was being referred to the Federal 
 Assembly, De Witt undertook to represent to Gamarra that 
 ' his masters could not allow a fire to be lit so near them, 
 without trying to extinguish it.' On the other hand, the 
 Grand Pensionary attempted to influence Louis by the offer 
 of assistance, if needed, against all interference, should he 
 consent in the event of a rupture with Spain to change, the 
 seat of war, and to follow up his conquests in Franche-Comte, 
 Catalonia, Spain, and Italy, contenting himself with keeping 
 those he had made in the Netherlands without extending 
 them further. 'It is necessary,' he said to D'Estrades, 
 ' whilst seeking security for the King, to look after that of the 
 States, who could only feel themselves safe from His Majesty''s 
 great power, in the assurance that he would never be master 
 of Flanders.' 
 
 Louis refused to enter into this engagement. He ah-eady 
 regretted the concessions that he had made. He had pro- 
 posed them in the hope that they would not satisfy Spain, 
 and did not wish, if his prevision were justified, to defer the 
 union of the Netherlands to his kingdom, being determined, 
 if peace was refused to him, to profit by the renewal of the 
 war to extend the frontiers of France. He therefore informed 
 D'Estrades ' that in the event of the States being obstinately 
 bent upon his carrying on his conquests elsewhere than in 
 
NEGOTIATIONS "WITH SWEDEN. 419 
 
 Flanders, all negotiations must cea?e, and other measures be 
 taken.' ' You saw by my last,' writes D'Estrades to Lionne, 
 ' that I have deprived the States of all hopes of our with- 
 drawing our troops from the Netherlands.' 
 
 The policy of the Grand Pensionary was thus held in check. 
 He had flattered himself that he could guard the Netherlands 
 against the French domination by obtaining a last concession 
 from Louis XIV., and this guarantee had been definitely 
 refused to him. Prevented thus from attaining the end he 
 had never ceased to pursue, he was tempted to overstep it, by 
 the alluring but dangerous idea of forcing the submission of 
 that powerful monarch, whose conquests he wished to arrest, 
 ' The welfare of the Republic,' he writes, '■ lies in the alliances 
 needful to her being confirmed as soon as possible.' It was 
 in diplomatic negotiations with other States that he hence- 
 forth sought the success of his policy of resistance, and he 
 found in the intervention of Sweden and England the support 
 he needed against France. 
 
 Attempts at an understanding with the court of Stock- 
 holm had loBg been in operation, and the advances made had 
 had a most favourable reception. They were the more oppor- 
 tune that the invasion of the Netherlands had weakened the ties 
 which had hitherto united that court to France. Sweden cer- 
 tainly did not refuse the subsidies of Louis XIV., but would not 
 become his vassal, and was provoked at the arrogance with 
 which she was treated by Lionne, who had not hesitated to 
 say that ' if the Swedes intended to give any trouble, means 
 would soon be found to drive them back to their dens.' 
 
 The Grand Chancellor, Magnus Gabriel de la Gardie, had 
 been hitherto the most potent ally of the French policy. 
 He was of French origin through his grandfather. Queen 
 Christina's favourite, and an all-powerful minister undei; 
 Charles Gustavus, whose sister he had married. The minority 
 of the new King, Charles XL, and the Eegency of his mother, 
 Hedwig Eleanor, Duchess of Holstein, made La Gardie master 
 of the government. He had the entire direction of foreign 
 affairs, and shared that of home affairs, with the four great 
 officers of State — the Justiciary, the Lord Treasurer, the Grand 
 
 E E 2 
 
420 JOHN DE WITT. 
 
 Constable, and the High Admiral. But he had to reckon with 
 the Senate composed of twenty-five members, which had be- 
 come a species of Grand Council. This assembly replaced the 
 Diet, where the entire nation was represented by the four 
 orders of the clergy, the nobility, the burghers, and the pea- 
 sants, and whose vote was only required for extraordinary 
 levies of money or troops. The Diet being only assembled at 
 rare intervals, the Senate considered itself as the guardian 
 of its authority. Kept at a distance by the late King, 
 it had taken advantage of the minority to resume all its 
 powers, and was gradually severing itself from the Grand 
 Chancellor, whose influence was on the wane. Senator Bicern- 
 klow, who owed his fortune to La Gardie, was now endeavour- 
 ing to supplant him. He collected numerous partisans 
 around him, who declared equal hostility against the Prime 
 Minister himself, and his policy of union with France. 
 
 This situation was favourable to the negotiations which the 
 States-General had again entered into with Sweden. To prevent 
 that country from pledging itself to England, they had eagerly 
 received the Swedish ambassador to London, Count Dohna, 
 who had been sent to the Hague to settle the differences which 
 had arisen as to trade between the two countries. The con- 
 ference ended in a speedy agreement which satisfied the claims 
 of Sweden. The concessions made by the States were the 
 prelimmary to a political alliance. It was prepared under 
 the auspices of the two Senators, Bioernklow and Sten BieLk, 
 who had resolutely headed the opposition to France, and 
 never ceased to point out the dangers into which Louis 
 XIV. was thrusting all Europe. The French ambassador, 
 the Marquis de Pomponne, vainly endeavoui-ed to baffle then- 
 measures by his proposals. In return for the subsidies 
 which he offered he only asked Sweden to consent to co- 
 operate in the defence of the Treaty of WestphaHa, by holding 
 her troops in readiness, without necessarily making use of 
 them. This agreement had been held in suspense by the ab- 
 sence of the Grand Chancellor, who had been detained for two 
 months at his country house by a dangerous illness, thus leaving 
 the sole direction of the government in his enemies' hands. 
 
SWEDEN DETACHED FROM FRANCE. 421 
 
 His return was favourable to the French ambassador's pro- 
 posals, which were laid before the Senate, where they seemed 
 likely to be approved of. During a renewed absence which 
 he was imprudent enough to prolong, they were, without his 
 knowledge, altered, and almost reversed. 
 
 He bitterly complained of this, accusing Bioernklow of 
 being in the pay of England. The most violent altercations 
 ensued, and the Grand Chancellor, threatened with a suit by 
 the Senate for slander, was nearly sending in his resignation. 
 His departure for his estates on the occasion of the Christmas 
 festivities left his enemies definitely masters of the field. 
 
 They renewed their design of associating Sweden in the 
 defence of the Netherlands, and on their own sole responsi- 
 bility, in the absence of the greater part of the court in the 
 country, they gave directions to Count Dohna, who had 
 remained at the Hague, to enter into any alliance which 
 England and Holland were willing to make in favour of 
 Spain. 
 
 The hopes of John de Witt were justified ; he was right 
 ■when he wrote to Count d'Estrades : ' The King of France will 
 soon discover that he cannot very easily conquer the Nether- 
 lands, as a league of several States will be opposed to him.' 
 
 Nevertheless the United Provinces could not count on the 
 co-operation of Sweden as long as they were not assured of an 
 alliance with England. The reconciliation of the two coun- 
 tries had been first urged by Van Beuningen, when he was 
 ambassador at Paris, and he had never ceased to press for a 
 prompt conclusion of peace, so as to arrest the French King's 
 conquests in the Netherlands. De Witt had also long recog- 
 nised the interest of the United Provinces in this reconcilia- 
 tion. As soon as he heard from Van Beuningen that Louis 
 XIV.'s entry into the Netherlands was imminent, he wrote to 
 him : ' I cannot believe that England will quietly see France 
 take possession of the Netherlands even if King Charles II. 
 have entered into the most solemn engagement to that effect, 
 persuaded as I am that the feeling of the entire English nation 
 would force him to break it.' He said the same to Beverningh, 
 and begged him to further, without delay, the success of the 
 
422 JOHN DE "WITT. 
 
 negotiations confided to him atthe congress of Breda. He assured 
 him that, ' in spite of all appearance to the contrary, the 
 English would in the end come to an agreement with the 
 States, uniting with them in principles, which France would 
 scarcely find agreeable to her.' ' The sympathy between the 
 English and the French nations,' he adds, ' is not so great, 
 nor the King of -France's present designs so pleasant in Eng- 
 lish eyes, that either of the two can count on the continued 
 friendship of the other.' 
 
 To draw nearer to England, it was necessary to begin by 
 concluding peace. As soon as it was signed, De Witt hastened 
 to profit by it. With this view, he urged forward the despatch 
 of the ambassador, who was to represent the States- General at 
 the court of Charles 11., and obtained the appointment of one of 
 the most devoted friends of his policy, John Meerman, burgo- 
 master of Leyden. The new envoy of the States was full of 
 ardour, and so confident in himself that one of the corre- 
 spondents of the court of France said that ' he thought himself 
 capable of filling the office of Governor and Captain- General 
 of the Eepublic' Accompanied by John Boreel, burgomaster 
 of Middleburg, he started for London, announcing 'that he 
 should endeavour to secure a close alliance with England, and 
 that something would soon be heard of it.' 
 
 Whilst the Grand Pensionary took pains to reassure Count 
 d'Estrades, by persuading him that Meerman would arrange 
 everything in concert with Louis XIV.'s ambassador in London, 
 the most urgent attempts were being made to persuade 
 Charles 11. to join the States against France, in the interests 
 of a common defence. Meerman was directed to represent 
 to him that he would force the States-General to treat with 
 France if he did not come to the succour of the Netherlands, 
 whilst by taking part with them he would find in Sweden 
 and the German princes, allies, who were only waiting for a 
 sign to declare themselves. 
 
 Charles II. was not to be so easily persuaded. He made 
 it known through his ministers that the wound left .by the 
 late war was by no means healed, and that he must have 
 time to recognise his new friends. Meerman replied : ' You will 
 
DUTCH. EMBASSY TO ENGLAND. 423 
 
 1;ake so long to find us out, that the time will have passed 
 when your alliance could be useful to us, and the remedy will 
 come too late.' The King admitted the advantages of the 
 alliance, but said that his people mistrusted the Dutch. Be- 
 sides, he said, the interest of the States-General being most at 
 stake, England should wait until they had made the first 
 move. ' When the King of France has made himself master of 
 the Netherlands, there will still be a great fortress — the sea — 
 which will separate him from England.' ' It is the States,' he 
 added, ' who must take the first steps.' The French King's 
 advances also contributed to prevent the King of England 
 from entering into an agreement with the States; A few 
 weeks after the treaty of Breda, Louis XIV. had sent to 
 Charles II. an able diplomatist, the Marquis de Euvigny, a 
 member of the Eeformed Church of France, and brother-in-law 
 to one of the King's ministers, the Earl of Southampton, and 
 who held relations both in court and in parliament favourable 
 to the success of his embassy. He charged him with proposals 
 for an offensive alliance. The Marquis de Euvigny was to 
 offer to Charles II. in return for the despatch of a corps of 
 English troops to the Netherlands, assistance in vessels and 
 money, which would enable England to wrest from Spain all 
 or a part of her possessions in the West Indies. At the same 
 time, according to the terms of his instructions, he was to 
 insinuate to him, as a very strong reason for accepting this 
 proposal rather than any other, that nothing could be better 
 than to force the States-General to a desperate measure which 
 would draw them into an immediate alliance with Spain, upon 
 which the King of France would consider himself absolved, 
 from all obligations to assist them, in the event of Charles II. 
 desiring to be revenged on them by the declaration of another 
 war. 
 
 This treacherous advice could not be without its effect on 
 Charles. Instead of entering into an agreement with France 
 he proposed to compromise the States, by encouraging them 
 in negotiations which could only rouse against them the irre- 
 concilable enmity of Louis. This abrupt change of policy 
 seemed suspicious to the ambassador of the Eepublic. ' I 
 
424 JOHN DE WITT. 
 
 fear,' writes Meerman from London, ' that the eagerness now 
 shown to receive my proposals does but hide the intention of 
 injuring the States with France.' The conferences held 
 between the English commissioners, and the envoys from the 
 United Provinces justified these apprehensions. 
 
 The English commissioners, after having long evaded the 
 urgent demands for a mutual agreement which Meerman 
 addressed to the court of London, now determined to obtain 
 from the ministers of the Republic a declaration that the 
 States-General would join their allies to oblige France, not only 
 to renounce any further conquests, but to give up those she 
 had already made, and to abide by the limits of the Treaty of the 
 Pyrenees. ' It would be easier,' they said, ' to compel the French, 
 by arms even, to make restitution, than to obtain anything 
 from them by intercession or mediation.' Surprised at this 
 language, and wishing to know what import they could attach to 
 the new dispositions of the court of London, the ministers of the 
 EepubHc asked the English commissioners ' if they might at 
 once write to the States that the King of England was ready 
 to exact a restitution of all his conquests from the King of 
 France.' But the English commissioners, carefully avoiding 
 the expression of any opinion, replied that they were only 
 charged to find out what were the sentiments of the States, so 
 as to make known to the King of England whether the former 
 were disposed to combine with him in a war with France, 
 adding that they could for the present give no answer. It 
 was in vain that Meerman and Boreel reproached them with 
 this conduct. ' From the very beginning,' they said, ' we have 
 been open and candid, we only ask in return that the King 
 should declare himself. It is useless to discuss means of execu- 
 tion before agreeing upon a plan of action.' 
 
 Charles, however, remained impenetrable. He maintaiaed 
 that the offers of the commissioners should have sufficed to 
 inspire the United Provinces with perfect confidence, and 
 refused to come to any explanation untU the States had 
 sent him their demands in writing. The duplicity of this 
 conduct is sufiiciently proved by a despatch written some 
 days previously by the Marquis de Euvigny, in which the 
 
DE WITT'S PEEPLEXITIES. 42.5 
 
 French ambassador communicated to Louis XIV. the draft 
 of a treaty proposed by Charles II. for an offensive league 
 against the States- General. 
 
 De Witt had been on his guard against this deceitful 
 policy, and constantly impressed the greatest caution upon 
 the ambassadors of the States. But he was none the less 
 troubled with ever-increasing perplexities. 'I cannot make 
 up my mind,' he writes to the Grand Pensionary of Zealand, 
 ' as to what is best to do, or not to do, which I do not think 
 has ever before happened to me during my whole period of 
 of&ee.' Eesolved to check the advance of the King of France, 
 he feared, in accordance with Meerman's anxious misgivings, 
 ' to let slip any opportunity of rallying England to the interests 
 of the States, and on the other hand he would not run the 
 risk of driving Louis to extremities by pledging himself to 
 England, before he was certain of the sincerity of the pro- 
 posals of Charles's commissioners. 
 
 The impulse of the English nation to resist France and to 
 ally itself with the United Provinces suddenly relieved him 
 from his difficulties, and — according to the expression of a 
 contemporary — ' brought him light out of darkness.' Annoyed 
 by the sale of Dunkirk, and irritated by the disasters of the 
 last war with the United Provinces, public opinion in London 
 showed itself as hostile as at the Hague to the conquest of the 
 Netherlands. 
 
 ' The jealousy is tremendous,' writes the French ambas- 
 sador, on his arrival in England, ' and minds are so imbued 
 with the old idea that the more feeble of the two powers must 
 always be supported, by maintaining the balance between France 
 and Spain, that it is to be feared that there is a general dis- 
 position to assist the Spaniards.' 
 
 ' Common sense and the public welfare,' he writes again 
 ' will not, they tell me, permit of their witnessing un- 
 moved the conquest of the Netherlands, since it is easy to 
 see that England would no longer be able to resist France, 
 when the latter should have conquered all those pro- 
 vinces.' These sentiments were re-echoed by the parliament, 
 which had been sitting again for two months, and which the 
 
426 JOHN DE WITT. 
 
 Emperor of Germany's envoy, Baron Lisola, was stirring up by 
 his intrigues in^ the cause of Spain. The downfall of the 
 Chancellor and Prime Minister, Clarendon, seemed to give the 
 signal for a new policy. Tired of his domineering, and find- 
 ing in him a troublesome censor of his amusements, Charles 
 was ready to sacrifice the faithful servant who had been his 
 companion and counsellor in his evil fortunes, and had deprived 
 him of the seals. The House of Commons, led by the Duke of 
 Buckingham, and in which all the Chancellor's enemies were 
 leagued against him, had precipitated his ruin. It violently 
 attacked his administration, and drew up a bill of attainder 
 against him in seventeen clauses. It accused his foreign 
 policy, which it considered too favourable to France, as 
 well as his home policy, which gave satisfaction neither to the 
 popular party nor to that of the court. In spite of the pro- 
 tection of the Lords, who found no charge sufficiently estab- 
 lished against him. Clarendon, threatened with being brought 
 before a commission, from which he could only expect con- 
 demnation, and yielding to the urgent advice of the Duke 
 of York, his son-in-law, who found himself incapable of 
 defending him, took the course of leaving the kingdom to 
 which he had eight years previously brought back the son of 
 Charles I. 
 
 By his retirement to France he anticipated the decree of 
 banishment which was pronounced against him, and which 
 left him to die in exile. 
 
 Henry Bennet, created Earl of ArUngton, to whom 
 the direction of foreign affairs passed on the fall of 
 Clarendon, could only win the confidence of. parliament by 
 outwardly following a more popular foreign policy. Being 
 married to a Dutchwoman, a daughter of Beverwaert, formerly 
 ambassador in London, he was favourable to an alli- 
 ance between England and the States-General, although he 
 still hesitated to ' bell the cat.' Parliament imperiously 
 demanded this alliance, and complained of the prolonged 
 indecision of the King. ' Some of its members,' wrote the 
 ambassador of the Eepublic, ' went so far as to say, that his 
 wish to flatter France would make him as much hated as the 
 
SIR WILLIAM TEMPLE. 427 
 
 Chancellor Clarendon.' Charles II., not daring to resist this 
 feeling, made up his mind to yield, though much against his 
 will. He began to withdraw himself gradually from Louis 
 XIV., and to show himself more exacting. Not satisfied with 
 refusing him his co-operation, he made it a condition of the 
 neutrality of England that Ostend and Nieupoort should be 
 ceded, and that war should be declared by France against the 
 United Provinces. Louis refusing to consent, if England re- 
 mained neutral, to cede to her any part of his conquests 
 from Spain, and not choosing ' out of respect for the honour 
 of the treaties,' he proudly writes, ' to declare himself the 
 enemy of the States, before they gave him any cause for a 
 rupture,' Charles seized the pretext to yield to the popular 
 impulse. He resolved to propose to the States to join with 
 England against France, and the better to ensure the success 
 of this negotiation he confided it to Sir William Temple. 
 
 No one was more capable of bringing it to a successful 
 issue. Born in London in 1628, and brought up at Cam- 
 bridge, Temple, having completed his education by travel, 
 established himself in Ireland, in the midst of his family. 
 He lived in retirement until the Eestoration, enjoying at his 
 ease the domestic happiness which he owed to his marriage 
 with Dorothy Osborne, a daughter of the former governor of 
 Guernsey under Charles I. He profited by his leisure for the 
 study of history and philosophy, and thus acquired those 
 qualities as a writer, which have given so bright a lustre to his 
 name. He was as much esteemed for his character as for his 
 talents. Frank and open, opposed to all ostentation, im- 
 pervious to corruj)tion, he had that sense of honour to which 
 the court of Charles II. professed a shameful indifference. 
 The Eestoration opened to him the path of public life. As a 
 member of the Dublin parliament he became acquainted 
 with the Duke of Ormond, one of the most upright of the new 
 king's ministers, who had just been made lord-lieutenant 
 of Ireland. The recommendation of the Duke of Ormond 
 insured him the confidence of the Lord Chancellor, Clarendon, 
 and diplomacy seemed to offer the most favourable field for 
 his abilities. 
 
428 JOHN DE WITT. 
 
 He was sent to the Bishop of Munster to gain his 
 adhesion to the EngUsh alliance in the war with England 
 against the United Provinces. The skiU and experience of 
 which he gave proof united to his natural gift for observation, 
 soon pointed him out for a more important post. He was 
 appointed resident at Brussels, and Louis XIV.'s invasion 
 of the Netherlands procured him the principal part in the 
 negotiations. He became from the first a defender of that 
 policy to which he always remained faithful — that of resist- 
 ance to France, whose domination he considered as a threat 
 of subjection to all Europe. 
 
 He began by reviving the failing courage of the governor 
 of the Netherlands — the Marquis of Castel-Eodrigo — who, on 
 hearing of the taking of Charleroi, was disposed to quit 
 Brussels and retire upon the citadel of Antwerp. Being asked 
 to take the initiative. Temple told him that he would not be 
 the first to leave, having orders to remain at his post, and he 
 thus kept him in the capital, to prevent its surrender to the 
 conquerors. Bent upon the arrest of the French invasion. 
 Temple constantly represented to his government how 
 dangerous a conquest of the maritime province by France 
 would be for England, and he energetically demonstrated the 
 necessity of a prompt imderstanding with the States- General. 
 ' It would be,' he writes to Arlington at the commencement of 
 Louis XIV.'s campaign in May 1667, ' the best revenge that 
 could be drawn from the game which Prance is playing ia 
 engaging us in the last war against the United Provinces.' 
 Five months later he laments that the projects for an alliance 
 are still in abeyance. ' I leave to those who are in the 
 ministry,' he says, ' as well in England as in France, the care 
 of taking the wisest and most necessary measures to bring 
 about a reconcilation before it is too late.' 
 
 His wishes were necessarily encom-aged by his relations 
 with the Grand Pensionary. John de Witt's renown had made 
 Temple impatient to be acquainted with him, and he went to 
 pay him a visit during a journey which he made to Holland, 
 without any official mission, with his sister. Lady Giffard. 
 ' The sole object of my stay here,' he writes an introducing 
 
TEMPLE'S MISSION TO THE HAGUE. 429 
 
 himself to him, 'is to see the things most considerable in 
 your country, and I should lose my credit if I left it without 
 seeing you.' De Witt, who was already interested in Temple's 
 favour by the reports addressed to him by the ambassadors 
 of the Eepublic, was sensible of the compliment, and replied 
 with a cordial sincerity which gained him the confidence 
 of the English diplomatist. The two statesmen soon came 
 to an understanding as to the causes which had placed England 
 and the Eepublic at variance, and which De Witt attributed 
 to the 'mischief-making of Downing.' They congratulated 
 themselves on the re-establishment, of peace between the two 
 nations, and the Grand Pensionary of Holland, whilst ' keep- 
 ing himself sufficiently at arm's-length,' gave Temple to 
 understand how much he wished that he could trust England 
 after what had occurred in Flanders. Temple retired de- 
 lighted with this conversation, declaring ' that anyone nego- 
 tiating with M. de Witt should follow a straightforward 
 path, without refinements or false colouring, or the offering 
 of a shadow for the substance.' The esteem and sympathy 
 which he felt for the simplicity of his life, and the frankness 
 of his character, with which he was the more charmed that 
 he was accustomed to the greedy luxury of Charles II. 's 
 ministers and the dissimulation of the Spanish ambassadors, 
 guaranteed beforehand the success of their diplomatic rela- 
 tions, so that when a policy favourable to an understanding 
 with the States-General prevailed in the councils of Charles 
 II., he found himself appointed to negotiate the conclusion of 
 the treaty between the two governments. 
 
 Towards the end of December, Temple received orders to 
 leave Brussels and go to London, taking the Hague on his way. 
 It was only another plot to which the King of England had 
 recourse as a last attempt to detach the States from France 
 without being forced to enter into any agreement with them. 
 He thought that John de Witt's confidence in Temple's 
 sincerity would enable him to trifle with the Grand Pen- 
 sionary with impunity. Temple, who was equally deceived, 
 entered eagerly into the mission with which he was charged, 
 and which satisfied all his wishes. Arrived at the Hague, he 
 
430 JOHN DE WITT. 
 
 pressed De Witt, in accordance with his instructions, to tell 
 him whether the States would cons<^nt to an offensive and 
 defensive league against Louis XIV. De Witt was not im- 
 posed upon by these advances, but remained on his guard, and 
 stood faithfully to his programme, seeking no other guarantee 
 than such as would preserve the Netherlands from conquest, 
 and resolved, if he could obtain that, to abide by the French 
 alliance. At the first interview he hastened to thank Temple 
 for the communications with which the King of England had 
 charged his envoy, but he did not conceal that, instead of 
 being questioned, he expected to receive an answer. Pressed 
 to say what course the United Provinces would take, the 
 Grand Pensionary held to the resolution made by the States 
 of Holland the preceding month, according to the terms of 
 which they only intended to offer their mediation, and, if neces- 
 sary, to enforce it. He merely added that to make it success- 
 ful the negotiators of the Eepublic must also be made aware 
 whether the real co-operation of England would be insured 
 to them. Temple replied that he was not authorised to pledge 
 his government, and that his only mission was to ask for the 
 promise of the States. He urged him to be exphcit as to the 
 offer of an offensive league, giving him to fear that, should 
 the Eepublic refuse, England would enter into an agreement 
 with France for a share in the Netherlands, and even for the 
 dismemberment of the United Provinces. De Witt, without 
 affecting a confidence in the Kings of France and England 
 which he no longer possessed, still refused tp give way to his 
 suspicions, and renewed his declarations that the States would 
 only join in a mediation on the condition of the proposition 
 coming from England. He thus avoided, not only a rupture 
 with Louis XIV., but any compromising of the understanding 
 between the Eepublic and France, and determined to maintain 
 his reserve as long as England did not declare herself, 
 thus scrupulously conforming his conduct to all the rules of 
 political prudence. 
 
 Forced to recognise that the States would enter into no 
 agreement, until the co-operation of England was guaranteed 
 to them, Temple suddenly made other overtures to De Witt 
 
AGREEMENT BETWEEN TEMPLE ANB DE WITT. 431 
 
 for the purpose of satisfying himself that there was no secret 
 project of treaty between France and the United Provinces. 
 He asked whether the States would be opposed to the King of 
 England's intervention in favour of Spain to recover .from 
 Louis XIV. that portion of the Netherlands which the King 
 of France had conquered. Having received this proposal in 
 silence, De Witt, in a further meeting, showed himself rather 
 favourable than otherwise. But Temple had to be satisfied 
 with this liberty of action left to the King of England, and 
 to renounce any hope of the assistance of the States, in the 
 event of Charles, instead of contenting himself with a media- 
 tion between France and Spain, declaring war against France. 
 
 The account of this mission, faithfully reported by Temple 
 to Charles H. who had sent for him, put an end to the king's 
 indecision. No longer able to evade the satisfaction demanded 
 of him by public opinion, he declared his resolution to ally 
 himself with the States-General, and to accept their proposals. 
 On the next day but one. Temple re-embarked, and after a 
 stormy passage, found himself again at the Hague, happy to 
 be the bearer of full powers to conclude the alliance between 
 England and the Kepublic. 
 
 The very day of his arrival, he went straight to the Grand 
 Pensionary and begged that they might resume their confer- 
 ences without any useless formalities. The two negotiators 
 easily came to an understanding on the meaning and terms of 
 their last interviews. Temple assured De Witt that the King of 
 England had resolved to make proposals in conformity there- 
 with and promised to co-operate with the States in a mediation 
 between France and Spain. He added that Charles made only 
 one condition, that of a defensive alliance between England and 
 the States, to which it seemed to him the Grand Pensionary could 
 not object. De Witt showed himself both satisfied and sur- 
 prised. He feared that this unexpected readiness on the part 
 of the King of England might hide some snare. He could not 
 but assent to the offer of mediation in which he had himself 
 taken the initiative, but he hesitated about entering into a 
 defensive alliance. ' He asked himself,' he said, in allusion to 
 the recent war between England and the Piepublic, ' whether 
 
432 JOHN DE WITT. 
 
 the late wounds from which the two countries had suffered so 
 severely, were sufficiently cured to allow of their being com- 
 pletely closed.' He would not, moreover, too openly show his 
 distrust of France, not yet having perfect confidence in the 
 intentions, hitherto so vacillating, of the EngKsh Government, 
 whom he reproached with never having for two successive 
 years followed the same policy with regard to the United 
 Provinces. 
 
 Temple" undertook to reassure him. He represented to 
 him that once the States were associated with England in a 
 project of mediation, they were interested in securing the 
 benefits of a defensive alliance. In fact, if they were determined 
 to arrest the conquests of France ia the Netherlands, they 
 must expect to bring resentment upon themselves which they 
 were bound to guard against. Further to persuade De Witt, 
 Temple represented to him that according to the assurances 
 of the ambassador of the United Provinces in London, the 
 example of England could not fail to be followed by Sweden 
 and the other States. He renewed his protestations as to the 
 King of England's sincerity, guaranteeing equally that of his 
 ministers, and only withdrew wheti he had disposed of the 
 last of the Grand Pensionary's scruples. 
 
 In a second conference. Temple approached a no less 
 delicate question. The conclusion of the treaty depended 
 upon the rapidity and secrecy with which the negotiations 
 were carried on, but the States-General could enter upon no 
 fresh agreement without the prelimiaary consent of the 
 provincial states, who required no less than a month or six 
 weeks for deliberation. This long delay would inevitably 
 leave the French ambassador at leisure to foil a project so 
 contrary to the interests of the King his master. To avoid 
 this danger, Temple proposed that the States-General should 
 themselves undertake to conclude the treaty, contenting them- 
 selves with, sending it for approval to the provincial states. 
 He added that otherwise there would be an end of the nego- 
 tiations. 
 
 De Witt at first thought this expedient impracticable, and 
 represented that the constitution of the Eepublic offered an 
 
COMMISSIONEES APPOINTED BY THE STATES-GENEEAL. 433 
 
 obstacle which could not be overcome. He declared himself 
 obliged to respect the rights of the provincial states, without 
 whose approbation the States-General could make no valid 
 treaty, and pointed out the danger to which the States-General 
 would expose themselves if they exceeded their powers. Temple 
 was not discouraged. He renewed his entreaties that the 
 treaty might be preliminarily accepted and conferences held, 
 in which he would take part with any commissioners appointed 
 by the States who would afterwards be invited to sign it. He 
 assured the Grand Pensionary that all might be arranged in 
 four or five days, and urged him to consider the misfortunes to 
 which the Eepublic would be exposed if, from too great respect 
 for formalities, the States-General would not undertake to dis- 
 pense with the preliminary vote of the provincial states. He 
 warmly represented to him that the deputies of the provinces 
 in the Federal Assembly, far from having to fear a disavowal 
 of their proceedings, would, on the contrary, be rewarded by 
 the popular gratitude. 
 
 The Grand Pensionary took the advice of those members 
 in whose fidelity he could trust, and finding it more 
 favourable than he had anticipated, hastened to inform 
 Temple. Encouraged by this communication, Temple asked 
 the very next day for an audience of the States-General. He 
 told them he was charged by the King his master to make 
 proposals advantageous to both countries, and asked them to 
 appoint commissioners with whom he could treat. This 
 proposal being accepted, the States granted full powers to a 
 commission of seven members, who represented each of the 
 seven provinces : MM. de Gelicum, d'Asperen, Crommon, 
 Amerongen, Unkel, Coeverden, and Ysbrandt. The Grand 
 Pensionary was associated with them on account of his rights 
 of office, and thus held the direction of the negotiations. On 
 the following day. Temple, who had entered into an arrange- 
 ment with De Witt, opened the conference with the commis- 
 sioners, and submitted to them the project of an offensive and 
 defensive alliance, as a condition of mediation. De Witt, 
 always having in mind the caution he wished to observe towards 
 France, once again tried to evade this proposal, and keep to 
 
 VOL. I. F F 
 
434 JOHN DE "WITT. 
 
 the mediation. Temple, forced to remain faithful to his 
 instructions, was inflexible. 
 
 The commissioners showed great indecision. After having 
 three times retired to consult, they finally gave their consent 
 to the proposal of Charles's envoy, charging De Witt and 
 Ysbrandt to arrange with him as to all the conditions of the 
 alliance. They only exacted that the King should confirm, 
 under the head of maritime treaty, the articles inserted as 
 provisional in the Treaty of Breda which concerned the in- 
 terests of navigation and commerce, so that they might not 
 be exposed to a renewal of those disputes which had brought 
 about the last war between England and the Eepublic. At 
 the next day's conference. Temple pointed out to De Witt and 
 Ysbrandt the danger of leaving the negotiation in suspense, 
 and urged them to proceed without waiting for Charles II.'s 
 reply to the commissioners' last demand. He represented the 
 importance of baffling the manoeuvres which were being 
 attempted to induce Charles to give preference to an aUiance 
 with France over that with the United Provinces. But De 
 Witt nevertheless declared that the States could not give up 
 the guarantee of the maritime treaty. Impatient to overcome 
 this difficulty. Temple proposed an expedient which was agreed 
 to. He showed the two commissioners the letter which he 
 was writing to the King of England, pressing him to satisfy 
 their demand, which was soon granted, and urged that the work 
 of the commission should be finally concluded, undertaking 
 to complete the treaty in conformance with the demands of the 
 States as soon as he should receive Charles's reply, of which he 
 declared himself certain. De Witt consulted Ysbrandt by a 
 glance, and holding out his hand to the English negotiator, 
 told him that he had sufficient confidence in him to ask no 
 other pledge than his word. Temple, on his side, consented 
 to the stipulation that Spain should be constrained to make 
 peace in the event of her refusing to entertain' Louis' last 
 proposals, De Witt thus insuring an absence of any aggressive 
 appearance in regard to France, and hoping thenceforth to 
 win all whUe risking nothing. 
 
 Satisfied with his work, he showed no less eagerness than 
 
COUNT DOHNA. 435 
 
 Temple to press on the conclusion of the negotiations. In a 
 new conference held during the night, from 11 to 1 o'clock in 
 the morning, in presence of all the commissioners, the draft 
 of the treaty, translated from French into Latin, was adopted 
 entire. The most sincere congratulations were exchanged on 
 both sides, and the Grand Pensionary spoke for all when he 
 said to Temple, 'A Breda comme amis, ici comme freres.' 
 The following Monday, after a final interview, which lasted 
 four hours, the articles were again read, and the formalities of 
 registering, signing, and sealing duly accomplished. The 
 same day the States-General approved, without debate, of 
 the proceedings of their negotiators. 
 
 Within a month the States of the provinces, whose vote 
 had been reserved, sent in their ratification of the resolution 
 adopted by the Federal Assembly, and submissively followed 
 the example which the States of Holland had hastened to give 
 them. Public opinion had become an irresistible influence 
 carrying away with it all obstacles. 
 
 The negotiations carried on by Temple with the envoy- 
 extraordinary of Sweden at the Hague had not been without 
 their influence in bringing about so speedy a solution. Chris- 
 topher Delfique, Count Dohna, was worthy from his character 
 to be associated with men like Temple and De Witt. His 
 family feelings as well as his political opinions, made him 
 favourable to an alliance between England and the United 
 Provinces. A nephew of the Princess-Dowager and born in 
 Holland, he had sought his fortunes in Sweden, and had ob- 
 tained there the rank of major-general. The fact of his belong- 
 ing to the Calvinist religion, of which he was a faithful disciple, 
 had prevented his entering the Swedish senate, into which 
 Lutherans only were admitted, and he had sought in diplo- 
 macy a field for his talents. ' In a big, heavy body,' writes a 
 contemporary, ' he possessed great gifts of mind and intellect, 
 and the knowledge which he had acquired of the use of arms 
 had not prevented his training himself in politics.' He did 
 not conceal his antagonism to Louis XIV., who had forcibly 
 dispossessed his brother from the government of the princi- 
 pality of Orange, wishing to unite it to France, and he 
 
 F F 2 
 
436 JOHN DE WITT. 
 
 impatiently awaited an opportunity of gratifying his family 
 resentment. Having, moreover, taken an active part in the 
 conferences of Breda, in which Sweden had played the part 
 of mediator between England and the United Provinces, he 
 was eager to complete this work of pacification by a still closer 
 understanding between the two now reconciled countries. 
 
 The Grand Pensionary, who had no hope of abruptly 
 breaking off the ties of the old alliance between Sweden and 
 France, had hitherto shown some reserve towards Count 
 Dohna. The latter, on his side, as a near relation of the 
 young Prince of Orange, had avoided any close intimacy 
 with the head of the Eepublican party. Immediately on his 
 arrival at the Hague, Temple undertook to associate him 
 in the negotiations which he had just concluded with the 
 States-General. At one of the first conferences which he 
 had with De Witt he proposed to go and see Count Dohna, 
 setting aside all ceremony, 'wishing,' he says, 'to ascertain 
 whether the Swedish minister had any powers to engage the 
 Crown in any common measures for the safety of Christendom, 
 being persuaded that if by such a conjunction we could extend 
 it to a triple alliance among us, he would find it too strong a 
 bar for Prance to venture on.' With this idea. Temple went 
 to Count Dohna, dispensing with all diplomatic preliminaries 
 to his visit. He entered without being announced, and 
 excused his proceeding by saying that his master's interests 
 required that they should put themselves in direct com- 
 munication with each other. Touched by this frankness 
 the Swedish minister embraced him, and promised to treat 
 him with the same cordiality. Temple, satisfied with this 
 assurance, gave him an account of his negotiations, and added 
 that the alliance of Sweden with England and the United 
 Provinces would guarantee their success. He also pointed 
 out to him the importance of the position which Sweden 
 would regain in Europe by this intervention. 
 
 Count Dohna, flattered by these advances, lent a favour- 
 able ear to this communication. He acknowledged that his 
 instructions allowed of his taking part for his government ' in 
 all matters concerning Christendom,' but he added that he 
 
THE TRIPLE ALLIANCE. 437 
 
 could not, Avithout special authority, enter into the agree- 
 ment which was proposed to him. Nevertheless, knowing 
 the feelings of the Senate in Stockholm, he promised that, 
 in the event of an alliance between England and the Ee- 
 public, he would do all he could to associate his government 
 with it. 
 
 To show the importance which they attached to the co- 
 aperation of their new ally, the States-General in conformity 
 with the resolution of the States of Holland agreed that the 
 treaty should reserve the right of the King of Sweden as a 
 principal contracting party in the engagements entered into 
 between Charles II. and the States. Count Dohna hastened 
 to profit by this declaxation. Having obtained a promise of 
 subsidies in the event of Sweden intervening for the defence 
 of the Spanish Netherlands, he conditionally ratified the 
 treaty, subject to the approval of his government, and, with 
 that reservation, signed it within three days. The name of 
 ' The Triple Alliance,' which has adhered to it since, might 
 properly be given to it from this moment. 
 
 The treaty consisted of three clauses. By the first a de- 
 fensive alliance between the contracting powers was stipulated 
 for. The one who should be attacked had the right of claiming 
 from the other forty vessels, 6,000 infantry, and 400 cavalry, 
 or an equivalent subsidy — advances which were to be repaid 
 three years after the termination of the war. The second 
 and third clauses, of which one was public and the other 
 secret, regulated the intervention of the two powers, which 
 was justified, according to the declaration in the preamble, 
 by ' the fear that the conflagration recently kindled by the 
 rupture between the two crowns might be communicated to 
 their neighbours if it were not extinguished at its birth.' In 
 the public agreement the contracting powers adhered to 
 the conditions of peace offered them by Louis XIV. They 
 bound themselves to insure their acceptance by Spain, if 
 necessary, by force; but they declared themselves mutually 
 agreed to obtain from the King of France a truce until 
 the end of May, which would give them time to persuade 
 the Spanish Government to negotiate. They, moreover. 
 
438 JOHN DE WITT. 
 
 interdicted all conquests over the Netherlands to Louis XTV., ' 
 even in the event of the refusal of Spain. 
 
 The secret clause was summed up ia four articles. In it 
 the contracting powers pledged themselves to use their good 
 offices to procure peace between Spain and Portugal, which 
 latter France had never ceased to succour. They stated that 
 they had come to an agreement, either to insist upon the 
 renunciation by Louis XIV. of the Spanish succession by the 
 new treaty which he might conclude with Spain, or, at least, 
 to prevent the insertion of any contrary clause. Lastly, they 
 mutually agreed to declare war against the King of Prance, 
 in the event of his not keeping to the conditions which he 
 had proposed, and they undertook to continue it until they 
 had despoUed him of his last conquests m Flanders, and re- 
 established the position made for the two kingdoms by the 
 Treaty of the Pyrenees. 
 
 Peace seemed to be thus assured, and even if it could not 
 be obtained, the equilibrium of Europe was none the less 
 guaranteed. By forcing Spain to abandon the places she had 
 allowed to be taken from her, ' The Triple Alliance ' gave 
 Louis XIV. that satisfaction with which he had declared he 
 would remain content. By not permitting him, on the other 
 hand, to extend his conquests to that part of the Netherlands 
 of which Spain was not yet dispossessed, it shielded the United 
 Provinces from the dangerous vicinity of France. The policy 
 so determinedly followed by the Grand Pensionary de Witt 
 thus gained its end. He owed it to his understanding with 
 Temple : ' All Christendom,' he writes to him later, ' owes 
 you the glory of having first disposed the King of Great 
 Britain to so strict an alliance between His Majesty and this 
 State, for the universal good and peace of Europe.' 
 
 He gives him the same testimony in a letter written by 
 him to Arlington in these commendatory terms : ' You cannot 
 send any minister here, more capable, or more adapted to the 
 tastes and spirit of this nation than Sir William Temple. He 
 should be no less satisfied with the promptitude with which the 
 States have concluded and signed the treaty for which he came 
 here than they are with his behaviour, and the admirabla 
 
SATISFACTION OF THE UNITED PROVINCES. 439 
 
 manner in which he has conducted himself throughout the 
 negotiation. It would seem that you are a judge of men, 
 and that you only give your friendship to those who merit it, 
 since you find means to employ those who so worthily acquit 
 themselves.' 
 
 Temple deserved this flattering opinion. By the boldness 
 of his measures he had overcome seemingly insuperable 
 obstacles. By hastening the issue, through the intervention 
 of the States-General, instead of allowing it to be referred to 
 the States of the provinces, he had cut short delays which 
 would have ruined everything. He had, as De Witt said, 
 ' performed a miracle.' 
 
 With a modesty which does him honour, Temple himself 
 accounted for the success of his mission : ' They will needs 
 have me pass here for one of great abilities, for having 
 finished and signed in five days a treaty of such importance 
 to Christendom. But I will tell you the secret of it. To 
 draw things out of their centre, requires labour and address 
 to put them in motion ; but to make them return thither, 
 nature helps so far, that there needs no more than just to 
 ' set them agoing. Now I think a s'trict alliance is the true 
 centre of our two nations. There was also another accident 
 which contributed very much to this affair, and that was a 
 great confidence arisen between the Pensioner and me. He 
 is extremely pleased with me and my sincere open way of 
 dealing ; and I, with all the reason in the world, am infinitely 
 pleased with him upon the same score, and look upon him 
 as one of the greatest geniuses I have known, as a man of 
 honour, and the most easie in conversation, as well as in 
 business.' 
 
 This common work of the two ministers once accomplished, 
 public satisfaction was freely expressed in the United Provinces. 
 The Grand Pensionary, wishing to show his participation in 
 it, gave a banquet, to which were invited the young Prince of 
 Orange, Prince John Maurice of Nassau, and most of the 
 foreign ministers and their wives. 
 
 The ball which followed was opened by the Prince of 
 Orange, and the dancing was continued by the Grand Pen- 
 
440 JOHN DE WITT. 
 
 sionary, who, according to a report of the time, ' achieved a 
 great success.' The Prince of Orange was no less eager to 
 celebrate an alliance which appeared to him to be so favour- 
 able to his cause by bringing together the United Provinces 
 and his uncle, the King of England. He gave a fancy ball to 
 over eight hundred guests, and acted the principal part in an 
 allegorical prologue, mtermingled with entries of fabulous 
 personages, the principal ones being Apollo and the Muses, 
 and Neptune and the Tritons. The external security, which 
 the Eepublic believed to be thenceforth insured to it by 
 the protection of its new allies, gave a national character to 
 these rejoicings and helped to justify them. 
 
 It was over the King of France that the diplomatic victory, 
 upon which the United Provinces prided themselves, was won. 
 It checked him abruptly in the execution of the plans which he 
 had conceived, at the very moment when he thought their suc- 
 cess was infallible. The treaty which he had just concluded with 
 the Emperor of Germany gave him reason in fact to imagine 
 himself master of the destinies of Europe. Perseveringly 
 returning to a negotiation which he had already begun, five 
 months before his entry into Flanders, he had proposed to 
 the Emperor Leopold an agreement for the regulation of the 
 eventual inheritance of the King of Spain, without taking into 
 account the renunciation he had made of it in the Treaty of 
 the Pyrenees. This arrangement, made so secretly that it 
 has only quite lately been discovered, had been the work of 
 Chevalier de Gremonville, the French ambassador at Vienna, 
 who by his clever audacity had ended by ruling the Emperor 
 and his ministers. Whilst the Triple AlHance was being ne- 
 gotiated at the Hague, and four days before it was concluded, 
 GremonviUe, at a last audience, obtained the Emperor's con- 
 sent to the division of Charles V.'s monarchy with the 
 King of Prance. In consideration of the share left to the 
 Emperor, Louis XIV. claimed for himself, besides the Nether- 
 lands, which were the principal object of his ambition, Franche- 
 Comte, Navarre, the Philippines with the stations on the coast 
 of Africa, Naples and Sicily. He thus secured for the future, 
 in the event of a vacancy on the throne of Spain, not only 
 
PRENCH ATTAOK UPON FEANCHECOMTE. 441 
 
 the neutrality, but even the complicity of the sovereign who 
 seemed most interested in resisting him. 
 
 Having to so great a degree insured the speedy aggran- 
 disement of his kingdom, Louis XIV. struck a fresh blow 
 at Spain, which still refused peace. The Marquis of Castel- 
 Eodrigo, governor of the Spanish Netherlands, had even 
 haughtily repulsed the offer of a truce, replying that ' he had 
 no need to accept as a fa,vour a suspension of hostilities which 
 God Himself and the winter would necessarily impose.' Per- 
 haps he hoped, by thus tempting Louis to continue the eon- 
 quest of the Netherlands, to force the States-General to come 
 to the assistance of Spain and to engage in a war against 
 France. Louis was on his guard against this danger, and in 
 again taking up arms to overcome the resistance of Spain, he 
 meant at any rate to re-assure Europe by his apparent modera- 
 tion, as well as to astonish it by the success of a new cam- 
 paign. Anxious to prevent the coalition which was being 
 formed between the United Provinces and England— and of 
 the conclusion of which he was still in ignorance — and, since 
 his treaty with the Emperor of Germany, awaiting with more 
 patience the annexation of the whole of the Netherlands, he 
 resolved to make himself master of Franche-Comte. This 
 populous and fertile country, which was only attached to 
 Spain by artificial ties, formed a threatening encroachment on 
 the French soil, and placed the eastern frontier at a distance of 
 forty leagues from the capital, from which it was equidistant 
 with the northern frontier. Completely to re-assure the States, 
 whom he thought it for his interest to treat with consideration, 
 the King of France went so far as to let them know that he did 
 not mean to profit by the conquest he was going to undertake in 
 order to change the pacific overtures which he had made, being 
 ready to surrender Franche-Comte if Spain relinquished the 
 portion of the Netherlands of which he had possessed himself. 
 It was an agreement which he had no doubt flattered himself he 
 could evade : ' since no one could imagine,' writes the King of 
 England's minister, Arlington, ' why the King of France should 
 take the trouble to take more towns merely to restore them 
 again,' His preparations, completed by the indefatigable activity 
 
442 JOHN DE WITT. 
 
 of Louvois, the Secretary of State for War, gave him complete 
 confidence ; and the winter season, which seemed to stand in 
 the way of a new campaign, had allowed of their concealment. 
 The Priace of Conde, governor of Burgundy and former con- 
 queror of Spain, who had long been in disgrace, was appointed 
 to command the expedition. Proud of again taking his place 
 at the head of the French armies, he gradually collected in the 
 province a body of 15,000 men, announcing that he was 
 going to send them to manoeuvre in Catalonia. He also 
 had the condition of the fortified towns, and the number 
 of troops available for the defence of the Spanish province, 
 secretly investigated. The towns were almost all incapable of 
 offering the slightest resistance. The troops were reduced 
 to 2,000 men of the regulars, and the 10,000 mUitia dis- 
 tributed amongst the different garrisons of the province 
 included many young artisans, who, with no means beyond 
 their pay, had neither the habits nor tastes suited for war- 
 fare. 
 
 It suf&ced to enter Franche-Comte to subdue it. Confident 
 in the success which awaited him, Louis XTV. started sud- 
 denly in the middle of the winter from St. Germain, as if 
 about to assist at a military promenade. After having ridden 
 eighty miles in five days he rejoined his troops, who, during 
 his rapid journey, had nearly reduced the province to submis- 
 sion. Two fortresses, Salins and Besan§on, had already thrown 
 open their gates, and Dole, the capital of Pranche-Comte, 
 seemed only to have prolonged its resistance four days that 
 it might await the arrival of the King of France, to whom it 
 sent the keys. The parliament, which was sitting, took the 
 oath of allegiance to him and went so far as to declare gmlty 
 of treason those former subjects of the King of Spain who 
 refused to recognise their new sovereign. The capitulation of 
 Gray was the last blow to the Spanish dominion, and the 
 governor, the Marquis d'Yenne, who had failed to take 
 measures for defence, hastened to make his submission. 
 ' All that has happened,' writes Lionne to D'Estrades, ' is 
 past belief.' A fortnight had sufficed to give, as by magic, a 
 new province to France. The Spanish Government, con- 
 
LOUIS HEAES OF THE TRIPLE ALLIANCE. 443 
 
 founded and humiliated by the overwhelming success of an 
 invasion which they attributed to treason, scornfully declared 
 that so great a king would have done better to send his foot- 
 men than to come himself to take possession of such a 
 conquest. 
 
 While he was thus making his power felt and promising 
 beforehand not to. take advantage of it, Louis XIV. suddenly 
 received news of the Triple Alliance. It required him to 
 leave to Spain that portion of the Netherlands which he had 
 not yet conquered. The speedy issue of the negotiations con- 
 cluded at the Hague had baffled the intelligence he could 
 usually count upon in his diplomacy. The perspicacity of 
 Count d'Estrades had been foiled. John de Witt's declarations 
 had reassured him. The Grand Pensionary had only com- 
 municated to him the last resolutions of the States, which 
 insisted upon the necessity of forcing Spain to accept the 
 proposals of peace, and he skilfully avoided laying any stress 
 on the demand to be made upon the King of France to 
 content himself, either with his conquests in the Netherlands, 
 or with the acquisition of Franche-Comte, according to the 
 alternative which Louis had himself offered to Spain. 
 D'Estrades, being informed of the arrival of Temj)le at the 
 Hague, had written that the projects for an offensive alliance 
 against France, encouraged by the English ambassador, had 
 not been approved by the Grand Pensionary, and he had paid 
 no attention to any other proposals which might be settled 
 between them. Instead of being put on the alert by the con- 
 ferences entered into by the negotiators, he had announced 
 that 'it would all end m smoke, and the King his master 
 might snap his fingers at it.' Convinced that the constitution 
 of the United Provinces, which imposed such slowness on the 
 resolutions of the States, would give him time to baffle all 
 diplomatic manoeuvres, he was quietly awaiting the decision of 
 the Assembly of the Provinces, never imagining that the 
 States-General would take upon themselves to conclude a 
 treaty. On the very eve of the signing of the Triple Alliance 
 he had replied to those who would have had him fear the con- 
 elusion, ' We will talk of it again six weeks hence.' 
 
444 JOHX DE WITT. 
 
 Accordingly, when, on the day following the signing of the 
 treaty, De Witt and Temple went to inform him of it, although 
 he was stUl in ignorance of the articles which were to remain 
 secret, he could not conceal his surprise and annoyance. He 
 complained of impediments put in the way of the King's 
 further enterprise against the Netherlands if Spain should 
 refuse to yield, and threw out a hint that if there was any 
 attempt at coercion, the King his master would not flinch, even 
 if it caused a forty years' war. He, moreover, reproached the 
 States who were the King of France's closest allies with 
 having entered into fresh alliances without giving him any 
 previous notice, and suggested the danger of his master's re- 
 sentment. Nevertheless, to avert Louis's displeasure. Count 
 d'Estrades was careful to modify in his despatches the bearing 
 of the treaty which he had neither foreseen nor prevented. 
 
 In spite of the blame which he thought himself bound to 
 lay upon the States, he attempted to exonerate them. ' Many 
 of my friends amongst the members,' he says, 'have been 
 hurt at the way in which I have spoken to them about this 
 alliance. I am not sorry to leave them under such an im- 
 pression, as it might contribute to induce them to give up 
 things which they would not do if they thought the King 
 was satisfied.' ' I should tell you,' he writes to Lionne a 
 month later, ' that nothing can be better to all appearance 
 than the way in which Holland has acted,' and he more than 
 once renewed this assurance, which he wished to impress upon 
 the court of France. So that, whether Louis XIV. were de- 
 ceived, or merely wished to pretend not to observe the affront 
 offered to him, he at first showed no irritation. 
 
 ' To tell you my own individual feeling as to what has 
 ■ taken place,' wrote Lionne to D'Estrades, ' the basis appears 
 to me good and advantageous to the King ; the disagreeable 
 style and the terms in which it is drawn up might certainly 
 have been improved upon, but the sequel will show whether 
 the intention is good or bad.' 
 
 The Grand Pensionary was also careful to maintain the 
 circumspection necessary to be shown towards Louis XIV. 
 Once the independence of the Netherlands guaranteed, his 
 
ENDEAVOURS TO CONCILIATE LOUIS, 445 
 
 only interest was to oblige Spain to give satisfaction to France, 
 so as to prevent a renewal of a war, which the States were 
 interested in diverting from their neighbourhood. He thence- 
 forth undertook to reconcile the policy of concession with 
 that of resistance, setting in action all the resources of diplo- 
 macy to prevent the King of Prance from taking offence at 
 the engagement between the Eepublic and their new allies. 
 The very day of the signing of the Triple Alliance he thus 
 gives notice of it to one of the most active negotiators in the 
 employment of Louis XIV., Prince William of Fiirstenberg : 
 ' I think I can inform you with certainty that the King of 
 England has allowed himself to be persuaded to unite with 
 this State, and to bind himself with us to assist France in the 
 acquisition either of the towns she conquered in the last 
 campaign, or of an equivalent for the surrender of those 
 towns, an equivalent with which His Most Christian Majesty 
 has declared that he will be contented.' 
 
 De Witt was the more ready to address himself to the 
 Prince of Fiirstenberg, that the latter had been sent by Louis 
 XIV. to the Hague to submit to him the draft of a treaty for 
 a peace with Spain, and it was to this treaty that the Grand 
 Pensionary wished to seem to conform in negotiating the 
 Triple Alliance. To persuade the King of France of this, 
 De Witt represented to Count d'Estrades 'that it had not 
 been possible to insert into the treaty the clause for a rupture 
 with Spain, in the event of the court of Madrid refusing to 
 accede to the proposals for peace, on account of the difficulties 
 which some of the provinces would have made and from the 
 necessity of an agreement with England.' But he added 
 that the St^es would nevertheless obtain the conditions of 
 peace for Louis XIV. as proposed to Spain. ' I have seen the 
 deputies of Holland,' writes D'Estrades, 'and they have 
 assured me that if they see any signs of England favouring 
 the interests of Spain by not exacting from her the acceptance 
 of the offers of France, Holland will break the engagement 
 she has entered into with her, having it always at heart above 
 all things to preserve the King's friendship.' 
 
 The sincerity of the Grand Pensionary's declarations is 
 
446 JOHX DE WITT. 
 
 clearly evinced in his correspondence with Temple. Urged by 
 England to complete the engagements of the Triple Alliance 
 by the conclusion of an offensive league with Spain against 
 Prance so as to force Louis to make peace, in ease of his 
 refusal De Witt, far from encouraging this aggressive policy, 
 tried to divert the English Government from it. ' Now we 
 comprehend very well,' he writes, ' that such a concert and 
 such a league as His Excellence desires would put the King 
 of France upon an absolute necessity of continuing the war, 
 because, if he should comply after such a league made with 
 his enemies, it would appear publicly that he was obliged to it 
 by this bond and consequently by his enemies themselves.' 
 Whilst holding himself in readiness for an energetic interven- 
 tion of the States against France should Louis show any 
 intention of continuing his conquests, he was anxious not to 
 seem to provoke him. 
 
 To be prepared against the resentment which they feared, 
 the States -General hastened to send Van Beimingen back to 
 France, as he had been well known and appreciated in his 
 first embassy. His instructions were to follow out a policy 
 of conciliation. He was to represent to Louis XIV. that if 
 the States entered into a treaty with England it was to enforce 
 peace upon Spain in the event of the King of France's offers 
 not being accepted. 'M. de Witt assures me,' writes Count 
 d'Estrades, 'that your Majesty will be satisfied with the con- 
 duct of the States, as soon as M. van Beuningen shall have 
 informed your Majesty of all particulars on the subject of his 
 mission.' Van Beuningen was careful to do all in his power 
 to insure himself a favourable reception, and on the very day 
 of his appointment to the embassy wrote to Lionne 'how 
 much he had it at heart to be employed in obtaining recogni- 
 tion of his masters' good-will.' 
 
 The States could not give a better proof of it than in 
 sparing neither pains nor efforts to make Spain yield, and 
 thus prevent a renewal of the war. ' They were determined,' 
 wrote De Witt, who thus gives in a few words his political pro- 
 ' gramme, ' not to be led by the will of the Spanish Government, 
 and as if out of mere wantonness, into a course which they 
 
VAN BEUNINGEN SENT TO PARIS. 447 
 
 only intended to follow in the event of a fatal necessity.' The 
 task was not easy. It was necessary almost to use force to 
 Spain in order to- save her. Spain had been the victim of an 
 unjust aggression undertaken in spite of the renunciation of 
 the King of Prance to the inheritance of the Infanta, his wife, 
 and she could not consent to make the best of a bad business 
 and preserve the rest of her possessions by the abandonment 
 of some towns in the Netherlands. Preferring the continua- 
 tion of war to the conclusion of peace, she wilfully blinded her- 
 self, and ' was always waiting,' wrote a Swedish envoy, ' for 
 something of the nature of what she calls miracles to extricate 
 herself.' Guaranteed by the Triple Alliance against the total 
 loss of the Netherlands, she fancied she could with impunity 
 refuse the sacrifice which was demanded of her. Although 
 she was reduced to an impossibility of defending herself in the 
 Netherlands or elsewhere, she hoped that the Powers who had 
 just signed the Triple Alliance would not look on at her ruin. 
 In this conviction the Marquis of Castel-Eodrigo, Governor 
 of the Netherlands at Brussels, who had obtained full powers 
 to negotiate, instead of making use of them, opposed all con- 
 cession and never ceased to encourage resistance by the court 
 of Madrid. Having vainly tried to compromise the States 
 and the Grand Pensionary with the King of France, in the 
 hope of provoking a rupture, and having equally without 
 success attempted to cut them off from England, so as to come 
 to a direct understanding himself with Charles II., he set him- 
 self to protract the negotiations which the United Provinces 
 were carrying on at Brussels. The States-General were 
 there represented by two of their members, Burgersdyck, 
 Pensionary of Leyden, and Van der Tocht, Pensionary of 
 Gouda, who, according to the testimony of a contemporary, 
 were wanting 'neither in ability nor in assurance.' They 
 were enjoined to act in concert with the English ambassador, 
 Temple, who was charged with the same mission. But the 
 conferences only served to perpetua.te the disagreement. 
 ' They are not suited to one another,' writes Temple to De 
 Witt ; ' the Marquis is of a temper to face death rather than 
 allow himself to tie overmastered in the conduct and management 
 
448 JOHN DE WITT. 
 
 of affairs, and your members are only fit to be employed 
 in places where you reign supreme.' The intentional dilatori- 
 ness of Castel-Eodrigo and the impatience of the negotiators 
 for the States renewed each day the scenes of discord. Temple 
 describes the scene in vivid colours in a letter to Arhngton of 
 March 16, 1668 : ' The Marquis,' he writes, ' is not the easiest of 
 access, nor the quickest at dispatch : and his officers are at the 
 same rate ; the Dutch deputies are all upon the spur, and, when 
 they demand an audience or a paper, if they have it not within 
 half an hour they say the Marquis is trifling with them, and 
 write at once to the States that he is only making delays, 
 wishing thereby to involve them in war. They reason him to 
 death upon every point, The Marquis, who used to owe no 
 man anything in that kind, grows ten times more difficult by 
 that time they have talked an hour than he was at first, and 
 engaging in long discourses gives them twenty occasions of grow- 
 ing warm upon the place and wise afterwards by interpreta- 
 tions that God knows were never in the case ; so that, in their 
 audiences, between the Marquis' eloquence and their Leyden 
 philosophy the cards commonly run high, and all is pique and 
 repique between them, and I am to go to one and t'other next 
 day to set all right again, and endeavour to make them agree 
 upon points which they could by no nieans agree upon 
 together.' 
 
 This conciliatory intervention of Temple and the resolute 
 firmness of the Grand Pensionary ended by triumphing over 
 the hesitation and iU-will of the Spanish Government. ' Spain 
 cannot now embroil us with France in spite of ourselves,' 
 writes De Witt to Meerman, the ambassador for the States in 
 England, and we wUl apply to them, if necessary, these words, 
 Cuncta prius tentanda, seel immedicabile rulnus ense reddendum 
 est : ' Everything must be tried first, but then if necessary 
 we must use the knife.' 
 
 Having made up his mind to obtain perfect satisfaction 
 for the King of France rather than allow him to undertake to 
 get it for himself, the Grand Pensionary informed the Marquis 
 of Castel-Eodrigo ' that if needed, to put an end to his in- 
 tolerable hesitation, the States army would occupy Flanders as 
 
EXTENSION OF THE TEUCE. 449 
 
 an enemy.' Wishing to prove that this was not an empty 
 threat, the States addressed a similar communication to the 
 King : ' M. de Witt has assured me,' said D'Estr'ades, ' that 
 the States and England will give the Marquis no peace until 
 he has consented, and if he will not they will break with him.' 
 According to Temple, ' Spain must either go out by the door, 
 or jump out of window.' 
 
 Once convinced that he would have to yield, Castel-Eodrigo 
 resigned himself to submission, and — as the deputies of the 
 States wrote—' was dragged like a victim to the altar.' 
 He began by consenting to the truce which Spain was so 
 manifestly interested in accepting, and the refusal of which 
 had cost him Franche-Comte. After many evasions he at last 
 consented to prolong it till the end of May, according to the 
 proposals of England and the States, who iu the interests 
 of Spain held to the continuation of the negotiations. He was 
 in reality receiving a favour, but, with his usual haughtiness, 
 he wished to appear to be makiag a concession. Not being satis- 
 fied with the mere suspension of hostilities, the allies further 
 exacted that the Governor of the Spanish Netherlands should 
 agree to accept the terms of the King of France, who proposed 
 either to keep the conquests he had already made in the 
 Netherlands, or to receive as compensation Franche-Comte, 
 with Aine, St. Omer, and Cambrai. 
 
 To evade a definite answer, Castel-Eodrigo gave them to 
 understand that he accepted the alternative, without saying 
 which of the two offers he chose. 
 
 After a delay of ten days, he decided on the course least 
 expected. Contrary to the wishes and previsions of John de 
 Witt, he made up his mind to leave to the King of France 
 the towns of the Netherlands of which Louis had already 
 made himself master : Charleroi, Alt, Oudenarde, Tournay, 
 Courtrai, Douai, and LUle. He would thus obtain the restitu- 
 tion of Franche-Comte, which, if taken from Spain, would cut 
 him off from all communication with Lorraine and the 
 Empire. Eelinquishing as hopeless the towns which served 
 as barriers to the Netherlands, henceforth dismembered, 
 Castel-Eodrigo thus revenged himself on the States, whom he 
 
 VOL. I. G G 
 
450 JOHN DE WITT. 
 
 could not forgive for having forced peace upon him, condenm- 
 ing them in the future to constant alarms, by exposing them 
 to the vicinity of Louis XIV. He flattered himself, moreover, 
 that he had made the final conquest of the Spanish Provinces 
 an irresistible temptation henceforth to the King of France. 
 The fear of such an attempt would, it seemed to him, suffice 
 to keep the Eepublic of the United Provinces and England to 
 the offensive league which they had secretly guaranteed to one 
 another, if France refused to make peace. ' The Marquis 
 hated the peace,' writes Temple, ' upon either of the alterna- 
 tives, and desired nothing but the continuance of the war, 
 with the assistance of England and Holland.' Moreover, the 
 governor of the Netherlands was persuaded that in accepting 
 the terms of Louis XIV. he forced the King to withdraw from 
 his engagements, and this idea was not far from being 
 justified. 
 
 After having been accepted with a very ill grace by Spain, 
 peace was very near being refused by France. The two 
 negotiators of the allies at Paris — ^Van Beuningen for the 
 United Provinces, and Sir John Trevor for England — had to 
 overcome a series of obstacles before they succeeded in their 
 mission. Louis could not be indifferent to the Triple Alliance, 
 and, notwithstanding his first promptly dispelled illusions, he 
 had soon recognised the blow given to his ambition. Some 
 vague information as to the secret articles having reached his 
 ears, he vaialy demanded their tenor from De Witt. The 
 Grand Pensionary replied that he had sworn not to divulge 
 them to anyone, whereupon D'Estrades intimated to him 
 ' that the King would find them out by other means, without 
 any obligation to him.' 
 
 Being informed by a communication from the Marquis de 
 Euvigny, his ambassador in England, of the conventions of 
 the allies, the French King's resentment broke out on the 
 subject of the article of the secret treaty in which they 
 stipulated that, should Louis XIV. refuse their proposals for 
 peace, they would attack him by land and sea untU France 
 was brought back to the limits prescribed by the Treaty of 
 the Pyrenees. He considered this convention as an affront, 
 
FEESH DIFFICULTIES MADE BY FEANCE. 451 
 
 although it had never been intended to be made public, and 
 was not to take effect if he remained satisfied with his last 
 offers, and he made use of it to justify his irritation on finding 
 himself checked by the Triple Alliance in his designs upon 
 the Netherlands. ' The behaviour of the States,' writes 
 Lionne, ' would try the patience of the most moderate man 
 in the world. Imagine, then, the effect it must have upon the 
 heart of a great monarch, who places his honour before any 
 other consideration, and cannot endure to seem forced by his 
 fears to do that which he would have been ready to perform 
 of his own accord, in order to acquire the glory of modera- 
 tion.' According to the declaration which the French am- 
 bassador at the Hague was commissioned to transmit to tbe 
 Grand Pensionary, ' his master was too great a prince, and 
 too jealous of his honour, to submit to the will of the States.' 
 Anxious to reinstate himself in the King's good graces by 
 humouring his feelings of resentment. Count d'Estrades assured 
 him that he need have no fears of a war. ' The combined 
 league,' he writes to Lionne, ' will not be ready to take their 
 armies into the field under three months, and the King will 
 have plenty of time to work out his great scheme.' 
 
 Louis XIV. met with similar encouragement from his 
 generals. The Prince of Conde and Marshal Turenne repre- 
 sented to him that the allies would be taken unawares, and 
 promised him the entire conquest of the Netherlands before 
 the end of the campaign; and the King of France showed 
 much disposition to evade the proposals of peace, either by 
 taking advantage of the shiftiness of Spain, or by similar 
 conduct on his own part. Van Beuningen, in his uneasiness, 
 went so far as to accuse him ' of having the designs of a Cyrus 
 or an Alexander.' The military preparations justified the fear 
 of a rupture of the negotiations, and the signal for the re- 
 newal of hostilities seemed given by the taking of the little 
 town of Genappe, which opened the way to Brussels. ' Orders 
 have been sent to all the army corps,' writes the English 
 envoy Sir John Trevor from Paris, ' and it is a deadly sin here 
 to talk of peace.' 
 
 It was not only the exhaustion of Spain a.nd the supposed 
 
 « G 2 
 
452 JOHN DE WITT. 
 
 powerlessness of her new allies that inspired Louis XIV. with 
 confidence. He hoped to separate them and so easily break 
 through their agreement. Count d'Estrades, being commis- 
 sioned to iQstU distrust into the States in regard to the King 
 of England, by making them doubt Charles's fidelity to their 
 cause, showed the Grand Pensionary a letter from the French 
 ambassador in London. It announced that Charles had sent 
 to Louis by Arlington a copy of the secret articles of 
 the Triple Alliance, a piece of information which De Witt 
 in his own good faith refused to beheve. To make a more 
 decided impression upon the Grand Pensionary's mind, by 
 causing him fresh anxiety, Lionne writes to D'Estrades : 
 'I have private information that there is an understanding 
 between the Emperor's minister Lisola and the English 
 ministers, to engage the States to take some action against the 
 King, and thereafter to leave them to bear the weight of 
 the burden alone. It is easy to understand that, once this has 
 occurred, the cabals against M. 'de Witt would have a fine 
 opportunity of establishing the Prince of Orange, and of 
 ruining M. de Witt. It is for him, who is so clever, to judge 
 whether or no there is a chance of this project succeeding, 
 and of the means he must take to prevent it.' These commu- 
 nications, which were confirmed by after events, were made in 
 all sincerity, but they seemed to be so much in the interests 
 of France, that De Witt might well consider them suspicious. 
 He had, moreover, too much greatness of mind to allow him- 
 self to be turned aside by party interests from the end which 
 he had in view of placing the independence of the republic 
 beyond attack, and his readiness to sacrifice his interests to 
 his duty would not permit him to leave the United Provinces 
 at the mercy of a too powerful neighbour. 
 
 Faithful to a policy from which he had never swerved, the 
 Grand Pensionary was impervious to any intimidation, and 
 followed with his accustomed perseverance the path he had 
 traced out for himself. He had paved the way for the success 
 of the negotiations by forcing Spain to yield, and he completed 
 it by showing the King of France that the United Provinces 
 would not allow him to continue his conquests with impunity. 
 
DETERMINATION OF THE GRAND PENSIONARY, 453 
 
 He had not hesitated to declare ' that the United Provinces 
 would be ready in case of necessity to act in concert with 
 England, not only for the defence of the Netherlands, but also 
 in attaeking and harassing Prance with their naval forces, even 
 by raids and invasions of that country, or in any other way.' 
 He admitted ' that, out of prudence, the possibility of a con- 
 flict with the King of France should be considered, and that 
 nothing should be neglected to provide against such an emer- 
 gency.' When he had reason to fear that the United Pro- 
 vinces might be forced to make war, he did not conceal from 
 D'Estrades that, in spite of their wish to avoid it, they should 
 feel themselves obliged to sustain it, if provoked by Louis 
 XIV. ' I know well,' he says, ' that the worst thing that 
 could happen to the States would be to fall out with Prance, 
 but this disaster would be inevitable if the King of Prance 
 should attack the Netherlands after the States had forced 
 Spain to accept the conditions upon which the King had 
 offered peace.' 
 
 The defection of Portugal, who had ended by treating with 
 Spain, was of assistance to the United Provinces in rendering 
 Louis more tractable. It deprived him of an ally who had 
 hitherto been useful to him in harassing Spain on her frontier. 
 After the domestic revolution which had deprived Alfonso 
 VI. of his throne and made his brother Dom Pedro regent, 
 the war which had lasted between Spain and Portugal for 
 twenty-six years was suspended, and the court of Madrid had 
 taken the opportunity to make proposals of peace, which had 
 been favourably received at Lisbon. 
 
 It was upon Sweden that the guarantee of peace between 
 France and Spain principally depended. But Sweden was 
 very near deceiving the expectations of the States-General. 
 The engagement by which she was associated in the treaty 
 of the Triple Alliance had only been made provisionally by 
 Count Dohna, with a reservation as to the approval of the 
 Swedish Government. The Grand Chancellor attempted to 
 get it rejected. Thinking that an unpardonable advantage 
 had been taken of his absence by his adversaries to give 
 Count Dohna the authority of which he availed himself at 
 
454 JOHN DE WITT. 
 
 the Hague, Magnus de la Gardie had returned to his seat 
 in the Senate to prevent authority being given to the Swedish 
 ambassador to sanction the treaty by definitely signing it. 
 He brought forward the most urgent reasons for delay, and 
 made known his opinion in writing, intending to use it as 
 a protest. The Senate took no notice and confirmed their 
 orders to Count Dohna to finish what he had begun, without 
 taking any notice of the tardy proposals of the French am- 
 bassador. Nevertheless Sweden did not intend to give her 
 co-operation for nothing, and Count Dohna, who had made 
 the participation of his government with the States and 
 England subordinate to the promise of subsidies, imperiously 
 demanded the stipulated payments. ' It is time,' writes 
 De Witt, ' to put the Swedish army on her proper footing if 
 she is to do the service she ought, and it would be deplorable 
 if the money which would put life into this body should not 
 be found in time.' The States accordingly unceasingly de- 
 manded this pecuniary assistance from the court of Madrid. 
 They claimed a right to place to her account the expenses of 
 an alliance which would preserve to her what remained of her 
 possessions in the Netherlands. To help her they entered into 
 negotiations with Don Estevan de Gamarra for a treaty, sug- 
 gested by John de Witt, which would make them the creditors 
 of the Spanish Government. By the terms of this proposal 
 the United Provinces were to receive as security several towns 
 in Upper Guelders in return for a loan of 2,000,000 florins to 
 Spain, two of which were to go to the Swedish subsidies. 
 
 Whilst this convention was kept pending by the delays 
 and unwillingness of the Spanish Government, Count Dohna, 
 who had returned to London as ambassador to Charles U., 
 urged the envoys of the republic and the English commis- 
 sioners to bring to an end the conferences which were need- 
 lessly prolonging the negotiations intended to ensure the 
 accomplishment of the Triple Alliance. He told them ' that 
 if he could not obtain satisfaction, Sweden, instead of havmg 
 a grievance against Spain, would rather have cause to com- 
 plain of England and the United Provinces.' He declared 
 that if the answer he demanded were not transmitted to him 
 
AaREEMENT WITH SWEDEN AND SPAIN. 455 
 
 before the departure of the next courier, the Swedish Govern- 
 ment would consider themselves at liberty to take other 
 measures. Mutual concessions helped to bring about an 
 understanding. Overcoming the final delays of the court 
 of Madrid, the negotiators of England and the republic came 
 to an understanding with Count Molina, the Spanish minister 
 in London, to determine the amount of the subsidies. Count 
 Dohna on his side being content, instead of an immediate pay- 
 ment, with an agreement by which the allies pledged them- 
 selves to use their utmost efforts to induce Spain to discharge 
 within a given period the subsidies undertaken by her. 
 
 The conditions of the agreement thus prepared were soon 
 concluded with the Swedish ambassador, who only survived 
 the success of his diplomacy by a few days. The subsidies 
 promised by Spain amounted to 480,000 crowns. The King 
 of England and the States-General bound themselves to exact 
 payment from Spain within eight days of the ratification of 
 the treaty by the King of Sweden, and the allies declared that 
 in default of such payment they would withdraw all assistance 
 from Spain. Once satisfied by the grant of the subsidies, the 
 Swedish Government definitively confirmed the conditional sig- 
 nature which had been affixed to the treaty by Count Dohna, 
 and the place left vacant for the King of Sweden, as a principal 
 contracting party, was at last filled up. The Triple Alliance 
 which had hitherto been merely contingent was now an estab- 
 lished fact, and seemed to be the surest pledge of the preserva- 
 tion of the Netherlands to Spain. 
 
 These happy negotiations might not perhaps have sufficed 
 to prevent the King of France from keeping up the war, had 
 they not been supported by military preparations which Louis 
 could not ignore. Spain seemed at last disposed to take 
 measures for defence. Don Juan of Austria had accepted the 
 governorship of the Netherlands, and was to take 10,000 
 men with him. England, on her part, had not remained 
 idle: Parliament had met in February to vote an estimate 
 of 300,000L to Charles II. for the expenses of equipping a 
 fleet. 
 
 The States-General set the example to their allies, and 
 
456 JOHN DE WITT. 
 
 actively pushed forward their preparations. In spite of the 
 efforts of Gourville, the French envoy, they obtained a contin- 
 gent of 6,000 men from the Princes of Brunswick-Luneburg. 
 They also accepted the offers of the Duke of Lorraine, who, fear- 
 ing the intentions of the King of France, undertook, if he were 
 admitted to the Triple Alliance, to bring 6,000 foot and 2,000 
 horse into the field at the first summons. The States did 
 not depend only upon the assistance of auxiliary troops. 
 They re-organised their own army and determined to add 
 12,000 men by fresh levies. They wished to assure themselves 
 of an available military force, without the necessity of stripping 
 the fortresses, now occupied by numerous garrisons. They 
 proposed to establish two camps : one on the Scheldt at Bergen- 
 op-Zoom within reach of the Spanish Netherlands ; the other 
 on the Yssel at Zutphen for the protection of their frontier. 
 They were prepared to send into the field, as soon as the weather 
 permitted, their whole force of cavalry, 3,700 strong, with 25 
 regiments of infantry, and asserted that ' they had on foot the 
 most magnificent troops it was possible to see.' They at the 
 same time filled up their principal military appointments, thus 
 putting an end to the long contests which had left them 
 vacant. The command of the army was given to the two 
 major-generals — Prince John Maurice of Nassau, andWurtz^ 
 under whose orders the Prince of Orange was prepared to serve ; 
 but the States reserved to themselves the military direction by 
 the powers they gave to seven of their members, representing 
 the seven provinces, who were appointed as their delegates to 
 the camp. The strengthening of their naval forces seemed no 
 less necessary. They fitted out forty-eight men of war, the 
 number of which was eventually to be made up to eighty. 
 ' There is no doubt,' wrote D'Estrades later, ' that had His 
 Majesty not concluded matters by his great discretion, the 
 States would have drawn him into a war, and would have 
 used the enormous sums at their disposal to maintain it.' 
 
 The Grand Pensionary would not have shrunk from this 
 extremity, though he did all in his power to prevent it. 
 ' When by obtaining from Spain the satisfaction she ought to 
 give,' he writes to Temple, ' the King of France shall have 
 
FURTHER NEGOTIATIONS WITH FRANCE. 457 
 
 been placed under the necessity, either of proceeding to the final 
 conclusion of peace, or of acknowledging his warlike intentions, 
 there will not be the slightest hesitation here in marching to 
 the assistance of the Netherlands, on the very first attempt he 
 makes upon them, if the King of Great Britain will do as 
 much.' Temple constantly encouraged this disposition. ' We 
 cannot follow out a better plan,' he replies to De Witt, ' than that 
 of showing our strength and being prepared for war before it 
 comes ; for, as we should draw it upon ourselves by any appear- 
 ance of wishing for peace, we must on the contrary secure 
 peace by appearing to wish for war.' The Grand Pensionary's 
 policy was identical with that thus marked out by Temple, 
 and whilst taking the necessary measures for intimidating the 
 King of France he was anxious above all to satisfy him. 
 The aim he had before him was the prolongation of the truce, 
 so that peace might become iaevitable. ' The States are abso- 
 lutely of opinion with me,' writes Temple, ' that no treaty can 
 begin with good intentions on the French side unless they 
 consent to a suspension of arms.' Louis would only con- 
 sent to grant a truce till the end of March, but promised 
 not to take advantage of any fresh conquest he might make, 
 until the 15th of May, if peace could be concluded before that 
 time. 
 
 The States did not believe in either the ef&cacy or the 
 sincerity of this proposal. The restriction of the truce to the 
 end of March seemed to give them too little time to accom- 
 plish the work of negotiation, and they demanded that it 
 should be prolonged to the 15th of May. Louis's promise to 
 give up any fresh conquest if peace should be concluded, did 
 not reassure them. ' If all our good offices and offers to make 
 Spain ratify what the Marquis has accepted,' writes Temple 
 to De Witt, ' are not sufficient to withhold them six weeks 
 from what they pretend to restore, how will they be capable 
 of restoring for ever what they have already taken ? ' ' The 
 States," boldly declared Van Beuningen to Louis XIV. 's minis- 
 ters, ' cannot but consider what the King may, rather than 
 what he will, do.' 
 
 To obtain from Louis XIV. the concession without which 
 
458 JOHN DE WITT. * 
 
 peace again ran the risk of being called in question, De Witt, 
 recognising the necessity for the greatest circumspection, re- 
 newed his counsels of prudence. He was afraid that Van 
 Beuningen's too great vehemence might carry him away, and 
 advised him to neglect no forms of courtesy, but never to 
 yield on the main point. He was careful to make excuses to 
 the French ambassador at the Hague for the impetuosity 
 to which the ambassador for the States had given way, 
 and begged that the King would not heed it. He was so 
 conciliatoiy, that Lionne writes to D'Estrades : ' Pray tell 
 M. de Witt that if I could spend a couple of hours with biin 
 I would answer for the certainty of peace, as I know how 
 reasonable he is, and how fertile in expedients for overcoming 
 all difficulties.' 
 
 Anxious to justify this good opinion, the Grand Pensionary 
 resolved to deprive Louis XIV. of his sole pretext against a 
 prolongation of the truce. The King refused to consent, on 
 the plea that it would not help towards peace ; and, to justify 
 this allegation, he accused the Spanish Eegent of not having 
 given the Marquis of Castel-Eodrigo, governor of the Nether- 
 lands, sufficient powers to render the treaty valid. The Grand 
 Pensionary hastened to cut short this objection, by obtaining 
 orders that the ambassadors of the United Provinces and of 
 England, accredited to the King of France, should make them- 
 selves sureties for peace. They entered into an engagement • 
 with Louis by the terms of which it was to be forced upon 
 Spain by the allies, if the court of Madrid did not ratify 
 Castel-Eodrigo's acceptance of the King's proposals. ' M. de 
 Witt,' writes D'Estrades, ' has added in the most impressive 
 terms, that if the King, having henceforth in his hands such 
 absolute assurance of peace, refuses to suspend hostilities 
 until the end of May, there will be no one but will beUeve 
 that it has always been his determination to evade it alto- 
 gether.' 
 
 Louis could no longer plead any justification for his con- 
 duct, if he belied himself by retracting his offers. By a last 
 effort he resigned himself to moderation, without relinquishing 
 the ambitious hopes which he contented himself with post- 
 
_ DEAFT OF A TREATY BETWEEN FRANCE AND SPAIN. 459 
 
 poning. 'I saw,' he writes in his own memoirs, 'that if I 
 stubbornly determined upon war now, the league which was 
 forming itself to maintain it would eventually remain as a per- 
 manent barrier to my legitimate claims, whilst by giving way 
 readily I should destroy it at its birth, and give myself leisure 
 to find work for the allies which would prevent their meddling 
 with whatever time might offer me.' 
 
 The three ministers who represented him in the confer- 
 ences held with the ambassadors of the United Provinces and 
 of England, Lionne, Colbert, and Letellier, were opposed to 
 the continuance of war, thinking that France was not suffi- 
 ciently prepared for it, either by her alliances, or by the 
 financial resources which were at her disposal. They helped 
 on with goodwill the speedy issue of the negotiations, and, as 
 soon as the guarantee of the acceptance of peace by Spain 
 had been given by the envoys of the States and those of the 
 court of Madrid, they did their best to bring about a final 
 understanding. Lionne drew up, in concert with the two 
 plenipotentiaries of the allies — Van Beuningen and Trevor — the 
 draft of a treaty between France and Spain, by which Louis 
 declared himself irrevocably engaged, provided Spain gave her 
 consent. To guard against any vexatious debates being raised 
 by a new interpretation of the Treaty of the Pyrenees on the 
 subject of the clause of the renunciation of the inheritance of 
 the Spanish monarchy, the King of France was to declare ' that 
 the contracting parties did not propose to acquire any rights, 
 nor would they suffer any prejudice to their respective claims.' 
 
 Having thus regulated the conditions of peace, the nego- 
 tiators agreed on the conditions of the truce. Louis XIV. 's 
 ministers consented to prolong it till the end of May. They 
 only demanded that, ' in the event of peace not being con- 
 cluded after the expiration of that time, Spain, as a just punish- 
 ment, should be forced to accept any conditions, however 
 onerous, which the King of France, aided by the allies, might 
 impose by force of arms.' The urgent counsels of John de 
 Witt in favour of a policy of conciliation easily prevailed 
 over the adverse opinion of the commissioners of the States, 
 which he thought improper and superfluous. The satisfaction 
 
460 JOHN DE WITT. 
 
 demanded by the King of France was accorded to him under 
 the conditions of the agreement made by Louis to keep within 
 the hmits of the line of demarcation which should be settled for 
 him in the Netherlands, untU the month of August ; and, this 
 transaction being happily carried through, the preliminary 
 conventions of peace were signed at St. Germain. 
 
 It only remained to convert them into a treaty. At 
 the beginning of the year, Spain and France, at the sugges- 
 tion of the German Princes, had chosen Aix-la-Chapelle for 
 the assembly of a congress. They now despatched thither 
 their plenipotentiaries. The Marquis of Castel-Eodrigo, to 
 whom the Spanish Government had left the direction of the 
 negotiations, had sent from Brussels his delegate, Ferdinand 
 van Broekhoven, Baron of Bergeyck. Louis had given powers 
 to the Marquis Colbert de Croissy, his ambassador at London 
 and brother of the minister Colbert; and Beverningh and 
 Temple wfere at the same time commissioned by the States 
 and the King of England to represent the mediating powers, 
 to whose intervention peace was due. The negotiators were 
 to meet under the presidency of the Archbishop of Trebizond, 
 nuncio of Pope Clement IX., who had proffered his paternal 
 intervention for the reconciliation of the two Catholic courts. 
 All difficulties seemed to be at an end, the two envoys of 
 France and Spain having received orders 'not to change a 
 word in the project.' 'I hope,' writes Arlington, 'that all 
 may be concluded in an hour's time, as there is nothing more 
 to haggle about.' ' It is to you,' writes De Witt to Temple, 
 'that we chiefly owe the present goodwill of the Marquis 
 of Castel-Eodrigo, and the enjoyment of the great advantages 
 which ensue for Christendom. I speak of it as a thing we 
 already possess, as I see nothing which could now deprive us 
 of it.' 
 
 Nevertheless, the conclusion of the negotiations was again 
 endangered by unexpected obstacles. ' The intelligence we 
 receive from Brussels is ^nough to turn one's head,' writes 
 ,De Witt to Temple, in much anxiety. The injurious proceed- 
 ings of Louis XIV. had, in fact, encouraged the Spanish 
 Government to start fresh objections for the purpose of 
 
TREATY OF AIX-LA-CHAPELLE. 461 
 
 delaying the conclusion of peace. Whilst the negotiations were 
 proceeding, the King of France was committing depredations 
 of all kinds in the Netherlands, to the amount of more than 
 five hundred thousand francs. He, moreover, destroyed all 
 the fortifications in Pranche-Comte : ' so as to return that pro- 
 vince to Spain in such a condition that he could at any moment 
 again render himself master of it,' as he himself declares in 
 his memoirs. By his own admission, therefore, the reproaches 
 of the allies were justified. The English minister Arlington, 
 speaking very strongly of his conduct, writes thus : ' We live 
 in very extraordinary times, when even the appearance of 
 morality is ridiculed.' The Spanish Government, on its side, 
 showed a great want of straightforwardness in the execution 
 of the engagements entered into for the signing of the treaty, 
 and Baron de Bergeyck, the envoy from the Netherlands, put 
 the negotiators out of all patience by his captious criticisms. 
 Some violent scenes ensued, in which Beverningh, the plenipo- 
 tentiary of the States, nearly drew his sword upon him in the 
 presence of Temple. Baron de Bergeyck at first pretended 
 that he had not the necessary authority to pledge the court 
 of Madrid. Forced to acknowledge that he had received it, 
 he tried other evasions and took up a point of etiquette, by 
 disputing the precedence in signing which the Marquis de 
 Croissy had reserved to himself. Disconcerted by the readiness 
 with which the French ambassador left him at liberty to sign 
 two other copies as he pleased, he found himself at the end of 
 his expedients for delay, and consented at length to the con- 
 clusion of the long-deferred treaty of peace. 
 
 Scarcely had he signed before he had recourse to a final 
 ruse, to procure the Spanish Government a means of contest- 
 ing its validity. He took upon himself the title of ambassador, 
 having hitherto only been known as a delegate from the 
 governor of the Netherlands, leaving to the Marquis of Castel- 
 Eodrigo the title of plenipotentiary for the court of Madrid. 
 This trick was foiled, and the court of France, mistrusting the 
 subterfuges of the Spanish Government, imperatively insisted 
 that the most precise formalities should be observed in the 
 ratification. Peace was proclaimed simultaneously at Paris 
 
462 JOHN DE WITT. 
 
 and Brussels on May 29, seventeen days after the signing of 
 the treaty at Aix-la-Chapelle. 
 
 This peace, which saved Spain in spite of herself, was 
 very advantageous to Prance. It insured important acquisi- 
 tions to Louis XrV., which extended the frontiers of his 
 kingdom, and commenced the dismemberment of the Nether- 
 lands. It at the same time gave Europe an apparent pledge 
 of moderation on his part, which he profited by to boast 
 ' that it was solely his desire for peace which had disarmed 
 him.' It was none the less the Triple Alliance which had 
 obliged him to stop short in his conquests. Threatened by a 
 European coalition, he had shown a wise policy in ceasing to 
 defy it. 
 
 Convinced that the neighbourhood of France was in- 
 compatible with the security of the republic, the States- 
 General had been forced to oppose it. The invasion of the 
 Netherlands by Louis XIV., in defiance of the promises he had 
 made to them of a preliminary agreement, had driven them 
 to the absolute necessity of finding an alliance to replace that 
 which had existed for over half a century between France and 
 the United Provinces. But they could only partially trust 
 their new allies. They did not want to be too closely bound 
 to Spain, not expecting much assistance from her, and if they 
 lent her their aid, it was not to preserve the integrity of the 
 Spanish monarchy, but that their own independence might 
 not be compromised. England appeared a doubtful ally. 
 She had always, under Charles II. as under Cromwell, been 
 the rival of the republic, with whom she had been reconciled, 
 within the last year only, by the Peace of Breda. Her late 
 humiliations would probably make her angry feelings both 
 violent and lasting, and the Grand Pensionary had only been 
 induced to appeal to her after many misgivings, to prevent 
 Louis from completing the conquest of the Netherlands. 
 
 De "Witt did not shut his eyes to the formidable dangers of 
 a rupture with France, and had set himself- to avert them. 
 He would only in the last extremity have entered upon a war 
 ' by which Spain alone would have profited, whilst the States- 
 General would have had to bear the risks and expenses.' He 
 
THE UNITED PEOVINCES THE ARBITEES OF EUROPE, 463 
 
 souglit in the Triple Alliance a guarantee for the peace mutually 
 agreed upon by the two belligerent powers, and, taking upon 
 himself the part of mediator, was proud of filling it, while 
 scrupulously adhering to his policy. 
 
 At one time he stated that ' if France refused to sign the 
 treaty he would not hesitate to give without stint the most 
 thorough support to Spain, in whose favour the States would 
 act by land and sea ; ' at another time he declared that ' if the 
 obstacles to peace came from the Spanish Government he would 
 only seek the surest means of reducing them to reason, and, if 
 necessary, would come to an understanding with the King of 
 France.' He thus moderated the pretensions of Louis XIV., 
 obtained the necessary concessions from the Spanish Govern- 
 ment, and insured the acceptance of conditions of peace which 
 seemed sufficient for the security of the United Provinces. 
 
 The Treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle, by bringing to a favourable 
 termination these laborious negotiations, enabled the States- 
 General to reap the benefit of the Triple Alliance, and completed 
 for them the glory of the Peace of Breda which had been 
 forced upon England. They might now consider themselves 
 as the arbiters of Europe, and they congratulated them- 
 selves with somewhat rash pride on a diplomatic victory 
 which was in a few years' time to cost them so dear. 
 The medal struck on the occasion of the Treaty of Aix-la- 
 Chapelle stUl testifies to the high opinion which the republic 
 had of herself and wished to give to others. In it she is repre- 
 sented in the figure of a woman leaning against a trophy, 
 holding a pike surmounted by a helmet, and followed at a 
 distance by several vessels, the double symbol of her liberty 
 and her power. The inscription engraved in Latin on the 
 reverse is thus worded : ' Having reconciled Kings, re-estab- 
 lished liberty on the sea, brought peace upon the earth by 
 force of arms, and pacified Europe, the States of the United 
 Provinces have caused this medal to be struck, 1668.' They 
 boasted only of what they had done, and bad every right 
 to congratulate themselves on the glorious success of that 
 foreign policy for which they were indebted to their great 
 minister. 
 
464 JOHN DE WITT. 
 
 CHAPTEE VIII. 
 
 INTERNAL PACrFICATION — THE PEEPETTJAl EDICT. 
 
 The Orange party witliout a leader — Death of Prince Williain Frederick of Nassau 
 — Eivalry between Zealand and Holland — ^Revival of the Orange party in 
 Holland — Eesignatiou of Beverningh as treasurer-general — Manifestations 
 in favour of the Prince of Orange — Eesistauce of the Grand Pensionary — 
 His attempt at conciliation — The States of Holland undertake the educa- 
 tion of the young Prince — De Witt assumes the direction of it — Advan- 
 tageous position in which the young Prir(ce is placed — The King of Prance 
 restores to him the principality of Orange — Project of agreement for his 
 entering the Council of State, and for the separation of the civil and 
 military offices — The Grand Pensionary's plan changed by the proposed 
 abolition of the Stadtholdership — The Perpetual Edict voted by the States 
 of Holland and sworn to by the town councils — Irritation of the other 
 provinces —Attempt at a coalition against Holland — Project of Harmony 
 prepared by De Witt — The provinces of Guelders and Overyssel give in their 
 adhesion to it — Negotiations with the provinces of Friesland, Groningen, 
 and Zealand to obtain their consent — Apparent good terms between the 
 Prince of Orange and De Witt— Success of the home and foreign policy of 
 the Grand Pensionary — His happiness in private life — His correspondence 
 with his wife during his mission to the fleet — His children, his fortune, his 
 home — Death of his wife — His sorrow — Letters of condolence — His fourth 
 re-election as Grand Pensionary — The services which he rendered — The 
 remuneration which he received — His virtues and his merits as a statesman 
 — His portraits. 
 
 Internal troubles had not been wanting to the governing party 
 and to its illustrious head, the Grand Pensionary of Holland. 
 WhUst the republic had been plunged into the dangers of a war 
 with England, the Orange party had been making fresh efforts 
 to gain the mastery, but the far-seeing and energetic policy of 
 John de Witt had shut the door against them. As long as 
 hostilities lasted he had succeeded in making any attempt at 
 restoration in favour of the King of England's nephew appear 
 dangerous to the safety of the State. But when Charles II.'s sup- 
 port became necessary to the republic to restrain Louis XVI.'s 
 
THE ORANGE PARTY -WITHOUT A LEADER. 465 
 
 ambition, the Grand Pensionary, driven to have recourse 
 to an English alliance, took measures in time to prevent its 
 forcing upon them a change of government, to the benefit of 
 the Prince of Orange. 
 
 The weakening of the Orange party, now without a leader, 
 proved most opportune for him. Of the two Princes of the 
 late Stadtholder's family who might have acted as guardians 
 to William II. 's young son, one. Prince John Maurice of 
 Nassau, lieutenant-general in command of the cavalry, had 
 held himself aloof, and sought to play no part in politics, in 
 order that he might win the favour of the republican party ; 
 the other. Prince William Frederick, grand master of the 
 artillery, had made friends with John de Witt, but with all 
 his efforts had not been able to obtain the rank of major- 
 general. Moreover, he had died shortly before from an acci- 
 dent. Being in command of an expedition in favour of the 
 Prince of East Priesland against the Bishop of Miinster, whilst 
 besieging the town of Dylerschans, he mortally wounded him- 
 self with a pistol he was trying. The partisans of the Prince 
 of Orange, who had not despaired of finding in him a defender 
 of their interests, could not conceal how dismayed and dis- 
 heartened they were at losing him. ' The weight of such a 
 misfortune has quite stunned us,' wrote one of them. His 
 widow Albertina Agnes, daughter of the Stadtholder Frederick 
 Henry and the Princess-Dowager, became guardian of his son, 
 Henry Casimir, aged seven years, who succeeded to his father's 
 office as Stadtholder of Friesland and Groningen, but without 
 the power of exercising his functions. His minority reduced 
 the two provinces, now deprived of their head, to powerlessness. 
 The Princess of Nassau, following her husband's example, 
 seemed inclined to disown, rather than to support, the oppo- 
 sition to the new government. ' She does not approve,' writes 
 Count d'Estrades, ' of the sentiments in which her nephew is 
 being brought up, of seeking no other protection than that of 
 the King of England ; and as his education is so opposed to 
 what she considers proper, she takes no further interest in 
 His affairs.' 
 
 Zealand alone had any power to trouble the republican 
 
 VOIi. I. H H 
 
466 JOHN DE WITT. 
 
 party in its victory, in consequence of the appointment of the 
 new councillor pensionary whom it had selected, Peter de 
 Huybert. The death of Adrian Veth had left vacant the post 
 of minister for the States of that Province. John de Witt had 
 vainly sought it for one of his political friends. His confi- 
 dential agents — the advocate Seroskerk and his relation Daniel 
 Fannius, fiscal of the Admiralty of Zealand, who kept up an 
 active correspondence with him to account for the use of the 
 secret funds with the disposal of which he was entrusted — took 
 infinite trouble, but to no purpose. They only succeeded in 
 delaying the election, and four months after the death of 
 Veth, Peter de Huybert replaced him. 
 
 A member of one of the principal families in Zealand, 
 Peter de Huybert, who at twenty-four had entered the council 
 of Middleburg, had distinguished himself by the part which 
 he took in the negotiations during the Northern war. Sent 
 successively to the Elector of Brandenbm'g and to the King of 
 Sweden, he had prepared himself for a leading position by 
 fiUing the post of secretary to the States of the Province. He 
 won their confidence by remaining faithful to the cause of the 
 House of Orange, ' whose devoted servant,' according to the 
 testimony of a contemporary, ' he was.' His talents, his energy, 
 his experience in pubHc affairs, the power given to him by his 
 office, and by that of his cousin, Justus de Huybert, who 
 succeeded him as secretary to the States of Zealand, pointed 
 to him as a possible rival of the Grand Pensionary of Holland. 
 
 To wean him from the Orange party, De Witt encouraged 
 his mistrust of the deputies of Vere and Flushing, who, hold- 
 ing their position at the option of the Prince of Orange, 
 the Lord Paramount of the two towns, aspired to the leader- 
 ship of the States of the Province. The Councillor Pen- 
 sionary of Zealand, anxious to maintain the prerogatives 
 of his office, and supported by the members of the other 
 towns, disputed the privileges arrogated to themselves by 
 the deputies of Vere and Flushing, and claimed for the 
 States of the Province, whose prime minister he was, the free 
 exercise of their sovereignty. The marriage of his nephew 
 Eegensberck with the daughter of Thibault, the head of the 
 
EIVALEY BETWEEN ZEALAND AND HOLLAND. 467 
 
 Eepublican party in Zealand, skilfully promoted by John de 
 Witt from political motives, was a still surer pledge of a 
 mutual understanding, and gave the Grand Pensionary of 
 Holland hopes that he would find in Huybert an ally instead 
 of a rival. 
 
 But it was not only against Zealand that the States of 
 Holland had to take precautions. 
 
 To remain masters of the government of the confederation, 
 they had still another danger to avert, that of the internal 
 dissensions in their province. The unhappy beginning of the 
 war with England had caused these to revive, and the re- 
 establishment of the Prince of Orange in his father's func- 
 tions had again become the war-cry of the malcontents. At 
 Rotterdam the magistrates were threatened by a rising of 
 the populace even iu the town hall. 
 
 At Leyden the crier who proclaimed a levy on behalf of 
 the States was thrown into the water. The mob loudly 
 clamoured that the levy should be made in the name of the 
 Prince of Orange, and the burgomaster who presided at the 
 enlistment thought it necessary to satisfy their demands. At 
 the ports the sailors showed the same feeling, and it was 
 shared by their officers. Admiral Obdam, although loaded 
 with favours by the States of Holland, had none the less, it 
 was said, secretly promised the Prince of Orange to declare 
 himself on his side if he was victorious, but Obdam having 
 perished in the first battle fought against the English fleet, 
 Tromp, who hoped to succeed him, assured the Prince of 
 Orange that victory could not be hoped for on the sea unless 
 the force was placed under his orders. 
 
 The assembling in the following year of an army corps of 
 12,000 men, which was to be employed in the defence of the 
 Eepublic against the Bishop of Miinster, nearly paved the way 
 for the success of a military conspiracy. The two commissioners 
 whom the provinces of Guelders and Overyssel had appointed 
 to superintend the expedition, had promised to present the 
 young Prince to the troops. De Witt, warned in time, post- 
 poned his departure. 
 
 The Calvinist clergy, on their side, indulged in seditious 
 
 H H 2 
 
468 JOHN DE WITT. 
 
 preachings. They took advantage of the prayers -which had 
 been appointed to be said to plead the necessity for a speedy 
 restoration. The States were obliged to threaten with their 
 displeasure those ministers who treated of public affairs in the 
 pulpit and made themselves the accusers of the government. 
 One of them, Thaddaeus Landmann, who had taken for his 
 text these words from the prophet Hosea : ' I will go and 
 return to my first husband, for then was it better with me 
 than now,' was suspended from his ministry until he had 
 humbly apologised. The most fiery of the ministers at the 
 Hague, Simon Simonides, having preached against ingrati- 
 tude, and having imputed the public misfortunes to forgetful- 
 ness of the benefits which Holland owed to the House of 
 Orange, thought fit to lay the blame on De Witt, and made 
 the most offensive allusions to him. The town magistrate 
 ordered him to apologise personally to the Grand Pensionary. 
 The latter received him with his customary politeness and 
 kept him to dinner, only requesting him gently to be more 
 careful in the observance of his duties as a clergyman ; but he 
 did not succeed in disarming his implacable resentment. 
 
 The most faithful of John de Witt's friends were dis- 
 couraged. In spite of his urgent entreaties, Beverningh, in 
 whom he had placed the utmost confidence, suddenly failed 
 him, retired to his country house, and resigned his oflSee of 
 treasurer-general to the United Provinces. ' Having no chil- 
 dren to leave anything to, he would not,' he said, ' Mil him- 
 self with business,' and gave this as his reason for retiring. 
 Alarmed at the danger to the republic of the war with 
 England, and foreseeing an approaching change of govern- 
 ment, he did not conceal from Count d'Estrades ' that his 
 reason for not remaining in office was that matters were 
 getting too comphcated.' The magistrates and deputies of 
 Amsterdam themselves, who had hitherto been the leaders of 
 the repubUcan party, showed some hesitation; 'which,' sorrow- 
 fully writes De Witt to Van Beuningen, ' has set the example 
 of want of courage to some others, who, as you know, had 
 not too much to lose.' 
 
 The absence of the Grand Pensionary, who had so cou- 
 
MANIFESTATIONS IN FAVOUR OF THE PRINCE OF ORANGE. 469 
 
 rageously embarked with the fleet, had deprived the States of 
 Holland of their usual defender. 
 
 His most faithful friend, Nicholas Vivien, who in his capa- 
 city of Pensionary of Dordrecht was commissioned to replace 
 him, wrote to him that if he did not speedily return his cause 
 would be lost. His father, Jacob de Witt, alarmed at the 
 dangers to which his departure exposed the government of the 
 republic, speaks to him of his uneasiness in the private letter 
 which he writes to him : ' Very dear son, I do not know what 
 else to write to you, but that I fancy I see from afar that the 
 cows are in the clover. The old woman ' (it was thus he 
 spoke of the Princess-Dowager) 'has stopped the advance of 
 the Luneburg troops, by means of her son-in-law, the Elector 
 of Brandenburg. Overyssel and Zealand are taking hostile 
 measures against us. Amsterdam and some other towns are 
 beginning to totter. Your brother is at Groningen, and I 
 hear nothing of his coming. I imagine they will try their 
 utmost to prevent your return here. Come, in order to see to 
 all this, and to insure success.' 
 
 It was against the Grand Pensionary that all blows were 
 levelled, in the hopes of thus precipitating a change of the 
 republican government, which did not seem likely to survive 
 his fall. One of his most constant correspondents. Colonel 
 Bampfield, gave him notice almost daily of the incessantly 
 renewed attacks of his enemies. ' In the towns and public 
 places,' writes D'Estrades, ' they spoke of him as a traitor.' 
 Such licence was given to hatred and calumny, that the in- 
 corruptible guardian of his country's liberty was exhibited in 
 the light of a public enemy. This was but a prelude to the 
 attempts to which, seven years later, John de Witt was to be- 
 come a victim. 
 
 The manifestations made on all sides in favour of the 
 Prince of Orange, seemed to denote an approaching restora- 
 tion. At Eotterdam over 4,000 of the inhabitants went out 
 to meet and greet him on his arrival, and the magistrates 
 were nearly going out in a body to receive him with the 
 honours that belonged of right to the former Stadtholders. 
 Euyter, whose fidelity to the States was above suspicion, 
 
470 JOHN DE WITT. 
 
 eagerly welcomed the young Prince on his visit to the fleet, 
 under the escort and superintendence of the Grand Pen- 
 sionary, and thanked him for the encouragement which his 
 presence gave the crews, telling him that it had enabled him 
 to enlist more than 1,000 men. The festivities given by the 
 corporation at the Hague, in the quarter where the Prince 
 resided, gave the townspeople an opportunity of showing the 
 attachment they felt towards him. He had come, in company 
 with John de Witt, to take part in the rejoicings, and after 
 having assisted at a banquet which was protracted for three 
 days, and to which he himself contributed some of the dishes 
 served, he was unanimously elected president of the associa- 
 tion. He held an actual court, although without the exercise 
 of any authority. ' Every day,' writes the French ambassa- 
 dor, ' numbers of persons, amongst others the officers ia garri- 
 son at the Hague, dine with him and escort him when he goes 
 out driving.' He resumed his part of pretender, and it did 
 not seem that he would have long to wait for the inheritance 
 of his ancestors. 
 
 Although he was only sixteen years of age, his partisans 
 were anxious to obtain for him the office of captain-general, 
 or at least that of general of the cavalry, which post was also 
 vacant. They demanded also his admittance to the Council 
 of State, which would give him the opportunity of acquiring 
 some knowledge of military matters. 
 
 The people of Zealand, who, according to a contemporary, 
 had remained not only ardent, but rabid, in his cause, made it 
 a point of honour to obtain this satisfaction for him, and with 
 this view the States of the Province, returning to an offensive 
 policy, sent a deputation of twenty-eight members to the 
 Hague, who were to threaten a dissolution of the union if the 
 Prince's preferment was refused. 
 
 ' If we put his foot in the stirrup for him,' they said, ' we 
 shall soon manage to get him into the saddle.' 
 
 The Grand Pensionary had not allowed himself to be sur- 
 prised or depressed. On his return from the fleet he soon re- 
 stored the assembly of Holland to its usual harmony, and made 
 good use of the proceedings of the French ambassador, who, 
 
EE8ISTANCE OV THE GEAND PENSIONARY. 471 
 
 to gain the confidence of the States and win them back to 
 the French Alliance, was exerting himself in the town council 
 in favour of the election of magistrates who were opposed to 
 a change of government. Count d'Estrades feared that any 
 appointments made in the interests of the Prince of Orange 
 might serve to reconcile the United Provinces to England ; 
 and he undertook, for the purpose of opposing them, a tour of 
 the provinces, of which he perhaps exaggerated the success 
 with too much complacency. 'I invited all the deputies 
 of Holland, nearly four hundred in number, to dinner, one 
 after the other,' he writes, ' M. de Witt does the same, and 
 we act in concert to win back those who are wavering.' 
 
 Their energetic co-operation gave the victory to the policy 
 of the Grand Pensionary. In spite of the opposition of three 
 of the provinces, he managed to get his own candidate, Conrad 
 Burg, who had represented the republic in Eussia, and was 
 a sheriff in the municipal council of Amsterdam, appointed 
 to succeed Beverningh as treasurer-general of the United 
 Provinces. On the other hand, he persuaded the States to 
 set aside the claim of the Elector of Brandenburg, who 
 appeared to be putting a price upon his alliance by demand- 
 ing beforehand satisfaction for his nephew. ' The deputies of 
 Holland,' he writes, ' have represented to the States-General 
 that it was not seemly that a foreign prince should publicly 
 interfere in a purely domestic affair, in which all the other 
 provinces concur, so that the president has been requested to 
 remonstrate with the ministers of Brandenburg, who have 
 withdrawn the memorial.' According to^ Count d'Estrades, 
 the Grand Pensionary remained master of the conduct of the 
 government. 
 
 Still, the resistance was insufficient to avert the danger 
 which was constantly threatening. The fresh campaign 
 entered upon by the States of Zealand in favour of the Prince 
 of Orange might prove the signal for internal dissensions, 
 aggravated by a foreign war. A compromise would be needed 
 to disarm the Orange party, and De Witt recognised the 
 necessity for this. ' The intrigues carried on here,' he writes, 
 ' will certainly place Holland in a disastrous predicament if 
 
472 JOHN DE WITT. 
 
 they are not forestalled by some compromise.' He preferred, 
 therefore, to allow with a good grace what he could not 
 prevent. 
 
 With this idea he had already made an overture of con- 
 ciliation calculated at the same time to strengthen the 
 alliance with France. He had proposed the appointment of 
 the Prince of Orange to the command of the cavalry, on the 
 condition that Marshal Turenne should be made commander- 
 in-chief. ' The councillor deputies,' he writes, ' are of opinion 
 that it is necessary to find a brave and skilful general belong- 
 ing to the Reformed religion, of a rank sufficient to place him 
 above the other generals who are in the service of the State, 
 without giving them cause for offence ; and whose interests are 
 such that, the chief allies of the republic can place confidence 
 in him. If one could know M. de Turenne's wishes it would 
 be easy to turn the scale in his favour.' 
 
 Turenne was worthy of this preference. His military fame 
 and his religious faith were not his only titles to the selection of 
 the States-General. He had passed his apprenticeship in arms, 
 under the command of the Stadtholders Maurice and Frede- 
 rick Henry, in the war with Spain, and as a grandson by his 
 mother's side of WilHam I. his kinship was a further reason 
 for confiding in him. 
 
 Nevertheless, the Grand Pensionary's measures were not 
 as successful as he had expected. He could not bring the King 
 of France round to his views, as Louis feared that so much 
 military power in the hands of the Prince of Orange, even 
 under the command of Turenne, would give him too great 
 influence with the army and allow him to put it at the dis- 
 posal of the King of England. De Witt was therefore obliged 
 to abandon his project, although without giving up a hope of 
 attaining by some other means the end he had in view. 
 
 The deliberations of the States of Holland on the proposal 
 which had been made to them by the States of Zealand, to 
 throw open the road to power to the young Prince of Orange, 
 suggested to him a new line of conduct. The nobles and 
 deputies of six of the towns had declared that if the education 
 of William H.'s son was confided to the States of Holland by 
 
EDUCATION OF THE YOUKG PEINCE. 473 
 
 his grandmother, the Princess-Dowager, the deputies of 
 Holland ought to accept the proposal. The Grand Pen- 
 sionary had tried to get this arranged immediately after 
 the King of England's restoration, but Charles II.'s ill-will 
 foiled him. It was nevertheless a project worthy of a great 
 statesman, and De Witt returned to it with confidence. He 
 looked upon it as destined to end the evil era of civil discord. 
 He liked to imagine that an aspirant brought up under the 
 care and patronage of the guardians of the constitution would 
 be content with being the chief citizen of a republic, and 
 thought it the best means that could be taken to insure him 
 against any ambition of becoming its master. 
 
 There was no longer any fear that the King of England 
 would try and dispute his nephew's education with him, by 
 imposing his guardianship on the States ; the war in which 
 Charles II. was engaged with the United Provinces deterred him 
 from this. The Grand Pensionary was moreover guaranteed 
 against his hostility by the protection of the King of France, 
 and to secure it affected to have no wish but that of following 
 Count d'Estrades' advice, being skilful enough to seem to 
 yield to the course he was himself disposed to follow. He had 
 thus only the opposition of the Orange party to overcome, 
 which, carried away by the fervour of its hopes, wished to keep 
 all and give nothing. 
 
 To overcome this difficulty De Witt sought the concur- 
 rence of the Princess -Dowager, who was impatient to come 
 forward and did not bear inaction with equanimity. She 
 was the more anxious to come to terms with the Grand 
 Pensionary that she knew how important it was to the Prince 
 of Orange to obtain the assistance he needed to open to him 
 the road to power on his quitting private life. Independently 
 of the vanity which influenced her, she had sufficient percep- 
 tion to have shown herself favourable to an understanding 
 with the leaders of the republican party had they consented to 
 burden themselves with the interests of the House of Orange, 
 which the Orange party was powerless to advance. De Witt 
 eagerly profited by this unexpected alliance. At his request 
 the French ambassador, with whom he was desirous to act in 
 
474 JOHN DE WITT. 
 
 concert to insure the success of his projects, made the first 
 overtures to the Princess-Dowager, which she received with 
 suspicion. He did not hesitate then to go to her himself, and 
 easily convinced her of his sincerity. He undertook to make 
 the States of Holland the guardians of the young Prince if she 
 would consent to ask them for their protection in favour of her 
 grandson. 
 
 Such an offer was* too tempting to he refused. According 
 to a contemporary (the Count de Guiche) the Princess-Dowager 
 was dazzled, and followed the example of those in whom long 
 abstinence has so awakened appetite that, instead of giving 
 themselves time to make a good, meal, they satiate themselves 
 with the first food that comes in their way. 
 
 ' Following the advice of John de Witt, she sent the deputies 
 of Holland a memorial that had been suggested to her by 
 the Grand Pensionary, in which she asked them to undertake 
 the education of the young Prince of Orange. She had made 
 up her mind, as the Grand Pensionary had given her reason 
 to hope, that the States of Holland, after having taken her 
 grandson under their protection, would give him the pension 
 of 100,000 francs which had been promised to him, and 
 would not long defer his admittance into the Council of State. 
 The deputies, who were prepared for this demand, consented 
 without hesitation, on the recommendation of John de Witt, 
 and the more readily that they could thus set aside the im- 
 portunate demands of the States of Zealand and enjoy, so to 
 speak, their confusion. 
 
 Two days later they elected the members of the com- 
 mission for the education of the young Prince, giving them 
 full powers. They re-elected those who had formed part of the 
 commission which six years before had already been formed 
 for the guardianship of William II. 's son, according to the 
 agreement which De Witt had entered into with his mother, 
 and which had not survived the death of that princess. 
 
 Noortwijck, one of the deputies of the nobility, who was 
 devoted to the States Government, and Nanning Forest, 
 auditor of the domain accounts, returned to their original 
 functions. 
 
DE WITT ASSUMES THE DIRECTION OF IT. 475 
 
 The two other commissioners, Beveren de Barendrecht 
 and Cornelius Graeff de Zuydpolsbroek, were dead, and it was 
 necessary to replace them. In spite of the opposition of the 
 deputies of Leyden and Haarlem the States appointed as their 
 successors Adrien de Blyenbourg, lord of Naldwijck, a member 
 of the Council of Dordrecht, and Dalkenier, burgomaster 
 of Amsterdam. The chief authority rested, however, with 
 the Grand Pensionary ; and the First Minister of a republic 
 thus found himself charged with a prince's education. 
 
 De Witt had many obstacles to overcome in order to con- 
 form it to his views and hopes. The son of William II. was 
 sixteen and had to be taken into account. ' My master is no 
 longer a child, thank God,' wrote Huyghens de Zuylichem, the 
 private secretary of the late Stadtholder, to Lionne ; ' I see 
 with astonishment how he has grown in these few years, and 
 thriven in mind and body.' Accustomed to look upon the 
 States of Holland as usurpers, the Prince of Orange had 
 opposed the overtures made to them by his grandmother, and 
 in spite of the representations of the Count de Guiche, who 
 had some influence with him, he had refused to take any part 
 in the request she had made to them. 
 
 It was important that his ill-will should not be encouraged by 
 those who surrounded him. Not satisfied with deterring him 
 from a reconciliation with the republican party, his advisers 
 spared no pains to confound his interests with those of the 
 King of England, his uncle, and thus seemed to render them- 
 selves accomplices in the war declared by Charles II. against 
 the republic of the United Provinces. De Witt, therefore, 
 took the most energetic measures to withdraw the young 
 Prince from his surroundings. ' There will be no promotion 
 for the Prince of Orange,' he writes, ' with the consent of the 
 States, untU he shall have been detached from those who are, 
 with reason, called the partisans of England, and who are 
 conspiring to give King Charles II. the sovereignty of Holland, 
 in the name of his sister's son.' These imputations were 
 justified. The young Prince's court was that of an English 
 prince. His two gentlemen, Bromley, and Heenvliet, a son 
 of the Princess Koyal's former confidential agent, were both 
 
476 JOHN DE WITT. 
 
 Englishmen. His steward or master of the household, Boreel, 
 the son of the ambassador of the United Provinces in France, 
 had become a naturalised subject of Great Britain. His 
 governor was his natural uncle, Frederick of Nassau Zulestein, 
 whose wife, an Englishwoman, had the upper hand of her 
 husband, and acquired great authority over the young Prince. 
 Zulestein was in such close communication with the English 
 court that, at the commencement of the war, the Duke of York 
 wrote to him announcing the arrival of the enemy's fleet on the 
 shores of Holland, and the Grand Pensionary had reason there- 
 fore to mistrust the confidence placed in him by the Prince of 
 Orange. To get him out of the way he induced the States of 
 Holland to appoint a new governor for their ward. The Princess- 
 Dowager, having always been inimical to Zulestein, who had 
 been acknowledged by her husband the Stadtholder Frederick 
 Henry as his natural son, hastened to express her approval 
 of this change. But the Prince of Orange, who looked upon 
 this separation as a great sacrifice, shrank from no efforts to 
 retain his governor. He went to the French ambassador and 
 begged him, with tears in his eyes, to use his influence with the 
 Grand Pensionary to spare him so great a sorrow, promising 
 to look upon M. de Witt as a father and to conduct himself 
 as a true child of the State, if only his request was acceded 
 to. He was so iU with grief that he would not leave his room 
 or even his bed. It was in vain that he added threats to 
 entreaties, declaring 'that it was a mistake to continue to 
 treat him as a child, that he was no longer one, and that he 
 would soon let them know it.' De Witt remained inflexible. 
 Zulestein obtained, it is true, as compensation, a continuance 
 of his salary of 4,000 florins for five years, but he was none 
 the less removed from his pupil. 
 
 The States of Holland chose as his successor John van 
 Ghent, deputy for Guelders in the States-General, who had 
 always favoured the existing government, and had been one 
 of the extraordinary embassy sent to France some years 
 previously, to conclude the last treaty of alliance. 
 
 The appointment of the new governor was specially calcu- 
 lated to please Louis XIV. by reassuring him as to any fear 
 
RESENTMENT OF THE PRINCE. 477 
 
 of a union of the Orange party with England. To lay Van 
 Ghent under an obhgation to him the King of France com- 
 missioned his ambassador to offer him secretly an annuity of 
 4,000 francs. 
 
 The Prince of Orange made a last attempt to prevent the 
 States from forcing their choice upon him. He begged Van 
 Ghent to refuse the post offered to him, promising to take 
 into account his refusal, and to see to his future welfare and 
 to that of his children. But Van Ghent, not wishing to break 
 with the States, preferred to brave a displeasure from which 
 he had nothing to fear for the moment, and did not hesitate 
 to take possession of his office. 
 
 The Prince of Orange had only to submit. He resigned 
 himself in silence to the affront which had been put upon him, 
 and hid his grief until the time came when he could obtain 
 reparation. He only showed his resentment to his grand- 
 mother, whom he could not forgive for having, even in his 
 own interests, made common cause with the enemies of the 
 House of Orange. Wishing to revenge himself upon her 
 for her behaviour, he urged his new guardians to settle his 
 accounts, which were in great confusion, for which he declared 
 the Princess-Dowager was responsible ; ' complaining that his 
 land was always being sold under its value, that none of his 
 debts were paid, and that accounts were owing to his trades- 
 people of years' standing.' At the same time assuming a 
 reserve and habit of dissimulation beyond his years, he recog- 
 nised the necessity of satisfying the States of Holland by an ap- 
 pearance of submissiveness untU he should be emancipated. 
 He had apparently no other thought than that of gaining their 
 approval, and affected so much warmth towards them that his 
 grandmother took offence. He answered her reproaches with 
 firmness, representing to her 'that she had only herself to 
 thank if he looked upon them as those upon whom his future 
 depended.' ' I left him,' writes the French ambassador, 
 'ready to do anything which M. de Witt might advise.' 
 
 De Witt fulfilled the duties which his new office imposed 
 upon him towards the Prince with exemplary fidelity. The 
 attachment and solicitude he showed towards him are testified 
 
478 JOHN DE WITT. 
 
 to by all contemporary writers. To win his confidence he even 
 took part in his games. Count d'Estrades relates that ' he 
 was challenged to a game of tennis by the Grand Pensionary 
 and the Prince of Orange, whom he had gone to see at play 
 together.' ' I took them at their word,' he adds, ' and without 
 taking off my coat played six games, which I won.' John de 
 Witt's vigilant care over the education confided to him was 
 never at fault. The Princess-Dowager having asked that her 
 grandson might be present at a marriage in the family, he 
 answered : ' The committee of education refer this decision to 
 your Highness, only begging you not to allow the Prince's 
 absence to be prolonged to the prejudice of the useful employ- 
 ment of his time.' He had himself undertaken the direction 
 of his studies, with the assistance of the young Prince's tutor, 
 Bornius. He regularly examined him on the work of the 
 week, and further reserved at least an hour every Monday for 
 instructing him in poHtics. 
 
 He, no doubt, counted upon these lessons to teach him, if 
 not to love the States, at any rate to respect their authority, 
 and to encourage him to follow the example of his ancestor, 
 WUham I., rather than that of his father. A room in the 
 prince's palace, called the chamber of education, was used for 
 these conversations, by which, through a strange reverse of 
 fortune, the son of the Stadtholder WiUiam H.'s prisoner 
 prepared the last descendant of the House of Orange to make 
 himself worthy of the power of his ancestors. ' I am anxious 
 to make the Prince of Orange's education a complete work,' 
 says the Grand Pensionary with a patriotic disinterestedness 
 which does him honom- ; ' my party may fall, and it is neces- 
 sary that this yoimg man should some day be qualified to 
 govern the republic' 
 
 By taking the Prince of Orange imder their protection, the 
 States of Holland gave him the opportunity of justifying in 
 the futm-ethe foresight of John de Witt. When they resolved 
 to undertake the charge of his education, one of the principal 
 members of the States- General said, laughingly : ' Holland 
 thinks it can make the Prince a child of the State, but I 
 think she will be rather the Prince's chUd.' The partisans of 
 
LOUIS XIV. RESTOEES THE PEINCIPALITY OF ORANGE. 479 
 
 William II.'s son had, moreover, never ceased to count on time 
 as their best ally, in re-establishing his fortunes. ' When his 
 Highness shall be a few years older,' they wrote, ' the provinces 
 will pull down all this scaffolding. The time will come. The 
 work is begun, and will go on of itself without troubling any- 
 one. The Prince, once of age, will undo all that has been 
 done during his minority.' 
 
 He had no need to wait for his majority to profit by the 
 events which conspired in his favour. The restitution of the 
 Principality of Orange, which the King of France had taken 
 possession of some years previously, had already restored his 
 credit abroad. Louis XIV. had for a long time refused to give 
 it up, in spite of the urgent entreaties and supplications of 
 Huyghens de Zuylichem, whom the Princess-Dowager had sent 
 to Paris to support her claims. He eventually gave way, to 
 please the Elector of Brandenburgy the Princess's son-in-law, 
 whose neutrality he was interested in securing for the execu- 
 tion of his plans on the Spanish Netherlands. Moreover, the 
 peace which had just been concluded with the King of England 
 at Breda, seemed to impose upon the States of Holland the 
 necessity of concessions in favour of Charles II. with a view 
 to conciliating the republic's new ally. Finally Louis's in- 
 vasion of the Spanish Netherlands, by placing the States- 
 General in jeopardy of a war with France, made it impossible 
 for them to leave any of their military commands vacant, 
 thus favouring the impatience of those who wished to reserve 
 to the descendant of the former stadtholders the supreme 
 command of the army and navy, which had belonged to his 
 ancestors. 
 
 De Witt had been long prepared for this event, which he 
 considered inevitable. ' The magistrates and the people are so 
 determined in favour of the young Prince,' he had written six 
 years previously, ' that as soon as he has reached a suitable 
 age, the command of the troops will fall into his hands.' But 
 on the other hand, being enlightened by the events of 1650, 
 and the recollection of William II.'s coup d'etat, he was con- 
 vinced that in allowing the powers of the Stadtholder to be 
 united to those of captain- and admiral-general, ' he should 
 
480 JOHN DE WITT. 
 
 make the Prince of Orange no longer the officer, hut the sove- 
 reign of the State.' To separate the two offices and make 
 them incompatible with one another was the programme 
 proposed by De Witt, to insure the duration of the re- 
 publican government. He flattered himself that he could 
 soon put it into execution, by arranging for the admission of 
 the young Prince into the Council of State and his appoint- 
 ment as captain- and admiral-general, in consideration of his 
 renunciation of the stadtholdership. ' We ought,' he wrote 
 to one of his confidants, ' on the one hand firmly to secure 
 public liberty, and on the other to grant to the Prince of 
 Orange at once a position suitable to his age, which does not 
 at present allow of his being raised to any higher rank.' By 
 following this line of conduct, De Witt sought not merely a 
 momentary expedient, but a solution of the difficulty which 
 might insure security in the future. 
 
 The proposal he had in view, and to which the nego- 
 tiations with the Prince of Orange were a prelude, had been 
 considered in the first place by the councillor deputies, and 
 submitted in their name to the States of Holland. By it they 
 were asked to come to an agreement with the other provinces for 
 the disposal of the higher posts in the army, leaving open that 
 of captain-general, which seemed thus to be reserved for the 
 Prince of Orange. To prove their intentions in regard to this, 
 they were asked to guarantee his admission into the Council 
 of State, and his appointment as commissioner to the army 
 of the States in the event of war, that he might thus be pre- 
 pared for the exercise of military authority. But they were 
 only to be called upon to fulfil this engagement after obtaining 
 a preliminary guarantee from the States-General that whoever 
 should be stadtholder — that is, governor — of one of the pro- 
 vinces of the confederation, should be considered ineligible for 
 the post of captain- and admiral-general. 
 
 These resolutions were sent for deliberation to the town 
 councUs, and communicated to the States-General. They 
 did not seem likely to give rise to any serious debate. It 
 was rather the interest of the Orange party to be content 
 with the offers of the States of Holland. It was not suffi- 
 
POWER AITD INFLUENCE OF HOLLAN^D, 481 
 
 ciently united to be exacting. Besides, the States of Zealand 
 had never forgiven the Princess-Dowager for having forsaken 
 them. They accused her of deceiving them, by becoming 
 reconciled without their knowledge to the new holders of 
 power, and of showing preference to the States of Holland. 
 They declared that, having been thus set aside, they gave 
 up any further steps on behalf of the young Prince, and 
 accordingly, having in vain tried to obtain some part in the 
 direction of his education, they now held themselves aloof. In 
 short, the most devoted of the Prince of Orange's partisans 
 attached themselves without scruple to the new government. 
 Count Sommeldsdyck, one of the principal nobles of Holland, 
 whose father had been employed by the late Stadtholder in 
 carrying out his coup d'etat, wrote to De Witt : ' I hope to 
 obtain the honour of your friendship, and I desire still more 
 to give you the assurance of mine, in all constancy and fidelity, 
 in the interest of the established government, which I promise 
 you now and always to consider before my own. If my late 
 father acted otherwise, no doubt he had his reasons as I now 
 have mine; and so the world goes round.' De Witt had, 
 therefore, good cause to express his satisfaction to one of his 
 confidants in these terms : ' The power and influence of Hol- 
 land are so much greater than those of the other provinces, 
 that in regard to them their Noble and Great Mightinesses can, 
 with good management, accomplish anything on which they 
 may determine with good reason and upon a sound basis.' 
 
 The States of Holland, moreover, were careful not to 
 abuse their advantage. They contented themselves with sug- 
 gesting an agreement, by proposing the separation of the two 
 offices of stadtholder and captain-general, and made no preten- 
 sion to dispense with the co-operation of the other provinces. 
 But, with some of their deputies, feeling took the place of 
 prudence and gave the upper hand to an aggressive policy, 
 which soon set the two parties at variance. Whilst De Witt 
 inclined to moderation and patience, two of the deputies for 
 Amsterdam, Fagel and Valkenier, went far beyond the initiative 
 of the Grand Pensionary. In the impulsive ardour of their 
 ambition, they desired to stand foremost amongst the most 
 
 VOL. I. II 
 
482 JOHN DE WITT. 
 
 violent enemies of the House of Orange, of which they were 
 to become, a few years later, the fiercest partisans. The 
 Grand Pensionary stood out in vain for two days against the 
 proposal which they laid before him, and ended by giving a 
 reluctant consent. 
 
 A fresh resolution adopted by the States of Holland led 
 them into a path at the entrance of which they had hitherto 
 paused. They declared at first that they would not consent 
 to the appointment of a captain- and admiral-general until 
 the States-General had made such an office incompatible 
 with that of stadtholder. This declaration not seeming to 
 them sufficient, they also decided to aboKsh the stadtholder- 
 ship in their province and to put it out of their power to 
 restore it. In consequence of this suppression the powers 
 which had hitherto belonged to the stadtholders, and which 
 had remained in abeyance, were definitively redistributed 
 between the States, the nobles, and the magistrates of the 
 towns. By a subsequent regulation, the States and the nobles 
 . settled of what offices each should have the disposal. The 
 States also brought under their own jurisdiction all differences 
 in the towns, either between themselves or with the courts of 
 law. The magistrates of the towns, on their side, claimed 
 the appointment of all the members of their councils as well 
 as the choice of their burgomasters and sheriffs. As a 
 guarantee of the stability of this constitution of the republican 
 government, an oath was imposed upon the Grand Pensionary, 
 upon the members of the Assembly, and upon all who formed 
 or might hereafter form part of the body of nobles or of the 
 magistrates. The formula was thus conceived : ' I promise and 
 declare that I will faithfully uphold the above-mentioned edict 
 in all its clauses and articles, and that I wiU never permit 
 it to be violated or derogated from. Moreover, I will not only 
 never make any proposal which shall be opposed to it, but I 
 will never offer any advice tending to prevent its accomphsh- 
 ment, or to bring its validity into question. So help me God 
 Almighty ! ' 
 
 No opposition was offered by the Assembly of the Province. 
 The Grand Pensionary had long before insured himself the 
 
THE PERPETUAL EDICT. 483 
 
 co-operation of the nobility, by granting to those amongst 
 them who represented their order in the States, hereditary 
 privileges, not only for their sons, but in default of sons for 
 their next brother. The deputies of the towns on their side 
 could not but agree with the opinion of the magistrates 
 in favour of the definite abolition of the stadtholdership, 
 which assured them for ever the free election of their 
 municipal magistrates. The promise, moreover, of giving 
 military power to the Prince of Orange seemed a sufficient 
 satisfaction to his partisans. Some members made a few objec- 
 tions in regard merely to the oath. A few of the deputies of 
 the nobles having asked for an adjournment before commit- 
 ting themselves irrevocably, the States resolved that the oath 
 should not be required until the following session. 
 
 Four months later, When they met for the new session, the 
 difficulties that had been raised were got over by a subterfuge. 
 The meeting had been convoked for four o'clock in the afternoon, 
 and all those members who were disposed to take the oath for 
 the edict had been requested to be in the hall on the stroke 
 of the hour. They did not fail to be there, and the sitting was 
 precipitately declared open. The deputies of the nobles, who 
 had remained at table, were alone too late. When they came 
 to take their places, all the members who had been present 
 at the opening of the sitting had already answered to their 
 names, and taken the required oath. The nobles had no 
 longer any right to speak, the voting having already begun, 
 and, finding that they would be forced to retire if they should 
 refuse to follow the example set them, they gave in with a 
 good grace. 
 
 The next day the most energetic measures were taken to 
 obtain at once pledges of allegiance and fidelity to the edict, 
 which all the members of the town councils were required to 
 subscribe. The States had at first determined to appoint three 
 commissioners to receive the oath from the magistrates, but, 
 fearing that those who wished to dispense with it might be 
 tempted to escape it by absenting themselves, they thought 
 of a better plan. They sent a copy of the edict to all the 
 town councils, accompanied by a form of oath, which the 
 
 I I 2 
 
484 JOHN DE WITT. 
 
 magistrates were called upon to sign. Their signature was 
 to be appended within the three weeks preceding the new 
 session of the States, a refusal being considered equivalent to 
 resignation. 
 
 The right of sitting in the municipal assembly was thus 
 made subject to the condition of an oath. This injunction was 
 received with perfect docility. One magistrate alone, a member 
 of the council of Edam, excused himself, saying that, being 
 old and deaf, he would not sign what he did not understand. 
 "When the States resumed their sittings, the oath had been 
 taken by all who had any part in the government of the 
 Province. The edict was sent to the courts of justice, with 
 orders that they should conform themselves to it, and re- 
 mained in the care of the Grand Pensionary, who, being more 
 bound than anyone else to see it observed as a law of the State, 
 and to refuse to allow any change in it, was destined to die 
 a victim to the oath by which he had sworn to remain faithful 
 to it. 
 
 Thus was brought about the act which the States called 
 the 'Perpetual Edict,' with a presumption which was not 
 justified by after events, in spite of the measures which 
 they had taken to render it irrevocable. It gave the' most 
 complete satisfaction to the republican party, and seemed to 
 assure to thein the definite possession of the government. Some 
 of the deputies who had voted for it considered it as marking 
 the first day of liberty to their province. By leaving no 
 possible office open to WilKam II.'s son but that of the 
 command of the army, the States of Holland flattered 
 themselves that they should be secure against any princely 
 government, without showing injustice towards the descendant 
 of the country's liberator. They thought that in preventing 
 his accession to the stadtholdership by the suppression of that 
 office they had completely freed themselves. 
 
 Still they would have acted more prudently if, instead of 
 openly breaking with traditions which dated back to the first 
 days of the independence of the republic, and attempting to 
 suppress the stadtholdership, they had contented themselves 
 with lessening its importance by reserving to themselves 
 
IRRITATION OF THE OTHER PROVINCES. 485 
 
 Bucli prerogatives as might render it dangerous to the Hberty 
 of the people. The Grand Pensionary, much as he was op- 
 posed to the re-establishment of the stadtholdership, thought 
 it would be rather dangerous than advantageous to abolish it 
 openly. He would have preferred to proclaim it incompatible 
 with the command of the army and navy, if he coald have 
 obtained the consent of the States- General. But he allowed 
 himself to be too easily persuaded into another course, and 
 in not preventing the States of Holland from taking too great 
 an advantage of their victory he paved the way for a reaction 
 sooner or later. 
 
 Whilst the votes were being taken for the Perpetual Edict, 
 his cousin Vivien, the Pensionary of Dordrecht, was cutting 
 up the binding of a book with a penknife. ' What are you 
 doing ? ' asked with some surprise John de Witt, who was 
 sitting near him. ' I am trying,' replied Vivien, ' the effect of 
 steel upon parchment,' thus meaning it to be understood that 
 the resolutions of the States, although inscribed on their re- 
 gisters, would be at the mercy of a sword as soon as the Prince 
 of Orange was in the possession of the military authority. 
 
 The other provinces, considering themselves provoked 
 by the Perpetual Edict, would not submit to the challenge 
 which had been thrown down to them. The States of Zealand 
 required the States- General to reply to the vote of the States 
 of Holland, by admitting the Prince of Orange to the Council 
 of State, and by appointing him without delay to the command 
 of the army and navy. They demanded moreover that the 
 other provinces should enter into no agreement which should 
 interdict them from naming him stadtholder. The States 
 of 'Friesland and of Groningen, whose governor was the 
 young Prince of Nassau, not wishing to make him ineligible 
 in default of the Prince of Orange for the command of the 
 army and navy, were disposed to foUow the example of Zealand. 
 They desired their representatives in the States-General to 
 oppose henceforth any proposal destined to make the two 
 charges incompatible. 
 
 The States of Guelders, although inclined on their side to 
 a separation of the civil and military powers, would not consent 
 
486 JOHN DE WITT. 
 
 to such a condition being imposed beforehand on the other 
 provinces, and declared moreover that they would come to 
 no terms untU a captain- and admiral-general had been 
 appointed. 
 
 The States of Overyssel, being deterred from any decision 
 by the divisions in their Assembly, were obliged to stand aloof. 
 
 The States of Utrecht alone conformed their conduct to 
 that of the States of Holland. After having declared in a 
 preliminary sitting that no commander of the army could 
 act as stadtholder of their province, they decreed the sup- 
 pression of that office. But the co-operation of the States of 
 Utrecht was not suiEcient to enable the States of Holland to 
 dissolve the coalition with which they were threatened. The 
 other provinces, wishing to force them to yield under pain of 
 disorganising the army and compromising the defence of the 
 country, declined to dispose of the military commands until 
 the Prince of Orange had been unconditionally appointed 
 captain- and admiral-general. The Grand Pensionary, strongly 
 convinced of the necessity of coming to some agreement in 
 regard to military affairs, did all he could to avert this danger 
 by offering to make concessions. He made use of his influence 
 with the members of the States-General, who formed part of 
 the committee on military matters, and gained their approval 
 of an important proposal which was put forward by one of 
 them, Biperda tot Beurse, deputy for Guelders, under the 
 name of the Project of Harmony. It was intended to smoothe 
 away internal jealousies by offering guarantees favom-able to 
 the interests of the Prince of Orange. By the terms of this 
 project it is true that no stadtholder of a province could be 
 named captain- or admiral-general, but this incompatibility of 
 the civil and military offices was only to be stipulated when 
 the military appointment was made. The result was that the 
 provinces remained at liberty to choose the Prince of Orange 
 as stadtholder, if the command of the army and navy had 
 not been given to him, and that they were not bound to 
 enter into any preliminary agreement in order to obtain his 
 admittance into the Council of State. Moreover, the post of 
 captain- and admh-al-general without being actually promised 
 
THE PROJECT OF HARMONY. 487 
 
 ■was indirectly reserved to him, but the appointment was not 
 to be made before he reached the age of twenty-two. 
 
 In default of the inheritance of his ancestors, which was 
 not restored to him, the young Prince of Orange might now 
 feel certain of enjoying some portion of the authority which 
 had belonged to them, on the condition of waiting during 
 the six years which would intervene before his majority. 
 
 The Grand Pensionary flattered himself that he had thus 
 found a way of conciliating matters. 'I shall not fail,' he 
 writes to the Councillor Pensionary of Zealand, 'to support 
 this measure in the States of Holland.' He easily secured their 
 assent, the deputies who were most opposed to the Priuce of 
 Orange's advancement having already pledged themselves, when 
 they disposed of the commands of the army and navy, to appoint 
 him captain- and admiral-general for life, instead of restricting 
 themselves to a temporary appointment. By means of this 
 concession, De Witt after some months' negotiation obtained 
 the adhesion of the provinces of Guelders and Overyssel to- the 
 Project of Harmony. The States of Holland hastened to profit 
 by it to urge the appointment of the superior officers of the 
 army. Having skilfully given the other provinces an interest 
 in the choice of the principal candidates by accepting those 
 whom they presented, they went in a body to the States- 
 General, and their energetic remonstrances, backed up by the 
 members of the military commission of the federal assembly, 
 had the success which they anticipated. 
 
 The army once reorganised, the States of Holland could 
 wait in perfect security for the approval of the Project of 
 Harmony by the three other provinces who still opposed it. 
 By refusing to consent to it they could only injure the cause 
 of the Prince of Orange, on whom they thus shut the entrance 
 to the Council of State, as well as all chance of the command 
 of the army and navy. But De Witt was too much interested 
 in the success of the work of pacification which he had under- 
 taken to leave it in suspense, and he caused all measures to 
 be taken which might lead to the .agreement of the dissent- 
 ing provinces. The States of Holland persuaded the States- 
 General to send two deputations to the provinces of Groningen 
 
488 JOHN DE WITT. 
 
 and Priesland, and to that of Zealand. The principal 
 management of it was confided to Fagel and Vivien, two 
 members of their Assembly who had given proofs of their 
 zeal and fidelity. Fagel's speech to the States of Priesland, 
 at Leuwarden, was an eloquent justification of De Witt's 
 policy. He demonstrated the necessity of agreement between 
 the Provinces, to be brought about by the help of reciprocal 
 concessions, and laid stress upon the advances that had been 
 made by the States of Holland, who, in the interests of 
 the Prince of Orange, had consented that the appointment 
 of captain- and admiral-general should be not merely tem- 
 porary. He represented the danger of leaving the civil and 
 military of&ces combined in the hands of one man, who would 
 be exposed to the suggestions of flatterers and courtiers, and 
 might be tempted by ambition of sovereign power. He wound 
 up by pointing out that once it was decided that the office of 
 captain- and admiral -general should devolve upon the last 
 descendant of the House of Orange, a premature appointment 
 would do more harm than good. According to him it could 
 not fail to give the young Prince the impression that he owed 
 the command of the army and navy to his birth rather than 
 to the good-will of the States, whilst he might prepare himself 
 to exercise it and be forced to make himself worthy of the 
 position by filling at rfirst the functions of a member of the 
 Council of State. Intimidated by this energetic intervention, 
 the States of Priesland and, following their example, the States 
 of Groningen appeared to be rather for than against concilia- 
 tion. Having moreover their own special stadtholder, the 
 son of Count William Prederick of Nassau, they cared less 
 about the preservation or re-establishment of the stadtholder- 
 ship than did the other provinces, and had no interest in pro- 
 longing resistance. 
 
 It was more difficult to get the States of Zealand to agree. 
 In vain the States of Holland asked that conferences might 
 be held. They replied by recriminations to the report of their 
 delegates, reminding them of the previous engagement by 
 which the two provinces had promised to take no part in the 
 nomination of a stadtholder without a preliminary agreement, 
 
DISSENT OF ZEALAND. 489 
 
 and complaining that these promises had been broken. The 
 Project of Harmony had, however, prevented the negotiations 
 being broken off, and De "Witt hastened to renew them. ' I 
 cannot imagine,' he writes to Peter deHuybert, the Councillor 
 Pensionary of Zealand, ' why the States of this province will 
 not give the consent they are asked for. I hope it is not 
 because the proposal is made by Holland.' 
 
 To gain the good-will of Peter de Huybert, De Witt had 
 promised to obtain for his son a vacant place in the council 
 of Flanders, to which was confided the jurisdiction that had 
 remained in common between the Spanish Netherlands and the 
 United Provinces. But the Councillor Pensionary of Zealand 
 remained intractable . He opposed a violent manifesto to the con- 
 ciliatory address of the deputies whom the States-General had 
 just sent to the States of Zealand. Not content with deelaring 
 that Zealand would refuse to consent to the separation of the 
 two offices of stadtholder and captain- and admiral-general, he 
 blamed in unmeasured terms the policy followed by the States 
 of Holland since the death of William II. had made them masters 
 of the government. As if for the purpose of provoking them, he 
 wound up by an attempt at justifying the coup d'etat of 1650, 
 thus encouraging fresh attempts against their authority. 
 Such violence of tone did him more harm than good. The 
 States of Zealand did, it is true, submit to the approval of 
 their town-councU the message proposed by their councillor 
 pensionary, but the answer, equally moderate and conclusive, of 
 the States of Holland deterred them from keeping up the con- 
 troversy. The proceedings so skilfully conducted by De Witt's 
 confidential agents had not moreover been without result. 
 His emissaries succeeded in creating dissension in the resisting 
 party, and ended by placing as rival authorities, in opposition 
 to the Councillor Pensionary of Zealand, two of the principal 
 members of the States of the Province, Thibault and Ingolsel, 
 contriving to procure them the support of the towns of Middle- 
 burg and Flushing. ' The present condition of affairs in 
 Zealand,' wrote Bampfield to De Witt, ' is much better than 
 I could have hoped, when I began working with such care to 
 bring them to the state they are now in.' ' It looks,' he wrote 
 
490 JOHN DE WITT. 
 
 at the same time to one of his correspondents at the French 
 court, ' as if the opposition, which is akeady much weakened 
 in Frieslaud, would eventually succumb in Zealand.' 
 
 The sentiments of the Prince of Orange seemed moreover 
 the surest guarantee of agreement, and contributed largely to 
 the success of the Grand Pensionary's poKcy. 
 
 Immediately after the passing of the Perpetual Edict, the 
 States of Holland had sent a deputation to their ward, and 
 had commissioned their First Minister to justify to him the 
 resolution they had made. De Witt told him plainly that 
 ' whilst there was not one single member of the assembly who 
 did not look upon him as destiaed one day to command the 
 armies of the State, neither was there one who did not detest 
 the recollection of his father's enterprise.' He added that 
 the suppression of the stadtholdership was intended to prevent 
 the renewal of a similar attempt. The Grand Pensionary 
 softened this communication by teUing the young Prince, that 
 the States of Holland, ' wishing to render him fitted to do good 
 service to the republic,' would demand his admission into the 
 Council of State, and he exhorted him to deserve their con- 
 fidence, so that he might obtain the command of the army 
 and of the fleet, as soon as he was of an age to exercise it. 
 According to the despatch which reproduces this curious iater- 
 view, William H.'s son was so great an adept in dissimulation 
 that he not only withheld all useless lamentations, but further 
 expressed his satisfaction and begged De Witt to thank the 
 States of Holland for their consideration for his person and 
 interests. 
 
 De Witt with the most loyal siacerity strove to persuade 
 him of this. With this view he desired his special confi- 
 dant, Colonel Bampfield, to transmit the most pressing offers for 
 an agreen^ent to Doctor Eumpf, the Princess-Dowager's phy- 
 sician, and one of the most esteemed advisers of the family of 
 Orange. Bampfield, in accordance with the instructions given 
 to him, entered into a correspondence with Eumpf, represent- 
 iag to him that the Prince's interests could only really be 
 served by leaving them entu-ely in the hands of the Grand 
 Pensionary of Holland, who, he writes, ' has both the capacity 
 
APPARENT GOOD-WILL OP THE PRINCE OF ORANGE. 491 
 
 and the will to give him useful and wise counsels, and has no 
 less power than skill to procure the success of all that may be 
 promised and undertaken in his favour.' ' In my opinion,' 
 he adds, ' this great and good work, which will promote the 
 advancement of the Prince, no less than his enjoyment of his 
 allowance and the payment of his debts, ought to commence 
 by mutual confidence given and received between his High- 
 ness and the Grand Pensionary, who I am sure for his part is 
 very ready for it. It would, therefore, be advisable for his 
 Highness to take the first and most convenient opportunity 
 to see him and talk to him openly. His Highness will gain 
 every advantage he can wish for, if he will only promise to 
 engage in no cabals, but rather to do all he can to establish 
 an agreement between the provinces and to follow the Grand 
 Pensionary's advice." 
 
 To give weight to these considerations, Bampfield repre- 
 sented ' how imprudent it would be in the young Prince to 
 trust to promises from the other provinces which they could 
 not keep if opposed by Holland ; ' and he asked ' that it 
 might not be forgotten that if by the assistance of a lever 
 a man can raise himself, on the other hand nothing can be 
 drawn from nothing, as the Latin proverb says : Ex nihilo 
 nihil Jit. 
 
 The Grand Pensionary's declarations confirmed these 
 assurances. They are frankly expressed in his intimate 
 conversations with the English ambassador, in whom he 
 confided without reserve. He assured him that he never 
 failed to see the Prince once or twice a week, and that he now 
 bore him a special affection, doing all justice to his good 
 qualities. He promised to obtain for him the appointment of 
 captain- and admiral-general as soon as he was of age to com- 
 mand the army and navy. Lastly, he justified his opposition 
 to the union of the two offices of stadtholder and captain- and 
 admiral- general, by representing that such considerable powers 
 united in the same hands would threaten the liberty of the 
 republic. 'He could not forget,' he said, 'that this liberty 
 had only survived by a miracle, under the government of the 
 Princes of Orange — at one time through foreign wars, at 
 
492 JOHN DE WITT. 
 
 another by the moderation of Frederick Henry, and again by 
 the premature death of William II. He sketched in a few 
 lines the plan of his policy, which was that of conformity 
 to law, confessing that had he been born a subject of the 
 King of Spain, he should not have advised his ancestors 
 to decree the deposal of their sovereign, but declaring, on 
 the other hand, ' that in his capacity as minister of the 
 States he was boimd to do all in his power to uphold their 
 authority.' 
 
 Such was the end at which he had been aiming by his per- 
 severing efforts, and which he seemed now to have reached. 
 In tempering the Perpetual Edict by the Project of Harmony — 
 to which he felt certain he could soon obtain the consent of 
 all the Provinces — he flattered himself that he could make 
 acceptable, even to William of Orange, a transaction which 
 strengthened the republican government, and secured to the 
 States the services of William I.'s last descendant, thus com- 
 pleting by his home pohcy the success of his diplomatic 
 negotiations. 
 
 The Perpetual Edict, which appeared to disarm the Orange 
 party by no longer allowing the young Prince of Orange to 
 be an aspirant to power, had been passed between the treaty 
 of Breda, forced upon England by a bold attack, and the Triple 
 Alliance, which made the States-General the arbiters of France 
 and Spain. 
 
 The supremacy of the republican party, and the great- 
 ness of the republic, left nothing to be desired. They in- 
 sured the perfect success of a poHcy which, within as without, 
 seemed the glorification of the work undertaken by the Grand 
 Pensionary of Holland. 
 
 John de Witt's domestic life had been till now no less 
 fortimate than his career as a statesman. For thirteen long 
 happy years he had tasted the joys of mutual love. His 
 wife had, by the charm of her affection, mitigated the 
 troubles and sorrows inseparable from the tenure of power ; 
 and by her companionship had heightened the enjoyment 
 of the brightest days of the Grand Pensionary's pubHc 
 life. When the peace of Breda was celebrated with rejoicings. 
 
DE WITT'S DOMESTIC HAPPINESS. 493 
 
 she had mingled with the light-hearted crowd which danced 
 before John de Witt's house, and in company with her noble 
 husband had prolonged far into the night her part in the 
 popular festivity. She took her share in the recompense, 
 as she had done in the labour. The absence of her husband, 
 when she was expecting her confinement, and he left her 
 in charge of their young children to expose himself to the 
 dangers of the war with England, had tested her courageous 
 resignation. 
 
 When De Witt proceeded to the Texel to su.peruitend the 
 fitting out of the navy, her first letter manifested her anxiety. 
 ' Sir, and worthy husband,' she writes, ' this is to ask you if you 
 wUl kindly take the trouble to inform me if I can remain here 
 free from uneasiness as to any invasion of the English, in the 
 event of the destruction of our fleet or other misfortunes. I 
 have been much disturbed. I should be glad to know whether 
 you will return home with the commissioners after the de- 
 parture of the fleet, as it is reported that those gentlemen will 
 remain to await the battle and do further service. Others 
 say even that you will sail with the fleet, so that I am very 
 uneasy, and should like to have from you the true account, to 
 reatsure me. But you must really tell me the truth, and not 
 deceive me. I await a line from your hand by return, hoping 
 it will serve to quiet me. With which I commend you to the 
 Divine Providence, and remain, with greetings, your humble 
 and devoted wife.' 
 
 The following month, when De Witt thought his presence 
 on board necessary to repair the disasters of the naval cam- 
 paign, she writes to him again : ' I have received your letter, 
 which was very pleasant to me, as it gave me news of your 
 health. I hope you will not fail to answer me, for now that I 
 am deprived of the sight of your dear face, it is a great 
 comfort to see at least your handwriting. I am afraid you are 
 having a great deal of trouble down there. I hope you will 
 spare yourself as much as possible. I long for the time when 
 you will return home, but I fear it is still far off.' ' My dear 
 Papa,' writes at the same time his eldest daughter, nine years 
 old, ' Mama is longing for Papa, and wishes he was back, and 
 
494 JOHN BE WITT. 
 
 SO do we all. AH our relations beg to be remembered to Papa, 
 and we drink his health every day.' ' 
 
 Some months later the loving solicitude of the wife shows 
 itself in a growing anxiety. De Witt was on the high seas, on 
 board Euyter's vessel, in the presence of the enemy, and iin- 
 patient to attack them. Wendela Bicker begs him to reassure 
 her, praying ' that he will tell her the truth, and not put her 
 off with trifles.' In another letter she speaks of her gratitude 
 for God's blessings, and for the welfare of her husband. ' For 
 myself,' she adds, ' it would be an unheard-of joy to see you 
 again in good health, and I shall await the time with im- 
 patience. You expressed a desire to receive a letter from my 
 hand, and I shoidd not have failed you, but that I thought you 
 knew that we are all in good health here. Your little son, who 
 has had fever, is now perfectly recovered. As to myself and the 
 other children and our friends, we are all well.' Although she 
 seldom gives any place in her correspondence to pubhc affairs 
 — from which she always held aloof, contenting herself with 
 giving news of the family — she tells her husband of the absurd 
 rumours which are being spread about — ' that he had fought 
 with Admiral Euyter, that he had been hung on the shore ' — 
 and adds proudly : ' You have no need to trouble yourself 
 about them ; when one does right, one can hold up one's head 
 with tranquUhty. Now,' she winds up, ' my heart wishes you 
 and the whole fleet a good voyage and a happy return, for 
 which I pray God, who best knows what is good.' The follow- 
 ing year, the Grand Pensionary, having again been obliged to 
 leave her, to settle the differences which had arisen between 
 the of&cers of the fleet, she gently laments this, promising him 
 ' to overcome the intense wish she had for his return.' ' I con- 
 sider myself fortunate,' she tells him, ' to have a husband who 
 places the service of his country before his private affaii's, and 
 I have good reason to be satisfied. I will try, therefore, to be 
 calm under all circumstances, and learn to imitate you more 
 and more.' 
 
 > The letters of the girl to her father (Archives of the Kingdom, and Col- 
 lection of Hoeufft van Velsen) are written in fluent French, in childish style 
 and spelling, and are addressed, ' Monsieur, Monsieur mon Papa.' 
 
COEEESPOKDENCE WITH HIS WIFE. 495 
 
 De Witt had too masculine a mind ever to feel the weak- 
 ness of conjugal affection to which his wife sometimes gave 
 way, and he constantly encourages her to resist it. ' I learnt 
 with pleasure,' he writes to her, during his naval expedition, 
 ' your resolution to receive with submission from the hand of 
 God all that His Divine Majesty may send us. I pray God 
 to strengthen you in this more and more. You must thank 
 Him for the favour He has shown us on this occasion, I being 
 as strong and full of courage as I have ever been in my life 
 under any circumstances ; and sleeping at night, as usual, 
 without waking. I hope it will be the same with you, as soon 
 as the first novelty has worn off. Let us not in any way ■ 
 resist whatever stroke may menace us, but confide ourselves 
 in God, and receive with cheerfulness anything it may please 
 Him to send us. You need be under no anxiety about me, as 
 you may be certain that all will go well with me in life as in 
 death, and in the latter case infinitely better tha.n in the 
 former.' It was as the cry of a soul, already detached by 
 the fatigues of the struggle from all earthly desires ; but he 
 hastened to suppress it, and, affection again coming upper- 
 most, the husband and father reappears in the statesman. 
 After having declared himself ready to die without regrets, he 
 hastens to add : ' Do not fear, however, that I shall neglect 
 to take all reasonable precautions to preserve my life for my 
 country and for my dear family. Praying Almighty God that 
 He will give you confidence and animate you with His Spirit, 
 I conclude, and remain your humble servant and faithful 
 husband.' 
 
 Thirteen years of happy married life had brought him 
 eight children, two of whom had died in infancy, and the 
 youngest, Jacob, his grandfather's godson, was only a few 
 months old. The fortune which he used with such moderation 
 had filled up the measure of happiness of his married life. 
 The inheritance he received from his mother-in-law, in addi- 
 tion to his wife's portion, is valued in a family inventory at 
 178,174 florins. He profited by this to add to his property 
 the important domain of Heckendorp, which he acquired 
 by purchase from Count de Merode, one of the nobles of the 
 
496 JOHN DE WITT. 
 
 ProYince of Holland. Through the agency of his brother-in- 
 law, Deutz, with whom he kept up a close correspondence, his 
 patrimony was increased by many advantageous investments, 
 and at his death he left to his children a property raised 
 by irreproachable transactions to 492,660 florins. The new 
 house which he had occupied for the last six years, spacious 
 though simple in appearance, stood him ia a rent of 250 
 florins. A few trees sheltered it in front, and the garden, 
 which extended from the back of the dwelling, was joined by 
 a bridge to that which adorned the beautiful residence of 
 Prince John Maurice of Nassau. The Grand Pensionary had 
 thus become a neighbour of the Prince of Orange, who had 
 continued to reside in the former palace of his father, where 
 the States held their sittings, and thenceforth he formed a 
 member of the same ward, paying an entrance fee of forty 
 florins. It was in their capacity as ward members that the 
 son of the late Stadtholder and the Prime Minister of Holland, 
 in accordance with the habits of the burgher society of their 
 country, met at the solemn dinners of the corporation, at 
 which John de Witt was present with his wife. 
 
 This quiet home life was too soon broken up, and John de 
 Witt's domestic happiness darkened by the sorrows of prema- 
 ture widowerhood. Wendela Bicker, weakened in health and 
 but ill-recovered from the birth of her last child, had lately 
 lost her youngest daughter, at the age of two years. She was 
 separated from her other daughters, Anna, Maria, and Agneta, 
 who were under medical treatment at Oirschot near Bois-le- 
 Duc, with the celebrated physician, Arnold Fey, who had been 
 two years previously summoned to France by Louis XIV. to 
 his mother, Anne of Austria. John de Witt had just taken 
 her to visit her family at Amsterdam, and she was preparing 
 to go with him to the country house of one of her sisters, 
 when she was suddenly attacked with an indisposition, which 
 altered her plans and caused her to return to the Hague. 
 Her illness increased so rapidly that a couple of days later she 
 desired to have her children brought back to her. John de 
 Witt sent one of his clerks, Bacherus, in aU haste to fetch 
 them, begging the doctor in whose charge they were to give 
 
DEATH OF HIS WIFE. 497 
 
 instructions in writing for the cure of his third daughter 
 Agneta; and in the following letter addressed to his eldest 
 daughter desired them to return at once : ' Tour dear mother, 
 whose illness continues, has expressed herself anxious to have 
 you and your sisters with her. I commend you to the care of 
 God, remaining, my dear daughters, your affectionate father.' 
 They arrived too late to see her again. The day after 
 their father had sent for them, their mother died, aged only 
 thirty-two years. Five days later the two bereaved families 
 assembled for the funeral, and the coffin of Wendela Bicker 
 took its place in the vault of the new church, to be followed 
 only four years later by that of the Grand Pensionary. ' Sir,' 
 writes to him in French the English ambassador. Sir William 
 Temple — who had become his friend since they had negotiated 
 together the Triple Alliance — ' having shared so largely in your 
 joys, and in the applause which the world so justly bestowed 
 upon you, it is only reasonable that I should take part in your 
 losses, and tell with equal sorrow and truth how I feel the last 
 one which has befallen you. I had remarked how your home 
 always brought you relaxation from the fatigues of public life, 
 and that instead of the diversion so often sought in vice or ex- 
 travagance, you have always found yours in the innocent ,con- 
 verse of conjugal and parental affection. I also noticed how 
 happily you had given over all household cares to a lady who 
 now only lives in the remembrance and esteem of all who 
 knew her, and I know but too well by that how terribly this 
 loss must affect you, and that there is neither justice nor 
 kindness in trying as yet to offer you consolation. I will there- 
 fore only say that, had it not been for this sad occasion, you 
 would have missed the greatest opportunity of showing that 
 strength of mind which is sometimes more easily overcome 
 by the calamities of home and private life than by those of 
 government or of war — for these latter harden one daily, 
 whilst the others are infinitely softening. I beg you there- 
 fore not to neglect this opportunity of adding to your fame, 
 and -not to allow your regrets to make you forget that you 
 have long been wedded to the cause of your country an of 
 Christendom, and that to them you owe all your care and 
 
 , VOL. I. K K 
 
498 JOHN DE WITT. 
 
 affection.' Such was the funeral oration of a departed happi- 
 ness pronounced by one who had been its favoured witness. 
 
 The letters of condolence, piously preserved by John de 
 Witt amongst his correspondence, were many. Friends of the 
 family, political friends such as Beverningh and De Groot, 
 the principal personages of the State, Prince John Maurice of 
 Nassau, Euyter — who was strongly attached to De Witt — 
 the widow of Major-General Brederode, elder sister of the 
 Princess-Dowager, the ambassadors and the foreign ministers — 
 amongst others Baron Pelnitz, envoy extraordinary from the 
 Elector of Brandenburg, Count d'Estrades and Lionne, all 
 condoled with the Grand Pensionary in his affliction. 
 
 He struggled to overcome it, giving heed to the religious 
 consolations offered to him, and to the exhortations of those 
 who urged him to summon to his aid his force of character 
 and strength of mind. ' Sir,' he answers Lionne, ' although 
 I have to thank God for having taught me, from my youth up, 
 to bend my will to His, and not to increase my misfortune by 
 useless regrets and wishes in opposition to Him, I cannot 
 but confess that, in the domestic affliction with which it has 
 pleased Him to visit me, I feel with profound satisfaction the 
 helping hand with which my friends support me and endea- 
 vour to prevent my stumbling.' But he was none the less over- 
 whelmed with the blow which struck him in carrying off ' her 
 who was truly a half of himself.' 
 
 ' You "know,' he writes to Madame de Brederode, ' how 
 intense are sufferings of this nature, and you have learned to 
 pity those whom they overtake.' Nothing can be more heart- 
 rending than the melancholy expression of his sorrow to which 
 he gives way in a letter to Temple : ' You know,' he says, 
 ' the greatness of my sorrow, since you know how great is the 
 inestimable loss which I have suffered. I have tried to turn 
 my thoughts to occupations capable of diverting them from 
 an object which was formerly my highest joy, and is now my 
 deepest sorrow ; but I find that business only numbs the pain 
 and does not cure it. If there were any remedy capable of 
 closing the wound, it would no doubt come from the gentle and 
 healing hand which you lay on it. I feel it, I confess, because 
 
HIS FOUilTH ELECTION AS GRAND PENSIONARY. 499 
 
 it probes the wound ; but it follows it up with a balm which 
 soothes and alleviates the pain, I receive it as I ought, and 
 will try to profit by your consolations, and to struggle against 
 my weakness by the aid of those reasons which are dictated to 
 you not only by that Christian philosophy which you profess, 
 but also by the faithful friendship with which it pleases you to 
 honour me.' 
 
 The final gratifications which he was to receive in public 
 life could not restore to him the happiness he had lost. Still 
 he could not forget, as Temple had reminded him, that he 
 had espoused the cause of his country. The States of Holland 
 obliged him to retain his functions, and once more renewed the 
 expression of their confidence. They could not dispense with 
 the direction of the Grand Pensionary in foreign affairs just 
 after the conclusion of the Triple Alliance, which was his work, 
 and would not therefore accept the resignation which he 
 urgently pressed upon them. His five years of office having 
 expired, De Witt, according to custom, offered ' his apologies 
 for any mistakes he might involuntarily have made,' and 
 begged them 'to give him credit for good intentions.' The 
 States answered by a vote of thanks to him for his conduct. 
 They declared that they considered him to have deserved well 
 of the republic and of the province of Holland, and the Grand 
 Pensionary having left the Hall of Assembly whilst they were 
 deliberating, they recalled him to make known to him their 
 resolution, which was his best recompense. It seemed in- 
 sufficient, however, to them. After having at the same sitting 
 desired the commissioners who had drawn up his former in- 
 structions to prepare those which were to regulate the exercise 
 of his fresh powers, they ordered the councillor deputies to let 
 them know what special services they owed to him, that they 
 might take steps to remunerate them. 
 
 A week later, July 27, 1668, John de Witt was unanimously 
 re-elected Grand Pensionary, and on August 3 the States voted 
 him a large sum as a testimony of their gratitude. For the last 
 fifteen years he had only received as Grand Pensionary a salary 
 of 3,000 florins, to which had been added during the last eight 
 years the emoluments of the two offices of Lieutenant of Piefs 
 
 K K 2 
 
500 JOHN DE WITT. 
 
 and Keeper of the Seals of the Province, which brought him 
 in another 3,000 florins. He had, no doubt, at his disposal a 
 sufficiently large amount of secret-service money, which he 
 himself valued at 40,000 florins a year, for the payment of his 
 diplomatic correspondence and private sources of information ; 
 but this and more he employed in the payment of special 
 secretaries charged with drawing up or copying confidential 
 despatches, never hesitating at any outlay to obtain infor- 
 mation which might be of service to the interests of the 
 republic. He thus ofi'ered, in his first year of office, as much 
 as 300 florins to find out what were the instructions given to 
 the French ambassador, Chanut. He always paid the carriage 
 of his own letters, whereas the Grand Pensionary Barneveldt 
 had yearly charged 500 florins on this account. He only repaid 
 himself for the cost of copying, which he had reduced from 
 four to three sous a page. He even defrayed his clerks' 
 expenses for warming and lighting. He paid his own house 
 rent, and would not give his consent to a plan for build- 
 ing a house which would have served as a residence for his 
 successors. 'Although his possessions are but moderate,' 
 ■writes one of the French ambassadors, 'he does not seem 
 anxious to add to them.' John de Witt's pride was to uphold 
 the traditions of proud disinterestedness bequeathed by the 
 noblest citizens of Eome and Athens to the great servants of 
 free countries. 
 
 The States of Holland felt themselves humiliated by the 
 inadequate pecuniary position of their Prime Minister. They 
 would not consent to his being less well remunerated 
 than their Eeceiver-General, to whom they paid 5,000 
 florins besides an allowance for house rent. They doubled 
 his salary, making it up to 6,000 florins, in addition to 
 his income from his other two offices, and did not stop at 
 this liberality. They desired that De Witt should profit by it 
 retrospectively dating from the time of his first entry into 
 office, and upon a report of the councillor deputies enumerating 
 all his services, allocated him a sum of 45,000 florins. This 
 gratuity, calculated upon the basis of the last fifteen years 
 of his ministry, corresponded to a supplementary salary of 
 
PECUNIAEY EEWARDS. 501 
 
 8,000 florins a year, thus making his salary in the past equal 
 to the 6,000 florins he was henceforth to receive. The nobles, 
 whom he had served gratuitously as their pensionary in the 
 Assembly of the States, were anxious on their side to show no 
 less generosity. They again offered him the remuneration he 
 had hitherto refused, and had recourse at last to the inter- 
 vention of the States to force him to receive a donation of 
 15,000 florins. He received State inscriptions in payment of 
 these various amounts. The States, as a final testimony of 
 their satisfaction, renewed the Act of Indemnity, with a pro- 
 mise of a seat in one of the courts of justice when he should 
 resign his office. The following month, after having obtained 
 the customary authorisation from the Council of Dordrecht, 
 of which he was still a member, John de Witt accepted that 
 fourth nomination as Grand Pensionary which was to cost 
 him his life. 
 
 Far from seeking the pecuniary benefits thus liberally 
 bestowed upon him, he had urged his friends to restrict the 
 amount. He appealed to the deputies of Dordrecht to reduce 
 the sum of 100,000 florins, which they wished him to accept, 
 to 45,000 florins, and the States, out of consideration for his 
 scruples, did not follow up the proposal of the deputies of 
 Amsterdam, made through one of their deputies, Valkenier, 
 to raise his salary to 8,000 florins. Money payments in re- 
 compense of services rendered in dealing with public affairs 
 as though they were his own, had always appeared to him 
 superfluous. He had not spared himself in the task. An 
 indefatigable worker, he had so multiplied his correspondence 
 in the direction of home affairs and foreign negotiations, 
 that the registers of his fifteen years of ministry comprise 
 22,191 pages, whilst those of the Grand Pensionaries who had 
 preceded him from the time of Barneveldt scarcely exceeded that 
 number during a period of sixty-seven years. The reports of 
 the commissions in which he took part, and the transactions 
 he had carried on, numbered 534, while his predecessors only 
 left in writing eighty-five. The diplomatic despatches alone, 
 at three sous a sheet, had in twelve years been worth 4,900 
 florins to his principal clerk. Van den Bosch. 
 
502 JOHN DE WITT. 
 
 De Witt had, at the same time, made some important 
 retrenchments in all departments of the administration. His 
 vigilance descended to the most trifling details, even to the 
 reduction of the cost of copying and translating, which in 
 ten years caused a saving to the Treasury of 100,000 florins. 
 He had hghtened the charges upon Holland by adding to 
 the federal budget more than a third of the expenses of the 
 embassies, of which Holland had hitherto had to cover the 
 deficiency, thus since his appointment having saved an outlay 
 which might be calculated at 2,000,000 florins. 
 
 He had moreover obtained from the other provinces a 
 supplementary contribution for the purpose of repaying the 
 sum, 1,500,000 florins, advanced to them by Holland when 
 she undertook in the last war against England to provide 
 funds for an increase of the naval forces. Finally, the great 
 financial scheme which De Witt had successfully carried out 
 at the very commencement of his ministry in 1655, namely, 
 the reduction of the interest on the sinking fund, the extinction 
 of life annuities, had prevented the increase of the national 
 debt, in spite of loans successively contracted in the course 
 of the ,late war amounting to about seventeen millions. A 
 saving of 1,400,000 florins on the interest to be paid com- 
 pleted the profit realised.' Such was the account rendered of 
 the administration of the Grand Pensionary in the carefully 
 elaborated report drawn up by the councillor deputies to whom 
 that duty had been entrusted by the States. The result at 
 which they arrived was, that, including diplomatic presents 
 which the Prime Minister had refused and which were valued 
 at 150,000 florins, the pecuniary benefits which he would have 
 derived from his labours, treating them as a man of business, 
 would have been worth an honorarium of 567,500 florins. It 
 was thus that the States rendered to De Witt the justice to 
 which he had a claim by drawing up a species of balance 
 
 ' According to M. Veegens {Notice on Dutch Loans during the Administration, 
 of the Grand Pensionary de Witt) , the national debt in 1654, before the reduc- 
 tion of interest, was 6,907,790 florins. In 1671, after the loans for the war 
 with England, it amounted to 5,509,519 florins, thus showing a reduction 
 of 1,398,271 florins. 
 
HIS INTEGEITY. 503 
 
 sheet, applying a custom of the Dutch burghers to the 
 administration of public affairs. 
 
 His integrity was above suspicion and was recognised even 
 by his enemies. ' WhUst his predecessors could receive any 
 presents not specially prohibited,' wrote the councillor deputies 
 _ in the memorandum asking for an increase of his salary, ' the 
 Grand Pensionary has cut off all such ordinary methods of 
 recognition ; and the better to protect himself from them has 
 caused them to be formally forbidden in his instructions.' De 
 Witt remained always inflexible in his scruples on this point. 
 His private letters showed that he even refused presents of 
 game, barrels of biscuits, and baskets of hops. One of his 
 friends writes to him : ' I have just received a little purse, the 
 novelty of which seems to render it worthy to be offered to your 
 wife, as a fairing. I have not forgotten your last rejection 
 of a gift from me, and the good reasons you gave. So I will 
 not again offer anything to yourself.' 
 
 His passion for the service of his country, as well as his 
 disinterestedness, formed an insurmountable barrier to the 
 liberalities of sovereigns who wished to gain him to their 
 interests. The correspondence of the French ambassadors, 
 De Thou, D'Estrades, and Pomponne, describe him as 
 absolutely incorruptible. ' It is well,' writes De Thou, ' to 
 support the Grand Pensionary by all honest and legitimate 
 means, but he is a man to whom recompense must not be 
 mentioned, as from his disposition and the position he holds 
 he would look upon the proposal as an insult.' Louis XIV. 
 on his side writes to D'Estrades, ' I should consider any 
 amount well spent which would bring the Grand Pensionary 
 entirely over to my interests. But it must be done with great 
 caution, as, from the way in which he has been represented to 
 me, he is a man to stand by his principles, and to glory in his 
 refusal of such proposals.' Count d'Estrades confirmed this 
 judgment, declaring ' that he considered him and his brother 
 as amongst the few with whom such pecuniary offers would be 
 of no avail ; ' and De Witt might well write proudly to Bruy- 
 nincx, the envoy of the States at Vienna, on the occasion 
 of some calumnious imputations which represented him in 
 
504 JOHN DE WITT. 
 
 certain foreign courts as having been bought by France. ' I 
 trouble myself little about them • everyone here knows that I 
 have never defiled myself with such infamies, and these reports 
 will find no echo here.' 
 
 Indifferent to the attractions and vulgar pleasures of 
 wealth, John de Witt was content with a very modest estab- 
 lishment. He had five clerks or secretaries for the despatch 
 of public affairs, besides his chief clerk. Van den Bosch, ' an 
 honest man, but of a servile nature,' who had replaced the faith- 
 less Van Messen ; two domestic clerks or ushers, Bacherus and 
 Van Ouvenaller, to whom the States paid 600 florins a year, 
 and who were his confidential agents, sufficed for his personal 
 business. He had in his own service only a valet and a coach- 
 man. ' When he paid his visits of ceremony,' relates an eye- 
 witness, Sir William Temple, ' the valet put on a plain hvery 
 coat, and followed the carriage in the street.' ' I have seen 
 him at the Hague,' wrote a French ambassador, 'on foot like 
 one of the townspeople, followed by a servant dressed in grey, 
 who carried a red velvet bag in which were the most impor- 
 tant papers in Europe, which he was going to lay before the 
 Assembly of the States.' No outward show distinguished him 
 from the other deputies and ministers of the republic. His 
 table was frugal, and was laid only for his family and one or 
 two friends. He had no luxuries, with the exception of a choice 
 library which his son increased by many acquisitions. His 
 house was open to all who desired to see him, and he made 
 himself accessible to all without being familiar with anyone, 
 thus combining dignity with simplicity. 
 
 De Witt kept himself at the same time on his guard against 
 the jealousy to which the exercise of the preponderant authority 
 exposed him, and which was such that the Elector of Saxony 
 addressed his envoy's letters of credence to him instead of to 
 the States-General. He was so faithful in the observance of 
 the duties of his office that even in writing mere letters of 
 politeness to foreign princes he never failed to point out to 
 them ' that he never, if he could avoid it, entered into any 
 correspondence except through the medium of the ambassadors 
 and envoys of the States.' He never missed an occasion of 
 
HIS VIRTUES. 505 
 
 telling those who came to him to obtain favours that he had 
 no power beyond that of proposing resolutions to the States, 
 and carrying out in their name such as they had accepted. 
 The following letter, which he wrote to the ambassador of 
 the United Provinces in England, shows how scrupulous he 
 was. ' Knowing as you do,' he observes, ' how easily the 
 Dutch are alarmed lest a minister should take too much upon 
 himself and, as they say, play the master ; and also how dis- 
 astrous such an impression is in a free republic for all those 
 who share in the government, and especially for those whose 
 functions are only temporary, I beg you in future to make no 
 mention of me personally in your despatches.' He liked to 
 exercise power, but avoided all ostentation. 
 
 The authority which he exercised as the elected minister of 
 a republic caused his friendship to be sought by kings and 
 their advisers, whilst at the same time his renown made the 
 most illustrious personages of the time desirous to know and 
 correspond with him. A manuscript despatch sent by M. de 
 Callieres, French ambassador at the Hague at the close of the 
 century, gives a curious account of an interview between the 
 Grand Pensionary and Cardinal de Eetz as he received it from 
 M. de Dickeritt, a former friend of John de Witt. ' Cardinal 
 de Eetz,' he writes, ' being in hiding in Holland, resolved to 
 see the Pensionary, and to make himself known to him before 
 he left this country.' This was in 1666. He went in plain 
 clothes to his reception in his house at the Hague, and after 
 having allowed the more eager to precede him, he drew him 
 aside, telling him he was a foreigner who desired to speak to 
 him in private. The Grand Pensionary, without asking 
 him who he was, begged him to enter his study, where he 
 rejoined him almost immediately, and the Cardinal de Eetz 
 said to him, ' I know, sir, that you are French by inclination, 
 and that you have great consideration for the Court of France ; 
 that M. d'Estrades, who is minister here, is my enemy and 
 would do anything to have me in his power. I know, more- 
 over, that he is your particular friend ; nevertheless, I cannot 
 quit this country without seeing and knowing a man of your 
 worth, and testifying to the esteem I have for your merits, 
 
506 JOHN DE WITT. 
 
 by making myself known to you. I am that Cardinal de Eetz 
 who has had the misfortune to fall into disgrace with the King. 
 Do not refuse me the pleasure of spending an evening with 
 you.' The Grand Pensionary, touched by this confidence, 
 thanked him warmly ; and in order to be more at liberty to 
 converse without compromising the Cardinal, invited him to 
 his country house, where he would be ready to receive him^ 
 The Cardinal de Eetz said afterwards to M. de Dickeritt, that he 
 had been no less charmed by De Witt's breadth of mind than 
 by his gentleness and modesty. 
 
 The superiority of his talent and the greatness of his 
 character made him worthy to rank in the highest place. 
 ' Nothing escapes him,' was the verdict of Euyter, a judge 
 capable of appreciating him. It was enough for him to wish 
 to understand, and everything was clear to him. His pro- 
 found knowledge of the varied interests of the principal States 
 and his natural versatility of mind rendered him, in a very 
 short time, one of the ablest negotiators of his day. He could 
 foresee as well as overcome all diplomatic difficulties, and 
 always recommended the republican envoys to observe such 
 circumspection in their conduct and correspondence as to 
 give no possible cause of complaint to foreign courts, ffis 
 ability enabled him to make capital out of the most intri- 
 cate situations. ' The example to foUow,' he writes to Van 
 Beuningen, 'is that of the fisherman who holds his line in 
 the water, however troubled it may be, so that shoiild a fish 
 take the bait, he is ready to draw it in.' The quickness of 
 his penetration enabled him to detect all intrigues, and it 
 was by his straightforwardness that he generally bafiled them. 
 He inspired the confidence which he felt himself, having 
 gradually got rid, as he told Temple, of an inclination to 
 suspicion, which had led him into many mistakes. 
 
 Having the power both of penetrating the thoughts of 
 others and of concealing his own, the Grand Pensionary's sole 
 ruse was silence, to which those he was negotiating with were 
 so much accustomed, that they never could tell whether he 
 was silent from premeditation or from habit. He liked to 
 go straight to the point, and would not allow himself to be 
 
HIS SKILL IN DIPLOMACY. 507 
 
 deterred by any obstacles placed in bis way by the complicated 
 machinery of the republican constitution, and he had now 
 once more given proof, by the Triple Alliance, that he could 
 act with as much decision as promptitude in the conduct of a 
 negotiation. 
 
 Such qualities, j'oined to a great gift of persuasion, an 
 immense aptitude for work, and most uncommon strength of 
 will, insured him the lead in the States of Holland, whom 
 he had made masters of the States-General. He was said 
 to be ' their eye, their tongue, and their arm.' The authority 
 which he exercised in their assembly, and that which he had 
 acquired for them over the other provinces, placed the govern- 
 ment of the republic in his hands. ' His is the intelligence, 
 so to speak,' writes De Thou, ' which guides the government 
 wheel.' A powerful speaker, more by argument than by elo- 
 quence, always master of himself, never allowing himself to be 
 betrayed into imprudent or violent expressions, he possessed 
 the art of arranging those compromises to which the States 
 constantly had recourse to bring their deliberations to a con- 
 clusion. From the very commencement of his ministry he 
 merited the description given of him by the French ambas- 
 sador, Chanut, of 'an ingenious man, familiar with all ex- 
 pedients.' 'Hardworking,' writes De Thou, 'whilst most of 
 his countrymen are very lazy, he alone thoroughly knows the 
 secret and course of affairs, since they all pass through his 
 hands, and he only communicates so much of them as he 
 chooses to his confidants — and thus he maintains himself in 
 of&ce.' Much taken up with his health, of which he was 
 always careful, and thinking little about his life, which he 
 was always ready to sacrifice, he devoted himself unreservedly 
 to the duties of his ministry. 
 
 As guardian of the constitution of his country, commis- 
 sioned by the chief article in his instructions to preserve intact 
 the privileges, rights, customs, and usages of the province of 
 Holland as well as the lawful authority of the States, he 
 considered himself bound by the oath he had taken never to 
 allow of its being assailed, and he was resolved to defend with 
 equal fidelity and courage the charge confided to him. An 
 
508 JOHN DE WITT. 
 
 allegorical picture of the time represents him as a swan with 
 extended wings, protecting its nest from the dogs who are 
 swimming round it, with this explanatory inscription : ' The 
 Grand Pensionary ; ' ' Holland ; ' ' The enemies of the State.' 
 
 Amongst his portraits by the great painters of the day, 
 including Baan and Netscher, the one which ranks as a master- 
 piece of Dutch painting is that by John Baan, belonging to 
 the museum at Amsterdam, and of which the finest engraving 
 is by Lambert Visscher. It represents De Witt at the bar of 
 the States of Holland, with the members seen in their places. 
 He holds in his hand the seals of which he was the keeper, and 
 stands in the attitude he maintained when he was dominating 
 the Assembly by his words. The portrait which most resembled 
 him was, according to the most authentic testimony, that 
 on the engraving of which his eldest daughter wrote these 
 words : ' This engraving is the one which best recalls 
 Papa.' It is the work of Netscher. Engraved by Bary and 
 published by Engelvaert in 1670, it bears an inscription in verse 
 by Gerard Brandt, consecrated to the defence of John de Witt. 
 The Grand Pensionary is represented in full face, standing, 
 wrapped in a Japanese robe, which he holds crossed over his 
 chest, his hair falling in curls on his shoulders, and his left 
 hand supported on a balustrade, while his countenance bears 
 the calm and thoughtful expression of the statesman. 
 
 Like so many others, he spent himself in the ungrateful 
 service of the public by remaining too long in power. But 
 the fifteen years of his ministry, so gloriously filled, had 
 enabled him to place a small republic on an equaUty with the 
 greatest monarchies of Europe ; and to keep in the background 
 during the entire minority of WUliam II.'s son the Orange 
 party, which deprived of a leader would have fatally com- 
 promised the interests of the United Provinces in all the 
 dangers of a minority. 
 
 The Grand Pensionary none the less had to bear the 
 crushing weight of misfortune. He was to expiate the error 
 of having presumed too far on the power of the United Pro- 
 vinces and the attachment of the Dutch middle class to the 
 government which had placed the power in their hands. De 
 
GENEALOGY OF THE HOUSE OF ORANGE. 509 
 
 "Witt perished under the blows of a foreign invasion which he 
 had done all he could to avert : a victim to the popular fury, 
 which might tear him to pieces but could not deprive him of 
 his fame ; and he justified to posterity the encomium bestowed 
 upon him by two foreign ambassadors — his contemporaries — 
 who said that if he had allowed himself to be blinded, it was 
 by his passion for the greatness and liberty of his country. 
 
 GENEALOGY OF THE HOUSE OF OEANGE. 
 
 William op Nassau 
 
 I I 
 
 William I. The Silent John. The Old 
 
 I I 
 
 111 I 
 
 Maurice Frederick Henry Ernest Casimir John. The Young 
 
 I of Nassau | 
 
 WiUiam II. | John Maurice 
 
 I William Frederick of 'Nassau 
 William III. of Nassau 
 
 I 
 Henry Casimir 
 
 John William Friso 
 
 William IV. 
 
 William V. 
 
 WiUiam I. of the Netherlands 
 
 I 
 WiUiam II. 
 
 I 
 WiUiam III. 
 
 END OF THE EmST VOLUME. 
 
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