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diff --git a/4823.txt b/4823.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..fa218b5 --- /dev/null +++ b/4823.txt @@ -0,0 +1,17246 @@ +The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Rise of the Dutch Republic, +Volume II.(of III) 1566-74, by John Lothrop Motley + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: The Rise of the Dutch Republic, Volume II.(of III) 1566-74 + +Author: John Lothrop Motley + +Last Updated: January 25, 2009 +Release Date: October 13, 2006 [EBook #4823] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK RISE DUTCH REPUBLIC, II. *** + + + + +Produced by David Widger + + + + + +MOTLEY'S HISTORY OF THE NETHERLANDS, PG EDITION, 1566-1574, Complete +THE RISE OF THE DUTCH REPUBLIC + +By JOHN LOTHROP MOTLEY +1855 + +VOLUME 2, Book 1., 1566 +1566 [CHAPTER VIII.] + + Secret policy of the government--Berghen and Montigny in Spain-- + Debates at Segovia--Correspondence of the Duchess with Philip-- + Procrastination and dissimulation of the King--Secret communication + to the Pope--Effect in the provinces of the King's letters to the + government--Secret instructions to the Duchess--Desponding + statements of Margaret--Her misrepresentations concerning Orange, + Egmont, and others--Wrath and duplicity of Philip--Egmont's + exertions in Flanders--Orange returns to Antwerp--His tolerant + spirit--Agreement of 2d September--Horn at Tournay--Excavations in + the Cathedral--Almost universal attendance at the preaching-- + Building of temples commenced--Difficult position of Horn--Preaching + in the Clothiers' Hall--Horn recalled--Noircarmes at Tournay-- + Friendly correspondence of Margaret with Orange, Egmont, Horn, and + Hoogstraaten--Her secret defamation of these persons. + +Egmont in Flanders, Orange at Antwerp, Horn at Tournay; Hoogstraaten at +Mechlin, were exerting themselves to suppress insurrection and to avert +ruin. What, meanwhile, was the policy of the government? The secret +course pursued both at Brussels and at Madrid may be condensed into the +usual formula--dissimulation, procrastination, and again dissimulation. + +It is at this point necessary to take a rapid survey of the open and the +secret proceedings of the King and his representatives from the moment at +which Berghen and Montigny arrived in Madrid. Those ill-fated gentlemen +had been received with apparent cordiality, and admitted to frequent, but +unmeaning, interviews with his Majesty. The current upon which they were +embarked was deep and treacherous, but it was smooth and very slow. They +assured the King that his letters, ordering the rigorous execution of the +inquisition and edicts, had engendered all the evils under which the +provinces were laboring. They told him that Spaniards and tools of +Spaniards had attempted to govern the country, to the exclusion of native +citizens and nobles, but that it would soon be found that Netherlanders +were not to be trodden upon like the abject inhabitants of Milan, Naples, +and Sicily. Such words as these struck with an unaccustomed sound upon +the royal ear, but the envoys, who were both Catholic and loyal, had no +idea, in thus expressing their opinions, according to their sense of +duty, and in obedience to the King's desire, upon the causes of the +discontent, that they were committing an act of high treason. + +When the news of the public preaching reached Spain, there were almost +daily consultations at the grove of Segovia. The eminent personages who +composed the royal council were the Duke of Alva, the Count de Feria, Don +Antonio de Toledo, Don Juan Manrique de Lara, Ruy Gomez, Quixada, +Councillor Tisnacq, recently appointed President of the State Council, +and Councillor Hopper. Six Spaniards and two Netherlanders, one of whom, +too, a man of dull intellect and thoroughly subservient character, to +deal with the local affairs of the Netherlands in a time of intense +excitement! The instructions of the envoys had been to represent the +necessity of according three great points--abolition of the inquisition, +moderation of the edicts, according to the draft prepared in Brussels, +and an ample pardon for past transactions. There was much debate upon all +these propositions. Philip said little, but he listened attentively to +the long discourses in council, and he took an incredible quantity of +notes. It was the general opinion that this last demand on the part of +the Netherlanders was the fourth link in the chain of treason. The first +had been the cabal by which Granvelle had been expelled; the second, the +mission of Egmont, the main object of which had been to procure a +modification of the state council, in order to bring that body under the +control of a few haughty and rebellious nobles; the third had been the +presentation of the insolent and seditious Request; and now, to crown the +whole, came a proposition embodying the three points--abolition of the +inquisition, revocation of the edicts, and a pardon to criminals, for +whom death was the only sufficient punishment. + +With regard to these three points, it was, after much wrangling, decided +to grant them under certain restrictions. To abolish the inquisition +would be to remove the only instrument by which the Church had been +accustomed to regulate the consciences and the doctrines of its subjects. +It would be equivalent to a concession of religious freedom, at least to +individuals within their own domiciles, than which no concession could be +more pernicious. Nevertheless, it might be advisable to permit the +temporary cessation of the papal inquisition, now that the episcopal +inquisition had been so much enlarged and strengthened in the +Netherlands, on the condition that this branch of the institution should +be maintained in energetic condition. With regard to the Moderation, it +was thought better to defer that matter till, the proposed visit of his +Majesty to the provinces. If, however, the Regent should think it +absolutely necessary to make a change, she must cause a new draft to be +made, as that which had been sent was not found admissible. Touching the +pardon general, it would be necessary to make many conditions and +restrictions before it could be granted. Provided these were sufficiently +minute to exclude all persons whom it might be found desirable to +chastise, the amnesty was possible. Otherwise it was quite out of the +question. + +Meantime, Margaret of Parma had been urging her brother to come to a +decision, painting the distracted condition of the country in the +liveliest colors, and insisting, although perfectly aware of Philip's +private sentiments, upon a favorable decision as to the three points +demanded by the envoys. Especially she urged her incapacity to resist any +rebellion, and demanded succor of men and money in case the "Moderation" +were not accepted by his Majesty. + +It was the last day of July before the King wrote at all, to communicate +his decisions upon the crisis which had occurred in the first week of +April. The disorder for which he had finally prepared a prescription had, +before his letter arrived, already passed through its subsequent stages +of the field-preaching and the image-breaking. Of course these fresh +symptoms would require much consultation, pondering, and note-taking +before they could be dealt with. In the mean time they would be +considered as not yet having happened. This was the masterly +procrastination of the sovereign, when his provinces were in a blaze. + +His masterly dissimulation was employed in the direction suggested by his +councillors. Philip never originated a thought, nor laid down a plan, but +he was ever true to the falsehood of his nature, and was indefatigable in +following out the suggestions of others. No greater mistake can be made +than to ascribe talent to this plodding and pedantic monarch. The man's +intellect was contemptible, but malignity and duplicity, almost +superhuman; have effectually lifted his character out of the regions of +the common-place. He wrote accordingly to say that the pardon, under +certain conditions, might be granted, and that the papal inquisition +might cease--the bishops now being present in such numbers, "to take care +of their flocks," and the episcopal inquisition being, therefore +established upon so secure a basis. He added, that if a moderation of the +edicts were still desired, a new project might be sent to Madrid, as the +one brought by Berghen and Montigny was not satisfactory. In arranging +this wonderful scheme for composing the tumults of the country, which had +grown out of a determined rebellion to the inquisition in any form, he +followed not only the advice, but adopted the exact language of his +councillors. + +Certainly, here was not much encouragement for patriotic hearts in the +Netherlands. A pardon, so restricted that none were likely to be forgiven +save those who had done no wrong; an episcopal inquisition stimulated to +renewed exertions, on the ground that the papal functionaries were to be +discharged; and a promise that, although the proposed Moderation of the +edicts seemed too mild for the monarch's acceptance, yet at some future +period another project would be matured for settling the matter to +universal satisfaction--such were the propositions of the Crown. +Nevertheless, Philip thought he had gone too far, even in administering +this meagre amount of mercy, and that he had been too frank in employing +so slender a deception, as in the scheme thus sketched. He therefore +summoned a notary, before whom, in presence of the Duke of Alva, the +Licentiate Menchaca and Dr. Velasco, he declared that, although he had +just authorized Margaret of Parma, by force of circumstances, to grant +pardon to all those who had been compromised in the late disturbances of +the Netherlands, yet as he had not done this spontaneously nor freely, he +did not consider himself bound by the authorization, but that, on the +contrary, he reserved his right to punish all the guilty, and +particularly those who had been the authors and encouragers of the +sedition. + +So much for the pardon promised in his official correspondence. + +With regard to the concessions, which he supposed himself to have made in +the matter of the inquisition and the edicts, he saved his conscience by +another process. Revoking with his right hand all which his left had been +doing, he had no sooner despatched his letters to the Duchess Regent than +he sent off another to his envoy at Rome. In this despatch he instructed +Requesens to inform the Pope as to the recent royal decisions upon the +three points, and to state that there had not been time to consult his +Holiness beforehand. Nevertheless, continued Philip "the prudent," it was +perhaps better thus, since the abolition could have no force, unless the +Pope, by whom the institution had been established, consented to its +suspension. This matter, however, was to be kept a profound secret. So +much for the inquisition matter. The papal institution, notwithstanding +the official letters, was to exist, unless the Pope chose to destroy it; +and his Holiness, as we have seen, had sent the Archbishop of Sorrento, a +few weeks before, to Brussels, for the purpose of concerting secret +measures for strengthening the "Holy Office" in the provinces. + +With regard to the proposed moderation of the edicts, Philip informed +Pius the Fifth, through Requesens, that the project sent by the Duchess +not having been approved, orders had been transmitted for a new draft, in +which all the articles providing for the severe punishment of heretics +were to be retained, while alterations, to be agreed upon by the state +and privy councils, and the knights of the Fleece, were to be +adopted--certainly in no sense of clemency. On the contrary, the King +assured his Holiness, that if the severity of chastisement should be +mitigated the least in the world by the new articles, they would in no +case receive the royal approbation. Philip further implored the Pope "not +to be scandalized" with regard to the proposed pardon, as it would be by +no means extended to offenders against religion. All this was to be kept +entirely secret. The King added, that rather than permit the least +prejudice to the ancient religion, he would sacrifice all his states, and +lose a hundred lives if he had so many; for he would never consent to be +the sovereign of heretics. He said he would arrange the troubles of the +Netherlands, without violence, if possible, because forcible measures +would cause the entire destruction of the country. Nevertheless they +should be employed, if his purpose could be accomplished in no other way. +In that case the King would himself be the executor of his own design, +without allowing the peril which he should incur, nor the ruin of the +provinces, nor that of his other realms, to prevent him from doing all +which a Christian prince was bound to do, to maintain the Catholic +religion and the authority of the Holy See, as well as to testify his +personal regard for the reigning pontiff, whom he so much loved and +esteemed. + +Here was plain speaking. Here were all the coming horrors distinctly +foreshadowed. Here was the truth told to the only being with whom Philip +ever was sincere. Yet even on this occasion, he permitted himself a +falsehood by which his Holiness was not deceived. Philip had no intention +of going to the Netherlands in person, and the Pope knew that he had +none. "I feel it in my bones," said Granvelle, mournfully, "that nobody +in Rome believes in his Majesty's journey to the provinces." From that +time forward, however, the King began to promise this visit, which was +held out as a panacea for every ill, and made to serve as an excuse for +constant delay. + +It may well be supposed that if Philip's secret policy had been +thoroughly understood in the Netherlands, the outbreak would have come +sooner. On the receipt, however, of the public despatches from Madrid, +the administration in Brussels made great efforts to represent their +tenor as highly satisfactory. The papal inquisition was to be abolished, +a pardon was to be granted, a new moderation was to be arranged at some +indefinite period; what more would men have? Yet without seeing the face +of the cards, the people suspected the real truth, and Orange was +convinced of it. Viglius wrote that if the King did not make his intended +visit soon, he would come too late, and that every week more harm was +done by procrastination than could be repaired by months of labor and +perhaps by torrents of blood. What the precise process was, through which +Philip was to cure all disorders by his simple presence, the President +did not explain. + +As for the measures propounded by the King after so long a delay, they +were of course worse than useless; for events had been marching while he +had been musing. The course suggested was, according to Viglius, but "a +plaster for a wound, but a drag-chain for the wheel." He urged that the +convocation of the states-general was the only remedy for the perils in +which the country was involved; unless the King should come in person. He +however expressed the hope that by general consultation some means would +be devised by which, if not a good, at least a less desperate aspect +would be given to public affairs, "so that the commonwealth, if fall it +must, might at least fall upon its feet like a cat, and break its legs +rather than its neck." + +Notwithstanding this highly figurative view of the subject; and +notwithstanding the urgent representations of Duchess Margaret to her +brother, that nobles and people were all clamoring about the necessity of +convening the states general, Philip was true to his instincts on this as +on the other questions. He knew very well that the states-general of the +Netherlands and Spanish despotism were incompatible ideas, and he +recoiled from the idea of the assembly with infinite aversion. At the +same time a little wholesome deception could do no harm. He wrote to the +Duchess, therefore, that he was determined never to allow the +states-general to be convened. He forbade her to consent to the step +under any circumstances, but ordered her to keep his prohibition a +profound secret. He wished, he said, the people to think that it was only +for the moment that the convocation was forbidden, and that the Duchess +was expecting to receive the necessary permission at another time. It was +his desire, he distinctly stated, that the people should not despair of +obtaining the assembly, but he was resolved never to consent to the step, +for he knew very well what was meant by a meeting of the States-general. +Certainly after so ingenuous but secret a declaration from the disciple +of Macchiavelli, Margaret might well consider the arguments to be used +afterward by herself and others, in favor of the ardently desired +measure, as quite superfluous. + +Such then was the policy secretly resolved upon by Philip; even before he +heard of the startling events which were afterwards to break upon him. He +would maintain the inquisition and the edicts; he would exterminate the +heretics, even if he lost all his realms and his own life in the cause; +he would never hear of the national representatives coming together. What +then were likely to be his emotions when he should be told of twenty +thousand armed heretics assembling at one spot, and fifteen thousand at +another, in almost every town in every province, to practice their +blasphemous rites; when he should be told of the whirlwind which had +swept all the ecclesiastical accumulations of ages out of existence; when +he should read Margaret's despairing letters, in which she acknowledged +that she had at last committed an act unworthy of God, of her King, and +of herself, in permitting liberty of worship to the renegades from the +ancient church! + +The account given by the Duchess was in truth very dismal. She said that +grief consumed her soul and crimson suffused her cheeks while she related +the recent transactions. She took God to witness that she had resisted +long, that she had past many sleepless nights, that she had been wasted +with fever and grief. After this penitential preface she confessed that, +being a prisoner and almost besieged in her palace, sick in body and +soul, she had promised pardon and security to the confederates, with +liberty of holding assemblies to heretics in places where the practice +had already obtained. These concessions had been made valid until the +King by and with the consent of the states-general, should definitely +arrange the matter. She stated, however, that she had given her consent +to these two demands, not in the royal name, but in her own. The King was +not bound by her promise, and she expressed the hope that he would have +no regard to any such obligation. She further implored her brother to +come forth as soon as possible to avenge the injuries inflicted upon the +ancient church, adding, that if deprived of that consolation, she should +incontinently depart this life. That hope alone would prevent her death. + +This was certainly strong language. She was also very explicit in her +representations of the influence which had been used by certain +personages to prevent the exercise of any authority upon her own part. +"Wherefore," said Margaret, "I eat my heart; and shall never have peace +till the arrival of your Majesty." + +There was no doubt who those personages were who, as it was pretended, +had thus held the Duchess in bondage, and compelled her to grant these +infamous concessions. In her secret Italian letters, she furnished the +King with a tissue of most extravagant and improbable falsehoods, +supplied to her mainly by Noircarmes and Mansfeld, as to the course +pursued at this momentous crisis by Orange, Egmont, Horn, and +Hoogstraaten. They had all, she said, declared against God and against +religion.--Horn, at least, was for killing all the priests and monks in +the country, if full satisfaction were not given to the demands of the +heretics. Egmont had declared openly for the beggars, and was levying +troops in Germany. Orange had the firm intention of making himself master +of the whole country, and of dividing it among the other seigniors and +himself. The Prince had said that if she took refuge in Mons, as she had +proposed, they would instantly convoke the states-general, and take all +necessary measures. Egmont had held the same language, saying that he +would march at the head of forty thousand men to besiege her in that +city. All these seigniors, however, had avowed their determination to +prevent her flight, to assemble the estates, and to drag her by force +before the assembly, in order to compel her consent to every measure +which might be deemed expedient. Under all these circumstances, she had +been obliged to defer her retreat, and to make the concessions which had +overwhelmed her with disgrace. + +With such infamous calumnies, utterly disproved by every fact in the +case, and unsupported by a tittle of evidence, save the hearsay reports +of a man like Noircarmes, did this "woman, nourished at Rome, in whom no +one could put confidence," dig the graves of men who were doing their +best to serve her. + +Philip's rage at first hearing of the image-breaking has been indicated. +He was ill of an intermittent fever at the wood of Segovia when the news +arrived, and it may well be supposed that his wrath at these proceedings +was not likely to assuage his malady. Nevertheless, after the first burst +of indignation, he found relief in his usual deception. While slowly +maturing the most tremendous vengeance which anointed monarch ever +deliberately wreaked upon his people, he wrote to say, that it was "his +intention to treat his vassals and subjects in the provinces like a good +and clement prince, not to ruin them nor to put them into servitude, but +to exercise all humanity, sweetness, and grace, avoiding all harshness." +Such were the avowed intentions of the sovereign towards his people at +the moment when the terrible Alva, who was to be the exponent of all this +"humanity, sweetness, and grace," was already beginning the preparations +for his famous invasion of the Netherlands. + +The essence of the compact agreed to upon the 23d August between the +confederates and the Regent, was that the preaching of the reformed +religion should be tolerated in places where it had previously to that +date been established. Upon this basis Egmont, Horn, Orange, +Hoogstraaten, and others, were directed once more to attempt the +pacification of the different provinces. + +Egmont departed for his government of Flanders, and from that moment +vanished all his pretensions, which at best had been, slender enough, to +the character of a national chieftain. During the whole of the year his +course had been changeful. He had felt the influence of Orange; he had +generous instincts; he had much vanity; he had the pride of high rank; +which did not easily brook the domination of strangers, in a land which +he considered himself and his compeers entitled by their birth to rule. +At this juncture, however, particularly when in the company of +Noircarmes, Berlaymont, and Viglius, he expressed, notwithstanding their +calumnious misstatements, the deepest detestation of the heretics. He was +a fervent Catholic, and he regarded the image-breaking as an unpardonable +crime. "We must take up arms," said he, "sooner or later, to bring +these Reformers to reason, or they will end by laying down the law for +us." On the other hand, his anger would be often appeased by the grave +but gracious remonstrances of Orange. During a part of the summer, the +Reformers had been so strong in Flanders that upon a single day sixty +thousand armed men had been assembled at the different field-preachings +within that province. "All they needed was a Jacquemart, or a Philip van +Artevelde," says a Catholic, contemporary, "but they would have scorned +to march under the banner of a brewer; having dared to raise their eyes +for a chief, to the most illustrious warrior of his ages." No doubt, had +Egmont ever listened to these aspirations, he might have taken the field +against the government with an invincible force, seized the capital, +imprisoned the Regent, and mastered the whole country, which was entirely +defenceless, before Philip would have had time to write more than ten +despatches upon the subject. + +These hopes of the Reformers, if hopes they could be called, were now +destined to be most bitterly disappointed. Egmont entered Flanders, not +as a chief of rebels--not as a wise pacificator, but as an unscrupulous +partisan of government, disposed to take summary vengeance on all +suspected persons who should fall in his way. He ordered numerous +executions of image-breakers and of other heretics. The whole province +was in a state of alarm; for, although he had not been furnished by the +Regent with a strong body of troops, yet the name of the conqueror at +Saint Quentin and Gravelines was worth many regiments. His severity was +excessive. His sanguinary exertions were ably seconded also by his +secretary Bakkerzeel, a man who exercised the greatest influence over his +chief, and who was now fiercely atoning for having signed the Compromise +by persecuting those whom that league had been formed to protect. "Amid +all the perplexities of the Duchess Regent," Says a Walloon historian, +"this virtuous princess was consoled by the exploits of Bakkerzeel, +gentleman in Count Egmont's service. On one occasion he hanged twenty +heretics, including a minister, at a single heat." + +Such achievements as these by the hands or the orders of the +distinguished general who had been most absurdly held up as a possible +protector of the civil and religious liberties of the country, created +profound sensation. Flanders and Artois were filled with the wives and +children of suspected I thousands who had fled the country to escape the +wrath of Egmont. The cries and piteous lamentations of these unfortunate +creatures were heard on every side. Count Louis was earnestly implored to +intercede for the persecuted Reformers. "You who have been so nobly +gifted by Heaven, you who have good will and singular bounty written upon +your face," said Utenhove to Louis, "have the power to save these poor +victims from the throats of the ravenous wolves." The Count responded to +the appeal, and strove to soften the severity of Egmont, without, +however, producing any very signal effect. Flanders was soon pacified, +nor was that important province permitted to enjoy the benefits of the +agreement which had been extorted, from the Duchess. The preachings were +forbidden, and the ministers and congregations arrested and chastised, +even in places where the custom had been established previously to the +23d August. Certainly such vigorous exertions upon the part both of +master and man did not savor of treason to Philip, and hardly seemed to +indicate the final doom of Egmont and Bakkerzeel. + +The course of Orange at Antwerp was consistent with his whole career. He +honestly came to arrange a pacification, but he knew that this end could +be gained only by loyally maintaining the Accord which had been signed +between the confederates and the Regent. He came back to the city on the +26th August, and found order partially re-established. The burghers +having at last become thoroughly alarmed, and the fury of the +image-breakers entirely appeased, it had been comparatively easy to +restore tranquillity. The tranquillity, however, rather restored itself, +and when the calm had succeeded to the tempest, the placid heads of the +burgomasters once, more emerged from the waves. + +Three image-breakers, who had been taken in the act, were hanged by order +of the magistrates upon the 28th of August. The presence of Orange gave +them courage to achieve these executions which he could not prevent, as +the fifth article of the Accord enjoined the chastisement of the rioters. +The magistrates chose that the "chastisement" on this occasion should be +exemplary, and it was not in the power of Orange to interfere with the +regular government of the city when acting according to its laws. The +deed was not his, however, and he hastened, in order to obviate the +necessity of further violence, to prepare articles of agreement, upon the +basis of Margaret's concessions. Public preaching, according to the +Reformed religion, had already taken place within the city. Upon the 22d, +possession had been taken of at least three churches. The senate had +deputed pensionary Wesenbeck to expostulate with the ministers, for the +magistrates were at that moment not able to command. Taffin, the Walloon +preacher, had been tractable, and had agreed to postpone his exercises. +He furthermore had accompanied the pensionary to the cathedral, in order +to persuade Herman Modet that it would be better for him likewise to +defer his intended ministrations. They had found that eloquent enthusiast +already in the great church, burning with impatience to ascend upon the +ruins, and quite unable to resist the temptation of setting a Flemish +psalm and preaching a Flemish sermon within the walls which had for so +many centuries been vocal only to the Roman tongue and the Roman ritual. +All that he would concede to the entreaties of his colleague and of the +magistrate, was that his sermon should be short. In this, however, he had +overrated his powers of retention, for the sermon not only became a long +one, but he had preached another upon the afternoon of the same day. The +city of Antwerp, therefore, was clearly within the seventh clause of the +treaty of the 24th August, for preaching had taken place in the +cathedral, previously to the signing of that Accord. + +Upon the 2d September, therefore, after many protracted interview with +the heads of the Reformed religion, the Prince drew up sixteen articles +of agreement between them, the magistrates and the government, which were +duly signed and exchanged. They were conceived in the true spirit of +statesmanship, and could the rulers of the land have elevated themselves +to the mental height of William de Nassau, had Philip been able of +comprehending such a mind, the Prince, who alone possessed the power in +those distracted times of governing the wills of all men, would have +enabled the monarch to transmit that beautiful cluster of provinces, +without the lose of a single jewel, to the inheritors of his crown. + +If the Prince were playing a game, he played it honorably. To have +conceived the thought of religious toleration in an age of universal +dogmatism; to have labored to produce mutual respect among conflicting +opinions, at a period when many Dissenters were as bigoted as the +orthodox, and when most Reformers fiercely proclaimed not liberty for +every Christian doctrine, but only a new creed in place of all the +rest,--to have admitted the possibility of several roads, to heaven, when +zealots of all creeds would shut up all pathways but their own; if such +sentiments and purposes were sins, they would have been ill-exchanged for +the best virtues of the age. Yet, no doubt, this was his crying offence +in the opinion of many contemporaries. He was now becoming apostate from +the ancient Church, but he had long thought that Emperors, Kings, and +Popes had taken altogether too much care of men's souls in times past, +and had sent too many of them prematurely to their great account. He was +equally indisposed to grant full-powers for the same purpose to +Calvinists, Lutherans, or Anabaptists. "He censured the severity of our +theologians," said a Catholic contemporary, accumulating all the +religious offences of the Prince in a single paragraph, "because they +keep strictly the constitutions of the Church without conceding a single +point to their adversaries; he blamed the Calvinists as seditious and +unruly people, yet nevertheless had a horror for the imperial edicts +which condemned them to death; he said it was a cruel thing to take a +man's life for sustaining an erroneous opinion; in short, he fantasied in +his imagination a kind of religion, half Catholic, half Reformed, in +order to content all persons; a system which would have been adopted +could he have had his way." This picture, drawn by one of his most +brilliant and bitter enemies, excites our admiration while intended to +inspire aversion. + +The articles of agreement at Antwerp thus promulgated assigned three +churches to the different sects of reformers, stipulated that no attempt +should be made by Catholics or Protestants to disturb the religious +worship of each other, and provided that neither by mutual taunts in +their sermons, nor by singing street ballads, together with improper +allusions and overt acts of hostility, should the good-fellowship which +ought to reign between brethren and fellow-citizens, even although +entertaining different opinions as to religious rites and doctrines, be +for the future interrupted. + +This was the basis upon which the very brief religious peace, broken +almost as soon as established, was concluded by William of Orange, not +only at Antwerp, but at Utrecht, Amsterdam, and other principal cities +within his government. The Prince, however, notwithstanding his unwearied +exertions, had slender hopes of a peaceful result. He felt that the last +step taken by the Reformation had been off a precipice. He liked not such +rapid progress. He knew that the King would never forgive the +image-breaking. He felt that he would never recognize the Accord of the +24th August. Sir Thomas Gresham, who, as the representative of the +Protestant Queen of England in the great commercial metropolis of Europe, +was fully conversant with the turn things were taking, was already +advising some other place for the sale of English commodities. He gave +notice to his government that commerce would have no security at Antwerp +"in those brabbling times." He was on confidential terms with the Prince, +who invited him to dine upon the 4th September, and caused pensionary +Wesenbeck, who was also present, to read aloud the agreement which was +that day to be proclaimed at the town-house. Orange expressed himself, +however, very doubtfully as to the future prospects of the provinces, and +as to the probable temper of the King. "In all his talke," says Gresham, +"the Prince aside unto me, 'I know this will nothing contente the King!'" + +While Egmont had been, thus busied in Flanders, and Orange at Antwerp, +Count Horn had been doing his best in the important city of Tournay. The +Admiral was not especially gifted with intellect, nor with the power of +managing men, but he went there with an honest purpose of seeing the +Accord executed, intending, if it should prove practicable, rather to +favor the Government than the Reformers. At the same time, for the +purpose of giving satisfaction to the members of "the religion," and of +manifesting his sincere desire for a pacification, he accepted lodgings +which had been prepared for him at the house of a Calvinist merchant in +the city, rather, than, take up his quarters with fierce old governor +Moulbais, in the citadel. This gave much offence to the Catholics; and +inspired the Reformers, with the hope of having their preaching inside +the town. To this privilege they were entitled, for the practice had +already been established there, previously to the 24th October. +Nevertheless, at first he was disposed to limit them, in accordance with +the wishes of the Duchess, to extra-mural exercises. + +Upon his arrival, by a somewhat ominous conjuncture, he had supped with +some of the leading citizens in the hall of the "gehenna" or torture +room, certainly not a locality calculated to inspire a healthy appetite. +On the following Sunday he had been entertained with a great banquet, at +which all the principal burghers were present, held in a house on the +market-place. The festivities had been interrupted by a quarrel, which +had been taking place in the cathedral. Beneath the vaults of that +edifice, tradition said that a vast treasure was hidden, and the canons +had been known to boast that this buried wealth would be sufficient to +rebuild their temple more magnificently than ever, in case of its total +destruction. The Admiral had accordingly placed a strong guard in the +church as soon as he arrived, and commenced very extensive excavations in +search of this imaginary mine. The Regent informed her brother that the +Count was prosecuting this work with the view of appropriating whatever +might be found to his own benefit. As she knew that he was a ruined man, +there seemed no more satisfactory mode of accounting for these +proceedings. Horn had, however, expressly stated to her that every penny +which should come into his possession from that or any other source would +carefully be restored to the rightful owners. Nothing of consequence was +ever found to justify the golden legends of the monks, but in the mean +time the money-diggers gave great offence. The canons, naturally alarmed +for the safety of their fabulous treasure, had forced the guard, by +surreptitiously obtaining the countersign from a certain official of the +town. A quarrel ensued which ended in the appearance of this personage, +together with the commander of the military force on guard in the +cathedral, before the banqueting company. The Count, in the rough way +habitual with him, gave the culprit a sound rebuke for his intermeddling, +and threatened, in case the offence were repeated, to have him instantly +bound, gagged, and forwarded to Brussels for further punishment. The +matter thus satisfactorily adjusted, the banquet proceeded, the merchants +present being all delighted at seeing the said official, who was +exceedingly, unpopular, "so well huffed by the Count." The excavations +were continued for along time, until there seemed danger of destroying +the foundation of the church, but only a few bits of money were +discovered, with some other articles of small value. + +Horn had taken his apartments in the city in order to be at hand to +suppress any tumults, and to inspire confidence in the people. He had +come to a city where five sixths of the inhabitants--were of the reformed +religion, and he did not, therefore, think it judicious to attempt +violently the suppression of their worship. Upon his arrival he had +issued a proclamation, ordering that all property which might have been +pillaged from the religious houses should be instantly restored to the +magistracy, under penalty that all who disobeyed the command should "be +forthwith strangled at the gibbet." Nothing was brought back, however, +for the simple reason that nothing had been stolen. There was, therefore, +no one to be strangled. + +The next step was to publish the Accord of 24th August, and to signify +the intention of the Admiral to enforce its observance. The preachings +were as enthusiastically attended as ever, while the storm which had been +raging among the images had in the mean time been entirely allayed. +Congregations of fifteen thousand were still going to hear Ambrose Wille +in the suburbs, but they were very tranquil in their demeanor. It was +arranged between the Admiral and the leaders of the reformed +consistories, that three places, to be selected by Horn, should be +assigned for their places of worship. At these spots, which were outside +the walls, permission was given the Reformers to build meeting-houses. To +this arrangement the Duchess formally gave her consent. + +Nicholas Taffin; councillor, in the name of the Reformers, made "a brave +and elegant harangue" before the magistrates, representing that, as on +the most moderate computation, three quarters of the population were +dissenters, as the Regent had ordered the construction of the new +temples, and as the Catholics retained possession of all the churches in +the city, it was no more than fair that the community should bear the +expense of the new buildings. It was indignantly replied, however, that +Catholics could not be expected to pay for the maintenance of heresy, +particularly when they had just been so much exasperated by the +image-breaking Councillor Taffin took nothing, therefore by his "brave +and elegant harangue," saving a small vote of forty livres. + +The building was, however, immediately commenced. Many nobles and rich +citizens contributed to the work; some making donations in money; others +giving quantities of oaks, poplars, elms, and other timber trees, to be +used in the construction. The foundation of the first temple outside the +Ports de Cocquerel was immediately laid. Vast heaps of broken images and +other ornaments of the desecrated churches were most unwisely used for +this purpose, and the Catholics were exceedingly enraged at beholding +those male and female saints, who had for centuries been placed in such +"reverend and elevated positions," fallen so low as to be the +foundation-stones of temples whose builders denounced all those holy +things as idols. + +As the autumn began to wane, the people were clamorous for permission to +have their preaching inside the city. The new buildings could not be +finished before the winter; but in the mean time the camp-meetings were +becoming, in the stormy seasons fast approaching, a very inconvenient +mode of worship. On the other hand, the Duchess was furious at the +proposition, and commanded Horn on no account to consent that the +interior of Tournay should be profaned by these heretical rites. It was +in vain that the Admiral represented the justice of the claim, as these +exercises had taken place in several of the city churches previously to +the Accord of the 24th of August. + +That agreement had been made by the Duchess only to be broken. She had +already received money and the permission to make levies, and was fast +assuming a tone very different from the abject demeanor which had +characterized her in August. Count Horn had been used even as Egmont, +Orange and Hoogstraaten had been employed, in order that their personal +influence with the Reformers might be turned to account. The tools and +the work accomplished by them were to be thrown away at the most +convenient opportunity. + +The Admiral was placed in a most intolerable position. An honest, +common-place, sullen kind of man, he had come to a city full of heretics, +to enforce concessions just made by the government to heresy. He soon +found himself watched, paltered with, suspected by the administration at +Brussels. Governor Moulbais in the citadel, who was nominally under his +authority, refused obedience to his orders, was evidently receiving +secret instructions from the Regent, and was determined to cannonade the +city into submission at a very early day. Horn required him to pledge +himself that no fresh troops should enter the castle. Moulbais swore he +would make no such promise to a living soul. The Admiral stormed with his +usual violence, expressed his regret that his brother Montigny had so bad +a lieutenant in the citadel, but could make no impression upon the +determined veteran, who knew, better than Horn, the game which was +preparing. Small reinforcements were daily arriving at the castle; the +soldiers of the garrison had been heard to boast "that they would soon +carve and eat the townsmen's flesh on their dressers," and all the good +effect from the Admiral's proclamation on arriving, had completely +vanished. + +Horn complained bitterly of the situation in which he was placed. He knew +himself the mark of incessant and calumnious misrepresentation both at +Brussels and Madrid. He had been doing his best, at a momentous crisis, +to serve the government without violating its engagements, but he +declared himself to be neither theologian nor jurist, and incapable, +while suspected and unassisted, of performing a task which the most +learned doctors of the council would find impracticable. He would rather, +he bitterly exclaimed, endure a siege in any fortress by the Turks, than +be placed in such a position. He was doing all that he was capable of +doing, yet whatever he did was wrong. There was a great difference, he +said, between being in a place and talking about it at a distance. + +In the middle of October he was recalled by the Duchess, whose letters +had been uniformly so ambiguous that he confessed he was quite unable to +divine their meaning. Before he left the city, he committed his most +unpardonable crime. Urged by the leaders of the reformed congregations to +permit their exercises in the Clothiers' Hall until their temples should +be finished, the Count accorded his consent provisionally, and subject to +revocation by the Regent, to whom the arrangement was immediately to be +communicated. + +Horn departed, and the Reformers took instant possession of the hall. It +was found in a very dirty and disorderly condition, encumbered with +benches, scaffoldings, stakes, gibbets, and all the machinery used for +public executions upon the market-place. A vast body of men went to work +with a will; scrubbing, cleaning, whitewashing, and removing all the foul +lumber of the hall; singing in chorus, as they did so, the hymns of +Clement Marot. By dinner-time the place was ready. The pulpit and benches +for the congregation had taken the place of the gibbet timber. It is +difficult to comprehend that such work as this was a deadly crime. +Nevertheless, Horn, who was himself a sincere Catholic, had committed the +most mortal of all his offences against Philip and against God, by having +countenanced so flagitious a transaction. + +The Admiral went to Brussels. Secretary de la Torre, a very second-rate +personage, was despatched to Tournay to convey the orders of the Regent. +Governor Moulbais, now in charge of affairs both civil and military, was +to prepare all things for the garrison, which was soon to be despatched +under Noircarmes. The Duchess had now arms in her hands, and her language +was bold. La Torre advised the Reformers to be wise "while the rod was +yet green and growing, lest it should be gathered for their backs; for it +was unbecoming is subjects to make bargains with their King." There was +hardly any decent pretext used in violating the Accord of the 24th +August, so soon as the government was strong enough to break it. It was +always said that the preachings suppressed, had not been established +previously to that arrangement; but the preachings had in reality +obtained almost every where, and were now universally abolished. The +ridiculous quibble was also used that, in the preachings other religious +exercises were not included, whereas it was notorious that they had never +been separated. It is, however, a gratuitous task, to unravel the +deceptions of tyranny when it hardly deigns to disguise itself. The +dissimulations which have resisted the influence of centuries are more +worthy of serious investigation, and of these the epoch offers us a +sufficient supply. + +At the close of the year, the city of Tournay was completely subjugated +and the reformed religion suppressed. Upon the 2nd day of January, 1567, +the Seignior de Noircarmes arrived before the gates at the head of eleven +companies, with orders from Duchess Margaret to strengthen the garrison +and disarm the citizens. He gave the magistrates exactly one hour and a +half to decide whether they would submit without a murmur. He expressed +an intention of maintaining the Accord of 24th August; a ridiculous +affectation under the circumstances, as the event proved. The notables +were summoned, submission agreed upon, and within the prescribed time the +magistrates came before Noircarmes, with an unconditional acceptance of +his terms. That truculent personage told them, in reply, that they had +done wisely, for if they had delayed receiving the garrison a minute +longer, he would have instantly burned the city to ashes and put every +one of the inhabitants to the sword. He had been fully authorized to do +so, and subsequent events were to show, upon more than one dreadful +occasion, how capable Noircarmes would have been of fulfilling this +menace. + +The soldiers, who had made a forced march all night, and who had been +firmly persuaded that the city would refuse the terms demanded, were +excessively disappointed at being obliged to forego the sack and pillage +upon which they had reckoned. Eight or nine hundred rascally peasants, +too, who had followed in the skirts of the regiments, each provided with +a great empty bag, which they expected to fill with booty which they +might purchase of the soldiers, or steal in the midst of the expected +carnage and rapine, shared the discontent of the soldiery, by whom they +were now driven ignominiously out of the town. + +The citizens were immediately disarmed. All the fine weapons which they +had been obliged to purchase at their own expense, when they had been +arranged by the magistrates under eight banners, for defence of the city +against tumult and invasion, were taken from them; the most beautiful +cutlasses, carbines, poniards, and pistols, being divided by Noircarmes +among his officers. Thus Tournay was tranquillized. + +During the whole of these proceedings in Flanders, and at Antwerp, +Tournay, and Mechlin, the conduct of the Duchess had been marked with +more than her usual treachery. She had been disavowing acts which the men +upon whom she relied in her utmost need had been doing by her authority; +she had been affecting to praise their conduct, while she was secretly +misrepresenting their actions and maligning their motives, and she had +been straining every nerve to make foreign levies, while attempting to +amuse the confederates and sectaries with an affectation of clemency. + +When Orange complained that she had been censuring his proceedings at +Antwerp, and holding language unfavorable to his character, she protested +that she thoroughly approved his arrangements--excepting only the two +points of the intramural preachings and the permission to heretics of +other exercises than sermons--and that if she were displeased with him he +might be sure that she would rather tell him so than speak ill of him +behind his back. The Prince, who had been compelled by necessity, and +fully authorized by the terms of the "Accord", to grant those two points +which were the vital matter in his arrangements, answered very calmly, +that he was not so frivolous as to believe in her having used language to +his discredit had he not been quite certain of the fact, as he would soon +prove by evidence. Orange was not the man to be deceived as to the +position in which he stood, nor as to the character of those with whom he +dealt. Margaret wrote, however, in the same vein concerning him to +Hoogstmaten, affirming that nothing could be further from her intention +than to characterize the proceedings of "her cousin, the Prince of +Orange, as contrary to the service of his Majesty; knowing, as she did, +how constant had been his affection, and how diligent his actions, in the +cause of God and the King." + +She also sent councillor d'Assonleville on a special mission to the +Prince, instructing that smooth personage to inform her said cousin of +Orange that he was and always had been "loved and cherished by his +Majesty, and that for herself she had ever loved him like a brother or a +child." + +She wrote to Horn, approving of his conduct in the main, although in +obscure terms, and expressing great confidence in his zeal, loyalty, and +good intentions. She accorded the same praise to Hoogstraaten, while as +to Egmont she was perpetually reproaching him for the suspicions which he +seemed obstinately to entertain as to her disposition and that of Philip, +in regard to his conduct and character. + +It has already been partly seen what were her private sentiments and +secret representations as to the career of the distinguished personages +thus encouraged and commended. Her pictures were painted in daily +darkening colors. She told her brother that Orange, Egmont, and Horn were +about to place themselves at the head of the confederates, who were to +take up arms and had been levying troops; that the Lutheran religion was +to be forcibly established, that the whole power of the government was to +be placed in the triumvirate thus created by those seigniors, and that +Philip was in reality to be excluded entirely from those provinces which +were his ancient patrimony. All this information she had obtained from +Mansfeld, at whom the nobles were constantly sneering as at a faithful +valet who would never receive his wages. + +She also informed the King that the scheme for dividing the country was +already arranged: that Augustus of Saxony was to have Friesland and +Overyssel; Count Brederode, Holland; the Dukes of Cleves and Lorraine, +Gueldres; the King of France, Flanders, Artois, and Hainault, of which +territories Egmont was to be perpetual stadholder; the Prince of Orange, +Brabant; and so on indefinitely. A general massacre of all the Catholics +had been arranged by Orange, Horn, and Egmont, to commence as soon as the +King should put his foot on shipboard to come to the country. This last +remarkable fact Margaret reported to Philip, upon the respectable +authority of Noircarmes. + +She apologized for having employed the service of these nobles, on the +ground of necessity. Their proceedings in Flanders, at Antwerp, Tournay, +Mechlin, had been highly reprehensible, and she had been obliged to +disavow them in the most important particulars. As for Egmont, she had +most unwillingly entrusted forces to his hands for the purpose of putting +down the Flemish sectaries. She had been afraid to show a want of +confidence in his character, but at the same time she believed that all +soldiers under Egmont's orders would be so many enemies to the king. +Notwithstanding his protestations of fidelity to the ancient religion and +to his Majesty, she feared that he was busied with some great plot +against God and the King. When we remember the ruthless manner in which +the unfortunate Count had actually been raging against the sectaries, and +the sanguinary proofs which he had been giving of his fidelity to "God +and the King," it seems almost incredible that Margaret could have +written down all these monstrous assertions. + +The Duchess gave, moreover, repeated warnings to her brother, that the +nobles were in the habit of obtaining possession of all the +correspondence between Madrid and Brussels; and that they spent a vast +deal of money in order to read her own and Philip's most private letters. +She warned him therefore, to be upon his guard, for she believed that +almost all their despatches were read. Such being the cases and the tenor +of those documents being what we have seen it to be, her complaints as to +the incredulity of those seigniors to her affectionate protestations, +seem quite wonderful. + + + + +CHAPTER IX., Part 1., 1566 + + Position of Orange--The interview at Dendermonde--The supposititious + letters of Alava--Views of Egmont--Isolation of Orange--Conduct of + Egmont and of Horn--Confederacy, of the nobles dissolved--Weak + behavior of prominent personages----Watchfulness of Orange-- + Convocation of States General demanded--Pamphlet of Orange--City of + Valenciennes refuses a garrison--Influence of La Grange and De Bray + --City, declared in a state of siege--Invested by Noircarmes-- + Movements to relieve the place--Calvinists defeated at Lannoy and at + Waterlots--Elation of the government--The siege pressed more + closely--Cruelties practised upon the country people--Courage of the + inhabitants--Remonstrance to the Knights of the Fleece--Conduct of + Brederode--Orange at Amsterdam--New Oath demanded by Government-- + Orange refuses--He offers his resignation of all offices--Meeting at + Breda--New "Request" of Brederode--He creates disturbances and + levies troops in Antwerp--Conduct of Hoogstraaten--Plans of + Brederode--Supposed connivance of Orange--Alarm at Brussels-- + Tholouse at Ostrawell--Brederode in Holland--De Beauvoir defeats + Tholouse--Excitement at Antwerp--Determined conduct of Orange--Three + days' tumult at Antwerp suppressed by the wisdom and courage of + Orange. + +It is necessary to allude to certain important events contemporaneous +with those recorded in the last chapter, that the reader may thoroughly +understand the position of the leading personages in this great drama at +the close of the year 1566. + +The Prince of Orange had, as we have seen, bean exerting all his energies +faithfully to accomplish the pacification of the commercial metropolis, +upon the basis assented to beforehand by the Duchess. He had established +a temporary religious peace, by which alone at that crisis the gathering +tempest could be averted; but he had permitted the law to take its course +upon certain rioters, who had been regularly condemned by courts of +justice. He had worked day and night--notwithstanding immense obstacles, +calumnious misstatements, and conflicting opinions--to restore order out +of chaos; he had freely imperilled his own life--dashing into a +tumultuous mob on one occasion, wounding several with the halberd which +he snatched from one of his guard, and dispersing almost with his single +arm a dangerous and threatening insurrection--and he had remained in +Antwerp, at the pressing solicitations of the magistracy, who represented +that the lives of not a single ecclesiastic would be safe as soon as his +back was turned, and that all the merchants would forthwith depart from +the city. It was nevertheless necessary that he should make a personal +visit to his government of Holland, where similar disorders had been +prevailing, and where men of all ranks and parties were clamoring for +their stadholder. + +Notwithstanding all his exertions however, he was thoroughly aware of the +position in which he stood towards the government. The sugared phrases of +Margaret, the deliberate commendation of the "benign and debonair" +Philip, produced no effect upon this statesman, who was accustomed to +look through and through men's actions to the core of their hearts. In +the hearts of Philip and Margaret he already saw treachery and revenge +indelibly imprinted. He had been especially indignant at the insult which +the Duchess Regent had put upon him, by sending Duke Eric of Brunswick +with an armed force into Holland in order to protect Gouda, Woerden, and +other places within the Prince's own government. He was thoroughly +conversant with the general tone in which the other seigniors and himself +were described to their sovereign. He, was already convinced that the +country was to be conquered by foreign mercenaries, and that his own +life, with these of many other nobles, was to be sacrificed. The moment +had arrived in which he was justified in looking about him for means of +defence, both for himself and his country, if the King should be so +insane as to carry out the purposes which the Prince suspected. The time +was fast approaching in which a statesman placed upon such an elevation +before the world as that which he occupied, would be obliged to choose +his part for life. To be the unscrupulous tool of tyranny, a rebel, or an +exile, was his necessary fate. To a man so prone to read the future, the +moment for his choice seemed already arrived. Moreover, he thought it +doubtful, and events were most signally to justify his doubts, whether he +could be accepted as the instrument of despotism, even were he inclined +to prostitute himself to such service. At this point, therefore, +undoubtedly began the treasonable thoughts of William the Silent, if it +be treason to attempt the protection of ancient and chartered liberties +against a foreign oppressor. He despatched a private envoy to Egmont, +representing the grave suspicions manifested by the Duchess in sending +Duke Eric into Holland, and proposing that means should be taken into +consideration for obviating the dangers with which the country was +menaced. Catholics as well as Protestants, he intimated, were to be +crushed in one universal conquest as soon as Philip had completed the +formidable preparations which he was making for invading the provinces. +For himself, he said, he would not remain in the land to witness the +utter desolation of the people, nor to fall an unresisting victim to the +vengeance which he foresaw. If, however, he might rely upon the +co-operation of Egmont and Horn, he was willing, with the advice of the +states-general, to risk preparations against the armed invasion of +Spaniards by which the country was to be reduced to slavery. It was +incumbent, however, upon men placed as they were, "not to let the grass +grow under their feet;" and the moment for action was fast approaching. + +This was the scheme which Orange was willing to attempt. To make use of +his own influence and that of his friends, to interpose between a +sovereign insane with bigotry, and a people in a state of religious +frenzy, to resist brutal violence if need should be by force, and to +compel the sovereign to respect the charters which he had sworn to +maintain, and which were far more ancient than his sovereignty; so much +of treason did William of Orange already contemplate, for in no other way +could he be loyal to his country and his own honor. + +Nothing came of this secret embassy, for Egmont's heart and fate were +already fixed. Before Orange departed, however; for the north, where his +presence in the Dutch provinces was now imperatively required, a +memorable interview took place at Dendermonde between Orange, Horn, +Egmont, Hoogstraaten, and Count Louis. The nature of this conference was +probably similar to that of the secret mission from Orange to Egmont just +recorded. It was not a long consultation. The gentlemen met at eleven +o'clock, and conversed until dinner was ready, which was between twelve +and one in the afternoon. They discussed the contents of a letter +recently received by Horn from his brother Montigny at Segovia, giving a +lively picture of Philip's fury at the recent events in the Netherlands, +and expressing the Baron's own astonishment and indignation that it had +been impossible for the seigniors to prevent such outrages as the public +preaching, the image-breaking and the Accord. They had also some +conversation concerning the dissatisfaction manifested by the Duchess at +the proceedings of Count Horn at Tournay, and they read a very remarkable +letter which had been furnished them, as having been written by the +Spanish envoy in Paris, Don Francis of Alava, to Margaret of Parma. This +letter was forged. At least the Regent, in her Italian correspondence, +asserted it to be fictitious, and in those secret letters to Philip she +usually told the truth. The astuteness of William of Orange had in this +instance been deceived. The striking fidelity, however, with which the +present and future policy of the government was sketched, the accuracy +with which many unborn events were foreshadowed, together with the minute +touches which gave an air of genuineness to the fictitious despatch, +might well deceive even so sagacious an observer as the Prince. + +The letters alluded to the deep and long-settled hostility of Philip to +Orange, Horn, and Egmont, as to a fact entirely within the writer's +knowledge, and that of his correspondent, but urged upon the Duchess the +assumption of an extraordinary degree of apparent cordiality in her +intercourse with them. It was the King's intention to use them and to +destroy them, said the writer, and it was the Regent's duty to second the +design. "The tumults and troubles have not been without their secret +concurrence," said the supposititious Alava, "and your Highness may rest +assured that they will be the first upon whom his Majesty will seize, not +to confer benefits, but to chastise them as they deserve. Your Highness, +however, should show no symptom of displeasure, but should constantly +maintain in their minds the idea that his Majesty considers them as the +most faithful of his servants. While they are persuaded of this, they can +be more easily used, but when the time comes, they will be treated in +another manner. Your Highness may rest assured that his Majesty is not +less inclined than your Highness that they should receive the punishment +which they merit." The Duchess was furthermore recommended "to deal with +the three seigniors according to the example of the Spanish Governments +in its intercourse with the envoys, Bergen and Montigny, who are met with +a smiling face, but who are closely watched, and who will never be +permitted to leave Spain alive." The remainder of the letter alludes to +supposed engagements between France and Spain for the extirpation of +heresy, from which allusion to the generally accepted but mistaken notion +as to the Bayonne conference, a decided proof seems to be furnished that +the letter was not genuine. Great complaints, however, are made, as to +the conduct of the Queen Regent, who is described as "a certain lady well +known to her Highness, and as a person without faith, friendship, or +truth; the most consummate hypocrite in the world." After giving +instances of the duplicity manifested by Catherine de Medici, the writer +continues: "She sends her little black dwarf to me upon frequent errands, +in order that by means of this spy she may worm out my secrets. I am, +however, upon my guard, and flatter myself that I learn more from him +than she from me. She shall never be able to boast of having deceived a +Spaniard." + +An extract or two from this very celebrated document seemed +indispensable, because of the great importance attached to it, both at +the Dendermonde Conference, and at the trials of Egmont and Horn. The +contemporary writers of Holland had no doubt of its genuineness, and what +is more remarkable, Strada, the historiographer of the Farnese family, +after quoting Margaret's denial of the authenticity of the letter, coolly +observes: "Whether this were only an invention of the conspirators, or +actually a despatch from Alava, I shall not decide. It is certain, +however, that the Duchess declared it to be false." + +Certainly, as we read the epistles, and observe how profoundly the writer +seems to have sounded the deep guile of the Spanish Cabinet, and how +distinctly events, then far in the future, are indicated, we are tempted +to exclaim: "aut Alava, aut Diabolus;" either the envoy wrote the +despatch, or Orange. Who else could look into the future, and into +Philip's heart so unerringly? + +As the charge has never been made, so far as we are aware, against the +Prince, it is superfluous to discuss the amount of immorality which +should belong to such a deception. A tendency to employ stratagem in his +warfare against Spain was, no doubt, a blemish upon his--high character. +Before he is condemned, however, in the Court of Conscience, the +ineffable wiles of the policy with which he had to combat must be +thoroughly scanned, as well as the pure and lofty purpose for which his +life's long battle was fought. + +There was, doubtless, some conversation at Dendermonde on the propriety +or possibility of forcible resistance to a Spanish army, with which it +seemed probable that Philip was about to invade the provinces, and take +the lives of the leading nobles. Count Louis was in favor of making +provision in Germany for the accomplishment of this purpose. It is also +highly probable that the Prince may have encouraged the proposition. In +the sense of his former communication to Egmont, he may have reasoned on +the necessity of making levies to sustain the decisions of the +states-general against violence. There is, however, no proof of any such +fact. Egmont, at any rate, opposed the scheme, on the ground that "it was +wrong to entertain any such ill opinion of so good a king as Philip, that +he had never done any thing unjust towards his subjects, and that if any +one was in fear, he had better leave the country." + +Egmont, moreover; doubted the authenticity of the letters from Alava, but +agreed to carry them to Brussels, and to lay them before the Regent. That +lady, when she saw them, warmly assured the Count that they were +inventions. + +The Conference broke up after it had lasted an hour and a half. The +nobles then went to dinner, at which other persons appear to have been +present, and the celebrated Dendermonde meeting was brought to a close. +After the repast was finished, each of the five nobles mounted his horse, +and departed on his separate way. + +From this time forth the position of, these leading seigniors became more +sharply defined. Orange was left in almost complete isolation. Without +the assistance of Egmont, any effective resistance to the impending +invasion from Spain seemed out of the question. The Count, however, had +taken his irrevocable and fatal resolution. After various oscillations +during the stormy period which had elapsed, his mind, notwithstanding all +the disturbing causes by which it had hitherto been partially influenced, +now pointed steadily to the point of loyalty. The guidance of that pole +star was to lead him to utter shipwreck. The unfortunate noble, +entrenched against all fear of Philip by the brazen wall of an easy +conscience; saw no fault in his past at which he should grow pale with +apprehension. Moreover, he was sanguine by nature, a Catholic in +religion, a royalist from habit and conviction. Henceforth he was +determined that his services to the crown should more than counterbalance +any idle speeches or insolent demonstrations of which he might have been +previously guilty. + +Horn pursued a different course, but one which separated him also from +the Prince, while it led to the same fate which Egmont was blindly +pursuing.--The Admiral had committed no act of treason. On the contrary, +he had been doing his best, under most difficult circumstances, to avert +rebellion and save the interests of a most ungrateful sovereign. He was +now disposed to wrap himself in his virtue, to retreat from a court life, +for which he had never felt a vocation, and to resign all connection with +a government by which he felt himself very badly, treated. Moody, +wrathful, disappointed, ruined, and calumniated, he would no longer keep +terms with King or Duchess. He had griefs of long standing against the +whole of the royal family. He had never forgiven the Emperor for refusing +him, when young, the appointment of chamberlain. He had served Philip +long and faithfully, but he had never received a stiver of salary or +"merced," notwithstanding all his work as state councillor, as admiral, +as superintendent in Spain; while his younger brother had long been in +receipt of nine or ten thousand florins yearly. He had spent four hundred +thousand florins in the King's service; his estates were mortgaged to +their full value; he had been obliged to sell, his family plate. He had +done his best in Tourney to serve the Duchess, and he had averted the +"Sicilian vespers," which had been imminent at his arrival. He had saved +the Catholics from a general massacre, yet he heard nevertheless from +Montigny, that all his actions were distorted in Spain, and his motives +blackened. His heart no longer inclined him to continue in Philip's +service, even were he furnished with the means of doing so. He had +instructed his secretary, Alonzo de la Loo, whom he had despatched many +months previously to Madrid, that he was no longer to press his master's +claims for a "merced," but to signify that he abandoned all demands and +resigned all posts. He could turn hermit for the rest of his days, as +well as the Emperor Charles. If he had little, he could live upon little. +It was in this sense that he spoke to Margaret of Parma, to Assonleville, +to all around him. It was precisely in this strain and temper that he +wrote to Philip, indignantly defending his course at Tourney, protesting +against the tortuous conduct of the Duchess, and bluntly declaring that +he would treat no longer with ladies upon matters which concerned a man's +honor. + +Thus, smarting under a sense of gross injustice, the Admiral expressed +himself in terms which Philip was not likely to forgive. He had +undertaken the pacification of Tournay, because it was Montigny's +government, and he had promised his services whenever they should be +requisite. Horn was a loyal and affectionate brother, and it is pathetic +to find him congratulating Montigny on being, after all, better off in +Spain than in the Netherlands. Neither loyalty nor the sincere +Catholicism for which Montigny at this period commended Horn in his +private letters, could save the two brothers from the doom which was now +fast approaching. + +Thus Horn, blind as Egmont--not being aware that a single step beyond +implicit obedience had created an impassable gulf between Philip and +himself--resolved to meet his destiny in sullen retirement. Not an +entirely disinterested man, perhaps, but an honest one, as the world +went, mediocre in mind, but brave, generous, and direct of purpose, +goaded by the shafts of calumny, hunted down by the whole pack which +fawned upon power as it grew more powerful, he now retreated to his +"desert," as he called his ruined home at Weert, where he stood at bay, +growling defiance at the Regent, at Philip, at all the world. + +Thus were the two prominent personages upon whose co-operation Orange had +hitherto endeavored to rely, entirely separated from him. The confederacy +of nobles, too, was dissolved, having accomplished little, +notwithstanding all its noisy demonstrations, and having lost all credit +with the people by the formal cessation of the Compromise in consequence +of the Accord of August. As a body, they had justified the sarcasm of +Hubert Languet, that "the confederated nobles had ruined their country by +their folly and incapacity." They had profaned a holy cause by indecent +orgies, compromised it by seditious demonstrations, abandoned it when +most in need of assistance. Bakkerzeel had distinguished himself by +hanging sectaries in Flanders. "Golden Fleece" de Hammes, after creating +great scandal in and about Antwerp, since the Accord, had ended by +accepting an artillery commission in the Emperor's army, together with +three hundred crowns for convoy from Duchess Margaret. Culemburg was +serving the cause of religious freedom by defacing the churches within +his ancestral domains, pulling down statues, dining in chapels and giving +the holy wafer to his parrot. Nothing could be more stupid than these +acts of irreverence, by which Catholics were offended and honest patriots +disgusted. Nothing could be more opposed to the sentiments of Orange, +whose first principle was abstinence by all denominations of Christians +from mutual insults. At the same time, it is somewhat revolting to +observe the indignation with which such offences were regarded by men of +the most abandoned character. Thus, Armenteros, whose name was synonymous +with government swindling, who had been rolling up money year after year, +by peculations, auctioneering of high posts in church and state, bribes, +and all kinds of picking and stealing, could not contain his horror as he +referred to wafers eaten by parrots, or "toasted on forks" by renegade +priests; and poured out his emotions on the subject into the faithful +bosom of Antonio Perez, the man with whose debaucheries, political +villanies, and deliberate murders all Europe was to ring. + +No doubt there were many individuals in the confederacy for whom it was +reserved to render honorable service in the national cause. The names of +Louis Nassau, Mamix of St. Aldegonde, Bernard de Merode, were to be +written in golden letters in their country's rolls; but at this moment +they were impatient, inconsiderate, out of the control of Orange. Louis +was anxious for the King to come from Spain with his army, and for "the +bear dance to begin." Brederode, noisy, bawling, and absurd as ever, was +bringing ridicule upon the national cause by his buffoonery, and +endangering the whole people by his inadequate yet rebellious exertions. + +What course was the Prince of Orange to adopt? He could find no one to +comprehend his views. He felt certain at the close of the year that the +purpose of the government was fixed. He made no secret of his +determination never to lend himself as an instrument for the contemplated +subjugation of the people. He had repeatedly resigned all his offices. He +was now determined that the resignation once for all should be accepted. +If he used dissimulation, it was because Philip's deception permitted no +man to be frank. If the sovereign constantly disavowed all hostile +purposes against his people, and manifested extreme affection for the men +whom he had already doomed to the scaffold, how could the Prince openly +denounce him? It was his duty to save his country and his friends from +impending ruin. He preserved, therefore, an attitude of watchfulness. +Philip, in the depth of his cabinet, was under a constant inspection by +the sleepless Prince. The sovereign assured his sister that her +apprehensions about their correspondence was groundless. He always locked +up his papers, and took the key with him. Nevertheless, the key was taken +out of his pocket and the papers read. Orange was accustomed to observe, +that men of leisure might occupy themselves with philosophical pursuits +and with the secrets of nature, but that it was his business to study the +hearts of kings. He knew the man and the woman with whom he had to deal. +We have seen enough of the policy secretly pursued by Philip and Margaret +to appreciate the accuracy with which the Prince, groping as it were in +the dark, had judged the whole situation. Had his friends taken his +warnings, they might have lived to render services against tyranny. Had +he imitated their example of false loyalty, there would have been one +additional victim, more illustrious than all the rest, and a whole +country hopelessly enslaved. + +It is by keeping these considerations in view, that we can explain his +connection with such a man as Brederode. The enterprises of that noble, +of Tholouse, and others, and the resistance of Valenciennes, could hardly +have been prevented even by the opposition of the Prince. But why should +he take the field against men who, however rashly or ineffectually, were +endeavoring to oppose tyranny, when he knew himself already proscribed +and doomed by the tyrant? Such loyalty he left to Egmont. Till late in +the autumn, he had still believed in the possibility of convoking the +states-general, and of making preparations in Germany to enforce their +decrees. + +The confederates and sectaries had boasted that they could easily raise +an army of sixty thousand men within the provinces,--that twelve hundred +thousand florins monthly would be furnished by the rich merchants of +Antwerp, and that it was ridiculous to suppose that the German +mercenaries enrolled by the Duchess in Saxony, Hesse, and other +Protestant countries, would ever render serious assistance against the +adherents of the reformed religion. Without placing much confidence in +such exaggerated statements, the Prince might well be justified in +believing himself strong enough, if backed by the confederacy, by Egmont, +and by his own boundless influence, both at Antwerp and in his own +government, to sustain the constituted authorities of the nation even +against a Spanish army, and to interpose with legitimate and irresistible +strength between the insane tyrant and the country which he was preparing +to crush. It was the opinion of the best informed Catholics that, if +Egmont should declare for the confederacy, he could take the field with +sixty thousand men, and make himself master of the whole country at a +blow. In conjunction with Orange, the moral and physical force would have +been invincible. + +It was therefore not Orange alone, but the Catholics and Protestants +alike, the whole population of the country, and the Duchess Regent +herself, who desired the convocation of the estates. Notwithstanding +Philip's deliberate but secret determination never to assemble that body, +although the hope was ever to be held out that they should be convened, +Margaret had been most importunate that her brother should permit the +measure. "There was less danger," she felt herself compelled to say, "in +assembling than in not assembling the States; it was better to preserve +the Catholic religion for a part of the country, than to lose it +altogether." "The more it was delayed," she said, "the more ruinous and +desperate became the public affairs. If the measure were postponed much +longer, all Flanders, half Brabant, the whole of Holland, Zeland, +Gueldrea, Tournay, Lille, Mechlin, would be lost forever, without a +chance of ever restoring the ancient religion." The country, in short, +was "without faith, King, or law," and nothing worse could be apprehended +from any deliberation of the states-general. These being the opinions of +the Duchess, and according to her statement those of nearly all the good +Catholics in the country, it could hardly seem astonishing or treasonable +that the Prince should also be in favor of the measure. + +As the Duchess grew stronger, however, and as the people, aghast at the +fate of Tournay and Valenciennes, began to lose courage, she saw less +reason for assembling the states. Orange, on the other hand, completely +deserted by Egmont and Horn, and having little confidence in the +characters of the ex-confederates, remained comparatively quiescent but +watchful. + +At the close of the year, an important pamphlet from his hand was +circulated, in which his views as to the necessity of allowing some +degree of religious freedom were urged upon the royal government with his +usual sagacity of thought, moderation of language, and modesty in tone. +The man who had held the most important civil and military offices in the +country almost from boyhood, and who was looked up to by friend and foe +as the most important personage in the three millions of its inhabitants, +apologized for his "presumption" in coming forward publicly with his +advice. "I would not," he said, "in matters of such importance, affect to +be wiser or to make greater pretensions than my age or experience +warrants, yet seeing affairs in such perplexity, I will rather incur the +risk of being charged with forwardness than neglect that which I consider +my duty." + +This, then, was the attitude of the principal personages in the +Netherlands, and the situation of affairs at the end of the eventful year +1566, the last year of peace which the men then living or their children +were to know. The government, weak at the commencement, was strong at the +close. The confederacy was broken and scattered. The Request, the beggar +banquets, the public preaching, the image-breaking, the Accord of August, +had been followed by reaction. Tournay had accepted its garrison. Egmont, +completely obedient to the crown, was compelling all the cities of +Flanders and Artois to receive soldiers sufficient to maintain implicit +obedience, and to extinguish all heretical demonstrations, so that the +Regent was at comparative leisure to effect the reduction of +Valenciennes. + +This ancient city, in the province of Hainault, and on the frontier of +France, had been founded by the Emperor Valentinian, from whom it had +derived its name. Originally established by him as a city of refuge, it +had received the privilege of affording an asylum to debtors, to outlaws, +and even to murderers. This ancient right had been continued, under +certain modifications, even till the period with which we are now +occupied. Never, however, according to the government, had the right of +asylum, even in the wildest times, been so abused by the city before. +What were debtors, robbers, murderers, compared to heretics? yet these +worst enemies of their race swarmed in the rebellious city, practising +even now the foulest rites of Calvin, and obeying those most pestilential +of all preachers, Guido de Bray, and Peregrine de la Grange. The place +was the hot-bed of heresy and sedition, and it seemed to be agreed, as by +common accord, that the last struggle for what was called the new +religion, should take place beneath its walls. + +Pleasantly situated in a fertile valley, provided with very strong +fortifications and very deep moats, Valenciennes, with the Scheld flowing +through its centre, and furnishing the means of laying the circumjacent +meadows under water, was considered in those days almost impregnable. The +city was summoned, almost at the same time as Tournay, to accept a +garrison. This demand of government was met by a peremptory refusal. +Noircarmes, towards the middle of December, ordered the magistrates to +send a deputation to confer with him at Conde. Pensionary Outreman +accordingly repaired to that neighboring city, accompanied by some of his +colleagues. This committee was not unfavorable to the demands of +government. The magistracies of the cities, generally, were far from +rebellious; but in the case of Valenciennes the real power at that moment +was with the Calvinist consistory, and the ministers. The deputies, after +their return from Conde, summoned the leading members of the reformed +religion, together with the preachers. It was urged that it was their +duty forthwith to use their influence in favor of the demand made by the +government upon the city. + +"May I grow mute as a fish!" answered de la Grange, stoutly, "may the +tongue cleave to the roof of my mouth, before I persuade my people to +accept a garrison of cruel mercenaries, by whom their rights of +conscience are to be trampled upon!" + +Councillor Outreman reasoned with the fiery minister, that if he and his +colleague were afraid of their own lives, ample provision should be made +with government for their departure under safe conduct. La Grange replied +that he had no fears for himself, that the Lord would protect those who +preached and those who believed in his holy word, but that He would not +forgive them should they now bend their necks to His enemies. + +It was soon very obvious that no arrangement could be made. The +magistrates could exert no authority, the preachers were all-powerful; +and the citizens, said a Catholic inhabitant of Valenciennes, "allowed +themselves to be led by their ministers like oxen." Upon the 17th +December, 1566, a proclamation was accordingly issued by the Duchess +Regent, declaring the city in a state of siege, and all its inhabitants +rebels. The crimes for which this penalty was denounced, were elaborately +set forth in the edict. Preaching according to the reformed religion had +been permitted in two or three churches, the sacrament according to the +Calvinistic manner had been publicly administered, together with a +renunciation by the communicants of their adhesion to the Catholic +Church, and now a rebellious refusal to receive the garrison sent to them +by the Duchess had been added to the list of their iniquities. For +offences like these the Regent deemed it her duty to forbid all +inhabitants of any city, village, or province of the Netherlands holding +communication with Valenciennes, buying or selling with its inhabitants, +or furnishing them with provisions; on pain of being considered +accomplices in their rebellion, and as such of being executed with the +halter. + +The city was now invested by Noircarmes with all the troops which could +be spared. The confederates gave promises of assistance to the +beleaguered citizens, Orange privately encouraged them to holdout in +their legitimate refusal. Brederode and others busied themselves with +hostile demonstrations which were destined to remain barren; but in the +mean time the inhabitants had nothing to rely upon save their own stout +hearts and arms. + +At first, the siege was sustained with a light heart. Frequent sallies +were made, smart skirmishes were ventured, in which the Huguenots, on the +testimony of a most bitter Catholic contemporary, conducted themselves +with the bravery of veteran troops, and as if they had done nothing all +their lives but fight; forays were made upon the monasteries of the +neighborhood for the purpose of procuring supplies, and the broken +statues of the dismantled churches were used to build a bridge across an +arm of the river, which was called in derision the Bridge of Idols. +Noircarmes and the six officers under him, who were thought to be +conducting their operations with languor, were christened the Seven +Sleepers. Gigantic spectacles, three feet in circumference, were planted +derisively upon the ramparts, in order that the artillery, which it was +said that the papists of Arras were sending, might be seen, as soon as it +should arrive. Councillor Outreman, who had left the city before the +siege, came into it again, on commission from Noircarmes. He was received +with contempt, his proposals on behalf of the government were answered +with outcries of fury; he was pelted with stones, and was very glad to +make his escape alive. The pulpits thundered with the valiant deeds of +Joshua, Judas Maccabeus, and other bible heroes. The miracles wrought in +their behalf served to encourage the enthusiasm of the people, while the +movements making at various points in the neighborhood encouraged a hope +of a general rising throughout the country. + +Those hopes were destined to disappointment. There were large assemblages +made, to be sure, at two points. Nearly three thousand sectaries had been +collected at Lannoy under Pierre Comaille, who, having been a locksmith +and afterwards a Calvinist preacher, was now disposed to try his fortune +as a general. His band was, however, disorderly. Rustics armed with +pitchforks, young students and old soldiers out of employment, furnished +with rusty matchlocks, pikes and halberds, composed his force. A company +similar in character, and already amounting to some twelve hundred in +number, was collecting at Waterlots. It was hoped that an imposing array +would soon be assembled, and that the two bands, making a junction, would +then march to the relief of Valenciennes. It was boasted that in a very +short time, thirty thousand men would be in the field. There was even a +fear of some such result felt by the Catholics. + + ETEXT EDITOR'S BOOKMARKS: + + 1566, the last year of peace + Dissenters were as bigoted as the orthodox + If he had little, he could live upon little + Incur the risk of being charged with forwardness than neglect + Not to let the grass grow under their feet + + + + +MOTLEY'S HISTORY OF THE NETHERLANDS, PG EDITION, VOLUME 13. + +THE RISE OF THE DUTCH REPUBLIC + +By JOHN LOTHROP MOTLEY +1855 + +1567 [CHAPTER IX., Part 2.] + + Calvinists defeated at Lannoy and at Waterlots--Elation of the + government--The siege pressed more closely--Cruelties practised upon + the country people--Courage of the inhabitants--Remonstrance to the + Knights of the Fleece--Conduct of Brederode--Orange at Amsterdam-- + New Oath demanded by Government--Orange refuses--He offers his + resignation of all offices--Meeting at Breda--New "Request" of + Brederode--He creates disturbances and levies troops in Antwerp-- + Conduct of Hoogstraaten--Plans of Brederode--Supposed connivance of + Orange--Alarm at Brussels--Tholouse at Ostrawell--Brederode in + Holland--De Beauvoir defeats Tholouse--Excitement at Antwerp-- + Determined conduct of Orange--Three days' tumult at Antwerp + suppressed by the wisdom and courage of Orange. + +It was then that Noircarmes and his "seven sleepers" showed that they +were awake. Early in January, 1567, that fierce soldier, among whose +vices slothfulness was certainly never reckoned before or afterwards, +fell upon the locksmith's army at Zannoy, while the Seigneur de +Rassinghem attacked the force at Waterlots on the same day. Noircarmes +destroyed half his enemies at the very first charge. The ill-assorted +rabble fell asunder at once. The preacher fought well, but his +undisciplined force fled at the first sight of the enemy. Those who +carried arquebusses threw them down without a single discharge, that they +might run the faster. At least a thousand were soon stretched dead upon +the field; others were hunted into the river. Twenty-six hundred, +according to the Catholic accounts, were exterminated in an hour. + +Rassinghem, on his part, with five or six hundred regulars, attacked +Teriel's force, numbering at least twice as many. Half of these were soon +cut to pieces and put to flight. Six hundred, however, who had seen some +service, took refuge in the cemetery of Waterlots. Here, from behind the +stone wall of the inclosure, they sustained the attack of the Catholics +with some spirit. The repose of the dead in the quiet country church-yard +was disturbed by the uproar of a most sanguinary conflict. The temporary +fort was soon carried, and the Huguenots retreated into the church. A +rattling arquebusade was poured in upon them as they struggled in the +narrow doorway. At least four hundred corpses were soon strewn among the +ancient graves. The rest were hunted, into the church, and from the +church into the belfry. A fire was then made in the steeple and kept up +till all were roasted or suffocated. Not a man escaped. + +This was the issue in the first stricken field in the Netherlands, for +the cause of religious liberty. It must be confessed that it was not very +encouraging to the lovers of freedom. The partisans of government were +elated, in proportion to the apprehension which had been felt for the +result of this rising in the Walloon country. "These good hypocrites," +wrote a correspondent of Orange, "are lifting up their heads like so many +dromedaries. They are becoming unmanageable with pride." The Duke of +Aerschot and Count Meghem gave great banquets in Brussels, where all the +good chevaliers drank deep in honor of the victory, and to the health of +his Majesty and Madame. "I saw Berlaymont just go by the window," wrote +Schwartz to the Prince. "He was coming from Aerschot's dinner with a face +as red as the Cardinal's new hat." + +On the other hand, the citizens of Valenciennes were depressed in equal +measure with the exultation of their antagonists. There was no more talk +of seven sleepers now, no more lunettes stuck upon lances, to spy the +coming forces of the enemy. It was felt that the government was wide +awake, and that the city would soon see the impending horrors without +telescopes. The siege was pressed more closely. Noircarmes took up a +commanding position at Saint Armand, by which he was enabled to cut off +all communication between the city and the surrounding country. All the +villages in the neighborhood were pillaged; all the fields laid waste. +All the infamies which an insolent soldiery can inflict upon helpless +peasantry were daily enacted. Men and women who attempted any +communication--with the city, were murdered in cold blood by hundreds. +The villagers were plundered of their miserable possessions, children +were stripped naked in the midst of winter for the sake of the rags which +covered them; matrons and virgins were sold at public auction by the tap +of drum; sick and wounded wretches were burned over slow fires, to afford +amusement to the soldiers. In brief, the whole unmitigated curse which +military power inflamed by religious bigotry can embody, had descended +upon the heads of these unfortunate provincials who had dared to worship +God in Christian churches without a Roman ritual. + +Meantime the city maintained, a stout heart still. The whole population +were arranged under different banners. The rich and poor alike took arms +to defend the walls which sheltered them. The town paupers were enrolled +in three companies, which bore the significant title of the "Tons-nulls" +or the "Stark-nakeds," and many was the fierce conflict delivered outside +the gates by men, who, in the words of a Catholic then in the city, might +rather be taken for "experienced veterans than for burghers and +artisans." At the same time, to the honor of Valenciennes, it must be +stated, upon the same incontestable authority, that not a Catholic in the +city was injured or insulted. The priests who had remained there were not +allowed to say mass, but they never met with an opprobrious word or look +from the people. + +The inhabitants of the city called upon the confederates for assistance. +They also issued an address to the Knights of the Fleece; a paper which +narrated the story of their wrongs in pathetic and startling language. +They appealed to those puissant and illustrious chevaliers to prevent the +perpetration of the great wrong which was now impending over so many +innocent heads. "Wait not," they said, "till the thunderbolt has fallen, +till the deluge has overwhelmed us, till the fires already blazing have +laid the land in coals and ashes, till no other course be possible, but +to abandon the country in its desolation to foreign barbarity. Let the +cause of the oppressed come to your ears. So shall your conscience become +a shield of iron; so shall the happiness of a whole country witness +before the angels, of your truth to his Majesty, in the cause of his true +grandeur and glory." + +These stirring appeals to an order of which Philip was chief, Viglius +chancellor, Egmont, Mansfeld, Aerschot, Berlaymont, and others, +chevaliers, were not likely to produce much effect. The city could rely +upon no assistance in those high quarters. + +Meantime, however, the bold Brederode was attempting a very extensive +diversion, which, if successful, would have saved Valenciennes and the +whole country beside. That eccentric personage, during the autumn and +winter had been creating disturbances in various parts of the country. +Wherever he happened to be established, there came from the windows of +his apartments a sound of revelry and uproar. Suspicious characters in +various costumes thronged his door and dogged his footsteps. At the same +time the authorities felt themselves obliged to treat him with respect. +At Horn he had entertained many of the leading citizens at a great +banquet.--The-health-of-the-beggars had been drunk in mighty potations, +and their shibboleth had resounded through the house. In the midst of the +festivities, Brederode had suspended a beggar's-medal around the neck of +the burgomaster, who had consented to be his guest upon that occasion, +but who had no intention of enrolling himself in the fraternities of +actual or political mendicants. The excellent magistrate, however, was +near becoming a member of both. The emblem by which he had been +conspicuously adorned proved very embarrassing to him upon his recovery +from the effects of his orgies with the "great beggar," and he was +subsequently punished for his imprudence by the confiscation of half his +property. + +Early in January, Brederode had stationed himself in his city of Viane. +There, in virtue of his seignorial rights, he had removed all statues and +other popish emblems from the churches, performing the operation, +however, with much quietness and decorum. He had also collected many +disorderly men at arms in this city, and had strengthened its +fortifications, to resist, as he said, the threatened attacks of Duke +Eric of Brunswick and his German mercenaries. A printing-press was +established in the place, whence satirical pamphlets, hymn-books, and +other pestiferous productions, were constantly issuing to the annoyance +of government. Many lawless and uproarious individuals enjoyed the +Count's hospitality. All the dregs and filth of the provinces, according +to Doctor Viglius, were accumulated at Viane as in a cesspool. Along the +placid banks of the Lech, on which river the city stands, the "hydra of +rebellion" lay ever coiled and threatening. + +Brederode was supposed to be revolving vast schemes, both political and +military, and Margaret of Parma was kept in continual apprehension by the +bravado of this very noisy conspirator. She called upon William of +Orange, as usual, for assistance. The Prince, however, was very +ill-disposed to come to her relief. An extreme disgust for the policy of +the government already began to, characterize his public language. In the +autumn and winter he had done all that man could do for the safety of the +monarch's crown, and for the people's happiness. His services in Antwerp +have been recorded. As soon as he could tear himself from that city, +where the magistrates and all classes of citizens clung to him as to +their only saviour, he had hastened to tranquillize the provinces of +Holland, Zeland, and Utrecht. He had made arrangements in the principal +cities there upon the same basis which he had adopted in Antwerp, and to +which Margaret had consented in August. It was quite out of the question +to establish order without permitting the reformers, who constituted much +the larger portion of the population, to have liberty of religious +exercises at some places, not consecrated, within the cities. + +At Amsterdam, for instance, as he informed the Duchess, there were swarms +of unlearned, barbarous people, mariners and the like, who could by no +means perceive the propriety of doing their preaching in the open +country, seeing that the open country, at that season, was quite under +water.--Margaret's gracious suggestion that, perhaps, something might be +done with boats, was also considered inadmissible. "I know not," said +Orange, "who could have advised your highness to make such a +proposition." He informed her, likewise; that the barbarous mariners had +a clear right to their preaching; for the custom had already been +established previously to the August treaty, at a place called the +"Lastadge," among the wharves. "In the name of God, then," wrote +Margaret; "let them continue to preach in the Lastadge." This being all +the barbarians wanted, an Accord, with the full consent of the Regent, +was drawn up at Amsterdam and the other northern cities. The Catholics +kept churches and cathedrals, but in the winter season, the greater part +of the population obtained permission to worship God upon dry land, in +warehouses and dock-yards. + +Within a very few weeks, however, the whole arrangement was coolly +cancelled by the Duchess, her permission revoked, and peremptory +prohibition of all preaching within or without the walls proclaimed. The +government was growing stronger. Had not Noircarmes and Rassinghem cut to +pieces three or four thousand of these sectaries marching to battle under +parsons, locksmiths, and similar chieftains? Were not all lovers of good +government "erecting their heads like dromedaries?" + +It may easily be comprehended that the Prince could not with complacency +permit himself to be thus perpetually stultified by a weak, false, and +imperious woman. She had repeatedly called upon him when she was appalled +at the tempest and sinking in the ocean; and she had as constantly +disavowed his deeds and reviled his character when she felt herself in +safety again. He had tranquillized the old Batavian provinces, where the +old Batavian spirit still lingered, by his personal influence and his +unwearied exertions. Men of all ranks and religions were grateful for his +labors. The Reformers had not gained much, but they were satisfied. The +Catholics retained their churches, their property, their consideration. +The states of Holland had voted him fifty thousand florins, as an +acknowledgment of his efforts in restoring peace. He had refused the +present. He was in debt, pressed for money, but he did not choose, as he +informed Philip, "that men should think his actions governed by motives +of avarice or particular interest, instead of the true affection which he +bore to his Majesty's service and the good of the country." Nevertheless, +his back was hardly turned before all his work was undone by the Regent. + +A new and important step on the part of the government had now placed him +in an attitude of almost avowed rebellion. All functionaries, from +governors of provinces down to subalterns in the army, were required to +take a new oath of allegiance, "novum et hactenua inusitatum religionia +juramentum," as the Prince characterized it, which was, he said, quite +equal to the inquisition. Every man who bore his Majesty's commission was +ordered solemnly to pledge himself to obey the orders of government, +every where, and against every person, without limitation or +restriction.--Count Mansfeld, now "factotum at Brussels," had taken the +oath with great fervor. So had Aerachot, Berlaymont, Meghem, and, after a +little wavering, Egmont. Orange spurned the proposition. He had taken +oaths enough which he had never broken, nor intended now to break: He was +ready still to do every thing conducive to the real interest of the +monarch. Who dared do more was no true servant to the government, no true +lover of the country. He would never disgrace himself by a blind pledge, +through which he might be constrained to do acts detrimental, in his +opinion, to the safety of the crown, the happiness of the commonwealth, +and his own honor. The alternative presented he willingly embraced. He +renounced all his offices, and desired no longer to serve a government +whose policy he did not approve, a King by whom he was suspected. + +His resignation was not accepted by the Duchess, who still made efforts +to retain the services of a man who was necessary to her administration. +She begged him, notwithstanding the purely defensive and watchful +attitude which he had now assumed, to take measures that Brederode should +abandon his mischievous courses. She also reproached the Prince with +having furnished that personage with artillery for his fortifications. +Orange answered, somewhat contemptuously, that he was not Brederode's +keeper, and had no occasion to meddle with his affairs. He had given him +three small field-pieces, promised long ago; not that he mentioned that +circumstance as an excuse for the donation. "Thank God," said he, "we +have always had the liberty in this country of making to friends or +relatives what presents we liked, and methinks that things have come to a +pretty pass when such trifles are scrutinized." Certainly, as Suzerain of +Viane, and threatened with invasion in his seignorial rights, the Count +might think himself justified in strengthening the bulwarks of his little +stronghold, and the Prince could hardly be deemed very seriously to +endanger the safety of the crown by the insignificant present which had +annoyed the Regent. + +It is not so agreeable to contemplate the apparent intimacy which the +Prince accorded to so disreputable a character, but Orange was now in +hostility to the government, was convinced by evidence, whose accuracy +time was most signally to establish, that his own head, as well as many +others, were already doomed to the block, while the whole country was +devoted to abject servitude, and he was therefore disposed to look with +more indulgence upon the follies of those who were endeavoring, however +weakly and insanely, to avert the horrors which he foresaw. The time for +reasoning had passed. All that true wisdom and practical statesmanship +could suggest, he had already placed at the disposal of a woman who +stabbed him in the back even while she leaned upon his arm--of a king who +had already drawn his death warrant, while reproaching his "cousin of +Orange" for want of confidence in the royal friendship. Was he now to +attempt the subjugation of his country by interfering with the +proceedings of men whom he had no power to command, and who, at least, +were attempting to oppose tyranny? Even if he should do so, he was +perfectly aware of the reward, reserved for his loyalty. He liked not +such honors as he foresaw for all those who had ever interposed between +the monarch and his vengeance. For himself he had the liberation of a +country, the foundation of a free commonwealth to achieve. There was much +work for those hands before he should fall a victim to the crowned +assassin. + +Early in February, Brederode, Hoogstraaten, Horn, and some other +gentlemen, visited the Prince at Breda. Here it is supposed the advice of +Orange was asked concerning the new movement contemplated by Brederode. +He was bent upon presenting a new petition to the Duchess with great +solemnity. There is no evidence to show that the Prince approved the +step, which must have seemed to him superfluous, if not puerile. He +probably regarded the matter with indifference. Brederode, however, who +was fond of making demonstrations, and thought himself endowed with a +genius for such work, wrote to the Regent for letters of safe conduct +that he might come to Brussels with his petition. The passports were +contemptuously refused. He then came to Antwerp, from which city he +forwarded the document to Brussels in a letter. + +By this new Request, the exercise of the reformed religion was claimed as +a right, while the Duchess was summoned to disband the forces which she +had been collecting, and to maintain in good faith the "August" treaty. +These claims were somewhat bolder than those of the previous April, +although the liberal party was much weaker and the confederacy entirely +disbanded. Brederode, no doubt, thought it good generalship to throw the +last loaf of bread into the enemy's camp before the city should +surrender. His haughty tone was at once taken down by Margaret of Parma. +"She wondered," she said, "what manner of nobles these were, who, after +requesting, a year before, to be saved only from the inquisition, now +presumed to talk about preaching in the cities." The concessions of +August had always been odious, and were now canceled. "As for you and +your accomplices," she continued to the Count, "you will do well to go to +your homes at once without meddling with public affairs, for, in case of +disobedience, I shall deal with you as I shall deem expedient." + +Brederode not easily abashed, disregarded the advice, and continued in +Antwerp. Here, accepting the answer of the Regent as a formal declaration +of hostilities, he busied himself in levying troops in and about the +city. + +Orange had returned to Antwerp early in February. During his absence, +Hoogstraaten had acted as governor at the instance of the Prince and of +the Regent. During the winter that nobleman, who was very young and very +fiery, had carried matters with a high hand, whenever there had been the +least attempt at sedition. Liberal in principles, and the devoted friend +of Orange, he was disposed however to prove that the champions of +religious liberty were not the patrons of sedition. A riot occurring in +the cathedral, where a violent mob were engaged in defacing whatever was +left to deface in that church, and in heaping insults on the papists at +their worship, the little Count, who, says a Catholic contemporary, "had +the courage of a lion," dashed in among them, sword in hand, killed three +upon the spot, and, aided by his followers, succeeded in slaying, +wounding, or capturing all the rest. He had also tracked the ringleader +of the tumult to his lodging, where he had caused him to be arrested at +midnight, and hanged at once in his shirt without any form of trial. Such +rapid proceedings little resembled the calm and judicious moderation of +Orange upon all occasions, but they certainly might have sufficed to +convince Philip that all antagonists of the inquisition were not heretics +and outlaws. Upon the arrival of the Prince in Antwerp, it was considered +advisable that Hoogstraaten should remain associated with him in the +temporary government of the city. + +During the month of February, Brederode remained in Antwerp, secretly +enrolling troops. It was probably his intention--if so desultory and +irresponsible an individual could be said to have an intention--to make +an attempt upon the Island of Walcheren. If such important cities as +Flushing and Middelburg could be gained, he thought it possible to +prevent the armed invasion now soon expected from Spain. Orange had sent +an officer to those cities, who was to reconnoitre their condition, and +to advise them against receiving a garrison from government without his +authority. So far he connived at Brederode's proceedings, as he had a +perfect right to do, for Walcheren was within what had been the Prince's +government, and he had no disposition that these cities should share the +fate of Tourney, Valenciennes, Bois le Duc, and other towns which had +already passed or were passing under the spears of foreign mercenaries. + +It is also probable that he did not take any special pains to check the +enrolments of Brederode. The peace of Antwerp was not endangered, and to +the preservation of that city the Prince seemed now to limit himself. He +was hereditary burgrave of Antwerp, but officer of Philip's never more. +Despite the shrill demands of Duchess Margaret, therefore; the Prince did +not take very active measures by which the crown of Philip might be +secured. He, perhaps, looked upon the struggle almost with indifference. +Nevertheless, he issued a formal proclamation by which the Count's +enlistments were forbidden. Van der Aa, a gentleman who had been active +in making these levies, was compelled to leave the city. Brederode was +already gone to the north to busy himself with further enrolments. + +In the mean time there had been much alarm in Brussels. Egmont, who +omitted no opportunity of manifesting his loyalty, offered to throw +himself at once into the Isle of Walcheren, for the purpose of dislodging +any rebels who might have effected an entrance. He collected accordingly +seven or eight hundred Walloon veterans, at his disposal in Flanders, in +the little port of Sas de Ghent, prepared at once to execute his +intention, "worthy," says a Catholic writer, "of his well-known courage +and magnanimity." The Duchess expressed gratitude for the Count's +devotion and loyalty, but his services in the sequel proved unnecessary. +The rebels, several boat-loads of whom had been cruising about in the +neighborhood of Flushing during the early part of March, had been refused +admittance into any of the ports on the island. They therefore sailed up +the Scheld, and landed at a little village called Ostrawell, at the +distance of somewhat more than a mile from Antwerp. + +The commander of the expedition was Marnix of Tholouse, brother to Marnix +of Saint Aldegonde. This young nobleman, who had left college to fight +for the cause of religious liberty, was possessed of fine talents and +accomplishments. Like his illustrious brother, he was already a sincere +convert to the doctrines of the reformed Church. He had nothing, however, +but courage to recommend him as a leader in a military expedition. He was +a mere boy, utterly without experience in the field. His troops were raw +levies, vagabonds and outlaws. + +Such as it was, however, his army was soon posted at Ostrawell in a +convenient position, and with considerable judgment. He had the Scheld +and its dykes in his rear, on his right and left the dykes and the +village. In front he threw up a breastwork and sunk a trench. Here then +was set up the standard of rebellion, and hither flocked daily many +malcontents from the country round. Within a few days three thousand men +were in his camp. On the other handy Brederode was busy in Holland, and +boasted of taking the field ere long with six thousand soldiers at the +very least. Together they would march to the relief of Valenciennes, and +dictate peace in Brussels. + +It was obvious that this matter could not be allowed to go on. The +Duchess, with some trepidation, accepted the offer made by Philip de +Lannoy, Seigneur de Beauvoir, commander of her body-guard in Brussels, to +destroy this nest of rebels without delay. Half the whole number of these +soldiers was placed at his disposition, and Egmont supplied De Beauvoir +with four hundred of his veteran Walloons. + +With a force numbering only eight hundred, but all picked men, the +intrepid officer undertook his enterprise, with great despatch and +secrecy. Upon the 12th March, the whole troop was sent off in small +parties, to avoid suspicion, and armed only with sword and dagger. Their +helmets, bucklers, arquebusses, corselets, spears, standards and drums, +were delivered to their officers, by whom they were conveyed noiselessly +to the place of rendezvous. Before daybreak, upon the following morning, +De Beauvoir met his soldiers at the abbey of Saint Bernard, within a +league of Antwerp. Here he gave them their arms, supplied them with +refreshments, and made them a brief speech. He instructed them that they +were to advance, with furled banners and without beat of drum, till +within sight of the enemy, that the foremost section was to deliver its +fire, retreat to the rear and load, to be followed by the next, which was +to do the same, and above all, that not an arquebus should be discharged +till the faces of the enemy could be distinguished. + +The troop started. After a few minutes' march they were in full sight of +Ostrawell. They then displayed their flags and advanced upon the fort +with loud huzzas. Tholouse was as much taken by surprise as if they had +suddenly emerged from the bowels of the earth. He had been informed that +the government at Brussels was in extreme trepidation. When he first +heard the advancing trumpets and sudden shouts, he thought it a +detachment of Brederode's promised force. The cross on the banners soon +undeceived him. Nevertheless "like a brave and generous young gentleman +as he was," he lost no time in drawing up his men for action, implored +them to defend their breastworks, which were impregnable against so small +a force, and instructed them to wait patiently with their fire, till the +enemy were near enough to be marked. + +These orders were disobeyed. The "young scholar," as De Beauvoir had +designated him, had no power to infuse his own spirit into his rabble +rout of followers. They were already panic-struck by the unexpected +appearance of the enemy. The Catholics came on with the coolness of +veterans, taking as deliberate aim as if it had been they, not their +enemies, who were behind breastworks. The troops of Tholouse fired +wildly, precipitately, quite over the heads of the assailants. Many of +the defenders were slain as fast as they showed themselves above their +bulwarks. The ditch was crossed, the breastwork carried at, a single +determined charge. The rebels made little resistance, but fled as soon as +the enemy entered their fort. It was a hunt, not a battle. Hundreds were +stretched dead in the camp; hundreds were driven into the Scheld; six or +eight hundred took refuge in a farm-house; but De Beauvoir's men set fire +to the building, and every rebel who had entered it was burned alive or +shot. No quarter was given. Hardly a man of the three thousand who had +held the fort escaped. The body of Tholouse was cut into a hundred +pieces. The Seigneur de Beauvoir had reason, in the brief letter which +gave an account of this exploit, to assure her Highness that there were +"some very valiant fellows in his little troop." Certainly they had +accomplished the enterprise entrusted to them with promptness, neatness, +and entire success. Of the great rebellious gathering, which every day +had seemed to grow more formidable, not a vestige was left. + +This bloody drama had been enacted in full sight of Antwerp. The fight +had lasted from daybreak till ten o'clock in the forenoon, during the +whole of which period, the city ramparts looking towards Ostrawell, the +roofs of houses, the towers of churches had been swarming with eager +spectators. The sound of drum and trumpet, the rattle of musketry, the +shouts of victory, the despairing cries of the vanquished were heard by +thousands who deeply sympathized with the rebels thus enduring so +sanguinary a chastisement. In Antwerp there were forty thousand people +opposed to the Church of Rome. Of this number the greater proportion were +Calvinists, and of these Calvinists there were thousands looking down +from the battlements upon the disastrous fight. + +The excitement soon became uncontrollable. Before ten o'clock vast +numbers of sectaries came pouring towards the Red Gate, which afforded +the readiest egress to the scene of action; the drawbridge of the +Ostrawell Gate having been destroyed the night before by command of +Orange. They came from every street and alley of the city. Some were +armed with lance, pike, or arquebus; some bore sledge-hammers; others had +the partisans, battle-axes, and huge two-handed swords of the previous +century; all were determined upon issuing forth to the rescue of their +friends in the fields outside the town. The wife of Tholouse, not yet +aware of her husband's death, although his defeat was obvious, flew from +street to street, calling upon the Calvinists to save or to avenge their +perishing brethren. + +A terrible tumult prevailed. Ten thousand men were already up and in +arms.--It was then that the Prince of Orange, who was sometimes described +by his enemies as timid and pusillanimous by nature, showed the mettle he +was made of. His sense of duty no longer bade him defend the crown of +Philip--which thenceforth was to be entrusted to the hirelings of the +Inquisition--but the vast population of Antwerp, the women, the children, +and the enormous wealth of the richest Deity in the world had been +confided to his care, and he had accepted the responsibility. Mounting +his horse, he made his appearance instantly at the Red Gate, before as +formidable a mob as man has ever faced. He came there almost alone, +without guards. Hoogstraaten arrived soon afterwards with the same +intention. The Prince was received with howls of execration. A thousand +hoarse voices called him the Pope's servant, minister of Antichrist, and +lavished upon him many more epithets of the same nature. His life was in +imminent danger. A furious clothier levelled an arquebus full at his +breast. "Die, treacherous villain?" he cried; "thou who art the cause +that our brethren have perished thus miserably in yonder field." The +loaded weapon was struck away by another hand in the crowd, while the +Prince, neither daunted by the ferocious demonstrations against his life, +nor enraged by the virulent abuse to which he was subjected, continued +tranquilly, earnestly, imperatively to address the crowd. William of +Orange had that in his face and tongue "which men willingly call +master-authority." With what other talisman could he, without violence +and without soldiers, have quelled even for a moment ten thousand furious +Calvinists, armed, enraged against his person, and thirsting for +vengeance on Catholics. The postern of the Red Gate had already been +broken through before Orange and his colleague, Hoogstraaten, had +arrived. The most excited of the Calvinists were preparing to rush forth +upon the enemy at Ostrawell. The Prince, after he had gained the ear of +the multitude, urged that the battle was now over, that the reformers +were entirely cut to pieces, the enemy, retiring, and that a disorderly +and ill-armed mob would be unable to retrieve the fortunes of the day. +Many were persuaded to abandon the design. Five hundred of the most +violent, however, insisted upon leaving the gates, and the governors, +distinctly warning these zealots that their blood must be upon their own +heads, reluctantly permitted that number to issue from the city. The rest +of the mob, not appeased, but uncertain, and disposed to take vengeance +upon the Catholics within the walls, for the disaster which had been +occurring without, thronged tumultuously to the long, wide street, called +the Mere, situate in the very heart of the city. + +Meantime the ardor of those who had sallied from the gate grew sensibly +cooler, when they found themselves in the open fields. De Beauvoir, whose +men, after the victory, had scattered in pursuit of the fugitives, now +heard the tumult in the city. Suspecting an attack, he rallied his +compact little army again for a fresh encounter. The last of the +vanquished Tholousians who had been captured; more fortunate than their +predecessors, had been spared for ransom. There were three hundred of +them; rather a dangerous number of prisoners for a force of eight +hundred, who were just going into another battle. De Beauvoir commanded +his soldiers, therefore, to shoot them all. This order having been +accomplished, the Catholics marched towards Antwerp, drums beating, +colors flying. The five hundred Calvinists, not liking their appearance, +and being in reality outnumbered, retreated within; the gates as hastily +as they had just issued from them. De Beauvoir advanced close to the city +moat, on the margin of which he planted the banners of the unfortunate +Tholouse, and sounded a trumpet of defiance. Finding that the citizens +had apparently no stomach for the fight, he removed his trophies, and +took his departure. + +On the other hand, the tumult within the walls had again increased. The +Calvinists had been collecting in great numbers upon the Mere. This was a +large and splendid thoroughfare, rather an oblong market-place than a +street, filled with stately buildings, and communicating by various cross +streets with the Exchange and with many other public edifices. By an +early hour in the afternoon twelve or fifteen thousand Calvinists, all +armed and fighting men, had assembled upon the place. They had barricaded +the whole precinct with pavements and upturned wagons. They had already +broken into the arsenal and obtained many field-pieces, which were +planted at the entrance of every street and by-way. They had stormed the +city jail and liberated the prisoners, all of whom, grateful and +ferocious, came to swell the numbers who defended the stronghold on the +Mere. A tremendous mischief was afoot. Threats of pillaging the churches +and the houses of the Catholics, of sacking the whole opulent city, were +distinctly heard among this powerful mob, excited by religious +enthusiasm, but containing within one great heterogeneous mass the +elements of every crime which humanity can commit. The alarm throughout +the city was indescribable. The cries of women and children, as they +remained in trembling expectation of what the next hour might bring +forth, were, said one who heard them, "enough to soften the hardest +hearts." + +Nevertheless the diligence and courage of the Prince kept pace with the +insurrection. He had caused the eight companies of guards enrolled in +September, to be mustered upon the square in front of the city hall, for +the protection of that building and of the magistracy. He had summoned +the senate of the city, the board of ancients, the deans of guilds, the +ward masters, to consult with him at the council-room. At the peril of +his life he had again gone before the angry mob in the Mere, advancing +against their cannon and their outcries, and compelling them to appoint +eight deputies to treat with him and the magistrates at the town-hall. +This done, quickly but deliberately he had drawn up six articles, to +which those deputies gave their assent, and in which the city government +cordially united. These articles provided that the keys of the city +should remain in the possession of the Prince and of Hoogstraaten, that +the watch should be held by burghers and soldiers together, that the +magistrates should permit the entrance of no garrison, and that the +citizens should be entrusted with the care of, the charters, especially +with that of the joyful entrance. + +These arrangements, when laid before the assembly at the Mere by their +deputies, were not received with favor. The Calvinists demanded the keys +of the city. They did not choose to be locked up at the mercy of any man. +They had already threatened to blow the city hall into the air if the +keys were not delivered to them. They claimed that burghers, without +distinction of religion, instead of mercenary troops, should be allowed +to guard the market-place in front of the town-hall. + +It was now nightfall, and no definite arrangement had been concluded. +Nevertheless, a temporary truce was made, by means of a concession as to +the guard. It was agreed that the burghers, Calvinists and Lutherans, as +well as Catholics, should be employed to protect the city. By subtlety, +however, the Calvinists detailed for that service, were posted not in the +town-house square, but on the ramparts and at the gates. + +A night of dreadful expectation was passed. The army of fifteen thousand +mutineers remained encamped and barricaded on the Mere, with guns loaded +and artillery pointed. Fierce cries of "Long live the beggars,"--"Down +with the papists," and other significant watchwords, were heard all night +long, but no more serious outbreak occurred. + +During the whole of the following day, the Calvinists remained in their +encampment, the Catholics and the city guardsmen at their posts near the +city hall. The Prince was occupied in the council-chamber from morning +till night with the municipal authorities, the deputies of "the +religion," and the guild officers, in framing a new treaty of peace. +Towards evening fifteen articles were agreed upon, which were to be +proposed forthwith to the insurgents, and in case of nonacceptance to be +enforced. The arrangement provided that there should be no garrison; that +the September contracts permitting the reformed worship at certain places +within the city should be maintained; that men of different parties +should refrain from mutual insults; that the two governors, the Prince +and Hoogstraaten, should keep the keys; that the city should be guarded +by both soldiers and citizens, without distinction of religious creed; +that a band of four hundred cavalry and a small flotilla of vessels of +war should be maintained for the defence of the place, and that the +expenses to be incurred should be levied upon all classes, clerical and +lay, Catholic and Reformed, without any exception. + +It had been intended that the governors, accompanied by the magistrates, +should forthwith proceed to the Mere, for the purpose of laying these +terms before the insurgents. Night had, however, already arrived, and it +was understood that the ill-temper of the Calvinists had rather increased +than diminished, so that it was doubtful whether the arrangement would be +accepted. It was, therefore, necessary to await the issue of another day, +rather than to provoke a night battle in the streets. + +During the night the Prince labored incessantly to provide against the +dangers of the morrow. The Calvinists had fiercely expressed their +disinclination to any reasonable arrangement. They had threatened, +without farther pause, to plunder the religious houses and the mansions +of all the wealthy Catholics, and to drive every papist out of town. They +had summoned the Lutherans to join with them in their revolt, and menaced +them, in case of refusal, with the same fate which awaited the Catholics. +The Prince, who was himself a Lutheran, not entirely free from the +universal prejudice against the Calvinists, whose sect he afterwards +embraced, was fully aware of the deplorable fact, that the enmity at that +day between Calvinists and Lutherans was as fierce as that between +Reformers and Catholics. He now made use of this feeling, and of his +influence with those of the Augsburg Confession, to save the city. During +the night he had interviews with the ministers and notable members of the +Lutheran churches, and induced them to form an alliance upon this +occasion with the Catholics and with all friends of order, against an +army of outlaws who were threatening to burn and sack the city. The +Lutherans, in the silence of night, took arms and encamped, to the number +of three or four thousand, upon the river side, in the neighborhood of +Saint Michael's cloister. The Prince also sent for the deans of all the +foreign mercantile associations--Italian, Spanish, Portuguese, English, +Hanseatic, engaged their assistance also for the protection of the city, +and commanded them to remain in their armor at their respective +factories, ready to act at a moment's warning. It was agreed that they +should be informed at frequent intervals as to the progress of events. + +On the morning of the 15th, the city of Antwerp presented a fearful +sight. Three distinct armies were arrayed at different points within its +walls. The Calvinists, fifteen thousand strong, lay in their encampment +on the Mere; the Lutherans, armed, and eager for action, were at St. +Michael's; the Catholics and the regulars of the city guard were posted +on the square. Between thirty-five and forty thousand men were up, +according to the most moderate computation. All parties were excited, and +eager for the fray. The fires of religious hatred burned fiercely in +every breast. Many malefactors and outlaws, who had found refuge in the +course of recent events at Antwerp, were in the ranks of the Calvinists, +profaning a sacred cause, and inspiring a fanatical party with bloody +resolutions. Papists, once and forever, were to be hunted down, even as +they had been for years pursuing Reformers. Let the men who had fed fat +on the spoils of plundered Christians be dealt with in like fashion. Let +their homes be sacked, their bodies given to the dogs--such were the +cries uttered by thousands of armed men. + +On the other hand, the Lutherans, as angry and as rich as the Catholics, +saw in every Calvinist a murderer and a robber. They thirsted after their +blood; for the spirit of religious frenzy; the characteristic of the +century, can with difficulty be comprehended in our colder and more +sceptical age. There was every probability that a bloody battle was to be +fought that day in the streets of Antwerp--a general engagement, in the +course of which, whoever might be the victors, the city was sure to be +delivered over to fire, sack, and outrage. Such would have been the +result, according to the concurrent testimony of eye-witnesses, and +contemporary historians of every country and creed, but for the courage +and wisdom of one man. William of Orange knew what would be the +consequence of a battle, pent up within the walls of Antwerp. He foresaw +the horrible havoc which was to be expected, the desolation which would +be brought to every hearth in the city. "Never were men so desperate and +so willing to fight," said Sir Thomas Gresham, who had been expecting +every hour his summons to share in the conflict. If the Prince were +unable that morning to avert the impending calamity, no other power, +under heaven, could save Antwerp from destruction. + +The articles prepared on the 14th had been already approved by those who +represented the Catholic and Lutheran interests. They were read early in +the morning to the troops assembled on the square and at St. Michael's, +and received with hearty cheers. It was now necessary that the Calvinists +should accept them, or that the quarrel should be fought out at once. At +ten o'clock, William of Orange, attended by his colleague, Hoogstraaten, +together with a committee of the municipal authorities, and followed by a +hundred troopers, rode to the Mere. They wore red scarfs over their +armor, as symbols by which all those who had united to put down the +insurrection were distinguished. The fifteen thousand Calvinists, fierce +and disorderly as ever, maintained a threatening aspect. Nevertheless, +the Prince was allowed to ride into the midst of the square. The articles +were then read aloud by his command, after which, with great composure, +he made a few observations. He pointed out that the arrangement offered +them was founded upon the September concessions, that the right of +worship was conceded, that the foreign garrison was forbidden, and that +nothing further could be justly demanded or honorably admitted. He told +them that a struggle upon their part would be hopeless, for the Catholics +and Lutherans, who were all agreed as to the justice of the treaty, +outnumbered them by nearly two to one. He, therefore, most earnestly and +affectionately adjured them to testify their acceptance to the peace +offered by repeating the words with which he should conclude. Then, with +a firm voice; the Prince exclaimed, "God Save the King!" It was the last +time that those words were ever heard from the lips of the man already +proscribed by Philip. The crowd of Calvinists hesitated an instant, and +then, unable to resist the tranquil influence, convinced by his +reasonable language, they raised one tremendous shout of "Vive le Roi!" + +The deed was done, the peace accepted, the dreadful battle averted, +Antwerp saved. The deputies of the Calvinists now formally accepted and +signed the articles. Kind words were exchanged among the various classes +of fellow-citizens, who but an hour before had been thirsting for each +other's blood, the artillery and other weapons of war were restored to +the arsenals, Calvinists, Lutherans, and Catholics, all laid down their +arms, and the city, by three o'clock, was entirely quiet. Fifty thousand +armed men had been up, according to some estimates, yet, after three days +of dreadful expectation, not a single person had been injured, and the +tumult was now appeased. + +The Prince had, in truth, used the mutual animosity of Protestant sects +to a good purpose; averting bloodshed by the very weapons with which the +battle was to have been waged. Had it been possible for a man like +William the Silent to occupy the throne where Philip the Prudent sat, how +different might have been the history of Spain and the fate of the +Netherlands. Gresham was right, however, in his conjecture that the +Regent and court would not "take the business well." Margaret of Parma +was incapable of comprehending such a mind as that of Orange, or of +appreciating its efforts. She was surrounded by unscrupulous and +mercenary soldiers, who hailed the coming civil war as the most +profitable of speculations. "Factotum" Mansfeld; the Counts Aremberg and +Meghem, the Duke of Aerschot, the Sanguinary Noircarmes, were already +counting their share in the coming confiscations. In the internecine +conflict approaching, there would be gold for the gathering, even if no +honorable laurels would wreath their swords. "Meghen with his regiment is +desolating the country," wrote William of Orange to the Landgrave of +Hesse, "and reducing many people to poverty. Aremberg is doing the same +in Friesland. They are only thinking how, under the pretext of religion, +they may grind the poor Christians, and grow rich and powerful upon their +estates and their blood." + +The Seignior de Beauvoir wrote to the Duchess, claiming all the estates +of Tholouse, and of his brother St. Aldegonde, as his reward for the +Ostrawell victory, while Noircarmes was at this very moment to commence +at Valenciennes that career of murder and spoliation which, continued at +Mons a few years afterwards, was to load his name with infamy. + +From such a Regent, surrounded by such councillors, was the work of +William de Nassau's hands to gain applause? What was it to them that +carnage and plunder had been spared in one of the richest and most +populous cities in Christendom? Were not carnage and plunder the very +elements in which they disported themselves? And what more dreadful +offence against God and Philip could be committed than to permit, as the +Prince had just permitted, the right of worship in a Christian land to +Calvinists and Lutherans? As a matter of course, therefore, Margaret of +Parma denounced the terms by which Antwerp had been saved as a "novel and +exorbitant capitulation," and had no intention of signifying her +approbation either to prince or magistrate. + + + + +1567 [CHAPTER X.] + + Egmont and Aerschot before Valenciennes--Severity of Egmont-- + Capitulation of the city--Escape and capture of the ministers-- + Execution of La Grange and De Bray--Horrible cruelty at + Valenciennes--Effects of the reduction of Valenciennes--The Duchess + at Antwerp--Armed invasion of the provinces decided upon in Spain-- + Appointment of Alva--Indignation of Margaret--Mission of De Billy-- + Pretended visit of Philip--Attempts of the Duchess to gain over + Orange--Mission of Berty--Interview between Orange and Egmont at + Willebroek--Orange's letters to Philip, to Egmont, and to Horn-- + Orange departs from the Netherlands--Philip's letter to Egmont-- + Secret intelligence received by Orange--La Torre's mission to + Brederode--Brederode's departure and death--Death of Bergen--Despair + in the provinces--Great emigration--Cruelties practised upon those + of the new religion--Edict of 24th May--Wrath of the King. + +Valenciennes, whose fate depended so closely upon the issue of these +various events, was now trembling to her fall. Noircarmes had been +drawing the lines more and more closely about the city, and by a +refinement of cruelty had compelled many Calvinists from Tournay to act +as pioneers in the trenches against their own brethren in Valenciennes. +After the defeat of Tholouse, and the consequent frustration of all +Brederode's arrangements to relieve the siege, the Duchess had sent a +fresh summons to Valenciennes, together with letters acquainting the +citizens with the results of the Ostrawell battle. The intelligence was +not believed. Egmont and Aerschot, however, to whom Margaret had +entrusted this last mission to the beleaguered town, roundly rebuked the +deputies who came to treat with them, for their insolence in daring to +doubt the word of the Regent. The two seigniors had established +themselves in the Chateau of Beusnage, at a league's distance from +Valenciennes. Here they received commissioners from the city, half of +whom were Catholics appointed by the magistrates, half Calvinists deputed +by the consistories. These envoys were informed that the Duchess would +pardon the city for its past offences, provided the gates should now be +opened, the garrison received, and a complete suppression of all religion +except that of Rome acquiesced in without a murmur. As nearly the whole +population was of the Calvinist faith, these terms could hardly be +thought favorable. It was, however, added, that fourteen days should be +allowed to the Reformers for the purpose of converting their property, +and retiring from the country. + +The deputies, after conferring with their constituents in the city, +returned on the following day with counter-propositions, which were not +more likely to find favor with the government. They offered to accept the +garrison, provided the soldiers should live at their own expense, without +any tax to the citizens for their board, lodging, or pay. They claimed +that all property which had been seized should be restored, all persons +accused of treason liberated. They demanded the unconditional revocation +of the edict by which the city had been declared rebellious, together +with a guarantee from the Knights of the Fleece and the state council +that the terms of the propose& treaty should be strictly observed. + +As soon as these terms had been read to the two seigniors, the Duke of +Aerschot burst into an immoderate fit of laughter. He protested that +nothing could be more ludicrous than such propositions, worthy of a +conqueror dictating a peace, thus offered by a city closely beleaguered, +and entirely at the mercy of the enemy. The Duke's hilarity was not +shared by Egmont, who, on the contrary, fell into a furious passion. He +swore that the city should be burned about their ears, and that every one +of the inhabitants should be put to the sword for the insolent language +which they had thus dared to address to a most clement sovereign. He +ordered the trembling deputies instantly to return with this peremptory +rejection of their terms, and with his command that the proposals of +government should be accepted within three days' delay. + +The commissioners fell upon their knees at Egmont's feet, and begged for +mercy. They implored him at least to send this imperious message by some +other hand than theirs, and to permit them to absent themselves from the +city. They should be torn limb from limb, they said, by the enraged +inhabitants, if they dared to present themselves with such instructions +before them. Egmont, however, assured them that they should be sent into +the city, bound hand and foot, if they did not instantly obey his orders. +The deputies, therefore, with heavy hearts, were fain to return home with +this bitter result to their negotiations. The terms were rejected, as a +matter of course, but the gloomy forebodings of the commissioners, as to +their own fate at the hands of their fellow-citizens, were not fulfilled. + +Instant measures were now taken to cannonade the city. Egmont, at the +hazard of his life, descended into the foss, to reconnoitre the works, +and to form an opinion as to the most eligible quarter at which to direct +the batteries. Having communicated the result of his investigations to +Noircarmes, he returned to report all these proceedings to the Regent at +Brussels. Certainly the Count had now separated himself far enough from +William of Orange, and was manifesting an energy in the cause of tyranny +which was sufficiently unscrupulous. Many people who had been deceived by +his more generous demonstrations in former times, tried to persuade +themselves that he was acting a part. Noircarmes, however--and no man was +more competent to decide the question distinctly--expressed his entire +confidence in Egmont's loyalty. Margaret had responded warmly to his +eulogies, had read with approbation secret letters from Egmont to +Noircarmes, and had expressed the utmost respect and affection for "the +Count." Egmont had also lost no time in writing to Philip, informing him +that he had selected the most eligible spot for battering down the +obstinate city of Valenciennes, regretting that he could not have had the +eight or ten military companies, now at his disposal, at an earlier day, +in which case he should have been able to suppress many tumults, but +congratulating his sovereign that the preachers were all fugitive, the +reformed religion suppressed, and the people disarmed. He assured the +King that he would neglect no effort to prevent any renewal of the +tumults, and expressed the hope that his Majesty would be satisfied with +his conduct, notwithstanding the calumnies of which the times were full. + +Noircarmes meanwhile, had unmasked his batteries, and opened his fire +exactly according to Egmont's suggestions. + +The artillery played first upon what was called the "White Tower," which +happened to bear this ancient, rhyming inscription: + + "When every man receives his own, + And justice reigns for strong and weak, + Perfect shall be this tower of stone, + And all the dumb will learn to speak." + + "Quand chacun sera satisfaict, + Et la justice regnera, + Ce boulevard sera parfaict, + Et--la muette parlera."--Valenciennes MS. + +For some unknown reason, the rather insipid quatrain was tortured into a +baleful prophecy. It was considered very ominous that the battery should +be first opened against this Sibylline tower. The chimes, too, which had +been playing, all through the siege, the music of Marot's sacred songs, +happened that morning to be sounding forth from every belfry the +twenty-second psalm: "My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?" + +It was Palm Sunday, 23d of March. The women and children were going +mournfully about the streets, bearing green branches in their hands, and +praying upon their knees, in every part of the city. Despair and +superstition had taken possession of citizens, who up to that period had +justified La Noue's assertion, that none could endure a siege like +Huguenots. As soon as the cannonading began, the spirit of the +inhabitants seemed to depart. The ministers exhorted their flocks in vain +as the tiles and chimneys began to topple into the streets, and the +concussions of the artillery were responded to by the universal wailing +of affrighted women. + +Upon the very first day after the unmasking of the batteries, the city +sent to Noircarmes, offering almost an unconditional surrender. Not the +slightest breach had been effected--not the least danger of an assault +existed--yet the citizens, who had earned the respect of their +antagonists by the courageous manner in which they had sallied and +skirmished during the siege, now in despair at any hope of eventual +succor, and completely demoralized by the course of recent events outside +their walls, surrendered ignominiously, and at discretion. The only +stipulation agreed to by Noircarmes was, that the city should not be +sacked, and that the lives of the inhabitants should be spared. + +This pledge was, however, only made to be broken. Noircarmes entered the +city and closed the gates. All the richest citizens, who of course were +deemed the most criminal, were instantly arrested. The soldiers, although +not permitted formally to sack the city, were quartered upon the +inhabitants, whom they robbed and murdered, according to the testimony of +a Catholic citizen, almost at their pleasure. + +Michael Herlin, a very wealthy and distinguished burgher, was arrested +upon the first day. The two ministers, Guido de Bray and Peregrine de la +Grange, together with the son of Herlin, effected their escape by the +water-gate. Having taken refuge in a tavern at Saint Arnaud, they were +observed, as they sat at supper, by a peasant, who forthwith ran off to +the mayor of the borough with the intelligence that some individuals, who +looked like fugitives, had arrived at Saint Arnaud. One of them, said the +informer, was richly dressed; and wore a gold-hilted sword with velvet +scabbard. By the description, the mayor recognized Herlin the +younger,--and suspected his companions. They were all arrested, and sent +to Noircarmes. The two Herlins, father and son, were immediately +beheaded. Guido de Bray and Peregrine de la Grange were loaded with +chains, and thrown into a filthy dungeon, previously to their being +hanged. Here they were visited by the Countess de Roeulx, who was curious +to see how the Calvinists sustained themselves in their martyrdom. She +asked them how they could sleep, eat, or drink, when covered with such +heavy fetters. "The cause, and my good conscience," answered De Bray, +"make me eat, drink, and sleep better than those who are doing me wrong. +These shackles are more honorable to me than golden rings and chains. +They are more useful to me, and as I hear their clank, methinks I hear +the music of sweet voices and the tinkling of lutes." + +This exultation never deserted these courageous enthusiasts. They +received their condemnation to death "as if it had been an invitation to +a marriage feast." They encouraged the friends who crowded their path to +the scaffold with exhortations to remain true in the Reformed faith. La +Grange, standing upon the ladder, proclaimed with a loud voice, that he +was slain for having preached the pure word of God to a Christian people +in a Christian land. De Bray, under the same gibbet; testified stoutly +that he, too, had committed that offence alone. He warned his friends to +obey the magistrates, and all others in authority, except in matters of +conscience; to abstain from sedition; but to obey the will of God. The +executioner threw him from the ladder while he was yet speaking. So ended +the lives of two eloquent, learned, and highly-gifted divines. + +Many hundreds of victims were sacrificed in the unfortunate city. "There +were a great many other citizens strangled or beheaded," says an +aristocratic Catholic historian of the time, "but they were mostly +personages of little quality, whose names are quite unknown to +me."--[Pontus Payen]--The franchises of the city were all revoked. There +was a prodigious amount of property confiscated to the benefit of +Noircarmes and the rest of the "Seven Sleepers." Many Calvinists were +burned, others were hanged. "For--two whole years," says another +Catholic, who was a citizen of Valenciennes at the time, "there was, +scarcely a week in which several citizens were not executed and often a +great number were despatched at a time. All this gave so much alarm to +the good and innocent, that many quitted the city as fast as they could." +If the good and innocent happened to be rich, they might be sure that +Noircarmes would deem that a crime for which no goodness and innocence +could atone. + +Upon the fate of Valenciennes had depended, as if by common agreement, +the whole destiny of the anti-Catholic party. "People had learned at +last," says another Walloon, "that the King had long arms, and that he +had not been enlisting soldiers to string beads. So they drew in their +horns and their evil tempers, meaning to put them forth again, should the +government not succeed at the siege of Valenciennes." The government had +succeeded, however, and the consternation was extreme, the general +submission immediate and even abject. "The capture of Valenciennes," +wrote Noircarmes to Granvelle, "has worked a miracle. The other cities +all come forth to meet me, putting the rope around their own necks." No +opposition was offered any where. Tournay had been crushed; Valenciennes, +Bois le Duc, and all other important places, accepted their garrisons +without a murmur. Even Antwerp had made its last struggle, and as soon as +the back of Orange was turned, knelt down in the dust to receive its +bridle. The Prince had been able, by his courage and wisdom, to avert a +sanguinary conflict within its walls, but his personal presence alone +could guarantee any thing like religious liberty for the inhabitants, now +that the rest of the country was subdued. On the 26th April, sixteen +companies of infantry, under Count Mansfeld, entered the gates. On the +28th the Duchess made a visit to the city, where she was received with +respect, but where her eyes were shocked by that which she termed the +"abominable, sad, and hideous spectacle of the desolated churches." + +To the eyes of all who loved their fatherland and their race, the sight +of a desolate country, with its ancient charters superseded by brute +force, its industrious population swarming from the land in droves, as if +the pestilence were raging, with gibbets and scaffolds erected in every +village, and with a Sickening and universal apprehension of still darker +disasters to follow, was a spectacle still more sad, hideous, and +abominable. + +For it was now decided that the Duke of Alva, at the head of a Spanish +army, should forthwith take his departure for the Netherlands. A land +already subjugated was to be crushed, and every vestige of its ancient +liberties destroyed. The conquered provinces, once the abode of municipal +liberty, of science, art, and literature, and blessed with an unexampled +mercantile and manufacturing prosperity, were to be placed in absolute +subjection to the cabinet council at Madrid. A dull and malignant bigot, +assisted by a few Spanish grandees, and residing at the other extremity +of Europe, was thenceforth to exercise despotic authority over countries +which for centuries had enjoyed a local administration, and a system +nearly approaching to complete self-government. Such was the policy +devised by Granvelle and Spinosa, which the Duke of Alva, upon the 15th +April, had left Madrid to enforce. + +It was very natural that Margaret of Parma should be indignant at being +thus superseded. She considered herself as having acquired much credit by +the manner in which the latter insurrectionary movements had been +suppressed, so soon as Philip, after his endless tergiversations, had +supplied her with arms and money. Therefore she wrote in a tone of great +asperity to her brother, expressing her discontent. She had always been +trammelled in her action, she said, by his restrictions upon her +authority. She complained that he had no regard for her reputation or her +peace of mind. Notwithstanding, all impediments and dangers, she had at +last settled the country, and now another person was to reap the honor. +She also despatched the Seigneur de Billy to Spain, for the purpose of +making verbal representations to his Majesty upon the inexpediency of +sending the Duke of Alva to the Netherlands at that juncture with a +Spanish army. + +Margaret gained nothing, however, by her letters and her envoy, save a +round rebuke from Philip, who was not accustomed to brook the language of +remonstrance; even from his sister. His purpose was fixed. Absolute +submission was now to be rendered by all. "He was highly astonished and +dissatisfied," he said, "that she should dare to write to him with so +much passion, and in so resolute a manner. If she received no other +recompense, save the glory of having restored the service of God, she +ought to express her gratitude to the King for having given her the +opportunity of so doing." + +The affectation of clement intentions was still maintained, together with +the empty pretence of the royal visit. Alva and his army were coming +merely to prepare the way for the King, who still represented himself as +"debonair and gentle, slow to anger, and averse from bloodshed." +Superficial people believed that the King was really coming, and hoped +wonders from his advent. The Duchess knew better. The Pope never believed +in it, Granvelle never believed in it, the Prince of Orange never +believed in it, Councillor d'Assonleville never believed in it. "His +Majesty," says the Walloon historian, who wrote from Assonleville's +papers, "had many imperative reasons for not coming. He was fond of +quiet, he was a great negotiator, distinguished for phlegm and modesty, +disinclined to long journeys, particularly to sea voyages, which were +very painful to him. Moreover, he was then building his Escorial with so +much taste and affection that it was impossible for him to leave home." +These excellent reasons sufficed to detain the monarch, in whose place a +general was appointed, who, it must be confessed, was neither phlegmatic +nor modest, and whose energies were quite equal to the work required. +There had in truth never been any thing in the King's project of visiting +the Netherlands but pretence. + +On the other hand, the work of Orange for the time was finished. He had +saved Antwerp, he had done his best to maintain the liberties of the +country, the rights of conscience, and the royal authority, so far as +they were compatible with each other. The alternative had now been +distinctly forced upon every man, either to promise blind obedience or to +accept the position of a rebel. William of Orange had thus become a +rebel. He had been requested to sign the new oath, greedily taken by the +Mansfelds, the Berlaymont, the Aerachot, and the Egmonts, to obey every +order which he might receive, against every person and in every place, +without restriction or limitation,--and he had distinctly and repeatedly +declined the demand. He had again and again insisted upon resigning all +his offices. The Duchess, more and more anxious to gain over such an +influential personage to the cause of tyranny, had been most importunate +in her requisitions. "A man with so noble a heart," she wrote to the +Prince, "and with a descent from, such illustrious and loyal ancestors, +can surely not forget his duties to his Majesty and the country." + +William of Orange knew his duty to both better than the Duchess could +understand. He answered this fresh summons by reminding her that he had +uniformly refused the new and extraordinary pledge required of him. He +had been true to his old oaths, and therefore no fresh pledge was +necessary. Moreover, a pledge without limitation he would never take. The +case might happen, he said, that he should be ordered to do things +contrary to his conscience, prejudicial to his Majesty's service, and in +violation of his oaths to maintain the laws of the country. He therefore +once more resigned all his offices, and signified his intention of +leaving the provinces. + +Margaret had previously invited him to an interview at Brussels, which he +had declined, because he had discovered a conspiracy in that place to +"play him a trick." Assonleville had already been sent to him without +effect. He had refused to meet a deputation of Fleece Knights at Mechlin, +from the same suspicion of foul play. After the termination of the +Antwerp tumult, Orange again wrote to the Duchess, upon the 19th March, +repeating his refusal to take the oath, and stating that he considered +himself as at least suspended from all his functions, since she had +refused, upon the ground of incapacity, to accept his formal resignation. +Margaret now determined, by the advice of the state council, to send +Secretary Berty, provided with an ample letter of instructions, upon a +special mission to the Prince at Antwerp. That respectable functionary +performed his task with credit, going through the usual formalities, and +adducing the threadbare arguments in favor of the unlimited oath, with +much adroitness and decorum. He mildly pointed out the impropriety of +laying down such responsible posts as those which the Prince now occupied +at such a juncture. He alluded to the distress which the step must +occasion to the debonair sovereign. + +William of Orange became somewhat impatient under the official lecture of +this secretary to the privy council, a mere man of sealing-wax and +protocols. The slender stock of platitudes with which he had come +provided was soon exhausted. His arguments shrivelled at once in the +scorn with which the Prince received them. The great statesman, who, it +was hoped, would be entrapped to ruin, dishonor, and death by such very +feeble artifices, asked indignantly whether it were really expected that +he should acknowledge himself perjured to his old obligations by now +signing new ones; that he should disgrace himself by an unlimited pledge +which might require him to break his oaths to the provincial statutes and +to the Emperor; that he should consent to administer the religious edicts +which he abhorred; that he should act as executioner of Christians on +account of their religious opinions, an office against which his soul +revolted; that he should bind himself by an unlimited promise which might +require, him to put his own wife to death, because she was a Lutheran? +Moreover, was it to be supposed that he would obey without restriction +any orders issued to him in his Majesty's name, when the King's +representative might be a person whose supremacy it ill became one of +his' race to acknowledge? Was William of Orange to receive absolute +commands from the Duke of Alva? Having mentioned that name with +indignation, the Prince became silent. + +It was very obvious that no impression was to be made upon the man by +formalists. Poor Berty having conjugated his paradigm conscientiously +through all its moods and tenses, returned to his green board in the +council-room with his proces verbal of the conference. Before he took his +leave, however, he prevailed upon Orange to hold an interview with the +Duke of Aerschot, Count Mansfeld, and Count Egmont. + +This memorable meeting took place at Willebroek, a village midway between +Antwerp and Brussels, in the first week of April. The Duke of Aerschot +was prevented from attending, but Mansfeld and Egmont--accompanied by the +faithful Berty, to make another proces verbal--duly made their +appearance. The Prince had never felt much sympathy with Mansfeld, but a +tender and honest friendship had always existed between himself and +Egmont, notwithstanding the difference of their characters, the incessant +artifices employed by the Spanish court to separate them, and the +impassable chasm which now, existed between their respective positions +towards the government. + +The same common-places of argument and rhetoric were now discussed +between Orange and the other three personages, the Prince distinctly +stating, in conclusion, that he considered himself as discharged from all +his offices, and that he was about to leave the Netherlands for Germany. +The interview, had it been confined to such formal conversation, would +have but little historic interest. Egmont's choice had been made. Several +months before he had signified his determination to hold those for +enemies who should cease to conduct themselves as faithful vassals, +declared himself to be without fear that the country was to be placed in +the hands of Spaniards, and disavowed all intention, in any case +whatever, of taking arms against the King. His subsequent course, as we +have seen, had been entirely in conformity with these solemn +declarations. Nevertheless, the Prince, to whom they had been made, +thought it still possible to withdraw his friend from the precipice upon +which he stood, and to save him from his impending fate. His love for +Egmont had, in his own noble; and pathetic language, "struck its roots +too deeply into his heart" to permit him, in this their parting +interview, to neglect a last effort, even if this solemn warning were +destined to be disregarded. + +By any reasonable construction of history, Philip was an unscrupulous +usurper, who was attempting to convert himself from a Duke of Brabant and +a Count of Holland into an absolute king. It was William who was +maintaining, Philip who was destroying; and the monarch who was thus +blasting the happiness of the provinces, and about to decimate their +population, was by the same process to undermine his own power forever, +and to divest himself of his richest inheritance. The man on whom he +might have leaned for support, had he been capable of comprehending his +character, and of understanding the age in which he had himself been +called upon to reign, was, through Philip's own insanity, converted into +the instrument by which his most valuable provinces were, to be taken +from him, and eventually re-organized into: an independent commonwealth. +Could a vision, like that imagined by the immortal dramatist for another +tyrant and murderer, have revealed the future to Philip, he, too, might +have beheld his victim, not crowned himself, but pointing to a line of +kings, even to some who 'two-fold balls and treble sceptres carried', and +smiling on them for his. But such considerations as these had no effect +upon the Prince of Orange. He knew himself already proscribed, and he +knew that the secret condemnation had extended to Egmont also. He was +anxious that his friend should prefer the privations of exile, with the +chance of becoming the champion of a struggling country, to the wretched +fate towards which his blind confidence was leading him. Even then it +seemed possible that the brave soldier, who had been recently defiling +his sword in the cause of tyranny, might be come mindful of his brighter +and earlier fame. Had Egmont been as true to his native land as, until +"the long divorce of steel fell on him," he was faithful to Philip, he +might yet have earned brighter laurels than those gained at St. Quentin +and Gravelines. Was he doomed to fall, he might find a glorious death +upon freedom's battle-field, in place of that darker departure then so +near him, which the prophetic language of Orange depicted, but which he +was too sanguine to fear. He spoke with confidence of the royal clemency. +"Alas, Egmont," answered the Prince, "the King's clemency, of which you +boast, will destroy you. Would that I might be deceived, but I foresee +too clearly that you are to be the bridge which the Spaniards will +destroy so soon as they have passed over it to invade our country." With +these last, solemn words he concluded his appeal to awaken the Count from +his fatal security. Then, as if persuaded that he was looking upon his +friend for the last time, William of Orange threw his arms around Egmont, +and held him for a moment in a close embrace. Tears fell from the eyes of +both at this parting moment--and then the brief scene of simple and lofty +pathos terminated--Egmont and Orange separated from each other, never to +meet again on earth. + +A few days afterwards, Orange addressed a letter to Philip once more +resigning all his offices, and announcing his intention of departing from +the Netherlands for Germany. He added, that he should be always ready to +place himself and his property at the King's orders in every thing which +he believed conducive to the true service of his Majesty. The Prince had +already received a remarkable warning from old Landgrave Philip of Hesse, +who had not forgotten the insidious manner in which his own memorable +captivity had been brought about by the arts of Granvelle and of Alva. +"Let them not smear your mouths with honey," said the Landgrave. "If the +three seigniors, of whom the Duchess Margaret has had so much to say, are +invited to court by Alva, under pretext of friendly consultation, let +them be wary, and think twice ere they accept. I know the Duke of Alva +and the Spaniards, and how they dealt with me." + +The Prince, before he departed, took a final leave of Horn and Egmont, by +letters, which, as if aware of the monumental character they were to +assume for posterity, he drew up in Latin. He desired, now that he was +turning his back upon the country, that those two nobles who had refused +to imitate, and had advised against his course, should remember that, he +was acting deliberately, conscientiously, and in pursuance of a +long-settled plan. + +To Count Horn he declared himself unable to connive longer at the sins +daily committed against the country and his own conscience. He assured +him that the government had been accustoming the country to panniers, in +order that it might now accept patiently the saddle and bridle. For +himself, he said, his back was not strong enough for the weight already +imposed upon it, and he preferred to endure any calamity which might +happen to him in exile, rather than be compelled by those whom they had +all condemned to acquiesce in the object so long and steadily pursued. + +He reminded Egmont, who had been urging him by letter to remain, that his +resolution had been deliberately taken, and long since communicated to +his friends. He could not, in conscience, take the oath required; nor +would he, now that all eyes were turned upon him, remain in the land, the +only recusant. He preferred to encounter all that could happen, rather +than attempt to please others by the sacrifice of liberty, of his +fatherland, of his own conscience. "I hope, therefore," said he to Egmont +in conclusion, "that you, after weighing my reasons, will not disapprove +my departure. The rest I leave to God, who will dispose of all as may +most conduce to the glory of his name. For yourself, I pray you to +believe that you have no more sincere friend than I am. My love for you +has struck such deep root into my heart, that it can be lessened by no +distance of time or place, and I pray you in return to maintain the same +feelings towards me which you have always cherished." + +The Prince had left Antwerp upon the 11th April, and had written these +letters from Breda, upon the 13th of the same month. Upon the 22d, he +took his departure for Dillenburg, the ancestral seat of his family in +Germany, by the way of Grave and Cleves. + +It was not to be supposed that this parting message would influence +Egmont's decision with regard to his own movements, when his +determination had not been shaken at his memorable interview with the +Prince. The Count's fate was sealed. Had he not been praised by +Noircarmes; had he not earned the hypocritical commendations of Duchess +Margaret; nay more, had he not just received a most affectionate letter +of, thanks and approbation from the King of Spain himself? This letter, +one of the most striking monuments of Philip's cold-blooded perfidy, was +dated the 26th of March. "I am pleased, my cousin," wrote the monarch to +Egmont, "that you have taken the new oath, not that I considered it at +all necessary so far as regards yourself, but for the example which you +have thus given to others, and which I hope they will all follow. I have +received not less pleasure in hearing of the excellent manner in which +you are doing your duty, the assistance you are rendering, and the offers +which you are making to my sister, for which I thank you, and request you +to continue in the same course." + +The words were written by the royal hand which had already signed the +death-warrant of the man to whom they were addressed. Alva, who came +provided with full powers to carry out the great scheme resolved upon, +unrestrained by provincial laws or by the statutes of the Golden Fleece, +had left Madrid to embark for Carthagena, at the very moment when Egmont +was reading the royal letter. "The Spanish honey," to use once more old +Landgrave Philip's homely metaphor, had done its work, and the +unfortunate victim was already entrapped. + +Count Horn remained in gloomy silence in his lair at Weert, awaiting the +hunters of men, already on their way. It seemed inconceivable that he, +too, who knew himself suspected and disliked, should have thus blinded +himself to his position. It will be seen, however, that the same perfidy +was to be employed to ensnare him which proved so successful with Egmont. + +As for the Prince himself, he did not move too soon. Not long after his +arrival in Germany, Vandenesse, the King's private secretary, but +Orange's secret agent, wrote him word that he had read letters from the +King to Alva in which the Duke was instructed to "arrest the Prince as +soon as he could lay hands upon him, and not to let his trial last more +than twenty-four hours." + +Brederode had remained at Viane, and afterwards at Amsterdam, since the +ill-starred expedition of Tholouse, which he had organized, but at which +he had not assisted. He had given much annoyance to the magistracy of +Amsterdam, and to all respectable persons, Calvinist or Catholic. He made +much mischief, but excited no hopes in the minds of reformers. He was +ever surrounded by a host of pot companions, swaggering nobles disguised +as sailors, bankrupt tradesmen, fugitives and outlaws of every +description, excellent people to drink the beggars' health and to bawl +the beggars' songs, but quite unfit for any serious enterprise. People of +substance were wary of him, for they had no confidence in his capacity, +and were afraid of his frequent demands for contributions to the +patriotic cause. He spent his time in the pleasure gardens, shooting at +the mark with arquebuss or crossbow, drinking with his comrades, and +shrieking "Vivent les gueux." + +The Regent, determined to dislodge him, had sent Secretary La Torre to +him in March, with instructions that if Brederode refused to leave +Amsterdam, the magistracy were to call for assistance upon Count Meghem, +who had a regiment at Utrecht. This clause made it impossible for La +Torre to exhibit his instructions to Brederode. Upon his refusal, that +personage, although he knew the secretary as well as he knew his own +father, coolly informed him that he knew nothing about him; that he did +not consider him as respectable a person as he pretended to be; that he +did not believe a word of his having any commission from the Duchess, and +that he should therefore take no notice whatever of his demands. La Torre +answered meekly, that he was not so presumptuous, nor so destitute of +sense as to put himself into comparison with a gentleman of Count +Brederode's quality, but that as he had served as secretary to the privy +council for twenty-three years, he had thought that he might be believed +upon his word. Hereupon La Tome drew up a formal protest, and Brederode +drew up another. La Torre made a proces verbal of their interview, while +Brederode stormed like a madman, and abused the Duchess for a capricious +and unreasonable tyrant. He ended by imprisoning La Torre for a day or +two, and seizing his papers. By a singular coincidence, these events took +place on the 13th, 24th, and 15th of March, the very days of the great +Antwerp tumult. The manner in which the Prince of Orange had been dealing +with forty or fifty thousand armed men, anxious to cut each other's +throats, while Brederode was thus occupied in browbeating a pragmatical +but decent old secretary, illustrated the difference in calibre of the +two men. + +This was the Count's last exploit. He remained at Amsterdam some weeks +longer, but the events which succeeded changed the Hector into a faithful +vassal. Before the 12th of April, he wrote to Egmont, begging his +intercession with Margaret of Parma, and offering "carte blanche" as to +terms, if he might only be allowed to make his peace with government. It +was, however, somewhat late in the day for the "great beggar" to make his +submission. No terms were accorded him, but he was allowed by the Duchess +to enjoy his revenues provisionally, subject to the King's pleasure. Upon +the 25th April, he entertained a select circle of friends at his hotel in +Amsterdam, and then embarked at midnight for Embden. A numerous +procession of his adherents escorted him to the ship, bearing lighted +torches, and singing bacchanalian songs. He died within a year +afterwards, of disappointment and hard drinking, at Castle Hardenberg, in +Germany, after all his fretting and fury, and notwithstanding his +vehement protestations to die a poor soldier at the feet of Louis Nassau. + +That "good chevalier and good Christian," as his brother affectionately +called him, was in Germany, girding himself for the manly work which +Providence had destined him to perform. The life of Brederode, who had +engaged in the early struggle, perhaps from the frivolous expectation of +hearing himself called Count of Holland, as his ancestors had been, had +contributed nothing to the cause of freedom, nor did his death occasion +regret. His disorderly band of followers dispersed in every direction +upon the departure of their chief. A vessel in which Batenburg, Galaina, +and other nobles, with their men-at-arms, were escaping towards a German +port, was carried into Harlingen, while those gentlemen, overpowered by +sleep and wassail, were unaware of their danger, and delivered over to +Count Meghem, by the treachery of their pilot. The soldiers, were +immediately hanged. The noblemen were reserved to grace the first great +scaffold which Alva was to erect upon the horse-market in Brussels. + +The confederacy was entirely broken to pieces. Of the chieftains to whom +the people had been accustomed to look for support and encouragement, +some had rallied to the government, some were in exile, some were in +prison. Montigny, closely watched in Spain, was virtually a captive, +pining for the young bride to whom he had been wedded amid such brilliant +festivities but a few months before his departure, and for the child +which was never to look upon its father's face. + +His colleague, Marquis Berghen, more fortunate, was already dead. The +excellent Viglius seized the opportunity to put in a good word for +Noircarmes, who had been grinding Tournay in the dust, and butchering the +inhabitants of Valenciennes. "We have heard of Berghen's death," wrote +the President to his faithful Joachim. "The Lord of Noircarmes, who has +been his substitute in the governorship of Hainault, has given a specimen +of what he can do. Although I have no private intimacy with that +nobleman, I can not help embracing him with all my benevolence. +Therefore, oh my Hopper, pray do your best to have him appointed +governor." + +With the departure of Orange, a total eclipse seemed to come over the +Netherlands. The country was absolutely helpless, the popular heart cold +with apprehension. All persons at all implicated in the late troubles, or +suspected of heresy, fled from their homes. Fugitive soldiers were hunted +into rivers, cut to pieces in the fields, hanged, burned, or drowned, +like dogs, without quarter, and without remorse. The most industrious and +valuable part of the population left the land in droves. The tide swept +outwards with such rapidity that the Netherlands seemed fast becoming the +desolate waste which they had been before the Christian era. Throughout +the country, those Reformers who were unable to effect their escape +betook themselves to their old lurking-places. The new religion was +banished from all the cities, every conventicle was broken up by armed +men, the preachers and leading members were hanged, their disciples +beaten with rods, reduced to beggary, or imprisoned, even if they +sometimes escaped the scaffold. An incredible number, however, were +executed for religious causes. Hardly a village so small, says the +Antwerp chronicler,--[Meteren]--but that it could furnish one, two, or +three hundred victims to the executioner. The new churches were levelled +to the ground, and out of their timbers gallows were constructed. It was +thought an ingenious pleasantry to hang the Reformers upon the beams +under which they had hoped to worship God. The property of the fugitives +was confiscated. The beggars in name became beggars in reality. Many who +felt obliged to remain, and who loved their possessions better than their +creed, were suddenly converted into the most zealous of Catholics. +Persons who had for years not gone to mass, never omitted now their daily +and nightly visits to the churches. Persons who had never spoken to an +ecclesiastic but with contumely, now could not eat their dinners without +one at their table. Many who were suspected of having participated in +Calvinistic rites, were foremost and loudest in putting down and +denouncing all forms and shows of the reformation. The country was as +completely "pacified," to use the conqueror's expression, as Gaul had +been by Caesar. + +The Regent issued a fresh edict upon the 24th May, to refresh the +memories of those who might have forgotten previous statutes, which were, +however, not calculated to make men oblivious. By this new proclamation, +all ministers and teachers were sentenced to the gallows. All persons who +had suffered their houses to be used for religious purposes were +sentenced to the gallows. All parents or masters whose children or +servants had attended such meetings were sentenced to the gallows, while +the children and servants were only to be beaten with rods. All people +who sang hymns at the burial of their relations were sentenced to the +gallows. Parents who allowed their newly-born children to be baptized by +other hands than those of the Catholic priest were sentenced to the +gallows. The same punishment was denounced against the persons who should +christen the child or act as its sponsors. Schoolmasters who should teach +any error or false doctrine were likewise to be punished with death. +Those who infringed the statutes against the buying and selling of +religious books and songs were to receive the same doom; after the first +offence. All sneers or insults against priests and ecclesiastics were +also made capital crimes. Vagabonds, fugitives; apostates, runaway monks, +were ordered forthwith to depart from every city on pain of death. In all +cases confiscation of the whole property of the criminal was added to the +hanging. + +This edict, says a contemporary historian, increased the fear of those +professing the new religion to such an extent that they left the country +"in great heaps." It became necessary, therefore, to issue a subsequent +proclamation forbidding all persons, whether foreigners or natives, to +leave the land or to send away their property, and prohibiting all +shipmasters, wagoners, and other agents of travel, from assisting in the +flight of such fugitives, all upon pain of death. + +Yet will it be credited that the edict of 24th May, the provisions of +which have just been sketched, actually excited the wrath of Philip on +account of their clemency? He wrote to the Duchess, expressing the pain +and dissatisfaction which he felt, that an edict so indecent, so illegal, +so contrary to the Christian religion, should have been published. +Nothing, he said, could offend or distress him more deeply, than any +outrage whatever, even the slightest one, offered to God and to His Roman +Catholic Church. He therefore commanded his sister instantly to revoke +the edict. One might almost imagine from reading the King's letter that +Philip was at last appalled at the horrors committed in his name. Alas, +he was only indignant that heretics had been suffered to hang who ought +to have been burned, and that a few narrow and almost impossible +loopholes had been left through which those who had offended alight +effect their escape. + +And thus, while the country is paralyzed with present and expected woe, +the swiftly advancing trumpets of the Spanish army resound from beyond +the Alps. The curtain is falling upon the prelude to the great tragedy +which the prophetic lips of Orange had foretold. When it is again lifted, +scenes of disaster and of bloodshed, battles, sieges, executions, deeds +of unfaltering but valiant tyranny, of superhuman and successful +resistance, of heroic self-sacrifice, fanatical courage and insane +cruelty, both in the cause of the Wrong and the Right, will be revealed +in awful succession--a spectacle of human energy, human suffering, and +human strength to suffer, such as has not often been displayed upon the +stage of the world's events. + + ETEXT EDITOR'S BOOKMARKS: + + God Save the King! It was the last time + Having conjugated his paradigm conscientiously + Indignant that heretics had been suffered to hang + Insane cruelty, both in the cause of the Wrong and the Right + Sick and wounded wretches were burned over slow fires + Slender stock of platitudes + The time for reasoning had passed + Who loved their possessions better than their creed + + + + +MOTLEY'S HISTORY OF THE NETHERLANDS, PG EDITION, VOLUME 14. + +THE RISE OF THE DUTCH REPUBLIC + +By JOHN LOTHROP MOTLEY +1855 + +1567 [Part III., ALVA, CHAPTER 1.] + + Continued dissensions in the Spanish cabinet--Ruy Gomez and Alva-- + Conquest of the Netherlands entrusted to the Duke--Birth, previous + career and character of Alva--Organization of the invading army-- + Its march to the provinces--Complaints of Duchess Margaret--Alva + receives deputations on the frontier--Interview between the Duke and + Egmont--Reception of Alva by the Duchess of Parma--Circular letters + to the cities requiring their acceptance of garrisons--Margaret's + secret correspondence--Universal apprehension--Keys of the great + cities demanded by Alva--Secret plans of the government, arranged + before the Duke's departure--Arrest of Orange, Egmont, Horn, and + others, determined upon--Stealthy course of the government towards + them--Infatuation of Egmont--Warnings addressed to him by De Billy + and others--Measures to entrap Count Horn--Banquet of the Grand + Prior--The Grand Prior's warning to Egmont--Evil counsels of + Noircarmes--Arrests of Egmont, Horn, Bakkerzeel and Straalen-- + Popular consternation--Petulant conduct of Duchess Margaret-- + Characteristic comments of Granvelle--His secret machinations and + disclaimers--Berghen and Montigny--Last moments of Marquis Berghen-- + Perfidy of Ruy Gomez--Establishment of the "Blood-Council"--Its + leading features--Insidious behavior of Viglius--Secret + correspondence, concerning the President, between Philip and Alva-- + Members of the "Blood-Council"--Portraits of Vargas and Hessels-- + Mode of proceeding adopted by the council--Wholesale executions-- + Despair in the provinces--The resignation of Duchess Margaret + accepted--Her departure from the Netherlands--Renewed civil war in + France--Death of Montmorency--Auxiliary troops sent by Alva to + France--Erection of Antwerp citadel--Description of the citadel. + +The armed invasion of the Netherlands was the necessary consequence of +all which had gone before. That the inevitable result had been so long +deferred lay rather in the incomprehensible tardiness of Philip's +character than in the circumstances of the case. Never did a monarch hold +so steadfastly to a deadly purpose, or proceed so languidly and with so +much circumvolution to his goal. The mask of benignity, of possible +clemency, was now thrown off, but the delusion of his intended visit to +the provinces was still maintained. He assured the Regent that he should +be governed by her advice, and as she had made all needful preparations +to receive him in Zeland, that it would be in Zeland he should arrive. + +The same two men among Philip's advisers were prominent as at an earlier +day--the Prince of Eboli and the Duke of Alva. They still represented +entirely opposite ideas, and in character, temper, and history, each was +the reverse of the other. The policy of the Prince was pacific and +temporizing; that of the Duke uncompromising and ferocious. Ruy Gomez was +disposed to prevent, if possible, the armed mission of Alva, and he now +openly counselled the King to fulfil his long-deferred promise, and to +make his appearance in person before his rebellious subjects. The +jealousy and hatred which existed between the Prince and the +Duke--between the man of peace and the man of wrath--were constantly +exploding, even in the presence of the King. The wrangling in the council +was incessant. Determined, if possible; to prevent the elevation of his +rival, the favorite was even for a moment disposed to ask for the command +of the army himself. There was something ludicrous in the notion, that a +man whose life had been pacific, and who trembled at the noise of arms, +should seek to supersede the terrible Alva, of whom his eulogists +asserted, with, Castilian exaggeration, that the very name of fear +inspired him with horror. But there was a limit beyond which the +influence of Anna de Mendoza and her husband did not extend. Philip was +not to be driven to the Netherlands against his will, nor to be prevented +from assigning the command of the army to the most appropriate man in +Europe for his purpose. + +It was determined at last that the Netherland heresy should be conquered +by force of arms. The invasion resembled both a crusade against the +infidel, and a treasure-hunting foray into the auriferous Indies, +achievements by which Spanish chivalry had so often illustrated itself. +The banner of the cross was to be replanted upon the conquered +battlements of three hundred infidel cities, and a torrent of wealth, +richer than ever flowed from Mexican or Peruvian mines, was to flow into +the royal treasury from the perennial fountains of confiscation. Who so +fit to be the Tancred and the Pizarro of this bicolored expedition as the +Duke of Alva, the man who had been devoted from his earliest childhood, +and from his father's grave, to hostility against unbelievers, and who +had prophesied that treasure would flow in a stream, a yard deep, from +the Netherlands as soon as the heretics began to meet with their deserts. +An army of chosen troops was forthwith collected, by taking the four +legions, or terzios, of Naples, Sicily, Sardinia, and Lombardy, and +filling their places in Italy by fresh levies. About ten thousand picked +and veteran soldiers were thus obtained, of which the Duke of Alva was +appointed general-in-chief. + +Ferdinando Alvarez de Toledo, Duke of Alva, was now in his sixtieth year. +He was the most successful and experienced general of Spain, or of +Europe. No man had studied more deeply, or practised more constantly, the +military science. In the most important of all arts at that epoch he was +the most consummate artist. In the only honorable profession of the age, +he was the most thorough and the most pedantic professor. Since the days +of Demetrius Poliorcetes, no man had besieged so many cities. Since the +days of Fabius Cunctator; no general had avoided so many battles, and no +soldier, courageous as he was, ever attained to a more sublime +indifference to calumny or depreciation. Having proved in his boyhood, at +Fontarabia, and in his maturity: at Muhlberg, that he could exhibit +heroism and headlong courage; when necessary, he could afford to look +with contempt upon the witless gibes which his enemies had occasionally +perpetrated at his expense. Conscious of holding his armies in his hand, +by the power of an unrivalled discipline, and the magic of a name +illustrated by a hundred triumphs, he, could bear with patience and +benevolence the murmurs of his soldiers when their battles were denied +them. + +He was born in 1508, of a family which boasted, imperial descent. A +Palaeologus, brother of a Byzantine emperor, had conquered the city of +Toledo, and transmitted its appellation as a family name. The father of +Ferdinando, Don Garcia, had been slain on the isle of Gerbes, in battle +with the Moors, when his son was but four years of age. The child was +brought up by his grandfather, Don Frederic, and trained from his +tenderest infancy to arms. Hatred to the infidel, and a determination to +avenge his father's blood; crying to him from a foreign grave, were the +earliest of his instincts. As a youth he was distinguished for his +prowess. His maiden sword was fleshed at Fontarabia, where, although but +sixteen years of age, he was considered, by his constancy in hardship, by +his brilliant and desperate courage, and by the example of military +discipline which he afforded to the troops, to have contributed in no +small degree to the success of the Spanish arms. + +In 1530, he accompanied the Emperor in his campaign against the Turk. +Charles, instinctively recognizing the merit of the youth who was +destined to be the life-long companion of his toils and glories, +distinguished him with his favor at the opening of his career. Young, +brave, and enthusiastic, Ferdinand de Toledo at this period was as +interesting a hero as ever illustrated the pages of Castilian romance. +His mad ride from Hungary to Spain and back again, accomplished in +seventeen days, for the sake of a brief visit to his newly-married wife, +is not the least attractive episode in the history of an existence which +was destined to be so dark and sanguinary. In 1535, he accompanied the +Emperor on his memorable expedition to Tunis. In 1546 and 1547 he was +generalissimo in the war against the Smalcaldian league. His most +brilliant feat of arms-perhaps the most brilliant exploit of the +Emperor's reign--was the passage of the Elbe and the battle of Muhlberg, +accomplished in spite of Maximilian's bitter and violent reproaches, and +the tremendous possibilities of a defeat. That battle had finished the +war. The gigantic and magnanimous John Frederic, surprised at his +devotions in the church, fled in dismay, leaving his boots behind him, +which for their superhuman size, were ridiculously said afterwards to be +treasured among the trophies of the Toledo house. + + [Hist. du Due d'Albe, i. 274. Brantome, Hom. Illust., etc. + (ch. v.), says that one of the boots was "large enough to hold a + camp bedstead," p. 11. I insert the anecdote only as a specimen of + the manner in which similar absurdities, both of great and, of + little consequence, are perpetuated by writers in every land and + age. The armor of the noble-hearted and unfortunate John Frederic + may still be seen in Dresden. Its size indicates a man very much + above the average height, while the external length of the iron + shoe, on-the contrary, is less than eleven inches.] + +The rout was total. "I came, I saw, and God conquered," said the Emperor, +in pious parody of his immortal predecessor's epigram. Maximilian, with a +thousand apologies for his previous insults, embraced the heroic Don +Ferdinand over and over again, as, arrayed in a plain suit of blue armor, +unadorned save with streaks of his enemies' blood, he returned from +pursuit of the fugitives. So complete and so sudden was the victory, that +it was found impossible to account for it, save on the ground of +miraculous interposition. Like Joshua, in the vale of Ajalon, Don +Ferdinand was supposed to have commanded the sun to stand still for a +season, and to have been obeyed. Otherwise, how could the passage of the +river, which was only concluded at six in the evening, and the complete +overthrow of the Protestant forces, have all been accomplished within the +narrow space of an April twilight? The reply of the Duke to Henry the +Second of France, who questioned him subsequently upon the subject, is +well known. "Your Majesty, I was too much occupied that evening with what +was taking place on the earth beneath, to pay much heed to the evolutions +of the heavenly bodies." Spared as he had been by his good fortune from +taking any part in the Algerine expedition, or in witnessing the +ignominious retreat from Innspruck, he was obliged to submit to the +intercalation of the disastrous siege of Metz in the long history of his +successes. Doing the duty of a field-marshal and a sentinel, supporting +his army by his firmness and his discipline when nothing else could have +supported them, he was at last enabled, after half the hundred thousand +men with whom Charles had begun the siege had been sacrificed, to induce +his imperial master to raise the siege before the remaining fifty +thousand had been frozen or starved to death. + +The culminating career of Alva seemed to have closed in the mist which +gathered around the setting star of the empire. Having accompanied Philip +to England in 1554, on his matrimonial-expedition, he was destined in the +following years, as viceroy and generalissimo of Italy, to be placed in a +series of false positions. A great captain engaged in a little war, the +champion of the cross in arms against the successor of St. Peter, he had +extricated himself, at last, with his usual adroitness, but with very +little glory. To him had been allotted the mortification, to another the +triumph. The lustre of his own name seemed to sink in the ocean while +that of a hated rival, with new spangled ore, suddenly "flamed in the +forehead of the morning sky." While he had been paltering with a dotard, +whom he was forbidden to crush, Egmont had struck down the chosen troops +of France, and conquered her most illustrious commanders. Here was the +unpardonable crime which could only be expiated by the blood of the +victor. Unfortunately for his rival, the time was now approaching when +the long-deferred revenge was to be satisfied. + +On the whole, the Duke of Alva was inferior to no general of his age. As +a disciplinarian he was foremost in Spain, perhaps in Europe. A +spendthrift of time, he was an economist of blood, and this was, perhaps, +in the eye of humanity, his principal virtue. Time and myself are two, +was a frequent observation of Philip, and his favorite general considered +the maxim as applicable to war as to politics. Such were his qualities as +a military commander. As a statesman, he had neither experience nor +talent. As a man his character was simple. He did not combine a great +variety of vices, but those which he had were colossal, and he possessed +no virtues. He was neither lustful nor intemperate, but his professed +eulogists admitted his enormous avarice, while the world has agreed that +such an amount of stealth and ferocity, of patient vindictiveness and +universal bloodthirstiness, were never found in a savage beast of the +forest, and but rarely in a human bosom. His history was now to show that +his previous thrift of human life was not derived from any love of his +kind. Personally he was stern and overbearing. As difficult of access as +Philip himself, he was even more haughty to those who were admitted to +his presence. He addressed every one with the depreciating second person +plural. Possessing the right of being covered in the presence of the +Spanish monarch, he had been with difficulty brought to renounce it +before the German Emperor. He was of an illustrious family; but his +territorial possessions were not extensive. His duchy was a small one, +furnishing him with not more than fourteen thousand crowns of annual +income, and with four hundred soldiers. He had, however, been a thrifty +financier all his life, never having been without a handsome sum of ready +money at interest. Ten years before his arrival in the Netherlands, he +was supposed to have already increased his income to forty thousand a +year by the proceeds of his investments at Antwerp. As already intimated, +his military character was sometimes profoundly misunderstood. He was +often considered rather a pedantic than a practical commander, more +capable to discourse of battles than to gain them. Notwithstanding that +his long life had been an almost unbroken campaign, the ridiculous +accusation of timidity was frequently made against him. A gentleman at +the court of the Emperor Charles once addressed a letter to the Duke with +the title of "General of his Majesty's armies in the Duchy of Milan in +time of peace, and major-domo of the household in the time of war." It +was said that the lesson did the Duke good, but that he rewarded very +badly the nobleman who gave it, having subsequently caused his head to be +taken off. In general, however, Alva manifested a philosophical contempt +for the opinions expressed concerning his military fame, and was +especially disdainful of criticism expressed by his own soldiers. +"Recollect," said he, at a little later period, to Don John of Austria, +"that the first foes with whom one has to contend are one's own troops; +with their clamors for an engagement at this moment, and--their murmurs, +about results at another; with their 'I thought that the battle should be +fought;' or, 'it was my opinion that the occasion ought not to be lost.' +Your highness will have opportunity enough to display valor, and will +never be weak enough to be conquered by the babble of soldiers." + +In person he was tall, thin, erect, with a small head, a long visage, +lean yellow cheek, dark twinkling eyes, a dust complexion, black +bristling hair, and a long sable-silvered beard, descending in two waving +streams upon his breast. + +Such being the design, the machinery was well selected. The best man in +Europe to lead the invading force was placed at the head of ten thousand +picked veterans. The privates in this exquisite little army, said the +enthusiastic connoisseur Brantome, who travelled post into Lorraine +expressly to see them on their march, all wore engraved or gilded armor, +and were in every respect equipped like captains. They were the first who +carried muskets, a weapon which very much astonished the Flemings when it +first rattled in their ears. The musketeers, he observed, might have been +mistaken, for princes, with such agreeable and graceful arrogance did +they present themselves. Each was attended by his servant or esquire, who +carried his piece for him, except in battle, and all were treated with +extreme deference by the rest of the army, as if they had been officers. +The four regiments of Lombardy, Sardinia, Sicily, and Naples, composed a +total of not quite nine thousand of the best foot soldiers in Europe. +They were commanded respectively by Don Sancho de Lodiono, Don Gonzalo de +Bracamonte, Julien Romero, and Alfonso de Ulloa, all distinguished and +experienced generals. The cavalry, amounting to about twelve hundred; was +under the command of the natural son of the Duke, Don Ferdinando de +Toledo, Prior of the Knights of St. John. Chiapin Vitelli, Marquis of +Cetona, who had served the King in many a campaign, was appointed +Marechal de camp, and Gabriel Cerbelloni was placed in command of the +artillery. On the way the Duke received, as a present from the Duke of +Savoy, the services of the distinguished engineer, Pacheco, or Paciotti, +whose name was to be associated with the most celebrated citadel of the +Netherlands; and whose dreadful fate was to be contemporaneous with the +earliest successes of the liberal party. + +With an army thus perfect, on a small scale, in all its departments, and +furnished, in addition, with a force of two thousand prostitutes, as +regularly enrolled, disciplined, and distributed as the cavalry or the +artillery, the Duke embarked upon his momentous enterprise, on the 10th +of May, at Carthagena. Thirty-seven galleys, under command of Prince +Andrea Doria, brought the principal part of the force to Genoa, the Duke +being delayed a few days at Nice by an attack of fever. On the 2d of +June, the army was mustered at Alexandria de Palla, and ordered to +rendezvous again at San Ambrosio at the foot of the Alps. It was then +directed to make its way over Mount Cenis and through Savoy; Burgundy, +and Lorraine, by a regularly arranged triple movement. The second +division was each night to encamp on the spot which had been occupied +upon the previous night by the vanguard, and the rear was to place itself +on the following night in the camp of the corps de bataille. Thus coiling +itself along almost in a single line by slow and serpentine windings, +with a deliberate, deadly, venomous purpose, this army, which was to be +the instrument of Philip's long deferred vengeance, stole through narrow +mountain pass and tangled forest. So close and intricate were many of the +defiles through which the journey led them that, had one tithe of the +treason which they came to punish, ever existed, save in the diseased +imagination of their monarch, not one man would have been left to tell +the tale. Egmont, had he really been the traitor and the conspirator he +was assumed to be, might have easily organized the means of cutting off +the troops before they could have effected their entrance into the +country which they had doomed to destruction. His military experience, +his qualifications for a daring stroke, his great popularity, and the +intense hatred entertained for Alva, would have furnished him with a +sufficient machinery for the purpose. + +Twelve days' march carried the army through Burgundy, twelve more through +Lorraine. During the whole of the journey they were closely accompanied +by a force of cavalry and infantry, ordered upon this service by the King +of France, who, for fear of exciting a fresh Huguenot demonstration, had +refused the Spaniards a passage through his dominions. This reconnoitring +army kept pace with them like their shadow, and watched all their +movements. A force of six thousand Swiss, equally alarmed and uneasy at +the progress of the troops, hovered likewise about their flanks, without, +however, offering any impediment to their advance. Before the middle of +August they had reached Thionville, on the Luxemburg frontier, having on +the last day marched a distance of two leagues through a forest, which +seemed expressly arranged to allow a small defensive force to embarrass +and destroy an invading army. No opposition, however, was attempted, and +the Spanish soldiers encamped at last within the territory of the +Netherlands, having accomplished their adventurous journey in entire +safety, and under perfect discipline. + +The Duchess had in her secret letters to Philip continued to express her +disapprobation of the enterprise thus committed to Alva, She had bitterly +complained that now when the country had been pacified by her efforts, +another should be sent to reap all the glory, or perhaps to undo all that +she had so painfully and so successfully done. She stated to her brother, +in most unequivocal language, that the name of Alva was odious enough to +make the whole Spanish nation detested in the Netherlands. She could find +no language sufficiently strong to express her surprise that the King +should have decided upon a measure likely to be attended with such fatal +consequences without consulting her on the subject, and in opposition to +what had been her uniform advice. She also wrote personally to Alva, +imploring, commanding, and threatening, but with equally ill success. The +Duke knew too well who was sovereign of the Netherlands now; his master's +sister or himself. As to the effects of his armed invasion upon the +temper of the provinces, he was supremely indifferent. He came as a +conqueror not as a mediator. "I have tamed people of iron in my day," +said he, contemptuously, "shall I not easily crush these men of butter?" + +At Thionville he was, however, officially waited upon by Berlaymont and +Noircarmes, on the part of the Regent. He at this point, moreover, began +to receive deputations from various cities, bidding him a hollow and +trembling welcome, and deprecating his displeasure for any thing in the +past which might seem offensive. To all such embassies he replied in +vague and conventional language; saying, however, to his confidential +attendants: I am here, so much is certain, whether I am welcome or not is +to me a matter of little consequence. At Tirlemont, on the 22d August, he +was met by Count Egmont, who had ridden forth from Brussels to show him a +becoming respect, as the representative of his sovereign, The Count was +accompanied by several other noblemen, and brought to the Duke a present +of several beautiful horses. Alva received him, however, but coldly, for +he was unable at first to adjust the mask to his countenance as adroitly +as was necessary. Behold the greatest of all the heretics, he observed to +his attendants, as soon as the nobleman's presence was announced, and in +a voice loud enough for him to hear. + +Even after they had exchanged salutations, he addressed several remarks +to him in a half jesting, half biting tone, saying among other things, +that his countship might have spared him the trouble of making this long +journey in his old age. There were other observations in a similar strain +which might have well aroused the suspicion of any man not determined, +like Egmont, to continue blind and deaf. After a brief interval, however, +Alva seems to have commanded himself. He passed his arm lovingly over +that stately neck, which he had already devoted to the block, and the +Count having resolved beforehand to place himself, if possible, upon +amicable terms with the new Viceroy--the two rode along side by side in +friendly conversation, followed by the regiment of infantry and three +companies of light horse, which belonged to the Duke's immediate command. +Alva, still attended by Egmont, rode soon afterwards through the Louvain +gate into Brussels, where they separated for a season. Lodgings had been +taken for the Duke at the house of a certain Madame de Jasse, in the +neighborhood of Egmont's palace. Leaving here the principal portion of +his attendants, the Captain-General, without alighting, forthwith +proceeded to the palace to pay his respects to the Duchess of Parma. + +For three days the Regent had been deliberating with her council as to +the propriety of declining any visit from the man whose presence she +justly considered a disgrace and an insult to herself. This being the +reward of her eight years' devotion to her brother's commands; to be +superseded by a subject, and one too who came to carry out a policy which +she had urgently deprecated, it could hardly be expected of the Emperor's +daughter that she should graciously submit to the indignity, and receive +her successor with a smiling countenance. In consequence, however, of the +submissive language with which the Duke had addressed her in his recent +communications, offering with true Castilian but empty courtesy, to place +his guards, his army, and himself at her feet, she had consented to +receive his visit with or without his attendants. + +On his appearance in the court-yard, a scene of violent altercation and +almost of bloodshed took place between his body-guard and the archers of +the Regent's household, who were at last, with difficulty, persuaded to +allow the mercenaries of the hated Captain-General to pass. Presenting +himself at three o'clock in the afternoon, after these not very +satisfactory preliminaries, in the bedchamber of the Duchess, where it +was her habit to grant confidential audiences, he met, as might easily be +supposed, with a chilling reception: The Duchess, standing motionless in +the centre of the apartment, attended by Berlaymont, the Duke of +Aerachot, and Count Egmont, acknowledged his salutations with calm +severity. Neither she nor any one of her attendants advanced a step to +meet him. The Duke took off his hat, but she, calmly recognizing his +right as a Spanish grandee, insisted upon his remaining covered. A stiff +and formal conversation of half an hour's duration then ensued, all +parties remaining upon their feet. The Duke, although respectful; found +it difficult to conceal his indignation and his haughty sense of +approaching triumph. Margaret was cold, stately, and forbidding, +disguising her rage and her mortification under a veil of imperial pride. +Alva, in a letter to Philip, describing the interview, assured his +Majesty that he had treated the Duchess with as much deference as he +could have shown to the Queen, but it is probable, from other +contemporaneous accounts, that an ill-disguised and even angry arrogance +was at times very visible in his demeanor. The state council had advised +the Duchess against receiving him until he had duly exhibited his powers. +This ceremony had been waived, but upon being questioned by the Duchess +at this interview as to their nature and extent, he is reported to have +coolly answered that he really did not exactly remember, but that he +would look them over, and send her information at his earliest +convenience. + +The next day, however, his commission was duly exhibited. + +In this document, which bore date 31st January, 1567, Philip appointed +him to be Captain-General "in correspondence with his Majesty's dear +sister of Parma, who was occupied with other matters belonging to the +government," begged the Duchess to co-operate with him and to command +obedience for him, and ordered all the cities of the Netherlands to +receive such garrisons as he should direct. + +At the official interview between Alva and Madame de Parma, at which +these powers were produced, the necessary preliminary arrangements were +made regarding the Spanish troops, which were now to be immediately +quartered in the principal cities. The Duke, however, informed the Regent +that as these matters were not within her province, he should take the +liberty of arranging them with the authorities, without troubling her in +the matter, and would inform her of the result of his measures at their +next interview, which was to take place on the 26th August. + +Circular letters signed by Philip, which Alva had brought with him, were +now despatched to the different municipal bodies of the country. In these +the cities were severally commanded to accept the garrisons, and to +provide for the armies whose active services the King hoped would not be +required, but which he had sent beforehand to prepare a peaceful entrance +for himself. He enjoined the most absolute obedience to the Duke of Alva +until his own arrival, which was to be almost immediate. These letters +were dated at Madrid on the 28th February, and were now accompanied by a +brief official circular, signed by Margaret of Parma, in which she +announced the arrival of her dear cousin of Alva, and demanded +unconditional submission to his authority. + +Having thus complied with these demands of external and conventional +propriety, the indignant Duchess unbosomed herself, in her private +Italian letters to her brother, of the rage which had been hitherto +partially suppressed. She reiterated her profound regret that Philip had +not yet accepted the resignation which she had so recently and so +earnestly offered. She disclaimed all jealousy of the supreme powers now +conferred upon Alva, but thought that his Majesty might have allowed her +to leave the country before the Duke arrived with an authority which was +so extraordinary, as well as so humiliating to herself. Her honor might +thus have been saved. She was pained to perceive that she was like to +furnish a perpetual example to all others, who considering the manner in +which she had been treated by the King, would henceforth have but little +inducement to do their duty. At no time, on no occasion, could any person +ever render him such services as hers had been. For nine years she had +enjoyed not a moment of repose. If the King had shown her but little +gratitude, she was consoled by the thought that she had satisfied her +God, herself, and the world. She had compromised her health, perhaps her +life, and now that she had pacified the country, now that the King was +more absolute, more powerful than ever before, another was sent to enjoy +the fruit of her labors and her sufferings. + +The Duchess made no secret of her indignation at being thus superseded +and as she considered the matter, outraged. She openly avowed her +displeasure. She was at times almost beside herself with rage. There was +universal sympathy with her emotions, for all hated the Duke, and +shuddered at the arrival of the Spaniards. The day of doom for all the +crimes which had ever been committed in the course of ages, seemed now to +have dawned upon the Netherlands. The sword which had so long been +hanging over them, seemed now about to descend. Throughout the provinces, +there was but one feeling of cold and hopeless dismay. Those who still +saw a possibility of effecting their escape from the fated land, swarmed +across the frontier. All foreign merchants deserted the great marts. The +cities became as still as if the plague-banner had been unfurled on every +house-top. + +Meantime the Captain-General proceeded methodically with his work. He +distributed his troops through Brussels, Ghent, Antwerp, and other +principal cities. As a measure of necessity and mark of the last +humiliation, he required the municipalities to transfer their keys to his +keeping. The magistrates of Ghent humbly remonstrated against the +indignity, and Egmont was imprudent enough to make himself the +mouth-piece of their remonstrance, which, it is needless to add, was +unsuccessful. Meantime his own day of reckoning had arrived. + +As already observed, the advent of Alva at the head of a foreign army was +the natural consequence of all which had gone before. The delusion of the +royal visit was still maintained, and the affectation of a possible +clemency still displayed, while the monarch sat quietly in his cabinet +without a remote intention of leaving Spain, and while the messengers of +his accumulated and long-concealed wrath were already descending upon +their prey. It was the deliberate intention of Philip, when the Duke was +despatched to the Netherlands, that all the leaders of the +anti-inquisition party, and all who had, at any time or in any way, +implicated themselves in opposition to the government, or in censure of +its proceedings, should be put to death. It was determined that the +provinces should be subjugated to the absolute domination of the council +of Spain, a small body of foreigners sitting at the other end of Europe, +a junta in which Netherlanders were to have no voice and exercise no +influence. The despotic government of the Spanish and Italian possessions +was to be extended to these Flemish territories, which were thus to be +converted into the helpless dependencies of a foreign and an absolute +crown. There was to be a re-organization of the inquisition, upon the +same footing claimed for it before the outbreak of the troubles, together +with a re-enactment and vigorous enforcement of the famous edicts against +heresy. + +Such was the scheme recommended by Granvelle and Espinosa, and to be +executed by Alva. As part and parcel of this plan, it was also arranged +at secret meetings at the house of Espinosa, before the departure of the +Duke, that all the seigniors against whom the Duchess Margaret had made +so many complaints, especially the Prince of Orange, with the Counts +Egmont, Horn, and Hoogstraaten, should be immediately arrested and +brought to chastisement. The Marquis Berghen and the Baron Montigny, +being already in Spain, could be dealt with at pleasure. It was also +decided that the gentlemen implicated in the confederacy or compromise, +should at once be proceeded against for high treason, without any regard +to the promise of pardon granted by the Duchess. + +The general features of the great project having been thus mapped out, a +few indispensable preliminaries were at once executed. In order that +Egmont, Horn, and other distinguished victims might not take alarm, and +thus escape the doom deliberately arranged for them, royal assurances +were despatched to the Netherlands, cheering their despondency and +dispelling their doubts. With his own hand Philip wrote the letter, full +of affection and confidence, to Egmont, to which allusion has already +been made. He wrote it after Alva had left Madrid upon his mission of +vengeance. The same stealthy measures were pursued with regard to others. +The Prince of Orange was not capable of falling into the royal trap, +however cautiously baited. Unfortunately he could not communicate his +wisdom to his friends. + +It is difficult to comprehend so very sanguine a temperament as that to +which Egmont owed his destruction. It was not the Prince of Orange alone +who had prophesied his doom. Warnings had come to the Count from every +quarter, and they were now frequently repeated. Certainly he was not +without anxiety, but he had made his decision; determined to believe in +the royal word, and in the royal gratitude for his services rendered, not +only against Montmorency and De Thermes, but against the heretics of +Flanders. He was, however, much changed. He had grown prematurely old. At +forty-six years his hair was white, and he never slept without pistols +under his pillow. Nevertheless he affected, and sometimes felt, a +light-heartedness which surprised all around him. The Portuguese +gentleman Robles, Seigneur de Billy, who had returned early in the summer +from Spain; whither he had been sent upon a confidential mission by +Madame de Parma, is said to have made repeated communications to Egmont +as to the dangerous position in which he stood. Immediately after his +arrival in Brussels he had visited the Count, then confined to his house +by an injury caused by the fall of his horse. "Take care to get well very +fast," said De Billy, "for there are very bad stories told about you in +Spain." Egmont laughed heartily at the observation, as if, nothing could +well be more absurd than such a warning. His friend--for De Billy is said +to have felt a real attachment to the Count--persisted in his prophecies, +telling him that "birds in the field sang much more sweetly than those in +cages," and that he would do well to abandon the country before the +arrival of Alva. + +These warnings were repeated almost daily by the same gentleman, and by +others, who were more and more astonished at Egmont's infatuation. +Nevertheless, he had disregarded their admonitions, and had gone forth to +meet the Duke at Tirlemont. Even then he might have seen, in the coldness +of his first reception, and in the disrespectful manner of the Spanish +soldiers, who not only did not at first salute him, but who murmured +audibly that he was a Lutheran and traitor, that he was not so great a +favorite with the government at Madrid as he desired to be. + +After the first few moments, however, Alva's manner had changed, while +Chiappin Vitelli, Gabriel de Serbelloni, and other principal officers, +received the Count with great courtesy, even upon his first appearance. +The grand prior, Ferdinando de Toledo, natural son of the Duke, and +already a distinguished soldier, seems to have felt a warm and unaffected +friendship for Egmont, whose brilliant exploits in the field had excited +his youthful admiration, and of whose destruction he was, nevertheless, +compelled to be the unwilling instrument. For a few days, accordingly, +after the arrival of the new Governor-General all seemed to be going +smoothly. The grand prior and Egmont became exceedingly intimate, passing +their time together in banquets, masquerades, and play, as joyously as if +the merry days which had succeeded the treaty of Cateau Cambreais were +returned. The Duke, too, manifested the most friendly dispositions, +taking care to send him large presents of Spanish and Italian fruits, +received frequently by the government couriers. + +Lapped in this fatal security, Egmont not only forgot his fears, but +unfortunately succeeded in inspiring Count Horn with a portion of his +confidence. That gentleman had still remained in his solitary mansion at +Weert, notwithstanding the artful means which had been used to lure him +from that "desert." It is singular that the very same person who, +according to a well-informed Catholic contemporary, had been most eager +to warn Egmont of his danger, had also been the foremost instrument for +effecting the capture of the Admiral. The Seigneur de Billy, on the day +after his arrival from Madrid, had written to Horn, telling him that the +King was highly pleased with his services and character. De Billy also +stated that he had been commissioned by Philip to express distinctly the +royal gratitude for the Count's conduct, adding that his Majesty was +about to visit the Netherlands in August, and would probably be preceded +or accompanied by Baron Montigny. + +Alva and his son Don Ferdinando had soon afterwards addressed letters +from Gerverbiller (dated 26th and 27th July) to Count Horn, filled with +expressions of friendship and confidence. The Admiral, who had sent one +of his gentlemen to greet the Duke, now responded from Weert that he was +very sensible of the kindness manifested towards him, but that for +reasons which his secretary Alonzo de la Loo would more fully +communicate, he must for the present beg to be excused from a personal +visit to Brussels. The secretary was received by Alva with extreme +courtesy. The Duke expressed infinite pain that the King had not yet +rewarded Count Horn's services according to their merit, said that a year +before he had told his brother Montigny how very much he was the +Admiral's friend, and begged La Loo to tell his master that he should not +doubt the royal generosity and gratitude. The governor added, that if he +could see the Count in person he could tell him things which would please +him, and which would prove that he had not been forgotten by his friends. +La Loo had afterward a long conversation with the Duke's secretary +Albornoz, who assured him that his master had the greatest affection for +Count Horn, and that since his affairs were so much embarrassed, he might +easily be provided with the post of governor at Milan, or viceroy of +Naples, about to become vacant. The secretary added, that the Duke was +much hurt at receiving no visits from many distinguished nobles whose +faithful friend and servant he was, and that Count Horn ought to visit +Brussels, if not to treat of great affairs, at least to visit the +Captain-General as a friend. "After all this," said honest Alonzo, "I am +going immediately to Weert, to urge his lordship to yield to the Duke's +desires." + +This scientific manoeuvring, joined to the urgent representations of +Egmont, at last produced its effect. The Admiral left his retirement at +Weert to fall into the pit which his enemies had been so skilfully +preparing at Brussels. On the night of the 8th September, Egmont received +another most significative and mysterious warning. A Spaniard, apparently +an officer of rank, came secretly into his house, and urged him solemnly +to effect his escape before the morrow. The Countess, who related the +story afterwards, always believed, without being certain, that the +mysterious visitor was Julian Romero, marechal de camp. Egmont, however, +continued as blindly confident as before. + +On the following day, September 9th, the grand prior, Don Ferdinando, +gave a magnificent dinner, to which Egmont and Horn, together with +Noircarmes, the Viscount of Ghent, and many other noblemen were invited. +The banquet was enlivened by the music of Alva's own military band, which +the Duke sent to entertain the company. At three o'clock he sent a +message begging the gentlemen, after their dinner should be concluded, to +favor him with their company at his house (the maison de Jassey), as he +wished to consult them concerning the plan of the citadel, which he +proposed erecting at Antwerp. + +At this moment, the grand prior who was seated next to Egmont, whispered +in his ear; "Leave this place, Signor Count, instantly; take the fleetest +horse in your stable and make your escape without a moment's delay." +Egmont, much troubled, and remembering the manifold prophecies and +admonitions which he had passed by unheeded, rose from the table and went +into the next room. He was followed by Noircarmes and two other +gentlemen, who had observed his agitation, and were curious as to its +cause. The Count repeated to them the mysterious words just whispered to +him by the grand prior, adding that he was determined to take the advice +without a moment's delay. "Ha! Count," exclaimed Noircarmes, "do not put +lightly such implicit confidence in this stranger who is counselling you +to your destruction. What will the Duke of Alva and all the Spaniards say +of such a precipitate flight? Will they not say that your Excellency has +fled from the consciousness of guilt? Will not your escape be construed +into a confession of high treason." + +If these words were really spoken by Noircarmes; and that they were so, +we have the testimony of a Walloon gentleman in constant communication +with Egmont's friends and with the whole Catholic party, they furnish +another proof of the malignant and cruel character of the man. The advice +fixed forever the fate of the vacillating Egmont. He had risen from table +determined to take the advice of a noble-minded Spaniard, who had +adventured his life to save his friend. He now returned in obedience to +the counsel of a fellow-countryman, a Flemish noble, to treat the +well-meant warning with indifference, and to seat himself again at the +last banquet which he was ever to grace with his presence. + +At four o'clock, the dinner being finished, Horn and Egmont, accompanied +by the other gentlemen, proceeded to the "Jassy" house, then occupied by +Alva, to take part in the deliberations proposed. They were received by +the Duke with great courtesy. The engineer, Pietro Urbino, soon appeared +and laid upon the table a large parchment containing the plan and +elevation of the citadel to be erected at Antwerp. A warm discussion upon +the subject soon arose, Egmont, Horn, Noircarmes and others, together +with the engineers Urbino and Pacheco, all taking part in the debate. +After a short time, the Duke of Alva left the apartment, on pretext of a +sudden indisposition, leaving the company still warmly engaged in their +argument. The council lasted till near seven in the evening. As it broke +up, Don Sancho d'Avila, captain of the Duke's guard, requested Egmont to +remain for a moment after the rest, as he had a communication to make to +him. After an insignificant remark or two, the Spanish officer, as soon +as the two were alone, requested Egmont to surrender his sword. The +Count, agitated, and notwithstanding every thing which had gone before, +still taken by surprise, scarcely knew what reply to make. Don Sancho +repeated that he had been commissioned to arrest him, and again demanded +his sword. At the same moment the doors of the adjacent apartment were +opened, and Egmont saw himself surrounded by a company of Spanish +musqueteers and halberdmen. Finding himself thus entrapped, he gave up +his sword, saying bitterly, as he did so, that it had at least rendered +some service to the King in times which were past. He was then conducted +to a chamber, in the upper story of the house, where his temporary prison +had been arranged. The windows were barricaded, the daylight excluded, +the whole apartment hung with black. Here he remained fourteen days (from +the 9th to 23d September). During this period, he was allowed no +communication with his friends. His room was lighted day and night with +candles, and he was served in strict silence by Spanish attendants, and +guarded by Spanish soldiers. The captain of the watch drew his curtain +every midnight, and aroused him from sleep that he might be identified by +the relieving officer. + +Count Horn was arrested upon the same occasion by Captain Salinas, as he +was proceeding through the court-yard of the house, after the breaking up +of the council. He was confined in another chamber of the mansion, and +met with a precisely similar treatment to that experienced by Egmont. +Upon the 23d September, both were removed under a strong guard to the +castle of Ghent. + +On this same day, two other important arrests, included and arranged in +the same program, had been successfully accomplished. Bakkerzeel, private +and confidential secretary of Egmont, and Antony Van Straalen, the rich +and influential burgomaster of Antwerp, were taken almost simultaneously. +At the request of Alva, the burgomaster had been invited by the Duchess +of Parma to repair on business to Brussels. He seemed to have feared an +ambuscade, for as he got into his coach to set forth upon the journey, he +was so muffed in a multiplicity of clothing, that he was scarcely to be +recognized. He was no sooner, however, in the open country and upon a +spot remote from human habitations, than he was suddenly beset by a band +of forty soldiers under command of Don Alberic Lodron and Don Sancho de +Lodrono. These officers had been watching his movements for many days. +The capture of Bakkerzeel was accomplished with equal adroitness at about +the same hour. + +Alva, while he sat at the council board with Egmont and Horn, was +secretly informed that those important personages, Bakkerzeel and +Straalen, with the private secretary of the Admiral, Alonzo de la Loo, in +addition, had been thus successfully arrested. He could with difficulty +conceal his satisfaction, and left the apartment immediately that the +trap might be sprung upon the two principal victims of his treachery. He +had himself arranged all the details of these two important arrests, +while his natural son, the Prior Don Ferdinando, had been compelled to +superintend the proceedings. The plot had been an excellent plot, and was +accomplished as successfully as it bad been sagaciously conceived. None +but Spaniards had been employed in any part of the affair. Officers of +high rank in his Majesty's army had performed the part of spies and +policemen with much adroitness, nor was it to be expected that the duty +would seem a disgrace, when the Prior of the Knights of Saint John was +superintendent of the operations, when the Captain-General of the +Netherlands had arranged the whole plan, and when all, from subaltern to +viceroy, had received minute instructions as to the contemplated +treachery from the great chief of the Spanish police, who sat on the +throne of Castile and Aragon. + +No sooner were these gentlemen in custody than the secretary Albornoz was +dispatched to the house of Count Horn, and to that of Bakkerzeel, where +all papers were immediately seized, inventoried, and placed in the hands +of the Duke. Thus, if amid the most secret communications of Egmont and +Horn or their correspondents, a single treasonable thought should be +lurking, it was to go hard but it might be twisted into a cord strong +enough to strangle them all. + +The Duke wrote a triumphant letter to his Majesty that very night. He +apologized that these important captures had been deferred so long but, +stated that he had thought it desirable to secure all these leading +personages at a single stroke. He then narrated the masterly manner in +which the operations had been conducted. Certainly, when it is remembered +that the Duke had only reached Brussels upon the 23d August, and that the +two Counts were securely lodged in prison on the 9th of September, it +seemed a superfluous modesty upon his part thus to excuse himself for an +apparent delay. At any rate, in the eyes of the world and of posterity, +his zeal to carry out the bloody commands of his master was sufficiently +swift. + +The consternation was universal throughout the provinces when the arrests +became known. Egmont's great popularity and distinguished services placed +him so high above the mass of citizens, and his attachment to the +Catholic religion was moreover so well known, as to make it obvious that +no man could now be safe, when men like him were in the power of Alva and +his myrmidons. The animosity to the Spaniards increased hourly. The +Duchess affected indignation at the arrest of the two nobles, although it +nowhere appears that she attempted a word in their defence, or lifted, at +any subsequent moment, a finger to save them. She was not anxious to wash +her hands of the blood of two innocent men; she was only offended that +they had been arrested without her permission. The Duke had, it is true, +sent Berlaymont and Mansfeld to give her information of the fact, as soon +as the capture had been made, with the plausible excuse that he preferred +to save her from all the responsibility and all the unpopularity of the +measure, Nothing, however, could appease her wrath at this and every +other indication of the contempt in which he appeared to hold the sister +of his sovereign. She complained of his conduct daily to every one who +was admitted to her presence. Herself oppressed by a sense of personal +indignity, she seemed for a moment to identify herself with the cause of +the oppressed provinces. She seemed to imagine herself the champion of +their liberties, and the Netherlanders, for a moments seemed to +participate in the delusion. Because she was indignant at the insolence +of the Duke of Alva to her self, the honest citizens began to give her +credit for a sympathy with their own wrongs. She expressed herself +determined to move about from one city to another, until the answer to +her demand for dismissal should arrive. She allowed her immediate +attendants to abuse the Spaniards in good set terms upon every occasion. +Even her private chaplain permitted himself, in preaching before her in +the palace chapel, to denounce the whole nation as a race of traitors and +ravishers, and for this offence was only reprimanded, much against her +will, by the Duchess, and ordered to retire for a season to his convent. +She did not attempt to disguise her dissatisfaction at every step which +had been taken by the Duke. In all this there was much petulance, but +very little dignity, while there was neither a spark of real sympathy for +the oppressed millions, nor a throb of genuine womanly emotion for the +impending fate of the two nobles. Her principal grief was that she had +pacified the provinces, and that another had now arrived to reap the +glory; but it was difficult, while the unburied bones of many heretics +were still hanging, by her decree, on the rafters of their own dismantled +churches, for her successfully to enact the part of a benignant and +merciful Regent. But it is very true that the horrors of the Duke's +administration have been propitious to the fame of Margaret, and perhaps +more so to that of Cardinal Granvelle. The faint and struggling rays of +humanity which occasionally illumined the course of their government, +were destined to be extinguished in a chaos so profound and dark, that +these last beams of light seemed clearer and more bountiful by the +contrast. + +The Count of Hoogstraaten, who was on his way to Brussels, had, by good +fortune, injured his hand through the accidental discharge of a pistol. +Detained by this casualty at Cologne, he was informed, before his arrival +at the capital, of the arrest of his two distinguished friends, and +accepted the hint to betake himself at once to a place of Safety. + +The loyalty of the elder Mansfeld was beyond dispute even by Alva. His +son Charles had, however, been imprudent, and, as we have seen, had even +affixed his name to the earliest copies of the Compromise. He had +retired, it is true, from all connexion with the confederates, but his +father knew well that the young Count's signature upon that famous +document would prove his death-warrant, were he found in the country. He +therefore had sent him into Germany before the arrival of the Duke. + +The King's satisfaction was unbounded when he learned this important +achievement of Alva, and he wrote immediately to express his approbation +in the most extravagant terms. Cardinal Granvelle, on the contrary, +affected astonishment at a course which he had secretly counselled. He +assured his Majesty that he had never believed Egmont to entertain +sentiments opposed to the Catholic religion, nor to the interests of the +Crown, up to the period of his own departure from the Netherlands. He was +persuaded, he said, that the Count had been abused by others, although, +to be sure, the Cardinal had learned with regret what Egmont had written +on the occasion of the baptism of Count Hoogstraaten's child. As to the +other persons arrested, he said that no one regretted their fate. The +Cardinal added, that he was supposed to be himself the instigator of +these captures, but that he was not disturbed by that, or by other +imputations of a similar nature. + +In conversation with those about him, he frequently expressed regret that +the Prince of Orange had been too crafty to be caught in the same net in +which his more simple companions were so inextricably entangled. Indeed, +on the first arrival of the news, that men of high rank had been arrested +in Brussels, the Cardinal eagerly inquired if the Taciturn had been +taken, for by that term he always characterized the Prince. Receiving a +negative reply, he expressed extreme disappointment, adding, that if +Orange had escaped, they had taken nobody; and that his capture would +have been more valuable than that of every man in the Netherlands. + +Peter Titelmann, too, the famous inquisitor, who, retired from active +life, was then living upon Philip's bounty, and encouraged by friendly +letters from that monarch, expressed the same opinion. Having been +informed that Egmont and Horn had been captured, he eagerly inquired if +"wise William" had also been taken. He was, of course, answered in the +negative. "Then will our joy be but brief," he observed. "Woe unto us for +the wrath to come from Germany." + +On the 12th of July, of this year, Philip wrote to Granvelle to inquire +the particulars of a letter which the Prince of Orange, according to a +previous communication of the Cardinal, had written to Egmont on the +occasion of the baptism of Count Hoogstraaten's child. On the 17th of +August, the Cardinal replied, by setting the King right as to the error +which he had committed. The letter, as he had already stated, was not +written by Orange, but by Egmont, and he expressed his astonishment that +Madame de Parma had not yet sent it to his Majesty. The Duchess must have +seen it, because her confessor had shown it to the person who was +Granvelle's informant. In this letter, the Cardinal continued, the +statement had been made by Egmont to the Prince of Orange that their +plots were discovered, that the King was making armaments, that they were +unable to resist him, and that therefore it had become necessary to +dissemble and to accommodate themselves as well as possible to the +present situation, while waiting for other circumstances under which to +accomplish their designs. Granvelle advised, moreover, that Straalen, who +had been privy to the letter, and perhaps the amanuensis, should be +forthwith arrested. + +The Cardinal was determined not to let the matter sleep, notwithstanding +his protestation of a kindly feeling towards the imprisoned Count. +Against the statement that he knew of a letter which amounted to a full +confession of treason, out of Egmont's own mouth--a fact which, if +proved, and perhaps, if even insinuated, would be sufficient with Philip +to deprive Egmont of twenty thousand lives--against these constant +recommendations to his suspicious and sanguinary master, to ferret out +this document, if it were possible, it must be confessed that the +churchman's vague and hypocritical expressions on the side of mercy were +very little worth. + +Certainly these seeds of suspicion did not fall upon a barren soil. +Philip immediately communicated the information thus received to the Duke +of Alva, charging him on repeated occasions to find out what was written, +either by Egmont or by Straalen, at Egmont's instigation, stating that +such a letter was written at the time of the Hoogstraaten baptism, that +it would probably illustrate the opinions of Egmont at that period, and +that the letter itself, which the confessor of Madame de Parma had once +had in his hands, ought, if possible, to be procured. Thus the very +language used by Granvelle to Philip was immediately repeated by the +monarch to his representative in the Netherlands, at the moment when all +Egmont's papers were in his possession, and when Egmont's private +secretary was undergoing the torture, in order that; secrets might be +wrenched from him which had never entered his brain. The fact that no +such letter was found, that the Duchess had never alluded to any such +document, and that neither a careful scrutiny of papers, nor the +application of the rack, could elicit any satisfactory information on the +subject, leads to the conclusion that no such treasonable paper had ever +existed, save in the imagination of the Cardinal. At any rate, it is no +more than just to hesitate before affixing a damning character to a +document, in the absence of any direct proof that there ever was such a +document at all. The confessor of Madame de Parma told another person, +who told the Cardinal, that either Count Egmont, or Burgomaster Straalen, +by command of Count Egmont, wrote to the Prince of Orange thus and so. +What evidence was this upon which to found a charge of high treason +against a man whom Granvelle affected to characterize as otherwise +neither opposed to the Catholic religion, nor to the true service of the +King? What vulpine kind of mercy was it on the part of the Cardinal, +while making such deadly insinuations, to recommend the imprisoned victim +to clemency? + +The unfortunate envoys, Marquis Bergen and Baron Montigny, had remained +in Spain under close observation. Of those doomed victims who, in spite +of friendly remonstrances and of ominous warnings, had thus ventured into +the lion's den, no retreating footmarks were ever to be seen. Their fate, +now that Alva had at last been despatched to the Netherlands, seemed to +be sealed, and the Marquis Bergen, accepting the augury in its most evil +sense, immediately afterwards had sickened unto death. Whether it were +the sickness of hope deferred, suddenly changing to despair, or whether +it were a still more potent and unequivocal poison which came to the +relief of the unfortunate nobleman, will perhaps never be ascertained +with certainty. The secrets of those terrible prison-houses of Spain, +where even the eldest begotten son, and the wedded wife of the monarch, +were soon afterwards believed to have been the victims of his dark +revenge, can never perhaps be accurately known, until the grave gives up +its dead, and the buried crimes of centuries are revealed. + +It was very soon after the departure of Alva's fleet from Carthagena, +that the Marquis Bergen felt his end approaching. He sent for the Prince +of Eboli, with whom he had always maintained intimate relations, and whom +he believed to be his disinterested friend. Relying upon his faithful +breast, and trusting to receive from his eyes alone the pious drops of +sympathy which he required, the dying noble poured out his long and last +complaint. He charged him to tell the man whom he would no longer call +his king, that he had ever been true and loyal, that the bitterness of +having been constantly suspected, when he was conscious of entire +fidelity, was a sharper sorrow than could be lightly believed, and that +he hoped the time would come when his own truth and the artifices of his +enemies would be brought to light. He closed his parting message by +predicting that after he had been long laid in the grave, the +impeachments against his character would be, at last, although too late, +retracted. + +So spake the unhappy envoy, and his friend replied with words of +consolation. It is probable that he even ventured, in the King's name, to +grant him the liberty of returning to his home; the only remedy, as his +physicians had repeatedly stated, which could possibly be applied to his +disease. But the devilish hypocrisy of Philip, and the abject perfidy of +Eboli, at this juncture, almost surpass belief. The Prince came to press +the hand and to close the eyes of the dying man whom he called his +friend, having first carefully studied a billet of most minute and secret +instructions from his master as to the deportment he was to observe upon +this solemn occasion and afterwards. This paper, written in Philip's own +hand, had been delivered to Eboli on the very day of his visit to Bergen, +and bore the superscription that it was not to be read nor opened till +the messenger who brought it had left his presence. It directed the +Prince, if it should be evident Marquis was past recovery, to promise +him, in the King's name, the permission of returning to the Netherlands. +Should, however, a possibility of his surviving appear, Eboli was only to +hold out a hope that such permission might eventually be obtained. In +case of the death of Bergen, the Prince was immediately to confer with +the Grand Inquisitor and with the Count of Feria, upon the measures to be +taken for his obsequies. It might seem advisable, in that event to +exhibit the regret which the King and his ministers felt for his death, +and the great esteem in which they held the nobles of the Netherlands. At +the same time, Eboli was further instructed to confer with the same +personages as to the most efficient means for preventing the escape of +Baron Montigny; to keep a vigilant eye upon his movements, and to give +general directions to governors and to postmasters to intercept his +flight, should it be attempted. Finally, in case of Bergen's death, the +Prince was directed to despatch a special messenger, apparently on his +own responsibility, and as if in the absence and without the knowledge of +the King, to inform the Duchess of Parma of the event, and to urge her +immediately to take possession of the city of Bergen-op-Zoom, and of all +other property belonging to the Marquis, until it should be ascertained +whether it were not possible to convict him, after death, of treason, and +to confiscate his estates accordingly. + +Such were the instructions of Philip to Eboli, and precisely in +accordance with the program, was the horrible comedy enacted at the +death-bed of the envoy. Three days after his parting interview with his +disinterested friend, the Marquis was a corpse.--Before his limbs were +cold, a messenger was on his way to Brussels, instructing the Regent to +sequestrate his property, and to arrest, upon suspicion of heresy, the +youthful kinsman and niece, who, by the will of the Marquis, were to be +united in marriage and to share his estate. The whole drama, beginning +with the death scene, was enacted according to order: Before the arrival +of Alva in the Netherlands, the property of the Marquis was in the hands +of the Government, awaiting the confiscation,--which was but for a brief +season delayed, while on the other hand, Baron Montigny, Bergen's +companion in doom, who was not, however, so easily to be carried off by +homesickness, was closely confined in the alcazar of Segovia, never to +leave a Spanish prison alive. There is something pathetic in the delusion +in which Montigny and his brother, the Count Horn, both indulged, each +believing that the other was out of harm's way, the one by his absence +from the Netherlands, the other by his absence from Spain, while both, +involved in the same meshes, were rapidly and surely approaching their +fate. + +In the same despatch of the 9th September, in which the Duke communicated +to Philip the capture of Egmont and Horn, he announced to him his +determination to establish a new court for the trial of crimes committed +during the recent period of troubles. This wonderful tribunal was +accordingly created with the least possible delay. It was called the +Council of Troubles, but it soon acquired the terrible name, by which it +will be forever known in history, of the 'Blood-Council'. It superseded +all other institutions. Every court, from those of the municipal +magistracies up to the supreme councils of the provinces, were forbidden +to take cognizance in future of any cause growing out of the late +troubles. The council of state, although it was not formally disbanded, +fell into complete desuetude, its members being occasionally summoned +into Alva's private chambers in an irregular manner, while its principal +functions were usurped by the Blood-Council. Not only citizens of every +province, but the municipal bodies and even the sovereign provincial +estates themselves, were compelled to plead, like humble individuals, +before this new and extraordinary tribunal. It is unnecessary to allude +to the absolute violation which was thus committed of all charters, laws +and privileges, because the very creation of the council was a bold and +brutal proclamation that those laws and privileges were at an end. The +constitution or maternal principle of this suddenly erected court was of +a twofold nature. It defined and it punished the crime of treason. The +definitions, couched in eighteen articles, declared it to be treason to +have delivered or signed any petition against the new bishops, the +Inquisition, or the Edicts; to have tolerated public preaching under any +circumstances; to have omitted resistance to the image-breaking, to the +field-preaching, or to the presentation of the Request by the nobles, and +"either through sympathy or surprise" to have asserted that the King did +not possess the right to deprive all the provinces of their liberties, or +to have maintained that this present tribunal was bound to respect in any +manner any laws or any charters. In these brief and simple, but +comprehensive terms, was the crime of high treason defined. The +punishment was still more briefly, simply, and comprehensively stated, +for it was instant death in all cases. So well too did this new and +terrible engine perform its work, that in less than three months from the +time of its erection, eighteen hundred human beings had suffered death by +its summary proceedings; some of the highest, the noblest, and the most +virtuous in the land among the number; nor had it then manifested the +slightest indication of faltering in its dread career. + +Yet, strange to say, this tremendous court, thus established upon the +ruins of all the ancient institutions of the country, had not been +provided with even a nominal authority from any source whatever. The King +had granted it no letters patent or charter, nor had even the Duke of +Alva thought it worth while to grant any commissions either in his own +name or as Captain-General, to any of the members composing the board. +The Blood-Council was merely an informal club, of which the Duke was +perpetual president, while the other members were all appointed by +himself. + +Of these subordinate councillors, two had the right of voting, subject, +however, in all cases to his final decision, while the rest of the number +did not vote at all. It had not, therefore, in any sense, the character +of a judicial, legislative, or executive tribunal, but was purely a board +of advice by which the bloody labors of the duke were occasionally +lightened as to detail, while not a feather's weight of power or of +responsibility was removed from his shoulders. He reserved for himself +the final decision upon all causes which should come before the council, +and stated his motives for so doing with grim simplicity. "Two reasons," +he wrote to the King, "have determined me thus to limit the power of the +tribunal; the first that, not knowing its members, I might be easily +deceived by them; the second, that the men of law only condemn for crimes +which are proved; whereas your Majesty knows that affairs of state are +governed by very different rules from the laws which they have here." + +It being, therefore, the object of the Duke to compose a body of men who +would be of assistance to him in condemning for crimes which could not be +proved, and in slipping over statutes which were not to be recognized, it +must be confessed that he was not unfortunate in the appointments which +he made to the office of councillors. In this task of appointment he had +the assistance of the experienced Viglius. That learned jurisconsult, +with characteristic lubricity, had evaded the dangerous honor for +himself, but he nominated a number of persons from whom the Duke selected +his list. The sacerdotal robes which he had so recently and so "craftily" +assumed, furnished his own excuse, and in his letters to his faithful +Hopper he repeatedly congratulated himself upon his success in keeping +himself at a distance from so bloody and perilous a post. + +It is impossible to look at the conduct of the distinguished Frisian at +this important juncture without contempt. Bent only upon saving himself, +his property, and his reputation, he did not hesitate to bend before the +"most illustrious Duke," as he always denominated him, with fulsome and +fawning homage. While he declined to dip his own fingers in the innocent +blood which was about to flow in torrents, he did not object to officiate +at the initiatory preliminaries of the great Netherland holocaust. His +decent and dainty demeanor seems even more offensive than the jocularity +of the real murderers. Conscious that no man knew the laws and customs of +the Netherlands better than himself, he had the humble effrontery to +observe that it was necessary for him at that moment silently to submit +his own unskilfulness to the superior judgment and knowledge of others. +Having at last been relieved from the stone of Sisyphus, which, as he +plaintively expressed himself, he had been rolling for twenty years; +having, by the arrival of Tisnacq, obtained his discharge as President of +the state council, he was yet not unwilling to retain the emoluments and +the rank of President of the privy council, although both offices had +become sinecures since the erection of the Council of Blood. Although his +life had been spent in administrative and judicial employments, he did +not blush upon a matter of constitutional law to defer to the authority +of such jurisconsults as the Duke of Alva and his two Spanish +bloodhounds, Vargas and Del Rio. He did not like, he observed, in his +confidential correspondence, to gainsay the Duke, when maintaining, that +in cases of treason, the privileges of Brabant were powerless, although +he mildly doubted whether the Brabantines would agree with the doctrine. +He often thought, he said, of remedies for restoring the prosperity of +the provinces, but in action he only assisted the Duke, to the best of +his abilities, in arranging the Blood-Council. He wished well to his +country, but he was more anxious for the favor of Alva. "I rejoice," said +he, in one of his letters, "that the most illustrious Duke has written to +the King in praise of my obsequiousness; when I am censured here for so +reverently cherishing him, it is a consolation that my services to the +King and to the governor are not unappreciated there." Indeed the Duke of +Alva, who had originally suspected the President's character, seemed at +last overcome by his indefatigable and cringing homage. He wrote to the +King, in whose good graces the learned Doctor was most anxious at that +portentous period to maintain himself, that the President was very +serviceable and diligent, and that he deserved to receive a crumb of +comfort from the royal hand. Philip, in consequence, wrote in one of his +letters a few lines of vague compliment, which could be shown to Viglius, +according to Alva's suggestion. It is, however, not a little +characteristic of the Spanish court and of the Spanish monarch, that, on +the very day before, he had sent to the Captain-General a few documents +of very different import. In order, as he said, that the Duke might be +ignorant of nothing which related to the Netherlands, he forwarded to him +copies of the letters written by Margaret of Parma from Brussels, three +years before. These letters, as it will be recollected, contained an +account of the secret investigations which the Duchess had made as to the +private character and opinions of Viglius--at the very moment when he +apparently stood highest in her confidence--and charged him with heresy, +swindling, and theft. Thus the painstaking and time-serving President, +with all his learning and experience, was successively the dupe of +Margaret and of Alva, whom he so obsequiously courted, and always of +Philip, whom he so feared and worshipped. + +With his assistance, the list of blood-councillors was quickly completed. +No one who was offered the office refused it. Noircarmes and Berlaymont +accepted with very great eagerness. Several presidents and councillors of +the different provincial tribunals were appointed, but all the +Netherlanders were men of straw. Two Spaniards, Del Rio and Vargas, were +the only members who could vote; while their decisions, as already +stated, were subject to reversal by Alva. Del Rio was a man without +character or talent, a mere tool in the hands of his superiors, but Juan +de Vargas was a terrible reality. + +No better man could have been found in Europe for the post to which he +was thus elevated. To shed human blood was, in his opinion, the only +important business and the only exhilarating pastime of life. His youth +had been stained with other crimes. He had been obliged to retire from +Spain, because of his violation of an orphan child to whom he was +guardian, but, in his manhood, he found no pleasure but in murder. He +executed Alva's bloody work with an industry which was almost superhuman, +and with a merriment which would have shamed a demon. His execrable jests +ring through the blood and smoke and death-cries of those days of +perpetual sacrifice. He was proud to be the double of the iron-hearted +Duke, and acted so uniformly in accordance with his views, that the right +of revision remained but nominal. There could be no possibility of +collision where the subaltern was only anxious to surpass an incomparable +superior. The figure of Vargas rises upon us through the mist of three +centuries with terrible distinctness. Even his barbarous grammar has not +been forgotten, and his crimes against syntax and against humanity have +acquired the same immortality. "Heretici fraxerunt templa, boni nihili +faxerunt contra, ergo debent omnes patibulare," was the comprehensive but +barbarous formula of a man who murdered the Latin language as ruthlessly +as he slaughtered his contemporaries. + +Among the ciphers who composed the rest of the board, the Flemish +Councillor Hessels was the one whom the Duke most respected. He was not +without talent or learning, but the Duke only valued him for his cruelty. +Being allowed to take but little share in the deliberations, Hessels was +accustomed to doze away his afternoon hours at the council table, and +when awakened from his nap in order that he might express an opinion on +the case then before the court, was wont to rub his eyes and to call out +"Ad patibulum, ad patibulum," ("to the gallows with him, to the gallows +with him,") with great fervor, but in entire ignorance of the culprit's +name or the merits of the case. His wife, naturally disturbed that her +husband's waking and sleeping hours were alike absorbed with this +hangman's work, more than once ominously expressed her hope to him, that +he, whose head and heart were thus engrossed with the gibbet, might not +one day come to hang upon it himself; a gloomy prophecy which the Future +most terribly fulfilled. + +The Council of Blood, thus constituted, held its first session on the +20th September, at the lodgings of Alva. Springing completely grown and +armed to the teeth from the head of its inventor, the new tribunal--at +the very outset in possession of all its vigor--forthwith began to +manifest a terrible activity in accomplishing the objects of its +existence. The councillors having been sworn to "eternal secrecy as to +any thing which should be transacted at the board, and having likewise +made oath to denounce any one of their number who should violate the +pledge," the court was considered as organized. Alva worked therein seven +hours daily. It may be believed that the subordinates were not spared, +and that their office proved no sinecure. Their labors, however, were not +encumbered by antiquated forms. As this supreme and only tribunal for all +the Netherlands had no commission or authority save the will of the +Captain-General, so it was also thought a matter of supererogation to +establish a set of rules and orders such as might be useful in less +independent courts. The forms of proceeding were brief and artless. There +was a rude organization by which a crowd of commissioners, acting as +inferior officers of the council, were spread over the provinces, whose +business was to collect information concerning all persons who might be +incriminated for participation in the recent troubles. The greatest +crime, however, was to be rich, and one which could be expiated by no +virtues, however signal. Alva was bent upon proving himself as +accomplished a financier as he was indisputably a consummate commander, +and he had promised his master an annual income of 500,000 ducats from +the confiscations which were to accompany the executions. + +It was necessary that the blood torrent should flow at once through the +Netherlands, in order that the promised golden river, a yard deep, +according to his vaunt, should begin to irrigate the thirsty soil of +Spain. It is obvious, from the fundamental laws which were made to define +treason at the same moment in which they established the council, that +any man might be at any instant summoned to the court. Every man, whether +innocent or guilty, whether Papist or Protestant, felt his head shaking +on his shoulders. If he were wealthy, there seemed no remedy but flight, +which was now almost impossible, from the heavy penalties affixed by the +new edict upon all carriers, shipmasters, and wagoners, who should aid in +the escape of heretics. + +A certain number of these commissioners were particularly instructed to +collect information as to the treason of Orange, Louis Nassau, Brederode, +Egmont, Horn, Culemberg, Vanden Berg, Bergen, and Montigny. Upon such +information the proceedings against those distinguished seigniors were to +be summarily instituted. Particular councillors of the Court of Blood +were charged with the arrangement of these important suits, but the +commissioners were to report in the first instance to the Duke himself, +who afterwards returned the paper into the hands of his subordinates. + +With regard to the inferior and miscellaneous cases which were daily +brought in incredible profusion before the tribunal, the same +preliminaries were observed, by way of aping the proceedings in courts of +justice. Alva sent the cart-loads of information which were daily brought +to him, but which neither he nor any other man had time to read, to be +disposed of by the board of councillors. It was the duty of the different +subalterns, who, as already stated, had no right of voting, to prepare +reports upon the cases. Nothing could be more summary. Information was +lodged against a man, or against a hundred men, in one document. The Duke +sent the papers to the council, and the inferior councillors reported at +once to Vargas. If the report concluded with a recommendation of death to +the man, or the hundred men in question, Vargas instantly approved it, +and execution was done upon the man, or the hundred men, within +forty-eight hours. If the report had any other conclusion, it was +immediately sent back for revision, and the reporters were overwhelmed +with reproaches by the President. + +Such being the method of operation, it may be supposed that the +councillors were not allowed to slacken in their terrible industry. The +register of every city, village, and hamlet throughout the Netherlands +showed the daily lists of men, women, and children thus sacrificed at the +shrine of the demon who had obtained the mastery over this unhappy land. +It was not often that an individual was of sufficient importance to be +tried--if trial it could be called--by himself. It was found more +expeditious to send them in batches to the furnace. Thus, for example, on +the 4th of January, eighty-four inhabitants of Valenciennes were +condemned; on another day, ninety-five miscellaneous individuals, from +different places in Flanders; on another, forty-six inhabitants of +Malines; on another, thirty-five persons from different localities, and +so on. + +The evening of Shrovetide, a favorite holiday in the Netherlands, +afforded an occasion for arresting and carrying off a vast number of +doomed individuals at a single swoop. It was correctly supposed that the +burghers, filled with wine and wassail, to which perhaps the persecution +under which they lived lent an additional and horrible stimulus, might be +easily taken from their beds in great numbers, and be delivered over at +once to the council. The plot was ingenious, the net was spread +accordingly. Many of the doomed were, however, luckily warned of the +terrible termination which was impending over their festival, and +bestowed themselves in safety for a season. A prize of about five hundred +prisoners was all which rewarded the sagacity of the enterprise. It is +needless to add that they were all immediately executed. It is a +wearisome and odious task to ransack the mouldy records of three +centuries ago, in order to reproduce the obscure names of the thousands +who were thus sacrificed.. The dead have buried their dead, and are +forgotten. It is likewise hardly necessary to state that the proceedings +before the council were all 'ex parte', and that an information was +almost inevitably followed by a death-warrant. It sometimes happened even +that the zeal of the councillors outstripped the industry of the +commissioners. The sentences were occasionally in advance of the docket. +Thus upon one occasion a man's case was called for trial, but before the +investigation was commenced it was discovered that he had been already +executed. A cursory examination of the papers proved, moreover, as usual, +that the culprit had committed no crime. "No matter for that," said +Vargas, jocosely, "if he has died innocent, it will be all the better for +him when he takes his trial in the other world." + +But, however the councillors might indulge in these gentle jests among +themselves, it was obvious that innocence was in reality impossible, +according to the rules which had been laid down regarding treason. The +practice was in accordance with the precept, and persons were daily +executed with senseless pretexts, which was worse than executions with no +pretexts at all. Thus Peter de Witt of Amsterdam was beheaded, because at +one of the tumults in that city he had persuaded a rioter not to fire +upon a magistrate. This was taken as sufficient proof that he was a man +in authority among the rebels, and he was accordingly put to death. +Madame Juriaen, who, in 1566, had struck with her slipper a little wooden +image of the Virgin, together with her maid-servant, who had witnessed +without denouncing the crime, were both drowned by the hangman in a +hogshead placed on the scaffold. + +Death, even, did not in all cases place a criminal beyond the reach of +the executioner. Egbert Meynartzoon, a man of high official rank, had +been condemned, together with two colleagues, on an accusation of +collecting money in a Lutheran church. He died in prison of dropsy. The +sheriff was indignant with the physician, because, in spite of cordials +and strengthening prescriptions, the culprit had slipped through his +fingers before he had felt those of the hangman. He consoled himself by +placing the body on a chair, and having the dead man beheaded in company +with his colleagues. + +Thus the whole country became a charnel-house; the deathbell tolled +hourly in every village; not a family but was called to mourn for its +dearest relatives, while the survivors stalked listlessly about, the +ghosts of their former selves, among the wrecks of their former homes. +The spirit of the nation, within a few months after the arrival of Alva, +seemed hopelessly broken. The blood of its best and bravest had already +stained the scaffold; the men to whom it bad been accustomed to look for +guidance and protection, were dead, in prison, or in exile. Submission +had ceased to be of any avail, flight was impossible, and the spirit of +vengeance had alighted at every fireside. The mourners went daily about +the streets, for there was hardly a house which had not been made +desolate. The scaffolds, the gallows, the funeral piles, which had been +sufficient in ordinary times, furnished now an entirely inadequate +machinery for the incessant executions. Columns and stakes in every +street, the door-posts of private houses, the fences in the fields were +laden with human carcasses, strangled, burned, beheaded. The orchards in +the country bore on many a tree the hideous fruit of human bodies. + +Thus the Netherlands were crushed, and but for the stringency of the +tyranny which had now closed their gates, would have been depopulated. +The grass began to grow in the streets of those cities which had recently +nourished so many artisans. In all those great manufacturing and +industrial marts, where the tide of human life had throbbed so +vigorously, there now reigned the silence and the darkness of midnight. +It was at this time that the learned Viglius wrote to his friend Hopper, +that all venerated the prudence and gentleness of the Duke of Alva. Such +were among the first-fruits of that prudence and that gentleness. + +The Duchess of Parma had been kept in a continued state of irritation. +She had not ceased for many months to demand her release from the odious +position of a cipher in a land where she had so lately been sovereign, +and she had at last obtained it. Philip transmitted his acceptance of her +resignation by the same courier who brought Alva's commission to be +governor-general in her place. The letters to the Duchess were full of +conventional compliments for her past services, accompanied, however, +with a less barren and more acceptable acknowledgment, in the shape of a +life income of 14,000 ducats instead of the 8000 hitherto enjoyed by her +Highness. + +In addition to this liberal allowance, of which she was never to be +deprived, except upon receiving full payment of 140,000 ducats, she was +presented with 25,000 florins by the estates of Brabant, and with 30,000 +by those of Flanders. + +With these substantial tokens of the success of her nine years' fatigue +and intolerable anxiety, she at last took her departure from the +Netherlands, having communicated the dissolution of her connexion with +the provinces by a farewell letter to the Estates dated 9th December, +1567. Within a few weeks afterwards, escorted by the Duke of Alva across +the frontier of Brabant; attended by a considerable deputation of Flemish +nobility into Germany, and accompanied to her journey's end at Parma by +the Count and Countess of Mansfeld, she finally closed her eventful +career in the Netherlands. + +The horrors of the succeeding administration proved beneficial to her +reputation. Upon the dark ground of succeeding years the lines which +recorded her history seemed written with letters of light. Yet her +conduct in the Netherlands offers but few points for approbation, and +many for indignant censure. That she was not entirely destitute of +feminine softness and sentiments of bounty, her parting despatch to her +brother proved. In that letter she recommended to him a course of +clemency and forgiveness, and reminded him that the nearer kings approach +to God in station, the more they should endeavor to imitate him in his +attributes of benignity. But the language of this farewell was more +tender than had been the spirit of her government. One looks in vain, +too, through the general atmosphere of kindness which pervades the +epistle; for a special recommendation of those distinguished and doomed +seigniors, whose attachment to her person and whose chivalrous and +conscientious endeavors to fulfil her own orders, had placed them upon +the edge of that precipice from which they were shortly to be hurled. The +men who had restrained her from covering herself with disgrace by a +precipitate retreat from the post of danger, and who had imperilled their +lives by obedience to her express instructions, had been long languishing +in solitary confinement, never to be terminated except by a traitor's +death--yet we search in vain for a kind word in their behalf. + +Meantime the second civil war in France had broken out. The hollow truce +by which the Guise party and the Huguenots had partly pretended to +deceive each other was hastened to its end; among other causes, by the +march of Alva, to the Netherlands. The Huguenots had taken alarm, for +they recognized the fellowship which united their foes in all countries +against the Reformation, and Conde and Coligny knew too well that the +same influence which had brought Alva to Brussels would soon create an +exterminating army against their followers. Hostilities were resumed with +more bitterness than ever. The battle of St. Denis--fierce, fatal, but +indecisive--was fought. The octogenarian hero, Montmorency, fighting like +a foot soldier, refusing to yield his sword, and replying to the +respectful solicitations of his nearest enemy by dashing his teeth down +his throat with the butt-end of his pistol, the hero of so many battles, +whose defeat at St. Quintin had been the fatal point in his career, had +died at last in his armor, bravely but not gloriously, in conflict with +his own countrymen, led by his own heroic nephew. The military control of +the Catholic party was completely in the hand of the Guises; the +Chancellor de l'Hopital had abandoned the court after a last and futile +effort to reconcile contending factions, which no human power could +unite; the Huguenots had possessed themselves of Rochelle and of other +strong places, and, under the guidance of adroit statesmen and +accomplished generals, were pressing the Most Christian monarch hard in +the very heart of his kingdom. + +As early as the middle of October, while still in Antwerp, Alva had +received several secret agents of the French monarch, then closely +beleaguered in his capital. Cardinal Lorraine offered to place several +strong places of France in the hands of the Spaniard, and Alva had +written to Philip that he was disposed to accept the offer, and to render +the service. The places thus held would be a guarantee for his expenses, +he said, while in case King Charles and his brother should die, "their +possession would enable Philip to assert his own claim to the French +crown in right of his wife, the Salic law being merely a pleasantry." + +The Queen Dowager, adopting now a very different tone from that which +characterized her conversation at the Bayonne interview, wrote to Alva, +that, if for want of 2000 Spanish musketeers, which she requested him to +furnish, she should be obliged to succumb, she chose to disculpate +herself in advance before God and Christian princes for the peace which +she should be obliged to make. The Duke wrote to her in reply, that it +was much better to have a kingdom ruined in preserving it for God and the +king by war, than to have it kept entire without war, to the profit of +the devil and of his followers. He was also reported on another occasion +to have reminded her of the Spanish proverb--that the head of one salmon +is worth those of a hundred frogs. The hint, if it were really given, was +certainly destined to be acted upon. + +The Duke not only furnished Catherine with advice, but with the +musketeers which she had solicited. Two thousand foot and fifteen hundred +horse, under the Count of Aremberg, attended by a choice band of the +Catholic nobility of the Netherlands, had joined the royal camp at Paris +before the end of the year, to take their part in the brief hostilities +by which the second treacherous peace was to be preceded. + +Meantime, Alva was not unmindful of the business which had served as a +pretext in the arrest of the two Counts. The fortifications of the +principal cities were pushed on with great rapidity. The memorable +citadel of Antwerp in particular had already been commenced in October +under the superintendence of the celebrated engineers, Pacheco and +Gabriel de Cerbelloni. In a few months it was completed, at a cost of one +million four hundred thousand florins, of which sum the citizens, in +spite of their remonstrances, were compelled to contribute more than one +quarter. The sum of four hundred thousand florins was forced from the +burghers by a tax upon all hereditary property within the municipality. + +Two thousand workmen were employed daily in the construction of this +important fortress, which was erected, as its position most plainly +manifested, not to protect, but to control the commercial capital of the +provinces. It stood at the edge of the city, only separated from its +walls by an open esplanade. It was the most perfect pentagon in Europe, +having one of its sides resting on the Scheld, two turned towards the +city, and two towards the open country. Five bastions, with walls of +hammered stone, connected by curtains of turf and masonry, surrounded by +walls measuring a league in circumference, and by an outer moat fed by +the Scheld, enclosed a spacious enceinte, where a little church with many +small lodging-houses, shaded by trees and shrubbery, nestled among the +bristling artillery, as if to mimic the appearance of a peaceful and +pastoral village. To four of the five bastions, the Captain-General, with +characteristic ostentation, gave his own names and titles. One was called +the Duke, the second Ferdinando, a third Toledo, a fourth Alva, while the +fifth was baptized with the name of the ill-fated engineer, Pacheco. The +Watergate was decorated with the escutcheon of Alva, surrounded by his +Golden Fleece collar, with its pendant lamb of God; a symbol of +blasphemous irony, which still remains upon the fortress, to recal the +image of the tyrant and murderer. Each bastion was honeycombed with +casemates and subterranean storehouses, and capable of containing within +its bowels a vast supply of provisions, munitions, and soldiers. Such was +the celebrated citadel built to tame the turbulent spirit of Antwerp, at +the cost of those whom it was to terrify and to insult. + + ETEXT EDITOR'S BOOKMARKS: + + Conde and Coligny + Furnished, in addition, with a force of two thousand prostitutes + He came as a conqueror not as a mediator + Hope deferred, suddenly changing to despair + Meantime the second civil war in France had broken out + Spendthrift of time, he was an economist of blood + The greatest crime, however, was to be rich + Time and myself are two + + + + +MOTLEY'S HISTORY OF THE NETHERLANDS, PG EDITION, VOLUME 15. + +THE RISE OF THE DUTCH REPUBLIC + +By JOHN LOTHROP MOTLEY +1855 +1568 [CHAPTER II.] + + Orange, Count Louis, Hoogstraaten, and others, cited before the + Blood-Council--Charges against them--Letter of Orange in reply-- + Position and sentiments of the Prince--Seizure of Count de Buren-- + Details of that transaction--Petitions to the Council from Louvain + and other places--Sentence of death against the whole population of + the Netherlands pronounced by the Spanish Inquisition and proclaimed + by Philip--Cruel inventions against heretics--The Wild Beggars-- + Preliminary proceedings of the Council against Egmont and Horn-- + Interrogatories addressed to them in prison--Articles of accusation + against them--Foreclosure of the cases--Pleas to the jurisdiction-- + Efforts by the Countesses Egmont and Horn, by many Knights of the + Fleece, and by the Emperor, in favor of the prisoners--Answers of + Alva and of Philip--Obsequious behavior of Viglius--Difficulties + arising from the Golden Fleece statutes set aside--Particulars of + the charges against Count Horn and of his defence--Articles of + accusation against Egmont--Sketch of his reply--Reflections upon the + two trials--Attitude of Orange--His published 'Justification'--His + secret combinations--His commission to Count Louis--Large sums of + money subscribed by the Nassau family, by Netherland refugees, and + others--Great personal sacrifices made by the Prince--Quadruple + scheme for invading the Netherlands--Defeat of the patriots under + Cocqueville--Defeat of Millers--Invasion of Friesland by Count + Louis--Measures of Alva to oppose him--Command of the royalists + entreated to Aremberg and Meghem--The Duke's plan for the campaign-- + Skirmish at Dam--Detention of Meghem--Count Louis at Heiliger--Lee-- + Nature of the ground--Advance of Aremberg--Disposition of the + patriot forces--Impatience of the Spanish troops to engage--Battle + of Heiliger-Lee--Defeat and death of Aremberg--Death of Adolphus + Nassau--Effects of the battle--Anger and severe measures of Alva-- + Eighteen nobles executed at Brussels--Sentence of death pronounced + upon Egmont and Horn--The Bishop of Ypres sent to Egmont--Fruitless + intercession by the prelate and the Countess--Egmont's last night in + prison--The "grande place" at Brussels--Details concerning the + execution of Egmont and Horn--Observation upon the characters of the + two nobles--Destitute condition of Egmont's family. + +Late in October, the Duke of Alva made his triumphant entry into the new +fortress. During his absence, which was to continue during the remainder +of the year, he had ordered the Secretary Courteville and the Councillor +del Rio to superintend the commission, which was then actually engaged in +collecting materials for the prosecutions to be instituted against the +Prince of Orange and the other nobles who had abandoned the country. +Accordingly, soon after his return, on the 19th of January, 1568, the +Prince, his brother Louis of Nassau, his brother-in-law, Count Van den +Berg, the Count Hoogstraaten, the Count Culemburg, and the Baron +Montigny, were summoned in the name of Alva to appear before the +Blood-Council, within thrice fourteen days from the date of the +proclamation, under pain of perpetual banishment with confiscation of +their estates. It is needless to say that these seigniors did not obey +the summons. They knew full well that their obedience would be rewarded +only by death. + +The charges against the Prince of Orange, which were drawn up in ten +articles, stated, chiefly and briefly, that he had been, and was, the +head and front of the rebellion; that as soon as his Majesty had left the +Netherlands, he had begun his machinations to make himself master of the +country and to expel his sovereign by force, if he should attempt to +return to the provinces; that he had seduced his Majesty's subjects by +false pretences that the Spanish inquisition was about to be introduced; +that he had been the secret encourager and director of Brederode and the +confederated nobles; and that when sent to Antwerp, in the name of the +Regent, to put down the rebellion, he had encouraged heresy and accorded +freedom of religion to the Reformers. + +The articles against Hoogstraaten and the other gentlemen mere of similar +tenor. It certainly was not a slender proof of the calm effrontery of the +government thus to see Alva's proclamation charging it as a crime upon +Orange that he had inveigled the lieges into revolt by a false assertion +that the inquisition was about to be established, when letters from the +Duke to Philip, and from Granvelle to Philip, dated upon nearly the same +day, advised the immediate restoration of the inquisition as soon as an +adequate number of executions had paved the way for the measure. It was +also a sufficient indication of a reckless despotism, that while the +Duchess, who had made the memorable Accord with the Religionists, +received a flattering letter of thanks and a farewell pension of fourteen +thousand ducats yearly, those who, by her orders, had acted upon that +treaty as the basis of their negotiations, were summoned to lay down +their heads upon the block. + +The Prince replied to this summons by a brief and somewhat contemptuous +plea to the jurisdiction. As a Knight of the Fleece, as a member of the +Germanic Empire, as a sovereign prince in France, as a citizen of the +Netherlands, he rejected the authority of Alva and of his +self-constituted tribunal. His innocence he was willing to establish +before competent courts and righteous judges. As a Knight of the Fleece, +he said he could be tried only by his peers, the brethren of the Order, +and, for that purpose, he could be summoned only by the King as Head of +the Chapter, with the sanction of at least six of his fellow-knights. In +conclusion, he offered to appear before his Imperial Majesty, the +Electors, and other members of the Empire, or before the Knights of the +Golden Fleece. In the latter case, he claimed the right, under the +statutes of that order, to be placed while the trial was pending, not in +a solitary prison, as had been the fate of Egmont and of Horn, but under +the friendly charge and protection of the brethren themselves. The letter +was addressed to the procurator-general, and a duplicate was forwarded to +the Duke. + +From the general tenor of the document, it is obvious both that the +Prince was not yet ready to throw down the gauntlet to his sovereign, nor +to proclaim his adhesion to the new religion: Of departing from the +Netherlands in the spring, he had said openly that he was still in +possession of sixty thousand florins yearly, and that he should commence +no hostilities against Philip, so long as he did not disturb him in his +honor or his estates. Far-seeing politician, if man ever were, he knew +the course whither matters were inevitably tending, but he knew how much +strength was derived from putting an adversary irretrievably in the +wrong. He still maintained an attitude of dignified respect towards the +monarch, while he hurled back with defiance the insolent summons of the +viceroy. Moreover, the period had not yet arrived for him to break +publicly with the ancient faith. Statesman, rather than religionist, at +this epoch, he was not disposed to affect a more complete conversion than +the one which he had experienced. He was, in truth, not for a new +doctrine, but for liberty of conscience. His mind was already expanding +beyond any dogmas of the age. The man whom his enemies stigmatized as +atheist and renegade, was really in favor of toleration, and therefore, +the more deeply criminal in the eyes of all religious parties. + +Events, personal to himself, were rapidly to place him in a position from +which he might enter the combat with honor. + +His character had already been attacked, his property threatened with +confiscation. His closest ties of family were now to be severed by the +hand of the tyrant. His eldest child, the Count de Buren, torn from his +protection, was to be carried into indefinite captivity in a foreign +land. It was a remarkable oversight, for a person of his sagacity, that, +upon his own departure from the provinces, he should leave his son, then +a boy of thirteen years, to pursue his studies at the college of Louvain. +Thus exposed to the power of the government, he was soon seized as a +hostage for the good behavior of the father. Granvelle appears to have +been the first to recommend the step in a secret letter to Philip, but +Alva scarcely needed prompting. Accordingly, upon the 13th of February, +1568, the Duke sent the Seignior de Chassy to Louvain, attended by four +officers and by twelve archers. He was furnished with a letter to the +Count de Buren, in which that young nobleman was requested to place +implicit confidence in the bearer of the despatch, and was informed that +the desire which his Majesty had to see him educated for his service, was +the cause of the communication which the Seignior de Chassy was about to +make. + +That gentleman was, moreover, minutely instructed as to his method of +proceeding in this memorable case of kidnapping. He was to present the +letter to the young Count in presence of his tutor. He was to invite him +to Spain in the name of his Majesty. He was to assure him that his +Majesty's commands were solely with a view, to his own good, and that he +was not commissioned to arrest, but only to escort him. He was to allow +the Count to be accompanied only by two valets, two pages, a cook, and a +keeper of accounts. He was, however, to induce his tutor to accompany +him, at least to the Spanish frontier. He was to arrange that the second +day after his arrival at Louvain, the Count should set out for Antwerp, +where he was to lodge with Count Lodron, after which they were to proceed +to Flushing, whence they were to embark for Spain. At that city he was to +deliver the young Prince to the person whom he would find there, +commissioned for that purpose by the Duke. As soon as he had made the +first proposition at Louvain to the Count, he was, with the assistance of +his retinue, to keep the most strict watch over him day and night, but +without allowing the supervision to be perceived. + +The plan was carried out admirably, and in strict accordance with the +program. It was fortunate, however, for the kidnappers, that the young +Prince proved favorably disposed to the plan. He accepted the invitation +of his captors with alacrity. He even wrote to thank the governor for his +friendly offices in his behalf. He received with boyish gratification the +festivities with which Lodron enlivened his brief sojourn at Antwerp, and +he set forth without reluctance for that gloomy and terrible land of +Spain, whence so rarely a Flemish traveller had returned. A changeling, +as it were, from his cradle, he seemed completely transformed by his +Spanish tuition, for he was educated and not sacrificed by Philip. When +he returned to the Netherlands, after a twenty years' residence in Spain, +it was difficult to detect in his gloomy brow, saturnine character, and +Jesuistical habits, a trace of the generous spirit which characterized +that race of heroes, the house of Orange-Nassau. + +Philip had expressed some anxiety as to the consequences of this capture +upon the governments of Germany. Alva, however, re-assured his sovereign +upon that point, by reason of the extreme docility of the captive, and +the quiet manner in which the arrest had been conducted. At that +particular juncture, moreover, it would, have been difficult for the +government of the Netherlands to excite surprise any where, except by an +act of clemency. The president and the deputation of professors from the +university of Louvain waited upon Vargas, by whom, as acting president of +the Blood-Council, the arrest had nominally been made, with a +remonstrance that the measure was in gross violation of their statutes +and privileges. That personage, however, with his usual contempt both for +law and Latin, answered brutally, "Non curamus vestros privilegios," and +with this memorable answer, abruptly closed his interview with the +trembling pedants. + +Petitions now poured into the council from all quarters, abject +recantations from terror-stricken municipalities, humble intercessions in +behalf of doomed and imprisoned victims. To a deputation of the +magistracy of Antwerp, who came with a prayer for mercy in behalf of some +of their most distinguished fellow-citizens, then in prison, the Duke +gave a most passionate and ferocious reply. He expressed his wonder that +the citizens of Antwerp, that hotbed of treason, should dare to approach +him in behalf of traitors and heretics. Let them look to it in future, he +continued, or he would hang every man in the whole city, to set an +example to the rest of the country; for his Majesty would rather the +whole land should become an uninhabited wilderness, than that a single +Dissenter should exist within its territory. + +Events now marched with rapidity. The monarch seemed disposed literally +to execute the threat of his viceroy. Early in the year, the most sublime +sentence of death was promulgated which has ever been pronounced since +the creation of the world. The Roman tyrant wished that his enemies' +heads were all upon a single neck, that he might strike them off at a +blow; the inquisition assisted Philip to place the heads of all his +Netherland subjects upon a single neck for the same fell purpose. Upon +the 16th February, 1568, a sentence of the Holy Office condemned all the +inhabitants of the Netherlands to death as heretics. From this universal +doom only a few persons, especially named; were excepted. A proclamation +of the King, dated ten days later, confirmed this decree of the +inquisition, and ordered it to be carried into instant execution, without +regard to age, sex, or condition. This is probably the most concise +death-warrant that was ever framed. Three millions of people, men, women, +and children, were sentenced to the scaffold in: three lines; and, as it +was well known that these were not harmless thunders, like some bulls of +the Vatican, but serious and practical measures, which it was intended +should be enforced, the horror which they produced may be easily +imagined. It was hardly the purpose of Government to compel the absolute +completion of the wholesale plan in all its length and breadth, yet in +the horrible times upon which they had fallen, the Netherlanders might be +excused for believing that no measure was too monstrous to be fulfilled. +At any rate, it was certain that when all were condemned, any might at a +moment's warning be carried to the scaffold, and this was precisely the +course adopted by the authorities. + +Under this universal decree the industry of the Blood-Council might, now +seem superfluous. Why should not these mock prosecutions be dispensed +with against individuals, now that a common sentence had swallowed the +whole population in one vast grave? Yet it may be supposed that if the +exertions of the commissioners and councillors served no other purpose, +they at least furnished the Government with valuable evidence as to the +relative wealth and other circumstances of the individual victims. The +leading thought of the Government being that persecution, judiciously +managed, might fructify into a golden harvest,--it was still desirable to +persevere in the cause in which already such bloody progress had been +made. + +And under this new decree, the executions certainly did not slacken. Men +in the highest and the humblest positions were daily and hourly dragged +to the stake. Alva, in a single letter to Philip, coolly estimated the +number of executions which were to take place immediately after the +expiration of holy week, "at eight hundred heads." Many a citizen, +convicted of a hundred thousand florins and of no other crime, saw +himself suddenly tied to a horse's tail, with his hands fastened behind +him, and so dragged to the gallows. But although wealth was an +unpardonable sin, poverty proved rarely a protection. Reasons sufficient +could always be found for dooming the starveling laborer as well as the +opulent burgher. To avoid the disturbances created in the streets by the +frequent harangues or exhortations addressed to the bystanders by the +victims on their way to the scaffold, a new gag was invented. The tongue +of each prisoner was screwed into an iron ring, and then seared with a +hot iron. The swelling and inflammation which were the immediate result, +prevented the tongue from slipping through the ring, and of course +effectually precluded all possibility of speech. + +Although the minds of men were not yet prepared for concentrated revolt +against the tyranny under which they were languishing, it was not +possible to suppress all sentiments of humanity, and to tread out every +spark of natural indignation. + +Unfortunately, in the bewilderment and misery of this people, the first +development of a forcible and organized resistance was of a depraved and +malignant character. Extensive bands of marauders and highway robbers +sprang into existence, who called themselves the Wild Beggars, and who, +wearing the mask and the symbols of a revolutionary faction, committed +great excesses in many parts of the country, robbing, plundering, and +murdering. Their principal wrath was exercised against religious houses +and persons. Many monasteries were robbed, many clerical persons maimed +and maltreated. It became a habit to deprive priests of their noses or +ears, and to tie them to the tails of horses. This was the work of +ruffian gangs, whose very existence was engendered out of the social and +moral putrescence to which the country was reduced, and who were willing +to profit by the deep and universal hatred which was felt against +Catholics and monks. An edict thundered forth by Alva, authorizing and +commanding all persons to slay the wild beggars at sight, without trial +or hangman, was of comparatively slight avail. An armed force of veterans +actively scouring the country was more successful, and the freebooters +were, for a time, suppressed. + +Meantime the Counts Egmont and Horn had been kept in rigorous confinement +at Ghent. Not a warrant had been read or drawn up for their arrest. Not a +single preliminary investigation, not the shadow of an information had +preceded the long imprisonment of two men so elevated in rank, so +distinguished in the public service. After the expiration of two months, +however, the Duke condescended to commence a mock process against them. +The councillors appointed to this work were Vargas and Del Rio, assisted +by Secretary Praets. These persons visited the Admiral on the 10th, 11th, +12th and 17th of November, and Count Egmont on the 12th, 13th, 14th, and +16th, of the same month; requiring them to respond to a long, confused, +and rambling collection of interrogatories. They were obliged to render +these replies in prison, unassisted by any advocates, on penalty of being +condemned 'in contumaciam'. The questions, awkwardly drawn up as they +seemed, were yet tortuously and cunningly arranged with a view of +entrapping the prisoners into self-contradiction. After this work had +been completed, all the papers by which they intended to justify their +answers were taken away from them. Previously, too, their houses and +those of their secretaries, Bakkerzeel and Alonzo de la Loo, had been +thoroughly ransacked, and every letter and document which could be found +placed in the hands of government. Bakkerzeel, moreover, as already +stated, had been repeatedly placed upon the rack, for the purpose of +extorting confessions which might implicate his master. These +preliminaries and precautionary steps having been taken, the Counts had +again been left to their solitude for two months longer. On the 10th +January, each was furnished with a copy of the declarations or +accusations filed against him by the procurator-general. To these +documents, drawn up respectively in sixty-three, and in ninety articles, +they were required, within five days' time, without the assistance of an +advocate, and without consultation with any human being, to deliver a +written answer, on pain, as before, of being proceeded against and +condemned by default. + +This order was obeyed within nearly the prescribed period and here, it +may be said, their own participation in their trial ceased; while the +rest of the proceedings were buried in the deep bosom of the +Blood-Council. After their answers had been delivered, and not till then, +the prisoners were, by an additional mockery, permitted to employ +advocates. These advocates, however, were allowed only occasional +interviews with their clients, and always in the presence of certain +persons, especially deputed for that purpose by the Duke. They were also +allowed commissioners to collect evidence and take depositions, but +before the witnesses were ready, a purposely premature day, 8th of May, +was fixed upon for declaring the case closed, and not a single tittle of +their evidence, personal or documentary, was admitted.--Their advocates +petitioned for an exhibition of the evidence prepared by government, and +were refused. Thus, they were forbidden to use the testimony in their +favor, while that which was to be employed against them was kept secret. +Finally, the proceedings were formally concluded on the 1st of June, and +the papers laid before the Duke. The mass of matter relating to these two +monster processes was declared, three days afterwards to have been +examined--a physical impossibility in itself--and judgment was pronounced +upon the 4th of June. This issue was precipitated by the campaign of +Louis Nassau in Friesland, forming a aeries of important events which it +will be soon our duty to describe. It is previously necessary, however, +to add a few words in elucidation of the two mock trials which have been +thus briefly sketched. + +The proceeding had been carried on, from first to last, under protest by +the prisoners, under a threat of contumacy on the part of the government. +Apart from the totally irresponsible and illegal character of the +tribunal before which they were summoned--the Blood-Council being a +private institution of Alva's without pretext or commission--these nobles +acknowledged the jurisdiction of but three courts. As Knights of the +Golden Fleece, both claimed the privilege of that Order to be tried by +its statutes. As a citizen and noble of Brabant, Egmont claimed the +protection of the "Joyeuse Entree," a constitution which had been sworn +to by Philip and his ancestors, and by Philip more amply, than by all his +ancestors. As a member and Count of the Holy Roman Empire, the Admiral +claimed to be tried by his peers, the electors and princes of the realm. + +The Countess Egmont, since her husband's arrest, and the confiscation of +his estates before judgment, had been reduced to a life of poverty as +well as agony. With her eleven children, all of tender age, she had taken +refuge in a convent. Frantic with despair, more utterly desolate, and +more deeply wronged than high-born lady had often been before, she left +no stone unturned to save her husband from his fate, or at least to +obtain for him an impartial and competent tribunal. She addressed the +Duke of Alva, the King, the Emperor, her brother the Elector Palatine, +and many leading Knights of the Fleece. The Countess Dowager of Horn, +both whose sons now lay in the jaws of death, occupied herself also with +the most moving appeals to the same high personages. No pains were spared +to make the triple plea to the jurisdiction valid. The leading Knights of +the Fleece, Mansfeld, whose loyalty was unquestioned, and Hoogstraaten, +although himself an outlaw; called upon the King of Spain to protect the +statutes of the illustrious order of which he was the chief. The estates +of Brabant, upon the petition of Sabina, Countess Egmont, that they would +take to heart the privileges of the province, so that her husband might +enjoy that protection of which the meanest citizen in the land could not +be justly deprived, addressed a feeble and trembling protest to Alva, and +enclosed to him the lady's petition. The Emperor, on behalf of Count +Horn, wrote personally to Philip, to claim for him a trial before the +members of the realm. + +It was all in vain. The conduct of Philip and his Viceroy coincided in +spirit with the honest brutality of Vargas. "Non curamus vestros +privilegios," summed up the whole of the proceedings. Non curamus vestros +privilegios had been the unanswerable reply to every constitutional +argument which had been made against tyranny since Philip mounted his +father's throne. It was now the only response deemed necessary to the +crowd of petitions in favor of the Counts, whether they proceeded from +sources humble or august. Personally, the King remained silent as the +grave. In writing to the Duke of Alva, he observed that "the Emperor, the +Dukes of Bavaria and Lorraine, the Duchess and the Duchess-dowager, had +written to him many times, and in the most pressing manner, in favor of +the Counts Horn and Egmont." He added, that he had made no reply to them, +nor to other Knights of the Fleece who had implored him to respect the +statutes of the order, and he begged Alva "to hasten the process as fast +as possible." To an earnest autograph letter, in which the Emperor, on +the 2nd of March, 1568, made a last effort to save the illustrious +prisoners, he replied, that "the whole world would at last approve his +conduct, but that, at any rate, he would not act differently, even if he +should risk the loss of the provinces, and if the sky should fall on his +head." + +But little heed was paid to the remonstrances in behalf of the imperial +Courts, or the privileges of Brabant. These were but cobweb impediments +which, indeed, had long been brushed away. President Viglius was even +pathetic on the subject of Madame Egmont's petition to the council of +Brabant. It was so bitter, he said, that the Duke was slightly annoyed, +and took it ill that the royal servants in that council should have his +Majesty's interests so little at heart. It seemed indecent in the eyes of +the excellent Frisian, that a wife pleading for her husband, a mother for +her, eleven children, so soon to be fatherless, should indulge in strong +language! + +The statutes of the Fleece were obstacles somewhat more serious. As, +however, Alva had come to the Netherlands pledged to accomplish the +destruction of these two nobles, as soon as he should lay his hands upon +them, it was only a question of form, and even that question was, after a +little reflection, unceremoniously put aside. + +To the petitions in behalf of the two Counts, therefore, that they should +be placed in the friendly keeping of the Order, and be tried by its +statutes, the Duke replied, peremptorily, that he had undertaken the +cognizance of this affair by commission of his Majesty, as sovereign of +the land, not as head of the Golden Fleece, that he should carry it +through as it had been commenced, and that the Counts should discontinue +presentations of petitions upon this point. + +In the embarrassment created by the stringent language of these statutes, +Doctor Viglius found an opportunity to make himself very useful. Alva had +been turning over the laws and regulations of the Order, but could find +no loophole. The President, however, came to his rescue, and announced it +as his legal opinion that the Governor need concern himself no further on +the subject, and that the code of the Fleece offered no legal impediment +to the process. Alva immediately wrote to communicate this opinion to +Philip, adding, with great satisfaction, that he should immediately make +it known to the brethren of the Order, a step which was the more +necessary because Egmont's advocate had been making great trouble with +these privileges, and had been protesting at every step of the +proceedings. In what manner the learned President argued these +troublesome statutes out of the way, has nowhere appeared; but he +completely reinstated himself in favor, and the King wrote to thank him +for his legal exertions. + +It was now boldly declared that the statutes of the Fleece did not extend +to such crimes as those with which the prisoner were charged. Alva, +moreover, received an especial patent, ante-dated eight or nine months, +by which Philip empowered him to proceed against all persons implicated +in the troubles, and particularly against Knights of the Golden Fleece. + +It is superfluous to observe that these were merely the arbitrary acts of +a despot. It is hardly necessary to criticise such proceedings. The +execution of the nobles had been settled before Alva left Spain. As they +were inhabitants of a constitutional country, it was necessary to stride +over the constitution. As they were Knights of the Fleece, it was +necessary to set aside the statutes of the Order. The Netherland +constitutions seemed so entirely annihilated already, that they could +hardly be considered obstacles; but the Order of the Fleece was an august +little republic of which Philip was the hereditary chief, of which +emperors, kings, and great seigniors were the citizens. Tyranny might be +embarrassed by such subtle and golden filaments as these, even while it +crashed through municipal charters as if they had been reeds and +bulrushes. Nevertheless, the King's course was taken. Although the +thirteenth, fourteenth, and fifteenth chapters of the Order expressly +provided for the trial and punishment of brethren who had been guilty of +rebellion, heresy, or treason; and although the eleventh chapter; +perpetual and immutable, of additions to that constitution by the Emperor +Charles, conferred on the Order exclusive jurisdiction over all crimes +whatever committed by the knights, yet it was coolly proclaimed by Alva, +that the crimes for which the Admiral and Egmont had been arrested, were +beyond the powers of the tribunal. + +So much for the plea to the jurisdiction. It is hardly worth while to +look any further into proceedings which were initiated and brought to a +conclusion in the manner already narrated. Nevertheless, as they were +called a process, a single glance at the interior of that mass of +documents can hardly be superfluous. + +The declaration against Count Horn; upon which, supported by invisible +witnesses, he was condemned, was in the nature of a narrative. It +consisted in a rehearsal of circumstances, some true and some fictitious, +with five inferences. These five inferences amounted to five crimes--high +treason, rebellion, conspiracy, misprision of treason, and breach of +trust. The proof of these crimes was evolved, in a dim and misty manner, +out of a purposely confused recital. No events, however, were +recapitulated which have not been described in the course of this +history. Setting out with a general statement, that the Admiral, the +Prince of Orange, Count Egmont, and other lords had organized a plot to +expel his Majesty from the Netherlands, and to divide the provinces among +themselves; the declaration afterwards proceeded to particulars. Ten of +its sixty-three articles were occupied with the Cardinal Granvelle, who, +by an absurd affectation, was never directly named, but called "a certain +personage--a principal personage--a grand personage, of his Majesty's +state council." None of the offences committed against him were +forgotten: the 11th of March letter, the fool's-cap, the livery, were +reproduced in the most violent colors, and the cabal against the minister +was quietly assumed to constitute treason against the monarch. + +The Admiral, it was further charged, had advised and consented to the +fusion of the finance and privy councils with that of state, a measure +which was clearly treasonable. He had, moreover, held interviews with the +Prince of Orange, with Egmont, and other nobles, at Breda and at +Hoogstraaten, at which meetings the confederacy and the petition had been +engendered. That petition had been the cause of all the evils which had +swept the land. "It had scandalously injured the King, by affirming that +the inquisition was a tyranny to humanity, which was an infamous and +unworthy proposition." The confederacy, with his knowledge and +countenance, had enrolled 30,000 men. He had done nothing, any more than +Orange or Egmont, to prevent the presentation of the petition. In the +consultation at the state-council which ensued, both he and the Prince +were for leaving Brussels at once, while Count Egmont expressed an +intention of going to Aix to drink the waters. Yet Count Egmont's +appearance (proceeded this indictment against another individual) +exhibited not a single sign of sickness. The Admiral had, moreover, drank +the toast of "Vivent leg gueux" on various occasions, at the Culemberg +House banquet, at the private table of the Prince of Orange, at a supper +at the monastery of Saint Bernard's, at a dinner given by Burgomaster +Straalen. He had sanctioned the treaties with the rebels at Duffel, by +which he had clearly rendered himself guilty of high treason. He had held +an interview with Orange, Egmont, and Hoogstraaten, at Denremonde, for +the treasonable purpose of arranging a levy of troops to prevent his +Majesty's entrance into the Netherlands. He had refused to come to +Brussels at the request of the Duchess of Parma, when the rebels were +about to present the petition. He had written to his secretary that he +was thenceforth resolved to serve neither King nor Kaiser. He had +received from one Taffin, with marks of approbation, a paper, stating +that the assembling of the states-general was the only remedy for the +troubles in the land. He had, repeatedly affirmed that the inquisition +and edicts ought to be repealed. + +On his arrival at Tournay in August, 1566, the people had cried "Vivent +les gueux;" a proof that he liked the cry. All his transactions at +Tournay, from first to last, had been criminal. He had tolerated Reformed +preaching, he had forbidden Catholics and Protestants to molest each +other, he had omitted to execute heretics, he had allowed the +religionists to erect an edifice for public worship outside the walls. He +had said, at the house of Prince Espinoy, that if the King should come +into the provinces with force, he would oppose him with 15,000 troops. He +had said, if his brother Montigny should be detained in Spain, he would +march to his rescue at the head of 50,000 men whom he had at his command. +He had on various occasions declared that "men should live according to +their consciences"--as if divine and human laws were dead, and men, like +wild beasts, were to follow all their lusts and desires. Lastly, he had +encouraged the rebellion in Valenciennes. + +Of all these crimes and misdeeds the procurator declared himself +sufficiently informed, and the aforesaid defendant entirely, commonly, +and publicly defamed. + +Wherefore, that officer terminated his declaration by claiming "that the +cause should be concluded summarily, and without figure or form of +process; and that therefore, by his Excellency or his sub-delegated +judges, the aforesaid defendant should be declared to have in diverse +ways committed high treason, should be degraded from his dignities, and +should be condemned to death, with confiscation of all his estates." + +The Admiral, thus peremptorily summoned, within five days, without +assistance, without documents, and from the walls of a prison, to answer +to these charges, 'solos ex vinculis causam dicere', undertook his task +with the boldness of innocence. He protested, of course, to the +jurisdiction, and complained of the want of an advocate, not in order to +excuse any weakness in his defence, but only any inelegance in his +statement. He then proceeded flatly to deny some of the facts, to admit +others, and to repel the whole treasonable inference. His answer in all +essential respects was triumphant. Supported by the evidence which, alas +was not collected and published till after his death, it was impregnable. + +He denied that he had ever plotted against his King, to whom he had ever +been attached, but admitted that he had desired the removal of Granvelle, +to whom he had always been hostile. He had, however, been an open and +avowed enemy to the Cardinal, and had been engaged in no secret +conspiracy against his character or against his life. He denied that the +livery (for which, however, he was not responsible) had been intended to +ridicule the Cardinal, but asserted that it was intended to afford an +example of economy to an extravagant nobility. He had met Orange and +Egmont at Breda and Hoogstraaten, and had been glad to do so, for he had +been long separated from them. These interviews, however, had been +social, not political, for good cheer and merry-making, not for +conspiracy and treason. He had never had any connection with the +confederacy; he had neither advised nor protected the petition, but, on +the contrary, after hearing of the contemplated movement, had written to +give notice thereof to the Duchess. He was in no manner allied, with +Brederode, but, on the contrary, for various reasons, was not upon +friendly terms with him. He had not entered his house since his return +from Spain. He had not been a party to the dinner at Culemburg House. +Upon that day he had dined with the Prince of Orange, with whom he was +lodging and, after dinner, they had both gone together to visit Mansfeld, +who was confined with an inflamed eye. There they had met Egmont, and the +three had proceeded together to Culemburg House in order to bring away +Hoogstraaten, whom the confederates had compelled to dine with them; and +also to warn the nobles not to commit themselves by extravagant and +suspicious excesses. They had remained in the house but a few minutes, +during which time the company had insisted upon their drinking a single +cup to the toast of "Vivent le roy et les gueux." They had then retired, +taking with them Hoogstraaten, and all thinking that they had rendered a +service to the government by their visit, instead of having made +themselves liable to a charge of treason. As to the cries of "Vivent les +gueux" at the tables of Orange, of the Abbot of Saint Bernard, and at +other places, those words had been uttered by simple, harmless fellows; +and as he considered, the table a place of freedom, he had not felt +himself justified in rebuking the manners of his associates, +particularly, in houses where he was himself but a guest. As for +committing treason at the Duffel meeting, he had not been there at all. + +He thanked God that, at that epoch, he had been absent from Brussels, for +had he, as well as Orange and Egmont, been commissioned by the Duchess to +arrange those difficult matters, he should have considered it his duty to +do as they did. He had never thought of levying troops against his +Majesty. The Denremonde meeting had been held, to consult upon four +subjects: the affairs of Tournay; the intercepted letters of the French +ambassador, Alava; the letter of Montigny, in which he warned his brother +of the evil impression which the Netherland matters were making in Spain; +and the affairs of Antwerp, from which city the Prince of Orange found it +necessary at that moment to withdraw.--With regard to his absence from +Brussels, he stated that he had kept away from the Court because he was +ruined. He was deeply in debt, and so complete was his embarrassment, +that he had been unable in Antwerp to raise 1000 crowns upon his +property, even at an interest of one hundred per cent. So far from being +able to levy troops, he was hardly able to pay for his daily bread. With +regard to his transactions at Tournay, he had, throughout them all, +conformed himself to the instructions of Madame de Parma. As to the cry +of "Vivent les gueux," he should not have cared at that moment if the +populace had cried 'Vive Comte Horn', for his thoughts were then occupied +with more substantial matters. He had gone thither under a special +commission from the Duchess, and had acted under instructions daily +received by her own hand. He had, by her orders, effected a temporary +compromise between the two religious parties, on the basis of the Duffel +treaty. He had permitted the public preaching to continue, but had not +introduced it for the first time. He had allowed temples to be built +outside the gates, but it was by express command of Madame, as he could +prove by her letters. She had even reproved him before the council, +because the work had not been accomplished with sufficient despatch. With +regard to his alleged threat, that he would oppose the King's entrance +with 15,000 men, he answered, with astonishing simplicity, that he did +not remember making any such observation, but it was impossible for a man +to retain in his mind all the nonsense which he might occasionally utter. +The honest Admiral thought that his poverty, already pleaded, was so +notorious that the charge was not worthy of a serious answer. He also +treated the observation which he was charged with having made, relative +to his marching to Spain with 50,000 men to rescue Montigny as "frivolous +and ridiculous." He had no power to raise a hundred men. Moreover he had +rejoiced at Montigny's detention, for he had thought that to be out of +the Netherlands was to be out of harm's way. On the whole, he claimed +that in all those transactions of his which might be considered +anti-Catholic, he had been governed entirely by the instructions of the +Regent, and by her Accord with the nobles. That Accord, as she had +repeatedly stated to him, was to be kept sacred until his Majesty, by +advice of the states-general, should otherwise ordain. + +Finally, he observed, that law was not his vocation. He was no +pettifogger, but he had endeavored loyally to conform himself to the +broad and general principles of honor, justice, and truth. In a very few +and simple words, he begged his judges to have regard to his deeds, and +to a life of loyal service. If he had erred occasionally in those times +of tumult, his intentions had ever been faithful and honorable. + +The charges against Count Egmont were very similar to those against Count +Horn. The answers of both defendants were nearly identical. +Interrogations thus addressed to two different persons, as to +circumstances which had occurred long before, could not have been thus +separately, secretly, but simultaneously answered in language +substantially the same, had not that language been the words of truth. +Egmont was accused generally of plotting with others to expel the King +from the provinces, and to divide the territory among themselves. Through +a long series of ninety articles, he was accused of conspiring against +the character and life of Cardinal Granvelle. He was the inventor, it was +charged, of the fool's-cap livery. He had joined in the letters to the +King, demanding the prelate's removal. He had favored the fusion of the +three councils. He had maintained that the estates-general ought to be +forthwith assembled, that otherwise the debts of his Majesty and of the +country could never be paid, and that the provinces would go to the +French, to the Germans, or to the devil. He had asserted that he would +not be instrumental in burning forty or fifty thousand men, in order that +the inquisition and the edicts might be sustained. He had declared that +the edicts were rigorous. He had advised the Duchess, to moderate them, +and remove the inquisition, saying that these measures, with a pardon +general in addition, were the only means of quieting the country. He had +advised the formation of the confederacy, and promised to it his +protection and favor. He had counselled the presentation of the petition. +He had arranged all these matters, in consultation with the other nobles, +at the interviews at Breda and Hoogstraaten. He had refused the demand of +Madame de Parma, to take arms in her defence. He had expressed his +intention, at a most critical moment, of going to the baths of Aix for +his health, although his personal appearance gave no indication of any +malady whatever. He had countenanced and counselled the proceedings of +the rebel nobles at Saint Trond. He had made an accord with those of "the +religion" at Ghent, Bruges, and other places. He had advised the Duchess +to grant a pardon to those who had taken up arms. He had maintained, in +common with the Prince of Orange, at a session of the state council, that +if Madame should leave Brussels, they would assemble the states-general +of their own authority, and raise a force of forty thousand men. He had +plotted treason, and made arrangements for the levy of troops at the +interview at Denremonde, with Horn, Hoogstraaten, and the Prince of +Orange. He had taken under his protection on the 20th April, 1566, the +confederacy of the rebels; had promised that they should never be +molested, for the future, on account of the inquisition or the edicts, +and that so long as they kept within the terms of the Petition and the +Compromise, he would defend them with his own person. He had granted +liberty of preaching outside the walls in many cities within his +government. He had said repeatedly, that if the King desired to introduce +the inquisition into the Netherlands, he would sell all his property and +remove to another land; thus declaring with how much contempt and +detestation he regarded the said inquisition. He had winked at all the +proceedings of the sectaries. He had permitted the cry of "Vivent les +gueux" at his table. He had assisted at the banquet at Culemburg House. + +These were the principal points in the interminable act of accusation. +Like the Admiral, Egmont admitted many of the facts, and flatly denied +the rest. He indignantly repelled the possibility of a treasonable +inference from any of, or all, his deeds. He had certainly desired the +removal of Granvelle, for he believed that the King's service would +profit by his recal. He replied, almost in the same terms as the Admiral +had done, to the charge concerning the livery, and asserted that its +principal object had been to set an example of economy. The fool's-cap +and bells had been changed to a bundle of arrows, in consequence of a +certain rumor which became rife in Brussels, and in obedience to an +ordinance of Madame de Parma. As to the assembling of the states-general, +the fusion of the councils, the moderation of the edicts, he had +certainly been in favor of these measures, which he considered to be +wholesome and lawful, not mischievous or treasonable. He had certainly +maintained that the edicts were rigorous, and had advised the Duchess, +under the perilous circumstances of the country, to grant a temporary +modification until the pleasure of his Majesty could be known. With +regard to the Compromise, he had advised all his friends to keep out of +it, and many in consequence had kept out of it. As to the presentation of +the petition, he had given Madame de Parma notice thereof, so soon as he +had heard that such a step was contemplated. He used the same language as +had been employed by Horn, with regard to the interview at Breda and +Hoogstraaten--that they had been meetings of "good cheer" and good +fellowship. He had always been at every moment at the command of the +Duchess, save when he had gone to Flanders and Artois to suppress the +tumults, according to her express orders. He had no connexion with the +meeting of the nobles at Saint Trond. He had gone to Duffel as special +envoy from the Duchess, to treat with certain plenipotentiaries appointed +at the Saint Trond meeting. He had strictly conformed to the letter of +instructions, drawn up by the Duchess, which would be found among his +papers, but he had never promised the nobles his personal aid or +protection. With regard to the Denremonde meeting, he gave almost exactly +the same account as Horn had given. The Prince, the Admiral, and himself, +had conversed between a quarter past eleven and dinner time, which was +twelve o'clock, on various matters, particularly upon the King's +dissatisfaction with recent events in the Netherlands, and upon a certain +letter from the ambassador Alava in Paris to the Duchess of Parma. He +had, however, expressed his opinion to Madame that the letter was a +forgery. He had permitted public preaching in certain cities, outside the +walls, where it had already been established, because this was in +accordance with the treaty which Madame had made at Duffel, which she had +ordered him honorably to maintain. He had certainly winked at the +religious exercises of the Reformers, because he had been expressly +commanded to do so, and because the government at that time was not +provided with troops to suppress the new religion by force. He related +the visit of Horn, Orange, and himself to Culemburg House, at the +memorable banquet, in almost the same words which the Admiral had used. +He had done all in his power to prevent Madame from leaving Brussels, in +which effort he had been successful, and from which much good had +resulted to the country. He had never recommended that a pardon should be +granted to those who had taken up arms, but on the contrary, had advised +their chastisement, as had appeared in his demeanor towards the rebels at +Osterwel, Tournay, and Valenciennes. He had never permitted the cry of +"Vivent les gueux" at his own table, nor encouraged it in his presence +any where else. + +Such were the leading features in these memorable cases of what was +called high treason. Trial there was none. The tribunal was incompetent; +the prisoners were without advocates; the government evidence was +concealed; the testimony for the defence was excluded; and the cause was +finally decided before a thousandth part of its merits could have been +placed under the eyes of the judge who gave the sentence. + +But it is almost puerile to speak of the matter in the terms usually +applicable to state trials. The case had been settled in Madrid long +before the arrest of the prisoners in Brussels. The sentence, signed by +Philip in blank, had been brought in Alva's portfolio from Spain. The +proceedings were a mockery, and, so far as any effect upon public opinion +was concerned, might as well have been omitted. If the gentlemen had been +shot in the court-yard of Jasse-house, by decree of a drum-head +court-martial, an hour after their arrest, the rights of the provinces +and the sentiments of humanity would not have been outraged more utterly. +Every constitutional and natural right was violated from first to last. +This certainly was not a novelty. Thousands of obscure individuals, whose +relations and friends were not upon thrones and in high places, but in +booths and cellars, and whose fate therefore did not send a shudder of +sympathy throughout Europe, had already been sacrificed by the Blood +tribunal. Still this great case presented a colossal emblem of the +condition in which the Netherlands were now gasping. It was a monumental +exhibition of the truth which thousands had already learned to their +cost, that law and justice were abrogated throughout the land. The +country was simply under martial law--the entire population under +sentence of death. The whole civil power was in Alva's hand; the whole +responsibility in Alva's breast. Neither the most ignoble nor the most +powerful could lift their heads in the sublime desolation which was +sweeping the country. This was now proved beyond peradventure. A +miserable cobbler or weaver might be hurried from his shop to the +scaffold, invoking the 'jus de non evocando' till he was gagged, but the +Emperor would not stoop from his throne, nor electors palatine and +powerful nobles rush to his rescue; but in behalf of these prisoners the +most august hands and voices of Christendom had been lifted up at the +foot of Philip's throne; and their supplications had proved as idle as +the millions of tears and death-cries which had beep shed or uttered in +the lowly places of the land. It was obvious; then, that all intercession +must thereafter be useless. Philip was fanatically impressed with his +mission. His viceroy was possessed by his loyalty as by a demon. In this +way alone, that conduct which can never be palliated may at least be +comprehended. It was Philip's enthusiasm to embody the wrath of God +against heretics. It was Alva's enthusiasm to embody the wrath of Philip. +Narrow-minded, isolated, seeing only that section of the world which was +visible through the loop-hole of the fortress in which Nature had +imprisoned him for life, placing his glory in unconditional obedience to +his superior, questioning nothing, doubting nothing, fearing nothing, the +viceroy accomplished his work of hell with all the tranquillity of an +angel. An iron will, which clove through every obstacle; adamantine +fortitude, which sustained without flinching a mountain of responsibility +sufficient to crush a common nature, were qualities which, united to, his +fanatical obedience, made him a man for Philip's work such as could not +have been found again in the world. + +The case, then, was tried before a tribunal which was not only +incompetent, under the laws of the land, but not even a court of justice +in any philosophical or legal sense. Constitutional and municipal law +were not more outraged in its creation, than all national and natural +maxims. + +The reader who has followed step by step the career of the two +distinguished victims through the perilous days of Margaret's +administration, is sufficiently aware of the amount of treason with which +they are chargeable. It would be an insult to common sense for us to set +forth, in full, the injustice of their sentence. Both were guiltless +towards the crown; while the hands of one, on the contrary, were deeply +dyed in the blood of the people. This truth was so self-evident, that +even a member of the Blood-Council, Pierre Arsens, president of Artois, +addressed an elaborate memoir to the Duke of Alva, criticising the case +according to the rules of law, and maintaining that Egmont, instead of +deserving punishment, was entitled to a signal reward. + +So much for the famous treason of Counts Egmont and Horn, so far as +regards the history of the proceedings and the merits of the case. The +last act of the tragedy was precipitated by occurrences which must be now +narrated. + +The Prince of Orange had at last thrown down the gauntlet. Proscribed, +outlawed, with his Netherland property confiscated, and his eldest child +kidnapped, he saw sufficient personal justification for at last stepping +into the lists, the avowed champion of a nation's wrongs. Whether the +revolution was to be successful, or to be disastrously crushed; whether +its result would be to place him upon a throne or a scaffold, not even +he, the deep-revolving and taciturn politician, could possibly foresee. +The Reformation, in which he took both a political and a religious +interest, might prove a sufficient lever in his hands for the overthrow +of Spanish power in the Netherlands. The inquisition might roll back upon +his country and himself, crushing them forever. The chances seemed with +the inquisition. The Spaniards, under the first chieftain in Europe, were +encamped and entrenched in the provinces. The Huguenots had just made +their fatal peace in France, to the prophetic dissatisfaction of Coligny. +The leading men of liberal sentiments in the Netherlands were captive or +in exile. All were embarrassed by the confiscations which, in +anticipation of sentence, had severed the nerves of war. The country was +terror-stricken; paralyzed, motionless, abject, forswearing its +convictions, and imploring only life. At this moment William of Orange +reappeared upon the scene. + +He replied to the act of condemnation, which had been pronounced against +him in default, by a published paper, of moderate length and great +eloquence. He had repeatedly offered to place himself, he said, upon +trial before a competent court. As a Knight of the Fleece, as a member of +the Holy Roman Empire, as a sovereign prince, he could acknowledge no +tribunal save the chapters of the knights or of the realm. The Emperor's +personal intercession with Philip had been employed in vain, to obtain +the adjudication of his case by either. It would be both death and +degradation on his part to acknowledge the jurisdiction of the infamous +Council of Blood. He scorned, he said, to plead his cause "before he knew +not what base knaves, not fit to be the valets of his companions and +himself." + +He appealed therefore to the judgment of the world. He published not an +elaborate argument, but a condensed and scathing statement of the +outrages which had been practised upon him. He denied that he had been a +party to the Compromise. He denied that he had been concerned in the +Request, although he denounced with scorn the tyranny which could treat a +petition to government as an act of open war against the sovereign. He +spoke of Granvelle with unmeasured wrath. He maintained that his own +continuance in office had been desired by the cardinal, in order that his +personal popularity might protect the odious designs of the government. +The edicts, the inquisition, the persecution, the new bishoprics, had +been the causes of the tumults. He concluded with a burst of indignation +against Philip's conduct toward himself. The monarch had forgotten his +services and those of his valiant ancestors. He had robbed him of honor, +he had robbed him of his son--both dearer to him than life. By thus doing +he had degraded himself more than he had injured him, for he had broken +all his royal oaths and obligations. + +The paper was published early in the summer of 1568. At about the same +time, the Count of Hoogstraaten published a similar reply to the act of +condemnation with which he had been visited. He defended himself mainly +upon the ground, that all the crimes of which he stood arraigned had been +committed in obedience to the literal instructions of the Duchess of +Parma, after her accord with the confederates. + +The Prince now made the greatest possible exertions to raise funds and +troops. He had many meetings with influential individuals in Germany. The +Protestant princes, particularly the Landgrave of Hesse and the Elector +of Saxony, promised him assistance. He brought all his powers of +eloquence and of diplomacy to make friends for the cause which he had now +boldly espoused. The high-born Demosthenes electrified large assemblies +by his indignant invectives against the Spanish Philip. He excelled even +his royal antagonist in the industrious subtlety with which he began to +form a thousand combinations. Swift, secret, incapable of fatigue, this +powerful and patient intellect sped to and fro, disentangling the +perplexed skein where all had seemed so hopelessly confused, and +gradually unfolding broad schemes of a symmetrical and regenerated +polity. He had high correspondents and higher hopes in England. He was +already secretly or openly in league with half the sovereigns of Germany. +The Huguenots of France looked upon him as their friend, and on Louis of +Nassau as their inevitable chieftain, were Coligny destined to fall. He +was in league with all the exiled and outlawed nobles of the Netherlands. +By his orders recruits were daily enlisted, without sound of drum. He +granted a commission to his brother Louis, one of the most skilful and +audacious soldiers of the age, than whom the revolt could not have found +a more determined partisan, nor the Prince a more faithful lieutenant. + +This commission, which was dated Dillenburg, 6th April, 1568, was a +somewhat startling document. It authorized the Count to levy troops and +wage war against Philip, strictly for Philip's good. The fiction of +loyalty certainly never went further. The Prince of Orange made known to +all "to whom those presents should come," that through the affection +which he bore the gracious King, he purposed to expel his Majesty's +forces from the Netherlands. "To show our love for the monarch and his +hereditary provinces," so ran the commission, "to prevent the desolation +hanging over the country by the ferocity of the Spaniards, to maintain +the privileges sworn to by his Majesty and his predecessors, to prevent +the extirpation of all religion by the edicts, and to save the sons and +daughters of the land from abject slavery, we have requested our dearly +beloved brother Louis Nassau to enrol as many troops as he shall think +necessary." + +Van der Bergh, Hoogstraaten, and others, provided with similar powers, +were also actively engaged in levying troops; but the right hand of the +revolt was Count Louis, as his illustrious brother was its head and +heart. Two hundred thousand crowns was the sum which the Prince +considered absolutely necessary for organizing the army with which he +contemplated making an entrance into the Netherlands. Half this amount +had been produced by the cities of Antwerp, Amsterdam, Leyden, Harlem, +Middelburg, Flushing, and other towns, as well as by refugee merchants in +England. The other half was subscribed by individuals. The Prince himself +contributed 50,000 florins, Hoogstraaten 30,000, Louis of Nassau 10,000, +Culemberg 30,000, Van der Bergh 30,000, the Dowager-countess Horn 10,000, +and other persons in less proportion. Count John of Nassau also pledged +his estates to raise a large sum for the cause. The Prince himself sold +all his jewels, plate, tapestry, and other furniture, which were of +almost regal magnificence. Not an enthusiast, but a deliberate, cautious +man, he now staked his all upon the hazard, seemingly so desperate. The +splendor of his station has been sufficiently depicted. His luxury, his +fortune, his family, his life, his children, his honor, all were now +ventured, not with the recklessness of a gambler, but with the calm +conviction of a statesman. + +A private and most audacious attempt to secure the person: of Alva and +the possession of Brussels had failed. He was soon, however, called upon +to employ all his energies against the open warfare which was now +commenced. + +According to the plan of the Prince, the provinces were to be attacked +simultaneously, in three places, by his lieutenants, while he himself was +waiting in the neighborhood of Cleves, ready for a fourth assault. An +army of Huguenots and refugees was to enter Artois upon the frontier of +France; a second, under Hoogstraaten, was to operate between the Rhine +and the Meuse; while Louis of Nassau was to raise the standard of revolt +in Friesland. + +The two first adventures were destined to be signally unsuccessful. A +force under Seigneur de Cocqueville, latest of all, took the field +towards the end of June. It entered the bailiwick of Hesdin in Artois, +was immediately driven across the frontier by the Count de Roeulx, and +cut to pieces at St. Valery by Marechal de Cossis, governor of Picardy. +This action was upon the 18th July. Of the 2500 men who composed the +expedition, scarce 300 escaped. The few Netherlanders who were taken +prisoners were given to the Spanish government, and, of course, hanged. + +The force under the Seigneur de Villars was earlier under arms, and the +sooner defeated. This luckless gentleman, who had replaced the Count of +Hoogstraaten, crossed the frontier of Juliers; in the neighborhood of +Maestricht, by the 20th April. His force, infantry and cavalry, amounted +to nearly three thousand men. The object of the enterprise was to, raise +the country; and, if possible, to obtain a foothold by securing an +important city. Roermonde was the first point of attack, but the +attempts, both by stratagem and by force, to secure the town, were +fruitless. The citizens were not ripe for revolt, and refused the army +admittance. While the invaders were, therefore, endeavoring to fire the +gates, they were driven off by the approach of a Spanish force. + +The Duke, so soon as the invasion was known to him, had acted with great +promptness. Don Sancho de Lodrono and Don Sancho de Avila, with five +vanderas of Spanish infantry, three companies of cavalry, and about three +hundred pikemen under Count Eberstein, a force amounting in all to about +1600 picked troops, had been at once despatched against Villars. The +rebel chieftain, abandoning his attempt upon Roermonde, advanced towards +Erkelens. Upon the 25th April, between Erkelens and Dalem, the Spaniards +came up with him, and gave him battle. Villars lost all his cavalry and +two vanderas of his infantry in the encounter. With the remainder of his +force, amounting to 1300 men, he effected his retreat in good order to +Dalem. Here he rapidly entrenched himself. At four in the afternoon, +Sancho de Lodrono, at the head of 600 infantry, reached the spot. He was +unable to restrain the impetuosity of his men, although the cavalry under +Avila, prevented by the difficult nature of the narrow path through which +the rebels had retreated, had not yet arrived. The enemy were two to one, +and were fortified; nevertheless, in half an hour the entrenchments were +carried, and almost every man in the patriot army put to the sword. +Villars himself, with a handful of soldiers, escaped into the town, but +was soon afterwards taken prisoner, with all his followers. He sullied +the cause in which he was engaged by a base confession of the designs +formed by the Prince of Orange--a treachery, however, which did not save +him from the scaffold. In the course of this day's work, the Spanish lost +twenty men, and the rebels nearly 200. This portion of the liberating +forces had been thus disastrously defeated on the eve of the entrance of +Count Louis into Friesland. + +As early as the 22d April, Alva had been informed, by the +lieutenant-governor of that province, that the beggars were mustering in +great force in the neighborhood of Embden. It was evident that an +important enterprise was about to be attempted. Two days afterwards, +Louis of Nassau entered the provinces, attended by a small body of +troops. His banners blazed with patriotic inscriptions. 'Nunc aut +nunquam, Recuperare aut mori', were the watchwords of his desperate +adventure: "Freedom for fatherland and conscience" was the device which +was to draw thousands to his standard. On the western wolds of Frisia, he +surprised the castle of Wedde, a residence of the absent Aremberg, +stadholder of the province. Thence he advanced to Appingadam, or Dam, on +the tide waters of the Dollart. Here he was met by, his younger brother, +the gallant Adolphus, whose days were so nearly numbered, who brought +with him a small troop of horse. At Wedde, at Dam, and at Slochteren, the +standard was set up. At these three points there daily gathered armed +bodies of troops, voluntary adventurers, peasants with any rustic weapon +which they could find to their hand. Lieutenant-governor Groesbeck wrote +urgently to the Duke, that the beggars were hourly increasing in force; +that the leaders perfectly understood their game; that they kept their +plans a secret, but were fast seducing the heart of the country. + +On the 4th May, Louis issued a summons to the magistracy of Groningen, +ordering them to send a deputation to confer with him at Dam. He was +prepared, he said, to show the commission with which he was provided. He +had not entered the country on a mere personal adventure, but had +received orders to raise a sufficient army. By the help of the eternal +God, he was determined, he said, to extirpate the detestable tyranny of +those savage persecutors who had shed so much Christian blood. He was +resolved to lift up the down-trod privileges, and, to protect the +fugitive, terror-stricken Christians and patriarchs of the country. If +the magistrates were disposed to receive him with friendship, it was +well. Otherwise, he should, with regret, feel himself obliged to proceed +against them, as enemies of his Majesty and of the common weal. + +As the result of this summons, Louis received a moderate sum of money, on +condition of renouncing for the moment an attack upon the city. With this +temporary supply he was able to retain a larger number of the +adventurers; who were daily swarming around him. + +In the mean time Alva was not idle. On the 30th April, he wrote to +Groesbeck, that he must take care not to be taken napping; that he must +keep his eyes well open until the arrival of succor, which was already on +the way. He then immediately ordered Count Aremberg, who had just +returned from France on conclusion of hostilities, to hasten to the seat +of war. Five vanderas of his own regiment; a small body of cavalry, and +Braccamonte's Sardinian legion, making in all a force of nearly 2500 men, +were ordered to follow him with the utmost expedition. Count Meghem, +stadholder of Gueldres, with five vanderas of infantry, three of light +horse, and some artillery, composing a total of about 1500 men, was +directed to co-operate with Aremberg. Upon this point the orders of the +Governor-general were explicit. It seemed impossible that the rabble rout +under Louis Nassau could stand a moment before nearly 4000 picked and +veteran troops, but the Duke was earnest in warning his generals not to +undervalue the enemy. + +On the 7th May, Counts Meghem and Aremberg met and conferred at Arnheim, +on their way to Friesland. It was fully agreed between them, after having +heard full reports of the rising in that province, and of the temper +throughout the eastern Netherlands, that it would be rash to attempt any +separate enterprise. On the 11th, Aremberg reached Vollenhoven, where he +was laid up in his bed with the gout. Bodies of men, while he lay sick, +paraded hourly with fife and drum before his windows, and discharged +pistols and arquebuses across the ditch of the blockhouse where he was +quartered. On the 18th, Braccamonte, with his legion, arrived by water at +Harlingen. Not a moment more was lost. Aremberg, notwithstanding his +gout, which still confined him to a litter, started at once in pursuit of +the enemy. Passing through Groningen, he collected all the troops which +could be spared.. He also received six pieces of artillery. Six cannon, +which the lovers of harmony had baptized with the notes of the gamut, +'ut, re, mi, fa, sol, la', were placed at his disposal by the +authorities, and have acquired historical celebrity. It was, however, +ordained that when those musical pieces piped, the Spaniards were not to +dance. On the 22d, followed by his whole force, consisting of +Braccamonte's legion, his own four vanderas, and a troop of Germans, he +came in sight of the enemy at Dam. Louis of Nassau sent out a body of +arquebusiers, about one thousand strong, from the city. A sharp skirmish +ensued, but the beggars were driven into their entrenchments, with a loss +of twenty or thirty men, and nightfall terminated the contest. + +It was beautiful to see, wrote Aremberg to Alva, how brisk and eager were +the Spaniards, notwithstanding the long march which they had that day +accomplished. Time was soon to show how easily immoderate, valor might +swell into a fault. Meantime, Aremberg quartered his troops in and about +Wittewerum Abbey, close to the little unwalled city of Dam. + +On the other hand, Meghem, whose co-operation had been commanded by Alva, +and arranged personally with Aremberg a fortnight before, at Arnheim, had +been delayed in his movements. His troops, who had received no wages for +a long time had mutinied. A small sum of money, however, sent from +Brussels, quelled this untimely insubordination. Meghem then set forth to +effect his junction with his colleague, having assured the +Governor-general that the war would be ended in six days. The beggars had +not a stiver, he said, and must disband or be beaten to pieces as soon as +Aremberg and he had joined forces. Nevertheless he admitted that these +same "master-beggars," as he called them, might prove too many for either +general alone. + +Alva, in reply, expressed his confidence that four or five thousand +choice troops of Spain would be enough to make a short war of it, but +nevertheless warned his officers of the dangers of overweening +confidence. He had been informed that the rebels had assumed the red +scarf of the Spanish uniform. He hoped the stratagem would not save them +from broken heads, but was unwilling that his Majesty's badge should be +altered. + +He reiterated his commands that no enterprise should be undertaken, +except by the whole army in concert; and enjoined the generals +incontinently to hang and strangle all prisoners the moment they should +be taken. + +Marching directly northward, Meghem reached Coeverden, some fifty miles +from Dam, on the night of the 22d. He had informed Aremberg that he might +expect him with his infantry and his light horse in the course of the +next day. On the following morning, the 23d, Aremberg wrote his last +letter to the Duke, promising to send a good account of the beggars +within a very few hours. + +Louis of Nassau had broken up his camp at Dam about midnight. Falling +back, in a southerly direction, along the Wold-weg, or forest road, a +narrow causeway through a swampy district, he had taken up a position +some three leagues from his previous encampment. Near the monastery of +Heiliger Lee, or the "Holy Lion," he had chosen his ground. A little +money in hand, ample promises, and the hopes of booty, had effectually +terminated the mutiny, which had also broken out in his camp. Assured +that Meghem had not yet effected his junction with Aremberg, prepared to +strike, at last, a telling blow for freedom and fatherland, Louis awaited +the arrival of his eager foe. + +His position was one of commanding strength and fortunate augury. +Heiliger Lee was a wooded eminence, artificially reared by Premonstrant +monks. It was the only rising ground in that vast extent of watery +pastures, enclosed by the Ems and Lippe--the "fallacious fields" +described by Tacitus. Here Hermann, first of Teutonic heroes, had dashed +out of existence three veteran legions of tyrant Rome. Here the spectre +of Varus, begrimed and gory, had risen from the morass to warn +Germanicus, who came to avenge him, that Gothic freedom was a dangerous +antagonist. And now, in the perpetual reproductions of history, another +German warrior occupied a spot of vantage in that same perilous region. +The tyranny with which he contended strove to be as universal as that of +Rome, and had stretched its wings of conquest into worlds of which the +Caesars had never dreamed. It was in arms, too, to crush not only the +rights of man, but the rights of God. The battle of freedom was to be +fought not only for fatherland, but for conscience. The cause was even +holier than that which had inspired the arm of Hermann. + +Although the swamps of that distant age had been transformed into +fruitful pastures, yet the whole district was moist, deceitful, and +dangerous. The country was divided into squares, not by hedges but by +impassable ditches. Agricultural entrenchments had long made the country +almost impregnable, while its defences against the ocean rendered almost +as good service against a more implacable human foe. + +Aremberg, leading his soldiers along the narrow causeway, in hot pursuit +of what they considered a rabble rout of fugitive beggars, soon reached +Winschoten. Here he became aware of the presence of his despicable foe. +Louis and Adolphus of Nassau, while sitting at dinner in the convent of +the "Holy Lion," had been warned by a friendly peasant of the approach of +the Spaniards. The opportune intelligence had given the patriot general +time to make his preparations. His earnest entreaties had made his troops +ashamed of their mutinous conduct on the preceding day, and they were now +both ready and willing to engage. The village was not far distant from +the abbey, and in the neighborhood of the abbey Louis of Nassau was now +posted. Behind him was a wood, on his left a hill of moderate elevation, +before him an extensive and swampy field. In the front of the field was a +causeway leading to the abbey. This was the road which Aremberg was to +traverse. On the plain which lay between the wood and the hill, the main +body of the beggars were drawn up. They were disposed in two squares or +squadrons, rather deep than wide, giving the idea of a less number than +they actually contained. The lesser square, in which were two thousand +eight hundred men, was partially sheltered by the hill. Both were flanked +by musketeers. On the brow of the hill was a large body of light armed +troops, the 'enfans perdus' of the army. The cavalry, amounting to not +more than three hundred men, was placed in front, facing the road along +which Aremberg was to arrive. + +That road was bordered by a wood extending nearly to the front of the +hill. As Aremberg reached its verge, he brought out his artillery, and +opened a fire upon the body of light troops. The hill protected a large +part of the enemy's body from this attack. Finding the rebels so strong +in numbers and position, Aremberg was disposed only to skirmish. He knew +better than did his soldiers the treacherous nature of the ground in +front of the enemy. He saw that it was one of those districts where peat +had been taken out in large squares for fuel, and where a fallacious and +verdant scum upon the surface of deep pools simulated the turf that had +been removed. He saw that the battle-ground presented to him by his +sagacious enemy was one great sweep of traps and pitfalls. Before he +could carry the position, many men must necessarily be engulfed. + +He paused for an instant. He was deficient in cavalry, having only +Martinengo's troop, hardly amounting to four hundred men. He was sure of +Meghem's arrival within twenty-four hours. If, then, he could keep the +rebels in check, without allowing them any opportunity to disperse, he +should be able, on the morrow, to cut them to pieces, according to the +plan agreed upon a fortnight before. But the Count had to contend with a +double obstacle. His soldiers were very hot, his enemy very cool. The +Spaniards, who had so easily driven a thousand musketeers from behind +their windmill, the evening before, who had seen the whole rebel force +decamp in hot haste on the very night of their arrival before Dam, +supposed themselves in full career of victory. Believing that the name +alone of the old legions had stricken terror to the hearts of the +beggars, and that no resistance was possible to Spanish arms, they +reviled their general for his caution. His reason for delay was theirs +for hurry. Why should Meghem's loitering and mutinous troops, arriving at +the eleventh hour, share in the triumph and the spoil? No man knew the +country better than Aremberg, a native of the Netherlands, the stadholder +of the province. Cowardly or heretical motives alone could sway him, if +he now held them back in the very hour of victory. Inflamed beyond +endurance by these taunts, feeling his pride of country touched to the +quick, and willing to show that a Netherlander would lead wherever +Spaniards dared to follow, Aremberg allowed himself to commit the grave +error for which he was so deeply to atone. Disregarding the dictates of +his own experience and the arrangements of his superior, he yielded to +the braggart humor of his soldiers, which he had not, like Alva, learned +to moderate or to despise. + +In the mean, time, the body of light troops which had received the fire +from the musical pieces of Groningen was seen to waver. The artillery was +then brought beyond the cover of the wood, and pointed more fully upon +the two main squares of the enemy. A few shots told. Soon afterward the +'enfans perdus' retreated helter-skelter, entirely deserting their +position. + +This apparent advantage, which was only a preconcerted stratagem, was too +much for the fiery Spaniards. They rushed merrily forward to attack the +stationary squares, their general being no longer able, to restrain their +impetuosity. In a moment the whole van-guard had plunged into the morass. +In a few minutes more they were all helplessly and hopelessly struggling +in the pools, while the musketeers of the enemy poured in a deadly fire +upon them, without wetting the soles of their own feet. The pikemen, too, +who composed the main body of the larger square, now charged upon all who +were extricating themselves from their entanglement, and drove them back +again to a muddy death. Simultaneously, the lesser patriot squadron, +which had so long been sheltered, emerged from the cover of the hill, +made a detour around its base, enveloped the rear-guard of the Spaniards +before they could advance to the succor of their perishing comrades, and +broke them to pieces almost instantly. Gonzalo de Braccamonte, the very +Spanish colonel who had been foremost in denunciation of Aremberg, for +his disposition to delay the contest, was now the first to fly. To his +bad conduct was ascribed the loss of the day. The anger of Alva was so +high, when he was informed of the incident, that he would have condemned +the officer to death but for the intercession of his friends and +countrymen. The rout was sudden and absolute. The foolhardiness of the +Spaniards had precipitated them into the pit which their enemies had dug. +The day, was lost. Nothing was left for Aremberg but to perish with +honor. Placing himself at the head of his handful of cavalry, he dashed +into the melee. The shock was sustained by young Adolphus of Nassau, at +the head of an equal number of riders. Each leader singled out the other. +They met as "captains of might" should do, in the very midst of the +affray. Aremberg, receiving and disregarding a pistol shot from his +adversary, laid Adolphus dead at his feet, with a bullet through his body +and a sabre cut on his head. Two troopers in immediate attendance upon +the young Count shared the same fate from the same hand. Shortly +afterward, the horse of Aremberg, wounded by a musket ball, fell to the +ground. A few devoted followers lifted the charger to his legs and the +bleeding rider to his saddle. They endeavored to bear their wounded +general from the scene of action. The horse staggered a few paces and +fell dead. Aremberg disengaged himself from his body, and walked a few +paces to the edge of a meadow near the road. Here, wounded in the action, +crippled by the disease which had so long tormented him, and scarcely +able to sustain longer the burthen of his armor, he calmly awaited his +fate. A troop of the enemy advanced soon afterwards, and Aremberg fell, +covered with wounds, fighting like a hero of Homer, single-handed, +against a battalion, with a courage worthy a better cause and a better +fate. The sword by which he received his final death-blow was that of the +Seigneur do Haultain. That officer having just seen his brother slain +before his eyes, forgot the respect due to unsuccessful chivalry. + +The battle was scarcely finished when an advancing trumpet was heard. The +sound caused the victors to pause in their pursuit, and enabled a remnant +of the conquered Spaniards to escape. Meghem's force was thought to be +advancing. That general had indeed arrived, but he was alone. He had +reached Zuidlaren, a village some four leagues from the scene of action, +on the noon of that day. Here he had found a letter from Aremberg, +requesting him to hasten. He had done so. His troops, however, having +come from Coevorden that morning, were unable to accomplish so long a +march in addition. The Count, accompanied by a few attendants, reached +the neighborhood of Heiliger Lee only in time to meet with some of the +camp sutlers and other fugitives, from whom he learned the disastrous +news of the defeat. Finding that all was lost, he very properly returned +to Zuidlaren, from which place he made the best of his way to Groningen. +That important city, the key of Friesland, he was thus enabled to secure. +The troops which he brought, in addition to the four German vanderas of +Schaumburg, already quartered there, were sufficient to protect it +against the ill-equipped army of Louis Nassau. + +The patriot leader had accomplished, after all, but a barren victory. He +had, to be sure, destroyed a number of Spaniards, amounting, according to +the different estimates, from five hundred to sixteen hundred men. He had +also broken up a small but veteran army. More than all, he had taught the +Netherlanders, by this triumphant termination to a stricken field, that +the choice troops of Spain were not invincible. But the moral effect of +the victory was the only permanent one. The Count's badly paid troops +could with difficulty be kept together. He had no sufficient artillery to +reduce the city whose possession would have proved so important to the +cause. Moreover, in common with the Prince of Orange and all his +brethren, he had been called to mourn for the young and chivalrous +Adolphus, whose life-blood had stained the laurels of this first patriot +victory. Having remained, and thus wasted the normal three days upon the +battle-field, Louis now sat down before Groningen, fortifying and +entrenching himself in a camp within cannonshot of the city. + +On the 23rd we have seen that Aremberg had written, full of confidence, +to the Governor-general, promising soon to send him good news of the +beggars. On the 26th, Count Meghem wrote that, having spoken with a man +who had helped to place Aremberg in his coffin, he could hardly entertain +any farther doubt as to his fate. + +The wrath of the Duke was even greater than his surprise. Like Augustus, +he called in vain on the dead commander for his legions, but prepared +himself to inflict a more rapid and more terrible vengeance than the +Roman's. Recognizing the gravity of his situation, he determined to take +the field in person, and to annihilate this insolent chieftain who had +dared not only to cope with, but to conquer his veteran regiments. But +before he could turn his back upon Brussels, many deeds were to be done. +His measures now followed each other in breathless succession, +fulminating and blasting at every stroke. On the 28th May, he issued an +edict, banishing, on pain of death, the Prince of Orange, Louis Nassau, +Hoogstraaten, Van den Berg, and others, with confiscation of all their +property. At the same time he razed the Culemburg Palace to the ground, +and erected a pillar upon its ruins, commemorating the accursed +conspiracy which had been engendered within its walls. On the 1st June, +eighteen prisoners of distinction, including the two barons Batenburg, +Maximilian Kock, Blois de Treslong and others, were executed upon the +Horse Market, in Brussels. In the vigorous language of Hoogstraaten, this +horrible tragedy was enacted directly before the windows of that "cruel +animal, Noircarmes," who, in company of his friend, Berlaymont, and the +rest of the Blood-Council, looked out upon the shocking spectacle. The +heads of the victims were exposed upon stakes, to which also their bodies +were fastened. Eleven of these victims were afterward deposited, +uncoffined, in unconsecrated ground; the other seven were left unburied +to moulder on the gibbet. On the 2d June, Villars, the leader in the +Daalem rising, suffered on the scaffold, with three others. On the 3d, +Counts Egmont and Horn were brought in a carriage from Ghent to Brussels, +guarded by ten companies of infantry and one of cavalry. They were then +lodged in the "Brood-huis" opposite the Town Hall, on the great square of +Brussels. On the 4th, Alva having, as he solemnly declared before God and +the world, examined thoroughly the mass of documents appertaining to +those two great prosecutions which had only been closed three days +before, pronounced sentence against the illustrious prisoners. These +documents of iniquity signed and sealed by the Duke, were sent to the +Blood-Council, where they were read by Secretary Praets. The signature of +Philip was not wanting, for the sentences had been drawn upon blanks +signed by the monarch, of which the Viceroy had brought a whole trunk +full from Spain. The sentence against Egmont declared very briefly that +the Duke of Alva, having read all the papers and evidence in the case, +had found the Count guilty of high treason. It was proved that Egmont had +united with the confederates; that he had been a party to the accursed +conspiracy of the Prince of Orange; that he had taken the rebel nobles +under his protection, and that he had betrayed the Government and the +Holy Catholic Church by his conduct in Flanders. Therefore the Duke +condemned him to be executed by the sword on the following day, and +decreed that his head should be placed on high in a public place, there +to remain until the Duke should otherwise direct. The sentence against +Count Horn was similar in language and purport. + +That afternoon the Duke sent for the Bishop of Ypres, The prelate arrived +at dusk. As soon as he presented himself, Alva informed him of the +sentence which had just been pronounced, and ordered him to convey the +intelligence to the prisoners. He further charged him with the duty of +shriving the victims, and preparing their souls for death. The bishop +fell on his knees, aghast at the terrible decree. He implored the +Governor-General to have mercy upon the two unfortunate nobles. If their +lives could not be spared, he prayed him at any rate to grant delay. With +tears and earnest supplications the prelate endeavored to avert or to +postpone the doom which had been pronounced. It was in vain. The +sentence, inflexible as destiny, had been long before ordained. Its +execution had been but hastened by the temporary triumph of rebellion in +Friesland. Alva told the Bishop roughly that he had not been summoned to +give advice. Delay or pardon was alike impossible. He was to act as +confessor to the criminals, not as councillor to the Viceroy. The Bishop, +thus rebuked, withdrew to accomplish his melancholy mission. Meanwhile, +on the same evening, the miserable Countess of Egmont had been appalled +by rumors, too vague for belief, too terrible to be slighted. She was in +the chamber of Countess Aremberg, with whom she had come to condole for +the death of the Count, when the order for the immediate execution of her +own husband was announced to her. She hastened to the presence of the +Governor-General. The Princess Palatine, whose ancestors had been +emperors, remembered only that she was a wife and a mother. She fell at +the feet of the man who controlled the fate of her husband, and implored +his mercy in humble and submissive terms. The Duke, with calm and almost +incredible irony, reassured the Countess by the information that, on the +morrow, her husband was certainly to be released. With this ambiguous +phrase, worthy the paltering oracles of antiquity, the wretched woman was +obliged to withdraw. Too soon afterward the horrible truth of the words +was revealed to her--words of doom, which she had mistaken for +consolation. + +An hour before midnight the Bishop of Ypres reached Egmont's prison. The +Count was confined in a chamber on the second story of the Brood-huis, +the mansion of the crossbowmen's guild, in that corner of the building +which rests on a narrow street running back from the great square. He was +aroused from his sleep by the approach of his visitor. Unable to speak, +but indicating by the expression of his features the occurrence of a +great misfortune, the Bishop, soon after his entrance, placed the paper +given to him by Alva in Egmont's hands. The unfortunate noble thus +suddenly received the information that his death-sentence had been +pronounced, and that its execution was fixed for the next morning. He +read the paper through without flinching, and expressed astonishment +rather than dismay at its tidings. Exceedingly sanguine by nature, he had +never believed, even after his nine months' imprisonment, in a fatal +termination to the difficulties in which he was involved. He was now +startled both at the sudden condemnation which had followed his lingering +trial, and at the speed with which his death was to fulfil the sentence. +He asked the Bishop, with many expressions of amazement, whether pardon +was impossible; whether delay at least might not be obtained? The prelate +answered by a faithful narrative of the conversation which had just +occurred between Alva and himself. Egmont, thus convinced of his +inevitable doom, then observed to his companion, with exquisite courtesy, +that, since he was to die, he rendered thanks both to God and to the Duke +that his last moments were to be consoled by so excellent a father +confessor. + +Afterwards, with a natural burst of indignation, he exclaimed that it was +indeed a cruel and unjust sentence. He protested that he had never in his +whole life wronged his Majesty; certainly never so deeply as to deserve +such a punishment. All that he had done had been with loyal intentions. +The King's true interest had been his constant aim. Nevertheless, if he +had fallen into error, he prayed to God that his death might wipe away +his misdeeds, and that his name might not be dishonored, nor his children +brought to shame. His beloved wife and innocent children were to endure +misery enough by his death and the confiscation of his estates. It was at +least due to his long services that they should be spared further +suffering. He then asked his father confessor what advice he had to give +touching his present conduct. The Bishop replied by an exhortation, that +he should turn himself to God; that he should withdraw his thoughts +entirely from all earthly interests, and prepare himself for the world +beyond the grave. He accepted the advice, and kneeling before the Bishop, +confessed himself. He then asked to receive the sacrament, which the +Bishop administered, after the customary mass. Egmont asked what prayer +would be most appropriate at the hour of execution. His confessor replied +that there was none more befitting than the one which Jesus had taught +his disciples--Our Father, which art in heaven. + +Some conversation ensued, in which the Count again expressed his +gratitude that his parting soul had been soothed by these pious and +friendly offices. By a revulsion of feeling, he then bewailed again the +sad fate of his wife and of his young children. The Bishop entreated him +anew to withdraw his mind from such harrowing reflections, and to give +himself entirely to God. Overwhelmed with grief, Egmont exclaimed with +natural and simple pathos--"Alas! how miserable and frail is our nature, +that, when we should think of God only, we are unable to shut out the +images of wife and children." + +Recovering from his emotion, and having yet much time, he sat down and +wrote with perfect self-possession two letters, one to Philip and one to +Alva. The celebrated letter to the King was as follows: + + "SIRE,--I have learned, this evening, the sentence which your + Majesty has been pleased to pronounce upon me. Although I have + never had a thought, and believe myself never to have done a deed, + which could tend to the prejudice of your Majesty's person or + service, or to the detriment of our true ancient and Catholic + religion, nevertheless I take patience to bear that which it has + pleased the good God to send. If, during these troubles in the + Netherlands, I have done or permitted aught which had a different + appearance, it has been with the true and good intent to serve God + and your Majesty, and the necessity of the times. Therefore, I pray + your Majesty to forgive me, and to have compassion on my poor wife, + my children, and my servants; having regard to my past services. + In which hope I now commend myself to the mercy of God. + + "From Brussels, + "Ready to die, this 5th June, 1568, + "Your Majesty's very humble and loyal vassal and servant, + "LAMORAL D'EGMONT." + +Having thus kissed the murderous hand which smote him, he handed the +letter, stamped rather with superfluous loyalty than with Christian +forgiveness, to the Bishop, with a request that he would forward it to +its destination, accompanied by a letter from his own hand. This duty the +Bishop solemnly promised to fulfil. + +Facing all the details of his execution with the fortitude which belonged +to his character, he now took counsel with his confessor as to the +language proper for him to hold from the scaffold to the assembled +people. The Bishop, however, strongly dissuaded him from addressing the +multitude at all. + +The persons farthest removed, urged the priest, would not hear the words, +while the Spanish troops in the immediate vicinity would not understand +them. It seemed, therefore, the part of wisdom and of dignity for him to +be silent, communing only with his God. The Count assented to this +reasoning, and abandoned his intention of saying a few farewell words to +the people, by many of whom he believed himself tenderly beloved. He now +made many preparations for the morrow, in order that his thoughts, in the +last moments, might not be distracted by mechanical details, cutting the +collar from his doublet and from his shirt with his own hands, in order +that those of the hangman might have no excuse for contaminating his +person. The rest of the night was passed in prayer and meditation. + +Fewer circumstances concerning the last night of Count Horn's life have +been preserved. It is, however, well ascertained that the Admiral +received the sudden news of his condemnation with absolute composure. He +was assisted at his devotional exercises in prison by the curate of La +Chapelle. + +During the night, the necessary preparations for the morning tragedy had +been made in the great square of Brussels. It was the intention of +government to strike terror to the heart of the people by the exhibition +of an impressive and appalling spectacle. The absolute and irresponsible +destiny which ruled them was to be made manifest by the immolation of +these two men, so elevated by rank, powerful connexion, and distinguished +service. + +The effect would be heightened by the character of the locality where +the gloomy show was to be presented. The great square of Brussels had +always a striking and theatrical aspect. Its architectural effects, +suggesting in some degree the meretricious union between Oriental and a +corrupt Grecian art, accomplished in the medieval midnight, have amazed +the eyes of many generations. The splendid Hotel de Ville, with its +daring spire and elaborate front, ornamented one side of the place; +directly opposite was the graceful but incoherent facade of the +Brood-huis, now the last earthly resting-place of the two distinguished +victims, while grouped around these principal buildings rose the +fantastic palaces of the Archers, Mariners, and of other guilds, with +their festooned walls and toppling gables bedizened profusely with +emblems, statues, and quaint decorations. The place had been alike the +scene of many a brilliant tournament and of many a bloody execution. +Gallant knights had contended within its precincts, while bright eyes +rained influence from all those picturesque balconies and decorated +windows. Martyrs to religious and to political liberty had, upon the same +spot, endured agonies which might have roused every stone of its pavement +to mutiny or softened them to pity. Here Egmont himself, in happier days, +had often borne away the prize of skill or of valor, the cynosure of +every eye; and hence, almost in the noon of a life illustrated by many +brilliant actions, he was to be sent, by the hand of tyranny, to his +great account. + +On the morning of the 5th of June, three thousand Spanish troops were +drawn up in battle array around a scaffold which had been erected in the +centre of the square. Upon this scaffold, which was covered with black +cloth, were placed two velvet cushions, two iron spikes, and a small +table. Upon the table was a silver crucifix. The provost-marshal, Spelle, +sat on horseback below, with his red wand in his hand, little dreaming +that for him a darker doom was reserved than that of which he was now the +minister. The executioner was concealed beneath the draperies of the +scaffold. + +At eleven o'clock, a company of Spanish soldiers, led by Julian Romero +and Captain Salinas, arrived at Egmont's chamber. The Count was ready for +them. They were about to bind his hands, but he warmly protested against +the indignity, and, opening the folds of his robe, showed them that he +had himself shorn off his collars, and made preparations for his death. +His request was granted. Egmont, with the Bishop at his side, then walked +with a steady step the short distance which separated him from the place +of execution. Julian Romero and the guard followed him. On his way, he +read aloud the fifty-first Psalm: "Hear my cry, O God, and give ear unto +my prayer!" He seemed to have selected these scriptural passages as a +proof that, notwithstanding the machinations of his enemies, and the +cruel punishment to which they had led him, loyalty to his sovereign was +as deeply rooted and as religious a sentiment in his bosom as devotion to +his God. "Thou wilt prolong the King's life; and his years as many +generations. He shall abide before God for ever! O prepare mercy and +truth which may preserve him." Such was the remarkable prayer of the +condemned traitor on his way to the block. + +Having ascended the scaffold, he walked across it twice or thrice. He was +dressed in a tabard or robe of red damask, over which was thrown a short +black mantle, embroidered in gold. He had a black silk hat, with black +and white plumes, on his head, and held a handkerchief in his hand. As he +strode to and fro, he expressed a bitter regret that he had not been +permitted to die, sword in hand, fighting for his country and his king. +Sanguine to the last, he passionately asked Romero, whether the sentence +was really irrevocable, whether a pardon was not even then to be granted. +The marshal shrugged his shoulders, murmuring a negative reply. Upon +this, Egmont gnashed his teeth together, rather in rage than despair. +Shortly afterward commanding himself again, he threw aside his robe and +mantle, and took the badge of the Golden Fleece from his neck. Kneeling, +then, upon one of the cushions, he said the Lord's Prayer aloud, and +requested the Bishop, who knelt at his side, to repeat it thrice. After +this, the prelate gave him the silver crucifix to kiss, and then +pronounced his blessing upon him. This done, the Count rose again to his +feet, laid aside his hat and handkerchief, knelt again upon the cushion, +drew a little cap over his eyes, and, folding his hands together, cried +with a loud voice, "Lord, into Thy hands I commit my spirit." The +executioner then suddenly appeared, and severed his head from his +shoulders at a single blow. + +A moment of shuddering silence succeeded the stroke. The whole vast +assembly seemed to have felt it in their own hearts. Tears fell from the +eyes even of the Spanish soldiery, for they knew and honored Egmont as a +valiant general. The French embassador, Mondoucet, looking upon the scene +from a secret place, whispered that he had now seen the head fall before +which France had twice trembled. Tears were even seen upon the iron cheek +of Alva, as, from a window in a house directly opposite the scaffold, he +looked out upon the scene. + +A dark cloth was now quickly thrown over the body and the blood, and, +within a few minutes, the Admiral was seen advancing through the crowd. +His bald head was uncovered, his hands were unbound. He calmly saluted +such of his acquaintances as he chanced to recognize upon his path. Under +a black cloak, which he threw off when he had ascended the scaffold, he +wore a plain, dark doublet, and he did not, like Egmont, wear the +insignia of the Fleece. Casting his eyes upon the corpse, which lay +covered with the dark cloth, he asked if it were the body of Egmont. +Being answered in the affirmative, he muttered a few words in Spanish, +which were not distinctly audible. His attention was next caught by the +sight of his own coat of arms reversed, and he expressed anger at this +indignity to his escutcheon, protesting that he had not deserved the +insult. He then spoke a few words to the crowd below, wishing them +happiness, and begging them to pray for his soul. He did not kiss the +crucifix, but he knelt upon the scaffold to pray, and was assisted in his +devotions by the Bishop of Ypres. When they were concluded, he rose again +to his feet. Then drawing a Milan cap completely over his face, and +uttering, in Latin, the same invocation which Egmont had used, he +submitted his neck to the stroke. + +Egmont had obtained, as a last favor, that his execution should precede +that of his friend. Deeming himself in part to blame for Horn's +reappearance in Brussels after the arrival of Alva, and for his, death, +which was the result, he wished to be spared the pang of seeing him dead. +Gemma Frisius, the astrologer who had cast the horoscope of Count Horn at +his birth, had come to him in the most solemn manner to warn him against +visiting Brussels. The Count had answered stoutly that he placed his +trust in God, and that, moreover, his friend Egmont was going thither +also, who had engaged that no worse fate should befal the one of them +than the other. + +The heads of both sufferers were now exposed for two hours upon the iron +stakes. Their bodies, placed in coffins, remained during the same +interval upon the scaffold. Meantime, notwithstanding the presence of the +troops, the populace could not be restrained from tears and from +execrations. Many crowded about the scaffold, and dipped their +handkerchiefs in the blood, to be preserved afterwards as memorials of +the crime and as ensigns of revenge. + +The bodies were afterwards delivered to their friends. A stately +procession of the guilds, accompanied by many of the clergy, conveyed +their coffins to the church of Saint Gudule. Thence the body of Egmont +was carried to the convent of Saint Clara, near the old Brussels gate, +where it was embalmed. His escutcheon and banners were hung upon the +outward wall of his residence, by order of the Countess. By command of +Alva they were immediately torn down. His remains were afterwards +conveyed to his city of Sottegem, in Flanders, where they were interred. +Count Horn was entombed at Kempen. The bodies had been removed from the +scaffold at two o'clock. The heads remained exposed between burning +torches for two hours longer. They were then taken down, enclosed in +boxes, and, as it was generally supposed, despatched to Madrid. The King +was thus enabled to look upon the dead faces of his victims without the +trouble of a journey to the provinces. + +Thus died Philip Montmorency, Count of Horn, and Lamoral of Egmont, +Prince of Gaveren. The more intense sympathy which seemed to attach +itself to the fate of Egmont, rendered the misfortune of his companion in +arms and in death comparatively less interesting. + +Egmont is a great historical figure, but he was certainly not a great +man. His execution remains an enduring monument not only of Philip's +cruelty and perfidy but of his dullness. The King had everything to hope +from Egmont and nothing to fear. Granvelle knew the man well, and, almost +to the last, could not believe in the possibility of so unparalleled a +blunder as that which was to make a victim, a martyr, and a popular idol +of a personage brave indeed, but incredibly vacillating and inordinately +vain, who, by a little management, might have been converted into a most +useful instrument for the royal purposes. + +It is not necessary to recapitulate the events of Egmont's career. Step +by step we have studied his course, and at no single period have we +discovered even a germ of those elements which make the national +champion. His pride of order rendered him furious at the insolence of +Granvelle, and caused him to chafe under his dominion. His vanity of high +rank and of distinguished military service made him covet the highest +place under the Crown, while his hatred of those by whom he considered +himself defrauded of his claims, converted him into a malcontent. He had +no sympathy with the people, but he loved, as a grand Seignior, to be +looked up to and admired by a gaping crowd. He was an unwavering +Catholic, held sectaries in utter loathing, and, after the +image-breaking, took a positive pleasure in hanging ministers, together +with their congregations, and in pressing the besieged Christians of +Valenciennes to extremities. Upon more than one occasion he pronounced +his unequivocal approval of the infamous edicts, and he exerted himself +at times to enforce them within his province. The transitory impression +made upon his mind by the lofty nature of Orange was easily effaced in +Spain by court flattery and by royal bribes. Notwithstanding the +coldness, the rebuffs, and the repeated warnings which might have saved +him from destruction, nothing could turn him at last from the fanatic +loyalty towards which, after much wavering, his mind irrevocably pointed. +His voluntary humiliation as a general, a grandee, a Fleming, and a +Christian before the insolent Alva upon his first arrival, would move our +contempt were it not for the gentler emotions suggested by the infatuated +nobleman's doom. Upon the departure of Orange, Egmont was only too eager +to be employed by Philip in any work which the monarch could find for him +to do. Yet this was the man whom Philip chose, through the executioner's +sword, to convert into a popular idol, and whom Poetry has loved to +contemplate as a romantic champion of freedom. + +As for Horn, details enough have likewise been given of his career to +enable the reader thoroughly to understand the man. He was a person of +mediocre abilities and thoroughly commonplace character. His high rank +and his tragic fate are all which make him interesting. He had little +love for court or people. Broken in fortunes, he passed his time mainly +in brooding over the ingratitude of Charles and Philip, and in +complaining bitterly of the disappointments to which their policy had +doomed him. He cared nothing for Cardinalists or confederates. He +disliked Brederode, he detested Granvelle. Gloomy and morose, he went to +bed, while the men who were called his fellow-conspirators were dining +and making merry in the same house with himself: He had as little +sympathy with the cry of "Vivent les gueux" as for that of "Vive le Roy." +The most interesting features in his character are his generosity toward +his absent brother and the manliness with which, as Montigny's +representative at Tournay, he chose rather to confront the anger of the +government, and to incur the deadly revenge of Philip, than make himself +the executioner of the harmless Christians in Tournay. In this regard, +his conduct is vastly more entitled to our respect than that of Egmont, +and he was certainly more deserving of reverence from the people, even +though deserted by all men while living, and left headless and solitary +in his coffin at Saint Gudule. + +The hatred for Alva, which sprang from the graves of these illustrious +victims, waxed daily more intense. "Like things of another world," wrote +Hoogstraaten, "seem the cries, lamentations, and just compassion which +all the inhabitants of Brussels, noble or ignoble, feel for such +barbarous tyranny, while this Nero of an Alva is boasting that he will do +the same to all whom he lays his hands upon." No man believed that the +two nobles had committed a crime, and many were even disposed to acquit +Philip of his share in the judicial murder. The people ascribed the +execution solely to the personal jealousy of the Duke. They discoursed to +each other not only of the envy with which the Governor-general had +always regarded the military triumphs of his rival, but related that +Egmont had at different times won large sums of Alva at games of hazard, +and that he had moreover, on several occasions, carried off the prize +from the Duke in shooting at the popinjay. Nevertheless, in spite of all +these absurd rumors, there is no doubt that Philip and Alva must share +equally in the guilt of the transaction, and that the "chastisement" had +been arranged before Alva had departed from Spain. + +The Countess Egmont remained at the convent of Cambre with her eleven +children, plunged in misery and in poverty. The Duke wrote to Philip, +that he doubted if there were so wretched a family in the world. He, at +the same time, congratulated his sovereign on the certainty that the more +intense the effects, the more fruitful would be the example of this great +execution. He stated that the Countess was considered a most saintly +woman, and that there had been scarcely a night in which, attended by her +daughters, she had not gone forth bare-footed to offer up prayers for her +husband in every church within the city. He added, that it was doubtful +whether they had money enough to buy themselves a supper that very night, +and he begged the King to allow them the means of supporting life. He +advised that the Countess should be placed, without delay in a Spanish +convent, where her daughters might at once take the veil, assuring his +Majesty that her dower was entirely inadequate to her support. Thus +humanely recommending his sovereign to bestow an alms on the family which +his own hand had reduced from a princely station to beggary, the Viceroy +proceeded to detail the recent events in Friesland, together with the +measures which he was about taking to avenge the defeat and death of +Count Aremberg. + + ETEXT EDITOR'S BOOKMARKS: + + Deeply criminal in the eyes of all religious parties + He had omitted to execute heretics + Holy Office condemned all the inhabitants of the Netherlands + Not for a new doctrine, but for liberty of conscience + Questioning nothing, doubting nothing, fearing nothing + The perpetual reproductions of history + Wealth was an unpardonable sin + + + + +MOTLEY'S HISTORY OF THE NETHERLANDS, PG EDITION, VOLUME 16. + +THE RISE OF THE DUTCH REPUBLIC + +By JOHN LOTHROP MOTLEY +1855 + + + + +1568 [CHAPTER III.] + + Preparations of the Duke against Count Louis--Precarious situation + of Louis in Friesland--Timidity of the inhabitants--Alva in + Friesland--Skirmishing near Groningen--Retreat of the patriots-- + Error committed by Louis--His position at Jemmingen--Mutinous + demonstrations of his troops--Louis partially restores order-- + Attempt to destroy the dykes interrupted by the arrival of Alva's + forces--Artful strategy of the Duke--Defeat of Count Louis and utter + destruction of his army--Outrages committed by the Spaniards--Alva + at Utrecht--Execution of Vrow van Diemen--Episode of Don Carlos-- + Fables concerning him and Queen Isabella--Mystery, concerning his + death--Secret letters of Philip to the Pope--The one containing the + truth of the transaction still concealed in the Vatican--Case + against Philip as related by Mathieu, De Thou, and others--Testimony + in the King's favor by the nuncio, the Venetian envoy, and others-- + Doubtful state of the question--Anecdotes concerning Don Carlos--His + character. + +Those measures were taken with the precision and promptness which marked +the Duke's character, when precision and promptness were desirable. There +had been a terrible energy in his every step, since the successful foray +of Louis Nassau. Having determined to take the field in person with +nearly all the Spanish veterans, he had at once acted upon the necessity +of making the capital secure, after his back should be turned. It was +impossible to leave three thousand choice troops to guard Count Egmont. A +less number seemed insufficient to prevent a rescue. He had, therefore, +no longer delayed the chastisement which had already been determined, but +which the events in the north had precipitated. Thus the only positive +result of Louis Nassau's victory was the execution of his imprisoned +friends. + +The expedition under Aremberg had failed from two causes. The Spanish +force had been inadequate, and they had attacked the enemy at a +disadvantage. The imprudent attack was the result of the contempt with +which they had regarded their antagonist. These errors were not to be +repeated. Alva ordered Count Meghem, now commanding in the province of +Groningen, on no account to hazard hostilities until the game was sure. +He also immediately ordered large reinforcements to move forward to the +seat of war. The commanders intrusted with this duty were Duke Eric of +Brunswick, Chiappin Vitelli, Noircarmes, and Count de Roeulx. The +rendezvous for the whole force was Deventer, and here they all arrived on +the 10th July. On the same day the Duke of Alva himself entered Deventer, +to take command in person. On the evening of the 14th July he reached +Rolden, a village three leagues distant from Groningen, at the head of +three terzios of Spanish infantry, three companies of light horse, and a +troop of dragoons. His whole force in and about Groningen amounted to +fifteen thousand choice troops besides a large but uncertain number of +less disciplined soldiery. + +Meantime, Louis of Nassau, since his victory, had accomplished nothing. +For this inactivity there was one sufficient excuse, the total want of +funds. His only revenue was the amount of black mail which he was able to +levy upon the inhabitants of the province. He repeated his determination +to treat them all as enemies, unless they furnished him with the means of +expelling their tyrants from the country. He obtained small sums in this +manner from time to time. The inhabitants were favorably disposed, but +they were timid and despairing. They saw no clear way towards the +accomplishment of the result concerning which Louis was so confident. +They knew that the terrible Alva was already on his way. They felt sure +of being pillaged by both parties, and of being hanged as rebels, +besides, as soon as the Governor-general should make his appearance. + +Louis had, however, issued two formal proclamations for two especial +contributions. In these documents he had succinctly explained that the +houses of all recusants should be forthwith burned about their ears, and +in consequence of these peremptory measures, he had obtained some ten +thousand florins. Alva ordered counter-proclamations to be affixed to +church doors and other places, forbidding all persons to contribute to +these forced loans of the rebels, on penalty of paying twice as much to +the Spaniards, with arbitrary punishment in addition, after his arrival. +The miserable inhabitants, thus placed between two fires, had nothing for +it but to pay one-half of their property to support the rebellion in the +first place, with the prospect of giving the other half as a subsidy to +tyranny afterwards; while the gibbet stood at the end of the vista to +reward their liberality. Such was the horrible position of the peasantry +in this civil conflict. The weight of guilt thus accumulated upon the +crowned head which conceived, and upon the red right hand which wrought +all this misery, what human scales can measure? + +With these precarious means of support, the army of Louis of Nassau, as +may easily be supposed, was anything but docile. After the victory of +Heiliger Lee there had seemed to his German mercenaries a probability of +extensive booty, which grew fainter as the slender fruit of that battle +became daily more apparent. The two abbots of Wittewerum and of Heiliger +Lee, who had followed Aremberg's train in order to be witnesses of his +victory, had been obliged to pay to the actual conqueror a heavy price +for the entertainment to which they had invited themselves, and these +sums, together with the amounts pressed from the reluctant estates, and +the forced contributions paid by luckless peasants, enabled him to keep +his straggling troops together a few weeks longer. Mutiny, however, was +constantly breaking out, and by the eloquent expostulations and vague +promises of the Count, was with difficulty suppressed. + +He had, for a few weeks immediately succeeding the battle, distributed +his troops in three different stations. On the approach of the Duke, +however, he hastily concentrated his whole force at his own strongly +fortified camp, within half cannon shot of Groningen. His army, such as +it was, numbered from 10,000 to 12,000 men. Alva reached Groningen early +in the morning, and without pausing a moment, marched his troops directly +through the city. He then immediately occupied an entrenched and +fortified house, from which it was easy to inflict damage upon the camp. +This done, the Duke, with a few attendants, rode forward to reconnoitre +the enemy in person. He found him in a well fortified position, having +the river on his front, which served as a moat to his camp, and with a +deep trench three hundred yards beyond, in addition. Two wooden bridges +led across the river; each was commanded by a fortified house, in which +was a provision of pine torches, ready at a moment's warning, to set fire +to the bridges. Having thus satisfied himself, the Duke rode back to his +army, which had received strict orders not to lift a finger till his +return. He then despatched a small force of five hundred musketeers, +under Robles, to skirmish with the enemy, and, if possible, to draw them +from their trenches. + +The troops of Louis, however, showed no greediness to engage. On the +contrary, it soon became evident that their dispositions were of an +opposite tendency. The Count himself, not at that moment trusting his +soldiery, who were in an extremely mutinous condition, was desirous of +falling back before his formidable antagonist. The Duke, faithful, +however, to his life-long principles, had no intentions of precipitating +the action in those difficult and swampy regions. The skirmishing, +therefore, continued for many hours, an additional force of 1000 men +being detailed from the Spanish army. The day was very sultry, however, +the enemy reluctant, and the whole action languid. At last, towards +evening, a large body, tempted beyond their trenches, engaged warmly with +the Spaniards. The combat lasted but a few minutes, the patriots were +soon routed, and fled precipitately back to their camp. The panic spread +with them, and the whole army was soon in retreat. On retiring, they had, +however, set fire to the bridges, and thus secured an advantage at the +outset of the chase. The Spaniards were no longer to be held. Vitelli +obtained permission to follow with 2000 additional troops. The fifteen +hundred who had already been engaged, charged furiously upon their +retreating foes. Some dashed across the blazing bridges, with their +garments and their very beards on fire. Others sprang into the river. +Neither fire nor water could check the fierce pursuit. The cavalry +dismounting, drove their horses into the stream, and clinging to their +tails, pricked the horses forward with their lances. Having thus been +dragged across, they joined their comrades in the mad chase along the +narrow dykes, and through the swampy and almost impassable country where +the rebels were seeking shelter. The approach of night, too soon +advancing, at last put an end to the hunt. The Duke with difficulty +recalled his men, and compelled them to restrain their eagerness until +the morrow. Three hundred of the patriots were left dead upon the field, +besides at least an equal number who perished in the river and canals. +The army of Louis was entirely routed, and the Duke considered it +virtually destroyed. He wrote to the state council that he should pursue +them the next day, but doubted whether he should find anybody to talk +with him. In this the Governor-general soon found himself delightfully +disappointed. + +Five days later, the Duke arrived at Reyden, on the Ems. Owing to the +unfavorable disposition of the country people, who were willing to +protect the fugitives by false information to their pursuers, he was +still in doubt as to the position then occupied by the enemy. He had been +fearful that they would be found at this very village of Reyden. It was a +fatal error on the part of Count Louis that they were not. Had he made a +stand at this point, he might have held out a long time. The bridge which +here crossed the river would have afforded him a retreat into Germany at +any moment, and the place was easily to be defended in front. Thus he +might have maintained himself against his fierce but wary foe, while his +brother Orange, who was at Strasburg watching the progress of events, was +executing his own long-planned expedition into the heart of the +Netherlands. With Alva thus occupied in Friesland, the results of such an +invasion might have been prodigious. It was, however, not on the cards +for that campaign. The mutinous disposition of the mercenaries under his +command had filled Louis with doubt and disgust. Bold and sanguine, but +always too fiery and impatient, he saw not much possibility of paying his +troops any longer with promises. Perhaps he was not unwilling to place +them in a position where they would be obliged to fight or to perish. At +any rate, such was their present situation. Instead of halting at Reyden, +he had made his stand at Jemmingen, about four leagues distant from that +place, and a little further down the river. Alva discovered this +important fact soon after his arrival at Reyden, and could not conceal +his delight. Already exulting at the error made by his adversary, in +neglecting the important position which he now occupied himself, he was +doubly delighted at learning the nature of the place which he had in +preference selected. He saw that Louis had completely entrapped himself. + +Jemmingen was a small town on the left bank of the Ems. The stream here +very broad and deep, is rather a tide inlet than a river, being but a +very few miles from the Dollart. This circular bay, or ocean chasm, the +result of the violent inundation of the 13th century, surrounds, with the +river, a narrow peninsula. In the corner of this peninsula, as in the +bottom of a sack, Louis had posted his army. His infantry, as usual, was +drawn up in two large squares, and still contained ten thousand men. The +rear rested upon the village, the river was upon his left; his meagre +force of cavalry upon the right. In front were two very deep trenches. +The narrow road, which formed the only entrance to his camp, was guarded +by a ravelin on each side, and by five pieces of artillery. + +The Duke having reconnoitred the enemy in person, rode back, satisfied +that no escape was possible. The river was too deep and too wide for +swimming or wading, and there were but very few boats. Louis was shut up +between twelve thousand Spanish veterans and the river Ems. The rebel +army, although not insufficient in point of numbers, was in a state of +disorganization. They were furious for money and reluctant to fight. They +broke out into open mutiny upon the very verge of battle, and swore that +they would instantly disband, if the gold, which, as they believed, had +been recently brought into the camp, were not immediately distributed +among them. Such was the state of things on the eventful morning of the +21st July. All the expostulations of Count Louis seemed powerless. His +eloquence and his patience, both inferior to his valor, were soon +exhausted. He peremptorily, refused the money for which they clamored, +giving the most cogent of all reasons, an empty coffer. He demonstrated +plainly that they were in that moment to make their election, whether to +win a victory or to submit to a massacre. Neither flight nor surrender +was possible. They knew how much quarter they could expect from the +lances of the Spaniards or the waters of the Dollart. Their only chance +of salvation lay in their own swords. The instinct of self-preservation, +thus invoked, exerted a little of its natural effect. + +Meantime, a work which had been too long neglected, was then, if +possible, to be performed. In that watery territory, the sea was only +held in check by artificial means. In a very short time, by the +demolition of a few dykes and the opening of a few sluices, the whole +country through which the Spaniards had to pass could be laid under +water. Believing it yet possible to enlist the ocean in his defence, +Louis, having partially reduced his soldiers to obedience, ordered a +strong detachment upon this important service. Seizing a spade, he +commenced the work himself, and then returned to set his army in battle +array. Two or three tide gates had been opened, two or three bridges had +been demolished, when Alva, riding in advance of his army, appeared +within a mile or two of Jemmingen. It was then eight o'clock in the +morning. The patriots redoubled their efforts. By ten o'clock the waters +were already knee high, and in some places as deep as to the waist. At +that hour, the advanced guard of the Spaniards arrived. Fifteen hundred +musketeers were immediately ordered forward by the Duke. They were +preceded by a company of mounted carabineers, attended by a small band of +volunteers of distinction. This little band threw themselves at once upon +the troops engaged in destroying the dykes. The rebels fled at the first +onset, and the Spaniards closed the gates. Feeling the full importance of +the moment, Count Louis ordered a large force of musketeers to recover +the position, and to complete the work of inundation. It was too late. +The little band of Spaniards held the post with consummate tenacity. +Charge after charge, volley after volley, from the overwhelming force +brought against them, failed to loosen the fierce grip with which they +held this key to the whole situation. Before they could be driven from +the dykes, their comrades arrived, when all their antagonists at once +made a hurried retreat to their camp. + +Very much the same tactics were now employed by the Duke, as in the +engagement near Selwaert Abbey. He was resolved that this affair, also, +should be a hunt, not a battle; but foresaw that it was to be a more +successful one. There was no loophole of escape, so that after a little +successful baiting, the imprisoned victims would be forced to spring from +their lurking-place, to perish upon his spears. On his march from Reyden +that morning, he had taken care to occupy every farm-house, every +building of whatever description along the road, with his troops. He had +left a strong guard on the bridge at Reyden, and had thus closed +carefully every avenue. The same fifteen hundred musketeers were now +advanced further towards the camp. This small force, powerfully but +secretly sustained, was to feel the enemy; to skirmish with him, and to +draw him as soon as possible out of his trenches. The plan succeeded. +Gradually the engagements between them and the troops sent out by Count +Louis grew more earnest. Finding so insignificant a force opposed to +them, the mutinous rebels took courage. The work waged hot. Lodrono and +Romero, commanders of the musketeers, becoming alarmed, sent to the Duke +for reinforcements. He sent back word in reply, that if they were not +enough to damage the enemy, they could, at least, hold their own for the +present. So much he had a right to expect of Spanish soldiers. At any +rate, he should send no reinforcements. + +Again they were more warmly pressed; again their messenger returned with +the same reply. A third time they send the most urgent entreaties for +succour. The Duke was still inexorable. + +Meantime the result of this scientific angling approached. By noon the +rebels, not being able to see how large a portion of the Spanish army had +arrived, began to think the affair not so serious. Count Louis sent out a +reconnoitring party upon the river in a few boats. They returned without +having been able to discover any large force. It seemed probable, +therefore, that the inundation had been more successful in stopping their +advance than had been supposed. Louis, always too rash, inflamed his men +with temporary enthusiasm. Determined to cut their way out by one +vigorous movement, the whole army at last marched forth from their +entrenchments, with drums beating, colors flying; but already the +concealed reinforcements of their enemies were on the spot. The patriots +met with a warmer reception than they had expected. Their courage +evaporated. Hardly had they advanced three hundred yards, when the whole +body wavered and then retreated precipitately towards the encampment, +having scarcely exchanged a shot with the enemy. Count Louis, in a frenzy +of rage and despair, flew from rank to rank, in vain endeavouring to +rally his terror-stricken troops. It was hopeless. The battery which +guarded the road was entirely deserted. He rushed to the cannon himself, +and fired them all with his own hand. It was their first and last +discharge. His single arm, however bold, could not turn the tide of +battle, and he was swept backwards with his coward troops. In a moment +afterwards, Don Lope de Figueroa, who led the van of the Spaniards, +dashed upon the battery, and secured it, together with the ravelins. +Their own artillery was turned against the rebels, and the road was soon +swept. The Spaniards in large numbers now rushed through the trenches in +pursuit of the retreating foe. No resistance was offered, nor quarter +given. An impossible escape was all which was attempted. It was not a +battle, but a massacre. Many of the beggars in their flight threw down +their arms; all had forgotten their use. Their antagonists butchered them +in droves, while those who escaped the sword were hurled into the river. +Seven Spaniards were killed, and seven thousand rebels. + + [Letter of Alva to the Council of State. Correspondanee du Duc + d'Albe, 158. The same letter is published in Igor, iv. 245, 246. + All writers allow seven thousand to have been killed on the patriot + side, and--the number of Spaniards slain is not estimated at more + than eighty, even by the patriotic Meteren, 55. Compare Bor, iv. + 245-246; Herrera, av. 696; Hoofd, v, 176, and Mendoza, 72.] + +The swift ebb-tide swept the hats of the perishing wretches in such +numbers down the stream, that the people at Embden knew the result of the +battle in an incredibly short period of time. The skirmishing had lasted +from ten o'clock till one, but the butchery continued much longer. It +took time to slaughter even unresisting victims. Large numbers obtained +refuge for the night upon an island in the river. At low water next day +the Spaniards waded to them, and slew every man. Many found concealment +in hovels, swamps, and thickets, so that the whole of the following day +was occupied in ferreting out and despatching them. There was so much to +be done, that there was work enough for all. "Not a soldier," says, with +great simplicity, a Spanish historian who fought in the battle, "not a +soldier, nor even a lad, who wished to share in the victory, but could +find somebody to wound, to kill, to burn, or to drown." The wounding, +killing, burning, drowning lasted two days, and very few escaped. The +landward pursuit extended for three or four leagues around, so that the +roads and pastures were covered with bodies, with corslets, and other +weapons. Count Louis himself stripped off his clothes, and made his +escape, when all was over, by swimming across the Ems. With the paltry +remnant of his troops he again took refuge in Germany. + +The Spanish army, two days afterwards, marched back to Groningen. The +page which records their victorious campaign is foul with outrage and red +with blood. None of the horrors which accompany the passage of hostile +troops through a defenceless country were omitted. Maids and matrons were +ravished in multitudes; old men butchered in cold blood. As Alva +returned, with the rear-guard of his army, the whole sky was red with a +constant conflagration; the very earth seemed changed to ashes. Every +peasant's hovel, every farm-house, every village upon the road had been +burned to the ground. So gross and so extensive had been the outrage, +that the commander-in-chief felt it due to his dignity to hang some of +his own soldiers who had most distinguished themselves in this work. Thus +ended the campaign of Count Louis in Friesland. Thus signally and +terribly had the Duke of Alva vindicated the supremacy of Spanish +discipline and of his own military skill. + +On his return to Groningen, the estates were summoned, and received a +severe lecture for their suspicious demeanour in regard to the rebellion. +In order more effectually to control both province and city, the +Governor-general ordered the construction of a strong fortress, which was +soon begun but never completed. Having thus furnished himself with a key +to this important and doubtful region, he returned by way of Amsterdam to +Utrecht. There he was met by his son Frederic with strong reinforcements. +The Duke reviewed his whole army, and found himself at the head of 30,000 +infantry and 7,000 cavalry. Having fully subdued the province, he had no +occupation for such a force, but he improved the opportunity by cutting +off the head of an old woman in Utrecht. The Vrow van Diemen, eighteen +months previously, had given the preacher Arendsoon a night's lodging in +her house. The crime had, in fact, been committed by her son-in-law, who +dwelt under her roof, and who had himself, without her participation, +extended this dangerous hospitality to a heretic; but the old lady, +although a devout Catholic, was rich. Her execution would strike a +wholesome terror into the hearts of her neighbours. The confiscation of +her estates would bring a handsome sum into the government coffers. It +would be made manifest that the same hand which could destroy an army of +twelve thousand rebels at a blow could inflict as signal punishment on +the small delinquencies of obscure individuals. The old lady, who was +past eighty-four years of age, was placed in a chair upon the scaffold. +She met her death with heroism, and treated her murderers with contempt. +"I understand very well," she observed, "why my death is considered +necessary. The calf is fat and must be killed." To the executioner she +expressed a hope that his sword was sufficiently sharp, "as he was likely +to find her old neck very tough." With this grisly parody upon the +pathetic dying words of Anne Boleyn, the courageous old gentlewoman +submitted to her fate. + +The tragedy of Don Carlos does not strictly belong to our subject, which +is the rise of the Netherland commonwealth--not the decline of the +Spanish monarchy, nor the life of Philip the Second. The thread is but +slender which connects the unhappy young prince with the fortunes of the +northern republic. He was said, no doubt with truth, to desire the +government of Flanders. He was also supposed to be in secret +correspondence with the leaders of the revolt in the provinces. He +appeared, however, to possess very little of their confidence. His name +is only once mentioned by William of Orange, who said in a letter that +"the Prince of Spain had lately eaten sixteen pounds of fruit, including +four pounds of grapes at a single sitting, and had become ill in +consequence." The result was sufficiently natural, but it nowhere appears +that the royal youth, born to consume the fruits of the earth so largely, +had ever given the Netherlanders any other proof of his capacity to +govern them. There is no doubt that he was a most uncomfortable personage +at home, both to himself and to others, and that he hated his father' +very cordially. He was extremely incensed at the nomination of Alva to +the Netherlands, because he had hoped that either the King would go +thither or entrust the mission to him, in either of which events he +should be rid for a time of the paternal authority, or at least of the +paternal presence. It seems to be well ascertained that Carlos nourished +towards his father a hatred which might lead to criminal attempts, but +there is no proof that such attempts were ever made. As to the fabulous +amours of the Prince and the Queen, they had never any existence save in +the imagination of poets, who have chosen to find a source of sentimental +sorrow for the Infante in the arbitrary substitution of his father for +himself in the marriage contract with the daughter of Henry the Second. +As Carlos was but twelve or thirteen years of age when thus deprived of a +bride whom he had never seen, the foundation for a passionate regret was +but slight. It would hardly be a more absurd fantasy, had the poets +chosen to represent Philip's father, the Emperor Charles, repining in his +dotage for the loss of "bloody Mary," whom he had so handsomely ceded to +his son. Philip took a bad old woman to relieve his father; he took a +fair young princess at his son's expense; but similar changes in state +marriages were such matters of course, that no emotions were likely to be +created in consequence. There is no proof whatever, nor any reason to +surmise; that any love passages ever existed between Don Carlos and his +step-mother. + +As to the process and the death of the Prince, the mystery has not yet +been removed, and the field is still open to conjecture. It seems a +thankless task to grope in the dark after the truth at a variety of +sources; when the truth really exists in tangible shape if profane hands +could be laid upon it. The secret is buried in the bosom of the Vatican. +Philip wrote two letters on the subject to Pius V. The contents of the +first (21st January, 1568) are known. He informed the pontiff that he had +been obliged to imprison his son, and promised that he would, in the +conduct of the affair, omit nothing which could be expected of a father +and of a just and prudent king. The second letter, in which he narrated, +or is supposed to have narrated, the whole course of the tragic +proceedings, down to the death and burial of the Prince, has never yet +been made public. There are hopes that this secret missive, after three +centuries of darkness, may soon see the light.--[I am assured by Mr. +Gachard that a copy of this important letter is confidently expected by +the Commission Royale d'Histoire.] + +As Philip generally told the truth to the Pope, it is probable that the +secret, when once revealed, will contain the veritable solution of the +mystery. Till that moment arrives, it seems idle to attempt fathoming the +matter. Nevertheless, it may be well briefly to state the case as it +stands. As against the King, it rests upon no impregnable, but certainly +upon respectable authority. The Prince of Orange, in his famous Apology, +calls Philip the murderer of his wife and of his son, and says that there +was proof of the facts in France. He alludes to the violent death of +Carlos almost as if it were an indisputable truth. "As for Don Charles," +he says, "was he not our future sovereign? And if the father could allege +against his son fit cause for death, was it not rather for us to judge +him than for three or four monks or inquisitors of Spain?" + +The historian, P. Matthieu, relates that Philip assembled his council of +conscience; that they recommended mercy; that hereupon Philip gave the +matter to the inquisition, by which tribunal Carlos was declared a +heretic on account of his connexion with Protestants, and for his attempt +against his father's life was condemned to death, and that the sentence +was executed by four slaves, two holding the arms, one the feet, while +the fourth strangled him. + +De Thou gives the following account of the transaction, having derived +many of his details from the oral communications of Louis de Foix: + +Philip imagined that his son was about to escape from Spain, and to make +his way to the Netherlands. The King also believed himself in danger of +assassination from Carlos, his chief evidence being that the Prince +always carried pistols in the pockets of his loose breeches. As Carlos +wished always to be alone at night without any domestic in his chamber, +de Foix had arranged for him a set of pulleys, by means of which he could +open or shut his door without rising from his bed. He always slept with +two pistols and two drawn swords under his pillow, and had two loaded +arquebusses in a wardrobe close at hand. These remarkable precautions +would seem rather to indicate a profound fear of being himself +assassinated; but they were nevertheless supposed to justify Philip's +suspicions, that the Infante was meditating parricide. On Christmas eve, +however (1567), Don Carlos told his confessor that he had determined to +kill a man. The priest, in consequence, refused to admit him to the +communion. The Prince demanded, at least, a wafer which was not +consecrated, in order that he might seem to the people to be +participating in the sacrament. The confessor declined the proposal, and +immediately repairing to the King, narrated the whole story. Philip +exclaimed that he was himself the man whom the Prince intended to kill, +but that measures should be forthwith taken to prevent such a design. The +monarch then consulted the Holy Office of the inquisition, and the +resolution was taken to arrest his son. De Foix was compelled to alter +the pulleys of the door to the Prince's chamber in such a manner that it +could be opened without the usual noise, which was almost sure to awaken +him. At midnight, accordingly, Count Lerma entered the room so stealthily +that the arms were all, removed from the Prince's pillow and the +wardrobe, without awakening the sleeper. Philip, Ruy Gomez, the Duke de +Feria, and two other nobles, then noiselessly, crept into the apartment. +Carlos still slept so profoundly that it was necessary for Derma to shake +him violently by the arm before he could be aroused. Starting from his +sleep in the dead of night, and seeing his father thus accompanied, +before his bed, the Prince cried out that he was a dead man, and +earnestly besought the bystanders to make an end of him at once. Philip +assured him, however, that he was not come to kill him, but to chastise +him paternally, and to recal him to his duty. He then read him a serious +lecture, caused him to rise from his bed, took away his servants, and +placed him under guard. He was made to array himself in mourning +habiliments, and to sleep on a truckle bed. The Prince was in despair. He +soon made various attempts upon his own life. He threw himself into the +fire, but was rescued by his guards, with his clothes all in flames. He +passed several days without taking any food, and then ate so many patties +of minced meat that he nearly died of indigestion. He was also said to +have attempted to choke himself with a diamond, and to have been +prevented by his guard; to have filled his bed with ice; to have sat in +cold draughts; to have gone eleven days without food, the last method +being, as one would think, sufficiently thorough. Philip, therefore, +seeing his son thus desperate, consulted once more with the Holy Office, +and came to the decision that it was better to condemn him legitimately +to death than to permit him to die by his own hand. In order, however, to +save appearances, the order was secretly carried into execution. Don +Carlos was made to swallow poison in a bowl of broth, of which he died in +a few hours. This was at the commencement of his twenty-third year. The +death was concealed for several months, and was not made public till +after Alva's victory at Jemmingen. + +Such was the account drawn up by de Thou from the oral communications of +de Foix, and from other sources not indicated. Certainly, such a +narrative is far from being entitled to implicit credence. The historian +was a contemporary, but he was not in Spain, and the engineer's testimony +is, of course, not entitled to much consideration on the subject of the +process and the execution (if there were an execution); although +conclusive as to matters which had been within his personal knowledge. +For the rest, all that it can be said to establish is the existence of +the general rumor, that Carlos came to his death by foul means and in +consequence of advice given by the inquisition. + +On the other hand, in all the letters written at the period by persons in +Madrid most likely, from their position, to know the truth, not a +syllable has been found in confirmation of the violent death said to have +been suffered by Carlos. Secretary Erasso, the papal nuncio Castagna, the +Venetian envoy Cavalli, all express a conviction that the death of the +prince had been brought about by his own extravagant conduct and mental +excitement; by alternations of starving and voracious eating, by throwing +himself into the fire; by icing his bed, and by similar acts of +desperation. Nearly every writer alludes to the incident of the refusal +of the priest to admit Carlos to communion, upon the ground of his +confessed deadly hatred to an individual whom all supposed to be the +King. It was also universally believed that Carlos meant to kill his +father. The nuncio asked Spinosa (then president of Castile) if this +report were true. "If nothing more were to be feared," answered the +priest, "the King would protect himself by other measures," but the +matter was worse, if worse could be. The King, however, summoned all the +foreign diplomatic body and assured them that the story was false. After +his arrest, the Prince, according to Castagna, attempted various means of +suicide, abstaining, at last, many days from food, and dying in +consequence, "discoursing, upon his deathbed, gravely and like a man of +sense." + +The historian Cabrera, official panegyrist of Philip the Second, speaks +of the death of Carlos as a natural one, but leaves a dark kind of +mystery about the symptoms of his disease. He states, that the Prince was +tried and condemned by a commission or junta, consisting of Spinosa, Ruy +Gomez, and the Licentiate Virviesca, but that he was carried off by an +illness, the nature of which he does not describe. + +Llorente found nothing in the records of the Inquisition to prove that +the Holy Office had ever condemned the Prince or instituted any process +against him. He states that he was condemned by a commission, but that he +died of a sickness which supervened. It must be confessed that the +illness was a convenient one, and that such diseases are very apt to +attack individuals whom tyrants are disposed to remove from their path, +while desirous, at the same time, to save appearances. It would certainly +be presumptuous to accept implicitly the narrative of de Thou, which is +literally followed by Hoofd and by many modern writers. On the other +hand, it would be an exaggeration of historical scepticism to absolve +Philip from the murder of his son, solely upon negative testimony. The +people about court did not believe in the crime. They saw no proofs of +it. Of course they saw none. Philip would take good care that there +should be none if he had made up his mind that the death of the Prince +should be considered a natural one. And priori argument, which omits the +character of the suspected culprit, and the extraordinary circumstances +of time and place, is not satisfactory. Philip thoroughly understood the +business of secret midnight murder. We shall soon have occasion to relate +the elaborate and ingenious method by which the assassination of Montigny +was accomplished and kept a profound secret from the whole world, until +the letters of the royal assassin, after three centuries' repose, were +exhumed, and the foul mystery revealed. Philip was capable of any crime. +Moreover, in his letter to his aunt, Queen Catharine of Portugal, he +distinctly declares himself, like Abraham, prepared to go all lengths in +obedience to the Lord. "I have chosen in this matter," he said, "to make +the sacrifice to God of my own flesh and blood, and to prefer His service +and the universal welfare to all other human considerations." Whenever +the letter to Pius V. sees the light, it will appear whether the +sacrifice which the monarch thus made to his God proceeded beyond the +imprisonment and condemnation of his son, or was completed by the actual +immolation of the victim. + +With regard to the Prince himself, it is very certain that, if he had +lived, the realms of the Spanish Crown would have numbered one tyrant +more. Carlos from his earliest youth, was remarkable for the ferocity of +his character. The Emperor Charles was highly pleased with him, then +about fourteen years of age, upon their first interview after the +abdication. He flattered himself that the lad had inherited his own +martial genius together with his name. Carlos took much interest in his +grandfather's account of his various battles, but when the flight from +Innspruck was narrated, he repeated many times, with much vehemence, that +he never would have fled; to which position he adhered, notwithstanding +all the arguments of the Emperor, and very much to his amusement. The +young Prince was always fond of soldiers, and listened eagerly to +discourses of war. He was in the habit also of recording the names of any +military persons who, according to custom, frequently made offers of +their services to the heir apparent, and of causing them to take a solemn +oath to keep their engagements. No other indications of warlike talent, +however, have been preserved concerning him. "He was crafty, ambitious, +cruel, violent," says the envoy Suriano, "a hater of buffoons, a lover of +soldiers." His natural cruelty seems to have been remarkable from his +boyhood. After his return from the chase, he was in the habit of cutting +the throats of hares and other animals, and of amusing himself with their +dying convulsions. He also frequently took pleasure in roasting them +alive. He once received a present of a very large snake from some person +who seemed to understand how to please this remarkable young prince. +After a time, however, the favorite reptile allowed itself to bite its +master's finger, whereupon Don Carlos immediately retaliated by biting +off its head. + +He was excessively angry at the suggestion that the prince who was +expected to spring from his father's marriage with the English queen, +would one day reign over the Netherlands, and swore he would challenge +him to mortal combat in order to prevent such an infringement of his +rights. His father and grandfather were both highly diverted with this +manifestation of spirit, but it was not decreed that the world should +witness the execution of these fraternal intentions against the babe +which was never to be born. + +Ferocity, in short, seems to have been the leading characteristic of the +unhappy Carlos. His preceptor, a man of learning and merit, who was +called "the honorable John", tried to mitigate this excessive ardor of +temperament by a course of Cicero de Officiis, which he read to him +daily. Neither the eloquence of Tully, however, nor the precepts of the +honorable John made the least impression upon this very savage nature. As +he grew older he did not grow wiser nor more gentle. He was prematurely +and grossly licentious. All the money which as a boy, he was allowed, he +spent upon women of low character, and when he was penniless, he gave +them his chains, his medals, even the clothes from his back. He took +pleasure in affronting respectable females when he met them in the +streets, insulting them by the coarsest language and gestures. Being +cruel, cunning, fierce and licentious, he seemed to combine many of the +worst qualities of a lunatic. That he probably was one is the best +defence which can be offered for his conduct. In attempting to offer +violence to a female, while he was at the university of Alcala, he fell +down a stone staircase, from which cause he was laid up for a long time +with a severely wounded head, and was supposed to have injured his brain. + +The traits of ferocity recorded of him during his short life are so +numerous that humanity can hardly desire that it should have been +prolonged. A few drops of water having once fallen upon his head from a +window, as he passed through the street, he gave peremptory orders to his +guard to burn the house to the ground, and to put every one of its +inhabitants to the sword. The soldiers went forthwith to execute the +order, but more humane than their master, returned with the excuse that +the Holy Sacrament of the Viaticum had that moment been carried into the +house. This appeal to the superstition of the Prince successfully +suspended the execution of the crimes which his inconceivable malignity +had contemplated. On another occasion, a nobleman, who slept near his +chamber, failed to answer his bell on the instant. Springing upon his +dilatory attendant, as soon as he made his appearance, the Prince seized +him in his arms and was about to throw him from the window, when the +cries of the unfortunate chamberlain attracted attention, and procured a +rescue. + +The Cardinal Espinoza had once accidentally detained at his palace an +actor who was to perform a favorite part by express command of Don +Carlos. Furious at this detention, the Prince took the priest by the +throat as soon as he presented himself at the palace, and plucking his +dagger from its sheath, swore, by the soul of his father, that he would +take his life on the spot. The grand inquisitor fell on his knees and +begged for mercy, but it is probable that the entrance of the King alone +saved his life. + +There was often something ludicrous mingled with the atrocious in these +ungovernable explosions of wrath. Don Pedro Manuel, his chamberlain, had +once, by his command, ordered a pair of boots to be made for the Prince. +When brought home, they were, unfortunately, too tight. The Prince after +vainly endeavouring to pull them on, fell into a blazing passion. He +swore that it was the fault of Don Pedro, who always wore tight boots +himself, but he at the same time protested that his father was really at +the bottom of the affair. He gave the young nobleman a box on the ear for +thus conspiring with the King against his comfort, and then ordered the +boots to be chopped into little pieces, stewed and seasoned. Then sending +for the culprit shoemaker, he ordered him to eat his own boots, thus +converted into a pottage; and with this punishment the unfortunate +mechanic, who had thought his life forfeited, was sufficiently glad to +comply. + +Even the puissant Alva could not escape his violence. Like all the men in +whom his father reposed confidence, the Duke was odious to the heir +apparent. Don Carlos detested him with the whole force of his little +soul. He hated him as only a virtuous person deserved to be hated by such +a ruffian. The heir apparent had taken the Netherlands under his +patronage. He had even formed the design of repairing secretly to the +provinces, and could not, therefore, disguise his wrath at the +appointment of the Duke. It is doubtful whether the country would have +benefited by the gratification of his wishes. It is possible that the +pranks of so malignant an ape might have been even more mischievous than +the concentrated and vigorous tyranny of an Alva. When the new +Captain-general called, before his departure, to pay his respects to the +Infante, the Duke seemed, to his surprise, to have suddenly entered the +den of a wild beast. Don Carlos sprang upon him with a howl of fury, +brandishing a dagger in his hand. He uttered reproaches at having been +defrauded of the Netherland government. He swore that Alva should never +accomplish his mission, nor leave his presence alive. He was proceeding +to make good the threat with his poniard, when the Duke closed with him. +A violent struggle succeeded. Both rolled together on the ground, the +Prince biting and striking like a demoniac, the Duke defending himself as +well as he was able, without attempting his adversary's life. Before the +combat was decided, the approach of many persons put an end to the +disgraceful scene. As decent a veil as possible was thrown over the +transaction, and the Duke departed on his mission. Before the end of the +year, the Prince was in the prison whence he never came forth alive. + +The figure of Don Carlos was as misshapen as his mind. His head was +disproportionately large, his limbs were rickety, one shoulder was +higher, one leg longer than the other. With features resembling those of +his father, but with a swarthy instead of a fair complexion, with an +expression of countenance both fierce and foolish, and with a character +such as we have sketched it, upon the evidence of those who knew him +well, it is indeed strange that he should ever have been transformed by +the magic of poetry into a romantic hero. As cruel and cunning as his +father, as mad as his great-grandmother, he has left a name, which not +even his dark and mysterious fate can render interesting. + + + + +1568 [CHAPTER IV.] + + Continued and excessive barbarity of the government--Execution of + Antony van Straalen, of "Red--Rod" Spelle--The Prince of Orange + advised by his German friends to remain quiet--Heroic sentiments of + Orange--His religious opinions--His efforts in favor of toleration-- + His fervent piety--His public correspondence with the Emperor--His + "Justification," his "Warning," and other papers characterized--The + Prince, with a considerable army, crosses the Rhine--Passage of the + Meuse at Stochem--He offers battle to Alva--Determination of the + Duke to avoid an engagement--Comparison of his present situation + with his previous position in Friesland--Masterly tactics of the + Duke--Skirmish on the Geta--Defeat of the Orangists--Death of + Hoogstraaten--Junction with Genlis--Adherence of Alva to his + original plan--The Prince crosses the frontier of France-- + Correspondence between Charles IX. and Orange--The patriot army + disbanded at Strasburg--Comments by Granvelle upon the position of + the Prince--Triumphant attitude of Alva--Festivities at Brussels-- + Colossal statue of Alva erected by himself in Antwerp citadel-- + Intercession of the Emperor with Philip--Memorial of six Electors to + the Emperor--Mission of the Archduke Charles to Spain--His + negotiations with Philip--Public and private correspondence between + the King and Emperor--Duplicity of Maximilian--Abrupt conclusion to + the intervention--Granvelle's suggestions to Philip concerning the + treaty of Passau. + +The Duke having thus crushed the project of Count Bouts, and quelled the +insurrection in Friesland, returned in triumph to Brussels. Far from +softened by the success of his arms, he renewed with fresh energy the +butchery which, for a brief season, had been suspended during his +brilliant campaign in the north. The altars again smoked with victims; +the hanging, burning, drowning, beheading, seemed destined to be the +perpetual course of his administration, so long as human bodies remained +on which his fanatical vengeance could be wreaked. Four men of eminence +were executed soon after his return to the capital. They had previously +suffered such intense punishment on the rack, that it was necessary to +carry them to the scaffold and bind them upon chairs, that they might be +beheaded. These four sufferers were a Frisian nobleman, named Galena, the +secretaries of Egmont and Horn, Bakkerzeel and La Loo, and the +distinguished burgomaster of Antwerp, Antony Van Straalen. The arrest of +the three last-mentioned individuals, simultaneously with that of the two +Counts, has been related in a previous chapter. In the case of Van +Straalen, the services rendered by him to the provinces during his long +and honorable career, had been so remarkable, that even the +Blood-Council, in sending his case to Alva for his sentence, were +inspired by a humane feeling. They felt so much compunction at the +impending fate of a man who, among other meritorious acts, had furnished +nearly all the funds for the brilliant campaign in Picardy, by which the +opening years of Philip's reign had been illustrated, as to hint at the +propriety of a pardon. But the recommendation to mercy, though it came +from the lips of tigers, dripping with human blood, fell unheeded on the +tyrant's ear. It seemed meet that the man who had supplied the nerves of +war in that unforgiven series of triumphs, should share the fate of the +hero who had won the laurels. + + [Bor, Cappella, Hoofd, ubi sup. The last words of the Burgomaster + as he bowed his neck to the executioner's stroke were, "Voor wel + gedaan, kwaclyk beloud,"--"For faithful service, evil recompense." + --Cappella, 232.] + +Hundreds of obscure martyrs now followed in the same path to another +world, where surely they deserved to find their recompense, if steadfast +adherence to their faith, and a tranquil trust in God amid tortures and +death too horrible to be related, had ever found favor above. The +"Red-Rod," as the provost of Brabant was popularly designated, was never +idle. He flew from village to village throughout the province, executing +the bloody behests of his masters with congenial alacrity. Nevertheless +his career was soon destined to close upon the same scaffold where he had +so long officiated. Partly from caprice, partly from an uncompromising +and fantastic sense of justice, his master now hanged the executioner +whose industry had been so untiring. The sentence which was affixed to +his breast, as he suffered, stated that he had been guilty of much +malpractice; that he had executed many persons without a warrant, and had +suffered many guilty persons for a bribe, to escape their doom. The +reader can judge which of the two clauses constituted the most sufficient +reason. + +During all these triumphs of Alva, the Prince of Orange had not lost his +self-possession. One after another, each of his bold, skilfully-conceived +and carefully-prepared plans had failed. Villers had been entirely +discomfited at Dalhena, Cocqueville had been cut to pieces in Picardy, +and now the valiant and experienced Louis had met with an entire +overthrow in Friesland. The brief success of the patriots at Heiliger Zee +had been washed out in the blood-torrents of Jemmingen. Tyranny was more +triumphant, the provinces more timidly crouching, than ever. The friends +on whom William of Orange relied in Germany, never enthusiastic in his +cause, although many of them true-hearted and liberal, now grew cold and +anxious. For months long, his most faithful and affectionate allies, such +men as the Elector of Hesse and the Duke of Wirtemberg, as well as the +less trustworthy Augustus of Saxony, had earnestly expressed their +opinion that, under the circumstances, his best course was to sit still +and watch the course of events. + +It was known that the Emperor had written an urgent letter to Philip on +the subject of his policy in the Netherlands in general, and concerning +the position of Orange in particular. All persons, from the Emperor down +to the pettiest potentate, seemed now of opinion that the Prince had +better pause; that he was, indeed, bound to wait the issue of that +remonstrance. "Your highness must sit still," said Landgrave William. +"Your highness must sit still," said Augustus of Saxony. "You must move +neither hand nor foot in the cause of the perishing provinces," said the +Emperor. "Not a soldier-horse, foot, or dragoon-shall be levied within +the Empire. If you violate the peace of the realm, and embroil us with +our excellent brother and cousin Philip, it is at your own peril. You +have nothing to do but to keep quiet and await his answer to our letter." +But the Prince knew how much effect his sitting still would produce upon +the cause of liberty and religion. He knew how much effect the Emperor's +letter was like to have upon the heart of Philip. He knew that the more +impenetrable the darkness now gathering over that land of doom which he +had devoted his life to defend, the more urgently was he forbidden to +turn his face away from it in its affliction. He knew that thousands of +human souls, nigh to perishing, were daily turning towards him as their +only hope on earth, and he was resolved, so long as he could dispense a +single ray of light, that his countenance should never be averted. It is +difficult to contemplate his character, at this period, without being +infected with a perhaps dangerous enthusiasm. It is not an easy task +coldly to analyse a nature which contained so much of the +self-sacrificing and the heroic, as well as of the adroit and the subtle; +and it is almost impossible to give utterance to the emotions which +naturally swell the heart at the contemplation of so much active virtue, +without rendering oneself liable to the charge of excessive admiration. +Through the mists of adversity, a human form may dilate into proportions +which are colossal and deceptive. Our judgment may thus, perhaps, be led +captive, but at any rate the sentiment excited is more healthful than +that inspired by the mere shedder of blood, by the merely selfish +conqueror. When the cause of the champion is that of human right against +tyranny, of political ind religious freedom against an all-engrossing and +absolute bigotry, it is still more difficult to restrain veneration +within legitimate bounds. To liberate the souls and bodies of millions, +to maintain for a generous people, who had well-nigh lost their all, +those free institutions which their ancestors had bequeathed, was a noble +task for any man. But here stood a Prince of ancient race, vast +possessions, imperial blood, one of the great ones of the earth, whose +pathway along the beaten track would have been smooth and successful, but +who was ready to pour out his wealth like water, and to coin his heart's +blood, drop by drop, in this virtuous but almost desperate cause. He felt +that of a man to whom so much had been entrusted, much was to be asked. +God had endowed him with an incisive and comprehensive genius, +unfaltering fortitude, and with the rank and fortune which enable a man +to employ his faculties, to the injury or the happiness of his fellows, +on the widest scale. The Prince felt the responsibility, and the world +was to learn the result. + +It was about this time that a deep change came over his mind. Hitherto, +although nominally attached to the communion of the ancient Church, his +course of life and habits of mind had not led him to deal very earnestly +with things beyond the world. The severe duties, the grave character of +the cause to which his days were henceforth to be devoted, had already +led him to a closer inspection of the essential attributes of +Christianity. He was now enrolled for life as a soldier of the +Reformation. The Reformation was henceforth his fatherland, the sphere, +of his duty and his affection. The religious Reformers became his +brethren, whether in France, Germany, the Netherlands, or England. Yet +his mind had taken a higher flight than that of the most eminent +Reformers. His goal was not a new doctrine, but religious liberty. In an +age when to think was a crime, and when bigotry and a persecuting spirit +characterized Romanists and Lutherans, Calvinists and Zwinglians, he had +dared to announce freedom of conscience as the great object for which +noble natures should strive. In an age when toleration was a vice, he had +the manhood to cultivate it as a virtue. His parting advice to the +Reformers of the Netherlands, when he left them for a season in the +spring of 1567, was to sink all lesser differences in religious union. +Those of the Augsburg Confession and those of the Calvinistic Church, in +their own opinion as incapable of commingling as oil and water, were, in +his judgment, capable of friendly amalgamation. He appealed eloquently to +the good and influential of all parties to unite in one common cause +against oppression. Even while favoring daily more and more the cause of +the purified Church, and becoming daily more alive to the corruption of +Rome, he was yet willing to tolerate all forms of worship, and to leave +reason to combat error. + +Without a particle of cant or fanaticism, he had become a deeply +religious man. Hitherto he had been only a man of the world and a +statesman, but from this time forth he began calmly to rely upon God's +providence in all the emergencies of his eventful life. His letters +written to his most confidential friends, to be read only by themselves, +and which have been gazed upon by no other eyes until after the lapse of +nearly three centuries, abundantly prove his sincere and simple trust. +This sentiment was not assumed for effect to delude others, but cherished +as a secret support for himself. His religion was not a cloak to his +designs, but a consolation in his disasters. In his letter of instruction +to his most confidential agent, John Bazius, while he declared himself +frankly in favor of the Protestant principles, he expressed his extreme +repugnance to the persecution of Catholics. "Should we obtain power over +any city or cities," he wrote, "let the communities of papists be as much +respected and protected as possible. Let them be overcome, not by +violence, but with gentle-mindedness and virtuous treatment." After the +terrible disaster at Jemmingen, he had written to Louis, consoling him, +in the most affectionate language, for the unfortunate result of his +campaign. Not a word of reproach escaped from him, although his brother +had conducted the operations in Friesland, after the battle of Heiliger +Lee, in a manner quite contrary to his own advice. He had counselled +against a battle, and had foretold a defeat; but after the battle had +been fought and a crushing defeat sustained, his language breathed only +unwavering submission to the will of God, and continued confidence in his +own courage. "You may be well assured, my brother," he wrote, "that I +have never felt anything more keenly than the pitiable misfortune which +has happened to you, for many reasons which you can easily imagine. +Moreover, it hinders us much in the levy which we are making, and has +greatly chilled the hearts of those who otherwise would have been ready +to give us assistance. Nevertheless, since it has thus pleased God, it is +necessary to have patience and to lose not courage; conforming ourselves +to His divine will, as for my part I have determined to do in everything +which may happen, still proceeding onward in our work with his Almighty +aid. 'Soevis tranquillus in undis', he was never more placid than when +the storm was wildest and the night darkest. He drew his consolations and +refreshed his courage at the never-failing fountains of Divine mercy. + +"I go to-morrow," he wrote to the unworthy Anne of Saxony; "but when I +shall return, or when I shall see you, I cannot, on my honor, tell you +with certainty. I have resolved to place myself in the hands of the +Almighty, that he may guide me whither it is His good pleasure that I +should go. I see well enough that I am destined to pass this life in +misery and labor, with which I am well content, since it thus pleases the +Omnipotent, for I know that I have merited still greater chastisement. I +only implore Him graciously to send me strength to endure with patience." + +Such language, in letters the most private, never meant to be seen by +other eyes than those to which they were addressed, gives touching +testimony to the sincere piety of his character. No man was ever more +devoted to a high purpose, no man had ever more right to imagine himself, +or less inclination to pronounce himself, entrusted with a divine +mission. There was nothing of the charlatan in his character. His nature +was true and steadfast. No narrow-minded usurper was ever more loyal to +his own aggrandisement than this large-hearted man to the cause of +oppressed humanity. Yet it was inevitable that baser minds should fail to +recognise his purity. While he exhausted his life for the emancipation of +a people, it was easy to ascribe all his struggles to the hope of +founding a dynasty. It was natural for grovelling natures to search in +the gross soil of self-interest for the sustaining roots of the tree +beneath whose branches a nation found its shelter. What could they +comprehend of living fountains and of heavenly dews? + +In May, 1568, the Emperor Maximilian had formally issued a requisition to +the Prince of Orange to lay down his arms, and to desist from all levies +and machinations against the King of Spain and the peace of the realm. +This summons he was commanded to obey on pain of forfeiting all rights, +fiefs, privileges and endowments bestowed by imperial hands on himself or +his predecessors, and of incurring the heaviest disgrace, punishment, and +penalties of the Empire. + +To this document the Prince replied in August, having paid in the +meantime but little heed to its precepts. Now that the Emperor, who at +first was benignant, had begun to frown on his undertaking, he did not +slacken in his own endeavours to set his army on foot. One by one, those +among the princes of the empire who had been most stanch in his cause, +and were still most friendly to his person, grew colder as tyranny became +stronger; but the ardor of the Prince was not more chilled by their +despair than by the overthrow at Jemmingen, which had been its cause. In +August, he answered the letter of the Emperor, respectfully but warmly. +He still denounced the tyranny of Alva and the arts of Granvelle with +that vigorous eloquence which was always at his command, while, as usual, +he maintained a show of almost exaggerated respect for their monarch. It +was not to be presumed, he said, that his Majesty, "a king debonair and +bountiful," had ever intended such cruelties as those which had been +rapidly retraced in the letter, but it was certain that the Duke of Alva +had committed them all of his own authority. He trusted, moreover, that +the Emperor, after he had read the "Justification" which the Prince had +recently published, would appreciate the reason for his taking up arms. +He hoped that his Majesty would now consider the resistance just, +Christian, and conformable to the public peace. He expressed the belief +that rather than interpose any hindrance, his Majesty would thenceforth +rather render assistance "to the poor and desolate Christians," even as +it was his Majesty's office and authority to be the last refuge of the +injured. + +The "Justification against the false blame of his calumniators by the +Prince of Orange," to which the Prince thus referred, has been mentioned +in a previous chapter. This remarkable paper had been drawn up at the +advice of his friends, Landgrave William and Elector Augustus, but it was +not the only document which the Prince caused to be published at this +important epoch. He issued a formal declaration of war against the Duke +of Alva; he addressed a solemn and eloquent warning or proclamation to +all the inhabitants of the Netherlands. These documents are all extremely +important and interesting. Their phraseology shows the intentions and the +spirit by which the Prince was actuated on first engaging in the +struggle. Without the Prince and his efforts--at this juncture, there +would probably have never been a free Netherland commonwealth. It is +certain, likewise, that without an enthusiastic passion for civil and +religious liberty throughout the masses of the Netherland people, there +would have been no successful effort on the part of the Prince. He knew +his countrymen; while they, from highest to humblest, recognised in him +their saviour. There was, however, no pretence of a revolutionary +movement. The Prince came to maintain, not to overthrow. The freedom +which had been enjoyed in the provinces until the accession of the +Burgundian dynasty, it was his purpose to restore. The attitude which he +now assumed was a peculiar one in history. This defender of a people's +cause set up no revolutionary standard. In all his documents he paid +apparent reverence to the authority of the King. By a fiction, which was +not unphilosophical, he assumed that the monarch was incapable of the +crimes which he charged upon the Viceroy. Thus he did not assume the +character of a rebel in arms against his prince, but in his own capacity +of sovereign he levied troops and waged war against a satrap whom he +chose to consider false to his master's orders. In the interest of +Philip, assumed to be identical with the welfare of his people, he took +up arms against the tyrant who was sacrificing both. This mask of loyalty +would never save his head from the block, as he well knew, but some +spirits lofty as his own, might perhaps be influenced by a noble +sophistry, which sought to strengthen the cause of the people by +attributing virtue to the King. + +And thus did the sovereign of an insignificant little principality stand +boldly forth to do battle with the most powerful monarch in the world. At +his own expense, and by almost superhuman exertions, he had assembled +nearly thirty thousand men. He now boldly proclaimed to the world, and +especially to the inhabitants of the provinces, his motives, his +purposes, and his hopes. + + "We, by God's grace Prince of Orange," said his declaration of 31st + August, 1568, "salute all faithful subjects of his Majesty. To few + people is it unknown that the Spaniards have for a long time sought + to govern the land according to their pleasure. Abusing his + Majesty's goodness, they have persuaded him to decree the + introduction of the inquisition into the Netherlands. They well + understood, that in case the Netherlanders could be made to tolerate + its exercise, they would lose all protection to their liberty; that + if they opposed its introduction, they would open those rich + provinces as a vast field of plunder. We had hoped that his + Majesty, taking the matter to heart, would have spared his + hereditary provinces from such utter ruin. We have found our hopes + futile. We are unable, by reason of our loyal service due to his + Majesty, and of our true compassion for the faithful lieges, to look + with tranquillity any longer at such murders, robberies, outrages, + and agony. We are, moreover, certain that his Majesty has been + badly informed upon Netherland matters. We take up arms, therefore, + to oppose the violent tyranny of the Spaniards, by the help of the + merciful God, who is the enemy of all bloodthirstiness. Cheerfully + inclined to wager our life and all our worldly wealth on the cause, + we have now, God be thanked, an excellent army of cavalry, infantry, + and artillery, raised all at our own expense. We summon all loyal + subjects of the Netherlands to come and help us. Let them take to + heart the uttermost need of the country, the danger of perpetual + slavery for themselves and their children, and of the entire + overthrow of the Evangelical religion. Only when Alva's blood- + thirstiness shall have been at last overpowered, can the provinces + hope to recover their pure administration of justice, and a + prosperous condition for their commonwealth." + +In the "warning" or proclamation to all the inhabitants of the +Netherlands, the Prince expressed similar sentiments. He announced his +intention of expelling the Spaniards forever from the country. To +accomplish the mighty undertaking, money was necessary. He accordingly +called on his countrymen to contribute, the rich out of their abundance, +the poor even out of their poverty, to the furtherance of the cause. To +do this, while it was yet time, he solemnly warned them "before God, the +fatherland, and the world." After the title of this paper were cited the +28th, 29th, and 30th verses of the tenth chapter of Proverbs. The +favorite motto of the Prince, "pro lege, rege, grege," was also affixed +to the document. + +These appeals had, however, but little effect. Of three hundred thousand +crowns, promised on behalf of leading nobles and merchants of the +Netherlands by Marcus Perez, but ten or twelve thousand came to hand. The +appeals to the gentlemen who had signed the Compromise, and to many +others who had, in times past, been favorable to the liberal party were +powerless. A poor Anabaptist preacher collected a small sum from a +refugee congregation on the outskirts of Holland, and brought it, at the +peril of his life, into the Prince's camp. It came from people, he said, +whose will was better than the gift. They never wished to be repaid, he +said, except by kindness, when the cause of reform should be triumphant +in the Netherlands. The Prince signed a receipt for the money, expressing +himself touched by this sympathy from these poor outcasts. In the course +of time, other contributions from similar sources, principally collected +by dissenting preachers, starving and persecuted church communities, were +received. The poverty-stricken exiles contributed far more, in +proportion, for the establishment of civil and religious liberty, than +the wealthy merchants or the haughty nobles. + +Late in September, the Prince mustered his army in the province of +Treves, near the monastery of Romersdorf. His force amounted to nearly +thirty thousand men, of whom nine thousand were cavalry. Lumey, Count de +la Marek, now joined him at the head of a picked band of troopers; a +bold, ferocious partisan, descended from the celebrated Wild Boar of +Ardennes. Like Civilis, the ancient Batavian hero, he had sworn to leave +hair and beard unshorn till the liberation of the country was achieved, +or at least till the death of Egmont, whose blood relation he was, had +been avenged. It is probable that the fierce conduct of this chieftain, +and particularly the cruelties exercised upon monks and papists by his +troops, dishonored the cause more than their valor could advance it. But +in those stormy times such rude but incisive instruments were scarcely to +be neglected, and the name of Lumey was to be forever associated with +important triumphs of the liberal cause. + +It was fated, however, that but few laurels should be won by the patriots +in this campaign. The Prince crossed the Rhine at Saint Feit, a village +belonging to himself. He descended along the banks as far as the +neighbourhood of Cologne. Then, after hovering in apparent uncertainty +about the territories of Juliers and Limburg, he suddenly, on a bright +moonlight night, crossed the Meuse with his whole army, in the +neighbourhood of Stochem. The operation was brilliantly effected. A +compact body of cavalry, according to the plan which had been more than +once adopted by Julius Caesar, was placed in the midst of the current, +under which shelter the whole army successfully forded the river. The +Meuse was more shallow than usual, but the water was as high as the +soldiers' necks. This feat was accomplished on the night and morning of +the 4th and 5th of October. It was considered so bold an achievement that +its fame spread far and wide. The Spaniards began to tremble at the +prowess of a Prince whom they had affected to despise. The very fact of +the passage was flatly contradicted. An unfortunate burgher at Amsterdam +was scourged at the whipping-post, because he mentioned it as matter of +common report. The Duke of Alva refused to credit the tale when it was +announced to him. "Is the army of the Prince of Orange a flock of wild +geese," he asked, "that it can fly over rivers like the Meuse?" +Nevertheless it was true. The outlawed, exiled Prince stood once more on +the borders of Brabant, with an army of disciplined troops at his back. +His banners bore patriotic inscriptions. "Pro Lege, Rege, Grege," was +emblazoned upon some. A pelican tearing her breast to nourish her young +with her life-blood was the pathetic emblem of others. It was his +determination to force or entice the Duke of Alva into a general +engagement. He was desirous to wipe out the disgrace of Jemmingen. Could +he plant his victorious standard thus in the very heart of the country, +he felt that thousands would rally around it. The country would rise +almost to a man, could he achieve a victory over the tyrant, flushed as +he was with victory, and sated with blood. + +With banners flying, drums beating, trumpets sounding, with all the pomp +and defiance which an already victorious general could assume, Orange +marched into Brabant, and took up a position within six thousand paces of +Alva's encampment. His plan was at every hazard to dare or to decoy his +adversary into the chances of a stricken field. The Governor was +entrenched at a place called Keiserslager, which Julius Caesar had once +occupied. The city of Maestricht was in his immediate neighbourhood, +which was thus completely under his protection, while it furnished him +with supplies. The Prince sent to the Duke a herald, who was to propose +that all prisoners who might be taken in the coming campaign should be +exchanged instead of being executed. The herald, booted and spurred, even +as he had dismounted from his horse, was instantly hanged. This was the +significant answer to the mission of mercy. Alva held no parley with +rebels before a battle, nor gave quarter afterwards. + +In the meantime, the Duke had carefully studied the whole position of +affairs, and had arrived at his conclusion. He was determined not to +fight. It was obvious that the Prince would offer battle eagerly, +ostentatiously, frequently, but the Governor was resolved never to accept +the combat. Once taken, his resolution was unalterable. He recognized the +important difference between his own attitude at present, and that in +which he had found himself during the past summer in Friesland. There a +battle had been necessary, now it was more expedient to overcome his +enemy by delay. In Friesland, the rebels had just achieved a victory over +the choice troops of Spain. Here they were suffering from the stigma of a +crushing defeat. Then, the army of Louis Nassau was swelling daily by +recruits, who poured in from all the country round. Now, neither peasant +nor noble dared lift a finger for the Prince. The army of Louis had been +sustained by the one which his brother was known to be preparing. If +their movements had not been checked, a junction would have been +effected. The armed revolt would then have assumed so formidable an +aspect, that rebellion would seem, even for the timid, a safer choice +than loyalty. The army of the Prince, on the contrary, was now the last +hope of the patriots: The three by which it had been preceded had been +successively and signally vanquished. + +Friesland, again, was on the outskirts of the country. A defeat sustained +by the government there did not necessarily imperil the possession of the +provinces. Brabant, on the contrary, was the heart of the Netherlands. +Should the Prince achieve a decisive triumph then and there, he would be +master of the nation's fate. The Viceroy knew himself to be odious, and +he reigned by terror. The Prince was the object of the people's idolatry, +and they would rally round him if they dared. A victory gained by the +liberator over the tyrant, would destroy the terrible talisman of +invincibility by which Alva governed. The Duke had sufficiently +demonstrated his audacity in the tremendous chastisement which he had +inflicted upon the rebels under Louis. He could now afford to play that +scientific game of which he was so profound a master, without risking any +loss of respect or authority. He was no enthusiast. Although he doubtless +felt sufficiently confident of overcoming the Prince in a pitched battle, +he had not sufficient relish for the joys of contest to be willing to +risk even a remote possibility of defeat. His force, although composed of +veterans and of the best musketeers and pikemen in Europe, was still +somewhat inferior in numbers to that of his adversary. Against the twenty +thousand foot and eight thousand, horse of Orange, he could oppose only +fifteen or sixteen thousand foot and fifty-five hundred riders. Moreover, +the advantage which he had possessed in Friesland, a country only +favorable to infantry, in which he had been stronger than his opponent, +was now transferred to his new enemy. On the plains of Brabant, the +Prince's superiority in cavalry was sure to tell. The season of the year, +too, was an important element in the calculation. The winter alone would +soon disperse the bands of German mercenaries, whose expenses Orange was +not able to support, even while in active service. With unpaid wages and +disappointed hopes of plunder, the rebel army would disappear in a few +weeks as totally as if defeated in the open field. In brief, Orange by a +victory would gain new life and strength, while his defeat could no more +than anticipate, by a few weeks, the destruction of his army, already +inevitable. Alva, on the contrary, might lose the mastery of the +Netherlands if unfortunate, and would gain no solid advantage if +triumphant. The Prince had everything to hope, the Duke everything to +fear, from the result of a general action. + +The plan, thus deliberately resolved upon, was accomplished with +faultless accuracy. As a work of art, the present campaign of Alva +against Orange was a more consummate masterpiece than the more brilliant +and dashing expedition into Friesland. The Duke had resolved to hang upon +his adversary's skirts, to follow him move by move, to check him at every +turn, to harass him in a hundred ways, to foil all his enterprises, to +parry all his strokes, and finally to drive him out of the country, after +a totally barren campaign, when, as he felt certain, his ill-paid +hirelings would vanish in all directions, and leave their patriot Prince +a helpless and penniless adventurer. The scheme thus sagaciously +conceived, his adversary, with all his efforts, was unable to circumvent. + +The campaign lasted little more than a month. Twenty-nine times the +Prince changed his encampment, and at every remove the Duke was still +behind him, as close and seemingly as impalpable as his shadow. Thrice +they were within cannon-shot of each other; twice without a single trench +or rampart between them. The country people refused the Prince supplies, +for they trembled at the vengeance of the Governor. Alva had caused the +irons to be removed from all the mills, so that not a bushel of corn +could be ground in the whole province. The country thus afforded but +little forage for the thirty thousand soldiers of the Prince. The troops, +already discontented, were clamorous for pay and plunder. During one +mutinous demonstration, the Prince's sword was shot from his side, and it +was with difficulty that a general outbreak was suppressed. The soldiery +were maddened and tantalized by the tactics of Alva. They found +themselves constantly in the presence of an enemy, who seemed to court a +battle at one moment and to vanish like a phantom at the next They felt +the winter approaching, and became daily more dissatisfied with the +irritating hardships to which they were exposed. Upon the night of the +5th and 6th of October the Prince had crossed the Meuse at Stochem. +Thence he had proceeded to Tongres, followed closely by the enemy's +force, who encamped in the immediate neighbourhood. From Tongres he had +moved to Saint Trond, still pursued and still baffled in the same +cautious manner. The skirmishing at the outposts was incessant, but the +main body was withdrawn as soon as there seemed a chance of its becoming +involved. + +From Saint Trond, in the neighbourhood of which he had remained several +days, he advanced in a southerly direction towards Jodoigne. Count de +Genlis, with a reinforcement of French Huguenots, for which the Prince +had been waiting, had penetrated through the Ardennes, crossed the Meuse +at Charlemont, and was now intending a junction with him at Waveron. The +river Geta flowed between them. The Prince stationed a considerable force +upon a hill near the stream to protect the passage, and then proceeded +leisurely to send his army across the river. Count Hoogstraaten, with the +rear-guard, consisting of about three thousand men, were alone left upon +the hither bank, in order to provoke or to tempt the enemy, who, as +usual, was encamped very near. Alva refused to attack the main army, but +Frederic with a force of four thousand men, were alone left on the hither +bank, in order to provoke or to tempt the enemy, who as usual, was +encamped very near. Alva refused to attack the main army but rapidly +detached his son, Don Fredrick, with a force of four thousand foot and +three thousand horse, to cut off the rear-guard. The movement was +effected in a masterly manner, the hill was taken, the three thousand +troops which had not passed the river were cut to pieces, and Vitelli +hastily despatched a gentleman named Barberini to implore the Duke to +advance with the main body, cross the river, and, once for all, +exterminate the rebels in a general combat. Alva, inflamed, not with +ardor for an impending triumph, but with rage, that his sagely-conceived +plans could not be comprehended even by his son and by his favorite +officers, answered the eager messenger with peremptory violence. "Go back +to Vitelli," he cried. "Is he, or am I, to command in this campaign? Tell +him not to suffer a single man to cross the river. Warn him against +sending any more envoys to advise a battle; for should you or any other +man dare to bring me another such message, I swear to you, by the head of +the King, that you go not hence alive." + +With this decisive answer the messenger had nothing for it but to gallop +back with all haste, in order to participate in what might be left of the +butchery of Count Hoogstraaten's force, and to prevent Vitelli and Don +Frederic in their ill-timed ardor, from crossing the river. This was +properly effected, while in the meantime the whole rear-guard of the +patriots had been slaughtered. A hundred or two, the last who remained, +had made their escape from the field, and had taken refuge in a house in +the neighbourhood. The Spaniards set the buildings on fire, and standing +around with lifted lances, offered the fugitives the choice of being +consumed in the flames or of springing out upon their spears. Thus +entrapped some chose the one course, some the other. A few, to escape the +fury of the fire and the brutality of the Spaniards, stabbed themselves +with their own swords. Others embraced, and then killed each other, the +enemies from below looking on, as at a theatrical exhibition; now hissing +and now applauding, as the death struggles were more or less to their +taste. In a few minutes all the fugitives were dead. Nearly three +thousand of the patriots were slain in this combat, including those +burned or butchered after the battle was over. The Sieur de Louverwal was +taken prisoner, and soon afterwards beheaded in Brussels; but the +greatest misfortune sustained by the liberal party upon this occasion was +the death of Antony de Lalaing, Count of Hoogstraaten. This brave and +generous nobleman, the tried friend of the Prince of Orange, and his +colleague during the memorable scenes at Antwerp, was wounded in the foot +during the action, by an accidental discharge of his own pistol. The +injury, although apparently slight, caused his death in a few days. There +seemed a strange coincidence in his good and evil fortunes. A casual +wound in the hand from his own pistol while he was on his way to +Brussels, to greet Alva upon his first arrival, had saved him from the +scaffold. And now in his first pitched battle with the Duke, this +seemingly trifling injury in the foot was destined to terminate his +existence. Another peculiar circumstance had marked the event. At a gay +supper in the course of this campaign, Hoogstraaten had teased Count +Louis, in a rough, soldierly way, with his disaster at Jemmingen. He had +affected to believe that the retreat upon that occasion had been +unnecessary. "We have been now many days in the Netherlands;" said he, +"and we have seen nothing of the Spaniards but their backs."--"And when +the Duke does break loose," replied Louis, somewhat nettled, "I warrant +you will see their faces soon enough, and remember them for the rest of +your life." The half-jesting remark was thus destined to become a gloomy +prophecy. + +This was the only important action daring the campaign. Its perfect +success did not warp Alva's purpose, and, notwithstanding the murmurs of +many of his officers, he remained firm in his resolution. After the +termination of the battle on the Geta, and the Duke's obstinate refusal +to pursue his advantage, the Baron de Chevreau dashed his pistol to the +ground, in his presence, exclaiming that the Duke would never fight. The +Governor smiled at the young man's chagrin, seemed even to approve his +enthusiasm, but reminded him that it was the business of an officer to +fight, of a general to conquer. If the victory were bloodless, so much +the better for all. + +This action was fought on the 20th of October. A few days afterwards, the +Prince made his junction with Genlis at Waveren, a place about three +leagues from Louvain and from Brussels. This auxiliary force was, +however, insignificant. There were only five hundred cavalry and three +thousand foot, but so many women and children, that it seemed rather an +emigrating colony than an invading army. They arrived late. If they had +come earlier, it would have been of little consequence, for it had been +written that no laurels were to be gathered in that campaign. The +fraternal spirit which existed between the Reformers in all countries was +all which could be manifested upon the occasion. The Prince was +frustrated in his hopes of a general battle, still more bitterly +disappointed by the supineness of the country. Not a voice was raised to +welcome the deliverer. Not a single city opened its gates. All was +crouching, silent, abject. The rising, which perhaps would have been +universal had a brilliant victory been obtained, was, by the masterly +tactics of Alva, rendered an almost inconceivable idea. The mutinous +demonstrations in the Prince's camp became incessant; the soldiers were +discontented and weary. What the Duke had foretold was coming to pass, +for the Prince's army was already dissolving. + +Genlis and the other French officers were desirous that the Prince should +abandon the Netherlands for the present, and come to the rescue of the +Huguenots, who had again renewed the religious war under Conde and +Coligny. The German soldiers, however would listen to no such proposal. +They had enlisted to fight the Duke of Alva in the Netherlands, and would +not hear of making war against Charles IX. in France. The Prince was +obliged to countermarch toward the Rhine. He recrossed the Geta, somewhat +to Alva's astonishment, and proceeded in the direction of the Meuse. The +autumn rains, however, had much swollen that river since his passage at +the beginning of the month, so that it could no longer be forded. He +approached the city of Liege, and summoned their Bishop, as he had done +on his entrance into the country, to grant a free passage to his troops. +The Bishop who stood in awe of Alva, and who had accepted his protection +again refused. The Prince had no time to parley. He was again obliged to +countermarch, and took his way along the high-road to France, still +watched and closely pursued by Alva, between whose troops and his own +daily skirmishes took place. At Le Quesnoy, the Prince gained a trifling +advantage over the Spaniards; at Cateau Cambresis he also obtained a +slight and easy-victory; but by the 17th of November the Duke of Alva had +entered Cateau Cambresis, and the Prince had crossed the frontier of +France. + +The Marechal de Cosse, who was stationed on the boundary of France and +Flanders, now harassed the Prince by very similar tactics to those of +Alva. He was, however, too weak to inflict any serious damage, although +strong enough to create perpetual annoyance. He also sent a secretary to +the Prince, with a formal prohibition, in the name of Charles IX., +against his entering the French territory with his troops. + +Besides these negotiations, conducted by Secretary Favelles on the part +of Marechal de Cosse, the King, who was excessively alarmed, also +despatched the Marechal Gaspar de Schomberg on the same service. That +envoy accordingly addressed to the Prince a formal remonstrance in the +name of his sovereign. Charles IX., it was represented, found it very +strange that the Prince should thus enter the French territory. The King +was not aware that he had ever given him the least cause for hostile +proceedings, could not therefore take it in good part that the Prince +should thus enter France with a "large and puissant army;" because no +potentate, however humble, could tolerate such a proceeding, much less a +great and powerful monarch. Orange was therefore summoned to declare his +intentions, but was at the same, time informed, that if he merely desired +"to pass amiably through the country," and would give assurance, and +request permission to that, effect, under his hand and seal, his Majesty +would take all necessary measures to secure that amiable passage. + +The Prince replied by a reference to the statements which he had already +made to Marechal de Cosse. He averred that he had not entered France with +evil intent, but rather with a desire to render very humble service to +his Majesty, so far as he could do so with a clear conscience. + +Touching the King's inability to remember having given any occasion to +hostile proceedings on the part of the Prince, he replied that he would +pass that matter by. Although he could adduce many, various, and strong +reasons for violent measures, he was not so devoid of understanding as +not to recognize the futility of attempting anything, by his own personal +means, against so great and powerful a King, in comparison with whom he +was "but a petty companion." + +"Since the true religion," continued Orange, "is a public and general +affair, which ought to be preferred to all private matters; since the +Prince, as a true Christian, is held by his honor and conscience to +procure, with all his strength, its advancement and establishment in +every place whatever; since, on the other hand, according to the edict +published in September last by his Majesty, attempts have been made to +force in their consciences all those who are of the Christian religion; +and since it has been determined to exterminate the pure word of God, and +the entire exercise thereof, and to permit no other religion than the +Roman Catholic, a thing very, prejudicial to the neighbouring nations +where there is a free exercise of the Christian religion, therefore the +Prince would put no faith in the assertions of his Majesty, that it was +not his Majesty's intentions to force the consciences of any one." + +Having given this very deliberate and succinct contradiction to the +statements of the French King, the Prince proceeded to express his +sympathy for the oppressed Christians everywhere. He protested that he +would give them all the aid, comfort, counsel, and assistance that he was +able to give them. He asserted his conviction that the men who professed +the religion demanded nothing else than the glory of God and the +advancement of His word, while in all matters of civil polity they were +ready to render obedience to his Majesty. He added that all his doings +were governed by a Christian and affectionate regard for the King and his +subjects, whom his Majesty must be desirous of preserving from extreme +ruin. He averred, moreover, that if he should perceive any indication +that those of the religion were pursuing any other object than liberty of +conscience and security for life and property, he would not only withdraw +his assistance from them, but would use the whole strength of his army to +exterminate them. In conclusion, he begged the King to believe that the +work which the Prince had undertaken was a Christian work, and that his +intentions were good and friendly towards his Majesty. + + [This very eloquently written letter was dated Ciasonne, December + 3rd, 1568. It has never been published. It is in the Collection of + MSS, Pivoen concernant, etc., Hague archives.] + +It was, however, in vain that the Prince endeavoured to induce his army +to try the fortunes of the civil war in France. They had enlisted for the +Netherlands, the campaign was over, and they insisted upon being led back +to Germany. Schomberg, secretly instructed by the King of France, was +active in fomenting the discontent, and the Prince was forced to yield. +He led his army through Champagne and Lorraine to Strasburg, where they +were disbanded. All the money which the Prince had been able to collect +was paid them. He pawned all his camp equipage, his plate, his furniture. + +What he could not pay in money he made up in promises, sacredly to be +fulfilled, when he should be restored to his possessions. He even +solemnly engaged, should he return from France alive, and be still unable +to pay their arrears of wages, to surrender his person to them as a +hostage for his debt. + +Thus triumphantly for Alva, thus miserably for Orange, ended the +campaign. Thus hopelessly vanished the army to which so many proud hopes +had attached themselves. Eight thousand teen had been slain in paltry +encounters, thirty thousand were dispersed, not easily to be again +collected. All the funds which the Prince could command had been wasted +without producing a result. For the present, nothing seemed to afford a +ground of hope for the Netherlands, but the war of freedom had been +renewed in France. A band of twelve hundred mounted men-at-arms were +willing to follow the fortunes of the Prince. The three brothers +accordingly; William, Louis, and Henry--a lad of eighteen, who had +abandoned his studies at the university to obey the chivalrous instincts +of his race--set forth early in the following spring to join the banner +of Conde. + +Cardinal Granvelle, who had never taken his eyes or thoughts from the +provinces during his residence at Rome, now expressed himself with +exultation. He had predicted, with cold malice, the immediate results of +the campaign, and was sanguine enough to believe the contest over, and +the Prince for ever crushed. In his letters to Philip he had taken due +notice of the compliments paid to him by Orange in his Justification, in +his Declaration, and in his letter to the Emperor. He had declined to +make any answer to the charges, in order to enrage the Prince the more. +He had expressed the opinion, however, that this publication of writings +was not the business of brave soldiers, but of cowards. He made the same +reflection upon the alleged intrigues by Orange to procure an embassy on +his own behalf from the Emperor to Philip--a mission which was sure to +end in smoke, while it would cost the Prince all credit, not only in +Germany but the Netherlands. He felt sure, he said, of the results of the +impending campaign. The Duke of Alva was a man upon whose administrative +prudence and military skill his sovereign could implicitly rely, nor was +there a person in the ranks of the rebels capable of, conducting an +enterprise of such moment. Least of all had the Prince of Orange +sufficient brains for carrying on such weighty affairs, according to the +opinion which he had formed of him during their long intercourse in +former days. + +When the campaign had been decided, and the Prince had again become an +exile, Granvelle observed that it was now proved how incompetent he and +all his companions were to contend in military skill with the Duke of +Alva. With a cold sneer at motives which he assumed, as a matter of +course, to be purely selfish, he said that the Prince had not taken the +proper road to recover his property, and that he would now be much +embarrassed to satisfy his creditors. Thus must those ever fall, he +moralized, who would fly higher than they ought; adding, that henceforth +the Prince would have enough to do in taking care of madam his wife, if +she did not change soon in humor and character. + +Meantime the Duke of Alva, having despatched from Cateau Cambresis a +brief account of the victorious termination of the campaign, returned in +triumph to Brussels. He had certainly amply vindicated his claim to be +considered the first warrior of the age. By his lieutenants he had +summarily and rapidly destroyed two of the armies sent against him; he +had annihilated in person the third, by a brilliantly successful battle, +in which he had lost seven men, and his enemies seven thousand; and he +had now, by consummate strategy, foiled the fourth and last under the +idolized champion of the Netherlands, and this so decisively that, +without losing a man, he had destroyed eight thousand rebels, and +scattered to the four winds the remaining twenty thousand. Such signal +results might well make even a meeker nature proud. Such vast and +fortunate efforts to fix for ever an impregnable military tyranny upon a +constitutional country, might cause a more modest despot to exult. It was +not wonderful that the haughty, and now apparently omnipotent Alva, +should almost assume the god. On his return to Brussels he instituted a +succession of triumphant festivals. The people were called upon to +rejoice and to be exceeding glad, to strew flowers in his path, to sing +Hosannas in his praise who came to them covered with the blood of those +who had striven in their defence. The holiday was duly called forth; +houses, where funeral hatchments for murdered inmates had been +perpetually suspended, were decked with garlands; the bells, which had +hardly once omitted their daily knell for the victims of an incredible +cruelty, now rang their merriest peals; and in the very square where so +lately Egmont and Horn, besides many other less distinguished martyrs, +had suffered an ignominious death, a gay tournament was held, day after +day, with all the insolent pomp which could make the exhibition most +galling. + +But even these demonstrations of hilarity were not sufficient. The +conqueror and tamer of the Netherlands felt that a more personal and +palpable deification was necessary for his pride. When Germanicus had +achieved his last triumph over the ancient freedom of those generous +races whose descendants, but lately in possession of a better organized +liberty, Alva had been sent by the second and the worse Tiberius to +insult and to crush, the valiant but modest Roman erected his trophy upon +the plains of Idistavisus. "The army of Tiberius Caesar having subdued +the nations between the Rhine and the Elbe, dedicate this monument to +Mars, to Jupiter, and to Augustus." So ran the inscription of Germanicus, +without a word of allusion to his own name. The Duke of Alva, on his +return from the battle-fields of Brabant and Friesland, reared a colossal +statue of himself, and upon its pedestal caused these lines to be +engraved: "To Ferdinand Alvarez de Toledo, Duke of Alva, Governor of the +Netherlands under Philip the Second, for having extinguished sedition, +chastised rebellion, restored religion, secured justice, established +peace; to the King's most faithful minister this monument is erected." + + [Bor, iv. 257, 258. Meteren, 61. De Thou, v. 471-473, who saw it + after it was overthrown, and who was "as much struck by the beauty + of the work as by the insane pride of him who ordered it to be + made."] + +So pompous a eulogy, even if truthful and merited, would be sufficiently +inflated upon a tombstone raised to a dead chieftain by his bereaved +admirers. What shall we say of such false and fulsome tribute, not to a +god, not to the memory of departed greatness, but to a living, mortal +man, and offered not by his adorers but by himself? Certainly, +self-worship never went farther than in this remarkable monument, erected +in Alva's honor, by Alva's hands. The statue was colossal, and was placed +in the citadel of Antwerp. Its bronze was furnished by the cannon +captured at Jemmingen. It represented the Duke trampling upon a prostrate +figure with two heads, four arms, and one body. The two heads were +interpreted by some to represent Egmont and Horn, by others, the two +Nassaus, William and Louis. Others saw in them an allegorical presentment +of the nobles and commons of the Netherlands, or perhaps an impersonation +of the Compromise and the Request. Besides the chief inscription on the +pedestal, were sculptured various bas-reliefs; and the spectator, whose +admiration for the Governor-general was not satiated with the colossal +statue itself, was at liberty to find a fresh, personification of the +hero, either in a torch-bearing angel or a gentle shepherd. The work, +which had considerable esthetic merit, was executed by an artist named +Jacob Jongeling. It remained to astonish and disgust the Netherlanders +until it was thrown down and demolished by Alva's successor, Requesens. + +It has already been observed that many princes of the Empire had, at +first warmly and afterwards, as the storm darkened around him, with less +earnestness, encouraged the efforts of Orange. They had, both privately +and officially, urged the subject upon the attention of the Emperor, and +had solicited his intercession with Philip. It was not an interposition +to save the Prince from chastisement, however the artful pen of Granvelle +might distort the facts. It was an address in behalf of religious liberty +for the Netherlands, made by those who had achieved it in their own +persons, and who were at last enjoying immunity from persecution. It was +an appeal which they who made it were bound to make, for the Netherland +commissioners had assisted at the consultations by which the Peace of +Passau had been wrung from the reluctant hand of Charles. + +These applications, however, to the Emperor, and through him to the King +of Spain, had been, as we have seen, accompanied by perpetual advice to +the Prince of Orange, that he should "sit still." The Emperor had +espoused his cause with apparent frankness, so far as friendly mediation +went, but in the meantime had peremptorily commanded him to refrain from +levying war upon Alva, an injunction which the Prince had as peremptorily +declined to obey. The Emperor had even sent especial envoys to the Duke +and to the Prince, to induce them to lay down their arms, but without +effect. Orange knew which course was the more generous to his oppressed +country; to take up arms, now that hope had been converted into despair +by the furious tyranny of Alva, or to "sit still" and await the result of +the protocols about to be exchanged between king and kaiser. His arms had +been unsuccessful indeed, but had he attended the issue of this sluggish +diplomacy, it would have been even worse for the cause of freedom. The +sympathy of his best friends, at first fervent then lukewarm, had, as +disasters thickened around him, grown at last stone-cold. From the grave, +too, of Queen Isabella arose the most importunate phantom in his path. +The King of Spain was a widower again, and the Emperor among his sixteen +children had more than one marriageable daughter. To the titles of +"beloved cousin and brother-in-law," with which Philip had always been +greeted in the Imperial proclamations, the nearer and dearer one of +son-in-law was prospectively added. + +The ties of wedlock were sacred in the traditions of the Habsburg house, +but still the intervention was nominally made. As early as August, 1568, +the Emperor's minister at Madrid had addressed a memorial to the King. He +had spoken in warm and strong language of the fate of Egmont and Horn, +and had reminded Philip that the executions which were constantly taking +place in the provinces were steadily advancing the Prince of Orange's +cause. On the 22nd September, 1568, the six electors had addressed a +formal memorial to the Emperor. They thanked him for his previous +interposition in favor of the Netherlands, painted in lively colors the +cruelty of Alva, and denounced the unheard-of rigor with which he had +massacred, not only many illustrious seigniors, but people of every +degree. Notwithstanding the repeated assurances given by the King to the +contrary, they reminded the Emperor, that the inquisition, as well as the +Council of Trent, had now been established in the Netherlands in full +vigor. They maintained that the provinces had been excluded from the +Augsburg religious peace, to which their claim was perfect. Nether +Germany was entitled to the same privileges as Upper Germany. They begged +the Emperor to make manifest his sentiments and their own. It was fitting +that his Catholic Majesty should be aware that the princes of the Empire +were united for the conservation of fatherland and of tranquillity. To +this end they placed in the Emperor's hands their estates, their +fortunes, and their lives. + +Such was the language of that important appeal to the Emperor in behalf +of oppressed millions in the Netherlands, an appeal which Granvelle had +coldly characterized as an intrigue contrived by Orange to bring about +his own restoration to favor! + +The Emperor, in answer, assured the electoral envoys that he had taken +the affair to heart, and had resolved to despatch his own brother, the +Archduke Charles, on a special mission to Spain. + +Accordingly, on the 21st October, 1568, the Emperor presented his brother +with an ample letter of instructions. He was to recal to Philip's memory +the frequent exhortations made by the Emperor concerning the policy +pursued in the Netherlands. He was to mention the urgent interpellations +made to him by the electors and princes of the Empire in their recent +embassy. He was to state that the Emperor had recently deputed +commissioners to the Prince of Orange and the Duke of Alva, in order to +bring about, if possible, a suspension of arms. He was to represent that +the great number of men raised by the Prince of Orange in Germany, showed +the powerful support which he had found in the country. Under such +circumstances he was to show that it had been impossible for the Emperor +to decree the ban against him, as the Duke of Alva had demanded. The +Archduke was to request the King's consent to the reconciliation of +Orange, on honorable conditions. He was to demand the substitution of +clemency in for severity, and to insist on the recall of the foreign +soldiery from the Netherlands. + +Furnished with this very warm and stringent letter, the Archduke arrived +in Madrid on the 10th December, 1568. A few days later he presented the +King with a copy of the instructions; those brave words upon which the +Prince of Orange was expected to rely instead of his own brave heart and +the stout arms of his followers. Philip having examined the letter, +expressed his astonishment that such propositions should be made to him, +and by the agency, too, of such a personage as the Archduke. He had +already addressed a letter to the Emperor, expressing his dissatisfaction +at the step now taken. He had been disturbed at the honor thus done to +the Prince of Orange, and at this interference with his own rights. It +was, in his opinion, an unheard-of proceeding thus to address a monarch +of his quality upon matters in which he could accept the law from no man. +He promised, however, that a written answer should be given to the letter +of instructions. + +On the 20th of January, 1569, that answer was placed in the hands of the +Archduke. It was intimated that the paper was a public one, fit to be +laid by the Emperor, before the electors; but that the King had also +caused a confidential one to be prepared, in which his motives and +private griefs were indicated to Maximilian. + +In the more public document, Philip observed that he had never considered +himself obliged to justify his conduct, in his own affairs, to others. He +thought, however, that his example of severity would have been received +with approbation by princes whose subjects he had thus taught obedience. +He could not admit that, on account of the treaties which constituted the +Netherlands a circle of the Empire, he was obliged to observe within +their limits the ordinances of the imperial diet. As to the matter of +religion, his principal solicitude, since his accession to the crown, had +been to maintain the Catholic faith throughout all his states. In things +sacred he could admit no compromise. The Church alone had the right to +prescribe rules to the faithful. As to the chastisement inflicted by him +upon the Netherland rebels, it would be found that he had not used rigor, +as had been charged against him, but, on the contrary, great clemency +and gentleness. He had made no change in the government of the provinces, +certainly none in the edicts, the only statutes binding upon princes. He +had appointed the Duke of Alva to the regency, because it was his royal +will and pleasure so to appoint him. The Spanish soldiery were necessary +for the thorough chastisement of the rebels, and could not be at present +removed. As to the Prince of Orange, whose case seemed the principal +motive for this embassy, and in whose interest so much had been urged, +his crimes were so notorious that it was impossible even to attempt to +justify them. He had been, in effect, the author of all the conspiracies, +tumults, and seditious which had taken place in the Netherlands. All the +thefts, sacrileges, violations of temples, and other misdeeds of which +these provinces had been the theatre, were, with justice, to be imputed +to him. He had moreover, levied an army and invaded his Majesty's +territories. Crimes so enormous had closed the gate to all clemency. +Notwithstanding his respect for the intercession made by the Emperor and +the princes of the Empire, the King could not condescend to grant what +was now asked of him in regard to the Prince of Orange. As to a truce +between him and the Duke of Alva, his Imperial Majesty ought to reflect +upon the difference between a sovereign and his rebellious vassal, and +consider how indecent and how prejudicial to the King's honor such a +treaty must be esteemed. + +So far the public letter, of which the Archduke was furnished with a +copy, both in Spanish and in Latin. The private memorandum was intended +for the Emperor's eyes alone and those of his envoy. In this paper the +King expressed himself with more warmth and in more decided language. He +was astonished, he said, that the Prince of Orange, in levying an army +for the purpose of invading the states of his natural sovereign, should +have received so much aid and comfort in Germany. It seemed incredible +that this could not have been prevented by imperial authority. He had +been pained that commissioners had been sent to the Prince. He regretted +such a demonstration in his favor as had now been made by the mission of +the Archduke to Madrid. That which, however, had caused the King the +deepest sorrow was, that his Imperial Majesty should wish to persuade him +in religious matters to proceed with mildness. The Emperor ought to be +aware that no human consideration, no regard for his realms, nothing in +the world which could be represented or risked, would cause him to swerve +by a single hair's breadth from his path in the matter of religion. This +path was the same throughout all his kingdoms. He had ever trod in it +faithfully, and he meant to keep in it perpetually. He would admit +neither counsel nor persuasion to the contrary, and should take it ill if +counsel or persuasion should be offered. He could not but consider the +terms of the instructions given to the Archduke as exceeding the limits +of amicable suggestion. They in effect amounted to a menace, and he was +astonished that a menace should be employed, because, with princes +constituted like himself, such means could have but little success. + +On the 23rd of January, 1569, the Archduke presented the King with a +spirited reply to the public letter. It was couched in the spirit of the +instructions, and therefore need not be analysed at length. He did not +believe that his Imperial Majesty would admit any justification of the +course pursued in the Netherlands. The estates of the Empire would never +allow Philip's reasoning concerning the connexion of those countries with +the Empire, nor that they were independent, except in the particular +articles expressed in the treaty of Augsburg. In 1555, when Charles the +Fifth and King Ferdinand had settled the religious peace, they had been +assisted by envoys from the Netherlands. The princes of the Empire held +the ground, therefore, that the religious peace, which alone had saved a +vestige of Romanism in Germany, should of right extend to the provinces. +As to the Prince of Orange, the Archduke would have preferred to say +nothing more, but the orders of the Emperor did not allow him to be +silent. It was now necessary to put an end to this state of things in +Lower Germany. The princes of the Empire were becoming exasperated. He +recalled the dangers of the Smalcaldian war--the imminent peril in which +the Emperor had been placed by the act of a single elector. They who +believed that Flanders could be governed in the same manner as Italy and +Spain were greatly mistaken, and Charles the Fifth had always recognised +that error. + +This was the sum and substance of the Archduke's mission to Madrid, so +far as its immediate objects were concerned. In the course, however, of +the interview between this personage and Philip, the King took occasion +to administer a rebuke to his Imperial Majesty for his general negligence +in religious matters. It was a matter which lay at his heart, he said, +that the Emperor, although, as he doubted not, a Christian and Catholic +prince, was from policy unaccustomed to make those exterior +demonstrations which matters of faith required. He therefore begged the +Archduke to urge this matter upon the attention of his Imperial Majesty. + +The Emperor, despite this solemn mission, had become more than +indifferent before his envoy had reached Madrid. For this indifference +there were more reasons than one. When the instructions had been drawn +up, the death of the Queen of Spain had not been known in Vienna. The +Archduke had even been charged to inform Philip of the approaching +marriages of the two Archduchesses, that of Anne with the King of France, +and that of Isabella with the King of Portugal. A few days later, +however, the envoy received letters from the Emperor, authorizing him to +offer to the bereaved Philip the hand of the Archduchess Anne. + + [Herrera (lib. xv. 707) erroneously states that the Archduke was, + at the outset, charged with these two commissions by the Emperor; + namely, to negotiate the marriage of the Archduchess Anne with + Philip, and to arrange the affairs of the Netherlands. On the + contrary, he was empowered to offer Anne to the King of France, + and had already imparted his instructions to that effect to Philip, + before he received letters from Vienna, written after the death of + Isabella had become known. At another interview, he presented this + new matrimonial proposition to Philip. These facts are important, + for they indicate how completely the objects of the embassy, the + commencement of which was so pretentious, were cast aside, that a + more advantageous marriage for one of the seven Austrian + Archduchesses might be secured.--Compare Correspondance de Philippe] + +The King replied to the Archduke, when this proposition was made, that if +he had regard only to his personal satisfaction, he should remain as he +was. As however he had now no son, he was glad that the proposition had +been made, and would see how the affair could be arranged with France. + +Thus the ill success of Orange in Brabant, so disheartening to the German +princes most inclined to his cause, and still more the widowhood of +Philip, had brought a change over the views of Maximilian. On the 17th of +January, 1569, three days before his ambassador had entered upon his +negotiations, he had accordingly addressed an autograph letter to his +Catholic Majesty. In this epistle, by a few, cold lines, he entirely +annihilated any possible effect which might have been produced by the +apparent earnestness of his interposition in favor of the Netherlands. He +informed the King that the Archduke had been sent, not to vex him, but to +convince him of his friendship. He assured Philip that he should be +satisfied with his response, whatever it might be. He entreated only that +it might be drawn up in such terms that the princes and electors to whom +it must be shown, might not be inspired with suspicion. + +The Archduke left Madrid on the 4th of March, 1569. He retired, well +pleased with the results of his mission, not because its ostensible +objects had been accomplished, for those had signally failed, but because +the King had made him a present of one hundred thousand ducats, and had +promised to espouse the Archduchess Anne. On the 26th of May, 1569, the +Emperor addressed a final reply to Philip, in which he expressly approved +the King's justification of his conduct. It was founded, he thought, in +reason and equity. Nevertheless, it could hardly be shown, as it was, to +the princes and electors, and he had therefore modified many points which +he thought might prove offensive. + +Thus ended "in smoke," as Granvelle had foretold, the famous mission of +Archduke Charles. The Holy Roman Emperor withdrew from his pompous +intervention, abashed by a rebuke, but consoled by a promise. If it were +good to be guardian of religious freedom in Upper and Nether Germany, it +was better to be father-in-law to the King of Spain and both the Indies. +Hence the lame and abrupt conclusion. + +Cardinal Granvelle had been very serviceable in this juncture. He had +written to Philip to assure him that, in his, opinion, the Netherlands +had no claim, under the transaction of Augsburg, to require the +observance within their territory of the decrees of the Empire. He added, +that Charles the Fifth had only agreed to the treaty of Passau to save +his brother Ferdinand from ruin; that he had only consented to it as +Emperor, and had neither directly nor indirectly included the Netherlands +within its provisions. He stated, moreover, that the Emperor had revoked +the treaty by an act which was never published, in consequence of the +earnest solicitations of Ferdinand. + +It has been seen that the King had used this opinion of Granvelle in the +response presented to the Archduke. Although he did not condescend to an +argument, he had laid down the fact as if it were indisputable. He was +still more delighted to find that Charles had revoked the treaty of +Passau, and eagerly wrote to Granvelle to inquire where the secret +instrument was to be found. The Cardinal replied that it was probably +among his papers at Brussels, but that he doubted whether it would be +possible to find it in his absence. Whether such a document ever existed, +it is difficult to say. To perpetrate such a fraud would have been worthy +of Charles; to fable its perpetration not unworthy of the Cardinal. In +either case, the transaction was sufficiently high-handed and exceedingly +disgraceful. + + ETEXT EDITOR'S BOOKMARKS: + + Age when toleration was a vice + An age when to think was a crime + Business of an officer to fight, of a general to conquer + Cruelties exercised upon monks and papists + For faithful service, evil recompense + Pathetic dying words of Anne Boleyn + Seven Spaniards were killed, and seven thousand rebels + The calf is fat and must be killed + The illness was a convenient one + The tragedy of Don Carlos + + + + +MOTLEY'S HISTORY OF THE NETHERLANDS, PG EDITION, VOLUME 17. + +THE RISE OF THE DUTCH REPUBLIC + +By JOHN LOTHROP MOTLEY +1855 +1569-70 [CHAPTER V.] + + Quarrel between Alva and Queen Elizabeth of England--Spanish funds + seized by the English government--Non-intercourse between England + and the Netherlands--Stringent measures against heresy--Continued + persecution--Individual cases--Present of hat and sword to Alva from + the Pope--Determination of the Governor--general to establish a + system of arbitrary taxation in the provinces--Assembly of estates + at Brussels--Alva's decrees laid before them--The hundredth, tenth, + and fifth pence--Opposition of Viglius to the project--Estates of + various provinces give a reluctant consent--Determined resistance of + Utrecht--The city and province cited before the Blood Council-- + Sentence of confiscation and disfranchisement against both--Appeal + to the King--Difficulty of collecting the new tax--Commutation for + two years--Projects for a pardon-general--Growing disfavour of the + Duke--His desire to resign his post--Secret hostility between the + Governor and Viglius--Altered sentiments of the President--Opinions + expressed by Granvelle--The pardon pompously proclaimed by the Duke + at Antwerp--Character of the amnesty--Dissatisfaction of the people + with the act--Complaints of Alva to the King--Fortunes and fate of + Baron Montigny in Spain--His confinement at Segovia--His attempt to + escape--Its failure--His mock trial--His wife's appeal to Philip-- + His condemnation--His secret assassination determined upon--Its + details, as carefully prescribed and superintended by the King-- + Terrible inundation throughout the Netherlands--Immense destruction + of life and property in Friesland--Lowestein Castle taken by De + Ruyter, by stratagem--Recapture of the place by the Spaniards-- + Desperate resistance and death of De Ruyter. + +It was very soon after the Duke's return to Brussels that a quarrel +between himself and the Queen of England took place. It happened thus. +Certain vessels, bearing roving commissions from the Prince of Conde, had +chased into the ports of England some merchantmen coming from Spain with +supplies in specie for the Spanish army in the Netherlands. The trading +ships remained in harbor, not daring to leave for their destination, +while the privateers remained in a neighbouring port ready to pounce upon +them should they put to sea. The commanders of the merchant fleet +complained to the Spanish ambassador in London. The envoy laid the case +before the Queen. The Queen promised redress, and, almost as soon as the +promise had been made, seized upon all the specie in the vessels, +amounting to about eight hundred thousand dollars--[1885 exchange +rate]--and appropriated the whole to her own benefit. The pretext for +this proceeding was twofold. In the first place, she assured the +ambassador that she had taken the money into her possession in order that +it might be kept safe for her royal brother of Spain. In the second +place, she affirmed that the money did not belong to the Spanish +government at all, but that it was the property of certain Genoese +merchants, from whom, as she had a right to do, she had borrowed it for a +short period. Both these positions could hardly be correct, but either +furnished an excellent reason for appropriating the funds to her own use. + +The Duke of Alva being very much in want of money, was furious when +informed of the circumstance. He immediately despatched Councillor +d'Assonleville with other commissioners on a special embassy to the Queen +of England. His envoys were refused an audience, and the Duke was taxed +with presumption in venturing, as if he had been a sovereign, to send a +legation to a crowned head. No satisfaction was given to Alva, but a +secret commissioner was despatched to Spain to discuss the subject there. +The wrath of Alva was not appeased by this contemptuous treatment. +Chagrined at the loss of his funds, and stung to the quick by a rebuke +which his arrogance had merited, he resorted to a high-handed measure. He +issued a proclamation commanding the personal arrest of every Englishman +within the territory of the Netherlands, and the seizure of every article +of property which could be found belonging to individuals of that nation. +The Queen retaliated by measures of the same severity against +Netherlanders in England. The Duke followed up his blow by a proclamation +(of March 31st, 1569), in which the grievance was detailed, and strict +non-intercourse with England enjoined. While the Queen and the Viceroy +were thus exchanging blows, the real sufferers were, of course, the +unfortunate Netherlanders. Between the upper and nether millstones of +Elizabeth's rapacity and Alva's arrogance, the poor remains of Flemish +prosperity were well nigh crushed out of existence. Proclamations and +commissions followed hard upon each other, but it was not till April +1573, that the matter was definitely arranged. Before that day arrived, +the commerce of the Netherlands had suffered, at the lowest computation, +a dead loss of two million florins, not a stiver of which was ever +reimbursed to the sufferers by the Spanish government. + +Meantime, neither in the complacency of his triumph over William of +Orange, nor in the torrent of his wrath against the English Queen, did +the Duke for a moment lose sight of the chief end of his existence in the +Netherlands. The gibbet and the stake were loaded with their daily +victims. The records of the period are foul with the perpetually renewed +barbarities exercised against the new religion. To the magistrates of the +different cities were issued fresh instructions, by which all municipal +officers were to be guided in the discharge of their great duty. They +were especially enjoined by the Duke to take heed that Catholic midwives, +and none other, should be provided for every parish, duly sworn to give +notice within twenty-four hours of every birth which occurred, in order +that the curate might instantly proceed to baptism. They were also +ordered to appoint certain spies who should keep watch at every +administration of the sacraments, whether public or private, whether at +the altar or at death-beds, and who should report for exemplary +punishment (that is to say, death by fire) all persons who made derisive +or irreverential gestures, or who did not pay suitable honor to the said +Sacraments. Furthermore, in order that not even death itself should cheat +the tyrant of his prey, the same spies were to keep watch at the couch of +the dying, and to give immediate notice to government of all persons who +should dare to depart this life without previously receiving extreme +unction and the holy wafer. The estates of such culprits, it was +ordained, should be confiscated, and their bodies dragged to the public +place of execution. + +An affecting case occurred in the north of Holland, early in this year, +which, for its peculiarity, deserves brief mention. A poor Anabaptist, +guilty of no crime but his fellowship with a persecuted sect, had been +condemned to death. He had made his escape, closely pursued by an officer +of justice, across a frozen lake. It was late in the winter, and the ice +had become unsound. It trembled and cracked beneath his footsteps, but he +reached the shore in safety. The officer was not so fortunate. The ice +gave way beneath him, and he sank into the lake, uttering a cry for +succor. There were none to hear him, except the fugitive whom he had been +hunting. Dirk Willemzoon, for so was the Anabaptist called, instinctively +obeying the dictates of a generous nature, returned, crossed the quaking +and dangerous ice, at the peril of his life, extended his hand to his +enemy, and saved him from certain death. Unfortunately for human nature, +it cannot be added that the generosity, of, the action was met by a +corresponding heroism. The officer was desirous, it is true, of avoiding +the responsibility of sacrificing the preserver of his life, but the +burgomaster of Asperen sternly reminded him to remember his oath. He +accordingly arrested the fugitive, who, on the 16th of May following, was +burned to death under the most lingering tortures. + +Almost at the same time four clergymen, the eldest seventy years of age, +were executed at the Hague, after an imprisonment of three years. All +were of blameless lives, having committed no crime save that of having +favored the Reformation. As they were men of some local eminence, it was +determined that they should be executed with solemnity. They were +condemned to the flames, and as they were of the ecclesiastical +profession, it was necessary before execution that their personal +sanctity should be removed. Accordingly, on the 27th May, attired in the +gorgeous robes of high mass, they were brought before the Bishop of Bois +le Duc. The prelate; with a pair of scissors, cut a lock of hair from +each of their heads. He then scraped their crowns and the tips of their +fingers with a little silver knife very gently, and without inflicting +the least injury. The mystic oil of consecration was thus supposed to be +sufficiently removed. The prelate then proceeded to disrobe the victims, +saying to each one as he did so, "Eximo tibi vestem justitiae, quem +volens abjecisti;" to which the oldest pastor, Arent Dirkzoon, stoutly +replied, "imo vestem injustitiae." The bishop having thus completed the +solemn farce of desecration, delivered the prisoners to the Blood +Council, begging that they might be handled very gently. Three days +afterwards they were all executed at the stake, having, however, received +the indulgence of being strangled before being thrown into the flames. + +It was precisely at this moment, while the agents of the Duke's +government were thus zealously enforcing his decrees, that a special +messenger arrived from the Pope, bringing as a present to Alva a jewelled +hat and sword. It was a gift rarely conferred by the Church, and never +save upon the highest dignitaries, or upon those who had merited her most +signal rewards by the most shining exploits in her defence. The Duke was +requested, in the autograph letter from his Holiness which accompanied +the presents, "to remember, when he put the hat upon his head, that he +was guarded with it as with a helmet of righteousness, and with the +shield of God's help, indicating the heavenly crown which was ready for +all princes who support the Holy Church and the Roman Catholic faith." +The motto on the sword ran as follows, "Accipe sanctum gladium, menus a +Deo in quo dejicies adversarios populi mei Israel." + +The Viceroy of Philip, thus stimulated to persevere in his master's +precepts by the Vicegerent of Christ, was not likely to swerve from his +path, nor to flinch from his work. It was beyond the power of man's +ingenuity to add any fresh features of horror to the religious +persecution under which the provinces were groaning, but a new attack +could be made upon the poor remains of their wealth. + +The Duke had been dissatisfied with the results of his financial +arrangements. The confiscation of banished and murdered heretics had not +proved the inexhaustible mine he had boasted. The stream of gold which +was to flow perennially into the Spanish coffers, soon ceased to flow at +all. This was inevitable. Confiscations must, of necessity, offer but a +precarious supply to any treasury. It was only the frenzy of an Alva +which could imagine it possible to derive a permanent revenue from such a +source. It was, however, not to be expected that this man, whose tyranny +amounted to insanity, could comprehend the intimate connection between +the interests of a people and those of its rulers, and he was determined +to exhibit; by still more fierce and ludicrous experiments, how easily a +great soldier may become a very paltry financier. + +He had already informed his royal master that, after a very short time, +remittances would no longer be necessary from Spain to support the +expenses of the array and government in the Netherlands. He promised, on +the contrary, that at least two millions yearly should be furnished by +the provinces, over and above the cost of their administration, to enrich +the treasury at home. Another Peru had already been discovered by his +ingenuity, and one which was not dependent for its golden fertility on +the continuance of that heresy which it was his mission to extirpate. His +boast had been much ridiculed in Madrid, where he had more enemies than +friends, and he was consequently the more eager to convert it into +reality. Nettled by the laughter with which all his schemes of political +economy had been received at home, he was determined to show that his +creative statesmanship was no less worthy of homage than his indisputable +genius for destruction. + +His scheme was nothing more than the substitution of an arbitrary system +of taxation by the Crown, for the legal and constitutional right of the +provinces to tax themselves. It was not a very original thought, but it +was certainly a bold one. For although a country so prostrate might +suffer the imposition of any fresh amount of tyranny, yet it was doubtful +whether she had sufficient strength remaining to bear the weight after it +had been imposed. It was certain, moreover, that the new system would +create a more general outcry than any which had been elicited even by the +religious persecution. There were many inhabitants who were earnest and +sincere Catholics, and who therefore considered themselves safe from the +hangman's hands, while there were none who could hope to escape the gripe +of the new tax-gatherers. Yet the Governor was not the man to be daunted +by the probable unpopularity of the measure. Courage he possessed in more +than mortal proportion. He seemed to have set himself to the task of +ascertaining the exact capacity of the country for wretchedness. He was +resolved accurately to gauge its width and its depth; to know how much of +physical and moral misery might be accumulated within its limits, before +it should be full to overflowing. Every man, woman, and child in the +country had been solemnly condemned to death; and arbitrary executions, +in pursuance of that sentence, had been daily taking place. Millions of +property had been confiscated; while the most fortunate and industrious, +as well as the bravest of the Netherlanders, were wandering penniless in +distant lands. Still the blows, however recklessly distributed, had not +struck every head. The inhabitants had been decimated, not annihilated, +and the productive energy of the country, which for centuries had +possessed so much vitality, was even yet not totally extinct. In the +wreck of their social happiness, in the utter overthrow of their +political freedom, they had still preserved the shadow, at least, of one +great bulwark against despotism. The king could impose no tax. + +The "Joyeuse Entree" of Brabant, as well as the constitutions of +Flanders, Holland, Utrecht, and all the other provinces, expressly +prescribed the manner in which the requisite funds for government should +be raised. The sovereign or his stadholder was to appear before the +estates in person, and make his request for money. It was for the +estates, after consultation with their constituents, to decide whether or +not this petition (Bede) should be granted, and should a single branch +decline compliance, the monarch was to wait with patience for a more +favorable moment. Such had been the regular practice in the Netherlands, +nor had the reigning houses often had occasion to accuse the estates of +parsimony. It was, however, not wonderful that the Duke of Alva should be +impatient at the continued existence of this provincial privilege. A +country of condemned criminals, a nation whose universal neck might at +any moment be laid upon the block without ceremony, seemed hardly fit to +hold the purse-strings, and to dispense alms to its monarch. The Viceroy +was impatient at this arrogant vestige of constitutional liberty. +Moreover, although he had taken from the Netherlanders nearly all the +attributes of freemen, he was unwilling that they should enjoy the +principal privilege of slaves, that of being fed and guarded at their +master's expense. He had therefore summoned a general assembly of the +provincial estates in Brussels, and on the 20th of March, 1569, had +caused the following decrees to be laid before them. + +A tax of the hundredth penny, or one per cent., was laid upon all +property, real and personal, to be collected instantly. This impost, +however, was not perpetual, but only to be paid once, unless, of course, +it should suit the same arbitrary power by which it was assessed to +require it a second time. + +A tax of the twentieth penny; or five per cent., was laid upon every +transfer of real estate. This imposition was perpetual. + +Thirdly, a tag of the tenth penny, or ten per cent., was assessed upon +every article of merchandise or personal-property, to be paid as often as +it should be sold. This tax was likewise to be perpetual. + +The consternation in the assembly when these enormous propositions were +heard, can be easily imagined. People may differ about religious dogmas. +In the most bigoted persecutions there will always be many who, from +conscientious although misguided motives, heartily espouse the cause of +the bigot. Moreover, although resistance to tyranny in matters of faith, +is always the most ardent of struggles, and is supported by the most +sublime principle in our nature, yet all men are not of the sterner stuff +of which martyrs are fashioned. In questions relating to the world above; +many may be seduced from their convictions by interest, or forced into +apostasy by violence. Human nature is often malleable or fusible, where +religious interests are concerned, but in affairs material and financial +opposition to tyranny is apt to be unanimous. + +The interests of commerce and manufacture, when brought into conflict +with those of religion, had often proved victorious in the Netherlands. +This new measure, however--this arbitrary and most prodigious system of +taxation, struck home to every fireside. No individual, however adroit or +time-serving, could parry the blow by which all were crushed. + +It was most unanswerably maintained in the assembly, that this tenth and +twentieth penny would utterly destroy the trade and the manufactures of +the country. The hundredth penny, or the one per cent. assessment on all +property throughout the land, although a severe subsidy, might be borne +with for once. To pay, however, a twentieth part of the full value of a +house to the government as often as the house was sold, was a most +intolerable imposition. A house might be sold twenty times in a year, and +in the course, therefore, of the year be confiscated in its whole value. +It amounted either to a prohibition of all transfers of real estate, or +to an eventual surrender of its price. + +As to the tenth penny upon articles of merchandise, to be paid by the +vendor at every sale, the scheme was monstrous. All trade and +manufactures must, of necessity, expire, at the very first attempt to put +it in execution. The same article might be sold ten times in a week, and +might therefore pay one hundred per cent. weekly. An article, moreover, +was frequently compounded of ten, different articles, each of which might +pay one hundred per cent., and therefore the manufactured article, if ten +times transferred, one thousand per cent. weekly. Quick transfers and +unfettered movements being the nerves and muscles of commerce, it was +impossible for it long to survive the paralysis of such a tax. The impost +could never be collected, and would only produce an entire prostration of +industry. It could by no possibility enrich the government. + +The King could not derive wealth from the ruin of his subjects; yet to +establish such a system was the stern and absurd determination of the +Governor-general. The infantine simplicity of the effort seemed +incredible. The ignorance was as sublime as the tyranny. The most lucid +arguments and the most earnest remonstrances were all in vain. Too opaque +to be illumined by a flood of light, too hard to be melted by a nation's +tears, the Viceroy held calmly to his purpose. To the keen and vivid +representations of Viglius, who repeatedly exhibited all that was +oppressive and all that was impossible in the tax, he answered simply +that it was nothing more nor less than the Spanish "alcabala," and that +he derived 50,000 ducats yearly from its imposition in his own city of +Alva. + +Viglius was upon this occasion in opposition to the Duke. It is but +justice to state that the learned jurisconsult manfully and repeatedly +confronted the wrath of his superior in many a furious discussion in +council upon the subject. He had never essayed to snatch one brand from +the burning out of the vast holocaust of religious persecution, but he +was roused at last by the threatened destruction of all the material +interests of the land. He confronted the tyrant with courage, sustained +perhaps by the knowledge that the proposed plan was not the King's, but +the Governor's. He knew that it was openly ridiculed in Madrid, and that +Philip, although he would probably never denounce it in terms, was +certainly not eager for its execution. The President enlarged upon the +difference which existed between the condition of a sparsely-peopled +country of herdsmen and laborers in Spain, and the densely-thronged and +bustling cities of the Netherlands. If the Duke collected 50,000 ducats +yearly from the alcabala in Alva, he could only offer him his +congratulations, but could not help assuring him that the tax would prove +an impossibility in the provinces. To his argument, that the impost would +fall with severity not upon the highest nor the lowest classes of +society, neither upon the great nobility and clergy nor on the rustic +population, but on the merchants and manufacturers, it was answered by +the President that it was not desirable to rob Saint Peter's altar in +order to build one to Saint Paul. It might have been simpler to suggest +that the consumer would pay the tax, supposing it were ever paid at all, +but the axiom was not so familiar three centuries ago as now. + +Meantime, the report of the deputies to the assembly on their return to +their constituents had created the most intense excitement and alarm. +Petition after petition, report after report, poured in upon the +government. There was a cry of despair, and almost of defiance, which had +not been elicited by former agonies. To induce, however, a more favorable +disposition on the part of the Duke, the hundredth penny, once for all, +was conceded by the estates. The tenth and twentieth occasioned--severe +and protracted struggles, until the various assemblies of the patrimonial +provinces, one after another, exhausted, frightened, and hoping that no +serious effort would be made to collect the tax, consented, under certain +restrictions, to its imposition.--The principal conditions were a protest +against the legality of the proceeding, and the provision that the +consent of no province should be valid until that of all had been +obtained. Holland, too, was induced to give in its adhesion, although the +city of Amsterdam long withheld its consent; but the city and province of +Utrecht were inexorable. They offered a handsome sum in commutation, +increasing the sum first proposed from 70,000 to 200,000 florins, but +they resolutely refused to be saddled with this permanent tax. Their +stout resistance was destined to cost them dear. In the course of a few +months Alva, finding them still resolute in their refusal, quartered the +regiment of Lombardy upon them, and employed other coercive measures to +bring them to reason. The rude, insolent, unpaid and therefore +insubordinate soldiery were billeted in every house in the city, so that +the insults which the population were made to suffer by the intrusion of +these ruffians at their firesides would soon, it was thought, compel the +assent of the province to the tax. It was not so, however. The city and +the province remained stanch in their opposition. Accordingly, at the +close of the year (15th. December, 1569) the estates were summoned to +appear within fourteen days before the Blood Council. At the appointed +time the procureur-general was ready with an act of accusation, +accompanied, as was usually the case, with a simultaneous sentence of +condemnation. The indictment revived and recapitulated all previous +offences committed in the city and the province, particularly during the +troubles of 1566, and at the epoch of the treaty with Duchess Margaret. +The inhabitants and the magistrates, both in their individual and public +capacities, were condemned for heresy, rebellion, and misprision. The +city and province were accordingly pronounced guilty of high treason, +were deprived of all their charters, laws, privileges, freedoms, and +customs, and were declared to have forfeited all their property, real and +personal, together with all tolls, rents, excises, and imposts, the whole +being confiscated to the benefit of his Majesty. + +The immediate execution of the sentence was, however, suspended, to allow +the estates opportunity to reply. An enormous mass of pleadings, replies, +replications, rejoinders, and apostilles was the result, which few eyes +were destined to read, and least of all those to whom they were nominally +addressed. They were of benefit to none save in the shape of fees which +they engendered to the gentlemen of the robe. It was six months, however, +before the case was closed. As there was no blood to be shed, a summary +process was not considered necessary. At last, on the 14th July, the +voluminous pile of documents was placed before Vargas. It was the first +time he had laid eyes upon them, and they were, moreover, written in a +language of which he did not understand a word. Such, however, was his +capacity for affairs, that a glance only at the outside of the case +enabled him to form his decision. Within half an hour afterwards, booted +and spurred, he was saying mass in the church of Saint Gudule, on his way +to pronounce sentence at Antwerp. That judgment was rendered the same +day, and confirmed the preceding act of condemnation. Vargas went to his +task as cheerfully as if it had been murder. The act of outlawry and +beggary was fulminated against the city and province, and a handsome +amount of misery for others, and of plunder for himself, was the result +of his promptness. Many thousand citizens were ruined, many millions of +property confiscated. + +Thus was Utrecht deprived of all its ancient liberties, as a punishment +for having dared to maintain them. The clergy, too, of the province, +having invoked the bull "in Coena Domini," by which clerical property was +declared exempt from taxation, had excited the wrath of the Duke. To +wield so slight a bulrush against the man who had just been girded with +the consecrated and jewelled sword of the Pope, was indeed but a feeble +attempt at defence. Alva treated the Coena Domini with contempt, but he +imprisoned the printer who had dared to-republish it at this juncture. +Finding, moreover, that it had been put in press by the orders of no less +a person than Secretary La Torre, he threw that officer also into prison, +besides suspending him from his functions for a year. + +The estates of the province and the magistracy of the city appealed to +his Majesty from the decision of the Duke. The case did not directly +concern the interests of religion, for although the heretical troubles of +1566 furnished the nominal motives of the condemnation, the resistance to +the tenth and twentieth penny was the real crime for which they were +suffering. The King, therefore, although far from clement, was not +extremely rigorous. He refused the object of the appeal, but he did not +put the envoys to death by whom it was brought to Madrid. This would have +certainly been the case in matters strictly religious, or even had the +commissioners arrived two years before, but even Philip believed, +perhaps, that for the moment almost enough innocent blood had been shed. +At any rate he suffered the legates from Utrecht to return, not with +their petition, granted, but at least with their heads upon their +shoulders. Early in the following year, the provinces still remaining +under martial law, all the Utrecht charters were taken into the +possession of government, and deposited in the castle of Vredenberg. It +was not till after the departure of Alva, that they were restored; +according to royal command, by the new governor, Requesens. + +By the middle of the year 1569, Alva wrote to the King, with great +cheerfulness of tone, announcing that the estates of the provinces had +all consented to the tax. He congratulated his Majesty upon the fact that +this income might thenceforth be enjoyed in perpetuity, and that it would +bring at least two millions yearly into his coffers, over and above the +expenses of government. The hundredth penny, as he calculated, would +amount to at least five millions. + +He was, however, very premature in his triumph, for the estates were not +long in withdrawing a concession which had either been wrung from them by +violence or filched from them by misrepresentation. Taking the ground +that the assent of all had been stipulated before that of any one should +be esteemed valid, every province now refused to enforce or to permit the +collection of the tenth or the twentieth penny within their limits. Dire +were the threatenings and the wrath of the Viceroy, painfully protracted +the renewed negotiations with the estates. At last, a compromise was +effected, and the final struggle postponed. Late in the summer it was +agreed that the provinces should pay two millions yearly for the two +following years, the term to expire in the month of August, 1571. Till +that period, therefore, there was comparative repose upon the subject. + +The question of a general pardon had been agitated for more than a year, +both in Brussels and Madrid. Viglius, who knew his countrymen better than +the Viceroy knew them, had written frequently to his friend Hopper, on +the propriety of at once proclaiming an amnesty. There had also been many +conferences between himself and the Duke of Alva, and he had furnished +more than one draught for the proposed measure. The President knew full +well that the point had been reached beyond which the force of tyranny +could go no further. All additional pressure, he felt sure, could only +produce reaction, the effect of which might be to drive the Spaniards +from the Netherlands. There might then be another game to play. The heads +of those who had so assiduously served the government throughout its +terrible career might, in their turn, be brought to the block, and their +estates be made to enrich the Treasury. Moreover, there were symptoms +that Alva's favor was on the wane. The King had not been remarkably +struck with the merits of the new financial measures, and had expressed +much, anxiety lest the trade of the country should suffer. The Duke was +known to be desirous of his recal. His health was broken, he felt that he +was bitterly detested throughout the country, and he was certain that his +enemies at Madrid were fast undermining his credit. He seemed also to +have a dim suspicion that his mission was accomplished in the +Netherlands; that as much blood had been shed at present as the land +could easily absorb. He wrote urgently and even piteously to Philip, on +the subject of his return. "Were your Majesty only pleased to take me +from this country," he said, "I should esteem it as great a favor as if +your Majesty had given me life." He swore "by the soul of the Duchess," +that he "would rather be cut into little pieces" than retire from his +post were his presence necessary, but he expressed the opinion that +through his exertions affairs had been placed in such train that they +were sure to roll on smoothly to the end of time. "At present, and for +the future," he wrote, "your Majesty is and will be more strictly obeyed +than any of your predecessors;" adding, with insane self-complacency, +"and all this has been accomplished without violence." He also assured +his Majesty as to the prosperous condition of financial affairs. His tax +was to work wonders. He had conversed with capitalists who had offered +him four millions yearly for the tenth penny, but he had refused, because +he estimated the product at a much higher figure. The hundredth penny +could not be rated lower than five millions. It was obvious, therefore, +that instead of remitting funds to the provinces, his Majesty would, for +the future, derive from them a steady and enormous income. Moreover, he +assured the King that there was at present no one to inspire anxiety from +within or without. The only great noble of note in the country was the +Duke of Aerschot, who was devoted to his Majesty, and who, moreover, +"amounted to very little," as the King well knew. As for the Prince of +Orange, he would have business enough in keeping out of the clutches of +his creditors. They had nothing to fear from Germany. England would do +nothing as long as Germany was quiet; and France was sunk too low to be +feared at all. + +Such being the sentiments of the Duke, the King was already considering +the propriety of appointing his successor. All this was known to the +President. He felt instinctively that more clemency was to be expected +from that successor, whoever he might be; and he was satisfied, +therefore, that he would at least not be injuring his own position by +inclining at this late hour to the side of mercy. His opposition to the +tenth and twentieth penny had already established a breach between +himself and the Viceroy, but he felt secretly comforted by the reflection +that the King was probably on the same side with himself. Alva still +spoke of him, to be sure, both in public and private, with approbation; +taking occasion to commend him frequently, in his private letters, as a +servant upright and zealous, as a living register, without whose +universal knowledge of things and persons he should hardly know which way +to turn. The President, however, was growing weary of his own sycophancy. +He begged his friend Joachim to take his part, if his Excellency should +write unfavorably about his conduct to the King. He seemed to have +changed his views of the man concerning whose "prudence and gentleness" +he could once turn so many fine periods. He even expressed some anxiety +lest doubts should begin to be entertained as to the perfect clemency of +the King's character. "Here is so much confiscation and bloodshed going +on," said he, "that some taint of cruelty or avarice may chance to +bespatter the robe of his Majesty." He also confessed that he had +occasionally read in history of greater benignity than was now exercised +against the poor Netherlanders. Had the learned Frisian arrived at these +humane conclusions at a somewhat earlier day, it might perhaps have been +better for himself and for his fatherland. Had he served his country as +faithfully as he had served Time, and Philip, and Alva, his lands would +not have been so broad, nor his dignities so numerous, but he would not +have been obliged, in his old age; to exclaim, with whimsical petulance, +that "the faithful servant is always a perpetual ass." + +It was now certain that an act of amnesty was in contemplation by the +King. Viglius had furnished several plans, which, however, had been so +much disfigured by the numerous exceptions suggested by Alva, that the +President could scarce recognize his work. Granvelle, too, had frequently +urged the pardon on the attention of Philip. The Cardinal was too astute +not to perceive that the time had arrived when a continued severity could +only defeat its own work. He felt that the country could not be rendered +more abject, the spirit of patriotism more apparently extinct. A show of +clemency, which would now cost nothing, and would mean nothing, might be +more effective than this profuse and wanton bloodshed. + +He saw plainly that the brutality of Alva had already overshot the mark. +Too politic, however, openly to reprove so powerful a functionary, he +continued to speak of him and of his administration to Philip in terms of +exalted eulogy. He was a "sage seignior," a prudent governor, one on whom +his Majesty could entirely repose. He was a man of long experience, +trained all his life to affairs, and perfectly capable of giving a good +account of everything to which he turned his hands. He admitted, however, +to other correspondents, that the administration of the sage seignior, on +whom his Majesty could so implicitly rely, had at last "brought that +provinces into a deplorable condition." + +Four different forms of pardon had been sent from Madrid, toward the +close of 1569. From these four the Duke was to select one, and carefully +to destroy the other three. It was not, however, till July of the +following year that the choice was made, and the Viceroy in readiness to +announce the pardon. On the 14th of that month a great festival was held +at Antwerp, for the purpose of solemnly proclaiming the long expected +amnesty. In the morning, the Duke, accompanied by a brilliant staff, and +by a long procession of clergy in their gorgeous robes, paraded through +the streets of the commercial capital, to offer up prayers and hear mass +in the cathedral. The Bishop of Arras then began a sermon upon the +blessings of mercy, with a running commentary upon the royal clemency +about to be exhibited. In the very outset, however, of his discourse, he +was seized with convulsions, which required his removal from the pulpit; +an incident which was not considered of felicitous augury. In the +afternoon, the Duke with his suite appeared upon the square in front of +the Town House. Here a large scaffolding or theatre had been erected. The +platform and the steps which led to it were covered with scarlet cloth. A +throne, covered with cloth of gold, was arranged in the most elevated +position for the Duke. On the steps immediately below him were placed two +of the most beautiful women in Antwerp, clad in allegorical garments to +represent righteousness and peace. The staircase and platform were lined +with officers, the square was beset with troops, and filled to its utmost +verge with an expectant crowd of citizens. Toward the close of a summer's +afternoon, the Duke wearing the famous hat and sword of the Pope, took +his seat on the throne with all the airs of royalty. After a few +preliminary ceremonies, a civil functionary, standing between two +heralds; then recited the long-expected act of grace. His reading, +however, was so indistinct, that few save the soldiers in the immediate +vicinity of the platform could hear a word of the document. + +This effect was, perhaps, intentional. Certainly but little enthusiasm +could be expected from the crowd, had the text of the amnesty been heard. +It consisted of three parts--a recitation of the wrongs committed, a +statement of the terms of pardon, and a long list of exceptions. All the +sins of omission and commission, the heresy, the public preaching, the +image-breaking, the Compromise, the confederacy, the rebellion, were +painted in lively colors. Pardon, however, was offered to all those who +had not rendered themselves liable to positive impeachment, in case they +should make their peace with the Church before the expiration of two +months, and by confession and repentance obtain their absolution. The +exceptions, however, occupied the greater part of the document. When the +general act of condemnation had been fulminated by which all +Netherlanders were sentenced to death, the exceptions had been very few, +and all the individuals mentioned by name. In the act of pardon, the +exceptions comprehended so many classes of inhabitants, that it was +impossible for any individual to escape a place in, some one of the +categories, whenever it should please the government to take his life. +Expressly excluded from the benefit of the act were all ministers, +teachers, dogmatizers, and all who had favored and harbored such +dogmatizers and preachers; all those in the least degree implicated in +the image-breaking; all who had ever been individually suspected of +heresy or schism; all who had ever signed or favored the Compromise or +the Petition to the Regent; all those who had taken up arms, contributed +money, distributed tracts; all those in any manner chargeable with +misprision, or who had failed to denounce those guilty of heresy. All +persons, however, who were included in any of these classes of exceptions +might report themselves within six months, when, upon confession of their +crime, they might hope for a favorable consideration of their case. + +Such, in brief, and stripped of its verbiage, was this amnesty for which +the Netherlands had so long been hoping. By its provisions, not a man or +woman was pardoned who had ever committed a fault. The innocent alone +were forgiven. Even they were not sure of mercy, unless they should +obtain full absolution from the Pope. More certainly than ever would the +accustomed rigor be dealt to all who had committed any of those positive +acts for which so many had already lost their heads. The clause by which +a possibility of pardon was hinted to such criminals, provided they would +confess and surrender, was justly regarded as a trap. No one was deceived +by it. No man, after the experience of the last three years; would +voluntarily thrust his head into the lion's mouth, in order to fix it +more firmly upon his shoulders. No man who had effected his escape was +likely to play informer against himself, in hope of obtaining a pardon +from which all but the most sincere and zealous Catholics were in reality +excepted. + +The murmur and discontent were universal, therefore, as soon as the terms +of the act became known. Alva wrote to the King, to be sure, "that the +people were entirely satisfied, save only the demagogues, who could +tolerate no single exception from the amnesty; but he could neither +deceive his sovereign nor himself by such statements." Certainly, Philip +was totally disappointed in the effect which he had anticipated from the +measure. He had thought "it would stop the mouths of many people." On the +contrary, every mouth in the Netherlands became vociferous to denounce +the hypocrisy by which a new act of condemnation had been promulgated +under the name of a pardon. Viglius, who had drawn up an instrument of +much ampler clemency, was far from satisfied with the measure which had +been adopted. "Certainly," he wrote to his confidant, "a more benignant +measure was to be expected from so merciful a Prince. After four years +have past, to reserve for punishment and for execution all those who +during the tumult did not, through weakness of mind, render as much +service to government as brave men might have offered, is altogether +unexampled." + +Alva could not long affect to believe in the people's satisfaction. He +soon wrote to the King, acknowledging that the impression produced by the +pardon was far from favorable. He attributed much evil effect to the +severe censure which was openly pronounced upon the act by members of the +government, both in Spain and the Netherlands. He complained that Hopper +had written to Viglius, that "the most severe of the four forms of pardon +transmitted had been selected;" the fact being, that the most lenient one +had been adopted. If this were so, whose imagination is powerful enough +to portray the three which had been burned, and which, although more +severe than the fierce document promulgated, were still entitled acts of +pardon? The Duke spoke bitterly of the manner in which influential +persons in Madrid had openly abominated the cruel form of amnesty which +had been decreed. His authority in the Netherlands was already +sufficiently weakened, he said, and such censure upon his actions from +head-quarters did not tend to improve it. "In truth," he added, almost +pathetically, "it is not wonderful that the whole nation should be +ill-disposed towards me, for I certainly have done nothing to make them +love me. At the same time, such language transmitted from Madrid does not +increase their tenderness." + +In short, viewed as a measure by which government, without disarming +itself of its terrible powers, was to pacify the popular mind, the +amnesty was a failure. Viewed as a net, by which fresh victims should be +enticed to entangle themselves, who had already made their way into the +distant atmosphere of liberty, it was equally unsuccessful. A few very +obscure individuals made their appearance to claim the benefit of the +act, before the six months had expired. With these it was thought +expedient to deal gently; but no one was deceived by such clemency. As +the common people expressed themselves, the net was not spread on that +occasion for finches. + +The wits of the Netherlands, seeking relief from their wretched condition +in a still more wretched quibble, transposed two letters of the word +Pardona, and re-baptized the new measure Pandora. The conceit was not +without meaning. The amnesty, descending from supernal regions, had been +ushered into the presence of mortals as a messenger laden with heavenly +gifts. The casket, when opened, had diffused curses instead of blessings. +There, however, the classical analogy ended, for it would have puzzled +all the pedants of Louvain to discover Hope lurking, under any disguise, +within the clauses of the pardon. + +Very soon after the promulgation of this celebrated act, the new bride of +Philip, Anne of Austria, passed through the Netherlands, on her way to +Madrid. During her brief stay in Brussels, she granted an interview to +the Dowager Countess of Horn. That unhappy lady, having seen her eldest +son, the head of her illustrious house, so recently perish on the +scaffold, wished to make a last effort in behalf of the remaining one, +then closely confined in the prison of Segovia. The Archduchess solemnly +promised that his release should be the first boon which she would +request of her royal bridegroom, and the bereaved countess retired almost +with a hope. + +A short digression must here be allowed, to narrate the remaining +fortunes of that son, the ill-starred Seigneur de Montigny. His mission +to Madrid in company of the Marquis Berghen has been related in a +previous volume. The last and most melancholy scene in the life of his +fellow envoy has been described in a recent chapter. After that ominous +event, Montigny became most anxious to effect his retreat from Spain. He +had been separated more than a year from his few months' bride. He was +not imprisoned, but he felt himself under the most rigid although secret +inspection. It was utterly impossible for him to obtain leave to return, +or to take his departure without permission. On one occasion, having left +the city accidentally for a ride on horseback to an adjoining village, he +found himself surrounded by an unexpected escort of forty troopers. +Still, however, the King retained a smiling mien. To Montigny's repeated +and urgent requests for dismissal, Philip graciously urged his desire for +a continuance of his visit. He was requested to remain in order to +accompany his sovereign upon that journey to the Netherlands which would +not be much longer delayed. In his impatience anything seemed preferable +to the state of suspense in which he was made to linger. He eagerly +offered, if he were accused or suspected of crime, to surrender himself +to imprisonment if he only could be brought to trial. Soon after Alva's +arrival in the Netherlands, the first part of this offer was accepted. No +sooner were the arrests of Egmont and Horn known in Madrid, than Montigny +was deprived of his liberty, and closely confined in the alcazar of +Segovia. Here he remained imprisoned for eight or nine months in a high +tower, with no attendant save a young page, Arthur de Munter, who had +accompanied him from the Netherlands. Eight men-at-arms were expressly +employed to watch over him and to prevent his escape. + +One day towards the middle of July, 1568, a band of pilgrims, some of +them in Flemish attire, went through the streets of Segovia. They were +chanting, as was customary on such occasions, a low, monotonous song, in +which Montigny, who happened to be listening, suddenly recognized the +language of his fatherland. His surprise was still greater when, upon +paying closer attention, he distinguished the terrible meaning of the +song. The pretended pilgrims, having no other means of communication with +the prisoner, were singing for his information the tragic fates of his +brother, Count Horn, and of his friend, Count Egmont. Mingled with the +strain were warnings of his own approaching doom; if he were not able to +effect his escape before it should be too late. Thus by this friendly +masquerade did Montigny learn the fate of his brother, which otherwise, +in that land of terrible secrecy, might have been concealed from him for +ever. + +The hint as to his own preservation was not lost upon him; and he at once +set about a plan of escape. He succeeded in gaining over to his interests +one of the eight soldiers by whom he was guarded, and he was thus enabled +to communicate with many of his own adherents without the prison walls. +His major-domo had previously been permitted to furnish his master's +table with provisions dressed by his own cook. A correspondence was now +carried on by means of letters concealed within the loaves of bread sent +daily to the prisoner. In the same way files were provided for sawing +through his window-bars. A very delicate ladder of ropes, by which he was +to effect his escape into the court below, was also transmitted. The plan +had been completely arranged. A certain Pole employed in the enterprise +was to be at Hernani, with horses in readiness to convey them to San +Sebastian. There a sloop had been engaged, and was waiting their arrival. +Montigny, accordingly, in a letter enclosed within a loaf of bread--the +last, as he hoped, which he should break in prison--was instructed, after +cutting off his beard and otherwise disguising his person, to execute his +plan and join his confederates at Hernani. Unfortunately, the major-domo +of Montigny was in love. Upon the eve of departure from Spain, his +farewell interview with his mistress was so much protracted that the care +of sending the bread was left to another. The substitute managed so +unskilfully that the loaf was brought to the commandant of the castle, +and not to the prisoner. The commandant broke the bread, discovered the +letter, and became master of the whole plot. All persons engaged in the +enterprise were immediately condemned to death, and the Spanish soldier +executed without delay. The others being considered, on account of their +loyalty to their master as deserving a commutation of punishment, were +sent to the galleys. The major-domo, whose ill-timed gallantry had thus +cost Montigny his liberty, received two hundred lashes in addition. All, +however, were eventually released from imprisonment. + +The unfortunate gentleman was now kept in still closer confinement in his +lonely tower. As all his adherents had been disposed of, he could no +longer entertain a hope of escape. In the autumn of this year (1568) it +was thought expedient by Alva to bring his case formally before the Blood +Council. Montigny had committed no crime, but he was one of that band of +popular, nobles whose deaths had been long decreed. Letters were +accordingly sent to Spain, empowering certain functionaries there to +institute that preliminary examination, which, as usual, was to be the +only trial vouchsafed. A long list of interrogatories was addressed to +him on February 7th, 1569, in his prison at Segovia. A week afterwards, +he was again visited by the alcalde, who read over to him the answers +which he had made on the first occasion, and required him to confirm +them. He was then directed to send his procuration to certain persons in +the Netherlands, whom he might wish to appear in his behalf. Montigny +complied by sending several names, with a clause of substitution. All the +persons thus appointed, however, declined to act, unless they could be +furnished with a copy of the procuration, and with a statement of the +articles of accusation. This was positively refused by the Blood Council. +Seeing no possibility of rendering service to their friend by performing +any part in this mockery of justice, they refused to accept the +procuration. They could not defend a case when not only the testimony, +but even the charges against the accused were kept secret. An individual +was accordingly appointed by government to appear in the prisoner's +behalf. + +Thus the forms of justice were observed, and Montigny, a close prisoner +in the tower of Segovia, was put upon trial for his life in Brussels. +Certainly nothing could exceed the irony of such a process. The advocate +had never seen his client, thousands of miles away, and was allowed to +hold no communication with him by letter. The proceedings were instituted +by a summons, addressed by the Duke of Alva to Madame de Montigny in +Brussels. That unhappy lady could only appeal to the King. "Convinced," +she said, "that her husband was innocent of the charges brought against +him, she threw herself, overwhelmed and consumed by tears and misery, at +his Majesty's feet. She begged the King to remember the past services of +Montigny, her own youth, and that she had enjoyed his company but four +months. By all these considerations, and by the passion of Jesus Christ, +she adjured the monarch to pardon any faults which her husband might have +committed." The reader can easily judge how much effect such a tender +appeal was like to have upon the heart of Philip. From that rock; thus +feebly smitten, there flowed no fountain of mercy. It was not more +certain that Montigny's answers to the interrogatories addressed to him +had created a triumphant vindication of his course, than that such +vindication would be utterly powerless to save his life. The charges +preferred against him were similar to those which had brought Egmont and +Horn to the block, and it certainly created no ground of hope for him, +that he could prove himself even more innocent of suspicious conduct than +they had done. On the 4th March, 1570, accordingly, the Duke of Alva +pronounced sentence against him. The sentence declared that his head +should be cut off, and afterwards exposed to public view upon the head of +a pike. Upon the 18th March, 1570, the Duke addressed a requisitory +letter to the alcaldes, corregidors, and other judges of Castile, +empowering them to carry the sentence into execution. + +On the arrival of this requisition there was a serious debate before the +King in council. It seemed to be the general opinion that there had been +almost severity enough in the Netherlands for the present. The spectacle +of the public execution of another distinguished personage, it was +thought, might now prove more irritating than salutary. The King was of +this opinion himself. It certainly did not occur to him or to his +advisers that this consideration should lead them to spare the life of an +innocent man. The doubts entertained as to the expediency of a fresh +murder were not allowed to benefit the prisoner, who, besides being a +loyal subject and a communicant of the ancient Church, was also clothed +in the white robes of an envoy, claiming not only justice but +hospitality, as the deputy of Philip's sister, Margaret of Parma. These +considerations probably never occurred to the mind of His Majesty. In +view, however, of the peculiar circumstances of the case, it was +unanimously agreed that there should be no more blood publicly shed. Most +of the councillors were in favor of slow poison. Montigny's meat and +drink, they said, should be daily drugged, so that he might die by little +and little. Philip, however, terminated these disquisitions by deciding +that the ends of justice would not thus be sufficiently answered. The +prisoner, he had resolved, should be regularly executed, but the deed +should be secret, and it should be publicly announced that he had died of +a fever. + +This point having been settled; the King now set about the arrangement of +his plan with all that close attention to detail which marked his +character. The patient industry which, had God given him a human heart +and a love of right, might have made him a useful monarch, he now devoted +to a scheme of midnight murder with a tranquil sense of enjoyment which +seems almost incredible. There is no exaggeration in calling the deed a +murder, for it certainly was not sanctioned by any law, divine or human, +nor justified or excused by any of the circumstances which are supposed +to palliate homicide. Nor, when the elaborate and superfluous luxury of +arrangements made by Philip for the accomplishment of his design is +considered, can it be doubted that he found a positive pleasure in his +task. It would almost seem that he had become jealous of Alva's +achievements in the work of slaughter. He appeared willing to prove to +those immediately about him, that however capable might be the Viceroy of +conducting public executions on a grand and terrifying scale, there was +yet a certain delicacy of finish never attained by Alva in such business, +and which was all his Majesty's own. The King was resolved to make the +assassination of Montigny a masterpiece. + +On the 17th August, 1570, he accordingly directed Don Eugenio de Peralta, +concierge of the fortress of Simancas, to repair to Segovia, and thence +to remove the Seigneur Montigny to Simancas. Here he was to be strictly +immured; yet was to be allowed at times to walk in the corridor adjoining +his chamber. On the 7th October following, the licentiate Don Alonzo de +Avellano, alcalde of Valladolid, was furnished with an order addressed by +the King to Don Eugenio de Peralta, requiring him to place the prisoner +in the hands of the said licentiate, who was charged with the execution +of Alva's sentence. This functionary had, moreover, been provided with a +minute letter of instructions, which had been drawn up according to the +King's directions, on the 1st October. In these royal instructions, it +was stated that, although the sentence was for a public execution, yet +the King had decided in favor of a private one within the walls of the +fortress. It was to be managed so that no one should suspect that +Montigny had been executed, but so that, on the contrary, it should be +universally said and believed that he had died a natural death. Very few +persons, all sworn and threatened into secrecy, were therefore to be +employed. Don Alonzo was to start immediately for Valladolid; which was +within two short leagues of Simancas. At that place he would communicate +with Don Eugenio, and arrange the mode, day, and hour of execution. He +would leave Valladolid on the evening before a holiday, late in the +afternoon, so as to arrive a little after dark at Simancas. He would take +with him a confidential notary, an executioner, and as few servants as +possible. Immediately upon his entrance to the fortress, he was to +communicate the sentence of death to Montigny, in presence of Don Eugenio +and of one or two other persons. He would then console him, in which task +he would be assisted by Don Eugenio. He would afterwards leave him with +the religious person who would be appointed for that purpose. That night +and the whole of the following day, which would be a festival, till after +midnight, would be allotted to Montigny, that he might have time to +confess, to receive the sacraments, to convert himself to God, and to +repent. Between one and two o'clock in the morning the execution was to +take place, in presence of the ecclesiastic, of Don Eugenio de Peralta, +of the notary, and of one or two other persons, who would be needed by +the executioner. The ecclesiastic was to be a wise and prudent person, +and to be informed how little confidence Montigny inspired in the article +of faith. If the prisoner should wish to make a will, it could not be +permitted. As all his property had been confiscated, he could dispose of +nothing. Should he, however, desire to make a memorial of the debts which +he would wish paid; he was to be allowed that liberty. It was, however, +to be stipulated that he was to make no allusion, in any memorial or +letter which he might write, to the execution which was about to take +place. He was to use the language of a man seriously ill, and who feels +himself at the point of death. By this infernal ingenuity it was proposed +to make the victim an accomplice in the plot, and to place a false +exculpation of his assassins in his dying lips. The execution having been +fulfilled, and the death having been announced with the dissimulation +prescribed, the burial was to take place in the church of Saint Saviour, +in Simancas. A moderate degree of pomp, such as befitted a person of +Montigny's quality, was to be allowed, and a decent tomb erected. A grand +mass was also to be celebrated, with a respectable number, "say seven +hundred," of lesser masses. As the servants of the defunct were few in +number, continued the frugal King, they might be provided each with a +suit of mourning. Having thus personally arranged all the details of this +secret work, from the reading of the sentence to the burial of the +prisoner; having settled not only the mode of his departure from life, +but of his passage through purgatory, the King despatched the agent on +his mission. + +The royal program was faithfully enacted. Don Alonzo arrived at +Valladolid; and made his arrangements with Don Eugenio. It was agreed +that a paper, prepared by royal authority, and brought by Don Alonzo from +Madrid, should be thrown into the corridor of Montigny's prison. This +paper, written in Latin, ran as follows: + + "In the night, as I understand, there will be no chance for your + escape. In the daytime there will be many; for you are then in + charge of a single gouty guardian, no match in strength or speed for + so vigorous a man as you. Make your escape from the 8th to the 12th + of October, at any hour you can, and take the road contiguous to the + castle gate through which you entered. You will find Robert and + John, who will be ready with horses, and with everything necessary. + May God favor your undertaking.--R. D. M." + +The letter, thus designedly thrown into the corridor by one confederate, +was soon afterwards picked up by the other, who immediately taxed +Montigny with an attempt to escape. Notwithstanding the vehement +protestations of innocence naturally made by the prisoner, his pretended +project was made the pretext for a still closer imprisonment in the +"Bishop's Tower." A letter, written at Madrid, by Philip's orders, had +been brought by Don Alonzo to Simancas, narrating by anticipation these +circumstances, precisely as they had now occurred. It moreover stated +that Montigny, in consequence of his close confinement, had fallen +grievously ill, and that he would receive all the attention compatible +with his safe keeping. This letter, according to previous orders, was now +signed by Don Eugenio de Peralta, dated 10th October, 1570; and publicly +despatched to Philip. It was thus formally established that Montigny was +seriously ill. A physician, thoroughly instructed and sworn to secrecy, +was now ostentatiously admitted to the tower, bringing with him a vast +quantity of drugs. He duly circulated among the townspeople, on his +return, his opinion that the illustrious prisoner was afflicted with a +disorder from which it was almost impossible that he should recover. +Thus, thanks to Philip's masterly precautions, not a person in Madrid or +Simancas was ignorant that Montigny was dying of a fever, with the single +exception of the patient himself. + +On Saturday, the 14th of October, at nightfall, Don Alonzo de Avellano, +accompanied by the prescribed individuals, including Fray Hernando del, +Castillo, an ecclesiastic of high reputation, made their appearance at +the prison of Simancas. At ten in the evening the announcement of the +sentence was made to Montigny. He was visibly agitated at the sudden +intelligence, for it was entirely unexpected by him. He had, on the +contrary, hoped much from the intercession of, the Queen, whose arrival +he had already learned. He soon recovered himself, however, and requested +to be left alone with the ecclesiastic. All the night and the following +day were passed in holy offices. He conducted himself with great +moderation, courage, and tranquillity. He protested his entire innocence +of any complicity with the Prince of Orange, or of any disloyal designs +or sentiments at any period of his life. He drew up a memorial, +expressing his strong attachment to every point of the Catholic faith, +from which he had never for an instant swerved. His whole demeanor was +noble, submissive, and Christian. "In every essential," said Fray +Hernando, "he conducted himself so well that we who remain may bear him +envy." He wrote a paper of instructions concerning his faithful and +bereaved dependents. He placed his signet ring, attached to a small gold +chain, in the hands of the ecclesiastic, to be by him transmitted to his +wife. Another ring, set with turquois, he sent to his mother-in-law, the +Princess Espinoy, from whom he had received it. About an hour after +midnight, on the morning, therefore, of the 16th of October, Fray +Hernando gave notice that the prisoner was ready to die. The alcalde Don +Alonzo then entered, accompanied by the executioner and the notary. The +sentence of Alva was now again recited, the alcalde adding that the King, +"out of his clemency and benignity," had substituted a secret for a +public execution. Montigny admitted that the judgment would be just and +the punishment lenient, if it were conceded that the charges against him +were true. His enemies, however, while he had been thus immured, had +possessed the power to accuse him as they listed. He ceased to speak, and +the executioner then came forward and strangled him. The alcalde, the +notary, and the executioner then immediately started for Valladolid, so +that no person next morning knew that they had been that night at +Simancas, nor could guess the dark deed which they had then and there +accomplished. The terrible, secret they were forbidden, on pain of death, +to reveal. + +Montigny, immediately after his death, was clothed in the habit of Saint +Francis, in order to conceal the marks of strangulation. In the course of +the day the body was deposited, according to the King's previous orders, +in the church of Saint Saviour. Don Eugenio de Peralta, who superintended +the interment, uncovered the face of the defunct to prove his identity, +which was instantly recognised by many sorrowing servants. The next +morning the second letter, prepared by Philip long before, and brought by +Don Alonzo de Avellano to Simancas, received the date of 17th October, +1570, together with the signature of Don Eugenio de Peralta, keeper of +Simancas fortress, and was then publicly despatched to the King. It +stated that, notwithstanding the care given to the Seigneur de Montigny +in his severe illness by the physicians who had attended him, he had +continued to grow worse and worse until the previous morning between +three and four o'clock, when he had expired. The Fray Hernando del +Castillo, who had accidentally happened to be at Simancas, had performed +the holy offices, at the request of the deceased, who had died in so +catholic a frame of mind, that great hopes might be entertained of his +salvation. Although he possessed no property, yet his burial had been +conducted very respectably. + +On the 3rd of November, 1570, these two letters, ostensibly written by +Don Eugenio de Peralta, were transmitted by Philip to the Duke of Alva. +They were to serve as evidence of the statement which the +Governor-General was now instructed to make, that the Seigneur de +Montigny had died a natural death in the fortress of Simancas. By the +same courier, the King likewise forwarded a secret memoir, containing the +exact history of the dark transaction, from which memoir the foregoing +account has been prepared. At the same time the Duke was instructed +publicly to exhibit the lying letters of Don Eugenio de Peralta, as +containing an authentic statement of the affair. The King observed, +moreover, in his letter, that there was not a person in Spain who doubted +that Montigny had died of a fever. He added that if the sentiments of the +deceased nobleman had been at all in conformity with his external +manifestations, according to the accounts received of his last moments, +it was to be hoped that God would have mercy upon his soul. The secretary +who copied the letter, took the liberty of adding, however, to this +paragraph the suggestion, that "if Montigny were really a heretic, the +devil, who always assists his children in such moments, would hardly have +failed him in his dying hour." Philip, displeased with this flippancy, +caused the passage to be erased. He even gave vent to his royal +indignation in a marginal note, to the effect that we should always +express favorable judgments concerning the dead--a pious sentiment always +dearer to writing masters than to historians. It seemed never to have +occurred however to this remarkable moralist, that it was quite as +reprehensible to strangle an innocent man as to speak ill of him after +his decease. + +Thus perished Baron Montigny, four years after his arrival in Madrid as +Duchess Margaret's ambassador, and three years after the death of his +fellow-envoy Marquis Berghen. No apology is necessary for so detailed an +account of this dark and secret tragedy. The great transactions of a +reign are sometimes paltry things; great battles and great treaties, +after vast consumption of life and of breath, often leave the world where +they found it. The events which occupy many of the statelier pages of +history, and which have most lived in the mouths of men, frequently +contain but commonplace lessons of philosophy. It is perhaps otherwise +when, by the resuscitation of secret documents, over which the dust of +three centuries has gathered, we are enabled to study the internal +working of a system of perfect tyranny. Liberal institutions, republican +or constitutional governments, move in the daylight; we see their mode of +operation, feel the jar of their wheels, and are often needlessly alarmed +at their apparent tendencies. The reverse of the picture is not always so +easily attainable. When, therefore, we find a careful portrait of a +consummate tyrant, painted by his own hand, it is worth our while to +pause for a moment, that we may carefully peruse the lineaments. +Certainly, we shall afterwards not love liberty the less. + +Towards the end of the year 1570, still another and a terrible misfortune +descended upon the Netherlands. It was now the hand of God which smote +the unhappy country, already so tortured by the cruelty of war. An +inundation, more tremendous than any which had yet been recorded in those +annals so prolific in such catastrophes, now swept the whole coast from +Flanders to Friesland. Not the memorable deluge of the thirteenth +century, out of which the Zuyder Zee was born; not that in which the +waters of the Dollart had closed for ever over the villages and churches +of Groningen; not one of those perpetually recurring floods by which the +inhabitants of the Netherlands, year after year, were recalled to an +anxious remembrance of the watery chaos out of which their fatherland had +been created, and into which it was in daily danger of resolving itself +again, had excited so much terror and caused so much destruction. A +continued and violent gale from the north-west had long been sweeping the +Atlantic waters into the North Sea, and had now piled them upon the +fragile coasts of the provinces. The dykes, tasked beyond their strength, +burst in every direction. The cities of Flanders, to a considerable +distance inland, were suddenly invaded by the waters of the ocean. The +whole narrow peninsula of North Holland was in imminent danger of being +swept away for ever. Between Amsterdam and Meyden, the great Diemer dyke +was broken through in twelve places. The Hand-bos, a bulwark formed of +oaken piles, fastened with metal clamps, moored with iron anchors, and +secured by gravel and granite, was snapped to pieces like packthread. The +"Sleeper," a dyke thus called, because it was usually left in repose by +the elements, except in great emergencies, alone held firm, and prevented +the consummation of the catastrophe. Still the ocean poured in upon the +land with terrible fury. Dort, Rotterdam, and many other cities were, for +a time, almost submerged. Along the coast, fishing vessels, and even +ships of larger size, were floated up into the country, where they +entangled themselves in groves and orchards, or beat to pieces the roofs +and walls of houses. The destruction of life and of property was enormous +throughout the maritime provinces, but in Friesland the desolation was +complete. There nearly all the dykes and sluices were dashed to +fragments; the country, far and-wide, converted into an angry sea. The +steeples and towers of inland cities became islands of the ocean. +Thousands of human beings were swept out of existence in a few hours. +Whole districts of territory, with all their villages, farms, and +churches, were rent from their places, borne along by the force of the +waves, sometimes to be lodged in another part of the country, sometimes +to be entirely engulfed. Multitudes of men, women, children, of horses, +oxen, sheep, and every domestic animal, were struggling in the waves in +every direction. Every boat, and every article which could serve as a +boat, were eagerly seized upon. Every house was inundated; even the +grave-yards gave up their dead. The living infant in his cradle, and the +long-buried corpse in his coffin, floated side by side. The ancient flood +seemed about to be renewed. Everywhere, upon the top of trees, upon the +steeples of churches, human beings were clustered, praying to God for +mercy, and to their fellow-men for assistance. As the storm at last was +subsiding, boats began to ply in every direction, saving those who were +still struggling in the water, picking fugitives from roofs and +tree-tops, and collecting the bodies of those already drowned. Colonel +Robles, Seigneur de Billy, formerly much hated for his Spanish or +Portuguese blood, made himself very active in this humane work. By his +exertions, and those of the troops belonging to Groningen, many lives +were rescued, and gratitude replaced the ancient animosity. It was +estimated that at least twenty thousand persons were destroyed in the +province of Friesland alone. Throughout the Netherlands, one hundred +thousand persons perished. The damage alone to property, the number of +animals engulfed in the sea, were almost incalculable. + +These events took place on the 1st and 2nd November, 1570. The former +happened to be the day of All Saints, and the Spaniards maintained loudly +that the vengeance of Heaven had descended upon the abode of heretics. +The Netherlanders looked upon the catastrophe as ominous of still more +terrible misfortunes in store for them. They seemed doomed to destruction +by God and man. An overwhelming tyranny had long been chafing against +their constitutional bulwarks, only to sweep over them at last; and now +the resistless ocean, impatient of man's feeble barriers, had at last +risen to reclaim his prey. Nature, as if disposed to put to the blush the +feeble cruelty of man, had thus wrought more havoc in a few hours, than +bigotry, however active, could effect in many years. + +Nearly at the close of this year (1570) an incident occurred, +illustrating the ferocious courage so often engendered in civil contests. +On the western verge of the Isle of Bommel, stood the castle of +Lowestein. The island is not in the sea. It is the narrow but important +territory which is enclosed between the Meuse and the Waal. The castle, +placed in a slender hook, at the junction of the two rivers, commanded +the two cities of Gorcum and Dorcum, and the whole navigation of the +waters. One evening, towards the end of December, four monks, wearing the +cowls and robes of Mendicant Grey Friars, demanded hospitality at the +castle gate. They were at once ushered into the presence of the +commandant, a brother of President Tisnacq. He was standing by the fire, +conversing with his wife. The foremost monk approaching him, asked +whether the castle held for the Duke of Alva or the Prince of Orange. The +castellian replied that he recognized no prince save Philip, King of +Spain. Thereupon the monk, who was no other than Herman de Ruyter, a +drover by trade, and a warm partisan of Orange, plucked a pistol from +beneath his robe, and shot the commandant through the head. The others, +taking advantage of the sudden panic, overcame all the resistance offered +by the feeble garrison, and made themselves masters of the place. In the +course of the next day they introduced into the castle four or five and +twenty men, with which force they diligently set themselves to fortify +the place, and secure themselves in its possession. A larger +reinforcement which they had reckoned upon, was detained by the floods +and frosts, which, for the moment, had made the roads and fivers alike +impracticable. + +Don Roderigo de Toledo, governor of Bois le Duc, immediately despatched a +certain Captain Perea, at the head of two hundred soldiers, who were +joined on the way by a miscellaneous force of volunteers, to recover the +fortress as soon as possible. The castle, bathed on its outward walls by +the Waal and Meuse, and having two redoubts, defended by a double +interior foss, would have been difficult to take by assaults had the +number of the besieged been at all adequate to its defence. As matters +stood, however, the Spaniards, by battering a breach in the wall with +their cannon on the first day, and then escalading the inner works with +remarkable gallantry upon the second, found themselves masters of the +place within eight and forty hours of their first appearance before its +gates. Most of the defenders were either slain or captured alive. De +Ruyter alone had betaken himself to an inner hall of the castle, where he +stood at bay upon the threshold. Many Spaniards, one after another, as +they attempted to kill or to secure him, fell before his sword, which he +wielded with the strength of a giant. At last, overpowered by numbers, +and weakened by the loss of blood, he retreated slowly into the hall, +followed by many of his antagonists. Here, by an unexpected movement, he +applied a match to a train of powder, which he had previously laid along +the floor of the apartment. The explosion was instantaneous. The tower, +where the contest was taking place, sprang into the air, and De Ruyter +with his enemies shared a common doom. A part of the mangled remains of +this heroic but ferocious patriot were afterwards dug from the ruins of +the tower, and with impotent malice nailed upon the gallows at Bois le +Duc. Of his surviving companions, some were beheaded, some were broken on +the wheel, some were hung and quartered--all were executed. + + ETEXT EDITOR'S BOOKMARKS: + + Constitutional governments, move in the daylight + Consumer would pay the tax, supposing it were ever paid at all + Financial opposition to tyranny is apt to be unanimous + Great battles often leave the world where they found it + Great transactions of a reign are sometimes paltry things + The faithful servant is always a perpetual ass + + + + +MOTLEY'S HISTORY OF THE NETHERLANDS, PG EDITION, VOLUME 18. + +THE RISE OF THE DUTCH REPUBLIC + +By JOHN LOTHROP MOTLEY +1855 +1570 [CHAPTER VI.] + + Orange and Count Louis in France--Peace with the Huguenots-- + Coligny's memoir, presented by request to Charles IX., on the + subject of invading the Netherlands--Secret correspondence of Orange + organized by Paul Buys--Privateering commissions issued by the + Prince--Regulations prescribed by him for the fleets thus created-- + Impoverished condition of the Prince--His fortitude--His personal + sacrifices and privations--His generosity--Renewed contest between + the Duke and the Estates on the subject of the tenth and twentieth + pence--Violent disputes in the council--Firm opposition of Viglius-- + Edict commanding the immediate collection of the tax--Popular + tumults--Viglius denounced by Alva--The Duke's fierce complaints to + the King--Secret schemes of Philip against Queen Elizabeth of + England--The Ridolphi plot to murder Elizabeth countenanced by + Philip and Pius V.--The King's orders to Alva to further the plan-- + The Duke's remonstrances--Explosion of the plot--Obstinacy of + Philip--Renewed complaints of Alva as to the imprudent service + required of him--Other attempts of Philip to murder Elizabeth--Don + John of Austria in the Levant----Battle of Lepanto--Slothfulness of + Selim--Appointment of Medina Celi--Incessant wrangling in Brussels + upon the tax--Persevering efforts of Orange--Contempt of Alva for + the Prince--Proposed sentence of ignominy against his name--Sonoy's + mission to Germany--Remarkable papers issued by the Prince--The + "harangue"--Intense hatred for Alva entertained by the highest as + well as lower orders--Visit of Francis de Alva to Brussels--His + unfavourable report to the King--Querulous language of the Duke-- + Deputation to Spain--Universal revolt against the tax--Ferocity of + Alva--Execution of eighteen tradesmen secretly ordered--Interrupted + by the capture of Brill--Beggars of the sea--The younger Wild Boar + of Ardennes--Reconciliation between the English government and that + of Alva--The Netherland privateersmen ordered out of English ports-- + De la Marck's fleet before Brill--The town summoned to surrender-- + Commissioners sent out to the fleet--Flight of the magistrates and + townspeople--Capture of the place--Indignation of Alva--Popular + exultation in Brussels--Puns and Caricatures--Bossu ordered to + recover the town of Brill--His defeat--His perfidious entrance into + Rotterdam--Massacre in that city--Flushing revolutionized-- + Unsuccessful attempt of Governor de Bourgogne to recal the citizens + to their obedience--Expedition under Treslong from Brill to assist + the town of Flushing--Murder of Paccheco by the Patriots--Zeraerts + appointed Governor of Walcheren by Orange. + +While such had been the domestic events of the Netherlands during the +years 1569 and 1570, the Prince of Orange, although again a wanderer, had +never allowed himself to despair. During this whole period, the darkest +hour for himself and for his country, he was ever watchful. After +disbanding his troops at Strasburg, and after making the best +arrangements possible under the circumstances for the eventual payment of +their wages, he had joined the army which the Duke of Deux Ponts had been +raising in Germany to assist the cause of the Huguenots in France. The +Prince having been forced to acknowledge that, for the moment, all open +efforts in the Netherlands were likely to be fruitless, instinctively +turned his eyes towards the more favorable aspect of the Reformation in +France. It was inevitable that, while he was thus thrown for the time out +of his legitimate employment, he should be led to the battles of freedom +in a neighbouring land. The Duke of Deux Ponts, who felt his own military +skill hardly adequate to the task which he had assumed, was glad, as it +were, to put himself and his army under the orders of Orange. + +Meantime the battle of Jamac had been fought; the Prince of Condo, +covered with wounds, and exclaiming that it was sweet to die for Christ +and country, had fallen from his saddle; the whole Huguenot army had been +routed by the royal forces under the nominal command of Anjou, and the +body of Conde, tied to the back of a she ass, had been paraded through +the streets of Jarnap in derision. + +Affairs had already grown almost as black for the cause of freedom in +France as in the provinces. Shortly afterwards William of Orange, with a +band of twelve hundred horsemen, joined the banners of Coligny. His two +brothers accompanied him. Henry, the stripling, had left the university +to follow the fortunes of the Prince. The indomitable Louis, after seven +thousand of his army had been slain, had swum naked across the Ems, +exclaiming "that his courage, thank God, was as fresh and lively as +ever," and had lost not a moment in renewing his hostile schemes against +the Spanish government. In the meantime he had joined the Huguenots in +France. The battle of Moncontour had succeeded, Count Peter Mansfeld, +with five thousand troops sent by Alva, fighting on the side of the +royalists, and Louis Nassau on that of the Huguenots, atoning by the +steadiness and skill with which he covered the retreat, for his +intemperate courage, which had precipitated the action, and perhaps been +the main cause of Coligny's overthrow. The Prince of Orange, who had been +peremptorily called to the Netherlands in the beginning of the autumn, +was not present at the battle. Disguised as a peasant, with but five +attendants, and at great peril, he had crossed the enemy's lines, +traversed France, and arrived in Germany before the winter. Count Louis +remained with the Huguenots. So necessary did he seem to their cause, and +so dear had he become to their armies, that during the severe illness of +Coligny in the course of the following summer all eyes were turned upon +him as the inevitable successor of that great man, the only remaining +pillar of freedom in France. + +Coligny recovered. The deadly peace between the Huguenots and the Court +succeeded. The Admiral, despite his sagacity and his suspicions, embarked +with his whole party upon that smooth and treacherous current which led +to the horrible catastrophe of Saint Bartholomew. To occupy his +attention, a formal engagement was made by the government to send succor +to the Netherlands. The Admiral was to lead the auxiliaries which were to +be despatched across the frontier to overthrow the tyrannical government +of Alva. Long and anxious were the colloquies held between Coligny and +the Royalists. The monarch requested a detailed opinion, in writing, from +the Admiral, on the most advisable plan for invading the Netherlands. The +result was the preparation of the celebrated memoir, under Coligny's +directions, by young De Mornay, Seigneur de Plessis. The document was +certainly not a paper of the highest order. It did not appeal to the +loftier instincts which kings or common mortals might be supposed to +possess. It summoned the monarch to the contest in the Netherlands that +the ancient injuries committed by Spain might be avenged. It invoked the +ghost of Isabella of France, foully murdered, as it was thought, by +Philip. It held out the prospect of re-annexing the fair provinces, +wrested from the King's ancestors by former Spanish sovereigns. It +painted the hazardous position of Philip; with the Moorish revolt gnawing +at the entrails of his kingdom, with the Turkish war consuming its +extremities, with the canker of rebellion corroding the very heart of the +Netherlands. It recalled, with exultation, the melancholy fact that the +only natural and healthy existence of the French was in a state of +war--that France, if not occupied with foreign campaigns, could not be +prevented from plunging its sword into its own vitals. + +It indulged in refreshing reminiscences of those halcyon days, not long +gone by, when France, enjoying perfect tranquillity within its own +borders, was calmly and regularly carrying on its long wars beyond the +frontier. + +In spite of this savage spirit, which modern documents, if they did not +scorn, would, at least have shrouded, the paper was nevertheless a +sagacious one; but the request for the memoir, and the many interviews on +the subject of the invasion, were only intended to deceive. They were but +the curtain which concealed the preparations for the dark tragedy which +was about to be enacted. Equally deceived, and more sanguine than ever, +Louis Nassau during this period was indefatigable in his attempts to gain +friends for his cause. He had repeated audiences of the King, to whose +court he had come in disguise. He made a strong and warm impression upon +Elizabeth's envoy at the French Court, Walsingham. It is probable that in +the Count's impetuosity to carry his point, he allowed more plausibility +to be given to certain projects for subdividing the Netherlands than his +brother would ever have sanctioned. The Prince was a total stranger to +these inchoate schemes. His work was to set his country free, and to +destroy the tyranny which had grown colossal. That employment was +sufficient for a lifetime, and there is no proof to be found that a +paltry and personal self-interest had even the lowest place among his +motives. + +Meantime, in the autumn of 1569, Orange had again reached Germany. Paul +Buys, Pensionary of Leyden, had kept him constantly informed of the state +of affairs in the provinces. Through his means an extensive +correspondence was organized and maintained with leading persons in every +part of the Netherlands. The conventional terms by which different +matters and persons of importance were designated in these letters were +familiarly known to all friends of the cause, not only in the provinces, +but in France, England, Germany, and particularly in the great commercial +cities. The Prince, for example, was always designated as Martin +Willemzoon, the Duke of Alva as Master Powels van Alblas, the Queen of +England as Henry Philipzoon, the King of Denmark as Peter Peterson. The +twelve signs of the zodiac were used instead of the twelve months, and a +great variety of similar substitutions were adopted. Before his visit to +France, Orange had, moreover, issued commissions, in his capacity of +sovereign, to various seafaring persons, who were empowered to cruise +against Spanish commerce. + +The "beggars of the sea," as these privateersmen designated themselves, +soon acquired as terrible a name as the wild beggars, or the forest +beggars; but the Prince, having had many conversations with Admiral +Coligny on the important benefits to be derived from the system, had +faithfully set himself to effect a reformation of its abuses after his +return from France. The Seigneur de Dolhain, who, like many other refugee +nobles, had acquired much distinction in this roving corsair life, had +for a season acted as Admiral for the Prince. He had, however, resolutely +declined to render any accounts of his various expeditions, and was now +deprived of his command in consequence. Gillain de Fiennes, Seigneur de +Lumbres, was appointed to succeed him. At the same time strict orders +were issued by Orange, forbidding all hostile measures against the +Emperor or any of the princes of the empire, against Sweden, Denmark, +England, or against any potentates who were protectors of the true +Christian religion. The Duke of Alva and his adherents were designated as +the only lawful antagonists. The Prince, moreover, gave minute +instructions as to the discipline to be observed in his fleet. The +articles of war were to be strictly enforced. Each commander was to +maintain a minister on board his ship, who was to preach God's word, and +to preserve Christian piety among the crew. No one was to exercise any +command in the fleet save native Netherlanders, unless thereto expressly +commissioned by the Prince of Orange. All prizes were to be divided and +distributed by a prescribed rule. No persons were to be received on +board, either as sailors or soldiers, save "folk of goad name and fame." +No man who had ever been punished of justice was to be admitted. Such +were the principal features in the organization of that infant navy +which, in course of this and the following centuries, was to achieve so +many triumphs, and to which a powerful and adventurous mercantile marine +had already led the way. "Of their ships," said Cardinal Bentivoglio, +"the Hollanders make houses, of their houses schools. Here they are born, +here educated, here they learn their profession. Their sailors, flying +from one pale to the other, practising their art wherever the sun +displays itself to mortals, become so skilful that they can scarcely be +equalled, certainly not surpassed; by any nation in the civilized world." + +The Prince, however, on his return from France, had never been in so +forlorn a condition. "Orange is plainly perishing," said one of the +friends of the cause. Not only had he no funds to organize new levies, +but he was daily exposed to the most clamorously-urged claims, growing +out of the army which he had been recently obliged to disband. It had +been originally reported in the Netherlands that he had fallen in the +battle of Moncontour. "If he have really been taken off," wrote Viglius, +hardly daring to credit the great news, "we shall all of us have less +cause to tremble." After his actual return, however, lean and beggared, +with neither money nor credit, a mere threatening shadow without +substance or power, he seemed to justify the sarcasm of Granvelle. "Vana +sine viribus ira," quoted the Cardinal, and of a verity it seemed that +not a man was likely to stir in Germany in his behalf, now that so deep a +gloom had descended upon his cause. The obscure and the oppressed +throughout the provinces and Germany still freely contributed out of +their weakness and their poverty, and taxed themselves beyond their means +to assist enterprizes for the relief of the Netherlands. The great ones +of the earth, however, those on whom the Prince had relied; those to whom +he had given his heart; dukes, princes, and electors, in this fatal +change of his fortunes fell away like water. + +Still his spirit was unbroken. His letters showed a perfect appreciation +of his situation, and of that to which his country was reduced; but they +never exhibited a trace of weakness or despair. A modest, but lofty +courage; a pious, but unaffected resignation, breathed through--every +document, public or private, which fell from his pen during this epoch. +He wrote to his brother John that he was quite willing to go, to +Frankfort, in order to give himself up as a hostage to his troops for the +payment of their arrears. At the same time he begged his brother to move +heaven and earth to raise at least one hundred thousand thalers. If he +could only furnish them with a month's pay, the soldiers would perhaps be +for a time contented. He gave directions also concerning the disposition +of what remained of his plate and furniture, the greater part of it +having been already sold and expended in the cause. He thought it would, +on the whole, be better to have the remainder sold, piece by piece, at +the fair. More money would be raised by that course than by a more +wholesale arrangement. + +He was now obliged to attend personally to the most minute matters of +domestic economy. The man who been the mate of emperors, who was himself +a sovereign, had lived his life long in pomp and luxury, surrounded by +countless nobles, pages, men-at-arms, and menials, now calmly accepted +the position of an outlaw and an exile. He cheerfully fulfilled tasks +which had formerly devolved upon his grooms and valets. There was an +almost pathetic simplicity in the homely details of an existence which, +for the moment, had become so obscure and so desperate. "Send by the +bearer," he wrote, "the little hackney given me by the Admiral; send also +my two pair of trunk hose; one pair is at the tailor's to be mended, the +other, pair you will please order to be taken from the things which I +wore lately at Dillenburg. They lie on the table with my accoutrements. +If the little hackney be not in condition, please send the grey horse +with the cropped ears and tail." + +He was always mindful, however, not only of the great cause to which he +had devoted himself, but of the wants experienced by individuals who had +done him service. He never forgot his friends. In the depth of his own +misery he remembered favors received from humble persons. "Send a little +cup, worth at least a hundred florins, to Hartmann Wolf," he wrote to his +brother; "you can take as much silver out of the coffer, in which there +is still some of my chapel service remaining."--"You will observe that +Affenstein is wanting a horse," he wrote on another occasion; "please +look him out one, and send it to me with the price. I will send you the +money. Since he has shown himself so willing in the cause, one ought to +do something for him." + +The contest between the Duke and the estates, on the subject of the tenth +and twentieth penny had been for a season adjusted. The two years' term, +however, during which it had been arranged that the tax should be +commuted, was to expire in the autumn of 1571. Early therefore in this +year the disputes were renewed with greater acrimony than ever. The +estates felt satisfied that the King was less eager than the Viceroy. +Viglius was satisfied that the power of Alva was upon the wane. While the +King was not likely openly to rebuke his recent measures, it seemed not +improbable that the Governor's reiterated requests to be recalled might +be granted. Fortified by these considerations, the President, who had so +long been the supple tool of the tyrant, suddenly assumed the character +of a popular tribune. The wranglings, the contradictions, the +vituperations, the threatenings, now became incessant in the council. The +Duke found that he had exulted prematurely, when he announced to the King +the triumphant establishment, in perpetuity, of the lucrative tax. So far +from all the estates having given their consent, as he had maintained, +and as he had written to Philip, it now appeared that not one of those +bodies considered itself bound beyond its quota for the two years. This +was formally stated in the council by Berlaymont and other members. The +wrath of the Duke blazed forth at this announcement. He berated +Berlaymont for maintaining, or for allowing it to be maintained, that the +consent of the orders had ever been doubtful. He protested that they had +as unequivocally agreed to the perpetual imposition of the tag as he to +its commutation during two years. He declared, however, that he was sick +of quotas. The tax should now be collected forthwith, and Treasurer +Schetz was ordered to take his measures accordingly. + +At a conference on the 29th May, the Duke asked Viglius for his opinion. +The President made a long reply, taking the ground that the consent of +the orders had been only conditional, and appealing to such members of +the finance council as were present to confirm his assertion. It was +confirmed by all. The Duke, in a passion, swore that those who dared +maintain such a statement should be chastised. Viglius replied that it +had always been the custom for councillors to declare their opinion, and +that they had never before been threatened with such consequences. If +such, however, were his Excellency's sentiments, councillors had better +stay at home, hold their tongues, and so avoid chastisement. The Duke, +controlling himself a little, apologized for this allusion to +chastisement, a menace which he disclaimed having intended with reference +to councillors whom he had always commended to the King, and of whom his +Majesty had so high an opinion. At a subsequent meeting the Duke took +Viglius aside, and assured him that he was quite of his own way of +thinking. For certain reasons, however, he expressed himself as unwilling +that the rest of the council should be aware of the change in his views. +He wished, he said, to dissemble. The astute President, for a moment, +could not imagine the Governor's drift. He afterwards perceived that the +object of this little piece of deception had been to close his mouth. The +Duke obviously conjectured that the President, lulled into security, by +this secret assurance, would be silent; that the other councillors, +believing the President to have adopted the Governor's views, would alter +their opinions; and that the opposition of the estates, thus losing its +support in the council, would likewise very soon be abandoned. The +President, however, was not to be entrapped by this falsehood. He +resolutely maintained his hostility to the tax, depending for his +security on the royal opinion, the popular feeling, and the judgment of +his colleagues. + +The daily meetings of the board were almost entirely occupied by this +single subject. Although since the arrival of Alva the Council of Blood +had usurped nearly all the functions of the state and finance-councils, +yet there now seemed a disposition on the part of Alva to seek the +countenance, even while he spurned the authority, of other functionaries. +He found, however, neither sympathy nor obedience. The President stoutly +told him that he was endeavouring to swim against the stream, that the +tax was offensive to the people, and that the voice of the people was the +voice of God. On the last day of July, however, the Duke issued an edict, +by which summary collection of the tenth and twentieth pence was ordered. +The whole country was immediately in uproar. The estates of every +province, the assemblies of every city, met and remonstrated. The +merchants suspended all business, the petty dealers shut up their shops. +The people congregated together in masses, vowing resistance to the +illegal and cruel impost. Not a farthing was collected. The "seven stiver +people", spies of government, who for that paltry daily stipend were +employed to listen for treason in every tavern, in every huckster's +booth, in every alley of every city, were now quite unable to report all +the curses which were hourly heard uttered against the tyranny of the +Viceroy. Evidently, his power was declining. The councillors resisted +him, the common people almost defied him. A mercer to whom he was +indebted for thirty thousand florins' worth of goods, refused to open his +shop, lest the tax should be collected on his merchandize. The Duke +confiscated his debt, as the mercer had foreseen, but this being a +pecuniary sacrifice, seemed preferable to acquiescence in a measure so +vague and so boundless that it might easily absorb the whole property of +the country. + +No man saluted the governor as he passed through the streets. Hardly an +attempt was made by the people to disguise their abhorrence of his +person: Alva, on his side, gave daily exhibitions of ungovernable fury. +At a council held on 25th September, 1571, he stated that the King had +ordered the immediate enforcement of the edict. Viglius observed that +there were many objections to its form. He also stoutly denied that the +estates had ever given their consent. Alva fiercely asked the President +if he had not himself once maintained that the consent had been granted! +Viglius replied that he had never made such an assertion. He had +mentioned the conditions and the implied promises on the part of +government, by which a partial consent had been extorted. He never could +have said that the consent had been accorded, for he had never believed +that it could be obtained. He had not proceeded far in his argument when +he was interrupted by the Duke--"But you said so, you said so, you said +so," cried the exasperated Governor, in a towering passion, repeating +many times this flat contradiction to the President's statements. Viglius +firmly stood his ground. Alva loudly denounced him for the little respect +he had manifested for his authority. He had hitherto done the President +good offices, he said, with his Majesty, but certainly should not feel +justified in concealing his recent and very unhandsome conduct. + +Viglius replied that he had always reverently cherished the Governor, and +had endeavoured to merit his favor by diligent obsequiousness. He was +bound by his oath, however; to utter in council that which comported with +his own sentiments and his Majesty's interests. He had done this +heretofore in presence of Emperors, Kings, Queens, and Regents, and they +had not taken offence. He did not, at this hour, tremble for his grey +head, and hoped his Majesty would grant him a hearing before +condemnation. The firm attitude of the President increased the irritation +of the Viceroy. Observing that he knew the proper means of enforcing his +authority he dismissed the meeting. + +Immediately afterwards, he received the visits of his son, Don Frederic +of Vargas, and other familiars. To these he recounted the scene which had +taken place, raving the while so ferociously against Viglius as to induce +the supposition that something serious was intended against him. The +report flew from mouth to mouth. The affair became the town talk, so +that, in the words of the President, it was soon discussed by every +barber and old woman in Brussels. His friends became alarmed for his +safety, while, at the same time, the citizens rejoiced that their cause +had found so powerful an advocate. Nothing, however, came of these +threats and these explosions. On the contrary, shortly afterwards the +Duke gave orders that the tenth penny should be remitted upon four great +articles-corn, meat, wine, and beer. It was also not to be levied upon +raw materials used in manufactures. Certainly, these were very important +concessions. Still the constitutional objections remained. Alva could not +be made to understand why the alcabala, which was raised without +difficulty in the little town of Alva, should encounter such fierce +opposition in the Netherlands. The estates, he informed the King, made a +great deal of trouble. They withheld their consent at command of their +satrap. The motive which influenced the leading men was not the interest +of factories or fisheries, but the fear that for the future they might +not be able to dictate the law to their sovereign. The people of that +country, he observed, had still the same character which had been +described by Julius Caesar. + +The Duke, however, did not find much sympathy at Madrid. Courtiers and +councillors had long derided his schemes. As for the King, his mind was +occupied with more interesting matters. Philip lived but to enforce what +he chose to consider the will of God. While the duke was fighting this +battle with the Netherland constitutionalists, his master had engaged at +home in a secret but most comprehensive scheme. This was a plot to +assassinate Queen Elizabeth of England, and to liberate Mary Queen of +Scots, who was to be placed on the throne in her stead. This project, in +which was of course involved the reduction of England under the dominion +of the ancient Church, could not but prove attractive to Philip. It +included a conspiracy against a friendly sovereign, immense service to +the Church, and a murder. His passion for intrigue, his love of God, and +his hatred of man, would all be gratified at once. Thus, although the +Moorish revolt within the heart of his kingdom had hardly been +terminated--although his legions and his navies were at that instant +engaged in a contest of no ordinary importance with the Turkish +empire--although the Netherlands, still maintaining their hostility and +their hatred, required the flower of the Spanish army to compel their +submission, he did not hesitate to accept the dark adventure which was +offered to him by ignoble hands. + +One Ridolfi, a Florentine, long resident in England, had been sent to the +Netherlands as secret agent of the Duke of Norfolk. Alva read his +character immediately, and denounced him to Philip as a loose, prating +creature, utterly unfit to be entrusted with affairs of importance. +Philip, however, thinking more of the plot than of his fellow-actors, +welcomed the agent of the conspiracy to Madrid, listened to his +disclosures attentively, and, without absolutely committing himself by +direct promises, dismissed him with many expressions of encouragement. + +On the 12th of July, 1571, Philip wrote to the Duke of Alva, giving an +account of his interview with Roberto Ridolfi. The envoy, after relating +the sufferings of the Queen of Scotland, had laid before him a plan for +her liberation. If the Spanish monarch were willing to assist the Duke of +Norfolk and his friends, it would be easy to put upon Mary's head the +crown of England. She was then to intermarry with Norfolk. The kingdom of +England was again to acknowledge the authority of Rome, and the Catholic +religion to be everywhere restored. The most favorable moment for the +execution of the plan would be in August or September. As Queen Elizabeth +would at that season quit London for the country, an opportunity would be +easily found for seizing and murdering her. Pius V., to whom Ridolfi had +opened the whole matter, highly approved the scheme, and warmly urged +Philip's cooperation. Poor and ruined as he was himself; the Pope +protested that he was ready to sell his chalices, and even his own +vestments, to provide funds for the cause. Philip had replied that few +words were necessary to persuade him. His desire to see the enterprize +succeed was extreme, notwithstanding the difficulties by which it was +surrounded. He would reflect earnestly upon the subject, in the hope that +God, whose cause it was, would enlighten and assist him. Thus much he had +stated to Ridolfi, but he had informed his council afterwards that he was +determined to carry out the scheme by certain means of which the Duke +would soon be informed. The end proposed was to kill or to capture +Elizabeth, to set at liberty the Queen of Scotland, and to put upon her +head the crown of England. In this enterprize he instructed the Duke of +Alva secretly to assist, without however resorting to open hostilities in +his own name or in that of his sovereign. He desired to be informed how +many Spaniards the Duke could put at the disposition of the conspirators. +They had asked for six thousand arquebusiers for England, two thousand +for Scotland, two thousand for Ireland. Besides these troops, the Viceroy +was directed to provide immediately four thousand arquebuses and two +thousand corslets. For the expenses of the enterprize Philip would +immediately remit two hundred thousand crowns. Alva was instructed to +keep the affair a profound secret from his councillors. Even Hopper at +Madrid knew nothing of the matter, while the King had only expressed +himself in general terms to the nuncio and to Ridolfi, then already on +his way to the Netherlands. The King concluded his letter by saying, that +from what he had now written with his own hand, the Duke could infer how +much he had this affair at heart. It was unnecessary for him to say more, +persuaded as he was that the Duke would take as profound an interest in +it as himself. + +Alva perceived all the rashness of the scheme, and felt how impossible it +would be for him to comply with Philip's orders. To send an army from the +Netherlands into England for the purpose of dethroning and killing a most +popular sovereign, and at the same time to preserve the most amicable +relations with the country, was rather a desperate undertaking. A force +of ten thousand Spaniards, under Chiappin Vitelli, and other favorite +officers of the Duke, would hardly prove a trifle to be overlooked, nor +would their operations be susceptible of very friendly explanations. The +Governor therefore, assured Philip that he "highly applauded his master +for his plot. He could not help rendering infinite thanks to God for +having made him vassal to such a Prince." He praised exceedingly the +resolution which his Majesty had taken. After this preamble, however, he +proceeded to pour cold water upon his sovereign's ardor. He decidedly +expressed the opinion that Philip should not proceed in such an +undertaking until at any rate the party of the Duke of Norfolk had +obtained possession of Elizabeth's person. Should the King declare +himself prematurely, he might be sure that the Venetians, breaking off +their alliance with him, would make their peace with the Turk; and that +Elizabeth would, perhaps, conclude that marriage with the Duke of Alencon +which now seemed but a pleasantry. Moreover, he expressed his want of +confidence in the Duke of Norfolk, whom he considered as a poor creature +with but little courage. He also expressed his doubts concerning the +prudence and capacity of Don Gueran de Espes, his Majesty's ambassador at +London. + +It was not long before these machinations became known in England. The +Queen of Scots was guarded more closely than ever, the Duke of Norfolk +was arrested; yet Philip, whose share in the conspiracy had remained a +secret, was not discouraged by the absolute explosion of the whole +affair. He still held to an impossible purpose with a tenacity which +resembled fatuity. He avowed that his obligations in the sight of God +were so strict that he was still determined to proceed in the sacred +cause. He remitted, therefore, the promised funds to the Duke of Alva, +and urged him to act with proper secrecy and promptness. + +The Viceroy was not a little perplexed by these remarkable instructions. +None but lunatics could continue to conspire, after the conspiracy had +been exposed and the conspirators arrested. Yet this was what his +Catholic Majesty expected of his Governor-General. Alva complained, not +unreasonably, of the contradictory demands to which he was subjected. + +He was to cause no rupture with England, yet he was to send succor to an +imprisoned traitor; he was to keep all his operations secret from his +council, yet he was to send all his army out of the country, and to +organize an expensive campaign. He sneered: at the flippancy of Ridolfi, +who imagined that it was the work of a moment to seize the Queen of +England, to liberate the Queen of Scotland, to take possession of the +Tower of London, and to burn the fleet in the Thames. "Were your Majesty +and the Queen of England acting together," he observed, "it would be +impossible to execute the plan proposed by Ridolfi." The chief danger to +be apprehended was from France and Germany. Were those countries not to +interfere, he would undertake to make Philip sovereign of England before +the winter. Their opposition, however, was sufficient to make the +enterprise not only difficult, but impossible. He begged his, master not +to be precipitate in the most important affair which had been negotiated +by man since Christ came upon earth. Nothing less, he said, than the +existence of the Christian faith was at stake, for, should his Majesty +fail in this undertaking, not one stone of the ancient religion would be +left upon another. He again warned the King of the contemptible +character, of Ridolfi, who had spoken of the affair so freely that it was +a common subject of discussion on the Bourse, at Antwerp, and he +reiterated, in all his letters his distrust of the parties prominently +engaged in the transaction. + +Such was the general, tenor of the long despatches exchanged between the +King and the Duke of Alva upon this iniquitous scheme. The Duke showed +himself reluctant throughout the whole affair, although he certainly +never opposed his master's project by any arguments founded upon good +faith, Christian charity, or the sense of honor. To kill the Queen of +England, subvert the laws of her realm, burn her fleets, and butcher her +subjects, while the mask of amity and entire consideration was sedulously +preserved--all these projects were admitted to be strictly meritorious in +themselves, although objections were taken as to the time and mode of +execution. + +Alva never positively refused to accept his share in the enterprise, but +he took care not to lift his finger till the catastrophe in England had +made all attempts futile. Philip, on the other hand, never positively +withdrew from the conspiracy, but, after an infinite deal of writing and +intriguing, concluded by leaving the whole affair in the hands of Alva. +The only sufferer for Philip's participation in the plot was the Spanish +envoy at London, Don Gueran de Espes. This gentleman was formally +dismissed by Queen Elizabeth, for having given treacherous and hostile +advice to the Duke of Alva and to Philip; but her Majesty at the same +time expressed the most profound consideration for her brother of Spain. + +Towards the close of the same year, however (December, 1571); Alva sent +two other Italian assassins to England, bribed by the promise of vast +rewards, to attempt the life of Elizabeth, quietly, by poison or +otherwise. The envoy, Mondoucet, in apprizing the French monarch of this +scheme, added that the Duke was so ulcerated and annoyed by the discovery +of the previous enterprise, that nothing could exceed his rage. These +ruffians were not destined to success, but the attempts of the Duke upon +the Queen's life were renewed from time to time. Eighteen months later +(August, 1573), two Scotchmen, pensioners of Philip, came from Spain, +with secret orders to consult with Alva. They had accordingly much +negotiation with the Duke and his secretary, Albornoz. They boasted that +they could easily capture Elizabeth, but said that the King's purpose was +to kill her. The plan, wrote Mondoucet, was the same as it had been +before, namely, to murder the Queen of England, and to give her crown to +Mary of Scotland, who would thus be in their power, and whose son was to +be seized, and bestowed in marriage in such a way as to make them +perpetual masters of both kingdoms. + +It does not belong to this history to discuss the merits, nor to narrate +the fortunes, of that bickering and fruitless alliance which had been +entered into at this period by Philip with Venice and the Holy See +against the Turk. The revolt of Granada had at last, after a two years' +struggle, been subdued, and the remnants of the romantic race which had +once swayed the Peninsula been swept into slavery. The Moors had +sustained the unequal conflict with a constancy not to have been expected +of so gentle a people. "If a nation meek as lambs could resist so +bravely," said the Prince of Orange, "what ought not to be expected of a +hardy people like the Netherlanders?" Don John of Austria having +concluded a series of somewhat inglorious forays against women, children, +and bed-ridden old men in Andalusia and Granada; had arrived, in August +of this year, at Naples, to take command of the combined fleet in the +Levant. The battle of Lepanto had been fought, but the quarrelsome and +contradictory conduct of the allies had rendered the splendid victory as +barren as the waves: upon which it had been won. It was no less true, +however, that the blunders of the infidels had previously enabled Philip +to extricate himself with better success from the dangers of the Moorish +revolt than might have been his fortune. Had the rebels succeeded in +holding Granada and the mountains of Andalusia, and had they been +supported, as they had a right to expect, by the forces of the Sultan, a +different aspect might have been given to the conflict, and one far less +triumphant for Spain. Had a prince of vigorous ambition and comprehensive +policy governed at that moment the Turkish empire; it would have cost +Philip a serious struggle to maintain himself in his hereditary +dominions. While he was plotting against the life and throne of +Elizabeth, he might have had cause to tremble for his own. Fortunately, +however, for his Catholic Majesty, Selim was satisfied to secure himself +in the possession of the Isle of Venus, with its fruitful vineyards. "To +shed the blood" of Cyprian vines, in which he was so enthusiastic a +connoisseur, was to him a more exhilarating occupation than to pursue, +amid carnage and hardships, the splendid dream of a re-established +Eastern caliphate. + +On the 25th Sept. 1571, a commission of Governor-General of the +Netherlands was at last issued to John de la Cerda, Duke of Medina Coeli. +Philip, in compliance with the Duke's repeated requests, and perhaps not +entirely satisfied with the recent course of events in the provinces, had +at last, after great hesitation, consented to Alva's resignation. His +successor; however, was not immediately to take his departure, and in the +meantime the Duke was instructed to persevere in his faithful services. +These services had, for the present, reduced themselves to a perpetual +and not very triumphant altercation with his council, with the estates, +and with the people, on the subject of his abominable tax. He was +entirely alone. They who had stood unflinchingly at his side when the +only business of the administration was to burn heretics, turned their +backs upon him now that he had engaged in this desperate conflict with. +the whole money power of the country. The King was far from cordial in +his support, the councillors much too crafty to retain their hold upon +the wheel, to which they had only attached themselves in its ascent. +Viglius and Berlaymont; Noircarmes and Aerschot, opposed and almost +defied the man they now thought sinking, and kept the King constantly +informed of the vast distress which the financial measures of the Duke +were causing. + +Quite, at the close of the year, an elaborate petition from the estates +of Brabant was read before the State Council. It contained a strong +remonstrance against the tenth penny. Its repeal was strongly urged, upon +the ground that its collection would involve the country in universal +ruin. Upon this, Alva burst forth in one of the violent explosions of +rage to which he was subject. The prosperity of the Netherlands, he +protested, was not dearer to the inhabitants than to himself. He swore by +the cross, and by the most holy of holies, preserved in the church of +Saint Gudule, that had he been but a private individual, living in Spain, +he would, out of the love he bore the provinces, have rushed to their +defence had their safety been endangered. He felt therefore deeply +wounded that malevolent persons should thus insinuate that he had even +wished to injure the country, or to exercise tyranny over its citizens. +The tenth penny, he continued, was necessary to the defence of the land, +and was much preferable to quotas. It was highly improper that every man +in the rabble should know how much was contributed, because each +individual, learning the gross amount, would imagine that he, had paid it +all himself. In conclusion, he observed that, broken in health and +stricken in years as he felt himself, he was now most anxious to return, +and was daily looking with eagerness for the arrival of the Duke of +Medina Coeli. + +During the course of this same year, the Prince of Orange had been +continuing his preparations. He had sent his agents to every place where +a hope was held out to him of obtaining support. Money was what he was +naturally most anxious to obtain from individuals; open and warlike +assistance what he demanded from governments. His funds, little by +little, were increasing, owing to the generosity of many obscure persons, +and to the daring exploits of the beggars of the sea. His mission, +however, to the northern courts had failed. His envoys had been received +in Sweden and Denmark with barren courtesy. The Duke of Alva, on the +other hand, never alluded to the Prince but with contempt; knowing not +that the ruined outlaw was slowly undermining the very ground beneath the +monarch's feet; dreaming not that the feeble strokes which he despised +were the opening blows of a century's conflict; foreseeing not that long +before its close the chastised province was to expand into a great +republic, and that the name of the outlaw was to become almost divine. + +Granvelle had already recommended that the young Count de Buren should be +endowed with certain lands in Spain, in exchange for his hereditary +estates, in order that the name and fame of the rebel William should be +forever extinguished in the Netherlands. With the same view, a new +sentence against the Prince of Orange was now proposed by the Viceroy. +This was, to execute him solemnly in effigy, to drag his escutcheon +through the streets at the tails of horses, and after having broken it in +pieces, and thus cancelled his armorial bearings, to declare him and his +descendants, ignoble, infamous, and incapable of holding property or +estates. Could a leaf or two of future history have been unrolled to +King, Cardinal, and Governor, they might have found the destined fortune +of the illustrious rebel's house not exactly in accordance with the plan +of summary extinction thus laid down. + +Not discouraged, the Prince continued to send his emissaries in every +direction. Diedrich Sonoy, his most trustworthy agent, who had been chief +of the legation to the Northern Courts, was now actively canvassing the +governments and peoples of, Germany with the same object. Several +remarkable papers from the hand of Orange were used upon this service. A +letter, drawn up and signed by his own hand, recited; in brief and +striking language, the history of his campaign in 1568, and of his +subsequent efforts in the sacred cause. It was now necessary, he said, +that others besides himself should partake of his sacrifices. This he +stated plainly and eloquently. The document was in truth a letter asking +arms for liberty. "For although all things," said the Prince, "are in the +hand of God, and although he has created all things out of nought, yet +hath he granted to different men different means, whereby, as with +various instruments, he accomplishes his, almighty purposes. Thereto hath +he endowed some with strength of body, others with worldly wealth, others +with still different gifts, all of which are to be used by their +possessors to His honor and glory, if they wish not to incur the curse of +the unworthy steward, who buried his talent in the earth..... Now ye +may easily see," he continued, "that the Prince cannot carry out this +great work alone, having lost land, people, and goods, and having already +employed in the cause all which had remained to him, besides incurring +heavy obligations in addition." + +Similar instructions were given to other agents, and a paper called the +Harangue, drawn up according to his suggestions, was also extensively +circulated. This document is important to all who are interested in his +history and character. He had not before issued a missive so stamped with +the warm, religious impress of the reforming party. Sadly, but without +despondency, the Harangue recalled the misfortunes of the past; and +depicted the gloom of the present. Earnestly, but not fanatically, it +stimulated hope and solicited aid for the future. "Although the appeals +made to the Prince," so ran a part of the document, "be of diverse +natures, and various in their recommendations, yet do they all tend to +the advancement of God's glory, and to the liberation of the fatherland. +This it is which enables him and those who think with him to endure +hunger; thirst, cold, heat, and all the misfortunes which Heaven may +send...... Our enemies spare neither their money nor their labor; +will ye be colder and duller than your foes? Let, then, each church +congregation set an example to the others. We read that King Saul, when +he would liberate the men of Jabez from the hands of Nahad, the Ammonite, +hewed a yoke of oxen in pieces, and sent them as tokens over all Israel, +saying, 'Ye who will not follow Saul and Samuel, with them shall be dealt +even as with these oxen. And the fear of the Lord came upon the people, +they came forth, and the men of Jabez were delivered.' Ye have here the +same warning, look to it, watch well ye that despise it, lest the wrath +of God, which the men of Israel by their speedy obedience escaped, +descend upon your heads. Ye may say that ye are banished men. 'Tis true: +but thereby are ye not stripped of all faculty of rendering service; +moreover, your assistance is asked for one who will restore ye to your +homes. Ye may say that ye have been robbed of all your goods; yet many of +you have still something remaining, and of that little ye should +contribute, each his mite. Ye say that you have given much already. 'Tis +true, but the enemy is again in the field; fierce for your subjugation, +sustained by the largess of his supporters. Will ye be less courageous, +less generous, than your foes." + +These urgent appeals did not remain fruitless. The strength of the +Prince was slowly but steadily increasing. Meantime the abhorrence + with which Alva was universally regarded had nearly reached to frenzy. +In the beginning of the year 1572, Don Francis de Alava, Philip's +ambassador in France, visited Brussels. He had already been enlightened +as to the consequences of the Duke's course by the immense immigration of +Netherland refugees to France, which he had witnessed with his own eyes. +On his journey towards Brussels he had been met near Cambray by +Noircarmes. Even that "cruel animal," as Hoogstraaten had called him, +the butcher of Tournay and Valenciennes, had at last been roused to +alarm, if not to pity, by the sufferings of the country. "The Duke will +never disabuse his mind of this filthy tenth penny," said he to Alava. +He sprang from his chair with great emotion as the ambassador alluded to +the flight of merchants and artisans from the provinces. "Senor Don +Francis," cried he, "there are ten thousand more who are on the point of +leaving the country, if the Governor does not pause in his career. God +grant that no disaster arise beyond human power to remedy." + +The ambassador arrived in Brussels, and took up his lodgings in the +palace. Here he found the Duke just recovering from a fit of the gout, in +a state of mind sufficiently savage. He became much excited as Don +Francis began to speak of the emigration, and he assured him that there +was gross deception on the subject. The envoy replied that he could not +be mistaken, for it was a matter which, so to speak, he had touched with +his own fingers, and seen with his own eyes. The Duke, persisting that +Don Francis had been abused and misinformed, turned the conversation to +other topics. Next day the ambassador received visits from Berlaymont and +his son, the Seigneur de Hierges. He was taken aside by each of them, +separately. "Thank God, you have come hither," said they, in nearly the +same words, "that you may fully comprehend the condition of the +provinces, and without delay admonish his Majesty of the impending +danger." All his visitors expressed the same sentiments. Don Frederic of +Toledo furnished the only exception, assuring the envoy that his father's +financial measures were opposed by Noircarmes and others, only because it +deprived them of their occupation and their influence. This dutiful +language, however, was to be expected in one of whom Secretary Albornoz +had written, that he was the greatest comfort to his father, and the most +divine genius ever known. It was unfortunately corroborated by no other +inhabitant of the country. + +On the third day, Don Francis went to take his leave. The Duke begged him +to inform his Majesty of the impatience with which he was expecting the +arrival of his successor. He then informed his guest that they had +already begun to collect the tenth penny in Brabant, the most obstinate +of all the provinces. "What do you say to that, Don Francis?" he cried, +with exultation. Alava replied that he thought, none the less, that the +tax would encounter many obstacles, and begged him earnestly to reflect. +He assured him, moreover, that he should, without reserve, express his +opinions fully to the King. The Duke used the same language which Don +Frederic had held, concerning the motives of those who opposed the tax. +"It may be so," said Don Francis, "but at any rate, all have agreed to +sing to the same tune." A little startled, the Duke rejoined, "Do you +doubt that the cities will keep their promises? Depend upon it, I shall +find the means to compel them." "God grant it may be so," said Alava, +"but in my poor judgment you will have need of all your prudence and of +all your authority." + +The ambassador did not wait till he could communicate with his sovereign +by word of mouth. He forwarded to Spain an ample account of his +observations and deductions. He painted to Philip in lively colors the +hatred entertained by all men for the Duke. The whole nation, he assured +his Majesty, united in one cry, "Let him begone, let him begone, let him +begone!" As for the imposition of the tenth penny, that, in the opinion +of Don Francis, was utterly impossible. He moreover warned his Majesty +that Alva was busy in forming secret alliances with the Catholic princes +of Europe, which would necessarily lead to defensive leagues among the +Protestants. + +While thus, during the earlier part of the year 1572, the Prince of +Orange, discouraged by no defeats, was indefatigable in his exertions to +maintain the cause of liberty, and while at the same time the most stanch +supporters of arbitrary power were unanimous in denouncing to Philip the +insane conduct of his Viceroy, the letters of Alva himself were naturally +full of complaints and expostulations. It was in vain, he said, for him +to look for a confidential councillor, now that matters which he had +wished to be kept so profoundly secret that the very earth should not +hear of them, had been proclaimed aloud above the tiles of every +housetop. Nevertheless, he would be cut into little pieces but his +Majesty should be obeyed, while he remained alive to enforce the royal +commands. There were none who had been ever faithful but Berlaymont, he +said, and even he had been neutral in the affair of the tax. He had +rendered therein neither good nor bad offices, but, as his Majesty was +aware, Berlaymont was entirely ignorant of business, and "knew nothing +more than to be a good fellow." That being the case, he recommended +Hierges, son of the "good fellow," as a proper person to be governor of +Friesland. + +The deputations appointed by the different provinces to confer personally +with the King received a reprimand upon their arrival, for having dared +to come to Spain without permission. Farther punishment, however, than +this rebuke was not inflicted. They were assured that the King was highly +displeased with their venturing to bring remonstrances against the tax, +but they were comforted with the assurance that his Majesty would take +the subject of their petition into consideration. Thus, the expectations +of Alva were disappointed, for the tenth penny was not formally +confirmed; and the hopes of the provinces frustrated, because it was not +distinctly disavowed. + +Matters had reached another crisis in the provinces. "Had we money now," +wrote the Prince of Orange, "we should, with the help of God, hope to +effect something. This is a time when, with even small sums, more can be +effected than at other seasons with ampler funds." The citizens were in +open revolt against the tax. In order that the tenth penny should not be +levied upon every sale of goods, the natural but desperate remedy was +adopted--no goods were sold at all. + +Not only the wholesale commerce oh the provinces was suspended, but the +minute and indispensable traffic of daily life was entirely at a stand. +The shops were all shut. "The brewers," says a contemporary, "refused to +brew, the bakers to bake, the tapsters to tap." Multitudes, thrown +entirely out of employment, and wholly dependent upon charity, swarmed in +every city. The soldiery, furious for their pay, which Alva had for many +months neglected to furnish, grew daily more insolent; the citizens, +maddened by outrage and hardened by despair, became more and more +obstinate in their resistance; while the Duke, rendered inflexible by +opposition and insane by wrath, regarded the ruin which he had caused +with a malignant spirit which had long ceased to be human. "The disease +is gnawing at our vitals," wrote Viglius; "everybody is suffering for the +want of the necessaries of life. Multitudes are in extreme and hopeless +poverty. My interest in the welfare of the commonwealth," he continued, +"induces me to send these accounts to Spain. For myself, I fear nothing. +Broken by sickness and acute physical suffering, I should leave life +without regret." + +The aspect of the capital was that of a city stricken with the plague. +Articles of the most absolute necessity could not be obtained. It was +impossible to buy bread, or meat, or beer. The tyrant, beside himself +with rage at being thus braved in his very lair, privately sent for +Master Carl, the executioner. In order to exhibit an unexpected and +salutary example, he had determined to hang eighteen of the leading +tradesmen of the city in the doors of their own shops, with the least +possible delay and without the slightest form of trial. + +Master Carl was ordered, on the very night of his interview with the +Duke, to prepare eighteen strong cords, and eighteen ladders twelve feet +in length. By this simple arrangement, Alva was disposed to make manifest +on the morrow, to the burghers of Brussels, that justice was thenceforth +to be carried to every man's door. He supposed that the spectacle of a +dozen and a half of butchers and bakers suspended in front of the shops +which they had refused to open, would give a more effective stimulus to +trade than any to be expected from argument or proclamation. The hangman +was making ready his cords and ladders; Don Frederic of Toledo was +closeted with President Viglius, who, somewhat against his will, was +aroused at midnight to draw the warrants for these impromptu executions; +Alva was waiting with grim impatience for the dawn upon which the show +was to be exhibited, when an unforeseen event suddenly arrested the +homely tragedy. In the night arrived the intelligence that the town of +Brill had been captured. The Duke, feeling the full gravity of the +situation, postponed the chastisement which he had thus secretly planned +to a more convenient season, in order without an instant's hesitation to +avert the consequences of this new movement on the part of the rebels. +The seizure of Brill was the Deus ex machina which unexpectedly solved +both the inextricable knot of the situation and the hangman's noose. + +Allusion has more than once been made to those formidable partisans of +the patriot cause, the marine outlaws. Cheated of half their birthright +by nature, and now driven forth from their narrow isthmus by tyranny, the +exiled Hollanders took to the ocean. Its boundless fields, long arable to +their industry, became fatally fruitful now that oppression was +transforming a peaceful seafaring people into a nation of corsairs. +Driven to outlawry and poverty, no doubt many Netherlanders plunged into +crime. The patriot party had long sine laid aside the respectful +deportment which had provoked the sarcasms of the loyalists. The beggars +of the sea asked their alms through the mouths of their cannon. +Unfortunately, they but too often made their demands upon both friend and +foe. Every ruined merchant, every banished lord, every reckless mariner, +who was willing to lay the commercial world under contribution to repair +his damaged fortunes, could, without much difficulty, be supplied with a +vessel and crew at some northern port, under color of cruising against +the Viceroy's government. Nor was the ostensible motive simply a pretext. +To make war upon Alva was the leading object of all these freebooters, +and they were usually furnished by the Prince of Orange, in his capacity +of sovereign, with letters of marque for that purpose. The Prince, +indeed, did his utmost to control and direct an evil which had inevitably +grown out of the horrors of the time. His Admiral, William de la Marck, +was however, incapable of comprehending the lofty purposes of his +superior. A wild, sanguinary, licentious noble, wearing his hair and +beard unshorn, according to ancient Batavian custom, until the death of +his relative, Egmont, should have been expiated, a worthy descendant of +the Wild Boar of Ardennes, this hirsute and savage corsair seemed an +embodiment of vengeance. He had sworn to wreak upon Alva and upon popery +the deep revenge owed to them by the Netherland nobility, and in the +cruelties afterwards practised by him upon monks and priests, the Blood +Council learned that their example had made at least one ripe scholar +among the rebels. He was lying, at this epoch, with his fleet on the +southern coast of England, from which advantageous position he was now to +be ejected in a summary manner. + +The negotiations between the Duke of Alva and Queen Elizabeth had already +assumed an amicable tone, and were fast ripening to an adjustment. It lay +by no means in that sovereign's disposition to involve herself at this +juncture in a war with Philip, and it was urged upon her government by +Alva's commissioners, that the continued countenance afforded by the +English people to the Netherland cruisers must inevitably lead to that +result. In the latter days of March, therefore, a sentence of virtual +excommunication was pronounced against De la Marck and his rovers. A +peremptory order of Elizabeth forbade any of her subjects to supply them +with meat, bread, or beer. The command being strictly complied with, +their farther stay was rendered impossible. Twenty-four vessels +accordingly, of various sizes, commanded by De la Marck, Treslong, Adam +van Harem, Brand, and Other distinguished seamen, set sail from Dover in +the very last days of March. Being almost in a state of starvation, these +adventurers were naturally anxious to supply themselves with food. They +determined to make a sudden foray upon the coasts of North Holland, and +accordingly steered for Enkbuizen, both because it was a rich sea-port +and because it contained many secret partisans of the Prince. On Palm +Sunday they captured two Spanish merchantmen. Soon afterwards, however, +the wind becoming contrary, they were unable to double the Helder or the +Texel, and on Tuesday, the 1st of April, having abandoned their original +intention, they dropped down towards Zealand, and entered the broad mouth +of the river Meuse. Between the town of Brill, upon the southern lip of +this estuary, and Naaslandsluis, about half a league distant, upon the +opposite aide, the squadron suddenly appeared at about two o'clock of an +April afternoon, to the great astonishment of the inhabitants of both +places. It seemed too large a fleet to be a mere collection of trading +vessels, nor did they appear to be Spanish ships. Peter Koppelstok, a +sagacious ferryman, informed the passengers whom he happened to be +conveying across the river, that the strangers were evidently the water +beggars. The dreaded name filled his hearers with consternation, and they +became eager to escape from so perilous a vicinity. Having duly landed +his customers, however, who hastened to spread the news of the impending +invasion, and to prepare for defence or flight, the stout ferryman, who +was secretly favorable to the cause of liberty, rowed boldly out to +inquire the destination and purposes of the fleet. + +The vessel which he first hailed was that commanded by William de Blois, +Seigneur of Treslong. This adventurous noble, whose brother had been +executed by the Duke of Alva in 1568, had himself fought by the side of +Count Louis at Jemmingen, and although covered with wounds, had been one +of the few who escaped alive from that horrible carnage. During the +intervening period he had become one of the most famous rebels on the +ocean, and he had always been well known in Brill, where his father had +been governor for the King. He at once recognized Koppelstok, and +hastened with him on board the Admiral's ship, assuring De la Marck that +the ferryman was exactly the man for their purpose. It was absolutely +necessary that a landing should be effected, for the people were without +the necessaries of life. Captain Martin Brand had visited the ship of +Adam Van Haren, as soon as they had dropped anchor in the Meuse, begging +for food. "I gave him a cheese," said Adam, afterwards relating the +occurrence, "and assured him that it was the last article of food to be +found in the ship." The other vessels were equally destitute. Under the +circumstances, it was necessary to attempt a landing. Treslong, +therefore, who was really the hero of this memorable adventure, persuaded +De la Marck to send a message to the city of Brill, demanding its +surrender. This was a bold summons to be made by a handful of men, three +or four hundred at most, who were both metaphorically and literally +beggars. The city of Brill was not populous, but it was well walled and +fortified. It was moreover a most commodious port. Treslong gave his +signet ring to the fisherman, Koppelstok, and ordered him, thus +accredited as an envoy, to carry their summons to the magistracy. +Koppelstok, nothing loath, instantly rowed ashore, pushed through the +crowd of inhabitants, who overwhelmed him with questions, and made his +appearance in the town-house before the assembled magistrates. He +informed them that he had been sent by the Admiral of the fleet and by +Treslong, who was well known to them, to demand that two commissioners +should be sent out on the part of the city to confer with the patriots. +He was bidden, he said, to give assurance that the deputies would be +courteously treated. The only object of those who had sent him was to +free the land from the tenth penny, and to overthrow the tyranny of Alva +and his Spaniards. Hereupon he was asked by the magistrates, how large a +force De la Marck had under his command, To this question the ferryman +carelessly replied, that there might be some five thousand in all. This +enormous falsehood produced its effect upon the magistrates. There was +now no longer any inclination to resist the invader; the only question +discussed being whether to treat with them or to fly. On the whole, it +was decided to do both. With some difficulty, two deputies were found +sufficiently valiant to go forth to negotiate with the beggars, while in +their absence most of the leading burghers and functionaries made their +preparations for flight. The envoys were assured by De la Marck and +Treslong that no injury was intended to the citizens or to private +property, but that the overthrow of Alva's government was to be instantly +accomplished. Two hours were given to the magistrates in which to decide +whether or not they would surrender the town and accept the authority of +De la Marck as Admiral of the Prince of Orange. They employed the two +hours thus granted in making an ignominious escape. Their example was +followed by most of the townspeople. When the invaders, at the expiration +of the specified term, appeared under the walls of the city, they found a +few inhabitants of the lower class gazing at them from above, but +received no official communication from any source. + +The whole rebel force was now divided into two parties, one of which +under Treslong made an attack upon the southern gate, while the other +commanded by the Admiral advanced upon the northern. Treslong after a +short struggle succeeded in forcing his entrance, and arrested, in doing +so, the governor of the city, just taking his departure. De la Marck and +his men made a bonfire at the northern gate, and then battered down the +half-burned portal with the end of an old mast. Thus rudely and rapidly +did the Netherland patriots conduct their first successful siege. The two +parties, not more perhaps than two hundred and fifty men in all, met +before sunset in the centre of the city, and the foundation of the Dutch +Republic was laid. The weary spirit of freedom, so long a fugitive over +earth and sea, had at last found a resting-place, which rude and even +ribald hands had prepared. + +The panic created by the first appearance of the fleet had been so +extensive that hardly fifty citizens had remained in the town. The rest +had all escaped, with as much property as they could carry away. The +Admiral, in the name, of the Prince of Orange, as lawful stadholder of +Philip, took formal possession of an almost deserted city. No indignity +was offered to the inhabitants of either sex, but as soon, as the +conquerors were fairly established in the best houses of the place, the +inclination to plunder the churches could no longer be restrained. The +altars and images were all destroyed, the rich furniture and gorgeous +vestments appropriated to private use. Adam van Hare appeared on his +vessel's deck attired in a magnificent high mass chasuble. Treslong +thenceforth used no drinking cups in his cabin save the golden chalices +of the sacrament. Unfortunately, their hatred to popery was not confined +to such demonstrations. Thirteen unfortunate monks and priests, who had +been unable to effect their escape, were arrested and thrown into prison, +from whence they were taken a few days later, by order of the ferocious +Admiral, and executed under circumstances of great barbarity. + +The news of this important exploit spread with great rapidity. Alva, +surprised at the very moment of venting his rage on the butchers and +grocers of Brussels, deferred this savage design in order to deal with +the new difficulty. He had certainly not expected such a result from the +ready compliance of queen Elizabeth with his request. His rage was +excessive; the triumph of the people, by whom he was cordially detested, +proportionably great. The punsters of Brussels were sure not to let such +an opportunity escape them, for the name of the captured town was +susceptible of a quibble, and the event had taken place upon All Fools' +Day. + + "On April's Fool's Day, + Duke Alva's spectacles were stolen away," + +became a popular couplet. The word spectacles, in Flemish, as well as the +name of the suddenly surprised city, being Brill, this allusion to the +Duke's loss and implied purblindness was not destitute of ingenuity. A +caricature, too, was extensively circulated, representing De la Marck +stealing the Duke's spectacles from his nose, while the Governor was +supposed to be uttering his habitual expression whenever any intelligence +of importance was brought to him: 'No es nada, no es nada--'Tis nothing, +'tis nothing. + +The Duke, however, lost not an instant in attempting to repair the +disaster. Count Bossu, who had acted as stadholder of Holland and +Zealand, under Alva's authority, since the Prince of Orange had resigned +that office, was ordered at once to recover the conquered sea-port, if +possible. + +Hastily gathering a force of some ten companies from the garrison of +Utrecht, some of which very troops had recently and unluckily for +government, been removed from Brill to that city, the Count crossed the +Sluis to the island of Voorn upon Easter day, and sent a summons to the +rebel force to surrender Brill. The patriots being very few in number, +were at first afraid to venture outside the gates to attack the much +superior force of their invaders. A carpenter, however, who belonged to +the city, but had long been a partisan of Orange, dashed into the water +with his axe in his hand, and swimming to the Niewland sluice, hacked it +open with a few vigorous strokes. The sea poured in at once, making the +approach to the city upon the north side impossible: Bossu then led his +Spaniards along the Niewland dyke to the southern gate, where they were +received with a warm discharge of artillery, which completely staggered +them. Meantime Treslong and Robol had, in the most daring manner, rowed +out to the ships which had brought the enemy to the island, cut some +adrift, and set others on fire. + +The Spaniards at the southern gate caught sight of their blazing vessels, +saw the sea rapidly rising over the dyke, became panic-struck at being +thus enclosed between fire and water, and dashed off in precipitate +retreat along the slippery causeway and through the slimy and turbid +waters, which were fast threatening to overwhelm them. Many were drowned +or smothered in their flight, but the greater portion of the force +effected their escape in the vessels which still remained within reach. +This danger averted, Admiral de la Marck summoned all the inhabitants, a +large number of whom had returned to the town after the capture had been +fairly established, and required them, as well as all the population of +the island, to take an oath of allegiance to the Prince of Orange as +stadholder for his Majesty. + +The Prince had not been extremely satisfied with the enterprise of De la +Marck. He thought-it premature, and doubted whether it would be +practicable to hold the place, as he had not yet completed his +arrangements in Germany, nor assembled the force with which he intended +again to take the field. More than all, perhaps, he had little confidence +in the character of his Admiral. Orange was right in his estimate of De +la Marck. It had not been that rover's design either to take or to hold +the place; and after the descent had been made, the ships victualled, the +churches plundered, the booty secured, and a few monks murdered, he had +given orders for the burning of the town, and for the departure of the +fleet. The urgent solicitations of Treslong, however, prevailed, with +some difficulty, over De la Marck' original intentions. It is to that +bold and intelligent noble, therefore, more than to any other individual, +that the merit of laying this corner-stone of the Batavian commonwealth +belongs. The enterprise itself was an accident, but the quick eye of +Treslong saw the possibility of a permanent conquest, where his superior +dreamed of nothing beyond a piratical foray. + +Meantime Bossu, baffled in his attempt upon Brill, took his way towards +Rotterdam. It was important that he should at least secure such other +cities as the recent success of the rebels might cause to waver in their +allegiance. He found the gates of Rotterdam closed. The authorities +refused to comply with his demand to admit a garrison for the King. +Professing perfect loyalty, the inhabitants very naturally refused to +admit a band of sanguinary Spaniards to enforce their obedience. +Compelled to parley, Bossu resorted to a perfidious stratagem. He +requested permission for his troops to pass through the city without +halting. This was granted by the magistrates, on condition that only a +corporal's command should be admitted at a time. To these terms the Count +affixed his hand and seal. With the admission, however, of the first +detachment, a violent onset was made upon the gate by the whole Spanish +force. The townspeople, not suspecting treachery, were not prepared to +make effective resistance. A stout smith, confronting the invaders at the +gate, almost singly, with his sledge-hammer, was stabbed to the heart by +Bossu with his own hand. The soldiers having thus gained admittance, +rushed through the streets, putting every man to death who offered the +slightest resistance. Within a few minutes four hundred citizens were +murdered. The fate of the women, abandoned now to the outrage of a brutal +soldiery, was worse than death. The capture of Rotterdam is infamous for +the same crimes which blacken the record of every Spanish triumph in the +Netherlands. + +The important town of Flushing, on the Isle of Walcheren, was first to +vibrate with the patriotic impulse given by the success at Brill. The +Seigneur de Herpt, a warm partisan of Orange, excited the burghers +assembled in the market-place to drive the small remnant of the Spanish +garrison from the city. A little later upon the same day a considerable +reinforcement arrived before the walls. The Duke had determined, although +too late, to complete the fortress which had been commenced long before +to control the possession of this important position at the mouth of the +western Scheld. The troops who were to resume this too long intermitted +work arrived just in time to witness the expulsion of their comrades. De +Herpt easily persuaded the burghers that the die was cast, and that their +only hope lay in a resolute resistance. The people warmly acquiesced, +while a half-drunken, half-wined fellow in the crowd valiantly proposed, +in consideration of a pot of beer, to ascend the ramparts and to +discharge a couple of pieces of artillery at the Spanish ships. The offer +was accepted, and the vagabond merrily mounting the height, discharged +the guns. Strange to relate, the shot thus fired by a lunatic's hand put +the invading ships to flight. A sudden panic seized the Spaniards, the +whole fleet stood away at once in the direction of Middelburg, and were +soon out of sight. + +The next day, however, Antony of Bourgoyne, governor under Alva for the +Island of Walcheren, made his appearance in Flushing. Having a high +opinion of his own oratorical powers, he came with the intention of +winning back with his rhetoric a city which the Spaniards had thus far +been unable to recover with their cannon. The great bell was rung, the +whole population assembled in the marketplace, and Antony, from the steps +of the town-house, delivered a long oration, assuring the burghers, among +other asseverations, that the King, who was the best natured prince in +all Christendom, would forget and forgive their offences if they returned +honestly to their duties. + +The effect of the Governor's eloquence was much diminished, however, by +the interlocutory remarks, of De Herpt and a group of his adherents. They +reminded the people of the King's good nature, of his readiness to forget +and to forgive, as exemplified by the fate of Horn and Egmont, of Berghen +and Montigny, and by the daily and almost hourly decrees of the Blood +Council. Each well-rounded period of the Governor was greeted with +ironical cheers. The oration was unsuccessful. "Oh, citizens, citizens!" +cried at last the discomfited Antony, "ye know not what ye do. Your blood +be upon your own heads; the responsibility be upon your own hearts for +the fires which are to consume your cities and the desolation which is to +sweep your land!" The orator at this impressive point was interrupted, +and most unceremoniously hustled out of the city. The government remained +in the hands of the patriots. + +The party, however, was not so strong in soldiers as in spirit. No +sooner, therefore, had they established their rebellion to Alva as an +incontrovertible fact, than they sent off emissaries to the Prince of +Orange, and to Admiral De la Marek at Brill. Finding that the inhabitants +of Flushing were willing to provide arms and ammunition, De la Marck +readily consented to send a small number of men, bold and experienced in +partisan warfare, of whom he had now collected a larger number than he +could well arm or maintain in his present position. + +The detachment, two hundred in number, in three small vessels, set sail +accordingly from Brill for Flushing; and a wild crew they were, of +reckless adventurers under command of the bold Treslong. The expedition +seemed a fierce but whimsical masquerade. Every man in the little fleet +was attired in the gorgeous vestments of the plundered churches, in +gold-embroidered cassocks, glittering mass-garments, or the more sombre +cowls, and robes of Capuchin friars. So sped the early standard bearers +of that ferocious liberty which had sprung from the fires in which all +else for which men cherish their fatherland had been consumed. So swept +that resolute but fantastic band along the placid estuaries of Zealand, +waking the stagnant waters with their wild beggar songs and cries of +vengeance. + +That vengeance found soon a distinguished object. Pacheco, the chief +engineer of Alva, who had accompanied the Duke in his march from Italy, +who had since earned a world-wide reputation as the architect of the +Antwerp citadel, had been just despatched in haste to Flushing to +complete the fortress whose construction had been so long delayed. Too +late for his work, too soon for his safety, the ill-fated engineer had +arrived almost at the same moment with Treslong and his crew. He had +stepped on shore, entirely ignorant of all which had transpired, +expecting to be treated with the respect due to the chief commandant of +the place, and to an officer high in the confidence of the +Governor-General. He found himself surrounded by an indignant and +threatening mob. The unfortunate Italian understood not a word of the +opprobrious language addressed to him, but he easily comprehended that +the authority of the Duke was overthrown. Observing De Ryk, a +distinguished partisan officer and privateersman of Amsterdam, whose +reputation for bravery and generosity was known, to him, he approached +him, and drawing a seal ring from his finger, kissed it, and handed it to +the rebel chieftain. By this dumbshow he gave him to understand that he +relied upon his honor for the treatment due to a gentleman. De Ryk +understood the appeal, and would willingly have assured him, at least, a +soldier's death, but he was powerless to do so. He arrested him, that he +might be protected from the fury of the rabble, but Treslong, who now +commanded in Flushing, was especially incensed against the founder of the +Antwerp citadel, and felt a ferocious desire to avenge his brother's +murder upon the body of his destroyer's favourite. Pacheco was condemned +to be hanged upon the very day of his arrival. Having been brought forth +from his prison, he begged hard but not abjectly for his life. He offered +a heavy ransom, but his enemies were greedy for blood, not for money. It +was, however, difficult to find an executioner. The city hangman was +absent, and the prejudice of the country and the age against the vile +profession had assuredly not been diminished during the five horrible +years of Alva's administration. Even a condemned murderer, who lay in the +town-gaol, refused to accept his life in recompence for performing the +office. It should never be said, he observed, that his mother had given +birth to a hangman. When told, however, that the intended victim was a +Spanish officer, the malefactor consented to the task with alacrity, on +condition that he might afterwards kill any man who taunted him with the +deed. + +Arrived at the foot of the gallows, Pacheco complained bitterly of the +disgraceful death designed for him. He protested loudly that he came of a +house as noble as that of Egmont or Horn, and was entitled to as +honorable an execution as theirs had been. "The sword! the sword!" he +frantically exclaimed, as he struggled with those who guarded him. His +language was not understood, but the names of Egmont and Horn inflamed +still more highly the rage of the rabble, while his cry for the sword was +falsely interpreted by a rude fellow who had happened to possess himself +of Pacheco's rapier, at his capture, and who now paraded himself with it +at the gallows' foot. "Never fear for your sword, Seilor," cried this +ruffian; "your sword is safe enough, and in good hands. Up the ladder +with you, Senor; you have no further use for your sword." + +Pacheco, thus outraged, submitted to his fate. He mounted the ladder with +a steady step, and was hanged between two other Spanish officers. So +perished miserably a brave soldier, and one of the most distinguished +engineers of his time; a man whose character and accomplishments had +certainly merited for him a better fate. But while we stigmatize as it +deserves the atrocious conduct of a few Netherland partisans, we should +remember who first unchained the demon of international hatred in this +unhappy land, nor should it ever be forgotten that the great leader of +the revolt, by word, proclamation, example, by entreaties, threats, and +condign punishment, constantly rebuked, and to a certain extent, +restrained the sanguinary spirit by which some of his followers disgraced +the noble cause which they had espoused. + +Treslong did not long remain in command at Flushing. An officer, high in +the confidence of the Prince, Jerome van 't Zeraerts, now arrived at +Flushing, with a commission to be Lieutenant-Governor over the whole isle +of Walcheren. He was attended by a small band of French infantry, while +at nearly the same time the garrison was further strengthened by the +arrival of a large number of volunteers from England. + + ETEXT EDITOR'S BOOKMARKS: + + Beggars of the sea, as these privateersmen designated themselves + Hair and beard unshorn, according to ancient Batavian custom + Only healthy existence of the French was in a state of war + + + + +MOTLEY'S HISTORY OF THE NETHERLANDS, PG EDITION, VOLUME 19. + +THE RISE OF THE DUTCH REPUBLIC + +By JOHN LOTHROP MOTLEY +1855 +1572 [CHAPTER VII.] + + Municipal revolution throughout Holland and Zealand--Characteristics + of the movement in various places--Sonoy commissioned by Orange as + governor of North Holland--Theory of the provisional government-- + Instructions of the Prince to his officers--Oath prescribed--Clause + of toleration--Surprise of Mons by Count Louis--Exertions of Antony + Oliver--Details of the capture--Assembly of the citizens--Speeches + of Genlis and of Count Louis--Effect of the various movements upon + Alva--Don Frederic ordered to invest Mons--The Duke's impatience to + retire--Arrival of Medina Coeli--His narrow escape--Capture of the + Lisbon fleet--Affectation of cordiality between Alva and Medina-- + Concessions by King and Viceroy on the subject of the tenth penny-- + Estates of Holland assembled, by summons of Orange, at Dort--Appeals + from the Prince to this congress for funds to pay his newly levied + army--Theory of the provisional States' assembly--Source and nature + of its authority--Speech of St. Aldegonde--Liberality of the estates + and the provinces--Pledges exchanged between the Prince's + representative and the Congress--Commission to De la Marck ratified + --Virtual dictatorship of Orange--Limitation of his power by his own + act--Count Louis at Mons--Reinforcements led from France by Genlis-- + Rashness of that officer--His total defeat--Orange again in the + field--Rocrmond taken--Excesses of the patriot army--Proclamation of + Orange, commanding respect to all personal and religious rights--His + reply to the Emperor's summons--His progress in the Netherlands-- + Hopes entertained from France--Reinforcements under Coligny promised + to Orange by Charles IX.--The Massacre of St. Bartholomew--The + event characterized--Effect in England, in Rome, and in other parts + of Europe--Excessive hilarity of Philip--Extravagant encomium + bestowed by him upon Charles IX.--Order sent by Philip to put all + French prisoners in the Netherlands to Death--Secret correspondence + of Charles IX. with his envoy in the Netherlands--Exultation of the + Spaniards before Mons--Alva urged by the French envoy, according to + his master's commands, to put all the Frenchmen in Mons, and those + already captured, to death--Effect of the massacre upon the Prince + of Orange--Alva and Medina in the camp before Mons--Hopelessness of + the Prince's scheme to obtain battle from Alva--Romero's encamisada + --Narrow escape of the prince--Mutiny and dissolution of his army-- + His return to Holland--His steadfastness--Desperate position of + Count Louis in Mons--Sentiments of Alva--Capitulation of Mons-- + Courteous reception of Count Louis by the Spanish generals-- + Hypocrisy of these demonstrations--Nature of the Mons capitulation-- + Horrible violation of its terms--Noircarmes at Mons--Establishment + of a Blood Council in the city--Wholesale executions--Cruelty and + cupidity of Noircarmes--Late discovery of the archives of these + crimes--Return of the revolted cities of Brabant and Flanders to + obedience--Sack of Mechlin by the Spaniards--Details of that event. + +The example thus set by Brill and Flushing was rapidly followed. The +first half of the year 1572 was distinguished by a series of triumphs +rendered still more remarkable by the reverses which followed at its +close. Of a sudden, almost as it were by accident, a small but important +sea-port, the object for which the Prince had so long been hoping, was +secured. Instantly afterward, half the island of Walcheren renounced the +yoke of Alva, Next, Enkbuizen, the key to the Zuyder Zee, the principal +arsenal, and one of the first commercial cities in the Netherlands, rose +against the Spanish Admiral, and hung out the banner of Orange on its +ramparts. The revolution effected here was purely the work of the +people--of the mariners and burghers of the city. Moreover, the +magistracy was set aside and the government of Alva repudiated without +shedding one drop of blood, without a single wrong to person or property. +By the same spontaneous movement, nearly all the important cities of +Holland and Zealand raised the standard of him in whom they recognized +their deliverer. The revolution was accomplished under nearly similar +circumstances everywhere. With one fierce bound of enthusiasm the nation +shook off its chain. Oudewater, Dort, Harlem, Leyden, Gorcum, +Loewenstein, Gouda, Medenblik, Horn, Alkmaar, Edam, Monnikendam, +Purmerende, as well as Flushing, Veer, and Enkbuizen, all ranged +themselves under the government of Orange, as lawful stadholder for the +King. + +Nor was it in Holland and Zealand alone that the beacon fires of freedom +were lighted. City after city in Gelderland, Overyssel, and the See of +Utrecht; all the important towns of Friesland, some sooner, some later, +some without a struggle, some after a short siege, some with resistance +by the functionaries of government, some by amicable compromise, accepted +the garrisons of the Prince, and formally recognized his authority. Out +of the chaos which a long and preternatural tyranny had produced, the +first struggling elements of a new and a better world began to appear. It +were superfluous to narrate the details which marked the sudden +restoration of liberty in these various groups of cities. Traits of +generosity marked the change of government in some, circumstances of +ferocity, disfigured the revolution in others. The island of Walcheren, +equally divided as it was between the two parties, was the scene of much +truculent and diabolical warfare. It is difficult to say whether the +mutual hatred of race or the animosity of religious difference proved the +deadlier venom. The combats were perpetual and sanguinary, the prisoners +on both sides instantly executed. On more than one occasion; men were +seen assisting to hang with their own hands and in cold blood their own +brothers, who had been taken prisoners in the enemy's ranks. When the +captives were too many to be hanged, they were tied back to back, two and +two, and thus hurled into the sea. The islanders found a fierce pleasure +in these acts of cruelty. A Spaniard had ceased to be human in their +eyes. On one occasion, a surgeon at Veer cut the heart from a Spanish +prisoner, nailed it on a vessel's prow; and invited the townsmen to come +and fasten their teeth in it, which many did with savage satisfaction. + +In other parts of the country the revolution was, on the whole, +accomplished with comparative calmness. Even traits of generosity were +not uncommon. The burgomaster of Gonda, long the supple slave of Alva and +the Blood Council, fled for his life as the revolt broke forth in that +city. He took refuge in the house of a certain widow, and begged for a +place of concealment. The widow led him to a secret closet which served +as a pantry. "Shall I be secure there?" asked the fugitive functionary. +"O yes, sir Burgomaster," replied the widow, "'t was in that very place +that my husband lay concealed when you, accompanied by the officers of +justice, were searching the house, that you might bring him to the +scaffold for his religion. Enter the pantry, your worship; I will be +responsible for your safety." Thus faithfully did the humble widow of a +hunted and murdered Calvinist protect the life of the magistrate who had +brought desolation to her hearth. + +Not all the conquests thus rapidly achieved in the cause of liberty were +destined to endure, nor were any to be, retained without a struggle. The +little northern cluster of republics which had now restored its honor to +the ancient Batavian name was destined, however, for a long and vigorous +life. From that bleak isthmus the light of freedom was to stream through +many years upon struggling humanity in Europe; a guiding pharos across a +stormy sea; and Harlem, Leyden, Alkmaar--names hallowed by deeds of +heroism such as have not often illustrated human annals, still breathe as +trumpet-tongued and perpetual a defiance to despotism as Marathon, +Thermopylae, or Salamis. + +A new board of magistrates had been chosen in all the redeemed cities, by +popular election. They were required to take an oath of fidelity to the +King of Spain, and to the Prince of Orange as his stadholder; to promise +resistance to the Duke of Alva, the tenth penny, and the inquisition; to +support every man's freedom and the welfare of the country; to protect +widows, orphans, and miserable persons, and to maintain justice and +truth. + +Diedrich Sonoy arrived on the 2nd June at Enkbuizen. He was provided by +the Prince with a commission, appointing him Lieutenant-Governor of North +Holland or Waterland. Thus, to combat the authority of Alva was set up +the authority of the King. The stadholderate over Holland and Zealand, to +which the Prince had been appointed in 1559, he now reassumed. Upon this +fiction reposed the whole provisional polity of the revolted Netherlands. +The government, as it gradually unfolded itself, from this epoch forward +until the declaration of independence and the absolute renunciation of +the Spanish sovereign power, will be sketched in a future chapter. The +people at first claimed not an iota more of freedom than was secured by +Philip's coronation oath. There was no pretence that Philip was not +sovereign, but there was a pretence and a determination to worship God +according to conscience, and to reclaim the ancient political "liberties" +of the land. So long as Alva reigned, the Blood Council, the inquisition, +and martial law, were the only codes or courts, and every charter slept. +To recover this practical liberty and these historical rights, and to +shake from their shoulders a most sanguinary government, was the purpose +of William and of the people. No revolutionary standard was displayed. + +The written instructions given by the Prince to his Lieutenant Sonoy were +to "see that the Word of God was preached, without, however, suffering +any hindrance to the Roman Church in the exercise of its religion; to +restore fugitives and the banished for conscience sake, and to require of +all magistrates and officers of guilds and brotherhoods an oath of +fidelity." The Prince likewise prescribed the form of that oath, +repeating therein, to his eternal honor, the same strict prohibition of +intolerance. "Likewise," said the formula, "shall those of 'the religion' +offer no let or hindrance to the Roman churches." + +The Prince was still in Germany, engaged in raising troops and providing +funds. He directed; however, the affairs of the insurgent provinces in +their minutest details, by virtue of the dictatorship inevitably forced +upon him both by circumstances and by the people. In the meantime; Louis +of Nassau, the Bayard of the Netherlands, performed a most unexpected and +brilliant exploit. He had been long in France, negotiating with the +leaders of the Huguenots, and, more secretly, with the court. He was +supposed by all the world to be still in that kingdom, when the startling +intelligence arrived that he had surprised and captured the important +city of Mons. This town, the capital of Hainault, situate in a fertile, +undulating, and beautiful country, protected by lofty walls, a triple +moat, and a strong citadel, was one of the most flourishing and elegant +places in the Netherlands. It was, moreover, from its vicinity to the +frontiers of France; a most important acquisition to the insurgent party. +The capture was thus accomplished. A native of Mons, one Antony Oliver, a +geographical painter, had insinuated himself into the confidence of Alva, +for whom he had prepared at different times some remarkably well-executed +maps of the country. Having occasion to visit France, he was employed by +the Duke to keep a watch upon the movements of Louis of Nassau, and to +make a report as to the progress of his intrigues with the court of +France. The painter, however, was only a spy in disguise, being in +reality devoted to the cause of freedom, and a correspondent of Orange +and his family. His communications with Louis, in Paris, had therefore a +far different result from the one anticipated by Alva. A large number of +adherents within the city of Mons had already been secured, and a plan +was now arranged between Count Louis, Genlis, De la Noue, and other +distinguished Huguenot chiefs, to be carried out with the assistance of +the brave and energetic artist. + +On the 23rd of May, Oliver appeared at the gates of Mons, accompanied by +three wagons, ostensibly containing merchandise, but in reality laden +with arquebusses. These were secretly distributed among his confederates +in the city. In the course of the day Count Louis arrived in the +neighbourhood, accompanied by five hundred horsemen and a thousand foot +soldiers. This force he stationed in close concealment within the thick +forests between Maubeuge and Mons. Towards evening he sent twelve of the +most trusty and daring of his followers, disguised as wine merchants, +into the city. These individuals proceeded boldly to a public house, +ordered their supper, and while conversing with the landlord, carelessly +inquired at what hour next morning the city gates would be opened. They +were informed that the usual hour was four in the morning, but that a +trifling present to the porter would ensure admission, if they desired +it, at an earlier hour. They explained their inquiries by a statement +that they had some casks of wine which they wished to introduce into the +city before sunrise. Having obtained all the information which they +needed, they soon afterwards left the tavern. The next day they presented +themselves very early at the gate, which the porter, on promise of a +handsome "drink-penny," agreed to unlock. No sooner were the bolts +withdrawn, however, than he was struck dead, while about fifty dragoons +rode through the gate. The Count and his followers now galloped over the +city in the morning twilight, shouting "France! liberty! the town is +ours!" "The Prince is coming!" "Down with the tenth penny; down with the +murderous Alva!" So soon as a burgher showed his wondering face at the +window, they shot at him with their carbines. They made as much noise, +and conducted themselves as boldly as if they had been at least a +thousand strong. + +Meantime, however, the streets remained empty; not one of their secret +confederates showing himself. Fifty men could surprise, but were too few +to keep possession of the city. The Count began to suspect a trap. As +daylight approached the alarm spread; the position of the little band was +critical. In his impetuosity, Louis had far outstripped his army, but +they had been directed to follow hard upon his footsteps, and he was +astonished that their arrival was so long delayed. The suspense becoming +intolerable, he rode out of the city in quest of his adherents, and found +them wandering in the woods, where they had completely lost their way. +Ordering each horseman to take a foot soldier on the crupper behind him, +he led them rapidly back to Mons. On the way they were encountered by La +Noue, "with the iron arm," and Genlis, who, meantime, had made an +unsuccessful attack to recover Valenciennes, which within a few hours had +been won and lost again. As they reached the gates of Mons, they found +themselves within a hair's breadth of being too late; their adherents had +not come forth; the citizens had been aroused; the gates were all fast +but one--and there the porter was quarrelling with a French soldier about +an arquebuss. The drawbridge across the moat was at the moment rising; +the last entrance was closing, when Guitoy de Chaumont, a French officer, +mounted on a light Spanish barb, sprang upon the bridge as it rose. His +weight caused it to sink again, the gate was forced, and Louis with all +his men rode triumphantly into the town. + +The citizens were forthwith assembled by sound of bell in the +market-place. The clergy, the magistracy, and the general council were +all present. Genlis made the first speech, in which he disclaimed all +intention of making conquests in the interest of France. This pledge +having been given, Louis of Nassau next addressed the assembly: "The +magistrates," said he, "have not understoood my intentions. I protest +that I am no rebel to the King; I prove it by asking no new oaths from +any man. Remain bound by your old oaths of allegiance; let the +magistrates continue to exercise their functions--to administer justice. +I imagine that no person will suspect a brother of the Prince of Orange +capable of any design against the liberties of the country. As to the +Catholic religion, I take it under my very particular protection. You +will ask why I am in Mons at the head of an armed force: are any of you +ignorant of Alva's cruelties? The overthrow of this tyrant is as much the +interest of the King as of the people, therefore there is nothing in my +present conduct inconsistent with fidelity to his Majesty. Against Alva +alone I have taken up arms; 'tis to protect you against his fury that I +am here. It is to prevent the continuance of a general rebellion that I +make war upon him. The only proposition which I have to make to you is +this--I demand that you declare Alva de Toledo a traitor to the King, the +executioner of the people, an enemy to the country, unworthy of the +government, and hereby deprived of his authority." + +The magistracy did not dare to accept so bold a proposition; the general +council, composing the more popular branch of the municipal government, +were comparatively inclined to favor Nassau, and many of its members +voted for the downfall of the tyrant. Nevertheless the demands of Count +Louis were rejected. His position thus became critical. The civic +authorities refused to, pay for his troops, who were, moreover, too few, +in number to resist the inevitable siege. The patriotism of the citizens +was not to be repressed, however, by the authority, of the magistrates; +many rich proprietors of the great cloth and silk manufactories, for +which Mons was famous, raised, and armed companies at their own expense; +many volunteer troops were also speedily organized and drilled, and the +fortifications were put in order. No attempt was made to force the +reformed religion upon the inhabitants, and even Catholics who were +discovered in secret correspondence with the enemy were treated with such +extreme gentleness by Nassau as to bring upon him severe reproaches from +many of his own party. + +A large collection of ecclesiastical plate, jewellery, money, and other +valuables, which had been sent to the city for safe keeping from the +churches and convents of the provinces, was seized, and thus, with little +bloodshed and no violence; was the important city secured for the +insurgents. Three days afterwards, two thousand infantry, chiefly French, +arrived in the place. In the early part of the following month Louis was +still further strengthened by the arrival of thirteen hundred foot and +twelve hundred horsemen, under command of Count Montgomery, the +celebrated officer, whose spear at the tournament had proved fatal to +Henry the Second. Thus the Duke of Alva suddenly found himself exposed to +a tempest of revolution. One thunderbolt after another seemed descending +around him in breathless succession. Brill and Flushing had been already +lost; Middelburg was so closely invested that its fall seemed imminent, +and with it would go the whole island of Walcheren, the key to all the +Netherlands. In one morning he had heard of the revolt of Enkbuizen and +of the whole Waterland; two hours later came the news of the Valenciennes +rebellion, and next day the astonishing capture of Mons. One disaster +followed hard upon another. He could have sworn that the detested Louis +of Nassau, who had dealt this last and most fatal stroke, was at that +moment in Paris, safely watched by government emissaries; and now he had, +as it were, suddenly started out of the earth, to deprive him of this +important city, and to lay bare the whole frontier to the treacherous +attacks of faithless France. He refused to believe the intelligence when +it was first announced to him, and swore that he had certain information +that Count Louis had been seen playing in the tennis-court at Paris, +within so short a period as to make his presence in Hainault at that +moment impossible. Forced, at last, to admit the truth of the disastrous +news, he dashed his hat upon the ground in a fury, uttering imprecations +upon the Queen Dowager of France, to whose perfidious intrigues he +ascribed the success of the enterprise, and pledging himself to send her +Spanish thistles, enough in return for the Florentine lilies which she +had thus bestowed upon him. + +In the midst of the perplexities thus thickening around him, the Duke +preserved his courage, if not his temper. Blinded, for a brief season, by +the rapid attacks made upon him, he had been uncertain whither to direct +his vengeance. This last blow in so vital a quarter determined him at +once. He forthwith despatched Don Frederic to undertake the siege of +Mons, and earnestly set about raising large reinforcements to his army. +Don Frederic took possession, without much opposition, of the Bethlehem +cloister in the immediate vicinity of the city, and with four thousand +troops began the investment in due form. + +Alva had, for a long time, been most impatient to retire from the +provinces. Even he was capable of human emotions. Through the sevenfold +panoply of his pride he had been pierced by the sharpness of a nation's +curse. He was wearied with the unceasing execrations which assailed his +ears. "The hatred which the people bear me," said he, in a letter to +Philip, "because of the chastisement which it has been necessary for me +to inflict, although with all the moderation in the world, make all my +efforts vain. A successor will meet more sympathy and prove more useful." +On the 10th June, the Duke of Medina Coeli; with a fleet of more than +forty sail, arrived off Blankenburg, intending to enter the Scheld. +Julian Romero, with two thousand Spaniards, was also on board the fleet. +Nothing, of course, was known to the new comers of the altered condition +of affairs in the Netherlands, nor of the unwelcome reception which they +were like to meet in Flushing. A few of the lighter craft having been +taken by the patriot cruisers, the alarm was spread through all the +fleet. Medina Coeli, with a few transports, was enabled to effect his +escape to Sluys, whence he hastened to Brussels in a much less +ceremonious manner than he had originally contemplated. Twelve Biscayan +ships stood out to sea, descried a large Lisbon fleet, by a singular +coincidence, suddenly heaving in sight, changed their course again, and +with a favoring breeze bore boldly up the Hond; passed Flushing in spite +of a severe cannonade from the forts, and eventually made good their +entrance into Rammekens, whence the soldiery, about one-half of whom had +thus been saved, were transferred at a very critical moment to +Middelburg. + +The great Lisbon fleet followed in the wake of the Biscayans, with much +inferior success. Totally ignorant of the revolution which had occurred +in the Ise of Walclieren, it obeyed the summons of the rebel fort to come +to anchor, and, with the exception of three or four, the vessels were all +taken. It was the richest booty which the insurgents had yet acquired by +sea or land. The fleet was laden with spices, money, jewellery, and the +richest merchandize. Five hundred thousand crowns of gold were taken, and +it was calculated that the plunder altogether would suffice to maintain +the war for two years at least. One thousand Spanish soldiers, and a good +amount of ammunition, were also captured. The unexpected condition of +affairs made a pause natural and almost necessary, before the government +could be decorously transferred. Medina Coeli with Spanish +grandiloquence, avowed his willingness to serve as a soldier, under a +general whom he so much venerated, while Alva ordered that, in all +respects, the same outward marks of respect should be paid to his +appointed successor as to himself. Beneath all this external ceremony, +however, much mutual malice was concealed. + +Meantime, the Duke, who was literally "without a single real," was forced +at last to smother his pride in the matter of the tenth penny. On the +24th June, he summoned the estates of Holland to assemble on the 15th of +the ensuing month. In the missive issued for this purpose, he formally +agreed to abolish the whole tax, on condition that the estates-general of +the Netherlands would furnish him with a yearly supply of two millions of +florins. Almost at the same moment the King had dismissed the deputies of +the estates from Madrid, with the public assurance that the tax was to be +suspended, and a private intimation that it was not abolished in terms, +only in order to save the dignity of the Duke. + +These healing measures came entirely too late. The estates of Holland +met, indeed, on the appointed day of July; but they assembled not in +obedience to Alva, but in consequence of a summons from William of +Orange. They met, too, not at the Hague, but at Dort, to take formal +measures for renouncing the authority of the Duke. The first congress of +the Netherland commonwealth still professed loyalty to the Crown, but was +determined to accept the policy of Orange without a question. + +The Prince had again assembled an army in Germany, consisting of fifteen +thousand foot and seven thousand horse, besides a number of +Netherlanders, mostly Walloons, amounting to nearly three thousand more. +Before taking the field, however, it was necessary that he should +guarantee at least three months' pay to his troops. This he could no +longer do, except by giving bonds endorsed by certain cities of Holland +as his securities. He had accordingly addressed letters in his own name +to all the principal cities, fervently adjuring them to remember, at +last, what was due to him, to the fatherland, and to their own character. +"Let not a sum of gold," said he in one of these letters, "be so dear to +you, that for its sake you will sacrifice your lives, your wives, your +children, and all your descendants, to the latest generations; that you +will bring sin and shame upon yourselves, and destruction upon us who +have so heartily striven to assist you. Think what scorn you will incur +from foreign nations, what a crime you will commit against the Lord God, +what a bloody yoke ye will impose forever upon yourselves and your +children, if you now seek for subterfuges; if you now prevent us from +taking the field with the troops which we have enlisted. On the other +hand, what inexpressible benefits you will confer on your country, if you +now help us to rescue that fatherland from the power of Spanish vultures +and wolves." + +This and similar missives, circulated throughout the province of Holland, +produced a deep impression. In accordance with his suggestions, the +deputies from the nobility and from twelve cities of that province +assembled on the 15th July, at Dort. Strictly speaking, the estates or +government of Holland, the body which represented the whole people, +consisted of the nobler and six great cities. On this occasion, however, +Amsterdam being still in the power of the King, could send no deputies, +while, on the other hand, all the small towns were invited to send up +their representatives to the Congress. Eight accepted the proposal; the +rest declined to appoint delegates, partly from motives of economy, +partly from timidity.' + +These estates were the legitimate representatives of the people, but they +had no legislative powers. The people had never pretended to sovereignty, +nor did they claim it now. The source from which the government of the +Netherlands was supposed to proceed was still the divine mandate. Even +now the estates silently conceded, as they had ever done, the supreme +legislative and executive functions to the land's master. Upon Philip of +Spain, as representative of Count Dirk the First of Holland, had +descended, through many tortuous channels, the divine effluence +originally supplied by Charles the Simple of France. That supernatural +power was not contested, but it was now ingeniously turned against the +sovereign. The King's authority was invoked against himself in the person +of the Prince of Orange, to whom, thirteen years before, a portion of +that divine right had been delegated. The estates of Holland met at Dort +on the 15th July, as representatives of the people; but they were +summoned by Orange, royally commissioned in 1559 as stadholder, and +therefore the supreme legislative and executive officer of certain +provinces. This was the theory of the provisional government. The Prince +represented the royal authority, the nobles represented both themselves +and the people of the open country, while the twelve cities represented +the whole body of burghers. Together, they were supposed to embody all +authority, both divine and human, which a congress could exercise. Thus +the whole movement was directed against Alva and against Count Bossu, +appointed stadholder by Alva in the place of Orange. Philip's name was +destined to figure for a long time, at the head of documents by which +monies were raised, troops levied, and taxes collected, all to be used in +deadly war against himself. + +The estates were convened on the 15th July, when Paul Buys, pensionary of +Leyden, the tried and confidential friend of Orange, was elected Advocate +of Holland. The convention was then adjourned till the 18th, when Saint +Aldegonde made his appearance, with full powers to act provisionally in +behalf of his Highness. + +The distinguished plenipotentiary delivered before the congress a long +and very effective harangue. He recalled the sacrifices and efforts of +the Prince during previous years. He adverted to the disastrous campaign +of 1568, in which the Prince had appeared full of high hope, at the head +of a gallant army, but had been obliged, after a short period, to retire, +because not a city had opened its gates nor a Netherlander lifted his +finger in the cause. Nevertheless, he had not lost courage nor closed his +heart; and now that, through the blessing of God, the eyes of men had +been opened, and so many cities had declared against the tyrant, the +Prince had found himself exposed to a bitter struggle. Although his own +fortunes had been ruined in the cause, he had been unable to resist the +daily flood of petitions which called upon him to come forward once more. +He had again importuned his relations and powerful friends; he had at +last set on foot a new and well-appointed army. The day of payment had +arrived. Over his own head impended perpetual shame, over the fatherland +perpetual woe, if the congress should now refuse the necessary supplies. +"Arouse ye, then," cried the orator, with fervor, "awaken your own zeal +and that of your sister cities. Seize Opportunity by the locks, who never +appeared fairer than she does to-day." + +The impassioned eloquence of St. Aldegonde produced a profound +impression. The men who had obstinately refused the demands of Alva, now +unanimously resolved to pour forth their gold and their blood at the call +of Orange. "Truly," wrote the Duke, a little later, "it almost drives me +mad to see the difficulty with which your Majesty's supplies are +furnished, and the liberality with which the people place their lives and +fortunes at the disposal of this rebel." It seemed strange to the loyal +governor that men should support their liberator with greater alacrity +than that with which they served their destroyer! It was resolved that +the requisite amount should be at once raised, partly from the regular +imposts and current "requests," partly by loans from the rich, from the +clergy, from the guilds and brotherhoods, partly from superfluous church +ornaments and other costly luxuries. It was directed that subscriptions +should be immediately opened throughout the land, that gold and silver +plate, furniture, jewellery, and other expensive articles should be +received by voluntary contributions, for which inventories and receipts +should be given by the magistrates of each city, and that upon these +money should be raised, either by loan or sale. An enthusiastic and +liberal spirit prevailed. All seemed determined rather than pay the tenth +to Alva to pay the whole to the Prince. + +The estates, furthermore, by unanimous resolution, declared that they +recognized the Prince as the King's lawful stadholder over Holland, +Zealand, Friesland, and Utrecht, and that they would use their influence +with the other provinces to procure his appointment as Protector of all +the Netherlands during the King's absence. His Highness was requested to +appoint an Admiral, on whom, with certain deputies from the Water-cities, +the conduct of the maritime war should devolve. + +The conduct of the military operations by land was to be directed by +Dort, Leyden, and Enkbuizen, in conjunction with the Count de la Marck. A +pledge was likewise exchanged between the estates and the +pleni-potentiary, that neither party should enter into any treaty with +the King, except by full consent and co-operation of the other. With +regard to religion, it was firmly established, that the public exercises +of divine worship should be permitted not only to the Reformed Church, +but to the Roman Catholic--the clergy of both being protected from all +molestation. + +After these proceedings, Count de la Marck made his appearance before the +assembly. His commission from Orange was read to the deputies, and by +them ratified. The Prince, in that document, authorized "his dear cousin" +to enlist troops, to accept the fealty of cities, to furnish them with +garrisons, to re-establish all the local laws, municipal rights, and +ancient privileges which had been suppressed. He was to maintain freedom +of religion, under penalty of death to those who infringed it; he was to +restore all confiscated property; he was, with advice of his council, to +continue in office such city magistrates as were favorable, and to remove +those adverse to the cause. + +The Prince was, in reality, clothed with dictatorial and even regal +powers. This authority had been forced upon him by the prayers of the +people, but he manifested no eagerness as he partly accepted the onerous +station. He was provisionally the depositary of the whole sovereignty of +the northern provinces, but he cared much less for theories of government +than for ways and means. It was his object to release the country from +the tyrant who, five years long, had been burning and butchering the +people. It was his determination to drive out the foreign soldiery. To do +this, he must meet his enemy in the field. So little was he disposed to +strengthen his own individual power, that he voluntarily imposed limits +on himself, by an act, supplemental to the proceedings of the Congress of +Dort. In this important ordinance made by the Prince of Orange, as a +provisional form of government, he publicly announced "that he would do +and ordain nothing except by the advice of the estates, by reason that +they were best acquainted with the circumstances and the humours of the +inhabitants." He directed the estates to appoint receivers for all public +taxes, and ordained that all military officers should make oath of +fidelity to him, as stadholder, and to the estates of Holland, to be true +and obedient, in order to liberate the land from the Albanian and Spanish +tyranny, for the service of his royal Majesty as Count of Holland. The +provisional constitution, thus made by a sovereign prince and actual +dictator, was certainly as disinterested as it was sagacious. + +Meanwhile the war had opened vigorously in Hainault. Louis of Nassau had +no sooner found himself in possession of Mons than he had despatched +Genlis to France, for those reinforcements which had been promised by +royal lips. On the other hand, Don Frederic held the city closely +beleaguered; sharp combats before the walls were of almost daily +occurrence, but it was obvious that Louis would be unable to maintain the +position into which he had so chivalrously thrown himself unless he +should soon receive important succor. The necessary reinforcements were +soon upon the way. Genlis had made good speed with his levy, and it was +soon announced that he was advancing into Hainault, with a force of +Huguenots, whose numbers report magnified to ten thousand veterans. Louis +despatched an earnest message to his confederate, to use extreme caution +in his approach. Above all things, he urged him, before attempting to +throw reinforcements into the city, to effect a junction with the Prince +of Orange, who had already crossed the Rhine with his new army. + +Genlis, full of overweening confidence, and desirous of acquiring singly +the whole glory of relieving the city, disregarded this advice. His +rashness proved his ruin, and the temporary prostration of the cause of +freedom. Pushing rapidly forward across the French frontier, he arrived, +towards the middle of July, within two leagues of Mons. The Spaniards +were aware of his approach, and well prepared to frustrate his project. +On the 19th, he found himself upon a circular plain of about a league's +extent, surrounded with coppices and forests, and dotted with farm-houses +and kitchen gardens. Here he paused to send out a reconnoitring party. +The little detachment was, however, soon driven in, with the information +that Don Frederic of Toledo, with ten thousand men, was coming instantly +upon them. The Spanish force, in reality, numbered four thousand +infantry, and fifteen hundred cavalry; but three thousand half-armed +boors had been engaged by Don Frederic, to swell his apparent force. The +demonstration produced its effect, and no sooner had the first panic of +the intelligence been spread, than Noircarmes came charging upon them at +the head of his cavalry. The infantry arrived directly afterwards, and +the Huguenots were routed almost as soon as seen. It was a meeting rather +than a battle. The slaughter of the French was very great, while but an +insignificant number of the Spaniards fell. Chiappin Vitelli was the hero +of the day. It was to his masterly arrangements before the combat, and to +his animated exertions upon the field, that the victory was owing. Having +been severely wounded in the thigh but a few days previously, he caused +himself to be carried upon a litter in a recumbent position in front of +his troops, and was everywhere seen, encouraging their exertions, and +exposing himself, crippled as he was, to the whole brunt of the battle. +To him the victory nearly proved fatal; to Don Frederic it brought +increased renown. Vitelli's exertions, in his precarious condition, +brought on severe inflammation, under which he nearly succumbed, while +the son of Alva reaped extensive fame from the total overthrow of the +veteran Huguenots, due rather to his lieutenant and to Julian Romero. + +The number of dead left by the French upon the plain amounted to at least +twelve hundred, but a much larger number was butchered in detail by the +peasantry, among whom they attempted to take refuge, and who had not yet +forgotten the barbarities inflicted by their countrymen in the previous +war. Many officers were taken prisoners, among whom was the +Commander-in-chief, Genlis. + +That unfortunate gentleman was destined to atone for his rashness and +obstinacy with his life. He was carried to the castle of Antwerp, where, +sixteen months afterwards, he was secretly strangled by command of Alva, +who caused the report to be circulated that he had died a natural death. +About one hundred foot soldiers succeeded in making their entrance into +Mona, and this was all the succor which Count Louis was destined to +receive from France, upon which country he had built such lofty and such +reasonable hopes. + +While this unfortunate event was occurring, the Prince had already put +his army in motion. On the 7th of July he had crossed the Rhine at +Duisburg, with fourteen thousand foot, seven thousand horse, enlisted in +Germany, besides a force of three thousand Walloons. On the 23rd of July, +he took the city of Roermond, after a sharp cannonade, at which place his +troops already began to disgrace the honorable cause in which they were +engaged, by imitating the cruelties and barbarities of their antagonists. +The persons and property of the burghers were, with a very few +exceptions, respected; but many priests and monks were put to death by +the soldiery under circumstances of great barbarity. The Prince, incensed +at such conduct, but being unable to exercise very stringent authority +over troops whose wages he was not yet able to pay in full, issued a +proclamation, denouncing such excesses, and commanding his followers, +upon pain of death, to respect the rights of all individuals, whether +Papist or Protestant, and to protect religious exercises both in Catholic +and Reformed churches. + +It was hardly to be expected that the troops enlisted by the Prince in +the same great magazine of hireling soldiers, Germany, from whence the +Duke also derived his annual supplies, would be likely to differ very +much in their propensities from those enrolled under Spanish banners; yet +there was a vast contrast between the characters of the two commanders. +One leader inculcated the practice of robbery, rape, and murder, as a +duty, and issued distinct orders to butcher every mother's son in the +cities which he captured; the other restrained every excess to, the +utmost of his ability, protecting not only life and property, but even +the ancient religion. + +The Emperor Maximilian had again issued his injunctions against the +military operations of Orange. Bound to the monarch of Spain by so many +family ties, being at once cousin, brother-in-law, and father-in-law of +Philip, it was difficult for him to maintain the attitude which became +him, as chief of that Empire to which the peace of Passau had assured +religious freedom. It had, however, been sufficiently proved that +remonstrances and intercessions addressed to Philip were but idle breath. +It had therefore become an insult to require pacific conduct from the +Prince on the ground of any past or future mediation. It was a still +grosser mockery to call upon him to discontinue hostilities because the +Netherlands were included in the Empire, and therefore protected by the +treaties of Passau and Augsburg. Well did the Prince reply to his +Imperial Majesty's summons in a temperate but cogent letter, in which he +addressed to him from his camp, that all intercessions had proved +fruitless, and that the only help for the Netherlands was the sword. + +The Prince had been delayed for a month at Roermonde, because, as he +expressed it; "he had not a single sou," and because, in consequence, the +troops refused to advance into the Netherlands. Having at last been +furnished with the requisite guarantees from the Holland cities for three +months' pay, on the 27th of August, the day of the publication of his +letter to the Emperor, he crossed the Meuse and took his circuitous way +through Diest, Tirlemont, Sichem, Louvain, Mechlin, Termonde, Oudenarde, +Nivelles. Many cities and villages accepted his authority and admitted +his garrisons. Of these Mechlin was the most considerable, in which he +stationed a detachment of his troops. Its doom was sealed in that moment. +Alva could not forgive this act of patriotism on the part of a town which +had so recently excluded his own troops. "This is a direct permission of +God," he wrote, in the spirit of dire and revengeful prophecy, "for us to +punish her as she deserves, for the image-breaking and other misdeeds +done there in the time of Madame de Parma, which our Lord was not willing +to pass over without chastisement." + +Meantime the Prince continued his advance. Louvain purchased its +neutrality for the time with sixteen thousand ducats; Brussels +obstinately refused to listen to him, and was too powerful to be forcibly +attacked at that juncture; other important cities, convinced by the +arguments and won by the eloquence of the various proclamations which he +scattered as he advanced, ranged themselves spontaneously and even +enthusiastically upon his side. How different world have been the result +of his campaign but for the unexpected earthquake which at that instant +was to appal Christendom, and to scatter all his well-matured plans and +legitimate hopes. His chief reliance, under Providence and his own strong +heart, had been upon French assistance. Although Genlis, by his +misconduct, had sacrificed his army and himself, yet the Prince as still +justly sanguine as to the policy of the French court. The papers which +had been found in the possession of Genlis by his conquerors all spoke +one language. "You would be struck with stupor," wrote Alva's secretary, +"could you see a letter which is now in my power, addressed by the King +of France to Louis of Nassau." In that letter the King had declared his +determination to employ all the forces which God had placed in his hands +to rescue the Netherlands from the oppression under which they were +groaning. In accordance with the whole spirit and language of the French +government, was the tone of Coligny in his correspondence with Orange. +The Admiral assured the Prince that there was no doubt as to the +earnestness of the royal intentions in behalf of the Netherlands, and +recommending extreme caution, announced his hope within a few days to +effect a junction with him at the head of twelve thousand French +arquebusiers, and at least three thousand cavalry. Well might the Prince +of Orange, strong, and soon to be strengthened, boast that the +Netherlands were free, and that Alva was in his power. He had a right to +be sanguine, for nothing less than a miracle could now destroy his +generous hopes--and, alas! the miracle took place; a miracle of perfidy +and bloodshed such as the world, familiar as it had ever been and was +still to be with massacre, had not yet witnessed. On the 11th of August, +Coligny had written thus hopefully of his movements towards the +Netherlands, sanctioned and aided by his King. A fortnight from that day +occurred the "Paris-wedding;" and the Admiral, with thousands of his +religious confederates, invited to confidence by superhuman treachery, +and lulled into security by the music of august marriage bells, was +suddenly butchered in the streets of Paris by royal and noble hands. + +The Prince proceeded on his march, during which the heavy news had been +brought to him, but he felt convinced that, with the very arrival of the +awful tidings, the fate of that campaign was sealed, and the fall of Mons +inevitable. In his own language, he had been struck to the earth "with +the blow of a sledge-hammer,"--nor did the enemy draw a different augury +from the great event. + +The crime was not committed with the connivance of the Spanish +government. On the contrary, the two courts were at the moment bitterly +hostile to each other. In the beginning of the summer, Charles IX. and +his advisers were as false to Philip, as at the end of it they were +treacherous to Coligny and Orange. The massacre of the Huguenots had not +even the merit of being a well-contrived and intelligently executed +scheme. We have seen how steadily, seven years before, Catharine de +Medici had rejected the advances of Alva towards the arrangement of a +general plan for the extermination of all heretics within France and the +Netherlands at the same moment. We have seen the disgust with which Alva +turned from the wretched young King at Bayonne, when he expressed the +opinion that to take arms against his own subjects was wholly out of the +question, and could only be followed by general ruin. "'Tis easy to see +that he has been tutored," wrote Alva to his master. Unfortunately, the +same mother; who had then instilled those lessons of hypocritical +benevolence, had now wrought upon her son's cowardly but ferocious nature +with a far different intent. The incomplete assassination of Coligny, the +dread of signal vengeance at the hands of the Huguenots, the necessity of +taking the lead in the internecine snuggle; were employed with Medicean +art, and with entire success. The King was lashed into a frenzy. Starting +to his feet, with a howl of rage and terror, "I agree to the scheme," he +cried, "provided not one Huguenot be left alive in France to reproach me +with the deed." + +That night the slaughter commenced. The long premeditated crime was +executed in a panic, but the work was thoroughly done. The King, who a +few days before had written with his own hand to Louis of Nassau, +expressing his firm determination to sustain the Protestant cause both in +France and the Netherlands, who had employed the counsels of Coligny in +the arrangement, of his plans, and who had sent French troops, under +Genlis and La None, to assist their Calvinist brethren in Flanders, now +gave the signal for the general massacre of the Protestants, and with his +own hands, from his own palace windows, shot his subjects with his +arquebuss as if they had been wild beasts. + +Between Sunday and Tuesday, according to one of the most moderate +calculations, five thousand Parisians of all ranks were murdered. Within +the whole kingdom, the number of victims was variously estimated at from +twenty-five thousand to one hundred thousand. The heart of Protestant +Europe, for an instant, stood still with horror. The Queen of England put +on mourning weeds, and spurned the apologies of the French envoy with +contempt. At Rome, on the contrary, the news of the massacre created a +joy beyond description. The Pope, accompanied by his cardinals, went +solemnly to the church of Saint Mark to render thanks to God for the +grace thus singularly vouchsafed to the Holy See and to all Christendom; +and a Te Deum was performed in presence of the same august assemblage. + +But nothing could exceed the satisfaction which the event occasioned in +the mind of Philip the Second. There was an end now of all assistance +from the French government to the Netherland Protestants. "The news of +the events upon Saint Bartholomew's day," wrote the French envoy at +Madrid, Saint Goard, to Charles IX., "arrived on the 7th September. The +King, on receiving the intelligence, showed, contrary to his natural +custom, so much gaiety, that he seemed more delighted than with all the +good fortune or happy incidents which had ever before occurred to him. He +called all his familiars about him in order to assure them that your +Majesty was his good brother, and that no one else deserved the title of +Most Christian. He sent his secretary Cayas to me with his felicitations +upon the event, and with the information that he was just going to Saint +Jerome to render thanks to God, and to offer his prayers that your +Majesty might receive Divine support in this great affair. I went to see +him next morning, and as soon as I came into his presence he began to +laugh, and with demonstrations of extreme contentment, to praise your +Majesty as deserving your title of Most Christian, telling me there was +no King worthy to be your Majesty's companion, either for valor or +prudence. He praised the steadfast resolution and the long dissimulation +of so great an enterprise, which all the world would not be able to +comprehend." + +"I thanked him," continued the embassador, "and I said that I thanked God +for enabling your Majesty to prove to his Master that his apprentice had +learned his trade, and deserved his title of most Christian King. I +added, that he ought to confess that he owed the preservation of the +Netherlands to your Majesty." + +Nothing certainly could, in Philip's apprehension, be more delightful +than this most unexpected and most opportune intelligence. Charles IX., +whose intrigues in the Netherlands he had long known, had now been +suddenly converted by this stupendous crime into his most powerful ally, +while at the same time the Protestants of Europe would learn that there +was still another crowned head in Christendom more deserving of +abhorrence than himself. He wrote immediately to Alva, expressing his +satisfaction that the King of France had disembarrassed himself of such +pernicious men, because he would now be obliged to cultivate the +friendship of Spain, neither the English Queen nor the German Protestants +being thenceforth capable of trusting him. He informed the Duke, +moreover, that the French envoy, Saint Goard, had been urging him to +command the immediate execution of Genlis and his companions, who had +been made prisoners, as well as all the Frenchmen who would be captured +in Mons; and that he fully concurred in the propriety of the measure. +"The sooner," said Philip, "these noxious plants are extirpated from the +earth, the less fear there is that a fresh crop will spring up." The +monarch therefore added, with his own hand, to the letter, "I desire that +if you have not already disembarrassed the world of them, you will do it +immediately, and inform me thereof, for I see no reason why it should be +deferred." + +This is the demoniacal picture painted by the French ambassador, and by +Philip's own hand, of the Spanish monarch's joy that his "Most Christian" +brother had just murdered twenty-five thousand of his own subjects. In +this cold-blooded way, too, did his Catholic Majesty order the execution +of some thousand Huguenots additionally, in order more fully to carry out +his royal brother's plans; yet Philip could write of himself, "that all +the world recognized the gentleness of his nature and the mildness of his +intentions." + +In truth, the advice thus given by Saint Goard on the subject of the +French prisoners in Alva's possessions, was a natural result of the Saint +Bartholomew. Here were officers and soldiers whom Charles IX. had himself +sent into the Netherlands to fight for the Protestant cause against +Philip and Alva. Already, the papers found upon them had placed him in +some embarrassment, and exposed his duplicity to the Spanish government, +before the great massacre had made such signal reparation for his +delinquency. He had ordered Mondoucet, his envoy in the Netherlands, to +use dissimulation to an unstinted amount, to continue his intrigues with +the Protestants, and to deny stoutly all proofs of such connivance. "I +see that the papers found upon Genlis;" he wrote twelve days before the +massacre, "have been put into the hands of Assonleville, and that they +know everything done by Genlis to have been committed with my consent." + + [These remarkable letters exchanged between Charles IX. and + Mondoucet have recently been published by M. Emile Gachet (chef du + bureau paleographique aux Archives de Belgique) from a manuscript + discovered by him in the library at Rheims.--Compte Rendu de la Com. + Roy. d'Hist., iv. 340, sqq.] + +"Nevertheless, you will tell the Duke of Alva that these are lies +invented to excite suspicion against me. You will also give him +occasional information of the enemy's affairs, in order to make him +believe in your integrity. Even if he does not believe you, my purpose +will be answered, provided you do it dexterously. At the same time you +must keep up a constant communication with the Prince of Orange, taking +great care to prevent discovery of your intelligence with King." + +Were not these masterstrokes of diplomacy worthy of a King whom his +mother, from boyhood upwards, had caused to study Macchiavelli's +"Prince," and who had thoroughly taken to heart the maxim, often repeated +in those days, that the "Science of reigning was the science of lying"? + +The joy in the Spanish camp before Mons was unbounded. It was as if the +only bulwark between the Netherland rebels and total destruction had been +suddenly withdrawn. With anthems in Saint Gudule, with bonfires, festive +illuminations, roaring artillery, with trumpets also, and with shawms, +was the glorious holiday celebrated in court and camp, in honor of the +vast murder committed by the Most Christian King upon his Christian +subjects; nor was a moment lost in apprising the Huguenot soldiers shut +up with Louis of Nassau in the beleaguered city of the great catastrophe +which was to render all their valor fruitless. "'T was a punishment," +said a Spanish soldier, who fought most courageously before Mons, and who +elaborately described the siege afterwards, "well worthy of a king whose +title is 'The Most Christian,' and it was still more honorable to inflict +it with his own hands as he did." Nor was the observation a pithy +sarcasm, but a frank expression of opinion, from a man celebrated alike +for the skill with which he handled both his sword and his pen. + +The French envoy in the Netherlands was, of course, immediately informed +by his sovereign of the great event: Charles IX. gave a very pithy +account of the transaction. "To prevent the success of the enterprise +planned by the Admiral," wrote the King on the 26th of August, with hands +yet reeking, and while the havoc throughout France was at its height, "I +have been obliged to permit the said Guises to rush upon the said +Admiral,--which they have done, the said Admiral having been killed and +all his adherents. A very great number of those belonging to the new +religion have also been massacred and cut to pieces. It is probable that +the fire thus kindled will spread through all the cities of my kingdom, +and that all those of the said religion will be made sure of." Not often, +certainly, in history, has a Christian king spoken thus calmly of +butchering his subjects while the work was proceeding all around him. It +is to be observed, moreover, that the usual excuse for such enormities, +religious fanaticism, can not be even suggested on this occasion. +Catharine, in times past had favored Huguenots as much as Catholics, +while Charles had been, up to the very moment of the crime, in strict +alliance with the heretics of both France and Flanders, and furthering +the schemes of Orange and Nassau. Nay, even at this very moment, and in +this very letter in which he gave the news of the massacre, he charged +his envoy still to maintain the closest but most secret intelligence with +the Prince of Orange; taking great care that the Duke of Alva should not +discover these relations. His motives were, of course, to prevent the +Prince from abandoning his designs, and from coming to make a disturbance +in France. The King, now that the deed was done, was most anxious to reap +all the fruits of his crime. "Now, M. de Mondoucet, it is necessary in +such affairs," he continued, "to have an eye to every possible +contingency. I know that this news will be most agreeable to the Duke of +Alva, for it is most favorable to his designs. At the same time, I don't +desire that he alone should gather the fruit. I don't choose that he +should, according to his excellent custom, conduct his affairs in such +wise as to throw the Prince of Orange upon my hands, besides sending back +to France Genlis and the other prisoners, as well as the French now shut +up in Mons." + +This was a sufficiently plain hint, which Mondoucet could not well +misunderstand. "Observe the Duke's countenance carefully when you give +him this message," added the King, "and let me know his reply." In order, +however, that there might be no mistake about the matter, Charles wrote +again to his ambassador, five days afterwards, distinctly stating the +regret which he should feel if Alva should not take the city of Mons, or +if he should take it by composition. "Tell the Duke," said he, "that it +is most important for the service of his master and of God that those +Frenchmen and others in Mons should be cut in pieces." He wrote another +letter upon the name day, such was his anxiety upon the subject, +instructing the envoy to urge upon Alva the necessity of chastising those +rebels to the French crown. "If he tells you," continued Charles, "that +this is tacitly requiring him to put to death all the French prisoners +now in hand as well to cut in pieces every man in Mons, you will say to +him that this is exactly what he ought to do, and that he will be guilty +of a great wrong to Christianity if he does otherwise." Certainly, the +Duke, having been thus distinctly ordered, both by his own master and by +his Christian Majesty, to put every one of these Frenchmen to death, had +a sufficiency of royal warrant. Nevertheless, he was not able to execute +entirely these ferocious instructions. The prisoners already in his power +were not destined to escape, but the city of Mons, in his own language, +"proved to have sharper teeth than he supposed." + +Mondoucet lost no time in placing before Alva the urgent necessity of +accomplishing the extensive and cold-blooded massacre thus proposed. "The +Duke has replied," wrote the envoy to his sovereign, "that he is +executing his prisoners every day, and that he has but a few left. +Nevertheless, for some reason which he does not mention, he is reserving +the principal noblemen and chiefs." He afterwards informed his master +that Genlis, Jumelles, and the other leaders, had engaged, if Alva would +grant them a reasonable ransom, to induce the French in Mons to leave the +city, but that the Duke, although his language was growing less +confident, still hoped to take the town by assault. "I have urged him," +he added, "to put them all to death, assuring him that he would be +responsible for the consequences of a contrary course."--"Why does not +your Most Christian master," asked Alva, "order these Frenchmen in Mons +to come to him under oath to make no disturbance? Then my prisoners will +be at my discretion and I shall get my city."--"Because," answered the +envoy, "they will not trust his Most Christian Majesty, and will prefer +to die in Mons."--[Mondoucet to Charles IX., 15th September, 1572.] + +This certainly was a most sensible reply, but it is instructive to +witness the cynicism with which the envoy accepts this position for his +master, while coldly recording the results of all these sanguinary +conversations. + +Such was the condition of affairs when the Prince of Orange arrived at +Peronne, between Binche and the Duke of Alva's entrenchments. The +besieging army was rich in notabilities of elevated rank. Don Frederic of +Toledo had hitherto commanded, but on the 27th of August, the Dukes of +Medina Coeli and of Alva had arrived in the camp. Directly afterwards +came the warlike Archbishop of Cologne, at the head of two thousand +cavalry. There was but one chance for the Prince of Orange, and +experience had taught him, four years before, its slenderness. He might +still provoke his adversary into a pitched battle, and he relied upon God +for the result. In his own words, "he trusted ever that the great God of +armies was with him, and would fight in the midst of his forces." If so +long as Alva remained in his impregnable camp, it was impossible to +attack him, or to throw reinforcements into Mons. The Prince soon found, +too, that Alva was far too wise to hazard his position by a superfluous +combat. The Duke knew that the cavalry of the Prince was superior to his +own. He expressed himself entirely unwilling to play into the Prince's +hands, instead of winning the game which was no longer doubtful. The +Huguenot soldiers within Mons were in despair and mutiny; Louis of Nassau +lay in his bed consuming with a dangerous fever; Genlis was a prisoner, +and his army cut to pieces; Coligny was murdered, and Protestant France +paralyzed; the troops of Orange, enlisted but for three months, were +already rebellious, and sure to break into open insubordination when the +consequences of the Paris massacre should become entirely clear to them; +and there were, therefore, even more cogent reasons than in 1568, why +Alva should remain perfectly still, and see his enemy's cause founder +before his eyes. The valiant Archbishop of Cologne was most eager for the +fray. He rode daily at the Duke's side, with harness on his back and +pistols in his holsters, armed and attired like one of his own troopers, +and urging the Duke, with vehemence, to a pitched battle with the Prince. +The Duke commended, but did not yield to, the prelate's enthusiasm. "'Tis +a fine figure of a man, with his corslet and pistols," he wrote to +Philip, "and he shows great affection for your Majesty's service." + +The issue of the campaign was inevitable. On the 11th September, Don +Frederic, with a force of four thousand picked men, established himself +at Saint Florian, a village near the Havre gate of the city, while the +Prince had encamped at Hermigny, within half a league of the same place, +whence he attempted to introduce reinforcements into the town. On the +night of the 11th and 12th, Don Frederic hazarded an encamisada upon the +enemy's camp, which proved eminently successful, and had nearly resulted +in the capture of the Prince himself. A chosen band of six hundred +arquebussers, attired, as was customary in these nocturnal expeditions, +with their shirts outside their armor, that they might recognize each +other in the darkness, were led by Julian Romero, within the lines of the +enemy. The sentinels were cut down, the whole army surprised, and for a +moment powerless, while, for two hours long, from one o'clock in the +morning until three, the Spaniards butchered their foes, hardly aroused +from their sleep, ignorant by how small a force they had been thus +suddenly surprised, and unable in the confusion to distinguish between +friend and foe. The boldest, led by Julian in person, made at once for +the Prince's tent. His guards and himself were in profound sleep, but a +small spaniel, who always passed the night upon his bed, was a more +faithful sentinel. The creature sprang forward, barking furiously at the +sound of hostile footsteps, and scratching his master's face with his +paws.--There was but just time for the Prince to mount a horse which was +ready saddled, and to effect his escape through the darkness, before his +enemies sprang into the tent. His servants were cut down, his master of +the horse and two of his secretaries, who gained their saddles a moment +later, all lost their lives, and but for the little dog's watchfulness, +William of Orange, upon whose shoulders the whole weight of his country's +fortunes depended, would have been led within a week to an ignominious +death. To his dying day, the Prince ever afterwards kept a spaniel of the +same race in his bed-chamber. The midnight slaughter still continued, but +the Spaniards in their fury, set fire to the tents. The glare of the +conflagration showed the Orangists by how paltry a force they had been +surprised. Before they could rally, however, Romero led off his +arquebusiers, every one of whom had at least killed his man. Six hundred +of the Prince's troops had been put to the sword, while many others were +burned in their beds, or drowned in the little rivulet which flowed +outside their camp. Only sixty Spaniards lost their lives. + +This disaster did not alter the plans of the Prince, for those plans had +already been frustrated. The whole marrow of his enterprise had been +destroyed in an instant by the massacre of Saint Bartholomew. He +retreated to Wronne and Nivelles, an assassin, named Heist, a German, by +birth, but a French chevalier, following him secretly in his camp, +pledged to take his life for a large reward promised by Alva--an +enterprise not destined, however, to be successful. The soldiers flatly +refused to remain an hour longer in the field, or even to furnish an +escort for Count Louis, if, by chance, he could be brought out of the +town. The Prince was obliged to inform his brother of the desperate state +of his affairs, and to advise him to capitulate on the best terms which +he could make. With a heavy heart, he left the chivalrous Louis besieged +in the city which he had so gallantly captured, and took his way across +the Meuse towards the Rhine. A furious mutiny broke out among his troops. +His life was, with difficulty, saved from the brutal soldiery--infuriated +at his inability to pay them, except in the over-due securities of the +Holland cities--by the exertions of the officers who still regarded him +with veneration and affection. Crossing the Rhine at Orsoy, he disbanded +his army and betook himself, almost alone, to Holland. + +Yet even in this hour of distress and defeat, the Prince seemed more +heroic than many a conqueror in his day of triumph. With all his hopes +blasted, with the whole fabric of his country's fortunes shattered by the +colossal crime of his royal ally, he never lost his confidence in himself +nor his unfaltering trust in God. All the cities which, but a few weeks +before, had so eagerly raised his standard, now fell off at once. He went +to Holland, the only province which remained true, and which still looked +up to him as its saviour, but he went thither expecting and prepared to +perish. "There I will make my sepulchre," was his simple and sublime +expression in a private letter to his brother. + +He had advanced to the rescue of Louis, with city after city opening its +arms to receive him. He had expected to be joined on the march by +Coligny, at the head of a chosen army, and he was now obliged to leave +his brother to his fate, having the massacre of the Admiral and his +confederates substituted for their expected army of assistance, and with +every city and every province forsaking his cause as eagerly as they had +so lately embraced it. "It has pleased God," he said, "to take away every +hope which we could have founded upon man; the King has published that +the massacre was by his orders, and has forbidden all his subjects, upon +pain of death, to assist me; he has, moreover, sent succor to Alva. Had +it not been for this, we had been masters of the Duke, and should have +made him capitulate at our pleasure." Yet even then he was not cast down. + +Nor was his political sagacity liable to impeachment by the extent to +which he had been thus deceived by the French court. "So far from being +reprehensible that I did not suspect such a crime," he said, "I should +rather be chargeable with malignity had I been capable of so sinister a +suspicion. 'Tis not an ordinary thing to conceal such enormous +deliberations under the plausible cover of a marriage festival." + +Meanwhile, Count Louis lay confined to his couch with a burning fever. +His soldiers refused any longer to hold the city, now that the altered +intentions of Charles IX. were known and the forces of Orange withdrawn. +Alva offered the most honorable conditions, and it was therefore +impossible for the Count to make longer resistance. The city was so +important, and time was at that moment so valuable that the Duke was +willing to forego his vengeance upon the rebel whom he so cordially +detested, and to be satisfied with depriving, him of the prize which he +had seized with such audacity. "It would have afforded me sincere +pleasure," wrote the Duke, "over and above the benefit to God and your +Majesty, to have had the Count of Nassau in my power. I would overleap +every obstacle to seize him, such is the particular hatred which I bear +the man." Under, the circumstances, however, he acknowledged that the +result of the council of war could only be to grant liberal terms. + +On the 19th September, accordingly, articles of capitulation were signed +between the distinguished De la None with three others on the one part, +and the Seigneur de Noircarmes and three others on the side of Spain. The +town was given over to Alva, but all the soldiers were to go out with +their weapons and property. Those of the townspeople who had borne arms +against his Majesty, and all who still held to the Reformed religion, +were to retire with the soldiery. The troops were to pledge themselves +not to serve in future against the Kings of France or Spain, but from +this provision Louis, with his English and German soldiers, was expressly +excepted, the Count indignantly repudiating the idea of such a pledge, or +of discontinuing his hostilities for an instant. It was also agreed that +convoys should be furnished, and hostages exchanged, for the due +observance of the terms of the treaty. The preliminaries having been thus +settled, the patriot forces abandoned the town. + +Count Louis, rising from his sick bed, paid his respects in person to the +victorious generals, at their request. He was received in Alva's camp +with an extraordinary show of admiration and esteem. The Duke of Medina +Coeli overwhelmed him with courtesies and "basolomanos," while Don +Frederic assured him, in the high-flown language of Spanish compliment, +that there was nothing which he would not do to serve him, and that he +would take a greater pleasure in executing his slightest wish than if he +had been his next of kin. + +As the Count next day, still suffering with fever, and attired in his +long dressing-gown, was taking his departure from the city, he ordered +his carriage to stop at the entrance to Don Frederic's quarters. That +general, who had been standing incognito near the door, gazing with +honest admiration at the hero of so many a hard-fought field, withdrew as +he approached, that he might not give the invalid the trouble of +alighting. Louis, however, recognising him, addressed him with the +Spanish salutation, "Perdone vuestra Senoria la pesedumbre," and paused +at the gate. Don Frederic, from politeness to his condition, did not +present himself, but sent an aid-de-camp to express his compliments and +good wishes. Having exchanged these courtesies, Louis left the city, +conveyed, as had been agreed upon, by a guard of Spanish troops. There +was a deep meaning in the respect with which the Spanish generals had +treated the rebel chieftain. Although the massacre of Saint Bartholomew +met with Alva's entire approbation, yet it was his cue to affect a holy +horror at the event, and he avowed that he would "rather cut off both his +hands than be guilty of such a deed"--as if those hangman's hands had the +right to protest against any murder, however wholesale. Count Louis +suspected at once, and soon afterwards thoroughly understood; the real +motives of the chivalrous treatment which he had received. He well knew +that these very men would have sent him to the scaffold; had he fallen +into their power, and he therefore estimated their courtesy at its proper +value. + +It was distinctly stated, in the capitulation of the city, that all the +soldiers, as well as such of the inhabitants as had borne arms, should be +allowed to leave the city, with all their property. The rest of the +people, it was agreed, might remain without molestation to their persons +or estates. It has been the general opinion of historians that the +articles of this convention were maintained by the conquerors in good +faith. Never was a more signal error. The capitulation was made late at +night, on the 20th September, without the provision which Charles IX. had +hoped for: the massacre, namely, of De la None and his companions. As for +Genlis and those who had been taken prisoners at his defeat, their doom +had already been sealed. The city was evacuated on the 21st September: +Alva entered it upon the 24th. Most of the volunteers departed with the +garrison, but many who had, most unfortunately, prolonged their farewells +to their families, trusting to the word of the Spanish Captain Molinos, +were thrown into prison. Noircarmes the butcher of Valenciennes, now made +his appearance in Mons. As grand bailiff of Hainault, he came to the +place as one in authority, and his deeds were now to complete the infamy +which must for ever surround his name. In brutal violation of the terms +upon which the town had surrendered, he now set about the work of +massacre and pillage. A Commission of Troubles, in close imitation of the +famous Blood Council at Brussels, was established, the members of the +tribunal being appointed by Noircarmes, and all being inhabitants of the +town. The council commenced proceedings by condemning all the volunteers, +although expressly included in the capitulation. Their wives and +children were all banished; their property all confiscated. On the 15th +December, the executions commenced. The intrepid De Leste, silk +manufacturer, who had commanded a band of volunteers, and sustained +during the siege the assaults of Alva's troops with remarkable courage at +a very critical moment, was one of the earliest victims. In consideration +"that he was a gentleman, and not among the most malicious," he was +executed by sword. "In respect that he heard the mass, and made a sweet +and Catholic end," it was allowed that he should be "buried in +consecrated earth." Many others followed in quick succession. Some were +beheaded, some were hanged, some were burned alive. All who had borne +arms or worked at the fortifications were, of course, put to death. Such +as refused to confess and receive the Catholic sacraments perished by +fire. A poor wretch, accused of having ridiculed these mysteries, had his +tongue torn out before being beheaded. A cobbler, named Blaise Bouzet, +was hanged for having eaten meat-soup upon Friday. He was also accused of +going to the Protestant preachings for the sake of participating in the +alms distributed an these occasions, a crime for which many other paupers +were executed. An old man of sixty-two was sent to the scaffold for +having permitted his son to bear arms among the volunteers. At last, when +all pretexts were wanting to justify executions; the council assigned as +motives for its decrees an adhesion of heart on the part of the victims +to the cause of the insurgents, or to the doctrines of the Reformed +Church. Ten, twelve, twenty persons, were often hanged, burned, or +beheaded in a single day. Gibbets laden with mutilated bodies lined the +public highways,--while Noircarmes, by frightful expressions of +approbation, excited without ceasing the fury of his satellites. This +monster would perhaps, be less worthy of execration had he been governed +in these foul proceedings by fanatical bigotry or by political hatred; +but his motives were of the most sordid description. It was mainly to +acquire gold for himself that he ordained all this carnage. With the same +pen which signed the death-sentences of the richest victims, he drew +orders to his own benefit on their confiscated property. The lion's share +of the plunder was appropriated by himself. He desired the estate; of +Francois de Glarges, Seigneur d'Eslesmes. The gentleman had committed no +offence of any kind, and, moreover, lived beyond the French frontier. +Nevertheless, in contempt of international law, the neighbouring +territory was invaded, and d'Eslesmes dragged before the blood tribunal +of Mons. Noircarmes had drawn up beforehand, in his own handwriting, both +the terms of the accusation and of the sentence. The victim was innocent +and a Catholic, but he was rich. He confessed to have been twice at the +preaching, from curiosity, and to have omitted taking the sacrament at +the previous Easter. For these offences he was beheaded, and his +confiscated estate adjudged at an almost nominal price to the secretary +of Noircarmes, bidding for his master. "You can do me no greater +pleasure," wrote Noircarmes to the council, "than to make quick work with +all these rebels, and to proceed with the confiscation of their estates, +real and personal. Don't fail to put all those to the torture out of whom +anything can be got." + +Notwithstanding the unexampled docility of the commissioners, they found +it difficult to extract from their redoubted chief a reasonable share in +the wages of blood. They did not scruple, therefore, to display their +own infamy, and to enumerate their own crimes, in order to justify their +demand for higher salaries. "Consider," they said, in a petition to this +end, "consider closely, all that is odious in our office, and the great +number of banishments and of executions which we have pronounced among +all our own relations and friends." + +It may be added, moreover, as a slight palliation for the enormous crimes +committed by these men, that, becoming at last weary of their business, +they urged Noircarmes to desist from the work of proscription. Longehaye, +one of the commissioners, even waited upon him personally, with a plea +for mercy in favor of "the poor people, even beggars, who, although +having borne arms during the siege, might then be pardoned." Noircarmes, +in a rage at the proposition, said that "if he did not know the +commissioners to be honest men, he should believe that their palms had +been oiled," and forbade any farther words on the subject. When Longehaye +still ventured to speak in favor of certain persons "who were very poor +and simple, not charged with duplicity, and good Catholics besides," he +fared no better. "Away with you!" cried Noircarmes in a great fury, +adding that he had already written to have execution done upon the whole +of them. "Whereupon," said poor blood-councillor Longehaye, in his letter +to his colleagues, "I retired, I leave you to guess how." + +Thus the work went on day after day, month after month. Till the 27th +August of the following year (1573) the executioner never rested, and +when Requesens, successor to Alva, caused the prisons of Mons to be +opened, there were found still seventy-five individuals condemned to the +block, and awaiting their fate. + +It is the most dreadful commentary upon the times in which these +transactions occurred, that they could sink so soon into oblivion. The +culprits took care to hide the records of their guilt, while succeeding +horrors, on a more extensive scale, at other places, effaced the memory +of all these comparatively obscure murders and spoliations. The +prosperity of Mons, one of the most flourishing and wealthy manufacturing +towns in the Netherlands, was annihilated, but there were so many cities +in the same condition that its misery was hardly remarkable. +Nevertheless, in our own days, the fall of a mouldering tower in the +ruined Chateau de Naast at last revealed the archives of all these +crimes. How the documents came to be placed there remains a mystery, but +they have at last been brought to light. + +The Spaniards had thus recovered Mons, by which event the temporary +revolution throughout the whole Southern Netherlands was at an end. The +keys of that city unlocked the gates of every other in Brabant and +Flanders. The towns which had so lately embraced the authority of Orange +now hastened to disavow the Prince, and to return to their ancient, +hypocritical, and cowardly allegiance. The new oaths of fidelity were in +general accepted by Alva, but the beautiful archiepiscopal city of +Mechlin was selected for an example and a sacrifice. + +There were heavy arrears due to the Spanish troops. To indemnify them, +and to make good his blasphemous prophecy of Divine chastisement for its +past misdeeds, Alva now abandoned this town to the licence of his +soldiery. By his command Don Frederic advanced to the gates and demanded +its surrender. He was answered by a few shots from the garrison. Those +cowardly troops, however, having thus plunged the city still more deeply +into the disgrace which, in Alva's eyes, they had incurred by receiving +rebels within their walls after having but just before refused admittance +to the Spanish forces, decamped during the night, and left the place +defenceless. + +Early next morning there issued from the gates a solemn procession of +priests, with banner and crozier, followed by a long and suppliant throng +of citizens, who attempted by this demonstration to avert the wrath of +the victor. While the penitent psalms were resounding, the soldiers were +busily engaged in heaping dried branches and rubbish into the moat. +Before the religious exercises were concluded, thousands had forced the +gates or climbed the walls; and entered the city with a celerity which +only the hope of rapine could inspire. The sack instantly commenced. The +property of friend and foe, of Papist and Calvinist, was indiscriminately +rifled. Everything was dismantled and destroyed. "Hardly a nail," said a +Spaniard, writing soon afterwards from Brussels, "was left standing in +the walls." The troops seemed to imagine themselves in a Turkish town, +and wreaked the Divine vengeance which Alva had denounced upon the city +with an energy which met with his fervent applause. + +Three days long the horrible scene continued, one day for the benefit of +the Spaniards, two more for that of the Walloons and Germans. All the +churches, monasteries, religious houses of every kind, were completely +sacked. Every valuable article which they contained, the ornaments of +altars, the reliquaries, chalices, embroidered curtains, and carpets of +velvet or damask, the golden robes of the priests, the repositories of +the host, the precious vessels of chrism and extreme unction, the rich +clothing and jewellery adorning the effigies of the Holy Virgin, all were +indiscriminately rifled by the Spanish soldiers. The holy wafers were +trampled underfoot, the sacramental wine was poured upon the ground, and, +in brief, all the horrors which had been committed by the iconoclasts in +their wildest moments, and for a thousandth part of which enormities +heretics had been burned in droves, were now repeated in Mechlin by the +especial soldiers of Christ, by Roman Catholics who had been sent to the +Netherlands to avenge the insults offered to the Roman Catholic faith. +The motive, too, which inspired the sacrilegious crew was not fanaticism, +but the desire of plunder. The property of Romanists was taken as freely +as that of Calvinists, of which sect there were; indeed, but few in the +archiepiscopal city. Cardinal Granvelle's house was rifled. The pauper +funds deposited in the convents were not respected. The beds were taken +from beneath sick and dying women, whether lady abbess or hospital +patient, that the sacking might be torn to pieces in search of hidden +treasure. + +The iconoclasts of 1566 had destroyed millions of property for the sake +of an idea, but they had appropriated nothing. Moreover, they had +scarcely injured a human being; confining their wrath to graven images. +The Spaniards at Mechlin spared neither man nor woman. The murders and +outrages would be incredible, were they not attested by most respectable +Catholic witnesses. Men were butchered in their houses, in the streets, +at the altars. Women were violated by hundreds in churches and in +grave-yards. Moreover, the deed had been as deliberately arranged as it +was thoroughly performed. It was sanctioned by the highest authority. Don +Frederic, Son of Alva, and General Noircarmes were both present at the +scene, and applications were in vain made to them that the havoc might be +stayed. "They were seen whispering to each other in the ear on their +arrival," says an eye-witness and a Catholic, "and it is well known that +the affair had been resolved upon the preceding day. The two continued +together as long as they remained in the city." The work was, in truth, +fully accomplished. The ultra-Catholic, Jean Richardot, member of the +Grand Council, and nephew of the Bishop of Arras, informed the State +Council that the sack of Mechlin had been so horrible that the poor and +unfortunate mothers had not a single morsel of bread to put in the mouths +of their children, who were dying before their eyes--so insane and cruel +had been the avarice of the plunderers. "He could say more," he added, +"if his hair did not stand on end, not only at recounting, but even at +remembering the scene." + +Three days long the city was abandoned to that trinity of furies which +ever wait upon War's footsteps--Murder, Lust, and Rapine--under whose +promptings human beings become so much more terrible than the most +ferocious beasts. In his letter to his master, the Duke congratulated him +upon these foul proceedings as upon a pious deed well accomplished. He +thought it necessary, however; to excuse himself before the public in a +document, which justified the sack of Mechlin by its refusal to accept +his garrison a few months before, and by the shots which had been +discharged at his troops as they approached the city. For these offences, +and by his express order, the deed was done. Upon his head must the guilt +for ever rest. + + ETEXT EDITOR'S BOOKMARKS: + + Hanged for having eaten meat-soup upon Friday + Provided not one Huguenot be left alive in France + Put all those to the torture out of whom anything can be got + Saint Bartholomew's day + Science of reigning was the science of lying + + + + +MOTLEY'S HISTORY OF THE NETHERLANDS, PG EDITION, VOLUME 20. + +THE RISE OF THE DUTCH REPUBLIC + +By JOHN LOTHROP MOTLEY +1855 + + + + +1572-73 [CHAPTER VIII.] + + Affairs in Holland and Zealand--Siege of Tergoes by the patriots-- + Importance of the place--Difficulty of relieving it--Its position-- + Audacious plan for sending succor across the "Drowned Land"-- + Brilliant and successful expedition of Mondragon--The siege raised-- + Horrible sack of Zutphen--Base conduct of Count Van den Berg-- + Refusal of Naarden to surrender--Subsequent unsuccessful deputation + to make terms with Don Frederic--Don Frederic before Naarden-- + Treachery of Romero--The Spaniards admitted--General massacre of the + garrison and burghers--The city burned to the ground--Warm reception + of Orange in Holland--Secret negotiations with the Estates-- + Desperate character of the struggle between Spain and the provinces + --Don Frederic in Amsterdam--Plans for reducing Holland--Skirmish on + the ice at Amsterdam--Preparation in Harlem for the expected siege-- + Description of the city--Early operations--Complete investment-- + Numbers of besiegers and besieged--Mutual barbarities--Determined + repulse of the first assault--Failure of Batenburg's expedition-- + Cruelties in city and camp--Mining and countermining--Second assault + victoriously repelled--Suffering and disease in Harlem--Disposition + of Don Frederic to retire--Memorable rebuke by Alva--Efforts of + Orange to relieve the place--Sonoy's expedition--Exploit of John + Haring--Cruel execution of prisoners on both sides--Quiryn Dirkzoon + and his family put to death in the city--Fleets upon the lake-- + Defeat of the patriot armada--Dreadful suffering and starvation in + the city--Parley with the besiegers--Despair of the city--Appeal to + Orange--Expedition under Batenburg to relieve the city--His defeat + and death--Desperate condition of Harlem--Its surrender at + discretion--Sanguinary executions--General massacre--Expense of the + victory in blood and money--Joy of Philip at the news. + +While thus Brabant and Flanders were scourged back to the chains which +they had so recently broken, the affairs of the Prince of Orange were not +improving in Zealand. Never was a twelvemonth so marked by contradictory +fortune, never were the promises of a spring followed by such blight and +disappointment in autumn than in the memorable year 1572. On the island +of Walcheren, Middelburg and Arnemuyde still held for the King--Campveer +and Flushing for the Prince of Orange. On the island of South Bevelaad, +the city of Goes or Tergoes was still stoutly defended by a small +garrison of Spanish troops. As long as the place held out, the city of +Middelburg could be maintained. Should that important city fall, the +Spaniards would lose all hold upon Walcheren and the province of Zealand. + +Jerome de 't Zeraerts, a brave, faithful, but singularly unlucky officer, +commanded for the Prince in Walcheren. He had attempted by various +hastily planned expeditions to give employment to his turbulent soldiery, +but fortune had refused to smile upon his efforts. He had laid siege to +Middelburg and failed. He had attempted Tergoes and had been compelled +ingloriously to retreat. The citizens of Flushing, on his return, had +shut the gates of the town in his face, and far several days refused to +admit him or his troops. To retrieve this disgrace, which had sprung +rather from the insubordination of his followers and the dislike which +they bore his person than from any want of courage or conduct on his +part, he now assembled a force of seven thousand men, marched again to +Tergoes, and upon the 26th of August laid siege to the place in forma. +The garrison was very insufficient, and although they conducted +themselves with great bravery, it was soon evident that unless reinforced +they must yield. With their overthrow it was obvious that the Spaniards +would lose the important maritime province of Zealand, and the Duke +accordingly ordered D'Avila, who commanded in Antwerp, to throw succor +into Tergoes without delay. Attempts were made, by sea and by land, to +this effect, but were all unsuccessful. The Zealanders commanded the +waters with their fleet,--and were too much at home among those gulfs and +shallows not to be more than a match for their enemies. Baffled in their +attempt to relieve the town by water or by land, the Spaniards conceived +an amphibious scheme. Their plan led to one of the most brilliant feats +of arms which distinguishes the history of this war. + +The Scheld, flowing past the city of Antwerp and separating the provinces +of Flanders and Brabant, opens wide its two arms in nearly opposite +directions, before it joins the sea. Between these two arms lie the isles +of Zealand, half floating upon, half submerged by the waves. The town of +Tergoes was the chief city of South Beveland, the most important part of +this archipelago, but South Beveland had not always been an island. Fifty +years before, a tempest, one of the most violent recorded in the stormy +annals of that exposed country, had overthrown all barriers, the waters +of the German Ocean, lashed by a succession of north winds, having been +driven upon the low coast of Zealand more rapidly than they could be +carried off through the narrow straits of Dover. The dykes of the island +had burst, the ocean had swept over the land, hundreds of villages had +been overwhelmed, and a tract of country torn from the province and +buried for ever beneath the sea. This "Drowned Land," as it is called, +now separated the island from the main. At low tide it was, however, +possible for experienced pilots to ford the estuary, which had usurped +the place of the land. The average depth was between four and five feet +at low water, while the tide rose and fell at least ten feet; the bottom +was muddy and treacherous, and it was moreover traversed by three living +streams or channels; always much too deep to be fordable. + +Captain Plomaert, a Fleming of great experience and bravery, warmly +attached to the King's cause, conceived the plan of sending +reinforcements across this drowned district to the city of Tergoes. +Accompanied by two peasants of the country, well acquainted with the +track, he twice accomplished the dangerous and difficult passage; which, +from dry land to dry land, was nearly ten English miles in length. Having +thus satisfied himself as to the possibility of the enterprise, he laid +his plan before the Spanish colonel, Mondragon. That courageous veteran +eagerly embraced the proposal, examined the ground, and after +consultation with Sancho Avila, resolved in person to lead an expedition +along the path suggested by Plomaert. Three thousand picked men, a +thousand from each nation,--Spaniards, Walloons, and Germans, were +speedily and secretly assembled at Bergen op Zoom, from the neighbourhood +of which city, at a place called Aggier, it was necessary that the +expedition should set forth. A quantity of sacks were provided, in which +a supply of, biscuit and of powder was placed, one to be carried by each +soldier upon his head. Although it was already late in the autumn, the +weather was propitious; the troops, not yet informed: as to the secret +enterprise for which they had been selected, were all ready assembled at +the edge of the water, and Mondragon, who, notwithstanding his age, had +resolved upon heading the hazardous expedition, now briefly, on the +evening of the 20th October, explained to them the nature of the service. +His statement of the dangers which they were about to encounter, rather +inflamed than diminished their ardor. Their enthusiasm became unbounded, +as he described the importance of the city which they were about to save, +and alluded to the glory which would be won by those who thus +courageously came forward to its rescue. The time of about half ebb-tide +having arrived, the veteran,--preceded only by the guides and Plomaert, +plunged gaily into the waves, followed by his army, almost in single +file. The water was never lowed khan the breast, often higher than the +shoulder. The distance to the island, three and a half leagues at least, +was to be accomplished within at most, six hours, or the rising tide +would overwhelm them for ever. And thus, across the quaking and uncertain +slime, which often refused them a footing, that adventurous band, five +hours long, pursued their midnight march, sometimes swimming for their +lives, and always struggling with the waves which every instant +threatened to engulph them. + +Before the tide had risen to more than half-flood, before the day had +dawned, the army set foot on dry land again, at the village of Irseken. +Of the whole three thousand, only nine unlucky individuals had been +drowned; so much had courage and discipline availed in that dark and +perilous passage through the very bottom of the sea. The Duke of Alva +might well pronounce it one of the most brilliant and original +achievements in the annals of war. The beacon fires were immediately +lighted upon the shore; as agreed upon, to inform Sancho d'Avila, who was +anxiously awaiting the result at Bergen op Zoom, of the safe arrival of +the troops. A brief repose was then allowed. At the approach of daylight, +they set forth from Irseken, which lay about four leagues from Tergoes. +The news that a Spanish army had thus arisen from the depths of the sea, +flew before them as they marched. The besieging force commanded the water +with their fleet, the land with their army; yet had these indomitable +Spaniards found a path which was neither land nor water, and had thus +stolen upon them in the silence of night. A panic preceded them as they +fell upon a foe much superior in number to their own force. It was +impossible for 't Zeraerts to induce his soldiers to offer resistance. +The patriot army fled precipitately and ignominiously to their ships, +hotly pursued by the Spaniards, who overtook and destroyed the whole of +their rearguard before they could embark. This done, the gallant little +garrison which had so successfully held the city, was reinforced with the +courageous veterans who had come to their relief his audacious project +thus brilliantly accomplished, the "good old Mondragon," as his soldiers +called him, returned to the province of Brabant. + +After the capture of Mons and the sack of Mechlin, the Duke of Alva had +taken his way to Nimwegen, having despatched his son, Don Frederic, to +reduce the northern and eastern country, which was only too ready to +submit to the conqueror. Very little resistance was made by any of the +cities which had so recently, and--with such enthusiasm, embraced the +cause of Orange. Zutphen attempted a feeble opposition to the entrance of +the King's troops, and received a dreadful chastisement in consequence. +Alva sent orders to his son to leave not a single man alive in the city, +and to burn every house to the ground. The Duke's command was almost +literally obeyed. Don Frederic entered Zutphen, and without a moment's +warning put the whole garrison to the sword. The citizens next fell a +defenceless, prey; some being, stabbed in the streets, some hanged on the +trees which decorated the city, some stripped stark naked; and turned out +into the fields to freeze to death in the wintry night. As the work of +death became too fatiguing for the butchers, five hundred innocent +burghers were tied two and two, back to back, and drowned like dogs in +the river Yssel. A few stragglers who had contrived to elude pursuit at +first, were afterwards taken from their hiding places and hung upon the +gallows by the feet, some of which victims suffered four days and nights +of agony before death came to their relief. It is superfluous to add that +the outrages upon women were no less universal in Zutphen than they had +been in every city captured or occupied by the Spanish troops. These +horrors continued till scarcely chastity or life remained, throughout the +miserable city. + +This attack and massacre had been so suddenly executed, that assistance +would hardly have been possible, even had there been disposition to +render it. There was; however, no such disposition. The whole country was +already cowering again, except the provinces of Holland and Zealand. No +one dared approach, even to learn what had occurred within the walls of +the town, for days after its doom had been accomplished. "A wail of agony +was heard above Zutphen last Sunday," wrote Count Nieuwenar, "a sound as +of a mighty massacre, but we know not what has taken place." + +Count Van, den Bergh, another brother-in-law of Orange, proved himself +signally unworthy of the illustrious race to which he was allied. He had, +in the earlier part of the year, received the homage of the cities of +Gelderland and Overyssel, on behalf of the patriot Prince. He now basely +abandoned the field where he had endeavoured to gather laurels while the +sun of success had been shining. Having written from Kampen, whither he +had retired, that he meant to hold the city to the last gasp, he +immediately afterwards fled secretly and precipitately from the country. +In his flight he was plundered by his own people, while his wife, Mary of +Nassau, then far advanced in pregnancy, was left behind, disguised as a +peasant girl, in an obscure village. + +With the flight of Van den Bergh, all the cities which, under his +guidance, had raised the standard of Orange, deserted the cause at once. +Friesland too, where Robles obtained a victory over six thousand +patriots, again submitted to the yoke. But if the ancient heart of the +free Frisians was beating thus feebly, there was still spirit left among +their brethren on the other side of the Zuyder Zee. It was not while +William of Orange was within her borders, nor while her sister provinces +had proved recreant to him, that Holland would follow their base example. +No rebellion being left, except in the north-western extremities of the +Netherlands, Don Frederic was ordered to proceed from Zutphen to +Amsterdam, thence to undertake the conquest of Holland. The little city +of Naarden, on the coast of the Zuyder Zee, lay in his path, and had not +yet formally submitted. On the 22nd of November a company of one hundred +troopers was sent to the city gates to demand its surrender. The small +garrison which had been left by the Prince was not disposed to resist, +but the spirit of the burghers was stouter than, their walls. They +answered the summons by a declaration that they had thus far held the +city for the King and the Prince of Orange, and, with God's help, would +continue so to do. As the horsemen departed with this reply, a lunatic, +called Adrian Krankhoeft, mounted the ramparts and, discharged a +culverine among them. No man was injured, but the words of defiance, and +the shot fired by a madman's hand, were destined to be fearfully +answered. + +Meanwhile, the inhabitants of the place, which was at best far from +strong, and ill provided with arms, ammunition, or soldiers, despatched +importunate messages to Sonoy, and to ether patriot generals nearest to +them, soliciting reinforcements. Their messengers came back almost empty +handed. They brought a little powder and a great many promises, but not a +single man-at-arms, not a ducat, not a piece of artillery. The most +influential commanders, moreover, advised an honorable capitulation, if +it were still possible. + +Thus baffled, the burghers of the little city found their proud position +quite untenable. They accordingly, on the 1st of December, despatched the +burgomaster and a senator to Amersfoort, to make terms, if possible, with +Don Frederic. When these envoys reached the place, they were refused +admission to the general's presence. The army had already been ordered to +move forward to Naarden, and they were directed to accompany the advance +guard, and to expect their reply at the gates of their own city. This +command was sufficiently ominous. The impression which it made upon them +was confirmed by the warning voices of their friends in Amersfoort, who +entreated them not to return to Naarden. The advice was not lost upon one +of the two envoys. After they had advanced a little distance on their +journey, the burgomaster Laurentszoon slid privately out of the sledge in +which they were travelling, leaving his cloak behind him. "Adieu; I think +I will not venture back to Naarden at present," said he, calmly, as he +abandoned his companion to his fate. The other, who could not so easily +desert his children, his wife, and his fellow-citizens, in the hour of +danger, went forward as calmly to share in their impending doom. + +The army reached Bussem, half a league distant from Naarden, in the +evening. Here Don Frederic established his head quarters, and proceeded +to invest the city. Senator Gerrit was then directed to return to Naarden +and to bring out a more numerous deputation on the following morning, +duly empowered to surrender the place. The envoy accordingly returned +next day, accompanied by Lambert Hortensius, rector of a Latin academy, +together with four other citizens. Before this deputation had reached +Bussem, they were met by Julian Romero, who informed them that he was +commissioned to treat with them on the part of Don Frederic. He demanded +the keys of the city, and gave the deputation a solemn pledge that the +lives and property of all the inhabitants should be sacredly respected. +To attest this assurance Don Julian gave his hand three several times to +Lambert Hortensius. A soldier's word thus plighted, the commissioners, +without exchanging any written documents, surrendered the keys, and +immediately afterwards accompanied Romero into the city, who was soon +followed by five or six hundred musketeers. + +To give these guests a hospitable reception, all the housewives of the +city at once set about preparations for a sumptuous feast, to which the +Spaniards did ample justice, while the colonel and his officers were +entertained by Senator Gerrit at his own house. As soon as this +conviviality had come to an end, Romero, accompanied by his host, walked +into the square. The great bell had been meantime ringing, and the +citizens had been summoned to assemble in the Gast Huis Church, then used +as a town hall. In the course of a few minutes five hundred had entered +the building, and stood quietly awaiting whatever measures might be +offered for their deliberation. Suddenly a priest, who had been pacing to +and fro before the church door, entered the building, and bade them all +prepare for death; but the announcement, the preparation, and the death, +were simultaneous. The door was flung open, and a band of armed Spaniards +rushed across the sacred threshold. They fired a single volley upon the +defenceless herd, and then sprang in upon them with sword and dagger. A +yell of despair arose as the miserable victims saw how hopelessly they +were engaged, and beheld the ferocious faces of their butchers. The +carnage within that narrow apace was compact and rapid. Within a few +minutes all were despatched, and among them Senator Gerrit, from whose +table the Spanish commander had but just risen. The church was then set +on fire, and the dead and dying were consumed to ashes together. + +Inflamed but not satiated, the Spaniards then rushed into the streets, +thirsty for fresh horrors. The houses were all rifled of their contents, +and men were forced to carry the booty to the camp, who were then struck +dead as their reward. The town was then fired in every direction, that +the skulking citizens might be forced from their hiding-places. As fast +as they came forth they were put to death by their impatient foes. Some +were pierced with rapiers, some were chopped to pieces with axes, some +were surrounded in the blazing streets by troops of laughing soldiers, +intoxicated, not with wine but with blood, who tossed them to and fro +with their lances, and derived a wild amusement from their dying agonies. +Those who attempted resistance were crimped alive like fishes, and left +to gasp themselves to death in lingering torture. The soldiers becoming +more and more insane, as the foul work went on, opened the veins of some +of their victims, and drank their blood as if it were wine. Some of the +burghers were for a time spared, that they might witness the violation of +their wives and daughters, and were then butchered in company with these +still more unfortunate victims. Miracles of brutality were accomplished. +Neither church nor hearth was sacred: Men were slain, women outraged at +the altars, in the streets, in their blazing homes. The life of Lambert +Hortensius was spared, out of regard to his learning and genius, but he +hardly could thank his foes for the boon, for they struck his only son +dead, and tore his heart out before his father's eyes. Hardly any man or +woman survived, except by accident. A body of some hundred burghers made +their escape across the snow into the open country. They were, however, +overtaken, stripped stark naked, and hung upon the trees by the feet, to +freeze, or to perish by a more lingering death. Most of them soon died, +but twenty, who happened to be wealthy, succeeded, after enduring much +torture, in purchasing their lives of their inhuman persecutors. The +principal burgomaster, Heinrich Lambertszoon, was less fortunate. Known +to be affluent, he was tortured by exposing the soles of his feet to a +fire until they were almost consumed. On promise that his life should be +spared, he then agreed to pay a heavy ransom; but hardly had he furnished +the stipulated sum when, by express order of Don Frederic himself, he was +hanged in his own doorway, and his dissevered limbs afterwards nailed to +the gates of the city. + +Nearly all the inhabitants of Naarden, soldiers and citizens, were thus +destroyed; and now Don Frederic issued peremptory orders that no one, on +pain of death, should give lodging or food to any fugitive. He likewise +forbade to the dead all that could now be forbidden them--a grave. Three +weeks long did these unburied bodies pollute the streets, nor could the +few wretched women who still cowered within such houses as had escaped +the flames ever wave from their lurking-places without treading upon the +festering remains of what had been their husbands, their fathers, or +their brethren. Such was the express command of him whom the flatterers +called the "most divine genius ever known." Shortly afterwards came an +order to dismantle the fortifications, which had certainly proved +sufficiently feeble in the hour of need, and to raze what was left of the +city from the surface of the earth. The work was faithfully accomplished, +and for a longtime Naarden ceased to exist. + +Alva wrote, with his usual complacency in such cases, to his sovereign, +that "they had cut the throats of the burghers and all the garrison, and +that they had not left a mother's son alive." The statement was almost +literally correct, nor was the cant with which these bloodhounds +commented upon their crimes less odious than their guilt. "It was a +permission of God," said the Duke, "that these people should have +undertaken to defend a city, which was so weak that no other persons +would have attempted such a thing." Nor was the reflection of Mendoza +less pious. "The sack of Naarden," said that really brave and +accomplished cavalier, "was a chastisement which must be believed to have +taken place by express permission of a Divine Providence; a punishment +for having been the first of the Holland towns in which heresy built its +nest, whence it has taken flight to all the neighboring cities." + +It is not without reluctance, but still with a stern determination, that +the historian--should faithfully record these transactions. To extenuate +would be base; to exaggerate impossible. It is good that the world should +not forget how much wrong has been endured by a single harmless nation at +the hands of despotism, and in the sacred name of God. There have been +tongues and pens enough to narrate the excesses of the people, bursting +from time to time out of slavery into madness. It is good, too, that +those crimes should be remembered, and freshly pondered; but it is +equally wholesome to study the opposite picture. Tyranny, ever young and +ever old, constantly reproducing herself with the same stony features, +with the same imposing mask which she has worn through all the ages, can +never be too minutely examined, especially when she paints her own +portrait, and when the secret history of her guilt is furnished by the +confessions of her lovers. The perusal of her traits will not make us +love popular liberty the less. + +The history of Alva's administration in the Netherlands is one of those +pictures which strike us almost dumb with wonder. Why has the Almighty +suffered such crimes to be perpetrated in His sacred name? Was it +necessary that many generations should wade through this blood in order +to acquire for their descendants the blessings of civil and religious +freedom? Was it necessary that an Alva should ravage a peaceful nation +with sword and flame--that desolation should be spread over a happy land, +in order that the pure and heroic character of a William of Orange should +stand forth more conspicuously, like an antique statue of spotless marble +against a stormy sky? + +After the army which the Prince had so unsuccessfully led to the relief +of Mons had been disbanded, he had himself repaired to Holland. He had +come to Kampen shortly before its defection from his cause. Thence he had +been escorted across the Zuyder Zee to Eukhuyzen. He came to that +province, the only one which through good and ill report remained +entirely faithful to him, not as a conqueror but as an unsuccessful, +proscribed man. But there were warm hearts beating within those cold +lagunes, and no conqueror returning from a brilliant series of victories +could have been received with more affectionate respect than William in +that darkest hour of the country's history. He had but seventy horsemen +at his back, all which remained of the twenty thousand troops which he +had a second time levied in Germany, and he felt that it would be at that +period hopeless for him to attempt the formation of a third army. He had +now come thither to share the fate of Holland, at least, if he could not +accomplish her liberation. He went from city to city, advising with the +magistracies and with the inhabitants, and arranging many matters +pertaining both to peace and war. At Harlem the States of the Provinces, +according to his request, had been assembled. The assembly begged him to +lay before them, if it were possible, any schemes and means which he +might have devised for further resistance to the Duke of Alva. Thus +solicited, the Prince, in a very secret session, unfolded his plans, and +satisfied them as to the future prospects of the cause. His speech has +nowhere been preserved. His strict injunctions as to secrecy, doubtless, +prevented or effaced any record of the session. It is probable, however, +that he entered more fully into the state of his negotiations with +England, and into the possibility of a resumption by Count Louis of his +private intercourse with the French court, than it was safe, publicly, to +divulge. + +While the Prince had been thus occupied in preparing the stout-hearted +province for the last death-struggle with its foe, that mortal combat was +already fast approaching; for the aspect of the contest in the +Netherlands was not that of ordinary warfare. It was an encounter between +two principles, in their nature so hostile to each other that the +absolute destruction of one was the only, possible issue. As the fight +went on, each individual combatant seemed inspired by direct personal +malignity, and men found a pleasure in deeds of cruelty, from which +generations not educated to slaughter recoil with horror. To murder +defenceless prisoners; to drink, not metaphorically but literally, the +heart's blood of an enemy; to exercise a devilish ingenuity in inventions +of mutual torture, became not only a duty but a rapture. The Liberty of +the Netherlands had now been hunted to its lair. It had taken its last +refuge among the sands and thickets where its savage infancy had been +nurtured, and had now prepared itself to crush its tormentor in a last +embrace, or to die in the struggle. + +After the conclusion of the sack and massacre of Naarden, Don Frederic +had hastened to Amsterdam, where the Duke was then quartered, that he +might receive the paternal benediction for his well-accomplished work. +The royal approbation was soon afterwards added to the applause of his +parent, and the Duke was warmly congratulated in a letter written by +Philip as soon as the murderous deed was known, that Don Frederic had so +plainly shown himself to be his father's son. There was now more work for +father and son. Amsterdam was the only point in Holland which held for +Alva, and from that point it was determined to recover the whole +province. The Prince of Orange was established in the southern district; +Diedrich Sonoy, his lieutenant, was stationed in North Holland. The +important city of Harlem lay between the two, at a spot where the whole +breadth of the territory, from sea to sea, was less than an hour's walk. +With the fall of that city the province would be cut in twain, the +rebellious forces utterly dissevered, and all further resistance, it was +thought, rendered impossible. + +The inhabitants of Harlem felt their danger. Bossu, Alva's stadholder for +Holland, had formally announced the system hitherto pursued at Mechlin, +Zutphen, and Naarden, as the deliberate policy of the government. The +King's representative had formally proclaimed the extermination of man, +woman; and child in every city which opposed his authority, but the +promulgation and practice of such a system had an opposite effect to the +one intended. "The hearts of the Hollanders were rather steeled to +resistance than awed into submission by the fate of Naarden." A fortunate +event, too, was accepted as a lucky omen for the coming contest. A little +fleet of armed vessels, belonging to Holland, had been frozen up in the +neighbourhood of Amsterdam. Don Frederic on his arrival from Naarden, +despatched a body of picked men over the ice to attack the imprisoned +vessels. The crews had, however, fortified themselves by digging a wide +trench around the whole fleet, which thus became from the moment an +almost impregnable fortress. Out of this frozen citadel a strong band of +well-armed and skilful musketeers sallied forth upon skates as the +besieging force advanced. A rapid, brilliant, and slippery skirmish +succeeded, in which the Hollanders, so accustomed to such sports, easily +vanquished their antagonists, and drove them off the field, with the loss +of several hundred left dead upon the ice. + +"'T was a thing never heard of before to-day," said Alva, "to see a body +of arquebusiers thus skirmishing upon a frozen sea." In the course of the +next four-and-twenty hours a flood and a rapid thaw released the vessels, +which all escaped to Enkhuyzen, while a frost, immediately and strangely +succeeding, made pursuit impossible. + +The Spaniards were astonished at these novel manoeuvres upon the ice. It +is amusing to read their elaborate descriptions of the wonderful +appendages which had enabled the Hollanders to glide so glibly into +battle with a superior force, and so rapidly to glance away, after +achieving a signal triumph. Nevertheless, the Spaniards could never be +dismayed, and were always apt scholars, even if an enemy were the +teacher. Alva immediately ordered seven thousand pairs of skates, and his +soldiers soon learned to perform military evolutions with these new +accoutrements as audaciously, if not as adroitly, as the Hollanders. + +A portion of the Harlem magistracy, notwithstanding the spirit which +pervaded the province, began to tremble as danger approached. They were +base enough to enter into secret negotiations with Alva, and to send +three of their own number to treat with the Duke at Amsterdam. One was +wise enough to remain with the enemy. The other two were arrested on +their return, and condemned, after an impartial trial, to death. For, +while these emissaries of a cowardly magistracy were absent, the stout +commandant of the little garrison, Ripperda, had assembled the citizens +and soldiers in the market-place. He warned them of the absolute +necessity to make a last effort for freedom. In startling colors he held +up to them the fate of Mechlin, of Zutphen, of Naarden, as a prophetic +mirror, in which they might read their own fate should they be base +enough to surrender the city. There was no composition possible, he +urged, with foes who were as false as they were sanguinary, and whose +foul passions were stimulated, not slaked, by the horrors with which they +had already feasted themselves. + +Ripperda addressed men who could sympathize with his bold and lofty +sentiments. Soldiers and citizens cried out for defence instead of +surrender, as with one voice, for there were no abject spirits at Harlem, +save among the magistracy; and Saint Aldegonde, the faithful minister of +Orange, was soon sent to Harlem by the Prince to make a thorough change +in that body. + +Harlem, over whose ruins the Spanish tyranny intended to make its +entrance into Holland, lay in the narrowest part of that narrow isthmus +which separates the Zuyder Zee from the German Ocean. The distance from +sea to sea is hardly five English miles across. Westerly from the city +extended a slender strip of land, once a morass, then a fruitful meadow; +maintained by unflagging fortitude in the very jaws of a stormy ocean. +Between the North Sea and the outer edge of this pasture surged those +wild and fantastic downs, heaped up by wind and wave in mimicry of +mountains; the long coils of that rope of sand, by which, plaited into +additional strength by the slenderest of bulrushes, the waves of the +North Sea were made to obey the command of man. On the opposite, or +eastern aide, Harlem looked towards Amsterdam. That already flourishing +city was distant but ten miles. The two cities were separated by an +expanse of inland water, and united by a slender causeway. The Harlem +Lake, formed less than a century before by the bursting of four lesser, +meres during a storm which had threatened to swallow the whole Peninsula, +extended itself on the south and east; a sea of limited dimensions, being +only fifteen feet in depth with seventy square miles of surface, but, +exposed as it lay to all the winds of heaven, often lashed into storms as +dangerous as those of the Atlantic. Beyond the lake, towards the north, +the waters of the Y nearly swept across the Peninsula. This inlet of the +Zuyder Zee was only separated from the Harlem mere by a slender thread of +land. Over this ran the causeway between the two sister cities, now so +unfortunately in arms against each other. Midway between the two, the +dyke was pierced and closed again with a system of sluice-works, which +when opened admitted the waters of the lake into those of the estuary, +and caused an inundation of the surrounding country. + +The city was one of the largest and most beautiful in the Netherlands. It +was also one of the weakest.--The walls were of antique construction, +turreted, but not strong. The extent and feebleness of the defences made +a large garrison necessary, but unfortunately, the garrison was even +weaker than the walls. The city's main reliance was on the stout hearts +of the inhabitants. The streets were, for that day, spacious and regular; +the canals planted with limes and poplars. The ancient church of Saint +Bavon, a large imposing structure of brick, stood almost in the centre of +the place, the most prominent object, not only of the town but of the +province, visible over leagues of sea and of land more level than the +sea, and seeming to gather the whole quiet little city under its sacred +and protective wings. Its tall open-work leaden spire was surmounted by a +colossal crown, which an exalted imagination might have regarded as the +emblematic guerdon of martyrdom held aloft over the city, to reward its +heroism and its agony. + +It was at once obvious that the watery expanse between Harlem and +Amsterdam would be the principal theatre of the operations about to +commence. The siege was soon begun. The fugitive burgomaster, De Fries, +had the effrontery, with the advice of Alva, to address a letter to the +citizens, urging them to surrender at discretion. The messenger was +hanged--a cruel but practical answer, which put an end to all further +traitorous communications. This was in the first week of December. On the +10th, Don Frederic, sent a strong detachment to capture the fort and +village of Sparendam, as an indispensable preliminary to the commencement +of the siege. A peasant having shown Zapata, the commander of the +expedition, a secret passage across the flooded and frozen meadows, the +Spaniards stormed the place gallantly, routed the whole garrison, killed +three hundred, and took possession of the works and village. Next day, +Don Frederic appeared before the walls of Harlem, and proceeded regularly +to invest the place. The misty weather favored his operations, nor did he +cease reinforcing himself; until at least thirty thousand men, including +fifteen hundred cavalry, had been encamped around the city. The Germans, +under Count Overstein, were stationed in a beautiful and extensive grove +of limes and beeches, which spread between the southern walls and the +shore of Harlem Lake. Don Frederic, with his Spaniards, took up a +position on the opposite side, at a place called the House of Kleef, the +ruins of which still remain. The Walloons, and other regiments were +distributed in different places, so as completely to encircle the town. + + [Pierre Sterlinckx: Eene come Waerachtige Beschryvinghe van alle + Geschiedinissen, Anschlagen, Stormen, Schermutsingen oude Schieten + voor de vroome Stadt Haerlem in Holland gheschicht, etc., etc.-- + Delft, 1574.--This is by far the best contemporary account of the + famous siege. The author was a citizen of Antwerp, who kept a daily + journal of the events as they occurred at Harlem. It is a dry, curt + register of horrors, jotted down without passion or comment.-- + Compare Bor, vi. 422, 423; Meteren, iv. 79; Mendoza, viii. 174, + 175; Wagenaer, vad. Hist., vi. 413, 414.] + +On the edge of the mere the Prince of Orange had already ordered a +cluster of forts to be erected, by which the command of its frozen +surface was at first secured for Harlem. In the course of the siege, +however, other forts were erected by Don Frederic, so that the aspect of +things suffered a change. + +Against this immense force, nearly equal in number to that of the whole +population of the city, the garrison within the walls never amounted to +more than four thousand men. In the beginning it was much less numerous. +The same circumstances, however, which assisted the initiatory operations +of Don Frederic, were of advantage to the Harlemers. A dense frozen fog +hung continually over the surface of the lake. Covered by this curtain, +large supplies of men, provisions, and ammunition were daily introduced +into the city, notwithstanding all the efforts of the besieging force. +Sledges skimming over the ice, men, women, and even children, moving on +their skates as swiftly as the wind, all brought their contributions in +the course of the short dark days and long nights of December, in which +the wintry siege was opened. + +The garrison at last numbered about one thousand pioneers or delvers, +three thousand fighting men, and about three hundred fighting women. The +last was a most efficient corps, all females of respectable character, +armed with sword, musket, and dagger. Their chief, Kenau Hasselaer, was a +widow of distinguished family and unblemished reputation, about +forty-seven years of age, who, at the head of her amazons, participated +in many of the most fiercely contested actions of the siege, both within +and without the walls. When such a spirit animated the maids and matrons +of the city, it might be expected that the men would hardly surrender the +place without a struggle. The Prince had assembled a force of three or +four thousand men at Leyden, which he sent before the middle of December +towards the city under the command of De la Marck. These troops were, +however, attacked on the way by a strong detachment under Bossu, +Noircarmes, and Romero. After a sharp, action in a heavy snow-storm, De +la Marek was completely routed. One thousand of his soldiers were cut to +pieces, and a large number carried off as prisoners to the gibbets, which +were already conspicuously erected in the Spanish camp, and which from +the commencement to the close of the siege were never bare of victims. +Among the captives was a gallant officer, Baptist van Trier, for whom De +la Marck in vain offered two thousand crowns and nineteen Spanish +prisoners. The proposition was refused with contempt. Van Trier was +hanged upon the gallows by one leg until he was dead, in return for which +barbarity the nineteen Spaniards were immediately gibbeted by De la +Marck. With this interchange of cruelties the siege may be said to have +opened. + +Don Frederic had stationed himself in a position opposite to the gate of +the Cross, which was not very strong, but fortified by a ravelin. +Intending to make a very short siege of it, he established his batteries +immediately, and on the 18th, 19th, and 20th December directed a furious +cannonade against the Cross-gate, the St. John's-gate, and the curtain +between the two. Six hundred and eighty shots were discharged on the +first, and nearly as many on each of the two succeeding days. The walls +were much shattered, but men, women, and children worked night and day +within the city, repairing the breaches as fast as made. They brought +bags of sand; blocks of stone, cart-loads of earth from every quarter, +and they stripped the churches of all their statues, which they threw by +heaps into the gaps. If They sought thus a more practical advantage from +those sculptured saints than they could have gained by only imploring +their interposition. The fact, however, excited horror among the +besiegers. Men who were daily butchering their fellow-beings, and hanging +their prisoners in cold blood, affected to shudder at the enormity of the +offence thus exercised against graven images. + +After three days' cannonade, the assault was ordered, Don Frederic only +intending a rapid massacre, to crown his achievements at--Zutphen and +Naarden. The place, he thought, would fall in a week, and after another +week of sacking, killing, and ravishing, he might sweep on to "pastures +new" until Holland was overwhelmed. Romero advanced to the breach, +followed by a numerous storming party, but met with a resistance which +astonished the Spaniards. The church bells rang the alarm throughout the +city, and the whole population swarmed to the walls. The besiegers were +encountered not only with sword and musket, but with every implement +which the burghers' hands could find. Heavy stones, boiling oil, live +coals, were hurled upon the heads of the soldiers; hoops, smeared with +pitch and set on fire, were dexterously thrown upon their necks. Even +Spanish courage and Spanish ferocity were obliged to shrink before the +steady determination of a whole population animated by a single spirit. +Romero lost an eye in the conflict, many officers were killed and +wounded, and three or four hundred soldiers left dead in the breach, +while only three or four of the townsmen lost their lives. The signal of +recal was reluctantly given, and the Spaniards abandoned the assault. Don +Frederic was now aware that Harlem would not fall at his feet at the +first sound of his trumpet. It was obvious that a siege must precede the +massacre. He gave orders therefore that the ravelin should be undermined, +and doubted not that, with a few days' delay, the place would be in his +hands. + +Meantime, the Prince of Orange, from his head-quarters at Sassenheim, on +the southern extremity of the mere, made a fresh effort to throw succor +into the place. Two thousand men, with seven field-pieces, and many +wagon-loads of munitions, were sent forward under Batenburg. This officer +had replaced De la Marck, whom the Prince had at last deprived of his +commission. The reckless and unprincipled freebooter was no longer to +serve a cause which was more sullied by his barbarity than it could be +advanced by his desperate valor. Batenburg's expedition was, however, not +more successful than the one made by his predecessor. The troops, after +reaching the vicinity of the city, lost their way in the thick mists, +which almost perpetually enveloped the scene. Cannons were fired, +fog-bells were rung, and beacon fires were lighted on the ramparts, but +the party was irretrievably lost. The Spaniards fell upon them before +they could find their way to the city. Many were put to the sword, others +made their escape in different directions; a very few succeeded in +entering Harlem. Batenburg brought off a remnant of the forces, but all +the provisions so much needed were lost, and the little army entirely +destroyed. + +De Koning, the second in command, was among the prisoners. The Spaniards +cut off his head and threw it over the walls into the city, with this +inscription: "This is the head of Captain de Koning, who is on his way +with reinforcements for the good city of Harlem." The citizens retorted +with a practical jest, which was still more barbarous. They cut off the +heads of eleven prisoners and put them into a barrel, which they threw +into the Spanish camp. A Label upon the barrel contained these words: +"Deliver these ten heads to Duke Alva in payment of his tenpenny tax, +with one additional head for interest." With such ghastly merriment did +besieged and besiegers vary the monotonous horror of that winter's siege. +As the sallies and skirmishes were of daily occurrence, there was a +constant supply of prisoners, upon whom both parties might exercise their +ingenuity, so that the gallows in camp or city was perpetually garnished. + +Since the assault of the 21st December, Don Frederic had been making his +subterranean attack by regular approaches. As fast, however, as the +Spaniards mined, the citizens countermined. Spaniard and Netherlander met +daily in deadly combat within the bowels of the earth. Desperate and +frequent were the struggles within gangways so narrow that nothing but +daggers could be used, so obscure that the dim lanterns hardly lighted +the death-stroke. They seemed the conflicts, not of men but of evil +spirits. Nor were these hand-to-hand battles all. A shower of heads, +limbs, mutilated trunks, the mangled remains of hundreds of human beings, +often spouted from the earth as if from an invisible volcano. The mines +were sprung with unexampled frequency and determination. Still the +Spaniards toiled on with undiminished zeal, and still the besieged, +undismayed, delved below their works, and checked their advance by sword, +and spear, and horrible explosions. + +The Prince of Orange, meanwhile, encouraged the citizens to persevere, by +frequent promises of assistance. His letters, written on extremely small +bits of paper; were sent into the town by carrier pigeons. On the 28th of +January he despatched a considerable supply of the two necessaries, +powder and bread, on one hundred and seventy sledges across the Harlem +Lake, together with four hundred veteran soldiers. The citizens continued +to contest the approaches to the ravelin before the Cross-gate, but it +had become obvious that they could not hold it long. Secretly, +steadfastly, and swiftly they had, therefore, during the long wintry +nights, been constructing a half moon of solid masonry on the inside of +the same portal. Old men, feeble women, tender children, united with the +able-bodied to accomplish this work, by which they hoped still to +maintain themselves after the ravelin had fallen: + +On the 31st of January, after two or three days' cannonade against the +gates of the Cross and of Saint John, and the intervening curtains, Don +Frederic ordered a midnight assault. The walls had been much shattered, +part of the John's-gate was in ruins; the Spaniards mounted the breach in +great numbers; the city was almost taken by surprise; while the +Commander-in-chief, sure of victory, ordered the whole of his forces +under arms to cut off the population who were to stream panic-struck from +every issue. The attack was unexpected, but the forty or fifty sentinels +defended the walls while they sounded the alarm. The tocsin bells tolled, +and the citizens, whose sleep was not-apt to be heavy during that +perilous winter, soon manned the ramparts again. The daylight came upon +them while the fierce struggle was still at its height. The besieged, as +before, defended themselves with musket and rapier, with melted pitch, +with firebrands, with clubs and stones. Meantime, after morning prayers +in the Spanish camp, the trumpet for a general assault was sounded. A +tremendous onset was made upon the gate of the Cross, and the ravelin was +carried at last. The Spaniards poured into this fort, so long the object +of their attack, expecting instantly to sweep into the city with sword +and fire. As they mounted its wall they became for the first time aware +of the new and stronger fortification which had been secretly constructed +on the inner side. The reason why the ravelin had been at last conceded +was revealed. The half moon, whose existence they had not suspected, rose +before them bristling with cannon. A sharp fire was instantly opened upon +the besiegers, while at the same instant the ravelin, which the citizens +had undermined, blew up with a severe explosion, carrying into the air +all the soldiers who had just entered it so triumphantly. This was the +turning point. The retreat was sounded, and the Spaniards fled to their +camp, leaving at least three hundred dead beneath the walls. Thus was a +second assault, made by an overwhelming force and led by the most +accomplished generals of Spain, signally and gloriously repelled by the +plain burghers of Harlem. + +It became now almost evident that the city could be taken neither by +regular approaches nor by sudden attack. It was therefore resolved that +it should be reduced by famine. Still, as the winter wore on, the immense +army without the walls were as great sufferers by that scourge as the +population within. The soldiers fell in heaps before the diseases +engendered by intense cold and insufficient food, for, as usual in such +sieges, these deaths far outnumbered those inflicted by the enemy's hand. +The sufferings inside the city necessarily increased day by day, the +whole population being put on a strict allowance of food. Their supplies +were daily diminishing, and with the approach of the spring and the +thawing of the ice on the lake, there was danger that they would be +entirely cut off. If the possession of the water were lost, they must +yield or starve; and they doubted whether the Prince would be able to +organize a fleet. The gaunt spectre of Famine already rose before them +with a menace which could not be misunderstood. In their misery they +longed for the assaults of the Spaniards, that they might look in the +face of a less formidable foe. They paraded the ramparts daily, with +drums beating, colors flying, taunting the besiegers to renewed attempts. +To inflame the religious animosity of their antagonists, they attired +themselves in the splendid, gold-embroidered vestments of the priests, +which they took from the churches, and moved about in mock procession, +bearing aloft images bedizened in ecclesiastical finery, relics, and +other symbols, sacred in Catholic eyes, which they afterwards hurled from +the ramparts, or broke, with derisive shouts, into a thousand fragments. + +It was, however, at that season earnestly debated by the enemy whether or +not to raise the siege. Don Frederic was clearly of opinion that enough +had been done for the honor of the Spanish arms. He was wearied with +seeing his men perish helplessly around him, and considered the prize too +paltry for the lives it must cost. His father thought differently. +Perhaps he recalled the siege of Metz, and the unceasing regret with +which, as he believed, his imperial master had remembered the advice +received from him. At any rate the Duke now sent back Don Bernardino de +Mendoza, whom Don Frederic had despatched to Nimwegen, soliciting his +father's permission to raise the siege, with this reply: "Tell Don +Frederic," said Alva, "that if he be not decided to continue the siege +till the town be taken, I shall no longer consider him my son, whatever +my opinion may formerly have been. Should he fall in the siege, I will +myself take the field to maintain it, and when we have both perished, the +Duchess, my wife, shall come from Spain to do the same." + +Such language was unequivocal, and hostilities were resumed as fiercely +as before. The besieged welcomed them with rapture, and, as usual, made +daily the most desperate sallies. In one outbreak the Harlemers, under +cover of a thick fog, marched up to the enemy's chief battery, and +attempted to spike the guns before his face. They were all slain at the +cannon's mouth, whither patriotism, not vainglory, had led them, and lay +dead around the battery, with their hammers and spikes in their hands. +The same spirit was daily manifested. As the spring advanced; the kine +went daily out of the gates to their peaceful pasture, notwithstanding, +all the turmoil within and around; nor was it possible for the Spaniards +to capture a single one of these creatures, without paying at least a +dozen soldiers as its price. "These citizens," wrote Don Frederic, "do as +much as the best soldiers in the world could do." + +The frost broke up by the end of February. Count Bossu, who had been +building a fleet of small vessels in Amsterdam, soon afterwards succeeded +in entering the lake with a few gun-boats, through a breach which he had +made in the Overtoom, about half a league from that city. The possession +of the lake was already imperilled. The Prince, however, had not been +idle, and he, too, was soon ready to send his flotilla to the mere. At +the same time, the city of Amsterdam was in almost as hazardous a +position as Harlem. As the one on the lake, so did the other depend upon +its dyke for its supplies. Should that great artificial road which led to +Muyden and Utrecht be cut asunder, Amsterdam might be starved as soon as +Harlem. "Since I came into the world," wrote Alva, "I have never, been in +such anxiety. If they should succeed in cutting off the communication +along the dykes, we should have to raise the siege of Harlem, to +surrender, hands crossed, or to starve." Orange was fully aware of the +position of both places, but he was, as usual, sadly deficient in men and +means. He wrote imploringly to his friends in England, in France, in +Germany. He urged his brother Louis to bring a few soldiers, if it were +humanly possible. "The whole country longs for you," he wrote to Louis, +"as if you were the archangel Gabriel." + +The Prince, however, did all that it was possible for man, so hampered, +to do. He was himself, while anxiously writing, hoping, and waiting for +supplies of troops from Germany or France, doing his best with such +volunteers as he could raise. He was still established at Sassenheim, on +the south of the city, while Sonoy with his slender forces was encamped +on the north. He now sent that general with as large a party as he could +muster to attack the Diemerdyk. His men entrenched themselves as strongly +as they could between the Diemer and the Y, at the same time opening the +sluices and breaking through the dyke. During the absence of their +commander, who had gone to Edam for reinforcements, they were attacked by +a large force from Amsterdam. A fierce amphibious contest took place, +partly in boats, partly on the slippery causeway, partly in the water, +resembling in character the frequent combats between the ancient +Batavians and Romans during the wars of Civilis. The patriots were +eventually overpowered. + +Sonoy, who was on his way to their rescue, was frustrated in his design +by the unexpected faint-heartedness of the volunteers whom he had +enlisted at Edam. Braving a thousand perils, he advanced, almost +unattended, in his little vessel, but only to witness the overthrow and +expulsion of his band. It was too late for him singly to attempt to rally +the retreating troops. They had fought well, but had been forced to yield +before superior numbers, one individual of the little army having +performed prodigies of valor. John Haring, of Horn, had planted himself +entirely alone upon the dyke, where it was so narrow between the Y on the +one side and the Diemer Lake on the other, that two men could hardly +stand abreast. Here, armed with sword and shield, he had actually opposed +and held in check one thousand of the enemy, during a period long enough +to enable his own men, if they, had been willing, to rally, and +effectively to repel the attack. It was too late, the battle was too far +lost to be restored; but still the brave soldier held the post, till, by +his devotion, he had enabled all those of his compatriots who still +remained in the entrenchments to make good their retreat. He then plunged +into the sea, and, untouched by spear or bullet, effected his escape. Had +he been a Greek or a Roman, an Horatius or a Chabrias, his name would +have been famous in history--his statue erected in the market-place; for +the bold Dutchman on his dyke had manifested as much valor in a sacred +cause as the most classic heroes of antiquity. + +This unsuccessful attempt to cut off the communication between Amsterdam +and the country strengthened the hopes of Alva. Several hundreds of the +patriots were killed or captured, and among the slain was Antony Oliver, +the painter, through whose agency Louis of Nassau had been introduced +into Mons. His head was cut off by two ensigns in Alva's service, who +received the price which had been set upon it of two thousand caroli. It +was then labelled with its owner's name, and thrown into the city of +Harlem. At the same time a new gibbet was erected in the Spanish camp +before the city, in a conspicuous situation, upon which all the prisoners +were hanged, some by the neck, some by the heels, in full view of their +countrymen. As usual, this especial act of cruelty excited the emulation +of the citizens. Two of the old board of magistrates, belonging to the +Spanish party, were still imprisoned at Harlem; together with seven other +persons, among whom was a priest and a boy of twelve years. They were now +condemned to the gallows. The wife of one of the ex-burgomasters and his +daughter, who was a beguin, went by his side as he was led to execution, +piously exhorting him to sustain with courage the execrations of the +populace and his ignominious doom. The rabble, irritated by such +boldness, were not satisfied with wreaking their vengeance on the +principal victims, but after the execution had taken place they hunted +the wife and daughter into the water, where they both perished. It is +right to record these instances of cruelty, sometimes perpetrated by the +patriots as well as by their oppressors--a cruelty rendered almost +inevitable by the incredible barbarity of the foreign invader. It was a +war of wolfish malignity. In the words of Mendoza, every man within and +without Harlem "seemed inspired by a spirit of special and personal +vengeance." The innocent blood poured out in Mechlin, Zutphen, Naarden, +and upon a thousand scaffolds, had been crying too long from the ground. +The Hollanders must have been more or less than men not to be sometimes +betrayed into acts which justice and reason must denounce. [No! It was as +evil for one side as the other. D.W.] + +The singular mood which has been recorded of a high-spirited officer of +the garrison, Captain Corey, illustrated the horror with which such +scenes of carnage were regarded by noble natures. Of a gentle disposition +originally, but inflamed almost to insanity by a contemplation of Spanish +cruelty, he had taken up the profession of arms, to which he had a +natural repugnance. Brave to recklessness, he led his men on every daring +outbreak, on every perilous midnight adventure. Armed only with his +rapier, without defensive armor, he was ever found where the battle raged +most fiercely, and numerous were the victims who fell before his sword. +On returning, however, from such excursions, he invariably shut himself +in his quarters, took to his bed, and lay for days, sick with remorse, +and bitterly lamenting all that bloodshed in which he had so deeply +participated, and which a cruel fate seemed to render necessary. As the +gentle mood subsided, his frenzy would return, and again he would rush to +the field, to seek new havoc and fresh victims for his rage. + +The combats before the walls were of almost daily occurrence. On the 25th +March, one thousand of the besieged made a brilliant sally, drove in all +the outposts of the enemy, burned three hundred tents, and captured seven +cannon, nine standards, and many wagon-loads of provisions, all which +they succeeded in bringing with them into the city.--Having thus +reinforced themselves, in a manner not often practised by the citizens of +a beleaguered town, in the very face of thirty thousand veterans--having +killed eight hundred of the enemy, which was nearly one for every man +engaged, while they lost but four of their own party--the Harlemers, on +their return, erected a trophy of funereal but exulting aspect. A mound +of earth was constructed upon the ramparts, in the form of a colossal +grave, in full view of the enemy's camp, and upon it were planted the +cannon and standards so gallantly won in the skirmish, with the taunting +inscription floating from the centre of the mound "Harlem is the +graveyard of the Spaniards." + +Such were the characteristics of this famous siege during the winter and +early spring. Alva might well write to his sovereign, that "it was a war +such as never before was seen or heard of in any land on earth." Yet the +Duke had known near sixty years of warfare. He informed Philip that +"never was a place defended with such skill and bravery as Harlem, either +by rebels or by men fighting for their lawful Prince." Certainly his son +had discovered his mistake in asserting that the city would yield in a +week; while the father, after nearly six years' experience, had found +this "people of butter" less malleable than even those "iron people" whom +he boasted of having tamed. It was seen that neither the skies of Greece +or Italy, nor the sublime scenery of Switzerland, were necessary to +arouse the spirit of defiance to foreign oppression--a spirit which beat +as proudly among the wintry mists and the level meadows of Holland as it +had ever done under sunnier atmospheres and in more romantic lands. + +Mendoza had accomplished his mission to Spain, and had returned with +supplies of money within six weeks from the date of his departure. Owing +to his representations and Alva's entreaties, Philip had, moreover, +ordered Requesens, governor of Milan, to send forward to the Netherlands +three veteran Spanish regiments, which were now more required at Harlem +than in Italy. While the land force had thus been strengthened, the fleet +upon the lake had also been largely increased. The Prince of Orange had, +on the other hand, provided more than a hundred sail of various +descriptions, so that the whole surface of the mere was now alive with +ships. Seafights and skirmishes took place almost daily, and it was +obvious that the life and death struggle was now to be fought upon the +water. So long as the Hollanders could hold or dispute the possession of +the lake, it was still possible to succor Harlem from time to time. +Should the Spaniards overcome the Prince's fleet, the city must +inevitably starve. + +At last, on the 28th of May, a decisive engagement of the fleets took +place. The vessels grappled with each other, and there was a long, +fierce, hand-to-hand combat. Under Bossu were one hundred vessels; under +Martin Brand, admiral of the patriot fleet, nearly one hundred and fifty, +but of lesser dimensions. Batenburg commanded the troops on board the +Dutch vessels. After a protracted conflict, in which several thousands +were killed, the victory was decided in favor of the Spaniards. +Twenty-two of the Prince's vessels being captured, and the rest totally +routed, Bossu swept across the lake in triumph. The forts belonging to +the patriots were immediately taken, and the Harlemers, with their +friends, entirely excluded from the lake. + +This was the beginning of the end. Despair took possession of the city. +The whole population had been long subsisting upon an allowance of a +pound of bread to each man, and half-a-pound for each woman; but the +bread was now exhausted, the famine had already begun, and with the loss +of the lake starvation was close at their doors. They sent urgent +entreaties to, the Prince to attempt something in their behalf. Three +weeks more they assigned as the longest term during which they could +possibly hold out. He sent them word by carrier pigeons to endure yet a +little time, for he was assembling a force, and would still succeed in +furnishing them with supplies. Meantime, through the month of June the +sufferings of the inhabitants increased hourly. Ordinary food had long +since vanished. The population now subsisted on linseed and rape-seed; as +these supplies were exhausted they devoured cats, dogs, rats, and mice, +and when at last these unclean animals had been all consumed, they boiled +the hides of horses and oxen; they ate shoe-leather; they plucked the +nettles and grass from the graveyards, and the weeds which grew between +the stones of the pavement, that with such food they might still support +life a little longer, till the promised succor should arrive. Men, women, +and children fell dead by scores in the streets, perishing of pure +starvation, and the survivors had hardly the heart or the strength to +bury them out of their sight. They who yet lived seemed to flit like +shadows to and fro, envying those whose sufferings had already been +terminated by death. + +Thus wore away the month of June. On the 1st of July the burghers +consented to a parley. Deputies were sent to confer with the besiegers, +but the negotiations were abruptly terminated, for no terms of compromise +were admitted by Don Frederic. On the 3rd a tremendous cannonade was +re-opened upon the city. One thousand and eight balls were +discharged--the most which had ever been thrown in one day, since the +commencement of the siege. The walls were severely shattered, but the +assault was not ordered, because the besiegers were assured that it was +physically impossible for the inhabitants to hold out many days longer. A +last letter, written in blood, was now despatched to the Prince of +Orange, stating the forlorn condition to which they were reduced. At the +same time, with the derision of despair, they flung into the hostile camp +the few loaves of bread which yet remained within the city walls. A day +or two later, a second and third parley were held, with no more +satisfactory result than had attended the first. A black flag was now +hoisted on the cathedral tower, the signal of despair to friend and foe, +but a pigeon soon afterwards flew into the town with a letter from the +Prince, begging them to maintain themselves two days longer, because +succor was approaching. + +The Prince had indeed been doing all which, under the circumstances, was +possible. He assembled the citizens of Delft in the market-place, and +announced his intention of marching in person to the relief of the city, +in the face of the besieging army, if any troops could be obtained. +Soldiers there were none; but there was the deepest sympathy for Harlem +throughout its sister cities, Delft, Rotterdam, Gouda. A numerous mass of +burghers, many of them persons of station, all people of respectability, +volunteered to march to the rescue. The Prince highly disapproved of this +miscellaneous army, whose steadfastness he could not trust. As a soldier, +he knew that for such a momentous enterprise, enthusiasm could not supply +the place of experience. Nevertheless, as no regular troops could be had, +and as the emergency allowed no delay, he drew up a commission, +appointing Paulus Buys to be governor during his absence, and provisional +stadholder, should he fall in the expedition. Four thousand armed +volunteers, with six hundred mounted troopers, under Carlo de Noot, had +been assembled, and the Prince now placed himself at their head. There +was, however, a universal cry of remonstrance from the magistracies and +burghers of all the towns, and from the troops themselves, at this +project. They would not consent that a life so precious, so indispensable +to the existence of Holland, should be needlessly hazarded. It was +important to succor Harlem, but the Prince was of more value than many +cities. He at last reluctantly consented, therefore, to abandon the +command of the expedition to Baron Batenburg, the less willingly from the +want of confidence which he could not help feeling in the character of +the forces. On the 8th of July, at dusk, the expedition set forth from +Sassenheim. It numbered nearly five thousand men, who had with them four +hundred wagon-loads of provisions and seven field-pieces. Among the +volunteers, Oldenbarneveld; afterwards so illustrious in the history of +the Republic; marched in the ranks, with his musket on his shoulder. Such +was a sample of the spirit which pervaded the population of the province. + +Batenburg came to a halt in the woods of Nordwyk, on the south aide of +the city, where he remained till midnight. All seemed still in the +enemy's camp. After prayers, he gave orders to push forward, hoping to +steal through the lines of his sleeping adversaries and accomplish the +relief by surprise. He was destined to be bitterly disappointed. His +plans and his numbers were thoroughly known to the Spaniards, two doves, +bearing letters which contained the details of the intended expedition, +having been shot and brought into Don Frederic's camp. + +The citizens, it appeared, had broken through the curtain work on the +side where Batenburg was expected, in order that a sally might be made in +co-operation with the relieving force, as soon as it should appear. +Signal fires had been agreed upon, by which the besieged were to be made +aware of the approach of their friends. The Spanish Commander accordingly +ordered a mass of green branches, pitch, and straw, to be lighted +opposite to the gap in the city wall. Behind it he stationed five +thousand picked troops. Five thousand more, with a force of cavalry, were +placed in the neighbourhood of the downs, with orders to attack the +patriot army on the left. Six regiments, under Romero, were ordered to +move eastward, and assail their right. The dense mass of smoke concealed +the beacon lights displayed by Batenburg from the observation of the +townspeople, and hid the five thousand Spaniards from the advancing +Hollanders. As Batenburg emerged from the wood, he found himself attacked +by a force superior to his own, while a few minutes later he was entirely +enveloped by overwhelming numbers. The whole Spanish army was, indeed; +under arms, and had been expecting him for two days. The unfortunate +citizens alone were ignorant of his arrival. The noise of the conflict +they supposed to be a false alarm created by the Spaniards, to draw them +into their camp; and they declined a challenge which they were in no +condition to accept. + +Batenburg was soon slain, and his troops utterly routed. The number +killed was variously estimated at from six hundred to two and even three +thousand. It is, at any rate, certain that the whole force was entirely +destroyed or dispersed, and the attempt to relieve the city completely +frustrated. The death of Batenburg was the less regretted, because he was +accused, probably with great injustice, of having been intoxicated at the +time of action, and therefore incapable of properly, conducting the +enterprise entrusted to him. + +The Spaniards now cut off the nose and ears of a prisoner and sent him +into the city, to announce the news, while a few heads were also thrown +over the walls to confirm the intelligence. When this decisive overthrow +became known in Delft, there was even an outbreak of indignation against +Orange. According to a statement of Alva, which, however, is to be +received with great distrust, some of the populace wished to sack the +Prince's house, and offered him personal indignities. Certainly, if these +demonstrations were made, popular anger was never more senseless; but the +tale rests entirely, upon a vague assertion of the Duke, and is entirely, +at variance with every other contemporaneous account of these +transactions. It had now become absolutely, necessary, however, for the +heroic but wretched town to abandon itself to its fate. It was impossible +to attempt anything more in its behalf. The lake and its forts were in +the hands of the enemy, the best force which could be mustered to make +head against the besieging army had been cut to pieces, and the Prince of +Orange, with a heavy heart, now sent word that the burghers were to make +the best terms they could with the enemy. + +The tidings of despair created a terrible commotion in the starving city. +There was no hope either in submission or resistance. Massacre or +starvation was the only alternative. But if there was no hope within the +walls, without there was still a soldier's death. For a moment the +garrison and the able-bodied citizens resolved to advance from the gates +in a solid column, to cut their way through the enemy's camp, or to +perish on the field. It was thought that the helpless and the infirm, who +would alone be left in the city, might be treated with indulgence after +the fighting men had all been slain. At any rate, by remaining the strong +could neither protect nor comfort them. As soon, however, as this resolve +was known, there was such wailing and outcry of women and children as +pierced the hearts of the soldiers and burghers, and caused them to +forego the project. They felt that it was cowardly not to die in their +presence. It was then determined to form all the females, the sick, the +aged, and the children, into a square, to surround them with all the +able-bodied men who still remained, and thus arrayed to fight their way +forth from the gates, and to conquer by the strength of despair, or at +least to perish all together. + +These desperate projects, which the besieged were thought quite capable +of executing, were soon known in the Spanish camp. Don Frederic felt, +after what he had witnessed in the past seven months, that there was +nothing which the Harlemers could not do or dare. He feared lest they +should set fire to their city, and consume their houses, themselves, and +their children, to ashes together; and he was unwilling that the fruits +of his victory, purchased at such a vast expense, should be snatched from +his hand as he was about to gather them. A letter was accordingly, by his +order, sent to the magistracy and leading citizens, in the name of Count +Overstein, commander of the German forces in the besieging army. This +despatch invited a surrender at discretion, but contained the solemn +assurance that no punishment should be inflicted except upon those who, +in the judgment of the citizens themselves, had deserved it, and promised +ample forgiveness if the town should submit without further delay. At the +moment of sending this letter, Don Frederic was in possession of strict +orders from his father not to leave a man alive of the garrison, +excepting only the Germans, and to execute besides a large number of the +burghers. These commands he dared not disobey,--even if he had felt any +inclination to do so. In consequence of the semi-official letter of +Overstein, however, the city formally surrendered at discretion on the +12th July. + +The great bell was tolled, and orders were issued that all arms in the +possession of the garrison or the inhabitants should be brought to the +town-house. The men were then ordered to assemble in the cloister of Zyl, +the women in the cathedral. On the same day, Don Frederic, accompanied by +Count Bossu and a numerous staff, rode into the city. The scene which met +his view might have moved a heart of stone. Everywhere was evidence of +the misery which had been so bravely endured during that seven months' +siege. The smouldering ruins of houses, which had been set on fire by +balls, the shattered fortifications, the felled trunks of trees, upturned +pavements, broken images and other materials for repairing gaps made by +the daily cannonade, strewn around in all directions, the skeletons of +unclean animals from which the flesh had been gnawed, the unburied bodies +of men and women who had fallen dead in the public thoroughfares--more +than all, the gaunt and emaciated forms of those who still survived, the +ghosts of their former, selves, all might have induced at least a doubt +whether the suffering inflicted already were not a sufficient punishment, +even for crimes so deep as heresy and schism. But this was far from being +the sentiment of Don Frederic. He seemed to read defiance as well as +despair in the sunken eyes which glared upon him as he entered the place, +and he took no thought of the pledge which he had informally but sacredly +given. + +All the officers of the garrison were at once arrested. Some of them had +anticipated the sentence of their conqueror by a voluntary death. Captain +Bordet, a French officer of distinction, like Brutus, compelled his +servant to hold the sword upon which he fell, rather than yield himself +alive to the vengeance of the Spaniards. Traits of generosity were not +wanting. Instead of Peter Hasselaer, a young officer who had displayed +remarkable bravery throughout the siege, the Spaniards by. mistake +arrested his cousin Nicholas. The prisoner was suffering himself to be +led away to the inevitable scaffold without remonstrance, when Peter +Hasselaer pushed his way violently through the ranks of the captors. "If +you want Ensign Hasselaer, I am the man. Let this innocent person +depart," he cried. Before the sun set his head had fallen. All the +officers were taken to the House of Kleef, where they were immediately +executed.--Captain Ripperda, who had so heroically rebuked the craven +conduct of the magistracy, whose eloquence had inflamed the soldiers and +citizens to resistance, and whose skill and courage had sustained the +siege so long, was among the first to suffer. A natural son of Cardinal +Granvelle, who could have easily saved his life by proclaiming a +parentage which he loathed, and Lancelot Brederode, an illegitimate scion +of that ancient house, were also among these earliest victims. + +The next day Alva came over to the camp. He rode about the place, +examining the condition of the fortifications from the outside, but +returned to Amsterdam without having entered the city. On the following +morning the massacre commenced. The plunder had been commuted for two +hundred and forty thousand guilders, which the citizens bound themselves +to pay in four instalments; but murder was an indispensable accompaniment +of victory, and admitted of no compromise. Moreover, Alva had already +expressed the determination to effect a general massacre upon this +occasion. The garrison, during the siege, had been reduced from four +thousand to eighteen hundred. Of these the Germans, six hundred in +number, were, by Alva's order, dismissed, on a pledge to serve no more +against the King. All the rest of the garrison were immediately +butchered, with at least as many citizens. Drummers went about the city +daily, proclaiming that all who harbored persons having, at any former +period, been fugitives, were immediately to give them up, on pain of +being instantly hanged themselves in their own doors. Upon these refugees +and upon the soldiery fell the brunt of the slaughter; although, from day +to day, reasons were perpetually discovered for putting to death every +individual at all distinguished by service, station, wealth, or liberal +principles; for the carnage could not be accomplished at once, but, with +all the industry and heartiness employed, was necessarily protracted +through several days. Five executioners, with their attendants, were kept +constantly at work; and when at last they were exhausted with fatigue, or +perhaps sickened with horror, three hundred wretches were tied two and +two, back to back, and drowned in the Harlem Lake. + +At last, after twenty-three hundred human creatures had been murdered in +cold blood, within a city where so many thousands had previously perished +by violent or by lingering deaths; the blasphemous farce of a pardon was +enacted. Fifty-seven of the most prominent burghers of the place were, +however, excepted from the act of amnesty, and taken into custody as +security for the future good conduct of the other citizens. Of these +hostages some were soon executed, some died in prison, and all would have +been eventually sacrificed, had not the naval defeat of Bossu soon +afterwards enabled the Prince of Orange to rescue the remaining +prisoners. Ten thousand two hundred and fifty-six shots had been +discharged against the walls during the siege. Twelve thousand of the +besieging army had died of wounds or disease, during the seven months and +two days, between the investment and the surrender. In the earlier part +of August, after the executions had been satisfactorily accomplished, Don +Frederic made his triumphal entry, and the first chapter in the invasion +of Holland was closed. Such was the memorable siege of Harlem, an event +in which we are called upon to wonder equally at human capacity to +inflict and to endure misery. + +The Spaniards celebrated a victory, while in Utrecht they made an effigy +of the Prince of Orange, which they carried about in procession, broke +upon the wheel, and burned. It was, however, obvious, that if the +reduction of Harlem were a triumph, it was one which the conquerors might +well exchange for a defeat. At any rate, it was certain that the Spanish +empire was not strong enough to sustain many more such victories. If it +had required thirty thousand choice troops, among which were three +regiments called by Alva respectively, the "Invincibles," the +"Immortals," and the "None-such," to conquer the weakest city of Holland +in seven months, and with the loss of twelve thousand men; how many men, +how long a time, and how many deaths would it require to reduce the rest +of that little province? For, as the sack of Naarden had produced the +contrary effect from the one intended, inflaming rather than subduing the +spirit of Dutch resistance, so the long and glorious defence of Harlem, +notwithstanding its tragical termination, had only served to strain to +the highest pitch the hatred and patriotism of the other cities in the +province. Even the treasures of the New World were inadequate to pay for +the conquest of that little sand-bank. Within five years, twenty-five +millions of florins had been sent from Spain for war expenses in the +Netherlands.--Yet, this amount, with the addition of large sums annually +derived from confiscations, of five millions, at which the proceeds of +the hundredth penny was estimated, and the two millions yearly, for which +the tenth and twentieth pence had been compounded, was insufficient to +save the treasury from beggary and the unpaid troops from mutiny. + +Nevertheless, for the moment the joy created was intense. Philip was +lying dangerously ill at the wood of Segovia, when the happy tidings of +the reduction of Harlem, with its accompanying butchery, arrived. The +account of all this misery, minutely detailed to him by Alva, acted like +magic. The blood of twenty-three hundred of his fellow-creatures--coldly +murdered, by his orders, in a single city--proved for the sanguinary +monarch the elixir of life: he drank and was refreshed. "The principal +medicine which has cured his Majesty," wrote Secretary Cayas from Madrid +to Alva, "is the joy caused to him by the good news which you have +communicated of the surrender of Harlem." In the height of his +exultation, the King forgot how much dissatisfaction he had recently felt +with the progress of events in the Netherlands; how much treasure had +been annually expended with an insufficient result. "Knowing your +necessity," continued Cayas, "his Majesty instantly sent for Doctor +Velasco, and ordered him to provide you with funds, if he had to descend +into the earth to dig for it." While such was the exultation of the +Spaniards, the Prince of Orange was neither dismayed nor despondent. As +usual, he trusted to a higher power than man. "I had hoped to send you +better news," he wrote, to Count Louis, "nevertheless, since it has +otherwise pleased the good God, we must conform ourselves to His divine +will. I take the same God to witness that I have done everything +according to my means, which was possible, to succor the city." A few +days later, writing in the same spirit, he informed his brother that the +Zealanders had succeeded in capturing the castle of Rammekens, on the +isle of Walcheren. "I hope," he said, "that this will reduce the pride of +our enemies, who, after the surrender of Harlem, have thought that they +were about to swallow us alive. I assure myself, however, that they will +find a very different piece of work from the one which they expect." + + ETEXT EDITOR'S BOOKMARKS: + + Enthusiasm could not supply the place of experience + Envying those whose sufferings had already been terminated + Leave not a single man alive in the city, and to burn every house + Not strong enough to sustain many more such victories + Oldenbarneveld; afterwards so illustrious + Sent them word by carrier pigeons + Three hundred fighting women + Tyranny, ever young and ever old, constantly reproducing herself + Wonder equally at human capacity to inflict and to endure misery + + + + +MOTLEY'S HISTORY OF THE NETHERLANDS, PG EDITION, VOLUME 21. + +THE RISE OF THE DUTCH REPUBLIC + +By JOHN LOTHROP MOTLEY +1855 +1573 [CHAPTER IX.] + + Position of Alva--Hatred entertained for him by elevated personages + --Quarrels between him and Medina Coeli--Departure of the latter-- + Complaints to the King by each of the other--Attempts at + conciliation addressed by government to the people of the + Netherlands--Grotesque character of the address--Mutinous + demonstration of the Spanish troops--Secret overtures to Orange-- + Obedience, with difficulty, restored by Alva--Commencement of the + siege of Alkmaar--Sanguinary menaces of the Duke--Encouraging and + enthusiastic language of the Prince--Preparations in Alkmaar for + defence--The first assault steadily repulsed--Refusal of the + soldiers to storm a second time--Expedition of the Carpenter-envoy-- + Orders of the Prince to flood the country--The Carpenter's + despatches in the enemy's hands--Effect produced upon the Spaniards + --The siege raised--Negotiations of Count Louis with France-- + Uneasiness and secret correspondence of the Duke--Convention with + the English government--Objects pursued by Orange--Cruelty of De la + Marck--His dismissal from office and subsequent death--Negotiations + with France--Altered tone of the French court with regard to the St. + Bartholomew--Ill effects of the crime upon the royal projects-- + Hypocrisy of the Spanish government--Letter of Louis to Charles IX. + --Complaints of Charles IX.--Secret aspirations of that monarch and + of Philip--Intrigues concerning the Polish election--Renewed + negotiations between Schomberg and Count Louis, with consent of + Orange--Conditions prescribed by the Prince--Articles of secret + alliance--Remarkable letter of Count Louis to Charles IX.-- + Responsible and isolated situation of Orange--The "Address" and the + "Epistle"--Religious sentiments of the Prince--Naval action on the + Zuyder Zee--Captivity of Bossu and of Saint Aldegonde--Odious + position of Alva--His unceasing cruelty--Execution of Uitenhoove-- + Fraud practised by Alva upon his creditors--Arrival of Requesens, + the new Governor-General--Departure of Alva--Concluding remarks upon + his administration. + +For the sake of continuity in the narrative, the siege of Harlem has been +related until its conclusion. This great event constituted, moreover, the +principal stuff in Netherland, history, up to the middle of the year +1573. A few loose threads must be now taken up before we can proceed +farther. + +Alva had for some time felt himself in a false and uncomfortable +position. While he continued to be the object of a popular hatred as +intense as ever glowed, he had gradually lost his hold upon those who, at +the outset of his career, had been loudest and lowest in their +demonstrations of respect. "Believe me," wrote Secretary Albornoz to +Secretary Cayas, "this people abhor our nation worse than they abhor the +Devil. As for the Duke of Alva, they foam at the mouth when they hear his +name." Viglius, although still maintaining smooth relations with the +Governor, had been, in reality, long since estranged from him. Even +Aerschot, far whom the Duke had long maintained an intimacy half +affectionate, half contemptuous, now began to treat him with a contumely +which it was difficult for so proud a stomach to digest. + +But the main source of discomfort was doubtless the presence of Medina +Coeli. This was the perpetual thorn in his side, which no cunning could +extract. A successor who would not and could not succeed him, yet who +attended him as his shadow and his evil genius--a confidential colleague +who betrayed his confidence, mocked his projects, derided his authority, +and yet complained of ill treatment--a rival who was neither compeer nor +subaltern, and who affected to be his censor--a functionary of a purely +anomalous character, sheltering himself under his abnegation of an +authority which he had not dared to assume, and criticising measures +which he was not competent to grasp;--such was the Duke of Medina Coeli +in Alva's estimation. + +The bickering between the two Dukes became unceasing and disgraceful. Of +course, each complained to the King, and each, according to his own +account, was a martyr to the other's tyranny, but the meekness manifested +by Alva; in all his relations with the new comer, was wonderful, if we +are to believe the accounts furnished by himself and by his confidential +secretary. On the other hand, Medina Coeli wrote to the King, complaining +of Alva in most unmitigated strains, and asserting that he was himself +never allowed to see any despatches, nor to have the slightest +information as to the policy of the government. He reproached, the Duke +with shrinking from personal participation in military operations, and +begged the royal forgiveness if he withdrew from a scene where he felt +himself to be superfluous. + +Accordingly, towards the end of November, he took his departure, without +paying his respects. The Governor complained to the King of this +unceremonious proceeding, and assured His Majesty that never were +courtesy and gentleness so ill requited as his had been by this ingrate +and cankered Duke. "He told me," said Alva, "that if I did not stay in +the field, he would not remain with me in peaceful cities, and he asked +me if I intended to march into Holland with the troops which were to +winter there. I answered, that I should go wherever it was necessary, +even should I be obliged to swim through all the canals of Holland." +After giving these details, the Duke added, with great appearance of +candor and meekness, that he was certain Medina Coeli had only been +influenced by extreme zeal for His Majesty's service, and that, finding, +so little for him to do in the Netherlands, he had become dissatisfied +with his position. + +Immediately after the fall of Harlem, another attempt was made by Alva to +win back the allegiance of the other cities by proclamations. It had +become obvious to the Governor that so determined a resistance on the +part of the first place besieged augured many long campaigns before the +whole province could be subdued. A circular was accordingly issued upon +the 26th July from Utrecht, and published immediately afterwards in all +the cities of the Netherlands. It was a paper of singular character, +commingling an affectation of almost ludicrous clemency, with honest and +hearty brutality. There was consequently something very grotesque about +the document. Philip, in the outset, was made to sustain towards his +undutiful subjects the characters of the brooding hen and the prodigal's +father; a range of impersonation hardly to be allowed him, even by the +most abject flattery. "Ye are well aware," thus ran the address, "that +the King has, over and over again, manifested his willingness to receive +his children, in however forlorn a condition the prodigals might return. +His Majesty assures you once more that your sins, however black they may +have been, shall be forgiven and forgotten in the plenitude of royal +kindness, if you repent and return in season to his Majesty's embrace. +Notwithstanding your manifold crimes, his Majesty still seeks, like a hen +calling her chickens, to gather you all under the parental wing. The King +hereby warns you once more, therefore, to place yourselves in his royal +hands, and not to wait for his rage, cruelty, and fury, and the approach +of his army." + +The affectionate character of the address, already fading towards the end +of the preamble, soon changes to bitterness. The domestic maternal fowl +dilates into the sanguinary dragon as the address proceeds. "But if," +continues the monarch, "ye disregard these offers of mercy, receiving +them with closed ears, as heretofore, then we warn you that there is no +rigor, nor cruelty, however great, which you are not to expect by laying +waste, starvation, and the sword, in such manner that nowhere shall +remain a relic of that which at present exists, but his Majesty will +strip bare and utterly depopulate the land, and cause it to be inhabited +again by strangers; since otherwise his Majesty could not believe that +the will of God and of his Majesty had been accomplished." + +It is almost superfluous to add that this circular remained fruitless. +The royal wrath, thus blasphemously identifying itself with divine +vengeance, inspired no terror, the royal blandishments no affection. + +The next point of attack was the city of Alkmaar, situate quite at the +termination of the Peninsula, among the lagunes and redeemed prairies of +North Holland. The Prince of Orange had already provided it with a small +garrison. The city had been summoned to surrender by the middle of July, +and had returned a bold refusal.--Meantime, the Spaniards had retired +from before the walls, while the surrender and chastisement of Harlem +occupied them during the next succeeding weeks. The month of August, +moreover, was mainly consumed by Alva in quelling a dangerous and +protracted mutiny, which broke out among the Spanish soldiers at +Harlem--between three and four thousand of them having been quartered +upon the ill-fated population of that city. + +Unceasing misery was endured by the inhabitants at the hands of the +ferocious Spaniards, flushed with victory, mutinous for long arrears of +pay, and greedy for the booty which had been denied. At times, however, +the fury of the soldiery was more violently directed against their own +commanders than against the enemy. A project was even formed by the +malcontent troops to deliver Harlem into the hands of Orange. A party of +them, disguised as Baltic merchants, waited upon the Prince at Delft, and +were secretly admitted to his bedside before he had risen. They declared +to him that they were Spanish soldiers, who had compassion on his cause, +were dissatisfied with their own government, and were ready, upon receipt +of forty thousand guilders, to deliver the city into his hands. The +Prince took the matter into consideration, and promised to accept the +offer if he could raise the required sum. This, however, he found himself +unable to do within the stipulated time, and thus, for want of so paltry +a sum, the offer was of necessity declined. + +Various were the excesses committed by the insubordinate troops in every +province in the Netherlands upon the long-suffering inhabitants. +"Nothing," wrote Alva, "had given him so much pain during his forty years +of service." He avowed his determination to go to Amsterdam in order to +offer himself as a hostage to the soldiery, if by so doing he could quell +the mutiny. He went to Amsterdam accordingly, where by his exertions, +ably seconded by those of the Marquis Vitelli, and by the payment of +thirty crowns to each soldier--fourteen on account of arrearages and +sixteen as his share in the Harlem compensation money--the rebellion was +appeased, and obedience restored. + +There was now leisure for the General to devote his whole energies +against the little city of Alkmaar. On that bank and shoal, the extreme +verge of habitable earth, the spirit of Holland's Freedom stood at bay. +The grey towers of Egmont Castle and of Egmont Abbey rose between the +city and the sea, and there the troops sent by the Prince of Orange were +quartered during the very brief period in which the citizens wavered as +to receiving them. The die was soon cast, however, and the Prince's +garrison admitted. The Spaniards advanced, burned the village of Egmont +to the ground as soon as the patriots had left it, and on the 21st of +August Don Frederic, appearing before the walls, proceeded formally to +invest Allanaar. In a few days this had been so thoroughly accomplished +that, in Alva's language, "it was impossible for a sparrow to enter or go +out of the city." The odds were somewhat unequal. Sixteen thousand +veteran troops constituted the besieging force. Within the city were a +garrison of eight hundred soldiers, together with thirteen hundred +burghers, capable of bearing arms. The rest of the population consisted +of a very few refugees, besides the women and children. Two thousand one +hundred able-bodied men, of whom only about one-third were soldiers, to +resist sixteen thousand regulars. + +Nor was there any doubt as to the fate which was reserved for them, +should they succumb. The Duke was vociferous at the ingratitude with +which his clemency had hitherto been requited. He complained bitterly of +the ill success which had attended his monitory circulars; reproached +himself with incredible vehemence, for his previous mildness, and +protested that, after having executed only twenty-three hundred persons +at the surrender of Harlem, besides a few additional burghers since, he +had met with no correspondent demonstrations of affection. He promised +himself, however, an ample compensation for all this ingratitude, in the +wholesale vengeance which he purposed to wreak upon Alkmaar. Already he +gloated in anticipation over the havoc which would soon be let loose +within those walls. Such ravings, if invented by the pen of fiction, +would seem a puerile caricature; proceeding, authentically, from his +own,--they still appear almost too exaggerated for belief. "If I take +Alkmaar," he wrote to Philip, "I am resolved not to leave a single +creature alive; the knife shall be put to every throat. Since the example +of Harlem has proved of no use, perhaps an example of cruelty will bring +the other cities to their senses." + +He took occasion also to read a lecture to the party of conciliation in +Madrid, whose counsels, as he believed, his sovereign was beginning to +heed. Nothing, he maintained, could be more senseless than the idea of +pardon and clemency. This had been sufficiently proved by recent events. +It was easy for people at a distance to talk about gentleness, but those +upon the spot knew better. Gentleness had produced nothing, so far; +violence alone could succeed in future. "Let your Majesty," he said, "be +disabused of the impression, that with kindness anything can be done with +these people. Already have matters reached such a point that many of +those born in the country, who have hitherto advocated clemency, are now +undeceived, and acknowledge--their mistake. They are of opinion that not +a living soul should be left in Alkmaar, but that every individual should +be put to the sword." At the same time he took occasion, even in these +ferocious letters, which seem dripping with blood, to commend his own +natural benignity of disposition. "Your Majesty may be certain," he said, +"that no man on earth desires the path of clemency more than I do, +notwithstanding my particular hatred for heretics and traitors." It was +therefore with regret that he saw himself obliged to take the opposite +course, and to stifle all his gentler sentiments. + +Upon Diedrich Sonoy, Lieutenant-Governor for Orange in the province of +North Holland, devolved the immediate responsibility of defending this +part of the country. As the storm rolled slowly up from the south, even +that experienced officer became uneasy at the unequal conflict impending. +He despatched a letter to his chief, giving a gloomy picture of his +position. All looked instinctively towards the Prince, as to a God in +their time of danger; all felt as if upon his genius and fortitude +depended the whole welfare of the fatherland. It was hoped, too, that +some resource had been provided in a secret foreign alliance. "If your +princely grace," wrote Sonoy, "have made a contract for assistance with +any powerful potentate, it is of the highest importance that it should be +known to all the cities, in order to put an end to the emigration, and to +console the people in their affliction." + +The answer, of the Prince was full of lofty enthusiasm. He reprimanded +with gentle but earnest eloquence the despondency and little faith of his +lieutenant and other adherents. He had not expected, he said, that they +would have so soon forgotten their manly courage. They seemed to consider +the whole fate of the country attached to the city of Harlem. He took God +to witness that--he had spared no pains, and would willingly have spared +no drop of his blood to save that devoted city. "But as, notwithstanding +our efforts," he continued, "it has pleased God Almighty to dispose of +Harlem according to His divine will, shall we, therefore, deny and deride +His holy word? Has the strong arm of the Lord thereby grown weaker? Has +his Church therefore come to caught? You ask if I have entered into a +firm treaty with any great king or potentate, to which I answer, that +before I ever took up the cause of the oppressed Christians in these +provinces, I had entered into a close alliance with the King of kings; +and I am firmly convinced that all who put their trust in Him shall be +saved by His almighty hand. The God of armies will raise up armies for us +to do battle with our enemies sad His own." In conclusion, he stated his +preparations for attacking the enemy by sea as well as by land, and +encouraged his lieutenant and the citizens of the northern quarter to +maintain a bold front before the advancing foe. + +And now, with the dismantled and desolate Harlem before their eyes, a +prophetic phantom, perhaps, of their own imminent fate, did the handful +of people shut up within Alkmaar prepare for the worst. Their main hope +lay in the friendly sea. The vast sluices called the Zyp, through which +an inundation of the whole northern province could be very soon effected, +were but a few miles distant. By opening these gates, and by piercing a +few dykes, the ocean might be made to fight for them. To obtain this +result, however, the consent of the inhabitants was requisite, as the +destruction of all the standing crops would be inevitable. The city was +so closely invested, that it was a matter of life and death to venture +forth, and it was difficult, therefore, to find an envoy for this +hazardous mission. At last, a carpenter in the city, Peter Van der Mey by +name, undertook the adventure, and was entrusted with letters to Sonoy, +to the Prince of Orange, and to the leading personages, in several cities +of the province: These papers were enclosed in a hollow walking-staff, +carefully made fast at the top. + +Affairs soon approached a crisis within the beleaguered city. Daily +skirmishes, without decisive result; had taken place outside the walls. +At last, on the 18th of September, after a steady cannonade of nearly +twelve hours, Don Frederic, at three in the afternoon, ordered an +assault. Notwithstanding his seven months' experience at Harlem, he still +believed it certain that he should carry Alkmaar by storm. The attack +took place at once upon the Frisian gate and upon the red tower on the +opposite side. Two choice regiments, recently arrived from Lombardy; led +the onset, rending the air with their shouts, and confident of an easy +victory. They were sustained by what seemed an overwhelming force of +disciplined troops. Yet never, even in the recent history of Harlem, had +an attack been received by more dauntless breasts. Every living man was +on the walls. The storming parties were assailed with cannon, with +musketry, with pistols. Boiling water, pitch and oil, molten lead, and +unslaked lime, were poured upon them every moment. Hundreds of tarred and +burning hoops were skilfully quoited around the necks of the soldiers, +who struggled in vain to extricate themselves from these fiery ruffs, +while as fast as any of the invaders planted foot upon the breach, they +were confronted face to face with sword and dagger by the burghers, who +hurled them headlong into the moat below. + +Thrice was the attack renewed with ever-increasing rage--thrice repulsed +with unflinching fortitude. The storm continued four hours long. During +all that period, not one of the defenders left his post, till he dropped +from it dead or wounded. The women and children, unscared by the balls +flying in every direction, or by the hand-to-hand conflicts on the +ramparts; passed steadily to and fro from the arsenals to the +fortifications, constantly supplying their fathers, husbands, and +brothers with powder and ball. Thus, every human being in the city that +could walk had become a soldier. At last darkness fell upon the scene. +The trumpet of recal was sounded, and the Spaniards, utterly discomfited, +retired from the walls, leaving at least one thousand dead in the +trenches, while only thirteen burghers and twenty-four of the garrison +lost their lives. Thus was Alkmaar preserved for a little longer--thus a +large and well-appointed army signally defeated by a handful of men +fighting for their firesides and altars. Ensign Solis, who had mounted +the breach for an instant, and miraculously escaped with life, after +having been hurled from the battlements, reported that he had seen +"neither helmet nor harness," as he looked down into the city: only some +plain-looking people, generally dressed like fishermen. Yet these +plain-looking fishermen had defeated the veterans of Alva. + +The citizens felt encouraged by the results of that day's work. Moreover, +they already possessed such information concerning the condition of +affairs in the camp of the enemy as gave them additional confidence. A +Spaniard, named Jeronimo, had been taken prisoner and brought into the +city. On receiving a promise of pardon, he had revealed many secrets +concerning the position and intentions of the besieging army. It is +painful to add that the prisoner, notwithstanding his disclosures and the +promise under which they had been made, was treacherously executed. He +begged hard for his life as he was led to the gallows, offering fresh +revelations, which, however, after the ample communications already made, +were esteemed superfluous. Finding this of no avail, he promised his +captors, with perfect simplicity, to go down on his knees and worship the +Devil precisely as they did, if by so doing he might obtain mercy. It may +be supposed that such a proposition was not likely to gain additional +favor for him in the eyes of these rigid Calvinists, and the poor wretch +was accordingly hanged. + +The day following the assault, a fresh cannonade was opened upon the +city. Seven hundred shots having been discharged, the attack was ordered. +It was in vain: neither threats nor entreaties could induce the +Spaniards, hitherto so indomitable, to mount the breach. The place seemed +to their imagination protected by more than mortal powers; otherwise how +was it possible that a few half-starved fishermen could already have so +triumphantly overthrown the time-honored legions of Spain. It was +thought, no doubt, that the Devil, whom they worshipped, would continue +to protect his children. Neither the entreaties nor the menaces of Don +Frederic were of any avail. Several soldiers allowed themselves to be run +through the body by their own officers, rather than advance to the walls; +and the assault was accordingly postponed to an indefinite period. + +Meantime, as Governor Sonoy had opened many of the dykes, the land in the +neighbourhood of the camp was becoming plashy, although as yet the +threatened inundation had not taken place. The soldiers were already very +uncomfortable and very refractory. The carpenter-envoy had not been idle, +having, upon the 26th September, arrived at Sonoy's quarters, bearing +letters from the Prince of Orange. These despatches gave distinct +directions to Sonoy to flood the country at all risks; rather than allow +Alkmaar to, fall into the enemy's hands. The dykes and sluices were to be +protected by a strong guard, lest the peasants, in order to save their +crops, should repair or close them in the night-time. The letters of +Orange were copied, and, together with fresh communications from Sonoy, +delivered to the carpenter. A note on the margin of the Prince's letter, +directed the citizens to kindle four beacon fires in specified places, as +soon as it should prove necessary to resort to extreme measures. When +that moment should arrive, it was solemnly promised that an inundation +should be created which should sweep the whole Spanish army into the sea. +The work had, in fact, been commenced. The Zyp and other sluices had +already been opened, and a vast body of water, driven by a strong +north-west wind, had rushed in from the ocean. It needed only that two +great dykes should be pierced to render the deluge and the desolation +complete. The harvests were doomed to destruction, and a frightful loss +of property rendered inevitable, but, at any rate, the Spaniards, if this +last measure were taken, must fly or perish to a man. + +This decisive blow having been thus ordered and promised; the carpenter +set forth towards the city. He was, however, not so successful in +accomplishing his entrance unmolested, as he had been in effecting his +departure. He narrowly escaped with his life in passing through the +enemy's lines, and while occupied in saving himself was so unlucky, or, +as it proved, so fortunate, as to lose the stick in which his despatches +were enclosed. He made good his entrance into the city, where, byword of +mouth, he encouraged his fellow-burghers as to the intentions of the +Prince and Sonoy. In the meantime his letters were laid before the +general of the besieging army. The resolution taken by Orange, of which +Don Frederic was thus unintentionally made aware, to flood the country +far and near, rather than fail to protect Alkmaar, made a profound +impression upon his mind. It was obvious that he was dealing with a +determined leader and with desperate men. His attempt to carry the place +by storm had signally failed, and he could not deceive himself as to the +temper and disposition of his troops ever since that repulse. When it +should become known that they were threatened with submersion in the +ocean, in addition to all the other horrors of war, he had reason to +believe that they would retire ignominiously from that remote and +desolate sand hook, where, by remaining, they could only find a watery +grave. These views having been discussed in a council of officers, the +result was reached that sufficient had been already accomplished for the +glory of Spanish arms. Neither honor nor loyalty, it was thought, +required that sixteen thousand soldiers should be sacrificed in a +contest, not with man but with the ocean. + +On the 8th of October, accordingly, the siege, which had lasted seven +weeks, was raised, and Don Frederic rejoined his father in Amsterdam. +Ready to die in the last ditch, and to overwhelm both themselves and +their foes in a common catastrophe the Hollanders had at last compelled +their haughty enemy to fly from a position which he had so insolently +assumed. + +These public transactions and military operations were not the only +important events which affected the fate of Holland and its sister +provinces at this juncture. The secret relations which had already been +renewed between Louis of Nassau, as plenipotentiary of his brother and +the French court, had for some time excited great uneasiness in the mind +of Alva. Count Louis was known to be as skilful a negotiator as he was +valiant and accomplished as a soldier. His frankness and boldness created +confidence. The "brave spirit in the loyal breast" inspired all his +dealing; his experience and quick perception of character prevented his +becoming a dupe of even the most adroit politicians, while his truth of +purpose made him incapable either of overreaching an ally or of betraying +a trust. His career indicated that diplomacy might be sometimes +successful, even although founded upon sincerity. + +Alva secretly expressed to his sovereign much suspicion of France. He +reminded him that Charles IX.; during the early part of the preceding +year, had given the assurance that he was secretly dealing with Louis of +Nassau, only that he might induce the Count to pass over to Philip's +service. At the same time Charles had been doing all he could to succor +Moos, and had written the memorable letter which had fallen into Alva's +hands on the capture of Genlis, and which expressed such a fixed +determination to inflict a deadly blow upon the King, whom the writer was +thus endeavouring to cajole. All this the Governor recalled to the +recollection of his sovereign. In view of this increasing repugnance of +the English court, Alva recommended that fair words should be employed; +hinting, however, that it would be by no means necessary for his master +to consider himself very strictly bound by any such pledges to Elizabeth, +if they should happen to become inconveniently pressing. "A monarch's +promises," he delicately suggested, "were not to be considered so sacred +as those of humbler mortals. Not that the King should directly violate +his word, but at the same time," continued the Duke, "I have thought all +my life, and I have learned it from the Emperor, your Majesty's father, +that the negotiations of kings depend upon different principles from +those of us private gentlemen who walk the world; and in this manner I +always observed that your Majesty's father, who was, so great a gentleman +and so powerful a prince, conducted his affairs." The Governor took +occasion, likewise, to express his regrets at the awkward manner in which +the Ridolfi scheme had been managed. Had he been consulted at an earlier +day, the affair could have been treated much more delicately; as it was, +there could be little doubt but that the discovery of the plot had +prejudiced the mind of Elizabeth against Spain. "From that dust," +concluded the Duke, "has resulted all this dirt." It could hardly be +matter of surprise, either to Philip or his Viceroy, that the discovery +by Elizabeth of a plot upon their parts to take her life and place the +crown upon the head of her hated rival, should have engendered unamiable +feelings in her bosom towards them. For the moment, however, Alva's +negotiations were apparently successful. + +On the first of May, 1573, the articles of convention between England and +Spain, with regard to the Netherland difficulty, had been formally +published in Brussels. The Duke, in communicating the termination of +these arrangements, quietly recommended his master thenceforth to take +the English ministry into his pay. In particular he advised his Majesty +to bestow an annual bribe upon Lord Burleigh, "who held the kingdom in +his hand; for it has always been my opinion," he continued, "that it was +an excellent practice for princes to give pensions to the ministers of +other potentates, and to keep those at home who took bribes from nobody." + +On the other hand, the negotiations of Orange with the English court were +not yet successful, and he still found it almost impossible to raise the +requisite funds for carrying on the war. Certainly, his private letters +showed that neither he nor his brothers were self-seekers in their +negotiations. "You know;" said he in a letter to his brothers, "that my +intention has never been to seek my private advantage. I have only +aspired for the liberty of the country, in conscience and in polity, +which foreigners have sought to oppress. I have no other articles to +propose, save that religion, reformed according to the Word of God, +should be permitted, that then the commonwealth should be restored to its +ancient liberty, and, to that end, that the Spaniards and other soldiery +should be compelled to retire." + +The restoration of civil and religious liberty, the establishment of the +great principle of toleration in matters of conscience, constituted the +purpose to which his days and nights were devoted, his princely fortune +sacrificed, his life-blood risked. At the same time, his enforcement of +toleration to both religions excited calumny against him among the +bigoted adherents of both. By the Catholics he was accused of having +instigated the excesses which he had done everything in his power to +repress. The enormities of De la Marck, which had inspired the Prince's +indignation, were even laid at the door of him who had risked his life to +prevent and to chastise them. De la Marck had, indeed, more than +counterbalanced his great service in the taking of Brill, by his +subsequent cruelties. At last, Father Cornelius Musius, pastor of Saint +Agatha, at the age of seventy-two, a man highly esteemed by the Prince of +Orange, had been put to torture and death by this barbarian, under +circumstances of great atrocity. The horrid deed cost the Prince many +tears, aroused the indignation of the estates of Holland, and produced +the dismission of the perpetrator from their service. It was considered +expedient, however, in view of his past services, his powerful +connexions, and his troublesome character, that he should be induced +peaceably to leave the country. + +It was long before the Prince and the estates could succeed in ridding +themselves of this encumbrance. He created several riots in different +parts of the province, and boasted, that he had many fine ships of war +and three thousand men devoted to him, by whose assistance he could make +the estates "dance after his pipe." At the beginning of the following +year (1574), he was at last compelled to leave the provinces, which he +never again troubled with his presence. Some years afterwards, he died of +the bite of a mad dog; an end not inappropriate to a man of so rabid a +disposition. + +While the Prince was thus steadily striving for a lofty and generous +purpose, he was, of course, represented by his implacable enemies as a +man playing a game which, unfortunately for himself, was a losing one. +"That poor prince," said Granvelle, "has been ill advised. I doubt now +whether he will ever be able to make his peace, and I think we shall +rather try to get rid of him and his brother as if they were Turks. The +marriage with the daughter of Maurice, 'unde mala et quia ipse talis', +and his brothers have done him much harm. So have Schwendi and German +intimacies. I saw it all very plainly, but he did not choose to believe +me." + +Ill-starred, worse counselled William of Orange! Had he but taken the +friendly Cardinal's advice, kept his hand from German marriages and his +feet from conventicles--had he assisted his sovereign in burning heretics +and hunting rebels, it would not then have become necessary "to treat him +like a Turk." This is unquestionable. It is equally so that there would +have been one great lamp the less in that strait and difficult pathway +which leads to the temple of true glory. + +The main reliance of Orange was upon the secret negotiations which his +brother Louis was then renewing with the French government. The Prince +had felt an almost insurmountable repugnance towards entertaining any +relation with that blood-stained court, since the massacre of Saint +Bartholomew. But a new face had recently been put upon that transaction. +Instead of glorying, in their crime, the King and his mother now assumed +a tone of compunction, and averred that the deed had been unpremeditated; +that it had been the result of a panic or an ecstasy of fear inspired by +the suddenly discovered designs of the Huguenots; and that, in the +instinct of self-preservation, the King, with his family and immediate +friends, had plunged into a crime which they now bitterly lamented. The +French envoys at the different courts of Europe were directed to impress +this view upon the minds of the monarchs to whom they were accredited. It +was certainly a very different instruction from that which they had at +first received. Their cue had originally been to claim a full meed of +praise and thanksgiving in behalf of their sovereign for his meritorious +exploit. The salvos of artillery, the illuminations and rejoicings, the +solemn processions and masses by which the auspicious event had been +celebrated, mere yet fresh in the memory of men. The ambassadors were +sufficiently embarrassed by the distinct and determined approbation which +they had recently expressed. Although the King, by formal proclamation, +had assumed the whole responsibility, as he had notoriously been one of +the chief perpetrators of the deed, his agents were now to stultify +themselves and their monarch by representing, as a deplorable act of +frenzy, the massacre which they had already extolled to the echo as a +skilfully executed and entirely commendable achievement. + +To humble the power of Spain, to obtain the hand of Queen Elizabeth for +the Duke d'Alencon, to establish an insidious kind of protectorate over +the Protestant princes of Germany, to obtain the throne of Poland for the +Duke of Anjou, and even to obtain the imperial crown for the house of +Valois--all these cherished projects seemed dashed to the ground by the +Paris massacre and the abhorrence which it had created. Charles and +Catharine were not slow to discover the false position in which they had +placed themselves, while the Spanish jocularity at the immense error +committed by France was visible enough through the assumed mask of holy +horror. + +Philip and Alva listened with mischievous joy to the howl of execration +which swept through Christendom upon every wind. They rejoiced as +heartily in the humiliation of the malefactors as they did in the +perpetration of the crime. "Your Majesty," wrote Louis of Nassau, very +bluntly, to King Charles, "sees how the Spaniard, your mortal enemy, +feasts himself full with the desolation of your affairs; how he laughs, +to-split his sides, at your misfortunes. This massacre has enabled him to +weaken your Majesty more than he could have done by a war of thirty +years." + +Before the year had revolved, Charles had become thoroughly convinced of +the fatal impression produced by the event. Bitter and almost abject were +his whinings at the Catholic King's desertion of his cause. "He knows +well," wrote Charles to Saint Goard, "that if he can terminate these +troubles and leave me alone in the dance, he will have leisure and means +to establish his authority, not only in the Netherlands but elsewhere; +and that he will render himself more grand and formidable than he has +ever been. This is the return they render for the good received from me, +which is such as every one knows." + +Gaspar de Schomberg, the adroit and honorable agent of Charles in +Germany, had at a very early day warned his royal master of the ill +effect of the massacre upon all the schemes which he had been pursuing, +and especially upon those which referred to the crowns of the Empire and +of Poland. The first project was destined to be soon abandoned. It was +reserved neither for Charles nor Philip to divert the succession in +Germany from the numerous offspring of Maximilian; yet it is instructive +to observe the unprincipled avidity with which the prize was sought by +both. Each was willing to effect its purchase by abjuring what were +supposed his most cherished principles. Philip of Spain, whose mission +was to extirpate heresy throughout his realms, and who, in pursuance of +that mission, had already perpetrated more crimes, and waded more deeply +in the blood of his subjects, than monarch had often done before; Philip, +for whom his apologists have never found any defence, save that he +believed it his duty to God rather to depopulate his territories than to +permit a single heretic within their limits--now entered into secret +negotiations with the princes of the Empire. He pledged himself, if they +would confer the crown upon him, that he would withdraw the Spaniards +from the Netherlands; that he would tolerate in those provinces the +exercise of the Reformed religion; that he would recognize their union +with the rest of the German Empire, and their consequent claim to the +benefits of the Passau treaty; that he would restore the Prince of Orange +"and all his accomplices" to their former possessions, dignities, and +condition; and that he would cause to be observed, throughout every realm +incorporated with the Empire, all the edicts and ordinances which had +been constructed to secure religious freedom in Germany. In brief, Philip +was willing, in case the crown of Charlemagne should be promised him, to +undo the work of his life, to reinstate the arch-rebel whom he had hunted +and proscribed, and to bow before that Reformation whose disciples he had +so long burned, and butchered. So much extent and no more had that +religious, conviction by which he had for years had the effrontery to +excuse the enormities practised in the Netherlands. God would never +forgive him so long as one heretic remained unburned in the provinces; +yet give him the Imperial sceptre, and every heretic, without forswearing +his heresy, should be purged with hyssop and become whiter than snow. + +Charles IX., too, although it was not possible for him to recal to life +the countless victims of the Parisian wedding, was yet ready to explain +those murders to the satisfaction of every unprejudiced mind. This had +become strictly necessary. Although the accession of either his Most +Christian or Most Catholic Majesty to the throne of the Caesars was a +most improbable event, yet the humbler elective, throne actually vacant +was indirectly in the gift of the same powers. It was possible that the +crown of Poland might be secured for the Duke of Anjou. That key unlocks +the complicated policy of this and the succeeding year. The Polish +election is the clue to the labyrinthian intrigues and royal +tergiversations during the period of the interregnum. Sigismund Augustus, +last of the Jagellons, had died on the 7th July; 1572. The prominent +candidates to succeed him were the Archduke Ernest, son of the Emperor, +and Henry of Anjou. The Prince of Orange was not forgotten. A strong +party were in favor of compassing his election, as the most signal +triumph which Protestantism could gain, but his ambition had not been +excited by the prospect of such a prize. His own work required all the +energies of all his life. His influence, however, was powerful, and +eagerly sought by the partisans of Anjou. The Lutherans and Moravians in +Poland were numerous, the Protestant party there and in Germany holding +the whole balance of the election in their hands. + +It was difficult for the Prince to overcome his repugnance to the very +name of the man whose crime had at once made France desolate, and +blighted the fair prospects under which he and his brother had, the year +before, entered the Netherlands. Nevertheless; he was willing to listen +to the statements by which the King and his ministers endeavoured, not +entirely without success, to remove from their reputations, if not from +their souls; the guilt of deep design. It was something, that the +murderers now affected to expiate their offence in sackcloth and +ashes--it was something that, by favoring the pretensions of Anjou, and +by listening with indulgence to the repentance of Charles, the siege of +Rochelle could be terminated, the Huguenots restored to freedom of +conscience, and an alliance with a powerful nation established, by aid of +which the Netherlands might once more lift their heads. The French +government, deeply hostile to Spain, both from passion and policy, was +capable of rendering much assistance to the revolted provinces. "I +entreat you most humbly, my good master," wrote Schomberg to Charles IX., +"to beware of allowing the electors to take into their heads that you are +favoring the affairs of the King of Spain in any manner whatsoever. +Commit against him no act of open hostility, if you think that imprudent; +but look sharp! if you do not wish to be thrown clean out of your saddle. +I should split with rage if I should see you, in consequence of the +wicked calumnies of your enemies, fail to secure the prize." + +Orange was induced, therefore, to accept, however distrustfully, the +expression of a repentance which was to be accompanied with healing +measures. He allowed his brother Louis to resume negotiations with +Schomberg, in Germany. He drew up and transmitted to him the outlines of +a treaty which he was willing to make with Charles. The main conditions +of this arrangement illustrated the disinterested character of the man. +He stipulated that the King of France should immediately make peace with +his subjects, declaring expressly that he had been abused by those, who, +under pretext of his service, had sought their own profit at the price of +ruin to the crown and people. The King should make religion free. The +edict to that effect should be confirmed by all the parliaments and +estates of the kingdom, and such confirmations should be distributed +without reserve or deceit among all the princes of Germany. If his +Majesty were not inclined to make war for the liberation of the +Netherlands, he was to furnish the Prince of Orange with one hundred +thousand crowns at once, and every three months with another hundred +thousand. The Prince was to have liberty to raise one thousand cavalry +and seven thousand infantry in France. Every city or town in the +provinces which should be conquered by his arms, except in Holland or +Zealand, should be placed under the sceptre, and in the hands of the King +of France. The provinces of Holland and Zealand should also be placed +under his protection, but should be governed by their own gentlemen and +citizens. Perfect religious liberty and maintenance of the ancient +constitutions, privileges, and charters were to be guaranteed "without +any cavilling whatsoever." The Prince of Orange, or the estates of +Holland or Zealand, were to reimburse his Christian Majesty for the sums +which he was to advance. In this last clause was the only mention which +the Prince made of himself, excepting in the stipulation that he was to +be allowed a levy of troops in France. His only personal claims were to +enlist soldiers to fight the battles of freedom, and to pay their +expense, if it should not be provided for by the estates. At nearly the +same period, he furnished his secret envoys, Luinbres and Doctor +Taijaert, who were to proceed to Paris, with similar instructions. + +The indefatigable exertions of Schomberg, and the almost passionate +explanations on the part of the court of France, at length produced their +effect. "You will constantly assure the princes," wrote the Duke of Anjou +to Schomberg, "that the things written, to you concerning that which had +happened in this kingdom are true; that the events occurred suddenly, +without having been in any manner premeditated; that neither the King nor +myself have ever had any intelligence with, the King of Spain, against +those of the religion, and that all is utter imposture which is daily +said on this subject to the princes." + +Count Louis required peremptorily, however, that the royal repentance +should bring forth the fruit of salvation for the remaining victims. Out +of the nettles of these dangerous intrigues his fearless hand plucked the +"flower of safety" for his down-trodden cause. He demanded not words, but +deeds, or at least pledges. He maintained with the agents of Charles and +with the monarch himself the same hardy scepticism which was manifested +by the Huguenot deputies in their conferences with Catharine de Medicis. +"Is the word of a king," said the dowager to the commissioners, who were +insisting upon guarantees, "is the word of a king not sufficient?"--"No, +madam," replied one of them, "by Saint Bartholomew, no!" Count Louis told +Schomberg roundly, and repeated it many times, that he must have in a +very few days a categorical response, "not to consist in words alone, but +in deeds, and that he could not, and would not, risk for ever the honor +of his brother, nor the property; blood, and life of those poor people +who favored the cause." + +On the 23rd March, 1573, Schomberg had an interview with Count Louis, +which lasted seven or eight hours. In that interview the enterprises of +the Count, "which," said Schomberg, "are assuredly grand and beautiful," +were thoroughly discussed, and a series of conditions, drawn up partly in +the hand of one, partly in that of the other negotiator; definitely +agreed upon. These conditions were on the basis of a protectorate over +Holland and Zealand for the King of France, with sovereignty over the +other places to be acquired in the Netherlands. They were in strict +accordance with the articles furnished by the Prince of Orange. Liberty +of worship for those of both religions, sacred preservation of municipal +charters, and stipulation of certain annual subsidies on the part of +France, in case his Majesty should not take the field, were the principal +features. + +Ten days later, Schomberg wrote to his master that the Count was willing +to use all the influence of his family to procure for Anjou the crown of +Poland, while Louis, having thus completed his negotiations with the +agent, addressed a long and earnest letter to the royal principal. This +remarkable despatch was stamped throughout with the impress of the +writer's frank and fearless character. "Thus diddest thou" has rarely +been addressed to anointed monarch in such unequivocal tones: The letter +painted the favorable position in which the king had been placed +previously to the fatal summer of 1572. The Queen of England was then +most amicably disposed towards him, and inclined to a yet closer +connexion with his family. The German princes were desirous to elect him +King of the Romans, a dignity for which his grandfather had so +fruitlessly contended. The Netherlanders, driven to despair by the +tyranny of their own sovereign, were eager to throw themselves into his +arms. All this had been owing to his edict of religious pacification. How +changed the picture now! Who now did reverence to a King so criminal and +so fallen? "Your Majesty to-day," said Louis, earnestly and plainly, "is +near to ruin. The State, crumbling on every side and almost abandoned, is +a prey to any one who wishes to seize upon it; the more so, because your +Majesty, having, by the late excess and by the wars previously made, +endeavoured to force men's consciences, is now so destitute, not only of +nobility and soldiery but of that which constitutes the strongest column +of the throne, the love and good wishes of the lieges, that your Majesty +resembles an ancient building propped up, day after, day, with piles, but +which it will be impossible long to prevent from falling to the earth." +Certainly, here were wholesome truths told in straightforward style. + +The Count proceeded to remind the King of the joy which the "Spaniard, +his mortal enemy," had conceived from the desolation of his affairs, +being assured that he should, by the troubles in France, be enabled to +accomplish his own purposes without striking a blow. This, he observed, +had been the secret of the courtesy with which the writer himself had +been treated by the Duke of Alva at the surrender of Mons. Louis assured +the King, in continuation, that if he persevered in these oppressive +courses towards his subjects of the new religion, there was no hope for +him, and that his two brothers would, to no purpose, take their departure +for England, and, for Poland, leaving him with a difficult and dangerous +war upon his hands. So long as he maintained a hostile attitude towards +the Protestants in his own kingdom, his fair words would produce no +effect elsewhere. "We are beginning to be vexed," said the Count, "with +the manner of negotiation practised by France. Men do not proceed roundly +to business there, but angle with their dissimulation as with a hook." + +He bluntly reminded the King of the deceit which he had practised towards +the Admiral--a sufficient reason why no reliance could in future be +placed upon his word. Signal vengeance on those concerned in the +attempted assassination of that great man had been promised, in the royal +letters to the Prince of Orange, just before St. Bartholomew. "Two days +afterwards," said Louis, "your Majesty took that vengeance, but in rather +ill fashion." It was certain that the King was surrounded by men who +desired to work his ruin, and who, for their own purposes, would cause +him to bathe still deeper than he had done before in the blood of his +subjects. This ruin his Majesty could still avert; by making peace in his +kingdom, and by ceasing to torment his poor subjects of the religion. + +In conclusion, the Count, with a few simple but eloquent phrases, alluded +to the impossibility of chaining men's thoughts. The soul, being +immortal, was beyond the reach of kings. Conscience was not to be +conquered, nor the religious spirit imprisoned. This had been discovered +by the Emperor Charles, who had taken all the cities and great personages +of Germany captive, but who had nevertheless been unable to take religion +captive. "That is a sentiment," said Louis, "deeply rooted in the hearts +of men, which is not to be plucked out by force of arms. Let your +majesty, therefore not be deceived by the flattery of those who, like bad +physicians, keep their patients in ignorance of their disease, whence +comes their ruin." + +It would be impossible, without insight into these private and most +important transactions, to penetrate the heart of the mystery which +enwrapped at this period the relations of the great powers with each +other. Enough has been seen to silence for ever the plea, often entered +in behalf of religious tyranny, that the tyrant acts in obedience to a +sincere conviction of duty; that, in performing his deeds of darkness, he +believes himself to be accomplishing the will of Heaven. Here we have +seen Philip, offering to restore the Prince of Orange, and to establish +freedom of religion in the Netherlands, if by such promises he can lay +hold of the Imperial diadem. Here also we have Charles IX. and his +mother--their hands reeking with the heretic-blood of St. +Bartholomew--making formal engagements with heretics to protect heresy +everywhere, if by such pledges the crown of the Jagellons and the hand of +Elizabeth can be secured. + +While Louis was thus busily engaged in Germany, Orange was usually +established at Delft. He felt the want of his brother daily, for the +solitude of the Prince, in the midst of such fiery trials, amounted +almost to desolation. Not often have circumstances invested an individual +with so much responsibility and so little power. He was regarded as the +protector and father of the country, but from his own brains and his own +resources he was to furnish himself with the means of fulfilling those +high functions. He was anxious thoroughly to discharge the duties of a +dictatorship without grasping any more of its power than was +indispensable to his purpose. But he was alone on that little isthmus, in +single combat with the great Spanish monarchy. It was to him that all +eyes turned, during the infinite horrors of the Harlem sieges and in the +more prosperous leaguer of Alkmaar. What he could do he did. He devised +every possible means to succor Harlem, and was only restrained from going +personally to its rescue by the tears of the whole population of Holland. +By his decision and the spirit which he diffused through the country, the +people were lifted to a pitch of heroism by which Alkmaar was saved. Yet, +during all this harassing period, he had no one to lean upon but himself. +"Our affairs are in pretty good; condition in Holland and Zealand," he +wrote, "if I only had some aid. 'Tis impossible for me to support alone +so many labors, and the weight of such great affairs as come upon me +hourly--financial, military, political. I have no one to help me, not a +single man, wherefore I leave you to suppose in what trouble I find +myself." + +For it was not alone the battles and sieges which furnished him with +occupation and filled him with anxiety. Alone, he directed in secret the +politics of the country, and, powerless and outlawed though he seemed, +was in daily correspondence not only with the estates of Holland and +Zealand, whose deliberations he guided, but with the principal +governments of Europe. The estates of the Netherlands, moreover, had been +formally assembled by Alva in September, at Brussels, to devise ways and +means for continuing the struggle. It seemed to the Prince a good +opportunity to make an appeal to the patriotism of the whole country. He +furnished the province of Holland, accordingly, with the outlines of an +address which was forthwith despatched in their own and his name, to the +general assembly of the Netherlands. The document was a nervous and rapid +review of the course of late events in the provinces, with a cogent +statement of the reasons which should influence them all to unite in the +common cause against the common enemy. It referred to the old affection +and true-heartedness with which they had formerly regarded each other, +and to the certainty that the inquisition would be for ever established +in the land, upon the ruins of all their ancient institutions, unless +they now united to overthrow it for ever. It demanded of the people, thus +assembled through their representatives, how they could endure the +tyranny, murders, and extortions of the Duke of Alva. The princes of +Flanders, Burgundy, Brabant, or Holland, had never made war or peace, +coined money, or exacted a stiver from the people without the consent of +the estates. How could the nation now consent to the daily impositions +which were practised? Had Amsterdam and Middelburg remained true; had +those important cities not allowed themselves to be seduced from the +cause of freedom, the northern provinces would have been impregnable. +"'Tis only by the Netherlands that the Netherlands are crushed," said the +appeal. "Whence has the Duke of Alva the power of which he boasts, but +from yourselves--from Netherland cities? Whence his ships, supplies, +money, weapons, soldiers? From the Netherland people. Why has poor +Netherland thus become degenerate and bastard? Whither has fled the noble +spirit of our brave forefathers, that never brooked the tyranny of +foreign nations, nor suffered a stranger even to hold office within our +borders? If the little province of Holland can thus hold at bay the power +of Spain, what could not all the Netherlands--Brabant, Flanders, +Friesland, and the rest united accomplish?" In conclusion, the +estates-general were earnestly adjured to come forward like brothers in +blood, and join hands with Holland, that together they might rescue the +fatherland and restore its ancient prosperity and bloom. + +At almost the same time the Prince drew up and put in circulation one of +the most vigorous and impassioned productions which ever came from his +pen. It was entitled, an "Epistle, in form of supplication, to his royal +Majesty of Spain, from the Prince of Orange and the estates of Holland +and Zealand." The document produced a profound impression throughout +Christendom. It was a loyal appeal to the monarch's loyalty--a demand +that the land-privileges should be restored, and the Duke of Alva +removed. It contained a startling picture of his atrocities and the +nation's misery, and, with a few energetic strokes, demolished the +pretence that these sorrows had been caused by the people's guilt. In +this connexion the Prince alluded to those acts of condemnation which the +Governor-General had promulgated under the name of pardons, and treated +with scorn the hypothesis that any crimes had been committed for Alva to +forgive. "We take God and your Majesty to witness," said the epistle, +"that if we have done such misdeeds as are charged in the pardon, we +neither desire nor deserve the pardon. Like the most abject creatures +which crawl the earth, we will be content to atone for our misdeeds with +our lives. We will not murmur, O merciful King, if we be seized one after +another, and torn limb from limb, if it can be proved that we have +committed the crimes of which we have been accused." + +After having thus set forth the tyranny of the government and the +innocence of the people, the Prince, in his own name and that of the +estates, announced the determination at which they had arrived. "The +tyrant," he continued, "would rather stain every river and brook with our +blood, and hang our bodies upon every tree in the country, than not feed +to the full his vengeance, and steep himself to the lips in our misery. +Therefore we have taken up arms against the Duke of Alva and his +adherents, to free ourselves, our wives and children, from his +blood-thirsty hands. If he prove too strong nor us, we will rather die an +honorable death and leave a praiseworthy fame, than bend our necks, and +reduce our dear fatherland to such slavery. Herein are all our cities +pledged to each other to stand every siege, to dare the utmost, to endure +every possible misery, yea, rather to set fire to all our homes, and be +consumed with them into ashes together, than ever submit to the decrees +of this cruel tyrant." + +These were brave words, and destined to be bravely fulfilled, as the life +and death of the writer and the records of his country proved, from +generation unto generation. If we seek for the mainspring of the energy +which thus sustained the Prince in the unequal conflict to which he had +devoted his life, we shall find it in the one pervading principle of his +nature--confidence in God. He was the champion of the political rights of +his country, but before all he was the defender of its religion. Liberty +of conscience for his people was his first object. To establish Luther's +axiom, that thoughts are toll-free, was his determination. The Peace of +Passau, and far more than the Peace of Passau, was the goal for which he +was striving. Freedom of worship for all denominations, toleration for +all forms of faith, this was the great good in his philosophy. For +himself, he had now become a member of the Calvinist, or Reformed Church, +having delayed for a time his public adhesion to this communion, in order +not to give offence to the Lutherans and to the Emperor. He was never a +dogmatist, however, and he sought in Christianity for that which unites +rather than for that which separates Christians. In the course of October +he publicly joined the church at Dort. + +The happy termination of the siege of Alkmaar was followed, three days +afterwards, by another signal success on the part of the patriots. Count +Bossu, who had constructed or collected a considerable fleet at +Amsterdam, had, early in October, sailed into the Zuyder Zee, +notwithstanding the sunken wrecks and other obstructions by which the +patriots had endeavored to render the passage of the Y impracticable. The +patriots of North Holland had, however, not been idle, and a fleet of +five-and-twenty vessels, under Admiral Dirkzoon, was soon cruising in the +same waters. A few skirmishes took place, but Bossu's ships, which were +larger, and provided with heavier cannon, were apparently not inclined +for the close quarters which the patriots sought. The Spanish Admiral, +Hollander as he was, knew the mettle of his countrymen in a close +encounter at sea, and preferred to trust to the calibre of his cannon. On +the 11th October, however, the whole patriot fleet, favored by a strong +easterly, breeze, bore down upon the Spanish armada, which, numbering now +thirty sail of all denominations, was lying off and on in the +neighbourhood of Horn and Enkhuyzen. After a short and general +engagement, nearly all the Spanish fleet retired with precipitation, +closely pursued by most of the patriot Dutch vessels. Five of the King's +ships were eventually taken, the rest effected their escape. Only the +Admiral remained, who scorned to yield, although his forces had thus +basely deserted him. His ship, the "Inquisition,"--for such was her +insolent appellation, was far the largest and best manned of both the +fleets. Most of the enemy had gone in pursuit of the fugitives, but four +vessels of inferior size had attacked the "Inquisition" at the +commencement of the action. Of these, one had soon been silenced, while +the other three had grappled themselves inextricably to her sides and +prow. The four drifted together, before wind and tide, a severe and +savage action going on incessantly, during which the navigation of the +ships was entirely abandoned. No scientific gunnery, no military or naval +tactics were displayed or required in such a conflict. It was a +life-and-death combat, such as always occurred when Spaniard and +Netherlander met, whether on land or water. Bossu and his men, armed in +bullet-proof coats of mail, stood with shield and sword on the deck of +the "Inquisition," ready to repel all attempts to board. The Hollander, +as usual, attacked with pitch hoops, boiling oil, and molten lead. +Repeatedly they effected their entrance to the Admiral's ship, and as +often they were repulsed and slain in heaps, or hurled into the sea. The +battle began at three in the afternoon, and continued without +intermission through the whole night. The vessels, drifting together, +struck on the shoal called the Nek, near Wydeness. In the heat of the +action the occurrence was hardly heeded. In the morning twilight, John +Haring, of Horn, the hero who had kept one thousand soldiers at bay upon +the Diemer dyke, clambered on board the "Inquisition" and hauled her +colors down. The gallant but premature achievement cost him his life. He +was shot through the body and died on the deck of the ship, which was not +quite ready to strike her flag. In the course of the forenoon, however, +it became obvious to Bossu that further resistance was idle. The ships +were aground near a hostile coast, his own fleet was hopelessly +dispersed, three quarters of his crew were dead or disabled, while the +vessels with which he was engaged were constantly recruited by boats from +the shore, which brought fresh men and ammunition, and removed their +killed and wounded. At eleven o'clock, Admiral Bossu surrendered, and +with three hundred prisoners was carried into Holland. Bossu was himself +imprisoned at Horn, in which city he was received, on his arrival, with +great demonstrations of popular hatred. The massacre of Rotterdam, due to +his cruelty and treachery, had not yet been forgotten or forgiven. + +This victory, following so hard upon the triumph at Alkmaar, was as +gratifying to the patriots as it was galling to Alva. As his +administration drew to a close, it was marked by disaster and disgrace on +land and sea. The brilliant exploits by which he had struck terror into +the heart of the Netherlanders, at Jemmingen and in Brabant, had been +effaced by the valor of a handful of Hollanders, without discipline or +experience. To the patriots, the opportune capture of so considerable a +personage as the Admiral and Governor of the northern province was of +great advantage. Such of the hostages from Harlem as had not yet been +executed, now escaped with their lives. Moreover, Saint Aldegonde, the +eloquent patriot and confidential friend of Orange, who was taken +prisoner a few weeks later, in an action at Maeslands-luis, was preserved +from inevitable destruction by the same cause. The Prince hastened to +assure the Duke of Alva that the same measure would be dealt to Bossu as +should be meted to Saint Aldegonde. It was, therefore, impossible for the +Governor-General to execute his prisoner, and he was obliged to submit to +the vexation of seeing a leading rebel and heretic in his power, whom he +dared not strike. Both the distinguished prisoners eventually regained +their liberty. + +The Duke was, doubtless, lower sunk in the estimation of all classes than +he had ever been before, during his long and generally successful life. +The reverses sustained by his army, the belief that his master had grown +cold towards him, the certainty that his career in the Netherlands was +closing without a satisfactory result, the natural weariness produced +upon men's minds by the contemplation of so monotonous and unmitigated a +tyranny during so many years, all contributed to diminish his reputation. +He felt himself odious alike to princes and to plebeians. With his +cabinet councillors he had long been upon unsatisfactory terms. President +Tisnacq had died early, in the summer, and Viglius, much against his +will, had been induced, provisionally, to supply his place. But there was +now hardly a pretence of friendship between the learned Frisian and the +Governor. Each cordially detested the other. Alva was weary of Flemish +and Frisian advisers, however subservient, and was anxious to fill the +whole council with Spaniards of the Vargas stamp. He had forced Viglius +once more into office, only that, by a little delay, he might expel him +and every Netherlander at the same moment. "Till this ancient set of +dogmatizers be removed," he wrote to Philip, "with Viglius, their chief, +who teaches them all their lessons, nothing will go right. 'Tis of no use +adding one or two Spaniards to fill vacancies; that is only pouring a +flask of good wine into a hogshead of vinegar; it changes to vinegar +likewise. Your Majesty will soon be able to reorganize the council at a +blow; so that Italians or Spaniards, as you choose, may entirely govern +the country." + +Such being his private sentiments with regard to his confidential +advisers, it may be supposed that his intercourse with his council during +the year was not like to be amicable. Moreover, he had kept himself, for +the most part, at a distance from the seat of government. During the +military operations in Holland, his head-quarters had been at Amsterdam. +Here, as the year drew to its close, he had become as unpopular as in +Brussels. The time-serving and unpatriotic burghers, who, at the +beginning of the spring, set up his bust in their houses, and would give +large sums for his picture in little, now broke his images and tore his +portraits from their walls, for it was evident that the power of his name +was gone, both with prince and people. Yet, certainly, those fierce +demonstrations which had formerly surrounded his person with such an +atmosphere of terror had not slackened or become less frequent than +heretofore. He continued to prove that he could be barbarous, both on a +grand and a minute scale. Even as in preceding years, he could ordain +wholesale massacres with a breath, and superintend in person the +executions of individuals. This was illustrated, among other instances, +by the cruel fate of Uitenhoove. That unfortunate nobleman, who had been +taken prisoner in the course of the summer, was accused of having been +engaged in the capture of Brill, and was, therefore, condemned by the +Duke to be roasted to death before a slow fire. He was accordingly +fastened by a chain, a few feet in length, to a stake, around which the +fagots were lighted. Here he was kept in slow torture for a long time, +insulted by the gibes of the laughing Spaniards who surrounded him--until +the executioner and his assistants, more humane than their superior, +despatched the victim with their spears--a mitigation of punishment which +was ill received by Alva. The Governor had, however, no reason to remain +longer in Amsterdam. Harlem had fallen; Alkmaar was relieved; and +Leyden--destined in its second siege to furnish so signal a chapter to +the history of the war--was beleaguered, it was true, but, because known +to be imperfectly supplied, was to be reduced by blockade rather than by +active operations. Don Francis Valdez was accordingly left in command of +the siege, which, however, after no memorable occurrences, was raised, as +will soon be related. + +The Duke had contracted in Amsterdam an enormous amount of debt, both +public and private. He accordingly, early in November, caused a +proclamation to be made throughout the city by sound of trumpet, that all +persons having demands upon him were to present their claims, in person, +upon a specified day. During the night preceding the day so appointed, +the Duke and his train very noiselessly took their departure, without +notice or beat of drum. By this masterly generalship his unhappy +creditors were foiled upon the very eve of their anticipated triumph; the +heavy accounts which had been contracted on the faith of the King and the +Governor, remained for the most part unpaid, and many opulent and +respectable families were reduced to beggary. Such was the consequence of +the unlimited confidence which they had reposed in the honor of their +tyrant. + +On the 17th of November, Don Luis de Requesens y Cuniga, Grand Commander +of Saint Jago, the appointed successor of Alva, arrived in Brussels, +where he was received with great rejoicings. The Duke, on the same day, +wrote to the King, "kissing his feet" for thus relieving him of his +functions. There was, of course, a profuse interchange of courtesy +between the departing and the newly-arrived Governors. Alva was willing +to remain a little while, to assist his successor with his advice, but +preferred that the Grand Commander should immediately assume the reins of +office. To this Requesens, after much respectful reluctance, at length +consented. On the 29th of November he accordingly took the oaths, at +Brussels, as Lieutenant-Governor and Captain-General, in presence of the +Duke of Aerschot, Baron Berlaymont, the President of the Council, and +other functionaries. + +On the 18th of December the Duke of Alva departed from the provinces for +ever. With his further career this history has no concern, and it is not +desirable to enlarge upon the personal biography of one whose name +certainly never excites pleasing emotions. He had kept his bed for the +greater part of the time during the last few weeks of his +government--partly on account of his gout, partly to avoid being seen in +his humiliation, but mainly, it was said, to escape the pressing demands +of his creditors. He expressed a fear of travelling homeward through +France, on the ground that he might very probably receive a shot out of a +window as he went by. He complained pathetically that, after all his +labors, he had not "gained the approbation of the King," while he had +incurred "the malevolence and universal hatred of every individual in the +country." Mondoucet, to whom he made the observation, was of the same +opinion; and informed his master that the Duke "had engendered such an +extraordinary hatred in the hearts of all persons in the land, that they +would have fireworks in honor of his departure if they dared." + +On his journey from the Netherlands, he is said to have boasted that he +had caused eighteen thousand six hundred inhabitants of the provinces to +be executed during the period of his government. The number of those who +had perished by battle, siege, starvation, and massacre, defied +computation. The Duke was well received by his royal master, and remained +in favor until a new adventure of Don Frederic brought father and son +into disgrace. Having deceived and abandoned a maid of honor, he suddenly +espoused his cousins in order to avoid that reparation by marriage which +was demanded for his offence. In consequence, both the Duke and Don +Frederic were imprisoned and banished, nor was Alva released till a +general of experience was required for the conquest of Portugal. Thither, +as it were with fetters on his legs, he went. After having accomplished +the military enterprise entrusted to him, he fell into a lingering fever, +at the termination of which he was so much reduced that he was only kept +alive by milk, which he drank from a woman's breast. Such was the gentle +second childhood of the man who had almost literally been drinking blood +for seventy years. He died on the 12th December, 1582. + +The preceding pages have been written in vain, if an elaborate estimate +be now required of his character. His picture has been painted, as far as +possible, by his own hand. His deeds, which are not disputed, and his +written words, illustrate his nature more fully than could be done by the +most eloquent pen. No attempt has been made to exaggerate his crimes, or +to extenuate his superior qualities. Virtues he had none, unless military +excellence be deemed, as by the Romans, a virtue. In war, both as a +science and a practical art, he excelled all the generals who were +opposed to him in the Netherlands, and he was inferior to no commander in +the world during the long and belligerent period to which his life +belonged. Louis of Nassau possessed high reputation throughout Europe as +a skilful and daring General. With raw volunteers he had overthrown an +army of Spanish regulars, led by a Netherland chieftain of fame and +experience; but when Alva took the field in person the scene was totally +changed. The Duke dealt him such a blow at Jemmingen as would have +disheartened for ever a less indomitable champion. Never had a defeat +been more absolute. The patriot army was dashed out of existence, almost +to a man, and its leader, naked and beggared, though not disheartened, +sent back into Germany to construct his force and his schemes anew. + +Having thus flashed before the eyes of the country the full terrors of +his name, and vindicated the ancient military renown of his nation, the +Duke was at liberty to employ the consummate tactics, in which he could +have given instruction to all the world, against his most formidable +antagonist. The country, paralyzed with fear, looked anxiously but +supinely upon the scientific combat between the two great champions of +Despotism and Protestantism which succeeded. It was soon evident that the +conflict could terminate in but one way. The Prince had considerable +military abilities, and enthusiastic courage; he lost none of his +well-deserved reputation by the unfortunate issue of his campaign; he +measured himself in arms with the great commander of the age, and defied +him, day after day, in vain, to mortal combat; but it was equally certain +that the Duke's quiet game was, played in the most masterly manner. His +positions and his encampments were taken with faultless judgment, his +skirmishes wisely and coldly kept within the prescribed control, while +the inevitable dissolution of the opposing force took place exactly as he +had foreseen, and within the limits which he had predicted. Nor in the +disastrous commencement of the year 1572 did the Duke less signally +manifest his military genius. Assailed as he was at every point, with the +soil suddenly upheaving all around him, as by an earthquake, he did not +lose his firmness nor his perspicacity. Certainly, if he had not been so +soon assisted by that other earthquake, which on Saint Bartholomew's Day +caused all Christendom to tremble, and shattered the recent structure of +Protestant Freedom in the Netherlands, it might have been worse for his +reputation. With Mons safe, the Flemish frontier guarded; France +faithful, and thirty thousand men under the Prince of Orange in Brabant, +the heroic brothers might well believe that the Duke was "at their +mercy." The treason of Charles IX. "smote them as with a club," as the +Prince exclaimed in the bitterness of his spirit. Under the +circumstances, his second campaign was a predestined failure, and Alva +easily vanquished him by a renewed application of those dilatory arts +which he so well understood. + +The Duke's military fame was unquestionable when he came to the +provinces, and both in stricken fields and in long campaigns, he showed +how thoroughly it had been deserved; yet he left the Netherlands a +baffled man. The Prince might be many times defeated, but he was not to +be conquered. As Alva penetrated into the heart of the ancient Batavian +land he found himself overmatched as he had never been before, even by +the most potent generals of his day. More audacious, more inventive, more +desperate than all the commanders of that or any other age, the spirit of +national freedom, now taught the oppressor that it was invincible; except +by annihilation. The same lesson had been read in the same thickets by +the Nervii to Julius Caesar, by the Batavians to the legions of +Vespasian; and now a loftier and a purer flame than that which inspired +the national struggles against Rome glowed within the breasts of the +descendants of the same people, and inspired them with the strength which +comes, from religious enthusiasm. More experienced, more subtle, more +politic than Hermann; more devoted, more patient, more magnanimous than +Civilis, and equal to either in valor and determination, William of +Orange was a worthy embodiment of the Christian, national resistance of +the German race to a foreign tyranny. Alva had entered the Netherlands to +deal with them as with conquered provinces. He found that the conquest +was still to be made, and he left the land without having accomplished +it. Through the sea of blood, the Hollanders felt that they were passing +to the promised land. More royal soldiers fell during the seven months' +siege of Harlem than the rebels had lost in the defeat of Jemmingen, and +in the famous campaign of Brabant. At Alkmaar the rolling waves of +insolent conquest were stayed, and the tide then ebbed for ever. + +The accomplished soldier struggled hopelessly, with the wild and +passionate hatred which his tyranny had provoked. Neither his legions nor +his consummate strategy availed him against an entirely desperate people. +As a military commander, therefore, he gained, upon the whole, no +additional laurels during his long administration of the Netherlands. Of +all the other attributes to be expected in a man appointed to deal with a +free country, in a state of incipient rebellion, he manifested a signal +deficiency. As a financier, he exhibited a wonderful ignorance of the +first principles of political economy. No man before, ever gravely +proposed to establish confiscation as a permanent source of revenue to +the state; yet the annual product from the escheated property of +slaughtered heretics was regularly relied upon, during his +administration, to replenish the King's treasury, and to support the war +of extermination against the King's subjects. Nor did statesman ever +before expect a vast income from the commerce of a nation devoted to +almost universal massacre. During the daily decimation of the people's +lives, he thought a daily decimation of their industry possible. His +persecutions swept the land of those industrious classes which had made +it the rich and prosperous commonwealth it had been so lately; while, at +the same time, he found a "Peruvian mine," as he pretended, in the +imposition of a tenth penny upon every one of its commercial +transactions. He thought that a people, crippled as this had been by the +operations of the Blood Council; could pay ten per cent., not annually +but daily; not upon its income, but upon its capital; not once only, but +every time the value constituting the capital changed hands. He had +boasted that he should require no funds from Spain, but that, on the +contrary, he should make annual remittances to the royal treasury at +home, from the proceeds of his imposts and confiscations; yet, +notwithstanding these resources, and notwithstanding twenty-five millions +of gold in five years, sent by Philip from Madrid, the exchequer of the +provinces was barren and bankrupt when his successor arrived. Requesens +found neither a penny in the public treasury nor the means of raising +one. + +As an administrator of the civil and judicial affairs of the country, +Alva at once reduced its institutions to a frightful simplicity. In the +place of the ancient laws of which the Netherlanders were so proud, he +substituted the Blood Council. This tribunal was even more arbitrary than +the Inquisition. Never was a simpler apparatus for tyranny devised, than +this great labor-saving machine. Never was so great a quantity of murder +and robbery achieved with such despatch and regularity. Sentences, +executions, and confiscations, to an incredible extent, were turned out +daily with appalling precision. For this invention, Alva is alone +responsible. The tribunal and its councillors were the work and the +creatures of his hand, and faithfully did they accomplish the dark +purpose of their existence. Nor can it be urged, in extenuation of the +Governor's crimes, that he was but the blind and fanatically loyal slave +of his sovereign. A noble nature could not have contaminated itself with +such slaughter-house work, but might have sought to mitigate the royal +policy, without forswearing allegiance. A nature less rigid than iron, +would at least have manifested compunction, as it found itself converted +into a fleshless instrument of massacre. More decided than his master, +however, he seemed, by his promptness, to rebuke the dilatory genius of +Philip. The King seemed, at times, to loiter over his work, teasing and +tantalising his appetite for vengeance, before it should be gratified: +Alva, rapid and brutal, scorned such epicureanism. He strode with +gigantic steps over haughty statutes and popular constitutions; crushing +alike the magnates who claimed a bench of monarchs for their jury, and +the ignoble artisans who could appeal only to the laws of their land. +From the pompous and theatrical scaffolds of Egmont and Horn, to the +nineteen halters prepared by Master Karl, to hang up the chief bakers and +brewers of Brussels on their own thresholds--from the beheading of the +twenty nobles on the Horse-market, in the opening of the Governor's +career, to the roasting alive of Uitenhoove at its close-from the block +on which fell the honored head of Antony Straalen, to the obscure chair +in which the ancient gentlewoman of Amsterdam suffered death for an act +of vicarious mercy--from one year's end to another's--from the most +signal to the most squalid scenes of sacrifice, the eye and hand of the +great master directed, without weariness, the task imposed by the +sovereign. + +No doubt the work of almost indiscriminate massacre had been duly mapped +out. Not often in history has a governor arrived to administer the +affairs of a province, where the whole population, three millions strong, +had been formally sentenced to death. As time wore on, however, he even +surpassed the bloody instructions which he had received. He waved aside +the recommendations of the Blood Council to mercy; he dissuaded the +monarch from attempting the path of clemency, which, for secret reasons, +Philip was inclined at one period to attempt. The Governor had, as he +assured the King, been using gentleness in vain, and he was now +determined to try what a little wholesome severity could effect. These +words were written immediately after the massacres at Harlem. + +With all the bloodshed at Mons, and Naarden, and Mechlin, and by the +Council of Tumults, daily, for six years long, still crying from the +ground, he taxed himself with a misplaced and foolish tenderness to the +people. He assured the King that when Alkmaar should be taken, he would, +not spare a "living soul among its whole population;" and, as his parting +advice, he recommended that every city in the Netherlands should be +burned to the ground, except a few which could be occupied permanently by +the royal troops. On the whole, so finished a picture of a perfect and +absolute tyranny has rarely been presented to mankind by history, as in +Alva's administration of the Netherlands. + +The tens of thousands in those miserable provinces who fell victims to +the gallows, the sword, the stake, the living grave, or to living +banishment, have never been counted; for those statistics of barbarity +are often effaced from human record. Enough, however, is known, and +enough has been recited in the preceding pages. No mode in which human +beings have ever caused their fellow-creatures to suffer, was omitted +from daily practice. Men, women, and children, old and young, nobles and +paupers, opulent burghers, hospital patients, lunatics, dead bodies, all +were indiscriminately made to furnish food for-the scaffold and the +stake. Men were tortured, beheaded, hanged by the neck and by the legs, +burned before slow fires, pinched to death with red hot tongs, broken +upon the wheel, starved, and flayed alive. Their skins stripped from the +living body, were stretched upon drums, to be beaten in the march of +their brethren to the gallows. The bodies of many who had died a natural +death were exhumed, and their festering remains hanged upon the gibbet, +on pretext that they had died without receiving the sacrament, but in +reality that their property might become the legitimate prey of the +treasury. Marriages of long standing were dissolved by order of +government, that rich heiresses might be married against their will to +foreigners whom they abhorred. Women and children were executed for the +crime of assisting their fugitive husbands and parents with a penny in +their utmost need, and even for consoling them with a letter, in their +exile. Such was the regular course of affairs as administered by the +Blood Council. The additional barbarities committed amid the sack and +ruin of those blazing and starving cities, are almost beyond belief; +unborn infants were torn from the living bodies of their mothers; women +and children were violated by thousands; and whole populations burned and +hacked to pieces by soldiers in every mode which cruelty, in its wanton +ingenuity, could devise. Such was the administration, of which Vargas +affirmed, at its close, that too much mercy, "nimia misericordia," had +been its ruin. + +Even Philip, inspired by secret views, became wearied of the Governor, +who, at an early period, had already given offence by his arrogance. To +commemorate his victories, the Viceroy had erected a colossal statue, not +to his monarch, but to himself. To proclaim the royal pardon, he had +seated himself upon a golden throne. Such insolent airs could be ill +forgiven by the absolute King. Too cautious to provoke an open rupture, +he allowed the Governor, after he had done all his work, and more than +all his work, to retire without disgrace, but without a triumph. For the +sins of that administration, master and servant are in equal measure +responsible. + +The character of the Duke of Alva, so far as the Netherlands are +concerned, seems almost like a caricature. As a creation of fiction, it +would seem grotesque: yet even that hardy, historical scepticism, which +delights in reversing the judgment of centuries, and in re-establishing +reputations long since degraded to the dust, must find it difficult to +alter this man's position. No historical decision is final; an appeal to +a more remote posterity, founded upon more accurate evidence, is always +valid; but when the verdict has been pronounced upon facts which are +undisputed, and upon testimony from the criminal's lips, there is little +chance of a reversal of the sentence. It is an affectation of +philosophical candor to extenuate vices which are not only avowed, but +claimed as virtues. + + [The time is past when it could be said that the cruelty of Alva, or + the enormities of his administration, have been exaggerated by party + violence. Human invention is incapable of outstripping the truth + upon this subject. To attempt the defence of either the man or his + measures at the present day is to convict oneself of an amount of + ignorance or of bigotry against which history and argument are alike + powerless. The publication of the Duke's letters in the + correspondence of Simancas and in the Besancon papers, together with + that compact mass of horror, long before the world under the title + of "Sententien van Alva," in which a portion only of the sentences + of death and banishment pronounced by him during his reign, have + been copied from the official records--these in themselves would be + a sufficient justification of all the charges ever brought by the + most bitter contemporary of Holland or Flanders. If the + investigator should remain sceptical, however, let him examine the + "Registre des Condamnes et Bannia a Cause des Troubles des Pays + Bas," in three, together with the Records of the "Conseil des + Troubles," in forty-three folio volumes, in the Royal Archives at + Brussels. After going through all these chronicles of iniquity, the + most determined historic, doubter will probably throw up the case.] + + ETEXT EDITOR'S BOOKMARKS: + + Advised his Majesty to bestow an annual bribe upon Lord Burleigh + Angle with their dissimulation as with a hook + Luther's axiom, that thoughts are toll-free + Only kept alive by milk, which he drank from a woman's breast + Scepticism, which delights in reversing the judgment of centuries + So much responsibility and so little power + Sometimes successful, even although founded upon sincerity + We are beginning to be vexed + + + + +MOTLEY'S HISTORY OF THE NETHERLANDS, PG EDITION, VOLUME 22. + +THE RISE OF THE DUTCH REPUBLIC + +By JOHN LOTHROP MOTLEY +1855 +ADMINISTRATION OF THE GRAND COMMANDER + + + + +PART IV. +1573-74 [CHAPTER I.] + + Previous career of Requesens--Philip's passion for detail--Apparent + and real purposes of government--Universal desire for peace-- + Correspondence of leading royalists with Orange--Bankruptcy of the + exchequer at Alva's departures--Expensive nature of the war-- + Pretence of mildness on the part of the Commander--His private + views--Distress of Mondragon at Middelburg--Crippled condition of + Holland--Orange's secret negotiations with France--St. Aldegonde's + views in captivity--Expedition to relieve Middelburg--Counter + preparations of Orange--Defeat of the expedition--Capitulation of + Mondragon--Plans of Orange and his brothers--An army under Count + Louis crosses the Rhine--Measures taken by Requesens--Manoeuvres of + Avila and of Louis--The two armies in face at Mook--Battle of Mook- + heath--Overthrow and death of Count Louis--The phantom battle-- + Character of Louis of Nassau--Painful uncertainty as to his fate-- + Periodical mutinies of the Spanish troops characterized--Mutiny + after the battle of Mook--Antwerp attacked and occupied,--Insolent + and oppressive conduct of the mutineers--Offers of Requesens + refused--Mutiny in the citadel--Exploits of Salvatierra--Terms of + composition--Soldiers' feast on the mere--Successful expedition of + Admiral Boisot + +The horrors of Alva's administration had caused men to look back with +fondness upon the milder and more vacillating tyranny of the Duchess +Margaret. From the same cause the advent of the Grand Commander was +hailed with pleasure and with a momentary gleam of hope. At any rate, it +was a relief that the man in whom an almost impossible perfection of +cruelty seemed embodied was at last to be withdrawn it was certain that +his successor, however ambitious of following in Alva's footsteps, would +never be able to rival the intensity and the unswerving directness of +purpose which it had been permitted to the Duke's nature to attain. The +new Governor-General was, doubtless, human, and it had been long since +the Netherlanders imagined anything in common between themselves and the +late Viceroy. + +Apart from this hope, however, there was little encouragement to be +derived from anything positively known of the new functionary, or the +policy which he was to represent. Don Luis de Requesens and Cuniga, Grand +Commander of Castile and late Governor of Milan, was a man of mediocre +abilities, who possessed a reputation for moderation and sagacity which +he hardly deserved. His military prowess had been chiefly displayed in +the bloody and barren battle of Lepanto, where his conduct and counsel +were supposed to have contributed, in some measure, to the victorious +result. His administration at Milan had been characterized as firm and +moderate. Nevertheless, his character was regarded with anything but +favorable eyes in the Netherlands. Men told each other of his broken +faith to the Moors in Granada, and of his unpopularity in Milan, where, +notwithstanding his boasted moderation, he had, in reality, so oppressed +the people as to gain their deadly hatred. They complained, too, that it +was an insult to send, as Governor-General of the provinces, not a prince +of the blood, as used to be the case, but a simple "gentleman of cloak +and sword." + +Any person, however, who represented the royal authority in the provinces +was under historical disadvantage. He was literally no more than an +actor, hardly even that. It was Philip's policy and pride to direct all +the machinery of his extensive empire, and to pull every string himself. +His puppets, however magnificently attired, moved only in obedience to +his impulse, and spoke no syllable but with his voice. Upon the table in +his cabinet was arranged all the business of his various realms, even to +the most minute particulars. + +Plans, petty or vast, affecting the interests of empires and ages, or +bounded within the narrow limits of trivial and evanescent detail, +encumbered his memory and consumed his time. His ambition to do all the +work of his kingdoms was aided by an inconceivable greediness for labor. +He loved the routine of business, as some monarchs have loved war, as +others have loved pleasure. The object, alike paltry and impossible, of +this ambition, bespoke the narrow mind. His estates were regarded by him +as private property; measures affecting the temporal and eternal +interests of millions were regarded as domestic affairs, and the eye of +the master was considered the only one which could duly superintend these +estates and those interests. Much incapacity to govern was revealed in +this inordinate passion to administer. His mind, constantly fatigued by +petty labors, was never enabled to survey his wide domains from the +height of majesty. + +In Alva, certainly, he had employed an unquestionable reality; but Alva, +by a fortunate coincidence of character, had seemed his second self. He +was now gone, however, and although the royal purpose had not altered, +the royal circumstances were changed. The moment had arrived when it was +thought that the mask and cothurn might again be assumed with effect; +when a grave and conventional personage might decorously make his +appearance to perform an interlude of clemency and moderation with +satisfactory results. Accordingly, the Great Commander, heralded by +rumors of amnesty, was commissioned to assume the government which Alva +had been permitted to resign. + +It had been industriously circulated that a change of policy was +intended. It was even supposed by the more sanguine that the Duke had +retired in disgrace. A show of coldness was manifested towards him on his +return by the King, while Vargas, who had accompanied the Governor, was +peremptorily forbidden to appear within five leagues of the court. The +more discerning, however, perceived much affectation in this apparent +displeasure. Saint Goard, the keen observer of Philip's moods and +measures, wrote to his sovereign that he had narrowly observed the +countenances of both Philip and Alva; that he had informed himself as +thoroughly as possible with regard to the course of policy intended; that +he had arrived at the conclusion that the royal chagrin was but +dissimulation, intended to dispose the Netherlanders to thoughts of an +impossible peace, and that he considered the present merely a breathing +time, in which still more active preparations might be made for crushing +the rebellion. It was now evident to the world that the revolt had +reached a stage in which it could be terminated only by absolute conquest +or concession. + +To conquer the people of the provinces, except by extermination, seemed +difficult--to judge by the seven years of execution, sieges and +campaigns, which had now passed without a definite result. It was, +therefore, thought expedient to employ concession. The new Governor +accordingly, in case the Netherlanders would abandon every object for +which they had been so heroically contending, was empowered to concede a +pardon. It was expressly enjoined upon him, however, that no conciliatory +measures should be adopted in which the King's absolute supremacy, and +the total prohibition of every form of worship but the Roman Catholic, +were not assumed as a basis. Now, as the people had been contending at +least ten years long for constitutional rights against prerogative, and +at least seven for liberty of conscience against papistry, it was easy to +foretell how much effect any negotiations thus commenced were likely to +produce. + +Yet, no doubt, in the Netherlands there was a most earnest longing for +peace. The Catholic portion of the population were desirous of a +reconciliation with their brethren of the new religion. The universal +vengeance which had descended upon heresy had not struck the heretics +only. It was difficult to find a fireside, Protestant or Catholic, which +had not been made desolate by execution, banishment, or confiscation. The +common people and the grand seigniors were alike weary of the war. Not +only Aerschot and Viglius, but Noircarmes and Berlaymont, were desirous +that peace should be at last compassed upon liberal terms, and the Prince +of Orange fully and unconditionally pardoned. Even the Spanish commanders +had become disgusted with the monotonous butchery which had stained their +swords. Julian Romero; the fierce and unscrupulous soldier upon whose +head rested the guilt of the Naarden massacre, addressed several letters +to William of Orange, full of courtesy, and good wishes for a speedy +termination of the war, and for an entire reconciliation of the Prince +with his sovereign. Noircarmes also opened a correspondence with the +great leader of the revolt; and offered to do all in his power to restore +peace and prosperity to the country. The Prince answered the courtesy of +the Spaniard with equal, but barren, courtesy; for it was obvious that no +definite result could be derived from such informal negotiations. To +Noircarmes he responded in terms of gentle but grave rebuke, expressing +deep regret that a Netherland noble of such eminence, with so many others +of rank and authority, should so long have supported the King in his +tyranny. He, however, expressed his satisfaction that their eyes, however +late, had opened to the enormous iniquity which had been practised in the +country, and he accepted the offers of friendship as frankly as they had +been made. Not long afterwards, the Prince furnished his correspondent +with a proof of his sincerity, by forwarding to him two letters which had +been intercepted; from certain agents of government to Alva, in which +Noircarmes and others who had so long supported the King against their +own country, were spoken of in terms of menace and distrust. The Prince +accordingly warned his new correspondent that, in spite of all the proofs +of uncompromising loyalty which he had exhibited, he was yet moving upon +a dark and slippery-pathway, and might, even like Egmont and Horn, find a +scaffold-as the end and the reward of his career. So profound was that +abyss of dissimulation which constituted the royal policy, towards the +Netherlands, that the most unscrupulous partisans of government could +only see doubt and danger with regard to their future destiny, and were +sometimes only saved by an opportune death from disgrace and the +hangman's hands. + +Such, then, were the sentiments of many eminent personages, even among +the most devoted loyalists. All longed for peace; many even definitely +expected it, upon the arrival of the Great Commander. Moreover, that +functionary discovered, at his first glance into the disorderly state of +the exchequer, that at least a short respite was desirable before +proceeding with the interminable measures of hostility against the +rebellion. If any man had been ever disposed to give Alva credit for +administrative ability, such delusion must have vanished at the spectacle +of confusion and bankruptcy which presented, itself at the termination of +his government. He resolutely declined to give his successor any +information whatever as to his financial position. So far from furnishing +a detailed statement, such as might naturally be expected upon so +momentous an occasion, he informed the Grand Commander that even a sketch +was entirely out of the question, and would require more time and labor +than he could then afford. He took his departure, accordingly, leaving +Requesens in profound ignorance as to his past accounts; an ignorance in +which it is probable that the Duke himself shared to the fullest extent. +His enemies stoutly maintained that, however loosely his accounts had +been kept, he had been very careful to make no mistakes against himself, +and that he had retired full of wealth, if not of honor, from his long +and terrible administration. His own letters, on the contrary, accused +the King of ingratitude, in permitting an old soldier to ruin himself, +not only in health but in fortune, for want of proper recompense during +an arduous administration. At any rate it is very certain that the +rebellion had already been an expensive matter to the Crown. The army in +the Netherlands numbered more than sixty-two thousand men, eight thousand +being Spaniards, the rest Walloons and Germans. Forty millions of dollars +had already been sunk, and it seemed probable that it would require +nearly the whole annual produce of the American mines to sustain the war. +The transatlantic gold and silver, disinterred from the depths where they +had been buried for ages, were employed, not to expand the current of a +healthy, life-giving commerce, but to be melted into blood. The sweat and +the tortures of the King's pagan subjects in the primeval forests of the +New World, were made subsidiary to the extermination of his Netherland +people, and the destruction of an ancient civilization. To this end had +Columbus discovered a hemisphere for Castile and Aragon, and the new +Indies revealed their hidden treasures? + +Forty millions of ducats had been spent. Six and a half millions of +arrearages were due to the army, while its current expenses were six +hundred thousand a month. The military expenses alone of the Netherlands +were accordingly more than seven millions of dollars yearly, and the +mines of the New World produced, during the half century of Philip's +reign, an average of only eleven. Against this constantly increasing +deficit, there was not a stiver in the exchequer, nor the means of +raising one. The tenth penny had been long virtually extinct, and was +soon to be formally abolished. Confiscation had ceased to afford a +permanent revenue, and the estates obstinately refused to grant a dollar. +Such was the condition to which the unrelenting tyranny and the financial +experiments of Alva had reduced the country. + +It was, therefore, obvious to Requesens that it would be useful at the +moment to hold out hopes of pardon and reconciliation. He saw, what he +had not at first comprehended, and what few bigoted supporters of +absolutism in any age have ever comprehended, that national enthusiasm, +when profound and general, makes a rebellion more expensive to the despot +than to the insurgents. "Before my arrival," wrote the Grand Commander to +his sovereign, "I did not understand how the rebels could maintain such +considerable fleets, while your Majesty could not support a single one. +It appears, however, that men who are fighting for their lives, their +firesides, their property, and their false religion, for their own cause, +in short, are contented to receive rations only, without receiving pay." +The moral which the new Governor drew from his correct diagnosis of the +prevailing disorder was, not that this national enthusiasm should be +respected, but that it should be deceived. He deceived no one but +himself, however. He censured Noircarmes and Romero for their +intermeddling, but held out hopes of a general pacification. He +repudiated the idea of any reconciliation between the King and the Prince +of Orange, but proposed at the same time a settlement of the revolt. He +had not yet learned that the revolt and William of Orange were one. +Although the Prince himself had repeatedly offered to withdraw for ever +from the country, if his absence would expedite a settlement satisfactory +to the provinces, there was not a patriot in the Netherlands who could +contemplate his departure without despair. Moreover, they all knew better +than did Requesens, the inevitable result of the pacific measures which +had been daily foreshadowed. + +The appointment of the Grand Commander was in truth a desperate attempt +to deceive the Netherlanders. He approved distinctly and heartily of +Alva's policy, but wrote to the King that it was desirable to amuse the +people with the idea of another and a milder scheme. He affected to +believe, and perhaps really did believe, that the nation would accept the +destruction of all their institutions, provided that penitent heretics +were allowed to be reconciled to the Mother Church, and obstinate ones +permitted to go into perpetual exile, taking with them a small portion of +their worldly goods. For being willing to make this last and almost +incredible concession, he begged pardon sincerely of the King. If +censurable, he ought not, he thought, to be too severely blamed, for his +loyalty was known. The world was aware how often he had risked his life +for his Majesty, and how gladly and how many more times he was ready to +risk it in future. In his opinion, religion had, after all, but very +little to do with the troubles, and so he confidentially informed his +sovereign. Egmont and Horn had died Catholics, the people did not rise to +assist the Prince's invasion in 1568, and the new religion was only a +lever by which a few artful demagogues had attempted to overthrow the +King's authority. + +Such views as these revealed the measures of the new Governor's capacity. +The people had really refused to rise in 1568, not because they were +without sympathy for Orange, but because they were paralyzed by their +fear of Alva. Since those days, however, the new religion had increased +and multiplied everywhere, in the blood which had rained upon it. It was +now difficult to find a Catholic in Holland and Zealand, who was not a +government agent. The Prince had been a moderate Catholic, in the opening +scenes of the rebellion, while he came forward as the champion of liberty +for all forms of Christianity. He had now become a convert to the new +religion without receding an inch from his position in favor of universal +toleration. The new religion was, therefore, not an instrument devised by +a faction, but had expanded into the atmosphere of the people's daily +life. Individuals might be executed for claiming to breathe it, but it +was itself impalpable to the attacks of despotism. Yet the Grand +Commander persuaded himself that religion had little or nothing to do +with the state of the Netherlands. Nothing more was necessary, he +thought; or affected to think, in order to restore tranquillity, than +once more to spread the net of a general amnesty. + +The Duke of Alva knew better. That functionary, with whom, before his +departure from the provinces, Requesens had been commanded to confer, +distinctly stated his opinion that there was no use of talking about +pardon. Brutally, but candidly, he maintained that there was nothing to +be done but to continue the process of extermination. It was necessary, +he said, to reduce the country to a dead level of unresisting misery; +before an act of oblivion could be securely laid down as the foundation +of a new and permanent order of society. He had already given his advice +to his Majesty, that every town in the country should be burned to the +ground, except those which could be permanently occupied by the royal +troops. The King, however, in his access of clemency at the appointment +of a new administration, instructed the Grand Commander not to resort to +this measure unless it should become strictly necessary.--Such were the +opposite opinions of the old and new governors with regard to the pardon. +The learned Viglius sided with Alva, although manifestly against his +will. "It is both the Duke's opinion and my own," wrote the Commander, +"that Viglius does not dare to express his real opinion, and that he is +secretly desirous of an arrangement with the rebels." With a good deal of +inconsistency, the Governor was offended, not only with those who opposed +his plans, but with those who favored them. He was angry with Viglius, +who, at least nominally, disapproved of the pardon, and with Noircarmes, +Aerschot, and others, who manifested a wish for a pacification. Of the +chief characteristic ascribed to the people by Julius Caesar, namely, +that they forgot neither favors nor injuries, the second half only, in +the Grand Commander's opinion, had been retained. Not only did they never +forget injuries, but their memory, said he, was so good, that they +recollected many which they had never received. + +On the whole, however, in the embarrassed condition of affairs, and while +waiting for further supplies, the Commander was secretly disposed to try +the effect of a pardon. The object was to deceive the people and to gain +time; for there was no intention of conceding liberty of conscience, of +withdrawing foreign troops, or of assembling the states-general. It was, +however, not possible to apply these hypocritical measures of +conciliation immediately. The war was in full career and could not be +arrested even in that wintry season. The patriots held Mondragon closely +besieged in Middelburg, the last point in the Isle of Walcheren which +held for the King. There was a considerable treasure in money and +merchandise shut up in that city; and, moreover, so deserving and +distinguished an officer as Mondragon could not be abandoned to his fate. +At the same time, famine was pressing him sorely, and, by the end of the +year, garrison and townspeople had nothing but rats, mice, dogs, cats, +and such repulsive substitutes for food, to support life withal. It was +necessary to take immediate measures to relieve the place. + +On the other hand, the situation of the patriots was not very +encouraging. Their superiority on the sea was unquestionable, for the +Hollanders and Zealanders were the best sailors in the world, and they +asked of their country no payment for their blood, but thanks. The land +forces, however, were usually mercenaries, who were apt to mutiny at the +commencement of an action if, as was too often the case, their wages +could not be paid. Holland was entirely cut in twain by the loss of +Harlem and the leaguer of Leyden, no communication between the dissevered +portions being possible, except with difficulty and danger. The estates, +although they had done much for the cause, and were prepared to do much +more, were too apt to wrangle about economical details. They irritated +the Prince of Orange by huckstering about subsidies to a degree which his +proud and generous nature could hardly brook. He had strong hopes from +France. Louis of Nassau had held secret interviews with the Duke of +Alencon and the Duke of Anjou, now King of Poland, at Blamont. Alencon +had assured him secretly, affectionately, and warmly, that he would be as +sincere a friend to the cause as were his two royal brothers. The Count +had even received one hundred thousand livres in hand, as an earnest of +the favorable intentions of France, and was now busily engaged, at the +instance of the Prince, in levying an army in Germany for the relief of +Leyden and the rest of Holland, while William, on his part, was omitting +nothing, whether by representations to the estates or by secret foreign +missions and correspondence, to further the cause of the suffering +country. + +At the same time, the Prince dreaded the effect--of the promised pardon. +He had reason to be distrustful of the general temper of the nation when +a man like Saint Aldegonde, the enlightened patriot and his own tried +friend, was influenced, by the discouraging and dangerous position in +which he found himself, to abandon the high ground upon which they had +both so long and so firmly stood: Saint Aldegonde had been held a strict +prisoner since his capture at Maeslandsluis, at the close of Alva's +administration.--It was, no doubt, a predicament attended with much keen +suffering and positive danger. It had hitherto been the uniform policy of +the government to kill all prisoners, of whatever rank. Accordingly, some +had been drowned, some had been hanged--some beheaded some poisoned in +their dungeons--all had been murdered. This had been Alva's course. The +Grand Commander also highly approved of the system, but the capture of +Count Bossu by the patriots had necessitated a suspension of such rigor. +It was certain that Bossu's head would fall as soon as Saint Aldegonde's, +the Prince having expressly warned the government of this inevitable +result. Notwithstanding that security, however, for his eventual +restoration to liberty, a Netherland rebel in a Spanish prison could +hardly feel himself at ease. There were so many foot-marks into the cave +and not a single one coming forth. Yet it was not singular, however, that +the Prince should read with regret the somewhat insincere casuistry with +which Saint Aldegonde sought to persuade himself and his +fellow-countrymen that a reconciliation with the monarch was desirable, +even upon unworthy terms. He was somewhat shocked that so valiant and +eloquent a supporter of the Reformation should coolly express his opinion +that the King would probably refuse liberty of conscience to the +Netherlanders, but would, no doubt, permit heretics to go into +banishment. "Perhaps, after we have gone into exile," added Saint +Aldegonde, almost with baseness, "God may give us an opportunity of doing +such good service to the King, that he will lend us a more favorable ear, +and, peradventure, permit our return to the country." + +Certainly, such language was not becoming the pen which wrote the famous +Compromise. The Prince himself was, however, not to be induced, even by +the captivity and the remonstrances of so valued a friend, to swerve from +the path of duty. He still maintained, in public and private, that the +withdrawal of foreign troops from the provinces, the restoration of the +old constitutional privileges, and the entire freedom of conscience in +religious matters, were the indispensable conditions of any pacification. +It was plain to him that the Spaniards were not ready to grant these +conditions; but he felt confident that he should accomplish the release +of Saint Aldegonde without condescending to an ignominious peace. + +The most pressing matter, upon the Great Commander's arrival, was +obviously to relieve the city of Middelburg. Mondragon, after so stanch a +defence, would soon be obliged to capitulate, unless he should promptly +receive supplies. Requesens, accordingly, collected seventy-five ships at +Bergen op Zoom; which were placed nominally under the command of Admiral +de Glimes, but in reality under that of Julian Romero. Another fleet of +thirty vessels had been assembled at Antwerp under Sancho d'Avila. Both, +amply freighted with provisions, were destined to make their way to +Middelburg by the two different passages of the Hondo and the Eastern +Scheld. On the other hand, the Prince of Orange had repaired to Flushing +to superintend the operations of Admiral Boisot, who already; in +obedience to his orders, had got a powerful squadron in readiness at that +place. Late in January, 1574, d'Avila arrived in the neighbourhood of +Flushing, where he awaited the arrival of Romero's fleet. United, the two +Commanders were to make a determined attempt to reinforce the starving +city of Middelburg. At the same time, Governor Requesens made his +appearance in person at Bergen op Zoom to expedite the departure of the +stronger fleet, but it was not the intention of the Prince of Orange to +allow this expedition to save the city. The Spanish generals, however +valiant, were to learn that their genius was not amphibious, and that the +Beggars of the Sea were still invincible on their own element, even if +their brethren of the land had occasionally quailed. + +Admiral Boisot's fleet had already moved up the Scheld and taken a +position nearly opposite to Bergen op Zoom. On the 20th of January the +Prince of Orange, embarking from Zierick Zee, came to make them a visit +before the impending action. His galley, conspicuous for its elegant +decorations, was exposed for some time to the artillery of the fort, but +providentially escaped unharmed. He assembled all the officers of his +armada, and, in brief but eloquent language, reminded them how necessary +it was to the salvation of the whole country that they should prevent the +city of Middelburg--the key to the whole of Zealand, already upon the +point of falling into the hands of the patriots--from being now wrested +from their grasp. On the sea, at least, the Hollanders and Zealanders +were at home. The officers and men, with one accord, rent the air with +their cheers. They swore that they would shed every drop of blood in +their veins but they would sustain the Prince and the country; and they +solemnly vowed not only to serve, if necessary, without wages, but to +sacrifice all that they possessed in the world rather than abandon the +cause of their fatherland. Having by his presence and his language +aroused their valor to so high a pitch of enthusiasm, the Prince departed +for Delft, to make arrangements to drive the Spaniards from the siege of +Leyden. + +On the 29th of January, the fleet of Romero sailed from Bergen, disposed +in three divisions, each numbering twenty-five vessels of different +sizes. As the Grand Commander stood on the dyke of Schakerloo to witness +the departure, a general salute was fired by the fleet in his honor, but +with most unfortunate augury. The discharge, by some accident, set fire +to the magazines of one of the ships, which blew up with a terrible +explosion, every soul on board perishing. The expedition, nevertheless, +continued its way. Opposite Romerswael, the fleet of Boisot awaited them, +drawn up in battle array. As an indication of the spirit which animated +this hardy race, it may be mentioned that Schot, captain of the +flag-ship, had been left on shore, dying of a pestilential fever. Admiral +Boisot had appointed a Flushinger, Klaaf Klaafzoon, in his place. Just +before the action, however, Schot, "scarcely able to blow a feather from +his mouth," staggered on board his ship, and claimed the command. + +There was no disputing a precedency which he had risen from his death-bed +to vindicate. There was, however, a short discussion, as the enemy's +fleet approached, between these rival captains regarding the manner in +which the Spaniards should be received. Klaafzoon was of opinion that +most of the men should go below till after the enemy's first discharge. +Schot insisted that all should remain on deck, ready to grapple with the +Spanish fleet, and to board them without the least delay. + +The sentiment of Schot prevailed, and all hands stood on deck, ready with +boarding-pikes and grappling-irons. + +The first division of Romero came nearer, and delivered its first +broadside, when Schot and Klaafzoon both fell mortally wounded. Admiral +Boisot lost an eye, and many officers and sailors in the other vessels +were killed or wounded. This was, however, the first and last of the +cannonading. As many of Romero's vessels as could be grappled within the +narrow estuary found themselves locked in close embrace with their +enemies. A murderous hand-to-hand conflict succeeded. Battle-axe, +boarding-pike, pistol, and dagger were the weapons. Every man who yielded +himself a prisoner was instantly stabbed and tossed into the sea by the +remorseless Zealanders. Fighting only to kill, and not to plunder, they +did not even stop to take the gold chains which many Spaniards wore on +their necks. It had, however, been obvious from the beginning that the +Spanish fleet were not likely to achieve that triumph over the patriots +which was necessary before they could relieve Middelburg. The battle +continued a little longer; but after fifteen ships had been taken and +twelve hundred royalists slain, the remainder of the enemy's fleet +retreated into Bergen. Romero himself, whose ship had grounded, sprang +out of a port-hole and swam ashore, followed by such of his men as were +able to imitate him. He landed at the very feet of the Grand Commander, +who, wet and cold, had been standing all day upon the dyke of Schakerloo, +in the midst of a pouring rain, only to witness the total defeat of his +armada at last. + +"I told your Excellency," said Romero, coolly, as he climbed, all +dripping, on the bank, "that I was a land-fighter and not a sailor. If +you were to give me the command of a hundred fleets, I believe that none +of them would fare better than this has done." The Governor and his +discomfited, but philosophical lieutenant, then returned to Bergen, and +thence to Brussels, acknowledging that the city of Middelburg must fall, +while Sancho d'Avila, hearing of the disaster which had befallen his +countrymen, brought his fleet, with the greatest expedition, back to +Antwerp. Thus the gallant Mondragon was abandoned to his fate. + +That fate could no longer be protracted. The city of Middelburg had +reached and passed the starvation point. Still Mondragon was determined +not to yield at discretion, although very willing to capitulate. The +Prince of Orange, after the victory of Bergen, was desirous of an +unconditional surrender, believing it to be his right, and knowing that +he could not be supposed capable of practising upon Middelburg the +vengeance which had been wreaked on Naarden, Zutfen, and Harlem. +Mondragon, however, swore that he would set fire to the city in twenty +places, and perish with every soldier and burgher in the flames together, +rather than abandon himself to the enemy's mercy. The prince knew that +the brave Spaniard was entirely capable of executing his threat. He +granted honorable conditions, which, on the 18th February, were drawn up +in five articles, and signed. It was agreed that Mondragon and his troops +should leave the place, with their arms, ammunition, and all their +personal property. The citizens who remained were to take oath of +fidelity to the Prince, as stadholder for his Majesty, and were to pay +besides a subsidy of three hundred thousand florins. Mondragon was, +furthermore, to procure the discharge of Saint Aldegonde, and of four +other prisoners of rank, or, failing in the attempt, was to return within +two months, and constitute himself prisoner of war. The Catholic priests +were to take away from the city none of their property but their clothes. +In accordance with this capitulation, Mondragon, and those who wished to +accompany him, left the city on the 21st of February, and were conveyed +to the Flemish shore at Neuz. It will be seen in the sequel that the +Governor neither granted him the release of the five prisoners, nor +permitted him to return, according to his parole. A few days afterwards, +the Prince entered the city, re-organized the magistracy, received the +allegiance of the inhabitants, restored the ancient constitution, and +liberally remitted two-thirds of the sum in which they had been, mulcted. + +The Spaniards had thus been successfully driven from the Isle of +Walcheren, leaving the Hollanders and Zealanders masters of the +sea-coast. Since the siege of Alkmaar had been raised, however, the enemy +had remained within the territory of Holland. Leyden was closely +invested, the country in a desperate condition, and all communication +between its different cities nearly suspended. It was comparatively easy +for the Prince of Orange to equip and man his fleets. The genius and +habits of the people made them at home upon the water, and inspired them +with a feeling of superiority to their adversaries. It was not so upon +land. Strong to resist, patient to suffer, the Hollanders, although +terrible in defence; had not the necessary discipline or experience to +meet the veteran legions of Spain, with confidence in the open field. To +raise the siege of Leyden, the main reliance of the Prince was upon Count +Louis, who was again in Germany. In the latter days of Alva's +administration, William had written to his brothers, urging them speedily +to arrange the details of a campaign, of which he forwarded them a +sketch. As soon as a sufficient force had been levied in Germany, an +attempt was to be made upon Maestricht. If that failed, Louis was to +cross the Meuse, in the neighbourhood of Stochem, make his way towards +the Prince's own city of Gertruidenberg, and thence make a junction with +his brother in the neighbourhood of Delft. They were then to take up a +position together between Harlem and Leyden. In that case it seemed +probable that the Spaniards would find themselves obliged to fight at a +great disadvantage, or to abandon the country. "In short," said the +Prince, "if this enterprise be arranged with due diligence and +discretion, I hold it as the only certain means for putting a speedy end +to the war, and for driving these devils of Spaniards out of the country, +before the Duke of Alva has time to raise another army to support them." + +In pursuance of this plan, Louis had been actively engaged all the +earlier part of the winter in levying troops and raising supplies. He had +been assisted by the French princes with considerable sums of money, as +an earnest of what he was in future to expect from that source. He had +made an unsuccessful attempt to effect the capture of Requesens, on his +way to take the government of the Netherlands. He had then passed to the +frontier of France, where he had held his important interview with +Catharine de Medici and the Duke of Anjou, then on the point of departure +to ascend the throne of Poland. He had received liberal presents, and +still more liberal promises. Anjou had assured him that he would go as +far as any of the German princes in rendering active and sincere +assistance to the Protestant cause in the Netherlands. The Duc +d'Alencon--soon, in his brother's absence, to succeed to the +chieftainship of the new alliance between the "politiques" and the +Huguenots--had also pressed his hand, whispering in his ear, as he did +so, that the government of France now belonged to him, as it had recently +done to Anjou, and that the Prince might reckon upon his friendship with +entire security. + +These fine words, which cost nothing when whispered in secret, were not +destined to fructify into a very rich harvest, for the mutual jealousy of +France and England, lest either should acquire ascendency in the +Netherlands, made both governments prodigal of promises, while the common +fear entertained by them of the power of Spain rendered both languid; +insincere, and mischievous allies. Count John, however; was indefatigable +in arranging the finances of the proposed expedition, and in levying +contributions among his numerous relatives and allies in Germany, while +Louis had profited by the occasion of Anjou's passage into Poland, to +acquire for himself two thousand German and French cavalry, who had +served to escort that Prince, and who, being now thrown out of +employment, were glad to have a job offered them by a general who was +thought to be in funds. Another thousand of cavalry and six thousand foot +were soon assembled from those ever-swarming nurseries of mercenary +warriors, the smaller German states. With these, towards the end of +February; Louis crossed the Rhine in a heavy snow-storm, and bent his +course towards Maestricht. All the three brothers of the Prince +accompanied this little army, besides Duke Christopher, son of the +elector Palatine. + +Before the end of the month the army reached the Meuse, and encamped +within four miles of Maestricht; on the opposite side of the river. The +garrison, commanded by Montesdoca, was weak, but the news of the warlike +preparations in Germany had preceded the arrival of Count Louis. +Requesens, feeling the gravity of the occasion, had issued orders for an +immediate levy of eight thousand cavalry in Germany, with a proportionate +number of infantry. At the same time he had directed Don Bernardino de +Mendoza, with some companies of cavalry, then stationed in Breda, to +throw himself without delay into Maestricht. Don Sancho d'Avila was +entrusted with the general care of resisting the hostile expedition. That +general had forthwith collected all the troops which could be spared from +every town where they were stationed, had strengthened the cities of +Antwerp, Ghent, Nimweben, and Valenciennes, where there were known to be +many secret adherents of Orange; and with the remainder of his forces had +put himself in motion, to oppose the entrance of Louis into Brabant, and +his junction with his brother in Holland. Braccamonte had been despatched +to Leyden, in order instantly to draw off the forces which were besieging +the city. Thus Louis had already effected something of importance by the +very hews of his approach. + +Meantime the Prince of Orange had raised six thousand infantry, whose +rendezvous was the Isle of Bommel. He was disappointed at the paucity of +the troops which Louis had been able to collect, but he sent messengers +immediately to him; with a statement of his own condition, and with +directions to join him in the Isle of Bommel, as soon as Maestricht +should be reduced. It was, however, not in the destiny of Louis to reduce +Maestricht. His expedition had been marked with disaster from the +beginning. A dark and threatening prophecy had, even before its +commencement, enwrapped Louis, his brethren, and his little army, in a +funeral pall. More than a thousand of his men had deserted before he +reached the Meuse. When he encamped, apposite Maestricht, he found the +river neither frozen nor open, the ice obstructing the navigation, but +being too weak for the weight of an army. While he was thus delayed and +embarrassed, Mendoza arrived in the city with reinforcements. It seemed +already necessary for Louis to abandon his hopes of Maestricht, but he +was at least desirous of crossing the river in that neighbourhood, in +order to effect his junction with the Prince at the earliest possible +moment. While the stream was still encumbered with ice, however, the +enemy removed all the boats. On, the 3rd of March, Avila arrived with a +large body of troops at Maestricht, and on the 18th Mendoza crossed the +river in the night, giving the patriots so severe an 'encamisada', that +seven hundred were killed, at the expense of only seven of his own party. +Harassed, but not dispirited by these disasters, Louis broke up his camp +on the 21st, and took a position farther down the river, at Fauquemont +and Gulpen, castles in the Duchy of Limburg. On the 3rd of April, +Braccamonite arrived at Maestricht, with twenty-five companies of +Spaniards and three of cavalry, while, on the same day Mondragon reached +the scene of action with his sixteen companies of veterans. + +It was now obvious to Louis, not only that he should not take Maestricht, +but that his eventual junction with his brother was at least doubtful, +every soldier who could possibly be spared seeming in motion to oppose +his progress. He was, to be sure, not yet outnumbered, but the enemy was +increasing, and his own force diminishing daily. Moreover, the Spaniards +were highly disciplined and experienced troops; while his own soldiers +were mercenaries, already clamorous and insubordinate. On the 8th of +April he again shifted his encampment, and took his course along the +right bank of the Meuse, between that river and the Rhine, in the +direction of Nimwegen. Avila promptly decided to follow him upon the +opposite bank of the Meuse, intending to throw himself between Louis and +the Prince of Orange, and by a rapid march to give the Count battle, +before he could join his brother. On the 8th of April, at early dawn, +Louis had left the neighbourhood of Maestricht, and on the 13th he +encamped at the village of Mook near the confines of Cleves. Sending out +his scouts, he learned to his vexation, that the enemy had outmarched +him, and were now within cannonshot. On the 13th, Avila had constructed a +bridge of boats, over which he had effected the passage of the Meuse with +his whole army, so that on the Count's arrival at Mook, he found the +enemy facing him, on the same side of the river, and directly in his +path. It was, therefore, obvious that, in this narrow space between the +Waal and the Meuse, where they were now all assembled, Louis must achieve +a victory, unaided, or abandon his expedition, and leave the Hollanders +to despair. He was distressed at the position in which he found himself, +for he had hoped to reduce Maestricht, and to join, his brother in +Holland. Together, they could, at least, have expelled the Spaniards from +that territory, in which case it was probable that a large part of the +population in the different provinces would have risen. According to +present aspects, the destiny of the country, for some time to come, was +likely to hang upon the issue of a battle which he had not planned, and +for which he was not fully prepared. Still he was not the man to be +disheartened; nor had he ever possessed the courage to refuse a battle +when: offered. Upon this occasion it would be difficult to retreat +without disaster and disgrace, but it was equally difficult to achieve a +victory. Thrust, as he was, like a wedge into the very heart of a hostile +country, he was obliged to force his way through, or to remain in his +enemy's power. Moreover, and worst of all, his troops were in a state of +mutiny for their wages. While he talked to them of honor, they howled to +him for money. It was the custom of these mercenaries to mutiny on the +eve of battle--of the Spaniards, after it had been fought. By the one +course, a victory was often lost which might have been achieved; by the +other, when won it was rendered fruitless. + +Avila had chosen his place of battle with great skill. On the right bank +of the Meuse, upon a narrow plain which spread from the river to a chain +of hills within cannon-shot on the north, lay the little village of Mook. +The Spanish general knew that his adversary had the superiority in +cavalry, and that within this compressed apace it would not be possible +to derive much advantage from the circumstance. + +On the 14th, both armies were drawn up in battle array at earliest dawn, +Louis having strengthened his position by a deep trench, which extended +from Mook, where he had stationed ten companies of infantry, which thus +rested on the village and the river. Next came the bulk of his infantry, +disposed in a single square. On their right was his cavalry, arranged in +four squadrons, as well as the narrow limits of the field would allow. A +small portion of them, for want of apace, were stationed on the hill +side. + +Opposite, the forces of Don Sancho were drawn up in somewhat similar +fashion. Twenty-five companies of Spaniards were disposed in four bodies +of pikemen and musketeers; their right resting on the river. On their +left was the cavalry, disposed by Mendoza in the form of a half moon-the +horns garnished by two small bodies of sharpshooters. In the front ranks +of the cavalry were the mounted carabineers of Schenk; behind were the +Spanish dancers. The village of Mook lay between the two armies. + +The skirmishing began at early dawn, with an attack upon the trench, and +continued some hours, without bringing on a general engagement. Towards +ten o'clock, Count Louis became impatient. All the trumpets of the +patriots now rang out a challenge to their adversaries, and the Spaniards +were just returning the defiance, and preparing a general onset, when the +Seigneur de Hierges and Baron Chevreaux arrived on the field. They +brought with them a reinforcement of more than a thousand men, and the +intelligence that Valdez was on his way with nearly five thousand more. +As he might be expected on the following morning, a short deliberation +was held as to the expediency of deferring the action. Count Louis was at +the head of six thousand foot and two thousand cavalry. Avila mustered +only four thousand infantry and not quite a thousand horse. This +inferiority would be changed on the morrow into an overwhelming +superiority. Meantime, it was well to remember the punishment endured by +Aremberg at Heiliger Lee, for not waiting till Meghen's arrival. This +prudent counsel was, however, very generally scouted, and by none more +loudly than by Hierges and Chevreaux, who had brought the intelligence. +It was thought that at this juncture nothing could be more indiscreet +than discretion. They had a wary and audacious general to deal with. +While they were waiting for their reinforcements, he was quite capable of +giving them the slip. He might thus effect the passage of the stream and +that union with his brother which--had been thus far so successfully +prevented. This reasoning prevailed, and the skirmishing at the trench +was renewed with redoubled vigour, an additional: force being sent +against it. After a short and fierce struggle it was carried, and the +Spaniards rushed into the village, but were soon dislodged by a larger +detachment of infantry, which Count Louis sent to the rescue. The battle +now became general at this point. + +Nearly all the patriot infantry were employed to defend the post; nearly +all the Spanish infantry were ordered to assail it. The Spaniards, +dropping on their knees, according to custom, said a Paternoster and an +Ave Mary, and then rushed, in mass, to the attack. After a short but +sharp conflict, the trench was again carried, and the patriots completely +routed. Upon this, Count Louis charged with all his cavalry upon the +enemy's horse, which had hitherto remained motionless. With the first +shock the mounted arquebusiers of Schenk, constituting the vanguard, were +broken, and fled in all directions. So great was their panic, as Louis +drove them before him, that they never stopped till they had swum or been +drowned in the river; the survivors carrying the news to Grave and to +other cities that the royalists had been completely routed. This was, +however, very far from the truth. The patriot cavalry, mostly +carabineers, wheeled after the first discharge, and retired to reload +their pieces, but before they were ready for another attack, the Spanish +lancers and the German black troopers, who had all remained firm, set +upon them with great spirit: A fierce, bloody, and confused action +succeeded, in which the patriots were completely overthrown. + +Count Louis, finding that the day was lost, and his army cut to pieces, +rallied around him a little band of troopers, among whom were his +brother, Count Henry, and Duke Christopher, and together they made a +final and desperate charge. It was the last that was ever seen of them on +earth. They all went down together, in the midst of the fight, and were +never heard of more. The battle terminated, as usual in those conflicts +of mutual hatred, in a horrible butchery, hardly any of the patriot army +being left to tell the tale of their disaster. At least four thousand +were killed, including those who were slain on the field, those who were +suffocated in the marshes or the river, and those who were burned in the +farm-houses where they had taken refuge. It was uncertain which of those +various modes of death had been the lot of Count Louis, his brother, and +his friend. The mystery was never solved. They had, probably, all died on +the field; but, stripped of their clothing, with their faces trampled +upon by the hoofs of horses, it was not possible to distinguish them from +the less illustrious dead. It was the opinion of, many that they had been +drowned in the river; of others, that they had been burned. + + [Meteren, v. 91. Bor, vii. 491, 492. Hoofd, Bentivoglio, ubi + sup. The Walloon historian, occasionally cited in these pages, has + a more summary manner of accounting for the fate of these + distinguished personages. According to his statement, the leaders + of the Protestant forces dined and made merry at a convent in the + neighbourhood upon Good Friday, five days before the battle, using + the sacramental chalices at the banquet, and mixing consecrated + wafers with their wine. As a punishment for this sacrilege, the + army was utterly overthrown, and the Devil himself flew away with + the chieftains, body and soul.] + +There was a vague tale that Louis, bleeding but not killed, had struggled +forth from the heap of corpses where he had been thrown, had crept to +the river-side, and, while washing his wounds, had been surprised and +butchered by a party of rustics. The story was not generally credited, +but no man knew, or was destined to learn, the truth. + +A dark and fatal termination to this last enterprise of Count Louis had +been anticipated by many. In that superstitious age, when emperors and +princes daily investigated the future, by alchemy, by astrology, and by +books of fate, filled with formula; as gravely and precisely set forth as +algebraical equations; when men of every class, from monarch to peasant, +implicitly believed in supernatural portents and prophecies, it was not +singular that a somewhat striking appearance, observed in the sky some +weeks previously to the battle of Mookerheyde, should have inspired many +persons with a shuddering sense of impending evil. + +Early in February five soldiers of the burgher guard at Utrecht, being on +their midnight watch, beheld in the sky above them the representation of +a furious battle. The sky was extremely dark, except directly over: their +heads; where, for a space equal in extent to the length of the city, and +in breadth to that of an ordinary chamber, two armies, in battle array, +were seen advancing upon each other. The one moved rapidly up from the +north-west, with banners waving; spears flashing, trumpets sounding; +accompanied by heavy artillery and by squadrons of cavalry. The other +came slowly forward from the southeast; as if from an entrenched camp, to +encounter their assailants. There was a fierce action for a few moments, +the shouts of the combatants, the heavy discharge of cannon, the rattle +of musketry; the tramp of heavy-aimed foot soldiers, the rush of cavalry, +being distinctly heard. The firmament trembled with the shock of the +contending hosts, and was lurid with the rapid discharges of their +artillery. After a short, fierce engagement, the north-western army was +beaten back in disorder, but rallied again, after a breathing-time, +formed again into solid column, and again advanced. Their foes, arrayed, +as the witnesses affirmed, in a square and closely serried grove of +spears' and muskets, again awaited the attack. Once more the aerial +cohorts closed upon each other, all the signs and sounds of a desperate +encounter being distinctly recognised by the eager witnesses. The +struggle seemed but short. The lances of the south-eastern army seemed to +snap "like hemp-stalks," while their firm columns all went down together +in mass, beneath the onset of their enemies. The overthrow was complete, +victors and vanquished had faded, the clear blue space, surrounded by +black clouds, was empty, when suddenly its whole extent, where the +conflict had so lately raged, was streaked with blood, flowing athwart +the sky in broad crimson streams; nor was it till the five witnesses had +fully watched and pondered over these portents that the vision entirely +vanished. + +So impressed were the grave magistrates of Utrecht with the account given +next day by the sentinels, that a formal examination of the circumstances +was made, the deposition of each witness, under oath, duly recorded, and +a vast deal of consultation of soothsayers' books and other auguries +employed to elucidate the mystery. It was universally considered typical +of the anticipated battle between Count Louis and the Spaniards. When, +therefore, it was known that the patriots, moving from the south-east, +had arrived at Mookerheyde, and that their adversaries, crossing the +Meuse at Grave, had advanced upon them from the north-west, the result of +the battle was considered inevitable; the phantom battle of Utrecht its +infallible precursor. + +Thus perished Louis of Nassau in the flower of his manhood, in the midst +of a career already crowded with events such as might suffice for a +century of ordinary existence. It is difficult to find in history a more +frank and loyal character. His life was noble; the elements of the heroic +and the genial so mixed in him that the imagination contemplates him, +after three centuries, with an almost affectionate interest. He was not a +great man. He was far from possessing the subtle genius or the expansive +views of his brother; but, called as he was to play a prominent part in +one of the most complicated and imposing dramas ever enacted by man, he, +nevertheless, always acquitted himself with honor. His direct, fearless +and energetic nature commanded alike the respect of friend and foe. As a +politician, a soldier, and a diplomatist, he was busy, bold, and true. +He, accomplished by sincerity what many thought could only be compassed +by trickery. Dealing often with the most adroit and most treacherous of +princes and statesmen, he frequently carried his point, and he never +stooped to flattery. From the time when, attended by his "twelve +disciples," he assumed the most prominent part in the negotiations with +Margaret of Parma, through all the various scenes of the revolution, +through, all the conferences with Spaniards, Italians, Huguenots. +Malcontents, Flemish councillors, or German princes, he was the +consistent and unflinching supporter of religious liberty and +constitutional law. The battle of Heiliger Lee and the capture of Mons +were his most signal triumphs, but the fruits of both were annihilated by +subsequent disaster. His headlong courage was his chief foible. The +French accused him of losing the battle of Moncontour by his impatience +to engage; yet they acknowledged that to his masterly conduct it was +owing that their retreat was effected in so successful, and even so +brilliant a manner. He was censured for rashness and precipitancy in this +last and fatal enterprise, but the reproach seems entirely without +foundation. The expedition as already stated, had been deliberately +arranged, with the full co-operation of his brother, and had been +preparing several months. That he was able to set no larger force on foot +than that which he led into Gueldres was not his fault. But for the +floating ice which barred his passage of the Meuse, he would have +surprised Maestricht; but for the mutiny, which rendered his mercenary +soldiers cowards, he might have defeated Avila at Mookerheyde. Had he +done so he would have joined his brother in the Isle of Bommel in +triumph; the Spaniards would, probably, have been expelled from Holland, +and Leyden saved the horrors of that memorable siege which she was soon +called, upon to endure. These results were not in his destiny. Providence +had decreed that he should perish in the midst of his usefulness; that +the Prince, in his death,'should lose the right hand which had been so +swift to execute his various plans, and the faithful fraternal heart +which had always responded so readily to every throb of his own. + +In figure, he was below the middle height, but martial and noble in his +bearing. The expression of his countenance was lively; his manner frank +and engaging. All who knew him personally loved him, and he was the idol +of his gallant brethren: His mother always addressed him as her dearly +beloved, her heart's-cherished Louis. "You must come soon to me," she +wrote in the last year of his life, "for I have many matters to ask your +advice upon; and I thank you beforehand, for you have loved me as your +mother all the days of your life; for which may God Almighty have you in +his holy keeping." + +It was the doom of this high-born, true-hearted dame to be called upon to +weep oftener for her children than is the usual lot of mothers. Count +Adolphus had already perished in his youth on the field of Heiliger Lee, +and now Louis and his young brother Henry, who had scarcely attained his +twenty-sixth year, and whose short life had been passed in that faithful +service to the cause of freedom which was the instinct of his race, had +both found a bloody and an unknown grave. Count John, who had already +done so much for the cause, was fortunately spared to do much more. +Although of the expedition, and expecting to participate in the battle, +he had, at the urgent solicitation of all the leaders, left the army for +a brief, season, in order to obtain at Cologne a supply of money, for the +mutinous troops: He had started upon this mission two days before the +action in which he, too, would otherwise have been sacrificed. The young +Duke Christopher, "optimm indolis et magnee spei adolescens," who had +perished on the same field, was sincerely mourned by the lovers of +freedom. His father, the Elector, found his consolation in the +Scriptures, and in the reflection that his son had died in the bed of +honor, fighting for the cause of God. "'T was better thus," said that +stern Calvinist, whose dearest wish was to "Calvinize the world," than to +have passed his time in idleness, "which is the Devil's pillow." + +Vague rumors of the catastrophe had spread far and wide. It was soon +certain that Louis had been defeated, but, for a long time, conflicting +reports were in circulation as to the fate of the leaders. The Prince of +Orange, meanwhile, passed days of intense anxiety, expecting hourly to +hear from his brothers, listening to dark rumors, which he refused to +credit and could not contradict, and writing letters, day after day, long +after the eyes which should have read the friendly missives were closed. + +The victory of the King's army at Mookerheyde had been rendered +comparatively barren by the mutiny which broke forth the day after the +battle. Three years' pay were due to the Spanish troops, and it was not +surprising that upon this occasion one of those periodic rebellions +should break forth, by which the royal cause was frequently so much +weakened, and the royal governors so intolerably perplexed. These +mutinies were of almost regular occurrence, and attended by as regular a +series of phenomena. The Spanish troops, living so far from their own +country, but surrounded by their women, and constantly increasing swarms +of children, constituted a locomotive city of considerable population, +permanently established on a foreign soil. It was a city walled in by +bayonets, and still further isolated from the people around by the +impassable moat of mutual hatred. It was a city obeying the articles of +war, governed by despotic authority, and yet occasionally revealing, in +full force, the irrepressible democratic element. At periods which could +almost be calculated, the military populace were wont to rise upon the +privileged classes, to deprive them of office and liberty, and to set up +in their place commanders of their own election. A governor-in-chief, a +sergeant-major, a board of councillors and various other functionaries, +were chosen by acclamation and universal suffrage. The Eletto, or chief +officer thus appointed, was clothed with supreme power, but forbidden to +exercise it. He was surrounded by councillors, who watched his every +motion, read all his correspondence, and assisted at all his conferences, +while the councillors were themselves narrowly watched by the commonalty. +These movements were, however, in general, marked by the most exemplary +order. Anarchy became a system of government; rebellion enacted and +enforced the strictest rules of discipline; theft, drunkenness, violence +to women, were severely punished. As soon as the mutiny broke forth, the +first object was to take possession of the nearest city, where the Eletto +was usually established in the town-house, and the soldiery quartered +upon the citizens. Nothing in the shape of food or lodging was too good +for these marauders. Men who had lived for years on camp rations--coarse +knaves who had held the plough till compelled to handle the musket, now +slept in fine linen, and demanded from the trembling burghers the +daintiest viands. They ate the land bare, like a swarm of locusts. +"Chickens and partridges," says the thrifty chronicler of Antwerp, +"capons and pheasants, hares and rabbits, two kinds of wines;--for +sauces, capers and olives, citrons and oranges, spices and sweetmeats; +wheaten bread for their dogs, and even wine, to wash the feet of their +horses;"--such was the entertainment demanded and obtained by the +mutinous troops. They were very willing both to enjoy the luxury of this +forage, and to induce the citizens, from weariness of affording compelled +hospitality, to submit to a taxation by which the military claims might +be liquidated. + +A city thus occupied was at the mercy of a foreign soldiery, which had +renounced all authority but that of self-imposed laws. The King's +officers were degraded, perhaps murdered; while those chosen to supply +their places had only a nominal control. The Eletto, day by day, +proclaimed from the balcony of the town-house the latest rules and +regulations. If satisfactory, there was a clamor of applause; if +objectionable, they were rejected with a tempest of hisses, with +discharges of musketry; The Eletto did not govern: he was a dictator who +could not dictate, but could only register decrees. If too honest, too +firm, or too dull for his place, he was deprived of his office and +sometimes of his life. Another was chosen in his room, often to be +succeeded by a series of others, destined to the same fate. Such were the +main characteristics of those formidable mutinies, the result of the +unthriftiness and dishonesty by which the soldiery engaged in these +interminable hostilities were deprived of their dearly earned wages. The +expense of the war was bad enough at best, but when it is remembered that +of three or four dollars sent from Spain, or contributed by the provinces +for the support of the army, hardly one reached the pockets of the +soldier, the frightful expenditure which took place may be imagined. It +was not surprising that so much peculation should engender revolt. + +The mutiny which broke out after the defeat of Count Louis was marked +with the most pronounced and inflammatory of these symptoms. Three years' +pay was due, to the Spaniards, who, having just achieved a signal +victory, were-disposed to reap its fruits, by fair means or by force. On +receiving nothing but promises, in answer to their clamorous demands, +they mutinied to a man, and crossed the Meuse to Grave, whence, after +accomplishing the usual elections, they took their course to Antwerp. +Being in such strong force, they determined to strike at the capital. +Rumour flew before them. Champagny, brother of Granvelle, and royal +governor of the city, wrote in haste to apprise Requesens of the +approaching danger. The Grand Commander, attended only by Vitelli, +repaired instantly to Antwerp. Champagny advised throwing up a +breastwork with bales of merchandize, upon the esplanade, between the +citadel and the town, for it was at this point, where the connection +between the fortifications of the castle and those of the city had never +been thoroughly completed, that the invasion might be expected. Requesens +hesitated. He trembled at a conflict with his own soldiery. If +successful, he could only be so by trampling upon the flower of his army. +If defeated, what would become of the King's authority, with rebellious +troops triumphant in rebellious provinces? Sorely perplexed, the +Commander, could think of no expedient. Not knowing what to do, he did +nothing. In the meantime, Champagny, who felt himself odious to the +soldiery, retreated to the Newtown, and barricaded himself, with a few +followers, in the house of the Baltic merchants. + +On the 26th of April, the mutinous troops in perfect order, marched into +the city, effecting their entrance precisely at the weak point where they +had been expected. Numbering at least three thousand, they encamped on +the esplanade, where Requesens appeared before them alone on horseback, +and made them an oration. They listened with composure, but answered +briefly and with one accord, "Dineros y non palabras," dollars not +speeches. Requesens promised profusely, but the time was past for +promises. Hard Silver dollars would alone content an army which, after +three years of bloodshed and starvation, had at last taken the law into +their own hands. Requesens withdrew to consult the Broad Council of the +city. He was without money himself, but he demanded four hundred thousand +crowns of the city. This was at first refused, but the troops knew the +strength of their position, for these mutinies were never repressed, and +rarely punished. On this occasion the Commander was afraid to employ +force, and the burghers, after the army had been quartered upon them for +a time, would gladly pay a heavy ransom to be rid of their odious and +expensive guests. The mutineers foreseeing that the work might last a few +weeks, and determined to proceed leisurely; took possession of the great +square. The Eletto, with his staff of councillors, was quartered in the +town-house, while the soldiers distributed themselves among the houses of +the most opulent citizens, no one escaping a billet who was rich enough +to receive such company: bishop or burgomaster, margrave or merchant. The +most famous kitchens were naturally the most eagerly sought, and +sumptuous apartments, luxurious dishes, delicate wines, were daily +demanded. The burghers dared not refuse. + +The six hundred Walloons, who had been previously quartered in the city, +were expelled, and for many days, the mutiny reigned paramount. Day after +day the magistracy, the heads of guilds, all the representatives of the +citizens were assembled in the Broad Council. The Governor-General +insisted on his demand of four hundred thousand crowns, representing, +with great justice, that the mutineers would remain in the city until +they had eaten and drunk to that amount, and that there would still be +the arrearages; for which the city would be obliged to raise the funds. +On the 9th of May, the authorities made an offer, which was duly +communicated to the Eletto. That functionary stood forth on a window-sill +of the town-house, and addressed the soldiery. He informed them that the +Grand Commander proposed to pay ten months' arrears in cash, five months +in silks and woollen cloths, and the balance in promises, to be fulfilled +within a few days. The terms were not considered satisfactory, and were +received with groans of derision. The Eletto, on the contrary, declared +them very liberal, and reminded the soldiers of the perilous condition in +which they stood, guilty to a man of high treason, with a rope around +every neck. It was well worth their while to accept the offer made them, +together with the absolute pardon for the past, by which it was +accompanied. For himself, he washed his hands of the consequences if the +offer were rejected. The soldiers answered by deposing the Eletto and +choosing another in his room. + +Three days after, a mutiny broke out in the citadel--an unexampled +occurrence. The rebels ordered Sancho d'Avila, the commandant, to deliver +the keys of the fortress. He refused to surrender them but with his life. +They then contented themselves with compelling his lieutenant to leave +the citadel, and with sending their Eletto to confer with the Grand +Commander, as well as with the Eletto of the army. After accomplishing +his mission, he returned, accompanied by Chiappin Vitelli, as envoy of +the Governor-General. No sooner, however, had the Eletto set foot on the +drawbridge than he was attacked by Ensign Salvatierra of the Spanish +garrison, who stabbed him to the heart and threw him into the moat. The +ensign, who was renowned in the army for his ferocious courage, and who +wore embroidered upon his trunk hose the inscription, "El castigador de +los Flamencos," then rushed upon the Sergeant-major of the mutineers, +despatched him in the same way, and tossed him likewise into the moat. +These preliminaries being settled, a satisfactory arrangement was +negotiated between Vitelli and the rebellious garrison. Pardon for the +past, and payment upon the same terms as those offered in the city, were +accepted, and the mutiny of the citadel was quelled. It was, however, +necessary that Salvatierra should conceal himself for a long time, to +escape being torn to pieces by the incensed soldiery. + +Meantime, affairs in the city were more difficult to adjust. The +mutineers raised an altar of chests and bales upon the public square, and +celebrated mass under the open sky, solemnly swearing to be true to each +other to the last. The scenes of carousing and merry-making were renewed +at the expense of the citizens, who were again exposed to nightly alarms +from the boisterous mirth and ceaseless mischief-making of the soldiers. +Before the end of the month; the Broad Council, exhausted by the incubus +which had afflicted them so many weeks, acceded to the demand of +Requesens. The four hundred thousand crowns were furnished, the Grand +Commander accepting them as a loan, and giving in return bonds duly +signed and countersigned, together with a mortgage upon all the royal +domains. The citizens received the documents, as a matter of form, but +they had handled such securities before, and valued them but slightly. +The mutineers now agreed to settle with the Governor-General, on +condition of receiving all their wages, either in cash or cloth, together +with a solemn promise of pardon for all their acts of insubordination. +This pledge was formally rendered with appropriate religious ceremonies, +by Requesens, in the cathedral. The payments were made directly +afterwards, and a great banquet was held on the same day, by the whole +mass of the soldiery, to celebrate the event. The feast took place on the +place of the Meer, and was a scene of furious revelry. The soldiers, more +thoughtless than children, had arrayed themselves in extemporaneous +costumes, cut from the cloth which they had at last received in payment +of their sufferings and their blood. Broadcloths, silks, satins, and +gold-embroidered brocades, worthy of a queen's wardrobe, were hung in +fantastic drapery around the sinewy forms and bronzed faces of the +soldiery, who, the day before, had been clothed in rags. The mirth was +fast and furious; and scarce was the banquet finished before every +drum-head became a gaming-table, around which gathered groups eager to +sacrifice in a moment their dearly-bought gold. + +The fortunate or the prudent had not yet succeeded in entirely plundering +their companions, when the distant booming of cannon was heard from the +river. Instantly, accoutred as they were in their holiday and fantastic +costumes, the soldiers, no longer mutinous, were summoned from banquet +and gaming-table, and were ordered forth upon the dykes. The patriot +Admiral Boisot, who had so recently defeated the fleet of Bergen, under +the eyes of the Grand Commander, had unexpectedly sailed up the Scheld, +determined to destroy the fleet of Antwerp, which upon that occasion had +escaped. Between, the forts of Lillo and Callao, he met with twenty-two +vessels under the command of Vice-Admiral Haemstede. After a short and +sharp action, he was completely victorious. Fourteen of the enemy's ships +were burned or sunk, with all their crews, and Admiral Haemstede was +taken prisoner. The soldiers opened a warm fire of musketry upon Boisot +from the dyke, to which he responded with his cannon. The distance of the +combatants, however, made the action unimportant; and the patriots +retired down the river, after achieving a complete victory. The Grand +Commander was farther than ever from obtaining that foothold on the sea, +which as he had informed his sovereign, was the only means by which the +Netherlands could be reduced. + + + + +1574 [CHAPTER II.] + + First siege of Leyden--Commencement of the second--Description of + the city--Preparations for defence--Letters of Orange--Act of + amnesty issued by Requesens--Its conditions--Its reception by the + Hollanders--Correspondence of the Glippers--Sorties and fierce + combats beneath the walls of Leyden--Position of the Prince--His + project of relief Magnanimity of the people--Breaking of the dykes-- + Emotions in the city and the besieging camp--Letter of the Estates + of Holland--Dangerous illness of the Prince--The "wild Zealanders"-- + Admiral Boisot commences his voyage--Sanguinary combat on the Land-- + Scheiding--Occupation of that dyke and of the Green Way--Pauses and + Progress of the flotilla--The Prince visits the fleet--Horrible + sufferings in the city--Speech of Van der Werf--Heroism of the + inhabitants--The Admiral's letters--The storm--Advance of Boisot-- + Lammen fortress----An anxious night--Midnight retreat of the + Spaniards--The Admiral enters the city--Thanksgiving in the great + church The Prince in Leyden--Parting words of Valdez--Mutiny--Leyden + University founded--The charter--Inauguration ceremonies. + +The invasion of Louis of Nassau had, as already stated, effected the +raising of the first siege of Leyden. That leaguer had lasted from the +31st of October, 1573, to the 21st of March, 1574, when the soldiers were +summoned away to defend the frontier. By an extraordinary and culpable +carelessness, the citizens, neglecting the advice of the Prince, had not +taken advantage of the breathing time thus afforded them to victual the +city and strengthen the garrison. They seemed to reckon more confidently +upon the success of Count Louis than he had even done himself; for it was +very probable that, in case of his defeat, the siege would be instantly +resumed. This natural result was not long in following the battle of +Mookerheyde. + +On the 26th of May, Valdez reappeared before the place, at the head of +eight thousand Walloons and Germans, and Leyden was now destined to pass +through a fiery ordeal. This city was one of the most beautiful in the +Netherlands. Placed in the midst of broad and fruitful pastures, which +had been reclaimed by the hand of industry from the bottom of the sea; it +was fringed with smiling villages, blooming gardens, fruitful Orchards. +The ancient and, at last, decrepit Rhine, flowing languidly towards its +sandy death-bed, had been multiplied into innumerable artificial +currents, by which the city was completely interlaced. These watery +streets were shaded by lime trees, poplars, and willows, and crossed by +one hundred and forty-five bridges, mostly of hammered stone. The houses +were elegant, the squares and streets spacious, airy and clean, the +churches and public edifices imposing, while the whole aspect, of the +place suggested thrift, industry, and comfort. Upon an artificial +elevation, in the centre of the city, rose a ruined tower of unknown +antiquity. By some it was considered to be of Roman origin, while others +preferred to regard it as a work of the Anglo-Saxon Hengist, raised to +commemorate his conquest of England. + + [Guicciardini, Descript. Holl, et Zelandire. Bor, vii. 502. + Bentivoglio, viii. 151 + + "Putatur Engistus Britanno + Orbe redus posuisse victor," etc., etc. + + according to the celebrated poem of John Von der Does, the + accomplished and valiant Commandant of the city. The tower, which + is doubtless a Roman one, presents, at the present day, almost + precisely the same appearance as that described by the + contemporaneous historians of the siege. The verses of the + Commandant show the opinion, that the Anglo-Saxon conquerors of + Britain went from Holland, to have been a common one in the + sixteenth century.] + +Surrounded by fruit trees, and overgrown in the centre with oaks, it +afforded, from its mouldering battlements, a charming prospect over a +wide expanse of level country, with the spires of neighbouring cities +rising in every direction. It was from this commanding height, during the +long and terrible summer days which were approaching, that many an eye +was to be strained anxiously seaward, watching if yet the ocean had begun +to roll over the land. + +Valdez lost no time in securing himself in the possession of +Maeslandsluis, Vlaardingen, and the Hague. Five hundred English, under +command of Colonel Edward Chester, abandoned the fortress of Valkenburg, +and fled towards Leyden. Refused admittance by the citizens, who now, +with reason, distrusted them, they surrendered to Valdez, and were +afterwards sent back to England. In the course of a few days, Leyden was +thoroughly invested, no less than sixty-two redoubts, some of them having +remained undestroyed from the previous siege, now girdling the city, +while the besiegers already numbered nearly eight thousand, a force to be +daily increased. On the other hand, there were no troops in the town, +save a small corps of "freebooters," and five companies of the burgher +guard. John Van der Does, Seigneur of Nordwyck, a gentleman of +distinguished family, but still more distinguished for his learning, his +poetical genius, and his valor, had accepted the office of military +commandant. + +The main reliance of the city, under God, was on the stout hearts of its +inhabitants within the walls, and on, the sleepless energy of William the +Silent without. The Prince, hastening to comfort and encourage the +citizens, although he had been justly irritated by their negligence in +having omitted to provide more sufficiently against the emergency while +there had yet been time, now reminded them that they were not about to +contend for themselves alone, but that the fate of their country and of +unborn generations would, in all human probability, depend on the issue +about to be tried. Eternal glory would be their portion if they +manifested a courage worthy of their race and of the sacred cause of +religion and liberty. He implored them to hold out at least three months, +assuring them that he would, within that time, devise the means of their +deliverance. The citizens responded, courageously and confidently, to +these missives, and assured the Prince of their firm confidence in their +own fortitude and his exertions. + +And truly they had a right to rely on that calm and unflinching soul, as +on a rock of adamant. All alone, without a being near him to consult, his +right arm struck from him by the death of Louis, with no brother left to +him but the untiring and faithful John, he prepared without delay for the +new task imposed upon him. France, since the defeat and death of Louis, +and the busy intrigues which had followed the accession of Henry III., +had but small sympathy for the Netherlands. The English government, +relieved from the fear of France; was more cold and haughty than ever. An +Englishman employed by Requesens to assassinate the Prince of Orange, had +been arrested in Zealand, who impudently pretended that he had undertaken +to perform the same office for Count John, with the full consent and +privity of Queen Elizabeth. The provinces of Holland and Zealand were +stanch and true, but the inequality of the contest between a few brave +men, upon that handsbreadth of territory, and the powerful Spanish +Empire, seemed to render the issue hopeless. + +Moreover, it was now thought expedient to publish the amnesty which had +been so long in preparation, and this time the trap was more liberally +baited. The pardon, which had: passed the seals upon the 8th of March, +was formally issue: by the Grand Commander on the 6th of June. By the +terms of this document the King invited all his erring and repentant +subjects, to return to his arms; and to accept a full forgiveness for +their past offences, upon the sole condition that they should once more +throw themselves upon the bosom of the Mother Church. There were but few +exceptions to the amnesty, a small number of individuals, all mentioned +by name, being alone excluded; but although these terms were ample, the +act was liable to a few stern objections. It was easier now for the +Hollanders to go to their graves than to mass, for the contest, in its +progress, had now entirely assumed the aspect of a religious war. Instead +of a limited number of heretics in a state which, although constitutional +was Catholic, there was now hardly a Papist to be found among the +natives. To accept the pardon then was to concede the victory, and the +Hollanders had not yet discovered that they were conquered. They were +resolved, too, not only to be conquered, but annihilated, before the +Roman Church should be re-established on their soil, to the entire +exclusion of the Reformed worship. They responded with steadfast +enthusiasm to the sentiment expressed by the Prince of Orange, after the +second siege of Leyden had been commenced; "As long as there is a living +man left in the country, we will contend for our liberty and our +religion." The single condition of the amnesty assumed, in a phrase; what +Spain had fruitlessly striven to establish by a hundred battles, and the +Hollanders had not faced their enemy on land and sea for seven years to +succumb to a phrase at last. + +Moreover, the pardon came from the wrong direction. The malefactor +gravely extended forgiveness to his victims. Although the Hollanders had +not yet disembarrassed their minds of the supernatural theory of +government, and felt still the reverence of habit for regal divinity, +they naturally considered themselves outraged by the trick now played +before them. The man who had violated all his oaths, trampled upon all +their constitutional liberties, burned and sacked their cities, +confiscated their wealth, hanged, beheaded, burned, and buried alive +their innocent brethren, now came forward, not to implore, but to offer +forgiveness. Not in sackcloth, but in royal robes; not with ashes, but +with a diadem upon his head, did the murderer present himself vicariously +upon the scene of his crimes. It may be supposed that, even in the +sixteenth century, there were many minds which would revolt at such +blasphemy. Furthermore, even had the people of Holland been weak enough +to accept the pardon, it was impossible to believe that the promise would +be fulfilled. It was sufficiently known how much faith was likely to be +kept with heretics, notwithstanding that the act was fortified by a papal +Bull, dated on the 30th of April, by which Gregory XIII. promised +forgiveness to those Netherland sinners who duly repented and sought +absolution for their crimes, even although they had sinned more than +seven times seven. + +For a moment the Prince had feared lest the pardon might produce some +effect upon men wearied by interminable suffering, but the event proved +him wrong. It was received with universal and absolute contempt. No man +came forward to take advantage of its conditions, save one brewer in +Utrecht, and the son of a refugee peddler from Leyden. With these +exceptions, the only ones recorded, Holland remained deaf to the royal +voice. The city of Leyden was equally cold to the messages of mercy, +which were especially addressed to its population by Valdez and his +agents. Certain Netherlanders, belonging to the King's party, and +familiarly called "Glippers," despatched from the camp many letters to +their rebellious acquaintances in the city. In these epistles the +citizens of Leyden were urgently and even pathetically exhorted to +submission by their loyal brethren, and were implored "to take pity upon +their poor old fathers, their daughters, and their wives." But the +burghers of Leyden thought that the best pity which they could show to +those poor old fathers, daughters, and wives, was to keep them from the +clutches of the Spanish soldiery; so they made no answer to the Glippers, +save by this single line, which they wrote on a sheet of paper, and +forwarded, like a letter, to Valdez: + + "Fistula dulce canit, volucrem cum decipit auceps." + +According to the advice early given by the Prince of Orange, the citizens +had taken an account of their provisions of all kinds, including the live +stock. By the end of June, the city was placed on a strict allowance of +food, all the provisions being purchased by the authorities at an +equitable price. Half a pound of meat and half a pound of bread was +allotted to a full grown man, and to the rest, a due proportion. The city +being strictly invested, no communication, save by carrier pigeons, and +by a few swift and skilful messengers called jumpers, was possible. +Sorties and fierce combats were, however, of daily occurrence, and a +handsome bounty was offered to any man who brought into the city gates +the head of a Spaniard. The reward was paid many times, but the +population was becoming so excited and so apt, that the authorities felt +it dangerous to permit the continuance of these conflicts. Lest the city, +little by little, should lose its few disciplined defenders, it was now +proclaimed, by sound of church bell, that in future no man should leave +the gates. + +The Prince had his head-quarters at Delft and at Rotterdam. Between those +two cities, an important fortress, called Polderwaert, secured him in the +control of the alluvial quadrangle, watered on two sides by the Yssel and +the Meuse. On the 29th June, the Spaniards, feeling its value, had made +an unsuccessful effort to carry this fort by storm. They had been beaten +off, with the loss of several hundred men, the Prince remaining in +possession of the position, from which alone he could hope to relieve +Leyden. He still held in his hand the keys with which he could unlock the +ocean gates and let the waters in upon the land, and he had long been +convinced that nothing could save the city but to break the dykes. Leyden +was not upon the sea, but he could send the sea to. Leyden, although an +army fit to encounter the besieging force under Valdez could not be +levied. The battle of Mookerheyde had, for the present, quite settled +the question, of land relief, but it was possible to besiege the +besiegers, with the waves of the ocean. The Spaniards occupied the coast +from the Hague to Vlaardingen, but the dykes along the Meuse and Yssel +were in possession of the Prince. He determined, that these should be +pierced, while, at the same time, the great sluices at Rotterdam, +Schiedam, and Delftshaven should be opened. The damage to the fields, +villages, and growing crops would be enormous, but he felt that no other +course could rescue Leyden, and with it the whole of Holland from +destruction. His clear expositions and impassioned eloquence at last +overcame all resistance. By the middle of July the estates consented to +his plan, and its execution was immediately undertaken. "Better a drowned +land than a lost land," cried the patriots, with enthusiasm, as they +devoted their fertile fields to desolation. The enterprise for restoring +their territory, for a season, to the waves, from which it had been so +patiently rescued, was conducted with as much regularity as if it had +been a profitable undertaking. A capital was formally subscribed, for +which a certain number of bonds were issued, payable at a long date. In +addition to this preliminary fund, a monthly allowance of forty-five +guldens was voted by the estates, until the work should be completed, and +a large sum was contributed by the ladies of the land, who freely +furnished their plate, jewellery, and costly furniture to the furtherance +of the scheme. + +Meantime, Valdez, on the 30th July; issued most urgent and ample offers +of pardon to the citizens, if they would consent to open their gates and +accept the King's authority, but his Overtures were received with silent +contempt, notwithstanding that the population was already approaching the +starvation point. Although not yet fully informed of the active measures +taken by the Prince, yet they still chose to rely upon his energy and +their own fortitude, rather than upon the honied words which had formerly +been heard at the gates of Harlem and of Naarden. On the 3rd of August, +the Prince; accompanied by Paul Buys, chief of the commission appointed +to execute the enterprise, went in person along the Yssel; as far as +Kappelle, and superintended the rupture of the dykes in sixteen places. +The gates at Schiedam and Rotterdam were, opened, and the ocean began to +pour over the land. While waiting for the waters to rise, provisions were +rapidly, collected, according to an edict of the Prince, in all the +principal towns of the neighbourhood, and some two hundred vessels, of +various sizes, had also been got ready at Rotterdam, Delftshaven, and +other ports. + +The citizens of Leyden were, however, already becoming impatient, for +their bread was gone, and of its substitute malt cake, they had but +slender provision. On the 12th of August they received a letter from the +Prince, encouraging them to resistance, and assuring them of a speedy +relief, and on the 21st they addressed a despatch to him in reply, +stating that they had now fulfilled their original promise, for they had +held out two months with food, and another month without food. If not +soon assisted, human strength could do no more; their malt cake would +last but four days, and after that was gone, there was nothing left but +starvation. Upon the same day, however, they received a letter, dictated +by the Prince, who now lay in bed at Rotterdam with a violent fever, +assuring them that the dykes were all pierced, and that the water was +rising upon the "Land-Scheiding," the great outer barrier which separated +the city from the sea. He said nothing however of his own illness, which +would have cast a deep shadow over the joy which now broke forth among +the burghers. + +The letter was read publicly in the market-place, and to increase the +cheerfulness, burgomaster Van der Werf, knowing the sensibility of his +countrymen to music, ordered the city musicians to perambulate the +streets, playing lively melodies and martial airs. Salvos of cannon were +likewise fired, and the starving city for a brief space put on the aspect +of a holiday, much to the astonishment of the besieging forces, who were +not yet aware of the Prince's efforts. They perceived very soon, however, +as the water everywhere about Leyden had risen to the depth of ten +inches, that they stood in a perilous position. It was no trifling danger +to be thus attacked by the waves of the ocean, which seemed about to obey +with docility the command of William the Silent. Valdez became anxious +and uncomfortable at the strange aspect of affairs, for the besieging +army was now in its turn beleaguered, and by a stronger power than man's. +He consulted with the most experienced of his officers, with the country +people, with the most distinguished among the Glippers, and derived +encouragement from their views concerning the Prince's plan. They +pronounced it utterly futile and hopeless: The Glippers knew the country +well, and ridiculed the desperate project in unmeasured terms. + +Even in the city itself, a dull distrust had succeeded to the first vivid +gleam of hope, while the few royalists among the population boldly +taunted their fellow-citizens to their faces with the absurd vision of +relief which they had so fondly welcomed. "Go up to the tower, ye +Beggars," was the frequent and taunting cry, "go up to the tower, and +tell us if ye can see the ocean coming over the dry land to your +relief"--and day after day they did go, up to the ancient tower of +Hengist, with heavy heart and anxious eye, watching, hoping, praying, +fearing, and at last almost despairing of relief by God or man. On the +27th they addressed a desponding letter to the estates, complaining that +the city had been forgotten in, its utmost need, and on the same day a +prompt and warm-hearted reply was received, in which the citizens were +assured that every human effort was to be made for their relief. +"Rather," said the estates, "will we see our whole land and all our +possessions perish in the waves, than forsake thee, Leyden. We know full +well, moreover, that with Leyden, all Holland must perish also." They +excused themselves for not having more frequently written, upon the +ground that the whole management of the measures for their relief had +been entrusted to the Prince, by whom alone all the details had been +administered, and all the correspondence conducted. + +The fever of the Prince had, meanwhile, reached its height. He lay at +Rotterdam, utterly prostrate in body, and with mind agitated nearly to +delirium, by the perpetual and almost unassisted schemes which he was +constructing. Relief, not only for Leyden, but for the whole country, now +apparently sinking into the abyss, was the vision which he pursued as he +tossed upon his restless couch. Never was illness more unseasonable. His +attendants were in despair, for it was necessary that his mind should for +a time be spared the agitation of business. The physicians who attended +him agreed, as to his disorder, only in this, that it was the result of +mental fatigue and melancholy, and could be cured only by removing all +distressing and perplexing subjects from his thoughts, but all the +physicians in the world could not have succeeded in turning his attention +for an instant from the great cause of his country. Leyden lay, as it +were, anxious and despairing at his feet, and it was impossible for him +to close his ears to her cry. Therefore, from his sick bed he continued +to dictate; words of counsel and encouragement to the city; to Admiral +Boisot, commanding, the fleet, minute directions and precautions. Towards +the end of August a vague report had found its way into his sick chamber +that Leyden had fallen, and although he refused to credit the tale, yet +it served to harass his mind, and to heighten fever. Cornelius Van +Mierop, Receiver General of Holland, had occasion to visit him at +Rotterdam, and strange to relate, found the house almost deserted. +Penetrating, unattended, to the Prince's bed-chamber, he found him lying +quite alone. Inquiring what had become, of all his attendants, he was +answered by the Prince, in a very feeble voice, that he had sent them all +away. The Receiver-General seems, from this, to have rather hastily +arrived at the conclusion that the Prince's disorder was the pest, and +that his servants and friends had all deserted him from cowardice. + +This was very far from being the case. His private secretary and his +maitre d'hotel watched, day and night, by his couch, and the best +physicians of the city were in constant attendance. By a singular +accident; all had been despatched on different errands, at the express +desire of their master, but there had never been a suspicion that his +disorder was the pest, or pestilential. Nerves of steel, and a frame of +adamant could alone have resisted the constant anxiety and the consuming +fatigue to which he had so long been exposed. His illness had been +aggravated by the rumor of Leyden's fall, a fiction which Cornelius +Mierop was now enabled flatly to contradict. The Prince began to mend +from that hour. By the end of the first week of September, he wrote along +letter to his brother, assuring him of his convalescence, and expressing, +as usual; a calm confidence in the divine decrees--"God will ordain for +me," said he, "all which is necessary for my good and my salvation. He +will load me with no more afflictions than the fragility of this nature +can sustain." + +The preparations for the relief of Leyden, which, notwithstanding his +exertions, had grown slack during his sickness, were now vigorously +resumed. On the 1st of September, Admiral Boisot arrived out of Zealand +with a small number of vessels, and with eight hundred veteran sailors. A +wild and ferocious crew were those eight hundred Zealanders. Scarred, +hacked, and even maimed, in the unceasing conflicts in which their lives +had passed; wearing crescents in their caps, with the inscription, +"Rather Turkish than Popish;" renowned far and wide, as much for their +ferocity as for their nautical skill; the appearance of these wildest of +the "Sea-beggars" was both eccentric and terrific. They were known never +to give nor to take quarter, for they went to mortal combat only, and had +sworn to spare neither noble nor simple, neither king, kaiser, nor pope, +should they fall into their power. + +More than two hundred-vessels had been assembled, carrying generally ten +pieces of cannon, with from ten to eighteen oars, and manned with +twenty-five hundred veterans, experienced both on land and water. The +work was now undertaken in earnest. The distance from Leyden to the outer +dyke, over whose ruins the ocean had already been admitted, was nearly +fifteen miles. This reclaimed territory, however, was not maintained +against the sea by these external barriers alone. The flotilla made its +way with ease to the Land-Scheiding, a strong dyke within five miles of +Leyden, but here its progress was arrested. The approach to the city was +surrounded by many strong ramparts, one within the other, by which it was +defended against its ancient enemy, the ocean, precisely like the +circumvallations by means of which it was now assailed by its more recent +enemy, the Spaniard. To enable the fleet, however, to sail over the land; +it was necessary to break through this two fold series of defences. +Between the Land-Scheiding and Leyden were several dykes, which kept out +the water; upon the level, were many villages, together with a chain of +sixty-two forts, which completely occupied the land. All these Villages +and fortresses were held by the veteran, troops of the King; the +besieging force, being about four times as strong as that which was +coming to the rescue. + +The Prince had given orders that the Land-Scheiding, which was still +one-and-a-half foot above water, should be taken possession of; at every +hazard. On the night of the 10th and 11th of September this was +accomplished; by surprise; and in a masterly manner. The few Spaniards +who had been stationed upon the dyke were all, despatched or driven off, +and the patriots fortified themselves upon it, without the loss of a man. +As the day dawned the Spaniards saw the fatal error which they had +committed in leaving thus bulwark so feebly defended, and from two +villages which stood close to the dyke, the troops now rushed +inconsiderable force to recover what they had lost. A hot action +succeeded, but the patriots had too securely established themselves. They +completely defeated the enemy, who retired, leaving hundreds of dead on +the field, and the patriots in complete possession of the Land-scheiding. +This first action was sanguinary and desperate. It gave a earnest of what +these people, who came to relieve; their brethren, by sacrificing their +property and their lives; were determined to effect. It gave a revolting +proof, too, of the intense hatred which nerved their arms. A Zealander; +having struck down a Spaniard on the dyke, knelt on his bleeding enemy, +tore his heart from his bosom; fastened his teeth in it for an instant, +and then threw it to a dog, with the exclamation, "'Tis too bitter." The +Spanish heart was, however, rescued, and kept for years, with the marks +of the soldier's teeth upon it, a sad testimonial of the ferocity +engendered by this war for national existence. + +The great dyke having been thus occupied, no time was lost in breaking it +through in several places, a work which was accomplished under the very +eyes of the enemy. The fleet sailed through the gaps, but, after their +passage had been effected in good order, the Admiral found, to his +surprise, that it was not the only rampart to be carried. The Prince had +been informed, by those who claimed to know, the country, that, when once +the Land-scheiding had been passed, the water would flood the country as +far as Leyden, but the "Green-way," another long dyke three-quarters of a +mile farther inward, now rose at least a foot above the water, to oppose +their further progress. Fortunately, by, a second and still more culpable +carelessness, this dyke had been left by the Spaniards in as unprotected +a state as the first had been, Promptly and audaciously Admiral Boisot +took possession of this barrier also, levelled it in many places, and +brought his flotilla, in triumph, over its ruins. Again, however, he was +doomed to disappointment. A large mere, called the Freshwater Lake, was +known to extend itself directly in his path about midway between the +Land-scheiding and the city. To this piece of water, into which he +expected to have instantly floated, his only passage lay through one deep +canal. The sea which had thus far borne him on, now diffusing itself over +a very wide surface, and under the influence of an adverse wind, had +become too shallow for his ships. The canal alone was deep enough, but it +led directly towards a bridge, strongly occupied by the enemy. Hostile +troops, moreover, to the amount of three thousand occupied both sides of +the canal. The bold Boisot, nevertheless, determined to force his +passage, if possible. Selecting a few of his strongest vessels, his +heaviest artillery, and his bravest sailors, he led the van himself, in a +desperate attempt to make his way to the mere. He opened a hot fire upon +the bridge, then converted into a fortress, while his men engaged in +hand-to-hand combat with a succession of skirmishers from the troops +along the canal. After losing a few men, and ascertaining the impregnable +position of the enemy, he was obliged to withdraw, defeated, and almost +despairing. + +A week had elapsed since the great dyke had been pierced, and the +flotilla now lay motionless--in shallow water, having accomplished less +than two miles. The wind, too, was easterly, causing the sea rather to +sink than to rise. Everything wore a gloomy aspect, when, fortunately, on +the 18th, the wind shifted to the north-west, and for three days blew a +gale. The waters rose rapidly, and before the second day was closed the +armada was afloat again. Some fugitives from Zoetermeer village now +arrived, and informed the Admiral that, by making a detour to the right, +he could completely circumvent the bridge and the mere. They guided him, +accordingly, to a comparatively low dyke, which led between the villages +of Zoetermeer and Benthuyzen: A strong force of Spaniards was stationed +in each place, but, seized with a panic, instead of sallying to defend +the barrier, they fled inwardly towards Leyden, and halted at the village +of North Aa. It was natural that they should be amazed. Nothing is more +appalling to the imagination than the rising ocean tide, when man feels +himself within its power; and here were the waters, hourly deepening and +closing around them, devouring the earth beneath their feet, while on the +waves rode a flotilla, manned by a determined race; whose courage and +ferocity were known throughout the world. The Spanish soldiers, brave as +they were on land, were not sailors, and in the naval contests which had +taken place between them and the Hollanders had been almost invariably +defeated. It was not surprising, in these amphibious skirmishes, where +discipline was of little avail, and habitual audacity faltered at the +vague dangers which encompassed them, that the foreign troops should lose +their presence of mind. + +Three barriers, one within the other, had now been passed, and the +flotilla, advancing with the advancing waves, and driving the enemy +steadily before it, was drawing nearer to the beleaguered city. As one +circle after another was passed, the besieging army found itself +compressed within a constantly contracting field. The "Ark of Delft," an +enormous vessel, with shot-proof bulwarks, and moved by paddle-wheels +turned by a crank, now arrived at Zoetermeer, and was soon followed by +the whole fleet. After a brief delay, sufficient to allow the few +remaining villagers to escape, both Zoetermeer and Benthuyzen, with the +fortifications, were set on fire, and abandoned to their fate. The blaze +lighted up the desolate and watery waste around, and was seen at Leyden, +where it was hailed as the beacon of hope. Without further impediment, +the armada proceeded to North Aa; the enemy retreating from this position +also, and flying to Zoeterwoude, a strongly fortified village but a mile +and three quarters from the city walls. It was now swarming with troops, +for the bulk of the besieging army had gradually been driven into a +narrow circle of forts, within the immediate neighbourhood of Leyden. +Besides Zoeterwoude, the two posts where they were principally +established were Lammen and Leyderdorp, each within three hundred rods of +the town. At Leyderdorp were the head-quarters of Valdez; Colonel Borgia +commanded in the very strong fortress of Lammen. + +The fleet was, however, delayed at North Aa by another barrier, called +the "Kirk-way." The waters, too, spreading once more over a wider space, +and diminishing under an east wind, which had again arisen, no longer +permitted their progress, so that very soon the whole armada was stranded +anew. The waters fell to the depth of nine inches; while the vessels +required eighteen and twenty. Day after day the fleet lay motionless +upon the shallow sea. Orange, rising from his sick bed as soon as he +could stand, now came on board the fleet. His presence diffused universal +joy; his words inspired his desponding army with fresh hope. He rebuked +the impatient spirits who, weary of their compulsory idleness, had shown +symptoms of ill-timed ferocity, and those eight hundred mad Zealanders, +so frantic in their hatred to the foreigners, who had so long profaned +their land, were as docile as children to the Prince. He reconnoitred the +whole ground, and issued orders for the immediate destruction of the +Kirkway, the last important barrier which separated the fleet from +Leyden. Then, after a long conference with Admiral Boisot, he returned to +Delft. + +Meantime, the besieged city was at its last gasp. The burghers had been +in a state of uncertainty for many days; being aware that the fleet had +set forth for their relief, but knowing full well the thousand obstacles +which it, had to surmount. They had guessed its progress by the +illumination from, the blazing villages; they had heard its salvos of +artillery, on its arrival at North Aa; but since then, all had been dark +and mournful again, hope and fear, in sickening alternation, distracting +every breast. They knew that the wind was unfavorable, and at the dawn of +each day every eye was turned wistfully to the vanes of the steeples. So +long as the easterly breeze prevailed, they felt, as they anxiously stood +on towers and housetops; that they must look in vain for the welcome +ocean. Yet, while thus patiently waiting, they were literally starving; +for even the misery endured at Harlem had not reached that depth and +intensity of agony to which Leyden was now reduced. Bread, malt-cake, +horseflesh, had entirely disappeared; dogs, cats, rats, and other vermin, +were esteemed luxuries: A small number of cows, kept as long as possible, +for their milk, still remained; but a few were killed from day to day; +and distributed in minute proportions, hardly sufficient to support life +among the famishing population. Starving wretches swarmed daily around +the shambles where these cattle were slaughtered, contending for any +morsel which might fall, and lapping eagerly the blood as it ran along +the pavement; while the hides; chopped and boiled, were greedily +devoured. Women and children, all day long, were seen searching gutters +and dunghills for morsels of food, which they disputed fiercely with the +famishing dogs. The green leaves were stripped from the trees, every +living herb was converted into human food, but these expedients could not +avert starvation. The daily mortality was frightful infants starved to +death on the maternal breasts, which famine had parched and withered; +mothers dropped dead in the streets, with their dead children in their +arms. In many a house the watchmen, in their rounds, found a whole family +of corpses, father, mother, and children, side by side, for a disorder +called the plague, naturally engendered of hardship and famine, now came, +as if in kindness, to abridge the agony of the people. The pestilence +stalked at noonday through the city, and the doomed inhabitants fell like +grass beneath its scythe. From six thousand to eight thousand human +beings sank before this scourge alone, yet the people resolutely held +out--women and men mutually encouraging each other to resist the entrance +of their foreign foe--an evil more horrible than pest or famine. + +The missives from Valdez, who saw more vividly than the besieged could +do, the uncertainty of his own position, now poured daily into the city, +the enemy becoming more prodigal of his vows, as he felt that the ocean +might yet save the victims from his grasp. The inhabitants, in their +ignorance, had gradually abandoned their hopes of relief, but they +spurned the summons to surrender. Leyden was sublime in its despair. A +few murmurs were, however, occasionally heard at the steadfastness of the +magistrates, and a dead body was placed at the door of the burgomaster, +as a silent witness against his inflexibility. A party of the more +faint-hearted even assailed the heroic Adrian Van der Werf with threats +and reproaches as he passed through the streets. A crowd had gathered +around him, as he reached a triangular place in the centre of the town, +into which many of the principal streets emptied themselves, and upon one +side of which stood the church of Saint Pancras, with its high brick +tower surmounted by two pointed turrets, and with two ancient lime trees +at its entrance. There stood the burgomaster, a tall, haggard, imposing +figure, with dark visage, and a tranquil but commanding eye. He waved his +broadleaved felt hat for silence, and then exclaimed, in language which +has been almost literally preserved, What would ye, my friends? Why do ye +murmur that we do not break our vows and surrender the city to the +Spaniards? a fate more horrible than the agony which she now endures. I +tell you I have made an oath to hold the city, and may God give me +strength to keep my oath! I can die but once; whether by your hands, the +enemy's, or by the hand of God. My own fate is indifferent to me, not so +that of the city intrusted to my care. I know that we shall starve if not +soon relieved; but starvation is preferable to the dishonored death which +is the only alternative. Your menaces move me not; my life is at your +disposal; here is my sword, plunge it into my breast, and divide my flesh +among you. Take my body to appease your hunger, but expect no surrender, +so long as I remain alive. + +The words of the stout burgomaster inspired a new courage in the hearts +of those who heard him, and a shout of applause and defiance arose from +the famishing but enthusiastic crowd. They left the place, after +exchanging new vows of fidelity with their magistrate, and again ascended +tower and battlement to watch for the coming fleet. From the ramparts +they hurled renewed defiance at the enemy. "Ye call us rat-eaters and +dog-eaters," they cried, "and it is true. So long, then, as ye hear dog +bark or cat mew within the walls, ye may know that the city holds out. +And when all has perished but ourselves, be sure that we will each devour +our left arms, retaining our right to defend our women, our liberty, and +our religion, against the foreign tyrant. Should God, in his wrath, doom +us to destruction, and deny us all relief, even then will we maintain +ourselves for ever against your entrance. When the last hour has come, +with our own hands we will set fire to the city and perish, men, women, +and children together in the flames, rather than suffer our homes to be +polluted and our liberties to be crushed." Such words of defiance, +thundered daily from the battlements, sufficiently informed Valdez as to +his chance of conquering the city, either by force or fraud, but at the +same time, he felt comparatively relieved by the inactivity of Boisot's +fleet, which still lay stranded at North Aa. "As well," shouted the +Spaniards, derisively, to the citizens, "as well can the Prince of Orange +pluck the stars from the sky as bring the ocean to the walls of Leyden +for your relief." + +On the 28th of September, a dove flew into the city, bringing a letter +from Admiral Boisot. In this despatch, the position of the fleet at North +Aa was described in encouraging terms, and the inhabitants were assured +that, in a very few days at furthest, the long-expected relief would +enter their gates. The letter was read publicly upon the market-place, +and the bells were rung for joy. Nevertheless, on the morrow, the vanes +pointed to the east, the waters, so far from rising, continued to sink, +and Admiral Boisot was almost in despair. He wrote to the Prince, that if +the spring-tide, now to be expected, should not, together with a strong +and favorable wind, come immediately to their relief, it would be in pain +to attempt anything further, and that the expedition would, of necessity, +be abandoned. The tempest came to their relief. A violent equinoctial +gale, on the night of the 1st and 2nd of October, came storming from the +north-west, shifting after a few hours full eight points, and then +blowing still more violently from the south-west. The waters of the North +Sea were piled in vast masses upon the southern coast of Holland, and +then dashed furiously landward, the ocean rising over the earth, and +sweeping with unrestrained power across the ruined dykes. + +In the course of twenty-four hours, the fleet at North Aa, instead of +nine inches, had more than two feet of water. No time was lost. The +Kirk-way, which had been broken through according to the Prince's +instructions, was now completely overflowed, and the fleet sailed at +midnight, in the midst of the storm and darkness. A few sentinel vessels +of the enemy challenged them as they steadily rowed towards Zoeterwoude. +The answer was a flash from Boisot's cannon; lighting up the black waste +of waters. There was a fierce naval midnight battle; a strange spectacle +among the branches of those quiet orchards, and with the chimney stacks +of half-submerged farmhouses rising around the contending vessels. The +neighboring village of Zoeterwoude shook with the discharges of the +Zealanders' cannon, and the Spaniards assembled in that fortress knew +that the rebel Admiral was at last, afloat and on his course. The enemy's +vessels were soon sunk, their crews hurled into the waves. On went the +fleet, sweeping over the broad waters which lay between Zoeterwoude and +Zwieten. As they approached some shallows, which led into the great mere, +the Zealanders dashed into the sea, and with sheer strength shouldered +every vessel through. Two obstacles lay still in their path--the forts of +Zoeterwoude and Lammen, distant from the city five hundred and two +hundred and fifty yards respectively. Strong redoubts, both well supplied +with troops and artillery, they were likely to give a rough reception to +the light flotilla, but the panic; which had hitherto driven their foes +before the advancing patriots; had reached Zoeterwoude. Hardly was the +fleet in sight when the Spaniards in the early morning, poured out from +the fortress, and fled precipitately to the left, along a road which led +in a westerly direction towards the Hague. Their narrow path was rapidly +vanishing in the waves, and hundreds sank beneath the constantly +deepening and treacherous flood. The wild Zealanders, too, sprang from +their vessels upon the crumbling dyke and drove their retreating foes +into the sea. They hurled their harpoons at them, with an accuracy +acquired in many a polar chase; they plunged into the waves in the keen +pursuit, attacking them with boat-hook and dagger. The numbers who thus +fell beneath these corsairs, who neither gave nor took quarter, were +never counted, but probably not less than a thousand perished. The rest +effected their escape to the Hague. + +The first fortress was thus seized, dismantled, set on fire, and passed, +and a few strokes of the oars brought the whole fleet close to Lammen. +This last obstacle rose formidable and frowning directly across their +path. Swarming as it was with soldiers, and bristling with artillery, it +seemed to defy the armada either to carry it by storm or to pass under +its guns into the city. It appeared that the enterprise was, after all, +to founder within sight of the long expecting and expected haven. Boisot +anchored his fleet within a respectful distance, and spent what remained +of the day in carefully reconnoitring the fort, which seemed only too +strong. In conjunction with Leyderdorp, the head-quarters of Valdez, a +mile and a half distant on the right, and within a mile of the city, it +seemed so insuperable an impediment that Boisot wrote in despondent tone +to the Prince of Orange. He announced his intention of carrying the fort, +if it were possible, on the following morning, but if obliged to retreat, +he observed, with something like despair, that there would be nothing for +it but to wait for another gale of wind. If the waters should rise +sufficiently to enable them to make a wide detour, it might be possible, +if, in the meantime, Leyden did not starve or surrender, to enter its +gates from the opposite side. + +Meantime, the citizens had grown wild with expectation. A dove had been +despatched by Boisot, informing them of his precise position, and a +number of citizens accompanied the burgomaster, at nightfall, toward the +tower of Hengist. Yonder, cried the magistrate, stretching out his hand +towards Lammen, "yonder, behind that fort, are bread and meat, and +brethren in thousands. Shall all this be destroyed by the Spanish guns, +or shall we rush to the rescue of our friends?"--"We will tear the +fortress to fragments with our teeth and nails," was the reply, "before +the relief, so long expected, shall be wrested from us." It was resolved +that a sortie, in conjunction with the operations of Boisot, should be +made against Lammen with the earliest dawn. Night descended upon the +scene, a pitch dark night, full of anxiety to the Spaniards, to the +armada, to Leyden. Strange sights and sounds occurred at different +moments to bewilder the anxious sentinels. A long procession of lights +issuing from the fort was seen to flit across the black face of the +waters, in the dead of night, and the whole of the city wall, between the +Cow-gate and the Tower of Burgundy, fell with a loud crash. The +horror-struck citizens thought that the Spaniards were upon them at last; +the Spaniards imagined the noise to indicate, a desperate sortie of the +citizens. Everything was vague and mysterious. + +Day dawned, at length, after the feverish, night, and, the Admiral +prepared for the assault. Within the fortress reigned a death-like +stillness, which inspired a sickening suspicion. Had the city, indeed, +been carried in the night; had the massacre already commenced; had all +this labor and audacity been expended in vain? Suddenly a man was +descried, wading breast-high through the water from Lammen towards the +fleet, while at the same time, one solitary boy was seen to wave his cap +from the summit of the fort. After a moment of doubt, the happy mystery +was solved. The Spaniards had fled, panic struck, during the darkness. +Their position would still have enabled them, with firmness, to frustrate +the enterprise of the patriots, but the hand of God, which had sent the +ocean and the tempest to the deliverance of Leyden, had struck her +enemies with terror likewise. The lights which had been seen moving +during the night were the lanterns of the retreating Spaniards, and the +boy who was now waving his triumphant signal from the battlements had +alone witnessed the spectacle. So confident was he in the conclusion to +which it led him, that he had volunteered at daybreak to go thither all +alone. The magistrates, fearing a trap, hesitated for a moment to believe +the truth, which soon, however, became quite evident. Valdez, flying +himself from Leyderdorp, had ordered Colonel Borgia to retire with all +his troops from Lammen. Thus, the Spaniards had retreated at the very +moment that an extraordinary accident had laid bare a whole side of the +city for their entrance. The noise of the wall, as it fell, only inspired +them with fresh alarm for they believed that the citizens had sallied +forth in the darkness, to aid the advancing flood in the work of +destruction. All obstacles being now removed, the fleet of Boisot swept +by Lammen, and entered the city on the morning of the 3rd of October. +Leyden was relieved. + +The quays were lined with the famishing population, as the fleet rowed +through the canals, every human being who could stand, coming forth to +greet the preservers of the city. Bread was thrown from every vessel +among the crowd. The poor creatures who, for two months had tasted no +wholesome human food, and who had literally been living within the jaws +of death, snatched eagerly the blessed gift, at last too liberally +bestowed. Many choked themselves to death, in the greediness with which +they devoured their bread; others became ill with the effects of plenty +thus suddenly succeeding starvation; but these were isolated cases, a +repetition of which was prevented. The Admiral, stepping ashore, was +welcomed by the magistracy, and a solemn procession was immediately +formed. Magistrates and citizens, wild Zealanders, emaciated burgher +guards, sailors, soldiers, women, children, nearly every living person +within the walls, all repaired without delay to the great church, stout +Admiral Boisot leading the way. The starving and heroic city, which had +been so firm in its resistance to an earthly king, now bent itself in +humble gratitude before the King of kings. After prayers, the whole vast +congregation joined in the thanksgiving hymn. Thousands of voices raised +the-song, but few were able to carry it to its conclusion, for the +universal emotion, deepened by the music, became too full for utterance. +The hymn was abruptly suspended, while the multitude wept like children. +This scene of honest pathos terminated; the necessary measures for +distributing the food and for relieving the sick were taken by the +magistracy. A note dispatched to the Prince of Orange, was received by +him at two o'clock, as he sat in church at Delft. It was of a somewhat +different purport from that of the letter which he had received early in +the same day from Boisot; the letter in which the admiral had, informed +him that the success of the enterprise depended; after-all, upon the +desperate assault upon a nearly impregnable fort. The joy of the Prince +may be easily imagined, and so soon as the sermon was concluded; he +handed the letter just received to the minister, to be read to the +congregation. Thus, all participated in his joy, and united with him in +thanksgiving. + +The next day, notwithstanding the urgent entreaties of his friends, who +were anxious lest his life should be endangered by breathing, in his +scarcely convalescent state; the air of the city where so many thousands +had been dying of the pestilence, the Prince repaired to Leyden. He, at +least, had never doubted his own or his country's fortitude. They could, +therefore, most sincerely congratulate each other, now that the victory +had been achieved. "If we are doomed to perish," he had said a little +before the commencement of the siege, "in the name of God, be it so! At +any rate, we shall have the honor to have done what no nation ever, did +before us, that of having defended and maintained ourselves, unaided, in +so small a country, against the tremendous efforts of such powerful +enemies. So long as the poor inhabitants here, though deserted by all the +world, hold firm, it will still cost the Spaniards the half of Spain, in +money and in men, before they can make an end of us." + +The termination of the terrible siege of Leyden was a convincing proof to +the Spaniards that they had not yet made an end of the Hollanders. It +furnished, also, a sufficient presumption that until they had made an end +of them, even unto the last Hollander, there would never be an end of the +struggle in which they were engaged. It was a slender consolation to the +Governor-General, that his troops had been vanquished, not by the enemy, +but by the ocean. An enemy whom the ocean obeyed with such docility might +well be deemed invincible by man. In the head-quarters of Valdez, at +Leyderdorp, many plans of Leyden and the neighbourhood were found lying +in confusion about the room. Upon the table was a hurried farewell of +that General to the scenes of his, discomfiture, written in a Latin +worthy of Juan Vargas: "Vale civitas, valete castelli parvi, qui relicti +estis propter aquam et non per vim inimicorum!" In his precipitate +retreat before the advancing rebels, the Commander had but just found +time for this elegant effusion, and, for his parting instructions to +Colonel Borgia that the fortress of Lammen was to be forthwith abandoned. +These having been reduced to writing, Valdez had fled so speedily as to +give rise to much censure and more scandal. He was even accused of having +been bribed by the Hollanders to desert his post, a tale which many +repeated, and a few believed. On the 4th of October, the day following +that on which the relief of the city was effected, the wind shifted to +the north-east, and again blew a tempest. It was as if the waters, having +now done their work, had been rolled back to the ocean by an Omnipotent +hand, for in the course of a few days, the land was bare again, and the +work of reconstructing the dykes commenced. + +After a brief interval of repose, Leyden had regained its former +position. The Prince, with advice of the estates, had granted the city, +as a reward for its sufferings, a ten days' annual fair, without tolls or +taxes, and as a further manifestation of the gratitude entertained by the +people of Holland and Zealand for the heroism of the citizens, it was +resolved that an academy or university should be forthwith established +within their walls. The University of Leyden, afterwards so illustrious, +was thus founded in the very darkest period of the country's struggle. + +The university was endowed with a handsome revenue, principally derived +from the ancient abbey of Egmont, and was provided with a number of +professors, selected for their genius, learning, and piety among all the +most distinguished scholars of the Netherlands. The document by which the +institution was founded was certainly a masterpiece of ponderous irony, +for as the fiction of the King's sovereignty was still maintained, Philip +was gravely made to establish the university, as a reward to Leyden for +rebellion to himself. "Considering," said this wonderful charter, "that +during these present wearisome wars within our provinces of Holland and +Zealand, all good instruction of youth in the sciences and liberal arts +is likely to come into entire oblivion..... Considering the +differences of religion--considering that we are inclined to gratify our +city of Leyden, with its burghers, on account of the heavy burthens +sustained by them during this war with such faithfulness--we have +resolved, after ripely deliberating with our dear cousin, William, Prince +of Orange, stadholder, to erect a free public school and university," +etc., etc., etc. So ran the document establishing this famous academy, +all needful regulations for the government and police of the institution +being entrusted by Philip to his "above-mentioned dear cousin of Orange." + +The university having been founded, endowed, and supplied with its +teachers, it was solemnly consecrated in the following winter, and it is +agreeable to contemplate this scene of harmless pedantry, interposed, as +it was, between the acts of the longest and dreariest tragedy of modern +time. On the 5th of February, 1575, the city of Leyden, so lately the +victim of famine and pestilence, had crowned itself with flowers. At +seven in the morning, after a solemn religious celebration in the Church +of St. Peter, a grand procession was formed. It was preceded by a +military escort, consisting of the burgher militia and the five companies +of infantry stationed in the city. Then came, drawn by four horses, a +splendid triumphal chariot, on which sat a female figure, arrayed in +snow-white garments. This was the Holy Gospel. She was attended by the +Four Evangelists, who walked on foot at each side of her chariot. Next +followed Justice, with sword and scales, mounted; blindfold, upon a +unicorn, while those learned doctors, Julian, Papinian, Ulpian, and +Tribonian, rode on either side, attended by two lackeys and four men at +arms. After these came Medicine, on horseback, holding in one hand a +treatise of the healing art, in the other a garland of drugs. The +curative goddess rode between the four eminent physicians, Hippocrates, +Galen, Dioscorides, and Theophrastus, and was attended by two footmen and +four pike-bearers. Last of the allegorical personages came Minerva, +prancing in complete steel, with lance in rest, and bearing her Medusa +shield. Aristotle and Plato, Cicero and Virgil, all on horseback, with +attendants in antique armor at their back, surrounded the daughter of +Jupiter, while the city band, discoursing eloquent music from hautboy and +viol, came upon the heels of the allegory. Then followed the mace-bearers +and other officials, escorting the orator of the day, the newly-appointed +professors and doctors, the magistrates and dignitaries, and the body of +the citizens generally completing the procession. + +Marshalled in this order, through triumphal arches, and over a pavement +strewed with flowers, the procession moved slowly up and down the +different streets, and along the quiet canals of the city. As it reached +the Nuns' Bridge, a barge of triumph, gorgeously decorated, came floating +slowly down the sluggish Rhine. Upon its deck, under a canopy enwreathed +with laurels and oranges, and adorned with tapestry, sat Apollo, attended +by the Nine Muses, all in classical costume; at the helm stood Neptune +with his trident. The Muses executed some beautiful concerted pieces; +Apollo twanged his lute. Having reached the landing-place, this +deputation from Parnassus stepped on shore, and stood awaiting the +arrival of the procession. Each professor, as he advanced, was gravely +embraced and kissed by Apollo and all the Nine Muses in turn, who greeted +their arrival besides with the recitation of an elegant Latin poem. This +classical ceremony terminated, the whole procession marched together to +the cloister of Saint Barbara, the place prepared for the new university, +where they listened to an eloquent oration by the Rev. Caspar Kolhas, +after which they partook of a magnificent banquet. With this memorable +feast, in the place where famine had so lately reigned, the ceremonies +were concluded. + + ETEXT EDITOR'S BOOKMARKS: + + Crescents in their caps: Rather Turkish than Popish + Ever-swarming nurseries of mercenary warriors + Weep oftener for her children than is the usual lot of mothers + + ETEXT EDITOR'S BOOKMARKS, THE DUTCH REPUBLIC 1566-74, Complete + + 1566, the last year of peace + Advised his Majesty to bestow an annual bribe upon Lord Burleigh + Age when toleration was a vice + An age when to think was a crime + Angle with their dissimulation as with a hook + Beggars of the sea, as these privateersmen designated themselves + Business of an officer to fight, of a general to conquer + Conde and Coligny + Constitutional governments, move in the daylight + Consumer would pay the tax, supposing it were ever paid at all + Crescents in their caps: Rather Turkish than Popish + Cruelties exercised upon monks and papists + Deeply criminal in the eyes of all religious parties + Dissenters were as bigoted as the orthodox + Enthusiasm could not supply the place of experience + Envying those whose sufferings had already been terminated + Ever-swarming nurseries of mercenary warriors + Financial opposition to tyranny is apt to be unanimous + For faithful service, evil recompense + Furnished, in addition, with a force of two thousand prostitutes + God Save the King! It was the last time + Great transactions of a reign are sometimes paltry things + Great battles often leave the world where they found it + Hair and beard unshorn, according to ancient Batavian custom + Hanged for having eaten meat-soup upon Friday + Having conjugated his paradigm conscientiously + He had omitted to execute heretics + He came as a conqueror not as a mediator + Holy Office condemned all the inhabitants of the Netherlands + Hope deferred, suddenly changing to despair + If he had little, he could live upon little + Incur the risk of being charged with forwardness than neglect + Indignant that heretics had been suffered to hang + Insane cruelty, both in the cause of the Wrong and the Right + Leave not a single man alive in the city, and to burn every house + Luther's axiom, that thoughts are toll-free + Meantime the second civil war in France had broken out + Not for a new doctrine, but for liberty of conscience + Not to let the grass grow under their feet + Not strong enough to sustain many more such victories + Oldenbarneveld; afterwards so illustrious + Only kept alive by milk, which he drank from a woman's breast + Only healthy existence of the French was in a state of war + Pathetic dying words of Anne Boleyn + Provided not one Huguenot be left alive in France + Put all those to the torture out of whom anything can be got + Questioning nothing, doubting nothing, fearing nothing + Saint Bartholomew's day + Scepticism, which delights in reversing the judgment of centuries + Science of reigning was the science of lying + Sent them word by carrier pigeons + Seven Spaniards were killed, and seven thousand rebels + Sick and wounded wretches were burned over slow fires + Slender stock of platitudes + So much responsibility and so little power + Sometimes successful, even although founded upon sincerity + Spendthrift of time, he was an economist of blood + The time for reasoning had passed + The calf is fat and must be killed + The perpetual reproductions of history + The greatest crime, however, was to be rich + The faithful servant is always a perpetual ass + The tragedy of Don Carlos + The illness was a convenient one + Three hundred fighting women + Time and myself are two + Tyranny, ever young and ever old, constantly reproducing herself + We are beginning to be vexed + Wealth was an unpardonable sin + Weep oftener for her children than is the usual lot of mothers + Who loved their possessions better than their creed + Wonder equally at human capacity to inflict and to endure misery + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The Rise of the Dutch Republic, Volume +II.(of 3) 1566-74, by John Lothrop Motley + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK RISE DUTCH REPUBLIC, II. *** + +***** This file should be named 4823.txt or 4823.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + https://www.gutenberg.org/4/8/2/4823/ + +Produced by David Widger + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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