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 Just Published, hy Carey <Sf Lea, 
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 On the hasis of the Seventh Edition of the German 
 
 CONYERSATIONS-LEXICON. 
 
 Edited bv Dr. FRANCIS LIERER, 
 Assisted by EDNVARD WlGC^iLESVVORTfl, Esci. 
 
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 4(oO-^ 
 
'«' ENCYCLOPEDIA AMERICANA. 
 
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ENCYCLOPEDIA AMERICANA. 3 
 
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 limits. JX". Y. F.vcnivg Pot. 
 
 A coiiipn lions library, and invaluable book of rftf»'rence. — JV. Y. American, 
 
4 ENCYCLOPEDIA AMKJIICANA. 
 
 This cannot but prove a valuable addition to the literature of the age.— Jlfer. 
 Advertiser. 
 
 The appearance of the first volume of this valuable work in this country, is 
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 prove lastingly beneficial to the public. When completed, according to the 
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 articles of American Biography, by Mr. Walsh ; those on Zoology, by Dr. God- 
 man ; and those on Mineralogy and Chemistry, by a gentleman of Boston, 
 distinguished for his successful devotion to those studies. The work abounds 
 with interesting and useful matter, presented in a condensed and perspicuous 
 style ; nor is it one of its least coumiendations that it is to be comprised in 
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 the editors have thus far completed their task, it is impossible, in the course of 
 a brief newspaijer article, to speak with adequate justice.— JBosfon Bulletin. 
 
 We have looked at the contents, generally, of the second volume of this 
 work, and think it merits the encomiums vv»-=ch have been bestowed on it in 
 the northern pai>ors. It continues to be particularly rich in the departments 
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 cellaneous knowledge spread before the reader, in a form which has never been 
 equalled for its condensation, and conveyed in a style that cannot be surpassed 
 for propriety and perijpicuity, we cannot but think that the American Ency- 
 clopaedia deserves a plao*; in every collection, in which works of reference furui 
 a portion." — Southern Patriot. 
 
THE 
 
 CABINET OF HISTORY. 
 
 CONDUCTED BY THE 
 
 REV. DIONYSIUS LARDNER, LL.D. F.R.S. L;& E. 
 
 M.R.I. A. F.L.S. F.Z.S. Hon.F.C.P.S. M. Aet. S. &c. &c. 
 
 EMINENT LITERARY MEN. 
 
 THE 
 
 HISTORY OF^THE NETHERLANDS, 
 
 BY 
 
 THOMAS COLLEY GRATTAN. 
 
 CAREY & LEA.—CHESTNUT STREET. 
 1831, 
 
THE 
 
 HISTORY 
 
 THE NETHERLANDS. 
 
 THOMAS COLLEY GRATTAN. 
 
 CAREY & LEA—CHESTNUT STREET. 
 1831. 
 
-^^ 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 CHAP. I. 
 B. C. 50.— A. D. 250. 
 
 PROM THE INVASION OF THE NETHERLANDS BY THE ROMANS TO THE 
 INVASION BY THE SaLIAN FRANKS. 
 
 Extent of the Kingdom.— Description of the People.— Ancient State of 
 the Low Countries— Of the High Grounds— Contrasted with the pres- 
 ent Aspect of the Country.— Expedition of Julius Ca'sar.— The Belgae. 
 —The Menapians.—Batavians— Distinguished among the Auxiliaries 
 of Rome.— Decrease of national Feeling in Part of the Country. — 
 Steady Patriotism of the Prisons and Menapians.— Commencement 
 of Civilization.— Early Formation of the Dikes.— Degeneracy of those 
 who became united to the Romans. — Invasion of the Netherlands by 
 the Salian Franks Page 15 
 
 CHAP. H 
 
 250—800. 
 
 PROM THE SETTLEMENT OF THE FRANKS TO THE SUBJUGATION OF FRIESLAND 
 BY THE FRENCH, 
 
 Character of the Franks.— The Saxon Tribes.— Destruction of the Sali- 
 ans by a Saxon Tribe.— .Tulian the Apostate.— Victories of Clovia in 
 Gaul. — Contrast between the Low Countries and the Provinces of 
 France. — State of Friesland. — Charles Martel.— Friesland converted 
 to Christianity— Finally subdued by France 22 
 
 CHAP. HL 
 
 800—1000. 
 
 FROM THE CONQUEST 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 
 
 A2 
 
 V ^ ^ ^ 
 
VI CONTENTS. 
 
 CHAP. IV. 
 
 1018—1384. 
 
 FROM THE FORMATION OF HOLLAND TO THE DEATH OF LOUIS DE MALE. 
 
 Origin of Holland.— Its first Count.— Aggrandizement of Flanders. — 
 Its growing Commerce— Fisheries— Manufactures.— Formation of 
 the County of Guelders— And of Brabant.— State of Friesland.-State 
 of the Provinces.— The Crusades.— Their good Effects on the State of 
 the Netherlands.— Decline of the Feudal Tower- 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'Arta veldt.— 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 36 
 
 CHAP. V. 
 
 1384—1506. 
 
 FROM THE SUCCESSION OF PHILIP THE BOLD TO THE COUNTY OF FLANDERS 
 TO THE DEATH OF PHILIP THE FAIR. 
 
 Philip succeeds to the Inheritance of Brabant>--M akes 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 England. — Murder of John the Fearless, 
 Duke of Burgundy. — Accession of his Son, Philip the Good. — His 
 Policy. — Espouses the Cause of John of Brabant against Jacqueline. — 
 Deprives her of Hainault, Holland, and Zealand. — Continues his 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 Hol- 
 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 XL — Death of Charles, and Succession of Mary. — 
 Factions among her Subjects. — Marries Maximilian of Austria. — 
 Battle of Guinegate. — Death of Mary.— *^Taximilian unpopular. — Im- 
 prisoned by his Subjects.— Released. — Invades the Netherlands.— Sue- 
 ceed.s to the Imperial Throne by the Deatli of his Father. — Philip the 
 Fair proclaimed Duke and Count. — His \vi.se Arhninistration. — Af- 
 faire of Friesland — Of Guelders.— Charles of Egmont. — Death of 
 Philip the Fair 49 
 
 CHAP. VI. 
 
 1506—1555. 
 
 FROM THE fiOVERNMENT OF MvR«.VRET OF AUSTRIA. TO THE ABDICATION 
 OF THE EMPEROR CHARLES V. 
 
 Marg.aret of Austria invested with theSovereignty.— Her Character and 
 Governujinit.— Charles, Son of Philip Iho Fair, created Duke of Bra- 
 
CONTENTS. Vll 
 
 bant and Count of Flanders and Holland. — The Reformation.— Mar- 
 tin Luther.— Persecution of the Reformers.— Battle of Pavia. — Ces- 
 sion of Utrecht to Charles V.— Peace of Cambray. — The Anabaptists' 
 Sedition at Ghent.— Expedition against Tunis and Algiers. — Charles 
 becomes possessed of Friesland and Guelders. — His increasing Sever- 
 ity against the Protestants. — His Abdication and Death. — Review. — 
 Progress of Civilization 67 
 
 CPAP. VII. 
 1555—1566. 
 
 FROM THE ACCESSION OF PHILIP II. OF SPAIN TO THE ESTABLISHMENT OF THE 
 INQUISITION IN THE NETHERLANDS. 
 
 Accession of Philip II. — His Character and Government. — His Wars 
 with France, and with the Pope.— Peace with the Fo\>e. — Battle of 
 St. Cluentin. — Battle of Gravelines.— Peace of Cateau-Cambresis. — 
 Death of Mary of England.— Philip's Despotism. — Establishes a Pro- 
 visional Government.— Convenes the States-General at Ghent. — His 
 Minister Granvelle.— Goes to Zealand. — Embarks for Spaijti. — Pros- 
 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 Discon- 
 tent. — Granvelle appointed Cardinal. — Edicts against Heresy.— Popu- 
 lar Indignation. — Reformation. — State of Brabant.— Confederacy 
 against Granvelle.— Prince of Orange. — Counts Egmont and Horn 
 join the Prince against Granvelle. — Granvelle recalled. — Council of 
 Trent. — Its Decrees received with Reprobation. — Decrees against Re- 
 formers. — Philip's Bigotry. — Establishment of the Inquisition. — Popu- 
 lar Resistance 77 
 
 CHAP VIII. 
 
 1566. 
 
 COMMENCEMENT OF THE REVOLUTION. 
 
 Commencement of the Revolution.— Defence of the Prince of Orange. 
 — Confederacy of the Nobles. — Louis of Nassau. — De Brederode. — 
 Philip de St. Aldegonde. — Assembly of the Council of State. — Con- 
 federates enter Brussels— Take the Title of Gueux—Q,mt Brussels, 
 and disperse in the Provinces.— Measures of Government. — Growing 
 Power of the Confederates. — Progress of the Reformation.— Field- 
 Preaching. — Herman Strieker.— Boldness of the Protestants.— Peter 
 Dathen. — Ambrose Ville. — Situation of Antwerp.— The Prince re- 
 pairs to it, and saves it. — Meeting of the Confederates at St. Trond. 
 — The Prince of Orange and Count Egmont treat with them. — Ty- 
 ranny of Philip and Moderation of the Spanish Council.— Image- 
 Breakers. — Destruction of the Cathedral of Antwerp.— Terror of 
 Government.— Firmness of Viglius.— Arbitration between the Court 
 and the People.— Concessions made by Government.— Restoration of 
 Tranquillity 96 
 
via CONTENTS. 
 
 CHAP. IX. 
 
 1566—1573. 
 
 TO THB ADMINISTRATION OF REQUESENS. 
 
 Philip's Vindictiveness and Hypocrisy .-—Progress of Pfotestantiam. — 
 Gradual Dissolution of the Conspiracy. — Artifices of Philip and the 
 Court to disunite the Protestants.— Firmness of the Prince of Orange. 
 — Conference at Termonde.— Egmont abandons the Patriot Cause. — 
 Fatal Effects of his Conduct.— Commencement of Hostilities.— Siege of 
 Valenciennes. — Protestant Synod at Antwerp. — Haughty Conduct of 
 the Government. — Royalists repulsed at Bois-le-duc. — Battle of Oster- 
 weel, and Defeat of the Patriots. — Antwerp again saved by the Firm- 
 ness and Prudence of the Prince of Orange.— Capitulation of Valen- 
 ciennes. — Success of the Royalists. — Death of De Brederode. — New 
 Oath of Allegiance — Refused by the Prince of Orange and others. — 
 The Prince resolves on voluntary Banishment, and departs for GJer- 
 many. — His Example is followed by the Lords. — Extensive Emigra- 
 tion. — Arrival of the Duke of Orleans. — Egmont's Humiliation. — 
 Alva's Powers. — Arrest of Egmont and others. — Alva's first Acts of 
 Tyranny. — Council of Blood. — Recall of the Government. — Alva's 
 Character.— He summons the Prince of Orange, who is tried by Con- 
 tumacy. — Horrors committed by Alva— Desolate State of the Country. 
 — Trial and Execution of Egmont and Horn.— The Prince of Orange 
 raises an Army in Germany, and opens his first Campaign in the 
 Netherlands. — Battle of Heiligerlee. — Death of Adolphus of Nassau. — 
 Battle of Jemminghem. — Success and skilful Conduct of Alva. — Dis- 
 persion of the Prince of Orange's Army.— Growth of the naval Power 
 of the Patriots. — Inundation in Holland and Friesland. — Alva re- 
 proached by Philip. — Duke of Medina-Celi appointed Governor — Is 
 attacked, and his Fleet destroyed by the Patriots— Demands his Re- 
 call.— Policy of the English aeeen, Elizabeth.— The Dutch take Brille. 
 — General Revolt in Holland and Zealand.— New Expedition of the 
 Prince of Orange. — Siege of Mons. — Success of the Prince. — Siege of 
 Haerlem— Of Alkmaer.— Removal of Alva.— Don Luis Zanega y Re- 
 quesens appointed Governor-General 109 
 
 CHAP X. 
 1573—1576. 
 
 TO THE PACIFICATION OF GHENT. 
 
 Character of Requesens.— His conciliating Conduct.— Renews tlie War 
 against the States. — Siege of Middleburg. — Generosity of the Prince of 
 Orange. — Naval Victory. — State of Flanders. — Count Louis of Nas- 
 sau. — Battle of Mookerheyde. — Counts Louis and Henry slain. — Mu- 
 tiny of the Spanish Troops.— Siege of Leyden.— Negotiations for Peace 
 at Breda.— The Spaniards take Zuriczee.— Requesens dies.— The 
 Government devolves on the Council of State. — Miserable State of th« 
 Country, and Despair of the Patriots.— Spanish Mutineers.— The 
 States-General are convoked, and the Council arrested by the Grand 
 Bailiff of Brabant.— The Spanish Mutineers sack and capture Maes- 
 Etricht, and afterwards Antwerp. — The States-General assemble at 
 Ghent and assume the Government.— The Pacification of Ghent. ... 126 
 
CONTENTS. IX 
 
 CHAP. XI. 
 
 157G— 1580. 
 
 TO THE RENUNCIATION OF THE SOVEREIGNTY OF SPAIN AND THE DECLARATION 
 OF INDEPENDENCE. 
 
 Don John of Austria, Governor-General, arrives in the Netherlands. — 
 Ifis Character and Conduct.— The States send an Envoy to Elizabeth 
 of England. — She advances them a Loan of Money. — The Union of 
 Brussels.— The Treaty of Marche-enFainenne, called the Perpetual 
 Edict.— The impetuous Conduct of Don John excites the public Suspi- 
 cion. — He seizes on the Citadel of Namur. — The Prince of Orange is 
 named Protector of Brabant. — The People destroy the Citadels of Ant- 
 werp and other Towns. — The Duke of Arschot is named Governor of 
 Flanders.— He invites the Archduke Mathias to accept tJie Government 
 of the Netherlands. — Wise Conduct of the Prince of Orange. — Ryhove 
 and Hembj^se possess themselves of supreme Power at Ghent. — The 
 Prince of Orange goes there and establishes Order. — The Archduke 
 Mathias is installed. — The Priticc of Parma arrives in the Netherlands, 
 and gains the Battle of Gemblours. — Confusion of the States-general. 
 — The DukeofAlencon comes to their Assistance.— Dissensions among 
 the Patriot Chiefs. — Death of Don John of Austria.— Suspicions of his 
 having been poisoned by Order of Philip TI.— The Prince of Parma is 
 declared Governor-General. — The Union of Utrecht.— The Prince of 
 Parma takes the Field. — The Congress of Cologne rendered fruitless 
 by the Obstinacy of Philip.— The States-General assemble at Antwerp, 
 and issue a Declaration of National Independence.— The Sovereignty 
 of the Netherlands granted to the Duke of Alencon 134 
 
 CHAP. xn. 
 
 1580—1584. 
 
 TO THE MURDER OF THE PRINCE OF ORANGE. 
 
 Proscription of the Prince of Orange.— His celebrated Apology. — Philip 
 proposes sending back the Duchess of Parma as Governant. — Her Son 
 refuses to act jointly with her, and is left in the Exercise of his Power. 
 —The Siege of Cambray undertaken by the Prince of Parma, and gal- 
 lantly defended by the Princess of Epinoi.— The Duke of Alencon 
 created Duke of Anjou. — Repairs to England, in hopes of marrying 
 dueen Elizabeth. — He returns to the Netherlands unsuccessful, and is 
 inaugurated at Antwerp.— The Prince of Orange desperately wounded 
 by an Assassin.— Details on John Jaureguay and his Accomplices. — 
 The People suspect the French of the Crime. — Rapid Recovery of the 
 Prince, who soon resumes his accustomed Activity. — Violent Con- 
 duct of the Duke of Anjou, who treacherously attempts to seize on 
 Antwerp. — He is defeated by the Townspeople. — His Disgrace and 
 Death. — Ungenerous Suspicions of the People against the Prince of 
 Orange, who leaves Flanders in Disgust. — Treachery of the Prince of 
 Chimay and others. — Treason of Hembyse. — He is executed at Ghent. 
 — The States resolve to confer the Sovereignty on the Prince of Orange. 
 — He is murdered at Delft. — Parallel between him and the Admiral 
 Coligny.— Execution of Balthazar Gerard, his Assassin.— Complicity 
 of the Prince of Parma 144 
 
X CONTENTS. 
 
 CHAP. XIII. 
 1584—1592. 
 
 TO THE DEATH OF ALEXANDER PRINCE OF PARMA. 
 
 Effects of William's Death on the History of his Country.— Firm Conduct 
 of the United Trovinces. — They reject the Overtures of the Prince of 
 Parma.— He reduces the whole of Flanders.— Deplorable Situation of 
 the Country. — Vigorous Measures of the Northern States. — Antwerp 
 besieged. — Operations of the Siege. — Immense Exertions of the Be- 
 siegers. — The Infernal Machine. — Battle on the Dike of Couvestien. — 
 Surrender of Antwerp. — Extravagant Joy of Philip II. — The United 
 Provinces solicit the Aid of France and England.— Elizabeth sends 
 them a supply of Troops under the Earl of Liecester. — He returns to 
 England.— Treachery of some English and Scottish Officers.— Prince 
 Maurice commences his Career. — The Spanish Armada. — Justin of 
 Nassau blocks up the Prince of Parma in the Flemish Ports. — Ruin of 
 the Armada. — Philip's Mock Piety on hearing the News. — Leicester 
 dies.— Exploits and Death of Martin Schenck.— Breda surprised.- The 
 Duke of Parma leads his Army into France. — His famous Retreat. — 
 His Death and Character 15 
 
 CHAP. XIV. 
 
 1592-1599. 
 
 TO THE INDEPENDENCE OF BELGIUM AND THE DEATH OF PHILIP II. 
 
 Count Mansfield named Governor-General. — State of Flanders and Bra- 
 bant. — The Archduke Ernest named Governor-General. — Attempts 
 against the Life of Prince Maurice.— He takes Groningen.— Death of 
 the Archduke Ernest. — Count Fuentes named Governor-General.— He 
 takes Cambray and other Towns. — Is soon replaced by the Archduke 
 Albert of Austria. — His high Reputation. — He opens his first Campaign 
 in the Netherlands. — His Successes. — Prince Maurice gains the Battle 
 of Turnhout. — Peace of Vervins. — Philip yields the Sovereignty of the 
 Netherlands to Albert and Isabella. — A new Plot against the Life of 
 Prince Maurice. — Albert sets out for Spain, and receives the News of 
 Philip's Death. — Albert arrives in Spain, and solemnizes his Marriage 
 with the Infanta Isabella.— Review of the State of the Netherlands. . Id 
 
 CHAP. XV. 
 
 1599—1604. 
 
 TO THE CAMPAIGN OF PRINCE MAURICE AND SPINOLA. 
 
 Cardinal Andrew of Austria Governor. — Francisco Mendoza, Admiral 
 of Aragon, invades the neutral States of Germany. — His atrocious 
 Conduct. — Prince Maurice takes the Field. — His masterly Movements. 
 — Sybilla of Cleves raises an Army, which is quickly destroyed. — 
 Great Exertions of the States-General. — Naval Expedition under Van- 
 der Goes.— Its complete Failure.— Critical Situation of the United 
 Provinces. — Arrival of the Archduke in Brussels. — Success of Prince 
 Maurice.— His Expedition into Flanders.— Energy of the Archduke. 
 —Heroism of Isabella.— Progress of Albert's Army.— Its first Success. 
 —Firmness of Maurice.- The BattleofNieuport.— Total Defeat of the 
 Royalists.— Consequences of the Victory.— Prince Maurice returns to 
 
CONTENTS. XI 
 
 Holland.— Negotiations for Peace.— Siege of Ostentl. — Death of Eliza- 
 beth of England. — United Provinces send Ambassadors to James I. — 
 Successful Negotiations of Barneveldt and the Duke of Sully in Lon- 
 don.— Peace between England and Spain.— Brilliant Campaign be- 
 tween Spinola and Prince Maurice.— Battle of Roeroord.— Naval 
 Transactions.— Progress of Dutch Influence in India.— Establishment 
 of the East India Company 177 
 
 CHAP. XVI. 
 
 1606—1619. 
 
 TO THE SYNOD OF DORT AND THE EXECUTION OF BARNEVELDT. 
 
 Spinola proposes to invade the United Provinces. — Successfully opposed 
 by Prince Maurice.— The Dutch defeated at Sea.— Desperate Conduct 
 of Admiral Klagoon.— Great naval Victory of the Dutch, and Death 
 of their Admiral Heemskirk.— Overtures of the Archdukes for Peace. . 
 —How received in Holland.— Prudent Conduct of Barneveldt.— Nego- 
 tiations opened at the Hague.— John de Neyen, Ambassador for tlie 
 Archdukes.— Armistice for Eight Months. — Neyen attempts to bribe 
 D'Aarsens, the Grefiier of the States-General.— His Conduct disclaimed 
 by Verreiken, Counsellor to the Archdukes.— Great Prejudices in Hol- 
 land against King James I. and the English— And Partiality towards 
 France. — Rupture of the Negotiations.— They are renewed. — Truce for 
 Twelve Years signed at Antwerp.— Gives great Satisfaction in the 
 Netherlands. — Important Attitude of the United Provinces. — Conduct 
 of the Belgian Provinces.— Disputes relative to Cleves and Juliers. — 
 Prince Maurice and Spinola remove their Armies into the contested 
 States. — Intestine Troubles in the United Provinces.— Assassination 
 of Henry IV. of France.— His Character.— Change in Prince Maurice's 
 Character and Conduct.— He is strenuously opposed by Barneveldt.— 
 Religious Disputes. — King James enters the Lists of Controversy.— 
 Barneveldt and Maurice take opposite Sides.— The cautionary Towns 
 released from the Possession of England. — Consequences of this Event. 
 —Calumnies against Barneveldt.— Ambitious Designs of Prince Mau- 
 rice.— He is bathed by Barneveldt.— The Republicassistsits Allies with 
 Money and Ships.— Its great naval Power.— Outrages of some Dutch 
 Sailors in Ireland.— Unresonted by King James.— His Anger at the 
 manufacturing Prosperity of the United Provinces.— Excesses of the 
 Gomarists.— The Magistrates call out the National Militia.— Violent 
 Conduct of Princft Maurice.— Uncompromising Steadiness of Barne- 
 veldt.— Calumnies against him. — 31aurice succeeds to the Title of 
 Prince of Orange— And Acts with increasing Violence. — Arrest of 
 Barneveldt and his Friends.— Synod of Dort.— Its Consequences. — 
 Trial, Condemnation, and Execution of Barneveldt.— Grotius and 
 Iloogerbeets sentenced to perpetual Imprisonment.— Ledenburg com- 
 mits Suicide — 189 
 
 CHAP. XVIL 
 1619—1625. 
 
 TO THE DEATH OF PRINCE MAURICE. 
 
 The Parties of Arminianism quite subdued. — Emigrations.— Grotiua 
 resolves to attempt an Escape from Prison.— Succeeds in his Attempt. 
 
XU COISTENTS. 
 
 —He repairs to Paris— And publishes his " Apology."— Expiration of 
 the Twelve Years' Truce.— Death of Philip III. and of the Archduke 
 Albert.— War in Germany.— Campaign between Prince Maurice and 
 Spinola.— Conspiracy against the Life of Prince Maurice.— Its Failure. 
 —Fifteen of the Conspirators executed.— Great Unpopularityof Mau- 
 rice.— Death of Maurice 20 
 
 CHAP. XVIII. 
 
 1625—1648. 
 
 TO THE TREATY OF MUNSTER. 
 
 Frederick Henry succeeds his Brother.— Charles I. King of England. — 
 War between France and England.— Victories of Admiral Hein.— 
 Brilliant Success of Frederick Henry. — PYuitless Enterprise in Flan- 
 ders. — Death of the Archduchess Isabella. — Confederacy in Brabant. — 
 Its Failure, and Arrest of the Nobles.— Ferdinand Prince-Cardinal 
 Governor-General.— Treaty between France and Holland.— Battle of 
 Avein.— Naval Affairs.— Battle of the Downs.— Van Tromp.— Nego- 
 tiations for the Marriage of Prince William with the Princess Mary 
 of England.— Death of the Prince-Cardinal.— Don Francisco de Mello 
 Governor-General.— Battle of Rocroy.— Gallantry of Prince William. 
 — Death of Cardinal Richelieu andof Louis XIII.— English Politics.— 
 Affairs of Germany. — Negotiations for Peace. — Financial Embarrass- 
 ment of the Republic. — The Republic negotiates with Spain. — Last 
 Exploits of Frederick Henry.— His Death— And Character.— William 
 II. Stadtholder.— Peace of Munster.— Resentment of Louis XIII.— 
 Peace of Westphalia. — Review of the Progress of Art, Science, and 
 Manners. — Literature. — Painting. — Engraving. — Sculpture. — Archi- 
 tecture.— Finance.— Population.— Commercial Companies.— Manners. 2: 
 
 CHAP. XIX. 
 
 1648—1678. 
 
 FROM THE PEACE OF MUNSTER TO THE PEACE OF NIMEOUEN. 
 
 State of the Republic after the Peace of Munster. — State of England. — 
 William II. Stadtholder.— His ambitious Designs and Violent Conduct. 
 — Attempts to seize on Amsterdam. — His Death. — Different Sensations 
 caused by his Death. — The Prerogatives of the Stadtholder assumed by 
 the People.— Naval War with England.— English Act of Navigation. 
 —Irish Hostilities.— Death of Tromp.— A Peace with England.— Dis- 
 turbed State of the Republic— War with Denmark.— Peace concluded. 
 — Charles II. restored to the English Throne. — Declares War against 
 Holland. — Naval Actions.— Charles endeavors to excite all Europe 
 against the Dutch. — His Failure.— Renewed Hostilities. — De Ruyter 
 defeated. — Peace of Breda.— Invasion of Flanders by Louis XIV.— He 
 overruns Brabant and Flanders. — Triple League, 1668. — Perfidious 
 Conduct of Charles II.— He declares War against Holland, &c. as does 
 Louis XIV.— Unprepared State of United Provinces.— William III. 
 Prince of Orange.— Appointed Captain-General and High Admiral.— 
 Battle of Solebay.— The French invade the Republic— The States- 
 General implore Peace. — Terms demanded by Louis XIV. — And by 
 Charles II.— Desperation of the Dutch.— The Prince of Orange pro- 
 
CONTENTS. Xlll 
 
 claimed Stadtholder.— Massacre of the De Witts.— Fine Conduct of 
 the Prince of Orange.— He takes the Field.— Is reinforced by Spain, 
 the Emperor, and Brandenburg.— Louis XIV. forced to abandon his 
 Conquests.— Naval Actions with the English.— A Peace, 1674.— Mili- 
 tary Affairs.— Battle of Senef.— Death of De Ruyter.— Congress for 
 Peace at Nimeguen.— Battle of Mont Cassel.— Marriage of the Prince 
 of Orange.— Peace of Nimeguen > 230 
 
 CHAP. XX. 
 
 1678—1713. 
 
 FROM THE PEACE OF NIMEGUEN TO THE PEACE OF UTRECHT. 
 
 State of Euroi)e subsequently to the Peace of Nimeguen.— Arrogant 
 Conduct of Louis XIV.— Truce for Twenty Years.— Death of Charles , 
 I[. of England.— League of Augsbourg.— The Conduct of William.— 
 He invades England.— James II. deposed.— William III. proclaimed 
 Kingof England.— King William puts himself at the Head of the Con- 
 federacy against Louis XIV.— And enters on the War,— Military 
 Operations.— Peace of Ryswick.— Death of Charles II. of Spain.— War 
 of Succession.— Death of William III.— His Character.— Duke of 
 Marlborough.— Prince Eugene.— Successes of the Earl of Peterborough 
 in Spain and Portugal.— Louis XIV. solicits Peace.— Conferences for 
 Peace.— Peace of Utrecht.— Treaty of the Barrier 246 
 
 CHAP. XXI. 
 1713—1794. 
 
 FROM THE PEACE OF UTRECHT TO THE INCORPORATION OF BELGIUM WITH 
 THE FRENCH REPUBLIC. 
 
 Quadruple Alliance.— General Peace of Europe.— Wise Conduct of the 
 Republic. — Great Danger from the bad State of the Dikes. — Death of 
 the Emperor Charles VL— Maria Theresa Empress.— Her heroic Con- 
 duct. — Battle of Dettingen.— Louis XV. invades the Netherlands. — 
 Conferences for Peace at Breda. — Battle of Fontenoy. — William IV. 
 Stadtholder and Captain-General.— Peace of Aix-la-Chapelle.— Death 
 of the Stadtholder— Who is succeeded by his Son William V.— War of 
 Seven Years.— State of the Republic— William V. Stadtholder.— Dis- 
 memberment of Poland.— Joseph II. Emperor.— His attempted Reforms 
 in Religion.— War with England.— Sea-Fight 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 Noot. — 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- 
 
 B 
 
XIV CONTENTS. 
 
 rnouriez.— Conquest of Belgium by the French— Recovered by tbd 
 Austrians.— The Archduke Charles Governor-General.— War in the 
 Netherlands.— Duke of York.— The Emperor Francis.— The Battle of 
 Fleurus.— Incorporation of Belgium with the French Republic- 
 Peace of Leoben.— Treaty of Campo-Formio 25' 
 
 CHAP XXII. 
 1794—1813. 
 
 FROM THE INVASION OF HOLLAND BY THE FRENCH TO THE RETURN OF THE 
 PRINCE OF ORANGE. 
 
 Pichegru invades Holland. —Winter Campaign.— The Duke of York 
 vainly resists the French Army. — Abdication of the Stadtholder. — Ba- 
 tavian Republic— War with England.— Unfortunate Situation of 
 Holland. — Naval Fight.— English Expedition totheHelder. — Napoleon 
 Bonaparte. — Louis Bonaparte named King of Holland. — His popular 
 Conduct. — He abdicates the Throne. — Annexation of Holland to the 
 French Empire— Ruinous to the Prosperity of. the Republic — The 
 People desire the Return of the Prince of Orange. — Confederacy to ef- 
 fect this Purpose.— The Allied Armies advance towards Holland.— 
 Tlie Nation rises to throw off the Yoke of France. — Count Styrum 
 and his Associates lead on that Movement — And proclaim the Prince 
 of Orange— Who lands from England.— His first Proclamation.— ^His 
 second Proclamation 269 
 
 CHAP. xxni. 
 
 1813—1815. 
 
 FROM THE INSTALLATION OF WILLIAM I. AS PRINCE-SOVEREIGN OF THE 
 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. — Belgium is occupied by the Allies. — 
 Treaty of Paris. — Treaty of London. — Formation of the Kingdom of 
 the Netherlands— Basis of the Government.- Relative Character and 
 Situation of Holland and Belgium. — The Prince-Sovereign of Holland 
 arrives in Belgium as Governor-General.— The fundamental Law.— 
 Report of the Commissioners by whom it was framed. — Public Feeling 
 in Holland— And in Belgium. — The Emperor Napoleon invades France 
 — And Belgium. — The Prince of Orange takes the Field. — The Duke 
 of Wellington.— Prince Blucher.— Battle of Ligny.— Battle of Quatre 
 Bras. — Battle of Waterloo. — Anecdote of the Prince of Orange— Who 
 is wounded.— Inauguration of the King 282 
 
HISTORY 
 
 OF 
 
 THE NETHERLANDS. 
 
 CHAP. I. 
 B. c. 50— A. D. 250. 
 
 FROM THE INVASION OF THE NETHERLANDS BY THE ROMANS TO 
 THE INVASION BY THE SALIAN FRANKS. 
 
 The Netherlands form a kingdom of moderate extent, 
 situated on the borders of the ocean, opposite to the south- 
 east coast of England, and stretching from the frontiers of 
 France to those of Hanover. The country is principally- 
 composed of low and humid grounds, presenting a vast plain, 
 irrigated by the waters from all those neighboring states 
 which are traversed by the Rhine, the Mouse, and the 
 Scheldt. This plain, gradually rising towards its eastern and 
 southern extremities, blends on the one hand with Prussia, 
 and on the other with France. Having, therefore, no natural 
 or strongly marked limits on those sides, the extent of the 
 kingdom could only be determined by convention ; and it must 
 be at all times subject to the arbitrary and varying influence 
 of European policy. Its greatest length, from nortli 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 Gallic 
 race. They are called Walloons, and are distinguished from 
 the others by many peculiar qualities. Their most prominent 
 characteristic is a propensity for war, and their principal source 
 of subsistence the working of their mines. They form nearly 
 one fourth of the population of the whole kingdom, or about 
 1,300,000 persons. All the rest of the nation speak Low 
 German, in its modifications of Dutch and Flemish ; and they 
 offer the distinctive characteristics of the Saxon race, — 
 talents for agriculture, navigation, and commerce ; perseve- 
 rance rather than vivacity ; and more courage than taste for 
 the profession of arms. They are subdivided into Flemings, 
 
16 lIISTORr CF THF KETHERLANDS. 
 
 — those who were the last to submit to the house of Austria ; 
 and Dutch, — those who formed the republic of the United 
 Provinces. But there is no difference between these two 
 subdivisions, except such as has been produced by political 
 and religious institutions. The physical aspect of the people 
 is the same ; and the soil, equally low and moist, is at once 
 fertilized and menaced by the waters. 
 
 The history of this last-mentioned portion of the nation is 
 completely linked to that of the soil which they occupy. In 
 remote times, when the inhabitants of this plain were few 
 and uncivilized, the country formed but one immense morass, 
 of which the chief part was incessantly inundated and made 
 sterile by the waters of the sea. Pliny the naturalist, who 
 visited the northern coasts, has left us a picture of their state 
 in his days. " There," says he, " the ocean pours in its flood 
 twice every day, and produces a perpetual uncertainty 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 tliey 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 
 empire of Rome !"* 
 
 The picture of poverty and suffering which this passage 
 presents, is heightened when joined to a description of the 
 country. The coasts consisted only of sand-banks or slime, 
 alternately overflowed or left imperfectly dry. A little 
 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 tlie southern parts, which form at 
 
 * Dili. Hist. Nat. lib. ^" i. t Eumenius, Panog. Const. Caes. 
 
EARLY STATE OF 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 
 liabit, 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 changed by human industry into rich and fertile 
 tracts, the best parts of which are precisely those conquered 
 from the grasp of the ocean. In order to form an idea of the 
 solitude and desolation which once reigned where we now 
 see the most richly cultivated fields, the most thriving vil- 
 lages, and the wealthiest towns of the 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 Netherlands is, then, essentially that of 
 a patient and industrious population struggling against every 
 obstacle which nature could oppose to its well-being ; and, in 
 this contest, man triumphed most completely over the ele- 
 ments in those places where they offered the greatest resist- 
 ance. This extraordinary result was due to the hardy stamp 
 of character imprinted by suffering and danger on those who 
 had the ocean for their foe ; to the nature of their country, 
 which presented no lure for conquest ; and, finally, to the tol- 
 eration, the justice, and the liberty nourished among men 
 lefl 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 Caesar gave to the civilized world the 
 first notions of the Netherlands, Germany, and England. 
 Caesar, afler having subjugated the chief part of Gaul, turned 
 B2 
 
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 Belgse by the Romans ; and at once pronounced 
 the least civilized and the bravest of the Gauls. Ceesar 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, they nearly destroyed the disciplined armies of Rome. 
 They were, however, defeated, and their country ravaged by 
 the invaders, who found less success when they attacked the 
 natives of the low grounds. The Menapians, a people who 
 occupied the present provinces of Flanders and x^ntwerp, 
 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 Csesar made greater progress than his 
 arms. He had rather defeated than subdued those who had 
 dared tlie 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 Mouse, but several other 
 nations more to the north, whose territory he had never seen ; 
 and particularly the Batavians — a valiant tribe, stated by va- 
 rious ancient autliors, 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 the Roman armies, felt proud and 
 happy in being allowed to identify themselves with them. 
 Caesar encouraged this disposition, and even went so far on 
 some occasions as to deprive the Roman cavalry of their 
 horses, on which he mounted those new allies, who managed 
 them better than their Italian riders. He had no reason to 
 repent these measures : almost all his subsequent victories, 
 and particularly that of Pharsalia, being decided by the valor 
 of the auxiliaries he obtained from the Low Countries. J 
 
 These auxiliaries were chiefly drawn from Hainault, Lux- 
 
 * CfPSfir, Coinm. do Bell. Call. Dio. Cass. lib. Iv. 
 \ Cfrlier, Vac. Hist. «lo r.'\nri{?nne Caule. 
 I l)v:i Roches, }\i^\. (Ir la Hclfiqne. 
 
EFFECTS OF THE II OMAN 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 
 sw^am 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 attachment ; like that of the Switzer to his 
 barren rocks, or of the mariner to the frail and hazardous 
 home that bears him afloat on the ocean. This race of patriots 
 was divided into tw^o separate people. Those to the north of 
 the Rhine were the Frisons ; those to the w^est 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.f It is, then, certain that they had 
 learned to imitate those who ruled in the neighboring coun- 
 
 * Des Roches. f M6moires de TAcademie de Middlebourg. 
 
EFFECTS OF THE ROMAN ALLIANCE. 21 
 
 tries: a result by no means surprising; for even England, 
 the mart of their commerce, and the nation with which they 
 liad the 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 the 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 the Prisons 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 prey.^^j 
 
 Reduced into a Roman province, the southern portion of 
 the Netherlands was at this period called Belgic Gaul ; and 
 the name of Belgium, preserved to our days, has until lately 
 been applied to distinguish that part of the country situated 
 to the south of the Rhine and the Mouse, 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 Prisons 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. iv. 
 
22 HISTORY OF THE NETHERLANDS. 
 
 in these remote countries by the colossal weight of the eiit- 
 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 to 
 have taken arms on this occasion and opposed the intruders. 
 But the Menapians united themselves with these new-comers, 
 and aided them to meet the shock of the imperial armies. 
 Carausius, originally a Menapian pilot, but promoted to the 
 command of a Roman fleet, made common cause with his 
 fellow-citizens, and proclaimed himself emperor of Great 
 Britain, where the naval superiority of the Menapians left 
 him no fear of a competitor. In recompense of the assistance 
 given him by the Franks, he crossed the sea again from his 
 new empire, to aid them in their war with the Batavians, the 
 allies of Rome ; and having seized on their islands, and mas- 
 sacred nearly the whole of its inhabitants, he there estab- 
 lished his faithful friends the Salians. Constantius and his 
 son Constantine the Great vainly strove, even after the death 
 of the brave Carausius, to regain possession of the country : 
 but they were forced to leave the new inhabitants in quiet 
 possession of their conquest. 
 
 CHAP. n. 
 250—800. 
 
 FROM THE SETTLEMENT OF THE FRANKS TO THE SUBJUGATION OP 
 FRIESLAND. 
 
 From 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 
 Frisons, 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 the Menapians. While the 
 latter, under the name of Armoricans, jomed 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 inhabitants ; 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 whole world. This country was occu- 
 pied towards the sea by a people wholly maritime, excepting 
 the narrow space between the Rhine and the Vahal, of which 
 the Salian Franks had become possessed. The nature of this 
 marshy soil, in comparison with the sands of Westphalia, 
 Guelders, and North Brabant, was not more strikingly 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. They were covetous and treach- 
 erous, but made excellent soldiers ; and at this epoch, w^hich 
 intervened between the power of imperial Rome and that of 
 Germany, the Frank might be morally considered as a bor- 
 derer on the frontiers of the middle ages.| The Saxon (and 
 this name comprehends all the tribes of the coast from the 
 Rhine as far north as Denmark,) uniting in himself the 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 point of courage ; but the 
 number of Franks who still entered into the service of the 
 empire diminished the real force of this nation, and naturally 
 tended to disunite it. Therefore, in the subsequent shock of 
 people against people, the Saxons invariably gained the final 
 advantage. 
 
 They had no doubt oflen 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 Csesar. 
 Under Augustus, the inhabitants of the coast liad in the same 
 way joined themselves with Drusus, to oppose these their old 
 
 * Procop. de Bell. Goth. f Van Loon, Alonde Hist. 
 
 X Scriptores Minoi um Csesarum, passim. 
 
24 HISTORY OF THE NETHERLANDS. 490. 
 
 enemies. It was also after having been expelled by the 
 Frisons from Gu elders, that tlie 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 the Varni, a race of Saxons 
 nearly connected with those of England, (and coming, like 
 them, from the coast of Denmark,) wiio 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 efforts 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. f The Varni 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 
 lon^ for a corner of marshy earth, carried with them their 
 reciprocal antipathy while involuntarily deciding the destiny 
 of Europe. 
 
 The defeat of the Franks was fatal to those 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.J Under this new empire not a 
 vestige of the ancient nations of the Ardennes was left. The 
 
 * Gibbon, ii. 370. f Zosimus. 
 
 I Abr<ig6 Chron. Hist, de Fiance. 
 
700. PROGRESS OF TItE FRENCH. 25 
 
 civilized population either perislied or was reduced to slavery, 
 and all the high grounds were added to the previous con- 
 quests of the Salians. 
 
 But the maritime population, when once possessed of the 
 whole coast, did not seek to make the 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 tliis 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 mto 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. They 
 
 * Acta Sanct. Belgii. 
 
 c 
 
26 HISTORY OF THE NETHERLANDS. 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 IL 
 exterminated the chief part of the Saxons of Hanover and 
 Westphalia ; 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 Frisons (Friesen,) either because they became really 
 incorporated with that nation, or merely that they recognized 
 it for the most powerful of their tribes. Friesland, to speak 
 in the language of that age, extended then from the Scheldt 
 to the Weser, and formed a considerable state. But the 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 indirectly 
 under the empire of the Merovingian princes ; and the noblest 
 family which existed among the French, — that which subse- 
 quently took the name of Carlovingians, — comprised in its 
 dominions nearly the whole of the southern and western parts 
 of the Netherlands. 
 
 Between this family, whose chief was called duke of the 
 Frontier Marshes, (Dux Brabanti(B,) and the free tribes, 
 united under the common name of Frisons, the same struggle 
 was maintained as that which formerly existed between the 
 Salians and the Saxons. 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 the moment in which he put 
 his foot in the water for the ceremony of baptism, he suddenly 
 asked the priest, where all his old Frison companions in arms 
 
 * Van Loon, Alonde Hist. 
 
719. FINAL CONQUEST OF FRIESLAND. 27 
 
 had gone after their death 1 " To hell," replied the priest. 
 " Well, then," said Radbod, drawing back his toot from the 
 water, " I would rather g-o 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 province which to this day 
 preserves the name. 
 
 The last avenger of Friesland liberty and of the national 
 idols was the illustrious Witikind, to whom the chronicles of 
 his country give the title of first azmg, 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. III. 
 
 800—1000. 
 
 FROM THE CONQUEST OF FRIESLAND TO THE FORMATION OF HOLLAND. 
 
 Even at this advanced epoch of foreign domination, there 
 remained as great a difference as ever between the people of 
 the hig-h grounds and the inhabitants of the plain. The lat- 
 ter were, like the rest, incorpora.ted with the great monarchy ; 
 but they preserved the remembrance of former independence, 
 and even retained their ancient names. In Flanders, Mena- 
 pians and Flemings were still found, and in the country of 
 Antwerp the Toxandrians were not extinct. All the rest of 
 the coast was still called Friesland. But in the high grounds 
 the names of the old inhabitants were lost. Nations were 
 designated by the names of their rivers, forests, or towns. 
 They were classified as accessories to inanimate things ; and 
 having no monuments which reminded them of their origin, 
 they became as it were without recollections or associations ; 
 and degenerated, as may be almost said, into a people with- 
 out ancestry. 
 
 The physical state of the country had greatly changed 
 from the times of Cassar to those of Charlemagne. Many 
 parts of the forest of the Ardennes had been cut doAvn 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 
 the soil, and to have left the people no remains of the vigor 
 of man in his savage state, nor of the desperate courage of 
 the warriors of Germany. A race of serfs now cultivated the 
 domains of haughty lords and imperious priests. The clergy 
 had immense possessions in this country ; an act of the fol- 
 lowing century recognizes 14,000 families of vassals as be- 
 longing to the single abbey of Nivelle. Tournay and Tongres, 
 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 EMPIRK. 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 Thiol, had already a flourishing 
 trade. The last-mentioned town contained in the following 
 century fifty-five churches ; a fact from which, in the absence 
 of other evidence, the extent of the population may be 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 Pri- 
 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 original 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 
 in the first place by the emperor, and at second-hand by the 
 counts and bishops. The counts in those times were not the 
 heads of noble families, as they 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 tlic 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 will, still many dignita- 
 C2 
 
30 HISTORY OF THE NETHERLANDS. 800. 
 
 ries, taking advantage of the barbarous state of the country 
 in which their isolated cantons were placed, sought by every 
 possible means to render their power and prerogatives 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 its 
 resistance, as the waves of the sea that broke against the 
 dikes by which it was defied. 
 
 From the time of Charlemagne, the people of the ancient 
 Menapia, now become a prosperous commonwealtli, 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 whote 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 Gildonixe. 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 v/as 
 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 sucrendod in obtainino- the sanction 
 
800. PRIVILEGES OF THE FRISONS. 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 means %vhich they employed 
 are uncertain. It appears most probable that this great privi- 
 lege was the price of their military services ; for they held 
 a high place in the victorious armies of Charlemagne ; end 
 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, wiiich 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 wiiich admitted no authority 
 of the sovereign to vfolate 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, hi 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 tlie 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 Tournay, 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 whicli bound tliem to the 
 
 * Oude VrieF«?lie Wotten, book u. 
 
32 HISTORY OF THE NETHERLANDS. 864. 
 
 footstool of the monarch. They were not all now dependent 
 on the same sovereign ; for the empire of Charlemagne was 
 divided among his successors: France, properly so called, 
 was bounded by the Scheldt ; the country to the eastward of . 
 that river, that is to say, nearly the whole of the Netherlands, 
 belonged to Lorraine and Germany. 
 
 . In this state of things, it happened that in the year 864, 
 Judith, daughter of Charles the Bald king of France, having 
 survived her husband Ethelwolf king of England, became 
 attached to a powerful Flemish chieftain called Baldwin. It 
 is not quite certain whether he was count, forester, marquis, 
 or protector of the frontiers ; but he certainly enjoyed, no 
 matter under what title, considerable authority in the 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 tlie chief families of each 
 canton sought then, as at all times, to shake off the yoke, the 
 epoch of tlieir independence can only be fixed at the later 
 period at which they obtained or enforced the privilege of not 
 being deprived of their titles and their feudal estates. The 
 counts of the high grounds, and those of Friesland, enjoyed 
 at the utmost but a fortuitous privilege of continuance in 
 their rank. Several foreigners had gained a footing and an 
 authority in the country: among others Wickmand, from 
 whom descended the chatelains of Ghent ; and the counts of 
 Holland, and Heriold, a Norman prince who had been 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 sens. 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 
 advent!irons countrymen, attracted various bands of Norman 
 
891. INVASTOr^S BY THE N0R3IANS. 33 
 
 pirates to the shores of Guelders ; a.nd from desultory descents 
 upon the coast, they soon came to inundate the interior of 
 the country. Flanders alone successfully resisted them during" 
 the life of Baldwin Bras-de-fer ; but after the death of this 
 brave chieftain there was not a province of the whole country 
 that was not ravaged by these invaders. Their multiplied 
 expeditions threw back the Netherlands at least tw^o centu- 
 ries, if, indeed, 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 chief cities were reduced to 
 heaps of ruins. The German emperors vainly interposed for 
 the 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 tlie 
 people of Friesland, perished almost to a man ; and their de- 
 struction was completed, in 891, by Arnoul the Germanic. 
 From that period, the scourge of Norman depredation became 
 gradually less felt. They now made but short and. desultory 
 attempts on the coast ; and their last expedition appears to 
 have taken place about the year 1000, w^hen tliey threatened, 
 but did not succeed in seizing on, the city of Utrecht. 
 
 It is remarkable that, although for the space of 150 years tlie 
 Netherlands were continually the scene of invasion and devas- 
 tation by these northern barbarians, the political state of the 
 country underwent no important clianges. The emperors 
 of Germany were sovereigns of the whole country, with the 
 exception of Flanders. These portions of the empire were 
 still called Lorraine, as well as all which tliey possessed of 
 what is now called France, and which \vas that part forming 
 the appanage of Lothaire and of the JjOtheringian kings. 
 The great difficulty of maintaining subordination among 
 the numerous chieftains of this country caused it, in 958, 
 to be divided into two governments, which were called 
 Higher and I^wer Lorraine. The latter portion comprised 
 nearly the whole of the Netherlands, which thus became 
 governed by a lieutenant of the emperors. Godfrey count 
 
34 HISTORY OF THE NETHERLANDS. 990. 
 
 of Ardenne was the first who filled this place ; and he soon 
 felt all the perils of the situation. The other counts saw, 
 with a jealous eye, their equal now promoted into a superior. 
 Two of the most powerful, Lambert and Reginald, were 
 brothers. They made common cause against the new duke ; 
 and after a desperate struggle, which did not cease till the 
 year 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 II. count of Louvain, and Robert count of 
 Namur, having married the sisters of Othon, respectively 
 claimed the right of inheritance to his title. Baldwin of the 
 comely beard, count of Flanders, joined himself to their 
 league, hoping to extend his power to the eastward of the 
 Scheldt. And, in fact, the emperor, as the only means of 
 disuniting his tw^o 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 
 grov/ing up. Many circumstances w^ere combined to ex- 
 
 * Hist. Crit. Com. Holl. torn. i. p. 2. 
 
1013. INFLUENCE OF THE BISHOPS. 35 
 
 tend and consolidate the episcopal sway. It is true tliat the 
 bishops of Tournay had no temporal authority, since the pe- 
 riod of their city being rumed by the Normans. But those 
 of Liege and Utrecht, and more particularly the latter, had 
 accumulated immense possessions; and their power being 
 inalienable, they had nothing to fear from the caprices of 
 sovereign favor, which so often ruined the families of the 
 aristocracy. Those bishops, who were warriors and 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 Louvam, 
 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 (comes Frisonum 
 Morsatenorum) gave a still more severe lesson to the bishop 
 of Utrecht. This last merits a more particular mention, 
 from the nature of the quarrel and the importance of its 
 results. 
 
 * Ann. Due. Brab. torn. i. 
 
36 HISTORY OF THE NETHERLANDS. 1018. 
 
 CHAP. IV. 
 
 1018—1384. 
 
 FROM THE FORMATION OF HOLLAND TO THE DEATH OF LOUIS DE MALE. 
 
 The district in which Dordrecht is situated, and the 
 grounds in its environs which are at present submerged, 
 formed in those times an island just raised above the waters, 
 and which was called Holland or Holtland, (which means 
 wooded land, or, according to some, hollow land.) The for- 
 mation of this island, or rather its recovery from the waters, 
 being only of recent date, the right to its possession was 
 more disputable than that of long-established countries. All 
 the bishops and abbots whose states bordered the Rhine and 
 the Meuse had, being equally covetous and grasping, and 
 mutually resolved to pounce on the prey, made it their com- 
 mon property. A certain count Thierry, descended from the 
 counts of Ghent, governed about this period the western ex- 
 tremity of Friesland, — the country wliich now forms the prov* 
 ince of Holland ; and with much difficulty maintained his 
 power against the Frisons, by v/hom his right was not ac- 
 knowledged. Beaten out of his own territories by these re- 
 fractory insurgents, he sought refuge in the ecclesiastical 
 island, where he intrenched himself, and founded a town 
 which is believed to have been the origin of Dordrecht. 
 
 This count Thierry, like all the feudal lords, took 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 the emperor had created 
 duke of Lower Lorraine, was commanded to call the whole 
 country to arms. The bishop of Liege, though actually dying, 
 put himself at the head of the expedition, to revenge his 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 FLANDERS. 37 
 
 cal power and the remains of the imperial supremacy con- 
 tinually struggled, 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 Lower 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 obtaining in marriage for his son the 
 countess Richilde, heiress of Hainault and Namur. Thus 
 was Flanders incessantly gaining new aggrandizement, while 
 the duchy of Lorraine was crumbling away on every side. 
 
 In the year 1066 this 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-fer, 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 of things 
 had allowed the people to prosper. The Normans now visit- 
 ed the coasts, not as enemies but as merchants ; and Bruges 
 became the mart of the booty acquired by these bold pirates 
 
 * John Egmont, an old chronicler, says, that the counts of Holland were 
 * a sword in the flanks of the bishops of Utrecht." 
 
 D 
 
38 HISTORY OF THE NETHERLANDS. 1071. 
 
 in England and on the high seas. The fisheries had begun 
 to acquire an importance sufficient to establish the herring 
 as one of the chief aliments of the population. Maritime 
 commerce had made such strides, that Spain and Portugal 
 were well known to both sailors and traders, and the voyage 
 from Flanders to Lisbon was estimated at fifteen days' sail. 
 Woollen stuffs formed the principal wealth of the country ; 
 but salt, corn, and jewellery, were also important branches 
 of traffic ; while the youth of Flanders were so famous for 
 their excellence in all martial pursuits, that foreign sovereigns 
 were at all times desirous of obtaining bodies of troops from 
 this nation. 
 
 The greatest part of Flanders was attached, as has been 
 seen, to the king of France, and not to Lorraine ; but the de- 
 pendence was little more than nominal. In 1071 the king 
 of France attempted to exercise his authority over the coun- 
 try, by naming to the government the same countess Richilde 
 who had received Hainault and Namur for her dower, and 
 who was left a widow, with sons still in their minority. The 
 people assembled in the principal towns, and protested against 
 this intervention of the French monarch. But we must re- 
 mark, that it was only the population of the low lands (whose 
 sturdy ancestors had ever resisted foreign domination) that 
 now took part in this opposition.* The vassals which the 
 counts of Flanders possessed in the Gallic provinces (the high 
 grounds,) and in general all the nobility, pronounced strongly 
 for submission to France ; for the principles of political free- 
 dom had not yet been fixed in the minds of the inhabitants 
 of those parts of the country. But the lowlanders joined to- 
 gether under Robert, surnamed the Frison, brother of the 
 deceased count ; and they so completely defeated the French, 
 the nobles and their unworthy associates of the high ground, 
 that they despoiled the usurping countess Richilde of even 
 her hereditary possessions. In this war perished the cele- 
 brated Norman William Fitz-Osborn, who had flown to the 
 succor of the defeated countess, of whom he was enamoured. 
 
 Robert the Frison, not satisfied with having beaten the 
 king of France and the bishop of Liege, restored in 1076 the 
 grandson of Thierry of Holland in the possessions which had 
 been forced from him by the duke of Lower Lorraine, in the 
 name of the emperor and the bishop of Utrecht : so that it 
 was this valiant chieftain, who, above all others, is entitled 
 to the praise of having successfully opposed the system of 
 foreign domination on all the principal points of the country- 
 
 * Van Praet, Origine des Communes de Flandres. 
 
1086. STATE OF THE FRISONS. 39 
 
 Four years later, Othon of Nassau was the* first to unite in 
 one county the various cantons of Guelders. Finally, in 
 1086, Henry of Lou vain, the direct descendant of Lambert, 
 joined to his title that of count of Brabant ; and from this pe- 
 riod the country was partitioned pretty nearly as it was des- 
 tined to remain for several centuries. 
 
 In the midst of this gradual organization of the various 
 counties, history for some time loses sight of those Frisons, 
 the maritime people of the north, who took little part in the 
 civil wars of two centuries. But still there was no portion 
 of Europe which at that time offered a finer picture of social 
 improvement than these damp and unhealthy coasts. The 
 name of Frisons extended from the Weser to the westward 
 of the Zuyder Zee, but not quite to the Rhine ; and it be- 
 came usual to consider no longer as Frisons the subjects of 
 the counts of Holland, whom we may now begin to distinguish 
 as Hollanders or Dutch. The Frison race alone refused to 
 recognize the sovereign counts. They boasted of being self- 
 governed; owning no allegiance but to the emperor, and 
 regarding the counts of his nomination as so many officers 
 charged to require obedience to the laws of the country, but 
 themselves obliged in all things to respect them. But the 
 counts of Holland, the bishops of. Utrecht, and several Ger- 
 man lords, dignified from time to time with the title of counts 
 of Friesland, insisted that it carried with it a personal au- 
 thority superior to that of the sovereign they represented. 
 The descendants of the count Thierry, a race of men remark- 
 ably warlike, were the most violent in this assumption of 
 power. Defeat after defeat, however, punished their obsti- 
 nacy ; and numbers of those princes met death on the ])ikes 
 of their Frison opponents. The latter had no regular lead- 
 ers ; but at the approach of the enemy the inhabitants of each 
 canton flew to arms, like the members of a single family ; 
 and all the feudal forces brought against them failed to sub- 
 due this popular militia. 
 
 The frequent result of these collisions was the refusal of 
 tlie Frisons to recognize any authority whatever but that of 
 the national judges. Each canton was governed according 
 to its own laws. If a difficulty arose, the deputies of the na- 
 tion met together on the borders of the Ems, in a place called 
 " the Trees of Upstal" ( Upstall-boomen^) where three old 
 oaks stood in the middle of an immense plain. In this primi- 
 tive council-place chieftains were chosen, who, on swearing 
 to maintain the laws and oppose the common enemy, were 
 invested with a limited and temporary authority. 
 
 It does not appear that Friesland possessed any large 
 
40 HISTORY OF THE NETHERLANDS. 1086. 
 
 towns, with the exception of Staveren. In this respect the 
 Prisons resembled those ancient Germans who had a horror 
 of shutting themselves up within walls.* They lived in a 
 way completely patriarchal ; dwelling in isolated cabins, and 
 with habits of the utmost frugality. We read in one of their 
 old histories, that a whole convent of Benedictines was terri- 
 fied at the voracity of a German sculptor who was repairing 
 their chapel. They implored him to look elsewhere for his 
 food ; for that he and his sons consumed enough to exhaust 
 the whole stock of the monastery.! 
 
 In no part of Europe was the good sense of the people so 
 effectively opposed to the unreasonable practices of Catholic- 
 ism in those days. The Frisons successfully resisted the pay- 
 ment of tithes ; and as a punishment (if the monks are to be 
 believed) the sea inflicted upon them repeated inundations. 
 They forced their priests to marry, saying that the man who 
 had no wife necessarily sought for the wife of another. They 
 acknowledged no ecclesiastical decree, if secular judges, dou- 
 ble the number of the priests, did not bear a part in it. J Thus 
 the spirit of liberty burst forth in all their proceedings, and 
 they were justified in calling themselves Vri- Vricsen, Free- 
 Frisons. 
 
 No nation is more interested than England in the exami- 
 nation of all that concerns this remote corner of Europe, so 
 resolute in its opposition to both civil and religious tyranny ; 
 for it was there that those Saxon institutions and principles 
 were first developed without constraint, while the time of 
 their establishment in England was still distant. Restrained 
 by our narrow limits, we can merely indicate this curious 
 state of things ; nor may we enter on many mysteries of so- 
 cial government which the most learned find a difficulty in 
 solving. What were the rights of the nobles in their con- 
 nexion with these freemen 1 What ties of reciprocal inter- 
 est bound the different cantons to each other 1 What were 
 the privileges of the towns'? — These are the minute but im- 
 portant points of detail which are overshadowed by the grand 
 and imposing figure of the national independence. But in 
 fact, the emperors themselves, in these distant times, had 
 little knowledge of this province, and spoke of it vaguely, and 
 as it were at random, in their diplomas, the chief monuments 
 of the history of the middle ages. The counts of Holland and 
 the apostolic nuncios addressed their acts and rescripts indis- 
 criminately to the nobles, clergy, magistrates, judges, con- 
 
 * Gibbon, ii. 360. f Chron. Menconis Abb. in Werum. 
 
 X Oude Vriesche Wetten, Decl. 1. 
 
1086. THEIR POLITICAL INSTITUTIONS. 41 
 
 suls, or commons of Friesland. Sometimes appeared in those 
 documents the vague and imposing title of " the great Fri- 
 son," applied to some popular leader. All this confusion tends 
 to prove, on the authority of the historians of the epoch, and 
 the charters so carefully collected by the learned,* that this 
 question, now so impossible to solve, wqls even then not right- 
 ly understood, — what were really those fierce and redoubtable 
 Prisons in their popular and political relations ] The fact is, 
 that liberty was a matter so difficult to be comprehended by 
 the writers of those times, that Froissart gave as his opinion, 
 about the year 1380, that the Frisons were a most unreason- 
 able race, for not recognizing the authority and power of the 
 great lords. 
 
 The eleventh century had been for the Netherlands (with 
 the exception of Friesland and Flanders) an epoch of organic 
 zation ; and had nearly fixed the political existence of the 
 provinces, which were so long confounded in the vast posses- 
 sions of the empire. It is therefore important to ascertain 
 under what influence and on what basis these provinces be- 
 came consolidated at that period. Holland and Zealand, 
 animated by the spirit which we may fairly distinguish under 
 the mingled title of Saxon and maritime, countries scarcely 
 accessible, and with a vigorous population, possessed, in the 
 descendants of Thierry L, a race of national chieftains who 
 did not attempt despotic rule over so unconquerable a peo- 
 ple. In Brabant, the maritime towns of Berg-op-Zoom and 
 Antwerp formed, in the Flemish style, so many republics, 
 small but not insignificant ; while the southern parts of the 
 province were under the sway of a nobility who crushed, 
 trampled on, or sold their vassals at their pleasure or caprice. 
 The bishopric of Liege offered also the same contrast ; the 
 domains of the nobility being governed with the utmost 
 harshness, while those prince-prelates lavished on their ple- 
 beian vassals privileges which might have been supposed 
 the fruits of generosity, were it not clear that the object was 
 to create an opposition in the lower orders against the turbu- 
 lent aristocracy, whom they found it impossible to manage 
 single-handed. . The wars of these bishops against the petty 
 nobles, who made their castles so many receptacles of rob- 
 bers and plunder, were thus the foundation of public liberty. 
 And it appears tolerably certain that the Paladins of Ariosto 
 were in reality nothing more than those brigand chieftains of 
 tlie Ardennes, whose ruined residences preserve to this day 
 the names which the poet borrowed from the old romance 
 
 * F. Van Micris, Groot CharterI)oek van IfoU. Zccl. en Vriesland. 
 
 D2 
 
42 HISTORY OF THE NETHERLANDS. 1200. 
 
 writers. But in all the rest of the Netherlands, excepting 
 the provinces already mentioned, no form of government ex- 
 isted, but that fierce feudality which reduced the people into 
 serfs, and turned the social state of man into a cheerless 
 waste of bondage. 
 
 It was then that the crusades, with wild and stirring fa- 
 naticism, agitated, in the common impulse given to all Eu- 
 rope, even those little states which seemed to slumber in 
 their isolated independence. Nowhere did the voice of Peter 
 the Hermit find a more sympathizing echo than in these 
 lands, still desolated by so many intestine struggles. Godfrey 
 of Bouillon, duke of Lower Lorraine, took the lead in this 
 chivalric and religious frenzy. With him set out the counts 
 of Hainault and Flanders ; the latter of whom received from 
 the English crusaders the honorable appellation of Fitz St. 
 George. But although the valor of all these princes was 
 conspicuous, from the foundation of the kingdom of Jerusalem 
 by Godfrey of Bouillon in 1098, until that of the Latin em- 
 pire of Constantinople by Baldwin of Flanders in 1203, still 
 the simple gentlemen and peasants of Friesland did not less 
 distinguish themselves. They were, on all occasions, the 
 first to mount the breach or lead the charge ; and the pope's 
 nuncio found himself forced to prohibit the very women of 
 Friesland from embarking for the Holy Land — so anxious 
 were they to share the perils and glory of their husbands and 
 brothers in combating the Saracens. 
 
 The outlet given by the crusaders to the over-boiling 
 ardor of these warlike countries, was a source of infinite ad- 
 vantage to their internal economy : under the rapid progress 
 of civilization, the population increased and the fields were 
 cultivated. The nobility, reduced to moderation by the en- 
 feebling consequences of extensive foreign wars, became com- 
 paratively impotent in their attempted efforts against domes- 
 tic freedom. Those of Flanders and Brabant, also, were 
 almost decimated in the terrible battle of Bouvines, fought 
 between the emperor Othon and Philip Augustus king of 
 France. On no occasion, however, had this reduced but 
 not degenerate nobility shown more heroic valor. The 
 Flemish Imights, disdaining to mount their horses or form 
 their ranks for the repulse of the French cavalry, composed 
 of common persons, contemptuously received their shock on 
 foot and in the disorder of individual resistance. The brave 
 Buridan of Ypres led his comrades to the fight, with the 
 chivalric war-cry, " Let each now think of her he loves !" 
 But the issue of this battle was ruinous to tlie Belgians, in 
 consequence of tlie bad generalship of the emperor, who had 
 
1200. PROGRESS OF FREEDOM. 43 
 
 divided his army into small portions, which were defeated in 
 detail. 
 
 While the nobility thus declined, the towns began rapidly 
 to develop the elements of popular force. In 1120, a Flem- 
 ish knight who might descend so far as to marry a woman 
 of the plebeian ranks incurred the penalty of degradation and 
 servitude.* In 1220, scarcely a serf was to be found in all 
 Flanders.f In 1300, the chiefs of the gilden, or trades, were 
 more powerful than the nobles. These dates and these facts 
 must suffice to mark the epoch at which the great mass of 
 the nation arose from the wretchedness in which it was 
 plunged by the Norman invasion, and acquired sufficient 
 strength and freedom to form a real political force. But it is 
 remarkable that the same results took place in all the coun- 
 ties or dukedoms of the Lowlands precisely at the same pe- 
 riod. In fact, if we start from the year 1200 on this inter- 
 esting inquiry, we shall see the commons attacking, in the 
 first place the petty feudal lords, and next tlie counts and the 
 dukes themselves, as often as justice was denied them. In 
 1257, the peasants of Holland and the burghers of Utrecht 
 proclaimed freedom and equality, drove out the bishop and 
 the nobles, and began a memorable struggle which lasted full 
 two hundred years. In 1260, the towns-people of Flanders 
 appealed to the king of France against the decrees of their 
 count, who ended the quarrel by the loss of his county. In 
 1303, Mechlin and Louvain, the chief towns of Brabant, ex- 
 pelled the patrician families. A coincidence like this cannot 
 be attributed to trifling or partial causes, such as the miscon- 
 duct of a single count, or other local evil ; but to a great 
 general movement in the popular mind, the progress of agri- 
 culture and industry in the whole country, superinducing an 
 increase of wealth and intelligence, which, when unrestrain- 
 ed by the influence of a corrupt government, must naturally 
 lead to the liberty and the happiness of a people. 
 
 The weaving of woollen and linen cloths was one of the 
 chief sources of this growing prosperity. A prodigious quan- 
 tity of cloth and linen was manufactured in all parts of the 
 Netherlands. The maritime prosperity acquired an equal 
 increase by the carrying trade, both in imports and exports. 
 Whole fleets of Dutch and Flemish merchant-ships repaired 
 regularly to the coasts of Spain and Languedoc. Flanders 
 was already become the great market for England and all 
 
 * Vita Caroli boni. 
 
 t The countess Jane had enfranchised all those belonging to her as early 
 as 122->.— Frcrfii Siff. Com. Fl. 
 
44 HISTORY or THE NETHERLANDS. 1200 
 
 the north of Europe. The great increase of population forced 
 all parts of the country into cultivation ; so much so, that 
 lands were in those times sold at a high price, which are to- 
 day left waste from imputed sterility. 
 
 Legislation naturally followed the movements of those 
 positive and material interests. The earliest of the towns, 
 after the invasion of the Normans, were in some degree but 
 places of refuge. It was soon, however, established that the 
 regular inhabitants of these bulwarks of the country should 
 not be subjected to any servitude beyond their care and de- 
 fence ; but the citizen who might absent himself for a longer 
 period than forty days was considered a deserter and de- 
 prived of his rights. It was about the year 1100 that the 
 commons began to possess the privilege of regulating their 
 internal affairs : they appointed their judges and magistrates, 
 and attached to their authority the old custom of ordering all 
 the citizens to assemble or march when the summons of the 
 feudal lord sounded the signal for their assemblage or ser- 
 vice. By this means each municipal magistracy had the 
 disposal of a force far superior to those of the nobles, for the 
 population of the towns exceeded both in number and disci- 
 pline the vassals of the seigniorial lands. And these train- 
 ed bands of the towns made war in a way very different from 
 that hitherto practised; for the chivalry of the country, 
 making the trade of arms a profession for life, the feuds of 
 the chieftains produced hereditary struggles, almost always 
 slow, and mutually disastrous. But the townsmen, forced 
 to tear themselves from every association of home and its 
 manifold endearments, advanced boldly to the object of the 
 contest ; never shrinking from the dangers of war, from fear 
 of that still greater to be found in a prolonged struggle. It 
 is thus that it may be remarked, during the memorable con- 
 flicts of the thirteenth century, that when even the bravest 
 of the knights advised their counts or dukes to grant or de- 
 mand a truce, the citizen militia never knew but one cry — 
 " To the charge !"* 
 
 Evidence was soon given of the importance of this new 
 nation, when it became forced to take up arms against ene- 
 mies still more redoubtable than the counts. In 1301, the 
 Flemings, who had abandoned their own sovereign to attach 
 themselves to Philip the Fair, king of France, began to re- 
 pent of their newly-formed allegiance, and to be weary of the 
 master they had chosen. Two citizens of Bruges, Peter de 
 Koning, a draper, and John Breydel, a butcher, put them- 
 
 * Butkens, Trophies de Brabant. 
 
1323. REVOLT OF THE TOWNS. 45 
 
 selves at the head of their fellow-townsmen, and completely 
 dislodged the French troops who garrisoned it. The follow- 
 ing year, the militia of Bruges and the immediate neighbor- 
 hood sustained alone, at the battle of Courtrai, the shock of 
 one of the finest armies that France ever sent into the field. 
 Victory soon declared for the gallant men of Bruges ; up- 
 wards of 3000 of the French chivalry, besides common sol- 
 diers, were left dead on the field. In 1304, after a long con- 
 tested battle, the Flemings forced the king of France to re- 
 lease their count, whom he had held prisoner. " I believe it 
 rains Flemings !" said Philip, astonished to see them crowd 
 on him from all sides of the field. But this multitude of war- 
 riors, always ready to meet the foe, were provided for the 
 most part by the towns. In the seigniorial system a village 
 hardly furnished more than four or five men, and these only 
 on important occasions ; but in that of the towns, every citi- 
 zen was enrolled a soldier to defend the country at all times. 
 The same system established in Brabant forced the duke 
 of that province to sanction and guaranty the popular privi- 
 leges, and the superiority of the people over the nobility. 
 Such was the result of the famous contract concluded in 
 1312 at Cortenbergh, by which the duke created a legisla- 
 tive and judicial assembly to meet every twenty-one days for 
 the provincial business ; and to consist of fourteen deputies, 
 of whom only four were to be nobles, and ten were chosen 
 from the people. The duke was bound by this act to hold 
 himself in obedience to the legislative decisions of the coun- 
 cil, and renounced all right of levying arbitrary taxes or 
 duties on the state.* Thus were the local privileges of the 
 people by degrees secured and ratified; but the various 
 towns, making common cause for general liberty, became 
 strictly united together, and progressively extended their 
 influence and power. The confederation between Flanders 
 and Brabant was soon consolidated. The burghers of Bruges, 
 who had taken the lead in the grand national union, and had 
 been the foremost to expel the foreign force, took umbrage 
 in 1323 at an arbitrary measure of their count, Louis (called 
 of Cressy by posthumous nomination, from his having been 
 killed at that celebrated fight), by which he ceded to the 
 count of Namur, his great-uncle, the port of Ecluse, and 
 authorized him to levy duties there in the style of the feudal 
 lords of the high country. It was but the affair of a day to 
 the intrepid citizens to attack the fortress of Ecluse, cavry it 
 by assault, and take prisoner the old count of Namur. They 
 
 * Dinterus, MSB. Bibl. Bruxell. 
 
46 HISTORY OF THE NETHERLANDS. 1340. 
 
 destroyed in a short time almost all the strong castles of the 
 nobles throughout the province ; and having been joined by 
 all the towns of western Flanders, they finally made prisoners 
 count Louis himself, with almost the whole of the nobility, 
 who had taken refuge with him in the town of Courtrai. 
 But Ghent, actuated by the jealousy which at all times ex- 
 isted between it and Bruges, stood aloof at this crisis. The 
 latter town was obliged to come to a compromise with the 
 count, who soon afterwards, on a new quarrel breaking out, 
 and supported by the king of France, almost annihilated his 
 sturdy opponents at the battle of Cassel, where the Flemish 
 infantry, commanded by Nicholas Zannekin and others, were 
 literally cut to pieces by the French knights and men-at- 
 arms. 
 
 This check proved the absolute necessity of union among 
 the rival cities. Ten years after the battle of Cassel, 
 Ghent set the example of general opposition ; this example 
 was promptly followed, and the chief towns flew to arms. 
 The celebrated James d'Artaveldt, commonly called the 
 brewer of Ghent, put himself at the head of this formidable 
 insurrection. He was a man of a distinguished family, who 
 had himself enrolled among the guild of brewers, to entitle 
 him to occupy a place in the corporation of Ghent, which he 
 soon succeeded in managing and leading at his pleasure. 
 The tyranny of the count, and the French party which sup- 
 ported him, became so intolerable to Artaveldt, that he 
 resolved to assail them at all hazards, unappalled by the fate 
 of his father-in-law, Sohier de Courtrai, who lost his head for 
 a similar attempt, and notwithstanding the hitherto devoted 
 fidelity of his native city to the count. One only object 
 seemed insurmountable. The Flemings had sworn allegiance 
 to the crown of France ; and they revolted at the idea of per- 
 jury, even from an extorted oath. But to overcome their 
 scruples, Artaveldt proposed to acknowledge the claim of 
 Edward III. of England to the French crown.* The Flemings 
 readily acceded to this arrangement ; quickly overwhelmed 
 count Louis of Cressy and his French partisans; and then 
 joined, with an army of 60,000 men, the English monarch, 
 who had landed at Antwerp. These numerous auxiliaries 
 rendered Edward's army irresistible; and soon afterwards 
 the French and English fleets, both of formidable power, but 
 the latter of inferior force, met near Sluys, and engaged in a 
 battle meant to be decisive of tlie war : victory remained 
 doubtful during an entire day of fighting, until a Flemish 
 
 * Villaret, Hist, de France, t. viii. 
 
1350. JAMES d'artaveldt* 47 
 
 squadron hastening to the aid of the English, fixed the fate 
 of the combat by the utter defeat of the enemy. 
 
 A truce between the two kings did not deprive Artaveldt 
 of his well-earned authority. He was invested with the title 
 of ru ward, or conservator of the peace, of Flanders, and 
 governed the whole province with almost sovereign sway. It 
 was said that king Edward used familiarly to call him " his 
 dear gossip ;" and it is certain that there was not a feudal 
 lord of the time whose power was not eclipsed by this leader 
 of the people. One of the principal motives which cemented 
 the attachment of the Flemings to Artaveldt, was the advan- 
 tage obtained through his influence with Edward for facili- 
 tating the trade with England, whence they procured the 
 chief supply of wool for their manufactories. Edward prom- 
 ised them 70,000 sacks as the reward of their alliance. But 
 though greatly influenced by the stimulus of general interest, 
 the Flemings loved their domestic liberty better than Eng- 
 lish wool ; and when they found that their ruward degen- 
 erated from a firm patriot into the partisan of a foreign 
 prince, they became disgusted with him altogether ; and he 
 perished in 1345, in a tumult raised against him by those by 
 whom he had been so lately idolized. The Flemings held 
 firm, nevertheless, in their alliance with England, only 
 regulating the connexion by a steady principle of national 
 independence.* 
 
 Edward knew well how to conciliate and manage these 
 faithful and important auxiliaries during all his continental 
 wars. A Flemish army covered the siege of Calais in 1348; 
 and, under the command of Giles de Rypergherste, a mere 
 weaver of Ghent, they beat the dauphin of France in a 
 pitched battle. But Calais once taken, and a truce concluded, 
 the English king abandoned his allies. These, left wholly to 
 their own resources, forced the French and the heir of their 
 count, young Louis de Male, to recognize their right to self- 
 government according to their ancient privileges, and of not 
 being forced to give aid to France in any war against Eng- 
 land. Flanders may therefore be pronounced as forming, at 
 this epoch, both in right and fact, a truly independent prin- 
 cipality.f 
 
 But such struggles as these left a deep and immovable 
 sentiment of hatred in the minds of the vanquished. Louis 
 de Male longed for the re-establishment and extension of his 
 authority ; and had the art to gain over to his views not only 
 all the nobles, but many of the most influential guilds or 
 
 * Meverus, Ann. Fl. t Meyerus. 
 
48 HISTORY OF TlIE NETHERLANDS. 1384. 
 
 trades. Ghent, which long resisted his attempts, was at 
 length reduced by famine ; and the count projected the ruin, 
 or at least the total subjection, of this turbulent town. A son 
 of Artaveldt started forth at this juncture, when the popular 
 cause seemed lost ; and joining with his fellow-citizens John 
 Lyons and Peter du Bois, he led 7000 resolute burghers 
 against 40,000 feudal vassals. He completely defeated the 
 count, and took the town of Bruges, where Louis de Male 
 only obtained safety by hiding himself under the bed of an 
 old woman who gave him shelter.* Thus once more feudality 
 was defeated in a fresh struggle with civic freedom. 
 
 The consequences of this event were immense. They 
 reached to the very heart of France, where the people bore 
 in great discontent the feudal yoke ; and Froissart declares, 
 that the success of the people of Ghent had nearly over- 
 thrown the superiority of the nobility over the people in 
 France. But the king, Charles VI., excited by his uncle, 
 Philip the Bold, duke of Burgundy, took arms in support of 
 the defeated count, and marched with a powerful army 
 against the rebellious burghers. Though defeated in four 
 successive combats, in the latter of which, that of Roosbeke, 
 Artaveldt was killed, the Flemings would not submit to their 
 imperious count, who used every persuasion with Charles to 
 continue his assistance for the punishment of these refractory 
 subjects.! But the duke of Burgundy was aware that a too 
 great perseverance would end, either in driving the people to 
 despair and the possible defeat of the French, or the entire 
 conquest of the country and its junction to the crown of 
 France. He, being son-in-law to Louis de Male, and conse- 
 quently aspiring to the inheritance of Flanders, saw with a 
 keen glance the advantage of a present compromise. On the 
 death of Louis, who is stated to have been murdered by. 
 Philip's brother, the duke of Berri, he concluded a peace 
 with the rebel burghers, and entered at once upon the 
 sovereignty of the country. J 
 
 * Oudegherst.Chron. van Vlaenderen. 
 
 t De Barante, Hist, des Dues de Bourgogne. 
 
 X Meyer de Barante, &c. 1384. 
 
1384. nilLIP THE BOLD. 49 
 
 CHAP. V. 
 1384—1506. 
 
 FROM THE SUCCESSION OF PHILIP THE BOLD TO THE COUNTY OF 
 FLANDERS, TO THE DEATH OF PHILIP THE FAIR, 
 
 Thus the house of Burgundy, which soon after became so 
 formidable and celebrated, obtained this vast accession to its 
 power. The various changes which had taken place in the 
 neighboring provinces during the continuance of these civil 
 wars had altered the state of Flanders altogether. John 
 d'Avesnes count of Hainault having also succeeded in 1299 
 to the county of Holland, the two provinces, theugh separated 
 by Flanders and Brabant, remained from that time under the 
 government of the same chief, who soon became more power- 
 ful than the bishops of Utrecht, or even than their formidable 
 rivals the Frisons. 
 
 During the wars which desolated these opposing territories, 
 in consequence of the perpetual conflicts for superiority, the 
 power of the various towns insensibly became at least as 
 great as that of the nobles to whom they were constantly 
 opposed. The commercial interests of Holland, also, were 
 considerably advanced by the influx of Flemish merchants 
 forced to seek refuge there from the convulsions which 
 agitated their province. Every day confirmed and increased 
 the privileges of the people of Brabant ; while at Liege the 
 inhabitants gradually began to gain the upper hand, and to 
 shake oflT the former subjection to their sovereign bishops. 
 
 Although Philip of Burgundy became count of Flanders, 
 by the death of his father-in-law, in the year 1384, it was not 
 till the following year that he concluded a peace with the 
 people of Ghent, and entered into quiet possession of the 
 province. In the same year the duchess of Brabant, the 
 last descendant of the duke of that province, died, leaving no 
 nearer relative than the duchess of Burgundy ; so that Philip 
 obtained in right of his wife this new and important accession 
 to his dominions. But the consequent increase of the sove- 
 reign's power was not, as is often the case, injurious to the 
 liberties or happiness of the people. Philip continued to 
 govern in the interest of the country, which he had the good 
 sense to consider as identified with his own. He augmented 
 the privileges of the towns, and negotiated for the return into 
 Flanders of those merchants who had emigrated to Ger- 
 
 E 
 
50 IIISTOllY OF THE NETHERLANDS. 13S5. 
 
 many and Holland during the continuance of the civil wars.* 
 He thus by degrees accustomed his new subjects, so proud of 
 their rights, to submit to his authority; and his peaceable 
 reign was only disturbed by the fatal issue of the expedition 
 of his son, John the Fearless, count of Nevers, against the 
 Turks. This young prince, filled with ambition and temerity, 
 was offered the command of the force sent by Charles HI. of 
 France to the assistance of Sigismund of Hungary in his 
 war against Bajazet. Followed by a numerous body of nobles, 
 he entered on the contest, and was defeated and taken pris- 
 oner by the Turks at the battle of Nicopolis. His army was 
 totally destroyed, and himself only restored to liberty on the 
 payment of an immense ransom.f 
 
 John tlie Fearless succeeded in 1404 to the inheritance of 
 all his father's dominions, with the exception of Brabant, of 
 which his younger brother, Anthony of Burgundy, became 
 duke. John, whose ambitious and ferocious character became 
 every day more strongly developed, now aspired to the govern- 
 ment of France during the insanity of his cousin Charles VI, 
 He occupied himself little with the affairs of the Nether- 
 lands, from which he only desired to draw supplies of men. 
 But the Flemings, taking no interest in his personal views or 
 private projects, and equally indifferent to the rivalry of Eng- 
 land and France which now began so fearfully to afflict the 
 latter kingdom, forced their ambitious count to declare their 
 province a neutral country ;| so that the English merchants 
 were admitted as usual to trade in all the ports of Flanders, 
 and the Flemings equally well received in England, while 
 the duke made open war against Great Britain in his quality 
 of a prince of France and sovereign of Burgundy. This is 
 probably the earliest well-established instance of such a dis- 
 tinction between the prince and the people. 
 
 Anthony duke of Brabant, the brother of Philip, was not 
 so closely restricted in his authority and wishes. He led all 
 the nobles of the province to take part in the quarrels of 
 France ; and he suffered the penalty of his rashness, in meet- 
 ing his death in the battle of Agincourt. But the duchy 
 suffered nothing by this event, for the militia of the country 
 had not followed their duke and his nobles to the war ; and a 
 national council was now established, consisting of eleven 
 persons, tw^o of whom were ecclesiastics, three barons, two 
 knights, and four commoners. This council, formed on prin- 
 ciples so . fairly popular, conducted the public affiiirs with 
 great wisdom during the minority of the young duke. Each 
 
 * Oudegherst, Chron. Vlaend. . f De Barante, t. ii. | Meyerus. 
 
1404. JOHN OF BAVARIA. 51 
 
 province seems thus to have governed itself upon principles 
 of republican independence. The sovereigns could not at 
 discretion, or by the want of it, play the bloody game of war 
 for their mere amusement ; and the emperor putting in his 
 claim at this epoch to his ancient rights of sovereignty over 
 Brabant, as an imperial fief, the council and the people treated 
 the demand with derision. 
 
 The spirit of constitutional liberty and legal equality which 
 now animated the various provinces, is strongly marked in 
 the history of the time by two striking and characteristic in- 
 cidents. At the death of Philip the Bold, his widow deposited 
 on his tomb her purse, and the keys which she carried at her 
 girdle in token of marriage ; and by this humiliating cere- 
 mony she renounced her rights to a succession overloaded 
 with her husband's debts.* In the same year (1404) the 
 widow of Albert count of Holland and Hainault, finding her- 
 self in similar circumstances, required of the bailiff of Hol- 
 land and the judges of his court permission to make a like 
 renunciation. The claim was granted ; and to fulfil the re- 
 quisite ceremony, she walked at the head of the funeral pro- 
 cession, carrying in her hand a blade of straw, which she 
 placed on the cofRn.f We thus find that in such cases the 
 reigning families were held liable to follow the common 
 usages of the country. From such instances there required 
 but little progress in the principle of equality to reach the 
 republican contempt for rank, which made the citizens of 
 Bruges in the following century arrest their count for his 
 private debts. 
 
 The spirit of independence had reached the same point at 
 Liege. The families of the counts of Holland and Hainault, 
 which were at this time distinguished by the name of Ba- 
 varia, because they were only descended from the ancient 
 counts of Netherland extraction in the female line, had suffi- 
 cient influence to obtain the nomination to the bishopric for 
 a prince who was at the period in his infancy. John of Ba- 
 varia, — for so he was called, and to his name was afterwards 
 added the epithet of " the Pitiless," — on reaching his ma- 
 jority, did not think it necessary to cause himself to be con- 
 secrated a priest, but governed as a lay sovereign. The in- 
 dignant citizens of Liege expelled him, and chose another 
 bishop. But the houses of Burgundy and Bavaria, closely 
 allied by intermarriages, made common cause in his quarrel ; 
 and John duke of Burgundy, and William IV. count of Hol- 
 
 * Monstrclet. t. i. t Wagenaar, Hist. Van Vadeiiand, 
 
52 HISTORY OF THE NETHERLANDS. 1416. 
 
 land and Ilainault, brother of the bishop, replaced by forco 
 this cruel and unworthy prelate. 
 
 This union of the government over all the provinces in 
 two families so closely connected, rendered the preponder- 
 ance of the rulers too strong for that balance hitherto kept 
 steady by the popular force. The former could on each new 
 quarrel join together, and employ against any particular town 
 their w^hole united resources ; whereas the latter could only 
 act by isolated efforts for the maintenance of their separate 
 rights. Such w^as the cause of a considerable decline in 
 public liberty during the fifteenth century. It is true that 
 John the Fearless gave ahnost his whole attention to his 
 French political intrigues, and to the fierce quarrels w^hich 
 he maintained with the house of Orleans. But his nephew, 
 John duke of Brabant, having married, in 1416, his cousin 
 Jacqueline, daughter and heiress of William IV. count of 
 Holland and Hainault, this branch of the house of Burgundy 
 seemed to get the start of the elder in its progressive influ- 
 ence over the provinces of the Netherlands. The dukes of 
 Guelders, who had changed their title of counts for one of 
 superior rank, acquired no accession of power proportioned 
 to their new dignity. The bishops of Utrecht became by 
 degrees weaker ; private dissensions enfeebled Friesland ; 
 Luxembourg was a poor unimportant dukedom ; but Holland, 
 Hainault, and Brabant, formed the very heart of the Nether- 
 lands ; while the elder branch of the same family, under 
 whom they were united, possessed Flanders, Artois, and the 
 two Burgundys. To complete the prosperity and power of 
 this latter branch, it was soon destined to inherit the entire 
 dominions of the other. 
 
 A fact, the consequences of which w^ere so important for 
 the entire of Europe, merits considerable attention ; but it is 
 most difficult to explain at once concisely and clearly the 
 series of accidents, manoeuvres, tricks, and crimes, by which 
 it was accomplished. It must first be remarked, that this 
 John of Brabant, become the husband of his cousui Jacqueline 
 countess of Holland and Hainault, possessed neither the 
 moral nor physical qualities suited to mate wdth the most love- 
 ly, intrepid, and talented woman of her times ; nor the vigor 
 and firmness required for the maintenance of an increased, 
 and for those days a considerable, dominion. Jacqueline 
 thoroughly despised her insignificant husband ; first in secret, 
 and subsequently by those open avowals forced from her by 
 his revolting combination of w^eakncss, cowardice, and tyran- 
 ny. He tamely allowed the province of Holland to be in- 
 vaded by the same ungrateful bishop of Liege, John the Piti- 
 
1431. PHILIP OF BURGUNDY. 53 
 
 less, whom his wife's father and his own uncle had re-estab- 
 lished in his justly forfeited authority. But John of Brabant 
 revenged himself for his wife's contempt by a series of do- 
 mestic persecutions so odious, that the states of Brabant in- 
 terfered for her protection. Finding it, however, impossible 
 to remain in a perpetual contest with a husband whom she 
 hat^d and despised, she fled from Brussels, where he held his 
 ducal court, and took refuge in England, under the protection 
 of Henry V., at that time in the plenitude of his fame and 
 power.* 
 
 England at this epoch enjoyed the proudest station in Euro- 
 pean affairs. John the Fearless, after having caused the 
 murder of his rival the duke of Orleans, was himself assassi- 
 nated on the bridge of Montereau, by the followers of the 
 dauphin of France, and in his presence. Philip duke of Bur- 
 gundy, the son and successor of John, had formed a close alli- 
 ance with Henry V., to revenge his father's murder; and 
 soon after the death of the king he married his sister, and 
 thus united himself still more nearly to the celebrated John 
 duke of Bedford, brother of Henry, and regent of France, in 
 the name of his infant nephew, Henry VI. But besides the 
 share on which he reckoned in the spoils of France, Philip 
 also looked with a covetous eye on the inheritance of Jacque- 
 line, his cousin. As soon as he had learned that this princess, 
 so well received in England, was taking measures for having 
 her marriage annulled, to enable her to espouse the duke of 
 Gloucester, also the brother of Henry V., and subsequently 
 known by the appellation of " the good duke Humphrey," 
 he was tormented by a double anxiety. He, in the first place, 
 dreaded that Jacqueline might have children by her projected 
 marriage with Gloucester, (a circumstance neither likely, 
 nor even possible, in the opinion of some historians, 'to result 
 from her union with John of Brabant, f) and thus deprive him 
 of his right of succession to lier states ; and in the next, he 
 was jealous of the possible domination of England in the 
 Netherlands as well as in France. He therefore soon became 
 self-absolved from all his vows of revenge in the cause of his 
 murdered father, and labored solely for the object of his per- 
 sonal aggrandizement. To break his connexion with Bed- 
 ford ; to treat secretly with the dauphin, his father's assassin, 
 or at least the witness and warrant for his assassination ; and 
 to shuffle from party to party as occasion required; were 
 movements of no difficulty to Philip, surnamed " the Good." 
 He openly espoused the cause of his infamous relative John 
 
   Monstrelet. f Hume, vol. iii. p. 133. 
 
 E2 
 
54 HISTORY OF THE INETHERLANDS. 1436. 
 
 of* Brabant ; sent a powerful army into Hainault, which Glou- 
 cester vainly strove to defend in right of his affianced wife ; 
 and next seized on Holland and Zealand, where he met with 
 a long- but ineffectual resistance on the part of the courageous 
 woman he so mercilessly oppressed. Jacqueline, deprived of 
 the assistance of her staunch but ruined friends,* and aban- 
 doned by Gloucester, (who, on the refusal of pope Martin V. 
 to sanction her divorce, had married another woman, and but 
 feebly aided the efforts of the former to maintain her rights,) 
 was now left a widow by the death of John of Brabant. But 
 Philip, without a shadow of justice, pursued liis designs 
 against her dominions, and finally despoiled her of her last 
 possessions, and even of the title of countess, which she for- 
 feited by her marriage with Vrank Van Borselen, a gentle- 
 man of Zealand, contrary to a compact to which Philip's tyr- 
 anny had forced her to consent. After a career the most 
 chequered and romantic which is recorded in history, the 
 beautiful and hitherto unfortunate Jacqueline found repose 
 and happiness in the tranquillity of private life; and her 
 death in 1436, at the age of thirty-six, removed all restraint 
 from Philip's thirst for aggrandizement, in the indulgence 
 of which he drowned his remorse. As if fortune had con- 
 spired for the rapid consolidation of his greatness, the death 
 of Philip count of St. Pol, who had succeeded his brother 
 John in the dukedom of Brabant, gave him the sovereignty 
 of that extensive province ; and his dominions soon extended 
 to the very limits of Picardy, by the peace of Arras, con- 
 cluded with the dauphin, now become Charles VII., and by 
 his finally contracting a strict alliance with France. 
 
 Philip of Burgundy, thus become sovereign of dominions 
 at once so extensive and compact, had the precaution and ad- 
 dress to obtain from the emperor a formal renunciation of his 
 existing, though almost nominal, rights as lord paramount. 
 He next purchased the title of the duchess of Luxembourg 
 to that duchy ; and thus the states of the house of Burgundy 
 gained an extent about equal to that of the existing kingdom 
 
 * We must not omit to notice the existence of two factions, which, for 
 near two centuries, divided and agitated the whole population of Holland 
 and Zealand. One bore the title of Hoeks (fishinsr-hooks;) tlie other was 
 called Kaabeljavws (cotl-fisli.) The origin of these burlesque denominations 
 was a dispute between two parties at a feast, as to wliether the cod-fish 
 took the hook, or the hook the cod-fish ? This apparently frivolous dispute 
 was made the pretext for a serious quarrel ; and the partisans of the nobles 
 and those of the towns ranged themselves at either side, and assumed differ- 
 ent badges of distinction. The Iloeks, partisans of the towns, wore red 
 caps; the KaabeJjauws wore gray ones. In Jacqueline's quarrel with Philip 
 of Burgundy, she was supported by the former; and it was not till the year 
 1492 that the extinction of that popular and turbulent faction struck a final 
 blow to the dissensions of both. 
 
1450. REBELLION OF GHENT. 55 
 
 of the Netherlands. For altliough on the north and east they 
 did not include Friesland, the bishopric of Utrecht, Gueldcrs, 
 or the province of Liege, still on the south and west they 
 comprised French Flanders, the Boulonnais, Artois, and a 
 part of Picardy, besides Burgundy. But it has been already 
 seen how limited an authority was possessed by the rulers 
 of the maritime provinces. Flanders in particular, the most 
 populous and wealthy, strictly preserved its republican insti- 
 tutions. Ghent and Bruges were the two great towms of the 
 province, and each maintained its individual authority over 
 its respective territory, with great indifference to the will or 
 the wishes of the sovereign duke. Philip, however, had the 
 policy to divide most effectually these rival towns. After 
 having fallen into the hands cf the people of Bruges, whom 
 he made a vain attempt to surprise, and who massacred num- 
 bers of his followers before his eyes, he forced them to sub- 
 mission by the assistance of the citizens of Ghent, who sanc- 
 tioned the banishment of the chief men of the vanquished 
 town.* But some years later Ghent was in its turn oppressed 
 and punished for having resisted the payment of some new 
 tax. It found no support from the rest of Flanders. Never- 
 theless this powerful city singly maintained the war for the 
 space of two years : but the intrepid burghers finally yielded 
 to the veterans of the duke, formed to victory in the French 
 wars. The principal privileges of Ghent were on this occa- 
 sion revoked and annulled.f 
 
 , During these transactions the province of Holland, which 
 enjoyed a degree of liberty almost equal to Flanders, had de- 
 clared war against the Hanseatic towns on its own proper 
 authority. Supported by Zealand, which formed a distinct 
 country, but was strictly united to it by a common interest, 
 Holland equipped a fleet against the pirates which infested 
 their coasts and assailed their commerce, and soon forced 
 them to submission. Philip in the mean time contrived to 
 manage the conflicting elements of his power with great 
 subtlety. Notwithstanding his ambitious and despotic char- 
 acter, he conducted himself so cautiously, that his people by 
 common consent confirmed his title of "the Good," which 
 was somewhat inappropriately given to him at the very epoch 
 when he appeared to deserve it least. Age and exhaustion 
 may be adduced among the causes of the toleration which 
 signalized his latter years ; and if he was the usurper of some 
 parts of his dominions, he cannot be pronounced a tyrant 
 over any. 
 
 * Oudegheist. j De Barante, t. vi. 
 
56 HISTORY OF THE NETHERLANDS. 1467. 
 
 Philip had an only son, born and reared in the midst of 
 that ostentatious greatness which he looked on as his own by 
 divine right; whereas his father remembered that it had 
 chiefly become his by fortuitous acquirement, and much of it 
 by means not likely to look well in the sight of Heaven. This 
 son was Charles count of Charolois, afterwards celebrated 
 under the name of Charles the Rash. He gave, even in the 
 lifetime of his father, a striking specimen of despotism to 
 the people of Holland. Appointed stadtholder of that province 
 in 1457, he appropriated to himself several important suc- 
 cessions ; forced the inhabitants to labor in the formation of 
 dikes for the security of the property thus acquired ; and, in 
 a word, conducted himself as an absolute master.* Soon after- 
 wards he broke out into open opposition to his father, who 
 had complained of this undutiful and impetuous son to the 
 states of the provinces, venting his grief in lamentations in- 
 stead of punishing his people's wrongs. But his private 
 rage burst forth one day in a manner as furious as his public 
 expressions were tame. He went so far as to draw his 
 sword on Charles and pursue him through his palace :f and a 
 disgusting yet instruptive spectacle it was, to see this father 
 and son in mutual and disgraceful discord, like two birds 
 of prey quarrelling in the same eyrie ; the old count out- 
 rageous to find he was no longer undisputed sovereign, and 
 the young one in feeling that he had not yet become so. But 
 Philip was declining daily. Yet even when dying he pre- 
 served his natural haughtiness and energy ; and being pro- 
 voked by the insubordination of tlie people of Liege, he had 
 himself carried to the scene of their punishment. The re- 
 fractory town of Dinant, on the Meuse, was utterly destroyed 
 by the two counts, and 600 of the citizens drowned in the 
 river, and in cold blood. The following year Philip expired, 
 leaving to Charles his long-wished-for inheritance. 
 
 The reign of Philip had produced a revolution in Belgian 
 manners ; for his example and the great increase of wealth 
 had introduced habits of luxury hitherto quite unknown. He 
 had also brought into fashion romantic notions of military 
 honor, love, and chivalry ; which, while they certainly soft- 
 ened the character of the nobility, contained nevertheless a 
 certain mixture of frivolity and extravagance. The cele- 
 brated order of the Golden Fleece, which was introduced by 
 Philip, was less an institution based on grounds of rational 
 magnificence, than a puerile emblem of his passion for Isa- 
 bella of Portugal, his third wife. Tlie verses of a contempo- 
 
 * Preuves et Additions sur Comines, t. iv. f Chronique de HoUande. 
 
1467. CIIAKLES THE KASH. 57 
 
 rary poet induced him to make a vow for the conquest of 
 Constantinople from the Turks.* lie certainly never at- 
 tempted to execute this senseless crusade; but he did not 
 omit so fair an opportunity for levying new taxes on his 
 people. And it is undoubted, that the splendor of his court 
 and the immorality of his example were no slight sources 
 of corruption to the countries which he governed. 
 
 In this respect, at least, a totally different kind of govern- 
 ment was looked for on the part of his son and successor, 
 who was by nature and habit a mere soldier. Charles began 
 his career by seizing on all the money and jewels left by his 
 father ; he next dismissed the crowd of useless functionaries 
 who had fed upon, under the pretence of managing, the 
 treasures of the state. But this salutary and sweeping re- 
 form was only effected to enable the sovereign to pursue un- 
 controlled the most fatal of all passions, that of war. Nothing 
 can better paint the true character of this haughty and 
 impetuous prince than his crest (a branch of holly,) and his 
 motto, " Who touches it, pricks himself" Charles had con- 
 ceived a furious and not ill-founded hatred for his base yet 
 formidable neighbor and rival, Louis XL of France. The 
 latter had succeeded in obtaining from Philip the restitution 
 of some towns in Picardy ; cause sufficient to excite the 
 resentment of his inflammable successor, w^ho, during his 
 father's lifetime, took open part with som.e of the vassals of 
 France in a temporary struggle against the throne. Louis, 
 who had been worsted in a combat where both he and 
 Charles bore a part, was not behindhand in his hatred. But 
 inasmuch as one was haughty, audacious, and intemperate, 
 the other was cunning, coo], and treacherous. Charles was 
 the proudest, most daring, and mxost unmanageable prince 
 that ever made the sword the type and the guarantee of 
 greatness ; Louis the most subtle, dissimulating, and treacher- 
 ous king that ever wove in his closet a tissue of hollow 
 diplomacy and bad faith in government. The struggle be- 
 tween these sovereigns was unequal only in respect to this 
 difference of character ; for France, subdivided as it still was, 
 and exhausted by the wars with England, was not compara- 
 ble, eitlier as regarded men, money, or the other resources of 
 the state, to the compact and prosperous dominions of Bur- 
 gundy. 
 
 Charles showed some symptoms of good sense and great- 
 ness of mind, soon after his accession to power, that gave a 
 false coloring to his disposition, and encouraged illusory 
 
 * Monstrelet. Olivier de la Mirche. 
 
58 HISTORY OF THE NETHERLAIVDS. 1468 
 
 hopes as to his future career. Scarcely was he proclaimed 
 count of Flanders at Ghent, when the populace, surrounding 
 liis hotel, absolutely insisted on and extorted his consent to 
 the restitution of their ancieht privileges.* Furious as Charles 
 was at this bold proof of insubordination, he did not revenge 
 it; and he treated with equal indulgence the city of Mechlin, 
 which had expelled its governor and rased the citadel. The 
 people of Liege, having revolted against their bishop, Louis 
 of Bourbon, who was closely connected with the house of 
 Burgundy, were defeated by the duke in 14.67, but he treated 
 them with clemency ; and immediately after this event, in 
 February 1468, he concluded with Edward IV. of England 
 an alliance, offensive and defensive, against France.f 
 
 The real motive of this alliance was rivalry and hatred 
 against Louis. The ostensible pretext was this monarch's 
 having made war against the duke of Britany, Charles's old 
 ally in the short contest in which he, while yet but count, 
 had measured his strength with his rival after he became 
 king. The present union between England and Burgundy 
 was too powerful not to alarm Louis; he demanded an 
 explanatory conference with Charles, and the town of Pe- 
 ronne in Picardy was fixed on for their meetmg. Louis, 
 willing to imitate the boldness of his rival, who had formerly 
 come to meet him in the very midst of his army, now came to 
 the rendezvous almost alone. But he was severely mortified, 
 and near paying a greater penalty than fright, for this 
 hazardous conduct. The duke, having received intelligence 
 of a new revolt at Liege excited by some of the agents of 
 France, instantly made Louis prisoner, in defiance of every 
 law of honor or fair dealing. The excess of his rage and 
 hatred might have carried him to a more disgraceful ex- 
 tremity, had not Louis, by force of bribery, gained over some 
 of his most influential counsellors, who succeeded in appeas- 
 ing his rage. He contented himself with humiliating, when 
 he was disposed to punish. He forced his captive to accom- 
 pany him to Liege, and witness the ruin of this unfortunate 
 town, which he delivered over to plunder ; and having given 
 this lesson to Louis, he set him at liberty. 
 
 From this period there was a marked and material change 
 in the conduct of Charles. He had been previously moved 
 by sentiments of chivalry and notions of greatness. But sul- 
 lied by his act of public treachery and violence towards the 
 monarch who had, at least in seeming, manifested unlimited 
 confidence in his honor, a secret sense of shame embittered 
 
 * Philip de Cominea. t Rymer, vol. v. p. 11. 
 
I 
 
 1472. CIIARLKS'S PLANS OF AGGRANDIZEMENT. 59 
 
 his feelings and soured his temper. He hecame so insup- 
 portable to those around liim, that he was abandoned by sev- 
 eral of his best officers, and even by his natural brother, 
 Baldwin of Biu-gundy, w^ho passed over to the side of Louis. 
 Charles was at this time embarrassed by the expense of en- 
 tertaining and maintaining Edward IV. and numerous Eng- 
 lish exiles, wiio were forced to take refuge in the Netherlands 
 by the successes of the earl of Warwick, wiio had replaced 
 Henry VI. on the throne.* Charles at. the same time held 
 out to several princes in Europe hopes of bestowing on them 
 in marriage his only daughter and heiress Mary, while he 
 privately assured his friends, if his courtiers and ministers 
 may be so called, " that he never meant to have a son-in-law 
 until he was disposed to make himself a monk." In a word, 
 he was no longer guided by any principle but that of fierce 
 and brutal selfishness. 
 
 In this mood he soon became tired of the service of his 
 nobles and of the national militia, who only maintained to- 
 wards him a forced and modified obedience founded on the 
 usages and rights of their several provinces ; and he took 
 into his pay all sorts of adventurers and vagabonds who were 
 virilling to submit to him as their absolute master. When 
 the taxes necessary for the support and pay of these bands of 
 mercenaries caused the people to murmur, Charles laughed 
 at their complaints, and severely punished some of the most 
 refractory. He then entered France at the head of his army, 
 to assist the duke of Britany ; but at the moment when no- 
 thing seemed to oppose the most extensive views of his am- 
 bition, he lost by his hot-brained caprice every advantage 
 within his easy reach : he chose to sit down before Beauvais ; 
 and thus made of this town, which lay in his road, a complete 
 stumbling-block on his path of conquest. The time he lost 
 before its walls caused the defeat and ruin of his unsupported, 
 or as might be said his abandoned, ally, who made the best 
 terms he could with Louis ; and thus Charles's presumption 
 and obstinacy paralyzed all the efforts of his courage and 
 power. But he soon afterwards acquired the duchy of Gueld- 
 ers from the old duke Arnoul, who had been temporarily 
 despoiled of it by his son Adolphus. It was almost an heredi- 
 tary consequence in this family that the children should 
 revolt and rebel against their parents. Adolphus had the 
 effi-ontery to found his justification on the argument, that his 
 father having reigned forty-four years, he was fully entitled 
 to his share — a fine practical authority for greedy and expect- 
 
 * Philip de Comines, 1. v. 
 
60 HISTORY OF THE NETHERLANDS. 1473. 
 
 ant lieirs. The old father replied to this reasoning by offer- 
 ing to meet his son in single combat.* Charles cut short the 
 affair by making Adolphus prisoner and seizing on the dis- 
 puted territory, for which he, however, paid Arnoul the sum 
 of 220,000 florins. 
 
 After this acquisition Charles conceived and had much at 
 heart the design of becoming king, the first time that the 
 Netherlands were considered sufficiently important and con- 
 solidated to entitle their possessor to that title. To lead to 
 this object he offered to the emperor of Germany the hand of 
 his daughter Mary for his son Maximilian. The emperor ac- 
 ceded to this proposition, and repaired to the city of Treves 
 to meet Charles and countenance his coronation. But the 
 insolence and selfishness of the latter put an end to the pro- 
 ject. He humiliated the emperor, who was of a niggardly 
 and mean-spirited disposition, by appearing with a train so 
 numerous and sumptuous as totally to eclipse the imperial 
 retinue ; and deeply offended him by wishing to postpone the 
 marriage, from his jealousy of creating for himself a rival in 
 a son-in-law, who might embitter his old age as he had 
 done that of his own father. The mortified emperor quitted 
 the place in high dudgeon, and the projected kingdom was 
 doomed to a delay of some centuries. 
 
 Charles, urged on by the double motive of thirst for ag- 
 grandizement and vexation at his late failure, attempted,! 
 under pretext of some internal dissensions, to gain possession 
 of Cologne and its territory, which belonged to the empire ; 
 and at the same time planned the invasion of France, in con- 
 cert with his brother-in-law Edward IV., who had recovered 
 possession of England. But the town of Nuys, in the arch- 
 l3ishopric of Cologne, occupied him a full year before its walls. 
 The emperor, who came to its succor, actually besieged the 
 besiegers in their camp ; and the dispute was terminated by 
 leaving it to the arbitration of the pope's legate, and placing 
 the contested town in his keeping. This half triumph gained 
 by Charles saved Louis wholly from destruction. Edward, 
 who had landed in France with a numerous force, seeing no 
 appearance of his Burgundian allies, made peace with Louis ; 
 and Charles, who arrived in all haste, but not till afler the 
 treaty was signed, upbraided and abused the English king, 
 and turned a warm friend into an inveterate enemy. 
 
 Louis, whose crooked policy had so far succeeded on all 
 occasions, now seemed to favor Charles's plans of aggran- 
 dizement, and to recognize his pretended riglit to Lorraine, 
 
 * Comines, t. iv. 
 
1473. CHARLES DEFEATED BY THE SWISS. 61 
 
 which legitimately belonged to the empire, and the invasion 
 of which by Charles would be sure to set him at variance 
 with the whole of Germany. The infatuated duke, blind to 
 the ruin to which he was thus hurrying, abandoned to Louis, 
 in return for this insidious support, the constable of St. Pol ; 
 a nobleman who had long maintained his independence in 
 Picardy, where he had large possessions, and who v/as fitted 
 to be a valuable friend or formidable enemy to either. Charles 
 now marched against, and soon overcame, Lorraine. Thence 
 he turned his army against the Swiss, who were allies to the 
 conquered province, but who sent the most submissive dis- 
 suasions to the invader. They begged for peace, assuring 
 Charles that their romantic but sterile mountains were not 
 altogether worth the bridles of his splendidly equipped caval- 
 ry. But tlie more they humbled themselves, the higher was 
 his haughtiness raised. It appeared that he had at this pe- 
 riod conceived the project of uniting in one common conquest 
 the ancient dominions of Lothaire I., who had possessed the 
 whole of the countries traversed by the Rhine, the Rhone, 
 and the Po ; and he even spoke of passing the Alps, like 
 Hannibal, for the invasion of Italy. 
 
 Switzerland was, by moral analogy as well as physical 
 fact, the rock against which these extravagant projects were 
 shattered. The army of Charles, which engaged the hardy 
 mountaineers in the gorges of the Alps near the town of 
 Granson, were literally crushed to atoms by the stones and 
 fragments of granite detached from the heights and hurled 
 down upon their heads. Charles, after this defeat, returned 
 to the charge six weeks later, having rallied his army and 
 drawn reinforcements from Burgundy. But Louis had dis- 
 patched a body of cavalry to the Swiss, — a force in which 
 they were before deficient ; and thus augmented, their army 
 amounted to 34,000 men. They took up a position, skilfully 
 chosen, on the borders of the lake of Morat, where they were 
 attacked by Charles at the head 60,000 soldiers of all ranks. 
 The result was the total defeat of the latter, with the loss of 
 10,000 killed, whose bones, gathered into an immense heap, 
 and bleaching in the winds, remained for above three centu- 
 ries ;* a terrible monument of rashness and injustice on the 
 one hand, and of patriotism and valor on the other. 
 
 Charles was now plunged into a state of profound melan- 
 choly ; but he soon burst from this gloomy mood into one of 
 renewed fierceness and fatal desperation. Nine months after 
 the battle of Morat he re-entered Lorraine, at the head of an 
 
 * Gaudin, Abr6g6 de I'Hist. de la Suisse, p. 63. 
 
 F 
 
62 HISTORY or THE NETHERLANDS. 1477. 
 
 army, not composed of his faithful militia of the Netherlands, 
 but of those mercenaries in whom it was madness to place 
 trust The reinforcements meant to be dispatched to him by 
 those provinces were kept back by the artifices of the count 
 of Campo Basso, an Italian, who commanded his cavalry, and 
 who only gained his confidence basely to betray it. Rene 
 duke of Lorraine, at the head of the confederate forces, 
 offered battle to Charles under the walls of Nancy ; and the 
 night before the combat Campo Basso went over to the enemy 
 with the troops under his command. Still Charles had the 
 way open for retreat. Fresh troops from Burgundy and 
 Flanders were on their march to join him ; but he would not 
 be dissuaded from his resolution to fight, and he resolved to 
 try his fortune once more with his dispirited and shattered 
 army. On this occasion the fate of Charles was decided, and 
 the fortune of Louis triumphant. The rash and ill-fated 
 duke lost both the battle and his life.f His body, mutilated 
 with wounds, was found the next day, and buried with great 
 pomp in the town of Nancy, by the orders of the generous 
 victor, the duke of Lorraine. 
 
 Thus perished the last prince of the powerful house of 
 Burgundy. Charles left to his only daughter, then eighteen 
 years of age, the inheritance of his extensive dominions, and 
 with them that of the hatred and jealousy which he had so 
 largely excited. External spoliation immediately commenced, 
 and internal disunion quickly followed. Louis XL seized on 
 Burgundy and a part of Artois, as fiefs devolving to the 
 crown in default of male issue. Several of the provinces 
 refused to pay the new subsidies commanded in the name of 
 Mary; Flanders alone showing a disposition to uphold the 
 rights of the young princess. The states were assembled at 
 Ghent, and ambassadors sent to the king of France, in the 
 hopes of obtaining peace on reasonable terms. Louis, true 
 to his system of subtle perfidy, placed before one of those 
 ambassadors, the burgomaster of Ghent, a letter from the in- 
 experienced princess, which proved her intention to govern 
 by the counsel of her father's ancient ministers, rather than 
 by that of the deputies of the nation. This was enough to 
 decide the indignant Flemings to render themselves at once 
 masters of the government, and get rid of the ministers J 
 whom they hated. Two Burgundian nobles, Hugonet and! 
 Imbercourt, were arrested, accused of treason, and beheaded j 
 under the very eyes of their agonized and outraged mistress, i 
 who threw herself before the frenzied multitude, vainly im- 
 
 t 5th Jan. 1477. 
 
 .'^m 
 
1484. MARY AND MAXIMILIAN. 63 
 
 ploring mercy for these innocent men. The people having 
 thus completely gained the upper hand over the Burgundian 
 influence, Mary was sovereign of the Netherlands but in 
 name. 
 
 It would have now been easy for Louis XL to have obtained 
 -for the dauphm, his son, the hand of this hitherto unfortunate 
 but interesting princess ; but he thought himself sufficiently 
 strong and cunning to gain possession of her states without 
 such an alliance. Mary, however, thus in some measure dis- 
 dained, if not actually rejected, by Louis, soon after married 
 her first-intended husband, Maximilian of Austria, son of the 
 emperor Frederick III. ; a prince so absolutely destitute, in 
 consequence of his father's parsimony, that she was obliged 
 to borrow money from the towns of Flanders to defray the 
 expenses of his suite.* Nevertheless he seemed equally ac- 
 ceptable to his bride and to his new subjects. They not only 
 supplied all his wants, but enabled him to maintain the war 
 against Louis XL, whom they defeated at the battle of Guine- 
 gate in Picardy, and forced to make peace on more favorable 
 terms than they had hoped for. But these wealthy provinces 
 were not more zealous for the national defence, than bent on 
 the maintenance of their local privileges, which Maximilian 
 little understood, and sympathized with less. He was bred 
 in the school of absolute despotism ; and his duchess having 
 met with a too early death by a fall from her horse in the 
 year 1484, he could not even succeed in obtaining tlie nomina- 
 tion of guardian to his own children without passing through 
 a year of civil war. His power being almost nominal in the 
 northern provinces, he vainly attempted to suppress the 
 violence of the factions of Hoeks and Kaabeljauws. In Flan- 
 ders his authority was openly resisted. The turbulent towns 
 of that country, and particularly Bruges, taking umbrage at 
 a government half German half Burgundian, and altogether 
 hateful to the people, rose up against Maximilian, seized on 
 his person, imprisoned him in a house wliich still exists, and 
 put to death his most faithful followers. But the fury of 
 Ghent and other places becoming still more outrageous, 
 Maximilian asked as a favor from his rebel subjects of Bruges 
 to be guarded while a prisoner by them alone. f He was then 
 king of the Romans, and all Europe became interested in his 
 fate. The pope addressed a brief to the to\vn of Bruges, 
 demanding his deliverance. But the burghers were as inflexi- 
 ble as factious; and they at length released him, but not 
 until they had concluded with liim and the assembled states a 
 
 * Comines, t. vi. t Heuterus, 1. iii. 
 
64 HISTORY OF THE NETHERLANDS. 1493. 
 
 treaty, which most amply secured the enjoyment of their 
 privileges and the pardon of their rebellion. 
 
 But these kind of compacts were never observed by the 
 princes of those days beyond the actual period of their capa- 
 city to violate them. The emperor having entered the 
 Netherlands at the head of 40,000 men, Maximilian, so sup- 
 ported, soon showed his contempt for the obligations he had 
 sworn to, and had recourse to force for the extension of his 
 authority. The valor of the Flemings and the military talents 
 of their leader, Philip of Cleves, thwarted all his projects, 
 and a new compromise was entered into. Flanders paid a 
 large subsidy, and held fast her rights. The German troops 
 were sent into Holland, and e^r^ ployed for the extinction of 
 the Hoeks ; who, as they formed by far the weaker faction, 
 were now soon destroyed. That province, which had been 
 so long distracted by its intestine feuds, and which had con- 
 sequently played but an insignificant part in the transactions 
 of the Netherlands, now resumed its place ; and acquired 
 thenceforth new honor, till it at length came to figure in all 
 the importance of historical distinction. 
 
 The situation of the Netherlands was now extremely pre- 
 carious and difficult to manage, during the unstable sway of 
 a government so weak as Maximilian's. But he having suc- 
 ceeded his father on the imperial throne in 1493, and his 
 son Philip having been proclaimed the following year duke 
 and count of the various provinces at the age of sixteen, a 
 more pleasing prospect w^as offered to the people. Philip, 
 young, handsome, and descended by his mother from the an- 
 cient sovereigns of the country, was joj^fully hailed by all the 
 towns. He did not belie the hopes so enthusiastically ex- 
 pressed. He had the good sense to renounce all pretensions 
 to Friesland, the fertile source of many preceding quarrels 
 and sacrifices. He re-established the ancient commercial 
 relations with England, to which country Maximilian had 
 given mortal oflTence by sustaining the imposture of Perkin 
 Warbeck. Philip also consulted the states-general on his 
 projects of a double alliance between himself and his sister 
 with the son and daughter of Ferdinand king of Aragon and 
 Isabella queen of Castile ; and from this wise precaution the 
 project soon became one of national partiality instead of pri- 
 vate or personal interest. In this manner complete harmony 
 was established between the young prince and the inhabit- 
 ants of the Netherlands. All the ills produced by civil war 
 disappeared with immense rapidity in Flanders and Brabant, 
 as soon as peace was thus consolidated. Even Holland, though 
 it had particularly felt the scourge of these dissensions, and 
 
1493. PHILIP THE FAIR. 65 
 
 suffered severely from repeated inundations, began to recover. 
 Yet for all this, Philip can be scarcely called a good prince : 
 his merits were negative rather than real. But that sufficed 
 for the nation ; which found in tlie nullity of its sovereign no 
 obstacle to the resumption of that prosperous career which 
 had been checked by the despotism of the house of Bur- 
 gundy, and the attempts of Maximilian to continue the same 
 system. 
 
 The reign of Philip, unfortunately a short one, was ren- 
 dered remarkable by two intestine quarrels ; one in Fries- 
 land, the other in Guelders. The Frisons, who had been so 
 isolated from the more important affairs of Europe that they 
 were in a manner lost siglit of by history for several centu- 
 ries, had nevertheless their full share of domestic disputes ; 
 too long, too multifarious, and too minute, to allow us to give 
 more than this brief notice of their existence. But finally, 
 about the period of Philip's accession, eastern Friesland had 
 chosen for its count a gentleman of the country surnamed 
 Edzart, who fixed the head-quarters of his military govern- 
 ment at Embden. The sight of such an elevation in an in- 
 dividual whose pretensions he thought far inferior to his own, 
 induced Albert of Saxony, who had well served Maximilian 
 against the refractory Flemings, to demand as his reward the 
 title of stadtholder or hereditary governor of Friesland. But 
 it was far easier for the emperor to accede to this request 
 than for his favorite to put the grant into effect. The Fri- 
 sons, true to their old character, held firm to their privileges, 
 and fought for their maintenance with heroic courage. Al- 
 bert, furious at this resistance, had the horrid barbarity to 
 cause to be impaled the chief burghers of the town of Leu- 
 waarden, which he had taken by assault.* But he himself 
 died in the year 1500, without succeeding in his projects of 
 an ambition unjust in its principle and atrocious in its prac- 
 tice. 
 
 The war of Guelders was of a totally different nature. In 
 this case it was not a question of popular resistance to a tyr- 
 annical nomination, but of patriotic fidelity to the reigning 
 family. Adolphus, the duke who had dethroned his father, 
 had died in Flanders, leaving a son who had been brought up 
 almost a captive as long as Maximilian governed the states 
 of his inheritance. This young man, called Charles of Eg- 
 mont, and who is honored in the history of his country under 
 the title of the Achilles of Guelders, fell into the hands of 
 the French during the combat in which he made his first 
 
 ,* Beninga, Hist. Van Oost Frise. 
 
 F2 
 
66 HISTORY OF THE NETHERLANDS. 1500. 
 
 essay in arms. The town of Guelders unanimously joined 
 to pay his ransom ; and as soon as he was at liberty, they one 
 and all proclaimed him duke. The emperor Philip and the 
 Germanic diet in vain protested against this measure, and 
 declared Charles a usurper. The spirit of justice and of 
 liberty spoke more loudly than the thunders of their ban ; and 
 the people resolved to support to the last this scion of an an- 
 cient race, glorious in much of its conduct, though often 
 criminal in many of its members. Charles of Egmont found 
 faithful friends in his devoted subjects ; and he maintained 
 his rights, sometimes witli, sometimes without, the assistance 
 of France, — making up for his want of numbers by energy 
 and enterprise. We cannot follow this warlike prince in the 
 long series of adventures which consolidated his power; nor 
 stop to depict his daring adherents on land, who caused the 
 whole of Holland to tremble at their deeds ; nor his pirates — 
 the chief of whom, Long Peter, called himself king of the 
 Zuyder Zee. But amidst all the consequent troubles of such 
 a struggle, it is marvellous to find Charles of Egmont up- 
 holding his country in a state of high prosperity, and leaving 
 it at his death almost as rich as Holland itself f 
 
 The incapacity of Philip the Fair doubtless contributed to 
 cause him the loss of this portion of his dominions. This 
 prince, after his first acts of moderation and good sense, was 
 remarkable only as being the father of Charles V. The re- 
 mainder of his life was worn out in undignified pleasures ; 
 and he died almost suddenly, in the year 1506, at Burgos in 
 Castile, whither he liad repaired to pay a visit to his brother- 
 in-law, the king of Spain. 
 
 t Van Meteren, 
 
I 
 
 1508. MARGARET OF AUSTRIA. 67 
 
 CHAP. VI. 
 
 1506—1555. 
 
 FROM THE GOVERNMENT OF MARGARET OF AUSTRIA TO THE ABDI- 
 CATION OF THE EMPEROR CHARLES V. 
 
 Philip being dead, and his wife, Joanna of Spain, having- 
 become mad from grief at his loss, after nearly losing her 
 senses from jealousy during his life, the regency of the Neth- 
 erlands reverted to Maximilian, who immediately named his 
 daughter Margaret governant of the country. This prmcess, 
 scarcely twenty-seven years of age, had been, like the cele- 
 brated Jacqueline of Bavaria, already three times married, 
 and was now again a widow. Her first husband, Charles 
 VIII. of France, had broken from his contract of marriage 
 before its consummation ; her second, the Infant of Spain, 
 died immediately after their union ; and her third, the duke 
 of Savoy, left her again a widow after three years of wedded 
 life. She was a woman of talent and courage ; both proved 
 by the couplet she composed for her own epitaph, at the very 
 moment of a dangerous accident which happened during her 
 journey into Spain to join her second affianced spouse.* She 
 was received with the greatest joy by the people of the 
 Netherlands; and she governed them as peaceably as cir- 
 cumstances allowed. Supported by England, she firmly 
 maintained her authority against the threats of France ; and 
 she carried on in person all the negotiations between Louis 
 XII., Maximilian, the pope Jules IL, and Ferdinand of Ara- 
 gon, for the famous league of Venice. These negotiations 
 took place in 1508, at Cambray ; where Margaret, if we are 
 to credit an expression to that effect in one of her letters,! 
 was more than once on the point of having serious differ- 
 ences with the cardinal of Amboise, minister of Louis XII. 
 But, besides her attention to the interests of her father on 
 this important occasion, she also succeeded in repressing the 
 rising pretensions of Charles of Egmont ; and, assisted by 
 the interference of the king of France, she obliged him to 
 give up some places in Holland which he illegally held. 
 
 * Ci-git Margot la gente demoiselle, 
 Qui eut deux maris, et si mouiut pucelle. 
 Here gentle Margot quietly is laid, 
 Who had two husbands, and yet died a maid. 
 
 t Lettres dc Louis XII. t. i. p. 12-2. 
 
68 HISTORY OF THE NETHERLANDS. 1515. 
 
 From this period the alliance between England and Spain 
 raised the commerce and manufactures of the southern prov- 
 inces of the Netherlands to a high degree of prosperity, 
 while the northern parts of the country were still kept down 
 by their various dissensions. Holland was at war with the 
 Hanseatic towns. The Prisons continued to struggle for 
 freedom against the heirs of Albert of Saxony. Utrecht 
 was at variance with its bishop, and finally recognized Charles 
 of Egmont as its protector. The consequence of all these 
 causes was that the south took the start in a course of pros- 
 perity, which was, however, soon to become common to the 
 whole nation, 
 
 A new rupture with France, in 1513, united Maximilian, 
 Margaret, and Henry VIII. of England, in one common cause. 
 An English and Belgian army, in which Maximilian figured 
 as a spectator (taking care to be paid by England), marched 
 for the destruction of Therouenne, and defeated and dispersed 
 the French at the battle of Spurs. But Louis XII. soon per- 
 suaded Henry to make a separate peace ; and the unconquer- 
 able duke of Guelders made Margaret and the emperor pay 
 the penalty of their success against France. He pursued his 
 victories in Friesland, and forced the country to recognize 
 him as stadtholder of Groningen, its chief town ; while the 
 duke of Saxony at length renounced to another his unjust 
 claim on a territory which ingulfed both his armies and his 
 treasure. 
 
 About the same epoch (1515,) young Charles, son of Philip 
 the Fair, having just attained his fifteenth year, was inaugu- 
 rated duke of Brabant and count of Flanders and Holland, 
 having purchased the presumed right of Saxony to the sove- 
 reignty of Friesland. In the following year he was recog- 
 nized as prince of Castile, in right of his mother, who asso- 
 ciated him with herself in the royal power, — a step which 
 soon lefl her merely the title of queen. Charles procured the 
 nomination of bishop of Utrecht for Philip, bastard of Bur- 
 gundy, which made that province completely dependent on 
 him. But this event was also one of general and lasting im- 
 portance on another account. This Philip of Burgundy was 
 deeply affected by the doctrines of the Reformation, which 
 had burst forth in Germany. He held in abhorrence the su- 
 perstitious observances of the Romish church, and set his 
 face against the celibacy of the clergy. His example soon 
 influenced his whole diocese, and the new notions on points 
 of religion became rapidly popular. It was chiefly, however, 
 in Friesland that the people embraced the opinions of Luther, 
 which were quite conformable to many of the local customs 
 
1515. TROGRESS OF THE REFORMATION. 69 
 
 of which we have already spoken. The celebrated Edzard 
 count of eastern Friesland openly adopted the Reformation. 
 While Erasmus of Rotterdam, without actually pronouncingf 
 himself a disciple of Lutheranism, effected more than all its 
 advocates to throw the abuses of Catholicism into discredit. 
 
 We may here remark that, during the government of the 
 house of Burgundy, the clergy of the Netherlands had fallen 
 into considerable disrepute. Intrigue and court favor alone 
 had the disposal of the benefices ; while the career of com- 
 merce was open to the enterprise of every spirited and inde- 
 pendent competitor. The Reformation, therefore, in the first 
 instance found but a slight obstacle in the opposition of a sla- 
 vish and ignorant clergy, and its progress was all at once pro- 
 
 * digious. The refusal of the dignity of emperor by Frederick 
 " the v/ise," duke of Saxony, to whom it was offered by the 
 electors, was also an event highly favorable to the new opin- 
 
 , ions ; for Francis I. of France, and Charles, already king of 
 Spain and sovereign of the Netherlands, both clauning the 
 succession to the empire,* a sort of interregnum deprived the 
 
 i disputed dominions of a chief who might lay the heavy hand 
 of power on the new-springing doctrines of Protestantism. 
 At length the intrigues of Charles, and his pretensions as 
 grandson of Maximilian, having caused him to be chosen em- 
 peror, a desperate rivalry resulted between him and the 
 French king, which for a while absorbed his whole attention 
 and occupied all his power. 
 
 From the earliest appearance of the Reformation, the young 
 sovereign of so many states, having to establish his authority 
 at the two extremities of Europe, could not efficiently occupy 
 himself in resisting the doctrines which, despite their dis- 
 honoring epithet of heresy, were doomed so soon to become 
 orthodox for a great part of the Continent. While Charles 
 vigorously put down the revolted Spaniards, Luther gained 
 new proselytes in Germany ; so that the very greatness of 
 the sovereignty was the cause of his impotency ; and while 
 Charles's extent of dominion thus fostered the growing Re- 
 formation, his sense of honor proved the safeguard of its apos- 
 tle. The intrepid Luther, boldly venturing to appear and 
 plead its cause before the representative power of Germany 
 assembled at the diet of Worms, was protected by the guar- 
 antee of the emperor ;t unlike the celebrated and unfortunate 
 John Huss, who fell a victim to his own confidence and the bad 
 faith of Sigismund, in the year 1415. 
 
 Charles was nevertheless a zealous and rigid Catholic; 
 
 * Robertson. J Idem. 
 
70 HISTORY OF THE NETHERLANDS. 1525. 
 
 and in the Low Countries, where his authority was undis- 
 puted, he proscribed the heretics, and even violated the privi- 
 leges of the country by appointing functionaries for the ex- 
 press purpose of their pursuit and punishment.* This im- 
 prudent stretch of power fostered a rising spirit of opposition ; 
 for, though entertaining the best disposition to their young 
 prince, the people deeply felt and loudly complained of the 
 government; and thus the germs of a mighty revolution 
 gradually began to be developed. 
 
 Charles V. and Francis I. had been rivals for dignity and 
 power, and they now became implacable personal enemies. 
 Young, ambitious, and sanguine, they could not, without re- 
 ciprocal resentment, pursue in the same field objects essen- 
 tial to both. Charles, by a short but timely visit to England 
 in 1520, had the address to gain over to his cause and secure 
 for his purpose the powerful interest of cardinal Wolsey, and 
 to make a most favorable impression on Henry VIII. ;f and 
 thus strengthened, he entered on the struggle against his 
 less wily enemy with infinite advantage. War was declared 
 on frivolous pretexts in 1521. The French sustained it for 
 some time with great valor; but Francis being obstinately 
 bent on the conquest of the Milanais, his reverses secured 
 the triumph of his rival, and he fell into the hands of the im- 
 perial troops at the battle of Pavia in 1525. Charles's domi- 
 nions in the Netherlands suflTered severely from the naval 
 operations during the war ; for the French cruisers having, 
 on repeated occasions, taken, pillaged, and almost destroyed 
 the principal resources of the herring fishery, Holland and 
 Zealand felt considerable distress, w^hich was still further 
 augmented by the famine which desolated these provinces in 
 1524. 
 
 While such calamities afflicted the northern portion of the 
 Netherlands, Flanders and Brabant continued to flourish, in 
 spite of temporary embarrassments. The bishop of Utrecht 
 having died, his successor found himself engaged in a hope- 
 less quarrel with his new diocese, already more than half 
 converted to Protestantism ; and to gain a triumph over these 
 enemies, even by the sacrifice of his dignity, he ceded to the 
 emperor in 1527 the whole of his temporal power. The duke 
 of Guelders, who then occupied the city of Utrecht, redou- 
 bled his hostility at this intelligence ; and after having rav- 
 aged the neighboring country, he did not lay down his arms 
 till the subsequent year, having first procured an honorable 
 and advantageous peace. One year more saw the term of 
 
 * Meteren, 1. i. f Robertson. 
 
1534. THE ANABAPTISTS. 71 
 
 this long-continued state of warfare by the peace of Cambray, 
 between Charles and Francis, which was signed on the 5th 
 of August, 1529.* 
 
 This peace once concluded, the industry and perseverance 
 of the inhabitants of the Netherlands repaired in a short time 
 the evils caused by so many wars, excited by the ambition of 
 princes, but in scarcely any instance for the interest of the 
 country. Little, however, was wanting to endanger this 
 tranquillity, and to excite the people against each other on 
 the score of religious dissension. The sect of Anabaptists, 
 whose wild opinions were subversive of all principles of social 
 order and every sentiment of natural decency, had its birth 
 in Germany, and found many proselytes in the Netherlands. 
 John Bokelszoon, a tailor of Leyden, one of the number, 
 caused himself to be proclaimed king of Jerusalem; and 
 making himself master of the town of Munster, sent out his 
 disciples to preach in the neighboring countries. Mary, sis- 
 ter of Charles V., and queen-dowager of Hungary, the gov- 
 ernant of the Netherlands, proposed a crusade against this 
 fanatic ; which was, however, totally discountenanced by the 
 states. Encouraged by impunity, whole troops of these in- 
 furiate sectarians, from the very extremities of Hainault, put 
 themselves into motion for Munster; and notwithstanding 
 the colds of February, they marched along, quite naked, ac- 
 cording to the system of their sectf The frenzy of these fanat- 
 ics being increased by persecution, they projected attempts 
 against several towns, and particularly against Amsterdam. 
 They were easily defeated, and massacred without mercy ; 
 and it was only by multiplied and horrible executions that 
 , their numbers were at length diminished. John Bakelszoon 
 held out at Munster, which was besieged by the bishop and 
 t the neighboring princes. This profligate fanatic, who had 
 1 married no less than seventeen women, had gained consider- 
 t ible influence over the insensate multitude ; but he was at 
 . tength taken and imprisoned in an iron cage, — an event 
 f ivhich undeceived the greatest number of those whom he had 
 5 persuaded of his superhuman powers. | 
 e The prosperity of the southern provinces proceeded rapidly 
 e ind uninterruptedly, in consequence of the great and valua- 
 )le traffic of the merchants of Flanders and Brabant, who 
 exchanged their goods of native manufacture for the riches 
 rawn from America and India by the Spaniards and Portu- 
 uese. Antwerp had succeeded to Bruges as the general 
 
 * Robertson. f L. Hortens. de Anab. 
 
 X Hist. Anabapt, 
 
72 HISTORY OF THE NETHERLANDS. 1539. 
 
 mart of commerce, and was the most opulent town of the 
 north of Europe. The expenses, estimated at 130,000 golden 
 crowns,* which this city voluntarily incurred, to do honor to 
 the visit of Philip, son of Charles V., are cited as a proof of 
 its wealth. The value of the wool annually imported for 
 manufacture into the Low Countries from England and Spain 
 was calculated at 4,000,000 pieces of gold. Their herring 
 fishery was unrivalled ; for even the Scotch, on whose coasts 
 these fish were taken, did not attempt a competition with 
 the Zealanders.f But the chief seat of prosperity was the 
 south. Flanders alone was taxed for one-third of the general 
 burdens of the state. Brabant paid only one-seventh less 
 than Flanders. So that these two rich provinces contributed 
 thirteen out of twenty-one parts of the general contribution ; 
 and all the rest combined, but eight. A search for further 
 or minuter proofs of the comparative state of the various di- 
 visions of the country would be superfluous. 
 
 The perpetual quarrels of Charles V. with Francis I. and 
 Charles of Guelders led, as may be supposed, to a repeated 
 state of exhaustion, which forced the princes to pause, till 
 the people recovered strength and resources for each fresh 
 encounter. Charles rarely appeared in the Netherlands; 
 fixing his residence chiefly in Spain, and leaving to his sister 
 the regulation of those distant provinces. One of his occa- 
 sional visits was for the purpose of inflicting a terrible exam- 
 ple upon them. The people of Ghent, suspecting an im- 
 proper or improvident application of the funds they had 
 furnished for a new campaign, offered themselves to march 
 against the French, instead of being forced to pay their quota 
 of some further subsidy. The government having rejected 
 this proposal, a sedition was the result, at the moment when 
 Charles and Francis already negotiated one of their tempo- 
 rary reconciliations. On this occasion, Charles formed the 
 daring resolution of crossing the kingdom of France, to 
 promptly take into his own hands the settlement of this af- 
 fair — trusting to the generosity of his scarcely reconciled 
 enemy not to abuse the confidence with which he risked 
 himself in his power. Ghent, taken by surprise, did not dare 
 to oppose the entrance of the emperor, when he appeared 
 before the walls ; and the city was punished with extreme 
 severity. Twenty-seven leaders of the sedition were be 
 headed ; the principal privileges of the city were withdrawn j 
 and a citadel built to hold it in check for the future. Charles! 
 met with neither opposition nor complaint. The province 
 
 * Guicciardini, Descriptio Belgii. j Vandcrgoes, Regist. t. i. 
 
 L 
 
1555. ABDICATION OF CHARLES. 73 
 
 had so prospered under his sway, and was so flattered by the 
 greatness of the sovereign, who was born in the town he so 
 severely punished, that his acts of despotic harshness were 
 borne without a murmur. But in the north the people did 
 not view his measures so complacently : and a wide separa- 
 tion in interests and opinions became manifest in the different 
 divisions of the nation. 
 
 Yet the Dutch and the Zealanders signalized themselves 
 beyond all his other subjects on the occasion of two expedi- 
 tions which Charles undertook against Tunis and Algiers. 
 The two northern provinces furnished a greater number of 
 ships than the united quotas of all the rest of his states.* But 
 though Charles's gratitude did not lead him to do any thing 
 in return as peculiarly favorable to these provinces, he ob- 
 tained for them nevertheless a great advantage in making 
 himself master of Friesland and Guelders on the death of 
 Charles of Egmont. His acquisition of the latter, which took 
 place in 1543, put an end to the domestic wars of the north- 
 ern provinces. From that period they might fairly look for 
 a futurity of union and peace ; and thus the latter years of 
 Charles promised better for his country than his early ones, 
 though he obtained less success in his new wars with France, 
 which were not, however, signalized by any grand event on 
 either side. 
 
 Towards the end of his career, Charles redoubled his se- 
 verities against the Protestants, and even introduced a modi- 
 fied species of inquisition into the Netherlands, but with little 
 effect towards the suppression of the reformed doctrines. The 
 i misunderstandings between his only son Philip and Mary of 
 I England, whom he had induced him to marry, and the una- 
 miable disposition of this young prince, tormented him al- 
 , most as much as he was humiliated by the victories of Henry 
 , II. of France, the successor of Francis I., and the successful 
 I dissimulation of Maurice elector of Saxony, by whom he was 
 I completely outwitted, deceived, and defeated. Impelled by 
 j these motives, and others, perhaps, which are and must ever 
 j remain unknown, Charles at length decided on abdicating the 
 I whole of his immense possessions. He chose the city of 
 I Brussels as the scene of the solemnity, and the day fixed for 
 it was the 25th of October, 1555.t It took place accordingly, 
 in the presence of the king of Bohemia, the duke of Savoy, 
 the dowager queens of France and Hungary, the duchess of 
 Lorraine, and an immense assemblage of nobility from vari- 
 ous countries. Charles resigned the empire to his brother 
 
 ^-* Chron. van Zeeland. f Vandervynct, t. i. p. 107. 
 
74 HISTORY OF THE NETHERLANDS. 1555 
 
 Ferdinand, already king of the Romans ; and all the rest of 
 his ,dominions to his son. Soon after the ceremony, Charles 
 embarked from Zealand on his voyage to Spain. He retired 
 to the monastery of St. Justus, near the town of Placentia, 
 in Estremadura. He entered this retreat in February, 1556, 
 and died there on the 21st of September, 1558, in the 59th 
 year of his age. The last six months of his existence, con- 
 trasted with the daring vigor of his former life, formed a 
 melancholy picture of timidity and superstition.* 
 
 The whole of the provinces of the Netherlands being now 
 for the first time united under one sovereign, such a junction 
 marks the limits of a second epoch in their history. It would 
 be a presumptuous and vain attempt to trace, in a compass so 
 confined as ours, the various changes in manners and cus- 
 toms which arose in these countries during a period of one 
 thousand years. The extended and profound remarks of many 
 celebrated writers on the state of Europe from the decline of 
 the Roman power to the epoch at which we are now arrived 
 must be referred to, to judge of the gradual progress of civili- 
 zation through the gloom of the dark ages, till the dawn of 
 enlightment which led to the grand system of European poli- 
 tics commenced during the reign of Charles V.f The amaz- 
 ing increase of commerce was, above all other considerations, 
 the cause of the growth of liberty in the Netherlands. The 
 Reformation opened the minds of men to that intellectual 
 freedom, without which political enfranchisement is a worth- 
 less privilege. The invention of printing opened a thousand 
 channels to the flow of erudition and talent, and sent them 
 out from the reservoirs of individual possession to fertilize the 
 whole domain of human nature. War, which seems to be an 
 instinct of man, and which particular instances of heroism 
 often raise to the dignity of a passion, was reduced to a sci- 
 ence, and made subservient to those great principles of policy 
 in which society began to perceive its only chance of durable 
 good. Manufactures attained a state of high perfection, and 
 went on progressively with the growth of wealth and luxury. 
 The opulence of the towns of Brabant and Flanders was 
 without any previous example in the state of Europe. A 
 merchant of Bruges took upon himself alone the security for 
 the ransom of John the Fearless, taken at the battle of Nico- 
 polis, amounting to 200,000 ducats. A provost of Valencien- 
 nes repaired to Paris at one of the great fairs periodically 
 held there, and purchased on his own account every article 
 that was for sale. At a repast given by one of the counts of 
 
 * Robertson. f See Gibbon, Robertson, &c. 
 
1559. Philip's intrigues for despotic power. 83 
 
 completely broken up and scattered in small bodies over the 
 country. The whole of this force, so redoubtable to the 
 fears of despotism, consisted of only 3000 cavalry. It was 
 now divided into fourteen companies (or squadrons in the 
 modern phraseology,) under the command of as many inde- 
 pendent chiefs, so as to leave little chance of any principle 
 of union reigning- among them. But the German and Span- 
 ish troops in Philip's pay were cantoned on the frontiers, 
 ready to stifle any incipient effort in opposition to his plans. 
 In addition to these imposing means for their execution, he 
 had secured a still more secret and more powerful support ; 
 — a secret article in the treaty of Cateau-Cambresis obliged 
 the king of France to assist him with the whole armies of 
 France against his Belgian subjects, should they prove re- 
 fractory. Thus the late war, of which the Netherlands had 
 borne all the weight, and earned all the glory, only brought 
 about the junction of the defeated enemy with their own 
 king for the extinction of their national independence. 
 
 To complete the execution of this system of perfidy, Philip 
 convened an assembly of all the states at Ghent, in the 
 month of July, 1559. This meeting of the representatives 
 of the three orders of the state offered no apparent ob- 
 stacle to Philip's views. The clergy, alarmed at the pro- 
 gress of the new doctrines, gathered more closely round 
 the government of which they required the support. The 
 nobles had lost much of their ancient attachment to liberty; 
 and had become, in various ways, dependent on the royal 
 favor. Many of the first families were then represented by 
 men possessed rather of courage and candor than of foresight 
 and sagacity. That of Nassau, the most distinguished of all, 
 seemed the least interested in the national cause. A great 
 part of its possessions were in Germany and France, where 
 it had recently acquired the sovereig-n principality of Orange. 
 It was only from the third order — that of the conijcQops — that 
 Philip had to expect any opposition. Already, during the 
 war, it had shown some discontent, and had insisted on the 
 nomination of commissioners to control the accounts and the 
 disbursements of the subsidies. But it seemed improbable, 
 that among this class of men, any would be found capable of 
 penetrating the manifold combinations of the king, and dis- 
 concerting his designs. 
 
 Anthony Perrenotte de Granvelle, bishop of Arras, who 
 was considered as Philip's favorite counsellor, but who was 
 in reality no more than his docile agent, was commissioned to 
 address the assembly in the name of his master, who spoke 
 only Spanish. His oration was one of cautious deception, 
 
84 HISTORY OF THE NETHERLANDS. 1559. 
 
 and contained the most flattering" assurances of Philip's at- 
 tachment to the people of the Netherlands. It excused the 
 king for not having nominated his only son Don Carlos to 
 reign over them in his name ; alleging, as a proof of his I 
 royal affection, that he preferred giving them as governant a 
 Belgian princess, Madame Marguerite duchess of Parma, 
 the natural daughter of Charles V. by a young lady a native 
 of Audenarde. Fair promises and fine words were thus lav- 
 ished in profusion to gain the confidence of the deputies. 
 
 But notwithstanding all the talent, the caution, and the 
 mystery of Philip and his minister, there was among the no-, 
 bles one man who saw through all. This individual, endowed 
 with many of the highest attributes of political genius, and 
 pre-eminently with judgment, the most important of all, en- 
 tered fearlessly into the contest against tyranny — despising 
 every personal sacrifice for the country's good. Without 
 making himself suspiciously prominent, he privately warned 
 some members of the states of the coming danger. Those 
 in whom he confided did not betray the trust. They spread 
 among the other deputies the alarm, and pointed out the 
 danger to which they had been so judiciously awakened. The 
 consequence was, a reply to Philip's demand, in vague and 
 general terms, without binding the nation by any pledge ; 
 and an unanimous entreaty that he would diminish the taxes, 
 withdraw the foreign troops, and entrust no official employ- 
 ments to any but natives of the country. The object of this 
 last request was the removal of Granvelle, who was born in 
 Franche-Comte. 
 
 Philip was utterly astounded at all this. In the first moment 
 of his vexation he imprudently cried out, " Would ye, then, 
 also bereave me of my place ; I, who am a Spaniard ]" But 
 he soon recovered his self-command, and resumed his usual 
 mask ; expressed his regret at not having sooner learned the 
 wishes of the state ; promised to remove the foreign troops 
 within three months ; and set oflT for Zealand, with assumed 
 composure, but filled with the fury of a discovered traitor 
 and a humiliated despot. 
 
 A fleet under the command of count Horn, the admiral of 
 the United Provinces, waited at Flessingue to form his escort 
 to Spain. At the very moment of his departure, William of 
 Nassau, prince of Orange and governor of Zealand, waited 
 on him to pay his official respects. The king, taking him 
 apart from the other attendant nobles, recommended him to 
 hasten the execution of several gentlemen and wealthy citi- 
 zens attached to the newly introduced religious opinions. 
 Then, quite suddenly, whether in the random impulse of 
 
1559. INCREASE OF COMMERCE. 85 
 
 suppressed rage, or that his piercing glance discovered Wil- 
 liam's secret feelings in his countenance, he accused him 
 with having been the means of thwarting his designs. " Sire," 
 replied Nassau, " it was the work of the national states." — 
 " No !" cried Philip, grasping him furiously by the arm ; " it was 
 not done by the states, but by you, and you alone !"* 
 
 This glorious accusation was not repelled. He who had 
 saved his country in unmasking the designs of its tyrant, ad- 
 mitted by his silence his title to the hatred of the one and the 
 gratitude of the other. On the 20th of August, Philip em- 
 barked and set sail ; turning his back for ever on the country 
 which offered the first check to his despotism ; and, after a 
 perilous voyage, he arrived in that which permitted a free 
 indulgence to his ferocious and sanguinary career. 
 
 For some time after Philip's departure, the Netherlands 
 continued to enjoy considerable prosperity. From the period 
 of the peace of Cateau-Cambresis, commerce and navigation 
 had acquired new and increasing activity. The fisheries, but 
 particularly that of herrings, became daily more important ; 
 that one alone occupying 2000 boats. While Holland, Zea- 
 I land, and Friesland made this progress in their peculiar 
 '' branches of industry, the southern provinces were not less 
 , active or successful. Spain and the colonies offered such a 
 I mart for the objects of their manufacture, that in a single year 
 I they received from Flanders fifty large ships, filled with ar- 
 ticles of household furniture and utensils. The exportation 
 of woollen goods amounted to enormous sums. Bruges alone 
 I sold annually to the amount of 4,000,000 florins of stuffs of 
 \ Spanish, and as much of English, wool ; and the least value 
 I of the florin then was quadruple its present worth. The 
 I commerce with England though less important than that with 
 j Spain, was calculated yearly at 24,000,000 florins, which was 
 j chiefly clear profit to the Netherlands, as their exportations 
 I consisted almost entirely of objects of their own manufacture, 
 j Their commercial relations with France, Germany, Italy, 
 i Portugal, and the Levant, were daily increasing. Antwerp 
 jj was the centre of this prodigious trade. Several sovereigns, 
 ii among others Elizabeth of England, had recognized agents 
 ' in that city, equivalent to consuls of the present times; and 
 loans of immense amount were frequently negotiated by 
 them with wealthy merchants, who furnished them, not in 
 negotiable bills or for unredeemable debentures, but in solid 
 gold, and on a simple acknowledgment. 
 
 * Schiller. The words of Philip were : " JVb, no los cstados ; ma vos, vos, 
 vos!" Vos thus used in Spanish is a term of contempt, equivalent to toi in 
 French. 
 
 H 
 
86 HISTORY OF THE NETHERLANDS. 1560. 
 
 Flanders and Brabant were still the richest and most flour- 
 ishing" portions of the state. Some municipal fetes given 
 about this time afford a notion of their opulence. On one of 
 these occasions the town of Mechlin sent a deputation to 
 Antwerp, consisting of 326 horsemen dressed in velvet and 
 satin with gold and silver ornaments ; while those of Brus- 
 sels consisted of 340, as splendidly equipped, and accompanied 
 by seven huge triumphal chariots and seventy-eight carriages 
 of various constructions, — a prodigious number for those days. . 
 
 But the splendor and prosperity which thus sprung out of 
 the national industry and independence, and which a wise or 
 a generous sovereign would have promoted, or at least have 
 established on a permanent basis, was destined speedily to 
 sink beneath the bigoted fury of Philip II. The new govern- 
 ment which he had established was most ingeniously adapted 
 to produce every imaginable evil to the state. The king, 
 hundreds of leagues distant, could not himself issue an order 
 but with a lapse of time ruinous to any object of pressing im- 
 portance. The governant-general, who represented him, 
 having but a nominal authority, was forced to follow her in- 
 structions, and liable to have all her acts reversed ;* besides 
 which, she had the king's orders to consult her private coun- 
 cil on al] affairs whatever, and the council of state on any 
 matter of paramount importance. These two councils, how- 
 ever, contained the elements of a serious opposition to the 
 royal projects, in the persons of the patriot nobles spruikled 
 among Philip's devoted creatures. Thus the influence of 
 the crown was oflen thwarted, if not actually balanced ; and 
 the proposals which emanated from it frequently opposed by 
 the governant herself. She, although a woman of masculine 
 appearance and habits,f was possessed of no strength of 
 mind. Her prevailing sentiment seemed to be dread of tlie 
 king ; yet she was at times influenced by a sense of justice, 
 and by the remonstrances of the well-judging members of her 
 councils. But these were not all the difficulties that clogged 
 the machinery of the state. After the king, the government, 
 and the councils, had deliberated on any measure, its execu- 
 tion rested with the provincial governors or stadtholders, or 
 the magistrates of the towns. Almost every one of these, 
 being strongly attached to the laws and customs of the nation, 
 hesitated, or refused to obey the orders conveyed to them, 
 when those orders appeared illegal. Some, however, yielded 
 to the authority of the government ; so it often happened that 
 an edict, which in one district was carried into full effect, 
 
   Vandervynct. t Strada. 
 
1561. INEFFICIENCY OF THE GOVERNMENT. 87 
 
 was in others deferred, rejected, or violated, in a way pro- 
 ductive of great confusion in the public affairs. 
 
 Philip was conscious that he had himself to blame for the 
 consequent disorder. In nominating the members of the two 
 councils, he had overreached himself in his plan for silently- 
 sapping the liberty that was so obnoxious to his designs. But 
 to neutralize the influence of the restive members, he had 
 left Granyelle the first place in the administration. This 
 man, an immoral ecclesiastic, an eloquent orator, a supple 
 courtier, and a profound politician, bloated with pride, envy, 
 insolence, and vanity, was the real head of the government.* 
 Next to him among the royalist party was Viglius, president 
 of the privy-council, an erudite schoolman, attached less to 
 the broad principles of justice than to the letter of the laws, 
 and thus carrying pedantry into the very councils of the 
 state. Next in order came the count de Berlaimont, head of 
 the financial department, — a stern and intolerant satellite of 
 the court, and a furious enemy to those national institutions 
 which operated as checks upon fraud. These three individu- 
 als formed the governant's privy-council. The remaining 
 creatures of the king were mere subaltern agents. 
 
 A government so composed could scarcely fail to excite 
 discontent, and create danger to the public weal. The first 
 proof of incapacity was elicited by the measures required for 
 the departure of the Spanish troops. The period fixed by the 
 king had already expired, and these obnoxious foreigners 
 were still in the country, living in part on pillage, and each 
 day committing some new excess. Complaints were carried 
 in successive gradation from the government to the council, 
 and from the council to the king. The Spaniards were re- 
 moved to Zealand ; but instead of being embarked at any of 
 its ports, they were detained there on various pretexts. 
 Money, ships, or, on necessity, a wind, was professed to be 
 still wanting for their final removal, by those who found ex- 
 cuses for delay in every element of nature or subterfuge of 
 art. In the mean time those ferocious soldiers ravaged a 
 part of the country. The simple natives at length declared 
 they would open the sluices of their dikes ; preferring to be 
 swallowed by the waters rather than remain exposed to the 
 cruelty and rapacity of those Spaniards.! Still the embarka- 
 tion was postponed ; until the king, requiring his troops in 
 
 * ^^''^^^,.^ royalist, a jesiiit, and ;\^Vetore a fair witne^^s on this point, 
 uses the following words in portr.-" ^,,^ character of this odious minis- 
 ten ^nir«7m avtdum inviduw^^J^ \^^^^^^^^^^ inter principem et populos 
 
 occulti foventum. . 'H^ 
 
 t Watson's Life of Thilip 1.^ 
 
 J 
 
88 HISTORY OF THE NETHERLANDS. 1561. 
 
 Spain for some domestic project, they took their long-desired 
 departure in the beginning of the year 1561. 
 
 The public discontent at this just cause was soon, how- 
 ever, overwhelmed by one infinitely more important and 
 lasting. The Belgian clergy had hitherto formed a free and 
 powerful order in the state, governed and represented by 
 four bishops, chosen by the chapters of the towns, or elected 
 by the monks of the principal abbeys. These bishops, pos- 
 sessing an independent territorial revenue, and not directly 
 subject to the influence of the crown, had interests and feel- 
 ings in common with the nation. But Philip had prepared, 
 and the pope had sanctioned, the new system of ecclesiastical 
 organization before alluded to, and the provisional govern- 
 ment now put it into execution.* Instead of four bishops, it 
 was intended to appoint eighteen, their nomination being 
 vested in the king. By a wily system of trickery, the sub- 
 serviency of the abbeys was also aimed at. The new pre- 
 lates, on a pretended principle of economy, were endowed 
 with the title of abbots of the chief monasteries of their 
 respective dioceses. Thus not only would they enjoy the 
 immense wealth of these establishments, but the political 
 rights of the abbots whom they were to succeed ; and the 
 whole of the ecclesiastical order become gradually repre- 
 sented (after the death of the then living abbots) by the 
 creatures of the crown. 
 
 The consequences of this vital blow to the integrity of the 
 national institutions were evident; and the indignation of 
 both clergy and laity was universal. Every legal means of 
 opposition were resorted to, but the people were without 
 leaders ; the states were not in session. While the authority 
 of the pope and the king combined, the reverence excited by 
 the very name of religion, and the address and perseverance 
 of the government, formed too powerful a combination, and 
 triumphed over the national discontents which had not yet 
 been formed into resistance. The new bishops were appoint- 
 ed ; Granvelle securing for himself the archiepiscopal see of 
 Mechlin, with the title of primate of the Low Countries. At 
 the same time Paul IV. put the crowning point to the capital 
 of his ambition, by presenting him with a cardinal's hat. 
 
 The new bishops were to a man most violent, intolerant, 
 and It may be^ conscientious, opponents to the wide-spreading 
 (ioctriTi^© of reforiii. The execution of the edicts against 
 heresy was conhdcd ^^ ^^^^^' The provincial governors and 
 inferior magistrates were ^Jl^mandc d to aid them with a 
 
 * Vandervynct. 
 
 i4 
 
1561. THE REFORMATION. 89 
 
 strong" arm ; and the most unjust and frightful persecution 
 immediately commenced. But still some of these govern- 
 ors and magistrates, considering themselves not only the 
 olficers of the prince, but the protectors of the people, 
 and the defenders of the laws rather than of the faith, did 
 not blindly conform to those harsh and illegal commands. 
 The prince of Orange, stadtholder of Holland, Zealand, and 
 Utrecht, and the count of Egmont, governor of Flanders and 
 Artois, permitted no persecutions in those five provinces. 
 But in various places the very people, even when influenced 
 by their superiors, openly opposed it. Catholics as well as 
 Protestants were indignant at the atrocious spectacles of 
 cruelty presented on all sides. The public peace was endan- 
 g-ered by isolated acts of resistance, and fears of a general in- 
 surrection soon became universal. 
 
 The apparent temporizing or seeming uncertainty of the 
 champions of the new doctrines formed the great obstacle to 
 the reformation, and tended to prolong the dreadful struggle 
 which was now only commencing in the Low Countries. It 
 was a matter of great difficulty to convince the people that 
 popery was absurd, and at the same time to set limits to the 
 absurdity. Had the change been from blind belief to total 
 infidelity, it would (as in a modern instance) have been much 
 easier, though less lasting. Men might, in a time of such 
 excitement, have been persuaded that all religion productive 
 of abuses such as then abounded was a farce, and that com- 
 mon sense called for its abolition. But when the boundaries 
 of belief became a question; when the world was told it 
 ought to reject some doctrines, and retain others which seemed 
 as difficult of comprehension ; when one tenet was pronounced 
 idolatry, and to doubt another declared damnation; — the 
 world either exploded or recoiled : it went too far, or it shrank 
 back ; plunged into atheism, or relapsed into popery. It was 
 thus the reformation was checked in the first instance. Its 
 supporters were the strong-minded and intelligent ; and they 
 never, and least of all in those days, formed the mass. Su- 
 perstition and bigotry had enervated the intellects of the ma- 
 jority ; and the high resolve of those with whom the great 
 work commenced, was mixed with a severity that materially 
 retarded its progress. For though personal interests, as with 
 Henry VIII. of England, and rigid enthusiasm, a« witlr Cal- 
 vin, strengthened the infant reformation; Ihe first led to vio- 
 lence which irritated many, the second to austerity which dis- 
 gusted them ; and it wa^ sonn discovered that the change was 
 almost confined to forms of practice, and that the essentials 
 of abuse were likely to be carefully preserved. All these, 
 
 H2 
 
   
 
90 HISTORY OF THE NETHERLANDS. 1561. 
 
 and other arguments, artfully modified to distract the people, 
 were urged by the new bishops in the Netherlands, and by 
 those whom they employed to arrest the progress of reform. 
 
 Among the various causes of the general confusion, the 
 situation of Brabant gave to that province a peculiar share of 
 suffering. Brussels, its capital, being the seat of government, 
 had no particular chief magistrate, like the other provinces. 
 The executive power was therefore wholly confided to the 
 municipal authorities and the territorial proprietors. But 
 these, though generally patriotic in their views, were divided 
 into a multiplicity of different opinions. Rivalry and resent- 
 ment produced a total want of union, ended in anarchy, and 
 prepared the way for civil war. William of Nassau pene- 
 trated the cause, and proposed the remedy in moving for the 
 appointment of a provincial governor. This proposition terri- 
 fied Granvelle, who saw, as clearly as did his sagacious oppo- 
 nent in the council, that the nomination of a special protector 
 between the people and the government would have para- 
 lyzed all his efforts for hurrying on the discord and resistance 
 which were meant to be the plausible excuses for the intro- 
 duction of arbitrary power. He therefore energetically dis- 
 sented from the proposed measure, and William immediately 
 desisted from his demand. But he at the same time claimed, 
 in the name of the whole country, the convocation of the 
 states-general. This assembly alone was competent to de- 
 cide what was just, legal, and obligatory for each province 
 and every town. Governors, magistrates, and simple citi- 
 zens, would thus have some rule for their common conduct ; 
 and the government would be at least endowed with the dig- 
 nity of uniformity and steadiness. The ministers endeavored 
 to evade a demand which they were at first unwilling openly 
 to refuse. But the firm demeanor and persuasive eloquence 
 of the prince of Orange carried before them all who were not 
 actually bought by the crown ; and Granvelle found himself 
 at length forced to avow that an express order from the king 
 forbade the convocation of the states, on any pretext, during 
 his absence. 
 
 The veil was thus rent asunder, which had in some mea- 
 sure concealed the deformity of Philip's despotism. The re- 
 sult was a powerful confederacy among all who held it odious, 
 for tlic f>*^'irthrow of Granvelle, to whom they chose to at- 
 tribute the king's ccnduct ; thus bringing into practical result 
 the sound principle of ministerial responsibility, without 
 %yhich, except in some peculiar case of local urgency or po- 
 litical crisis, the name of constitutional government is but a 
 mockery. Many of the royalist noble'^ united for tlie national 
 
1561. THE PRINCE OF ORANGB. 91 
 
 cause ; and even the governant joined her efforts to theirs, 
 for an object which would relieve her from the tyranny which 
 none felt more than she did. Those who composed this con- 
 federacy against the minister were actuated by a great va- 
 riety of motives. The duchess of Parma hated him, as a 
 domestic spy robbing her of all real authority ; the royalist 
 nobles, as an insolent upstart at every instant mortifying their 
 pride. The counts Egmont and Horn, with nobler senti- 
 ments, opposed hrni as the author of their country's growing 
 misfortunes. But it is doubtful if any of the confederates ex- 
 cept the prince of Orange clearly saw that they were putting 
 themselves in direct and personal opposition to the king him- 
 self William alone, clear-sighted in politics and profound in 
 his views, knew, in thus devoting himself to the public cause, 
 the adversary with whom he entered the lists. 
 
 This great man, for whom the national traditions still pre- 
 serve the sacred title of " father" ( Vader- Willem,) and who 
 was in truth not merely the parent but the political creator of 
 the country, was at this period in his thirtietli year. He 
 already joined the vigor of manhood to the wisdom of age. 
 Brought up under the eye of Charles V., whose sagacity soon 
 discovered his precocious talents, he was admitted to the 
 councils of the emperor, at a time of life which was little ad- 
 vanced beyond mere boyhood. He alone was chosen by this 
 powerful sovereign to be present at the audiences which he 
 gave to foreign ambassadors, which proves that in early youth 
 he well deserved by his discretion the surname of " the taci- 
 turn." It was on the arm of William, then twenty years of 
 age, and already named by him to the command of the Bel- 
 gian troops, that this powerful monarch leaned for support on 
 the memorable day of his abdication ; and he immediately after- 
 wards employed him on the important mission of bearing the 
 imperial crown to his brother Ferdinand, in whose favor he 
 had resigned it. William's grateful attachment to Charles 
 did not blind him to the demerits of Philip. He repaired to 
 France, as one of the hostages on the part of the latter mon- 
 arch for the fulfilment of the peace of Cateau-Cambresis ; and 
 he then learned from the lips of Henry II., who soon con- 
 ceived a high esteem for him, the measures reciprocally 
 agreed on by the two sovereigns for the oppression of their 
 subjects.* From that moment his mind was made up on the 
 character of Philip, and on the part which he had himself to 
 perform ; and he never felt a doubt on the first point, nor 
 swerved from the latter. 
 
 * Vandervynct. 
 
92 HISTORY OF THE NETHERLANDS. 1561. 
 
 But even before his patriotism was openly displayed, Philip 
 had taken a dislike to one in whom his shrewdness quickly 
 discovered an intellect of which he was jealous. He could 
 not actually remove William from all interference with pub- 
 lic affairs; but he refused him the government of Flanders, 
 and opposed, in secret, his projected marriage with a princess 
 of the house of Lorraine, which was calculated to bring him 
 a considerable accession of fortune, and consequently of in- 
 fluence. It may be therefore said that William, in his sub- 
 sequent conduct, was urged by motives of personal enmity 
 against Philip. Be it so. We do not seek to raise him above 
 the common feelings of humanity ; and we should risk the 
 sinking him below them, if we supposed him insensible to 
 the natural effects of just resentment. 
 
 - The secret impulses of conduct can never be known be- 
 yond the individual's own breast ; but actions must, hcAvever 
 questionable, be taken as the tests of motives. In all those 
 of William's illustrious career we can detect none that might 
 be supposed to spring from vulgar or base feelings. If his 
 hostility to Philip was indeed increased by private dislike, he 
 has at least set an example of unparalleled dignity in his 
 method of revenge ; but in calmly considering and weighing, 
 without deciding on the question, we see nothing that should 
 deprive William of an unsullied title to pure and perfect 
 patriotism. The injuries done to him by Philip at this period 
 were not of a nature to excite any violent hatred. Enough 
 of public wrong was inflicted to arouse the patriot, but not 
 of private ill to inflame the man. Neither was William of a 
 vindictive disposition. He was never known to turn the 
 knife of an assassin against his royal rival, even when the 
 blade hired by the latter glanced from him reeking with his 
 blood. And though William's enmity may have been kept 
 alive or strengthened by the provocations he received, it is 
 certain that, if a foe to the king, he was, as long as it was 
 possible, the faithful counsellor of the crown. He spared no 
 pains to impress on the monarch who hated him the real 
 means for preventing the coming evils ; and had not a revo- 
 lution been absolutely inevitable, it is he who would have 
 prevented it. 
 
 Such was the chief of the patriot party, chosen by the 
 silent election of general opinion, and by that involuntary 
 homage to genius, which leads individuals in the train of 
 those master-minds who take the lead in public afl^airs. 
 Counts Egmont and Horn, and some others, largely shared 
 with him the popular favor. The multitude could not for 
 some time distinguish the uncertain and capricious opposition 
 
1564. GRANVELLE RECALLED. 93 
 
 of an offended courtier from the determined resistence of a 
 great man. William was still comparatively young ; he had 
 lived long out of the country ; and it was little by little that 
 his eminent public virtues were developed and understood. 
 
 The great object of immediate good was the removal of 
 cardinal Granvelle. William boldly put himself at the head 
 of the confederacy. He wrote to the king, conjointly with 
 counts Egmont and Horn, faithfully portraying the state of 
 aifairs. The duchess of Parma backed this remonstrance 
 with a strenuous request for Granvelle's dismission. Philip's 
 reply to the three noblemen was a mere tissue of duplicity to 
 obtain delay, accompanied by an invitation to count Egmont 
 to repair to Madrid, to hear his sentiments at large by word of 
 mouth. His only answer to the governant was a positive re- 
 commendation to use every possible means to disunite and 
 breed ill-will among the three confederate lords. It was diffi- 
 cult to deprive William of the confidence of his friends, and 
 impossible to deceive him. He saw the trap prepared by the 
 royal intrigues, restrained Egmont for a while from the fatal 
 step he was but too well inclined to take, and persuaded liim 
 and Horn to renew with him their firm but respectful repre- 
 sentations ; at the same time begging permission to resign 
 their various employments, and simultaneously ceasing to 
 appear at the court of the governant. 
 
 In the mean time every possible indignity was offered to 
 the cardinal by private pique and public satire. Several lords, 
 following count Egmont's example, had a kind of capuchon 
 or fool's-cap embroidered on the liveries of their varlets ; and 
 it was generally known that this was meant as a practical 
 parody on the cardinal's hat. The crowd laughed heartily at 
 this stupid pleasantry ; and the coarse satire of the times 
 may be judged by a caricature, which was forwarded to the 
 cardinal's own hands, representing him in the act of hatching 
 a nest full of eggs, from which a crowd of bishops escaped, 
 while overhead was the devil in propria persona, with tlie 
 following scroll : — " This is my well-beloved son — listen to 
 him !"* 
 
 Philip, thus driven before the popular voice, found himself 
 forced to the choice of throwing off the mask at once, or of 
 sacrificing Granvelle. An invincible inclination for mana3uv- 
 ring and deceit decided him on the latter measure ; and the 
 cardinal, recalled but not disgraced, quitted the Netherlands 
 on the 10th of March, 1564. f The secret instructions to the 
 governant remained unrevoked ; the president Viglius suc- 
 
 * Dujardin, Hist. Gen. des Prov. Un. t. v. p. 7G, j Vandervynct. 
 
94 HISTORY OF THE NETHERLANDS. 1565. 
 
 ceeded to the post which Granvelle had occupied; and it was 
 clear that the projects of the king" had suffered no change. 
 
 Nevertheless some good resulted from the departure of the 
 impopular minister. The public fermentation subsided ; the 
 patriot lords reappeared at court ; and the prince of Orange 
 acquired an increasing influence in the council and over the 
 governant, who by his advice adopted a conciliatory line of 
 conduct — a fallacious but still a temporary hope for the na- 
 tion. But the calm was of short duration. Scarcely was 
 this moderation evinced by the government, when Philip, ob- 
 stinate in his designs, and outrageous in his resentment, sent 
 an order to have the edicts against heresy put into most rig- 
 orous execution, and to proclaim throughout the seventeen 
 provinces the furious decree of the council of Trent. 
 
 The revolting cruelty and illegality of the first edicts were 
 already admitted. As to the decrees of this memorable coun- 
 cil, they were only adapted for countries in submission to an 
 absolute despotism. They were received in the Netherlands 
 with general reprobation. Even the new bishops loudly de- 
 nounced them as unjust innovations ; and thus Philip found 
 zealous opponents in those on whom he had reckoned as his 
 most servile tools. The governant was not the less urged to 
 implicit obedience to the orders of the king by Viglius and 
 De Berlaimont, who took upon themselves an almost menac- 
 ing tone. The duchess assembled a council of state, and 
 asked its advice as to her proceedings. The prince of Orange 
 at once boldly proposed disobedience to measures fraught with 
 danger to the monarchy and ruin to the nation. The council 
 could not resist his appeal to their best feelings. His proposal 
 that fresh remonstrances should be addressed to the kin^. met 
 with almost general support. The president Viglius, vvho 
 had spoken in the opening of the council in favor of the king's 
 orders, was overwhelmed by William's reasoning, and de- 
 manded time to prepare his reply. His agitation during the 
 debate, and his despair of carrying the measures against the 
 patriot party, brought on in the night an attack of apoplexy. 
 
 It was resolved to dispatch a special envoy to Spain, to ex- 
 plain to Philip the views of the council, and to lay before him 
 a plan proposed by the prince of Orange for forming a junc- 
 tion between the two councils and that of finance, and iform- 
 ing them into one body. The object of this measure was at 
 once to give greater union and power to the provisional gov- 
 ernment, to create a central administration in the Nether- 
 lands, and to remove from some obscure and avaricious finan- 
 ciers the exclusive management of the national resources. 
 The count of Egmont, chosen by the council for this impor- 
 
 J 
 
1566. rillLIP ESTABLISHES THE INaUISITION. 95 
 
 tant mission, set out for Madrid in the month of February, 
 1565. Philip received him with profound hypocrisy ; loaded 
 him with the most flattering* promises ; sent him back in the 
 utmost elation : and when the credulous count returned to 
 Brussels, he found that the written orders, of which he was 
 the bearer, were in direct variance with every word which 
 the king had uttered.* 
 
 These orders were chiefly concerning the reiterated sub- 
 ject of the persecution to be inflexibly pursued against the 
 religious reformers. Not satisfied with the hitherto estab- 
 lished forms of punishment, Philip now expressly commanded 
 that the more revolting means decreed by his father in the 
 rigor of his early zeal, such as burning, living burial, and the 
 like, should be adopted ; and he somewhat more obscurely 
 directed that the victims should be no longer publicly immo- 
 lated, but secretly destroyed. He endeavored, by this vague 
 phraseology, to avoid the actual utterance of the word in- 
 quisition; but he thus virtually established that atrocious 
 tribunal, with attributes still more terrific than even in Spain ; 
 for there the condemned had at least the consolation of dying 
 in open day, and of displaying the fortitude which is rarely 
 proof against the horror of a private execution. Philip had 
 thus consummated his treason against tlie principles of jus- 
 tice and the practices of jurisprudence, which had heretofore 
 characterized the country; and against the most vital of 
 those privileges which he had solemnly sworn to maintain. 
 
 His design of establishing this horrible tribunal, so impi- 
 ously named holy by its founders, had been long suspected 
 by the people of the Netherlands. The expression of those 
 fear^ "iad reached him more than once. He as often replied 
 by aV^rances that he had formed no such project, and par- 
 ticularly to count d'Egmont during his recent visit to Madrid. 
 But at that very time he assembled a conclave of his crea- 
 tures, doctors of theology, of whom he formally demanded an 
 opinion as to whether he could conscientiously tolerate two 
 sorts of religion in the Netherlands. The doctors, hoping to 
 please him, replied, that " he might, for the avoidance of a 
 greater evil." Philip trembled with rage, and exclaimed, 
 with a threatening tone, " I ask not if I can, but if I oughtP 
 The theologians read in this question the nature of the ex- 
 pected reply ; and it was amply conformable to his wish. He 
 immediately threw himself on his knees before a crucifix, 
 and raising his hands towards heaven, put up a prayer for 
 strength in his resolution to pursue as deadly enemies all who 
 
 * Vandervynct. 
 
 \ 
 
96 HISTORY OF THE NETHERLANDS. 1566. 
 
 viewed that efRgy with feelings diiFerent from his own. If 
 this were not really a sacrilegious farce, it must be that the 
 blaspheming bigot believed the Deity to be a monster of cru- 
 elty like himself. • • . 
 
 Even Viglius was terrified by the nature of Philip's com- 
 mands ; and the patriot lords once more withdrew from all 
 share in the government, leaving to the duchess of Parma 
 and her ministers the whole responsibility of the new mea- 
 sures. They were at length put into actual and vigorous exe- 
 cution in the beginning of the year 1566. The inquisitors 
 of the faith, with their familiars, stalked abroad boldly in the 
 devoted provinces, carrying persecution and death in their 
 train. Numerous but partial insurrections opposed these 
 odious intruders. Every district and town became the scene 
 of frightful executions or tumultuous resistance. The con- 
 verts to the new doctrines multiplied, as usual, under the 
 effects of persecution. " There was nowhere to be seen," 
 says a contemporary author, " the meanest mechanic who did 
 not find a weapon to strike down the murderers of his com- 
 patriots." Holland, Zealand, and Utrecht, alone escaped from 
 those fast accumulating horrors. William of Nassau was 
 there. 
 
 CHAR vin. 
 
 1566. 
 
 COMMENCEMENT OF THE REVOLUTION. 
 
 The governant and her ministers now began to tremble. 
 Philip's favorite counsellors advised him to yield to the popu- 
 lar despair ; but nothing could change his determination to 
 pursue his bloody game to the last chance. He had foreseen 
 the impossibility of reducing the country to slavery as long 
 as it maintained its tranquillity, and that union which forms 
 in itself the elements and the cement of strength. It was 
 from deep calculation that he had excited the troubles, and 
 now kept them alive. He knew that the structure of illegal 
 power could only be raised on the ruins of public rights and 
 national happiness; and the materials of desolation found 
 sympathy in his congenial mind. 
 
 And now in reality began the awful revolution of the 
 Netherlands against their tyrant. In a few years this so 
 lately flourishing and happy nation presented a frightful pic- 
 
1566. COMMENCEMENT OF THE REVOLUTION. 97 
 
 ture ; and in the midst of European peace, prosperity, and 
 civilization, the wickedness of one prince drew down on the 
 country he misgoverned more evils than it had suffered for 
 centuries from the worst effects of its foreign foes. 
 
 William of Nassau has been accused of having at length 
 urged on the governant to promulgate the final edicts and 
 the resolutions of the council of Trent, and then retiring from 
 the council of state. This line of conduct may be safely 
 admitted and fairly defended by his admirers. He had seen 
 the uselessness of remonstrance against the intentions of the 
 king. Every possible means had been tried, without effect, 
 to soften his pitiless heart to the sufferings of the country. 
 At length the moment came when the people had reached 
 that pitch of despair which is the great force of the oppressed, 
 and William felt that their strength was now equal to the 
 contest he had long foreseen. It is therefore absurd to accuse 
 him of artifice in the exercise of that wisdom which rarely 
 failed him on any important crisis. A change of circumstan- 
 ces gives a new name to actions and motives ; and it would 
 be hard to blame William of Nassau for the only point in 
 which he bore the least resemblance to Philip of Spain, — 
 that depth of penetration, which the latter turned to every 
 base, and the former to every noble purpose. 
 
 Up to the present moment the prince of Orange and the 
 counts Egmont and Horn, with their partisans and friends, 
 had sincerely desired the public peace, and acted in the com- 
 mon interest of the king and the people. But all the nobles 
 had not acted with, the same constitutional moderation. Many 
 of those, disappointed on personal accounts, others professing 
 the new doctrines, and the rest variously affected by manifold 
 motives, formed a body of violent and sometimes of impru- 
 dent malcontents. The marriage of Alexander prince of 
 Parma, son of the governant, which was at this time cele- 
 brated at Brussels, brought together an immense number of 
 these dissatisfied nobles, who became thus drawn into closer 
 connexion, and whose national candor was more than usually 
 brought out in the confidential intercourse of society. Politics 
 and patriotism were the common subjects of conversation in 
 the various convivial meetings that took place. Two German 
 nobles, counts Holle and Schwarzemberg, at that period in 
 the Netherlands, loudly proclaim.ed the favorable disposition 
 of the princes of the empire towards the Belgians.* It was 
 supposed even thus early that negotiations had been opened 
 with several of those sovereigns. In short, nothing seemed 
 
   Schiller. 
 
 I 
 
98 HISTORY OF THE NETHERLANDS. 1566. 
 
 wanting but a leader, to give consistency and weight to the 
 confederacy which was as yet but in embryo. This was 
 doubly furnished in the persons of Louis of Nassau and 
 Henry de Brederode. The former, brother of the prince of 
 Orange, was possessed of many of those brilliant qualities 
 which mark men as worthy of distinction in times of peril. 
 Educated at Geneva, he was passionately attached to the re- 
 formed religion, and identified in his hatred the Catholic 
 church and the tyranny of Spain. Brave and impetuous, he 
 was, to his elder brother, but as an adventurous partisan 
 compared with a sagacious general. He loved William as 
 well as he did their common cause, and his life was devoted 
 to both. ^ i . 
 
 Henry de Brederode, lord of Vianen and marquis of Utrecht, 
 was descended from the ancient counts of Holland. This 
 illustrious origin, which in his own eyes formed a high claim 
 to distinction, had not procured him any of those employ- 
 ments or dignities which he considered his due. He was 
 presumptuous and rash, and rather a fluent speaker than an 
 eloquent orator. Louis of Nassau was thoroughly inspired 
 by the justice of the cause he espoused ; De Brederode es- 
 poused it for the glory of becoming its champion. The first 
 only wished for action; the latter longed for distinction. But 
 neither the enthusiasm of Nassau, nor the vanity of De Bre- 
 derode, was allied with those superior attributes required to 
 form a hero. 
 
 The confederation acquired its perfect organization in the 
 month of February, 1566, on the 10th of which month its 
 celebrated manifesto was signed by its numerous adherents. 
 The first name afiixed to this document was that of Philip 
 de Marnix, lord of St. Aldegonde, from whose pen it eman- 
 ated; a man of great talents both as soldier and writer. 
 Numbers of the nobility followed him on this muster-roll of 
 patriotism, and many of the most zealous royalists were 
 among them. This remarkable proclamation of general 
 feeling consisted chiefly in a powerful reprehension of the 
 illegal establishment of the inquisition in the Low Countries, 
 and a solemn obligation on the members of the confederacy 
 to unite in the common cause against this detested nuisance. 
 Men of all ranks and classes offered their signatures, and 
 several Catholic priests among the rest. The prince of 
 Orange, and the counts Egmont, Horn, and Meghem, de- 
 clined becoming actual parties to this bold measure; and 
 when the question was debated as to the most appropriate 
 way of presenting an address to the governant, these noble- 
 
1566. IMAGE-BREAKERS. 107 
 
 stroyed not only the images and relics of saints, but those 
 very ornaments which Christians of all sects hold sacred, and 
 essential to the most simple rites of religion. 
 
 The cities of Ypres, Lille, and other places of importance, 
 were soon subject to similar visitations ; and the whole of 
 Flanders was in a few days ravaged by furious multitudes, 
 whose frantic energy spread terror and destruction on their 
 route. Antwerp was protected for a while by the presence 
 of the prince of Orange ; but an order from the governant 
 having obliged him to repair to Brussels, a few nights after 
 his departure the celebrated cathedral shared the fate of 
 many a minor temple, and was utterly pillaged. The blind 
 fury of the spoilers was not confined to the mere effigies 
 which they considered the types of idolatry, nor even to the 
 pictures, the vases, the sixty-six altars, and their richly 
 WTOught accessories ; but it was equally fatal to the splendid 
 organ, which was considered the finest at that time in exist- 
 ence. The rapidity and the order with which this torchlight 
 scene was acted, without a single accident among the nu- 
 merous doers, has excited the wonder of almost all its early 
 historians. One of them does not hesitate to ascribe the 
 "miracle" to the absolute agency of demons.* For three 
 days and nights these revolting scenes were acted, and every 
 church in the city shared the fate of the cathedral, which 
 next to St. Peter's at Rome was the most magnificent in 
 Christendom.! 
 
 Ghent, Tournay, Valenciennes, Mechlin, and other cities, 
 were next the theatres of similar excesses ; and in an in- 
 credibly short space of time above 400 churches were pillaged 
 in Flanders and Brabant Zealand, Utrecht, and others of 
 the northern provinces, suffered more or less; Friesland, 
 Guelders, and Holland alone escaped, and even the latter but 
 in partial instances. 
 
 These terrible scenes extinguished every hope of recon- 
 ciliation with the king. An inveterate and interminable 
 hatred was now established between him and the people ; for 
 the whole nation was identified with deeds, which were in 
 reality only shared by the most base, and were lothesome to 
 all who were enlightened. It was in vain that the patriot 
 nobles might hope or strive to exculpate themselves ; they 
 were sure to be held criminal either in fact or by implication. 
 No show of loyalty, no efforts to restore order, no personal 
 sacrifice, could save them from the hatred or screen them 
 from the vengeance of Philip. 
 
 * Strada. t Schiller. 
 
lOS HISTORY OF THE NETHERLANDS. 1566. 
 
 The affright of the g-overnant during tlie short reign of 
 anarchy and terror was without bounds. She strove to make 
 her escape from Brussels, and was restrained from so doing 
 only by the joint solicitations of Viglius and the various 
 knights of the order of the Golden Fleece, consisting of the 
 first among the nobles of all parties. But, in fact, a species 
 of violence was used to restrain her from this most fatal step ; 
 for Viglius gave orders that the gates of the city should be 
 shut, and egress refused to any one belonging to the court.* 
 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 their 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 afler 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.J 
 
 Soon afler this the several governors repaired to their re- 
 spective provinces, and their efforts for the re-establishment 
 of tranquillity were attended with various degrees of success. 
 Several of the ringleaders in the late excesses were executed ; 
 and this severity was not confined to the partisans of the 
 Catholic church. The prince of Orange and count Egmont, 
 with others of the patriot lords, set the example of this just 
 severity. Jolm 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. X Schiller. 
 
1566. Philip's vindictiveness. 109 
 
 men, fell upon a refractory band of iconoclasts near Gram- 
 mont, in Flanders, 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 RECIUESENS. 
 
 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 severely suffering, gave great 
 attention to the details of this correspondence, which he 
 minutely examined, and laid before his council of state, with 
 notes and observations taken by himself But he took special 
 care to send to them only such parts as he chose them to be 
 well informed upon ; his natural distrust not suffering him to 
 have any confidential communication with men.l 
 
 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 tlie indolence or the pride of 
 Philip was too strong to admit of his taking so vigorous a 
 
 * Schiller. f Hopper. | Idem. 
 
 K 
 
110 HISTORY OF THE NETHERLANDS. 1566. 
 
 measure ; and all these consultations ended in two letters to 
 the governant. In the first he declared his firm intention to 
 visit the Netherlands in person; refused to convoke the 
 states-general ; passed in silence the treaties concluded with 
 the Protestants and the confederates ; and finished by a de- 
 claration that he would throw himself wholly on the fidelity 
 of the 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, oflTended 
 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 j 
 on in the king's most secret council. He had from time to ; 
 
 ,■ 
 
 * Vandervynct. f Schiller. 
 
1566. CONFERENCE AT TERMONDE. Ill 
 
 time procured copies of the governant's dispatches ; but the 
 document which threw the most important light upon the 
 real intentions of Philip, was a confidential epistle to the 
 governant from IKAlava, 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 
 the 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 his 
 perfect reliance on the justice and the goodness of Philip, when 
 once he should see the determined loyalty of those whom he 
 had hitherto had so much reason to suspect ; and he 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 efibrts 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 w^hose at- 
 
 * Schiller. 
 
112 HISTORY OF THE KETHERLANDS. 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 refused 
 to admit him into the capital. He then addressed to her a 
 remonstrance in writing, in which he reproached her with 
 her violation of the treaties, on the faith of which the 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 Vjenen. 
 
 The prince of Orange maintained at Antwerp an attitude 
 of extreme firmness and caution. His time for action had 
 
 * Bentivoglio. 
 
1567. SURRRENDER OF 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 league 
 from Antwerp, and fortified himself in a strong" position. But 
 he was impetuously attacked by the count de Lannoy with a 
 considerable force, and perished, after a desperate defence, 
 with full 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. Maestricht, Turnhout, and Bois-le-duc sub- 
 mitted at his approach ; and the insurgents were soon driven 
 from all the provinces, Holland alone excepted. Brederode 
 i fled to Germany, where he died the following year.f 
 I 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 
 I patriot lords ; and a new oath of allegiance, to be proposed 
 I to every functionary of the state, was considered as a certain 
 means for attaining this object without the violence of an un- 
 ! merited dismissal. The terms of this oath were strongly op- 
 ' posed to every principle of patriotism and toleration. Count 
 \ Mansfield was the first of the nobles who took it. The duke 
 ' of Arschot, counts Meghem, Berlaimont, and Egmont, fol- 
 1 lowed his example. The counts of Horn, Hoogstraeten, De 
 i Brederode, and others, refused on various pretexts. Every 
 !! artifice and persuasion was tried to induce the prince of 
 I Orange to subscribe to this new test; but his resolution had 
 j 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- 
 I 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 governant, of mock loy- 
 alty on his part and mock confidence on hers. Many other 
 
 * Vandervynct. + Bentivoglio. 
 
 K2 
 
I 
 
 114 HISTORY OP THE NETHERLANDS. 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 the chamber.* 
 Nothing could exceed the energetic warmth with which the 
 two illustrious friends reciprocally endeavored to turn each 
 other from their respective line of conduct; but in vain. 
 Egmont's fatal confidence in the king was not to be shaken ; 
 nor was Nassau's penetrating mind to be deceived by the 
 romantic delusion which led away his friend. They 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 the 
 Spaniards as the bridge by which they will enter the country, 
 and which they will destroy as soon as they have passed 
 over it !"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 Lou vain. 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. 5 
 
 This total dispersion of the confederacy brought all the 
 towns of Holland into obedience to the king. But the emi- 
 
 * Schiller. f 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 king. She implored him, in repeated letters, to abandon 
 his design of sending a foreign army into the country, which 
 she represented as being now quite reduced to submission 
 and tranquillity. She added, that the mere report of this 
 royal invasion (so to call it) had already deprived the 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.! Alva's first care was the distribution of his troops — 
 several thousands of whom were placed in Antwerp, Ghent, 
 and other important tow^ns, and the remainder reserved under 
 his own immediate orders at Brussels. His approach w^as 
 celebrated by universal terror ; and his arrival w^as 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 w^hich 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 within his 
 reach. He summoned a meeting of all the members of the 
 council of state and the knig-hts 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 him, as an original member of the 
 confederation, he had time to fly. The count of Hoogstraeten 
 was happily detained by illness, and thus escaped the fate of 
 his friends. Egmont and Horn were transferred to the 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 appointed a Spaniard, named 
 Vargas, as vice-president — a wretch of the most diabolical 
 cruelty. Several others of the judges were also Spaniards, 
 in direct infraction of the fundamental laws of the country. 
 This council, immortalized by its infamy, was named by the 
 new governor (for so Alva was in fact, though not yet in 
 name,) the Council of Troubles. By the people it was soon 
 designed the Council of Blood. In its atrocious proceedings 
 no respect was paid to titles, contracts, or privileges, how- 
 ever sacred. Itsjudgments were without appeal. Every subject 
 of the state was amenable to its summons ; clergy and laity, 
 the first individuals of the country, as well as the most 
 wretched outcasts of society. Its decrees were passed with 
 disgusting rapidity and contempt of form. Contumacy was 
 punished with exile and confiscation. Those who, strong in 
 innocence, dared to brave a trial, were lost without resource. 
 The accused were forced to its bar without previous warn- 
 ing. Many a wealthy citizen was dragged to trial four 
 
 * Strada. Vandervynct. t Schiller. 
 
!l567. ALVA's TYRxlNNY. 117 
 
 leagues' distance, tied to a horse's tail. The number of vic- 
 '- tims was appalling". On one occasion, the town of Valen- 
 I ciennes alone saw fifly-five of its citizens fall by the hands 
 of the executioner. Hanging, beheading, quartering, and 
 burning, were the e very-day spectacles. The enormous con- 
 ; liscations only added to the thirst for gold and blood by which 
 ; Alva and his satellites were parched. History offers no ex- 
 1 ample of parallel horrors : for while party vengeance on 
 i other occasions has led to scenes of fury and terror, they 
 I arose, in this instance, from the vilest cupidity and the most 
 ' cold-blooded cruelty.* 
 
 i After three months of such atrocity, Alva, fatigued rather 
 i than satiated with butchery, resigned his hateful functions 
 I 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- 
 \ lion of those monsters, and it is impossible not to feel satis- 
 ; faction in fixing upon their names the brand of historic exe- 
 1 cration. One of these wretches, called Hesselts, used at 
 I length to sleep during the mock trials of the already doomed 
 I victims ; and as often as he was roused up by his colleagues, 
 i he used to cry out mechanically, " To the gibbet ! to the 
 i gibbet ! " so familiar was his tongue with the sounds of con- 
 \ demnation.f 
 
 1 The despair of the people may be imagined from the fact, 
 i that until the end of the year 1567 their only consolation was 
 I the prospect of the king's arrival ! He never dreamt of com- 
 ! ing. Even the delight of feasting in horrors like these could 
 I not conquer his indolence. The good duchess of Parma, — for 
 ' so she was in comparison with her successor, — was not long 
 I left to oppose the feeble barrier of her prayers between Alva 
 ! and his victims. She demanded her dismissal from the nomi- 
 i nal dignity, which was now but a title of disgrace. Philip 
 t granted it readily, accompanied by a hypocritical letter, a 
 present of 30,000 crowns, and the promise of an annual pen- 
 i sion of 20,000 more. She left Brussels in the month of April, 
 . 1568,5: 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. f Idem. | DeThou. § Vandcrvynct. 
 
118 HISTORY OF THE NETHERLANDS. 1508. 
 
 insignificant kingdom of Toledo. When he assumed the 
 chief command in the Netherlands, he was sixty years of 
 age ; having grown old and obdurate in pride, ferocity, and 
 avarice. His deeds must stand instead of a more detailed 
 portrait, which, to be thoroughly striking, should be traced 
 with a pen dipped in blood. He was a fierce and clever sol- 
 dier, brought up in the school of Charles V., and trained to 
 his profession in the wars of that monarch in Germany, and 
 subsequently in that of Philip 11. 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 severe penalties, 
 any inhabitant of the country to marry without his express 
 permission. His furious edicts against 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. J 
 
 The departure of the duchess of Parma having left Alva 
 undisputed as well as unlimited authority, he proceeded 
 rapidly in his terrible career. The count of Beuren was 
 seized at Louvain, and sent prisoner to Madrid ; and wherever 
 it was possible to lay hands on a suspected patriot, the 
 occasion was not neglected. It would be a revolting task to 
 enter into a minute detail of all the horrors committed, and 
 
 * Vandervynct. j Van Meteren. | Vandervynct. 
 
1568. HORRORS 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, t 
 
 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, 
 iunder 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, 
 lin 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 
 Thames only find a place in the local chronicles of the times. 
 1 Egmont and Horn met their fate with the firmness expected 
 
 i^jfrom their well-proved courage. 
 These judicial murders excited in the Netherlands an agi- 
 tation without bounds. It was no longer hatred or aversion 
 I that filled men's minds, but fury and despair.! TJ'he out-burst- 
 ing of a general revolt was hourly watched for. The foreign 
 loowers, without exception, expressed their disapproval of 
 [hese executions. The emperor Maximilian II., and all the 
 (Uatholic princes, condemned them. The former sent his 
 f )rother expressly to the king of Spain, to warn him, that 
 ^ vithout a cessation of his cruelties, he could not restrain a 
 .1 ifeneral declaration from the members of the empire, which 
 I y-ould, in all likelihood, deprive him of every acre of land in 
 |!he Netherlands.} The princes of the Protestant states held 
 k \o terms in the expression of their disgust and resentment ; 
 ^ ind every thing seemed now ripe, both at home and abroad, 
 > jo favor the enterprise on which the prince of Orange was 
 
 * Vandervynct. j Batavia illustrated. | Grotius. § Vandervynct. 
 
 ) 
 
120 HISTORY OF TILE 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 John, 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, liaving 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 Heiligerlee, which gave its name to the battle ; and after 
 a short contest the royalists were defeated with great loss. 
 The count of Aremberg and Adolphus of Nassau encountered 
 in single combat, and fell by each other's hands.f 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- 
 sions, down to these very days, freely shed their blood for the 
 
 * Vandervynct. f Strada. 
 
1568. DISASTERS OF THE PATRIOTS. 121 
 
 freedom and happiness of tlie country which may be 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 whole 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 the 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 
 
 L 
 
122 HISTORY OF THE NEIHERLANDS. 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- 
 nishing 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."t 
 
 A deputation was sent from the states-general to Philip, 
 explaining the impossibility of persevering in the attempted 
 taxes, which were incompatible with every principle of 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 sufferings of the country were increasing from 
 day to day under the intolerable tyranny which bore it down. 
 The patriots attempted nothing on land ; but their naval force 
 began from this time to acquire that consistency and power 
 which was so soon to render it the chief means of resistance 
 and the great source of wealth. The privateers or corsairs, 
 which began to swarm from every port in Holland and 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 Antwerp 
 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 alori« 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. 
 
 X De Neny, M6m. Hist, et Pol. surlesPays Bas. § Vandervynct. 
 
1572. LA CERDA's APPOIiNTMENT. 123 
 
 gan to be discontented, and thought his representative was 
 overstepping 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 11th 
 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 
 obtamed 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 efl^orts 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 w^holly 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 Mem. 
 
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 " the 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 point of greatest danger. His embarrassment, 
 however, became every day more considerable. Lunoy's 
 success was the signal of a general revolt. In a few days 
 every town in Holland and Zealand declared for liberty, 
 with the exception of Amsterdam and Middleburg, where 
 the Spanish garrisons were too strong for the people to 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 large body of French Huguenots 
 under De Genlis, he seized on Mons, the capital of the prov- 
 ince, on the 25th of May. 
 
 Alva turned first towards the recovery of this important 
 place, and gave the command of the siege to his son Frederic 
 of Toledo, who was assisted by the counsels of * Noircarmes 
 and Vitelli ; but Louis of Nassau held out for upwards of - 
 three months, and only surrendered on an honorable capitu- 
 lation in the month of September ; his French allies having 
 been first entirely defeated, and their brave leader De Genlis 
 taken prisoner. The prince of Orange had in the 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 Mons fell again into the 
 power of the Spaniards, sixty-five towns and their territories, 
 
 » Vandervynct. f Idem. 
 
1573. HAERLEM BESIEGED. 125 
 
 chiefly in the northern provinces, had thrown off the yoke. 
 The single port of Flessingue contained 150 patriot vessels, 
 well armed and equipped ;* and from that epoch may be dated 
 the rapid growth of the first naval power in Europe, with the 
 single exception of Great Britain. 
 
 It is here worthy of remark, that all the horrors of which 
 the people of Flanders were the victims, and in their full 
 proportion, had not the effect of exciting them to revolt ; but 
 they rose up with fury against the payment of the new taxes. 
 They sacrificed every thing sooner than pay these unjust ex- 
 actions — Omnia dabant, ne decimam darant.f The next im- 
 portant event in these wars was the siege of Haerlem, before 
 which place the Spaniards were arrested in their progress 
 for seven months, and which they at length succeeded in 
 taking with a loss of 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 
 After 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. 5 Tergoes in South Beveland, Mechlin, 
 Naerden, and other towns, were about the same period the 
 scenes of gallant actions, and of subsequent cruelties of the 
 most revolting nature as soon as they fell into the power of 
 the Spaniards.il Horrors like these were sure to force repri- 
 sals on the part of the maddened patriots. De la Marck 
 carried on his daring exploits with a cruelty which excited 
 the indignation of the prince of Orange, by whom he was 
 removed from his command. The contest was for a while 
 prosecuted, with a decrease of vigor proportioned to the 
 serious losses on both sides ; money and the munitions of 
 war began to fail ; and though the Spaniards succeeded in 
 taking the Hague, they w^ere 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 Grotius. | Strada. § Bentivoglio. 
 
 IfStrada, with all his bigotry to the Spanish cause, admits that these ex- 
 cesses were atrocious crimes rather than just punishments: non peena, scd 
 flagitium. 
 
 L 
 
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 
 the 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 Malta, 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, the monster whom he succeeded set out for Spain, 
 loaded with the booty to which he had waded through oceans 
 of blood, and with the curses of the country, which, how- 
 ever, owed its subsequent freedom to the impulse given by 
 his intolerable cruelty. He repaired to Spain ; and afler va- 
 rious fluctuations of favor and disgrace at the hands of his 
 congenial master, he died in his bed, at Lisbon, in 1582, at 
 the advanced age of seventy-four years. 
 
 CHAP. X. 
 1573-^157a 
 
 TO THE rACIFICATION 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, he might succeed in 
 recalling the Netherlands to obedience. But, happily for the 
 country, this change was adopted too late for success ; and 
 the weakness of the new government completed the glorious 
 results which the ferocity of the former had prepared. 
 
 Requesens performed all that depended on him, to gain the 
 confidence of the people. He caused Alva's statue to be rc- 
 
 * Grotius. Ptrada. Bentivoglio. t ^^c Thou. 
 
1574. REaUESENs' GOVERNMENT. 127 
 
 moved ; and hoped to efface the memory of the tyrant, by 
 dissolving the council of blood, and abandoning the obnoxious 
 taxes which their inventor had suspended rather than 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 Requesens but to renew the 
 war ; and this he found to be a matter of no easy execution. 
 The finances were in a state of the greatest confusion ; and 
 the Spanish troops were in many places seditious, in some 
 openly mutinous, Alva having left large arrears of pay due 
 to almost all, notwithstanding the immense amount of his 
 pillage and extortion.* Middleburg, which had long 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 of 
 sixty vessels for that purpose. But Louis Boisot, admiral of 
 Zealand, promptly repaired to attack this force ; and after a 
 severe action he totally defeated it, and killed De Glimes, one 
 of its admirals, under the eyes of Requesens himself, who, 
 accompanied by his suite, stood during the whole affair on the 
 dike of Schakerloo.f This action took place the 29th of 
 January, 1574; and, on the 19th of February following, Mid- 
 dleburg surrendered, after a resistance of two years. The 
 prince of Orange granted such conditions as were due to the 
 bravery of the governor ; and thus set an example of gene- 
 rosity and honor which greatly changed the complexion of 
 the war. I 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 with atrocious impartiality. 
 
 To these manifold evils was now added one more terrible, 
 in the appearance of the plague, which broke out at Ghent 
 in the month of October, and devastated a great part of the 
 Netherlands ; not, however, with that violence with which 
 it rages in more southern climates. 5 
 
 Requesens, overwhelmed by difficulties, yet exerted him- 
 
 * Vanclervynct. t Idem. X Metercn. § Vandervynct. 
 
128 HISTORY OF THE NETHERLANDS. 1574. 
 
 self to the utmost to put the best 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 prince 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 doubtful 
 authority, that Louis of Nassau, after having lain some time 
 among the heaps of dead, dragged himself to the side of the 
 river Meuse, and while washing his wounds, was inhumanly 
 murdered by some straggling peasants, to whom he was 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 self-disbanded; threw off all authority; hastened 
 to possess themselves of Antwerp ; and threatened to proceed 
 to the most horrible extremities, if their pay was longer with- 
 held. The citizens succeeded with difficulty in appeasing 
 them, by the sacrifice of some money in part payment of their 
 claims. Requesens took advantage of their temporary calm, 
 and 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- 
 
 * Haraeus | Vandcrvynct. 
 
1575. SIEGE OF LEY DEN. 129 
 
 itants, *' that when provisions failed them, they would devour 
 tlieir left hands, reserving the right to defend their liberty." 
 A party of the inhabitants, driven to disobedience and revolt 
 by the excess of misery to which they were shortly reduced, 
 attempted to force the burgomaster, Vanderwerf, to supply 
 them with bread, or yield up the place. But he sternly made 
 the celebrated answer, which cannot be remembered without 
 shuddering — " Bread I have none ; but if my death can 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 half-famished town ; while a violent 
 storm carried the sea across the country for twenty leagues 
 around, and destroyed the Spanish camp, with above 1000 
 soldiers, who were overtaken by the flood. This deliverance 
 took place on the 3d of October, on Avhich day it is still an- 
 nually celebrated by the descendants of the grateful citizens.f 
 
 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 XL 
 renewed at this epoch his efforts with Philip ; and under such 
 favorable auspices conferences commenced at Breda, where 
 the counts Swartzenberg and Hohenloe, brothers-in-law of 
 the prince of Orange, met, on the part of the emperor, the 
 deputies from the king of Spain and the patriots ; and hopes 
 of a complete pacification were generally entertained. But 
 three months of deliberation proved their fallacy. The 
 patriots demanded toleration for the reformed religion. The 
 king's deputies obstinately refused it. The congress was 
 therefore broken up; and both oppressors and oppressed 
 resumed their arms with increased vigor and tenfold des- 
 peration. 
 
 Requesens had long fixed his eyes on Zealand as the 
 scene of an expedition by which he hoped to repair the 
 failure before Leyden ; and he caused an attempt to be made 
 on the town of Zuriczee, in the island of Scauwen, which 
 
 * Strada. t Vandervynct. 
 
130 HISTORY OF THE NETHERLANDS. 1575. 
 
 merits record as one of thd boldest and most original enter- 
 prises of the war. 
 
 The little islands of Zealand are separated from each other 
 by narrow branches of the sea, which are fordable at low 
 water ; and it was by such a passage, two leagues in breadth, 
 and till then untried, that the Spanish detachment of 1750 
 men, under Ulloa and other veteran captains, advanced to 
 their exploit in the midst of dangers greatly increased by a 
 night of total darkness. Each man carried round his neck 
 two pounds of gunpowder, w^ith a sufficient supply of biscuit 
 for two days; and holding their swords and muskets high 
 over their heads, they boldly waded forward, three abreast, 
 in some places up to their shoulders in water. The alarm 
 was soon given ; and a shower of balls was poured upon the 
 gallant band, from upwards of forty boats which the Zea- 
 landers sent rapidly towards the spot. The only light afforded 
 to either party was from the flashes of their guns ; and while 
 the adventurers advanced with undaunted firmness, their 
 equally daring assailants, jumping from their boats into the 
 water, attacked them with oars and hooked handspikes, by 
 which many of the Spaniards were destroyed. The rear- 
 guard, in this extremity, cut off" from their companions, was 
 obliged to retreat ; but the rest, after a considerable loss, at 
 length reached the land, and thus gained possession of the 
 island, on the night of the 28th of September, 1575.* 
 
 Requesens quickly afterwards repaired to the scene of this 
 gallant exploit, and commenced the siege of Zuriczee, which 
 he did not live to see completed. After having passed the 
 winter months in preparations for the success of this object 
 which he had so much at heart, he was recalled to Brussels 
 by accounts of new mutinies in the Spanish cavalry ; and the 
 very evening before he reached the city he was attacked by 
 a violent fever, which carried him off" five days afterwards, 
 on the 5th of March, 1576.t 
 
 The suddenness of Requesen's illness had not allowed time 
 for even the nomination of a successor, to which he was 
 authorized by letters patent from the king. It is believed 
 that his intention was to appoint count Mansfield to the com- 
 mand of the army, and De Berlaimont to the administration 
 of civil affairs. J The government, however, now devolved 
 entirely into the hands of the council of state, which was at 
 that period composed of nine members. The principal of 
 these was Philip de Croi duke of Arschot ; the other leading 
 members were Viglius, counts Mansfield and Berlaimont; 
 
 *Strada. t B^ntivoglio. |>Strada. 
 
1576. DISASTROUS CONDITION OF THE COUNTKY. 131 
 
 and the council was degraded by numbering", among the rest, 
 Debris and De Roda, two of the notorious Spaniards who had 
 formed part of the council of blood. 
 
 The king resolved to leave the authority in the hands of 
 this incongruous mixture, until the arrival of don John of 
 
 i Austria, his natural brother, whom he had already named to 
 the office of governor-general. But in the interval the 
 government assumed an aspect of unprecedented disorder ; 
 and wide-spread anarchy embraced the whole country. The 
 royal troops openly revolted, and fought against each other 
 like deadly enemies. The nobles, divided in their views, ar- 
 rogated to themselves in different places the titles and powers 
 of command. Public faith and private probity seemed alike 
 
 i destroyed. Pillage, violence, and ferocity, were the com- 
 monplace characteristics of the times. f 
 
 ! Circumstances like these may be well supposed to have 
 revived the hopes of the prince of Orange, who quickly saw 
 amidst this cliaos the elements of order, strength, and 
 liberty. Such had been his previous affliction at the harrow- 
 ing events which he witnessed, and despaired of being able 
 to relieve, that he had proposed to the patriots of Holland and 
 Zealand to destroy the dikes, submerge the whole country, 
 and abandon to the waves the soil which refused security to 
 freedom. But Providence destined him to be the savior, in- 
 stead of the destroyer, of his country. The chief motive of this 
 excessive desperation had been the apparent desertion by 
 queen Elizabeth of the cause which she had hitherto so 
 mainly assisted. Offended at the capture of some English 
 ships by the Dutch, who asserted that they carried supplies 
 for the Spaniards, she withdrew from them her protection : 
 but by timely submission they appeased her wrath ; and it is 
 thought by some historians, that even thus early the prince 
 of Orange proposed to place the revolted provinces wholly 
 under her protection. This, however, she for the time refused ; 
 but she strongly solicited Philip's mercy for these unfortunate 
 countries, through the Spanish ambassador at her court. 
 
 In the mean time the council of state at Brussels seemed 
 disposed to follow up as far as possible the plans of Requesens. 
 The. siege of Zuriczee was continued ; but speedy dissensions 
 among the members of the government rendered their au- 
 thority contemptible, if not utterly extinct, in the eyes of the 
 people. The exhaustion of the treasury deprived them of all 
 power to put an end to the mutinous excesses of the Spanish 
 troops, and the latter carried their licentiousness to the utmost 
 
 t Bentivoglio. 
 
:A 
 
 132 HISTORY OF THE NETHERLANDS. 1576. 
 
 bounds. Zuriczee, admitted to a surrender, and saved from 
 pillage by the payment of a large sum, was lost to the roy^ 
 alists within three months, from the want of discipline in its 
 garrison ; and the towns and burghs of Brabant suffered ag 
 much from the excesses of their nominal protectors as could 
 have been inflicted by the enemy. The mutineers at length, 
 to the number of some thousands, attacked and carried bj 
 force the town of Alost, at equal distances between Brussels 
 Ghent, and Antwerp ; imprisoned the chief citizens; and leviec 
 contributions on all the country round. It was then that the 
 council of state found itself forced to proclaim them rebels 
 traitors, and enemies to the king and the country, and callec 
 on all loyal subjects to pursue and exterminate them wherevei 
 they were found in arms.* 
 
 This proscription of the Spanisli mutineers was followed 
 by the convocation of the states-general ; and the g-overnment 
 thus hoped to maintain some show of union, and some chanca 
 of authority. But a new scene of intestine violence com- 
 pleted the picture of executive inefficiency. On the 4th ol 
 September, the grand bailiff of Brabant, as lieutenant of th^ 
 baron de Hesse, governor of Brussels, entered the council-i 
 chamber by force, and arrested all the members present, oh 
 suspicion of treacherously maintaining intelligence with the 
 Spaniards. Counts Mansfield and Berlaimont were impris 
 oned, with some others. Viglius escaped this indignity bj 
 being absent from indisposition. This bold measure wai 
 hailed by the people with unusual joy, as the signal for tha' 
 total change in the government which they reckoned on ai 
 the prelude to complete freedom. 
 
 The states-general were all at this time assembled, witi 
 the exception of those of Flanders, who joined tlie others witl 
 but little delay. The general reprobation against the Span 
 iards procured a second decree of proscription ; and thei! 
 desperate conduct justified the utmost violence with whici 
 they might be pursued. They still held the citadels of Gheri 
 and Antwerp, as well as Maestricht, which they had seizec 
 on, sacked, and pillaged w^ith all the fury which a barbaroui 
 enemy inflicts on a town carried by assault. On the 3d ol 
 November, the other body of mutineers, in possession oi 
 Alost, marched to the support of their fellow brigands in th< 
 citadel of Antwerp ; and both, simultaneously attacking thii 
 magnificent city, became masters of it in all points, in spit< 
 of a vigorous resistance on the part of the citizens. Thej 
 then began a scene of rapine and destruction unequalled it 
 
 * Bentivoglio. 
 
1576. PACIFICATION OF GHENT. 133 
 
 the annals of these desperate wars. More than 500 private 
 
 mansions and the splendid town-house were delivered to the 
 
 flames : 7000 citizens perished by the sword or in the waters 
 
 , of the Scheldt. For three days the carnage and the pillage 
 
 ! went on with unheard-of fury ; and the most opulent town in 
 
 I Europe was thus reduced to ruin and desolation by a few 
 
 I thousand frantic ruffians. The loss was valued at above 
 
 j 2,000,000 golden crowns. Vargas and Romero were the 
 
 ! principal leaders of this infernal exploit ; and De Roda gained 
 
 a new title to his immortality of shame, by standing forth as 
 
 its apologist. 
 
 The states-general, assembled at Ghent, were solemnly 
 
 opened on the 14th of September. Being apprehensive of a 
 
 sudden attack from the Spanish troops in the citadel, they 
 
 proposed a negotiation, and demanded a protecting force from 
 
 the prince of Orange, who immediately entered into a treaty 
 
 with their envoy, and sent to their assistance eight compa- 
 
 I nies of infantry and seventeen pieces of cannon, under the 
 
 command of the English colonel Temple.* In the midst of 
 
 this turmoil and apparent insecurity, the states-general pro- 
 
 I ceeded in their great work, and assumed the reins of govern- 
 
 I ment in the name of the king. They allowed the council of 
 
 ' state still nominally to exist, but they restricted its powers 
 
 ; far within those it had hitherto exercised ; and the govern- 
 
 i ment, thus absolutely assuming the form of a republic, issued 
 
 i manifestoes in justification of its conduct, and demanded suc- 
 
 ; cor from all the foreign powers. To complete the union be- 
 
 I tween the various provinces, it was resolved to resume the 
 
 I negotiations commenced the preceding year at Breda ; and 
 
 ! the 10th of October was fixed for this new congress to be 
 
 ' held in the town-house of Ghent 
 
 ' On the day appointed, the congress opened its sittings ; 
 I and rapidly arriving at the termination of its important object, 
 I the celebrated treaty known by the title of The Pacification 
 j of Ghent was published on the 8th of November, to the 
 I sound of bells and trumpets ; while the ceremony was ren- 
 dered still more imposing by the thunder of the artillery 
 which battered the walls of the besieged citadel. It was 
 even intended to have delivered a general assault against the 
 place at the moment of the proclamation ; but the mutineers 
 demanded a capitulation, and finally surrendered three days 
 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 sex to sur- 
 
 * Vandervynct. 
 
 M 
 
134 HISTORY OF THE NETHERLANDS. 1576. 
 
 pass the limits which nature seems to have fixed for their 
 conduct. 
 
 The Pacification contained twenty-five articles : — amongst 
 others, it was agreed, 
 
 That a full amnesty should be passed for all offences what- 
 soever. 
 
 That the estates of Brabant, Flanders, Hainault, Artois, 
 and others, on the one part ; the prince of Orange, and the 
 states of Holland and Zealand and their associates, on the 
 other; promised to maintain good faith, peace, and friend- 
 ship, firm and inviolable ; to mutually 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 the public peace. 
 
 That the edicts against heresy and the proclamations of 
 the duke of Alva should be suspended. 
 
 That all confiscations, sentences, and judgments rendered 
 since 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 THE RENUNCIATION OF THE SOVEREIGNTY OF SPAIN AND THE 
 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 his reputation 
 and well-w*on laurels tarnished in the service of the insidious 
 despotism to which he now became an instrument. Don John 
 
1576. DON JOHN OF AUSTRIA. 135 
 
 was a natural son of Charles V., and to fine talents and a 
 good disposition united the advantages of hereditary courage 
 and a liberal education. He was born at Ratisbon, on the 
 24th of February, 1548.* His reputed mother was a young 
 lady of that place, named Barbara Blomberg : but one histo- 
 rian states, that the real parent was of a condition too elevated 
 to have her rank betrayed ; and that, to conceal the mystery, 
 Barbara Blomberg had voluntarily assumed the distinction,! 
 or the dishonor, according to the different constructions put 
 upon the case. The prince, having passed through France, 
 disguised, for greater secrecy or in a youthful frolic, as a 
 negro valet to Prince Octavo Gonzaga,^ entered on the limits 
 of his new government, and immediately wrote to the council 
 of state in the most condescending terms to announce his ar- 
 rival. 5 
 
 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 
 sending deputies to pay the honors of a ceremonious welcome 
 to don John, they wrote to the prince of Orange, then in 
 Holland, for his advice in this difficult conjuncture. The 
 prince replied by a memorial of considerable length, dated 
 Middleburg, the 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 the count of Lalain. A still more im- 
 
 * Strada. f Amelot de la Houssaye. X Strada. 
 
 § Bentivoglio. || Meteren, 1. 6. 
 
136 HISTORY OF THE NETHERLANDS. 1577. 
 
 portant measure was the dispatch of an envoy to England, to 
 implore the assistance of Elizabeth. She acted on this occa- 
 sion with frankness and intrepidity; giving a distinguished 
 reception to the envoy De Sweveghem, and advancing a loan 
 of 100,000/. 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 the Netherlands. A copy of this act 
 of union was transmitted to don John, to enable him thoroughly 
 to understand the present state of feeling among those with 
 whom he was now about to negotiate. He maintained a 
 general tone of great moderation throughout the conference 
 which immediately took place ; and after some months of cau- 
 tious parleying, in the latter part of which the candor of the 
 prince seemed doubtful, and which the native historians do 
 not hesitate to stigmatize as merely assumed, a treaty was 
 signed at Marche-en-Famenne, a place between Namur and 
 Luxembourg, in which every point msisted on by the states 
 was, to the surprise and delight of the nation, fully consented 
 to and guarantied. This important document is called The 
 Perpetual Edict, bears date the 12th of February, 1577, and 
 contains nineteen articles. They were all based on the ac- 
 ceptance of the Pacification ; but one expressly stipulated 
 that the count of Beuren should be set at liberty, as soon as 
 the prince of Orange, his father, had on his part ratified the 
 treaty, 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 destroyed the 
 temporary delusion which had deceived the country. Whether 
 his projects were hitherto only concealed, or that they were 
 now for the first time excited by the disappointment of those 
 hopes of authority held out to him by Philip, and which his 
 predecessors had shared, it is certain that he very early dis- 
 
 * Meteren, 1. 6. t Vandervynct. 
 
1577. PRINCE OF 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 John had 
 been from the first obnoxious, was now unanimous in attri- 
 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 take 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 lefl 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 them 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 ruioard 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. 
 
 M2 
 
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 IL, 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 symp- 
 tom of dissatisfaction at this underhand proceeding aimed at 
 his personal authority, announced his perfect approval of the 
 nomination, and was the foremost in recommending measures 
 for the honor of the archduke and the security of the country. 
 He drew up the basis of a treaty for Mathias's acceptance, 
 on terms which guarantied to the council of state and the 
 states-general the virtual sovereignty, and lefl 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 he had brought 
 upon the stage, saw himself totally foiled in his project, and 
 left without a chance or a pretext for the least increase to his 
 influence. 
 
 But a still greater disappointment attended this ambitious 
 nobleman in the very strong-hold of his power. The Flem- 
 ings, driven by persecution to a state of fury almost unnatu- 
 
1577. RYHOVE AND HEMBYSE. 139 
 
 ral, had, in their antipathy to Spain, adopted a hatred against 
 Catholicism, which had its source only in political frenzy, 
 while the converts imagined it to arise from reason and 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 
 Arse hot vainly attempted to oppose his authority to that of 
 these men ; and he on one occasion imprudently exclaimed, 
 that " he would have them hanged, even though they were 
 protected by the prince of Orange himself" The same night 
 Ryhove summoned the leaders of his bands ; and quickly as- 
 sembling a considerable force, they repaired to the duke's 
 hotel, made him prisoner, and, without allowing him time to 
 dress, carried him away in triumph. At the same time the 
 bishops of Bruges and Ypres, the high bailiffs of Ghent and 
 Courtrai, the governor of Oudenarde, and other important 
 magistrates, were arrested — accused of complicity with the 
 duke, but of what particular offence the lawless demagogues 
 did not deign to specify. The two tribunes immediately 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 ; he revived the ancient privileges 
 destroyed by Charles V., and took all preliminary measures 
 for forcing the various provinces to join with the city of 
 Ghent in forming a federative republic. The states-general 
 and the prince of Orange were alarmed, lest these troubles 
 might lead to a renewal of the anarchy from the effects of 
 which the country had but just obtained breathing-time. 
 Ryhove consented, at the remonstrance of the prince of 
 Orange, to release the duke of Arschot ; but William was 
 obliged to repair to Ghent in person, in the hope of 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 dangers 
 of their illegal course, he returned to Brussels, leaving the 
 factious city in a temporary tranquillity which his. firmness 
 and discretion could alone have obtained.* 
 
   Vandervvnct. 
 
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 v^^as: 
 installed in his dignity of governor-general amidst the usual 
 fetes and rejoicings. Don John of Austria w^as 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. 
 
 vVar was now once more openly declared ; some fruitless 
 negotiations having afforded a fair pretext for hostiliti^es. 
 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 the whole of his artillery 
 and baggage. t 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.J 
 
 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 
 states-general recovered their courage, and prepared for a 
 
 *Vandervynct. * f BentivogUo. X Strada. 
 
1578. DEATH OF DON JOHN. 141 
 
 new contest. They sent deputies to the 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 equipped and paid 
 by queen Elizabeth.* The duke of Alen^on, 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 without 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 Flemish 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 author, " with great suspicion of poi- 
 son."! Another speaks of the suspicious state of his intes- 
 tines, but without any direct opinion. J 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. 
 
 X Jlcabo su vida^ con gran scspecho de veneno.—Uerrer&. 
 § Cabrera. |j Hume. 
 
 IT See Vandervynct. 
 
142 HISTORY OF THE NETHERLANDS. 1579 
 
 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 ingloriously, if it be not that it added another motive 
 to the natural hatred for his assumed murderer. 
 
 The prince of Parma, who now succeeded, by virtue of 
 don John's testament, to the post of governor-general in the 
 name of the king, remained intrenched in his camp. He ex- 
 pected much from the disunion of his various opponents ; and 
 what he foresaw, very quickly happened. The duke of Alen- 
 <jon disbanded his troops and retired to France; and the 
 prince Palatine, following his example, withdrew to Germany, 
 having first made an unsuccessful attempt to engage the 
 queen of England as a principal in the confederacy. In this 
 perplexity, the prince of Orange saw that the real hope for 
 safety was in uniting still more closely the northern prov- 
 inces of the union ; for he discovered the fallacy of reckoning 
 on the cordial and persevering fidelity of the Walloons. He 
 therefore convoked a new assembly at Utrecht ; and the de- 
 puties of Holland, Guelders, Zealand, Utrecht, and Groningen, 
 signed, on the 29th of January, 1579, the famous act called 
 the Union of Utrecht, the real basis or fundamental pact of 
 the republic of the United Provinces. It makes no formal 
 renunciation of allegiance to Spain, but this is virtually done 
 by the omission of the king's name. The twenty-six articles 
 of this act consolidate the indissoluble connexion of the 
 United Provinces ; each preserving its separate franchises, 
 and following its own good pleasure on the subject of re- 
 ligion. The towns of Ghent, Antwerp, Bruges, and Ypres, 
 soon after acceded to and joined the union. 
 
 The prince of Parma now assumed the oflTensive, and 
 marched against Maestricht with his whole army. He took 
 the place in the month of June, 1579, after a gallant resist- 
 ance, and delivered it to sack and massacre for three entire 
 days. About the same time Mechlin and Bois-le-duc return- 
 ed to their obedience to the king. Hembyse having renewed 
 his attempts against the public peace at Ghent, the prince of 
 Orange repaired to that place with speed; and having re- 
 established order, and frightened the inveterate demagogue 
 
 * " E quindi nacque I'opinione dispersa allora, ch'egli mancasse di morte 
 aiutata piu tosto che nsLimale "—Bentivofflio, 
 
1580. SOVEREIGNTY OF SPAIN RENOUNCED. 143 
 
 into secret flight, Flanders was once more restored to tran- 
 quillity. 
 
 An attempt was made this year at a reconciliation between 
 the king and the states. The emperor Rodolf 11. and pope 
 Gregory XIII. offered their mediation; and on the 5th of 
 April a congress assembled at Cologne, where a number of 
 the most celebrated diplomatists in Europe were collected.* 
 But it was early seen that no settlement would result from 
 the apparently reciprocal wish for peace. One point, — that 
 of religion, the main, and indeed the only one in debate, — 
 was now maintained by Philip's ambassador in the same un- 
 christian spirit, as if torrents of blood and millions of treasure 
 had never been sacrificed in the cause. Philip was inflexible 
 in his resolution never to concede the exercise of the reform- 
 ed worship ; and after nearly a year of fruitless consultation, 
 and the expenditure of immense sums of money, the congress 
 separated on the 17th of November, without having effect- 
 ed any thmg. There were several other articles intended 
 for discussion, had the main one been adjusted, on which 
 Philip was fully as determined to make no concession ; but 
 his obstinacy was not put to these new tests. 
 
 The time had now arrived for the execution of the great 
 and decisive step for independence, the means of effecting 
 which had been so long the object of exertion and calculation 
 on the part of the prince of Orange. He now resolved to as- 
 semble the states of the United Provinces, solemnly abjure 
 the dominion of Spain, and depose king Philip from the sov- 
 ereignty he had so justly forfeited. Much has been written 
 both for and against this measure, which involved every ar- 
 gument of natural rights and municipal privilege. The natu- 
 ral rights of man may seem to comprise only those which he 
 enjoys in a state of nature : but he carries several of those 
 with him into society, which is based upon the very principle 
 of their preservation. The great precedent which so many 
 subsequent revolutions have acknowledged and confirmed, is 
 that which we now record. The states-general assembled at 
 Antwerp early in the year 1580 ; and, in spite of all the op- 
 position of the Catholic deputies, the authority of Spain was 
 revoked for ever, and the United Provinces declared a free 
 and independent state. At the same time was debated the 
 important question as to whether the protection of the new 
 state should be offered to England or to France. Opinions 
 were divided on this point ; but that of the prince of Orange 
 being in favor of the latter country, from many motives of 
 
 * Vandervynct. 
 
144 HISTORY OF THE NETHERLANDS. 1580. 
 
 sound policy, it was decided to offer the sovereignty to the 
 duke of Alencon. The archduke Mathias, who was present 
 at the deliberations, was treated with little ceremony ; but 
 he obtained the promise of a pension when the finances were 
 in a situation to afford it. The definite proposal to be made 
 to the duke of Alencon was not agreed upon for some months 
 afterwards; and it was in the month of August following 
 that St. Aldegonde and other deputies waited on the duke at 
 the chateau of Plessis-le-Tours, when he accepted the offered 
 sovereignty on the proposed conditions, which set narrow 
 bounds to his authority, and gave ample security to the 
 United Provinces.* The articles were formally signed on 
 the 29th day of September ; and the duke not only promised 
 quickly to lead a numerous army to the Netherlands, but he 
 obtained a letter from his brother Henry III., dated Decem- 
 ber 26th, by which the king pledged himself to give further 
 aid, as soon as he might succeed in quieting his own disturb- 
 ed and unfortunate country. The states-general, assembled 
 at Delft, ratified the treaty on the 30th of December ; and 
 the year which was about to open seemed to promise the 
 consolidation of freedom and internal peace. 
 
 CHAP. XXL 
 1580—1584. 
 
 TO THE MURDER OP THE PRINCE OP ORANGE. 
 
 Philip might be well excused the utmost violence of re- 
 sentment on this occasion, had it been bounded by fair and 
 honorable efforts for the maintenance of his authority. But 
 every general principle seemed lost in the base inveteracy 
 of private hatred. The ruin of the prince of Orange was his 
 main object, and his industry and ingenuity were taxed to 
 the utmost to procure his murder.f Existing documents 
 prove that he first wished to accomplish this in such a way 
 as that the responsibility and odium of the act might rest on 
 the prince of Parma ; but the mind of the prince was at that 
 period too magnanimous to allow of a participation in the 
 crime. The correspondence on the subject is preserved in 
 the archives, and the date of Philip's first letter (30th of No- 
 vember, 1579,) proves that even before the final disavowal 
 
 * Vandervynct. j D'Ewez, Hist. Gen. des Pays Bas, t. vi. p. 128. 
 
 I 
 
1580. EDICT AGAINST THE PRINCE OF ORANGE. 145 
 
 of his autliority by the United Provinces, he had liar bored 
 his diabolical design. The prince remonstrated, but with no 
 effect. It even appears that Philip's anxiety would not admit 
 of the delay necessary for the prince's reply. The infamous 
 edict of proscription against William bears date the 15th of 
 March ; and the most pressing letters commanded the prince 
 of Parma to make it public. It was not, however, till the 
 15th of June that he sent forth the fatal ban. 
 
 This edict, under Philip's own signature, is a tissue of in- 
 vective and virulence. The illustrious object of its abuse is 
 accused of having engaged the heretics to profane the churches 
 and break the images; of having persecuted and massacred 
 the Catholic priests; of hypocrisy, tyranny, and perjury; and, 
 as the height of atrocity, of having introduced liberty of 
 conscience into his country ! For these causes, and many 
 others, the king declares him *' proscribed and banished as a 
 public pest ;" and it is permitted to all persons to assail him 
 " in his fortune, person, and life, as an enemy to human na- 
 ture." Philip also, " for the recompense of virtue and the 
 punishment of crime," promises to whoever will deliver up 
 William of Nassau, dead or alive, " in lands or money, at his 
 choice, the sum of 25,000 golden crowns ; to grant a free 
 pardon to such person for all former offences of what kind 
 soever, and to invest him with letters patent of nobility." 
 
 In reply to this brutal document of human depravity, Wil- 
 liam published all over Europe his famous " Apology ;" of 
 which it is enough to say, that language could not produce a 
 more splendid refutation of every charge, or a more terrible 
 recrimination against the guilty tyrant. It was attributed to 
 the pen of Peter de Villiers, a Protestant minister. It is 
 universally pronounced one of tlie noblest monuments of 
 history.* William, from the hour of his proscription, became 
 at once the equal in worldly station, as he had ever been the 
 superior in moral w^orth, of his royal calumniator. He took 
 his place as a prince of an imperial family, not less ancient 
 or illustrious than that of the house of Austria ; and he stood 
 forward at the supreme tribunal of public feeling and opinion 
 as the accuser of a king who disgraced his lineage and his 
 throne. 
 
 By a separate article in the treaty with the states, the duke 
 of Alen^.on secured to William the sovereignty of Holland 
 and Zealand, as well as the lordship of Friesland, with his 
 title of stadtholder, retaining to the duke his claim on the 
 prince's faith and homage.f The exact nature of William's 
 
 * Voltaire. t Meteren. 
 
 N 
 
146 HISTORY OF THE NETHERLANDS. 1581 
 
 authority was finally ratified on the 24th of July, 1581 ; on 
 which day he took the prescribed oath, and entered on the 
 exercise of his well-earned rights. 
 
 Philip now formed the design of sending back the duchess 
 of Parma to resume her former situation as governant, and 
 exercise the authority conjointly with her son. But the latter 
 positively declined this proposal of divided power ; and he, 
 consequently, was left alone to its entire exercise. Military 
 affairs made but slow progress this year. The most remark- 
 able event was the capture of La None, a native of Bretagne, 
 one of the bravest, and certainly the cleverest, officers in the 
 service of the states, into which he had passed after having 
 given important aid to the Huguenots of France. He was 
 considered so important a prize, that Philip refused all pro- 
 posals for his exchange, and detained him in the castle of 
 Limbourg for five years. 
 
 The siege of Cambray was now undertaken by the prince 
 of Parma in person ; while the duke of Alencon, at the head 
 of a large army, and the flower of the French nobility, ad- 
 vanced to its relief, and soon forced his rival to raise the 
 siege. The new sovereign of the Netherlands entered the 
 town, and was received with tumultuous joy by the half- 
 starved citizens and garrison. The prince of Parma sought 
 an equivalent for this check in the attack of Tournay, which 
 he immediately afterwards invested. The town was but feebly 
 garrisoned ; but the Protestant inhabitants prepared for a des- 
 perate defence, under the exciting example of the princess 
 of Epinoi, wife of the governor, who was himself absent. 
 This remarkable woman furnishes another proof of the fe- 
 male heroism which abounded in these wars. Though 
 wounded in the arm, she fought in the breach sword in hand, 
 braving peril and death. And when at length it was impos- 
 sible to hold out longer, she obtained an honorable capitula- 
 tion, and marched out, on the 29th of November, on horse- 
 back, at the head of the garrison, with an air of triumph 
 rather than of defeat. 
 
 The duke of Alencon, now created duke of Anjou, by which 
 title we shall hereafter distinguish him, had repaired to Eng- 
 land, in hopes of completing his project of marriage with Eliz- 
 abeth. After three months of almost confident expectation, 
 the virgin queen, at this time fifty years of age, Vv^ith a ca- 
 price not quite justifiable, broke all her former engagements ; 
 and, happily for herself and lier country, declined the mar- 
 riage. Anjou burst out into all the violence of his turbulent 
 temper, and set sail for the Netherlands.* Elizabeth made 
 
 * Camden, p. 486. 
 
1582. ATTEMPT TO MURDER WILLIAM. 147 
 
 all the reparation in her power, by the honors paid him on his 
 dismissal. She accompanied him as far as Canterbury, and 
 sent him away under the convoy of the earl of Leicester, her 
 chief favorite ; and with a brilliant suite and a fleet of fifteen 
 sail. Anjou was received at Antwerp with equal distinction ; 
 and was inaugurated there on the 19th of February as duke 
 of Brabant, Lothier, Limbourg", and Guelder s, with many 
 other titles, of which he soon proved himself unworthy. When 
 the prince of Orange, at the ceremony, placed the ducal 
 mantle on his shoulders, Anjou said to him, " Fasten it so 
 well, prince, that they cannot take it off again !" 
 
 During the rejoicings whicli followed this inauspicious 
 ceremony, Philip's proscription against the prince of Orange 
 put forth its first fruits. The latter gave a grand dinner in 
 the chateau of Antwerp, which he occupied, on the 18th of 
 March, the birth-day of the duke of Anjou ; and, as he was 
 quitting the dining-room, on his way to his private chamber, 
 a young man stepped forward and offered a pretended peti- 
 tion, William being at all times of easy access for such an 
 object. While he read the paper, the treacherous suppliant 
 discharged a pistol at his head : the ball struck him under the 
 left ear, and passed out at the right cheek. As he tottered 
 and fell, the assassin drew a poniard to add suicide to the 
 crime, but he was instantly put to death by the attendant 
 guards. The young count Maurice, William's second son, 
 examined the murderer's body ; and the papers found on hhn, 
 and subsequent inquiries, told fully who and what he was. 
 His name was John Jaureguay, his age twenty-three years; 
 he was a native of Biscay, and clerk to a Spanish merchant 
 of Antwerp, called Gaspar Anastro. This man had instigated 
 him to the crime ; having received a promise signed by king 
 Philip, engaging to give him 28,000 ducats and other advan- 
 tages, if he would undertake to assassinate the prince of 
 Orange.* The inducements held out by Anastro to his simple 
 dupe, were backed strongly by the persuasions of Antony 
 Timmerman, a Dominican monk ; and by Venero, Anastro's 
 cashier, who had from fear declined becoming himself the 
 murderer. Jaureguay had duly heard mass, and received the 
 sacrament, before executing his attempt; and in his pockets 
 were found a catechism of the Jesuits, with tablets filled with 
 prayers in the Spanish language ; one in particular being ad- 
 dressed to the angel Gabriel, imploring his intercession with 
 God and the Virgin, to aid him in the consummation of his 
 object. Other accompanying absurdities seem to pronounce 
 
 * Meteren, De Thou, &c. 
 
148 HISTORY OF THE NETHERLANDS. 1582 
 
 this miserable wretch to be as much an instrument in the 
 hands of others as the weapon of his crime was in his own. 
 Timmerman and Venero made a full avowal of their crimi- 
 nality, and suffered death in the usual barbarous manner of 
 the times. The Jesuits, some years afterwards, solemnly 
 gathered the remains of these three pretended martyrs, and 
 exposed them as holy relics for public veneration.* ^ Anastro 
 effected his escape. 
 
 The alarm and indignation of the people of Antwerp knew 
 no bounds. Their suspicions at first fell on the duke of An- 
 jou and the French party ; but the truth was soon discovered ; 
 and the rapid recovery of the prince of Orange from his des- 
 perate wound, set every thing once more to rights. But a 
 premature report of his death flew rapidly abroad ; and he 
 had anticipated proofs of his importance in the eyes of all 
 Europe, in the frantic delight of the base, and the deep afflic- 
 tion of the good. Within three months, William was able to 
 accompany the duke of Anjou in his visits to Ghent, Bruges, 
 and the other chief towns of Flanders ; in each of which the 
 ceremony of inauguration was repeated. Several military 
 exploits now took place, and various towns fell into the hands 
 of the opposing parties ; changing masters with a rapidity, 
 as well as a previous endurance of suffering, that must have 
 carried confusion and change on the contending principles of 
 allegiance into the hearts and heads of the harassed inhab- 
 itants. 
 
 The duke of Anjou, intemperate, inconstant, and unprin- 
 cipled, saw that his authority was but the shadow of power, 
 compared to the deep-fixed practices of despotism which 
 governed the other nations of Europe. The French officers, 
 who formed his suite and possessed all his confidence, had no 
 difficulty in raising his discontent into treason against the 
 people with whom he had made a solemn compact. The re- 
 sult of their councils was a deep-laid plot against Flemish 
 liberty ; and its execution was ere-long attempted. He sent 
 secret orders to the governors of Dunkirk, Bruges, Termonde, 
 and other towns, to seize on and hold them in his name ; re- 
 serving for himself the infamy of the enterprise against Ant- 
 werp. To prepare for its execution, he caused his numerous 
 army of French and Swiss to approach the city ; and they 
 were encamped in the neighborhood, at a place called Bor- 
 gerhout. 
 
 On the 17th of January, 1583, the duke dined somewhat 
 earlier than usual, under the pretext of proceeding afler- 
 
 * D'Ewez, 
 
1583. ATTEMPT AGAINST ANTWERP. 149 
 
 wards to review his army in their camp. He set out at noon, 
 accompanied by his guard of 200 horse ; and when he reached 
 the second drawbridge, one of his officers gave the precon- 
 certed signal for an attack on the Flemish guard, by pretend- 
 ing that he had fallen and broken his leg. The duke called 
 out to his followers, " Courage, courage ! the town is ours !" 
 The guard at the gate was all soon dispatched; and the 
 French troops, which waited outside to the number of 3000, 
 rushed quickly in, furiously shouting the war-cry, "Town 
 taken ! town taken ! kill ! kill !" The astonished but intrepid 
 citizens, recovering from their confusion, instantly flew to 
 arms. All diiferences in religion or politics were forgotten 
 in the common danger to their freedom. Catholics and Pro- 
 testants, men and women, rushed alike to the conflict. The 
 ancient spirit of Flanders seemed to animate all. Workmen, 
 armed with the instruments of their various trades, started 
 from their shops and flung themselves upon the enemy. A 
 baker sprang from the celler where he was kneading his 
 dough, and with his oven shovel struck a French dragoon to 
 the ground. Those who had fire-arms, afl:er expending their 
 bullets, took from their pouches and pockets pieces of money, 
 which they bent between their teeth, and used for charging 
 their arquebusses. The French were driven successively 
 from the streets and ramparts, and the cannons planted on 
 the latter were immediately turned against the reinforce- 
 ments which attempted to enter the town. The French were 
 everywhere beaten ; the duke of Anjou saved himself by 
 flight, and reached Termonde, after the perilous necessity of 
 passing through a large tract of inundated country. His loss 
 in this base enterprise amounded to 1500 ; while that of the 
 citizens did not exceed eighty men.* The attempts simul- 
 taneously made on the other towns succeeded at Dunkirk and 
 Termonde ; but all the others failed. 
 
 The character of the prince of Orange never appeared so 
 thoroughly great as at this crisis. With wisdom and mag- 
 nanimity rarely equalled and never surpassed, he threw him- 
 self and his authority between the indignation of the country 
 and the guilt of Anjou ; saving the former from excess, and 
 the latter from execration. The disgraced and discomfited 
 duke proffered to the states excuses as mean as they were 
 hypocritical; and his brother, the king of France, sent a 
 special envoy to intercede for him. But it was the influence 
 of William that screened the culprit from public reprobation 
 and ruin, and regained for him the place and power which he 
 
 * Meteren. 
 
 N2 
 
150 HISTORY OF THE NETHERLANDS. 1584. 
 
 might easily have secured for himself, had he not prized the 
 welfare of his country far above all objects of private advan- 
 tage. A new treaty was negotiated, confirming Anjou in his 
 former station, with renewed security against any future 
 treachery on his part. He in the mean time retired to 
 France, to let the public indignation subside ; but before he 
 could assume sufficient confidence again to face the country 
 he had so basely injured, his worthless existence was sud- 
 denly terminated, some thought by poison, — the common solu- 
 tion of all such doubtful questions in those days, — in the 
 month of June in the following year. He expired in his 
 twenty-ninth year. 
 
 A disgusting proof of public ingratitude and want of judg- 
 ment was previously furnished by the conduct of the people 
 of Antwerp against him who had been so often their deliverer 
 from such various dangers. Unable to comprehend the great- 
 ness of his mind, they openly accused the prince of Orange 
 of having joined with the French for their subjugation, and 
 of having concealed a body of that detested nation in the 
 citadel. The populace rushed to the place, and having 
 minutely examined it, were convinced of their own absurdity 
 and the prince's innocence. He scorned to demand their 
 punishment for such an outrageous calumny ; but he was not 
 the less afflicted at it.* He took the resolution of quitting 
 Flanders, as it turned out, for ever ; and he retired into Zea- 
 land, where he was better known and consequently better 
 trusted. 
 
 In the midst of the consequent confusion in the former of 
 these provinces, the prince of Parma, with indefatigable 
 vigor, made himself master of town after town; and turned 
 his particular attention to the creation of a naval force, which 
 was greatly favored by the possession of Dunkirk, Nieuport, 
 and Gravelines. Native treachery was not idle in this time 
 of tumult and confusion. The count of Renneberg, governor 
 of Friesland and Groningen, had set the basest example, and 
 gone over to the Spaniards. The prince of Chimay, son of 
 the duke of Arschot, and governor of Bruges, yielded to the 
 persuasions of his father, and gave up the place to the prince 
 of Parma. Hembyse also, amply confirming the bad opinion 
 in which the prince of Orange always held him, returned to 
 Ghent, where he regained a great portion of his former in- 
 fluence, and immediately commenced a correspondence with 
 the prince of Parma, offering to deliver up both Ghent and 
 Termonde. An attempt was consequently made by the 
 
   D'Ewez. 
 
1584. WILLIAM OF NASSAU. 151 
 
 Spaniards to surprise the former town ; but the citizens were 
 prepared for this, having" intercepted some of the letters of 
 Hembyse ; and the traitor was seized, tried, condemned, and 
 executed on the 4th of August, 1584. He was upwards of 
 seventy years of age.* Ryhove, his celebrated colleague, 
 died in Holland some years later. 
 
 But the fate of so insignificant a person as Hembyse passed 
 almost unnoticed, in the agitation caused by an event which 
 shortly preceded his death. 
 
 From the moment of their abandonment by the duke of 
 Anjou, the United Provinces considered themselves indepen- 
 dent; and although they consented to renew his authority 
 over the country at large, at the solicitation of the prince of # 
 Orange, they were resolved to confirm the influence of the 
 latter over their particular interests, which they were now 
 sensible could acquire stability only by that means.f The 
 death of Anjou left them without a sovereign ; and they did 
 not hesitate in the choice which they were now called upon 
 to make. On whom, indeed, could they fix but William of 
 Nassau, without the utmost injustice to him, and the deepest 
 injury to themselves] To whom could they turn, in prefer- 
 ence to him who had given consistency to the early explosion 
 of their despair ; to him who first gave the country political 
 existence, then nursed it into freedom, and now beheld it in the 
 vigor and prime of independence 1 He had seen the necessity, 
 but certainly over-rated the value, of foreign support, to 
 enable the new state to cope with the tremendous tyranny 
 from which it had broken. He had tried successively Ger- 
 many, England, and France. From the first and the last 
 of these powers he had received two governors, to whom he 
 cheerfully resigned the title. The incapacity of both, and 
 the treachery of the latter, proved to the states that their 
 only chance for safety was in the consolidation of William's 
 authority ; and they contemplated the noblest reward which 
 a grateful nation could bestow on a glorious liberator. And 
 is it to be believed, that he who for twenty years had sacri- 
 ficed his repose, lavished his fortune, and risked his life, for 
 the public cause, now aimed at absolute dominion, or coveted 
 a despotism which all his actions prove him to have abhorred 1 
 Defeated bigotry has put forward such vapid accusations. He 
 has been also held responsible for the early cruelties which, 
 it is notorious, he used every means to avert, and frequently 
 punished. But while these revolting acts can only be viewed 
 in the light of reprisals against the bloodiest persecution that 
 
 * Vandervyiict. f Meteren. 
 
152 HISTORY OF THE NETHERLANDS. 1584. 
 
 ever existed, by exasperated men driven to vengeance by a 
 bad example, not one single act of cruelty or bad faith has 
 ever been made good against William, who may be safely 
 pronounced one of tjie wisest and best men that history has 
 held up as examples to the species. 
 
 The authority of one author has been produced to prove 
 that, during the lifetime of his brother Louis, offers were 
 made to him by France, of the sovereignty of the northern 
 provinces, on condition of the southern being joined to the 
 French crown.* That he ever accepted those oifers is without 
 proof: that he never acted on them is certain. But he might 
 have been justified in purchasing freedom for those states 
 which had so well earned it, at the price even of a qualified 
 independence under another power, to the exclusion of those 
 which had never heartily struggled against Spain. The best 
 evidence, however, of William's real views is to be found in 
 the Capitulation, as it is called ; that is to say, the act which 
 was on the point of being executed between him and the states, 
 when a base fanatic, instigated by a bloody tyrant, put a pe- 
 riod to his splendid career. This capitulation exists at full 
 length,! but was never formally executed. Its conditions are 
 founded on the same principles, and conceived in nearly the 
 same terms, as those accepted by the duke of Anjou ; and the 
 whole compact is one of the most thoroughly liberal that his- 
 tory has on record. The prince repaired to Delft for the 
 ceremony of his inauguration, the price of his long labors; but 
 there, instead of anticipated dignity, he met the sudden stroke 
 of death. J 
 
 On the 10th of July, as he left his dining-room, and while 
 he placed his foot on the first step of the great stair leading 
 to the upper apartments of his house, a man named Balthazar 
 Gerard, (who, like the former assassin, waited for him at the 
 moment of convivial relaxation,) discharged a pistol at his 
 body : three balls entered it. He fell into the arms of an at- 
 tendant, and cried out faintly, in the French language, " God 
 pity me ! I am sadly wounded — God have mercy on my soul, 
 and on this unfortunate nation !" His sister, the countess of 
 Swartzenberg, who now hastened to his side, asked him in 
 German, if he did not recommend his soul to God ] He an- 
 swered, " Yes," in the same language, but with a feeble 
 voice. He was carried into the dining-room, where he imme- 
 diately expired. His sister closed his eyes: J his wife, too, 
 was on the spot, — Louisa, daughter of the illustrious Coligny, 
 
 * Amelot de la Houssaye. t Bor. liv. 15. p. 203. 
 
 X Grotius. § La Pise, Hist, des Princes d'Orange. 
 
1584. CHARACTER OF WILLIAM. 153 
 
 and widow of the gallant count of Teligny, both of whom 
 were also murdered almost in her sight, in the frightful mas- 
 sacre of St. Bartholomew. We may not enter on a descrip- 
 tion of the afflicting scene which followed : but the mind is 
 pleased in picturing the bold solemnity with which prince 
 Maurice, then eighteen years of age, swore — not vengeance 
 or hatred against his father's murderers — ^but that he would 
 faithfully and religiously follow the glorious example he had 
 given him.* 
 
 There is but one important feature in the character of Wil- 
 liam which we have hitherto left untouched, but which the 
 circumstances of his death seemed to sanctify, and point out 
 for record in the same page with it. We mean his religious , 
 opinions ; and we shall dispatch a subject which is, in regard 
 to all men, so delicate, indeed so sacred, in a few words. He 
 was born a Lutheran. When he arrived, a boy, at the court 
 of Charles V., he was initiated into the Catholic creed, in 
 which he was thenceforward brought up. Afterwards, when 
 he could think for himself and choose his profession of faith, 
 he embraced the doctrine of Calvin. His whole public con- 
 duct seems to prove that he viewed sectarian principles chiefly 
 in the light of political instruments ; and that, himself a con- 
 scientious Christian, in the broad sense of the term, he was 
 deeply imbued with the spirit of universal toleration, and con- 
 sidered the various shades of belief as subservient to the one 
 grand principle of civil and religious liberty, for which he had 
 long devoted and at length laid down his life. His assassin 
 was taken alive, and four days afterwards executed with ter- 
 rible circumstances of cruelty, which he bore as a martyr 
 might have borne them.f He was a native of Burgundy, and 
 had for some months lingered near his victim, and insinuated 
 himself into his confidence by a feigned attachment to liberty, 
 and an apparent zeal for the reformed faith. He was never- 
 theless a bigoted Catholic ; and, by his own confession, he had 
 communicated his design to, and received encouragement to 
 
 * Whoever would really enjoy the spirit of historical details should never 
 omit an opportunity of seeing places rendered memorable by associations 
 connected with the deeds, and especially with the death, of great men; 
 the spot, for instance, where William was assassinated at Delft; the old 
 staircase he was just on the point of ascending; the narrow pass between 
 that and the dining-hall whence he came out, of scarcely sufficient extent 
 for the murderer to hold forth his arm and his pistol, iij- feet long. This 
 weapon, and its fellow, are both preserved in the museum of the Hague, 
 together with two of the fatal bullets, and the very clothos which the victim 
 wore. The leathern doublet, pierced by the balls and burned by the powder, 
 lies beside the other parts of the dress, tlie simple gravity of which, in 
 fashion and color, irresistibly brings the wise, great man before us, and adda 
 a hundred-fold to the interest excited by a recital of his murder. 
 
 t he Petit, Histoire dea Pays Bas. 
 
154 HISTORY OF THE NETHERLANDS. 1584. 
 
 its execution from, more than one minister of the sect to 
 which he belonged. But his avowal criminated a more im- 
 portant accomplice, and one whose character stands so high 
 in history, that it behoves us to examine thoroughly the truth 
 of the accusation, and the nature of the collateral proofs by 
 which it is supported. Most writers on this question have 
 leaned to the side which all would wish to adopt, for the honor 
 of human nature and the integrity of a celebrated name. But 
 an original letter exists in the archives of Brussels, from the 
 prince of Parma himself to Philip of Spain, in which he ad- 
 mits that Balthazar Gerard had communicated to him his in- 
 tention of murdering the prince of Orange, some months be- 
 fore the deed was done ; and he mixes phrases of compassion 
 for " the poor man" (the murderer) and of praise for the act ; 
 which, if the document be really authentic, sinks Alexander 
 of Parma as low as the wretch with whom he sympathized.* 
 
 CHAP. XIII. 
 1584—1592. 
 
 TO THE DEATH OF ALEXANDER PRINCE OF PARMA. 
 
 The death of William of Nassau not only closes the scene 
 of his individual career, but throws a deep gloom over the 
 history of a revolution that was sealed by so great a sacrifice. 
 The animation of the story seems suspended. Its events lose 
 for a time their excitement. The last act of the political 
 drama is performed. The great hero of the tragedy is no 
 more. The other most memorable actors have one by one 
 passed away. A whole generation has fallen in the contest ; 
 and it is with exhausted interest, and feelings less intense, 
 that we resume the details of war and blood, which seem no 
 longer sanctified by the grander movements of heroism. The 
 stirring impulse of slavery breaking its chains yields to the 
 colder inspiration of independence maintaining its rights. 
 The men we have now to depict were born free ; and the 
 deeds they did were those of stern resolve rather than of 
 frantic despair. The present picture may be as instructive 
 as the last, but it is less thrilling. Passion gives place to 
 reason ; and that which wore the air of fierce romance is su- 
 perseded by what bears the stamp of calm reality. 
 
 * See on this subject D'Ewez, Hist. Gen. de la Belgique, t. vi. p. 197, &c. 
 
1585. MISERIES OF THE COUNTRY. 155 
 
 The consternation caused by the news of William's death 
 soon yielded to the firmness natural to a people inured to 
 suffering and calamity. The United Provinces rejected at 
 once the overtures made by the prince of Parma to induce 
 them to obedience. They seemed proud to show that their 
 fate did not depend on that of one man. He therefore turned 
 his attention to the most effective means of obtaining results 
 by force, which he found it impossible to secure by 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 to 
 oppose him in the field. He soon obliged Ypres and Ter- 
 monde to surrender ; and Ghent, forced by famine, at length 
 yielded on reasonable terms. The most severe was the utter 
 abolition of the reformed religion ; by which a large portion 
 of the population was driven to the alternative of exile ; and 
 they passed over in crowds to Holland and Zealand, not half 
 of the mhabitants remaining behind. Mechlin, and finally 
 Brussels, worn out by a fruitless resistance, followed the ex- 
 ample of the rest ; and thus, within a year after 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 brutes and men. Neither 
 fields, nor woods, nor roads, were now to be distinguished by 
 any visible limits. All was an entangled mass of trees, 
 weeds, and grass. The prices of the necessaries of life were 
 so high, that people of rank, after selling 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 northern 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 workmen, 
 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 with 
 
 * Hooft. 
 
1585. SIEGE OF ANTWERP. 157 
 
 masses of earth and stones, were at a proper height covered 
 with planks and defended by parapets. These estoccades, as 
 they were called, reduced the river to half its original breadth ; 
 and the cannon with which they were mounted rendered the 
 passage extremely dangerous to hostile vessels. But, to fill 
 up this strait, a considerable number of boats were fastened 
 together by chain-hooks and anchors ; and being manned and 
 armed with cannon, they were moored in the interval be- 
 tween the estoccades. During these operations, a canal was 
 cut between the Moer and Calloo ; by which means a com- 
 munication was formed 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 w^hole 
 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-ships which gained the title of 
 " infernal machines ;" and with some of these 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 immense sums of money 
 to the state. The whole surface of the Scheldt presented 
 O 
 
158 HISTORY OF TIIE 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 t 
 the bridge, in the fleet, or the forts, stood out clearly to view ; f 
 and the pitchy darkness of the sky gave increased effect to t 
 the marked distinctness of all. Astonishment was soon sue- ^ 
 ceeded by consternation, when one of the three machines 
 burst with a terrific noise before they reached their intended 
 mark, but time enough to offer a sample of their nature. The 
 prince of Parma, with numerous officers and soldiers rushed 
 to the bridge, to witness the eflTects of this explosion ; and 
 just then a second and still larger fire-ship, having burst 
 through the flying bridge of boats, struck against one of the 
 estoccades. Alexander, unmindful of danger, used every 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 was near, forgetting in his general's peril all 
 rules of discipline and forms of ceremony, actually forced hira 
 from the estoccade. He had not put his foot on the river 
 bank when the machine blew up. The effects were such as 
 really baffle description. The bridge was burst through ; the 
 estoccade was shattered almost to atoms, and, with all that 
 it supported, — men, cannon, and the huge machinery 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 far and wide ; and many gallant soldiers 
 were destroyed^ without a vestige of the human form being 
 left to prove that they had ever existed. The river, forced 
 from its bed at either side, rushed into the forts and drowned 
 numbers of their garrisons; while the ground far beyond 
 shook as in an earthquake.* The prince was struck down by 
 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 the 
 mischief, and raised the confidence of his army as high as 
 ever. Had the Zealand fleet come in time to the spot, the 
 whole plan might have been crowned with success ; but by 
 
 * Bentivoglio, Schiller, Vandervynct, and Strada. 
 
1585. THE STATES OBTAIN AID FROM ENGLAND. 159 
 
 some want of concert, or accidental delay, it did not appear; 
 and consequently the beleaguered town received no relief. 
 
 One last resource was left to the besieged ; that which had 
 formerly been resorted to at Leyden, and by which the place 
 was saved. To enable them to inundate the immense plain 
 which stretched between Lillo and Strabrock up to the walls 
 of Antwerp, it was necessary to cut through the dike which 
 defended it against the irruptions of the eastern Scheldt. 
 This plain was traversed by a high and wide counter-dike, 
 called the dike of Couvestien ; and Alexander, knowing its 
 importance, had early taken possession of and strongly de- 
 fended it by several forts. Two attacks were made by the 
 garrison of Antwerp on this 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 consequences of his labors, fought with 
 a valor that even he had never before displayed, and he was 
 finally victorious. The confederates were forced to abandon 
 the attack, leaving 3000 dead u|X)n 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 The End of the War. But this 
 floating citadel ran aground, without producing any effect ; 
 and the gallant governor of Antwerp, the celebrated Philip 
 de Saint Aldegonde, was forced to capitulate on the 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 tlie 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 the 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 courage nor 
 capacity equal to the trust reposed in him ; and his arbitrary 
 and indolent conduct soon disgusted the people whom he was 
 sent to assist! They had, in the first impulse of their grati- 
 tude, given him the title of governor and captain-general of 
 the provinces, in the hope of flattering Elizabeth. But this 
 had a far contrary effect : she was equally displeased with 
 the states and with Leicester; and it was with difficulty 
 that, after many humble submissions, they were able to 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 the same title, by the authority 
 of the states-general, the archduke Mathias, or even of the 
 provincial states. || Holland had now also at the head of its 
 civil government a citizen full of talent and probity, who was 
 thus able to contend with the insidious designs of Leicester 
 against the liberty he nominally came to protect. This was 
 Barnevelt, who was promoted from his office of pensionary of 
 Rotterdam to that of Holland, and who accepted the dignity 
 only on condition of being free to resign it if any accommo- 
 dation of differences should take place with Spain.lT 
 
 Alexander of Parma had, by the death of his mother, in 
 February, 1586, exchanged his title of Prince for the supe- 
 
 * Meteren. f Hume, vol. v. p. 272. t Vandervynct, 1. vi. c. 2. 
 
 § Hume. }| Cerisier, Hist. Gen. des Provinces Unies, t. iv. p. 66. 
 
 ir Cerisier. 
 
1586. DEATH OF SIR PHILir SIDNEY. 161 
 
 rior one of duke of Parma, and soon resumed his enterprises 
 with his usual energy and success : various operations took 
 place, in which the English on every opportunity distinguish- 
 ed themselves ; particularly in an action near the town of 
 Grave, in Brabant ; and in the taking of Axel by escalade, 
 under the orders of Sir Philip Sidney. A more importjint 
 affair occurred near Zutphen, at a place called Warnsfeld, 
 both which towns have given names to the action. On this 
 occasion the veteran Spaniards, under the marquis of Guasto, 
 were warmly attacked and completely defeated by the Eng- 
 lish ; but the victory was dearly purchased by the death of 
 Sir Philip Sidney, who was mortally wounded in the thigh, 
 and expired a few days 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 Immanity tliat 
 sheds a new lustre on even a character like his. Stretched 
 on the battle-field, in all the agony of his wound, and parched 
 with thirst, his afflicted followers brought liim 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 arc greater 
 than mine."* 
 
 Leicester's conduct was now become quite intolerable to 
 the states. His incapacity and presumption were every day 
 more evident and more revolting. He seemed to consider 
 himself in a province wholly reduced to English authority, 
 and paid no sort of attention to the very opposite character 
 of the people. An eminent Dutch author accounts for this, 
 in terms which may make an Englishman of this age not a 
 little proud of the contrast which his character presents to 
 what it was then considered. " The Englishman," says Gro- 
 tius, " obeys like a slave, and governs like a tyrant ; while 
 the Belgian knows how to serve and to command with equal 
 moderation."! The dislike between Leicester and those he 
 insulted and misgoverned, soon became mutual. He retired 
 to the town of Utrecht ; and pushed his injurious conduct to 
 such an extent, that he became an object of utter hatred to 
 the provinces. All the friendly feelings 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. xxi. 43. t Grot. Ann. 
 
 02 
 
162 HISTORY OF THE NETHERLANDS. 1587. 
 
 served reproaches ; and after new acts of treachery, still 
 more odious than his former, this unworthy favorite at last set 
 out for England, to lay an account of his government at the 
 feet of the queen.* 
 
 The growing hatred against England was fomented by the 
 true patriots, who aimed at the liberty of their country ; and 
 may be excused, from the various instances of treachery 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 that 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 <juelders 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 liis country, and elevated him to 
 the first rank of military glory. His early eflJbrts 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 Denmark and Poland. Without refusing 
 their mediation, he labored incessantly to organize every pos- 
 sible means for maintaining the war. His efforts were con- 
 siderably favored by the measures of Philip for the support 
 of the league formed by the house of Guise against Henry 
 III. and Henry IV. of France ; but still more by the formi- 
 dable enterprise which the Spanish monarch was now pre- 
 paring against England. 
 
 Irritated and mortified by tlie assistance whidh Elizabeth 
 had given to the revolted provinces, Philip resotved 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 built, in almost every 
 port of Spain and Portugal, galleons, carricks, and other ships 
 of war of the largest dimensions; and at the same time gave 
 
 * Cerisicr. f Bor. xx. 22. 2G. 28. 
 
1587. THE SPANISH AR3IADA. 163 
 
 orders to the duke of Parma to assemble in the harbors of 
 Flanders as many vessels as he could collect together. The 
 Spanish fleet, consisting of more than 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, in Spain, the ostentatious title 
 of the Invincible Armada. Its destination was for a while 
 attempted to be concealed, under pretext that it was meant 
 for India, or for the annihilation of the United Provinces ; 
 but the mystery was soon discovered. At the end of May, 
 the principal fleet sailed from the port of Lisbon ; and being 
 reinforced off'Corunna by a considerable squadron, the whole 
 armament steered its course for the shores of England. 
 
 The details of the progress and the failure of this cele- 
 brated attempt, are so tlioroughly the province of English 
 history, that they would be in this place superfluous. But it 
 must not be forgotten that the glory of the proud result was 
 amply shared by the new republic, whose existence depended 
 on it. While Howard and Drake held the British fleet in 
 readiness to oppose the Spanish armada, that of Holland, 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 father as William, and such a brother 
 as Maurice. While the duke of Medina Sidonia, ascending 
 the channel as far as Dunkirk, there expected the junction 
 of the duke of Parma with his important reinforcement, 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 affected an apathy, which he covered with a 
 veil of mock devotion that few were deceived by. At the 
 news of the disaster, he fell on his knees, and rendering 
 
164 HISTORY OF THE NETHERLANDS. 1590. 
 
 thanks for that gracious dispensation of Providence, expressed 
 his joy that the calamity was not greater.* 
 
 The people, the priests, and the commanders of the expe- 
 dition were not so easily appeased, or so clever as their hypo- 
 critical master in concealing their mortification. The priests 
 accounted for this triumph of heresy as a punishment on 
 Spain for suffering the existence of the infidel Moors in some 
 parts of the country.f The defeated admirals threw the 
 whole blame on the duke of Parma. He, on his part, sent an 
 ample remonstrance to the king ; and Philip declared that 
 he was satisfied with the conduct of his nephew. Leicester 
 died four days afler the final defeat and dispersion of the ar- 
 mada.l 
 
 The war in the Netherlands had been necessarily suffered 
 to languish, while every eye was fixed on the progress of 
 the armada, from formation to defeat. But new efforts were 
 soon made by the duke of Parma to repair the time he had 
 lost, and soothe, by his successes, the disappointed pride of 
 Spain. Several officers now came into notice, remarkable 
 for deeds of great gallantry and skill. None among those 
 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 ended it by chance in that of indepen- 
 dence. He changed sides several times ; but, no matter who 
 he fought for, he did his duty well, from that unconquerable 
 principle of pugnacity which seemed to make his sword a 
 part of himself. 
 
 Schenck had lately, for the last time, gone over to the side 
 of the states, and had caused a fort to be built in the isle of 
 Betewe, — that possessed of old by the Batavians, — which was 
 called by his name, and was considered the key to the pas- 
 sage of the Rhine. From this strong-hold he constantly har- 
 assed the archbishop of Cologne, and had as his latest ex- 
 ploit surprised and taken the strong town of Bonn. While 
 the duke of Parma took prompt measures for the relief of the 
 prelate, making himself master in the mean time of some 
 places of strength, the indefatigable Schenck resolved to make 
 an attempt on the important town of Nimeguen. He with 
 great caution embarked a chosen body of troops on the Wahal, 
 and arrived under the walls of Nimeguen at sunrise on the 
 morning chosen for the attack. His enterprise seemed al- 
 most crowned with success ; when the inhabitants, recovering 
 from their fright, precipitated themselves from the town; 
 forced the assailants to retreat to their boats ; and, carrying 
 
 * Hume. t Strype, vol. iii.p. 525. J Hume. 
 
1591. SUCCESSES or prince maurice. 165 
 
 the combat into those overcharged and fragile vessels, upset 
 several, and among others that which contained Schenck 
 himself, who, covered with wounds, and fighting to the last 
 gasp, was drowned with the greater part of his followers. 
 His body, when recovered, was treated with the utmost in- 
 dignity, quartered, and hung in portions over the different 
 gates of the city.* 
 
 The following year was distinguished by another daring 
 attempt on the part of the Hollanders, but followed by a diS 
 ferent result. A captain named Haranguer concerted with 
 one Adrien Vandenberg, a plan for the surprise of Breda, on 
 the possession of which prince Maurice had set a great value. 
 The associates contrived to conceal in a boat, laden with turf 
 (which formed the principal fuel of the inhabitants of that 
 part of the country,) and of which Vandenberg was master, 
 eighty determined soldiers, and succeeded in arriving close to 
 the city without any suspicion being excited. One of the sol- 
 diers, named Matthew Helt, being suddenly affected with a 
 violent cough, implored his comrades to put him to death, to 
 avoid the risk of a discovery. But a corporal of the city guard 
 having inspected the cargo with unsuspecting carelessness, 
 the immolation of the brave soldier became unnecessary, and 
 the boat was dragged into the basin by the assistance of some 
 of the very garrison who were so soon to fall victims to the 
 stratagem. At midnight the concealed soldiers quitted their 
 hiding-places, leaped on shore, killed the sentinels, and easily 
 became masters of the citadel. Prince Maurice, following 
 close with his army, soon forced the town to submit, and put 
 it into so good a state of defence, that count Mansfield, who 
 was sent to retake it, was obliged to retreat afler useless ef- 
 forts to fulfil his mission. 
 
 The duke of Parma, whose constitution was severely injured 
 by the constant fatigues of war and the anxieties attending on 
 the late transactions, had snatched a short interval for the 
 purpose of recruiting his health at the waters of Spa. While 
 at that place he received urgent orders from Philip to 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 League. The battle of Yvri (in which the 
 son of the unfortunate count Egmont met his death while 
 fighting in the service of his father's royal murderer) had 
 raised the prospects and hopes of Henry IV. to a high pitch ; 
 and Paris, which he closely besieged, was on the point of 
 yielding to his arms. The duke of Parma received his uncle's 
 
 * D'Ewez. 
 
166 HISTORY OF THE NETHERLANDS. 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 oheyed ; 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 w^ith him. 
 
 The attention of all Europe was now fixed on the exciting 
 spectacle of a contest between these two greatest captains of 
 the age. The glory of success, the fruit of consummate skill, 
 was gained by Alexander ; who, by an admirable manoeuvre, 
 got possession of the town of Lagny-sur-Seine, under the very 
 eyes of Henry and his whole army, and thus acquired the 
 means of providing Paris with 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 ofi' 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 
 against the commanders left behind by the duke of Parma, 
 others, encouraged by the impunity they enjoyed, were ready 
 on the slightest pretext to follow their example. Maurice 
 did not lose a single opportunity of profiting by circumstances 
 so favorable ; and even afler 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 IV. At this juncture the emperor 
 Rodolf again offered his mediation between Spain and the 
 United Provinces. But it was not likely that the confederated 
 States, at the very moment when their cause began to 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- 
 
1592. DEATH OF THE DUKE OF PARMA. 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, marched to the relief 
 of the city of Rouen, at that period pressed to the last extrem- 
 ity by the Huguenot forces. Atler some sharp skirmishes — 
 and one in particular, in which Henry IV. suffered his valor 
 to lead him into a too rash exposure of his own and his army's 
 safety — a series of manoiuvres took place, which displayed 
 the talents of the rival generals in the most brilliant aspect. 
 Alexander at length succeeded in raising the siege of Rouen, 
 and made himself master of Condebec, which commanded 
 the navigation of the Seine. Henry, taking advantage of 
 what appeared an irreparable fault on the part of the duke, 
 invested his army in the hazardous position he had chosen ; 
 but while believing that he had the whole of his enemies in 
 his power, he found that Alexander had passed the Seine 
 with his entire force — raising his military renown to the 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 consider this judgment too favora- 
 ble, and accuse him of participation in all the crimes of 
 Philip, whom he served so zealously. | His having excited 
 the jealousy of the tyrant, or even had he been put to death 
 by his orders, would little influence the question ; for Philip 
 was quite capable of ingratitude or murder, to either an ac- 
 
 * Browing, Hist, of the Huguenots. t Giotius. } Cerisier. 
 
168 HISTORY OF 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 mas- 
 ters in the art of war in his own or any other age. 
 
 CHAR XIV. 
 1592—1599. 
 
 TO THE INDEPENDENCE OF BELGIUM AND THE DEATH OF PHILIP II. 
 
 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 their 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 mutilated a whole troop of the national militia, and their 
 commander, with circumstances of most revolting cruelty.* 
 
 The authority of governor-general, though not the title, 
 was now fully shared by the count of Fuentes, who was sent 
 to Brussels by the king of Spain ; and the ill effects of this 
 double viceroyalty was soon seen, in the brilliant progress of 
 prince Maurice, and the continual reverses sustained by the 
 royalist armies. The king, still bent on projects of bigotry, 
 sacrificed without scruple men and treasure for the overthrow 
 of Henry IV. and the success of the League. The affairs of 
 the Netherlands seemed now a secondary object; and he 
 drew largely on his forces in that country for reinforcements 
 to the ranks of his tottering allies. A final blow was, how- 
 ever, struck against the hopes of intolerance in France, and 
 to the existence of the League, by the conversion of Henry IV, 
 to the Catholic religion; he deeming theological disputes, 
 
 * D'Ewez. 
 
1594. THE ARCHDUKE ERNEST. 169 
 
 which put the happmess of a whole kingdom in jeopardy, as 
 quite subordinate to the public good.* 
 
 Such was the prosperity of the United Provinces, that 
 they had been enabled to send a large supply, both of money 
 and men, to the aid of Henry, their constant and generous 
 ally. And notwithstanding this, their armies and fleets, so 
 far from suffering diminution, were augmented day by day. 
 Philip, resolved to summon up all his energy for the revival 
 of the war against the republic, now appointed the archduke 
 Ernest, brother of the emperor Rodolf, to the post which the 
 disunion of Mansfield and Fuentes rendered as embarrassing 
 as it had become inglorious. This prince, of a gentle and 
 conciliatory character, was received at Brussels with great 
 magnificence and general joy ; his presence reviving the 
 deep-felt hopes of peace entertained by the suffering people. 
 Such were also the cordial wishes of the prince ;t but more 
 than one design, formed at this period against the life of 
 prince Maurice, frustrated every expectation of the kind. A 
 priest of the province of Namur, named Michael Renichon, 
 disguised as a soldier, was the new instrument meant to strike 
 another blow at the greatness of the house of Nassau, in the 
 person of its gallant representative, prince Maurice ; as also 
 in that of his brother, Frederic Henry, then ten years of age. 
 On the confession of the intended assassin, he was employed 
 by count Berlaimont to murder the two princes. Renichon 
 happily mismanaged the affair, and betrayed his intention. 
 He was arrested at Breda, conducted to the Hague, and there 
 tried and executed on the 3d 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 of candor and impartiality break forth through 
 the mass of bad and violent passions which crowd the records 
 of that age. 
 
 But all the esteem inspired by the personal chaiacter of 
 
 * Hume. t Bentivoglio. X Le Petit, liv. 7. c. 2. § Meteren. 
 
 P 
 
170 HISTORY OF 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 
 Rhine, and invested and quickly took the town of Groningen, 
 by which he consummated the establishment of the republic, 
 and secured its rank among the principal powers of Europe. 
 
 The archduke Ernest, finding all his efforts for peace 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 the 21st of February, 
 1595 ; leaving to the count of Fuentes the honors and anxie- 
 ties of the government, subject to the ratification of the king. 
 This nobleman began the exercise of his temporary functions 
 by an irruption into France, at the head of a small army ; 
 war having been declared against Spain by Henry IV., who, 
 on his side, had dispatched the admiral de Villars to attack 
 Philip's possessions in Hainault and Artois. This gallant 
 officer lost a battle and his life in the contest ; and Fuentes, 
 encouraged by the victory, took some frontier towns, and laid 
 siege to Cambray, the great object of his plans. The 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.* After 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 Mondragon, one of the oldest and cleverest 
 officers in the service of Spain. Some trifling affairs took 
 place in Brabant ; but the arrival of the archduke Albert, 
 whom the king had appointed to succeed his brother Ernest 
 in the office of governor-general, deprived Fuentes of any 
 further opportunity of signalizing his talents for supreme 
 command. Albert arrived at Brussels on the 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 whole 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. t 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 tlie king, as viceroy of Portugal. But Philip meant 
 him for the more independent situation of sovereign of the 
 Netherlands, and at the same time destined him to be the 
 husband of his daughter Isabella. He now sent him, in the 
 capacity of governor-general, to prepare the way for the im- 
 portant change ; at once to gain the good graces of the peo- 
 ple, 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 ifinished ; 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 manoeuvring, which threatened an attempt to force 
 the French to raise the siege of La Fere, in 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 the 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 
 passed between them and him but mutual civilities. They 
 clearly evinced their disapprobation of his intended visit to 
 Holland ; and he consequently fixed Iiis 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 Ix)uis and William of Nassau, cousins of prince Mau- 
 rice, was crowned with brilliant success, and somewhat con- 
 soled the provinces for the contemporary exploits of the arch- 
 
172 HISTORY OF 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 6000 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 24th 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 troops 
 and their general was considerably raised. But the taking 
 of Amiens by Portocarrero, one of the most enterprising of 
 the Spanish captains, gave a new turn to the failing fortunes 
 of Albert. This gallant officer, whose greatness of mind, 
 according to some historians, was much disproportioned to 
 the smallness of his person, 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 
 IV. made prodigious efforts 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, silver, and copper, to be 
 struck, to commemorate the victories which had signalized 
 their arms. 5 
 
 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 inclmation. The king of Poland 
 
 * Hume. 
 
 t Thia action may be taken aa a fair sample of the difficulty with which 
 any estimate can be formed of the relative losses on such occasions. The 
 Dutch historians state the loss of the royalists, in killed, at upwards of 2000. 
 Meteren, a jpfood authority, says the peasants buried 2250; while Bentivo|f- 
 lio, an Italian writer in the interest of Spain, makes the number exactly 
 half that amount. Grotius gays that the loss of the Dutch was four men 
 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. 
 
 I Grotius De Thou - § D'Ewn^ 
 
1598. ALBERT AND ISABELLA. 173 
 
 sent ambassadors to the Hague and to London, to induce the 
 states and queen Elizabeth to become parties in a general 
 pacification. These overtures led to no conclusion ; but the 
 conferences between France and Spain went on with apparent 
 cordiality and great promptitude, and a peace was concluded 
 between these powers at Vervins, on the 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 6tb 
 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 declared that of the state, in its full integrity. 
 The provinces were guarantied against dismemberment. 
 The archdukes, by which title the joint sovereigns were de- 
 signated 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 Isa- 
 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 chief seat of their joint power. 
 But before his departure he wrote to the various states of the 
 republic, and to prince Maurice himself, strongly 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 his 
 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 honor, 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. 
 
 P2 
 
174 HISTORY OF THE NETHERLANDS. 1599. 
 
 of the demise of Philip XL, who 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 the northern and south- 
 ern provinces, which, although it had virtually taken place 
 long previous to this period, could scarcely be considered as 
 formally consummated until now. Here then we shall pause 
 anew, and take a rapid review of the social state of the Neth- 
 erlands during the last half century, which was beyond all 
 doubt the most important period of tlieir history, from the 
 earliest times till the present. 
 
 It has been seen that when Charles V. resigned his throne 
 and the possession of his vast dominions to his son, arts, com- 
 merce, and manufactures had risen to a state of considerable 
 perfection throughout the Netherlands. The revolution, of 
 which we have traced the rise and progress, naturally pro- 
 duced to those provinces which relapsed into slavery a most 
 lamentable change in every branch of industry, and struck a 
 blow at the general prosperity, the effects of which are felt 
 to this very day. Arts, science, and literature were sure to 
 be checked and withered in the blaze of civil war ; and we 
 have now to mark the retrograde movements of most of those 
 charms and advantages of civilized life, in which Flanders 
 and the other southern states were so rich. 
 
 The rapid spread of enlightenment on religious subjects 
 soon converted the manufactories and workshops of Flanders 
 into so many conventicles of reform; and the clear-sighted 
 artisans fled in thousands from the tyranny of Alva into 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 
 the discoverers of new worlds, they were certainly the first 
 to make the name of European respected and venerated by 
 the natives. 
 
 Animated by the ardor which springs from the spirit of 
 freedom and the enthusiasm of success, the United Provinces 
 labored for the discovery of new outlets for their commerce 
 and navigation. Tlie 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 conquered Portugal, excluded 
 the United Provinces from the ports of that country ; and 
 their enterprising mariners were from that period driven to 
 those efforts which rapidly led to private fortune and general 
 prosperity. The English had opened the way in this career ; 
 and the states-general having offered a large reward for the 
 discovery of a north-west passage, frequent and most adven- 
 turous voyages took place. Houtman, Le Maire, Heemskirk, 
 Ryp, and others, became celebrated for their enterprise, and 
 some for their perilous and interesting adventures. 
 
 The United Provinces were soon without any rival on the 
 seas. In Europe alone they had 1200 merchant-ships in ac- 
 tivity, and upwards of 70,000 sailors constantly employed.f 
 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 tlie 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. %0, &c. j Grot. iv. 131. 
 
176 HISTORY OF THE NETHERLANDS. 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 
 them fixed their residence in Middleburg, which became 
 the most celebrated woollen market in Europe. 
 
 The establishment of the Jews in the towns of the republic 
 forms a remarkable epoch in the annals of trade. This peo- 
 ple, so outraged by the lothesome 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 Spam 
 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, Avhich 
 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 wars drawing forth many writers, who re- 
 corded what they witnessed, but often in a spirit of partisan- 
 ship and want of candor, which seriously embarrasses him 
 who desires to learn the truth on both sides of an important 
 question. Poetry declined and drooped in these times of tu- 
 mult and suffering ; and the chambers of rhetoric, to which 
 its cultivation had been chiefly due, gradually lost their in- 
 fluence, and finally ceased to exist. 
 
 In fixing our attention on the republic of the United Prov- 
 inces during the epoch now completed, we feel the desire, 
 and lament the impossibility, of entering on the details of 
 government in that most remarkable state. For these we 
 must refer to what appears to us the best authority for clear 
 and ample information on the prerogative of the stadtholder, 
 the constitution of the states-general, the privileges of the 
 tribunals and local assemblies, and other points of moment 
 concerning the principles of the Belgic confederation.! 
 
 CHAP. XV. 
 1599—1604. 
 
 TO THE CAMPAIGN OF PRINCE MAURICE AND SPINOLA. 
 
 Previous to his departure for Spain, the archduke Albert 
 had placed the government of the provinces which acknow- 
 ledged his domination in the hands of his uncle, the cardinal 
 Andrew of Austria, leaving in command of the army Fran- 
 cisco Mendoza, admiral of Aragon. The troops at his dispo- 
 sal amounted to 22,000 figliting men, — a formidable force, 
 and enough to justify the serious apprehensions of the re- 
 public. Albert, whose finances were exhausted by payments 
 made to the numerous Spanish and Italian mutineers, had 
 left orders with Mendoza to secure some place on the Rhine, 
 which might open a passage for free quarters in the enemy's 
 country. But this unprincipled officer forced his way into 
 the neutral districts of Cleves and Westphalia ; and with a 
 body of executioners ready to hang up all who might resist, 
 and of priests to prepare them for death, he carried such ter- 
 
   De SmeT. t See Cerisier, Hist. Gen. ties Prov. Unies, t. iv. 
 
178 HISTORY OF THE NETHERLANDS. 1599. 
 
 ror on his march that no opposition was ventured.* The atro- 
 cious cruelties of Mendoza and his troops baffle all descrip- 
 tion : on one occasion they murdered, in cold blood, the count 
 of Walkenstein, who surrendered his castle on the express 
 condition of his freedom ; and they committed every possible 
 excess that may be imagined of ferocious soldiery encouraged 
 by a base commander.f 
 
 Prince Maurice soon put into motion, to oppose this army 
 of brigands, his small disposable force of about 7000 men. 
 With these, however, and a succession of masterly manoeu- 
 vres, he contrived to preserve the republic from invasion, and 
 to paralyze and almost destroy an army three times superior 
 in numbers to his own.J The horrors committed by the Span- 
 iards, in the midst of peace, and without the slightest provo- 
 cation, could not fail to excite the utmost indignation in a na- 
 tion so fond of liberty and so proud as Germany. The duchy 
 of Cleves felt particularly aggrieved ; and Sybilla, the sister 
 of the duke, a real heroine in a glorious cause, so worked on 
 the excited passions of the people by her eloquence and her 
 tears, that she persuaded all the orders of the state to unite 
 against the odious enemy. Some troops were suddenly raised ; 
 and a league was formed between several princes of the em- 
 pire to revenge the common cause. The count de la Lippe 
 was chosen general of their united forces ; and the choice 
 could not have fallen on one more certainly incapable, or more 
 probably treacherous. 5 
 
 The German army, with their usual want of activity, did 
 not open the campaign till the month of June. It consisted 
 of 14,000 men; and never was an army so badly conducted. || 
 Without money, artillery, provisions, or discipline, it was at 
 any moment ready to break up and abandon its incompetent 
 general : and on the very first encounter with the enemy, and 
 after a loss of a couple of hundred men, it became self-dis- 
 banded ; and, flying in every direction, not a single man could 
 be rallied to clear away this disgrace. 
 
 The states-general, cruelly disappointed at this result of 
 measures, from which they had looked for so important a di- 
 version in their favor, now resolved on a vigorous exertion of 
 their own energies, and determined to undertake a naval ex- 
 pedition of a magnitude greater than any they had hitherto 
 attempted. The force of public opinion was at this period 
 more powerful than it had ever yet been in the United Prov- 
 inces : for a great number of the inhabitants, who, during the 
 
 * Reid, XV. 427. t Meteren, liv. xxi. | Cerisier. 
 
 §Ibid. Ij De Thou, liv. 122. 
 
1600. ARRIVAL OF THE ARCHDUKES. 179 
 
 life of Philip II., conscientiously believed that they could not 
 lawfully abjure the authority once recognized and sworn to, 
 became now liberated from those respectable although ab- 
 surd scruples ; and the death of one unfeeling despot gave 
 thousands of new citizens to the state. 
 
 A fleet of seventy-three vessels, carrying 8000 men, was 
 soon equipped, under the order of admiral Vander Goes ; and 
 after a series of attempts on the coasts of Spain, Portugal, 
 Africa, and the -Canary isles, this expedition, from which the 
 most splendid results were expected, was shattered, dispersed, 
 and reduced to nothing, by a succession of unheard-of mis- 
 
 To these disappointments were now added domestic dis- 
 sensions in the republic, in consequence of the new taxes 
 absolutely necessary for the exigencies of the state. The 
 conduct of queen Elizabeth greatly added to the general em- 
 barrassment : she called for the payment of her former loans ; 
 insisted on the recall of the English troops ; and declared her 
 resolution to make peace with Spain.* Several German 
 princes promised aid in men and money, but never furnished 
 either ; and in this most critical juncture, Henry IV. was the 
 only foreign sovereign who did not abandon the republic. He 
 sent them 1000 Swiss troops, whom he had in his pay ; al- 
 lowed them to levy 8000 more in France ; and gave them a 
 loan of 200,000 crowns, — a very convenient supply in their 
 exhausted state. 
 
 The archdukes Albert and Isabella arrived in the Nether- 
 lands in September, and made their entrance into Brussels 
 with unexampled magnificence. They soon found them- 
 selves in a situation quite as critical as was that of the United 
 Provinces, and both parties displayed immense energy to 
 remedy their mutual embarrassments. The winter was ex- 
 tremely rigorous ; so much so, as to allow of military opera- 
 tions being undertaken on the ice. Prince Maurice soon 
 commenced a Christmas campaign by taking the town of 
 Wachtendenck ; and he followed up his success by obtaining 
 possession of the important forts of Crevecoeur and St. An- 
 drew, in the island of Bommel. A most dangerous mutiny 
 at the same time broke out in the army of the archdukes ; 
 and Albert seemed left without troops or money, at the very 
 beguining of his sovereignty. 
 
 But these successes of prince Maurice were only the pre- 
 lude to an expedition of infinitely more moment, arranged 
 with the utmost secrecy, and executed with an energy scarcely 
 
 * Cerisier. 
 
180 HISTORY OF THE NETHERLANDS. 1600 
 
 1 
 
 to be l(X)ked for from the situation of the states. This was 
 nothing less than an invasion poured into the very heart of 
 Flanders, thus putting the archdukes on the defence of their 
 own most vital possessions, and changing completely the 
 whole character of the war.* The whole disposable troops 
 of the republic, amounting to about 17,000 men, were secretly 
 assembled in the island of Walcheren, in the month of June ; 
 and setting sail for Flanders, they disembarked near Ghent, 
 and arrived on the 20th of that month under the walls of 
 Bruges. Some previous negotiations with that town had led 
 the prince to expect that it would have opened its gates at 
 his approach. In this he was, however, disappointed ; and 
 after taking possession of some forts in the neighborhood, he 
 continued his march to Nieuport, which place he invested on 
 the 1st of July. 
 
 At the news of this invasion the archdukes, though taken 
 by surprise, displayed a promptness and decision that proved 
 them worthy of the sovereignty which seemed at stake. With 
 incredible activity they mustered, in a few days, an army of 
 12,000 men, which they passed in review near Ghent. On 
 this occasion Isabella, proving her title to a place among those 
 heroic women with whom the age abounded, rode through 
 the royalist ranks, and harangued them in a style of inspiring 
 eloquence that inflamed their courage and secured their fidel- 
 ity. Albert, seizing the moment of this excitement, put him- 
 self at their head, and marched to seek the enemy, leaving his 
 intrepid wife at Bruges, the nearest town to the scene of the 
 action he was resolved on. He gained possession of all the 
 forts taken and garrisoned by Maurice a few days before ; and 
 pushing forward with his apparently irresistible troops, he 
 came up on the morning of the 2d of July with a large body 
 of those of the states, consisting of about 3000 men, sent for- 
 ward under the command of count Ernest of Nassau to recon- 
 noitre and judge of the extent of this most unexpected move- 
 ment : for prince Maurice was, in his turn, completely sur- 
 prised ; and not merely by one of those manoeuvres of war by 
 which the best generals are sometimes deceived, but by an 
 exertion of political vigor and capacity of which history offers 
 few more striking examples. Such a circumstance, however, 
 served only to draw forth a fresh display of those uncommon 
 talents, which in so many various accidents of war had placed 
 Maurice on the highest rank for military talent. The detach- 
 ment under count Ernest of Nassau was chiefly composed of 
 Scottish infantry ; and this small force stood firmly opposed to 
 
 * Grot. viii. 387, &c. 
 
1600, DEFEAT OF THE ROYALISTS. 181 
 
 the impetuous attack of the whole royalist army — thus giving 
 time to the main body under the prince to take up a position, 
 and form in order of battle. Count Ernest was at length 
 driven back, with the loss of 800 men killed, almost all Scot- 
 tish ; and being cut off from the rest of the army, was forced 
 to take refuge in Ostend, which town was in possession of 
 the troops of the states. 
 
 The army of Albert now marched on, flushed with this first 
 success and confident of final victory. Prince Maurice re- 
 ceived them with the courage of a gallant soldier and the pre- 
 caution of a consummate general. He had caused the fleet 
 of ships of war and transports, which had sailed along the 
 coast from Zealand, and landed supplies of ammunition and 
 provisions, to retire far from the shore, so as to leave to his 
 army no chance of escape but in victory. The commissioners 
 from the states, who always accompanied the prince as a 
 council of observation rather than of war, had retired to Os- 
 tend in great consternation, to wait the issue of the battle 
 which now seemed inevitable. A scene of deep feeling and 
 heroism was the next episode of this memorable day, and 
 throws the charm of natural affection over those circumstances 
 in which glory too seldom leaves a place for the softer emo- 
 tions of the heart. Wlien the patriot army was in- its position, 
 and firmly waiting the advance of the foe, prince Maurice 
 turned to his brother, Frederick Henry, then sixteen years of 
 age, and several young noblemen, English, French, and Ger- 
 man, who like him attended on the great captain to learn the 
 art of war : he pointed out in a few words the perilous situa- 
 tion in which he was placed ; declared his resolution to con- 
 quer or perish on the battle-field ; and recommended the boy- 
 ish band to retire to Ostend, and wait for some less desperate 
 occasion, to share his renown or revenge his fall. Frederick 
 Henry spurned the affectionate suggestion, and swore to stand 
 by his brother to the last; and all his young companions 
 adopted the same generous resolution. 
 
 The army of the states was placed in order of battle, about 
 a league in front of Nieuport, in the sand-hills with which the 
 neighborhood abounds, its left wing resting on the sea-shore. 
 Its losses of the morning, and of the garrison left in the forts 
 near Bruges, reduced it to an almost exact equality with that 
 of the archduke. Each of these armies was composed of that 
 variety of troops which made them respectively an epitome 
 of the various nations of Europe. The patriot force contained 
 Dutch, English, French, German, and Swiss, under the or- 
 ders of count Louis of Nassau, Sir Francis and Sir Horace 
 Vere, brothers and English officers of great celebrity, with 
 Q 
 
182 HISTORY OF THE NETHERLANDS. 1600.| 
 
 other distinguished captains. The archduke mustered Span- 
 iards, Italians, Walloons, and Irish in his ranks, led on by 
 Mendoza, La Berlotta, and their fellow-veterans. Both armies 
 were in the highest state of discipline, trained to war by long 
 service, and enthusiastic in the several causes which they 
 served ; the two highest principles of enthusiasm urging them- 
 on — religious fanaticism on the one hand, and the love of free-# 
 dom on the other. The rival generals rode along their re-i 
 spective lines, addressed a few brief sentences of encourage-* 
 ment to their men, and presently the bloody contest began. '^ 
 
 It was three o'clock in the afternoon when the archduke 
 commenced the attack. His advanced guard, commanded by 
 Mendoza and composed of those former mutineers who now 
 resolved to atone for their misconduct, marched across the 
 sand-hills with desperate resolution. They soon came into 
 contact with the English contingent under Francis Vere, who 
 was desperately wounded in the shock. The assault was al- 
 most irresistible. The English, borne down by numbers, were 
 forced to give way ; but the main body pressed on to their 
 support. Horace Vere stepped forward to supply his brother's 
 place. Not an inch of ground more was gained or lost ; the 
 firing ceased, and pikes and swords crossed each other in the 
 resolute conflict of man to man. The action became general 
 along the whole line. The two commanders-in-chief were at 
 all points. Nothing could exceed their mutual display of skill 
 and courage. At length the Spanish cavalry, broken by the 
 well-directed fire of the patriot artillery, fell back on their 
 infantry and threw it into confusion. The archduke at the 
 some instant was wounded by a lance in the cheek, unhorsed, 
 and forced to quit the field. The report of his death, and the 
 sight of his war-steed galloping alone across the field, spread 
 alarm through the royalist ranks. Prince Maurice saw and 
 seized on the critical moment. He who had so patiently 
 maintained his position for three hours of desperate conflict, 
 now knew the crisis for a prompt and general advance. He 
 gave the word and led on to the charge, and the victory was 
 at once his owm.* 
 
 Tlie defeat of the royalist army was complete. The whole 
 of the artillery, baggage, standards, and ammunition, fell intc 
 the possession of the conquerors. Night coming on saved 
 those who fled, and the nature of the ground prevented the 
 cavalry from consummating the destruction of the whole. As 
 far as the conflicting accounts of the various historians may 
 be compared and calculated on, the royalists had 3000 killed, 
 
 * Bentivoglio, Vandervynct, &c. 
 
1600. CONTINUANCE OF HOSTILITIES. 183 
 
 and among them several officers of rank ; while the patriot 
 army, including* those who fell in the morning action, lovSt 
 something more than half the number. The archduke, fur- 
 nished with a fresh horse, gained Bruges in safety ; but he 
 only waited there long enough to join his heroic wife, with 
 whom he proceeded rapidly to Ghent, and thence to Brussels. 
 Mendoza was wounded and taken prisoner, and with difficulty 
 saved by prince Maurice from the fury of the German auxilia- 
 ries. 
 
 The moral effects produced by this victory on the vanquish- 
 ers and vanquished, and on the state of public opinion through- 
 out Europe, was immense ; but its immediate consequences 
 were incredibly trifling. Not one result in a military point 
 of view followed an event which appeared almost decisive of 
 the war. Nieuport was again invested three days after the 
 battle ; but a strong reinforcement entering the place saved it 
 from all danger, and Maurice found himself forced for want of 
 supplies to abandon the scene of his greatest exploit. He re- 
 turned to Holland, welcomed by the acclamations of liis grate- 
 ful country, and exciting the jealousy and hatred of all who 
 envied his glory or feared liis power. Among the sincere and 
 conscientious republicans who saw danger to the public lib- 
 erty in the growing influence of a successful soldier, placed 
 at the head of affairs and endeared to the people by every 
 hereditary and personal claim, was Olden Barneveldt the pen- 
 sionary ; and from this period may be traced the growth of 
 the mutual antipathy whicli led to the sacrifice of the most 
 virtuous statesman of Holland, and the eternal disgrace of its 
 hitherto heroic chief. 
 
 The states of the Catliolic provinces assembled at Brus- 
 sels now gave the archdukes to understand that nothing but 
 peace could satisfy their wishes or save the country from ex- 
 haustion and ruin. Albert saw the reasonableness of their 
 remonstrances, and attempted to carry the great object into 
 eflfect. The states-general listened to his proposals. Com- 
 missioners were appointed on both sides to treat of terms. 
 They met at Bergen-op-Zoom ; but their conferences were 
 broken up almost as soon as commenced. The Spanish depu- 
 ties insisted on the submission of the republic to its ancient 
 masters. Such a proposal was worse than insulting : it proved 
 the inveterate insincerity of those with whom it originated, 
 and who knew it could not be entertained for a moment. Pre- 
 parations for hostilities were therefore commenced on both 
 sides, and the whole of the winter was thus employed. 
 
 Early in the spring prince Maurice opened the campaign 
 at the head of 16,000 men, chiefly composed of English and 
 
184 HISTORY OF THE NETHERLANDS. 1602. 
 
 French, who seemed throughout the contest to forget their 
 national animosities, and to know no rivalry but that of emu- 
 lation in the cause of liberty. The town of Rhinberg soon 
 fell into the hands of the prince. His next attempt was 
 against Bois-le-duc ; and the siege of this place was signalized 
 by an event that flavored of the chivalric contests now going 
 out of fashion. A Norman gentleman of the name of Breaute, 
 in the service of prince Maurice, challenged the royalist gar- 
 rison to meet him and twenty of his comrades in arms under 
 the walls of the place. The cartel was accepted by a Flem- 
 ing named Abramzoom, but better known by the epithet 
 Leckerbeetje (savory bit,) who, with twenty more, met Breaute 
 and his friends. The combat was desperate. The Flemish 
 champion was killed at the first shock by his Norman chal- 
 lenger : but the latter falling into the hands of the enemy, 
 they treacherously and cruelly put him to death, in violation 
 of the strict conditions of the fight. Prince Maurice was 
 forced to raise the siege of Bois-le-duc, and turn his attention 
 in another direction.* 
 
 The archduke Albert had now resolved to invest Ostend, a 
 place of great importance to the United Provinces, but little 
 worth to either party in comparison with the dreadful waste 
 of treasure and human life which was the consequence of its 
 memorable siege. Sir Francis Vere commanded in the place 
 at the period of its final investment ; but governors, garrisons, 
 and besieging forces, were renewed and replaced with a 
 rapidity which gives one of the most frightfiil instances of 
 the ravages of war. The siege of Ostend lasted upwards of 
 three years. It became a school for the young nobility of all 
 Europe, who repaired to either one or th(i other party to learn 
 the principles and the practice of attack and defence. Every 
 thing that the art of strategy could devise was resorted to 
 on either side. The slaughter in the various assaults, sorties, 
 and bombardments, was enormous. Squadrons at sea gave a 
 double interest to the land operations; and the celebrated 
 brothers Frederick and Ambrose Spinola founded their repu- 
 tation on these opposing elements. Frederick was killed in 
 one of the naval combats with the Dutch galleys, and the 
 fame of reducing Ostend was reserved for Ambrose. This 
 afterwards celebrated general had undertaken the command 
 at the earnest entreaties of the archduke and the king of 
 Spain, and by the firmness and vigor of his measures he re- 
 vived the courage of the worn-out assailants of the place. 
 Redoubled attacks and multiplied mines at length reduced 
 
 * D'Ewez. 
 
1604. DEATH OF aUEEN ELIZABETH. 185 
 
 the town to a mere mass of ruin, and scarcely left its still 
 undaunted garrison sufficient footing on which to prolong 
 their desperate defence. Ostend at length surrendered, on 
 the 22d of September, 1604, and the victors marched in over 
 its crumbled walls and shattered batteries. Scarcely a vestige 
 of the place remained beyond those terrible evidences of 
 destruction. Its ditches filled up with the rubbish of ramparts, 
 bastions, and redoubts, left no distinct line of separation be- 
 tween the operations of its attack and its defence. It re- 
 sembled rather a vast sepulchre than a ruined town, a moun- 
 tain of earth and rubbish, without a single house in which 
 the wretched remnant of the inhabitants could hide their 
 heads — a monument of desolation on which victory might 
 have sat and wept. 
 
 During the progress of this memorable siege queen Eliza- 
 beth of England had died, after a long and, it must be pro- 
 nounced, a glorious reign ; though the glory belongs rather 
 to the nation than to the monarch, whose memory is marked 
 with indelible stains of private cruelty, as in the cases of 
 Essex and Mary queen of Scots, and of public wrongs, as in 
 that of her whole system of tyranny in Ireland. With re- 
 spect to the United Provinces she was a harsh protectress 
 and a capricious ally. She in turns advised them to remain 
 faithful to the old impurities of religion and to their intolera* 
 ble king ; refused to incorporate them with her own states ; 
 and then used her best efforts for subjecting them to her 
 sway. She seemed to take pleasure in the uncertainty to 
 which she reduced them, by constant demands for payment 
 of her loans, and threats of making peace with Spain. Thus 
 the states-general were not much affected by the news of her 
 death; and so rejoiced were they at the accession of James I. 
 to the throne of England, that all the bells of Holland rang 
 out merry peals; bonfires were set blazing all over the 
 country; a letter of congratulation was dispatched to the 
 new monarch ; and it was speedily followed by a solemn em- 
 bassy, composed of prince Frederick Henry, the grand pen- 
 sionary De Barneveldt, and others of the first dignitaries of 
 the republic* These ambassadors were grievously disap- 
 pointed at the reception given to them by James, who treated 
 them as little better than rebels to their lawful king. But 
 this first disposition to contempt and insult was soon overcome 
 by the united talents of Barneveldt and the great duke of 
 Sully, who were at the same period ambassadors from France 
 at the English court. The result of the negotiations was an 
 
 * Cerisier, vol. iv. p. 495. 
 
 Q2 
 
186 HISTORY OF THE NETHERLANDS. 1605. 
 
 agreement between those two powers to take the republic 
 under their protection, and use their best efforts for obtaining 
 the recognition of its independence by Spain.* 
 
 The states-general considered themselves amply recom- 
 pensed for the loss of Ostend, by the taking of Ecluse, Rhyn- 
 berg, and Grave, all of which had in the interval surrendered 
 to prince Maurice ; but they w^ere seriously alarmed on find- 
 ing themselves abandoned by king James, who concluded a 
 separate peace with Philip III. of Spain in the month of 
 August this year.f 
 
 This event gives rise to a question very important to the 
 honor of James, and consequently to England itself, as the 
 acts of the absolute monarchs of those days must be con- 
 sidered as those of the nations which submitted to such a form 
 of government. Historians of great authorityf have asserted 
 that it appeared that, by a secret agreement, the king had ex- 
 pressly reserved the power of sending assistance to Holland. 
 Others deny the existence of this secret article ; and lean 
 heavily on the reputation of James for his conduct in the 
 transaction. 5 It must be considered a very doubtful point, 
 and is to be judged rather by subsequent events than by any 
 direct testimony. 
 
 The two monarchs stipulated in the treaty that " neither 
 was to give support of any kind to the revolted subjects of 
 the other." It is nevertheless true that James did not with- 
 draw his troops from the service of the states ; but he au- 
 thorized the Spaniards to levy soldiers in England. The 
 United Provinces were at once afflicted and indignant at this 
 equivocal conduct. Their first impulse was to deprive the 
 English of the liberty of navigating the Scheldt. They even 
 arrested the progress of several of their merchant-ships. But 
 soon afler, gratified at finding that James received their 
 deputy with the title of ambassador, they resolved to dissimu- 
 late their resentment. 
 
 Prince Maurice and Spinola now took the field with their 
 respective armies ; and a rapid series of operations placing 
 them in direct contact, displayed their talents in the most 
 striking points of view. The first steps on the part of the 
 prince were a new invasion of Flanders, and an attempt on 
 Antwerp, which he hoped to carry before the Spanish army 
 could arrive to its succor. But the promptitude and sagacity 
 of Spinola defeated this plan, which Maurice was obliged to 
 abandon after some loss ; while the royalist general resolved 
 
 * Hume, vol. iv. p. 7. t Meteren. 
 
 X Hume, vol. vi. p. 28. Rapiii, t. vii. p. 38. § Cerisier, t. iv. pp. 51C, 517. 
 
1605. NAVAL OPERATIONS. 187 
 
 to signalize himself by some important movement, and, ere 
 his design was suspected, he had penetrated into the province 
 of Overyssel, and thus retorted his rival's favorite measure 
 of carrying the war into the enemy's country. Several towns 
 were rapidly reduced ; but Maurice flew towards the threat- 
 ened provinces, and by his active measures forced Spinola 
 to fall back on the Rhine and take up a position near Roe- 
 roord,* where he was impetuously attacked by the Dutch 
 army. But the cavalry having followed up too slowly the 
 orders of Maurice, his hope of surprising the royalists was 
 frustrated ; and the Spanish forces, gaining time by this hesi- 
 tation, soon changed the fortune of the day. The Dutch 
 cavalry shamefully took to flight, despite the gallant endea\ors 
 of both Maurice and his brother Frederick Henry ; and at 
 this juncture a large reinforcement of Spaniards arrived un- 
 der the command of Velasco. Maurice now brought forward 
 some companies of English and French infantry under Hora- 
 tio Vere and D'Omerville, also a distinguished officer. The 
 battle was again fiercely renewed ; and the Spaniards now 
 gave way, and had been completely defeated, had not Spinola 
 put in practice an old and generally successful stratagem. 
 He caused almost all the drums of his army to beat in one 
 direction, so as to give the impression that a still larger rein- 
 forcement was approaching. Maurice, apprehensive that the 
 former panic might find a parallel in a fresh one, prudently 
 ordered a retreat, which he was able to effect in good order, 
 in preference to risking the total disorganization of his troops. 
 The loss on each side was nearly the same ; but the glory of 
 this hard-fought day remained on the side of Spinola, who 
 proved himself a worthy successor of the great duke of Parma, 
 and an antagonist with whom Maurice might contend with- 
 out dishonor.! 
 
 The naval transactions of this year restored the balance 
 which Spinola's successes had begun to turn in favor of the 
 royalist cause. A squadron of ships, commanded by Hautain 
 admiral of Zealand, attacked a superior force of Spanish ves- 
 sels close to Dover, and defeated them with considerable 
 loss. But the victory was sullied by an act of great barbari- 
 ty. All the soldiers found on board the captured ships were 
 tied two and two, and mercilessly flung into the sea. Some 
 contrived to extricate themselves, and gained the shore by 
 swimming; others were picked up by the English boats, 
 whose crews witnessed the scene and hastened to their relief. 
 The generous British seamen could not remain neuter in 
 
   Grotius, lib. xiv. t Grotiu?, Hist. lib. xiv. 
 
188 HISTORY OF THE NETHERLANDS. 1605. 
 
 Buch a moment, nor repress their indignation against those 
 whom they had hitherto so long considered as friends. The 
 Dutch vessels pursuing those of Spain which fled into Dover 
 harbor, were fired on by the cannon of the castle and forced 
 to give up the chase. The English loudly complained that 
 the Dutch had on this occasion violated their territory ; and 
 this transaction laid the foundation of the quarrel which subse- 
 quently broke out between England and the republic, and 
 which the jealousies of rival merchants in either state un- 
 ceasingly fomented. In this year also the Dutch succeeded 
 in capturing the chief of the Dunkirk privateers, which had 
 so long annoyed their trade ; and they cruelly ordered sixty 
 of the prisoners to be put to death. But the people, more 
 humane than the authorities, rescued them from the execu- 
 tioners and set them free.* 
 
 But these domestic instances of success and inhumanity 
 were trifling, in comparison with the splendid train of distant 
 events, accompanied by a course of wholesale benevolence 
 that redeemed the traits of petty guilt. The maritime enter- 
 prises of Holland, forced by the imprudent policy of Spain to 
 seek a wider career than in the narrow seas of Europe, were 
 day by day extended in the Indies. To ruin if possible their 
 increasing trade, Philip III. sent out the admiral Hurtado, 
 with a fleet of eight galleons and thirty-two galleys. The 
 Dutch squadron of five vessels, commanded by Wolfert Her- 
 man szoon, attacked them off* the coast of Malabar, and his 
 temerity was crowned with great success. He took two of 
 their vessels, and completely drove the remainder from the 
 Indian seas. He then concluded a treaty with the natives 
 of the isle of Banda, by which he promised to support them 
 against the Spaniards and Portuguese, on condition that they 
 were to give his fellow-countrymen the exclusive privilege 
 of purchasing the spices of the island. This treaty was the 
 foundation of the influence which the Dutch so soon succeed- 
 ed in forming in the East Indies ; and they established it by 
 a candid, mild, and tolerant conduct, strongly contrasted with 
 the pride and bigotry which had signalized every act of the 
 Portuguese and Spaniards. 
 
 The prodigious success of the Indian trade occasioned 
 numerous societies to be formed all through the republic. 
 But by their great number they became at length injurious 
 to each other. The spirit of speculation was pushed too far; 
 and the merchants, who paid enormous prices for India goods, 
 found themselves forced to sell in Europe at a loss. Many 
 
 * Cerisier. 
 
1606. PRINCE MAURICE AND SPINOLA. 189 
 
 of those societies were too weak, iii military force as well as 
 in capital, to resist the armed competition of the Spaniards, 
 and to support themselves in their disputes with the native 
 princes. At length the states-general resolved to unite the 
 whole of these scattered partnerships into one grand company, 
 which was soon organized on a solid basis, that led ere-long 
 to incredible wealth at home, and a rapid succession of con- 
 quests in the East.* 
 
 CHAP. XVL 
 1606—1619. 
 
 TO THE SYNOD AT DORT AND THE EXECUTION OF BARNEVELDT. 
 
 The states-general now resolved to confine their military 
 operations to a war merely defensive. Spinola had, by his 
 conduct during the late campaign, completely revived the 
 spirits of the Spanish troops, and excited at least the caution 
 of the Dutch. He now threatened the United Provinces with 
 invasion ; and he exerted his utmost efforts to raise the sup- 
 plies necessary for the execution of his plan. He not only 
 exhausted the resources of the king of Spain and the arch- 
 duke, but obtained money on his private account from all 
 those usurers who were tempted by his confident anticipa- 
 tions of conquest. He soon equipped two armies of about 
 12,000 men each. At the head of one of those he took the 
 field ; the other, commanded by the count of Bucquoi, was 
 destined to join him in the neighborhood of Utrecht ; and he 
 was then resolved to push forward with the whole united 
 force into the very heart of the republic. 
 
 Prince Maurice in the mean time concentrated his army, 
 amounting to 12,000 men, and prepared to make head against 
 his formidable opponents. By a succession of the most pru- 
 dent manoeuvres he contrived to keep Spinola in check, dis- 
 concerted all his projects, and forced him to content himself 
 with the capture of two or three towns — a comparatively in- 
 significant conquest. Desiring to wipe away the disgrace 
 of this discomfiture, and to risk every thing for the accom- 
 plishment of his grand design, Spinola used every method to 
 provoke the prince to a battle, even though a serious mutiny 
 among his troops, and the impossibility of forming a junction 
 with Bucquoi, had reduced his force below that of Maurice ; 
 
 * Richesse de la Hollande, t. i. p. 161, &c. 
 
190 HISTORY OF THE NETHERLANDS. 1607. 
 
 but the latter, to the surprise of all who expected a decisive 
 blow, retreated from before the Italian general — abandoning 
 the town of Groll, which immediately fell into Spinola's 
 power, and giving rise to manifold conjectures and infinite 
 discontent at conduct so little in unison with his wonted en- 
 terprise and skill. Even Henry IV. acknowledged it did not 
 answer the expectation he had formed from Maurice's splen- 
 did talents for war.* The fact seems to be, that the prince, 
 much as he valued victory, dreaded peace more ; and that he 
 was resolved to avoid a decisive blow, which, in putting an 
 end to the contest, would at the same time have decreased 
 the individual influence in the state, which his ambition now 
 urged him to augment by every possible means. 
 
 The Dutch naval expeditions this year were not more bril- 
 liant than those on land. Admiral Hautain, with twenty 
 ships, was surprised off Cape St. Vincent by the Spanish 
 fleet. The formidable appearance of their galleons inspired 
 on this occasion a perfect panic among the Dutch sailors. 
 They hoisted their sails and fled, with the exception of one 
 ship, commanded by vice-admiral Klaazoon, whose desperate 
 conduct saved the national honor. Having held out until his 
 vessel was quite unmanageable, and almost his whole crew 
 killed or wounded, he prevailed on the rest to agree to the 
 resolution he had formed, knelt down on the deck, and putting 
 up a brief prayer for pardon for the act, thrust a light into 
 the powder-magazine, and was instantly blown up with his 
 companions. Only two men were snatched from the sea by 
 the Spaniards ; and even these, dreadfully burnt and man- 
 gled, died in the utterance of curses on the enemy. f 
 
 This disastrous occurrence was soon, however, forgotten 
 in the rejoicings for a brilliant victory gained the following 
 year by Heemskirk, so celebrated for his voyage to Nova 
 Zembla, and by his conduct in the East. He set sail from 
 the ports of Holland in the month of March, determined to 
 signalize himself by some great exploit, now necessary to re- 
 deem the disgrace which had begun to sully the reputation 
 of the Dutch navy. He soon got intelligence that the Spanish 
 fleet lay at anchor in the bay of Gibraltar, and he speedily 
 prepared to offer them battle. Before the combat began he 
 held a council of war, and addressed the officers in an ener- 
 getic speech, in which he displayed the imperative call on 
 their valor to conquer or die in the approaching conflict. He 
 led on to the action in his own ship ; and, to the astonishment 
 of both fleets, he bore right down against the enormous gal- 
 
 * Sully's Mem. t. iii. ^ t Cerisier. 
 
1607. NEGOTIATIONS FOR PEACE. 191 
 
 leon in which the flag of the Spanish admiral in chief was 
 hoisted. D'Avila could scarcely believe the evidence of his 
 eyes at this audacity : he at first burst into laughter at the 
 notion ; but as Heemskirk approached, he cut his cables and 
 attempted to escape under the shelter of the town. The 
 heroic Dutchman pursued him through the whole of the 
 Spanish fleet, and soon forced him to action. At the second 
 broadside Heemskirk had his left leg carried ofl* by a cannon- 
 ball, and he almost instantly died, exhorting his crew to seek 
 for consolation in the defeat of the enemy. Verhoef, the 
 captain of the ship, concealed the admiral's death ; and the 
 whole fleet continued the action with a valor worthy the 
 spirit in which it was commenced. The victory was soon 
 decided : four of the Spanish galleons were sunk or burned, 
 the remainder fled ; and the citizens of Cadiz trembled with 
 the apprehension of sack and pillage. But the death of 
 Heemskirk, when made known to the surviving victors, 
 seemed completely to paralyze them : they attempted nothing 
 further ; but sailing back to Holland with the body of their 
 lamented chief, thus paid a greater tribute to his importance 
 than was to be found in the mausoleum erected to his memory 
 in the city of Amsterdam.* 
 
 The news of this battle reaching Brussels before it was 
 known in Holland, contributed not a little to quicken the 
 anxiety of the archdukes for peace. The king of Spain, 
 worn out by the war which drained his treasury, had for 
 some time ardently desired it. The Portuguese made loud 
 complaints of the ruin that threatened their trade and their 
 East Indian colonies.f The Spanish ministers were fatigued 
 with the apparently interminable contest which bafiled all 
 their calculations.^ Spinola, even in the midst of his bril- 
 liant career, found himself so overwhelmed with debts, and 
 so oppressed by the reproaches of the numerous creditors 
 who were ruined by his default of payment, that he joined in 
 the general demand for repose. 5 In the month of May, 1607, 
 proposals were made by the archdukes, in compliance with 
 the general desire; and their two plenipotentiaries, Van 
 Wittenhorst and Gevaerts, repaired to the Hague. 
 
 Public opinion in the United States was divided on this 
 important question. An instinctive hatred against the Span- 
 iards, and long habits of warfare, influenced the great mass 
 of the people to consider any overture for peace as some wily 
 artifice aimed at their religion and liberty. War seemed to 
 open inexhaustible sources of wealth ; while peace seemed 
 
   Vandervynct. t Grotius. X Bentivoglio. § Cerisier. 
 
192 HISTORY OF THE NETHERLANDS. 1608Sj 
 
 tx) threaten the extinction of the courage, which was now aat 
 much a habit as war appeared to be a want. This reasoning! 
 was particularly convincing to prince Maurice, whose fame,^ 
 with a large portion of his authority and revenues, depended^ 
 on the continuance of hostilities : it was also strongly relish*^^ 
 ed and supported in Zealand generally, and in the chief towns^ 
 which dreaded the rivalry of Antwerp. But those who bore 
 the burden of the war saw the subject under a different as- 
 pect :* they feared that the present state of things would lead 
 to their conquest by the enemy, or to the ruin of their liberty 
 by the growing power of Maurice. They hoped that peace 
 would consolidate the republic and cause the reduction of the 
 debt, which now amounted to 26,000,000 florins. At the 
 head of the party who so reasoned was De Barneveldt ; and 
 his name is a guarantee with posterity for the wisdom of the 
 opinion. 
 
 • To allow the violent opposition to subside, and to prevent 
 any explosion of party feuds, the prudent Barneveldt sug- 
 gested a mere suspension of arms, during which the perma- 
 nent interests of both states might be calmly discussed : he 
 even undertook to obtain Maurice's consent to the armistice. 
 The prince listened to his arguments, and was apparently 
 convinced by them. He, at any rate, sanctioned the propo- 
 sal ; but he afterwards complained that Barneveldt had de- 
 ceived him, in representing the negotiation as a feint for the 
 purpose of persuading the kings of France and England to 
 give greater aid to the republic. f It is more than likely that 
 Maurice reckoned on the improbability of Spain's consentmg 
 to the terms of the proposed treaty ; and, on that chance, 
 withdrew an opposition which could scarcely be ascribed to 
 any but motives of personal ambition. It is, however, certain 
 that his discontent at this transaction, either with himself or 
 Barneveldt, laid the foundation of that bitter enmity which 
 proved fatal to the life of the latter, and covered his own 
 name, otherwise glorious, with undying reproach. 
 
 The United Provinces positively refused to admit even the 
 commencement of a negotiation without the absolute recog- 
 nition of their independence by the archdukes. A new am- 
 bassador was accordingly chosen on the part of these sove- 
 reigns, and empowered to concede this important admission. 
 This person attracted considerable attention, from his well- 
 known qualities as an able diplomatist. He was a monk of 
 the order of St. Francis, named John de Neyen, a native of 
 Antwerp, and a person as well versed in court intrigue as in 
 
 • Bentivoglio. t Cerisier. 
 
1608. ASSEMBLY OF AMBASSADORS. 193 
 
 the studies of the cloister. He, in the first instance, repaired 
 secretly to the Hague ; and had several private interviews 
 with prince Maurice and Barne veldt, before he was regularly- 
 introduced to the states-general in his official character. Two 
 different journeys were undertaken by this agent between the 
 Hague and Brussels, before he could succeed in obtaining a 
 perfect understanding as to the specific views of the arch- 
 dukes. The suspicions of the states-general seem fully jus- 
 tified by the dubious tone of the various communications, 
 which avoided the direct admission of the required prelimi- 
 nary as to the independence of the United Provinces. It was 
 at length concluded in explicit terms; and a suspension of 
 arms for eight months was the immediate consequence. 
 
 But the negotiation for peace was on the point of being 
 completely broken, in consequence of the conduct of Neyen, 
 who justified every doubt of his sincerity by an attempt to 
 corrupt Aarsens the greffier of the states-general, or at least 
 to influence his conduct in the progress of the treaty. Neyen 
 presented him, in the name of the archdukes,, and as a token 
 of his esteem, with a diamond of great value and a bond for 
 50,000 crowns. Aarsens accepted these presents with the 
 approbation of prince Maurice, to whom he had confided the 
 circumstance, and who was no doubt delighted at what prom- 
 ised a rupture to the negotiations. Verreiken, a counsellor 
 of state, who assisted Neyen in his diplomatic labors, was 
 formally summoned before the assembled states-general, and 
 there Barneveldt handed to him th? diamond and the bond ; 
 and at the same time read him a lecture of true republican se- 
 verity on the subject. Verreiken was overwhelmed by the 
 violent attack: he denied the authority of Neyen for the 
 measure he had taken ; and remarked, " that it was not sur- 
 prising that monks, naturally interested and avaricious, judged 
 others by themselves."* This repudiation of Neyen's suspi- 
 cious conduct, seems to have satisfied the stern resentment 
 of Barneveldt, and the party which so earnestly labored for 
 peace. In spite of all the opposition of Maurice and his par- 
 tisans, the negotiation went on. 
 
 In the month of January, 1608, the various ambassadors 
 were assembled at the Hague. Spinola was the chief of the 
 plenipotentaries appointed by the king of Spain ; and Jean- 
 nin, president of the parliament of Dijon, a man of rare en- 
 dowments, represented France. Prince Maurice, accompa- 
 nied by his brother Frederick Henry, the various counts of 
 Nassau his cousins, and a numerous escort, advanced some 
 
 * Jeannin, vol. i. pp. 302. 343. 
 
 R 
 
194 HISTORY OF THE NETHERLANDS. 1608. 
 
 distance to meet Spinola, conveyed him to the Hague in his 
 own carriage, and lavished on him all the attentions recipro- 
 cally due between two such renowned captains during* the 
 suspension of their rivalry. The president Richardst was, 
 with Neyen and Verreiken, ambassador from the archdukes ; 
 but Barneveldt* and Jeannin appear to have played the chief 
 parts in the important transaction which now filled all Eu- 
 rope with anxiety. Every state was more or less concerned 
 in the result ; and the three great monarchies of England, 
 France, and Spain, had all a vital interest at stake. The 
 conferences were therefore frequent ; and the debates assum- 
 ed a great variety of aspects, which long kept the civilized 
 world in suspense. 
 
 King James was extremely jealous of the more prominent 
 part taken by the French ambassadors, and of the subaltern 
 consideration held by his own envoys, Winwood and Spen- 
 cer, in consequence of the disfavor in which he himself was 
 held by the Dutch people. It appears evident that, whether 
 deservedly or the contrary, England was at this period un- 
 popular in the United Provinces, while France was looked up 
 to with the greatest enthusiasm. This is not surprising, when 
 we compare the characters of Henry IV. and James I., bear- 
 ing in mind how much of national reputation at the time de- 
 pended on the personal conduct of kings ; and how political 
 situations influence, if they do not create, the virtues and 
 vices of a people. Independent of the suspicions of his being 
 altogether unfavorable to the declaration required by the 
 United Provinces from Spain, to which James's conduct had 
 given rise, he had established some exactions which greatly 
 embarrassed their fishing expeditions on the coasts of Eng- 
 land. 
 
 The main points for discussion, and on which depended the 
 decision for peace or war, were those which concerned reli- 
 gion ; and the demand, on the part of Spain, that the United 
 Provinces should renounce all claims to the navigation of the 
 Indian seas.f Philip required for the Catholics of the United 
 Provinces the free exercise of their religion ; this was op- 
 posed by the states-general : and the archduke Albert, seeing 
 the impossibility of carrying that point, dispatched his con- 
 fessor Fra Inigo de Briznella, to Spain. This Dominican was 
 furnished with the written opinion of several theologians, that 
 the king might conscientiously slur over the article of reli- 
 gion; and he was the more successful with Philip, as the 
 duke of Lerma, his prime minister, was resolved to accom- 
 
   Vandervynct. t Idem. 
 
1608. CONGRESS AT THE HAGUE. 195 
 
 plish the peace at any price.* The conferences at the Hague 
 were therefore not interrupted on this question ; but they 
 went on slowly, months being consumed in discussions on 
 articles of trifling importance. They were, however, re- 
 sumed in the month of August with greater vigor. It was 
 announced that the king of Spain abandoned the question 
 respecting religion ; but that it was in the certainty that his 
 moderation would be recompensed by ample concessions on 
 that of the Indian trade, on which he was inexorable. This 
 article became the rock on which the whole negotiation 
 eventually split. The court of Spain, on the one hand, and 
 the states-general on the other, inflexibly maintained their 
 opposing claims. It was in vain that the ambassadors turned 
 and twisted the subject with all the subtleties of diplomacy. 
 Every possible expedient was used to shake the 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 the other ambassadors, that the con- 
 gress was dissolved, and that all hopes of peace were aban- 
 doned, f 
 
 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 archdukes were well satisfied to obtain even 
 this temporary cessation of the war ; but prince Maurice and 
 a portion of the Provinces strenuously opposed the 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 
 
   Vandervynci. | Grotius, lib. xvii. p. 548. 
 
196 HISTORY OF THE NETHERLANDS. 1609. 
 
 render fruitless every effort of those who so incessantly la- 
 bored for the great causes of humanity and the general good. 
 On one occasion, Barneveldt, disgusted with the opposition 
 of prince Maurice and his partisans, had actually resigned 
 his employments ; but brought back by the solicitations of the 
 states-general, and reconciled to Maurice by the intervention 
 of Jeannin, the negotiations for the truce were resumed ; 
 and, under the auspices of the ambassadors, they were hap- 
 pily terminated. After two years' delay, this long wished for 
 truce was concluded, and signed on the 9th of April, 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 that 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 whatever. By the third article 
 each party was to hold respectively the places which they 
 possessed at the commencement of the armistice. The fourth 
 and fifth articles grant to the republic, but in a phraseology 
 obscure and even doubtful, the right of navigation and free 
 trade to the Indies. The eighth contains all that regards the 
 exercise of religion ; and the remaining clauses are wholly 
 relative to points of internal trade, custom-house regulations, 
 and matters of private interest.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, 
 
 * Jeannin. Grotius. Bentivoglio. Vandervynct. f Vandervynct. 
 
1610. DISPUTED 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 in 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 following 
 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 Ch^tre, 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. | Meteren. 
 
 R2 
 
198 HISTORY OF THE NETHERLANDS. 1610. 
 
 without the occurrence of one act of hostility to each other.* 
 But the interference of the court of Madrid had nearly been 
 the cause of a new rupture. The greatest alarm was excited 
 in the Belgic provinces ; and nothing but the prudence of the 
 archdukes and the forbearance of the states-general could 
 have succeeded in averting the threatened evil. 
 
 With the exception of this bloodless mimicry of war, the 
 United Provinces presented for the space of twelve years a 
 long-continued picture of peace, as the term is generally re- 
 ceived; but a peace so disfigured by intestine troubles, and 
 so stained by actions of despotic cruelty, that the period which 
 should have been that of its greatest happiness becomes but 
 an example of its worst disgrace. 
 
 The assassination of Henry IV., in the year 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 monarchs, it deprived the United Provinces of their 
 truest and most powerful friend. Henry has, from his own 
 days to the present, found a ready eulogy in all who value 
 kings in proportion as they are distinguished by heroism, 
 without ceasing to evince the feelings of humanity. Henry 
 seems to have gone as far as man can go, to combine wisdom, 
 dignity, and courage, wdth all those endearing qualities of 
 private life w^hich alone give men a prominent hold upon the 
 sympathies of their kind. We acknowledge his errors, his 
 faults, his follies, only to love him the better. We admire 
 his valor and generosity, without being shocked by cruelty or 
 disgusted by profusion. We look on his greatness without 
 envy ; and in tracing his whole career we seem to walk hand 
 in hand beside a dear companion, rather than to follow the 
 footsteps of a mighty monarch. 
 
 But the death of this powerful supporter of their efforts for 
 freedom, and the chief guarantee for its continuance, was a 
 trifling calamity to the United Provinces, in comparison with 
 the rapid fall from the true point of glory so painfully exhib- 
 ited in the conduct of their own domestic champion. It had 
 been well for prince Maurice of Nassau that the last shot 
 fired by the defeated Spaniards in the battle of Nieuport had 
 struck him dead in the moment of his greatest victory, and 
 on the summit of his fame. From that celebrated day he had 
 performed no deed of war that could raise his reputation as a 
 soldier, and all his acts as stadtholder were calculated to sink' 
 him below the level of civil virtue and just government. His 
 two campaigns against Spinola had redounded more to the 
 
 * Relazione del Card. Bentivoglio. 
 
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 liis element. By his genius, he 
 improved it as a science : by his valor, he was one of those 
 wiio raised it from the degradation of a trade to the dignity 
 of a passion. But when removed from the camp to the coun- 
 cil-room, he became all at once a common man. His frank- 
 ness degenerated into roughness ; 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.* His greatness has found a record in every 
 act of his life ; and his death, like that of William, though 
 differently accomplished, was equally a martyrdom for the 
 liberties of his country. We cannot enter minutely into the 
 train of circumstances which for several years brought Mau- 
 rice and Barneveldt into perpetual concussion with each other. 
 Long after the completion of the truce, which the latter so 
 mainly aided in accomplishing, every minor point in the 
 domestic affairs of the republic seemed merged in the conflict 
 between the stadtholder and the pensionary. Without 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 
 importance by those who justly estimate the grand principles 
 of Christianity. The whole strength of the intellects which 
 
 * Aubery, Mem. Cerisier, &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 synod, and denounced in plain terms to 
 the devil.* Arminius had 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. Arminhis 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 w^ere engendering for his country, expired in his 
 49th year, piously persisting in his opinions.J 
 
 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. f Bayle, art. Arminius. 
 
 I Bert. Orat. funob. 
 
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 Vorstius, the successor and dis- 
 ciple of Arminius. He pretty strongly recommended to the 
 states-general to have him bui'ned for heresy.* His inveterate 
 intolerance knew no bounds; and it completed the melan- 
 choly picture of absurdity which the w^hole affair 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 
 difl^erences 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 afluir 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. 
 
 tSee James's letter to the states-general ; Mercure Francais, t. xi. pp. 460. 
 470. 
 X Cerisier, t. v. p. 75, Sec. § Rapin, lib. xviii. p. 74. 
 
 ULauriers 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 w^hich they stood pledged, and which now amounted 
 to 8,000,000 florins.* 
 
 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 
 florms (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 James, with the common injustice of 
 men who make a bad bargain, (even though its conditions be 
 of their own seeking, and suited to their own convenience,) 
 turned his own self-dissatisfaction into bitter hatred against 
 him whose watchful integrity had successfully labored for his 
 country's good. Barneveldt's leaning towards France and 
 the Arminians filled the measure of James's unworthy enmi-. 
 ty.| 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.{ 
 
 While this indefatigable patriot was busy in relieving his 
 country from its dependence on England, his enemies accused 
 him of the wish to reduce it once more to Spanish tyranny. 
 Francis Aarsens, son to him who proved himself so incorrupti- 
 ble when attempted to be bribed by Neyen, was one of the 
 
 * Cerisier. 
 
 t Carleton's Mem. vol. i. p. 57, &c. Uume, vol. viii. p. 82. 
 
 i Cabala, i. 160. § Cerisier, t. v. p. 196. 
 
I 
 
 1616. MATTRICE INTRIGUES FOR REGAL 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 Richelieu, well qualified to 
 prize that species of talent, declared that he knew only three 
 great political geniuses, of whom Francis Aarsens was one.* 
 Prince Maurice now almost openly avowed his pretensions 
 to absolute sovereignty: he knew that his success wholly 
 depended on the consent of Barneveldt. To seduce him to 
 favor his designs, he had recourse to the dowager princess of 
 Orange, his mother-in-law, whose gentle character and ex- 
 emplary conduct had procured her universal esteem, and the 
 influence naturally attendant on it. Maurice took care to 
 make her understand that her interest in his object was not 
 trifling. Long time attached to Gertrude van Mechlen, his 
 favorite mistress, who had borne him several children, he 
 now announced his positive resolution to remain unmarried ; 
 so that his brother Frederick Henry, the dowager's only son, 
 would be sure to succeed to the sovereignty he aimed at. 
 The princess, not insensible to this appeal, followed the in- 
 structions of Maurice, and broached the affair to Barneveldt ; 
 but he was inexorable. He clearly explained to her the peril- 
 ous career on which the prince proposed to enter. He showed 
 how great, how independent, how almost absolute, he might 
 continue, without shocking the principles of republicanism 
 by grasping at an empty dignity, which could not virtually 
 increase his authority, and would most probably convulse 
 the state to its foundation, and lead to his own ruin. The 
 princess, convinced by his reasoning, repaired to Mau- 
 rice ; but instead of finding him as ready a convert as she 
 \ herself had been, she received as cold an answer as was com- 
 I patible with a passionate temper, wounded pride, and disap- 
 pointed ambition. The princess and Barneveldt recounted 
 the whole affair to Maurier the French ambassador ; and his 
 son has transmitted it to posterity, f 
 
 We cannot follow the misguided prince in all the winding 
 ways of intrigue and subterfuge through which he labored to 
 reach his object. Religion, the holiest of sentiments, and 
 Christianity, the most sacred of its forms, were perpetually 
 degraded by being made the pretexts for that unworthy ob- 
 ject. He was for a while diverted from its direct pursuit by 
 the preparation made to aflTord assistance to some of the allies 
 of the republic. Fifty thousand florins a month were granted 
 to the duke of Savoy, who was at war with Spain ;$ and 
 
 * Cerisier f Aubery du Maurier's Memoirs. X Carleton, vol. i. p. 324. 
 
204 HISTORY OF THE NETHERLANDS. 1617. 
 
 7000 men, with nearly forty ships, were dispatched to the 
 aid of the republic of Venice, in its contest with Ferdinand 
 archduke of Gratz, who was afterwards elected emperor. 
 The honorary empire of the seas seems at this time to have 
 been successfully claimed by the United Provinces: they 
 paid back with interest the haughty conduct with which they 
 had been long treated by the English ;* and they refused to 
 pay the fishery duties to which the inhabitants of Great Brit- 
 ain were subject. The Dutch sailors had even the temerity, 
 under pretext of pursuing pirates, to violate the British terri- 
 tory : they set fire to the town of Crookhaven, in Ireland, 
 and massacred several of the inhabitants. King James, im- 
 mersed in theological studies, appears to have passed slightly 
 over this outrage, f More was to have been expected from 
 his usual attention to the affairs of Ireland ; his management 
 of which ill-fated country is the best feature of his political 
 character, and ought, to Irish feelings at least, to be consider- 
 ed to redeem its many errors. But he took fire at the news 
 that the states had prohibited the importation of cloth dyed 
 and dressed in England. It required the best exertion of 
 Barne veldt's talents to pacify him ; and it was not easy to 
 effect this through the jaundiced medium of the ambassador 
 Carleton. But it was unanswerably argued by the pensiona- 
 ry, that the manufacture of cloth was one of those ancient 
 and natural sources of wealth which England had ravished 
 from the Netherlands, and w^hich the latter was justified ii 
 recovering by every effort consistent with national honor ant- 
 fair principles of government. J 
 
 The influence of Prince Maurice had gained complete suc- 
 cess for the Calvinist party, in its various titles of Gomarists 
 non-remonstrants, &c. The audacity and violence of these 
 ferocious sectarians knew no bounds. Outrages, too many t( 
 enumerate, became common through the country ; and Ar 
 minianism was on all sides assailed and persecuted. Barne 
 veldt frequently appealed to Maurice without effect ; and al 
 the efforts of the former to obtain justice by means of th^ 
 civil authorities were paralyzed by the inaction in which tht 
 prince retained the military force. In this juncture, tin 
 magistrates of various towns, spurred on by Barneveldt, call 
 ed out the national militia, termed Waardegelders, which pos 
 sessed the right of arming at its own expense for the protec 
 tion of the public peace. Schism upon schism was the con 
 sequence, and the whole country was reduced to that state 
 of anarchy so favorable to the designs of an ambitious soldie] 
 
 * Carleton's Mem. vol. i. p. 280. t Wem, vol. i. p. 110, &c. X Carleton. 
 
1618. SYNOD AT DORT. 205 
 
 already in the enjoyment of almost absolute power. Maurice 
 possessed all the hardihood and vigor suited to such an occa- 
 sion. At the head of two companies of infantry, and accom- 
 panied by his brother Frederick Henry, he suddenly set out 
 at night from the Hague ; arrived at the Brille ; and in de- 
 fiance of the remonstrances of the magistrates, and in viola- 
 tion of the rights of the town, he placed his devoted garrison 
 in that important place.* To justify this measure, reports 
 were spread that Barne veldt intended to deliver it up to the 
 Spaniards ; and the ignorant, insensate, and ungrateful peo- 
 ple swallowed the calumny. f 
 
 This and such minor efforts were, however, all subservient 
 to the one grand object of utterly destroying, by a public 
 proscription, the whole of the patriot party, now identified 
 w^ith Arminianism. A national synod was loudly clamored 
 for by the Gomarists ; and in spite of all opposition on consti- 
 tutional grounds, it was finally proclaimed. Uitenbogaard, 
 the enlightened pastor and friend of Maurice, who on all occa- 
 sions labored for the general good, now moderated, as much 
 as possible, the violence of either party : but he could not 
 persuade Barne veldt to render himself, by compliance, a tacit 
 accomplice with a measure that he conceived fraught with 
 violence to the public privileges. He had an inflexible enemy 
 in Carleton the English ambassador. His interference carried 
 the question ; and it was at his suggestion that Dordrecht, or 
 Dort, was chosen for the assembling of the synod. J: Du Mau- 
 rier, the French ambassador, acted on all occasions as a me- 
 diator;} but to obtain influence at such a time it was neces- 
 sary to become a partisan. Several towns, — Leyden, Gouda, 
 Rotterdam, and some others, — made a last effort for their 
 liberties, and formed a fruitless confederation. 
 
 Barneveldt solicited the acceptance of his resignation of 
 all his offices. The states-general implored him not to aban- 
 don the country at such a critical moment: he consequently 
 maintained his post. Libels the most vindictive and atrocious 
 were published and circulated against him ; and at last, forced 
 from his silence by these multiplied calumnies, he put for- 
 ward his " Apology," addressed to the States of Holland. 
 
 This dignified vindication only produced new outrages ; 
 Maurice, now become prince of Orange by the death of his 
 elder brother without children, employed his whole authority 
 to carry his object, and crush Barneveldt. At the head of his 
 troops he seized on towns, displaced magistrates, trampled 
 
 * Grot. Apol. p. 242. t Ceiisier. 
 
 J Carle ton's Mem. vol. i. § Aubery, Mem art. Maaricr. 
 
206 HISTORY OP THE NETHERLANDS. 1619. 
 
 under foot all the ancient privileges of the citizens, and openly 
 announced his intention to overthrow the federative constitu- 
 tion.* His bold conduct completely terrified the states-general. 
 They thanked him ; they consented to disband the militia ; 
 formally invited foreign powers to favor and protect the synod 
 about to be held at Dort, The return of Carle ton from Eng- 
 land, where he had gone to receive the more positive prom- 
 ises of support from king James, was only wanting, to decide 
 Maurice to take the final step ;f and no sooner did the am- 
 bassador arrive at the Hague, than Barneveldt and his most 
 able friends, Grotius, Hoogerbeets, and Ledenberg, were ar- 
 rested in the name of the states-general.J ^:' . 
 
 The country was taken by surprise : no resistance was of- 
 fered. The concluding scenes of the tragedy were hurried ! 
 on : violence was succeeded by violence, against public feel- 
 ing and public justice. Maurice became completely absolute 
 in every thing but in name. The supplications of ambassa- 
 dors, the protests of individuals, the arguments of statesmen, 
 were alike unavailing to stop the torrent of despotism and in- 
 justice. The synod of Dort was opened on the 13th of No- 
 vember, 1618. Theology was mystified ; religion disgraced ; 
 Christianity outraged. And after 152 sittings, during six 
 months' display of ferocity and fraud, the solemn mockery 
 was closed on the 9th of May, 1619, by the declaration of its 
 president, that " its miraculous labors had made hell tremble." J 
 
 Proscriptions, banishments, and death, were the natural 
 consequences of this synod. The divisions which it had pro- 
 fessed to extinguish were rendered a thousand times more 
 violent than before. Its decrees did incalculable ill to the 
 cause they were meant to promote. The Anglican church 
 was the first to reject the canons of Dort with horror and 
 contempt. II The Protestants of France and Germany, and 
 even Geneva, the nurse and guardian of Calvinism, were 
 shocked and disgusted, and unanimously softened down the 
 rigor of their respective creeds. ' But the moral efiects of 
 this memorable conclave were too remote to prevent the sac- 
 rifice which almost immediately followed the celebration of 
 its rites. A trial by twenty-four prejudiced enemies, by cour- 
 tesy called judges, which in its progress and its result throws 
 judicial dignity into scorn, ended in the condemnation of Bar- 
 neveldt and his fellow patriots, for treason against the liber- 
 ties they had vainly labored to save. Barneveldt died on the 
 scaffold by the hands of the executioner, on the 13th of May, 
 
 * Cerisier, t. v. p. 252. f Uitenbog. Hist. p. 994. X Cerisier. 
 
 § Brandt, t. ii. pp. 610. 616. || Cerisier. 
 
1619. EXECUTION OF BARNEVELDT. 207 
 
 1619, in the 72d year of his age. Grotius and Hoogerbeets 
 were sentenced to perpetual imprisonment. Ledenberg com- 
 mitted suicide in his cell, sooner than brave the tortures 
 which he anticipated at the hands of his enemies. 
 
 Many more pages than we are able to afford sentences, 
 might be devoted to the details of these iniquitous proceed- 
 ings, and an account of their awful consummation. The pious 
 heroism of Barne veldt was never excelled by any martyr to 
 the most holy cause. He appealed to Maurice against the 
 unjust sentence which condemned him to death ; but he 
 scorned to beg his life. He met his fate with such temperate 
 courage as was to be expected from the dignified energy of 
 his life. His last words were worthy a philosopher whose 
 thoughts, even in his latest moments, were superior to mere 
 personal hope or fear, and turned to the deep mysteries of his 
 being. " O God !" cried De Barneveldt, " wliat then is man]" 
 as he bent his head to the sword that severed it from his body, 
 and sent the inquiring spirit to learn the great mystery for 
 which it longed. 
 
 CHAP. XVII. 
 1619—1625. 
 
 TO THE DEATH OF PRINCE MAURICE. 
 
 The princess-dowager of Orange, and Du Maurier the 
 French ambassador, had vainly implored mercy for the inno- 
 cent victim at the hands of the inexorable stadtholder. Mau- 
 rice refused to see his mother-in-law : he left the ambassa- 
 dor's appeal unanswered. This is enough for the rigid jus- 
 tice of history, that cannot be blinded by partiality, but hands 
 over to shame, at the close of their career, even those whom 
 she nursed in the very cradle of heroism. But an accusation 
 has become current, more fatal to the fame of prince Maurice, 
 because it strikes at the root of his claims to feeling, which 
 could not be impugned by a mere perseverance in severity 
 that might have sprung from mistaken views. It is asserted, 
 but only as general belief, that he witnessed the execution 
 of Barneveldt.* The little window of an octagonal tower, 
 overlooking the square of the Binnenhof at the Hague, where 
 the tragedy was acted, is still shown as the spot from which 
 
 * Grotius, Aiibery, &c. 
 
208 HISTORY OF THE NETHERLANDS. 1620. 
 
 the prince gazed on the scene. Almost concealed from view 
 among the clustering buildings of the place, it is well adapt- 
 ed to give weight to the tradition ; but it may not, perhaps, 
 even now be ,too late to raise a generous incredulity as to an 
 assertion of which no eye-witness attestation is recorded, 
 and which might have been the invention of malignity. 
 There are many statements of history which it is immaterial 
 to substantiate or disprove. Splendid fictions of public virtue 
 have often produced their good, if once received as fact ; but, 
 when private character is at stake, every conscientious wri- 
 ter or reader will cherish his " historic doubts," when he re- 
 flects on the facility with which calumny is sent abroad, the 
 avidity with which it is received, and the careless ease with 
 which men credit what it costs little to invent and propagate, 
 but requires an age of trouble and an almost impossible con- 
 junction of opportunities effectually to refute. 
 
 Grotius and Hoogerbeets were confined in the castle of 
 I^uvestein. Moersbergen, a leading patriot of .Utrecht ; De 
 Haan, pensionary of Haarlem ; and Uitenbogaard, the chosen 
 confidant of Maurice, but the friend of Barneveldt; were 
 next accused and sentenced to imprisonment or banishment. 
 And thus Arminianism, deprived of its chiefs, was for the 
 time completely stifled. The remonstrants, thrown into utter 
 despair, looked to emigration as their last resource. Gusta- 
 vus Adolphus king of Sweden, and Frederick duke of Hol- 
 stein, offered them shelter and protection in their respective 
 states. Several availed themselves of these offers ; but the 
 states-general, alarmed at the progress of self-expatriation, 
 moderated their rigor, and thus checked the desolating evil. 
 Several of the imprisoned Arminians had the good fortune to 
 elude the vigilance of their jailors ; but the escape of Gro- 
 tius is the most remarkable of all, both from his own celebrity 
 as one of the first writers of his age in the most varied 
 walks of literature, and from its peculiar circumstances, 
 which only found a parallel in European history after a lapse 
 of two centuries.* 
 
 Grotius was freely allowed during his close imprisonment 
 all the relaxations of study. His friends supplied him with 
 quantities of books, which were usually brought into the for- 
 tress in a trunk two feet two inches long, which the governor 
 regularly and carefully examined during the first year. But 
 custom brought relaxation in the strictness of the prison 
 rules ; and the wife of the illustrious prisoner, his faithful 
 
 * We allude to the escape of Lavalette from the prison of the Concierge- 
 rie in Paris, in 1815, which so painfully excited the interest of all Europe 
 for the intended victim's wife, whose reason was the forfeit of her exertion. 
 
1620. ESCAPE OF GROTIUS. 209 
 
 and constant visiter, proposed the plan of his escape, to whicli 
 he g"ave a ready and, all hazards considered, a courageous 
 assent. Shut up in this trunk for two hours, and with all the 
 risk of suffocation, and of injury from the rude handling" of 
 the soldiers who carried it out of the fort, Grotius was brought 
 clear off by the very agents of his persecutors, and safely de- 
 livered to the care of his devoted and discreet female servant, 
 who knew the secret and kept it well. She attended the 
 important consignment in the barge to the town of Gorcum ; 
 and afler various risks of discovery, providentially escaped, 
 Grotius at length found himself safe beyond the limits of his 
 native land. His wife, whose torturing suspense may be 
 imagined the while, concealed the stratagem as long as it 
 was possible to impose on the jailor with the pardonable and 
 praiseworthy fiction of her husband's illness and confinement 
 to his bed. The government, outrageous at the result of the 
 affair, at first proposed to hold this interesting prisoner in 
 place of the prey they had lost, and to proceed criminally 
 against her. But afler a fortnight's confinement she was re- 
 stored to liberty, and the country saved from the disgrace of 
 so ungenerous and cowardly a proceeding.* Grotius repaired 
 to Paris, where he was received in the most flattering man- 
 ner, and distinguished by a pension of 1000 crowns allowed 
 by the king. He soon published his vindication — one of the 
 most eloquent and unanswerable productions of its kind, in 
 which those times of unjust accusations and illegal punish- 
 ments were so fertile. 
 
 The expiration of the twelve years' truce was now at 
 hand ; and the United States, afler that long period of intes- 
 tine trouble and disgrace, had once more to recommence a 
 more congenial struggle against foreign enemies ; for a re- 
 newal of the war with Spain might be fairly considered a 
 return to the regimen best suited to the constitution of the 
 people. The republic saw, however, with considerable anx- 
 iety, the approach of this new contest. It was fully sensible 
 of its own weakness. Exile had reduced its population; 
 patriotism had subsided; foreign friends were dead; the 
 troops were unused to warfare ; the hatred against Spanish 
 cruelty had lost its excitement ; the finances were in confu- 
 sion ; prince Maurice had no longer the activity of youth ; 
 and the still more vigorous impulse of fighting for his coun- 
 try's liberty was changed to the dishonoring task of uphold- 
 ing his own tyranny. 
 
 The archdukes, encouraged by these considerations, had 
 
 Aubcry, rat. Grotius. 
 
 S2 
 
210 HISTORY OF THE NETHERLANDS. 1622. 
 
 hopes of bringing back the United Provinces to their domi- 
 nation. They accordingly sent an embassy to Holland with 
 proposals to that effect. It was received with indignation ; 
 and the ambassador Peckius was obliged to be escorted back 
 to the frontiers by soldiers, to protect him from the insults of 
 the people.* Military operations were, however, for a while 
 refrained from on either side, in consequence of the deaths 
 of Philip III. of Spain and the archduke Albert. Philip IV. 
 succeeded his father at the age of sixteen ; and the arch- 
 duchess Isabella found herself alone at the head of the gov- 
 ernment in the Belgian provinces. Olivarez became as sov- 
 ereign a minister in Spain, as his predecessor the duke of 
 Lerma had been ; but the archduchess, though now with only 
 the title of governant of the Netherlands, held the reins of 
 power with a firm and steady hand. 
 
 In the celebrated thirty years' war which had commenced 
 between the Protestants and Catholics of Germany, the for- 
 mer had met with considerable assistance from the United 
 Provinces. Barneveldt, who foresaw the embarrassments 
 which the country would have to contend with on the expi- 
 ration of that truce, had strongly opposed its meddling in the 
 quarrel : but his ruin and death left no restraint on the policy 
 which prompted the republic to aid the Protestant cause. 
 Fifty thousand florins a month to the revolted Protestants, 
 and a like sum to the princes of the union, were for some 
 time advanced-! Frederick, the elector.palatine, son-in-law 
 of the king of England, and nephew of the prince, was cho- 
 sen by the Bohemians for their king : but in spite of the en- 
 thusiastic wishes of the English nation, James persisted in 
 refusing to interfere in Frederick's favor.| France, governed 
 by De Luynes, a favorite whose influence was deeply pledged, 
 and, it is said, dearly sold, to Spain, abandoned the system 
 of Henry IV., and upheld the house of Austria. J Thus the 
 new monarch, only aided by the United Provinces, and that 
 feebly, was soon driven from his temporary dignity ; his he- 
 reditary dominions in the palatinate were over-run by the 
 Spanish army under Spinola ; and Frederick, utterly defeated 
 at the battle of Prague, was obliged to take refuge in Hol- 
 land. James's abandonment of his son-in-law has been uni- 
 versally blamed by almost every historian. || He certainly 
 allowed a few generous individuals to raise a regiment in 
 England of 2400 chosen soldiers, who, under the command 
 of the gallant Sir Horace Vere, could only vainly regret the 
 
 * Wagenaer, Hist. x. 420. f Cerisier. 
 
 X Carleton. § Aubery, || See Hume, &c. 
 
1623. WAR IN GERMANY. 211 
 
 impossibility of opposition to ten times their number of vete- 
 ran troops.* 
 
 This contest was carried on at first with almost all the ad- 
 vantages on the side of the house of Austria, Two men of 
 extraordinary character, which presented a savage parody of 
 military talent, and a courage chiefly remarkable for the 
 ferocity into which it degenerated, struggled for a while 
 against the imperial arms. These were the count of Mans- 
 field and Christian of Brunswick. At the head of two des- 
 perate bands, which, by dint of hard fighting, acquired some- 
 thing of the consistency of regular armies, they maintained 
 a long resistance : but the duke of Bavaria, commanding the 
 troops of the emperor, and count Tilly at the head of those 
 of Spain, completed in the year 1622 the defeat of their 
 daring and semi-barbarous opponents. 
 
 Spinola was resolved to commence the war against the re- 
 public by some important exploit. He therefore laid siege to 
 Bergen-op-Zoom, a place of great consequence, commanding 
 the navigation of the Mouse and the coasts of all the islands 
 of Zealand.f But Maurice, roused from the lethargy of des- 
 potism which seemed to have wholly changed his character, 
 repaired to the scene of threatened danger ; and succeeded, 
 after a series of desperate efforts on both sides, to raise the 
 siege, forcing Spinola to abandon his attempt with a loss of 
 upwards of 12,000 men.| Frederick Henry in the mean time 
 had made an incursion into Brabant with a body of light 
 troops; and ravaging the country up to the very gates of 
 Mechlin, Louvain, and Brussels, levied contributions to the 
 amount of 600,000 florins. 5 The states completed this series 
 of good fortune by obtaining the - possession of West Fries- 
 land, by means of count Mansfield, whom they had dispatched 
 thither at the head of his formidable army, and who had, in 
 spite of the opposition of count Tilly, successfully performed 
 his mission. II 
 
 We must now turn from these brief records of military 
 affairs, the more pleasing theme for the historian of the 
 Netherlands in comparison with domestic events, which claim 
 attention but to create sensations of regret and censure. 
 Prince Maurice had enjoyed without restraint the fruits of 
 his ambitious daring. His power was uncontrolled and unop- 
 posed, but it was publicly odious ; and private resentments 
 were only withheld by fear, and, perhaps, in some measure 
 
 * Carleton. t Caj)ellan, vol. i. pp. 92—97. 
 
 X Capellan, vol. i. pp. 92—97. § Cerisier. 
 
 !! M6m. de Fred. Henry, p. 17, &c. 
 
212 HISTORY OF THE NETHERLANDS. 1623. 
 
 by the moderation and patience which distinguished the dis- 
 ciples of Arminianism. In the midst, however, of the ap- 
 parent calm, a deep conspiracy was formed against the life of 
 the prince. The motives, the conduct, and the termination 
 of this plot, excite feelings of many opposite kinds. We 
 cannot, as in former instances, wholly execrate the design 
 and approve the punishment. Commiseration is mingled with 
 blame, when we mark the sons of Bameveldt, urged on by 
 the excess of filial affection to avenge their venerable father's 
 fate ; and despite our abhorrence for the object in view, we 
 sympathize with the conspirators rather than the intended 
 victim. William van Stoutenbourg, and Renier de Groene- 
 veld, were the names of these two sons of the late pensionary. 
 The latter was the younger ; but, of more impetuous charac- 
 ter than his brother, he was the principal in the plot. Instead 
 of any efforts to soften down the hatred of this unfortunate 
 family, these brothers had been removed from their employ- 
 ments, their property was confiscated, and despair soon urged 
 them to desperation. In such a time of general discontent it 
 was easy to find accomplices. Seven or eight determined 
 men readily joined in the plot : of these, two were Catholics, 
 the rest Arminians ; the chief of whom was Henry Slatius, 
 a preacher of considerable eloquence, talent, and energy. It 
 was first proposed to attack the prince at Rotterdam ; but the 
 place was soon afler changed for Ryswyk, a village near the 
 Hague, and afterwards celebrated by the treaty of peace 
 signed there and which bears its name. Ten other associates 
 were soon engaged by the exertions of Slatius : these were 
 Arminian artisans and sailors, to whom the actual execution 
 of the murder was to be confided ; and they were persuaded 
 that it was planned with the connivance of prince Frederick 
 Henry, who was considered by the Arminians as the secret 
 partisan of their sect. The 6th of February was fixed on for 
 the accomplishment of the deed. The better to conceal the 
 design, the conspirators agreed to go unarmed to the place, 
 where they were to find a box containing pistols and poniards 
 in a spot agreed upon. The death of the prince of Orange 
 was not the only object intended. During the confusion sub- 
 sequent to the hoped-for success of that first blow, the chief 
 conspirators intended to excite simultaneous revolts at Ley- 
 den, Gouda, and Rotterdam, in which town the Arminians 
 were most numerous. A general revolution throughout Hol- 
 land was firmly reckoned on as the infallible result; and suc- 
 cess was enthusiastically looked for to their country's freedom 
 and their individual fame. 
 
1623. PLOT AGAINST PRINCE MAURICE. 213 
 
 But the plot, however cautiously laid and resolutely per- 
 severed in, was doomed to the fate of many another ; and the 
 jiorror of a second murder (but with far different provoca- 
 tion from the first) averted from the illustrious family to 
 whom was still destined the glory of consolidating the country 
 it had formed. Two brothers named Blansaart, and one 
 Parthy, having procured a considerable sum of money from 
 the leading conspirators, repaired to the Hague, as they as- 
 serted, for the purpose of betraying the plot; but they were 
 forestalled in this purpose : four of the sailors had gone out to 
 Ryswyk the preceding evening, and laid the whole of the 
 project, together with the wages of their intended crime, be- 
 fore the prince; who, it would appear, then occupied the 
 ancient chateau, which no longer exists at Ryswyk. The 
 box of arms was found in the place pointed out by the in- 
 formers, and measures were instantly taken to arrest the 
 various accomplices. Several were seized. Groeneveld had 
 escaped along the coast disguised as a fisherman, and had 
 nearly effected his passage to England, when he was recog- 
 nized and arrested in the island of Vlieland. Slatius and others 
 were also intercepted in their attempts at escape. Stouten- 
 bourg, the most culpable of all, was the most fortunate ; proba- 
 bly from the energy of character which marks the difference 
 between a bold adventurer and a timid speculator. He is 
 believed to have passed from the Hague in the same manner 
 as Grotius quitted his prison ; and, by the aid of a faithful 
 servant, he accomplished his escape through various perils, 
 and finally reached Brussels, where the archduchess Isabella 
 took him under her special protection. He for several years 
 made efforts to be allowed to return to Holland ; but finding 
 them hopeless, even afler the death of Maurice, he embraced 
 the Catholic religion, and obtained the command of a troop 
 of Spanish cavalry, at the head of which he made incursions 
 into his native country, carrying before him a black flag with 
 the effigy of a death's head, to announce the mournful ven- 
 geance which he came to execute. 
 
 Fifteen persons were executed for the conspiracy. If ever 
 mercy was becoming to a man, it would have been pre-emi- 
 nently so to Maurice on this occasion ; but he was inflexible 
 as adamant. The mother, the wife, and the son of Groeneveld, 
 threw themselves at his feet, imploring pardon. Prayers, 
 tears, and sobs, were alike ineffectual. It is even said that 
 Maurice asked the wretched mother *' why she begged mercy 
 for her son, having refused to do as much for her husband ]" 
 To which cruel question she is reported to have made the 
 
214 HISTORY OF THE NETHERLANDS. 1624. 
 
 sublime answer — " Because my son is guilty, and my husband 
 was not."* 
 
 These bloody executions caused a deep sentiment of gloom. 
 The conspiracy excited more pity for the victims than horror 
 for the intended crime. Maurice, from being the idol of his 
 countrymen, was now become an object of their fear and dis- 
 like. When he moved from town to town, the people no 
 longer hailed him with acclamations ; and even the common 
 tokens of outward respect were at times withheld.! The 
 Spaniards, taking advantage of the internal weakness conse- 
 quent on this state of public feeling in the States, made re- 
 peated incursions into the provinces, which were now united 
 but in title, not in spirit. Spinola was once more in the field, 
 and had invested the important town of Breda, which was the 
 patrimonial inheritance of the princes of Orange. Maurice 
 was oppressed with anxiety and regret ; and, for the sake of 
 his better feelings, it may be hoped, with remorse. He could 
 effect nothing against his rival ; and he saw his own laurels 
 withering from his care-worn brow. The only hope left of 
 obtaining the so much wanted supplies of money, was in the 
 completion of a new treaty with France and England. Car- 
 dinal Richelieu, desirous of setting bounds to the ambition 
 and the successes of the house of Austria, readily came into 
 the views of the States; and an obligation for a loan ofi 
 1,200,000 livres during the year 1624, and 1,000,000 more 
 for each of the two succeeding years, was granted by the 
 king of France, on condition that the republic made no new 
 truce with Spain without his mediation.}: 
 
 An alliance nearly similar was at the same time concluded 
 with England. Perpetual quarrels on commercial questions 
 loosened the ties which bound the States to their ancient al- 
 lies. The failure of his son's intended marriage with the 
 infanta of Spain had opened the eyes of king James to the 
 way in which he was despised by those w^ho seemed so much 
 to respect him. He was highly indignant ; and he undertook 
 to revenge himself by aiding the republic. He agreed to fur- 
 nish 6000 men, and supply the funds for their pay, with a pro- 
 vision for repayment by the States at the conclusion of a peace 
 with Spain. 
 
 Prince Maurice had no opportunity of reaping the expected 
 advantages from these treaties. Baffled in all his efforts for 
 relieving Breda, and being unsuccessful in a new attempt 
 upon Antwerp, he returned to the Hague, where a lingering 
 
 * Cerisier, t. v. p. 452, &c. t Anl)ery. 
 
 X Cerisier. 
 
 I 
 
1625. PRINCE FREDERICK HENRY. 215 
 
 illness, that had for some time exhausted him, terminated in 
 his death on the 23d of April, 1625, in his fifty-ninth year.* 
 Most writers attribute this event to agitation at being unable 
 to relieve Breda from the attack of Spinola. It is in any case 
 absurd to suppose that the loss of a single tow^n could have 
 produced so fatal an effect on one whose life had been an al- 
 most continual game of the chances of war. But cause enough 
 for Maurice^s death may be found in the wearing effects of 
 thirty years of active military service, and the more wasting 
 ravages of half as many of domestic despotism. 
 
 CHAP. XVIII. 
 1625—1648. » 
 
 TO THE TREATY OF MUNSTER. 
 
 Frederick Henry succeeded to almost all his brother's titles 
 and employments, and found his new dignities clogged with 
 an accumulation of difficulties sufficient to appal the most de- 
 termined spirit. Every thing seemed to justify alarm and de- 
 spondency. If the affairs of the republic in India wore an as- 
 pect of prosperity, those in Europe presented a picture of past 
 disaster and approaching peril. Disunion and discontent, an 
 almost insupportable weight of taxation, and the disputes of 
 which it was the fruitful source, formed the subjects of inter- 
 nal ill. Abroad was to be seen navigation harassed and tram- 
 melled by the pirates of Dunkirk ; and the almost defenceless 
 frontiers of the republic exposed to the irruptions of the enemy. 
 The king of Denmark, who endeavored to make head against 
 the imperialist and Spanish forces, was beaten by Tilly, and 
 made to tremble for the safety of his own States. England 
 did nothing towards the common cause of Protestantism, in 
 consequence of the weakness of the monarch ; and civil dis- 
 sensions for a while disabled France from resuming the sys- 
 tem of Henry IV. for humbling the house of Austria. 
 
 Frederick Henry was at this period in his forty-second year. 
 His military reputation, was well established ; he soon proved 
 his political talents. He commenced his career by a total 
 change in the tone of government on the subject of sectarian 
 differences. He exercised several acts of clemency in favor 
 of the imprisoned and exiled Arminians, at the same time 
 
 * Aubery, &c. 
 
216 HISTORY OF THE NETHERLANDS. 1626. 
 
 that he upheld the dominant religion. By these measures he 
 conciliated all parties ; and by degrees the fierce spirit of in- - 
 tolerance became subdued * The foreign relations of the"' 
 United Provinces now presented the anomalous policy of a 
 fleet furnished by the French king, manned by rigid Calvin- 
 ists, and commanded by a grandson of admiral Coligny, for 
 the purpose of combating the remainder of the French Hu- 
 guenots, whom they considered as brothers in religion, though 
 political foes ; and during the joint expedition which was un- 
 dertaken by the allied French and Dutch troops against 
 Rochelle, the strong-hold of Protestantism, the preachers of 
 Holland put up prayers for the protection of those whom their 
 army was marching to destroy. The states-general, ashamed 
 of this unpopular union, recalled their fleet, after some severe 
 fighting with that of the Huguenots. Cardinal Richelieu 
 and the king of France were for a time furious in their dis- 
 pleasure ; but interests of state overpowered individual re- 
 sentments, and no rupture took place. f 
 
 Charles I. had now succeeded his father on the English 
 throne. He renewed the treaty with the republic, which 
 furnished him with twenty ships to assist his own formidable 
 fleet in his war against Spain. Frederick Henry had, soon 
 after his succession to the chief command, commenced an 
 active course of martial operations, and was successful in al- 
 most all his enterprises. He took Groll and several other 
 towns ; and it was hoped that his successes w^ould have been 
 pushed forward upon a wider field of action against the im- 
 perial arms ; but the States prudently resolved to act on the 
 defensive by land, choosing the sea for the theatre of their 
 more active operations. All the hopes of a powerful confed- 
 eration against the emperor and the king of Spain seemed 
 frustrated, by the war which now broke out between France 
 and England. The states-general contrived by great pru- 
 dence to maintain a strict neutrality in this quarrel. They 
 even succeeded in mediating a peace between the rival pow- 
 ers, which was concluded the following year ; and in the mean 
 time they obtained a more astonishing and important series 
 of triumphs against the Spanish fleets than had yet been wit- 
 nessed in naval conflicts. 
 
 The West India company had confided the command of 
 their fleet to Peter Hein, a most intrepid and intelligent sailor, 
 r 'ho proved his own merits, and the sagacity of his employ- 
 's on many occasions, two of them of an extraordinary na- 
 vire. In 1627, he defeated a fleet of twenty-six vessels, with 
 
   Capellan, i. 3G8. t Cerisier. 
 
1629. NAVAL SUCCESSES. 217 
 
 a much inferior force.' In the following year, he had the still 
 more brilliant good fortune, near the Havana, in the island 
 of Cuba, in an engagement with the great Spanish armament, 
 called the Money Fleet, to indicate the immense wealth which 
 it contained. The booty was safely carried to Amsterdam, 
 and the whole of the treasure, in money, precious stones, in- 
 digo, &c. was estimated at the value of 12,000,000 florins. 
 This was indeed a victory worth gaining, won almost with- 
 out bloodshed, and raising the republic far above the mani- 
 fold difficulties by which it had been embarrassed. Hein per- 
 ished in the following year, in a combat with some of the 
 pirates of Dunkirk — those terrible freebooters whose name 
 was a watchword of terror during the whole continuance of 
 the war.* 
 
 The year 1629 brought three formidable armies at once to 
 the frontiers of the republic, and caused a general dismay all 
 through the United Provinces : but the immense treasures 
 taken from the Spaniards, enabled them to make preparations 
 suitable to the danger ; and Frederick Henry, supported by 
 his cousin William of Nassau, his natural brother Justin, and 
 other brave and experienced officers, defeated every effort of 
 the enemy. He took many towns in rapid succession ; and 
 finally forced the Spaniards to abandon all notion of invading 
 the territories of the republic. Deprived of the powerful 
 talents of Spinola, who was called to command the Spanish 
 troops in Italy, the armies of the archduchess, under the 
 count of Berg, were not able to cope with the genius of the 
 prince of Orange. The consequence was the renewal of ne- 
 gotiations for a second truce. But these were received on 
 the part of the republic with a burst of opposition. All parties 
 seemed decided on that point ; and every interest, however 
 opposed on minor questions, combined to give a positive nega- 
 tive on this.f 
 
 The gratitude of the country for the services of Frederick 
 Henry, induced the provinces of which he was stadtholder, 
 to grant the reversion in this title to his son, a child of three 
 years old ; and this dignity had every chance of becoming as 
 absolute, as it was now pronounced almost hereditary, by the 
 means of an army of 120,000 men devoted to their chief}: 
 However, few military occurrences took place, the sea being 
 still chosen as the element best suited to the present enter- 
 prises of the republic. In the widely-distant settlements of 
 Brazil and Batavia, the Dutch were equally successful ; and 
 
 * Cerisier, &c. t Vandervynct. J Cerisier. 
 
 T 
 
218 HISTORY OF THE NETHERLANDS. 1634. 
 
 the East and West India companies acquired eminent power 
 and increasing solidity. 
 
 The year 1631 was signalized by an expedition into Flan- 
 ders, consisting of 18,000 men, intended against Dunkirk, 
 but hastily abandoned, in spite of every probability of suc- 
 cess, by the commissioners of the states-general, who accom- 
 panied the army, and thwarted all the ardor and vigor of the 
 prince of Orange.* But another great naval victory in the 
 narrow seas of Zealand, recompensed the disappointments of 
 this inglorious affair, f 
 
 The splendid victories of Augustus Adolphus against the 
 imperial arms in Germany, changed the whole face of Euro- 
 pean affairs. Protestantism began once more to raise its 
 head ; and the important conquests by Frederick Henry of 
 almost all the strong places on the Meuse, including Maes- 
 tricht, the strongest of all, gave the United Provinces their 
 ample share in the glories of the war. The death of the 
 archduchess Isabella, which took place at Brussels in the 
 year 1633, added considerably to the difficulties of Spain in 
 the Belgian provinces. The defection of the count of Berg, 
 the chief general of their armies, who was actuated by re- 
 sentment on the appointment of the marquis of St. Croix 
 over his head, threw every thing into confusion, in exposing 
 a wide-spread confederacy among the nobility of these prov- 
 inces to erect themselves into an independent republic, 
 strengthened by a perpetual alliance with the United Prov- 
 inces against the power of Spain. J But the plot failed, 
 chiefly, it is said, by the imprudence of the king of England, 
 who let the secret slip, from some motives vaguely hmted at, 
 but never sufficiently explained. 5 Afler the death of Isabella, 
 the prince of Brabancon was arrested. The prince of Epinoi 
 and the duke of Burnonville made their escape; and the 
 duke of Arschot, who was arrested in Spain, was soon libe- 
 rated, in consideration of some discoveries into the nature of 
 the plot. An armistice, published in 1634, threw this whole 
 affair into complete oblivion. || 
 
 The king of Spain appointed his brother Ferdinand, a car- 
 dinal and archbishop of Toledo, to the dignity of governor- 
 general of the Netherlands. He repaired to Germany at the 
 head of 17,000 men, and bore his share in the victory of Nord- 
 lingen ; afler which he hastened to the Netherlands, and 
 made his entry into Brussels in 1634.11 Richelieu had hith- 
 erto only combated the house of Austria in these countries 
 
 * Mem. of Fred. Henry, pp. 126—130. t Cerisier. X Vandervynct. 
 § Burnet. || Vandervynct. IF Idem. 
 
1635. BATTLE NEAR A VEIN. 219 
 
 by negotiation and intrigue ; but he now entered warmly into 
 the proposals made by Holland, for a treaty offensive and de- 
 fensive between Louis XIII. and the republic. By a treaty 
 soon after concluded (8th February, 1635,) the king of France 
 engaged to invade the Belgian provinces with an army of 
 30,0(K) men, in concert with a Dutch force of equal number. 
 It was agreed, that if Belgium would consent to break from 
 the Spanish yoke, it was to be erected into a free state : if, 
 on the contrary, it would not co-operate for its own freedom, 
 France and Holland were to dismember, and to divide it 
 equally.* 
 
 The plan of these combined measures was soon acted on. 
 The French army took the field under the command of the 
 marshals De Chatillon and De Breeze ; and defeated the 
 Spaniards in a bloody battle, near Avein, in the province of 
 Luxembourg, on the 20th of May, 16e35, with the loss of 
 4000 men. The victors soon made a junction with the prince 
 of Orange ; and the towns of Tirlemont, St. Trend, and some 
 others, were quickly reduced. The former of these places 
 was taken by assault, and pillaged with circumstances of 
 cruelty that recall the horrors of the early transactions of 
 the war. The prince of Orange was forced to punish se- 
 verely the authors of these offences.f The consequences of 
 this event were highly injurious to the allies. A spirit of 
 fierce resistance was excited throughout the invaded prov- 
 inces. Louvain set the first example. The citizens and stu- 
 dents took arms for its defence ; and the combined forces of 
 France and Holland were repulsed, and forced by want of 
 supplies to abandon the siege, and rapidly retreat. J The 
 prince-cardinal, as Ferdinand was called, took advantage of 
 this reverse to press the retiring French ; recovered several 
 towns ; and gained all the advantages as well as glory of the 
 campaign. The remains of the French army, reduced by 
 continual combats, and still more by sickness, finally em- 
 barked at Rotterdam, to return to France in the ensuing 
 spring, a sad contrast to its brilliant appearance at the com- 
 mencement of the campaign. 
 
 The military events for several ensuing years, present 
 nothing of sufficient interest to induce us to record them in 
 detail. A perpetual succession of sieges and skirmishes afford 
 a monotonous picture of isolated courage and skill ; but we 
 see none of those great conflicts which bring out the genius 
 of opposing generals, and show war in its grand results, as 
 the decisive means of enslaving or emancipating mankind. 
 
 * Vandervynct. t Idem. X Idem. 
 
220 HISTORY OF THE NETHERLANDS. 1639. 
 
 The prince-cardinal, one of the many who on this bloody the- 
 atre displayed consummate military talents, incessantly em- 
 ployed himself in incursions into the bordering provinces of 
 France, ravaged Picardy, and filled Paris v^rith fear and trem- 
 bling. He, however, reaped no new laurels when he came 
 into contact with Frederick Henry, who, on almost every oc- 
 casion, particularly that of the siege of Breda, in 1637,* car- 
 ried his object in spite of all opposition. The triumphs of war 
 were balanced ; but Spain and the Belgian province^, so long 
 upheld by the talent of the governor-general, were gradually 
 become exhausted. The revolution in Portugal, and the suc- 
 cession of the duke of Braganza, under the title of John IV., 
 to the throne of his ancestors, struck a fatal blow to the power 
 of Spain. A strict alliance was concluded between the new 
 monarch of France and Holland ; and hostilities against the 
 common enemy were on all sides vigorously continued. 
 
 The successes of the republic at sea and in their distant 
 enterprises were continual, and in some instances brilliant. 
 Brazil was gradually falling into the power of the West India 
 company. The East India possessions were secure. The 
 great victory of Van Tromp, known by the name of the battle 
 of the Downs, from being fought off the coast of England, on 
 the 21st of October, 1639, raised the naval reputation of Hol- 
 land as high as it could well be carried. Fifty ships taken, 
 burned, and sunk, were the proofs of their admiral's triumph ; 
 and the Spanish navy never recovered the loss. The victory 
 was celebrated throughout Europe, and Van Tromp was the 
 hero of the day. The king of England was, however, highly 
 indignant at the hardihood with which the Dutch admiral 
 broke through the etiquette of territorial respect, and destroyed 
 his country's bitter foes under the very sanction of English 
 neutrality. But the subjects of Charles I. did not partake their 
 monarch's feelings.f They had no sympathy with arbitrary 
 and tyrannic government ; and their joy at the misfortune of 
 their old enemies the Spaniards gave a fair warning of the 
 spirit which afterwards proved so fatal to the infatuated king, 
 w^ho on this occasion would have protected and aided them. 
 
 In an unsuccessful enterprise in Flanders, count Henry 
 Casimir of Nassau was mortally wounded, adding another to 
 the list of those of that illustrious family whose lives were 
 lost in the service of their country. J His brother, count Wil- 
 liam Frederick, succeeded him in his office of stadtholder of 
 
 * M6m. de Fred. Henry, p. 19C. t Cerisier. 
 
 X M6m. de Fred. Henry. 
 
1641. CONTINUANCE OF HOSTILITIES. 221 
 
 Friesland ; but the same dignity in the provinces of Groningen 
 and Drent devolved on the prince of Orange. The latter had 
 conceived the desire of a royal alliance for his son William. 
 Charles I. readily assented to the proposal of the states-gen- 
 eral, that this young prince should receive the hand of his 
 daughter Mary. Embassies were exchanged ; the conditions 
 of the contract agreed on ; but it was not till two years later, 
 that Van Tromp, with an escort of twenty ships, conducted 
 the princess, then twelve years old, to the country of her fu- 
 ture husband. The republic did not view with an eye quite 
 favorable, this advancing aggrandizement of the house of Or- 
 ange. Frederick Henry had shortly before been dignified by 
 the king of France, at the suggestion of Richelieu, with the 
 title of " highness," instead of the inferior one of " excel- 
 lency;" and the states-general, jealous of this distinction 
 granted to their chief magistrate, adopted for themselves the 
 sounding appellation of " high and mighty lords." The prince 
 of Orange, whatever might have been his private views of 
 ambition, had, however, the prudence to silence all suspicion, 
 by the mild arid moderate use which he made of the power, 
 which he might perhaps have wished to increase, but never 
 attempted to abuse. 
 
 On the 9th of November, 1641, the prince-cardinal Ferdi- 
 nand died at Brussels in his thirty-third year ; another in- 
 stance of those who were cut off, in the very vigor of man- 
 hood, from worldly dignities and the exercise of the painful 
 and inauspicious duties of governor-general of the Nether- 
 lands. Don Francisco de Mello, a nobleman of highly reputed 
 talents, was the next who obtained this onerous situation. 
 He commenced his governorship by a succession of militarjr 
 operations, by which, like most of his predecessors, he is 
 alone distinguished. Acts of civil administration are scarcely 
 noticed by the historians of these men. Not one of them, 
 with the exception of the archduke Albert, seems to have 
 valued the internal interests of the government ; and he alone, 
 perhaps, because they were declared and secured as his own. 
 De Mello, after taking some towns, and defeating the marshal 
 de Guiche in the battle of Hannecourt, tarnished all his fame 
 by the great faults which he committed in the famous battle 
 of Rocroy. The duke of Enghien, then twenty-one years of 
 age, and subsequently so celebrated as the great Conde, com- 
 pletely defeated De Mello, and nearly annihilated the Spanish 
 and Walloon infantry. The military operations of the Dutch 
 army were this year only remarkable by the gallant conduct 
 of prince William, son of the prince of Orange, who, not yet 
 T2 
 
222 HISTORY OF THE NETHERLANDS. 1642. 
 
 seventeen years of age, defeated, near Hulst, under the eyes l 
 of his father, a Spanish detachment in a very warm skirmish.* ! 
 
 .Considerable changes were now insensibly operating in 
 the policy of Europe. Cardinal Richelieu had finished his 
 dazzling but tempestuous career of government, in whicli the 
 hand of death arrested him on the 4th of December, 1642. 
 Louis XIII. soon followed to the grave him who was rather 
 his master than his minister. Anne of Austria was declared 
 regent during the minority of her son, Louis XIV., then only 
 five years of age : and cardinal Mazarin succeeded to the sta- 
 tion from which death alone had power to remove his prede- 
 cessor.f 
 
 The civil wars in England now broke out, and their terri- 
 ble results seemed to promise to the republic the undisturbed 
 sovereignty of the seas. The prince of Orange received with 
 great distinction the mother-in-laV of his son, when she came 
 to Holland under pretext of conducting her daughter : but her 
 principal purpose was to obtain, by the sale of the crown jew- 
 els and the assistance of Frederick Henry, funds for the sup- 
 ply of her unfortunate husband's cause.J The prince and 
 several private individuals contributed largely in money ; and 
 several experienced officers passed over to serve in the royal- 
 ist army of England. The provincial states of Holland, how- 
 ever, sympathizing wholly with the parliament, remonstrated 
 with the stadtholder ; and the Dutch colonists encouraged the 
 hostile eflTorts of their brethren, the Puritans of Scotland, by 
 all the absurd exhortations of fanatic zeal. Boswell, the Eng- 
 lish resident in the name of the king, and Strictland, the am- 
 bassador from the parliament, kept up a constant succession 
 of complaints and remonstrances on occasion of every incident 
 which seemed to balance the conduct of the republic in the 
 great question of English politics. 5 Considerable differences 
 existed : the province of Holland, and some others, leant to- 
 wards the parliament; the prince of Orange favored the king; 
 and the states-general endeavored to maintain a neutrality. 
 
 The struggle was still furiously maintained in Germany. 
 Generals of the first order of military talent were continually 
 appearing, and successively eclipsing each other by their 
 brilliant actions : — Gustavus Adolphus was killed in the midst 
 of his glorious career, at the battle of Lutzen ; the duke of 
 Weimar succeeded to his command, and proved himself wor- 
 thy of the place ; Tilly and the celebrated Walstein were no 
 longer on the scene. The emperor Ferdinand II. was dead ; 
 and his son Ferdinand III. saw his victorious enemies threaten, 
 
   M6m. de Fred. Henry. t Cerisicr. X Weni. § Cerisier. 
 
1644. FINANCIAL EMBARRASSMENTS. 223 
 
 at last, the existence of the empire. Every thing tended to 
 make peace necessary to some of the contending powers, as 
 it was at length desirable for all. Sweden and Denmark 
 were engaged in a bloody and wasteful conflict. The United 
 Provinces sent an embassy, in the month of June, 1644, to 
 each of those powers; and by a vigorous demonstration of 
 their resolution to assist Sweden, if Denmark proved refrac- 
 tory, a peace was signed the following year, which termina- 
 ted the disputes of the rival nations.* 
 
 Negotiations were now opened at Munster between the 
 several belligerents. The republic was, however, the last to 
 send its plenipotentiaries there ; having signed a new treaty 
 with France, by which they mutually stipulated to make no 
 peace independent of each other. It behoved the republic, 
 however, to contribute as much as possible towards the gen- 
 eral object ; for, among other strong motives to that line of 
 conduct, the finances of Holland were in a state perfectly de- 
 plorable. 
 
 Every year brought the necessity of a new loan ; and the 
 public debt of the provinces now amounted to 150,000,000 
 florins, bearing interest at 6 J per centf Considerable alarm 
 was excited at the progress of the French army in the Bel- 
 gian provinces ; and escape from the tyranny of Spain seemed 
 only to lead to the danger of submission to a nation too power- 
 ful and too close at hand not to be dangerous, either as a foe 
 or an ally. These fears were increased by the knowledge 
 that cardinal Mazarin projected a marriage between Louis 
 XIV. and the infanta of Spain, with the Belgian provinces, 
 or Spanish Netherlands as they were now called, for her 
 marriage portion. | This project was confided to the prince of 
 Orange, under the seal of secrecy, and he was offered the 
 marquisate of Antwerp as the price of his influence towards 
 eflTecting the plan. The prince revealed the whole to the 
 states-general. Great fermentation was excited : the stadt- 
 holder himself was blamed, and suspected of complicity with 
 the designs of the cardinal. Frederick Henry was deeply 
 hurt at this want of confidence, and the injurious publications 
 which openly assailed his honor in a point where he felt him- 
 self entitled to praise instead of suspicion. 
 
 The French labored to remove the impression which this 
 affair excited in the republic: but the states-general felt 
 themselves justified by the intriguing policy of Mazarin in 
 enteruig into a secret negotiation with the king of Spain, 
 who offered very favorable conditions. The negotiations 
 
   Cerisier. t Idem. X Negoc. Seer. t. iii. p. 14, &,c. 
 
224 HISTORY OF THE NETHERLANDS. 1648. 
 
 were considerably advanced by the marked disposition evinced 
 by the prince of Orange to hasten the establishment of peace. 
 Yet, at this very period, and while anxiously wishing this 
 grjeat object, he could not resist the desire for another cam- 
 paign ; one more exploit, to signalize the epoch at which he 
 finally placed his sword in the scabbard. Frederick Henry 
 was essentially a soldier, with all the spirit of his race ; and 
 this evidence of the ruling passion, while he touched the 
 verge of the grave, is one of the most striking points of his 
 character. He accordingly took the field ; but, with a con- 
 stitution broken by a lingering disease, he was little fitted to 
 accomplish any feat worthy of his splendid reputation. He 
 failed in an attempt on Venlo, and another on Antwerp, and 
 retired to the Hague, where for some months he rapidly de- 
 clined. On the 14th of March, 1647, he expired, in his 
 sixty- third year ; leaving behind him a character of unblem- 
 ished integrity, prudence, toleration, and valor. He was not 
 of that impetuous stamp which leads men to heroic deeds, 
 and brings danger to the states whose liberty is compromised 
 by their ambition. He was a striking contrast to his brother 
 Maurice, and more resembled his father in many of those 
 calmer qualities of the mind, which make men more beloved 
 without lessening their claims to admiration. Frederick 
 Henry had the honor of completing the glorious task which 
 William began and Maurice followed up. He saw the oppres- 
 sion they had combated now humbled and overthrown ; and 
 he forms the third in a sequence of family renown, the most 
 surprising and the least chequered afforded by the annals of 
 Europe. 
 
 William II. succeeded his father in his dignities; and his 
 ardent spirit longed to rival him in war. He turned his en- 
 deavors to thwart all the efforts for peace. But the interests 
 of the nation and the dying wishes of Frederick Henry were 
 of too powerful influence with the states, to be overcome by 
 the martial yearnings of an inexperienced youth. The nego- 
 tiations were pressed forward ; and, despite the complaints, 
 the murmurs, and the intrigues of France, the treaty of 
 Munster was finally signed by the respective ambassadors of 
 the United Provinces and Spain, on the 30th of January, 
 1648. This celebrated treaty contains seventy-nine articles. 
 Three points were of main and vital importance to the repub- 
 lic : the first acknowledges an ample and entire recognition 
 of the sovereignty of the states-general, and a renunciation 
 for ever of all claims on the part of Spain ; the second con- 
 firms the rights of trade and navigation in the East and West 
 Indies, with the possession of the various countries andj 
 
1648. ~ TREATY OF MUNSTEK. 225 
 
 stations then actually occupied by the contracting powers; the 
 third guaranties a like possession of all the provinces and 
 towns of the Netherlands, as they then stood in their respec- 
 tive occupation, — a clause highly favorable to the republic, 
 which had conquered several considerable places in Brabant 
 and Flanders. The ratifications of the treaty were exchanged 
 at Munster with great solemnity on the 15th of May follow- 
 ing the signature ; the peace was published in that town and 
 in Osnaburg on the 19th, and in all the different states of 
 the king of Spain and the United Provinces as soon as the 
 joyous intelligence could reacli such various and widely 
 separated destinations.* Thus, after eighty years of unparal- 
 leled warfare, only interrupted by the truce of 1609, during 
 which hostilities had not ceased in the Indies, the new re- 
 public rose from the horrors of civil war and foreign tyranny 
 to its uncontested rank as a free and independent state among 
 the most powerful nations of Europe. No country had ever 
 done more for glory ; and the result of its efforts was the 
 irrevocable guarantee of civil and religious liberty, the great 
 aim and end of civilization. 
 
 The king of France alone had reason to complain of this 
 treaty : his resentment was strongly pronounced. But the 
 United Provinces flung back the reproaches of his ambassador 
 on cardinal Mazarin; and the anger of the monarch was 
 smothered by the policy of the minister. 
 
 The internal tranquillity of tlie republic was secured from 
 all future alarm by the conclusion of the general peace of 
 Westphalia, definitively signed the 24th of October, 1648. 
 This treaty was long considered not only as the fundamental 
 law of the empire, but as the basis of the political system of 
 Europe. As numbers of conflicting interests were reconciled, 
 Germanic liberty secured, and a just equilibrium established 
 between the Catholics and Protestants, France and Sweden 
 obtained great advantages ; and the various princes of the em- 
 pire saw their possessions regulated and secured, at the same 
 time that the powers of the emperor were strictly defined. 
 
 This great epoch in European history naturally marks the 
 conclusion of another in that of the Netherlands ; and this 
 period of general repose allows a brief consideration of the 
 progress of arts, sciences, and manners, during the half cen- 
 tury just now completed. 
 
 The archdukes Albert and Isabella, during the whole course 
 of their sovereignty, labored to remedy the abuses which had 
 crowded the administration of justice. The. perpetual edict, 
 
 * Vandervynct. 
 
226 History of the Netherlands. 1648. 
 
 in 1611, regulated the form of judicial proceedings ; and 
 several provinces received new charters, by which the privi- 
 leges of the people were placed on a footing in harmony with 
 their wants. Anarchy, in short, gave place to regular govern- 
 ment ; and the archdukes, in swearing to maintain the cele- 
 brated pact known by the name of the Joyeuse Entree, did 
 all in their power to satisfy their subjects, while securing 
 their own authority. The piety of the archdukes gave an 
 example to all classes. This, although degenerating in the 
 vulgar to superstition and bigotry, formed a severe check, 
 which allowed their rulers to restrain popular excesses, and 
 enabled them in the internal quiet of their despotism to soften 
 the people by the encouragement of the sciences and arts. 
 Medicine, astronomy, and mathematics, made prodigious pro- 
 gress during this epoch. Several eminent men flourished in 
 the Netherlands. But the glory of others, in countries 
 presenting a wider theatre for their renown, in many in- 
 stances eclipsed them ; and the inventors of new methods 
 and systems in anatomy, optics, and music, were almost for- 
 gotten in the splendid improvements of their followers. 
 
 In literature, Hugo de Groot, or Grotius, (his Latinized 
 name, by which he is better known,) was the most brilliant 
 star of his country or his age, as Erasmus was of that which 
 preceded. He was at once eminent as jurist, poet, theologian, 
 and historian. His erudition was immense ; and he brought 
 it to bear in his political capacity, as ambassador from Sweden 
 to the court of France, when the violence of party and the 
 injustice of power condemned him to perpetual imprisonment 
 in his native land. The religious disputations in Holland had 
 given a great impulse to talent. They were not mere theo- 
 logical arguments ; but with the wild and furious abstractions 
 of bigotry were often blended various illustrations from his- 
 tory, art, and science, and a tone of keen and delicate satire, 
 which at once refined and made them readable. It is remark- 
 able, that almost the whole of the Latin writings of this 
 period abound in good taste, while those written in the vulgar 
 tongue are chiefly coarse and trivial. Vondel and Hooft, the 
 great poets of the time, wrote with genius and energy, but 
 were deficient in judgment founded on good taste.* The 
 latter of these writers was also distinguished for his prose 
 works ; in honor of which Louis XIII. dignified him with 
 letters patent of nobility, and decorated him with the order 
 of St. Michael. 
 
 But while Holland was more particularly distinguished by 
 
   Van Alpen, Cerisier, &c. 
 
1648. ARTS AND SCIENCES. 227 
 
 the progress of the mechanical arts, to which prince Maurice 
 afforded unbounded patronage, the Belgian provinces gave 
 birth to that galaxy of genius in the art of painting, which 
 no equal period of any other country has ever rivalled. A 
 volume like this would scarcely suffice to do justice to the 
 merits of the eminent artists who now flourished in Belgium; 
 at once founding, perfecting, and immortalizing the Flemish 
 school of painting. Rubens, Vandyck, Teniers, Grayer, Jor- 
 daens, Sneyders, and a host of other great names, crowd on 
 us, with claims for notice that almost make the mention of 
 any an injustice to the rest. But Europe is familiar with 
 their fame ; and the wide-spread taste for their delicious art 
 makes them independent of other record than the combina- 
 tion of their own exquisite touch, undying tints, and une- 
 qualled knowledge of nature. Engraving, carried at the same 
 time to great perfection, has multiplied some of the merits 
 of the celebrated painters, while stamping the reputation of 
 its own professors. Sculpture also had its votaries of consid- 
 erable note. Among these, Des Jardins and Quesnoy held 
 the foremost station. Architecture also produced some re- 
 markable names. 
 
 The arts were, in short, never held in higher honor than 
 at this brilliant epoch. Otto- Venire, the master of Rubens, 
 held most important employments. Rubens himself, appoint- 
 ed secretary to the privy-council of the archdukes, was sub- 
 sequently sent to England, where he negotiated the peace 
 between that country and Spain. The unfortunate king 
 Charles so highly esteemed his merit, that lie knighted him 
 in full parliament, and presented him with the diamond ring 
 he wore on his own finger, and a chain enriched wuth bril- 
 liants. David Teniers, the great pupil of this distinguished 
 master, met his due share of honor. He has left several por- 
 traits of himself; one of which hands him down to posterity, 
 in the costume, and with the decorations of the belt and key, 
 which he wore in his capacity of chamberlain to the arch- 
 duke Leopold, governor-general of the Spanish Netherlands. 
 
 The intestine disturbances of Holland during the twelve 
 years' truce, and the enterprises against Friesland and the 
 duchy of Cleves, had prevented that wise economy which 
 was expected from the republic. The annual ordinary cost 
 of the military establishment at that period amounted to 
 13,000,000 florins. To meet the enormous expenses of the 
 state, taxes were raised on every material. They produced 
 about 30,000,000 florins a year, independent of 5,000,000 
 each for the East and West India companies. The population 
 
228 HISTORY OF THE NETHERLANDS. 1G48. 
 
 in 1620, in Holland, was about 600,000, and the other prov- 
 inces contained about the same number. 
 
 It is singular to observe the fertile erections of monopoly 
 in a state founded on principles of commercial freedom. The 
 East and West India companies, the Greenland company, and 
 others, were successively formed. By the effect of their en- 
 terprise, industry, and wealth, conquests were made and colo- 
 nies founded with surprising rapidity. The town of Amster- 
 dam, now New- York, was founded in 1624; and the East 
 saw Batavia rise up from the ruins of Jacatra, which was 
 sacked and razed by the Dutch adventurers. 
 
 The Dutch and English East India companies, repressing 
 their mutual jealousy, formed a species of partnership in 
 1619 for the reciprocal enjoyment of the rights of commerce. 
 But four years later than this date an event took place so 
 fatal to national confidence that its impressions are scarcely 
 yet effaced ; — this was the torturing and execution of severa] 
 Englishmen in the island of Amboyna, on pretence of an un- 
 proved plot, of which every probability leads to the belief 
 that they were wholly innocent. This circumstance was the 
 strongest stimulant to the hatred so evident in the bloody 
 wars which not long afterwards took place between the two 
 nations ; and the lapse of two centuries has not entirely ef- 
 faced its effects. Much has been at various periods written 
 for and against the establishment of monopolizing companies, 
 by which individual wealth and skill are excluded from theii 
 chances of reward. With reference to those of Holland a1 
 this period of its history, it is sufficient to remark that the 
 great results of their formation could never have been 
 brought about by isolated enterprises ; and the justice or wis- 
 dom of their continuance are questions wholly dependent on 
 the fluctuations in trade, and the effects produced on that of 
 any given country by the progress and the rivalry of others. 
 
 With respect to the state of manners in the republic, it is 
 clear that the jealousies and emulation of commerce were not 
 likely to lessen the vice of avarice with which the natives 
 have been reproached. The following is a strong expression 
 of one, who cannot, however, be considered an unprejudiced 
 observer, on occasion of some disputed points between the 
 Dutch and English maritime tribunals : — ** The decisions of 
 our courts cause much ill-will among these people, whose 
 hearts' blood is their purse."* While drunkenness was a vice 
 considered scarcely scandalous, the intrigues of gallantry 
 were concealed with the most scrupulous mystery, — giving 
 
   Carleton. 
 
1648. MANNERS OF THE PEOPLE. 229 
 
 evidence of at least good taste, if not of pure morality. Court 
 etiquette began to be of infinite importance. The wife of 
 count Ernest Casimir of Nassau was so intent on the preser- 
 vation of her right of precedence, that on occasion of lady 
 Carleton, the British ambassadress, presuming to dispute the 
 ftas, she forgot true dignity so far as to strike her. We may 
 imagine the vehement resentment of such a man as Carleton 
 for such an outrage. The lower orders of the people had 
 the rude and brutal manners common to half-civilized nations 
 which fight their way to freedom. The unfortunate king of 
 Bohemia, when a refugee in Holland, was one day hunting ; 
 and, in the heat of the chase, he followed his dogs which had 
 pursued a hare, into a newly sown corn-field : he was quickly 
 interrupted by a couple of peasants armed with pitchforks. 
 He supposed his rank and person to be unknown to them ; 
 but he was soon undeceived, and saluted with unceremonious 
 reproaches. " King of Bohemia ! King of Bohemia !" shout- 
 ed one of the boors, " why do you trample on my wheat which 
 I have so lately had the trouble of sowing 1" The king made 
 I many apologies, and retired, throwing the whole blame on 
 , his dogs. But in the life of marshal Turenne we find a more 
 [ marked trait of manners than this, which might be paralleled 
 , in England at this day. This great general served his ap- 
 \ prenticeship in the art of war under his uncles, the princes 
 [ Maurice and Frederick Henry. He appeared one day on the 
 I public walk at the Hague, dressed in his usual plain and 
 I modest style. Some young French lords, covered with gold, 
 I embroidery, and ribands, met and accosted him : a mob gath- 
 j ered round ; and while treating Turenne, although unknown 
 I to them, with all possible respect, they forced the others to 
 , retire, assailed with mockery and the coarsest abuse. 
 i But one characteristic, more noble and worthy than any of 
 those thus briefly cited, was the full enjoyment of the liberty 
 of the press in the United Provinces. The thirst of gain, the 
 I fury of faction, the federal independence of the minor towns, 
 (the absolute power of prince Maurice, all the combinations 
 •which might carry weight against this grand principle, were 
 I totally ineffectual to prevail over it. And the republic was, 
 !on this point, proudly pre-eminent among surrounding nations. 
 
 U 
 
230 HISTORY OF THE NETHEllLANDS. 1649. 
 
 CHAP. XIX. 
 1648—1678. 
 
 FROM THE PEACE OF MUNSTER TO THE PEACE OF NIMEGUEN. 
 
 The completion of the peace of Munster opens a new 
 scene in the history of the republic. Its political system ex- 
 perienced considerable changes. Its ancient enemies became 
 its most ardent friends, and its old allies loosened the bonds 
 of long-continued amity. The other states of Europe, dis- 
 pleased at its imperious conduct, or jealous of its success, be- 
 gan to wish its humiliation ; but it was little thought that the 
 consummation was to be effected at the hands of England. 
 
 While Holland prepared to profit by the peace so bril- 
 liantly gained, England, torn by civil war, was hurried on in 
 crime and misery, to the final act which has left an indelible 
 stain on her annals. Cromwell and the parliament had com- 
 pletely subjugated the kingdom. The unfortunate king, de- 
 livered up by the Scotch, was brought to a mock trial, and 
 condemned to an ignominious death. Great as were his faults, 
 they are almost lost sight of in the atrocity of his opponents; 
 so surely does disproportioned punishment for political of- 
 fences produce a reaction in the minds that would approve a 
 commensurate penalty. The United Provinces had preserved 
 a strict neutrality while the contest was undecided. The 
 prince of Orange warmly strove to obtain a declaration in 
 favor of his father-in-law, Charles I. The prince of Wales 
 and the duke of York, his sons, who had taken refuge at the 
 Hague, earnestly joined in the entreaty ; but all that could 
 be obtained from the states-general, was their consent to an 
 embassy to interpose with the ferocious bigots who doomed 
 the hapless monarch to the block. Pauw and Joachimi, the 
 one sixty-four years of age, the other eighty-eight, the most 
 able men of the republic, undertook the task of mediation. 
 They were scarcely listened to by the parliament, and the 
 bloody sacrifice took place. 
 
 The details of this event, and its immediate consequences, 
 belong to English history ; and we must hurry over the brief, 
 turbid, and inglorious stadtholderate of William II., to arrive 
 at the more interesting contest between the republic which 
 had honorably conquered its freedom, and that of the rival 
 commonwealth, which had gained its power by hypocrisy, 
 violence, and guilt. 
 
1650. WILLIAM II. 231 
 
 William II. was now in his twenty-fourth year. He had 
 early evinced that heroic disposition which was common to 
 his race. He panted for military glory. All his pleasures 
 were those usual to ardent and high-spirited men, although 
 his delicate constitution seemed to forbid the indulgence of 
 hunting, tennis, and the other violent exercises in which he 
 delighted. He was highly accomplished ; spoke five different 
 languages with elegance and fluency ; and had made consid- 
 erable progress in mathematics, and other abstract sciences. 
 His ambition knew no bounds. Had he reigned over a mon- 
 archy as absolute king, he would most probably have gone 
 down to posterity a conqueror and a hero. But, unfitted to 
 direct a republic as its first citizen, he has left but the name 
 of a rash and unconstitutional magistrate. From the moment 
 of his accession to power, he was made sensible of the jealousy 
 and suspicion with which his office and his character were 
 observed by the provincial states of Holland. Many instances 
 of this disposition were accumulated to his great disgust ; 
 and he was not long in evincing his determination to brave 
 all the odium and reproach of despotic designs, and to risk 
 every thing for the establishment of absolute power. The 
 province of Holland, arrogating to itself the greatest share 
 in the reforms of the army, and the financial arrangements 
 called for by the transition from war to peace, was soon in 
 fierce opposition with the states-general, which supported the 
 prince in his early views. Cornelius Bikker, one of the bur- 
 gomasters of Amsterdam, ^vas the leading person in the states 
 of Holland ; and a circumstance soon occurred which put him 
 and the stadtholder in collision, and quickly decided the great 
 question at issue. 
 
 The admiral Cornellizon de Witt arrived from Brazil with 
 the remains of his fleet, and without the consent of the coun- 
 cil of regency there established by the states-general. He 
 was instantly arrested by order of the prince of Orange, in 
 his capacity of high-admiral. The admiralty of Amsterdam 
 was at the same time ordered by the states-general to 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 towns of the republic, to 
 sound the depths of public opinion on the matters in dispute. 
 The deputation met with varied success ; but the result 
 
 1 
 
232 HISTORY OF THE NETHERLANDS. 1650. 
 
 proved to the irritated prince that no measures of compromise 
 were to be expected, and that force alone was to arbitrate 
 the question. The army was to a man devoted to him. The 
 states-general gave him their entire, and somewhat servile, 
 support. He, therefore, on his own authority, arrested the 
 six deputies of Holland, in the same way that his uncle 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, stadtholder 
 of Friesland, at the head of a numerous detachment of troops, 
 marched secretly and by night to surprise the town : but the 
 darkness, and a violent 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 6f 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-offering, 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 shooting party 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 without a chief The whole of Europe 
 shared more or less in the joy or the regret it caused. • The 
 republican party, both in Holland and in England, rejoiced in 
 a circumstance which threw back the sovereign power into 
 the hands of the nation ;t the partisans of the house of Orange 
 deeply lamented the event. But the birth of a son, of which 
 the widowed princess of Orange was delivered within a week 
 of her 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. t 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 in 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, &c. t Milton, Defens. Top. Angl. 
 
 t Wicquefort, liv. i. p. 781. § Cerisier. 
 
 U2 
 
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 off the threatened danger by every effort 
 of conciliation ; and they met, with temperate management, 
 even the advances made by Cromwell, at the instigation of 
 St John, the chief justice, for a proposed, yet impracticable 
 coalition between the two republics, which was to make 
 them one and indivisible. An embassy to the Hague, with 
 St. John and Strickland at its head, was received with all 
 public honors ; but the partisans of the families of Orange 
 and Stuart, and the populace generally, openly insulted the 
 ambassadors.* About the same time Dorislas, a Dutchman 
 naturalized in England, and sent on a mission from the par- 
 liament, was murdered at the Hague by some Scotch officers, 
 friends of the banished king ; the massacre of Amboyna, 
 thirty years before, was made a cause of revived complaint ; 
 and altogether a sum of injuries was easily made up to turn 
 the proposed fantastic coalition into a fierce and bloody war.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 Avhich 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 witli 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 
 that 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. 1G8. f Hume. \ 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 night 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 hear of 
 neither reason nor remonstrance.! Right or wrong, they 
 were resolved on war. Blake was soon at sea again with a 
 numerous fleet ; Tromp followed with a hundred ships ; but 
 a violent tempest separated these furious enemies, and 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 
 wdth 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 bought 
 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. J 
 
 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 ships 
 of war and twenty-four merchant vessels. Several of the 
 English ships were disabled, one sunk ; and the carnage on 
 both sides was nearly equal. Tromp acquired prodigious 
 honor by this battle ; having succeeded, though defeated, in 
 saving, as has been seen, almost the whole of his immense 
 convoy. On the 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 
 
 * Cerisier. t Hume. t Idem. 
 

 236 HISTORY OF THE NETHERLANDS. 1653. 
 
 Lawson amply revenged his death, by forcing the Dutch to 
 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. The 
 heroic Dutchman, animating his sailors with his sword drawn, 
 was shot through the heart with a musket-ball. This event, 
 and this alone, won the battle, which was the most decisive 
 of the whole war. The enemy captured or sunk nearly 
 thirty ships. The body of Tromp was carried with great 
 solemnity to the church of Delft, where a magnificent 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 humiliating. He had 
 revived his chimerical scheme of a total conjunction of gov- 
 ernment, privileges, and interests between the two republics. 
 TJiis 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 affair of Amboyna, and 85,000/. to the English 
 East India company ; to cede to them the island of Polerone 
 in the East ; to yield tht3 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 were 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 after the conclusion of this inglorious 
 peace, universal discontent and dissension spread throughout 
 the republic. The supporters of the house of Orange, and 
 every impartial friend of the national honor, were indignant 
 at the act of exclusion. Murmurs and revolts broke out in 
 several towns ; and all was once more tumult, agitation, and 
 doubt. No event of considerable importance marks particu- 
 
 * Hume, vol. vii. p, 236. 
 
1656. HOSTILITIES WITH SWEDEN. 237 
 
 larly this epoch of domestic trouble. A new war was at last 
 pronounced inevitable, and was the means of appeasing the 
 distractions of the people, and reconciling by degrees con- 
 tending parties. Denmark, the ancient ally of the republic, 
 was threatened with destruction by Charles Gustavus king 
 of Sweden, who held Copenhagen in blockade. The interests 
 of Holland were in imminent peril should the Swedes gain 
 the passage of the Sound. This double motive influenced 
 De Witt ; and he persuaded the states-general to send admiral 
 Opdam with a considerable fleet to the Baltic. This intrepid 
 successor of the immortal Tromp soon came to blows with a 
 rival worthy to meet him. Wrangel the Sw^edish admiral, 
 with a superior force, defended the passage of the Sound ; 
 and the two castles of Cronenberg and Elsenberg supported 
 his fleet w4th their tremendous fire. But Opdam resolutely 
 advanced : though suffering extreme anguish from an attack 
 of gout, he had himself carried on deck, where he gave his 
 orders with the most admirable coolness and precision, in the 
 midst of danger and carnage. The rival monarchs witnessed 
 the battle ; the kmg 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 the 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 in the 
 island of Funen, by a combined attack of those of Holland 
 and Denmark, consented to a peace highly favorable to the 
 latter power.* 
 
 These transactions placed the United Provinces on a still 
 higher pinnacle of glory than they had ever reached. 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- 
 served 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, much 
 of which was owing to the talents and persevering energy of 
 
 I 
 
 * Cerisier. 
 
238 HISTORY OF THE NETHERLANDS. 1665. 
 
 De Witt ; and, to complete the g-ood 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 entertainments 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 was 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 the 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, but with a 
 
 * Hume. 
 
1666. NAVAL OPERATIONS. 239 
 
 very questionable policy, to induce Louis XIV. to join in the 
 war. Charles offered to allow of his acquiring" the whole of 
 the Spanish Netherlands, provided he would leave him with- 
 out interruption to destroy the Dutch navy, (and, consequent- 
 ly, their commerce,) in the by no means certain expectation 
 that its advantages would all fall to the share of England. 
 But the king of France resolved to support the republic. The 
 king" of Denmark, too, formed an alliance with them, after a 
 series of the most strange tergiversations.* Spain, reduced 
 to feebleness, and menaced with invasion by France, showed 
 no alacrity to meet Charles's overtures for an offensive 
 treaty. Van Galen bishop of Munster, a restless prelate, was 
 the only ally he could acquire. This bishop, at the head of a 
 tumultuous force of 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 energ-ies. 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 25th of July, J when 
 a victory was gained by the English, the enemy having three 
 of their admirals killed. *' My God !" exclaimed De Ruyter, 
 during this desperate fight, and seeing the certainty of defeat ; 
 " what a wretch I am ! Among so many thousand bullets, is 
 there not one to put an end to my miserable life ]" 
 
 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 variance 
 with those given by the Dutch writers. 
 
240 HISTORY OF THE NETHERLANDS. 1667. 
 
 policy, amused the Eng"lish with negotiation while a powerful^ 
 fleet was fitted out. It suddenly appeared in the Thame^ 
 under the command of De Ruyter, and all England was throwi? 
 into consternation. The Dutch took Sheerness, and burned 
 many ships of war ; almost insulting the capital itself in 
 their predatory incursion.* Had the French power joined 
 that of the Provinces at this time, and invaded England, the 
 most fatal results to that kingdom might have taken place. 
 But the alarm soon subsided with the disappearance of the 
 hostile fleet ; and the signing the peace of Breda, on the 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. f 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, and 
 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,{ and on 
 this occasion purchased, cabinet, { called the Cabal; and he 
 entered into a secret treaty with France, in the very teeth of 
 his other engagements. Sweden was dissuaded from the 
 league by the arguments of the French ministers ; and Hol- 
 
 * Temple, vol. iii. p. 40, &c. t De Neny, M6m. t. ii. p. 29. 
 
 t Gourville, M6m. t. ii. p. 14. § Temple, vol. ii. p. 179. 
 
1672. THE FRENCH INVADE HOLLAND. 241 
 
 land in a short time found itself involved in a double war with 
 its late allies. 
 
 A base and piratical attack on the Dutch Smyrna fleet, by 
 a large force under Sir Robert Holmes, on the 13th of March, 
 1672, was the first overt act of treachery on the part of the 
 English government. The attempt completely failed, through 
 the prudence and valor of the Dutch admirals ; and Charles 
 reaped only the double shame of perfidy and defeat. He in- 
 stantly issued a declaration of war against the republic, on 
 reasoning too palpably false to require ^refutation, and too 
 frivolous to merit record to the exclusion of more important 
 matter from our narrow limits. 
 
 Louis at least covered with the semblance of dignity his 
 unjust co-operation in this violence. He soon advanced with 
 his army, and the contingents of Munster and Cologne, his 
 allies, amounting altogether to nearly 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 tlius taken by 
 surprise, utterly defenceless, and apparently without resource. 
 Envy of his uncommon merit aggravated the just complaints 
 against his erroi;. 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.f 
 
 William III, prince of Orange, now twenty-two years of 
 age, was amply endowed with tliose hereditary qualities of 
 valor and wisdom which only required experience to give him 
 rank with the greatest of his ancestors. The Louvenstein 
 party, as the adherents of the house of Orange were called, 
 now easily prevailed in their long-conceived design of placing 
 him at the head of affairs, with the titles of captain-general 
 and high admiral. De Witt, anxious from personal 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 formidable fleet of nearly a hundred ships 
 
   De Neny, M6m. t Hume. 
 
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 
 sail 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 May, 
 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, w^ere 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 aii 
 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 Provinces ; to 
 share the churches with the Catholics, and to pay their 
 priests ; to yield up all the frontier towns, with several in the 
 heart of the republic; to pay him 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 that they owed 
 him their liberty ; and, finally, that they should give entire 
 satisfaction to the king of England. 
 
 Charles, on his part, after the most insulting treatment of 
 the ambassadors sent to London, required, 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 1,000,000/. sterling 
 towards the charges of the war, and 10,000Z. a year for per- 
 mission to fish in the British seas ; that they should share tlie 
 Indian trade with 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 Cornelis, the 
 conscientious but too obstinate opponents of this measure of 
 salvation, fell victims to the popular frenzy. The latter, 
 condemned to banishment on an atrocious charge of intended 
 assassination against the prince of Orange, was visited in his 
 prison at the Hague by the grand pensionary. The rabble, 
 incited to fury by the calumnies spread against these two 
 virtuous citizens, broke into the prison, forced the unfortunate 
 brothers into the street, and there literally tore them to 
 pieces with circumstances of the most brutal ferocity. This 
 horrid scene took place on the 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 saving his country ; and 
 taking his ancestors for models, in the best points of their 
 respective characters, he combined 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 
 
 * Hume, vol. vii. pp. 493, 494. 
 
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 country to the waves, sooner 
 than submit to the political annihilation with which it was 
 threatened. The capability of the vessels in their harbors 
 was calculated ; and they were found sufficient to transport 
 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 foreground 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, asked 
 him if he did not see that the republic was ruined ] " There 
 is one means," replied the prince of Orange, *' which will 
 save me from the sight of my country's ruin — I will die in 
 the last ditch."* 
 
 Action soon proved the reality of the prince's profession. 
 He took the field ; having first punished with death some of 
 the cowardly commanders of the frontier towns. He besieged 
 and took Naarden, an important place ; and, by a masterly 
 movement, formed a junction with Montecuculi, whom the 
 emperor Leopold had at length sent to his assistance with 
 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 I^uis 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 the 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, Holland persevered in the contest 
 
 * Hume. 
 
1676. CONGRESS AT NI3IEGUEN. 245 
 
 with France. He, in the first place, made head, during a 
 winter campaign in Holland, against marshal Luxembourg, 
 who had succeeded Turenne in the Low Countries, the lat- 
 ter being obliged to march against the imperialists in West- 
 phalia. He next advanced to oppose the great Conde, who 
 occupied Brabant with an army of 45,000 men. After much 
 manoeuvring, in which the prince of Orange displayed con- 
 summate talent, he 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 opponent 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 last combat of one commander and the first of the 
 other. " The prince of Orange," said the veteran Conde 
 (who had that day exposed his person more than on any pre- 
 vious occasion,) " has acted in every thing like an old cap- 
 tain, except venturing his 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 the great De Ruyter,* who was killed in 
 an action against the French fleet in the Mediterranean : and 
 about the same time the not less celebrated Turenne met his 
 death from a cannon-ball, in the midst of his triumphs in Ger- 
 many. This year was doubly occupied in a negotiation for 
 peace and an active prosecution of the war. Louis, at the 
 head of his army, took several towns in Belgium : William 
 was unsuccessful in an attempt on Maestricht. About the 
 beginning of winter, the plenipotentiaries of the several bel- 
 ligerents assembled at Nimeguen, where the congress for 
 peace was held. The Hollanders, loaded with debts and 
 taxes, and seeing the weakness and slowness of their allies 
 the Spaniards and Germans, prognosticated nothing but mis- 
 fortunes. 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, w^as, nevertheless, 
 almost always unsuccessful in the field, and never more so 
 
 * The council of Spain gave De Ruyter the title and letters patent of duke, 
 Thelatter arrived in Holland after his death; and his children, with true re- 
 publican spirit, refused to adopt the title. 
 
 V2 
 
246 HISTORY OF THE NETHERLANDS. 1678 
 
 than in tliis 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 
 daugliter of the duke of York, and heir presumptive to the 
 English crown, 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 the parlia- 
 ment and the large presents of Louis differently actuated 
 him,* still the wiser and more just course prevailed, and he 
 finally decided the balance by vigorously declaring his 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 afler the signing of this treaty. He must have 
 Imown 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. { 
 
 CHAP. XX. 
 1678—1713. 
 
 FROM THE PEACE OP NIMEGUEN TO THE PEACE OF UTRECHT. 
 
 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's App. p. 1]2. f Hume, &c. 1 De Neny. 
 
1685. DEATH OF CHARLES II. 247 
 
 real or pretended. Louis XIV., by a stretch of audacious 
 pride hitherto unknown, arrogated to himself the supreme 
 power of regulating- the rest of Europe, as if all the other 
 princes were his vassals. He established courts, or chambers 
 of reunion as they were called, in Metz and Brisac, wliich 
 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 w^as forced, in- 
 stead of gaining the glory he longed for, to consent to a truce 
 for twenty years, which the states-general, now wholly i)a- 
 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 II. died most unexpectedly in the year 1685 ; and 
 his obstinately bigoted and unconstitutional successor, James 
 II., seemed, during a reign of not four years' continuance, to 
 rush wilfully headlong to ruin. During this period, the 
 prince of Orange had maintained a most circumspect and un- 
 exceptionable line of conduct ; steering clear of all interfe- 
 rence with Englisli 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. J Duruig 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 
 lie was more widely and much more congenially employed 
 in the establishment of a fresh league against France. Louis 
 had aroused a new feeling throughout Protestant Europe, by 
 tlie revocation of the edict of Nantes. The refugees whom 
 he had driven from their native country, inspired in those in 
 which they settled, hatred of his persecution as well as alarm 
 of his power. Holland now entered into all the view^s of the 
 
 * Hume. f De Neny. t r>u Mont, Corps Dip), t. vii. 
 
 § Hume. If Hume. 
 
248 HISTORY OP THE NETHERLANDS. 1688. 
 
 prince of Orange. By his immense influence he succeeded 
 in forming the great confederacy called the League of Augs- 
 bourg, 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 w^ould 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 eflectual.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 the sagacity, arranged its plan with the prudence, 
 and put it into execution with the vigor, which were habitual 
 qualities of his mind. 
 
 Louis XIV., menaced by the League of 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 infatuated monarch 
 not only doubted the intelligence, but refused the French 
 king's oiFers of assistance and co-operation. On the 21st of 
 Octoljer, 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 afl:er some delays from bad weather, he safely 
 landed his army in Torbay, on tlie 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 
 
 * Hume. t D'Avaiix. X Hume. 
 
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 chief, England might have still remained en- 
 slaved, or have had to purchase liberty by oceans of blood. 
 By the bill of settlement, the crown was conveyed jointly to 
 the prince and princess of Orange, the sole administration of 
 government to remain in the prince ; and the new sovereigns 
 were proclaimed on the 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, William 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 tliis 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 
 cabinet, at the head of the allied armies, or as the guiding 
 spirit of the councils which gave tliem force and motion. 
 
 Several campaigns were expended, and bloody combats 
 fought, almost all to the disadvantage of William, whose 
 genius for war was never seconded by that good fortune which 
 60 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 v.as 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. Mens and Namur were taken by the French, 
 
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. desul- 
 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 XT. king of 
 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 XIL, retarded them on ]X)ints of form for some 
 time. At length, on the 20t]i 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 tlie king of Great Britain, whose title he now for the 
 first time acknowledged. Between Franco and Holland were 
 declared a general armistice, perpetual amity, a mutual resti- 
 tution of towns, a reciprocal renunciation of all pretensions 
 uix)n each other, and a treaty of commerce which was imme- 
 diately put into execution. Tlius, 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 fiitility 
 and wickedness of those quarrels in which tlie personal am- 
 bition of kings leads to tlie misery of the people. Had the 
 allies been true to each other throughout, I^ouis would cer* 
 tainly have been reduced much lower than lie now was. His 
 
 * Smollett, vol. i. pp. 316, 317. t De Neny. 
 
1700. WAR OF SUCCESSION. 251 
 
 pride was humbled, and his encroachments stx)pped. But the 
 sufferings of the various countries engaged in the war, were 
 too generally reciprocal to make its result of any material 
 benefit to either. The emperor held out for a while, encour- 
 aged by the great victory gained by his general, prince Eu- 
 gene of Savoy, over the Turks at Zenta in Hungary ; but he 
 finally acceded to tlie 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 leadmg 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- 
 jou, second son of the dauphin, and grandson of Louis XIV., 
 his successor to the whole of the Spanish monarchy.! Louis 
 immediately renounced his adherence to the treaties of 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 wliich 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 Eugeno, the conqueror of tlie 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 after the expiration of the family compact which 
 was meant to deprive it of its force. 
 
 Louis prepared to act vigorously. Among other measures, 
 he caused part of the Dutch army that was quartered in 
 
   De Neny. f Du Mont, Corps Diplora. 
 
252 HISTORY OF THE NETHERLANDS. 170r|| 
 
 Luxembourg' and Brabant to be suddenly made prisoners of 
 war, because they would not own Philip V. as king of Spain. 
 The states-general were dreadfully alarmed, immediately 
 made the required acknowledgment, and in consequence had 
 their soldiers released.* They quickly reinforced their 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 England ; 
 and he met their application by warm assurances of support, 
 and an immediate reinforcement of three regiments. 
 
 William followed up these measures by the formation of 
 the celebrated treaty called the Grand Alliance, by which 
 England, the States, and the emperor covenanted for the 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 his great ancestor William L, 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 self-exile to slavery. All his acts were certainly 
 merged in the one overwhelming object of a great ambition 
 — that noble quality, which, if coupled with the love of 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. | Smollett. 
 
1702. .MARLBOROUGH AND EUGENE. 253 
 
 tions of the country. Strong assurances of support from 
 queen Amie, William's successor, still furtlier encouraged the 
 republic, which now vigorously prepared for w^ar. But it did 
 not lose this occasion of recurring to the form of government 
 of 1650. No new stadtholder was now appointed ; the supreme 
 authority being vested in the general assembly of the states, 
 and the active direction of affairs confided to the grand pen- 
 sionary. This departure from the form of government which 
 had been on various occasions proved to be essential to the 
 safety, although at all times hazardous to the independence, 
 of the States, was not attended with any evil consequences. 
 The factions and the anarchy which had before been the con- 
 sequence of the course now adopted, were prevented by the 
 potent influence of national fear lest the enemy might triumph, 
 and crush the hopes, tlie jealousies, and the enmities of all 
 parties in one general ruin. Thus the common danger awoke 
 a common interest, and the splendid successes of her allies 
 kept Holland steady in the career of patriotic energy which 
 had its rise in the dread of her redoubtable foe. 
 
 The joy in France at William's death was proportionate to 
 the grief it created in Holland ; and the arrogant confidence 
 of lx)uis seemed to know no bounds. "I will punish these 
 audacious merchants,'' said he, with an air of disdain, when 
 he read the manifesto of Holland ; not foreseeing that those 
 he aflfected to despise so much would, ere-long, command in 
 a great measure the destinies of his crown. Queen Anne 
 entered upon the w-ar w4th masculine intrepidity, and main- 
 tained it witli heroic energy. Eflbrts were made by the Eng- 
 lish ministry and the states-general to mediate between the 
 kings of Sweden and Poland. But Charles XII., enamoured 
 of glory, and bent on the one great object of his designs 
 against Russia, would listen to nothing that might lead him 
 from his immediate career of victory.* Many other of the 
 northern princes were withheld, by various motives, from en- 
 tering into the contest with France, and its whole brunt de- 
 volved on the original members of the grand alliance. The 
 generals who carried it on were Marlborough and prince 
 Eugene. The former, at its commencement an earl, and sub- 
 sequently raised to the dignity of duke, was declared gene- 
 ralissimo of the Dutch and English forces. He was a man of 
 most powerful genius, both as warrior and politician. A pupil 
 of the great Turenne, his exploits left those of his master in 
 the shade. No commander ever possessed in a greater degree 
 the faculty of forming vast designs, and of carrying them 
 
 * Voltaire. 
 
 w 
 
254 HISTORY OF THE NETHERLANDS. 1702. 
 
 into eff'ect 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, y 
 and a capacity for the most minute of the minor details om 
 which their successful issue so often depends. United in the 
 same cause, these two great generals pursued their course 
 without the least misunderstanding. At the close of each of 
 those successive campaigns, in which they reaped such a full 
 harvest of renown, they retired together to the Hague, to 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 often 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 France 
 
 * Hist, (le Voltaire, Charles XII. p. 112. t Voltaire. 
 
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 affairs of 
 Holland oflfered 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, Benbow, and others of their allies. The first 
 of those admirals 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 influence 
 of the duke of Marlborougii 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 eflbrts to repair her ruinous 
 losses. In the following year I^uis renewed his attempts to 
 obtain some tolerable conditions; offering to renounce his 
 grandson, and to comply with all tlie former demands of the 
 confederates.! Even these overtures were rejected ; Holland 
 and England appearing satisfied with nothing short of, what 
 was after all impracticable, the total destruction of the great 
 power whicli 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 accomplished what, in court parlance, is called the 
 disgrace, but which, in the language of common sense, means 
 only the dismissal, of this great man. The new ministry, 
 who hated the Dutch, now entered seriously into negotiations 
 with France. The queen acceded to these views, and sent 
 
 * Smollet. t Wem. X li^^m. 
 
256 HISTORY OF THE IVETHERLAISDS. 1713. 
 
 Special envoys to communicate with the court of Versailles. 
 The states-general found it nnpossible 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 power but those records of 
 poetry, painting, sculpture, and architecture, which tell pos- 
 terity of his magnificence, and the splendor of whicli throw 
 his faults and his misfortunes into the shade. 
 
 Tlie 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. Tlie 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 tlie 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 
 the emperor, wlio was far from wishing its definitive settle- 
 
1713. PEACE OF UTRECHT. 257 
 
 ment.* But it was now become an indispensable item in the 
 total of important measures whose accomplishment was called 
 for by the peace of Utrecht. Conferences were opened on 
 this sole question at Antwerp in the year 1714 ; and, after 
 protracted and difficult discussions, the treaty of the Barrier 
 was concluded on the 15th of November, 1715. For the 
 twenty-six articles contained in this important document we 
 must refer to the work the most valuable on such points, and 
 already so often quoted, f 
 
 This treaty was looked on with an evil eye in the Austrian 
 Netherlands. The clamor was great and general ; jealousy 
 of the commercial prosperity of Holland being the real mo- 
 tive. Long negotiations took place on the subject of the 
 treaty; and in December, 1718, the republic consented to 
 modify some of the articles. The pragmatic sanction, pub- 
 lished at Vienna in 1713 by Charles VI., regulated the suc- 
 cession to all the imperial hereditary possessions; and, among 
 the rest, the provinces of the Netherlands. But this ar- 
 rangement, though guarantied by the chief powers of Europe, 
 was, in the sequel, little respected, and but indifferently exe- 
 cuted, j: 
 
 CHAP. XXL 
 1713—1795. 
 
 FROM THE PEACE OF UTRECHT TO THE INCORPORATION OF BEL- 
 GIUM AVITH THE FRENCH REPUBLIC. 
 
 During a period of thirty years following the treaty of 
 Utrecht, the republic enjoyed the unaccustomed blessing of 
 profound peace. While the discontents of the Austrian 
 Netherlands on the subject of the treaty of the Barrier were 
 in debate, the quadruple alliance was formed between Hol- 
 land, England, France, and the emperor, for reciprocal aid 
 against all enemies, foreign and domestic. 5 It was in virtue 
 of this treaty that the pretender to the English throne re- 
 ceived orders to remove from France ; and the states-general 
 about the same time arrested the Swedish ambassador, baron 
 Gortz, whose intrigues excited some suspicion. The death 
 of liOuis XIV. had once more changed the political system 
 of Europe ; and the commencement of the eighteenth century 
 was fertile in negotiations and alliances in which we have 
 
 * De Neny, t. i. p. 141, t See Dc Neny's M6inoiros, t. i. p. 142, &c. 
 
 i De Neny. § Smollett. 
 
 W3 
 
258 HISTORY OF THE NETHERLANDS. 1732. 
 
 at present but little direct interest. The rights of the repub- 
 lic were in all instances respected ; and Holland did not cease 
 to be considered as a power of the first distinction and conse- 
 quence. The establishment of an East India company at 
 Ostend, by the emperor Charles VI., in 1722, was the princi- 
 pal cause of disquiet to the United Provinces, and the most 
 likely to lead to a rupture. But, by the treaty of Hanover in 
 1726, the rights of Holland resulting from the treaty of Mun- 
 ster were guarantied ; and in consequence the emperor abol- 
 ished the company of his creation, by the treaty of Seville in 
 1729, and that of Vienna in 1731. 
 
 The peace which now reigned in Europe allowed the Uni- 
 ted Provinces to direct their whole efforts towards the reform 
 of those internal abuses resulting from feudality and fanati- 
 cism. Confiscations were reversed, and property secured 
 throughout the republic. ..It received into its protection the 
 persecuted sectarians of France, Germany, and Hungary ; 
 and the tolerant wisdom which it exercised in these measures 
 gives the best assurance of its justice and prudence in one of 
 a contrary nature, forming a solitary exception to them. This 
 was the expulsion of the Jesuits, whose dangerous and de- 
 structive doctrines had been long a warrant for this salutary 
 example to the Protestant states of Europe. 
 
 In the year 1732 the United Provinces were threatened 
 with imminent peril, which accident alone prevented from 
 becoming fatal to their very existence. It was perceived that 
 the dikes, which had for ages preserved the coasts, were in 
 many places crumbling to ruin, in spite of the enormous ex- 
 penditure of money and labor devoted to their preservation. 
 By chance it was discovered that the beams, piles, and otlier 
 timber works employed in the construction of the dikes, were 
 eaten through in all parts by a species of sea-worm hitherto 
 unknown. The terror of the people was, as may be supposed, 
 extreme. Every possible resource was applied which could 
 remedy the evil ; a hard frost providentially set in and de- 
 stroyed the formidable reptiles ;* and the country was thus 
 saved from a danger tenfold greater than that involved in a 
 dozen wars. 
 
 The peace of Europe was once more disturbed in 1733. 
 
 Poland, Germany, France, and Spain, were all embarked in 
 
 the new war. Holland and England stood aloof; and another 
 
 family alliance of great consequence drew still closer than 
 
 . ever the bonds of union between them. The young prince of 
 
 f Orange, who in 1728 had been elected stadtholder of Gronin- 
 
 I gen and Guelders, in addition to that of Friesland which had 
 
 * Smollett. 
 
1743. BATTLE OF DETTINGEN. 259 
 
 been enjoyed by his father, had in the year 1734 married the 
 princess Anne, daughter of George II. of England ; and by 
 thus adding to the consideration of the house of Nassau, had 
 opened a field for the recovery of all its old distinctions. 
 
 The death of the emperor Charles VI., in October, 1740, 
 left his daughter, the archduchess Maria Theresa, heiress of 
 his throne and possessions. Young, beautiful, and endowed 
 with qualities of the highest order, she was surrounded with 
 enemies whose envy and ambition would have despoiled her 
 of her splendid rights. Frederick of Prussia, surnamed the 
 Great, in honor of his abilities rather than his sense of justice, 
 the electors of Bavaria and Saxony, and the kings of Spain 
 and Sardinia, all pressed forward to the spoliation of an in- 
 heritance which seemed a fair play for all comers. But Maria 
 Theresa, first joining her husband, duke Francis of Lorraine, 
 in her sovereignty, i)ut without prejudice to it, under the title 
 of co-regent, took an attitude truly heroic. When every thing 
 seemed to threaten the dismemberment of her states, she 
 threw herself upon the generous fidelity of her Hungarian 
 subjects with a dignified resolution that has few examples. 
 There was imperial grandeur even in her appeal to their 
 compassion. The results were electrical ; and the whole tide 
 of fortune was rapidly turned. 
 
 England and Holland were the first to come to the aid of 
 the young and interesting empress. George II., at tlie head 
 of his army, gained the victory of Dettingen, in support of her 
 quarrel, in 1743 ; the states-general having contributed 20,000 
 men and a large subsidy to her aid. Louis XV. resolved to 
 ^irow his whole influence into the scale against these gener- 
 /bus eflfbrts in the princess's favor ; and he invaded the Austrian 
 / Netherlands in the following year. Marshal Saxe commanded 
 under him, and at first carried every thing before him. Hol- 
 land, having furnished 20,000 troops and six ships of war to 
 George II. on the invasion of the young pretender, was little 
 in a state to oppose any formidable resistance to the enemy 
 that threatened her own frontiers. The republic, wholly at- 
 tached for so long a period to pursuits of peace and commerce, 
 had no longer good generals nor effective armies ; nor could 
 it even put a fleet of any importance to sea. Yet with all 
 these disadvantages it would not yield to the threats nor the 
 demands of France ; resolved to risk a new war rather than 
 succumb to an enemy it had once so completely humbled and 
 given the law to. - 
 
 Conferences were opened at Breda, but interrupted almost 
 as soon as commenced. Hostilities w^ere renewed. The 
 memorable battle of Fontenoy was offered and gloriously fought 
 
260 HISTORY OF THE NETHERLANDS. 1751. 
 
 by the allies ; accepted and spendidly won by the French. 
 Never did the English and Dutch troops act more nobly in 
 concert than on this remarkable occasion. The valor of the 
 French was not less conspicuous ; and the success of the day 
 was in a great measure decided by the Irish battalions, sent, 
 by the lamentable politics of those and much later days, to 
 swell the ranks and gain the battles of England's enemies. 
 Marshal Saxe followed up his advantage the following year, 
 taking Brussels and many other towns. Almost the whole of 
 the Austrian Netherlands being now in the power of Louis 
 XV., and the United Provinces again exposed to invasion and 
 threatened with danger, they had once more recourse to the 
 old expedient of the elevation of the house of Orange, which 
 in times of imminent peril seemed to present a never-failing 
 palladium. Zealand was the first to give the impulsion ; the 
 other provinces soon followed the example ; and William IV. 
 was proclaimed stadtholder and captain-general, amidst the 
 almost unanimous rejoicings of all. These dignities were soon 
 after declared hereditary both in the male and female line of 
 succession of the house of Orange Nassau. 
 
 The year 1748 saw the termination of the brilliant cam- 
 paigns of Louis XV. during this bloody war of eight years' 
 continuance. The treaty of Aix-]a-Chapelle, definitively 
 signed on the 18th of October, put an end to hostilities; Maria 
 Theresa was established in her rights and power; and Europe 
 saw a fair balance of the nations, which gave promise of se- 
 curity and peace. But the United Provinces, when scarcely 
 recovering from struggles which had so checked their pros- 
 perity, were employed in new and universal grief and anxiety 
 by the deatli of their young stadtholder, which happened at 
 the Hague, October 13, 1751. He had long been kept out 
 of the government, though by no means deficient in the talents 
 suited to his station. His son, William V., aged but three 
 years and a half, succeeded him, under the guardianship of 
 his mother, Anne qf England, daughter of George II. a prin- 
 cess represented to be of a proud and ambitious temper, who 
 immediately assumed a high tone of authority in the state.* 
 
 The war of seven years, w^hich agitated the north of Eu- 
 rope, and deluged its plains with blood, was almost the only 
 one in which the republic was able to preserve a strict neu- 
 trality throughout. But this happy state of tranquillity was 
 not, as on former occasions, attended by that prodigious in- 
 crease of commerce, and that accumulation of wealth, which 
 had so often astonished the world. Differing with England 
 on the policy which led the latter to weaken and humiliate 
 
 * Horace Walpole's Mem. vol. i. p. 179, 180. 
 
1772. SEVEN years' war. 261 
 
 France, jealousies sprung" up between the two countries, and 
 Dutch commerce became the object of the most vexatious 
 and injurious efforts on the part of England. Remonstrance 
 was vain ; resistance impossible ; and the decline of the re- 
 public hurried rapidly on. The Hanseatic towns, the Ameri- 
 can colonies, the northern states of Europe, and France 
 itself, all entered into the rivalry with Holland, in which, 
 however, England carried off* the most important prizes. Sev- 
 eral private and petty encounters took place between the 
 vessels of England and Holland, in consequence of the pre- 
 tensions of tlie former to the right of search ; and had the 
 republic possessed the ability of former periods, and the 
 talents of a Tromp or a De Ruyter, a new war would no 
 doubt have been the result But it was forced to submit ; and 
 a degrading but irritating tranquillity was the consequence 
 for several years ; the national feelings receiving a salvo for 
 home-decline by some extension of colonial settlements in 
 the East, in which the island of Ceylon was included. 
 
 In the midst of this inglorious state of things, and the do- 
 mestic abundance which was the only compensation for the 
 gradual loss of national influence, the installation of William 
 V. in 1766 ; his marriage with the princess of Prussia, niece 
 of Frederick the Great, in 1768 ; and the birth of two sons, the 
 eldest on the 24th of August, 1772 ; successively took place. 
 Magnificent fetes celebrated these events ; the satisfied citi- 
 zens little imagining, amid their indolent rejoicings, the dis- 
 mal futurity of revolution and distress which was silently but 
 rapidly preparing for their country. 
 
 Maria Theresa, reduced to widowhood by the death of her 
 husband, whom she had elevated to the imperial dignity by 
 the title of Francis I., continued for a while to rule singly 
 her vast possessions ; and had profited so little by the suffer- 
 ings of her own early reign, that she joined in the iniquitous 
 dismemberment of Poland, which has left an indelible stain 
 on her memory, and on that of Frederick of Prussia and 
 Catharine of Russia. In her own dominions she was adored ; 
 and her name is to this day cherished in Belgium among the 
 dearest recollections of the people. 
 
 The impulsion given to the political mind of Europe by the 
 revolution in North America was soon felt in the Nether- 
 lands. The wish for reform was not merely confirmed to the 
 people. A memorable instance was offered by Joseph II., son 
 and successor of Maria Theresa, that sovereigns were not 
 only susceptible of rational notions of change, but that the 
 infection of radical extravagance could penetrate even to the 
 imperial crown. Disgusted by the despotism exercised by 
 
i 
 
 262 HISTORY OF THE NETHERLANDS. 1784. 
 
 the clergy of Belgium, Joseph commenced his reign by mea- 
 sures that at once roused a desperate spirit of hosfility in the 
 priesthood, and soon spread among the bigoted mass of the 
 people, who were wholly subservient to their will. Miscal- 
 culating his own power, and undervaluing that of the priests, 
 the emperor issued decrees and edicts with a sweeping vio- 
 lence that shocked every prejudice and roused every passion 
 perilous to the country. Toleration to the Protestants, eman- 
 cipation of the clergy from the papal yoke, reformation in the 
 system of theological instruction, were among the wholesale 
 measures of the emperor's enthusiasm, so imprudently at- 
 tempted and so virulently opposed. 
 
 But ere the deep-sown seeds of bigotry ripened to revolt, 
 or produced the fruit of active resistance in Belgium, Holland 
 had to endure the mortification of another war with England. 
 The republic resolved on a futile* imitation of the northern 
 powers, who had adopted the difficult and anomalous system 
 of an armed neutrality, for the prevention of English domina- 
 tion on the seas. The right of search, so proudly established 
 by this power, was not likely to be wrenched from it by mani- 
 festoes or remonstrances ; and Holland was not capable of a 
 more effectual warfare. In the year 1781, St. Eustache, 
 Surinam, Essequibo, and Demerara, were taken by British 
 valor ; and in the following year several of the Dutch colo- 
 nies in the East, well fortified but ill defended, also fell into 
 the hands of England. Almost the whole of those colonies, 
 the remnants of prodigious power acquired by such incalcu- 
 lable instances of enterprise and courage, were one by one 
 assailed and taken. But this did not suffice for the satisfac- 
 tion of English objects in the prosecution of the war. It was 
 also resolved to deprive Holland of the Baltic trade. A squad- 
 ron of seven vessels, commanded by Sir Hyde Parker, was 
 encountered on the Dogher Bank by a squadron of Dutch 
 ships of the same force under admiral Zoutman. An action 
 of four hours was maintained with all the ancient courage 
 which made so many of the memorable sea-fights between 
 Tromp, De Ruyter, Blake, and Monk, drawn battles. A 
 storm separated the combatants, and saved the honor of each ; 
 for both had sufl^ered alike, and victory had belonged to 
 neither. The peace of 1784 terminated this short, but, to 
 Holland, fatal war ; the two latter years of which had been, 
 in the petty warfare of privateering, most disastrous to the 
 commerce of the republic. Negapatam on the coast of Coro- 
 mandel, and the free navigation of the Indian seas, were 
 ceded to England, who occupied the other various colonies 
 taken during the war. 
 
1787. SPIRIT OF REVOLUTION. 263 
 
 Opinion was now rapidly opening out tx) that spirit of in- 
 tense inquiry which arose in France, and threatened to sweep 
 before it not only all that was corrupt, but every thing" that 
 tended to corruption. It is in the very essence of all kinds of 
 power to have that tendency, and, if not checked by salutary 
 means, to reach that end. But the reformers of the last cen- 
 tury, new in the desperate practice of revolutions, seeing* its 
 necessity, but ignorant of its nature, neither did nor could 
 place bounds to the careering" whirlwind that they raised. 
 ^The well-meaning but intemperate changes essayed by Jo- 
 seph II. in Belgium had a considerable share in the develop- 
 ment of free principles, although they at first seemed only to 
 excite the resistance of bigotry and strengthen the growtli 
 of superstition. Holland was always alive to those feelings 
 of resistance to established authority which characterize re- 
 publican opinions ; and the general discontent at the result 
 of the war with England gave a good excuse to the pretended 
 patriotism which only wanted change, while it professed re- 
 form. The stadtholder saw clearly the storm which was 
 gathering, and which menaced his power. Anxious for the 
 present, and uncertain for the future, he listened to the sug- 
 gestions of England, and resolved to secure and extend by 
 foreign force the rights of which he risked the loss from do- 
 mestic faction. 
 
 In the divisions which were now loudly proclaimed among 
 the states, in favor of, or opposed to the house of Orange, the 
 people, despising all new theories which they did not com- 
 prehend, took open part with the family so closely connected 
 with every practical feeling of good which their country had 
 yet known. The states of Holland soon proceeded to mea- 
 sures of violence. Resolved to limit the power of the stadt- 
 holder, they deprived him of the command of the garrison of 
 the Hague, and of all the other troops of the province ; and, 
 shortly afterwards, declared him removed from all his em- 
 ployments. The violent disputes and vehement discussions 
 consequent upon this measure, throughout the republic, an- 
 nounced an inevitable commotion. The advance of a Prus- 
 sian army towards the frontiers inflamed the passions of one 
 party, and strengthened the confidence of the other. An in- 
 cident which now happened brought about the crisis even 
 sooner than was expected. The princess of Orange left her 
 palace at Loo to repair to the Hague ; and travelling with 
 great simplicity and slightly attended, she was arrested and 
 detained by a military post on the frontiers of the province 
 of Holland. The neighboring magistrates of the town of 
 Woesden refused her permission to continue her journey, 
 
264 HISTORY OF THE NETHERLANDS. 1787. 
 
 and forced her to return to Loo under such surveillance as 
 was usual with a prisoner of state. The stadtholder and the 
 English ambassador loudly complained of this outrage. The 
 complaint was answered by the immediate advance of the 
 duke of Brunswick, witli 20,000 Prussian soldiers. Some 
 demonstrations of resistance were made by the astonished 
 party whose outrageous conduct had provoked the measure ; 
 but in three weeks' time the whole of the republic was in per- 
 fect obedience to the authority of the stadtholder, who re- 
 sumed all his functions of chief magistrate, with the additional 
 influence which was sure to result from a vain and unjusti- 
 fiable attempt to reduce his former power.* 
 
 By this time, the discontent and agitation in Belgium had 
 attained a most formidable height. The attempted reforma- 
 tion in religion and judicial abuses persisted in by the empe- 
 ror, were represented, by a party whose existence was com- 
 promised by reform, as notliing less than sacrilege and tyranny, 
 and blindly rejected by a people still totally unfitted for ra- 
 tional enlightenment in points of faith, or practices of civili- 
 zation. Remonstrances and strong complaints were soon 
 succeeded by tumultuous assemblages and open insurrection. 
 A lawyer of Brussels, named Vander Noot, put himself at 
 the head of the malcontents. The states-general of Brabant 
 declared the new measures of the emperor to be in opposition 
 to the constitution and privileges of the country. The other 
 Belgian provinces soon followed this example. The prince 
 Albert of Saxe-Teschen, and the archduchess Maria Theresa, 
 his wife, were at this period joint governors-general of the 
 Austrian Netherlands. At the burst of rebellion, they at- 
 tempted to temporize ; but this only strengthened the revolu- 
 tionary party, while the emperor wholly disapproved their 
 measures, and recalled them to Vienna. 
 
 Count Murray was now named governor-general ; and it 
 was evident that the future fate of the provinces was to de- 
 pend on the issue of civil war. Count Trautmansdorfl^, the 
 imperial minister at Brussels, and general D' Alton, who com- 
 manded the Austrian troops, took a high tone, and evinced a 
 peremptory resolution. The soldiery and the citizens soon 
 came into contact on many points; and blood was spilt at 
 Brussels, Mechlin, and Antwerp. 
 
 The provincial states were convoked, for the purpose of 
 voting the usual subsidies. Brabant, after some opposition, 
 
 * We regret to be beyond the reach of Mr. Ellis's interesting but unpub- 
 lished work, detailing the particulars of this revolution. The former perusal 
 of a copy of it only leaves a recollection of its admirable style and the lead- 
 ing facts, but not of the details with sufficient accuracy to justify more than 
 a general reference to the work itself. 
 
1788. INSURRECTION AND CONFEDERATION. 265 
 
 consented ; but the states of Hainault unanimously refused 
 the vote. The emperor saw, or supposed, that the necessity 
 for decisive measures was now inevitable. * The refractory 
 states were dissolved, and arrests and imprisonments were 
 multiplied in all quarters. Vander Noot, who had escaped to 
 England, soon returned to the Netherlands, and established a 
 committee at Breda, which conferred on him the imposing 
 title of agent plenipotentiary of the people of Brabant. He 
 hoped, under this authority, to interest the English, Prussian, 
 and Dutch governments in favor of his views ; but his pro- 
 posals were coldly received : Protestant states had little sym- 
 pathy for a people whose resistance was excited, not by tyran- 
 nical efforts against freedom, but by broad measures of civil 
 and religious reformation ; the only fault of which was their 
 attempted application to minds wholly incompetent to com- 
 prehend their value. 
 
 Left to themselves, the Belgians soon gave a display of 
 that energetic valor which is natural to them, and which 
 would be entitled to still greater admiration had it been 
 evinced in a worthier cause. During the fermentation which 
 led to a general rising in the provinces, on the impulse of 
 fanatic zeal, the truly enlightened portion of the people con- 
 ceived the project of raising, on the ruins of monkish super- 
 stition and aristocratical power, an edifice of constitutional 
 freedom. Vonck, also an advocate of Brussels, took the lead 
 in this splendid design ; and he and his friends proved them- 
 selves to have reached the level of that true enlightenment 
 which distinguished the close of the eighteenth century. But 
 the Vonckists, as they were called, formed but a small mi- 
 nority compared with the besotted mass ; and, overwhelmed 
 by fanaticism on the one hand, and despotism on the other, 
 they were unable to act effectually for the public good. Van- 
 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 in this crisis, 
 where so much depended upon the prudence of the military 
 chief He made no rash attempt, to which commanders are 
 sometimes induced by reliance upon the enthusiasm of a 
 newly revolted people. He, however, took the earliest safe 
 opportunity of coming to blows with the enemy ; and, having 
 cleverly induced the Austrians to follow him into the very 
 X 
 
266 HISTORY OF TIIE NETHERLANDS. 179ll 
 
 streets of the town of Turnhout, he there entered on a bloody 
 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 confederation 
 under the name of the United Belgian States.* 
 
 All the hopes arising from these brilliant events, were soon, 
 however, to be blighted by the scorching heats of faction, 
 Joseph II., whose temperament appears to have been too 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 successfully 
 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 ungratefully forgot- 
 ten the eminent services of Vander Mersch, and accused him 
 of treachery, merely from his attachment to the noble views 
 and principles of the widely-increasing party of the Vonck- 
 ists. Induced by the hope of reconciling the opposing parties, 
 he left his army in Namur, and imprudently ventured into 
 the power of general Schoenfeld, who commanded the troops 
 of the states. Vander Mersch was instantly arrested and 
 thrown into prison, w^here he lingered for months, until set 
 free by the overthrow of the faction he had raised to power if 
 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 Feller's 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 expected from this combination of bigotry and rashness, 
 the imperial troops under general Bender marched quietly to 
 the conquest of the whole country ; town after town opening 
 their gates, while Vander Noot and his partisans betook 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 II., 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 possession of this country.* 
 
 This war between France and Austria began its earliest 
 operations on the very first days after the accession of Francis 
 II. The victory of Jemappes, gained by Dumouriez, was the 
 first great event of the campaign. The Austrians were on 
 all sides driven out. Dumouriez made his triumphal entry 
 into Brussels on the 13th of November : and immediately 
 after the occupation of this town, the whole of Flanders, Bra- 
 bant, and Hainault, with the other Belgian provinces, were 
 subjected to France. Soon afterwards several pretended 
 deputies from the Belgian people 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 Pr adt, de la Belgique, p. 6. 
 
) 
 
 268 HISTORY OF THE NETHERLANDS. 1794. 
 
 on France. Various decrees were issued in consequence^ 
 and after the mockery of a public choice, hurried on in seve-J 
 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 
 Cobourg, 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, who 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 the 
 sieges which took place, the English army was, as usual, in 
 the foremost ranks, under the duke of York, second son of 
 George III. The prince of Orange, at the head of the Dutch 
 troops, proved his inheritance of the valor which seems inse- 
 parable from the najne of Nassau. The archduke Charles 
 laid the foundation of his subsequent high reputation. The 
 emperor Francis himself fought valiantly at the head of his 
 troops. But all the coalesced courage of these princes and 
 their armies could not effectually stop the progress of the 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- 
 J;rary government had given the people a sample of what they 
 ,fivere to expectf The Austrian Netherlands and the province 
 Ipf Liege were divided into nine departments, forming an in- 
 ijtegral 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 Smet. | De Snaet. 
 
1794. THE BATAVIAN REPUBLIC. 269 
 
 CHAP. XXII. 
 1794--1813. 
 
 FROM THE INVASION OF HOLLAND BY THE FRENCH TO THE 
 RETURN OF THE PRINCE OF ORANGE. 
 
 While the fate of Belgium was decided on the plains of 
 Fleurus, Pichegru prepared to carry the triumphant arms of 
 France into the heart of Holland. He crossed the Meuse at 
 the head of 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, which 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- 
 i 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 
 showered on the new state, by the sister republic which had 
 X2 
 
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 suffering 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 the Indies ravished from her by 
 the British arms. She was at the same time obliged to cede 
 to her ally the whole of Dutch Flanders, Maestricht, Venloo, 
 and their dependencies ; and to render free and common to 
 both nations the navigation of the Rhine, the Meuse, and the 
 Scheldt. 
 
 The internal situation of the unfortunate republic was 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 Camperdown ; and in spite of the 
 bravery of the latter he was taken prisoner, with nine ships 
 of the line and a frigate. An expedition on an 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 Holder was the destination of this armament, which was 
 commanded by Sir Ralph Abercrombie. The duke of York 
 soon arrived in the Texel with a considerable reinforcement. 
 A series of severe and well-contested actions near Bergen 
 ended in the defeat of the allies, and the abandonment of the 
 enterprise ; the only success of which was the capture of the 
 remains of the Dutch fleet, which was safely conveyed to 
 England. 
 
 •^ From this period the weight of French oppression became 
 -. fCvery day more intolerable in Holland. Ministers, generals, 
 ^knd every other species of functionary, with swarms of minor 
 
 * Ciiad. 
 
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 hopeless and 
 degraded state, was in fact but a forced appendage chained to 
 the triumphal car of France. 
 
 Napoleon Bonaparte, creating by the force of his 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, but spurned the multitude 
 by whom these prejudices had been overthrown. Yet he 
 was not of the first order of great minds ; for he wanted that 
 grand principle of self-control, which is the supreme attribute 
 of greatness. Potent, and almost irresistible in every 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 mankind, 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 I^ouis Bonaparte was gentle and amiable, 
 his manners easy and afiable. He entered on his new rank 
 with the best intentions towards the country which lie 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 OF THE NETHERLANDS. 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 ; 
 so much so, that it is believed that had the ill-fated English 
 expedition to Walcheren in 1809 succeeded, and the army 
 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 
 left 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. 
 I The annexation of Holland to the French empire was im- 
 ll mediately pronounced by Napoleon. Two thirds of the na- 
 tional debt were abolished, the conscription law was intro- 
 ' \ duced, and the Berlin and Milan decrees against the intro- 
 duction of British manufactures were rigidly enforced. The 
 nature of the evils inflicted on the Dutch people by this an- 
 nexation and its consequences demands 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 Louis 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. 12. t Idem. 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 garrisons 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 the 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 prefect, 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 themselves with horses, arms, and 
 accoutrements ; and when arrived at the depot appointed for 
 their assembling, considered probably but as hostages for the 
 fidelity of their relatives. 
 
 The various taxes were laid on and levied in the most 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- 
 
! 
 
 274 HISTORY OF THE NETHERLANDS. 1813i^ 
 
 erty, and all were regulated on a scale of almost intolerablea 
 severity. The whole sum annually obtained from Holland byy 
 these means amounted to about 30 millions of florins (or 33 
 million pounds sterling,) being at the rate of about 1^. Ids. 4rfj, 
 from every soul inhabiting the country. 1 
 
 The operation of what was called the continental system I 
 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 largee 
 and fertile territories, the population which could no longerr 
 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 the 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 Haer- 
 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 the Hague, at Delfl, and in other towns, many 
 inhabitants had been induced to pull down their houses, from 
 inability to keep them in repair or pay the taxes. The pre- 
 servation of the dikes, requiring an annual expense of 
 600,000/. sterling-, 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 riavy, 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 Dutch felt every aggravation of 
 calamity, considering themselves degraded and sacrificed by 
 a power which had robbed them of all which attaches a p>eo- 
 ple to their native land ; and, for an accumulated list of evils, 
 only offered them the empty glory of appertaining to the 
 country whicli 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 the 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. It 
 
276 HISTORY OF THE NETHERLANDS, 1813 
 
 may be safely affirmed, that at the close of the year 1813, 
 these were the unanimous wishes of the Dutch nation.* 
 
 Napoleon, lost in the labyrinths of his exorbitant ambition, 
 afforded at length a chance of redress to the nations he had 
 enslaved. Elevated so suddenly and so high, he seemed 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 in 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 their 
 names, in even this sketch of the events which sprang from 
 their courage and sagacity. Count Styrum, Messieurs Repe- 
 
 * Chad. p. 39.— [We have in all this portion of our history taken this work 
 as our chief authority ; having reason to know that it is considered tlje 
 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 Changuion, were the chiefs of the intrepid junta which 
 planned and executed the bold measures of enfranchisement, 
 and drew up the outlines of the constitution which was after- 
 wards enlarged and ratified. Their first movements at the 
 Hague 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 cause tliey were now so completely 
 compromised. The other towns of Holland were in a state 
 of the greatest incertitude : Rotterdam had not moved ; and 
 the intentions of admiral Kickert, who commanded there, 
 were (mistakenly) supposed to be decidedly hostile to the 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. .^..*^^- 
 Y 
 
 1 
 
278 HISTORY OF THE NETHERLANDS. 1813. 
 
 In this crisis, it was most fortunate that the French prefect 
 at the Hague, M. de Stassart, had stolen away on the earliest 
 alarm ; and the French garrison, of 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 
 arms 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 Sty rum, who made the most of his little means, and 
 kept up, during the night, a prodigious clatter by his twenty 
 horsemen ; sentinels challenging, amidst incessant singing 
 and shouting, cries of " Oranje boven!^^ " Vivat Oranje I''^ 
 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 this 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 at 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, with little to cheer them on in 
 their perilous career, but their own resolute hearts, and the 
 recollection of those days when their ancestors, with odds as 
 fearfully against them, rose up and shivered to atoms the 
 yoke of their oppressors. 
 
 Some days of intense anxiety now elapsed ; and various 
 
1813. ARMIES OF UTRECHT 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 Maasdam to be heads of the gov- 
 ernment, 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 tlie command ; and it is im- 
 possible to resist a smile of mingled amusement and 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 
 
 300 Infantry, 
 32 Volunteer cavalry, witli 
 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, w^hich 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 OF THE NETHERLANDS. 1813. 
 
 of cannon, were surprised at one of the outposts of Woerden, 
 which had been previously evacuated by the French, and the 
 recapture of the town was accompanied by some excesses. 
 The numbers and the cruelties of the enemy were greatly ex- 
 aggerated. Consternation began to spread all over the coun- 
 try. The French, who seemed to have recovered from their 
 panic, had resumed on all sides offensive operations. The 
 garrison of Gorcum made a sortie, repulsed the force under 
 general Van Landas, entered the town of Dordrecht, and le- 
 vied contributions : but the inhabitants soon expelled them ; 
 and the army was enabled to resume its position. 
 
 Still the wind continued adverse to arrivals from the Eng- 
 lish coast; the Cossacks, so often announced, had not yet 
 reached the Hague ; and the small unsupported parties in the 
 neighborhood of Amsterdam were in daily danger of being 
 cut off. ^ ■' 
 
 In this crisis the confederates were placed in a most critical 
 position. On the eve of failure, and with the certainty, in 
 such a result, of being branded as rebels and zealots, whose 
 rashness had drawn down ruin on themselves, their families, 
 and their country, it required no common share of fortitude 
 to bear up against the danger that threatened them. Aware 
 of its extent, they calmly and resolutely opposed it; and each 
 seemed to vie with the others in energy and firmness. 
 
 The anxiety of the public had reached the utmost possible 
 height. Every shifting of the wind was watched with 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 examined 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 the landing of the 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 enthusiasm. 
 The generous flame rushed through the whole country. No 
 bounds were set to the affectionate confidence of the nation , 
 and no prince ever gave a nobler example of gratitude. As 
 the people everyvv7iere proclaimed William I. sovereign 
 prmce, it was proposed that he should everywhere assume 
 that title. It was, however, after some consideration, decided 
 that no step of this nature should be taken till his most serene 
 highness had visited the capital. On the 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 afford you, and which will, I hope, 
 restore those ancient bonds of alliance and friendship which 
 were a source of prosperity and happiness to both countries." 
 This address being distributed at Amsterdam, a proclamation, 
 signed by the commissioners of the confederate patriots, was 
 published there the same day : it contained the following 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 efibrts. It is 
 not William the sixth 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, the 2d of December, the prince 
 made his entry into Amsterdam. lie 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 affection, offer 
 me the sovereignty ; and I am called upon to accept it, since 
 Y2 
 
   
 
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 offer which you 
 have made me ; but I accept it only on one condition, — that it 
 shall be accompanied by a wise constitution, which shall guar- 
 anty your liberties, and secure them against every attack. 
 My ancestors sowed the seeds of your independence: the 
 preservation of that independence shall be the constant object 
 of the efforts of myself and those around me." 
 
 CHAP. XXIII. 
 1814—1815. 
 
 FROM THE INSTALLATION OF WILLIAM I. AS PRINCE SOVEREIGN 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 
 called 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. The following day they 
 assembled with an immense concourse of people, in the great 
 church, which was splendidly fitted up for the occasion ; and 
 then and there the prince, in an impressive speech, solemnly 
 offered the constitution for acceptance or rejection. After a 
 few hours' deliberation, a discharge of artillery announced to 
 the anxious population that the constitution had been accepted. 
 The numbers present were 483, and the votes as follows : — 
 Ayes, ... 458 
 Noes, - - - - 25. 
 
 There were 117 members absent ; several of these were 
 
1814, THE CONSTITUTION ACCEPTED. 283 
 
 kept away by unavoidable obstacles. The majority amonsf 
 them was considered as dissentients ; but it was calculated 
 that if the whole body of 600 had voted, the adoption of the 
 constitution would have been carried by a majority of five 
 sixths. The dissentients chiefly objected to the power of de- 
 claring" w^ar and concluding treaties of peace being vested in 
 the sovereign. Some individuals urged that the Protestant 
 interest was endangered by the admission of persons of every 
 persuasion to all public offices ; and the Catholics complained 
 that the state did not sufficiently contribute to the support of 
 their religious establishments. 
 
 Such objections as these were to be expected, from indi- 
 vidual interest or sectarian prejudices. But they prove that 
 the whole plan was fairly considered and solemnly adopted ; 
 that so far from being the dictation of a government, it was 
 the freely chosen charter of the nation at large, offered and 
 sworn to by the prince, whose authority was only exerted in 
 restraining and modifying the 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 United Netherlands, and that 
 I will promote, to the utmost of my power, the independence 
 of the state, and the liberty and prosperity of its inhabitants." 
 In the eloquent simplicity of this pledge, the Dutch nation 
 found an ample guarantee for their freedom and happiness. 
 With their characteristic wisdom and moderation, they saw 
 that the obligation it imposed embraced 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 desired by rational subjects, nor any 
 larger share of power by the sovereign, than that allotted to 
 them respectively by the political code." 
 
 While Holland thus resumed its place among free nations, 
 and France was restored to the Bourbons by the abdication of 
 Napoleon, the allied armies had taken possession of and oc- 
 cupied the remainder of the Low Countries, or those prov- 
 inces distinguished by the name of Belgium (but then still 
 forming departments of the French 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 OF THE NETHERLANDS. 1814. 
 
 the principle of statu quo ante hellu77i, 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 oJSering a barrier to French aggression on the Flemish 
 frontier, was evident to the various powers who had so long 
 suffered from its want. By England particularly, such a field 
 was required for the operations of her armies; and it was 
 also the interest of that nation that Holland, whose welfare 
 and prosperity are so closely connected with lier own, should 
 enjoy the blessings of national independence and civil liberty, 
 guarantied by internal strength as well as friendly alliances. 
 
 The treaty of Paris (30th May, 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 the sessions of the states in time of peace should 
 be held alternately in Belgium and in Holland: fourthly and 
 fifthly, that all the commerciEil privileges of the country 
 should be common to tlie 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 and 
 courage of the early princes of Orange, had formed for two 
 centuries an independent republic, to which the extension of 
 maritime commerce had given immense wealth. The form 
 of government was remarkable. It was composed of seven 
 provinces, mutually independent of each other. These 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 things had known but one altera- 
 tion — but that a mighty one — the forfeiture of Philip II. at 
 the latter end of the sixteentli century, and the total abolition 
 of monarchical power. 
 
 Ilie remaining forms of the government were hardly 
 altered ; so that the state wels 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 j 
 any Utopian plan traced by some new-fangled system of politi- { I 
 cal philosophy. Inherently Protestant and commercial, the |j 
 Dutch abhorred every yoke but that of their own laws, of ' 
 which they were proud even in their abuse. They held in i 
 particular detestation all French customs, in remembrance of 
 the wretchedness they had suflored 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 the influence it had lost, and was little likely 
 to recover, in the total change of systems and the variations 
 of trade. There nevertheless remained sufficient capital in 
 the country, and the people were sufficiently enlightened, to 
 give just and extensive hope for the future which now dawned 
 on them. The obstacles offered by the Dutch character to 
 the proposed union were chiefly to be found in the dogmatical 
 opinions, consequent on the isolation of the country from all 
 the principles that actuated other states, and particularly that 
 with which it was now joined : while long-cherished senti- 
 
4 
 
 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 without consulting their wishes. 
 But they were not so indifferent to the double discovery of 
 finding themselves the subjects of a Dutch and a Protestant 
 king. Without entering at large into any invidious 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 hitherto 
 had but little community of interests with each other ; and 
 they formed elements so utterly discordant as to afford but 
 slight hope that they would speedily coalesce. The lower 
 classes of the Belgian population were ignorant as well as 
 superstitious (not that these two qualities are to be considered 
 as inseparable) ; and if they were averse to the Dutch, they 
 were perhaps not more favorably disposed to the French and 
 Austrians. The majority of the nobles may be said to have 
 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 in 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 gram from the northern parts of 
 Europe, though checking the progress of agriculture, had 
 not prevented it to flourish marvellously, considering this 
 obstacle to culture ; and, faithful to their traditional notions, 
 the Dutch saw the elements of well-being only in that liberty 
 of importation which had made their harbors the marts and 
 magazines of Europe. But the Belgian, to use the 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- 
 
1815. FORMATION OF THE MONARCHY. 287 
 
 istencc, he has no interest in what passes beyond his own 
 doors,"* 
 
 Totally unaccustomed to the free principles of trade so 
 cherished by the Dutch, the Belgians had found, under the 
 protection of the French custom-house laws, an intenial com- 
 merce and agricultural advantages, which composed their 
 peculiar prosperity. They found a consumption for the 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 those of England, which were 
 strictly prohibited ; and being commonly superior to those of 
 France, the sale was sure and the profit considerable. 
 
 Belgium was as naturally desirous of 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 effort was to gain the hearts and the confidence of the 
 people, though he saw the nobles and the higher orders of 
 the inferior classes (with the exception of the merchants) 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 tlie 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. Afler due deliberation these modifications were 
 
 * L'AbW de Pradt, de la Belgique, pp. 10. 14. 
 t History of the Low Countries, by St. Genoist. 
 
288 HISTORY OF THE NETHERLANDS. 1815. 
 
 formed, and the great political pact was completed for thd 
 final acceptance of the king and people. 
 
 As a document so important merits particular consideration, 
 in reference to the formation of the new monarchy, we shall 
 briefly condense the reasonings of the most impartial and 
 well-informed classes in the country on the constitution now 
 about to be framed. Every one agreed that some radical 
 change in the whole form of government was necessary, and 
 that its main improvement should be the strengthening of the 
 executive power. That possessed by the former stadtholders 
 of Holland was often found to be too much for the chief of a 
 republic, too little for the head of a monarchy.* The 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. f 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. J Hence a 
 wide field was open to corruption. Uncertainty embarrassed 
 every operation of the government. The Hague became an 
 arena for the conflicting intrigues of every court in Europe. 
 Holland was dragged into almost every war ; and thus grad- 
 ually weakened from its rank among independent nations, it 
 at length fell an easy prey to the French invaders. 
 
 To prevent the recurrence of such evils as those, and to 
 establish a kingdom on the solid basis of a monarchy, 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 
 
   Chad. t Idem. I Idem. 
 
1815. NAPOLEON RETURNS FROM ELBA. 289 
 
 founded on the manners 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 waa 
 received in the Dutch provinces with great joy, in as far as 
 it concerned him personally ; but a joy considerably tempered 
 by doubt and jealousy, as regarded their junction with a 
 country sufficiently large to counterbalance Holland, oppose - 
 interests to interests, and people to people. National pride 
 and 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 
 
 Z 
 
290 HISTORY OF THE NETHERLANDS. 1815. 
 
 his own powerful conceptions, of invading a country contain-J 
 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 fall. 
 
 The flight of Louis XVIII. from Paris was the sure signal 
 to the kingdom of the Netherlands, in which he took refuge, 
 that it was about to become the scene of another contest for 
 the life or death of despotism. Had the invasion of Belgium," 
 which now took place, been led on by one of the Bourbon 
 family, it is probable that the priesthood, the people, and even 
 the nobility, would have given it not merely a negative 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 in the northern provinces, 
 were seconded with zeal and courage by the rest of the king- 
 dom. 
 
 The national force was soon in the field, under 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 - 
 Jiead 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 w^hich the Prussians sustained a decided 
 defeat; but tliey retreated in good order on the little river 
 Lys, follow^ed 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 cTarmee 
 commanded by the prince of Orange, were fiercely attacked 
 by 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 
 
1815. 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. The 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 ^n the 18th, that 
 they form in most minds a combination of exploits which the 
 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 English 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 tlie flower of the European 
 forces, and the awful responsibility resting on the head of 
 their great leader, give to this conflict a romantic sublimity, 
 unshared by all the manoeuvring of science in a hundred 
 commonplace combats of other wars. It forms an epoch in 
 the history of battles. It is to the full as memorable as an 
 individual event, as it is for the consequences which followed 
 it. It was fought by no rules, and gained by no tactics. It 
 was a fair stand-up fight on level ground, where downright 
 manly courage was alone to decide the issue. This derogates 
 in nothing from the splendid talents and deep knowledge of 
 the rival commanders. Their reputation for all the intricate 
 qualities of generalship rests on the broad base of previous 
 victories. This day was to be won by strength of nerve and 
 steadiness of heart ; and a moral grandeur is thrown over its 
 
   Journal de Las Cases, t. iii. p. 336. 
 
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 incitements nor the finest examples can 
 conquer. Old associations and feelings not effaced might 
 have slackened the efforts of a few, directed against former 
 comrades or personal friends whom the stern necessity of 
 politics had placed in opposing ranks. Raw troops might here 
 and there have shrunk from attacks the most desperate on 
 record ; but that the great principle of public duty, on grounds 
 purely national, pervaded the army, is to be found in the 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 
 ehouts of " Long live the prince !" and vows to defend the 
 
1815. EFFECTS OF THE BATTLE OF WALERLOO. 293 
 
 trophy, in the very utterance of which many a brave fellow 
 received tlie 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 with one of his wounded aids-de- ' 
 camp, supported by another, and displaying throughout as 
 much inditference 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 tlie 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 w^oiinded arm in a scarf^ and showing in his 
 countenance the marks of recent suffering. 
 
 The constitution was finally accepted by the nation, and 
 the principles of the government were stipulated and fixed in 
 one grand view — that of the union, and, consequently, the 
 force of the new state. 
 
 It has been asked by a profound and sagacious inquirer, or 
 at least the question is put forth on undoubted authority in his 
 name, "Why did England create for herself a difficulty, and 
 what will be by and by a natural enemy, in uniting Holland 
 and Belgium, in place of managing those two immense re- 
 sources to her commerce by keeping them separate 1 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 Cases, Journal de la Vie pi iv6e et Conversations de Napoleon, t. 
 iii. p. 83. 
 
 Z2 
 
294 HISTORY OF THE NETHERLANDS. 1815. 
 
 general wishes and the common good of Europe. The dis- 
 cussion of Jhe question is foreign to our purpose, which is to 
 trace the cTrcumstances, 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 the weight of such invasions as had perpetually perilled, 
 and often crushed, their separate independence. 
 
INDEX. 
 
 A. 
 
 Abercrombie, Sir Ralph, commands 
 the armament established for the 
 House of Orange, 270. 
 Aix-Ia-Chapelle, treaty of, 260. 
 Albert of Saxony, 65. 
 Albert, Archduke, arrives at Brussels, 
 170. Captures Calais, 171. Mar- 
 riage and inauguration of, 173. En- 
 try of, into the Netherlands, 179. 
 Defeated by prince Maurice, 182. 
 Alencon, the duke of, appointed sove- 
 reign, 144. Obliges Parma to raise 
 the siege of Cambray, and enters 
 the town triumphantly, 146. 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. Summons 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, acc«ssion of, 253. 
 Carries on the war with France 
 energetically, 253. 
 Anthony duke of Brabant, death of, 50. 
 Antwerp, sack of, 132. Siege of, 156. 
 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-defer, 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, 205. Death 
 of, 206. 
 
 Batavians, degeneracy of, 21. 
 
 Belgium, invasion of, 219. 
 
 Blake, admiral, engagement of, with 
 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, 268. Ele- 
 vation of, 271. Decline of, 273. Ab- 
 dication of, 283. Reappearance of, 
 in France, 290. 
 
 Bonaparte, Louis, king of Holland, 
 271. Ab<lication of, 272. 
 
 Bouvines, battle of, 42. 
 
 Brussels, union of, 136. 
 
 Buckingham, the English ambassador, 
 failure of, to corrupt the prince of 
 Orange, 244. 
 
 C. 
 Cambray, league of, 67. Peace of, 71. 
 CampoFormio, treaty of, 268. 
 Carlos, don, death of, 120. 
 Cassambrot, John, punishes the icono- 
 clasts, 108. 
 Cassel, battle of, 46. 
 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. 
 Cae&ar, invasion of, 17. 
 Charlemagne, government of, 29. 
 Charles count of Charolois, called ** the 
 Rash," 5G. Contrasted with Louia 
 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, 65. 
 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 of, 
 238. Perfidy of, 240. Exacts hu- 
 miliating conditions of peace from 
 the United Provinces, 243. Hia 
 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, plans 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. 
 
 Cortenburgh, 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 
 G hent, 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 toCrermany, 
 113. 
 
 De Granvelle, Anthony Perrenotte, 
 bishop of 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. Aide- 
 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, admiral,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, 
 268. 
 
 Duncan, Sir Adam, encounters the 
 Dutch fleet, 270. 
 
 Ecclesiastical power, rise of, 34. 
 Edict, the perpetual, 136. 
 
 Edward IIL joined by the Flemings 
 46. 
 
 Egmont, count, popularity of, 92. 
 Sent to Philip on a mission, 94. 
 Mfide prisoner, 116. 
 
 Elizabeth of England solicits mercy 
 of Phi lip for the States, 131. Assists 
 the confederates, 136. Sends the 
 Earl of Leicester to Holland, 160. 
 Recalls her troops and demands pay- 
 ment of Iier 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. 
 
 F. 
 
 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 
 Dettingen, 259. 
 
 Gerard, Balthazar, murders the prince 
 of Orange, 152. Death of. 153. 
 
 Ghent, rebellion of, 55. Pacification 
 of, 133. 
 
 Gildoniae Charta, 30. 
 
 Giles de Rypergherste conquers the 
 dauphin of France, in a pitched bat- 
 tle, 47. 
 
 Gomar, 200. 
 
 Gomarists, called Remonstrants, 2(M). 
 
 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 archiepiscopal 
 see of Mechlin, and title of primate 
 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 his writings, 
 226. 
 
Gueldere, wars of, 65. 
 Gueux, the title of, adopted by the 
 confederates, 100. 
 
 H. 
 
 Haranguer, captain, surprises Breda, 
 105. 
 
 Hautain, admiral, 196. 
 
 Heeujskirk, brilliant victory of, 190. 
 
 Hein, Peter, naval success of, 216. 
 
 Hembvse, rebellion of, 139. 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, 166. 
 Gives assistance to the states, 179. 
 Assassination of, 198. 
 
 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. 
 
 Jacqueline of 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, 267. 
 
 John the Fearless, countof 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, 13(j. Takes possession of 
 the citadel, 137. 
 
 INDEX. 297 
 
 Joseph II. successor to Maria Theresa, 
 
 261. His death, 266. 
 Judith, daughter of Charles the Bald 
 
 marriage of, 32. 
 Justin of Nassau, 163. 
 
 L. 
 
 Lambert and Reginald, struggle of, 
 for independence, 33. 
 
 Lambert II. count of Louvain, 34. 
 
 Ledenberg, imprisonment of, 206. 
 Death of, ib. 
 
 Leicester invades Holland, 160. Un- 
 popularity of, 161. 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 to widowhood, 261. 
 
 Margaret of Austria, 67. Negotiation 
 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 his 
 invasion under Alva, 115. Retire-, 
 ment and death of, 117. 
 
 Marlborough, duke of, carries on the 
 war with France, 253. Opens his 
 first campaign, 254. 
 
 Martel, Charles, defeat of, 26. Duke 
 of the Franks, 27. 
 
 Mary, daughter of Charles the Rash, 
 62. Maj-riage of, 63. 
 
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 the whole power of com- 
 mand, 162. Takes advantage of 
 the absence of Parma, 160. 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 Barnevcldt, 192. Becomes a Go- 
 marist, 200. Receives the order of 
 the Garter, 20J. Intrigues for regal 
 power, 203. Advances the Calvin- 
 jsts' party, 204. Defeats Spinola at 
 the siege of Bergen-op-zoom, 211. 
 Plot against hin^, 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. Eftects 
 from inundations of the sea and 
 rivers, ib. Invasion of Cscsar, 17. 
 Effects of the Roman alliance, 20. 
 Tlie southern portion called Belgic 
 Gaul, 21. Introduction of Chris- 
 tianity, 25. Under Charlemagne, 
 2i). Commerce, and legislation of, 
 42. Revolt of the towns, 45. Junc- 
 tion of the Flemings with Edward 
 in. 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, 70. 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 the reform- 
 ers, 108. Conference at Tennonde, 
 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, 
 i:i2. '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. 186. Maritime enter- 
 prise, 188. Disgraceful naval affair, 
 190. Negotiations for peace, 191. 
 Assembly of ambassadors, 193. A 
 twelve years' truce, 196. 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 
 jears' war, 260. Peace with Eng- 
 land, 262. Discontent in Belgium, 
 264. Insurrection and confedera- 
 tion, 206. War l)etween France 
 and Austria, 267. Belgium a French 
 
KVDEX. 
 
 299 
 
 province, 2G8. Abolition of the 
 office and title of stadtholder, 269. 
 Decline of the French power, 273. 
 Restoration of the prince of Orange, 
 275. New constitution, 282. 
 
 Niniefifueu, peace of, 245. 
 
 Nieuport, 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, DO. 
 Opposition of, to the views of Philip, 
 94. Is sent to appease 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 destrcvying 
 the besieging army with an inun- 
 dation of the ocean, 129. 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. 
 
 P. 
 
 Paris, treaty of, 284. 
 
 Parma, duchess of, retirement of, 117. 
 
 Parma, prince of, marriage of, 97. 
 Succeeds Don John, 142. Raises the 
 siege of Cambray, 146. Besieges Ant- 
 werp, 156. Summoned to France, 
 165. Defeats Henry 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 pope 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 persons 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. 
 
 auatre Bras, battle of, 290. 
 
 R. 
 
 Radbod, king of the Frisons, 26. 
 
 Reformation, causes of its progress 
 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 an 
 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. 
 
 Rubens, 227. 
 
 Ryhove, death of, 151. 
 
 Ryswick, peace of, 250. 
 
 S. 
 
 Saxons, preponderating power of, 24. 
 
 Schwarzemberg, 97. 
 
 Schenck, Martin, 104. His death, 165. 
 
 Sidney, Sir Philip, 160. His death, 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, 213. 
 
 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, 
 
 234. His death, 236. 
 
300 
 
 INDEX. 
 
 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, 267. 
 
 Vervins, 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- 
 land, 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 hii 
 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. 
 
 Y. 
 
 York, duke of, 268. 
 Pichegru, 269. 
 
 Defeated by 
 
 Zuriczee admits to surrender, 132. 
 
 THE END. 
 
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