. X / y **0« «5°* V %;V './ AstffcA, o°*.a5ifc o jP*i*&\ * v • * • ° ^ : MSk- w <* ♦' ♦*'** ". ^ ^ ** *! V & '^•O 1 **°* v-v. J>%. • .♦ „o THE LORD OF THE DYKES. ^4 HISTORY >^r- OF The Netherlands (HOLLAND AND BELGIUM) ALEXANDER YOUNG Author of "The Comic and Tragic Aspects of Life," Etc. REVISED AND ENLARGED Fully Illustrated JUN 15 1895 CHICAGO NEW YORK %Q *^J THE WERNER COMPANY 1895 COPYRIGHT 1884 By ESTES and LAURIAT COPYRIGHT 1895 By THE WERNER COMPANY Netherlands \° A^ PREFACE. Although the heroic period of Netherland history has been brilliantly illustrated by Mr. Motley, yet the researches of Dutch and Belgian scholars have brought to light impor- tant facts which present some of the prominent personages and events of that period in a new aspect. This book, which is designed for mature as well as young readers, gives an independent view of these and of later annals, with the aids which European and American scholarship has furnished for. their elucidation. While availing myself of the researches of Motley and Prescott, of Da vies and Grattan, my judgments of men and measures are mainly derived from a study of original authorities. The Correspondence of William the Silent, of Philip II., of Alexander Farnese, the Relations of the Venetian Ambassa- dors, and other publications of the accomplished Gachard, have been of great service to me, as well as the Archives of the House of Orange-Nassau, edited by the learned Groen van Prinsterer. I have consulted the works of Van Meteren, Mendoza, Van der Vynckt, Grotius, Brandt, Le Clerc, Bas- nage, Wagenaar, De Thou, Dewez, Ranke, Mignet, Ger- lache, Borgnet, Lafuente, Juste, Stern, Forneron, Hubert, Froude, Guizot, Gardiner, besides many contemporary chronicles, memoirs, and state papers. I have also profited 1 ii Preface, by the scholarly publications of the Historical Society of Belgium, which has done so much to elucidate Netherland history. Among the facts thus collected are some which throw new light on the character and career of William the Silent. His dealings with Don John of Austria and the Duke of Anjou, the means by which he obtained the' great office of Ruward of Brabant, his relations with Ryhove and Imbize, the various attempts upon his life, the execution of his assassin, and the rewards given to the assassin's family are here exhibited in unfamiliar aspects. The public burning of monks in Ghent and Bruges by Protestant fanatics, which helped to destroy the union of the Netherlands two years after it had been secured by the famous Pacification of Ghent, the true nature of the noted Salseda conspiracy, the opposition of Dutch cities to the sovereignty of Orange, are now for the first time, so far as I am aware, given in English. To the Spanish governors of the Netherlands, Requesens, Don John of Austfia, Parma, and the Archduke Albert, and also to Cardinal Granvelle and Philip II., I have tried to render impartial justice. In regard to Don John of Austria, an article in the Edinburgh Review for July, 1883, on the late Sir William Stirling-Maxwell's elaborate biography of the hero of Lepanto, both of which I have seen, shows that my views of his character and relations with William the Silent, which differ so widely from Mr. Motley's, are confirmed by that monumental work. Besides presenting new facts concerning the siege of Antwerp which vindicate the character of the illustrious St. Aldegonde, I give others regarding the trial and execution of Barneveld and of his son, and the responsi- bility of Maurice of Nassau therefor, which no English or Preface. Hi American historian has mentioned, but which are essential to a knowledge of the truth. The relations of the Dutch republic with England and France are here illustrated by diplomatic and other authori- ties which reveal the actual condition of affairs during the prolonged siege of Ostend. I have shown the cause of the change in the policy of the United Provinces toward France and Spain which originated under the stadtholder Frederick Henry, and the political significance of the sacrifice of the De Witts. The limits of this volume have permitted only a passing reference to the early and recent history of the Neth- erlands ; but while they have compelled condensation, I trust that they have not prejudiced the interests of truth which it has been my chief object to promote. TABLE OF CONTENTS. CHAP. PAGE I. The Ancient Netherlands n II. Early Struggles for Freedom ...... 22 III. The Spanish Rule 40 IV. William of Orange 47 V. The Inquisition in the Netherlands ... 67 VI. The Image-Breakers 86 VII. Philip's Deceitful Policy 102 VIII. Alva in the Netherlands. . 109 IX. Execution of Counts Egmont and Horn . 122 X. The Drowned Land 135 XI. Heroic Defence of Haarlem ...... 146 XII. The Siege of Leyden 157 XIII. The "Spanish Fury" 176 XIV. Don John of Austria 197 XV. Prince Alexander of Parma 238 XVI. Attempts on the Life of Orange 266 XVII. The "French Fury" 284 XVIII. Assassination of William the Silent . . . 300 XIX. Desperate Condition of the United Prov- inces 321 XX. The Siege of Antwerp 329 XXI. Leicester's Misrule 352 XXII. A Flood of Treachery 372 XXIII. Schenck's Death-Struggle 381 vi Table of Contents. CHAP. pAGE XXIV. The Daring Capture of Breda. . . . . . 399 XXV. Maurice of Nassau's Triumphs ...... 404 XXVI. The Archdukes Ernest and Albert . . . 419 XXVII. Rule of Albert and Isabella ....... 434 XXVIII. The Battle of Nieuport . . . . ... . 449 XXIX. The Siege of Ostend 458 XXX. The Two Spinolas 473 XXXI. The Republic at Bay 484 XXXII. The Twelve Years' Truce 495 XXXIII. Trial and Execution of Barneveld ... 514 XXXIV. Escape of Grotius 533 XXXV. The Stadtholder, Frederick Henry . . . 554 XXXVI. Weakness of the Spanish Netherlands . . 569 XXXVII. Dutch War with England 577 XXXVIII. Massacre of the De Witts 592 XXXIX. Decline of the Dutch Republic 605 XL. Rise of Constitutional Government . . . 630 XLI. The Netherlands of To Day ....... 645 LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS. PAGE The Lord of the Dykes Frontispiece Windmills I3 «■ . 16 Gauls Batavian Cavalryman J 7 Street Scene in Belgium 2I Charlemagne in Council • • 2 3 The Northmen 24 Belfry at Bruges ; 2 Van Artevelde at his Door . 2 9 Belfry at Ghent 32 Philip the Good of Burgundy 33 Charles the Bold 37 Charles V 4 * View on the Canal, Ghent » 44 Abdication of Charles V 49 Philip of Spain 53 Isabella 57 Duchess of Parma " Cardinal Granvelle View of Porte Rabot 73 Burning of the Heretics 77 William of Orange 1 Image-Breakers ' Count of Egmont Count of Horn Sacking of the Cathedral 99 Early Protestants 3 viii List of Illustrations. PAGE Duke of Alva in Torture of Protestants =..115 "Wild Beggars" . . . . '. 117 Execution of Egmont and Horn 125 Prince of Conde • . 129 The Drowned Land, Zuyder Zee . 131 Conflict between Spanish Fleet and Sea Beggars . . . . . . 137 Massacre of St. Bartholomew .140 The St. Bartholomew. . j. 141 View in Haarlem 147 Defence of Haarlem 151 Defence of Alkmaar 159 Queen Elizabeth 163 Hotel de Ville, Middleburg . . . 169 Misery of the Peasants 173 Windmill 177 The Pont Noble 181 City Gate 185 Matchlock 189 Helmet 193 Don John boarding the Turkish Ship .......... 199 Don John of Austria . 9 203 Hall of States, Middleburg 209 Orange on his Way to Brussels 215 Old Houses, Amsterdam 226 Entrance to the Hall of the States, Middleburg 230 Alexander Farnese, Duke of Parma 239 Matchlock 241 National Museum at the Hague 259 Attempted Assassination of Orange 273 View in Antwerp •. 289 Spanish Ships 295 Belfry at Valenciennes 303 The Assassination of Orange 307 Gerard on the Rack 312 View in Rotterdam . .' 317 Catherine de Medici 322 List of Illustrations. ix PAGE Martin Luther 325 Street in Antwerp 330 Fire-Ship . . . . 341 Elizabeth addressing her Soldiers 353 Battle of Zutphen 359 " Thy necessity is greater than mine " 363 Men dressed as Women at Zutphen 367 The White Tower 375 Attacking the Spanish Fleet 383 Destruction of the Armada 389 Bergen-op-Zoom 393 Henry III. at the Death of Guise . 397 Henry IV. at Ivry 405 Zutphen 409 Old Houses in Antwerp 420 The Second Armada 425 Attack on the Fort of Puntal 429 The Escurial _...... 435 Royal Palace at Madrid . 441 Isabella at the Studio of Rubens 445 The Archduke Albert at Nieuport 453 Ostend • 459 Market Square, Lille 463 Wreck of Spanish Ships 467 Duke of Sully 475 James Arminius 481 James I. of England 485 Dutch Peasant Women 491 Johannes Uytenbogaert . 504 Maurice of Nassau 511 Dordrecht 517 Franciscus Gomarus 527 Delft Haven - 535 Vandyke 543 National Monument at the Hague 547 On the Beach at Scheveningen 551 The Harbor of Rochelle 55c x List of Illustrations. PAGE Rubens 561 Maestricht 565 The Hotel de Ville, Brussels 571 Tromp and De Witt planning the Battle of the Downs .... 579 De Witt and De Ruyter consulting the Map of England . . . 583 Tromp's Victory over Blake 589 De Ruyter on the Medway 595 The De Witts in Prison 601 Descartes at Amsterdam 609 Peter the Great in the Shipyard 613 Entrance of William III. into London 617 Maria Theresa 621 The Prince entering Brussels 633 Waterloo 639 HISTORY OF THE NETHERLANDS. CHAPTER I. THE ANCIENT NETHERLANDS. If we look on the map of Europe we shall see a small, triangular-shaped territory between France, Germany, and the ocean. This territory, which is now occupied. by the kingdoms of Holland and Belgium, has long been known as the Netherlands, or Low Countries, from the fact that much of its surface is flat, and a large part lies below the level of the sea. A good deal of the soil of this region consists of mud, which has come from its three great rivers, the Rhine, the Meuse, and the Scheldt, and of sand, which has been heaped up about their mouths by the ocean. Civilization has so wonderfully transformed these Low Countries that there is hardly a trace to-day of their original appearance. They afford the most notable illustration in history of the mastery of man over nature. The most pic- turesque features of the Netherlands show that this mastery is only secured by constant watchfulness and labor. Thus the placid canals, bordered by dreamy, sheltering trees, seem as if they had nothing to do but minister to the enjoyment of visitors and the drowsy comfort of dwellers along their 12 History of the Netherlands. peaceful banks. In fact, they not only serve as means of communication, which in other lands are provided by roads, but they carry off the waters of turbulent rivers which, if left uncurbed, would drown the beautiful cities, with their rich, quaint architecture, their splendid churches, storied museums, and fruitful industries, and utterly destroy the fer- tile meadows and. luxuriant gardens, which add so much to the prosperity of the people. Those picturesque windmills, that swing their long arms round and round in a sort of despairing earnestness, are the sentinels on guard over the baffled waters which are always trying to rush over the coun- try. The streams, lakes/ and marshes would have a large part of the land under subjection were it not for the countless mills, whose giant strength forces the dangerous water into artificial channels. The immense embankments of granite, earth, and wood, called dykes, which are such striking ob- jects in the Netherlands, keep the furious and disappointed ocean from desolating the regions that it originally occupied. These dykes seem to defy the assaults of the angry sea, but its ravages are so great in their massive walls that a fortune is needed to keep them in repair. Though upwards of fif- teen hundred millions of dollars have been spent in con- structing these gigantic bulwarks, it requires more than two millions yearly to maintain them. Thus these Low Coun- tries, or Netherlands, the very soil of which had to be wrested from the hostile waters, are, for the most part, only permitted to exist on condition of perpetual strife with these useful though rebellious servants. 1 In ancient times this swampy, spongy territory was bor- 1 Butler, the author of " Hudibras," who died in 1680, vividly describes Holland as, — ' ' A country that draws fifty feet of water, In which men live as in the hold of nature, And when the sea does in upon them break, And drown a province, does but spring a leak." WINDMILLS. 50 b. c. Warlike Gauls and Germans. 1 5 dered by thick forests which prevented it from being wholly washed away. The wretched inhabitants of this watery waste were obliged to raise mounds for dwelling places amid the frequent floods. Strange as it seems, this race of sav- ages, living on fish and spending much of their time in try- ing to keep themselves from drowning, grew into a great and powerful nation. Their hardships were the school of cour- age and perseverance that enabled them to surpass races placed amid more genial conditions. They made the over- flowing rivers fertilize the soil of their country, which became a garden of productive industry. The ocean that threat- ened to engulf them, they kept back by embankments, while covering it with their commerce. But the chief glory of this people was not in their industrial enterprise and wealth, or in the triumphs of their arts and arms, but in the services which they rendered to the cause of human liberty and justice by their resistance to oppression. How they gained this honor- able and commanding position in history, it is the object of the following pages to show. The first account which we have of the inhabitants of the Netherlands is furnished by Julius Caesar, about fifty years before the birth of Christ. The Romans under him were then on their career of universal conquest. He found the interior of the country occupied by Celts, or Gauls, and its borders by Teutonic or German tribes. Both these races were gigantic in stature and warlike in disposition. They were alike of fair complexion and wore their hair long ; but that of the Gauls was yellow, and that of the Germans red. The Celts were more fond of ornament than the Teutons, but though more excitable, were not capable of so much endurance. There was much less freedom among the Gallic than among the German tribes, the latter having but few slaves, and electing their kings as well as petty magistrates by the popular choice. The bravest of the Celts had a mixture of German blood ; i6 History of the Netherlands. and their name, Belgse, is the origin of the. modern name, Belgium. The Gauls were tillers of the soil, raised sheep and cattle, and had some export trade in salted provisions. They occu- pied permanent homes and lived in towns and villages, while the Germans led the roving life of warriors who de- spised peaceful industry. In religion the Teutonic had an ad- vantage over the Celtic inhabitants of the Netherlands, in the greater purity and simplicity of their faith. The Gauls were enslaved by the cruel superstitions taught by the Druids, a class of priests who ruled them in civil as well as religious matters ; but the Germans worshipped a single supreme God in groves especially consecrated for that purpose. In their domestic relations the Germans were much purer than the Celts, who did not recognize the sacredness of mar- riage. The Teuton showed more devotion to his single wife BATAVIAN CAVALRYMAN. 17 a. d. 69. The Roman Conquest. 19 than the Gaul did to the various women whom he held in common with his relatives. The greater simplicity of the Germans appeared also in their funeral rites. They did not, like the Celts, throw favorite animals and slaves into the flames which consumed the bodies of the dead, or erect great monuments of earth or stone above them ; but, like some American Indians, they buried in the grave of the warrior his arms and faithful steed, which, unlike the Indians, they had previously burned. Caesar easily conquered the Celtic inhabitants of the Neth- erlands, but the Germans gave him more trouble. Some tribes fought till nearly all their warriors were killed or carried into slavery. One of these races, the Batavians, inhabiting an island at the mouth of the Rhine, formed an alliance with the Romans and served with distinction in their armies. They were especially noted for their cavalry, which gained the empire of the world for Caesar in his great victory over Pompey. For a long time the Batavian troops were the body-guard of the emperors. They made and unmade those mighty sovereigns. The contest for the imperial throne between Vitellius and Vespasian incited a revolt of the Neth- erlands, under the lead of Civilis, a noble Batavian who had adopted the Roman surname of Claudius. Having been ungratefully treated by the rulers for whom he had fought bravely, he sought to avenge his own wrongs while securing the freedom of his country. The success of Civilis being predicted by a witch who lived alone in a tall tower in the woods, and who was vener- ated by the superstitious Germans, they aided his attacks on the invaders. The Romans were astonished at the courage of these barbarians in boldly assailing their camp. Here, however, the superior mechanical skill of the besieged gave them a great advantage over their uncivilized opponents. Civilis, aided by deserters from their ranks, built a movable 20 History of the Netherlands. wooden tower two stories high. This he filled with soldiers and moved near the enemy's works. The Romans, by the use of heavy beams, crushed in this tower, burying the sol- diers in its ruins. One machine used against the barbarians is said to have been invented by the Greek philosopher, Archimedes. It had an arm like a crane, which swung out over the heads of the troops of Civilis. This arm, being suddenly let down, caught hold of the besiegers, lifted them high in air above the astonished Germans, and then, suddenly turning, threw them headlong into the camp. After fighting bravely, and at times successfully, against the invaders, the Batavian chief was at last deserted by the Gauls and distrusted by his own people. The Roman general Cerialis now employed agents to tempt the disheartened foe to abandon the struggle. He even prevailed upon the Ger- man witch to change her prophecy of success to that of ruin to the enemy. As the Batavians thought resistance to fate and the Romans useless, Civilis resolved not to let them sacrifice him to their despair. Having agreed to arrange a peace, the two commanders had a bridge across a river broken down in the middle. They stood facing each other on opposite ends. Nothing more is known of that meeting. This is the last record that history has of the gallant, patriotic Civilis, the Mithridates of the West. Although civilization has changed the character of the people of the Netherlands, its two ancient races, the Germans and Gauls, have preserved their distinctive traits in modern times. The inhabitants of the northern parts of the country, though not naturally so warlike as those of the southern, have shown greater persistency and endurance. They have made their low, swampy lands more valuable than the soil of the upper region, and they have defended them more bravely. The Dutch, those sturdy descendants of the ancient Bata- vians, founded a great independent republic, and have made A School of Character. 21 a deeper mark in history than the inhabitants of the Belgic provinces, who submitted to foreign rule. All this shows that hardship is a better school of character than luxury, and that the country with the least natural advantages may raise the bravest and noblest people. iifcssffiSS&S: STREET SCENE IN BELGIUM. CHAPTER II. EARLY STRUGGLES FOR FREEDOM. When the northern barbarians invaded the- Roman empire, in the fourth . century, the Netherlander did not falter in their devotion to their masters. They fought for them, even against their liberty-seeking German relations who were trampled by the famous Batavian cavalry in the great battle at Strasburg in 357. During the next hundred years a tide of Franks, Vandals, Saxons, and other invaders swept over the Netherlands, but when the flood went down, the same races occupied the territory as before, though the proportion of Germans had increased. The Christian religion was now rising on the ruins of Paganism. In the course of the fifth century the power of the Franks succeeded to that of the Romans. The Belgic Gauls sub- mitted to the new rulers, but the Frisians, an ancient German tribe closely related to the Anglo-Saxon race, and represent- ing the old Batavian people, held out bravely against the conquering Franks. These "free Frisians," as they liked to call themselves, had always chafed under foreign oppres- sion. At the Roman conquest they were let off with a tribute of hides for military purposes. Olennius, the officer charged to collect this tribute, required payment in the skins of the aurochs, a huge species of wild ox. As the ordinary cattle in Friesland were small, this demand was only an excuse for seizing their property and enslaving their wives and 500-692. The Brave Frisians. 23 children. The Frisians revolted, hung the tax gatherers, and chased the cruel Olennius out of the country. The new masters of the Netherlands, being Christians, sought to convert as well as conquer the pagan Frisians. But though the Frankish king, Dagobert I., set up a Christian church at Utrecht, the country at large would not submit CHARLEMAGNE IN COUNCIL. to the arms or religion of the invaders. The lazy Merovin- gian kings had to depend on the Netherlanders of Brabant, with whom they had united, for the power to overcome the Frisians. Charles Martel, or the Hammer, as the pounding French general was called, followed up the victories of his father Pepin against them. When the Frisian king, Radbod, had yielded to the blows of the Hammer, he agreed to be bap- 24 History of the Netherlands. tized as a Christian. Just as he had put one leg into the water for this purpose, he suddenly asked the French bishop, "Where are all my dead forefathers now?" The answer THE NORTHMEN. was, " In hell, with all other unbelievers." " Well, then," said Radbod, taking his leg from the water, " I would rather go to hell with them, than to heaven with you and your fellow foreigners." 750-1217. Counts of Holland. 25 It was not till the Frisians had been again beaten by the French, in the year 750, that they became Christians. The great emperor, Charlemagne, who united the Netherlands under his rule at the close of the eighth century, allowed this brave tribe to keep their own land and laws. Yet they suffered severely from the fierce invading Northmen in the ninth century. When Charlemagne died and his empire broke in pieces, the Netherlands became provinces of the empire of Germany. At about this time the little sovereign- ties of the country were made hereditary. Thus Holland, in the year 922, was granted by Charles the Simple to Count Dirk and his descendants, though their dominion was dis- puted for hundreds of years by the warlike bishops of Utrecht. The people of the Netherlands now had no control of the government; they were so poor and oppressed that many were glad to sell themselves into slavery. Others built wretched huts, under the protection of some lordly castle. Crimes were generally punished by the payment of money, and a poor person unable to pay a fine was sold as a slave. This state of things lasted for some five hundred years. As slaves who went to the Crusades, or Holy Wars, were liberated on their return, they helped to increase the num- ber of freemen, which was gradually getting larger. The traders and mechanics, who built their houses around the lords' castles, became important enough to have charters granted to them as communities, and to form associations, called guilds, for their benefit. These town charters pro- tected the people from violence by the forms of law. The oldest charter in those provinces which afterwards formed the Dutch republic was granted to the town of Middleburg in the year 1 2 1 7 by Count William I. of Holland and Countess Joanna of Flanders. The trade of the cities of the Netherlands with England, the Mediterranean, and the East, in time made them so rich 26 History of the Netherlands. that they secured a share in the general government which had been hitherto controlled by the nobles. Of these cities, BELFRY AT BRUGES. Bruges, whose glories Longfellow has celebrated in his poem, "The Belfry of Bruges," was the most prosperous. In the thirteenth century the stormy German Ocean rolled over the low land into a lake in the interior of Friesland. 1355- Jacques van Artevelde. 27 forming what is now called the Zuyder Zee. The deluge destroyed thousands of villages and their inhabitants, and separated the eastern from the western part of the country. For years the " dead cities," as they are called, on the shores of this sea have been among the curiosities of Holland. It is proposed to make a greater curiosity here by forcing the Zuyder Zee to retire and give back the fertile soil which was despoiled by the ocean six hundred years ago. The plan is to build an immense dyke twenty-five miles long, enclosing about five hundred thousand acres, and then pump out the water with steam-engines. The work will require sixteen years and cost about seventy-five million dollars. As the great lake of Haarlem, covering forty-five thousand acres, was drained in this way about thirty years ago, this gigantic project is likely to be carried out if the value Qf farming land promises a fair profit from the drowned region. After the counts, or dirks, of Holland had ruled that terri- tory for nearly four hundred years, they died out, and their dominions passed to the countship of Hainault. In 1355 the count of this country, William IV., dying without children, a civil war broke out between the two great parties of Kabbel- jaw, or codfish, representing the city people, and the Hooks, or fish-hooks, representing the nobles, who wanted to catch and hold them. In the fourteenth century the stormy spirit of liberty in Flanders excited revolts against its sovereign counts. Two men named Van Artevelde, father and son, were both leaders and victims of these warlike struggles. Though belonging to a distinguished family, Jacques, or James, van Artevelde, in order to gain favor with the people, became a member of the guild or craft of brewers, one of the numerous corporations into which the Flemish towns were divided. Hence his his- toric title, — the Brewer of Ghent. From the peculiar covering for the head worn by the men 28 History of the Netherlands. of Ghent when in military service, they were called White Hoods. By his eloquence Artevelde gained great author- ity over the masses, and was chosen leader of some fifty guilds, — the weavers, clothiers, mariners, &c. He was thus enabled to wield vast influence in Flanders, driving Count Louis of Crecy into exile, and ruling the country as its defender. So great was his power that Edward III. of England, who had designs on the throne of France, sent ambassadors to request his alliance. It was at his sug- gestion that Edward added the fleur-de-Us , the emblem of French sovereignty, to the royal arms. The British invasion having failed, Artevelde feared the vengeance of the Count of Flanders. To secure the protection of England, he tried to persuade his Flemish supporters to accept the Black Prince, the son of Edward III., as their sovereign. He thus excited the opposition of the powerful city of Ghent, which, though sustaining his seizure of the count's authority, wpuld not submit to a change in the succession, and, least of all, to a foreign ruler. In a bloody battle between the weavers and other guilds in the market-place, the party of the once popular leader was defeated. The enemies of Artevelde now spread reports that he had secretly sent a large part of the revenues of Flanders to Eng- land, and placed English troops in his house. Alarmed by the threatening appearance of the people as he rode through the streets of Ghent, he fastened all his doors and windows. But the furious populace broke into the dwelling, with cries of vengeance. After a desperate defence and a vain attempt to appease the fury of his assailants, Artevelde was slain. At the time of the massacre, which occurred in 1341, he had ruled the country with great ability for ten years. About forty years after the death of Jacques van Artevelde the citizens of Ghent, having made war upon the Count of Flanders, and recalling the brilliant services of their former VAN ARTEVELDE AT HIS DOOR. 1 38 1. Philip van Artevelde. 31 leader, sought out his son Philip, who was living in retire- ment. The excited multitude carried the astonished recluse to the market-place, and with one voice proclaimed him gov- ernor and defender of their liberties. This romantic hero was named in honor of Philippa of Hainault, queen of Edward III. of England, who stood godmother at his baptism. The famous John of Gaunt, or Ghent, was her son. Philip van Artevelde began his rule by attempting to restore order in the turbulent city and relieving the distresses of the famishing people. With hereditary heroism he led the stout-hearted men of Ghent, who were always ready to leave their peace- ful crafts to fight for real or fancied grievances, against their exacting sovereign. The Count of Flanders, unable to resist this onset of the gallant Flemish weavers, was overwhelmed, with his army, and sought shelter in a poor woman's house in the splendid city of Bruges, being saved by her kindness from his pursu- ers. But the vast riches of the city became the prey of the conquerors. For a fortnight two hundred carts were kept busy in transporting loads of gold and silver, jewels and precious stuffs, to Ghent. Among the treasures was the fa- mous Golden Dragon of Bruges, as large as an ox, which was taken from the Mosque of St. Sophia at Constantinople in one of the Crusades. This gorgeous trophy of the triumph of Philip van Artevelde was placed on the summit of the belfry of Ghent, which it still adorns. Becoming almost un- disputed master of Flanders, the city of Oudenarde alone holding out against him, Artevelde assumed the style of a sovereign prince and added to his name the title of Regard de Flandres, — the overlooker of Flanders. Unfortunately for Philip, the necessity of overawing his rebellious subjects at home led King Charles VI. to aid the Count of Flanders, his vassal, against the usurper. Un- able to conciliate France or obtain aid from England, the 3^ History of the Netherlands. daring Artevelde, feeling himself insulted by Charles's scorn- ful treatment, boldly prepared for war. The French army, after defeating one of his commanders, marched against BELFRY AT GHENT. Philip, who boldly resolved to risk an engagement. The conflict, which is known as the battle of Rosbecque, took place near Ypres, Nov. 27, 1382. It was fatal to Artevelde, PHILIP THE GOOD -OF BURGUNDY. 1437- Philip the Good. 35 whose army was swept away in the space of half an hour, and he himself killed. No mortal wound being found on his per- son, he was supposed to have been pressed to death by his panic-stricken troops. The body of the gallant patriot was stripped by the enemy and left hanging to a tree. His char- acter and career have been made familiar to English readers by Henry Taylor's striking dramatic poem of " Philip van Artevelde." The next great change in the fortunes of the Netherlands was their transfer to the dukes of Burgundy. This was brought about under the rule of Philip miscalled " the Good," a very rich, enterprising, and powerful sovereign. The cities of Flanders and the fisheries of Holland flourished during his reign, but the liberties of the country declined. At his luxurious court the glamour of chivalry eclipsed the light of freedom. An invention which did much to protect the rights of the provinces was brought out at the very time that this ambitious Duke Philip was trying to overthrow them. Lawrence Cos- ter, a humble sexton of Haarlem, in Holland, printed a little grammar with movable types. 1 It did not attract much at- tention, but as it became the means of spreading knowledge among the people, it was of much more benefit to the world than the knightly order of the Golden Fleece, which Duke Philip was so proud of founding. This order glorified the woollen industries which had given wealth to the Nether- lands. The number of the. knights was limited to twenty- five, and comprised emperors, kings, princes, and great 1 There is a statue to Coster in Haarlem, as the inventor of printing, though the claim of the German, Gutenberg, is generally credited. But the Dutch say that he was a workman of Coster's and stole his invention, and they show, in the town hall of Haarlem, a work bearing the date 1440, about ten years before Gutenberg brought out a book. Coster's real name was Lorenz or Lawrence Janszoon, and he was called Coster because that is the Dutch word for sexton. 36 History of the Netherlands. nobles, none of whom, with the exception of reigning sov- ereigns, were allowed to belong to any other order. While Philip crushed the liberties of the people and loaded them with taxes, he had sense enough to protect their com- merce and manufactures. His taste led him also to give aid to literature, science, and art. He encouraged authors like Comines, and painters like the brothers Van Eyck. The cel- ebrated Burgundian library which he founded at Brussels, and the university of Louvain which he fostered, helped to offset his bad political work. He died in February, 1467. Philip's son and successor, Charles the Bold, outdid his tyranny in the Netherlands. He kept up the system of arbitrary and oppressive government, by which his father had changed what was nearly a republican into an almost despotic rule. He plunged into ambitious foreign wars, the failure of which obliged him to tax his sub- jects so heavily that riots broke out in the cities. Then he maintained a standing army and removed the Supreme Court from Holland. Fortunately for the world, Charles the Bold's ambition was»greater than his talents. It was crushed at last by the brave mountaineers of Switzerland. While attempting to conquer them he used to compare himself to Hannibal, the Carthaginian general who had led an army across the Alps. His jester, to whom he boasted of this sup- posed resemblance, said to him after one of his worst de- feats, " We are getting well Hannibalized to-day, my lord." His violent death, in 1477, was a fortunate thing for the Netherlands, for it enabled them to make a great and bold strike for their liberties. A meeting was called at Ghent by the cities of Holland, Flanders, and other provinces, to claim their ancient privileges from the Duchess Mary, Charles's daughter and heiress. As the French king, Louis XI., had seized her dominions in Burgundy, she was glad to grant their demands for the sake of their aid. In this way the CHARLES THE BOLD. 37 1477- Great Charter of Holland. 39 Magna Charta of Holland, called by; the Dutch " Groot Privilegie," or Great Privilege, was founded. It was a res- toration of the Parliamentary rights of the country, and formed the basis of the future republic. Similar privileges were granted to Flanders and other provinces. Thus, despite opposition, political liberty had made progress in the Netherlands during the last two centuries. Commerce with England, whence the Flemings obtained wool for their manufactures, and the progressive maritime enterprise of the Dutch, had broadened the national life. Struggles with their own and with foreign rulers had strengthened the stormy spirit of freedom. The Arteveldes had done good work, though they shared the narrowness of the guilds of artisans who oppressed labor while resisting the aggression of the rich burgher families. The Burgundian rule, though depressing the liberties of the people, favored their increase in wealth, and gave them strength for the long struggle with tyranny. Socially, too, there had been an advance. Riches had brought taste and refinement. The invention of the shirt and the night-dress in the fourteenth century was a landmark of progress. Extravagance and licentiousness were still crying evils, nobles and boors alike ate and drank to excess, but art was to soften the prevailing coarseness, and the very cities which were the hotbeds of luxury were to be the strongholds of resistance to oppression. 1 1 Since my imperfect sketch of the Arteveldes was in type, the instructive volumes of Mr. Hutton and Mr. Ashley have given English readers a new idea of their characters and careers, as illustrated by the researches of modern Flemish scholars. CHAPTER III. THE SPANISH RULE. The next event in the history of the Netherlands placed them in the power of the Hapsburgs, the imperial family of Austria. The Duchess Mary married the Archduke Maxi- milian, Aug. 18, 1477, and not long afterward was killed by a fall from her horse. Her husband, as guardian of her son Philip, a boy of four years, succeeded to the government, though the province of Flanders held out bravely against him for some time. He proved to be a hard ruler, and destroyed the liberties he had sworn to protect. By the death of his father in 1493, Maximilian became Emperor of Germany. The Netherlands accepted as their sovereign his son Bhilip, called the Fair, abandoning their Great Privilege, and other charters of liberty which had cost them so much blood and money to obtain. Philip soon mar- ried a Spanish princess, a daughter of the noted Ferdinand and Isabella, who four years afterward, in the year 1500, gave birth to a son. This infant became the famous Emperor Charles V., who brought so much suffering to the Netherlands by uniting them with his Spanish dominions. Under his rule these provinces, full of commercial energy and spirit, and at- tached to civil and religious liberty, were held in subjection to the haughty, warlike, and persecuting Spaniards. The two nations were so unlike that they soon . learned to hate each other. The way in which Charles V. treated the city of Ghent shows what sort of a ruler of the Netherlands he was. At CHARLES V. 1540. Subjection of Ghent. 43 that time Ghent was one of the principal cities of Europe, being larger than Paris, and able to muster over sixty thou- sand fighting men. It was famous for its riches, and for the stormy spirit of independence which distinguished its inhab- itants. Surrounded by strong walls nine miles in length, and possessing fine streets and squares and splendid public build- ings, the city was even more remarkable for its active indus- tries. Every morning, noon, and night the bells were rung, and the drawbridges over the canals closed to the passage of vessels, while the armies of workmen were going to and from their labors. Other persons were warned not to interfere, by their presence in the streets, with the moving throng ; and children were carefully kept . in-doors lest they should be trodden under foot. One of the objects most, valued by the citizens was a great bell called Roland, which for many years had been rung whenever they were threatened with foreign or domestic violence. Ghent, which, with its suburbs, constituted one of the four estates of the province of Flanders, had refused to pay its share of a large tax levied for the expense of the emperor's foreign wars. The city claimed that the tax could not be lawfully raised without its consent. An insurrection broke out among the inhabitants, who secretly asked the aid of Francis I., King of France. He not only refused his assist- ance, but informed Charles V. of their request. The em- peror, now bent on punishing them severely, came to Ghent, Feb. 14,^ 1540, with a grand array of soldiers and great dignitaries of church and state. He remained a month in the city before inflicting vengeance on the people. Then he had nineteen of the leaders of the insurrection beheaded, deprived Ghent of all its liberties, ordered the removal of the great bell Roland, and required the deputies to kneel at the foot of his throne with heads bare and halters round their necks. Strange to say, the badge of disgrace in time became 44 .History of the Netherlands. a decoration. Being forbidden to appear in public without the halter, the magistrates at last had the rope changed to a rich silken cord. This was worn round the neck as an orna- ment, and tied in front with a true-lover's-knot. VIEW ON THE CAN.AX, GHENT. The humiliation of Ghent was followed by the subjection of the Netherlands to despotic rule. But there were influ- ences at work, after years of submission to tyranny, to arouse the people to regain their rights. One of these was the spread 1555- Character of Charles V. 45 of knowledge by the printing-press. Men began to see the injustice of religious persecution. The riches acquired by bishops and priests excited the jealousy of princes and no- bles. The sale of pardons for crimes disgusted the common people with the officers of the Church, who made fortunes by this means. It was not merely Luther and his Protestant associates who assailed these abuses. Pope Adrian VI., who was the son of a Netherland boat-maker, acknowledged and rebuked them. But the excesses committed by pretended reformers furnished an excuse for persecuting the true. There was a sect of fanatics in the Netherlands called the Anabaptists, whose riotous excesses increased the emperor's desire to crush out every form of heresy. Charles V. pun- ished persons who dared to read the Bible or discuss relig- ious matters by burning them at the stake. This was not done merely for the sake of the Catholic faith, for the empe- ror had imprisoned the pope and ravaged the holy city of Rome. He permitted his German troops in the Netherlands to attend Protestant worship, while he was killing the natives for doing the same thing. It was because he knew that religious would lead to political freedom that he tried to root out heresy in the provinces. After he had destroyed thousands of innocent people, he left the government to his son Philip, and retired to a convent. History for a long time represented him as leading the life of a wise, serene philoso- pher in his seclusion from the world. It is now known, how- ever, that he passed the remainder of his days in urging new measures of severity against heretics, and in excessive eating and drinking. At last his food ceased to relish. He com- plained that all the dishes which his cook sent him were tasteless. As the emperor had a great fancy for time-pieces, his chamberlain said he did not know of any new delicacy which could be served up for his majesty except a pie made of watches. 46 History of the Netherlands. The grasping ambition of Charles V. led him to commit acts of fraud and oppression which have sullied his fame. He was a great general, but he was too much of a trickster to. be a great statesman. Had he understood the drift of his age and the meaning of the Reformation, he would have spared himself and his son many trials. But allowance must be made for the evil training which led him to regard his people as rightful victims of his passion for military glory and religious persecution. His descent from the throne was forced upon him by ruined health and weakening fortunes, the penalty of his reckless living and bad government. It was a gloomy close to a brilliant career. CHAPTER IV. WILLIAM OF CRANGE. On the day of the Emperor Charles's abdication, Oct. 25, 1555, he entered the splendid palace in the city of Brus- sels, where the estates of the Netherlands were assembled with great pomp to witness the ceremony, leaning on the arm of a young man who was to become famous as the saviour of his country. He was a tall, handsome-looking youth of twenty-two, wearing a mustache and pointed beard which, like his eyes, were brown. His forehead was high and broad, and he had a thoughtful expression remarkable in one so young. This was William of Nassau, Prince of Orange, who was already the commander of the imperial army against the greatest French generals of the day. In his rich, gilded armor, his helmet under his arm, and his hand clasping his sword, the youth was a more brilliant figure than the mighty monarch or his successor, who stood with him upon the tap- estried stage, surrounded by princes and bishops and great nobles in splendid array. Little did those magnificent grandees dream that this young man was destined to sunder the empire of the sovereign who now leaned upon his arm, and to found an independent nation in the dominions which he was about to give up to his son. The retiring emperor was a white-haired, gray-bearded man, with a large frame, a broad forehead, a hooked nose, and a mild but majestic dark-blue eye. The lower part of his face was extremely ugly. His heavy under-lip hung from 48 History of the Netherlands. a jaw which protruded beyond the upper one. This feature of his countenance was known as the Burgundian lip, it having come to him with his dukedom from his ancestors. He was simply dressed, his sole ornament being the superb collar of the Golden Fleece. Though only about fifty-six years of age, he was very infirm. It seemed impossible that this feeble man, supported by a crutch and an attendant's shoulder, could be the iron warrior who had borne exposure and fatigue for so many years. His constitution, however, had been broken down, not by his labors as a soldier, but by his habits of gluttony. The ruler of a vast empire, he could not govern his appetite. The emperor's son Philip had, like his father, a broad fore- head, a mild blue eye, and a hooked nose, and he had also the misshapen Burgundian lip and jaw. He was much below the middle height, small, thin, and narrow-chested ; and his light hair and short, yellow, pointed beard matched his fair ■ complexion. There was a Spanish pride in his manner, and a reserved, timid air, which was caused by confirmed ill health. Even his splendid dress of velvet and gold could not give dignity to Mis presence. This new ruler of the Netherlands, the husband of Mary Tudor, Queen of England, was twenty-eight years of age. His empire was one of the largest and most powerful that the world has ever known, extending over a large .part of Europe, Asia, and America. The Spanish statesmen and soldiers, poets and painters, had long been renowned through- out Europe. Yet Philip was wholly incapable of perpetuating the glory of his predecessors. He seemed to have a talent for misgovernment ; his fanaticism blinded him to his own interests. The liberties of the people had been gradually declining. There was a national tendency to decay, caused by the false pride of war, idleness, and superstition. The king's policy encouraged this tendency. In his slow and l S5S- National Dislike of Philip. 51 narrow mind the religious enthusiasm which had won glory for Spain against the Turks and Moors had degenerated into bigoted hatred of Christian heretics. Yet, while strict in the outward observances of religion, he was extremely licen- tious. He spoke nothing but Spanish, and disliked the talk- ativeness of the Netherlanders, preferring to write a long letter than to speak a few words. He had a peculiarly embarrassed way of looking down when he talked, which was said to be partly caused by a stomach-ache brought on by the habit of eating more pastry than was good for him. His reserved, unsocial nature had none of the dash and spirit of his race. The taste for shutting himself up among his papers was harmful in a ruler needing personal knowledge of his subject provinces. To his servants he was kind, and even liberal ; but he was very suspicious of his ministers, and when he treated one of them with especial favor, it" was a sign that his vengeance would soon be wreaked upon him. As Philip's own historian said, " His dagger followed close upon his . smile." Yet the king was not naturally cruel. His horrible acts of oppression in the Netherlands were due to his scant education and intense religious bigotry. In his farewell address to the estates-general, the national assembly of the provinces, Charles V. had moved the audi- ence to tears by his expressions of affection for the people. Notwithstanding his interference with their liberties, the Netherlanders had become warmly attached to the emperor, who was by birth and sympathy one of themselves. They gloried in his military achievements, and were fascinated by his genial manners and hearty interest in their sports and pastimes. But they were repelled by Philip's haughtiness and reserve. Their national dislike to foreigners was deep- ened towards this cold, sickly Spaniard, who despised their merry, jovial ways, and hated their spirit of political and religious freedom. Even the jealousies existing between the 52 History of the Netherlands* different provinces could not prevent them from uniting against the oppressor. The Netherlanders were at this time extremely prosperous. From wretched savages, they had in fifteen centuries become a highly civilized people whose merchants and navigators had made them famous in distant lands. They supplied Charles V. with nearly one half the income of his entire dominions, — four times as much as was yielded either by Spain or the riches of Mexico and Peru. Their seventeen provinces contained two hundred and eight walled cities, besides numerous towns and villages ; while no less than sixty strong fortresses protected the country from foreign invasion. Antwerp, the principal city, was then the greatest commercial mart in the world, and its buildings were re- nowned for their splendor throughout Europe. Their mas- sive and lofty towers, quaint gables, grotesque projections, delicate tracery and carvings, were exceedingly picturesque. Two thousand loaded wagons from the neighboring countries passed daily through the gates of Antwerp, and twenty-five hundred vessels found shelter within its spacious harbor. Other Netherland cities had special repute for their manu- factures. Lille was noted for its woollen cloths, Brussels for its tapestries and carpets, Valenciennes for its camlets, — a delicate stuff made of wool and camel's hair, — while Louvain and Ghent reproduced with exquisite skill the shawls and silks of India. The stout ships, superb cattle, quaint tiles, and choice linen of Holland were widely admired. In the fine arts the Netherlanders had become famous all over the world through the works of the great Belgian, painters and musicians, while in general education they surpassed the inhabitants of most European countries. The government of the provinces was very free, the au- thority of the sovereign being limited by the privileges of the large cities, whi^h ruled the neighboring districts and villages. PHILIP OF SPAIN 1555* Government of the Netherlands. 55 The legislature of the Netherlands, the estates, or states-gen- eral, consisted of representatives of the chief cities, the nobility, and the clergy. It had the power to grant or refuse the sover- eign's requests for money ; any city, as branch of a province, possessing a right to withhold such supplies. There were corporations, called guilds, which had a good deal of political influence in the towns. The name was also given to other associations for the cultivation of military and artistic tastes among the people. The most important of these societies were the guilds of rhetoric, which, though principally com- posed of mechanics, had literary, musical, and dramatic exer- cises, and, in spite of their bad taste and extravagance, did a good deal to preserve the popular rights. Yearly jubilees of these guilds were celebrated with great pomp in the chief cities. They were called " Land-jewels." This liberty-loving, prosperous people, devoted to the pursuits of peace, yet easily moved to war, the vigor and energy of the woman rivalling that of the men, was to suffer under its foreign master trials unexampled in history. Philip, while at Brussels, governed the Netherlands wholly through a council of Spanish grandees. He had a favorite, Ruy Gomez da Silva, Count of Melito, who acted as his valet, state counsellor, and minister of finance. It was his privilege to dress and undress his master, read or talk him to sleep, and look after the affairs of the household, besides managing the more important concerns of government. His face, pale from these cares, was set off by coal-black hair and beard, flashing eyes, and a slender, handsome figure. The friend- ship of the king for this favorite began in boyhood. Philip, having interfered in a quarrel between him and another page, was struck by the young Ruy Gomez. For this act the rash youth was condemned by the emperor to death, from which he was saved by the entreaties of the prince. The favorite lost no opportunity of pleasing his master, and on 56 History of the Netherlands, one occasion allowed him to win a large sum of money at cards, instead of taking it himself. By such prudent man- agement the Count of Melito gained wealth and influence. Though an ignorant man, he skilfully concealed his defi- ciencies when conversing with better-informed persons. He worked hard to fit himself for his post, and proved a faithful servant to Philip. His peaceful policy was long favored by the king, who at last abandoned it for the warlike measures of the count's hated rival, the terrible Alva. At the emperor's abdication, his sister, the Queen of Hun- gary, had resigned the regency of the Netherlands, where she was very unpopular. The appointment of the Duke of Savoy, the king's first cousin, as her successor, showed how little the new rulers understood the interests of the provinces. He was a warrior who fought for fortune rather than fame, and had become rich by buying distinguished prisoners of war from soldiers ignorant of their rank, and then ransoming them at a great profit. While this was considered fair deal- ing, it showed his unfitness to rule a people whose interests were peaceful. Though an accomplished as well as a brave commander, the duke was out of place as regent of the Netherlands. The hopes of the provinces for peace were disappointed by their being drawn into a war which Pope Paul IV. had pro- voked between Spain and France. In the great battles of this war Count Lamoral Egmont, Prince of Gavere, a Hollander of illustrious birth who had served with distinction under Charles V., bore off the highest honors. His splendid vic- tory of Saint Quentin over the great French general, the Constable Montmorency, added new territory to the Nether- lands as well as saved them from desolation by the enemy. To commemorate this victory, which occurred Aug. 10, 1557, the king erected the magnificent palace of the Escurial. But while gaining the adoration of his countrymen, Egmont, by 1559- Margaret of Parma. 59 his later triumph at Gravelines, excited the hatred of the Duke of Alva, which was to prove fatal to him. There was great joy in the Netherlands at the peace be- tween France and Spain, the skilful negotiations of William of Orange being confirmed by the treaty of Cateau Cam- bresis, April 3, 1559. Antwerp glowed with festivities for nine days. Bells rang, bonfires blazed, and cannon roared. At night the lofty spire of the great cathedral was brilliantly illuminated. Triumphal arches spanned the streets, the per- fume of flowers filled the air, and wine flowed like water. The guilds of rhetoric paraded with grand processions and swelling verses. There were feasting and jollity for all classes. Prizes, placed on poles, were eagerly climbed for, men and women concealed in sacks amused the crowds by trials of speed, and pigs were chased by persons blind- fold. Philip, who cared nothing for this merry-making, was eager to return home and begin persecutions against heretics in the Netherlands. He appointed as regent his sister, the Duchess Margaret of Parma, natural daughter of Charles V., whose masculine vigor was supposed to be shown in her large mustache and severe attacks of gout, as well as by her daring horsemanship. In fact, she was called a man in petticoats. Yet religious zeal made her humble. Every Holy Week she washed the feet of twelve poor maidens, and afterward gave them marriage portions. The Duchess had been twice unhappily married to nephews of different popes. She was only twelve years old when she took her first husband, who was fifteen years older than her- self; while her second, to whom she was united at the age of twenty, was then but thirteen. It was from Philip's desire to keep on good terms with the Duke of Parma that his wife was given an important office at a comfortable distance from him. Having been taught all the arts of deception, and pos- 60 History of the Netherlands. sessing an energetic character, her pious hatred of heretics fitted her to carry out her brother's designs. The council of state which Philip appointed to assist the regent included the Prince of Orange and Counts Egmont and Horn ; but the Bishop of Arras, Baron Berlaymont, and Viglius van Aytta van Zuichem, who were all bitter haters of Protestantism, exercised the chief power. Among the stadtholders, or governors of the different provinces, were the Prince of Orange and Count Egmont. These stadtholders commanded the native military forces of the Netherlands, which in time of peace consisted of only three thousand men, but these were among the best cavalry in Europe. There were also about four thousand foreign hirelings whom Philip intended to leave behind. The king made his farewell address to the estates of the provinces at a meeting at Ghent, Aug. 7, 1559. He professed deep love for the people and regret at leaving them, and asked for $1,230,000 to be used for their benefit. He then pre- sented to them the new regent, whom he declared had great affection for the Netherlands ; and concluded by saying that, for the sake of religion and the glory of God, she would rigor- ously execute the laws against heretics. In reply, the depu- ties expressed the affection of the country for the king, and their willingness to devote not only their property but their lives to his service, and begged him to recall the foreign troops. A petition signed by the Prince of Orange, Count Egmont, and other great nobles, declared that these troops had committed such outrages that their presence had become unbearable. This petition made Philip so furious that he rushed away from the assembly, asking if he, too, as a Spaniard, was ex- pected to leave the Netherlands at once. Being in want of money, he soon changed his tone. He sent word to the states-general that the foreign troops were necessary to pro- DUCHESS OF PARMA. 6r 1559- Philip becomes Furious. 63 tect the country, but that they should be withdrawn as soon as possible. He had, however, taken pains to instruct the authorities to have the decrees for burning, strangling, and burying alive heretics strictly enforced. The chief opponent of Philip's policy was the Prince of Orange. Seeing him among the great personages who had assembled to witness his departure for Spain, the king accused William of defeat- ing his designs. On the prince replying that it was the work of the national states, the enraged monarch grasped his wrist and exclaimed insultingly, " No, it was not done by the states, but by you, you, you ! " William of Nassau, Prince of Orange, whom the king rec- ognized as the most powerful opponent of his despotic schemes, was then only twenty-two years of age, but he had already exhibited some of the traits which were to make him so famous and beloved as the saviour of his country. The prince belonged to a very ancient and noble family, which had become prominent in the middle of the eleventh century. The elder branch of the family gave an emperor to Germany, Adolph of Nassau ; and the younger, while re- taining a little dominion there, obtained the control of far greater estates and power in its adopted home, the Neth- erlands. Four hundred years before the house of Burgundy had begun to rule in that country, the ancestors of William of Orange had been its sovereigns. One great member of the family had become distinguished in statesmanship and war under Charles the Bold and the Emperor Maximilian. Another was the intimate friend of Charles V., and secured for him the imperial crown. The principality of Orange came into the possession of the Nassau family by marriage ; and Prince Rene of Nassau-Chalons, who succeeded to it early in the sixteenth century, dying without heirs, left his title and estates to William of Nassau, the son of his father's brother, William. 64 History of the Netherlands. When the future hero of the Netherlands thus became the ninth Prince of Orange in 1544, he was only eleven years old. He was fortunate in having a noble-minded and pious mother, Juliana of Stolberg ; and besides seven sisters, he had five brothers, all of whom achieved distinction. The fond mother's letters to her sons breathe a spirit of trust in God which show how much they owed to her devout teachings. William received his early education in the household of the Emperor Charles V., who had such a high opinion of his character and talents that he confided to him the most im- portant state secrets. Thus familiar with public affairs, the young prince showed so much wisdom and discretion that the emperor intrusted to him duties such as were usually only performed by veterans. Before he had reached the age of twenty-one, he was selected as general-in-chief of the army on the French frontier, a position coveted by many illustrious commanders. While in France as a hostage for the execution of the treaty of Cateau Cambresis, William was startled by hearing the plan of the Spanish and French kings for the massacre of the Protestants in^heir dominions. The Duke of Alva had been employed by Philip to attend to this matter, but Henry II., supposing the prince to be in the secret, told him, when out hunting, that the Spanish troops in the Netherlands would be used in carrying out the plot. While listening patiently to the dreadful scheme, William prudently said nothing to be- tray his abhorrence of it. He thus worthily gained the title of "the Silent," by which he is known in history. His knowledge of the use to which the Spanish regiments were to be put, incited those efforts for their removal which had so irritated Philip. Although himself a good Catholic, the prince could not bear to have virtuous Protestants destroyed on account of their religion. When the king sailed away to Spain, Aug. 26, 1559, William 1 559. William of Orange. 65 was twenty-six years of age and a widower. His wife, a wealthy heiress whom he had loved dearly, left him two daughters and a son. He had then little care for religious reformers, except to prevent them from being killed. Al- though he had warned some of these people of Philip's plan of putting them to death, he made Protestants in his own do- minions obey the rules of the Catholic Church. It was an easy- going, pleasure-seeking life which he led at this time. He busied himself with all sorts of princely entertainments, feast- ing, hunting, and knightly sports, in the intervals of his public duties. He was particularly fond of hawking, and when in the country not a day passed that his trained birds of prey did not bring down a heron from the upper air. He confessed that his greatest difficulty was to reduce the ex- pense of this sport, which required the services of skilled falconers. His hospitality was unbounded, and he had kind words for every guest. Twenty-four noblemen and eighteen high-born pages were attendants in his household. So large was the number of his servants that in one day he dismissed twenty- eight trained cooks in order to lessen his expenses. Yet the round of feasting went on, rich viands and choice wines be- ing supplied in abundance. This sumptuous mode of living, which was partly due to his holding high offices, he could ill afford. His salary as general-in-chief was not enough to pay the servants in his tent. The two foreign missions which he undertook for Charles and Philip were at his own expense, and these, with his entertainments after the peace at Brussels, cost him about $750,000. Fortunately, he had large rev- enues and claims upon the royal treasury to diminish his indebtedness. It seems strange that this man of high rank and luxurious tastes, who was, moreover, naturally cautious and even timid, should have become a heroic, self-sacrificing patriot. But 5 66 History of the Netherlands. his country's trials brought out his best energies. His knowl- edge of history, insight into human nature, and mastery of Latin, French, German, Flemish, and Spanish, were of great help to him. He was aided also by a kind and cheerful disposition and a genial manner, and so far from being the " silent " man that he is commonly called, he had a pleasant flow of talk and a fund of humorous illustration which made his society very delightful. CHAPTER V. THE INQUJSITION IN THE NETHERLANDS. The real ruler of the Netherlands was Anthony Perronet, Bishop of Arras, afterward Cardinal Granvelle. As chief of the secret council of three, he controlled the Regent Mar- garet. He was a very able and learned man, who knew just how to manage persons of high rank and narrow minds. His ability and unscrupulousness had made him useful to Charles V., and Philip soon yielded to his arts. He nattered the king with great tact, and understood his character so well that he was able to control while seeming to be controlled by him. As he despised the people and admired despots, he was fitted to attack the liberties of the Netherlands, but he liked to cover his bold designs with high-sounding words. Though rich, he was very greedy and wonderfully industrious. He could dictate with ease half a dozen letters at once, in half a dozen languages, while the writers were exhausted by their work. His appointment was odious to the Flemish nobles because he was a foreigner. Charles V. had always given high offices in the provinces to natives, but Philip was less prudent. Other causes of discontent prepared the Netherland grandees for revolt. The imperial wars, by increasing their fortunes, excited a reckless mode of living which had plunged them deeply into debt. They lavished immense sums on their palaces, attendants, equipages, banquets, and masquer- ades. Excessive drinking and gambling swelled the cost of 68 History of the Netherlands. their splendid hospitality. Ev&n the Prince of Orange yielded to these jovial temptations. One of his companions was the rollicking Count Brederode, who was so fond of wine that he hated water as he did the Inquisition. The Flemish rivalled the German nobles, with whom they were intimate, in deep potations. In their wild revels the Netherland grandees fiercely uttered the thoughts which they had brooded over in their sober moments. They not only yearned to wrest their mortgaged estates from their low-born creditors, but to seize the broad domains of the Catholic Church. Even faithful adherents of the pope, favored turning the rich abbey lands' on which lazy monks lived in luxury and vice, to mil- itary uses. But while the aristocracy longed to retrieve their desperate fortunes by revolt, the mass of the people were influenced by purer motives. Commercial intercourse, which had created their civil freedom, incited their hatred to priestly tyranny. The discovery of America and the invention of printing had enlarged men's minds, and the Protestant Refor- mation had entered the provinces from France and Germany. The Netherlanders were now ready to suffer torture and death for religious liberty. By the advice of the Bishop of Arras, the edict of Charles V. against heresy had been re-enacted in the provinces when Philip came into power. This edict punished with death, by burning or burying alive, and confiscation of prop- erty, people who bought Protestant writings, taught, or talked about the Scriptures. Even persons steadily suspected of heresy, or failing to denounce heretics, were subject to these penalties. To make the execution of this edict more certain, new bishops were appointed in the Netherlands, and it was resolved to have the Spanish troops kept there indefinitely. There were certain charters called " Hand-vest," because the sovereign made them fast with his hand, on which the Neth- erlanders relied for the preservation of their liberties. These CARDINAL GRANVELLE 1560. Cardinal Granvelle. 71 charters provided that no native could be convicted except in the open courts of justice ; that no foreigners should be appointed to office ; and that if the king broke these agree- ments, his subjects should be no longer bound to him. The strongest of these charters was called the "Joyous Entrance." The Prince of Orange was foremost in opposing the new bishoprics as being a cover for the cruel Spanish Inquisition. He also refused to remain in command of the foreign troops. These were at last withdrawn from fear of a general revolt. Their outrages had so incensed the bold Zealanders that they refused to repair their dykes, preferring to be engulfed by the ocean than to endure longer the presence of the hated foreigners. The Bishop of Arras, having been made Cardinal Granvelle, became more and more grasping. His bland insolence enraged the haughty Egmont. The unlettered soldier, who traced his descent from the Frisian king, Radbod, despised the learned but low-born churchman. In one of their quarrels the count drew his dagger upon the cardinal in the regent's presence. Although Orange had become intimate with the wily prelate, who admired his genius, he rebelled against his attempt to control the government of Antwerp. The two nobles soon complained to the king of his despotic minister, but this only excited Granvelle's bitter enmity to them and Count Horn, who had been equally outspoken against him. In fact, Philip was only prevented by lack of means from enforcing still more severe measures in the Netherlands. William of Orange, who had suspected the king and Car- dinal Granvelle of double dealing in defeating his intended marriage with a daughter of the Duchess of Lorraine, soon after selected for his second wife the Princess Anna of Sax- ony, whose father, the famous elector, had been shot in battle seven years before. Though rich and noble, she not only lacked personal beauty, but was somewhat lame ; besides, 72 History of the Netherlands. she had a very violent temper. She was but sixteen years of age, while William was twenty-eight. The fact of her being a Protestant and the prince a Catholic made some of her rel- atives strongly oppose the match. Another serious difficulty was that her father had been the steadfast enemy of Philip's father, and that the prince had been his trusted favorite. For these contrary reasons the marriage was opposed by the king, and by the Landgrave of Hesse, grandfather of the princess, who had been imprisoned by Charles V. She, how- ever, was so captivated by Orange on his first visit that she exclaimed defiantly, "What God had decreed, the Devil should not hinder." Fortunately for William's plans, the Elector Augustus of Saxony, uncle and guardian of the bride, was in favor of the union. Despite the opposition of the other Protestant rulers, the marriage was arranged, Orange artfully allaying the elec- tor's religious scruples, yet promising the bigoted Philip that the bride should live as a Catholic. On Sunday, the 24th of August, 15 61, the ill-fated St. Bar- tholomew's day, the. ancient town of Leipsic witnessed the brilliant ceremonies attending the wedding. The King of Spain, who, like the King of Denmark, was represented by a special ambassador, sent a present of a ring worth three thousand crowns to the bride. Many princes and bishops were present. The Elector of Saxony, who acted as host, rode forth to meet the bridegroom at the head of four thou- sand gayly dressed attendants. The Prince of Orange was accompanied by one thousand horsemen. Although houses and provisions were furnished for the noble guests," they had to bring their own cooks and butlers, and also silver dishes and kitchen utensils. At the dinner which the elector gave daily at the town-house to the sovereigns, high-born youths acted as waiters. They were instructed not to drink wine, or behave rudely during the entertainment. 1561. The Inquisition in the Netherlands. 75 The marriage took place in the great hall of the town- house, and was followed by a banquet and ball. A grand procession accompanied the bridal pair the next day to the church, for the minister's blessing. For three, days more there were gay revels, which included tournaments and other knightly sports, and masquerades with superb costumes, merry dances and fine music. These masquerades, or " mummeries," had been brought by the Prince of Orange from the Netherlands, at the request of the elector. There was a contrivance that Philip now resolved to use in the Netherlands, to get rid of heresy. This was called the Inquisition, from the inquiry which it made into people's religious belief. If this belief was not satisfactory to the in- quisitors, they severely punished the persons who were guilty of holding it. Burning alive was the favorite method em- ployed. Heresy was regarded as a vile weed, to be rooted out and cast into the fire. As disbelievers in Catholicism were doomed to eternal damnation, bigots thought it a sacred duty to kill them, in order to prevent the spread of unbelief. They thus hoped to escape endless torment, and gain rich reward in heaven. 1 Strange to say, it was not a cruel but a 1 It would be a mistake to suppose that religious persecution was confined to the Catholic Ghurch. Wherever the Protestant clergy had this power they exercised it, and although their bigotry was not so bloody as that of their oppo- nents, it was no less hearty and sincere. See the chapter on Persecution, in Lecky's "History of Rationalism in Europe." New York: 1866. The phi- losophy of the subject has been ably presented by John Fiske,' in the " North American Review "for January and April, 1881. "As the persecuting spirit grew among the Catholics," says Froude, " European Protestantism assumed a stronger and a sterner type. The Catholic, on the authority of the Church, made war upon spiritual rebellion. The Protestant believed himself commis- sioned, like the Israelites, to extinguish the worshippers of images. ' No mercy to the heretics ' was the watchword of the Inquisition ; ' The idolaters shall die ' was the answering thunder of the disciples of Calvin ; and as the death-wrestle spread from land to land, each party strove to outbid the other for Heaven's favor by the ruthlessness with which they earned out its imagined behests." " History of England," vol. x. p. 393. j6 History of the Netherlands, kind ruler, Queen Isabella, grandmother of Charles V., who set in motion that most terrible engine of human tyranny, the Spanish Inquisition. It was at first used against Jews and Moors, but was soon directed against Christian disbe- lievers in Catholicism. Under the administration of the Dominican monk Torquemada, Isabella's early confessor, a hundred and fourteen thousand families were destroyed by this dreadful instrument of persecution. The Inquisition had been strengthened in the Netherlands by Charles V., and its success in destroying heresy in Spain led his son, on coming to the throne, to expect an equal triumph in the provinces. Philip was unable to perceive the differences between the two countries which were des- tined to defeat his scheme. The crusades against the Turks, and the persecution of the Jews and Moors, had made Spain a hot-bed of religious fanaticism ; and the range of the Pyre- nees, as well as mountains of national pride and prejudice, barred th.e entrance of liberal ideas from the outside world. But the Netherlands, being near the heart of Europe, and inhabited by a free commercial people, were open to all the reforming influences of the age. The consequence was that they revolted against Philip's tyranny, and the main cause of their revolt was the Inquisition. The papal form of this institution, thus introduced, lacked the solemn mystery and pomp of the Spanish system, but it was equally merciless. Secret machinery was not needed to detect heresy in the provinces, for there was little attempt at concealment. Officers of the law were bound under terrible penalties to obey the inquisitors. There was also an In- quisition of bishops, and the dreadful edicts were all-potent in punishing heretics. Yet their dauntless courage defeated the plans of their persecutors. The most cruel of the Netherland inquisitors was one Peter Titelmann, who took pleasure in torturing, strangling, i 5 6i Cruelties of the Inquisition. 11 and burning persons whom he suspected of heresy. In fact, he used to joke about there being no danger in his work, because he seized only innocent people whom he could lead like sheep to the slaughter. He had one man, a tapestry weaver, burned alive simply for having copied some hymns from a book printed in the Protestant city of Geneva. Another man, convicted of being that worst of heretics, an BURNING OF THE HERETICS. Anabaptist, was hacked to death with a rusty sword before the eyes of his wife, who was so horrified that she fell dead on the spot. A velvet manufacturer, who had snatched the consecrated wafer from the hands of a priest in the Cathedral of Tournay, and trampled it under his feet while ridiculing the Catholic idea of its being the body of Christ, was even more cruelly dealt with. Hot irons were used to burn and twist off his right hand and foot, his tongue was torn out yS History of the Netherlands. by the roots, and his body was then slowly roasted over a fire. This cruel Titelmann had formerly been a heretic him- self, and was now particularly anxious to show the govern- ment that he merited its approval. The charge made by an executioner for torturing a man was five sous or cents ; for burning him, sixty sous ; and for throwing his ashes into the river, eight sous. It was almost impossible in those days for persons at all independent in their religious views to escape being punished as heretics, for their slightest words or acts were brought up against them. Many prominent Catholics in the Netherlands opposed the Inquisition, and if the king had not taken special pains to revive it, the horrible system would have gradually disap- peared. Granvelle's efforts to enforce the wishes of his royal master provoked violent opposition from the people. They rushed upon the places of execution, scattered the fagots arranged for burning heretics, and rescued the poor victims. All this resistance only increased the cardinal's zeal. He used troops to fill the prisons with suspected per- sons, and then beheaded and burned them at a fearful rate. One of the means of exciting public sentiment against Granvelle and the Church abuses was furnished by the "Rhetoric Chambers," the name given to clubs of actors" and tradesmen, who performed farces and circulated satir- ical poems in the streets. As there were no newspapers in those days, these productions and the bold utterances of liberal preachers were the only means of influencing the people. The cardinal was very much irritated by these popular attacks, because they made him appear ridiculous. One day a paper was placed in his hand as if it were a petition. It proved to be a picture of himself, as a hen hatching a brood of young bishops, who were crawling out of their shells. Above the cardinal's head was a figure of the 1562. Opposition to Granvelle. 79 Devil, from whose mouth issued these words, " This is my beloved son, listen to him, my people." Even some of the nobles indulged in practical jests at Granvelle's expense. Two of them, Count Brederode and his cousin, Robert de la Marck, Lord of Lumey, who became prominent in the opening scenes of the great revolt, mas- queraded in priests' robes, and wore fox tails in their hats, to show their resolve to hunt down the foxy cardinal and his associates. The tyrannical minister was also threatened with violence by other nobles, and therefore sought less exalted society. Philip, finding that the council in the Netherlands would not let the cavalry of the provinces be sent to fight the French king's battles against his Protestant subjects, drew money from his sister, the regent, to pay for the substitution of Spanish troops. This act added to the universal feeling of hostility to his arbitrary policy; and as the regent had been forbidden by Philip to assemble the states-general, she called together the Knights of the Fleece in May, 1562. The result was so tame that Orange had a gathering of the knights at his house, which widened the breach between the supporters and opponents of the government. . The former accused the prince of aiming at supreme power in the prov- inces. As they refused to grant money for supplies to the king, and as the mission of Baron Montigny, sent to him by his sister, the regent, the following autumn, only resulted in showing that he was wholly controlled by Granvelle, the Prince of Orange decided to contest his power. Together with Counts Egmont and Horn, he wrote to Philip on the nth March, 1563, warning him of the danger of continuing the cardinal in authority. It was a very bold step for Orange, who saw, more clearly than his associates, the conse- quences of thus defying the power of the minister who was evidently acting as Philip wished. So History of the Netherlands. The king replied that as no reasons were given for the ad- vice, one of the writers had better come to Madrid and talk the matter over with him. This they declined to do ; and as the regent dreaded the consequences of keeping the cardi- nal in the council, now that William the Silent and Counts Egmont and Horn had retired, she sent her private secretary to Philip to urge his removal. The fierce Duke of Alva ad- vised the king to destroy the three rebellious nobles. His plan was to lure Egmont by flattery away from the others. The terrible scheme was destined to be fatal to all but one of the intended victims. Meanwhile Granvelle had been writing to the king that the Prince of Orange and other leading nobles were plotting his own assassination and the destruction of the royal authority. The cardinal mistook the rising tide of popular fury for their movement of the waters. Being anxious to leave the Neth- erlands, he urged Philip to come and cure their troubles by simply making the sign of the cross. Orange also requested the king's presence. He wished him to see for himself the falsity of the cardinal's charges and the extent of his tyranny. But Philip hesitated about visiting the provinces, though he tried to make the people believe that he would soon come and heal their discontent with his royal touch. The crafty monarch had a favorite saying, " Time and I are a match for any other two." This reliance on time was fatal to his plans. It made him trifle with serious difficulties till they had got beyond his control. And so the troubles in the Netherlands drifted toward revolution. Near the close of the year 1563 there was a singular indication of the coming storm. Baron Grobbendonck, the king's treasurer-general, gave a splendid dinner in Brussels to prominent nobles, at which Granvelle 's tyranny and pomp were condemned and ridiculed. Becoming excited by wine, some of the party proposed to adopt a livery for their retain- WILLIAM OF ORANGE. Si 1564- The FooVs-Cap Livery. 83 ers which should mock the cardinal's display. It was resolved that the choice of the inventor of a symbol of contempt for the minister should be decided by a throw of the dice. The dangerous lot fell to Count Egmont. A few days afterward his servants appeared in a coarse gray dress with an emblem like a monk's hood, or a fool's cap, embroidered on the sleeve. This dress, which quickly became the fashion, was called the fool's-cap livery. At the suggestion of the duchess, who thought the jest was being carried too far, the fool's cap was changed to a bundle of arrows, or a wheat sheaf. Granvelle, while pretending not to care for the insult to himself, com- plained to the king that these new symbols meant a conspir- acy against the royal authority. Yet noblemen now wore this dress as well as their servants, and Egmont dined in it at the regent's table after the minister's departure. Philip at last removed the hated cardinal, on pretence of allowing him to make a visit to his mother, whom he had not seen for nineteen years. He left Brussels on the 13th of March. Orange felt sure that he would not be allowed to return, and a wag posted a placard on his palace with the inscription in large letters, " For sale immediately. ' With boyish delight at getting rid of their enemy, Brederode and Count Hoogstraaten both mounted one horse and galloped after his carriage. The adroit, unscrupulous minister, who had managed both the king and the regent, never came back to the Netherlands, though he long continued to use his influ- ence against them. "If the nobles caught him," said one of his associates in the council, more than a year after his departure, "they would eat him." William of Orange and Egmont and Horn, having received very friendly letters from the king, soon resumed their places in the council. So much corruption had grown up in the Netherlands that even the prince's efforts for reform were said to be prompted by unscrupulous ambition. He was charged 84 History of the Netherlands. with seeking to make the state council all-powerful, to control it himself, and to reduce the king to the condition of a Vene- tian doge. Meanwhile the anxieties of his position wore heavily on the thoughtful patriot. Though only thirty years of age, he had become careworn, thin, and sleepless. His face showed deep lines of trouble caused by his country's wrongs. " They say the prince is very sad," wrote Morillon, the French ambassador, to Granvelle ; " and it is easy to read as much in his face. They say he cannot sleep." There was a wretched fellow to whom the regent showed great favor, and who divided with her the profits of his shame- ful sales of public honors and offices. This was her private secretary, Armenteros, popularly called Argenteros, or man of silver. Orange was very indignant that this favorite should be consulted about important affairs of state. He could not, like the careless Egmont, put up with the scandalous conduct of the duchess, and was therefore in less favor at court. His colleagues in the council, Viglius and Berlaymont, the old supporters of Granvelle, were treated with contempt by the regent, who continually prejudiced Philip against them. Frightful persecutions of heretics still went on in the Netherlands. Titelmann's cruelties roused the four estates of Flanders to appeal to the king to suppress these viola- tions of their chartered liberties. Philip, however, resolved to push measures to extremes against Protestants, and en- force the dreadful decrees of the Council of Trent. At last the regent selected Count Egmont to go to Spain and repre- sent the dangers of this course to him. William of Orange made a most stirring address in the council about - Egmont's instructions. He insisted that the whole truth should be told to Philip, that the free Netherlands were resolved to maintain their ancient privileges, and that the corruption and oppression existing in the country must be done away with. The machinery of the Inquisition could be no longer borne, 1565. Egmont' s Mission to Spain. 85 nor the decrees of the Council of Trent enforced in the prov- inces. As a Catholic himself, the prince denied the right of sovereigns to control the religious belief of their subjects. This vigorous speech made a deep impression, but Orange did not approve the choice of Egmont as envoy, or the in- structions given him. The' crafty Viglius was prevented from replying to the prince by a severe attack of apoplexy. His place in the council of state was temporarily taken by his learned but dull friend, Joachim Hopper. The count, who began his journey early in January, was escorted as far as Cambray by some of his noble friends. They had many gay feasts in the ancient city. At a banquet given to the party in the citadel, confusion was drunk to Granvelle, and the persecuting Archbishop of Cambray, after a conflict of wits, had a silver dish thrown at his head by one of the revellers. Though apologies were made for the insult, the archbishop was so unpopular that even friends of the government enjoyed his troubles. He soon after- ward ordered the execution of a Protestant convert who had asked permission to leave the country with his valuables. Before Egmont parted with Hoogstraaten, Brederode, and the rest, they signed an agreement with their blood to take vengeance on Granvelle or any one who should do harm to the count during his mission to Spain. Two of the signers of that petition, Noircarmes and Mansfeld, became cruel agents of Philip. CHAPTER VI. THE IMAGE-BREAKERS. Unfortunately Count Egmont was dazzled by the atten- tions which the king and his courtiers heaped upon him. He neglected the interests intrusted to his charge. It was found on his return home that Philip's instructions were wholly un- like Egmont's rose-colored view of his policy. The king proclaimed his resolve to crush out heresy by the terrible In- quisition. William of Orange, while vehemently opposing this policy, did not see the way clear for the council to diso- bey the king's orders. He was not yet prepared to enter upon open rebellion. The inquisitors complained that the officers of the law would not aid them. At Philip's sugges- tion, heretics, instead of being burned at the stake, were now secretly drowned at midnight in prison, to deprive them of the glory of public martyrdom. The proclamation of the Inquisition created a terrible com- motion in the Netherlands. The people were wild with fury. Business was generally suspended, and the great city of Antwerp was convulsed with dread. Prominent in oppo- sition to the outrage were the four principal cities of Brabant. They denounced it, in an address to the regent, as violating the liberties secured by that ancient constitution, the " Joyful Entrance." On proof that the Inquisition had never existed in Brabant, that province was exempted from its operation by the privy council. Meantime, the popular excitement overflowed in satirical pamphlets and handbills, which were widely read. IMAGE-BREAKERS. 1565. Notable Weddings. 89 While gloom depressed the people at the close of the year 1565, two splendid weddings enlivened the spirits of the nobility. One of these weddings, that of Baron Montigny and the daughter of the Prince of Espinoy, is memorable from the tragic fate of the bridegroom soon afterward as a victim of Philip's tyranny. In the splendid tournaments which celebrated these nuptials, the Prince of Orange, Counts Egmont, Horn, and Hoogstraaten, who all bore leading parts in the exciting scenes of the great revolt, were conspicuous. The other and still more magnificent wedding was that of Alexander, Prince of Parma, the son of the duchess, — whose generalship was, before long, to be displayed against the rebellious Netherlander, — and the Princess Maria of Portu- gal. These marriage festivities enabled the nobles to confer on the alarming condition of affairs. On the day of Parma's wedding, November 11, a number of them met at Culemburg Palace in Brussels, to listen to a sermon by Francis Junius, a young Protestant minister, whose arrest had been ordered by the government, on charge of inciting heresy. He was only twenty years of age, of a noble family, and so courageous that he had once preached the doctrines of the Reformation in a room lighted up by the fires which were burning several heretics in the market-place. At the close of the sermon, the attendant nobles resolved to form a league against " the barbarous and violent Inquisition." Their written agreement, which was called the Compromise, and appealed to patriotic Catholics as well as Protestants, acknowledged the sovereignty of Philip, but protested against its being made a cover for Spanish plunder and persecution. St. Aldegonde, an eminent and accomplished member of the old nobility, and Louis of Nassau, were prominent supporters of the Compromise. The Prince of Orange was not consulted about the league, as it was known that he and some other great nobles lacked 90 History of the Netherlands. confidence in some of its leaders. Yet he had written warn- ings to the duchess of the danger of persisting in persecution. He also guarded the interests of the Netherlands by keeping close watch on the king. When Philip went to bed at night, the papers left in his pockets were taken out by one of his trusted officers, who made copies of them, which he sent to Orange. The letters locked up in the king's desk were also copied by the same secret agent, employed by the Silent Prince to protect his country from the plots of its foreign rulers. ■ • The regent soon became alarmed at the condition of the provinces, which were weakened by famine and emigration. Thousands of skilful artisans had transferred their homes and industries to the free soil of England. The nobles stood aloof from the government, and the people were becoming destitute and desperate. The Prince of Orange estimated that fifty thousand persons had been put to death in the provinces for their religion. He had so far united with the league as to sign a petition to the regent, the tone of which he softened, for the removal of the existing abuses. The confederate nobles, headed by the reckless Count Brederode, rode into Brussels in martial array amid applauding crowds, who welcomed them as deliverers of the country. They afterward marched to the council chamber, and petitioned the regent to send an envoy to the king to implore the abo- lition of the dreadful edicts. They also requested that the Inquisition should be suspended till his majesty's reply was received. The duchess was so agitated by this appeal that she burst into tears. In the debate in the council on the petition, Berlaymont described the petitioners as beggars, and expressed surprise at the regent's fears of them. This taunt was taken up by Count Brederode at a grand banquet at Culemburg House, April 8, 1566. "They call us beggars !" said he; "let us COUNT OF EGMONT. 91 i5 66 - The "Beggars!" 93 accept the name. We will contend with the Inquisition, but remain loyal to the king, even till compelled to wear the beg- gar's sack." He then placed a wallet, such as beggars then wore, round his neck, and filling a large wooden bowl, such as they carried, with wine, he shouted, after draining the contents, "Long live the beggars!" This was the cry sc often heard during the bloody days which were soon to con- vulse the country. The wallet and bowl went the round 01 the table, each noble, as his turn came, repeating the cry, " Long live the beggars ! " The watchword thus given them by their enemies proved of terrible power against the op- pressor. At the close of the ceremonies the wildest revelry prevailed. In the midst of it, the Prince of Orange and Counts Egmont and Horn entered the room and were obliged to drink to the cry. They persuaded the party to break up, and, although thanked for this service by the duchess, became objects of suspicion to the king for being in such company. The " beggars' " dress, consisting of doublets, cloaks, and hose of coarse ashen gray cloth, was soon worn in the streets by the confederates. Lead or copper medals, with the head of Philip, and the motto, "Faithful to the king, even to wearing the beggars' sack," were fastened round their necks or on their common felt hats. In mockery of the demands of the Netherlanders for relief from persecution, certain classes of heretics were granted the privilege of being beheaded or hanged instead of burned. As this edict Was called the " Moderation," the common peo- ple ridiculed it as the " Murderation." Two envoys, Baron Montigny and Marquis Berghen, went to Spain to secure the withdrawal of this edict, not dreaming of the terrible fate that awaited them. The Protestants now boldly left their hiding-places and held religious meetings in the most public manner. Thou- sands of persons gathered in the fields to listen to their 94 History of the Netherlands, appeals. In vain did the authorities remind the people that death was the penalty of attending these camp- meetings. The crowds went armed with arquebus, javelin, pike, and broadsword. The camps were barricaded with wagons, branches of trees, and planks, and were guarded by horsemen. Although the sale or purchase of hymn-books was also pun- ishable with death, they were freely bought and sold there. Alarmed at the growth of these gatherings, which had spread to the neighborhood of Amsterdam, the duchess ordered the magistrates of Antwerp to use the militia to dis- perse them. But the Protestants had become so numerous that, at the entreaty of both parties, the Prince of Orange went to Antwerp to preserve peace. His reception by the people was full of enthusiasm, the roads leading to the city being lined for miles with delighted crowds. He remained there a month, and his firm but temperate course prevented the dreaded outbreak. Though both the duchess and the Prot- estants disliked his views, they recognized him as the only person able to save the country. The prince was now doing everything in his power to make the king abandon his cruel and deceitful policy. There was a large and stormy gathering of the confederate nobles at St. Trond, July 13, 1566, which lasted through the month. To restore harmony Orange and Egmont met some of the leaders at Duffel on the 18th at the request of the duchess. She was astonished at the bold demands soon made at her council in Brussels by Louis of Nassau, the prince's brother, and his twelve associates on the committee, who were jocosely called his twelve apostles. Yet they only urged that she should be guided in her treatment of the peo- ple by the advice of Horn, Egmont, and Orange, and should call a meeting of the states-general. On these conditions, and the assurance of their personal safety, the confederates were willing to make an effort to preserve peace. They COUNT OF HORN. 95 1566. The Image- Breakers. 97 hinted that they could rely on Germany as well as the provinces for aid. The duchess, after conferring with the state council, advised the king against accepting their terms. Though the confederates had inspired distrust by their riotous conduct, and by their undertaking to secure assistance from Germany, they only hastened the coming of the great revolt. The first outbreak of the storm came unexpectedly and with startling fury. It burst upon the great religious edifices, the magnificent churches and convents which the fanaticism of the Protestants identified with the abuses of Catholicism. The superb treasures of art and taste in these splendid struct- ures — paintings and statues and embroidery — were destroyed by a furious mob, as visible signs of that spirit of cruel perse- cution which had so long afflicted the provinces. For a whole week the destruction went on, and thus the contents of most of these edifices were swept away. The principal object of assault was the great cathedral of Antwerp, which was adorned with rich chapels and jewelled altars, beautifully painted windows, the escutcheons of the Golden Fleece, marble tombs, on which rested the recumbent images of mailed crusaders, and banners that had waved on historic battle-fields. At the request of the regent the Prince of Orange had gone to attend a meeting at Brussels, though he feared a tumult would break out in his absence. A slight occurrence hastened the outbreak. At the festival of the Ommegang, or Assumption, Aug. 18, 1566, a colossal image of the Virgin was borne in a grand procession about Antwerp. The rabble that followed the procession with ribald shouts, finding that they were not interfered with, continued their disturbance in the cathedral the next day. The image of the Virgin having been placed for safety behind an iron railing, it was jeered at by the vagabonds, who ordered it to join in their cry, " Long live the beggars ! " After roaming insolently about the church with his companions, a rough- 7 98 History of the Netherlands. looking fellow in ragged clothes and an old straw hat, who appeared to be a mechanic, mounted to the pulpit and began burlesquing a Catholic preacher. Cheers and groans were uttered by the crowd, some of whom threw missiles at the fellow, while others vainly tried to pull him from the stand. At last a young sailor, who had got into the pulpit from be- hind, threw the mechanic headlong down the steps. A riot ensued, in which the friends of the sailor, being outnumbered, were severely pounded while taking him out of the church. The crowd were, however, removed from the temple without injury to its treasures. In the absence of the Prince of Orange the senate were afraid to protect the cathedral. Their neglect enabled the mob to enter the edifice the next morning to renew their howls and taunts at the image of the Virgin. Having dis- turbed an old woman who sold wax tapers, wafers, and other Catholic articles outside the church, she flung missiles at them. The rabble soon destroyed her wares, and created a tumult in the building, which ended in a furious onslaught upon its treasures with sledge-hammers, axes, and bludgeons. The image of the Virgin was dragged from its retreat, stripped of its rich garments, and shivered to pieces. Ladders and ropes were used to reach the works of art on the lofty walls. A marble figure of Christ crucified between the two thieves was pulled down from the high altar, the thieves being spared, as a spectator said, to preside over the work of rapine below. Arrayed in the rich vestments of the priests, the destroyers filled their golden cups with sacramental wine and drank it to the health of the " beggars." The sacramental bread was trodden under foot, and the holy oil with which kings and bishops had been anointed, was spread over the shoes of the spoilers. The work of destruction was complete ; yet, strange to say, it was done by no more than a hundred people, men, women, and boys. SACKING OF THE CATHEDRAL. 99 1566. The Image-Breakers, 101 " Long live the beggars ! " was the cry of the mob as they rushed from the cathedral, torch in hand, to attack other sacred edifices in the city and neighboring villages. That night thirty churches were despoiled in Antwerp, and no less than four hundred were sacked in the single province of Flanders during the next few days. Monasteries and nun- neries also suffered severely. Their inmates fled, shrieking, from the rude invaders, who burned precious libraries, de- stroyed altars, pictures, and statues, and emptied casks of rich old wine into the gutters. It is remarkable that though the rioters belonged to the lowest classes of society, they not only refrained from violence to individuals, even while releasing prisoners from monkish dungeons, but from robbery. They seemed unwilling to appropriate valuables which repre- sented the hated system of persecution. 1 The outrages were denounced by the Protestant leaders as well as by William of Orange, as disgracing a sacred cause. The regent was so terror-stricken that she prepared to flee from the city. Philip was furious at the news of the image- breaking. He tore his beard and cried, " It shall cost them dear ! I swear it by the soul of my father ! " In her alarm the duchess yielded to the demands of the Protestants. On the 25th of August, 1566, she signed an agreement with leading Leaguers, by which freedom of worship was granted where it had already been exercised, on condition that they should aid in preserving the public peace, and in maintaining the king's authority. As this "Accord," as it was called, abolished the Inquisition, it was hailed with joy throughout the country. 1 The image-breakers belonged to the Calvinist sect of Protestants, forming the majority of the so-called " Reformers." Their violence injured the national cause by alienating its Catholic supporters. The nobles and clergy who had condemned Philip's new bishoprics were now led to support the government. The Lutherans also became more opposed to the rival Protestant sect. CHAPTER VII. PHILIP'S DECEITFUL POLICY. While the king pretended to be kindly disposed towards his subject provinces, he was slowly preparing to over- whelm them. Even before he had heard of the image- breaking, he had planned to restore the Inquisition, in violation of his promises to Berghen and Montigny, the two ill-fated envoys from trie provinces. Neither he nor the regent scrupled to break agreements with heretics. She wrote that nobles like Orange, Egmont, Horn, and Hoog- straaten had forced her to 'agree to the demands of the rebels. Meanwhile, Egmont was cruelly suppressing heresy and hanging image-breakers in Flanders, and Horn was trying to execute the " Accofd " in Tournay. But though a sincere Catholic, the admiral was soon recalled by the duchess, who was secretly preparing to crush the Protestants. In disgust at this treatment, he retired from her service. While William the Silent enforced religious toleration in the principal cities under his rule, he had small hopes of peace, for he knew the king's bigoted and revengeful nature. As soon as she had the power, the duchess began to suppress the reformed religion. Her agent was the Lord of Noircarmes, a fierce Flemish soldier, who had told her the false stories about William of Orange. He was one of the nobles who had sworn to avenge any injuries to Egmont. The important city of Tournay surrendered to him within an hour and a half after his summons, this being the utmost time EARLY PROTESTANTS. 103 1566. Isolation of the Silent Prince, 105 granted the garrison. He told the magistrates that if they had waited a minute longer, he should have burned the city to ashes and killed all the inhabitants. The duchess con- tinued to prejudice Philip against Orange and other nobles, while assuring them of her confidence and good-will. The prince, who saw through all this deception, believed the time had come to choose between the sacrifice of his country and himself to a tyrant, and arming the people for resistance. He therefore had a meeting with Horn, Egmont, Hoogstraaten, and Louis of Nassau, to consider the best course to pursue. The result of the conference between the five nobles was that Orange was left without support for his plan of resist- ance. Egmont, in his blind loyalty to the king, and Horn, in his sullen seclusion, were to fall into Philip's cruel clutches at last. Had they profited by William's warnings they would probably have escaped. If Egmont had united with him, they could have raised soldiers enough to free the country. Left alone, with no one able to understand his views, the prince could do nothing but watch and wait. His spies still read the secret papers of the king while he slept. This was his only means of baffling the tyrant. Late in the year 1566 he made one more appeal to the royal government, in a pamphlet which modestly and moderately set forth the need of letting the Netherlanders have some religious freedom. This was lost on the besotted rulers, who, feeling their strength restored, were bent on subjugating the country. The first attack was made on the ancient city of Valen- ciennes, which had refused to receive a garrison of Spanish troops. Encouraged by the advice of the Prince of Orange, the city held out bravely against Noircarmes, who, with his six officers, made such slow progress that they were ridiculed as the Seven Sleepers. But they proved only too wide-awake for the besieged, who at last surrendered to Noircarmes, whom Egmont aided in reducing the city. In violation of his 106 History of the Netherlands. agreement, the cruel general allowed his soldiers to rob and murder the inhabitants at their pleasure. Meanwhile, William of Orange had been urged by the regent to assist her in putting down the noisy conspiracies of the "great beggar," Brederode ; but the prince felt he had done enough of .that kind of work. Being required to . take a slavish oath of allegiance, he not only refused, but resigned all his government offices. In gratitude for his services in restoring peace in the old Batavian provinces, the estates of Holland offered him a gift of twenty-five thousand dollars ; but, although in need of money, he refused to accept it, lest people should question his patriotism. The duchess had now broken her promise to allow Protestants in Holland, whose fields were flooded in winter, to have preaching in warehouses and dockyards. As Brederode's warlike measures in Antwerp and Holland were supposed to be intended for the relief of Valenciennes, the regent allowed Lannoy, commander of her body-guard in Brussels, to attack the " great beggar's " confederates, who had intrenched thern^elves within a mile of Antwerp. The disciplined soldiers of Lannoy easily routed the horde of rebels, who outnumbered them four to one. Their leader, Marnix of Tholouse, a gallant young nobleman, who had left college to fight for religious liberty, was killed and his body hacked to pieces. The retreating rebels were cut down without mercy, and some six or eight hundred, who had taken refuge in a farm-house, were burned alive or shot. The long fight and butchery had been witnessed by thou- sands of people from the tops of buildings in Antwerp. As the defeated rebels neared the city on the 13th of March, vast numbers of excited Protestants went to their rescue with pikes, lances, swords, battle-axes, and even sledge-hammers. A disastrous conflict seemed inevitable, and was only pre- vented by the courage of William of Orange. He cared 1567- Noble Services of Orange. 107 nothing for the king's cause, but felt bound to protect the vast population and wealth of Antwerp. Spurring his horse to the Red Gate, he boldly faced the furious mob at the peril of his life. The fanatical Protestants jeered at him as the pope's hireling. One man aimed an arquebus at his breast, and exclaimed, " Die, treacherous villain ! " Fortunately, the deadly weapon was struck down by one of the crowd. Undaunted by the tumult, the prince succeeded in satisfy- ing most of the rebel sympathizers of the folly of venturing outside the walls. He then labored to prevent the excited Protestants from destroying the property and lives of the Catholics. His great courage and wisdom kept the armed bodies of hostile Lutherans, Catholics, and Calvinists from a conflict which would have laid waste the whole city. The crisis lasted for two days, and was ended by a compromise between the Lutherans and Catholics, which the outnum- bered Calvinists were forced to accept. By availing him- self of the mutual hatred of the two Protestant sects, William the Silent saved Antwerp from a terrible fate. His effective appeals to the Calvinists ended with their repeating his exclamation, " God save the king ! " It was the last time he ever uttered these words, and even then the merciless Philip had doomed him to death. . The capture of Valenciennes was followed by the submis- sion of the other cities which had refused to receive the royal garrisons. Even Antwerp surrendered when William the Silent had left it. Encouraged by this success, Philip resolved to crush .the Netherlands, and rule them from Mad- rid. The former tyrant of the country, Cardinal Granvelle, had suggested this plan, and the Duke of Alva, the famous Spanish general, was selected to carry it out. Margaret of Parma was enraged at thus being deprived of her authority, but she got only a rebuke from Philip for her complaints. William of Orange, who had resisted the entreaties of the io8 History of the Netherlands. regent to take the new oath of allegiance, now resolved to leave the Netherlands. He felt that he could serve his country best at a safe distance. Before he went away, he tried to save his old friend, Egmont, whom he knew had, like himself, been doomed to death by the king. But that no- bleman was blinded by a belief in the royal clemency. "Alas! Egmont," said the prince sadly, "the king's clem- ency, of which you boast, will be your ruin. You are to be the bridge which the Spaniards will destroy as soon as they have passed over it to invade our country." Having vainly tried to convince the count of the terrible danger that threat- ened him, and to win him back to the glorious cause of his country's freedom, William of Orange threw his arms tenderly about the gallant but misguided soldier and gave him a fond embrace. They were both moved to tears at this their last farewell. While formally announcing to the king his intention of going to Germany, the prince offered to devote himself to the true service of his majesty. He left Antwerp upon the nth of April, for his famtfy seat at Dillenberg. By this act he saved his life. His secret agent, who was no other than Vandenesse, the king's private secretary, wrote to him that Alva had been instructed to arrest him at once, and not to let his trial last more than twenty-four hours. Before his departure Orange sent solemn warnings to Counts Egmont and Horn, who, however, were both blind to their approach- ing fate. Egmont was completely lulled to security by a treacherous letter of praise and confidence which he had just received from the king. The prince's departure cast deep gloom over the Nether- lands. The cruel persecutions of suspected persons forced thousands of industrious workmen to leave the country, which was rapidly becoming desolate. Yet Philip was angry that the duchess had not made the new edict still more com- prehensive in its cruelty. CHAPTER VIII. ALVA IN THE NETHERLANDS, In his plan of subduing the Netherlands by force of arms, the king had two objects in view. One was to destroy heresy, and the other to fill his empty treasury. The reason why the scheme had not been executed before, was the extreme slow ness of Philip's actions. But the warlike Alva now prevailed in his councils over the peaceful Ruy Gomez, Prince of Eboli. An army of ten thousand picked soldiers was there- fore assembled. The selection of a commander was most suitable. Ferdinand Alvarez de Toledo, Duke of Alva, had won the highest military reputation in Europe by his study and practice of the art of war, which in those days was more valued than any other. He had distinguished himself in battle at sixteen, and was now in his sixtieth year. He had fought for the Emperor Charles V. against the Turks and the Tunisians, and had achieved the most brilliant victories in Germany. Though his later services to Philip had been dimmed by the splendid triumphs of his rival, Egmont, he was now in a position to eclipse and destroy him. As a gen- eral, he was energetic but cautious, but he lacked adminis- trative capacity, and his private character was stained with ferocity and avarice. He was haughty and overbearing in manner, and despised criticisms on his military movements. Tall, thin, and straight in body, he had a small head, black, bristling hair, dark gleaming eyes, a long, yellow, parched face, and a flowing iron-gi ay beard. I io History of the Netherlands, In their engraved or gilded armor, the troops of Alva, carrying muskets, a weapon then used for the first time, made a very brilliant appearance as they landed in the Neth- erlands in August, 1567. He had written to the regent, who had tried to keep him away, that he came to crush, not to conciliate the people, whom he scornfully styled "men of butter." Egmont rode out with some noble friends to re- ceive the new ruler, and took with .him a present of two beautiful horses. "Here comes the greatest of all the heretics," said the duke on his approach. After this rude greeting, Alva made other spiteful remarks, but soon dissem- bling, put his arm fondly round the neck of the man whom he had resolved to destroy. The captain-general's reception by the duchess was cold and formal, and his coming fell like a blight on the principal cities, which were obliged to deliver up their keys to him. The country was deserted by all who were able to escape. Before subduing the provinces and enforcing the Inquisi- tion and the edicts, it was necessary to destroy the great nobles. To prevent their taking alarm and leaving the Neth- erlands, kind messages were sent to Orange, Egmont, and Horn. The letter to Egmont was written by the king, after Alva had been sent to crush him and the country. William the Silent, who saw through the whole scheme, while saving himself, vainly tried to save his friends. Egmont had re- ceived numerous warnings, but his blind loyalty made him disregard them. Yet anxiety turned his hair white before he was forty-six years old, and he always slept with pistols under his pillow. Meanwhile, Alva kept deceiving him with kind words, and sent him quantities of Spanish and Italian fruit. By similar cunning, Philip Montmorency, Count of Horn, was induced to leave his retirement and place himself in the power of his enemies. The last warning which Egmont received came from DUKE OF ALVA. Ill 1567. Arrest of Egmont and Horn. 113 Alva's own son, Don Ferdinand de Toledo, Grand Prior of the Knights of St. John. It was at a splendid banquet given by him to Egmont, Horn, Noircarmes, the Viscount of Ghent, and other noblemen, on the 9th of September. During the entertainment, an invitation was received from Alva for the company to come to his house after dinner, to examine the plans of the proposed citadel at Antwerp. The grand prior at once whispered to Egmont, who sat next to him, " Leave instantly ! Take your fleetest horse and escape without a moment's delay." This warning of the noble-hearted Span- iard had such an effect on Egmont that he left the table and went into the next room. Being followed by Noircarmes and two other gentlemen, to whom he explained the cause of his agitation, the crafty commander told him that his flight would be a confession of guilt and would excite suspicion of treason. The count was thus led to change his mind and attend the council at Alva's house. As soon as it broke up, the duke, who had received Egmont very cordially, had him arrested and imprisoned in a darkened room hung with black and only lighted by candles. The Spanish soldiers on guard allowed him no communication with his friends. i\fter being kept in this gloomy confinement for two weeks, he and Count Horn, who had been subjected to the same treatment, were imprisoned in the Castle of Ghent. The news of these and other important arrests filled the Netherlands with terror. If such a great Catholic noble and gallant soldier as Egmont could excite the king's enmity, there seemed to be no safety for humbler persons. Mean-' while the duchess, who was irritated by Alva's insolence, got credit with the people for sympathy with them. A lucky accident, which detained the Count of Hoogstraaten at Co- logne, saved him from the fate of his noble friends. The king was delighted with Alva's arrests, but Cardinal Granvelle, who had advised them, feigned surprise, though H4 History of the Netherlands. lamenting the escape of Orange. " His capture," said the foxy prelate, " would have been of more value than that of every man in the Netherlands. If the duke has not caught the Silent One, he has caught nothing." The Marquis of Berghen, one of the two Catholic envoys from the provinces, had died under suspicious circumstances in Spain, soon after Alva's departure, and there were reports that he was poisoned. This seems probable from the subse- quent secret execution of his associate, Baron Montigny, by the king's orders. The insidious treachery of Philip was shown in the instructions which he gave to the Prince of Eboli, who visited the marquis in his last illness, — to comfort him if he was certain to die, with the hope of returning to the Nether- lands ; and in case of his death to confiscate his property and seize his two young relatives, who were about to be married, on suspicion of heresy. Soon after the arrest of Egmont and Horn, Alva established a new court for the trial of the recent offences against the royal authority. Originally called the Council of Troubles, the more appropriate name of Council of Blood was soon applied to it. This tribunal, which had sole charge of trea- sonable offences, was created by the duke to crush out the liberties of the people. Death was inflicted on all persons who had opposed persecution, or questioned the right of the king to do as he pleased with the provinces. Within three months after the establishment of this dreadful court, it de- stroyed eighteen hundred of the noblest and best people in the Netherlands. Yet this all-powerful council was wholly under the control of Alva, the only two members of it who had the right of voting, being Spaniards and bound by his final decision. Thus the court was only a means of enabling the duke to wreak his vengeance on persons against whom no crimes could be legally proved. Its chief was a wretch named Vargas, who enjoyed bloodshed so much that he 1567. The Council of Blood. "5 joked about the sacrifices. On one man's case being called for trial, it was found that he had been already executed. Further inquiry showed that he was not guilty, but had been swept away with other victims of a horrible haste. "No matter for that," said Vargas, with grim humor, " it will be all the better for him when he takes his trial in another world." It was remarked that this man's grammar was as barbarous TORTURE OF PROTESTANTS. as his cruelty. Another member of the council, a Fleming named Hessels, was such a tool in his hands that he used to go to sleep while the trials were going on. When awakened to give his opinion, he would rub his eyes and exclaim, " To the gallows with him ! To the gallows with him ! " though wholly ignorant of the case or even the victim's name. Hes- sels's wife warned him that he might be hanged himself some day, and her fear proved well founded. Ii6 History of the Netherlands. As the Council of Blood was chiefly designed to get money for the Spanish government, the rich were especially in dan- ger from it. Alva had promised Philip a yearly income of five hundred thousand dollars, from the confiscation of the property of its victims. The prisoners were tried and exe- cuted in crowds, and the most absurd reasons were given for the sacrifice of the innocent. One man was beheaded be- cause, in a city riot, he had persuaded a member of the mob not to fire at a magistrate. This was enough to convict him of being a person of authority among the rebels. Two women were drowned in a hogshead, because one of them had struck a little wooden image of the Virgin with her slipper, while the other, who saw this act of her mistress, did not rebuke it. Under this wholesale butchery, the Netherlands became a scene of sorrow and desolation. Death had thinned the flower of the population ; the corpses of Alva's victims were everywhere visible. The people submitted hopelessly to the destruction which it was impossible to escape. Silence and darkness brooded over the great cities, which were once alive with the hum of cheerful and prosperous industry. These horrors made even the iron rule of the Duchess of Parma seem gentle. Irritated by neglect, she was glad to leave the country. Philip professed himself grateful for her services, and provided her with a liberal allowance ; and, what was more remarkable, the states of Flanders and Brabant made her a present of twenty-eight thousand dollars. Soon after writing her farewell letter of the 9th of December, she left the Netherlands. It seems strange that she should have advised the king to be merciful to the people whom she had persecuted, yet should have done nothing to save the lives of the nobles who had obeyed her orders. This was no doubt due to the paralyzing effect of evil counsels upon her yielding disposition. In order to aid the French king, Charles IX., against his WILD BEGGARS, 1568. Tyranny of Alva. 119 Protestant subjects, who had successfully rebelled against his tyranny, Alva sent troops to Paris, officered by a number of Netherland nobles. He also completed the fortifications of the principal cities of the provinces, so as to have them wholly under his control. The most important of these works was the famous citadel of Antwerp, a huge fortress, built at a cost of seven hundred thousand dollars, and boastfully inscribed with his name, titles, and coat-of-arms. A quarter of this sum was forced from the inhabitants of the great city which the citadel was constructed to overawe. On the 19th of January Alva summoned the Prince of Orange, his brother Louis of Nassau, his brother-in-law, Count Van den Berg, Count Hoogstraaten, Count Culemburg, and the Baron Montigny, before the Council of Blood. Though neglect of the summons doomed them to perpetual banishment and the loss of their property, the nobles were too shrewd to invite death by obeying it. The Prince of Orange was charged with being the leader of the rebellion, which he was said to have caused by falsely saying that the Spanish Inquisition was to be set up in the provinces. He was also accused of trying to make himself ruler of the country, and of secretly aiding the confederate nobles, en- couraging heresy, and granting religious freedom to Protes- tants. Similar charges were made against the other noblemen. In his reply, the prince denied the right of Alva and his court to try him. Being a Knight of the Golden Fleece, only the members of that order could act as his judges. He expressed his willingness, however, to appear before them or before the members of the German empire. Soon after this summons to the prince, Alva's emissaries entrapped his eldest son, the Count of Buren, a boy of thir- teen, and induced him to go to Spain, where he was kept for thirty years. So changed did he become under the gloomy training of his captors, that when he came back to the Neth- 120 History of the Netherlands. erlands he seemed to have lost all the noble qualities of his family. Notwithstanding the numerous appeals to the Council of Blood for mercy, massacres went on at a fearful rate. At last a most frightful decree of the Inquisition was issued. This order, which was dated Feb. 16, 1568, condemned all the inhabitants of the Netherlands to death as heretics. Only a small number of persons were excepted from the sentence, which, in a few words, doomed three million people to de- struction. The king ordered this fearful death-warrant to be instantly executed. His object was to enable the government to secure its victims without trouble. The rich were destroyed for the sake of their property, and the poor for any reason that occurred to the persecutors. A new contrivance was arranged, to prevent victims going to execution from address- ing the people. Each prisoner's tongue was forced through an iron ring, and then burnt with a hot iron, swelling it so that speech was impossible. These cruelties naturally in- cited the ruffianism of society against the Catholics and monks. Bands of robbers calling themselves the Wild Beg- gars roamed the country, plundering religious houses and mutilating priests. After two months of imprisonment at Ghent, the Counts Egmont and Horn were subjected to the mockery of a trial. Questions were put to them by members of the Council of Blood, for the purpose of confusing their minds and making them appear guilty. The papers found in their houses, and those of their secretaries, one of whom was tortured to make him confess, were searched for evidence against them. They were then imprisoned for another two months, and at last, in spite of remonstrances from the Knights of the Fleece, the estates of Brabant, and a personal letter from the Emperor of Germany to Philip, their fate was sealed. The wife of Eg- mont, and the mother of Horn, did their utmost to obtain • 1568 Innocence of the Counts 121 justice for them, but in vain. Even the offences against Cardinal Granvelle, the fool's cap, the livery, were declared treasonable ; and the cry, " Long live the beggars ! " was made fatal to its high-born hearers, who had drunk a glass of wine to them and the king at the Culemburg House banquet. The graver accusations of aiding rebellion were wholly un- founded. Deprived of the free use of advocates, prevented from seeing the evidence against them, and of producing testimony in their favor, there was no hope for the prisoners. Yet, as their answers to the charges showed, both were inno- . cent of crime. Even a member of the Council of Blood declared to Alva that Egmont ought to be rewarded instead of punished. CHAPTER IX. EXECUTION OF COUNTS EGMONT AND HORN, In these dark hours for his country, William the Silent boldly set himself against the power that had crushed her. In the summer of 1568 he published a most eloquent reply to the act of condemnation by which his property had been confiscated, and held up the tyranny and ingratitude of Philip to the indignation of the world. He was unsparing in his efforts to raise money and troops, and himself contributed an eighth of the two hundred thousand crowns necessary for organizing an invading army, the remainder being furnished by patriotic individuals and cities of the country. His splen- did jewels and furniture were sold to aid the cause. for which his fortune, family, and life were staked. A secret plot to seize Alva and capture Brussels having failed, William now prepared for open battle. According to the prince's plans, his forces were divided into four bodies, three of which were to enter the Netherlands at different points, while the fourth, under his own command, awaited the progress of events. The first two attempts failed, but the third, directed by Count Louis of Nassau, was suc- cessful. His raw levies met the trained troops of Alva, under the command of Count Aremberg, and defeated them in the battle of the " Holy Lion," May 23, in Friesland, in which the generalship of Count Louis was brilliantly displayed. The victory was, however, darkened by the death of the gallant Adolphus of Nassau, the youngest brother of Orange, at the 1568- Egmont on the Scaffold. 123 hands of the Netherlander in command of the Spanish force, who was himself killed. Want of money to keep the troops together, and of artillery to capture the important city of Groningen, made the triumph almost useless. Alva was furious at the unexpected success of the rabble of Netherlanders. He resolved to crush their insolent com- mander himself. Before leaving Brussels he destroyed the Culemburg Palace, executed eighteen distinguished prisoners, and sentenced Counts Egmont and Horn to be beheaded by the sword. They were brought from Ghent to Brussels under a large guard of soldiers and confined in the Brood-huis, or Bread-house, a picturesque building still standing opposite the magnificent City Hall. ' In vain did the Bishop of Ypres, who was ordered to inform the two nobles of their fate, beg for pardon or delay. Alva would not yield. Yet he deceived the heart-broken wife of Egmont by saying that her husband would be released the next day. The count was awakened from sleep near midnight to read his death-warrant. He showed no fear of the cruel punish- ment, though he was indignant at its injustice. More anxious for his wife and children than for himself, he wrote to Philip asking compassion for them on account of his services to the king and the Catholic faith. Loyal to the last, he begged forgiveness for any mistake which he had made during the Netherland troubles. Count Horn received the news of his own fate with perfect calmness. The execution took place the next morning, the 5th of June, in the splendid great square at Brussels, where Egmont had won many prizes in knightly sports. Three thousand Spanish troops surrounded the scaffold. On his way, the count recited the fifty-first Psalm to express his devotion to his sovereign and his God. At first he walked the planks restlessly, complaining that he could not die in battle, and Still hoping for a pardon. He wore a robe of crimson dam- 124 History of the Netherlands. ask, with a gold- embroidered mantle and a black hat with black and white plumes. Around his neck was the collar of the Golden Fleece, and in his hand he held a white hand- kerchief. Kneeling on a velvet cushion, he repeated the Lord's Prayer aloud, kissed a silver crucifix, and received a blessing from the Bishop of Ypres. As Egmont exclaimed, " Lord, into thy hands I commit my spirit ! " the executioner, who had been concealed by the draperies of the scaffold, sud- denly appeared and cut off his head with a single blow. The crowd shuddered at the fate of the brave general,, and even the Spanish soldiers and the iron-hearted Alva shed tears. The French ambassador said that he had seen the head fall before which France had twice trembled. Hardly had the body and blood of Egmont been covered with a dark cloth, when Admiral Horn passed through files of soldiers to the scaffold. As he moved along he calmly saluted his friends. He was dressed plainly in a dark doublet and a black cloak, and his bald head was uncovered. After complaining of the undeserved insult of the reversal of his coat-of-arms on the platform, he begged the crowd to pray for his soul. He then knelt in prayer, and afterward quietly laid his neck on the block and died without a murmur. The heads of the two nobles were placed on iron spikes in view of the multitude, who were moved to tears and re- proaches by the spectacle. Many persons pressed through the ranks of the soldiers to the scaffold and wildly dipped their handkerchiefs in the blood, to be preserved as memo- rials of the crime and incitements to vengeance. The bodies of the victims were delivered to their friends, but the -heads were boxed up and sent to Philip. The execution of Egmont showed the folly of the king in destroying a faithful supporter, not only of the Catholic religion, but of his own tyrannical measures. The count was a gallant, high-spirited soldier, but too vain and unsteady for 1568. Cruelties of Alva. 127 a true patriot. Poets have wrongly pictured him as a defender of liberty. 1 Horn, though a less interesting person, was really more worthy of popular respect. These executions deepened the hatred of the people for Alva, who was said to have envied Egmont's popularity, though there is no doubt that they were planned by the duke and the king before the former left Spain. Want of money to pay his mutinous troops had prevented Louis of Nassau from following up his victory. He had to depend upon forced contributions from the inhabitants, who, though favoring his cause, feared the threats of the fero- cious Alva. The duke pursued the rebellious soldiers of the count to a narrow strip of land at Jemmingen, where they were shut in between the Spaniards and the river Ems. Louis set his troops to work destroying the dyke so as to flood the enemy with the ocean. Before this could be done they arrived, and by hard fighting close'd the gates which kept out the water. Then cunningly luring the undisciplined rebels out of their trenches, July 21, Alva's veterans set upon them with tremendous fury. Seven thousand of the Nether- landers were killed, and only seven Spaniards. The slaughter of the wounded went on for two days. Count Louis, who had fought with great bravery, only escaped by swimming the Ems, and taking refuge in Germany. The horrors of the return march of the Spaniards to Groningen are almost be- yond belief. Neither age nor sex was spared in the butch- ery, and the sky was red with the flames of burning buildings. Even Alva felt obliged to hang some of his merciless soldiers. Yet at Utrecht he did not hesitate to execute an old lady eighty-four years of age because her son-in-law had, eighteen months before, given a night's lodging to a preacher in her house- Unfortunately the old lady, though a sincere Catholic, 1 Goethe's " Egmont," while giving an animated picture of the times, makes the hero a much nobler man than history paints him. 128 History of the Netherlands. was rich, and the government wanted money. " I know very well," said the brave dame, " why my death is thought neces- sary. The calf is fat and must be killed." On his triumphant return to Brussels, the duke again began his course of torture, butchery, and burning. Even great ser- vices to the king did not appease the fury of Alva, and at last he hanged " Red-Rod," the executioner who had cheer- fully done his bloody work. The Prince of Orange now had great cause for discourage- ment. His careful plans had been defeated, and the Emperor and princes of Germany forbade further resistance to Philip as useless. But William had become a devout soldier of the Reformation, and he thought it his duty to defend the cause of religious liberty. His letters showed his deep trust in God, and he opposed persecution of Catholics. To conciliate the friends of the King of Spain, he assumed that Alva, against whom he now declared war, committed all his cruelties on his own authority. He solemnly called on the people of the Netherlands to aid in expelling the Spaniards. Little money was obtained by this appeal, and the poor gave more in proportion than the rich. The prince, how- ever, mustered thirty thousand soldiers, and marched boldly near Alva's encampment in Brabant. The cautious duke was resolved not to fight, but to worry and tire out his enemy. As Orange could get no provisions in the country, and his troops were discontented, Alva acted wisely. He cut to pieces the rear-guard of the prince's force, numbering about three thousand, while the main body were crossing the river Geta, October 20. As the people would not aid William, he was obliged to disband his army at Strasburg. Even after pawning his valuables, he was still in debt to the troops ; nothing remained for him but to assist the struggling Protes- tants in France. He left with his two brothers in the spring, to fight under the Prince of Conde, after promising to give 1568. Alvds Glorification. 29 himself up av security for the pay due to his soldiers if he returned alive. The accidental death of his gallant friend, Count Hoogstraaten, was another misfortune of this ill-fated campaign in the Netherlands. Alva celebrated his triumph by gay festivals, and the erec- tion of a great bronze statue of himself in the citadel of PRINCE OF CONDE. Antwerp, formed of cannon taken at Jemmingen, and marked with a boastful inscription. It represented the iron warrior trampling on a figure with two heads, supposed to be intended either for Egmont and Horn, Orange and his brother Louis, or the nobles and people of the provinces. The savage ap- pearance of the heads led the Duke of Aerschot to tell Alva that they would take signal vengeance if they should 9 I jo History of the Netherlands. ever rise again. This careless jest was cherished by the public as a prophecy. Urged by the princes of Germany to protect the oppressed provinces, the Emperor Maximilian had sent his brother, the Archduke Charles, to Spain at the close of the year 1568, to demand justice for them. But the emperor soon deserted the patriot cause, in the hope that Philip, who was now a widower, would marry his daughter, the Archduchess Anne. Troubles between Alva and Queen Elizabeth of England, who had seized nearly a million dollars' worth of treasure intended for his army, greatly injured Netherland commerce during the next four years. The gift of a jewelled hat and sword from Pope Pius V., in reward for his services to the Church, encouraged the duke to continue his inhuman persecutions. He now loaded the people with exhausting taxes, which threatened to destroy the trade and industries of the country. On every transfer oj" real estate there was a charge of five per cent, or a twen- tieth of its value. This was called the " twentieth penny." Another tax, the " tenth penny," or ten per cent, was laid on every article of merchandise or personal property as often as it was sold. There was a general outcry against these ruin- ous imposts, and though consent to them was at last wrung from most of the states, it was only on condition that all should yield. The city and province of Utrecht having re- sisted these illegal taxes, they were summoned before the Council of Blood, declared guilty of high treason, and de- prived of their liberties and property. Though this taxa- tion was opposed by Viglius, the president of the council, as endangering Spanish rule, Alva persisted in enforcing it. He ignorantly thought that because the " tenth penny " had been borne in Spain, where trade was stagnant, it could be endured in a country where property was constantly changing hands. 1 IK lilil 11 m III ||i|i / '^jlll ■fr ii Mr *'"" i> ■ — **■' ",...-■- l!p#( •*! MM >, ,& ^gd5r * (!#■ N, f ijlilll (If ', KIIIBIS fl ft.^MI (pH * ;f|§§ ;aI^::^MBM| "" «>$$ i 1, 'i. 1 ' '' ; lS .:|i i=iV"il ii . I'i-i^ ■i ll, XA" ' »'i'|\';\V 1 r' -i 1 '" !■' I'-ii'"' r'i'l ' '■ ! ^ ~ "" ~$M ttlKifiMlVf lltfil Pi 1 HI 1 ■ ^^^H§~ • I. ,^'ct 1 I 1 f ' li ' ' 1 1 i 1 if ii'il lil 1 ISII1& ■:■.■ ■ ■ '• :■■■■ ^IIIIIPS^^ Hi,, 'li ^^^^S^*=^3^\t^^ $0M 1 s 8 lift 7 j WMtmHKB | ' ■ ..111 : ls!llll 1 ill 111 Fill I mjj&M'l 1 ■ ■iSt : '.sij ! : i» i57o- Sufferings of the Patriots. 133 Though the king had sided with the duke against the estates, he began to think that he had gone too far in draining the country of its blood and treasure. He felt like the man who had killed the goose that laid the golden eggs. Being advised by Viglius and Cardinal Granvelle to issue a general pardon, the king deputed Alva to announce it. This he did at a great festival at Antwerp, on the 14th of July, but the scheme was so evidently a trick to entrap new victims that the people were disgusted with it. Three months afterward Baron Montigny, the survivor of. the two Netherland envoys to Spain, was secretly strangled in prison by order of Philip. The reason for the execution be- ing private was the fear that another open exhibition would endanger the royal cause. But although the public were led to believe that Montigny had died of a fever, the king wrote a secret account of the affair, which has lately been brought to light, and which shows how perverted his nature had become. A tremendous flood which swept from the ocean over the Netherlands early in November, 1570, destroyed thou- sands of people, and did immense damage to property. Nearly all the dykes were broken up, vessels were carried into the interior of the country, and the inhabitants were obliged to seek shelter on the roofs of houses, the tops of trees, and the steeples of churches. A hundred thousand persons are known to have perished in this flood, which made the wretched Netherlanders feel as if Nature was bent on com- pleting the destruction which had been begun by man. Near the close of the year a deed of desperate daring was performed by a fierce partisan of Orange. One Herman de Ruyter, a drover, with three followers, disguised as monks, asked for a night's lodging at the wave-washed castle of Louvestein. While conversing with the commandant, De Ruyter drew a pistol and shot him down, and in the panic 134 History of the Netherlands. which followed, his comrades seized the feebly manned for- tress. Twenty-five more men were brought in the next day, but the state of the roads prevented the arrival of a larger number. The governor of Bois le Due, on hearing of the cap- ture, at once sent two hundred soldiers, under Captain Perea, to regain the castle. After battering the outer walls with can- non, the Spaniards bravely scaled the inner defences. Most of the followers of De Ruyter being killed or taken prisoners, he withdrew to the entrance of an inner hall, where he mowed down numbers of his assailants with his trusty sword. Wounded and bleeding, he at last moved slowly backward, but before his pursuers could get at him, he lighted a train of powder which he had laid along the floor. In an in- stant the tower was blown into the air, and De Ruyter and his enemies perished together. Part of his remains were afterwards gibbeted, and his surviving comrades were all put to death. CHAPTER X. THE DROWNED LAND. William of Orange, who had come back to the Nether- lands in the autumn of 1569, crossed the enemy's lines in the disguise of a beggar, and passed through France .to Ger- many. He had previously granted commissions to some adventurous sailors to cruise against Spanish trading ships. These privateersmen, who called themselves the " Beggars of the Sea," soon became the terror of the ocean. The prince purified this service by limiting it to honest men, enforcing strict discipline, and requiring every vessel to have a minister on board. This was the school of the future naval greatness of Holland. But, although keeping up good heart, the fortunes of Orange were at a low ebb. Deserted by the princes of Germany, and without money to pay his disbanded troops, he was obliged to perform the humblest services for himself. Yet he never lost sight of his great mission, and cared kindly for all who had ever aided it. Meanwhile, Alva's attempts to enforce taxation met with steadfast resistance. The victims of religious persecution would not endure plunder for any other cause. Even his own council opposed the measure, while the people became more and more excited against it. Merchants and shop- keepers suspended business, legislatures remonstrated, and crowds gathered defiantly in the streets ; no one would pay the odious .taxes. Wherever Alva went, he was met with 136 History of the Netherlands. tokens of disgust and abhorrence. All this made the duke furious, for it showed that his power was weakening. At last he was about to hang eighteen Brussels butchers and bakers in front of their shops, which they had refused to open, when news came to him of the capture of the important town of Brill, by the beggars of the sea, April 1, 1572. These wild rovers, under the command of the reckless Admiral de la Marck, had been obliged to leave the coast of England by command of Queen Elizabeth, who was ignorant of the plots of Philip and Alva to assassinate her. To the gallant William of Blois, Lord of Treslong, the admiral's lieutenant, is due the honor of turning these captures to account as the basis of the future Dutch Republic. The beggars killed a num- ber of monks and priests, and used the rich vestments and golden cups, taken from Catholic churches, on board their vessels. As Brill in Flemish means spectacles, the wits of Brussels ridiculed Alva's loss as a proof of his short-sighted policy, which had been appropriately baffled on April Fools' Day. This was the beginning of a revolt which brought all the great towns and cities bf Holland, Zealand, and Friesland to the support of the Prince of Orange. Among its victims was Pacheco, the chief engineer of Alva, who designed the great citadel of Antwerp. He was cruelly hanged by the beggars on the capture of Flushing, where he had gone to complete the fortress. In the absence of the city hangman, it was difficult to get any person to perform his odious work. Even a mur- derer lying in prison under sentence of death refused to exe- cute the culprit, for the sake of a pardon. But on being told that the intended victim was a Spanish officer, the murderer agreed to hang him, provided he were allowed to kill any man who should reproach him for the deed. While William of Orange was in Germany, raising money and troops, he still directed the affairs of the Netherlands. 1572. Alva's Authority Defied. 139 His prospects were again brightened by the capture, by his gal- lant brother Louis of Nassau, of the important city of Mons, at the very time that he was supposed to be in France. He was aided by Antony Oliver, a painter, who, while employed by Alva, was in the secret service of Orange. Wagons apparently containing merchandise, but really loaded with arms, entered the city in charge of the artist, May 23, 1572, and the gates were opened to the troops of Count Louis by twelve of his followers, disguised as wine -merchants. This last startling blow forced Alva to immediate action. He at once sent his son, Don Frederic, to lay siege to Mons. Soon after, the Duke of Medina Cceli, Alva's successor as governor of the Netherlands, arrived safely with his fleet, but another Spanish squadron fell with its rich treasures into the hands of the rebels. Alva was now so pressed for money that he agreed to abolish the useless tenth-penny tax, if the states-general of the Netherlands would grant him a million dollars a year. He had summoned the states of Holland to meet at the Hague on the 1 5 th of July, but they met at Dort to renounce his authority, at the summons of William of Orange, who had raised an army in Germany, but was without means to se- cure the necessary three months' payment in advance. While still owning allegiance to the king, the states recognized Orange as stadtholder, empowered him to drive out the Spanish troops, and to maintain religious freedom. Alva was enraged at the readiness of the people, who had resisted his demands for money, to risk their property and lives in support of this insolent rebel. Treating the Emperor Maximilian's peace orders as useless, the prince marched his army of twenty-four thousand men to the relief of Mons. Most of the Netherland cities on the way accepted his authority, and everything looked favorable for his success, when an unforeseen and terrible calamity 140 History of the Netherlands. occurred. The French king, Charles IX., whose troops had been routed before Mons, had promised to furnish further aid to the provinces. Admiral Coligny was to join the forces of Orange with fifteen thousand men. The frightful massacre of St. Bartholomew in Paris, on the 24th of August, in which that Protestant chief and thousands of his associates were sacrificed to the young king's treachery, instigated by his crafty mother, Catherine de Medici, was a terrible blow to MASSACRE OF ST. BARTHOLOMEW. the prince. It broke up all his plans. He had reached the neighborhood of Mons, which he was trying to reinforce, when a night attack was made by the Spaniards on his "lines, September 1 1 . They butchered his soldiers without mercy, and, as his guards were asleep, would have captured the prince himself, had not a small spaniel that always passed the night on his bed ? awakened him by barking and scratch- 1572. Spanish Cruelties. 143 ing his face. He had just time to mount his horse, when the enemy rushed into his tent. The prince did not forget the faithfulness of the little dog, and, to the day of his death, never went to sleep at night without having a spaniel of the same race at his side. 1 Obliged to leave his gallant brother Louis to his fate in Mons, Orange narrowly escaped being killed on his retreat. An assassin hired by Alva followed him, and even his own soldiers, enraged at not being paid, attempted his life, which was saved by his attached officers. Deserted by the cities that had been so earnest in his cause, sorrowful, but not despairing for his country, William had only his trust in God and his own destiny to sustain him. As Holland was the only province that clung to the hero patriot, he went there expecting and prepared to die for liberty. Louis of Nassau was forced, on the 21st of September, to abandon Mons to the Spaniards, who allowed Noircarmes, the butcher of Valenciennes, to massacre and pillage the in- habitants contrary to the terms of surrender. This wretch killed Catholics and Protestants alike, in order to secure their riches for himself. Yet we should not have known the extent of his cruelties, but for an accident. An old tower in the ruined castle of Naast fell not many years ago, and brought to view a mass of writings, which proved to be the records of the crimes committed at Mons. The city of Mechlin, which had refused to admit a garrison of his troops, was even more brutally ravaged by Alva in order to obtain gold. In vain did priests and citizens beg for mercy from his soldiers. 1 The services of this little dog have lately been recognized in an unexpected quarter. Mr. Justice Earl, in delivering the opinion of the New York Court of Appeals, rejecting the common-law principle that dogs are not property and cannot be the subject of theft, vindicates the race from the charge of having a base nature, and affirms that " the small spaniel that saved the life of William of Orange probably changed the current of modern history." — Midlaly v. People of the State of New York, N. Y. Reports, vol. 86, p. 365.- 144 History of the Netherlands, They even tore in pieces the beds of sick people at the hospitals in search of hidden treasure. A rigid Catholic, a member of the Grand Council and a nephew of the Bishop of Arras, told the State Council that the sack of Mechlin had been so horrible that unfortunate mothers had not a morsel of bread for their children, who were dying before their eyes. He added that he could say more, but the recollection of the scene was so terrible that it made his hair stand on end. There is a part of the Netherlands called the " Drowned Land." For hundreds of years it has been buried beneath the waters of the German Ocean, which destroyed numerous villages, with their inhabitants, and made an island of what was before the mainland. On this island of South Beveland, there was, in 1572, the city of Tergoes, which was the key of Walcheren and Zealand. To save this city from the rebels, the Spanish colonel, Mondragon, resolved to send an army to it across the drowned land. This was the plan of Captain Plomaert, a loyal Fleming, who, with two peasants, had twice performed the difficult and dangerous passage of ten miles on foot. His attempt had been made at low tide, when the water over the drowned land was four or five feet deep. Although no longer young, Mondragon resolved to lead the hazardous expedition himself. He secretly assembled three thousand picked men, but did not tell them his scheme till they reached the water's edge, on the evening of the 20th of October. Instead of shirking, they welcomed the dangerous service. Each soldier carried a supply of biscuit and powder in a sack placed on his head. The tide was half run out when the troops started almost in single file, the water rising to their breasts, and even to their shoulders as they moved along the treacherous muddy bottom. If they did not reach the island before the tide turned, they would be swept away. For five long hours the daring soldiers breasted the waves, often losing their footing and obliged to swim for their lives. 1572- Rout of the Patriots. 145 They reached dry land before dawn, having lost only nine men on their midnight march. The news of their arrival fell like a thunderbolt on the patriot forces ; and, though supe- rior in numbers, they fled panic-stricken from the terrible Spaniards who had come out of the sea to attack them. . Be- fore the Zealanders could escape to their ships, their whole rear-guard was destroyed by the enemy, who then made Tergoes safe from assault. 10 CHAPTER XI. HEROIC DEFENCE OF HAARLEM. Alva's son, Don Frederic, now proved an apt pupil of his father, by almost literally executing his command to kill every man and burn every house in the city of Zutphen, which had opposed the entrance of the king's troops. The massa- cre was terrible and complete. The cause of Orange suffered still more by the cowardly flight of his brother-in-law, Count Van den Berg, from his post of duty in the provinces of Gelderland and Overyssel. By this desertion rugged Fries- land was also lost to the patriot side. Holland alone held out against the victorious Spaniards. The little city of Naarden at first stoutly refused to surren- der, but being weak, was obliged to yield without striking a blow. Don Frederic's agent, Julian Romero, having prom- ised that life and property should be spared, the people wel- comed him and his soldiers at a grand feast on the 2d of December. Hardly was this over when five hundred citizens, who had assembled in the town hall, were warned by a priest to prepare for death. This was the signal for the entrance of the Spanish troops, who butchered every one in the build- ing. They then rushed furiously through the streets, pillaging and then setting fire to the houses. As the inmates came forth, they were tortured and killed by their cruel foes. In their savage frenzy the soldiers opened the veins of some of their victims and drank their blood. The son of the learned historian Hortensius was slaughtered and his heart torn out VIEW IN HAARLEM. I47 1572. The Sack of Naarden. 149 before his father's eyes. To extort money from the principal burgomaster, his feet were roasted before a slow fire. After paying a heavy ransom, under promise of mercy, he was hanged in his own doorway, and his limbs were nailed to the city gates by order of Don Frederic. He even forbade the burial of the dead, and their bodies remained festering in the streets for three weeks. So complete was his revenge that Alva wrote boastfully to the king that "they had cut the throats of the burghers and all the garrison, and had not left a mother's son alive." He ascribed this success to the favor of God in permitting the defence of so feeble a city to be even attempted. According to a pious Catholic writer, the sack of Naarden was sanctioned by the Almighty, because it was the first of the Holland towns to sustain heresy. This remark shows how terrible was the effect of bigotry upon good men in that age. The praises of his father and the king for his bloody work made Don Frederic eager to crush the whole country. But the Hollanders, encouraged by Orange, were roused to des- peration by the fate of Naarden and the threats of the in- vaders. The most novel and ingenious methods of defence were used. A fleet of war ships, frozen up near Amsterdam, was saved by the crews digging a wide trench around it, and sending out a band of musketeers on skates against the besiegers. In this slippery conflict, the Spaniards were easily worsted; but Alva, who marvelled at this skirmish upon a frozen sea, was quick to profit by the lesson. He ordered seven thousand pairs of skates, with which his troops soon learned to perform the boldest military evolutions. As the city of Haarlem was the key to Holland, Don Fred- eric resolved to capture it at any cost. But the people were so bent upon resistance that they executed two of their mag- istrates for secretly negotiating with Alva, who had won over the Catholic government of Amsterdam. Ripperda, the 150 History of the Netherlands. commandant of the Haarlem garrison, cheered soldiers and people by his heroic counsels, and through the efforts of Orange the city was placed under patriot rule. Amsterdam, which was in the enemy's hands, was ten miles distant, across a lake traversed by a narrow causeway, and the prince had erected a number of forts to command the frozen surface. As a thick fog covered the lake in these . December days, supplies of men, provisions, and ammunition were brought into the city in spite of the vigilance of the besiegers. The sledges and skates of the Hollanders were very useful in this work. But against Don Frederic's army of thirty thousand men, nearly equalling the entire population of Haarlem, the city with its extensive but weak fortifications had only a garrison of about four thousand. The fact that about three hundred of these were respectable women armed with sword, musket, and dagger, shows the heroic spirit of the people. The men were nerved to fresh exertions by these Amazons, who, led by their noble chief, the Widow Kenau Hasselaer, fought desperately by their side, both within and without the works. The banner of this famous heroine, who has been called the Joan of Arc of Haarlem, is now in the City Hall. A vigorous cannonade was kept up against the city for three days, beginning December 18, and men, women, and children worked incessantly in repairing the shattered walls. They even dragged the statues of saints from the churches to fill up the gaps, to the horror of the superstitious Spaniards. The brave burghers repelled their assaults with all sorts of weapons. Burning coals and boiling oil were hurled at their heads, and blazing pitch-hoops were skilfully caught about their necks. Astonished by this terrible resistance, which cost him hun- dreds of lives, Don Frederic resolved to take the city by siege. He began by causing the ravelin, an important out- i57 2 - Desperate Defence of Haarlem. 153 work, to be undermined. But the citizens also burrowed in the ground, and forced back their foes in narrow, dimly lighted passages, with spear and dagger and fearful explosions of gunpowder. Meanwhile the Prince of Orange, whose two large relief parties had been butchered by the Spaniards, sent encourag- ing letters into the town by carrier pigeons. He followed them up with supplies of food and powder and four hun- dred veteran soldiers, by means of sledges drawn over the ice of Haarlem lake. The besiegers having captured a Captain King, cut off his head and threw it into the city with the inscription, " This is the king who is on his way to relieve Haarlem with his sol- diers." The citizens retorted by throwing into the enemy's camp a barrel containing the heads of eleven prisoners, and labelled, " Ten heads for the Duke of Alva, in payment of his ten-penny tax, with one head more for interest." The walls and gates of the ravelin were now so shattered that Don Frederic, confident of victory, ordered a midnight assault on the last day of January ; but though it caught the people asleep they rallied boldly to the defence, on being roused by the alarm bells. At last the fort was carried by the Spaniards, after a terrific onset. They mounted the walls expecting to have the city at their mercy. Judge of their amazement to find a new and stronger fort, shaped like a half- moon, which had been secretly constructed during the siege, blazing away at them with its cannon. Before they could recover from their shock, the ravelin, which had been carefully undermined, blew up, and sent them crushed and bleeding into the air. The Spaniards outside, terrified at these out- bursts, retreated hastily to their camp, leaving hundreds of dead beneath the walls. Two assaults of veteran soldiers, led by able generals, having been repelled by the dauntless burghers of Haarlem, famine 154 History of the Netherlands. seemed the only means of forcing its surrender. Starvation in fact soon threatened both besiegers and besieged. Don Frederic wished to abandon the contest, but Alva threatened to disown him as a son if he did so. " Should he fall in the siege/' said the grim warrior, " I will myself take the field to maintain it ; and when we have both perished, the duchess, my wife, shall come from Spain to do the same." And so the struggle went on. The Hollanders performed wonders with their little force which Orange could only feebly aid. A single patriot on a dyke defended it against a thou- sand men. The name of this hero was John Haring. Bold sallies were made from Haarlem, by which quantities of arms and provisions were captured, and hosts of besiegers killed. On their return from one of these adventures, the brave de- fenders of the city erected a mound of earth upon the ram- parts in the form of a huge grave. Upon this mound were placed the captured cannon and standards, while over it floated the inscription in ghastly mockery of the besiegers, — "Haarlem is the graveyard of the Spaniards." Even the veteran Alva was amazed at the heroism of these plain burghers.' He wrote to Philip that never was a place defended with such skill and bravery. The cruelties committed by the Spaniards were imitated by the maddened patriots. No quarter was given to prisoners. There was soon a struggle for the possession of the lake, which was the only means of conveying supplies to the besieged. In the terrible hand-to-hand fight which followed the grappling of the rival vessels, on the 28th of May, the prince's fleet, under Admiral Brand, was totally defeated. The Spanish admiral, Bossu, swept the lake and captured the forts, and the besieg- ers now had Haarlem at their mercy. Yet the brave burghers still held firm. Starvation was now the only means of taking the city. To 1573- Suffering at Haarlem. 155 mock their hated foes, the suffering inhabitants marched to and fro on the ramparts with drums beating and flags waving. They even paraded in the gorgeous vestments of priests, taken from Catholic churches, and broke sacred images and relics in view of the horrified Spaniards. During the month of June the wretched people of Haarlem had no food but linseed and rapeseed, and they were soon compelled to eat dogs, cats, rats, and mice. When these gave out they de- voured shoe-leather and the boiled hides of horses and oxen, and tried to allay the pangs of hunger with grass and weeds. The streets were full of the dead and the dying. Early in July the city was again severely bombarded, and as Don Frederic would grant no mercy, a letter written in blood was sent to Orange imploring . relief. With scornful fury the besieged threw the few loaves of bread left in Haar- lem into the enemy's camp. A black flag had been raised on the cathedral tower, as a signal of despair, but hope was revived by cheering news of succor from the prince, brought by a carrier pigeon. He had himself intended to lead the expedition, though fearing its failure from lack of regular troops, but the people would not consent to risk so val- uable a life. Five thousand volunteers under Baron Baten- burg went forward, with four hundred wagon-loads of pro- visions and seven field-guns. Among these daring patriots was the future leader of the republic, John of Barneveld, who marched as a private soldier. Unfortunately, the plan of relief was discovered by the enemy, two doves bearing the letters being shot and brought into their camp. The Span- iards were thus enabled to surprise and destroy the whole force. The news was sent into the city by a prisoner with nose and ears cut off, and several heads were thrown over the walls as further proof. There was now terrible excitement in Haarlem. As a last resort the besieged resolved to form a solid column, with the women and children, the aged and 156 History of the Netherlands. infirm, in the centre, to fight their way out ; but Don Frederic, fearing the city would be left in ruins, induced them to surrender on the 12th of July, under promise of mercy. This promise was cruelly broken by a frightful massacre of two thousand people, which gave great joy to Alva and Philip. Yet the siege of Haarlem, which lasted seven months, and cost the Spaniards twelve thousand lives, was a proof of the heroism of Holland that might well have warned the victors of the dangers of the future. CHAPTER XIL THE SIEGE OF LEYDEN. The Duke of Alva, having got rid of Medina Cceli, his in- tended successor, vainly tried after the fall of Haarlem to gain over the other Netherland cities by promises and threats. Some of his mutinous unpaid soldiers in Haarlem, disguised as Baltic merchants, visited Orange at Delft and offered to deliver up the city for twenty thousand dollars ; but the prince was obliged to forego this tempting scheme for want of means. Meantime Alva's troops preyed on the wretched Netherlanders,.and his energies were taxed to restore order and satisfy his soldiers' demands for booty. The little city of Alkmaar, in the extreme north of Holland, was his next object of attack. On the 21st of August Don Frederic be- gan the siege. He had sixteen thousand veteran troops, while the besieged could muster only eight hundred soldiers and thirteen hundred able-bodied burghers. So completely was the city surrounded in a few days that Alva declared that it was impossible for a sparrow to enter or leave it. He wrote to the king that as his gentle treatment of Haarlem had proved useless, he should try cruelty to bring other cities to their senses. " If I take Alkmaar," he said, " I am re- solved not to leave a single creature alive ; the knife shall be put to every throat." Yet this wholesale butcher professed to favor mercy rather than bloodshed. Orange had encouraged Diedrich Sonoy, his lieutenant in North Holland, to hold out bravely against the enemy's hosts. 1 58 History of the Netherlands. If worst came to worst, the prince was resolved to save Alk- maar by piercing the dykes and sweeping the invaders* away with the ocean. On the 18th of September Don Frederic followed up a twelve hours' cannonade by an assault on the city. With their overwhelming force the assailants expected an easy victory. But they recoiled under the murderous fire from the ramparts, and the torrents of boiling water, pitch, and oil, melted lead, and scorching lime which were poured upon them by the citizens. A storm of blazing hoops rained upon the necks of the Spaniards, and those who mounted the walls were forced, at the point of the dagger, into the moat below. Amid a shower of bullets, women and children carried ammunition to their husbands, fathers, and brothers, who clung to their posts while life and strength lasted. Three times the Spaniards rushed furiously to the charge, and as often were they driven back by the dauntless burghers. When night came on, the assailants withdrew with a loss of a thou- sand lives against only thirty-seven of the defenders. A few heroic patriots had defeated the trained legions of Alva. A Spanish officer, who had reached the battlements and been hurled into the gulf below, said, after his wonderful escape from death, that he had seen no mailed warriors in the city, but only some common people, mostly in fishermen's garb. Such were the humble defenders of their homes who had beaten back the flower of Philip's army. The citizens of Alkmaar were cheered by news from a Spanish prisoner that the besiegers were greatly demoralized. Though this and other information had been given under promise of mercy, the man was treacherously executed. The next day, after another heavy bombardment, an assault was again ordered. But the Spaniards refused to advance against the terrible Hollanders, who were evidently protected by the Devil. There was a brave carpenter in Alkmaar named Peter Van '»-"■■■"■ «P" wm ■ S DEFENSE OF ALKMAAR. 159 1573- Spanish Retreat from Alkmaar. 161 der Mey, who had boldly crossed the enemy's lines, bearing appeals from the citizens to Orange and other leading patriots, to pierce the dykes and flood the invaders with the sea. While returning with despatches from the prince and Sonoy, he narrowly escaped being caught and executed. A hollow cane, in which his letters were concealed, fell into the hands of the Spaniards. Alarmed by the discovery of the plan to drown him and his discontented army, Don Frederic, whose camp was already wet by the tide from some of the opened sluices, retired from Alkmaar on the 8th of October. His seven weeks' siege was a failure. The daring carpenter had safely returned to Alkmaar and cheered the people with the stern resolve of William the Silent. The citizens were told to light four beacon fires when 'the crisis arrived ; these would be the signal for Sonoy to open the great flood-gates which held back the rushing waters. A guard was to be placed by the dykes and sluices to prevent the peasants from repairing or closing them under cover of night, in order to save their crops. Fortunately, the flight of the Spaniards rendered these extreme measures unnecessary. Orange and the states of Holland soon had trouble with the reckless Admiral de la Marck, the captor of Brill, whose cruelties to Catholics they deplored, although charged with inciting them. After boldly defying the government and causing serious riots, he was forced to leave the country. A mad dog bit the desperate adventurer a few years afterward, and ended his savage career. The news of the massacre of Protestants in France on St. Bartholomew's day had made Elizabeth of England prepare to aid the Netherlands against Catholic Spain. But when she found that Orange was crushed and that Alva expressed hor- ror at the massacre, the prudent queen accepted the Spanish alliance. The wily duke was so pleased with his success that he advised Philip to bribe the English ministry to remain 1 62 History of the Netherlands. true to him. Yet the people did not like this friendship with the fierce conqueror, and the London merchants raised a million and a quarter dollars to aid the struggling provinces. As the King of France professed deep sorrow for the mas- sacre of St. Bartholomew, Orange was willing to accept even his aid against the invader. Now that weak monarch, who was controlled by his Italian mother, the crafty Catherine de Medici, had two reasons for desiring the prince's support. He wanted the hand of Queen Elizabeth for his brother, the Duke of Alencon, and the crown of Poland for his brother, the Duke of Anjou. As Orange had great influence with the electoral princes, the king agreed to his terms, as stated by his brother Louis of Nassau. These were that Charles should make peace with his subjects, allow religious freedom, and either fight for the liberation of the Netherlands or furnish one hundred thousand crowns every three months for the war. In return for these concessions the French king was granted the protectorate of Holland and Zealand, under their ancient liberties, with sovereignty over all places in the other provinces reconquered from Spain. Orange was also permit- ted to raise eight thousand troops in France, but money advanced to the provinces was to be repaid by him or the states. After making this agreement with Schomberg, the French king's agent, Louis of Nassau wrote plainly to Charles IX. of the folly and crime which had injured his cause, and benefited the "Spaniard, his mortal enemy," and warning him of the danger of interfering with religious freedom. Meanwhile Philip II., who maintained that his duty required him to root out heresy, was so eager to become Emperor of Germany that he proposed to the princes of the empire to establish the Prince of Orange and religious liberty in the Netherlands. Having solemnly appealed to Philip and the people of all the provinces in behalf of their rights, the prince boldly declared his resolve, and that of the states of Holland, qjJEEN ELIZABETH. 1573- Departure of Alva. 165 to defend themselves to the last against the tyranny of Alva. He had now become a member of the Calvinist or reformed church. The last hours of the duke's rule were drawing to a close amid defeat. A victory of the Holland fleet over the Span- iards on the Zuyder Zee, in a hand-to-hand conflict* cheered the 'hearts of the patriots three days after the relief of Alk- maar. Four of their little vessels grappled the Inquisition, the great ship of Count Bossu. Though deserted by his comrades, he and his crew in their bullet-proof armor beat off the boarding parties, who hurled upon them blazing hoops, boiling oil, and melted lead. The brave John Haring, of Horn, who had defended the Diemer dyke against a thou- sand men, scaled the lofty sides of the Inquisition, and hauled down her flag. He was shot dead, but Admiral Bossu, a Hollander himself, soon had to surrender, for his ship was aground and left alone on a hostile coast. He was an important prisoner for the patriots, as fear of his execution prevented Alva from destroying his illustrious captive, St. Aldegonde, the valued friend of Orange. Yet there was no lack of victims, and at last, Uitenhove, a Flemish nobleman who had been engaged in the capture of Brill, was slowly roasted to death at the stake. The duke now had a parting shot for the Netherland- ers. He owed a great deal of money in Amsterdam, and having publicly fixed a day of payment, he secretly left the city the night before. By this act he ruined many families. It was his boast that he had caused the execution of eighteen thousand six hundred inhabitants of the provinces during his rule. No wonder he was an object of hatred throughout the country, which he quitted forever on the 18th of Decem- ber, 1573. It is pleasant to know that he did not long remain in favor with the king after his return to Spain. He suffered imprisonment and exile before being sent to conquer 1 66 History of the NetJierlands. ■ Portugal, and in his last days became so weak that he had fcq drink milk from a woman's breast, like a baby. He died Dec. 12, 1582, leaving a high reputation for generalship, but a very low one as a civil ruler, while his cruelties have made him infamous forever. 1 The new governor of the Netherlands was Don Luis de Requesens and Cufiiga, Grand Commander of Castile, Who had won his laurels fighting the Moors and Turks. He had governed Milan with skill, and when sworn in at Brussels, November 29, was supposed to favor conciliation. Philip had found the war so costly that he was willing to try peace- ful measures. He had already spent forty million dollars, and six million more were due the army for back pay. Alva's policy had drained the wealth of the country. Even his bloody butchers, Noircarmes and Romero, were weary of slaughter. The Netherlanders were eager for peace, but the difficulty was to obtain it without sacrificing their liber- ties. It was feared by the prince that the people would be entrapped by a promise of pardon into a fatal surrender. Although he had offered to leave the provinces forever if this 1 Motley's elaborate arraignment of Alva has left nothing to be said on that side of .the question. Froude, however, insists that the accepted historical view of the grim warrior, whom he regards as a typical Spaniard of the period, is due to the failure of his bloody work. " Had the Catholics come off victorious, the duke would have been a second Joshua." But success or failure is not a proper standard for the judgment of character. Making every allowance for Alva's position as the servant of the bigoted Philip, his pitiless ferocity debars him from the indulgence granted to weaker natures. " We shudder," says the fair-minded Prescott, "at the contemplation of such a character, relieved by scarcely a single touch of humanity." ( " History of Philip II.," vol. ii. p. 298.) One of the Venetian ambassadors at the Spanish court was a keen observer of the grim duke before he went to the Netherlands. " Presumptuous, swollen with pride, devoured by ambition, disposed to flattery, and very envious and avaricious," is Badovaro's judgment of him. " He is not liked at court, where he is considered a man of very little heart," adds the caustic diplomatist. (Gachard, " Relations des Ambassadeurs Venitiens sur Charles-Quint et Philippe II.," 75. Bruxelles, 1856.) 1574- Death of Louis of Nassau. i6y would help the cause, every patriot dreaded the consequences of such a step. As the rebels were closely besieging the important city of Middleburg, where starvation threatened the forces of Mondragon, the Grand Commander attempted its relief. But the fleet which he despatched for this purpose having been beaten by the squadron got together by the Prince of Orange, the city was forced to surrender, February 21. The superi- ority of the Hollanders to the Spaniards on the water was, however, offset by the surpassing skill and good fortune of the king's soldiers on land. This was soon shown in the failure of the patriots to capture Maestricht. Their defeat here was darkened by the death of the gallant Louis of Nassau, the brother of Orange. Strangely enough, a mimic battle which was seen some days before in the clouds was thought to fore- shadow the result of the conflict about to take place below. The victory of the king's forces at Mookerheyde, or Mook Heath, April 14, was, however, made almost useless by their mutiny, which placed Antwerp at the mercy of unpaid reck- less soldiery, about the time that its fleet was conquered by the patriot squadron, under Admiral Boisot. The most distressing siege of the war was now in store for the city of Leyden, which had already been besieged* for five months. Don Francis Valdez, who had left the place on the invasion of Louis of Nassau, the last of March, returned on the 26th of May with eight thousand Walloon and German soldiers. Having some sixty redoubts around the city, he resolved to starve it out. The defence was intrusted to the valiant John Van der Does, the titled poet and historian. Unfortunately the citizens had neglected to prepare for the renewal of the siege, and their only reliance was upon a few companies of volunteers, their own bravery, and the aid of William the Silent. In vain had the Grand Commander sought to allure the 1 68 History of the Netherlands. rebels by a promise of pardon. The fact that this was offered on condition of their abandoning their religion was enough to cause its rejection by the Hollanders, who were nearly all Protestants. Being implored by royalist Netherlander in the camp of Valdez to submit to that merciful commander, the burghers of Leyden despatched a sheet of paper to him with this line in Latin, " The fowler plays sweet notes on his pipe while he spreads his net for the bird." Before long, the starvation policy of the besiegers was pain- fully felt in Leyden. By the end of June food had become so scarce that the authorities placed the people on short allowance. Their only news came by carrier pigeons and daring messengers, called "jumpers," who crossed the close lines of the besiegers at the peril of their lives. Desperate sallies were daily made from the gates. A liberal reward being offered for the heads of Spaniards, many of these ghastly trophies were brought in. But the danger of thin- ning out their little band of defenders obliged the magistrates to forbid their venturing beyond the walls. Their situation was daily growing more desperate, when William of Orange prevailed upon the states to allow him to pierce the dykes on the rivers Yssel and Meuse, open the great sluices at Rot- terdam, 'Schiedam, and Delfthaven, and let the ocean in upon the Spaniards. Leyden was not on the sea, but he could send the sea to Leyden. Though this would cause fearful destruction of property, it was the only way to save the city. " Better a drowned land than a lost land," cried the patri- ots, overcome by the eloquent appeals of the prince. A subscription was raised for the work of destruction, bonds being issued, aid given by the states, and a large sum added by ladies from sales of their plate, jewelry, and furniture. But the waters rose so slowly that the starving citizens were in despair of the rescue which Orange, struck down by a fever in Rotterdam, assured them would soon come. For HOTEL DE VILLE, MIDDLEBURG. 1574- The Fierce Zealanders. 171 three months they had been almost without food. Every day they climbed to the top of an old Roman tower which is still standing in Leyden, to watch anxiously for the expected flood. Fortunately the prince got well enough to send forward a flotilla on the slowly rising water, with provisions for the relief of the city. Eight hundred desperate Zealanders, wildest of the beggars of the sea, manned the war vessels, under Ad- miral Boisot. They were battle-scarred and maimed, some had lost arms and others legs, and on their caps were silver crescents inscribed, "Rather Turks than Papists." But the tide was not high enough to keep the craft afloat for a suffi- cient distance, and their passage was also blocked by a strong dyke, about five miles from Leyden, held by the enemy. This was captured by a night attack, and an attempt to recapture it the next day failed. The fierce hatred of the wild Zealanders for their foes rose to frenzy in this encoun- ter. One of them knelt on a Spaniard whom he had struck down, tore out his heart, set his teeth into it for a moment, and then threw it on the ground, exclaiming, " 'T is too bitter ! " This heart, bearing the marks of the soldier's teeth, was preserved for a long time at Delft. Still struggling along, checked by baffling winds and hos- tile batteries, the brave Boisot was more than a week in forcing the barriers which blocked his way -to Leyden, the enemy having a chain of sixty-two forts and four times his number of men. He was at last cheered by the arrival of the Prince of Orange, who had risen from a sick bed to urge on the work of deliverance. Having examined the ground and ordered the destruction of the last great dyke that separated the fleet from the city, he returned home with a light heart. Meanwhile, the wretched inhabitants of Leyd.en were in terrible straits. There was no longer any bread, malt-cake, 172 History of the Netherlands. or horse-flesh ; little girls had eaten their lap-dogs, and cats and rats were rare dainties. As the few cows which had been kept for milk were killed from day to day, crowds gathered round the butchers, to snatch any falling morsel and drink the blood that flowed in the gutters. Women and children searched for scraps of food among heaps of refuse ; leaves were stripped from the trees to allay hunger ; mothers with their infants in their arms dropped dead in the streets from starvation ; a disease something like the plague resulted from the famine, and destroyed nearly eight thousand victims ; yet, amid all these horrors, the patriots refused to surrender. The- gallant burgomaster, Adrian Van der Werf, who, when the encouraging news from the prince first came, had cheered the people with martial music and the firing of cannon, now showed himself equal to sterner duties. Being urged by a threatening crowd to yield to the appeals of the enemy and spare further suffering, he replied nobly, " I have sworn to defend the city unto death, and with the help of God I will maintain my oath. I know that we shall starve, if not soon relieved ; but it is better to die of starvation than of shame. Your threats do not move me. Kill me, if you will. Take my body to appease your hunger, but expect no surrender while I live." These brave words subdued and cheered the desperate crowd, who again defied the enemy from the battlements. They declared that they would devour their left arms rather than yield, keeping their right to defend their families and freedom against the foreign tyrant. Sooner than surrender, they vowed to set fire to the city and perish with their wives and children in the flames. The besiegers, in ridicule of their desperate condition, called them rat-eaters and dog-eaters, and declared that the Prince of Orange could as well pluck the stars from the sky as bring the ocean to the relief of Ley- den. This taunt seemed like truth, for the waters kept going 1574- Relief for Ley den. 1 73 down. Only a strong wind and tide could now save the city. The hoped-for but seemingly hopeless relief came with startling swiftness. A tempest swept in from the ocean, carrying the waters across the ruined dykes, and bearing the light fleet of Admiral Boisot onward in the midnight darkness. There were about two hundred of these craft, each carrying MISERY OF THE PEASANTS. ten cannon and from ten to eighteen oars, and manned by twenty-five hundred sturdy fighting men. At their head moved a huge armored vessel, which had neither sails nor oars, but was propelled by paddle-wheels turned by a crank. This strange monster was called the "Ark of Delft." On rushed the vessels over the flooded lands, among half- submerged fruit-trees and farmhouses. The cannon of the beggars of the sea, the terrible Zealanders, who never gave 174 History of the Netherlands. nor asked for quarter, sunk the enemy's craft and their crews, and startled the troops in the outer Spanish forts, who, seized with panic, cowardly fled from their strongholds. They were pursued by the wild Zealanders, who slaughtered them in great numbers, with harpoons, boat-hooks, and daggers. The difficulties of the patriots were not yet over. One more powerful fortress, filled with soldiers, threatened to repel the advancing fleet. To the people of Leyden, and the com- mander of the vessels, the situation seemed desperate. The night passed in terrible suspense, for the next day the brave admiral was to attack the stronghold, in connection with an assault from the town. Lights were seen moving at mid- night from the fort across the waters, and one of the walls of the city fell with a sound like thunder. At daybreak Admiral Boisot, while preparing to storm the fortress, was struck by the death-like stillness within it. He feared that the Spaniards had captured Leyden in the night. Suddenly a man was seen wading through the water, which reached to his breast, while a boy waved his cap from the fort. The mystery was soon solved. Under cover of the darkness, the Spaniards had fled from their stronghold, observed only by the lad whose signals had attracted attention in the fleet. The crash of the falling city wall had increased the terror of their flight, which took place at the very time when Leyden was laid open to their arms. The city was saved, and prayers and thanksgivings went up from the half-starved inhabitants. This was on the 3d of October, 1574. The next day a tempest began to force the waters back to the ocean and permitted the reconstruction of the dykes. The Prince of Orange, who had received the glad tidings of relief while at church at Delft, hastened to the place which he had done so much to save, at the risk of dying from the pestilence. In commemora- tion of the deliverance, and in gratitude for the heroism of the citizens, the famous University of Leyden was soon 1574- Ley den University Founded. 175 founded, though by a strange fiction of loyalty its establish- ment was credited to the king. This was a grand memorial of a siege which showed how worthy the Hollanders were of the freedom for which they had struggled so bravely. Though the people of Leyden nobly chose a university in preference to a great annual fair, the prince and the states rewarded them with both institutions. The dedication of the renowned seat of learning, Feb. 5, 1575, enabled the survivors of the siege to indulge their taste for gorgeous allegorical pageants, in which even the grave professors took part. Triumphal arches spanned the flower- strewn streets, and the grand feast which concluded the im- posing ceremonies afforded a striking contrast to the recent famine. Even the pigeons that had brought them news during the siege were remembered by the grateful citizens. They were kindly cared for as long as they lived, and after death were stuffed and placed in the City Hall. CHAPTER XIII. THE "SPANISH FURY." These successes of the patriots made Requesens, the new governor, still more desirous of peace. He had already ad- vised Philip to abolish the hated Council of Blood, and the king left the matter to his discretion. But as the provinces continued restive, the terrible institution was kept in force for some time longer. After Alva's bloody failure in the Netherlands, the pacific policy of Ruy Gomez, Prince of Eboli, was again adopted by the king. It was pleasant for the jealous monarch to have a considerate governor like the Grand Commander in place of the haughty duke, whose independence had been tolera- ted because he was tehought to be the only man capable of controlling the provinces. While professing to approve of his predecessor's policy, Requesens had recommended conciliation as essential to the success of the royal cause. He not only advocated a general pardon, but the restoration of affairs as they were before the troubles. As a Spaniard and a Catholic, he excepted the Prince of Orange from mercy, because the crimes of the great heretic and rebel seemed too grave to be lightly dealt with. 1 • 1 Requesens gave this advice to his sovereign in a remarkable letter, Dec. 30, 1573, in which he complained of the inconvenience of having his hands tied by the secret instructions of Philip forbidding him to remit the penalties for rebellion. Heresy was included in the restriction ; but this, he wrote, he never thought of pardoning without express orders from the king. — " Correspondance de Philippe II." torn. ii. pp. 450, 451. WINDMILL. 177 1574- Patriotism of Orange. 179 Various attempts were made near the close of the year 1574 to induce the Prince of Orange to abandon the national cause, but in vain. He refused to accept any favors from the king so long as the foreign troops remained in the country, and religious freedom and the assembling of the states-general were denied to the people. He declared that it was almost impossible to negotiate with a government that used assas- sination to get rid of obstinate opponents. The prince also warned the Spanish agents that he might be obliged to place the provinces under the protection of some foreign power. "The country," he said, "was a beautiful maiden, who had many suitors, and was thus so well defended that she could resist even the Turk." In conducting the revolt of Holland and Zealand, Orange had acted in the king's name, while wielding the full power of the people. They freely granted him ten times as much revenue as Alva had been able to extort, although Amsterdam and Haarlem were in the enemy's hands. The influence of the cities in the government being thus increased, they grad- ually grew jealous of the stadtholder. William the Silent now proved his unselfish patriotism by resigning his vast powers. This act brought the states of Holland to their senses. As their ambition imperilled the safety of the country, they con- ferred upon him supreme authority on the 1 2th of Novem- ber. But they still haggled about supplies for carrying on the government, though the prince and his brothers had spent their fortunes in the cause. Only his indignant complaints and threats to leave the country made them yield to his demands. As the German emperor feared that unless Spain made peace with the patriots, the electoral princes would vote away his crown, he was even more anxious than his son-in-law, Philip, to put an end to the war. But his efforts proved fruit- less. Though the Spaniards were weary of the costly struggle, 180 History of the Netherlands. the king's terms were too exacting to suit the influential Orange. While agreeing to the departure of the foreign troops and the assembling of the states-general, the royal commissioners insisted that the states should disband their foreign troops, and that all Protestants should leave the coun- try within six months. The king, it was said, felt bound by his oath of sovereignty to maintain the Catholic religion. As the prince and the states then offered to refer the matters in dispute to the decision of the states-general, Philip claimed a number of hostages and four Netherland cities to insure obedience to such decision. His guarantee was to be simply his word and signature and those of the Emperor Maximilian. So the negotiations ended, each party blaming the other for their failure. As the provinces were now largely Catholic, the decision of the states-general on the all-important religious question might have defeated the plans of Orange. Though both he and Philip desired peace, it was plainly impossible on the king's terms, though his real intentions were unknown even to the Grand Commander, Requesens. Soon after the failure of these negotiations at Breda, which had lasted four months, the Prince of* Orange was made sovereign, during the war, of Holland and Zealand, which were united under one government, June 4, 1575. By his efforts the laws against Catholics were repealed and an advance was made toward general religious toleration. . William the Silent had been very unfortunate in his second marriage, his wife having acted strangely ever since the wed- ding. She passed week after week shut up in her room, keeping the shutters closed, and candles burning day and night, and was very insolent to her husband and his friends. She also corresponded with the king and his governors in the Netherlands. Notwithstanding the prince's kindness and patience, she at length left him altogether. So ferocious had she become that she beat her servants with clubs ; and her THE PONT NOBLE 1575- William the Silent 's Third Marriage. 183 intemperance, profanity, and licentiousness at last led her uncle, the Elector of Saxony, to imprison her as a lunatic. After obtaining a divorce from this wretched woman, whose hand he had secured by artifice, the prince took for his third wife, the Princess Charlotte of Bourbon, daughter of the Duke of Montpensier, the most zealous of the Catholic princes of France. Forced to enter a convent in early life, she had become an abbess, but afterward joined the Prot- estants, and lived at the court of the Elector Palatine of Germany. Her vows as a nun being declared illegal by the French bishops, and her father having abandoned her, the princess felt free to accept Orange's offer of marriage, which was made by a letter presented by his friend St. Aldegonde. The match gave great offence to the Land- grave of Hesse and the. Elector of Saxony, uncle and grand- father of the prince's divorced wife, and his brother John urged him not to imperil his interests and the Protestant cause by opposing their wishes. But William resolved to gratify his own tastes in the matter, though in so doing he alienated the German princes and provoked the French gov- ernment. The marriage accordingly took place at Brill on the 12th of June, the wedding festival being held at Dort, with all sorts of gayeties except dancing. An event which occurred in the North of Holland about this time showed the bad effect of Alva's example on the governor of that portion of the country. This man, Diedrich Sonoy, having discovered a conspiracy in aid of a Spanish invasion, set up an imitation Council of Blood, and thus cruelly tortured the innocent as well as the guilty. Orange promptly stopped these atrocities ; but Sonoy was not a Hol- lander, and his power and services to the patriot cause made it unsafe for the government to punish him. An even more daring Spanish expedition than that over the Drowned Land was successful against some of the islands of 1 84 History of the Netherlands. Zealand during the year. Traitors showed the Grand Com- mander the way to avoid the fleet which was in a position to defeat his skilful plans. The invaders marched in midnight darkness, Sept. 27, 1575, breast-high through the water. Though assailed by the bold islanders not only with firearms, but with harpoons, boat-hooks, and even with flails, the Spaniards, under Don Osorio d'Ulloa, captured both Duive- land and Schouwen. The states' troops fled in terror to the city of Zierickzee, which was soon closely besieged by Mon- dragon. This expedition cut the province of Zealand in two, and gave the enemy a foothold on the ocean. These misfortunes forced the prince and the states, early in October, to seek foreign aid, as their own means were nearly exhausted. It was the first attempt to throw off the yoke of Spain, and was reluctantly made -by the two loyal little provinces that Philip's tyranny had alienated. The idea of independence was not then thought of, the only change proposed being from one monarch to another. England was first approached, the appeal to the queen being based on her leading Protestant position and descent from Philippa of Hainault, wife of Edward III. Requesens sent Champagny, brother of Cardinal Granvelle, to oppose this application. Elizabeth, as Orange expected, trifled with the states' envoys, who returned April 19, 1576, after four months' absence. Her fear of Philip's aiding her own rebels in Scotland was stronger than her sympathy with the struggling provinces or her dread of their acquisition by France, where the revolt of the Duke of Alencon, brother of Henry III., blocked their negotiations. Queen Elizabeth's refusal of her promised aid severely crippled their fleet. Their commerce was preyed upon by English Catholic privateers, whose cruelties incited retaliation. An embargo having been laid on all Dutch ves- sels in English waters, the Prince of Orange seized the Lon- don merchant fleet in the Scheldt, valued at a million dollars. CITY GATE. I8 5 1576. Death of the Grand Commander. 187 Under threat of war the ships were released, but the incensed queen now half resolved to capture Flushing, and make terms with Philip. Meanwhile, Requesens, whose army received most of its supplies from England, was angry at the com- plaints of outrages of his troops in the obedient provinces, in response to his demands for money. " Oh, these estates ! these estates ! " he cried, "may the Lord deliver me from these estates ! " Yet he had gained ground since the great mutiny of his troops two years before, which had obliged him to exact a loan of four hundred thousand crowns from the authorities of Antwerp to pay their arrears of wages. As the only means of saving his country from the clutches of Spain, William the Silent had formed a desperate resolve. It was to embark the entire population of Holland and Zea- land, with their effects, on board the various vessels which could be collected in the Netherlands, and sail across the ocean to some land beyond the reach of the tyrant. Before leaving for their new homes, the people were to burn the windmills, cut through the dykes, and open the sluices, so that there should be nothing left to Philip but a watery waste. This sublime resolve, which might have changed the history of America as well as of Europe, was destined not to be carried out. Its fulfilment was prevented by the death of the Grand Commander, Requesens. He was taken off by a fever, March 5, 1576, at the age of fifty-one, after ruling the Netherlands for about two years and a half. Though ham- pered by mutinous troops and Philip's neglect, he had seri- ously weakened the national cause. His character was strongly marked in his face, which had an expression of mingled dignity and mildness, and his ability and prudence have been generally recognized. 1 1 u Requesens," says the judicious De Thou, " was a man of extreme mod- eration and great experience, and had induced the king to send him to the Netherlands to win them back to their allegiance by reversing the policy of 1 88 History of the Netherlands. The king's delay in appointing a new governor was of great advantage to the patriots, as the' ruling council of state was almost wholly composed of their own countrymen. Philip was confirmed in his stationary policy by the advice of Joachim Hopper, a learned jurist, who, though long chief of the Neth- erland bureau, had little business capacity. The danger was perceived by his master, Viglius, the shrewd old counsellor of the regent, who said sadly, " The Prince of Orange and his beggars do not sleep, nor will they be quiet, till they have used this chance to do us a great injury." Though only a part of Holland and Zealand was under his control, Haarlem and the disloyal Amsterdam being in the enemy's hands, William the Silent toiled to unite the fifteen loyal provinces against Philip. Despite the poverty of the two little sand- banks which he still ruled, the ruined dykes were rebuilt, and a law was passed to prevent for some time the slaughter of cattle, sheep, and poultry, which had become very scarce. A new and more perfect union was formed between Holland and Zealand, April 25, 1576. This gave representation in the states to the cities and the nobility, but conferred supreme power on " Father William," as the people called their beloved prince. Though Protestantism was declared to be the reli- gion of the country, he prevented the persecution of Cath- olics. He also opened negotiations with the French Duke of Alencon, and sent a fleet, under Admiral Boisot, to relieve the city of Zierickzee. But the gallant admiral perished in the attempt, and the most important place in Zealand fell into the hands of the enemy on the 21st of June. A terrible Alva. But he found the fires of revolt fiercer than ever. The wounds inflicted by the duke's tyranny were still bleeding. In order to maintain the royal au- thority in the provinces, he was forced to sustain a war which his predecessor had begun, and the Flemings, feeling only the continuance of the conflict, did not understand the change of policy." — " Histoire Universelle," torn. vii. p. 364, Londres, 1734. MATCHLOCK. i57 6 - Fierce Spanish Mutineers. 191 mutiny among their own troops soon forced them to aban- don the country. Rendered desperate by want of money, the unpaid Spanish soldiers in Zealand swarmed into Brabant, where they com- mitted such outrages that the king denounced them as trai- tors and murderers. He tried to soothe the enraged people by promises to quell the disturbances and right their wrongs. Meanwhile the mutiny became general. Bloody contests took place between reckless soldiers and indignant citizens. Orange urged the states to unite against the Spaniards. His troops boldly imprisoned most of the state-council, suspected of favoring the enemy, in Brussels, September 5, and thus destroyed the Council of Blood. They aided also in the attack on the citadel of Ghent, the prince having given or- ders that the Catholic and Protestant worship should be equally respected. The castles of Antwerp, Valenciennes, Utrecht, Culemburg, Viane, and Alost were also in the hands of the mutineers. While the siege of the fortress of Ghent was being pressed, the congress of the provinces opened its session in the city about the middle of October. It was a period of uncertainty and alarm. Maestricht, which had been wrested from the Spaniards, was recaptured and brutally punished. Antwerp, the richest city in the world, was in danger from the Spanish mutineers, who held its citadel and neighboring fortifications. A conspiracy to betray the place nearly succeeded through the dulness of one of its commanders and the treachery of another. Although about six thousand soldiers came to the aid of Antwerp from Brussels, little confidence was placed in these fiery but unsteady troops, who were commanded by the incapable Marquis of Havre\ They were Walloons from those Belgic provinces that had always been more noted for ardor than endurance. Champagny, the governor of Antwerp, though a Catholic and the brother of Cardinal Granvelle, hated the Spaniards, and was eager to aid in their expulsion. 192 . History of the Netherlands. To defend the city against the citadel, barriers were built under fire from the enemy's guns. These were simply breast- works, which women had aided the men in erecting, and against which were piled bales of goods, casks of earth, and upturned wagons. Owing to the neglect of his Walloon officers Champagny was obliged to enlist citizens in the work of mounting cannon to bombard the castle. Before long, three thousand mutineers from a distance suc- ceeded in joining their brethren in the citadel. They were under the command of Navarrete, their " Eletto," or chosen chief, and,, as they marched, the green branches which they had placed in their helmets as presages of victory gave them the appearance of a moving wood. These fierce soldiers had sworn not to eat or drink till they had entered the castle. Nearly six thousand Spanish veterans soon rushed furiously upon the city, crushing down the barriers and scattering the Walloon troops like chaff before the wind. As they clattered through the streets the invaders shouted fiercely, " St. James, Spain, blood, flesh, fire, sack ! ! " Even the faithful German soldiers were swept on in the tide of retreat which the gallant Champagny vainly tried to check. The poorly armed citizens fought desperately, but could not withstand the ferocious Spaniards, who were joined by a band of treacherous Ger- mans. Overwhelmed by trampling cavalry and fierce infan- try, the devoted burghers died bravely for their homes. The fight became a massacre which reddened the pavements. Pressed by their furious pursuers, hundreds plunged into the river Scheldt. Champagny was fortunate enough to escape to the fleet of the Prince of Orange. A desperate stand was made by the defenders of Antwerp in the great square about the city hall. They shot down their assailants from the windows and balconies of houses. The invaders, who had brought torches and kindling materials with them, now set fire to the superb palaces of the guilds on la HELMET. 193 1576- The " Spanish Fury!' 195 the square. The flames spread to the streets leading to the docks, and lighted up the butchery of men, women, and chil- dren. Eight thousand persons were slaughtered, burned, and drowned in the three days of this terrible massacre, which was prompted by greed for gold. Frightful tortures were used to discover hidden treasure. Six million dollars' worth of property was consumed by the flames, and as much more seized by the soldiers. Catholics and Protestants, for- eigners and natives, were alike plundered. The splendid city was made a wreck. Five hundred marble palaces, among them the magnificent City Hall, were blackened ruins. The streets and squares were lined with dead bodies. Riot and gaming followed murder and pillage in the five days' sack of Antwerp, which began on the 3d of November. The ter- rible scourge that had thus crushed the rich and prosperous city was aptly called the Spanish Fury. It was the most frightful atrocity yet committed in the Netherlands, and, strange to say, only two hundred of the wretches who per- petrated it were killed. Had the brave burghers been prop- erly led and armed they could not have suffered so terribly. One of the officers captured by the invaders was Philip, Count Egmont, elder son of the famous victim of the king's tyranny. Among the killed was the " Eletto," who fell in the first attack on the barricades, with his standard, which was emblazoned with the image of the crucified Saviour and of the Virgin Mary. Jerome de Roda, the escaped state councillor, who had assumed the governorship of the prov- inces, wrote a glowing account of the affair to Philip, praising D'Avila, Romero, Vargas, and other leaders of the massacre. The Spanish Fury roused the horror-stricken Netherlanders to rally round the Prince of Orange, whose efforts for union were untiring. By the celebrated treaty called the Pacifica- tion of Ghent, which was concluded on Nov. 8, 1576, the 196 History of the Netherlands. very day of the capture of the citadel, Protestantism was privately permitted in the fifteen Catholic provinces and recognized as the creed of Holland and Zealand. The In- quisition was abolished, recent confiscations of property were annulled, and the expulsion of the Spaniards resolved upon. These results were largely due to William the Silent, who now saw his great work welcomed with joy throughout the Netherlands, which were once more united in his support. The recovery of the greater part of Zealand from the invaders whom the mutiny had left almost powerless, added to the general enthusiasm. Everything looked favorable for the provinces, but a cloud had already appeared to darken their prospects. CHAPTER XIV. DON JOHN OF AUSTRIA. The day before the Antwerp massacre an Italian cavalier, accompanied by six soldiers and a swarthy-looking man" who was apparently a Moorish slave, rode into Luxemburg, a border city of the Netherlands. The supposed slave, who had stained his fair hair and face to avoid recognition while passing through France, was the new Spanish governor of the provinces. He was now approaching thirty years of age, of middle height, and well proportioned. His eyes were blue and sparkling, and his bright curling locks clustered about his ample forehead and hung down upon his graceful shoulders. The disguise he wore suited his romantic and adventurous disposition ; for the pretended slave was a son of the Emperor Charles V., and, though intended for the church, had become renowned as a soldier. After triumphing over the rebellious Moors in Spain, he had won world-wide fame in the great naval battle of Lepanto, which broke the spell of the power of the Turks, who had long been the terror of Europe. Though the Christian fleet numbered such veteran generals and admi- ■ rals as the Spaniards Santa Cruz and Requesens, the Vene- tians Venieri and Barbarigo, the Roman Colonna, and that dreaded scourge of the Moslems, the illustrious Genoese, John Andrew Doria, Pope Pius V., the chief of the Holy League, had at Philip's request conferred the command upon 198 History of the Netherlands. his youthful half-brother. The result justified the choice ; for the victory was overwhelming. 1 Six hundred vessels of war, carrying two hundred thousand men, were engaged in the terrific conflict. Yet no holiday pageant could be more picturesque than the appearance of the great fleets as they swept on to the bloodiest sea-fight of modern times. The white turbans and embroidered tunics of the swarthy Ottomans, their gilded bows, polished Damas- cus scimetars, and crests of jewels, formed a vivid contrast to the steel helmets and breastplates of the Spaniards, which, with their arquebuses and Toledo blades, flashed in the October sunlight. The gorgeous ensigns of the rival religions gave a deeper impressiveness to the splendid scene. Above the Mussulman host floated the famous banner of the Prophet, the " holy of holies," covered with texts from the Koran in golden letters, and inscribed with twenty-eight thousand nine hundred impressions of the sacred name of Allah. The Christians reared aloft the great standard of the Holy League which had been presented by the Pope, with his blessing, to his faithful followers. - This splendid array was set off by the glories of a landscape gilded with the charm of classic asso- ciation. In those Ionian seas, beneath the sun-lit heights of Actium, Antony and Octavius had contended for the empire of the world sixteen hundred years before, and now the em- blazoned banners of the Crescent and the Cross were raised in a still more momentous struggle. After kneeling in prayer with his whole fleet, Don John, ably supported by his allies, rushed furiously into battle, amid the roar and smoke of cannon. With reckless courage he ran his galley alongside the great ship of Ali Pasha, the Turk- 1 "The Turks," says Ranke, in his "Ottoman and Spanish Monarchies," " lost all their old confidence after the battle of Lepanto. They had no equal to oppose to Don John of Austria. The day of Lepanto shattered the Ottoman supremacy." — " FUrsten u. Volker von Siid-Europa," b. i. s. 79. Berlin, 1857. DON JOHN BOARDING THE TURKISH SHIP. I99 1576. The Battle of Lepanto. 201 ish admiral, and though attacked by seven other large vessels, came off victorious. The galley of the Moslem chief was destroyed, and his head was brought to Don John as a trophy. Horrified at the sight, the chivalrous young com- mander exclaimed, " Of what use can such a present be to me?" and ordered it thrown into the sea. But his order was disobeyed; and the ghastly object, raised aloft on a pike, became the signal for the complete overthrow of the enemy. The battle of Lepanto took place on Sunday the 7th of October, 15 71. A youth of twenty-four was that day fighting on board one of Don John's galleys as a common soldier, who was to confer greater glory upon Spain than any of the states- men and warriors who have given her renown. This was Cervantes, the immortal author of " Don Quixote," who then received a wound which disabled his left hand for life. His valor and devotion were nobly shown in that great battle and in four years more of active service in the war. He was then captured by the Algerines, and suffered a long and cruel im- prisonment. It was not till the death of Philip II. had al- layed the blighting influence of his despotism upon Spain that the humble soldier of Lepanto wrote the great romance which has charmed the world by its humor, sentiment, and pathos. Don John's conduct after his great victory showed his noble-hearted nature. He was unwearied in his care for the sick and wounded, and was very kind to Venieri, the passionate Venetian captain-general, whom he had been obliged to correct a few days before the battle. The two captive sons of the Turkish admiral — who, like all the prison- ers, were doomed to slavery — were released through the considerate commander's efforts. His chivalrous courtesy to these orphan youths was deeply appreciated by their sister, who had sent him a costly present, which he gave to the younger of her two brothers, a lad of thirteen. Don John's 202 History of the Netherlands. own share of the rich booty of Lepanto was, by his orders, distributed among the captors, and the thirty thousand crowns presented to him by the city of Messina were de- voted to the relief of the suffering survivors of the great bat- tle. The victor now proved by his attention to study and business, and his interest in the society of statesmen and men of science, amid the round of pleasuring, that his ambi- tion was above that of a mere warrior. Though Don John's father was an emperor, his mother, Barbara Blomberg, was of extremely humble birth. She had attracted Charles V. by her singing ; but her temper proved to be so harsh and discordant that even the terrible Alva stood in awe of her. Her bastard son had been brought up in charge of Louis Quixada, one of the emperor's trusty offi- cers, who held the secret of his birth. While riding out one day to see the royal hunt, the youth was astonished at his sudden deference to him. This surprise was increased when the king rode up, and, after some confusing inquiries, embraced him as a brother and the son of his imperial Majesty, Charles V. The lad was then only thirteen years old, and at twenty-two Philip opened to him the warlike career in which he was to win celebrity. Don John of Austria, this bold crusader, was in Italy dream- ing of the conquest of heretical England, of dethroning Elizabeth, and freeing and marrying Mary Queen of Scots as its sovereign, when he heard of his appointment as gov- ernor-general of the Netherlands. With daring confidence he pushed on after receiving his instructions, in the hope of settling affairs there in time to use the Spanish troops for carrying out his scheme of foreign conquest. But he had arrived too late : the terrible outrages of the Spanish troops had united the provinces against Philip. Yet the king was still bent' on conciliation, and had selected Don John be- cause, as the magnanimous son of the emperor, Charles V., DON JOHN OF AUSTRIA, 203 1576. Don John s Difficulties. 20$ his personal fascinations would be potent with the people. Cardinal Granvelle, who approved the choice, wrote that, as Don John went without an army, his mission was evidently peaceful. The king had, in fact, hesitated about sending the conqueror of Lepanto to the Netherlands, lest his concilia- tory purposes should be doubted. His secret instructions to the new governor showed that he did not intend to tol- erate heresy, but he believed this would disappear before his clemency. But the Prince of Orange feared that if the Catholic provinces submitted to Philip they would aid in bringing Holland and Zealand under his persecuting tyranny. Distrusting both the king and the governor, he warned the states-general against them. He even advised the seizure of Don John's person as a means of bringing Philip to terms. He urged that no agreement should be made with the gov- ernor till the foreign troops had been sent away. " Beware meantime," he added, "of disbanding your own; for that would put the knife into his hands to cut your throats." Fearing that the Netherlanders would attempt to capture him, as they had attempted to capture his predecessors, Alva and Requesens, the governor, had, on his arrival at Luxemburg, demanded hostages for his security. This demand was urged by Orange as a fresh reason for distrusting him. Don John's readiness to listen to the deputies of the states-general made them bold even to insolence. One advised the governor to desert the king's cause, and assume the sovereignty himself. This insulting suggestion so enraged the chivalrous soldier that he was with difficulty prevented from chastising the offender on the spot. One of the proud nobles declared that Don John's illegitimate birth and inferior rank should cause his rejection as governor-general. These affronts nat- urally roused his indignation. While the negotiations were going on, early in January, 1577, the leading men in all the provinces formed a league 2o6 History of the Netherlands. for the purpose of enforcing the national rights. An agree- ment was extensively signed, pledging the people to expel the Spaniards without delay, and to maintain the liberties of the country under the Catholic religion and the king's authority. This celebrated act was called the " Union of Brussels." After fierce disputes, which came near ending in blows, Don John agreed to send the Spanish troops out of the country and confirm the Pacification of Ghent. The states had secured his support of the famous treaty by written as- surances from the professors of the University of Louvain, and nearly all the Catholic clergy of the Netherlands, that it did not impair the supremacy of the ancient religion, and a declaration from the state council that it did not interfere with Philip's sovereignty. The concessions of the fiery gov- ernor pleased the states-general so much that they signed at Marche en Famine, Feb. 12, 1577, a treaty called the "Per- petual Edict," before ascertaining what William of Orange thought of it. The prince was sadly disappointed with this act, which guaranteed the national rights, the departure of the foreign troops, the maintenance of the Pacification of Ghent in the interest of the Catholic religion and of the king's authority, and the acceptance of the governor-general. He had lately read a number of intercepted letters from Philip, Don John, and other Spanish dignitaries, which re- newed his suspicion of their bad faith. 1 His objections to the Perpetual Edict were that it swept away the religious freedom which was assured by the treaty of Ghent, and exposed Holland and Zealand to bloody persecution, while restoring to the king the fortresses that overawed the great 1 These letters, however, do not, in the opinion of a candid Dutch scholar who has thrown much light on Netherland history, reflect on Don John's in- tegrity. His nature, it is truthfully said, was impetuous, but not deceitful. — Groen van Prinsterer, "Archives de la Maison d' Orange-Nassau," torn. v. PP- 477, 478. 1577- Intrigues of Queen Elizabeth. 207 cities. He agreed, however, in the name of these two prov- inces, to sign the Edict provided the states-general would promise to hold aloof from Don John and drive out the Spanish troops, if they did not depart within the time fixed upon. Though the king confirmed the short-lived treaty, the prince kept Holland and Zealand from accepting it. The success of Don John with the states was partly due to the intrigues of Elizabeth of England. She wished the prov- inces to remain in Philip's control, and had loaned them two hundred thousand dollars in order that his troops might be sent away and all difficulties settled. The queen was afraid of Protestant agitation, and sought safety in secret assurances to both parties that her sympathies were with them alone. William the Silent warned her of the danger of trusting in selfish princes ; but she could not understand his devotion to the great cause of religious liberty. Don John was now eager to secure the support of Orange. " This is the pilot," he wrote to Philip, " who guides the bark. He alone can wreck or save it. The greatest obstacles would be removed if he could be gained." There was a learned professor at the University of Louvain, Doctor Elbertus Leo- ninus, whom Requesens had once sent on a fruitless mission to the prince, and Don John now resolved to try the effect of his logic and persuasion on the accomplished rebel. He was instructed to offer the most tempting rewards to Orange if he would aid the royal cause, and to threaten the ruin of himself and his family if he persisted in his evil courses. Don John sincerely desired to pacify the provinces ; but he could not see, as William did, the danger of yielding their liberties to the bigoted Philip. It was first intended to offer to invest the kidnapped Count of Buren •with his father's rank and dignities in the Netherlands, on condition of his retiring into Germany ; but the time had gone by for such a pol- icy. The learned professor's mission proved a failure. Dis- 2o8 History of tlie Netherlands. trusting Don John's sincerity, the prince reminded his agent of the treachery by which Egmont and Horn, the con- federate nobles, and Admiral Coligny, had suffered. He added that he should lay the matter before the states of Holland and Zealand, whose liberties were threatened by the Perpetual Edict and the intrigues of leading Catholics. 1 Though Don John was not to become governor-general till the removal of the Spanish troops, he found nobles and courtiers eager for his honors and offices. The people, too, were fascinated by the emperor's son, who had come forward without a guard of soldiers to appeal to their loyalty. Yet he could not bend the integrity of William of Orange. While captivating the multitude with his charming manners and handsome face, and by his interest in their festive gatherings, he feared the deeper influence of the Silent Prince. Like his imperial father, Don John had won the golden popinjay, the prize of skill with the cross-bow among the merry Flemish burghers. At a grand festival of the military guilds at Lou- vain, this new king of the cross-bowmen for the year was welcomed as a messenger of peace. To the surprise of the prince, Don John kept his promise to send away the Spanish troops, and even advanced money for this purpose. Though both the king and the states were slow in providing means for their removal, the hated soldiery at last quitted the country, towards the end of April, 1577. The joy of the people at their departure was lessened by the thought that ten thousand German soldiers were left behind in the royal service. The states-general had insisted that the Spaniards should go by land, though the governor's secret 1 There is an interesting account of these and later negotiations in the preface to vol. iii. of Gachard, " Correspondance de Guillaume le Taciturne," chap. ix. ? with extracts from Don John's letters. Considering his excitable nature, he showed great moderation, and Gachard remarks that the attitude of William the Silent was one cause of his resorting to desperate measures. 14 HALL OF STATES, MIDDLEBURG. 209 1577- Death and Character of Vigtins. 211 plan was to embark them for the invasion of England. Don John was now greeted with gay festivities, as a liberator, on his May-day entrance into Brussels, and three days afterward took the oath as governor-general. Yet he distrusted alike the time-serving courtiers and the honest burghers. He was disgusted with the drinking habits of the Netherlanders. In his private letters he described them as " drunkards " and " wine-skins," and with Spanish exaggeration declared that he was in hell among a pack of scoundrels. "Is this the prince who will give us peace?" sneeringly asked the old state-councillor Viglius, as the victor of Lepanto made his triumphal entry into Brussels. The aged jurist had no confidence in the young soldier. A week afterward, Viglius was dead. More than half of his seventy years had been spent in public life, and he had passed safely through perils which had proved fatal to many of his associates. But, though long prominent in the affairs of the Netherlands, he was a politician rather than a statesman or patriot. His learning and ability were used for his own aggrandizement and the oppression of his country. He had sustained the Inquisition and the edicts, favored the retention of the Spanish troops, assisted in forming the Council of Blood, and furnished Philip with legal pretences for the execution of Egmont and Horn. Although opposed to Alva's system of taxation, because he was shrewd enough to foresee its failure, and advocating a general pardon for the rebels, he remained in the state council and profited by its abuses. Acquiring rich benefices in the Catholic Church, he appropriated their valuables, and was accused of bestowing them on his hereti- cal relatives. Naturally timid, his greed for gain made him a tool of despotic power ; and, though he established a col- lege and a hospital, he was too selfish to be truly benevolent. Philip of Spain had a trusted secretary of state named Antonio Perez. He not only convinced the suspicious king 212 History of the Netherlands. that Don John and his secretary, Escovedo, were plotting treason, but, being an artful as well as a treacherous villain, succeeded in deceiving all three of them. The confiden- tial letters which Perez encouraged the governor and his secretary to write to him were adroitly turned against them. Don John's eagerness to leave the Netherlands, his urgent requests for money, and plan to seize the English crown, were represented as part of a conspiracy to dethrone Philip. This is what Perez wrote to Escovedo about the king's scheme of assassinating William the Silent : " Always bear in mind the need of finding a good occasion for finishing Or- ange ; since, beside the service to our master and the states, it will be worth something to ourselves." In reply Don John's secretary wrote, " You know that the finishing of Orange is very near my heart ; " adding that he should never forget the job, but that it would be hard to find a proper person to take the risk. All this time Don John himself was afraid of being seized by the rebels. " The people here," he wrote, " seem be- witched by the Princft of Orange. They love him, they fear him, and wish to have him for their master. They inform him of everything, and take no resolution without consulting him." The prince meanwhile was busy in inspiriting the people, though his family and friends were. anxious for the safety of his life. His son, who was still forced to remain in Spain, had not yet ceased to comfort him, despite Philip's efforts for ten years to destroy his love of home. In fact, the young man had thrown out of the window and killed the captain of his Spanish guard, who had dared to speak against his dear absent father. So eager was the king to retain the youth that Don John had early insisted that the states should agree to prevent Orange from trying to rescue him. In his objections to the Perpetual Edict, the prince had referred to [577- Religious Persecution Renewed. 213 his son's captivity as a menace to the life and liberty of every man in the country. He was never to behold his beloved boy again ; but, could he have foreseen that Philip's arts would turn his hatred of the Spaniards into opposition to his coun- try's cause, the great patriot would have sooner seen him in his grave. Orange steadfastly opposed the submission of the fifteen Catholic provinces to Don John, because the peace thus obtained would be only a cover for an assault on the liber- ties of Holland and Zealand. The religious toleration se- cured by the Pacification of Ghent was endangered by fanatics on both sides. William was complained of even by such a statesman as his friend St. Aldegonde, for refusing to exclude the Anabaptists in Holland from citizenship at the demand of other Protestant zealots. His second peace mission to the prince having failed, Don John wrote to the king that Orange was full of hatred to his majesty. Re- ligious persecution was again employed to subdue the people, a poor tailor in Mechlin being beheaded June 15, in pres- ence of the governor, for refusing to give up the names of the preachers at a heretical meeting which he had attended ; yet the intimate friends of William the Silent were displeased at his efforts to prevent the execution. Don John, sustained by the Bishop of Arras, declared that it was justified by the Pacification of Ghent, which forbade the preaching of heresy or any interference with the ancient religion and the public peace in the Catholic provinces. The Prince of Orange had wisely strengthened his cause by popular aid. Although the nobles generally hated the Spaniards, lack of sympathy with the people made them dally with the two parties as self-interest prompted. Even Don John distrusted the grandees who held the great Nether- land fortresses for Spain. He therefore intrigued with the German garrisons to surrender them to him. The needy 214 History of the Netherlands. states were in debt to these troops ; but the leading officers rejected their fair offer of settlement, in consequence of Don John's warning that this was part of a scheme to destroy them. The governor was, however, still in dread of being captured, if not assassinated. His fears were increased by- plots for his imprisonment told him by the Duke of Aerschot, the commander of the Antwerp citadel. Yet this leading Catholic grandee also revealed to the Prince of Orange the •secret plans of his enemies. He was eager to gain favor with both parties ; but neither had confidence in him. Don John's alarm for his safety at last made him flee from Brussels to Mechlin in May, and a month later to Namur. There he seized, early in July, the famous citadel which the states, against the protests of Orange, had failed to secure. The romantic governor had entertained sumptuously the fascinating Margaret of Valois, the French Queen of Na- varre, who visited his dominions to intrigue for her brother, the Duke of Alencon, as an aspirant for the Netherland sov- ereignty. The crusader's hospitality to her was a cloak for his attempt on the casile. About the time that Don John was taking one of his own fortresses by stratagem his secretary, Escovedo, set out for Spain. Some eight months afterward Perez, having failed to poison the poor dupe at meal-time, had him assassinated on the 31st of March, 1578, by hired ruffians in the streets of Madrid. The crime was committed by secret order of Philip, who had been led by Perez to believe that Escove- do's visit was part of a plot with Don John to dethrone him. The real reason for the assassination was that Escovedo had discovered an amorous intrigue of Perez, and threat- ened to reveal it to the king. The assassins were hand- somely rewarded by Philip, whom this amour affected. The Prince of Orange had busied himself with directing the rebuilding of the dykes in Holland and Zealand, which 1577- Welcome to " Father William!' 21 7 had been destroyed for protection against the enemy. On the completion of this toilsome and costly work, he made a tour through the provinces, in the summer of 1577, byre- quest of the people. Wherever he went he was greeted with the loving welcome of men, women, and children, who hailed him as " Father William," their preserver. While visiting Utrecht, an alarming accident assured him of the loyalty of that doubtful province. On entering the ancient city, amid the roar of artillery, a shot passed through his carriage-window, striking him on the breast. His terrified wife, who had feared an assault, threw her arms about his neck, crying, "We are betrayed!" But the prince com- forted her by showing that a wad from one of the can- non of welcome had caused her alarm. Amid the joyful greeting of the multitude, a fatal accident occurred. A little child fell from a high balcony to the street, in front of the prince's carriage, and was instantly killed. William jumped from his seat as the procession stopped, clasped the body in his arms, and delivered it with tender words and looks to the sorrowing parents. Utrecht soon granted the demands of Orange for religious toleration, the treaty of " Satisfaction " being signed on the 9th of October. Meanwhile the prince warned the states-general against the designs of Don John, who had justified his seizure of the castle of Namur by fears for his safety and the plots of Orange. Both parties complained of violations of the Pacifi- cation of Ghent. Intercepted letters of the governor-general put the states on their guard against him. Distrusting the Duke of Aerschot, Don John had brought him from Antwerp to Namur, at the time of his visit to Margaret of Valois, and left the citadel in charge of the Lord of Treslong, an un- doubted royalist. He had then sent Van Ende, the treacher- ous German, whose cavalry had butchered the citizens in the Antwerp Fury, to aid in securing the city. But the magis- 2 1 8 History of the Netherlands. trates refused to admit the faithless commander and his troops despite the request of the governor-general, and they were afterward dispersed by the states' forces. One of the officers in the castle then intrigued with the Lord of Liede- kerke, the governor of Antwerp, to secure the stronghold by bribing the garrison. The attempt was successful, and Tres- long was imprisoned ; but there was danger that the unpaid German hirelings would revolt, and massacre the citizens. The terrified merchants had offered three hundred thousand crowns, half of which they were ready to pay down if the threatening troops who had barricaded themselves in the town would depart. With the gold in their hands they looked on at a safe distance, while their agents bargained with the officers. As the negotiations dragged along, the prince's fleet was seen approaching the city. " The beggars are coming ! " was the cry, as a shot from the squadron struck the barricades and startled the hireling soldiers, who fled in terror from the fierce Zealanders, without waiting for the proffered gold. Don John's bold demands upon the states were now scorn- fully rejected, his excuses and threats being alike unavailing. A few nobles like Berlaymont remained faithful to the gov- ernor-general, who bitterly bewailed the insolence and in- gratitude of the Netherlanders ; but the Duke of Aerschot and others made haste to desert his sinking cause. The hero of Lepanto honestly wished to overcome heresy and rebellion by peaceful means ; but he had provoked war by Ms seizure of Namur and his attempt upon Antwerp. As this policy had been forced upon him by the acts of Orange, Don John justified his course and sought to win over the alienated states. Meanwhile the principal fortresses which had enforced Spanish tyranny in the provinces were levelled to the ground by the patriots. This example was set by the authorities of Antwerp, in August, in destroying that part of 1577- Orange's Grand Reception in Brussels. 219 the great citadel which threatened their liberties. More than ten thousand persons of all ranks joined in the joyful work of deliverance. With fierce cries the statue of the hated Alva was dragged through the streets from the obscure corner where it had rested safely since it was thrown down by Re- quesens, and, after being battered by thousands of sledge- hammers, was again made into cannon. The states-general of the Netherlands, still loyal to Philip, had appealed to him for a redress of their grievances ; and, while acknowledging Don John's natural good qualities, they urged that his insolence and deception had unfitted him for the governorship ; and, though willing to abide by the king's decision, they begged that a legitimate prince of the blood should be appointed his successor. After eleven years' absence from Brussels, the splendid capita] which he had left under the ban of Philip, William of Orange returned there on the 23d of September, at the re- quest of the states-general for his presence and counsel. He had first promised their deputies that neither he nor the states of Holland and Zealand would allow interference with the Catholic religion and the public peace in the other prov- inces. He shrewdly declined, however, to promise to admit the Romish worship into the two Protestant provinces with- out the consent of their legislative assembly. Yet such were the fears for his life in the great city where his enemies had long held sway that the states of Holland and Zealand, after unwillingly consenting to his visit, had prayers offered daily for his safety in all their churches. Remaining a week in Antwerp, where he was warmly welcomed and entertained in princely style, he left for Brussels by the new canal in a stately barge, the members of his suite following in two others, all being gayly decorated. He had a glorious reception in the beautiful city. Nearly one half the population went several miles beyond the gates to welcome him. The nobility 220 History of ike Netherlands. greeted him on landing, and one of them presented him with a beautiful horse, on which he made his entry into Brussels, preceded by the members of the states-general and fol- lowed by the nobles and magistrates. Orange rode between Davison, the English envoy, and the Duke of Aerschot. Armed burghers acted as escort. The air rang with the plaudits of the multitude, and the guilds of rhetoric per- formed allegorical plays in theatres erected for the purpose along the route. In the grand square there was a superb display, every building being richly decorated. Splendid tapestries in the colors of Brussels ornamented the magnifi- cent City Hall, and the Brood-huis opposite, where Egmont and Horn had been confined, bore the colors of the illustri- ous guest. The Duke of Aerschot, who had greeted Don John five months before, entertained Orange at a grand ban- quet at which the most eminent public men were assembled to do him honor. In the evening great bonfires were lighted by the citizens as tokens of joy at the return of their beloved prince. It was the proudest day of his life. The people welcomed him as a protector in the provinces which he had left ten years before as a proscribed fugitive from despotic power. William of Orange -had arrived in time to put a stop to the nearly completed arrangements of the states with Don John. Instead of an uncertain peace, the prince was resolved upon open war. His demands for a restoration of the liberties of the people enraged the fiery governor thus summoned by insolent heretics and rebels to surrender the royal authority to the state council. He met this hostile challenge of the states by a haughty acceptance coupled with a rebuke of their professed attachment to the king and the Catholic religion. The states vindicated their course in a pamphlet published in seven different languages and sent to every ruler in Christen- dom. This was followed by an earnest reply from Don John. 1577- The Archduke Matthias. 221 Meanwhile the Catholic nobles, who were jealous of the influence of Orange with the people, had formed a plot to secure the youthful Archduke Matthias, brother of the Em- peror Rudolph II. of Germany, as sovereign of the Nether- lands. The archduke, who was only twenty years of age, blacked his face and stole away at midnight of the 3d of Oc- tober from Vienna, disguised as a servant. Queen Elizabeth of England was almost as angry as Don John at the news. As the Duke of Aleneon was also seeking the sovereignty of the provinces, she insisted that the Prince of Orange should be appointed lieutenant-general for the archduke, as a condition of continuing her aid to them. William the Silent welcomed the youthful intruder on his arrival in Antwerp as a means of combating his enemies among the nobles as well as the Spaniards. He thus avoided trouble with Germany while strengthening his cause at home. The prince's partisans in Brussels and other Flemish cities now took a bold step to bring Matthias under his control. They invaded the hall of the states of Brabant and forced them to elect Orange ruward or special governor of that province. Though William at first declined this almost dic- tatorial office, which had always been a stepping-stone to sovereignty, he accepted it as soon as the popular feeling in his favor became manifest. While the states-general were opposed to this irregular election, they feared to excite the wrath of the people of Brussels by rejecting their favorite. But though confirming him as ruward, they limited his term of power till the appointment of a governor-general. He was also required to preserve the public peace and main- tain the Catholic religion. 1 There were great rejoicings in 1 The fact that the election of Orange as ruward or ruwaert of Brabant was due to violence, though not mentioned by English and American historians of the Netherlands, has been clearly established by Belgian scholars. In fact, the prince himself, when charged in Philip's ban with securing his election "by 222 History of the Netherlands. the cities at their triumph, but the nobility and clergy were alarmed at this proof of the prince's popularity. Orange complained of the fickleness of the nobles, who, after alter- nately supporting and opposing him under Alva, Requesens, and Don John, had, in violation of their oaths, brought over the Austrian archduke. The Duke of Aerschot, the former governor of the Ant- werp citadel, who had played false with both parties, was the head of the conspirators who had brought Matthias from Vienna. He had been made governor of Flanders by the states-general against the will of the people, and had intrigued against Orange in Ghent, which still retained much of its old-time stormy power. Two ambitious young nobles, named Ryhove and Imbize, who hated the Catholics and Spaniards and were warm partisans of Orange, incited a tumult against Aerschot early in November, and would have set fire to his palace had he not given himself up to the revolutionists. He rushed out in his nightgown, his life being only saved from the fury of the mob by Ryhove, who was temporarily placed at the head of the government. Imbize, who arrested other great personages, was all-powerful in Ghent, and Orange had, a year before, earnestly appealed to him to use his influ- ence in Flanders for union against the Spaniards. Among the dignitaries imprisoned was old Hessels, the sleepy mem- force and tumult," did not deny that these means were employed, but declared in his memorable " Apology " that instead of seeking he had refused the office. His subsequent acceptance of it showed that he thought it was time to use this exalted position to baffle the designs of his enemies. The important fact, which even Motley does not mention, that Orange owed his election to a popu- lar tumult, is proved by Gachard, " Correspondance de Guillaume le Taciturne," torn iv., preface, p. lxvi., and by M. de Robaulx de Soumoy, the learned editor of " Memoires de Frederic Perrenot " (the famous Champagny), p. Ixix. Bruxelles, i860. It is noticeable that both these competent critics trace the prince's subtle agency in this uprising, as well as in the seizure of the Duke of Aerschot and other Catholic leaders, which had such serious results for the cause of liberty and union in the Netherlands. 1577- Arrest of Catholic Leaders. 223 ber of the infamous Council of Blood, who held high official position in Ghent. The discovery of a letter apparently writ- ten by him in great glee at the prospects of Don John's cause, under the rule of Aerschot, and the duke's imprudent talk against Orange, incited the revolt ; yet the letter was probably forged for the purpose. William the Silent, who had secretly encouraged Ryhove's violent measures, soon found that they had been carried too far. There was great indignation among the Catholics, whose persons and property were at the mercy of the mob. The imprisonment of nobles, bishops, and public officers alarmed the states-general, and even the council of Brussels felt bound to protest against it. Fearing that the patriot cause would be injured by their desperate acts, the prince requested the leaders of the insurrection to release the pris- oners. Yet the Duke of Aerschot was the only one then liberated, and -he was obliged to promise under his hand and seal to forgive his captors. Orange did not really desire to free the other captives, but he wished to appease the Catho- lics without offending his supporters in Ghent. He therefore wrote conciliatory letters to the leaders of the two parties. At the request of the estates of Flanders, the prince visited Ghent on the 29th of December, where he had a grand re- ception. Tar-barrels and torches blazed on his noonday passage through the streets. One of the guilds of rhetoric exhibited an allegorical drama in St. Jacob's church, the Inquisition, the Pacification, and other recent features of Netherland history being represented by persons in quaint costume, who addressed each other and the prince in pom- pous and punning verses. Through his efforts the states- general rejected the authority of Don John, and proclaimed him an enemy of the country on the 7th of December. Three days later a new or " Closer Union of Brussels " was formed, by which Catholics and Protestants met on the com- 224 History of the Netherlands. mon ground of opposition to foreign tyranny. For the first time in the history of the provinces the Reformed religion was recognized as possessing* equal rights with the Roman Church. This was unhappily the last union of all the Neth- erlands. It endured less than a month. In order to prevent the provinces from falling into the hands of the French Duke of Alencon, Queen Elizabeth of England resolved to aid them. On the 7th of January, 1578, a treaty was signed in London by which she agreed to issue bonds in their favor for half a million dollars, and to furnish six thousand troops with a commander of high rank, who was to become a member of the Netherland council of state. The provinces were to pay these troops and provide several cities as security for the queen's advances. They also agreed to give the same aid to England in case of a foreign attack, and furnish a fleet of forty ships should a naval war break out. The states further bound themselves to make no alliance without Elizabeth's knowledge, and to obtain her consent be- fore undertaking any important movement. According to a previous arrangement .the Prince of Orange was to be lieu- tenant-general for the young Matthias. English envoys were soon after sent to Philip and Don John to smooth over this affair. The Archduke Matthias had a brilliant reception at Brus- sels, January 18, on the eve of his installation, having pre- viously agreed to govern the provinces under a constitution which left all important powers in the hands of the states- general, although he was also to swear allegiance to the king. A cavalcade of dignitaries headed by the Prince of Orange escorted the new governor to the gay city past a shining array of troops. Merry music welcomed his entrance through a triumphal arch, and a grand civic procession with flaming torches gave warmth to this noonday greeting. The wintry pavements were strewn with flowers, and bright scarfs and 1578. Don John Prepares for War. 225 banners decorated the houses. Scenes from classic history and mythology, arranged by the guilds of rhetoric, were de- picted by gayly dressed young women in twenty-four theatres erected for the purpose in the great square. Bonfires, at which pigs and poultry were roasted, blazed in the streets amid feasting and dancing by the jovial people. The sudden flight of a fiery dragon through the air, and its explosion of blazing missiles, so frightened the honest burghers and their families, unused to such marvels of fireworks, that they fled for home as if pursued by an enemy. The next day Mat- thias and the Prince of Orange were sworn in, and on the next they attended a grand banquet given by the states- general at the City Hall, at which classical charades by the guilds of rhetoric amused and puzzled the guests. But this splendid pageant was soon followed by terrible reverses. The enraged hero of Lepanto resolved to crush the imperial archduke, this puppet of William the Silent. After writing to the Emperor Rudolph in complaint of his brother's usurpation, and venting his rage on the English en- voy for Elizabeth's treaty with the states, he issued a proc- lamation on the 25th of January, summoning the provinces to yield to the authority of the king and the Catholic re- ligion. He avowed himself a protector, not a tyrant, and offered pardon to all repentant citizens and soldiers. Though Don John's trials had made him thin and careworn, his mar- tial spirit rallied at the prospect of battling with the enemy. His army, which like that of the patriots numbered about twenty thousand men, bore the banner of the cross with the emblazoned inscription in Latin, recalling the mission of the bold crusader : " Under this sign I conquered the Turks ; under this sign I will conquer the heretics." Pope Gregory XIII. had issued a bull in favor of Don John, declaring the Netherlanders doomed like the Mussulmans to destruc- tion, and granting full pardon for all crimes to soldiers join- ing this crusade against them. 15 226 History of the Netherlands. Unfortunately for the patriots, their soldiers were mostly hirelings who enlisted for plunder, while their officers were great nobles, jealous of the influence of Orange. The army OLD HOUSES, AMSTERDAM. of Don John, on the contrary, consisted of veterans led by some of the ablest generals of the age. At the battle of Gemblours, Jan. 31, 1578, the Spaniards swept everything 1578. The Battle of Gemblours. 227 before them. This great victory was assured by the master- stroke of an old schoolfellow and comrade in arms of the victor of Lepanto, who was destined to play a brilliant part in Netherland history. He had but lately joined the army. Prince Alexander of Parma, who risked so much on that day, was with the main body under Don John of Austria. Dashing ahead, he saw that the enemy, in falling back to- wards Gemblours for a favorable fighting position, were hotly pressed by a few skirmishers while traversing the borders of a deep ravine. To avoid being forced into the miry gulf, the patriots had allowed their ranks to become disordered. With the quick glance of genius, Parma perceived the opportunity of disabling the foe. At the head of a few companies of cavalry he dashed into the gorge, crying to his despatch- bearer as he started, "Tell Don John of Austria that Alex- ander of Parma has plunged into the abyss, to perish there or to come forth again victorious." After struggling through the mire the prince hurled his sol- diers furiously upon the flank of the astonished patriots, who were being hard pressed in the rear. Their cavalry broke and fled under these assaults, thus dividing the remainder of the force. Parma now charged the exposed centre of the states' troops, sweeping them away like chaff. In the space of an hour and a half seven thousand patriots were killed or taken prisoners, while the Spaniards lost only ten or eleven men. Yet this victory, which was stained with great cruelty, was achieved by a small portion of the royalist force. Don John's triumphs excited fierce indignation against the Catholic leaders who had proved false to the patriot cause in the hour of need. The defeat at Gemblours, which shattered the "Union of Brussels " and wrecked the confederation of all the Netherlands, proved to have been partly due to the wilful absence of the chief commanders at a brilliant wed- ding in the gay capital. Had it not been for the efforts of 2,28 History of the Netherlands. Orange, they would have been destroyed by the furious populace. An offset to these evils was the peaceful recovery of the great city of Amsterdam, and the patriotic feeling which the recent defeat roused throughout the country. Yet, though toleration was secured for the Protestants in the Dutch capi- tal by the welcome "Satisfaction" of Feb. 8, 1578, their religious services were not allowed within the walls. The coveted burial of the dead was, however, permitted in these limits on condition that the funerals should be unpretentious and restricted to twenty-four persons. Philip II. now made a number of efforts to secure peace, but his refusal of re- ligious toleration blocked the way. Both parties, therefore, prepared for war. Don John had been furnished by the king, in reply to his complaints of lack of means, with nearly two million dollars, and was promised an additional supply of two hundred thousand monthly. With these sums an army of thirty thousand infantry, sixteen thousand cavalry, and thirty pieces of artillery was to be raised and supported. The artful king advised the liberal use of money to gain over the governors of rebel cities and fortresses. While Don John forbade the people from obeying the states, they were trying to secure aid from Protestant Germany ; but the Lutherans there had little sympathy with the struggling Calvinists in the provinces. As the Catholic magistrates of Amsterdam had, since their recent concessions to the patriots, shown signs of backsliding, one William Bardez, a warm partisan of Orange, resolved to turn them and the monks out of the city. Having -roused the citizens, the victims were easily secured. While on the way to the vessel which had been prepared for their recep- tion, the populace shouted, " To the gallows with them, to the gibbet, whither they have brought many a good fellow before his time ! " The prisoners, who expected hanging or drowning, 1578- Spread of Protestantism. 229 were released, after being taken some distance from the city and forbidden on pain of death to return. One of them, a former burgomaster of Amsterdam, had refused to receive some clean shirts which his wife had sent down to the vessel, exclaiming sadly to the servant, "Take them away; take them away. I shall never need clean shirts again in this world." The new magistrates in Amsterdam and Haarlem established Protestant worship in the churches and kept out the Catholic. Orange was opposed to this exclusion as unjust and illegal, and it was soon done away with. The Reformed religion was not only favored in Holland and Zealand, but it spread rapidly in other provinces. In Antwerp, where fifteen Protestant ministers had preached on a single Sunday, the burgomaster urged Orange to re- press the practice. "Do you think," replied the prince, "that I can do at this late day what the Duke of Alva could not at the height of his power? " William the Silent, however, had to use his authority with the magistrates of Middleburg, who belonged to the ruling Calvinist sect, to prevent them from persecuting the Anabaptists, a weaker body of Protestants. Don John of Austria, who had raised an army of nearly thirty thousand troops, sought in July to defeat the states' force of eighteen thousand before it could be reinforced by Duke Casimir's twelve thousand Germans. These troops had been sent by Queen Elizabeth instead of the English army which she had promised. The states were indignant at the change, for they had expected stalwart British soldiers, with the Earl of Leicester, her favorite, at their head. But the queen feared war with the powerful Philip II., and, not sym- pathizing with the devotion of his rebellious provinces to religious liberty, wished them to submit to Don John. They had been obliged to discount twenty-five per cent in raising money on her promised bonds, as Don Bernardino de Men- 230 History of the Netherlands. ENTRANCE TO THE HALL OF THE STATES, MIDDLEBURG. doza, the accomplished Spanish ambassador in England, had prevailed upon the London merchants who desired peace to 1578. The Famous Family of Fugger. 231 warn the Fuggers, 1 the great German bankers, that Elizabeth's agreement about the bonds could not be depended upon. This was in May, and in the following July the justice of these warnings became apparent. Mendoza induced the queen to refuse to issue these bonds to the states, and to oblige them to repay her advances. This attempt to prevent them from borrowing more money was a severe blow to the poor provinces, now forced to settle with their creditors at a heavy loss. 1 This famous mercantile family dates back to the first half of the fourteenth century, its founder, John Fugger, being a weaver of Graben, near Augs- burg. From making and dealing in cloths, the Fuggers became great mer- chants and financiers, having an extensive foreign commerce, and lending money to the German princes. They thus acquired such influence that they were ennobled by the Emperor Maximilian I. The two leading members of the family in the time of Charles V. gave him important aid in his foreign wars. He rewarded them with the privilege of coining money, and made them counts and princes of the empire. While attending the famous Diet of Augsburg he was a guest at the splendid palace of Anthony Fugger. The great finan- cier is said to have astonished the emperor by having a pile of rich cinnamon wood in his fireplace. " You will have a very costly fire," remarked the great monarch. " This will make it more costly, your Majesty," said the magnificent banker, as he took the emperor's bond for a large sum of money due him and calmly kindled a blaze with it. The two brothers, Anthony and Raymond, were liberal patrons of literature and art, collecting the two largest libraries in Germany, and paying great sums to Titian for a few pictures. There was a proverb, " As rich as a Fugger." The privileges granted to the family by Charles V. were confirmed by the Emperor Ferdinand I. Notwithstanding their princely rank, the Fuggers long continued their mercantile career. They had great establishments in Antwerp and Cologne, and when Don John of Austria drew bills in Philip's name on the Lombardy bankers for the ex- pense of removing the Spanish troops from the provinces, the Netherland house discounted them at almost as heavy a rate of interest as was afterward exacted by the German house from the states on Queen Elizabeth's bonds. The dan- ger of royal repudiation was naturally met by compensating charges on the part of the great bankers. The place of the Fuggers in international finance is partially occupied by the Rothschilds. The descendants of the weaver of Graben, and of the two brothers, Anthony and Raymond, are now represented in Germany by the princely houses of Kirchberg and Babenhausen, which have kept up the family reputation for liberality and done good service to the state. See the "Nouvelle Biographie Generate," torn, xix., Paris, 1857, for a detailed account of the Fuggers. 232 History of the Netherlands. Elizabeth's violation of her solemn agreement — for the issue of the bonds had been officially authorized — gave a great shock to English credit abroad. Sir Francis Walsingham, the Queen's Secretary of State, whom she had despatched with Lord Cobham on a peace mission to the states, thus wrote to Lord Treasurer Burleigh about the talk on the Antwerp Exchange : " It is said openly that if bonds which have passed under the great seal are not observed, no assur- ance whatever can be placed on her Majesty's promises. For her honor and the honor of the realm it had been better there had been given double value of them than this delay. We cannot excuse it. If she mean to desert the states here- after, which will be a very dishonorable and dangerous course, she ought to say so, and inhibit her agents from dealing with them hereafter." But the queen ridiculed the protests of Burleigh and Leicester, who told her that she was sacrificing her honor, dooming Walsingham 's mission to failure, and driving the states into the arms of France. The bonds were afterwards issued to save Burleigh and Walsing- ham from arrest threatened by the Cologne bankers, who held them responsible for the queen's engagements, but mean- time the states had to give Elizabeth the crown jewels of the House of Burgundy for security, and agreed to immediately repay her original loan of two hundred thousand dollars. On the first day of August, 1578, a battle was fought at Ry- menant in which Don John's army was repulsed, a thousand of his men being left dead on the field. His defeat was largely due to the valor of the English volunteers under Sir John Norris, who had three horses shot under him. The news of this success made Elizabeth resolve to send Leicester with twelve thousand troops to the aid of the provinces, but again she changed her mind from fear of trouble and expense. By an agreement signed at Mons on the 20th of August, the French Duke of Alengon was to aid the provinces against 1578. Treaty with Alencon. 233 the Spaniards with twelve thousand troops, one sixth being cavalry, for three months, and afterward with thirty-five hun- dred. The states were to give the same aid to him if necessary. His title was to be " Defender of the Liberty of the Netherlands against the Tyranny of the Spaniards and their adherents." He was, however, debarred from the internal government of the country. Only French troops were to be brought into the provinces, and the duke further agreed not to make war upon Queen Elizabeth. Should another prince be selected as sovereign by the states-general, his claims were to have the preference. By thus limiting Alen- con's powers the prince thwarted the plans of the Catholic nobles who had intrigued with him. As this arrangement left the states a month for making terms with Don John, Walsingham and Cobham, the English envoys, and Count Schwartzburg, representing the Emperor of Germany, urged him to accept them, and thus ward off the duke. But their treaty with Alencon, and the victory of Rymenant, had made the states so exacting that they offered to the high-spirited governor-general and his royal master only a nominal authority in the provinces. Broken in health, distressed by Philip's neglect and the news of the assas- sination of his dear friend Escovedo, Don John did not rebuke these bold demands with his usual fire. He told the German envoy that he should not discuss such unjust proposals, that the king meant to refer the Netherland troubles to the emperor, and that he himself was anxiously expecting to be recalled. The wise Walsingham was greatly impressed by Don John's bearing and conversation. " If pride do not overthrow him," wrote this keen observer to his colleague, Burleigh, " he is likely to prove a great person- age." Queen Elizabeth soon informed the states that she should no longer aid them. She had resolved to use Alen- con, who was also Duke of Anjou, as a means of manag- 234 History of the Netherlands, ing the rebellious provinces, and, failing him, to resort to Spain. A gleam of hope for religious peace in the Netherlands was seen in the plea for toleration urged by the first synod or convention of the Calvinist churches at Dort in June. Their petition to the archduke and the council of state was seconded by Orange, who caused Matthias to sign a measure enforcing liberty of worship, but forbidding out-door preach- ing and all words or acts likely to excite disturbance. Yet, as this policy was supposed to be a cover for encroachments on the popular rights, William the Silent had great trouble in carrying it out. His brother John was opposed to Catholic worship in Holland and Zealand; Champagny and other nobles were opposed to Protestant worship in the Belgic prov- inces, and their petition against it being mistaken for a mur- derous plot, they were arrested and imprisoned in Brussels, August 1 8. The people wrongly thought that Champagny, the gallant defender of Antwerp during the Spanish Fury, was in league with his brother, the hated Cardinal Granvelle. Orange soon had personal experience of this religious jeal- ousy. He had informed the states-general of his desire to have his infant daughter, Catharina Belgica, whom he had named in their honor, baptized in the Protestant faith in Antwerp, where it was .permitted by the recent treaty. The representatives of the Walloon or Southern provinces, being ultra-Catholic, refused to give their consent to the baptism. As they were in a minority, the ceremony was performed, the states-general, the envoys of England and of Duke Casimir taking part in the celebration. William the Silent Was pre- sented by the states-general with the county of Linghen for his daughter's benefit. Meanwhile Don John of Austria and the Netherland com- mander, Count Bossu, were hampered by want of money to move their troops. The unfortunate governor complained 1578. Death of Don John of Austria. 235 bitterly to the king of the neglect which had imperilled his life and the royal cause, and begged for instructions how to act. Philip, who had a habit of scrawling comments called apostilles on the margin of letters, underlined his brother's ap- peal and added, " The marked request I will not grant. I will not tell." While both armies were thus inactive, the con- queror of Lepanto, the son of the Emperor Charles V., was dying of fever and disappointment in a wretched hovel. Una- ble to obtain supplies to carry on the war, and hemmed in by the advance of the enemy, the despairing general sank under his physical and mental burdens. In his delirium he fancied he was leading his soldiers on to victory, and he only regained his reason in time to perform his last earthly duties. Just before his death, which took place Oct. 1, 1578, Don John appointed his nephew, Alexander of Parma, who had faithfully attended him in his illness, his successor in com- mand in the Netherlands. There were suspicions that the unhappy governor had been poisoned, but they were not well founded. Though honored with a splendid funeral in the provinces, his remains were not to rest there. The dying crusader had requested the king to have them buried in the palace of the Escurial by the side of his imperial father. "To avoid," says the Jesuit historian, Strada, "those vast expenses and ceremonious contentions of magistrates and priests at city gates that usually impede the progress of princes whether alive or dead," the orders of the prudent Philip resulted in a curious disposition of his brother's body. It was divided into three parts, packed in bags, and hung at the saddle-bows of troopers, who secretly transported it through France. On their arrival in Spain, according to the fanciful Strada, the bones of the gallant warrior were carefully put together with wires, and the body stuffed and arrayed in princely dress and armor. Supported by a military staff, the dead soldier was formally presented to the king, who then 236 History of the Netherlands. generously permitted him to retire to the tomb. But though buried by the side of- the Emperor Charles V., Don John had really found his grave in the provinces, where his heart had been interred. The romantic hero fell in a conflict in which his talents and accomplishments were of little service. His noble traits were obscured amid trials which forced him to the strife of politics with the consummate statesman whose lofty aims he was unable to appreciate. The impetuous soldier, un- used to statecraft, was driven by his subtle antagonist to acts which discredited him with the people whom he honestly wished to conciliate. Having had bitter experience of the king's perfidy, Orange labored to excite popular distrust of his representative. Every evidence of Don John's pacific purposes increased the prince's desire to compel him to hos- tilities that should make reconciliation impossible. To ad- vance his country's cause, and especially to prevent the Catholic provinces from a submission to Philip which would leave Protestant Holland and Zealand at his mercy, William the Silent employed all the arts of persuasion and intrigue of which he. was master. Don John's arrival in the provinces was at an unfortunate time for the success of his rule. The royal cause had just been weakened by the great mutiny and the outrages which had united the provinces against Philip, whose desire for peace made him withhold the necessary means for crushing the rebellion. Thus the fiery warrior wore himself away in a hopeless struggle with adverse cir- cumstances. History affords no more pathetic example of the caprice of fortune than the career of the low-born son of the mighty emperor Charles V., who at twenty-four had been pronounced by Alva the greatest general since Julius Caesar. The laurels of Lepanto were still fresh upon his brow when Philip in- trusted to him the great work of pacifying the Netherlands ; i57 8 - Character of Don yohn. 23/ and the pope, confiding to him the interests of the church, tempted his chivalrous ambition with the hope of freeing the captive Queen of Scots and sharing with her the throne of the heretical Elizabeth. The Venetian ambassador, Lippo- mano, who saw Don John at the height of his fame, said that he once declared publicly that if he believed there was another man in the world more desirous of reputation and glory he would throw himself from the window in despair. Idolized by his soldiers, beloved by his friends for his generous traits, and admired for his personal fascinations and warlike prowess, the infatuated crusader, unfitted for difficult administrative duties, was doomed to reap in the Netherlands the baleful results of their previous bad government. Yet amid all his trials he scorned to turn, as the king's other governors had done, the hand of the assassin against the Silent Prince whom he knew to be the great obstacle to his success. " Such means of delivering himself from an enemy," says Gachard, " were abhorrent to the noble soul of Don John of Austria." Dying at thirty-one, this knight errant of a waning cause, faithful, according to his light, to his sovereign and his church, had gained a celebrity which, enhanced by the remembrance of his virtues and his sufferings, of his dazzling triumphs and melancholy end, will never cease to interest the world. CHAPTER XV. PRINCE ALEXANDER OF PARMA. Philip confirmed Don John's choice of his successor, and thus a man of surpassing ability was intrusted with the task of subduing the provinces. The son of Ottavio Far- nese, the gallant general of Charles V., and Margaret of Parma, first regent of the Netherlands, and great-grandson of Pope Paul III., who predicted his warlike fame in his cradle, he early showed military tastes and talents. Indeed, Alexan- der Farnese had such a fiery spirit, that when a young man he used to roam nightly in disguise about the streets of his Italian capital seeking some bravo worthy of his steel. While fiercely contending with one of these chance com- batants, a light from a passing torch revealed the faces of the two swordsmen. The prince's antagonist proved to be Count Torelli, a noted duellist, who, on recognizing his future sovereign, implored pardon for venturing to cross swords with him. The affair becoming noised about, put an end to Alexander's midnight combats. On his first visit to the Netherlands during the regency of his mother, he was so haughty towards the Flemish nobles that they thought him a conceited fool. They were to find out their mistake .before many years. The young Farnese had fought bravely under his beloved uncle, Don John of Austria, at the battle of Lepanto, boarding the mighty treasure-ship of the Turkish admiral, and hewing his way alone through the ranks of the infidels with his immense two-handed sword. He looked ALEXANDER FARNESE, DUKE OF PARMA. 239 i 57 8. Alexander of Parma. 241 the subtle and daring sol- dier that he was. He had a round, firm head covered with short, bristling black hair, a high, narrow fore- head, a hooked nose, dark, keen, dangerous-looking eyes, and a full, bushy beard. Of middle height, his grace- ful, well-proportioned figure was set off by rich and costly dress. The high lace ruff, gold-inlaid armor, and collar of the Golden Fleece bespoke his lofty rank. He had a rare power of con- trolling men, and combined the cool yet daring courage of a great general with the tireless craft of the skilful politician. Temperate in his habits and devoted to labor, he infused his own ardent spirit into his sol- diers, who knew that he was as generous in his re- wards as he was severe in his punishments. In relig- ion he was a strict Catholic, and he sincerely hated her- etics. He was now in his thirty-third year. Their religious dissen- sions soon enabled the 16 MATCHLOCK. 242 History of the Netherlands. Prince of Parma to divide the people, who had been lately united against the Spaniards. Overrun by greedy and unpaid foreign soldiers, the disaffected provinces were an easy prey to the crafty commander. Ghent again became the scene of stormy tumults. The great city had lost its busy industries under the Spanish rule, and cattle now grazed in its grass- grown streets. Disgusted by the success of his rival, the weak but ambitious Casimir, who had incited outrages in Ghent while his troops ravaged the surrounding country, Anjou broke up his army and retired towards France. Many of his soldiers joined the Walloon insurgents in the southern provinces. These were led by Baron Montigny, and called themselves Malcontents, to show their dissatisfaction with both the Spaniards and the states. Their Protestant oppo- nents ridiculed them as Paternoster Jacks, because they wore round their necks strings of beads called rosaries, for count- ing Paternosters and other Catholic prayers. The masses in Ghent, hating these Malcontents as traitorous Catholics and tools of Parma, were easily incited to outrages by the des- perate Ryhove. THat daring agitator resolved to lessen the number of his enemies by destroying old Blood- Councillor Hessels, who had threatened him with hanging at the time of his arrest. Going with an armed band to the prison on the 4th of October, 1578, he had Hessels and his associate, Visch, placed in a carriage and driven a short distance out of the city to an oak grove. When the coach stopped, Ry- hove taunted Hessels with having vowed by his gray beard to have him hung. His beard was then cut off, one half being placed by Ryhove in his cap as a trophy, and the other given to one of his Companions as a decoration. 1 Hessels 1 The Dutch historians, whose accounts of this affair have been generally followed, state that Ryhove tore out a part of Hessels's gray beard. But the. reckless young noble did not indulge in this vulgar brutality. The Lord of Zweveghem, one of his victims, who was in Ghent at the time, says that Hes- I57& PersecutioJi of Catholics in Ghent. 243 and Visch, who had protested their innocence of treasonable designs, were then hanged to a tree. Ryhove wore the tuft of gray beard as a plume for several weeks. Seven years after the execution, when the Flemish provinces had resumed their allegiance to Philip, the body of Hessels was dug up from its burial-place under the tree and escorted by a pro- cession of great dignitaries to the church of St. Michael, where it was solemnly interred. Though the old Blood-Councillor deserved a violent death, his execution without trial or sentence was a stain on the patriot cause. Ryhove and Imbize, and their riotous follow- ers in Ghent belonging to the Calvinist sect of Protestants, did much to prevent the union of the Netherlands. Orange, at Antwerp, labored for conciliation in the turbulent city, and his appeals were seconded by the magistrates of Brussels and Davison, the English envoy. The prince's terms were for- mally accepted November 3. Ten days afterward a renegade monk, named Dathenus, furthering the efforts of Ryhove and Imbize, excited the populace of Ghent to great fury against the Catholics. Convents and churches were pillaged, pic- tures and statues destroyed, and the valuables of the clergy seized by the mob. The Catholics were then driven out of the city and forbidden to return. The worst feature of these fanatical outrages was the cruel treatment of the monks, six being publicly burned in Ghent, and two a month later in Bruges. The Archduke Matthias, the Council of State, and William of Orange vainly attempted through their deputies to moderate this frenzy of excitement. The prince had, sev- eral months before, prevailed upon the magistrates of Ghent to prohibit image-breaking under penalty of death. His sels's beard was cut off, and the "Memoires Anonymes" confirm the story. This contemporary evidence has been published since Motley's " Rise of the Dutch Republic." " Memoires sur les Troubles de Gand," p. 94. " Memoires Anonymes sur les Troubles des Pays-Bas," torn. iii. p. 134. 244 History of the Netherlands. toleration of Catholicism roused complaints in Holland and Zealand, where the people distrusted his relations with Anjou, and feared that he would sacrifice their own interests to those of the general government. In his indignation at the out- rages in Ghent, William the Silent seriously thought of leaving the country to its fate. Yet, yielding to the appeals of the people, he again went to the stormy city and arranged a religious peace. This was published Dec. 27, 1578, but the Walloons and Malcontents still refused to lay down their arms. Between the Protestant and Catholic fanatics, who insisted on utterly destroying each other, Orange stood alone in his grand ideas of toleration. He would doubtless have discouraged the seizure of the suspected Catholics by Ry- hove and Imbize, had he anticipated its frightful consequences. The intrigues of his enemies were less harmful to the patriot cause than the excesses of his friends. 1 Having been rebuked by Queen Elizabeth for his miscon- duct and the outrages of his troops, Duke Casimir soon went to England. Though Orange had calmed his troubles, and made the authorities of Ghent give the bond for forty- five thousand pounds, for which the thrifty queen had clam- 1 M. Kervyn de Volkaersbeke, the learned editor of " Memoires sur les Troubles de Gand," in a review of the authorities, maintains that the double- faced and tortuous policy of William the Silent was the cause of the outrages which proved fatal to the union of all the Netherlands. But while charging the prince with being the accomplice of Ryhove and Imbize, and perhaps the instigator of the tumults which desolated the Flemish capital, he elsewhere ad- mits that Orange did not foresee these terrible calamities when, " listening only to his hate and resentment," he abetted the arrest of the Duke of Aerschot. This admission of the distinguished Belgian scholar helps to explain, the mo- tives of Orange. He knew that the national cause was imperilled by the un- scrupulous Aerschot, and his hatred for that grasping grandee was patriotic rather than personal. He therefore secretly encouraged the seizures made by Ryhove and Imbize, while leaving himself free to disavow them if the conse- quences should be disastrous to the interests of the country. The Silent Prince fought his crafty opponents with their own weapons. See Gachard, Correspond- ance de Guillaume le Taciturne," torn, iv., preface, p. lxxvii. 1578- Duke Casimir 1 s Hungry Hirelings. 245 ored, the duke abused both the prince and the states-general. While being petted by Elizabeth, who conferred upon him the order of the Garter, he heard that his unpaid troops had at last left the provinces. In their distress, these German marauders had asked the Prince of Parma for their pay. The great warrior laughed at this cool request from his ene- mies, and while offering to give them passports to leave the country, declared he would kill them all if they remained. The hungry hirelings at once profited by his warning. On their way out of the provinces they sang a rough ballad about their wrongs. When Casimir returned to the Netherlands soon afterward, with a noble escort from Elizabeth, he amused his friends by singing a few verses of this ballad, one of which has been thus translated : — " Oh, have you been in Brabant, fighting for the states ? Oh, have you brought back anything except your broken pates ? Oh, I have been in Brabant, myself and all my mates. We '11 go no more to Brabant, unless our brains were addle, We 're coming home on foot, we went there in the saddle ; For there 's neither gold nor glory got in fighting for the states." It was unfortunate for the patriots that they had to depend upon foreign soldiers, who cared little on which side they fought so long as they obtained good wages. The departure of Casimir and Anjou left the country without foreign aid. Parma's cunning arts now hastened the disunion of the Netherlands. 1 By the treachery of La 1 " The personal courage and profound military science of Parma were in- valuable to the royal cause, but his subtle, unscrupulous, and subterranean combinations of policy were even more fruitful at this period. No man ever understood the art of bribery more thoroughly or practised it more skilfully. He bought a politician, or a general, or a grandee, or a regiment of infantry, usually at the cheapest price at which those articles could be purchased, and always with the utmost delicacy with which such traffic could be conducted . . . Men high in station, illustrious by ancestry, brilliant in valor, huck- stered themselves, and swindled a confiding country, for as ignoble motives as 246 History of the Netherlands, Motte, Montigny, the Viscount of Ghent, and other great nobles, the Celtic or Walloon provinces of Artois, Lille, Douay, and Orchies, were permanently detached from the patriot cause. A crafty monk, named John Sarrasin, Prior of St. Vaast, in the province of Artois, was the master spirit in this intrigue. His bribes and appeals to selfish fears and religious jealousies seduced high and low. The last desper- ate effort for freedom in the Walloon provinces was headed by a rich and eloquent Catholic advocate in the city of Arras named Gosson. He was executed at midnight on the 25 th of October, 1578. The skilful prior was rewarded by Philip with the Abbey of St. Vaast, the richest in the Netherlands, and was afterward made Archbishop of Cambray. Amid these perils William the Silent labored to erect a bulwark against the flood of disunion. Acting through his trusty brother John he brought together, by the famous Union of Utrecht, which was published Jan. 29, 1579, Holland, Zealand, Gelderland, Zutphen, Utrecht, and the Frisian prov- inces for temporary defence against the foe. This treaty, by which civil and religious freedom was guaranteed in those states, is memorable as the foundation of the Netherland in- dependence. Yet this was not the object of the union, and nothing was said in the act about throwing off the yoke of Spain. Orange delayed signing it till May 3, in hopes of forming a new and larger confederation. Had his advice been heeded, and patriotism checked religious and political strife, all the seventeen provinces might have been united, and the country spared years of bloody civil war. But neither the prince nor the states -general could - bring back the Walloon country to the national cause. Parma's subtle craft and splendid hospitality had completed the work ever Ted counterfeiters or bravos to the gallows, but they were dealt with in public as if actuated only by the loftiest principles." — Motley's " History of the Rise of the Dutch Republic," vol. iii. p. 392. New York, 18S9. 1 579-- Disunion in the Netherlands. 247 of alienation. A treaty was signed on the 1 7th of May, 1579, providing that the governor-general of the submissive prov- inces should always be taken from the king's own family, that the foreign troops should be withdrawn, the Pacification of Ghent confirmed, and the administration of affairs intrusted to a Council of State composed of natives of the country. The Walloons being Catholics, there was no trouble about the religious question. Philip formally ratified the treaty on the 4th of September, and thus showed his willingness to make great concessions for the sake of peace. In his anxiety to prevent the permanent disruption of the Netherlands, the Prince of Orange appealed to the Walloons to avert the evil. But his patriotic efforts were spurned. Although he offered all his children as hostages for his fidelity, the distrustful peo- ple jeered at him as the Prince of Darkness. They openly charged him with prolonging the war from selfish ambition. Yet he protected the Catholics of Antwerp and Utrecht from the fury of mobs enraged by the disunion successes of their southern brethren. These outbreaks occurred at the festival of the Ommegang, or Assumption, May 28, which had occa- sioned the image-breaking tumults fourteen years previous. One reason why the Pacification of Ghent failed perma- nently to unite the Netherlands against Spain was, that while some of the provinces had become more Protestant, most of them had become more Catholic. Persecution had de- stroyed or driven away heretics ; the edicts and the Inquisi- tion, which threatened the Northern unbelievers, had no terrors for Romanists in the South. Philip's attacks on civil liberty in the Netherlands were designed to bring the people under the yoke of the Romish church, and that yoke would not be heavy on its adherents. Protestant fanaticism had also helped to weaken Catholic resistance to Spanish rule. The image-breaking sacrilege had not been forgotten, and recent outrages made even liberal Catholics regard the cry 248 History of the Netherlands. for freedom of worship as only a cover for an heretical despotism. Matthias and Anjou had been brought in by intriguing Catholic nobles, and Casimir was a Protestant makeshift. Papists, suspicious of the skill of Orange in in- trigue, regarded his change from Catholicism to Calvinism as a selfish bid for sovereignty. Thus the Pacification of Ghent, which was designed as a barrier against Spanish tyranny, had to be replaced by the Treaty of Utrecht three years later, which bound together only those whom the king's policy especially endangered. The Ghent compromise, which acknowledged the ascendency of Catholicism in fifteen prov- inces, with private toleration for Protestants, was followed by the Union of Brussels, giving general supremacy to the Cath- olic faith in order to unite its adherents against Don John. This was replaced by the Perpetual Edict, which he had in- duced the states to sign, and which, though nominally sus- taining the Pacification of Ghent, threatened the safety of the Protestants of Holland and Zealand. Then came the new Union of Brussels, the last confederation of all the Netherlands, which Orange had formed against the Span- iards on the basis of religious toleration. When this was overthrown by Don John's victory at Gemblours and Parma's efforts for the recovery of the ten provinces occupying what is now Belgium, the Union of Utrecht was established to preserve civil and religious liberty in the remaining prov- inces. Both sides justified their acts by the Pacification of Ghent, but with the bitter hostility of the rival religionists no treaty could have held them together. 1 1 A monument to the Pacification of Ghent was unveiled in the Ci.ty Hall during the great celebration of Sept. 3, 1876, and an address was delivered by Paul Frederick, Professor of History in the Royal University. He confessed that one reason why the memorable treaty failed to effect its object of securing the freedom of all the Netherlands was "because at Ghent itself the Protest- ants, under Imbize, Ryhove, and Dathenus, violently persecuted their Catholic fellow-citizens, pillaged the churches and the convents, and were blind enough to 1579- Young- Egmoufs TreacJiery. 249 On the 4th of June Brussels was startled by the attempt of Philip, Count of Egmont, who commanded one of the state regiments, to seize the capital in order to gain the royal favor. But he was hemmed in with his traitorous regiment in the very square where his father had been beheaded eleven years before. Harder to bear than the complaints of his hungry soldiers were the bitter taunts of the people. The wretched youth burst into tears at their jeers at his shameful visit to this ill-omened spot. When released with his troops the next day, he denied the charge of treason, though he was even then plotting desertion to the enemy. Parma having informed the king of this scheme, Philip wrote encouragingly to Egmont, who replied by asking for money and office. He even demanded the command of his father's old " band of ordnance " from the man who had sent that father to the scaffold. About two months before young Egmont's capture, Parma had laid siege to Maestricht, which commanded the entrance to Germany. Besides its garrison of a thousand men, the city had a burgher guard of about twelve hundred ; and its population, exclusive of some two thousand peasants, was thirty thousand. This was scarcely larger than the army of veterans brought against it. One Sebastian Tappin, of Lor- follow the example of the Inquisition by burning in the Friday Market, where the statue of Artevelde now stands, four Minor Friars and two Augustine Fathers, and a month afterwards two other Minor Friars at Bruges. The result was to divide the Netherlands, which, disunited, fell a prey to the foreign domination they had almost escaped." " Annual Register," vol. cxviii. p. 221. These outrages have been referred to in the text, ante, p. 243. The contemporary Flemish historian Van Meteren, a zealous Protestant, says the martyred monks had been convicted of crimes against nature. But in the tempest of excitement against the Catholics any pretext would be seized upon to palliate barbarous persecution ; and, as Van der Vynckt suggests, such criminal charges and trials, accompanied by tortures and followed by executions, must have been gross per- versions of justice. It is singular that Motley, while acknowledging in his " History of the Rise of the Dutch Republic " the lesser offences of fanatical Protestants, omits to mention these human sacrifices. 250 History of the Netherlands. raine, the second officer, had charge of the defences. He skilfully strengthened the works against the scientific opera- tions of Parma, who had surrounded the city, and spanned the river above and below with two fortified bridges. After a heavy cannonade for several days against the walls, four thousand coal-miners, furnished by the Bishop of Liege, began extensive mining approaches. These were met by under- ground caverns dug by the besieged, even the women form- ing companies of delvers in the earth, and choosing officers who were called "mine-mistresses." By means of a secret dam the invaders were deluged with boiling water which scalded hundreds to death. Others were suffocated by smoke from burning brush blown upon them with organ-bel- lows brought from the city churches. Attacks upon two of the fortified gates were desperately resisted by soldiers and citizens. The peasants used flails to beat back the assailants, and the women threw pails of hot water and blazing pitch- hoops upon them. By an explosion of one of their mines which had been fired by the besieged, the invaders lost five hundred lives. A Spanish engineer, blown up from the gloomy depths, fell back and was buried beneath a heavy shower of earth. Forty-five years afterward his skeleton was found in a perfect state of preservation. The terrible war was st l going on, in which the soldier, in his suit of armor, with his gold chain about his neck as in life, had perished nearly half a century before. At last Parma ordered a general assault on the fortifica- tions. Four thousand royalists fell in the first day's charge, and his bravest officers begged him to prevent further slaugh- ter ; but he cried fiercely, " Go back to the breach, and tell the soldiers that Alexander is coming to lead them into the city in triumph, or to perish with his comrades." He could hardly be restrained from this rash step. But the defeat of his, veterans by townsmen and peasants in close combat 1579- . Desperate Defence of Maestricht. 251 forced him to resume the siege. With his sixteen forts con- nected by a strong wall, he could bid defiance to any attempt to succor Maestricht. Hohenlohe and Sir John Norris, being sent thither with seven thousand troops by Orange, drew back in despair from the powerful works. The prince's efforts to obtain a few weeks' truce were baffled by Parma. The chain was tightening round the doomed city. Soon the garrison, driven to their last defences by the cannonade and storming parties of the enemy, were reduced to four hun- dred soldiers, nearly all of whom were wounded. Only the cheering words of Tappin, and the desperate resolve of the burghers and their wives, saved the city from surrender. Meanwhile a new fort had been built inside the works, but it was shattered by the terrific fire of Parma's great guns. These were placed on a bridge across the moat,- the first piles having been driven by his own hands amid a deadly storm of bullets. One last breastwork was now left to the besieged, who still sternly refused to yield to their cruel foes. The men lived upon the ramparts, their food being brought to them by the women and children. But exhausted nature at last gave way. One night a watchman in Parma's camp found a crevice in the wall, which he enlarged so as to admit his body. Creeping into the town, he was amazed to find everybody asleep. He hastened back with the news, and Alexander at once ordered an assault in the darkness. The walls were scaled, and the startled burghers awakened by the savage shouts of their foes. They made a desperate resist- ance. Boiling water and red-hot sand were poured from the house-tops on the assailants. In their fury the hireling soldiers of Parma spared none of these brave defenders of their homes. Men, women, and children were hunted down and mercilessly butchered. The shrieks of the victims were heard three miles away. Mothers with their infants in their 252 History of the Netherlands. arms threw themselves into the river to escape a more hor- rible fate. Four thousand persons were slaughtered the first day, and by the end of the third most of the citizens had perished. Such was the end of the four months' siege of Maestricht, which had begun March 12, 1579. The city was soon deserted by its handful of inhabitants, and its plun- der enriched the conquerors. Among the killed was the governor, Swartsenberg, while the gallant Sebastian Tappin was carried, mortally wounded, to the enemy's camp. Parma was raised from his sick-bed and borne through the ruined city with great pomp to the church of St. Servais, where sol- emn thanks were offered for this victory over the heretics, which was piously attributed to the Apostles Peter and Paul, on whose festival the final assault was made. William of Orange, who had vainly tried to induce the states to relieve Maestricht, was now reproached for its fate. He was even charged with plotting to sell his country to France, and prevent an honorable peace with Spain. Yet on assuring the assembly that he was ready to leave the land if he could thus serve it, their cries of confidence showed his ■ power to abate distrust of his patriotism. Again he displayed his influence by restoring order in Ghent, where the dema- gogue Imbize had seized the government, and, with the ex- monk Dathenus, had incited outrages against the Catholics. But they were both glad to seek shelter with John Casimir in Germany, while Orange, after accepting the government of Flanders, which he had hitherto refused, returned to Antwerp. Meanwhile a congress of European diplomatists at Co- logne, whose mediation the new emperor of Germany, Ru- dolph IT., had prevailed upon the king to accept, was trying to arrange terms of peace between Spain and the Nether- lands. .Efforts were again made to bribe the Silent Prince to desert the patriot cause. The congress broke up Nov. 13, i579- Trials of the Patriots. 253 1579, after a seven months' session, which proved fruitless from Philip's refusal to permit religious freedom in the prov- inces. Though he was really weary of the war, he was una- ble to see the justice or expediency of this concession to popular rights. Such was the blinding effect of bigotry upon the narrow-minded king. Meantime the dry debates of the great dignitaries of church and state at Cologne had been moistened by liberal drinking, a single bishop being charged with eighty hogsheads of Rhenish wine and twenty great casks of beer. Among the severest trials of the patriots was the treachery of trusted supporters of their cause. Thus the cities of Mechlin and Groningen were surrendered to the enemy, and Orange had to mourn the faithlessness of his trusted friends, Lord de Bours and Count Renneberg. The cap- ture of Count de La Noue, called, from his prowess, the Iron-Armed, was another severe blow to the prince and the country. Eminent both as a writer and soldier, the distin- guished Frenchman was so highly valued that the states offered Count Egmont and another noble prisoner in ex- change for him. Parma's reply was, that he would not give a lion for two sheep. Yet he caged this lion for five years in a damp dungeon infested by rats, toads, and other vermin. Such were his sufferings that he was only prevented by the entreaties of his wife from accepting the king's cruel offer of release on condition of having his eyes put out. Another serious loss to the Prince of Orange was the departure of his brother John from the Netherlands. He had been stadtholder of turbulent Gelderland, and had suffered great hardships. His wife was dead, and he felt bound to go home to his large family in Nassau, straighten out his affairs, and get married again. As he left a gallant son in the provinces, the count, who had so nobly served the country, did not hesitate to disregard the prince's appeal to remain at his post. 254 History of the Netherlands. In spite of the complaints of the poor Archduke Matthias, who was in debt even to his domestics, the states sent a mis- sion to France to make terms with the Duke of Anjou. The sovereignty was offered to him on the 29th of September, 1580, at Plessis-les-Tours, but he waited to see whether Queen Elizabeth's fear of his becoming ruler of the Nether- lands would make her accept his offer of marriage. But she again disappointed him, after three years' trifling with his suit, as she had previously trifled with his elder brother. Dread of a war with Spain and disgust with her lover's ugli- ness outweighed her political jealousy. So Anjou, her " frog," as the queen called the homely, hoarse- voiced, croaking Frenchman, accepted the sovereignty of the Netherlands in the convention of Bordeaux on the 23d of January, 1581. The states of Holland and Zealand took no part in this arrangement, as they distrusted the duke and wanted Orange for their ruler. He, however, refused , their offer, on the ground that Anjou could serve them better. The conquest of Portugal now left Philip more time to attack the Netherlands. In despair of regaining the rebellious provinces while William the Silent lived, the king adopted Granvelle's oft- repeated advice to set a price on his head. The wily cardi- nal wrote to Philip that the mere publication of the decree would frighten the prince to death. As Orange had been the mark of assassins for years, this suggestion showed that the writer thought his royal master could be easily imposed upon. When the plan was submitted to the Prince of Parma, some of his council opposed it as base and belittling the king's honor and power, and likely to excite sympathy for the victim. No Belgians, whether Catholics or heretics, would, it was said, undertake the job, and foreigners approaching the prince would be closely watched. Other members of the council favored the scheme as the best means of making 1580. Philip's Ban against Orange. 255 the people aware of the character of the monster at whom it was aimed. If William should become more suspicious and difficult to approach, he would thus be caused greater labor and suffering ; and the profit, honor, and glory of doing the deed by command of a king who held the avenging sword of God would incite emulation. Philip soon ordered the publication of the ban, and the wary Parma, who ob- jected to it as impolitic, took pains to state in his circular to the authorities that it w T as made by express command of the king, repeated in two letters. This famous ban was dated March 15, 1580, and pub- lished in the Netherlands the last of August in Spanish, German, and Italian. It charged the prince with deception and ingratitude, denounced his services to his country as crimes, pronounced a sentence of banishment upon him, forbade him food, fire, and shelter, and ended by offering a reward of twenty-five thousand crowns in gold for his capture, dead or alive. The assassin was also promised pardon for all previous offences, and a title of nobility. This horrible ban was answered by Orange in a most impressive paper, which vindicated his own character and held up Philip and Granvelle to the contempt and execration of the world. Among other crimes, Orange charged the king with having murdered his first wife, Elizabeth of France, and his eldest son, Don Carlos, and with having instigated the cardinal to poison the Emperor Maximilian. 1 He rejected the author- ity of the Spanish tyrant, and offered to the people for whom he had made so many sacrifices his liberty and life if they 1 Though Philip was then believed to have destroyed his wife and son, it is now known that he did not commit these crimes. Gachard, however, in his ex- haustive examination of the subject, holds that he was responsible for the men- tal tortures inflicted on the wretched youth during his imprisonment, and thus really caused his death. "Don Carlos et Philippe II." torn. ii. p. 624. Bruxelles, 1863. 256 History of the Netherlands. could be of any benefit to the country. " I am in the hands of God," said the fearless and devout patriot ; " my worldly goods and my life have been long since dedicated to His ser- vice. He will dispose of them as seems best for His glory and my salvation." This terrible arraignment, which was styled an "Apology," being heartily approved by the national assembly at Delft, was sent to nearly all the sovereigns of Europe. 1 The states-general also offered the prince a guard of a hundred and fifty horsemen for the protection of his person. Thus the ban strengthened instead of weakening the support given by the people to their liberator. The traitorous Count Renneberg, having besieged Steen- wyk, bombarded it with red-hot cannon-balls, an invention first used at the siege of Dantzic five years before. Though many houses were burned, the city held out bravely. A forged letter from Orange to the Duke of Anjou was then enclosed by Renneberg in a sarcastic one from himself, to ex- cite distrust of the prince's fidelity. But the burghers were not disheartened. They had lately received more trust- worthy news. Several fire-balls had come flaming through the night air. These were found to have two holes, one con-, taining a letter, and the other the burning stuff which marked 1 Voltaire calls this " Apology " one of the noblest of historical monu- ments, lifting the proscribed rebel far above the mighty monarch who proscribed him ; for, instead of proscribing in his turn, he abhors such vengeance, and trusts for his safety to his sword. In a similar spirit Montesquieu comments on the ban as degrading Philip by promising to enrich and ennoble an assassin on the word of a king and as a servant of God. " Nobility promised for such a deed ! Such a deed enjoined in the service of God ! All this reverses the principles of honor, as well as those of religion and morality." According to Van der Vynckt and Grotius, Orange's manifesto was drawn up by Villiers, a Cal- vinist minister, formerly a lawyer. He was of noble family, and the chaplain and confidential friend of William the Silent. Motley, who cites a different authority for this view of the authorship, says, il No man, however, at all con- versant with the writings and speeches of the prince, can doubt that the entire substance of the famous document was from his own hand." 15S1. Margaret of Parma s Return. 257 their track. They brought the cheering information of the advance of six thousand states' troops under the gallant English colonel, Sir John Norris, to the relief of the city. After a siege of nineteen weeks Steenwyk was saved, Feb. 22, 1581. The result was largely due to the courage of Cap- tain Cornput, the commander, in -defying hungry mobs and cheering downcast citizens. In reply to an insulting inquiry by the enemy whether the besieged had eaten their horses, he had paraded sixty bony beasts, all that were still alive, upon the heights. He also invented a sort of telegraph to communicate with the states-general. Messages were written in cipher on rolls of fine linen, stretched upon large frames and illuminated by a powerful light from behind, which made the writing visible at a great distance. Count Renneberg died five months after his failure at Steenwyk, bitterly lamenting his treason. While the assembly of the states at Delft in January, 1581, were forming an executive council of thirty native Nether- landers, the meddlesome Philip was interfering with the ablest of his governor-generals. He had sent back the Duchess of Parma to the provinces the previous August in the vain hope of regaining their allegiance. This blundering attempt to divide his authority with his mother so irritated the high- spirited Alexander that the duchess gladly resigned her powers. At the king's request she remained privately in the country two years longer. As the excited appeals of fanatical monks in Brussels during the summer threatened tumults in that city, public Catholic worship was suspended till more quiet times. The main reason given for this interference with religious freedom was the deception practised on ignorant people by false mira- cles and relics. The real cause was the growth of the perse- cuting spirit among the Protestants in power. Though they were less cruel than the Papists had been, their intolerance 17 258 History df the Netherlands. was deplored by Orange, who could only partially restrain it. Antwerp and various Dutch cities enforced the arbitrary measure, but it was opposed by the magistrates of Leyden as reviving the dangerous practices of their oppressors. The Catholics of Haarlem were rebuked by the state legislature for venturing to declare that the two religions could be peace- ably exercised not only in the same town but in the same building. At last the states of Holland and Zealand resolved to throw off the yoke of Spain and declare their independence. This serious step was taken on the 26th of July, 1581, in congress at the Hague. As the two little provinces still refused to accept the Duke of Anjou, William the Silent consented to become their sovereign. He gained no fresh power by this act, which was limited to the war ; but the states soon after secretly made him ruler for life without letting him know of the change. Their declaration of independence was called the Act of Abjuration. While acknowledging the divine right of kings, they maintained that it was forfeited by tyranny, and calmly recalled the various, acts of Philip which justified the estates in deposing him and choosing his successor. They acted as representatives of the people, who afterward approved their course. Though the Inquisition and the edicts were pro- nounced in this important declaration to be " the first and true cause of all their miseries," nothing was said to offend the Catholics, political rather than religious abuses being dwelt upon. Thus the Netherlands were split into three parts. The five Walloon provinces had submitted to Spain, the northern provinces were under the rule of William the Silent, and the remaining provinces had accepted Anjou. Though Orange might have had the sovereignty which was conferred upon the French duke, he refused it from fear of being thought a selfish intriguer, and from belief that connection with France ""**% 1 58 1 . Departure of Matthias. 26 1 would be more useful to his country and to Christianity. In this he proved to be mistaken • but as Germany and England held aloof from the struggling provinces, there seemed no other hope for them. Even French tyranny could not be so bad as Spanish. Anjou was chiefly objected to as a Catholic ; yet, with safeguards against persecution, the prince, though a zealous Protestant, favored religious freedom for the ruler as well as for his subjects. As the French treaty deprived the Archduke Matthias of even his show of power, he left the provinces in October. The states voted a pension of twenty-five thousand dollars to the well-meaning but inexperienced prince, whose youthful ambition had been so skilfully controlled by Orange. The ambitious Anjou had marched gayly into the Nether- lands in July with five thousand noble cavaliers who had volunteered for a summer campaign, and twelve thousand infantry. He was in time to save Cambray from Parma's clutches. The city was so short of provisions that, at a wed- ding feast during the siege, hashed horse-flesh, boiled jackass, roast ribs of horse, two roast cats, and a cat pie were the principal delicacies. As the duke's cavalry soon wearied of service, he disbanded his troops, and the states not being ready to receive him as a ruler, he returned to England to renew his courtship of Queen Elizabeth.* Though most of his infantry joined the garrison of Tournay, they were unable to prevent that important city from falling into the hands of Parma. It surrendered November 30, after a two months' siege, having been bravely defended by the Princess of Espi- noy, a niece of the ill-fated Count Horn. She was the wor- thy representative of her gallant husband, who had resisted the appeals of his mother and sisters, and his brother, the Viscount of Ghent, to desert the patriot cause. William the Silent had vainly appealed to the united prov- inces to save Tournay. Local jealousies prevented combined 262 History of the Netherlands, action. " When money," said the prince, " is demanded for the war, men answer as if they were talking with the dead emperor. But their refusal to pay more is really an abandon- ment of both country and religion." These stirring words moved the states to arrange for the inauguration of Anjou. On the 2 2d of November, 1581, St, Aldegonde, one of the commis- sioners, wrote from England that the duke's marriage with Elizabeth was now settled. The facts favored this view. That very day she had kissed his brown lips and put a ring on his finger in the presence of her favorite Leicester, Walsingham, her Secretary of State, and Mauvissiere,'the French ambassa- dor, whom she told to write to his master that the duke would be her husband. Yet she was nearly twice his age. There was great joy in the Netherlands at this news, and the arrangements for Anjou's welcome as sovereign were hastened. Elizabeth, however, changed her mind, and told Burleigh, her Lord Treasurer, soon afterward that she would not be the ugly fellow's wife to be empress of the universe. Yet she still played with the ambitious duke, who offered to turn Protestant for her, sake. Fear of offending France again made her vow to marry Anjou, but she was deterred by the watchful and sagacious Burleigh, who told her that she would lose her crown if she took a Catholic prince, the son of the hated Catherine de Medici, to share its honors. So it was resolved to ship the duke to the Netherlands. Elizabeth used all sorts of artifices to get rid' of him. At last she was obliged to give him money to pay for German troops, and send the Earl of Leicester and Lord Howard with him to the provinces. She still fooled him with promises of. mar- riage, and while going with him as far as Canterbury, said he might address his letters to her as his wife the Queen of England. A noble and gallant company of her subjects, among whom were Leicester, Sir Philip Sidney, and Lords Willoughby, 1582- Installation of Anjou. 263 Sheffield, and Howard, sailed with Anjou to the Netherlands, fifteen large vessels being provided for them. On his arrival at Flushing on the 10th of February, 1582, he was welcomed by the Prince of Orange and a large delegation of the states- general The installation took place with great pomp a week later just outside the walls of Antwerp. According to time- honored usage, Anjou assumed the ducal hat and the velvet mantle lined with ermine worn by the dukes of Brabant. While assisting to fasten the button of the cloak, William the Silent said to him, " I must secure this robe so firmly, my lord, that no man may ever tear it from your shoulders." A splendid procession with gay standards and banners escorted the new duke to Antwerp. The merchants of the Hanse towns led the way in antique German dress. Then followed the English merchants in long velvet cloaks, the heralds in fancy garb, the militia with bands of music, and the chief officers of the city and province, wearing black mantles and gold chains. Next came the duke himself on a white Barbary steed ornamented with cloth of gold. Around him were illustrious native and foreign dignitaries, — among them the chivalrous Sir Philip Sidney and the Earl of Leicester, the Dauphin of Auvergne, the Prince of Espinoy, and William the Silent, with his handsome son of fifteen, — Count Maurice of Nassau, — who was to become a great general and patriot. The body-guard of Anjou were the cross-bow men and arch- ers of Brabant, whose splendid dress glittered among the uni- forms of the French cavaliers and the life-guardsmen of the Prince of Orange. At the end of the procession marched a band of three hundred fettered criminals who were to receive a pardon from the duke in honor of the joyous occa- sion. Although it was midday, great torches flamed along the road leading to the city. Antwerp welcomed the new sovereign with characteristic festivities. An immense gilded car, with figures of Religion, 264 History of the Netherlands. Justice, Prudence, Fortitude, Patriotism, and Patience in gay attire, was stationed just inside the gate. The streets and houses were alive with eager spectators. In the centre of the market-place, which blazed with wax torches and tar-barrels,, there was a figure of the giant Antigonous, the fabulouc founder of the city. 1 He wore a sky-blue overcoat, and held a banner emblazoned with the arms of Spain. As the duke entered the market-place this figure turned its head and bowed to the new sovereign, and then, dropping the Spanish standard, lifted up another bearing the arms of Anjou. Little did the enthusiastic Netherlander dream what a wretched creature they were welcoming. Both the Prince of Orange and St. Aldegonde were deceived in his character. Francis Valois, Duke of Alencon and Anjou, was now twenty- eight years of age, with a short, ill-shaped body, and a brown, blotched face pitted with, small-pox. The principal feature of his countenance was twice the usual size, so that French- men, who knew his tricky ways, used to say that as he was double-faced he naturally had two noses. He had been a Huguenot commander, but when his self-interest as heir to the throne of France led him to join the Catholics, he allowed his soldiers to kill and plunder captive Protestants without stint. Yet he had such a bright and pleasant way of talking that strangers were apt to think him intelligent, kind-hearted, and sincere. This was the man upon whom the confiding provinces had conferred an hereditary sovereignty, reserving 1 According to tradition this giant had a castle on the Scheldt two centuries before the Trojan war, and levied a tribute of one half the cargoes of passing vessels. Refusal to pay doomed the victims to lose their right hands, which the cruel giant cut off and threw into the river. From this hand-throwing, hand-werpen, the name Antwerp was said to be derived, and two raised hands in the city escutcheon confirmed the story. The grasping giant Antigonous was at last overcome and flung into the river by a hero called Brabo, whose exploits were honored by the name Brabant being given to the surrounding Country, 1582. Nature of Anjoiis Government. 265 the right to select his successor from among his children, if he should leave more than one. The Duke of Anjou had sworn to support the liberties of the Netherlands, and to carry on the war with Spain with the aid of the states and of his brother, the King of France. He was really to rule over a republic composed of the revolted provinces of a nation with which the French were at peace. Such a state of things would be hardly possible nowadays. In response to the appeals of the Catholics, their public worship was restored in Antwerp, March 15, on condition of their abjuring the king and swearing allegiance to the duke. The Bishops of Ypres and Bruges, two of the victims of the memorable arrests of Ryhove and Imbize, were released from their long imprisonment on the same day. CHAPTER XVI. ATTEMPTS ON THE LIFE OF ORANGE. 1 There had been many attempts to assassinate Orange before the publication of Philip's ban in June, 1580. An- tonio de Guaras, his commissioner in London, had employed numerous Scotch and English adventurers to destroy the prince. In 1573 a Captain Poole and a Captain Ralph Hasleby offered to kill or carry him ofT, and Hasleby made the attempt. A Captain Wingham, another of those un- scrupulous soldiers who were ready to sell themselves to the highest bidder, sought a place in Orange's household for the same purpose. Then a Captain Ellice and a Colonel Balfour agreed to foHow the prince to Delft or Rotterdam, intending to capture or kill him, and hoping also to secure one of these towns. In August, 1574, De Guaras wrote that "if they kill the prince and also obtain a town for us, they expect twenty thousand crowns for the colonels, as much more for each of the captains, and a further sum for the men. If they 1 Much valuable material for this chapter has been obtained from the volume of M. Gachard, the learned Archivist General of Belgium, on the proscription and assassination of William the Silent. — " Correspondance de Guillaume le Taciturne," torn. vi. This remarkable collection of original documents, with a preliminary narrative, published since Motley's " Rise of the Dutch Republic," contains important information not found in standard histories of the Nether- lands. Mr. Froude's researches in the archives of Simancas have also been drawn upon for attempts on the life of William of Orange unknown to contem- porary annalists. — " History of England," vol. xi., pp. 16, 17, London, 1870. 1575- Why Oranges Life was Sought. 267 take the town, but miss the prince, they will be content with fifteen thousand crowns among them all. If they se- cure the prince without the town, they expect twenty thousand ; — the colonels to have in addition a pension of a thousand crowns, and the captains one of three hundred. The agreement is to be drawn up in writing. Ellice says he has been long in the prince's service, and hates him." The discovery of this treachery by English officers in the Netherlands obliged Orange, who could not tell friend from foe, to send all the queen's troops home. Philip II. was led to encourage these desperate attempts by the demands of Alva for more men and money after his unexpected failure to conquer Holland. The king's league with the pope against the Turks had crippled his resources, and incited a desire to crush Orange and thus end the war with as little expense as possible. So, when Requesens was sent to the provinces, he was ordered to hire suitable men to kill the prince and his brother Louis. In a letter written by Gabriel de Cayas, the Spanish secretary of state, to the Grand Commander, Oct. 21, 1575, he was warned not to let the king's connection with these plots be known, " as that would be inconvenient." The previous February a man who had brought the head of the murdered Admiral Coligny to the Netherlands came to Alva and offered to put Orange to death. The name of this man is unknown, but he is sup- posed to have been one Nicholas, an Albanian captain. As he was ignorant of the language of the country and lacked business experience, his attempt failed. Meanwhile the Grand Commander wrote despondingly to Cayas about the assassination scheme. " If God does not aid me," he piously said, " I have no hope of getting the Prince of Orange killed." He complained that the only applicants for the work were "tricksters and money-drawers, perhaps double spies." An Englishman had been profuse in prom- 268 History of the Netherlands. ises, but three months had passed without news from him. Requesens added that it was not easy for his agents to get near Orange, who was on his guard ; and several who had made the attempt had been caught and executed. In fact, he thought himself in more danger than the prince, being surrounded by Walloons and Germans, who, he plaintively adds, are "no doubt real pagans." Yet he expressed con- fidence that God would protect him, and declared that the condition of the country caused him much more anxiety than his personal peril. About the time of .the Albanian's application James Hamilton, the high-bred assassin of the regent Murray of Scotland, volunteered to rid Philip II. of his most formi- dable enemy. After a warm reception at the Spanish Court he related his plans to the Duke of Alva at Amsterdam. He proposed to employ a countryman of his who had been a captain at Haarlem, and was well fitted for the dan- gerous work. This man's attempt having failed, Hamilton secured the release of another Scotchman from the galleys in France, and set him pn the prince's track. He also obtained a letter of introduction to Requesens from a former secretary of Cardinal Granvelle. This is all that is known of Hamilton's attempts against the life of Orange. Another Scotchman proposed to Don John of Borja, Philip's envoy at Prague, to assassinate the prince on condition that the Spaniards should withdraw from the castles of Parma and Piacenza. Borja, acting in concert with the Duke of Terranova, the king's ambassador at the Congress of Cologne, satisfied the Scotchman that these terms were inadmissible. The two envoys then made him an offer of twenty- five thousand crowns on completion of the deed. This he accepted, though professing to have no object but the service of God and the king. He proposed to use poison, and required six months to effect his purpose. The 1579- Plot to Poison the Silent Prince. 269 duke wrote to Philip that though the success of the scheme was doubtful, no one would be compromised by its failure, as his promise was only a verbal one. The king's care to conceal his connection with these attempts shows that before the publication of the ban he wished to avoid the odium of a public avowal of them. Parma's opposition to the ban arose from similar motives, for he did not hesi- tate secretly to encourage attempts at assassination. The ban was at last resorted to, because the failure of these efforts showed that many adventurers would not risk their lives in an undertaking which, if successful, would be dis- avowed by Philip, who would doubtless sacrifice them to clear himself. A public proclamation would also incite re- ligious fanatics to gain rich rewards in heaven if death should prevent their reaping earthly gain by the destruction of the great heretic. While the Scotchman was bargaining with the two envoys at Prague, a Savoyard gentleman living in France brought a letter of introduction from Balthazar Burgos, a Span- ish merchant in Calais, to Don Bernardino de Mendoza, Philip's ambassador in London. He proposed, with the aid of three companions, to destroy Orange by poisoning. He said he had a poison so potent that a little of it rubbed on the lining of a man's hat would dry up his brain and kill him in ten days, particularly if the moon were then crescent shaped. Mendoza, who belonged to one of the most illus- trious families in Spain, and was an eminent scholar as well as soldier, doubted whether the man could be trusted. He therefore told him that the king was too noble and power- ful as well as too Christian a ruler to resort to assassina- tion against rebels. The subtle Savoyard answered that he understood all that, but he hoped to finish the job within two months, and would trust to the ambassador's bounty for his reward. The man talked so fluently in French, Italian, 270 History of the Netherlands. and Latin, and was so familiar with affairs in France and the Netherlands, showing Mendoza letters from a secret agent of Orange and the states at the French Court, that the ambassa- dor began to have confidence in him. For security, how- ever, he put spies on his track. Finding that the man had told the truth about himself and his affairs, he gave him money for his scheme, and urged him to execute it as soon as possible. The ambassador also wrote a letter in his favor to the Prince of Parma. What became of the Savoyard and his plot is a mystery. In the archives of Simancas is a letter from Mendoza to Philip dated Feb. 26, 1579, containing all that is known on the subject. Hitherto only foreigners had engaged in plots to assassinate William of Orange. Sad to relate, a Belgian, who was also a dignitary of the church and an old friend of the prince, was now concerned in the infamous work. This was John Van der Linden, Abbot of St. Gertrude at Louvain, one of the signers of the Pacification of Ghent and envoy from the states-general to the Congress of Cologne. As he had been very intimate with «the prince, the Duke of Terranova was surprised to receive a proposal from him for destroying Orange unless he accepted the king's terms. The duke wrote to Philip, June 26, 1579, that as the Scotchman had been delayed by lack of a favorable opportu- nity, he thought it best to take up with the abbot's offer, as many colonels and captains in the states' army were at his service. Van der Linden had said that the only way to get rid of the prince was to offer him a large bribe to leave the provinces, and in case of refusal to kill him. He actually wrote to Orange to induce him to accept the king's terms of peace or abandon the country ; but William gave him no encouragement. In writing to Philip the duke said he had given the abbot money to carry out his plans, but that although that worthy hoped to do so soon, he was not so 1582. A Treacherous Abbot. 271 confident, as in such business there was a great difference between talking and acting. He added that Van der Lin- den had better facilities for performing the work than all the other applicants. Terranova soon had to support his tardy Scotch hireling as well as the abbot, who explained the failure of his men to destroy Orange by his moving about from place to place. The duke now offered Van der Linden twenty thousand crowns for the prince's head, and an equal sum for the deliv- ery of one of the gates at Ghent so that the Spaniards could seize the city. Despite the abbot's delay, Terranova still thought so well of his scheme that he promised to pay him ten thousand crowns in case of success, and twenty thousand crowns to the assassin or his heirs. Yet these plots all failed. One of the wretches hired by Van der Linden to poison the prince was a native of Marseilles, who had attempted to poison the illustrious Frenchman, Duplessis-Mornay. The treacherous abbot was false both to the Spaniard and his own countrymen. He was charged with having tried to poison Don John of Austria. Parma believed him to have attempted to seize the city of Bois-le-Duc, and make himself dictator ; and his admission to the governor-general's council had been opposed by the states of the obedient provinces on account of his villany. Though none of the attempts on the life of Orange pre- vious to Philip's ban had even partially succeeded, one about two years later was to have serious results. On Sunday, the 1 8th of March, 1582, the prince had arranged to attend a great evening festival in honor of Anjou's birthday. He dined in state at the Antwerp citadel, Counts Hohenlohe and Laval and the two French commissioners, Bonnivet and Des Pruneaux, being of the company, which included, besides his immediate family, two sons of his brother John. There was much talk during the dinner of the cruelties of the 272 History of the Netherlands. Spaniards in the provinces. While this was going on the hal- berdiers on guard turned away a pale, slender, common-looking youth with a thin, dark mustache, who was about to approach the table. He was coarsely dressed, a white doublet or waist- coat setting off his black clothes. When the repast was over Orange rose and walked towards his own apartments, followed by his guests. Stopping a moment before some tapestry rep- resenting Spanish soldiers, he called the attention of the Count of Laval to it. Just then the youth, who had been kept back by the halberdiers, advanced as if to present a petition to the prince. As Orange leaned forward to take it the intruder fired a pistol directly at his head. The ball en- tered his neck under the right ear, passed through the roof of the mouth, splintering a tooth, and came n out below the left jaw bone. The hall was full of people, and the assassin, thinking perhaps to escape in the confusion, dropped his pistol. But he had been recognized, and in an instant he was despatched by the swords of the high-spirited gentlemen present, and the halberds of the guards. So close was the pistol to the prinqe's head that his hair and beard were burned. Though blinded and stunned by the discharge, he remained standing. On coming to his senses, he thought that a part of the house had fallen, but finding his hair on fire he realized his condition, and exclaimed, " Do not kill him ; I forgive him my death ! " Then, turning to the French gentlemen present, he said, "Ah, what a faithful servant does his Highness lose in me!" The prince, supported by his friends, managed to walk to his chamber, where he was put to bed. He then said to Peter van Aelst, the burgomaster, " If it please God to call me to Him in this crisis, I will submit patiently to His will, commending to you my wife and children." His surgeon, who had meanwhile arrived, now examined and bandaged the wound, and, fearing the bullet had been poisoned, pre- ATTEMPTED ASSASSINATION OF ORANGE. 273 1582. A Fanatical Assassin. 275 scribed the necessary antidotes. Soon Villiers, the prince's chaplain, appeared, and, on seeing him, Orange, with tender conscientiousness, asked how he could render an account to God for so much bloodshed. On the minister's suggesting that the justice of the war would be his excuse, the devout patriot said, " I rely on the mercy of God ; in that mercy alone rests my salvation." There was the deepest grief in the prince's household at the terrible calamity. His wife repeatedly swooned away, and the young princesses wept and moaned piteously. To the sorrowing friends and servants of Orange the future seemed full of gloom. The general alarm was increased by dreadful suspicions as to the origin of the crime. It was feared that the French were concerned in it, and that even the prince's domestics might be implicated. Believing himself to be dying, William was full of sympathy for Anjou, who -would so soon be left alone amid great trials. By order of Count Hohenlohe the gates of the castle had been closed, and none but well-known persons allowed to leave. Count Maurice of Nassau, though only fifteen years of age, showed great presence of mind at this trying time. He remained by the body of his father's assassin, and took charge of the articles secured by a search. These proved that the fellow was a religious fanatic, who had been duped into believing that heaven would reward him for ridding the world of the great heretic and rebel. The youth's shirt was covered with crosses and other sacred symbols. His pockets con- tained an Agnus Dei, or Lamb of God (a waxen image stamped with the figure of a lamb and consecrated by the pope), a taper of green wax marked with the emblem of the Re- demption, such as Spanish pilgrims carried to their shrines, and two pieces of beaver skin, at first mistaken for dried toads, which the assassin had been told would render him invisible as soon as he had committed the deed. A Jesuit 276 History of the Netherlands. catechism and two bills of exchange, one for two thousand and one for eight hundred and seventy-seven crowns, were also fgund upon him. Then there were some writing tab- lets covered with prayers for the success of his undertak- ing, various inducements to the inhabitants of Antwerp to spare his life, and offerings to Christ and the saints in case of his safe delivery. The gift promised to the Saviour was " a new coat of costly pattern." In the youth's clothes was a naked dagger, which he had probably been prevented from using by his broken thumb, caused by the recoil of the over- loaded pistol. He had asked the gunsmith of whom he obtained the firearm to load it, on account of his own inex- perience. All the papers secured were in Spanish. There being now no doubt that only Spaniards had been concerned in the crime, the prince's valued friend, St. Al- degonde, at once informed the magistrates of Antwerp of the fact, showing them the assassin's tablets and some of his letters. His arrival was timely, for the excitement against the French had become intense. There were fears of a repetition of the §t. Bartholomew massacre, in which Anjou's family had been implicated. The citizens had run to arms, chains had been stretched across the streets, and a threatening mob had begun to move towards the Abbey of St. Michael, the duke's residence. All this had turned out as the Spaniards had expected, and they now hoped for an attack on the French, and their massacre of the citizens in retaliation. As the day selected was the anniversary of Anjou's birthday, and a grand illumination of Antwerp would draw crowds in the evening, everything favored their hopes but the survival of Orange and the care used to ascertain the assassin's nationality. Anjou was overcome with grief on hearing of the crime. When he learned that the French were suspected, he sus- pended preparations for his feast, and, as a mark of confidence 1582. yaureguys Remains Identified. 277 in the people, replaced the Swiss guard at his palace by citizen soldiery. He then authorized the magistrates to pro- ceed against the criminals. St. Aldegonde's explanations calmed the popular fury against the French. As the chiefs of the city guard were still anxious about Orange, one of them forced his way to the prince's chamber to see if he were dead or alive. The officer returned with the glad tidings of his safety, and his wish, if he should not survive, that the people should be faithful to Anjou, whom he warmly praised. After an affecting interview with the sufferer the duke sent despatches to his brother Henry III. of France and Queen Elizabeth of England. The letters and bills of exchange found on the assassin bore the name of Gaspar Anastro, a Spanish merchant of Antwerp. His house was therefore searched, but he had left town several days before on pretence of having urgent business in France. His book-keeper, Antonio Venero, was arrested on suspicion, . and also a Dominican friar named Timmerman who had secretly held mass in his house the morning of the murder. As the assassin's name was still unknown, his body was exposed in the public square. It was soon recognized as that of John Jaureguy, a Spanish youth of nineteen who had lately been in Anastro 's employ. He was the son of a sword-cutler of Bilboa, in the province 01 Biscay. Venero was -among those who identified the remains. After the corpse had been on exhibition an hour it was quar- tered, and the parts were fastened to the four principal gates of the city. The head was placed on a pole on the ramparts of the citadel. This barbarous display was intended to terrify would-be assassins of Orange. Venero still denied connection with the plot, but letters addressed to him by his master were soon seized in the foreign mail, and the guilt of both was thus clearly estab- lished. Having been promised an honorable death and the 2? 8 History of the Netherlands. attendance of a priest, the book-keeper made a full con- fession. Timmerman then described the interview between him and Venero on the preceding Friday. It appeared that the merchant, Anastro, being on the brink of bank- ruptcy, had been induced by one John Yssunca, a Spaniard, who was formerly a commissary of provisions in the prov- inces, to join him in a plot against the life of Orange. Yssunca said that he had a promise, in the king's handwriting, to give eighty thousand dollars and the cross of St. James (Spain's proudest order of chivalry) to any man who would compass the death of the prince. Anastro, like Yssunca, was afraid to risk his own life, but eager to get as much of the reward as possible ; he there- fore suggested the job to his book-keeper, Venero, who declined it. The crafty merchant then made the same prop- osition to Jaureguy, who had been several months in his office as a copyist. With tears in his eyes, the artful Anastro appealed to this ignorant youth to. help him out of his diffi- culty. As the young man was of a gloomy, fanatical tem- perament, he was easily persuaded that the destruction of Orange would be a pious and patriotic act The merchant first suggested using a dagger, but afterward advised a pistol as more certain ; and, as Jaureguy said he had never prac- tised with firearms, his employer agreed to get a friend to go with him to a shooting gallery, care being take to con- ceal the fact of his being a Spaniard. Before Anastro left the country he promised the two youths, Venero and Jaureguy, who were about the same age, to adopt them as his sons and share his property with them if the scheme should succeed. Jaureguy replied that he wished nothing, as he acted out of gratitude to his beloved master. As Venero was overcome with fear, the merchant tried to reassure him by saying that not a hair of his head should be touched, and that if William of Orange were dead 1582. Execution of Jaureguy s Accomplices. 279 the Antwerpers would gladly submit to Parma ; — he should soon be in that general's camp, and would send a trumpeter to the citizens to forbid them harming any of his servants. Sunday had been selected for the assassination, because, as Orange dined in state on that day, it would be easy to get near him. The previous Friday Jaureguy, after confessing to Timmerman, the Dominican friar, revealed to him his design of destroying the great tyrant and heretic. The monk, while warning him of the danger of the undertaking, said that if his motives were zeal for the Catholic Church and the glory of God, and not greed for gain, he should approve the act. He then granted the youth absolution and administered the sacrament to him. By accepting Anastro's terms Jaureguy was to have a little less than three thousand dollars of the eighty thousand promised by Philip. After a formal trial and conviction, the assassin's accom- plices, Venero and Timmerman, were publicly strangled and quartered on the Grand Square at Antwerp ten days after Jaureguy's attempt. They were spared torture at the request of Orange, who declared that he forgave their offences against himself. Before going to execution the friar voluntarily confessed that he was wrong in supposing that it was lawful to kill the prince because the king had proscribed him. Having been convinced of his error he wished publicly to recant it. The remains of the two victims were fastened to the walls and gates of Antwerp, as ghastly warnings of the peril of attempts upon the life of William the Silent. There they remained till the great city fell into Philip's hands, when they were taken down and buried with the rites of the Catholic Church. In the excitement attending the discovery of the plot several innocent persons had been arrested ; among them was Louis Guicciardini, a Florentine, the author of a very valuable description of the Netherlands of J:hat dav, He was accused 280 History of the Netherlands, of frequently visiting Anastro, of dining at his house a short time before the assassination, contrary to his usual custom, and of writing a letter to a friend in Paris in ridicule of Anjou's inauguration. Guicciardini and two other sus- pected persons were promptly acquitted, but a fourth was kept in prison for a month. Anastro was doomed to per- petual banishment, and, as he had not appeared for trial, notwithstanding a public summons repeated five times from week to week, a reward of a thousand crowns was offered for his arrest. Meanwhile the condition of Orange had been slowly im- proving. JThe closeness of the assassin's pistol to his victim had caused the flame to cauterize the wound and thus pre- vent bleeding. The prince's strong constitution, which even the weight of public cares and occasional excesses at table had not weakened, encouraged the doctors' belief in his recovery. Anjou now visited him daily, and, though not allowed to speak, William wrote freely. By order of the duke and the council of state, a day of prayer was announced by sound of trumpet in, Antwerp for March 21, and the states- general suspended their deliberations in order to unite with the tearful crowds in the churches. As the success of their cause depended on the safety of Orange, little confidence being had in the French duke, the people were still anxious, but letters from William himself to the magistrates two days later allayed these fears. Three weeks after the assault the public were again greatly alarmed. Bleeding broke out with such force as seriously to weaken the patient. Believing his death imminent, the prince sent St. Aldegonde to the states-general to en- treat their allegiance to Anjou, as the only hope of sav- ing the country. These patriotic appeals were tenderly responded to by the grateful but sorrowing assembly. The news of the crisis, while depressing the patriots, delighted 1582. yoy at Oranges Recovery. 281 the enemies of the national cause. Mendoza, the Spanish ambassador in England, and Mary Queen of Scots exulted at this seeming death-blow to the great heretic and rebel; while Elizabeth, who feared her turn would come next, vowed she would get Anjou back and marry him. Again the duke ordered public prayers in the churches in the different cities for the prince's recovery. After many vain attempts to check the flow of blood, Anjou's physician, Leonardo Botalli, em- ployed a simple but effective expedient. He had a num- ber of attendants take turns in keeping the wound closed by the pressure of their fingers. By this means the prince was enabled to gain strength, and the bleeding was perma- nently overcome. On the 2d of May, 1582, he offered thanks for his recovery in the Cathedral of Antwerp, and, as all busi- ness was suspended by order of the magistrates, the great temple overflowed with grateful worshippers. The joy of Orange was clouded by the death of his devoted wife, Charlotte of Bourbon, who, worn out by care and anxiety, was carried off three days afterward by a fever. She had been a great comfort to the prince during their seven years' union, though it had exposed her to great abuse by its Catholic and Protestant opponents. Yet the people mourned her loss hardly less deeply than her husband, to whom she left six daughters. The news of Jaureguy's attempt reached the Prince of Parma at Tournay six days afterward. As Orange was reported dead he at once wrote to the king- that his heart had burst at the long delay of retribution, but that God should be thanked for at last permitting the removal of the wretch who had been such a pest and poison to the poor provinces. The next day he wrote to one of Philip's minis- ters, rejoicing at this judgment of the Almighty upon the man who had abused his bounty, and done so much injury to Christianity. He also appealed to the cities to return to 282 History of the Netherlands. their allegiance to their gracious sovereign. So little did he know of Orange's condition, despite the efforts of his spies and messengers, that two months passed after the prince's recovery before he was convinced of it. Cardinal Granvelle, who had heard of the assault at Madrid, wrote several letters to his friends, rejoicing at the fate of his old opponent, which he regretted had not come sooner. The king, being in Port- ugal, had so many conflicting reports of the case that Parma's glowing despatches did not make much impression on him. Anastro had hastened from Calais to Tournay to inform the governor-general of his plot. He arrived two days after Jaureguy had made his attempt on the prince's life, but th'e news did not come till four days afterward. The crafty merchant was warmly welcomed by Parma, who, on writ- ing to Philip about the desperate deed, urged him to pay Anastro all he had promised and even more, and also to reward Jaureguy's parents, in order to terrify all persons who might seek to take the place of the Prince of Orange. Anastro himself wrote to the king, saying that despite the denials of the heretics, he believed the Catholic reports of the prince's death, because people had been publicly forbid- den to speak of it under severe penalties ; he also said that Anjou and St. Aldegonde had concealed their loss to enable the French to secure several cities. Being eager for his blood-money Anastro declared that the event had caused such a sensation in the country that people anxiously awaited his Majesty's recognition of it and payment of the reward, in order to alarm Anjou and his friends for their safety. He said he had announced that the death of Orange was a pun- ishment for his dishonest reply to Philip's ban, and that if he had not given the fatal blow thirty other gentlemen would have come from Spain in turn to deliver it. The cunning merchant added that the Prince of Parma had approved his spreading this report because it would be a useful warning to 1582. Anastro seeks his Blood- Money. 283 others. This letter was written April 17, 1582, but months passed away without the writer receiving his expected reward. Meantime Orange had got well, yet the hopeful Anastro set out for Spain in September to obtain the blood-money. But though Parma wrote another letter to Philip in favor of a suitable compensation both for him and for Jaureguy's parents, in order to incite others to similar. devotion, the thrifty king did not follow his advice. Thus the cowardly wretch Anastro, who, for his own selfish ends, tempted his two mis- guided young clerks to commit an infamous crime, failed to obtain its price. Unfortunately, the fate of the merchant's dupes was to be no safeguard for William of Orange from the deadly bullet of an assassin. CHAPTER XVII. THE "FRENCH FURY." In their joy at the recovery of their beloved " Father Wil- liam " the grateful people insisted upon his becoming their ruler for life instead of for the war. ' Cherishing the memory of the long line of Counts of Holland, they were eager to invest their patriot chief with these historic honors. The Netherlanders were fond of the pomps and dignities of government, and though republican at heart were attached to monarchical forms. As their companions in revolt had installed Anjou as Duke of Brabant, the sturdy Dutchmen resolved to have their own sovereign count. The prince ac- cepted this office frQm the states of Holland, Aug. 14, 1582, and in response to their appeal the deputies of Zealand and Utrecht declared their intention to unite under the new ruler. Nearly two years passed before the matter was settled, owing mainly to the opposition of the governments of some of the cities of Holland and Zealand, the chief of which were Gouda and the powerful Amsterdam. It required great ex- ertions by the people and the nobility to make the jealous municipalities submit to the establishment of an hereditary ruler, although that ruler was their beloved prince. 1 The 1 English and American historians of the Netherlands have, strangely enough, omitted to mention the opposition of these cities to the sovereignty of William the Silent, which is an important link in the chain of municipal difficulties with the house of Orange which were so marked under his successors. The fact 1582. A Liberal Constitution. 28$ agreement by which the government of Anjou was formally disclaimed was called the act of " Reversal." The new con- stitution was based upon the " Groot Privilegie," the Magna Charta of Holland, and under it Orange relinquished his sovereign powers and divided his authority with the states. With the council they formed two legislative chambers with- out whose consent no law could be enacted. Thus liberal principles were established for the new government. The inauguration of William the Silent was to be the final act in the political drama, but that act was fated never to be carried out. While his revolted provinces were thus strengthening their cause, Philip II. was wasting his time in hesitation and delay. Granvelle complained sadly in his letters to confidential friends of the king's attention to details which prevented him from mastering serious business. The subtle cardinal could not bear to have a powerful monarch make a plodding clerk of himself. " There is not a secretary in the world," he wrote, " who handles so many papers as the king." William of Orange had earnestly appealed to the states of the united provinces in May, 1582, to furnish aid to Anjou, who in the following November complained bitterly of their neglect of their treaty obligations. The duke, in his turn, warmly seconded the efforts of the prince to obtain from the states of Brabant compensation for his sacrifices for the country which had plunged him deeply into debt. One of the conditions on which the Walloon provinces had resumed allegiance to Philip was the withdrawal of the foreign troops. The states, however, graciously yielded to Parma's desire for their return to battle with Anjou and the united is established by the early historians Bor and Wagenaar, and has been elabo- rately considered by Groen van Prinsterer, " Archives de la Maison d'Orange- Nassau," torn. viii. pp. 422-425. The circumstances are well stated by Stem, "Commencements de la Republique aux Pays-Bas," pp. 124, 125. Paris, 1S72. 286 History of the Netherlands. provinces, now bound by treaty to carry on the war. As the presence of these hated soldiers had been one of the princi- pal grievances of the Netherlander, it is remarkable that the prince's plan should have been so generally favored. In fact, the Walloon people and clergy wanted the troops back, but jealousy of the Spanish commanders and fear of Philip's ven- geance excited the opposition of the nobles. Parma, how- ever, skilfully overcame their objections, and in the summer of 1582 the once dreaded soldiery again marched into the provinces. Meantime Alexander Farnese had captured sev- eral important cities. The qualities which enabled him to win victories were strikingly shown at the siege of Oudenarde. He personally headed his soldiers with spade or spear, and encouraged them by his contempt of danger. Oudenarde surrendered on the 5th of July, escaping the customary pillage by the payment of thirty thousand crowns. Yet the king's neglect to provide supplies forced Parma's troops during their next siege, which was aptly called the " Ninove Starvation," to eat nearly all their horses. One of the prince's aids, wjio had incautiously left his steed at the entrance of the commander's tent, found on coming out shortly afterward only the saddle and bridle remaining. The poor animal had been at once sacrificed for food. Although Anjou drove the royal forces away from the city of Lochum, he was not able to save Steenwyk, which was betrayed by a Frisian peasant into the hands of its Spanish assailants. After the Prince of Orange had recovered from Jaureguy's assault he accompanied the Duke of Anjou to Bruges for his inauguration as Count of Flanders. During this same month of July he had been tendered the title of Duke of Gelderland and Lord of Friesland. Amid the gay festivities in the old Flemish city rumors of a desperate plot against the new sov- ereign disturbed the merry-makers. One Nicholas Salseda, a Spaniard, and an Italian named Francis Baza, were arrested 1582. The Salseda Conspiracy. 287 on suspicion of being agents of Parma to assassinate Anjou in the interests of the intriguing French family of Guise against his brother, Henry III. Historians have generally supposed that Parma employed this Spaniard and Italian to poison either William of Orange or the Duke of Anjou, or both. But letters of Alexander Farnese and Tassis, the Span- ish ambassador in France, to Philip II., which have lately been brought to light show that the object of the conspira- tors was not assassination, but simply to get possession of the citadel of Cambray through the treachery of one of its officers. 1 Salseda, having suggested this scheme, had been sent by the Prince of Parma, to whom he • had been recommended by the Duke of Lorraine and other French dignitaries, in company with Baza to spy into the condition and movements of Anjou' s army. Threats and promises made Salseda con- fess that he intended to destroy both the prince and the duke, but he repeatedly retracted the confession when he found that nothing was to be gained by it. The parliament of Paris ordered the written charges which the Spaniard had made against certain dignitaries to be burned as false and malicious. Among the persons whom Salseda had falsely accused was Lamoral Egmont, the younger son of the famous general. As William the Silent had been very kind to the youth, the charge seemed incredible, yet many persons believed that Egmont had planned to poison him at his own table, and also to destroy St. Aldegonde. The poison was said to be concealed in a ring found in the young man's lodgings. Baza had, like Salseda, confessed his guilt, but he escaped punishment by committing suicide in prison. His body was hung on a gibbet with an account of his pretended crime. The Spaniard was tried and convicted in Paris, and the bar- 1 See " Correspondance de Guillaume le Taciturne," torn. vi. chap, v., pub- lished since Motley's " History of the Rise of the Dutch Republic." 288 History of the Netherlands. barous sentence that he should be pulled to pieces by four horses was literally executed. As a spy and a traitor Salseda merited death, but he was punished for crimes which he did not commit, in order to shield the ministers of the Duke of Anjou, who had urged him to confess them. To conceal his real policy, that ruler was obliged to advance a false one. It has been supposed that the reported conspiracy of the Lor- raine princes against his brother, Henry III. of France, was invented by Orange and Anjou to force him to break with them and make war against Spain. In that age of plots and counter-plots such a scheme was by no means improbable. Anjou did not long retain the confidence of his Nether- land subjects. His neglect to oppose the advance of Parma excited their suspicions, while he blamed the weary states for throwing the burden of defence on him. At Ghent, which was the only place that beat off the Spanish army, the Eng- lish volunteers under Sir John Norris bore the brunt .of the contest. As the discontented Catholics in the towns were intriguing with Spain, Anjou resolved to strike a decisive blow for himself. He ha4 kept a good deal of the money given him by Queen Elizabeth to pay his troops, to execute his plot against the liberties of the Netherlands. Then he bor- rowed large sums on pretence that he was acting for her as her promised husband, and assured Orange that she and the king, his brother, approved his bringing over fresh forces from France. With these supplies of men and money he was ready for action. Being heir to the French throne, he longed to unite the provinces with his future dominions, and he had been told by some of the worthless young nobles of his household that this was the only way to secure his royal brother's aid. Anjou's jealousy of Orange being thus ex- cited, he quietly increased the French garrisons in a number of cities in Flanders. On the 15th of January, 1583, Dun- kirk, Ostend, Dixmuyde, Dendermonde, Alost, and Vilvoorde O co 1583- Anjou's Treachery. 291 were suddenly seized. Delay in the attempt at Bruges put the burghers on their guard, and saved the city. Antwerp had been reserved for Anjou's own efforts. The duke had gathered a body of French troops just out- side the walls on pretence of moving against a place held by Parma. Strange rumors were afloat in Antwerp. On the night of the 16th of January a man in a mask gave warning at the main guard-house of impending danger. There were vague suspicions of Anjou, but his outrages of the day before were not yet known. By the advice of Orange precautions were taken against a sudden attack. The lanterns were hung out in front of the houses, and the drawbridge was raised an hour before the regular time. Anjou's earnest denial of any evil intent, and warm expressions of affection for Antwerp, restored confidence. The next morning the duke renewed his promises of fidelity, and agreed not to leave the city that day ; yet he soon afterward tried to induce Orange to accompany him to the camp. Failing in this attempt he mounted his horse and rode out of the Kipdorp gate at the head of three hun- dred gayly dressed cavaliers. After passing the first draw- bridge Anjou ordered them to turn back and capture the city, while he pushed on for reinforcements. On reaching the guard-house Count Rochepot, commander of the French troops, pretending that his horse had forced him against the wall, cried out that his leg was broken. This was the preconcerted signal for an attack on the burgher guard at the gate, who were butchered while rushing to the assistance of the supposed wounded man. The troops from the camp, consisting of six hundred cavalry and three thou- sand musketeers, now dashed furiously into the town, shout- ing, " City taken, city taken ! The Mass forever ! Hurrah for the Duke of Anjou ! Kill, kill, kill ! " It happened to be the dinner hour in Antwerp, and the 292 History of the NetJierlands. streets were almost deserted. As the startled citizens rushed to their doors they were fired upon by the invaders, who made haste to turn the cannon on the ramparts towards the city. No time was lost by the inhabitants in giving the alarm. Bells rang, trumpets sounded, and the drums of the militia beat to arms. Some burgher guards who had escaped from the massacre at the Kipdorp gate aided in rousing the people. Chains and barricades were stretched across the streets. The Exchange was the principal rallying point. All classes turned out to defend the liberties of Antwerp. Catho- lics and Protestants united to repel the invader. Every avail- able weapon and implement was brought into use. A baker, tending his oven half-naked, rushed to the street on hearing the disturbance. Seeing a French cavalry officer dashing by, he struck him a tremendous blow with his heavy bread-shovel. The officer fell dead to the pavement. The baker, without stopping to dress, grasped his victim's sword, mounted his horse, and rode furiously through the streets encouraging the citizens and alarming the enemy. Women and children aided in repelling the* assailants, upon whom they hurled tiles and chimney-pots, and heavy furniture from windows and house-tops. When their supply of bullets gave out the burgh- ers used instead silver buttons from their doublets, and with their teeth twisted gold and silver coins into slugs for their firearms. So fierce was the onset of the people that the invaders were unable to withstand it. To add to their alarm the militia had recaptured the cannon on the ramparts, and turned them against the forces of Anjou, which were advanc- ing upon the city. The enemy were now completely panic- stricken. They fled in dismay towards the gate by which they had entered the town. Many were slain by the pursu- ing burghers, and some by Count Rochepot, the French commander, to check the retreat. And so the slaughter 1583. Gallant Defence of Antwerp. 293 went on, a barrier of corpses ten feet high being heaped up in the narrow passage through which the fugitives sought to escape. Of the four thousand dashing soldiers whom Anjou had expected would capture Antwerp two thirds were killed or taken prisoners. The rest escaped by springing from the walls and swimming across the moats. Nearly two thousand Frenchmen lay dead in the streets, among them being two hundred and sixty nobles of distinction in splendid attire. Yet less than a hundred burghers were slain. The kind- hearted citizens cared tenderly for their wounded enemies, the dead were carefully buried, and the survivors released without ransom. Thus a lesson of benevolence as well as of bravery was taught by these simple burghers to their ambi- tious assailants. Anjou, who had been watching the city at a distance, shouted with joy as he saw men leaping from the ramparts. He thought they were citizens trying to escape, when in fact they were his fugitive soldiers. The Duke of Montpensier and several other distinguished French nobles to whom he had not dared to reveal his scheme, now rebuked his treachery so severely that when he saw it had miserably failed he mounted his horse and fled to hide his shame. Orange did not know of the action till it was nearly over, as he lived at a distance from the spot where it began. As the invaders were in retreat when he reached the scene, he prevailed upon the inhabitants to cease firing, so as not to needlessly irritate their allies. This memorable contest was called the French Fury, though it differed a great deal from the terrible Spanish Fury. Fortunately for the burghers of Antwerp at this second onslaught upon their lives and prop- erty, they had relied for protection upon themselves instead of upon treacherous or cowardly hirelings, while the invaders, in their eagerness for plunder, neglected to secure possession of the city. 294 History of the Netherlands. But the Duke of Anjou's difficulties were not yet over. To check his retreat the citizens of Mechlin cut a dyke, and the flood drowned a thousand of his soldiers. Yet on reach- ing a place of safety he had the impudence to claim from the Prince of Orange and the authorities of Antwerp the re- turn of his property, liberation of the French prisoners, and supplies for his troops. Some of these demands being granted, he began to assume a tone of injured innocence. This was .more than the states could bear. They had thought it pru- dent to overlook Anjou's treachery, but they felt insulted by his offers of forgiveness. The Netherlanders were now so excited against the duke that many preferred to submit to their old enemy, Spain, rather than to this false friend. Being appealed to by Anjou to re- store his authority, Orange wrote him a warning and reproving letter. He also wrote to Queen Elizabeth asking if she would aid the states should France seek revenge for the slaughter at Antwerp. As the queen insisted on the restora- tion of Anjou, the prince, who had also received an appeal from the crafty Catherine de Medici, was led to favor this policy. He felt it would be folly for the Netherlands to offend England, and then have to fight France and Spain single-handed. In a remarkable address to the states-gen- eral, which vindicated his own conduct and rebuked the quar- relsome, niggardly, and disunion tendencies of the provinces, he maintained that their safety depended upon a reconcilia- tion with the duke. While Anjou was assuming airs of suffering virtue with the states he was secretly intriguing to sell the stolen cities to Spain for other Netherland cities on the French frontier. Though Orange discovered this intrigue he still favored the duke's restoration as a choice of evils. It was therefore for- mally agreed upon. Yet Anjou was deeply distrusted. The gallant English colonel-, Sir John Norris, who had been blamed 1584. Treacherous Intrigues with Spain. 297 by the queen for not protecting the duke's retreat at the time of the French Fury, refused to remain under command of the traitor. He was afraid that Anjou would bribe some of his officers to betray the states. His fears were not baseless. One of these dishonorable Englishmen sold the town of Alost to the Spaniards not long afterward. On the 28th of June, 1583, Anjou left Dunkirk for Paris, expecting to return as sovereign of the United Provinces. Before long the feeling in favor of Orange became so strong that the states urged him to accept the supreme power. But he refused this honor, as well as the dukedom of Bra- bant, on the ground that the country needed a more power- ful protector. On the 12th of the previous April he had taken for his fourth wife Louisa, widow of Lord Teligny, and daughter of the famous Admiral Coligny, one of the victims of the St. Bartholomew massacre. Meanwhile Parma easily took the cities which Anjou's intrigues had weakened. Dunkirk, Gravelines, and Nieuport fell one after another. Being on the seaboard they were very useful for his proposed invasion of England. Soon Zutphen was captured, and a paper found confirming the sus- pected treachery of the brother-in-law of Orange, Count Van den Berg. As soon as he was released from imprisonment he made haste to go over with all his sons to the enemy. A secret plot to deliver Flanders to the Spanish government was also discovered. The conspirators were Champagny, who, from his prison in Ghent, sought to revenge himself on his per- secutors, the Prince of Chimay, governor of the province, a son of the Duke of Aerschot, and like him a treacherous intriguer, and the unscrupulous agitator, Imbize. They pre- vailed upon the authorities of Ghent to treat with Parma. This was early in the spring of 1584. But the remonstrances of Orange and other liberal leaders against such a sacrifice of the country checked the movement, and it received a 298 History of the Netherlands, death-blow by the discovery that Imbize was secretly attempt- ing to surrender the city of Dendermonde to Spain. Now the commandant of that city was Lord Ryhove, the old asso- ciate of Imbize. Being warned of the plot he had the arch demagogue arrested and taken to Ghent, where he expiated his crime on the scaffold. 1 That turbulent city and nearly the whole of Flanders were thus saved to the Union for a time. Anjou's treachery incited other intrigues for restoring the provinces which had accepted him as their sovereign, to Spain. The Walloon nobles urged the states and leading cities to return to the pious protection of Philip. In the reaction against the perfidious French duke, Orange himself became an object of suspicion, excited by Spanish agents on one side and Calvinistic zealots on the other. He was charged with having sold the country to France ; and his marriage with the daughter of Admiral Coligny and accept- ance of the government of Holland and Zealand were ad- duced as evidence of his disloyalty. It was even said that he had favored Anjou's attempt upon Antwerp, and the fact that he did not appear on the scene till the French were in retreat, and then gave orders to spare them, was urged as proof of his artful treachery. A report soon spread that he had concealed a body of these false foreign troops in the castle of Antwerp, and Anjou himself was said to be secreted there. The excited populace advanced to the gates, and clamored loudly for admission. The prince calmly ordered 1 Van der Vynckt moralizes over the fate of Imbize, who was nearly sev- enty years old, as a strange example, of popular inconstancy. The leaders of the state had trembled before him ; he had changed its destiny ; thirty thousand men had risen when his liberty was threatened five years before, and the tumult could only be calmed by bringing him before them. Yet those who had idol- ized and those who had dreaded him beheld his execution with equal indiffer- ence. " Histoire des Troubles des Pays-Bas," edition Reiffenberg, torn. ii. pp. 119, 120. Bruxelles, 1836. 1584- Death of Anjou. 299 the portals to be opened, and allowed the multitude to search the citadel. Though abashed by finding nothing to justify their suspicions, the disaffected populace continued their in- dignities. As the magistrates took no steps to prevent these disorders, the prince resolved to leave the ungrateful land and seek comfort in his ever-faithful Holland. He accord- ingly went to Delft, where in February, 1584, his wife gave birth to a son, Frederick Henry, the future stadtholder, who was destined to render brilliant services to his country. While arrangements were being made for the renewal of Anjou's government on a constitutional basis, the news of his death, which occurred at Chateau-Thierry in France on the 10th of June, 1584, startled the provinces. Though his enemies, the Guises, were suspected of having poisoned him, it is probable that his life was cut short by his licentious habits and disappointed ambition. The fatal shock was said to have been caused by the news that the magistrates of Antwerp had instituted an annual festival to celebrate the expulsion of the French from the city. Queen Elizabeth put her court in mourning for her dead lover, but her affected grief soon gave place to real sorrow and alarm. A terrible blow was struck in the Netherlands which filled the land with sadness, and gave great joy to the enemies of civil and relig- ious freedom in Europe. CHAPTER XVIII. ASSASSINATION OF WILLIAM THE SILENT. Many attempts upon the life of Orange had been incited by Philip's ban with its promised rewards. Jaureguy's fate did not put a stop to these perilous ventures. On the 3d of March, 1583, a Spaniard named Peter Ordono was executed in Antwerp, where he had been living in disguise and under an assumed name. He had been encouraged by Parma and Philip in his murderous scheme. The weapon which he pro- posed to use was a dagger. A rich merchant named Hans Hanzoon was beheaded at Flushing on the 15 th of April, 1584, for attempting the prince's life. He. is said to have planned to blow Orange up with gunpowder while in church or at a hotel, to kill him with muskets, and to cut his throat. This desperate merchant was believed to have arranged the assassination with Tassis, the Spanish ambassador at Paris. One Francis Paredes, a Spaniard, who after toiling in the galleys had entered the service of Orange, plotted to kill the prince and St. Aldegonde, and to deliver the city of Flushing to the enemy. His confederates were three other Spanish officers in the patriot army. Parma and Tassis encouraged their project. The skilful Mondragon was selected to lead the assault on Flushing on the night of November 30, but it was finally abandoned as impracticable. In April, 1584, a French officer named Le Goth, who had been captured by the Spaniards, sought to regain his liberty by pretending a desire to assassinate Orange. His plan, as revealed to Parma 1584. Balthazar Gerard, the Fanatic. 301 and the Marquis of Roubaix, was to put poison in the pot in which eels were cooked for the prince. Though the two Spanish commanders suspected Le Goth's knavery, his re- lease was granted for a small ransom. Yet the crafty French- man declared that Parma and Roubaix had used threats to compel him to betray one of the enemy's fortresses, and had proposed the assassination scheme. The true facts of the case have but recently come to light. The failure of so many attempts to assassinate the Silent Prince did not discourage the governor-general, but it made him more careful in the choice of means. Though the re- wards offered by the ban against Orange tempted every cut- throat in Europe, most of the applicants were eager to make their fortunes without risking their lives. A more resolute character now came forward. On the 2 1 st of March, 1584, a common-looking man, short and thin in person, called upon the governor- general at Tournay with a written plan of assassinating William of Orange. The stranger's mean appearance and high-flown style of writing led Parma to class him with the worthless fellows on whom he had wasted time and money. The man, who. was about twenty-seven years of age, had come from Villefans in Burgundy, where his parents lived, to carry out his scheme. His name was Balthazar Gerard, and he belonged to a well-known Catholic family. In his letter he expressed surprise that no one but " the gentle Biscayan, since deceased" (meaning Jaureguy), had been willing to risk his life in executing the king's orders. Though noble knights could not be expected to defile body and soul by associating with the prince, he would make the sacrifice to rid the world of an obstinate wretch who had thus far escaped punishment. He added that he had formed a plan for en- trapping the fox by getting access to him under favorable circumstances. This plan, which would be explained to the 302 History of the Netherlands. most serene Prince of Parma if he approved the undertak- ing, would also be the means of discovering spies and trai- tors. In conclusion Gerard protested that he did not propose the exploit for the reward, not wishing to imitate persons who desired pay for doing their duty, and still less to be thought so presumptuous as to pretend that his service to the king was prompted by reliance on his majesty's immense liberality instead of by his own sincere affection. After reading this strange screed Parma sent the writer away as unfit for serious work. Having already four persons of different nations under pay in the city of Delft waiting a chance to kill the prince, the governor-general did not care to employ this paltry youth. But as some of his friends thought he had acted hastily in dismissing the young man, he sent his trusty councillor D'Assonleville to him to learn more of his scheme. Gerard proposed to get into the ser- vice of Orange by pretending to be the son of a martyred Protestant escaping Catholic persecution. Having taken impressions of some royalist seals, he intended to offer them to the prince for fopging passports for spies. He declared that nothing but zeal for the Catholic religion and the king's cause prompted his act. Besides requesting a pardon from the governor-general he humbly begged for absolution from the pope in order not to risk both soul and body among the heretics. On D'Assonleville's warning him of the danger of assailing the Prince of Orange in the centre of Holland sur- rounded by his guards, Gerard said he was willing to suffer torture and death provided he could deliver the country from the tyrant whom God had commissioned him to de- stroy. When Parma learned these facts he changed his opinion of the young man, and wrote to the king that he had directed him to execute his scheme. D'Assonleville had promised Gerard in the prince's name the rewards assured by the BELFRY OF VALENCIENNES. I5S4- Movements of the Assassin. 305 ban in case of success, telling him, however, not to betray Parma's connection with it if arrested. " Go forth, my son," added the patronizing councillor, " and if you perform this deed the king will fulfil all his promises, and you will be immortalized." Encouraged by these assurances the youth at once set about his work. He had brooded over the design of killing William the Silent for years. Having been brought up to regard the great patriot as an infamous rebel and heretic, the young fanatic felt in duty bound to destroy him. When but twenty years of age Balthazar was so enraged by the reports of troubles incited by the prince between Don John of Aus- tria and the provinces that he struck a dagger fiercely into a door, exclaiming, u Would that this blow had reached the heart of Orange ! " Another Burgundian present rebuked the lad, saying that it was not for him to kill or menace princes ; that the king was powerful enough to deal with Orange, but that he did not wish to destroy so good a cap- tain, who might be brought back to his service. This remon- strance seemed to calm the youth, but the publication of Philip's ban revived his early feelings. After waiting nearly two years for others to execute the king's command, he set out in February, 1582, to do the work himself. On arriving at Luxemburg he heard that Jaureguy had killed the prince. The news led him to settle down quietly as clerk to his cousin, who was secretary to Count Mansfeld, governor of the province. Gerard's murderous resolve was soon excited by hearing of Orange's recovery. He now obtained impres- sions of Mansfeld's official seals in wax in order to secure favor with his intended victim. A theft in the office and his cousin's sickness delayed his departure till March, 1584. Before seeking out the object of his fanatical fury Gerard consulted the regent of the Jesuit College at Treves, and a learned Franciscan friar at Tournay. They blessed him and 306 History of the Netherlands. his undertaking, and it was by the Jesuit's advice that he was led to apply to Parma. Balthazar reached Delft early in May. Representing him- self to Villiers, Orange's chaplain and trusty counsellor, as Francis Guion, the son of a martyred Protestant, he showed him the forged seals. Gerard wished to enter the prince's service, but was disappointed in being sent with the seals to France. While there the death of the Duke of Anjou en- abled him to become the bearer of despatches to the Prince of Orange, who was then living in the dreamy, picturesque old Dutch town of Delft. His plain brick house, with a red- tiled roof, which had formerly been a convent, was called, as his residence, the Prinzen Hof. It looked out on a large courtyard facing the pleasant tree-lined street and canal, and was bordered on one side by a narrow lane leading to the city wall. The prince's offices and stables were in the rear of the house. While in bed Sunday morning, the 8th of July, 1584, Wil- liam the Silent received despatches from the French court announcing the de'ath of Anjou. After reading the papers Orange sent for the messenger to learn the particulars of the sad event. He proved to be the same young man who had accompanied the mission. Gerard, who was still pretending to be Francis Guion, was astonished at this summons to the prince's chamber. It seemed impossible that the great here- tic could be within his power. Had Orange not been absorbed with the news from France, his suspicions would have been excited by the fanatic's nervous manner. Being unarmed he could not then execute his murderous scheme ; but he had gained a footing for it. To disarm suspicion Balthazar now went regularly to church, and was seemingly intent upon his devotions, always carrying a psalm or other religious book in his hand. Then he bor- rowed a Bible from the gate-keeper, and read from it in his I: : f~?->'- I %\ " THE ASSASSINATION OF ORANGE. 307 1584- Orange's Impending Fate. 309 presence, in order to gain the confidence of the prince's servants. An unexpected circumstance led him to hasten the execution of his long-cherished purpose. He was informed that he must get ready to go back to France with despatches, and that there was nothing more for him to do in the prince's establishment. Thereupon he asked for some money to buy shoes and stockings, as his own were not fit to wear. Wil- liam of Orange, hearing of his needs, ordered a dozen crowns to be given him. The next day he purchased a pistol from a soldier of the prince's guard, but the flint missing fire he bought two others of a sergeant, which he tried several times, to satisfy himself of their quality. He quarrelled with another soldier, who refused to let him have some slugs. Though in- tending to kill the prince that day, he did not dare make the attempt because he had no means of escape. Having mean- time made the necessary arrangements, he went to the house of Orange the next morning prepared for the desperate deed. Wishing to ascertain whether the prince would come down to dinner, Gerard waited at the foot of the stairway which led to his chamber. At about half-past twelve o'clock on the 10th of July, 1584, William the Silent, with his wife and other members of his family, descended to the hall on his way to the dining-room. He was simply dressed, as usual, in a yellow leather doublet, a loose coat of coarse gray cloth, and wide trousers. Round his neck, from which hung one of the old-time " beggars' " medals, was a high ruff, and his broad felt hat was like those worn by those early agitators. When the prince reached the doorway Gerard came forward and asked for a passport. His forbidding countenance and trembling voice alarmed the princess, who anxiously asked her husband who the man was. Orange said it was only a person who wanted a passport, and that one should be prepared for him. Meanwhile Balthazar went out to get his pistols, one of 3 1 History of the Netherlands. which he loaded with two balls, and the other with three. He was seen walking towards the stables behind the house in the direction of the ramparts. Returning before the prince had finished his dinner, he stationed himself near the door of the dining-hall in a little vestibule, on the left side of which was a deep, sunken arch, connecting by a gate with the nar- row lane at the back of the house. With the pistols in his belt, concealed by his cloak, Gerard, leaning against a pillar, awaited the approach of his victim. There was but one guest at the family dinner, the burgo- master of a Friesland city, and Orange talked freely with him about affairs in that province. At two o'clock the prince rose from the table, and after exchanging a few words with the English colonel, Morgan, who had just entered the hall, passed out into the vestibule. He had hardly done so before Gerard approached as if to ask for the passport, and dis- charged a pistol containing three balls into his stomach, one of which passed through and struck the wall beyond. The prince staggered and fell into the arms of his master of the horse, exclaiming in French, " Oh, my God, have mercy on my soul ! Oh, my God, have mercy on this poor people ! " His sister Catherine, Countess of Schwartzburg, at once asked him in German if he commended his soul to Jesus Christ, He faintly answered " Yes " in the same language, and, though he could speak no more, gazed tenderly upon his heart- broken wife and sister, who bent lovingly over him. Becom- ing unconscious he was carried from the stairs, on which he had been laid for a moment, to a couch in the dining-room, where he breathed his last amid the sobs of his family and servants. 1 1 The mark of the fatal bullet on the wall may still be seen in William the Silent's old house in Delft, which is now used as a barrack. The two other bullets, the pistols, and the dress of the illustrious victim are preserved in the National Museum at the Hague. 1584. Capture of -Oranges Assassin. 311 The assassin, who had carefully arranged his plan of escape, ran swiftly through the archway and up the narrow lane to- wards the city wall at the back of the house. He cleared the first steps of the corridor at a bound, but in his haste fell over a heap of rubbish near the ramparts. Quickly rising he pushed on, and was about mounting the wall when he was seized by a page and halberdier, who, with others of the prince's servants, had pursued him from the house. He had dropped his loaded pistol, which he probably intended to use against his pursuers, as he gave his leap down the corridor. On his person were found a piece of pipe and two bladders with which he intended to float himself across the moat, as he did not know how to swim. A horse stood saddled and bridled on the other side to make good his escape. Gerard, who had showed some nervousness when seized, soon regained composure. One of his captors charged him with being a villain, but he denied the charge, and insisted that he had only obeyed the command of his master, the King of Spain. As he was brought back to the house past the gate through which he had taken his fatal departure he exclaimed : " Ah ! gate, gate, thou hast deceived me ! I see plainly that I am doomed to die ! " The city magistrates, who had hastened to the Prinzen Hof after the assassina- tion, being eager to examine him, Gerard asked for ink and paper, promising to tell the whole truth. He then wrote out his celebrated confession, in which the details of his scheme were faithfully related, with the exception of the agency of Parma and D'Assonleville, which he had agreed not to reveal, and the omission of the encouragement given by the holy fathers of Treves and Tournay. The coolness of Gerard astonished the magistrates. In- stead of expressing regret for the deed, he gloried in it. Like David, he said " he had slain Goliath of Gath." He declared that if the prince had been surrounded by fifty thousand 312 History of the Netherlands. soldiers, or been a thousand leagues away, he would have endeavored to kill him. Attempts were made to convince the assassin that his victim was not dead, but only wounded ; but he said he was well satisfied, for the wretch could not survive. On being removed to prison Gerard related a plan which he had formed for getting access to the prince had his recent attempt failed. He persisted in declaring his deed pleasing GERARD ON THE RACK. to God, the king, and all Christian people, and expressed his willingness to submit to the dreadful punishment.. After being terribly scourged and racked, in order to make him reveal his accomplices, He confessed his relations with Parma and the monks of Treves and Tournay. When put to the torture the next day Gerard's wonderful endurance amazed his tormentors. He did not utter a word of complaint, but 1584. B alt Jiazar Gerard's Punishment. 313 frankly answered all questions, and said he would not have abandoned his undertaking if he had to die a thousand deaths. Before proceeding to the trial and condemnation of the prisoner, the states of Holland ordered an executioner from Utrecht to assist the one in Delft, and each strove to surpass the other in torturing the assassin. Though his wretched body was wrenched and almost roasted by this cruel rivalry, he was so unmoved that the executioners thought him supported by witchcraft, and to break the spell they clothed him in the shirt of a hospital patient accused of sorcery. This super- stitious treatment proving useless, Balthazar was asked why he was proof against torture. He answered that it was by the aid of saints and their prayers. In his intervals of relief from the rack he spoke so gently to his tormentors that they were astonished, and the bystanders shed tears of pity. Some of them declared that he could not be a man. Oth- ers asked him how long since he had sold himself to the devil. He replied that he was not acquainted with the devil. He thanked the judges for the food furnished him in prison, and promised as a recompense to plead for them in Paradise. After all the tortures which he had endured the assassin was doomed to a cruel death. He was sentenced to have his right hand, as the one that had committed the crime, burnt off with a hot iron, and his flesh plucked six times from dif- ferent parts of his body with red-hot pincers. Then, while yet alive, he was to be quartered and disembowelled, and his heart torn out and thrown in his face. Finally, his head was to be cut off and placed on a pike on the school gate behind the Prinzen Hof, and the dissevered parts of his body were to be hung up on the walls above the four gates of the city. On the 14th of July, 1584, this sentence was literally executed. Notwithstanding the mutilated condition of his 314 History of the Netherlands. feet from the torture, Gerard walked firmly to the scaffold, which had been erected in front of the Town Hall, and gazed unmoved upon the instruments of his dreadful punishment. He even smiled in sympathy with the laughter of the crowd as the hammer with which one of the executioners was break- ing the fatal pistol in pieces flew from its handle and struck his associate on the ear. When his right hand was nearly burned off the assassin raised the stump, as if to say, " This was the hand that did the deed." During his terrible sufferings Balthazar did not complain or change color. Seemingly rapt in prayer he recited peni- tential psalms, and made signs of the cross upon his forehead and towards the spectators. As the executioners were about to subject him to fresh torments, a woman in the crowd exclaimed pitifully to some of the citizens near her, " Why will they inflict such cruelty on this poor fellow? He has only killed one man, and they have made him die a thousand deaths." This complaint brought down a storm of abuse on the head of the woman, and as she was rudely pushed back the crowd behind became agitated, a cry, " To arms ! " was heard, and drums were beaten. These sounds alarmed the executioners, who were on the point of abandoning their work, when the magistrates declared there was no danger, and they must do their duty. So the horrible tortures went on with calculated slowness. Gerard meanwhile said his prayers in a low tone, but not a sigh escaped him. There was a movement of his lips till his heart was thrown in his face, when death came to his relief. Such was the fate of Balthazar Gerard, which in Catholic countries favorable to Spain was regarded as a glorious martyrdom. His crime was less that of an individual than of the age. If any person is responsible for the deed it is not Balthazar Gerard, but Philip II. The assassination showed the terrible evils of making religious zeal the slave of igno- 1584. Funeral of William the Silent. 315 ranee and bigotry. Yet the besotted fanaticism which de- stroyed William the Silent was matched by the blind fury which wreaked its vengeance on his murderer. As intelli- gent Catholics would not now defend the assassination of Orange, so intelligent Protestants would not justify the bar- barous punishment of Gerard, who indeed would be consid- ered a subject for a lunatic asylum rather than for the rack and the scaffold. 1 At the time of his death Orange was a little over fifty-one years of age, and the post-mortem examination showed that his life would probably have been a long one had it not been ended by violence. He was above the middle height, with a slender but sinewy and well-proportioned figure; a broad, massive brow, firm but gentle mouth, clear, tranquil eye, and brown hair and beard. He left a widow and twelve children,, six sons and six daughters. The body of the martyred patriot was exposed for nearly a month on a bier, and sorrowing crowds knelt and wept beside it. On the 3d of August, 1584, the funeral was celebrated with princely pomp. Nearly twelve hundred armed burghers headed the procession, and were followed by the grief-stricken household of the illustrious victim. Twelve high-born gen- tlemen bore the coffin, and the cords of the pall were held by four great nobles. Behind the escutcheons and banners representing the principal lordships of the dead hero came his riderless war-horse superbly caparisoned, and led by a 1 Gachard, the highest authority on the subject, rejects the idea that Gerard was partly actuated by mercenary motives in the assassination of Orange as inconsistent with all that is known of him, his single expression to the con- trary in his account of his interview with D'Assonleville having been uttered on the rack, and thus either extorted by torture or adopted to conceal his real purpose. " Correspondance de Guillaume le Taciturne," torn. vi. preface, pp. cxvi, cxvii. The psychology of the case has been recently illustrated by M. Forneron, " Histoire de Philippe II.," 2* edition, torn. iii. p. 217. Paris* 1882. 316 History of the Netherlands. groom. The naked sword of the martyred prince was car- ried by the Count of Overstein, and his crown by the Baron of Cr£ange. The chief mourner was the youthful Maurice of Nassau, who walked between Gebhard Truchsess, the Arch- bishop-Elector of Cologne, and General Count Hohenlohe. The train of his mourning mantle was held by Sonsfeld, his preceptor, behind whom marched several princes of the house of Nassau. The states-general of the United Prov- inces, the council of state, the states of Holland, the magis- trates of Delft, and the ministers of religion and captains of the guard swelled the long procession, which was followed by a multitude of citizens. The remains of the illustrious stadt- holder were buried in the new church at Delft, where a costly monument was afterwards erected over them. William of Orange had contended with vastly inferior re- sources against the greatest empire of the world. While liv- ing, a grateful people recognized him as the Father of his adopted country, and historians have generally regarded him as the founder of Dutch independence. His untiring devo- tion, heroic self-sacrifice, mastery over men, and fertility of resource sustained the national cause under the most trying circumstances, and thus protected England and Europe from the grasp of Spain. Though a greater statesman than general, he had the rare power of making military defeats the means of securing civil triumphs. His enemies, while acknowledging his remarkable abilities, charged him with committing the most atrocious crimes to gratify his grasping ambition. But history furnishes no proof of these charges, and the private letters of Orange prove the depth of his piety and patriotism. He SGorned the murderous arts which great sovereigns then used without reproach, and mercy with him ever tempered justice. His practice of religious toleration showed the kind- ness of his disposition as well as the moderation of his judg- ment. Visitors to Delft, who saw a very simply dressed man VIEW IN ROTTERDAM. 1584- Character of William of Orange. 319 going about the streets with uncovered head, chatting with mechanics and watermen, quaffing their proffered mugs of beer, and settling their family disputes, were surprised to learn that this was the " Silent Prince," the " Taciturn," whose dark and mysterious combinations made him an ob- ject of dread to the crowned plotters of the Vatican and the Escurial. He kept his profound statecraft and his impene- trable reserve for his subtle foes, and with the people, as with his family and friends, he was ever frank and genial. The principal defect in the character of Orange was the dissimulation which so deeply influenced his political actions. His early education in that great school of deception and intrigue, the court of the Emperor Charles V., fostered habits of duplicity which, while often useful in combating the arts of his enemies, betrayed him into measures that injured the cause of his country and have sullied his fame. It was his dependence upon political artifice that led the prince to encourage those desperate ventures of Ryhove and Imbize which helped to destroy the union of the Netherlands. It was his repute for double-dealing that made it impossible for William the Silent to restore confidence to the Walloons, and prevent them from resuming allegiance to Spain. Hi's habit- ual distrust of the motives of political opponents sometimes blinded him to their real character, as in the case of Don John of Austria, and even of Philip II., and inspired an un- due confidence in his supposed friends, which was turned against him by the Duke of Anjou, Count Renneberg, and his brother-in-law, Van den Berg. The unfortunate clerk whom Orange bribed to send him copies of Philip's letters suffered a terrible punishment on the discovery of his treason, being torn to pieces by four horses three years before the prince's assassination. It is the strongest proof of the pro- found patriotism and integrity of William the Silent that they survived his vicious political practices. These blemishes on 320 History of the Netherlands. the character of Orange, for which the usages of his age are largely responsible, cannot obscure his nobler characteristics, or impair the value of his great services to his country and to human freedom, which have given him a high place among the benefactors of mankind. 1 1 William the Silent's profound dissimulation is acknowledged by such candid Netherland scholars as Groen van Prinsterer and Gachard. The philo- sophic Guizot criticises the " obstinate and skilful pleading " which " screens the weak side of a good cause and a great man," in his article in the Edinburgh Re- view on Motley's " Rise of the Dutch Republic," vol. cv. p. 44. " Melanges Biographiques et Litteraires," p. 463. Paris, 1880. Prescott remarks that the double-dealing of Orange leaves a disagreeable impression in regard to his character. " History of Philip II.," vol. i. p. 586. Boston, 1858. These Protestant judgments show that there is some basis for the views of moderate Catholics in regard to Orange, and help to explain the criticisms of Bentivoglio and other authors. Both Juste and Forneron regard the prince's intrigues as obstacles to the union of the Netherlands, and as serious defects in his character. " Histoire de la Revolution des Pays-Bas sous Philippe II.," torn. ii. p. 392. Bruxelles, 1855; "Histoire de Philippe II.," 2« edition, torn. hi. p. 169. Paris, 1882. Schiller's acute analysis of the policy of Orange and of his relations with Philip II. gives value to his " Revolt -of the Netherlands " (" Abfall der Niederlande ") which later researches have largely superseded. See also ante, p. 221. William the Silent's misrepresentations of the designs of Don John of Austria, ante, p. 236, which are unknown to general readers of Netherland history, are pointed out by the learned editor of the "Archives de la Marson d'Orange-Nassau," torn. v. p. xxxix. See also " Correspondance de Guillaume le Taciturne," torn. iii. preface, pp. xlviii, lviii. CHAPTER XIX. DESPERATE CONDITION OF THE UNITED PROVINCES. The news of the assassination of the Father of his Country excited the deepest grief and consternation throughout the United Provinces. Little children wept in the streets of Delft, and the general alarm was increased by the fear that the crime was part of a terrible plot against the national life. On the very day of the murder the states-general sent a letter to Queen Elizabeth of England warning her against a similar peril, and urging her as protector of the true word of God to continue to aid them against the King of Spain, who was bent upon crushing all Protestant potentates. Letters were also sent to Henry III. of France and his mother, Catherine de Medici, the king being entreated to despatch a sufficient force to resist the enemy, commanded by a nobleman of high rank and ability, to whom faithful service and obedi- ence were promised. Queen Elizabeth wrote on the 15th of September, 1584, a kind response, expressing her es- teem for the murdered prince and her affection for the states-general, and commending to their care his young or- phan daughters as inheritors of her friendship for their father. She concluded by offering to take charge of the three eldest, whom she requested should be sent to England before the winter. The care of the other three daughters was solicited by their titled relatives in France and Germany. On hearing decisive news of the death of Orange, the Prince of Parma wrote to Philip II. congratulating him that 322 History of the Netherla7ids. the great enemy of Christianity and the royal authority had at last received merited punishment. He pronounced the assassin's act most praiseworthy and heroic. Cardinal Gran- velle also highly commended the deed. " Anjou," he wrote with chronological emphasis, ''died on the ioth of June, =^ ^oco^ f^ J CATHERINE DE MEDICI. Orange on the ioth of July, and if Catherine de Medici should die on the ioth of August the loss would be small." Several of the assassin's brothers having hastened to Parma to claim in their. mother's name the rewards promised in the ban, he wrote to Philip on the 20th of February, 1586, urg- ing payment as a recompense for the heroism of Gerard, a 1584. The Assassins Family Ennobled, 323 consolation for his family, and an example to sovereigns in similar circumstances. As Farnese, however, knew that the king was so short of funds that even the small sum of twenty- five thousand crowns was not available for this purpose, he suggested that Orange's confiscated estates of about this value should be given to the G£rards to perpetuate the memory of Balthazar's deed. But Philip's slowness delayed the settlement, and it was not till the 20th of July, 1590, six years after the assassination, that the patent of nobility and three lordships in Franche Comte were conferred upon the Burgundian's family. They were, however, forbidden to alienate these estates, the king reserving for himself and his successors the right to redeem them on payment of the twenty-five thousand crowns in gold. As the family had spent about three thousand dollars in settling their claim, Philip was graciously pleased to allow them eight hundred. By the patent, which was dated March 4, 1589, the four brothers and four sisters of Balthazar Gerard then living were ennobled, and in memory of his " sincerity, magnanimity, and constancy," Philip II. granted them as a coat-of-arms a crown supported by lions, holding in their paws the thunder- bolts of Jupiter. The estates remained in the Gerard family till the eldest son of William of Orange returned from Spain, where he had been kept for twenty-eight years, with the Archduke Albert of Austria, the new governor of the obedient provinces. The G£rards were then granted other estates in exchange for those restored to the submissive son of William the Silent, together with a sum of money, but by the final settlement they obtained only eight thousand dollars for the twenty-five thousand crowns promised in the ban. There is a pleasant story that when Franche Comte" was united with France the governor of the province trampled under foot the letters of nobility which the Gerard family had dared to pre- sent to him. But as the story was first told by a French 324 History of the Netherlands. writer of the last century, and there is no other evidence of its truth, it can hardly be considered authentic, although it has been adopted by the editor of an early Netherland history and by an eminent American historian. When Philip heard of the assassination of Orange he thoughtfully remarked, " Had it only been done two years earlier I might have been saved much trouble ; but 't is better late than never." The pious monarch was now plotting the death of Queen Elizabeth of England, who, fearing that her life and throne would be endangered if the provinces made peace with Spain, sought an alliance with France in their defence. But that government had lost confidence in her, and preferred to treat with the states-general separately. Undaunted by the loss of their beloved chief, the states of Holland assembled at Delft resolved on the very day of the murder to continue the struggle against Philip at any cost. They provided liberally for the family of Orange, who had impoverished himself for his country, and the states-general soon after established a council of state with Maurice of Nassau at its head. This young prince, who was only seven- teen years old, had already inspired hopes of future greatness which time was to realize fully. The device that he adopted showed his fixed resolve to continue his father's work in battling against Spanish tyranny. It represented the severed trunk of an oak from which a vigorous shoot was sprouting, with the motto, "Tandem fit surculus arbor," — "The twig shall at length become a tree." Yet the desperate condition of the United Provinces en- couraged disloyalty. Parma, availing himself of the depres- sion caused by the assassination of Orange, was using all his resources to secure Flanders and Brabant, the outer bulwark of Netherland independence. With his army, which greatly outnumbered that of the states, he menaced the five power- ful cities on the Scheldt, Ghent, Dendermonde, Mechlin. MARTIN LUTHER. 3 2 5 1584. Seeking Foreign Aid. 327 Brussels, and Antwerp, and offered tempting terms of sur- render to the inhabitants. Meanwhile the United Provinces again sought foreign aid. Germany, notwithstanding her stake in the struggle for free- dom which was ere long to plunge her into the memorable Thirty Years' War, had now no support for the common cause. Her borders had become the scene of desperate irregular warfare, incited by Gebhard Truchsess, the Catholic Archbishop of Cologne, who, having been excommunicated and expelled from his see for marrying the daughter of Count Mansfeld, had taken refuge with William of Orange at Delft just before his assassination. The archbishop's forces were now battling for his possessions, but the German Lutheran princes, who had' permitted this important convert to their re- ligion to be driven from the country, would not take up arms for his Calvinist supporters in the provinces. The political antagonism of the two Protestant sects injured the patriot cause. The Catholic emperor, Rudolph, the nephew and brother-in-law of Philip II., was too much in fear of a Turkish invasion to risk a war with Spain. Thus France and England were the only countries from which the struggling provinces could hope for substantial aid. Though Anjou's treachery had made an alliance with the French king hateful to many patriots, yet his power favored his protectorate. Queen Elizabeth had trifled with the provinces in this mat- ter. She regarded the Netherland Calvinists as rebels against their lawful sovereign ; and the heir to her throne was that bigoted Catholic, Mary, Queen of Scots. Prince Maurice vainly appealed to the people not to sacri- fice the country and the house of Nassau to France. The remembrance of his father's devotion to that nation, and the fact that the heir to the French throne was the gallant Prot- estant leader, Henry of Navarre, outweighed the young prince's influence with the states-general. The Dutch city of 328 History of the Netherlands, Gouda, which had so vehemently opposed the sovereignty of William the Silent, was prominent in resisting subjection to the bigoted monarch of France, who, besides being a blood relation of Philip II., was the tool of his mother, the crafty Catherine de Medici; yet as Flanders and Brabant, now menaced by Parma, declared through their deputies that only French aid could save them, Holland and Zealand withdrew their opposition. Despite the objections of Davi- son, the English envoy, and the appeals of Liesveldt, the Chancellor of Brabant, in favor of submission to Spain, an embassy of sixteen great personages with a stately retinue embarked with forty vessels of war on the 3d of January, 1585, to offer the sovereignty to Henry III. The weak and effeminate French king received the envoys from the provinces with great courtesy, much to the indigna- tion of Mendoza, the ambassador of Philip II. But though they were splendidly entertained, and presented on leaving with massive gold chains, their eight months' mission proved a failure. Spanish bribery in the council turned the scale against them. The king feared to excite an attack of the Guises and Philip II. upon his unsteady throne by heading a Protestant league, yet he used the Netherland claims to profit by those of his mother, Catherine de Medici, to the crown of Portugal. Henry of Navarre was unable to sus- tain the patriot cause, for his strength was taxed to defend himself against the Holy Catholic League, of which the feeble king, his cousin, was soon to become the wretched instru- ment and victim. Queen Elizabeth, who- had intrigued to prevent the prov- inces from being acquired by France, now encouraged them to hope for aid from her. She had tried as long as possible to avoid a conflict with Spain, which her wisest ministers had long regarded as inevitable, but she now felt that the protection of the struggling rebels was necessary for the safety of England, CHAPTER XX. THE SIEGE OF ANTWERP. Meanwhile the Prince of Parma prepared to master the rest of the Southern Netherlands, though Philip's efforts to excite civil war in France deprived him of necessary supplies. Although his army in the field had dwindled to about twelve thousand men, the prince felt confident that their superior discipline and his generalship and diplomacy would gain the day. His principal object was to get pos- session of Antwerp, which controlled the fate of Flanders and Brabant. As the great capital was strongly fortified, and received supplies from the neighboring cities of Ghent, Dendermonde, Mechlin, and Brussels, the daring general resolved to cut off this communication, and thus reduce Antwerp by starvation. His first step was to erect forts on the canals and rivers between the threatened cities, in order to lay them open to his arts and arms. Parma's plans for the capture of Antwerp were known to the Prince of Orange, who in the summer of 1584 showed how to baffle them. He pointed out that Philip's general might build a bridge across the Scheldt to prevent supplies from passing up to the city. But by piercing the great Blaw- garen dyke light fleets from Zealand could sail across the flooded country to the relief of the capital. Although many valuable farms would be ruined, the loss would be trifling compared with the safety of Antwerp, upon which hung that 330 History of the Netherlands. of Flanders and Brabant. Soon after giving this wise advice William the Silent was assassinated, and the turbulent city was left without a head. He had induced his friend, St. Alde- gonde, . to take the place of chief bur- gomaster which was a difficult post of duty in those dan- gerous times, as he had only a single vote in the stormy council of magis- trates, whose decrees he was obliged to execute. There were few trustworthy troops, the militia being disorderly, and the stout British regiment powerless against invasion. Philip de Marnix, Lord of St. Alde- gonde, was not onl) a zealous Protestant and patriot, but was a statesman re- nowned throughout Europe for his va- ried talents and ac- complishments. A native of Brussels, he had been edu- street in Antwerp. cated at Geneva un- 1585- St. Aldegondes Services. 331 der the celebrated religious reformers, Calvin and Beza. There he became deeply versed in history, theology, and law, and also acquired great skill in horsemanship, the use of the sword, and even in dancing, which he advocated in a grave treatise as peculiarly desirable for the Netherlanders as a corrective for their excesses in eating and drinking. A mas- ter of the ancient and modern languages, — Hebrew, Greek, Latin, Spanish, Italian, French, and German, — he was also an eloquent orator, a distinguished diplomatist, and a vigor- ous poet. Early prominent in the patriot cause, St. Alde- gonde was the author of the " Compromise of the Nobles," as well as of the stirring national hymn, * William of Nassau," which stimulated the patriotism of his contemporaries, and still thrills the heart of Holland. No writings were so effec- tive as his against Alva, and his zealous Calvinism led him to launch against the Catholic church, in whose name the Span- iards committed their atrocities, the terrible invective called " La Ruche Romaine," or " Romish Bee-Hive." While in high command in Holland in 1573 St. Aldegonde was captured by the Spaniards, and for three months commend- ed his soul to God each night as his last on earth, as he kiiew that Alva had twice doomed him to die in prison. In fact, the grim duke would have speedily executed the chief coun- sellor of Orange had not the prince threatened to retaliate by bringing Admiral Bossu and other distinguished prisoners to the block. During his imprisonment, which lasted nearly a year, the saddened statesman, in despair of his country's cause, counselled submission to Spain and the establishment of an asylum for the Protestants in foreign countries, in order to end the unequal and ruinous conflict. But the firmness of William the Silent and the states, and the obsti- nacy of the king, blocking the negotiations v/hich Marnix was released from prison to conduct, he renewed his patriotic efforts against Philip when finally discharged. Orange and 332 History of the Netherlands. the states again favored him with the highest marks of confi- dence. He was intrusted with the most difficult duties. It was St. Aldegonde who arranged the prince's mar- riage with Charlotte of Bourbon, and headed the deputa- tion from the states that offered the sovereignty of Holland and Zealand to Queen Elizabeth. He was the chief nego- tiator of the Pacification of Ghent, the famous treaty under which patriotic Catholics and Protestants united against Spanish tyranny. To him William of Orange confided the important task of inciting the states-general to oppose Don John of Austria, and to complete those secret negotiations with Ryhove, which encouraged that reckless agitator to acts which proved so disastrous to the cause of Netherland union. It was the eloquence of Marnix which, at the Diet of Worms, in May, 1578', inveighed most powerfully against the apathy of Ger- many in the struggle of the patriotic Netherlanders for the rights of the empire as well as for the liberties of Europe. St. Aldegonde 's diplomacy was employed by Orange to calm the fury of the revolutionists of Ghent, and to prevent the secession of the Walloon provinces ; but in both cases the time had passed for successful effort. Though Marnix had periods of depression in which he advised the prince to abandon public affairs, he never failed to be incited to fresh efforts by the appeals of his patriot chief. When meditating the project of conferring the Neth- erland sovereignty upon the Duke of Anjou, it was upon St. Aldegonde and Villiers, the chaplain, his two most trusted counsellors, that William the Silent relied to guide his judgment. In fact, Marnix was the chief instrument in this important negotiation, the result of which so bitterly dis- appointed his hopes, and justified the opposition of the Netherland Calvinists and the illustrious French statesman, Duplessis-Mornay, to the tempting project. In the most trying moments of his life Orange trusted his 1585- St. Aldegonde at Antwerp. 333 veteran friend and associate. When wounded by Jaureguy he wrote to St. Aldegonde to save the assassin's accomplices from being cruelly tortured. Going into political retirement after Anjou's treachery, Marnix found consolation amid his shattered fortunes in the pursuits of agriculture, in revis- ing his celebrated translation of the Psalms of David from the original Hebrew into Flemish verse, and in directing the education of his only son. But William the Silent could not long spare his ablest minister from the public service. On leaving Antwerp, after the attacks upon his patriotism by the populace in May, 1583, at which Marnix was deeply indig- nant, Orange selected him to take charge of the turbulent city, which was in danger from the plots of Parma. Wil- liam's double position, as hereditary burgrave or viscount of Antwerp, and Ruward of Brabant, enabled him to control the municipal elections, and thus St. Aldegonde was reluctantly led to assume a position which needed the powers of a mili- tary dictator rather than of a statesman and diplomatist. Yet Marnix was resolved to do his best to hold the great city for the patriot cause. He was now forty-six years old, broad in brow as in sympathies ; care and thought had aged his sensitive face without dimming his tender brown eyes. Though Holland and Zealand had provided liberally for the relief of Antwerp, which was their main bulwark of defence, great leaders were lacking. Admiral Treslong, who had been ordered to provision the city for a year, neglected his duty. General Count Hohenlohe, the dashing, dissipated German noble who commanded the states' army, though an experienced soldier, was apt to let his daring get the better of his judgment. St. Aldegonde's plans for piercing the great Blaw-garen dyke, though favored by some of the magistrates of Antwerp, were defeated by the influence of the guild of butchers, whose cattle grazed on the lowlands, which would be drowned out 334 History of the Netherlands. by the floods, and who were supported by threatening militia colonels. They ridiculed the idea that Parma could construct a bridge over the Scheldt in face of the assaults of the patriots, or maintain it against the wintry tides and rushing ice-blocks. Yet the Spanish commander was steadily carrying out his plans. By building a number of forts along the river he had cut off communication between the cities of Ghent, Den- dermonde, Vilvoorde, Brussels, and Antwerp. Then he cap- tured Herenthals, an important place for the defence of the capital, under the very eyes of the enemy. Old Mondragon said when he took the city, " Now 't is easy to see that the Prince of Orange is dead." The Spaniards next attempted to seize the two forts Liefkenshoek and Lillo on opposite sides of the river, nine miles below Antwerp. But though the first was easily taken by assault, the second was so stoutly defended by the gal- lant Frenchman, Teligny, that the enemy withdrew at the end of three weeks with a loss of two thousand men, more than half their force under the command of Mondragon. In their ignorance of the laws of trade, the Antwerp magis- trates checked the importation of grain. They fixed a price for the article, and stopped speculation in it, thus limiting the profits of the bold Zealanders who risked their lives past Parma's forts and gunboats. This act exposed the city to famine. An attempt was then made to drive the enemy from their works at Calloo by opening the flood-gates of the Scheldt. But the water destroyed the fields and homes of the natives without reaching the Spaniards, or allowing a passage to the Zealand fleets. When the obstinate butchers and militia officers realized their folly they were eager to pierce the opposing dykes. But it was too late. Parma had gained the Cowenstein from its owner, a nobleman whom the guild of butchers had obliged to leave Antwerp because he favored flooding their fields. This dyke was now held 1585. Parma's Great Bridge. 335 by the veteran Mondragon, and menaced the safety of the capital. On the floods let loose by his enemies, Parma transported cannon and other materials for his bridge without risking their passage in front of Antwerp. St. Aldegonde, while pur- suing the intruders in his swift barge, the " Flying Devil," narrowly escaped capture, owing to the desertion of the timid Zealand admiral, Jacob Jacobzoon, henceforth known as " Runaway Jacob." To guard the channel the patriots now erected a block-house called Fort Teligny on the dyke com- manding it. Though most of his council had opposed the undertaking as impracticable, Parma had begun to bridge the Scheldt. He had adopted a design by Sebastian Baroccio, a famous Italian engineer, who superintended the work. The great piers of the bridge were built on piles, under protection of two forts, St. Philip and St. Mary, on opposite sides of the river. These massive palisades, strongly fortified, were eleven hundred feet long. Between them, a distance of twelve hun- dred and forty feet, Parma intended to place a bridge of boats, and the fall of Ghent, Sept. 17, 1585, which was betrayed by Champagny in revenge for his imprisonment, favored the project. Dendermonde and Vilvoorde had sur- rendered a few weeks before. Nearly half the population of Ghent emigrated to Holland and Zealand rather than aban- don the Protestant faith within two years. The loss of so many active and prosperous citizens was a severe blow to the declining capital, to which Parma's otherwise liberal terms afforded no relief. The materials for the bridge-building operations were trans- ported from a place called Stecken to the village of Calloo by a canal twelve miles long. In honor of its able projector, who had labored upon it with pick and spade to cheer his five hun- dred pioneers, the army called the channel the Canal of Parma. 336 History of the Netherlands. St. Aldegonde vainly tried to induce the governments of Holland and Zealand to send a powerful force to destroy the bridge on dark and stormy winter nights. Their efforts failed from lack of union and enterprise. While rowing out with a few companions to induce the Zealanders to join in a masked attack on the Cowenstein dyke, the gallant Teligny, son of the " iron-armed " La Noue, was captured and doomed to a long imprisonment. The loss of the valiant Frenchman was a serious blow to the patriots. Meanwhile St. Aldegonde was threatened with serious dan- gers from the turbulent capital. Some of the richest and most influential citizens urged Liesveldt, the Chancellor of Brabant, to favor peace with Parma. But the zealous Cal- vinists and other patriots in Antwerp rallied to the support of the burgomaster. The populace rose in their fury, drums were beaten, and chains stretched across the streets. After punishing the intriguers, and dooming future offenders to death, the magistrates offered to make St. Aldegonde dic- tator. This honor he declined from fear that the triumphant Calvinists would commit such excesses as he had opposed in Ghent. The watchful Parma profited by these disorders to tempt the city authorities to submit to Philip II. Fearing an assault by the French he tried to conciliate as well as to overawe the government. But, distrusting the bigoted king, the Protestants of Antwerp relied upon the protection of France, which St. Aldegonde thought was their only safe- guard. And so the building of the bridge went on, though it was constantly blocked by Parma's lack of means, to pay his army of needy workmen and his handful of desperate soldiers. The king was such a poor provider that his great general had to borrow money from private individuals to carry out this all-important public undertaking. What made his success more aggravating to the patriots was the fact that 1585. Hohenlohe s Imprudence. 337 a large part of his supplies came from England, which pro- fessed sympathy with their cause. A bold attempt, made by the states of Holland the last of January, 1585, for the relief of Antwerp failed from the care- lessness of Hohenlohe. He had surprised the important city of Bois-le-Duc, or " Duke's Wood," about forty miles away. While he was letting his troops pillage the houses, the Lord of Haultepenne, a noted royalist commander, came to the aid of the citizens with about fifty lancers. Hohenlohe, seeing the distress of his soldiers, galloped out of the city for more. He left no guards at the gates, to take the place of the pillagers. As soon as Hohenlohe had departed, a wounded old gate-opener, who had been struck down when the troops rushed in, crawled out from his hiding-place, and with a pocket-knife cut the ropes of the portcullis. The old man's effort was too much for him. He fell back dead, but he had saved the city. The fall of the sliding gate pre- vented the escape of the flying plunderers and the entrance of Hohenlohe with reinforcements. Nearly all the invaders were killed outright or drowned in trying to swim across the moat. Between the two great piers, where the Scheldt, sixty feet deep, would not bear pile-driving, was a distance of twelve hundred and fifty feet. Bridging this space with boats in winter, in face of a desperate foe, was a difficult task. To complete it, thirty-two great barges, each sixty-two feet long by twelve wide, fastened together by strong ropes and chains, were placed lengthwise in couples twenty-two feet apart to allow free passage to the turbulent river. Each boat was moored stem and stern with cables, which were tightened or loosened as the tide rose and fell. Over the barges extended a roadway of stout planks and timbers, forming a continua- tion of the solid bridge. The whole structure, twenty-four hundred feet long, presented a frowning front to all assail- 338 History of the Netherlands. ants. Forts St. Mary and St. Philip, on the shore ends of the work, each mounted ten powerful guns, and were alive with trained soldiers. They were supported by a fleet of forty armed vessels. Each of the thirty-two barges was manned by four sailors and thirty-two veterans from Parma's army, and being provided with two heavy cannon, protected by a breastwork of wicker-baskets filled with earth, called gabions, they could oppose formidable resistance to a foe advancing from Zealand or Antwerp. With a hundred and seventy great guns, and a host of sturdy warriors guarding the gigantic structure, Parma felt proud of completing a work which friends, and enemies had alike pronounced impossible. As a further protection to the bridge, two heavy rafts of timbers and spars resting on boats, fastened together in groups of three, were anchored a short distance above and below it. These massive bulwarks, brist- ling with an array of projecting iron-pointed poles, guarded a part of the piers as well as the floating structure. Thus the Scheldt was at last closed on the 25 th of February, 1585, by a work which was a masterpiece of the engineering science of that day, and far surpassed the famous Rhine bridge of Julius Caesar. Fortunately for Parma, the winter was so mild that there was little trouble from ice, and the expected land assaults from Holland and Zealand were delayed by negotia- tions for aid from France. Wliile writing proudly to Philip of the success of the great work, Farnese complained bitterly of the dangers to which he was exposed by lack of money to obtain food for his starving troops. He still, however, kept up a brave front towards the enemy. A spy sent by St. Aldegonde to examine the de- fences having been caught, the prince, instead of executing the intruder, had every feature of the fortifications exhibited to him. After being conducted over the works he was brought back to the subtle commander, who dismissed him with these 1585- Surrender of Brussels. 339 words : " Return to those who sent you here, and report everything that you have seen. Tell them too that I am resolved to make this bridge my grave or my pathway into Antwerp." The completion of the bridge roused the authorities of Holland and Zealand, who had wasted in an attack on Zut- phen the time which might have saved Antwerp, to attempt the destruction of the great barrier. Admiral Treslong was again ordered to assail it, but the old " beggar of the sea " evaded the duty on the ground that his fleet was not strong enough. Being suspected of treachery he was imprisoned, and his place was filled by Justine of Nassau, an illegitimate son of William the Silent. The closing of the Scheldt by the great bridge, and the capture of Vilvoorde, cut off supplies of food from Brussels, which was at the mercy of mutinous and starving soldiery. It surrendered March 13, 1585, the Protestants being allowed two years to choose between exile and the adoption of the Catholic faith. This was really liberal treatment of the Cal- vinists, who had, since their seizure of the city government eight years before, persecuted the Papists and pillaged their churches. Fortunately for the patriots, the Spaniards failed in an attempt on Ostend, whence the enemy received valuable supplies from abroad. Despairing of aid from France, the Hollanders and Zealanders now resolved to make a grand effort to save Antwerp themselves. Their first step was to capture Fort Liefkenshoek, or " darling's corner," and Fort St. Anthony. These gave them the control of the river between Antwerp and the bridge. Parma, however, broke the force of this blow by suddenly seizing the end of the dyke on which the forts stood, and thus protected the bridge from being cannonaded. Had St. Aldegonde's orders been obeyed this seizure could have been prevented. 340 History of the Netherlands. It was from Antwerp, however, that the most destructive assault was to be made upon the frowning barrier. There was an Italian mechanician, alchemist, and sorcerer in the city- named Gianibelli, who, with some vessels reluctantly provided by the magistrates, prepared to assault the bridge. The two largest craft, which he named the " Fortune " and the " Hope," were of seventy and eighty tons burden. In the hold of each he constructed a stone chamber, which he filled with seven thousand pounds of improved gunpowder, and covered with a mass of dangerous missiles. One of these in- fernal machines was to be exploded by a slow-match at a cer- tain moment, while the other was to be set off by clock- work striking fire from a flint. Besides these " hell-burners," as they were called, Gianibelli had thirty-two scows* filled with combustibles. They were designed to destroy the raft, and divert the attention of the enemy from the more danger- ous infernal machines. On the evening of the 5th of April, 1585, the Prince of Parma saw a fleet of fire-ships floating down from Antwerp, and at once summoned his troops by warning drum-beats to the bridge and nearest forts. He had expected a less fiery invasion. The flaming vessels shed a spectral glare on the water, the shores, and the great structure looming above them, and illumined the faces, banners, and arms of Parma's veterans. It was a spectacle which entranced as well as awed the superstitious soldiery. Owing to Admiral Jacob- zoon's. mismanagement the blazing craft came so close to- gether that the Spaniards had time to recover from their alarm before the " hell-burners " arrived. None of the fire- ships broke through the raft which protected the bridge. The first infernal machine exploded inside the outer barrier, killing a few Spanish soldiers ; the second was swept by the current against one of the piers. While Parma was watching the examination of the myste- 1585. Explosion of the " Hell-Burner ? 343 rious craft by his boarding party, he was induced by the appeals of a young officer to leave his perilous position on the bridge. He had scarcely reached Fort St. Mary when a terrific explosion was heard. The clock-work in the " Hope " had fired the powder in that floating volcano. The vessel with all on board was blown into the air, the block- house against which it had struck was destroyed, and a large portion of the bridge shattered, the troops occupying it being swept away. The tremendous convulsion shook the earth, and forced the waters of the river far beyond its banks. A lurid glare illumined the scene of desolation, but was instantly followed by sulphurous clouds of smoke, which obscured everything from view. The wails of the wounded and dying victims of the explosion added to the horrors of the catastrophe. Great war-ships were shattered and sunk, houses overthrown, and men and animals lifted into the air miles away. A storm of ploughshares, tombstones, and can- non-balls swept over the surrounding country, bearing with it .the mangled remains of human beings. Huge blocks of granite, belched forth by the floating volcano, were buried deep in the earth at the distance of a league. Nearly a thousand soldiers were in an instant hurled into eternity. Among the officers killed was the celebrated Malcontent leader, the Marquis of Roubaix. He was standing on the bridge when the " Hope " struck, and laughed loudly at the supposed failure of the enterprise. He had then directed the examination of the " hell-burner," which was to prove so fatal to him. His body was found doubled round an iron cable near the centre of the floating roadway. The Lord of Billy, an eminent Portuguese officer, was another victim. Parma himself had a narrow escape. He was struck senseless by a piece of timber which came whirling into Fort St. Mary, while his page, who was carrying his helmet just behind him, was killed by the concussion of the air. An Italian captain 344 History of the Netherlands. wearing a complete suit of mail was carried by the whirl- wind far above the ground, and was then precipitated into the river. He succeeded in taking off his steel helmet and breastplate, and swam ashore, piously attributing his escape to the prayers of the Virgin Mary. The Viscount of Brussels was whirled out of a boat on the Flemish side of the river, and came down uninjured into another boat in the middle ot the stream. Another officer was wafted like a feather into the air from the Calloo end of the bridge across the river without any injury but a bruised shoulder. He afterward said that he felt during his aerial flight as if he had been fired out of a cannon. Unfortunately for Antwerp, its authorities and the Holland and Zealand fleet at Lillo did not know of the damage done to the bridge till Parma had repaired it. The boatmen sent out by Admiral Jacobzoon feared to approach the scene of the explosion, and thus the rocket which was to have an- nounced its success was not set off. Meanwhile the inhabi- tants of the besieged city had heard the tremendous crash, and were joyously expecting the fiery signal of relief. St. Aldegonde and Gianibelli watched by the river bank through the darkness for the flaming messenger. The burgomaster was ready at daybreak to bear down on the bridge had any movement of the combined fleet been apparent. Parma had set about repairing the wreck as soon as he recovered his senses. The terrible disaster had cost him many valuable lives, among them that of his most highly prized officer, the gallant Marquis of Roubaix; and the work of months was undone by the blow which laid open the Spanish defences to the enemy. Yet the skilful general soon made the shattered bridge appear so strong that it deceived the ene- mies' spies and thus prevented an assault. It was three days after the explosion before the result was known in Antwerp. Meantime the fury of the populace 1585- Seizure of the Cowenstein Dyke. 345 burst against Gianibelli. He was even accused of having betrayed the city, and to save his life was obliged to remain in concealment. But when a messenger sent by Hohenlohe swam under the bridge and brought back the news of the destruction caused by the " hell-burners," the fickle multitude greeted the mechanician as a benefactor. The magistrates now supplied him with the vessels he wanted, but, though these broke through the bridge, the Zealand fleet was prevented by contrary winds from taking advantage of the blow. To guard against another serious disaster to his floating bulwark, Parma contrived to open it at will and give a passage to the dreaded fire-ships. Yet the prince was still haunted by fear of the explosive machines, which he and his followers regarded as the invention of the devil. He vainly implored Philip to reinforce his weakened army. Abandoning attempts against the bridge, the patriots now sought to force a passage to Antwerp through the Cowenstein dyke. This great barrier was three miles long, protected by palisades, and strongly fortified. Hohenlohe, with a small force from Fort Lillo, had captured a part of the embankment on the 7th of May, 1585, by surprising the sentinels while asleep, but was repulsed with great slaughter from lack of expected aid from the city. He had been misled by wrong signals. But the crowning assault was soon to take place. A fleet of two hundred vessels from Antwerp and Zealand arrived off the Cowenstein dyke early Sunday morning, May 26, 1585. Maurice of Nassau, Reinier Kant, Advocate of Holland, and many members of the states-general were with the Zealanders, who had been lighted on their way by blazing fire-ships. Though the Spaniards fiercely contested their landing, three thousand bold invaders seized the central part of the dyke and dug a passage across the great barrier. A Zealand vessel floated through with relief for the capital, and St. Aldegonde and Hohenlohe, who, with Justine of Nassau, 346 History of the Netherlands. commanded the combined expedition, departed in the barge to inspirit the besieged and obtain sacks and transports for provisions. It was a fatal mistake. The enemy soon renewed the conflict, and, being cheered by the arrival of Parma from the bridge, fought with great desperation under Mansfeld and Mondragon. To overcome the fierce resistance of the English and Scotch troops, the prince himself led the attack, marching breast-high through the water. After being repulsed four times, his veterans were cheered by a strange spectacle. One of their old com- manders who had been killed several months before, was seen leading his regiment as in life. Such was the inspiring effect of this seeming miracle that the Spaniards and Italians carried the intrenchment at a single desperate charge. Then the Zealand fleet was driven into deep water by the hot fire from the batteries. Seeing their last refuge disappear, the Hol- landers and Zealanders, pressed by their fierce foes, dashed into the waves. Soon the Antwerpers, and the Scotch and English troops who had held grimly to the dyke, were forced to follow. The victofrs pursued the fugitives with swords in their teeth to cut off the retreat to the vessels, many of which were captured. Two thousand men were slain or drowned in this fatal defeat, which might have been prevented had the states' commanders remained on the dyke. 1 Parma used the dead bodies of the patriots to help fill up the gaps. Meanwhile Hohenlohe and St. Aldegonde had been re- ceived with great rejoicings in Antwerp. Cannon roared, bells rang, and bonfires blazed. The Calvinists threatened 1 St. Aldegonde was less blamable than Hohenlohe for leaving the Cowenstein, as the Antwerp magistrates had forbidden him to expose himself upon the dyke, where he had fought with great bravery. The Dutch troops did not recognize his authority ; and, having left his own forces in a strong position, he claimed that it was his duty to provide for their safety by visiting the capital. See Juste, " Vie de Marnix de St. Aldegonde," pp. 144, 145. Bruxelles, 1858. 1585. St. Aldegonde s Peril. 347 the Catholics with all sorts of punishments. At a great ban- quet in the town-house to the conquerors, the news of the terrible defeat on the Cowenstein startled the revellers. As some of the wounded and dying victims of the disaster were brought in, Hohenlohe fled from the ghastly scene, but the people hooted him as he hastened to a safe hiding-place. Not till famine threatened the capital did St. Aldegonde yield to the appeals of the magistrates to negotiate for its surrender. There was no longer any hope of resisting the enemy. By July their foragers had advanced to the walls of Antwerp, destroying the grain in the fields and making it dangerous for any one to venture outside the gates. The fate of the city seemed foreshadowed by that of a costly floating castle which had long been expected to raise the siege. The clumsy craft, which had four masts and three rudders, proved a complete failure. She was called the " End of the War," but her speedy destruction by the Spaniards made the nick- names " Antwerp Folly " and " Money Lost " seem much more appropriate. The great capital was soon convulsed with tumults, which the intrepid burgomaster risked his life to quell. With angry mobs crying bread or peace, threatened conflicts between Calvinists and Catholics, intrigues of the foreign merchants, and fierce contentions in the city council, St. Aldegonde was in desperate straits. In despair of Netherland independence and anxious to spare the provinces further suffering, he favored their submission to Philip provided freedom of wor- ship could be secured. But though venturing into the very camp of Parma he could not obtain religious toleration even for Antwerp. Yet he prophetically warned the prince that the proscription of Protestantism would depopulate and ruin the great capital. The city was now tottering to its fall after a thirteen months' siege. Hope of aid from France and England was gone. The United Provinces were not only 348 History of the Netherlands. powerless to relieve Antwerp but were in danger of yielding to Spain themselves. St. Aldegonde naturally distrusted Queen Elizabeth's promises. He declared it folly to expect aid from a woman, and especially from the most inconstant woman in the world. He wrote to Walsingham that he had done his best, yielding only to prevent the unfortunate city from being again exposed to sack and butchery. When he finally learned that, by a special agreement with the states on the 2d of August, English troops would soon succor the besieged capital, it was too late. The surrender of Antwerp had been agreed to by the Broad Council two days before the news arrived, the threats of the populace hastening their decision. By the treaty of the 17th- of August, 1585, it was settled that a general pardon should be granted, the Catholic religion and the property of the priests and monks restored, and a ran- som of two hundred thousand dollars exacted from the city. Heretics were allowed four years in which to leave with their property or adopt the Catholic faith. St. Aldegonde called this concession the four years' neutrality. A small garrison of Walloons and Germans was to be introduced under prom- ise that it should be removed when Holland and Zealand should resume allegiance to the king. The contemporary Protestant historian, Van Meteren, considered the treaty very favorable to the inhabitants and especially to those devoted to the Reformed religion and the patriot cause. Parma's liberality was due to ignorance of the starving condition of the capital, which St. Aldegonde had skilfully concealed from him, and his fear that the forces of England and Holland, with new " hell-burners," would soon come to its relief. He wished also to preserve the prosperity of the city and to win over the rest of the rebellious Netherlands. His letters to the king, however, showed that he expected to gain complete control of Antwerp and retain it by means of a large garrison and the rebuilding of the great citadel. 1585. Parma s Triumph at Antwerp. 349 When Parma made his triumphant entrance into the splen- did city on the 30th of August, 1585, he found it deserted by most of the Protestants, who comprised the great merchants, skilful manufacturers, and industrious artisans. They could not live under a despotism which, in shackling religious freedom, fettered mercantile and industrial activity. The loss of these thriving citizens was a great blow to the fallen capital, which now saw its prosperity transferred to Amsterdam, and in a still more marked degree to London, whose commer- cial supremacy dates from the fall of Antwerp. A third of the merchants and manufacturers of the Belgian capital swelled the population of the British metropolis. " Cer- tainly," wrote Parma to the king, " the city is most forlorn and poverty-stricken, the heretics having all left it." The banished order of Jesuits was restored, and the education of the young limited to them. Three days of festivity greeted the conqueror, who was ac- companied by the Duke of Aerschot, the Prince of Chimay, Count Philip Egmont, and other nobles who had deserted their country's cause in the hour of trial. The joyous wel- come given to the victor, who was presented with two keys of the city, one of iron and the other of gold, by a young and beautiful maiden representing the nymph Antwerpia, was a melancholy exhibition of mistaken loyalty. When Parma, instead of restoring the keys to the burgomasters, hung them about his neck beside the collar of the Golden Fleece, he completed the picture of subjection to Spain which was the prelude to a long period of foreign domination that patri- otic Belgians have never ceased to lament. The most singular feature of the festivities was the transfor- mation of the great bridge from a gloomy fortress into a gay garden, decked with trees and flowering plants, and adorned with triumphal arches. The Spanish and Italian soldiers, clad in leafy and floral garments, masqueraded as woodland deities 350 History of the Netherlands. on the structure, where their officers served them with choice viands and poured the rich wine of the banquet into their shining goblets. A few days afterward, the famous barrier which had witnessed such extremes of suffering and enjoy- ment was broken up, and the river was again open for peaceful navigation. But the commerce which had given prosperity to Antwerp did not return. It could not live under Philip's despotism. So overjoyed was the king by the news of the capitulation, that he jumped out of bed after reading the despatches, and, rushing to the door of his daughter's chamber, cried through the key-hole, " Antwerp is ours ! " This was an unusual out- burst for the impassive monarch, who had heard without emo- tion of the victories of St. Quentin and Lepanto, and had only been moved to similar delight by the Massacre of St. Bartholomew. Alarmed by the fall of Antwerp, the people of Holland and Zealand credited the complaints of refugees from the capital against St. Aldegonde. His efforts for peace and eulogies of Parma were declared traitorous, and as he had opposed English influence in the provinces, this too was turned against him. He was even confined to his house in Zealand, where he had boldly gone to confront his accusers, but, as the states-general refused to sanction this indignity, he was soon released. Then such tried friends of the patriot cause as La Noue, Walsingham, and Duplessis-Mornay vindicated his integrity. After he had been four years in retirement the national authorities sought to atone for their injustice to St. Aldegonde. But though his fidelity was acknowledged and he was employed on various missions abroad, there was henceforth no great political career to divert him from theo- logical and literary pursuits. He was intrusted by the states- general with the important work of translating the Bible into Flemish, and became connected with the University of Leyden, 1585. Death of St. Aldegonde. 351 upon which, Grotius said, his studies shed extraordinary lustre. But the public duties confided to him by Maurice of Nassau, and embittered religious controversies, prevented St. Alde- gonde from completing more than the book of Genesis. The veteran statesman, scholar, soldier, and patriot died at Leyden on the 15th of December, 1598, at the age of sixty. His services in the cause of Netherland freedom, crowned by the noble defence of Antwerp, are his chief title to remembrance. The philosophic Bayle gives St. Aldegonde a high place among the illustrious men of the sixteenth cen- tury. Though he lacked the commanding genius and iron will of William the Silent, he had a greater variety of talents, and his ardent patriotism and diplomatic skill were invaluable to the national cause. The death of his beloved chief and the triumphs of Parma led St. Aldegonde to despair of Netherland independence, yet even such a statesman as John of Barneveld took office as Advocate of Holland, fear- ing that this service might be ended by the reunion of the provinces with Spain. He could not, like Orange, rise to the heights of religious toleration, but while his rigid Calvinism made him regard the members of other Protestant sects as meriting the punishment of death, he gloried in protecting oppressed Catholics and steadfastly opposed religious perse- cution when it threatened the disunion of the Netherlands. 1 The name of St. Aldegonde is honorably associated with that of William the Silent, who took no important step without consulting him. 1 The learned biographer of St. Aldegonde calls the famous Pacification of Ghent " the monument of toleration upon which the author of the ' Rom- ish Bee-hive ' and the ' Picture of the Differences of Religion ' inscribed his name, in the firm hope of having laid an indestructible foundation for the polit- ical and religious liberty of his country." His intolerance was caused by the necessity of increasing the power of the Calvinists where they were weak and of restraining it where their fanaticism endangered the national cause. Juste, " Vie de Marnix de St. Aldegonde," pp. 30, 63. Bruxelles, 1858. CHAPTER XXI. LEICESTER'S MISRULE. Having placed Antwerp in charge of Catholic magistrates, Parma made Champagny, the defender of the city during the Spanish Fury, governor. The prince was thus enabled to rebuild the great citadel. After using Champagny for this purpose he removed him, and gave the command to Mon- dragon, in whom he had more confidence. This made the old opponent of the Spaniards very bitter against Parma. Fearing that the provinces would make peace with Philip II. and leave England at his mercy, Queen Elizabeth re- solved to aid them. Had it not been for her closeness in money matters, Antwerp would have been saved. The seven thousand troops which she sent to its relief were kept back till the states promised the seaports of Sluys and Ostend as security for her expenses. This delay was increased by a letter from her agent in Zealand, declaring that the attack by the patriots on the Cowenstein dyke was about to raise the siege of the capital. So eager were the states for Queen Eliza- beth's aid that they sent a special mission to offer her the sovereignty of the country. Despite their sufferings under a king, they longed for the fostering care of a monarch able to protect them from the might of Philip II. Among the commissioners was John Van der Does, the defender of Leyden ; but the leader was a patriot destined to the highest honors and a melancholy end. This was John of Olden-Barneveld, then thirty-seven years of age. He was of 1585. yohn of Bameveld. 355 noble family, and by his mother's side belonged to one of the oldest houses of Zealand. After pursuing his studies at the universities of Louvain, Bruges, and Heidelberg, he became distinguished as a lawyer and statesman. At twenty-nine he was made Chief Pensionary of Rotterdam. A supporter of William the Silent, he had served as a volunteer in the des- perate attempt to relieve Haarlem, and stood with the prince when the dykes were cut, which let out the floods to the relief of Leyden. His personal appearance was impressive, his stiff ruff, and official robes of velvet and sable, setting off his tall and stately figure and his massive head. Rugged strength showed in his shaggy brow, steel-blue eyes, and firm mouth and chin, while his full brown beard rounded his square face. He looked like a man fitted for the stormy scenes through which he was to guide his struggling country. More than most of his associates, he favored religious tol- eration, and he had the boldness to claim for Catholics in Holland, where they were detested, respect for their honest beliefs. Queen Elizabeth received the envoys cordially, but refused to accept the proffered sovereignty, which would involve her in new difficulties. So, after warning Parma of the danger of oppressing the provinces, she at last agreed, early in Novem- ber, 1585, to aid them with six thousand soldiers, one sixth cavalry, on condition that she should hold Flushing, Brill, and Rammekens till her advances were repaid. There was an Englishman who went out to the Nether- lands before the main body of troops, who has a far purer fame than that of the commander-in-chief. This was the accomplished scholar, poet, and gentleman, the flower of chivalry, Sir Philip Sidney. Yet the jealousy of court favorites had prevented Elizabeth from recognizing his merits, and it was only after much difficulty that he was appointed to the important post of Governor of Flushing, with the rank of 356 History of the Netherlands. general-of-horse. He was now in his thirty-second year, with a beautiful face, blue eyes, fair complexion, and wealth of gold-brown hair. His sympathy with the struggling provinces increased, his fitness for the dangerous enterprise in which he was to win undying glory at the sacrifice of his life. It was the uncle of this all-accomplished gentleman who commanded the English expedition to the provinces. This was the celebrated Robert Dudley, Earl of Leicester, the queen's favorite and lover. Yet his reputation was tarnished, and his talents were showy rather than solid. Though his beauty, which first won Elizabeth's heart, was gone, the stately earl still retained a passion for gorgeous dress which astonished the plain Hollanders. Red-faced and bald, with his curly beard white as snow, he paraded in satin, velvet, and feathers, and wore jewels in his ears, like the youngest of court dandies. Leicester's reception in the United Provinces, which he reached Dec. 19, 1585, was a series of gay festivities. Rich banquets, quaint classic and Biblical spectacles, ingenious fire- works, and ponderous Latin orations and odes greeted him. But he soon got into serious difficulties. At the urgent entreaty of the states, now sadly in need of a head, he had accepted the office of governor-general, against the queen's express orders, and was installed with great pomp at the Hague, on the 4th of February, 1586. Elizabeth vented her wrath on the states-general as well as on Leicester for this disobedience. She wished to leave the door open for peace with Spain, but when the states learned her secret negotiations with the agents of Champagny, they thought she meant to betray them to their cruel enemy. Leicester wrote an imploring, lover-like letter to the queen, which restored her "sweet Robin," as the coquettish maiden of fifty-three called him, to her favor, and he was permitted to retain the governor- generalship. The states, however, had become too dis- 1586. Martin Schenk, the Freebooter. 357 trustful of the sovereign who had left her troops and their commander in distress, to yield their authority to her pom- pous representative. Meanwhile Parma complained bitterly to Philip of the des- perate condition of his soldiers, who were mutinous and starv- ing in the obedient provinces which the royal policy had ruined. In order to gain time, the subtle Alexander deceived Queen Elizabeth by negotiations for peace. In consequence of these intrigues, the queen neglected to send troops to aid Leicester in the spring and summer of 1586, when they and the Netherlanders could have crushed the feeble forces of the Spaniards. This, too, was at the very time that Parma was alarmed by the successes of the bold English sea-king, Drake, who had destroyed the American possessions from which Philip II. drew the means for his European enterprises. The shrewd Burleigh, the queen's Lord Treasurer, declared that the fearless corsair was " a fearful man to the King of Spain." In the spring of 1586 Parma was pushing his way along the great rivers of the Netherlands and into the electorate of Cologne, where the unfortunate Gebhard Truchsess was trying to sustain himself by the aid of the English and the states. He was supported also by a celebrated freebooter named Martin Schenk, who, after serving both Orange and Parma, had sold his sword and his robber- castle to the pa- triots, in disgust at Spanish neglect. This daring and most successful marauder, who had twice defeated Hohenlohe, was of noble family and had become rich by plundering his native province of Gelderland. He was constantly intoxi- cated, yet, strange to say, some of his most skilful enterprises were planned while in this state, though it made him a hard master for his faithful band of desperadoes, whom he scourged and killed at his pleasure. In his savage moods he forced several of them to jump off the top of church steeples. While Schenk was ravaging the electorate of Cologne early 358 History of the Netherlands. in 1586, the states of Friesland were founding the university of Franeker, where the higher education was brought within reach of the poorer classes. This institution, like the more famous one at Leyden, showed that the struggling Nether- landers valued learning as well as liberty. Leicester was so overjoyed at the success of Hohenlohe and Sir John Norris, the queen's ablest general, in relieving the besieged city of Grave in Brabant, in face of Parma's veterans, that he boastfully declared he could force the prince out of the country. After triumphal celebrations in various cities, the earl was enraged to hear of Parma's capture, on the 7th of June, of the very place which his forces had lately provisioned. Leicester court-martialled and hanged Count Hemart, the young and inexperienced commander of Grave, who had weakly surrendered the great fortress. Being criti- cised for executing a Netherland officer, the earl wrote to Queen Elizabeth that he thought some members of the states- general deserved the same fate. As Parma's successes made Leicester despair of English rule in the provinces, he encouraged his sovereign's desire to secure some of the principal places in North Holland as security for her expenses, while advising her to profess de- votion to the patriot cause. The earl had personal as w»U as public reasons for anxiety. He had been obliged to pawn his own valuables to pay his ragged and starving troops, who were cheated out of a third of their scanty wages by Norris, the paymaster of the army, uncle of the gallant Sir John. So Leicester, who had not the means to check Parma's advance, even if he had possessed the ability, was obliged to seek aid from the states, who distrusted both him and the queen. A gleam of sunshine brightened the gloomy prospects of the allies at the very time that Parma was gaining victories on the Rhine. Maurice of Nassau, the youthful son of William the Silent, aided by Sir Philip Sidney, surprised and 1586. Death of Cardinal Granvelle. 361 captured the important city of Axel. The latter's advance- ment had been hindered by that jealousy of Leicester which had lately made the states confer upon Maurice the higher rank of prince and the position of stadtholder and Captain- general of Holland and Zealand. Sidney had also lost favor with Queen Elizabeth by his complaints of her stinginess towards her troops and the dishonesty of her paymaster. His desire for honorable service in the field was soon to be gratified, but at a fearful cost. While Leicester was attempting to retrieve his military for- tunes the revolted provinces were relieved of a once formidable opponent. On the 21st of September, 1586, Cardinal Gran- velle died at Madrid at the age of seventy. Though averse to placing the local government of the Netherlands in the hands of Spaniards, his love of power, distrust of the nobility, and contempt for the people, led him to aid Philip against their lib- erties. He had advised the re-enactment of the persecuting edicts of Charles V., and, though not originally favoring the new bishoprics, he became a most devoted supporter of those encroachments on the rights of the Catholic clergy as well as of the people of the provinces. Yet the crafty prelate de- plored the king's temporizing policy, and recognized the evils of the cruel system which he had himself fostered. His greed made him appropriate the rich benefices of the church ; and his grasping ambition, by embroiling him with the nobles, compelled his recall from the Netherlands. The all-accomplished cardinal found solace, in retire- ment, in the liberal patronage of literature and science and in the cultivation of the elegant tastes which adorned his palaces with rare and curious treasures. It is a reproach to Granvelle that he left his brother Champagny to pine in extreme poverty, and urged the assassination of Orange. The cardinal was doubtless sincere in his original professions of attachment to the Netherlands, as well as in his zeal for 362 History of the Netherlands. the Catholic church ; but his political adroitness could not pro- tect him from the consequences of his time-serving policy. He learned too late the impossibility of controlling the besotted Philip ; but though he could assume philosophy in luxurious retirement, he was too cold and shrewd an observer not to realize the failure of his hopes, even while still influential in the king's counsels. The famous " Papiers d'Etat " of Gran- velle are a rich storehouse of information for the historian of the sixteenth century. Having taken Doesburg, Leicester laid siege to the ancient and wealthy city of Zutphen, or South Fen, situated on the Yssel, a branch of the Rhine. As Parma himself had come to the relief of the city, there was certain to be a desperate struggle. He had sent forward a supply of provisions for a three months' siege, under an escort of twenty-five hundred infantry and six hundred cavalry. These troops, Spanish, Italian, and Albanian, were commanded by brilliant officers. It was Leicester's object to cut off their supplies. Unfor- tunately, he had been led to believe that in close combat Englishmen were more, than a match for the enemy. In their heavy armor the gallant troopers of England could, it was said, easily bear down the light horsemen of Italy and Spain. The earl had prepared an ambuscade of some five hundred soldiers, under command of Sir John Norris, to cap- ture Parma's provision train. This was before daybreak, Oct. 2, 1586. The morning being foggy, the sound of wheels was the only warning of its approach, no scouts having been sent out. Leicester's main force was far away. Suddenly a party of horsemen rode up in full view of the ambushed band. Through the lifting fog the startled Englishmen saw that the Spanish wagons were flanked by a host of pikemen and mus- keteers, headed by a troop of superb cavalry. Against such a body of veterans, the best soldiers in Europe, the little force of Norris and the twenty noble and knightly volunteers, the THY NECESSITY IS GREATER THAN MINE.' 15S6. The Battle of Zutphen, 365 flower of English chivalry, who had hastily joined them with their thirty esquires, seemed powerless. Nothing daunted, the gallant Willoughby, Essex, Audley, Stanley, Pelham, Russell, Sidney, and the rest resolved to charge the enemy. With chivalrous patriotism, Black Norris, so called from his dark complexion, urged Sir William Stanley, with whom he had lately quarrelled, to be his friend for that day, that they might die side by side, if need be, in the queen's cause. Stanley met this offer in the same manly spirit, vow- ing to be faithful to his knightly associate in life and in death in the service of their sovereign. While these noble pledges were passing, the young Earl of Essex, general of the horse, shouted to his little band, — " Follow me, good fellows, for the honor of England and of England's queen ! " The heroic charge of the five hundred, like that of the more famous six hundred at Balaklava, reflected glory on the English name. Their battle-axes and lances did fearful execution, and the prowess of Willoughby, Russell, and Stanley amazed the veterans of Parma. The loss of the Eng- lish was trifling compared with that of the Spaniards, who mourned the death of their famous cavalry commander, Count Hannibal Gonzaga. But the world remembers the fate of Sir Philip Sidney, and not Parma's high officers, whose cloaks glittered with gold and silver embroidery. That gallant knight, who had chivalrously lent his thigh- plates to the veteran Pelham, rode twice through the enemy's ranks. His horse having been killed under him, he mounted another and continued the assault. As he was returning from his third charge, a musket ball struck his unprotected thigh. Unable to continue the contest, he rode back toward the camp. The agony' which he endured from his shattered leg was intense. To allay his feverish thirst, his attendants brought him a bottle of water, which he was about raising to 366 History of the Netherlands. his lips when he saw a wounded English soldier looking longingly at it. Sir Philip at once gave the poor fellow the flask, exclaiming, " Thy necessity is yet greater than mine." In his sufferings Sidney cheered his knightly friends, who, while glorying in his courage, were lamenting his fate, with consoling and patriotic words. He was carried to Arnheim, where Hohenlohe, though himself desperately wounded, sent his own surgeon to take care of him. But the wound would not heal, and the gallant Sidney met death as manfully as he had lived. His last hours were spent in conversation on the immortality of the soul, Plato, the Bible, and the vanity of the world. He had composed a peculiar song during his illness, called " La Cuisse Rompue," — "the broken thigh," and while his life was ebbing he enjoyed hearing it sung. Thus, amid the harmonies of religion, philosophy, and music, and the tender farewells of friends, the gallant soldier and gentleman passed serenely away. The battle of Zutphen, which has been immortalized by the death of Sidney, was a waste of splendid material by Leicester. His heroes , who broke through the Spanish cavalry were too few to crush their infantry, whose bristling muskets guarded the wagon-loads of provisions safely into the town. Had the earl brought up the main body of his troops the result might have been different, but as it was, this conflict of five hundred men with three thousand was a costly way of proving that the Spaniards were not invincible. Although the city of Zutphen remained in the possession of the Spaniards, the great fortress fell into the hands of Lei- cester. It was gained at the last by the daring of a single person, Edward Stanley, lieutenant to Sir William. He was trying to force his way into a breach made by the cannon in the solid wall, when a Spanish soldier thrust his long pike at him. Seizing the weapon with both hands, Stanley tried to wrest it from his adversary, and though attacked by several 1586. Leicester's Intriguing Favorites. 369 other soldiers still kept his hold. Then letting the pikeman raise him from the ground, he got his feet upon the wall, and in an instant made his way over it into the fort, sword in hand. He would have been killed had not his men, nerved by his daring, climbed on each other's shoulders and dashed over the broken barrier. The astonished garrison were soon overpowered, and the fortress was gained. Leicester at once knighted Edward Stanley for his gallantry, and presented him next day with two hundred dollars in gold and a pension of three hundred for life. Meanwhile the earl and the states-general became more and more hostile. His followers were the rigid Calvinists, who, though democratic in politics, wished to subject the civil government to their church. They were opposed by the rich mercantile aristocracy, who inclined toward religious toleration, and were led by statesmen like Barneveld and Buys, who controlled the young Prince Maurice. High in Leicester's favor were two Flemish refugees, Rein- gault and Burgrave, and a Brabantine named Deventer. Although the laws of the United Provinces denied offices to foreigners who had not been in the country ten years, the earl appointed these strangers to important posts. By their intrigues the province of Utrecht was revolutionized and the sovereignty offered to Queen Elizabeth. The" unscrupulous Reingault, who had been a tool of Cardinal Granvelle and Alva and Requesens, was made chief of a finance chamber which injured the trade of the country. These adventurers became so unpopular that the states of Holland and Zealand wrote to Ortell, their agent in London, to correct their false reports and explain to the queen's government how Leices- ter had been duped by his artful advisers, who, in turn, advised the earl to urge the removal of Ortell. There was one man whom Leicester had flattered and caressed till he found that his favorite had exposed Queen 24 37° History of the Netherlands, Elizabeth's secret intrigues with Spain and his own attempts to secure some of the Dutch cities. This was Paul Buys, a leading member of the states-general, and ex-Advocate of Holland, who had long favored English rule in the Nether- lands. He had been the trusted friend of William the Silent, who, when intending to accompany the ill-fated Batenburg expedition for the relief of Leyden in 1573, appointed him governor in his absence and temporary stadtholder in case of his death. Leicester's hatred of the shrewd statesman had been increased by his scornful refusal to take office under Reingault, whom he declared unworthy to be his clerk. Through his spies, one of whom was the forlorn Elector Truchsess, Leicester learned that Buys, in despair of Queen Elizabeth's accepting the sovereignty of the provinces, was inclined to offer it to the King of Denmark, to whose daughter Prince Maurice was engaged to be married. The earl lost no time in warning his sovereign of the danger of this scheme to English power on the ocean. So when Buys was arrested and imprisoned about this time, the out- rage was attributed to Leicester, in spite of his denial. Not- withstanding the earl's assertion that Paul Buys could be proved guilty of offences that would cost him his life, he was released at Elizabeth's request six months afterward. Leicester was now thwarted on all sides. The queen would neither accept the sovereignty of the provinces nor pay him or his starving troops. He could not bear the inde- pendence of the proud traders who ruled the country and distrusted him and his tricky associates. So the disappointed earl resolved to visit England to offset the influence of the states' envoys, and have Mary, Queen of Scots, beheaded as a traitor. The leading members of the states-general opposed his departure at this troubled time, and Barne- veld in particular took pains to defeat his plan to have Maurice accompany the embassy from the states. There 1586. Leicester s Return to England. 371 were fears that the earl would either win over the young prince by persuasion or keep him in England as his brother, Philip William, had been kept in Spain. Leicester com- plained of the treatment of his finance council, his favorite, Reingault. having been imprisoned by the states as a swin- dler and demagogue ; but, despite this and other disputes, the earl and the states-general parted on good terms. Bar- neveld pointed out the danger of peace with Philip to Eng- land as well as to the provinces, and urged Leicester to use his influence against it. Before leaving, the states presented him with a superb silver-gilt vase " as tall as a man." He had just signed an agreement with them, on the 24th of No- vember, 1586, by which the state council were to govern in his absence, their decrees being issued in his name and countersigned by Maurice of Nassau. The influence of the earl's Calvinistic friends had made him suppress other Protestant sects, but his chief efforts had been turned against the Catholics, whom he suspected of treason. Though Queen Elizabeth instructed him not to meddle with religious matters in the Netherlands, he had banished seventy of these zealots from Utrecht at the time Paul Buys was arrested. Yet his favor for one promi- nent Catholic was to bring serious disaster to the United Provinces. CHAPTER XXII. A FLOOD OF TREACHERY. Parma's victories hr.d brought desolation to the Spanish Netherlands. The great cities wc~e deserted by their thriving merchants and industrious mechanics. Ancient nobles and rich burghers were reduced to beggary. Famine darkened the land. Many towns and villages were left bare of inhabi- tants. Wild beasts roamed over once fertile farms, and de- voured human beings close to the most populous places. Hunger made dogs as ferocious as wolves, and, banded together in large packs, th _, boldly attacked both men and animals. Peaceful in 'ustry having declined, many workmen • who did not swell the tid of emigration became soldiers and brigands. Meantime the United Provinces profited by the ruin of their neighbors ; their commerce and manu- factures increased w n erfully. By keeping the war from their borders and trading with the enemy, they secured a double triumph. But they were soon to suffer from the faith- lessness of some of the foreigners whom they had trusted. On his departure for England Leicester appointed Sir William Stanley governor of the important city of Deventer. It was a dangerous choice, for there was a strong Catholic and Spanish party in the place ; and, though Sir William had lately done good service for the patriots, he was himself a Papist and suspected of double-dealing. To add to the danger, a garrison of five hundred Irish " Kernes" was sta- tioned in the town. They were half-naked barbarians, who used bows and arrows, ate raw flesh, and crossed rivers and 1586. The Traitors Stanley and Yorke. 373 bogs on high stilts. The dread of these fierce Catholic ma- rauders was increased by the fact that no one could under- stand their language. Another dangerous appointment for Zutphen was made by the careless earl. He placed an unscrupulous adventurer, named .Rowland Yorke, in command of the fortress. This desperate man had been concerned in a number of traitorous schemes, and had fought on both sides during the war in the Netherlands. It was he who first boarded the mysterious " hell-burner " at the siege of Antwerp ; but, though his brav- ery was unquestioned, he was the last man to be intrusted with a responsible position. Both of these appointments had been made by Leices- ter against urgent objections by the states. He had also played false toward them in his selection of officers to act in his absence. After giving supreme power to the state council, with command of the English forces to Norris, he signed a secret paper which made Stanley and Yorke wholly independent. This was an affront to Count Hohenlohe, who commanded the Dutch and German troops, as well as to Norris. Leicester's hatred to these two men was deepened by an affair which took place before the battle of Zutphen. At a supper party given by Hohenlohe, one August evening in the previous year, that excitable officer had, while intoxicated, quarrelled with Sir John Norris's younger brother, Edward. The fiery host threw a heavy gilt cover of a silver vase in the captain's face, inflicting a severe wound ; and would have despatched his victim with his dagger had not Sir Philip Sidney and others interfered. Young Norris soon afterward sent a challenge by the hand of Sidney to Hohenlohe, whom the French and English called D'Oloc, Hollach, or Hollock. 1 The count, incensed at being required to fight a 1 These variations are found in contemporary documents. Of "Count d'Oloc " Motley says, " By that ridiculous transformation of his name the Ger- 374 History of the Netherlands. duel with an officer of inferior rank, attributed the insult to Leicester, who in turn was full of hatred toward Hohenlohe and Sir John Norris for connecting him with it. The duel was never fought, and the count and Sir John Norris be- came very good friends ; but the enmity between them and Leicester increased, its evil effects being strikingly apparent in the favor shown by the earl to Stanley and Yorke. These two men soon excited the suspicions of the Eng- lish and Netherland authorities by their harsh treatment of the people of Deventer and their friendly dealings with the Spanish governor of Zutphen. Though Leicester was warned by the state council, he sent them no authority to arrest the suspected persons. In fact, he was writing confidentially to Rowland Yorke at the very time that the renegade was in- triguing with the Spaniards. Suspicious letters from Stanley and Yorke were intercepted by the states, but not in season to balk the traitors. After lulling the suspicions of the magistrates of Deventer by a splendid banquet on the evening of Jan. 28, 1587, Sir William Stanley secretly seized the various guard-houses and the large white* tower near the Zutphen gate. Early next morning the startled burghers were roused by beat of drum and a summons to deposit their arms in the town- house. Wild Irish "Kernes" and yellow-coated Spaniards were everywhere on guard. Stanley had surrendered the man general was known to French and English." " History of the United Neth- erlands," vol. i. p. 73. New York, 1880. The change, however, is explained by the fact that the founder of the Hohenlohe family was one Craton, Count of Hollo, or Holach, who lived at the close of the ninth century. His descendants became connected with the German emperors, one of them receiving estates in Romagna in Italy, which was formed into a county, and was named Alta Flamma, or High Flame, which is the English translation of Hohenlohe. Since the thirteenth century this princely German family has shown attach- ment to France, where two of its members attained, early in the present century, high military rank. " Nouvelle Biographie Generate," torn. xxiv. pp. 912, 913. Paris, 1858. THE WHITE TOWER. 1587. Indignation against the English. ^>77 city to Colonel Tassis, the Netherlander, who commanded the Spanish troops at Zutphen. "I will ruin the whole country from Holland to Friesland," exclaimed Stanley, 11 and will play such a game of war in Ireland as the queen has never seen in her life." Yet she was about to reward this ambitious fanatical traitor with the governor-generalship of the island which he was threatening to convulse. 1 Treachery now became rampant in the land. Rowland Yorke betrayed Fort Zutphen to the enemy ; the castle of Wauw was surrendered to Parma by its commander, a Frenchman named Le Marchand, for a bribe of eight thou- sand dollars ; and the city of Gelder was delivered up by the Scotch colonel, Patton, who had been placed in charge by Hohenlohe. These outrages excited deep distrust of Leices- ter's countrymen, and the queen herself did not escape suspicion. English merchants were refused lodgings in com- mon inns ; English soldiers, rendered desperate by want of pay, plundered the peasantry. Desertions to the enemy were numerous, and the starving wretches who would not sell themselves to Spain were glad to beg their way back to England. Thirty of these ragged sufferers hung round the gates of Elizabeth's palace in London; and her ministers, after threatening to put them in the stocks, contributed money enough to send them home. The states-general of the United Provinces shared the popu- lar indignation against their old ally. A reproachful letter from Barneveld to Leicester was read to them and then forwarded, in spite of the efforts of Wilkes, the honest English envoy, 1 Froude, after a brief review of Sir William Stanley's Catholic intrigues, cites a letter from Mendoza to Philip, written three months before the sur- render of Deventer, in proof that Stanley went to the Netherlands with a deliberate purpose of treachery. " History of England," vol. xii. p. 1S8. Lon- don, 1870. Compare Motley's " History of the United Netherlands," vol. U. p. 175. New York, 1880. 378 History of the Netherlands. whom the earl hated because he had told the truth about his misdeeds. Prince Maurice was now made governor-general in Leicester's absence ; while Hohenlohe, who was appointed lieutenant-general, busied himself in executing the orders of the states to protect the strongholds of the country from English perfidy. Queen Elizabeth was so angry with the provinces for their treatment of her favorite, and for the expense of their war, that she had only rebukes for their envoys, and their requests for further aid against Spain. But the news of Stanley's treachery, the reproachful letters of the states-general to Leicester and herself, and Philip's warlike preparations made her more considerate. Fearing that other English officers might betray their posts in the United Provinces and thus drive them into submission to their old ruler, she sent the poet-statesman, Sir Thomas Sackville, Lord Buckhurst, to smooth over matters. The new envoy, who landed at Flush- ing, March 24, 1587, at first earnestly defended Leicester before the states -general, but on learning the schemes of his agents to make him sovereign, the ambassador thought the government justified in opposing him. But Queen Elizabeth could not or would not understand the case. Leicester's chief representative in the provinces was one Otheman, a lean, black-bearded man, whose real name was said to be Robert Dale. His heedless gossip about Dutch ladies of rank injured the English cause. Thus Count Meurs, governor of Utrecht, who had been an officer in the earl's finance council, was alienated from him. Villiers and St. Aldegonde, the trusted counsellors of William the Silent, had always opposed the English party. William Louis, Stadtholder of Friesland, a cousin of Maurice, thought too well of Leicester to credit the charge made by the Spanish general, Verdugo, that the earl had plotted his assassination. The reckless Hohenlohe, however, had accused the governor- 1587. Siege of Sluys. 379 general of a design upon his life. These sensational stories, which were intended to prevent her favorite's return to the provinces, made Queen Elizabeth, as well as Leicester, very indignant. She secretly ordered Buckhurst to lure the turbu- lent Hohenlohe into some place where he could be safely imprisoned on a charge of treasonable dealings with Spain. It would have been madness to execute this order against the influential general, and the minister was too sensible to attempt it. Owing to Leicester's intrigues and the treachery of Stanley in the other provinces, Holland and Zealand had to bear the whole expense of the war. Having voted an extra sum of half a million dollars, they asked for a loan of a quarter of a million from England. But the queen, though entreated by Buckhurst and Walsingham, refused to grant it. The charges against Leicester increased her unwillingness to aid his Neth- erland opponents. In reply to her instructions to induce the states to make peace with Spain, Buckhurst showed that England's safety was in aiding them against the common enemy. The queen was shrewd enough not to bring her peace-policy before the states-general when she found that her envoy's private efforts had failed. While matters were in this unsettled state in the United Provinces, Parma, who had by the death of his father, the year before, become a sovereign duke, suddenly appeared in Flanders with his army. This was early in June, 1587. Though Queen Elizabeth had said he was " quite unable to attempt the siege of any town," he at once invested Sluys, a seaport which was important to the safety of England as well as of the United Provinces. In this crisis the state council appointed Prince Maurice captain-general till her Majesty- should send some one to take his place. Supreme authority in civil affairs was assumed by the council, — Buckhurst, Wilkes, and Norris, the three English members, refusing to 380 History of the Netherlands. vote, — thus overthrowing the powers secretly granted by Leicester. Hardly had these orders passed before despatches were received from the earl, announcing his speedy arrival in the Netherlands. The sensation created by this news was in- creased by the receipt of secret letters from Leicester to his secretary, and his own instructions from the queen, showing that the absolute authority which he claimed was to be sus- tained by deception and intrigue. These letters had been sent by Ortell, the states envoy in England, to Barneveld, who assailed the earl so vehemently in the assembly that the in- dignation of the whole country was roused against him. CHAPTER XXIII. SCHENK'S DEATH-STRUGGLE. Parma had resolved to capture the city of Sluys on the coast of Flanders, because its safe and convenient harbor was needed for the proposed invasion of England. The town was one of those held by Queen Elizabeth, who in her hope for peace with Spain had neglected to repair the fortifi- cations. When the siege began, early in June, 1587, the garrison numbered only about a thousand men, and half of these had been thrown in on the approach of danger. The commandant was Arnold van Groeneveld, a brave Dutch nobleman ; but the master spirit was the gallant Welshman, Sir Roger Williams, who was aided by Sir Francis Vere and other distinguished English officers. The garrison and the citizens made a desperate defence. Useful service was done by a band of women under their captains, " May in the Heart " and " Catherine the Rose." With a toilsome perseverance which excited the admiration of the men, they constructed a valuable outwork, which, in honor of their sex, was called " Fort Venus." But in spite of the destructive sallies of the besieged, Parma advanced his trenches nearer and nearer to the town. Jealousy of Leicester prevented the Barneveld party from sending direct relief to Sluys ; and when the earl came back to the Nether- lands, early in July, 1587, with three thousand soldiers and a hundred and fifty thousand dollars, he had no effective aid from the Dutch leaders. Parma soon blockaded the 3^2 • History of the Netherlands, city with a bridge of boats, and Leicester's troops and fire- ships failed, largely through his mismanagement, to raise the siege. Though forced to surrender by the destructive bom- bardment, on the 5 th of August, the besieged had inflicted terrible execution on the enemy. Parma was so struck by the ability of Sir Roger Williams. in defending Sluys, that he tried to induce him to take arms in the Spanish service against the Turks ; but the faithful soldier said he felt bound to serve his sovereign queen, and, after her, the King of Navarre. Leicester bitterly blamed the states for the fall of Sluys, and Queen Elizabeth complained of their ingratitude in not assisting him. Through his jealousy Wilkes, Norris, and Buck- hurst, her Majesty's faithful servants in the Netherlands, were publicly disgraced on their return to England. The queen still secretly intrigued for peace with Parma, and even apolo- gized for the destruction which she had encouraged the bold sea-rover, Sir Francis Drake, to cause among the great fleets in the harbors of Spain which were intended for the invasion of England. The gallant corsair, who cheered both his countrymen and the Dutch by showing how the power of Philip II. could be humbled, had come to the provinces a year before to ask their aid. This was promised for future expeditions. On learning that the King of Denmark had, at the begin- ning of the year 1587, offered his services to Philip II. as a peacemaker with his revolted subjects, the states appealed to Queen Elizabeth to prevent such a sacrifice. Fearing that the queen herself would make a private bargain with Spain, they wished her to restore their seaports. This, however, she refused to do, while disclaiming any treacherous intent. Her object was to avoid war with Philip II. by holding these towns, and, if necessary, compel the states to make peace. Yet she dreaded his recovery of the Netherlands, as a 15S7. Plots against the Republic. 385 stepping-stone for the invasion of England. In her per- plexity the queen tried to induce Parma to desert his hard master, take the provinces for himself, and become Duke of Burgundy. Her underhand peace policy, which offended the states, failed also to conciliate Philip II., who, while de- ceiving her through Parma and his other agents with friendly promises, was preparing to invade her shores. Walsingham, her secretary of state, knew all about the Spanish monarch's warlike preparations, but he could not convince her Majesty and her other ministers that these were directed against England. At last, even Leicester warned the queen of the approaching peril. Elizabeth's mistake was not in desiring peace, but in trusting to the agents of Champagny and other Spanish emissaries instead of to her own cabinet min- isters and the representatives of the states, Her comptroller of the household, Sir James Crofts, upon whose advice she relied, had been bribed by Spain, Through their trusty agents the states were aware of the queen's intrigues, and Leicester complained that his letters to her were revealed to them even when he had kept no copies himself. The earl now resorted to desperate measures to regain power in the provinces. A plot to seize Maurice and Barneveld and carry them prisoners to England was traced to him, and he was suspected of a scheme to secure Amster- dam, Leyden, and other important places. The plot to seize Leyden, the seat of religious liberalism, was devised by the zealous Calvinists, who were eager to subject the state to their church. Some prominent men were executed for this con- spiracy ; but as they were believed to have acted by Leicester's authority, their punishment was thought too severe. But the judges, among whom were Maurice and Barneveld, claimed that it was high treason to support the earl's pretensions to sov- ereignty. Their ground was, that, in the absence of a legit- imate prince, the states-general possessed supreme authority, 25 386 History of the Netherlands. while the Leicestrians held that this belonged to the people. In those days, however, the people — that is, the provinces and cities — were represented only by their legislative assem- blies, strictly popular rights being unknown. So the Dutch statesmen had the best of the constitutional argument. In disgust at his repeated failures, Leicester was glad to be permitted by the queen to return to England at the close of the year 1587. Before leaving, he expressed his feelings by a medal which represented the Dutch as a flock of sheep, ungrateful for the watchful care of an English mastiff. They in turn pictured him as a clumsy ape, clasping its young so closely as to smother them. Leicester's career in the Netherlands showed his incapacity both as statesman and general. The showy courtier was no match for Parma in the field, or for Barneveld in the cabinet. His good qualities, courage and generosity, were offset by arrogance and conceit, which caused him to quar- rel with the queen's ablest officers in the Netherlands, and made him the dupe of reckless adventurers. He had en- couraged the zealous Calvinists, who had opposed the toler- ance of William the Silent, with hopes of controlling the civil authority against the Catholics and Lutherans. This policy, which failed through the united opposition of Maurice and Barneveld, was to bear terrible fruit when these two leaders had become chiefs of hostile parties. The states blundered in intrusting so much authority to the ambitious earl, whose misconduct aggravated the evils of his sovereign's policy. Leicester's misrule had one advantage for the United Provinces : it enabled them to throw off monarchical con- trol, and to assume a republican form of government, though the power thus acquired by the states-general was not se- cured for the people, but for the burgher aristocracy. 1 1 Thus by finesse and audacity, especially of Barneveld, the metamorphosis of monarchy into republic was an accomplished fact. Previously the states had 1588. . Parma in Disguise. 387 As Leicester had left the country without resigning his authority, serious conflicts arose between his adherents and those of Maurice of Nassau, who was now made stadtholder and captain-general. The English troops refused to obey the new ruler, and the garrisons of many cities broke into revolt. Utrecht openly favored allegiance to England, and the gov- ernor of North Holland, Diedrich Sonoy, the stern old partisan of William of Orange, who had been seduced by Leicester, held out against Hohenlohe and Maurice in his stronghold of Medenblik. At this gloomy period for the patriots, Queen Elizabeth publicly despatched peace-commissioners to , the Duke of Parma. That artful manager sent his secretary to receive them at Ostend, the only English possession in Flanders, early in March, 1588, in company with a skilful engineer disguised as a servant, who carefully examined the fortifications. Two of the commissioners afterwards visited Parma at Ghent, who deceived them with promises of peace. While the Spanish and English commissioners were meeting near Ostend to- wards the middle of May, Philip's subtle general, disguised as a rabbit-catcher, inspected the defences of the city which he designed to besiege, with the mysterious engineer. Though reproving his nephew for running the risk of being hanged as a spy, the king appreciated his diplomatic de- ception. " I see you understand me thoroughly," he wrote. " Keep up the negotiation till my Armada appears, and then execute my purpose, and replant the Catholic religion on the soil of England." Pope Sixtus V. had rewarded Philip's tardy consent to execute the decrees of the church against the heretical Elizabeth by conferring her crown upon him, exercised sovereignty by necessity and by interregnum; in 1588, for lack of another sovereign, their sovereignty was definitely acknowledged, religious and national resistance ceased, and the reign of the aristocracy began. — Groen van Prinsterer, " Archives dela Maisond'Orange-Nassau," 2e serie, torn. ii. p. lix. 388 History of the Netherlands. thus following the example set by Pope Gregory XIII. to Don John of Austria. At last the Virgin Queen ended the rebellion of Leicester's adherents in the provinces, which she had hitherto encour- aged, by announcing his resignation and commanding Sonoy to submit to the states. Owing to the neglect of Herbert, the English envoy, the act of abdication, which was dated Dec. 27, 1587, was not communicated to the states-general till the last of March, two months after he had received it, thus prolonging the troubles occasioned by the earl's leav- ing the government in uncertainty. Lord Willoughby, the dissatisfied commander of the English troops who had sustained the rebellious Leicestrians, was bitterly opposed to Maurice and the Hollanders who ruled the states-general. The fiery soldier believed they were intriguing with Spain. These troubles between the English and Dutch leaders were particularly unfortunate at a time when hearty union was needed against the common enemy. Despite the appeals of the pope, who had agreed to pay part of the expense of the expedition, Philip II. would not have planned to invade England had it not been for her interference in the Netherlands, and Drake's attacks upon Spanish harbors. Although he had secretly plotted to as- sassinate Queen Elizabeth, he had opposed her excommuni- cation by the pope four years before, and when that was effected - he had unwillingly consented to the act which declared her throne vacant. As a sovereign himself, he disliked to incite subjects to rebellion or to encourage the pretensions of the Roman pontiff. But having resolved upon hostilities with England, he intrigued to excite civil war in France, so as to prevent interference from that quarter. Philip was now a white-haired man of sixty-one, but he still superintended the details of his vast projects, and still scrawled peculiar comments on the despatches of his min- 1588. The Invincible Armada. 391 isters. His old-time counsellors, Ruy Gomez, Prince of Eboli, and the subtle Granvelle, being dead, a council of three, called the junta de nocha, or midnight council, regis- tered and executed his decrees. To second the efforts of the states' commissioners against peace with Spain, the Calvinist churches sent deputies to Elizabeth to implore her to accept the sovereignty of the provinces. While promising to protect their liberties, she would not agree to the demands of these zealots that Cath- olics should be excluded from the country. Fortunately for the cause of civil and religious liberty, the Invincible Armada, as the great Spanish fleet was vain- gloriously called, came to a disastrous end. The delay in its departure, caused by contrary winds and the death of its first admiral, the Marquis of Santa Cruz, one of the heroes of Lepanto, gave the English time to renew the preparations for resistance which had been checked by the queen's hopes of peace. The troops of Parma, shut up in Dunkirk with their immense military supplies, suffered terribly from Philip's neglect. In three months they were reduced from thirty thousand to seventeen thousand effective men. Then the blockading squadrons of Holland and Zealand, under Ad- mirals Warmond and Justine of Nassau, prevented them from venturing out in their frail transports to join the mighty Armada. Early in September, 1588, that formidable fleet, shattered by the smaller but more efficient vessels of the English, under command of Howard, Drake, Hawkins, and Frobisher, fell a prey to the tempests in the Northern Seas. Only a third of the Armada which had sailed so proudly on its errand of conquest returned with the Duke of Medina Sidonia, its incompetent commander, to Spain. The ablest naval officers of the country and its most hardy mariners had perished or been taken prisoners. Yet the news reached Philip II. so gradually, that, though at first overcome with 39 2 History of,. the Netherlands. grief, he was able to appear composed when the whole truth was known. But Parma, as commander of the land forces, was unjustly blamed for not venturing out in his unseaworthy barges in the teeth of the Dutch blockaders, to meet the Armada. No wonder that the faithful general was so en- raged at these reproaches that, as Drake said, he was like a bear robbed of her cubs. Soon after the defeat of Philip's great fleet, the Earl of Leicester died. He had been commander of the brave but disorganized forces assembled to defend the English coast against the invasion, which, fortunately for him' as well as for his country, was averted. Parma, sick and sad though he was, had no sooner re- moved his troops from his useless barges than he laid siege to Bergen-op-Zoom, the last city but one in Brabant held by the states. Despite his daring assaults it held out bravely, the English and Dutch garrison being cheered by the pres- ence of Barneveld and Maurice of Nassau. But the duke was deceived into trusting two Englishmen who came to his camp with an offer of betraying the town. Notwithstanding Parma's precautions, 'the Spanish force of a thousand men sent back with the treacherous visitors were entrapped into the clutches of Lord Willoughby, and nearly all of them killed. Thus ended the ill-fated siege of Bergen early in November, 1588. Another act of treachery soon renewed the ill will between England and the states which the defeat of the Armada had allayed. Prince Maurice, having besieged the important city of Gertruydenberg in order to subdue its mutinous, unpaid garrison of Dutch and English troops, was forced to retire. The city, which had been in rebellion since Lei- cester's departure, surrendered to the Spaniards April 10, 1589. Sir John Wingfield, the commander, was denounced by the states for this act of treason ; but it was claimed by 1589- Schenk' s Attack on Nimeguen. 395 his brother-in-law, Lord Willoughby, that he was in the power of his rebellious soldiers, who had been maddened by the threats of the all-powerful Barneveld. The states having set- a price on the heads of Wingfield and the garrison, Queen Elizabeth resented this treatment of her officer, and thus the two governments were again at odds. Fortunately for the republic, Philip II. was unable to take advantage of its diffi- culties. He was now planning to invade France, and Parma was seeking health at the waters of Spa. That daring freebooter, Martin Schenk, was vexed that the states had let the city of Bonn and other places which he had captured in the electorate of Cologne, fall into the enemy's hands. But the United Provinces were too hard pressed at home to defend foreign conquests, so the dispossessed Truch- sess took refuge in Germany, and Schenk made war on his own account. He had built a fort on the Rhine island of Batavia, so famous in the old Roman days. From this stronghold he sallied forth to levy black-mail on the farmers, or to plunder the Spanish provision and treasure trains. But the bold brigand's career was nearing its close. On a dark night in August, 1589, Martin Schenk, with twenty-five barges filled with soldiers, floated down the river Waal from his robber castle to the walls of Nimeguen, a wealthy city which he had long coveted. Landing his best men, he broke through the gate of St. Anthony, killed the guard, and hurried along the silent streets till he reached a splendid house on the market-place, which it was impor- tant for him to secure. As the invaders forcibly entered the rear of the house, they heard unexpected sounds. A wedding feast was taking place in the stately mansion, and music and dancing were enlivening the guests. Suddenly the mail-clad chieftain and his musketeers came tramping in. The revellers fled in terror from the iron warrior with whose dreaded name mothers frightened their children into 396 History of the Netherlands. good behavior, and on he strode into the square. Meanwhile some of the fugitives had alarmed the town. The burghers and garrison rushed to the scene of action, and after hard fighting drove the invaders into the house. Three times Schenk dashed forth with his little band, and hewed his way into the square only to be forced back by its swarming de- fenders into* the wedding mansion. All this time he was anx- iously awaiting the arrival of the rest of his soldiers whom he had left in the barges. But the freshet in the river had swept them. by the landing-place, and they were unable' to return. It was now daybreak; and the aroused populace, men, women, and children, were on the alert against the ma- rauders. Hemmed in by the infuriated throng, who as- sailed them with all sorts of weapons and missiles, Schenk 's musketeers at last gave way. They fled toward the wharf in spite of his curses and death-dealing blows. Borne along with his disordered band, Martin saw, on reaching the pier,* his missing soldiers half a mile down the river in their barges vainly struggling against the current. There was no time to attempt to regain the lost ground. The affrighted musketeers "had leaped into the boats at the wharf, several of which sank under their heavy load. Schenk, though severely wounded, still remained on the pier; but, seeing his maddened pursuers close at hand, he sprang into the last boat just as it was moving off. The barge, already overloaded, went down under this fresh weight, and the mail-clad Martin Schenk could not rise again. His body was fished up some days afterward by some of the inhabi- tants of Nimeguen, who, in their hatred of the grim free- booter, divided it into four pieces which, with his head, were placed upon the battlements. When Maurice of Nassau cap- tured the city, he had the remains of the fierce soldier, which had meanwhile been kept in a church tower, buried with great pomp in the tomb of the ancient dukes of Gelderland. HENRY III. AT THE DEATH OF GUISE. CHAPTER XXIV. THE DARING CAPTURE OF BREDA. To avenge the Armada's affront and place the preten- der, Don Antonio, on the throne of Portugal, an English expedition under Sir Francis Drake and Sir John Norris set out for Spain on the 18th of April, 1589. The Dutch con- tributed a quarter of the one hundred and sixty vessels, mostly armed merchantmen, and about a tenth of the four- teen thousand men engaged in this enterprise. It accom- plished little beyond braving the enemy on their own shores and destroying some villages and shipping. Disease carried off nearly one half the adventurers, and the survivors were disappointed in their hopes of booty. The power of Philip II. in France received a check by the assassination of the intriguing Duke of Guise through the plots of his cowardly dupe, King Henry III. But while besieging Paris with his old opponent, Henry of Navarre, the dissolute monarch was himself assassinated. This was on the 2d of August, 1589. The dagger of Jacques Clement, a fanatical monk, was thus the means of bringing a Protestant patriot to the throne under the title of Henry IV. As Queen Elizabeth and the states recognized the new sov- ereign as a foe to Spanish control of France, they each aided him with $110,000 in gold. During the absence of Parma in France, the government of the submissive Netherlands was left in charge of old Count Mansfeld, a veteran unfitted to combat the fresh 400 History of .the Netherlands. vigor which now inspired the patriots. By the efforts of Barneveld, who controlled the states-general, order was restored to the finances of the country. As the uncertain compensation of soldiers had weakened their discipline, they were paid promptly, while damage done to property was deducted from the offender's wages. Thus the troops, in- stead of being dreaded as plunderers, were welcomed as profitable customers. The navy was also benefited by the establishment of a Council of Admiralty, of which Prince Maurice was placed at the head. Besides adding eight ships to the sixty-eight which the provinces had at sea, twenty pinnaces, of from sixty to a hundred tons, were built to protect fishing and merchant vessels from the pirates of Dunkirk. These pinnaces were small galleys provided with both sails and oars. Maurice's influence was now steadily increasing. On the death of Villiers, his father's old counsellor, from a wound received at the siege of Gertruydenberg, his stadtholderate of Utrecht had passed to Count Meurs, stadtholder of Gel- derland and Overyssel, who being killed by an explosion of fireworks in October, 1589, the prince, who was already stadtholder of Holland and Zealand, was elected to these three other high offices. His cousin, Count William Louis, who was to aid him in establishing a truly national army and in revolutionizing the art of war, had been stadtholder of Friesland since the death of William the Silent. One of the first objects of the patriot chiefs was to regain the places which had fallen into the enemy's hands. A deed of des- perate daring soon began this work. It was directed against the important city of Breda in Brabant, which was the family estate of Maurice and was strongly fortified. One day a boatman who supplied the castle commanding the city with peat for fuel, suggested to the prince a stratagem for capturing it. His plan was to conceal a body of soldiers 1590- A Dangerous Cargo. 401 under a layer of peat in his vessel, which would probably be allowed to pass through the water gate of the fortress without search. Maurice favored the scheme, and by Barneveld's ad- vice intrusted its execution to a Captain Heraugiere, a parti- san of Leicester, who welcomed this opportunity of proving his patriotism. Having taken seventy picked men from differ- ent regiments, they were crowded into the hold of the little craft on the night of the 26th of February, 1590. Though the castle was only a few leagues distant, the wintry winds and ice blocks so impeded the progress of the vessel that it did not reach its destination for four days. During this time the poor soldiers, closely packed in their narrow quarters, suf- fered extremely from cold and hunger. On approaching the castle the vessel sprang a leak, and when the officer of the guard came aboard, the men concealed in the hold were crouching knee-deep in water. A lieutenant named Mat- thew Held now began to cough, and, fearing to betray the whole party, he drew his dagger and begged one of his com- panions to kill him. Fortunately the captain of the vessel, hearing the noise as he stood on deck, had presence of mind enough to start the pumps, thus drowning the cough- ing sounds which had become general. So the officer of the guard went away without having his suspicions excited. As the ice prevented the vessel from coming close to the castle, some of the garrison aided in hauling her up. The peat was unloaded so fast as to alarm the captain, who caught a glimpse of the boards which concealed the con- spirators. As it was getting dark he had an excuse for dismissing the workmen, to whom he gave a few coins for beer, and told them to come back in the morning. When the servant of the captain of the guard was about leaving, he complained that the peat was not as good as usual and that his master would not be satisfied with it. " Ah," said the skipper, with a terrible meaning which was lost on the unsus- 26 402 History of. the Netherlands. pecting servant, " the best part of the cargo is below. It is expressly reserved for the captain. He is sure to get enough of it to-morrow." It was nearly midnight when Heraugiere, just before lead- ing his men on their desperate adventure, made an earnest appeal to their courage and patriotism. Then, noiselessly ad- vancing to the guard-house, he clutched the startled sentinel by the throat, and forced him to reveal the number of the garrison, which he prudently concealed from his followers, telling them that there were only fifty instead of three hun- dred and fifty men. The captain of the watch, overhearing the noise, rushed out of the guard-house. He was instantly run through the body by Heraugiere, who, though wounded by one of the garrison, killed another assailant. The others, having retreated into the guard-house, were shot down by the patriots. Meanwhile the citadel had been assailed, and the inexperienced youth in command, a nephew of the Gov- ernor Lanzavecchia, who had gone to protect Gertruyden- berg, was driven' back wounded after an imprudent sally in which most of his followers perished. Fortunately for the invaders the Italian garrison fled panic-stricken into the city, terrifying the burghers instead of rousing . them to resistance. On arrival of the vessel within the fortress, a messenger had been sent to Prince Maurice informing him also of the departure of the governor. The prince at once de- spatched Count Hohenlohe with a body of soldiers to the castle, following them himself with his brother, Admiral Justine of Nassau, Sir Francis Vere, and' other high officers. As his troops marched into the town the band played St. Aldegonde's famous national air "William of Nassau." The burgomaster of Breda and young Lanzavecchia now agreed to surrender. A heavy fine was imposed on the burghers, and the public exercise of the Catholic religion was sus- i59o- A yoyful Celebration. 403 pended till the states-general should make a general rule for such cases. Parma was so enraged at the cowardly surrender of the city and fortress that he had three of the captains beheaded, degraded a fourth, and removed Gov- ernor Lanzavecchia from the command of Gertruydenberg. The capture of Breda, March 4, 1590, without the loss of a single man, was joyfully celebrated throughout the United Provinces. It was the beginning of an era of victory. Heraugiere was rewarded by the governorship of the city, Matthew Held was given the command of a neighboring fort, and Barneveld, as the director of the undertaking, was presented by the states-general with a superb gilded vase, on which the scenes of the expedition were vividly represented. 1 1 Hardly any enterprise more difficult and daring than this, nor one executed with as much prudence and perseverance, can be found in all antiquity. — Le Clerc, " Histoire des Provinces-Unies des Pays Bas," torn. i. p. 150, folio. Amsterdam, 1728. CHAPTER XXV. MAURICE OF NASSAU'S TRIUMPHS. Though the army of the republic was small, the young commander trusted to the devotion and discipline of his troops to make up for their deficiency in numbers. With his twenty thousand infantry and two thousand cavalry, he was prepared to overpower much larger forces. Maurice had a genius for war which his father lacked, and prepared his plans so carefully that nothing was left to luck. He would not allow his cavalry to wear the tight boots then so fashion- able among the French, and which he claimed took an hour to put on or off. His own were made so loose that he could jump into the/n at a moment's notice. He slept so soundly that, to avoid being surprised by the enemy, as his father had been, two guards watched by turns outside his tent to wake him in case of need. By adopting the advice of his cousin, William Louis, and reviving the small compact column of the ancient Romans and their rapid evolutions, Maurice was to astonish old-school generals. He had also paid careful attention to the peculiar conditions of warfare in the Netherlands, where strongly forti- fied places were to be assailed. Having closely studied sci- entific engineering, he applied it in besieging operations in connection with his improved artillery. A particular guild of craftsmen instead of regular soldiers served the great guns, while the field-pieces were handled by nimble sailors. All the cannon were of bronze. They ranged from forty- HENRY IV. AT IVRY. 405 i59°- Maurice's Military Improvements. 407 eight to twelve pounders, the largest being twelve feet long, seven thousand pounds in weight, and drawn by thirty- one horses. With his siege guns and mortars which belched forth shells, red-hot shot and stones, Maurice was able to reduce strongholds hitherto deemed impregnable. The spade, too, played an important part in his sieges, though its use was long opposed by soldiers as degrading. The musket in those days was so heavy that it had to be rested in firing on an iron fork stuck in the ground. Even the lighter arquebus, or hook-gun, so called from the hook in the barrel by which the soldier steadied his aim, was a clumsy affair. Both the musket and the arquebus had match-locks, contrivances with a match or twisted rope prepared to retain fire. As the bayonet was not yet invented, long pikes were still used, and there was a shorter weapon combining the spear and the battle-axe, called the halberd. Shields or bucklers were carried for the protection of the captains. Maurice reduced the proportion of pikemen in his infantry, and substituted carbines or long pistols for lances in the cav- alry, as they were not designed to move with great speed or force against the enemy. Thus the young general had begun to apply in warfare the principle so happily expressed by the Autocrat of the Breakfast Table : " The race that shortens its weapons lengthens its boundaries." Though Maurice had to submit important military meas- ures to a council of war and commissioners of the Council of State, Barneveld's influence gave him practically supreme authority. Great improvements in the organization of the army were thus made possible. By direct payment of his soldiers the prince abolished the abuses practised by captains in receiving full pay for half-filled companies. Dead men's names were then kept on the muster-roll, which was swelled by raw recruits who were discharged soon after being counted in. As the republican troops had no excuse for such rob- 408 History of the Netherlands. beries as Parma's unpaid veterans committed, the death penalty inflicted by the young commander made them very rare. In December, 1590, Alexander Farnese returned from his French expedition. He had obliged Henry IV. to raise the siege of Paris after that monarch's famous victory at Ivry, on the 13th of March, where Count Philip Egmont, son of the ill-fated general, led the Flemish cavalry, and was killed before his dashing troopers fled from the fiery onset of the white -plumed hero of Navarre. Meanwhile Maurice of Nassau had captured several Netherland strongholds. Ill health and the weakness of his army prevented Parma from checking the skilful and rapid advance of his young rival. While Maurice, by a feigned attack on Gertruydenberg and Bois-le-Duc obliged his veteran opponent to reinforce their garrisons, he moved on toward Zutphen. On the 23d of May, 1 5 91, the day before his arrival, some of his troops had captured the great fort by an ambuscade supporting a number of soldiers disguised as peasants who had lured the guards from the gate on pretence of dealing in provisions. A week afterward the city surrendered, Maurice having meantime thrown a bridge of boats over the Yssel, and cannonaded the town with thirty-two great guns. Without stopping to rest, the active prince moved that evening upon Deventer, seven miles below, which was in command of his cousin, Count Van den Berg. Against the advice of his council, who feared the advance of Parma, Maurice, who had bridged the river above and below, brought his heavy guns to bear upon the city. Having shattered part of the defences, he ordered an assault across a bridge which had been hastily thrown on floats over the intervening sheet of water. The bridge was too short, so that the first assailants, who were Englishmen, eager to efface the disgrace of Sir William Stanley's treason at this very place, had to leap ZUTPHEN. 409 I59 1 - Maurice baffles Parma. 411 or swim to the wall. The survivors encountered a des- perate resistance from the enemy, who were maddened by drink provided by Van den Berg, who led them on with great daring. But, though driven back from the ramparts, the assailants held the bridge bravely against the foe. By the following morning, June 10, 1591, the cannon of Mau- rice had done such destruction in the city that the inhabi- tants were glad to surrender. Without pausing in his onward march the young prince moved his army toward the city of Groningen, taking a num- ber of places on the way. Learning, however, that Parma had improved the opportunity to besiege a fort which com- manded the city of Nimeguen, he hurried back to relieve it. He arranged his plans so skilfully as to entrap a regi- ment of Spanish and Italian veterans, many of whom were killed or taken prisoners, while the rest fled before the states' troops. Parma, unprepared for the operations of his wily foe, was now endangered by having the river Waal, without a bridge, between* his army and its supplies. He skilfully extricated himself from this peril, and retreated to Nime- guen, which he soon left, to seek restoration to health in the waters of Spa, before setting out on his new French expedition. The populace jeered at the departing hero, who they declared sought pretexts for escaping danger. While the inhabitants of Nimeguen were preparing for an attack from Prince Maurice, he suddenly appeared, on the 19th of September, before the gates of Hulst, an important city twelve miles from Antwerp. So well had the prince arranged his plans that the place surrendered in five days. The veteran Moadragon, governor of Antwerp, was very much excited over this loss ; but before he could avenge it, his active enemy had thrown a bridge over the Waal and transported his troops to the walls of Nimeguen. Sixty-eight cannon were brought to bear against the town, while the fort 412 History of the Netherlands. on the other side of the river was ready to pour hot shot into it. Maurice exposed himself so much in attending to these preparations that he was implored not to risk his pre- cious life again. In reply to his summons to surrender on the 20th of October, the authorities of the city saucily said that the prince was but a young suitor, and Nimeguen a maiden not to be easily won. He would have to take more pains with his courtship. The cannon of the gallant suitor now thundered so heavily against the city that it surrendered the very next day. Maurice allowed the garrison to retire with the honors of war, but he reserved control over the city government, which had been hitherto exercised by the guilds. He also refused the request of the inhabitants for public Catholic worship till the states-general should give their consent. Nearly all Gelderland was now held by the nationalists. Owing to the lateness of the season, the continued rains, and especially the sickness of Barneveld, who controlled the states-general, Maurice placed his army in winter quarters. His short campaign had been so brilliant that on his return to Holland he was greeted with overflowing enthusiasm. At his triumphal reception at the Hague his martial bearing enraptured the people, and the military talents of the Silent Prince, his father, were said to be eclipsed by the genius which had baffled the great Duke of Parma. A Dutch boy of eight years, named Hugo Grotius, destined to astonish Europe by his wisdom, composed some remarkable Latin verses in praise of the young hero, which were widely quoted. Queen Elizabeth wrote a warm letter of congratulation to Maurice, and Verdugo, the veteran Spanish general, declared that he should esteem it an honor to be beaten by so able a commander. Most of the cities which Maurice had captured showed the evil effects of their occupation by foreign soldiers. 159^- Surrender of Steenwyk. 413 Many of the houses were in ruins, and the better class of the population had left. Parma's absence in France enabled Maurice to continue his victorious career. He laid siege to Steenwyk the last of May, 1592 ; but as his artillery, being on low ground, made little impression on the strong walls, he undermined them with pick and spade. As he had been censured for relying on earthworks and cannon against de- fences which, according to old-school practice, should have been carried by assault with the pike, so he was now criticised for degrading his troops into useless delvers in the earth. Before long, however, his novel methods of warfare proved startlingly successful. The mines shattered the two great bastions and placed the city at the mercy of Maurice, who had been ably supported by his cousin William Louis. Sir Francis Vere, the gallant English officer, was disabled by a wound in the leg early in the action, and the prince himself had a narrow escape from death by a bullet lodging in his cheek. The city surrendered on the 4th of July, 1592, after a siege of forty-four days. Old soldiers now acknowledged that pickaxes and shovels had done good service, and that the engineers had greatly lightened the labors of the troops. Still bent on conquest, Maurice advanced to the important city of Coeworden, which was surrounded by vast swamps. After getting his guns into position he summoned the place to surrender. The trumpeter blew three times, when the commander, Count Frederic van den Berg, the prince's cousin, appeared alone upon the walls and demanded his message. "To claim this city in the name of Prince Maurice of Nassau, and of the states-general," was the reply. " Tell him first to level my walls to the ditch," said the commander, " and then make five or six assaults. Six months after that I will think about a surrender." 414 History of the Netherlands. Though weakened by the departure of three British regi- ments which the queen had ordered to the relief of the French king, the prince went on with his digging, and soon received an equal number of troops from France under Count Philip Nassau. To prevent reinforcements from reaching the enemy, Maurice was advised by the deputies of the states- general in his camp to send out his German cavalry against them; but he refused to take this risk of weakening his army. An intercepted letter enabled him to prepare for an assault of about six thousand men upon his lines on a cer- tain evening. Verdugo, with all his soldiers, ventured upon a camiciata, or shirt attack, shirts being worn outside their armor to distinguish them in the darkness. This precaution proved disastrous to the Spaniards by making them a shining mark for the enemy's fire. After an all-night struggle, in which Maurice exposed his life with reckless bravery, the assailants were repulsed with great loss on the 1 2th of Sep- tember. Five days afterwards the city surrendered, and the prince sent his troops into winter quarters. There were bitter disputes between England and the United Provinces, grcrwing out of the war and aggravated by the difference in the character of the two governments. The aristocratic statesmen of Queen Elizabeth's stately court could not bear the blunt independence of the sturdy republican burghers who ruled the Netherlands. The Hollanders com- plained of the withdrawal of the English troops, and especially of the way in which their sea-captains were maltreated and their ships burned or plundered under pretence of having Spanish property on board. Queen Elizabeth herself was very angry at these outrages, and speedily put a stop to "them. They grew out of the Dutch practice of trading with Spain in order to provide means for waging war with that country. In fact, England herself had consented to this traffic, and her own merchants had engaged in it. Such commerce with an i59 2 - Death and Character of Parma. 415 enemy would not be allowed by any civilized nation at this day. Though Parma had scornfully refused to betray his master even for the prize of Netherland sovereignty, his enemies prejudiced Philip against him. The duke had complained bitterly of the royal distrust and of the neglect to strengthen the ill-advised French expedition, and the jealous king adopted his favorite underhand method of supplanting him. While professing the utmost confidence in Parma, and re- questing his presence and counsel in Spain, the crafty mon- arch sent secret orders to have him brought back by force if necessary. Meanwhile the duke had been dangerously ill in France, and after a brief absence he returned by Philip's com- mand. But the disease which had shattered his constitution soon proved fatal to him. He died, Dec. 3, 1592, near the city of Arras, while earnestly preparing for a new campaign. In the abbey of St. Vaast, where he breathed his last, the greatest soldier of the age was laid out, as he had directed, barefoot, in the humble dress of a Capuchin monk. Three hundred torches flamed around his lifeless remains, which were taken to his capital city of Parma for burial. There was a grand funeral for the famous warrior in Brussels, at which Spaniards and Italians fought for precedence, and his statue was placed in the capitol at Rome. Dying at forty-seven, Alexander Farnese had lived long enough to attain the highest eminence as a general and di- plomatist. He had sacrificed his fortune and his life in the cause of his sovereign and his church. His wise moderation softened the barbarities of Spanish warfare, and reconciled the conquered provinces to the king's authority. Though his fame is sullied by his connection with the assassination of William the Silent, yet his private letters show that he deemed it a pious and loyal act. In his day a false idea of religious duty encouraged atrocities at which our sense of honor and 41 6 History of the Netherlands. humanity revolts. It would be unjust to Parma to judge him by moral standards far above those by which contemporary Italian and Spanish statesmen and churchmen were guided. He had not the nobility of soul which made Don John of Austria spurn the aid of the assassin against the dreaded chief of the revolution. An equestrian statue by John of Bologna in the great square at Piacenza worthily commemorates the remarkable Italian, who was long the principal bulwark of Philip's power in the provinces. As Count Ernest Mansfeld was nearly eighty years of age on the death of Parma, the government was now conducted in his name by Count Fuentes, a fierce soldier, who reversed the mild policy of Parma and forbade the ransom of lands from pillage and quarter to prisoners. His object was to make the peasants fight desperately for their homes, and, if con- quered, leave only a desert to the enemy. But the retaliation practised by the states-general after giving their brethren time to return to the union, compelled the abandonment of this cruel warfare. Maurice now brought all his engineering resources against the important city of Gertruydenberg, on the frontiers of Bra- bant, which was essential to the safety of Holland. Being strongly fortified, and so situated between a river and gulf as to be open to relief by water, the place seemed almost impregnable. As he had only about twenty thousand men, the prince resolved to make his own position safe from as- sault before attacking the enemy. By Hohenlohe's cap- ture of one of the outlying forts, Maurice was enabled to connect the two camps on opposite sides of the river. Fagots and planks "were laid over the swampy soil to make a passage-way for loaded wagons and artillery. To hinder the approach of a land force, water was pumped into the fields by windmills, and beyond them stakes and spiked instruments, called caltrops, were placed to disable cavalry. i593- Novel Methods of Warfare. 417 A fleet of war-ships ranged in the form of a crescent across the gulf blockaded the city by sea. In order not to interfere with the peasantry, Maurice em- ployed soldiers and sailors in constructing his intrenchments. Three thousand men were kept at work with pickaxe and shovel, who being well paid were content to toil night arid day. The fortifications soon extended for twelve miles, and with their ramparts, moats, and battlements rivalled those of the city they encircled, and recalled the famous encampments of the ancient Romans. Within Maurice's lines the peasants tilled their land and sold their products to advantage, while the order and discipline of the camp were in strange contrast to the brutal license of Spanish soldiery. Thus the great defences became a refuge for the inhabitants of the surrounding country, and visitors from various parts of Europe observed with wonder the new methods of making war. At last old Peter Ernest Mansfeld sallied forth, with fif- teen thousand men, against the besiegers. Being unable to enter their works, he asked a trumpeter why the prince did not come out and give battle like a man. " Because," replied the trumpeter, " my master means to live to be a vigorous old commander like your excellency, and so will not give you any advantage over him." The prince's caution in not uselessly risking the lives of his soldiers was not shared by the reckless Hohenlohe, who took part in several skirmishes. Gertruydenberg surrendered June 24, 1593, after a three months' siege. Being the family property of the Nassaus, Prince Maurice made his brother Frederick Henry, a boy of ten, governor of the city, as it had been left to him by his father's will. Fortunately for the liberal cause, the plans of Philip II. for securing the crown of France for his daughter, as a means of destroying heresy in Europe, were defeated. Even bigoted 27 41 8 History of the Netherlands. Catholics resented the foreigner's attempt to obtain the sov- ereignty, and it received its death-blow by the patriotic act of Henry IV. in publicly joining their church on the 24th of July, 1593. 1 The states-general of the republic, recognizing the king as a true friend of the national cause, aided him with men and money to invade the obedient provinces. A few places in Friesland were not long afterward captured by the Spaniards, and there were fears that the English gar- risons at Flushing or Ostend would betray these important places to the enemy. Queen Elizabeth was resolved that no more treachery should stain the national honor, and wrote a warning letter to Sir Edward Norris at Ostend, who had for- tunately strengthened his force against attack. The Spanish army under Verdugo then sought to wrest Coeworden from the patriots, in order to prevent them from capturing Gron- ingen. But again Prince Maurice was too quick for them. Throwing his army between- Verdugo and that general's sup- plies, he forced him to" retreat, and then marched upon Gron- ingen, the third largest city in the Netherlands, which for thirteen years had«been in the possession of the enemy. Its fortifications were renowned for their strength ; and yet against the stadtholder's scientific approaches the stronghold was practically powerless. One of the principal defences of the city was blown into the air, with forty of the garrison, two of whom came down in the besiegers' camp, one being uninjured. Groningen surrendered on the 23d of July, 1594, after a siege of sixty- five days. As the city was to enter the union, Maurice wisely forebore to treat the inhabitants severely. Public" exercise of the Catholic religion was, however, forbidden, from fear of its being turned against the republic. 1 " Paris," said the king, "is well worth a mass;" but, despite the worldly motives for his conversion, it was, as Guizot says, essentially an act of patri- otism. CHAPTER XXVI. THE ARCHDUKES ERNEST AND ALBERT. The successor to old Count Mansfeld as governor-gen- eral of the submissive Netherlands was the Archduke Ernest of Austria, brother of the Emperor Rudolph and nephew of Philip II. He arrived in January, 1594. Had the king's French projects succeeded, the archduke was to have mar- ried his daughter, Ciara Isabella, and assumed the sovereignty of that kingdom. As Ernest was a gentle, good-natured prince, he was welcomed by the obedient Netherlanders as a messenger of peace. The fact that he came without an army encouraged the ambitious Flemish and Walloon nobles in hopes of relief from the insolence of the Spanish com- manders. . On the entry of the new governor-general into Brussels and Antwerp, the guilds of rhetoric exhausted their skill in grand processions and tableaux, classic history and fable be- ing again ransacked for tributes of devotion. But the quar- rels of the intriguing Netherland grandees for honors and offices disgusted the gentle and melancholy Ernest. He was soon confronted by more serious difficulties. The unpaid Spanish and Italian soldiers in Brabant mutinied, ravaged the country, secured the protection of Prince Maurice, and at last obliged the archduke to support them in their fortified camp. They held out for a year and a half, preventing the rest of the army from engaging in any enterprise, lest they should seize towns left feebly garrisoned. To this wretched condition was the military power of Spain reduced. 420 History of the Netherlands. To sustain their cause, the unscrupulous Fuentes and his associate Ybarra plotted early in the year 1594 to destroy Queen Elizabeth and Henry IV. by poison. They then attempted the assassination of Maurice of Nassau, and his brother Frederick Henry, who was at school at Leyden. Their agents, a priest named Renichon and a soldier named Dufour were arrested and executed. In their confessions OLD HOUSES IN ANTWERP. they implicated Count Berlaymont, General La Motte, and the very councillor, D'Assonleville, who had encouraged Bal- thazar Gerard to assassinate William of Orange. By a crafty device the odium of the plot was thrown upon the archduke Ernest. The priest had been taken into his palace to over- hear his conversation ; and the soldier was encouraged with hopes of paradise by a man in bed, whom he was told was the sick archduke. It was designed also to assassinate St. Alde- gonde and Barneveld. The conciliatory Ernest now sought to win back the United Provinces to their allegiance ; but though his learned com- 1595- Death of the Archduke Ernest. 421 missioners indignantly disavowed the assassination schemes, the states-general, in their memorable answer of the 2d of May, 1594, included them in the long list of outrages which made negotiations with Spain impossible. Another effect of these murderous plots was the rigid enforcements of laws against Catholics in Holland. Henry IV. of France, who had formed an alliance with the United Provinces, sent an army into Luxemburg to aid them against the enemy in the winter of 1595. The allies, how- ever, made little progress. In fact, their weddings were more important than their battles, for the leading generals were busy in getting married. The dashing Hohenlohe was united to the eldest daughter of William the Silent ; the French Duke of Bouillon married another daughter • and Count Solms, the noted commander of the Zealand troops, espoused a daughter of the ill-fated Lamoral Egmont. While this merry-making was going on at the Hague, the Archduke Ernest was dying in Brussels. He had long been a martyr to gout, and the anxieties of his position were too much for his enfeebled constitution. Harassed by the popular discontent with the war, the hatred of his Spanish officers, the exactions of his mutinous troops, and the suspi- cions cast upon his honor by the assassination schemes, the good-natured, inefficient prince was carried off by a fever on the 20th of February, 1595. He was forty-two years of age, and had ruled the country for thirteen months. His life was probably shortened by his dissipated habits, and his devotion to pleasure had disappointed the hopes entertained of his government. The fierce Count Fuentes, now sixty-three years old, had prevailed upon the dying archduke to appoint him his temporary successor as governor-general. This selection enraged the Netherland nobles, particularly the proud Duke of Aerschot, who had long chafed under the rule of the Spaniards, which he had himself aided to bring upon 422 History of the Netherlands, the land. The old time-server complained bitterly of his ill treatment, and soon after quitted the provinces never to return, dying at Venice towards the close of the year. He was the chief of those selfish intriguing grandees who, seek- ing their own advancement rather than the welfare of the country, learned, too late, the folly of favoring its foreign masters. Meanwhile the other refractory nobles had to submit to the grim Fuentes, despite their complaints that their privileges had been violated by the appointment of a Spanish governor. But the stern soldier, unable to resist the public desire for peace with the republic, unwillingly sent a mission to Maurice in April. It was headed by Liefveldt, the former intriguing chancellor of Brabant. But the son of William the Silent refused to treat unless the provinces disowned allegiance to Spain. While Fuentes was making a vigorous campaign in France, in the summer of 1595, Maurice of Nassau attempted to cap- ture the city of Grol on the frontier of Germany. But his plans were defeated by the veteran Mondragon, the hero of the march across the Drowned Land. Though ninety-two years of age, the gallant commander pushed on from Antwerp with about eight thousand men, and, by a counter ambush to that prepared by his opponent of twenty-eight, lured his choicest troops into a narrow lane, where they were easily overcome. Old Mondragon did not long survive his victory. About three months afterward he died in the citadel of Antwerp, while preparing for dinner. The veteran had been in battle by land and sea for seventy years, and had even been blown up in a fortress, yet had never received a wound. He was a good man as well as a skilful soldier. His troops called him father, and in an age of cruel commanders he was ever kind and merciful, 1596. Two Notable Arrivals. 423 Near the end of January, 1596, a new governor-general came to the Netherlands. This was the Archduke Cardinal Albert, Archbishop of Toledo, the youngest brother of the Emperor Rudolph of Germany. The new ruler's tastes and habits were those of a soldier and politician. He brought with him a large quantity of silver, for the payment of the army, and about three thousand troops ; and his personal bag- gage was borne by three hundred and fifty mules. His com- ing awakened hopes of peace in the obedient provinces ; for he had governed Portugal with mildness, and was credited with securing from Philip the recent release of Dutch vessels in Spanish ports. The king had also inspired belief in a pacific policy, by allowing a distinguished Netherlander whom he had long held in captivity to accompany the new governor. This was Philip William, Prince of Orange, the eldest son of William the Silent, who had been kept in Spain ever since his school- boy days, when, he was kidnapped by agents of the Duke of Alva. Though treated kindly by the king and educated at the university of Alcala, he was for twenty-eight years never permitted to go about without a guard. With his con- fiscated estates restored to him, the prince, now a grave man of forty-two, was sent by Philip II., who had caused the assas- sination of his father, to conciliate the rebellious provinces. But the states-general of the republic suspected that a trap had been prepared for them. They therefore wrote kindly to the prince, congratulating him on his release and recalling his father's patriotic sacrifices, but discouraging his own visit to their dominions. Philip William's reply, though cour- teous, omitted all reference to his father's death or his own captivity. As the prince rode into Brussels at the head of the arch- ducal procession, his resemblance to his illustrious father was noticed, though his constrained expression of countenance 424 History of the Netherlands. showed the effect of his Spanish training. The arts of the Jesuits had destroyed the patriotic vigor which was his birth- right. Though revering the memory of his father, he had not the force of character to defend the glorious cause for which that patriot perished. The Archduke Albert was welcomed by his new subjects with extravagant festivities, which recalled the reception of his brother Ernest. He was thirty-six years of age, small and thin in person,- yet of dignified bearing, and with light hair and beard, and the Burgundian lip of his family. The King of Spain vainly hoped that his nephew could bribe Count Hohenlohe, who had married the sister of Philip William of Orange, to desert the national cause. Attempts to win over Heraugiere, the captor of Breda, were also abandoned from fear that his seeming willingness to betray his trust was an artful trick. The archduke was too much of a Spaniard in manner to please the jovial Netherlanders, and he naturally distrusted the intriguing grandees. He began his military operations by capturing the important French city of Calais. Following up this victory of his able French general, De Rosny, the archduke took the strong Flemish town of Hulst on the 18th of August. But the triumphs of Spain in France and the Netherlands were offset by the victory of an English and Dutch fleet on her own shores. As Queen Eliz- abeth had agreed not to press the repayment of her loans to the states, they furnished twenty-four ships of war and three thousand sailors, under Admiral Warmond, to the combined fleet of fifty-seven vessels which sailed from Plymouth Jan. 13, 1596, under the command of Lord High Admiral Howard and the Earl of Essex. Of the six thousand soldiers in the expedition, the United Provinces contributed the English troops in their service. Dashing into the harbor of Cadiz on the 2d of June, the 559 6 - The Sack of Cadiz. 427 allies, led on by Sir Walter Raleigh, assailed the powerful fleet of the Spaniards, which included four great galleons, one of which, the " St. Philip," was the wonder of the world in size and strength. Suffering little loss themselves, the assailants inflicted fearful damage on the enemy. The daring English and Netherland troops under Essex stormed the fort of Puntal, upon which Louis Gunther of Nassau reared the banner of the republic. The death of William the Silent was avenged when the orange flag of his family floated in triumph over one of the principal cities of the monarch who had proscribed and assassinated him. Cadiz was sacked and set on fire by the victors ; and, in revenge for Catholic persecutions, churches, convents, and hospitals were selected for the barbarous sacrifice. Yet few cruelties were wreaked upon individuals. The great fleet escaped the clutches of the conquerors, being burned by the Duke of Medina-Sidonia, the commander of the " Invincible Arma- da," to avoid payment of the promised ransom of two million dollars. On the 31st of October, 1596, the United Provinces joined the league which France and England had formed several months before to resist the aggressions of Spain. The absence of so many of their troops on foreign expeditions obliged the states-general to raise, in addition to fresh levies for the war, six thousand paid burgher-guards for the protec- tion of the towns. From the fact of their being kept waiting for emergencies they were called waartgelders. Among the taxes now levied for the expenses of the war were some on silks, velvets, and other articles of luxury in dress. Although the rich were mainly affected by these imposts, the people resented them as interfering with their liberties, and they were therefore abandoned. The Dutch dames delighted in huge ruffs, stomachers, and other lace-work which required such immense quantities of starch as to excite complaint that the 428 History of the Netherlands. wheat used in its manufacture would have supported multi- tudes. The tax on starch yielded a handsome income to the government. Such were the demands of fashion in the midst of a war which exacted patriotic self-sacrifices. The close of the year 1596 brought a serious loss to Philip Hi, in the destruction by a tempest of another Armada which he had sent to conquer England, in revenge for the assault at Cadiz. Early in 1597 a victory was gained by Maurice over the forces of the archduke, which revived the hopes of the nationalists. On the 23d of January the active prince advanced upon the Spanish troops near the village of Turn- hout in Brabant, whence dangerous forays were feared in the neighborhood. Count Varax, their commander, instead of marching against the enemy, fatigued by their weary tramp through a flooded country, fell back toward the stronghold of Herenthals. But before he could reach it, the stadt- holder was upon him. With only eight hundred horse- men Maurice dashed against the five thousand veterans of Varax. His mail-clad troopers bore down the renowned pikemen of Italy and Spain, leaving two thousand of them dead on the field and taking five hundred prisoners. The victory was largely due to the use of carbines by the states' cavalry, instead of lances. Marcellus Bax, their brilliant leader, saved the prince from becoming the victim of his reckless daring. The self-confidence which this victory inspired in the Netherlanders was its best fruit. It was the first encounter in the open field since the days of Alva in which the spell of Spanish invincibility was broken. The fortunes of the Archduke Albert were brightened early in March, 1597, by the capture of the French city of Ami- ens by an ingenious stratagem of Portocarrero, one of his best officers. But the governor-general was soon involved in fresh difficulties. Philip II., being unable to borrow any more money for his costly undertaking, had in the previous i597- A Dreadfttl Sacrifice, 43 1 November repudiated his debts, and seized the securities which he had pledged for loans. This act, which spread financial disaster throughout Europe, obliged the Archduke Albert to pawn his jewels to maintain his court. It was repeated at the end of a year, to enable the besotted king to obtain more money from the great merchants and bankers, whom he charged with blocking the progress of Christianity by their exorbitant rates of interest. Philip's credit suffered severely from his arbitrary act, which showed to what desper- ate straits his misguided zeal for the Catholic faith had re- duced his finances. Since the Pacification of Ghent executions for heresy had almost ceased in the Netherlands. In the twenty years fol- lowing that memorable treaty humanity had made such prog- ress that a return to the cruelties of the Inquisition seemed impossible. Yet a dreadful sacrifice which took place in Ant- werp toward the close of the year 1597 showed that the bloody system of persecution died hard. A maid-servant of two Protestant ladies, who had renounced their faith after being imprisoned, was convicted by the Jesuits under the antiquated edicts of Charles V. of the crime of her- esy. Though sentenced by the council of Brabant to be buried alive, she declared she would rather die than accept the proffered pardon on condition of being false to her belief. A pit was dug in a field near Brussels, and this Anna van den Hove, who was forty years old, was placed in it, and the earth shovelled in as high as her shoulders. Being offered a last chance of saving her life by renouncing her religion, the heroic woman refused it. The executioner then covered her with earth, and stamped it down over her head. Though the horror excited by this terrible punishment prevented its repe- tition, it did not put a stop to religious persecution. It was not till near the close of the last century that this was abolished by law in Belgium. The Catholic religion being 432 History of the Netherlands. held sacred as a part of the constitution of the country, it is not strange that it should have long been an engine of oppression. 1 In the summer of 1597 the sovereigns of Germany, Den- mark, and Poland tried to induce the states to submit to Spain, and thus unite Europe in a crusade against the Turks, who were threatening Vienna. At the Diet of Ratisbon, Mau- rice of Nassau had been proposed as general-in-chief of the allied armies. He had shown the Polish envoy, who had declared the attempt against Philip hopeless, thirty-eight Spanish standards taken at the battle of Turnhout. The prince now continued his triumphant career, capturing in the summer and autumn of 1597 five castles and nine strong cities, — among them Rheinberg, Grol, and Lingen, and opening communication with the eastern provinces of the republic. The five thousand Spanish soldiers, wisely released by Maurice, joined their mutinous, unpaid brethren, who had seized the great citadel of Antwerp, and forced the burghers, by occasional cannonades, to support their " Eletto " in luxury and make liberal allowances to the garrison. This was the beginning of a new rebellion among Philip's troops in the provinces, which lasted for more than a year. Maurice's triumphs were celebrated by medals and thanks- l It is a curious fact, unknown to most readers of Netherland history, that the "Joyful Entrance "of Brabant, the famous charter of political freedom, limited religious liberty, by making the Roman Catholic religion the sole reli- gion of the State, and that the ancient constitutions of the other provinces contained a similar provision. Under theSe charters heretics could neither hold public religious services nor civil offices, and were exposed to the terrible penalties of later enactments, which, strange to say, have only lately been repealed. Until the Edict of Toleration of 1781, says Professor Hubert in his recent learned work on heresy in the Netherlands, the situation of Protestants in Belgium was extremely precarious : the caprice of a despot could revive against them the bloody persecutions of the sixteenth century, for all the ancient edicts remained standing. " De Charles-Quint a Joseph II. iftude sur la Condition des Protestants en Belgique," p. 93. Bruxelles, 1882. i59 8 - The Treaty of Vervins. 433 givings at the Hague, by order of the states-general. Europe resounded with the fame of the youthful warrior, who was pronounced the greatest tactician of modern times. The United Provinces were soon to lose the aid of one of their firmest friends in the war against Spain. Henry IV. of France felt obliged by the distracted condition of his coun- try and the lack of effective support from England to meet Philip's favorable offer of peace by the treaty of Vervins, May 2, 1598. The remonstrances of the states were made by John of Barneveld, who with Justine of Nassau went on a special mission to France and England. While the gal- lant French king still sympathized with the cause of the United Provinces, Queen JElizabeth threatened to make peace with Spain unless they at once repaid her heavy loans. But though the queen was indignant at the conduct of the insolent republicans, who kept up their trade with the common enemy from which her subjects were debarred under penalty of death, she was too sensible to play into the hands of Philip II. The French settlement with Spain and the death of the aged Burleigh, the head of the English peace party, inclined her to favor the republic as a barrier against Spanish ambition. She therefore agreed to a treaty by which her claims . against the provinces were reduced from seven million to 'four million dollars, the terms of pay- ment being made easy, while the states agreed to furnish thirty ships of war and fifty-five hundred soldiers, in case England were invaded by Spain. This treaty, which was signed on the 16th of August, % i598, left Queen Elizabeth in possession of the three important Netherland places, which she held as security for her advances. Though the states were also deprived of her large annual loan, they were now prosperous enough to continue the war with vigor. 2S CHAPTER XXVII. RULE OF. ALBERT AND ISABELLA. Philip II. was now growing so old and feeble that he longed for rest from the great Netherland conflict. Too late he learned that the task of subduing the rebellious provinces was beyond his power. Yet after nearly forty years of war the bigoted king was unable to understand the national spirit which made even the Spanish Netherlands discontented with foreign rule. He had long thought of the provinces as a bridal gift for his daughter, the Infanta ; and the French ambassador at the Hague declared the transfer necessary to avoid a general revolt. As the Archduke Albert was to marry the princess Clara Isabella, the entire Netherlands and Burgundy were transferred to them on condition of their maintaining the Catholic relig- ion and prohibiting their subjects from trading with the Indies. If these conditions were violated, or the archdukes, as Albert and Isabella were called, should have no children, their do- minions were to revert to Spain. After the treaty was signed at Madrid, May 6, 1598, the Archduke Albert, who was au- thorized by his future bride to assume the sovereignty, assem- bled the states-general at Brussels on the 15 th of August, where the ancient charter of Netherland freedom, the " Joyous Entrance," was read in the old Belgian tongue. The people were delighted at the prospect of relief from the yoke of Spain. After discarding his cardinal's robes, the Archduke Albert left the government in charge of his cousin, the Cardinal 1598- Death of Philip II. 437 Andrew of Austria, and departed for Italy to attend his wed- ding. Before leaving, he wrote to the states of Holland and Zealand to urge their submission to him as an independent sovereign. Philip William, Prince of Orange, the Duke of Aerschot, and other nobles, had made similar appeals to Maurice ; but no answer was made to them. An intercepted letter from Philip II. to the archduke showed that a number of strongholds in the obedient provinces were to be held for the king's son and successor. This discovery and new plots against the life of Maurice increased the distrust of the United Provinces of all offers of reconciliation. They felt that their only safety was in the sword. On the way to his wedding the Archduke Albert heard of the death of Philip II., which occurred on the 12th of September, 1598. In the great palace of the Escurial, sur- rounded by bones of the saints, with which he had rubbed his slowly decomposing body to obtain relief from agonizing pain, the king passed away in the seventy- second year of his age and the forty-third of his reign. Before his dying eyes he held the crucifix which Charles V. had used on his death-bed, and his last words were, " I die as a good Catholic, faithful and obedient to the holy Roman Church." None of his victims ever suffered more physical torment than was endured by Philip during his long illness, and none bore suffering more patiently. He found great consolation in religious exercises, and his dying request to his daughter was that she should maintain the Catholic faith in the Neth- erlands. He said that he suffered more • from his sins than from his sores, and lamented that he had been too merciful to the infidels. He felt no remorse for the sacrifice of Montigny, of Orange, or of the nameless thousands of victims of his cruel persecutions. But his conscience reproached him with his licentious habits, with the fate of his wretched 43 8 History of the Netherlands. son, Don Carlos, with his envy and neglect of Don John of Austria, with the murder of Escovedo, and with that jealousy of Parma through which so many faithful soldiers were left to perish. He expected damnation because the Almighty would prefer to see him vanquished rather than to accept him as the creator of his own glory. These confessions of the dying king are consistent with the whole tenor of his life, and furnish the key to his char- acter. It is as great a mistake to regard Philip II., as some historians have done, as a moral monster, as it would be to adopt the opinion of those who consider him a wise and sagacious sovereign. The truth is, that Philip's mental abili- ties have generally been exaggerated and his character mis- understood. His exalted position as a monarch has given an illusive grandeur to his intellect, while he has been held morally responsible for the atrocities of his reign. But what was worst in his conduct as a ruler was due to the circum- stances under which he exercised sovereignty. In assailing heresy in the Netherlands with fire and sword, the king was only executing decrees of the Church as they had been enforced in Spain by his ancestors, in accordance with the national will. It was not Philip II., but Charles V., who was the author of the terrible edicts that brought so much suffer- ing to the provinces ; it was the emperor, not the king, who followed up the work of crushing out liberty in Castile, by giving to the Inquisition, which had existed in the Netherlands since the thirteenth century, new and fearful force. Moreover, Philip's distrust of his ministers was largely due to the earnest counsels of his father. Thus the reserved, timid, and suspicious king, averse to travel and fond of seclusion, neglected to revisit the provinces, as the emperor would have done, but remained in his gloomy isolation to plot against those whom he believed were plotting against him. Deceived by Antonio Perez, his trusted minister, he authorized the mur- 1598- Character of Philip II 439 der of his secretary Escovedo ; and it was the discovery of the treachery of Perez and a desire to punish him that made the king trample on the liberties of Arragon, and cause John of Lanuza, its chief justice, to be beheaded for protecting the fugitives. Thus popular rights in Spain were sacrificed to the spirit of jealous distrust from which the royal governors of the Netherlands suffered so severely. Philip's gigantic undertakings and impassive self-control have gained him an unmerited reputation for greatness of intellect and soul. His far-reaching projects were forced upon him by his desperate resolve to uphold the sinking cause of Catholicism thoughout Europe ; the vastness of his resources only made his failures more conspicuous. His calmness in defeat was due, not to philosophical composure, but to incapacity to comprehend its causes and consequen- ces ; hence his persistence in enterprises which experience had shown to be impracticable. For a time he gained a reflected glory from the ability of his statesmen and generals, and the superiority of his soldiers ; but he ended by sacri- ficing these resources to his ignorance and fatalism. It was a misfortune for Philip II., who was a crafty politi- cian rather than a sagacious statesman, that he was confronted by the spirit of the Reformation. The cloistered bigot could not cope with the busy forces of modern progress. His slowness and devotion to petty details prevented him from recognizing a crisis and applying a remedy until it was too late. In fact, Philip, who was by no means the bloodthirsty monster he has been represented, avoided war till peace measures had failed. He was inclined to mercy toward prisoners, unless they were heretics, whom he sincerely believed deserved none. Unlike his father, he was not mean in money matters. The devotion of his servants and the skill of artists he generously rewarded. As a private citizen Philip would have been a useful mem- 440 History of the Netherlands. ber of society. It was his exaggerated estimate of his pub- lic duties that made him a terrible oppressor. A depraved conscientiousness incited his cruel persecutions, and his crimes as an individual were fostered by his lonely and irre- sponsible power. Remorse for these sins deepened his desire to destroy heretics and secure atonement in their blood. This duty was enforced by his spiritual advisers. The Arch- bishop of Valencia declared that God had permitted the destruction of the Invincible Armada because of the king's tolerance to the Moors in Spain, and Philip lamented on his death-bed that he had only exterminated these pests in the province of Andalusia. This gloomy fanaticism darkened his whole life. Even his taste in art reflected the sombre cast of his mind. The dreary solemnity of the palace- convent of the Escu- rial was in harmony with the character and religion of the sovereign, who built it in the shape of the gridiron on which St. Lawrence had been martyred, and devised amid its clois- tered recesses his vast projects for extending the faith which was identified with his dearest hopes of temporal and eternal glory. For that faith, indeed, he would have abandoned his crown ; and, when he offered to tolerate Protestantism in Germany if he were elected emperor, he did so to secure the means of crushing it. Every form of deception and cruelty was justifiable, according to his conceptions of duty, in destroying heresy and heretics. The people of Spain revere the memory of Philip II., because he represents the pride of national supremacy in church and state. The " prudent " king was, above all, a Spaniard and a Catholic ; while the emperor, his father, was a Netherlander, who favored his own countrymen, and with whom religion was more of a means than an end. Yet Philip's policy drained his country of its resources, and paved the way for its utter humiliation, while ignorance and super- 1598- Philip II. a True Spa?iiard. 443 stition flourished on the ruins of the national prosperity. The popes were repelled by his assumption of superior zeal for the faith, which rebuked their own shortcomings ; the Cath- olic clergy of the Netherlands were alienated by his new bishoprics, which enabled revolt to gain a dangerous head- way. Though literature and art survived the decline of his power, they were the expiring glories of Spain. The bigoted king remains the most terrible example in history of the evils of religious fanaticism in an absolute ruler ; but his career is especially significant as illustrating the national character. Of the Spanish system of education and government in his day, Philip II. was at once the instrument and victim. 1 1 The latest historian of Philip II. accounts for the adoration which the Spaniards have preserved for the memory of the sovereign who was the scourge of their country, as well as an obstacle to the progress of civilization, by the theory that a nation generally becomes attached to the man who brutalizes it ; that it does not submit to the abuses of a master, unless its own character is ripe for despotism. Forneron, " Histoire de Philippe II.," 2e edition, torn. iv. pp. 297, 298. Paris, 1882. This is an acute remark of the learned historian; but it should be remembered that the Spaniards were " brutalized," as he him- self shows, before Philip came to the throne, and Prescott holds that they were proud of him as a perfect type of the national character. " History of Philip II.," vol. i. p. 74. Boston, 1858. The leading modern historian of Spain takes the same view. " El reinado de Felipe fue todo espanol " ( " the reign of Philip was wholly Spanish"). Lafuente, " Historia de Espana," se- gunda edicion, tomo i. p. 155. Madrid, 1869. In a recent article, M. Auguste Laugel clearly discriminates between the motives and the acts of Philip as a ruler, and emphasizes the fact, pointed out by Gachard, that it is not the king, but his father, who is responsible for the Draconian severity of the placards which were the great engine of religious persecution in the Netherlands. " He remains, for those who do not comprehend him, an object of horror and also of pity ; anger expires before that pale face, before the king martyred by himself, by his violent passions, false sense of duty, and a frenzied conception of the royal function." " Revue des Deux Mondes," torn. 53, Sept. 15, 1882. It is a noticeable fact, that the two most lenient judges of Philip are the eminent Netherland scholars, Groen van Prinsterer and Gachard, who are especially familiar with his oppression of their country. See also the recent work of the Belgian professor, Hubert, who contrasts the sincerity of Philip II., who "was firmly convinced of his mission, and believed himself a new Constantine," with 444 History of the Netherlands. The first act of the new king of Spain, Philip III., was to seize the vessels of the rebellious provinces in his ports. The crews were condemned to death or imprisonment/ many being obliged to toil as slaves in the galleys. The republic was now wholly cut off from the traffic with Spain, which had been one of the principal sources of its prosperity, as well as with the Spanish Netherlands. As the enemy controlled the East India trade, the sturdy Hollanders had long been obliged to obtain their Oriental products from his ports. It was believed by the ministers of Philip III. that the pros- perity of the republic would not survive this blow to its com- merce, but they were doomed to be disappointed. The maritime enterprise which had given the Dutch their great carrying trade, had produced navigators able to divert the precious traffic with the Orient to their own shores. A traveller named Linschoten, a native of Friesland, published a book in 1596 which encouraged this work. It was aided also by the maps of Mercator, a famous geographer of Bruges who had settled in Leyden. But as both Linschoten and Plancius, another geographer, believed that the nearest way to India was across the unknown region of the North Pole, the political aims of Charles V. in assailing the Protestants, particularly at the outset. The author is, however, too fair-minded to judge either of these perse- cuting sovereigns by present standards of religious toleration, though he won- ders that Protestant historians have shown such an exaggerated respect for the memory of Charles V., while so severely condemning Philip. " Their educa- tion, the traditional policy of the house of Austria, and universal public law, all tended to make these princes enemies of heresy." " De Charles-Quint a Joseph II.," p. 33. Bruxelles, 1882. " As we look at Philip with more impar- tial eyes," says an historian whose investigations have thrown light upon his policy, but whose portrait of him will bear darker shading, " the figure comes out before us of a painstaking, laborious man, prejudiced, narrow-minded, super- stitious, with a conceit of his own abilities not uncommon in crowned heads, and frequently with less justification, but conscientious from his own point of view, and not without the feelings of a gentleman." J. A. Froude in the " Nine- teenth Century," No. 74, April, 1883, pp. 637, 638. ISABELLA AT THE STUDIO OF RUBENS. 445 1599- Famous Dutch Explorers. 447 the first attempt had been made in this direction in 1594. The northern passage was also favored as avoiding conflicts with the Spaniards, who controlled the southern route. Wil- liam Barendz, a sturdy captain who took part in this expe- dition, perished two years later in a third effort to reach China by the perilous northeast passage ; but his companion, who went out as supercargo and commissioner for the Amster- dam merchants, lived to become a famous naval commander against Spain. His name was Jacob Heemskerk. Mean- while other Dutch navigators pressed forward in the regular track of East India commerce. The brothers Houtmann organized an expedition in the year 1595, which doubled the Cape of Good Hope, and contested with the Portu- guese for a share of the profitable spice trade. Another expe- dition to Patagonia established, on the desolate island of Terra del Fuego, or Fire Land, the order of Knights of the Unchained Lion, to maintain the spirit of patriotism, and to resist the power of Spain oil the shores whence it had ob- tained the means of oppressing the Netherlands. While the Archduke Albert was away for his wedding, which took place at Valencia, in Spain, on the 18th of April, 1599, the Admiral of Arragon, Francis de Mendoza, whom he had left in command of the army, invaded the neighboring German duchies of Cleves and Juliers with a force of twenty- five thousand men, obliging Maurice of Nassau, who had only seventy-five hundred, to defend the frontiers of the United Provinces. The young general showed great skill in baffling his opponent, who revenged himself by ruthless out- rages upon neutral territory, in defiance of the Emperor Rudolph and the German princes. At last the admiral took one fort and built another within the limits of the republic, which, weakened by heavy taxation and the loss of its Span- ish trade, was in no condition to enter upon a new cam- paign. A Dutch naval expedition under Admiral Van der 448 History of the Netherlands, Does, against the Canary Islands and the South American possessions of Spain, burned and pillaged towns and villages ; but disease swept off most of the officers and crew, including the admiral and his successor in command of the ill-fated fleet. The Archduke Albert had returned to Brussels, Sept. 6, 1599, accompanied by his bride. They were welcomed with gay festivities, and swore to maintain the liberties of the prov- inces. In honor of the occasion, the Prince of Orange and several other grandees were made Knights of the Golden Fleece. But nobles and people resented the exactions of. the unpaid Spanish soldiery, and their discontent was increased by the extravagance of the new rulers, who held court in sumptuous style. Profiting by disorders in the enemy's camp, Prince Maurice captured, early in the year 1600, the two forts so lately in their hands, and won over the Walloon garrisons, whose ragged appearance led the Hol- landers to call them the " New Beggars." These troops were placed under the honorary command of the youthful Frederick Henry, a half-brother of Maurice. As Queen Elizabeth had sent an. envoy to the government of the Span- ish Netherlands, the Dutch feared she would yield to the appeals of Spain, and surrender their towns, which she held as security for her advances. She, in turn, was anxious lest the United Provinces should make peace without her con- sent. But the result showed that neither party was ready to sacrifice the common cause to the demands of the archdukes. CHAPTER XXVIII. THE BATTLE OF NIEUPORT. The feeling that a great victory was needed to sustain their cause led the states-general of the republic to resolve, early in June, 1600, upon an invasion of the obedient Netherlands. The province of Groningen, which was largely Catholic, had for three years refused to pay its war taxes, and the military had lately been used to collect them. People were becoming weary of defensive warfare, and the Zealanders especially had suffered so much from the pirates of Dunkirk that they urged the capture of that den of robbers. In the mutinous condi- tion of the enemy's forces, it was thought that Flanders could be easily subdued, and the recovery of the rest of the Spanish Netherlands assured. So caution gave way to rashness in the counsels of the states-general. Their project was condemned by the best judges. William Louis of Nassau strongly opposed it as risking on a single desperate venture all that had been slowly gained, and his views were shared by Maurice and Sir Francis Vere. But as Barneveld, who controlled the states-general, insisted on his cherished plan, Maurice irresolutely yielded. A force of twelve thousand infantry and sixteen hundred cavalry — Dutch, British, German, Swiss, French, and Walloon — was accordingly embarked from the neighborhood of Flushing for the strong little city of Nieuport. But the wind proving unfavorable, the soldiers were landed forty miles away, and the vessels sailed on to meet them. The roads were so bad that 29 450 History of the Netherlands. it took the troops thirteen days to reach the goal, on the ist of July, 1600. Alarmed by the unexpected appearance of the enemy in Flanders, the archdukes appealed to their mutinous soldiers with such success that they joined the army, which was soon as large as that of the states. The troops heartily greeted Albert and Isabella, as they reviewed them by the walls of Ghent, and inspired hopes of glorious victory over the heretics. The Infanta, whose robes glittered with gems, rode a beautiful white palfrey. She exhorted the mutineers to serve God and their prince, and promised, if money did not come from Spain, to sell her jewels and plate to pay them. Under skilled leaders the army marched toward the camp of the invaders, capturing the forts protecting their position, and butchering the garrisons in spite of the orders of the Arch- duke Albert. These startling exploits obliged Maurice of Nassau to aban- don the siege of Nieuport and prepare for a desperate battle with the enemy. As the main body of his troops were on the other side of the harbor, he resolved to cross at low-tide and join them. Against the advice of Sir Francis Vere, he had sent his cousin, Ernest Casimir, to hold the bridge at Leffingen till the passage was over, instead of ad- vancing himself to meet the foe. He had also ordered a troop of cavalry from Ostend to aid his cousin ; but the mes- sage did not arrive in season. Finding the bridge in the enemy's hands, the gallant Ernest, in order to protect Mau- rice's army, ranged his two thousand men in the path of the archduke's forces, which outnumbered his six to one. He knew that he should be swept away ; but he was confident of breasting the assault till the main army should reach a place of safety. But hardly had the gunners fired a few effective rounds than his troops were panic-stricken at the onset of the overwhelming masses of the enemy. They fled, and were 1600. The Archduke Albert at Nieuport. 451 ♦ slaughtered like sheep. The archduke sent a messenger to Isabella with the joyful news, and the assurance that Maurice would soon follow as a prisoner. Yielding to the pressure of his ardent officers and men, but against the advice of the veteran Spanish general Zapena, who favored delay for rest and reinforcements, Albert resolved to push on against the stadtholder. The sight of vessels leav- ing Nieuport led the army to believe that he was already try- ing to escape. His troops had at last reached the beach in safety, after marching breast-high through the water. Soon Maurice learned the terrible news of the defeat of Ernest, whose firmness had saved his own army from destruction, and the approach of the triumphant foe. Without consulting any of his officers, he ordered all the vessels of his great fleet to put to sea. He had resolved to leave no chance of escape, to conquer the enemy or die. Sir Francis Vere, who knew nothing of the slaughter of Ernest's force, advised throwing up intrenchments to resist the advance of the foe. But Maurice told him that pike and arquebus would be the only defences that day. He should cut his way through the enemy's ranks to Ostend, or perish in the attempt, and he wanted to advance before the news of Ernest's disaster should arrive to depress the spirits of the troops. Soon the Spanish army was in full view. In the centre rode the archduke, clad in rich Milan armor, on a superb snow-white steed. He had laid aside his helmet, in order that he might be more easily recognized by his soldiers as he encouraged them in the fray. The deputies of the states- general at Ostend, who had vainly urged the cavalry to succor Ernest, could not induce them to resist the march of the vic- tors from whom they had fled a few hours before. With desperate resolve, Maurice awaited the onset. Sheathed in complete mail, with the rich orange plumes of his family in his helmet, and the bright orange scarf across 45 2 History of the Netherlands. his breast, he rode sword in hand through the lines, inspirit- ing his men. There was no choice for them now, he declared, but to vanquish the Spanish army, or to be butchered, or driven into the sea. His appeals were answered by the enthusiastic shouts of his troops, eager to advance against the enemy. There was a precious young life in their keeping ; Frederick Henry, the youthful son of William the Silent, whom his brother Maurice would gladly have kept from the perils of that day, had begged so earnestly to take part in the contest that the stadtholder consented, and provided him with a complete suit of armor. It was the first battle of the boy who was destined to win glorious triumphs for his coun- try in peace and war. With him rode the youthful French Count of Chatillon, like himself a grandson of the martyred Admiral Coligny. The warm July sun was shining brightly on the sandy hil- locks and luxuriant meadows that stretched behind the beach, upon which the waters of the German Ocean tossed close to the two armies. On the summit of the sand-hills the stadtholder had planted his batteries, and in the hollows con- cealed numbers of pikemen and musketeers. The action began on Sunday afternoon, the 2d of July, 1600, by a premature cannonade upon the Spanish cavalry, which defeated Maurice's original plan of luring the advance- guard of the enemy toward the battery and the ambushed musketeers. Soon the two armie's were fighting knee-deep in the hot sand : there were desperate charges and counter- charges, fierce hand-to-hand encounters on a narrow strip of land where scientific evolutions were impossible. At last the army of the states, repulsed in a furious assault upon their opponents, broke into a flight. Pursued by the enemy, in hot haste they swept toward Maurice, who sat on his horse gazing on what seemed the death-blow of the republic. With undaunted courage the stadtholder checked the troops in THE ARCHDUKE ALBERT AT NIEUPORT. 453 1600. Maurices Heroic Self-Command. 455 their wild flight, and with three squadrons of reserved cavalry advanced against the triumphant foe. He entreated the fugitives to rally to his support for love of him, and show that they were men of honor. 1 His appeals were successful : the Spaniards, overcome by his heroic bearing, stopped in their career of victory. It was a fatal mistake. With the quick glance of genius, Maurice saw the turn- ing-point of the battle, and despatched his cavalry against the enemy's infantry, near the battery. The charge of these iron-clad troopers on their heavy horses was irresistible. The foe fell back to the sandhills, but were driven off by the Frisian pikemen, who had rallied on beholding the suc- cessful onset of the cavalry. At this critical moment the Zealand sailors, who had clung to the battery through the fight, obeyed orders to fire upon the dispirited Spaniards. While they were staggering under this unexpected attack, Maurice ordered his little body of cavalry to charge. This last resolute assault was decisive. The enemy fled in wild confusion, and the retreating patriots now turned in pursuit of them. With shouts of victory the army of Maurice swept the Spaniards from the field which was so recently their own. The stadtholder's skill and self-command had changed the defeat into a victory. Among his prisoners was the Admiral of Arragon, whom he entertained hospitably ; while the arch- duke himself, who had fought with heroic valor, narrowly escaped capture. His beautiful white charger fell into the hands of Prince Maurice. When the victory was assured, the stadtholder knelt on the sand in humble thanksgiving to the God of battles. 1 These are the very words used by Maurice, according to the letter of his cousin, the cavalry commander, Louis Gunther, describing the battle, and attributing the victory to the stadtholder's heroic self-command. " Archives de la Maison d' Orange-Nassau," 2e serie, torn. ii. p 32. The prince himself mod- estly ascribed the triumph to the grace of God. 45 6 History of the Netherlands. The Spanish mutineers had suffered terribly in the con- test, and the total loss of the archduke in killed was one half more than that of Maurice, which, including the slaughter of Ernest's force at Lefhngen, amounted to two thousand; artillery, standards and six hundred prisoners swelling the triumph of the republic. The patriots had the advantage of sun and wind at their backs, while their enemies were exposed to a blinding glare, and to clouds of smoke and dust. The Zealand sailors placed their field- pieces on planks to prevent their sinking into the sand, as the archduke's did after every discharge. The gallant Vere led the van of the contest, and, though twice shot through the leg, fought till his horse was killed, when he was rescued from beneath the animal's body, and borne off the field by his servant and another countryman, Sir Robert Drury. The captured Admiral of Arragon, whom Maurice had bantered upon being able to gratify his wish to see Holland, and that too without striking a blow, frankly expressed his views of the battle. He attributed the stadtholder's success to his system of small battalions, the management of his artillery, the valor of the French cuirassiers, who formed a part of the cavalry under Count Solms, and the intrepidity of the " New Beggars." The archduke's imprudence in engag- ing his whole force was contrasted with the prince's reliance on his reserves, and the spirit infused into his army by send- ing away his ships. Sir Francis Vere, with his English and Frisian troops, and Louis Gunther and Count Ernest of Nassau, did much to achieve the triumph, which was rendered possible by the archduke's neglect to rest and reinforce his army before attacking fresh forces, and the superiority of the republican cavalry. But despite the splendor of the victory, it came too late to accomplish the object of the expedition : Nieuport remained in the hands of the enemy. The republic, however, 1600. The Nassaus* Family Affection. 457 gained great renown by the achievement, which Queen Elizabeth mistakenly credited to the wisdom of the states- general, who had endangered the national existence by their rashness. Philip William of Orange had prayed for his brother's victory at Nieuport, fearing that, if the archduke should triumph, Maurice and Frederick Henry would be sent, bound hand and foot, as prisoners to Spain. Though within the enemy's walls, the eldest son of William the Silent shared the family affection which had led Maurice to leave him in possession of his hereditary estates. 1 1 This affection is touchingly shown in a letter from the unfortunate prince on his return from his Spanish captivity to his uncle, Count John of Nassau. After referring to his visits to other relatives, he adds, " I leave you to think how much we are rejoiced to be together after so long a separation." "Ar- chives de la Maison d'Orange-Nassau," 2? serie, torn. i. p. 376. CHAPTER XXIX. THE SIEGE OF OSTEND. Renewed efforts were now made by the government of the obedient provinces for peace ; but the states-general of the republic, though receiving their deputies, would not humiliate themselves by recognizing the authority of the archdukes. So the long war went on. Cruisers from Dunkirk, under the command of Vice-Admiral Van der Waecken, preyed upon the Dutch fishermen, who were mostly members of a religious sect of non-resistants called Mennonites. Some of their ves- sels were taken and their crews executed. The cruelties of these privateersmen incited retaliation. To avenge their out- rages a powerful craft, styled the "Black Galley of Dort," captured under the \falls of Antwerp a heavily armed man of war and several other vessels. As the sturdy Hollanders towed their prizes out of the harbor, the trumpets played St. Aldegonde's famous air, "William of Nassau." But the archdukes were now to exhibit unexpected re- sources in the longest siege of the great Netherland conflict, and which was compared by contemporary historians to that of ancient Troy. It was directed against Ostend, or East- end, — the last place held by the republic in Flanders. The states of this province had appealed to Albert to free them from this constant menace to their sea-coast, and offered to contribute heavily to the expense of its capture. Ostend, which is now a fashionable summer watering-place, was then a fishing-village of about three thousand inhabitants. i6oi. The Defences of Ostend. 461 The ramparts extended for three miles around the place, and were guarded by numerous outworks. On the site of the old harbor, which had been choked up by sand, Ostend was protected by a number of strong outworks, the chief of which were called the Sand-Hill, the Porcupine, and Hell's Mouth. The new harbor, which was known as the Gullet, was defended by a crescent-shaped structure styled the Spanish Half- moon. When the archduke began the siege, July 5, 1601, he had about twenty thousand troops. His principal officers were Count Frederick van den Berg, cousin of Maurice of Nassau, Count Bucquoi-Longueval, a Walloon, the archduke's chief of artillery, and Don Augustine de Mexia, governor of Ant- werp. To defend the rest of Flanders from forays from Ostend, the archduke had built eighteen fortresses j the principal being St. Albert, St. Isabella, St. Clara, and "Great Thirst. The states-general of the republic vainly urged Maurice of Nassau to divert the archduke . from Ostend by making an- other raid in Flanders. In the course of the summer of 1 60 1 he captured Rheinberg and Meurs on the Rhine, and would have taken Bois-le-Duc in November, had not threat- ened danger to Holland compelled the abandonment of the siege. A combat in the old chivalric form varied the usual military operations here. One Breaute, a Norman gen- tleman in the states' service, challenged the garrison to send out a leader with twenty men to meet an equal num- ber under his command. A Fleming named Abramzoon, who was familiarly called Leckerbeetje, or Tit-bit, accepted the challenge. He was killed at the first onset by his Norman antagonist, who was then treacherously despatched, as was said, in violation of the rules of the encounter. Only one half of the combatants lived to tell of this desperate passage -at- arms. 462 History of the Netherlands. Sir Francis Vere, who commanded the seven or eight thousand troops in Ostend, was a handsome, stalwart Eng- lishman of the family of the ancient Earls of Oxford. A favorite of Queen Elizabeth, he was on bad terms with the Nassaus from the sturdy manner in which he maintained his own and his sovereign's claims. 1 Yet he had done good ser- vice for the states in peace and war, and had been knighted by the queen for his bravery in the defence of Sluys and Bergen-op-Zoom. The gallant commander was now forty- seven years of age. His face was dark from exposure to the elements ; he had a broad forehead, large bright eyes, and full brown beard, and wore a point-lace ruffle, and a breast- plate of Milan armor inlaid with gold. Queen Elizabeth was also represented, at Ostend by some two thousand private soldiers in the pay of the states, large additions being afterward made. There were about the same number of Dutch, Flemings, Frenchmen, and Germans. The fifty siege guns which the archduke brought to bear upon Ostend during the summer, caused a good deal of de- struction. But the erection of batteries at the new harbor, which were built on great baskets of wicker-work sunk in the sand and called sausages, was interrupted by a cannonade 1 This obstinate independence is shown in Vere's account of the battle of Nieuport ; and it made Count William Louis of Nassau write to Maurice, dur- ing the siege of Ostend, that the gallant Englishman was an. old and a good colonel, but that he would have to go to school if he wished to become a general. "Archives de la Maison d' Orange-Nassau," 2? serie, torn. ii. p. no. Vere's discontent with the states led the British government to lay his complaints be- fore them ; but being dissatisfied with their answer, he resigned his command in February, 1603. He returned to the service as governor of Brill, in November, 1605, King James writing to the council of state and to Maurice in his favor. He died in 1609, at the age of fifty-four, and was buried in Westminster Abbey, a striking monument being erected over his remains. The relations of Sir Fran- cis Vere with the Dutch government, to which his brother Horace also rendered useful military service, and in which his brother Robert was killed, are set forth in the collection of State Papers known as " Winwood's Memorials," in three volumes, folio. London, 1725. i6oi. Veres Methods of Warfare. 465 from the Half-moon battery, and by the inroads of the stormy ocean. Thus vessels ran safely to Ostend and provisions were very cheap. All summer and winter the firing went on, and it is said the roar of the great guns was sometimes heard in London. Yet the besieged speedily repaired the injuries to the walls and repelled the storming-parties. Many officers of note were killed. The archdukes frequently came over from Nieuport in great style, and Isabella cheered the gun- ners by touching off the pieces with her royal fingers. She was discontented when the firing slackened. All the resources of strategic and engineering skill were employed at the siege of Ostend. Yet the most ambitious of these were the least successful. Pompey Targone, a famous Italian engineer, contrived a great floating-battery to close the Gullet, and a fortress on wheels, with a drawbridge, to span the passage and crush its defences; but the battery was swept away by the ocean, and the huge fortified chariot broke down before reaching its destination. The property of citizens was at the mercy of the English soldiers, to whom Sir Francis Vere gave the customary license against non-combatants. When the outer fortifications were shat- tered and the garrison were about to retire into the city, he prevented the enemy's assault by negotiations for surrender, which he broke off on the arrival of the Dutch fleet. This stratagem, though sanctioned by his council of war, was, as appears by Maurice of Nassau's letter, generally considered discreditable. The wily Vere met night attacks of the enemy by lighting great bonfires, which exposed them to the deadly aim of cannon and musketry and to the assaults of pike and dagger and blazing pitch-hoops, the luckless survivors being swept off by floods from opened sluices. In a single assault two thousand besiegers perished, while the garrison lost but sixty men. Despite this terrible slaughter and the fearful ravages of the 30 466 History of the Netherlands, pestilence, which was even more destructive in the hostile camps, the wintry cold and storms, and the mutiny of his suffering troops, the archduke refused to abandon the siege. While he brought his approaches nearer to the town, the in- habitants repaired the damage from his artillery, and covered the thatched roofs of the houses with sods as a protection against red-hot shot. In March, 1602, the states-general placed a fresh garrison in Ostend under the command of a tough Zealand colonel, Frederick van Dorp, Sir Francis Vere, after nine months' service in the town, being sent to join Maurice in the field. The archduke was now obliged to despatch a large force to watch his active foe, and his army was further weakened by the mutiny, which soon assumed formidable proportions. Thirty-five hundred veteran soldiers seized the city of Hoog- straaten, and preyed on the surrounding country, though preserving strict discipline in their camp under their chosen " Eletto," the chief of this " Italian republic." To appease them, the archduke dismissed the Admiral of Arragon, their late commander, whose severity had made him very unpop- ular. Since his capture at the battle of Nieuport, he had been released on condition of securing the discharge of all prisoners in Spanish hands. Attempts to negotiate with the mutineers having failed, Albert imprudently offered rewards for their heads as outlaws and accursed. The ban was for- mally answered by the rebel chiefs, who justified the mutiny by their need of food and clothing. They reproached the archdukes with their luxurious style of living, and ridiculed the attempt to crush, by a paper manifesto, warriors able to destroy any troops sent to enforce it. The government of the United Provinces granted the mutineers a refuge in case of need. While these events were taking place in the Netherlands, the Dutch were fighting for their growing commerce in the WRECK OF SPANISH SHIPS. 467 1602. Dutch Oriental Triumphs. 469 Indian Seas. Early in the year 1602, a plain captain, named Wolfert Hermann, with five little trading-vessels, or galliots, beat off a Portuguese fleet of twenty-five ships under Admiral Mendoza, and thus saved the King of Bantam, in the island of Java, from punishment for dealing with the Dutch. The Spaniards had represented that they and the Portuguese were the only white men in Europe, and that the new-comers were pirates. The Arctic explorer, Jacob Heemskerk, with two small galliots, captured a great carack loaded with spices and jewels, and carrying seventeen guns and seven hundred men. These exploits spread the fame of the sturdy Hollanders along the Indian and Chinese coasts. Treaties were made with some of the Oriental sovereigns, and the King of Achem in Sumatra sent two ambassadors to the republic. They were hospitably received by Maurice of Nassau in his camp before the city of Grave, which surrendered Sept. 18, 1602, after a two months' siege. Only one of the dusky envoys lived to return home ; but his glowing accounts of the power of the United Provinces were of much benefit to their commerce in the East. Before long, all their trading companies in that region were united in one general East India Company, in order to avoid injurious rivalries and more efficiently breast the might of Spain. The charter conferring exclusive right to this company for twenty- one years was granted by the states-general, March 20, 1602. It fixed the capital of the company at $3,300,000, one half of which was furnished by Amsterdam. Authority to make treaties with the princes of India in the name of the states, to raise troops, and erect forts, was conferred upon this great corporation, which was destined to wield immense power, and, while enriching the republic, to excite the jealousy of other nations. On the 24th of March, 1603, Queen Elizabeth of England died. This event excited much sorrow and anxiety in the states ; for, despite her shifting and niggardly policy, she had 470 History of the Netherlands. done them good service, and they had reason to fear the enmity of her successor, James I. Modern research has stripped Elizabeth of some of the great qualities which she was long credited with. It is known that her public and private character was steeped in artifice, that she was defi- cient in deep convictions and generous sympathies, either political or religious, and that the true glory of her reign was due to her people and her ministers. She succeeded because her time-serving policy was suited to her own powers and to the uncertainties of her position as a ruler. Her weak points, particularly her parsimony and hesitation towards the Nether- lands, were useful in avoiding dangers to her throne from her Catholic subjects and their foreign sympathizers who sustained the cause of Mary Queen of Scots, and from French as well as Spanish hostility. Her hard business tact carried her safely through crises provoked by her crooked policy. More fortunate in this respect than Philip II., delays were advantageous to her cause ; for England, though a small power, had the spirit of the age on its side, and the United Provinces to stand at a time of extreme peril on guard against its over- throw. William of Orange was for years the bulwark of Eliz- abeth's throne. Yet she deserves credit for her wise choice of advisers, and for the steadfastness with which she pursued the course for which she was best fitted. There was a vein of kindness in the coarse nature of the vain and coquettish queen, as her offer to adopt the daughters of the martyred Orange proved. Though students of her life and character can never regard her as the "Good Queen Bess " of her sub- jects, who knew nothing of her state-craft, yet despite her follies, trickeries, and errors, the woman who never flinched from the dangers that threatened her life and throne, who inspired her enemies with dread and her people with respect and affection, who ruled instead of being ruled by her able ministers, and who made peace at home the means of 1603. Desperate Defence of Ostend. 471 strengthening the national power abroad, must always be regarded as a great sovereign. 1 Meanwhile the siege of Ostend continued to be the event of the war. Though the Spanish batteries drew nearer and nearer to the town, they could not prevent the bold Hollanders from dashing through the Gullet with cargoes of provisions. A daring Frenchman named De Boisse ventured out with a floating infernal-machine to burn the dyke of wicker-work intended to block their passage. He succeeded in fastening his "hell- burner" to the dyke, and escaped to Ostend amid a storm of bullets. But a native of Brussels named John van den Berg, by a similar deed of daring, contrived to detach the dangerous machine from the dyke, though not till it had done a good deal of damage. The old harbor of Ostend was now undermined by the besiegers, who were met in deadly conflict in their underground passages by the des- perate besieged. The workmen in the new harbor, which was designed to take the place of the old in case of need, suffered terribly from the enemy's fire. In the lowlands about the town, sentinels stood day and night in the icy water, till the rising waves forced them to swim for their lives. Death was the penalty for deserting the dangerous post before high-tide ; not till then was it safe to cease watching for the approach of the sleepless foe. Early in April, 1603, a fierce night-assault was made upon 1 "The great results of Elizabeth's reign," says Froude, "were the fruits of a policy which was not her own, and which she starved and mutilated when en- ergy and completeness were needed. . . . Obligations of honor were not only occasionally forgotten by her, but she did not seem to understand what honor meant." " History of England," vol. xii. p. 559. London, 1870. "Whatever enthusiasm the heroic struggle of the Prince of Orange for Netherland liberties excited among her subjects, it failed to move Elizabeth even for an instant from the path of cold self-interest. ... To her the steady refusal of William the Silent to sacrifice his faith was as unintelligible as the steady bigotry of Philip in demanding such a sacrifice." Green, "History of the English People," vol. ii. p. 402. London, 1878. 472 History of the Netherlands, part of the fortifications of Ostend, as a cover for a more sweeping assault, the Spaniards scaling works deemed impreg- nable, by means of rope ladders, with their swords in their teeth. Thus the very outworks which Vere's artifice had saved from the enemy 1 fell before their strategy and prowess. All night the Hollanders fought to recapture the works, but in vain. At daybreak the victors killed all their prisoners and turned the guns of the conquered forts against the main defences of the town. Fifteen hundred men had perished in these desperate engagements. And yet the besieged held bravely on. ' 1 As the siege of Ostend attracted great attention throughout Europe, and was the school of the young nobility in the art of war, the news of Vere's nego- tiations for peace (ante, p. 465) was a puzzling sensation. The English diplo- matist Winwood thus wrote to his government about its effect in Paris : " The late remarkable accident of Ostend did minister here very strange discourses. In fact it was reported, (and that in the best Places) that Sir Francis Vere had sold the town to the archduke for 200,000 crowns, Then that the capitulation was made by commandment from her Majesty who was resolved to make her peace upon these terms : That she would deliver Ostend and Flushing to the archduke and that the king of Spain should retire his forces from Ireland and pay unto her those sums of money which the king doth owe her." — Winwood to Cecil, Jan. 6, 1601 : " Wmwood's Memorials," vol. i. p. 371. CHAPTER XXX. THE TWO SPINOLAS. Meantime the archduke's cause had been aided by a mem- ber of a family that was destined to perform some of the most brilliant operations of the war. Frederick Spinola, a wealthy Genoese, having been appointed an admiral in the Spanish service, had preyed upon small Dutch craft with a few galleys from Sluys. Encouraged by his success, he obtained eight large vessels of this class from the government of Philip III., fitting them out at his own expense, on condition of re- taining all the profits of his ventures. Six of these vessels had been shattered and sunk in an encounter with a Dutch fleet of war-galliots, under Vice Admiral Kant, early in Octo- ber, 1602. These iron-pro wed craft, with a favoring breeze, crashed into the great galleys, which were designed for use in a calm ; the rowers, chained helplessly together, sinking with the vessels, or being torn to pieces by the enemy's guns. The Dutch were the more pleased with their triumph as these were the very galleys on which their countrymen, seized in Spanish ports three years before, had been forced to work as slaves. But Spinola was not daunted by this defeat. The last of May, 1603, he sallied forth from Sluys, with eight new galleys and four smaller vessels. There being a dead calm, the great galleys, each rowed by two hundred and fifty men in the chain-gang, and bristling with thirteen hundred soldiers, bore down with tremendous force upon the four small Dutch gal- 474 History of the Netherlands. liots of Admiral Joost de Moor, who had only thirty-six mus- keteers in his whole fleet. He was fortunate, however, in being aided by a noted vessel called the " Black Galley of Zealand," which beat off two of the assailants, the end of whose sharp iron prows were left in her tough hull. The galliots were also defended with great bravery, and the enemy were repelled in their attempts to board, and raked by can- non and musketry, which did fearful execution on their crowded decks. A breeze springing up deprived the Span- iards of the advantage of quickly shifting their position about the becalmed galliots. Soldiers from Ostend were no match on the wind-swept sea for Zealand sailors. The great galleys were so damaged by the cannonade that they were obliged to retreat to Sluys, with a loss of hundreds of men. The gal- lant Spinola himself, whose brilliant armor made him a shin- ing mark for the enemy's fire, was torn to pieces by a stone gun on the " Black Galley." ! The loss of the nationalists was small, the Zealand galley suffering most, — Captain Michel- zoon, eleven of his officers, and fifteen men being killed. Though the daring Genoese had lost his life at the age of thirty- two, in contending against veteran naval commanders, his elder brother was soon to show that genius and study may more than offset the lack of practical experience in war. Sluys now ceased to send out galleys to waylay vessels 1 Count Ernest Casimir, narrating the contest, calls the unfortunate Spinola a wise captain as well as a brave and enterprising soldier. He adds that the enemy will be crippled not only by the damage done to the vessels, but by the loss of their galley-slaves, unless some can be brought from Spain or Italy, as there are none to be had in the provinces. " Archives de la Maison d'Orange- Nassau," 2^ serie, torn ii. p. 194. The English commandant at Flushing thus refers to the affair : " There were 1,300 soldiers in the galleys, very gallant and well appointed, and courageously disposed at their going out ; but at their return my drummer saw them pass through the Sluce drooping, and the Italians crying pitifully, and some tearing their hair off their head and beards ; this I write not idly, but as my drummer saw it." Sir William Browne to Sir Robert Sydney, May 20, 1603; " Sydney's State Papers," vol. ii. p. 272. DUKE OF SULLY. 475 1603. James I. of England. 477 from Ostend ; but, a sloop being captured by the besiegers, twelve wounded soldiers on board were executed by the archduke's orders, on the ground that the laws of war applied only on land. Maurice showed his contempt for this distinc- tion by hanging an equal number of Spanish captives, and threatening to double the proportion if the rule were again enforced. This action proved effective. In spite of the ban of the archduke, the King of Spain, and the pope, the great mutiny, now embracing five thousand vet- erans, continued to be a source of weakness to the enemy and of strength to Maurice, who was enthusiastically received in their camp, and made an offensive and defensive alliance with them. On the death of Queen Elizabeth of England, John of Barneveld, Prince Frederick Henry, and other envoys had been sent by the government of the United Provinces to the court of her successor, James L, to request his aid against Spain. The new king was a timid, narrow-minded man, whose natural shrewdness was dwarfed by his learned conceit, and whose vulgar manners matched his ungainly person. Henry IV. of France called him the wisest fool in Christen- dom. His pacific disposition and dread of republicanism led him to slight the appeals of the Dutch representatives. Barneveld's next efforts were to secure aid from France, whose ambassador, the Marquis of Rosny, afterward Duke of Sully, arrived in England in grand style on the 15th of June, 1603. To him the republican commissioner gave a pitiable account of the desperate condition of his country. De Rosny thought this exaggerated for effect; but Dutch distress was certainly great. The people were weary of heavy taxes, and the terrible destruction of life caused by the great siege, which had already dragged on for two years. Though the states tried to cheer them by reports of triumphs in the In- dies, these remote, and as some thought imaginary, successes 478 History of the Netherlands. could not allay suffering at home. It had been found neces- sary to conceal from departing troops that their destination was the huge slaughter-pen at Ostend. 1 France was naturally unwilling to risk war with Spain on behalf of the United Provinces without knowing how England would act. Barneveld insisted that a French army was the only hope for saving Ostend and the republic. At last De Rosny induced King James to agree to a French alliance for the protection of the provinces. But as this treaty of June 25, 1603, provided only for secret or indirect aid to them, unless Philip should compel hostilities by attacking the allies, the British king left the door open for his favorite peace policy. Hence, though the shrewd French diplomatist tempted the leading English courtiers with presents and promises to support his sovereign's cause, this customary sort of persuasion proved of little value. An important change was now made in the operations against Ostend. To hasten the seemingly endless siege, the Spanish government gave command of the royal forces to the elder brother of the unfortunate Frederick Spinola, who 1 Stern, " Histoire des Commencements de la Republique aux Pays-Bas, " p. 293. Paris, 1873. These facts have not been mentioned by English and American historians of the Netherlands, yet they are essential to an understand- ing of the course of the negotiations with France and England at this period, It was a wonder to foreign diplomatists that the republic had held out so long. Eighteen months before, Buzanval, the ambassador of Henry IV. at the Hague, expected its sudden coMapse. He compared it to a bankrupt merchant living on credit, and to a wasted lamp, whose last flash is its brightest. The disunion tendencies of the provinces, the sacrifice of public to private interests, increased the dangers of the country, whose only strength lay in the weakness of its ene- mies. Winwood to Cecil, Dec. 1, 1601 ; " Winwood's Memorials," vol. i. p. 363. Barneveld's pressing appeals are narrated in " Memoirs of Sully," vol. iii. pp. 62, in. Philadelphia, 181 7. The policy of Henry IV. to keep Spain and England at variance was to prevent them from sacrificing the United Provinces, and was in the interests not of France merely, but of Europe. See the important letters of the king and his envoy : "Archives de la Maison d'Orange-Nassau," 2? serie, torn. ii. pp. 205, 224, 226. 1603. The Margins Spinola. 479 agreed to aid them with a large sum of money. Ambrose Spinola, Marquis of Venafri, who thus assumed a very diffi- cult position, was a handsome, thoughtful- looking man of thirty-four, with light hair and beard. He had been finely educated, was skilled in athletic exercises, and joined to gen- eral literary culture a special knowledge of mathematics and fortifications. Having done some service in Genoese politics, the influence of his brother Frederick had excited his warlike ardor. The Spinolas had been enriched by Oriental com- merce, and, though Ambrose was without practical experience in war, the archdukes had great confidence in his ability. In fact Isabella declared that, if he did not capture Ostend, nobody would. There was naturally much jealousy of the elevation of this untried military student to supreme com- mand ; but the republican soldiers felt that it was a serious blow to their cause. Spinola soon displayed the fruits of his studies in the art of war. After taking command at Ostend in October, 1604, he discarded the cumbrous machinery of the Italian engineers, abandoned the dyke and sausage building, and adopted more scientific methods. He began mining approaches against the chain of forts at the " Polder," or meadow, at the western side, and encouraged his men by his skill and daring. The besieged could only grope blindly against these underground works, and, by Maurice's instructions, prepared to blow up their bulwarks as fast as they were endangered by the enemy's progress. One after another the fortifications yielded to the mining assaults and storming-parties of the brilliant Italian. Two governors of the town had been killed, and one desper- ately wounded, in the first quarter of the year 1604. These changes in the government hindered defensive operations, and the ravages of the elements added to the destruction wrought by the besiegers. Still the city held out, and the 480 History of the Netherlands. new governor, the Flemish Baron of Berendrecht, rinding one half the place in the enemy's hands, constructed an inner line of intrenchments to defend the remainder. When the Span- iards blew up the old wall, they were amazed to find these new works, which had been largely built by the soldiers, repel- ling their advance. Pressed back by their desperate foes under cover of the fire from the ramparts, the storming-party met a bloody defeat where they expected an .easy victory. A few days afterward the brave Berendrecht was killed, and his successor, the Dutch Colonel Uytenhoove, prepared for the worst by setting off a third of the remaining works as a last defence against the besiegers. This spot was called Little Troy. Such were the desperate straits of the besieged, that, for lack of earth to construct their fortifications, they were obliged to dig up the graveyards and fill the walls with bodies of dead soldiers. The new governor, desperately wounded in meeting an assault of the foe, was soon obliged to leave his perilous post, and his place was taken by the Lord of Marquette, one of the heroes of the battle of Nieuport. The states now sent abundant materials to fortify little Troy ; but Spinola cannonaded it with such fury that its destruction seemed inevitable. Meanwhile Maurice of Nassau had unwillingly invaded Flanders by order of the states-general ; but, though bent on capturing Sluys, his delay on the island of Cadzand enabled Spinola to send troops to block his approach. Overcoming all obstacles, the stadtholder at last began the siege of Sluys, and maintained it in spite of the assaults of his Italian rival. In this extremity the archdukes were impelled to make terms with their mutinous troops, who were granted a full pardon, and security for the money due them. Sluys, however, sur- rendered Aug. 18, 1604, after a resistance of three months, which forced the population to suffer all the horrors of fam- JAMES ARMINIUS. 481 1604. Surrender of Ostend. 483 ine. As Ostend was now of less importance to the republic, the stadtholder opposed attempting its relief, but, yielding to the demands of the states-general, he prepared for the effort. It was the last hope for the place, which had only the unsea- soned walls of little Troy to resist the terrific fire of Spinola. The dreadful condition of the roads preventing Maurice's advance, Ostend surrendered on the 20th of September, 1604, after a siege of three years and seventy-seven days. The chivalrous Spinola gave a superb banquet to the gallant repub- lican officers in his pavilion, and Maurice warmly welcomed them at Sluys. Ostend exhibited to the victors a scene of utter desolation. No buildings were left amid the ruins, and the inhabitants lived in holes in the ground. The sea swept drearily over the shattered dykes. The whitened bones of the defenders of the town were everywhere visible. Isabella, who accompanied her husband, wept at the ghastly sight. At an entertainment given them by Spinola, the mines, as- saults, and other features of the great siege were represented in mimic spectacle. Only two of the dwellers in the deso- late spot could be induced to remain there, and they were persons of such bad character that they had been forbidden to enter Zealand. Yet to capture this dreary sandbank more than a hundred thousand lives and four million dollars had been sacrificed. CHAPTER XXXI. THE REPUBLIC AT BAY. The fall of Ostend had followed close upon a treaty of peace which King James had made with Spain and the arch- dukes, on the 1 8th of August, 1604. This provided that neither party should assist the others' rebels or enemies, and that English subjects should not aid the Hollanders to trade with Spain or the obedient Netherlands. As for the Dutch cities with English garrisons, they were to be held for the states, unless the government failed to make peace with Spain within a reasonable time. This treaty caused great anxiety in the United Provinces, from fear that Spanish intrigues and gold would convert King James into an active enemy. Bar- neveld again urgently appealed to the French government for aid, but in vain. The British monarch soon showed that his pacific policy was due to his personal desire. for peace with a country with which he had none of his predecessor's troubles, and for independence of his own parliament, rather than to aid Philip III. He admitted Caron, the states' envoy, to the rank of ambassador, to the disgust of his Spanish rival : and allowed both the warring nations to enlist troops in Eng- land, while forbidding his subjects to enter any foreign naval service. The Dutch lost many prizes by the English ad- miral's searching their cruisers for English sailors, and then restoring the captured ships to the Spaniards. Public law in those days making a distinction against soldiers taken in merchant vessels, Vice-Admiral Haultain, by order of the JAMES I. OF ENGLAND. 48S 1604. Reverses of the Republic. 487 states -general, enforced it rigorously against Spanish troops captured in about a dozen transports off Dover. They were bound together in twos, back to back, and thrown into the sea. This barbarous practice, which the Dutch called voet- spolen, or feet-washing, had previously been applied to the privateers of Dunkirk. Some of the Spanish transports took refuge under the guns of Dover Castle, which cannonaded the pursuers. The Dutch complained, in reply to English remonstrances against their intrusion, that their men-of-war were treated more se- verely than the Dunkirk pirates, who cruised unmolested in English waters. Admiral Dirkzoon, the admiral of these privateers, having been captured by a Rotterdam captain called Pretty Lambert, was, with sixty of his crew, hanged in that city. Reverses overtook the republican troops in the year 1605. A great expedition to surprise Antwerp in the spring was so long in getting ready that the city had time to guard against it. Maurice seemed to have lost his usual skill. He was outgeneralled by the brilliant Spinola. The superb cavalry of the republic under command of Frederick Henry fled before Trivulzio's Italian horse, near Miilheim, on the '8th of October. The future stadtholder himself narrowly escaped death while boldly charging the enemy. A carbine aimed at his head by a Spanish trooper missed fire. But his dan- ger was not yet over : having discharged his own pistol, he would have been captured, as his bright orange scarf had already been grasped by the foe, had not an unknown sol- dier risked his life to save him. The failure of the Dutch arms at home was offset by their success in the Indies. It was there that they were to gain their richest prizes. Early in the year 1 605 the East India Company captured the important island of Amboyna from the Portuguese, protected the oppressed king of the island of 488 History of the Netherlands. Ternate, and overcame his rival, the King of Tydor. After gaining this victory, Admiral Sebastian secured control of the Molucca Islands and the coveted clove-trade. But, though expelling the Portuguese from their strongholds, the Dutch were more merciful to them than to the Spaniards in this region, upon whom they wreaked a murderous hatred. The East India Company's claim to the exclusive commerce of these seas was not relished by the English traders, and they had therefore sided with the Portuguese. There was a daring French engineer named Du Terrail in the archduke's service, who boasted that he could capture any town in the Netherlands by means of his explosive ma- chines, called petards. During the summer campaign of 1605 he had twice attempted to surprise the city of Bergen- op-Zoom. Having blown up one of the gates on his second attempt, he dashed forward with his troops, expecting an easy triumph. But the energy of the governor, Paul Bax, and the heroism of the inhabitants, baffled the invaders. By the light of great bonfires they were assailed with bullets, blazing pitch-hoops, and paving-stones, amid the taunts of the defenders of the town. Catholics and Protestants, ministers of religion, and even women, united to beat back the foe. Undaunted by this bloody repulse, Du Terrail made a similar attack upon Sluys the following spring. He forced his way into that strongly fortified city, with twelve hundred sol- diers, while Governor Van der Noot and the inhabitants were asleep. An unexpected circumstance now defeated his plans. The signal for an attack on the guard-houses from both sides of the city was the striking of the great church clock ; but the sexton had wound it up so tight the night before that it could not sound the hour. Missing the expected signal, the assailants at the western gate anxiously awaited a clew to the mystery. Meanwhile the townspeople and garrison became 1606. Appeals to France for Aid. 489 aroused, and attacked the intruders so furiously that nearly all of them were killed, or drowned in the moat beyond. Being prevented by floods in Friesland from invading that part of the country, in the summer of 1 606 Spinola formed a daring plan of marching into the provinces of Utrecht and Holland, and crushing the republic at a blow. The watchful Maurice, who now had an army of fifteen thousand men, was resolved to defeat this design at any cost. He so carefully guarded the approaches to the threatened territory that his dashing antagonist had to withdraw and content him- self with the capture of the towns of Lochem and Groll. He then laid siege to the important city of Rheinberg, which the states-general urged Maurice to relieve ; but he would not risk exposing Holland to the march of his swift and daring opponent. After a resistance of six weeks, Rhein- berg, then under the command of Frederick Henry, surren- dered on the 2d of October, to the great dissatisfaction of the states, whom it had taken a much longer time to capture. Maurice was blamed for his inaction during this siege, and it was feared that the enemy would pursue their conquests into the territory of the republic. There was talk of arranging terms with the archduke. In this emergency appeals for aid were again made to France. Henry IV. was perplexed how to act. He wished to succor the provinces, but could not afford to plunge into war with Spain, and incur the hostility of England, without securing sovereignty over them, as a partial occupancy to secure his expenses would create trouble with the jealous states, and expose him to greater danger abroad. The repub- lic was then thought to be short-lived, being rent by internal dissensions, and the sway of Maurice or some other sover- eign was deemed imminent. As France desirebl peace, the intrigues of Barneveld and Aerssens failed. Villeroy, the French prime minister, encouraged the Dutch envoy with 49° History of the Netherlands. hopes of aid, provided Maurice and Barneveld would secure the provinces for his master. But this was a forlorn hope, though the advocate had artfully excited it. Neither the son nor the friend of William the Silent dreamed of overriding the popular will. With its growth, and experience of indepen- dence, the distressed republic would not yield to Henry IV. the sovereignty which it had begged his predecessor to accept. 1 Spinola was soon seriously embarrassed for want of money. His capital and credit alike gave out, and the Spanish cabi- net would no longer aid him. His unpaid troops broke into mutiny. In vain he sought to suppress it by posting the names of the principal offenders upon a gibbet. Again they seized the city of Hoogstraaten, and ravaged the neighbor- hood. Their way of terrifying the peasants into submission was by placing straw in their hats as a threat of burning places 1 The alarm which the capture of Rheinberg excited in the republic is referred to by Le Clerc. " Histoire des Provinces-Unies des Pays-Bas," torn. i. p. 238, folio. Amsterdam, 1728. Davies, " History of Holland," vol. ii. p. 400. London, 1851. But neither of these authors, nor any English or American historian of the Netherlands, has mentioned the fact that this disaster occasioned an earnest appeal to France for aid. The friendly French monarch, who saw no alternative but assuming sovereignty over the United Provinces, as it was thought impos- sible for them to hold out much longer, was embarrassed by their distracted condition and the danger of war with Spain. The states proposed that Henry IV. should take some of their towns as security for his expenses, but this plan was thought by the king and his sagacious adviser to have '" all the inconven- iences of the first, without any of its advantages ; we should besides have nu- merous garrisons to maintain, because these towns would be doubtless upon the frontiers, where the Flemings would behold us with as bad an eye as the Span- iards themselves, of which we have a very recent example in their behavior to the English in the like circumstance." War with England was also expected to follow hostilities with Spain as soon as France seemed desirous of getting a footing in the provinces. "Memoirs of Sully," vol. iv. pp. 132-135. Phila- delphia, 18 1 7. Barneveld's artful intrigues, which seem to have imposed on Buzanval, the French envoy at the Hague, are set forth in the latter's letters to Villeroy. "Archives de la Maison d' Orange-Nassau," 2 e serie, torn. ii. PP- 369-374- DUTCH PEASANT WOMEN. 49 I 1606. A Desperate Sea-Fight. 493 where their demands were refused, or by sending letters with burnt edges and a representation of a naked sword. Six hundred of the mutineers enlisted under Justine of Nassau at Breda. Profiting by the distress of his adversary, Maurice recap- tured Lochem ; but while leisurely besieging Groll, early in November, 1606, he was surprised by the rapid march of the brilliant Spinola to its relief. With about eight thousand troops he had ventured to encounter twice the number. Yet the stadtholder, instead of attacking the wearied foe, to the disgust of his troops abandoned the siege. The city of Groll was saved to the archduke, and Maurice closed the campaign under a cloud. Spinola's prowess had eclipsed his fame. Henry IV. of France lamented the successes of the skilful Italian as evidence of the interference of the states- general. In this, however, he was mistaken; for, although their preparations for the campaign were insufficient, its con- duct was left wholly to the stadtholder. But while Maurice may have been over-cautious, he was not unfaithful. With his troops weakened by sickness, he was unwilling to imperil the safety of the republic by risking the chances of defeat. Yet his enemies charged him with avoiding a conflict lest his victory should end the war, which he was bent on continuing against the wishes of the states-general. A desperate sea-fight which occurred about this time illus- trated the heroism of a Dutch naval commander and the timidity of his associates. While cruising for Spanish treas- ure-ships off Cape St. Vincent, Admiral Haultain, with thirteen ships, fell in with a great war fleet of the enemy under Don Luis de Fazardo. The other republican commanders evaded the unequal conflict ; but Vice-Admiral Klaaszoon bravely breasted it. Though his mainmast had been carried away in the onset, he fought his ship gallantly, and, seeing his danger, Haultain came to the rescue with five of his fleet. At last 494 History of the Netherlands. Klaaszoon's dismasted vessel was left alone to fight the eighteen galleons. Spurning the summons to surrender, the vice-admiral nailed his colors to the wreck, and for two days and nights kept up the desperate fight. The Spaniards dared not grapple his vessel, lest he should blow it up. Rather than accept their proffered mercy, he resolved, as his ship was about sinking, to seek that of Heaven. Sustained by his officers and crew, most of whom were wounded, in his heroic purpose the ad- miral knelt with them upon the deck, and prayed for pardon for his sin. He then set fire to the powder-magazine. The ship was blown into the air, the only survivors of the terrific explosion being two sailors who were picked up by the Spaniards. Half-drowned and mangled as they were, they fiercely defied their hated foe till death came to their relief. The glorious fight made by Klaaszoon justified the belief that with proper support his life, as well as the honor of Ad- miral Haultain, would have been saved, and victory perhaps been secured for the Dutch. Three noted Netherlander died during the year 1606, — Justus Lipsius, the great classical scholar; the brave but reckless and intemperate Hohenlohe ; and old Count John of Nassau, one of the founders of the independence of the United Provinces, and the last surviving brother of William the Silent. In this year, also, Philip William, Prince of Orange, who, since his release from Spanish captivity, had held aloof from the national cause, married the sister of the Prince of Cond£, and by this union with a niece of Henry IV. of France obtained from that monarch complete sovereignty over his principality of Orange, where he resided until the Dutch Republic made peace with Spain. CHAPTER XXXII. THE TWELVE YEARS' TRUCE. Peace was now favored among both parties to the long Netherland conflict. Spain, with exhausted finances and humbled pride, no longer expected singly to conquer the United Provinces, and her requests for aid were refused by England and France. 1 The scheme of marrying the Infanta to the Prince of Wales, as a means of regaining the provinces, proved a failure. There was danger that the Catholic prov- inces, which were especially exposed to the assaults of the enemy, would again refuse to pay the heavy war taxes. Bar- neveld feared that Maurice's success might be fatal to repub- lican government. He dreaded also that passion for warlike glory which had already begun to dazzle the sober-minded Dutchmen, and feared that defeat would force the nation into the arms of France. Yet the war policy still had strong supporters. It was favored by the office-holders, the army and navy, the East India Company, the Calvinist clergy, and the populace in towns and cities. Maurice of Nassau was at the head of this powerful party. His tastes and talents were military, and peace would be a severe blow to his ambition. 1 Ranke, whose careful study of European politics during the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries gives great weight to his opinions, says: " There can be no serious doubt that the refusal of the alliance which the Spaniards had proposed to the King of England impelled the former to turn their thoughts to a peaceful adjustment of their difficulties with the Netherlands. They had made similar overtures to France also, but these had been shipwrecked by the firmness and mistrust of Henry IV." " History of England," vol. i. p. 419. Oxford, 1875. 496 History of the Netherlands. As the cabinet of Madrid were weary of the exhausting war, they heeded the pacific appeals of Spinola. The new king, Philip III., was a well-meaning but weak-minded man of twenty-nine, with light hair and beard, and the Burgundian lip of his family. He was wholly under the control of the Duke of Lerma, an ambitious grandee, who used his influence to enrich his relatives and friends. Philip II. had dreaded the ascendency of Lerma over his son ; but the stern parent's warnings were lost upon the susceptible youth. So the new king, absorbed in religious devotions and the pleasures of the court, allowed his kingdom to drift in the same dangerous direction in which Philip II. had guided it. Early in April, 1607, a suspension of hostilities was agreed upon for eight months from the 4th of May. This truce, however, did not apply to the sea outside of certain Euro- pean waters. Hardly had this arrangement been made when news arrived of a victory by Jacob Heemskerk, the bold Arctic explorer, in the Bay of Gibraltar, on the 25 th of April, 1607. With twenty-six small vessels he had boldly attacked, under the very guns of the fortress, a formidable Spanish fleet of twenty-one ships, commanded by Don Juan Alvarez d'Avila, one of the heroes of Lepanto. Of all the proud galleons, only the " St. Augustine," the flag- ship, was afloat at evening. After holding out bravely, she had yielded at last to her clinging foes. A nimble sailor then reached her mast-head and hauled down the flag. The great victory was stained with ferocious cruelty. Even the wounded- were mercilessly slaughtered. The Nether- landers pursued their victims into the water, and butchered them as they were attempting to escape. Revenge for the death of Heemskerk increased the fury of his comrades, which was also heightened by the discovery, among Admiral d'Avila's papers, of orders from the king to inflict the utmost cruelties upon their captives. i6o7- Wretched Condition of Spam. 497 There was great alarm in Spain at this overwhelming defeat in its own waters. The India fleets were afraid to venture forth lest they should be captured by the terrible Hollanders. Spinola was the object of special attack, for agreeing to a cessation of hostilities which was chiefly limited to the land. Peace was now generally desired, for there was no longer means of carrying on the war. Nearly all the property of the country was in the hands of corrupt and lazy nobles and priests. Honest industry being considered degrading, for- eigners monopolized the profits of commerce and manufac- tures. Beggars, brigands, and smugglers abounded ; and the non-producing classes, alike indolent and immoral, devoured the wealth of the land. To add to its burdens, the govern- ment cruelly hunted into exile the Moors, whose industry and artistic skill were of great value to Spain. Bigotry reached its height in this lamentable act, which was due to a desire to make all the people think alike in religious matters. Unity in religion was then deemed essential to public safety by Protestant as well as Catholic nations. At the request of the government of the United Provinces, the kings of England and France sent envoys to assist in the peace negotiations. King James was represented by Sir Ralph Winwood and Sir Richard Spencer, and Henry IV. by Jeannin, President of the Parliament of Burgundy, in addi- tion to Buzanval, the regular ambassador. Though the war party, headed by Maurice of Nassau, re- doubled their efforts against peace in consequence of Spanish artifice, Barneveld's control of the city and town governments led to a renewal of the negotiations. Thus the opposition of the two leaders grew more bitter. On the last day of January, 1608, the Spanish commis- sioners arrived at the Hague in great style. They had come in sledges over the frozen waters of Holland. Philip's chief envoy was the President Richardot, a veteran negotiator who 32 498 History of the Netherlands. had treated with St. Aldegonde for the surrender of Antwerp and with the French and English peace commissioners ten and twenty years before. But the principal object of interest was the Marquis Spinola. The sturdy Hollanders enthusias- tically greeted the great rival of Maurice, who, with William Louis and other magnates, had met the ambassadors at some distance from the city. Though the stadtholder is said to have unwillingly obeyed the order of the states to welcome Spinola, he brought him back in his own coach. The splen- dor of the brilliant Italian's housekeeping so shocked some of the frugal Dutchmen that the authorities were asked to check the demoralizing display. At the meeting of the peace commissioners in the palace of the states-general, Barneveld and Jeannin, the able French diplomatist, took the most prominent part. The news of a great victory by Admiral Matalieff over the Spaniards in the Indian seas encouraged the states-general. In the autumn of 1 606 he had laid siege to the city and fortress of Malacca, repelled the enemy's fleet, and recovered the kingdom of Ternate. Meantime the states made an alliance with Eng- land, like that made with France just before the peace negotiations began, to secure fresh aid in case of need. But the refusal of Philip III. to concede the India trade, and the right to prevent the public exercise of the Catho- lic religion in their dominions to the Dutch, ended the ne- gotiations on the 20th of August, 1608. Hostilities seemed inevitable from the discovery that the Spanish king had in- trigued to detach France from the cause of the republic by an offer of marriage between the Crown Prince of Spain and the eldest daughter of Henry IV. In this crisis the English and French ambassadors proposed a truce for several years, which should acknowledge the sov- ereignty of the republic and leave the India trade open dur- ing the period. This was vigorously opposed by Maurice 1609. The Truce Signed. 499 and the war party, and a fierce pamphleteering conflict followed between his partisans and those of Barneveld. The advocate was denounced as a tool of Spain, charged with treason in anonymous letters read before the states- general, and accused of receiving bribes from Spinola. But although the indignant statesman resigned his public office, the states prevailed upon him to resume them. By the exercise of its rights of sovereignty, Zealand, sup- ported by Amsterdam and Delft, blocked the truce. Threats to secede from the union were made by the Zealanders, with whom, as chief noble, Maurice had great authority. But the influence of the English and French governments overcame their opposition. For a time, too, Maurice and Barneveld were reconciled. The Archduke Albert sent his father con- fessor to Spain to allay the king's scruples on the religious question ; and as the Duke of Lerma and the clergy favored peace, Philip yielded the point. In the final negotiations which took place at Antwerp, the Spaniards objected to the swelling title assumed by the states of " High and Mighty Lords," and it was changed to " Illus- trious Lords." After two years and a quarter of tedious dis- cussion a truce for twelve years was signed on the 9th of April, 1609. The states gained all their demands, — recog- nition of their independence, liberty to carry on the India trade, and even the right to prevent Catholic worship in their dominions. To humor Spanish pride, no direct mention of these last two points was made in the treaty. Before leaving the country the wise Jeannin wrote earnestly to the states-gen- eral in favor of toleration for the large and patriotic Catholic population of the republic. Danger to the government, said the French statesman in this remarkable address, is not in the permission but in the prohibition of religious liberty. Yet, in the name of the King of Spain, he only asked that Catho- lics should be allowed the private exercise of their religion. 500 History of the Netherlands* The truce, which was justly regarded as a great triumph of the republic, was guaranteed by England and France. It was naturally welcomed more earnestly in the Spanish Neth- erlands, where it was a necessity, than by their more prosper- ous neighbors. Peace was to bring to the subject provinces brilliant successes in art and literature, and agricultural though not commercial progress ; but religious bigotry and foreign domination were to drag the country down again in after years. In the United Provinces the truce was to breed grave internal dissensions, religious and political, which were to stain the fame of the republic and the reputation of the House of Orange. And the final outcome of twelve years' peace with Spain was to be a renewal of the war ! The influence of France in the councils of the republic had been increased by Jeannin's skilful diplomacy. He had won over Maurice to the cause of peace by urging his claims upon the states-general. For his past services and for the loss of warlike occupation, the stadtholder received about $60,000 a year, his brother Frederick Henry $12,500, and his cousin William Louis $1^000. Even the recreant Philip William was granted nearly a million dollars besides his share of his father's estate, and Justine of Nassau, the illegitimate son of William the Silent, was also pensioned. The French king's object in effecting these grants was to control the republic through its ruling family. In order to settle disputes between provinces and towns, which sometimes blocked the wheels of government and threatened the safety of the union, Jeannin also proposed to create a council of state with seats for the English and French ambassadors, and Maurice and Frederick Henry as members for life. This project was defeated by Barneveld, who opposed foreign influence in the government and the increase of the stadtholder's power. But while preparing to invade the duchies of Cleves and 1610. Assassination of Henry IV. 501 Juliers to humble the house of Austria, Henry IV. was assas- sinated in Paris on the 14th of May, 16 10, by a fanatical Catholic named Ravaillac. It was a terrible blow to France and to Europe. The cause of religious and political liberty was set back for years by the dagger which destroyed the monarch who cherished broad views of progress, who united to hearty popular sympathies appreciation of great intellectual movements, and whose faults were those of a noble and generous nature. The death of Henry IV. delayed the march of Maurice into the duchies until the middle of July. Joining the force of the Prince of Anhalt, he besieged Juliers, which surrendered on the 1 st of September, two weeks after the arrival of the small French army. To avoid breaking the truce with Spain or exciting the jealousy of the allies, the stadtholder soon returned to Holland by order of the states -general, leaving the German princes in possession of their dominions. These were, however, the scene of hostilities four years later, Spinola and Maurice each seizing a number of cities, though they avoided attacking each other on account of the twelve years' truce. By the treaty of Xanten, in December, 16 14, the disputed territories were to be divided between the two German claimants; but Spain defeated the project. Religious, masking and intensifying political, strife was now to bring greater evils to the republic than foreign war. The conflict arose from dissensions in the Calvinist sect of Prot- estants. Calvinism had entered the provinces from France, with the fiery field preachers and the stirring psalms of Marot, which were sung at the camp-meetings, while the more mod- erate Lutheranism had come from Germany several years before. But though the latter had the first martyrs in the Netherlands, 1 the former became the popular faith. Luther 1 Four years after the writings of Luther had been burned at Louvain, two Augustine monks were burned alive in the Grand Square at Brussels, July i, 502 History of the Netherlands. opposed political agitation for religious purposes, as he feared the cause of the Reformation would be injured by fanatical violence. Calvin, on the contrary, gave a Democratic organ- ization to the Geneva church, and its ardent ministers repelled the control of the civil power. The fiery zeal of Calvinism was necessary to breast Philip's bigotry, and the lamentable excesses of its votaries were the natural result of their iron creed and the persecutions of their enemies. Calvinistic supremacy in the United Provinces had been useful during the war by giving unity and force to resistance to foreign tyr- anny, though the excesses of its zealots in the other provin- ces had prevented a permanent union of all the Netherlands. It was reserved for peace to show the disorganizing and destructive power of controversies in the most rigid of Prot- estant sects, within the republic. A division had occurred in the Calvinist or Dutch Reformed Church, from disputes between two rival professors of the- ology at Leyden, Gomafus and Arminius, in 1604. As the Arminians remonstrated against the severe doctrines of their opponents, they wese called Remonstrants, and the Gomarists were styled Contra- Remonstrants. 1 Their disputes on obscure 1523, for adopting his heretical doctrines. The immorality of the Catholic clergy was the cause of the success of Lutheran preachers, and at Antwerp especially the new doctrines made rapid progress. Hubert, " De Charles-Quint a Joseph II.," pp. 18, 19. Bruxelles, 1882. 1 " The difference between these two professors," says the authoritative histo- rian of the period, " consisted briefly in the following points. Arminius was of opinion that God, being a righteous judge as well as a merciful father, had from all eternity made this distinction between the fallen offspring of man, — that those who should forsake their sins and put their trust in Christ should be absolved from their evil actions and should enjoy everlasting life, but that the obdurate and impenitent should be punished. Besides, that it was pleasing to God that all men should forsake their sins, and, having attained to a knowl- edge of the truth, should continue steadfast in it, but that he compelled no man. ' ' On the other hand, Gomarus maintained that it was appointed by an eternal decree of God who among mankind should be saved and who should be damned. 1610. Bitter Theological Disputes. 503 points of theology soon spread among the people, and threat- ened such disturbances that the states of Holland summoned Gomarus and Arminius before the Grand Council. After a long hearing it was held that their differences did not affect the essentials of Christian doctrine. Barneveld therefore advised mutual toleration ; but as the disputes involved also claims to political supremacy, they became more embittered. The conflict was between the burgher and mercantile aristoc- racy who controlled the states of Holland, and the masses of the people and the ministers of religion, who were jealous of their power and favored that of the stadtholder. Amsterdam and several other cities in Holland sided with the popular ele- ment. King James I. of England also took the part of the Contra-Remonstrants ; and by his influence, Vorstius, the suc- cessor of Arminius as professor of theology at Leyden, was obliged to abandon his post. The royal bigot who dipped his pen in gall to rebuke Vorstius, whom he declared deserved banishment as his book deserved burning, was actuated not merely by his fondness for theological discussion, but by dis- like to the burgher aristocracy who had favored the influence of France, and by a belief that a rigid Calvinism was the best weapon for fighting Catholicism. Barneveld, who, with the illustrious jurist, Grotius, led the Remonstrants, claimed not only that the Church was sub- ordinate to the State, but that the legislature of each province From whence resulted that some men were drawn to righteousness, and, being so drawn, were preserved from falling ; but that God suffered all the rest to re- main in the common corruption of human nature and in their own iniquities. " In consequence of these positions, Arminius charged Gomarus with hardening men in their rebellion by infusing into their minds the notion of a Fatal Necessity. But Gomarus, on the contrary, objected to Arminius that his doctrine tended to make men more proud and arrogant than that of the Papists themselves, and did not allow God the honor of that which was of the greatest consequence, to wit, his being the author of a well-disposed mind." Brandt, "History of the Reformation in and about the Low Countries," vol. ii. p. 31, folio. London, 1721. 504 History of the Netherlands. should regulate its religious affairs, while his opponents de- manded a national religious convention or synod, whose decrees should control the separate provinces. Maurice at JOHANNES UYTENBOGAERT. first seemed indifferent to the conflict of the Remonstrants and Contra- Remonstrants ; he confessed his ignorance of theological subtleties, and the Arminian preacher Uyten- i6i2. Fanatical Disturbances. 505 bogaert was his friend and pastor. But the prince's political sympathies were naturally with the masses as against the burgher aristocracy who ruled the states of Holland and the states-general, and threatened to diminish his authority. The struggle of the two factions for supremacy became more and more bitter. In places where the Remonstrants were in power, they punished persons who ridiculed their faith, by banishment or loss of citizenship. A printer who had witnessed these severities put some doggerel rhymes into a lottery about an " Inquisition in Rotterdam." For this act the printer was deprived of his prize in the lottery and kept in prison on bread and water for a fortnight. Where the Contra- Remonstrants controlled the churches and city governments, ministers suspected of Arminianism were assailed with brickbats and driven out of their pulpits with clubs. The house of a wealthy merchant in Amsterdam was sacked, and he and his wife were fiercely pursued on sus- picion of having Arminian preaching within. As the Re- monstrants ruled most towns and villages in Holland, their opponents held their religious services in barns and canal- boats. But they were soon kept out of these retreats by the magistrates and stoned by the populace, just as the Contra- Remonstrants had been in the other provinces. The English ambassador at the Hague, Sir .Dudley Carleton, who succeeded Winwood early in 1615, like him zealously espoused the cause of the Contra-Remonstrants by his master's orders. Barneveld, however, soon deprived King James of his most dangerous weapon against the republic. The constant fear of the states that Spain would secure from England the important Netherland places, or " cautionary towns," as they were called, which had been delivered to Queen Elizabeth as security for her loan, had lately been increased by rumors of a marriage between the eldest son of King James and the Infanta. Cecil, afterward 506 History of the Netherlands. Earl of Salisbury, the able minister of Elizabeth and her successor, had once wittily said of a proposal so bitter foi his countrymen, that the gallant Prince of Wales could find blooming roses everywhere and did not need to look for an olive. But Cecil, who controlled the foreign policy of Eng- land during the early part of James's reign, was now dead. Barneveld therefore took advantage of the king's financial embarrassments, caused by the greed of his favorites and the opposition of his parliament, to regain Flushing, Brill, and Rammekens for $1,250,000, which was only one third of the heavy debt that was thus cancelled. On the 6th of June, 1616, the republic was enabled to consolidate its power at the expense of the pacific James. Yet Barneveld not only increased the king's enmity by this sharp bargain, but was charged by the Contra-Remonstrants with being a tool of Spain. Meanwhile Maurice of Nassau had taken no active part in the religious and political movements which had convulsed the country. He was a soldier, and had no taste for such conflicts; but his •aversion to the rule of the provincial .governments represented by Barneveld and the states of Holland led him to sympathize with the Contra-Remon- strants. While he was thus inactive, Count William Louis, his trusted friend and counsellor, wrote earnest appeals to him, early in the year 16 16, to protect the Reformed religion and secure a national synod, as a sacred duty imposed by his oath of office, and the only means of saving the country from disunion. 1 Maurice's hesitation yielded at last to his 1 No English or American historian of the Netherlands has referred to this remarkable correspondence, without which it is impossible to understand the subsequent conduct of Maurice of Nassau and his relations with Barneveld, which are generally misunderstood. The letters are given in " Archives de la Maison d'Orange-Nassau," 2e serie, torn. ii. ; and the editor, the learned Groen van Prinsterer, who, like other eminent Dutch scholars, justly attaches great importance to them, has severely criticised Motley for wholly ignoring them 1617. Maurice s Firm Stand. 507 cousin's appeals, and in January, 161 7, he insisted on pro- tection for the Contra- Remonstrants and the holding of the national synod. The prince did not leave the Barneveld party in doubt as to his intentions. Attending, by invitation, a meeting of magistrates, deputies to the states-general, and other digni- taries in the council chamber at the Hague, the stadtholder was asked for his advice. It was a moment of hushed expectation. All eyes were turned on Maurice, whose un- usually grave expression indicated a firm resolve. He had the register for the year 1586, when he assumed office, brought in, and the oath read by which he and the states mutually agreed to defend the Reformed religion to the last drop of their blood. " As long as I live," solemnly de- clared the stadtholder, "I shall keep that oath and I shall defend that religion." On Sunday, July 23, 161 7, Maurice gave public evi- dence of his devotion to the cause of the Contra-Remon- strants. He rode forth with his attendants, past the mansion of Barneveld, to an ancient building which had lately been seized by his followers and converted from a cannon foundry into a temple of worship. As the venerable structure had originally been a convent, it was called the Cloister Church, and was henceforth known as the Prince's Church. This demonstration was intended to overawe Barneveld and en- courage his opponents. Count William Louis wrote to Maurice that the open declaration, by his presence in this church, of his membership of the party which the states of Holland wished to oppress, had so delighted all good patriots and old reformers that they adjudged to him the crown of preserver of the religion and of the country. " But now," in his Life of Barneveld. " Maurice et Barnevelt," Utrecht, 1875. The ex- istence of the correspondence was unknown to the English historians Davies and Grattan. 508 History of the Netherlands. he added, as if doubtful of the stadtholder's firmness, " con- stancy is especially necessary." Barneveld was thus roused to retaliation. To prevent the national synod, the religious convention about to be held, from overriding the rights of the states of Holland, he caused them to reject its authority and assert their own supremacy. This bold and almost revolutionary measure of the 4th of August was called the " Sharp Resolve." Meantime the states of Holland prepared to defend their cause by force of arms. As the stadtholder had forbidden the troops to assist the magistrates in suppressing religious disturbances, the states, distrusting the fidelity of the militia, resolved to employ waartgelders for this purpose. Although these burgher guards, who were kept in waiting for emergen- cies, had often been used by city governments to resist domestic tumult or foreign invasion, they had never been opposed to the national troops. It was suicidal to invite civil war by arraying them against the superior forces of the stadt- holder. Amsterdam and four other cities of Holland pro- tested against this "desperate measure. Fearing that Maurice would secure the seaport of Brill, the states of Holland sent to the magistrates to demand a new oath of allegiance from the garrison. Indignant at being accused, like Leicester, of plotting to overthrow the liberties of the country, the stadtholder, accompanied by the state council, demanded, in the assembly of the states-general, the repeal of the Sharp Resolve and the abandonment of new oaths from the sol- diery. But Barneveld, representing the states of Holland, while expressing regret at the slanders against the prince, said the states were independent of both the state council and the states-general. Maurice declared that his ruling motives had always been devotion to the country and the Reformed religion. The stadtholder now resolved to overawe the powerful 1617. Opposition of Maurice and Bameveld. 509 province which was the stronghold of his opponents. As the waartgelders of Barneveld had occupied the principal inland towns of Holland, the troops of Maurice took possession of the seaports. This was in September, 161 7. 1 The English ambassador, Sir Dudley Carleton, representing his royal master before the states-general, argued in favor of a national synod on religious and constitutional grounds, and was vigorously answered by Barneveld in presence of the assem- bly. King James was especially incensed by a pamphlet called the " Balance," which he considered so impious and insulting that he induced the majority in the states-general to offer a reward for the discovery of the author and printer. Meanwhile the Sharp Resolve had been declared unconsti- tutional by the Grand Council, the supreme court of the union, as the states of Holland had anticipated, and Amster- dam and her associate cities refused to raise troops under the discredited law. The efforts of Barneveld and Grotius were doomed to defeat. The states-general, by a vote of four to three of the seven provinces, resolved, on the 1 ith of Novem- ber, 161 7, to hold the national synod. Holland, Utrecht, and Overyssel protested against this decision as illegal and tyran- nical, but it was upheld by Amsterdam and her four sister cities. Yet the Union of Utrecht, the national constitution, 1 At about this time the English ambassador, who was, as his letters show, by no means the bitter partisan and enemy of Barneveld that he has often been represented, thus wrote to his government: "Count Maurice is much beloved and followed both of soldiers and people. He is a man innoxice popi- laritatis, so as this jealousy cannot be well fastened upon him, and in this cause of religion he stirred not until within these few months, that either he saw he must declare himself for the defensive, or suffer the better party to be overborne." Carleton expressed his wonder that a man of Barneveld's wealth, authority, and age, and " of so much merit in the state," should run the risk of ruining himself and his posterity by seeking change ; adding that " some of his best friends confess in this cause that, if not pride, opiniatretie [obstinacy] doth blind his judgment." Sir Dudley Carleton to Secretary Winwood, Sept. 20, 1617 : "Carleton's Letters," p. 182. 5 10 History of the Netherlands. did not permit a majority of the provinces to control the states-general, as a majority of the cities controlled the states- provincial ; and by a special clause, each was left to regu- late its own religious affairs. As the states of Holland, under the influence of Barneveld, solemnly repudiated the national synod, the stadtholder re- solved to crush out their opposition. Early in the year 1618 he marched through the disaffected provinces with his body- guard, and seized control of the cities. Abusive caricatures and pamphlets were launched against the advocate. Even the beggars in the streets assailed him with foul songs. In his indignation at these assaults he addressed a remonstrance to the states of Holland and the stadtholder, which set forth with frank simplicity the course of his public and private life. The mistaken policy of Barneveld, in arraying the provin- cial against the general government by means of waartgelders, was soon apparent. Only eighteen hundred of these troops enlisted, and some of them showed signs of weakening. Six companies raised by the states of Utrecht in August, 161 7, for the avowed purpose of resisting foreign foes, had been regarded by the states-general as really intended to prevent the enforcement of the proposed national synod. By refus- ing to comply with their request for the disbandment of the obnoxious troops, the states of Utrecht had nullified the authority of the republic. In the spring of 16 18 Maurice, on his march through the provinces, had won over the states of Gelderland and Over- yssel to the cause of the synod. Holland and Utrecht were now alone in opposition to it. Barneveld, though the soul of this resistance, had written feelingly to Caron, the ambassador of the republic in England, about the libels on his patriotism. He had vainly tried to induce the stadtholder to supply native instead of foreign troops for the garrisons, on condition i6ii The Waartgelders Weakening. 5" of disbanding the waartgelders. The states of Holland had sent deputies, headed by Grotius, to the states of Utrecht to urge them to hold firm. There were fears that the waart- MAURICE OF NASSAU. gelders themselves, even if proof against the pressure of pub- lic opinion, would not dare to resist the authority of the states- general, supported by the potent sword of the stadtholder. 512 . History of 'the Netherlands. He had lately become Prince of Orange by the death of his elder brother, Philip William, who had left him heir to his great estates. When Maurice, supported by Sir Horace Vere, who had succeeded his brother as Governor of Brill, and in command of the English troops in the states' service, arrived in the ancient city of Utrecht, the great annual fair, or Kermesse, was in. full blast. The streets were gay with festive shows, and alive with swarms of buyers and sellers in picturesque costumes. Groups of peasants gazed at the placards of the states-general and the states of Utrecht concerning the troubles, which were posted on the public buildings. Other groups scanned the prints, caricatures, and ballads in the shop windows illustrating the failing fortunes of the Barne- veld party. "You hardly expected such a guest at your fair," said the stadtholder, brusquely, to the magistrates. He told the com- missioners of the states of Holland and of the states of Utrecht that the synod must be held, and that the magistrates would be protected if they governed properly. Then he complained of plots against religion and his authority, and declared that the waartgelders were more dangerous than the Spaniards, and blamed Barneveld as wishing to govern the states-general by the states of Holland. To prevent his opponents from profit- ing by delay, Maurice soon took decisive action. On the 31st of July, 1618, four days after his plain talk to the Hollanders, he occupied the market-place of Utrecht with troops. By daybreak the astonished citizens found that the great square had been silently guarded several hours before, and that cannon had been ranged to command the principal avenues. Visiting the square with the deputies of the states- general, Maurice summoned the thousand waartgelders in the city to lay down their arms. They obeyed, and the danger of collision was over. Bloodshed was prevented by the 1618. Success of the Contra- Remonstrants. 513 skill with which the stadtholder had arranged his plans. The representatives of the states of Holland sought safety in flight ; the states of Utrecht dispersed, six members coming to thank the prince and urge him to make such changes in the city- govern ment as he thought desirable. He did this work so thoroughly that the civil power of the Contra-Remonstrants was assured, and they were also placed in possession of the Cathedral Church. The disputes between the two parties had a humorous side. A minister in the town of Oudewater having declared in his sermon that the Indians worshipped the devil, some of his hearers, supposing that he said Arminians, were on the point of inciting a tumult. Some boys in Utrecht, having plucked a live hen, chased it through the streets with the cry, O, armen han ! (oh, poor hen !) " and indeed the Ar- minian," says a contemporary observer in relating the story, " being lately very proud of his plumes, is now stripped so bare, that he is a subject to some of commiseration, but to most of scorn." 33 CHAPTER XXXIII. TRIAL AND EXECUTION OF BARNEVELD. Having failed in his efforts for state rights, Barneveld sub- mitted calmly to the result. He even sought through Count William Louis an interview with Maurice, to settle the religious difficulties ; but, as the count wrote to him, the prince would not consent to any change in the national synod. The gulf between the two parties was too wide to be bridged by com- promise. It was soon to be red with a bloody sacrifice. Though warned that his liberty was in danger, Barneveld took no steps to escape. On the 29th of August, 16 18, he was arrested, with Grotius and Hoogerbeets, the Pensionary of Leyden, in the name of the states-general. Such was the feeling excited against Barneveld by abusive caricatures and pamphlets, that his arrest created no popular sympathy for him. The resolution of the states-general, posted on the walls, denouncing the three prisoners as responsible for the troubles in Utrecht and elsewhere, which had nearly plunged the country into a " blood bath," was deemed a just exposure of treason. The ambassador of France urged the states- general to moderation toward the advocate. Sir Dudley Cafleton, the English ambassador, who like his master had approved of Maurice's proceedings, anticipated the result. One of the old statesman's most bitter opponents was Francis Aerssens, son of that Cornelius Aerssens whom Spinola had tried to bribe. In order to subdue the opposition of the councils of the cities, those ancient strongholds of freedom, it was necessary 1618. Mawice's Extreme Measures. 515 to use force, as their deputies in the states of Holland insisted that Barneveld should be tried before all the provinces and the ambassadors of France and England. Maurice was therefore urged to remove the refractory municipal magis- trates in Holland, as he had in Gelderland and Utrecht. But again he hesitated to resort to extreme measures ; and it was only after urgent appeals of the Contra-Remonstrant ministers, on the ground of duty to the church and the country, that he consented. Taking with him his body-guard of three hundred soldiers, he easily changed the city governments, with the exception of Hoorn, or Horn, a town long famous for the defence of its privileges. It was only by reinforcing his troops that he was able to establish a new board of magistrates in Horn, and a strong garrison had to be left to protect them. In Amster- dam, the venerable ex-Burgomaster Cornelius Hoofd, father of the historian, who had served nearly forty years' in the council and had opposed the sovereignty of William the Silent, firmly resisted this new encroachment on the muni- cipal liberties. After vainly trying to rouse his colleagues against the measure, he appealed to the stadtholder himself. Maurice heard him through and said, as he shook the old patriot's hand, " Grandsire, it must be so for the present. Necessity and the service of the country require it." The prince's triumph was complete. Even the states of Holland supported him, the new members from the subject towns turning the scale in his favor. He declared that everything he had done was for the public good and without prejudice to municipal and provincial rights, and he asked that this declaration should be officially recorded. As the populace had greeted him with acclamations on his arrival at the Hague, so the states of Holland solemnly thanked him for the care he had taken, not without peril, for the preservation of the republic. 5 16 History of the Netherlands. Public worship by the Remonstrants was now everywhere prohibited, though they still attempted street preaching in some of their old strongholds. The 'holding of the synod which was to crush religious and political heresy was almost secure. Only the nobles held out against it. To overcome their opposition, a number of new members were proposed for that select body. Two of these, Francis Aerssens, Baron of Sommelsdyk, and Daniel de Hartaing, Lord of Marquette, were strongly objected to as legally ineligible, neither being a native of Holland. But the stadtholder's reproaches and threats prevailed over the refractory nobles. The act of admission was voted, on condition that it should not be made a precedent. Soon after their arrest Barneveld and Grotius had been removed from the stadtholder's quarters at the Hague to a wing of the palace in which were the halls of audience and assembly of the states-general. The advocate protested against this act of the national assembly, as violating the constitution which limited authority over him to the states of Holland. Meanwhile the synod opened at Dordrecht, or Dort, on the 13th of November, 161 8, was drawing near the close of its labors. Though comprising Reformed theologians from various European countries, it was a Dutch national synod, and the native delegates, being in the majority, controlled its action. The president of the assembly was John Bogerman, a zealous Contra- Remonstrant, and the secretary was the celebrated philologist, Daniel Heinsius. Eighteen deputies from the states-general, who were called political com- missioners, had seats in the synod ; and as its proceedings were conducted in Latin, some of them hardly knew what was going on. One of the deputies depended on a dic- tionary to eke out the information which he picked up by close attention to the debates. Scant favor was shown to the DORDRECHT. 5*7 i6i9- The Synod of Dort. 519 Remonstrants. They were dismissed from the synod before their doctrines were formally examined. The fiery theologian Gomarus conducted the sectarian controversy with such bitterness that he was rebuked by the Bishop of Llandaff, one of the English representatives ; and as the president sustained Gomarus, Sir Dudley Carleton wrote a letter complaining of the bishop's treatment, which made the bold Bogerman advise mutual conciliation. Then Martinius, a Bremen delegate, after explaining his opinions which had excited the ire of Gomarus, comprehensively remarked that he had seen in that synod some things divine, some things human, and some things diabolical. The result of the one hundred and eighty sessions of the assembly was the prohibition by law of the teachings of the Remonstrants, banishment of the deposed ministers, and enforcement of the doctrines of their opponents. This foreshadowed the punishment of the political leaders, who had resisted the holding of the synod. Diodati, a delegate from Geneva, declared that the canons of Dort would shoot off the head of Barneveld. 1 After nearly seven months' rigorous imprisonment the 1 " No church council has given rise to more bitter controversy than the Synod of Dort. Arminian authors have denounced it in. the strongest language as unworthy the name of a Christian synod, while, on the other hand, Calvinistic writers have extolled its fairness and impartiality. All depends upon the point of view and upon the notion of the true purpose of the synod which is adopted. If this celebrated assembly is conceived as a deliberative body designed for the discission of the five points of theology in question, then all that the Arminians have said of it would be well deserved. If, on the other hand, it be conceived as a body of divines holding Calvinistic views, believing those views to be true, and called for the purpose of condemning and prohibiting the contrary opinions in the Belgic churches, the course of the synod was consistent throughout. And this we believe to be the true view. It was not a free assembly for the discussion of controverted points in theology but a national ecclesiastical court for the trial of alleged heretics." McClintock and Strong, " Cyclopaedia of Biblical Theology and Ecclesiastical Literature," vol. ii. p. 872. New York, i868~ 520 History of the Netherlands. advocate was brought to trial on the 7th of March, 16 19, having been previously subjected, like his friends Grotius and Hoogerbeets, to a rigid examination by thirteen com- missioners appointed by the states-general. An extraordinary tribunal of twenty-four judges, twelve from Holland and two from each of the other provinces, now took him in charge. Among them were nobles, pensionaries, burgomasters, bailiffs, and other dignitaries, most of whom were members of the states-general. There were only a few trained lawyers in the tribunal. Moreover, the court had been constituted by the national assembly, the body which had arrested Barneveld and which also selected the three fiscals, or prosecuting officers. Thus the same men were both accusers and judges. The wife of the prisoner had vainly complained to the states-general that three of the judges were his bitter enemies. These were Francis Aerssens, lately admitted to the chamber of nobles, Hugo Muys, Bailiff of Dort, and Reinier Pauw, Burgomaster of Amsterdam. The trial of Barneveld, like all trials in that age in which popular passions and party feeling were excited, violated the rules of justice. He was refused a written list of the charges against him, was deprived of books and papers, and was not allowed to consult either counsel or friends. He suc- ceeded, however, in obtaining writing materials. His exami- nation was a jumble of confusing questions, covering his whole public life. Under this constant cross-fire the old statesman sustained himself ably. But his answers to the questions of his judges, which constituted his defence, injured his case. Having justified his opposition to the synod, and other acts against the authority of the states-general and the stadtholder, the court, looking at the consequences of these acts rather than their technical lawfulness, considered them dangerous to the national safety. It was a time of tremendous political excitement; the i6i9- The Conviction of Bameveld. 521 truce was drawing to a close amid internal dissensions which threatened to leave the country a prey to Spanish intrigues. The Calvinist ministers and their followers believed that any divisions in the church would turn to the advantage of the enemy, and such was the fanaticism of the day that favor for religious toleration was suspected as treasonable. Barneveld's defence by its very boldness worked against him ; his refer- ences to the "low people," whose control of the state he feared, were resented by the judges as reflecting on the masses whom they represented. With the exception of his refutation of the charge of being a tool of Spain, his " de- fence " was really a justification of the policy which his enemies deemed indefensible. The advocate's condemnation was inevitable ; his sturdy independence did not permit him to evade responsibility for his acts. He was found guilty of encouraging the religious and political disturbances with which he had been charged, opposing the national synod, causing divisions in the church by permitting the services of unsound theologians and the persecution of true believers, and by exciting dis- orders in the state with his Sharp Resolve, which suspended the authority of the courts and confirmed the town govern- ments in disobedience to them. The levy of the waart- gelders, and the opposition at Utrecht to the authority of the states-general and the Prince of Orange, he was also con- victed of. Other charges on which he was found guilty were : attempts to make King James father his opinions on the states-general, and to influence the King of France against the national synod, rejection of an important alliance without the knowledge of the states-general, and receiving presents from foreign potentates. The charge of treasonable dealings with Spain was wholly abandoned. The states-general publicly declared that he was charged with many other crimes which could not be proved without stricter examination than was 522 History of the Netherlands. advisable at his great age. This was supposed to refer to torture, which was then regarded as a means of extorting the truth from offenders. 1 One question remained for the court, that of the prisoner's punishment. Most of the judges favored imprisonment for life ; others proposed to add a death-sentence, the execution of which should be suspended till some new emergency. The proclamation by the states-general of a day of public humiliation and fast for the 17th of April had already alarmed the friends of the advocate by its threatening tone. In this crisis Count William Louis, who had urged Maurice to the measures which resulted in Barneveld's conviction, appealed to the stadtholder for mercy. He warned him not to push the municipal party to extremities, to distrust the counsels of the English politicians who misunderstood the condition of the country, and not to permit the condem- nation of Barneveld unless his guilt was as clear as the day. "The eyes of all Europe are upon you," said the ardent count, " and by generosity and moderation you will cover yourself with glory." Though popular sentiment favored extreme measures, Maurice was now disposed to mercy if it could be safely extended. It was therefore understood that if Barneveld's family should ask pardon for him it would be granted. But the children of the advocate, though urged by the widow of William the Silent to take this step, would not consent to save their father by falsely acknowledging his guilt. Mau- rice could not appreciate this chivalrous sentiment ; he had disapproved of the usual festive May-day celebration by the advocate's family in setting out a Maypole in front of his house and decorating the walls with flowers. He thought 1 The Historical Society of Utrecht have published the questions and answers at Barneveld's trial : " Verhooren van Johan van Oldenbarneveldt uitgegeben daar het historisch genootschap gevestigst te Utrecht," 1850. i6ig. Barneveld 's Doom. 523 such expressions of joy, and hope for Barneveld's release unseemly, considering the grave offences charged against him. In this extremity Du Maurier, the French ambassador, appealed to the states-general in behalf of the prisoner. But France was torn by civil discords, and the successor of the potent Henry IV. inspired no fear. Sir Dudley Carleton, the English ambassador, refused to aid Du Maurier's effort to stem the current of feeling against the advocate. Mean- while the temper of his judges had undergone a change. Insurrections in favor of the Remonstrants at Horn, Alkmaar, and Leyden, fears for the life of the stadtholder, and the refusal of Barneveld's family to ask pardon for him inclined the commissioners to extreme severity. Adrian Junius, a counsellor of the Court of Holland and the fairest and most respected of Barneveld's judges, who had refused at first to serve on the tribunal, and only yielded to the threat of being deprived of his office and heavily fined, had stood out for a sentence of imprisonment, and was the last to agree to the death penalty. "The republic demands an example," he exclaimed, as he made the decision of the court unanimous. Though astonished at the fatal news, Barneveld showed no fear. While expressing wonder at such treatment of a good citizen, he said the judges would have to answer for it before God. He then wrote a tender letter to his family concerning the sad fate which awaited him after so many years of faith- ful service to the Fatherland. At his request the Calvinist minister Waloeus, who had been a member of the Synod of Dort, took a message from him . to Maurice, assuring him of his affection for himself and his family, and asking forgiveness for any offence which he might have given him in the discharge of his duty. • He also begged that the prince would be gracious to his children. Walceus, overcome by sympathy, asked the aged statesman if he would not permit 524 History of the Netherlands. Jiim to intercede with the stadtholder for his pardon. Barne- veld's only answer was : " Relate faithfully to the Prince of Orange what I have told you. I wish nothing more." Mau- rice was moved to tears by the message, expressed his affec- tion for the advocate, and said he should protect his sons as long as they deserved it, but complained that Barneveld had accused him of aspiring to the sovereignty and had exposed him to danger at Utrecht. Waloeus was leaving the room when the prince called, him back and asked if the advocate had said anything about a pardon. The minister answered that he had not spoken of one. On learning from Waloeus of this conversation, Barne- veld said that the prince had been deceived about the Utrecht matter, but acknowledged that he had fears of Maurice's ambition for sovereignty or for greater power since the year 1600. On the night before his execution the advocate gave to his faithful servant Franken, with whom the guards by order of the judges had not allowed him to converse, his signet ring as a dying gift for his eldest son. Being unable to sleep, Barneveld solaced himself by religious exercises and discussions, and expressed sorrow at the thought that his friends Grotius and Hoogerbeets might share his fate. " They," he said, " are young, and may do great service to the country ; as for me, I am an old and worn-out man." As a forlorn hope, the advocate's family, the French am- bassador Du Maurier, and Louisa de Coligny, widow of William the Silent, made a last effort in his favor, but in vain. His wife and children desired a farewell interview with him, but, being kept by the judges in ignorance of their request, he declined to see them because of his need of avoiding agitation at that late hour. Yet the commissioners gave them the idea, according to historians favorable to the advocate's cause, that their fond husband and father had 1619. Barneveld on the Scaffold. 525 refused their petition for an interview. Barneveld's last letter commended Franken, his faithful servant, to their care. At about half past eight o'clock in the morning of May 13, 16 1 9, the advocate was brought before the court to hear his sentence in the great hall of justice. At the close of the long reading he said: "The judges have put down many things which do not agree with my confession. I thought, too," he added, " that my lords the states would have been satisfied with taking my life, and that my wife and children would be allowed to keep my property. Is this, then, the recompense for forty years' service to the country?" But the president said sharply, " Your sentence has been pro- nounced. Away ! away ! " Leaning on his staff and supported by his servant, the old man walked calmly to the scaffold in front of the palace and facing the Binnenhof, the great courtyard at the Hague. About twelve hundred soldiers, including the stadtholder's guard and two English companies, because King James and his ambas- sador Carleton sustained Maurice, were drawn up in front of the platform. Three thousand people in quaint Dutch cos- tume, the men in sugar-loaf hats, stiff ruffs, cloaks, and knee- breeches, and the women in picturesque caps and bright dresses, had assembled to witness the execution of the founder of the republic amid the scenes of his almost supreme power. " Here he comes ! here he comes ! " was the cry of the expectant multitude as the venerable statesman advanced with uncovered head, wearing a long robe of yellowish-brown damask. As he saw the preparations for his execution, the once proud ruler of the realm exclaimed, " O God, what does man come to ? This is the reward of forty years' service to the state ! " Then he looked about for a cushion to kneel upon, and, not heeding the provost's offer to procure one, knelt on the bare planks while the minister prayed for a quarter of an hour. On rising he advanced to the edge of 526 History of the Netherlands. the scaffold and said to the people : " My friends, do not believe that I am a traitor. I have ever acted loyally and uprightly as a good patriot, and as such I shall die." He then drew his velvet cap over his eyes, commended his soul to God, and, bidding the executioner " be quick," knelt to receive the death-stroke from the executioner's huge two- handed sword. There was a rush to the scaffold as soon as the head had fallen, many of the crowd dipping their handkerchiefs in the blood and securing stained splinters of wood or soaked hand- fuls of sand as mementos of affection or of hatred. It was even said that in the craze of excitement the precious drops were gathered to mix with wine to be drunk in memory of the sacrifice. A traffic in the ghastly relics took place at the foot of the scaffold. Some persons were indignant at this profanation, and one peasant shouted fiercely as he held his handkerchief toward the hucksters, " Sell me half a rix- dollar's worth of sand soaked in the blood of Barneveld, that I may keep it until the day of vengeance ! " The scene re- called a similar exhibition at the execution of Egmont and Horn ; but, alas ! it was the republic which now glutted its fury with the blood of its benefactor, of the friend of William the Silent, who had humbled the pride of the foreign tyrant who had brought those noble victims to the block. The remains of the advocate were placed in a rough cof- fin which had been prepared for a murderer, lately pardoned. All the circumstances of the trial and execution showed that the object of the government was to prevent Barneveld and his sympathizers from profiting by an impressive- display which would recall his former position and services. His family were forbidden to place his coat-of-arms above the door of his house ; and to prolong the effect of his punish- ment the scaffold was left standing. On the very day of the execution the states of Holland FRANCISCUS GOMARUS. 527 i6ig. Maurice Misrepresented. 529 solemnly recorded the fact in a resolution, which, after men- tioning Barneveld's thirty-three years of service to the state, styled him " a man of great activity, diligence, memory, and wisdom, yea, remarkable in every respect." " Let the strong," concludes the resolution, "take heed lest he fall, and may God be merciful to his soul. Amen ! " The researches of Dutch scholars have given an entirely new aspect to the execution of Barneveld, which is still held up by foreign writers, in ignorance of the facts, as due to Maurice's ambition for sovereignty. It is now known that the prince engaged reluctantly in the work of subjecting the provincial governments to the control of the states-general, and that, as appears from his correspondence and that of the English ambassador, Sir Dudley Carleton, he yielded to the earnest appeals of his adviser and friend, Count William Louis, the stadtholder of Friesland, from a solemn sense of duty to the country, and to preserve it from ruin. The execution of Barneveld was not then thought of, but the pressure of popular feeling and the sense of public peril compelled it. Maurice would have gladly saved the life of the advocate, but he felt that he could not do so while the prisoner and his family, by their refusal to ask for clemency, showed that he still upheld doctrines which endangered the national safety. 1 The threatening demonstrations toward the close 1 The idea that Maurice was influenced by selfish motives in the execution of Barneveld rests on an anecdote reported by the gossiping Du Maurier. Its improbability has been pointed out by Davies, "History of Holland," vol. ii. p. 469, London, 1851; but it has been much more rigidly examined by Groen van Prinsterer, who has shown, by the letters of Count William Louis of Nas- sau and of the English ambassador Carleton, the true position of the stadt- holder, as stated in the text. "Maurice et Barnevelt," Utrecht, 1875. See also a suggestive article on Motley's "John of Barneveld," in the "North American Review," vol. cxix. p. 459, by the late Professor Diman, who, knowing nothing of these letters, was naturally led to wonder at the arrest and exe- cution of Barneveld, from the fact that Maurice was not a cruel or revengeful, 34 530 History of the Netherlands. of the trial confirmed the judges in this view of the situation, which, however mistaken, was natural in the excited condi- tion of affairs. The execution of Bameveld was one of those terrible out- bursts of popular fury which are chargeable not upon individ- uals, but upon the age. It was the result of a disjointed political system. As the Union of Utrecht, formed in a time of extreme peril to resist a foreign foe, united states of diverse character and interests, they reserved rights which were in- consistent with the growth and strength of the nation. Often had the federal power been forced to override these rights in support of the union, but not till the truce did this provin- cialism assume dangerous proportions. Religious fanaticism was the occasion, but not the cause, of the collision between the general government and the states. Unity of belief, the fetich of both Catholics and Protestants, was the means employed to compel national con- solidation. But the evil remained, and the fact that the destruction of Barneveld and the proscription of his followers did not prevent the recurrence of these troubles showed that the national plague-spot could not be extirpated by the executioner's sword. The next great sacrifice had no vital religious complications, but the victim, John de Witt, was a more potent leader than Barneveld. In truth, the advocate has no place among the greatest statesmen of his age, — with William the Silent, with Burleigh, or with Sully. His was a less comprehensive and penetrating but rather an irresolute man. "I; it not possible," adds the writer, "that here, too, his own purpose was overpowered, that when he seemed the instigator he was really th mere instrument, that he was forced beyond his original pur- pose of a * bloodless revolution,' by the fierce zeal of the religious faction which supported him? " The view which has been given in the text from an exami- nation of the original authorities, is accepted by the ablest Dutch historical crit- ics, by Van Deventer, by Brill, and especially by Fruin, the great constitutional historian. Yet, strange to say, the latest English and American cyclopaedias repeat the antiquated and unjust judgments against Maurice of Nassau. 1619. Character of Bameveld. 531 intellect. He represented the forces which had made the republic rich, and which had paid the expenses of the war. But the burgher statesman had the narrowness of his position. He was cramped by the mercantile element in his charac- ter and career. Rugged, haughty, shrewd, he was the politi- cal exponent of the bluff traders who had overawed the natives of India, and made the Spaniards themselves pay tribute to their purse. His dealings with Leicester showed the audacious and subtle political manager, and artifice trenched closely on dishonor in his offers to betray the coun- try to France. It was a sharp rather than a wise bargain that he drove with King James for the cautionary towns. Bameveld played no great part in the world of European politics. He appeared there as a suppliant, not as an arbi- ter, and it may well be that his haughty bearing not only did not become his position, as Jeannin remarked, but that it injured his cause. Certainly he did not win laurels as a negotiator, and though Henry IV., who knew how to humor all sorts of men, could safely pronounce him more resolute than Maurice, his great minister depreciated his political sagacity. Yet Bameveld had rendered important service to the republic. He was in a strict sense its founder, because he got rid of Leicester and made the United Provinces inde- pendent of foreign rule. But in a higher sense he was, as an acute French writer has observed, only the second founder of the commonwealth which William the Silent assured by his noble self-sacrifice. In upholding state rights and corporate privileges at a cri- sis in his country's history, Bameveld showed his inability to grasp the situation. Unity in the national councils was a necessity in view of the near expiration of the truce and the pressure of Spanish intrigues. The religious differences then rife required peaceable adjustment, and it needed but little penetration to discern the danger of opposing the rigid Cal- 532 History of the Netherlands. vinism which the people felt was their only safeguard against the enemy. Barneveld's tolerance was in appearance only ; he, as well as his opponents, demanded unity in religion. It was acknowledged by both parties that one or the other of the rival sects must prevail in the state, must have possession of the splendid churches and cathedrals which in those days were deemed all-important for religious worship. The only question was whether the church should be national or pro- vincial, whether the spiritual affairs of the people should be regulated by general or local synods. Thus the contest was really between state and national sov- ereignty, and Barneveld, instead of being the champion of religious liberty, was simply the advocate of narrow provincial privileges which encroached on that liberty. He and his self-electing municipal corporations who, after the departure of Leicester, ruled the country through the influence of Hol- land in the states-general, stood out against the popular yearning for national unity on behalf of their right to appoint ministers and control churches. Barneveld's doetrine that the United Provinces were not a nation, but only a body of sovereign states, shows his lack of comprehensive statesmanship. The firmness with which he clung to his opinions at his trial, his blindness to the signs of the times, vindicate his courage at the expense of his judg- ment. Aside from this iron inflexibility or dogged obstinacy, his refusal to seek a pardon seems due to his belief that the law would give him protection and redress. 1 1 Carleton, the English ambassador, wrote that Barneveld, having secretly sent the points of his trial to eminent counsel, was assured by them that instead of being condemned to death he would receive satisfaction for his wrongs. " It is believed (and so his servant doth report) that until the very last instant he did not think he should die, which made him never let fall any word tending to grace, for fear of prejudicing his cause in reparation of honor and damage, which both he and his friends did vainly flatter themselves." Sir Dudley Carleton to Secretary Naunton, May 6, 1619: " Carleton's Letters," p. 364. CHAPTER XXXIV. ESCAPE OF GROTIUS. Secretary Ledenberg, who had been arrested at about the same time as Barneveld, had, after making a confession un- favorable to both, committed suicide from fear of torture and to prevent confiscation of his property by a sentence of death. But this attempt to save his estate for his children was defeated by the judges. They kept his dead body un- buried till two days after Barneveld's execution, then sen- tenced him to be hanged, and had his remains swung in chains on a gibbet. After their trial Grotius and Hooger- beets hourly expected a sentence of death. Neither of their families would ask for pardon because that would amount to a confession of guilt. The wife of the great jurist, when urged to entreat clemency for her beloved husband, sternly replied, " I shall not do it. If he has merited death, let them cut off his head." Grotius did not show so brave a spirit at the trial as Hooger- beets. He was eager to make terms with Maurice and to offer his services to the prince in his private affairs. On hearing that Barneveld had been implicated in treasonable dealings with Spain, he did not repel the charge against his friend, but only expressed a wish that the advocate might ex- plain it to the satisfaction of the judges. Grotius complained of the unfairness of his trial, and said that perpetual imprison- ment, to which he and Hoogerbeets were sentenced, was a punishment condemned by the Roman jurists and unknown '534 History of the Netherlands. in the United Provinces. He also complained of the confis- cation of his property and of the seizure of his papers. The castle of Louvestein, to which the two prisoners were transferred on the 5 th of June, 1619, was to give its name to the political party opposed to the stadtholders. When Gro- tius entered within its massive walls he was thirty- six years of age. He had a handsome face, wavy brown hair and beard, a large forehead, keen blue eyes, and regular features. The advance of centuries has heightened his reputation as a scholar and thinker. He is now universally recognized not only as the greatest jurist that Holland ever produced, but as one of the profoundest of social philosophers. It was Grotius who originated those philanthropic views of the relations of different peoples which have so deeply im- pressed modern thought. He showed the need of making wars less frequent and less barbarous, and of preventing un- necessary hardship to non-combatants. His famous treatise, De Jure Belli et Pads (" Rights of War and Peace "), antici- pated by centuries the humane policy which has moderated the rigors of civilized warfare. Freedom of trade, international arbitration, religious liber- ality, were also inculcated by this remarkable man, who was far in advance of his time as a political teacher. He was a prodigy. of accomplishment even in boyhood, composing good Latin verses at eight, entering the University of Leyden at twelve, and taking his bachelor's degree on graduating at fifteen. He accompanied Barneveld on his mission to France in 1598, and Henry IV. in presenting him to his courtiers said, " Behold the miracle of Holland ! " The great king gave him his miniature with a gold chain, and the University of Orleans conferred upon him the honorary degree of Doctor of Laws. At seventeen he practised in the highest courts at the Hague, having previously edited difficult classic authors, and at twenty-three was made Attorney General of Holland. 1620. Departure of the Pilgrims. 537 After composing various learned works he was appointed to other high civil offices. As a member of the states of Hol- land and the states-general his varied attainments and abil- ities had been of great service to Barneveld. His liberal theology and unpractical, scholarly ways unfitted him for the stormy scenes of the last years of the Truce, and his fame is that of an author rather than a statesman. In order to prevent the engraved portraits of Grotius from being used to excite sympathy for him or the Contra- Remon- strant cause, the states-general, after ordering the destruction of the plates, forbade their sale in the shops. Being pre- vented by close confinement from indulging in his favorite athletic exercises, he kept up his health by whipping a huge top several times a day. Grotius had been about a year in prison, when an event occurred which was to deeply affect the history of American liberty ; yet amid the political disturbances which absorbed public attention in the United Provinces, it was almost unno- ticed. This was the departure from the little town of Delft- Haven, July 22, 1620, of the ship "Speedwell," bearing the adventurous Pilgrims who afterward landed on Plymouth Rock. They had resided in Holland about twelve years, covering the period of the Truce, and their minister, Robin- son, had been a leading disputant against the Arminians in Leyden. These daring emigrants to the wilderness little dreamed that their embarkation would have such important results for republican liberty. Books were occasionally sent to Grotius by his .learned friends to aid him in his literary labors. One large chest filled with these articles had from time to time been forwarded to him from the neighboring town of Gorcum. As Madame Grotius was allowed to remain with her husband, she and the wife of Hoogerbeets often visited this place to buy nec- essaries for the prisoners, whom they preferred to support 538 History of the Netherlands. rather than accept the slender allowance of the govern- ment. The death of Madame Hoogerbeets had deprived the wife of Grotius of a source of comfort, and the rigid watchfulness of the keepers of the prison increased her desire to secure her husband's freedom. She had been suspected by one of his judges of buying ropes at Gorcum to aid his escape, but an investigation by order of the states-general disproved the charge. The faithful woman had devised a better plan. Having noticed that the chest used to convey the books was no longer examined when it entered or left the castle, she sug- gested to Grotius to try it. Accordingly he squeezed himself in, and lay for two hours with the lid closed as an experiment. The secret was then told to the maid-servant, a bright girl named Elsie van Howening, who consented to run the risk of accompanying the precious freight. Taking advantage of the absence of the rigid commandant of the fortress, Madame Grotius applied to his wife, .whose favor she had secured by small presents, for permission to remove the chest from the castle. " My husband," she said, " is wearing himself out over these Arminian books, and I shall be glad to get rid of them." Nearly two years passed after Grotius was imprisoned before he was finally locked up in the chest. The key was given to Elsie, and as the day was stormy this served as an excuse for her going with it instead of her mistress, who pre- tended to be indisposed. The soldiers who came into the bedroom on Monday morning, March 22, 162 1, to get the trunk, saw the clothes of Grotius lying on a chair, -and, the bed-curtains being drawn, supposed that he had not risen. On lifting the chest, one of the men said partly in jest, " What makes it so heavy? The Arminian must be in it." "Not the Arminian," replied the wife of Grotius, pleas- antly, from the bed ; " only heavy Arminian books." 1621. Grotins escapes to Antwerp. 539 After much anxiety and danger, the little maid got the chest safely to Gorcum by boat. Another peril was now in store for the prisoner. Elsie had hired the skipper and his son to carry the chect to its destination. While they were trudging along with it the son said there was something alive in the box. The skipper asked Elsie if she heard his son's remark. "Oh, yes," replied the bright little maid, " Arminian books are always alive, always full of life and spirit." At last the chest was safely laid down in the house of a friendly shop-keeper named Daatselaer, where Grotius was provided with the disguise of a bricklayer. He was then taken on his way by a master-mason named Lambertson, and after some difficulty succeeded in reaching Waalwyk. There the mason took leave of the disguised refugee, after hiring a cart to carry him to Antwerp. To allay suspicion, he told the driver that his passenger was a bankrupt escaping from his creditors. Having to pay some expenses on the road, Grotius offered a few coins in utter ignorance of their value. This made the carter think him very stupid. On being asked at various stopping-places who the queer stranger was, the driver answered that he was a bankrupt, and no wonder, for he did not know one piece of money from another. There was no doubt of his being a fool. On nearing Antwerp, Grotius was met by a guard of soldiers, who demanded his passport ; but when " Red Rod," the officer in charge, learned his name, he courteously es- corted him to the city. His friends were astonished and delighted to see him, and Antwerp soon rang with his strange adventures. Rejecting the offers made to him to prove false to his country and religion, he retired to Paris, where he was received with high honors and a pension was granted to him by Louis XIII. The next year he published his celebrated vindication, which was such an attack on the action of the 540 History of the Netherlands. states-general of the republic, that they forbade its circulation there under heavy penalties. Yet it was reprinted and had a great sale. On Maurice being told of the escape, he said, " It is not strange that they could not keep Grotius in prison, as he is shrewder than all the judges put together." The stadt- holder allowed the faithful wife after a brief imprisonment to join her husband in Paris. Elsie, the brave little maid-ser- vant, married the servant of Grotius, who profited so well by his master's instructions in prison that he became a flourish- ing lawyer in Holland. Grotius remained nine years in France, and wrote there his famous work on international law, De yure Belli et Pads. On the death of Maurice and the accession of his brother Frederick Henry to the stadtholdership, that moderate ruler, who had written to Grotius a year after his escape, yielded to the appeals of his wife and friends to have his confiscated property restored to him. After an absence of ten years Grotius returned to Holland, in 1631, the same year that eight Remonitrant ministers escaped from the castle of Louvestein. But though they were not interfered with and were even permitted to preach, the imprudent conduct of Grotius in appearing at once among his old supporters, which created a great sensation, led the states-general to order his arrest. It was not, however, till a second order was issued, three months later, offering a reward for his person, that he left the country on the 17th of March, 1632. At Hamburg, where he next resided, he received pressing invitations from Spain, Portugal, Denmark, and Sweden. On the death of Gustavus Adolphus, who was such an admirer of Grotius that his great work on the Rights of War and Peace was found in the royal tent after the fall of the heroic mon- arch on the fatal field of Lutzen, his famous chancellor Oxenstiern renewed his offers to the illustrious jurist. He i62i. Death of Philip III. 541 was made councillor to the young queen, and was intrusted with the difficult post of ambassador to France, which he filled for ten years, being recalled at his own request in 1644. Grotius died at Rostock, Aug. 28, 1645, at tne a g e of sixty-two. He was buried in the new church at Delft, and in 1 781 a simple monument was erected over his remains. It was not till the three hundredth anniversary of the birth of the greatest of Dutch political philosophers that there was fitting public recognition of his merits. On the 10th of April, 1883, a grand celebration was held in his honor, and it was resolved to erect his statue in the market-place at Delft. The Prince of Orange attended the ceremony to lay a wreath upon the grave of the man whom the government of a predecessor, the greatest warrior who ever bore the title, had forced into imprisonment and exile. The lesson is a needful one for republics, which, if not more ungrateful than mon- archies, are at least more likely to sacrifice their illustrious citizens to popular clamor. As the twelve years' truce was drawing to a close amid grave dissensions in the United Provinces, the Archduke Albert thought they could be won back to Spain. He had therefore sent Peter Pecquius, Chancellor of Brabant, in March, 162 1, to urge their submission. But the states- general scornfully rejected this proposal, and Pecquius had to be protected by soldiers from the popular fuiy. Before the war could be renewed, Philip III. died on the 31st of March, 1621, after a reign of twenty-three years. The war- like and intriguing policy of his government had still further weakened the finances of the kingdom, and enabled the province of Biscay to recover its liberties. The success of the United Provinces dispelled the glamour of Spanish glory which had so long imposed upon Europe. The new king, Philip IV., who ascended the throne at the age of seventeen, was, like his father, ruled by a favorite who 542 History of the Netherlands. persisted in the policy which had brought so many evils on the country. The death of the Archduke Albert on the 1 3th of July, 162 1, was another misfortune for the Spanish Nether- lands. Although not a great general, he had proved himself an accomplished and brave commander, and during the truce showed by his internal improvements and reforms his desire to benefit the distracted country. Unfortunately his good intentions were neutralized by the repressive system of gov- ernment which he felt bound to maintain. The archdukes neglected to assemble the states-general after the year 1 600, and sought to suppress religious liberty by strengthening the authority of the monks and priests, and by punishing heretics and sorcerers by whipping and banishment. Yet the Archduke Albert had many attractive personal qualities ; he was a liberal patron of art and letters, and had marked literary and mathematical tastes. The Flemish school of painters shone with rare brilliancy under his rule, being adorned by the genius of Teniers, of Crayer, of Vandyke, of Jordaens, and especially of the illustrious Rubens, who was favored by the arcjidukes with many marks of confidence. Their reign was fruitful in scholarship and taste. The univer- sity of Louvain was then the chief European seat of learning, having more than six thousand students attracted by the fame of Justus Lipsius, Valerius Andreas, Vernuloeus, and other eminent professors. The archdukes mingled freely with the people, and, like Charles V., entered into the national sports and pastimes, shooting the gilded^ popinjay with the cross-bow men and joining in the village dances. But their vicious system of government obliged them to send Spinola with troops to overawe Brussels in September, 16 19, and paved the way for a long period of decline under foreign domination. By the Archduke Albert's death the obedient provinces were again subjected to Spanish rule. Isabella ceased to be 1622. Plot against Maurice s Life. 545 sovereign of the country and became simply its governor. Though deeply religious and devoted to what she believed to be the welfare of the people, she lacked her husband's vigor of character, and was controlled by female favorites. The expiration of the twelve years' truce in August, 1621, was soon followed by a renewal of the war. The United Provinces were now without foreign aid. They had lost the favor of France by the execution of Barneveld, and Eng- land was in close alliance with Spain. The terrible Thirty Years' War was raging between Catholics and Protestants in Germany, and Frederick, the Elector- Palatine, whom the states had aided with money, was defeated by the Spanish army under Spinola, and obliged to take refuge in Holland. Although Prince Maurice succeeded in forcing his old rival to raise the siege of Bergen-op-Zoom in the autumn of 1622, this was the last success he was destined to enjoy. The death of Barneveld seemed to have darkened his fortunes. A conspiracy now threatened his life. By this plot the widow of Barneveld was to suffer still more for the acts of those near and dear to her. She was now greatly reduced in fortune. A year after her husband's exe- cution, she and her children claimed as members of noble families the right, which was only barred in cases of high treason, to redeem his confiscated estates on payment of a" small sum. Though Barneveld had not been sentenced for this crime, his surviving judges agreed that he had been guilty of it because his property had been confiscated. The fact that his offences were technically lawful had prevented his judges from publicly convicting him of the gravest offence known to the law, from concern for the lives of others who had done nothing to endanger the public safety. To such melan- choly inconsistency were they, forced by popular pressure and the supposed necessity of making an awful example of Barneveld. 35 546 History of the Netherlands. The advocate had left two sons, and at his request Maurice had promised to protect them as long as they behaved well. But on the 7th of July, 1620, the states of Holland declared that it was unbearable to have the eldest son of Oldenbarneveld remain in such an office as Forester of the Province of Holland, and the Prince of Orange was re- quested to dispose of that and also of the Inspectorship of the Dykes of Delftland, that it might be bestowed upon some good patriot. The eldest son, Reinier, Lord of Groeneveld, was therefore dismissed, "by resolution," on the 10th of July, and on the 21st he petitioned the states to revoke it and to intercede with the stadtholder on his behalf, but his petition was rejected. The second son, Stoutenberg, was also de- prived of the government of Bergen-op-Zoom. 1 It is a reproach to Maurice of Nassau that he violated his promise to protect the sons of Barneveld ; but in the prevail- ing popular hatred of the advocate's family and distrust of their patriotism, it is not surprising that his impressible nature yielded to the storm. The victims, however, at last deprived themselves of sympathy. Groeneveld, the elder, was a reputa- ble young man, but Stoutenberg was notorious for dissipation and extravagance. In his desperation he resolved to destroy the prince and thus revolutionize the government ; but as the universally esteemed Frederick Henry was Certain to succeed 1 These facts are related by Brandt, the recognized authority on the subject. " History of the Reformation in and about the Low Countries," vol. iv. p. 147. London, 1721. Yet English and American historians of the Netherlands, who have referred to the removal of the sons of Barneveld from office, have charged it wholly to Maurice of Nassau, or have implied that he was the only person responsible for it. But it is evident that, as in the case of Barneveld, so in that of his sons, the stadtholder acted under tremendous pressure, the states of Holland, the representative popular assembly, having inexorably dismissed the victims. Justice therefore demands that the whole truth be stated. Modern writers ought to be at least as fair as the Arminian minister Brandt, who, while saying that the Prince of Orange seems to have forgotten his promise in favor of the sons of Barneveld, mentions facts which clearly limit his responsibility. 1623. Meeting of the Conspirators. 549 to his brother's authority, the Contra- Remonstrants being in full power and the Remonstrants being opposed to violent measures, the project was a suicidal one. Nearly four years passed away before Stoutenberg's wild scheme of vengeance was complete. " He had enlisted seven or eight men in the plot, two of them being Catholics, the rest Arminians, under the lead of Henry Slatius, a deposed preacher of disreputable character. As none of the conspirators would risk their own lives, it was resolved to hire assassins. Twenty men were engaged for the job, which was to be performed while the prince was taking his daily drive in the country. About twenty-five hundred dollars were required to pay expenses ; and as all the conspirators were poor, Stoutenberg applied to his brother Groeneveld for the amount. His hesitation being overcome by threats and appeals, he agreed to loan the money, in the belief that this and the rest of his property would be saved in case of the success of the scheme to overthrow the govern- ment as well as to destroy the stadtholder. There was a meeting of three of the conspirators on Sun- day, Feb. 5, 1623, at a tavern at the Hague called the " Golden Helmet." A chest containing arms and ammuni- tion had been sent there the night before on pretence that it contained books and papers in a lawsuit. The chest had been taken to the conspirators' room by four Rotterdam sailors who had been tempted by the payment of a hundred and fifty dollars in gold to each and the promise of promotion and more money, to engage in a dangerous undertaking which was said to be of great service to the country. Fear- ing that some crime was intended, the sailors sought out the stadtholder, and showed the gold which Slatius had given them, in proof of their story. Suspecting the nature of the scheme, Maurice summoned the authorities of the law, who had the taverns seized and strangers in them arrested. 550 History of the Netherlands. One of the conspirators was examining the contents of the chest at the "Golden Helmet" when the search took place. Learning the arrest of the three sailors, he boldly ventured forth, the guard letting him pass on the word of a waiter that he was a well-known boarder at the tavern. He then went to the house of the widow Barneveld, and warned Stouten- berg of his danger. He and the other conspirators made haste to escape. A reward of two thousand dollars was offered for the arrest of each of the ringleaders. Thanksgiving for the safety of the stadtholder was publicly celebrated in the churches on the second day after the discovery of the plot. The states-gen- eral denounced the conspiracy as an Arminian scheme to betray the country to Spain. The Remonstrants were fiercely assailed by preachers of the rival sect for the crimes of a handful of desperadoes. Few dared to appear in public places. Numbers abandoned the hated faith and joined the Contra- Remonstrants, but the leaders publicly protested against this new outburst of religious persecution. The preacher Stfatius and three other chief conspirators were soon arrested and imprisoned. Stoutenberg got himself carried in a chest to the house of a fiddler in Rotterdam, who, in recompense for past favors, secured his escape and that of his cousin to Brussels. He afterward entered the service of Spain. His wife, Walburg de Marnix, daughter of the illus- trious St. Aldegonde, abandoned the assassin and traitor. She had borne poverty and reproach for Barneveld's offence, but she had been trained in too high a school of honor to remain united to his miserable son. Groeneveld, who was in the depths of despair at the dis- covery of the plot, was induced by his wife to flee for safety. Having reached the fishing village of Scheveningen, three miles from the Hague, he was provided with a boatman's dis- guise by a friendly fisherman who offered to convey him to ^^^^^^^p <^c^ ?:/. // ^L^^j^- ' ^4/^ ON THE BEACH AT SCHEVENINGEN. 551 1623. Execution of Groeneveld. 553 England or Hamburg. Dreading to venture out on the stormy ocean in a small boat Groeneveld wandered along the coast, and at last fell into the hands of his pursuers on a desolate island, and was taken to prison. The fidelity of a boatman and a fisherman to the fugitive sons of Barneveld despite the liberal reward for their capture, is a bright spot in this dreary record of dishonor. The widow of Barneveld, overcome by grief, vainly begged pardon from Maurice for Groeneveld. Being asked by the stadtholder why she now solicited mercy for her son, hav- ing refused to do so for her husband, she answered nobly, " Because my son is guilty, and my husband was not." Torture was used to force a confession from some of the prisoners, who were afterward executed. Groeneveld was spared that horror ; but he was beheaded, May 29, on the "Green Sod," the place of execution for common criminals. He met his fate with calm dignity, acknowledging his crime, and with his face turned at the last toward his father's house. There was a general regret that the genial Groeneveld had to suffer while the unpopular Stoutenberg escaped. Maurice himself, while feeling bound to make an example of all the prisoners, is said to have declared that he wished the position of the two brothers had been reversed. The four Rotterdam sailors were each presented with a gold medal, a silver-hilted sword, and a sum of money, by order of the states -general, for their exposure of the plot. While the Remonstrants suffered unjustly from the odium of the attempted assassination, the power and popularity of the stadtholder were increased by its failure. It was felt that the conspiracy was a blow at the republic through the life of the great soldier and patriot who had saved it by his trium- phant sword. The degree of sympathy which was felt for Barneveld was withheld from his wretched sons. CHAPTER XXXV. THE STADTHOLDER, FREDERICK HENRY. The Spaniards took advantage of the internal troubles of the United Provinces to renew their assaults. In August, 1624, Spinola besieged Breda, the family inheritance of the princes of Orange, which Maurice was unable to relieve. In this crisis the states prevailed upon France to aid them with a large loan for three years. Richelieu, the great statesman who controlled the councils of Louis XIII., was glad of this opportunity to curb the power of the house of Austria. In order to enable the French minister to secure necessary peace at home, the states allowed him to use their fleet against the Huguenot insurgents of Rochelle. This act excited the complaints of the €alvinist ministers in the United Provinces, which created such a feeling among the people in favor of the French Protestants that the fleet was recalled, to the indigna- tion of Richelieu whose assistance was delayed for some time. Another ally now aided the republic. King James, who had been disappointed in his hopes of the marriage of his son Charles with the Infanta of Spain as a means of restoring the Palatinate to the elector, agreed to supply six thousand men, the expense to be repaid at the conclusion of peace. The loss of Barneveld, however, prevented the nation from prof- iting by this aid ; and Maurice complained in his coarse way, "As long as the old rascal was alive we had counsels and money; now there is no finding either the one or the Other." 1625. Death of Maurice of Nassau. 557 Worn out by his warlike labors and civic trials, the stadt- holder could not rally from the effects of lingering disease, and died on the 23d of April, 1625, at the age of fifty-eight. Maurice of Nassau was one of the greatest generals of his age, and his military ability, which his father lacked, was combined with the family coolness and tenacity which enabled him to humble the pride of Spain and ensure the independence of his country. His methods were admirably suited to his ends. As his army was small, he relied largely on engineering and left nothing to chance. Unlike the daring Spinola, he could not afford a misstep. Yet he showed at Nieuport that, although yielding to Barneveld in beginning the campaign, he had nerve enough when the ordeal of battle came. The Fabian policy was abandoned when victory demanded the audacity of genius. Maurice lacked his father's geniality ; the coarseness of his mother, the unfortunate Anna of Saxony, affected him, and no doubt fostered that "craving humor," as Sir Ralph Win- wood, the English ambassador, called it, which was shown in his claims in connection with the truce. Yet it should be remembered that he had fairly won his recompense, and that peace was to deprive him of the coveted prizes of his profes- sion. There was a certain irresoluteness in Maurice's charac- ter, which accounts for the ascendency so long exercised over him by Barneveld, and which made him hesitate in adopting the policy urged upon him by his cousin William Louis that resulted in the execution of the aged advocate. Outside of Holland, Maurice of Nassau is generally re- garded as having been mastered by an ambition for sov-. ereignty, when the truth is that he resisted the temptations urged by the representatives of France and England and even suggested by Barneveld himself. This refusal to grasp the sovereignty which was offered to his father, and was generally regarded as his due, is the best evidence of his 558 History of the Netherlands. disinterestedness. Maurice of Nassau was a true patriot, and though forced by religious fanaticism and popular feeling to acts technically unlawful, a sense of duty to his country and his God was his ruling motive. It is not upon Maurice, but upon his age and especially upon the defects of the Dutch constitution, that history must charge those acts of his which in ignorance of the truth have been most severely censured. Considering his temptations to abuse his trust, the adulation of the people, and the glamour of military success, there seems something of stoical virtue in his devotion to duty. In the line of illustrious princes of the house of Orange there is no more splendid name than that of the great warrior whose sword was ever at the service of his country, whether against the foreign foe or the more insidious internal dangers that threatened to sap the very foundations of the republic. As Maurice had no legitimate children, he had induced his brother Frederick Henry, to whom he left his estates, to marry, about three weeks before his death, Amalia van Solms, in order to preserve the family descent. She was a beautiful and accomplished woman, and exercised great influence over Frederick Henry. Being fond of political management, her agency in the foreign policy of the republic in time became very marked. Deeply attached to her husband, she made his secretary, who accompanied him to the war, inform her reg- ularly of all the details of events. A multitude of these little missives, which are written in microscopic characters on bits of paper to avoid discovery by the enemy, are preserved in the archives of the house of Orange-Nassau. The states-general conferred upon Frederick Henry the offices of captain and admiral-general, and he was soon elected stadtholder of all the provinces except Groningen and Friesland, which were under the government of Ernest Casimir. Frederick Henry, now forty-one years of age, besides being 1628. Exploits of Piet Heyn, 559 an able general, had political abilities which were needed in the distracted condition of the country. He allayed the religious bitterness which had become so rife, and united all parties in patriotic opposition to Spain. The new king of England, Charles I., who succeeded to the tlfrone on the death of his father, March 27, 1625, was prevailed upon to continue the alliance with the states, despite the serious troubles which had occurred between his subjects and the Dutch in India. Though Frederick Henry could not save Breda, its capture, June 2, 1625, after a ten months' siege, exhausted the enemy's resources and enabled him to take Groll in the summer of 1627. The recall of Spinola in disgrace by the cabi- net of Philip IV., whose incapacity he had exposed, was another blow to their cause. Isabella's chief counsellor was now the Cardinal de la Cueva, and the command of the troops was given to Count Henry van den Berg, one of the nephews of William the Silent, upon whom the Spanish government had lavished riches and honors as a reward for his long military service. There was a gallant officer in the West India Company's employ named Piet, or Peter, Heyn, who from a herring fish- erman had risen to be commander of their fleet. When a private trading- captain, he had captured many Spanish vessels and was raised to the rank of admiral for a splendid victory in Brazil. His most famous though not his greatest achieve- ment was now to be performed. Being sent out with twenty- four ships towards America to intercept the Spanish treasure galleons known as the silver fleet, he chased them into the harbor of Matanzas, early in September, 1628; and as they had run aground, he boarded them from his boats in the shallow water. The booty which he carried home was valued at five million dollars. There were nearly one hundred and fifty thousand pounds of pure silver, besides gold and pearls 560 History of the Netherlands. of great value. The modest Heyn was publicly thanked by the states-general and appointed Lieutenant-Admiral. He was killed on the 17th of June> 1629, in a desperate encounter with the pirates of Dunkirk, having boldly run his vessel between two of their ships. His crew avenged his loss by slaughtering the captured private ersmen. A public funeral was given to the lamented hero, and a monument was erected to him, near that of William the Silent, in the new church at Delft, which has been called the Westminster Abbey of Holland. The treasure captured by Piet Heyn enabled the Dutch to make fresh preparations for war. These alarmed the obedient provinces, in which public discontent with Spanish rule had been excited by some of the nobles and leading citizens. The ministry were accused of sacrificing Spinola to unworthy jeal- ousy, of embroiling the people with the Spaniards by their misgovernment, and impoverishing them by their greed. Profiting by these troubles, Frederick Henry besieged the strongly fortified city of Bois-le-Duc, which surrendered in four months, Sept. 14, 1629, despite the efforts of Count van den Berg to relieve it and to force his retreat by invading the province of Utrecht. The stadtholder's masterly achievement, and the capture of Wesel in Cleves, where the Spaniards had their military supplies, laid open the obedient provinces to the enemy, and a general invasion- was feared. The nobles and clergy exerted themselves in this crisis, and the cabinet at Madrid was urged to allay the discontent caused by the exclu- sion of natives from the government. The Archduchess Isa- bella had pawned all her jewels for the defence of the country, and the states of Brabant contributed eight hundred thousand dollars. During the recent devastations of the enemy in the United Provinces the states exhibited the resolute spirit which had saved the land in earlier days. By their orders the flood- RUBEN 1630. Dutch Treaty with France. 563 gates of the ocean were opened at Muyden, and the whole country from the city of Utrecht to the Zuyder Zee was laid under water. Although Philip IV. would not yield to the demands of the Belgian clergy and nobility for self-government, he allowed Isabella to send deputies to the Hague to propose a renewal of the truce for twenty-four years. But, the policy of Car- dinal Richelieu seconding the spirit of the Dutch people, the offer was rejected, and a treaty was made with France, in July, 1630, by which in consideration of a large annual loan the states agreed not to make peace without the king's advice. In order to offset this aid the painter Rubens was sent on a mission from Madrid to seek English support, and thus Charles I. was induced to secretly promise to aid Spain against the republic. During the year 1631 Frederick Henry invaded Flanders to assail the pirates of Dunkirk, but returned by the advice of the deputies of the states-general in his camp, who were alarmed by the advance into Holland of the Marquis of Santa Cruz, the successor of Spinola, as commander-in-chief with an army of twelve thousand men. The stadtholder's pride was touched by this interference of the deputies ; but a great naval victory over the enemy's fleet, which sought to sever communication between Holland and Zealand, soon cheered the disappointed prince. The information upon which the Spaniards had acted had been furnished by Stoutenberg,. the escaped son of Barneveld. As a reward for the services of the Prince of Orange, the states-general settled the right of succession to his offices as stadtholder and captain and admiral-general upon his son, a child of five years. It was a grateful, but, as experience proved, an imprudent act. Meanwhile the power of the Dutch in India and South America continued to increase through the efforts of their great military and trading com- 564 History of the Netherlands. panies. By the influence of Frederick Henry the religious dissensions which had caused so much evil to the country were moderated, and the Remonstrants were allowed greater liberty than they had enjoyed for a long time. Two disappointed Belgian magnates, the Count of Warfus^e, chief of the finance council, and Count van den Berg, nephew of William the Silent, intrigued with Frederick Henry, in the winter of 163 1, to throw off the Spanish yoke. In the spring of 1632 Carondelet, a treacherous confidant of Isabella, sought the same object from Cardinal Richelieu on behalf of the discontented Walloon nobles, among whom were such bear- ers of historic titles as the Duke of Aerschot, the Prince of Espinoy, and Count Louis Egmont. Frederick Henry now prepared to invade Gelderland, and, to incite the people to revolt, the states-general of the United Provinces proclaimed, on the 2 2d of May, 1632, their resolve to aid them to throw off the yoke of Spain and secure their liberties as well as the public exercise of the Catholic re- ligion. The stadtholder's march into Gelderland was a series of successes ; in less than eight days he conquered nearly all the country ; and at last the city of Maestricht, which in a much weaker state had resisted the Duke of Parma for nine months, surrendered, August 22, in spite of the attempts of three armies to relieve it. The Archduchess Isabella had appealed successfully to several of the Walloon nobles when Maestricht was threatened, and the intrigues of Richelieu, who regarded a united Netherlands as more dangerous than Spain to French power, aided in restoring harmony. The most vigorous effort to succor Maestricht was made by the imperial troops under Count Pappenheim, who fought with desperate valor. Among the killed on the side of the be- siegers were two members of an English family that had done noble service in the cause of Netherland freedom. They were Aubrey de Vere, nineteenth Earl of Oxford, and MAESTRICHT. 565 1633.' Death of the Archduchess Isabella. 567 his brother Colonel Vere. Count Ernest Casimir, who had been recently killed before Ruremonde, added another to the members of the Nassau family who had laid down their lives for their adopted country. His place as Stadtholder of Friesland and Groningen was filled by his son Henry Casimir of Nassau-Dietz. The fall of Maestricht, which was followed by that of other important places, forced Isabella to yield to the demands of the discontented nobles to assemble the states-general of the obedient provinces, which had not been convoked since the year 1600. It opened at Brussels, Sept. 9, 1632. At the demand of the assembly, Cardinal de la Cueva and the Mar- quis of Santa Cruz were dismissed. They had to be pro- tected from the popular fury before leaving the country. The new chief of the army was the Marquis of Aytona, grand seneschal or high steward of the kingdoms of Castile and Arragon, who was considered a wise statesman, but who was without military experience. Negotiations for peace with the United Provinces were now renewed, but they failed from the refusal of the states-general at Brussels to agree to religious toleration and renunciation of Spanish rule. The republic's terms, which included the closing of the Scheldt, were hard ; but they promised better than the foreign domination which had proved so burdensome. The Belgian nobles seem either to have been duped by Spanish wiles or to have feared that their power would be overshadowed by that of the Dutch. The war party in the republic was supported by Cardinal Richelieu, who feared a united Netherlands. While the negotiations were going on Frederick Henry besieged Rheinberg, which surrendered early in June, 1633. Hopes of peace were blasted by the death of the Arch- duchess Isabella, which took place on the 30th of November, 1633. She was sixty-seven years of age, and despite her 568 History of the Netherlands. incapacity as a ruler, the daughter of Philip II. had inspired the love and respect of the Belgians by her interest in their welfare. Yet such was the low ebb to which the Spanish system of government had reduced the finances of the court of Brussels that it could not render to the departed princess the funeral honors which she had requested. In her youth Isabella possessed much personal beauty, and she preserved in advanced years a majestic bearing. She had been trained by her royal father to close application to business ; but though inheriting his ardent devotion to the Catholic faith, she had a dash and spirit which were wanting in the cloistered king. She took part in hunts and tourna- ments, and gained prizes for skill with the cross-bow at the village festivals. Her manners were more attractive to the Belgians than those of her husband, which had something of Spanish gravity and reserve. Endeared to the people by her benevolent disposition, she employed her last hours in care for their interests. Observing one of her officers in tears, she said with a laugh, " See that man ; he does not wish me to die ! " It was unfortunate for the obedient provinces that two juntas, one composed entirely of Spaniards, and the other directed by them, should have neutralized the well- meaning, though often mistaken efforts of Isabella for their welfare. CHAPTER XXXVI. WEAKNESS OF THE SPANISH NETHERLANDS. While Frederick Henry had a strong war party behind him, he had a zealous opponent in a man who was destined to wield great political power in the United Provinces. This was Adrian Pauw, Lord of Heemstede, who became Grand Pensionary of Holland in 1631. His influence in favor of peace with the obedient provinces was already so great that Richelieu wondered that a single man could oppose such obstacles to the government, and he thought that either Frederick Henry or his antagonist must go down. 1 At this time Pauw, whom the French prime minister chose to call a friend of Spain, influenced the states of Holland much as Barneveld formerly did, and in order to get rid of him he was sent on various diplomatic missions and kept in honorable exile. His post as Grand Pensionary was given to Jacob Cats, the poet whose simple tales are so dear to the Dutch peasant; but the time was coming when Pauw was to be the ruler of the republic. Frederick Henry always had to contend against the states of Holland, and the old pro- 1 This is the way in which the real ruler of France wrote to his ambassador at the Hague : " If Pauw continues his opposition, and the Prince of Orange persists in his good resolutions, it seems that one of them must be ruined ; but, to speak plainly, without making any comparison between them, it is ab- solutely necessary that the Prince of Orange should ruin Pauw if he does not wish to lose the credit and authority that he ought to have in the states." Richelieu to Charnace, Jan. i, 1634: "Archives de la Maison d'Orange- Nassau," 2^ serie, torn. iii. p. 42. 570 History of the Netherlands. vincial jealousy was destined to become more powerful than ever. The Marquis of Aytona, who on the death of the Arch- duchess Isabella was placed in temporary charge of the gov- ernment of the Spanish Netherlands, executed in the spring of 1634, the king's orders against the nobles concerned in the recent conspiracy. Count Warfus6e had already been doomed to banishment, and his property had been confis- cated. Van den Berg was now sentenced to death, and the Duke of Aerschot was arrested while in fancied security in Madrid. Carondelet, governor of Bouchain, being assailed while parleying with Aytona, killed four of his assailants, but was at last struck down with the butt-end of a musket. Other conspirators made their escape. These severities, which had been incited by fears of fresh outbreaks, spread such alarm throughout the country that, to allay the desperation of the nobles which threatened serious revolt, the Marquis of Ay- tona published a general pardon, excepting only the con- demned and fugitive grandees. An important ehange now took place in Dutch dealings with France. From 1624 to 1634 the United Provinces had been aided by Richelieu against Spain, with sums varying from a million to eleven hundred and fifty thousand dollars a year, on condition that they should not make a peace or truce with the enemy without the knowledge, advice, or intervention of France. This left the Dutch free to end the war at will, not being bound to accept their ally's advice. But on the 15 th of April, 1634, a treaty was signed at the Hague, binding the United Provinces, in case of being aided by a French army, not to conclude a peace or truce with the enemy for seven years, unless conjointly and by consent of France. This treaty was made to baffle the truce party in Holland. Instead of being the work of Richelieu, as historians have generally supposed, the publication, of the THE HOTEL DEVILLE, BRUSSELS. 571 1635- Dutch Relations with France. 573 diplomatic correspondence in the Dutch archives proves that it was designed by Frederick Henry and Aerssens, Lord of Sommelsdyk, the old opponent of Barneveld. They believed that . the safety of the country lay in continuing hostilities ; but the treaty was opposed by Amsterdam and three other cities in the states of Holland, as placing the country in the power of France. When the Spanish government heard of this alliance they dissolved the states-general of the obedient provinces, whose tame submission to this decree, which was registered in the Belgian assembly July 5, 1634, left the country at the mercy of its foreign masters. 1 Meanwhile Frederick Henry and Aerssens had followed up the treaty with France by tempt- ing Richelieu to battle vigorously against Spain while she was busy in the Thirty Years' War. The Dutch proposal was that the two powers should conquer the obedient prov- inces and divide their territories between them. But Riche- lieu thought it safer to have a barrier between France and the United Provinces. A treaty was therefore signed at Paris, Feb. 5, 1635, providing for the invasion of the Spanish Netherlands by the allies with forty thousand men. The invaded provinces were to be invited to revolt on assurance of securing their independence, and only in case of refusal were they to be divided among the conquerors. The zealous Dutch Calvinists opposed the provision of the . treaty permitting Catholic worship in the subdued places ; but when Frederick Henry was appealed to against it, he said : " Do we not allow 1 A standard Belgian historian laments that this assembly did nothing to pre- vent the disasters which were to afflict the country. " Mistress of the destinies of Belgium, it was unequal to the part which circumstances imposed upon it. Fatal pusillanimity ! whose disastrous results were shown not only in the dis- continuance for more than a century of the national assembly, but especially by the new dismemberments which the inheritance of Charles V. had to suffer." Juste, " Histoire de Belgique," torn. ii. p. 148. 4*0. 574 History of the Netherlands. in the Indies the idolatrous rites of the Chinese and Hindoos ? Is it better to forego the acquisition of Antwerp than to per- mit there the exercise of the Catholic religion? Does not such a claim bar us from introducing our own?" The new governor of the obedient provinces was the Car- dinal Ferdinand of Austria, brother of Philip IV. Arriving at Brussels, Nov. 4, 1634, after his great victory over the Swedes at Nordlingen, he had a triumphal reception in the gay capital, nobles and citizens uniting to do him honor. As he rode in the grand procession, arrayed in cloth of gold and bearing the sword of Charles V., the houses along the route were decorated with tapestries and illuminated by torches. He gave the command of his army to Prince Thomas of Savoy, the successor of the Marquis of Aytona, who was defeated May 20, 1635, by the French marshals, Chatillon and Breze, the former a cousin of Frederick Henry and the latter a brother-in-law of Cardinal Richelieu, near Aveine in Luxem- burg. The stadtholder did not join them till late in the sum- mer, owing to the delay of the states of Holland in providing supplies for the unwelcome war. The allied armies stormed the city of Tirlemont, June 8, 1635 5 Dut tne i f frightful devastations roused the indignant Belgians to rally to the support of the Spanish commander. At the siege of Louvain, the seat of the famous university, nobles, burghers, and students united to repel the invaders. Though Frederick Henry held the supreme command, he could not disregard the counsels of the French generals, and the failures of the campaign were largely due to their mis- taken policy. The prince vainly attempted to restrain the barbarities of the soldiers, though he afterward punished their authors. The Spaniards marched from victory to victory, carrying the war into the republic and even into France. Pestilence at last ravaged the ranks of the French, many officers were reduced to want, and the city of Amsterdam i6yj. The Tulipomania. 575 became a pest-house. Not more than half the troops of Louis XIII. lived to return home. During the year 1636 the government of the republic was obliged to use force to compel the province of Friesland to pay its share of the expenses of the war. The difficulty was of long standing, and had caused serious tumults. At last, the town governments having been changed by permis- sion of the states of the province, and the stadtholder's au- thority rejected, the states-general used the military to restore them, and compel payment of the dues. Thus the rights of the separate provinces had to be again overridden in order to carry on the national government. To spur his lagging republican allies, Cardinal Richelieu not only promised them a large sum of money, but sought to win the support of Frederick Henry by securing for him the title of Highness as a mark of royal favor. But the jealous states-general, though obliged to yield to this demand, were displeased at a grant by a foreign power to one of their subjects. They became more distrustful of France. The stadtholder, however, moved vigorously forward, and captured Breda after a four months' siege, Oct. 7, 1637, at which the French ambassador, Charnace, was killed. In this year the sturdy Dutchmen showed that they could be carried away by an absurd speculative fever. The rage for tulips, or " Tulipo- mania," as it was afterward called, reached such a height in Holland that fortunes were spent on rare varieties of the garish flower. At last the precious bulbs were dealt in like stocks, people selling what they neither owned nor could get, and being obliged to pay the difference between the market prices on different days. To put a stop to the serious disputes which arose, the government was obliged to interfere in the traffic, and tulips thus lost their artificial value, though they have ever since been largely cultivated, especially in the gardens about Haarlem. 576 History of the Netherlands. The year 1638 was signalized by the failure of a Dutch expedition against Antwerp, and it was found that some Amsterdam merchants had supplied the threatened city with arms and ammunition. One of them, a man named Bey- land, when put on trial, defended this vaunted republican right of freedom of commerce by saying, " If I could gain anything by trading with hell, I would risk burning my sails." Frederick Henry was particularly desirous to possess Antwerp as a counterpoise to arrogant Amsterdam • and he was enraged when the magistrates acquitted Beyland, on the ground that he had only done his duty as a commissioner of the Belgian capital. Frederick Henry's authority was strengthened by the com- position of the states-general, which instead of being called together as formerly by the Council of State had for about fifty years been a permanent assembly, the states of the sep- arate provinces seldom changing their deputies, who thus became influenced by the official patronage of the stadt- holders. Complaints of the inefficiency of the states-general and their encroachments on the rights of the Council of State were rife, but Holland was the only province that held out for the control of its deputies. Frederick Henry's policy was ably seconded by the subtle diplomatist Sommelsdyk. The prince's secretary was the poet Constantine Huygens, Lord of Zuylichem, one of the brightest ornaments of Dutch literature, who held the same office under the two succeed- ing stadtholders, and who enjoyed the friendship of Hoofd, Heinsius, Vossius, Descartes, Balzac, and Corneille. His son Christian, who inherited his title, was the celebrated astron- omer and geometer, the correspondent of Newton and Leib- nitz, whose scientific inventions and discoveries have given him a world-wide reputation. CHAPTER XXXVII. DUTCH WAR WITH ENGLAND. While the Spaniards gained some successes by land, a serious reverse awaited them at sea. The Dutch admiral, Marten Harpertszoon Tromp, called by English writers Van Tromp, then forty-two years of age, had seen considerable service, and it was on his ship that Piet Heyn was killed while boldly attacking two pirate vessels. He now gained a great victory over Admiral Oquendo in the straits of Dover, Sept. 1 8, 1639, from which the naval power of Spain never recov- ered. In their pride of triumph the states-general, eager to eclipse the stadtholder's title of Highness, styled themselves High Mightinesses and High and Mighty Lords. Tromp's victory, which is known as the battle of the Downs, excited great irritation at the English court, the king having favored the Spanish shipment of soldiers from Dunkirk to Flanders. To smooth over matters and also to secure the hand of the Princess Mary of England for the young Prince William, the stadtholder's son, the veteran diplomatist Aers- sens, Lord of Sommelsdyk, the old opponent of Barneveld, was sent at the head of a Dutch embassy. This marriage project had been devised by the exiled widow of Henry IV. of France, to secure the influence of England and the republic with Richelieu in her favor. Commercial jealousies, disputes about their Indian possessions and the fishery on the English coast, had excited ill will between the two nations. In agree- ing to the marriage, King Charles, whose Scotch rebels had 37 578 History of the Netherlands. been secretly aided by the Dutch, wrote to Frederick Henry that he wished him in return to restrain them. But this royal alliance displeased the anti-stadtholder party in the republic, as well as Richelieu, whose troops bore the brunt of the war. Spain, however, was weakening on all sides, the revolt of Portugal depriving her of valuable posses- sions in Europe, Asia, and Africa, and the Dutch capturing important places in South America. On the 9th of Novem- ber, 1 641, the Prince Cardinal Ferdinand died. The new captain-general of the Spanish Netherlands, Don Francisco de Melo, after gaining a few victories was overwhelmed by the young Duke of Enghien, afterward so famous as the great Cond£, in the battle of Rocroi on the 19th of May, 1643, in which the renowned infantry of Spain were routed by the French soldiers. Meanwhile Richelieu had died, Dec. 4, 1642, and Louis XIII., May 14, 1643 > ^ ut the Regent Anne of Austria, whose policy was guided by Mazarin, renewed the alliance of France with the republic. The opposition of the Dutch people to the cause of the English king was increased by the intrigues of Queen Henri- etta Maria, who brought over the Princess Mary to the prov- inces. She raised money on the crown jewels to furnish arms and ammunition against the parliament party, and paraded her Catholic belief. Frederick Henry, who had tried, through the Lord of Heenvliet, his agent in London, to recon- cile the hostile English parties, yielded to the queen's urgent entreaties for aid ; but the states of Holland checked the ship- ment of warlike supplies. Charles I., however, could not induce the chief of the house of Orange to sustain the royal cause by another matrimonial alliance. Fears of the growing power of France and the Spanish intrigues of Cardinal Mazarin led the United Provinces to favor peace with enfeebled Spain, though the Orange party had opposed it from dread of the strong Arminian and pro- TROMP AND DE WITT PLANNING THE BATTLE OF THE DOWNS. 579 1648. Triumphant Peace with Spain. 581 vincial policy of Holland. Early in 1646 peace was favored in an unexpected quarter. Amalia van Solms, wife of Fred- erick Henry, influenced by Spanish promises and her hus- band's declining health, was eager to end the war. She wanted the old warrior at home, where she could take care of him. He had grown enormously stout, for he could not restrain his appetite, and his mass of flesh had begun to affect his mental as well as bodily activity. While the negotiations were going on, the infirm stadth older, who had lately failed in. effecting his own and his wife's darling project, the capture of Antwerp, died, March 14, 1647, at the age of sixty-three. Though lacking the genius of his illustrious father and of his brilliant brother, his military and administrative talents were of great benefit to the republic. While able to conquer peace by his sword, he ensured it by his wise moderation, and aside from his ambitious English intrigues, there is little to blame in his political career. Frederick Henry naturally identified the interests of the nation with the fortunes of his house, and sought to increase his influence as stadtholder as a check to the encroachments of the burgher aristocracy who ruled the states of Holland. Yet he never secured the stadtholdership of all the provinces. Friesland elected Count William Fred- erick of Nassau, whose loss of Groningen excited his ill-will toward the Orange branch of the house. As the young Prince of Orange favored the French alliance ■ and the continuance of the war, Holland and Zealand delayed appointing him stadtholder till peace was ensured. The states-general, however, conferred upon him the offices of captain and admiral-general of the union. By the memorable treaty signed at Munster on the 30th of January, 1648, Spain renounced all claim to the United Provinces and acknowl- edged their, sovereignty. They retained all their conquests, the coveted India trade, and the right to close the Scheldt, by which Antwerp was held in thrall by Amsterdam. 582 History of the Netherlands. Thus the long war of sixty- eight years was ended by the complete triumph of the seven rebellious provinces and the humiliation of their oppressor. The republic was aided by its geographical position ; its command of the sea and its network of rivers and canals favored its defence. The triumph was that of the people ; and it was a noble remark of a patriotic Catholic, when rebuked for his devotion to the cause of the heretics, " My heart is for Rome, my arm for liberty." Philip's shifting policy aided the Dutch struggle for independence. Reconciliation became impossible after Alva's rule of blood and fire. A permanent union of all the Netherlands was defeated, not only by religious fanaticism, but by the wide difference in the character of the Northern and Southern populations. The Dutch drifted into a republic from inability to obtain a foreign sovereign to aid them against Philip II. ; hence the defects in their national constitution produced serious internal dissensions. Naval and commercial success enriched them ; the founding of the Bank of Amsterdam in 1609, the same year in which Henry Hudson, an Englishman in the service of the Dutch East India Company, discovered the river which bears his name ; the establishment of the colonial empire at Batavia in 1619; the settlement of thirty families from Holland on Manhattan Island, where the city of New York now stands, in 1623, and the growth of New Netherlands, — were fruits of maritime enterprise and prosperity. Art was illustrated by the genius of Rembrandt, Paul Potter, Cuyp, Ruysdael, Gerard Dow, Van de Velde, Ostade, Wou- vermans, and other painters who have invested the national landscape, life, and character with a poetic charm. The greatest names in Dutch literature belong to this period : Grotius, the renowned jurist ; the philosopher Spinoza ; Vondel, the illustrious dramatic poet; the historians, Bor, Hoofd, and Van Meteren ; Jacob Cats, the simple, homely bard of the common people. 1650. Death of William II. 585 The execution of Charles I. of England, against' which Pauw and Joachimi, the special Dutch envoys, had protested, turned the popular feeling in favor of the Stuarts. Great sympathy was felt for his two exiled young sons, who were in the provinces. In the excitement among the royalist refugees, Doreslaar, the ambassador from the parliament to the states, was assassinated. He had acted as one of the king's prose- cutors. The states of Holland, which still held out for the parliamentary cause against the states-general, offered a reward for the discovery of the murderers. The effort of the young Prince William to overawe his opponents in the towns, and his violent measures against Amsterdam in July, 1650, in which he was aided by the ambitious Count William Freder- ick, foreshadowed even more desperate designs. Holland had previously secured the release of Vice-Admiral Cor- nelius de With, whom the prince had arrested for returning without orders from Brazil. This officer has been con- founded by several English and French writers with Cor- nelius de Witt, brother of the celebrated statesman. A change now came over the relations of the United Prov- inces with France. They began to fear her increasing power as more dangerous than enfeebled Spain. Peace with their old enemy had been favored except by the house of Orange ; and its stanch supporters Zealand and Friesland, who saw in this policy the triumph of Holland's revived Arminian and state-sovereignty policy. Distrust of France by the states was increased by Cardinal Mazarin's intrigues. He had planned to make peace with Spain and to marry the young king Louis XIV. to the Infanta, whose dowry was to be the Span- ish Netherlands. There were fears in the United Provinces that the claim to their sovereignty would also be transferred, thus involving them in a war with France. A startling blow to the Orange party was the death of the gallant but misguided William II., Nov. 6, 1650, at the 586 History of the Netherlands. age of twenty-four. As he had intrigued to overthrow the treaty of Munster, involve France in war with Spain, and restore the Stuarts to the English throne, the republic was a gainer, though at the cost of a radical change in the govern- ment. Holland, by wholesale bribery in the Great Assembly, prevented the election of a captain-general of the union, and of stadtholder in most of the provinces. Her object was to prevent the baby prince from being used by his relatives to advance their interests, and to free the separate provinces from the military control of the states-general. Opposition to the house of Orange was at its height. Troubles now loomed up with England. Her ambassadors were insulted by the populace at the Hague, and, although well treated by the Holland party, they returned without effecting the desired coalition between the two republics. As the Dutch had made a restrictive treaty with Denmark, the English retaliated by the famous Navigation Act, which dealt a blow at their carrying trade by prohibiting foreign vessels from importing into England the products of any country but their own. This -measure being followed by the seizure of Dutch ships, war became imminent. In May, 1652, the two admirals Blake and Tromp came into collision over the vexed question of saluting the English flag; a five hours' battle followed, night parting the combatants. In their alarm the states-general, who had neglected to give Tromp definite instructions about lowering his flag in presence of a British fleet in the Channel, sent Adrian Pauw, Grand Pensionary of Holland and the most influential man in the country, to smooth over matters with the parliament. The two regular Dutch ambassadors had been ridiculed from their names, — Cats and Schaep, — as a cat and a sheep. When Pauw arrived, whose name meant a peacock, the rude jokers de- clared that instead of ambassadors the states had sent them a menagerie. 1652. Rise of yohn De Witt. 587 The ruling Holland party in the provinces avoided war, and in sending Tromp to sea again, ordered him to act on the defensive and to strike the flag when meeting a British fleet. But the Orange party hoped for hostilities, expecting that the young prince would thus be declared captain-general and the Stuart cause be supported. But they were doomed to disappointment. A stern opponent of this policy was now coming into prominence. This was John de Witt, whose father was one of the Amsterdam magistrates imprisoned by William II. in the castle of Louvestein, and who had early imbibed Holland's ideas of provincial sovereignty. After studying at the University of Leyden, and taking the degree of Doctor of Laws at a French university, he began legal practice. He had become pensionary of his native city of Dort in 1650, and took part as member of the states of Hol- land in the Great Assembly. He was now, in the absence of Adrian Pauw in London, performing his duties as Grand Pen- sionary of Holland, the chief executive officer of the stadt- holderless republic. Yet he was only twenty- five years of age. The English demands for satisfaction becoming unbearable, Tromp was ordered to attack their fleet ; but while in search of Blake, who had destroyed the Dutch fishing-vessels, a tempest forced him to return disabled. Popular fury being excited against him by the Orange party, he was superseded by Michael Adrianszoon De Ruyter, who vanquished an Eng- lish fleet under Sir George Ayscue off Plymouth, in August, 1652, and rode in triumph through the Channel. Early in September the Dutch admiral Van Galen defeated the Eng- lish captain Bodley near the island of Elba. Cornelius Tromp, the promising son of the great admiral, led the van, and captured the man-of-war Phoenix, which two months after- ward was surprised and recaptured. Young Tromp distin- guished himself in another victory in January, over Sir Henry Appleton, near Leghorn, in which Van Galen was killed. 588 History of the Netherlands. Meanwhile De Witt had been working against Orange intrigues in Zealand to appoint the young prince captain and admiral-general of the union, with Count William Frederick, the Friesland stadtholder, as lieutenant during his minority. Tromp was restored to favor after the defeat by Blake of his successor De With, who was deserted by some of the Orange-loving Zealand commanders in the battle off the Flemish coast, Oct. 8, 1652. The old sea-king with a hundred and six ships completely defeated Blake's inferior force, off Dover, December 10, the English fleet retreating under cover of night. Tromp fastened a broom at his mast-head as a sign that he had. swept the enemy from the seas. Dutch privateers now preyed freely on English commerce, but the carrying trade of the republic suffered so much from the war that Holland secretly negotiated for peace. De Witt had become temporary Grand Pensionary by the death of Adrian Pauw, Feb. 21, 1653, and five months afterward was elected for the full term of five years. A three days' battle between Tromp, aided by De Ruyter, Evertsen, and Florisson, against Blake, Dean, and Monk, off Portland, a week later, resulted in the defeat of the Dutch, whose rulers had neglected their supply of ammunition. Tromp's valor gained him high praise, and Blake was lamed for life by a musket-ball. Another battle on the 12th of June, which lasted two days, ended by Blake and Monk's victory over Tromp, who had warned his government of the inferiority of his ships and guns. His powder again fell short. The English admiral Dean was killed in this action, which was followed by the refusal of Tromp, De With, and De Ruyter to remain in the service unless the fleet were strengthened. The victors displayed a broom at their mast-heads. There was now great distress in Amsterdam from the stoppage of commerce ; families deserted the great city, and many workmen were reduced to beggary and starvation. 1 653. Death of Tromp. 591 Orange riots broke out in the towns of Holland, and Zealand and Overyssel were wild for the young prince. The govern- ment was charged with betraying the country. On the 10th of August, 1653, the public despair was increased by the death of Tromp, in a battle with Monk, off Scheveningen, in which the English were victorious. "It is all over with me," said the dying hero to the captains who crowded about him as he fell pierced by a musket-ball; "but you must take courage." The chief consolation for the Dutch was that the battle broke up the English blockade. In this gigantic naval war between the two great maritime . powers, England had been favored by having larger ships and heavier guns, and by the inefficiency of the states-general of the stadtholderless republic. Though ruling the seas at the close of the contest with Spain, the dependence of the United Provinces upon the carrying trade, and their political difficulties at home, made the English conflict extremely dangerous. The sources of Dutch wealth being on the ocean, it was at the mercy of a naval power with comparatively little commerce. " Eng- land," said one of the states' ambassadors for peace in 1652, " is moving against a gold mountain, and we are proceeding against an iron one." CHAPTER XXXVIII. MASSACRE OF THE DE WITTS. Peace was now obtained with Cromwell, but on severe terms. Besides consenting to a defensive alliance, the United Provinces were obliged to agree to strike their flag, to settle the claims of the English on the Dutch East India Company, including the restoration of the island of Poleroon, damages for the antiquated Amboyna outrages and for vessels seized in the Danish Sound. These claims were settled for about half a million dollars. But the most serious demand was the perpetual exclusion of the house of Orange from power. De Witt concealed the fact that the demand for- exclusion came from Cromwell, and caused the states of Holland to pass the act secretly ; and it was delivered to Cromwell without the states-general knowing that it formed part of the treaty. It bound Holland to prevent the Prince of Orange or any member of his family from becoming stadt- holder of that province, and to resist their election to the captain-generalship of the union. De Witt carried the meas- ure by unscrupulous deception and intrigue, May 4, 1654. He afterward defended Holland from the charge of ingrati- tude to the house of Orange ; but while depriving that house of power during the next eighteen years by his skilful strategy, he was unconsciously preparing a terrible popular reaction in its favor. A naval victory by Obdam, an ex-cavalry officer who suc- ceeded Tromp in command of the fleet, forced the Swedish i66o. Dutch War with England. 593 admiral Wrangel to abandon the blockade of the Sound, which imperilled the interests of the Dutch as well as of their old ally Denmark. In this battle, which took place Nov. 8, 1658, the impetuous admiral De With was killed. Being unable to stand from the gout, Obdam gave his orders from a chair at the mainmast. De Ruyter, who succeeded the infirm commander, soon compelled the Swedes to a peace favorable to Dutch commerce in the Baltic. The accession of Charles II. to the throne in May, 1660, involved the Dutch in a new war. The king had been warmly welcomed in Holland on his way home, and the states had repealed the act of exclusion which affected his nephew, the young Prince of Orange, declaring that it had been passed at the command of Cromwell. But Charles still cherished resentment against the republic, and his brother, the Duke of York, was ambitious of warlike distinction. The quarrels of traders on the African coast furnished an excuse for hostilities. An attack was therefore made on the Dutch settlements there and also in America, New Netherlands being reduced in the autumn of 1664 and named New York. To strengthen his cause, De Witt had made an alliance with Louis XIV. of France on the 27th of September, 1662, though he suspected the king's ambitious designs on the Spanish Netherlands. After trying to avert war with England, which was declared March 4, 1665, he despatched Obdam to the English coast, where his fleet encountered that of the Duke of York, who was aided by the Earl of Sandwich and Prince Rupert, off Lowestoft, June 31. In this battle Obdam's ship was blown up and the Dutch were left with- out a head ; but the neglect of the English enabled them to escape. De Witt was now charged with continuing the war for self- ish purposes. The sailors in the fleet, resenting the prefer- ment of De Ruyter over Cornelius Tromp, a zealous Orange 38 594 History of the Netherlands. partisan, mutinied in behalf of the young prince. It was urged that he should be placed in his father's offices, to allay the hostility of England. But the Grand Pensionary was equal to the emergency. He took command of the fleet, suppressed the mutiny, and astonished the pilots by taking the vessels through a supposed impassable channel. This has ever since been called " De Witt's Deep." In his ab- sence, however, serious intrigues were formed against him. Louis XIV. whose offers of mediation had been rejected by the English king, now aided the United Provinces in order to prevent their falling into his hands. Charles's ally, Van Galen, Bishop of Munster, who had invaded Friesland, was repelled by aid of the French troops. By a skilful stroke of policy, De Witt allayed the hostility of the Orange party. He took charge of the education of the young prince in order to fit him for the public service. On the ist of June, 1666, De Ruyter with eighty-five men-of-war and sixteen fire-ships met Monk's fleet of sixty large vessels off the North Foreland, and would have destroyed it had not Prince Rupert come up with twenty-five more. Three times the great Dutch admiral forced his way through the English lines. Tromp fought like a tiger. As one vessel after another bearing his flag crashed into the enemy, Monk asked in won- der whether there were half a dozen Tromps on the Dutch fleet. The battle lasted for four days, and on the last De Ruyter dispersed his opponents, who escaped under cover of a thick fog. " It is God," exclaimed the devout admiral, " who delivers them ; he wills but to chastise their presump- tion, not to destroy them utterly." This great battle, the longest and most hotly contested that ever occurred in Eng- lish seas, was announced in England as a victory for Monk. In fact, Charles II. ordered a public thanksgiving, "which," said honest Bishop Burnet, " was a horrid mocking of God and a lying to the world." The genial Evelyn describes in 1 666. De Ruyter invades England. 597 his diary a visit to the remains of the English fleet, which he says was "miserably shattered, hardly a vessel entire, but appearing rather so many wrecks and hulls, so cruelly had the Dutch mangled us." A good deal of this mangling was due to the terrible effect of chain-shot, — an invention attrib- uted to De Witt, which was first used in the four days' battle. Another contest on the 25th of July between De Ruyter and Tromp with eighty- eight ships and Prince Rupert and Monk with about the same number, resulted in a victory for the English. The great Dutch admiral, whose ship, the " Seven Provinces," was a mark for the enemy's fire, was so disheartened by the terrific cannonade that he exclaimed, " O God, why am I so wretched ? Is there not, among so many thousand balls, one that will bring me death? " Soon rallying, however, he fought the enemy bravely till they withdrew from the pursuit. Tromp's recklessness in this battle weakened the fleet and caused his dismissal from office. His quarrel with De Ruyter and his known Orange leanings led De Witt to favor this policy. After suppressing an Orange plot in which his own secre- tary and two Rotterdam magistrates were engaged, the prin- cipal offender being executed, De Witt made a bold attempt to hasten the negotiations for peace. A fleet of seventy vessels under De Ruyter advanced up the Thames in June, 1666, forced the boom at the Medway, destroyed the men- of-war that guarded it, and moved on in triumph to Chatham. Such was the weakness to which the king's corrupt extrava- gance had reduced the country. The roar of the Dutch guns was heard in London and spread terror along the coast. Thus De Witt compelled the peace of Breda on the 31st of July, by which the English renounced the claims which had been the pretext for the war, and agreed to a defensive alliance with the haughty republic. Louis XIV. now invaded Flanders, which he claimed for 598 History of the Netherlands. his wife's unpaid dowry. Her father, Philip IV. of Spain, had died in the previous year, leaving his kingdom powerless, the population shrunk to six millions from twenty under Philip II., the soldiers no longer invincible to foreign in- vaders, and unable to protect their own homes. Beardless boys and decrepit old men had taken the place of the stalwart veterans of Parma. The country was exhausted, and unhap- pily the Belgian provinces had caught the infection of its mis- government. National energy and public spirit languished, the nobles were lackeys of their foreign rulers, and local privileges were all that was left of popular liberty. Early in the year 1668, England, the United Provinces, and Sweden signed the famous Triple Alliance in order to compel Louis XIV. to peace. The efforts of Sir William Temple, the accomplished English negotiator, had been un- willingly seconded by De Witt, who feared Charles's instability would expose the republic to the vengeance of France. Temple's urgency led De Witt to hasten the conclusion of the treaty. He induced the states-general to sign it, without consulting the states of the separate provinces. By this act the national constitution was violated by the very party that had denounced the house of Orange for similar misdeeds. This was another proof that the slow-going methods of the union were unequal to great public emergencies. But De Witt's forebodings were destined to have a sad fulfilment for himself and his country. Charles II. sold himself to Louis XIV. ; by the secret treaty of Dover in May, 1670, he agreed to aid in an attack on the republic: Sweden also withdrew from the triple league. 1 1 The glowing praise of historians like Macaulay and Green of the ill-starred Triple Alliance is not justified by the facts. Hallam is more guarded, " Con- stitutional History of England," vol. ii. p. 374, Boston, 1854 ; and Lingard holds that it accomplished nothing more than the French king himself was anxious to effect. " History of England," vol. xii. p. 190, notes, London, 1829. 1672. The French Invasion. 599 Though the Dutch repelled the English attack on their Smyrna fleet, they were in no condition to resist a French invasion. Failing to bribe De Witt, Louis resolved to crush the proud traders who had foiled his plans. The states had neglected their army from fear of Orange influence, and Holland only consented to the young prince's appointment as captain-general on condition that he should never become stadtholder. With his splendid army of one hundred thousand men commanded by Conde" and Turenne, the French king crossed the Rhine, subdued Gelderland, Utrecht, and Over- yssel, and advanced within nine miles of Amsterdam. De Ruyter's encounter with the combined fleet of the Duke of York and the French Count d'Estr£es, in Solebay, May 28, 1672, upheld Dutch prowess on the sea. The states-general, by the advice of John de Witt and against the appeals of Amsterdam, which had set a noble example of resistance to the enemy, and the three subdued provinces, offered humble terms of submission to Louis. In his pride of conquest he rejected them ; but his demands and those of England roused universal opposition. Popular feeling was now excited against John, de Witt and his brother Cornelius, the able deputy of the states-general. The Orange party charged them with selling the country to France • and the Calvinist ministers preached against the gov- ernment, and demanded the restoration of his family dignities to the prince. An attempt was made to assassinate the two brothers ; and the states of Holland and Zealand, yielding to the popular clamor, repealed the Perpetual Edict, and elected the youthful William stadtholder and captain- general. Renewed assaults were made on the character of the De Witts. A furious mob threatened the house of De Ruyter, because the old hero defended the honor of Cornelius. The latter was soon tried and convicted, on complaint of a wretch 600 History of the Netherlands. named Tichelaar, of attempting the life of the Prince of Or- ange. As even torture did not extort the desired confession, the judges would not condemn him to death, but, fearing to excite the popular fury by an acquittal, they sentenced him to perpetual banishment. Meanwhile John de Witt had resigned his post as Grand Pensionary. By an artful plot he was induced to visit the jail, against the appeals of his friends, in the belief that his brother had been acquitted and desired to see him. The populace who thronged the prison doors were enraged by seeing a carriage waiting as if to take away the prisoner. Tichelaar now incited a report that he had evaded pun- ishment for his assassination scheme and was about to escape, and called for vengeance upon the two brothers. " To arms, to arms ! Treason, treason ! " was the cry of the infuriated populace as they surged about the prison doors. On hearing of the tumult the states of Holland sent a body of cavalry and ordered out burgher guards to* protect the prison, but the latter were in full sympathy with the mob. One company in particular, distinguished by a blue flag, were furious against the* prisoners, being incited by their leader Verhoef, and stimulated by drink, which had been purposely provided for them. Being held in check by the cavalry under Count Tilly, a plot was formed to withdraw them. The council of state were prevailed upon to send the troopers to guard the approaches to the city against the reported approach of a band of peasants and sailors. The count, who had spurned a verbal summons to quit his post, said sadly, on receiving a written one, " I shall obey this order, but it is the death-warrant of the brothers." His departure was the signal for an attack on the prison door with axes and sledge-hammers. The murderous threats of the rioters obliged the keeper to open it. Verhoef and Van Bankhem, a sheriff of the Hague, led on the populace. THE DE WITTS IN PRISON. 1672. Massacre of the De Witts. 603 They forced the two prisoners to descend the stairs ; they were then dragged into the street and torn in pieces by the populace. " There goes the Perpetual Edict," said one of the mob, as the late powerful ruler fell under the furious blows. This frightful tragedy was enacted at the Hague on the 20th of August, 1672. 1 The massacre of the De Witts, which has left a bloody stain on the history of the republic, was the blind vengeance of the people upon the representatives of a hated political system. John de Witt had shown great ability as a ruler, and had raised his country to the height of its influence in Europe. But that influence was secured by the repression of the all-popular house of Orange, which represented national unity and progress, in favor of an arrogant burgher oligarchy whose administrative incapacity, while it hampered De Witt, enraged the long-suffering people. The Grand- Pensionary became the victim of the narrow provincialism which had raised him to power. Though a greater man than Barneveld, he had the same weakness for providing his relatives with offices. Yet, while corrupting others, the chief of the republic was himself incorruptible, and his simple, frugal ways deeply impressed the courtly English ambassador, Sir William Tem- ple. His sacrifice was cruel and lamentable ; but it was the natural result of his efforts to intensify the defects of the Dutch constitution, to keep the people in bondage to the ambitious families who enriched themselves by controlling the municipal corporations that ruled the states-general. John de Witt, 1 Verhoef opened the bodies of the brothers and tore out their hearts, which he preserved for a long time and exhibited for money to gratify a barbarous curiosity. Another miscreant cut out a piece of flesh, which he declared he should roast and eat with his friend Tichelaar. Basnage, " Annales des Pro- vinces-Unies," torn. ii. p. 649, folio. La Haye, iy?6. 2 This view of De Witt's position has been ignored by Mignet and other of his eulogists ; but it is maintained, not merely by zealous Orange partisans like Groen van Prinsterer, but by his latest and most competent biographer. While 604 History of the Netherlands. though an able and high-minded statesman, strengthened the bonds which shackled the progress of his country, and thus deprived himself of a place among its permanent benefactors. His undoubted patriotism only deepens the regret that his talents did not have a higher field of usefulness. justifying De Witt's policy in excluding the house of Orange from power on account of the misdeeds of its later members, he admits the essential falsity of his political system. " Each town a sovereign ; — that seems about the mad- dest and saddest of political ideals, and every Dutchman ought to feel satisfied that De Witt's work failed. What possible result could issue from it in the long run, but weakness and strife eternally, and final disintegration and decom- position ? The house of Orange represented unity and growth ; De Witt repre- sented a republic whose constant and increasing tendency was to resolve itself into a series of unconnected municipal atoms." Geddes, " History of the Admin- istration of John de Witt," vol. i. p. 456. London, 1879. Compare Wagenaar, " Vaderlandsche Historie," decl xiv. bock liv. Amsterdam, 1756. CHAPTER XXXIX. DECLINE OF THE DUTCH REPUBLIC. The neglect of William III. to punish the murderers of the De Witts has sullied his fame. Fear of exciting the ill will of their powerful opponents overpowered his sense of justice. But the wretches lived - to expiate in poverty and shame the deed which the people themselves regretted when the fury of passion had calmed. With the death of the two brothers their party fell to pieces. After changing the refractory town governments by advice of the states of Holland, whose support was secured for him by Gaspar Fagel, ' the new Grand Pensionary, the prince roused the people to resist the invaders. The heroic spirit which animated William the Silent in a similar crisis now nerved his great-grandson at the age of twenty-two. He declared that he would die in the last ditch, rather than behold the ruin of his country. He urged the states-general to engulf Holland in the ocean from which it sprang, and embark all its inhabitants for India, there to found a new commonwealth, sooner than accept the degrading conditions of their enemies. Inspired by this resolve, the people threw back defiance to the allies. They opened the dykes and flooded the country, while the prince continued that stub- born warfare with Louis XIV. in which, though often de- feated, he was to triumph at last. On the sea the Dutch held at bay the superior forces of the allies. In the summer of 1673 De Ruyter and Tromp, 606 History of the Netherlands. whom the stadtholder had reconciled, fought three battles against the combined English and French fleets under Prince Rupert and Count d'Estrees, and protected the coast of Zea- land from invasion. In the last of these contests, which took place at the mouth of the Texel, Aug. 21, 1673, De Ruyter closed the long naval warfare between the two great maritime powers by breasting with only seventy-five vessels, twice the number of the enemy. Tromp in his ship the " Golden Lion" of eighty-two guns fiercely engaged the "Royal Prince " of one hundred, commanded by Admiral Sprague ; both ships became disabled, and in attempting to change his vessel Sprague was drowned, his boat having been sunk by a cannon-ball. The French admiral who had been prevented by secret orders from his government from aiding Prince Rupert wrote to Colbert, minister of finance : "I would have sacrificed my life for the glory that De Ruyter has gained." The jealousy of the allies and the unpopularity of the war with the English sailors were advantages for the Dutch. While losing some of their East and West India possessions they regained New Amsterdam, which had been taken by the English in 1664 and named New York in honor of the Duke of York, brother of Charles II. Admiral Cornelius Evertsen, after capt ring a number of Virginia tobacco ships in Chesapeake Bay, appeared off New York with his squadron, Aug. 9, I673, and on the surrender of the city its name was changed to New Orange, in honor of William III. The cry of " Oranje boven ! " (Up with Orange !) stirred the Dutch residents of Manhattan as it had the people of the Father- land. When the states-general secured the desired treaty of peace with England in February, 1674, by which both parties restored their conquests, they relinquished New Netherlands, besides yielding the honor of the flag and paying a large indemnity. Charles II. had been forced to this peace by the 1 675. Death of De Ruyter. 607 refusal of his parliament to furnish further supplies for the war. In their joy at this settlement the states of Holland and Zealand made the offices of stadtholder and captain- general hereditary in the family of William III., while the states-general did the same with the stadtholderate and cap- tain-generalship of the union. The prince's power was also increased by the restoration of the three conquered prov- inces, Gelderland, Overyssel, and Utrecht, under circum- stances which gave him almost absolute control of their government. Despite William's popularity in the provinces, they were so fearful lest he should grasp supreme authority that he declined the offer of a sovereign dukedom from the states of Gelderland. This had excited great opposition from the states of Zealand, and produced a financial panic in Amster- dam. The sense of dependence on his life deepened popular anxiety during his sickness at the Hague, where he was care- fully tended by Bentinck, his faithful chamberlain, whom he rewarded with the Earldom of Portland. Thus was founded one of the great aristocratic houses of England. The prince's military necessities led him to neglect the Dutch navy, much to the regret of De Ruyter, who was obliged to attack the French fleet of Admiral Du Quesne with an inferior force, part being Spanish vessels. In a battle near Sicily, April 22, 1675, the old hero received his death- wound. He had risen from a cabin boy to the proud position, conceded to him by the English historian Hume, of the greatest naval commander of his age. His piety and patriotism endeared him to his countrymen, and his sailors loved him as a father. His modesty and simplicity were remarkable. The morning after the four days' battle, which covered his name with glory, he was found sweeping his cabin and feeding his chickens, as if he had done nothing wonderful. Princes vied with each other in honoring him, 6o8 History of the Netherlands. but he refused all invitations to visit foreign courts. When he died the rugged captains of the fleet who had crowded into his cabin, wept like children. Thus passed away, amid the scenes of his renown, the greatest of the great Dutch admirals at the age of sixty-six. William, like De Witt, was troubled by disputes between the Voetians and Cocceians, disciples of two rival theologians. As they took sides in politics he favored the party of Voetius, which had opposed the Grand Pensionary, and made magis- trates and ministers feel his power. The influence of the authorities of Amsterdam checked these perilous controver- sies. The French philosopher Descartes, who resided in Holland for many years before his death in 1650, originated the doctrines adopted by the Cocceians. On his arrival in 161 7 he joined the troops of Maurice of Nassau, but during his subsequent residence in Amsterdam and other Dutch cities he was devoted to philosophical pursuits. The busy traders among whom the meditative student walked did not dream that his influence would outlast the republic. It was creditable to the country of Erasmus and Spinoza that it afforded a refuge to Descartes ; and the fame of Frederick Henry is brightened by the protection which he gave to the philosopher when exposed to prosecution by the civil power. This had been instigated by Voetius, then theologi- cal professor at Utrecht, whose opponent, Cocceius, was ap- pointed professor of theology at Leyden the year Descartes died. By his marriage, Nov. 4, 1677, with the Princess Mary of England, daughter of the Duke of York, the -heir to the British throne, the prince prepared the way for his future triumphs against France. But the states-general had mean- while become so weary of the war that they accepted the tempting terms of peace offered by Louis XIV. The new King of Spain, Charles II., on freeing himself from the regency DESCARTES AT AMSTERDAM. 1 688. William s Descent on England. 611 of his mother, Anne of Austria, in November, 1675, relapsed under her control and that of her favorites. The great- grandson of Philip II., he was the last of the Spanish- Austrian line, and in him all its weaknesses were combined. Feeble in mind and body, he was grossly superstitious, and so ignorant that he did not know the names of some of his own towns and provinces. Forced to make peace at Nimeguen, in July, 1678, by the English king's intrigues with France, which left the Spanish Netherlands at its mercy, William availed himself of the frightful excesses of Louis XIV. to form a new coalition against him. His efforts to aid the Belgian provinces against the French invasion in 1683 and 1684 had been balked by the opposition of the cities of Amsterdam and Middleburg and the provinces of Groningen and Overyssel. By the League of Augsburg, in 1686, he brought the German princes to his support against France. James II. of England still clung to Louis ; and William, who had vainly tried to har- monize the king and his people, was at last forced to protect his wife's rights. Dykvelt, his prudent counsellor, was sent to England to organize the popular opposition, and James's infatuation and the birth of the Prince of Wales did the rest. The invitation of the nobles found William nearly ready for his great expedition. The consent of refractory Amsterdam had been gained by Dykvelt, and the states sustained the great cause with which the liberties of Europe were bound up. The security of the provinces being assured, the Prince of Orange, with his army of thirteen thousand men, embarked on the enterprise, which was crowned by William and Mary's sovereignty of England, on the 13th of February, 1688. William III. was henceforth the representative of England in his Grand Alliances which humbled the pride of Louis XIV. In his native country, where his neglect of the national in- terests excited great irritation, he appeared only to rebuke 612 History of the Netherlands. the pride of Amsterdam and to repress resistance to the rule of his party. The Spanish Netherlands became the battle- field of Europe ; victims to the ambition of Louis XIV., their fortresses were captured, their capital bombarded, the country was devastated. Notwithstanding their reduced armaments the Dutch maintained their reputation for naval prowess. At the battle of Beachy Head, June 29, 1690, their fleet under Cornelius Evertsen breasted almost alone the destructive French attack, owing to the mean-spirited con- duct of the English admiral Torrington. Queen Mary sent a Privy-Councillor to the states-general to allay the indignation of the Dutch, whose gallantry overcame for a time the jeal- ousy of their allies. The ships of Holland and Zealand helped to turn the tide of victory against the French admiral Tourville at the battle of La Hogue, in May, 1692, when the English vindicated their old renown, and henceforth ruled the seas. William's obstinacy and the exhaustion of France com- pelled Louis XIV. to the peace of Ryswick, in September, 1697, and the recognition of the stubborn stadtholder as King of England. Spain now regained many places in the Netherlands, and the Dutch obtained the right to garrison the frontier towns as a protection against France. A sensation was excited in Holland in the year 1697, by the discovery that the Czar of Russia, Peter the Great, was working as a ship-carpenter in the little town of Zaandam. Being in need of a fleet he adopted this means of learning the art of ship-building. Under the name of Peter Michael- hoff he entered the employ of a certain Mynheer Calf, and was familiarly known to his brother workmen as Piet. Being greatly annoyed by the curiosity of visitors, he left after a week's stay and pursued his labors as a shipwright within the walls of the dockyards of the East India Company at Amster- dam. In that great commercial capital, whose forests of masts were the wonder of foreigners, he varied his manual PETER THE GREAT IN THE DUTCH SHIPYARD. 613 1700. The Spanish Succession. 615 labors by a careful study of the arts and industries for which the Dutch were then famous, before passing on to England. The cabin in which Peter the Great lived at Zaandam is the principal curiosity in the town, which, in his honor, was at one time called Czardam, or Saardam. It is a common wooden hut enclosed in a stone structure, and contains vari- ous memorials of the great monarch and of the visits of his successors. The impending death of the Spanish king Charles II., and the fear that his vast dominions would fall to the dauphin, or the Emperor Leopold of Germany, who with the Electoral Prince of Bavaria were claimants of the succession, led Eng- land to join France and the United Provinces in a partition treaty, Oct. 11, 1698. This assigned Spain the Indies, and the Spanish Netherlands to the Electoral Prince of Bavaria ; the Milanese to the Emperor's son, the Archduke Charles of Austria ; and the kingdoms of Naples and Sicily to the dau- phin. But Charles's Castilian pride revolted against this dis- memberment of his monarchy, and he accordingly made a will in favor of the Electoral Prince of Bavaria. The sudden death of this prince, Feb. 6, 1699, forced William, whose warlike policy and grants of crown lands to his Dutch favor- ites had made him very unpopular in England, to agree to a second partition treaty, March 25, 1 700, by which the three powers gave Spain the Indies, and the Spanish Netherlands to the Archduke Charles, and Naples, Sicily, and the duchy of Lorraine to the dauphin. But the treachery of Louis XIV. forced William to form a new Grand Alliance against him. He claimed the succes- sion to the Spanish crown for his grandson the Duke of Anjou under the will of Charles II., who died Oct. 30, 1700. This act of Louis recalled his claim upon Flanders at the death of Philip IV., when despite his wife's solemn renuncia- tion of her right of inheritance at her marriage he asserted it 6 1 6 History of the Netherlands. by force of arms on the. pretext that her dowry had not been paid. As the " Peace of the Pyrenees " had emphasized this renunciation in 1659, it was ominous that the proud king should now declare, " The Pyrenees have ceased to exist." The Elector of Bavaria, who had been governor-general of the Spanish Netherlands since 1692, and had done much to repair the ravages of the war, now acknowledged the Duke of Anjou as Philip V. of Spain. He also furthered the designs of Louis XIV. by admitting troops into the provinces in February, 1701, thus obliging the Dutch garrisons to with- draw, to the sorrow of William who saw the barrier which he had so laboriously erected against France suddenly swept away. Though he was compelled by the English peace party to follow the example of the United Provinces in recognizing Philip V., the promise of Louis XIV. to the dying James II. to acknowledge his son as King of England, Scotland, and Ireland united the nation in support of a war policy. Death removed the indomitable Dutchman before he could again marshal his forces for the struggle. Thus passed away, on the 8th of March, 1702, the last of the great princes of Orange, the fourth* of the renowned stadtholders who had reflected glory alike on their family and their country, and who furnish the most remarkable example in history of he- reditary genius in statesmanship and war. The mission of William the Silent had its crowning triumph when his great- grandson, seated on the throne of Elizabeth, protected the imbecile great-grandson of Philip II. from the vengeance of his enemies. Though William III. lacked the military genius of Maurice and the attractive personal qualities of William the Silent and Frederick Henry, his commanding political ability and invin- cible firmness enabled him to protect the liberties of Europe and humble the power of Louis XIV. His indomitable persistency triumphed alike over his physical' weakness and llliplllli! ' I ' i iii|iiffi:i!i! ,i !ii! ENTRANCE OF WILLIAM III. INTO LONDON. 6l 7 1709. Marlborough 's Campaigns. 619 the strength of his embattled foes. 1 He was fortunate in having such able counsellors among his countrymen as Fagel, Dykvelt, and Heinsius, fortunate also in the early political training which he received from John de Witt; but the indulgence which he showed to that statesman's murderers, even more than the neglect to punish the author of the Massacre of Glencoe, has sullied his fame. Fortunately England had a great general to carry on the war. Queen Anne sent the Duke of Marlborough to the Netherlands, where he was ably supported by Prince Eugene of Savoy and the Grand Pensionary Heinsius, who, since the death of the childless William III., and disregarding his will in favor of the young Prince John William Friso, of Nassau- Dietz, carried on the Dutch government without a stadt- holder. Thus the states of Holland and Amsterdam were again triumphant. The states now appeared in a body in- stead of by deputies at the meetings of the states-general, and the power of the mercantile aristocracy whom they rep- resented was further increased by the resumption by munici- pal corporations of their self-electing privileges, though the Orange party in Utrecht, Gelderland, and Overyssel, where William III. had secured almost supreme authority, struggled long and vigorously against the change. As the result of Marlborough's campaigns, which drenched the Spanish Netherlands with blood and made the battle-fields of Blenheim, Ramillies, and Malplaquet forever memorable, 1 The fact that William and his great antagonist Marshal Luxemburg, who defeated him at Steinkirk and Neerwinden, 1692-93, were of weak constitution, is mentioned by Macaulay as a striking illustration of the change which the progress of civilization has produced in the art of war. The vein of exaggera- tion in the picture gives it peculiar vividness. " It is probable that among the hundred and twenty thousand soldiers who were marshalled round Neerwinden under all the standards of Western Europe, the two feeblest in body were the hunch-backed dwarf who urged forward the fiery onset of France, and the asthmatic skeleton who covered the slow retreat of England." " History of England," vol. iv. p. 370. New York, 1856. 620 History of the Netherlands. France was exhausted; the United Provinces, which had hampered his daring genius and ambition, became parties to the treaty of Utrecht in April, 17 13; and Belgium passed to* the Emperor Charles VI. of Germany, being henceforth known as the Austrian Netherlands. The Dutch, though receiving their coveted barrier towns, were opposed to the peace by which they gained so little, and, recognizing their waning influence, resolved not to be drawn into war for the interests of their powerful neighbors. But Belgium suffered most, as her provinces of Artois, Flanders, and Hainault were ceded to France. Had not religious and commer- cial jealousies prevented a cordial union with the United Provinces, she would have fared better. Troubles were excited in the Austrian Netherlands in the year 17 16 by the exactions of the Marquis of Pri£, a Pied- montese who represented Prince Eugene of Savoy, the gov- ernor-general, during his defence of Hungary against the Turks. Discontented with the Barrier Treaty, the Belgians were eager to resent the encroachments of the able but un- scrupulous Prie upon their ancient privileges. His exactions occasioned tumults in Brussels, Mechlin, and other cities, which were aided by the ambitious intrigues of Cardinal Alberoni, minister of Philip V. of Spain. But the inexorable Prie, favored by the support of the Emperor Charles VI., crushed the defenders of municipal liberty. The council of Brabant became his tool, and caused the execution of Agneessens, a venerable patriot, and banished four of his associates. This was in September, 1718, and it was not till six years later that the hated marquis was recalled. In 1732 the prosperity and even the existence of the United Provinces were mysteriously threatened. The im- mense dykes of Walcheren and North Holland were found to be in a fearful state of decay, thus exposing the country to destruction by the ocean. In the public distress prayers MARIA THERESA. 621 t7 3 2 - Dangers of the Republic. 623 were offered in the churches to avert the danger of being speedily overwhelmed by the storms of winter. It was found that the ravages were wrought in the solid beams and piles by a marine worm called the " Pholas," which was supposed to have been brought in vessels from India. But the in- genuity of the people supplied a remedy for the evil, and made the dykes stronger than ever by means of a coating of earth and stone. The ambition of the Princes of Orange for royal marriages continued to be a source of danger for the republic. Thus the future William IV. (William Charles Henry Friso, son of John William Friso, who was drowned in 1 711), while stadtholder of three provinces, married the daughter of George II. of England in 1734. Two years before, he had ceded the principality of Orange to the King of France on condition of being allowed to retain the title and give the name to one of his estates. The states-general were so alarmed at the prince's marriage, that they took precau- tions against the overthrow of the government by his par- tisans. The commercial jealousy of the United Provinces of a Bel- gian corporation known as the Ostend East India Company led them into serious difficulties. On condition of the dis- continuance of this company, which had become very pros- perous, they agreed to uphold a treaty called the " Pragmatic Sanction," by which the succession to the estates of the Emperor Charles VI. of Germany should, in default of sons, vest in his daughters. The emperor died in Octo- ber, 1 740, and his daughter, the Archduchess Maria Theresa, found her dominions the prey of rival spoilers. The United Provinces now fulfilled their treaty obligations to aid Maria Theresa, though to do so Holland was obliged to override the constitution and permit a majority vote to control the states-general. 624 History of the Netherlands. In revenge for this aid, Louis XV. of France, after over- running the Austrian Netherlands, invaded Dutch Flanders. The alarm thus excited led the populace in Zealand to over- turn the government and create the Prince of Orange stadt- holder. This example was followed in other provinces, and William IV. was installed on the 15th of May, 1747, as stadt- holder and captain and admiral-general of the union. The conquests of the French and internal dissensions forced the states to still greater concessions to the Orange party. The offices of stadtholder, captain, and admiral-general were made hereditary in the family of the prince, even females being eligible, though, in case of marriage without consent of the states, their children's rights of succession were barred. The stadtholder now assumed many of the insignia of sovereignty. Complaints of the decay of public spirit were rife, and the states of Holland issued edicts to restrain official corruption. The simple, frugal ways of the people had been undermined by alien fashions, and women no longer arbitrarily ruled in the household. Dutch policy had fostered monopolies, col- onies, and the carrying trade, at the expense of general commerce. The Ignited Provinces now felt, the pressure of foreign business competition, as well as the burden of their wars for independence and ambition. Manufactures and ship-building were crippled by heavy taxation, which en- hanced the price of labor. The government was deeply in debt, and private fortunes were invested in foreign loans, making money dearer for merchants at home. In ceasing to be the brokers and carriers of Europe, the Dutch had be- come its money-lenders and capitalists. Their political power among the nations had departed. Since the peace of Utrecht, in 1718, they had abandoned their claims as arbiters, and passed under English influence from fear of the aggressions of France. Yet, while losing their old-time material greatness, they maintained a repute for religious 1748. Peace of Aix-la-Chapelle. 625 toleration, business integrity, humane treatment of criminals, kindness to fugitives from foreign oppression, and general benevolence, which gave them an honorable position among civilized nations. As France and the United Provinces were exhausted, peace was signed at Aix-la-Chapelle in 1748. Both parties re- stored their conquests, but the Dutch fortresses were seri- ously damaged, and their commerce had suffered greatly. Political and religious disturbances aggravated popular dis- content ; but the power of the stadtholder was increased by his appointment as governor of the two great India compa- nies and of a Pensionary of Holland devoted to his cause. Fortunately the prince was well-meaning, and tried to im- prove the condition of the country instead of grasping the sovereignty. His death in 1 751, at the age of forty, was generally lamented. During the minority of William V., his mother, the Princess Anne, daughter of George II. of England, carried on the government of the United Provinces. She tried to increase the stadtholder's authority, and to involve the country in the seven years' war in the interests of England, whose privateers inflicted immense damage on Dutch commerce, under arbi- trary rules of contraband and blockade. After her death in 1759, these troubles were abated, though disputes between the East India Companies of the two nations threatened their renewal. When the prince came of age, in 1766, great things were expected of him; but he proved to be very irresolute, and was controlled by Prince Louis of Brunswick, his preceptor, the commander of the Dutch army, and his wife, Frederica Wilhelmina, niece of Frederick the Great. As the stadtholder had a taste for letters, and sympathized with the intellectual revival in France and England, public interest in science, literature, and art was encouraged under his rule. The University of Leyden had long been a famous 40 626 History of the Netherlands. European seat of learning. Formerly illustrated by the great names of Grotius, Descartes, Lipsius, Heinsius, Scaliger, Vossius, Arminius, and Gomarus," it had in this century numbered among its professors Boerhaave, Hemsterhuys, Ruhnken, and Valckenaer, and with its students Fielding, Goldsmith, and other English men of letters, and in the previous century had fostered the delicate tastes of Evelyn. To further the work of the university, a society for the en- couragement of literature and science was established at Leyden, and this example was followed in other cities. Painting and the drama were also favored. Following the agricultural and commercial distress of the years 1771-73, the United Provinces had troubles with France and England during the war of American Indepen- dence. These difficulties caused disputes between the stadt- holder, who was supported by the provinces of Utrecht, Overyssel, Zealand, and Gelderland in demanding increase of the army, and Holland and Friesland, whose dependence on commerce and ship-building led them to insist on re- storing the navy. Thus the national power was crippled in both forces. As Prince Louis of Brunswick and Fagel, sec- retary of the states-general, sustained English influence, the feeble William V. became subject to it, while the cause of the French government was favored by Van Berckel, the Pensionary of Amsterdam. Under the reign of Maria Theresa, which opened so stormily, the Austrian Netherlands were unusually prosperous. Public instruction, commerce, and agriculture were fostered, the ancient University of Louvain being especially cared for. Literature and art flourished under this beneficent rule ; the Jesuits were suppressed, and Flanders and Brabant became a blooming garden of industry. The governor, Prince Charles of Lorraine, held court in the ancient Orange palace at Brus- sels ; and his death, in July, 1780, after having ruled Belgium 1779- Dutch Difficulties with England. 627 for thirty-six years, was universally regretted. Four months afterward Maria Theresa died in the sixty-fourth year of her age, and the forty-first of her reign. The Belgians cherish her memory, as one of the best of their foreign rulers. Though a strict Catholic and rigidly repressing Protestant worship, she kept the ecclesiastical subordinate to the civil power. She told her son and successor on her death-bed that she had always sought the welfare of her subjects. "The chief con- solation of my last moments," said the conscientious sov- ereign, " is that I have never neglected the appeals of the unfortunate.'' x Although the states-general of the United Provinces had tried to avoid offending the English government by ignoring the offer of the United States commissioners, Franklin, Lee, and Adams, in April, 1778, for a treaty of amity and com- merce between the two republics, their caution proved un- availing. The next year the States of Holland, yielding to the influence of France, passed a resolve which was rejected by the states-general, in favor of government convoy for Dutch vessels bound for French ports. England was thus led to search and capture a number of ships so convoyed, on suspicion that they contained contraband articles. This act resulted in the refusal of the United Provinces to furnish the succor required by treaties for the war in which .Great Britain was engaged with France and Spain. To protect themselves against English assaults, the states proposed to join France and Russia in the " Armed Neutrality." The capture by an English frigate, in October, 1780, of a vessel bound for Holland, and the seizure of the despatches of Henry Laurens, late President of Congress, the envoy 1 To give in a single word the history of Maria Theresa, the Belgians were happy ; and it cannot be said, as Mme. de Stael remarked of the Austrian mon- archy in general, that it was the happiness of sleep. The Belgians were happy ; and they felt it. Dewez, " Cours d'Histoire Belgique," p. 322. Bruxelles, 1833. 628 History of the Netherlands. from the American government, gave England a pretext for taking extreme measures against the United Provinces. These despatches showed that Amsterdam burgomasters, acting through a merchant named Jan de Neufville, had projected with Henry Lee, a London alderman who was American commissioner to Vienna and Berlin, a commercial treaty with the rebels. But though this act was disavowed by the states of Holland and the states -general, it was used by the English cabinet as a means of restraining the Dutch from the union with France and Russia. So when the United Provinces became a party to the Armed Neutrality, England declared war against them. The principal reasons given for this act were the refusal of the succor guaranteed by the treaty, Dutch trade with the rebels, and the conduct of the Amsterdam burgomasters. Unfortunately, the difficulties be- tween the states, or " Patriot " party, as it was called, and the stadtholder, prevented energetic action. Unsupported by their allies, and paralyzed by domestic dissension, the United Provinces saw their commerce fall an easy victim to the enemy. The important island of St. Eustatius was seized by the rapacious Admiral Rodney, in February, 1781, and the South American possessions of the republic were also captured, though the French soon regained the con- quered territory for the Dutch. Only one action vindicated the historic naval reputation of the countrymen of Tromp and De Ruyter. In August, 1781, Admiral Zoutman encountered an English fleet of superior strength near Dogger Bank, under Admiral Parker. The bat- tle lasted nearly four hours, and though both parties claimed the victory, the Dutch kept their place. There was great joy over the result in the United Provinces, poems were composed and songs sung in honor of the " heroes of the Dogger Bank," and articles of jewelry and dress were called Zoutman, in honor of the gallant admiral. But the news gave 1 78 1. The Stadt holder s English Leanings. 629 no pleasure to the extreme Orange partisans, and the stadt- holder was said to have exclaimed, on hearing of it, " I hope at least that the English have sustained no loss." Though the states began to strengthen the navy, delay in executing their plans left Dutch commerce at the enemy's mercy. CHAPTER XL. RISE OF CONSTITUTIONAL GOVERNMENT. Belgium learned, during the reign of the Emperor Joseph II. of Germany, the successor of Maria Theresa, that the worst evils of arbitrary rule may be inflicted by a well-meaning sov- ereign. An ardent theorist, full of benevolent but impracti- cable ideas, he excited general opposition by the changes which he made in the institutions and customs of the people. He began his reign by expelling the garrisons of the United Provinces from the Belgian frontier during their war with England, and demolishing their fortresses. He then at- tempted to free the navigation of the Scheldt in violation of treaty obligations, but the vessel which he sent down from Antwerp toward the sea was fired upon and stopped by the Dutch batteries. Through the mediation of Louis XVI. of France hostilities were allayed, the Barrier treaty was abro- gated, and though the Scheldt was kept closed, Forts Lillo and Liefkenshoek were ceded to the emperor, who received nearly half a million dollars for his claims . on Maestricht. After securing these results by the treaty of Fontainebleau, Nov. 8, 1785, Joseph II. proposed to the Elector of Bavaria to exchange the Austrian Netherlands for his dominions and make him a king ; but this Quixotic project was defeated by the influence of Frederick the Great of Prussia. Thus left at leisure to carry out his schemes of reorganization in the Belgian provinces, the emperor not only assailed priestly power, but the civil rights guaranteed by the Joyous En- trance and other ancient charters of liberty. He tried to 1789. Revolt of the Austrian Netherlands. 631 dragoon the Council of Brabant into submission, surrounded the hall of the states with artillery, and threatened to turn Brussels into a desert. Had the people been united, they might have preserved their newly acquired independence ; but after driving out the Austrians, they had bitter conflicts in their own ranks. The party of the moderate reformer, Vonck, and his asso- ciate, the gallant general Van der Mersch, was overmatched by the masses and the states, under the blind lead of an enthusiast named Van der Noot, who wished to restore all the old abuses. The frightful excesses of his followers forced the people into the power of the Emperor Leopold, the suc- cessor of Joseph, whose death, was hastened by the success- ful assault upon his rule. His redeeming work was his famous Edict of Toleration, by which Protestants were al- lowed freedom of worship and the right to hold public office. England, Russia, and the United Provinces guaran- teed the sovereignty of Leopold and the Belgian constitu- tion, Dec. 10, 1790; but as the emperor refused to confirm any privileges not existing at the accession of Joseph II., the allies withdrew their guarantee. The inefficiency of the Dutch government excited discon- tent with the Orange party. The Prince of Brunswick was forced to leave the country, and the states-general recognized the independence of the United States of America. 1 Before 1 " The Dutch republic was the second power in the world to recognize the independence of the United States of America, and the act proceeded from its heroic sympathy with a young people struggling against oppression after the example of its own ancestors. The American minister (John Adams) found special pleasure in being introduced to the court where the first and the third William accomplished such great things for the Protestant religion and the rights of mankind. * This country,' wrote he to a friend, ' appears to be more a home than any other that I have seen. I have often been to that church at Leyden where the planters of Plymouth worshipped so many years ago, and felt a kind of veneration for the bricks and timbers.' " Bancroft, " History of the United States," vol. x. p. 528. Boston, 1874. 632 History of the Netherlands. long the states of Holland deprived the stadtholder of the command of the garrison at the Hague and of the captain- generalship, as a rebuke to his encouragement of repressive measures. But as the aristocratic states would not admit the people to a share in the government, the popular party forcibly reorganized them. These and other excesses excited a reaction in favor of the Prince of Orange, who intrigued with his brother-in-law, the new king of Prussia, Frederick II., to restore his authority. The arrest of his sister, the Princess of Orange, by the states of Holland on her way to the Hague from the court at Nimeguen, gave the king an excuse for sending an army into the provinces under the Duke of Brunswick, in September, 1787. He had also been promised the aid of twelve thou- sand Hessians by England, in case of French aid to the opponents of the stadtholder. Despite their brave resolu- tions, the " patriots," who vainly sought aid from France, offered little resistance to the invaders. The stronghold of Utrecht was abandoned, Sept. 16, 1787, without an attempt at defence by the Rhingrave of Salms, one of the leaders of the aristocratic wing" of the patriot party, in whom the states had blindly confided. This defection excited a reaction in favor of the stadtholder, who entered the Hague amid exult- ing shouts. The streets were decked with orange-colored flowers, and orange flags decorated the churches. The Grand Pensionary Bleiswyck, the chief of the aristocratic " patriots," came to greet the prince, who said, as they looked upon the surging crowd, " Behold the voice of the people." Only one city held out against the Prussian advance. Resenting the terms of the Duke of Brunswick, the haughty Amsterdam pierced the dykes and laid the surrounding country under water. But neglect to guard the approach by the lake of Haarlem enabled the besiegers to land a THE PRINCE ENTERING BRUSSELS. 633 1788. Foreign Support of the Stadtholder. 635 force in boats, which compelled the surrender of the city. The old government was restored and a Prussian garrison was admitted. For the first time in her whole history, the proud capital saw a victorious enemy within her walls, and her humiliation was increased by the knowledge that it was the work of the deposed chief of the house of Orange. Prussia and England now guaranteed by treaty the hered- itary stadtholderate, and the English government wielded great authority in the country. Orange badges were forced upon unwilling patriots, and the naval and military officers who had served the states of Holland were dismissed and otherwise punished. The King of Prussia and the Duke of Brunswick were greeted as deliverers by the states-general. Even the Whig leaders in the English parliament justified the action of the ministry towards the United Provinces. Fox, instead of rebuking this interference in the domestic affairs of a weak power, praised it ; and Burke, who also eulogized the action of the government, reserved his satire for the thin pre- text which veiled the royal assaults. 1 The reliance by the stadtholder upon foreign bayonets, and the feeble resistance of the patriots, showed the decline of the national spirit. Neglect to remedy the defects of their con- stitution, the ambition of the house of Orange for royal mar- riages with its burdens of foreign war, and the growth of the 1 " A chivalrous king, hearing that a princess had been affronted, takes his lance, assembles his knights, and determines to do her justice. He sets out in- stantly with all his knights, in quest of adventures, and carries all before him, achieving wonders in the cause of the injured princess. This reminded him of the ancient story of the Princess Latona, who, having been insulted by a nation like the Dutch, appealed to Jupiter for satisfaction, when the god in revenge for her wrongs turned the nation that affronted her into a nation of frogs, and left them to live among dykes and waters. Although the King of Prussia had, pro- fessedly, set out merely to obtain adequate satisfaction for the injury done his sister, his army by accident took Utrecht, possessed themselves of Amsterdam, restored the stadtholder, the former government, and all this at a stroke and by the bye." " Parliamentary History," vol. xxvi. column 1277. 6$6 History of the Netherlands. great powers about them, aided this change. The Princess of Orange, who had a much stronger character than her husband, arbitrarily strengthened his power and prepared the way for the milder rule of Van de Spiegel, the Grand Pensionary of Holland, the able adviser of the youthful prince. Belgium and the United Provinces were both victims to the passion for conquest which inspired revolutionary France in 1792. After alternate defeat and victory, they were sub- dued in spite of Austrian and English aid. The triumph of Dumouriez at Jemappes, Nov. 6, first laid open the Belgian provinces to the French arms ; and after being regained for Austria by the Archduke Charles in 1793, they were over- come by Pichegru in the following year. Though the United Provinces had tried to remain neutral, the conquests of the French and the opening of the Scheldt, forced them into the war. Profiting by the unusually severe winter, Pichegru advanced over the frozen waters of Holland, occu- pied Amsterdam, crossed the ice with his hussars, and cap- tured the Dutch fleet in the Texel. These successes obliged the stadtholder, William V., to take refuge with his family in England. The Belgians, who threw off the yoke of Fran- cis II., the new emperor of Germany, were sadly disappointed in their hopes of freedom, and suffered terribly from Jacobin license. The anti-stadtholder party in the United Provinces had also welcomed the invaders, whose triumph was pre- pared by revolutionary committees in Amsterdam and other places. The infatuated Dutchmen danced round trees of liberty in greeting to their conquerors. In the flood of revo- lutionary fervor nearly all the landmarks of political, social, and religious conservatism were swept away, the only excep- tion being the states-general, who still clung to their title of High and Mighty Lords. The Batavian republic rose on the ruins of the ancient order. 1810. French Domination. 637 The union of Belgium with the French republic,' decreed by the national convention Oct. 1, 1795, was followed by more devastation and brigandage ; and even the coveted free- dom of the Scheldt, which had been granted some months before, to the disgust of Holland, could not allay the general discontent. Bonaparte, however, on becoming First Consul, did much to restore prosperity to Belgium, where he was received with great enthusiasm. 1 But the Batavian republic felt the burden of his rule. With their Oriental possessions a prey to British fleets, with hostile armies ravaging their borders, the sway of Schimmelpenninck, their ambassador to France under the title of Grand Pensionary, in 1805, with a constitution imposed by Napoleon, prepared the Dutch for the reign of Louis Bonaparte, as King of Holland. His brief rule, though well meaning, failed, alike from its increase of the national debt and from the restraints enforced upon him by the emperor, to relieve the distress of the country. The annexation of Holland to the empire in 18 10 ground her down under the burden of taxation and conscription, while a political and legal system, wholly unsuited to the people, completed the work of alienation. Meantime the grand dockyards and arsenals constructed by Napoleon at Antwerp had excited the fears of England. She sent a great expedition to capture the city, which failed from the official incapacity which sacrificed the lives of twenty thou- sand soldiers in the marshes of Walcheren. The defeat of Napoleon at. Leipsic excited a general insurrection in the Batavian provinces of the empire. Sus- 1 Candid Belgian historians admit that French domination had benefits as well as injuries for their country. It substituted centralization for a narrow provincialism, diminished the undue power of the nobility and clergy, which was interested in maintaining all the old abuses, and by its contact with a bright and progressive civilization, helped to dissipate the intellectual torpor which was the fatal legacy of Spanish rule. Borgnet, " Histoire des Beiges," torn. ii. p. 364. Bruxelles, 1862. 638 History of the Netherlands. tained by Prussian and Russian troops, the Prince of Orange, son of the stadtholder William V., entered the Hague and as- sumed the title of Prince Sovereign of the United Provinces, on the 1st of December, 1813. "The Dutch have taken Holland ! " was the exclamation then heard throughout Eng- land, confusing the ideas of geography current among school- children and other persons ill-informed in contemporary history. On the downfall of Bonaparte, the great powers decreed the union of Belgium and the United Provinces, by the treaty of London, June 20, 18 14; and the Congress of Vienna in the following year added the grand-duchy of Lux- emburg, which was made a part of the Germanic confedera- tion, to the new kingdom. The union was cemented by the valor, signalized in Wellington's despatch, with which the Prince of Orange led the Netherland troops at Waterloo until forced by 3. wound to leave the field. As William I. he was crowned King of the Netherlands in Brussels, Sept. 27, 18 15. This union of the Dutch and Belgians was too artificial to last. It was a political blunder to place people so diverse in character and interests under one government. The result was that the narrow-minded King William made a knowledge of Dutch a requisite for office, and interfered with Catholic religion and education. Heavy taxes, un- equal representation in the states-general, abolition of trial by jury, and restrictions on freedom of the press, added to the grievances of the Belgians, who only awaited a favor- able opportunity to break their bonds. The tardy and insuf- ficient concessions of the king were useless. 1 The storm 1 " The true revolutionist was the Netherland government, which did not respect its sworn faith, which imposed on us its language, which excluded us from the public service, which seized the education of our children, and which wished to destroy or corrupt our religion. On its side were violent usurpation, and the causes of trouble ; on ours, right and law, efforts for reconciliation and peace." Gerlache, " Histoire du Royaume des Pays-Bas," Introduction, p. xxiv. Bruxelles, 1842. WATERLOO 1 83 1. Independence of Belgium. 641 which swept away the throne of Charles X. of France de- stroyed the kingdom of the Netherlands. Beginning in Brussels on the night of the 25th of August, 1 830, the insurrection spread through the country. The Dutch troops who had entered Brussels under command of the Prince of Orange were driven- back, and though the citadel of Antwerp again bombarded the historic capital, the inde- pendence of Belgium was soon assured. The five powers that had signed the treaty of Paris guaranteed the act of the national congress which excluded the house of Orange- Nassau, and placed Prince Leopold of Saxe-Coburg, uncle of Victoria, the future Queen of England, on the throne. He was enthroned at Brussels on the 21st of July, 1831. Twelve days afterward an invasion of seventy thousand Dutch soldiers, who after defeating his troops threatened his capital, obliged the king to seek aid from France and England. The advance of a French army into Belgium and the appearance of an English fleet on their coast caused the Dutch to withdraw. Objecting to the division of Luxemburg made by the directing powers, they refused to give up Ant- werp, but were compelled to surrender it by a French army under Marshal Gerard, Dec. 23, 1832, the combined fleets of France and England blockading* the Dutch ports. It was not, however, till the treaty of London, April 19, 1839, that the two countries came to a final settlement, by which the free passage of the Scheldt was secured to Belgium. The next year, William I. resigned the crown of Holland, and William II. reigned peacefully till his death, in 1849, when he was succeeded by his eldest son, the present king, William III., whose convivial and musical tastes have gained him the appellation of King Cole. The great ship canal from Amsterdam to the North Sea, completed in November, 1876, is the chief internal improvement of his reign. Enter- prising Rotterdam has also constructed a North Sea. canal ; 41 642 History of the Netherlands. and the projects for draining the Zuyder Zee and for giving Amsterdam a direct canal to the Rhine show the spirit of enterprise excited in Holland since the removal of old-time commercial restrictions. The recent international exhibition emphasizes the value of those East India possessions which have made the Dutch the second colonizing power in the world, their colonies containing more than six times the home population. Few of Holland's heroes are more hon- ored than Jan Pieterszoon Koen, the founder of Batavia, who solidified the oriental empire of the republic, and who has been called the Clive of the Netherlands. The moderation of the excessive license of the Kermesse, or great annual Fair, indicates social progress among the Dutch. Amsterdam's abolition of this time -honored carnival in 1876 resulted in an outbreak of mob violence which the military were called out to suppress. The removal of the objectionable features of the national festival, while retaining this outlet for popular merriment, is a cause for satisfaction. A fresher spirit has inspired Dutch literature since the appearance of Bilderdijk, who died in 1831 at the age of seventy-five, and who, with Cats and Vondel, is generally regarded as one of the three representative poets of Holland. His successor in domestictendencies was the Jew, Da Costa. The romantic poems of Tollens and Bogaers, who vividly de- picted some of those heroic achievements in Dutch history which the great painters neglected ; the lyrics of Staring, the novels of Van Lennep, Ten Brink's picturesque views of colonial life in the East Indies, the criticism of Bakhuyzen van den Brink, the poetic humor and philosophy of Beets, the essays of Hasebroek, the Dutch Charles Lamb, show the ideal side of the intellect of the sturdy Hollanders. But Paul Potter's Bull is, as a distinguished critic has said, the true Dutch idyl ; and the descendants of the traders of Am- sterdam and the fishermen of the Zuyder Zee, who triumphed 1848. The Wave of Revolution. 643 over the fleets and armies of the great empire of Spain, may well pride themselves, in their placid retirement, upon their hereditary virtues of benevolence, integrity, and thrift. Belgium felt the wave of revolution in 1848 more than Holland, although a liberal government was in power, and the feeble French assault was repelled. The shock to public credit resulted in a temporary suspension of cash payments. Leopold I. died, Dec. 10, 1865, greatly lamented by the people. During his reign of thirty-four years educational and other reforms strengthened the cause of good govern- ment. "Belgium, like myself, has lost a father," said his successor, the present king, Leopold II. Two years after his accession Netherland independence was threatened by the intrigues of Napoleon III. Jealous of the power of Prussia assured by her victory over Austria at Sadowa, the emperor vainly tried to induce Bismarck to support his project for the purchase of Luxemburg and to aid him to conquer Belgium. The Prussian government prevented the King of Holland, who feared that it would force him into a Germanic confederation, from selling Luxemburg to the emperor, and called in the powers that had signed the treaty of 1839. -By tne trea ty of London, May 11, 1867, Lux- emburg was constituted a neutral state in the possession of the house of Orange-Nassau, Prussia renounced the right of garrison in the great fortress which was soon after demol- ished, and Holland acquired Limburg. Revenge for being thwarted in his designs on Luxemburg and Belgium urged Napoleon forward in that opposition to Germany which cost him his throne and laid France at the feet of her rival. On the breaking out of this war in 1870, England by treaty with each of the belligerents sustained the independence and neutrality of Belgium. The independence of Belgium stimulated that material and intellectual activity which is now so marked. It is the most 644 History of the Netherlands. densely populated country in Europe, and was the first on the Continent to establish a system of railways. Antwerp commemorated by the unveiling of a monument on the nth of August, 1883, in the Place Marnix, the emancipation of the Scheldt twenty years before from all the old restrictions on its navigation which was definitely closed by the treaty of Munster and the general peace of Westphalia in 1648. The Belgian government has taken a leading part in the African International Association, designed to develop the resources of the interior of the Dark Continent. It sent out the veteran explorer Stanley, and also the ambitious De Brazza, who has since acted in the interests of France. The recent comple- tion of the magnificent Palace of Justice, at Brussels, one of the largest and most remarkable architectural productions of modern times, emphasizes the growing taste and- wealth of Belgium. A less imposing monument lately erected in Antwerp illustrates the national pride in literary as well as commercial and artistic progress. Henri Conscience, the novelist, whose exquisite pictures of Flemish home-life have won him a more extended fame than any other Belgian author has ever enjoyed, had the rare satisfaction of seeing his statue unveiled in the public square which bears his name about two weeks before his death, which occurred on the 10th of September, 1883. With the poets Lederganck and Van Duyse, he had adorned the revival of Flemish lit- erature, the success of which, notwithstanding government encouragement, is hampered by the general use of the French language by the Belgians. CHAPTER XLI. THE NETHERLANDS OF TO-DAY. With the defeat of the liberal party under Van Lynden's administration in 1883, the conservatives assumed the responsibilities of government, pledged to the speedy accomplishment of drastic financial reforms, and the enlargement of the scope of the electoral laws. The threatened reduction of the lim- itation of the franchise had further contributed to their overthrow. The people were insistent in their demands for an extension of the suffrage, and the members of the states-general, conscious of the pop- ular will, shipwrecked the ministry by an adverse vote of sixty-six to two. The revision of the consti- tution, as desired by the defeated administration, briefly described, was as follows : (1) to make the law of succession to the throne clear and complete, (2) to empower the council of state to speak out independently in administrative affairs, (3) to abol- ish the electoral cense, and substitute an intellectual qualification, and to reduce the terms of representa- tion, so that the states-general would be entirely renewed every five years, (4) complete introduction of personal military service, (5) abolition of the oath, (6) an easier method of revising the constitution. 646 History of the Netherlands. *The members of the new ministry, who were chiefly outside and untried men, now applied themselves to the task of "regulating the disordered finances of the country," and appointed a special commission to study the vexed question of the revision of the con- stitution. The financial embarrassments of the repub- lic, however, had little effect on the abiding faith of the Netherlander in their own commercial possibili- ties, for, when tenders for the four per cent, loan of sixty million guilders were invited, over twelve times the amount asked for was subscribed, and an act was passed authorizing the melting down of twenty-five million silver guilders to prevent depreciation of the currency. But affairs of state were not permitted to interfere with the International Exhibition in progress at Amsterdam, which, though insignificant in regard to extent of area as compared with the expositions which were to follow in other lands, ranked in point of size next after that held in Paris in i888.f One of its principal features was a complete representa- tion of the Dutch East India Colonies. *The public debt, in 18S3, amounted to nine hundred and eighty-nine million seven hundred and three thousand three hundred and fifty guilders, and ten million guilders of paper money. The constitution at this time remained the same as that proclaimed in 1848, which vested the legislative authority in the states-general, which was composed of two chambers, viz. : the " Upper," which consisted of thirty- nine members, chosen by the provincial councils from the highest class of taxpayers, and the " Lower," comprising eighty-six members, elected by citizens paying from twenty to sixty guilders direct taxes. Executive authority was exercised through a council of eight ministers. The population, in 1882, was four million one hundred and seventy-three thousand, eighty-two thousand being Israelites. •{-The International, Colonial and General Exportation Exhibition was opened in Amsterdam on May 1, 1883. It occupied twenty -five acres of ground. The United States sent no commissioner, the display of Ameri- can goods being made by agents. The War in Acheen, 647 The war in Acheen in Sumatra which had been in intermittent progress for years, and which had been entered upon as a preventative against the intru- sion of any foreign power in the Malaysian Archipel- ago, broke out afresh. The cessation of aggressive hos- tilities on the part of the Dutch, which had so far mulcted the treasury of three hundred million guilders, and at a sacrifice of thousands of lives, would, it had been hoped, have practically established peace. But the withdrawal of the military administration in 1880, and the appointment of a civil governor, were inter- preted as signs of weakness and encouraged the Achenese, who were now well equipped with rifles and other munitions of war, to renew their depreda- tions. The civil governor was in turn dismissed, military rule was hastily re-established, and sangui- nary conflicts became of almost daily occurrence. The district of Great Acheen, which formerly contained a population of nearly four hundred thousand, was all but decimated, the number having been reduced by war, and accompanying disease, to less than fifty thousand. The stranding of the British ship, Nisero, and the capture and retention of the crew as hostages, by the Rajah of Tenom, unexpectedly produced a temporary cessation of warfare. Originally held with the belief that their retention would serve for the purpose of a game of political shuttlecock, and make it possible for the rajah to reap advantageous terms from both England and Holland, he essayed, with misguided diplomatic intent, to " play" one govern- ment against the other. An insulting letter addressed to the English authorities, declining England's further 648 History of the Netherlands. mediation with the Dutch, failed, however, to have the anticipated effect. Instead of further bandying of words, a threat was made by the British to dispatch an expedition jointly with the Dutch to discipline the recalcitrant rajah, and the surviving members of the Nisero were hastily surrendered. With the death of the feeble and aged Prince of Orange, the only male heir to the throne, and last descendant of the great house of Orange, the regency of the grand duchy of Luxemburg passed into the hands of the king. This occurred on June 2nd, 1884, and the succession to the throne of Holland passed to the Princess Wilhelmina, King William's last surviv- ing daughter, and now only four years of age. The socialists, who for some time had remained in a quies- cent state, and taken but a passive interest in current events, with the advent of the ensuing year clamored loudly for legislation tending to universal suffrage, and the improvement of the condition of the working man. Many wefe arrested for rioting and for posting placards insulting to the king. The decline in the volume of colonial products also continued to cause in- creased governmental uneasiness. A fall of forty per cent, in the price of sugar produced a crisis in the East India trade and nearly precipitated a financial crash in Holland. The suspension of the culture of sugar in India, which had existed for some years past on bor- rowed money, was seriously threatened. Not only had the request for further cash advances been posi- tively refused by the banks, but the liquidating of the old loans peremptorily demanded. This stoppage of cultivation meant more than was at first sight apparent, Hostility to Reform. 649 for it seriously imperilled the social and political status of the whole of the Dutch possessions in the East Indies, for the income of the resident native aristoc- racy was largely derived from the rents of the planta- tions, upon nearly two hundred of which thirty million guilders were annually expended. Another home loan of sixty million guilders was floated, and a revi- sion of the lottery act, so as to increase the revenues of the treasury, was also made in order to help to meet the increasing deficit. Bimetallism was now de- manded by some as a remedy for the prevailing com- mercial depression. In the midst of these troubles the new ministry, in the face of an adverse vote, resigned, but the king refused to entrust the responsibility of self-government to the liberals, the people were ap- pealed to, the administration was sustained, and with a new leader — Heemskerk — expressed its readiness to extend the electoral franchise — hitherto refused — and make the needed revision of the constitution. While the depression in colonial commerce seriously disturbed the current of trade abroad, a growing feel- ing of hardly explainable discontent continued to per- vade a large section of the urban population at home. The minds of the people were agitated over the alleged violence of the authorities in the suppressing of street demonstrations, and the reputed persecution of their popular representative. A law was passed against drunkenness ; the festival of the Kirmiss with its eight days of questionable license, was interdicted, and the favorite pastime of eel-baiting was forbidden upon the reasonable grounds of cruelty The latter practice was, however, continued, and when in Amsterdam in 650 History of the Netherlands. 1886 police interference was authorized, a tremendous riot ensued. Barricades were erected under the pro- tection of which the mob made a determined resist- ance, and it was not until large detachments of infan- try and cavalry were called out, twenty-five of the rioters killed and fifty wounded, that the assemblage was dispersed. Many of the police actuated by sym- pathy resigned, the jails were filled, and the sale of newspapers upon the streets was prohibited. Of the ringleaders, the socialist Fortuyns, a journalist, and a social-democrat named Vanderstart, were arrested, and imprisoned, and a bill restricting the rights of as- sembly was passed by the parliament. The troubles in unhappy Acheen still continued, though, under the new policy of concentration, the troops forming the outposts had been withdrawn and offensive hostilities abandoned, the English settlers in Penang, upon the pretext that the army of the Nether- lands was unable to maintain "settled order," and who had good reasons "for coveting the district, while sur- reptitiously furnishing the rebels with arms and am- unition, called upon Great Britain to interfere in the interests of peace. Another vessel was captured by a piratical crew off the port of Riga, all the Europeans on board were killed, and emboldened by the late suc- cesses of the Rajah of Tenom, the captain's wife and the engineer were carried into the interior and only sur- rendered to the Dutch authorities upon the payment of twenty-five thousand dollars ransom. A vain at- tempt was made by the government to enlist a new European force of several thousand men, but notwith- standing a tempting bounty and increased pay but few The Elections in 1888. 651 responded to the invitation. In the more settled dis- tricts of Sumatra, however, substantial commercial progress stood out in marked contrast to the war cloud which, with monotonous but malign repetition, con- tinued to gather and break over other portions of the island. On the former island recent explorations had disclosed the existence of vast coal fields on the Urn- bili river, reputed to contain two hundred million tons of lignite, and capital was readily subscribed for the construction of a line of railway from Mocara Kalaban to the Bay of Brandewyns, which, passing by Fort de Hock, the seat of government, would penetrate the mining district. The impending elections in 1888 now aroused the keenest interest of the people and continued to absorb almost the entire attention of the government and the- contending factions, to the exclusion of other business, until the declaration of the result of the polling which took place in March. By the modifications in the constitution, which had been passed in 1887, the right of electoral suffrage was extended, the cense had been reduced, and for every fifteen persons there was now one qualified elector. By this expansion of the fran- chise the total number of electors was increased about one hundred and twenty per cent, and the privilege was extended to all male persons of twenty-three years of age who paid ten guilders in personal taxes, inclusive of army officers. Still more liberal amend- ments had been offered by the legislature but were re- jected by the cabinet. Under the first application of the progressive provisions of the new constitution, the returns from the polling places showed a rather singular 652 History of the Netherlands. appreciation, on the part of the electors, of the en- larged responsibilities conferred upon them, and a contradictory divergence of opinion. For the Second Chamber the new membership was constituted as fol- lows : Liberals, forty-five, Anti-revolutionists (Cal- vinist clericals), twenty-seven, Roman Catholics, twenty-six, one Conservative and one Socialist (Nien- wenhuist). Of the fifty members comprising the First Chamber, thirty-five were Liberals, ten Ultramon- tanes, four Conservatives and one Calvinist. As the Liberals were left without a majority in the Lower House, Heemskerk and his colleagues resigned. Of the new ministry, Hartsen (Min. of Foreign Af- fairs) and Ruys van Beerenbeck. were high conserv- atives. The former being a protestant, and the lat- ter a Catholic. Dyserinck, a Liberal (Min. of Ma- rine) and Keuchenius, a radical (Min. of Colonies), were pledged to the principles of" Confessional Edu- cation" and favored universal obligatory military serv- ice, of which* system Colonel Bergentius, the new minister of war, was an uncompromising advocate. Keuchenius, the dictator of the colonial policy, was also deeply and reasonably possessed with the desire to purify the colonial methods of administration, a laudable determination, but one which, owing to the somewhat Utopian practices subsequently employed, ultimately led to his dismissal. Meanwhile the health of the king's mind and body, which had already made necessary the appointment of Queen Emma as guardian of her daughter — the Princess Wilhelmina — had become so precarious that the states-general was convened for the purpose of Secular Education. 653 establishing a provisional regency. An improvement, however, took place in the king's condition and further action was postponed. One of the first acts of the new legislature was the passage of a measure amending the Education Act of 1S78, which had provided for the defraying of the cost of the maintenance of the schools by charging the government with thirty per cent., and the communes with seventy per cent., of the total expenditures. By the "primary instruction" law of 1857, extended by legislation passed in 1878, the system of popular edu- cation then introduced had appreciably diminished the standing evil of illiteracy.* The electorate in 1888, which had defeated the Heemskerk administra- tion, were, however, strongly opposed — both protes- tant and catholics — to the principles of secular educa- tion, and further amendments to the School Act were passed by the Chambers. The new regulations pro- vided for the bestowal of government grants to the teachers of private schools based upon the number of the attendance, which was restricted to six hundred, and the grant limited to four hundred guilders per an- num. The friends of sectarian schools among the clerical and evangelistic parties were, however, far from satisfied, and regarded the inovation with dis- trust. More cabinet changes took place in 1890, Keuchenius, the recognized leader of the orthodox protestants, through a mistaken view of what he con- sidered to be the conscientious discharge of the re- sponsibilities of his office, incurred the displeasure of *In the rural localities, at the present day, about one-fifth of the adult males and one-fourth of the adult females are unable to read or write. 654 History of the Netherlands. the government. He took advantage of the oppor- tunities afforded by his position to engage in mission- ary work while administering the affairs of the colo- nies.* He was accused of fomenting religious strife by taking measures for the protection of the Christian population, unsolicited, and of attempting to restrict the religious liberties of the Mahomedans in order to please his Calvinistic and Ultramontane supporters, but he failed in his scheme for the evangelizing of the natives, and was so unmercifully criticized that the colonial budget was rejected and his resignation fol- lowed. The policy of using the power of the govern- ment for Christianizing the inhabitants of Java was not pursued by his successor. Notwithstanding these political disturbances, which while having little material influence on the country at large might reasonably have been supposed to have had a depressing effect on trade, commerce was slowly expanding. The conversion of the four per cent. , issue of stock into three and a half per cents, which was ac- complished in 1886, had reduced the annual charge for interest on the public debt by one hundred and eighteen thousand guilders, arid the capital account by over seven million. The exports in 1890 showed an increase of twenty-three million guilders, and the im- ports an increase of fourteen million guilders, over the figures of the previous year ; but the trade with the United States showed a decline. No duties were lev- ied on raw materials, and on manufactured articles a duty of five per cent, upon the import value was im- posed for revenue only. Holland still preserved her *Appleton. Holland's Policy of Free-trade. 655 free-trade policy in spite of the protectionist doctrines which largely controlled the other countries of Europe. She had long ago taught the western nations finance, and better still, commercial honor. "She also incul- cated free trade, a lesson which is nearly as hard to learn, if not harder, since the conspiracy against pri- vate right is watchfully incessant, and, as some would make us believe, respectable." It is doubtful whether any other small European race, after passing through the trials which the Dutch endured from the peace of Aix-la-Chapelle to the conclusion of the continental war, ever had so entire a recovery. In May, 1889, the regency of the grand duchy of Luxemberg, which , owing to the health of William II. , had been entrusted to the Duke Adolph of Nassau, again passed into the hands of the king by his own decree, and the provisional regent returned to Germany. In 1890 the system of compulsory native labor, which had governed the culture system of Java * since 1832, ceased, in accordance with the provisions of the act *The Dutch possessions in the East Indies at the present day (1S95) com- prise the whole of the Sunda Islands, with the exception of a small portion of Borneo and Eastern Timor, together with western New Guinea, and cover an area of seven hundred and eighteen thousand square miles and a population of twenty-eight million five hundred thousand, of whom as many as twenty-one million four hundred and fifty-nine thousand four hundred and fifty live in the islandsof Java and Madura, and four hundred and five thousand seven hundred and twenty-seven in the Moluccas. Included in this estimate are many districts in the interior of Sumatra, Borneo, Cele- bes and other islands, in which Dutch sovereignty is merely nominal. The outlying islands are frequently administered by their own princes, subject to the directions of a Dutch Resident. The colonial revenue for 1895 is es- timated at nearly fifty-two million dollars, the estimated expenditure at fifty-seven million dollars. The exports in 1S93 amounted to eighty-nine million five hundred and eighty-three thousand three hundred and thirty dollars, and the imports to seventy-one million two hundred and fifty thousand dollars. 656 History of the Netherlands. passed in 1870, but only as regarded the cultivation of sugar. Up to 1888 indigo, pepper, tea and tobacco, at least in sufficient quantities to meet native con- sumption, had also been cultivated by forced labor under official superintendence, and coffee was the only staple now remaining that was produced under the old system. The failure of this latter crop in 1888, the crisis in indigo and sugar, and the discovery of official irregularities had, of course, given rise to widespread discontent, and "the heretofore submissive natives, now impoverished, and weakened by the opium habit," which was largely on the increase, at last revolted. A pretender to the throne of the late sultan appeared before the town of Bantam at the head of an insurrec- tionary force, which was finally subdued, but with great difficulty. This was followed by grave rumors of an impending and general uprising, prevented at the last moment by the seizure of the ringleaders at Surakarto, who confessed to a well organized plot for the restoration of the Empire of Java, and at Vorsten- landen, a seal of state was taken, upon which was en- graved the name of " Mangku Negoro IV.," as the prospective ruler of the new kingdom. But though quiet was in a measure restored, it was apparent that rebellion was far from being extinguished, and as a tentative stroke of policy, a sum of forty-five thousand guilders was voted by the legislature for the purposes of pensioning off those of the chiefs who had relaxed in their hostilities, and even the restoration of the sul- tanate and the evacuation of Acheen was seriously contemplated. Upon the heels of the first outbreak, another rebellion followed in 1889, of still greater pro- Death of King William HI. 657 portions, and Bantam was once again the theater of the disturbance. Over two hundred natives were tried for conspiracy, more than one hundred of whom were condemned to death, and whose sentences were alone commuted owing to the joint protests of the islanders and the resident Europeans. At Edi, on the west coast, however, a concerted attack on the garrison re- sulted in the defeat of the Dutch troops. At Kot- tapohama, in May, the government forces sustained a severe reverse, retiring with a loss of over one hundred killed and wounded, while the mysterious and incura- ble berri-berri disease* continued to carry off the soldiers from the Netherlands and other Europeans by hundreds. "In Acheen the subjugation of the war seemed no nearer, the policy of conciliation being mistaken for weakness." On October 29, the king's malady having again de- veloped, he was declared, by an almost unanimous vote of the House, as incapable of administering the affairs of state. Queen Emma was again selected as regent, and on November 20th, she took the oath of office to act during the term of her husband's incapac- ity. The period was of short duration, for on the 23rd the king, unable to longer withstand the complicated nature of his disorder, died, and on the 24th a procla- mation was issued by the regent announcing the as- cension of Queen Wilhelmina Helena Pauline. An- other oath was now taken by Queen Emma upon the constitution and with solemn ceremonial, that she * A commission was appointed to inquire into the nature of this malady which was endemic and apparently incurable. It manifested itself in a swelling- of the legs, accompanied by complete lameness, with intense suffering and ultimate death. 42 658 History of the Netherlands. would accept the responsibilities involving upon her, as regent during her little daughter's minority. As the people had long since forgotten, owing to her own winning personality, that she was the German princess of Waldeck and Pyrmont, or that she was not one of themselves, her instalment as provisional sovereign of the Netherlands, was hailed with genuine satisfaction. Duke Adolphus of Nassau was again appointed Regent of Luxemburg. The long outstanding dispute between France and the Netherlands, over the true delimitation of the frontier of Surinam (Dutch Guiana), was, owing to the discovery of valuable auriferous deposits in the ter- ritory tributary to the Lawa river, brought to an issue in May, 1891. The debatable land flanked the banks of the Lawa, and the question to be determined was whether the Lawa or the Tapanahoni river constituted the boundary. The Emperor of Russia, when first ap- pealed to, declined to act as arbitrator so long as the French government refused to withdraw all restrictions regarding the scope of the award, and the troops of both countries patrolled the hot banks of the Lawa, pending a settlement of the controversy. The French government having agreed to surrender the question of the scope of award, fully satisfied that the decision would be in their favor, the arbitrament of the Czar was again sought. To the great confusion of the represen- tatives of France the arbitrator confirmed the claims of the Netherlands in toto, and the vexed line of demarka- tion.was established by the litoral of the Lawa river.* ♦The colony of Surinam, or Dutch Guiana, in South America, embraces forty-six thousand and seventy-two square miles, and contains about fifty- seven thousand inhabitants. Revision of Taxation. 659 The resignation of the cabinet was once more forced by the severity of public criticism. Unfulfilled pledges was again the chief cry of the malcontents. The general election which followed resulted in the formation of an entirely new cabinet under Dr. van Tienhoven, the popular burgomaster of Amsterdam, but the former platform, of sweeping reform and complete re-organization of the army,* was sensibly modified. Chief among the measures promised was the further extension of the suffrage, the execution of the primary election law, the stricter observance of the Sabbath, and the substantial reduction of the accumulated deficit. In the session of the states- general that followed, a law providing for a more equitable system of taxation, and based on modern requirements, was introduced, a measure which, though during the past forty years had been sub- mitted nine times to various legislatures, had never succeeded in being embodied in the statutes. It was estimated that a revenue of eleven million six hun- dred thousand guilders could be raised by direct per- sonal taxation. The new military law made active service equally imperative for all, and was nearly ♦The war-footing of the army, in 1S94, consisted of two thousand six hundred and eighty-eight officers, and fifty thousand nine hundred and sixty-six men, with a militia (Schuttery) numbering about forty-three thousand seven hundred and sixteen additional. The royal navy consisted of one hundred and twenty-one men-of-war, twenty-one of them being ironclads. The colonial army consists of one thousand three hundred and eighty-four officers, and thirty-three thousand three hundred and thirty men, with a reserve of three hundred and ninty-three officers and men one half of whom are Europeans. 66o History of the Netherlands. universal in its application. The new measure of re- form contemplated, was the abolishment of substitu- tional service, and making military service obligatory in the standing army as well as in the militia and the Landsturm. The qualification of voters was made dependent on the ability to read or write, visible man- ual proof of the voters' ability to do so being abso- lutely necessary. Out of about one million voters over twenty per cent, were disqualified in consequence of the introduction of the new law. This amendment to the law governing the suffrages of the people was strenuously and uncompromisingly opposed by the liberals, who looked with alarm on the probable polit- ical conditions which they professed to believe would follow. They insisted that the social democrats — whom they feared — would become dangerously pow erful in the Chamber, and would finally secure the same franchise for the communal electors, and ulti- mately change taxation and expenditure so that the "resources of those who had, would be diverted for the benefit of those who had not." But opposition to the change in the electoral law was not confined to the ranks of the liberals, for a section of the Socialists condemned the measure also, but upon the ground that it was not far-reaching enough, while the ministry was implored not to make a government question of the bill, for in event of a dissolution the two great parties would be thrown into a state of disastrous confusion. This division of opinion, however, had no relation to old party lines. The liberals and conservatives were similarly split up into factions ; the radicals alone were solid in its support. The aim of Tak-van-Port- Waterways and Trade. 66 1 vliet, who was the father of the bill, was " to make suffrage as nearly universal as the law allowed." Among the catholic clericals, as well as among the anti-revolutionaries, or protestants, opinion was al- most balanced, many on either side being as hostile to the measure, as others were strong in its approval. While the burning question of party expediency was agitating the minds of professional politicians, a diversion was created by the opening of the new Mer- wede Canal, which was designed to connect Amster- dam with the Rhenish provinces, giving a free route by Vreswijk to the Upper Waal, and placing Amster- dam on an equal inland water footing with Rotter- dam, which has a free highway to Germany by way of Dordrecht.* While the trade of the country continued to expand, the annual government expenditures exceeded the or- dinary revenues by ten million guilders. As author- ity was vested in the government to emit treasury bills to the extent of eighteen million guilders an- nually, to meet any periodical deficit, there was but little check upon the inclinations of the government of the day, if tempted, to exceed the appropriations au- thorized by the legislature. By the addition of these regularly recurring deficits, the public debt, which in 1883 had amounted to about nine hundred and ninety *The Merwede Canal had a total length of forty-four miles. The total mileage of the canals of Holland, according to the latest returns, is placed at one million nine hundred and seven thousand one hundred and seventy miles, besides three thousand miles of other navigable waters, the entire country being a net-work of water-courses. In 1894 Holland's mercantile marine consisted of one hundred and fifty-four steamers, with a joint ton- age of four hundred and ninety-nine thousand tons, and four hundred and forty-two sailing vessels, with three hundred and thirty-five thousand ton- nage, employing seventeen thousand men. 662 History of the Netherlands. million, had reached in 1893 a total of over one thou- sand and ninety-four million guilders, exclusive of an increase in the paper money liability of nearly five mil- lion additional. The population during the same de- cade had increased by five hundred and sixty thousand. With the increase of the national debt and of the pop- ulation, the taste for foreign products and manufactures was cultivated to an almost disproportionate extent, for whereas the value of the imports in 1883 amounted only to a little over one-third of the home exports, the imports of 1893 exceeded in value the exports for the same year by about one-fifth. The value of the im- ports from the United States alone, in the brief space of two years, had risen from ninety-eight million four hundred thousand guilders in 1890 to one hundred and forty-nine million in 1892.* The Netherlands had wrung their original father- land out of the grasp of the ocean. They had con- fronted for centuries the wrath of that ancient tyrant, ever ready to seize the prey of which he had been de- frauded. It was inevitable that a race thus invigor- ated by the ocean, cradled to freedom by their con- flicts with its power, and hardened almost to its in- vincibility by their struggle against human despotism, should be foremost among the nations in the develop- ment of political, religious and commercial freedom. \ *The total trade of the Netherlands for the years 1883 and 1893 respect- ively was — in guilders — as follows: EXPORTS. IMPORTS. 1883 1 ,072,470,000 684,409,000 1893 1,163,125,000 1,467,395,825 A guilder is equal to forty cents United States money, -j- Motley. The Netherlands of To-Day. 663 The Netherlands have advanced so far in religious and political liberty that they are not likely to go per- manently backward. Too small to protect themselves against the great military powers about them, their safety depends on their importance in the balancing system of Europe. By their services to art, literature, and liberty, they have gained a hold on human interest and affection which no merely material prosperity could secure. After their long agony of internal con- flict and foreign domination, Holland and Belgium, in wise disunion, repose under the shelter of constitu- tional monarchy, — a government more republican in spirit, though not in form, than any in their whole his- tory. The different means by which the two branches of the Netherland people have reached this position afford an interesting study in the laws of historical development. Less prosperous than the Belgians when the war with Spain began, the superior vigor of the Dutch as a race, their Calvinistic zeal, and their geographical position, gave them an advantage over their neighbors. By trading with the enemy, plundering their rich East Indian and South American colonies, and fostering their own, they gained the first place among maritime nations. Their material successes stimulated intellec- tual progress, and thus the Dutch welcomed learned foreigners to their shores and became leaders in scholar- ship. At about the time that Piet Heyn was captur- ing the Spanish silver fleet, and while Tromp and De Ruyter were fighting their way to fame, Descartes was philosophizing in Amsterdam, Grotius was found- ing the science of International Law, and Golius, the 664 History of the Netherlands. eminent Orientalist and successor of Erpenius at Leyden. was enriching that renowned university, which had numbered among its professors Scaliger, Lipsius, and Heinsius, with a remarkable collection of Arabic manuscripts that he had secured during his four years' travels in the East. Europe was astonished at the varied triumphs of the hardy republic. But the nation was too small and too disorganized by internal dissen- sions for permanent political supremacy. England, which had absorbed the industries of the unfortunate Spanish Netherlands, outstripped the commercial suc- cess of the United Provinces, which, weakened by naval wars, were exhausted by the long contest with France. This, with the stadtholder's ambition and troubles with the states, drew the country into the control of the English government, whose exactions completed its decline. Another source of the national decay was the Dutch colonial system, which carried to extremes the restric- tive policy of tlfe seventeenth century. Corporate monopolies stunted commercial as well as political development. It was by arbitrarily restricting pro- duction and trade that the enormous profits of the East India Company were obtained. Thus the people were loaded with taxes, and after the war with Eng- land in 1 78 1, which crippled the Dutch colonies, the great corporation became a prey to corruption and was smothered in debt The Belgian provinces owed their long subjection to foreign rule to the severance of their union with the Dutch, whose commercial jealousy increased the dis- trust produced by differences in language, in manners, The University of Louvain. 66$ and, above all, in religion. The incurious and station- ary Walloon was no mate for the sturdy and enter- prising Hollander. The reactionary tendencies of the obedient provinces were stimulated by their chief lit- erary institution. The University of Louvain en- couraged the burning of Luther's writings in that place, and the first edict of Charles V. against heresy embodied the views of its theological faculty. It was a profes- sor of law at Louvain, Dr. Elbertus Leoninus, whom Requesens and Don John of Austria employed to tempt William of Orange to submission to Spain ; and it was from the university press, under the license of William Esthius, doctor of divinity, that the glori- fication of the prince's assassin was issued. The uni- versity rejected Erasmus, Bilsius, and other eminent Dutch scholars, and refused to admit distinguished German, Danish, and English students who did not profess the Catholic religion. Van Helmont, the celebrated chemist, the most brilliant student that the university ever had, was per- secuted as a sorcerer by the government of the Arch- duchess Isabella. The memorable Decree of Toleration, proclaimed by Joseph II. in 1781, which Pope Pius VI. was lead to overlook if not to justify, met with intolerant opposition from this renowned seat of learn- ing. The influence of Louvain helped to deprive Belgium of the literary and philosophical activity which animated France during the eighteenth century, and the university was overthrown by the revolution- ary fury which that movement excited. Among the professors who made Louvain famous, were such noted champions of the Catholic faith as Pope Adrian VI., 666 History of the Netherlands. Baius, Jansenius, and Bellarmin ; and the university- gave an honorary professorship to the eminent anato- mist, Vesalius, before he assumed a chair at Padua. Swept away by the French government in 1797, the University of Louvain was restored by the Dutch authorities in 18 17 ; abolished by the Belgian govern- ment in 1834, it was revived by the bishops in 1835, and became the only Catholic university in the country, and one of the bulwarks of the Conservative party. Founded in 1426, this venerable seat of learning, which, though shorn of its ancient glories, has a his- toric interest in striking contrast to that of Leyden, which dates back to 1574. Yet the Belgians had one notable characteristic which saved them from the fate of other conquered peoples. They preserved the local independence guar- anteed by their ancient charters of freedom which antedated those of their neighbors. It was these long- cherished privileges — individual liberty, inviolability of domicile, independence of the magistracy, restric- tion of the right of taxation to the states-general, etc. — that kept alive the national spirit which enabled them to throw off the Austrian yoke. The French Revolution, that blinding storm of ret- ribution for ages of crowned oppression, and the avenging ambition of Napoleon, sowed the seeds of Belgian freedom. Beneath the enforced union with France lurked a feeling of discontent which Europe in arms roused to resistance. And though release from French domination was followed by a consolidation of the Netherlands, this artificial bond could not con- trol natural causes. It was shattered by the political Progress in Science and Art. 66 J individualism which is the title-deed of Dutch and Belgians to distinctive independence. In their devotion to the arts and industries of peace, the Netherlands have long set an example to the world, as needful as the mighty struggle for freedom which is identified with their progress and with the advancement of humanity. It was a Zeelander, Zacharias Jansen of Middelburg, who placed the two instruments — the telescope and microscope — in the hand of Galileo, by which the movements of the universe were traced, and enabled the student to study the hitherto hidden minuteness of life by which we are surrounded. Cornelius Drebbel is supposed to have invented the thermometer and barometer. *Willebrod Suellius is credited with intro- ducing the system of measuring the degrees of latitude and longitude, and previous to the discovery of Des- cartes, had invented — it is so asserted by Huygens — the doctrine of refraction. In the early days of the republic, Holland and es- pecially Amsterdam and Rotterdam, held, says Rogers, the printing presses of Europe. The Elzevirs were the first publishers of cheap editions. From Holland came the first optical instruments, the best mathema- ticians, the most intelligent philosophers, as well as the boldest and most original thinkers. Holland is the origin of scientific medicine and national therapeutics. From Holland came the new agriculture, and not satisfied with exploiting the possibilities of mother earth, the Dutch taught modern Europe the science of navigation. It was especially — writes Motley — to the * Motley. 668 History of the Netherlands. noble band of heroes, the great navigators and geo- graphical discoverers of the republic, that science is above all others indebted. Nothing is more sublime in human story than the endurance and audacity with which those pioneers of the sixteenth and seventeenth century confronted the nameless horrors of either pole, in the interests of commerce, and for the direct purpose of enlarging the bounds of the human intellect. The story of this heroic people — to again borrow from an authority previously quoted * — is entirely worthy of study, and is more romantic and more in- structive than that of the famous stand which Greece made against Persia so many centuries ago. The debt which civilization and liberty owe to these is greater than that which is due to any other race. Towards the end of the eighteenth century Holland was assailed by jealous rivals, but after sixty years of humiliation the Dutch reasserted themselves, and though a small peo- ple hemmed in by large military governments they hold a considerabfe place among nations. Fortunately, disabled from wasting their substance on militarism, they are far from being an effete nation, for in no de- partment of enterprise, of commercial integrity or of intellectual vigor — as the preceding pages demon- strate — is the Dutchman of to-day behind any Euro- pean nation, or even the race which achieved so remarkable a position in the seventeenth or the first half of the eighteenth century. The Dutch are the real founders of what people call international law, or the rights of nations. They have made mis- takes, but fewer than their neighbors made. The * Rogers. Addenda. 669 benefits they conferred were incomparably greater than the errors they committed. Although Alva and the Inquisition still figure in their picturesque life, it is as features in a historic celebration, or as haunting spectres of the past, in- stead of in the grim reality of persecution and carnage. The lesson of Netherland history is one of kindly judgment for men who, in a spirit of honesty and pa- triotism, uphold institutions which, however harmful, are inseparable from their age, as well as of admira- tion for the heroes and martyrs by whose sacrifices future ages are redeemed. Adverse circumstances or conditions may retard or impair national development, but they deepen public interest in the fortunes of a people whose struggles and sacrifices have smoothed the path of human progress. ADDENDA. For convenience, the word Protestant is used to describe the early religious " Reformers " in the Netherlands, most of whom were Calvinists, although the term was originally applied to the reformers of North Germany, adherents to Luther, who in the year 1529, protested against the decree of the Imperial Diet held at Spires. The reference to the size of Ghent, p. 43, is not to its popula- tion, but to its territorial extent, which was illustrated by the pun of Charles V., that he could put Paris into.his Gant (glove). The following authorities, " Memoires de Frederic Perrenot, 1 ' cited p. 222, " Memoires sur les Troubles de Gand," and " Mem- oires Anonymes sur les Troubles des Pays-Bas," cited pp. 243, 244, are publications of La Societe d'Histoire de Belgique. Belgium's losses of territory mentioned p. 620, may be referred 670 Addenda. to the treaties of the Pyrenees (1659) ; Aix-la-Chapelle (1668) ; and Nimeguen (1678). By the treaty of Utrecht Flanders passed almost intact to Germany, though France afterward added to its possessions in this province by conquest, and the Dutch also secured a portion of it before the union of Belgium and the United Provinces in 1815. The king of Prussia referred to, p. 632, is not Frederick II., but Frederick William II. It is the king of Belgium, not the government, that has di- rected the work of African exploration mentioned p. 644. Recent Parliamentary elections in Belgium in favor of the Clerical party, show a marked reaction from the liberal tenden- cies mentioned, p. 644. This result is largely due to Radical excesses. The Princess Wilhelmina, who is the King's heir, cannot in- herit the Grand Duchy of Luxemburg, which is under the Salic law, barring the claims of females to the succession. These complications give plausibility to recent reports from the Hague, that Parliament might possibly consent to ultimately confer the title to the Grand Duchy of Luxemburg upon the hereditary prince of Nassau, eldest son of the present Duke, who was dis- possessed of his sovereignty in 1866, when his dominions were reunited to the German crown. The hereditary prince belongs to the elder or Walram branch of the House of Nassau, the late King of the Netherlands belonging to the Otho, or younger branch. But though the Ducal house of Nassau is in the line of suc- cession to the Grand Duchy of Luxemburg, no members of the German branch of the royal family are to be allowed a share in the guardianship of the child- Princess Wilhelmina. After the son, grandsons and daughters, of the Princess Sophia, other Ger- man members of the house of Nassau are in the line of succes- sion to the Dutch crown. Boston. INDEX. Abjuration, Act of, by states of Holland and Zealand, 258. Accord, signed by Duchess of Parma and Leaguers, 10 1. Addenda, 669, 670. Adrian VI., Pope, rebukes church abuses, 45. Aerschot, Philip de Croy, Duke of, jests with Alva, 129 ; seeks favor with both parties, 214 ; deserts Don John of Austria, 218; his in- trigues and arrest, 222 ; conditional release, 223 ; enters Antwerp with Parma, 349; death and character, 422. Aerschot, Duke of, conspires against Archduchess Isabella, 564 ; arrested in Madrid, 570. Aerssens, Cornelius, Registrar of States-General, his attempted bribery by Spinola, 514. Aerssens, Francis, Dutch envoy in Paris, becomes Barneveld's enemy, 514 admitted to the nobility, 516; one of Barneveld's judges, 520; de- signs treaty with France, 573 ; aids Frederick Henry, 576; mission to England, 577. Agneesens, a Belgian patriot, execu- tion of, 620. Aix-la-Chapelle, treaty of, 625. Alberoni, Cardinal, his Belgian in- trigues for Philip V. of Spain, 620. Albert of Austria, Archduke, Governor of Spanish Netherlands, 423 ; ap- pearance and reception, 424 ; in pecuniary straits, 431; assumes sovereignty, 434; marriage, 447; defeated at Nieuport, 455, 457; besieges Ostend, 461-466, 471-483 ; furthers peace negotiations, 499 ; urges United Provinces to sub- mission, 541 ; death and character, 542. I Alencon and Anjou, Duke of, French revolt, 184.; negotiates with Orange, j 188 ; seeks Netherland sovereignty, 221 ; agrees to aid the provinces, 232 ; retires toward France, 242 ; accepts sovereignty of Netherlands, 254 ; Queen Elizabeth's flirtation with, 262 ; installed at Antwerp 263 ; appearance and character, 264; in danger from assault on Orange, 276 ; complains of neglect of treaty, 285 ; receives new digni- ties, 286 ; plots against Netherland liberties, 288 ; attempts to seize Antwerp, 291 ; retreat, 293 ; in- trigues to regain authority, 294 ; retires to Paris, 297 ; death, 299. Alkmaar, siege of, 157 ; desperate defence, 158; a brave carpenter, 16 r ; flight of Spaniards, 161. Alliance, Triple, an ill-starred treaty, 598; undue praise of, 598 (note). Alliances, Grand, of William III. against France, 611, 615. Alva, Duke of, aids plot against Prot- estants, 64 ; advises destruction of rebel nobles, 80 ; appearance and character, 109 ; arrives in Nether- lands, 1 to: establishes Council of Blood, 114 ; charges against Orange, 119; sentences Egmont and Horn, 123 ; military successes, 127, 128 ; erects statue of himself, 129; ex- hausting taxes, 130, 135 ; power weakening, 136; concessions, 139; invades Holland, 157; advises brib- ing English ministry, 161 ; leaves Netherlands, 165 ; death and charac- ter, 166 ; destruction of his statue, 219. Amsterdam, held by the Spaniards, 149, 188 ; recovered by the patriots, 228 : Protestant intolerance in, 229 ; opposes Orange's sovereignty, 284,; 671 6j2 Index. blocks truce with Spain, 499 ; sup- ports stadtholder, 503 ; favors na- tional synod, 509 ; opposes treaty with France, 5 73 ; becomes a pest- house, 574 ; disloyal merchants of, 576 ; assailed by stadtholder Wil- liam II., 585 ; distress in, during war with England, 588 ; nobly resists French invasion, 599 ; dreads ambition of William III., 607 ; moderates religious controversies, 608 ; prevents aid to Belgians against France, 611 ; treats with United States of America, 628 ; resists Prussian invasion, 632 ; surrender, 635 ; occupied by the French, 636. Amsterdam, New, named New York, 593 ; retaken by Dutch, 606. Anabaptists, excesses of, 45 ; pro- tected by Orange, 213, 229. Anastro, Gaspar, plots Orange's assassination, 277 ; leaves Nether- lands, 2 78 ; fails to obtain blood- money, 283. Anjou, Duke of. See Alencon. Anna of Saxony, marries Orange, 72 : imprisoned as a lunatic, and di- vorced, 183. Anne of Austria, Regent of France, favors Dutch republic, 578 ; con- trols Charles II. of Spain, 611. Anne of England, Princess, governs United Provinces, 625. Anne of England, Queen, continues war with France, 619.* Antwerp, greatness of, 52 ; celebrates peace with France, 59 ; Granvelle's attempt to rule, 71 ; Orange pre- serves peace at, 94 ; image-breaking riots in, 97, 98 ; surrenders to Spaniards, 107 ; Alva's great cita- del, 119 ; Spanish "Fury," 192-195 ; failure of Don John's attempt on, 218 ; Orange's reception, 219 ; An- jou's installation, 263 ; Catholic worship restored, 265, Anjou 's assault on, repelled, 291, 293 ; men- aced by Parma, 329 ; besieged, 334 ; dykes and bridge, 335, 338 ; fire- ships, 340, 343 ; fight on the Cowenstein, 345 ; threatened with famine, 347 ; surrender, 348 ; de- cline, 349 ; saved by Dutch delays, 487 ; peace negotiations, 499 ; Frederick Henry's failure to cap- ture, 576, 581 ; navigation to, closed by treaty, 581 ; attempt to open passage to, 630; freedom of Scheldt secured, 637; English expedition against, 637; held and surrendered by Dutch, 641 ; recent monuments in, 644. Armada, " Invincible," shattered 391 ; a second Spanish, destroyed, 428. " Armed Neutrality," the, 627, 628. Armenteros, Secretary, Margaret of Parma's favorite, 84. Arminians. See Remonstrants. Arminius, disputes with Gomarus, 502, 503. Arragon, Admiral of. See Mendoza, Francis de. Arras, Bishop of. See Granvelle. Artevelde, Jacques van, "Brewer of Ghent," 27 ; services and death, 28. Artevelde, Philip van, romantic career, 31 ; death, 35. Augsburg, league of, 611. Austria. See Anne of, and Albert, Charles, Ernest, and Matthias, Archdukes, Don John of, Ferdi- nand, Maximilian, and Rudolph. Austria, House of, acquires Nether- lands, 40 ; league against, 501. Austrian Netherlands. See Nether- lands. Aytona, Marquis of, commands Span- ish army, 567 ; offers pardon to conspirators, 570. Bardez, William, a partisan of Orange, effects municipal revolu- tion in Amsterdam, 228. Barendz, William, maritime explora- tions, 447. Barneveld, John of, volunteers for relief of Haarlem, 155 ; Advocate of Holland, 351 ; mission to Queen Elizabeth, 352 ; personal appear- ance, 355 ; opposes Leicester, 370, 381 ; Leicester's schemes against, 385; founds an aristocratic republic, 386 (note) ; alleged threats, 395 ; directs expedition against Breda, 403 ; second mission to England, 433; insists on invasion of Flan- ders, 449 ; seeks aid from England and France, 477 ; artful intrigues, 490 (note) ; favors peace with Spain, 495 ; charged with treason, 499 ; opposes foreign influence in govern- ment, 500 ; leads Remonstrants, 503; regains "cautionary towns" Index. 673 from England, 506 ; proposes " Sharp Resolve," 508 ; assaults on his character, 510; arrested, 514; trial, 520 ; execution and its cause, 526-530; character, 531, 532. Barneveld, Maria of, widow of John, sufferings, 545 ; begs pardon for her son, 553. Baroccio, Sebastian, designs Parma's bridge at Antwerp, 335. Batavia, Dutch colonial empire at, 582 ; founder of, 642. Batavians, ancient, 19, 20. Bavaria, Elector of, Governor of Spanish Netherlands, acknowledges Philip V., 616. Bavaria, Elector of, prevented from acquiring Austrian Netherlands, 630. Bax, Marcellus, gallantry at Turnhout, 428. Bax, Paul, repels assault on Bergen- op-Zoom, 488. " Beggars," how organized, 90 ; watchword and dress, 93; "Wild," assaults on priests, 120; "Of the Sea," commissioned by Orange, 135 ; capture Brill, 136 ; advance to re- lieve Leyden, 1 71-174; The "New," 448 ; valor at Nieuport, 456. Belgas, ancient Belgians, 16. Belgium, religious persecution ended in, 431 ; passes to Charles VI. of Germany, 620 ; joined to United Provinces, 638; Independence of, 641. Bentinck, afterward Earl of Portland, devoted to William III., 607. Bergen-op-Zoom, besieged by Parma, 392 ; Du Terrail's assaults on, 488 ; saved by Maurice of Nassau, 545. Berghen, Marquis, mission to Spain, 93; probably poisoned, 114. Berlaymont, Baron, calls petitioners, " beggars," 90 ; faithf ul to Don John of Austria, 218. Bishoprics, new, 68; condemned by nobles and clergy, 101 (note). Bismarck, opposes ambitious designs of Napoleon III. on Luxemburg and Belgium, 643. Blake, Admiral, battle with Tromp. 586 ; destroys Dutch fishing vessels, 587 ; defeats Tromp, 588. Bleiswyck, Grand Pensionary, deserts to the stadtholder, 632. Bois-le-Duc, Hohenlohe's failure at, 337 ; captured by Frederick Henry, 560. Bonaparte, Louis, as king of Holland, 637- Bonaparte, Napoleon, rules the Neth erlands, 637. Bonaparte (Napoleon III.), thwarted by Prussia, 666. Bossu, Admiral, captured by Dutch, 165. Bourbon, Charlotte of, marries Or- ange, 183; death, 281. Brabant, Province of, exempted from Inquisition, 86 ; Spanish mutineers in, 191 ; Orange made Ruward of, 221 ; Anjou becomes Duke of, 263 ; demands French sovereignty, 328 ; another mutiny in, 419; Prie's tyr- anny in, 620 ; prosperity of, 626. Breda, failure of negotiations at, 1S0; daring capture of, 402 ; besieged by Spinola, 554; surrender, 559; Eng- land compelled to peace of, 597. Brill, captured by the " beggars," 136 ; pledged to Queen Elizabeth, 355; redeemed, 506 ; a bone of conten- tion, 508. Brussels, abdication of Charles V. at, 47 ; meeting of patriot nobles, 89 ; execution of Egmont and Horn, 124; "Union "of, 206; Don John sworn into office, 211 ; Orange wel- comed, 219; "New Union" of, 223; Archduke Matthias greeted, 225 ; Philip Egmont's treason, 249 ; Protestant fanaticism, 257; isolated by Parma, 334 ; surrender, 339 ; dreadful persecution near, 431 ; states-general assembled at, 434; Albert and Isabella welcomed, 448 ; overawed by Spinola, 542 ; states- general convoked and dissolved at, 567, 573; Cardinal Ferdinand's re- ception, 574; tumults, 620; men- aced by Emperor Joseph II., 631 ; Dutch invasion repulsed, 641 ; new Palace of Justice, 644. Buckhurst, Lord, mission to United Provinces, 378; favors a war policy, 379 ; disgraced on return to Eng- land, 382. Buren, Count of. See Philip William of Orange. Burgundian rule, the, 35 ; influence of, 39-. Burleigh, Lord Treasurer, protests against Elizabeth's policy, 232 ; op- posed to her marrying Anjou, 262 ,• effect of his death, 433. Buys, Paul, ex-Advocate of Holland, 674 Index. imprisonment attributed to Leicester, Buzanval, French ambassador, expects collapse of Dutch republic, 478 (note) ; assists at peace negotiations, 497- Cesar, Julius, conquers the Nether- lands, 19. Calvinists, violence of, 101 (note); hostile to Lutherans in Antwerp, 107 ; outrages in Ghent, 243, 248 (note) ; regarded by Queen Elizabeth as rebels, 327; aid defence of Ant- werp, 336; plot seizure of Leyden, 385 ; demand expulsion of Catholics, 391 ; clergy favor war, 495 ; dis- sensions among, 501 ; good and bad work, 502 ; opposed to Barneveld, 521 ; hamper Richelieu's policy, 554 ; oppose Catholic worship, 573. Carleton, Sir Dudley, English ambas- sador, sides with Contra-Remon- strants, 505 ; his views of Maurice and Barneveld, 509 (note) ; antici- pates Barneveld's conviction, 514; refuses to aid him. 523 ; reports Bar- neveld's fatal mistake, 532 (note). Caron, Noel de, Dutch envoy in Eng- land, recognized as ambassador, 484 ; Barneveld's letters to, 510. Casimir, Duke, sent by Queen Eliza- beth to Netherlands, 229 ; incites outrages in Ghent, 242 ; retires to England, 244 ; distress of his troops, 245. Casimir, Ernest, of Nassau, Stadt- holder, bravery at Nieuport, 450, 456 ; killed at Ruremoride, 567. Casimir, Henry, of Nassau-Dietz, Stadtholder, son of the preceding, 567. Cateau Cambresis, treaty of, 59. Catholics, prominent, oppose Inqui- sition, 78; alienated by Calvinist excesses, 101 (note) ; outrages against, in Ghent, 243, 248 (note) ; increase of, unfavorable to Nether- land union, 247 ; opposition to, in Holland, 391, 421 ; as a privileged class, 432 (note). Cats, Jacob, Grand Pensionary, 569 ; popularity as a poet, 582 ; ambassa- dor to England, 586. Cecil, Robert, satirizes Spanish mar- riage project, 505, 506. Cervantes, at battle of Lepanto, 201. Champagny, mission to Queen Eliza- beth, 184; governor of Antwerp, 191 ; gallantry during " Spanish Fury," 192 ; wrongfully imprisoned, 234 ; plots to betray Flanders, 297 ; made governor of Antwerp by Parma, and removed, 352. Charlemagne, unites Netherlands, 25. Charles, Archduke, regains Belgium for, Austria, 636. Charles the Bold, tyranny over Neth- erlands, 36. Charles I., of England, continues al- liance with states, 559 ; his daughter marries stadtholder's son, 577 ; cause opposed by Dutch people, 578 ; they are repelled by his execution, 585. Charles II., of England, makes war on Dutch, 593 ; agrees to aid France against them, 598. Charles II., of Spain, his ignorance and superstition, 611; death and its consequences, 615. Charles V., Emperor, subjects Neth- erlands to Spain, 40 ; humiliates Ghent, 43 ; persecutes heretics, 45 ; character, 46 ; abdication, 47 ; en- deared to Netherlander, 51. Charles VI., of Germany, Emper- or, acquires Austrian Netherlands, 620. Charles IX., of France, aided by Alva, 119; Orange's plans thwarted by treachery of, 140; agrees to assist the prince, 162. Charters of freedom, early, in Nether- lands, 25; "Groot Privelegie," founded in Holland, 39 ; abandoned, 40; " Handvest," relied on against Spanish tyranny, 68; Brabant's "Joyous Entrance," 71, 86, 432, 434, 630; Catholic religion favored by, 432 (note); preserve local in- dependence in Belgium, 666. Chimay, Prince of, eldest son of Duke of Aerschot, plots to betray Flan- ders, 297 ; enters Antwerp with Parma, 349. Civilis, leads Netherland revolt against Rome, 19; struggles and disap- pearance, 20. Cleves and Juliers, duchies, struggle for possession of, 501. Cocceians, a religious party in Hol- land, 608. Coeworden, siege of, by Maurice of Nassau, 413 ; Spaniards baffled at, 418. Index. 67$ Coligny, Admiral, his destruction a blow to Orange, 140. Coligny, Louisa de, marries Orange, 297 ; gives birth to Frederick Henry, 299; intercedes for Barne- veld's life, 524. Cologne, Congress of, efforts for peace with Spain, 252; thwarted by Philip's bigotry, 253. "Compromise," of the Nobles, de- signed to resist Inquisition, 89 ; work of St. Aldegonde, 331. Conscience, Henri, the novelist, monument in Antwerp, 644. Coster, Lawrence, alleged inventor of printing, 35. Council of Blood, established by Alva, 114; cruelties, 116; trial of Egmont and Horn, 120; abolition advised by Requesens, 176; de- stroyed, 191. Council of State, Spanish, in Nether- lands, 55; leaders of, under Regent Margaret, 60, 67 ; oppose Philip's arbitrary policy, 79 ; Orange, and Egmont and Horn retire from, 80 ; resume places in, 83 ; debate on petition of nobles, 90 ; assume gov- ernment on death of Requesens, 188 ; suspected members of, impris- oned, 191 ; favor Pacification of Ghent, 206 ; Of the Walloon Prov- inces, composed of natives, 247 ; Of | Holland and Zealand, powers of, | 285; Of the United Provinces^ give j warning to Leicester, 374 ; assume ■ supreme authority, 379 ; military j control, 407; new elements pro- j posed for, 500 ; sustain Maurice of Nassau's policy, 508 ; weakened \ power, 576. Crecy, Count Louis of, driven from j Flanders by Artevelde, 2S. Cromwell, Oliver, secures exclusion of | House of Orange, 592. Crusades, promote Netherland free- dom, 25. Cueva, Cardinal de la, chief counsellor of Isabella, 559 ; cjmpelled to leave j Netherlands, 567. D'Assonleville, Parma's councillor, abets Orange's assassination, 302 ; charged with other murderous schemes, 420. Dathenus, renegade monk, incites outrages against Catholics in Ghent, 243- Davison, William, English envoy to United Provinces, enters Brussels with Orange, 220 ; urges conciliation in Ghent, 243. Delft, national assembly, support Orange, 256 ; executive council formed, 257; Orange retires to, after ill treatment in Antwerp, 299 ; place of his assassination, 310 ; blocks truce with Spain, 499 ; hon- ors to Grotius, 541. De Ruyter, Admiral, vanquishes Sir George Ayscue, 587 ; complains of government's inefficiency, 588 ; Or- ange opposition, 593 ; battle with Monk, 594 ; invades England, 597 ; breasts English and French fleets at Solebay, 599 ; closing tri- umphs, 606 ; death and character, 607. De Ruyter, Herman, seizes Castle of Louvestein, 133; death, 134. Descartes, residence in Holland, 608. Deventer, city of, Sir William Stanley, appointed governor, 372 ; betrayed to Spaniards, 374 ; captured by Maurice of Nassau, 408, 41 1. De With, Vice-Admiral, released from stadtholder's clutches by Holland, 585 ; defeated by Blake, 588 ; killed in battle with Swedes, 593 De Witt, Cornelius convicted of attempting life of the Prince of Orange, 599 ; imprisonment, 600 ; destroyed by a mob, 603. De Witt, John, Grand Pensionary favors peace with England, 587 : opposes Orange intrigues, 588 ; ex- cludes House of Orange from power, 592 ; effects French alliance, 593 ; educates William III., 594; compels England to peace, 597 ; secures Triple Alliance, 598 ; popular ex- citement against, 599 ; destroyed by mob, 603 ; character, 603, 604. Doreslaar, Isaac, English ambassador, assassinated at the Hague, 5S5. Dort, First synod of, favors religious toleration, 234 : Great synod of, how constituted, 516 ; condemns the Re- monstrants, 519. Drake, Sir Francis, his successes alarm Parma, 357; visits Nether- lands, 382 •, expedition against Spain, 399. Du Maurier, Aubery, French ambas- sador, asks mercy for Barneveld, 5 2 3> 5 2 4- 6y6 Index. Du Maurier, Louis, son of the preced- ing, misrepresents Maurice of Nas- sau, 529 (note). DUmouriez, General, leads French army into Belgium, 636. Dunkirk, pirates of, depredations, 449, 458 ; cruelly punished, 487 ; Piet Heyn's fatal encounter with, 560 ; Frederick Henry's abortive expe- dition against, 563. Dutch, descendants of ancient Bata- vians, 20 ; revolt against Spain, 136; famous sieges suffered by, 146, 167 ; resolve to have a sovereign count, 284 ; become an aristocratic republic, 386 (note) ; defects of national constitution, 530, 5 98, 603 ; naval triumphs over Spain, 496, 559, 577 ; conflicts with English and French fleets, 587, 594, 597, 599, 606, 607, 642 ; change in dealings with France, 570, 585 ; evils of restrictive policy, decline of power, 624 ; commerce injured by England, 628 ; govern- ment inefficiency, 631 ; revolutionary infatuation, 636; forced to give up Belgium, 641 ; fresher spirit in litera- ture, 642; causes of growth, 663; reasons for decay, 664 ; title to ill- dependence, 667. See United Prov- inces. Du Terrail, French engineer, assaults Bergen-op-Zoom and Sluys, 488. Dykvelt, his services to William III., 611. East India Company, charter and capital, 469; captures Amboyna, 487 ; exclusive claims, 488 ; favors war policy, 495 ; increase of power, 563 ; decline, 664. East India Company, the Ostend, effects of Dutch jealousy, 623. Edict, Perpetual, treaty with Don John of Austria, Orange's objections to, 206 ; confirmed by Philip 11., 207 ; dangers of, for Holland and Zealand, 248 , Act excluding House of Orange from power, 592 ; repealed, 599 ; a mob watchword, 603. Edicts of Charles V. against heresy, 68, 438. Edward III. of England, relations with Jacques van Artevelde, 28. Egmont, Lamoral, Count, victories over the ' French, 56, 59 ; opposes Granvelle, 79 ; mission to Spain, 84-86; drinks to the "beggars," 93 ; persecutes heretics, 102 ; blind loy- alty, 105, 108 ; effects of anxiety, no; imprisoned, 113; trial, 120; execution. 123. Egmont, Lamoral, son of preceding, false charges against, 287. Egmont, Louis, Count, conspires against Archduchess Isabella, 564. Egmont, Philip, Count, captured during Spanish " Fury," 195 ; at- tempts to seize Brussels, 249 ; en- ters Antwerp with Parma, 349 ; killed at battle of Ivry, 408. Elizabeth of England, troubles with Alva, 130 ; temporizing policy, 161 ; rejects state's appeal for aid, 184 ; favors peace with Philip II., 187 ; intrigues for Don John of Austria, 207 ; angry at interference of Mat- thias, 221 ; aids Netherlands, 224, 229 ; breach of faith, 232 ; rebukes and pets Casimir, 244, 245 ; dallies with Anjou, 262 ; insists on his restoration, 294; affected grief at his death, 299 ; offers to adopt Orange's daughters, 321 ; encourages rebellious Netherlanders, 328; fatal delay to relieve Antwerp, 352 ; re- fuses sovereignty of United Prov- inces, 355 ; wishes peace with Spain, 356; troubles with provinces about Leicester, 378, 382; underhand policy, 3S5 ; ^seeks peace with Spain, 387 ; ends Leicestrian rebellion, 388 ; congratulates Maurice of Nassau, 412 ; checks outrages upon Dutch sea-captains, 414 ; plot to assassinate, 420 ; new treaty with United Prov- inces, 433 ; death, 469 ; character, 470, 471. England, emigration of Netherland artisans to, 90 ; people opposed to Spanish alliance, 162 ; Holland and Zealand appeal to, 184 ; Don John of Austria plans to invade, 211; protected against Spain by Orange, 316 ; Utrecht favors allegiance to, 387 ; invasion of, planned by Philip II., 388 ; his Armada 'shattered, 391 ; refuses aid to Spain, 495 ; alliance with United Provinces, 498; guar- antees truce with Spain, 500; alli- ance with Spain, 545 ; causes of ill will toward Dutch, 577 ; fresh troub- les with them, -586 ; first war, 587- 591 ; peace secured, 592 ; anew war, 593 ; compelled to peace, 597 ; joins Index. 677 and breaks Triple Alliance, 59S; makes peace with States, 606 ; Stadtholder William III. secures sovereignty of, 611 ; war with France in Netherlands, 619; troubles with United Provinces, 626 ; war with them, 628 ; guarantees Belgian con- stitution, 631 ; guarantees hereditary stadtholderate, 635 ; abortive expe- dition against Antwerp, 637; block- ades Dutch ports, 641 ; sustains independence of Belgium, 643 ; com- pletes decline of Dutch republic, 664. Ernest, of Austria, Archduke, arrives in Netherlands as governor, 419; his conciliatory policy, 420 ; trials and death, 421. Escovedo, Don John of Austria's sec- retary, duped by Peres, 212 ; assas- sinated by order of Philip 11., 214, 439- Espinoy, Prince of, his daughter mar- ries* Baron Montigny, 89 ; patriotic devotion and wife's bravery, 261 ; escorts Anjou to Antwerp, 263. Espinoy, Prince of, conspires against Archduchess Isabella, 564. Essex, Earl of. leads charge at battle of Zutphen, 365 ; commands land forces against Cadiz, 424, 427. Estates, or states-general (see, also, United Provinces), power, 55 ; urge recall of foreign troops, 60 ; meeting forbidden by Philip II., 79; Alva's demands on, 130, 139 ; Requesens' disgust with, 187 ; Don John of Austria's relations with, 206. 208, 217, 218; still loyal to Philip II., 219; opposed to Orange's rule in Brabant, 221 ; reject Don John's au- thority, 223, 233; treaty with Alen- gon, 233 ; fail to win back Walloon provinces, 246 ; offer sovereignty to Anjou, 254 ; and to Queen Elizabeth, 352; assembled by Archduke Al- bert, 434 ; the archdukes' neglect of, 542 ; assembled by Isabella, 567 ; dissolved, 573. Evertsen, Admiral, in the three days' battle, 588 ; takes New York, 606 ; bravery at Beach y Head, 612. Fagel, Gaspar, Grand Pensionary, secures Holland's support for Wil- liam III., 605. Fagel, Henry, Secretary of States- 42 General, subjects stadtholder, Wil- liam V., to English influence, 626. Ferdinand of Austria, Cardinal, tri- umphal reception as governor of Spanish Netherlands, 574; death, 578. Flanders, revolt of, under Arteveldes, 27 ; subdued by Maximilian, 40 ; protests against Titelmann's perse- cutions, 84 ; rewards Regent Mar- garet, ti6 ; remonstrates against Egmont's treatment, 120; outrages of Ryhove and Imbize, 222 ; .Orange's welcome, 223 ; he accepts government of, 252 ; Anjou in- stalled as count of, 286 ; betrayal of to Spain defeated, 298 ; deputies of, demand French sovereignty, 32S ; invaded by Maurice of Nassau, 450; Frederick Henry's invasion, 563 ; invaded by Louis XIV. 615 ; portion ceded to France, 620 (see Addenda) ; prosperity under Maria Theresa, 626. Fleece, Golden, Order of, founded by Philip the " Good," 35 ; Knights of, meet at Orange's house, 79 ; remon- strate against Egmont's treatment, 120. Flushing, the "beggars" at, 136; a plot to capture, 300 ; held by Queen Elizabeth, 355 ; regained by Bar- neveld, 506. Fool's-Cap Livery, 8^. France, aids Count of Flanders against Artevelde, 31 ; war with Spain and Netherlands, 56 ; peace concluded, 59 ; Netherland sover- eignty offered to, 328 ; Parma's campaign, 408 ; peace with Spain, 433 ; hesitates to aid United Prov- inces, 478 ; appealed to by states, 489 ; refuses aid to Spain, 495 ; alliance with United Provinces, 498 ; guarantees their truce with Spain, 500 ; powerless to save Barneveld, 523 ; alienated by his execution, 545 ; aids United Provinces against Spain, 554 ; distrusted by them, 575 ; portion of Belgium ceded to, 620 (see Addenda) ; fear of, forces Dutch under English influence, 624 ; ex- haustion of, leads to peace, 625 ; controls states of Holland, 627 ; revolutionary, subdues Netherlands,. 636; protects Belgium, 641. Francis II. of Germany, Emperor, Belgian revolt against, 636. Franeker, University of, 358. 678 Index. Frederic, Don, Alva's son, lays siege to Mons, 139 ; cruelty at Zutphen, 146; sacks Naarden, 149; besieges Haarlem, 150-156; retires from Alkmaar, 161. Frederick Henry, Stadtholder, Prince of Orange, at battle of Nieuport, 452 ; mission to England, 477 ; nar- row escape from death, 487 ; sur- renders Rheinberg, 489 ; favors Grotius, 540; marriage, 558; allays religious bitterness, 559; victories, 560, 563 ; captures Maestricht, 564 ; opposed by Grand Pensionary Pauw and states of Holland, 569 ; alliance with France, 573; besieges Breda, 575 ; authority strengthened, 576 ; English matrimonial alliance, 577 ; death and character, 581 ; brightened fame, 608. Frederick II. of Prussia, " the Great," defeats transfer of Austrian Nether- lands, 630. Frederick William II. of Prussia, invades United Provinces, 632 ; greeted as a deliverer by states- general, 635. See Addenda. Friesland, lost to patriots by Van den Berg's desertion, 14S ; Anjou made Lord of, 286 ; University of Franeker founded, 358 ; forced to pay war taxes, 575 ; why opposed to peace with Spain, 585 ; repels invasion of Bishop of Munster, 594 ; demands increase of navy, 626. Frisians, " the free," 22-25. Friso, John William, blighted pros- pects, 619; drowned, 623. Friso, William Charles Henry, See William IV. stadtholder. Fuentes, Count, reverses Parma's policy, 416 ; becomes temporary governor-general, 421. Fuggefs, bankers, dealings with the states, 231. " Fury," the French, 29T, 293. " Fury," the Spanish, 192, 195. Gelderland, enters Union of Utrecht, 246 ; turbulence of, 253 ; sovereignty tendered to Anjou, 286 ; held by the nationalists, 412; states favor the synod, 510; con^ quered by Frederick Henry, 564 ; subdued by Louis XIV., 599 ; sov- ereignty offered to William III., 607; power of municipalities, 619; supports stadtholder, 626. Gemblours, Don John's victory, 226, 227. Gerard, Balthazar, assassin of Orange, plan of operations, 301, 302 ; per- sistency, 305 ; movements at Deltt, 306 ; prepares for the assassination, 309; the deed done, 310; capture and confession, 311 ; further con- fession, under torture, 312 ; cruelly executed, 313, 314; his fanaticism, 315; family ennobled, 323. Gerard, Marshal, compels surrender of Antwerp, 641. Germany, see Maximilian, Rudolph, Joseph II., and Leopold; acquires Netherlands, 25 ; opposes patriot cause, 128; temporizing policy, 130; continued apathy, 261, 327, 332 ; united by William III. against France, 611 ; opposition of Napo- leon III. to, 643; Dutch fears of, 666. Gertruydenberg, surrender tp the Spaniards, 392 ; captured by Mau- rice of Nassau, 417. Ghent, city of, under the Arteveldes,, 27, 31 ; humiliated by Charles V., 4.3; congress at, 191 ; tumults un- der Ryhove and Imbize, 222 ; in decline, 242 ; burning of monks, 243, 249 (note) ; saved by patriots, 297 ; betrayed to Parma, 335 ; Paci- fication of, 195. Gianibelli, fireships at Antwerp bridge, 34°-345- Gibraltar, Heemskerk's victory, 496. Gomarus, theological professor at Ley- den, opposed to Arminius, 502, 503 ; at the synod of Dort, 519. Gomez, Ruy, Prince of Eboli, influ- ence over Philip II., 55, 56; super- seded by Alva, 109 ; regains power, 176.. Gosson, a Walloon patriot, execution, 246. Gouda, city of, opposed to Orange's sovereignty, 284 ; resists subjection to France, 328. Granvelle, Cardinal, his power, 67 ; opposition to, 71, 79 ; leaves Nether- lands, 83; suggests Madrid rule, 107; laments Orange's escape, 114; advises his assassination, 254 ; com- plains of the king's devotion to details, 285 ; commends Orange's as- sassination, 322 ; death and charac- ter, 361. Gravelines, Egmont's victory, 59. Index. 679 Gregory XIII., his bull in favor of Don John of Austria, 225. Grobbendonck, Baron, his banquet, 80. Groeneveld, Barneveid's eldest son, conspires against Maurice of Nas- sau, 546; arrest and execution, 553. Groll and Lochem, cities of, sieges. See Maurice o*f Nassau and Spi- nola. Groningen, City of, betrayed to Parma, 233 ; surrenders to Maurice of Nassau, 418 ; Province of, re- fuses to pay war taxes, 449 ; elects Frederick Henry stadtholder, 581 ; thwarts William III., 611. Grotius, his praise of St. Aldegonde, 351; boyish tribute to Maurice of Nassau, 412 ; a leader of the Re- monstrants, 503; arrested, 514 ; less resolute than his wife, 533 ; public services, 534, 537 ; romantic escape from prison, 538, 539 ; services in exile, 54c ; death and honors, 541 Guilds, of Artisans, and Artevelde, 28 ; their narrowness, 39 ; influence, 55 ; palaces, 192; Military, and Don John of Austria, 208 ; Rhetoric, greet Orange, 220, 223 ; welcome Matthias, 225 ; reception to Arch- duke Ernest, 419 ; Butchers, imperil Antwerp, ^33- Haarlem, Lake of, drained, 27 ,• City of, besieged, 150; desperate defence, 150, 154; horrors of famine, 155; surrender and massacre, 156. Hague, the, independence of Holland and Zealand declared at, 258 ; mas- sacre of the De Witts, 603 . Haring, John, a heroic Dutch patriot, 154, 165. Hasselaer, Kenau, widow, her bravery at Haarlem, 150. Haultain, Admiral, executes cruel or- ders of- states-general, 484, 487; neglect of duty, 494. Heemskerk, Jacob, his maritime ex- plorations, 447 ; East Indian tri- umphs, 469; victory at Gibraltar, and death, 496. Heenvliet, Frederick Henry's agent m London, conciliatory efforts, 578. Heinsius, Anthony, Grand Pension- ary, carries on Dutch government without a stadtholder, 619. Heinsius, Daniel, secretary of Synod of Dort, 516; professor at Ley den, 664. Held, Matthew, his self-sacrificing courage, 401 ; his reward, 403. Henrietta Maria, of England, intrigues in Hoiland, 578. Henry III., of France, his aid asked on death of Orange, 321 ; declines Netherland sovereignty, 328. Henry IV., of France, aided by Dutch republic, 399 ; becomes a Catholic, 418; aids the republic, 421 ; makes peace with Spain, 433 ; anxious to protect provinces, 478, 490, and notes ; refuses aid to Spain, 495 ; influence over the republic, 500 ; assassinated, 501 ; tribute to Gro- tius, 534. Heraugiere, captor of Breda, 401, 402 ; attempts to corrupt him, 424. Heresy, assailed by Charles V., 45 ; edict against, re-enacted by Philip II., 68; the Inquisition, 75; people rescue victims, 78 ; woman buried alive for, 43 1 ; punishment of ended in Belgium, 431, 432 (note). Hessels, Blood-Councillor, his sleepi- ness, 115, imprisonment, 222; exe- cution, 243. Heyn, Peter, captures Spanish treas- ure-fleet, 559; death of, and honors to, 560. Hohenlohe, Philip. Count of, fails to relieve Maestricht, 251; his charac- ter, 333 ; repulse at Bois-le-Duc, 337; assault on Cowenstein dyke, 345 ; unwise visit to Antwerp, 346 ; Leicester's affront to, 273 ! Queen Elizabeth's scheme against, 379; marriage, 421 ; death, 494. Holland, granted to Count Dirk, 25 ; separated from Friesland and joined to Hainault, 27 ; Magna Charta, 39, and its relinquishment, 40 ; oppo- sition to Alva, 162 ; resistance to Philip II., 324 ; protected by Maurice of Nassau, 489 ; states pass "Sharp Resolve," 508; op- posed to national synod, 510 ; over- awed by Maurice of Nassau, 515; truce party baffled, 5 70 ; opposed to war with England, 587 ; Orange riots in towns, 591 ; states exclude House of Orange from power, 592 ; act of exclusion repealed, 593 ; con- ditional consent to appointment of prince as captain-general, 599; sup ports William III., 605 ; overrides 68o Index. national constitution, 623 ; official corruption in, 624 ; supports stadt- holder, 626 ; under French influ- ence, 627. Holland and Zealand, Union of, 180 ; offer sovereignty to England, 184 ; New Union of, 188; Protestantism recognized as creed of, 196; reject Perpetual Edict, 207 ; decline sover- eignty of Anjou, 254 ; declare inde- pendence under Orange, 258 ; with- draw opposition to French rule, 328. Hoofd, Cornelius, opposes Maurice of Nassau, 515 ; his son, the historian, 582. Hoogstraaten, Count, opposed to Granvelle, 83; sustains Egmont. 85 ; death, 129. Hooks, an early political party, 27. Hopper, Joachim, a councillor of state, 85 ; stationary policy, 188. Horn, Count of, member of state council, 60 ; Granvelle's enmity to, 71 ; his warning to Philip II., 79; the king's professed friendship for, 83; drinks to the "beggars," 93; trial, 120; execution, 124. Horn, citizens of, oppose Maurice's change of magistrates, 515 ; insur- rection at, 523 Houtmann brothers, early Dutch navi- gators, 447. Houwening, Elsie van, secures escape of Grotius, 538, 539. • Hungary, Mary of, Regent of Nether- lands, 56. Huygens, Constantine, secretary of Frederick Henry and other stadt- holders, 576. Huygens, Christian, astronomer and geometer, 576. Image-breaking, riots at Antwerp, 97 ; alienates Catholics and Luther- ans, 101 (note) ; Egmont punishes, 102 ; Orange's penalty for, in Ghent, 243- Imbize, a reckless partisan of Orange, incites tumult in Ghent, 222 ; con- spires to betray Flanders, 297 ; exe- cuted, 298. Tndia, Dutch navigators and triumphs in, 444. 447, 469, 487; difficulties with Portuguese, 487, 488 ; trouble with English, 488, 592. See East India Company. Inquisition, Spanish and Papal, 75, 76 ; opposition to, 78, 84, 86 ; abolished by Margaret of Parma, 101 ; fright- ful decree of, 120 ; abolished by the Pacification of Ghent, 196 ; estab- lished in Netherlands in thirteenth century, 438. Isabella, of Spain, Queen, sets Inqui- sition in motion, 76. Isabella, Archduchess, receives Neth- erlands as a bridal gift, 434 ; be- comes governor, 542 ; her counsel- lors, 559; pawns her jewels, 560; obliged to assemble states-general, 567 ; death and character, 567, 568. Jacobzoon, Admiral, " Run-away- Jacob," 335, 340. James I., of England, makes peace with Spain and the archduke^, 484 ; assists Dutch peace negotiations, 497; sides with Contra-Remon- strants, 503 • gives back the "cautionary towns," 505, 506; favors a national synod, 509; sup- ports Maurice against Barneveld, 525 ; aids Dutch republic against Spain, 554. James II., of England, end of reign, 611 ; promise of Louis XIV. to, 616. Jaureguy, John, his attempt to assas- sinate Orange, and its results, 272- 283. Jeannin, Pierre, represents France in peace negotiations, 497 ; appeals for religious toleration, 499 ; results of his diplomacy, 500. Jemappes, battle of, 636. Jemmingen, Alva'-s> victory, 127. Jesuits, reinstated in Antwerp, 349 ; influence over Philip William of Or- ange, 424 ; a dreadful sacrifice, 431 ; suppressed in Austrian Netherlands, 626. John of Austria, Don, enters Nether- lands in disguise, 197 ; victory at Lepanto, 198-201 ; appointed gov- ernor-general, 202 ; conciliatory pol- icy, 205, 208 ; greeted as a liberator, 211; a victim of treachery, 212; forced to hostilities by Orange, 213- 218; summons provinces to obedi- ence, 225 ; victory at Gemblours, 226,' 227 ; defeat at Rymenant, 232 ; anxious to be recalled, 233 ; trials and death, 234, 235 ; character, 236, 2 37- Index. 68 1 John of Nassau, Count, brother of Orange, opposes his third marriage, 183; opposed to Catholic worship in Holland and Zealand, 234 ; ef- fects Union of Utrecht, .246; leaves Netherlands. 253 ; death, 494- Joseph II., Emperor, assails Dutch, 630 ; tyrannizes over Belgians, 631 : Edict of Toleration 432 (note), 631. Junius, Adrian, the fairest of Bar- neveld's judges, agrees to his death- sentence, 523. Junius, Francis, a bold Huguenot preacher, 89. Justine of Nassau, Admiral of Holland and Zealand, 339 ; assails Cowen- stein dyke, 345 ; blockades Parma's transports, 391 ; mission to France and England, 433. Kabbeljaw, an early political party, 27. Kant, Vice-Admiral, destroys Spmola's galleys, 473. Kernes, wild Irish marauders, 372, 374- Klaaszoon, Vice-Admiral, his heroic self-sacrifice, 493, 494. Koen, Jan Pieterszoon, the founder of Batavia, 642. La Hogue, battle of, 612. La Noue, the " Iron Armed," his captivity, 253 ; vindicates St. Alde- gonde's integrity, 350. Laurens, Henry, American envoy to United Provinces, his arrest, 627. Leicester, Earl of, protests against Queen Elizabeth's artifice, 232 ; accompanies Anjou to Netherlands, 262, 263 ; installed as Governor- general, 356 ; baffled by Parma, 358 ; mismanagement at Zutphen, 362, 366 ; intriguing policy, 369, 370; visits England, 371; results of his imprudence, 372-379 ; return, 380 ; opposed by states, 381-385 ; leaves Netherlands, 386 ; death, 39 2 - Leopold I., Emperor of Germany, claimant to Spanish succession, 615 ; Leopold II., regains Austrian Neth- erlands, 631. Leopold I., of Belgium enthroned, 641 ; died much lamented, 643. Leopold II., of Belgium, the present king, 643. Lepanto, battle of, 197-201. Lerma, Duke of. controls Philip III., of Spain, 496. Leyden, City of, besieged, 167 ; dykes opened for relief of, 168; advance of patriot fleet to, 171; horrors of famine, 1 72 ; relieved, 1 74 ; magis- trates of, rebuke Protestant intoler- ance, 258 ; plot to seize, 385 ; in- surrection at, 523; literary and ar- tistic development, 626 ; University of, founded, 175; religious disputes at, 502 ; celebrity of, 625, 626. Liesveldt, Chancellor of Brabant, fa- vors submission to Spain, 328, 336; heads a mission to Maurice of Nas- sau, 422. Lillo and Liefkenshoek, forts, 334, 344. 345> 6 3°- Literature and Art, Belgian, 542, 644, 663 ; Dutch, 576, 382, 642. London, merchants of, aid Netherland revolt, 162 ; merchant fleet, seized by Orange, 184 ; fleet released, 187 ; benefited by fall of Antwerp, 349 ; treaty of, 638. Lorraine, Charles of, Prince, his benef- icent rule in Austrian Netherlands, 626. Louis of Nassau, supports the " Com- promise ' ' of the nobles, 89 ; his demands on the Regent Marga- ret, 94 ; confers with other nobles, 105 ; victory of the " Holy Lion," 122 ; defeated at Jemmingen, 127 ; captures Mons, 139 ; demands on Charles IX., of France, 162 ; de- feated and killed at Mook Heath, 167. Louis Gunther of Nassau, at storm- ing of Cadiz, 427 ; commands pa- triot cavalry at Nieuport, 455 (note), 456. Louis XIII., of France, grants a pen- sion to Grotius, 539 ; aids the United Provinces, 554; his death, 578. Louis XIV., of France, proposed Spanish marriage of, 5S5 ; De Witt's alliance, 593; aids United Provin- ces, 594 ; invades Flanders, 597 ; breaks up Triple Alliance, 598 ; subdues three Dutch provinces, 599 ; warfare of William III. with, 605 ; terms of peace accepted by states- general, 608 ; new coalition against, 682 Index. 611 ; compelled to peace of Ryswick, 612; intriguing policy, 616; forced to peace of Utrecht, 620. Louis XV., of France, invades Dutch Flanders, 624. Louis XVI., of France, mediates between Dutch and Emperor Jo- seph II., 630. Louvain, City of, Don John of Aus- tria's welcome, 208 ; besieged by French and Dutch, 574; University of, fostered by Philip the "Good," 36 ; indorses Pacification of Ghent, 206; celebrity under Albert and Isabella, 542 ; aided by Maria Theresa, 626 ; reactionary influence, 664, 665. Louvestein, Castle of, captured and re- captured, 134 ; Grotius and Hooger- beets confined in, 534 ; escape of Grotius from, 538 ; Remonstrant ministers escape from, 540 ; John de Witt's father imprisoned in, 587. Louvestein Party, opposed to the stadtholders, 534. Lutherans, alienated by image-break- ing, 101 (note) ; opposed by Cal- vinists, 107, 327, 386 ; first martyrs in Netherlands, 501. Luxemburg, Province of, invaded by Henry IV. of France, 421 ; Grand- Duchy of, added to Kingdom of the Netherlands, 638 ; division of, ob- jected to by Dutch, 641 ; constituted a neutral state in the possession of the house of Orange-Nassau, 643 ; German claims to succession. 670 r (note). Luxemburg, Marshal, his physical weakness, 619 (note). Maestricht, resists patriots, 167; captured and recaptured, 191 ; Par- ma's siege, 249-252 ; surrenders to Frederick Henry, 564. Malcontents, discontented Walloons, 242 ; refuse to lay down arms, 244. Malplaquet, Marlborough's victory, 619. Mansfeld, Peter Ernest, Count, favors Egmont, 85 ; fights on the Cowenstein dyke, 346 ; governs Netherlands in Parma's absence, 399, 416 ; challenges Maurice of Nassau, 417. Marck, Robert de la, Lord of Lumey, opposes Granvelle, 79. Marck, William de la, chief of ' ' Beg- gars of the Sea," captures Brill, 136 ; troubles with Orange, and death, 161. Maria Theresa, aided by United Prov- inces, 623 ; beneficent rule in Aus- trian Netherlands, 626, 627. Marlborough, Duke of, his campaigns, 619. Mary of Burgundy, Duchess, her grants to the provinces, 36, 39 ; marriage and death, 40. Matalieff, Admiral, triumphs in In- dia, 498. Matthias, of Austria, Archduke, seeks Netherland sovereignty, 221 ; sworn in at Brussels, 225 ; opposes Cal- vinist outrages in Ghent, 243 ; a Protestant makeshift, 248 ; neg- lected by states, 254 ; departure, 261. Maurice of Nassau, Stadtholder, youthful firmness, 275, 324 ; opposes French sovereignty in Netherlands, 327 ; stadtholder and captain-gen- eral of Holland and Zealand, 361 ; governor-general in Leicester's ab- sence, 378 ; scheme of Leicester against him, 385 ; stadtholder of five provinces, 400 ; military improve- ments, 404, 407 ; captures Deven- ter, Nimeguen, and Hulst, 408, 412 ; takes Coeworden, 414 ; Ger- truydenberg, 417; Groningen, 418; attempts" on his life, 420- rejects peace proposals, 422 ; victories, 428, 432 ; baffles Admiral of Arragon, 447, 448 ; irresolutely yields to Barneveld, 449; success at Nieuport, 451, 453 ; reduces Sluys, 480 ; eclipsed by. Spinola, 493 ; opposes peace with Spain, 495, 497, 498 ; reconciled with Barneveld, 499; won over to cause of peace, 500 ; theological and political tendencies, 504, 506 ; favors Contra-Remonstrants, 507 ; popu- larity, 509 (note) ; becomes Prince of Orange, 512 ; bloodless successes, 509, 510, 515; willing -to pardon Barneveld, 522, 524, 529; conspiracy against life of, 545, 553 ; conduct toward Barneveld' s sons, 546, and note; trials, 554; death, 557; char- acter vindicated, 558. Maximilian of Austria, afterward Emperor of Germany, harsh rule in the Netherlands, 40. Maximilian II., Emperor of Ger- Index. 683 many, temporizing policy, 130 ; favors peace for Netherlands, 139, 179, 180. Mazarin, Cardinal, favors Dutch re- public, 578; intrigues with Spain, 578, 585. Mechlin, city of, ravaged by Alva, 143 ; betrayed to Parma, 253. Medici, Catherine de, treachery, 140 ; English hatred of, 262; Granvelle"s enmity to, 322. Medina Cceli, Duke of, Governor of Netherlands, 139 ; displaced by Alva, 157. Medina Sidonla, Duke of, leads " In- vincible Armada," 391 ; burns fleet at Cadiz, 427. Melo, Don Francisco de, Captain-Gen- eral of Spanish Netherlands, de- feated at Rocroi, 578. Mendoza, Bernardino de, Spanish ambassador at London, intrigues against states, 230 ; aids attempts to assassinate Orange, 269, 270. Mendoza, Francis de, Admiral of Arra- gon, invades Cleves and Juliers, 447 ; captured at Nieuport, 456 ; dismissed, by Archduke Albert, 466. Middleburg, early charter, 25 ; cap- tured by patriots, 167 ; thwarts William III., 611. Mondragon, Spanish colonel, marches across the Drowned Land, 144; surrenders Middleburg, 167 ; fights on Cowenstein dyke, 346 ; governor of Antwerp, 352, 411; last victory and death, 422. Monk, General, naval victories over Dutch, 588, 591 ; repulsed by De Ruyter, 594. Mons, capital of Hainault, captured by Louis of Nassau, 139 ; abandoned to Spaniards, 143. Montigny, Baron, missions to Spain, 79> 93 ) marriage, 89 ; summoned be- fore Council of Blood, 119 ; strangled in prison, 133. Montigny, Baron, leader of Walloon insurgents, or Malcontents, 242. Mook Heath, Spanish victory, 167. Moor, Joost de, Vice Admiral of Zealand, encounters Spinola's gal- leys, 474. Mornay, Duplessis, attempt to poison him, 271 ; opposes Anjou's sover- eignty, 332 ; vindicates St. Alde- gonde, 350. Munster, treaty of (Peace of West- phalia), secures independence of United Provinces, 581. Mutineers, Spanish, outrages in Bra- bant, 191, 419; Antwerp "Fury," 192 ; seize Antwerp citadel, 432 ; join archdukes' army, 450 ; losses at battle of Nieuport, 456 ; out- lawed by Archduke Albert, 466.' alliance with Maurice of Nassau, 477; pardoned, 480; revolt against Spinola, 490. Naardex, sacked by Spaniards, 146, 149. Namur, Citadel of, seized by Don John of Austria, 214. Napoleon, see Bonaparte. Nassau, House of, origin and power, 63, See Ernest and Henry Casimir of, Friso, John of, Justine of, Louis of, Louis Gunther of, Maurice of, William I., Stadtholder, William Frederick of, William Louis of, Orange, House of, and Addenda. Navigation Act, against Dutch com- merce, 586. Neerwinden, battle of, 619 (note). Netherlands (see Estates-General, Council of State, United Prov- inces, and Walloon Provinces), de- scription of, n, 12; ancient Gauls and Germans, 15-20; Roman con- quest, 19, 20 ; Frankish rule, 22-25 > German empire, 25 ; Burgundian rule, 35, 36; Spanish rule, 40; prosperity of, 52 ; Margaret of Parma's regency, 59 ; causes of revolt, 67; effects of Inquisition, 86, 90; Orange's departure, 108; Requesens, 166, 176 ; united by Paci- fication of Ghent, 196 ; Don John of Austria's attempts to conciliate, 206 ; last union of, 223 ; hastening disunion, 245 ; permanent union impossible, 247 ; the three divisions, 258 ; Anjou installed, 263 ; his treach- ery and death, 291, 299 ; Orange assassinated, 310; Henry III., of France refuses sovereignty, 328 ; Leicester's misrule, 356-386 ; Mau- rice of Nassau's conquests, 404-418 ; rule of Archduke Ernest, 419-421 ; lose aid of Henry IV. of France, 433 ; rule of Albert and Isabella, 434 ; English peace with archdukes, 484 ; twelve years truce, 495 ; ex- ecution of Barneveld, 526; Frederick 684 Index. Henry's triumphs and death of Isabella, 567; French aid against Spanish Netherlands, 570, 573 ; treaty of Munster (peace of West- phalia), 581 ; French invasion, 611 ; Austrian Netherlands, 620 ; pros- perity under Maria Theresa, 626 ; revolt against Joseph II., 631 ; subdued by revolutionary France, 636 ; Napoleonic rule, 637 ; union of Belgium and Holland, 63S ; inde- pendence of Belgium, 641 ; Nether- land Independence threatened by Napoleon III., 643; causes of national development, 663-664. New Netherlands, origin and growth of, 582 ; taken by English, 593 ; re- gained by Dutch, and relinquished, 606. Nieuport, city of, captured by Parma, 297 ; Campaign of, 449-457- Nimeguen, city of, assaulted by Mar- tin Schenk, 395, 396 ; captured by Maurice of Nassau, 412; stadt- holder's court at, 632 ; Peace of, 611. " Ninove Starvation," the, 2S6. Noircarmes, sides with Egmont, 85 ; captures Tournay, 1 02 ; reduces Valenciennes, 105 ; entraps Egmont, .113; cruelties at Mons, 143; weary of slaughter, 166. Norris, Sir John, victory at Rymenant, 232 ; fails to succor Maestricht, 251 : relieves Steenwyk, 257; resigns command under Anjou, 294 ; re- lieves Grave, 358 ; at battle of Zutphen, 362, 365 ; troubles with Leicester, 374 ; in state council, 379; unjustly disgraced, 382. Obdam, Admiral, victory over Swedes, 59 2 > 593- Oquendo, Admiral, defeated in the Downs, 577. Orange, House of, origin and influ- ence, 63 ; members pensioned, 500 ; opposition to, 5 86 ; excluded from power, 592 ; act of exclusion re- pealed, 599 ; represent national unity and growth, 603, 604 (note) ; ambi- tion for royal marriages, 623. See William I., Maurice, Frederick Henry, Philip William, and William II., William III., William IV., and William V., stadtholders. Orange Party, oppose peace with Spain, 578, 585 ; a startling blow to, 585 ; height of opposition to, 586 \ excite popular fun' against Tramp, 5S7; intrigues in Zealand, 588; De Witt's triumph over, 592 ; sailors mutiny for, 593 ; De Witt's rela- tions to, 594, 597; and the army, 599 ; accuse the De Witts, 599 ; struggle against municipal corpora- tions, 619 ; great concessions to, 624 ; favor English policy, 629 ; discontent with, 631 ; badges of, forced on opponents, 635. Ortell, Joachim, Dutch envoy in Eng- land, exposes Leicestrian intrigues, 369, 380. Ostend, failure of Spanish attempt on, 339 ; transferred to Queen Eliza- beth. 352 ; Parma inspects defences of, 387 ; besieged, 461 ; Vere's strat- agem, 465, and its effect in Paris, 472 (note) ; a fresh garrison, 466 ; daring assaults, 471, 472; a huge slaughter pen, 478 ; Spinola's oper- ations against, 479 ; desperate straits of besieged, 480 ; surrender after three years' siege, 483. Otheman (Robert Dale), Leicester's agent, harms English cause, 378. Oudenarde, captured by Parma, 286. Overyssel, states protest against na- tional synod, 509; won over by Maurice of Nassau, 510; wild for Orange prince, 591; subdued by Louis XIV., 599; government con- trolled by William III., 607 ; his plans balked, 61 t ; power of mu- nicipal corporations, 619; demands increase of army, 626. Pacification of Ghent, treaty of Nether land union, 195 ; causes of failure, 248 and note. Parma, Alexander of, secures victory at Gemblours, 227 ; governor of Netherlands, 235 ; romantic youth, 238 ; appearance and character, 241 ; hastens disunion of provinces, 245 ; siege of Maestricht, 249-252 ; and assassination schemes, 255, 269 ; rejoices at Orange's reported death, 281 ; conquests, 286, 297 ; encourages assassin of Orange, 302 ; congratu- lates Philip II. on result, 321 ; menaces Netherland independence, 324 ; siege of Antwerp, 334-349 ; deceives Queen Elizabeth, 357; be- comes duke, 379; captures Sluys, 382 ; inspects Ostend in disguise, Index. 685 387 ; shut up in Dunkirk, 391 ; fails to take Bergen-op-Zoom, 392 ; French campaign, 399 ; baffled by Maurice of Nassau, 411 ; the king's jealousy, 415; death and character, ' 415. Parma, Margaret of, Regent, appear- ance and character, 59 ; assembles Knights of the Fleece, 79; urges Granvelle's removal, 80 ; her scan- dalous favoritism, 84; agitated by appeals of nobles, 90 ; tries to sup- press heresy, 102 ; prejudices the king against Orange, 105 ; breaks promise to Protestants, 106 ; leaves Netherlands, 116; sent back by Philip II., 257. Partition Treaties, the, 615. Pauw, Adrian, Grand Pensionary, op- poses Frederick Henry, 569 ; spe- cial envoy to England, 585, 586; death, 588. Pauw, Reinier, Burgomaster of Am- sterdam, one of Barneveld's oppo- nents and judges, 520. Pecquius, Peter, Chancellor of Bra- bant, fails to win back United Prov- inces for Archduke Albert, 541. Perez, Antonio, Secretary of State for Philip II., intrigues against Don John of Austria, 212; destroys Es- covedo, for threatening to reveal his amour with the Princess Eboli, the King's mistress, 214, 439. Peter the Great, Czar of Russia, re- sides in Holland, 612. Philip the Fair, his exactions and marriage, 40. Philip the '"Good," of Burgundy, his rule in the Netherlands, 35, 36. Philip II., of Spain, his appearance at abdication of Charles V., 48 ; char- acter and habits, 51 ; appoints Mar- garet of Parma, regent, 5 9 ; farewell address to estates, 60 ; tyranny in the provinces, 79, So ; severities against Protestants, 84 ; incensed by image-breaking, 101 ; his objects in subduing the provinces, 102, 109; treachery toward Netherland envoys, 114; enforces decree of Inquisition against heretics, 120; orders execu- tion of Montigny, 133; intrigues to become Emperor of Germany, 162; favors conciliating Netherlands, 166 ; adopts pacific policy of Ruy Gomez, 176; terms rejected by states-gen- eral, 180 ; his bigotry prevents peace, 228, 253 ; neglects to succor Don John of Austria, 235 ; ratifies treaty with Walloon provinces, 247 ; is- sues ban against Orange, 254 ; rea- sons for encouraging assassination, 267, 269 ; delays, 285 ; ennobles family of Orange's assassin, 323 ; joy at fall of Antwerp, 350 ; plots to invade England, 388 ; fails in at- tempts on the French throne, 417; repudiates debts, 431 ; transfers Netherlands to Albert and Isabella, 434 ; death, 437 ; character, 438-443. Philip III., of Spain, seizes Dutch vessels, 444 ; appearance and char- acter, 496 ; checks peace negotia- tions, 498 ; death, 541. Philip IV., of Spain, ruled by a favor ite, 541 ; seeks renewal of truce, 563; his death and the country's exhaustion, 598. Philip V., of Spain, acknowledged as king by England and United Prov- inces, 616. Philip William, Count of Buren, and Prince of Orange, kidnapped by Alva, 119; filial attachment, 212; returns to Netherlands, 423 ; family affection, 457; marriage and its re- sults, 494 ; pensioned, 500. Pichegru, invades Belgium and Hol- land, 636. Pilgrim Fathers, departure from Hol- land, 537. Pius V., Pope, rewards Alva, 130. " Pragmatic Sanction," upheld by United Provinces, 623. Prie, Marquis of, oppresses Austrian Netherlands, 620. Protestants, or Reformers, persecutors, 75 (note); persecuted, S4; camp- meetings, 94 ; effects of their vio- lence, 101 (note). See Calvinists : Lutherans, and Reformation. Piussia, defeats transfer of Austrian Netherlands, 630 ; invades United Provinces, 632 ; guarantees heredi- tary stadtholderate, 635 ; aids to restore Prince of Orange, 638 ; pre- vents Holland from selling Luxem- burg to Napoleon III., 643. Pyrenees, peace of the, 616. Radbod, a Frisian king, refuses bap- tism, 24; Egmont's descent from, 71. Raleigh, Sir Walter, attacks Spanish fleet at Cadiz, 427. 686 Index. Ramillies, Marlborough's victory, 619. Rammekens, held by Queen Elizabeth, 355 ; redeemed from James I., 506. Reformers. See Protestants ; also p. 669. Reformation enters Netherlands, 68 ; how kept out of Spain, 76 ; spread in the provinces, 229. Reingault, Burgrave, and Deventer, Leicester's favorites, 369, 371. Remonstrants and Contra-Remon- strants, 502; disputes, 503; come to blows, 505 ; result in Utrecht, and a humorous view, 513; Remonstrant preaching prohibited, 516; allowed, 540; persecution of ; 550, 553; a more tolerant rule, 564. Renneberg, Count, Stadtholder of Friesland and Drenthe, his treach- ery, 253; besieges Steenwyk, 256; d3ath, 257. Requesens, Grand Commander, at Lepanto, 197 ; succeeds Alva as governor, and favors conciliation, 166; advocates general pardon, 176; ignorant of king's intentions, 180 ; successes, 184 ; death and character, 1S7. Rheinberg, captured by Maurice of Nassau, 432, 461 ; regained by Spinola, 489; alarm of Dutch at loss, 490. "Rhetoric Chambers," the, influence people against Granvelle, 78. Richardot, President of Artois, repre- sents Spain in peace negotiations, 497- Richelieu, Cardinal, aids United Prov- inces, 554; treaty with them, 563; fears a United Netherlands, 567 ; opposes Adrian Pauw, 569; new Dutch treaty not his work, 5 70 ; plans Barrier treaty, 573; death, 578. Ripperda, the heroic commandant at Haarlem, 149. Rocroi, battle of, 578. Roda, Jerome de, assumes governor- ship of provinces, 195. Rodney, English admiral, seizes Dutch possessions, 628. Roman Conquest, the, 19. Rosbecque, battle of, 32. Rosny, Marquis of. See Sully. Rotterdam, recent enterprise of, 641. Roubaix and Richebourg, Marquis of, formerly Viscount of Ghent, a Mal- content leader, favors Orange's assassination, 301 ; killed at Ant- werp bridge. 343. Rubens, favored by Albert and Isa- bella, 542 ; his mission to England, 563- Rudolph II., Emperor of Germany, and Netherland sovereignty, 221 ; Don John of Austria's complaints to, 225 ; mediates with Philip II. for peace, 252. Rupert, Prince, commands English fleet off Lowestoft, 593 ; the four days' battle, 594 ; last contests, 606. Russia, joined by United Provinces in the "Armed Neutrality," 627,628; guarantees Emperor Leopold's sov- ereignty in Belgium, and withdraws guarantee, 631., Ruyter. See De Ruyter. Ryhove, a reckless partisan of Orange, incites outrages in Ghent, 222, 242 ; has Blood Councillor Hessels hanged, 243 ; secures execution of .-Imbize. 29S. Rymenant, Don John of Austria's repulse at, 232. Ryswick, peace of ? 612. Salms, Rhingrave of, his defection, 632. Salseda Conspiracy, true nature of, 286-288. Santa Cruz, Don Alvarez de Bassano, Marquis of, at Lepanto, 197 ; first commander of " Invincible Armada," 391 ; death, 391. Santa Cruz, Marquis of, successor of Spinola, his advance into Holland, 5 6 3. ,. . Sarrasin, John, Prior, royalist intngues in the Walloon provinces, 246. Savoy, Emanuel Philibert, Duke of, Regent of Netherlands, 56. Savoy, Thomas, Prince of, commands in Spanish Netherlands, defeated by the French, 574. Saxony, Elector of, favors Orangp's second marriage, 72 ; opposes third marriage, 183. Scheldt, the, bridged by Parma, 336 ; closed by treaty of Munster, 581; Joseph 11. fails to open, 630; freed by the French, 637 ; all re- strictions removed from, 644. Schenk, Martin, German free lance, aids United Provinces, 357; pred- atory operations, 395 ; desperate struggle and death, 396. Index. 687 Schimmelpenninck, Napoleon's Grand Pensionary of Holland, 637. Sebastian, Admiral, successes in In- dia, 488. "Sharp Resolve," the, 508; declared unconstitutional, 509. Sidney, Sir Philip, accompanies An- jou to Netherlands, 262, 263 ; Gov- ernor of Flushing, 355 ; loses favor with Queen Elizabeth, 361 ; self- sacrifice at Zutphen, 365 ; death, 366. Sixtus V., Pope, confers Queen Eliz- abeth's crown on Philip II., 387 : urges invasion of England, 388. Slatius, Henry, conspires against life of Maurice of Nassau, 549 ; impris- oned, 550. Sluys, besieged by Parma, 381, 382; harbors Spinola's galleys, 473, 474; besieged by Maurice of Nassau, 480 ; repulse of Du Terrail, 488. Solms, Amalia van, wife of Frederick Henry, character and influence, 558 ; favors peace with Spain, 581. Solms, George Everard, Count, mar- riage, 421 ; at battle of Nieuport, 456. Sonoy, Diedrich, Orange's lieutenant, prepares to flood North Holland, 161; cruelties, 1S3 ; holds out for Leicester, 38 7 ; submits to states, 3SS. Spain, controls Netherlands, 40 ; liberties of, declining, 48 ; income from provinces, with France, 56, 59; a fertile field for the Inquisition, 76; Egmont's mis- sion to, 86 ; people weary of Neth- erland contest, 1 79 ; regains Walloon provinces, 247 ; conquers Portugal, 254 ; Holland and Zealand declare independence of, 258 ; sack of Cadiz, 427 ; French peace with, 433 ; effect of policy of Philip II., 440 ; deserted by England and France, 495 ; favors peace with Netherlands, 496 ; alarmed by Heemskerk's victory, 497 ; decline at death of Philip III., 541 ; alliances of French and Dutch against, 554, 570; govern- ment dissolves states-general at Brussels, 5 J2> i defeat of French and Dutch, 574; fatal blow to naval power, 577 ; general weakness of, 57S ; humiliating treaty of peace with United Provinces, 581 ; re- gains Netherland places by treaty of Ryswick, 612. Spinola, Ambrose, Marquis, takes command at siege of Ostend, 479 ; success, 483 ; captures Rheinberg, 489: financial difficulties, 490; eclipses Maurice of Nassau, 493 ; his mission for peace, 498 ; contends for Cleves succession, 501 ; over- awes Brussels, 542 ; in the Thirty Years' War, 545 ; besieges Breda, 554; recalled in disgrace, 559; un- justly sacrificed, 560. Spinola, Frederick, his daring priva- teering, 473 ; death and character, 474 and note. Ste. Aldegonde, supports compromise of the nobles, 89 ; opposed to Ana- baptists, 213; favors cause of An- jou, 262 ; allays excitement against French, 276, 277; mission to the States-general, 280 ; appointed chief burgomaster of Antwerp, 330 ; re- view of services, 331-333; difficul- ties in Antwerp, 336 ; aids attack on Cowenstein dyke, 345 ; desperate straits in Antwerp, 347 ; the city surrendered, 348 ; ill treated by Holland and Zealand, 350 ; death and character, 351. St. Bartholomew, massacre of, a blow to Orange, 140. St. Quentin, Egmont's victory, 56. St. Trond, meeting of Confederate nobles at, 94. Stadtholderate, of United Provinces, abolished, 592 ; restored, 599 ; made hereditary in family of William III., 607 ; overthrown, 619 ; restored and made hereditary in family of Wil- liam IV., 624: hereditary, guaranteed by Prussia and England, 635. Stanley, Sir William, his bravery at Zutphen, 365 ; governor of Deven- ter, 372 : treachery, 374, 377 and note. Steenwyk, besieged by Count Renne- berg, 256 ; his repulse, 257 ; cap- tured by Maurice of Nassau, 413. Steinkirk, battle of, 619 (note). Stoutenberg, son of Barneveld, con- spires against Maurice of Nassau, 546 ; flight, 550 ; unpopularity, 553 ; aids Spaniards, 563. Succession, Cleves, struggle for, on death of Duke John William, 501. Succession, Spanish, complications of, 615, 616. Sully, Duke of, Barneveld's appeal to, 477 ; effects English and French 688 Index, alliance, 478 ; policy toward United Provinces, 490 (note). Sweden, honors to Grotius in, 540, 541 ; compelled to peace by De Ruyter, 593 ; and Triple Alliance, 598. Tappin, Sebastian, his gallant de- fence of Maestricht, 249-252. Tassis, John Baptist, Spanish ambas- sador to France, explains Salseda conspiracy, 287 •; encourages Orange's assassination, 300 ; surrender of De- venter to, 377. Teligny, son of the ' ' iron-armed " La Noue, gallant defence of Fort Lillo, 334 ; captured by Spaniards, 336. Temple, Sir William, negotiates Triple Alliance, 598 ; impressed by De Witt's simple habits, 603. Tergoes, city of, saved by Mondragon, 144. Texel, the, De Ruyter's victory in, 606; cavalry capture Dutch fleet in, 636. Thirty Years' War, the, 545. Tholouse, Marnix de, dies for re- ligious liberty, 106. Tichelaar, a barber-surgeon, aids mas- sacre of the De Witts, 600. Tilly, Count, tries to protect the De Witts, 600. Tirlemont, city of, stormed by French and Dutch, 574. Titelmann, Peter, crue> Netherland Inquisitor, 76. Torquemada, his administration of the Inquisition in Spain, 76. Tournay, submits to Noircarmes, 102 ; surrenders to Parma, 261. Trent, Council of, decrees against heretics, 84, 85. Treslong, Admiral, capture of Brill, 136; neglects to provision Antwerp, 333 ; cashiered and imprisoned, 339. Tromp, Admiral, victory in the Downs, 577; battle with Blake, 5 86 ; super- seded by De Ruyter, 587 ; victory and defeat, 588 ; killed in battle with Monk, 591. Tromp, Cornelius, son of the preced- ing, naval triumphs, 587 ; a zealous Orange partisan, 593 ; the four days' battle, 594 ; dismissed for reckless- ness, 597 ; gallantry in the Texel, 606. Truce, the Twelve Years', how effected 498, 499; results, 500; grave dis- sensions during, 521, 541 ; war re- newed on expiration, 545. Truchsess, Gebhard, ex-Archbishop of Cologne, his trials, 327 ; aided by England and United Provinces, 357 ; one of Leicester's spies, 370 ; takes refuge in Germany, 395. Tulipomania, an absurd speculative fever, 575. Turenne, Marshal, invades United Provinces, 599. Turks, supremacy shattered at Le- panto, 198 ; Philip's war with, leads to attempts on Orange's life, 267 ; Germany's fear of, 327 ; efforts to unite Europe against, 432. Turnhout, Maurice of Nassau's vic- tory, 428, 432. Union, of Holland and Zealand, 180 ; a more perfect, 188. Union, the Brussels, 206, 248. Union, new, of Brussels, last con- federation of all the Netherlands, 223, 248. Union of Utrecht, foundation of Neth- erland independence, 246, 248 ; de- fects, 530, 598. United Provinces, origin, 246, 258, 284 ; appeal to England and France, 321; desperate condition, 324, France and England refuse prof- fered sovereignty of, 328, 355 ; Leicester accepts governor-general- ship, 356 ; prosperity, 372 ; be- trayed by trusted foreigners, 373— 377 ; troubles with Queen Elizabeth, 378-3S5 ; Leicester's departure, 386 ; ill feeling toward England, 392 ; fresh vigor of government, 400 ; Maurice of Nassau's triumphs, 404 ; disputes with England, 414 ; leagued with France and England against Spain, 427 ; lose aid of Henry IV., but are favored by Queen Elizabeth, 433 ; distrust Archduke Albert, 437 ; maritime enterprise, 446 ; urgent appeals to France" and Eng- land, 477 ; appeal to France, 489 ; \ the Twelve Years' Truce, 499 ; bitter theological disputes, 502 ; trial and execution of Barneveld, 514 ; impor- tant aid from France, 570, 573 ; inde- pendence acknowledged by Spain, 581 ; distrust of France, 585 ; war with England, 587 ; exclusion of Index. 689 House of Orange from power, 592 ; a second war with England,' 593 ; ill- starred Triple Alliance, 598 ; French invasion, 599 ; a stadtholderless gov- ernment, 619; Peace of Aix-la- Chapelle, 625 ; English assaults, 628 ; Prussian invasion, 632 ; French domination, 637 ; union with Bel- gium, 638. Utrecht, Christian Church founded at, 23 ; warlike bishops, 25 ; pun- ished by Council of Blood, 130 ; treaty of " Satisfaction," 217 ; Union of, founds Netherland independence, 246 ; province, revolutionized and sovereignty offered to Queen Eliza- beth, 369 ; Leicester's banishment of Catholics, 371 ; city favors alle- giance to England, ^87 ; Maurice of Nassau becomes stadtholder, 400 ; his defence against Spinola, 489 ; states protest against National synod, 509; they nullify authority of the republic, 510; overawed by Maurice of Nassau, 512; Van den Berg's invasion, 560 ; desperate re- sistance, 563; William III., in con- trol, 607 ; municipalities regain power, 619 ; supports stadtholder William V., 626 ; abandoned by Rhingrave of Salms, 632. Uytenbogaert, a famous Arminian preacher, 504. Valenciennes, noted for its cam- lets, 52 ; captured by Noircarmes, 105. Valois, Margaret of. Queen of Navarre, reception by Don John of Austria, 214. Van Artevelde, see Artevelde. Van Berckel, Pensionary of Amster- dam, favors the French, 626. Van den Berg, Frederic, Count, sur- renders Coeworden, 413 ; commands at siege of Ostend, 461. Van den Berg, Henry, Count, com- mands for Archduchess Isabella, 55 ; foiled by stadtholder Frederick Henry, 560 ; intrigues against Span- ish rule, 564 ; sentenced to death, 570. \ r an den Berg, Herman, Count, sur- renders Deventer, 411. Vandenesse, private secretary of Philip II., his warning to Orange, 108. Van den Hove, Anna, last victim of fatal persecution in Netherlands, 431. Van der Does, John, or Dousa, brave defence of Leyden, 167; mission to England, 352. Van der Does, Peter, Admiral, com- mands naval expedition against Spanish ports, 447, 448. Van der Linden, John, Abbot of St. Gertrude, intrigues to assassinate Orange, 270, 271. Van der Mersch, patriot general in the Austrian Netherlands, 631. Van der Mey, Peter, a carpenter, risks his life to save Alkmaar, 161. Van der Noot, a reactionary enthu- siast in Austrian Netherlands, 631. Van de Spiegel, Lawrence, Grand Pen- sionary of Holland, 636. Van Galen, Admiral, exploits and death, 587. Van Galen, Bishop of Munster, inva- sion of Friesland repelled, 594. Van Helmont, chemist, persecuted as a sorcerer, 665. Van Meteren, a Flemish historian of Netherlands, whose work was pub- lished in Holland, 249 (note), 348, 582. Varax, Count, defeated by Maurice of Nassau at Turnhout, 428. Vargas, Juan de, chief of Council of Blood, 114, 115. Venero and Timmerman, accomplices of Orange's assassin, 277 ; executed, 279. Verdugo, Francis, Spanish governor of Friesland, assassination charge, 378 ; his " shirt attack " repulsed, 414 ; retreats from Coeworden, 418. Vere, Aubrey de, nineteenth Earl of Oxford, killed at siege of Maes- tricht, 564. Vere, Sir Francis, wounded at Steen- wyk, 413 ; opposed to Nieuport cam- paign, 449; his services, 451, 456 ; commands at Ostend, governor of Briil, difficulties with states, 462 and note, 465 ; joins Maurice of Nassau in the field, 466 ; peace negotiations, 472 (note). Vere, Sir Horace, Governor of Brill, supports Maurice of Nassau, 512. Vere, family of, services to Netherland freedom, 462 (note), 564. Verhoef, incites massacre of the De Witts, 6co ; brutal treatment of their remains, 603 (note). 690 Index. Vervins, treaty of peace between France and Spain at, 433. Viglius van Aytta, President of State- Council, 60 ; attacked by apoplexy, 85 ; deplores king's delays, 188 ; death and character, 211. Villeroy, Prime Minister of Henry IV., encourages Barneveld with hopes of aid, 489. Villiers, chaplain and counsellor of Orange, draws up answer to Philip's ban, 256 (note) ; comforts prince after Jaureguy's assault, 275 ; visited by Balthazar Gerard, 306 ; Orange's reliance on him, 332 ; opposed to English influence, 378 ; stadtholder of Utrecht, 400 ; death, 400. Voetians, a religious party in Holland, 608. Vonck, a patriot lawyer, seeks reform in Austrian Netherlands, 631. Vondel, great Dutch dramatic poet, 582. Vorstius, successor of Arminius at Leyden, deposed, 503. Waartgelders, raised to protect Dutch towns, 427 ; unwise employ- ment of by states of Holland, 508 ; Barneveld's mistaken policy with, 510: submit to Maurice of Nassau, 512. Walcheren Expedition^ English, fate of, 637. Walloon Provinces, Artois, Lille, Douay, and Orchies, oppose Prot- estant baptism of Orange's daughter, 234 ; people refuse to lay down arms, 244 ; withdraw from national cause, 246 ; treat with Spain, 247 ; favor return of Spanish troops, 285 ; nobles intrigue against Spain, 564 ; people no match for Dutch, 665. Walceus, Anthony, tries to save Bar- neveld, 523, 524. Walsingham, Sir Francis, condemns Queen Elizabeth's crooked policy, 232 ; impressions of Don John of Austria, 233; vindicates St. Alde- gonde's integrity, 350 ; warnings against Spanish invasion, 385. Warfusee, Count, a Belgian grandee, intrigues against Spanish rule, 564 ; punishment, 570. Warmond, Admiral, blockades Parma's barges, 391 ; takes part in Cadiz expedition, 424. Westphalia, peace of, 644. See Munster. " White Hoods," men of Ghent, in military service, 28. Wilkes, Thomas, English envoy to United Provinces, relations with Leicester, 377, 378 ; refuses to vote in state council, 379 ; disgraced on return to England, 382. William I., Stadtholder, "Orange," at abdication of Charles V., 47; why called the Silent, 64 ; sumptuous mode of life, 65 ; marries Anna of ^ Saxony, 72 ; opposes Granvelle and Philip II., 71, 79 ; bribes the King's secretary, 90 ; drinks to the " beg- gars," 93 ; preserves peace at Ant- werp, 94 ; conference with nobles, 105 ; protects Antwerp, 106, 107 ; leaves Netherlands, 108 ; summoned before Council of Blood, 119; pre- pares to invade Netherlands, 122; disbands his army, 128; narrowly escapes capture, 140, 143 ; attempts to relieve Haarlem, 153; becomes a Calvinist, 165 ; sends relief to Leyden, 168, 171 ; troubles with states of Holland, 179; supreme au- thority during the war, 180 ; marries Charlotte of Bourbon, 183; seizes London merchant fleet, 184 ; sub- lime resolve, 187; secures Pacifica- tion of Ghent, 19$ ; opposes Don John of Austria, 205-207; grand reception in Brussels, 219 ; bent on war, 220 ; elected Ruward of Brabant, 221 ; conciliatory policy in Ghent, 223 ; sworn in as lieutenant 10 Matthias, 225 ; protects Catholic leaders, 228 ; intrigues against Don John of Austria, 236 ; arranges a religious peace, 244 ; signs " Union of Utrecht," 246; accepts govern- ment of Flanders, 252; replies to ban of Philip II., 255 ; accepts sovereignty of Holland and Zealand, 258 ; assists at Anjou's installation, 263 ; various attempts upon his life, 266-271 ; accepts sovereignty of Holland, 284 ; divides authority with states, 285 ; favors restoration of Anjou, 294 ; ill-treated in Ant- werp, 298 ; retires to Delft, 299 ; failure of attempts upon his life, 300; assassinated by Gerard, 310; funeral, 315 ; character, 316-320. William II., Stadtholder, Prince of Orange, granted reversion of father's Index. 691 offices, 563 ; marries Princess Mary of England, 577; violent measures and death, 585. William III., Stadtholder, Prince of Orange, early intrigues in his favor, 586, 588, 59,3 ; stadtholder and captain-general of Holland and Zealand, 599; heroic resistance to French invasion, 605 ; increase of authority, and fears of his ambition, 607; marries Princess Mary of England and contends with Louis XIV., 608; becomes William III. of England, 611 ; sovereignty recog- nized by Louis XIV., 612 ; alliances against France, 615; death and character, 616, 619. William IV., Stadtholder, Prince of Orange, marries Princess Anne ot England, and cedes principality of Orange to France, 623; made stadt- holder of United Provinces, 624; death generally lamented, 625. William V., . Stadtholder, Prince of Orange, irresoluteness, 625 ; subject to English influence, 626, 627; de- prived of office by states of Holland, and reinstated, 632 ; takes refuge in England, 636. William I., King of the Netherlands, son of stadtholder William V., valor at Waterloo, 638 ; enthroned by the great powers, 638; loses Bel- gium, and resigns crown of Holland, 641. William II., King of the (Dutch) Netherlands, reigns peacefully till his death in 1849, 641. William III., King of the (Dutch) Netherlands, improvements during his reign, 641, 642; prevented by Prussia from selling Luxemburg to Napoleon III., 643. See Addenda. William Frederick of Nassau, Count, stadtholder of Friesland, averse to the Orange branch of the house, 581 ; aids Prince William's violent measures against Amsterdam, 585 ; intrigues in his favor in Zealand, 588. William Louis of Nassau, Count, stadtholder of Friesland, his opin- ion of Leicester, 378; military ad- viser of Maurice, 404 ; aids in capture of Steenwyk, 413 ; opposes Nieuport campaign, 449 ; opinion of Sir Francis Vere, 462 (note) ; pre- vails on Maurice to favor synod, 506, 507 ; asks mercy for Barneveld, 522. Williams, Sir Roger, his gallant de- fence of Sluys, 381, 382. Willoughby, Lord, arrives in Nether- lands with Anjou, 262 ; gallantry at Zutphen, 365 ; troubles with Dutch leaders, 3S8 ; entraps Spaniards at Bergen-op-Zoom, 392 ; vindicates Sir John Wingfield, 395. Wingfield, Sir John, surrenders Ger- truydenberg to Spaniards, 392; a price set on his head, 395. Winwood, Sir Ralph, English ambas- sador and member of Council of State, collection of State Papers, 462 (note)-, views from Paris, 472 (note) ; expects collapse of republic, 47S (note); assists in peace negotia- tions, 497 ; succeeded by Sir Dudley Carleton, 505 Women, of Netherlands, vigor and energy, 55 ; defence of Haarlem, 150; bravery at Ley den, 158; re- sist Spanish mutineers at Antwerp, 192; aid in defending Maestricht, 250 ; assist to repel French at Ant- werp, 292 ; defend Sluys, 381 ; aid defence of Bergen-op-Zoom, 488 ; declining influence, 624. Xanten, treaty of, 501. Ybarra, Stephen, Spanish Finance Minister at Brussels, assassination schemes, 420. York, Duke of, afterward James II. of England, exile in United Prov- inces, 585 ; commands English fleet off Lowestoft, 593. Yorke, . Rowland, an English adven- turer, favored by Leicester, ^73 J treachery, yj-j. Yssunca, John, plots to assassinate Orange, 278. Zapena, a Spanish general, wise ad- vice to Archduke Albert at Nieu- port, 451. Zealand, French protectorate of, 162 ; united with Holland, 180; islands of, captured by Spaniards, 184 ; re- covered by patriots, 196 ; blocks truce with Spain, 499; why opposed 692 Supplementary Index. to peace, 585 ; intrigues of Orange party, 588; devoted to Prince, 591, 599 ; opposes sovereignty of Wil- liam III., in Gelderland, 607 ; revo- lutionized in favor of William IV., 624 ; supports stadtholder's policy, . 626. Zierickzee, city of, besieged by Mon- dragon, 184 ; captured, 188. Zoutman, Admiral, commands at bat- tle of the Doggerbank", 628. Zutphen, Don Frederic's cruelties, 146 ; captured by Parma, 297 ; death of Sidney and capture of fort, 365, 366 ; Rowland Yorke in command of fort- ress, 373 ; its betrayal, 377. Zuider Zee, origin, 26; plan for filling it, 27 ; Dutch victory on, 165. SUPPLEMENTARY INDEX. Acheen, war in, 647, 650, 656. Adolph, duke of Nassau, 655, 658. Agriculture, progress in, 667. Amsterdam, international exhibition in, 646 ; riots in, 650. Army, the, 659. Arts and Sciences, the, 667. Bantam, assault on, 656. Barometer, invention of, 667. Berri Berri, the disease, 657. Constitution, revision of, 646. Drebbel, Cornelius, the inventor, 667. East Indies, Dutch in, 649. Education, 653. Eel-baiting, prohibited, 649. Elections in 1888, 651. Elzevirs, the first publishers, 667. Emma, Queen, appointed regent, 652, 657- Exports (1883-1893), 662. Franchise, extension of, 660. Free Trade, Dutch policy of, 655. Fortuyns, the socialist, imprisoned, 650. Heemskerk, political leader, 649, 653. Imports, (1883-1893), 662. Java, forced labor, 654, 655 ; attempted restoration of Empire, 656. Jansen, Zacharias, 667. Keuchenius, minister of Colonies, 652, 654- Kirmiss, interdiction of the, 649. Latitude and Longitude, invention of, 667. Merwede, canal of, 661. Microscope, invention, 667. Navigation, Dutch teaches Europe, 667. Navy, the, 659. Netherlands of to-day, 668. Nisero, stranding of the, 647. Penang, English settlers in, 650. Population of the Netherlands, 646, 661. Prince of Orange, death of, 648. Printing Presses in Holland, 667. Public Debt (1883) 646, (1888) 654, (1893) 661. Publishers, the first known, 667. Right of assembly restricted, 650. Russian Emperor appointed arbitrator, 658. Sabbath, observance of, 659. Socialists, 648, 660. Suellius, Willebrod, discoveries of, 667. Sugar, decline in price, 648. Sumatra, war in, 651. Surinam, French claim in, 658. Tak-van-Portvliet, the reforms of, 660. Taxation, revision of, 659. Telescope, invention of, 667. Tenom, audacity of Rajah of, 650. Thermometer, invention of, 667, Umbili River coal fields, 651. Van Lynden, defeat of. administration, 645-. Van Tienhoven, Dr. premier, 659. Wilhelmina, Princess, 648, 652 ; Queen, 657. William III., health of, 652 ; death of, 657. 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