^r HISTORY OF NATIONS. IVILIJAM rill-: SILENT TBE HISTORY THE NETHERLANDS. THOMAS COLLEY GRATTAM THE BRADLEY COMPANY, PUBLISHERS. NBW XORK URL CONTENTS. CHAP. I B. C. 50.— A. D. 2.50. niOM TH« IKVASION OF THE NETHERLANDS BY THE ROMANS TO TH« INVASION BY THE SALIAN FRANKS. Extent of the Kingdom.— Description of the People.— Ancient State of the Low Countries— Of the High Grounils— Ointra-sted with the pres- ent Aspect of the Country. —Expedition of Julius Ca;sar. — The Belgs. — The Menapians.—Batavians— Distinguished among the Auxiliaries of Rome.— Decrease of national Feeling in Fart of the Country.^ Steady Patriotism of the Prisons and Menapians. — Commencement of Civilization. — Early Formation of the Dike.'!.— Degeneracy of those who became united to the Romans. — Invasion of the Netherlands by the Salian Franks Page 15 CHAP, n 250—800 rKOM THE SETTLEMENT OF THE FRANKS TO THE SUBJUGATION OF FRIESLAJCD BY THE FRENCH. Obaracter of the Franks.— The Saxon Trilies.— Destruction of the Sali- ans by a Saxon Tribe. — Julian the .Apostate.- Victories of Clovis in Gaul. — Contrast between the I>ow Countries and the Provinces of Prance. — State of Friesland. — Charles .Martel. — Friesland converted to Christianity— Finally subdued by France ^. 22 CHAP. III. 800—1000 PROM THE CONqCEST OF FRIESLAND TO THE FORMATION OF HOLLAND. Commencement of the Feudal System in the Highlands. — Flourishing State of the Low Countries. — Counts of the Empire. — Formation of the Gilden or Trades. — Establishment of popular Privileges in Fries- land. — In what they consisted. — Growth of Ecclesiastical Power. — Baldwin of Flanders— Created Count. — Appearance of the Normans. — They ravage the Netherlands — Their Destruction — And final Dis- appearance. — Division of the Empire into Higher and Lower Lor- raine. — Establishment of the Counts of Lorraine and Hainault. — In- creasing Power of the Bishops of Liege and Utrecht. — Their Jealousy of the Counts ; who resist their Encroachments 28 M COIfTKNTS. CHAP. rv. 1018—1384. ntOM THK PO&MATIOH OT ROLIa.ND TO THK DKATB OP LOUIS DC KAliB. Origin of Holland.— It* flrrt Count.— Aggrandizement of Flanden. — Its growing Commerce — Fisheries — Manufactures. — Formation of the County of Guelders— And of Brabant.— State of Friesland.— State of the Provinces.— The Crusades. — Their good Edicts on the State of the Netherlands. — Decline of the Feudal Power — And Growth of the Influence of the Towns. — Great Prosperity of the Country. — The Flemings take up Arms against the French— Drive them out of Bru- ges—And defeat them in the Battle of Courtrai.— Popular Success in Brabant. — Its Confederation with Flanders. — Rebellion of Bruges against the Count — And of Ghent under James d'Artaveldt. — His Al- liance with England. — His Power— And Death. — Independence of Flanders.— Battle of Roosbeke— Philip the Bold, Duke of Burgundy, obtains the Sovereignty of Flanders 30 CHAP. V. 1384—1506. ntOlt TBI 8UCC8S8I0N OF PHILIP THE BOLD TO THE CODNTT OF PLAlTDn TO THE DEATH OF PHILIP THE FAIR. Iiilip succeeds to the Inheritanceof Brabant.— Makes War on England as a French Prince — Flanders remaining neuter. — Power of the Houses of Burgundy and Bavaria — And Decline of public Liberty. — Union of Holland, Hainault, and Brabant. — Jacqueline Countess of Holland and Hainault — Flies from the Tyranny of her Husband, John of Bra- bant, and takes Refuge in Eiis;lan(l. — Murder of John the Fearless, Duke of Burgundy. — Accession of his Son, Philip the Good. — His Policy. — Espouses the Cause of John of Brabant against Jacqueline. — Deprives her of Hainault, Holland, and Zealand. — Continues his Per- secution, and despoils her of her last Possession and Titles.— She marries a Gentleman of Zealand — And dies. — Peace of Arras. — Do- minions of the House of Burgundy equal to the present Extent of the Kingdom of the Netherlands.— Rebellion of Ghent. — Affairs of Hoi land and Zealand.— Charles the Rash.— His Conduct in Holland. — Succeeds his Father.- Effects of Philip's Reign on the Manners of the People. — Louis XI.— Death of Charles, and Succession of Mary. — Factions among her Subjects— Marries Maximilian of Austria. — Battle of Guinegate.— Death of Mary.— Ma.ximilian unpopular. — Im- prisoned by his Subjects.— Released. — Invades the Netherlands. — Suc- ceeds to the Imperial Throne by the Death of his Father. — Philip the Fair proclaimed Duke and Count. — His wise Adniiniatration. — Af- fairs of Friesland— Of Guelders.— Charles of Egmoni.— Death of Piiiliptbe Fair 49 CHAP. VI. 1506—1555. MOK TBK OOTCRRMKirr OP MAKQARET OP ADSTKIiL TO TBB ABDIOAnOK OF THE EMPEROR CHARLaS V. Margaret of Austria invested with the Sovereignty.- Her Character and Government.— Charles, Son of Philip the Fair, created Duke of Bra CONTENTS. rA kuit •«(! Count of Flsnders and Holland.— The Reformation.— Mar- tin Luther.— Persecution of the Reformerg.—Battle of Pavia. — Oe«- eion of Utrecht to Charles V.— Peace of Cambray.— The AnabaptlsH' Sedition at Ghent.— Expedition against Tunis and Algiers.— Charle* becomes possessed of Friesland and Guelders«— His increasing Sever- ity against the Protestanta.— His Abdication and Death.— Review. — ProgreBi of Civilixation • OT CPAP. VIL 1555—1566. ntoM THi AOCKsnoN or phiup it. or spain to tbi ebtaburhiibi(T or tbi INQUISITION IN THE NETHERLANDS. Accesalon of Philip II.— His Character and Government.— His War» with France, and with the Pope.— Peace with the Pope.— Battle of St. duentin.- Battle of Gravelines— Peace of Caleau-Cambresis.— Death of Mary of England.— Philip's Despotism.— Establishe* a Pro- visional Government— Convenes the States-General at Ghent.— Hi» Minister Granvelle.— Goes to Zealand.— Embarks for Spain.— Proa- perity revives.— Effects of the Provisional Government.— Marguerite of Parma.— Character of Granvelle.— Viglius de Berlaimont.— De- parture of the Spanish Troops— Clergy.— Bishops.— National Diseoii' tent.— Granvelle appointed Cardinal.— Edicts against Heresy.— Popu- lar Indignation.— Reformation.— State of Brabant.— Conferor.— His attempted Reforms in Religion.— War with England.— SeaFight on the Doggerbank.— Peace with England, 1784.— Progress of public Opinion in Europe— In Belgium— And Holland.— Violent Opposition to the Stadtholder.— Arrest of the Princess of Orange.— Invasion of Holland by the Prus- sian Army.— Agitation in Belgium— Vander .\oot.— Prince Albert of Saxe Teschen and the Archduchess Maria Theresa joint Governors- General.— Succeeded by Count Murray.— Riots.— Meetings of the Pro- visional States.— General Insurrection.— Vonckists.— Vander Mersch —Takes the Command of the Insurgents.- His Skilful Conduct.— He gains the Battle of Turnhout.— Takes Possession of Flanders.— Con- federation of the Belgian Provinces.— Death of Joseph II.— Leopold Emperor.— Arrest of Vander Mersch.— Arrogance of the States-Gene- ral of Belgium.— The Austrians over-run the Country.— Convention at the Hague.— Death of Leopold.— Battle of Jemmappes.- General Du- XIV CONTENTS. mouriec. — Conquest of Eielgium by the French. — Recovered by the Austrians. — The Archduke Charles Governor-General. — War in the Netherlands.— Duke of York.— The Emperor Francis.— The Battle of Fleurus.- Incorporation of Belgium with the French Republic- Peace of Leoben.— Treaty of Carapo-Formio 251 CHAP XXII 1794—1813. nioK TBI iiryAsioN or Holland by the french to the kbtusn of thb PRINCE OF ORANGE. Pichegru invades Holland. —Winter Campaign.— The Duke of York vainly resists the French Army.— Abdication of the Stadtholder.— Bs- tavian Republic— War with England.— Unfortunate Situation of Holland.— Naval Fight.— English Expedition to the Helder.— Napoleon Bonaparte. — Louis Bonaparte namei King of Holland. — His popular Conduct. — He abdicates the Throne. — Annexation of Holland to th« French Empire— Ruinous to the Prosperity of- the Republic. — The People desire the Return of the Prince of Orange. — Confederacy to ef- fect this Purpose —The Allied Armies advance towards Holland. — The Nation rises to throw off the Yoke of France. — Count Styrum and his Associates lead on that Movement — And proclaim the Prince of Orange— Who lands from England.— His first Proclamation. — Hit •econd Proclamation 9Bt CHAP. XXIII. 1813—1815. ntOM THE INSTALLATION OF WILLIAM I. AS PRINCB-SOVBREieN Of Tn NETHERLANDS TO THE BATTLE OF WATERLOO. Rapid Organization of Holland.— The Constitution formed — Accepted by the People. — Objections made to it by some Individuals. — Inaugu* ration of the Prince-Sovereign.— Belginin is occupied by the Allies. — Treaty of Paris. — Treaty of London —Formation of the Kingdom of the Netherlands — Basis of the Government. — Relative Character and Situation of Holland and Belgium. — The Prince-Sovereign of Holland arrives in Belgium as Governor-General.-The fundamental Law.— Report of the Commissioners by whom it was framed. — Public Feeling in Holland — And in Belgium— The Emperor Napoleon invades France —And Belgium.— The Prince of Orange takes the Field —The Duke of Wellington.— Prince Bluclier.— Battle of Ligny— Battle of Quatre Bras.— Battle of Waterloo.— Anecdote of the Prince of Orange— Who is wouided. — Inauguration of the King ,^»,,^^ (Bt ' / HISTORY or THE NETHERLANDS. CHAP. L B. o. 50— A. D. 250 nOH TUJC INVASION OF THE NETHERLANDS BY THE ROMANS TO THE INVASION BY THE 8ALIAN FRANKS. Thk Netherlands form a kingdom of moderate extent, situated on the borders of the ocean, opposite to the south- east coast of England, and stretchmg from the frontiers of France to those of Hanover. The country is principally composed of low and humid grounds, presenting a vast plain, irrigated by the waters from all those neighboring states which are traversed by tlie Rhine, the Mouse, and the Scheldt. This plain, graJdually rising towards its eastern and southern extremities, blends on the one hand with Prussia, and on the other witli France. Having, tlierefore, no natural or strongly marked limits on those sides, the extent of the kingdom could only be determined by convention ; and it must be at all times subject to the arbitrary and varying influence of European policy. Its greatest length, from north to south, is about 220 English miles; and its breadth, from east to west, is nearly 140. Two distinct kinds of men inhabit this kingdom ; the one occupying the valleys of the Meuse and the Scheldt, and the high grounds bordering on France, speak a dialect of the language of that country, and evidently belong to the Grallic race. They are called Walloons, and are distinguished from the others by many peculiar qualities. Their most prominent characteristic is a propensity for war, and their principal source of subsistence the working of their mines. They form nearly one fourth of the population of the whole kmgdom, or about 1,300,000 persons. All the rest of the nation speak Low Grerman, in its modifications of Dutch and Flemish ; and they offer the distinctive characteristics of the Saxon race, — talents for agriculture, navigation, and commerce ; perseve- rance rather than vivacity ; and more courage than taste for the profession of arms They are subdivided into Flemings, 16 HISTORY OF THE NETHERLANDS. — those who were the last to submit to the house of Austria , and Dutch, — those who formed the republic of the United Provinces. But there is no difference between these twc subdivisions, except such as has been produced by political and religious institutions. The physical aspect of the people is the same ; and the soil, equally low and moist, is at once fertilized and menaced by the waters. The history of tliis last-mentioned portion of the nation is completely linked to that of the soil which they occupy. In remote times, when the inhabitants of this plain were few and uncivilized, tlie country formed but one immense morass, of which the chief part was incessantly inundated and made sterile by tlie waters of the sea. Pliny the naturalist, who visited the northern coasts, has left us a picture of their state in his days. " There," says he, " the ocean pours in its flood twice every day, and produces a perpetual uncertainty whe- ther the country may be considered as a part of the continent or of the sea. The wretched inhabitants take refuge on the sand-hills, or in little huts, which they construct on the sum- mits of lofty stakes, whose elevation is conformable to that of the highest tides. When the sea rises, they appear like navigators ; when it retires, they seem as though they had been shipwrecked. They subsist on the fish left by the refluent waters, and which they catch in nets formed of rushes or sea-weed. Neither tree nor shrub is visible on these shores. The drink of the people is rain-water, which they preserve with great care ; their fuel, a sort of turf, which they gather and form with the hand. And yet these unfortunate beings dare to complain against their fate, when they fall under the power and are incorporated with the fflnpire of Rome !"* The picture of poverty and suffering which this passage presents, is heightened when joined to a description of the country. The coasts consisted only of sand-banks or slime, alternately overflowed or left imperfectly dry. A little farther inland, trees were to be found, but on a soil so marshy that an inundation or a tempest threw down whole forests, such as are still at times discovered at either eight or ten feet depth below the surface. The sea had no limits ; the rivers no beds nor banks ; the earth no solidity — for, according to an author of the third century of our era, there was not, in the whole of the immense plain, a spot of ground that did not yield under the footsteps of man.f It was not the same in the southern parts, which form at • Plin. Hist. Nat. lib. xvi t Eumenius, Paneg. Const. C«s. EARLY STATE OP THE COUNTRY. 17 present the Walloon country. These high grounds suffered much less from the ravages of the waters. The ancient forest of the Ardennes, extending from the Rhine to the Scheldt, sheltered a numerous though savage population, which in all things resembled the Germans, from whom they derived their descent. The chase and the occupations of rude agriculture sufficed for the wants of a race less poor and less patient, but more unsteady and ambitious, than the fish- ermen of the low lands. Thus it is that history presents us with a tribe of warriors and conquerors on the southern fron- tier of the country ; while the scattered inhabitants of the remaining parts seemed to have fixed there without a con- test, and to have traced out for themselves, by necessity and habit, an existence which any other people must have con- sidered insupportable. This difference in the nature of the soil and in the fate of the inhabitants appears more striking, when we consider the present situation of the country. The high grounds, formerly so preferable, are now the least valuable part of the kingdom, even as regards their agriculture ; while the ancient marshes have been clianged by hmnan industry into rich and fertile tracts, the best parts of which are precisely those conquered from the grasp of the ocean. In order to form an idea of the solitude and desolation which once reigned where we now see the most richly cultivated fields, the most thriving vil- lages, and the wealthiest towns of tlie continent, the imagina- tion must go back to times which have not left one monument of antiquity and scarcely a vestige of fact. The history of the Netherlan Js is, then, essentially that of a patient and industrious population struggling against every obstacle which nature could oppose to its well-being ; and, in this contest, man triumplied most completely over the ele- ments in those places wliere they offered the greatest resist- ance. This extraordinary result was due to the hardy stamp of character unprinted by suffering and danger on those who had the ocean for their foe ; to the nature of their country, which presented no lure for conquest ; and, finally, to the tol- eration, the justice, and the liberty nourished among men left to themselves, and who found resources in their social state which rendered change neither an object of their wants nor wishes. About half a century before the Christian era, the obscurity which enveloped the north of Europe began to disperse ; and the expedition of Julius Ceesar gave to the civilized world the first notions of the Netherlands, Germany, and England. CfiBsar, after having subjugated the chief part of Gaul, turned 2 18 HISTORY OF THE NETHERLANDS. his arms against the warlike tribes of the Ardennes, who re- fused to accept his alliance or implore his protection. They were called Belgm by the Romans ; and at once pronounced the least civilized and the bravest of the Gauls. CsBsar there found several ignorant and poor but intrepid clans of war- riors, who marched fiercely to encounter him ; and, notwith- standing their inferiority in numbers, in weapons, and in tactics, tliey nearly destroyed the disciplined armies of Rome. They were, however, defeated, and their country ravaged by the mvaders, who found less success when they attacked the natives of the low grounds. The Menapians, a people who occupied the present provinces of Flanders and Antwerp, though less numerous than those whom the Romans had last vanquished, arrested their progress both by open fight and by that petty and harassing contest, — that warfare of the people rather than of the soldiery, — so well adapted to the nature of the country. The Roman legions retreated for the first time, and were contented to occupy the higher parts, which now form the Walloon provinces.* But the policy of Caesar made greater progress than his arms. He had rather defeated than subdued those who had dared the contest. He consolidated his victories without new battles ; he offered peace to his enemies, in proposing to them alliance ; and he required their aid, as friends, to carry on new wars in other lands. He thus attracted towards him, and ranged under his banners, not only those people situated to the west of the Rhine and the Meuse, but several other nations more to the north, whnse territory he had never seen ; and particularly the Batavians — a valiant tribe, stated by va- rious ancient authors, and particularly by Tacitus, as a frac- tion of the Catti, who occupied the space comprised between these rivers.f The young men of these warlike people, dazzled by the splendor of tlie Roman armies, felt proud and nappy in being allowed to identify themselves with them. Caesar encouraged this disposition, and even went so far on some occasions as to deprive tlie Roman cavalry of their horses, on which he mounted those new allies, who managed them better than their Italian riders. He had no reason to repent these measures : almost all his subsequent victories, and particularly that of Pharsalia, being decided by the valor of the auxiliaries he obtained from the Low Countries.^ These auxiliaries were chiefly drawn from Hainault, Lux- • Caesar, Comm. de Bell. Gall. Dio. Cass. lib. Iv. t Berlier, Prec. Hist, de I'Ancienne Gaule. I Des Roches, Hist, de la Belgiqus. EFFECTS OP THE ROMAN ALLIANCE. 19 embourg, and the country of the Batavians, and they formed the best cavalry of the Roman armies, as well as their choicest light infantry force. The Batavians also signalized themselves on many occasions, by the skill with which they swam across several great rivers without breaking their squadrons' ranks. They were amply rewarded for their military services and hazardous exploits, and were treated like staunch and valuable allies. But this unequal connexion of a mighty empire with a few petty states must have been fatal to the liberty of the weaker party. Its first effect was to destroy all feeling of nationality in a great portion of the population. The young adventurer of this part of the Low Countries, after twenty years of service under the imperial eagles, returned to his native wilds a Roman. The generals of the empire pierced the forests of the Ardennes with cause- ways, and founded towns in the heart of the country. The result of such innovations was a total amalgamation of the Romans and their new allies ; and little by little the national character of the latter became entirely obliterated. But to trace now the precise history of this gradual change would be as impossible as it will be one day to follow the progress of civilization in the woods of North America. But it must be remarked, that this metamorphosis affected only the inhabitants of the high grounds, and the Batavians (who were in their origin Germans) properly so called. The scanty population of the rest of the country, endowed with that fidelity to their ancient customs which characterizes the Saxon race, showed no tendency to mix with foreigners, rarely figured in their ranks, and seemed to revolt from the southern refinement which was so little in harmony with their manners and ways of life. It is astonishing, at the first view, that those beings, whose whole existence was a contest against famine or the waves, should show less inclination than their happier neighbors to receive from Rome an abun- dant recompense for their services. But, the greater their difficulty to find subsistence in their native land, the stronger seemed their attachinent ; like that of the Switzer to his barren rocks, or of the mariner to the frail and hazardous home that bears him afloat on the ocean. This race of patriots was divided into two separate people. Those to the north of the Rhine were the Frisons ; those to the west of the Meuse the Menapians, already mentioned. The Frisons differed little from those early inhabitants of the coast, who, perched on their high-built huts, fed on fish and drank the water of the clouds. Slow and successive im- provements taught them to cultivate the beans which grew 20 HISTORY OF THE NETHERLANDS. wild among the marshes, and to tend and feed a small and degenerate breed of horned cattle. But if these first steps towards civilization were slow, they were also sure ; and they were made by a race of men who could never retrograde in a career once begun. The Menapians, equally repugnant to foreign impressions, made, on their parts, a more rapid progress. They were already a maritime people, and carried on a considerable commerce with England. It appears that they exported thither salt, the art of manufacturing which was well known to them ; and they brought back in return marl, a most im- portant commodity for the improvement of their land. They also understood the preparation of salting meat, with a per- fection that made it in high repute even in Italy ; and, finally, we are told by Ptolemy that they had established a colony on the eastern coast of Ireland, not far from Dublin.* The two classes of what forms at present the population of the Netherlands thus followed careers widely different, during the long period of the Roman power in these parts of Europe. While those of the high lands and the Batavians distinguished themselves by a long-continued course of military service or servitude, those of the plains improved by degrees their social condition, and fitted themselves for a place in civilized Europe. The former received from Rome great marks of favor in exchange for their freedom. The latter, rejecting the honors and distinctions lavished on their neighbors, secured their national independence, by trusting to their industry alone for all the advantages they gradually acquired. Were the means of protecting themselves and their country from the inundations of the sea known and practised by these ancient inhabitants of the coast "? or did they occupy only those elevated points of land which stood out like islands in the middle of the floods ] These questions are amongst the most important presented by their history ; since it was the victorious struggle of a man against the ocean that fixed the extent and form of the country. It appears almost certain, that in the time of Caesar they did not labor at the construc- tion of dikes, but that they began to be raised during the obscurity of the following century ; for the remains of ancient towns are even now discovered in places at present over- flowed by the sea. These ruins often bring to light traces of Roman construction, and Latin inscriptions in honor of the Menapian divinities.! It is, then, certain that they had learned to imitate those who ruled in the neighboring coun- * Des Roches. t Mdmoires de rAcademie de Middlebourg. EFFECTS OP THE ROMAN ALLIANCE. 21 tries: a result by no means surprising; for even England, tlie mart of their commerce, and the nation with which they had tlie most constant intercourse, was at that period occu pied by the Romans. But the nature of their country repulsed so effectually every attempt at foreign domination, that the conquerors of the world left them unmolested, and established arsenals and formed communications with Great Britain only at Boulogne and in the island of the Batavians near Leyden. This isolation formed in itself a powerful and perfect bar- rier between the inhabitants of the plain and those of the high grounds. The first held firm to their primitive customs and their ancient language : the second finished by speaking Latin, and borrowing all the manners and usages of Italy. The moral effect of this contrast was, that the people, once so famous for their bravery, lost, with their liberty, their energy and their courage. One of tiie Batavian chieftains, named Civilis, formed an exception to this degeneracy, and, about the year 70 of our era, bravely took up arms for the expulsion of the Romans. He effected prodigies of valor and perseverance, and boldly met and defeated the enemy both by land and sea. Reverses followed his first success, and he finally concluded an honorable treaty, by which his countrymen once more became the allies of Rome. But after this expiring effort of valor, the Batavians, even though chosen from all nations for the body-guards of the Roman emperors, became rapidly degenerate; and when Tacitus wrote, ninety years after Christ, they were already looked on as less brave than tlie Frisons and the other people beyond the Rhine.* A century and a half later saw them con- founded with the Gauls; and the barbarian conquerors said, that " they were not a nation, but merely a prf «/."f Reduced into a Roman province, the southern portion of the Netherlands was at this period called Belgic Gaul ; and the name of Belgium, preserved to our days, has until lately been applied to distinguish that part of the country situated to the south of the Rhine and tlie Meuse, or nearly that which formed the Austrian Netherlands. During the establishment of the Roman power in the north of Europe, observation was not much excited towards the rapid effects of this degeneracy, compared with the fast- growing vigor of the people of the low lands. The fact of the Frisons having, on one occasion, near the year 47 of our era, beaten a whole army of Romans, had confirmed their character for intrepidity. But the long stagnation produced • Tacitus de Mor. Germ. t Tacit, lib. it. 22 HISTORY OP THE NETHERLA3SDS. in these remote countries by the colossal weight of the em pire, was broken, about the year 250, by an irruption of Ger- mans or Salian Franks, who, passing the Rhine and the Meuse, established themselves in the vicinity of the Mena- pians, near Antwerp, Breda, and Bois-le-duc. All the nations that had been subjugated by the Roman power appear tc have taken arms on this occasion and opposed the intruders. But the Menapians united themselves witji these new-comers, and aided them to meet the shock of the imperial armies. Carausius, originally a Menapian pilot, but promoteii to the command of a Roman fleet, made common cause witfi hia fellow-citizens, and proclaimed himself emperor of Great Britain, where the naval superiority of the Menapians left him no fear of a competitor. In recompense of the assistance given him by the Franks, he crossed the sea agahi fVom his new empire, to aid them in their war with the Batavians, the allies of Rome ; and having seized on their islands, and mas- sacred nearly the whole of its inhabitants, he there estab- lished his faithful friends the Saliiins. Constantiiis and hia Bon Constantine the Great vainly strove, even after the death of the brave Carausius, to regain possession of the country ; but they were forced to leave the new inhabitants in quiet possession of their conquest. CHAP. n. 250—800. FROM THE SETTLEMENT OF THE FRANKS TO THE SUBJUGATION OP FRIESLANO. Prom this epoch we must trace the progress of a totally new and distinct population in the Netherlands. The Bata- vians being annihilated, almost without resistance, the low countries contained only the free people of the German race. But these people did not completely sympathize together so as to form one consolidated nation. The Salians, and the other petty tribes of Franks, their allies, were essentially warlike, and appeared precisely the same as the original inhabitants of the high grounds. The Menapians and the Prisons, on the contrary, lost nothing of their spirit of com- merce and industry. The result of this diversity was a separa- CHARACTER OP THE FRANKS. 23 tion between the Franks and tlie Menapiang. While the latter, under tlic name of Armoricans, joined themselves more closely with the people who bordered the Channel,* the Frisons associated themselves with the tribes settled on the limits of the German Ocean, and formed with them a connexion celebrated under the title of the Saxon League.f Thus was formed on all points a union between the maritime races against the inland inhabibints ; and their mutual an- tipathy became more and more developed, as the decline of the Roman empire ended the former struggle between liberty and conquest. The Netherlands: now became the earliest theatre of an entirely new movement, the consequences of which were destined to affect the wliole world. This country was occu- pied towards the sea by a people wliolly maritime, excepting the narrow space between the Rliine and the Vahal, of which the Salian Franks had become possessed. The nature of this marshy soil, in comparison with the sands of Westphalia, Guelders, and North Brabant, was not more strikingly con- trasted than was the character of their population. The Franks, who had been for awhile under the Roman sway, showed a compound of the violence of savage life and the cor- ruption of civilized society. Tiiey were covetous and treach- erous, but made excellent soldiers : and at this epoch, which intervened between the power of imperial Rome and that of Germany, the Frank mi^'ht be morally considered as a bor- derer on the frontiers of the middle ages.| The Saxon (and this name comprehends all tlie tribes of the coast from the Rhine as far north as Denmark,) uniting in himself the dis- tinctive qualities of German and navigator, was moderate and sincere, but implacable in his rage. Neither of these two races of men were excelled in pohit of courage ; but the number of Franks who still entered into the service of the empire diminished the real force of this nation, and naturally tended to disunite it. Therefore, in the subsequent shock of people against people, the Saxons invariably gained the final advantage. They had no doubt often measured their strength in the most remote times, since the Franks were but the descend ants of the ancient tribes of Sicambers and others, against whom the Batavians had offered their assistance to Caesar. Under Augustus, the inhabitants of the coast had in the same way joined themselves with Drusus, to oppose these their old * Procop. de Bell. Goth. f Van Loon, Alonde Hiit. I Scriptores Minorura Cesarum, passim. 24 HISTORY OF THE NETHERLANDS. 490. enemies. It was also after having been expelled by the Frisons from Guelders, that the Salians had passed the Rhine and the Meuse ; but, in the fourth century, the two people recovering their strength, the struggle recommenced, never to terminate — at least between the direct descendants of each. It is believed that it was tlie Varni, a race of Saxons nearly connected with those of England, (and coming, like them, from the coast of Denmark,) who on this occasion struck the decisive blow on the side of the Saxons. Embarking on board a numerous fleet, they made a descent in the ancient isle of the Batavians, at that time inhabited by the Salians, whom they completely destroyed.* Julian the Apostate, who was then with a numerous army pursuing his career of early glory in these countries, interfered for the purpose of pre- venting the expulsion, or at least the utter destruction, of the vanquished: but his elTorts were unavailing. The Salians appear to have figured no more in this part of the Low Coun- tries. The defeat of the Salians by a Saxon tribe is a fact on which no doubt rests. The name of the victors is, however, questionable.! The Vnrni having remained settled near the mouths of the Rhine till near the year 500, there is strong probability that they were the people alluded to. But names and histories, which may on this point appear of such little importance, acquire considerable interest when we reflect that these Salians, driven from their settlement, became the conquerors of France ; that those Saxons who forced them on their career of conquest were destined to become the masters of England ; and that these two petty tribes, who battled so long for a corner of marshy earth, carried with them their reciprocal antipathy while mvoluntarily deciding the destiny of Europe. The defeat of the Franks was fatal to those people who had become incorporated with the Romans ; for it was from them that the exiled wanderers, still fierce in their ruin, and with arms in their hands, demanded lands and herds ; all, in short, which they themselves had lost. From the middle of the fourth century to the end of the fifth, there was a succes- sion of invasions in this spirit, which always ended by the subjugation of a part of the country ; and which was com pleted about the year 490, by Clovis making himself master of almost the whole of Gaul.f Under this new empire not a vestige of the ancient nations of the Ardennes was left. The * Gibbon, ii. 370. t ZosimuB. t Abr^gS Cbron. Hist, de France. 700. PROGRESS OF THE FRENCH. 25 civilized population either perished or was reduced to slavery, and all the his^li jrrounds were added to the previous con- queats of the Salians. But the maritime population, when once possessed of the whole coast, did not seek to m;ike tlie slightest progress to- wards the interior The element of their enterprise and the object of their ambition was the ocean ; and when this hardy and intrepid race became too numerous for their narrow lim- its, expeditions and colonies beyond the sea carried off' their redundant population. The Saxon warriors established them- selves near the mouths of the Loire ; others, conducted by Hengist and Horsa, settled in Great Britain. It will always remain problematical from what point of the coast these ad- venturers departed; but many circumstances tend to give weight to the opinion which pronounces those old Saxons to have started from the Netherlands. Paganism not being yet banished from these countries, the obscurity which would have enveloped them is in some de- gree dispelled by the recitals of the monks who went among them to preach Christianity. We see in those records, and by the text of some of their early laws, that this maritime people were more industrious, prosperous, and happy, than those of France.* The men were handsome and richly clothed; and the land well cultivated, and abounding in fruits, milk, and honey. The Saxon merchants carried their trade far into the southern countries. In the mean time, the parts of the Netherlands which belonged to France resembled a desert. The monasteries which were there founded were established, according to the words of their charters, amidst immense solitudes; and the French nobles only came into Brabant for the sport of bear-hunting in its interminable forests. Thus, while the inhabitants of the low lands, as far back as the light of history penetrates, appear in a continual state of improvement, those of the high grounds, after fre- quent vicissitudes, seem to sink into utter degeneracy and subjugation. The latter wished to denaturalize themselves, and become as though they were foreigners even on their native soil ; the former remained firm and faithful to their country and to each other. But the growth of French power menaced utter ruin to this interesting race. Clovis had succeeded, about the year 485 of our era, in destroying the last remnants of Roman domination in Gaul. The successors of these conquerors soon extended their empire from the Pyrenees to the Rhine. Thej * Acta Sanct. Belgii. 26 HISTORY OF THF NETHERLA^DS. 710. had continual contests with the free population of the Low Countries and their nearest neighbors. In the commence- ment of the seventh century, the French king Clotaire 11. exterminated the chief part of the Saxons of Hanover and Westphu,lira ; and the historians of those barbarous times unani- mously relate that he caused to be beheaded every inhabitant of the vanquished tribes who exceeded the height of his sword.* . The Saxon name was thus nearly extinguished in those countries ; and the remnant of these various people adopted that of Prisons (Friesen,) either because they became really incorporated with that nation, or merely that they recognized it for the most powerful of tlieir tribes. Friesland, to speak in the language of that age, extended then from the Scheldt lo the Weser, and formed a considerable state. But the as- cendency of France was every year becoming more marked ; and king Dagobert extended the limits of her power even as far as Utrecht. The descendants of the Menapians, known at that epoch by the different names of Menapians, Flemings, and Toxandrians, fell one after another directly or indirecBy under the empire of the Merovingian princes ; and the noblest family which existed among the French, — that which subse- auently took the name of Carlovingians, — comprised in its dominions nearly tlie whole of the southern and western parts of the Netherlands. Between this family, whose chief was called duke of the Frontier Marshes, (Dux BrabanticB,) and the free tribes, imited under the common name of Frisons, the same struggle was maintained as that which formerly existed between the Salians and the Saxons. Towards the year 700, the French monarchy was torn by anarchy, and, under " the lazy kings," lost much of its concentrated power; but every dukedom formed an independent sovereignty, and of all those that of Brabant was the most redoubtable. Nevertheless the Fri- sons, under their king Radbod, assumed for a moment the su- periority; and Utrecht, where the French had established Christianity, fell again into the power of the pagans. Charles Martel, at that time young, and but commencing his splendid career, was defeated by the hostile king in the forest of the Ardennes ; and though, in subsequent conquests, he took an ample revenge, Radbod still remained a powerful opponent. It is related of this fierce monarch, that he was converted by a Christian missionary ; but, at tlie moment in which he put his foot in the water for the ceremony of baptism, he suddenly asked the priest, where all his old Frison companions in arras * Van Loon, Alonde Hist. 719. FINAl, CONQTJEST OF FRIESLAND. 27 had gone after their death? "To hell," replied the priest. " Well, then," said Rjidbod, drawing: hack his foot from the water, " I would rather go to hell with them, than to paradise with you and your fellow foreigners!" and he refused to re- ceives the rites of baptism, and remained a pagan.* After the death of Radbod, in 719, Charles Martel, now become duke of the Franks, mayor of the palace, or by what- ever other of his several titles he may be distinguished, finally triumphed over the long-resisting Frisons. He labored to establish Christianity among them ; but they did not under- stand the French language, and the lot of converting them was consequently reserved for the English. St. Willebrod was the first missionary who met with any success, about the latter end of the seventh century ; but it was not till towards the year 750 that this great mission was finally accomplish- ed, by St. Boniface, archbishop of Mayence, and the apostle of Germany. Yet the progress of Christianity, and the estab- lishment of a foreign sway, still met the partial resistance which a conquered but not enervated people are always capa- ble of opposing to their masters. St. Boniface fell a victim to this stubborn spirit. He perished a martyr to his zeal, but perhaps a victim as well to the violent measures of his col- leagues, in Friesland, the very pi-ovince which to this day preserves the name. The last avenger of Friesland liberty and of the national idols was the illustrious Witikind, to whom the chronicles of his country give the title of first azing, or judge. This in- trepid chieftain is considered as a compatriot, not only by the historians of Friesland, but by those of Saxony ; both, it would appear, having equal claims to the honor ; for the union be- tween the two people was constantly strengthened by inter- marriages between the noblest families of each. As long as Witikind remained a pagan and a freeman, some doubt ex- isted as to the final fate of Friesland ; but when by his con- version he became only a noble of the court of Charlemagne, the slavery of his country was consummated. * Vita Sti. Bonifacii. 28 HISTORY OF THE NETHERLANDS. 800 CHAP.ra. 800—1000. FROM THE CONaUEST OF FRIESLAND TO THE FORMATION OF HOLLANU Even at this advanced epoch of foreig-n domination, there remained as great a difference as ever between the people Oi the high grounds and the inhabitants of the plain. The lat- ter were, like the rest, incorporated with the great monarchy , but they preserved the remembrance of former independence, and even retained their ancient names. In Flanders, Mena- pians and Flemmgs were still found, and in the country of Antwerp the Toxandrians were not extinct. All the rest of the coast was still called Friesland. But in the high grounds the names of the old inhabitants were lost. Nations were designated by the names of their rivers, tbrests, or towns. They were classified as accessories to inanimate things ; and having no monuments which reminded them of their origin, they became as it were without recollections or associations ; and degenerated, as may be almost said, into a people with- out ancestry. The physical state of the country had greatly changed from the times of Csesar to those of Charlemagne. Many parts of the forest of the Ardennes had been cut down or cleared away. Civilization had only appeared for awhile among these woods, to perish like a delicate plant in an un- genial clime ; but it seemed to have sucked the very sap from file soil, and to have left the people no remains of the vigor of man in his savage state, nor of the desperate courage of the warriors of Germany. A race of serfs now cultivated the domains of haughty lords and imperious priests. The clergy had immense possessions in this country ; an act of the fox- lowing century recognizes 14,000 families of vassals as be- longing to the single abbey of Nivelle. Tournay and TongresL both episcopal cities, were by that title somewhat less op- pressed than the other ancient towns founded by the Romans ; but they appear to have possessed only a poor and degraded population. The low lands, on the other hand, announced a striking commencement of improvement and prosperity. The marshes and fens, which had arrested and repulsed the progress of imperial Rome, had disappeared in every part of the interior. The Meuse and the Scheldt no longer joined at their out- lets, to desolate the neighbouring lands ; whether this change 800. COUNTS OF THE EMPIRE. 29 was produced by the labors of man, or merely by the accu- mulation of sand deposited by either stream and forming bar- riers to both. The towns of Courtraig, Bruges, Ghent, Ant- werp, Berg-op-zoom, and Thiel, had already a flourishing trade. The last-mentioned town contained in tlie following century fifty-five churches ; a fact from which, in the absence of other evidence, the extent of the population may be con jectured. The formation of dikes for the protection of lands formerly submerged was already well understood, and regu- lated by uniform custom. The plains thus reconquered from the waters were distributed in portions, according to their labor, by those who reclaimed them, except the parts re- served for the chieftain, the church, and the poor. This vital necessity for the construction of dikes had given to the Fri- son and Flemish population a particular habit of union, good- will, and reciprocal justice, because it was necessary to make common cause in this great work for their mutual preserva- tion. In all other points, the detail of the laws and manners of this united people presents a picture similar to that of the Saxons of England, with the sole exception that the people of the Netherlands were milder than the Saxon race properly so called — their long habit of laborious industry exercising its happy influence on the martial spirit origmal to both. The manufacturing arts were also somewhat more advanced in this part of the continent than in Great Britain. The Fri- sons, for example, were the only people who could succeed in making the costly mantles in use among the wealthy Franks. The government of Charlemagne admitted but one form, borrowed from that of the empire in the period of its decline — a mixture of the spiritual and temporal powers, exercised m the first place by the emperor, and at second-hand by the counts and bishops. The counts in those times were not the heads of noble families, as they afterwards became, but offi- cers of the government, removable at will, and possessing no hereditary rights. Their incomes did not arise from sala- ries paid in money, but consisted of lands, of which they had the revenues during the continuance of their authority. These lands being situated in the limits of their administra- tion, each regarded them as his property only for the time being, and considered himself as a tenant at will. How un favorable such a system was to culture and improvement may be well imagined. The force of possession was, however, frequently opposed to the seigniorial rights of the crown ; and thus, though all civil dignity and the revenues attached to it were but personal and reclaimable at wDl, still many dignita- 30 HISTORY OF THE NETHERLANDS. 800 ries, taking advantage of tlie barbarous state of the country in which their isolated cantons were placed, sought by every possible means to render their power and prerogatives unali- enable and real. The force of the monarchical government, which consists mainly in its centralization, was necessarily weakened by the intervention of local obstacles, before it could pass from the heart of the empire to its limits. Thus it was only by perpetually interposing his personal efforts, and flying, as it were, from one end to the other of his do- minions, that Charlemagne succeeded in preserving his au- thority. As for the people, without any sort of guarantee against the despotism of the government, they were utterly at the mercy of the nobles or of the sovereign. But this state of servitude was quite incompatible with the union of social powers necessary to a population that had to struggle against the tyranny of the ocean. To repulse its attacks with suc- cessful vigor, a spirit of complete concert was absolutely re- quired ; and the nation being thus united, and consequently strong, the efforts of foreign tyrants were shattered by itis resistance, as the waves of tlie sea that broke against the dikes by which it was defied. From the time of Charlemagne, the people of the ancient Menapia, now become a prosperous conunonwealth, formed political associations to raise a barrier against the despotic violence of the Franks. These associations were called Gil- den, and in the Latin of the times Gildonia. They comprised, besides their covenants for mutual protection, an obligation which bound every member to give succor to any other, in cases of illness, conflagration, or shipwreck. But the grow ing force of these social compacts alarmed the quick-sighted despotism of Charlemagne, and they were, consequently, prohibited both by him and his successors. To give a notion of the importance of this prohibition to the whole of Europe, it is only necessary to state that the most ancient corporations (all which had preceded and engendered the most valuable municipal rights) were nothing more than gilden. Thus, to draw an example from Great Britain, the corporative charter of Berwick still bears the title of Charta Gildonice. But the ban of the sovereigns was without efficacy, when opposed to the popular will. The gilden stood their ground ; and within a century after the death of Charlemagne, all Flanders was covered with corporate towns. This popular opposition took, however, another form in the northern parts of the country, which still bore the common name of Friesland ; for there it was not merely local but national. The Frisons succeeded in obtaining the sanction 800. PillVILEGES OF THK PRISONS. 31 of the monarch to consecrate, as it were, those rights which were established under the ancient forms of government. The fact is undoubted ; but the moans whicli they employed are uncertain. It appears most probable that this great privi- lege was the price of their military services ; for they held a nigh place in the victorious armies of Charlemagne ; and Turpin, the old French romancer, alluding to the popular traditions of his time, represents the warriors of Friesland as endowed with the most heroic valor.* These rights, which the Prisons secured, according to their own statements, from Charlemagne, but most undoubtedly from some one or other of the earliest emperors, consisted, first, in the freedom of every order of citizens ; secondly, in the right of property, — a right which admitted no authority of the sovereign to violate by confiscation, except in cases of downright "treason ; thirdly, in the privilege of trial by none but native judges, and according to their national usages ; fourthly, in a very narrow limitation of the military services which they owed to the king ; fifthly, in the heredi- tary title to feudal property, in direct line, on payment of certain dues or rents. These five principal articles sufficed to render Friesland, in its political aspect, totally different from the other portions of the monarchy. Their privileges secured, their property inviolable, their duties limited, the Prisons were altogether free from the servitude which weighed down France. It will soon be seen that these spe- cial advantages produced a government nearly analogous to that which Magna Charta was the means of founding at a later period in England. The successors of Charlemagne chiefly signalized their authority by lavishing donations of all kinds on the church. By such means the ecclesiastical power became greater and greater, and, in those countries under the sway of France, was quite as arbitrary and enormous as that of the nobility. The bishops of Utrecht, Liege, and Toiirnay, became, in the course of time, the chief personages on that line of the fron- tier. They had the great advantage over the counts, of not being subjected to capricious or tyrannical removals. They therefore, even in civil affairs, played a more considerable part than the latter ; and began to render themselves more and more independent in their episcopal cities, which were soon to become so many principalities. The counts, on their parts, used their best exertions to wear out, if they had not the strength to break, the chains which bound them to the * Oude Vriescbe Wetten, book ii. 82 HISTORY OF Hie Netherlands. 864 footstool of the monarch. They were not all now dependent on the same sovereigfn ; for the empire of Charlemagne was divided among his successors: France, properly so called, was bounded by the Scheldt ; the country to the eastward of that river, that is to say, nearly the whole of the Netherlands, belonged to Lorraine and Germany. In this state of things, it liappened that in the year 864, Judith, daughter of Charles the Bald king of France, having survived her husband Ethehvolf king of England, became attached to a powerful Flemish chieftain called Baldwin. It is not quite certain whether he was count, forester, marquis, or protector of the frontiers ; but he certainly enjoyed, no matter under what title, considerable authority in the coun- try : since the pope on one occasion wrote to Charles the Bald to beware of offending him, lest he should join the Nor- mans, and open to them an entrance into France. He carried off Judith to his possessions in Flanders. The king her father, after many ineffectual threats, was forced to consent to their union ; and confirmed to Baldwin, with the title of count, the hereditary government of all the country between the Scheldt and the Somme, a river of Picardy. This was the commencement of the celebrated county of Flanders; and this Baldwin is designated in history by the surname of Bras-de-fer (iron-handed,) to which his courage had justly entitled him. The Belgian historians are also desirous of placing about this epoch the first counts of Hainault, and even of Holland. But though it may be true that the chief families of each canton sought then, as at all times, to shake off the yoke, the epoch of their independence can only be fixed at the later period at which they obtained or enforced tlie privilege of not being deprived of their titles and their feudal estates. The counts of the high grounds, and those of Friesland, enjoyed at the utmost but a fortuitous privilege of continuance in their rank. Several foreigners had gained a footing and an authority in the country: among others Wickmand, from whom descended the chatelains of Ghent ; and the counts of Holland, and Heriold, a Norman prince who had been ban- ished from his own country. This name of Normans, hardly known before the time of Charlemagne, soon became too celebrated. It designated the pagan inhabitants of Denmark, Norway, and Sweden, who, driven by rapacity and want, in- fested the neighboring seas. The asylum allowed in the do- minions of the emperors to some of those exiled outlaws, and the imprudent provocations given by these latter to their adventurous countrymen, attracted various bands of Norman 891. INVASIONS BY THE NORMANS. 33 pirates to the shores of Guelders ; and from desultory descents upon the coast, they soon came to iiiuiidatG the interior of the country. Flanders alone succesBfuJly resisted them durinir the life of Baldwin liras-de-fer ; but after tlie death of this brave chieftain there was not a province of the whole country that was not ravaged by these invaders. Their multiplied expeditions threw back the Netherlands at least two centu- ries, if, uideed, any calculation of the kind may be fairly formed respecting the relative state of population and im- provement on the imperfect data that are left us. Several cantons became deserted. The chinf cities were reduced to heaps of ruins. The German emperors vainly interposed for tlie relief of their unfortunate vassals. Finally, an agree- ment was entered into, in the year 882, with Godfrey the king or leader of the Normans, by which a peace was pur- chased on condition of paying him a large subsidy, and ceding to him the government of Friesland. But, in about two years from this period, the fierce barbarian began to complain that the country he had thus gained did not produce grapes, and the present inspiration of his rapacity seemed to be the blooming vineyards of France. The emperor Charles the Fat, anticipating the consequence of a rupture with Godfrey, enticed him to an interview, in which he caused him to be assassinated. His followers, attacked on all points by the people of Friesland, perished almost to a insn ; and their de- struction was completed, in 891, by Anioul the Germanic. From that period, the scourge of Normsn depredation became gradually less felt. They now made but sl-.ort and desultory attempts on the coast; and their last expedition appears to have taken place about the year KKK), when they threatened, but did not succeed in seizing on, die city of Utrecht. Tt is remarkable that, although for the space of 150 years the Netherlands were continually the scene of invasion and devas- tation by these northern barbarians, the political state of the country underwent no important changes. The emperors of Germany were sovereigns of the whole country, with the exception of Flanders. These portions of the empire were still called Lorraine, as well as all whicli they possessed of wljat is now called France, and which was that part forming he appanage of Lothaire and of the J^otheringian kings. The great difficulty of maintaming subordination among the numerous chieftains of this country caused it, in 958, to be divided into two governments, which were called Higher and Lower Lorraine. The latter poition comprised nearly the whole of the Netherlands, which thus became governed by a lieutenant of the emperors. Godfrey count 3 34 H18T0EY OP THE NETHERLANDS. 990 of Ardenne was the first who filled this place ; and he soor felt all the perils of the situation. The other counts saw, with a jealous eye, their equal now promoted into a superior. Two of the most powerful, Lambert and Reginald, were brothers. They made common cause against the new duke ; and after a desperate struggle, which did not cease till the year 985, they gained a species of imperfect independence, — Lambert becoming the root from which sprang the counts of Louvain, and Reginald that of the counts of Hainault. The emperor Othon II. who upheld the authority of his lieutenant Godfrey, became convinced that the imperial power was too weak to resist singly the opposition of the nobles of the country. He had therefore transferred, about the year 980, the title of duke to a young prince of the royal house of France ; and we thus see the duchy of Lower Lor- raine governed, in the name of the emperor, by the last two shoots of the branch of Charlemagne, the dukes Charles and Othon of France, son and grandson of Louis d'Outremer. The first was a gallant prince : he may be looked on as the founder of the greatness of Brussels, where he fixed his resi- dence. After several years of tranquil government, the death of his brother called him to the throne of France ; and from that time he bravely contended for the crown of his an- cestors, against the usurpation of Hugues Capet, whom he frequently defeated in battle : but he was at length treach- erously surprised and put to death, in 990. Othon, his son, did not signalize his name nor justify his descent by any memorable action ; and in him ingloriously perished the name of the Carlovingians. The death of Othon set the emperor and the great vassals once more in opposition. The German monarch insisted on naming some creature of his own to the dignity of duke ; but Lambert 11. count of Louvain, and Robert count of Namur, having married the sisters of Othon, respectively claimed tlie right of inheritance to his title. Baldwin of the comely beard, count of F'anders, joined himself to their league, hoping to extend his power to the eastward of the Scheldt. And, in fact, tlie emperor, as the only means of disuniting his two powerful vassals, felt himself obliged to cede Valenciennes and the islands of Zealand to Baldwin. The imperial power thus lost ground at every struggle.* Amid the confusion of these events, a power well calcu- lated to rival or even supplant that of the fierce counts was growing up. Many circumstances were combined to ex- * Hist. Crit. Cora. HoU. torn. i. p. 9. 1013. INFLUENCE OF THE BISHOPS. 35 tend and consolidate the episcopal sway. It is true that the bishops of Tournay had no temporal authority, since the pe- riod of their city being ruined by the Normans. But those of Liejje and Utrecht, and more particularly the latter, had accumulated immense possessions ; and their power being inalienable, they had nothin": to fear from the caprices of sovereign favor, which so oft. n ruined the families of the aristocracy. Those bishops, who were warriors and hunts- men rather than ecclesiastics, possessed, however, in addi- tion to the lance and the sword, the terrible artillery of ex- communication and anathema, which they thundered forth without mercy against every laical opponent: and when they had, by conquest or treachery, acquired new dominions and additional store of wealth, they could not portion it among their children, like the nobles, but it devolved to their successors, who thus became more and more powerful, and gained by degrees an authority almost royal, like that of the ecclesiastical elector of Germany. Whenever the emperor warred against his lay vassals, he was sure of assistance from the bishops, because they were at all times jealous of the power of the counts, and had much less to gain from an alliance with them than with the impe- rial despots on whose donations they throve, and who repaid their efforts by new privileges and extended possessions. So that when the monarch, at length, lost the superiority in his contests with the counts, little was wanting to make his authority be merged altogether in the overgrown power of these churchmen. Nevertheless, a first effort of the bishop of Liege, to seize on the rights of the count of Louvain, in 1013, met with a signal defeat, in a battle which took place at the little village of Stongarde.* And five years later, the count of the Friesland marshes {coines Frisonum Morsatenorum') gave a still more severe lesson to the bishop of Utrecht. This last merits a more particular mention, from the nature of the quarrel and the importance of ita results. * Aan. Due. Brab. torn. L 36 HISTORY OF THE NETHERLANDS. 1018 CHAP. IV. 101&— 1384. FROM THK FORMATION OF HOLLAND TO THE DEATH OF LOUIS DK HALE The district in which Dordrecht is situated, and the grounds in its environs which are at present submerged, formed in those times an island just raised above the waters, and whicli was called Holland or Holtland, (which means wooded land, or, according to some, hollow land.) The for- mation of this island, or rather its recovery fi-om the waters, being only of recent date, the right to its possession waa more disputable than that of long-established countries. All the bishops and abbots whose states bordered the Rhine and the Meuse had, being equally covetous and grasping, and mutually resolved to pounce on the prey, made it their com- mon property. A certam count Thierry, descended from the counts of Ghent, governed about this period the western ex- tremity of Friesland, — the country which now forms the prov- ince of Holland ; and with much difficulty maintained his power against the Frisons, by whom his right was not ac- knowledged. Beaten out of his own territories by these re- fractory insurgents, he sought refuge in the ecclesiastical ii5land, where he intrenched himself and founded a town which is believed to have been the origin of Dordrecht. This count Thierry, like all the feudal lords, took advan- tage of his position to establish and levy certain duties on all the vessels which sailed past his territory, dispossessing in the mean time some vassals of the church, and beating, as we have stated, the bishop of Utrecht himself Complaints and appeals without number were laid at the foot of the imperial throne. Godfrey of Eenham, whom . .e emperor had created duke of Lower Lorraine, was commanded to call the whole country to arms. The bishop of Liege, though actually dying, put himself at the head of the expedition, to revenge his bro- ther prelate, and punish the audacious spoiler of the church property. But Thierry and his fierce Frisons took Godfrey prisoner, and cut his army in pieces. The victor had the good sense and moderation to spare his prisoners, and set them free without ransom. He received in return an impe- rial amnesty ; and from that period the count of Holland and his posterity formed a barrier, against which the ecclesiasti- 1066. COMMERCE OF FLAlSTIiERS. 3t cal power and the remains of the imperial supremacy con- tinually strug-gled, to be only shattered in each new assault.* As the partial independence of the great vassals became consolidated, the monarchs were proportionally anxious to prevent its perpetuation in the same families. In pursuance of this system, Godfrey of Eenham obtained the preference over the counts Lambert and Robert ; and Frederick of Lux- embourg was named duke of I^ower Lorraine in 1046, in- stead of a second Godfrey who was nephew and expectant heir to the first. But this Godfrey, upheld by Baldwin of Flanders, forced the emperor to concede to him the inherit- ance of the dukedom. Baldwin secured for his share the country of Alost and Waas, and the citadel of Ghent; and he also succeeded in obtainiiio- in marriage for his son the countess RichUde, heiress of Hainault and Namur. Thus was Flanders incessantly gaining- new aggrandizement, while the duchy of Lorraine was crumbling away on every side. In the year 1066 tlais state of Flanders, even then flourish- ing and powerful, furnished assistance both in men and ships to William the Bastard of Normandy, for the conquest of England. William was son-in-law to count Baldwin, and recompensed the assistance of his wife's father by an annual payment of three hundred silver marks. It was Mathilda, the Flemish princess and wife of the conqueror, who worked with her own hands the celebrated tapestry of Bayeux, on which is embroidered the whole history of the conquest, and which is the most curious monument of the state of the arts in that age. Flanders acquired a positive and considerable superiority over all the other parts of the Netherlands, from the first es- tablishment of its counts or earls. The descendants of Bald- win Bras-de-fir, after having valiantly repulsed the Normans towards the end of the ninth century, showed themselves worthy of ruling over an industrious and energetic people. They had built towns, cut down and cleared away forests, and reclaimed inundated lands : above all things, they had understood and guarded against the danger of parcelling out their states at every succeeding generation ; and the county of Flanders passed entire into the hands of the first-born of the family. The stability produced by this state ^f things had allowed the people to prosper. The Normans new visit- ed the coasts, not as enemies but as merchants ; and Bruges became the mart of the bs! of violence was used to restrain her from this most fatal hu<>: for Viglius gave orders that tlie gates of the city should be shut, and egress refused to any one belonging to the couri. ' The somewhat less terrified duchess now named count Mans- field governor of the town, reinforced the garrison, ordered arms to be distributed to all her adherents, and then called a council to deliberate on the measures to be adopted. A com- promise with the confederates and the reformers was unani- mously agreed to. The prince of Orange and counts Eg- mont and Horn were once more appointed to this arduous ar- bitration between the court and the people.f Necessity now extorted almost every concession which had been so long denied to justice and prudence. The confederates were de- clared absolved from all responsibility relative to tlieir pro- ceedings. The suppression of the inquisition, the abolition of the edicts against heresy, and a permission for the preach- ings, were simultaneously published. The confederates, on their side, undertook to remain faith- ful to the service of the king, to do their best for the estab- lishment of order, and to punish the iconoclasts. A regular treaty to this effect was drawn up and executed by the re- spective plenipotentiaries, and formally approved by the gov- ernant, who affixed her sign-manual to the instrument. She only consented to this measure after a long struggle, and with tears in her eyes ; and it was with a trembling hand that she wrote an account of these transactions to the king.| Soon afler this the several governors repaired to their re- spective provinces, and their efforts for the re-establishment of tranquillity were attended witli various degrees of success. Several of the ringleaders in the late excesses were executed ; and this severity was not confined to the partisans of the Catholic church. The prince of Orange and count Egmont, with others of the patriot lords, set the example of this jusf severity. John Casambrot lord of Beckerzeel, Egmont's secretary, and a leading member of the confederation, put himself at the head of some others of the associated gentle- * Schiller. f Vandervynct. J Schiller. 1^G6. Philip's vindictiveness. 109 mon, fell upon a refractory band of iconoclasts near Gram- mont, in Flandors, and took thirty prisoners, of whom he or- dered twenty-eight to be hanged on the spot. CHAP. IX. 1566—1573. TO THE ADMINISTRATION OF REQUESENS. All the services just related in the common cause of the country and the king produced no effect on the vindictive spirit of the latter. Neither the lapse of time, the proofs of repentance, nor the fulfilment of their duty, could efface the hatred excited by a conscientious opposition to even one de- sign of despotism.* Philip was ill at Segovia when he received accounts of the excesses of the image-breakers, and of the convention con- cluded with the heretics.f Dispatches from the governant, with private advices from Viglius, Egmont, Mansfield, Meg- hem, de Berlaimont, and others, gave him ample information as to the real state of things, and they thus strove to palliate their having acceded to the convention. The emperor even wrote to his royal nephew, imploring him to treat his way- ward subjects with moderation, and offered his mediation be- tween them. Philip, though sevt^rely suffering, gave great attention to the details of this correspondence, which he minutely examined, and laid before his council of state, with notes and observations taken by himself But he took special care to send to them only such parts as he chose them to be well informed upon ; his natural distrust not suffering him to have any confidential communication with men.f Again the Spanish council appears to have interfered be tween the people of the Netherlands and the enmity of the monarch ; and the offered mediation of the emperor was re- commended to his acceptance, to avoid the appearance of a forced concession to the popular will. Philip was also strongly urged to repair to the scene of the disturbances ; and a main question of debate was, whether he should march at the head of an army or confide himself to the loyalty and good faith of his Belgian subjects. But the indolence or the pride of Philip was too strong to admit of his taking so vigorous a * Bchiller. f Hoiper. J Mem. 110 HISTOKY OF THE NETHERLANDS. 1566. Tneasure ; and all these consultations ended in two letters to the governant. In the first he declared his firm intention to visit tiie Netherlands m person; refused to convoke the states-general ; passed in silence the treaties concluded Vi^ith tlie Protestants and tlie confederates ; and finished by a de- claration tliat he would throw himself wholly on the fidelity of tlie country. In his second letter, meant for the govern- ant alone, he authorized her to assemble the states-general if public opinion became too powerful for resistance, but on no account to let it transpire that he had under any circum- stances given his consent. During these deliberations in Spain, the Protestants in the Netherlands amply availed themselves of the privileges they had gained. They erected numerous wooden churches with incredible activity.* Young and old, noble and plebeian, of these energetic men, assisted in the manual labors of these occupations ; and the women freely applied the produce of their ornaments and jewels to forward the pious work.f But the furious outrages of the iconoclasts had done infinite mis- chief to both political and religious freedom : many of the Catholics, and particularly the priests, gradually withdrew themselves from the confederacy, which thus lost some of its most firm supporters. And on the other hand, the severity with which some of its members pursued the guilty, offended and alarmed the body of the people, who could not distin- guish the shades of difference between the love of liberty and the practice of licentiousness. The governant and her satellites adroitly took advantage of this state of things to sow dissension among the patriots. Autograph letters from Philip to the principal lords were dis- tributed among them with such artful and mysterious pre- cautions, as to throw the rest into perplexity, and give each suspicions of the other's fidelity. The report of the imme- diate arrival of Philip had also considerable effect over the less resolute, or more selfish ; and the confederation was dis- solving rapidly under the operations of intrigue, self-interest, and fear. Even the count of Egmont was not proof against the subtle seductions of the wily monarch, whose severe yet flattering letters half frightened and half soothed him into a relapse of royalism. But with the prince of Orange Philip had no chance of success. It is unquestionable, that be his means of acquiring information what they might, he did suc- ceed in procuring minute intelligence of all that was going on in the king's most secret council. He had from time to * Vandarvynct. t Schiller 1566. CONFKKKNCE AT TKRMOlVnK. Ill time procured copies of the governant's dispatclies ; but the document which threw the most important light upon the real intentions of Philip, was a confidential epistle to the governant from D'Alava, the Spanish minister at Paris, in which he spoke in terms too clear to admit any doubt as to the terrible example which the king was resolved to make among the patriot lords.* Bergen and Montigny confirmed this by the accounts they sent home from Madrid of the alteration in the manner with which they were treated by Philip and his courtiers ; and the prince of Orange was more firmly de- cided in his opinions of the coming vengeance of the tyrant. William summoned his brother Louis, the counts Egmont, Horn, and Hoogstraeten, to a secret conference at Termonde ; and he there submitted to them this letter of Alava's, with others which he had received from Spain, confirmatory of his worst fears. Louis of Nassau voted for open and instant re- bellion : William recommended a cautious observance of the projects of government, not doubting but a fair pretext would be soon given to justify the most vigorous overt acts of re- volt: but Egmont at once struck a death-blow to the ener- getic project of one brother, and the cautious amendment of tiie other, by declaring his present resolution to devote him- self wholly to the service of the king, and on no inducement whatever to risk the perils of rebellion. He expressed hia perfect reliance on the justice and the goodness of Philip, when once he should see the determined loyalty of those whom he had hitherto had so much reason to suspect ; and he exhorted the others to follow his example. The two brothers, and count Horn implored him in their turn to abandon this blind reliance on the tyrant; but in vain. His new and unlooked- for profession of faith completely paralyzed their plans. He possessed too largely the confidence of both the soldiery and the people, to make it possible to attempt any serious mea- sure of resistance in which he would not take a part. The meeting broke up without coming to any decision. All those who bore a part in it were expected at Brussels to attend the council of state ; Egmont alone repaired thither. The gov- ernant questioned him on the object of the conference at Ter- monde : he only replied by an indignant glance, at the same time presenting a copy of Alava's letter. The governant now applied her whole efforts to destroy the union among the patriot lords. She, in the mean time, ordered levies of troops to the amount of some thousands, the command of which was given to the nobles on whose at- • Schiller. 112 HISTORY OP THE NETHERLANDS. 1566 tachment she could reckon. The most vigorous measures were adopted. Noircarmes, governor of Hainault, appeared before Valenciennes, which, being in the power of the Cal- vinists, had assumed a most determined attitude of resist- ance. He vainly summoned the place to submission, and to admit a royalist garrison ; and on receiving an obstinate re- fusal, he commenced the siege in form. An undisciplined rabble of between 3000 and 4000 gueux, under the direction of John de Soreas, gathered together in the neighborhood of Lille and Tournai, with a show of attacking these places. But the governor of the former town dispersed one party of them ; and Noircarmes surprised and almost destroyed the main body — their leader falling in the action.* These were the first encounters of the civil war, which raged without cessation for upwards of forty years in these devoted coun- tries, and which is universally allowed to be the most re- markable that ever desolated any isolated portion of Europe. The space which we have already given to the causes which produced this memorable revolution, now actually commenced, will not allow us to do more than rapidly sketch the fierce events that succeeded each other with frightful rapidity. While Valenciennes prepared for a vigorous resistance, a general synod of the Protestants was held at Antwerp, and De Brederode undertook an attempt to see the governant, and lay before her the complaints of this body : but she refiased to admit him into the capital. He then addressed to her a remonstrance in writing, in which he reproached her with her violation of the treaties, on the faith of which the con- federates had dispersed, and the majority of the Protestants laid down their arms. He implored her to revoke the new proclamations, by which she prohibited them from the free exercise of their religion ; and above all things, he insisted on the abandonment of the siege of Valenciennes, and the disbanding of the new levies. The governant's reply was one of haughty reproach and defiance. The gauntlet was now thrown down; no possible hope of reconciliation re- mained ; and the whole country flew to arms. A sudden at- tempt on the part of the royalists, under count Meghem, against Bois-le-duc, was repulsed by 800 men, commanded by an officer named Bomberg, in the immediate service of De Brederode, who had fortified himself in his garrison town of Vienen. The prince of Orange maintained at Antwerp an attitude of extreme firmness and caution. His time for action had * Bentivoglio. 1567. 8TJRRRENDER OP VALENCIENNES. 113 not yet arrived ; but his advice and protection were of infi- nite importance on many occasions. John de Marnix, lord of Toulouse, brother of Philip de St Aldegonde, took pos- session of Osterweel on the Scheldt, a quarter of a leaj^ue from Antwerp, and fortified himself in a strong position. But he was impetuously attacked by the count de Lannoy with a considerable force, and perished, after a desperate defence, with full 1000 of his followers. Three hundred who laid down their arms, were immediately after the action butch- ered in cold blood.* Antwerp was on this occasion saved from the excesses of its divided and furious citizens, and pre- served from the horrors of pillage, by the calmness and in- trepidity of the prince of Orange. Valenciennes at length capitulated to the royalists, disheartened by the defeat and death of De Marnix, and terrified by a bombardment of thirty-six hours. The governor, two preachers, and about forty of the citizens, were hanged by the victors, and the reformed religion prohibited. Noircarmes promptly followed up his success. JMaestricht, Turnhout, and Bois-le-duc sub- mitted at his approach ; and the insurgents were soon driven from all the provinces, Holland alone excepted. Brederode fled to Germany, where he died the following year.f The governant showed, in her success, no small proofs of decision. She and her counsellors, acting under orders from the king, were resolved on embarrassing to the utmost the patriot lords ; and a new oath of allegiance, to be proposed to every functionary of the state, was considered as a certain means for attaining this object witliout the violence of an un- merited dismissal. The terms of tliis oath were strongly op- posed to every prmciple of patriotism and toleration. Count Mansfield was the first of the nobles who took it. The duke of Arschot, counts Meghem, Berlaimont, and Egmont, fol- lowed his example. The counts of Horn, Hoogstraetcn, De Brederode, and others, refused on various pretexts. Every artifice and persuasion was tried to induce the ])rince of Orange to subscribe to this new test ; but his resolution had been for some time formed. He saw that every chance of constitutional resistance to tyranny was for the present at an end. The time for petitioning was gone by. The confedera- tion was dissolved. A royalist army was in the field ; the duke of Alva was notoriously approaching at the head of another, more numerous. It was worse than useless to con- clude a hollow convention with the govemant, of mock loy- alty on his part and mock confidence on hers. Many other * Vandervynct. t Bentivoglio. 114 HISTORY OF THE NETHERLAIVDS. 1567 important considerations convinced William that his only honorable, safe, and wise course was to exile himself from the Netherlands altogether, until more propitious circum- stances allowed of his acting openly, boldly, and with effect. Before he put this plan of voluntary banishment into exe- cution, he and Egmont had a parting interview, at the village of Willebroek, between Antwerp and Brussels. Count Mans- field, and Berti, secretary to the governant, were present at this memorable meeting. The details of what passed were reported to the confederates by one of their party, who con- trived to conceal himself in the chimney of tlie chamber.'*' Nothing could exceed the energetic warmth with which the two illustrious friends reciprocally endeavored to turn each other from their respective line of conduct; but in vain. Egmont's fatal confidence in the king was not to be shaken ; nor was Nassau's penetrating mind to be deceived by the romantic delusion which led away his friend. They sepa- rated with most affectionate expressions ; and Nassau was even moved to tears. His parting words were to the follow- ing effect : — " Confide, then, since it must be so, in the grati- tude of the king ; but a painful presentiment (God grant it may prove a false one !) tells me that you will serve tlie Spaniards as the bridge by which they will enter the country, and which they will destroy as soon as they have passed over it !"t On the 11th of April, a few days after this conference, the prince of Orange set out for Germany, with his three bro- thers and his whole family, with the exception of his eldest son Philip William count de Beuren, whom he left behind a student in the university of Louvain. He believed that the privileges of the college and the franchises of Brabant would prove a sufficient protection to the youth ; and this appears the only instance in which William's vigilant prudence was deceived.! The departure of the prince seemed to remove all hope of protection or support from the unfortunate Pro- testants, now left the prey of their implacable tyrant. The confederation of the nobles was completely broken up. The counts of Hoogstraeten, Bergen, and Culembourg, followed the example of the prince of Orange, and escaped to Germany ; and the greater number of those who remained behind took the new oath of allegiance, and became reconciled to the government. J This total dispersion of the confederacy brought all the towns of Holland into obedience to the king. But the emi- * Schiller. t Vandervynct. J Schiller. § Schiller 1567. THE DUKE OF ALVA. 115 gration which immediately commenced threatened the coun try with ruin. England and Germany swarmed with Dutch and Belgian refugees ; and all the efforts of the governant could not restrain the thousands that took to flight. She was not more successful in her attempts to influence the measures of the kmg. She implored him, in repeated letters, to abandon his design of sending a foreign army into the country, which she represented as being now quite reduced to submission and tranquillity. She added, that the mere report of this royal invasion (so to call it) had already deprived the Nether- lands of many thousands of its best inhabitants ; and that the appearance of the troops would change it into a desert. These arguments, meant to dissuade, were the very means of encouraging Philip in his design. He conceived his pro- ject to be now ripe for the complete suppression of freedom ; and Alva soon began his march. On the 5th of May, 1567, this celebrated captain, whose reputation was so quickly destined to sink into the notoriety of an executioner, began his memorable march ; and on the 22d of August, he, with his two natural sons, and his veteran army consisting of about 15,000 men, arrived at the walls of Brussels.* The discipline observed on this march was a ter- rible forewarning to the people of the Netherlands of the in- fluence of the general and the obedience of the troops. They had little chance of resistance against such soldiers so com- manded. Several of the Belgian nobility went forward to meet Alva, to render him the accustomed honors, and endeavor thus early to gain his good graces. Among them was the infatuated Egmont, who made a present to Alva of two superb horses, which the latter received with a disdainful air of condescen- sion.f Alva's first care was the distribution of his troops — several thousands of whom were placed m Antwerp, Ghent, and other important towns, and the remainder reserved under his own immediate orders at Brussels. His approach was celebrated by universal terror ; and his arrival was thoroughly humiliating to the duchess of Parma. He immediately pro- duced his commission as commander-in-chief of the royal armies in the Netherlands ; but he next showed her another, which confided to him powers infinitely more extended than any Marguerite herself had enjoyed, and which proved to her that the almost sovereign power over the country was virtu- ally vested in him. Alva first turned his attention to the seizure of those pa * Bentivoglio. t Schiller. 116 HISTORY OF THE NETHERLANDS. 1567 triot lords whose pertinacious infatuation left them v) ithin his reach. He summoned a meeting of all the members of the council of state and the knights of the order of the Golden Fleece, to deliberate on matters of great importance. Counts Egmont and Horn attended, among many others ; and at the conclusion of the council they were both arrested (some historians assert by the hands of Alva and his eldest son,*) as was also Van Straeten burgomaster of Antwerp, and Casam- brot, Egmont's secretary. The young count of Mansfield appeared for a moment at this meeting ; but, warned by his father of the fate intended hun, as an original member of the confederation, he had tune to fly. The count of Hoogstraeten was happily detained by illness, and thus escaped the fate of his friends. Egmont and Horn v/ere transferred to the cita- del of Ghent, under an escort of 3000 Spanish soldiers. Sev- eral other persons of the first families were arrested ; and those who had originally been taken in arms were executed without delay.f The next measures of the new governor were the re-es- tablishment of the inquisition, the promulgation of the decrees of the council of Trent, the revocation of the duchess of Parma's edicts, and the royal refusal to recognize the terms of her treaties with the Protestants. He immediately estab- lished a special tribunal, composed of twelve members, with full powers to inquire into and pronounce judgment on every circumstance connected with the late troubles. He named him- self president of this council, and appouited a Spaniard, named Vargas, as vice-president — a vvretch of the most diabolical cruelty. Several others of the judges were also Spaniards, in direct infraction of the fundamental laws of the country. This coimcil, immortalized by its infamy, was named by the new governor (for so Alva was in fact, though not yet in name,) the Council of Troubles. By the people it was soon designed the Council of Blood. In its atrocious proceedings no respect was paid to titles, contracts, or privileges, how- ever sacred. Its judgments were without appeal. Every subject of the state was amenable to its summons ; clergy and laity, the first individuals of the country, as well as tlie most wretched outcasts of society. Its decrees were passed with disgusting rapidity and contempt of form. Contumacy was punished with exile and confiscation. Those who, strong in innocence, dared to brave a trial, were lost without resource. The accused were forced to its bar witliout previous warn- ing. Many a wealthy citizen was dragged to trial four Strsda. Vandervynct. f SchiUer. 1567. alva's tyranny. II "J leagues' distance, tied to a horse's tail. The number of vic- tims was appalling. On one occasion, the town of Valen- ciennes alone saw fifty-five of its citizens fall by the huiids of the executioner. "Hanging, beheading, quartering, smd burning, were the every-day spectacles. The enormous con- fiscations only added to the thirst for gold and blood by which Alva and his satellites were parched. History offers no ex- ample of parallel horrors: for while party vengeance on other occasions has led to scenes of fury and terror, they arose, in this instance, from the vilest cupidity and the most cold-blooded cruelty.* After three months of such atrocity, Alva, fatigued rather than satiated with butchery, resigned his hateful functions wholly into the hands of Vargas, who was chiefly aided by the members Delrio and Dela Torre. Even at this remote period we cannot repress the indignation excited by the men- tion of those monsters, and it is impossible not to feel satis- faction in fixing upon their names the brand of historic exe- cration. One of these wretches, called Hesselts, used at length to sleep during the mock trials of the already doomed victims ; and as often as he was roused up by his colleagues, he used to cry out mechanically, " To the gibbet! to tlie gibbet ! " so familiar was his tongue with the sounds of cf>n- demnation.f The despair of the people may be imagined from the fact, that until the end of the year 1567 their only consolation was the prospect of the king's arrival ! He never dreamt of com- ing. Even the delight of feasting in horrors like these conld not conquer his uidolence. The good duchess of Parma, — for so she was in comparison with her successor, — was not long left to oppose the feeble barrier of her prayers between Alva and his victims. She demanded her dismissal from the nomi- nal dignity, which was now but a title of disgrace. Philip granted it readily, accompanied by a hypocritical letter, a present of 30,000 crowns, and the promise of an annual pen- sion of 20,000 more. She left Brussels in the month of April, 156R,]; raised to a high place in the esteem and gratitude of the people, less by any actual claims from her own conduct, than by its fortuitous contrast with the infamy of her successor. She retired to Italy, and died at Naples in the month of Feb- ruary, 1586.5 Ferdinand Alvarez de Toledo duke of Alva was of a dis- tinguished family in Spain, and even boasted of his descent from one of the Moorish monarchs who had reigned in the •Schiller. (Idem JDeTliou. § Vandervynct. 118 HISTORY OP THE NETHERLANDS. 15fi8. insignificant kingdom of Toledo. When he assumed the chief command in the Netherlands, he was sixty years of age ; having grown old and obdurate in pride, ferocity, and avarice. His deeds must stand instead of a more detailed portrait, which, to be thoroughly striking, should be traced with a pen dipped in blood. He was a fierce and clcer sol- dier, brought up in the school of Charles V., and trained tc his profession in the wars of that monarch in Germany, and subsequently in that of Philip II. against France.* In addi- tion to the horrors acted by the council of blood, Alva com- mitted many deeds of collateral but minor tyranny : among others, he issued a decree forbidding, under .«evere penalties, any inhabitant of the country to marry without his express permission. His furious edicts agamst emigration were at- tempted to be enforced in vain. Elizabeth of England opened all the ports of her kingdom to the Flemish refugees,! who carried with them those abundant stores of manufacturing knowledge which she wisely knew to be the elements of na- tional wealth. Alva soon summoned the prince of Orange, his brothers, and all the confederate lords, to appear before the council and answer to the charge of high treason. The prince gave a prompt and contemptuous answer, denying the authority of Alva and his council, and acknowledging for his judges only the emperor, whose vassal he was, or the king of Spain in person, as president of the order of the Golden Fleece. The other lords made replies nearly similar. The trials of each were, therefore, proceeded on, by contumacy ; confisca- tion of property being an object almost as dear to the tyrant viceroy as the death of his victims. Judgments were promptly pronounced against those present or absent, alive or dead. Witness the case of the unfortunate marquess of Bergues, who had previously expired at Madrid, as was universally believ- ed, by poison ; and his equally ill-fated colleague in the em- bassy, the baron Montigny, was for a while imprisoned at Segovia, where he was soon after secretly beheaded, on the base pretext of former disaffection.^ The departure of tJie duchess of Parma having left Alva undisputed as well as unlimited authority, he proceeded rapidly in his terrible career. The count of Beuren was seized at Louvain, and sent prisoner to Madrid ; and wherever it was possible to lay hands on a suspected patriot, the occasion was not neglected. It would be a revolting task to enter into a minute detail of all the horrors committed, and Vandervynct. t Van Meteren. J Vandervynct. 1568. HORKORS OF ALVa's ADMINISTRATION. 119 impossible to record the names of the victims who so quickly fell before Alva's insatiate cruelty. The people were driven to frenzy. Bands of wretches fled to the woods and marshes ; whence, half famished and perishing for want, they revenged themselves with pillage and murder. Pirates infested and ravaged the coast; and thus, from both sea and land, the whole extent of the Netherlands was devoted to carnage and ruin.* The chronicles of Brabant and Holland,! chiefly written in Flemish by contemporary authors, abound in thrilling details of the horrors of this general desolation, with long lists of those who perished. Suffice it to say, that on the recorded boast of Alva himself, he caused 18,000 inhabit- ants of the Low Countries to perish by the hands of the exe- cutioner, during his less than six years' sovereignty in the Netherlands. J The most important of these tragical scenes was now soon to be acted. The counts Egmont and Horn, having submit- ted to some previous interrogatories by Vargas and others, were removed from Ghent to Brussels, on the 3d of June, under a strong escort. The following day they passed through the mockery of a trial before the council of blood ; and on the 5th, they were both beheaded in the great square of Brussels, in the presence of Alva, who gloated on the spectacle from a balcony that commanded the execution. The same day Van- straelen and Casambrot shared the fate of their illustrious friends, in the castle of Vilvorde; with many others, whose names only find a place in the local chronicles of the times. Egmont and Horn met their fate with the firmness expected from their well-proved courage. These judicial murders excited in the Netherlands an agi- tation without bounds. It was no longer hatred or aversion that filled men's mmds, but fury and despair. The out-burst- ing of a general revolt was hourly watched for. The foreign powers, without exception, expressed their disapproval of these executions. The emperor Maximilian II., and all the Catholic princes, condemned them. The former sent hia brother expressly to the king of Spain, to warn him, that without a cessation of his cruelties, he could not restrain a general declaration from the members of the empire, which would, in all likelihood, deprive him of every acre of land in the Netherlands. § The princes of the Protestant states held no terms in the expression of their disgust and resentment ; and every thing seemed now ripe, both at home and abroad, to favor the enterprise on which the prince of Orange was * Vandervynct. t Hatavia illustrated. t ^rotius. § Vandervynct. 120 HISTORY OF THE NETHERLANDS. 1568. determined to risk his fortune and his life. But his principal resources were to be found in his genius and courage, and in the heroic devotion partaken by his whole family in the cause of their country. His brother, count Jolm, advanced him a considerable sum of money; the Flemings and Hollanders, in England and elsewhere, subscribed largely ; the prince him- self, after raising loans in every possible way on his private means, sold his jewels, his plate, and even the furniture of his houses, and threw the amount into the common fund. Two remarkable events took place this year in Spain, and added to the general odium entertained against Philip's char- acter throughout Europe. The first was the death of his son don Carlos, whose sad story is too well known in connexion with the annals of his country to require a place here ; the other was the death of the queen. Universal opinion assigned poison as the cause ;* and Charles IX. of France, her brother, who loved her with great tenderness, seems to have joined in this belief Astonishment and horror filled all minds on the double denouement of this romantic tragedy ; and the enemies of the tyrant reaped all the advantages it was so well adapted to produce them. The prince of Orange, having raised a considerable force in Germany, now entered on the war with all the well-di- rected energy by which he was characterized. The queen of England, the French Huguenots, and the Protestant princes of Germany, all lent him their aid in money or in men; and he opened his first campaign with great advantage. He formed his army into four several corps, intending to enter the country on as many different points, and by a sudden ir- ruption on that most vulnerable to rouse at once the hopes and the co-operation of the people. His brothers Louis and Adolphus, at the head of one of these divisions, penetrated into Friesland, and there commenced the contest. The count of Aremberg, governor of this province, assisted by the Span- ish troops under Gonsalvo de Bracamonte, quickly opposed the invaders. They met on the 24th of May near the abbey of HeUigerlee, which gave its name to the battle ; and after a short contest the royalists were defeated with great loss. The count of Aremberg and Adolphus of Nassau encountered in single combat, and fell by each other's hands.t The vic- tory was dearly purchased by the loss of this gallant prince, the first of his illustrious family, who have on so many occa- eions, dovni to these very days, freely shed their blood for the * Vandervynet. t Strada. 1568. DISASTERS OF THE PATRIOTS. 121 freedom and happiness of the country which may he so em- phatically called their own. Alva immediately hastened to the scene of this first action, and soon forced count Louis to another at a place called Jem- minghem, near the town of Embden, on the 21st of July. Their forces were nearly equal, about 14,000 on either side ; but all the advantage of discipline and skill was in favor of Alva ; and the consequence was, the total rout of the patriots with a considerable loss in killed and the wliole of the cannon and baggage. The entire province of Friesland was thus again reduced to obedience, and Alva hastened back to Bra- bant to make head against trie prince of Orange. The latter had now under his command an army of 28,000 men, — an imposing force in point of numbers, being double that which his rival was able to muster. He soon made himself master of the towns of Tongres and St. Trend, and the whole prov- ince of Liege was in his power. He advanced boldly against Alva, and for several months did all that manoeuvring could do to force him to a battle. But the wily veteran knew his trade too well ; he felt sure that in time the prince's force would disperse for want of pay and supplies ; and he managed his resources so ably, that with little risk and scarcely any loss he finally succeeded in his object. In the month of Oc- tober the prince found himself forced to disband his large but undisciplined force ; and he retired into France to recruit his funds and consider on the best measures for some future en- terprise. The insolent triumph of Alva knew no bounds. The rest of the year was consumed in new executions. The hotel of Culembourg, the early cradle of De Brederode's confederacy, was rased to the ground, and a pillar erected on the spot commemorative of the deed ; while Alva, resolved to erect a monument of his success as well as of his hate, had his own statue in brass, formed of the cannons taken at Jemminghem, set up in the citadel of Antwerp, with various symbols of power and an inscription of inflated pride. The following year was ushered in by a demand of un- wonted and extravagant rapacity ; the establishment of two taxes on property, personal and real, to the amount of the hundredth penny (or denier) on each kind; and at every transfer or sale, ten per cent, on personal, and five per cent, for real property. The states-general, of whom this demand was made, were unanimous in their opposition, as well as the ministers ; but particularly De Berlaimont and Viglius. Alva was so irritated that he even menaced the venerable presi- dent of the council, but could not succeed in intimidating ]22 HISTOKY OF THE NETHERLANDS. 1570 him. He obstinately persisted in his design for a considera- ble period ; resisting arguments and prayers, and even the more likely means tried for softening his cupidity, by fur- bishing him with sums from other sources equivalent to those which the new taxes were calculated to produce.* To his repeated threats against Viglius the latter replied, that " he was convinced the king would not condemn him unheard; but that at any rate his gray hairs saved him from any ignoble fear of death."f A deputation was sent from the states-general to Philip, explaining the impossibility of persevering in tlie attempted taxes, which were incompatible with every principle of com- mercial liberty.J But Alva would not abandon his design till he had forced every province into resistance, and the king himself commanded him to desist. The events of this and the following year (1570) may be shortly summed up ; none of any striking interest or eventual importance having oc- curred. The sutferings of the country were increasing from day to day under the intolerable tyranny which bore it down. The patriots attempted nothing on land ; but their naval force began from this time to acquire that consistency and power which was so soon to render it the chief means of resistance and the great source of wealth. The privateers or corsairs, which began to swarm from every port in Holland and Zea- land, and which found refuge in all those of England, sullied many gallant exploits by instances of culpable excess ; so much so, that the prince of Orange was forced to withdraw the command which he had delegated to the lord of Dolhain, and to replace him by Gislain de Fiennes : for already seve- ral of the exiled nobles and ruined merchants of AJntwerp and Amsterdam had joined these bold adventurers ; and pur- chased or built, with the remnant of their fortunes, many vessels, in which they carried on a most productive warfare against Spanish commerce through the whole extent of the English channel, from the mouth of the Embs to the harbor of La Rochelle.J One of those frightful inundations to which the northern provinces were so constantly exposed, occurred this year, carrying away the dikes, and destroying lives and property to a considerable amount. In Friesland alone 20,000 men were victims to this calamity. But no suffering could affect the inflexible sternness of the duke of Alva ; and to such excess did he carry his persecution, that Philip himself be- • Vandervynct. t Viglii Comment, p. 307. t De Neny, M6m. Hist, et Pol. surles Pays Bas. § Vandervynct. 1572. LA cehda's appointment. 123 gun to be discontented, and thought his representative was oversteppinnf the bounds of delegated tyranny. He even re- proached him sharply in some of his dispatches. The gov- ernor replied in the same strain ; and such was the effect of this correspondence, that Philip resolved to remove him from his command. But the king's marriage with Anne of Aus- tria, daughter of the emperor Maximilian, obliged him to defer his intentions for a while ; and he at length named John de la Cerda, duke of Medina-Celi, for Alva's successor. Upwards of a year, however, elapsed before this new govern- or was finally appointed ; and he made his appearance on the coast of Flanders with a considerable fleet, on the l_th of May, 1572. He was afforded on this very day a specimen of the sort of people he came to contend with ; for his fleet was suddenly attacked by that of the patriots, and many of his vessels burned and taken before his eyes, with their rich cargoes and considerable treasures intended for the service of the state.* The duke of Medina-Celi proceeded rapidly to Brussels, where he was ceremoniously received by Alva, who however refused to resign the government, under the pretext that the term of his appointment had not expired, and that he was resolved first to completely suppress all symptoms of revolt in the northern provinces. He succeeded in effectually dis- gusting La Cerda, who almost immediately demanded and obtained his own recall to Spain. Alva, left once more in undisputed possession of his power, turned it with increased vigor into new channels of oppression. He was soon again employed in efforts to effect the levying of his favorite taxes ; and such was the resolution of the tradesmen of Brussels, that, sooner than submit, they almost universally closed their shops altogether. Alva, furious at this measure, caused sixty of the citizens to be seized, and ordered them to be hanged opposite their own doors. The gibbets were actually erected, when, on the very morning of the day fixed for the execu- tions, he received dispatches that wholly disconcerted him, and stopped their completion.! To avoid an open rupture with Spain, the queen of Eng- land had just at this time interdicted the Dutch and Flemish privateers from taking shelter in her ports. William de la Marck count of Lunoy had now the chief command of this adventurous force. He was distinguished by an inveterate hatred against the Spaniards, and had made a wild and ro- mantic vow never to cut his hair or beard till he had avenged • Vandervynct. t Hem. 124 HISTORY OP THE NETHERLANDS. 1572, the murders of Egmont and Horn. He was impetuous and terrible in all his actions, and bore the surname of " tlie wild boar of the Ardennes." Driven out of the harbors of Eng- land, he resolved on some desperate enterprise ; and on the 1st of April he succeeded in surprising the little town of Brille, in the island of Voorn, situate between Zealand and Holland. This insignificant place acquired great celebrity from this event, which may be considered the first successful step towards the establishment of liberty and the republic* Alva was confounded by the news of this exploit, but with his usual activity he immediately turned his whole attention towards the pomt of greatest danger. His embarrassment, however, became every day more considerable. Lunoy's success was the signal of a general revolt. In a few days every town in Holland and Zealand declared for liberty, with the exception of Amsterdam and Middleburg, where the Spanish garrisons were too strong for the people to at- tempt their expulsion. The prince of Orange, who had been on the watch for a favorable moment, now entered Brabant at the head of 20,000 men, composed of French, German, and English, and made himself master of several important places ; while his inde- fatigable brother Louis, with a minor force, suddenly appeared in Hainault, and, joined by a la rge body of Frencli Huguenots under De Genlis, he seized on Mens, the capital of the prov- ince, on the 25th of May. Alva turned first towards tlie recovery of this important place, and gave the command of the siege to his son Frederic of Toledo, who was assisted by the counsels of Noircarmes and Vitelli ; but Louis of Nassau held out for upwards of three months, and only surrendered on an honorable capitu- lation in the month of September ; his Frencli allies having been first entirely defeated, and their brave leader De Genlis taken prisoner. The prince of Orange had in the mean time secured possession of Louvaine, Ruremonde, Mechlin, and other towns, carried Termonde and Oudenarde by assault, and made demonstrations which seemed to court Alva once more to try the fortune of the campaign in a pitched battle. But such were not William's real intentions,! nor did the cautious tactics of his able opponent allow him to provoke such a risk. He, however, ordered his son Frederic to march with all his force into Holland, and he soon undertook the siege of Haerlem. By the time that Mens fell again into the power of the Spaniards, sixty-five towns and their territories, Vandervynct. t Idem. ]573. HAEKLEM BESIEGED. 125 chiefly in the northern provinces, had thrown off the yoke. The single port of Flessingue contained 1.50 patriot vessels, well armed and equipped ;* and lrt)ni that epoch may be dated the rapid growth of tlie first naval power in Europe, with the single exception of Great Britain. It is here worthy of remark, that all the horrors of which the people of Flanders were the victims, and in their full proportion, had not the effect of exciting them to revolt ; but they rose up with fury against tlie payment of the new taxes. Tliey sacrificed every thing sooner than pay these unjust ex- actions — Omnia iJabfint, ne deciinam darant.^ The next im- portant event in these wars was tlie siege of Haerlem, before which place the Spaniards were arrested in their progress for seven months, and which they at length succeeded in taking with a loss of 10,000 men. The details of this memorable siege are calculated to arouse every feeling of pity for the heroic defenders, and of execration against the cruel assailants. A widow, named Kenau Hasselaer, gained a niche in history by her remark- able valor at the head of a battalion of 300 of her townswo- men, who bore a part in all the labors and perils of the siege.J Afler the surrender, and in pursuance of Alva's common sys- tem, his ferocious son caused the governor and the other chief officers to be beheaded ; and upwards of 2000 of the worn-out garrison and burghers were either put to the sword, or tied two and two, and drowned in the lake which gives its name to the town.^ Tergoes in Soutli Beveland, Mechlin, Naerden, and other towns, were about the same period the scenes of gallant actions, and of subsequent cruelties of the most revolting nature as soon as they fell into the power of the Spaniards.]] Horrors like tliese were sure to force repri- sals on the part of the maddened patriots. Be la Marck carried on his daring exploits with a cruelty which excited the indignation of the prince e)f Orange, by whom he was removed from his command. The contest was for a while prosecuted, with a decrease of vigor proportioned to the serious losses on both sides; money and the munitions of war began to fail ; and though the Spaniards succeeded in taking the Hague, they were repulsed before Alkmaer with great loss, and their fleet was almost entirely destroyed in a naval combat on the Zuyder Zee. The count Bossu, their * Cerisier. f GrotiuB. X Strada. § Bentivoglio. I) Strada, with all his bigotry to the Spanish cauee, admits that these ex- cesses were atrocious crimes rather than just punishments: iion pana, sed flagitium. 126 HISTORY OF THE NETHERLANDS. 1573. admiral, was taken in this fight, with about 300 of his best sailors. Holland was now from one end to the other the theatre of tlie most shocking events. While the people performed deeds of the greatest heroism, the perfidy and cruelty of the Span- iards had no bounds. The patriots saw more danger in sub- mission than in resistance ; each town, which was in succes sion subdued, endured the last extremities of suffering before it yielded, and victory was frequently the consequence of despair.* This unlooked-for turn in affairs decided the king to remove Alva, whose barbarous and rapacious conduct was now objected to even by Philip, when it produced re- sults disastrous to his cause. Don Luis Zanega y Requesens, commander of the order of JMalta, was named to the gov- ernment of the Netherlands. He arrived at Brussels on the 17th of November, 1573 ; and on the 18th of the following month, tlie monster whom he succeeded set out for Spain, loaded with the booty to which he had waded through oceans of blood, and with the curses of the country, which, how- ever, owed its subsequent freedom to the impulse given by his intolerable cruelty. He repaired to Spain ; and after va- rious fluctuations of favor and disgrace at the hands of hia congenial master, he died in his bed, at Lisbon, in 1582, at the advanced age of seventy-four years. CHAP. X. 1573—1576. TO THE PACIFICATION OF GHENT The character of Requesens was not more opposed to that of his predecessor, than were the instructions given to him for his government. He was an honest, well-meaning, and moderate man ;f and the king of Spain hoped, that by his in- fluence and a total change of measures, lie might succeed in recalling the Netherlands to obedience. But, happily for the country, this change was adopted too late for success ; and the weakness of the new government completed the glorious results which the ferocity of the former had prepared. Requesens performed all that depended on him, to gain the confidence of the people. He caused Alva's statue to be re- * Grotius. Strada. Bentivoglio. f De Thou. 1574. REttUESKNs' GOVKKNMENT. Vil moved ; and hoped to efface the memory of the tyrant I'V dissolving the council of blood, and abandoning- the obnoxious taxes which their inventor had suspended rather than abol- ished. A general amnesty was also promulgated against the revolted provinces : they received it with contempt and defi- ance. Nothing then was left to Requcsens but to renew the war; and this he found to be a matter of no easy execution. The finances were in a state of the greatest confusion; and the Spanish troops were in many places seditious, in some openly mutinous, Alva having letl large arrears of pay due to almost all, notwithstanding the immense amount of his pillage and extortion.* Middleburg, which had long sus- tained a siege against all the efforts of the patriots, was now nearly reduced by famine, notwithstanding the gallant efforts of its governor, Mondragon. Requesens turned his imme- diate attention to the relief of this important place; and he soon assembled, at Antwerp and Bergen-op-Zoom, a fleet ot sixty vessels for that purpose. But Louis Boisot, admiral or Zealand, promptly repaired to attack this force ; and after a severe action he totally defeated it, and killed De Glimes, one of its admirals, under the eyes of Requesens himself, who, accompanied by his suite, stood during the whole affair on the dike of Schakerloo.f This action took place the 29th of January, 1574 ; and, on the 19th of February following, Mid- dleburg surrendered, after a resistance of Uvo years. The Erince of Orange granted such conditions as were due to the ravery of the governor ; and thus set an example of gene- rosity and honor which greatly changed the complexion of the war.f All Zealand was now free ; and the intrepid ad- miral Boisot gained another victory on the 30th of May, — destroying several of the Spanish vessels, and taking some others, with their admiral Von Haemstede. Frequent naval enterprises were also undertaken against the frontiers of Flanders ; and while the naval forces thus harassed the ene- my on every vulnerable point, the unfortunate provinces of the interior were ravaged by the mutinous and revolted Span- iards, and by the native brigands, who pillaged both royalists and patriots vvitii atrocious impartiality. To these manifold evils was now added one more terrible, in the appe;u-anc(! of the plague, which broke out at Ghent in the month of October, and devastated a great part of the Netherlands; nut, however, with that violence with which it rages in more southern climates.^ Requesens, overwhelmed by difficulties, yet exerted him- * Vandervyiict. f Idtm. t Meteren. § Vandervynct 128 HISTORY OF THE NETHERLANDS. 1574. self to the utmost to put the hest face on the affairs of gov- ernment. His chief care was to appease the mutinous sol- diery : he even caused his plate to be melted, and freely gave the produce towards the payment of their arrears. The pa- triots, well informed of this state of things, labored to turn it to their best advantage. They opened the campaign in the province of Guelders, where Louis of Nassau, with his younger brother Henry, and the prmce Palatine, son of the elector Frederick III., appeared at the head of 11,000 men : the prince of Orange prepared to join him with an equal number ; but Requesens promptly dispatched Sanchez d'Avila to prevent this junction. The Spanish commander quickly passed the Meuse near Nimeguen ; and on the 14th of April he forced count Louis to a battle, on the great plain called Mookerheyde, close to the village of Mook. The royalists attacked with their usual valor ; and after two hours of hard fighting, the confederates were totally defeated. The three gallant princes were among the slain, and their bodies were never afterwards discovered. It has been stated, on doubtftil authority, that Louis of Nassau, after having lain some time among the heaps of dead, dragged himself to the side of the river Meuse, and while wasliing his wounds, was inhumanly murdered by some straggling peasants, to whom he was un- known.* The unfortunate fate of this enterprising prince was a severe blow to the patriot cause, and a cruel affliction to the prince of Orange. He had now already lost three brothers in the war ; and remained alone, to revenge their fate, and sustain the cause for which they had perished. D'Avila soon found his victory to be as fruitless as it was brilliant. The ruffian troops, by whom it was gained, became immediately sell-disbanded; threw off all authority; hastened to possess themselves of Antwerp ; and threatened to proceed to the most horrible extremities, if their pay was longer with- held. The citizens succeeded with difficulty in appeasing them, by the sacrifice of some money in part payment of their claims. Re(jueseTis took advantage of their temporary calm, and dispatched them promptly to take part in the siege of Leyden.f This siege formed another of those numerous instances which became so memorable from the mixture of heroism and horror. Jean Vanderdoes, known in literature by the name of Dousa, and celebrated for his Latin poems, commanded the place. Valdez, who conducted the siege, urged Dousa to sur- render ; when the latter replied, in the name of the inhab- HarseuB t Vandervynct. 575. SIEGE OP LEYDEN. 129 tants, " that when provisions failed them, they would devour their left hands, reserving- tln^ riglit to defend their liberty." A party of the inhabitants, driven to disobedience and revolt by the excess of misery to which tliey were shortly reduced, attempted to force the burg-omaster, Vanderwerf, to supply them with bread, or yield up the place. But he sternly made the celebrated answer, wliicli cannot be remend)ered without shuddering — "Bread I have none; but if my death can af- ford you relief, tear my body in pieces, and let those who are most hungry devour it!" But in this extremity relief at last was afforded by the decisive measures of the prince of Orange, who ordered all the neighboring' dikes to be opened and the sluices raised, thus sweeping away the besiegers on the waves of the ocean : the inhabitants of Leyden were apprized of this intention by means of letters intrusted to the safe carriage of pigeons trained for the purpose.* The inundation was no sooner effected, than hundreds of flat-bottomed boats brought abun- dance of supplies to the halt-famished town ; wliile a violent storm carried tJie sea across the country for twenty leagues around, and destroyed the Spanisli camp, with above 1000 soldiers, who were overtaken by the flood. This deliverance took place on the 3d of October, on which day it is still an- nually celebrated by the descendants of the grateful citizens.! It was now for the first time that Spain would consent to listen to advice or mediation, which had for its object the termination of this frightful war. The emperor Maximilian II. renewed at this epoch his efforts with Pliilip ; and under such favorable auspices conterences commenced at Breda, where the counts Swartzenberg and Holienloe, brothers-in-law of the prince of Orange, met, on the part of the emperor, the deputies from the king of Spain and the ymtriots; and hopes of a complete pacification were generally entertained. But three months of deliberation proved their fallacy. The patriots demanded toleration f )r the reformed religion. The king's deputies obstinately refused it. The congress was therefore broken up; and both oppressors and oppressed resumed their arms with increased vigor and tenfold des- peration. Requesens had long fixed his eyes on Zealand as the scene of an exi)edition by wliich he hoped to repair the failure before Leyden ; and he caused an attempt to be made on the town of Zuriczee, in the island of Scauwen, which • Btrada. t Vandervynct. 9 80 HISTORY OF THE NETHERLANDS. 1575. •nerits record as one of the boldest and most original enter- Drises of the war. The little islands of Zealand are separated from each other by narrow branches of the sea, which are fordable at low water ; and it was by such a passage, two leagues in breadth, and till then untried, that the Sjjaiiish detachment of 1750 men, under Ulloa and other veteran captains, advanced to their exploit in the midst of daii^'Prs t'^'atly increased by a night of total darkness. Each la.ai i;;irri»'f The Pacification of Ghent was published on the 8th of November, to the sound of bells and trumpets ; while the ceremony was ren- dered still more imposing by the thunder of the artiHery which battered the walls of the besieged citadel. It was even intended to have delivered a general assault against the place at the moment of the proclamation ; but the mutineers demanded a capitulation, and finally surrendered three days afterwards. It was the wife of the famous Mondragon who commanded the place in her husband's absence ; and by her heroism gave a new proof of the capability of the aex to sur- * Vandervynct. 134 HISTORY OF THE NETHERLANDS. 1576 pass the iiinits which nature seems to have fixed for their conduct. The Pacification contained twenty-five articles : — amongs* others, it was agreed, That a full amnesty should be passed for all offences what soever. That the estates of Brabant, Flanders, Hainault, Artois, nd others, on the one part ; the prince of Orange, and the states of Holland and Zealand and their associates, on the other; promised to maintain good faith, peace, and friend- ship, firm and inviolable ; to nmtually assist each other, at all times, in council and action ; and to employ life and for- tune, above all things, to expel from the country the Spanish soldiers and other foreigners. That no one should be allowed to injure or insult, by word or deed, the exercise of the Catholic religion, on pain of being treated as a disturber of tlie public peace. That the edicts against heresy and the proclamations of the duke of Alva should be suspended. That all confiscations, sentences, and judgments rendered since 1566, should be annulled. That the inscriptions, monuments, and trophies erected by the duke of Alva should be demolished. Such were the general conditions of the treaty; the re- maining articles chiefly concerned individual interests. The promulgation of this great charter of union, which was con- sidered as the fundamental law of the country, was hailed in all parts of the Netherlands with extravagant demonstrations of joy. CHAP. XL 1576—1580. TO THK RENUNCIATION OF THE S0VERET3\Ty OF SPAIN AND THB DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE. On the very day of the sack of Antwerp, don John of Aus- tria arrived at Luxembourg. This ominous commencement of his vice-regal reign was not belied by the events which followed ; and the hero of Lepanto, the victor of the Turks, the idol of Christendom, was destined to have hii reputation and well-won laurels tarnished in the service of the insidious despotism to which he now became an instrument. Don John 1576. DON JOHN OF AUSTRIA. 135 wns a natural son of Charles V., and to fine talents and a good disposition united the advantages of hereditary courage and a liberal education. He was born at Ratisbon, on the 24th of February, 1543.* His reputed mother was a young lady of that place, named Barbara Blomberg : but one histo- rian states, that tlie real parent was of a condition too elevated to have her rank betrayed ; and that, to conceal the mystery, Barbara Blomberg had voluntarily assumed the distinction,! or the dishonor, accordhig to the different constructions put jpon the case. The prince, having passed through France, disguised, for greater secrecy or in a youthful frolic, as a negro valet to Prince Octavo Gonzaga,f entered on the limits of his new government, and immediately wrote to the council of state in the most condescending terms to announce his ar- rival. J Nothing could present a less promising aspect to the prince than the country at the head of which he was now placed. He found all its provinces, with the sole exception of Luxem- bourg, in the anarchy attendant on a ten years' civil war, and apparently resolved on a total breach of their allegiance to Spain. He found his best, indeed his only, course to be that of moderation and management ; and it is most probable that at the outset his intentions were really honorable and candid. The states-general were not less embarrassed than the prince. His sudden arrival threw them into great perplexity, which was increased by the conciliatory tone of his letter. They had now removed from Ghent to Brussels ; and first Bending deputies to pay the honors of a ceremonious welcome to don John, they wrote to the prince of Orange, then in Holland, for his advice in this difficult conjuncture. The prince replied by a memorial of considerable length, dated Middleburg, the 30th of November, in which he gave them the most wise and prudent advice ; the substance of which was to receive any propositions coming from the wily and perfidious Philip with the utmost suspicion, and to refuse all negotiation with his deputy, if the immediate withdrawal of the foreign troops was not at once conceded, and the accept- ance of the pacification guarantied in its most ample extent.]] This advice was implicitly followed ; the states in the mean time taking the precaution of assembling a large body of troops at Wavre, between Brussels and Namur, the command of which was given to tlie count of Lalain. A still more bn- * Strada. \ Amelot de la Houssaye. J Strada. § Bentivoglio. U Meteren, 1. 6. 136 HISTORY OF THE NETHERLANDS. 1577 portant measure was the dispatch of an envoy to Englind, to implore the assistance of Elizabeth. She acted on this occa- sion with frankness and intreiadity ; givinjT a distinguished reception totiie envoy De Swevegiiem, and advancing a loan of 100,()0(>Z. sterling, on condition that the states made no treaty without her knowledge or participation.* To secure still more closely the federal union that now bound the different provinces, a new compact was concluded by the deputies on the 9th of January, 1577, known by the title of The Union of Brussels, and signed by the prelates, ecclesiastics, lords, gentlemen, magistrates, and others, re- presenting the estates of tne Netherlands. A copy of this act of union was transmitted to don John, to enable him thoroughly to understand the present state of feeling among those with whom he was now about lo negotiate. He maintained a general tone of great moderation throughout the conference which immediately took place ; and after some months of cau- tious parleying, in Ihe latter part of which the candor of the prince seemed doublful, and which tlie native historians do not hesitate to stigmatize as merely assumed, a treaty was signed at Marche-en-Famenne, a place between Namur and Luxembourg, in which every ])oint insisted on by the states was, to the surprise aiul delight of the nation, fully consented to and guarantied. This important document is called The Perpetual Edict, bears date the l'2lh of February, 1577, and contains nineteen articles. They were all based on the ac- ceptance of the Pd.cijicntion ; hut one e.xpressly stipulated that the count of Beuren should be set at liberty, as soon as the prince of Orange, his father, had on his part ratified the treaty, t Don John made his solemn entry into Brussels on the 1st of May, and assumed the functions of his limited authority. The conditions of the treaty were promptly and regularly fulfilled. The citadels occupied by the Spanish soldiers were given up to the Flemish and Walloon troops ; and the depar- ture of these ferocious foreigners took place at once. The large sums required to facilitate this measure made it neces- sary to submit for a while to the presence of the German mercenaries. But don John's conduct soon destroyei, the temporary delusion which had deceived the country. Whether his projects were hitherto only concealed, or that they were now for the first time excited by the disappointment of those hopes of authority held out to him by Philip, and which h.s predecessors had shared, it is certain that he very early dis- * Meteren, 1. 6 t Vandervynct. 1577. PRINCE OP ORANGE ENTERS BRUSSELS. 137 played his ambition, and very imprudently attempted to put it in force. He at once demanded from the council of state the command of the troops and the disposal of the revenues. The answer was a simple reference to the Pacification of Ghent ; and the prince's rejoinder was an apparent submis- sion, and the immediate dispatch of letters in cipher to the king, demanding a supply of troops sufficient to restore his ruined authority. These letters were intercepted by the king of Navarre, afterwards Henry IV. of France, who im- mediately transmitted them to the prince of Orange, his old friend and fellow-soldier. Public opinion, to the suspicions of which don Jolm had been from the first obnoxious, was now unanimous in a*,tri- buting to design all that was unconstitutional and unfair. His impetuous character could no longer submit to the restraint of dissimulation, and he resolved to t;ike some bold and de- cided measure. A very favorable opportunity was presented in the arrival of the queen of Navarre, Marguerite of Valois, at Namur, on her way to Spa. The prince, numerously at- tended, hastened to the former town under pretence of paying his respects to the queen. As soon as she left the place, he repaired to the glacis of the town, as if for the mere enjoy- ment of a walk, admired the external appearance of the cita- del, and expressed a desire to be admitted inside. The young count of Berlaimont, in the absence of his father, the governor of the place, and an accomplice in the plot with don John, freely admitted him. The prince immediately drew forth a pistol, and exclaimed, that " that was the first moment of his government ;" took possession of the place with his imme- diate guard, and instantly formed tliem into a devoted gar- rison. The prince of Orange immediately made public the inter- cepted letters; and, at the solicitation of the states-general, repaired to Brussels ; into which city he made a truly tri- umphant entry on the 23d of September, and was immediately nominated governor, protector or ruward of Brabant, — a dig- nity which had fallen into disuse, but was revived on this oc- casion, and which was little inferior in power to that of the dictators of Rome.* His authority, now almost unlimited, extended over every province of the Netherlands, except Namur and Luxembourg, both of which acknowledged don John. The first care of the liberated nation was to demolish the various citadels rendered celebrated and odious by the ex- • Vandervynct. 138 HISTORY OF THE NETHERLANDS. 1577 cesses of the Spaniards. This was done with an enthusiastic industry in which every age and sex bore a part, and which promised well for liberty. Among the ruins of that of Ant- werp the statue of the duke of Alva was discovered; dragged through the filthiest streets of the town ; and, with all the indignity so well merited by the original, it was finally broken into a thousand pieces. The country, in conferring such extensive powers on the prince of Orange, had certainly gone too far, not for his de- sert, but for its own tranquillity. It was impossible that such an elevation should not excite the discontent and awaken the enmity of the haughty aristocracy of Flanders and Brabant; and particularly of the house of Croi, the ancient rivals of that of Nassau. The then representative of that family seemed the person most suited to counterbalance William's excessive power. The duke of Arschot was therefore named governor of Flanders; and he immediately put himself at the head of a confederacy of the Catholic party, which quickly decided to offer the chief government of the country, still in the name of Philip, to the archduke Mathias, brother of the emperor Rodolf II., and cousin-german to Philip of Spain, a youth but nineteen years of age. A Flemish gentleman named Maelsted was intrusted with the proposal. Mathias joyously consented ; and, quitting Vienna with the greatest secrecy, he arrived at Maestricht, without any previous an- nouncement, and expected only by the party that had invited him, at the end of October, 1577. The prince of Orange, instead of showing the least sjonp- tom of dissatisfaction at this underhand proceeding aimed at his personal authority, announced his perfect approval of the nomination, and was the foremost in rectimmending measures for the honor of the archduke and the security of the country. He drew up the basis of a treaty for Mathias's acceptance, on terms which guarantied to the council of state and the states-general the virtual sovereignty, and left to the young prince little beyond the fine title which had dazzled his boy- ish vanity. The prince of Orange was appointed his lieu- tenant, in all the branches of the administration, civil, mili- tary, or financial ; and the duke of Arschot, who had hoped to obtain an entire domination over the puppet lie had brought upon the stage, saw himself totally foiled in his project, and left without a chance or a pretext for the least increase to his influence. But a still greater disappointment attended this ambitious nobleman in the very strong-hold of his power. The Flem- ings, driven by persecution to a state of fury almost unnatu- 1577. RYHOVP; A1ST> HEMBYSE. 139 ral, had, in their antipathy to Spain, adopted a hatred against Catholicism, which had its source only m political frenzy, while the converts imagined it to arise from reason and con- viction. Two men had taken advantage of this state of the public mind, and gained over it an unbounded ascendency. They were Francis de Kethulle lord of Ryhove, and John Hembyse, who each seemed formed to realize the beau-ideal of a factious demagogue. They had acquired supreme power over the people of Ghent, and had at their command a body of 20,000 resolute and well-armed supporters. The duke of Arschot vainly attempted to opimse his authority to that of these men ; and he on one occasion imprudently exclaimed that " he would have them hanged, even though they were protected by the prince of Orange himself" The same night Ryhove summoned tlie leaders of his bands ; and quickly as- sembling a considerable force, tliey repaired to the duke's hotel, made him prisoner, and, without allowing him time to dress, carried him away in triumph. At the same time the bishops of Bruges and Ypres, the high bailiffs of Ghent and Courtrai, the governor of Oudenarde, and other important magistrates, were arrested — accused of complicity with the duke, but of what particular offence the lawless demagogues did not deign to specify. The two tribunes immediately di- vided the whole honors and authority of administration ; Ry- hove as military, and Hembyse as civil, chief The latter of these legislators completely changed the forms of the government ; lie revived the ancient privileges destroyed by Charles V., and took all preliminary measures for forcing the various provinces to join with the city of Ghent in forming a federative republic. The states-general and the prince of Orange were alarmed, lest these troubles might lead to a renewal of the anarchy from the effects of which the country had but just obtained breathing-time. Ryhove consented, at the remonstrance of the prince of Orange, to release the duke of Arschot ; but William was obliged to repair to Ghent in person, in the hope of establish- ing order. He arrived on the 29th of December, and entered on a strict inquiry with his usual calmness and decision. He could not succeed in obtaining the liberty of the other prison- ers, though he pleaded for them strongly. Having severely reprimanded the factious leaders, and pointed out the danger of their illegal course, he returned to Brussels, leaving the factious city in a temporary tnuiquiility which his firmness and discretion could alone have obtained.* * Vandervynet. 140 HISTORY OF THE NETHERLANDS. 1578 The archduke Mathias, having visited Antwerp, and ac ceded to all the conditions required of him, made his public entry into Brussels on the 18th of January, 1578, and waa installed in his dignity of governor-general amidst tlie usual f^tes and rejoicings. Don John of Austria was at the same time declared an enemy to the country, with a public order to quit it without delay ; and a prohibition was issued against any inhabitant acknowledging his forfeited authority. War was now once more openly declared ; some fruitless negotiations having afforded a fair pretext for hostilities. The rapid appearance of a numerous army under the orders of don John gave strength to the suspicions of his former dissimulation. It was currently believed that large bodies of the Spanish troops had remained concealed in the forests of Luxembourg and Lorraine; while several regiments, which had remained in France in the service of the League, immediately re-entered the Netherlands. Alexander Farnese prince of Parma, son of the former governant, came to the aid of his uncle don John at the head of a large force of Italians ; and these several reinforcements, with the German auxiliaries still in the country, composed an army of 20,000 men.* The army of the states-general was still larger ; but far inferior in point of discipline. It was commanded by An- toine de Goignies, a gentleman of Hainault, and an old soldier of the school of Charles V. After a sharp affair at the village of Riminants, in which the royalists had the worst, the two armies met at Gemblours, on the 31st of January, 1578; and the prince of Parma gained a complete victory, almost with his cavalry only, taking De Goignies prisoner, with tlie whole of his artillery and baggage.f The account of his victory is almost miracu- lous. The royalists, if we are to credit their most minute but not impartial historian, had only 1200 men engaged ; by whom 6000 were put to the sword, with the loss of but twelve men and little more than an hour's labor.f The news of this battle threw the states into the utmost consternation. Brussels being considered insecure, the arch- duke Mathias and his council retired to Antwerp ; but the victors did not feel their forces sufficient to justify an attack upon the capital. They, however, took Louvain, Tirlemont, and several other towns ; but these conquests were of little import in comparison with the loss of Amsterdam, which de- clared openly and unanimously for the patriot cause. The fltates-general recovered their courage, and prepared for a •Vandervynct. f Bentivoglio. J Strada. 1578. DEATH OF DON JOHN. 141 new contest. They sent deputies to tlie diet of Worms, to ask succor from the princes of the empire. The count pala- tine John Casimir repaired to their assistance with a consid- erable force of Germans and English, all ecjuipped and paid by queen Elizabeth.* The duke of Alencjon, brother of Henry III. of France, hovered on the frontiers of Hainault with a respectable army ; and the cause of liberty seemed not quite desperate. But all the various chiefs had separate interests and oppo- site views ; while the fanatic violence of the people of Ghent sapped the foundations of the pacification to which the town had given its name. The Walloon provinces, deep-rooted in their attachment to religious bigotry, which they loved still better than political freedom, gradually withdrew from the common cause ; and witliout yet openly becoming recon- ciled with Spain, they adopted a neutrality which was tanta- mount to it. Don John was, however, deprived of all chance of reaping any advantage from these unfortunate dissensions. He was suddenly taken ill in his camp at Bougy ; and died, after a fortnight's suffering, on the 1st of October, 1578, in the 33d year of his age.f This unlooked-for close to a career which had been so brilliant, and to a life from which so much was yet to be ex- pected, makes us pause to consider for a moment the different opinions of his times and of history on the fate of a person- age so remarkable. The contemporary Flemisli memoirs say that he died of the plague ; those of Spain call his dis- order the purple fever. The examination of his corpse caused an almost general belief that he was poisoned. "He lost his life," says one autlior, " with great suspicion of poi- son."! Another speaks of the suspicious state of his intes- tines, but without any direct opinion. § An English historian states the fact of his being poisoned, without any reserve. || Flemish writers do not hesitate to attribute his murder to the jealousy of Philip II., who, they assert, had discovered a secret treaty of marriage about to be concluded between don John and Elizabeth of England, securing them the joint sov- ereignty of the Netherlands. IT An Italian historian of credit asserts that this ambitious design was attributed to the prince; and admits that his death was not considered as having * Vandervynct. t Idem. I Jleabo su vida, con gran ^papecho d$ t)«n»i»<».— Herrera. § Cabrera. | Hume, tr See VandervyncU 142 HISTORY OF THE NETHERLANDS. 1575 arisen from natural causes.* It was also believed that Esco- vedo, his confidential secretary, being immediately called back to Spain, was secretly assassinated by Antonio Perez, Philip's celebrated minister, and by the special orders of the king. Time has, however, covered the affair with impene- trable mystery ; and the death of don John was of little im- portance to the affairs of the country he governed so briefly and so ingloriousiy, if it be not that it added another motive to the natural hatred for his assumed murderer. The prince of Parma, who now succeeded, by virtue of don John's testament, to the post of governor-general in the name of the king, remained intrenched in his camp. He ex- pected much from the disunion of his various opponents; and what he foresaw, very quickly happened. The duke of Alen- n yielded to the firmness natural to a people inured to suffering and calamity. The United Provinces rejected at once the overtures made by the prince of Parma to induce them to obedience. They seemed proud to show that their fate did not depend on tliat of one man. He tluerefore turned his attention to the most effective means of obtaining results by force, which he found it imjjossible to secure by persua- sion. He proceeded vigorously to the reduction of the chief towns of Flanders, the conquest of which would give him possession of the entire province, no army now remaining tc oppose him in the field. He soon obliged Ypres and Ter- monde to surrender; and (ihent, forced by famine, at length yielded on reasonable terms. The most severe was the utter abolition of the reformed religion; by wiiich a large portion of the population was driven to the alternative of exile ; and they passed over in crowds to Holland and Zealand, not half of the inhabitants remaiuing behind. Mechlin, and finally Brussels, worn out by a fruitless resistance, followed the ex- ample of the rest ; and thus, within a year afler the death of William of Nassau, the power of Spain was again estab- lished in the whole province of Flanders, and the others which comprise what is in modern days generally denomi- nated Belgium. But these domestic victories of the prince of Parma were barren in any of those results which humanity would love to see in the train of conquest. The reconciled provinces pre- sented the most deplorable spectacle. The chief towns were almost depopulated. The inhabitants had in a great measure fallen victims to war, pestilence, and famine. Little inducement existed to replace by marriage the ravages caused by death, for few men wished to propagate a race which divine wrath seemed to have marked for persecution. The thousands of villages which had covered the face of the country were absolutely abandoned to the wolves, which had so rapidly increased, that they attacked not merely cattle and children, but grown-up persons. The dogs, driven abroad by hunger, had become as ferocious as other beasts of prey, and joined in large packs to hunt down brutOH and men. Neither fields, nor woods, nor roads, were now to be distinguished by any visible limits. All was an entangled mass of trees, weeds, and grass. The prices of the necessaries of life were so high, that people of rank, afler selling every thing to buy bread, were obliged to have recourse to open beggary in the streets of the great towns. From this frightful picture, and the numerous details which 156 HISTORY OF THE NETHERLANDS. 1585. imagination may readily supply, we gladly turn to the con- trast afforded by the nortliern states. Those we have just described have a feeble hold upon our sympathies ; we can- not pronounce their sufferings to be unmerited. The want of firmness or enlightment, which preferred such an existence to the risk of entire destruction, only heightens the glory of the people whose unyielding energy and courage gained them so proud a place among the independent nations of Europe. The murder of William seemed to carry to the United Provinces conviction of the weakness as well as the atrocity of Spain ; and the indecent joy excited among the royalists added to their courage. An immediate council was created, composed of eighteen members, at the head of which was unanimously placed prince Maurice of Nassau (who even then gave striking indications of talent and prudence) ; his elder brother, the count of Beuren, now prince of Orange, being still kept captive in Spain. Count Hohenloe was ap- pointed lieutenant-general ; and several other measures were promptly adopted to consolidate the power of the infant re- public. The whole of its forces amounted but to 5500 men. The prince of Parma had 80,000 at his command.* With such means of carrying on his conquests, he sat down regu- larly before Antwerp, and commenced the operations of one of the most celebrated among the many memorable sieges of those times. He completely surrounded the city with troops ; placing a large portion of his army on the left bank of the Scheldt, the other on the right ; and causing to be at- tacked at the same time the two strong forts of Liefkinshoek and Lillo. Repulsed on the latter important point, his only hope of gaining the command of the navigation of the river, on which the success of the siege depended, was by throwing a bridge across the stream. Neither its great rapidity, nor its immense width, nor the want of wood and wcTkmen, could deter him from this vast undertaking. He was assist- ed, if not guided, in all his projects on the occasion, by Bar- roccio, a celebrated Italian engineer sent to him by Philip ; and the merit of all that was done ought fairly to be, at least, divided between the general and the engineer. If enterprise and perseverance belonged to the first, science and skill were the portion of the latter. They first caused two strong forts to be erected at opposite sides of the river ; and adding to their resources by every possible means, they threw forward a pier on each side of, and far into, the stream. The stakes, driven firmly into the bed of the river and cemented wil h •Hooft. 1585. MEGE OF ANTWERP. 157 masses of earth and stones, were at a proper height covered vith planks and defended by parapets. These estoccades, as they were called, reduced the river to half its orifi^inal breadth ; and the cannon with which they wore mounted rendered the passage extremely dangerous to hostile vessels. But, to till up this strait, a considerable number of boats were fastened together by chain-hooks and anchors; and being manned and armed with cannon, they were moored in the interval be- tween the estoccades. During these operations, a canal was cut between the JVioer and Calloo; by which means a com- munication was tbrmed with Ghent, which insured a supply of ammunition and provisions. The works of the bridge, which was 2400 feet in length, were constructed with such strength and solidity, that they braved the winds, the floods, and the ice of the whole winter. The people of Antwerp at first laughed to scorn the whole of these stupendous preparations : but when they found that the bridge resisted the natural elements, by which they doubted not it would have been destroyed, they began to tremble in the anticipation of famine; yet they vigorously prepared for their defence, and rejected the overtures made by the prince of Parma even at this advanced stage of his proceedings. Ninety-seven pieces of cannon now defended the bridge ; besides which, thirty large barges at each side of the river guarded its extremities ; and forty ships of war formed a fleet of protection, constantly ready to meet any attack from the besieged. They, seeing the Scheldt thus really closed up, and all communication with Zealand impos- sible, felt their whole safety to depend on the destruction of the bridge. The states of Zealand now sent forward an ex- pedition, which, joined with some ships from Lillo, gave new courage to the besieged ; and every thing was prepared for their great attempt. An Italian engineer named Giambelli was at this time in Antwerp, and by his talents had long pro- tracted the defence. He has the chief merit of being the inventor of those terrible fire-shi])s which gained the title of " mfernal machines ;" and with some of tliese formidable in- struments and the Zealand fleet, the long-projected attack was at length made. Early on the night of the 4th of April, the prince of Parma and his army were amazed by the spectacle of three huge masses of flame floating down the river, accompanied by numerous lesser appearances of a similar kind, and bearing directly against the prodigious barrier, which had cost months of labor to him and his troops, and inunense sums of money to the state. The whole surface of the Scheldt presented 158 HISTORY OF THE NETHERLANDS. 1585. one sheet of fire ; the country all round was as visible as at noon ; the flags, the arms of the soldiers, and every object on the bridge, in the fleet, or the forts, stood out clearly to vievf ; and the pitchy darkness of the sky gave increased effect to the marked distinctness of all. Astonishment was soon suc- ceeded by consternation, when one of the three machines burst with a terrific noise before they reached their intended mark, but time enough to ofler a sample of their nature. The prince of Parma, with numerous officers and soldiers rushed to the bridge, to witness the effects of this explosion ; and iust then a second and still larger fire-ship, having burst through the flying bridge of boats, struck against one of the estoccades. Alexander, unmindful of danger, used every ex- ertion of his authority to stimulate the sailors in their at- tempts to clear away the monstrous machine which threaten ed destruction to all within its reach. Happily for him, an ensign who wa-s near, forgetting in his general's peril all rules of discipline and forms of ceremony, actually forced him from the estoccade. He had not put his foot on the river bnnk when the machine blew up. The effects were such as really baffle description. Tlie bridge was burst through ; the estoccade was shattered almost to atoms, and, with all that it supported, — men, cannon, and the huge machinery em- ployed in the various works, — dispersed in the air. The cruel marquis of Roubais, many other officers, and 800 sol- diers, perished, in all varieties of death — by flood, or flame, or the horrid wounds from the missiles with which the terri- ble machine was overcharged. Fragments of bodies and limbs were flung fir and wide ; and many gallant soldiers were destroyed, without a vestige of the human form being left to prove that they had ever existed. The river, forced from its bed at either side, rushed into the forts and drowned numbers of their garrisons; while the ground far beyond shook as in an earthquake.* The prince was struck down by by a beam, and lay for some time senseless, together with two generals, Delvasto and Gajitani, both more seriously wounded than he; and many of the soldiers were burned and mutilated in the most frightful manner. Alexander soon re- covered ; and by his presence of mind, humanity, and resolu- tion, he endeavored with incredible quickness to repair th mischief, and raised the confidence of his army as high a ever. Had the Zealand fleet come in time to the spot, the whole plan might have been crowned with success ; but by • Bentivoglio, Schiller, Vandervynct, and Strada. 1585. THE STATES OBTAIN AID PROM ENGLAND. l59 some want of concert, or accidental delay, it did not appear; and consequently the beleaguered town received no relief. One last resource was left to the besieirc-d ; that which had formerly been resorted to at Leyden, and by which the place was saved. To enable them to inundate the immense plain which stretched between Lillo and Strahrock up to the walls of Antwerp, it was necessary to cut through the dike which defended it against the irruptions of the eastern Scheldt. This plain was traversed by a liigh and wide counter-dike, called the dike of Couvestien ; and Alexander, knowing its importance, had early taken possession of and strongly de- fended it by several forts. Two attacks were made by the garrison of Antwerp on tiiis important construction ; the lat- ter of which led to one of the most desperate encounters of the war. The prince, seeing that on the results of this day depended the whole consecjuences of his labors, fought with a valor that even he had never before displayed, and he was finally victorious. The confederates were forced to abandon the attack, leaving 3000 dead upon the dike or at its base ; and the Spaniards lost full 800 men. One more fruitless attempt was made to destroy the bridge and raise the siege, by means of an enormous vessel bearing the presumptuous title of Tlu- End of the War. But this floating citadel ran aground, without producing any effect ; and the gallant governor of Antwerp, the celebrated Philip de Saint Aldegonde, was forced to capitulate on the 16th of August, after a siege of fourteen months. The reduction of Antwerp was considered a miracle of perseverance and cour- age. The prince of Parma was elevated by his success to the highest pinnacle of renown ; and Philip, on receiving the news, displayed a burst of joy such as rarely varied his cold and gloomy reserve. Even while the fate of Antwerp was undecided, the United Provinces, seeing that they were still too weak to resist alone the undivided force of the Spanish monarchy, had opened ne- gotiations with France and England at once, in the hope of gaining one or the other for an ally and protector. Henry III. gave a most honorable reception to the ambassadors sent to his court, and was evidently disposed to accept their offers, had not the distracted state of his own country, still torn by civil war, quite disabled him from any effective co-operation. The deputies sent to England were also well received. Eliza- beth listened to the proposals of the states, sent them an am- bassador in return, and held out the most flattering hopes of succor. But her cautious policy would not suffer her to ac- cept the sovereignty ; and she declared that she would in no 160 HISTORY OF THE NETHERLANDS. 1586 ways interfere with the negotiations, which might end in its being accepted by the king of France.* She gave prompt evidence of her sincerity by an advance of considerable sums of money, and by sending to Holland a body of 6000 troops, under the command of her favorite, Robert Dudley earl of Leicester ; and as security for the repayment of her loan, the towns of Flushing and Brille, and tlie castle of Rammekins, were given up to her.f The earl of Leicester was accompanied by a splendid reti- nue of noblemen, and a select troop of 500 followers. He was received at Flushing by the governor. Sir Philip Sidney, his nephew, the model of manners and conduct for the young men of his day. But Leicester possessed neither courag;e nor capacity equal to the trust reposed in him ; and his arbitrary and indolent conduct soon disgusted the people whom he wa_a sent to assist.| They had, in the first impulse of their gratf- tude, given him the title of governor and captain-general of the provinces, in the hope of flattering Elizabeth. But thip had a far contrary effect : she was equally displeased with the states and with Leicester; and it was with difficulty that, after many humble submissions, they were able to ap- pease her. 5 To form a counterpoise to the power so lavishly conferred on Leicester, prince Maurice was, according to the wise ad- vice of Olden Barnevelt, raised to the dignity of stadtholder, captain-general, and admiral of Holland and Zealand. This is the first instance of these states taking on themselves the nomination to the dignity of stadtholder, for even William had held his commission from Philip, or in his name; but Friesland, Groningen, and Guelders had already appointed their local governors, under tlie same title, by the authority of the states-general, the archduke Mathias, or even of the provincial states. 1| Holland had now also at the head of its civil government a citizen full of talent and probity, who was thus able to contend with the insidious designs of Leicester against the liberty he nominally came to protect. This was Barnevelt, who was promoted from his office of pensionary of Rotterdam to that of Holland, and who accepted the dignity only on condition of being free to resign it if any accommo datinn of differences should take place with Spain.^ Alexander of Parma had, by the deatli of his mother, in February, 1586, exchanged his title of Prince for the supe- Meteren. f Hume, vol. v. p. 272. I Vandervynct, 1. vi. c. 2. § Hume. I Cerisier, Hist. Gen. des Provinces Unieg, t. iv. p. 68. T Cerisier. 1686. DEATH Of SIB PHILIP SIDNEY. 161 rior one of duke of Parina, and soon resumed his enterprises with his usual energy and success : various operations took place, in which the English on every opportunity distinguish- ed themselves ; particularly in an action nenr the town of Grave, in Brabant; and in the taknig of Axel hy escnlade, under the orders of Sir Philip Sidney. A more iniitortant ffair occurred near Zutphen, at a place called Warnsfeld, Doth which towns have given names to the action. On this occasion the veteran Spaniards, under the marquis of Guasto, were warmly attacked and cojnnletely defeated by the Eng- lish ; but the victory was dearly purchased by tlie death of Sir Philip Sidney, who was mortally wounded in the thigh, and expired a few days afterwards, at the early age of 32 years. In addition to the valor, talent, and conduct, which had united to establish his fame, he displayed, on this last opportunity of his short career, an instance of humanity that sheds a new lustre on even a character like his. Stretched on the battle-field, in all t!ie agony of his wound, and parched with thirst, his afflicted followers brought him some water, procured, with difficulty, at a distance, and during the heat of the fight. But Sidney, seeing a soldier lying near, man- gled like himself, and apparently expiring, refused the water, saying, " Give it to that poor man ; his sufferings are greater than mine."* Leicester's conduct was now become quite intolerable to the states. His incapacity and presumption were every day more evident and more revolting. He seemed to consider himself in a province wholly reduced to English authority, and paid no sort of attention to the very opposite character of the people. An eminent Dutch author accounts for this, in terms which may make an Englishman of this age not a little proud of the contrast whicli his character presents to what it was then considered. •' The Englishman," says Gro- tius, "obeys like a slave, and gc-veriis like a tyrant; while the Belgian kncv-"i how to serve a;xd u-> command with equal moderation."! The dislike between Leicester and those he insulted and misgoverned, soon hecaivio mutual. He retired to the town of Utrecht ; and pushed Jiis injurious conduct to such an extent, that lie became an object of utter hatred to the provinces. All the friendly fceiu-i^G towards England were gradually changed into suspicion and dislike. Confer- ences took place at the Hague between Leicester and the states, in which Barnevelt overwhelmed his contemptible shuffling by the force of irresistible eloquence and well-de- * Bor. ui. 43. t fi'ot. Ano. U 162 HISl"ORY OP THE NETHERLANDS. 1587 served reproaches; and after new acts of tieachery, still more odious than his former, this unworthy favorite at last set out for England, to lay an account of his government at the feet of the queen.* The growing hatred against England was fomented by the true patriots, who aimed at the liberty of their country ; and may be excused, from the various instances of treachery dis played, not only by the commander-in-chief, but by several of his inferiors in command. A strong fort, near Zutphen, under the government of Roland York, the town of Deven- ter, under tliat of William Stanly, and subsequently Guel- ders under a Scotchman named Fallot, were delivered up to the Spaniards by these men ; and about the same time the English cavalry committed some excesses in Guelders and Holland, which added to the prevalent prejudice against the nation in general.f This enmity was no longer to be con- cealed. The partisans of Leicester, were one by one, under plausible pretexts, removed from the council of state ; and Elizabeth having required from Holland the exportation into England of a large quantity of rye, it was firmly but respect- fully refused, as inconsistent with the wants of the provinces. Prince Maurice, from the caprice and jealousy of Leices- ter, now united in himself the whole power of command, and commenced that brilliant course of conduct, which consoli- dated the independence of his country, and elevated him to the first rank of military glory. His early efforts were turned to the suppression of the partiality which in some places ex- isted for English domination; and he never allowed himself to be deceived by the hopes of peace held out by the empe- ror and the kings of Denmarlc and Poland. Without refusing their mediation, he labored incessantly to organize every pos- sible means for maintaining the war. His eflbrts were con- siderably favored by the measures of Philip for the support of the leagiio formed by tlie house of Guise against Henry III. and Henry IV. of France ; but still more by the formi' dable enterprise which the Spanish monarch was now pre- paring against England. Irritated and mortified by the assistance which Elizabeth had given to the revolted provinces, Philip resolved to em- ploy his whole power in attempting the conquest of England itself; hoping afterwards to effect with ease the subjugation of the Netherlands. He caused to be huilt, in almost every port of Spain and Portugal, galleons, carricks, and other ships of war of the largest dimensions; and at the same time gave • Cerisier. t Bor. xz. 22. 36. 38. 1587. THE SPANISH ARMADA. 163 orders to the duke of Parma to assemble m the harbors of Flanders as many vessels as he could collect together. The Spanish fleet, consisting of more than 140 ships of the line, and manned by 20,000 sailors, assembled at Lisbon under the orders of the duke of Medina Sidonia ; while the duke of Parma, uniting his forces, held himself ready on the coast of Flanders, with an army of 30,000 men, and 400 transports. This prodigious force obtained, m Spain, the ostentatious title of the Invincible Armada. Its destination was for a while attempted to be concealed, under pretext that it was meant for India, or for the annihilation of the United Provinces ; but the mystery was soon discovered. At the end of May, the principal fleet sailed from the port of Lisbon ; and being reinforced off'Corunna by a considerable squadron, the whole armament steered its course for the shores of England. The details of the progress and the failure of this cele- brated attempt, are so thoroughly the province of English history, that they would be in this place superfluous. But it must not be forgotten tliat the glory of the proud result was amply shared by the new republic, whose existence depended on it. While Howard and Drake held the British fleet in readiness to oppose the Spanish armada, that of Holland, con- sisting of but twenty-five ships, under the command of Justin of Nassau, prepared to take a part in the conflict. This gal- lant though illegitimate scion of the illustrious house whose name he upheld on many occasions, proved himself on the present worthy of such a fether as William, and such a brother as Maurice. While the duke of Medina Sidonia, ascending the channel as far as Dunkirk, there expected the junction of the duke of Parma with his important reinforcement, Jus- tin of Nassau, by a constant activity, and a display of intre- pid talent, contrived to block up the whole expected force in the ports of Flanders from Lillo to Dunkirk. The duke of Parma found it impossible to force a passage on any one point ; and was doomed to the mortification of knowing that the attempt was frustrated, and the whole force of Spain frittered away, discomfited, and disgraced, from the want of a co-operation, which he could not, however, reproach him- self for having withheld. The issue of the memorable ex- pedition which cost Spain years of preparation, thousands of men, and millions of treasure, was received in the country which sent it forth with consternation and rage. Philip alone possessed or aflfected an apathy, which he covered with a veil of mock devotion that few were deceived by. At the news of the disaster, he fell on his knees, and rendering 164 HISTORY OF THE NKTHKRLANDS. 1590. tlianks for that gracious dispensation of Providence, expressed his joy that the calamity was not greater.* Tlie people, the priests, and thi; commanders of the expe- dition were not so easily ai>pedS(?(L or so clever as their hypo- critical master in con;?eaIing their mortification. The priests accounted for this triumpl\ cf iiero.sy as a punishment on Spain for sutfering the existence of the infidel Moors in some parts of the country.f The defeated admirals threw the whole blame on the duke of Parma, ffe, on his part, sent an ample remonstrance to the king; and Philip declared that he was satisfied with the conduct of his nephew. Leicester died four days after the final defeat and dispersion of the ar- mada. | The war in the Netherlands had been necessarily suffered to languish, while every eye was fixed on the progress of the armada, from formation to defeat. But new efforts were soon made by the duke of Parma to repair the time he had lost, and soothe, by his successes, the disappointed pride of Spain. Several officers uov/ came into notice, remarkable for deeds of greit gallantry and skill. None among those were so distinguished as Martin Schenck, a soldier of fortune, a man of ferocious activity, who began his career in the ser- vice of tyranny, and endeJ it hy chance in that of indepen- dence. He changed sides several times; but, no matter who he fought for, he did liis duty well, from that unconquerable principle of pugnacity which seemed to make his sword a part of himself Schenck had lately, for the last time, gone over to the side of the states, and had caused a fort to be built in the isle of Betewe, — that possessed of old by the Batavians, — which was called by his name, and vvas considered the key to the pas- sage of the Rhine. From this strong-hold he constantly har- assed the archbishop of ('ologne, and had as his latest ex- ploit surprised and taken the strraig town of Bonn. While he duke of Parma t"ok prompt measures for the relief of the prelate, making himself master hi tlie mean time of some places of strength, the indefatigable Schenck resolved to make an attempt on the important town of Nimeguen. fie with great caution embarked a chosen b(xly of troops on the Wahal, and arrived under the walls of Nimeguen at .sunrise on the morning chosen for the attack. His enterprise seemed al- most crowned with success; when the inhabitants, recovering from their fright, precipitated thems(dves from the town ; forced the assailants to retreat to their boats ; and, carrying • Hume. t Slrype, vol. lii. p. 525. J Hume. 1591. 8IK CESSES OP PRINCE MAURICE. 165 the combat into those overcharg'od and frag-ile vessels, upset several, and among' others tliat wliich contained Schenck himself, who, covered with wounds, and fightino- to the last gasp, was drowned with the greater part of his followers. His body, when recovered, was treated with the utmost in- dig-nity, quartered, and hung in portions over the different gates of the city.* The following year was distinguished l)y another daring attempt on the part of the Hollanders, but followed by a dif- ferent result. A captain named Haranguer concerted with one Adrien Vandenberg, a \)\n\\ for the surprise of Breda, on the possession of which prince Maurice had set a great value. The associates contrived to conceal in a boat, laden with turf (which formed the principal fuel of tlie inhabitants of that part of the country,) and of wliich Vandenberg was master, eighty determined soldiers, and succeeded in arriving close to the city without any suspicion being excited. One of the sol- diers, named Matthew Helt, being suddenly affected with a violent cough, implored his comrades to put him to deatli, to avoid the risk of a discovery. But a corporal of the city guard having inspected the cargo with unsuspecting carelessness, the immolation of the brave soldier became unnecessary, and the boat was dragged into the basin by the assistance of some of the very garrison who were so soon to fall victims to the stratagem. At midnight the concealed soldiers quitted their hiding-places, leaped on shore, killed the sentinels, and easily became masters of the citadel. Prince Maurice, following close with his army, soon fiirced the town to submit, and put it into so good a state of defence, that count Mansfield, who was sent to retake it, was obliged to retreat after useless ef- forts to fulfil his mission. The duke of Parma, whose constitution was severely injured by the constant fatigues of war and the an.xieties attending on the late transactions, had snatched a short interval for the purpose of recruiting his health at the waters of Spa. While at that place he received urgent orders from Philip to aban- don for a while all his proceedings in the Netherlands, and to hasten into France with his whole disposable force, to assist the army of the lieague. The battle of Yvri (in w/iich tire son of the unfortunate count Egmtnit met his death while fighting in the service of his fathers royal murderer") had raised the prospects and hopes of Henry IV. to a high pitch ; and Paris, which he c!o;jely besieged, was on the point of yielding to his arms. The duke of Parma received his uncle's * D'Ewez. 166 HISTORY OP THE NETHERLAIVDS. 1591. orders with great repugnance ; and lamented the necessity of leaving the field of his former exploits open to the enterprise and talents of prince Maurice. He nevertheless obeyed ; and leaving count Mansfield at the head of the government, he conducted his troops against the royal opponent, who alone seemed fully worthy of coping with him. The attention of all Europe was now fixed on the exciting spectacle of a contest between these two greatest captains of the age. The glory of success, the fruit of consummate skill, was gained by Alexander ; who, by an admirable manoeuvre, got possession of the town of Lagny-sur-Seine, under the very eyes of Henry and his whole army, and thus acquired the means of providing Paris \^ ith every thing requisite for its defence. The French monarch saw all his projects baffled, and his hopes frustrated ; while his antagonist, having fully completed his object, drew off his army through Champagne, and made a fine retreat through an enemy's country, harassed at every step, but with scarcely any loss. But while this expedition added greatly to the renown of the general, it considerably injured the cause of Spain in the Low Countries. Prince Maurice, taking prompt advantage of the absence of his great rival, had made himself master of sev- eral fortresses ; and some Spanish regiments having mutinied agamst the commanders left behind by the. duke of Parma, others, encouraged by the impunity they enjoyed, were ready on the slightest pretext to follow their example. Maurice did not lose a single opportunity of profiting by circumstances so favorable ; and even after the return of Alexander he seized on Zutphen, Deventer, and Nimeguen, despite of all the ef- forts of the Spanish army. The duke of Parma, daily breaking down under the progress of disease, and agitated by these re- verses, repaired again to Spa, taking at once every possible means for the recruitment of his army and the recovery of his health, on which its discipline and the chances of success now so evidently depended. But all his plans were again frustrated by a renewal of Philip's peremptory orders to march once more into France, to uphold the failing cause of the League against the intre- pidity and talent of Henry TV. At this juncture the emperor Rodolf again offered his mediation between Spain and the United Provinces. But it was not likely that the confederated States, at the very moment when their cause began to tri- umph, and their commerce was every day becoming more and more flourishing, would consent to make any compromise with the tyranny they were at length in a fair way of crush- ing. 1592. DEATH OF THE DUKE OF I'ARMA. 167 The duke of Parma again appeared in France in the be- ginning of the year 1592 ; and, having formed his communi- cations with the army of the League, marclied to tlie relief of the city of Rouen, at that period pressed to the last extrem- ity by the Huguenot forces. Ailor some sharp skirmishes — and one in particular, in which Henry IV. suffered his valor to lead him into a too rash e.xposure of his own and his army's safety — a series of manoeuvres took place, which displayed the talents of the rival generals in the most brilliant aspect. Alexander at length succeeded in raising the siege of Rouen, and made himself master of Condebec, which commanded the navigation of the Seine. Her-ry, taking advantage of what appeared an irreparable fault on the part of the duke, invested his army in the hazardous position he had chosen ; but while believing that he had the whole of his enemies in his power, he found that Alexander had passed the Seine with his entire force — raising his military renown to the ut- most possible height, by a retreat which it was deemed ut- terly impossible to effect.* On his return to the Netherlands, the duke found himself again under the necessity of repairing to Spa, in search of some relief from the suffering, which was considerably in- creased by the effects of a wound received in this last cam- paign. In spite of his shattered constitution, he maintained to the latest moment the most active endeavors for the re- organization of his army ; and he was preparing for a new ex- pedition into France, when, fortunately for the good cause in both countries, he was surprised by death on the 3d of De- cember, 1592, at the abbey of St. Vaast, near Arras, at the age of forty-seven years. As it was hard to imagine that Philip would suffer any one who had excited his jealousy to die a natural death, that of the duke of Parma was attributed to slow poison. Alexander of Parma was certainly one of the most re- markable, and, it may be added, one of the greatest, charac- ters of his day. Most historians have upheld him even higher perhaps than he should be placed on the scale; asserting that he can be reproached with very few of the vices of the age in which he lived.f Others coiisider this judgment too favora- ble, and accuse him of participation in all the crimes of Philip, whom he served so zealously. | His having excited che jealousy of the tyrant, or even had he been put to death by his orders, would little influence the question ; for Philip was quite capable of ingratitude or murder, to either an ac- * Browing, Hist, ot Uie Huguenots. t Grotius. | Cerisier j68 HISTORY OP THE NETHERLANDS. 1592 complice or an opponent of his baseness. But even allowing that Alexander's fine qualities were sullied by his complicity in these odious measures, we must still in justice admit that they were too much in the spirit of the times, and particu- larly of the school in which he was trained ; and while we lament that his political or private faults place him on so low a level, we must rank him as one of the very first ma*- ters in the art of war in his own or any other age. CHAP. XIV. 1592—1599. TO THE INDEPENDENCE OF BELGIUM AND THE DEATH OF PHILIP Ci The duke of Parma had chosen the count of Mansfield for his successor, and the nomination was approved by the king. He entered on his government under most disheartening cir- cumstances. The rapid conquests of prince Maurice in Bra- bant and Flanders were scarcely less mortifying than the total disorganization into which those two provinces had fallen. They were ravaged by bands of robbers called Picaroons, whose audacity reached such a height, that they opposed in large bodies the forces sent for tlieir suppression by the gov- ernment. They on one occasion killed the provost of Flanders, and burned his lieutenant in a hollow tree ; and on another they mutUated a whole troop of the national militia, and their commander, with circumstances of most revolting cruelty.* The authority of governor-general, though not the title, was now fully shared by the count of Fuentes, who was sent to Brussels by the king of Spain ; and the ill effects of this double viceroyalty was soon seen, in the brilliant progress of prince Maurice, and the continual reverses sustahied by the royalist armies. The king, still bent on projects of bigotry, sacrificed without scruple men and treasure for the overthrow of Henry IV. and the success of the League. The affairs of the Netherlands seemed now a secondary object; and he drew largely on his forces in that country for reinforcement to the ranks of his tottering allies. A final blow was, how ever, struck agahist the hopes of intolerance in France, and to the existence of the League, by the conversion of Henry IV to the Catholic religion; he deeming theological disputes • D'Ewex. 1594. THE ARCHDUKE ERNEST. 169 which put the happiness of a whole kingdom in jeopardy, as quite subordinate to tiic public jrood.* Such was the prosperity of t!ie United Provinces, that they had been enabled to send a lar<^'e supply, both of money and men, to tlie aid of Henry, their constant and o-enerous ally. And notwithstandino- this, their armies and fleets, so far from sutiering diminution, were augmented day by day. Philip, resolved to summon u\) all his energy for the revival of the war against tlie re])ublic, now a})pointed the archduke Ernest, brother of tlie em})er()r Kodolf, to the post which the disunion of Mansfield and Fueiites rendered as embarrassing as it had become inglorious. This prince, of a gentle and conciliatory cliaracter, was received at Brussels with great magnificence and general joy ; his presence reviving the deep-felt hopes of peace entertiiined by the suffering people. Such were also the cordial wishes of the prince ;f but more than one design, formed at this period against the life of prince Maurice, frustrated every expectation of the kind. A priest of the province of Namur, named Michael Renichon, disguised as a soldier, was the new instrument meant to strike another blow at the greatness of the house of Nassau, in the person of its gallant representative, prince Maurice; as also in that of his brother, Frederic Henry, then ten years of age. On the confession of the intended assat^sin, he was employed by count Berlaimont to murder the two princes. Renichon happily mismanaged the affair, and betrayed his intention. He was arrested at Breda, conducted to the Hague, and there tried and executed on the 8d of June, 1594.| This miserable wretch accused the archduke Ernest of having countenanced his attempt ; but nothing whatever tends to criminate, while every probability acquits, that prince of such a participation. In this same year a soldier named Peter Dufour embarked in a like atrocious plot. He, too, was seized and executed before he could carry it into effect; and to his dying hour persisted in accusing the archduke of being his instigator. But neither the judges who tried, nor the best historians who record, his intended crime, gave any belief to this accusation.^ The mild and honorable disposition of the prince held a suffi- cient guarantee against its likelihood ; and it is not less pleasing to be able fully to join in the prevalent opinion, than to mark a spirit ofcandor and impartiality break forth through the mass of bad and violent passions which crowd the records of that age. But all the esteem inspired by the personal character of • Hume. t Bentlvoglio. \ Le Petit, liv. 7. c. 2. § Meteren. 170 HISTORY OP THE NETHERLANDS. 1595. Ernest could not overcome the repugnance of the United Provinces to trust to the apparent sincerity of the tyrant in whose name he made his overtures for peace. They were all respectfully and firmly rejected ; and prince Maurice, in the mean time, with his usual activity, passed the Meuse and the Rhme, and invested and quickly took the town of Groningen, y which he consummated the establishment of the republic, nd secured its rank amoiigf the principal powers of Europe. The archduke Ernest, finding all his efforts for peace frus- trated, and all hopes of gaining his object by hostility to be vain, became a prey to disappointment 'and regret, and died, from the effects of a slow fever, on tlie 21st of February, 1595 ; leaving to t!ie count of Fuentes the honors and anxie- ties of the government, subject to the ratification of tlie king. This nobleman began the exercise of his temporary functions by an irruption into France, at the head of a small army ; war having been declared against Spain by Henry IV., who, on his side, had dispatched the admiral de Villars to attack Philip's possessions in Ilainault and Artois. This gallant officer lost a battle and his life in the contest ; and Fuentes, encouraged by the victory, took some frontier towns, and laid siege to Cambray, the great object of his plans. The citi- zens, who detested their governor, the marquis of Bologni, who had for some time assumed an independent tyranny over them, gave up the place to the besiegers ; and the citadel surren- dered some days later.* Aftef this exploit Fuentes returned to Brussels, where, notwithstanding his success, he was ex- tremely unpopular. He had placed a part of his forces under the command of Mond rag-on, one of the oldest and cleverest officers in the service of Spain. Sonje trifling affairs took place in Brabant; but the arrival of the archduke Albert, whom the king had appointed to succeed his brother Ernest in the office of governor-general, deprived Fuentes of any further opportunity of signalizing his talents for supreme command. Albert arrived at Brussels on the 11th of Feb- ruary, 1596, accompanied by the prince of Orange, who, when count of Beuren, had been carried off from the uni- versity of Louvain, twenty-eight years previously, and held captive in Spain during the vvliole'of that period.f The archduke Albert, fifth son of the emperor Maximilian II., and brother of Rodolf, stood high in the opinion of Philip his uncle, and merited his reputation for talents, bravery, and prudence. He had been early made archbishop of Toledo, and afterwards cardinal ; but his profession was not that of • Bentivoglio. f Meteren, liv. 18. 1597. THE ARCHDUKE ALBERT. 171 these nominal dignities. He was a warrior and politician of considerable capacity ; and had for some years faithfully served the king, as viceroy of Portugal. But Philip meant him for the more independent situation of sovereign of the Netiierlands, and at the same time destined hiiri to be the husband of his daughter Isabella. He now sent him, in the capacity of governor-general, to prepare the way for the im portant change ; at once to gain the good graces of the peo pie, and soothe, by this removal from Philip's too close neigh borhood, the jealousy of his son the hereditary prince of Spain. Albert brought with him to Brussels a small reinforcement for the army, with a large supply of money, more wanting at this conjuncture than men. He highly praised the conduct of Fuentes in the operations just finished ; and resolved to continue the war on the same plan, but with forces much su- perior. He opened his first campaign early; and, by a display of clever manceuvring, which tlireatened an attempt to force the French to raise the siege of La Fere, m the heart of Pi- cardy, he concealed his real design — the capture of Calais ; and he succeeded in its completion almost before it was sus- pected. The Spanish and Walloon troops, led on by Rone, a distinguished officer, carried the first defences : after nine days of siege the place was forced to surrender ; and in a few more the citadel followed the example. The archduke soon after took the towns of Ardres and Hulst ; and by pru- dently avoiding a battle, to which he was constantly provoked by Henry IV., who commanded the French army in person, he established his character for military talent of no ordinary degree. He at the same time made overtures of reconciliation to the United Provinces, and hoped that t!;e return of the prince of Orange would be a means of effecting so desirable a pur- pose. But the Dutch were not to be deceived by the apparent sincerity of Spanish negotiation. They even doubted the sentiments of the prince of Orange, whose attachments and principles had been formed in so hated a school ; and nothing oassed between them and him but mutual civilities. They clearly evinced their disapprobation of his intended visit to Holland ; and he consequently fixed his residence in Brussels, passing his life in an inglorious neutrality. A naval expedition formed in this year by the English and Dutch against Cadiz, commanded by the earl of Essex, and counts Louis and William of Nassau, cousins of prince Mau- rice, was crowned with brilliant success, and somewhat con- Boled the provinces for the contemporary exploits of the arch- 172 HISTORY OP THE NETHERLANDS. 1597 duke.* But the following year opened with an affair, which at once proved his unceasing activity, and added largely to the reputation of his rival, prince Maurice The former had detached the count of Varas, with about (5000 men, for the purpose of invading the province of Holland : but Maurice, with equal energy and superior talent, followed his move- ments ; came up with him near Turnhout, on the 24tli of January, 1597 ; and after a sharp action, of which the Dutch cavalry bore the whole brunt, Varas was killed, and his troops defeated with considerable loss.f This was in its consequences a most disastrous affair to the archduke. His army was disorganized, and his finances ex- hausted; while the confidence of the states in their troopa and their general was considerably raised. But the taking of Amiens by Portocarrero, one of the most enterprising of the Spanish captains, gave a new turn to the failing fortunes of Albert. This gallant officer, whose greatness of mind, according to some historians, was much disproportioned to the smailness of his person, J gained possession of that im- portant town by a well-conducted stratagem, and maintained his conquest valiantly till he was killed in its defence. Henry rV. made prodigious e (Torts to recover the place, the chief bulwark on that side of France ; and having forced Mon- tenegro, the worthy successor of Portocarrero, to capitulate, granted him and his garrison most honorable conditions. Henry, having secured Amiens against any new attack, returned to Paris, and made a triumphal entry into the city. During this year prince Maurice took a number of towns in rapid succession ; and the states, according to their cus- tom, caused various medals, in gold, si her, and copper, to be struck, to commemorate the victories which had signalized their arms.^ Philip II., feeling himself approaching the termination of his long and agitating career, now wholly occupied himself in negotiations for peace with France. Henry IV. desired it as anxiously. The pope, Clement VIII., encouraged by his exhortations this mutual inclination. The king of Poland Htime. t This action may be taken as a fair sample of the difficulty with which any estimate can be formed (if the ri'lative losses on such occasions. The Dutch historians state the loss of thi' royalists, in killed, at upwards of 2000. Meteren, a good authority, says the pi'asaiits buried 2250; while Bentivog! lio, an Italian writer in the interfst of ^=pain, makes the number exactly half that amount. Grotius says that the loss of the Dutch was four meii killed. Bentivoglio states it at 100. But, at either computation, it is clear that the affair was a brilliant one on the part of prince Maurice. t Orotiu*. De Thou. § D'Ewei. 1598. ALBERT AND ISABELLA. 173 sent ambassad.rs to the Hague and to London, to induce the states and queen Elizabeth to become parties in a general pacification. These overtures led to no conclusion ; but the conferences between France and Spain went on with apparent cordiality and great promptitude, and a peace was concluded between these powers at Vervins, on the 2d of May, 1598. Shortly after the publication of this treaty, another im portant act was made known to the world, by which Philip ceded to Albert and Isabella, on their being formally affianced — a ceremony which now took place, — the sovereignty of Burgundy and the Netherlands. This act bears date the 6th of May, and was proclaimed with all the solemnity due to so important a transaction. It contained thirteen articles ; and was based on the misfortunes which the absence of the sov- ereign had hitherto caused to the Low Countries. The Catho- lic religion was decl.ired that of the state, in its full integrity. The provinces were guarantied against dismemberment. The archdukes, by which title the joint sovereigns were de- si^-nated without any distinction of sex, were secured in the possession, with right of succession to their children ; and a provision was added, that in default of posterity their posses- sions should revert to the Spanish crown.* The infanta Tsa- bella soon sent her procuration to the archduke, her affianced husband, giving him full power and authority to take posses- sion of the ceded dominions in her name as in his own ; and Albert was inaugurated with great pomp at Brussels, on the 22d of August. Having put every thing in order for the regulation of the government during his absence, he set out for Spain, for the purpose of accomplishing his spousals, and bringing back his bride to the cliief seat of their joint power. But isefore his departure he wrote to the various states of the republic, and to prince Maurice himself, strongly recommend- ing submission and reconciliation. These letters received no answer; a new plot against the life of prince Maurice, by a wretched individual named Peter Pann, having aroused the indignation of the country, and determined it to treat with suspicion and contempt every insidious proposition from the tyranny it defied. f Albert placed his uncle, the cardinal Andrew of Austria, at the head of the temporary government, and set out on hi8 journey ; taking the little town of Halle in his route, and de- posing at the altar of the Virgin, who is there held in par- ticular lienor, his cardinal's hat as a token of his veneration. He had not made much progress when he received accounts Grotius, Hist. lib. viii. t D'Ewez. 174 HISTORY OF THE NETHERLANDS. 1599. of the demise of Philip II., v/ho died, after long suffering', and with great resignation, on the 13th of September, 1598, at the age of seventy-two.'*' Albert was several months on his journey through Germany ; and the ceremonials of his union with the infanta did not take place till the 18th of April, 1599, when it was finally solemnized in the city of Valencia in Spain. This transaction, by which the Netherlands were positive- ly erected into a separate sovereignty, seems naturally to make the limits of another epoch in their history. It com- pletely decided the division between tlie northern and south- ern provinces, whicli, althougli it had virtually taken place long previous to this period, could scarcely be considered as formally consummated until now. Here then we shall pause anew, and take a rapid review of the social state of the Neth- erlands during the last half century, which was beyond all doubt the most important period of their history, from the earliest times till the present. It has bben seen that when Charles V. resigned his throne and the possession of his vast dominions to his son, arts, com- merce, and manufactures had risen to a state of considerable perfection throughout the Netlierlands. The revolution, of which we have traced the rise and progress, naturally pro- duced to those provinces wliich relnpsed into slavery a most lamentable change in every branch of industry, and struck a blow at the general prosperity, the effects of which are felt to this very day. Arts, science, and literature were sure to be checked and withered in tlie blaze of civil war; and we have now to mark the retroj^rade movements of most of those charms and advantages of civilized life, in which Flanders and the other southern states were so rich. The rapid spread of enlightenment on religious subjects soon converted the manufactories and workshops of Flanders into so many conventicles of reform; and the clear-sighted artisans fled in thousands from the tyranny of Alva into Eng- land, Germany, and Holland, — those happier countries, where the government adopted and went hand in hand with the progress of rational belief Commerce followed the fate of manufactures. The foreign merchants one by one aban- doned the theatre of bigotry and persecution ; and even Antwerp, which had succeeded Bruges as the great mart of European traffic, was ruined by the horrible excesses of the Spanish soldiery, and never recovered from the shock. Its trade, its wealth, and its prosperity, were gradually trans- • Watson. 1599. PROGRESS OF COMMERCE. 175 ferred to Amsterdam, Rotterdam, and the towns of Holland and Zealand ; and the growth of Dutch commerce attained its proud maturity in the establishment of the India company in 1596, the effects of which we shall have hereafter more particularly to dwell on. The exciting and romantic enterprises of the Portuguese and Spanish navigators in the fifteenth and sixteenth centu ries, roused all the ardor of other nations for those distant ad- ventures ; and the people of the Netherlands were early influenced by the general spirit of Europe. If they were not tlie discoverers of new worlds, they were certainly the first to make the name of European respected and venerated by the natives. Animated by the ardor which springs from the spirit of freedom and the enthusiasm of success, the United Provinces labored for the discovery of new outlets for their commerce and navigation. The government encouraged the specula- tions of individuals, which promised fresh and fertile sources of revenue, so necessary for the maintenance of the war.* Until the year 1581 the merchants of Holland and Zealand were satisfied to find the productions of India at Lisbon, which was the mart of that branch of trade ever since the Portuguese discovered the passage by the Cape of Good Hope. But Philip II., having con(iuered Portugal, excluded the United Provinces from the ports of that country ; and their enterprising mariners were from that period driven to those efforts which rapidly led to private fortune and general prosperity. The English had opened the way in this career ; and the states-general Ivaving offered a large reward for the discovery of a north-west passage, frequent and most adven- turous voyages took place. Houtman, Le JMaire, Heemskirk, Ryp, and others, became celebrated for their enterprise, and some for their perilous and interesting adventures. The United Provinces were soon witliout any rival on the seas. In Europe alone they had 1200 merchant-ships in ac- tivity, and upwards of 70,000 sailors constantly employed.! They built annually 2000 vessels. In the year 1598, eighty ships sailed from their ports for the Indies or America. They carried on, besides, an extensive trade on the coast of Guinea, whence they brought large quantities of gold-dust; and found, in short, in all quarters of the globe the reward of their skill, industry, and courage. The spirit of conquest soon became grafted on the habits of trade. Expedition succeeded to expedition. Failure taught • Grotius, Hist. viii. 269, &c f Grot. iv. 131. 176 HISTORY OP THE NETHERLAWDS. 1599. wisdom to those who did not want bravery. The random efforts of individuals were succeeded by organized plans, un- der associations well constituted and wealthy; and these soon gave birth to those eastern and western companies be- fore alluded to. The disputes between the English and the Hanseatic towns were carefully observed by the Dutch, and turned to their own advantage. The English manufacturers, who quickly began to flourish, from the influx of Flemish workmen under the encouragement of Elizabeth, formed companies in the Netherlands, and sent their cloths into those very towns of Germany which formerly possessed the exclu- sive privilege of their manufacture.* These towns naturally felt dissatisfied, and their complaints were encouraged by the king of Spain. The English adventurers received orders to quit the empire; and, invited by the states-general, many of thera fixed their residence in Middleburg, which became the most celebrated woollen market in Europe. The establishment of the Jews in the towns of the republic forms a remarkable epoch in the annals of trade. This peo- ple, so outraged by the lothcsome bigotry which Christians have not blushed to call religion, so far from being depressed by the general persecution, seemed to find it a fresh stimulus to the exertion of their industry. To escape death in Spain and Portugal they took refuge in Holland, where toleration encouraged, and just principles of state maintained them. They were at first taken for Catholics, and subjected to sus- picion ; but when their real faith was understood, they were no longer molested. Astronomy and geography, two sciences so closely allied with and so essential to navigation, flourished now through- out Europe. Ortilius of Antwerp, and Gerard Mercator of Rupelmonde, were two of the greatest geographers of the sixteenth century ; and the reform in the calendar at the end of that period gave stability to the calculations of time, which had previously suffered all the inconvenient fluctuations at- tendant on the old style. Literature had assumed during the revolution in the Neth- erlands the almost exclusive and repulsive aspect of contro- versial learning. The university of Douay, installed in 1562 as a new screen against the piercing light of reform, quickly became the strong-hold of intolerance. That of Leyden, es- tablished by the efforts of the prince of Orange, soon after the famous siege of that town in 1574, was on a less exclusive plan — its professors being in the first instance drawn from * Meteren, liv. 19. 1599. CRUELTIES OF MENDOZA. 177 Germany.* Many Flemish historians succeeded in this cen- tury to the ancient and uncultivated chroniclers of preceding times ; the civil vi'ars drawin■ TJrizuella, to Spain. This Dominican wa furnished vvitii the vvrittpn opinion of several theologians, tha the king mii^ht conscientiously slur over the article of reli- gion; and he was the more successful with Philip, as the duke of Lerma, his prime minister, was resolved to accom- • Vantlervynct. t Mem. 1608. CONGRESS AT THE TIAGUK. 195 plish the peace at any price.* The conferences at the Ilag-uo were therefore not interrupted on this question ; but they went on slowly, months beinj? consumed in discussions on articles of trifling importance. Thny were, however, re- sumed in the month of Auirust with greater vigor. It was announced that the king of Spain abandoned the question respecting religion ; but that it was in the certainty that his moderation would be recompensed by ample concessions on that of the Indian trade, on which he was inexorable. This article became the rock on which the whole negotiation eventually split. The court of Spain, on the one hand, and the states-general on tlie otiier, inflexibly maintained their opposing claims. It was in vain that tlie ambassadors turned and twisted the subject with all the subtleties of diplomacy. Every possible expedient was used to shake the determina- tion of the Dutch. But the influence of the East India com- pany, the islands of Zealand, and the city of Amsterdam, prevailed over all. Reports of the avowal on the part of the king of Spain, that he would never renounce his title to the sovereignty of the United Provinces, unless they abandoned the Indian navigation, and granted the free exercise of reli- gion, threw the whole diplomatic corps into confusion; and on the 25th of August, the states-general announced to the marquis of Spinola and tlie other nnibassadors, that the con- gress was dissolved, and that all hopes of peace were aban- doned.! Nothing seemed now likely to prevent the immediate re- newal of hostilities, when the ambassadors of France and England proposed the mediation of their respective masters for the conclusion of a truce for several years. The king of Spain and the archduke.s were well satisfied to obtain even this temporary cessation of the war ; but prince Maurice and a portion of the Provinces strenuously opposed the proposi- tion. The French and English ambassadors, however, in concert with Barneveldt, who steadily maintained his influ- ence, labored incessantly to overcome those difficulties; and finally succeeded in overpowering all opposition to the truce. A new congress was agreed on, to assemble at Antwerp for the consideration of the conditions ; and the states-general agreed to remove from the Hague to Bergen-op-Zoom, to be more within reach, and ready to co-operate in the negotia- tion. But, before matters assumed this favorable turn, discus- sions and disputes had intervened on several occasions to • Vandervynct. f Grotius, lib. xvii. p. 548, 19(5 HISTORY OF THE NETHERLANDS. 1609. render fruitless every effort of those who so incessantly la- bored tor the great causes of humanity and the general good. On one occasion, Barneveldt, disgusted with the opposition of prince Maurice and his partisans, had actually resigned his employments ; but brouglit back by the solicitations of the states-general, and reconciled to Mnurice by the intervention of Jeannin, the negotiations for the truce were resumed ; and, under the auspices of tiie ambassadors, they were hap- pily terminated. After two years' delay, this long wished for truce was concluded, and signed on the 9th of Apri-, 1609, to continue for the space of twelve years.* This celebrated treaty contained thirty-two articles; and its fulfilment on either side was guarantied by the kings of France and England. Notwithstanding the time taken up in previous discussions, the treaty is one of the most vague and unspecific state papers tliat exist. The archdukes, in their own names and in that of the king of Spain, declared the Uni- ted Provinces to be free and independent states, on which they renounced all claim wliatever. By the third article each party was to hold respectively the places which they possessed at the commencement of the armistice. The fourth and fifth articles grant to the republic, but in a phraseology obscure and even doubtftil, the right of navigation and free trade to the Indies. The eighth contains all that regards the exercise of religion ; and the remaining clauses are wholly relative to points of internal trade, custom-house regulations, and matters of private interest.f Ephemeral and temporary as this peace appeared, it was received with almost universal demonstrations of joy by the population of the Netherlands in their two grand divisions. Every one seemed to turn towards the enjoyment of tranquil- lity with the animated composure of tired laborers looking forward to a day of rest and sunshine. This truce brought a calm of comparative happiness upon the country, which an almost unremitting tempest had desolated for nearly half a century , and, after so long a series of calamity, all the na^ tional advantages of social life seemed about to settle on the land. The attitude which the United Provinces assumed at this period was indeed a proud one. They were not now compelled to look abroad and solicit other states to become their masters. They had forced their old tyrants to acknow- ledge their independence ; to come and ask for peace on their own ground ; and to treat with them on terms of no doubtful equality. They had already become so flourishing, so powerful, * Jsannin. Grotiui Bentivoglio. Vandervynet. t Vanderrynet. 1610. DISPtTTED SUCCESSION. 197 and so envied, that they who had so lately excited but com- passion from the neighboring' states were now regarded with such jealousy as rivals, unequivocally equal, may justly in- spire m each other. The ten southern provinces, now confirmed under the sove- reignty of the house of Austria, and from this period generally distinguished by the name of Belgium, immediately began, like the northern division of the country, to labor for the great object of repairing the dreadful sufferings caused by their long and cruel war. Their success was considerable. Albert and Isabella, their sovereigns, joined to considerable probity of character and talents for government, a fund of humanity which led them to unceasing acts of benevolence. The whole of their dominions quickly began to recover from the ravages of war. Agriculture and the minor operations of trade re- sumed all their wonted activity. But the manufactures of Flanders were no more ; and the grander exercise of com- merce seemed finally removed to Amsterdam and the other chief towns of Holland.* This tranquil course of prosperity in the Belgian provinces was only once interrupted during the whole continuance of the twelve years' truce, and that was in the year followmg its commencement. The death of the duke of Cleves and Juliers, in this year, gave rise to serious disputes for the suc- cession to his states, which was claimed by several of the princes of Germany. The elector of Brandenburg and the duke of Neubourg were seconded both by France and the United Provinces; and a joint army of both nations, com- manded by prince Maurice and the marshal de la Chatre, was marched into the county of Cleves.f After taking possession of the town of Juliers, the allies retired, leaving the two princes above mentioned in a partnership possession of the disputed states. But this joint sovereignty did not satisfy the ambition of either, and serious divisions arose between them, each endeavoring to strengthen himself by foreign alliances. The archdukes Albert and Isabella were drawn into the quar- rel ; and they dispatched Spinola at the head of 20,000 men to support the duke of Neubourg, whose pretensions they countenanced. Prince Maurice, with a Dutch army, ad- vanced on the other hand to uphold the claims of the elector of Brandenburg. Both generals took possession of several towns ; and this^ double expedition offered the singular specta- cle of two opposing armies, acting in different interests, making conquests, and dividing an important inheritance. • Vandervynct. t Meteren. 198 HISTORY OF THE NETHERLANDS. 1610 without the occurrence of one act of hostility to each otlier.* But the interference of the court of Madrid had nearly been the cause of a new rupture. The greatest alarm was excited in the Belgic pro'^inces ; and nothmg but the prudence of the archdukes and the forbearance of the states-general could have succeeded in averting the threatened evil. With the exception of this bloodless mimicry of war, the United Provinces presented for the space of twelve years a long-continued picture of peace, as the term is generally re- ceived ; but a peace so disfigured by intestine troubles, and BO stamed by actions of despotic cruelty, that the period which should have been that of its greatest happiness becomes but an example of its worst disgrace. The assassination of Henry IV., in the year 1609, was a new instance of the bigoted atrocity which reigned paramount in Europe at the time ; and whilst robbing France of one of its best monarclis, it deprived the United Provmces of their truest and most powerful friend. Henry has, from his own days to the present, found a ready eulogy in all who value kings in proportion as they are distinguished by heroism, without ceasing to evince the feelings of humanity. Henry seems to have gone as far as man can go, to combine wisdom, dignity, and courage, with all those endearing qualities of private life which alone give men a prominent hold upon the sympathies of their kind. We aclmowledge his errors, his faults, his follies, only to love him the better. We admire his valor and generosity, without being shocked by cruelty or disgusted by profusion. We look on his greatness without envy ; and in tracing his whole career we seem to walk hand in hand beside a dear companion, rather than to follow the footsteps of a mighty monarch. But the death of this powerful supporter of their efforts for freedom, and the chief guarantee for its continuance, was a trifling calamity to the United Provinces, in comparison with the rapid fall from the true point of glory so painfully exhib- ited in the conduct of their owm domestic champion. It had been well for prince Maurice of Nassau that the last shot fired by the defeated Spaniards in the battle of Nieuport had struck him dead in the moment of his greatest victory, and on the summit of his fame. From that celebrated day he had performed no deed of war that could raise his reputation as a soldier, and all his acts as stadtholder were calculated to sink him below tlie level of civil virtue and just government. His two campaigns against Spinola had redoiuided more to the * Relazione del Card. Bentivoelio. 1610. RELIGIOUS DISSENSIONS. 199 credit of his rival than to his own ; and his whole conduct during the negotiation for the truce too plainly betrayed the unworthy nature of his ambition, founded on despotic princi- ples. It was his misfortune to have been completely thrown out of the career for which he had been designed by nature and education. War was his element. By his genius, he improved it as a science : by his valor, he was one of those who raised it from the degradation of a trade to the dignity of a passion. But when removed Irom the camp to the coun- cil-room, he became all at once a common man. His frank- ness degenerated into rougliness ; his decision into despotism ; his courage into cruelty. He gave a new proof of the melan- choly fact, that circumstances may transform the most appa- rent qualities of virtue into those opposite vices between which human wisdom is baffled when it attempts to draw a decided and invariable line. Opposed to Maurice in almost every one of his acts was, as we have already seen, Barneveldt, one of the truest pa- triots of any time or country ; and, with the exception of William the great prince of Orange, the most eminent citi- zen to whom the affairs of the Netherlands have given cele- brity. A hundred pens have labored to do honor to this truly virtuous man.* Ilis greatness has found a record in every act of his life; and his death, like that of William, though differently accomplished was equally a martyrdom for the liberties of his country. We cannot enter minutely into the train of circumstances which for several years brought Mau- rice and Barneveldt into perpetual concussion with each other. Long after the completion of the truce, which the latter so mainly aided in accomplisliing, every minor point in the domestic affairs of tlie republic seemed merged in the conflict between the stadtholder and the pensionary. Without at- tempting to specify these, we may say generally, that almost every one redounded to the disgrace of the prince and the honor of the patriot. But the main question of agitation was the fierce dispute which soon broke out between two profes- sors of theology of the university of Leyden, Francis Gomar and James Arminius. We do not regret on this occasion that our confined limits spare us the task of recording in detail controversies on points of speculative doctrine far beyond the reach of the human understanding, and therefore presumptu- ous, and the decision of which cannot be regarded as of vital unportance by those who justly estimate the grand principles of Christianity. The whole strength of the intellects which * Aabery, Mem. Ceriaier, &c 200 HISTORY OF THE NETHERLANDS. 1612, had long been engaged in the conflict for national and reli gious liberty, was now directed to metaphysical theology, and wasted upon interminable disputes about predestination and grace. Barneveldt enrolled himself among the partisans of Arminius ; Maurice became a Gomarist It was, however, scarcely to be wondered at, that a country so recently delivered from slavery both in church and state should run into wild excesses of intolerance, before sectarian principles were thoroughly understood and definitively fixed, Persecutions of various kinds were indulged in against Papists, Anabaptists, Socinians, and all the shades of doctrine into which Christianity had split. Every minister who, in the milder spirit of Lutheranism, strove to moderate the rage of Calvinistic enthusiasm, was openly denounced by its par- tisans ; and one, named Gaspard Koolhaas, was actually ex- communicated by a t^ynod, and denounced in plain terms to the devil.* Arminius liad been appointed professor at Leyden in 1603, for the mildness of his doctrines, which were joined to most affable manners, a happy temper, and a purity of con- duct which no calumny could successfully traduce.f His colleague Gomar, a native of Bruges, learned, violent, and rigid in sectarian points, soon became jealous of the more popular professor's influence. A furious attack on the latter was answered by recrimination ; and the whole battery of theological authorities was reciprocally discharged by one or other of the disputants. The states-general interfered be- tween them: they were summoned to appear before the council of state ; and grave politicians listened for hours to the dispute. Armmius obtained the advantage, by the ap- parent reasonableness of his creed, and the gentleness and moderation of his conduct. He was meek, while Gomar was furious ; and many of the listeners declared that they would rather die with the charity of the former than in the faith of the latter. A second hearing was allowed them before the states of Holland. Again Arminius took the lead ; and the contro- versy went on unceasingly, till this amiable man, worn out by his exertions and the presentiment of the evil which these disputes were engendering for his country, expired in his 49th year, piously persistmg in his opinions.| The Gomarists now loudly called for a national synod, to regulate the points of faith. The Arminians remonstrated on various grounds, and thus acquired the name of Remonstrants, by which they were soon generally distinguished. The most deplorable contests ensued. Serious riots occurred in several Brandt. Hist, du Reform. t Bayle, «rt. Amiinias. t Bert. Orat. funeb. 1616. ARMINIANS AND GOMARISTS. 201 of the towns of Holland ; and James I. of England could not resist the temptation of entering- the polemical lists, as a champion of orthodoxy and a decided Gomarist. His hostility was chiefly directed against Vorstins, the successor and dis- ciple of Arminius. lie pretty strongly recommended to the Btates-general to have him burned for heresy.* His inveterate intolerance knew no bounds; and it completed the melan- choly picture of absurdity which the whole aflair presents to reasonable minds.f In this dispute, which occupied and agitated all, it was im- possible that Barneveldt should not choose the congenial temperance and toleration of Arminius. Maurice, with pro- bably no distinct conviction, or much interest in the abstract differences on either side, joined the Gomarists.| His motives were purely temporal ; for the party he espoused was now decidedly as much political as religious. King James re- warded him by conferring on him the riband of the order of the Garter, vacant by the death of Henry IV. of France. 5 The ceremony of investment was performed with great pomp by the English ambassador at the Hague; and James and Maurice entered from that time into a closer and more unin- terrupted correspondence than before. || During the long continuance of the theological disputes, the United Provinces had nevertheless made rapid strides towards commercial greatness ; and the year 1616 witnessed the completion of an affair which was considered the consoli- dation of their independence. This important matter was the recovery of the towns of Brille and Flessingue, and the fort of Rammekins, which had been placed in the hands of the English as security for the loan granted to the republic by queen Elizabeth. The whole merit of the transaction was due to the perseverance and address of Barneveldt acting on the weakness and the embarrassments of king James. Reli- gious contention did not so fully occupy Barneveldt, but that he kept a constant eye on political concerns. He was well informed on all that passed in the English court: he knew the wants of James, and was aware of his efforts to bring about the marriage of his son with the infanta of Spain. The danger of such an alliance was evident to the penetrating Barneveldt, who saw in perspective the probability of the wily Spaniard's obtaining from the English monarch posses- * King James's Works, p. 355. t See James's letter to the states-general ; Mercure Francais, t. xi. pp. 460. 470. I Cerisier, t. v. p. 75, &.C. { B«pin, lib. xriiL p^ TC IjLauriers de Nassau. 202 HISTORY OF THE NETHERLANDS. 1616. sion of the strong places in question. He therefore resolved on obtaining their recovery ; and his great care was to get them back with a considerable abatement of the enormous debt for which they stood pledged, and which now amounted to 8,000,000 flornis.* Barneveldt commenced his operations by sounding the needy monarch through the medium of Noel Caron, the am- bassador from the states-general ; and he next managed so as that James himself should offer to give up the towns, thereby allowing a fair pretext to the states for claiming a diminution of the debt. The English garrisons were unpaid ; and their complaints brought down a strong remonstrance from James, and excuses from the states, founded on the poverty of their financial resources. The negotiation rapidly went on, in the same spirit of avidity on the part of the king, and of good management on that of his debtors. It was finally agreed that the states should pay in full of the demand 2,728,000 florins (about 250,000/. sterling,) being about one-third of the debt. Prince Maurice repaired to the cautionary towns in the month of June, and received them at the hands of the English governors ; the garrisons at the same time entering into the service of the republic.f The accomplishment of this measure afforded the highest satisfaction to the United States. It caused infinite discon- tent in England ; and J;imes, with the common injustice of men who make a bad bargain, (even though its conditions be of their own seeking, and suited to their own convenience,) turned his own self-dissatisfaction into bitter hatred against him whose watchful integrity had successfully labored for his country's good. Barneveldt's leaning towards France and the Arminians filled the measure of James's unworthy enmi- ty. J Its effects were soon apparent, on the arrival at the Hague of Carleton, who succeeded Winwood as James's am- bassador. The haughty pretensions of this diplomatist, whose attention seemed turned to theological disputes rather than politics, gave great disgust ; and he contributed not a little to the persecution which led to the tragical end of Barne- veldt's valuable life. J While this indefatigable patriot was busy in relieving hia country from its dependence on England, his enemies accused him of the wish to reduce it once more to Spanish tyranny Francis Aarsens, son to him who proved himself so incorrupti- ble when attempted to be bribed by Neyen, was one of the * Cerisier. t Carleton's Men>. vol. i. d. 57, See. Hume, vol. viii. p. 82. 1 Cabala, i. 186. § Cerisier, t. t. p. IM 1616. MAURICE INTRrGTJES fOR RKGAL POWER- 203 foremost of the faction who now labored for the downfall of the pensionary. He was a man of infinite dissimulation ; v'ersed in all the intrigues of courts; and so deep in all their tortuous tactics, that cardinal Jlicheiieu, well qualified to prize thd by order of the prince of Orange, in his capacity of high-admiral. The admiralty of Amsterdam was at the same time ordered by the states-general to im- prison six of the captains of this fleet. The states of Holland maintained that this was a violation of their provincial rights, and an illegal assumption of power on the part of the states- general ; and the magistrates of Amsterdam forced the prison doors, and set the captains at liberty. William, backed by the authority of the states-general, now put himself at the head of a deputation from that body, and made a rapid tour of visitation to the different chief tovms of the republic, to sound the depths of public opinion on the matters in dispute. The deputation met with varied guccess; but the result *2'S2 HISTORY OF THE NETHERLANDS. 1650 proved to the irritated prince tliat no measures of compromise were to be expected, and that force alone was to arbitrate the question. The army was to a man devoted to him. The states-general gave him their entire, and somewhat servile, support. He, therefore, on his own authority, arrested the six deputies of Holland, in tlie same way that his uncle Mau- rice had seized on Barneveldt, Grotius, and the others ; and they were immediately conveyed to the castle of Louvestein. In adopting this bold and unauthorized measure, he de- cided on an immediate attempt to gain possession of the city of Amsterdam, the central point of opposition to his violent designs. William Frederick, count of Nassau, stadtholdei of Friesland, at the head of a numerous detachment of troops, marched secretly and by night to surprise the town : but the darkness, and a violent thunder-storm having caused the greater number to lose their way, the count found himself at dawn at the city gates with a very insufficient force ; and had the farther mortification to see the walls well manned, the cannon pointed, the drawbridges raised, and every thing in a state of defence. The courier from Hamburgh, who had passed through the scattered bands of soldiers during the night, had given the alarm. The first notion was, that a roving band of Swedish or Lorraine troops, attracted by the opulence of Amsterdam, had resolved on an attempt to seize and pillage it. The magistrates could scarcely credit the evidence of day, which showed them the count of Nassau, and his force on their hostile mission. A short conference with the deputies from the citizens, convinced him that a speedy retreat was the only measure of safety for himself and his force, as the sluices of the dikes were in part opened, and a threat of submerging the intended assailants only re- quired a moment more to be enforced. Nothing could exceed the disappointment and irritation of the prince of Orange consequent on this transaction. He at first threatened, then negotiated, and finally patched up the matter in a manner the least mortifying to his wounded pride. Bikker nobly offered himself for a peace-oflTering, and voluntarily resigned his employments in the city he had saved ; and De Witt and his officers were released. Wil- liam was in some measure consoled for his disgrace by the condolence of the army, the thanks of the province of Zeal and, and a new treaty with France, strengthened by prom- ises of future support from cardinal Mazarin ; but, before he could profit by these encouraging symptoms, domestic and foreign, a premature death cut short all his projects of am- bition. Over-violent exercise in a -iihootine: oarty in Guelders. 1650. DEATH OF WILLIAM II. 233 brought on a fever, which soon terminated in an attack of small-pox. On the first appearance of his illness, he was re- moved to the Hague ; and he died there on the 6th of No- vember, 1650, aged twenty-four years and six months.* The death of this prince left the state without a stadt- holder, and the army witliout a chief The whole of Europe hared more or less in the joy or the regret it caused. The epublican party, both in Holland and in England, rejoiced in circumstance which threw back the sovereign power into the hands of the nation -,1 the partisans of the house of Orange deeply lamented the event. But the birth of a son, of which the widowed princess of Orange was delivered witliin a week of her husband's death, revived the hopes of those who mourn- ed his loss, and offered her the only consolation which could assuage her grief This child was, however, the innocent cause of a breach between his mother and grandmother, the dowager princess, who had never been cordially attached to each other.J Each claimed the guardianship of the young prince ; and the dispute was at length decided by the States who adjudged the important office to the elector of Branden- burgh and the two princesses jointly. ^ The states of Holland soon exercised their influence on the other provinces. Many of the prerogatives of the stadtholder were now assumed by the people ; and, with the exception of Zealand, which made an ineffectual attempt to name the infant prince to the digni- ty of his ancestors under the title of William III., a perfect unanimity seemed to have reconciled all opposing interests. The various towns secured the privileges of appointing their own magistrates, and the direction of the army and navy de- volved to the states-general. The time was now arrived when the wisdom, the courage, and the resources of the republic were to be put once more to the test, in a contest hitherto without example, and never since equalled in its nature. The naval wars between Hol- land and England had their real source in the inveterate jealousies and unbounded ambition of both countries, recipro- cally convinced that a joint supremacy at sea was incompatible with their interests and their honor, and each resolved to risk every thing for their mutual pretensions — to perish rather than yield. The United Provinces were assuredly not the aggressors m this quarrel. They had made sure of their ca- pability to meet it, by the settlement of all questions of in- ternal government, and the solid peace which secured them * Wicquefort, Cerisier, tc t Milton, Defens. Pop. Angl. t Wicquefort. liv. i. p. 781. § Cerisier. 234 HISTORY OF THE NETHERLANDS. 1652. against any attack on the part of their old and inveterate enemy : but they did not seek a rupture. They at first en- deavoured to ward ofl' the threatened danger by every effort of conciliation ; and they met, with temperate management, even the advances made by Cromwell, at the instigation of St. John, the chief justice, for a proposed, yet impracticable coalition between the two republics, which was to make them one and indivisible. An embassy to the Hague, with St. John and Strickland at its head, was received with all public honors ; but the partisans of the families of Orange and Stuart, and the populace generally, openly insulted the ambassadors.* About the same time Dorislas, a Dutchman naturalized in England, and sent on a mission from the par- liament, was murdered at the Hague by some Scotch officers, friends of the banished kmg ; the massacre of Amboyna, thirty years before, was made a cause of revived complaint ; and altogether a sum of injuries was easily made up to turn the proposed fantastic coalition into a fierce and bloody war.f The parliament of England soon found a pretext in an out- rageous measure, under pretence of providing for the inter- ests of commerce. They passed the celebrated act of navi- gation, which prohibited all nations from importing into England in their ships any commodity which was not the growth and manufacture of their own country. This law, though worded generally, was aimed directly at the Dutch, who were the general factors and carriers of Europe. | Ships were seized, reprisals made, the mockery of negotiation car- ried on, fleets equipped, and at length the war broke out. In the month of May, 1652, the Dutch admiral Tromp, commanding forty-two ships of war, met with the English fleet under Blake in the straits of Dover ; the latter, though much inferior in number, gave a signal to the Dutch admiral to strike, the usual salutation of honor accorded to the Eng- lish during the monarchy. Totally different versions have been given by the two admirals of what followed. Blake insisted tliat Tromp, instead of complying, fired a broadside at his vessel ;5 Tromp stated that a second and a third bullet were sent promptly from the British ship while he was preparing to obey the admiral's claim. || The discharge of the first broadside is also a matter of contradiction, and of course of doubt. But it is of small consequence ; for whether hostili- ties had been hurried on or delayed, they were ultimately inevitable. A bloody battle began : it lasted five hours. The * Clarendon, vol. v. p. 168. t Hume. J Idem, vol. vii. p 211. § Idem, vol. vii. p. 212. | Wicquefort, liv. vi. p. 323. 1653. NAVAL WAR WITH ENGLAND. 235 inferiority in number on the side of the English was balanced by the larger size of their ships. One Dutch vessel was sunk ; another taken ; and nig-ht parted the combatants. The states-general heard the news with consternation:* they dispatched the grand pensionary Pauw on a special em- bassy to London. The imperious parliament would hoar of neither reason nor remonstrance.f Right or wrong, they were resolved on war. Blake was soon at sea again with a numerous fleet; Tromp followed with a hundred sliips; bu a violent tempest separated these furious enemies, and re- tarded for a while the rencounter they mutually longed for. On the 16th of August a battle took place between Sir George Ayscue and the renowned De Ruyter, near Plymouth, each with about forty ships ; but with no decisive consequences. On the 28th of October, Blake, aided by Bourn and Pen, met a Dutch squadron of nearly equal force off the coast of Kent, under De Ruyter and De Witt. The fight which followed was also severe, but not decisive, though the Dutch had the worst of the day. In the Mediterranean, the Dutch admiral Van Galen defeated the English captain Baddely, but boug'it the victory with his life. And, on the 29th of November, another bloody conflict took place between Blake and Tromp seconded by De Ruyter, near the Goodwin Sands. In this determined action Blake was wounded and defeated ; five English ships taken, burnt, or sunk; and night saved the fleet from destruction. After this victory Tromp placed a broom at his mast-head, as if to intimate that he would sweep the channel free of all English ships.| Great preparations were made in England to recover this disgrace; eighty sail put to sea under Blake, Dean, and Monk, so celebrated subsequently as the restorer of the mon archy. Tromp and De Ruyter, with seventy-six vessels, were descried on the 18th of February, escorting three hun- dred merchantmen up Channel. Three days of desperate fighting ended in the defeat of the Dutch, who lost ten shipe. of war and twenty-four merchant vessels. Several of the English ships were disabled, one sunk ; and the carnage on both sides was nearly equal. Tromp acquired prodigious honor by this battle ; having succeeded, though defeated, in saving, as has been seen, almost the whole of his immense convoy. On the 12th of June and the day following two other actions were fought : in the first of which the English admiral Dean was killed ; in the second, Monk, Pen, and * Ceruier. f Hunw. I Idem. 236 HISTORY OF THE NETHERLANDS. 1653 Lawson amply revenged his death, by forcing the Dutch tc regain their harbors with great loss. The 21st of July was the last of these bloody and obstinate conflicts for superiority. Tromp issued out once more, deter- mined to conquer or die. He met the enemy off Scheveling, commanded by Monk. Both fleets rushed to the combat. Ttie heroic Dutciiman, animating his sailors with his sword drav\ n, was shot through the heart with a musket-ball. This event, and this alone, won the battle, which was the most decisive of the whole war. The enemy captured or sunk nearly thirty ships. The body of Tromp was carried with great solemnity to the church of Delft, where a magnificent mau- soleum was erected over the remains of this eminently brave and distinguished man. This memorable defeat, and the death of this great naval hero, added to the injury done to their trade, induced the states-general to seek terms from their too powerful enemy. The want of peace was felt throughout the whole country. Cromwell was not averse to grant it ; but he insisted on con- ditions every way disadvantageous and liumiliating. He had revived his chimerical scheme of a total conjunction of gov- ernment, privileges, and interests between the two republics. This was firmly rejected by John de Witt, now grand pen- sionary of Holland, and by the States under his influence. But the Dutch consented to a defensive league ; to punish the survivors of those concerned in the massacre of Amboyna; to pay 9000/. of indemnity for vessels seized in the Sound, 5000Z. for the afiair of Amboyna, and 85,000/. to the English East India company ; to cede to them the island of Polerone in the East ; to yield the honor of the national flag to the English ; and, finally, that neither the young prince of Orange nor any of his family should ever be invested with the dig- nity of stadtholder.* These two latter conditions vpere cer- tainly degrading to Holland ; and the conditions of the treaty prove that an absurd point of honor was the only real cause for the short but bloody and ruinous war which plunged the Provinces into overwhelming difficulties. For several years afler the conclusion of this inglorious peace, universal discontent and dissension spread throughout the republic. The supporters of the house of Orange, and every impartial friend of the national honor, were indignant at the act of exclusion. Murmurs and revolts broke out in several towns ; and all was once more tumult, agitation, and doubL No event of considerable importance marks particu- * Hume, vol. vii. p. 338. 1656. HOSTILITIES WITH SWEDEN. 23" larly this epoch of domestic trouble. A new war was at last pronounced inevitable, and was the means of aeipeasint^ the distractions of the people, and reconciling-- by degrces^con- tendnig parties. Denmark, the ancient ally of the republic, was threatened with destruction by Charles Gustavus kinjr of Sweden, who held Copenhaoen m blockade. The interests of Holland were in imminent peril should the Swedes gain the passage of the Sound. This double motive influenced De Witt ; and he persuaded the states-general to i-end admiral Opdam with a considerable fleet to the Baltic. This intrepid successor of the immortal Tromp soon came to blo^vs with a rival worthy to meet him. VVrangel the Swedish admiral, with a superior force, defended the passage of the Sound : and the two castles of Cronenberg and Elsenberg supported his fleet with their tremendous fire. But Opdam resolutely advanced : though sufl^ering extreme anguish from an attack of gout, he had himself carried on deck, where he gave his orders with the most admirable coolness and precision, in the midst of danger and carnage. The rival monarchs witnessed the battle ; the king of Sweden from the castle of Cronen- berg, and the king of Denmark from the summit of the highest tower in his besieged capital. A brilliant victory crowned the efforts of the Dutch admiral, dearly bought by the death of his second in command the brave De Witt, and Peter Florizon another admiral of note. Relief was poured into Copenhagen. Opdam was replaced in the command, too arduous for his infirmities, by tiie still more celebrated De Ruyter, who was greatly distinguished by his valor in several successive affairs : and after some months more of useless ob- stinacy, the king of Sweden, seeing his army perish m the island of Funen, by a combined attack of those of Holland and Denmark, consented to a peace highly favorable to the latter power.* These transactions placed the United Provinces on a still higher pinnacle of glory than they had ever reached. Intes- tine disputes were suddenly calmed. The Algerines and other pirates were swept from the seas by a succession of small but vigorous expeditions. The mediation of the States re-established peace in several of the petty states of Germany England and France were both held in check, if not pre- erved in friendship, by the dread of their recovered power. Trade and finance were reorganized. Every thing seemed to promise a long-continued peace and growing greatness, nmch of which was owing to the talents and persevering energy of •CerUer. 238 HISTORY OF THE NETHERLANDS. 1665 De Witt ; and, to complete the good work of European tran- quillity, the French and Spanish monarchs concluded in this year the treaty known by the name of the " peace of the Pyrenees." Cromwell had now closed his career, and Charles II. was restored to the throne from which he had so long been ex- cluded. The complimentary entertaiinments rendered to the restored king in Holland were on the proudest scale of ex- pense. He left the country which had given him refuge in misfortune, and done him honor in his prosperity, with pro- fuse expressions of regard and gratitude. Scarcely was he established in his recovered kingdom, when a still greater testimony of deference to his wishes was paid, by the states- general formally annulling the act of exclusion against the house of Orange. A variety of motives, however, acting on the easy and plastic mind of the monarch, soon effaced what- ever of gratitude he had at first conceived. He readily en- tered into the views of the English nation, which was irri- tated by the great commercial superiority of Holland, and a jealousy excited by its close connexion with France at this period. It was not till the 22d of February, 1665, that war was formally declared against the Dutch ; but many previous acts of hostility had taken place in expeditions against their set- tlements on the coast of Africa and in America, which were retaliated by De Ruyter with vigor and success. The Dutch used every possible means of avoiding the last extremities. De Witt employed all the powers of his great capacity to avert the evil of war ; but nothing could finally prevent it. and the sea was once more to witness the conflict between those who claimed its sovereignty. A great battle wap fought on the 31st of June. The duke of York, afterwards James II., commanded the British fleet, and had under him the earl of Sandwich and prince Rupert. The Dutch were led on by Opdam ; and the victory was decided in favor of the English by the blowing up of that admiral's ship, with himself and his whole crew. The loss of tlie Dutch was altogether nineteen ships. De Witt the pensionary then took in person the com- mand of the fleet, which was soon equipped ; and he gave a high proof of the adaptation of genius to a pursuit previously unknown, by the rapid knowledge and the practical improve- ments he introduced into some of the most intricate branches of naval tactics.* Immense efforts were now made by England, hut with a ♦B 1666. NAVAL OPERATIONS. 239 very questionable policy, to induce Louis XTV. to join in the war. Charles oiTered to allow of his acquiring the whole of the Spanisij Notherhnds, provided he would leave him with- out interruption to desiroy (.iie Dutcii navy, (and, consequent- ly, their conunerce,) in the by no means certain expectation that its advantages would all fall to the share of England. But the king of France resolved to support the republic. The kuig of Denmark, too, formed an alliance with them, after a series of the most strange tergiversations.* Spain, reduced to feebleness, and menaced with invasion by France, showed no alacrity to meet Charles's overtures for an offensive treaty. Van Galen bishop of Munster, a restless prelate, was the only ally he could acquire. This bishop, at the head of a tumultuous force of 20,000 men, penetrated into Friesland ; but 6000 French were dispatched by Louis to the assistance of the republic, and this impotent invasion was easily repelled. The republic, encouraged by all these favorable circum- stances, resolved to put forward its utmost energies. Internal discords were once more appeased ; the harbors were crowded with merchant-ships ; the young prince of Orange had put himself under the tuition of the States of Holland and of De Witt, who faithfully executed his trust ; and De Ruyter was ready to lead on the fleet. The English, in spite of the dread- ful calamity of the great fire of London, the plague which desolated the city, and a declaration of war on the part of France, prepared boldly for the shock. The Dutch fleet, commanded by De Ruyter and Tromp, the gallant successor of his father's fame, were soon at sea. The English, under prince Rupert and Monk, now duke of Albemarle, did not lie idle in port. A battle of four days' continuance, one of the most determined and terrible up to this period on record, was the consequence. The Dutch claim, and it appears with justice, to have had the advantage.! But a more decisive conflict took place on the 25thof July,| when a victory was gained by the English, tlie enemy having three of their admirals killed. " My God !" exclaimed De Ruyter, during this desperate fight, and seeing the certainty of defeat ; " what a wretch I am ! Among so many thousand bullets, is there not one to put an end to my miserable life 1" The king of France hastened forward in this crisis to the assistance of the republic ; and De Witt, by a deep stroke of • Hume, vol. vii. p, 406. t Hume. t In all these naval battles we have followed Hume and the English his- torians as to dates, which, in almost every instance, are strangely at varianc* with those given by the Dutch writers. 240 HISTORY OF THE NKTHERLATTOS. 1667. policy, amused the Eng.ish with negotiation while a powerfu. fleet was fitted out. It suddenly appeared in the Thames, under the command of De Ruyter, and all England was thrown into consternation. The Dutch took Sheemess, and burned many ships of war; almost insulting the capital itself in their predatory incursion.* Had the French power joined that of the Provinces at this time, and invaded England, the most fatal results to that kingdom might have taken place. But the alarm soon subsided with the disappearance of the hostile fleet ; and the signing the peace of Breda, on the 10th of July, 1667, extricated Charles from his present difficulties. The island of Polerone was restored to the Dutch, and the point of maritime superiority was, on this occasion, undoubt- edly theirs. While Holland was preparing to indulge in the luxury of national repose, the death of Philip IV. of Spain, and the startling ambition of Louis XIV., brought war once more to their very doors, and soon even forced it across the threshold of the republic. The king of France, setting at naught his solemn renunciation at the peace of the Pyrenees of all claims to any part of the Spanish territories in right of his wife, who was daughter of the late king, found excellent reasons (for his own satisfaction) to invade a material portion of that de- clining monarchy. Well prepared by the financial and mili- tary foresight of Colbert for his great design, he suddenly poured a powerful army, under Turenne, into Brabant and Flanders ; quickly over-ran and took possession of these prov- inces; and, in the space of three weeks, added Franche- Comte to his conquests.! Europe was in universal alarm at these unexpected measures ; and no state felt more terror than the republic of the United Provinces. The interest of all countries seemed now to require a coalition against the power which had abandoned the house of Austria only to set- tle on France. The first measure to this effect was the signing of the triple league between Holland, Sweden, andi England, at the Hague, on the 13th of January, 1668. But this proved to be one of the most futile confederations on re- cord. Charles, with almost unheard-of perfidy throughout the transaction, fell in with the designs of his pernicious, J and on this occasion purchased, cabinet,^ called the Cabal; and he entered into a secret treaty with France, in the very teeth Oi his other engagements. Sweden was dissuaded from the league by the arguments of the French ministers ; and Hol- * Temple, vol. iii. p. 40, &c. t De Neny, M6rn. t. ii. p. 29. I Gourville, M6m. t. ii. p. 14. ? Temple, vol. ii. p. 179, 1073. THE FRENCH INVADE HOLLAND 241 land ti a short time found itself involved in a double war with its late allies. A base and piratical attack on the Dutch Smyrna fleet, by a large force under Sir Robert Holmes, on the l;3th of March, 1672, was the lirst overt act of treachery on the part of the English government. The attempt completely failed, through the prudence and valor of the Dutch admirals; and Charlea reaped only the double shame of perfidy and defeat. He in- stantly issued a declaration of war against the republic, on reasonmg too palpably false to require refutation, and too frivolous to merit record to the exclusion of more important matter from our narrow limits. Louis at least covered with the semblance of dignity hi3 unjust co-operation in this violence. He soon advanced with his army, and the contingents of Munster and Cologne, hia allies, amounting altogether to nearly 170,000 men, com- manded by Conde, Turenne, Luxembourg, and others of the greatest generals of France.* Never was any country less prepared than were the United Provinces to resist this for- midable aggression. Their army was as naught ; their long cessation of military operations by land having totally demor- alized that once invincible branch of their forces. No gen- eral existed who knew any thing of the practice of war. Their very stores of ammunition had been delivered over, in the way of traffic, to the enemy who now prepared to over whelm them. De Witt was severely, and not quite unjustly, blamed for having suffered the country to be thus taken by surprise, utterly defenceless, and apparently without resource. Envy of his uncommon merit aggravated the just complaints against his error. But, above all things, the popular affection to the young prince threatened, in some great convulsion, the overthrow of the pensionary, who was considered eminently hostile to the illustrious house of Orange.|- William III, prince of Orange, now twenty-two years of age, was amply endowed with those hereditary qualitie? of valor and wisdom which only required experience to give him rank with the greatest of his ancestors. The Louvenstein party, as the adherents of the house of Orange were called, now easily prevailed in their long-conceived design of placing him at the head of affairs, with the titles of captain-general and high admiral. De Witt, anxious from personal considera- tions, as well as patriotism, to employ every means of active exertion, attempted the organization of an army, and hastened the equipment of a Ibrmidable fleet of nearly a hundred shipi • De Neny, Mem. t Huiut. 242 HISTORY OF THE NETHERLANDS. 1672 of the line and half as many fire-ships. De Ruyter, now without exception the greatest commander of the age, set saU with this force in search of the combined fleets of Eng- land and France, commanded by the duke of York and marshal D'Etrees. He encountered them, on the 6th of I\Iay, 1672, at Solebay. A most bloody engagement was the result of this meeting. Sandwich, on the side of the English, and Van Ghent, a Dutch admiral, were slain.* The glory of the day was divided ; the victory doubtful : but the sea was not the element on which the fate of Holland was to be decided. The French armies poured like a torrent into the territo- ries of the republic. Rivers were passed, towns taken, and provinces over-run, with a rapidity much less honorable to France than disgraceful to Holland. No victory was gained — no resistance offered ; and it is disgusting to look back on the fulsome panegyrics with which courtiers and poets lauded Louis for those facile and inglorious triumphs. The prince of Orange had received the command of a nominal army of 70,000 men ; but with this undisciplined and discouraged mass he could attempt nothing. He prudently retired into the province of Holland, vainly hoping that the numerous fortresses on the frontiers would have offered some resistance to the enemy. Guelders, Overyssel, and Utrecht, were al- ready in Louis's hands. Groningen and Friesland were threatened. Holland and Zealand opposed obstruction to such rapid conquest from their natural position ; and Amster- dam set a noble example to the remaining towns — forming a regular and energetic plan of defence, and endeavoring to infuse its spirit into the rest. The sluices, those desperate sources at once of safety and desolation, were opened ; the whole country submerged ; and the other provinces following this example, extensive districts of fertility and wealth were given to the sea, for the exclusion of which so many centuries had scarcely sufficed. The states-general now assembled, and it was decided to supplicate for peace at the hands of the combined monarchs. The haughty insolence of Louvois coinciding with the temper of Louis himself, made the latter propose the follow- ing conditions as the price of peace ; — to take off all duties on commodities exported into Holland ; to grant the free ex- ercise of the Romish religion in the United Provmces ; to share the churches with the Catholics, and to pay their priests ; to yield up all the frontier towns, with several in the heart of the republic; to pay him 20,000,000 livres; to send • Hume. 1672. MASSACRE OF THE DE WITTS. 243 him every year a solemn embassy, accompanied by a present of a golden medal, as an acknowledgment tliat they owed him their liberty ; and, finally, that they should give entire satisfaction to the king of England. (vharles, on his part, after the most insulting treatment of tlie ambassadors sent to Loadon, required, amongst other terms, that the Dutch should give up the honor of the flag with- out reserve, whole fleets being expected, even on the coasts of Holland, to lower their top-sails to the smallest ship under British colors ; that the Dutch should pay 1,()00,000Z. sterling towards the charges of the war, and 10,t)00Z. a year for per- mission to fish in the British seas ; that they should share tlie Indian trade witli the English ; and that Walcheren and sev- eral other islands should be put into the king's hands as security for the performance of the articles.* The insatiable monarchs overshot the mark. Existence was not worth preserving on these intolerable terms. Holland was driven to desperation ; and even the people of England were inspired with indignation at this monstrous injustice. In the republic a violent explosion of popular excess took place. The people now saw no safety but in the courage and talents of the prince of Orange. He was tumultuously pro- claimed stadtholder. De Witt and his brother Cornells, the conscientious but too obstinate opponents of this measure of salvation, fell victims to the popular frenzy. The latter, condemned to banishment on an atrocious charge of intended assassination against the prince of Orange, was visited in his prison at the Hague by the grand pensionary. The rabble, incited to fury by the calumnies spread against these two virtuous citizens, broke into the prison, forced the unfortunate brothers into the street, and there literally tore them to pieces with circumstances of the most brutal ferocity. This horrid scene took place on the 27th of August, 1672. The massacre of the De Witts completely destroyed the party of which they were the head. All men now united under the only leader left to the country. William showed himself well worthy of the trust, and of his heroic blood. He turned his whole force against the enemy. He sought no- thing for himself but the glory of saviag his country ; and taking his ancestors for models, in the best points of their respective characters, he combuied prudence witli energy, and firmness with moderation. His spirit inspired all ranks of men. The conditions of peace demanded by the partner kings were rejected with scorn. The whole nation was • HaiM, Tol. Tii. pp. 493, 494. 16 244 HISTORY OF THE NETHERLANDS. 1672 moved by one concentrated principle of heroism ; and it was even resolved to put the ancient notion of the first William into practice, and abandon the coimtry to the v^'aves, sooner than submit to the political anndiilation witli which it was threatened. The capability of the vessels in their harbors was calculated ; and they were found sufficient to transport 200,000 families to the Indian settlements. We must hasten from this sublime picture of national desperation. The glo- rious hero who stands in its forej^round was inaccessible to every overture of corruption. Buckingham, the English am- bassador, offered him, on the part of England and France, the independent sovereignty of Holland, if he would abandon the other provinces to their grasp ; and, urging his consent, asited him if he did not see that the republic was ruined? " There is one means," replied the prince of Orange, " which vsrill save me from the sight of my country's ruin — I will die in the last ditch."* Action soon proved the reality of the prince's profession. He took the field ; having first punished with death some ot the cowardly commanders of the frontier towns. He besieged and took Naarden, an important place ; and, by a masterly movement, formed a junction with Montecuculi, whom the emperor Leopold had at length sent to his assistance with 20,000 men. Groningen repulsed the bishop of Munster, the ally of France, with a loss of 12,000 men. The king of Spain (such are the strange fluctuations of political friendship and enmity) sent the count of Monterey, governor of the Belgian provinces, with 10,000 men to support the Dutch army. The elector of Brandenburg also lent them aid. The whole face of affairs was changed ; and Louis was obliged to abandon all his conquests with more rapidity than he had made them. Two desperate battles at sea, on the 28th of May and the 4th of June, in which De Ruyter and prince Rupert again distin- guished themselves, only proved the valor of the combatants, leaving victory still doubtful. England was with one common feeling ashamed of the odious war in which the king and his unworthy ministers had engaged the nation. Charles was forced to make peace on the conditions proposed by the Dutch. The honor of the flag was yielded to tlie English ; a regulation of trade was agreed to ; all possessions were re- stored to the same condition as before the war ; and the states- general agreed to pay the king 800,000 patacoons, or nearly 300,000Z. With these encouraging results from the prince of Orange's influence and example, HoUand persevered in the contest *Huiiw. 1676. CONORKSS AT NIME(;UEN. 24fi with France. He, in tlie first place, made head, during a winter campaign in Tlolland, against marshal Luxiiiiiliourp;, who had succeeded 'J'urcnne in the Low Counti.'ts. tlio ihU ter being obliged to march against tiie imperialis .■= m V\eet- phalia. lie next advanced to oppose the great Coi:ue, who occupied Brabant with an army of 45,000 men. After much manoeuvring, in which the prhice ot" Orange displayed con- summate talent, lie on one only occasion exposed a part of his army to a disadvantageous contest. Conde seized on the error; and of his own accord gave the battle to which his young opi)onent could not succeed in forcing him. The bat- tle of Senef is remarkable not merely for the fury with which it was fought, or for its leaving victory undecided, but as be- ing the lapt comlmt of one commander and the first of the other. " The prince of Orange," said the veteran Conde (who had that day exposed his person more than on any pre- vious occasion,) " has acted in every thing like an old cap- tain, except venturing iiis life too like a young soldier." The campaign of 1675 offered no remarkable event; the prince of Orange with great prudence avoiding the risk of a battle. But the following year was rendered fatally remark- able by the death of tlie great De Ruyter,* who was killed in an action against the French fleet in the ]\Iediterranean : and about the same time the not less celebrated Turenne met his death from a cannon-ball, in the midst of his triumphs in Ger- many. This year was doubly occujiied in a negotiation for peace and an active prosecution of the war. Louis, at the head of his army, took several towns in Belgium : William was unsuccessful in an attempt on Maestricht. About the beginning of winter, the plenipotenti;iries of the several bel- ligerents assembled at Nimegnen, where the congress for peace was held. The Hollanders, loaded with debts and taxes, and seeing the weakness and slowness of their allies the Spaniards and Germans, prognosticated nothing but mis- fortimes. Their commerce languished ; while that of Eng- land, now neutral amidst all these quarrels, flourished ex- tremely. The prince of Orange, however, ambitious of glory, urged another campaign ; and it commenced accord- ingly. In the middle of February, Louis carried Valenciennes by storm, and laid siege to St. Omer and Cambray. William, though full of activity, courage, and skill, was, nevertheless, almost always unsuccessf 1 in the field, and never more so * The councilor Spain saveDe Ruyter the title and letters patent of duke, Thelatter arrived in Holland after his death ; and his children, with true r» publican spirit, refused to adopt the title. 246 HISTORT OF THE TTETIHrRLAWDS. 1678 than in this campaign. Several towns fell almost in his sight ; and he was completely defeated in the great battle of mount Cassel, by the duke of Orleans and marshal Luxem- bourg. But the period for another peace was now approach- ing. Louis offered fair terms for the acceptance of the United Provinces at the congress of Nimeguen, April, 1678, as he now considered his chief enemies Spain and the empire, who had at first only entered into the war as auxiliaries. He was, no doubt, principally impelled in his measures by the mar- riage of the prince of Orange with the lady Mary, eldest daughter of the duke of York, and heir presumptive to the English crovra, which took place on the 23d of October, to the great joy of both the Dutch and English nations. Charles was at this moment the arbiter of the peace of Europe ; and though several fluctuations took place in his policy in the course of a few months, as the urgent wishes of tlie parlia- ment and the large presents of Louis differently actuated him,* stUl the wiser and more just course prevailed, and he finally decided the balance by vigorously declaring his reso- lution for peace ; and the treaty was consequently signed at Nimeguen, on the 10th of August, 1678. The prince of Orange, from private motives of spleen, or a most unjustifiable desire for fighting, took the extraordinary measure of attack- ing the French troops under Luxembourg, near Mons., on the very day after the signing of this treaty. He must have known it, even though it were not officially notified to him ; and he certainly had to answer for all the blood so wantonly spilt in the sharp though undecisive action which ensued.f Spain, abandoned to her fate, was obliged to make the best terms she could ; and on the 17th of September she also con- cluded a treaty with France, on conditions entirely favorable to the latter power.f CHAP. XX. 1678—1713. niOH THE PEACE OF NIMKGUEN TO THE PEA.CB OF UTRXOHT. A FEW years passed over after this period, without the oc- currence of any transaction sufficiently important to require a mention here. Each of the powers so lately at war fol- lowed the various bent of their respective ambition. Charles of England was sufficiently occupied by disputes with parlia- ment, and the discovery, fabrication, and punishment of plots, • Dalrymple'8 App. p. 112. t Hume, 4x. J De Neny. 1685. DKATII OF CHARLES II. 247 real or pretended. Louis XIV., by a stretch of audacious pride hitherto unknown, arrog-ated to himself the supreme power of regulating the rest of Europe, as if all tlie other princes were his vassals. He established courts, or chambers of reunion as they were called, in Metz and Brisac, which cited princes, issued decrees, and authorized spoliation, in the most unjust and arbitrary manner.* Louis chose to award to himself Luxembourg, Chiny, and a considerable portion of Brabant and Flanders.f He marched a considerable army into Belgium, which the Spanish governors were unable to oppose. The prince of Orange, who labored incessantly to excite a confederacy among the other powers of Europe against the unwarrantable aggressions of France, was unable to arouse his countrymen to actual war; and was forced, in- stead of gaining the glory he longed for, to consent to a truce for twenty years, which the states-general, now wholly pa- cific and not a little cowardly, were too happy to obtain from France. The emperor and the king of Spain gladly entered into a like treaty. J The fact was, that the peace of Nime- guen had disjointed the great confederacy which William had so successfully brought about ; and the various powers were laid utterly prostrate at the feet of the imperious Louis, who for a while held the destinies of Europe in his hands. Charles IL died most unexpectedly in the year 1685 ; and his obstinately bigoted and unconstitutional successor, James n., seemed, during a reign of not four years' continuance, to rush wilfully headlong to ruin. During this period, the prince of Orange had maintained a most circumspect and un- exceptionable line of conduct ; steering clear of all interfe- rence with English affairs ; giving offence to none of the po- litical factions ; and observing in every instance the duty and regard which he owed to his father-in-law. ^ During Mon- mouth's invasion he had dispatched to James's assistance six regiments of British troops which were in the Dutch service, and he offered to take the command of the king's forces against the rebels. It was from the application of James himself that William took any part in English affairs ;|| for he was more widely and much more congenially employed in the establishment of a fresh league agamst France. Louis had aroused a new feeling throu<;-hout Protestant Europe, by the revocation of the edict of Nantes. The refugees whom he had driven from their native country, inspired in those in which tiiey selUed, iutred of his persecution as well as alarm of his power. Holliuid now entered into aU the views of the • Hume. t fe Neny. 1 Du Mont, Con* Dipl. t. rii. 4 Hums. I HuDM. 248 HISTORY OF THE NETHERLANDS. 1688. prince of Orange. By his immense influence he succeeded in forming the great confederacy called the League of Augs- hourg, to which the emperor, Spain, and almost every Euro- pean power but England, became parties.* James gave the prince reason to believe that he too would join in this great project, if William would in return concur in his views of domestic tyranny ; but William wisely refused. James, much disappointed, and irritated by the moderation which showed his own violence in such striking contrast, ex- pressed his displeasure against the prince, and against the Dutch generally, by various vexatious acts. William resolved to maintain a high attitude; and many applications were made to him by the most considerable persons in England for relief against James's violent measures, and which there was but one method of making efTectual.f That method was force. But as long as the princess of Orange was certain of succeeding to the crown on her father's death, William hesitated to join in an attempt that might possibly have failed and lost her her inheritance. But the birth of a son, which, in giving James a male heir, destroyed all hope of redress for the kingdom, decided the wavering, and rendered the deter- mined desperate. The prince chose the time for his enter- prise with tlie sagacity, arranged its plan with the prudence, and put it into execution with the vigor, which were habitual qualities of his mind. Louis XIV., menaced by the League of Augsbourg, had resolved to strike the first blow against the allies. He in- vaded Germany ; so that the Dutch preparations seemed in the first instance intended as measures of defence against the progress of the French. But Louis's envoy at the Hague could not be long deceived. He gave notice to his master, who in his turn warned James. But that mfatuated monarch not only doubted the intelligence, but refused the French king's offers of assistance and co-operation. On the 21st of October, the prince of Orange, with an army of 14,000 men, and a fleet of 500 vessels of all kinds, set sail from Helvoet- sluys; and afler some delays from bad weather, he safely landed his army in Torbay, on the 5th of November, 1688.J: The desertion of James's best friends ; his own consternation, flight, seizure, and second escape; and the solemn act by which he was deposed ; were the rapid occurrences of a few weeks : and thus the grandest revolution that England had ever seen was happily consummated. Without entering here on legislative reasonings or party sophisms, it is enough to * Huma. t D'AvBuz. | HmM. 1689. ENGLISH REVOLUTION. 249 record the act itself; and to say, in reference to our more im- mediate subject, that without the assistance of Holland and her glorious cliieti England might have still remained en- slaved, or have had to i>\irchase liberty by oceans of blood. By the bill of settlement, t!ie crown was conveyed jointly to the prince and prmcess of Orang-e, the sole administration of government to remain in the prince ; and the new sovereigns were pi-oclaimed on the 23d of February, 1689. The con- vention, which had arranged this important point, annexed to the settlement a declaration of rights, by which the powers of royal prerogative and the extent of popular privilege were defined and guarantied.* William, now become king of England, still preserved his title of stadtholder of Holland ; and presented the singular instance of a monarchy and a republic being at the same time governed by the same individual. But whether as a king or a citizen, VV^illiam was actuated by one grand and powerful principle, to which every act of private administra- tion was made subservient, although it certainly called for no sacrifice that was not required for the political existence of the two nations of which he was the head. Inveterate oppo- sition to the power of Louis XIV. was this all-absorbing mo- tive. A sentiment so mighty left William but little time for inferior points of government, and every thing but that seems to have irritated and disgusted him. He was soon again on the Continent, the chief theatre of his efforts. He put him- self in front of the confederacy which resulted from the con- gress of Utrecht in 1690. He took the command of the allied army ; and till the hour of his death, he never ceased his in- defatigable course of hostility, whether in the camp or the cabmet, at the head of the allied armies, or as the guiding spirit of the councils which gave them force and motion. Several campaigns were expended, and bloody con.bats fought, almost all to the disadvantage of William, whose genius for war was never seconded by that good fortune which so often decides the fate of battles in defiance of all the cal- culations of talent. But no reverse had power to shake the constancy and courage of William. He always appeared as formidable after defeat as he was before action. His con- querors gained little but the honor of the day. Fleurus, Steinkerk, Herwinde, were successively the scenes of his evil fortune, and the sources of his fame. His retreats were master-strokes of vigilant activity and profound combinations. Many eminent sieges took place during this war. Among other towns, Mons and Namur were taken by the French, * Hume. 250 HISTORY OF THE NETHERLANDS. 1697. and Huy by the allies ; and the army of marshal Villeroi bombarded Brussels during three days, in August, 1695, with such fury that the town-house, fourteen churches, and 4000 houses, were reduced to ashes. The year following this event saw another undecisive campaign. During the continuance of this war, the naval transactions present no grand results. Du Bart, a celebrated adventurer of Dunkirk, occupies the leading place in those affairs, in which he carried on a dcsiii- tory but active warfare against the Dutch and English fleets, and generally with great success. All the nations which had taken part in so many wars, were now becoming exhausted by the contest, but none so much so as France. The great despot who had so long wielded the energies of that country with such wonderful splendor and success, found that his unbounded love of dominion was gradu- ally sapping all the real good of his people, in chimerical schemes of universal conquest, England, though with much resolution voting new supplies, and in every way upholding William in his plans for the continuance of war, was rejoiced when Louis accepted the mediation of Charles XI. king ot Sweden, and agreed to concessions which made peace feasi- ble.* The emperor and Charles II. of Spain, were less satis fied with those concessions : but every thing was finally ar- ranged to meet the general views of the parties, and negotia- tions were opened at Ryswick. The death of the king of Sweden, and the minority of his son and successor, the cele- brated Charles XII., retarded them on points of form for some time. At length, on the 20th of September, 1697, the articles of the treaty were subscribed by the Dutch, English, Spanish, and French ambassadors, f The treaty consisted of seventeen articles. The French king declared he would not disturb or disquiet the king of Great Britain, whose title he now for the first time acknowledged. Between France and Holland were declared a general armistice, perpetual amity, a mutual resti- tution of towns, a reciprocal renunciation of all pretension* upon each other, and a treaty of commerce which was imme- diately put into execution. Thus, after this long, expensive, and sanguinary war, things were established just on the foot- ing they had been by the peace of Nimeguen ; and a great, though unavailable lesson, read to the world on the futility and wickedness of those quarrels in which the personal am- bition of kings leads to the misery of the people. Had the allies been true to each other throughout, Louis would cer- tainly have been reduced much lower than he now was. Hi« *lB0ltett,nd.i.ni316,317. ^DtVmj. h 1700, WAR or strccESSTON. 251 pride was humbled, and his encroachments stopped. But the sufferings of the various countries engaged in the war, were too generally reciprocal to riiakt; its result of any material benefit to either. The emperor hold out for a while, encour- aged by the groat victory gained by his general, prince Eu- gene of Savoy, over the Turks at Zl-nta in Hungary; but he finally acceded to the terms offered by France ; the peace, therefore, became general, but unfortunately for Europe, of very short duration. France, as if looking forward to the speedy renewal of hos- tilities, still kept her armies undisbanded. Let the foresight of her politicians have been what it might, this negative proof of it was justified by events. The king of Spain, a weak prince, without any direct heir for his possessions, con- sidered himself authorized to dispose of their succession by will. The leading powers of Europe thought otherwise, and took this right upon themselves.* Charles died on the 1st of November, 1700, and thus put the important question to the test. By a solemn testament he declared Philip duke of An- "ou, second son of the dauphin, and grandson of Louis XIV., is successor to the whole of the Spanish monarchy.f Louis immediately renounced his adherence to the treaties of par- tition, executed at the Hague and in London, in 1698 and 1700, and to which he had been a contracting party ; and prepared to maintain the act by which the last of the descend- ants of Charles V. bequeathed the possessions of Spain and the Indies to the family which had so long been the inveterate enemy and rival of his own. The emperor Leopold, on his part, prepared to defend his claims ; and thus commenced the new war between him and France, which took its name from the succession which formed the object of dispute. Hostilities were commenced in Italy, where prince Eugene, the conqueror of the Turks, com- manded for Leopold, and every day made for himself a still more brilliant reputation. Louis sent his grandson to Spain to take possession of the inheritance, for which so hard a fight was yet to be maintained, with the striking expression at parting — " My child, there are no longer any Pyrenees !" an expression most happily unprophetic for the future inde- pendence of Europe, for the moral force of the barrier has long existed afler the expiration of the family compact which was meant to deprive it of its force. Louis prepared to act vigorously. Among other measures, he caused part of the Dutch army that was quartered in * De Neny. t Da Mont, Corps Diplom. 252 HISTORY OP THE NETHERLANDS. 1701. TiUxeinbourg' and Brabant to be suddenly made prisoners of war, because they would not own Philip V. as king of Spain. The states-general were dreadfully alarmed, immediately made th«' required acknowledgment, and in consequence had their soldiers released.* They quickly reinforced their gar- risons, purchased supplies, solicited foreign aid, and prepared for the worst that might happen. They wrote to king Wil- liam, professing the most inviolable attachment to Engla id ; and he met their application by warm assurances of support, and an immediate reinforcement of three regiments. William followed up these measures by the formation of the celebrated treaty called tlie Grand Alliance, by which England, the States, and the emperor covenanted for the sup- port of the pretensions of the latter to the Spanish monarchy.f William was preparing, in spite of his declining health, to take his usual lead in the military operations now decided on, and almost all Europe was again looking forward to his guidance, when he died on the 8th of March, 1701, leaving his great plans to receive their execution from still more able adepts in the art of war. William's character has been traced by many hands. In his capacity of king of England, it is not our province to judge him in this place. As stadtholder of Holland, he merits unqualified praise. Like liis great ancestor William I., whom he more resembled than any other of his race, he saved the country in a time of such imminent peril that its abandon- ment seemed the only resource left to the inhabitants, who preferred selt-exile to slavery. All his acts were certainly merged in the one overwhelming object of a great ambition — that noble quality, which, if coupled with the love of coun- try, is the very essence of true heroism. William was the last of that illustrious line which for a century and a half had filled Europe with admiration. He never had a child ; and being himself an only one, his title as prince of Orange passed into another branch of the family. He left his cousin prince Prison of Nassau, the stadtholder of Friesland, his sole and universal heir, and appointed the states-general his executors. J William's death filled Holland with mourning and alarm. The meeting of the states-general after this sad intelligence was of a most affecting description; but William, like all master-minds, had left the mantle of his inspiration on his friends and followers. Heinsius the grand pensionary fol- lowed up the views of the lamented stadtholder with con- siderable energy, and was answered by the unanimous exer- « Smollett. t De Neny, t. i. p. 201. X Smollett. /702. MARLBOKOUGH AXI) EUGENE. 253 tioiis of the country. Strong assurances of support from queen Anne, William's successor, still further encouraged the republic, which now vigorously prci)are(i for war. But it did not lose this occasion of recurring to the form of government of 1050. No new stadtholder was now appointed ; the supreme aulliority being vested in the general assembly of the slates, ami tlie active direction of affairs confided to the grand pen- sionary. This departure from tiie form of government which had been on various occasions proved to be essential to the safety, although at all times hazardous to the independence, of the States, was not att,en; warrior and politician. A pupO of the great Turenne, his exploits left those of his master in the shade. No commander ever possessed in a greater degree the faculty of forming vast designs, and of carrying them * Voltaiie. 254 HISTORY OF THE NETHERLANDS. 1702. into effect with consummate skill; no one displayed more coolness and courage in action, saw with a keener eye the errors of the enemy, or knew better how to profit by success. He never laid siege to a town that he did not take, and never fought a battle that he did not gain.* Prince Eugene joined to the highest order of personal bravery a profound judgment for the grand movements of war, and a capacity for the most minute of the minor details on which their successful issue so oflen depends. United in the same cause, these two great generals pursued their course without the least misunderstanding. At the close of each of those successive campaigns, in which they reaped such a full harvest of renown, they retired together to the Hague, to ar- range, in the profoundest secrecy, the plans for the next year's operations, with one other person, who formed the great point of union between them, and completed a triumvirate without a parallel in the history of political affairs. This third was Heinsius, one of those great men produced by the re- public whose names are tantamount to the most detailed eulo- gium for talent and patriotism. Every enterprise projected by the confederates was deliberately examined, rejected, or approved by these three associates, whose strict union of pur- pose, disowning all petty rivalry, formed the centre of coun- sels and the source of circumstances finally so fatal to France.f Louis XIV., now sixty years of age, could no longer him- self command his armies, or probably did not wish to risk the reputation he was conscious of having gained by the advice and services of Turenne, Conde, and Luxembourg. Louvois, too, was dead ; and Colbert no longer managed his finances. A council of rash and ignorant ministers hung like a dead weight on the talent of the generals who succeeded the great men above mentioned. Favor and not merit too oflen decided promotion, and lavished command. Vendome, Villars, Bouf- flers, and Berwick, were set aside, to make way for Villeroi, Tallard, and Marsin, men every way inferior. The war began in 1702 in Italy, and Marlborough opened his first campaign in Brabant also in that year. For several succeeding years the confederates pursued a career of bril- liant success, the details of which do not properly belong to this work. A mere chronology of celebrated battles would be of little interest, and the pages of English history abound in records of those deeds. Blenheim, Ramillies, Oudenarde, and Malplaquet, are names that speak for themselves, and tell their own tale of glory. The utter humiliation of Franca •ButdtVolUii«,aM>lwXII.pLl]a. tVoittlm. 1711. WAR RENEWED. 255 was the result of events, in which the undying fame of Eng- land for inflexible perseverance and unbounded generosity was joined in the strictest union with that of Holland ; and the impetuous valor of the worthy successor to the title of prince of Orange was, on many occasions, particularly at Malplaquet, supported by the devotion and gallantry of the Dutch contingent in the allied armies. The naval afikirs of Holland offered nothing very remarkable. The States had always a fleet ready to support the English in their enter- prises ; but no eminent admiral arose to rival the renown of Rooke, Byng, Benbovv, and others of tlieir allies. The first of those admiralB took Gibraltar, which has ever since re- mained in the possession of England. The great earl of Peterborough carried on the war with splendid success in Portugal and Spain, supported occasionally by the English fleet under Sir Cloudesley Shovel, and that of Holland under admirals Allemonde and Wapenaer.* During the progress of the war, the haughty and long-time imperial Louis was reduced to a state of humiliation that excited a compassion so profound as to prevent its own open expression — the most galling of all sentiments to a proud mind. In the year 1709 he solicited peace on terms of most abject submission. The states-general, under the mfluence of the duke of Marlborough and prince Eugene, rejected all his supplications, retorting unsparingly the insolent harshness with which he had formerly received similar proposals from them. France, roused to renewed exertions by the insulting treatment experienced by her humiliated but still haughty despot, made prodigious but vain efforts to repair her ruinous losses. In the following year Louis renewed his attempts to obtain some tolerable conditions; offering to renounce his grandson, and to comply with all the former demands of the confederates.! Even these overtures were rejected ; Holland and England appearing satisfied with nothing short of, what was afler all impracticable, the total destruction of the great power which Louis had so long proved to be incompatible with their welfare. The war still went on ; and the taking of Bouchain on the .30th of August, 1711, closed the almost unrivalled military career of Marlborough, by the success of one of his boldest and best conducted exploits.! Party in- trigue had accomplislied what, in court parlance, is called the disgrace, but which, in the language of common sense, means only the dismissal, of this great man. The new ministry, who hated the Dutch, now entered seriously into negotiations with France. The queen acceded to these views, and sent * SmoUet t Idem. J Idem 256 HISTORY OF THE NETHEKLANDS. 1713. special envoys to communicate with the court of Versailles. The states-general found it impossible to continue hostilities if England withdrew from the coalition; conferences were consequently opened at Utrecht in the month of January, 1712. England took the important station of arbiter in the great question there debated. The only essential conditions which she demanded individually, were the renunciation of all claims to the crown of France by Philip V., and the de- molition of the harbor of Dunkirk. The first of these was the more readily acceded to, as the great battles of Almanza and Villaviciosa, gained by Philip's generals the dukes of Berwick and Vendome, had steadily fixed him on the throne of Spain — a point still more firmly secured by the death of the emperor Joseph I., son of Leopold, and the elevation of his brother Charles, Philip's competitor for the crown of Spain, to the imperial dignity, by the title of Charles VI. The peace was not definitively signed until the 11th of April, 1713 ; and France obtained far better conditions than those which were refused her a few years previously. The Bel- gian provinces were given to the new emperor, and must henceforth be called the Austrian instead of the Spanish Netherlands. The gold and the blood of Holland had been profusely expended during this contest; it might seem for no positive results : but the exhaustion produced to every one of the other belligerents was a source of peace and prosperity to the republic. Its commerce was re-established ; its finan- cial resources recovered their level ; and altogether we must fix on the epoch now before us as that of its utmost point of influence and greatness. France, on the contrary, was now reduced from its palmy state of almost European sovereignty to one of the deepest misery ; and its monarch, in his old age, found little left of his former pawer but those records of poetry, p-tinting, sculpture, and architecture, which tell pos- terity of his magnificence, and the splendor of which throw his faults and his misfortunes into the shade. The great object now to be accomplished by the United Provinces, was the regulation of a distinct and guarantied line of frontier between the republic and France. This ob- ject had become by degrees, ever since the peace of Munster, a fundamental maxim of their politics. The interposition of the Belgian provinces between the republic and France was of serious inconvenience to the former in this point of view. It was made the subject of a special article in "the grand alliance." In the year 1707 it was particularly discussed between England and the States, to the great discontent of Jie emperor, who was far from wishing its definitive settle- 1718. PBACK OF UTRECHT. 257 ment.* But it was now become an indis|)ensable item in the total of important measures whose accomplishment was called for by the peace of Utrecht. Conferences were opened on this sole question at Antwerp in the year 1714; and, after protracted der Mersch, a soldier of fortune, and a man of considerable talents, who had raised himself from the ranks to the com- mand of a regiment, and had been formed in the school of the seven years' war, was appointed to the command of the pa- triot forces. Joseph II. was declared to have forfeited his sovereignty in Brabant; and hostilities soon commenced, by a regular advance of the insurgent army upon that province. Vander Mersch displayed consummate ability m this crisis, where so much depended upon the prudence of the military chief. He made no rash attempt, to which commanders are sometimes induced by reliance upon the enthusiasm of a newly revolted people. He, however, took the earliest safe opportunity of coming to blows with the enemy ; and, having cleverly induced the Austrians to follow him into the verir 266 HISTORY OF THE NEl-HERLANDS. 1791 streets of the town of Turnhout, he there entered on a bloodv contest, and finally defeated the imperialists with considera- ble loss. He next manoeuvred with great ability, and suc- ceeded in making his way into the province of Flanders, took Ghent by assault, and soon reduced Bruges, Ypres, and Os- tend. At the news of these successes, the governors-general quitted Brussels in all haste. The states of Flanders assem- bled, in junction with those of Brabant. Both provinces were freed from the presence of the Austrian troops. Vander Noot and the committee of Breda made an entrance into Brussels with all the pomp of royalty : and in the early part of the following year (1790) a treaty of union was signed by the seven revolted provinces, now formed into a confederatic«i under the name of the United Belgian States.* All the hopes arising from these brilliant events, were soon, however, to be blighted by the scorching heats of faction. Joseph II., whose temperament appears to have been too sen- sitive to support the shock of disappointment in plans which sprung from the purest motives, saw, in addition to this suc- cessful insurrection against his power, his beloved sister, the queen of France, menaced with the horrors of an inevitable revolution. His over-sanguine expectations of successftiUy rivalling the glory of Frederick and Catharine, and the ill success of his war against the Turks, all tended to break down his enthusiastic spirit, which only wanted the elastic resist- ance of fortitude to have made him a great character. He for some time sunk into a profound melancholy ; and expired on the 20th of January, 1791, accusing his Belgian subjects of having caused his premature death. Leopold, the successor of his brother, displayed much sa- gacity and moderation in the measures which he adopted for the recovery of the revolted provinces : but their internal disunion was the best ally of the new emperor. The violent party which now ruled at Brussels, had ungrateftilly forgot- ten the eminent services of Vander Mersch, and accused hira of treachery, merely from his attachment to the noble views and principles of the widely-increasing party of the Vonck- ists. Induced by tiie hope of reconciling the opposing parties, he left his army in Namur, and imprudently ventured into the power of general Schoenfeld, who commanded the troops of the states. Vander Mersch was instantly arrested and throvra into prison, where he lingered for months, until set free by the overthrow of the faction he had raised to power :f but he did not recover his liberty to witness the realization of his hopes for that of his country. The states-general, in * De Smet. t Fellsr'a Journal. 1792. WAR BETWEEN FRANCE AND AUSTRIA. 267 their triumph over all that was truly patriotic, occupied them- selves solely in contemptible labors to establish the monkish absurdities which Joseph had suppressed. The overtures of the new emperor were rejected with scorn ; and, as might be exjiected from this combination of bigotry and rashness, the imperial troops under general Bender marched quietly to the concjuest of the whole country ; town after town opening their gates, while Vander Noot and his partisans betook them- selves to rapid and disgraceful flight. On the 10th of De- cember, 1791, the ministers of the emperor concluded a con- vention with those of England, Russia, and Holland (which powers guarantied its execution,) by which Leopold granted an amnesty for all past offences, and confirmed to all his re- covered provinces their ancient constitution and privileges: and, thus returning under the domination of Austria, Bel- gium saw its best chance for successfully following the noble example of the United Provinces paralyzed by the short- sighted bigotry which deprived the national courage of all moral force. Leopold enjoyed but a short time the fruits of his well- measured indulgence : he died almost suddenly, March 1, 1792 ; and was succeeded by his son Francis IL, whose fate it was to see those provinces of Belgium, which had cost his ancestors so many struggles to maintain, wrested for ever from the imperial power. Belgium presented at this period an aspect of paramount interest to the world ; less owing to its intrinsic importance, than to its becoming at once the point of contest between the contending powers, and the theatre of the terrible struggle between republican France and the monarchs she braved and battled with. The whole combinations of European policy were staked on the question of the French poss 'ssion of this country.* This war between France and Austria began its earliest operations on the very first days after the accession of Francis II. The victory of Jemappes, gained by Dumouriez, was the first (j-reat event of the campaign. The Austrians were on all sides driven out. Dumouriez made his triumphal entry into Brussels on tJie 13th of November : and immediately after the occupation of this town, the whole of Flanders, Bra- bant, and Ilainault, with tlie other Belgian provinces, were subjected to France. Soon aflerwards several pretended deputies from tlie Belgi-in [>eople hastened to Paris, and im- plored the convention to grant them a share of that liberty and equality which was to confer such inestimable blessings • Abb6 de Pradt, de la Belgique, p. tt. 268 HISTORY OF THE PTETHERLANDS. 1794. on France. Various decrees were issued in consequence; and after the mockery of a public choice, hurried on in seve- ral of the towns by hired jacobins and well-paid patriots, the incorporation of the Austrian Netherlands with the French republic was formally pronounced.* The next campaign destroyed this whole fabric of revolu- tion. Dumouriez, beaten at Nerwinde by the prince of Saxe Cobourgf, abandoned not only his last year's conquest, but fled from his own army to pass the remainder of his life on a foreign soil, and leave his reputation a doubtful legacy to his- tory. Belgium, once again in the possession of Austria, was placed under the government of the archduke Charles, the emperor's brother, wlio was destined to a very brief continu- ance in this precarious authority. During this and the succeeding year the war was continued with unbroken perseverance and a constant fluctuation in its results. In the various battles which were fought, and tha sieges which took place, the English army was, as usual, in the foremost ranks, under the duke of York, second son of George III. The prince of Orang-e, at the head of the Dutch troops, proved his inheritance of the valor which seems inse- f (arable from the name of Nassau. The archduke Charles aid the foundation of his subsequent high reputation. The emperor Francis himself fought valiantly at the head of his troops. But all the coalesced courage of these princes and their armies could not etTectually stop the progress of the re- publican arms. The battle of Fleurus rendered the French completely masters of Belgium ; and the representatives of the city of Brussels once more repaired to the national con- vention of France, to solicit the reincorporation of the two countries. This was not, however, finally pronounced till the 1st of October, 1795, by which time the violence of an arbi- trary government had given the people a sample of what they were to expectf The Austrian Netherlands and the province of Liege were divided into nine departments, forming an in- tegral part of the French republic ; and this new state of things was consolidated by the preliminaries of peace, signed at Leoben in Styria, between the French general Bonaparte and the archduke Charles, and confirmed by the treaty of Campo-Formio on the 17th of October, 1797, • De Smev. t De Sraet 1704 THE BATAVIAN REPUBLIC. 269 CHAP. xxn. 1794—1813. FROM THE INVASION OF HOLLAND BY THE FRENCH TO THE RETURN OP THE PRINCE OF ORANGE. While the fate of Belgium was decided on the plaint of Fleurus, Pichegru prepared to carry the triumphant arms of France into the heart of Holland. He crossed the Meuse at the head of 100,000 men, and soon gained possession of most of the chief places of Flanders. An unusually severe winter was setting in ; but a circumstance which in common cases retards the operations of war was, in the present instance, the means of hurrying on the conquest on which the French general was bent. The arms of the sea, whicli had hitherto been the best defences of Holland, now became solid masses of ice ; battle-fields, on which the soldiers manoeuvred and the artillery thundered, as if the laws of the elements were repealed to hasten the fall of the once proud and long flour- ishing republic. Nothing could arrest the ambitious ardor of the invaders. The duke of York and his brave army resisted to the utmost; but, borne down by numbers, he was driven from position to position. Batteries, cannons, and magazines, were successively taken ; and Pichegru was soon at the term of his brilliant exploits. But Holland speedily ceased to be a scene of warfare. The discontented portion of the citizens, now the majority, re- joiced to retaliate the revolution of 1787 by another, received the French as liberators. Reduced to extremity, yet still capable by the aid of his allies of making a long and des- perate resistance, the stadtholder took the nobler resolution of saving his fellow-citizens from the horrors of prolonged warfare. He repaired to the Hague ; presented himself in the assembly of the states-general ; and solemnly deposited in their hands the exercise of the supreme power, which he found he could no longer wield but to entail misery and ruin on his conquered country. After this splendid instance of true patriotism and rare virtue, he quitted Holland and took ref- uge in England. The states-general dissolved a national as- sembly installed at the Hague ; and, the stadtholderate abol- ished, the United Provinces now changed their form of gov- ernment, their long-cherished institutions, and their very name, and were christened the Batavian Republic. Assurances of the most flattering nature were profusely riiowered on the new state, by the siiter republic which had 270 HISTORY OF THE NETHERLANDS. 1797. effected this new revolution. But the first measure of re- generation was the necessity of paying for the recovered in- dependence, which was effected for the sum of 100,000,000 florins.* The new constitution was almost entirely modelled on that of France, and the promised independence soon be- came a state of deplorable suftering and virtual slavery. In- calculable evils were the portion of Holland in the part which she was forced to take in the war between France and Eng- land. Her marine was nearly annihilated, and some of her most valuable possessions in tlie Indies ravished from her by the British arms. She was at the same time obliged to cede to her ally the whole of Dutch Flanders, Maestricht, Venloo, and their dependencies ; and to render free and common to both nations the navigation of the Rhine, the Mouse, and the Scheldt. The internal situation of tho unfortunate republic was de- plorable. Under the weight of an enormous and daily in- creasing debt, all the resources of trade and industry were paralyzed. Universal misery took place of opulence, and not even the consolation of a free constitution remained to the people. They vainly sought that blessing from each new government of the country whose destinies they followed, but whose advantages they did not share. They saw them- selves successively governed by the states-general, a national assembly, and the directory. But these ephemeral authorities had not sufficient weight to give the nation domestic happi- ness, nor consideration among the other powers. On the 11th of October, 1797, the English admiral Sir Adam Duncan, with a superior force, encountered the Dutch fleet under De Winter off Cainperdown ; and in spite of the bravery of the latter he was taken prisoner, with nine ships of the line and a frigate. An expedition on an expensive scale was soon after fitted out in England, to co-operate with a Russian force for the establishment of the house of Orange. The Helder was the destination of tliis armament, which was commanded by Sir Ralph Abercrombie. The duke of York soon arrived in the Texel with a considerable reinforcement. A series of severe and well-contested actions near Bergen ended in the defeat of the allies, and the abandonment of the enterprise ; the only success of which was the capture of the remains of the Dutch fleet, which was safely conveyed to England. From this period the weight of French oppression became every day more intolerable in Holland. Ministers, generals, and every other species of functionary, with swarms of minor * Chad. 1806. LOUIS BONAPARTE. 271 tyrants, while treating the country as a conquered province, deprived it of all share in the brilliant though chequered glories gained by that to which it was subservient. The Dutch were robbed of national independence and personal freedom. While the words 'liberty' and 'equality' were everywhere emblazoned, the French ambassador assumed an almost oriental despotism. The language and forms of a free government were used only to sanction a foreign tyranny ; and the Batavian republic, reduced to the most Jiopeless and degraded state, was in fact but a forced appendage chained to the triumplial car of France. Napoleon Bonaparte, creating by the force of his prodi- gious talents the circumstances of which inferior minds are but the creatures, now rapidly rose to the topmost height of power. He not only towered above the mass of prejudices which long custom had legalized, hut spurned the multitude by whom these prejudices liud been overthrown. Yet he was not of the first order of great minds ; for he wanted that grand principle of self-control, which is the supreme attribute of greatness. Potent, and almost irresistible in every con- flict with others, and only to be vanquished by his own acts, he possessed many of the higher qualities of genius. He was rapid, resolute, and daring, filled with contempt for the littleness of niankind, yet moulding every atom which com- posed that littleness to purposes at utter variance with its nature. In defiance of the first essence of republican theory, he built himself an imperial throne on the crushed privileges of a prostrate people ; and he lavished titles and dignities on men raised from its very dregs, with a profusion which made nobility a by-word of scorn. Kingdoms were created for his brothers and his friends ; and the Batavian republic was made a monarchy, to give Louis a dignity, or at least a title, like the rest. The character of Louis Bonaparte was gentle and amiable, his manners easy and affable. He entered on his new rank with the best intentions towards the country which he was sent to reign over : and though he felt acutely when the peo- ple refused him marks of respect and applause, which was frequently the case, his temper was not soured, and he con- ceived no resentment. He endeavored to merit popularity ; and though his power was scanty, his efforts were not wholly unsuccessful. He labored to revive the ruined trade, which he knew to be the staple of Dutch prosperity : but the mea- sures springing from this praiseworthy motive were totally opposed to the policy of Napoleon ; and in proportion as Louis made friends and partisans among his subjects, he excited 272 HISTORY OP THE NETHERLArCDS. 1810. bitter enmity in his imperial brother. Louis was so averse from the continental system, or exclusion of British manufac- tures, that during his short reign every facility was given to his subjects to elude it, even in defiance of the orders con- veyed to him from Paris through the medium of the French ambassador at the Hague.* He imposed no restraints on public opinion, nor would he establish the odious system of espionage cherished by the French police : but he was fickle in his purposes, and prodigal in his expenses. The profuse- ness of his expenditure was very offensive to the Dutch no- tions of respectability in matters of private finance, and in- jurious to the existing state of the public means. The tyr- anny of Napoleon became soon quite insupportable to him ; BO much so, that it is believed that had the ill-fated English expedition to Walcheren in 1809 succeeded, and the ajmy advanced into the country, he would have declared war against France.f After an ineffectual struggle of more than three years, he chose rather to abdicate his throne than re- tain it under the degrading conditions of proconsulate sub- serviency. This measure excited considerable regret, and much esteem for the man who preferred the retirement of private life to the meanness of regal slavery. But Louis lefl a galling memento of misplaced magnificence, in an in- crease of 90 millions of florins (about 9 millions sterling) to the already oppressive amount of the national debt of the country. The annexation of Holland to the French empire was im- mediately pronounced by Napoleon. Two thirds of the na- tional debt were abolished, the conscription law was intro- duced, and the Berlin and Milan d{^crees against the intro- duction of British manufactures were rigidly enforced. The nature of the evils inflicted o* the Dutch people by this an- nexation and its consequences lemands a somewhat minute examination. Previous to it all that part of the territory of the former United Provinces had been ceded to France. The kingdom of Holland consisted of the departments of the Zuyder Zee, the mouths of the Maese, the Upper Yssel, the mouths of the Yssel, Friesland, and the Western and Eastern Ems ; and the population of the whole did not exceed 1,800,000 souls. When Jjouis abdicated his throne, he left a military and naval force of 18,000 men, who were immediately taken into the service of France ; and in three years and a half after that event this number was increased to 50,000, by the operation of the French naval and military code : thus about a thirty-sixth part of the whole population was employed in • Chad. p. 13. t lUena. p. 14. 1812. CONSCRIPTION. 273 arms. The forces included in the maritime conscription were wholly employed in the navy. The national guards were on constant duty in the jjarrisons or naval establish- ments. The cohorts were by law only liable to serve in the interior of the French empire ; — that is to say, from Ham- burgh to Rome : but after tlie Russian campaign, this limita- tion was disregarded, and they formed a part of Napoleon's army at the battle of Bautzen. The conscription laws now began to be executed with the greatest rigor; and though the strictest justice and impar- tiality were observed in the ballot and other details of this most oppressive measure, yet it has been calculated that, on an average, nearly one-half of the male population of the age of twenty years was annually taken off. The conscripts were told that their service was not to extend beyond the term of five years ; but as few instances occurred of a French soldier being discharged without his being declared unfit for service, it was always considered in Holland that the service of a con- script was tantamount to an obligation during life. Besides, the regulations respecting the conscription were annually changed, by which means the code became each year more intricate and confused; and as the explanation of any doubt rested with the functionaries, to whom the execution of the law was confided, there was little chance of their construc- tions mitigating its severity. But the conscription, however galling, was general in its operation. Not so the formation of the emperor's guard of honor. The members of this patrician troop were chosen from the most noble and opulent families, particularly those who were deemed inimical to the French connexion. The selection depended altogether on the pr<^fect, who was sure to name those most obnoxious to his political or personal dis- like, without regard to their rank or occupation, or even the state of their health. No exemption was admitted — not even to those who from mental or bodily infirmity, or other cause, had been declared unfit for general military duty. The vic- tims were forced to the mockery of volunteering their ser- vices; obliged to provide tlieini^cdves with horses, arms, and accoutrements ; and when arrived at the depot appointed for their assembling, considered probably but as hostages for the fidelity of their relatives. The various taxes were laid on and levied in the most op- pressive manner ; those on land usually amounting to 25, and those on houses to 30 per cent of the clear annual rent. Other direct taxes were levied on persons and movable prop- 18 274 HISTORY OF THE NETHERLANDS. 1813. erty, and all were regulated on a scale of almost intolerable severity. The whole sum annually obtained from Holland by these means amounted to about 30 millions of florins (or 3 million pounds sterling,) being at the rate of about 11. 13s. 4rf. from every soul inhabiting the country. Tlie operation of what was called the continental system created an excess of misery in Holland, only to be understood by those who witnessed its lamentable results. In other coun- tries, Belgium for instance, where great manufactories exist- ed, the loss of maritime communication was compensated by the exclusion of English goods. In states possessed of large and fertile territories, the population which could no longer be employed in commerce might be occupied in agricultural pursuits. But in Holland, whose manufactures were incon- siderable, and whose territory is insufficient to support its inhabitants, the destruction of trade threw innumerable indi- viduals wholly out of employment, and produced a graduated scale of poverty in all ranks. A considerable part of the popu- lation had been employed in various branches of the traffic carried on by means of the many canals which conveyed merchandise from the seaports into tlie interior, and to the different continental markets. When the communication with England was cut off, principals and subordinates were in- volved in a common ruin. In France, the effect of the continental system was some- what alleviated by the license trade, the exportation of vari- ous productions forced on the rest of continental Europe, and the encouragement given to home manufactures. But all this was reversed in Holland : the few licenses granted to the Dutch were clogged with duties so exorbitant as to make them useless; the duties on one ship which entered the Maese, loaded with sugar and coffee, amounting to about 50,000^. sterling. At the same time every means were used to crush the remnant of Dutch commerce and sacrifice the country to France. The Dutch troops were clothed and armed from French manufactories ; the frontiers were opened to the introduction of French commodities duty free; and the Dutch manufacturer undersold in his own market. The population of Amsterdam was reduced from 220,000 souls to 190,000, of which a fourth part derived their whole subsistence from charitable institutions, whilst another fourth part received partial succor from the same sources. At Hger- lem, where the population had been chiefly employed in bleaching and preparing linen made in Brabant, whole streets were levelled with the ground, and more than 500 houses 1813. OPPRESSION OF NAPOLEON. 275 destroyed. At tlie Hag'ue, at Delft, and in other towns, many inhabitants had been iriducol to pull down their houses, from inability to kt;ep them in repair or pay the taxes. The pre- servation <^f' the «l'k'-8. lefpiirin^ an annual expense of 600,000/. steriiny, was everywhere neglected. The sea in- undated the country, and threatened to resume its ancient dominion. No object of ambition, no source of professional wealth or distinction, remained to which a Hollander could aspire. None could voluntarily enter the army or navy, to fight for the worst enemy of Holland. The clergy were not provided with a decent competency. The ancient laws of the country, so dear to its pride and its prejudices, were re- placed by the Code Napoleon ; so that old practitioners had to recommence their studies, and young men were disgusted with the drudgery of learning a system which was universally pronounced unfit for a commercial country. Independent of this mass of positive ill, it must be borne in mind that in Holland trade was not merely a means of gain- ing wealth, but a passion long and deeply grafted on the na- tional mind : so that the J^utch felt every aggravation of calamity, considering themselves degraded and sacrificed by a power which had robbed them of all which attaches a peo- ple to their native land ; and, for an accumulated list of evils, only offered them the empty glory of appertaining to the country which gave the law to all the nations of Europe, with the sole exception of England. Those who have considered the events noted in this history for the last 200 years, and followed the fluctuations of public opinion depending on prosperity or misfortune, will have an- ticipated that, in the present calamitous state of the country, all eyes were turned towards the family whose memory was revived by every pang of slavery, and associated with every throb for freedom. The presence of the prince of Orange, William IV., who had, on the death of his father, succeeded to the title, though he had lost tlie revenues of his ancient house, and the re-establishment of the connexion with Eng- land, were now the general desire. Some of the principal partisans of the house of Nassau were for some time in cor- respondence with his most serene highness. The leaders of the various parties into which the country was divided be- came by degrees more closely united. Approaches towards a better understanding were reciprocally made ; and they ended in a general anxiety for the expulsion of the French, with the establishment of a free constitution, and a cordial desire that the prince of Orange should be at its head. Il 276 HISTORY OF THE NETHERLANDS. 1813 may be safely affirmed, that at the clope of the year 1813, these were the unanimous wishes of the Dutch nation.* Napoleon, lost in the labyrinths of his e.xorbitant ambition, afforded at length a chance of redress to the nations he had enslaved. Elevated so suddenly and so higii, he seemed sus- pended between two influences, and unfit for either. He might, in a moral view, be said to have breathed badly, in a station which was beyond the atmosphere of his natural world, without being out of its attraction ; and having reach- ed the pinnacle, he soon lost his balance and fell. Driven from Russia by the junction of human with elemental force, in 1812, he made some grand efforts in the following year to recover from his irremediable reverses. The battles of Baut- zen and Lutzen were the expiring efforts of his greatness. That of Leipsic put a fatal negative upon the hopes that sprung from the two former; and the obstinate ambition, which at this epoch made him refuse the most liberal offers of the allies, was justly punished by humiliation and defeat. Almost all the powers of^ Europe now leagued against him ; and France itself being worn out by his wasteful expenditure of men and money, he had no longer a chance in resistance. The empire was attacked at all points. The French troops in Holland were drawn off to reinforce the armies ui distant directions; and the whole military force in that country scarcely exceeded 10,000 men. The advance of the combined armies towards the frontiers became generally known : par- ties of Cossacks had entered the north of Holland in Novem- ber, and were scouring the country beyond the Yssel. The moment for action on the part of the Dutch confederate pa- triots had now arrived ; and it was not lost or neglected. A people inured to revolutions for upwards of two centu- ries, filled with proud recollections, and urged on by well- digested hopes, were the most likely to understand the best period and the surest means for success. An attempt that might have appeared to other nations rash, was proved to be wise, both by the reasonings of its authors and its own re- sults. The intolerable tyranny of France had made the popu- lation not only ripe, but eager for revolt. This disposition was acted on by a few enterprising men, at once partisans of the house of Orange, and patriots in the truest sense of the word. It would be unjust to omit the mention of some of thei'* names, in even this sketch of the events which sprang from their courage and sagacity. Count Styrum, Messieurs Repe- * Chad. p. 39.— [We ha vR in all this portion of our history taken this work as our chief authority ; having reason to know that it is considered thfl most authentic record of feelings as well as events ] 1813. PRINCE OF ORANGE PROCLAIMED. 277 laer d'Jonge, Van Hogendorp, Vander Duyn van Maasdam, and Chanjruion, were the chiefs of the intrepid junta which planned and executed the bold measures of enfranchisement, and drew up the outlines of the constitution which was after- wards enlarged and ratified. 'J'hcir first movements at the Hag-ue were totally unsupported by foreign aid. Their early checks from the exasperated French and their over-cautious countrymen, would have deterred most men embarked in so perilous a venture ; but they never swerved nor shrank back. At the head of a force, which courtesy and policy called an army, of 300 national guards badly armed, 50 citizens carrying fowling-pieces, 50 soldiers of the old Dutch guard, 400 auxiliary citizens armed with pikes, and a cavalry force of 20 young men, the confederates boldly proclaimed the prince of Orange, on the 17th of November, 1813, in their open village of the Hague, and in the teeth of a French force of full 10,000 men, occupying every fortress in the country. While a few gentlemen thus boldly came forward, at their own risk, with no funds but their private fortunes, and only aided by an unarmed populace, to declare war against the French emperor, they did not even know the residence of the exiled prince in whose cau-se they were now so completely compromised. Tiie other towns of Holland were in a state of the greatest incertitude : Rotterdam had not moved ; and the intentions of admiral Kickert, who commanded there, were (mistakenly) supposed to be decidedly hostile to the na- tional cause. Amsterdam had, on the preceding day, been the scene of a popular commotion, which however bore no decided character ; the rioters having been fired on by the national guard, no leader coming forward, and the proclama- tion of the magistrates cautiously abstaining from any allu- sion to the prince of Orange. A brave officer, captain Falck, had made use of many strong but inefficient arguments to prevail on the timid corporation to declare for the prince; the presence of a French garrison of sixty men seeming suf- ficient to preserve their patriotism from any violent excess. The subsequent events at the Hague, furnish an inspiring lesson for all people who would learn, that to be free they must be resolute and daring. The only hope of the confed- erates was from the British government, and the combined armies then acting in the north of Europe. But many days were to be lingered through before troops could be embarked, and make their way from England in the teeth of the easterly winds then prevailing; while a few Cossacks, hovering on the confines of Holland, gave the only evidence of the prox- imity of the allied forces. 278 HISTORY OF THE NETHERLANDS. 1813. In this crisis, it was most fortunate that the French prefect at t!ie Hague, M. de Stassart, had stolen away on the earliest alarm; and the French garrison, of 400 chasseurs, aided by 100 well-armed custom house officers, under the command of general Bouvier des Eclats, caught the contagious fears of the civil functionary. This force had retired to the old palace, -a building in the centre of the town, the depot of all the rms and ammunition then at the Hague, and, from its posi- tion, capable of some defence. But the general and his gar- rison soon felt a complete panic from the bold attitude of count Styrum, who made the most of his little means, and kept up, during the ni^ht, a prodigious clatter by his twenty horsemen ; sentinels challenging, amidst incessant singing and shouting, cries of " Oranje boven!"' " Vivat Oranje.'" and clamorous patrols of the excited citizens. At an early hour on the 18th, the French general demanded terms, and obtained permission to retire on Gorcum, his garrison being escorted as far as the village of Ryswick, by the twenty cav- aliers who composed the whole mounted force of the patriots. Unceasing efforts were now made to remedy the want of arms and men. A quantity of pikes were rudely made and distributed to the volunteers, who crowded in ; and numerous fishing-boats were dispatched in different directions to inform the British cruisers of the passing events. An individual named Pronck, an inhabitant of Schsevening, a village of the coast, rendered great services in tliis way, from his influence among the sailors and fishermen in the neighborhood. The confederates spared no exertion to increase the confi- dence of the people, under many contradictory and disheart- ening contingencies. An officer who had been dispatched for advice and information to baron Bentinck, at Zwolle, who was in communication with the allies, returned with the dis- couraging news that general Bulow had orders not to pass the Yssel, the allies having decided not to advance into Hol- land beyond the line of that river. A meeting of the ancient regents of the Hague was convoked by the proclamation of the confederates, and took place nt the house of Mr. Van Ho- gendorp, the ancient residence of the De Witts. The wary magistrates absolutely refused all co-operation in the daring measures of the confederates, who had now the whole re- sponsibility on their heads, witli little to cheer them on in their perilous career, but their own resolute hearts, and the recollection of those days when their ancestors, with odds as fearfully against them, rose up and shivered to atoms the yoke of their oppressors. Some days of intense aiuciety now elapsed ; and various 1813. ARMIES OF UTRKCHT AND GORCUM. 279 incidents occurred to keep up the general excitement. Re- inforcements came gradually in ; no hostile measure was re- sorted to by the French troops ; yet the want of success, as rapid as was proportioned to the first movements of the revo- lution, threw a gloom over all. Amsterdam and Rotterdam still held back; but the nomination of Messrs. Van Hogen- dorp and Vander Duyn Van Mfiasdam to be heads of the gov ermnent, until the arrival of the prince of Orange, and a formal abjuration of the emperor Napoleon, inspired new vigor into the public mind. Two nominal armies were formed, and two generals appointed to the command ; and it is un- possible to resist a smile of mh^^ed amusement ar.l admira- tion, on reading the exact statement of the forces, so pomp- ously and so effectively announced as forming the armies of Utrecht and Gorcum. The first of these, commanded by major-general D'Jonge, consisted of 800 Infantry, 32 Volunteer cavalry, with 2 Eight pounders. The latter, under the orders of major-general Sweertz Van Landas, was composed of 250 of the Hague Orange guard, 30 Prussian deserters from the French garrison, 300 Volunteers, 40 Cavalry, with 2 Eight pounders. The " army of Gorcum" marched on the 22d on Rotter- dam : its arrival was joyfully hailed by the people, who con- tributed 300 volunteers to swell its ranks. The " army of Utrecht" advanced on Leyden, and raised the spirits of the people by the display of even so small a force. But still the contrary winds kept back all appearance of succor from Eng- land; the enemy was known to meditate a general attack on the patriot lines from Amsterdam to Dordrecht. The bad state of the roads still retarded the approach of the far-distant armies of the allies ; alarms, true and false, were spread on all hands, — when the appearance of 300 Cossacks, detached from the Russian armies beyond the Yssel, prevailed over the hesitation of Amsterdam and the other towns, and they at length declared for the prince of Orange. But this somewhat tardy determination seemed to be the signal for various petty events, which at an epoch like that were magnified into transactions of the most fatal import. A reinforcement of 1500 French troops reached Gorcum from Antwerp : a detachment of twenty-five Dutch, with a piece 280 HISTORY OP THE NETHERLANDS. 1813. of cannon, were surprised at one of the outposts of Woerden, which had been previously evacuated by the French, and th« recapture of tlie town was accompanied by some excesses The numbers and the cruelties uf the enemy were greatly ex- aggerated. (Jonsternation began to spread v\\ o\er the coun- try. The French, who seemed to have reco.^^red irom their panic, had resumed on all sides offensive operations. The garrison of Gorcuro made a sortie, repulsed tlie force under general Van Landas, entered the town of Dordrecht, and le- vied contributions: but the inliabitants soon expelled them; and the army was enabled to resume its position. Still the wind contumed adverse to arrivals from the Eng- lish coast; the Cos3acks, so otlen announced, had not yet reached the Hag-ue ; and the small unsu]»ported parties in the neighborhood of Amsterdam were in daily danger of being cut off. In this crisis the confederates were placed in a most critical position. On the eve of riiriiirc, ami with the certainty, in such a result, of being branded as rebels and zealots, whose rashness had drawn down ruin on themselves, their familie^t and their country, it required no common share of fortitude to bear up against the danger that threatened them. Aware of its extent, they calmly and resolutely opposed it; and each seemed to vie with ihe others in energy and firmness. The anxiety of the public had reached the utmost possible height. Every shifting of the wind was watched with nerv- ous agitation. The road from the Hague to the sea was con- stantly covered with a crowd of every age and sex. Each sail that came in sight was watched and exatnined with in- tense interest ; and at length, on the 26th of November, a small boat was seen to approach the shore, and the inquiring glances of the observers soon discovered that it contained an Englishman. This individual, who had come over on a mer- cantile adventure, landed amidst the loudest acclamation, and was conducted by the populace in triumph to the governor's. Dressed in an English volunteer uniform, he showed himself in every part of the town, to the great delight of the people, who hailed him as the precursor and type of an army of de- liverers. The French soon retreated before the marvellous exag- gerations which the coming of this single Englishman gave rise to. The Dutch displayed great ability in the transmis- sion of false intelligence to the enemy. On the 27th Mr. Fagel arrived from England with a letter from the prince of Orange, announcing his immediate coming ; and finally, the disembarkation of 200 English marines, on the 29th> was fol- 1813. WILLIAM LANDS IN HOLLAND. 281 lowed tlie next day by tlie landing of tlic prince, whose impa- tience to throw himself into the open arms of his country made him spurn every notion of risk and every reproach for rashness. He was received with indescribable entimsiasm. The generous flame rushed through the whole country. No bounds were set to the affectionate confidence of the nation, and no prince ever gave a nobler example of gratitude. As the people everywhere proclaimed William I. sovereign prince, it was proposed that he should everywhere rissume that title. It was, however, after some consideration, decided that no step of tliis nature should be taken till his most serene highness had visited the ciipital. On tlie 1st of December the prince issued a proclamation to his countrymen, in which he states his hopes of becoming, by the blessing of Providence, the means of restoring them to their former state of indepen- dence and prosperity. "This," continued he, "is my only object ; and I have the satisfaction of assuring you, that it is also the object of the combined powers. This is particularly the wish of the prince regent and the British nation ; and it will be proved to you by the succor which that powerful people will immediately affiird you, and which will, I hope, restore those ancient bonds of alliance and friendship which were a source of prosperity and happiness to both countries." This address being distributed at Amsterdam, a proclamation, signed by the commissioners of the confederate patriots, was published there the same day : it contained the following pas- sages, remarkable as being the first authentic declaration of the sovereignty subsequently conferred on the prince of Or- ange : — " The uncertainty which formerly existed as to the executive power will no longer paralyze your efforts. It is not William the sixtli stadtholder whom the nation recalls, without knowing what to hope or expect from him ; but Wil- liam I. who offers himself as sovereign prince of this free coun- try." The following day, tlie 2d of December, the prince made his entry into Amsterdam. He did not, like some other sovereigns, enter by a breach through the constitutional liber- ties of his country, in imitation of the conquerors from the Olympic games, who returned to the city by a breach in its walls: he went forward borne on the enthusiastic greetings of his fellow-countrymen, and meeting their confidence by a full measure of magnanimity. On the 3d of December he published an address, from which we shall quote one para- graph. — " You desire, Netherlands ! that I should be intrusted with a greater share of power than I should have possessed but for my absence. Your confidence, your aflfection, ofler me the sovereignty ; and I am called upon to accept it, since 282 HISTORY OF THE NETHERLANDS. 1814. the state of my country and the situation of Europe require it. I accede to your wishes. I overlook the difficulties which may attend such a measure ; I accept the ofier which you have made me ; but I accept it only on one condition, — that it shall be accompanied by a wise constitution, which shall guar- anty your liberties, and secure them against every attack. My ancestors sowed the seeds of your independence: thft preservation of that independence shall be the constant object of the efforts of myself and those around me." CHAP. xxin. 1814—1815. FROM THE INSTALLATION OF WILLIAM I. AS PRINCE SOVKRKIGN OF THE NETHERLANDS TO THE BATTLE OF WATERLOO. The regeneration of Holland was rapid and complete. Within four months, an army of 25,000 men was raised ; and in the midst of financial, judicial, and commercial arrange- ments, the grand object of the constitution was calmly and seriously debated. A committee, consisting of fourteen per- sons of the first importance in the several provinces, furnished the result of three months' labors in the plan of a political code, which was immediately printed and published for the consideration of the people at large. Twelve hundred names were next chosen from among the most respectable house- holders in the different towns and provinces, including per- sons of every religious persuasion, whether Jews or Chris- tians. A special commission was then formed, who selected from this number 600 names; and every housekeeper was cilled on to give his vote for or against their election. A large majority of the 600 notables thus chosen met at Am- sterdam, on the 28th of March, 1814. Tiie following day they assembled with an immense concourse of people, in the great church, which was splendidly fitted up for the occasion ; and then and there the prince, in an impressive speech, solemnly offered the constitution for acceptance or rejection. After a few hours' deliberation, a discharge of artillery announced to the anxious population that the constitution had been accepted. The numbers present were 483, and the votes as follows : — Ayes, . - - 458 Noes, - - - - 25. There were 117 members absent ; several of these were 1814. THE CONSTITVTION ACCEPTED. 283 kept away by uruivoidalilo obsUiclt»s. The majority amoncr them was considered as dissentients ; but it was calculated tlmt if the whole body of 0(K) liiid vottnl, the adoption of the constitution would have bt'cn carried by a majority of five sixths, 'i'he dissentients chiefly objected to tlie power of de- claring war and concluding treaties of peace being vested in the sovereign, ^ome individuals urged that the Protestant interest was endangered l)y the adini;;sion of persons of every persuasion to all public offices; a7id the CatJiolics complained that the state did not sufficiently contribute to the support of their religious establishments. Such objections as these were to be expected, from indi- vidual interest or sectarian prejuciiccs. But they prove that the whole plan was fairly considered and solemnly adopted ; that so far from being the dictation of a government, it was the freely chosen charter of the nation at large, offered and sworn to by the prince, whose authority was only exerted in restraining and modifying the over-ardent generosity and con- fidence of the people. Only one day more elapsed before the new sovereign was solemnly inaugurated, and took the oath prescribed by the constitution — '' I swear that first and above all things I will maintain the constitution of the I'nited Netherknds, and that \ will promote, to the utmost of my power, the independence of the state, and the liberty and prosperity of its inhabitants." In the eloquent simplicity of thiti pledge, the Dutch riation found an ample guarantee for their freedom and happiness. With their characteristic wisdom and moderation, they saw that the obligation it imposed embraced every thing they could demand ; and they joined in the opinion expressed by the sovereign in his inaugural address, that " no greater de- gree of liberty could be de'=;n d by rational subjects, nor any larger share of power b> lie sovereign, than that allotted to them respectively by the liolitical code." Wliile Holland thus resjn.ed its plnce among free nations, and France was restored ro the Hsiubons by the abdicaticm of Napoleon, the allied arnues h-dc iaken possession of and oc- cupied the remainder of 'r<: Low Countries, or those prov- inces distinguished by the i.amf uf Belgium (but then still forming departments of the J'rench empire,) and the provi sional government was vested in baron Vincent, the Austrian general. This choice seemed to indicate an intention of re- storing Austria to her ancient domination over the country. Such was certainly the common opinion among those who had no means of penetrating the secrets of European policy at that important epoch. It was in fact, quite conformable to 284 HISTORY OP THE NETHERLANDS. 1814. the principle of statu quo ante helium, adopted towards France. Baron Vincent himself seemed to have been im- pressed with the false notion ; and there did not exist a doubt throughout Belgium of the re-establisment of the old insti- tutions. But the intentions of the allied powers were of a nature far different. The necessity of a consolidated state capable of offering a barrier to French aggression on the Flemish frontier, was evident to the various powers who Iiad so long suffered from its want. By England particularly, such a field was required for the operations of her armies; and it was also the interest of that nation that Holland, whose welfare and prosperity are so closely connected with her own, should enjoy the blessings of national independence and civil liberty, guarantied by internal strength as well as friendly alliances. The treaty of Paris (SOth R'ay, 1814) was the first act which gave an open manifestation of this principle. It was stipulated by its sixth article, that " Holland, placed under the sovereignty of the house of Orange, should receive an in- crease of territory." In this was explained the primitive no- tion of the creation of the kingdom of the Netherlands, based on the necessity of augmenting the power of a nation which was destined to turn the balance between France and Ger- many. The following month witnessed the execution of the treaty of London, which prescribed the precise nature of the projected increase. It was wholly decided, without subjecting the question to the approbation of Belgium, that that country and Holland should form one United State ; and the rules of government in the chief branches of its administration were completely fixed. The prince of Orange and the plenipotentiaries of the great allied powers covenanted by this treaty — first, that the union of the two portions forming the kingdom of the Netherlands should be as perfect as possible, forming one state, governed in conformity with the fundamental law of Holland, which might be modified by common consent: secondly, that religious liberty, and the equal right of citizens of all persuasions to fill all the employments of the state, should be maintained : thirdly, that the Belgian provinces should be fairly presented in the assembly of the states-gene- ral ; and that tlie sessions of the states in time of peace should be held alternately in Belgium and in Holland : fourthly and fifthly, that all the commercial privileges of the country should be common to the citizens at large ; that the Dutch colonies should be considered as belonging equally to Bel- 1814. THE DUTCH CHARACTER. 285 gium : and finally, that the public debt of the two countries, and the expenses of its interest, should be borne in common. We shall now briefly recapitulate some striking points in the materials which were thus meant to be amalgamated. Holland, wrenched from the Spanish yoke by the genius ant* courage of the early princes of Orange, had formed for two centuries an independent republic, to which the extension of maritime commerce had given immense wealth. The form of government was remarkable. It was composed of seven provinces, mutually independent of eacli other. These prov- inces possessed during the middle ages constitutions nearly similar to that of England : a sovereign with limited power ; representatives of the nobles and commons, whose concur- rence with the prince was necessary for the formation of laws; and, finally, the existence of municipal privileges, which each town preserved and extended by means of its proper force. This state of tilings had known but one altera- tion — but that a mighty one — the forfeiture of Philip II. at the latter end of the sixteenth century, and the total abolition of monarchical power. The remaining forms of the government were hardly altered ; so that the state was wholly regulated by its ancient usages ; and, like some Gothic edifice, its beauty and solidity were perfectly original, and different from the general rules and modern theories of surrounding nations. The country loved its liberty such as it found it, and not in the fashion of any Utopian plan traced by some new-fangled system of politi- cal philosophy. Inherently Protestant and commercial, the Dutch abhorred every yoke but that of their own laws, of which they were proud even in tlieir abuse. They held in particular detestation all French customs, in remembrance of the wretchedness they had suffered from French tyranny, they had unbounded confidence in the house of Orange, from long experience of its hereditary virtues. The main strength of Holland was, in fact, in its recollections ; but these, per- haps, generated a germ of discontent, in leading it to expect a revival of all tlie influence it had lost, and was little likely to recover, in the total change of systems and the variations of trade. There nevertheless remained sufficient capital ir the country, and the people were sufficiently enlightened, tc give just and extensive hope for the future which now dawned on them. The obstacles offered by the Dutch character to the proposed union were chiefly to be found in the dogmatical opinions, consequent on the isolation of the country from all the principles that actuated other states, and particularly that with which it was now joined : while long-cherished senti- 286 HISTORY OF THE NETHERLANDS. 1814. ments of opposition to the Catholic religion was little likely to lead to feelings of accommodation and sympathy with its new fellow-citizens. The inhabitants of Belgium, accustomed to foreign domi- nation, were little shocked by the fact of the allied powers having disposed of their fate witliout consulting their wishes. But they were not so indifferent to the double discovery of finding themselves the subjects of a Dutch and a Protestant king. Without entermg at large into any invidious discus- sion on the causes of the natural jealousy which they felt towards Holland, it may suffice to state that such did exist and in no very moderate degree. The countries had hithertc had but little community of interests with each other ; and they formed elements so utterly discordant as to afibrd but slight hope that they would speedily coalesce. The lowor classes of the Bolgian population were ignorant as well as superstitious (not that these two qualities are to be considered as inseparable) ; and if they were averse to the Dutch, they were perhaps not more favorably disposed to the French and Austrians. The majority of the nobles may be said to have leant more, at this period, to the latter than to either of the other two people. But the great majority of the industrious and better informed portions of the middle orders felt differ- ently from the other two, because they had found tangible and positive advantages in their subjection to France, which overpowered every sentiment of political degradation. We thus see there was little sympathy between the mem- bers of the national family. The first glance at the geo- graphical position of Holland and Belgium might lead to a belief that their interests were analogous. But we have traced the anomalies m government and religion in the two countries, which led to totally different pursuits and feelings. Holland had sacrificed manufactures to commerce. The in- troduction, duty free, of grain from the northern parts of Europe, though checking" the progress of agriculture, hai not prevented it to flourish marvellously, considering this obstacle to culture ; and, faithful to their traditional notions, the Dutch saw the elements of well-being only in that liberty of importation which had made their harbors the marts and magazines of Europe. But the Belgian, to use the expres- sions of an acute and well-informed writer, "restricted in the thrall of a less liberal religion, is bounded in the narrow cir- cle of his actual locality. "^Concentrated in his home, he does not look beyond the limits of his native land, which he re- gards exclusively. Incurious, and stationary in a happy ex- 1813. FORMATION OF THE MONARCHY. 287 istence, he has no interest in wiiat passes beyond his own doors."* Totally unaccustomed to the free principles of trade so cherished by the Dutch, the Belgians had found, under the protection of the French custom-house laws, an internal com- merce and agricultural advantages, which composed their peculiar prosperity. They found a consumption for tlie pro- duce of their well-cultivated lands, at high prices, in the neighboring provinces of France. The webs woven by the Belgian peasantry, and generally all the manufactures of the country, met no rivalry from tliose of England, which were strictly prohibited ; and being commonly superior to those of France, the sale was sure and the profit considerable. Belgium was as naturally desirous of this state of things as Holland was indifferent to it ; but it could only have been accomplished by the destruction of free trade, and the exclu- sive protection of internal manufactures. Under such dis- crepancies as we have thus traced in religion, character, and local interests, the two countries were made one ; and on the new monarch devolved the hard and delicate task of recon- ciling each party in the ill-assorted match, and inspiring them with sentiments of mutual moderation. Under the title of governor-general of the Netherlands (for his intended elevation to the throne, and the definitive junction of Holland and Belgium were still publicly un- known), the prince of Orange repaired to his new state. He arrived at Brussels in the month of August, 1814, and his first eifort was to gain the hearts and the confidence of the people, though he saw the nobles and the higher orders of the inferior classes (with the exception of the merchants) in- triguing all around him for the re-establishment of the Aus- trian power. Petitions on this subject were printed and dis- tributed ; and the models of those anti-national documents may still be referred to in a work published at the time.f As soon as the moment came for promulgating the decision of the sovereign powers as to the actual extent of the new kingdom — that is to say, in the month of February, 1815 — the whole plan was made public: and a commission, consist- ing of twenty-seven members, Dutch and Belgian, was form- ed, to consider the modifications necessary in the fundamental law of Holland, in pursuance of the stipulation of the treaty of London. After due deliberation these modifications were • L'Abb6 de Pradt. de la Belgique, pp 10. 14. t Uigtorjr of the Low Countries, by St. G«noiit. 288 HISTORY OF THE NETHERLANDS. 1815. formed, and the great political pact was completed for the final acceptance of the king and people. Aa a document so important merits particular consideration, in reference to the formation of the new monarchy, we shall briefly condense the reasoning's of the most impartial and well-informed classes in the country on the constitution now about to be framed. Every one agreed that some radical change in the whole form of government was necessary, and that its main improvement should be the strengthening of the executive power. That possessed by the former stadtholders of Holland was often foimd to be too much for the chief of a republic, too little for the head of a monarchy.* The assem- bly of the states-general, as of old constructed, was defective in many points; in none so glaringly so, as in that condition which required unanimity in questions of peace or war, and in the provision, from which they had no power to swerve, that all the taxes should be uniform. Both these stipulations were, of sheer necessity, continually disregarded ; so that the government could be carried on at all only by repeated violations of the constitution. In order to excuse measures dictated by this necessity, each stadtholder was perpetually obliged to form partisans, and he thus became the hereditary head of a faction. t His legitimate power was trifling; but his influence was capable of fearful increase : for the prin- ciple which allowed him to infringe the constitution, even on occasions of public good, might be easily warped into a pre- text for encroachments that had no bounds but his own will. Besides, the preponderance of the deputies from the com- mercial towns in the states-general caused the others to be- come mere ciphers in times of peace ; only capable of clogging the march of affairs, and of being, on occasions of civil dis- sensions, the mere tools of whatever party possessed the greatest tact in turning them to their purpose.}: Hence a wide field was open to corruption. Uncertainty embarrassed every operation of the government. Tlie Hague became an arena for the conflicting intrigues of every court in Europe. Holland was dragged into almost every war; and thus grad- ually weakened from its rank among indeyiendent nations, it at length fell an easy prey to the Frencfi invaders. To prevent the recurrence of such evils as those, and to establish a kingdom on tlie solid basis of a monarchy, une- quivocal in its essence yet restrained in its prerogative, the constitution we are now examining was established. Accord- ing to the report of the commissioners who framed it, " It is * Cbsd. f Idem. { Idem. / 1815. NAPOLEON RETURNS FROM ELBA. 289 founded on the mamners and habits of the nation, on its pub- lic economy and its old institutions, with a disregard for the ephemeral constitutions of the age. It is not a mere abstrac- tion, more or less ingenious, but a law adapted to the state of the country in the nineteenth century. It did not recon- struct what was worn out by time ; but it revived all that was worth preserving. In such a system of laws and insti- tutions well adapted to each other, the members of the com- mission belonging to the Belgian provinces recognized the basis of their ancient charters, and the principles of their former liberty. They found no difficulty in adapting this law, so as to make it common to the two nations, united by ties which had been broken only for their own misfortune and that of Europe, and which it was once more the interest of Europe to render indissoluble." The news of the elevation of William I. to the throne was received in the Dutch provinces with great joy, in as far as it concerned him personally ; but a joy considerably tempered by doubt and jealousy, as regarded their junction with a coimtry sufficiently large to counterbalance Holland, oppose interests to interests, and people to people. National pride and over-sanguine expectations prevented a calm judgment on the existing state of Europe, and on the impossibility of Holland, in its ancient limits, maintaining the influence which it was hoped it would acquire. In Belgium the formation of the new monarchy excited the most lively sensation. The clergy and the nobility were considerably agitated and not slightly alarmed; the latter fearing the resentment of the king for their avowed predilec- tion in favor of Austria, and perceiving the destruction of every hope of aristocratical domination. The more elevated of the middle classes also saw an end to their exclusive oc- cupation of magisterial and municipal employments. The manufacturers, great and small, saw the ruin of monopoly staring them in the face. The whole people took fright at the weight of the Dutch debt, which was considerably greater than that of Belgium. No one seemed to look beyond the present moment. The advantage of colonial possessions seemed remote and questionable to those who possessed no maritime commerce ; and the pride of national independence was foreign to the feelings of those who had never yet tasted its blessings. It was in this state of public feeling that intelligence was received, in March, 1815, of the reappearance in France of the emperor Napoleon. At the head of 300 men he had taken the resolution, without parallel even among the grandest of 19 290 HISTORY OF THE NETHERLANDS. 1815 his own powerful conceptions, of invading a country contain- ing thirty millions of people, girded by the protecting armies of coalesced Europe, and imbued, beyond all doubt, with an almost general objection to the former despot who now put his foot on its shores, with imperial pretensions only founded on the memory of his by-gone glory. His march to Paris was a miracle ; and the vigor of his subsequent measures redeems the ambitious imbecility with which he had hurried on the catastrophe of his previous fell. The flight of Louis XVIII. from Paris was the sure signal to the kingdom of the Netherlands, in which he took refiige, that it was about to become the scene of another contest for the life or death of despotism. Had the invasion of Belgium, which now took place, been led on by one of the Bourbon family, it is probable that the priesthood, the people, and even the nobility, would have given it not merely a negative sup- port. But the name of Napoleon was a bugbear for every class; and the efforts of the king and government, which met with most enthusiastic support m the northern provinces, were seconded with zeal and courage by the rest of the king- dom. The national force was soon in the field, imder the com- mand of the prince of Orange, the king's eldest son, and heir apparent to the throne for which he now prepared to fight. His brother, prince Frederick, commanded a division under him. The English army, under the duke of Wellington, oc- cupied Brussels and the various cantonments in its neighbor- hood; and the Prussians, commanded by prince Blucher, were in readiness to co-operate with their allies on the first movement of the invaders. Napoleon, hurrying from Paris to strike some rapid and decisive blow, passed the Sambre on the 15th of June, at the head of the French army, 150,000 strong, driving the Prus- sians before him beyond Charleroi and back on the plain of Fleurus with some loss. On the 16th was fought the bloody battle of Ligny, in which the Prussians sustamed a decided defeat ; but they retreated in good order on the little river Lys, followed by marshal Grouchy with 30,000 men detached by Napoleon in their pursuit. On the same day the British advanced position at Quatre Bras, and the corps d'armee commanded by the prince of Orange, were fiercely attacked oy marshal Ney; a battalion of Belgian infantry and a bri gade of horse artillery having been engaged in a skirmish the preceding evening at Frasnes with the French advanced troops. The affair of Quatre Bras was sustained with admirable ' 315. BATTLE OF WATERLOO. 291 firmness by the allied English and Netherland forces, against an enemy infinitely superior in number, and commanded by one of the best generals in France. Tlie prince of Orange, with only 9000 men, maintained his position till three o'clock in the afternoon, despite the continual attacks of marshal Ney, who commanded the left of the French army, consisting of 43,000 men.* But the interest of this combat, and the details of the loss in killed and wounded, are so merged in the succeeding battle, which took place on the 18th, tha they form in most minds a combination of exploits which tlie interval of a day can scarcely be considered to have separated. The 17th was occupied by a retrograde movement of the allied army, directed by the duke of Wellington, for the pur- pose of taking its stand on the position he had previously fixed on for the pitched battle, the decisive nature of which his determined foresight had anticipated. Several affairs between the French and Englisli cavalry took place during this movement; and it is pretty well established that the enemy, flushed with the victory over Blucher of the preced- ing day, were deceived by this short retreat of Wellington, and formed a very mistaken notion of its real object, or of the desperate reception destined for the morrow's attack. The battle of Waterloo has been over and over described and profoundly felt, until its records may be said to exist in the very hearts and memories of the nations. The fiery valor of the assault, and the unshakable firmness of the resistance, are perhaps without parallel in the annals of war. The im- mense stake depending on the result, the grandeur of Napo- leon's isolated efforts against the flower of the European forces, and the awful responsibility resting on the head of their great leader, give to this conflict a romantic sublimity, unshared by all the manoeuvring of science in a hundred conmionplace combats of other wars. It forms an epoch in the history of battles. It is to the full as memorable as an individual event, as it is for the consequences which followed it. It was fought by no rules, and gained by no tactics. It was a fair stand-up fight on level ground, where downright manly courage was alone to decide the issue. This derogates in nothing from the splendid talents and deep knowledge of the rival commanders. Their reputation for all the intricate qualities of generalship rests on the broad base of previous victories. This day was to be won by strength of nerve and •Readiness of heart ; and a moral grandeur is thrown over its • Journal de Las CaaM, t. iU. pi SSIL 292 HISTORY OF THE NETHERLANDS. 1815 result, by the reflection that human skill had little to do where so much was left to Providence. We abstain from entering on details of the battle. It is enough to state, that throughout the day the troops of the Netherlands sustained the character for courage which so many centuries had established. Various opinions have gone forth as to the conduct of the Belgian troops on this memora- ble occasion. Isolated instances were possibly found among a mass of several thousands, of that nervous weakness which neither the noblest mcitements nor the finest examples can conquer. Old associations and feelings not effaced might have slackened the efforts of a few, directed against former comrades or personal friends whom the stem necessity of politics had placed in opposing ranks. Raw troops might here and there have shrunk from attacks the most desperate on record ; but that the great principle of public duty, on grounds purely national, pervaded the army, is to be found in the offi- cial reports of its loss : 2058 men killed and 1936 wounded prove indelibly that the troops of the Netherlands had their full share in the honor of the day. The victory was cemented by the blood of the prince of Orange, who stood the brunt of the fight with his gallant soldiers. His conduct was con- formable to the character of his whole race, and to his own reputation during a long series of service with the British army in the Spanish peninsula. He stood bravely at the head of his troops during the murderous conflict; or, like Welling- ton, in whose school he was formed and whose example was beside him, rode from rank to rank and column to column, inspiring his men by the proofs of his untiring courage. Several anecdotes are related of the prince's conduct throughout the day. One is remarkable as affording an ex- ample of those pithy epigrams of the battle-field with which history abounds, accompanied by an act that speaks a fine knowledge of the soldier's heart. On occasion of one pecu- liarly desperate charge, the prince, hurried on by his ardor, was actually in the midst of the French, and was in the great- est danger ; when a Belgian battalion rushed forward, and, after a fierce struggle, repulsed the enemy and disengaged the prince. In the impulse of his admiration and gratitude, he tore from his breast one of those decorations gained by his own conduct on some preceding occasion, and flung it among the battalion, calling out, " Take it, take it, my lads ! you have all earned it !" This decoration was immediately grap- pled for, and tied to the regimental standard, amidst loud shouts of " Long live the prince l" and vows to defend the 1815. EFFECTS OP THE BATTLE OP WALERLOO. 293 trophy, in the very utterance of which many a brave fellow received the stroke of death. A short time afterwards, and just half an hour before that terrible charge of the whole line, which decided the victory, the prince was struck by a musket-ball in the left shoulder. He was carried from the field, and conveyed that evening to Brussels, in the same cart witli one of his wounded aids-de camp, supported by another, and displaying throughout as much indifference to pain as he had previously shown con- tempt of danger. The battle of Waterloo consolidated the kingdom of the Netherlands. The wound of the prince of Orange was, per- haps, one of the most fortunate that was ever received by an individual, or sympathized in by a nation. To a warlike peo- ple, wavering in their allegiance, this evidence of the prince's valor acted like a talisman against disaffection. The organi- zation of the kingdom was immediately proceeded on. The commission, charged with the revision of the fundamental law, and the modification required by the increase of terri- tory, presented its report on the 31st of July. The inaugura- tion of the king took place at Brussels on the 21st of Septem- ber, in presence of the states-general : and the ceremony re- ceived additional interest from the appearance of the sovereign supported by his two sons who had so valiantly fought for the rights he now swore to maintain ; the heir to the crown yet bearing his wounded arm in a scarf, and showing in his countenance the marks of recent suffering. The constitution was finally accepted by the nation, and the principles of the government were stipulated and fixed in one grand view — that of the union, and, consequently, the force of the new state. It has been asked by a profound and sagacious inquirer, or at least the question is put forth on undoubted authority in his name, " Why did England create for herself a difiiculty, and what will be by and by a natural enemy, in uniting Holland and Belgium, in place of managing those two immense re- sources to her commerce by keeping them separate ? for Hol- land, without manufactures, was the natural mart for those of England, while Belgium under an English prince had been the route for constantly inundating France and Germany."* So asked Napoleon, and England may answer and justify her conduct so impugned, on principles consistent with the * Las Caaes, Journal de la Vie privte et ConTeiwtions de Napoleon, t Mi. p. ea r- , 294 HISTORY OF THE NETHERLANDS. 1815 general wishes and the common good of Europe. The dis- cussion of the question is foreign to our purpose, which is to trace the Circumstances, not to argue on the policy, that led to the formation of the Netherlands as they now exist But it appears that the different integral parts of the nation were amalgamated from deep-formed designs for their mutual bene- fit. Belgium was not given to Holland, as the already-cited article of the treaty of Paris might at first sight seem to im ply : nor was Holland allotted to Belgium. But they were grafted together, with all the force of legislative wisdom ; not that one might be dominant and the other oppressed, but that both should bend to form an arch of common strength, able to resist tlie weight of such invasions as had perpetually perilled, ind often crushed, their separate independence. INDEX. A. Abercrombib, Sir Ralph, commands the armament eatablishcd for the House of Orange, 270. Aix-la-Chapelle, treaty of, 2C0. Albert of Saxony, 65. Albert, Archduke, arrives at Brussels, 170. Captures Calais, 171. Mar- riage and inauguration of, 173. En- try of, into the Nethcrlauils, 17!). Defeated by prince Maurice, 182. Alenfon, the duke of, appointed sove- reign, 144. Obliges Faiuia to raise the siege of Cambray, and enters the town triumphantly, 140. Made duke of Anjou; repairs to England and offers marriage to Elizabeth, ib. Attacks Antwerp, 148. His death. 150. Alliance, quadruple, 257. Alva, duke of, one of the council of Philip II. at Segovia, 108. Arrival of, at Brussels, 115. Summon.« a meeting of the members of the coun- cil of state, 116. Retirement, 117. Horrors of his administration, 119. Defeats the patriots and the prince of Orange, 121. Causes sixty citi- zens to be executed, 123. His recall and death, 126. Anabaptists, rise of, 71. Andrew of Austria placed at the head of the temporary government, 173. Anne of England, .iccession of, 253. Carries on the war with France energetically, 253. Anthony duke of Brabant, death of 50. Antwerp, sack of, 132. Siege of, 15ii. Effects of the fire-ships, 157. Ar- minius, 200. His death, ib. Arminians, persecution of, 204. Armada, the invincible, 163. Arschot, duke of, made governor of Flanders, 138. Foiled in his pro- jects, ib. B. Baldwin Bras-de-fer, 32. Baldwin of the Comely Beard, .34. Barneveldt recovers Brille, Flessin- gue, and the fort of Rammekins, 202. Opposition of, to the ambitious views of Maurice, 203. Resignation and imprisonment of, 2U5. Death of, 206. Batavians, degeneracy of, 21. Belgium, invasion of, 319. Blake, admiral, engagement of, witk Admiral Tromp, 234. Boisot, success of, in favor of the pa- triots, 127. Bokelzoon, 71. Imprisonment of, in an iron cage, ib. Bonaparte, a French general, 208. Ele- vation of, 271. Decline of, 273. Ab- dication of, 283. Reappearance of, in France, 2'.)0. Bonaparte, Louis, king of Holland, 271. Abdication of, 272. liouvines, battle of, 42. Brussels, union of, 136. iiuckingham, the English ambassador, failure of, to corrupt the prince of Orange, 244. C. Cambray, league of, 67. Peace of, 71 Campo-Formio, treaty of, 268. Carlos, don, death of, 120. : Cassambrot, John, punishes the icoDO- 1 clasts, 108. ! Cassel, battle of, 46. I Cassimir, John, count palatine, re- pairs to the assistance of the States, 141. Cassimir of Nassau, count Henry, death of, 220, Cateau-Cambresis, peace of, 81. Caesar, invasion of, 17. Charlemagne, government of, 29. Charles count of Charolois, called "the Rash," 56. Contrasted with Louis XI. of France, 57. Policy of, 58. Takes Louis prisoner, ib. Plan of aggrandizement of, 60. Conquers Lorraine, 61. Defeat at Morat, and death of, 62. Charles of Egmont, 05. Charles V., visit of, to England, 70. Punishes the people of Ghent, 72. Severity against the reformers, 73. Retirement and death of, 74. Charles I. of England, 216. Charles II. of England, restoration ot, 238. Perfidy of, 240. Exacts hu- miliating conditions of peace from the United Provinces, 243. Hii death, 247. Charles VI., emperor, death of, 259. Christian of Brunswick, 211. Civilis repulses the Romans, 21. Commerce, progress of, 175. Confederates, perfect organization of, 98. Consolidation of, plana of, ib 296 INDEX. Procession of, to the palace, and banquet of, 99. Adopt the title of Gueux, 100. Dissolution of, 114. Congress at the Hague, 195. Corteii burgh, the contracts of, 45. Counts of the empire, '29. Cromwell insists on conditions of peace humiliating to the States, 236. His death, 238 Crusades, the, 42. D. D'Artaveldt, James, the brewer of Ghent, 40. Conservator of the peace of Flanders, 47. His death, ib. Dathen, Peter, 104. D'Avila defeats Louis of Nassau at Mookerheyde, 128. De Barneveldt, 185. Advocates the cause of peace, 192. Opposes Mau- rice, 199. Embraces Arminianism, 200. De Berlaimont, count, at the head of the financial department, 87. De Brederode fails in an attempt to see the governant, 112. Defeated at Valenciennes, and flies to Germany, 113. De Granvelle. Anthony Perrenotte, bishopof Arras, 83. Character of 87. DeGroeneveld, Renier, plot of against Maurice, 212. Death of, 213. De la Marck, William, success of in surprising Brille, 124. A general insurrection the consequence of his success, ib. Deprived of his com- mand, 125. De Male, count Louis, defeat of, 48. De Marnix, Philip, lord of St. Alde- gonde, 98. De Neyen, John, employed to nego- tiate peace, 192. De Ruyter, death of 245. Dettingen, battle of, 259. De Winter, imprisonment of 270. De Witt, Cornellizon, adniiral.impris. oned,231, and liberated, 232. De Witts, the, murder of 243. Don John declared an enemy, and or- dered to quit the country, 140. As- sisted by the prince of Parma, ib. His death, 141. Dort, synod of, 206. Dordrecht, situation of, 36. Downs, battle of 220. Dumouriez gains the victory of Je- mappes, 267. Defeat and flight of, 26a Duncan, Sir Adam, encounters the Dutch fleet, 270. E. Ecclesiastical power, rise of, 34. Edict, the perpetual, 136. Edward IIL joined by the Fleming* 46. Egmont, count, popularity of, 92. Sent to Philip on a mission, 94. Made prisoner, 116. Elizabeth of England solicits mercy of Philip for the Slates, 131. Assists the confederates, 136. Sends the Earl of Leicester to Holland, 160. Recalls her troops and demands pay- ment of her loans from the states general, 179. Her death, 185. Epinoi, the princess, defends Tour- nay in the absence of the governor, 146. Ernest, archduke, accused of being in league with others to assassinate prince Maurice, 169. His death, 170. Eugene, prince, carries on the war with France, 253. Fitz-Osborn, William, death of, 38. Flanders, commencement of 32. Com- merce of 38. Attached to France, yet independent of it, ib. Fleurus, battle of 268. Fontenoy, battle of 259. Franks, character of 23. Defeat of,24. Francis I. of France, 70. Francis II., successor of Leopold, 267. Frederick, the elector palatine, 210. Friesland, final conquest of, 27. Frisons, 19. Union of with the Flem- ish people, 29. Privileges of, analo- gous to Magna Charta, 31. Political institutions of, 41. George II. achieves the victory of Detlingen, 259. Gerard, Balthazar, murders the prince of Orange, 152. Death of 153. Ghent, rebellion of, 55. Pacification of 133. GildoniiE Charta, 30. Giles de Rypergherste conquers the dauphin of France, in a pitched bat- tle, 47. Gomar, 200. Goniarists, called Remonstrants, SOO. Godfrey king of the Normans, 33. As- sassination of, ib. Godfrey of Bouillon, 42. Godfrey count of Ardenne, lieutenant of Lower Lorraine, 33. Granvelle obtains the archiepiscopa see of Mechlin, and title of primat of the Low Countries, 88. Confede racy against him, 90 Unpopularity of, 93. Dismissal from office, ib. Grotius, imprisonment of, 206. Escape of, 209. Character of bis writings 836. INDEX. 297 Guelden, ware of, 65. Gueux, the title of, adopted by the confederates, 100. H. Haranguer, captain, surprises Breda, 165. Hautain, admiral, 196. Heemskirk, brilliant victory of, 190. Heiu, Peter, naval success of, 210. Hembyse, rebellion of, 13i). Death of, 151. Henry V. of England, alliance of with Philip duke of Burgundy, 53. Henry, Frederick, brother to prince Maurice, 181. Succeeds his brother, 215. Receives the title of highness in place of excellency, 221. His death, 224. Henry IV. of France, defeat of, 16(3. Gives assistance to the states, 179. Assassination of, l'J8. Heinsius, the grand pensionary, fol- lows up the views of William II., 252. Holland, formation of, 36. HoUe, count of 97. Hoogerbeets, imprisonment of, 206. Horn, count, popularity of, 92. Re- tirement of, 102. I. Inquisition, establishment of, 95. Isabella, wife of Albert, entry of to the Netherlands, 179. Harangues the troops, 180. Her death, 218. J. Jacqueline wf Holland, 52. Separation from her husband, flight to England, and projected marriage with Glou- cester, 53. Defeated and abandoned by Gloucester, 54. James I. of England, his reception of the ambassadors from the states- general, 185. Enters the polemical lists as a Gomarist, 201. Refuses assistance to Frederick tho elector, 210. James II. of England, accession of 247. Rejects the assistance of Louis XIV. against the prince of Orange, 248. Jaureguay, John, attempt of to mur- der the prince of Orange, 147. Jemappes, victory of, 207. John the Fearless, count of Nevers,50. Wars with Great Britain, ib. John of Bavaria, the Pitiless, 51. John duke of Brabant, marriage of 52. John, don, of Austria, arrival of in Luxembourg, 134 Entry of to Brussels, 136. Takes possession of Um citadel, 137. Joseph II. successor to Maria Theresa 261. His death, 266. Judith, daughter of Charles the Bald marriage of, 32. Justin of Nassau, 163. Lambert and Reginald, struggle of for independence, 33. Lambert 11. count of Louvain, 34. Ledenberg, imprisonment of, 206 Death of ib. Leicester invades Holland, ICO. Un- popularity of, 101. Death of, 164. Leopold, successor to Joseph II., 266. Death of, 267. Leyden, siege of, 128. Ligny, battle of 290. Lorraine, Higher and Lower, 34. Louis, count, of Cressy, 45. Louis XI. of France, 57. Imprison- ment of 58. Policy towards Charles duke of Burgundy, 61. Defeat of, at Guinegate, 63. Louis XII. of France, 67. Louis XIV. arrogates supreme power, 247. Rejoices at the death of Wil- liam of Nassau, 253. Too old to command his troops, 254. Reduced to a state of humiliation, 255. Louis XV. invades the Austrian Netherlands, 259. Louis XVIII., flight of, from Paris, 346. Louis of Nassau, success of in favor of the patriots, 124. Defeat and death of, 128. M. Mansfield, count of, successor to Par> ma, 168. Maria Theresa, heroism of, 259. Es tablished in her rights, 260. Re< duced 10 widowhood, 261. Margaret of Austria, 67. NegotiatioB with Henry VIII. of England, 68. Marguerite, Madame, duchess of Par- ma, made governant-general, 84. Issues orders favorable to the re- formers, 103. Sends the Prince of Orange to appease them, 107. En- deavors to destroy the union of the patriot lords. 111. Establishes a new oath of allegiance, 113. Re- monstrates with Philip about bis invasion und«r Alva, 115. Retire- ment and death of, 117. Marlborough, duke of carries on the war with France, 253. Opens hii first campaign, 254. Martel, Charles, defeat of, 2& Duks of the Franks, 27. Mary, daughter of ClurlM Uw Kaah, 63. Marriag*o<;6S. 298 INDEX. Mathias, archduke, made governor, 138. Taken prisoner, 139. Libera- tion of, ib. Installation of, 140. Retires to Antwerp, ib. Maurice, prince, becomes prince of Orange, 126. Made stadtholder, captain-general, and admiral of Holland and Zealand, 160. Unites in himself tbe whole power of com- mand, 102. Takes advantage of the absence of Parma, 166. Checks the cruelty of Mendoza, 178. At- tempts the invasion of Flanders, 180. Invests Nieuport, ib. Defeats the royalists, 182. Takes the field against Spinola, 189. Hostility of, to Barneveldt, 192. Becomes a Go- marist, 200. Receives the order of the Garter, 201. Intrigues for regal power, 203. Advances the Calvin- ists' party, 204. Defeats Spinola at the siege of Bergen-op-zoom, 211. Plot against him, 212. He punishes the conspirators, 213. His death, 215. Maximilian of Austria, marriage of, 63. Imprisonment of ib. Mazarin, cardinal, 223. Menapians, 19. Mendoza, cruelties of, 177. Wounded and taken prisoner, 183. Money-fleet, the, 217. Mook, battle of, 128. Morat, battle of 61. Mons, seized on by Louis of Nassau and De Genlis; retaken by Alva's son, 124. Munster, treaty of, 224. N. Netherlands, situation of, 15. State of, in the days of Pliny, 16. Effects from inundations of the sea and rivers, ib. Invasion of Cffisar, 17. Effects of the Roman alliance, 20. The southern portion called Belgic Gaul, 21. Introduction of Chris- tianity, 25. Under Charlemagne, 29. Commerce, and legislation of, 42. Revolt of the towns, 45. Junc- tion of the Flemings with Edward III. of England, 46. Feudality de- feated by civic freedom, 48. Sove- reignty assumed by the duke of Burgundy, ib. Formation of a na- tional council, 50. Feeble state un- der the government of Maximilian, 64. Government of Margaret of Austria, 68. Progress of the refor- mation, ib. War with France, 70. The whole of the provinces united under one sovereign, 74. Commer- cial wealth, ib. Cultivation of the fine arts, 76. Opulent state of the nation. 85. Inefficiency of the gov- ernment under Philip II., 86. The inquisition established, 95. Com- mencement of the revolution, 96. The manifesto of the confederates. 98. Progress of the reformation 103. Abolition of the inquisition, 106. Compromise with tbe reform- ers, 1U8. Conference at Termonde, 111. Commencement of the civil war, 112. Dissolution of the con- federacy, 114. Alva's arrival and tyranny, 116. General horror at the death of Don Carlos and the queen, 120. Disaster of the patriots, 121. Naval force of the patriots, 122. General insurrection, 124. Distress- ed state of the country, 126. Evil effects of the plague, 127. Anarchy and confusion after the death of Requesens, 131. The members of the council-chamber imprisoned, 132. 'J'he states-general assemble at Ghent, 133. Demolition of the cita- dels rendered odious by the excesses of the Spanish, 137. Revival of civil war, 140. They renounce the sovereignty of Spain, 143. Public ingratitude towards the prince of Orange, 150. The power of Spain established again in the whole province of Flanders, 155. Lament- able state of the country, ib. Nego- tiations opened with France and England at once, 159. Suspicion and dislike towards England, 161. The effects of the spreading of the reformation and enlightenment, 174. The States unsuccessful in a naval expedition, 179. Success of the royalists, 180. Prince Maurice and Spinola, 18<). Maritime enter- prise, 188. Disgraceful naval affair, 190. Negotiations for peace, 191. Assembly of ambassadors, 193. A twelve years' truce, 190. Religious dissensions, 199. Expiration of the twelve years' truce, 209. War in Germany, 210. Naval success, 216. Naval success of the republic, 220. Civil wars in England, 222. Finan- cial embarrassments, 223. Litera- ture and the arts, 226. Commerce, 228. Manners of the people, 229. Naval war with England, 233. The navigation act, 234. Naval suc- cesses, 237. Hostilities renewed, 239. The French invade Holland, 242. Holland perseveres in the contest with France, 245. English revolu- tion, 248. War renewed, 254. Seven years' war, 2C0. Peace with Eng land, 262. Discontent in Belgium, 264. Insurrection and confedera- tion, 266. War between France andAuatria,267. Belgium a French im>Ex. 29S province, 2(i8. Abolition of the office and title of stadtholdcr, 2t)'.). Decline of the French power, 273. ReKtoralion of the prince of Orange, 275. New constitution, 282. Ninieguen, peace of, 245. Nienport, battle of, 181. Normans, not renowned before the time of Charlemagne, 32. Forma- tion of the Monarchy, 285. O. Orange, prince of, William I. of Nas- sau, opposition of, to Granvelle, !I0. Opposition of, to the views of Philip, 94. Is sent to apj)ease the con- federates, 107. Summons his bro- ther Louis, counts Egmont, Horn, and Hoogstraeten, to a conference at Termonde, 111. Refuses the new- oath of allegiance, and retires to Germany, 114. Opposition to Alva's tyranny, 120. Defeated by Alva, and retires to France, 121. Returns to Brabant, 124. Relieves the in habitants of Leyden by destroying the besieging army with an inun- dation of the ocean, 12'.t. Policy of, with queen Elizabeth, 131. Sends an admonitory memorial to the states-general, 136. Made governor of Brabant, 137. Draws up the basis of a treaty for Mathias's accept- ance, 138. Assembles the states- general to abjure the dominion of Spain, 143. Answers Philip's edict, 145. Shot in the head by an assas- sin, 147. His recovery, 148. Pro- tects thedukeof Anjou from public reprobation— retires to Zealand, 150. His death, 152. Ostend, siege of, 184. Paris, treaty of, 284. Parma, duchess of, retirement of, 117. Parma, prince of, marriage of, 97. Succeeds Don John, 142. Raises the siege of Cam bray, 14(5. Besieges Ant- werp, 156. Summoned to France, 165. Defeats Heniy VI., 166. Re- tires to Spa, and is again summoned to France, 167. His death, ib. Philip the Fair, 45. Philip the Bold, 49. Philip of Cleves, 64. Philip of Burgundy, 54. Called the Good, 55. Death of, 56. Philip II. of Spain, 77. Ferocity of, 79. Policy of, 80. His war with Henry II. of France and pcpe Paul IV., ib. His intrigues for despotic power, 82. Opposed by the States, 84. Orders the edicts against heresy to be put in execution, 94. Duplicity of, 95. Establishes the inquisition, ib. Abolishes the inquisition, 106. Vindictiveness and duplicity of, 110. Influences pcM'sons to attempt the assassination of the prince of Orange, 147. Negotiates for peace with France, 172. His death, 174. Picaroons, the, 168 Plague, the, breaks out, 127. Pragmatic sanction, 257. Pyrenees, peace of the, 238. a. Quatre Bras, battle of, 290. R. Radbod, king of the Frisons, 26. Reformation, causes of its progres* being checked, 89. Reformers divided into Anabaptists, Calvinists, and Lutherans, 103. Meet in every direction in arms, ib. Send an address to the governant, 108. Compromise of ib. Erect wooden churches, 110. Reginald and Lambert. (See Lambert.) Requesens successor to Alva, 126. Defeat of, 127. Sells his plate to pay the arrears of the soldiery, 128. Mutinous state of his army, ib. Fixes on Zealand as the scene of ao expedition, 129. His death, 130. Richelieu, cardinal, death of, 222. Richilde, countess, 38. Defeat of, ib. Robert count of Namur, 34. Robert the Frison, 38. Ruliens, 227. Ryhove, death of, 151. Ryswick, peace of, 250. S. Saxons, preponderating power of, 24. Schwarzemberg, 97. Schenck, Martin, 164. His death, 165. Sidney, Sir Philip, 160. Hisdeath, 161. Spinola takes the field against prince Maurice, 186. Sent with 20,000 men to support the duke of Neu- bourg, 197. Defeat of, 211. Called to the command of the Spanish troops in Italy, 217. Stoutenbourg, William van, his re- vengeful plot against prince Mau- rice, 212. His escape to Brussels, 313. Strieker, Herman, 103. Termonde, conference at. 111. Thierry, count, governs the western extremity of Friesland, 36. Takes Godfrey prisoner, ib. Trees of Upstal, the, 39. Tromp, Van, victory of, 220. Naval engagement of, with admiral Blake, 334. Hi* death, 236. 300 nn)Ex. u. Utrecht, union of, 142. Utrecht, peace of, 256. V. Valenciennes, siege of, 112. Surren- der of, 113. Vanderdoes, Jean, burgomaster of Leyden, 128. Vander Noot establishes a committee at Breda, 265. His flight, 2G7. Verviiis, peace of, 173. Viglius, president of the privy-coun- cil, 87. Opposes the rapacity of Alva, 122. Vonck aids the cause of constitu- tional freedom, 265. W. Waterloo, battle of, 291. Westphalia, peace of, 225. William the Bastard of Normandy, supplied with men and ships by Flanders, for the conquest of Eng- laad, 37. William Frederick count of Nassau attempts to gain possession of Am sterdam, 232. His death, 233. William V. proclaimed stadtholder 260. Installation and marriage of, 261. William prince of Orange saves his country, 244. Marriage of, 246. In- vades England, and is made king, 248. His inveterate hostility to Louis XIV., 249. His death, 252. Willebrod, St., success as a mis- sionary, 27. Witikind, first azing or judge, ib. William I. prince-sovereign of the Netherlands, 282. York, duke of, 268. Defeated hj Pichegru, 269. Z. Zuriczee admits to surrender, 133. THE END A A 000 322 317 9