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diff --git a/old/jm35v10.txt b/old/jm35v10.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..1115e72 --- /dev/null +++ b/old/jm35v10.txt @@ -0,0 +1,18507 @@ +The Project Gutenberg EBook Rise of the Dutch Republic, Entire, 1574-84 +#35 in our series by John Lothrop Motley + +Copyright laws are changing all over the world. Be sure to check the +copyright laws for your country before downloading or redistributing +this or any other Project Gutenberg eBook. + +This header should be the first thing seen when viewing this Project +Gutenberg file. Please do not remove it. Do not change or edit the +header without written permission. + +Please read the "legal small print," and other information about the +eBook and Project Gutenberg at the bottom of this file. Included is +important information about your specific rights and restrictions in +how the file may be used. You can also find out about how to make a +donation to Project Gutenberg, and how to get involved. + + +**Welcome To The World of Free Plain Vanilla Electronic Texts** + +**EBooks Readable By Both Humans and By Computers, Since 1971** + +*****These EBooks Were Prepared By Thousands of Volunteers***** + + +Title: The Rise of the Dutch Republic, Entire, 1574-84 + +Author: John Lothrop Motley + +Release Date: January, 2004 [EBook #4835] +[Yes, we are more than one year ahead of schedule] +[This file was first posted on March 26, 2002] + +Edition: 10 + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + + + + + +*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE DUTCH REPUBLIC, 1574-84 *** + + + +This eBook was produced by David Widger <widger@cecomet.net> + + + +[NOTE: There is a short list of bookmarks, or pointers, at the end of the +file for those who may wish to sample the author's ideas before making an +entire meal of them. D.W.] + + + + + +MOTLEY'S HISTORY OF THE NETHERLANDS, Project Gutenberg Edition, Volume 35 + +THE RISE OF THE DUTCH REPUBLIC, COMPLETE, 1574-1584 + +By John Lothrop Motley + +1855 + + +1574-1576 [CHAPTER III.] + + Latter days of the Blood Council--Informal and insincere + negotiations for peace--Characteristics of the negotiators and of + their diplomatic correspondence--Dr. Junius--Secret conferences + between Dr. Leoninus and Orange--Steadfastness of the Prince-- + Changes in the internal government of the northern provinces-- + Generosity and increasing power of the municipalities--Incipient + jealousy in regard to Orange rebuked--His offer of resignation + refused by the Estates--His elevation to almost unlimited power-- + Renewed mediation of Maximilian--Views and positions of the parties + --Advice of Orange--Opening of negotiations at Breda--Propositions + and counter-propositions--Adroitness of the plenipotentiaries on + both sides--Insincere diplomacy and unsatisfactory results--Union of + Holland and Zealand under the Prince of Orange--Act defining his + powers--Charlotte de Bourbon--Character, fortunes, and fate of Anna + of Saxony--Marriage of Orange with Mademoiselle de Bourbon-- + Indignation thereby excited--Horrible tortures inflicted upon + Papists by Sonoy in North Holland--Oudewater and Schoonoven taken by + Hierges--The isles of Zealand--A submarine expedition projected-- + Details of the adventure--Its entire success--Death of Chiappin + Vitelli--Deliberations in Holland and Zealand concerning the + renunciation of Philip's authority--Declaration at Delft--Doubts as + to which of the Great Powers the sovereignty should be offered-- + Secret international relations--Mission to England--Unsatisfactory + negotiations with Elizabeth--Position of the Grand Commander--Siege + of Zieriekzee--Generosity of Count John--Desperate project of the + Prince--Death and character of Requesens. + +The Council of Troubles, or, as it will be for ever denominated +in history, the Council of Blood, still existed, although the Grand +Commander, upon his arrival in the Netherlands, had advised his sovereign +to consent to the immediate abolition of so odious an institution. +Philip accepting the advice of his governor and his cabinet, had +accordingly authorized him by a letter of the 10th of March, 1574, +to take that step if he continued to believe it advisable. + +Requesens had made use of this permission to extort money from the +obedient portion of the provinces. An assembly of deputies was held at +Brussels on the 7th of June, 1574, and there was a tedious interchange of +protocols, reports, and remonstrances. The estates, not satisfied with +the extinction of a tribunal which had at last worn itself out by its own +violence, and had become inactive through lack of victims, insisted on +greater concessions. They demanded the departure of the Spanish troops, +the establishment of a council of Netherlanders in Spain for Netherland +affairs, the restoration to offices in the provinces of natives and +natives only; for these drawers of documents thought it possible, at that +epoch, to recover by pedantry what their brethren of Holland and Zealand +were maintaining with the sword. It was not the moment for historical +disquisition, citations from Solomon, nor chopping of logic; yet with +such lucubrations were reams of paper filled, and days and weeks +occupied. The result was what might have been expected. The Grand +Commander obtained but little money; the estates obtained none of their +demands; and the Blood Council remained, as it were, suspended in mid- +air. It continued to transact business at intervals during the +administration of Requesens, and at last, after nine years of existence, +was destroyed by the violent imprisonment of the Council of State at +Brussels. This event, however, belongs to a subsequent page of this +history. + +Noircarmes had argued, from the tenor of Saint Aldegonde's letters, that +the Prince would be ready to accept his pardon upon almost any terms. +Noircarmes was now dead, but Saint Aldegonde still remained in prison, +very anxious for his release, and as well disposed as ever to render +services in any secret negotiation. It will be recollected that, at the +capitulation of Middelburg, it had been distinctly stipulated by the +Prince that Colonel Mondragon should at once effect the liberation of +Saint Aldegonde, with certain other prisoners, or himself return into +confinement. He had done neither the one nor the other. The patriots +still languished in prison, some of them being subjected to exceedingly +harsh treatment, but Mondragon, although repeatedly summoned as an +officer and a gentleman, by the Prince, to return to captivity, +had been forbidden by the Grand Commander to redeem his pledge. + +Saint Aldegonde was now released from prison upon parole, and despatched +on a secret mission to the Prince and estates. As before, he was +instructed that two points were to be left untouched--the authority +of the King and the question of religion. Nothing could be more +preposterous than to commence a negotiation from which the two important +points were thus carefully eliminated. The King's authority and the +question of religion covered the whole ground upon which the Spaniards +and the Hollanders had been battling for six years, and were destined to +battle for three-quarters of a century longer. Yet, although other +affairs might be discussed, those two points were to be reserved for the +more conclusive arbitration of gunpowder. The result of negotiations +upon such a basis was easily to be foreseen. Breath, time, and paper +were profusely wasted and nothing gained. The Prince assured his friend, +as he had done secret agents previously sent to him, that he was himself +ready to leave the land, if by so doing he could confer upon it the +blessing of peace; but that all hopes of reaching a reasonable +conclusion from the premises established was futile. The envoy treated +also with the estates, and received from them in return an elaborate +report, which was addressed immediately to the King. The style of this +paper was bold and blunt, its substance bitter and indigestible. It +informed Philip what he had heard often enough before, that the Spaniards +must go and the exiles come back, the inquisition be abolished and the +ancient privileges restored, the Roman Catholic religion renounce its +supremacy, and the Reformed religion receive permission to exist +unmolested, before he could call himself master of that little hook +of sand in the North Sea. With this paper, which was entrusted to Saint +Aldegonde, by him to be delivered to the Grand Commander, who was, after +reading it, to forward it to its destination, the negotiator returned to +his prison. Thence he did not emerge again till the course of events +released him, upon the 15th of October, 1574. + +This report was far from agreeable to the Governor, and it became the +object of a fresh correspondence between his confidential agent, +Champagny, and the learned and astute Junius de Jonge, representative of +the Prince of Orange and Governor of Yeere. The communication of De +Jonge consisted of a brief note and a long discourse. The note was sharp +and stinging, the discourse elaborate and somewhat pedantic. +Unnecessarily historical and unmercifully extended, it was yet bold, +bitter, and eloquent: The presence of foreigners was proved to have been, +from the beginning of Philip's reign, the curse of the country. Doctor +Sonnius, with his batch of bishops, had sowed the seed of the first +disorder. A prince, ruling in the Netherlands, had no right to turn a +deaf ear to the petitions of his subjects. If he did so, the Hollanders +would tell him, as the old woman had told the Emperor Adrian, that the +potentate who had no time to attend to the interests of his subjects, +had not leisure enough to be a sovereign. While Holland refused to bow +its neck to the Inquisition, the King of Spain dreaded the thunder and +lightning of the Pope. The Hollanders would, with pleasure, emancipate +Philip from his own thraldom, but it was absurd that he, who was himself +a slave to another potentate, should affect unlimited control over a free +people. It was Philip's councillors, not the Hollanders, who were his +real enemies; for it was they who held him in the subjection by which his +power was neutralized and his crown degraded. + +It may be supposed that many long pages, conceived in this spirit and +expressed with great vigor, would hardly smooth the way for the more +official negotiations which were soon to take place, yet Doctor Junius +fairly and faithfully represented the sentiment of his nation. + +Towards the close of the year, Doctor Elbertus Leoninus, professor of +Louvain, together with Hugo Bonte, ex-pensionary of Middelburg, was +commissioned by the Grand Commander to treat secretly with the Prince. +He was, however, not found very tractable when the commissioners opened +the subject of his own pardon and reconciliation with the King, and he +absolutely refused to treat at all except with the cooperation of the +estates. He, moreover, objected to the use of the word "pardon" on +the ground that he had never done anything requiring his Majesty's +forgiveness. If adversity should visit him, he cared but little for it; +he had lived long enough, he said, and should die with some glory, +regretting the disorders and oppressions which had taken place, but +conscious that it had not been in his power to remedy them. When +reminded by the commissioners of the King's power, he replied that he +knew his Majesty to be very mighty, but that there was a King more +powerful still--even God the Creator, who, as he humbly hoped, was upon +his Side. + +At a subsequent interview with Hugo Bonte, the Prince declared it almost +impossible for himself or the estates to hold any formal communication +with the Spanish government, as such communications were not safe. No +trust could be reposed either in safe conducts or hostages. Faith had +been too often broken by the administration. The promise made by the +Duchess of Parma to the nobles, and afterwards violated, the recent +treachery of Mondragon, the return of three exchanged prisoners from the +Hague, who died next day of poison administered before their release, the +frequent attempts upon his own life--all such constantly recurring crimes +made it doubtful, in the opinion of the Prince, whether it would be +possible to find commissioners to treat with his Majesty's government. +All would fear assassination, afterwards to be disavowed by the King and +pardoned by the Pope. After much conversation in this vein, the Prince +gave the Spanish agents warning that he might eventually be obliged to +seek the protection of some foreign power for the provinces. In this +connection he made use of the memorable metaphor, so often repeated +afterwards, that "the country was a beautiful damsel, who certainly did +not lack suitors able and willing to accept her and defend her against +the world." As to the matter of religion, he said he was willing to +leave it to be settled by the estates-general; but doubted whether +anything short of entire liberty of worship would ever satisfy the +people. + +Subsequently there were held other conferences, between the Prince and +Doctor Leoninus, with a similar result, all attempts proving fruitless +to induce him to abandon his position upon the subject of religion, +or to accept a pardon on any terms save the departure of the foreign +troops, the assembling of the estates-general, and entire freedom of +religion. Even if he were willing to concede the religious question +himself, he observed that it was idle to hope either from the estates +or people a hand's-breadth of concession upon that point. Leoninus was +subsequently admitted to a secret conferenc with the estates of Holland, +where his representations were firmly met by the same arguments as those +already used by the Prince. + +These proceedings on the part of Saint Aldegonde, Champagny, Junius, and +Elbertus Leoninus extended through the whole summer and autumn of 1574, +and were not terminated until January of the following year. + +Changes fast becoming necessary in the internal government of the +provinces, were also undertaken during this year. Hitherto the Prince +had exercised his power under the convenient fiction of the King's +authority, systematically conducting the rebellion in the name of his +Majesty, and as his Majesty's stadholder. By this process an immense +power was lodged in his hands; nothing less, indeed, than the supreme +executive and legislative functions of the land; while since the revolt +had become, as it were, perpetual, ample but anomalous functions had been +additionally thrust upon him by the estates and by the general voice of +the people. + +The two provinces, even while deprived of Harlem and Amsterdam, now +raised two hundred and ten thousand florins monthly, whereas Alva had +never been able to extract from Holland more than two hundred and +seventy-one thousand florins yearly. They paid all rather than pay a +tenth. In consequence of this liberality, the cities insensibly acquired +a greater influence in the government. The coming contest between the +centrifugal aristocratic principle, represented by these corporations, +and the central popular authority of the stadholder, was already +foreshadowed, but at first the estates were in perfect harmony with the +Prince. They even urged upon him more power than he desired, and +declined functions which he wished them to exercise. On the 7th of +September, 1573, it had been formally proposed by the general council to +confer a regular and unlimited dictatorship upon him, but in the course +of a year from that time, the cities had begun to feel their increasing +importance. Moreover, while growing more ambitious, they became less +liberal. + +The Prince, dissatisfied with the conduct of the cities, brought the +whole subject before an assembly of the estates of Holland on the 20th +October, 1574. He stated the inconveniences produced by the anomalous +condition of the government. He complained that the common people had +often fallen into the error that the money raised for public purposes had +been levied for his benefit only, and that they had, therefore, been less +willing to contribute to the taxes. As the only remedy for these evils, +he tendered his resignation of all the powers with which he was clothed, +so that the estates might then take the government, which they could +exercise without conflict or control. For himself, he had never desired +power, except as a means of being useful to his country, and he did not +offer his resignation from unwillingness to stand by the cause, but from +a hearty desire to save it from disputes among its friends. He was +ready, now as ever, to shed the last drop of his blood to maintain the +freedom of the land. + +This straightforward language produced an instantaneous effect. The +estates knew that they were dealing with a man whose life was governed +by lofty principles, and they felt that they were in danger of losing him +through their own selfishness and low ambition. They were embarrassed, +for they did not like to, relinquish the authority which they had begun +to relish, nor to accept the resignation of a man who was indispensable. +They felt that to give up William of Orange at that time was to accept +the Spanish yoke for ever. At an assembly held at Delft on the 12th +of November, 1574, they accordingly requested him "to continue in his +blessed government, with the council established near him," and for +this end, they formally offered to him, "under the name of Governor +or Regent, "absolute power, authority, and sovereign command. +In particular, they conferred on him the entire control of all the +ships of war, hitherto reserved to the different cities, together with +the right to dispose of all prizes and all monies raised for the support +of fleets. They gave him also unlimited power over the domains; they +agreed that all magistracies, militia bands, guilds, and communities, +should make solemn oath to contribute taxes and to receive garrisons, +exactly as the Prince, with his council, should ordain; but they made +it a condition that the estates should be convened and consulted upon +requests, impositions, and upon all changes in the governing body. +It was also stipulated that the judges of the supreme court and of the +exchequer, with other high officers, should be appointed by and with the +consent of the estates. + +The Prince expressed himself willing to accept the government upon these +terms. He, however, demanded an allowance of forty-five thousand florins +monthly for the army expenses and other current outlays. Here, however, +the estates refused their consent. In a mercantile spirit, unworthy the +occasion and the man with whom they were dealing, they endeavoured to +chaffer where they should have been only too willing to comply, and they +attempted to reduce the reasonable demand of the Prince to thirty +thousand florins. The Prince, who had poured out his own wealth so +lavishly in the cause--who, together with his brothers, particularly the +generous John of Nassau, had contributed all which they could raise by +mortgage, sales of jewellery and furniture, and by extensive loans, +subjecting themselves to constant embarrassment, and almost to penury, +felt himself outraged by the paltriness of this conduct. He expressed +his indignation, and denounced the niggardliness of the estates in the +strongest language, and declared that he would rather leave the country +for ever, with the maintenance of his own honor, than accept the +government upon such disgraceful terms. The estates, disturbed by his +vehemence, and struck with its justice, instantly, and without further +deliberation, consented to his demand. They granted the forty-five +thousand florins monthly, and the Prince assumed the government, thus +remodelled. + +During the autumn and early winter of the year 1574, the Emperor +Maximilian had been actively exerting himself to bring about a +pacification of the Netherlands. He was certainly sincere, for an +excellent reason. "The Emperor maintains," said Saint Goard, French +ambassador at Madrid, "that if peace is not made with the Beggars, the +Empire will depart from the house of Austria, and that such is the +determination of the electors." On the other hand, if Philip were not +weary of the war, at any rate his means for carrying it on were +diminishing daily. Requesens could raise no money in the Netherlands; +his secretary wrote to Spain, that the exchequer was at its last gasp, +and the cabinet of Madrid was at its wits' end, and almost incapable of +raising ways and means. The peace party was obtaining the upper hand; +the fierce policy of Alva regarded with increasing disfavor. "The people +here," wrote Saint Goard from Madrid, "are completely desperate, whatever +pains they take to put a good face on the matter. They desire most +earnestly to treat, without losing their character." It seemed, +nevertheless, impossible for Philip to bend his neck. The hope of +wearing the Imperial crown had alone made his bigotry feasible. To less +potent influences it was adamant; and even now, with an impoverished +exchequer, and, after seven years of unsuccessful warfare, his purpose +was not less rigid than at first. "The Hollanders demand liberty of +conscience," said Saint Goard, "to which the King will never consent, or +I am much mistaken." + +As for Orange, he was sincerely in favor of peace--but not a dishonorable +peace, in which should be renounced all the objects of the war. He was +far from sanguine on the subject, for he read the signs of the times and +the character of Philip too accurately to believe much more in the +success of the present than in that of the past efforts of Maximilian. +He was pleased that his brother-in-law, Count Schwartzburg, had been +selected as the Emperor's agent in the affair, but expressed his doubts +whether much good would come of the proposed negotiations. Remembering +the many traps which in times past had been set by Philip and his father, +he feared that the present transaction might likewise prove a snare. +"We have not forgotten the words I 'ewig' and 'einig' in the treaty with +Landgrave Philip," he wrote; "at the same time we beg to assure his +Imperial Majesty that we desire nothing more than a good peace, tending +to the glory of God, the service of the King of Spain, and the prosperity +of his subjects." + +This was his language to his brother, in a letter which was meant to be +shown to the Emperor. In another, written on the same day, he explained +himself with more clearness, and stated his distrust with more energy. +There were no papists left, except a few ecclesiastics, he said; so much +had the number of the Reformers been augmented, through the singular +grace of God. It was out of the question to suppose, therefore, that a +measure, dooming all who were not Catholics to exile, could be +entertained. None would change their religion, and none would consent, +voluntarily, to abandon for ever their homes, friends, and property. +"Such a peace," he said, "would be poor and pitiable indeed." + +These, then, were the sentiments of the party now about to negotiate. +The mediator was anxious for a settlement, because the interests of the +Imperial house required it. The King of Spain was desirous of peace, but +was unwilling to concede a hair. The Prince of Orange was equally +anxious to terminate the war, but was determined not to abandon the +objects for which it had been undertaken. A favorable result, therefore, +seemed hardly possible. A whole people claimed the liberty to stay at +home and practice the Protestant religion, while their King asserted the +right to banish them for ever, or to burn them if they remained. The +parties seemed too far apart to be brought together by the most elastic +compromise. The Prince addressed an earnest appeal to the assembly of +Holland, then in session at Dort, reminding them that, although peace was +desirable, it might be more dangerous than war, and entreating them, +therefore, to conclude no treaty which should be inconsistent with the +privileges of the country and their duty to God. + +It was now resolved that all the votes of the assembly should consist of +five: one for the nobles and large cities of Holland, one for the estates +of Zealand, one for the small cities of Holland, one for the cities +Bommel and Buren, and the fifth for William of Orange. The Prince thus +effectually held in his hands three votes: his own, that of the small +cities, which through his means only had been admitted to the assembly, +and thirdly, that of Buren, the capital of his son's earldom. +He thus exercised a controlling influence over the coming deliberations. +The ten commissioners, who were appointed by the estates for the peace +negotiations, were all his friends. Among them were Saint Aldegonde, +Paul Buis, Charles Boisot, and Doctor Junius. The plenipotentiaries of +the Spanish government were Leoninus, the Seigneur de Rassinghem, +Cornelius Suis, and Arnold Sasbout. + +The proceedings were opened at Breda upon the 3rd of March, 1575. The +royal commissioners took the initiative, requesting to be informed what +complaints the estates had to make, and offering to remove, if possible, +all grievances which they might be suffering. The states' commissioners +replied that they desired nothing, in the first place, but an answer to +the petition which they had already presented to the King. This was +the paper placed in the hands of Saint Aldegonde during the informal +negotiations of the preceding year. An answer was accordingly given, +but couched in such vague and general language as to be quite without +meaning. The estates then demanded a categorical reply to the two +principal demands in the petition, namely, the departure of the foreign +troops and the assembling of the states-general. They, were asked what +they understood by foreigners and by the assembly of states-general. +They replied that by foreigners they meant those who were not natives, +and particularly the Spaniards. By the estates-general they meant the +same body before which, in 1555, Charles had resigned his sovereignty to +Philip. The royal commissioners made an extremely unsatisfactory answer, +concluding with a request that all cities, fortresses, and castles, then +in the power of the estates, together with all their artillery and +vessels of war, should be delivered to the King. The Roman Catholic +worship, it was also distinctly stated, was to be re-established at once +exclusively throughout the Netherlands; those of the Reformed religion +receiving permission, for that time only, to convert their property into +cash within a certain time, and to depart the country. + +Orange and the estates made answer on the 21st March. It could not be +called hard, they said, to require the withdrawal of the Spanish troops, +for this had been granted in 1559, for less imperious reasons. +The estates had, indeed, themselves made use of foreigners, but those +foreigners had never been allowed to participate in the government. +With regard to the assembly of the states-general, that body had always +enjoyed the right of advising with the Sovereign on the condition of the +country, and on general measures of government. Now it was only thought +necessary to summon them, in order that they might give their consent to +the King's "requests." Touching the delivery of cities and citadels, +artillery and ships, the proposition was, pronounced to resemble that +made by the wolves to the sheep, in the fable--that the dogs should be +delivered up, as a preliminary to a lasting peace. It was unreasonable +to request the Hollanders to abandon their religion or their country. +The reproach of heresy was unjust, for they still held to the Catholic +Apostolic Church, wishing only to purify, it of its abuses. Moreover, +it was certainly more cruel to expel a whole population than to dismiss +three or four thousand Spaniards who for seven long years had been eating +their fill at the expense of the provinces. It would be impossible for +the exiles to dispose of their property, for all would, by the proposed +measure, be sellers, while there would be no purchasers. + +The royal plenipotentiaries, making answer to this communication upon the +1st of April, signified a willingness that the Spanish soldiers should +depart, if the states would consent to disband their own foreign troops. +They were likewise in favor of assembling the states-general, but could +not permit any change in the religion of the country. His Majesty had +sworn to maintain the true worship at the moment of assuming the +sovereignty. The dissenters might, however, be allowed a period of six +months in which to leave the land, and eight or ten years for the sale of +their property. After the heretics had all departed, his Majesty did not +doubt that trade and manufactures would flourish again, along with the +old religion. As for the Spanish inquisition, there was not, and there +never had been, any intention of establishing it in the Netherlands. + +No doubt there was something specious in this paper. It appeared to +contain considerable concessions. The Prince and estates had claimed +the departure of the Spaniards. It was now promised that they should +depart. They had demanded the assembling of the states-general. +It was now promised that they should assemble. They had denounced +the inquisition. It was now averred that the Spanish inquisition +was not to be established. + +Nevertheless, the commissioners of the Prince were not deceived by such +artifices. There was no parity between the cases of the Spanish soldiery +and of the troops in service of the estates. To assemble the estates- +general was idle, if they were to be forbidden the settlement of the +great question at issue. With regard to the Spanish inquisition, it +mattered little whether the slaughter-house were called Spanish or +Flemish, or simply the Blood-Council. It was, however, necessary for +the states' commissioners to consider their reply very carefully; for +the royal plenipotentiaries had placed themselves upon specious grounds. +It was not enough to feel that the King's government was paltering with +them; it was likewise necessary for the states' agents to impress this +fact upon the people. + +There was a pause in the deliberations. Meantime, Count Schwartzburg, +reluctantly accepting the conviction that the religious question was an +insurmountable obstacle to a peace, left the provinces for Germany. The +last propositions of the government plenipotentiaries had been discussed +in the councils of the various cities, so that the reply of the Prince, +and estates was delayed until the 1st of June. They admitted, in this +communication, that the offer to restore ancient privileges had an +agreeable sound; but regretted that if the whole population were to be +banished, there would be but few to derive advantage from the +restoration. If the King would put an end to religious persecution, he +would find as much loyalty in the provinces as his forefathers had found. +It was out of the question, they said, for the states to disarm and to +deliver up their strong places, before the Spanish soldiery had retired, +and before peace had been established. It was their wish to leave the +question of religion, together with all other disputed matters, to the +decision of the assembly. Were it possible, in the meantime, to devise +any effectual method for restraining hostilities, it would gladly be +embraced. + +On the 8th of July, the royal commissioners inquired what guarantee the +states would be willing to give, that the decision of the general +assembly, whatever it might be, should be obeyed. The demand was +answered by another, in which the King's agents were questioned as to +their own guarantees. Hereupon it was stated that his Majesty would give +his word and sign manual, together with the word and signature of the +Emperor into the bargain. In exchange for these promises, the Prince and +estates were expected to give their own oaths and seals, together with a +number of hostages. Over and above this, they were requested to deliver +up the cities of Brill and Enkhuizen, Flushing and Arnemuyde. The +disparity of such guarantees was ridiculous. The royal word, even when +strengthened by the imperial promise, and confirmed by the autographs of +Philip and Maximilian, was not so solid a security, in the opinion of +Netherlanders, as to outweigh four cities in Holland and Zealand, with +all their population and wealth. To give collateral pledges and hostages +upon one side, while the King offered none, was to assign a superiority +to the royal word, over that of the Prince and the estates which there +was no disposition to recognize. Moreover, it was very cogently urged +that to give up the cities was to give as security for the contract, +some of the principal contracting parties. + +This closed the negotiations. The provincial plenipotentiaries took +their leave by a paper dated 13th July, 1575, which recapitulated the +main incidents of the conference. They expressed their deep regret that +his Majesty should insist so firmly on the banishment of the Reformers, +for it was unjust to reserve the provinces to the sole use of a small +number of Catholics. They lamented that the proposition which had been +made, to refer the religious question to the estates, had neither been +loyally accepted, nor candidly refused. They inferred, therefore, +that the object of the royal government had, been to amuse the states, +while tine was thus gained for reducing the country into a slavery more +abject than any which had yet existed. On the other hand, the royal +commissioners as solemnly averred that the whole responsibility for the +failure of the negotiations belonged to the, estates. + +It was the general opinion in the insurgent provinces that the government +had been insincere from the beginning, and had neither expected nor +desired to conclude a peace. It is probable, however, that Philip was +sincere; so far as it could be called sincerity to be willing to conclude +a peace, if the provinces would abandon the main objects of the war. +With his impoverished exchequer, and ruin threatening his whole empire, +if this mortal combat should be continued many years longer, he could +have no motive for further bloodshed, provided all heretics should +consent to abandon the country. As usual, however, he left his agents in +the dark as to his real intentions. Even Requesens was as much in doubt +as to the King's secret purposes as Margaret of Parma had ever been in +former times. + + [Compare the remarks of Groen v. Prinst., Archives, etc., v 259- + 262; Bor, viii. 606, 615; Meteren, v. 100; Hoofd, g. 410.--Count + John of Nassau was distrustful and disdainful from the beginning. + Against his brother's loyalty and the straightforward intentions of + the estates, he felt that the whole force of the Macchiavelli system + of policy would be brought to bear with great effect. He felt that + the object of the King's party was to temporize, to confuse, and to + deceive. He did not believe them capable of conceding the real + object in dispute, but he feared lest they might obscure the + judgment of the plain and well meaning people with whom they had to + deal. Alluding to the constant attempts made to poison himself and + his brother, he likens the pretended negotiations to Venetian drugs, + by which eyesight, hearing, feeling, and intellect were destroyed. + Under this pernicious influence, the luckless people would not + perceive the fire burning around them, but would shrink at a + rustling leaf. Not comprehending then the tendency of their own + acts, they would "lay bare their own backs to the rod, and bring + faggots for their own funeral pile."-Archives, etc., v. 131-137.] + +Moreover, the Grand Commander and the government had, after all, made +a great mistake in their diplomacy. The estates of Brabant, although +strongly desirous that the Spanish troops should be withdrawn, were +equally stanch for the maintenance of the Catholic religion, and many +of the southern provinces entertained the same sentiments. Had the +Governor, therefore, taken the states' commissioners at their word, +and left the decision of the religious question to the general assembly, +he might perhaps have found the vote in his favor. In this case, it is +certain that the Prince of Orange and his party would have been placed in +a very awkward position. + +The internal government of the insurgent provinces had remained upon the +footing which we have seen established in the autumn of 1574, but in the +course of this summer (1575), however, the foundation was laid for the +union of Holland and Zealand, under the authority of Orange. The selfish +principle of municipal aristocracy, which had tended to keep asunder +these various groups of cities, was now repressed by the energy of the +Prince and the strong determination of the people. + +In April, 1575, certain articles of union between Holland and Zealand +were proposed, and six commissioners appointed to draw up an ordinance +for the government of the two provinces. This ordinance was accepted in +general assembly of both. It was in twenty articles. It declared that, +during the war the Prince as sovereign, should have absolute power in all +matters concerning the defence of the country. He was to appoint +military officers, high and low, establish and remove garrisons, punish +offenders against the laws of war. He was to regulate the expenditure of +all money voted by the estates. He was to maintain the law, in the +King's name, as Count of Holland, and to appoint all judicial officers +upon nominations by the estates. He was, at the usual times, to appoint +and renew the magistracies of the cities, according to their +constitutions. He was to protect the exercise of the Evangelical +Reformed religion, and to suppress the exercise of the Roman religion, +without permitting, however, that search should be made into the creed of +any person. A deliberative and executive council, by which the jealousy +of the corporations had intended to hamper his government, did not come +into more than nominal existence. + +The articles of union having been agreed upon, the Prince, desiring an +unfettered expression of the national will, wished the ordinance to be +laid before the people in their primary assemblies. The estates, +however, were opposed to this democratic proceeding. They represented +that it had been customary to consult; after the city magistracies, +only the captains of companies and the deans of guilds on matters of +government. The Prince, yielding the point, the captains of companies +and deans of guilds accordingly alone united with the aristocratic boards +in ratifying the instrument by which his authority over the two united +provinces was established. On the 4th of June this first union was +solemnized. + +Upon the 11th of July, the Prince formally accepted the government. +He, however, made an essential change in a very important clause of the +ordinance. In place of the words, the "Roman religion," he insisted that +the words, "religion at variance with the Gospel," should be substituted +in the article by which he was enjoined to prohibit the exercise of such +religion. This alteration rebuked the bigotry which had already grown +out of the successful resistance to bigotry, and left the door open for a +general religious toleration. + +Early in this year the Prince had despatched Saint Aldegonde on a private +mission to the Elector Palatine. During some of his visits to that +potentate he had seen at Heidelberg the Princess Charlotte of Bourbon. +That lady was daughter of the Due de Montpensier, the most ardent of the +Catholic Princes of France, and the one who at the conferences of Bayonne +had been most indignant at the Queen Dowager's hesitation to unite +heartily with the, schemes of Alva and Philip for the extermination of +the Huguenots. His daughter, a woman of beauty, intelligence, and +virtue, forced before the canonical age to take the religious vows, had +been placed in the convent of Joliarrs, of which she had become Abbess. +Always secretly inclined to the Reformed religion, she had fled secretly +from her cloister, in the year of horrors 1572, and had found refuge at +the court of the Elector Palatine, after which step her father refused to +receive her letters, to contribute a farthing to her support, or even to +acknowledge her claims upon him by a single line or message of affection. + +Under these circumstances the outcast princess, who had arrived at the +years of maturity, might be considered her own mistress, and she was +neither morally nor legally bound, when her hand was sought in marriage +by the great champion of the Reformation, to ask the consent of a parent +who loathed her religion and denied her existence. The legality of the +divorce from Anne of Saxony had been settled by a full expression of the +ecclesiastical authority which she most respected; + + [Acte de, cinq Ministres du St. Evangile par lequel ils declarent le + mariage du Prince d'Orange etre legitime.--Archives, etc., v. 216- + 226.] + +the facts upon which the divorce had been founded having been proved +beyond peradventure. + +Nothing, in truth, could well be more unfortunate in its results than the +famous Saxon marriage, the arrangements for which had occasioned so much +pondering to Philip, and so much diplomatic correspondence on the part of +high personages in Germany, the Netherlands, and Spain. Certainly, it +was of but little consequence to what church the unhappy Princess +belonged, and they must be lightly versed in history or in human nature +who can imagine these nuptials to have exercised any effect upon the +religious or political sentiments of Orange. The Princess was of a +stormy, ill-regulated nature; almost a lunatic from the beginning. The +dislike which succeeded to her fantastic fondness for the Prince, as well +as her general eccentricity, had soon become the talk of all the court at +Brussels. She would pass week after week without emerging from her +chamber, keeping the shutters closed and candles burning, day and night. +She quarrelled violently, with Countess Egmont for precedence, so that +the ludicrous contentions of the two ladies in antechambers and doorways +were the theme and the amusement of society. Her insolence, not only in +private but in public, towards her husband became intolerable: "I could +not do otherwise than bear it with sadness and patience," said the +Prince, with great magnanimity, "hoping that with age would come +improvement." Nevertheless, upon one occasion, at a supper party, +she had used such language in the presence of Count Horn and many other +nobles, "that all wondered that he could endure the abusive terms which +she applied to him." + +When the clouds gathered about him, when he had become an exile and a +wanderer, her reproaches and her violence increased. The sacrifice of +their wealth, the mortgages and sales which he effected of his estates, +plate, jewels, and furniture, to raise money for the struggling country, +excited her bitter resentment. She separated herself from him by +degrees, and at last abandoned him altogether. Her temper became violent +to ferocity. She beat her servants with her hands and with clubs; she +threatened the lives of herself, of her attendants, of Count John of +Nassau, with knives and daggers, and indulged in habitual profanity and +blasphemy, uttering frightful curses upon all around. Her original +tendency to intemperance had so much increased, that she was often unable +to stand on her feet. A bottle of wine, holding more than a quart, in +the morning, and another in the evening, together with a pound of sugar, +was her usual allowance. She addressed letters to Alva complaining that +her husband had impoverished himself "in his good-for-nothing Beggar +war," and begging the Duke to furnish her with a little ready money +and with the means of arriving at the possession of her dower. + +An illicit connexion with a certain John Rubens, an exiled magistrate of +Antwerp, and father of the celebrated painter, completed the list of her +delinquencies, and justified the marriage of the Prince with Charlotte de +Bourbon. It was therefore determined by the Elector of Saxony and the +Landgrave William to remove her from the custody of the Nassaus. This +took place with infinite difficulty, at the close of the year 1575. +Already, in 1572; Augustus had proposed to the Landgrave that she should +be kept in solitary confinement, and that a minister should preach to her +daily through the grated aperture by which her, food was to be admitted. +The Landgrave remonstrated at so inhuman a proposition, which was, +however, carried into effect. The wretched Princess, now completely a +lunatic, was imprisoned in the electoral palace, in a chamber where the +windows were walled up and a small grating let into the upper part of the +door. Through this wicket came her food, as well as the words of the +holy man appointed to preach daily for her edification. + +Two years long, she endured this terrible punishment, and died mad, on +the 18th of December, 1577. On the following day, she was buried in the +electoral tomb at Meissen; a pompous procession of "school children, +clergy, magistrates, nobility, and citizens" conducting her to that rest +of which she could no longer be deprived by the cruelty of man nor her +own violent temperament. + + [It can certainly be considered no violation of the sanctity of + archives to make these slender allusions to a tale, the main + features of which have already been published, not only by MM. Groan + v. Prinsterer and Bakhuyzen, in Holland, but by the Saxon Professor + Bottiger, in Germany. It is impossible to understand the character + and career of Orange, and his relations with Germany, without a + complete view of the Saxon marriage. The extracts from the + "geomantic letters" of Elector Augustus, however, given in Bottiger + (Hist. Taschenb. 1836, p. 169-173), with their furious attacks upon + the Prince and upon Charlotte of Bourbon, seem to us too obscene to + be admitted, even in a note to these pages, and in a foreign + language.] + +So far, therefore, as the character of Mademoiselle de Bourbon and the +legitimacy of her future offspring were concerned, she received ample +guarantees. For the rest, the Prince, in a simple letter, informed her +that he was already past his prime, having reached his forty-second year, +and that his fortune was encumbered not only with settlements for his, +children by previous marriages, but by debts contracted in the cause of +his oppressed country. A convention of doctors and bishops of France; +summoned by the Duc de Montpensier, afterwards confirmed the opinion that +the conventual vows of the Princess Charlotte had been conformable +neither to the laws of France nor to the canons of the Trent Council. She +was conducted to Brill by Saint Aldegonde, where she was received by her +bridegroom, to whom she was united on the 12th of June. The wedding +festival was held at Dort with much revelry and holiday making, "but +without dancing." + +In this connexion, no doubt the Prince consulted his inclination only. +Eminently domestic in his habits, he required the relief of companionship +at home to the exhausting affairs which made up his life abroad. For +years he had never enjoyed social converse, except at long intervals, +with man or woman; it was natural, therefore, that he should contract +this marriage. It was equally natural that he should make many enemies +by so impolitic a match. The Elector Palatine, who was in place of +guardian to the bride, decidedly disapproved, although he was suspected +of favoring the alliance. The Landgrave of Hesse for a time was furious; +the Elector of Saxony absolutely delirious with rage. The Diet of the +Empire was to be held within a few weeks at Frankfort, where it was very +certain that the outraged and influential Elector would make his +appearance, overflowing with anger, and determined to revenge upon the +cause of the Netherland Reformation the injury which he had personally +received. Even the wise, considerate, affectionate brother, John of +Nassau, considered the marriage an act of madness. He did what he could, +by argument and entreaty, to dissuade the Prince from its completion; +although he afterwards voluntarily confessed that the Princess Charlotte +had been deeply calumniated, and was an inestimable treasure to his +brother. The French government made use of the circumstance to justify +itself in a still further alienation from the cause of the Prince than it +had hitherto manifested, but this was rather pretence than reality. + +It was not in the nature of things, however, that the Saxon and Hessian +indignation could be easily allayed. The Landgrave was extremely +violent. "Truly, I cannot imagine," he wrote to the Elector of Saxony, +"quo consilio that wiseacre of an Aldegonde, and whosoever else has been +aiding and abetting, have undertaken this affair. Nam si pietatem +respicias, it is to be feared that, considering she is a Frenchwoman, a +nun, and moreover a fugitive nun, about whose chastity there has been +considerable question, the Prince has got out of the frying-pan into the +fire. Si formam it is not to be supposed that it was her beauty which +charmed him, since, without doubt, he must be rather frightened than +delighted, when he looks upon her. Si spem prolis, the Prince has +certainly only too many heirs already, and ought to wish that he had +neither wife nor children. Si amicitiam, it is not to be supposed, while +her father expresses himself in such threatening language with regard to +her, that there will be much cordiality of friendship on his part. Let +them look to it, then, lest it fare with them no better than with the +Admiral, at his Paris wedding; for those gentlemen can hardly forgive +such injuries, sine mercurio et arsenico sublimato." + +The Elector of Saxony was frantic with choler, and almost ludicrous in +the vehemence of its expression. Count John was unceasing in his +exhortations to his brother to respect the sensitiveness of these +important personages, and to remember how much good and how much evil it +was in their power to compass, with regard to himself and to the great +cause of the Protestant religion. He reminded him, too, that the divorce +had not been, and would not be considered impregnable as to form, and +that much discomfort and detriment was likely to grow out of the whole +proceeding, for himself and his family. The Prince, however, was +immovable in his resolution, and from the whole tone of his +correspondence and deportment it was obvious that his marriage was one +rather of inclination than of policy. "I can assure you, my brother," +he wrote to Count John, "that my character has always tended to this-- +to care neither for words nor menaces in any matter where I can act with +a clear conscience, and without doing injury to my neighbour. Truly, if +I had paid regard to the threats of princes, I should never have embarked +in so many dangerous affairs, contrary to the will of the King, my +master, in times past, and even to the advice of many of my relatives and +friends." + +The evil consequences which had been foreseen were not slow to manifest +themselves. There was much discussion of the Prince's marriage at the +Diet of Frankfort, and there was even a proposition, formally to declare +the Calvinists excluded in Germany from the benefits of the Peace of +Passau. The Archduke Rudolph was soon afterwards elected King of the +Romans and of Bohemia, although hitherto, according to the policy of the +Prince of Orange, and in the expectation of benefit to the cause of the +Reformation in Germany and the Netherlands, there has been a strong +disposition to hold out hopes to Henry the Third, and to excite the fears +of Maximilian. + +While these important affairs, public and private, had been occurring +in the south of Holland and in Germany, a very nefarious transaction had +disgraced the cause of the patriot party in the northern quarter. +Diedrich Sonoy, governor of that portion of Holland, a man of great +bravery but of extreme ferocity of character, had discovered an extensive +conspiracy among certain of the inhabitants, in aid of an approaching +Spanish invasion. Bands of land-loupers had been employed, according to +the intimation which he had received or affected to have received, to set +fire to villages and towns in every direction, to set up beacons, and to +conduct a series of signals by which the expeditions about to be +organized were to be furthered in their objects. The Governor, +determined to show that the Duke of Alva could not be more prompt nor +more terrible than himself, improvised, of his own authority, a tribunal +in imitation of the infamous Blood-Council. Fortunately for the +character of the country, Sonoy was not a Hollander, nor was the +jurisdiction of this newly established court allowed to extend beyond +very narrow limits. Eight vagabonds were, however, arrested and doomed +to tortures the most horrible, in order to extort from them confessions +implicating persons of higher position in the land than themselves. +Seven, after a few turns of the pulley and the screw, confessed all which +they were expected to confess, and accused all whom they were requested +to accuse. The eighth was firmer, and refused to testify to the guilt of +certain respectable householders, whose names he had, perhaps, never +heard, and against whom there was no shadow of evidence. He was, +however, reduced by three hours and a half of sharp torture to confess, +entirely according to their orders, so that accusations and evidence were +thus obtained against certain influential gentlemen of the province, +whose only crime was a secret adherence to the Catholic Faith. + +The eight wretches who had been induced by promises of unconditional +pardon upon one hand, and by savage torture on the other, to bear this +false witness, were condemned to be burned alive, and on their way to the +stake, they all retracted the statements which had only been extorted +from them by the rack. Nevertheless, the individuals who had been thus +designated, were arrested. Charged with plotting a general conflagration +of the villages and farmhouses, in conjunction with an invasion by +Hierges and other Papist generals, they indignantly protested their +innocence; but two of them, a certain Kopp Corneliszoon, and his son, +Nanning Koppezoon, were selected to undergo the most cruel torture which +had yet been practised in the Netherlands. Sonoy, to his eternal shame, +was disposed to prove that human ingenuity to inflict human misery had +not been exhausted in the chambers of the Blood Council, for it was to be +shown that Reformers were capable of giving a lesson even to inquisitors +in this diabolical science. Kopp, a man advanced in years, was tortured +during a whole day. On the following morning he was again brought to the +rack, but the old man was too weak to endure all the agony which his +tormentors had provided for him. Hardly had he been placed upon the bed +of torture than he calmly expired, to the great indignation of the +tribunal. "The Devil has broken his neck and carried him off to hell," +cried they ferociously. "Nevertheless, that shall not prevent him from +being hung and quartered." This decree of impotent vengeance was +accordingly executed. The son of Kopp, however, Nanning Koppezoon, was a +man in the full vigor of his years. He bore with perfect fortitude a +series of incredible tortures, after which, with his body singed from +head to heel, and his feet almost entirely flayed, he was left for six +weeks to crawl about his dungeon on his knees. He was then brought back +to the torture-room, and again stretched upon the rack, while a large +earthen vessel, made for the purpose, was placed, inverted, upon his +naked body. A number of rats were introduced under this cover, and hot +coals were heaped upon the vessel, till the rats, rendered furious by the +heat, gnawed into the very bowels of the victim, in their agony to +escape. + + [Bor (viii. 628) conscientiously furnishes diagrams of the + machinery by aid of which this devilish cruelty was inflicted. The + rats were sent by the Governor himself.--Vide Letter of the + Commissioners to Sonoy, apud Bor, viii. 640, 641. The whole letter + is a wonderful monument of barbarity. The incredible tortures to + which the poor creatures had been subjected are detailed in a + business-like manner, as though the transactions were quite regular + and laudable, The Commissioners conclude with pious wishes for the + Governor's welfare: "Noble, wise, virtuous, and very discreet sir," + they say, "we have wished to apprise you of the foregoing, and we + now pray that God Almighty may spare you in a happy, healthy and + long-continued government"--It will be seen, however, that the wise, + virtuous, and very discreet Governor, who thus caused his fellow- + citizens bowels to be gnawed by rats, was not allowed to remain much + longer in his "happy and healthy government"] + +The holes thus torn in his bleeding flesh were filled with red-hot coals. +He was afterwards subjected to other tortures too foul to relate; nor was +it till he had endured all this agony, with a fortitude which seemed +supernatural, that he was at last discovered to be human. Scorched; +bitten, dislocated in every joint, sleepless, starving, perishing with +thirst, he was at last crushed into a false confession, by a promise of +absolute forgiveness. He admitted everything which was brought to his +charge, confessing a catalogue of contemplated burnings and beacon +firings of which he had never dreamed, and avowing himself in league with +other desperate Papists, still more dangerous than himself. + +Notwithstanding the promises of pardon, Nanning was then condemned to +death. The sentence ordained that his heart should be torn from his +living bosom, and thrown in his face, after which his head was to be +taken off and exposed on the church steeple of his native village. His +body was then to be cut in four, and a quarter fastened upon different +towers of the city of Alkmaar, for it was that city, recently so famous +for its heroic resistance to the Spanish army, which was now sullied by +all this cold-blooded atrocity. When led to execution, the victim +recanted indignantly the confessions forced from him by weakness of body, +and exonerated the persons whom he had falsely accused. A certain +clergyman, named Jurian Epeszoon, endeavored by loud praying to drown his +voice, that the people might not rise with indignation, and the dying +prisoner with his last breath solemnly summoned this unworthy pastor of +Christ Jo meet him within three days before the judgment-seat of God. +It is a remarkable and authentic fact, that the clergyman thus summoned, +went home pensively from the place of execution, sickened immediately and +died upon the appointed day. + +Notwithstanding this solemn recantation, the, persons accused were +arrested, and in their turn subjected to torture, but the affair now +reached the ears of Orange. His peremptory orders, with the universal +excitement produced in the neighbourhood, at last checked the course of +the outrage, and the accused persons were remanded to prison, where they +remained till liberated by the Pacification of Ghent. After their +release they commenced legal proceedings against Sonoy, with a view of +establishing their own innocence, and of bringing the inhuman functionary +to justice. The process languished, however, and was finally abandoned, +for the powerful Governor had rendered such eminent service in the cause +of liberty, that it was thought unwise to push him to extremity. It is +no impeachment upon the character of the Prince that these horrible +crimes were not prevented. It was impossible for him to be omnipresent. +Neither is it just to consider the tortures and death thus inflicted upon +innocent men an indelible stain upon the cause of liberty. They were the +crimes of an individual who had been useful, but who, like the Count De +la Marck, had now contaminated his hand with the blood of the guiltless. +The new tribunal never took root, and was abolished as soon as its +initiatory horrors were known. + +On the 19th of July, Oudewater, entirely unprepared for such an event, +was besieged by Hierges, but the garrison and the population, although +weak, were brave. The town resisted eighteen days, and on the 7th of +August was carried by assault, after which the usual horrors were fully +practised, after which the garrison was put to the sword, and the +townspeople fared little better. Men, women, and children were murdered +in cold blood, or obliged to purchase their lives by heavy ransoms, while +matrons and maids were sold by auction to the soldiers at two or three +dollars each. Almost every house in the city was burned to the ground, +and these horrible but very customary scenes having been enacted, the +army of Hierges took its way to Schoonhoven. That city, not defending +itself, secured tolerable terms of capitulation, and surrendered on the +24th of August. + +The Grand Commander had not yet given up the hope of naval assistance +from Spain, notwithstanding the abrupt termination to the last expedition +which had been organized. It was, however, necessary that a foothold +should be recovered upon the seaboard, before a descent from without +could be met with proper co-operation from the land forces withal; and he +was most anxious, therefore, to effect the reconquest of some portion of +Zealand. The island of Tholen was still Spanish, and had been so since +the memorable expedition of Mondragon to South Beveland. From this +interior portion of the archipelago the Governor now determined to +attempt an expedition against the outer and more important territory. +The three principal islands were Tholen; Duiveland, and Sehouwen. Tholen +was the first which detached itself from the continent. Neat, and +separated from it by a bay two leagues in width, was Duiveland, or the +Isle of Doves. Beyond, and parted by a narrower frith, was Schouwen, +fronting directly upon the ocean, fortified by its strong capital city; +Zieriekzee, and containing other villages of inferior consequence. + +Requesens had been long revolving in his mind the means of possessing +himself of this important, island. He had caused to lie constructed, a +numerous armada of boats and light vessels of various dimensions, and he +now came to Tholew to organize the expedition. His prospects were at +first not flattering, for the gulfs and estuaries swarmed with Zealand +vessels, manned by crews celebrated for their skill and audacity. +Traitors, however, from Zealand itself now came forward to teach the +Spanish Commander how to strike at the heart of their own country. These +refugees explained to Requesens that a narrow flat extended under the sea +from Philipsland, a small and uninhabited islet situate close to Tholen, +as far as the shore of Duiveland. Upon this submerged tongue of land the +water, during ebb-tide, was sufficiently shallow to be waded, and it +would therefore be possible for a determined band, under cover of the +night, to make the perilous passage. Once arrived at Duiveland, they +could more easily cross the intervening creek to Schouwen, which was not +so deep and only half as wide, so that a force thus, sent through these +dangerous shallows, might take possession of Duiveland and lay siege to +Zierickzee, in the very teeth of the Zealand fleet, which would be unable +to sail near enough to intercept their passage. + +The Commander determined that the enterprise should be attempted. +It was not a novelty, because Mondragon, as we have seen, had already +most brilliantly conducted a very similar expedition. The present was, +however, a much more daring scheme. The other exploit, although +sufficiently hazardous, and entirely, successful, had been a victory +gained over the sea alone. It had been a surprise, and had been effected +without any opposition from human enemies. Here, however, they were to +deal, not only with the ocean and darkness, but with a watchful and +determined foe. The Zealanders were aware that the enterprise was in +contemplation, and their vessels lay about the contiguous waters in +considerable force. Nevertheless, the determination of the Grand +Commander was hailed with enthusiasm by his troops. Having satisfied +himself by personal experiment that the enterprise was possible, and that +therefore his brave soldiers could accomplish it, he decided that the +glory of the achievement should be fairly shared, as before, among the +different nations which served the King. + +After completing his preparations, Requesens came to Tholen, at which +rendezvous were assembled three thousand infantry, partly Spaniards, +partly Germans, partly Walloons. Besides these, a picked corps of two +hundred sappers and miners was to accompany the expedition, in order that +no time might be lost in fortifying themselves as soon as they had seized +possession of Schouwen. Four hundred mounted troopers were, moreover, +stationed in the town of Tholen, while the little fleet, which had been +prepared at Antwerp; lay near that city ready to co-operate with the land +force as soon as they, should complete their enterprise. The Grand +Commander now divided the whole force into two parts: One half was to +remain in the boats, under the command of Mondragon; the other half, +accompanied by the two hundred pioneers, were to wade through the sea +from Philipsland to Duiveland and Schouwen. Each soldier of this +detachment was provided with a pair of shoes, two pounds of powder, and +rations for three days in a canvas bag suspended at his neck. The leader +of this expedition was Don Osorio d'Ulloa, an officer distinguished for +his experience and bravery. + +On the night selected for the enterprise, that of the 27th September, +the moon was a day old in its fourth quarter, and rose a little before +twelve. It was low water at between four and five in the morning. +The Grand Commander, at the appointed hour of midnight, crossed to +Philipsland, and stood on the shore to watch the setting forth of the +little army. He addressed a short harangue to them, in which he +skillfully struck the chords of Spanish chivalry, and the national love +of glory, and was answered with loud and enthusiastic cheers. Don Osorio +d'Ulloa then stripped and plunged into the sea immediately after the +guides. He was followed by the Spaniards, after whom came the Germans +and then the Walloons. The two hundred sappers and miners came next, +and Don Gabriel Peralta, with his Spanish company; brought up the rear. +It was a wild night. Incessant lightning, alternately revealed and +obscured the progress of the midnight march through the black waters, +as the anxious Commander watched the expedition from the shore, but the +soldiers were quickly swallowed up in the gloom. As they advanced +cautiously, two by two, the daring adventurers found themselves soon +nearly up to their necks in the waves, while so narrow was the submerged +bank along which they were marching, that a misstep to the right or left +was fatal. Luckless individuals repeatedly sank to rise no more. +Meantime, as the sickly light, of the waning moon came forth at intervals +through the stormy clouds the soldiers could plainly perceive the files +of Zealand vessels through which they were to march, and which were +anchored as close to the flat as the water would allow. Some had +recklessly stranded themselves, in their eagerness to interrupt the +passage, of the troops, and the artillery played unceasingly from the +larger vessels. Discharges of musketry came continually from all, +but the fitful lightning rendered the aim difficult and the fire +comparatively harmless while the Spaniards were, moreover, protected, +as to a large part of their bodies, by the water in which they were +immersed. + +At times; they halted for breath, or to engage in fierce skirmishes +with their nearest assailants. Standing breast-high in the waves, and +surrounded at intervals by total darkness, they were yet able to pour an +occasional well-directed volley into the hostile ranks. The Zealanders, +however, did, not assail them with fire-arms alone. They transfixed some +with their fatal harpoons; they dragged others from the path with +boathooks; they beat out the brains of others with heavy flails. Many +were the mortal duels thus fought in the darkness, and, as it were, in +the bottom of the sea; many were the deeds of audacity which no eye was +to mark save those by whom they were achieved. Still, in spite of all +impediments and losses, the Spaniards steadily advanced. If other arms +proved less available, they were attached by the fierce taunts and +invectives of their often invisible foes who reviled them as water-dogs, +fetching and carrying for a master who despised them; as mercenaries who +coined their blood for gold, and were employed by tyrants for the basest +uses. If stung by these mocking voices, they turned in the darkness to +chastise their unseen tormentors, they were certain to be trampled upon +by their comrades, and to be pushed from their narrow pathway into the +depths of the sea. Thus many perished. + +The night wore on, and the adventurers still fought it out manfully, but +very slowly, the main body of Spaniards, Germans, and Walloons, soon +after daylight, reaching the opposite shore, having sustained +considerable losses, but in perfect order. The pioneers were not so +fortunate. The tide rose over them before they could effect their +passage, and swept nearly every one away. The rearguard, under Peralta, +not surprised, like the pioneers, in the middle of their passage, by the +rising tide, but prevented, before it was too late; from advancing far +beyond the shore from which they had departed were fortunately enabled to +retrace their steps. + +Don Osorio, at the head of the successful adventurers, now effected his +landing upon Duiveland. Reposing themselves but for an instant after +this unparalleled march through the water, of more than six hours, they +took a slight refreshment, prayed to the Virgin Mary and to Saint James, +and then prepared to meet their new enemies on land. Ten companies of +French, Scotch, and English auxiliaries lay in Duiveland, under the +command of Charles Van Boisot. Strange to relate, by an inexplicable +accident, or by treason, that general was slain by his own soldiers, at +the moment when the royal troops landed. The panic created by this event +became intense, as the enemy rose suddenly, as it were, out of the depths +of the ocean to attack them. They magnified the numbers of their +assailants, and fled terror-stricken in every direction. Same swam to +the Zealand vessels which lay in the neighbourhood; others took refuge in +the forts which had been constructed on the island; but these were soon +carried by the Spaniards, and the conquest of Duiveland was effected. + +The enterprise was not yet completed, but the remainder was less +difficult and not nearly so hazardous, for the creek which separated +Duiveland from Schouwen was much narrower than the estuary which they had +just traversed. It was less than a league in width, but so encumbered by +rushes and briers that, although difficult to wade, it was not navigable +for vessels of any kind. This part of the expedition was accomplished +with equal resolution, so that, after a few hours' delay, the soldiers +stood upon the much-coveted island of Schouwen. Five companies of +states' troops, placed to oppose their landing, fled in the most cowardly +manner at the first discharge of the Spanish muskets, and took refuge +in the city of Zierickzee, which was soon afterwards beleaguered. + +The troops has been disembarked upon Duiveland from the armada, which had +made its way to the scene of action, after having received, by signal, +information that the expedition through the water had been successful. +Brouwershaven, on the northern side of Schouwen, was immediately reduced, +but Bommenede resisted till the 25th of October, when it was at last +carried by assault, and delivered over to fire and sword. Of the whole +population and garrison not twenty were left alive. Siege was then laid +to Zierickzee, and Colonel Mondragon was left in charge of the +operations. Requesens himself came to Schouwen to give directions +concerning this important enterprise. + +Chiapin Vitelli also came thither in the middle of the winter, and was so +much injured by a fall from his litter, while making the tour of the +island, that he died on shipboard during his return to Antwerp. This +officer had gained his laurels upon more than one occasion, his conduct +in the important action near Mons, in which the Huguenot force under +Genlis was defeated, having been particularly creditable. He was of a +distinguished Umbrian family, and had passed his life in camps, few of +the generals who had accompanied Alva to the Netherlands being better +known or more odious to the inhabitants. He was equally distinguished +for his courage, his cruelty, and his corpulence. The last +characteristic was so remarkable that he was almost monstrous in his +personal appearance. His protuberant stomach was always supported in a +bandage suspended from his neck, yet in spite of this enormous +impediment, he was personally active on the battle-field, and performed +more service, not only as a commander but as a subaltern, than many a +younger and lighter man. + +The siege of Zierickzee was protracted till the following June, the city +holding out with firmness. Want of funds caused the operations to be, +conducted with languor, but the same cause prevented the Prince from +accomplishing its relief. Thus the expedition from Philipsland, the most +brilliant military exploit of the whole war, was attended with important +results. The communication between Walcheren and the rest of Zealand was +interrupted; the province cut in two; a foothold on the ocean; for a +brief interval at least, acquired by Spain. The Prince was inexpressibly +chagrined by these circumstances, and felt that the moment had arrived +when all honorable means were to be employed to obtain foreign +assistance. The Hollanders and Zealanders had fought the battles of +freedom alone hitherto, and had fought them well, but poverty was fast +rendering them incapable of sustaining much longer the unequal conflict. +Offers of men, whose wages the states were to furnish, were refused; as +worse than fruitless. Henry of Navarre, who perhaps deemed it possible +to acquire the sovereignty of the provinces by so barren a benefit, was +willing to send two or three thousand men, but not at his own expense. +The proposition was respectfully declined. + +The Prince and his little country, were all alone. "Even if we should +not only see ourselves deserted by all the world, but also all the world +against us," he said, "we should not cease to defend ourselves even to +the last man. Knowing the justice of our cause, we repose, entirely in +the mercy of God." He determined, however, once more to have recourse to +the powerful of the earth, being disposed to test the truth of his +celebrated observation, that "there would be no lack of suitors for the +bride that he had to bestow." It was necessary, in short, to look the +great question of formally renouncing Philip directly in the face. + +Hitherto the fiction of allegiance had been preserved, and, even by the +enemies of the Prince, it, was admitted: that it had been retained with +no disloyal intent. The time however, had come when it was necessary. +to throw off allegiance, provided another could be found strong enough +and frank enough to accept the authority which Philip had forfeited. The +question was, naturally, between France and England; unless the provinces +could effect their re-admission into the body of the Germanic Empire. +Already in June the Prince had laid the proposition formally before the +states, "whether they should not negotiate with the Empire on the subject +of their admission, with maintenance of their own constitutions," but it +was understood that this plan was not to be carried out, if the +protection of the Empire could be obtained under easier conditions. + +Nothing came of the proposition at that time. The nobles and the +deputies of South Holland now voted, in the beginning of the ensuing +month, "that it was their duty to abandon the King, as a tyrant who +sought to oppress and destroy his subjects; and that it behooved them to +seek another protector." This was while the Breda negotiations were +still pending, but when their inevitable result was very visible. There +was still a reluctance at taking the last and decisive step in the +rebellion, so that the semblance of loyalty was still retained; that +ancient scabbard, in which the sword might yet one day be sheathed. The +proposition was not adopted at the diet. A committee of nine was merely +appointed to deliberate with the Prince upon the "means of obtaining +foreign assistance, without accepting foreign authority, or severing +their connexion with his Majesty." The estates were, however, summoned +a few months later, by the Prince, to deliberate on this important matter +at Rotterdam. On the 1st of October he then formally proposed, either to +make terms with their enemy, and that the sooner the better, or else, +once for all, to separate entirely from the King of Spain, and to change +their sovereign, in order, with the assistance and under protection of +another Christian potentate, to maintain the provinces against their +enemies. Orange, moreover, expressed the opinion that upon so important +a subject it was decidedly incumbent upon them all to take the sense of +the city governments. The members for the various municipalities +acquiesced in the propriety of this suggestion, and resolved to consult +their constituents, while the deputies of the nobility also desired to +consult with their whole body. After an adjournment of a few days, the +diet again assembled at Delft, and it was then unanimously resolved by +the nobles and the cities, "that they would forsake the King and seek +foreign assistance; referring the choice to the Prince, who, in regard to +the government, was to take the opinion of the estates." + +Thus, the great step was taken, by which two little provinces declared +themselves independent of their ancient master. That declaration, +although taken in the midst of doubt and darkness, was not destined to be +cancelled, and the germ of a new and powerful commonwealth was planted. +So little, however, did these republican fathers foresee their coming +republic, that the resolution to renounce one king was combined with a +proposition to ask for the authority of another. It was not imagined +that those two slender columns, which were all that had yet been raised. +of the future stately peristyle, would be strong enough to stand alone. +The question now arose, to what foreign power application should be made. +But little hope was to be entertained from Germany, a state which existed +only in name, and France was still in a condition of religious and +intestine discord. The attitude of revolt maintained by the Duc +d'Alencon seemed to make it difficult and dangerous to enter into +negotiations with a country where the civil wars had assumed so +complicated a character, that loyal and useful alliance could hardly be +made with any party. The Queen of England, on the other hand; dreaded +the wrath of Philip, by which her perpetual dangers from the side of +Scotland would be aggravated, while she feared equally the extension +of French authority in the Netherlands, by which increase her neighbour +would acquire an overshadowing power. She was also ashamed openly to +abandon the provinces to their fate, for her realm was supposed to be a +bulwark of the Protestant religion. Afraid to affront Philip, afraid to +refuse the suit of the Netherlands, afraid to concede as aggrandizement +to France, what course was open to the English Queen. That which, +politically and personally, she loved the best--a course of barren +coquetry. This the Prince of Orange foresaw; and although not disposed +to leave a stone unturned in his efforts to find assistance for his +country, he on the whole rather inclined for France. He, however, better +than any man, knew how little cause there was for sanguine expectation +from either source. + +It was determined, in the name of his Highness and the estates, first to +send a mission to England, but there had already been negotiations this +year of an unpleasant character with that power. At the request of the +Spanish envoy, the foremost Netherland rebels, in number about fifty, +including by name the Prince of Orange, the Counts of Berg and Culemburg, +with Saint Aldegonde, Boisot, Junius, and others, had been formally +forbidden by Queen Elizabeth to enter her realm. The Prince had, in +consequence, sent Aldegonde and Junius on a secret mission to France, +and the Queen; jealous and anxious, had thereupon sent Daniel Rogers +secretly to the Prince. At the same tine she had sent an envoy to the +Grand Commander, counselling, conciliatory measures; and promising to +send a special mission to Spain with the offer of her mediation, but it +was suspected by those most in the confidence of the Spanish government +at Brussels, that there was a great deal of deception in these +proceedings. A truce for six months having now been established between +the Duc d'Alencon and his brother, it was supposed, that an alliance +between France and England, and perhaps between Alencon and Elizabeth, +was on the carpet, and that a kingdom of the Netherlands was to be the +wedding present of the bride to her husband. These fantasies derived +additional color from the fact that, while the Queen was expressing the +most amicable intentions towards Spain, and the greatest jealousy of +France, the English residents at Antwerp and other cities of the +Netherlands, had received private instructions to sell out their property +as fast as possible, and to retire from the country. On the whole, there +was little prospect either of a final answer, or of substantial +assistance from the Queen. + +The envoys to England were Advocate Buis and Doctor Francis Maalzon, +nominated by the estates, and Saint Aldegonde, chief of the mission, +appointed by the Prince. They arrived in England at Christmas-tide. +Having represented to the Queen the result of the Breda negotiations, +they stated that the Prince and the estates, in despair of a secure +peace, had addressed themselves to her as an upright protector of the +Faith, and as a princess descended from the blood of Holland. This +allusion to the intermarriage of Edward III. of England with Philippa, +daughter of Count William III. of Hainault and Holland, would not, it was +hoped, be in vain. They furthermore offered to her Majesty, in case she +were willing powerfully to assist the states, the sovereignty over +Holland and Zealand, under certain conditions. + +The Queen listened graciously to the envoys, and appointed commissioners +to treat with them on the subject. Meantime, Requesens sent Champagny to +England, to counteract the effect of this embassy of the estates, and to +beg the Queen to give no heed to the prayers of the rebels, to enter into +no negotiations with them, and to expel them at once from her kingdom. + +The Queen gravely assured Champagny "that the envoys were no rebels, but +faithful subjects of his Majesty." There was certainly some effrontery +in such a statement, considering the solemn offer which had just been +made by the envoys. If to renounce allegiance to Philip and to propose +the sovereignty to Elizabeth did not constitute rebellion, it would be +difficult to define or to discover rebellion anywhere. The statement was +as honest, however, as the diplomatic grimace with which Champagny had +reminded Elizabeth of the ancient and unbroken friendship which had +always, existed between herself and his Catholic Majesty. The attempt +of Philip to procure her dethronement and assassination but a few years +before was, no doubt, thought too trifling a circumstance to have for a +moment interrupted those harmonious relations. Nothing came of the +negotiations on either side. The Queen coquetted, as was her custom. +She could not accept the offer of the estates; she could not say them +nay. She would not offend Philip; she would not abandon the provinces; +she would therefore negotiate--thus there was an infinite deal of +diplomatic nothing spun and unravelled, but the result was both to +abandon the provinces and to offend Philip. + +In the first answer given by her commissioners to the states' envoys, it +was declared, "that her Majesty considered it too expensive to assume the +protection of both provinces." She was willing to protect them in name, +but she should confer the advantage exclusively on Walcheren in reality. +The defence of Holland must be maintained at the expense of the Prince +and the estates. + +This was certainly not munificent, and the envoys insisted upon more +ample and liberal terms. The Queen declined, however, committing herself +beyond this niggardly and inadmissible offer. The states were not +willing to exchange the sovereignty over their country for so paltry +a concession. The Queen declared herself indisposed to go further, +at least before consulting parliament. The commissioners waited for +the assembling of parliament. She then refused to lay the matter before +that body, and forbade the Hollanders taking any steps for that purpose. +It was evident that she was disposed to trifle with the provinces, and +had no idea of encountering the open hostility of Philip. The envoys +accordingly begged for their passports. These were granted in April, +1576, with the assurance on the part of her Majesty that "she would think +more of the offer made to her after she had done all in her power to +bring about an arrangement between the provinces and Philip." + +After the result of the negotiations of Breda, it is difficult to imagine +what method she was likely to devise for accomplishing such a purpose. +The King was not more disposed than during the preceding summer to grant +liberty of religion, nor were the Hollanders more ready than they had +been before to renounce either their faith or their fatherland. The +envoys, on parting, made a strenuous effort to negotiate a loan, but the +frugal Queen considered the proposition quite inadmissible. She granted +them liberty to purchase arms and ammunition, and to levy a few soldiers +with their own money, and this was accordingly done to a limited extent. +As it was not difficult to hire soldiers or to buy gunpowder anywhere, +in that warlike age, provided the money were ready, the states had hardly +reason to consider themselves under deep obligation for this concession. +Yet this was the whole result of the embassy. Plenty of fine words had, +been bestowed, which might or might not have meaning, according to the +turns taken by coming events. Besides these cheap and empty civilities, +they received permission to defend Holland at their own expense; with the +privilege, of surrendering its sovereignty, if they liked, to Queen +Elizabeth-and this was all. + +On the 19th of April, the envoys returned to their country, and laid +before the estates the meagre result of their negotiations. Very soon +afterwards, upon an informal suggestion from Henry III. and the Queen +Mother, that a more favorable result might be expected, if the same +applications were made to the Duc d'Alencon which had been received in +so unsatisfactory a manner by Elizabeth, commissioners were appointed to +France. It proved impossible, however, at that juncture, to proceed with +the negotiations, in consequence of the troubles occasioned by the +attitude of the Duke. The provinces were still, even as they had been +from the beginning, entirely alone. + +Requesens was more than ever straitened for funds, wringing, with +increasing difficulty, a slender subsidy, from time to time, out of the +reluctant estates of Brabant, Flanders, and the other obedient provinces. +While he was still at Duiveland, the estates-general sent him a long +remonstrance against the misconduct of the soldiery, in answer to his +demand for supplies. "Oh, these estates! these estates!" cried the +Grand Commander, on receiving such vehement reproaches instead of his +money; "may the Lord deliver me from these estates!" Meantime, the +important siege of Zierickzee continued, and it was evident that the city +must fall. There was no money at the disposal of the Prince. Count +John, who was seriously embarrassed by reason of the great obligations in +money which he, with the rest of his family, had incurred on behalf of +the estates, had recently made application to the Prince for his +influence towards procuring him relief. He had forwarded an account of +the great advances made by himself and his brethren in money, plate, +furniture, and endorsements of various kinds, for which a partial +reimbursement was almost indispensable to save him from serious +difficulties. The Prince, however, unable to procure him any assistance, +had been obliged him once more to entreat him to display the generosity +and the self-denial which the country had never found wanting at his +hands or at those of his kindred. The appeal had not been, in vain, but +the Count was obviously not in a condition to effect anything more at +that moment to relieve the financial distress of the states. The +exchequer was crippled. + + [The contributions of Holland and Zealand for war expenses amounted + to one hundred and fifty thousand florins monthly. The pay of a + captain was eighty florins monthly; that of a lieutenant, forty; + that of a corporal, fifteen; that of a drummer, fifer, or Minister, + twelve; that of a common soldier, seven and a half. A captain had + also one hundred and fifty florins each month to distribute among + the most meritorious of his company. Each soldier was likewise + furnished with food; bedding, fire, light, and washing.--Renom de + France MS, vol. ii. c. 46,] + +Holland and Zealand were cut in twain by the occupation of Schouwen and +the approaching fall of its capital. Germany, England, France; all +refused to stretch out their hands to save the heroic but exhaustless +little provinces. It was at this moment that a desperate but sublime +resolution took possession of the Prince's mind. There seemed but one +way left to exclude the Spaniards for ever from Holland and Zealand, and +to rescue the inhabitants from impending ruin. The Prince had long +brooded over the scheme, and the hour seemed to have struck for its +fulfilment. His project was to collect all the vessels, of every +description, which could be obtained throughout the Netherlands. The +whole population of the two provinces, men, women, and children, together +with all the moveable property of the country, were then to be embarked +on board this numerous fleet, and to seek a new home beyond the seas. +The windmills were then to be burned, the dykes pierced, the sluices +opened in every direction, and the country restored for ever to the +ocean, from which it had sprung. + +It is difficult to say whether the resolution, if Providence had +permitted its fulfilment, would have been, on the whole, better or worse +for humanity and civilization. The ships which would have borne the +heroic Prince and his fortunes might have taken the direction of the +newly-discovered Western hemisphere. A religious colony, planted by a +commercial and liberty-loving race, in a virgin soil, and directed by +patrician but self-denying hands, might have preceded, by half a century, +the colony which a kindred race, impelled by similar motives, and under +somewhat similar circumstances and conditions, was destined to plant upon +the stern shores of New England. Had they directed their course to the +warm and fragrant islands of the East, an independent Christian +commonwealth might have arisen among those prolific regions, superior in +importance to any subsequent colony of Holland, cramped from its birth by +absolute subjection to a far distant metropolis. + +The unexpected death of Requesens suddenly dispelled these schemes. The +siege of Zierickzee had occupied much of the Governor's attention, but he +had recently written to his sovereign, that its reduction was now +certain. He had added an urgent request for money, with a sufficient +supply of which he assured Philip that he should be able to bring the war +to an immediate conclusion. While waiting for these supplies, he had, +contrary to all law or reason, made an unsuccessful attempt to conquer +the post of Embden, in Germany. A mutiny had at about the same time, +broken out among his troops in Harlem, and he had furnished the citizens +with arms to defend themselves, giving free permission to use them +against the insurgent troops. By this means the mutiny had been quelled, +but a dangerous precedent established. Anxiety concerning this rebellion +is supposed to have hastened the Grand Commander's death. A violent +fever seized him on the 1st, and terminated his existence on the 5th of +March, in the fifty-first year of his life. + +It is not necessary to review elaborately his career, the chief incidents +of which have been sufficiently described. Requesens was a man of high +position by birth and office, but a thoroughly commonplace personage. +His talents either for war or for civil employments were not above +mediocrity. His friends disputed whether he were greater in the field or +in the council, but it is certain that he was great in neither. His +bigotry was equal to that of Alva, but it was impossible to rival the +Duke in cruelty. Moreover, the condition of the country, after seven +years of torture under his predecessor, made it difficult for him, at the +time of his arrival, to imitate the severity which had made the name of +Alva infamous. The Blood Council had been retained throughout his +administration, but its occupation was gone, for want of food for its +ferocity. The obedient provinces had been purged of Protestants; while +crippled, too, by confiscation, they offered no field for further +extortion. From Holland and Zealand, whence Catholicism had been nearly +excluded, the King of Spain was nearly excluded also. The Blood Council +which, if set up in that country, would have executed every living +creature of its population, could only gaze from a distance at those who +would have been its victims. Requesens had been previously distinguished +in two fields of action: the Granada massacres and the carnage of +Lepanto. Upon both occasions he had been the military tutor of Don John +of Austria, by whom he was soon to be succeeded in the government of the +Netherlands. To the imperial bastard had been assigned the pre-eminence, +but it was thought that the Grand Commander had been entitled to a more +than equal share of the glory. + +We have seen how much additional reputation was acquired by Requesens +in the provinces. The expedition against Duiveland and Schouwen, was, +on the whole, the most brilliant feat of arms during the war, and its +success reflects an undying lustre on the hardihood and discipline of the +Spanish, German, and Walloon soldiery. As an act of individual audacity +in a bad cause, it has rarely been equalled. It can hardly be said, +however, that the Grand Commander was entitled to any large measure of +praise for the success of the expedition. The plan was laid by Zealand +traitors. It was carried into execution by the devotion of the Spanish, +Walloon, and German troops; while Requesens was only a spectator of the +transaction. His sudden death arrested, for a moment, the ebb-tide in +the affairs of the Netherlands, which was fast leaving the country bare +and desolate, and was followed by a train of unforeseen transactions, +which it is now our duty to describe. + + + + +ETEXT EDITOR'S BOOKMARKS: + +As the old woman had told the Emperor Adrian +Beautiful damsel, who certainly did not lack suitors +Breath, time, and paper were profusely wasted and nothing gained +Care neither for words nor menaces in any matter +Distinguished for his courage, his cruelty, and his corpulence +He had never enjoyed social converse, except at long intervals +Human ingenuity to inflict human misery +Peace was desirable, it might be more dangerous than war +Proposition made by the wolves to the sheep, in the fable +Rebuked the bigotry which had already grown +Reformers were capable of giving a lesson even to inquisitors +Result was both to abandon the provinces and to offend Philip +Suppress the exercise of the Roman religion +The more conclusive arbitration of gunpowder + + + + +End of this Project Gutenberg Etext of The Dutch Republic, v24 +by John Lothrop Motley + + + + + + +MOTLEY'S HISTORY OF THE NETHERLANDS, Project Gutenberg Edition, Volume 25. + +THE RISE OF THE DUTCH REPUBLIC + +By John Lothop Motley + +1855 + + + +CHAPTER IV. + + Assumption of affairs by the state council at Brussels--Hesitation + at Madrid--Joachim Hopper--Mal-administration--Vigilance of Orange-- + The provinces drawn more closely together--Inequality of the + conflict--Physical condition of Holland--New act of Union between + Holland and Zealand--Authority of the Prince defined and enlarged-- + Provincial polity characterized--Generous sentiments of the Prince-- + His tolerant spirit--Letters from the King--Attitude of the great + powers towards the Netherlands--Correspondence and policy of + Elizabeth--Secret negotiations with France and Alencon--Confused and + menacing aspect of Germany--Responsible, and laborious position of + Orange--Attempt to relieve Zierickzee--Death of Admiral Boisot-- + Capitulation of the city upon honourable terms--Mutiny of the + Spanish troops in Schouwen--General causes of discontent--Alarming + increase of the mutiny--The rebel regiments enter Brabant--Fruitless + attempts to pacify them--They take possession of Alost--Edicts, + denouncing them, from the state council--Intense excitement in + Brussels and Antwerp--Letters from Philip brought by Marquis Havre-- + The King's continued procrastination--Ruinous royal confirmation of + the authority assumed by the state council--United and general + resistance to foreign military oppression--The German troops and the + Antwerp garrison, under Avila, join the revolt--Letter of Verdugo-- + A crisis approaching--Jerome de Roda in the citadel--The mutiny + universal. + +The death of Requesens, notwithstanding his four days' illness, occurred +so suddenly, that he had not had time to appoint his successor. Had he +exercised this privilege, which his patent conferred upon him, it was +supposed that he would have nominated Count Mansfeld to exercise the +functions of Governor-General, until the King should otherwise ordain. + +In the absence of any definite arrangement, the Council of State, +according to a right which that body claimed from custom, assumed the +reins of government. Of the old board, there were none left but the Duke +of Aerschot, Count Berlaymont, and Viglins. To these were soon added, +however, by royal diploma, the Spaniard, Jerome de Roda, and the +Netherlanders, Assonleville, Baron Rassenghiem and Arnold Sasbout. +Thus, all the members, save one, of what had now become the executive +body, were natives of the country. Roda was accordingly looked askance +upon by his colleagues. He was regarded by Viglius as a man who desired +to repeat the part which had been played by Juan Vargas in the Blood +Council, while the other members, although stanch Catholics, were all of +them well-disposed to vindicate the claim of Netherland nobles to a share +in the government of the Netherlands. + +For a time, therefore, the transfer of authority seemed to have been +smoothly accomplished. The Council of State conducted the administration +of the country. Peter Ernest Mansfeld was entrusted with the supreme +military command, including the government of Brussels; and the Spanish +commanders; although dissatisfied that any but a Spaniard should be thus +honored, were for a time quiescent. When the news reached Madrid, Philip +was extremely disconcerted. The death of Requesens excited his +indignation. He was angry with him, not for dying, but for dying at so +very inconvenient a moment. He had not yet fully decided either upon his +successor, or upon the policy to be enforced by his successor. There +were several candidates for the vacant post; there was a variety of +opinions in the cabinet as to the course of conduct to be adopted. In the +impossibility of instantly making up his mind upon this unexpected +emergency, Philip fell, as it were, into a long reverie, than which +nothing could be more inopportune. With a country in a state of +revolution and exasperation, the trance, which now seemed to come +over the government, was like to be followed by deadly effects. +The stationary policy, which the death of Requesens had occasioned, +was allowed to prolong itself indefinitely, and almost for the first +time in his life, Joachim Hopper was really consulted about the affairs +of that department over which he imagined himself, and was generally +supposed by others, to preside at Madrid. The creature of Viglius, +having all the subserviency, with none of the acuteness of his patron, +he had been long employed as chief of the Netherland bureau, while kept +in profound ignorance of the affairs which were transacted in his office. +He was a privy councillor, whose counsels were never heeded, +a confidential servant in whom the King reposed confidence, only on the +ground that no man could reveal secrets which he did not know. This +deportment of the King's showed that he had accurately measured the man, +for Hopper was hardly competent for the place of a chief clerk. He was +unable to write clearly in any language, because incapable of a fully +developed thought upon any subject. It may be supposed that nothing but +an abortive policy, therefore, would be produced upon the occasion thus +suddenly offered. "'Tis a devout man, that poor Master Hopper," said +Granvelle, "but rather fitted for platonic researches than for affairs of +state." + +It was a proof of this incompetency, that now, when really called upon +for advice in an emergency, he should recommend a continuance of the +interim. Certainly nothing worse could be devised. Granvelle +recommended a reappointment of the Duchess Margaret. Others suggested +Duke Eric of Brunswick, or an Archduke of the Austrian house; although +the opinion held by most of the influential councillors was in favor of +Don John of Austria. In the interests of Philip and his despotism, +nothing, at any rate, could be more fatal than delay. In the condition of +affairs which then existed, the worst or feeblest governor would have +been better than none at all. To leave a vacancy was to play directly +into the hands of Orange, for it was impossible that so skilful an +adversary should not at once perceive the fault, and profit by it to the +utmost. It was strange that Philip did not see the danger of inactivity +at such a crisis. Assuredly, indolence was never his vice, but on this +occasion indecision did the work of indolence. Unwittingly, the despot +was assisting the efforts of the liberator. Viglius saw the position of +matters with his customary keenness, and wondered at the blindness of +Hopper and Philip. At the last gasp of a life, which neither learning +nor the accumulation of worldly prizes and worldly pelf could redeem from +intrinsic baseness, the sagacious but not venerable old man saw that a +chasm was daily widening; in which the religion and the despotism which +he loved might soon be hopelessly swallowed. "The Prince of Orange and +his Beggars do not sleep," he cried, almost in anguish; "nor will they be +quiet till they have made use of this interregnum to do us some immense +grievance." Certainly the Prince of Orange did not sleep upon this nor +any other great occasion of his life. In his own vigorous language, used +to stimulate his friends in various parts of the country, he seized the +swift occasion by the forelock. He opened a fresh correspondence with +many leading gentlemen in Brussels and other places in the Netherlands; +persons of influence, who now, for the first time, showed a disposition +to side with their country against its tyrants. Hitherto the land had +been divided into two very unequal portions. Holland and Zealand were +devoted to the Prince; their whole population, with hardly an individual +exception, converted to the Reformed religion. The other fifteen +provinces were, on the whole, loyal to the King; while the old religion +had, of late years, taken root so rapidly again, that perhaps a moiety of +their population might be considered as Catholic. At the same time, the +reign of terror under Alva, the paler, but not less distinct tyranny of +Requesens, and the intolerable excesses of the foreign soldiery, by which +the government of foreigners was supported, had at last maddened all the +inhabitants of the seventeen provinces. Notwithstanding, therefore, the +fatal difference of religious opinion, they were all drawn into closer +relations with each other; to regain their ancient privileges, and to +expel the detested foreigners from the soil, being objects common to all. +The provinces were united in one great hatred and one great hope. + +The Hollanders and Zealanders, under their heroic leader, had well nigh +accomplished both tasks, so far as those little provinces were concerned. +Never had a contest, however, seemed more hopeless at its commencement. +Cast a glance at the map. Look at Holland--not the Republic, with its +sister provinces beyond the Zuyder Zee--but Holland only, with the +Zealand archipelago. Look at that narrow tongue of half-submerged earth. +Who could suppose that upon that slender sand-bank, one hundred and +twenty miles in length, and varying in breadth from four miles to forty, +one man, backed by the population of a handful of cities, could do battle +nine years long with the master of two worlds, the "Dominator Of Asia, +Africa, and America"--the despot of the fairest realms of Europe--and +conquer him at last. Nor was William even entirely master of that narrow +shoal where clung the survivors of a great national shipwreck. North and +South Holland were cut in two by the loss of Harlem, while the enemy was +in possession of the natural capital of the little country, Amsterdam. +The Prince affirmed that the cause had suffered more from the disloyalty +of Amsterdam than from all the efforts of the enemy. + +Moreover, the country was in a most desolate condition. It was almost +literally a sinking ship. The destruction of the bulwarks against the +ocean had been so extensive, in consequence of the voluntary inundations +which have been described in previous pages, and by reason of the general +neglect which more vital occupations had necessitated, that an enormous +outlay, both of labor and money, was now indispensable to save the +physical existence of the country. The labor and the money, +notwithstanding the crippled and impoverished condition of the nation, +were, however, freely contributed; a wonderful example of energy and +patient heroism was again exhibited. The dykes which had been swept +away in every direction were renewed at a vast expense. Moreover, the +country, in the course of recent events, had become almost swept bare of +its cattle, and it was necessary to pass a law forbidding, for a +considerable period, the slaughter of any animals, "oxen, cows, calves, +sheep, or poultry." It was, unfortunately, not possible to provide by +law against that extermination of the human population which had been +decreed by Philip and the Pope. + +Such was the physical and moral condition of the provinces of Holland and +Zealand. The political constitution of both assumed, at this epoch, a +somewhat altered aspect. The union between the two states; effected in +June, 1575, required improvement. The administration of justice, the +conflicts of laws, and more particularly the levying of monies and troops +in equitable proportions, had not been adjusted with perfect smoothness. +The estates of the two provinces, assembled in congress at Delft, +concluded, therefore, a new act of union, which was duly signed upon the +25th of April, 1576. Those estates, consisting of the knights and nobles +of Holland, with the deputies from the cities and countships of Holland +and Zealand, had been duly summoned by the Prince of Orange. They as +fairly included all the political capacities, and furnished as copious +a representation of the national will, as could be expected, for it is +apparent upon every page of his history, that the Prince, upon all +occasions, chose to refer his policy to the approval and confirmation +of as large a portion of the people as any man in those days considered +capable or desirous of exercising political functions. + +The new, union consisted of eighteen articles. It was established that +deputies from all the estates should meet, when summoned by the Prince of +Orange or otherwise, on penalty of fine, and at the risk of measures +binding upon them being passed by the rest of the Congress. Freshly +arising causes of litigation were to be referred to the Prince. Free +intercourse and traffic through the united provinces was guaranteed. +The confederates were mutually to assist each other in preventing all +injustice, wrong, or violence, even towards an enemy. The authority of +law and the pure administration of justice were mutually promised by the +contracting states. The common expenses were to be apportioned among the +different provinces, "as if they were all included in the republic of a +single city." Nine commissioners, appointed by the Prince on nomination +by the estates, were to sit permanently, as his advisers, and as +assessors and collectors of the taxes. The tenure of the union was from +six months to six months, with six weeks notice. + +The framers of this compact having thus defined the general outlines of +the confederacy, declared that the government, thus constituted, should +be placed under a single head. They accordingly conferred supreme +authority on the Prince, defining his powers in eighteen articles. He +was declared chief commander by land and sea. He was to appoint all +officers, from generals to subalterns, and to pay them at his discretion. +The whole protection of the land was devolved upon him. He was to send +garrisons or troops into every city and village at his pleasure, without +advice or consent of the estates, magistrates of the cities, or any other +persons whatsoever. He was, in behalf of the King as Count of Holland +and Zealand, to cause justice to be administered by the supreme court. +In the same capacity he was to provide for vacancies in all political +and judicial offices of importance, choosing, with the advice of the +estates, one officer for each vacant post out of three candidates +nominated to him by that body. He was to appoint and renew, at the +usual times, the magistracies in the cities, according to the ancient +constitutions. He was to make changes in those boards, if necessary, +at unusual times, with consent of the majority of those representing +the great council and corpus of the said cities. He was to uphold the +authority and pre-eminence of all civil functionaries, and to prevent +governors and military officers from taking any cognizance of political +or judicial affairs. With regard to religion, he was to maintain the +practice of the Reformed Evangelical religion, and to cause to surcease +the exercise of all other religions contrary to the Gospel. He was, +however, not to permit that inquisition should be made into any man's +belief or conscience, or that any man by cause thereof should suffer +trouble, injury, or hindrance. + +The league thus concluded was a confederation between a group of +virtually independent little republics. Each municipality, was, as it +were, a little sovereign, sending envoys to a congress to vote and to +sign as plenipotentiaries. The vote of each city was, therefore, +indivisible, and it mattered little, practically, whether there were +one deputy or several. The nobles represented not only their own order, +but were supposed to act also in behalf of the rural population. On the +whole, there was a tolerably fair representation of the whole nation. +The people were well and worthily represented in the government of each +city, and therefore equally so in the assembly of the estates. It was +not till later that the corporations, by the extinction of the popular +element, and by the usurpation of the right of self-election, were +thoroughly stiffened into fictitious personages which never died, and +which were never thoroughly alive. + +At this epoch the provincial liberties, so far as they could maintain +themselves against Spanish despotism, were practical and substantial. +The government was a representative one, in which all those who had the +inclination possessed, in one mode or another, a voice. Although the +various members of the confederacy were locally and practically republics +or self-governed little commonwealths, the general government which they, +established was, in form, monarchical. The powers conferred upon Orange +constituted him a sovereign ad interim, for while the authority of the +Spanish monarch remained suspended, the Prince was invested, not only +with the whole executive and appointing power, but even with a very large +share in the legislative functions of the state. + +The whole system was rather practical than theoretical, without any +accurate distribution of political powers. In living, energetic +communities, where the blood of the body politic circulates swiftly, +there is an inevitable tendency of the different organs to sympathize +and commingle more closely than a priori philosophy would allow. +It is usually more desirable than practicable to keep the executive, +legislative, and judicial departments entirely independent of +each other. + +Certainly, the Prince of Orange did not at that moment indulge in +speculations concerning the nature and origin of government. The +Congress of Delft had just clothed him with almost regal authority. +In his hands were the powers of war and peace, joint control of the +magistracies and courts of justice, absolute supremacy over the army and +the fleets. It is true that these attributes had been conferred upon him +ad interim, but it depended only upon himself to make the sovereignty +personal and permanent. He was so thoroughly absorbed in his work, +however, that he did not even see the diadem which he put aside. +It was small matter to him whether they called him stadholder or +guardian, prince or king. He was the father of his country and its +defender. The people, from highest to lowest, called him "Father +William," and the title was enough for him. The question with him was +not what men should call him, but how he should best accomplish his task. + +So little was he inspired by the sentiment of self-elevation, that he was +anxiously seeking for a fitting person--strong, wise, and willing enough +--to exercise the sovereignty which was thrust upon himself, but which he +desired to exchange against an increased power to be actively useful to +his country. To expel the foreign oppressor; to strangle the +Inquisition; to maintain the ancient liberties of the nation; here was +labor enough for his own hands. The vulgar thought of carving a throne +out of the misfortunes of his country seems not to have entered his mind. +Upon one point, however, the Prince had been peremptory. He would have +no persecution of the opposite creed. He was requested to suppress the +Catholic religion, in terms. As we have seen, he caused the expression +to be exchanged for the words, "religion at variance with the Gospel." +He resolutely stood out against all meddling with men's consciences, +or inquiring into their thoughts. While smiting the Spanish Inquisition +into the dust, he would have no Calvinist inquisition set up in its +place. Earnestly a convert to the Reformed religion, but hating and +denouncing only what was corrupt in the ancient Church, he would not +force men, with fire and sword, to travel to heaven upon his own road. +Thought should be toll-free. Neither monk nor minister should burn, +drown, or hang his fellow-creatures, when argument or expostulation +failed to redeem them from error. It was no small virtue, in that age, +to rise to such a height. We know what Calvinists, Zwinglians, +Lutherans, have done in the Netherlands, in Germany, in Switzerland, and +almost a century later in New England. It is, therefore, with increased +veneration that we regard this large and truly catholic mind. His +tolerance proceeded from no indifference. No man can read his private +writings, or form a thorough acquaintance with his interior life, without +recognizing him as a deeply religious man. He had faith unfaltering in +God. He had also faith in man and love for his brethren. It was no +wonder that in that age of religious bigotry he should have been +assaulted on both sides. While the Pope excommunicated him as a heretic, +and the King set a price upon his head as a rebel, the fanatics of the +new religion denounced him as a godless man. Peter Dathenus, the +unfrocked monk of Poperingen, shrieked out in his pulpit that the +"Prince of Orange cared nothing either for God or for religion." + +The death of Requesens had offered the first opening through which the +watchful Prince could hope to inflict a wound in the vital part of +Spanish authority in the Netherlands. The languor of Philip and the +procrastinating counsel of the dull Hopper unexpectedly widened the +opening. On the 24th of March letters were written by his Majesty to the +states-general, to the provincial estates, and to the courts of justice, +instructing them that, until further orders, they were all to obey the +Council of State. The King was confident that all would do their utmost +to assist that body in securing the holy Catholic Faith and the implicit +obedience of the country to its sovereign. He would, in the meantime, +occupy himself with the selection of a new Governor-General, who should +be of his family and blood. This uncertain and perilous condition of +things was watched with painful interest in neighbouring countries. + +The fate of all nations was more or less involved in the development of +the great religious contest now waging in the Netherlands. England and +France watched each other's movements in the direction of the provinces +with intense jealousy. The Protestant Queen was the natural ally of the +struggling Reformers, but her despotic sentiments were averse to the +fostering of rebellion against the Lord's anointed. The thrifty Queen +looked with alarm at the prospect of large subsidies which would +undoubtedly be demanded of her. The jealous Queen could as ill brook the +presence of the French in the Netherlands as that of the Spaniards whom +they were to expel. She therefore embarrassed, as usual, the operations +of the Prince by a course of stale political coquetry. She wrote to him, +on the 18th of March, soon after the news of the Grand Commander's death, +saying that she could not yet accept the offer which had been made to +her, to take the provinces of Holland and Zealand under her safe keeping, +to assume, as Countess, the sovereignty over them, and to protect the +inhabitants against the alleged tyranny of the King of Spain. She was +unwilling to do so until she had made every effort to reconcile them with +that sovereign. Before the death of Requesens she had been intending to +send him an envoy, proposing a truce, for the purpose of negotiation. +This purpose she still retained. She should send commissioners to the +Council of State and to the new Governor, when he should arrive. She +should also send a special envoy to the King of Spain. She doubted not +that the King would take her advice, when he heard her speak in such +straightforward language. In the meantime, she hoped that they would +negotiate with no other powers. + +This was not very satisfactory. The Queen rejected the offers to +herself, but begged that they might, by no means, be made to her rivals. +The expressed intention of softening the heart of Philip by the use of +straightforward language seemed but a sorry sarcasm. It was hardly worth +while to wait long for so improbable a result. Thus much for England at +that juncture. Not inimical, certainly; but over-cautious, ungenerous, +teasing, and perplexing, was the policy of the maiden Queen. With regard +to France, events there seemed to favor the hopes of Orange. On the 14th +of May, the "Peace of Monsieur," the treaty by which so ample but so +short-lived a triumph was achieved by the Huguenots, was signed at Paris. +Everything was conceded, but nothing was secured. Rights of worship, +rights of office, political and civil, religious enfranchisement, were +recovered, but not guaranteed. It seemed scarcely possible that the King +could be in earnest then, even if a Medicean Valois could ever be +otherwise than treacherous. It was almost, certain, therefore, that a +reaction would take place; but it is easier for us, three centuries after +the event, to mark the precise moment of reaction, than it was for the +most far-seeing contemporary to foretell how soon it would occur. In the +meantime, it was the Prince's cue to make use of this sunshine while it +lasted. Already, so soon as the union of 25th of April had been +concluded between Holland and Zealand, he had forced the estates to open +negotiations with France. The provinces, although desirous to confer +sovereignty upon him, were indisposed to renounce their old allegiance +to their King in order to place it at the disposal of a foreigner. +Nevertheless, a resolution, at the reiterated demands of Orange, was +passed by the estates, to proceed to the change of master, and, for that, +purpose, to treat with the King of France, his brother, or any other +foreign potentate, who would receive these provinces of Holland and +Zealand under his government and protection. Negotiations were +accordingly opened with the Duke-of-Anjou, the dilettante leader of the +Huguenots at that remarkable juncture. It was a pity that no better +champion could be looked for among the anointed of the earth than the +false, fickle, foolish Alencon, whose career, everywhere contemptible, +was nowhere so flagitious as in the Netherlands. By the fourteenth +article of the Peace of Paris, the Prince was reinstated and secured in +his principality of Orange; and his other possessions in France. The +best feeling; for the time being, was manifested between the French court +and the Reformation. + +Thus much for England and France. As for Germany, the prospects of the +Netherlands were not flattering. The Reforming spirit had grown languid, +from various causes. The self-seeking motives of many Protestant princes +had disgusted the nobles. Was that the object of the bloody wars of +religion, that a few potentates should be enabled to enrich themselves by +confiscating the broad lands and accumulated treasures of the Church? +Had the creed of Luther been embraced only for such unworthy ends? +These suspicions chilled the ardor of thousands, particularly among +the greater ones of the land. Moreover, the discord among the Reformers +themselves waxed daily, and became more and more mischievous. Neither +the people nor their leaders could learn that, not a new doctrine, but a +wise toleration for all Christian doctrines was wanted. Of new doctrines +there was no lack. Lutherans, Calvinists, Flaccianists, Majorists, +Adiaphorists, Brantianists, Ubiquitists, swarmed and contended pell-mell. +In this there would have been small harm, if the Reformers had known what +reformation meant. But they could not invent or imagine toleration. +All claimed the privilege of persecuting. There were sagacious and +honest men among the great ones of the country, but they were but few. +Wise William of Hesse strove hard to effect a concordia among the jarring +sects; Count John of Nassau, though a passionate Calvinist, did no less; +while the Elector of Saxony, on the other hand, raging and roaring like a +bull of Bashan, was for sacrificing the interest of millions on the altar +of his personal spite. Cursed was his tribe if he forgave the Prince. +He had done what he could at the Diet of Ratisbon to exclude all +Calvinists from a participation in the religious peace of Germany, +and he redoubled his efforts to prevent the extension of any benefits +to the Calvinists of the Netherlands. These determinations had remained +constant and intense. + +On the whole, the political appearance of Germany was as menacing as +that of France seemed for a time favorable to the schemes of Orange. +The quarrels of the princes, and the daily widening schism between +Lutherans and Calvinists, seemed to bode little good to the cause of +religious freedom. The potentates were perplexed and at variance, the +nobles lukewarm and discontented. Among the people, although subdivided +into hostile factions, there was more life. Here, at least, were +heartiness of love and hate, enthusiastic conviction, earnestness and +agitation. "The true religion," wrote Count John, "is spreading daily +among the common men. Among the powerful, who think themselves highly +learned, and who sit in roses, it grows, alas, little. Here and there a +Nicodemus or two may be found, but things will hardly go better here than +in France or the Netherlands." + +Thus, then, stood affairs in the neighbouring countries. The prospect +was black in Germany, more encouraging in France, dubious, or worse, in +England. More work, more anxiety, more desperate struggles than ever, +devolved upon the Prince. Secretary Brunynck wrote that his illustrious +chief was tolerably well in health, but so loaded with affairs, sorrows, +and travails, that, from morning till night, he had scarcely leisure to +breathe. Besides his multitudinous correspondence with the public +bodies, whose labors he habitually directed; with the various estates +of the provinces, which he was gradually moulding into an organised and +general resistance to the Spanish power; with public envoys and with +secret agents to foreign cabinets, all of whom received their +instructions from him alone; with individuals of eminence and influence, +whom he was eloquently urging to abandon their hostile position to their +fatherland; and to assist him in the great work which he was doing; +besides these numerous avocations, he was actively and anxiously +engaged during the spring of 1576, with the attempt to relieve +the city of Zierickzee. + +That important place, the capital of Schouwen, and the key to half +Zealand, had remained closely invested since the memorable expedition to +Duiveland. The Prince had passed much of his time in the neighbourhood, +during the month of May, in order to attend personally to the +contemplated relief, and to correspond daily with the beleaguered +garrison. At last, on the 25th of May, a vigorous effort was made to +throw in succor by sea. The brave Admiral Boisot, hero of the memorable +relief of Leyden, had charge of the expedition. Mondragon had surrounded +the shallow harbor with hulks and chains, and with a loose submerged dyke +of piles and rubbish. Against this obstacle Boisot drove his ship, the +'Red Lion,' with his customary audacity, but did not succeed in cutting +it through. His vessel, the largest of the feet, became entangled: he +was, at the same time, attacked from a distance by the besiegers. The +tide ebbed and left his ship aground, while the other vessels had been +beaten back by the enemy. Night approached; and there was no possibility +of accomplishing the enterprise. His ship was hopelessly stranded. With +the morning's sun his captivity was certain. Rather than fall into the +hands of his enemy, he sprang into the sea; followed by three hundred of +his companions, some of whom were fortunate enough to effect their +escape. The gallant Admiral swam a long time, sustained by a broken +spar. Night and darkness came on before assistance could be rendered, +and he perished. Thus died Louis Boisot, one of the most enterprising of +the early champions of Netherland freedom--one of the bravest precursors +of that race of heroes, the commanders of the Holland navy. The Prince +deplored his loss deeply, as that of a "valiant gentleman, and one well +affectioned to the common cause." His brother, Charles Boisot, as will +be remembered, had perished by treachery at the first landing of the +Spanish troops; after their perilous passage from Duiveland.--Thus both +the brethren had laid down their lives for their country, in this its +outer barrier, and in the hour of its utmost need. The fall of the +beleaguered town could no longer be deferred. The Spaniards were, at +last, to receive the prize of that romantic valor which had led them +across the bottom of the sea to attack the city. Nearly nine months had, +however, elapsed since that achievement; and the Grand Commander, by +whose orders it had been undertaken, had been four months in his grave. +He was permitted to see neither the long-delayed success which crowded +the enterprise, nor the procession of disasters and crimes which were to +mark it as a most fatal success. + +On the 21st of June, 1576, Zierickzee, instructed by the Prince of Orange +to accept honorable terms, if offered, agreed to surrender. Mondragon, +whose soldiers were in a state of suffering, and ready to break out in +mutiny, was but too happy to grant an honorable capitulation. The +garrison were allowed to go out with their arms and personal baggage. +The citizens were permitted to retain or resume their privileges and +charters, on payment of two hundred thousand guldens. Of, sacking and +burning there was, on this occasion, fortunately, no question; but the +first half of the commutation money was to be paid in cash. There was +but little money in the impoverished little town, but mint-masters were +appointed by the: magistrates to take their seats at once an in the Hotel +de Ville. The citizens brought their spoons and silver dishes; one after +another, which were melted and coined into dollars and half-dollars, +until the payment was satisfactorily adjusted. Thus fell Zierickzee, +to the deep regret of the Prince. "Had we received the least succor in +the world from any side," he wrote; "the poor city should never have +fallen. I could get nothing from France or England, with all my efforts. +Nevertheless, we do not lose courage, but hope that, although abandoned +by all the world, the Lord God will extend His right hand over us." + +The enemies were not destined to go farther. From their own hand now +came the blow which was to expel them from the soil which they had so +long polluted. No sooner was Zierickzee captured than a mutiny broke +forth among several companies of Spaniards and Walloons, belonging, to +the army in Schouwen. A large number of the most influential officers +had gone to Brussels, to make arrangements, if possible; for the payment +of the troops. In their absence there was more scope for the arguments +of the leading mutineers; arguments assuredly, not entirely destitute of +justice or logical precision. If ever laborers were worthy of their +hire, certainly it was the Spanish soldiery. Had they not done the work +of demons for nine years long? Could Philip or Alva have found in the +wide world men to execute their decrees with more unhesitating docility, +with more sympathizing eagerness? What obstacle had ever given them +pause in their career of duty? What element had they not braved? Had +not they fought within the bowels of the earth, beneath the depths of the +sea, within blazing cities, and upon fields of ice? Where was the work +which had been too dark and bloody for their performance? Had they not +slaughtered unarmed human beings by townfuls, at the word of command? +Had they not eaten the flesh, and drank the hearts' blood of their +enemies? Had they not stained the house of God with wholesale massacre? +What altar and what hearthstone had they not profaned? What fatigue, +what danger, what crime, had ever checked them for a moment? And for all +this obedience, labor, and bloodshed, were they not even to be paid such +wages as the commonest clown, who only tore the earth at home, received? +Did Philip believe that a few thousand Spaniards were to execute his +sentence of death against three millions of Netherlanders, and be +cheated of their pay at last? + +It was in vain that arguments and expostulations were addressed to +soldiers who were suffering from want, and maddened by injustice. They +determined to take their cause into their own hand, as they had often +done before. By the 15th of July, the mutiny was general on the isle of +Schouwen. Promises were freely offered, both of pay and pardon; appeals +were made to their old sense of honor and loyalty; but they had had +enough of promises, of honor, and of work. What they wanted now were +shoes and jerkins, bread and meat, and money. Money they would have, and +that at once. The King of Spain was their debtor. The Netherlands +belonged to the King of Spain. They would therefore levy on the +Netherlands for payment of their debt. Certainly this was a logical +deduction. They knew by experience that this process had heretofore +excited more indignation in the minds of the Netherland people than in +that of their master. Moreover, at this juncture, they cared little +for their sovereign's displeasure, and not at all for that of the +Netherlanders. By the middle of July, then, the mutineers, now entirely +beyond control, held their officers imprisoned within their quarters at +Zierickzee. They even surrounded the house of Mondtagon, who had so +often led them to victory, calling upon him with threats and taunts to +furnish them with money. The veteran, roused to fury by their +insubordination and their taunts, sprang from his house into the midst of +the throng. Baring his breast before them, he fiercely invited and dared +their utmost violence. Of his life-blood, he told them bitterly, he was +no niggard, and it was at their disposal. His wealth, had he possessed +any, would have been equally theirs. Shamed into temporary respect, but +not turned from their purpose by the choler of their chief, they left him +to himself. Soon afterwards, having swept Schouwen island bare of every +thing which could be consumed, the mutineers swarmed out of Zealand into +Brabant, devouring as they went. + +It was their purpose to hover for a time in the neighbourhood of the +capital, and either to force the Council of State to pay them their long +arrears, or else to seize and sack the richest city upon which they could +lay their hands. The compact, disciplined mass, rolled hither and +thither, with uncertainty of purpose, but with the same military +precision of movement which had always characterized these remarkable +mutinies. It gathered strength daily. The citizens of Brussels +contemplated with dismay the eccentric and threatening apparition. +They knew that rapine, murder, and all the worst evils which man can +inflict on his brethren were pent within it, and would soon descend. +Yet, even with all their past experience, did they not foresee the depth +of woe which was really impending. The mutineers had discarded such of +their officers as they could not compel to obedience, and had, as usual, +chosen their Eletto. Many straggling companies joined them as they swept +to and fro. They came to Herenthals, where they were met by Count +Mansfeld, who was deputed by the Council of State to treat with them, +to appeal to them; to pardon them, to offer, them everything but money. +It may be supposed that the success of the commander-in-chief was no +better than that of Mondragon and his subalterns. They laughed him to +scorn when he reminded them how their conduct was tarnishing the glory +which they had acquired by nine years of heroism. They answered with +their former cynicism, that glory could be put neither into pocket nor +stomach. They had no use for it; they had more than enough of it. Give +them money, or give them a City, these were their last terms. + +Sorrowfully and bodingly Mansfeld withdrew to consult again with the +State Council. The mutineers then made a demonstration upon Mechlin, +but that city having fortunately strengthened its garrison, was allowed +to escape. They then hovered for a time outside the walls of Brussels. +At Grimsberg, where they paused for a short period, they held a parley +with Captain Montesdocca, whom they received with fair words and specious +pretences. He returned to Brussels with the favourable tidings, and the +mutineers swarmed off to Assche. Thither Montesdoeca was again +despatched, with the expectation that he would be able to bring them to +terms, but they drove him off with jeers and threats, finding that he +brought neither money nor the mortgage of a populous city. The next day, +after a feint or two in a different direction, they made a sudden swoop +upon Alost, in Flanders. Here they had at last made their choice, +and the town was carried by storm. All the inhabitants who opposed +them were butchered, and the mutiny, at last established in a capital, +was able to treat with the State Council upon equal terms. They were +now between two and three thousand strong, disciplined, veteran troops, +posted in a strong and wealthy city. One hundred parishes belonged to +the jurisdiction of Alost, all of which were immediately laid under +contribution. + +The excitement was now intense in Brussels. Anxiety and alarm had given +place to rage, and the whole population rose in arms to defend the +capital, which was felt to be in imminent danger. This spontaneous +courage of the burghers prevented the catastrophe, which was reserved for +a sister city. Meantime, the indignation and horror excited by the +mutiny were so universal that the Council of State could not withstand +the pressure. Even the women and children demanded daily in the streets +that the rebel soldiers should be declared outlaws. On the 26th of July, +accordingly, the King of Spain was made to pronounce, his Spaniards +traitors and murderers. All men were enjoined to slay one or all of +them, wherever they should be found; to refuse them bread, water, and +fire, and to assemble at sound of bell; in every city; whenever the +magistrates should order an assault upon them. A still more stringent +edict was issued on the 2nd of August; and so eagerly had these degrees +been expected, that they were published throughout Flanders and Brabant +almost as soon as issued. Hitherto the leading officers of the Spanish +army had kept aloof from the insurgents, and frowned upon their +proceedings. The Spanish member of the State Council, Jerome de Roda, +had joined without opposition in the edict. As, however, the mutiny +gathered strength on the outside, the indignation waxed daily within the +capital. The citizens of Brussels, one and all, stood to their arms. +Not a man could enter or leave without their permission. The Spaniards +who were in the town, whether soldiers or merchants, were regarded with +suspicion and abhorrence. The leading Spanish officers, Romero, +Montesdocca, Verdugo, and others, who had attempted to quell the mutiny, +had been driven off with threats and curses, their soldiers defying them +and brandishing their swords in their very faces. On the other hand, +they were looked upon with ill-will by the Netherlanders. The most +prominent Spanish personages in Brussels were kept in a state of half- +imprisonment. Romero, Roda, Verdugo, were believed to favor at heart the +cause of their rebellious troops, and the burghers of Brabant had come to +consider all the King's army in a state of rebellion. Believing the +State Council powerless to protect them from the impending storm, they +regarded that body with little respect, keeping it, as it were, in +durance, while the Spaniards were afraid to walk the streets of Brussels +for fear of being murdered. A retainer of Rods, who had ventured to +defend the character and conduct of his master before a number of excited +citizens, was slain on the spot. + +In Antwerp, Champagny, brother of Granvelle, and governor of the city, +was disposed to cultivate friendly relations with the Prince of Orange. +Champagny hated the Spaniards, and the hatred seemed to establish enough +of sympathy between himself and the liberal party to authorize confidence +in him. The Prince dealt with him, but regarded him warily. Fifteen +companies of German troops, under Colonel Altaemst, were suspected of a +strong inclination to join the mutiny. They were withdrawn from Antwerp, +and in their room came Count Uberstein, with his regiment, who swore to +admit no suspicious person inside the gates, and in all things to obey +the orders of Champagny. In the citadel, however, matters were very +threatening. Sancho d'Avila, the governor, although he had not openly +joined the revolt, treated the edict of outlawry against the rebellious +soldiery with derision. He refused to publish a decree which he +proclaimed infamous, and which had been extorted, in his opinion, from an +impotent and trembling council. Even Champagny had not desired or dared +to publish the edict within the city. The reasons alleged were his fears +of irritating and alarming the foreign merchants, whose position was so +critical and friendship so important at that moment. On the other hand, +it was loudly and joyfully published in most other towns of Flanders and +Brabant. In Brussels there were two parties, one holding the decree +too audacious for his Majesty to pardon; the other clamoring for its +instantaneous fulfilment. By far the larger and more influential portion +of the population favored the measure, and wished the sentence of +outlawry and extermination to be extended at once against all Spaniards +and other foreigners in the service of the King. It seemed imprudent to +wait until all the regiments had formally accepted the mutiny, and +concentrated themselves into a single body. + +At this juncture, on the last day of July, the Marquis off Havre, brother +to the Duke of Aerschot, arrived out of Spain. He was charged by the +King with conciliatory but unmeaning phrases to the estates. The +occasion was not a happy one. There never was a time when direct and +vigorous action had been more necessary. It was probably the King's +desire then, as much as it ever had been his desire at all, to make up +the quarrel with his provinces. He had been wearied with the policy +which Alva had enforced, and for which he endeavoured at that period to +make the Duke appear responsible. The barren clemency which the Grand +Commander had been instructed to affect, had deceived but few persons, +and had produced but small results. The King was, perhaps, really +inclined at this juncture to exercise clemency--that is to say he was +willing to pardon his people for having contended for their rights, +provided they were now willing to resign them for ever. So the +Catholic religion and his own authority, were exclusively and +inviolably secured, he was willing to receive his disobedient +provinces into favor. To accomplish this end, however, he had +still no more fortunate conception than to take the advice of Hopper. +A soothing procrastination was the anodyne selected for the bitter pangs +of the body politic--a vague expression of royal benignity the styptic to +be applied to its mortal wounds. An interval of hesitation was to bridge +over the chasm between the provinces and their distant metropolis. +"The Marquis of Havre has been sent," said the King, "that he may +expressly witness to you of our good intentions, and of our desire, +with the grace of God, to bring about a pacification." Alas, it was +well known whence those pavements of good intentions had been taken, and +whither they would lead. They were not the material for a substantial +road to reconciliation. "His Majesty," said the Marquis; on delivering +his report to the State Council, "has long been pondering over all things +necessary to the peace of the land. His Majesty, like a very gracious +and bountiful Prince, has ever been disposed, in times past, to treat +these, his subjects, by the best and sweetest means." There being, +however, room for an opinion that so bountiful a prince might have +discovered sweeter means, by all this pondering, than to burn and gibbet +his subjects by thousands, it was thought proper to insinuate that his +orders had been hitherto misunderstood. Alva and Requesens had been +unfaithful agents, who did not know their business, but it was to be set +right in future. "As the good-will and meaning of his Majesty has, by no +means been followed," continued the envoy, "his Majesty has determined +to send Councillor Hopper, keeper of the privy seal, and myself, +hitherwards, to execute the resolutions of his Majesty." Two such +personages as poor, plodding, confused; time-serving Hopper, and flighty, +talkative Havre, whom even Requesens despised, and whom Don John, while +shortly afterwards recommending him for a state councillor, +characterized, to Philip as "a very great scoundrel;" would hardly be +able, even if royally empowered, to undo the work of two preceding +administrations. Moreover, Councillor Hopper, on further thoughts, was +not despatched at all to the Netherlands. + +The provinces were, however, assured by the King's letters to the Brabant +estates, to the State Council, and other, public bodies, as well as by +the report of the Marquis, that efficacious remedies were preparing in +Madrid. The people were only too wait patiently till they should arrive. +The public had heard before of these nostrums, made up by the royal +prescriptions in Spain; and were not likely to accept them as a panacea +for their present complicated disorders. Never, in truth, had +conventional commonplace been applied more unseasonably. Here was a +general military mutiny flaming in the very centre of the land. Here had +the intense hatred of race, which for years had been gnawing at the heart +of the country, at last broken out into most malignant manifestation. +Here was nearly the whole native population of every province, from grand +seigneur to plebeian, from Catholic prelate to Anabaptist artisan, +exasperated alike by the excesses of six thousand foreign brigands, +and united by a common hatred, into a band of brethren. Here was a State +Council too feeble to exercise the authority which it had arrogated, +trembling between the wrath of its sovereign, the menacing cries of the +Brussels burghers, and the wild threats of the rebellious army; and held +virtually, captive in the capital which it was supposed to govern. + +Certainly, the confirmation of the Council in its authority, for an +indefinite, even if for a brief period, was a most unlucky step at this +juncture. There were two parties in the provinces, but one was far the +most powerful upon the great point of the Spanish soldiery. A vast +majority were in favor of a declaration of outlawry against the whole +army, and it was thought desirable to improve the opportunity by getting +rid of them altogether. If the people could rise en masse, now that the +royal government was in abeyance, and, as it were, in the nation's hands, +the incubus might be cast off for ever. If any of the Spanish officers +had been sincere in their efforts to arrest the mutiny, the sincerity was +not believed. If any of the foreign regiments of the King appeared to +hesitate at joining the Alost crew, the hesitation was felt to be +temporary. Meantime, the important German regiments of Fugger, +Fronsberger, and Polwiller, with their colonels and other officers, had +openly joined the rebellion, while there was no doubt of the sentiments +of Sancho d'Avila and the troops under his command. Thus there were two +great rallying-places for the sedition, and the most important fortress +of the country, the key which unlocked the richest city in the world, was +in the hands of the mutineers. The commercial capital of Europe, filled +to the brim with accumulated treasures, and with the merchandize of every +clime; lay at the feet of this desperate band of brigands. The horrible +result was but too soon to be made manifest. + +Meantime, in Brussels, the few Spaniards trembled for their lives. The +few officers shut up there were in imminent danger. "As the Devil does +not cease to do his work," wrote Colonel Verdugo, "he has put it into the +heads of the Brabanters to rebel, taking for a pretext the mutiny of the +Spaniards. The Brussels men have handled their weapons so well against +those who were placed there to protect them, that they have begun to kill +the Spaniards, threatening likewise the Council of State. Such is their +insolence, that they care no more for these great lords than for so many +varlets." The writer, who had taken refuge, together with Jerome de Roda +and other Spaniards, or "Hispaniolized" persons, in Antwerp citadel, +proceeded to sketch the preparations which were going on in Brussels, +and the counter measures which were making progress in Antwerp. "The +states," he wrote, "are enrolling troops, saying 'tis to put down the +mutiny; but I assure you 'tis to attack the army indiscriminately. To +prevent such a villainous undertaking, troops of all nations are +assembling here, in order to march straight upon Brussels, there to +enforce everything which my lords of the State Council shall ordain." +Events were obviously hastening to a crisis--an explosion, before long, +was inevitable. "I wish I had my horses here," continued the Colonel, +"and must beg you to send them. I see a black cloud hanging over our +heads. I fear that the Brabantines will play the beasts so much, that +they will have all the soldiery at their throats." + +Jerome de Roda had been fortunate enough to make his escape out of +Brussels, and now claimed to be sole Governor of the Netherlands, as the +only remaining representative of the State Council. His colleagues were +in durance at the capital. Their authority was derided. Although not +yet actually imprisoned, they were in reality bound hand and foot, and +compelled to take their orders either from the Brabant estates or from +the burghers of Brussels. It was not an illogical proceeding, therefore, +that Roda, under the shadow of the Antwerp citadel, should set up his own +person as all that remained of the outraged majesty of Spain. Till the +new Governor, Don Juan, should arrive, whose appointment the King had +already communicated to the government, and who might be expected in the +Netherlands before the close of the autumn, the solitary councillor +claimed to embody the whole Council. He caused a new seal to be struck-- +a proceeding very unreasonably charged as forgery by the provincials--and +forthwith began to thunder forth proclamations and counter-proclamations +in the King's name and under the royal seal. It is difficult to see any +technical crime or mistake in such a course. As a Spaniard, and a +representative of his Majesty, he could hardly be expected to take +any other view of his duty. At any rate, being called upon to choose +between rebellious Netherlanders and mutinous Spaniards, he was not +long in making up his mind. + +By the beginning of September the, mutiny was general. All the Spanish +army, from general to pioneer, were united. The most important German +troops had taken side with them. Sancho d'Avila held the citadel of +Antwerp, vowing vengeance, and holding open communication with the +soldiers at Alost. The Council of State remonstrated with him for his +disloyalty. He replied by referring to his long years of service, and by +reproving them for affecting an authority which their imprisonment +rendered ridiculous. The Spaniards were securely established. The +various citadels which had been built by Charles and Philip to curb the +country now effectually did their work. With the castles of Antwerp, +Valenciennes, Ghent, Utrecht, Culemburg, Viane, Alost, in the hands of +six thousand veteran Spaniards, the country seemed chained in every limb. +The foreigner's foot was on its neck. Brussels was almost the only +considerable town out of Holland and Zealand which was even temporarily +safe. The important city of Maestricht was held by a Spanish garrison, +while other capital towns and stations were in the power of the Walloon +and German mutineers. The depredations committed in the villages, +the open country, and the cities were incessant--the Spaniards treating +every Netherlander as their foe. Gentleman and peasant, Protestant and +Catholic, priest and layman, all were plundered, maltreated, outraged. +The indignation became daily more general and more intense. There were +frequent skirmishes between the soldiery and promiscuous bands of +peasants, citizens, and students; conflicts in which the Spaniards were +invariably victorious. What could such half-armed and wholly untrained +partisans effect against the bravest and most experienced troops in the +whole world? Such results only increased the general exasperation, while +they impressed upon the whole people the necessity of some great and +general effort to throw off the incubus. + + + + +1576-1577 [CHAPTER V.] + + Religious and political sympathies and antipathies in the seventeen + provinces--Unanimous hatred for the foreign soldiery--Use made by + the Prince of the mutiny--His correspondence--Necessity of Union + enforced--A congress from nearly all the provinces meets at Ghent-- + Skirmishes between the foreign troops and partisan bands--Slaughter + at Tisnacq--Suspicions entertained of the State-Council--Arrest of + the State-Council--Siege of Ghent citadel--Assistance sent by + Orange--Maestricht lost and regained--Wealthy and perilous condition + of Antwerp--Preparations of the mutineers under the secret + superintendence of Avila--Stupidity of Oberstein--Duplicity of Don + Sancho--Reinforcements of Walloons under Havre, Egmont, and others, + sent to for the expected assault of Antwerp--Governor Champagny's + preparations the mutineers--Insubordination, incapacity, and + negligence of all but him--Concentration of all the mutineers from + different points, in the citadel--The attack--the panic--the flight + --the massacre--the fire--the sack--and other details of the + "Spanish Fury"--Statistics of murder and robbery--Letter of Orange + to the states-general--Surrender of Ghent citadel--Conclusion of the + "Ghent Pacification"--The treaty characterized--Forms of + ratification--Fall of Zierickzee and recovery of Zealand. + +Meantime, the Prince of Orange sat at Middelburg, watching the storm. +The position of Holland and Zealand with regard to the other fifteen +provinces was distinctly characterized. Upon certain points there was +an absolute sympathy, while upon others there was a grave and almost +fatal difference. It was the task of the Prince to deepen the sympathy, +to extinguish the difference. + +In Holland and Zealand, there was a warm and nearly universal adhesion to +the Reformed religion, a passionate attachment to the ancient political +liberties. The Prince, although an earnest Calvinist himself, did all in +his power to check the growing spirit of intolerance toward the old +religion, omitted no opportunity of strengthening the attachment which +the people justly felt for their liberal institutions. + +On the other hand, in most of the other provinces, the Catholic religion +had been regaining its ascendency. Even in 1574, the estates assembled +at Brussels declared to Requesens "that they would rather die the death +than see any change in their religion." That feeling had rather +increased than diminished. Although there was a strong party attached to +the new faith, there was perhaps a larger, certainly a more influential +body, which regarded the ancient Church with absolute fidelity. Owing +partly to the persecution which had, in the course of years, banished so +many thousands of families from the soil, partly to the coercion, which +was more stringent in the immediate presence of the Crown's +representative, partly to the stronger infusion of the Celtic element, +which from the earliest ages had always been so keenly alive to the more +sensuous and splendid manifestations of the devotional principle--owing +to those and many other causes, the old religion, despite of all the +outrages which had been committed in its name, still numbered a host of +zealous adherents in the fifteen provinces. Attempts against its +sanctity were regarded with jealous eyes. It was believed, and with +reason, that there was a disposition on the part of the Reformers to +destroy it root and branch. It was suspected that the same enginery of +persecution would be employed in its extirpation, should the opposite +party gain the supremacy, which the Papists had so long employed against +the converts to the new religion. + +As to political convictions, the fifteen provinces differed much less +from their two sisters. There was a strong attachment to their old +constitutions; a general inclination to make use of the present crisis to +effect their restoration. At the same time, it had not come to be the +general conviction, as in Holland and Zealand, that the maintenance of +those liberties was incompatible with the continuance of Philip's +authority. There was, moreover, a strong aristocratic faction which was +by no means disposed to take a liberal view of government in general, and +regarded with apprehension the simultaneous advance of heretical notions +both in church and, state. Still there were, on the whole, the elements +of a controlling constitutional party throughout the fifteen provinces +The great bond of sympathy, however, between all the seventeen was their +common hatred to the foreign soldiery. Upon this deeply imbedded, +immovable fulcrum of an ancient national hatred, the sudden mutiny of the +whole Spanish army served as a lever of incalculable power. The Prince +seized it as from the hand of God. Thus armed, he proposed to himself +the task of upturning the mass of oppression under which the old +liberties of the country had so long been crushed. To effect this +object, adroitness was as requisite as courage. Expulsion of the +foreign soldiery, union of the seventeen provinces, a representative +constitution, according to the old charters, by the states-general, +under an hereditary chief, a large religious toleration, suppression +of all inquisition into men's consciences--these were the great objects +to which the Prince now devoted himself with renewed energy. + +To bring about a general organization and a general union, much delicacy +of handling was necessary. The sentiment of extreme Catholicism and +Monarchism was not to be suddenly scared into opposition. The Prince, +therefore, in all his addresses and documents was careful to disclaim any +intention of disturbing the established religion, or of making any rash +political changes. "Let no man think," said he, to the authorities of +Brabant, "that, against the will of the estates, we desire to bring about +any change in religion. Let no one suspect us capable of prejudicing the +rights of any man. We have long since taken up arms to maintain a legal +and constitutional freedom, founded upon law. God forbid that we should +now attempt to introduce novelties, by which the face of liberty should +be defiled." + +In a brief and very spirited letter to Count Lalain, a Catholic and a +loyalist, but a friend of his country and fervent hater of foreign +oppression, he thus appealed to his sense of chivalry and justice: +"Although the honorable house from which you spring," he said, "and the +virtue and courage of your ancestors have always impressed me with the +conviction that you would follow in their footsteps, yet am I glad to +have received proofs that my anticipations were correct. I cannot help, +therefore, entreating you to maintain the same high heart, and to +accomplish that which you have so worthily begun. Be not deluded by +false masks, mumming faces, and borrowed titles, which people assume for +their own profit, persuading others that the King's service consists in +the destruction of his subjects." + +While thus careful to offend no man's religious convictions, to startle +no man's loyalty, he made skillful use of the general indignation felt +at, the atrocities of the mutinous army. This chord he struck boldly, +powerfully, passionately, for he felt sure of the depth and strength of +its vibrations. In his address to the estates of Gelderland, he used +vigorous language, inflaming and directing to a practical purpose the +just wrath which was felt in that, as in every other province. "I write +to warn you," he said, "to seize this present opportunity. Shake from +your necks the yoke of the godless Spanish tyranny, join yourselves at +once to the lovers of the fatherland, to the defenders of freedom. +According to the example of your own ancestors and ours, redeem for the +country its ancient laws, traditions, and privileges. Permit no longer, +to your shame and ours, a band of Spanish landloupers and other +foreigners, together with three or four self-seeking enemies of their own +land, to keep their feet upon our necks. Let them no longer, in the very +wantonness of tyranny, drive us about like a herd of cattle--like a gang +of well-tamed slaves." + +Thus, day after day, in almost countless addresses to public bodies and +private individuals, he made use of the crisis to pile fresh fuel upon +the flames. At the same time, while thus fanning the general +indignation, he had the adroitness to point out that the people had +already committed themselves. He represented to them that the edict, +by which they had denounced his Majesty's veterans as outlaws, and had +devoted them to the indiscriminate destruction which such brigands +deserved, was likely to prove an unpardonable crime in the eyes of +majesty. In short, they had entered the torrent. If they would avoid +being dashed over the precipice, they must struggle manfully with the +mad waves of civil war into which they had plunged. "I beg you, with all +affection," he said to the states of Brabant, "to consider the danger in +which you have placed yourselves. You have to deal with the proudest and +most overbearing race in the world. For these qualities they are hated +by all other nations. They are even hateful to themselves. 'Tis a race +which seeks to domineer wheresoever it comes. It particularly declares +its intention to crush and to tyrannize you, my masters, and all the +land. They have conquered you already, as they boast, for the crime of +lese-majesty has placed you at their mercy. I tell you that your last +act, by which you have declared this army to be rebels, is decisive. +You have armed and excited the whole people against them, even to the +peasants and the peasants' children, and the insults and injuries thus +received, however richly deserved and dearly avenged, are all set down. +to your account. Therefore, 'tis necessary for you to decide now, +whether to be utterly ruined, yourselves and your children, or to +continue firmly the work which you have begun boldly, and rather to die +a hundred thousand deaths than to make a treaty with them, which can only +end in your ruin. Be assured that the measure dealt to you will be +ignominy as well as destruction. Let not your leaders expect the +honorable scaffolds of Counts Egmont and Horn. The whipping-post and +then the gibbet will be their certain fate." + +Having by this and similar language, upon various occasions, sought to +impress upon his countrymen the gravity of the position, he led them to +seek the remedy in audacity and in union. He familiarized them with his +theory, that the legal, historical government of the provinces belonged +to the states-general, to a congress of nobles, clergy, and commons, +appointed from each of the seventeen provinces. He maintained, with +reason, that the government of the Netherlands was a representative +constitutional government, under the hereditary authority of the King. +To recover this constitution, to lift up these down-trodden rights, he +set before them most vividly the necessity of union, "'Tis impossible," +he said, "that a chariot should move evenly having its wheels unequally +proportioned; and so must a confederation be broken to pieces, if there +be not an equal obligation on all to tend to a common purpose." Union, +close, fraternal, such as became provinces of a common origin and with +similar laws, could alone nave them from their fate. Union against a +common tyrant to nave a common fatherland.. Union; by which differences +of opinion should be tolerated, in order that a million of hearts should +beat for a common purpose, a million hands work out, invincibly, a common +salvation. "'Tis hardly necessary," he said "to use many words in +recommendation of union. Disunion has been the cause of all our woes. +There is no remedy, no hope, save in the bonds of friendship. Let all +particular disagreements be left to the decision of the states-general, +in order that with one heart and one will we may seek the disenthralment +of the fatherland from the tyranny of strangers." + +The first step to a thorough union among all the provinces was the +arrangement of a closer connection between the now isolated states of +Holland and Zealand on the one side, and their fifteen sisters on the +other. The Prince professed the readiness of those states which he might +be said to represent in his single person, to draw as closely as possible +the bonds of fellowship. It was almost superfluous for him to promise +his own ready co-operation. "Nothing remains to us," said he, "but to +discard all jealousy and distrust. Let us, with a firm resolution and a +common accord, liberate these lands from the stranger. Hand to hand let +us accomplish a just and general peace. As for myself, I present to you, +with very, good affection, my person and all which I possess, assuring +you that I shall regard all my labors and pains in times which are past, +well bestowed, if God now grant me grace to see the desired end. That +this end will be reached, if you hold fast your resolution and take to +heart the means which God presents to you, I feel to be absolutely +certain." + +Such were the tenor and the motives of the documents which he scattered-- +broadcast at this crisis. They were addressed to the estates of nearly +every province. Those bodies were urgently implored to appoint deputies +to a general congress, at which a close and formal union between Holland +and Zealand with the other provinces might be effected. That important +measure secured, a general effort might, at the same time, be made to +expel the Spaniard from the soil. This done, the remaining matters could +be disposed of by the assembly of the estates-general. His eloquence and +energy were not without effect. In the course of the autumn, deputies +were appointed from the greater number of the provinces, to confer with +the representatives of Holland and Zealand, in a general congress. The +place appointed for the deliberations vas the city of Ghent. Here, by +the middle of October, a large number of delegates were already +assembled. + +Events were rapidly rolling together from every quarter, and accumulating +to a crisis. A congress--a rebellious congress, as the King might deem +it--was assembling at Ghent; the Spanish army, proscribed, lawless, and +terrible, was strengthening itself daily for some dark and mysterious +achievement; Don John of Austria, the King's natural brother, was +expected from Spain to assume the government, which the State Council was +too timid to wield and too loyal to resign, while, meantime, the whole +population of the Netherlands, with hardly an exception, was disposed to +see the great question of the foreign soldiery settled, before the chaos +then existing should be superseded by a more definite authority. +Everywhere, men of all ranks and occupations--the artisan in the city, +the peasant in the fields--were deserting their daily occupations to +furbish helmets, handle muskets, and learn the trade of war. Skirmishes, +sometimes severe and bloody, were of almost daily occurrence. In these +the Spaniards were invariably successful, for whatever may be said of +their cruelty and licentiousness, it cannot be disputed that their +prowess was worthy of their renown. Romantic valor, unflinching +fortitude, consummate skill, characterized them always. What could half- +armed artisans achieve in the open plain against such accomplished foes? +At Tisnacq, between Louvain and Tirlemont, a battle was attempted by a +large miscellaneous mass of students, peasantry, and burghers, led by +country squires. It soon changed to a carnage, in which the victims were +all on one side. A small number of veterans, headed by Vargas, Mendoza, +Tassis, and other chivalrous commanders, routed the undisciplined +thousands at a single charge. The rude militia threw away their arms, +and fled panic-struck in all directions, at the first sight of their +terrible foe. Two Spaniards lost their lives and two thousand +Netherlanders. It was natural that these consummate warriors should +despise such easily slaughtered victims. A single stroke of the iron +flail, and the chaff was scattered to the four winds; a single sweep of +the disciplined scythe, and countless acres were in an instant mown. +Nevertheless, although beaten constantly, the Netherlanders were not +conquered. Holland and Zealand had read the foe a lesson which he had +not forgotten, and although on the open fields, and against the less +vigorous population of the more central provinces, his triumphs had been +easier, yet it was obvious that the spirit of resistance to foreign +oppression was growing daily stronger, notwithstanding daily defeats. + +Meantime, while these desultory but deadly combats were in daily +progress, the Council of State was looked upon with suspicion by the mass +of the population. That body, in which resided provisionally the powers +of government, was believed to be desirous of establishing relations with +the mutinous army. It was suspected of insidiously provoking the +excesses which it seemed to denounce. It was supposed to be secretly +intriguing with those whom its own edicts had outlawed. Its sympathies +were considered, Spanish. It was openly boasted by the Spanish army +that, before long, they would descend from their fastnesses upon +Brussels, and give the city to the sword. A shuddering sense of coming +evil pervaded the population, but no man could say where the blow would +first be struck. It was natural that the capital should be thought +exposed to imminent danger. At the same time, while every man who had +hands was disposed to bear arms to defend the city, the Council seemed +paralyzed. The capital was insufficiently garrisoned, yet troops were +not enrolling for its protection. The state councillors obviously +omitted to provide for defence, and it was supposed that they were +secretly assisting the attack. It was thought important, therefore, +to disarm, or, at least, to control this body which was impotent for +protection, and seemed powerful only for mischief. It was possible to +make it as contemptible as it was believed to be malicious. + +An unexpected stroke was therefore suddenly levelled against the Council +in full session. On the 5th of September, the Seigneur de Heze, a young +gentleman of a bold, but unstable character, then entertaining close but +secret relations with the Prince of Orange, appeared before the doors of +the palace. He was attended by about five hundred troops, under the +immediate command of the Seigneur de Glimes, bailiff of Walloon Brabant. +He demanded admittance, in the name of the Brabant estates, to the +presence of the State Council, and was refused. The doors were closed +and bolted. Without further ceremony the soldiers produced iron bars +brought with them for the purpose, forced all the gates from the hinges, +entered the hall of session, and at a word from their commander, laid +hands upon the councillors, and made every one prisoner. The Duke of +Aerschot, President of the Council, who was then in close alliance with +the Prince, was not present at the meeting, but lay forewarned, at home, +confined to his couch by a sickness assumed for the occasion. Viglius, +who rarely participated in the deliberations of the board, being already +afflicted with the chronic malady under which he was ere long to succumb, +also escaped the fate of his fellow-senators. The others were carried +into confinement. Berlaymont and Mansfeld were imprisoned in the Brood- +Huys, where the last mortal hours of Egmont and Horn had been passed. +Others were kept strictly guarded in their own houses. After a few +weeks, most of them were liberated. Councillor Del Rio was, however, +retained in confinement, and sent to Holland, where he was subjected to a +severe examination by the Prince of Orange, touching his past career, +particularly concerning the doings of the famous Blood Council. The +others were set free, and even permitted to resume their functions, but +their dignity was gone, their authority annihilated. Thenceforth the +states of Brabant and the community of Brussels were to govern for an +interval, for it was in their name that the daring blow against the +Council had been struck. All individuals and bodies, however, although +not displeased with the result, clamorously disclaimed responsibility for +the deed. Men were appalled at the audacity of the transaction, and +dreaded the vengeance of the King: The Abbot Van Perch, one of the secret +instigators of the act, actually died of anxiety for its possible +consequences. There was a mystery concerning the affair. They in whose +name it had been accomplished, denied having given any authority to the +perpetrators. Men asked each other what unseen agency had been at work, +what secret spring had been adroitly touched. There is but little doubt, +however, that the veiled but skilful hand which directed the blow, was +the same which had so long been guiding the destiny of the Netherlands. + +It had been settled that the congress was to hold its sessions in Ghent, +although the citadel commanding that city was held by the Spaniards. The +garrison was not very strong, and Mondragon, its commander, was absent in +Zealand, but the wife of the veteran ably supplied his place, and +stimulated the slender body of troops to hold out with heroism, under the +orders of his lieutenant, Avilos Maldonado. The mutineers, after having +accomplished their victory at Tisnacq, had been earnestly solicited to +come to the relief of this citadel. They had refused and returned to +Alost. Meantime, the siege was warmly pressed by the states. There +being, however, a deficiency of troops, application for assistance was +formally made to the Prince of Orange. Count Reulx, governor of +Flanders; commissioned the Seigneur d'Haussy, brother of Count Bossu, +who, to obtain the liberation of that long-imprisoned and distinguished +nobleman, was about visiting the Prince in Zealand, to make a request +for an auxiliary force. It was, however, stipulated that care should +be taken lest any prejudice should be done to the Roman Catholic religion +or the authority of the King. The Prince readily acceded to the request, +and agreed to comply with the conditions under which only it could be +accepted. He promised to send twenty-eight companies. In his letter +announcing this arrangement, he gave notice that his troops would receive +strict orders to do no injury to person or property, Catholic or +Protestant, ecclesiastic or lay, and to offer no obstruction to the Roman +religion or the royal dignity. He added, however, that it was not to be +taken amiss, if his soldiers were permitted to exercise their own +religious rites, and to sing their Protestant hymns within their own +quarters. He moreover, as security for the expense and trouble, demanded +the city of Sluys. The first detachment of troops, under command of +Colonel Vander Tympel, was, however, hardly on its way, before an alarm +was felt among the Catholic party at this practical alliance with the +rebel Prince. An envoy, named Ottingen, was despatched to Zealand, +bearing a letter from the estates of Hainault, Brabant, and Flanders, +countermanding the request for troops, and remonstrating categorically +upon the subject of religion and loyalty. Orange deemed such +tergiversation paltry, but controlled his anger. He answered the letter +in liberal terms, for he was determined that by no fault of his should +the great cause be endangered. He reassured the estates as to the +probable behaviour of his troops. Moreover, they had been already +admitted into the city, while the correspondence was proceeding. The +matter of the psalm-singing was finally arranged to the satisfaction of +both parties, and it was agreed that Niewport, instead of Sluys, should +be given to the Prince as security. + +The siege of the citadel was now pressed vigorously, and the +deliberations of the congress were opened under the incessant roar +of cannon. While the attack was thus earnestly maintained upon the +important castle of Ghent, a courageous effort was made by the citizens +of Maestricht to wrest their city from the hands of the Spaniards. The +German garrison having been gained by the burghers, the combined force +rose upon the Spanish troops, and drove them from the city, Montesdocca, +the commander, was arrested and imprisoned, but the triumph was only +temporary. Don Francis d'Ayala, Montesdocca's lieutenant, made a stand, +with a few companies, in Wieck, a village on the opposite side of the +Meuse, and connected with the city by a massive bridge of stone. From +this point he sent information to other commanders in the neighbourhood. +Don Ferdinand de Toledo soon arrived with several hundred troops from +Dalem. The Spaniards, eager to wipe out the disgrace to their arms, +loudly demanded to be led back to the city. The head of the bridge, +however, over which they must pass, was defended by a strong battery, and +the citizens were seen clustering in great numbers to defend their +firesides against a foe whom they had once expelled. To advance across +the bridge seemed certain destruction to the little force. Even Spanish +bravery recoiled at so desperate an undertaking, but unscrupulous +ferocity supplied an expedient where courage was at fault. There were +few fighting men present among the population of Wieck, but there were +many females. Each soldier was commanded to seize a woman, and, placing +her before his own body, to advance across the bridge. The column, thus +bucklered, to the shame of Spanish chivalry, by female bosoms, moved in +good order toward the battery. The soldiers leveled their muskets with +steady aim over the shoulders or under the arms of the women whom they +thus held before them. On the other hand, the citizens dared not +discharge their cannon at their own townswomen, among whose numbers many +recognized mothers, sisters, or wives. The battery was soon taken, while +at the same time Alonzj Vargas, who had effected his entrance from the +land side by burning down the Brussels gate, now entered the city at the +head of a band of cavalry. Maestricht was recovered, and an +indiscriminate slaughter instantly avenged its temporary loss. The +plundering, stabbing, drowning, burning, ravishing; were so dreadful +that, in the words of a cotemporary historian, "the burghers who had +escaped the fight had reason to think themselves less fortunate than +those who had died with arms in their hands." + +This was the lot of Maestricht on the 20th of October. It was +instinctively felt to be the precursor of fresh disasters. Vague, +incoherent, but widely disseminated rumors had long pointed to Antwerp +and its dangerous situation. The Spaniards, foiled in their views upon +Brussels, had recently avowed an intention of avenging themselves in the +commercial capital. They had waited long enough, and accumulated +strength enough. Such a trifling city as Alost could no longer content +their cupidity, but in Antwerp there was gold enough for the gathering. +There was reason for the fears of the inhabitants, for the greedy longing +of their enemy. Probably no city in Christendom could at that day vie +with Antwerp in wealth and splendor. Its merchants lived in regal pomp +and luxury. In its numerous, massive warehouses were the treasures of +every clime. Still serving as the main entrepot of the world's traffic, +the Brabantine capital was the centre of that commercial system which was +soon to be superseded by a larger international life. In the midst of +the miseries which had so long been raining upon the Netherlands, the +stately and egotistical city seemed to have taken stronger root and to +flourish more freshly than ever. It was not wonderful that its palaces +and its magazines, glittering with splendor and bursting with treasure, +should arouse the avidity of a reckless and famishing soldiery. Had not +a handful of warriors of their own race rifled the golden Indies? Had +not their fathers, few in number, strong in courage and discipline, +revelled in the plunder of a new world? Here were the Indies in a single +city. Here were gold and silver, pearls and diamonds, ready and +portable; the precious fruit dropping, ripened, from the bough. Was it +to be tolerated that base, pacific burghers should monopolize the +treasure by which a band of heroes might be enriched? + +A sense of coming evil diffused itself through the atmosphere. The air +seemed lurid with the impending storm, for the situation was one of +peculiar horror. The wealthiest city in Christendom lay at the mercy of +the strongest fastness in the world; a castle which had been built to +curb, not to protect, the town. It was now inhabited by a band of +brigands, outlawed by government, strong in discipline, furious from +penury, reckless by habit, desperate in circumstance--a crew which feared +not God, nor man, nor Devil. The palpitating quarry lay expecting hourly +the swoop of its trained and pitiless enemy, for the rebellious soldiers +were now in a thorough state of discipline. Sancho d'Avila, castellan of +the citadel, was recognized as the chief of the whole mutiny, the army +and the mutiny being now one. The band, entrenched at Alost, were upon +the best possible understanding with their brethren in the citadel, and +accepted without hesitation the arrangements of their superior. On the +aide of the Scheld, opposite Antwerp, a fortification had been thrown up +by Don Sancho's orders, and held by Julian Romero. Lier, Breda, as well +as Alost, were likewise ready to throw their reinforcements into the +citadel at a moment's warning. At the signal of their chief, the united +bands might sweep from their impregnable castle with a single impulse. + +The city cried aloud for help, for it had become obvious that an attack +might be hourly expected. Meantime an attempt, made by Don Sancho +d'Avila to tamper with the German troops stationed within the walls, was +more than partially, successful. The forces were commanded by Colonel +Van Ende and Count Oberatein. Van Ende, a crafty traitor to his country, +desired no better than to join the mutiny on so promising an occasion, +and his soldiers, shared his sentiments. Oberatein, a brave, but +blundering German, was drawn into the net of treachery by the adroitness +of the Spaniard and the effrontery of his comrade. On the night of the +29th of October, half-bewildered and half-drunk, he signed a treaty with +Sancho d'Avilat and the three colonels--Fugger, Frondsberger, and +Polwiller. By this unlucky document, which was of course subscribed also +by Van Ende, it was agreed that the Antwerp burghers should be forthwith +disarmed; that their weapons should be sent into the citadel; that +Oberstein should hold the city at the disposition of Sancho d'Avila; that +he should refuse admittance to all troops which might be sent into the +city, excepting by command of Don Sancho, and that he should decline +compliance with any orders which he might receive from individuals +calling themselves the council of state, the states-general, or the +estates of Brabant. This treaty was signed, moreover; by Don Jeronimo +de Rods, then established in the citadel, and claiming to represent +exclusively his Majesty's government. + +Hardly had this arrangement been concluded than the Count saw the trap +into which he had fallen. Without intending to do so, he had laid the +city at the mercy of its foe, but the only remedy which suggested itself +to his mind was an internal resolution not to keep his promises. The +burghers were suffered to retain their arms, while, on the other hand, +Don Sancho lost no time in despatching messages to Alost, to Lier, to +Breda, and even to Maestricht, that as large a force as possible might be +assembled for the purpose of breaking immediately the treaty of peace +which he had just concluded. Never was a solemn document, regarded with +such perfectly bad faith by all its signers as the accord, of the 29th of +October. + +Three days afterwards, a large force of Walloons and Germans was +despatched from Brussels to the assistance of Antwerp. The command of +these troops was entrusted to the Marquis of Havre, whose brother, the +Duke of Aerschot; had been recently appointed chief superintendent of +military affairs by the deputies assembled at Ghent. The miscellaneous +duties comprehended under this rather vague denomination did not permit +the Duke to take charge of the expedition in person, and his younger +brother, a still more incompetent and unsubstantial character, was +accordingly appointed to the post. A number of young men, of high rank +but of lamentably low capacity, were associated with him. Foremost among +them was Philip, Count of Egmont, a youth who had inherited few of his +celebrated father's qualities, save personal courage and a love of +personal display. In character and general talents he was beneath +mediocrity. Beside these were the reckless but unstable De Heze, +who had executed the coup; d'etat against the State Council, De Berselen, +De Capres, D'Oyngies, and others, all vaguely desirous of achieving +distinction in those turbulent times, but few of them having any +political or religious convictions, and none of them possessing +experience or influence enough, to render them useful--at the impending +crisis. + +On Friday morning, the 2nd of November, the troops appeared under the +walls of Antwerp. They consisted of twenty-three companies of infantry +and fourteen of cavalry, amounting to five thousand foot and twelve +hundred horse. They were nearly all Walloons, soldiers who had already +seen much active service, but unfortunately of a race warlike and fiery +indeed, but upon whose steadiness not much more dependence could be +placed at that day than in the age of Civilis. Champagny, brother of +Granvelle, was Governor of the city. He was a sincere Catholic, but a +still more sincere hater of the Spaniards. He saw in the mutiny a means +of accomplishing their expulsion, and had already offered to the Prince +of Orange his eager co-operation towards this result. In other matters +there could be but small sympathy between William the Silent and the +Cardinal's brother; but a common hatred united them, for a time at least, +in a common purpose. + +When the troops first made their appearance before the walls, Champagny +was unwilling to grant them admittance. The addle-brained Oberstein had +confessed to him the enormous blunder which he had committed in his +midnight treaty, and at the same time ingenuously confessed his intention +of sending it to the winds. The enemy had extorted from his dulness or +his drunkenness a promise, which his mature and sober reason could not +consider binding. It is needless to say that Champagny rebuked him for +signing, and applauded him for breaking the treaty. At the same time its +ill effects were already seen in the dissensions which existed among the +German troops. Where all had been tampered with, and where the +commanders had set the example of infidelity, it would have been strange +if all had held firm. On the whole, however, Oberstein thought he could +answer for his own troops: Upon Van Ende's division, although the crafty +colonel dissembled his real intentions; very little reliance was placed. +Thus there was distraction within the walls. Among those whom the +burghers had been told to consider their defenders, there were probably. +many who were ready to join with their mortal foes at a moment's warning. +Under these circumstances, Champagny hesitated about admitting these +fresh troops from Brussels. He feared lest the Germans, who knew +themselves doubted, might consider themselves doomed. He trembled, lest +an irrepressible outbreak should occur within the walls, rendering the +immediate destruction of the city by the Spaniards from without +inevitable. Moreover, he thought it more desirable that this auxiliary +force should be disposed at different points outside, in order to +intercept the passage of the numerous bodies of Spaniards and other +mutineers, who from various quarters would soon be on their way to the +citadel. Havre, however, was so peremptory, and the burghers were so +importunate, that Champagny was obliged to recede from his opposition +before twenty-four hours had elapsed. Unwilling to take the +responsibility of a farther refusal, he admitted the troops through the +Burgherhout gate, on Saturday, the 3rd of November, at ten o'clock in the +morning. + +The Marquis of Havre, as commander-in-chief, called a council of war. +It assembled at Count Oberstein's quarters, and consulted at first +concerning a bundle of intercepted letters which Havre had brought with +him. These constituted a correspondence between Sancho d'Avila with the +heads of the mutiny at Alost, and many other places. The letters were +all dated subsequently to Don Sancho's treaty with Oberstein, and +contained arrangements for an immediate concentration of the whole +available Spanish force at the citadel. + +The treachery was so manifest, that Oberstein felt all self-reproach for +his own breach of faith to be superfluous. It was however evident that +the attack was to be immediately expected. What was to be done? All the +officers counselled the immediate erection of a bulwark on the side of +the city exposed to the castle, but there were no miners nor engineers. +Champagny, however, recommended a skilful and experienced engineer to +superintend; the work in the city; and pledged himself that burghers +enough would volunteer as miners. In less than an hour, ten or twelve +thousand persons, including multitudes of women of all ranks, were at +work upon the lines marked out by the engineer. A ditch and breast-work +extending from the gate of the Beguins to the street of the Abbey Saint +Michael, were soon in rapid progress. Meantime, the newly arrived +troops, with military insolence, claimed the privilege of quartering +themselves in the best houses which they could find. They already began +to, insult and annoy the citizens whom they had been sent to defend; nor +were they destined to atone, by their subsequent conduct in the face of +the enemy, for the brutality with which they treated their friends. +Champagny, however; was ill-disposed to brook their licentiousness. They +had been sent to protect the city and the homes of Antwerp from invasion. +They were not to establish themselves, at every fireside on their first +arrival. There was work enough for them out of doors, and they were to +do that work at once. He ordered them to prepare for a bivouac in, the +streets, and flew from house to house, sword in hand; driving forth the +intruders at imminent peril of his life. Meantime, a number of Italian +and Spanish merchants fled from the city, and took refuge in the castle. +The Walloon soldiers were for immediately plundering their houses, as if +plunder had been the object for which they had been sent to Antwerp. It +was several hours before Champagny, with all his energy, was able to +quell these disturbances. + +In the course of the day, Oberstein received a letter from Don Sandra +d'Avila, calling solemnly upon him to fulfil his treaty of the 29th of +October. The German colonels from the citadel had, on the previous +afternoon, held a personal interview with Oberstein beneath the walls, +which had nearly ended in blows, and they had been obliged to save +themselves by flight from the anger of the Count's soldiers, enraged at +the deceit by which their leader had been so nearly entrapped. This +summons of ridiculous solemnity to keep a treaty which had already been +torn to shreds by both parties, Oberstein answered with defiance and +contempt. The reply was an immediate cannonade from the batteries of +the citadel; which made the position of those erecting the ramparts +excessively dangerous. The wall was strengthened with bales of +merchandise, casks of earth, upturned wagons, and similar bulky objects, +hastily piled together. In, some places it was sixteen feet high; in +others less than six. Night fell before the fortification was nearly +completed. Unfortunately it was bright moonlight. The cannon from the +fortress continued to play upon the half-finished works. The Walloons, +and at last the citizens, feared to lift their heads above their frail +rampart. The senators, whom Champagny had deputed to superintend the +progress of the enterprise, finding the men so indisposed, deserted their +posts. They promised themselves that, in the darkest hour of the +following night, the work should be thoroughly completed. Alas! all +hours of the coming night were destined to be dark enough, but in them +was to be done no manner of work for defence. On Champagny alone seemed +devolved an the labor and all the responsibility. He did his duty well, +but he was but one man. Alone, with a heart full of anxiety, he wandered +up and down all the night. With his own hands, assisted only by a few +citizens and his own servants, he planted all the cannon with which they +were provided, in the "Fencing Court," at a point where the battery might +tell upon the castle. Unfortunately, the troops from Brussels had +brought no artillery with them, and the means of defence against the +strongest fortress in Europe were meagre indeed. The rampart had been +left very weak at many vital points. A single upturned wagon was placed +across the entrance to the important street of the Beguins. This +negligence was to cost the city dear. At daybreak, there was a council +held in Oberstein's quarters. Nearly all Champagny's directions had been +neglected. He had desired that strong detachments should be posted +during the night at various places of Security on the outskirts of the +town, for the troops which were expected to arrive in small bodies at the +citadel from various parts, might have thus been cut off before reaching +their destination. Not even scouts had been stationed in sufficient +numbers to obtain information of what was occurring outside. A thick +mist hung over the city that eventful morning. Through its almost +impenetrable veil, bodies of men had been seen moving into the castle, +and the tramp of cavalry had been distinctly heard, and the troops of +Romero, Vargas, Oliveira, and Valdez had already arrived from Lier, +Breda, Maestricht, and from the forts on the Scheld. + +The whole available force in the city was mustered without delay. Havre +had claimed for his post the defence of the lines opposite the citadel, +the place of responsibility and honor. Here the whole body of Walloons +were stationed, together with a few companies of Germans. The ramparts, +as stated, were far from impregnable, but it was hoped that this living +rampart of six thousand men, standing on their own soil, and in front of +the firesides and altars of their own countrymen; would prove a +sufficient bulwark even against Spanish fury. Unhappily, the living +barrier proved more frail than the feeble breastwork which the hands of +burghers and women had constructed. Six thousand men were disposed along +the side of the city opposite the fortress. The bulk of the German +troops was stationed at different points on the more central streets and +squares. The cavalry was posted on the opposite side of the city, along +the Horse-market, and fronting the "New-town." The stars were still in +the sky when Champagny got on horseback and rode through the streets, +calling on the burghers to arm and assemble at different points. The +principal places of rendezvous were the Cattlemarket and the Exchange. +He rode along the lines of the Walloon regiments, conversing with the +officers, Egmont, De Heze, and others, and encouraging the men, and went +again to the Fencing Court, where he pointed the cannon with his own +hand, and ordered their first discharge at the fortress. Thence he rode +to the end of the Beguin street, where he dismounted and walked out upon +the edge of the esplanade which stretched between the city and the +castle. On this battle-ground a combat was even then occurring between a +band of burghers and a reconnoitring party from the citadel. Champagny +saw with satisfaction that the Antwerpers were victorious. They were +skirmishing well with their disciplined foe, whom they at last beat back +to the citadel. His experienced eye saw, however, that the retreat was +only the signal for a general onslaught, which was soon to follow; and he +returned into the city to give the last directions. + +At ten o'clock, a moving wood was descried, approaching the citadel from +the south-west. The whole body of the mutineers from Alost, wearing +green branches in their helmets--had arrived under command of their +Eletto, Navarrete. Nearly three thousand in number, they rushed into the +castle, having accomplished their march of twenty-four miles since three +o'clock in the morning. They were received with open arms. Sancho +d'Avila ordered food and refreshments to be laid before them, but they +refused everything but a draught of wine. They would dine in Paradise, +they said, or sup in Antwerp. Finding his allies in such spirit, Don +Sancho would not balk their humor. Since early morning, his own veterans +had been eagerly awaiting his signal, "straining upon the start." The +troops of Romero, Vargas, Valdez, were no less impatient. At about an +hour before noon, nearly every living man in the citadel was mustered for +the attack, hardly men enough being left behind to guard the gates. Five +thousand veteran foot soldiers, besides six hundred cavalry, armed to the +teeth, sallied from the portals of Alva's citadel. In the counterscarp +they fell upon their knees, to invoke, according to custom, the blessing +of God upon the Devil's work, which they were about to commit. The +Bletto bore a standard, one side of which was emblazoned with the +crucified Saviour, and the other with the Virgin Mary. The image of Him +who said, "Love-your enemies," and the gentle face of the Madonna, were +to smile from heaven upon deeds which might cause a shudder in the depths +of hell. Their brief orisons concluded, they swept forward to the city. +Three thousand Spaniards, under their Eletto, were to enter by the street +of Saint Michael; the Germans, and the remainder of the Spanish foot, +commanded by Romero, through that of Saint George. Champagny saw them +coming, and spoke a last word of encouragement to the Walloons. The next +moment the compact mass struck the barrier, as the thunderbolt descends +from the cloud. There was scarcely a struggle. The Walloons, not +waiting to look their enemy in the face, abandoned the posts which whey +had themselves claimed. The Spaniards crashed through the bulwark, as +though it had been a wall of glass. The Eletto was first to mount the +rampart; the next instant he was shot dead, while his followers, +undismayed, sprang over his body, and poured into the streets. The fatal +gap, due to timidity and carelessness, let in the destructive tide. +Champagny, seeing that the enemies had all crossed the barrier; leaped +over a garden wall, passed through a house into a narrow lane, and thence +to the nearest station of the German troops. Hastily collecting a small +force, he led them in person to the rescue. The Germans fought well, +died well, but they could not reanimate the courage of the Walloons, and +all were now in full retreat, pursued by the ferocious Spaniards. In +vain Champagny stormed among them; in vain he strove to rally their +broken ranks. With his own hand he seized a banner from a retreating +ensign, and called upon the nearest soldiers to make's stand against the +foe. It was to bid the flying clouds pause before the tempest. Torn, +broken, aimless, the scattered troops whirled through the streets before +the pursuing wrath. Champagny, not yet despairing, galloped hither and +thither, calling upon the burghers everywhere to rise in defence of their +homes, nor did he call in vain. They came forth from every place of +rendezvous, from every alley, from every house. They fought as men fight +to defend their hearths and altars, but what could individual devotion +avail, against the compact, disciplined, resistless mass of their foes? +The order of defence was broken, there was no system, no concert, no +rallying point, no authority. So soon as it was known that the Spaniards +had crossed the rampart, that its six thousand defenders were in full +retreat, it was inevitable that a panic should seize the city. + +Their entrance once effected, the Spanish force had separated; according +to previous arrangement, into two divisions, one half charging up the +long street of Saint Michael, the other forcing its way through the +Street of Saint Joris. "Santiago, Santiago! Espana, Espana! a sangre, a +carne, a fuego, a Sacco!" Saint James, Spain, blood, flesh, fire, +sack!!--such were the hideous cries which rang through every quarter of +the city, as the savage horde advanced. Van Ende, with his German +troops, had been stationed by the Marquis of Havre to defend the Saint +Joris gate, but no sooner, did the Spaniards under Vargas present +themselves, than he deserted to them instantly with his whole force. +United with the Spanish cavalry, these traitorous defenders of Antwerp +dashed in pursuit of those who had only been fainthearted. Thus the +burghers saw themselves attacked by many of their friends, deserted by +more. Whom were they to trust? Nevertheless, Oberstein's Germans were +brave and faithful, resisting to the last, and dying every man in his +harness. The tide of battle flowed hither and thither, through every +street and narrow lane. It poured along the magnificent Place de Meer, +where there was an obstinate contest. In front of the famous Exchange, +where in peaceful hours, five thousand merchants met daily, to arrange +the commercial affairs of Christendom, there was a determined rally, a +savage slaughter. The citizens and faithful Germans, in this broader +space, made a stand against their pursuers. The tesselated marble +pavement, the graceful, cloister-like arcades ran red with blood. The +ill-armed burghers faced their enemies clad in complete panoply, but they +could only die for their homes. The massacre at this point was enormous, +the resistance at last overcome. + +Meantime, the Spanish cavalry had cleft its way through the city. On the +side farthest removed from the: castle; along the Horse-market, opposite +the New-town, the states dragoons and the light horse of Beveren had been +posted, and the flying masses of pursuers and pursued swept at last +through this outer circle. Champagny was already there. He essayed, as +his last hope, to rally the cavalry for a final stand, but the effort was +fruitless. Already seized by the panic, they had attempted to rush from +the city through the gate of Eeker. It was locked; they then turned and +fled towards the Red-gate, where they were met face to face by Don Pedro +Tassis, who charged upon them with his dragoons. Retreat seemed +hopeless. A horseman in complete armor, with lance in rest, was seen to +leap from the parapet of the outer wall into the moat below, whence, +still on horseback, he escaped with life. Few were so fortunate. The +confused mob of fugitives and conquerors, Spaniards, Walloons, Germans, +burghers, struggling, shouting, striking, cursing, dying, swayed hither +and thither like a stormy sea. Along the spacious Horse-market, the +fugitives fled toward towards the quays. Many fell beneath the swords +of the Spaniards, numbers were trodden to death by the hoofs of horses, +still greater multitudes were hunted into the Scheld. Champagny, who +had thought it possible, even at the last moment, to make a stand in the +Newtown, and to fortify the Palace of the Hansa, saw himself deserted. +With great daring and presence of mind, he effected his escape to the +fleet of the Prince of Orange in the river. The Marquis of Havre, of +whom no deeds of valor on that eventful day have been recorded, was +equally successful. The unlucky Oberstein, attempting to leap into a +boat, missed his footing, and oppressed by the weight of his armor, was +drowned. + +Meantime, while the short November day was fast declining, the combat +still raged in the interior of the city. Various currents of conflict, +forcing their separate way through many streets, had at last mingled in +the Grande Place. Around this irregular, not very spacious square, stood +the gorgeous Hotel de Ville, and the tall, many storied, fantastically +gabled, richly decorated palaces of the guilds, Here a long struggle took +place. It was terminated for a time by the cavalry of Vargas, who, +arriving through the streets of Saint Joris, accompanied by the traitor +Van Ende, charged decisively into the melee. The masses were broken, but +multitudes of armed men found refuge in the buildings, and every house +became a fortress. From, every window and balcony a hot fire was poured +into the square, as, pent in a corner, the burghers stood at last at bay. +It was difficult to carry the houses by storm, but they were soon set on +fire. A large number of sutlers and other varlets had accompanied the +Spaniards from the citadel, bringing torches and kindling materials for +the express purpose of firing the town. With great dexterity, these +means were now applied, and in a brief interval, the City-hall, and other +edifices on the square were in flames. The conflagration spread with +rapidity, house after house, street after street, taking fire. Nearly a +thousand buildings, in the most splendid and wealthy quarter of the city, +were soon in a blaze, and multitudes of human beings were burned with +them. In the City-hall many were consumed, while others, leaped from the +windows to renew the combat below. The many tortuous, streets which led +down a slight descent from the rear of the Town house to the quays were +all one vast conflagration. On the other side, the magnificent +cathedral, separated from the Grande Place by a single row of buildings, +was lighted up, but not attacked by the flames. The tall spire cast its +gigantic shadow across the last desperate conflict. In the street called +the Canal au Sucre, immediately behind the Town-house, there was a fierce +struggle, a horrible massacre. A crowd of burghers; grave magistrates, +and such of the German soldiers as remained alive, still confronted the +ferocious Spaniards. There amid the flaming desolation, Goswyn Verreyck, +the heroic margrave of the city, fought with the energy of hatred and +despair. The burgomaster, Van der Meere, lay dead at his feet; senators, +soldiers, citizens, fell fast around him, and he sank at last upon a heap +of slain. With him effectual resistance ended. The remaining combatants +were butchered, or were slowly forced downward to perish in the Scheld. +Women, children, old men, were killed in countless numbers, and still, +through all this havoc, directly over the heads of the struggling throng, +suspended in mid-air above the din and smoke of the conflict, there +sounded, every half-quarter of every hour, as if in gentle mockery, from +the belfry of the cathedral, the tender and melodious chimes. + +Never was there a more monstrous massacre, even in the blood-stained +history of the Netherlands. It was estimated that, in the course of this +and the two following days, not less than eight thousand human beings +were murdered. The Spaniards seemed to cast off even the vizard of +humanity. Hell seemed emptied of its fiends. Night fell upon the scene +before the soldiers were masters of the city; but worse horrors began +after the contest was ended. This army of brigands had come thither with +a definite, practical purpose, for it was not blood-thirst, nor lust, nor +revenge, which had impelled them, but it was avarice, greediness for +gold. For gold they had waded through all this blood and fire. Never +had men more simplicity of purpose, more directness in its execution. +They had conquered their India at last; its golden mines lay all before +them, and every sword should open a shaft. Riot and rape might be +deferred; even murder, though congenial to their taste, was only +subsidiary to their business. They had come to take possession of the +city's wealth, and they set themselves faithfully to accomplish their +task. For gold, infants were dashed out of existence in their mothers' +arms; for gold, parents were tortured in their children's presence; for +gold, brides were scourged to death before their husbands' eyes. +Wherever, treasure was suspected, every expedient which ingenuity; +sharpened by greediness, could suggest, was employed to-extort it from +its possessors. The fire, spreading more extensively and more rapidly +than had been desired through the wealthiest quarter of the city, had +unfortunately devoured a vast amount of property. Six millions, at +least, had thus been swallowed; a destruction by which no one had +profited. There was, however, much left. The strong boxes of the +merchants, the gold, silver, and precious jewelry, the velvets, satins, +brocades, laces, and similar well concentrated and portable plunder, were +rapidly appropriated. So far the course was plain and easy, but in +private houses it was more difficult. The cash, plate, and other +valuables of individuals were not so easily discovered. Torture was, +therefore; at once employed to discover the hidden treasures. After all +had been, given, if the sum seemed too little, the proprietors were +brutally punished for their poverty or their supposed dissimulation. +A gentlewoman, named Fabry, with her aged mother and other females of the +family, had taken refuge in the cellar of her mansion. As the day was +drawing to a close, a band of plunderers entered, who, after ransacking +the house, descended to the cellarage. Finding the door barred, they +forced it open with gunpowder. The mother, who was nearest the entrance, +fell dead on the threshold. Stepping across her mangled body, the +brigands sprang upon her daughter, loudly demanding the property which +they believed to be concealed. They likewise insisted on being informed +where the master of the house had taken refuge. Protestations of +ignorance as to hidden treasure, or the whereabouts of her husband, who, +for aught she knew, was lying dead in the streets, were of no avail. To +make her more communicative, they hanged her on a beam in the cellar, and +after a few moments cut her down before life was extinct. Still +receiving no satisfactory reply, where a satisfactory reply was +impossible, they hanged her again. Again, after another brief interval +they gave her a second release, and a fresh interrogatory. This +barbarity they repeated several times, till they were satisfied that +there was nothing to be gained by it, while, on, the other hand, they +were losing much valuable time. Hoping to be more successful elsewhere, +they left her hanging for the last time, and trooped off to fresher +fields. Strange to relate, the person thus horribly tortured, survived. +A servant in her family, married to a Spanish soldier, providentially +entered the house in time to rescue her perishing mistress. She was +restored to existence, but never to reason. Her brain was hopelessly +crazed, and she passed the remainder of her life wandering about her +house, or feebly digging in her garden for the buried treasure which she +had been thus fiercely solicited to reveal. + +A wedding-feast was rudely interrupted. Two young persons, neighbours of +opulent families, had been long betrothed, and the marriage day had been +fixed for Sunday, the fatal 4th of November. The guests were assembled, +the ceremony concluded, the nuptial banquet in progress, when the +horrible outcries in the streets proclaimed that the Spaniards had broken +loose. Hour after hour of trembling expectation succeeded. At last, +a thundering at the gate proclaimed the arrival of a band of brigands. +Preceded by their captain, a large number of soldiers forced their way +into the house, ransacking every chamber, no opposition being offered by +the family and friends, too few and powerless to cope with this band of +well-armed ruffians. Plate chests, wardrobes, desks, caskets of jewelry, +were freely offered, eagerly accepted, but not found sufficient, and to +make the luckless wretches furnish more than they possessed, the usual +brutalities were employed. The soldiers began by striking the bridegroom +dead. The bride fell shrieking into her mother's arms, whence she was +torn by the murderers, who immediately put the mother to death, and an +indiscriminate massacre then followed the fruitless attempt to obtain by +threats and torture treasure which did not exist. The bride, who was of +remarkable beauty, was carried off to the citadel. Maddened by this last +outrage, the father, who was the only man of the party left alive, rushed +upon the Spaniards. Wresting a sword from one of the crew, the old man +dealt with it so fiercely, that he stretched more than one enemy dead at +his feet, but it is needless to add that he was soon despatched. +Meantime, while the party were concluding the plunder of the mansion, the +bride was left in a lonely apartment of the fortress. Without wasting +time in fruitless lamentation, she resolved to quit the life which a few +hours had made so desolate. She had almost succeeded in hanging herself +with a massive gold chain which she wore, when her captor entered the +apartment. Inflamed, not with lust, but with avarice, excited not by her +charms, but by her jewelry; he rescued her from her perilous position. +He then took possession of her chain and the other trinkets with which +her wedding-dress was adorned, and caused her; to be entirely stripped of +her clothing. She was then scourged with rods till her beautiful body +was bathed in blood, and at last alone, naked, nearly mad, was sent back +into the city. Here the forlorn creature wandered up and down through +the blazing streets, among the heaps of dead and dying, till she was at +last put out of her misery by a gang of soldiers. + +Such are a few isolated instances, accidentally preserved in their +details, of the general horrors inflicted on this occasion. Others +innumerable have sunk into oblivion. On the morning of the 5th of +November, Antwerp presented a ghastly sight. The magnificent marble +Town-house, celebrated as a "world's wonder," even in that age and +country, in which so much splendour was lavished on municipal palaces, +stood a blackened ruin--all but the walls destroyed, while its archives, +accounts, and other valuable contents, had perished. The more splendid +portion of the city had been consumed; at least five hundred palaces, +mostly of marble or hammered stone, being a smouldering mass of +destruction. The dead bodies of those fallen in the massacre were on +every side, in greatest profusion around the Place de Meer, among the +Gothic pillars of the Exchange, and in the streets near the Town-house. +The German soldiers lay in their armor, some with their heads burned from +their bodies, some with legs and arms consumed by the flames through +which they had fought. The Margrave Goswyn Verreyck, the burgomaster Van +der Meere, the magistrates Lancelot Van Urselen, Nicholas Van Boekholt, +and other leading citizens, lay among piles of less distinguished slain. +They remained unburied until the overseers of the poor, on whom the +living had then more importunate claims than the dead, were compelled by +Roda to bury them out of the pauper fund. The murderers were too thrifty +to be at funeral charges for their victims. The ceremony was not hastily +performed, for the number of corpses had not been completed. Two days +longer the havoc lasted in the city. Of all the crimes which men can +commit, whether from deliberate calculation or in the frenzy of passion, +hardly one was omitted, for riot, gaming, rape, which had been postponed +to the more stringent claims of robbery and murder, were now rapidly +added to the sum of atrocities. History has recorded the account +indelibly on her brazen tablets; it can be adjusted only at the judgment- +seat above. + +Of all the deeds of darkness yet compassed in the Netherlands, this was +the worst. It was called The Spanish Fury, by which dread name it has +been known for ages. The city, which had been a world of wealth and +splendor, was changed to a charnel-house, and from that hour its +commercial prosperity was blasted. Other causes had silently girdled the +yet green and flourishing tree, but the Spanish Fury was the fire which +consumed it to ashes. Three thousand dead bodies were discovered in the +streets, as many more were estimated to have perished in the Scheld, and +nearly an equal number were burned or destroyed in other ways. Eight +thousand persons undoubtedly were put to death. Six millions of property +were destroyed by the fire, and at least as much more was obtained by the +Spaniards. In this enormous robbery no class of people was respected. +Foreign merchants, living under the express sanction and protection of +the Spanish monarch, were plundered with as little reserve as Flemings. +Ecclesiastics of the Roman Church were compelled to disgorge their wealth +as freely as Calvinists. The rich were made to contribute all their +abundance, and the poor what could be wrung from their poverty. Neither +paupers nor criminals were safe. Captain Caspar Ortis made a brilliant +speculation by taking possession of the Stein, or city prison, whence he +ransomed all the inmates who could find means to pay for their liberty. +Robbers, murderers, even Anabaptists, were thus again let loose. Rarely +has so small a band obtained in three days' robbery so large an amount of +wealth. Four or five millions divided among five thousand soldiers made +up for long arrearages, and the Spaniards had reason to congratulate +themselves upon having thus taken the duty of payment into their own +hands. It is true that the wages of iniquity were somewhat unequally +distributed, somewhat foolishly squandered. A private trooper was known +to lose ten thousand crowns in one day in a gambling transaction at the +Bourse, for the soldiers, being thus handsomely in funds, became desirous +of aping the despised and plundered merchants, and resorted daily to the +Exchange, like men accustomed to affairs. The dearly purchased gold was +thus lightly squandered by many, while others, more prudent, melted their +portion into sword-hilts, into scabbards, even into whole suits of armor, +darkened, by precaution, to appear made entirely of iron. The brocades, +laces, and jewelry of Antwerp merchants were converted into coats of mail +for their destroyers. The goldsmiths, however, thus obtained an +opportunity to outwit their plunderers, and mingled in the golden armor +which they were forced to furnish much more alloy than their employers +knew. A portion of the captured booty was thus surreptitiously redeemed. + +In this Spanish Fury many more were massacred in Antwerp than in the +Saint Bartholomew at Paris. Almost as many living human beings were +dashed out of existence now as there had been statues destroyed in the +memorable image-breaking of Antwerp, ten years before, an event which had +sent such a thrill of horror through the heart of Catholic Christendom. +Yet the Netherlanders and the Protestants of Europe may be forgiven, if +they regarded this massacre of their brethren with as much execration as +had been bestowed upon that fury against stocks and stones. At least, +the image-breakers, had been actuated by an idea, and their hands were +polluted neither with blood nor rapine. Perhaps the Spaniards had been. +governed equally by religious fanaticism.--Might not they believe they +were meriting well of their Mother Church while they were thus +disencumbering infidels of their wealth and earth of its infidels? +Had not the Pope and his cardinals gone to church in solemn procession, +to render thanks unto God for the massacre of Paris? Had not cannon +thundered and beacons blazed to commemorate that auspicious event? +Why should not the Antwerp executioners claim equal commendation? Even +if in their delirium they had confounded friend with foe, Catholic with +Calvinist, and church property with lay, could they not point to an equal +number of dead bodies, and to an incredibly superior amount of plunder? + +Marvellously few Spaniards were slain in these eventful days. Two +hundred killed is the largest number stated. The discrepancy seems +monstrous, but it is hardly more than often existed between the losses +inflicted and sustained by the Spaniards in such combats. Their prowess +was equal to their ferocity, and this was enough to make them seem +endowed with preterhuman powers. When it is remembered, also, that the +burghers were insufficiently armed, that many of their defenders turned +against them, that many thousands fled in the first moments of the +encounter--and when the effect of a sudden and awful panic is duly +considered, the discrepancy between the number of killed on the two sides +will not seem so astonishing. + +A few officers of distinction were taken, alive and carried to the +castle. Among these were the Seigneur de Capres and young Count Egmont. +The councillor Jerome de Roda was lounging on a chair in an open gallery +when these two gentlemen were brought before him, and Capres was base +enough to make a low obeisance to the man who claimed to represent the +whole government of his Majesty. The worthy successor of Vargas replied +to his captive's greeting by a "kick in his stomach," adding, with a +brutality which his prototype might have envied, "Ah puto tradidor,-- +whoreson traitor, let me have no salutations from such as you." Young +Egmont, who had been captured, fighting bravely at the head of coward +troops, by Julian Romero, who nine years before had stood on his father's +scaffold, regarded this brutal scene with haughty indignation. This +behaviour had more effect upon Roda than the suppleness of Capres. +"I am sorry for your misfortune, Count," said the councillor, without +however rising from his chair; "such is the lot of those who take arms +against their King." This was the unfortunate commencement of Philip +Egmont's career, which was destined to be inglorious, vacillating, base, +and on more than one occasion unlucky. + +A shiver ran through the country as the news of the horrible crime was +spread, but it was a shiver of indignation, not of fear. Already the +negotiations at Ghent between the representatives of the Prince and of +Holland and Zealand with the deputies of the other provinces were in a +favorable train, and the effect of this event upon their counsels was +rather quickening than appalling. A letter from Jerome de Roda to the +King was intercepted, giving an account of the transaction. In that +document the senator gave the warmest praise to Sancho d'Avila, Julian +Romero, Alonzo de Vargas, Francis Verdugo, as well as to the German +colonels Fugger, Frondsberger, Polwiller, and others who had most exerted +themselves in the massacre. "I wish your Majesty much good of this +victory," concluded the councillor, "'tis a very great one, and the +damage to the city is enormous." This cynical view was not calculated to +produce a soothing effect on the exasperated minds of the people. On the +other hand, the estates of Brabant addressed an eloquent appeal to the +states-general, reciting their wrongs, and urging immediate action. +"'Tis notorious," said the remonstrants, "that Antwerp was but yesterday +the first and principal ornament of all Europe; the refuge of all the +nations of the world; the source and supply of countless treasure; the +nurse of all arts and industry; the protectress of the Roman Catholic +religion; the guardian of science and virtue; and, above all these +preeminences; more than faithful and obedient to her sovereign prince and +lord. The city is now changed to a gloomy cavern, filled with robbers +and murderers, enemies of God, the King, and all good subjects." They +then proceeded to recite the story of the massacre, whereof the memory +shall be abominable so long as the world stands, and concluded with an +urgent appeal for redress. They particularly suggested that an edict +should forthwith be passed, forbidding the alienation of property and the +exportation of goods in any form from Antwerp, together with concession +of the right to the proprietors of reclaiming their stolen property +summarily, whenever and wheresoever it might be found. In accordance +with these instructions, an edict was passed, but somewhat tardily, in +the hope of relieving some few of the evil consequences by which the +Antwerp Fury had been attended. + +At about the same time the Prince of Orange addressed a remarkable letter +to the states-general then assembled at Ghent, urging them to hasten the +conclusion of the treaty. The news of the massacre, which furnished an +additional and most vivid illustration of the truth of his letter, had +not then reached him at Middelburg, but the earnestness of his views, +taken in connexion with this last dark deed, exerted a powerful and +indelible effect. The letter was a masterpiece, because it was +necessary, in his position, to inflame without alarming; to stimulate the +feelings which were in unison, without shocking those which, if aroused, +might prove discordant. Without; therefore, alluding in terms to the +religious question, he dwelt upon the necessity of union, firmness, and +wariness. If so much had been done by Holland and Zealand, how much more +might be hoped when all the provinces were united? "The principal flower +of the Spanish army has fallen," he said, "without having been able to +conquer one of those provinces from those whom they call, in mockery, +poor beggars; yet what is that handful of cities compared to all the +provinces which might join us in the quarrel?" He warned the states of +the necessity of showing a strong and united front; the King having been +ever led to consider the movement in the Netherlands a mere conspiracy of +individuals. The King told me himself; in 1559," said Orange, "that if +the estates had no pillars to lean upon, they would not talk so loud." +It was, therefore, necessary to show that prelates, abbots, monks, +seigniors, gentlemen, burghers, and peasants, the whole people in short, +now cried with one voice, and desired with one will. To such a +demonstration the King would not dare oppose himself. By thus preserving +a firm and united front, sinking all minor differences, they would, +moreover, inspire their friends and foreign princes with confidence. +The princes of Germany, the lords and gentlemen of France, the Queen of +England, although sympathizing with the misfortunes of the Netherlanders, +had been unable effectually to help them, so long as their disunion +prevented them from helping themselves; so long as even their appeal +to arms seemed merely a levy of bucklers, an emotion of the populace, +which, like a wave of the sea, rises and sinks again as soon as risen." + +While thus exciting to union and firmness, he also took great pains to +instil the necessity of wariness. They were dealing with an artful foe. +Intercepted letters had already proved that the old dissimulation was +still to be employed; that while Don John of Austria was on his way, the +Netherlanders were to be lulled into confidence by glozing speeches. +Roda was provided by the King with a secret programme of instructions for +the new Governor's guidance and Don Sancho d'Avila, for his countenance +to the mutineers of Alost, had been applauded to the echo in Spain. Was +not this applause a frequent indication of the policy to be adopted by +Don John, and a thousand times more significative one than the unmeaning +phrases of barren benignity with which public documents might be crammed? +"The old tricks are again brought into service," said the Prince; +"therefore 'tis necessary to ascertain your veritable friends, to tear +off the painted masks from those who, under pretence-of not daring to +displease the King, are seeking to swim between two waters. 'Tis +necessary to have a touchstone; to sign a declaration in such wise that +you may know whom to trust, and whom to suspect." + +The massacre at Antwerp and the eloquence of the Prince produced a most +quickening effect upon the Congress at Ghent. Their deliberations had +proceeded with decorum and earnestness, in the midst of the cannonading +against the citadel, and the fortress fell on the same day which saw the +conclusion of the treaty. + +This important instrument, by which the sacrifices and exertions of the +Prince were, for a brief season, at least, rewarded, contained twenty- +five articles. The Prince of Orange, with the estates of Holland and +Zealand, on the one side, and the provinces signing, or thereafter to +sign the treaty, on the other, agreed that there should be a mutual +forgiving and forgetting, as regarded the past. They vowed a close and +faithful friendship for the future. They plighted a mutual promise to +expel the Spaniards from the Netherlands without delay. As soon as this +great deed should be done, there was to be a convocation of the states- +general, on the basis of that assembly before which the abdication of the +Emperor had taken place. By this congress, the affairs of religion in +Holland and Zealand should be regulated, as well as the surrender of +fortresses and other places belonging to his Majesty. There was to be +full liberty of communication and traffic between the citizens of the +one side and the other. It should not be legal, however, for those of +Holland and Zealand to attempt anything outside their own territory +against the Roman Catholic religion, nor for cause hereof to injure or +irritate any one, by deed or word. All the placards and edicts on the +subject of heresy, together with the criminal ordinances made by the Duke +of Alva, were suspended, until the states-general should otherwise +ordain. The Prince was to remain lieutenant, admiral, and general for +his Majesty in Holland, Zealand, and the associated places, till +otherwise provided by the states-general; after the departure of the +Spaniards. The cities and places included in the Prince's commission, +but not yet acknowledging his authority, should receive satisfaction from +him, as to the point of religion and other matters, before subscribing to +the union. All prisoners, and particularly the Comte de Bossu, should be +released without ransom. All estates and other property not already +alienated should be restored, all confiscations since 1566 being declared +null and void. The Countess Palatine, widow of Brederode, and Count de +Buren, son of the Prince of Orange, were expressly named in this +provision. Prelates and ecclesiastical persons; having property in +Holland and Zealand, should be reinstated, if possible; but in case of +alienation, which was likely to be generally the case; there should be +reasonable compensation. It was to be decided by the states-general +whether the provinces should discharge the debts incurred by the Prince +of Orange in his two campaigns. Provinces and cities should not have the +benefit of this union until they had signed the treaty, but they should +be permitted to sign it when they chose. + +This memorable document was subscribed at Ghent, on the 8th of November, +by Saint Aldegonde, with eight other commissioners appointed by the +Prince of Orange and the estates of Holland on the one side, and by +Elbertus Leoninus and other deputies appointed by Brabant, Flanders, +Artois, Hainault, Valenciennes, Lille, Douay, Orchies, Namur, Tournay, +Utrecht, and Mechlin on the other side. + +The arrangement was a masterpiece of diplomacy on the part of the Prince, +for it was as effectual a provision for the safety of the Reformed +religion as could be expected under the circumstances. It was much, +considering the change which had been wrought of late years in the +fifteen provinces, that they should consent to any treaty with their two +heretic sisters. It was much more that the Pacification should recognize +the new religion as the established creed of Holland and Zealand, while +at the same time the infamous edicts of Charles were formally abolished. +In the fifteen Catholic provinces, there was to be no prohibition of +private Reformed worship, and it might be naturally expected that with +time and the arrival of the banished religionists, a firmer stand would +be taken in favor of the Reformation. Meantime, the new religion was +formally established in two provinces, and tolerated, in secret, in the +other fifteen; the Inquisition was for ever abolished, and the whole +strength of the nation enlisted to expel the foreign soldiery from the +soil. This was the work of William the Silent, and the great Prince thus +saw the labor of years crowned with, at least, a momentary success. His +satisfaction was very great when it was announced to him, many days +before the exchange of the signatures, that the treaty had been +concluded. He was desirous that the Pacification should be referred for +approval, not to the municipal magistrates only, but to the people +itself. In all great emergencies, the man who, in his whole character, +least resembled a demagogue, either of antiquity or of modern times, was +eager for a fresh expression of the popular will. On this occasion, +however, the demand for approbation was superfluous. The whole country +thought with his thoughts, and spoke with his words, and the +Pacification, as soon as published, was received with a shout of joy. +Proclaimed in the marketplace of every city and village, it was ratified, +not by votes, but by hymns of thanksgiving, by triumphal music, +by thundering of cannon, and by the blaze of beacons, throughout the +Netherlands. Another event added to the satisfaction of the hour. The +country so recently, and by deeds of such remarkable audacity, conquered +by the Spaniards in the north, was recovered almost simultaneously with +the conclusion of the Ghent treaty. It was a natural consequence of the +great mutiny. The troops having entirely deserted Mondragon, it became +necessary for that officer to abandon Zierickzee, the city which had been +won with so much valor. In the beginning of November, the capital, and +with it the whole island of Schouwen, together with the rest of Zealand, +excepting Tholen, was recovered by Count Hohenlo, lieutenant-general of +the Prince of Orange, and acting according to his instructions. + +Thus, on this particular point of time, many great events had been +crowded. At the very same moment Zealand had been redeemed, Antwerp +ruined, and the league of all the Netherlands against the Spaniards +concluded. It now became known that another and most important event had +occurred at the same instant. On the day before the Antwerp massacre, +four days before the publication of the Ghent treaty, a foreign cavalier, +attended by a Moorish slave and by six men-at-arms, rode into the streets +of Luxemburg. The cavalier was Don Ottavio Gonzaga, brother of the +Prince of Melfi. The Moorish slave was Don John of Austria, the son of +the Emperor, the conqueror of Granada, the hero of Lepanto. The new +Governor-general had traversed Spain and France in disguise with great +celerity, and in the romantic manner which belonged to his character. +He stood at last on the threshold of the Netherlands, but with all his +speed he had arrived a few days too late. + + + + +ETEXT EDITOR'S BOOKMARKS: + +A common hatred united them, for a time at least +A most fatal success +All claimed the privilege of persecuting +Blessing of God upon the Devil's work +Daily widening schism between Lutherans and Calvinists +Dying at so very inconvenient a moment +Eight thousand human beings were murdered +Everything was conceded, but nothing was secured +Fanatics of the new religion denounced him as a godless man +Glory could be put neither into pocket nor stomach +He would have no Calvinist inquisition set up in its place +He would have no persecution of the opposite creed +In character and general talents he was beneath mediocrity +Indecision did the work of indolence +Insinuate that his orders had been hitherto misunderstood +King set a price upon his head as a rebel +No man could reveal secrets which he did not know +Of high rank but of lamentably low capacity +Pope excommunicated him as a heretic +Preventing wrong, or violence, even towards an enemy +They could not invent or imagine toleration +Uunmeaning phrases of barren benignity + + + + +End of this Project Gutenberg Etext of The Dutch Republic, v25 +by John Lothrop Motley + + + + + + +MOTLEY'S HISTORY OF THE NETHERLANDS, Project Gutenberg Edition, Vol. 26 + +THE RISE OF THE DUTCH REPUBLIC + +By John Lothrop Motley + +1855 + + + +PART V. + +DON JOHN OF AUSTRIA. + + +1576-1577 [CHAPTER I.] + + Birth and parentage of Don John--Barbara Blomberg--Early education + and recognition by Philip--Brilliant military career--Campaign + against the Moors--Battle of Lepanto--Extravagant ambition--Secret + and rapid journey of the new Governor to the Netherlands--Contrast + between Don John and William of Orange--Secret instructions of + Philip and private purposes of the Governor--Cautious policy and + correspondence of the Prince--Preliminary, negotiations with Don + John at Luxemburg characterized--Union of Brussels--Resumption of + negotiations with the Governor at Huy--The discussions analyzed and + characterized--Influence of the new Emperor Rudolph II. and of his + envoys--Treaty of Marche en Famine, or the Perpetual Edict, signed-- + Remarks upon that transaction--Views and efforts of Orange in + opposition to the treaty--His letter, in name of Holland and + Zealand, to the States-General--Anxiety of the royal government to + gain over the Prince--Secret mission of Leoninus--His instructions + from Don John--Fruitless attempts to corrupt the Prince--Secret + correspondence between Don John and Orange--Don John at Louvain--His + efforts to ingratiate himself with the Netherlanders--His incipient + popularity--Departure of the Spanish troops--Duke of Aerschot + appointed Governor of Antwerp citadel--His insincere character. + +Don John of Austria was now in his thirty-second year, having been born +in Ratisbon on the 24th of February, 1545. His father was Charles the +Fifth, Emperor of Germany, King of Spain, Dominator of Asia, Africa, +and America; his mother was Barbara Blomberg, washerwoman of Ratisbon. +Introduced to the Emperor, originally, that she might alleviate his +melancholy by her singing, she soon exhausted all that was harmonious in +her nature, for never was a more uncomfortable, unmanageable personage +than Barbara in her after life. Married to one Pyramus Kegell, who was +made a military commissary in the Netherlands, she was left a widow in +the beginning of Alva's administration. Placed under the especial +superintendence of the Duke, she became the torment of that warrior's +life. The terrible Governor, who could almost crush the heart out of a +nation of three millions, was unable to curb this single termagant. +Philip had expressly forbidden her to marry again, but Alva informed him +that she was surrounded by suitors. Philip had insisted that she should +go into a convent, but Alva, who, with great difficulty, had established +her quietly in Ghent, assured his master that she would break loose again +at the bare suggestion of a convent. Philip wished her to go to Spain, +sending her word that Don John was mortified by the life his mother was +leading, but she informed the Governor that she would be cut to pieces +before she would go to Spain. She had no objection to see her son, but +she knew too well how women were treated in that country. The Duke +complained most pathetically to his Majesty of the life they all led with +the ex-mistress of the Emperor. Never, he frequently observed, had woman +so terrible a head. She was obstinate, reckless, abominably extravagant. +She had been provided in Ghent with a handsome establishment: "with a +duenna, six other women, a major domo, two pages, one chaplain, an +almoner, and four men-servants," and this seemed a sufficiently liberal +scheme of life for the widow of a commissary. Moreover, a very ample +allowance had been made for the education of her only legitimate son, +Conrad, the other having perished by an accident on the day of his +father's death. While Don John of Austria was, gathering laurels in +Granada, his half-brother, Pyramus junior, had been ingloriously drowned +in a cistern at Ghent. + +Barbara's expenses were exorbitant; her way of life scandalous. To send +her money, said Alva, was to throw it into the sea. In two days she +would have spent in dissipation and feasting any sums which the King +might choose to supply. The Duke, who feared nothing else in the world, +stood in mortal awe of the widow Kegell. "A terrible animal, indeed, is +an unbridled woman," wrote secretary Gayas, from Madrid, at the close of +Alva's administration for, notwithstanding every effort to entice, to +intimidate, and to kidnap her from the Netherlands, there she remained, +through all vicissitudes, even till the arrival of Don John. By his +persuasions or commands she was, at last, induced to accept an exile for +the remainder of her days, in Spain, but revenged herself by asserting. +that he was quite mistaken: in supposing himself the Emperor's child; a +point, certainly, upon which her, authority might be thought conclusive. +Thus there was a double mystery about Don John. He might be the issue of +august parentage on one side; he was; possibly, sprung of most ignoble +blood. Base-born at best, he was not sure whether to look for the author +of his being in the halls of the Caesara or the booths of Ratisbon +mechanics. + + [Cabrera, xii. 1009. An absurd rumor had existed that Barbara + Blomberg had only been employed to personate Don John's mother. She + died at an estate called Arronjo de Molinos, four leagues from + Madrid, some years after the death of Don John.] + +Whatever might be the heart of the mystery, it is certain that it was +allowed to enwrap all the early life of Don John. The Emperor, who +certainly never doubted his responsibility for the infant's existence, +had him conveyed instantly to Spain, where he was delivered to Louis +Quixada, of the Imperial household, by whom he was brought up in great +retirement at Villa-garcia. Magdalen Ulloa, wife of Quixada, watched +over his infancy with maternal and magnanimous care, for her husband's +extreme solicitude for the infant's welfare had convinced her that he was +its father. On one occasion, when their house was in flames, Quixada +rescued the infant before he saved his wife, "although Magdalen knew +herself to be dearer to him than the apple of his eye." From that time +forth she altered her opinion, and believed the mysterious child to be of +lofty origin. The boy grew up full of beauty, grace, and agility, the +leader of all his companions in every hardy sport. Through the country +round there were none who could throw the javelin, break a lance, or ride +at the ring like little Juan Quixada. In taming unmanageable horses he +was celebrated for his audacity and skill. These accomplishments, +however, were likely to prove of but slender advantage in the +ecclesiastical profession, to which he had been destined by his Imperial +father. The death of Charles occurred before clerical studies had been +commenced, and Philip, to whom the secret had been confided at the close +of the Emperor's life, prolonged the delay thus interposed. Juan had +already reached his fourteenth year, when one day his supposed father +Quixada invited him to ride towards Valladolid to see the royal hunt. +Two horses stood at the door--a splendidly caparisoned charger and a +common hackney. The boy naturally mounted the humbler steed, and they +set forth for the mountains of Toro, but on hearing the bugles of the +approaching huntsmen, Quixada suddenly halted, and bade his youthful +companion exchange horses with himself. When this had been done, he +seized the hand of the wondering boy and kissing it respectfully, +exclaimed, "Your Highness will be informed as to the meaning of my +conduct by his Majesty, who is even now approaching." They had proceeded +but a short distance before they encountered the royal hunting party, +when both Quixada and young Juan dismounted, and bent the knee to their +monarch. Philip, commanding the boy to rise, asked him if he knew his +father's name. Juan replied, with a sigh, that he had at that moment +lost the only father whom he had known, for Quixada had just disowned +him. "You have the same father as myself," cried the King; "the Emperor +Charles was the august parent of us both." Then tenderly embracing him, +he commanded him to remount his horse, and all returned together to +Valladolid, Philip observing with a sentimentality that seems highly +apocryphal, that he had never brought home such precious game from any +hunt before. + +This theatrical recognition of imperial descent was one among the many +romantic incidents of Don John's picturesque career, for his life was +never destined to know the commonplace. He now commenced his education, +in company with his two nephews, the Duchess Margaret's son, and Don +Carlos, Prince-royal of Spain. They were all of the same age, but the +superiority of Don John was soon recognized. It was not difficult to +surpass the limping, malicious, Carlos, either in physical graces or +intellectual accomplishments; but the graceful; urbane, and chivalrous +Alexander, destined afterwards to such wide celebrity, was a more +formidable rival, yet even the professed panegyrist of the Farnese +family, exalts the son of Barbara Blomberg over the grandson of Margaret +Van Geest. + +Still destined for the clerical profession, Don John, at the age of +eighteen, to avoid compliance with Philip's commands, made his escape +to Barcelona. It was his intention to join the Maltese expedition. +Recalled peremptorily by Philip, he was for a short time in disgrace; +but afterwards made his peace with the monarch by denouncing some of the +mischievous schemes of Don Carlos. Between the Prince-royal and the +imperial bastard, there had always been a deep animosity, the Infante +having on one occasion saluted him with the most vigorous and offensive +appellation which his illegitimate birth could suggest. "Base-born or +not," returned Don John, "at any rate I had a better father than yours." +The words were probably reported to Philip and doubtless rankled in his +breast, but nothing appeared on the surface, and the youth rose rapidly +in favor. In his twenty-third year, he was appointed to the command of +the famous campaign against the insurgent Moors of Granada. Here he +reaped his first laurels, and acquired great military celebrity. It is +difficult to be dazzled by such glory. He commenced his operations by +the expulsion of nearly all the Moorish inhabitants of Granada, bed- +ridden men, women, and children, together, and the cruelty inflicted, +the sufferings patiently endured in that memorable deportation, were +enormous. But few of the many thousand exiles survived the horrid march, +those who were so unfortunate as to do so being sold into slavery by +their captors. Still a few Moors held out in their mountain fastnesses, +and two years long the rebellion of this handful made head against the, +power of Spain. Had their envoys to the Porte succeeded in their +negotiation, the throne of Philip might have trembled; but Selim hated +the Republic of Venice as much as he loved the wine of Cyprus. While the +Moors were gasping out their last breath in Granada and Ronda, the Turks +had wrested the island of Venus from the grasp of the haughty Republic +Fainagosta had fallen; thousands of Venetians had been butchered with a +ferocity which even Christians could not have surpassed; the famous +General Bragadino had been flayed; stuffed, and sent hanging on the yard- +arm of a frigate; to Constantinople, as a present to the Commander of the +Faithful; and the mortgage of Catherine Cornaro, to the exclusion of her +husband's bastards, had been thus definitely cancelled. With such +practical enjoyments, Selim was indifferent to the splendid but shadowy +vision of the Occidental caliphate--yet the revolt of the Moors was only +terminated, after the departure of Don John, by the Duke of Arcos. + +The war which the Sultan had avoided in the West, came to seek him in the +East. To lift the Crucifix against the Crescent, at the head of the +powerful but quarrelsome alliance between Venice, Spain, and Rome, Don +John arrived at Naples. He brought with him more than a hundred ships +and twenty-three thousand men, as the Spanish contingent:--Three months +long the hostile fleets had been cruising in the same waters without an +encounter; three more were wasted in barren manoeuvres. Neither +Mussulman nor Christian had much inclination for the conflict, the Turk +fearing the consequences of a defeat, by which gains already secured +might be forfeited; the allies being appalled at the possibility of their +own triumph. Nevertheless, the Ottomans manoeuvred themselves at last +into the gulf of Lepanto, the Christians manoeuvred themselves towards +its mouth as the foe was coming forth again. The conflict thus rendered +inevitable, both Turk and Christian became equally eager for the fray, +equally confident of, victory. Six hundred vessels of war met face to +face. Rarely in history had so gorgeous a scene of martial array been +witnessed. An October sun gilded the thousand beauties of an Ionian +landscape. Athens and Corinth were behind the combatants, the mountains +of Alexander's Macedon rose in the distance; the rock of Sappho and the +heights of Actium, were before their eyes. Since the day when the world +had been lost and won beneath that famous promontory, no such combat as +the one now approaching had been fought upon the waves. The chivalrous +young commander despatched energetic messages to his fellow chieftains, +and now that it was no longer possible to elude the encounter, the +martial ardor of the allies was kindled. The Venetian High-Admiral +replied with words of enthusiasm. Colonna, lieutenant of the league, +answered his chief in the language of St. Peter; "Though I die, yet will +I not deny thee." + +The fleet was arranged in three divisions. The Ottomans, not drawn up in +crescent form, as usual, had the same triple disposition. Barbarigo and +the other Venetians commanded on the left, John Andrew Doria on the +right, while Don John himself and Colonna were in the centre, Crucifix in +hand, the High-Admiral rowed from ship to ship exhorting generals and +soldiers to show themselves worthy of a cause which he had persuaded +himself was holy. Fired by his eloquence and by the sight of the enemy, +his hearers answered with eager shouts, while Don John returned to his +ship; knelt upon the quarter-deck, and offered a prayer. He then ordered +the trumpets to sound the assault, commanded his sailing-master to lay +him alongside the Turkish Admiral, and the battle began. The Venetians, +who were first attacked, destroyed ship after ship of their assailants +after a close and obstinate contest, but Barliarigo fell dead ere the +sunset, with an arrow through his brain. Meantime the action, +immediately after the first onset, had become general. From noon till +evening the battle raged, with a carnage rarely recorded in history. Don +John's own ship lay yard-arm and yard-arm with the Turkish Admiral, and +exposed to the fire of seven large vessels besides. It was a day when +personal, audacity, not skilful tactics, was demanded, and the imperial +bastard showed the metal he was made of. The Turkish Admiral's ship was +destroyed, his head exposed from Don John's deck upon a pike, and the +trophy became the signal for a general panic and a complete victory. By +sunset the battle had been won. + +Of nearly three hundred Turkish galleys, but fifty made their escape. +From twenty-five to thirty thousand Turks were slain, and perhaps ten +thousand Christians. The galley-slaves on both sides fought well, and +the only beneficial result of the victory was the liberation of several +thousand Christian captives. It is true that their liberty was purchased +with the lives of a nearly equal number of Christian soldiers, and by the +reduction to slavery of almost as many thousand Mussulmen, duly +distributed among the Christian victors. Many causes--contributed to +this splendid triumph. The Turkish ships, inferior in number, were also +worse manned than those of their adversaries; and their men were worse +armed. Every bullet of the Christians told on muslin turbans and +embroidered tunics, while the arrows of the Moslems fell harmless on the +casques and corslets of their foes. The Turks, too, had committed the +fatal error of fighting upon a lee shore. Having no sea room, and being +repelled in their first onset, many galleys were driven upon the rocks, +to be destroyed with all their crews. + + [Cabrera says that thirty thousand Turks were slain, ten thousand + made prisoners, ten thousand Christians killed, and fifteen thousand + Christian prisoners liberated, ix. 693. De Thou's estimate is + twenty-five thousand Turks killed, three thousand prisoners, and ten + thousand Christians killed, vi. 247. Brantome states the number of + Turks killed at thirty thousand, without counting those who were + drowned or who died afterwards of their wounds; six thousand + prisoners, twelve thousand Christian prisoners liberated, and ten + thousand Christians killed. Hoofd, vi. 214, gives the figures at + twenty-five thousand Turks and ten thousand Christians slain. Bor, + v. 354, makes a minute estimate, on the authority of Pietro + Contareno, stating the number of Christians killed at seven thousand + six hundred and fifty, that of Turks at twenty-five thousand one + hundred and fifty, Turkish prisoners at three thousand eight hundred + and forty-six, and Christians liberated at twelve thousand; giving + the number of Turkish ships destroyed at eighty, captured fifty. + According to the "Relation cierta y verdadera," (which was drawn up + a few days after the action,) the number of Turks slain was thirty + thousand and upwards, besides many prisoners, that of Christians + killed was seven thousand, of Christian slaves liberated twelve + thousand, of Ottoman ships taken or destroyed two hundred and + thirty. Documentos Ineditos, iii. 249. Philip sent an express + order, forbidding the ransoming of even the captive officers. The + Turkish slaves were divided among the victors in the proportion of + one-half to Philip and one-half to the Pope and Venice. The other + booty was distributed on the same principle. Out of the Pope's + share Don John received, as a present, one hundred and seventy-four + slaves (Documentos Ineditos, iii. 229). Alexander of Parma + received thirty slaves; Requesens thirty. To each general of + infantry was assigned six slaves; to each colonel four; to each + ship's captain one. The number of "slaves in chains" (esclavos de + cadena) allotted to Philip was thirty-six hundred (Documentoa + Ineditos, 257). Seven thousand two hundred Turkish slaves, + therefore, at least, were divided among Christians. This number of + wretches, who were not fortunate enough to die with their twenty- + five thousand comrades, must be set off against the twelve thousand + Christian slaves liberated, in the general settlement of the account + with Humanity.] + +But whatever the cause of the victory, its consequence was to spread the +name and fame of Don John of Austria throughout the world. Alva wrote, +with enthusiasm, to congratulate him; pronouncing the victory the most +brilliant one ever achieved by Christians, and Don John the greatest +general since the death of Julius Caesar. At the same time, with a +sarcastic fling at the erection of the Escorial, he advised Philip to +improve this new success in some more practical way than by building a +house for the Lord and a sepulchre for the dead. "If," said the Duke, +"the conquests of Spain be extended in consequence of this triumph, then, +indeed, will the Cherubim and Seraphim sing glory to God." A courier, +despatched post haste to Spain, bore the glorious news, together with +the, sacred, standard of the Prophet, the holy of holies, inscribed with +the name of Allah twenty-eight thousand nine hundred times, always kept +in Mecca during peace, and never since the conquest of Constantinople +lost in battle before. The King was at vespers in the Escorial. +Entering the sacred precincts, breathless, travel-stained, excited, the +messenger found Philip impassible as marble to the wondrous news. Not a +muscle of the royal visage was moved, not a syllable escaped the royal +lips, save a brief order to the clergy to continue the interrupted +vespers. When the service had been methodically concluded, the King made +known the intelligence and requested a Te Deum. + +The youthful commander-in-chief obtained more than his full mead of +glory. No doubt he had fought with brilliant courage, yet in so close +and murderous a conflict, the valor of no single individual could decide +the day, and the result was due to the combined determination of all. +Had Don John remained at Naples, the issue might have easily been the +same. Barbarigo, who sealed the victory with his blood; Colonna, who +celebrated a solemn triumph on his return to Rome; Parma, Doria, +Giustiniani, Venieri, might each as well have claimed a monopoly of the +glory, had not the Pope, at Philip's entreaty, conferred the baton of +command upon Don John. The meagre result of the contest is as notorious +as the victory. While Constantinople was quivering with apprehension, +the rival generals were already wrangling with animosity. Had the +Christian fleet advanced, every soul would have fled from the capital, +but Providence had ordained otherwise, and Don John sailed westwardly +with his ships. He made a descent on the Barbary coast, captured Tunis, +destroyed Biserta, and brought King Amidas and his two sons prisoners to +Italy. Ordered by Philip to dismantle the fortifications of Tunis, he +replied by repairing them thoroughly, and by placing a strong garrison +within the citadel. Intoxicated with his glory, the young adventurer +already demanded a crown, and the Pope was disposed to proclaim him King +of Tunis, for the Queen of the Lybian seas was to be the capital of his +Empire, the new Carthage which he already dreamed. + +Philip thought it time to interfere, for he felt that his own crown might +be insecure, with such a restless and ambitious spirit indulging in +possible and impossible chimeras. He removed John de Soto, who had been +Don John's chief councillor and emissary to the Pope, and substituted in +his place the celebrated and ill-starred Escovedo. The new secretary, +however, entered as heartily but secretly into all these romantic +schemes. Disappointed of the Empire which he had contemplated on the +edge of the African desert, the champion of the Cross turned to the cold +islands of the northern seas. There sighed, in captivity, the beauteous +Mary of Scotland, victim of the heretic Elizabeth. His susceptibility to +the charms of beauty--a characteristic as celebrated as his courage--was +excited, his chivalry aroused. What holier triumph for the conqueror of +the Saracens than the subjugation of these northern infidels? He would +dethrone the proud Elizabeth; he would liberate and espouse the Queen of +Scots, and together they would reign over, the two united realms. +All that the Pope could do with bulls and blessings, letters of +excommunication, and patents of investiture, he did with his whole heart. +Don John was at liberty to be King of England and Scotland as soon as he +liked; all that was left to do was to conquer the kingdoms. + +Meantime, while these schemes were flitting through his brain, and were +yet kept comparatively secret by the Pope, Escovedo, and himself, the +news reached him in Italy that be had been appointed Governor-General of +the Netherlands. Nothing could be more opportune. In the provinces were +ten thousand veteran Spaniards, ripe for adventure, hardened by years of +warfare, greedy for gold, audacious almost beyond humanity, the very +instruments for his scheme. The times were critical in the Netherlands, +it was true; yet he would soon pacify those paltry troubles, and then +sweep forward to his prize. Yet events were rushing forward with such +feverish rapidity, that he might be too late for his adventure. Many +days were lost in the necessary journey from Italy into Spain to receive +the final instructions of the King. The news from the provinces, grew +more and more threatening. With the impetuosity and romance of his +temperament, he selected his confidential friend Ottavio Gonzaga, six +men-at-arms, and an adroit and well-experienced Swiss courier who knew +every road of France. It was no light adventure for the Catholic +Governor-General of the Netherlands to traverse the kingdom at that +particular juncture. Staining his bright locks and fair face to the +complexion of a Moor, he started on his journey, attired as the servant +of Gonzaga. Arriving at Paris, after a rapid journey, he descended at a +hostelry opposite the residence of the Spanish ambassador, Don Diego de +Cuniga. After nightfall he had a secret interview with that functionary, +and learning, among other matters, that there was to be a great ball that +night at the Louvre, he determined to go thither in disguise. There, +notwithstanding his hurry, he had time to see and to become desperately +enamored of "that wonder of beauty," the fair and frail Margaret of +Valois, Queen of Navarre. Her subsequent visit to her young adorer at +Namur, to be recorded in a future page of this history, was destined to +mark the last turning point in his picturesque career. On his way to the +Netherlands he held a rapid interview with the Duke of Guise, to arrange +his schemes for the liberation and espousal of that noble's kinswoman, +the Scottish Queen; and on the 3rd of November he arrived at Luxemburg. + +There stood the young conqueror of Lepanto, his brain full of schemes, +his heart full of hopes, on the threshhold of the Netherlands, at the +entrance to what he believed the most brilliant chapter of his life-- +schemes, hopes, and visions--doomed speedily to fade before the cold +reality with which he was to be confronted. Throwing off his disguise +after reaching Luxemburg, the youthful paladin stood confessed. His +appearance was as romantic as his origin and his exploits. Every +contemporary chronicler, French, Spanish, Italian, Flemish, Roman, have +dwelt upon his personal beauty and the singular fascination of his +manner. Symmetrical features, blue eyes of great vivacity, and a +profusion of bright curling hair, were combined with a person not much +above middle height; but perfectly well proportioned. Owing to a natural +peculiarity of his head, the hair fell backward from the temples, and he +had acquired the habit of pushing it from his brows. The custom became a +fashion among the host of courtiers, who were but too happy to glass +themselves in so brilliant a mirror. As Charles the Fifth, on his +journey to Italy to assume the iron crown, had caused his hair to be +clipped close, as a remedy for the headaches with which, at that +momentous epoch, he was tormented, bringing thereby close shaven polls +into extreme fashion; so a mass of hair pushed backward from the temples, +in the style to which the name of John of Austria was appropriated, +became the prevailing mode wherever the favorite son of the Emperor +appeared. + +Such was the last crusader whom the annals of chivalry were to know; the +man who had humbled the crescent as it had not been humbled since the +days of the Tancreds, the Baldwins, the Plantagenets--yet, after all, +what was this brilliant adventurer when weighed against the tranquil +Christian champion whom he was to meet face to face? The contrast was +striking between the real and the romantic hero. Don John had pursued +and achieved glory through victories with which the world was ringing; +William was slowly compassing a country's emancipation through a series +of defeats. He moulded a commonwealth and united hearts with as much +contempt for danger as Don John had exhibited in scenes of slave driving +and carnage. Amid fields of blood, and through web's of tortuous +intrigue, the brave and subtle son of the Emperor pursued only his own +objects. Tawdry schemes of personal ambition, conquests for his own +benefit, impossible crowns for his own wearing, were the motives which +impelled, him, and the prizes which he sought. His existence was +feverish, fitful, and passionate. "Tranquil amid the raging billows," +according to his favorite device, the father of his country waved aside +the diadem which for him had neither charms nor meaning. Their +characters were as contrasted as their persons. The curled-darling of +chivalry seemed a youth at thirty-one. Spare of figure, plain in +apparel, benignant, but haggard of countenance, with temples bared by +anxiety as much as by his helmet, earnest, almost devout in manner, in +his own words, "Calvus et Calvinists," William of Orange was an old man +at forty-three. + +Perhaps there was as much good faith on the part of Don John, when +he arrived in Luxemburg, as could be expected of a man coming directly +from the cabinet of Philip. The King had secretly instructed him to +conciliate the provinces, but to concede nothing, for the Governor was +only a new incarnation of the insane paradox that benignity and the +system of Charles the Fifth were one. He was directed to restore the +government, to its state during the imperial epoch. Seventeen provinces, +in two of which the population were all dissenters, in all of which the +principle of mutual toleration had just been accepted by Catholics and +Protestants, were now to be brought back to the condition according to +which all Protestants were beheaded, burned, or buried alive. So that +the Inquisition, the absolute authority of the monarch, and the exclusive +worship of the Roman Church were preserved intact, the King professed +himself desirous of "extinguishing the fires of rebellion, and of saving +the people from the last desperation." With these slight exceptions, +Philip was willing to be very benignant. "More than this," said he, +"cannot and ought not be conceded." To these brief but pregnant +instructions was added a morsel of advice, personal in its nature, +but very characteristic of the writer. Don John was recommended to take +great care of his soul, and also to be very cautious in the management of +his amours. + +Thus counselled and secretly directed, the new Captain-General had been +dismissed to the unhappy Netherlands. The position, however, was +necessarily false. The man who was renowned for martial exploits, and +notoriously devoured by ambition, could hardly inspire deep confidence in +the pacific dispositions of the government. The crusader of Granada and +Lepanto, the champion of the ancient Church, was not likely to please the +rugged Zealanders who had let themselves be hacked to pieces rather than +say one Paternoster, and who had worn crescents in their caps at Leyden, +to prove their deeper hostility to the Pope than to the Turk. The +imperial bastard would derive but alight consideration from his paternal +blood, in a country where illegitimate birth was more unfavorably +regarded than in most other countries, and where a Brabantine edict, +recently issued in name of the King; deprived ail political or civil +functionaries not born in wedlock; of their offices. Yet he had +received instructions, at his departure, to bring about a pacification, +if possible, always maintaining, however, the absolute authority of the +crown and the exclusive exercise of the Catholic religion. How the two +great points of his instructions were to be made entirely palatable, was +left to time and chance. There was a vague notion that with the new +Governor's fame, fascinating manners, and imperial parentage, he might +accomplish a result which neither fraud nor force--not the arts of +Granvelle, nor the atrocity of Alva, nor the licentiousness of a +buccaneering soldiery had been able to effect. As for Don John himself, +he came with no definite plans for the Netherlanders, but with very +daring projects of his own, and to pursue these misty visions was his +main business on arriving in the provinces. In the meantime he was +disposed to settle the Netherland difficulty in some showy, off-hand +fashion, which should cost him but little trouble, and occasion no +detriment to the cause of Papacy or absolutism. Unfortunately for +these rapid arrangements, William of Orange was in Zealand, and the +Pacification had just been signed at Ghent. + +It was, naturally, with very little satisfaction that the Prince beheld +the arrival of Don John. His sagacious combinations would henceforth be +impeded, if not wholly frustrated. This he foresaw. He knew that there +could be no intention of making any arrangement in which Holland and +Zealand could be included. He was confident that any recognition of the +Reformed religion was as much out of the question now as ever. He +doubted not that there were many Catholic magnates, wavering politicians, +aspirants for royal favor, who would soon be ready to desert the cause +which had so recently been made a general cause, and who would soon be +undermining the work of their own hands. The Pacification of Ghent would +never be maintained in letter and spirit by the vicegerent of Philip; for +however its sense might be commented upon or perverted, the treaty, while +it recognized Catholicism as the state religion, conceded, to a certain +extent, liberty of conscience. An immense stride had been taken, by +abolishing the edicts, and prohibiting persecution. If that step were +now retraced, the new religion was doomed, and the liberties of Holland +and Zealand destroyed. "If they make an arrangement with Don John, it +will be for us of the religion to run," wrote the Prince to his brother, +"for their intention is to suffer no person of that faith to have a +fixed domicile in the Netherlands." It was, therefore, with a calm +determination to counteract and crush the policy of the youthful Governor +that William the Silent awaited his antagonist. Were Don John admitted +to confidence, the peace of Holland and Zealand was gone. Therefore +it was necessary to combat him both openly and secretly--by loud +remonstrance and by invisible stratagem. What chance had the impetuous +and impatient young hero in such an encounter with the foremost statesman +of the age? He had arrived, with all the self-confidence of a conqueror; +he did not know that he was to be played upon like a pipe--to be caught +in meshes spread by his own hands--to struggle blindly--to rage +impotently--to die ingloriously. + +The Prince had lost no time in admonishing the states-general as to the +course which should now be pursued. He was of opinion that, upon their +conduct at this crisis depended the future destinies of the Netherlands. +"If we understand how to make proper use of the new Governor's arrival," +said he, "it may prove very advantageous to us; if not, it will be the +commencement of our total ruin." The spirit of all his communications +was to infuse the distrust which he honestly felt, and which he certainly +took no pains to disguise; to impress upon his countrymen the importance +of improving the present emergency by the enlargement, instead of the +threatened contraction of their liberties, and to enforce with all his +energy the necessity of a firm union. He assured the estates that Don +John had been sent, in this simple manner, to the country, because the +King and cabinet had begun to despair of carrying their point by force. +At the same time he warned them that force would doubtless be replaced +by fraud. He expressed his conviction that so soon as Don John should +attain the ascendency which he had been sent to secure, the gentleness +which now smiled upon the surface would give place to the deadlier +purposes which lurked below. He went so far as distinctly to recommend +the seizure of Don John's person. By so doing, much bloodshed might be +saved; for such was the King's respect for the Emperor's son that their +demands would be granted rather than that his liberty should be +permanently endangered. In a very striking and elaborate letter which +he addressed from Middelburg to the estates-general, he insisted on the +expediency of seizing the present opportunity in order to secure and to +expand their liberties, and urged them to assert broadly the principle +that the true historical polity of the Netherlands was a representative, +constitutional government, Don John, on arriving at Luxemburg, had +demanded hostages for his own security, a measure which could not but +strike the calmest spectator as an infraction of all provincial rights. +"He asks you to disarm," continued William of Orange; "he invites you to +furnish hostages, but the time has been when the lord of the land came +unarmed and uncovered, before the estates-general, and swore to support +the constitutions before his own sovereignty could be recognized." + +He reiterated his suspicions as to the honest intentions of the +government, and sought, as forcibly as possible, to infuse an equal +distrust into the minds of those he addressed. "Antwerp," said he, +"once the powerful and blooming, now the most forlorn and desolate city +of Christendom, suffered because she dared to exclude the King's troops. +You may be sure that you are all to have a place at the same banquet. +We may forget the past, but princes never forget, when the means of +vengeance are placed within their hands. Nature teaches them to arrive +at their end by fraud, when violence will not avail them. Like little +children, they whistle to the birds they would catch. Promises and +pretences they will furnish in plenty." + +He urged them on no account to begin any negotiation with the Governor, +except on the basis of the immediate departure of the soldiery. "Make no +agreement with him; unless the Spanish and other foreign troops have been +sent away beforehand; beware, meantime, of disbanding your own, for that +were to put the knife into his hands to cut your own throats withal." +He then proceeded to sketch the out lines of a negotiation, such as he +could recommend. The plan was certainly sufficiently bold, and it could +hardly cause astonishment, if it were not immediately accepted by Don +John; as the basis of an arrangement. "Remember this is not play", said +the Prince, "and that you have to choose between the two, either total +ruin or manly self-defence. Don John must command the immediate +departure of the Spaniards. All our privileges must be revised, and an +oath to maintain them required. New councils of state and finance must +be appointed by the estates. The general assembly ought to have power to +come together twice or thrice yearly, and, indeed, as often as they +choose. The states-general must administer and regulate all affairs. +The citadels must be demolished everywhere. No troops ought to be +enlisted, nor garrisons established, without the consent of the estates." + +In all the documents, whether public memorials or private letters, which +came at this period from the hand of the Prince, he assumed, as a matter +of course, that in any arrangement with the new Governor the Pacification +of Ghent was to be maintained. This, too, was the determination of +almost every man in the country. Don John, soon after his arrival at +Luxemburg, had despatched messengers to the states-general, informing +them of his arrival. It was not before the close of the month of +November that the negotiations seriously began. Provost Fonck, on the +part of the Governor, then informed them of Don John's intention to enter +Namur, attended by fifty mounted troopers. Permission, however, was +resolutely refused, and the burghers of Namur were forbidden to render +oaths of fidelity until the Governor should have complied with the +preliminary demands of the estates. To enunciate these demands +categorically, a deputation of the estates-general came to Luxemburg. +These gentlemen were received with courtesy by Don John, but their own +demeanour was not conciliatory. A dislike to the Spanish government; +a disloyalty to the monarch with whose brother and representative they +were dealing, pierced through all their language. On the other hand, +the ardent temper of Don John was never slow to take offence. One of the +deputies proposed to the Governor, with great coolness, that he should +assume the government in his own name, and renounce the authority of +Philip. Were he willing to do so, the patriotic gentleman pledged +himself that the provinces would at once acknowledge him as sovereign, +and sustain his government. Don John, enraged at the insult to his own +loyalty which the proposition implied, drew his dagger and rushed towards +the offender. The deputy would, probably, have paid for his audacity +with his life had there not been by-standers enough to prevent the +catastrophe. This scene was an unsatisfactory prelude to the opening +negotiations. + +On the 6th of December the deputies presented to the Governor at +Luxemburg a paper, containing their demands, drawn up in eight articles, +and their concessions in ten. The states insisted on the immediate +removal of the troops, with the understanding that they were never to +return, but without prohibition of their departure by sea; they demanded +the immediate release of all prisoners; they insisted on the maintenance +of the Ghent treaty, there being nothing therein which did not tend to +the furtherance of the Catholic religion; they claimed an act of amnesty; +they required the convocation of the states-general, on the basis of that +assembly before which took place the abdication of Charles the Fifth; +they demanded an oath, on the part of Don John, to maintain all the +charters and customs of the country. + +Should these conditions be complied: with, the deputies consented on the +part of the estates, that he should be acknowledged as Governor, and that +the Catholic religion and the authority of his Majesty should be +maintained. They agreed that all foreign leagues should be renounced, +their own foreign soldiery disbanded, and a guard of honor, native +Netherlanders, such as his Majesty was contented with at his "Blythe +Entrance," provided. A truce of fifteen days, for negotiations, was +furthermore proposed. + +Don John made answers to these propositions by adding a brief comment, +as apostille, upon each of the eighteen articles, in succession. He +would send away the troops, but, at the same time, the states must +disband their own. He declined engaging himself not to recal his foreign +soldiery, should necessity require their service. With regard to the +Ghent Pacification, he professed himself ready for a general peace +negotiation, on condition that the supremacy of the Catholic Church +and the authority of his Majesty were properly secured. He would settle +upon some act of amnesty after due consultation with the State Council. +He was willing that the states should be convoked in general assembly, +provided sufficient security were given him that nothing should be there +transacted prejudicial to the Catholic religion and the King's +sovereignty. As for their privileges, he would govern as had been done +in the time of his imperial father. He expressed his satisfaction with +most of the promises offered by the estates, particularly with their +expression in favor of the Church and of his Majesty's authority; the +two all-important points to secure which he had come thither unattended, +at the peril of his life, but he received their offer of a body-guard, +by which his hirelings were to be superseded, with very little gratitude. +He was on the point, he said, of advancing as far as Marche en Famine, +and should take with him as strong a guard as he considered necessary, +and composed of such troops as he had at hand. Nothing decisive came of +this first interview. The parties had taken the measures of their mutual +claims, and after a few days, fencing with apostilles, replies, and +rejoinders, they separated, their acrimony rather inflamed than appeased. + +The departure of the troops and the Ghent treaty were the vital points in +the negotiation. The estates had originally been content that the troops +should go by sea. Their suspicions were, however, excited by the +pertinacity with which Don John held to this mode of removal. Although +they did not suspect the mysterious invasion of England, a project which +was the real reason why the Governor objected to their departure by land, +yet they soon became aware--that he had been secretly tampering with the +troops at every point. The effect of these secret negotiations with the +leading officers of the army was a general expression of their +unwillingness, on account of the lateness of the season, the difficult +and dangerous condition of the roads and mountain-passes, the plague in +Italy, and other pretexts, to undertake so long a journey by land. On +the other hand, the states, seeing the anxiety and the duplicity of Don +John upon this particular point, came to the resolution to thwart him at +all hazards, and insisted on the land journey. Too long a time, too much +money, too many ships would be necessary, they said, to forward so large +a force by sea, and in the meantime it would be necessary to permit them +to live for another indefinite period at the charge of the estates. + +With regard to the Ghent Pacification, the estates, in the course of +December, procured: an express opinion from the eleven professors of +theology, and doctors utriusque juris of Louvain, that the treaty +contained nothing which conflicted with the supremacy of the Catholic +religion. The various bishops, deacons, abbots, and pastors of the +Netherlands made a similar decision. An elaborate paper, drawn, up by +the State-Council, at the request of the states-general, declared that +there was nothing in the Pacification derogatory to the supreme authority +of his Majesty. Thus fortified; with opinions which, it must be +confessed, were rather dogmatically than argumentatively drawn up, +and which it would have been difficult very logically to, defend, +the states looked forward confidently to the eventual acceptance by Don +John of the terms proposed. In the meantime, while there was still an +indefinite pause in the negotiations, a remarkable measure came to aid +the efficacy of the Ghent Pacification. + +Early in January, 1577, the celebrated "Union of Brussels" was formed. +This important agreement was originally signed by eight leading +personages, the Abbot of Saint Gertrude, the Counts Lalain and Bossu, +and the Seigneur de Champagny being among the number. Its tenor was to +engage its signers to compass the immediate expulsion of the Spaniards +and the execution of the Ghent Pacification, to maintain the Catholic +religion and the King's authority, and to defend the fatherland and all +its constitutions. Its motive was to generalize the position assumed by +the Ghent treaty. The new act was to be signed, not by a few special +deputies alone, like a diplomatic convention, but by all the leading +individuals of all the provinces, in order to exhibit to Don John such an +array of united strength that he would find himself forced to submit to +the demands of the estates. The tenor, motive, and effect were all as +had been proposed and foreseen. The agreement to expel the Spaniards, +under the Catholic and loyal manifestations indicated, passed from hand +to hand through all the provinces. It soon received the signature and +support of all the respectability, wealth, and intelligence of the whole +country. Nobles, ecclesiastics, citizens, hastened to give to it their +adhesion. The states-general had sent it, by solemn resolution, to every +province, in order that every man might be forced to range himself either +upon the side of the fatherland or of despotism. Two copies of the +signatures procured in each province were ordered, of which one was to be +deposited in its archives, and the other forwarded to Brussels. In a +short time, every province, with the single exception of Luxemburg, had +loaded the document with signatures. This was a great step in advance. +The Ghent Pacification, which was in the nature of a treaty between the +Prince and the estates of Holland and Zealand on the one side, and a +certain number of provinces on the other, had only been signed by the +envoys of the contracting parties. Though received with deserved and +universal acclamation, it had not the authority of a popular document. +This, however, was the character studiously impressed upon the "Brussels +Union." The people, subdivided according to the various grades of their +social hierarchy, had been solemnly summoned to council, and had +deliberately recorded their conviction. No restraint had been put upon +their freedom of action, and there was hardly a difference of opinion as +to the necessity of the measure. + +A rapid revolution in Friesland, Groningen, and the dependencies, +had recently restored that important country to the national party. +The Portuguese De Billy had been deprived of his authority as King's +stadholder, and Count Hoogstraaten's brother, Baron de Ville, afterwards +as Count Renneberg infamous for his, treason to the cause of liberty, had +been appointed by the estates in his room. In all this district the +"Union of Brussels" was eagerly signed by men of every degree. Holland +and Zealand, no less than the Catholic provinces of the south willingly +accepted the compromise which was thus laid down, and which was thought +to be not only an additional security for the past, not only a pillar +more for the maintenance of the Ghent Pacification, but also a sure +precursor of a closer union in the future. The Union of Brussels became, +in fact, the stepping-stone to the "Union of Utrecht," itself the +foundation-stone of a republic destined to endure more than two +centuries. On the other hand, this early union held the seed, of its own +destruction within itself. It was not surprising, however, that a strong +declaration in favor of the Catholic religion should be contained in a +document intended for circulation through all the provinces. The object +was to unite as large a force, and to make as striking a demonstration +before the eyes of the Governor General as was practicable under the +circumstances. The immediate purpose was answered, temporary union was +formed, but it was impossible that a permanent crystallization should +take place where so strong a dissolvent as the Catholic clause had been +admitted. In the sequel, therefore, the union fell asunder precisely at +this fatal flaw. The next union was that which definitely separated the +provinces into Protestant, and Catholic, into self-governing republics, +and the dependencies of a distant despotism. The immediate effect, +however, of the "Brussels Union" was to rally all lovers of the +fatherland and haters of a foreign tyranny upon one vital point--the +expulsion of the stranger from the land. The foot of the Spanish soldier +should no longer profane their soil. All men were forced to pronounce +themselves boldly and unequivocally, in order that the patriots might +stand shoulder to shoulder, and the traitors be held up to infamy. This +measure was in strict accordance with the advice given more than once by +the Prince of Orange, and was almost in literal fulfilment of the +Compromise, which he had sketched before the arrival of Don John. + +The deliberations were soon resumed with the new Governor, the scene +being shifted from Luxemburg to Huy. Hither came a fresh deputation from +the states-general--many signers of the Brussels Union among them--and +were received by Don John with stately courtesy: They had, however, come, +determined to carry matters with a high and firm hand, being no longer +disposed to brook his imperious demeanour, nor to tolerate his dilatory +policy. It is not surprising, therefore, that the courtesy soon changed +to bitterness, and that attack and recrimination usurped the place of the +dignified but empty formalities which had characterized the interviews at +Luxemburg. + +The envoys, particularly Sweveghem and Champagny, made no concealment of +their sentiments towards the Spanish soldiery and the Spanish nation, and +used a freedom of tone and language which the petulant soldier had not +been accustomed to hear. He complained, at the outset, that the +Netherlanders seemed new-born--that instead of bending the knee, they +seemed disposed to grasp the sceptre. Insolence had taken the place of +pliancy, and the former slave now applied the chain and whip to his +master. With such exacerbation of temper at the commencement of +negotiations, their progress was of necessity stormy and slow. + +The envoys now addressed three concise questions to the Governor. Was he +satisfied that the Ghent Pacification contained nothing conflicting with +the Roman religion and the King's authority? If so, was he willing to +approve that treaty in all its articles? Was he ready to dismiss his +troops at once, and by land, the sea voyage being liable to too many +objections? + +Don John answered these three questions--which, in reality, were but +three forms of a single question--upon the same day, the 24th of January. +His reply was as complex as the demand had been simple. It consisted of +a proposal in six articles, and a requisition in twenty-one, making in +all twenty-seven articles. Substantially he proposed to dismiss the +foreign troops--to effect a general pacification of the Netherlands-- +to govern on the basis of the administration in his imperial father's +reign--to arrange affairs in and with regard to the assembly-general as +the King should judge to be fitting--to forgive and forget past offences +--and to release all prisoners. On the other hand he required the +estates to pay the troops before their departure, and to provide ships +enough to transport them, as the Spaniards did not choose to go by land, +and as the deputies, at Luxemburg had consented to their removal by sea. +Furthermore, he demanded that the states should dismiss their own troops. +He required ecclesiastical authority to prove the Ghent Pacification not +prejudicial to the Catholic religion; legal authority that it was not +detrimental to his Majesty's supremacy; and an oath from the states- +general to uphold both points inviolably, and to provide for their +maintenance in Holland and Zealand. He claimed the right to employ about +his person soldiers and civil functionaries of any nation he might +choose, and he exacted from the states a promise to prevent the Prince of +Orange from removing his son, Count van Buren, forcibly or fraudulently, +from his domicile in Spain. + +The deputies were naturally indignant at this elaborate trifling. They +had, in reality, asked him but one question, and that a simple one--Would +he maintain the treaty of Ghent? Here were twenty-seven articles in +reply, and yet no answer to that question. They sat up all night, +preparing a violent protocol, by which the Governor's claims were to be +utterly demolished. Early in the morning, they waited upon his Highness, +presented the document, and at the same time asked him plainly, by word +of mouth, did he or did he not intend to uphold the treaty. Thus pressed +into a corner in presence of the deputies, the members of the State +Council who were in attendance from Brussels, and the envoys whom the +Emperor had recently sent to assist at these deliberations, the Governor +answered, No. He would not and could not maintain the treaty, because +the Spanish troops were in that instrument denounced as rebels, because +he would not consent to the release of Count Van Buren--and on account of +various other reasons not then specified. Hereupon ensued a fierce +debate, and all day long the altercation lasted, without a result being +reached. At ten o'clock in the evening, the deputies having previously +retired for a brief interval, returned with a protest that they were not +to be held responsible for the, termination of the proceedings, and that +they washed their hands of the bloodshed which might follow the rupture. +Upon reading this document; Don John fell into a blazing passion. He +vehemently denounced the deputies as traitors. He swore that men who +came to him thus prepared with ready-made protests in their pockets, were +rebels from the commencement, and had never intended any agreement with +him. His language and gestures expressed unbounded fury. He was weary +of their ways, he said. They had better look to themselves, for the King +would never leave their rebellion unpunished. He was ready to draw the +sword at once--not his own, but his Majesty's, and they might be sure +that the war which they were thus provoking, should be the fiercest ever, +waged. More abusive language in this strain was uttered, but it was not +heard with lamb-like submission. The day had gone by when the deputies +of the states-general were wont to quail before the wrath of vicarious +royalty. The fiery words of Don John were not oil to troubled water, but +a match to a mine. The passions of the deputies exploded in their turn, +and from hot words they had nearly come to hard blows. One of the +deputies replied with so much boldness and vehemence that the Governor, +seizing a heavy silver bell which stood on the table, was about to hurl +it at the offender's head, when an energetic and providential +interference on the part of the imperial envoys, prevented the unseemly +catastrophe. + +The day thus unprofitably spent, had now come to its close, and the +deputies left the presence of Don John with tempers as inflamed as his +own. They were, therefore, somewhat surprised at being awakened in their +beds, after midnight, by a certain Father Trigoso, who came to them with +a conciliatory message from the Governor. While they were still rubbing +their eyes with sleep and astonishment, the Duke of Aerschot, the Bishop +of Liege, and several councillors of state, entered the room. These +personages brought the news that Don John had at last consented to +maintain the Pacification of Ghent, as would appear by a note written in +his own hand, which was then delivered. The billet was eagerly read, but +unfortunately did not fulfil the anticipations which had been excited. +"I agree," said Don John, "to approve the peace made between the states +and the Prince of Orange, on condition that nothing therein may seem +detrimental to the authority of his Majesty and the supremacy of the +Catholic religion, and also with reservation of the points mentioned in +my last communication." + +Men who had gone to bed in a high state of indignation were not likely to +wake in much better humour, when suddenly aroused in their first nap, to +listen to such a message as this. It seemed only one piece of trifling +the more. The deputies had offered satisfactory opinions of divines and +jurisconsults, as to the two points specified which concerned the Ghent +treaty. It was natural, therefore, that this vague condition concerning +them, the determination of which was for the Governor's breast alone, +should be instantly rejected, and that the envoys should return to their +disturbed slumbers with an increase of ill-humour. + +On the morrow, as the envoys, booted and spurred, were upon the point of +departure for Brussels, another communication was brought to them from +Don John. This time, the language of the Governor seemed more to the +purpose. "I agree," said he, "to maintain the peace concluded between +the states and the Prince of Orange, on condition of receiving from the +ecclesiastical authorities, and from the University of Louvain, +satisfactory assurance that the said treaty contains nothing derogatory +to the Catholic religion--and similar assurance from the State Council, +the Bishop of Liege, and the imperial envoys, that the treaty is in no +wise prejudicial to the authority of his Majesty." Here seemed, at last, +something definite. These conditions could be complied with. They had, +in fact, been already complied with. The assurances required as to the +two points had already been procured, as the deputies and as Don John +well knew. The Pacification of Ghent was, therefore, virtually admitted. +The deputies waited upon the Governor accordingly, and the conversation +was amicable. They vainly endeavoured, however, to obtain his consent to +the departure of the troops by land--the only point then left in dispute. +Don John, still clinging to his secret scheme, with which the sea voyage +of the troops was so closely connected, refused to concede. He +reproached the envoys, on the contrary, with their importunity in making +a fresh demand, just as he had conceded the Ghent treaty, upon his entire +responsibility and without instructions. Mentally resolving that this +point should still be wrung from the Governor, but not suspecting his +secret motives for resisting it so strenuously, the deputies took an +amicable farewell of the Governor, promising a favorable report upon +the proceedings, so soon as they should arrive in Brussels. + +Don John, having conceded so much, was soon obliged to concede the whole. +The Emperor Rudolph had lately succeeded his father, Maximilian. The +deceased potentate, whose sentiments on the great subject of religious +toleration were so much in harmony with those entertained by the Prince +of Orange, had, on the whole, notwithstanding the ties of relationship +and considerations of policy, uniformly befriended the Netherlands, so +far as words and protestations could go, at the court of Philip. Active +co-operation; practical assistance, he had certainly not rendered. He +had unquestionably been too much inclined to accomplish the impossibility +of assisting the states without offending the King--an effort which, in +the homely language of Hans Jenitz; was "like wishing his skin washed +without being wet." He had even interposed many obstacles to the free +action of the Prince, as has been seen in the course of this history, but +nevertheless, the cause of the Netherlands, of religion, and of humanity +had much to lose by his death. His eldest son and successor, Rudolph the +second, was an ardent Catholic, whose relations with a proscribed prince +and a reformed population could hardly remain long in a satisfactory +state. The New Emperor had, however, received the secret envoys of +Orange with bounty, and was really desirous of accomplishing the +pacification of the provinces. His envoys had assisted at all the +recent deliberations between the estates and Don John, and their vivid +remonstrances removed, at this juncture, the last objection on the part +of the Governor-General. With a secret sigh, he deferred the darling and +mysterious hope which had lighted him to the Netherlands, and consented +to the departure of the troops by land. + +All obstacles having been thus removed, the memorable treaty called the +Perpetual Edict was signed at Marche en Famine on the 12th, and at +Brussels on the 17th of February, 1577. This document, issued in the +name of the King, contained nineteen articles. It approved and ratified +the Peace of Ghent, in consideration that the prelates and clergy, with +the doctors 'utriusque juris' of Louvain, had decided that nothing in +that treaty conflicted either with the supremacy of the Catholic Church +or the authority of the King, but, on the contrary, that it advanced the +interests of both. It promised that the soldiery should depart "freely, +frankly, and without delay; by land, never to return except in case of +foreign war"--the Spaniards to set forth within forty days, the Germans +and others so soon as arrangements had been made by the states-general +for their payment. It settled that all prisoners, on both sides, should +be released, excepting the Count Van Buren, who was to be set free so +soon as the states-general having been convoked, the Prince of Orange +should have fulfilled the resolutions to be passed by that assembly. +It promised the maintenance of all the privileges, charters, and +constitutions of the Netherlands. It required of the states all oath to +maintain the Catholic religion. It recorded their agreement to disband +their troops. It settled that Don John should be received as Governor- +General, immediately upon the departure of the Spaniards, Italians, and +Burgundians from the provinces. + +These were the main provisions of this famous treaty, which was confirmed +a few weeks afterwards by Philip, in a letter addressed to the states of +Brabant, and by an edict issued at Madrid. It will be seen that +everything required by the envoys of the states, at the commencement +of their negotiations, had been conceded by Don John. They had claimed +the departure of the troops, either by land or sea. He had resisted the +demand a long time, but had at last consented to despatch them by sea. +Their departure by land had then been insisted upon. This again he had +most reluctantly conceded. The ratification of the Ghent treaty, he had +peremptorily refused. He had come to the provinces, at the instant of +its conclusion, and had, of course, no instructions on the subject. +Nevertheless, slowly receding, he had agreed, under certain reservations, +to accept the treaty. Those reservations relating to the great points of +Catholic and royal supremacy, he insisted upon subjecting to his own +judgment alone. Again he was overruled. Most unwillingly he agreed to +accept, instead of his own conscientious conviction, the dogmas of the +State Council and of the Louvain doctors. Not seeing very clearly how a +treaty which abolished the edicts of Charles the Fifth and the ordinances +of Alva--which removed the religious question in Holland and Zealand from +the King's jurisdiction to that of the states-general--which had caused +persecution to surcease--had established toleration--and which moreover, +had confirmed the arch rebel and heretic of all the Netherlands in the +government of the two rebellious and heretic provinces, as stadholder for +the King--not seeing very clearly how such a treaty was "advantageous +rather than prejudicial to royal absolutism and an exclusive +Catholicism," he naturally hesitated at first. + +The Governor had thus disconcerted the Prince of Orange, not by the +firmness of his resistance, but by the amplitude of his concessions. +The combinations of William the Silent were, for an instant, deranged. +Had the Prince expected such liberality, he would have placed his demands +upon a higher basis, for it is not probable that he contemplated or +desired a pacification. The Duke of Aerschot and the Bishop of Liege in +vain essayed to prevail upon his deputies at Marche en Famine, to sign +the agreement of the 27th January, upon which was founded the Perpetual +Edict. They refused to do so without consulting the Prince and the +estates. Meantime, the other commissioners forced the affair rapidly +forward. The states sent a deputation to the Prince to ask his opinion, +and signed the agreement before it was possible to receive his reply. +This was to treat him with little courtesy, if not absolutely with bad +faith. The Prince was disappointed and indignant. In truth, as appeared +from all his language and letters, he had no confidence in Don John. +He believed him a consummate hypocrite, and as deadly a foe to the +Netherlands as the Duke of Alva, or Philip himself. He had carefully +studied twenty-five intercepted letters from the King, the Governor, +Jerome de Roda, and others, placed recently in his hands by the Duke of +Aerschot, and had found much to confirm previous and induce fresh +suspicion. Only a few days previously to the signature of the treaty, +he had also intercepted other letters from influential personages, Alonzo +de Vargas and others, disclosing extensive designs to obtain possession +of the strong places in the country, and then to reduce the land to +absolute Subjection. He had assured the estates, therefore, that the +deliberate intention of the Government, throughout the whole negotiation, +was to deceive, whatever might be the public language of Don John and his +agents. He implored them, therefore, to, have "pity upon the poor +country," and to save the people from falling into the trap which was +laid for them. From first to last, he had expressed a deep and wise +distrust, and justified it by ample proofs. He was, with reason, +irritated, therefore, at the haste with which the states had concluded +the agreement with Don John--at the celerity with which, as he afterwards +expressed it, "they had rushed upon the boar-spear of that sanguinary +heart." He believed that everything had been signed and Sworn by the +Governor, with the mental reservation that such agreements were valid +only until he should repent having made them. He doubted the good faith +and the stability of the grand seigniors. He had never felt confidence +in the professions of the time-serving Aerschot, nor did he trust even +the brave Champagny, notwithstanding his services at the sack of Antwerp. +He was especially indignant that provision had been made, not for +demolishing but for restoring to his Majesty those hateful citadels, +nests of tyranny, by which the flourishing cities of the land were kept +in perpetual anxiety. Whether in the hands of King, nobles, or +magistrates, they were equally odious to him, and he had long since +determined that they should be razed to the ground. In short, he +believed that the estates had thrust their heads into the lion's mouth, +and he foresaw the most gloomy consequences from the treaty which had +just been concluded. He believed, to use his own language, "that the +only difference between Don John and Alva or Requesens was, that he was +younger and more foolish than his predecessors, less capable of +concealing his venom, more impatient, to dip his hands in blood." + +In the Pacification of Ghent, the Prince had achieved the prize of his +life-long labors. He had banded a mass of provinces by the ties of a +common history, language, and customs, into a league against a foreign +tyranny. He had grappled Holland and Zealand to their sister provinces +by a common love for their ancient liberties, by a common hatred to a +Spanish soldiery. He had exorcised the evil demon of religious bigotry +by which the body politic had been possessed so many years; for the Ghent +treaty, largely interpreted, opened the door to universal toleration. In +the Perpetual Edict the Prince saw his work undone. Holland and Zealand +were again cut adrift from the other fifteen provinces, and war would +soon be let loose upon that devoted little territory. The article +stipulating the maintenance of the Ghent treaty he regarded as idle wind; +the solemn saws of the State Council and the quiddities from Louvain +being likely to prove but slender bulwarks against the returning tide of +tyranny. Either it was tacitly intended to tolerate the Reformed +religion, or to hunt it down. To argue that the Ghent treaty, loyally +interpreted, strengthened ecclesiastical or royal despotism, was to +contend that a maniac was more dangerous in fetters than when armed with +a sword; it was to be blind to the difference between a private +conventicle and a public scaffold. The Perpetual Edict, while affecting +to sustain the treaty, would necessarily destroy it at a blow, while +during the brief interval of repose, tyranny would have renewed its youth +like the eagles. Was it possible, then, for William of Orange to sustain +the Perpetual Edict, the compromise with Don John? Ten thousand ghosts +from the Lake of Harlem, from the famine and plague-stricken streets of +Leyden, from the smoking ruins of Antwerp, rose to warn him against such +a composition with a despotism as subtle as it was remorseless. + +It was, therefore, not the policy of William of Orange, suspecting, +as he did, Don John, abhorring Philip, doubting the Netherland nobles, +confiding only in the mass of the citizens, to give his support to the +Perpetual Edict. He was not the more satisfied because the states had +concluded the arrangement without his sanction, and against his express, +advice. He refused to publish or recognize the treaty in Holland and +Zealand. A few weeks before, he had privately laid before the states of +Holland and Zealand a series of questions, in order to test their temper, +asking them, in particular, whether they were prepared to undertake a new +and sanguinary war for the sake of their religion, even although their +other privileges should be recognised by the new government, and a long +and earnest debate had ensued, of a satisfactory nature, although no +positive resolution was passed upon the subject. + +As soon as the Perpetual Edict had been signed, the states-general had +sent to the Prince, requesting his opinion and demanding his sanction. +Orange, in the name of Holland and Zealand, instantly returned an +elaborate answer, taking grave exceptions to the whole tenor of the +Edict. He complained that the constitution of the land was violated, +because the ancient privilege of the states-general to assemble at their +pleasure, had been invaded, and because the laws of every province were +set at nought by the continued imprisonment of Count Van Buren, who had +committed no crime, and whose detention proved that no man, whatever +might be promised, could expect security for life or liberty. The +ratification of the Ghent treaty, it was insisted, was in no wise +distinct and categorical, but was made dependent on a crowd of deceitful +subterfuges. He inveighed bitterly against the stipulation in the Edict, +that the states should pay the wages of the soldiers, whom they had just +proclaimed to be knaves and rebels, and at whose hands they had suffered +such monstrous injuries. He denounced the cowardice which could permit +this band of hirelings to retire with so much jewelry, merchandize, and +plate, the result of their robberies. He expressed, however, in the name +of the two provinces, a willingness to sign the Edict, provided the +states-general would agree solemnly beforehand, in case the departure of +the Spaniards did not take place within the stipulated tune, to abstain +from all recognition of, or communication with, Don John, and themselves +to accomplish the removal of the troops by force of arms. + +Such was the first and solemn manifesto made by the Prince in reply to +the Perpetual Edict; the states of Holland and Zealand uniting heart and +hand in all that he thought, wrote, and said. His private sentiments +were in strict accordance with the opinions thus publicly recorded. +"Whatever appearance Don John may assume to the contrary," wrote the +Prince to his brother, "'tis by no means his intention to maintain the +Pacification, and less still to cause the Spaniards to depart, with whom +he keeps up the most strict correspondence possible." + +On the other hand, the Governor was most anxious to conciliate the +Prince. He was most earnest to win the friendship of the man without +whom every attempt to recover Holland and Zealand, and to re-establish +royal and ecclesiastical tyranny, he knew to be hopeless. "This is the +pilot," wrote Don John to Philip, "who guides the bark. He alone can +destroy or save it. The greatest obstacles would be removed if he could +be gained." He had proposed, and Philip had approved the proposition, +that the Count Van Buren should be clothed with his father's dignities, +on condition that the Prince should himself retire into Germany. It was +soon evident, however, that such a proposition would meet with little +favor, the office of father of his country and protector of her liberties +not being transferable. + +While at Louvain, whither he had gone after the publication of the +Perpetual Edict, Don John had conferred with the Duke of Aerschot, +and they had decided that it would be well to send Doctor Leoninus on +a private mission to the Prince. Previously to his departure on this +errand, the learned envoy had therefore a full conversation with the +Governor. He was charged to represent to the Prince the dangers to +which Don John had exposed himself in coming from Spain to effect the +pacification of the Netherlands. Leoninus was instructed to give +assurance that the treaty just concluded should be maintained, that the +Spaniards should depart, that all other promises should be inviolably +kept, and that the Governor would take up arms against all who should +oppose the fulfilment of his engagements. He was to represent that Don +John, in proof of his own fidelity, had placed himself in the power of +the states. He was to intimate to the Prince that an opportunity was now +offered him to do the crown a service, in recompence for which he would +obtain, not only pardon for his faults, but the favor of the monarch, and +all the honors which could be desired; that by so doing he would assure +the future prosperity of his family; that Don John would be his good +friend, and, as such; would do more for him than he could imagine. The +envoy was also to impress upon the Prince, that if he persisted in his +opposition every man's hand would be against him, and the ruin of his +house inevitable. He was to protest that Don John came but to forgive +and to forget, to restore the ancient government and the ancient +prosperity, so that, if it was for those objects the Prince had taken up +arms, it was now his duty to lay them down, and to do his utmost to +maintain peace and the Catholic religion. Finally, the envoy was to +intimate that if he chose to write to Don John, he might be sure to +receive a satisfactory answer. In these pacific instructions and +friendly expressions, Don John was sincere. "The name of your Majesty," +said he, plainly, in giving an account of this mission to the King, +"is as much abhorred and despised in the Netherlands as that of the +Prince of Orange is loved and feared. I am negotiating with him, and +giving him every security, for I see that the establishment of peace, +as well as the maintenance of the Catholic religion, and the obedience +to your Majesty, depend now upon him. Things have reached that pass that +'tis necessary to make a virtue of necessity. If he lend an ear to my +proposals, it will be only upon very advantageous conditions, but to +these it will be necessary to submit, rather than to lose everything." + +Don John was in earnest; unfortunately he was not aware that the Prince +was in earnest also. The crusader, who had sunk thirty thousand paynims +at a blow, and who was dreaming of the Queen of Scotland and the throne +of England, had not room in his mind to entertain the image of a patriot. +Royal favors, family prosperity, dignities, offices, orders, advantageous +conditions, these were the baits with which the Governor angled for +William of Orange. He did not comprehend that attachment to a half- +drowned land and to a despised religion, could possibly stand in the way +of those advantageous conditions and that brilliant future. He did not +imagine that the rebel, once assured not only of pardon but of +advancement, could hesitate to refuse the royal hand thus amicably +offered. Don John had not accurately measured his great antagonist. + +The results of the successive missions which he despatched to the Prince +were destined to enlighten him. In the course of the first conversation +between Leoninus and the Prince at Middelburg, the envoy urged that Don +John had entered the Netherlands without troops, that he had placed +himself in the power of the Duke of Aerschot, that he had since come +to Louvain without any security but the promise of the citizens and +of the students; and that all these things proved the sincerity of his +intentions. He entreated the Prince not to let slip so favorable an +opportunity for placing his house above the reach of every unfavorable +chance, spoke to him of Marius, Sylla, Julius Caesar, and other promoters +of civil wars, and on retiring for the day, begged him to think gravely +on what he had thus suggested, and to pray that God might inspire him +with good resolutions. + +Next day, William informed the envoy that, having prayed to God for +assistance, he was more than ever convinced of his obligation to lay the +whole matter before the states, whose servant he was. He added, that he +could not forget the deaths of Egmont and Horn, nor the manner in which +the promise made to the confederate nobles by the Duchess of Parma, had +been visited, nor the conduct of the French monarch towards Admiral +Coligny. He spoke of information which he had received from all +quarters, from Spain, France, and Italy, that there was a determination +to make war upon him and upon the states of Holland and Zealand. He +added that they were taking their measures in consequence, and that they +were well aware that a Papal nuncio had arrived in the Netherlands, to +intrigue against them. In the evening, the Prince complained that the +estates had been so precipitate in concluding their arrangement with Don +John. He mentioned several articles in the treaty which were calculated +to excite distrust; dwelling particularly on the engagement entered into +by the estates to maintain the Catholic religion. This article he +declared to be in direct contravention to the Ghent treaty, by which this +point was left to the decision of a future assembly of the estates- +general. Leoninus essayed, as well as he could, to dispute these +positions. In their last interview, the Prince persisted in his +intention of laying the whole matter before the states of Holland +and Zealand. Not to do so, he said, would be to expose himself to ruin +on one side, and on the other, to the indignation of those who might +suspect him of betraying them. The envoy begged to be informed if any +hope could be entertained of a future arrangement. Orange replied that +he had no expectation of any, but advised Doctor Leoninus to be present +at Dort when the estates should assemble. + +Notwithstanding the unfavorable result, of this mission, Don John did +not even yet despair of bending the stubborn character of the Prince. +He hoped that, if a personal interview between them could be arranged, +he should be able to remove many causes of suspicion from the mind of +his adversary. "In such times as these," wrote the Governor to Philip, +"we can make no election, nor do I see any remedy to preserve the state +from destruction, save to gain over this man, who has so much influence +with the nation." The Prince had, in truth, the whole game in his hands. +There was scarcely a living creature in Holland and Zealand who was not +willing to be bound by his decision in every emergency. Throughout the +rest of the provinces, the mass of the people looked up to him with +absolute confidence, the clergy and the prominent nobles respecting and +fearing him, even while they secretly attempted to thwart his designs. +Possessing dictatorial power in two provinces, vast influences in the +other fifteen, nothing could be easier for him than to betray his +country. The time was singularly propitious. The revengeful King was +almost on his knees to the denounced rebel. Everything was proffered: +pardon, advancement, power. An indefinite vista was opened. "You cannot +imagine," said Don John, "how much it will be within my ability to do for +you." The Governor was extremely anxious to purchase the only enemy whom +Philip feared. The Prince had nothing personally to gain by a +continuance of the contest. The ban, outlawry, degradation, pecuniary. +ruin, assassination, martyrdom--these were the only guerdons he could +anticipate. He had much to lose: but yesterday loaded with dignities, +surrounded by pomp and luxury, with many children to inherit his worldly +gear, could he not recover all; and more than all, to-day? What service +had he to render in exchange? A mere nothing. He had but to abandon the +convictions of a lifetime, and to betray a million or two of hearts which +trusted him. + +As to the promises made by the Governor to rule the country with +gentleness, the Prince could not do otherwise than commend the intention, +even while distrusting the fulfilment. In his reply to the two letters +of Don John, he thanked his Highness, with what seemed a grave irony, +for the benign courtesy and signal honor which he had manifested to him, +by inviting him so humanely and so carefully to a tranquil life, wherein, +according to his Highness, consisted the perfection of felicity in this +mortal existence, and by promising him so liberally favor and grace. +He stated, however, with earnestness, that the promises in regard to +the pacification of the poor Netherland people were much more important. +He had ever expected, he said, beyond all comparison, the welfare and +security of the public before his own; "having always placed his +particular interests under his foot, even as he was still resolved to do, +as long as life should endure." + +Thus did William of Orange receive the private advances made by the +government towards himself. Meantime, Don John of Austria came to +Louvain. Until the preliminary conditions of the Perpetual Edict had +been fulfilled, and the Spanish troops sent out of the country, he was +not to be received as Governor-General, but it seemed unbecoming for him +to remain longer upon the threshold of the provinces. He therefore +advanced into the heart of the country, trusting himself without troops +to the loyalty of the people, and manifesting a show of chivalrous +confidence which he was far from feeling. He was soon surrounded by +courtiers, time-servers, noble office-seekers. They who had kept +themselves invisible, so long as the issue of a perplexed negotiation +seemed doubtful, now became obsequious and inevitable as his shadow. +One grand seignior wanted a regiment, another a government, a third a +chamberlain's key; all wanted titles, ribbons, offices, livery, wages. +Don John distributed favors and promises with vast liberality. The +object with which Philip had sent him to the Netherlands, that he might +conciliate the hearts of its inhabitants by the personal graces which he +had inherited from his imperial father, seemed in a fair way of +accomplishment, for it was not only the venal applause of titled +sycophants that he strove to merit, but he mingled gaily and familiarly +with all classes of citizens. Everywhere his handsome face and charming +manner produced their natural effect. He dined and supped with the +magistrates in the Town-house, honored general banquets of the burghers +with his presence, and was affable and dignified, witty, fascinating, and +commanding, by turns. At Louvain, the five military guilds held a solemn +festival. The usual invitations were sent to the other societies, +and to all the martial brotherhoods, the country round. Gay and gaudy +processions, sumptuous banquets, military sports, rapidly succeeded +each other. Upon the day of the great trial of skill; all the high +functionaries of the land were, according to custom, invited, and the +Governor was graciously pleased to honor the solemnity with his presence. +Great was the joy of the multitude when Don John, complying with the +habit of imperial and princely personages in former days, enrolled +himself, cross-bow in hand, among the competitors. Greater still was the +enthusiasm, when the conqueror of Lepanto brought down the bird, and was +proclaimed king of the year, amid the tumultuous hilarity of the crowd. +According to custom, the captains of the guild suspended a golden +popinjay around the neck of his Highness, and placing themselves in +procession, followed him to the great church. Thence, after the +customary religious exercises, the multitude proceeded to the banquet, +where the health of the new king of the cross-bowmen was pledged in deep +potations. Long and loud was the merriment of this initiatory festival, +to which many feasts succeeded during those brief but halcyon days, for +the good-natured Netherlanders already believed in the blessed advent +of peace. They did not dream that the war, which had been consuming +the marrow of their commonwealth for ten flaming years, was but in its +infancy, and that neither they nor their children were destined to see +its close. + +For the moment, however, all was hilarity at Louvain. The Governor, +by his engaging deportment, awoke many reminiscences of the once popular +Emperor. He expressed unbounded affection for the commonwealth, and +perfect confidence in the loyalty of the inhabitants. He promised to +maintain their liberties, and to restore their prosperity. Moreover, he +had just hit the popinjay with a skill which his imperial father might +have envied, and presided at burgher banquets with a grace which Charles +could have hardly matched. His personal graces, for the moment, took the +rank of virtues. "Such were the beauty and vivacity of his eyes," says +his privy councillor, Tassis, "that with a single glance he made all +hearts his own," yet, nevertheless, the predestined victim secretly felt +himself the object of a marksman who had no time for painted popinjays, +but who rarely missed his aim. "The whole country is at the devotion of +the Prince, and nearly every one of its inhabitants;" such was his secret +language to his royal brother, at the very moment of the exuberant +manifestations which preceded his own entrance to Brussels. + +While the Governor still tarried at Louvain, his secretary, Escovedo, +was busily engaged in arranging the departure of the Spaniards, for, +notwithstanding his original reluctance and the suspicions of Orange, Don +John loyally intended to keep his promise. He even advanced twenty-seven +thousand florins towards the expense of their removal, but to raise the +whole amount required for transportation and arrears, was a difficult +matter. The estates were slow in providing the one hundred and fifty +thousand florins which they had stipulated to furnish. The King's +credit, moreover, was at a very low, ebb. His previous bonds had not +been duly honored, and there had even been instances of royal +repudiation, which by no means lightened the task of the financier, +in effecting the new loans required. Escovedo was very blunt in his +language upon this topic, and both Don John and himself urged punctuality +in all future payments. They entreated that the bills drawn in Philip's +name upon Lombardy bankers, and discounted at a heavy rate of interest, +by the Fuggers of Antwerp, might be duly provided for at maturity. +"I earnestly beg," said Escovedo, "that your Majesty will see to the +payment of these bills, at all events;" adding, with amusing simplicity, +"this will be a means of recovering your Majesty's credit, and as for my +own; I don't care to lose it, small though it be." Don John was even +more solicitous. "For the love of God, Sire," he wrote, "do not be +delinquent now. You must reflect upon the necessity of recovering your +credit. If this receives now the final blow, all will desert your +Majesty, and the soldiers too will be driven to desperation." + +By dint of great diligence on the part of Escovedo, and through the +confidence reposed in his character, the necessary funds were raised in +the course of a few weeks. There was, however, a difficulty among the +officers, as to the right of commanding the army on the homeward march. +Don Alonzo de Vargas, as chief of the cavalry, was appointed to the post +by the Governor, but Valdez, Romero, and other veterans, indignantly +refused to serve under one whom they declared their inferior officer. +There was much altercation and heartburning, and an attempt was made to +compromise the matter by the appointment of Count Mansfeld to the chief +command. This was, however, only adding fuel to the flames. All were +dissatisfied with the superiority accorded to a foreigner, and Alonzo de +Vargas, especially offended, addressed most insolent language to the +Governor. Nevertheless, the arrangement was maintained, and the troops +finally took their departure from the country, in the latter days of +April. A vast concourse of citizens witnessed their departure, and could +hardly believe their eyes, as they saw this incubus at last rolling off, +by which the land had so many years been crushed. Their joy, although +extravagant, was, however, limited by the reflection that ten thousand +Germans still remained in the provinces, attached to the royal service, +and that there was even yet a possibility that the departure of the +Spaniards was a feint. In truth, Escovedo, although seconding the orders +of Don John, to procure the removal of these troops, did not scruple to +express his regret to the King, and his doubts as to the result. He had +been ever in hopes that an excuse might be found in the condition of +affairs in France, to justify the retention of the forces near that +frontier. He assured the King that he felt very doubtful as to what +turn matters might take, after the soldiers were gone, seeing the great +unruliness which even their presence had been insufficient completely to +check. He had hoped that they might be retained in the neighbourhood, +ready to seize the islands at the first opportunity. "For my part," he +wrote, "I care nothing for the occupation of places within the interior, +but the islands must be secured. To do this," he continued, with a +deceitful allusion to the secret projects of Don John, "is, in my +opinion, more difficult than to effect the scheme upon England. If the +one were accomplished, the other would be easily enough managed, and +would require but moderate means. Let not your Majesty suppose that I +say this as favoring the plan of Don John, for this I put entirely behind +me." + +Notwithstanding these suspicions on the part of the people, this +reluctance on the part of then government, the troops readily took up +their line of march, and never paused till they reached Lombardy. Don +John wrote repeatedly to the King, warmly urging the claims of these +veterans, and of their distinguished officers, Romero, Avila, Valdez, +Montesdocca, Verdugo, Mondragon, and others, to his bountiful +consideration. They had departed in very ill humour, not having +received any recompense for their long and arduous services. Certainly, +if unflinching endurance, desperate valor, and congenial cruelty, could +atone in the monarch's eyes for the mutiny, which had at last compelled +their withdrawal, then were these laborers worthy of their hire. Don +John had pacified them by assurances that they should receive adequate +rewards on their arrival in Lombardy, and had urged the full satisfaction +of their claims and his promises in the strongest language. Although Don +Alonzo de Vargas had abused him "with-flying colors," as he expressed +himself, yet he hastened to intercede for him with the King in the most +affectionate terms. "His impatience has not surprised me," said the +Governor, "although I regret that he has been offended, far I love and +esteem him much. He has served many years with great distinction, and I +can certify that his character for purity and religion is something +extraordinary." + +The first scene in the withdrawal of the troops had been the evacuation +of the citadel of Antwerp, and it had been decided that the command of +this most important fortress should be conferred upon the Duke of +Aerschot. His claims as commander-in-chief, under the authority of the +State Council, and as chief of the Catholic nobility, could hardly be +passed over, yet he was a man whom neither party trusted. He was too +visibly governed by interested motives. Arrogant where he felt secure of +his own, or doubtful as to another's position, he could be supple and +cringing when the relations changed. He refused an interview with +William of Orange before consulting with Don John, and solicited one +afterwards when he found that every effort was to be made to conciliate +the Prince. He was insolent to the Governor-General himself in February, +and respectful in March. He usurped the first place in the church, +before Don John had been acknowledged Governor, and was the first to go +forth to welcome him after the matter had been arranged. He made a scene +of virtuous indignation in the State Council, because he was accused of +place-hunting, but was diligent to secure an office of the highest +dignity which the Governor could bestow. Whatever may have been his +merits, it is certain that he inspired confidence neither in the +adherents of the King nor of the Prince; while he by turns professed +the warmest regard both to the one party and the other. Spaniards and +patriots, Protestants and Catholics, suspected the man at the same +moment, and ever attributed to his conduct a meaning which was the +reverse of the apparent. Such is often the judgment passed upon those +who fish in troubled waters only to fill their own nets. + +The Duke, however, was appointed Governor of the citadel. Sancho +d'Avila, the former constable, refused, with Castillian haughtiness, +to surrender the place to his successor, but appointed his lieutenant, +Martin d'Oyo, to perform that ceremony. Escovedo, standing upon the +drawbridge with Aerschot, administered the oath: "I, Philip, Duke of +Aerschot," said the new constable, "solemnly swear to hold this castle +for the King, and for no others." To which Escovedo added, "God help +you, with all his angels, if you keep your oath; if not, may the Devil +carry you away, body and soul." The few bystanders cried Amen; and with +this hasty ceremony, the keys were delivered, the prisoners, Egmont, +Capres, Goignies, and others, liberated, and the Spaniards ordered to +march forth. + + + + +ETEXT EDITOR'S BOOKMARKS: + +A terrible animal, indeed, is an unbridled woman +Agreements were valid only until he should repent +All Protestants were beheaded, burned, or buried alive +Arrive at their end by fraud, when violence will not avail them +Attachment to a half-drowned land and to a despised religion +Barbara Blomberg, washerwoman of Ratisbon +Believed in the blessed advent of peace +Compassing a country's emancipation through a series of defeats +Don John of Austria +Don John was at liberty to be King of England and Scotland +Ferocity which even Christians could not have surpassed +Happy to glass themselves in so brilliant a mirror +His personal graces, for the moment, took the rank of virtues +Necessary to make a virtue of necessity +One-half to Philip and one-half to the Pope and Venice (slaves) +Quite mistaken: in supposing himself the Emperor's child +Sentimentality that seems highly apocryphal +She knew too well how women were treated in that country +Those who fish in troubled waters only to fill their own nets +Worn crescents in their caps at Leyden + + + + +End of this Project Gutenberg Etext of The Dutch Republic, v26 +by John Lothrop Motley + + + + + + +MOTLEY'S HISTORY OF THE NETHERLANDS, Project Gutenberg Edition, Vol. 27 + +THE RISE OF THE DUTCH REPUBLIC + +By John Lothrop Motley + +1855 + + + +1577 [CHAPTER II.] + + Triumphal entrance of Don John into Brussels--Reverse of the picture + --Analysis of the secret correspondence of Don John and Escovedo + with Antonio Perez--Plots against the Governor's liberty--His + desponding language and gloomy anticipations--Recommendation of + severe measures--Position and principles of Orange and his family-- + His private views on the question of peace and war--His toleration + to Catholics and Anabaptists censured by his friends--Death of + Viglius--New mission from the Governor to Orange--Details of the + Gertruydenberg conferences--Nature and results of these + negotiations--Papers exchanged between the envoys and Orange--Peter + Panis executed for heresy--Three parties in the Netherlands-- + Dissimulation of Don John--His dread of capture. + +As already narrated, the soldiery had retired definitely from the country +at the end of April, after which Don John made his triumphal entrance +into Brussels on the 1st of May. It was long since so festive a May-day +had gladdened the hearts of Brabant. So much holiday magnificence had +not been seen in the Netherlands for years. A solemn procession of +burghers, preceded by six thousand troops, and garnished by the free +companies of archers and musketeers, in their picturesque costumes, +escorted the young prince along the streets of the capital. Don John was +on horseback, wrapped in a long green cloak, riding between the Bishop of +Liege and the Papal nuncio. He passed beneath countless triumphal +arches. Banners waved before him, on which the battle of Lepanto, and +other striking scenes in his life, were emblazoned. Minstrels sang +verses, poets recited odes, rhetoric clubs enacted fantastic dramas in +his honor, as he rode along. Young virgins crowned him with laurels. +Fair women innumerable were clustered at every window, roof, and balcony, +their bright robes floating like summer clouds above him. "Softly from +those lovely clouds," says a gallant chronicler, "descended the gentle +rain of flowers." Garlands were strewed before his feet, laurelled +victory sat upon his brow. The same conventional enthusiasm and +decoration which had characterized the holiday marches of a thousand +conventional heroes were successfully produced. The proceedings began +with the church, and ended with the banquet, the day was propitious, the +populace pleased, and after a brilliant festival, Don John of Austria saw +himself Governor-General of the provinces. + +Three days afterwards, the customary oaths, to be kept with the customary +conscientiousness, were rendered at the Town House, and for a brief +moment all seemed smiling and serene. + +There was a reverse to the picture. In truth, no language can describe +the hatred which Don John entertained for the Netherlands and all the +inhabitants. He had come to the country only as a stepping-stone to the +English throne, and he never spoke, in his private letters, of the +provinces or the people but in terms of abhorrence. He was in a "Babylon +of disgust," in a "Hell," surrounded by "drunkards," "wineskins," +"scoundrels," and the like. From the moment of his arrival he had +strained every nerve to retain the Spanish troops, and to send them away +by sea when it should be no longer feasible to keep them. Escovedo +shared in the sentiments and entered fully into the schemes of his chief. +The plot, the secret enterprise, was the great cause of the advent of +Don John in the uncongenial clime of Flanders. It had been, therefore, +highly important, in his estimation, to set, as soon as possible, about +the accomplishment of this important business. He accordingly entered +into correspondence with Antonio Perez, the King's most confidential +Secretary of State at that period. That the Governor was plotting no +treason is sufficiently obvious from the context of his letters: At the +same time, with the expansiveness of his character, when he was dealing +with one whom he deemed has close and trusty friend, he occasionally made +use of expressions which might be made to seem equivocal. This was still +more the case with poor Escovedo. Devoted to his master, and depending +most implicitly upon the honor of Perez, he indulged in language which +might be tortured into a still more suspicious shape when the devilish +arts of Perez and the universal distrust of Philip were tending steadily +to that end. For Perez--on the whole, the boldest, deepest, and most +unscrupulous villain in that pit of duplicity, the Spanish court--was +engaged at that moment with Philip, in a plot to draw from Don John and +Escovedo, by means of this correspondence, the proofs of a treason which +the King and minister both desired to find. The letters from Spain were +written with this view--those from Flanders were interpreted to that end. +Every confidential letter received by Perez was immediately laid by him +before the King, every letter which the artful demon wrote was filled +with hints as to the danger of the King's learning the existence of the +correspondence, and with promises of profound secrecy upon his own part, +and was then immediately placed in Philip's hands, to receive his +comments and criticisms, before being copied and despatched to the +Netherlands. The minister was playing a bold, murderous, and treacherous +game, and played it in a masterly manner. Escovedo was lured to his +destruction, Don John was made to fret his heart away, and Philip--more +deceived than all--was betrayed in what he considered his affections, +and made the mere tool of a man as false as himself and infinitely more +accomplished. + +Almost immediately after the arrival of Don John in the Netherlands; +he had begun to express the greatest impatience for Escovedo, who had +not been able to accompany his master upon his journey, but without whose +assistance the Governor could accomplish none of his undertakings. +"Being a man, not an angel, I cannot do all which I have to do," said he +to Perez, "without a single person in whom I can confide." He protested +that he could do no more than he was then doing. He went to bed at +twelve and rose at seven, without having an hour in the day in which to +take his food regularly; in consequence of all which he had already had +three fevers. He was plunged into a world of distrust. Every man +suspected him, and he had himself no confidence in a single individual +throughout that whole Babylon of disgusts. He observed to Perez that he +was at liberty to show his letters to the King, or to read them in the +Council, as he meant always to speak the truth in whatever he should +write. He was sure that Perez would do all for the best; and there is +something touching in these expressions of an honest purpose towards +Philip, and of generous confidence in Perez, while the two were thus +artfully attempting to inveigle him into damaging revelations. The +Netherlanders certainly had small cause to love or trust their new +Governor, who very sincerely detested and suspected them, but Philip had +little reason to complain of his brother. "Tell me if my letters are +read in Council, and what his Majesty says about them," he wrote; "and, +above all, send money. I am driven to desperation at finding myself sold +to this people, utterly unprovided as I am, and knowing the slow manner +in which all affairs are conducted in Spain." + +He informed the King that there was but one man in the Netherlands, +and that he was called the Prince of Orange. To him everything was +communicated, with him everything was negotiated, opinions expressed +by him were implicitly followed. The Governor vividly described the +misgivings with which he had placed himself in the power of the states by +going to Louvain, and the reluctance with which he had consented to send +away the troops. After this concession, he complained that the insolence +of the states had increased. "They think that they can do and undo +what they like, now that I am at their mercy," he wrote to Philip. +"Nevertheless, I do what you command without regarding that I am sold, +and that I am in great danger of losing, my liberty, a loss which I +dread more than anything in the world, for I wish to remain justified +before God and men." He expressed, however, no hopes as to the result. +Disrespect and rudeness could be pushed no further than it had already +gone, while the Prince of Orange, the actual governor of the country, +considered his own preservation dependent upon maintaining things as +they then were. Don John, therefore, advised the King steadily to make +preparations for "a rude and terrible war," which was not to be avoided, +save by a miracle, and which ought not--to find him in this unprepared +state. He protested that it was impossible to exaggerate the boldness +which the people felt at seeing him thus defenseless. "They say +publicly," he continued, "that your Majesty is not to be feared, not +being capable of carrying on a war, and having consumed and exhausted +every resource. One of the greatest injuries ever inflicted upon us was +by Marquis Havre, who, after his return from Spain, went about publishing +everywhere the poverty of the royal exchequer. This has emboldened them +to rise, for they believe that, whatever the disposition, there is no +strength to chastise them. They see a proof of the correctness of their +reasoning in the absence of new levies, and in the heavy arrearages due +to the old troops." + +He protested that he desired, at least, to be equal to the enemy, without +asking, as others had usually done, for double the amount of the hostile +force. He gave a glance at the foreign complications of the Netherlands, +telling Philip that the estates were intriguing both with France and +England. The English envoy had expressed much uneasiness at the possible +departure of the Spanish troops from the Netherlands by sea, coupling it +with a probable attempt to liberate the Queen of Scots. Don John, who +had come to the provinces for no other purpose, and whose soul had been +full of that romantic scheme, of course stoutly denied and ridiculed the +idea. "Such notions," he had said to the envoy, "were subjects for +laughter. If the troops were removed from the country, it was to +strengthen his Majesty's force in the Levant." Mr. Rogers, much +comforted, had expressed the warm friendship which Elizabeth entertained +both for his Majesty and his Majesty's representative; protestations +which could hardly seem very sincere, after the series of attempts at the +Queen's life, undertaken so recently by his Majesty and his Majesty's +former representative. Nevertheless, Don John had responded with great +cordiality, had begged for Elizabeth's portrait, and had expressed the +intention, if affairs went as he hoped, to go privately to England for +the purpose of kissing her royal hand. Don John further informed the +King, upon the envoy's authority, that Elizabeth had refused assistance +to the estates, saying, if she stirred it would be to render aid to +Philip, especially if France should meddle in the matter. As to France, +the Governor advised Philip to hold out hopes to Alencon of espousing the +Infanta, but by no means ever to fulfil such a promise, as the Duke, +"besides being the shield of heretics, was unscrupulously addicted to +infamous vices." + +A month later, Escovedo described the downfall of Don John's hopes and +his own in dismal language.--"You are aware," he wrote to Perez, "that a +throne--a chair with a canopy--is our intention and our appetite, and all +the rest is good for nothing. Having failed in our scheme, we are +desperate and like madmen. All is now weariness and death." Having +expressed himself in such desponding accents, he continued, a few days +afterwards, in the same lugubrious vein, "I am ready to hang myself," +said he, "and I would have done it already, if it were not for keeping +myself as executioner for those who have done us so much harm. Ah, Senor +Antonio Perez!" he added, "what terrible pertinacity have those devils +shown in making us give up our plot. It seems as though Hell were opened +and had sent forth heaps of demons to oppose our schemes." After these +vigorous ejaculations he proceeded to inform his friend that the English +envoy and the estates, governed by the Prince of Orange, in whose power +were the much-coveted ships, had prevented the departure of the troops +by sea. "These devils complain of the expense," said he; "but we would +willingly swallow the cost if we could only get the ships." He then +described Don John as so cast down by his disappointment as to be fit +for nothing, and most desirous of quitting the Netherlands as soon as +possible. He had no disposition to govern these wineskins. Any one who +ruled in the provinces was obliged to do exactly what they ordered him to +do. Such rule was not to the taste of Don John. Without any comparison, +a woman would answer the purpose better than any man, and Escovedo +accordingly suggested the Empress Dowager, or Madame de Parma, or even +Madame de Lorraine. He further recommended that the Spanish troops, thus +forced to leave the Netherlands by land, should be employed against the +heretics in France. This would be a salve for the disgrace of removing +them. "It would be read in history," continued the Secretary, "that the +troops went to France in order to render assistance in a great religious +necessity; while, at the same time, they will be on hand to chastise +these drunkards, if necessary. To have the troops in France is almost as +well as to keep them here." He begged to be forgiven if he spoke +incoherently. 'T was no wonder that he should do so, for his reason had +been disordered by the blow which had been received. As for Don John, he +was dying to leave the country, and although the force was small for so +great a general, yet it would be well for him to lead these troops to +France in person. "It would sound well in history," said poor Escovedo, +who always thought of posterity, without ever dreaming that his own +private letters would be destined, after three centuries, to comment and +earnest investigation; "it would sound well in history, that Don John +went to restore, the French kingdom and to extirpate heretics, with six +thousand foot and two thousand horse. 'Tis a better employment, too, +than to govern such vile creatures as these." + +If, however, all their plans should fail, the Secretary suggested to +his friend Antonio, that he must see and make courtiers of them. He +suggested that a strong administration might be formed in Spain, with Don +John, the Marquis de Los Velez, and the Duke of Sesa. "With such chiefs, +and with Anthony and John--[Viz., John of Escovedo and Antony Perez.]-- +for acolytes," he was of opinion that much good work might be done, and +that Don John might become "the staff for his Majesty's old age." He +implored Perez, in the most urgent language, to procure Philip's consent +that his brother should leave the provinces. "Otherwise," said he, "we +shall see the destruction of the friend whom we so much love! He will +become seriously ill, and if so, good night to him! His body is too +delicate." Escovedo protested that he would rather die himself. "In the +catastrophe of Don John's death," he continued, "adieu the court, adieu +the world!" He would incontinently bury himself among the mountains of +San Sebastian, "preferring to dwell among wild animals than among +courtiers." Escovedo, accordingly, not urged by the most disinterested +motives certainly, but with as warm a friendship for his master as +princes usually inspire, proceeded to urge upon Perez the necessity of, +aiding the man who was able to help them. The first step was to get him +out of the Netherlands. That was his constant thought, by day and night. +As it would hardly be desirable for him to go alone, it seemed proper +that Escovedo should, upon some pretext, be first sent to Spain. Such a +pretext would be easily found, because, as Don John had accepted the +government, "it would be necessary for him to do all which the rascals +bade him." After these minute statements, the Secretary warned his +correspondent of the necessity of secrecy, adding that he especially +feared "all the court ladies, great and small, but that he in everything +confided entirely in Perez." + +Nearly at the same time, Don John wrote to Perez in a similar tone. +"Ah, Senor Antonio," he exclaimed, "how certain is my disgrace and my +misfortune. Ruined is our enterprise, after so much labor and such +skilful management." He was to have commenced the work with the very +Spanish soldiers who were now to be sent off by land, and he had nothing +for it but to let them go, or to come to an open rupture with the states. +"The last, his conscience, his duty, and the time, alike forbade." +He was therefore obliged to submit to the ruin of his plans, and "could +think of nothing save to turn hermit, a condition in which a man's +labors, being spiritual, might not be entirely in vain." He was so +overwhelmed by the blow, he said, that he was constantly thinking of an +anchorite's life. That which he had been leading had become intolerable. +He was not fitted for the people of the Netherlands, nor they for him. +Rather than stay longer than was necessary in order to appoint his +successor, there was no resolution he might not take, even to leaving +everything and coming upon them when they least expected him, although he +were to receive a bloody punishment in consequence. He, too, suggested +the Empress, who had all the qualities which he lacked himself, or Madame +de Parma, or Madame de Lorraine, as each of them was more fit to govern +the provinces than he pretended to be. "The people," said he, plainly, +"are beginning to abhor me, and I abhor them already." He entreated +Perez to get him out of the country by fair means or foul, "per fas aut +per nefas." His friends ought to procure his liberation, if they +wished to save him from the sin of disobedience, and even of infamy. +He expressed the most unbounded confidence in the honor of his +correspondent, adding that if nothing else could procure his release, +the letter might be shown to the King. In general, the Governor was +always willing that Perez should make what changes he thought advisable +in the letters for his Majesty, altering or softening whatever seemed +crude or harsh, provided always the main point--that of procuring his +recal--were steadily kept in view, in this, said the Governor, +vehemently, my life, my honor, and my soul are all at stake; for as to +the two first, I shall forfeit them both certainly, and, in my desperate +condition, I shall run great risk of losing the last. + +On the other hand, Perez was profuse in his professions of friendship +both to Don John and to Escovedo; dilating in all his letters upon the +difficulty of approaching the King upon the subject of his brother's +recal, but giving occasional information that an incidental hint had been +ventured which might not remain without effect. All these letters, were, +however, laid before Philip, for his approval, before being despatched, +and the whole subject thoroughly and perpetually discussed between them, +about which Perez pretended that he hardly dared breathe a syllable to +his Majesty. He had done what he could, he said, while reading, piece by +piece, to the King, during a fit of the gout, the official despatches +from the Netherlands, to insinuate such of the arguments used by the +Governor and Escovedo as might seem admissible, but it was soon obvious +that no impression could be made upon the royal mind. Perez did not urge +the matter, therefore, "because," said he, "if the King should suspect +that we had any other object than his interests, we should all be lost." +Every effort should be made by Don John and all his friends to secure his +Majesty's entire confidence, since by that course more progress would be +made in their secret plans, than by proceedings concerning which the +Governor wrote "with such fury and anxiety of heart." Perez warned his +correspondent, therefore, most solemnly, against the danger of "striking +the blow without hitting the mark," and tried to persuade him that his +best interests required him to protract his residence in the provinces +for a longer period. He informed Don John that his disappointment as to +the English scheme had met with the warmest sympathy of the King, who had +wished his brother success. "I have sold to him, at as high a price as +I could," said Perez, "the magnanimity with which your Highness had +sacrificed, on that occasion, a private object to his service." + +The minister held the same language, when writing, in a still more +intimate and expansive style, to Escovedo. "We must avoid, by a +thousand--leagues, the possibility of the King's thinking us influenced +by private motives," he observed; "for we know the King and the delicacy +of these matters. The only way to gain the good-will of the man is +carefully to accommodate ourselves to his tastes, and to have the +appearance of being occupied solely with his interests." The letter, +like all the rest, being submitted to "the man" in question before being +sent, was underlined by him at this paragraph and furnished with the +following annotation: "but you must enlarge upon the passage which I have +marked--say more, even if you are obliged to copy the letter, in order +that we may see the nature of the reply." + +In another letter to Escovedo, Perez enlarged upon the impropriety, the +impossibility of Don John's leaving the Netherlands at that time. The +King was so resolute upon that point, he said, that 'twas out of the +question to suggest the matter. "We should, by so doing, only lose all +credit with him in other things. You know what a terrible man he is; if +he should once suspect us of having a private end in view, we should +entirely miss our mark." Especially the secretary was made acquainted +with the enormous error which would be committed by Don John in leaving +his post. + +Perez "had ventured into the water" upon the subject, he said, by +praising the Governor warmly to his Majesty. The King had responded +by a hearty eulogium, adding that the greatest comfort in having such a +brother was, that he might be where his Majesty could not be. Therefore, +it was out of the question for Don John to leave the provinces. The +greatest tact was necessary, urged Perez, in dealing with the King. +If he should once "suspect that we have a private purpose, we are lost, +and no Demosthenes or Cicero would be able to influence him afterwards." +Perez begged that his ardent attachment to Don John might be represented +in the strongest colors to that high personage, who was to be assured +that every effort would be made to place him at the head of affairs in +Spain, according to the suggestion of Escovedo. "It would never do, +however," he continued, "to let our man see that we desire it, for then +we should never succeed. The only way to conquer him is to make him +believe that things are going on as he wishes, not as his Highness may +desire, and that we have none of us any will but the King's." Upon this +passage the "terrible man" made a brief annotation:" this paragraph does +admirably," he said, adding, with characteristic tautology, "and what you +say in it is also excellent." + +Therefore," continued the minister, "God forbid, Master Escovedo, that +you should come hither now; for we should all be lost. In the English +matter, I assure you that his Majesty was extremely anxious that the plan +should succeed, either through the Pope, or otherwise. That puts me in +mind," added Perez, "to say, body of God! Senor Escovedo! how the devil +came you to send that courier to Rome about the English plot without +giving me warning?" He then proceeded to state that the papal nuncio in +Spain had been much troubled in mind upon the subject, and had sent for +him. "I went," said Perez, "and after he, had closed the door, and +looked through the keyhole to see that there were no listeners, he +informed me that he had received intelligence from the Pope as to the +demands made by Don John upon his Holiness for bulls, briefs, and money +to assist him in his English scheme, and that eighty thousand ducats had +already been sent to him in consequence." Perez added that the nuncio +was very anxious to know how the affair should best be communicated to +the King, without prejudice to his Highness. He had given him the +requisite advice, he continued, and had himself subsequently told the +King that, no doubt, letters had been written by Don John to his Majesty, +communicating these negotiations at Rome, but that probably the +despatches had been forgotten. Thus, giving himself the appearance +of having smoothed the matter with the King, Perez concluded with a +practical suggestion of much importance--the necessity, namely, of +procuring the assassination of the Prince of Orange as soon as possible. +"Let it never be absent from your mind," said he, "that a good occasion +must be found for finishing Orange, since, besides the service which will +thus be rendered to our master, and to the states, it will be worth +something to ourselves. + +No apology is necessary for laying a somewhat extensive analysis of this +secret correspondence before the reader. If there be any value in the +examples of history, certainly few chronicles can furnish a more +instructive moral. Here are a despotic king and his confidential +minister laying their heads together in one cabinet; the viceroy of the +most important provinces of the realm, with his secretary, deeply +conferring in another, not as to the manner of advancing the great +interests, moral or material, of the people over whom God has permitted +them to rule, but as to the best means of arranging conspiracies against +the throne and life of a neighboring sovereign, with the connivance and +subsidies of the Pope. In this scheme, and in this only, the high +conspirators are agreed. In every other respect, mutual suspicion and +profound deceit characterize the scene. The Governor is filled with +inexpressible loathing for the whole nation of "drunkards and wineskins" +who are at the very moment strewing flowers in his path, and deafening +his ears with shouts of welcome; the king, while expressing unbounded +confidence in the viceroy, is doing his utmost, through the agency of the +subtlest intriguer in the world, to inveigle him into confessions of +treasonable schemes, and the minister is filling reams of paper with +protestations of affection for the governor and secretary, with sneers at +the character of the King, and with instructions as to the best method of +deceiving him, and then laying the despatches before his Majesty for +correction and enlargement. To complete the picture, the monarch and his +minister are seen urging the necessity of murdering the foremost man of +the age upon the very dupe who, within a twelvemonth, was himself to be +assassinated by the self-same pair; while the arch-plotter who controls +the strings of all these complicated projects is equally false to King, +Governor, and Secretary, and is engaging all the others in these blind +and tortuous paths, for the accomplishment of his own secret and most +ignoble aims. + +In reply to the letters of Perez, Don John constantly expressed the +satisfaction and comfort which he derived from them in the midst of his +annoyances. "He was very disconsolate," he said, "to be in that hell, +and to be obliged to remain in it," now that the English plot had fallen +to the ground, but he would nevertheless take patience, and wait for a +more favorable conjuncture. + +Escovedo expressed the opinion, however, notwithstanding all the +suggestions of Perez, that the presence of Don John in the provinces had +become entirely superfluous. "An old woman with her distaff," suggested +the Secretary, "would be more appropriate; for there would be nothing to +do, if the states had their way, save to sign everything which they +should command. "If there should be war, his Highness would, of course, +not abandon his post; even if permitted to do so; but otherwise, nothing +could be gained by a prolonged residence. As to the scheme of +assassinating the Prince of Orange, Escovedo prayed Perez to believe him +incapable of negligence on the subject. "You know that the finishing of +Orange is very near my heart," wrote the poor dupe to the man by whom he +was himself so soon to be finished. "You may believe that I have never +forgotten it, and never will forget it, until it be done. Much, and very +much artifice is, however, necessary to accomplish this object. A proper +person to undertake a task fraught with such well-known danger, is hard +to find. Nevertheless, I will not withdraw my attention from the subject +till such a person be procured, and the deed be done." + +A month later, Escovedo wrote that he was about to visit Spain. He +complained that he required rest in his old age, but that Perez could +judge how much rest he could get in such a condition of affairs. He was, +unfortunately, not aware, when he wrote, how soon his correspondent was +to give him a long repose. He said, too, that the pleasure of visiting +his home was counterbalanced by the necessity of travelling back to the +Netherlands; but he did not know that Perez was to spare him that +trouble, and to send him forth upon a much longer journey. + +The Governor-General, had, in truth, not inspired the popular party or +its leader with confidence, nor did he place the least reliance upon +them. While at Louvain, he had complained that a conspiracy had been +formed against his life and liberty. Two French gentlemen, Bonnivet and +Bellangreville, had been arrested on suspicion of a conspiracy to secure +his person, and to carry him off a prisoner to Rochelle. Nothing came of +the examination which followed; the prisoners were released, and an +apology was sent by the states-general to the Duke of Alencon, as well +for the indignity which had been offered to two of his servants, as for +the suspicion which had been cast upon himself, Don John, however, was +not satisfied. He persisted in asserting the existence of the +conspiracy, and made no secret of his belief that the Prince of Orange +was acquainted with the arrangement. As may be supposed, nothing was +discovered in the course of the investigation to implicate that astute +politician. The Prince had indeed secretly recommended that the Governor +should be taken into custody on his first arrival, not for the purpose of +assassination or personal injury, but in order to extort better terms +from Philip, through the affection or respect which he might be supposed +to entertain for his brother. It will be remembered that unsuccessful +attempts had also been made to capture the Duke of Alva and the Commander +Requesens. Such achievements comported with the spirit of the age, and +although it is doubtful whether any well-concerted plot existed against +the liberty of the Governor, it is certain that he entertained no doubt +on the subject himself. In addition to these real or suspected designs, +there was an ever-present consciousness in the mind of Don John that the +enthusiasm which greeted his presence was hollow, that no real attachment +was felt for his person, that his fate was leading him into a false +position, that the hearts of the people were fixed upon another, and that +they were never to be won by himself. Instinctively he seemed to feel a +multitude of invisible threads twining into a snare around him, and the +courageous heart and the bounding strength became uneasily conscious of +the act in which they were to be held captive till life should be wasted +quite away. + +The universal affection for the rebel Prince, and the hopeless +abandonment of the people to that deadliest of sins, the liberty of +conscience, were alike unquestionable. "They mean to remain free, sire," +wrote Escovedo to Philip, "and to live as they please. To that end they +would be willing that the Turk should come to be master of the country. +By the road which they are travelling, however, it will be the Prince of +Orange--which comes to quite the same thing." At the same time, however, +it was hoped that something might be made of this liberty of conscience. +All were not equally sunk in the horrible superstition, and those who +were yet faithful to Church and King might be set against their besotted +brethren. Liberty of conscience might thus be turned to account. While +two great parties were "by the ears, and pulling out each other's hair, +all might perhaps be reduced together." His Majesty was warned, +nevertheless, to expect the worst, and to believe that the country could +only be cared with fire and blood. The position of the Governor was +painful and perplexing. "Don John," said Escovedo, "is thirty years old. +I promise your Majesty nothing, save that if he finds himself without +requisite assistance, he will take himself off when your Majesty is least +thinking of such a thing." + +Nothing could be more melancholy than the tone of the Governor's letters. +He believed himself disliked, even in the midst of affectionate +demonstrations. He felt compelled to use moderate counsels, although he +considered moderation of no avail. He was chained to his post, even +though the post could, in his opinion, be more advantageously filled by +another. He would still endeavour to gain the affections of the people, +although he believed them hopelessly alienated. If patience would cure +the malady of the country, he professed himself capable of applying the +remedy, although the medicine had so far done but little good, and +although he had no very strong hopes as to its future effects. "Thus +far, however," said he, "I am but as one crying in the wilderness." +He took occasion to impress upon his Majesty, in very strong language, +the necessity of money. Secret agents, spies, and spies upon spies, were +more necessary than ever, and were very expensive portions of government +machinery. Never was money more wanted. Nothing could be more important +than, to attend faithfully to the financial suggestions of Escovedo, and +Don John, therefore, urged his Majesty, again and again, not to dishonor +their drafts. "Money is the gruel," said he, "with which we must cure +this sick man;" and he therefore prayed all those who wished well to his +efforts, to see that his Majesty did not fail him in this important +matter. Notwithstanding, however, the vigor of his efforts, and the +earnestness of his intentions, he gave but little hope to his Majesty of +any valuable fruit from the pacification just concluded. He saw the +Prince of Orange strengthening himself, "with great fury," in Holland +and Zealand; he knew that the Prince was backed by the Queen of England, +who, notwithstanding her promises to Philip and himself, had offered her +support to the rebels in case the proposed terms of peace were rejected +in Holland, and he felt that "nearly the whole people was at the devotion +of the Prince." + +Don John felt more and more convinced, too, that a conspiracy was on foot +against his liberty. There were so many of the one party, and so few of +the other, that if he were once fairly "trussed," he affirmed that not a +man among the faithful would dare to budge an inch. He therefore +informed his Majesty that he was secretly meditating a retreat to some +place of security; judging very properly that, if he were still his own +master, he should be able to exert more influence over those who were +still well disposed, than if he should suffer himself to be taken +captive. A suppressed conviction that he could effect nothing, except +with his sword, pierced through all his more prudent reflections. He +maintained that, after all, there was no remedy for the body but to cut +off the diseased parts at once, and he therefore begged his Majesty for +the means of performing the operation handsomely. The general +expressions which he had previously used in favor of broths and mild +treatment hardly tallied with the severe amputation thus recommended. +There was, in truth, a constant struggle going on between the fierceness +of his inclinations and the shackles which had been imposed upon him. +He already felt entirely out of place, and although he scorned to fly +from his post so long as it seemed the post of danger, he was most +anxious that the King should grant him his dismissal, so soon as his +presence should no longer be imperiously required. He was sure that the +people would never believe in his Majesty's forgiveness until the man +concerning whom they entertained so much suspicion should be removed; for +they saw in him only the "thunderbolt of his Majesty's wrath." Orange +and England confirmed their suspicions, and sustained their malice. +Should he be compelled, against his will, to remain, he gave warning that +he might do something which would be matter of astonishment to everybody. + +Meantime, the man in whose hands really lay the question of war and +peace, sat at Middelburg, watching the deep current of events as it +slowly flowed towards the precipice. The whole population of Holland and +Zealand hung on his words. In approaching the realms of William the +Silent, Don John felt that he had entered a charmed, circle, where the +talisman of his own illustrious name lost its power, where his valor was +paralyzed, and his sword rusted irrevocably in its sheath. "The people +here," he wrote, "are bewitched by the Prince of Orange. They love him, +they fear him, and wish to have him for their master. They inform him of +everything, and take no resolution without consulting him." + +While William was thus directing and animating the whole nation with his +spirit, his immediate friends became more and more anxious concerning the +perils to which he was exposed. His mother, who had already seen her +youngest-born, Henry, her Adolphus, her chivalrous Louis, laid in their +bloody graves for the cause of conscience, was most solicitous for the +welfare of her "heart's-beloved lord and son," the Prince of Orange. +Nevertheless, the high-spirited old dame was even more alarmed at the +possibility of a peace in which that religious liberty for which so much +dear blood had been, poured forth should be inadequately secured. +"My heart longs for certain tidings from my lord," she wrote to William, +"for methinks the peace now in prospect will prove but an oppression for +soul and conscience. I trust my heart's dearly-beloved lord and son will +be supported by Divine grace to do nothing against God and his own soul's +salvation. 'Tis better to lose the temporal than the eternal." Thus +wrote the mother of William, and we can feel the sympathetic thrill which +such tender and lofty words awoke in his breast. His son, the ill- +starred Philip, now for ten years long a compulsory sojourner in Spain, +was not yet weaned from his affection for his noble parent, but sent +messages of affection to him whenever occasion offered, while a less +commendable proof of his filial affection he had lately afforded, at the +expense of the luckless captain of his Spanish guard. That officer +having dared in his presence to speak disrespectfully of his father, was +suddenly seized about the waist by the enraged young Count, hurled out of +the window, and killed stone-dead upon the spot. After this exhibition +of his natural feelings, the Spanish government thought it necessary to +take more subtle means to tame so turbulent a spirit. Unfortunately they +proved successful. + +Count John of Nassau, too, was sorely pressed for money. Six hundred +thousand florins; at least, had been advanced by himself and brothers +to aid the cause of Netherland freedom. Louis and himself had, +unhesitatingly and immediately, turned into that sacred fund the hundred +thousand crowns which the King of France had presented them for their +personal use, for it was not the Prince of Orange alone who had +consecrated his wealth and his life to the cause, but the members of his +family, less immediately interested in the country, had thus furnished +what may well be called an enormous subsidy, and one most disproportioned +to their means. Not only had they given all the cash which they could +command by mortgaging their lands and rents, their plate and furniture, +but, in the words of Count John himself, "they had taken the chains and +jewels from the necks of their wives, their children, and their mother, +and had hawked them about, as if they had themselves been traders and +hucksters." And yet, even now, while stooping under this prodigious +debt, Count John asked not for present repayment. He only wrote to +the Prince to signify his extreme embarrassment, and to request some +obligation or recognition from the cities of Holland and Zealand, whence +hitherto no expression of gratitude or acknowledgment had proceeded. + +The Prince consoled and assured, as best he could, his mother, son, wife, +and brother, even at the same moment that he comforted his people. He +also received at this time a second and more solemn embassy from Don +John. No sooner had the Governor exchanged oaths at Brussels, and been +acknowledged as the representative of his Majesty, than he hastened to +make another effort to conciliate the Prince. Don John saw before him +only a grand seignior of lofty birth and boundless influence, who had +placed himself towards the Crown in a false position, from which he might +even yet be rescued; for to sacrifice the whims of a reforming and +transitory religious fanaticism, which had spun itself for a moment about +so clear a brain, would, he thought, prove but a trifling task for so +experienced a politician as the Prince. William of Orange, on the +other hand, looked upon his young antagonist as the most brilliant +impersonation which had yet been seen of the foul spirit of persecution. + +It will be necessary to follow, somewhat more in detail than is usually +desirable, the interchange of conversations, letters, and protocols, out +of which the brief but important administration of Don John was composed; +for it was exactly in such manifestations that the great fight was really +proceeding. Don John meant peace, wise William meant war, for he knew +that no other issue was possible. Peace, in reality, was war in its +worst shape. Peace would unchain every priestly tongue, and unsheath +every knightly sword in the fifteen provinces against little Holland and +Zealand. He had been able to bind all the provinces together by the +hastily forged chain of the Ghent treaty, and had done what he could to +strengthen that union by the principle of mutual religious respect. +By the arrival of Don John that work had been deranged. It had, however, +been impossible for the Prince thoroughly to infuse his own ideas on the +subject of toleration into the hearts of his nearest associates. +He could not hope to inspire his deadly enemies with a deeper sympathy. +Was he not himself the mark of obloquy among the Reformers, because of +his leniency to Catholics? Nay more, was not his intimate councillor, +the accomplished Saint Aldegonde, in despair because the Prince refused +to exclude the Anabaptists of Holland from the rights of citizenship? +At the very moment when William was straining every nerve to unite +warring sects, and to persuade men's hearts into a system by which their +consciences were to be laid open to God alone--at the moment when it was +most necessary for the very existence of the fatherland that Catholic and +Protestant should mingle their social and political relations, it was +indeed a bitter disappointment for him to see wise statesmen of his own +creed unable to rise to the idea of toleration. "The affair of the +Anabaptists," wrote Saint Aldegonde, "has been renewed. The Prince +objects to exclude them from citizenship. He answered me sharply, that +their yea was equal to our oath, and that we should not press this +matter, unless we were willing to confess that it was just for the +Papists to compel us to a divine service which was against our +conscience." It seems hardly credible that this sentence, containing +so sublime a tribute to the character of the Prince, should have been +indited as a bitter censure, and that, too, by an enlightened and +accomplished Protestant. "In short," continued Saint Aldegonde, with +increasing vexation, "I don't see how we can accomplish our wish in this +matter. The Prince has uttered reproaches to me that our clergy are +striving to obtain a mastery over consciences. He praised lately the +saying of a monk who was not long ago here, that our pot had not gone to +the fire as often as that of our antagonists, but that when the time came +it would be black enough. In short, the Prince fears that after a few +centuries the clerical tyranny on both sides will stand in this respect +on the same footing." + +Early in the month of May, Doctor Leoninus and Caspar Schetz, Seigneur de +Grobbendonck, had been sent on a mission from the states-general to the +Prince of Orange. While their negotiations were still pending, four +special envoys from Don John arrived at Middelburg. To this commission +was informally adjoined Leoninus, who had succeeded to the general +position of Viglius. Viglius was dead. Since the memorable arrest of +the State Council, he had not appeared on the scene of public affairs. +The house-arrest, to which he had been compelled by a revolutionary +committee, had been indefinitely prolonged by a higher power, and after a +protracted illness he had noiselessly disappeared from the stage of life. +There had been few more learned doctors of both laws than he. There had +been few more adroit politicians, considered from his point of view. His +punning device was "Vita mortalium vigilia," and he acted accordingly, +but with a narrow interpretation. His life had indeed been a vigil, +but it must be confessed that the vigils had been for Viglius. + + [Bor, x. 812. Meteren, vi. 120.--Another motto of his was, "En + groot Jurist een booser Christ;" that is to say, A good lawyer is a + bad Christian.--Unfortunately his own character did not give the lie + satisfactorily to the device.] + +The weatherbeaten Palinurus, as he loved to call himself, had conducted +his own argosy so warily that he had saved his whole cargo; and perished +in port at last, while others, not sailing by his compass, were still +tossed by the tempest. + +The agents of Don John were the Duke of Aerschot, the Seigneur de +Hierges, Seigneur de Willerval, and Doctor Meetkercke, accompanied by +Doctor Andrew Gaill, one of the imperial commissioners. The two envoys +from the states-general, Leoninus and Schetz, being present at +Gertruydenberg were added to the deputation. An important conference +took place, the details of which have been somewhat minutely preserved. +The Prince of Orange, accompanied by Saint Aldegonde and four other +councillors, encountered the seven champions from Brussels in a long +debate, which was more like a passage of arms or a trial of skill than a +friendly colloquy with a pacific result in prospect; for it must be +remembered that the Prince of Orange did not mean peace. He had devised +the Pacification of Ghent as a union of the other provinces with Holland +and Zealand, against Philip. He did not intend that it should be +converted into a union of the other provinces with Philip, against +Holland and Zealand. + +Meetkercke was the first to speak. He said that the Governor had +despatched them to the Prince, to express his good intentions, to +represent the fidelity with which his promises had thus far been +executed, and to entreat the Prince, together with the provinces of +Holland and Zealand, to unite with their sister provinces in common +allegiance to his Majesty. His Highness also proposed to advise with +them concerning the proper method of convoking the states-general. As +soon as Meetkercke had finished his observations, the Prince demanded +that the points and articles should be communicated to him in writing. +Now this was precisely what the envoys preferred to omit. It was easier, +and far more agreeable to expatiate in a general field of controversy,-- +than to remain tethered to distinct points. It was particularly in these +confused conferences, where neither party was entirely sincere, that the +volatile word was thought preferable to the permanent letter. Already so +many watery lines had been traced, in the course of these fluctuating +negotiations, that a few additional records would be if necessary, as +rapidly effaced as the rest. + +The commissioners, after whispering in each other's, ears for a few +minutes, refused to put down anything in writing. Protocols, they said, +only engendered confusion. + +"No, no," said the .Prince, in reply, "we will have nothing except in +black and white. Otherwise things will be said on both sides, which will +afterwards be interpreted in different ways. Nay, it will be denied that +some important points have been discussed at all. We know that by +experience. Witness the solemn treaty of Ghent, which ye have tried to +make fruitless, under pretence that some points, arranged by word of +mouth, and not stated particularly in writing, had been intended in a +different sense from the obvious one. Governments given by royal +commission, for example; what point could be clearer? Nevertheless, ye +have hunted up glosses and cavils to obscure the intention of the +contracting parties. Ye have denied my authority over Utrecht, because +not mentioned expressly in the treaty of Ghent." + +"But," said one of the envoys, interrupting at this point, "neither the +Council of State nor the Court of Mechlin consider Utrecht as belonging +to your Excellency's government." + +"Neither the Council of State," replied the Prince, "nor the Court of +Mechlin have anything to do with the matter. 'Tis in my commission, and +all the world knows it." He added that instead of affairs being thrown +into confusion by being reduced to writing, he was of opinion, on the +contrary, that it was by that means alone they could be made perfectly +clear. + +Leoninus replied, good naturedly, that there should be no difficulty +upon that score, and that writings should be exchanged. In the meantime, +however, he expressed the hope that the Prince would honor them with some +preliminary information as to the points in which he felt aggrieved, as +well as to the pledges which he and the states were inclined to demand. + +"And what reason have we to hope," cried the Prince, "that your pledges, +if made; will be redeemed? That which was promised so solemnly at Ghent, +and ratified by Don John and his Majesty, has not been fulfilled." + +"Of what particular point do you complain?" asked Schetz. "Wherein has +the Pacification been violated?" + +Hereupon the Prince launched forth upon a flowing stream of invective. +He spoke to them of his son detained in distant captivity--of his own +property at Breda withheld--of a thousand confiscated estates--of +garrisons of German mercenaries--of ancient constitutions annihilated-- +of the infamous edicts nominally suspended, but actually in full vigor. +He complained bitterly that the citadels, those nests and dens of +tyranny, were not yet demolished. "Ye accuse me of distrust," he cried; +"but while the castles of Antwerp, Ghent, Namur, and so many more are +standing, 'tis yourselves who show how utterly ye are without confidence +in any permanent and peaceful arrangement." + +"And what," asked a deputy, smoothly, "is the point which touches you +most nearly? What is it that your Excellency most desires? By what +means will it be possible for the government fully to give you +contentment?" + +"I wish," he answered, simply, "the full execution of the Ghent +Pacification. If you regard the general welfare of the land, it is well, +and I thank you. If not, 'tis idle to make propositions, for I regard my +country's profit, not my own." + +Afterwards, the Prince simply repeated his demand that the Ghent treaty +should be executed; adding, that after the states-general should have +been assembled, it would be time to propose the necessary articles for +mutual security. + +Hereupon Doctor Leoninus observed that the assembly of the states-general +could hardly be without danger. He alluded to the vast number of persons +who would thus be convoked, to the great discrepancy of humors which +would thus be manifested. Many men would be present neither discreet nor +experienced. He therefore somewhat coolly suggested that it might be +better to obviate the necessity of holding any general assembly at all. +An amicable conference, for the sake of settling doubtful questions, +would render the convocation superfluous, and save the country from the +dangers by which the step would be attended. The Doctor concluded by +referring to the recent assemblies of France, the only result of which +had been fresh dissensions. It thus appeared that the proposition on +the part of Don John meant something very different from its apparent +signification. To advise with the Prince as to the proper method of +assembling the estates really meant, to advise with him as to the best +means of preventing any such assembly. Here, certainly, was a good +reason for the preference expressed by the deputies, in favor of amicable +discussions over formal protocols. It might not be so easy in a written +document to make the assembly, and the prevention of the assembly, appear +exactly the same thing. + +The Prince replied that there was a wide difference between the condition +of France and of the Netherlands. Here, was one will and one intention. +There, were many factions, many partialities, many family intrigues. +Since it had been agreed by the Ghent treaty that certain points should +be provisionally maintained and others settled by a speedy convocation of +the states-general, the plainest course was to maintain the provisional +points, and to summon the states-general at once. This certainly was +concise and logical. It is doubtful, however, whether he were really as +anxious for the assembly-general as he appeared to be. Both parties were +fencing at each other, without any real intention of carrying their +points, for neither wished the convocation, while both affected an +eagerness for that event. The conversation proceeded. + +"At least," said an envoy, "you can tell beforehand in what you are +aggrieved, and what you have to propose." + +"We are aggrieved in nothing, and we have nothing to propose," answered +the Prince, "so long as you maintain the Pacification. We demand no +other pledge, and are willing to refer everything afterwards to the +assembly." + +"But," asked Schetz, "what security do you offer us that you will +yourselves maintain the Pacification?" + +"We are not bound to give assurances," answered the Prince. "The +Pacification is itself an assurance. 'Tis a provisional arrangement, +to be maintained by both parties, until after the decision of the +assembly. The Pacification must therefore be maintained or disavowed. +Choose between the two. Only, if you mean still to acknowledge it, you +must keep its articles. This we mean to do, and if up to the present +time you have any complaint to make of our conduct, as we trust you have +not, we are ready to give you satisfaction." + +"In short," said an envoy, "you mean, after we shall have placed in your +hands the government of Utrecht, Amsterdam: and other places, to deny us +any pledges on your part to maintain the Pacification." + +"But," replied the Prince, "if we are already accomplishing the +Pacification, what more do you wish?" + +"In this fashion," cried the others, "after having got all that you ask, +and having thus fortified yourselves more than you were ever fortified +before, you will make war upon us." + +"War?" cried the Prince, "what are you afraid of? We are but a handful +of people; a worm compared to the King of Spain. Moreover, ye are +fifteen provinces to two. What have you to fear?" + +"Ah," said Meetkercke, "we have seen what you could do, when you were +masters of the sea. Don't make yourselves out quite so little." + +"But," said the Prince, "the Pacification of Ghent provides for all this. +Your deputies were perfectly satisfied with the guarantees it furnished. +As to making war upon you, 'tis a thing without foundation or appearance +of probability. Had you believed then that you had anything to fear, you +world not have forgotten to demand pledges enough. On the contrary, you +saw how roundly we were dealing with you then, honestly disgarnishing the +country, even before the peace had been concluded. For ourselves, +although we felt the right to demand guarantees, we would not do it, for +we were treating with you on terms of confidence. We declared expressly +that had we been dealing with the King, we should have exacted stricter +pledges. As to demanding them of us at the moment, 'tis nonsense. We +have neither the means of assailing you, nor do we deem it expedient to +do so." + +"To say the truth," replied Schetz, "we are really confident that you +will not make war upon us. On the other hand, however, we see you +spreading your religion daily, instead of keeping it confined within your +provinces. What assurance do you give us that, after all your demand +shall have been accorded, you will make no innovation in religion." + +"The assurance which we give you," answered the Prince, "is that we will +really accomplish the Pacification." + +"But," persisted Schetz," do you fairly, promise to submit to all which +the states-general shall ordain, as well on this point of religious +exercise in Holland and Zealand, as on all the others?" + +This was a home thrust. The Prince parried it for a while. In his +secret thoughts he had no expectation or desire that the states-general, +summoned in a solemn manner by the Governor-General, on the basis of the +memorable assembly before which was enacted the grand ceremony of the +imperial abdication, would ever hold their session, and although he did +not anticipate the prohibition by such assembly, should it take place, of +the Reformed worship in Holland and Zealand, he did not intend to submit +to it, even should it be made. + +"I cannot tell," said he, accordingly, in reply to the last question, +"for ye have yourselves already broken and violated the Pacification; +having made an accord with Don John without our consent, and having +already received him as Governor." + +"So that you don't mean," replied Schetz, "to accept the decision of the +states?" + +"I don't say that," returned the Prince, continuing to parry; "it is +possible that we might accept it; it is possible that we might not. We +are no longer in our entire rights, as we were at the time of our first +submission at Ghent." + +"But we will make you whole," said Schetz. + +"That you cannot do," replied the Prince, "for you have broken the +Pacification all to pieces. We have nothing, therefore, to expect from +the states, but to be condemned off-hand. + +"You don't mean, then," repeated Schetz, "to submit to the estates +touching the exercise of religion?" + +"No, we do not!" replied the Prince, driven into a corner at last, +and striking out in his turn. "We certainly do not. To tell you the +truth, we see that you intend our extirpation, and we don't mean to be +extirpated." + +"Ho!" said the Duke of Aerschot, "there is nobody who wishes that." + +"Indeed, but you do," said the Prince. "We have submitted ourselves to +you in good faith, and you now would compel us and all the world to +maintain exclusively the Catholic religion. This cannot be done except +by extirpating us." + +A long, learned, vehement discussion upon abstract points, between Saint +Aldegonde, Leoninus, and Doctor Gaill, then ensued, during which the +Prince, who had satisfied himself as to the result of the conference, +retired from the apartment. He afterwards had a private convention with +Schetz and Leoninus, in which he reproached them with their inclination +to reduce their fatherland to slavery. He also took occasion to remark +to Hiergea, that it was a duty to content the people; that whatever might +be accomplished for them was durable, whereas the will of kings was +perishing. He told the Duke of Aerschot that if Utrecht were not +restored, he would take it by force. He warned the Duke that to trust +the King was to risk his head. He, at least, would never repose +confidence in him, having been deceived too often. The King cherished +the maxim, 'hereticis non est servanda fides;' as for himself he was +'calbo y calbanista,' and meant to die so. + +The formal interchange of documents soon afterwards took place. The +conversation thus held between the different parties shows, however, the +exact position of, affairs. There was no change in the intentions of +either; Reformers or Royalists. Philip and his representatives still +contended for two points, and claimed the praise of moderation that their +demands were so few in number. They were willing to concede everything, +save the unlimited authority of the King and the exclusive maintenance of +the Catholic religion. The Prince of Orange, on his side, claimed two +points also--the ancient constitutions of the country and religious +freedom. It was obvious enough that the contest was, the same in +reality, as it had ever been. No approximation had been made towards +reconciling absolutism with national liberty, persecution with +toleration. The Pacification of Ghent had been a step in advance. That +Treaty opened the door to civil and religious liberty, but it was an +agreement among the provinces, not a compact between the people and the +monarch. By the casuists of Brussels and the licentiates of Louvain, it +had, to be sure, been dogmatically pronounced orthodox, and had been +confirmed by royal edict. To believe, however, that his Catholic Majesty +had faith in the dogmas propounded, was as absurd as to believe in the +dogmas themselves. If the Ghent Pacification really had made no breach +in royal and Roman infallibility, then the efforts of Orange and the +exultation of the Reformers had indeed been idle. + +The envoys accordingly, in obedience to their instructions, made a formal +statement to the Prince of Orange and the states of Holland and Zealand, +on the part of Don John. They alluded to the departure of the Spaniards, +as if that alone had fulfilled every duty and authorized every claim. +They therefore demanded the immediate publication in Holland and Zealand +of the Perpetual Edict. They insisted on the immediate discontinuance of +all hostile attempts to reduce Amsterdam to the jurisdiction of Orange; +required the Prince to abandon his pretensions to Utrecht, and denounced +the efforts making by him and his partisans to diffuse their heretical +doctrines through the other provinces. They observed, in conclusion, +that the general question of religion was not to be handled, because +reserved for the consideration of the states-general, according to the +treaty of Ghent. + +The reply, delivered on the following day by the Prince of Orange and the +deputies, maintained that the Perpetual Edict was widely different from +the Pacification of Ghent, which it affected to uphold; that the promises +to abstain from all violation of the ancient constitutions had not been +kept; that the German troops had not been dismissed, that the property of +the Prince in the Netherlands and Burgundy had not been restored, that +his son was detained in captivity, that the government of Utrecht was +withheld from him, that the charters and constitution of the country, +instead of being extended, had been contracted, and that the Governor had +claimed the right to convoke the states-general at his pleasure, in +violation of the ancient right to assemble at their own. The document +further complained that the adherents of the Reformed religion were not +allowed to frequent the different provinces in freedom, according to the +stipulations of Ghent; that Don John, notwithstanding all these short- +comings, had been acknowledged as Governor-General, without the consent +of the Prince; that he was surrounded with a train of Spaniards Italians, +and other foreigners--Gonzaga, Escovedo, and the like--as well as by +renegade Netherlanders like Tassis, by whom he was unduly influenced +against the country and the people, and by whom a "back door was held +constantly open" to the admission of evils innumerable. Finally, +it was asserted that, by means of this last act of union, a new form +of inquisition had been introduced, and one which was much more cruel +than the old system; inasmuch as the Spanish Inquisition did not take +information against men: except upon suspicion, whereas, by the new +process, all the world would be examined as to their conscience and +religion, under pretence of maintaining the union. + +Such was the result of this second mission to the Prince of Orange on the +part of the Governor-General. Don John never sent another. The swords +were now fairly measured between the antagonists, and the scabbard was +soon to be thrown away. A few weeks afterwards, the Governor wrote to +Philip that there was nothing in the world which William of Orange so +much abhorred as his Majesty; adding, with Castillian exaggeration, that +if the Prince could drink the King's blood he would do so with great +pleasure. + +Don John, being thus seated in the saddle, had a moment's leisure to look +around him. It was but a moment, for he had small confidence in the +aspect of affairs, but one of his first acts after assuming the +government afforded a proof of the interpretation which he had adopted of +the Ghent Pacification. An edict was issued, addressed to all bishops, +"heretic-masters," and provincial councils, commanding the strict +enforcement of the Canons of Trent, and other ecclesiastical decrees. +These authorities were summoned instantly to take increased heed, of the +flocks under their charge, "and to protect them from the ravening wolves +which were seeking to devour them." + +The measure bore instant fruit. A wretched tailor of Mechlin, Peter +Penis by name, an honest man, but a heretic, was arrested upon the charge +of having preached or exhorted at a meeting in that city. He confessed +that he had been present at the meeting, but denied that he had preached. +He was then required to denounce the others who had been present, and the +men who had actually officiated. He refused, and was condemned to death. +The Prince of Orange, while the process was pending, wrote an earnest +letter to the Council of Mechlin, imploring them not now to rekindle the +fires of religious persecution. His appeal was in vain. The poor tailor +was beheaded at Mechlin on the 15th of June, the Conqueror of Lepanto +being present at the execution, and adding dignity to the scene. Thus, +at the moment when William of Orange was protecting the Anabaptists of +Middelburg in their rights of citizenship, even while they refused its +obligations, the son of the Emperor was dipping his hands in the blood of +a poor wretch who had done no harm but to listen to a prayer without +denouncing the preacher. The most intimate friends of the Prince were +offended with his liberality. The imperial shade of Don John's father +might have risen to approve the son who had so dutifully revived his +bloody edicts and his ruthless policy. + +Three parties were now fairly in existence: the nobles, who hated the +Spaniards, but who were disposed to hold themselves aloof from the +people; the adherents of Don John, commonly called "Johanists;" and the +partisans of the Prince of Orange--for William the Silent had always felt +the necessity of leaning for support on something more substantial than +the court party, a reed shaken by the wind, and failing always when most +relied upon. His efforts were constant to elevate the middle class, to +build up a strong third party which should unite much of the substantial +wealth and intelligence of the land, drawing constantly from the people, +and deriving strength from national enthusiasm--a party which should +include nearly all the political capacity of the country; and his efforts +were successful. No doubt the Governor and his Secretary were right when +they said the people of the Netherlands were inclined to brook the Turk +as easily as the Spaniard for their master, and that their hearts were in +reality devoted to the Prince of Orange. + +As to the grandees, they were mostly of those who "sought to swim between +two waters," according to the Prince's expression. There were but few +unswerving supporters of the Spanish rule, like the Berlaymont and the +Tassis families. The rest veered daily with the veering wind. Aerschot, +the great chief of the Catholic party, was but a cringing courtier, false +and fawning both to Don John and the Prince. He sought to play a leading +part in a great epoch; he only distinguished himself by courting and +betraying all parties, and being thrown away by all. His son and brother +were hardly more respectable. The Prince knew how little dependence +could be placed on such allies, even although they had signed and sworn +the Ghent Pacification. He was also aware how little it was the +intention of the Governor to be bound by that famous Treaty. The Spanish +troops had been, indeed, disbanded, but there were still, between ten and +fifteen thousand German mercenaries in the service of the King; these +were stationed in different important places, and held firm possession of +the citadels. The great keys of the country were still in the hands of +the Spaniards. Aerschot, indeed, governed the castle of Antwerp, in room +of Sancho d'Avila, but how much more friendly would Aerschot be than +Avila, when interest prompted him to sustain Don John against the Prince? + +Meanwhile; the estates, according to their contract, were straining every +nerve to raise the requisite sum for the payment of the German troops. +Equitable offers were made, by which the soldiers were to receive a +certain proportion of the arrears due to them in merchandize, and the +remainder in cash. The arrangement was rejected, at the secret instance +of Don John. While the Governor affected an ingenuous desire to aid the +estates in their efforts to free themselves from the remaining portion of +this incumbrance, he was secretly tampering with the leading German +officers, in order to prevent their acceptance of any offered terms. He +persuaded these military chiefs that a conspiracy existed, by which they +were not only to be deprived of their wages but of their lives. He +warned them to heed no promises, to accept no terms. Convincing them +that he, and he only, was their friend, he arranged secret plans by which +they should assist him in taking the fortresses of the country into still +more secure possession, for he was not more inclined to trust to the +Aerschots and the Havres than was the Prince himself. + +The Governor lived in considerable danger, and in still greater dread of +capture, if not of assassination. His imagination, excited by endless +tales of ambush and half-discovered conspiracies, saw armed soldiers +behind every bush; a pitfall in every street. Had not the redoubtable +Alva been nearly made a captive? Did not Louis of Nassau nearly entrap +the Grand Commander? No doubt the Prince of Orange was desirous of +accomplishing a feat by which he would be placed in regard to Philip on +the vantage ground which the King had obtained by his seizure of Count +Van Buren, nor did Don John need for warnings coming from sources far +from obscure. In May, the Viscount De Gand had forced his way to his +bedside in the dead of night; and wakening him from his sleep, had +assured him, with great solemnity, that his life was not worth a pin's +purchase if he remained in Brussels. He was aware, he said, of a +conspiracy by which both his liberty and his life were endangered, +and assured him that in immediate flight lay his only safety. + +The Governor fled to Mechlin, where the same warnings were soon +afterwards renewed, for the solemn sacrifice of Peter Panis, the poor +preaching tailor of that city, had not been enough to strike terror to +the hearts of all the Netherlanders. One day, toward the end of June, +the Duke of Aerschot, riding out with Don John, gave him a circumstantial +account of plots, old and new, whose existence he had discovered or +invented, and he showed a copy of a secret letter, written by the Prince +of Orange to the estates, recommending the forcible seizure of his +Highness. It is true that the Duke was, at that period and for long +after, upon terms of the most "fraternal friendship" with the Prince, +and was in the habit of signing himself "his very affectionate brother +and cordial friend to serve him," yet this did not prevent him from +accomplishing what he deemed his duty, in secretly denouncing his plans, +It is also true that he, at the same time, gave the Prince private +information concerning the government, and sent him intercepted letters +from his enemies, thus easing his conscience on both sides, and trimming +his sails to every wind which might blow. The Duke now, however, +reminded his Highness of the contumely with which he had been treated at +Brussels, of the insolent threats with which the citizens had pursued his +servants and secretaries even to the very door of his palace. He assured +him that the same feeling existed at Mechlin, and that neither himself +nor family were much safer there than in the capital, a plot being fully +organized for securing his person. The conspirators, he said, were +openly supported by a large political party who called themselves anti- +Johanists, and who clothed themselves in symbolic costume, as had been +done by the disaffected in the days of Cardinal Granvelle. He assured +the Governor that nearly all the members of the states-general were +implicated in these schemes. "And what becomes, then, of their +promises?" asked Don John. "That for their promises!" cried the Duke, +snapping his fingers; "no man in the land feels bound by engagements +now." The Governor demanded the object of the states in thus seeking to +deprive him of his liberty. The Duke informed him that it was to hold +him in captivity until they had compelled him to sign every paper which +they chose to lay before him. Such things had been done in the +Netherlands in former days, the Duke observed, as he proceeded to narrate +how a predecessor of his Highness and a prince of the land, after having +been compelled to sign innumerable documents, had been, in conclusion, +tossed out of the windows of his own palace, with all his retinue, +to perish upon the pikes of an insurgent mob below. The Governor +protested that it did not become the son of Charles the Fifth and the +representative of his Catholic Majesty to hear such intimations a second +time. After his return, he brooded over what had been said to him for a +few days, and he then broke up his establishment at Mechlin, selling off +his superfluous furniture and even the wine in his cellars. Thus showing +that his absence, both from Brussels and Mechlin, was to be a prolonged +one, he took advantage of an unforeseen occurrence again to remove his +residence. + + + + +ETEXT EDITOR'S BOOKMARKS: + +A good lawyer is a bad Christian +Claimed the praise of moderation that their demands were so few +Confused conferences, where neither party was entirely sincere +Customary oaths, to be kept with the customary conscientiousness +Deadliest of sins, the liberty of conscience +I regard my country's profit, not my own +Made no breach in royal and Roman infallibility +Neither wished the convocation, while both affected an eagerness +Our pot had not gone to the fire as often +Peace, in reality, was war in its worst shape +Those who "sought to swim between two waters" +Volatile word was thought preferable to the permanent letter + + + +End of this Project Gutenberg Etext of The Dutch Republic, v27 +by John Lothrop Motley + + + + + + +MOTLEY'S HISTORY OF THE NETHERLANDS, Project Gutenberg Edition, Vol. 28 + +THE RISE OF THE DUTCH REPUBLIC + +By John Lothrop Motley + +1855 + + + +CHAPTER III. + + The city of Namur--Margaret of Valois--Her intrigues in Hainault in + favour of Alencon--Her reception by Don John at Namur--Festivities + in her, honor--Seizure of Namur citadel by Don John--Plan for + seizing that of Antwerp--Letter of the estates to Philip, sent by + Escovedo--Fortunes and fate of Escovedo in Madrid--Repairing of + dykes--The Prince's visit to Holland--His letter to the estates-- + general on the subject of Namur citadel--His visit to Utrecht-- + Correspondence and commissioners between Don John and the estates-- + Acrimonious and passionate character of these colloquies--Attempt of + Treslong upon Antwerp citadel frustrated by De Bourse--Fortunate + panic of the German mercenaries--Antwerp evacuated by the foreign + troops--Renewed correspondence--Audacity of the Governor's demands-- + Letters of Escovedo and others intercepted--Private schemes of Don + John not understood by the estates--His letter to the Empress + Dowager--More correspondence with the estates--Painful and false + position of the Governor--Demolition, in part, of Antwerp citadel, + and of other fortresses by the patriots Statue of Alva--Letter of + estates-general to the King. + +There were few cities of the Netherlands more picturesque in situation, +more trimly built, and more opulent of aspect than the little city of +Namur. Seated at the confluence of the Sombre with the Meuse, and +throwing over each river a bridge of solid but graceful structure, it lay +in the lap of a most fruitful valley. Abroad crescent-shaped plain, +fringed by the rapid Meuse, and enclosed by gently rolling hills +cultivated to their crests, or by abrupt precipices of limestone crowned +with verdure, was divided by numerous hedgerows, and dotted all over with +corn-fields, vineyards, and flower gardens. Many eyes have gazed with +delight upon that well-known and most lovely valley, and many torrents of +blood have mingled with those glancing waters since that long buried and +most sanguinary age which forms our theme; and still placid as ever is +the valley, brightly as ever flows the stream. Even now, as in that +vanished, but never-forgotten time, nestles the little city in the angle +of the two rivers; still directly over its head seems to hang in mid-air +the massive and frowning fortress, like the gigantic helmet-in the +fiction, as if ready to crush the pigmy town below. + +It was this famous citadel, crowning an abrupt precipice five hundred +feet above the river's bed, and placed near the frontier of France, which +made the city so important, and which had now attracted Don John's +attention in this hour of his perplexity. The unexpected visit of a +celebrated personage, furnished him with the pretext which he desired. +The beautiful Margaret of Valois, Queen of Navarre, was proceeding to the +baths of Spa, to drink the waters. Her health was as perfect as her +beauty, but she was flying from a husband whom she hated, to advance the +interest of a brother whom she loved with a more than sisterly fondness-- +for the worthless Duke of Alencon was one of the many competitors for the +Netherland government; the correspondence between himself and his brother +with Orange and his agents being still continued. The hollow truce with +the Huguenots in France had, however, been again succeeded by war. Henry +of Valois had already commenced operations in Gascony against Henry of +Navarre, whom he hated, almost as cordially as Margaret herself could do, +and the Duke of Alencon was besieging Issoire. Meantime, the beautiful +Queen came to mingle he golden thread of her feminine intrigues with the +dark woof of the Netherland destinies. + +Few spirits have been more subtle, few faces so fatal as hers. True +child of the Medicean mother, worthy sister of Charles, Henry; and +Francis--princes for ever infamous in the annals of France--she possessed +more beauty and wit than Mary of Scotland, more learning and +accomplishments than Elizabeth of England. In the blaze of her beauty, +according to the inflated language of her most determined worshiper, the +wings of all rivals were melted. Heaven required to be raised higher and +earth made wider, before a full sweep could be given to her own majestic +flight. We are further informed that she was a Minerva for eloquence, +that she composed matchless poems which she sang most exquisitely to the +sound of her lute, and that her familiar letters were so full of genius, +that "poor Cicero" was but a fool to her in the same branch of +composition. The world has shuddered for ages at the dark tragedy of +her nuptials. Was it strange that hatred, incest, murder, should follow +in the train of a wedding thus hideously solemnized? + +Don John, as in his Moorish disguise he had looked upon her perfections, +had felt in danger of becoming really the slave he personated--"her +beauty is more divine than human," he had cried, "but fitter to destroy +men's souls than to bless them;" and now the enchantress was on her way +to his dominions. Her road led through Namur to Liege, and gallantry +required that he should meet her as she passed. Attended by a select +band of gentlemen and a few horsemen of his body-guard, the Governor came +to Namur. + +Meantime the Queen crossed the frontier, and was courteously received at +Cambray. The bishop-of the loyal house of Berlaymont--was a stanch +supporter of the King, and although a Fleming, was Spanish to the core. +On him the cajolery of the beautiful Queen was first essayed, but was +found powerless. The prelate gave her a magnificent ball, but resisted +her blandishments. He retired with the appearance of the confections, +but the governor of the citadel, the Seigneur d'Inchy remained, with whom +Margaret was more successful. She found him a cordial hater of Spain, a +favorer of France, and very impatient under the authority of the bishop. +He obtained permission to accompany the royal visitor a few stages of her +journey, and returned to Cambray, her willing slave; holding the castle +in future, neither for king nor bishop, but for Margaret's brother, +Alencon, alone. At Mons she was received with great state by the Count +Lalain, who was governor of Hainault, while his Countess governed him. +A week of festivities graced the advent of the Queen, during which period +the hearts of both Lalain and his wife were completely subjugated. They +agreed that Flanders had been too long separated from the parental France +to which it of right belonged. The Count was a stanch Catholic, but he +hated Spain. He was a relative of Egmont, and anxious to avenge his +death, but he was no lover of the people, and was jealous of Orange. +Moreover, his wife had become entirely fascinated by the designing. +Queen. So warm a friendship had sprung up between the two fair ladies as +to make it indispensable that Flanders and Hainault should be annexed to +France. The Count promised to hold his whole government at the service +of Alencon, and recommended that an attempt should be made to gain over +the incorruptible Governor of Cambray. Margaret did not inform him that +she had already turned that functionary round her finger, but she urged +Lalain and his wife to seduce him from his allegiance, if possible. + +The Count, with a retinue of mounted men, then accompanied her on her way +towards Namur, but turned as the distant tramp of Don John's cavalcade +was heard approaching, for it was not desirable for Lalain, at that +moment, to find himself face to face with the Governor. Don John stood a +moment awaiting the arrival of the Queen. He did not dream of her +political intrigues, nor see in the fair form approaching him one mortal +enemy the more. Margaret travelled in a splendid litter with gilt +pillars, lined with scarlet velvet, and entirely enclosed in glass, which +was followed by those of the Princess de la Roche sur Yon, and of Madame +de Tournon. After these came ten ladies of honor on horseback, and six +chariots filled with female domestics. These, with the guards and other +attendants, made up the retinue. On meeting the Queen's litter, Don John +sprang from his horse and presented his greetings. The Queen returned +his salutation, in the French fashion, by offering her cheek to his +embrace, extending the same favor to the Duke of Aerschot and the Marquis +of Havre. The cavaliers then remounted and escorted the Queen to Namur, +Don John riding by the side of the litter and conversing with her all the +way. It was late in the evening when the procession arrived in the city. +The streets had, however, been brilliantly illuminated; houses and shops, +though it was near midnight, being in a blaze of light. Don John +believing that no attentions could be so acceptable at that hour as to +provide for the repose of his guest, conducted the Queen at once to the +lodgings prepared for her. Margaret was astonished at the magnificence +of the apartments into which she was ushered. A spacious and stately +hall, most gorgeously furnished, opened into a series of chambers and +cabinets, worthy, in their appointments, of a royal palace. The tent and +bed coverings prepared for the Queen were exquisitely embroidered in +needlework with scenes representing the battle of Lepanto. The great +hall was hung with gorgeous tapestry of satin and velvet, ornamented with +columns of raised silver work, and with many figures in antique costume, +of the same massive embroidery. The rest of the furniture was also of +satin, velvet, cloth of gold, and brocade. The Queen was dazzled with +so much magnificence, and one of the courtiers could not help expressing +astonishment at the splendor of the apartments and decorations, which, +as he observed to the Duke of Aerschot; seemed more appropriate to the +palace of a powerful monarch than to the apartments of a young bachelor +prince. The Duke replied by explaining that the expensive embroidery +which they saw was the result, not of extravagance, but of valor and +generosity. After the battle of Lepanto, Don John had restored the two +sons, who had been taken prisoners, of a powerful Turkish bashaw. The +father; in gratitude had sent this magnificent tapestry as a present to +the conqueror, and Don John had received it, at Milan; in which city, +celebrated for the taste of its upholsterers; it had been arranged for +furniture. + +The next morning a grand mass with military music was performed, followed +by a sumptuous banquet in the grand hall. Don John and the Queen sat at +a table three feet apart from the rest, and Ottavio Gonzaga served them +wine upon his knees. After the banquet came, as usual; the ball, the +festivities continuing till late in the night, and Don John scarcely +quitting his fair guest for a moment. The next afternoon, a festival had +been arranged upon an island in the river. The company embarked upon the +Meuse, in a fleet of gaily-scarfed; and painted vessels, many of which +were filled with musicians. Margaret reclined in her gilded barge, under +a richly embroidered canopy. A fairer and falser Queen than "Egypt," had +bewitched the famous youth who had triumphed not, lost the world, beneath +the heights of Actium. The revellers landed on the island, where the +banquet was already spread within a spacious bower of ivy, and beneath +umbrageous elms. The dance upon the sward was protracted to a late hour, +and the summer stars had been long in the sky when the company returned +to their barges. + +Don John, more than ever enthralled by the bride of St. Bartholomew, knew +not that her sole purpose in visiting his dominion had been to corrupt +his servants and to undermine his authority. His own purpose, however, +had been less to pay court to the Queen than to make, use of her presence +to cover his own designs. That purpose he proceeded instantly to +execute. The Queen next morning pursued her voyage by the river to +Liege, and scarcely had she floated out of his sight than he sprang upon +his horse and, accompanied by a few trusty attendants, galloped out of +the gate and across the bridge which led to the citadel. He had already +despatched the loyal Berlaymont, with his four equally loyal sons, the +Seigneurs de Meghen, Floyon, Hierges, and Haultepenne to that fortress. +These gentlemen had informed the castellan that the Governor was about +to ride forth hunting, and that it would be proper to offer him the +hospitalities of the castle as he passed on his way. A considerable +number of armed men had been concealed in the woods and thickets of the +neighbourhood. The Seigneur de Froymont, suspecting nothing, acceded to +the propriety of the suggestion made by the Berlaymonts. Meantime, with +a blast of his horn, Don John appeared at the castle gate. He entered +the fortress with the castellan, while one of the gentlemen watched +outside, as the ambushed soldiers came toiling up the precipice. When +all was ready the gentleman returned to the hall, and made a signal to +Don John, as he sat at breakfast with the constable. The Governor sprang +from the table and drew his sword; Berlaymont and his four sons drew +their pistols, while at the same instant, the soldiers entered. Don +John, exclaiming that this was the first day of his government, commanded +the castellan to surrender. De Froymont, taken by surprise, and hardly +understanding this very melo-dramatic attack upon a citadel by its own +lawful governor, made not much difficulty in complying. He was then +turned out of doors, along with his garrison, mostly feeble old men and +invalids. The newly arrived soldiers took their places, at command of +the Governor, and the stronghold of Namur was his own. + +There was little doubt that the representative of Philip had a perfect +right to possess himself of any fortress within his government; there +could be as little that the sudden stratagem by which he had thus made +himself master of this citadel would prove offensive to the estates, +while it could hardly be agreeable to the King; and yet it is not certain +that he could have accomplished his purpose in any other way. Moreover, +the achievement was one of a projected series by which he meant to +re-vindicate his dwindling authority. He was weary of playing the +hypocrite, and convinced that he and his monarch were both abhorred by +the Netherlanders. Peace was impossible--war was forbidden him. Reduced +almost to a nullity by the Prince of Orange, it was time for him to make +a stand, and in this impregnable fastness his position at least was a +good one. Many months before, the Prince of Orange had expressed his +anxious desire that this most important town and citadel should be +secured-for the estates. "You know," he had written to Bossu in +December, "the evil and the dismay which the loss of the city and +fortress of Namur would occasion to us. Let me beseech you that all +possible care be taken to preserve them." Nevertheless, their +preservation had been entrusted to a feeble-minded old constable, +at the head of a handful of cripples. + +We know how intense had been the solicitude of the Prince, not only to +secure but to destroy these citadels, "nests of tyranny," which had been +built by despots to crush, not protect, the towns at their feet. These +precautions had been neglected, and the consequences were displaying +themselves, for the castle of Namur was not the only one of which Don +John felt himself secure. Although the Duke of Aerschot seemed so very +much his humble servant, the Governor did not trust him, and wished to +see the citadel of Antwerp in more unquestionable keeping. He had +therefore withdrawn, not only the Duke, but his son, the Prince of +Chimay, commander of the castle in his father's absence, from that +important post, and insisted upon their accompanying him to Namur. +So gallant a courtier as Aerschot could hardly refuse to pay his homage +to so illustrious a princess as Margaret of Valois, while during the +absence of the Duke and Prince the keys of Antwerp-citadel had been, at +the command of Don John, placed in the keeping of the Seigneur de +Treslong, an unscrupulous and devoted royalist. The celebrated Colonel +Van Ende, whose participation, at the head of his German cavalry, in the +terrible sack of that city, which he had been ordered to defend, has been +narrated, was commanded to return to Antwerp. He was to present himself +openly to the city authorities, but he was secretly directed by the +Governor-General to act in co-operation with the Colonels Fugger, +Frondsberger, and Polwiller, who commanded the forces already stationed +in the city. These distinguished officers had been all summer in secret +correspondence with Don John, for they were the instruments with which he +meant by a bold stroke to recover his almost lost authority. While he +had seemed to be seconding the efforts of the states-general to pay off +and disband these mercenaries, nothing had in reality been farther from +his thoughts; and the time had now come when his secret plans were to be +executed, according to the agreement between himself and the German +colonels. He wrote to them, accordingly, to delay no longer the +accomplishment of the deed--that deed being the seizure of Antwerp +citadel, as he had already successfully mastered that of Namur. The Duke +of Aerschot, his brother, and son, were in his power, and could do +nothing to prevent the co-operation of the colonels in the city with +Treslong in the castle; so that the Governor would thus be enabled, +laying his head tranquilly upon "the pillow of the Antwerp citadel," +according to the reproachful expression subsequently used by the estates, +to await the progress of events. + +The current of his adventurous career was not, however, destined to run +thus smoothly. It is true that the estates had not yet entirely lost +their confidence in his character; but the seizure of Namur, and the +attempt upon Antwerp, together with the contents of the intercepted +letters written by himself and Escovedo to Philip, to Perez, to the +Empress, to the Colonels Frondsberger and Fugger, were soon destined to +open their eyes. In the meantime, almost exactly at the moment when Don +John was executing his enterprise against Namur, Escovedo had taken an +affectionate farewell of the estates at Brussels for it had been thought +necessary, as already intimated, both for the apparent interests and the +secret projects of Don John; that the Secretary should make a visit to +Spain. At the command of the Governor-General he had offered to take +charge of any communication for his Majesty which the estates might be +disposed to entrust to him, and they had accordingly addressed a long +epistle to the King, in which they gave ample expression to their +indignation and their woe. They remonstrated with the King concerning +the continued presence of the German mercenaries, whose knives were ever +at their throats, whose plunder and insolence impoverished and tortured +the people. They reminded him of the vast sums which the provinces had +contributed in times past to the support of government, and they begged +assistance from his bounty now. They recalled to his vision the +melancholy spectacle of Antwerp, but lately the "nurse of Europe, the +fairest flower in his royal garland, the foremost and noblest city of the +earth, now quite desolate and forlorn," and with additional instructions +to Escovedo, that he should not fail, in his verbal communications, to +represent the evil consequences of the course hitherto pursued by his +Majesty's governors in the Netherlands, they dismissed him with good +wishes, and with "crowns for convoy" in his purse to the amount of a +revenue of two thousand yearly. His secret correspondence was +intercepted and made known a few weeks after his departure for that +terrible Spain whence so few travellers returned. + +For a moment we follow him thither. With a single word in anticipation, +concerning the causes and the consummation of this celebrated murder, +which was delayed till the following year, the unfortunate Escovedo may +be dismissed from these pages. It has been seen how artfully Antonio +Perez, Secretary of State, paramour of Princess Eboli, and ruling +councillor at that day of Philip, had fostered in the King's mind the +most extravagant suspicions as to the schemes of Don John, and of his +confidential secretary. He had represented it as their fixed and secret +intention, after Don John should be finally established on the throne of +England, to attack Philip himself in Spain, and to deprive him of his +crown, Escovedo being represented as the prime instigator and controller +of this astounding plot, which lunatics only could have engendered, and +which probably never had existence. + +No proof of the wild design was offered. The language which Escovedo was +accused by Perez of having held previously to his departure for Flanders +--that it was the intention of Don John and himself to fortify the rock +of Mogio, with which, and with the command of the city of Santander, they +could make themselves masters of Spain after having obtained possession +of England,--is too absurd to have been uttered by a man of Escovedo's +capacity. Certainly, had Perez been provided with the least scrap of +writing from the hands of Don John or Escovedo which could be tortured +into evidence upon this point, it would have been forthcoming, and would +have rendered such fictitious hearsay superfluous. Perez in connivance +with Philip, had been systematically conducting his correspondence with +Don John and Escovedo, in order to elicit some evidence of the imputed +scheme. "'T was the only way," said Perez to Philip, "to make them +unbare their bosoms to the sword."--"I am quite of the same opinion," +replied Philip to Perez, "for, according to my theology, you would do +your duty neither to God nor the world, unless you did as you are doing." +Yet the excellent pair of conspirators at Madrid could wring no damning +proofs from the lips of the supposititious conspirators in Flanders, save +that Don John, after Escovedo's arrival in Madrid, wrote, impatiently and +frequently, to demand that he should be sent back, together with the +money which he had gone to Spain to procure. "Money, more money, and +Escovedo," wrote the Governor, and Philip was quite willing to accept +this most natural exclamation as evidence of his brother's designs +against his crown. Out of these shreds and patches--the plot against +England, the Pope's bull, the desire expressed by Don John to march into +France as a simple adventurer, with a few thousand men at his back-- +Perez, according to his own statement, drew up a protocol, afterwards +formally approved by Philip, which concluded with the necessity of taking +Escovedo's life, instantly but privately, and by poison. The Marquis de +Los Velos, to whom the memorial was submitted for his advice, averred +that if the death-bed wafer were in his own lips, he should vote for the +death of the culprit. Philip had already jumped to the same conclusion; +Perez joyfully undertook the business, having received carte blanche from +the King, and thus the unfortunate secretary was doomed. Immediately +after the arrival of Escovedo in Madrid, he addressed a letter to the +King. Philip filed it away among other despatches, with this annotation: +"the 'avant courier' has arrived--it is necessary to make great haste, +and to despatch him before he murders us." + +The King, having been thus artfully inflamed against his brother and his +unfortunate secretary, became clamorous for the blood of Escovedo. At +the same time, that personage, soon after his return to Spain, was +shocked by the discovery of the amour of Perez with the Princess Eboli. +He considered it his duty, both towards the deceased Prince and the +living King, to protest against this perfidy. He threatened to denounce +to the King, who seemed the only person about the court ignorant of the +affair, this double treason of his mistress and his minister. Perez and +Anna of Eboli, furious at Escovedo's insolence, and anxious lest he +should execute his menace determined to disembarrass themselves of so +meddlesome a person. Philip's rage against Don John was accordingly +turned to account, and Perez received the King's secret orders to procure +Escovedo's assassination. Thus an imaginary conspiracy of Don John +against, the crown of Philip was the pretext, the fears and rage of Eboli +and her paramour were the substantial reason, for the crime now +projected. + +The details of the murder were arranged and executed by Perez, but it +must be confessed in justice to Philip, with much inferior nicety to that +of his, own performances in the same field. Many persons were privy to +the plot. There was much blundering, there was great public scandal in +Madrid, and no one ever had a reasonable doubt as to the instigators and +the actual perpetrators of the crime. Two attempts to poison Escovedo +were made by Perez, at his own table, through the agency of Antonio +Enriquez, a confidential servant or page. Both were unsuccessful. +A third was equally so, but suspicions were aroused. A female slave in +the household of Escovedo, was in consequence arrested, and immediately +hanged in the public square, for a pretended attempt to murder her +master. A few days afterwards (on the 31st of March, 1578) the deed was +accomplished at nightfall in the streets of Madrid, by six conspirators. +They consisted of the majordomo of Perez, a page in his household, the +page's brother from the country, an ex-scullion from the royal kitchens, +Juan Rubio by name, who had been the unsuccessful agent in the poisoning +scheme, together with two professional bravos, hired for the occasion. +It was Insausti, one of this last-mentioned couple, who despatched +Escovedo with a single stab, the others aiding and abetting, or keeping +watch in the neighbourhood. + +The murderers effected their escape, and made their report to Perez, who +for the sake of appearances, was upon a visit in the country. Suspicion +soon tracked the real culprits, who were above the reach of justice; nor, +as to the motives which had prompted the murders, were many ignorant, +save only the murderer himself. Philip had ordered the, assassination; +but he was profoundly deceived as to the causes of its accomplishment. +He was the dupe of a subtler villain than himself, and thought himself +sacrificing a conspirator against his crown, while he had really only +crushed a poor creature who had been but too solicitous for what he +thought his master's honor. + +The assassins were, of course, protected from prosecution, and duly +recompensed. Miguel Bosque, the country boy, received one hundred crowns +in gold, paid by a clerk of Perez. Mesa, one of the bravos, was rewarded +with a gold chain, fifty doubloons of eight, and a silver cup, besides +receiving from the fair hand of Princess Eboli herself a certificate as +under-steward upon her estates. The second bravo, Insausti, who had done +the deed, the page Enriquez, and the scullion, were all appointed ensigns +in his Majesty's army, with twenty gold crowns of annual pension besides. +Their commissions were signed by Philip on the 19th of April, 1578. Such +were the wages of murder at that day in Spain; gold chains, silver cups, +doubloons, annuities, and commissions in the army! The reward of +fidelity, as in poor Escovedo's case, was oftener the stiletto. Was it +astonishing that murder was more common than fidelity? + +With the subsequent career of Antonio Perez--his famous process, his +banishment, his intrigues, his innuendos, his long exile, and his +miserable death, this history has no concern. We return from our brief +digression. + +Before narrating the issue of the plot against Antwerp citadel, it is +necessary to recur for a moment to the Prince of Orange. In the deeds +and the written words of that one man are comprised nearly all the +history of the Reformation in the Netherlands--nearly the whole progress +of the infant Republic. The rest, during this period, is made up of the +plottings and counter-plottings, the mutual wranglings and recriminations +of Don John and the estates. + +In the brief breathing-space now afforded them, the inhabitants of +Holland and Zealand had been employing themselves in the extensive +repairs of their vast system of dykes. These barriers, which protected +their country against the ocean, but which their own hands had destroyed +to preserve themselves against tyranny, were now thoroughly +reconstructed, at a great expense, the Prince everywhere encouraging the +people with his presence, directing them by his experience, inspiring +them with his energy. The task accomplished was stupendous and worthy, +says a contemporary, of eternal memory. + +At the popular request, the Prince afterwards made a tour through the +little provinces, honoring every city with a brief visit. The +spontaneous homage which went up to him from every heart was pathetic and +simple. There were no triumphal arches, no martial music, no banners, no +theatrical pageantry nothing but the choral anthem from thousands of +grateful hearts. "Father William has come! Father William has come!" +cried men, women, and children to each other, when the news of his +arrival in town or village was announced. He was a patriarch visiting +his children, not a conqueror, nor a vulgar potentate displaying himself +to his admirers. Happy were they who heard his voice, happier they who +touched his hands, for his words were full of tenderness, his hand was +offered to all. There were none so humble as to be forbidden to approach +him, none so ignorant as not to know his deeds. All knew that to combat +in their cause he had descended from princely station, from luxurious +ease, to the position of a proscribed and almost beggared outlaw. For +them he had impoverished himself and his family, mortgaged his estates, +stripped himself of jewels, furniture, almost of food and raiment. +Through his exertions the Spaniards had been banished from their little +territory, the Inquisition crushed within their borders, nearly all the +sister provinces but yesterday banded into a common cause. + +He found time, notwithstanding congratulating crowds who thronged his +footsteps, to direct the labors of the states-general, who still looked +more than ever to his guidance, as their relations with Don John became +more complicated and unsatisfactory. In a letter addressed to them, on +the 20th of June from Harlem, he warned them most eloquently to hold to +the Ghent Pacification as to their anchor in the storm. He assured them, +if it was, torn from them, that their destruction was inevitable. He +reminded them that hitherto they had got but the shadow, not the +substance of the Treaty; that they had been robbed of that which was to +have been its chief fruit--union among themselves. He and his brothers, +with their labor, their wealth, and their blood, had laid down the bridge +over which the country had stepped to the Pacification of Ghent. It was +for the nation to maintain what had been so painfully won; yet he +proclaimed to them that the government were not acting in good faith, +that secret, preparations were making to annihilate the authority of the +states; to restore the edicts, to put strangers into high places, and to +set up again the scaffold and the whole machinery of persecution. + +In consequence of the seizure of Namur Castle, and the accusations made +by Don John against Orange, in order to justify that act, the Prince had +already despatched Taffin and Saint Aldegonde to the states-general with +a commission to declare his sentiments upon the subject. He addressed, +moreover, to the same body a letter full of sincere and simple eloquence. +"The Seigneur Don John," said he, has accused me of violating the peace, +and of countenancing attempts against his life, and in endeavouring to +persuade you into joining him in a declaration of war against me and +against Holland and Zealand; but I pray you, most affectionately, to +remember our mutual and solemn obligations to maintain the treaty of +Ghent." He entreated the states, therefore, to beware of the artifices +employed to seduce them from the only path which led to the tranquillity +of their common country, and her true splendor and prosperity. +"I believe there is not one of you," he continued, "who can doubt me, +if he will weigh carefully all my actions, and consider closely the +course which I am pursuing and have always pursued. Let all these be +confronted with the conduct of Don John, and any man will perceive that +all my views of happiness, both for my country and myself, imply a +peaceable enjoyment of the union, joined with the legitimate restoration +of our liberties, to which all good patriots aspire, and towards which +all my designs have ever tended. As all the grandeur of Don John, on the +contrary, consists in war, as there is nothing which he so much abhors as +repose, as he has given ample proof of these inclinations in all his +designs and enterprises, both before and after the Treaty of Marche en +Famine, both within the country and beyond its borders, as it is most +manifest that his purpose is, and ever has been, to embroil us with our +neighbours of England and Scotland in new dissensions, as it must be +evident to every one of you that his pretended accusations against me are +but colors and shadows to embellish and to shroud his own desire for war, +his appetite for vengeance, and his hatred not only to me but to +yourselves, and as his determination is, in the words of Escovedo, to +chastise some of us by means of the rest, and to excite the jealousy of +one portion of the country against the other--therefore, gentlemen, do I +most affectionately exhort you to found your decision, as to these +matters, not upon words but upon actions. Examine carefully my conduct +in the points concerning which the charges are made; listen attentively +to what my envoys will communicate to you in my behalf; and then, having +compared it with all the proceedings of Seigneur Don John, you will be +able to form a resolution worthy the rank which you occupy, and befitting +your obligations to the whole people, of whom you have been chosen chiefs +and protectors, by God and by men. Put away all considerations which +might obscure your clear eye-sight; maintain with magnanimity, and like +men, the safety of yourselves, your wives, your children, your estates, +your liberties; see that this poor people, whose eyes are fixed upon you, +does not perish; preserve them from the greediness of those who would +grow great at your expense; guard them from the yoke of miserable +servitude; let not all our posterity lament that, by our pusillanimity, +they have lost the liberties which our ancestors had conquered for them, +and bequeathed to them as well as to us, and that they have been +subjugated by the proud tyranny of strangers. + +"Trusting," said the Prince, in conclusion, "that you will accord faith +and attention to my envoys, I will only add an expression of my sincere +determination to employ myself incessantly in your service, and for the +welfare of the whole people, without sparing any means in my power, nor +my life itself." + +The vigilant Prince was indeed not slow to take advantage of the +Governor's false move. While in reality intending peace, if it were +possible, Don John had thrown down the gauntlet; while affecting to deal +openly and manfully, like a warrior and an emperor's son, he had involved +himself in petty stratagems and transparent intrigues, by all which he +had gained nothing but the character of a plotter, whose word could not +be trusted. Saint Aldegonde expressed the hope that the seizure of Namur +Castle would open the eyes of the people, and certainly the Prince did +his best to sharpen their vision. + +While in North Holland, William of Orange received an urgent invitation +from the magistracy and community of Utrecht to visit that city. His +authority, belonging to him under his ancient commission, had not yet +been recognized over that province, but there was no doubt that the +contemplated convention of "satisfaction" was soon to be; arranged, for +his friends there were numerous and influential. His princess, Charlotte +de Bourbon, who accompanied him on his tour, trembled at the danger to +which her husband would expose himself by venturing thus boldly into a +territory which might be full of his enemies, but the Prince determined +to trust the loyalty of a province which he hoped would be soon his own. +With anxious forebodings, the Princess followed her husband to the +ancient episcopal city. As they entered its gates, where an immense +concourse was waiting to receive him, a shot passed through the carriage +window, and struck the Prince upon the breast. The affrighted lady threw +her arms about his neck; shrieking that they were betrayed, but the +Prince, perceiving that the supposed shot was but a wad from one of the +cannon, which were still roaring their welcome to him, soon succeeded in +calming her fears. The carriage passed lowly through the streets, +attended by the vociferous greetings of the multitude; for the whole +population had come forth to do him honor. Women and children clustered +upon every roof and balcony, but a painful incident again marred the +tranquillity of the occasion. An apothecary's child, a little girl of +ten years, leaning eagerly from a lofty balcony, lost her balance +and fell to the ground, directly before the horses of the Prince's +carriage. She was killed stone dead by the fall. The procession +stopped; the Prince alighted, lifted the little corpse in his arms, and +delivered it, with gentle words and looks of consolation, to the unhappy +parents. The day seemed marked with evil omens, which were fortunately +destined to prove fallacious. The citizens of Utrecht became more than +ever inclined to accept the dominion of the Prince, whom they honored and +whom they already regarded as their natural chief. They entertained him +with banquets and festivities during his brief visit, and it was certain +before he took his departure that the treaty of "Satisfaction" would not +be long delayed. It was drawn up, accordingly, in the autumn of the same +year, upon the basis of that accepted by Harlem and Amsterdam--a basis +wide enough to support both religions, with a nominal supremacy to the +ancient Church. + +Meantime, much fruitless correspondence had taken place between Don John +and the states Envoys; despatched by the two parties to each other, had +indulged in bitterness and recrimination. As soon as the Governor, had +taken: possession of Namur Castle, he had sent the Seigneur, de +Rassinghem to the states-general. That gentleman carried with him copies +of two anonymous letters, received by Don John upon the 19th and 21st of +July, 1577, in which a conspiracy against his life and liberty was +revealed. It was believed by the Governor that Count Lalain, who had +secretly invited him to a conference, had laid an ambush for him. It was +known that the country was full of disbanded soldiers, and the Governor +asserted confidently that numbers of desperadoes were lying in wait for +him in every village alehouse of Hainault and Flanders. He called on the +states to ferret out these conspirators, and to inflict condign +punishment upon their more guilty chiefs; he required that the soldiers, +as well as the citizens, should be disarmed at Brussels and throughout +Brabant, and he justified his seizure of Namur, upon the general ground +that his life was no longer safe, except in a fortress. + +In reply to the letter of the Governor, which was dated the 24th of July, +the states despatched Marolles, Archdeacon of Ypres, and the Seigneur de +Bresse, to Namur, with a special mission to enter into the whole subject +of these grievances. These gentlemen, professing the utmost devotion to +the cause of his Majesty's authority and the Catholic religion, expressed +doubts as to the existence of the supposed conspiracy. They demanded +that Don John should denounce the culprits, if any such were known, in +order that proper chastisement might be instantly inflicted. The +conversation which ensued was certainly unsatisfactory. The Governor +used lofty and somewhat threatening language, assuring Marolles that he +was at that moment in possession, not only of Namur but of Antwerp +citadel; and the deputies accordingly departed, having accomplished very +little by their journey. Their backs were scarcely turned, when Don +John, on his part, immediately appointed another commission, consisting +of Rassinghem and Grobbendonck, to travel from Namur to Brussels. These +envoys carried a long letter of grievances, enclosing a short list of +demands. The letter reiterated his complaints about conspiracies, and +his protestations of sincerity. It was full of censure upon the Prince +of Orange; stigmatized his intrigues to obtain possession of Amsterdam +without a proper "Satisfaction," and of Utrecht, to which he had no claim +at all. It maintained that the Hollanders and Zealanders were bent upon +utterly exterminating the Catholic religion, and that they avowed +publicly their intention to refuse obedience to the assembly-general, +should it decree the maintenance of the ancient worship only. His chief +demands were that the states should send him a list of persons qualified +to be members of the general assembly, that he might see whether there +were not individuals among them whom he might choose to reject. He +further required that, if the Prince of Orange did not instantly fulfil +the treaty of Ghent, the states should cease to hold any communication +with him. He also summoned the states to provide him forthwith with a +suitable body-guard. + +To these demands and complaints, the estates replied by a string of +resolutions. They made their usual protestations of attachment to his +Majesty and the Catholic faith, and they granted willingly a foot-guard +of three hundred archers. They, however, stoutly denied the Governor's +right to make eliminations in their lists of deputies, because, from time +immemorial, these representatives had been chosen by the clergy, nobles, +cities, and boroughs. The names might change daily, nor were there any +suspicious ones among them, but it was a matter with which the Governor +had no concern. They promised that every effort should be made to bring +about the execution of the treaty by the Prince of Orange. They begged +Don John; however, to abandon the citadel of Namur, and gave him to +understand that his secret practices had been discovered, a large packet +of letters having recently been intercepted in the neighbourhood of +Bourdeaux, and sent to the Prince of Orange. Among them were some of the +despatches of Don John and Escovedo, to his Majesty and to Antonio Perez, +to which allusion has already been made. + +Count Bossu, De Bresse, and Meetkercke were the envoys deputed to convey +these resolutions to Namur. They had a long and bitter conversation with +Don John, who complained, more furiously than ever of the conspiracies +against his person, and of the intrigues of Orange. He insisted that +this arch-traitor had been sowing the seed of his damnable doctrines +broadcast through the Netherlands; that the earth was groaning with a +daily ripening harvest of rebellion and heresy. It was time, he cried, +for the states to abandon the Prince, and rally round their King. +Patience had been exhausted. He had himself done all, and more than +could have been demanded. He had faithfully executed the Ghent +Pacification, but his conduct had neither elicited gratitude nor inspired +confidence. + +The deputies replied, that to the due execution of the Ghent treaty it +was necessary that he should disband the German troops, assemble the +states-general, and carry out their resolutions. Until these things, +now undone, had been accomplished, he had no right to plead his faithful +fulfilment of the Pacification. After much conversation--in which the +same grievances were repeated, the same statements produced and +contradicted, the same demands urged and evaded, and the same menaces +exchanged as upon former occasions--the deputies returned to Brussels. + +Immediately after their departure, Don John learned the result of his +project upon Antwerp Castle. It will be remembered that he had withdrawn +Aerschot, under pretext of requiring his company on the visit to Queen +Margaret, and that he had substituted Treslong, an unscrupulous partisan +of his own, in the government of the citadel. The temporary commander +soon found, however, that he had undertaken more than he could perform. +The troops under Van Ende were refused admittance into the town, although +permission to quarter them there had been requested by the Governor- +General. The 'authorities had been assured that the troops were +necessary for the protection of their city, but the magistrates had +learned, but too recently, the nature of the protection which Van Ende, +with his mercenaries, would afford. A detachment of states troops under +De Yers, Champagny's nephew, encountered the regiment of Van Ende, and +put it to flight with considerable loss. At the same time, an officer in +the garrison of the citadel itself, Captain De Bours, undertook secretly +to carry the fortress for the estates. His operations were secret and +rapid. The Seigneur de Liedekerke had succeeded Champagny in the +government of the city. This appointment had been brought about by the +agency of the Greffier Martini, a warm partisan of Orange. The new +Governor was known to be very much the Prince's friend, and believed to +be at heart a convert to the Reformed religion. With Martini and +Liedekerke, De Bours arranged his plot. He was supplied with a large sum +of money, readily furnished in secret by the leading mercantile houses of +the city. These funds were successfully invested in gaining over the +garrison, only one company holding firm for Treslong. The rest, as that +officer himself informed Don John, were ready at any moment "to take him +by the throat." + +On the 1st of August, the day firmed upon in concert with the Governor +and Greffier, he was, in fact, taken by the throat. There was but a +brief combat, the issue of which became accidentally doubtful in the +city. The white-plumed hat of De Bours had been struck from his head in +the struggle, and had fallen into the foss. Floating out into the river, +it had been recognized by the scouts sent out by the personages most +interested, and the information was quickly brought to Liedekerke, who +was lying concealed in the house of Martini, awaiting the result. Their +dismay was great, but Martini, having more confidence than the Governor, +sallied forth to learn the whole truth. Scarcely had he got into the +streets than he heard a welcome cry, "The Beggars have the castle! the +Beggars have the castle!" shouted a hundred voices. He soon met a +lieutenant coming straight from the fortress, who related to him the +whole affair. Learning that De Bours was completely victorious, and that +Treslong was a prisoner, Martini hastened with the important intelligence +to his own home, where Liedekerke lay concealed. That functionary now +repaired to the citadel, whither the magistrates, the leading citizens, +and the chief merchants were instantly summoned. The castle was carried, +but the city was already trembling with apprehension lest the German +mercenaries quartered within its walls, should rise with indignation or +panic, and repeat the horrid tragedy of The Antwerp Fury. + +In truth, there seemed danger of such a catastrophe. The secret +correspondence of Don John with the colonels was already discovered, +and it was seen how warmly he had impressed upon the men with whom he +had been tampering, "that the die was cast," and that all their art was +necessary to make it turn up successfully. The castle was carried, but +what would become of the city? A brief and eager consultation terminated +in an immediate offer of three hundred thousand crowns by the leading +merchants. This money was to be employed in amicably satisfying, if +possible, the German soldiers, who had meanwhile actually come to arms, +and were assembled in the Place de Meer. Feeling unsafe; however, in +this locality, their colonels had led them into the new town. Here, +having barricaded themselves with gun-carriages, bales, and boxes, they +awaited, instead of initiating, the events which the day might bring +forth. A deputation soon arrived with a white flag from the castle, and +commissioners were appointed by the commanding officers of the soldiery. +The offer was made to pay over the arrears of their wages, at least to a +very large amount, on condition that the troops should forthwith and for +ever evacuate the city. One hundred and fifty thousand crowns were +offered on the nail. The merchants stood on the bridge leading from the +old town-to the new, in full sight of the soldiers. They held in their +hands their purses, filled with the glittering gold. The soldiers were +frantic with the opportunity, and swore that they would have their +officers' lives, if the tempting and unexpected offer should be declined. +Nevertheless, the commissioners went to and fro, ever finding something +to alter or arrange. In truth, the merchants had agreed to furnish; if +necessary, three hundred thousand Browns; but the thrifty negotiators +were disposed, if diplomacy could do it, to save the moiety of that sum. +Day began to sink, ere the bargain was completed, when suddenly sails +were descried in the distance, and presently a large fleet of war +vessels, with, banner and pennon flying before a favoring breeze; came +sailing up the Scheld. It was a squadron of the Prince's ships, under +command of Admiral Haultain. He had been sent against Tholen, but, +having received secret intelligence, had, with happy audacity, seized the +opportunity of striking a blow in the cause which he had served so +faithfully. A shot or two fired from the vessels among the barricades +had a quickening effect. A sudden and astounding panic seized the +soldiers. "The Beggars are coming! the Beggars are coming!" they +yelled in dismay; for the deeds of the ocean-beggars had not become less +appalling since the memorable siege of Leyden. The merchants still stood +on the bridge with their purses in their hand. The envoys from the +castle still waved their white flags. It was too late. The horror +inspired by the wild Zealanders overpowered the hope of wages, +extinguished all confidence in the friendship of the citizens. The +mercenaries, yielding to a violent paroxysm of fear, fled hither and +thither, panting, doubling, skulking, like wolves before the hounds. +Their flight was ludicrous. Without staying to accept the money which the +merchants were actually offering, without packing up their own property, +in many cases even throwing away their arms, they fled, helter skelter, +some plunging into the Scheid, some skimming along the dykes, some +rushing across the open fields. A portion of them under Colonel Fugger, +afterwards shut themselves up in Bergen op Zoom, where they were at once +besieged by Champagny, and were soon glad to compromise the matter by +surrendering their colonel and laying down their arms. The remainder +retreated to Breda, where they held out for two months, and were at +length overcome by a neat stratagem of Orange. A captain, being known +to be in the employment of Don John, was arrested on his way to Breda. +Carefully sewed up in his waistband was found a letter, of a finger's +breadth, written in cipher, and sealed with the Governor-General's seal. +Colonel Frondsberger, commanding in Breda, was in this missive earnestly +solicited to hold out two months longer, within which time a certain +relief was promised. In place of this letter, deciphered with much +difficulty, a new one was substituted, which the celebrated printer, +William Sylvius, of Antwerp, prepared with great adroitness, adding the +signature and seal of Don John. In this counterfeit epistle; the Colonel +was directed to do the best he could for himself, by reason that Don John +was himself besieged, and unable to render him assistance. The same +captain who had brought the real letter was bribed to deliver the +counterfeit. This task he faithfully performed, spreading the fictitious +intelligence besides, with such ardor through the town, that the troops +rose upon their leader, and surrendered him with the city and their own +arms, into the custody of the estates. Such was the result of the +attempt by Don John to secure the citadel--of Antwerp. Not only was the +fortress carried for the estates, but the city itself, for the first time +in twelve years, was relieved from a foreign soldiery. + +The rage and disappointment of the Governor-General were excessive. He +had boasted to Marolles a day too soon. The prize which he thought +already in his grasp had slipped through his fingers, while an +interminable list of demands which he dreamed not of, and which were +likely to make him bankrupt, were brought to his door. To the states, +not himself, the triumph seemed for the moment decreed. The "dice" had +taken a run against him, notwithstanding his pains in loading and +throwing. Nevertheless, he did not yet despair of revenge. "These +rebels," he wrote to the Empress-dowager, his sister, "think that fortune +is all smiles for them now, and that all is ruin for me. The wretches +are growing proud enough, and forget that their chastisement, some fine +morning, will yet arrive." + +On the 7th of August he addressed another long letter to the estates. +This document was accompanied, as usual, by certain demands, drawn up +categorically in twenty-three articles. The estates considered his terms +hard and strange, for in their opinion it was themselves, not the +Governor, who were masters of the situation. Nevertheless, he seemed +inclined to treat as if he had gained, not missed, the citadel of +Antwerp; as if the troops with whom he had tampered were mustered in the +field, not shut up in distant towns, and already at the mercy of the +states party. The Governor demanded that all the forces of the country +should be placed under his own immediate control; that Count Bossu, or +some other person nominated by himself, should be appointed to the +government of Friesland; that the people of Brabant and Flanders should +set themselves instantly to hunting, catching, and chastising all vagrant +heretics and preachers. He required, in particular, that Saint Aldegonde +and Theron, those most mischievous rebels, should be prohibited from +setting their foot in any city of the Netherlands. He insisted that the +community of Brussels should lay down their arms, and resume their +ordinary handicrafts. He demanded that the Prince of Orange should be +made to execute the Ghent treaty; to suppress the exercise of the +Reformed religion in Harlem, Schoonhoven, and other places; to withdraw +his armed vessels from their threatening stations, and to restore +Nieuport, unjustly detained by him. Should the Prince persist in his +obstinacy, Don John summoned them to take arms against him, and to +support their lawful Governor. He, moreover, required the immediate +restitution of Antwerp citadel, and the release of Treslong from prison. + +Although, regarded from the Spanish point of view, such demands might +seem reasonable, it was also natural that their audacity should astonish +the estates. That the man who had violated so openly the Ghent treaty +should rebuke the Prince for his default--that the man who had tampered +with the German mercenaries until they were on the point of making +another Antwerp Fury, should now claim the command over them and all +other troops--that the man who had attempted to gain Antwerp citadel by a +base stratagem should now coolly demand its restoration, seemed to them +the perfection of insolence. The baffled conspirator boldly claimed the +prize which was to have rewarded a successful perfidy. At the very +moment when the Escovedo letters and the correspondence with the German +colonels had been laid before their eyes, it was a little too much that +the double-dealing bastard of the double-dealing Emperor should read them +a lecture upon sincerity. It was certain that the perplexed, and +outwitted warrior had placed himself at last in a very false position. +The Prince of Orange, with his usual adroitness, made the most of his +adversary's false moves. Don John had only succeeded in digging a +pitfall for himself. His stratagems against Namur and Antwerp had +produced him no fruit, saving the character, which his antagonist now +fully succeeded in establishing for him, of an unscrupulous and artful +schemer. This reputation was enhanced by the discovery of the +intercepted letters, and by the ingenuity and eagerness with which they +were turned to account against him by the Prince, by Saint Aldegonde, and +all the anti-Catholic party. The true key to his reluctance against +despatching the troops by land, the states had not obtained. They did +not dream of his romantic designs upon England, and were therefore +excusable in attributing a still deeper perfidy to his arrangements. + +Even had he been sent to the Netherlands in the full possession of his +faculties, he would have been no match in political combinations for his +powerful antagonists. Hoodwinked and fettered, suspected by his master, +baffled, bewildered, irritated by his adversary, what could he do but +plunge from one difficulty to another and oscillate between extravagant +menace, and desponding concession, until his hopes and life were wasted +quite away. His instructions came from Philip through Perez, and that +most profound dissembler, as we have seen, systematically deceived the +Governor, with the view of eliciting treasonable matters, Philip wishing, +if possible, to obtain proofs of Don John's secret designs against his +own crown. Thus every letter from Spain was filled with false +information and with lying persuasions. No doubt the Governor considered +himself entitled to wear a crown, and meant to win it, if not in Africa, +then in England, or wherever fate might look propitiously upon him. +He was of the stuff of which crusaders and dynasty founders had been +made, at a somewhat earlier epoch. Who could have conquered the holy +sepulchre, or wrested a crown from its lawful wearer, whether in Italy, +Muscovy, the Orient, or in the British Ultima Thule, more bravely +than this imperial bastard, this valiant and romantic adventurer? +Unfortunately, he came a few centuries too late. The days when dynasties +were founded, and European thrones appropriated by a few foreign +freebooters, had passed, and had not yet returned. He had come to the +Netherlands desirous of smoothing over difficulties and of making a +peaceful termination to that rebellion a steppingstone to his English +throne. He was doomed to a profound disappointment, a broken heart, and +a premature grave, instead of the glittering baubles which he pursued. +Already he found himself bitterly deceived in his hopes. The obstinate +Netherlanders would not love him, notwithstanding the good wishes he had +manifested. They would not even love the King of Spain, notwithstanding +the blessings which his Majesty was declared to have heaped upon them. +On the contrary, they persisted in wasting their perverse affections +upon the pestilent Prince of Orange. That heretic was leading them to +destruction, for he was showing them the road to liberty, and nothing, +in the eyes of the Governor, could be more pitiable than to behold an +innocent people setting forth upon such a journey. "In truth," said he, +bitterly, in his memorable letter to his sister the Empress, "they are +willing to recognize neither God nor king. They pretend to liberty in +all things: so that 'tis a great pity to see how they are going on; to +see the impudence and disrespect with which they repay his Majesty for +the favors which he has shown them, and me for the labors, indignities, +and dangers which I have undergone for their sakes." + +Nothing, indeed, in the Governor's opinion, could surpass the insolence +of the Netherlanders, save their ingratitude. That was the serpent's +tooth which was ever wounding the clement King and his indignant brother. +It seemed so bitter to meet with thanklessness, after seven years of Alva +and three of Requesens; after the labors of the Blood Council, the +massacres of Naarden, Zutphen, and Harlem, the siege of Leyden, and the +Fury of Antwerp. "Little profit there has been," said the Governor to +his sister, "or is like to be from all the good which we have done to +these bad people. In short, they love and obey in all things the most +perverse and heretic tyrant and rebel in the whole world, which is this +damned Prince of Orange, while, on the contrary, without fear of God or +shame before men, they abhor and dishonor the name and commandments of +their natural sovereign." Therefore, with a doubting spirit, and almost +with a broken heart, had the warrior shut himself up in Namur Castle, +to await the progress of events, and to escape from the snares of his +enemies. "God knows how much I desire to avoid extremities," said he, +"but I know not what to do with men who show themselves so obstinately +rebellious." + +Thus pathetically Don John bewailed his fate. The nation had turned +from God, from Philip, from himself; yet he still sat in his castle, +determined to save them from destruction and his own hands from +bloodshed, if such an issue were yet possible. Nor was he entirely +deserted, for among the faithless a few were faithful still. Although +the people were in open revolt, there was still a handful of nobles +resolved to do their duty towards their God and King. "This little +band," said the Governor, "has accompanied me hither, like gentlemen and +chevaliers of honor." Brave Berlaymont and his four sons were loyal to +the last, but others of this limited number of gentlemen and chevaliers +of honor were already deserting him. As soon as the result of the +enterprise against Antwerp citadel was known, and the storm was gathering +most darkly over the royal cause, Aerschot and Havre were first to spread +their wings and flutter away in search of a more congenial atmosphere. +In September, the Duke was again as he had always professed himself to +be, with some important interval of exception--"the affectionate brother +and cordial friend of the Prince of Orange." + +The letter addressed by Don John to the states upon the 7th of August, +had not yet been answered. Feeling, soon afterwards, more sensible of +his position, and perhaps less inflamed with indignation; he addressed +another communication to them, upon the 13th of the same month. In this +epistle he expressed an extreme desire for peace, and a hearty desire to +be relieved, if possible, from his most painful situation. He protested, +before God and man, that his intentions were most honest, and that he +abhorred war more than anything else in the world. He averred that, if +his person was as odious to them as it seemed, he was only too ready to +leave the land, as soon as the King should appoint his successor. +He reminded them that the question of peace or war lay not with himself, +but with them; and that the world would denounce as guilty those with +whom rested the responsibility. He concluded with an observation which, +in its humility, seemed sufficiently ironical, that if they had quite +finished the perusal of the despatches from Madrid to his address, which +they had intercepted, he should be thankful for an opportunity of reading +them himself. He expressed a hope, therefore, that they would be +forwarded to Namur. + +This letter was answered at considerable length, upon the second day. +The states made their customary protestations of attachment to his +Majesty, their fidelity to the Catholic church, their determination to +maintain both the Ghent treaty and the Perpetual Edict. They denied all +responsibility for the present disastrous condition of the relations +between themselves and government, having disbanded nearly all their own +troops, while the Governor had been strengthening his forces up to the +period of his retreat into Namur. He protested, indeed, friendship and +a sincere desire for peace, but the intercepted letters of Escovedo and +his own had revealed to them the evil counsels to which he had been +listening, and the intrigues which he had been conducting. They left +it to his conscience whether they could reasonably believe, after the +perusal of these documents, that it was his intention to maintain the +Ghent treaty, or any treaty; and whether they were not justified in their +resort to the natural right of self-defence. + +Don John was already fully aware of the desperate error which he had +committed. In seizing Namur and attempting Antwerp, he had thrown down +the gauntlet. Wishing peace, he had, in a panic of rage and anxiety; +declared and enacted war. The bridge was broken behind him, the ships +burned, a gulf opened, a return to peace rendered almost impossible. +Yet it is painful to observe the almost passionate longings which at +times seemed to possess him for accommodating the quarrel, together +with his absolute incapacity to appreciate his position. The Prince was +triumphant; the Governor in a trap. Moreover, it was a trap which he had +not only entered voluntarily, but which he had set himself; he had played +into the Prince's hands, and was frantic to see his adversary tranquilly +winning the game. It was almost melancholy to observe the gradation of +his tone from haughty indignation to dismal concession. In an elaborate +letter which he addressed "to the particular states, bishops, +councillors, and cities of the Netherlands," he protested as to the +innocence of his intentions, and complained bitterly of the calumnies +circulated to his discredit by the Prince of Orange. He denied any +intention of recalling the troops which he had dismissed, except in case +of absolute necessity: He affirmed that his Majesty sincerely desired +peace. He averred that the country was either against the King, against +the Catholic religion, against himself, or against all three together. +He bitterly asked what further concessions were required. Had he not +done all he had ever promised? Had he not discharged the Spaniards, +placed the castles in the hands of natives, restored the privileges, +submitted to insults and indecencies? Yet, in spite of all which had +passed, he declared his readiness to resign, if another prince or +princess of the blood more acceptable to them could be appointed. The +letter to the states was followed by a proposition for a cessation of +hostilities, and for the appointment of a commission to devise means for +faithfully executing the Ghent treaty. This proposition was renewed, a +few days later, together with an offer for an exchange of hostages. + +It was not difficult for the estates to answer the letters of the +Governor. Indeed, there was but little lack of argument on either side +throughout this unhappy controversy. It is dismal to contemplate the +interminable exchange of protocols, declarations, demands, apostilles, +replications and rejoinders, which made up the substance of Don John's +administration. Never was chivalrous crusader so out of place. It was +not a soldier that was then required for Philip's exigency, but a scribe. +Instead of the famous sword of Lepanto, the "barbarous pen" of Hopperus +had been much more suitable for the work required. Scribbling Joachim +in a war-galley, yard-arm and yard-arm with the Turkish capitan pacha, +could have hardly felt less at ease than did the brilliant warrior thus +condemned to scrawl and dissemble. While marching from concession to +concession, he found the states conceiving daily more distrust, and +making daily deeper encroachments. Moreover, his deeds up to the time +when he seemed desirous to retrace his steps had certainly been, at the +least, equivocal. Therefore, it was natural for the estates, in reply to +the questions in his letter, to observe that he had indeed dismissed the +Spaniards, but that he had tampered with and retained the Germans; that +he had indeed placed the citadels in the hands of natives, but that he +had tried his best to wrest them away again; that he had indeed professed +anxiety for peace, but that his intercepted letters proved his +preparations for war. Already there were rumors of Spanish troops +returning in small detachments out of France. Already the Governor was +known to be enrolling fresh mercenaries to supply the place of those whom +he had unsuccessfully endeavoured to gain to his standard. As early as +the 26th of July, in fact, the Marquis d'Ayamonte in Milan, and Don Juan +de Idiaquez in Genoa, had received letters from Don John of Austria, +stating that, as the provinces had proved false to their engagements, +he would no longer be held by his own, and intimating his desire that +the veteran troops which had but so recently been dismissed from +Flanders, should forthwith return. Soon afterwards, Alexander Farnese, +Prince of Parma, received instructions from the King to superintend these +movements, and to carry the aid of his own already distinguished military +genius to his uncle in the Netherlands. + +On the other hand, the states felt their strength daily more sensibly. +Guided, as usual, by Orange, they had already assumed a tone in their +correspondence which must have seemed often disloyal, and sometimes +positively insulting, to the Governor. They even answered his hints of +resignation in favor of some other prince of the blood, by expressing +their hopes that his successor, if a member of the royal house at all, +would at least be a legitimate one. This was a severe thrust at the +haughty chieftain, whose imperial airs rarely betrayed any consciousness +of Barbara Blomberg and the bend sinister on his shield. He was made +to understand, through the medium of Brabantine bluntness, that more +importance was attached to the marriage, ceremony in the Netherlands than +he seemed to imagine. The categorical demands made by the estates seemed +even more indigestible than such collateral affronts; for they had now +formally affirmed the views of Orange as to the constitutional government +of the provinces. In their letter of 26th August, they expressed their +willingness, notwithstanding the past delinquencies of the Governor, +to yield him their, confidence again; but at the same time; they +enumerated conditions which, with his education and views, could hardly +seem to him admissible. They required him to disband all the soldiers in +his service, to send the Germans instantly out of the country, to dismiss +every foreigner from office, whether civil or military, and to renounce +his secret league with the Duke of Guise. They insisted that he should +thenceforth govern only with the advice and consent of the State Council, +that he should execute that which should by a majority of votes be +ordained there, that neither measures nor despatches should be binding +or authentic unless drawn up at that board. These certainly were views +of administration which, even if consonant with a sound historical view +of the Netherland constitutions, hardly tallied with his monarch's +instructions, his own opinions, or the practice under Alva and Requesens, +but the country was still in a state of revolution, and the party of the +Prince was gaining the upper hand. + +It was the determination of that great statesman, according to that which +he considered the legitimate practice of the government, to restore the +administration to the State Council, which executive body ought of right +to be appointed by the states-general. In the states-general, as in the +states-particular, a constant care was to be taken towards strengthening +the most popular element, the "community" of each city, the aggregate, +that is to say, of its guild-representatives and its admitted burghers. +This was, in the opinion of the Prince, the true theory of the +government--republican in all but form--under the hereditary protection, +not the despotic authority, of a family, whose rights were now nearly +forfeited. It was a great step in advance that these views should come +to be thus formally announced, not in Holland and Zealand only, but by +the deputies of the states-general, although such a doctrine, to the +proud stomach of Don John, seemed sufficiently repulsive. Not less so +was the cool intimation with which the paper concluded, that if he should +execute his threat of resigning, the country would bear his loss with +fortitude, coupled as was that statement with a declaration that, until +his successor should be appointed, the State Council would consider +itself charged ad interim with the government. In the meantime, +the Governor was requested not to calumniate the estates to foreign +governments, as he had so recently done in his intercepted letter to the +Empress-dowager. + +Upon receiving this letter, "Don John," says a faithful old chronicler, +"found that the cranes had invited the frog to dinner." In truth, the +illustrious soldier was never very successful in his efforts, for which +his enemies gave him credit, to piece out the skin of the lion with that +of the fox. He now felt himself exposed and outwitted, while he did not +feel conscious of any very dark design. He answered the letter of the +states by a long communication, dated from Namur Castle, 28th of August. +In style, he was comparatively temperate, but the justification which he +attempted of his past conduct was not very happy. He noticed the three +different points which formed the leading articles of the accusation +brought against him, the matter, namely, of the intercepted letters, of +the intrigues with the German colonels, and the seizure of Namur. He did +not deny the authorship of the letters, but contented himself with a +reference to their date, as if its priority to his installation as +Governor furnished a sufficient palliation of the bad faith which the +letters revealed. As to the despatches of Escovedo, he denied +responsibility for any statements or opinions which they might contain. +As the Secretary, however, was known to be his most confidential friend, +this attempt to shuffle off his own complicity was held to be both lame +and unhandsome. As for the correspondence with the colonels, his defence +was hardly more successful, and rested upon a general recrimination upon +the Prince of Orange. As that personage was agitating and turbulent, it +was not possible, the Governor urged, that he should himself remain +quiet. It was out of his power to execute the treaty and the edict, in +the face of a notorious omission on the part of his adversary to enforce +the one or to publish the other. It comported neither with his dignity +nor his safety to lay down his weapons while the Prince and his adherents +were arming. He should have placed himself "in a very foolish position," +had he allowed himself unarmed to be dictated to by the armed. In +defence of himself on the third point, the seizure of Namur Castle, +he recounted the various circumstances with which the reader is already +acquainted. He laid particular stress upon the dramatic manner in which +the Vicomte De Gand had drawn his curtains at the dead of night; he +narrated at great length the ominous warning which he had likewise +received from the Duke of Aerschot in Brussels, and concluded with a +circumstantial account of the ambush which he believed to have been laid +for him by Count De Lalain. The letter concluded with a hope for an +arrangement of difficulties, not yet admitted by the Governor to be +insurmountable, and with a request for a formal conference, accompanied +by an exchange of hostages. + +While this correspondence was proceeding between Namur and Brussels, +an event was occurring in Antwerp which gave much satisfaction to Orange. +The Spanish Fury, and the recent unsuccessful attempt of Don John to +master the famous citadel, had determined the authorities to take the +counsel which the Prince had so often given in vain, and the fortress +of Antwerp was at length razed to the ground, on the side towards the +city.--It would be more correct to say that it was not the authorities, +but the city itself which rose at last and threw off the saddle by which +it had so long been galled. More than ten thousand persons were +constantly at work, morning, noon, and night, until the demolition was +accomplished. Grave magistrates, great nobles, fair ladies, citizens and +their wives, beggars and their children, all wrought together pell-mell. +All were anxious to have a hand in destroying the nest where so many +murders had been hatched, whence so much desolation had flown. The task +was not a long one for workmen so much in earnest, and the fortress was +soon laid low in the quarter where it could be injurious to the +inhabitants. As the work proceeded, the old statue of Alva was +discovered in a forgotten crypt, where it had lain since it had been +thrown down by the order of Requesens. Amid the destruction of the +fortress, the gigantic phantom of its founder seemed to start suddenly +from the gloom, but the apparition added fresh fuel to the rage of the +people. The image of the execrated Governor was fastened upon with as +much fierceness as if the bronze effigy could feel their blows, or +comprehend their wrath. It was brought forth from its dark hiding-place +into the daylight. Thousands of hands were ready to drag it through the +streets for universal inspection and outrage. A thousand sledge-hammers +were ready to dash it to pieces, with a slight portion, at least, of the +satisfaction with which those who wielded them would have dealt the same +blows upon the head of the tyrant himself. It was soon reduced to a +shapeless mass. Small portions were carried away and preserved for +generations in families as heirlooms of hatred. The bulk was melted +again and reconverted, by a most natural metamorphosis, into the cannon +from which it had originally sprung. + +The razing of the Antwerp citadel set an example which was followed in +other places; the castle of Ghent, in particular, being immediately +levelled, amid demonstrations of universal enthusiasm. Meantime, the +correspondence between Don John and the estates at Brussels dragged its +slow length along, while at the same time, two elaborate letters were +addressed to the King, on the 24th of August and the 8th of September, by +the estates-general of the Netherlands. These documents, which were long +and able, gave a vigorous representation of past evils and of the present +complication of disorders under which the commonwealth was laboring. +They asked, as usual, for a royal remedy; and expressed their doubts +whether there could be any sincere reconciliation so long as the present +Governor, whose duplicity and insolence they represented in a very strong +light, should remain in office. Should his Majesty, however, prefer to +continue Don John in the government, they signified their willingness, +in consideration of his natural good qualities, to make the best of the +matter. Should, however, the estrangement between themselves and the +Governor seem irremediable, they begged that another and a legitimate +prince of the blood might be appointed in his place. + + + + +ETEXT EDITOR'S BOOKMARKS: + +Country would bear his loss with fortitude +Its humility, seemed sufficiently ironical +Not upon words but upon actions +Perfection of insolence +Was it astonishing that murder was more common than fidelity? + + + +End of this Project Gutenberg Etext of The Dutch Republic, v28 +by John Lothrop Motley + + + + + + +MOTLEY'S HISTORY OF THE NETHERLANDS, Project Gutenberg Edition, Vol. 29 + +THE RISE OF THE DUTCH REPUBLIC + +By John Lothrop Motley + +1855 + + + + +CHAPTER IV. + + Orange invited to visit Brussels--His correspondence upon the + subject with the estates--general--Triumphant journey of the Prince + to the capital----Stop put by him to the negotiations with Don John + --New and stringent demands made upon the Governor--His indignation + --Open rupture--Intrigue of Netherland grandees with Archduke + Matthias--Policy of Orange--Attitude of Queen Elizabeth--Flight of + Matthias from Vienna--Anxiety of Elizabeth--Adroitness of the + Prince--The office of Reward--Election of Orange to that dignity-- + His complaints against the great nobles--Aerschot Governor of + Flanders--A storm brewing in Ghent--Ryhove and Imbize--Blood- + Councillor Hessels--Arrogance of the aristocratic party in Flanders + --Ryhove's secret interview with Orange--Outbreak at Ghent--Arrest + of Aerschot, Hessels, and others of the reactionary party--The Duke + liberated at demand of Orange--The Prince's visit to Ghent-- + Rhetorical demonstrations--The new Brussels Union characterized-- + Treaty with England--Articles by which Matthias is nominally + constituted Governor-General--His inauguration at Brussels-- + Brilliant and fantastic ceremonies--Letter of Don John to the + Emperor--His anger with England--An army collecting--Arrival of + Alexander Farnese--Injudicious distribution of offices in the + States' army--The States' army fall back upon Gemblours, followed by + Don John--Tremendous overthrow of the patriots--Wonderful disparity + in the respective losses of the two armies. + +While these matters were in progress, an important movement was made by +the estates-general. The Prince of Orange was formally and urgently +invited to come to Brussels to aid them with his counsel and presence. +The condemned traitor had not set foot in the capital for eleven years. +We have narrated the circumstance of his departure, while the advancing +trumpets of Alva's army were almost heard in the distance. His memorable +and warning interview with Egmont has been described. Since that period, +although his spirit had always been manifesting itself in the capital +like an actual presence; although he had been the magnet towards which +the states throughout all their, oscillations had involuntarily vibrated, +yet he had been ever invisible. He had been summoned by the Blood +Council to stand his trial, and had been condemned to death by default. +He answered the summons by a defiance, and the condemnation by two +campaigns, unsuccessful in appearance, but which had in reality +prostrated the authority of the sovereign. + +Since that period, the representative of royalty had sued the condemned +traitor for forgiveness. The haughty brother of Philip had almost gone +upon his knees, that the Prince might name his terms, and accept the +proffered hand of majesty. + +The Prince had refused, not from contumely, but from distrust. He had +spurned the supplications, as he had defied the proscription of the King. +There could be no friendship between the destroyer and the protector of a +people. Had the Prince desired only the reversal of his death-sentence, +and the infinite aggrandizement of his family, we have seen how +completely he had held these issues in his power. Never had it been more +easy, plausible, tempting, for a proscribed patriot to turn his back upon +an almost sinking cause. We have seen how his brave and subtle Batavian +prototype, Civilis, dealt with the representative of Roman despotism. +The possible or impossible Netherland Republic of the first century of +our era had been reluctantly abandoned, but the modern Civilis had justly +more confidence in his people. + +And now again the scene was changed. The son of the Emperor, the King's +brother, was virtually beleaguered; the proscribed rebel had arrived at +victory through a long series of defeats. The nation everywhere +acknowledged him master, and was in undisguised revolt against the +anointed sovereign. The great nobles, who hated Philip on the one hand, +and the Reformed religion on the other, were obliged, in obedience to the +dictates of a people with whom they had little sympathy, to accept the +ascendency of the Calvinist Prince, of whom they were profoundly jealous. +Even the fleeting and incapable Aerschot was obliged to simulate +adhesion; even the brave Champagny, cordial hater of Spaniards, but most +devotedly Catholic, "the chiefest man of wysedome and stomach at that +tyme in Brussels," so envoy Wilson wrote to Burghley, had become +"Brabantized," as his brother Granvelle expressed himself, and was one of +the commissioners to invite the great rebel to Brussels. The other +envoys were the Abbot of Saint Gertrude, Dr. Leoninus, and the Seigneur +de Liesvelt. These gentlemen, on arriving at Gertruydenberg, presented a +brief but very important memorial to the Prince. In that document they +informed him that the states-general, knowing how efficacious would be +his presence, by reason of his singular prudence, experience, and love +for the welfare and repose of the country, had unanimously united in a +supplication that he would incontinently transport himself to the city of +Brussels, there to advise with them concerning the necessities of the +land; but, as the principal calumny employed by their adversaries was +that all the provinces and leading personages intended to change both +sovereign and religion, at the instigation of his Excellency, it was +desirable to disprove such fictions. They therefore very earnestly +requested the Prince to make some contrary demonstration, by which it +might be manifest to all that his Excellency, together with the estates +of Holland and Zealand, intended faithfully to keep what they had +promised. They prayed, therefore, that the Prince, permitting the +exercise of the Roman Catholic religion in the places which had recently +accepted his authority, would also allow its exercise in Holland and +Zealand. They begged, further, that ho would promise by a new and +authentic act, that the provinces of Holland and Zealand, would not +suffer the said exercise to be impugned, or any new worship to be +introduced, in the other provinces of the Netherlands. + +This letter might almost be regarded as a trap, set by the Catholic +nobles. Certainly the Ghent Pacification forbade the Reformed religion +in form, and as certainly, winked at its exercise in fact. The proof +was, that the new worship was spreading everywhere, that the exiles for +conscience' sake were returning in swarms, and that the synod of the +Reformed churches, lately held at Dort, had been, publicly attended by +the ministers and deacons of numerous dissenting churches established in +many different, places throughout all the provinces. The pressure of the +edicts, the horror of the inquisition being removed, the down-trodden +religion had sprung from the earth more freshly than ever. + +The Prince was not likely to fall into the trap, if a trap had really +been intended. He answered the envoys loyally, but with distinct +reservations. He did not even accept the invitation, save on condition +that his visit to Brussels should be expressly authorized by Holland and +Zealand. Notwithstanding his desire once more to behold his dear +country, and to enjoy the good company of his best friends and brothers, +he felt it his duty to communicate beforehand with the states of those +two provinces, between which, and himself there had been such close and +reciprocal obligations, such long-tried and faithful affection. He +therefore begged to refer the question to the assembly of the said +provinces about to be held at Gouda, where, in point of fact, the +permission for his journey was, not without considerable difficulty, a +few days afterwards obtained. + +With regard to the more difficult requests addressed to him in the +memorial, he professed generally his intention to execute the treaty of +Ghent. He observed, however, that the point of permitting the exercise +of the Roman Catholic religion in Holland and Zealand regarded +principally the estates of these provinces, which had contracted for +no innovation in this matter, at least till the assembling of the states +-general. He therefore suggested that he neither could, nor ought to, +permit any innovation, without the knowledge and consent of those +estates. As to promising by authentic act, that neither he nor the two +provinces would suffer the exercise of the Catholic religion to be in +any wise impugned in the rest of the Netherlands, the Prince expressed +himself content to promise that, according to the said Ghent +Pacification, they would suffer no attempt to be made against the public +repose or against the Catholic worship. He added that, as he had no +intention of usurping any superiority over the states-general assembled +at Brussels, he was content to leave the settlement of this point to +their free-will and wisdom, engaging himself neither to offer nor permit +any hindrance to their operations. + +With this answer the deputies are said to have been well pleased. +If they were so, it must be confessed that they were thankful for small +favors. They had asked to have the Catholic religion introduced into +Holland and Zealand. The Prince had simply referred them to the estates +of these provinces. They had asked him to guarantee that the exercise of +the Reformed religion should not be "procured" in the rest of the +country. He had merely promised that the Catholic worship should not be +prevented. The difference between the terms of the request and the reply +was sufficiently wide. + +The consent to his journey was with difficulty accorded by the estates +of Holland and Zealand, and his wife, with many tears and anxious +forebodings, beheld him depart for a capital where the heads of his +brave and powerful friends had fallen, and where still lurked so many of +his deadly foes. During his absence, prayers were offered daily for his +safety in all the churches of Holland and Zealand, by command of the +estates. + +He arrived at Antwerp on the 17th of September, and was received with +extraordinary enthusiasm. The Prince, who had gone forth alone, without +even a bodyguard, had the whole population of the great city for his +buckler. Here he spent five days, observing, with many a sigh, the +melancholy changes which had taken place in the long interval of his +absence. The recent traces of the horrible "Fury," the blackened walls +of the Hotel de Ville, the prostrate ruins of the marble streets, which +he had known as the most imposing in Europe, could be hardly atoned for +in his eyes even by the more grateful spectacle of the dismantled +fortress. + +On the 23rd of September he was attended by a vast concourse of citizens +to the new canal which led to Brussels, where three barges were in +waiting for himself and suite. In one a banquet was spread; in the +second, adorned with emblematic devices and draped with the banners +of the seventeen provinces, he was to perform the brief journey; while +the third had been filled by the inevitable rhetoric societies, with all +the wonders of their dramatic and plastic ingenuity. Rarely had such +a complication of vices and virtues, of crushed dragons, victorious +archangels, broken fetters, and resurgent nationalities, been seen +before, within the limits of a single canal boat. The affection was, +however, sincere, and the spirit noble, even though the taste which +presided at these remonstrations may have been somewhat pedantic. + +The Prince was met several miles before the gates of Brussels by a +procession of nearly half the inhabitants of the city, and thus escorted, +he entered the capital in the afternoon of the 23rd of September. It was +the proudest day of his life. The representatives of all the provinces, +supported by the most undeniable fervor of the united Netherland people, +greeted "Father William." Perplexed, discordant, hating, fearing, +doubting, they could believe nothing, respect nothing, love nothing, save +the "tranquil" Prince. His presence at that moment in Brussels was the +triumph of the people and of religious toleration. He meant to make use +of the crisis to extend and to secure popular rights, and to establish +the supremacy of the states-general under the nominal sovereignty of some +Prince, who was yet to be selected, while the executive body was to be a +state-council, appointed by the states-general. So far as appears, he +had not decided as to the future protector, but he had resolved that it +should be neither himself nor Philip of Spain. The outlaw came to +Brussels prepared at last to trample out a sovereignty which had worked +its own forfeiture. So far as he had made any election within his +breast, his choice inclined to the miserable Duke of Anjou; a prince whom +he never came to know as posterity has known him, but whom he at least +learned to despise. Thus far the worthless and paltry intriguer still +wore the heroic mask, deceiving even such far seeing politicians as Saint +Aldegonde and the Prince. + +William's first act was to put a stop to the negotiations already on foot +with Don John. He intended that they should lead to war, because peace +was impossible, except a peace for which civil and religious liberty +would be bartered, for it was idle, in his opinion, to expect the +maintenance by the Spanish Governor of the Ghent Pacification, whatever +promises might be extorted from his fears. A deputation, in the name of +the states, had already been sent with fresh propositions to Don John, at +Namur. The envoys were Caspar Schetz and the Bishop of Bruges. They had +nearly come to an amicable convention with the Governor, the terms of +which had been sent to the states-general for approval, at the very +moment of the Prince's arrival in Brussels. Orange, with great +promptness, prevented the ratification of these terms, which the estates +had in reality already voted to accept. New articles were added to those +which had originally been laid before Don John. It was now stipulated +that the Ghent treaty and the Perpetual Edict should be maintained. The +Governor was required forthwith to abandon Namur Castle, and to dismiss +the German troops. He was to give up the other citadels and strong +places, and to disband all the soldiers in his service. He was to +command the governors of every province to prohibit the entrance of +all foreign levies. He was forthwith to release captives, restore +confiscated property, and reinstate officers who had been removed; +leaving the details of such restorations to the council of Mechlin and +the other provincial tribunals. He was to engage that the Count Van +Buren should be set free within two months. He was himself, while +waiting for the appointment of his successor, to take up his residence +in Luxemburg, and while there, he was to be governed entirely by the +decision of the State Council, expressed by a majority of its members. +Furthermore, and as not the least stinging of these sharp requisitions, +the Queen of England--she who had been the secret ally of Orange, and +whose crown the Governor had secretly meant to appropriate--was to be +included in the treaty. + +It could hardly excite surprise that Don John, receiving these insolent +propositions at the very moment in which he heard of the triumphant +entrance into Brussels of the Prince, should be filled with rage and +mortification. Never was champion of the Cross thus braved by infidels +before. The Ghent treaty, according to the Orange interpretation, that +is to say, heresy made legitimate, was to be the law of the land. His +Majesty was to surrender--colors and cannon--to his revolted subjects. +The royal authority was to be superseded by that of a State Council, +appointed by the states-general, at the dictation of the Prince. The +Governor-General himself, brother of his Catholic Majesty, was to sit +quietly with folded arms in Luxemburg, while the arch-heretic and rebel +reigned supreme in Brussels. It was too much to expect that the choleric +soldier would be content with what he could not help regarding as a +dishonorable capitulation. The arrangement seemed to him about as +reasonable as it would have been to invite Sultan Selim to the Escorial, +and to send Philip to reside at Bayonne. He could not but regard the +whole proposition as an insolent declaration of war. He was right. It +was a declaration of war; as much so as if proclaimed by trump of herald. +How could Don John refuse the wager of battle thus haughtily proffered? + +Smooth Schetz, Lord of Grobbendonck, and his episcopal colleague, in vain +attempted to calm the Governor's wrath, which now flamed forth, in +defiance of all considerations. + +They endeavored, without success, to palliate the presence of Orange, and +the circumstances of his reception, for it was not probable that their +eloquence would bring the Governor to look at the subject with their +eyes. Three days were agreed upon for the suspension of hostilities, and +Don John was highly indignant that the estates would grant no longer a +truce. The refusal was, however, reasonable enough on their part, for +they were aware that veteran Spaniards and Italians were constantly +returning to him, and that he was daily strengthening his position. The +envoys returned to Brussels, to give an account of the Governor's rage, +which they could not declare to be unnatural, and to assist in +preparations for the war, which was now deemed inevitable. Don John, +leaving a strong garrison in the citadel of Namur, from which place he, +despatched a final communication to the estates-general, dated the 2nd of +October, retired to Luxemburg. In this letter, without exactly uttering +defiance, he unequivocally accepted the hostilities which had been +pressed upon him, and answered their hollow professions of attachment to +the Catholic religion and his Majesty's authority, by denouncing their +obvious intentions to trample upon both. He gave them, in short, to +understand that he perceived their intentions, and meant them to +comprehend his own. + +Thus the quarrel was brought to an issue, and Don John saw with grim +complacency, that the pen was at last to be superseded by the sword. +A remarkable pamphlet was now published, in seven different languages, +Latin, French, Flemish, German, Italian, Spanish; and English, containing +a succinct account of the proceedings between the Governor and the +estates, together with copies of the intercepted letters of Don John and +Escovedo to the King, to Perez, to the German colonels, and to the +Empress. This work, composed and published by order of the estates- +general, was transmitted with an accompanying address to every potentate +in Christendom. It was soon afterwards followed by a counter-statement, +prepared by order of Don John, and containing his account of the same +matters, with his recriminations against the conduct of the estates. + +Another important movement had, meanwhile, been made by the third party +in this complicated game. The Catholic nobles, jealous of the growing +influence of Orange, and indignant at the expanding power of the people, +had opened secret negotiations with the Archduke Matthias, then a mild, +easy-tempered youth of twenty, brother of the reigning emperor, Rudolph. +After the matter had been discussed some time in secret, it was resolved, +towards the end of September, to send a messenger to Vienna, privately +inviting the young Prince to Brussels, but much to the surprise of these +nobles, it was discovered that some fifteen or sixteen of the grandees of +the land, among them Aerschot, Havre, Champagny, De Ville, Lalain, De +Heze, and others, had already taken .the initiative in the matter. On +the 26th of August, the Seigneur de Maalsteede had set forth, by their +appointment, for Vienna. There is no doubt that this step originated in +jealousy felt towards Orange, but at the same time it is certain that +several of the leaders in the enterprise were still his friends. Some, +like Champagny, and De Heze, were honestly so; others, like Aerschot, +Havrd, and De Ville, always traitors in heart to the national cause, +loyal to nothing but their own advancement, were still apparently upon +the best terms with him. Moreover, it is certain that he had been made +aware of the scheme, at least, before the arrival of the Archduke in the +Netherlands, for the Marquis Havre, on his way to England, as special +envoy from the estates, had a conference with him at Gertruydenberg. +This was in the middle of September, and before his departure for +Brussels. Naturally, the proposition seemed, at first, anything but +agreeable; but the Marquis represented himself afterwards as having at +last induced the Prince to look upon it with more favorable eyes. +Nevertheless, the step had been taken before the consultation was held; +nor was it the first time that the advice, of Orange had been asked +concerning the adoption of a measure after the measure had been adopted. + +Whatever may have been his original sentiments upon the subject; however, +he was always less apt to complain of irrevocable events than quick to +reconcile them with his own combinations, and it was soon to be +discovered that the new stumbling-block which his opponents had placed in +his path, could be converted into an additional stepping-stone towards +his goal. Meanwhile, the secret invitation to the Archduke was regarded +by the people and by foreign spectators as a plot devised by his enemies. +Davison, envoy from Queen Elizabeth, was then in Brussels, and informed +his royal mistress, whose sentiments and sympathies were unequivocally in +favor of Orange, of the intrigues against the Prince. The efforts of +England were naturally to counteract the schemes of all who interfered +with his policy, the Queen especially, with her customary sagacity, +foreseeing the probable inclination of the Catholic nobles towards the +protectorate of Alencon. She did not feel certain as to the precise +plans of Orange, and there was no course better adapted to draw her from +barren coquetry into positive engagements; than to arouse her jealousy of +the French influence in the provinces. At this moment, she manifested +the warmest friendship for the Prince. + +Costly presents were transmitted by her to his wife; among others, +an ornament, of which a sculptured lizard formed a part. The Princess, +in a graceful letter to her husband, desiring that her acknowledgments +should be presented to her English Majesty, accepted the present as +significative. "Tis the fabled virtue of the lizard (she said) to awaken +sleepers whom a serpent is about to sting. You are the lizard, and the +Netherlands the sleepers,--pray Heaven they may escape the serpent's +bite." The Prince was well aware, therefore, of the plots which were +weaving against him. He had small faith in the great nobles, whom he +trusted "as he would adders fanged," and relied only upon the +communities, upon the mass of burghers. They deserved his confidence, +and watched over his safety with jealous care. On one occasion, when he +was engaged at the State Council till a late hour, the citizens conceived +so much alarm, that a large number of them spontaneously armed +themselves, and repaired to the palace. The Prince, informed of the +circumstance, threw open a window and addressed them, thanking them for +their friendship and assuring them of his safety. They were not +satisfied, however, to leave him alone, but remained under arms below +till the session was terminated, when they escorted him with affectionate +respect to his own hotel. + +The secret envoy arrived in Vienna, and excited the ambition of the +youthful Matthias. It must be confessed that the offer could hardly be a +very tempting one, and it excites our surprise that the Archduke should +have thought the adventure worth the seeking. A most anomalous position +in the Netherlands was offered to him by a slender and irresponsible +faction of Netherlanders. There was a triple prospect before him: that +of a hopeless intrigue against the first politician in Europe, a mortal +combat with the most renowned conqueror of the age, a deadly feud with +the most powerful and revengeful monarch in the world. Into this +threefold enterprise he was about to plunge without any adequate +resources, for the Archduke possessed no experience, power, or wealth. +He brought, therefore, no strength to a cause which was itself feeble. +He could hope for no protection, nor inspire any confidence. +Nevertheless, he had courage, pliability, and a turn for political +adventure. Visions of the discomfited Philip conferring the hand of his +daughter, with the Netherlands as her dowry, upon the enterprising youth +who, at this juncture, should succeed in overturning the Spanish +authority in that country, were conjured up by those who originated the +plot, and he was weak enough to consider such absurdities plausible, and +to set forth at once to take possession of this castle in the air. + +On the evening of October 3rd, 1577, he retired to rest at eight o'clock +feigning extreme drowsiness. After waiting till his brother, Maximilian, +who slept in another bed in the same chamber, was asleep, he slipped from +his couch and from the room in his night apparel, without even putting on +his slippers. He was soon after provided by the companions of his flight +with the disguise of a servant, arrayed in which, with his face +blackened, he made his escape by midnight from Vienna, but it is doubtful +whether Rudolph were as ignorant as he affected to be of the scheme. + + [It was the opinion of Languet that the Emperor affected ignorance + of the plot at its commencement, that he afterwards affected an + original connivance, and that he was equally disingenuous in both + pretences.] + +The Archduke arrived at Cologne, attended only by two gentlemen and a few +servants. The Governor was beside himself with fury; the Queen of +England was indignant; the Prince only, against whom the measure was +mainly directed, preserved his usual tranquillity. + +Secretary Walsingham, as soon as the news reached England, sent for +Meetkercke, colleague of Marquis Havre in the mission from the estates. +He informed that functionary of the great perplexity and excitement +which, according to information received from the English resident, +Davison, were then prevailing in Brussels, on account of the approach of +the Archduke. Some, he said, were for receiving him at one place, some +at another; others were in favor of forbidding his entrance altogether. +Things had been sufficiently complicated before, without this additional +cause of confusion. Don John was strengthening himself daily, through +the secret agency of the Duke of Guise and his party. His warlike genius +was well known, as well as the experience of the soldiers who were fast +rallying under his banner. On the other hand, the Duke of Alencon had +come to La Fere, and was also raising troops, while to oppose this crowd +of rival enemies, to deal with this host of impending disasters, there +was but one man in the Netherlands. On the Prince of Orange alone could +the distracted states rely. To his prudence and valor only could the +Queen look with hopeful eyes. The Secretary proceeded to inform the +envoy, therefore, that her Majesty would feel herself compelled to +withdraw all succor from the states if the Prince of Orange were deprived +of his leadership; for it was upon that leadership only that she had +relied for obtaining a successful result. She was quite indisposed to +encounter indefinite risk with an impossibility of profit. + +Meetkercke replied to the Secretary by observing, that the great nobles +of the land had been unanimous in desiring a new Governor-General at this +juncture. They had thought Matthias, with a strong Council of State, +composed of native Netherlanders, to control him, likely to prove a +serviceable candidate for the post. They had reason to believe that, +after he should be received, the Emperor would be reconciled to the +measure, and that by his intercession the King of Spain would be likewise +induced to acquiesce. He alluded, moreover, to the conference between +the Marquis of Havre and Orange at Gertruydenberg, and quoted the opinion +of the Prince that it would be unwise, after the invitation had been +given, to insult the Archduke and his whole imperial house, by beating +him with indignity upon his arrival. It was inevitable, said the envoy, +that differences of opinion should exist in large assemblies, but +according to information which he had recently received from Marquis +Havre, then in Brussels, affairs had already become smooth again. At the +conclusion of the conference, Walsingham repeated emphatically that the +only condition upon which the Queen would continue her succor to the +Netherlands was, that the Prince should be forthwith appointed +Lieutenant-General for the Archduke. + +The immediate result of this movement was, that Matthias was received at +Antwerp by Orange at the head of two thousand cavalry, and attended by a +vast concourse of inhabitants. Had the Prince chosen a contrary course, +the Archduke might have been compelled to return, somewhat ridiculously, +to Vienna; but, at the same time, the anger of the Emperor and of all +Germany would have been aroused against Orange and the cause he served. +Had the Prince, on the contrary, abandoned the field himself, and +returned to Holland, he would have left the game in the hands of his +adversaries. Ever since he had made what his brother John called that +"dangerous gallows journey" to Brussels, his influence had been +culminating daily, and the jealousy of the great nobles rising as +rapidly. Had he now allowed himself to be driven from his post, he would +have exactly fulfilled their object. By remaining, he counteracted their +schemes. + +By taking Matthias wholly into his own possession, he obtained one piece +the more in the great game which he was playing against his antagonist in +the Escorial. By making adroit use of events as they arose, he made the +very waves which were to sink him, carry his great cause triumphantly +onward. + +The first result of the invitation to Matthias was the election of Orange +as Ruward of Brabant. This office was one of great historical dignity, +but somewhat anomalous in its functions. The province of Brabant, having +no special governor, was usually considered under the immediate +superintendence of the Governor-General. As the capital of Brabant was +the residence of that functionary, no inconvenience from this course had +been felt since the accession of the house of Burgundy. At present, +however, the condition of affairs was so peculiar--the seat of government +being empty without having been permanently vacated--that a special +opportunity vas offered for conferring both honor and power on the +Prince. A Ruward was not exactly dictator, although his authority was +universal. He was not exactly protector, nor governor, nor stadholder. +His functions were unlimited as to time--therefore superior to those of +an ancient dictator; they were commonly conferred on the natural heir to +the sovereignty--therefore more lofty than those of ordinary stadholders. +The individuals who had previously held the office in the Netherlands had +usually reigned afterwards in their own right. Duke Albert, of the +Bavarian line; for example, had been Ruward of Hainault and Holland, for +thirty years, during the insanity of his brother, and on the death of +Duke William had succeeded to his title. Philip of Burgundy had declared +himself Ruward of Brabant in 1425, and had shortly afterwards deprived +Jacqueline of all her titles and appropriated them to himself. In the +one case the regent, in the second case the usurper, had become reigning +prince. Thus the movement of the jealous nobles against the Prince had +for its first effect his immediate appointment to an office whose chief +characteristic was, that it conducted to sovereignty. + +The election was accomplished thus. The "members," or estates of +Brussels, together with the deans, guilds, and other of the principal +citizens of Antwerp, addressed a request to the states of Brabant, that +William of Orange should be appointed Ruward, and after long deliberation +the measure was carried. The unsolicited honor was then solemnly offered +to him. He refused, and was only, after repeated and urgent entreaties, +induced to accept the office. The matter was then referred to the +states-general, who confirmed the dignity, after some demur, and with the +condition that it might be superseded by the appointment of a governor- +general. He was finally confirmed as Ruward on the 22d of October, to +the boundless satisfaction of the people, who celebrated the event by +a solemn holiday in Antwerp, Brussels, and other cities. His friends, +inspired by the intrigues of his enemies, had thus elevated the Prince +to almost unlimited power; while a strong expression in favor of his +government had been elicited from the most important ally of the +Netherlands-England. It soon rested with himself only to assume the +government of Flanders, having been elected stadholder, not once only, +but many times, by the four estates of that important province, and +having as constantly refused the dignity. With Holland and Zealand +devoted to him, Brabant and Flanders formally under his government, the +Netherland capital lavishing testimonials of affection upon him, and the +mass of the people almost worshipping him, it would not have been +difficult for the Prince to play a game as selfish as it had hitherto +been close and skilful. He might have proved to the grand seigniors that +their suspicions were just, by assuming a crown which they had been +intriguing to push from his brows. Certainly the nobles deserved their +defeat. They had done their best to circumvent Orange, in all ways and +at all times. They had paid their court to power when it was most +powerful, and had sought to swim on the popular tide when it was rising. +He avenged himself upon their perfidy only by serving his country more +faithfully than ever, but it was natural that he should be indignant at +the conduct of these gentlemen, "children of good houses," (in his own +words,) "issue of worthy, sires," whose fathers, at least, he had ever +loved and honored. + +"They serve the Duke of Alva and the Grand Commander like varlets," he +cried; "they make war upon me to the knife. Afterwards they treat with +me, they reconcile themselves with me, they are sworn foes of the +Spaniard. Don John arrives, and they follow him; they intrigue for my +ruin. Don John fails in his enterprise upon Antwerp citadel; they quit +him incontinently and call upon me. No sooner do I come than, against +their oath and without previous communication with the states or myself, +they call upon the Archduke Matthias. Are the waves of the sea more +inconstant--is Euripus more uncertain than the counsels of such men?" + +While these events were occurring at Brussels and Antwerp, a scene of a +different nature was enacting at Ghent. The Duke of Aerschot had +recently been appointed to the government of Flanders by the State +Council, but the choice was exceedingly distasteful to a large number of +the inhabitants. Although, since the defeat of Don John's party in +Antwerp, Aerschot had again become "the affectionate brother" of Orange, +yet he was known to be the head of the cabal which had brought Matthias +from Vienna. Flanders, moreover, swarmed with converts to the Reformed +religion, and the Duke's strict Romanism was well known. The people, +therefore, who hated the Pope and adored the Prince, were furious at the +appointment of the new governor, but by dint of profuse promises +regarding the instant restoration of privileges and charters which had +long lain dormant, the friends of Aerschot succeeded in preparing the way +for his installation. + +On the 20th of October, attended by twenty-three companies of infantry +and three hundred horse, he came to Ghent. That famous place was still +one of the most powerful and turbulent towns in Europe. Although +diminished in importance since the commercial decline which had been the +inevitable result of Philip's bloody government, it, was still swarming +with a vigorous and dangerous population and it had not forgotten the +days when the iron tongue of Roland could call eighty thousand fighting +men to the city banner. Even now, twenty thousand were secretly pledged +to rise at the bidding of certain chieftains resident among them; noble +by birth, warmly attached to the Reformed religion, and devoted to +Orange. These gentlemen were perfectly conscious that a reaction was to +be attempted in favor of Don John and of Catholicism, through the agency +of the newly-appointed governor of Flanders. Aerschot was trusted or +respected by neither party. The only difference in the estimates formed +of him was, that some considered him a deep and dangerous traitor; others +that he was rather foolish than malicious, and more likely to ruin a good +cause than to advance the interests of a bad one. The leaders of the +popular party at Ghent believed him dangerous. They felt certain that it +was the deeply laid design of the Catholic nobles foiled as they had been +in the objects with which they had brought Matthias from Vienna, and +enraged as they were that the only result of that movement had been to +establish the power of Orange upon a firmer basis--to set up an opposing +influence in Ghent. Flanders, in the possession of the Catholics, was to +weigh up Brabant, with its recent tendencies to toleration. Aerschot was +to counteract the schemes of Orange. Matthias was to be withdrawn from +the influence of the great heretic, and be yet compelled to play the part +set down for him by those who had placed him upon the stage. A large +portion, no doubt, of the schemes here suggested, was in agitation, but +the actors were hardly equal to the drama which they were attempting. +The intrigue was, however, to be frustrated at once by the hand of +Orange, acting as it often did from beneath a cloud. + +Of all the chieftains possessing influence with the inhabitants of Ghent, +two young nobles, named Ryhove and Imbize, were the most conspicuous. +Both were of ancient descent and broken fortunes, both were passionately +attached to the Prince, both were inspired with an intense hatred for +all that was Catholic or Spanish. They had travelled further on the +reforming path than many had done in that day, and might even be called +democratic in their notions. Their heads were filled with visions of +Greece and Rome; the praise of republics was ever on their lips; and they +avowed to their intimate associates that it was already feasible to +compose a commonwealth like that of the Swiss Cantons out of the +seventeen Netherlands. They were regarded as dreamers by some, as +desperadoes by others. Few had confidence in their capacity or their +purity; but Orange, who knew mankind, recognized in them useful +instruments for any hazardous enterprise. They delighted in stratagems +and sudden feats of arms. Audacious and cruel by temperament, they were +ever most happy in becoming a portion of the desolation which popular +tumults engender. + +There were several excited meetings of the four estates of Flanders +immediately after the arrival of the Duke of Aerschot in Ghent. His +coming had been preceded by extensive promises, but it soon became +obvious that their fulfilment was to be indefinitely deferred. There +was a stormy session on the 27th of October, many of the clergy and +nobility being present, and comparatively few members of the third +estate. Very violent speeches were made, and threats openly uttered, +that the privileges, about which so much noise had been heard, would be +rather curtailed than enlarged under the new administration. At the same +session, the commission of Aerschot was formally presented by Champagny +and Sweveghem, deputed by the State Council for that purpose. Champagny +was in a somewhat anomalous position. There was much doubt in men's +minds concerning him. He had seemed lately the friend of Orange, but he +was certainly the brother of Granvelle. His splendid but fruitless +services during the Antwerp Fury had not been forgotten, but he was known +to be a determined Catholic. He was a hater of Spaniards, but no lover +of popular liberty. The nature of his sentiments towards Orange was +perhaps unjustly suspected. At any rate, two or three days after the +events which now occupy our attention, he wrote him a private letter, in +which he assured him of his attachment. In reference to the complaints, +of the Prince, that he had not been seconded as he ought to have been, he +said, moreover, that he could solemnly swear never to have seen a single +individual who did not hold the Prince in admiration, and who was not +affectionately devoted to him, not only, by public profession, but by +private sentiment. + +There was little doubt entertained as to the opinions held by the rest of +the aristocratic party, then commencing their manoeuvres in Ghent. Their +sentiments were uttered with sufficient distinctness in this remarkable +session. + +Hessels, the old Blood Councillor, was then resident in Ghent; where he +discharged high governmental functions. It was he, as it will be +remembered, who habitually fell asleep at that horrible council board, +and could only start from his naps to-shout "ad patibulum," while the +other murderers had found their work less narcotic. A letter from +Hessels to Count de Reux, late royal governor of Flanders, was at the +present juncture intercepted. Perhaps it was invented, but genuine or +fictitious, it was circulated extensively among the popular leaders, +and had the effect of proving Madame de Hessels a true prophet. It +precipitated the revolution in Flanders, and soon afterwards cost the +Councillor his life. "We have already brought many notable magistrates +of Flanders over to the aide of his Highness Don John," wrote Hessels. +"We hope, after the Duke of Aerschot is governor; that we shall fully +carry out the intentions of his Majesty and the plans of his Highness. +We shall also know how to circumvent the scandalous heretic with all his +adherents and followers." + +Certainly, if this letter were true, it was high time for the friends of +the "scandalous heretic" to look about them. If it were a forgery, which +is highly probable, it was ingeniously imagined, and did the work of +truth. The revolutionary party, being in a small minority in the +assembly, were advised by their leaders to bow before the storm. They +did so, and the bluster of the reactionary party grew louder as they +marked the apparent discomfiture of their foes. They openly asserted +that the men who were clamoring for privileges should obtain nothing but +halters. The buried charters should never be resuscitated; but the +spirit of the dead Emperor, who had once put a rope around the necks of +the insolent Ghenters, still lived in that of his son. There was no lack +of denunciation. Don John and the Duke of Aerschot would soon bring the +turbulent burghers to their senses, and there would then be an end to +this renewed clamor about musty parchments. Much indignation was +secretly excited in the assembly by such menaces. Without doors the +subterranean flames spread rapidly, but no tumult occurred that night. +Before the session was over, Ryhove left the city, pretending a visit to +Tournay. No sooner had he left the gates, however, than he turned his +horse's head in the opposite direction, and rode off post haste to +Antwerp. There he had a conference with William of Orange, and painted +in lively colors the alarming position of affairs. "And what do you mean +to do in the matter?" asked the Prince, rather drily. Ryhove was +somewhat disconcerted. He had expected a violent explosion; well as he +knew the tranquil personage whom he was addressing. "I know no better +counsel," he replied, at length, "than to take the Duke, with his +bishops, councillors, lords, and the whole nest of them, by the throat, +and thrust them all out together." + +"Rather a desperate undertaking, however?" said the Prince; carelessly, +but interrogatively. + +"I know no other remedy," answered Ryhove; "I would rather make the +attempt, relying upon God alone, and die like a man if needful, than live +in eternal slavery. Like an ancient Roman," continued the young +republican noble, in somewhat bombastic vein, "I am ready to wager my +life, where my fatherland's welfare is at stake." + +"Bold words!" said the Prince, looking gravely at Ryhove; "but upon what +force do you rely for your undertaking?" + +"If I can obtain no assistance from your Excellency," was the reply, +"I shall throw myself on the mass of the citizens. I can arouse them in +the name of their ancient liberties, which must be redeemed now or +never." + +The Prince, believing probably that the scheme, if scheme there were, +was but a wild one, felt little inclination to compromise himself with +the young conspirator. He told him he could do nothing at present, and +saying that he must at least sleep upon the matter, dismissed him for the +night. Next morning, at daybreak, Ryhove was again closeted with him. +The Prince asked his sanguine partisan if he were still determined to +carry out his project, with no more definite support than he had +indicated? Ryhove assured him, in reply, that he meant to do so; +or to die in the attempt. The Prince shrugged his shoulders, and soon +afterwards seemed to fall into a reverie. Ryhove continued talking, but +it was soon obvious that his Highness was not listening; and he therefore +took his leave somewhat abruptly. Hardly had he left the house, however, +when the Prince despatched Saint Aldegonde in search of him. That +gentleman, proceeding to his hotel, walked straight into the apartment of +Ryhove, and commenced a conversation with a person whom he found there, +but to his surprise he soon discovered, experienced politician though he +was, that he had made an egregious blunder. He had opened a dangerous +secret to an entire stranger, and Ryhove coming into the apartment a few +minutes afterwards, was naturally surprised to find the Prince's chief +councillor in close conversation about the plot with Van Rooyen, the +burgomaster of Denremonde. The Flemish noble, however, always prompt in +emergencies, drew his rapier, and assured the astonished burgomaster that +he would either have his life on the instant, or his oath never to reveal +a syllable of what he had heard. That functionary, who had neither +desired the young noble's confidence, nor contemplated the honor of being +run through the body as a consequence of receiving it, was somewhat +aghast at the rapid manner in which these gentlemen transacted business. +He willingly gave the required pledge, and was permitted to depart. + +The effect of the conference between Saint Aldegonde and Ryhove was to +convince the young partisan that the Prince would neither openly +countenance his project, nor be extremely vexed should it prove +successful. In short, while, as in the case of the arrest of the State +Council, the subordinates were left to appear the principals in the +transactions, the persons most intimate with William of Orange were +allowed to form satisfactory opinions as to his wishes, and to serve as +instruments to his ends. "Vive qui vince!" cried Saint-Aldegonde, +encouragingly, to Ryhove, shaking hands with him at parting. The +conspirator immediately mounted, and rode off towards Ghent. During his +absence there had been much turbulence, but no decided outbreak, in that +city. Imbize had accosted the Duke of Aerschot in the street, and +demanded when and how he intended to proclaim the restoration of the +ancient charters. The haughty Duke had endeavoured to shake off his +importunate questioner, while Imbize persisted, with increasing audacity, +till Aerschot lost his temper at last: "Charters, charters!" he cried +in a rage; "you shall learn soon, ye that are thus howling for charters, +that we have still the old means of making you dumb, with a rope on your +throats. I tell you this--were you ever so much hounded on by the Prince +of Orange." + +The violence of the new governor excited the wrath of Imbize. He broke +from him abruptly, and rushed to a rendezvous of his confederates, every +man of whom was ready for a desperate venture. Groups of excited people +were seen vociferating in different places. A drum was heard to rattle +from time to time. Nevertheless, the rising tumult seemed to subside +again after a season, owing partly to the exertions of the magistrates, +partly to the absence of Ryhove. At four in the afternoon that gentleman +entered the town, and riding directly to the head-quarters of the +conspiracy, was incensed to hear that the work, which had begun so +bravely, had been allowed to cool. "Tis a time," he cried, "for +vigilance. If we sleep now, we shall be dead in our beds before morning. +Better to fan the fire which has begun to blaze in the people's heart. +Better to gather the fruit while it is ripe. Let us go forward, each +with his followers, and I pledge myself to lead the way. Let us scuttle +the old ship of slavery; let us hunt the Spanish Inquisition, once for +all, to the hell from whence it came!" + +"There spoke the voice of a man!" cried the Flemish captain, Mieghem, one +of the chief conspirators; "lead on, Ryhove, I swear to follow you as far +as our legs will carry us." Thus encouraged, Ryhove, rushed about the +city, calling upon the people everywhere to rise. They rose almost to a +man. Arming and mustering at different points, according to previous +arrangements, a vast number assembled by toll of bell, after nightfall, +on the public square, whence, under command of Ryhove, they swept to the +residence of Aerschot at Saint Bavon. The guards, seeing the fierce mob +approaching, brandishing spears and waving, torches, had scarce time to +close the gates; as the people loudly demanded entrance and the delivery +to them of the Governor. Both claims were refused. "Let us burn the +birds in their nests," cried Ryhove, without hesitation. Pitch, light +wood, and other combustibles, were brought at his command, and in a few +moments the palace would have been in flames, had not Aerschot, seeing +that the insurgents were in earnest, capitulated. As soon as the gates +were open, the foremost of the mob rushed upon him, and would have torn +him limb from limb, had not Ryhove resolutely interfered, and twice +protected the life of the governor, at the peril of his own. The Duke +was then made a prisoner, and, under a strong guard, was conveyed, still +in his night-gown, and bare-footed, to the mansion of Ryhove. All the +other leading members of the Catholic party were captured, the arrests +proceeding till a late hour in the night. Rassinghem, Sweveghem, Fisch, +De la Porta, and other prominent members of the Flemish estates or +council, were secured, but Champagny was allowed to make his escape. +The Bishops of Bruges and Ypres were less fortunate. Blood-councillor +Hessels, whose letter--genuine or counterfeited--had been so instrumental +in hastening this outbreak, was most carefully guarded, and to him and to +Senator Fisch the personal consequences of that night's work were to be +very tragic. + +Thus audaciously, successfully, and hitherto without bloodshed, was the +anti-Catholic revolution commenced in Flanders. The event was the first +of a long and most signal series. The deed was done. The provisional +government was established, at the head of which was placed Ryhove, to +whom oaths of allegiance were rendered, subject to the future +arrangements of the states-general and Orange: On the 9th of November, +the nobles, notables, and community of Ghent published an address, in +which they elaborately defended the revolution which had been effected +and the arrests which had taken place; while the Catholic party, with +Aerschot at its head, was declared to be secretly in league with Don John +to bring back the Spanish troops, to overthrow the Prince of Orange, to +deprive him of the protectorate of Brabant, to set at nought the Ghent +treaty, and to suppress the Reformed religion. + +The effect of this sudden rising of the popular party was prodigious +throughout the Netherlands. At the same time, the audacity of such +extreme proceedings could hardly be countenanced by any considerable +party in the states-general. Champagny wrote to the Prince of Orange +that, even if the letter of Hessels were genuine, it proved nothing +against Aerschot, and he urged the necessity of suppressing such scene of +licence immediately, through the influence of those who could command the +passions of the mob. Otherwise, he affirmed that all legitimate forms of +justice would disappear, and that it would be easy to set the bloodhounds +upon any game whatever. Saint Aldegonde wrote to the Prince, that it +would be a great point, but a very difficult one, to justify the Ghent +transaction; for there was little doubt that the Hessels letter was a +forgery. It was therefore as well, no doubt, that the Prince had not +decidedly committed himself to Ryhove's plot; and thus deprived himself +of the right to interfere afterwards, according to what seemed the claims +of justice and sound policy. + +He now sent Arend Van Dorp to Ghent, to remonstrate with the leaders of +the insurrection upon the violence of their measures, and to demand the +liberation of the prisoners--a request which was only complied with in +the case of Aerschot. That nobleman was liberated on the 14th of +November, under the condition that he would solemnly pledge himself to +forget and forgive the treatment which he had received, but the other +prisoners were retained in custody for a much longer period. A few weeks +afterwards, the Prince of Orange visited Ghent, at the earnest request of +the four estates of Flanders, and it was hoped that his presence would +contribute to the restoration of tranquillity. + +This visit was naturally honored by a brilliant display of "rhetorical" +spectacles and tableaux vivants; for nothing could exceed the passion of +the Netherlanders of that century for apologues and charades. In +allegory they found an ever-present comforter in their deepest +afflictions. The prince was escorted from the Town-gate to the Jacob's +church amid a blaze of tar-barrels and torches, although it was mid-day, +where a splendid exhibition had been arranged by that sovereign guild of +rhetoric, "Jesus with the Balsam Flower." The drama was called Judas +Maccabaeus, in compliment to the Prince. In the centre of the stage +stood the Hebrew patriot, in full armor, symbolizing the illustrious +guest doing battle for his country. He was attended by the three estates +of the country, ingeniously personified by a single individual, who wore +the velvet bonnet of a noble, the cassock of a priest, end the breeches +of a burgher. Groups of allegorical personages were drawn up on the +right and left;--Courage, Patriotism, Freedom, Mercy, Diligence, and +other estimable qualities upon one side, were balanced by Murder, Rapine, +Treason, and the rest of the sisterhood of Crime on the other. The +Inquisition was represented as a lean and hungry hag. The "Ghent +Pacification" was dressed in cramoisy satin, and wore a city on her head +for a turban; while; tied to her apron-strings were Catholicism and +Protestantism, bound in a loving embrace by a chain of seventeen links, +which she was forging upon an anvil. Under the anvil was an individual +in complete harness, engaged in eating his heart; this was Discord. In +front of the scene stood History and Rhetoric, attired as "triumphant +maidens, in white garments," each with a laurel crown and a burning +torch. These personages, after holding a rhymed dialogue between +themselves, filled with wonderful conceits and quibbles, addressed the +Prince of Orange and Maccabaeus, one after the other, in a great quantity +of very detestable verses. + +After much changing of scenes and groups, and an enormous quantity of +Flemish-woven poetry, the "Ghent Peace" came forward, leading a lion in +one hand, and holding a heart of pure gold in the other. The heart, upon +which was inscribed Sinceritas, was then presented to the real Prince, as +he sat "reposing after the spectacle," and perhaps slightly yawning, the +gift being accompanied by another tremendous discharge of complimentary +verses. After this, William of Orange was permitted to proceed towards +the lodgings provided for him, but the magistrates and notables met him +upon the threshold, and the pensionary made him a long oration. Even +after the Prince was fairly housed, he had not escaped the fangs of +allegory; for, while he sat at supper refreshing his exhausted frame +after so much personification and metaphor, a symbolical personage, +attired to represent the town corporation made his appearance, and poured +upon him a long and particularly dull heroic poem. Fortunately, this +episode closed the labors of the day. + +On the 7th of December, 1577, the states-general formally declared that +Don John was no longer Stadholder, Governor, nor Captain-General, but an +infractor of the peace which he had sworn to maintain, and an enemy of +the fatherland. All natives of the country who should show him favor or +assistance were declared rebels and traitors; and by a separate edict, +issued the same day, it was ordained that an inventory of the estates of +such persons should forthwith be taken. + +Thus the war, which had for a brief period been suspended during the +angry, tortuous, and hopeless negotiations which succeeded the arrival +of Don John, was once more to be let loose. To this point had tended all +the policy of Orange-faithful as ever to the proverb with which he had +broken off the Breda conferences, "that war was preferable to a doubtful +peace." Even, however, as his policy had pointed to a war as the +necessary forerunner of a solid peace with Spain, so had his efforts +already advanced the cause of internal religious concord within the +provinces themselves. On the 10th of December, a new act of union was +signed at Brussels, by which those of the Roman Church and those who had +retired from that communion bound themselves to respect and to protect +each other with mutual guarantees against all enemies whatsoever. +Here was a step beyond the Ghent Pacification, and in the same direction. +The first treaty tacitly introduced toleration by suppressing the right +of persecution, but the new union placed the Reformed religion on a level +with the old. This was the result of the Prince's efforts; and, in +truth, there was no lack of eagerness among these professors of a faith +which had been so long under ban, to take advantage of his presence. +Out of dark alleys, remote thickets, subterranean conventicles, where the +dissenters had so long been trembling for their lives, the oppressed now +came forth into the light of day. They indulged openly in those forms of +worship which persecution had affected to regard with as much holy horror +as the Badahuennan or Hercynian mysteries of Celtic ages could inspire, +and they worshipped boldly the common God of Catholic and Puritan, in the +words most consonant to their tastes, without dreading the gibbet as an +inevitable result of their audacity. + +In truth, the time had arrived for bringing the northern and southern, +the Celtic and German, the Protestant and Catholic, hearts together, or +else for acquiescing in their perpetual divorce. If the sentiment of +nationality, the cause of a common fatherland, could now overcome the +attachment to a particular form of worship--if a common danger and a +common destiny could now teach the great lesson of mutual toleration, +it might yet be possible to create a united Netherland, and defy for ever +the power of Spain. Since the Union of Brussels, of January, 1577, the +internal cancer of religious discord had again begun to corrode the body +politic. The Pacification of Ghent had found the door open to religious +toleration. It had not opened, but had left it open. The union of +Brussels had closed the door again. Contrary to the hopes of the Prince +of Orange and of the patriots who followed in his track, the sanction +given to the Roman religion had animated the Catholics to fresh arrogance +and fresh persecution. In the course of a few months, the only fruits of +the new union, from which so much had been hoped, were to be seen in +imprisonments, confiscations, banishments, executions. The Perpetual +Edict, by which the fifteen provinces had united in acknowledging Don +John while the Protestant stronghold of Holland and Zealand had been +placed in a state of isolation by the wise distrust of Orange, had +widened the breach between Catholics and Protestants. The subsequent +conduct of Don John had confirmed the suspicions and demonstrated the +sagacity of the Prince. The seizure of Namur and the open hostility +avowed by the Governor once more forced the provinces together. The +suppressed flames of nationality burst forth again. Catholic and +Protestant, Fleming and Hollander, instinctively approached each other, +and felt the necessity of standing once more shoulder to shoulder in +defence of their common rights. The Prince of Orange was called for by +the unanimous cry of the whole country. He came to Brussels. His first +step, as already narrated, was to break off negotiations which had been +already ratified by the votes of the states-general. The measure was +reconsidered, under pretence of adding certain amendments. Those +amendments were the unconditional articles of surrender proposed for +Don John's signature on the 25th of September--articles which could only +elicit words of defiance from his lips. + +Thus far the Prince's object was accomplished. A treacherous peace, +which would have ensured destruction, was averted, but a new obstacle to +the development of his broad and energetic schemes arose in the intrigue +which brought the Archduke from Vienna. The cabals of Orange's secret +enemies were again thwarted with the same adroitness to which his avowed +antagonists were forced to succumb. Matthias was made the exponent of +the new policy, the standard-bearer of the new union which the Prince now +succeeded in establishing; for his next step was immediately to impress +upon the provinces which had thus united in casting down the gauntlet to +a common enemy the necessity of uniting in a permanent league. One +province was already lost by the fall of Namur. The bonds of a permanent +union for the other sixteen could be constructed of but one material-- +religious toleration, and for a moment, the genius of Orange, always so +far beyond his age, succeeded in raising the mass of his countrymen to +the elevation upon which he had so long stood alone. + +The "new or nearer Union of Brussels" was signed on the 10th of December, +eleven months after the formation of the first union. This was the third +and, unfortunately, the last confederation of all the Netherlands. +The original records have been lost, but it is known that the measure +was accepted unanimously in the estates-general as soon as presented. +The leading Catholic nobles were with the army, but a deputation, sent +to the camp, returned with their signatures and hearty approval; with +the signatures and approval of such determined Catholics as the Lalains, +Meluns, Egmont, and La Motte. If such men could unite for the sake of +the fatherland in an act of religious toleration, what lofty hopes for +the future was not the Prince justified in forming; for it was the +Prince alone who accomplished this victory of reason over passion. +As a monument, not only of his genius, but of the elevated aspirations +of a whole people in an age of intolerance, the "closer Union of +Brussels" deserves especial place in the history of human progress. +Unfortunately, it was destined to a brief existence. The battle of +Gemblours was its death-blow, and before the end of a month, the union +thus hopefully constructed was shattered for ever. The Netherland +people was never united again. By the Union of Utrecht, seven states +subsequently rescued their existence, and lived to construct a powerful +republic. The rest were destined to remain for centuries in the +condition of provinces to a distant metropolis, to be shifted about as +make-weights in political balances, and only in our own age to come into +the honorable rank of independent constitutional states. + +The Prince had, moreover, strengthened himself for the coming struggle by +an alliance with England. The thrifty but politic Queen, fearing the +result of the secret practices of Alencon--whom Orange, as she suspected, +still kept in reserve to be played off, in case of need, against Matthias +and Don John--had at last consented to a treaty of alliance and subsidy. +On the 7th of January, 1578, the Marquis Havre, envoy from the estates, +concluded an arrangement in London, by which the Queen was to lend them +her credit--in other words, to endorse their obligations, to the amount +of one hundred thousand pounds sterling. The money was to be raised +wherever the states might be able to negotiate the bills, and her +liability was to cease within a year. She was likewise to be +collaterally secured by pledges from certain cities in the Netherlands. +This amount was certainly not colossal, while the conditions were +sufficiently parsimonious. At the same time a beginning was made, +and the principle of subsidy was established. The Queen, furthermore, +agreed to send five thousand infantry and one thousand cavalry to the +provinces, under the command of an officer of high rank, who was to have +a seat and vote in the Netherland Council of State. These troops were to +be paid by the provinces, but furnished by the Queen. The estates were +to form no treaty without her knowledge, nor undertake any movement of +importance without her consent. In case she should be herself attacked +by any foreign power, the provinces were to assist her to the same extent +as the amount of aid now afforded to themselves; and in case of a naval +war, with a fleet of at least forty ships. It had already been arranged +that the appointment of the Prince of Orange as Lieutenant-General for +Matthias was a 'sine qua non' in any treaty of assistance with England. +Soon after the conclusion of this convention, Sir Thomas Wilkes was +despatched on a special mission to Spain, and Mr. Leyton sent to confer +privately with Don John. It was not probable, however, that the +diplomatic skill of either would make this new arrangement palatable to +Philip or his Governor. + +Within a few days after their signature of this important treaty, the +Prince had, at length, wholly succeeded in conquering the conflicting +passions in the states-general, and in reconciling them, to a certain +extent, with each other. The closer union had been accepted, and now +thirty articles, which had been prepared under his superintendence, and +had already on the 17th of December been accepted by Matthias, were +established as the fundamental terms, according to which the Archduke was +to be received as Governor-General. No power whatever was accorded to +the young man, who had come so far with eager and ambitious views. As +the Prince had neither solicited nor desired a visit which had, on the +contrary, been the result of hostile machinations, the Archduke could +hardly complain that the power accorded him was but shadowy, and that his +presence was rendered superfluous. It was not surprising that the common +people gave him the name of Greffier, or registering clerk to the Prince; +for his functions were almost limited to the signing of acts which were +countersigned by Orange. According to the stipulations of the Queen of +England, and the views of the whole popular party, the Prince remained +Ruward of Brabant, notwithstanding the appointment of a nominal Governor- +General, by whom his own duties were to be superseded. + +The articles which were laid down as the basis upon which the Archduke +was to be accepted; composed an ample representative constitution, by +which all the legislative and many of the executive powers of government +were bestowed upon the states-general or upon the council by them to be +elected. To avoid remaining in the condition of a people thus left +without a head, the states declared themselves willing to accept Matthias +as Governor-General, on condition of the King's subsequent approbation, +and upon the general basis of the Ghent treaty. The Archduke, moreover, +was to take an oath of allegiance to the King and to the states-general +at the same time. He was to govern the land by the advice of a state +council, the members of which were to be appointed by the states-general, +and were "to be native Netherlanders, true patriots; and neither +ambitious nor greedy." In all matters discussed before the state +council, a majority of votes was to decide. The Governor-General, with +his Council of State, should conclude nothing concerning the common +affairs of the nation--such as requests, loans, treaties of peace or +declarations of war, alliances or confederacies with foreign nations-- +without the consent of the states-general. He was to issue no edict or +ordinance, and introduce no law, without the consent of the same body +duly assembled, and representing each individual province. A majority of +the members was declared necessary to a quorum of the council. All acts +and despatches were to be drawn up by a member of the board. The states- +general were to assemble when, where, and as often as, and remain in +session as long as, they might think it expedient. At the request of any +individual province, concerning matters about which a convention of the +generality was customary, the other states should be bound to assemble +without waiting for directions from the Governor-General. The estates of +each particular province were to assemble at their pleasure. The +governor and council, with advice of the states-general, were to appoint +all the principal military officers. Troops were to be enrolled and +garrisons established by and with the consent of the states. Governors +of provinces were to be appointed by the Governor-General, with advice +of his council, and with the consent of the estates of the province +interested. All military affairs were to be conducted during war by +the governor, with advice of his council, while the estates were to have +absolute control over the levying and expenditure of the common funds of +the country. + +It is sufficiently plain from this brief summary, that the powers thus +conferred upon Matthias alone, were absolutely null, while those which he +might exercise in conjunction with the state council, were not much more +extensive. The actual force of the government--legislative, executive, +and, administrative--was lodged in the general assembly, while no +authority was left to the King, except the nominal right to approve these +revolutionary proceedings, according to the statement in the preamble. +Such a reservation in favor of his Majesty seemed a superfluous sarcasm. +It was furthermore resolved that the Prince of Orange should be appointed +Lieutenant-General for Matthias, and be continued in his office of +Ruward. This constitution, drawn up under the superintendence of the +Prince, had been already accepted by Matthias, while still at Antwerp, +and upon the 18th of January, 1578, the ceremony of his inauguration took +place. + +It was the third triumphal procession which Brussels had witnessed within +nine months. It was also the most brilliant of all; for the burghers, as +if to make amends to the Archduke for the actual nullity to which he had +been reduced, seemed resolved to raise him to the seventh heaven of +allegory. By the rhetorical guilds he was regarded as the most brilliant +constellation of virtues which had yet shone above the Flemish horizon. +A brilliant cavalcade, headed by Orange, accompanied by Count John of +Nassau, the Prince de Chimay and other notables, met him at Vilvoorde, +and escorted him to the city gate. On an open field, outside the town, +Count Bossu had arranged a review of troops, concluding with a sham- +fight, which, in the words of a classical contemporary, seemed as "bloody +a rencontre as that between Duke Miltiades of Athens and King Darius upon +the plains of Attics." The procession entered the Louvain gate, through +a splendid triumphal arch, filled with a band of invisible musicians. +"I believe that Orpheus had never played so melodiously on his harp," +says the same authority, "nor Apollo on his lyre, nor Pan on his lute, as +the city waits then performed." On entering the gates, Matthias was at +once delivered over to the hands of mythology, the burghers and +rhetoricians taking possession of their illustrious captive, and being +determined to outdo themselves in demonstrations of welcome. The +representatives of the "nine nations" of Brussels met him in the Ritter- +street, followed by a gorgeous retinue. Although it was mid-day, all +bore flaming torches. Although it was January, the streets were strewed +with flowers. The houses were festooned with garlands, and hung with +brilliant silks and velvets. The streets were thronged with spectators, +and encumbered with triumphal arches. On the Grande Place always the +central scene in Brussels, whether for comedies, or tournaments, or +executions, the principal dramatic effects had been accumulated. The +splendid front of the Hotel de Ville was wreathed with scarfs and +banners; its windows and balconies, as well as those of the picturesque +houses which formed the square, were crowded with gaily-dressed women. +Upon the area of the place, twenty-four theatres had been erected, where +a aeries of magnificent living pictures were represented by the most +beautiful young females that could be found in the city. All were +attired in brocades, embroideries, and cloth of gold. The subjects of +the tableaux vivants were, of course, most classic, for the Netherlanders +were nothing, if not allegorical; yet, as spectacles, provided by +burghers and artisans for the amusement of their fellow-citizens, they +certainly proved a considerable culture in the people who could thus be +amused. All the groups were artistically arranged. Upon one theatre +stood Juno with her peacock, presenting Matthias with the city of +Brussels, which she held, beautifully modelled, in her hand. Upon +another, Cybele gave him the keys, Reason handed him a bridle, Hebe a +basket of flowers, Wisdom a looking-glass and two law books, Diligence a +pair of spurs; while Constancy, Magnanimity, Prudence, and other virtues, +furnished him with a helmet; corslet, spear, and shield. Upon other +theatres, Bellona presented him with several men-at-arms, tied in a +bundle; Fame gave him her trumpet, and Glory her crown. Upon one stage +Quintus Curtius, on horseback, was seen plunging into the yawning abyss; +upon six others Scipio Africanus was exhibited, as he appeared in the +most picturesque moments of his career. The beardless Archduke had never +achieved anything, save his nocturnal escape from Vienna in his night- +gown; but the honest Flemings chose to regard him as a re-incarnation of +those two eminent Romans. Carried away by their own learning, they +already looked upon him as a myth; and such indeed he was destined to +remain throughout his Netherland career. After surveying all these +wonders, Matthias was led up the hill again to the ducal palace, where, +after hearing speeches and odes till he was exhausted, he was at last +allowed to eat his supper and go to bed. + +Meantime the citizens feasted in the streets. Bonfires were blazing +everywhere, at which the people roasted "geese, pigs, capons, partridges, +and chickens," while upon all sides were the merriest piping and dancing. +Of a sudden, a fiery dragon was seen flying through the air. It poised +for a while over the heads of the revelling crowd in the Grande Place, +and then burst with a prodigious explosion, sending forth rockets and +other fireworks in every direction. This exhibition, then a new one, +so frightened the people, that they all took to their heels, "as if a +thousand soldiers had assaulted them," tumbling over each other in great +confusion, and so dispersing to their homes. + +The next day Matthias took the oaths as Governor-General, to support the +new constitution, while the Prince of Orange was sworn in as Lieutenant- +General and Governor of Brabant. Upon the next a splendid banquet was +given them in the grand ball of the Hotel de Ville, by the states- +general, and when the cloth was removed, Rhetoric made her last and most +ingenious demonstration, through the famous guild of "Mary with the +Flower Garland." + +Two individuals--the one attired as a respectable burgher; the other as a +clerical personage in gown and bands-made their appearance upon a stage, +opposite the seats of their Highnesses, and pronounced a long dialogue in +rhyme. One of the speakers rejoiced in the appellation of the "Desiring +Heart," the other was called "Common Comfort." Common Sense might have +been more to the purpose, but appeared to have no part in the play. +Desiring Heart, being of an inquisitive disposition, propounded a series +of puzzling questions, mythological in their nature, which seemed like +classical conundrums, having reference, mainly, to the proceedings of +Venus, Neptune, Juno, and other divinities. They appeared to have little +to do with Matthias or the matter in hand, but Common Comfort knew +better. That clerical personage, accordingly, in a handsome allowance of +rhymes, informed his despairing colleague that everything would end well; +that Jupiter, Diana, Venus, and the rest of them would all do their duty, +and that Belgica would be relieved from all her woes, at the advent of a +certain individual. Whereupon cried Desiring Heart, + + Oh Common Comfort who is he? + His name, and of what family? + +To which Comfort responded by mentioning the Archduke, in a poetical and +highly-complimentary strain, with handsome allusions to the inevitable +Quintus Curtius and Scipio Africanus. The concluding words of the speech +were not spoken, but were taken as the cue for a splendid charade; the +long-suffering Scipio again making his appearance, in company with +Alexander and Hannibal; the group typifying the future government of +Matthias. After each of these, heroic individuals had spouted a hundred +lines or so, the play was terminated, and Rhetoric took her departure. +The company had remained at table during this long representation, and +now the dessert was served, consisting of a "richly triumphant banquet of +confectionary, marmalade, and all kinds of genteelnesses in sugar." + +Meanwhile, Don John sat chafing and almost frenzied with rage at Namur. +Certainly he had reasons enough for losing his temper. Never since the +days of Maximilian had king's brother been so bearded by rebels. The +Cross was humbled in the dust, the royal authority openly derided, his +Majesty's representative locked up in a fortress, while "the accursed +Prince of Orange" reigned supreme in Brussels, with an imperial Archduke +for his private secretary. + +The Governor addressed a long, private, and most bitter letter to the +Emperor, for the purpose of setting himself right in the opinion of that +potentate, and of giving him certain hints as to what was expected of the +imperial court by Philip and himself. He expressed confidence that the +imperial commissioners would have some effect in bringing about the +pacification of the Netherlands, and protested his own strong desire for +such a result, provided always that the two great points of the Catholic +religion and his Majesty's authority were preserved intact. "In the hope +that those articles would be maintained," said he, "I have emptied cities +and important places of their garrisons, when I might easily have kept +the soldiers, and with the soldiers the places, against all the world, +instead of consigning them to the care of men who at this hour have arms +in their hand against their natural prince." He declared vehemently that +in all his conduct, since his arrival in the provinces, he had been +governed exclusively by the interests of Philip, an object which he +should steadily pursue to the end. He urged, too, that the Emperor, +being of the same house as Philip, and therefore more obliged than all +others to sustain his quarrel, would do well to espouse his cause with +all the warmth possible. "The forgetfulness by vassals," said Don John, +"of the obedience due to their sovereign is so dangerous, that all princes +and potentates, even those at the moment exempt from trouble; should +assist in preparing the remedy, in order that their subjects also may not +take it into their heads to do the like, liberty being a contagious +disease, which goes on infecting one neighbour after another, if the cure +be not promptly applied." It was, he averred, a desperate state of +things for monarchs, when subjects having obtained such concessions as +the Netherlanders had obtained, nevertheless loved him and obeyed him so +little. They showed, but too clearly, that the causes alleged by them +had been but pretexts, in order to effect designs, long ago conceived, +to overthrow the ancient constitution of the country, and to live +thenceforward in unbridled liberty. So many indecent acts had been +committed prejudicial to religion and to his Majesty's grandeur, that the +Governor avowed his, determination to have no farther communication with +the provinces without fresh commands to that effect. He begged the +Emperor to pay no heed to what the states said, but to observe what they +did. He assured him that nothing could be more senseless than the +reports that Philip and his Governor-General in the Netherlands were +negotiating with France, for the purpose of alienating the provinces from +the Austrian crown. Philip, being chief of the family, and sovereign of +the Netherlands, could not commit the absurdity of giving away his own +property to other people, nor would Don John choose to be an instrument +in so foolish a transaction. The Governor entreated the Emperor, +therefore, to consider such fables as the invention of malcontents and +traitors, of whom there were no lack at his court, and to remember that +nothing was more necessary for the preservation of the greatness of his +family than to cultivate the best relations with all its members. +"Therefore," said he, with an absurd affectation of candor, "although I +make no doubt whatever that the expedition hitherwards of the Archduke +Matthias has been made with the best intentions; nevertheless, many are +of opinion that it would have been better altogether omitted. If the +Archduke," he continued, with hardly dissembled irony, "be desirous of +taking charge of his Majesty's affairs, it would be preferable to employ +himself in the customary manner. Your Majesty would do a laudable action +by recalling him from this place, according to your Majesty's promise to +me to that effect." In conclusion, Don John complained that difficulties +had been placed in his way for making levies of troops in the Empire, +while every facility had been afforded to the rebels. He therefore +urgently insisted that so unnatural and unjust a condition of affairs +should be remedied. + +Don John was not sorry in his heart that the crisis was at last come. +His chain was broken. His wrath exploded in his first interview with +Leyton, the English envoy, whom Queen Elizabeth had despatched to calm, +if possible, his inevitable anger at her recent treaty with the states. +He knew nothing of England, he said, nor of France, nor of the Emperor. +His Catholic Majesty had commissioned him now to make war upon these +rebellious provinces. He would do it with all his heart. As for the +Emperor, he would unchain the Turks upon him for his perfidy. As for the +burghers of Brussels, they would soon feel his vengeance. + +It was very obvious that these were not idle threats. War had again +broken loose throughout these doomed provinces. A small but well- +appointed army had been rapidly collecting under the banner of Don John +at Luxemburg, Peter Ernest Mansfeld had brought many well-trained troops +from France, and Prince Alexander of Parma had arrived with several +choice and veteran regiments of Italy and Spain. The old schoolfellow, +playmate and comrade of Don John, was shocked-on his arrival, to witness +the attenuated frame and care-worn features of his uncle. The son of +Charles the Fifth, the hero of Lepanto, seemed even to have lost the air +of majesty which was so natural to him, for petty insults, perpetual +crosses, seemed to have left their squalid traces upon his features. +Nevertheless, the crusader was alive again, at the notes of warlike +preparations which now resounded throughout the land. + +On the 25th of January he issued a proclamation, couched in three +languages--French, German, and Flemish. He declared in this document +that he had not come to enslave the provinces, but to protect them. At +the same time he meant to re-establish his Majesty's authority, and the +down-trod religion of Rome. He summoned all citizens and all soldiers +throughout the provinces to join his banners, offering them pardon for +their past offences, and protection against heretics and rebels. This +declaration was the natural consequence of the exchange of defiances +which had already taken place, and it was evident also that the angry +manifesto was soon to be followed up by vigorous blows. The army of Don +John already numbered more than twenty thousand well-seasoned and +disciplined veterans. He was himself the most illustrious chieftain in +Europe. He was surrounded by lieutenants cf the most brilliant +reputation. Alexander of Parma, who had fought with distinction at +Lepanto, was already recognised as possessing that signal military genius +which was soon to stamp him as the first soldier of his age, while +Mansfeld, Mondragon, Mendoza, and other distinguished officers, who had +already won so much fame in the Netherlands, had now returned to the +scene of their former achievements. + +On the other hand, the military affairs of the states were in confusion. +Troops in nearly equal numbers to those of the royal army had been +assembled, but the chief offices had been bestowed, by a mistaken policy, +upon the great nobles. Already the jealousy of Orange, entertained by +their whole order was painfully apparent. Notwithstanding the signal +popularity which had made his appointment as Lieutenant-general +inevitable it was not easy for him always to vindicate his authority +over captious and rival magnates. He had every wish to conciliate the +affections of men whom he could not in his heart respect, and he went +as far in gratifying their ambition as comported with his own dignity; +perhaps farther than was consistent with the national interests. He was +still willing to trust Lalain, of whose good affection to the country +he felt sure. Re had even been desirous of declining the office of +Lieutenant-General, in order to avoid giving that nobleman the least +occasion to think "that he would do him, or any other gentleman of the +army, prejudice in any single matter in the world." This magnanimity +had, not been repaid with corresponding confidence. We have already seen +that Lalain had been secretly in the interest of Anjou ever since his +wife and himself had lost their hearts to Margaret of Navarre; yet the +Count was chief commander of the infantry in the states' army then +assembled. Robert Melun, Vicomte de Gand, was commander of the cavalry, +but he had recently been private envoy from Don John to the English +Queen. Both these gentlemen, together with Pardieu De la Motte, general +of the artillery, were voluntarily absent from the forces, under pretext +of celebrating the wedding of the Seigneur De Bersel with the niece and +heiress of the unfortunate Marquis of Bergen. The ghost of that ill- +starred noble might almost have seemed to rise at the nuptial banquet of +his heiress, to warn the traitors of the signal and bloody massacre which +their treachery was soon to occasion. Philip Egmont, eldest son of the +famous Lamoral, was with the army, as was the Seigneur de Heze, hero of +the State Council's arrest, and the unstable Havre. But little was to be +hoped from such leaders. Indeed, the affairs of the states continued to +be in as perplexed a condition as that which honest John of Nassau had +described some weeks before. "There were very few patriots," he had +said, "but plenty of priests, with no lack of inexperienced lads--some +looking for distinction, and others for pelf." + +The two armies had been mustered in the latter days of January. The Pope +had issued a bull for the benefit of Don John, precisely similar to those +formerly employed in the crusades against the Saracens. Authority was +given him to levy contributions upon ecclesiastical property, while full +absolution, at the hour of death, for all crimes committed during a whole +lifetime, was proclaimed to those who should now join the standard of +the Cross. There was at least no concealment. The Crescent-wearing +Zealanders had been taken at their word, and the whole nation of +Netherlanders were formally banned as unbelievers. The forces of Don +John were mustered at Marche in Luxemburg; those of the states in a plain +within a few miles of Namur. Both armies were nearly equal in number, +amounting to nearly twenty thousand each, including a force of two +thousand cavalry on each side. It had been the original intention of the +patriots to attack Don John in Namur. Having learned, however, that he +purposed marching forth himself to offer battle, they decided to fall +back upon Gemblours, which was nine miles distant from that city. On the +last day of January, they accordingly broke up their camp at Saint +Martius, before dawn, and marched towards Gemblours. The chief commander +was De Goignies, an old soldier of Charles the Fifth, who had also fought +at Saint Quintin. The states' army was disposed in three divisions. The +van consisted of the infantry regiments of De Heze and Montigny, flanked +by a protective body of light horse. The centre, composed of the Walloon +and German regiments, with a few companies of French, and thirteen +companies of Scotch and English under Colonel Balfour, was commanded by +two most distinguished officers, Bossu and Champagny. The rear, which, +of course, was the post of responsibility and honor, comprised all the +heavy cavalry, and was commanded by Philip Egmont and Lumey de la Marck. +The Marquis Havre and the General-in-chief, Goignies, rode to and fro, +as the army proceeded, each attended by his staff. The troops of Don +John broke up from before Namur with the earliest dawn, and marched in +pursuit of the retiring foe. In front was nearly the whole of the +cavalry-carabineers, lancers, and heavy dragoons. The centre, arranged +in two squares, consisted chiefly of Spanish infantry, with a lesser +number of Germans. In the rear came the Walloons, marching also in a +square, and protecting the baggage and ammunition. Charles Mansfeld had +been left behind with a reserved force, stationed on the Meuse; Ottavio +Gonzaga commanded in front, Ernest Mansfeld brought up the rear; while in +the centre rode Don John himself, attended by the Prince of Parma. Over +his head streamed the crucifix-emblazoned banner, with its memorable +inscription--In hoc signo vici Turcos, in hoc Haereticos vincam. + +Small detachments of cavalry had been sent forward; under Olivera and +Acosta, to scour the roads and forests, and to disturb all ambuscades +which might have been prepared. From some stragglers captured by these +officers, the plans of the retreating generals were learned. The +winter's day was not far advanced, when the rearward columns of the +states' army were descried in the distance. Don John, making a selection +of some six hundred cavalry, all picked men, with a thousand infantry, +divided the whole into two bodies, which he placed under command of +Gonzaga and the famous old Christopher Mondragon. These officers +received orders to hang on the rear of the enemy, to harass him, and to +do him all possible damage consistent with the possibility of avoiding a +general engagement, until the main army under Parma and Don John should +arrive. The orders were at first strictly obeyed. As the skirmishing +grew hotter, however, Goazaga observed that a spirited cavalry officer, +named Perotti, had already advanced, with a handful of men, much further +within the reach of the hostile forces than was deemed expedient. He +sent hastily to recal the too eager chieftain. The order, delivered in a +tone more peremptory than agreeable, was flatly disobeyed. "Tell Ottavio +Gonzaga," said Perotti, "that I never yet turned my back on the enemy, +nor shall I now begin. Moreover, were I ever so much inclined to do so, +retreat is impossible." The retiring army was then proceeding along the +borders of a deep ravine, filled with mire and water, and as broad and +more dangerous than a river. In the midst of the skirmishing, Alexander +of Parma rode up to reconnoitre. He saw at once that the columns of the +enemy were marching unsteadily to avoid being precipitated into this +creek. He observed the waving of their spears, the general confusion of +their ranks, and was quick to take advantage of the fortunate moment. +Pointing out to the officers about him the opportunity thus offered of +attacking the retiring army unawares in flank, he assembled, with great +rapidity, the foremost companies of cavalry already detached from the +main body. Mounting a fresh and powerful horse, which Camillo Monte held +in readiness for him, he signified his intention of dashing through the +dangerous ravine, and dealing a stroke where it was least expected, "Tell +Don John of Austria," he cried to an officer whom he sent back to the +Commander-in-chief, "that Alexander of Parma has plunged into the abyss, +to perish there, or to come-forth again victorious." + +The sudden thought was executed with lightning-like celerity. In an +instant the bold rider was already struggling through the dangerous +swamp; in another, his powerful charger had carried him across. Halting +for a few minutes, lance in rest, till his troops had also forced their +passage, gained the level ground unperceived, and sufficiently breathed +their horses, he drew up his little force in a compact column. Then, +with a few words of encouragement, he launched them at the foe. The +violent and entirely unexpected shock was even more successful than the +Prince had anticipated. The hostile cavalry reeled and fell into +hopeless confusion, Egmont in vain striving to rally them to resistance. +That name had lost its magic. Goignies also attempted, without success, +to restore order among the panic-struck ranks. The sudden conception of +Parma, executed as suddenly and in so brilliant a manner, had been +decisive. Assaulted in flank and rear at the same moment, and already in +temporary confusion, the cavalry of the enemy turned their backs and +fled. The centre of the states' army thus left exposed, was now warmly +attacked by Parma. It had, moreover, been already thrown into disorder +by the retreat of its own horse, as they charged through them in rapid +and disgraceful panic. The whole army bloke to pieces at once, and so +great was the trepidation, that the conquered troops had hardly courage +to run away. They were utterly incapable of combat. Not a blow was +struck by the fugitives. Hardly a man in the Spanish ranks was wounded; +while, in the course of an hour and a half, the whole force of the enemy +was exterminated. It is impossible to state with accuracy the exact +numbers slain. Some accounts spoke of ten thousand killed, or captive, +with absolutely no loss on the royal side. Moreover, this slaughter was +effected, not by the army under Don John, but by so small a fragment of +it, that some historians have even set down the whole number of royalists +engaged at the commencement of the action, at six hundred, increased +afterwards to twelve hundred. By this calculation, each Spaniard engaged +must have killed ten enemies with his own hand; and that within an hour +and a half's space! Other historians more wisely omit the exact +statistics of the massacre, and allow that a very few--ten or eleven, at +most--were slain within the Spanish ranks. This, however, is the utmost +that is claimed by even the Netherland historians, and it is, at any +rate, certain that the whole states' army was annihilated. + +Rarely had a more brilliant exploit been performed by a handful of +cavalry. To the distinguished Alexander of Parma, who improvised so +striking and complete a victory out of a fortuitous circumstance, +belonged the whole credit of the day, for his quick eye detected a +passing weakness of the enemy, and turned it to terrible account with the +promptness which comes from genius alone. A whole army was overthrown. +Everything belonging to the enemy fell into the hands of the Spaniards. +Thirty-four standards, many field-pieces, much camp equipage, and +ammunition, besides some seven or eight thousand dead bodies, and six +hundred living prisoners, were the spoils of that winter's day. Of the +captives, some were soon afterwards hurled off the bridge at Namur, and +drowned like dogs in the Meuse, while the rest were all hanged, none +escaping with life. Don John's clemency was not superior to that of his +sanguinary predecessors. + +And so another proof was added--if proofs were still necessary of Spanish +prowess. The Netherlanders may be pardoned if their foes seemed to them +supernatural, and almost invulnerable. How else could these enormous +successes be accounted for? How else could thousands fall before the +Spanish swords, while hardly a single Spanish corpse told of effectual +resistance? At Jemmingen, Alva had lost seven soldiers, and slain seven +thousand; in the Antwerp Fury, two hundred Spaniards, at most, had +fallen, while eight thousand burghers and states' troops had been +butchered; and now at Gemblours, six, seven, eight, ten--Heaven knew how +many--thousand had been exterminated, and hardly a single Spaniard had +been slain! Undoubtedly, the first reason for this result was the +superiority of the Spanish soldiers. They were the boldest, the best +disciplined, the most experienced in the world. Their audacity, +promptness, and ferocity made them almost invincible. In this particular +action, at least half the army of Don John was composed of Spanish or +Spanish-Italian veterans. Moreover, they were commanded by the most +renowned captains of the age--by Don John himself, and Alexander of +Parma, sustained by such veterans as Mondragon, the hero of the memorable +submarine expeditions; Mendoza, the accomplished cavalry officer, +diplomatist, and historian; and Mansfeld, of whom Don John had himself +written to the King that his Majesty had not another officer of such +account in all the Netherlands. Such officers as these, besides Gonzaga, +Camillo Monte, Mucio Pagano, at the head of such troops as fought that +day under the banner of the Cross, might go far in accounting for this +last and most tremendous victory of the Inquisition. On the other hand, +although Bossu and Champagny were with the states' army, yet their hearts +were hardly with the cause. Both had long been loyal, and had earned +many laurels against the rebels, while Champagny was still devoutly a +Papist, and wavered painfully between his hatred to heresy and to Spain. +Egmont and De Heze were raw, unpractised lads, in whom genius did not +come to supply the place of experience. The Commander, De Goignies, was +a veteran, but a veteran who had never gained much glory, and the chiefs +of the cavalry, infantry, and artillery, were absent at the Brussels +wedding. The news of this additional massacre inflicted upon a nation, +for which Berghen and Montigny had laid down their lives, was the nuptial +benediction for Berghen's heiress; for it was to the chief wedding guests +upon, that occasion that the disaster was justly attributed. The rank +and file of the states' army were mainly mercenaries, with whom the hope +of plunder was the prevailing motive; the chief commanders were absent; +while those officers who were with the troops were neither heartily +friendly to their own flag nor sufficiently experienced to make it +respected. + + + + +ETEXT EDITOR'S BOOKMARKS: + +Absurd affectation of candor +Always less apt to complain of irrevocable events +Imagined, and did the work of truth +Judas Maccabaeus +Neither ambitious nor greedy +Superfluous sarcasm + + + + +End of this Project Gutenberg Etext of The Dutch Republic, v29 +by John Lothrop Motley + + + + + + +MOTLEY'S HISTORY OF THE NETHERLANDS, Project Gutenberg Edition, Vol. 30 + +THE RISE OF THE DUTCH REPUBLIC + +By John Lothrop Motley + +1855 + + + +CHAPTER V. + + Towns taken by Don John--Wrath excited against the aristocratic + party by the recent defeat--Attempts upon Amsterdam--"Satisfaction" + of Amsterdam and its effects--De Selles sent with royal letters from + Spain--Terms offered by Philip--Proclamation of Don John-- + Correspondence between de Selles and the States-General--Between the + King and the Governor-General--New forces raised by the States--St. + Aldegonde at the Diet--Municipal revolution in Amsterdam--The + Prince's letter on the subject of the Anabaptists of Middelburg-- + The two armies inactive--De la None--Action at Rijnemants--John + Casimir--Perverse politics of Queen Elizabeth--Alencon in the + Netherlands--Portrait of the Duke--Orange's position in regard to + him--Avowed and supposed policy of the French court--Anger of + Elizabeth--Terms arranged between Alencon and the Estates--Renewed + negotiations with Don John--Severe terms offered him--Interview of + the English envoys with the Governor--Despondency of Don John-- + Orange's attempts to enforce a religious peace--His isolation in + sentiment--The malcontent party--Count John Governor of Gelderland + --Proposed form of religious peace--Proclamation to that effect by + Orange, in Antwerp--A petition in favor of the Roman Church + presented by Champagny and other Catholic nobles to the States-- + General--Consequent commotion in Brussels--Champagny and others + imprisoned--Indolence and poverty of the two armies--Illness and + melancholy of Don John--His letters to Doria, to Mendoza, and to the + King--Death of Don John--Suspicions of poison--Pompous burial-- + Removal of his body to Spain--Concluding remarks upon his character. + +Don John having thus vindicated his own military fame and the amazing +superiority of the Spanish arms, followed up his victory by the rapid +reduction of many towns of second-rate importance Louvain, Judoigne, +Tirlemont, Aerschot, Bauvignes, Sichem, Nivelle, Roeux, Soignies, Binch, +Beaumont, Walcourt, Tviaubeuge, and Chimay, either submitted to their +conqueror, or were taken after short sieges. The usual atrocities were +inflicted upon the unfortunate inhabitants of towns where resistance was +attempted. The commandant of Sichem was hanged out of his own window, +along with several chief burghers and officers, while the garrison was +put to the sword, and the bodies cast into the Denver. The only crime +committed by these unfortunates was to have ventured a blow or two in +behalf of the firesides which they were employed to protect. + +In Brussels, on the other hand, there was less consternation excited by +these events than boundless rage against the aristocratic party, for the +defeat of Gemblours was attributed, with justice, to the intrigues and +the incapacity of the Catholic magnates. It was with difficulty that +Orange, going about by night from house to house, from street to street, +succeeded in calming the indignation of the people, and in preventing +them from sweeping in a mass to the residence of the leading nobles, in +order to inflict summary vengeance on the traitors. All looked to the +Prince as their only saviour, not a thought nor a word being wasted upon +Matthias. Not a voice was raised in the assembly to vindicate the secret +proceedings of the Catholic party, nor to oppose the measures which the +Prince might suggest. The terrible disaster had taught the necessity of +union. All parties heartily joined in the necessary steps to place the +capital in a state of complete defence, and to assemble forthwith new +troops to take the place of the army just annihilated. The victor gained +nothing by his victory, in comparison with the profit acquired by the +states through their common misfortune. Nor were all the towns which +had recently fallen into the hands of Don John at all comparable in +importance to the city of Amsterdam, which now, by a most timely +arrangement, furnished a rich compensation to the national party for the +disaster of Gemblours. + +Since the conclusion of the Ghent Pacification, it had been the most +earnest wish of the Prince, and of Holland and Zealand, to recover +possession of this most important city. The wish was naturally shared +by every true patriot in the states-general. It had, however, been +extremely difficult to arrange the terms of the "Satisfaction." Every +fresh attempt at an amicable compromise was wrecked upon the obstinate +bigotry of the leading civic authorities. They would make no agreement +to accept the authority of Orange, except, as Saint Aldegonde expressed +himself; upon terms which would enable them "to govern their governor." +The influence of the monks, who were resident in large numbers within the +city, and of the magistrates, who were all stanch Catholics, had been +hitherto sufficient to outweigh the efforts made by the large masses of +the Reformed religionists composing the bulk of the population. It was, +however, impossible to allow Amsterdam to remain in this isolated and +hostile attitude to the rest of Holland. The Prince, having promised to +use no coercion, and loyally adhering to his pledge, had only with +extreme difficulty restrained the violence of the Hollanders and +Zealanders, who were determined, by fair means or foul, to restore the +capital city to its natural place within his stadholderate. He had been +obliged, on various occasions, particularly on the 21st of October of the +preceding year, to address a most decided and peremptory letter to the +estates of Holland and Zealand, forbidding the employment of hostile +measures against Amsterdam. His commands had been reluctantly, +partially, and only temporarily obeyed. The states desisted from +their scheme of reducing the city by famine, but they did not the less +encourage the secret and unofficial expeditions which were daily set on +foot to accomplish the annexation by a sudden enterprise. + +Late in November, a desperate attempt had been made by Colonel Helling, +in conjunction with Governor Sonoy, to carry the city by surprise. The +force which the adventurer collected for the purpose was inadequate, and +his plans were unskilfully arranged. He was himself slain in the +streets, at the very commencement of the action; whereupon, in the quaint +language of the contemporary chronicler, "the hearts of his soldiers sank +in their shoes," and they evacuated the city with much greater rapidity +than they had entered it. The Prince was indignant at these violent +measures, which retarded rather than advanced the desired consummation. +At the same time it was an evil of immense magnitude--this anomalous +condition of his capital. Ceaseless schemes were concerted by the +municipal and clerical conspirators within its walls, and various +attempts were known, at different times, to have been contemplated by Don +John, to inflict a home-thrust upon the provinces of Holland and Zealand +at the most vulnerable and vital point. The "Satisfaction" accepted by +Utrecht, in the autumn of 1577, had, however, paved the way for the +recovery of Amsterdam; so that upon February the 8th, 1578, certain +deputies from Utrecht succeeded at last in arranging terms, which were +accepted by the sister city. The basis of the treaty was, as usual, +the nominal supremacy of the Catholic religion, with toleration for the +Reformed worship. The necessary effect would be, as in Harlem, Utrecht, +and other places, to establish the new religion upon an entire equality +with the old. It was arranged that no congregations were to be disturbed +in their religious exercises in the places respectively assigned to them. +Those of the Reformed faith were to celebrate their worship without the +walls. They were, however, to enjoy the right of burying their dead +within these precincts, and it is singular how much importance was +attached at that day to a custom, at which the common sentiment and the +common sense of modern times revolt. "To bury our dead within our own +cities is a right hardly to be denied to a dog," said the Prince of +Orange; and accordingly this right was amply secured by the new +Satisfaction of Amsterdam. It was, however, stipulated that the funerals +should be modest, and attended by no more than twenty-four persons at +once. The treaty was hailed with boundless joy in Holland and Zealand, +while countless benedictions were invoked upon the "blessed peace- +makers," as the Utrecht deputies walked through the streets of Amsterdam. +There is no doubt that the triumph thus achieved by the national party +far counterbalanced the Governor-General's victory at Gemblours. + +Meantime, the Seigneur de Selles, brother of the deceased Noircarmes, had +arrived from Spain. He was the special bearer of a letter from the King +to the states-general, written in reply to their communications of the +24th of August and 8th of September of the previous year. The tone of +the royal despatch was very affectionate, the substance such as entirely +to justify the whole policy of Orange. It was obvious that the +penetrating and steadfast statesman had been correct in refusing to be +moved to the right or the left by the specious language of Philip's +former letters, or by the apparent frankness of Don John. No doubt the +Governor had been sincere in his desire for peace, but the Prince knew +very well his incapacity to confer that blessing. The Prince knew--what +no man else appeared fully to comprehend at that epoch--that the mortal +combat between the Inquisition and the Reformation was already fully +engaged. The great battle between divine reason and right divine, on +which the interests of unborn generations were hanging, was to be fought +out, before the eyes of all Christendom, on the plain of the Netherlands. + +Orange was willing to lay down his arms if he could receive security for +the Reformed worship. He had no desire to exterminate the ancient +religion, but he meant also to protect the new against extermination. +Such security, he felt, would never be granted, and he had therefore +resolutely refused to hearken to Don John, for he was sure that peace +with him was impossible. The letters now produced by De Selles confirmed +his positions completely. The King said not a word concerning the +appointment of a new governor-general, but boldly insisted upon the +necessity of maintaining the two cardinal points--his royal supremacy, +and the Catholic religion upon the basis adopted by his father, the +Emperor Charles the Fifth. + +This was the whole substance of his communication: the supremacy of +royalty and of papacy as in the time of Charles the Fifth. These +cabalistic words were repeated twice in the brief letter to the estates. +They were repeated five times in the instructions furnished by his +Majesty to De Selles. The letter and the instructions indeed contained +nothing else. Two simples were offered for the cure of the body politic, +racked by the fever and convulsion of ten horrible years--two simples +which the patient could hardly be so unreasonable as to reject--unlimited +despotism and religious persecution. The whole matter lay in a nut- +shell, but it was a nut-shell which enclosed the flaming edicts of +Charles the Fifth, with their scaffolds, gibbets, racks, and funeral +piles. The Prince and the states-general spurned such pacific overtures, +and preferred rather to gird themselves for the combat. + +That there might be no mistake about the matter, Don John, immediately +after receiving the letter, issued a proclamation to enforce the King's +command. He mentioned it as an acknowledged fact that the states-general +had long ago sworn the maintenance of the two points of royal and +Catholic supremacy, according to the practice under the Emperor Charles. +The states instantly published an indignant rejoinder, affirming the +indisputable truth, that they had sworn to the maintenance of the Ghent +Pacification, and proclaiming the assertion of Don John an infamous +falsehood. It was an outrage upon common sense, they said, that the +Ghent treaty could be tortured into sanctioning the placards and the +Inquisition, evils which that sacred instrument had been expressly +intended to crush. + +A letter was then formally addressed to his Majesty, in the name of the +Archduke Matthias--and of the estates, demanding the recal of Don John +and the, maintenance of the Ghent Pacification. De Seller, in reply, +sent a brief, deprecatory paper, enclosing a note from Don John, which +the envoy acknowledged might seem somewhat harsh in its expressions. The +letter contained, indeed, a sufficiently fierce and peremptory summons to +the states to obey the King's commands with regard to the system of +Charles the Fifth, according to their previous agreement, together with a +violent declaration of the Governor's displeasure that they had dared to +solicit the aid of foreign princes. On the 18th of February came a +proposition from De Seller that the Prince, of Orange should place +himself in the hands of Don John, while the Prince of Parma, alone and +without arms, would come before the assembly, to negotiate with them upon +these matters. The reply returned by the states-general to this absurd +suggestion expressed their regret that the son of the Duchess Margaret +should have taken part with the enemy of the Netherlanders, complained of +the bull by which the Pope had invited war against them as if they had +been Saracens, repeated their most unanswerable argument--that the Ghent +Pacification had established a system directly the reverse of that which +existed under Charles the Fifth--and affirmed their resolution never more +to submit to Spanish armies, executioners, edicts, or inquisitions, and +never more to return to the principles of the Emperor and of Alva. To +this diplomatic correspondence succeeded a war of words and of pamphlets, +some of them very inflammatory and very eloquent. Meantime, the +preparations for active hostilities were proceeding daily. The Prince of +Orange, through his envoys in England, had arranged for subsidies in the +coming campaign, and for troops which were to be led to the Netherlands, +under Duke Casimir of the palatinate. He sent commissioners through the +provinces to raise the respective contributions agreed upon, besides an +extraordinary quota of four hundred thousand guilders monthly. He also +negotiated a loan of a hundred and twenty thousand guilders from the +citizens of Antwerp. Many new taxes were imposed by his direction, both +upon income and upon consumption. By his advice, however, and with the +consent of the states-general, the provinces of Holland and Zealand held +no community of burthens with the other provinces, but of their own free +will contributed more than the sums for which they would have been +assessed. Mr. Leyton, who was about to return from his unsuccessful +mission from Elizabeth to Don John, was requested by the states-general +to convey to her Majesty a faithful report of the recent correspondence, +and especially of the language held by the Governor-General. He was also +urged to use his influence with the Queen, to the end that her promises +of assistance might be speedily fulfilled. + +Troops were rapidly enrolled, and again, by the same honest but mistaken +policy, the chief offices were conferred upon the great nobles--Aerschot, +Champagny, Bossu, Egmont, Lalain, the Viscount of Ghent, Baron de Ville, +and many others, most of whom were to desert the cause in the hour of its +need. On the other hand, Don John was proceeding with his military +preparations upon an extensive scale. The King had recently furnished +him with one million nine hundred thousand dollars, and had promised to +provide him with two hundred thousand more, monthly. With these funds +his Majesty estimated that an army of thirty thousand foot, sixteen +thousand cavalry, and thirty pieces of artillery, could be levied and +kept on foot. If more remittances should prove to be necessary, it was +promised that they should be forthcoming. + +This was the result of many earnest remonstrances made by the Governor +concerning the dilatory policy of the King. Wearied with being +constantly ordered "to blow hot and cold with the same, breath," he had +insisted that his Majesty should select the hot or the cold, and furnish +him with the means of enforcing the choice. For himself, Don John +assured his brother that the hottest measures were most to his taste, and +most suitable to the occasion. Fire and sword could alone save the royal +authority, for all the provinces had "abandoned themselves, body and +soul, to the greatest heretic and tyrant that prince ever had for +vassal." Unceasing had been the complaints and entreaties of the +Captain-General, called forth by the apathy or irresolution of Philip. +It was--only by assuring him that the Netherlands actually belonged to +Orange, that the monarch could be aroused. "His they are; and none +other's," said the Governor, dolefully. The King had accordingly sent +back De Billy, Don John's envoy; with decided injunctions to use force +and energy to put down the revolt at once, and with an intimation that +funds might be henceforth more regularly depended upon, as the Indian +fleets were expected in July. Philip also advised his brother to employ +a portion of his money in purchasing the governors and principal persons +who controlled the cities and other strong places belonging to the +states. + +Meantime, Don John thundered forth a manifesto which had been recently +prepared in Madrid, by which the estates, both general and particular, +were ordered forthwith to separate, and forbidden to assemble again, +except by especial licence. All commissions, civil or military, granted +by states' authority, were moreover annulled, together with a general +prohibition of any act of obedience to such functionaries, and of +contribution to any imposts which might be levied by their authority. +Such thunders were now comparatively harmless, for the states had taken +their course, and were busily engaged, both at home and abroad, in arming +for the conflict. Saint Aldegonde was deputed to attend the Imperial +diet, then in session at Worms, where he delivered an oration, which was +very celebrated in its day as a composition, but, which can hardly be +said to have produced much practical effect. The current was setting +hard in Germany against the Reformed religion and against the Netherland +cause, the Augsburg Confessionists showing hardly more sympathy with +Dutch Calvinists than with Spanish Papists. + +Envoys from Don John also attended the diet, and requested Saint +Aldegonde to furnish them with a copy of his oration. This he declined +to do. While in Germany, Saint Aldegonde was informed by John Casimir +that Duke Charles of Sweden, had been solicited to furnish certain ships +of war for a contemplated operation against Amsterdam. The Duke had +himself given information of this plot to the Prince Palatine. It was +therefore natural that Saint Aldegonde should forthwith despatch the +intelligence to his friends in the Netherlands, warning them of the +dangers still to be apprehended from the machinations of the Catholic +agents and functionaries in Amsterdam; for although the Reformation had +made rapid progress in that important city since the conclusion of the +Satisfaction, yet the magistracy remained Catholic. + +William Bardez, son of a former high-sheriff, a warm partisan of +Orange and of the "religion," had already determined to overthrow that +magistracy and to expel the friars who infested the city. The recent +information despatched by Saint Aldegonde confirmed him in his purpose. +There had been much wrangling between the Popish functionaries and those +of the Reformed religion concerning the constitution of the burgher +guard. The Calvinists could feel no security for their own lives, +or the repose of the commonwealth of Holland, unless they were themselves +allowed a full participation in the government of those important bands. +They were, moreover, dissatisfied with the assignment which had been made +of the churchyards to the members of their communion. These causes of +discord had maintained a general irritation among the body of the +inhabitants, and were now used as pretexts by Bardez for his design. +He knew the city to be ripe for the overthrow of the magistracy, and he +had arranged with Governor Sonoy to be furnished with a sufficient number +of well-tried soldiers, who were to be concealed in the houses of the +confederates. A large number of citizens were also ready to appear at +his bidding with arms in their hands. + +On the 24th of May, he wrote to Sonoy, begging him to hold himself in +readiness, as all was prepared within the city. At the same time, he +requested the governor to send him forthwith a "morion and a buckler of +proof;" for, he intended to see the matter fairly through. Sonoy +answered encouragingly, and sent him the armor, as directed. On the 28th +of May, Bardez, with four confederates, went to the council-room, to +remonstrate with the senate concerning the grievances which had been so +often discussed. At about mid-day, one of the confederates, upon leaving +the council-room, stepped out for a moment upon the balcony, which looked +towards the public square. Standing there for a moment, he gravely +removed his hat, and then as gravely replaced it upon his head. This was +a preconcerted signal. At the next instant a sailor was seen to rush +across the square, waving a flag in both hands. "All ye who love the +Prince of Orange, take heart and follow me!" he shouted. In a moment +the square was alive. Soldiers and armed citizens suddenly sprang forth, +as if from the bowels of the earth. Bardez led a strong force directly +into the council-chamber, and arrested every one of the astonished +magistrates. At the same time, his confederates had scoured the town and +taken every friar in the city into custody. Monks and senators were then +marched solemnly down towards the quay, where a vessel was in readiness +to receive them. "To the gallows with them--to the gallows with them!" +shouted the populace, as they passed along. "To the gibbet, whither they +have brought many a good fellow before his time!" Such were the openly, +expressed desires of their fellow-citizens, as these dignitaries and holy +men proceeded to what they believed their doom. Although treated +respectfully by those who guarded them, they were filled with +trepidation, for they believed the execrations of the populace the +harbingers of their fate. As they entered the vessel, they felt +convinced that a watery death had been substituted for the gibbet. +Poor old Heinrich Dirckzoon, ex-burgomaster, pathetically rejected a +couple of clean shirts which his careful wife had sent him by the hands +of the housemaid. "Take them away; take them home again," said the +rueful burgomaster; "I shall never need clean shirts again in this +world." He entertained no doubt that it was the intention of his +captors to scuttle the vessel as soon as they had put a little out +to sea, and so to leave them to their fate. No such tragic end was +contemplated, however, and, in fact, never was a complete municipal +revolution accomplished in so good-natured and jocose a manner. The +Catholic magistrates and friars escaped with their fright. They were +simply turned out of town, and forbidden, for their lives, ever to come +back again. After the vessel had proceeded a little distance from the +city, they were all landed high and dry upon a dyke, and so left unharmed +within the open country. + +A new board of magistrates, of which stout William Bardez was one, was +soon appointed; the train-bands were reorganized, and the churches thrown +open to the Reformed worship--to the exclusion, at first, of the +Catholics. This was certainly contrary to the Ghent treaty, and to the +recent Satisfaction; it was also highly repugnant to the opinions of +Orange. After a short time, accordingly, the Catholics were again +allowed access to the churches, but the tables had now been turned for +ever in the capital of Holland, and the Reformation was an established +fact throughout that little province. + +Similar events occurring upon the following day at Harlem, accompanied +with some bloodshed--for which, however, the perpetrator was punished +with death--opened the great church of that city to the Reformed +congregations, and closed them for a time to the Catholics. + +Thus, the cause of the new religion was triumphant in Holland and +Zealand, while it was advancing with rapid strides through the other +provinces. Public preaching was of daily occurrence everywhere. On a +single Sunday; fifteen different ministers of the Reformed religion +preached in different places in Antwerp. "Do you think this can be +put down?" said Orange to the remonstrating burgomaster of that city. +"'Tis for you to repress it," said the functionary, "I grant your +Highness full power to do so." "And do you think," replied the Prince, +"that I can do at this late moment, what the Duke of Alva was unable to +accomplish in the very plenitude of his power?" At the same time, the +Prince of Orange was more than ever disposed to rebuke his own Church for +practising persecution in her turn. Again he lifted his commanding voice +in behalf of the Anabaptists of Middelburg. He reminded the magistrates +of that city that these peaceful burghers were always perfectly willing +to bear their part in all the common burthens, that their word was as +good as their oath, and that as to the matter of military service, +although their principles forbade them to bear arms, they had ever been +ready to provide and pay for substitutes. "We declare to you therefore," +said he, "that you have no right to trouble yourselves with any man's +conscience, so long as nothing is done to cause private harm or public +scandal. We therefore expressly ordain that you desist from molesting +these Baptists, from offering hindrance to their handicraft and daily +trade, by which they can earn bread for their wives and children, and +that you permit them henceforth to open their shops and to do their work, +according to the custom of former days. Beware, therefore, of +disobedience and of resistance to the ordinance which we now establish." + +Meantime, the armies on both sides had been assembled, and had been +moving towards each other. Don John was at the head of nearly thirty +thousand troops, including a large proportion of Spanish and Italian +veterans. The states' army hardly numbered eighteen thousand foot and +two thousand cavalry, under the famous Francois de la None, surnamed Bras +de Fer, who had been recently appointed Marechal de Camp, and, under +Count Bossu, commander-in-chief. The muster-place of the provincial +forces was in the plains between Herenthals and Lier. At this point they +expected to be reinforced by Duke Casimir, who had been, since the early +part of the summer, in the country of Zutfen, but who was still remaining +there inglorious and inactive, until he could be furnished with the +requisite advance-money to his troops. Don John was determined if +possible, to defeat the states army, before Duke Casimir, with his twelve +thousand Germans, should effect his juncture with Bossu. The Governor +therefore crossed the Demer, near Aerschot, towards the end of July, and +offered battle, day after day, to the enemy. A series of indecisive +skirmishes was the result, in the last of which, near Rijnemants, on the +first day of August, the royalists were worsted and obliged to retire, +after a desultory action of nearly eight hours, leaving a thousand dead. +upon the field. Their offer of "double or quits," the following morning +was steadily refused by Bossu, who, secure within his intrenchments, was +not to be induced at that moment to encounter the chances of a general +engagement. For this he was severely blamed by the more violent of the +national party. + +His patriotism, which was of such recent origin, was vehemently +suspected; and his death, which occurred not long afterwards, was +supposed to have alone prevented his deserting the states to fight again +under Spanish colours. These suspicions were probably unjust. Bossu's +truth of character had been as universally recognized as was his signal +bravery. If he refused upon this occasion a general battle, those +who reflected upon the usual results to the patriot banner of such +engagements, might confess, perhaps, that one disaster the more had been +avoided. Don John, finding it impossible to accomplish his purpose, and +to achieve another Gemblours victory, fell back again to the +neighbourhood of Namur. + +The states' forces remained waiting for the long-promised succor of John +Casimir. It was the 26th of August, however, before the Duke led his +twelve thousand men to the neighbourhood of Mechlin, where Bossu was +encamped. This young prince possessed neither the ability nor the +generosity which were requisite for the heroic part which he was +ambitious to perform in the Netherland drama. He was inspired by a vague +idea of personal aggrandizement, although he professed at the same time +the utmost deference to William of Orange. He expressed the hope that he +and the Prince "should be but two heads under one hat;" but he would have +done well to ask himself whether his own contribution to this partnership +of brains would very much enrich the silent statesman. Orange himself +regarded him with respectful contempt, and considered his interference +with Netherland matters but as an additional element of mischief. The +Duke's right hand man, however, Peter Peutterich, the "equestrian +doctor"--as Sir Philip Sydney called him--equally skilful with the sword +as with the pen, had succeeded, while on a mission to England, in +acquiring the Queen's favor for his master. To Casimir, therefore, had +been entrusted the command of the levies, and the principal expenditure +of the subsidies which she had placed at the disposition of the states. +Upon Casimir she relied, as a counterweight to the Duke of Alencon, who, +as she knew, had already entered the provinces at the secret solicitation +of a large faction among the nobles. She had as much confidence as ever +in Orange, but she imagined herself to be strengthening his cause by +providing him with such a lieutenant. Casimir's immediate friends had +but little respect for his abilities. His father-in-law, Augustus of +Saxony, did not approve his expedition. The Landgrave William, to whom +he wrote for counsel, answered, in his quaint manner, that it was always +difficult for one friend to advise another in three matters--to wit, in +taking a wife, going to sea, and going to war; but that, nevertheless, +despite the ancient proverb, he would assume the responsibility of +warning Casimir not to plunge into what he was pleased to call the +"'confusum chaos' of Netherland politics." The Duke felt no inclination, +however, to take the advice which he had solicited. He had been stung by +the sarcasm which Alva had once uttered, that the German potentates +carried plenty of lions, dragons, eagles, and griffins on their shields; +but that these ferocious animals were not given to biting or scratching. +He was therefore disposed, once for all, to show that the teeth and claws +of German princes could still be dangerous. Unfortunately, he was +destined to add a fresh element of confusion to the chaos, and to furnish +rather a proof than a refutation of the correctness of Alva's gibe. + +This was the hero who was now thrust, head and shoulders as it were, into +the entangled affairs of the Netherlanders, and it was Elizabeth of +England, more than ever alarmed at the schemes of Alencon, who had pushed +forward this Protestant champion, notwithstanding the disinclination of +Orange. + +The Queen was right in her uneasiness respecting the French prince. The +Catholic nobles, relying upon the strong feeling still rife throughout +the Walloon country against the Reformed religion, and inflamed more than +ever by their repugnance to Orange, whose genius threw them so completely +into the shade, had already drawn closer to the Duke. The same +influences were at work to introduce Alencon, which had formerly been +employed to bring Matthias from Vienna. Now that the Archduke, who was +to have been the rival, had become the dependent of William, they turned +their attention to the son of Catherine de Medici, Orange himself having +always kept the Duke in reserve, as an instrument to overcome the +political coquetry of Elizabeth. That great Princess never manifested +less greatness than in her earlier and most tormenting connexion with the +Netherlands. Having allured them for years with bright but changeful +face, she still looked coldly down upon the desolate sea where they were +drifting She had promised much; her performance had been nothing. Her +jealousy of French influence had at length been turned to account; a +subsidy and a levy extorted from her fears. Her ministers and prominent +advisers were one and all in favor of an open and generous support to the +provinces. Walsingham, Burleigh, Knollys, Davidson, Sidney, Leicester, +Fleetwood, Wilson, all desired that she should frankly espouse their +cause. A bold policy they believed to be the only prudent one in this +case; yet the Queen considered it sagacious to despatch envoys both to +Philip and to Don John, as if after what they knew of her secret +practices, such missions could effect any useful purpose. Better, +therefore, in the opinion of the honest and intrepid statesmen of +England, to throw down the gauntlet at once in the cause of the oppressed +than to shuffle and palter until the dreaded rival should cross the +frontier. A French Netherlands they considered even mere dangerous than +a Spanish, and Elizabeth partook of their sentiments, although incapable +of their promptness. With the perverseness which was the chief blot upon +her character, she was pleased that the Duke should be still a dangler +for her hand, even while she was intriguing against his political hopes. +She listened with undisguised rapture to his proposal of love, while she +was secretly thwarting the plans of his ambition. + +Meanwhile, Alencon had arrived at Mons, and we have seen already the +feminine adroitness with which his sister of Navarre had prepared his +entrance. Not in vain had she cajoled the commandant of Cambray citadel; +not idly had she led captive the hearts of Lalain and his Countess, thus +securing the important province of Hainault for the Duke. Don John +might, indeed, gnash his teeth with rage, as he marked the result of all +the feasting and flattery, the piping and dancing at Namur. + +Francis Duke of Alencon, and since the accession of his brother Henry to +the French throne--Duke of Anjou was, upon the whole, the most despicable +personage who had ever entered the Netherlands. His previous career at +home had, been so flagrantly false that he had forfeited the esteem of +every honest man in Europe, Catholic or Lutheran, Huguenot or Malcontent. +The world has long known his character. History will always retain him +as an example, to show mankind the amount of mischief which may be +perpetrated by a prince, ferocious without courage, ambitious without +talent, and bigoted without opinions. Incapable of religious convictions +himself, he had alternately aspired to be a commander of Catholic and of +Huguenot zealots, and he had acquired nothing by his vacillating course, +save the entire contempt of all parties and of both religions. Scared +from the aide of Navarre and Conde by the menacing attitude of the +"league," fearing to forfeit the succession to the throne, unless he made +his peace with the court, he had recently resumed his place among the +Catholic commanders. Nothing was easier for him than to return +shamelessly to a party which he had shamelessly deserted, save perhaps to +betray it again, should his interest prompt him to do so, on the morrow. +Since the peace of 1576, it had been evident that the Protestants could +not count upon his friendship, and he had soon afterwards been placed at +the head of the army which was besieging the Huguenots of Issoire. He +sought to atone for having commanded the troops of the new religion by +the barbarity with which he now persecuted its votaries. When Issoire +fell into his hands, the luckless city was spared none of the misery +which can be inflicted by a brutal and frenzied soldiery. Its men were +butchered, its females outraged; its property plundered with a +thoroughness which rivalled the Netherland practice of Alva, or Frederic +Toledo, or Julian Romero. The town was sacked and burned to ashes by +furious Catholics, under the command of Francis Alencon,--almost at the +very moment when his fair sister, Margaret, was preparing the way in the +Netherlands for the fresh treason--which he already meditated to the +Catholic cause. The treaty of Bergerac, signed in the autumn of 1577, +again restored a semblance of repose to France, and again afforded an +opportunity for Alencon to change his politics, and what he called his +religion. Reeking with the blood of the Protestants of Issoire, he was +now at leisure to renew his dalliance with the Queen of Protestant +England, and to resume his correspondence with the great-chieftain of the +Reformation in the Netherlands. + +It is perhaps an impeachment upon the perspicacity of Orange, that he +could tolerate this mischievous and worthless "son of France," even for +the grave reasons which influenced him. Nevertheless, it must be +remembered that he only intended to keep him in reserve, for the purpose +of irritating the jealousy and quickening the friendship of the English +Queen. Those who see anything tortuous in such politics must beware of +judging the intriguing age of Philip and Catherine de' Medici by the +higher standard of later, and possibly more candid times. It would have +been puerile for a man of William the Silent's resources, to allow +himself to be outwitted by the intrigues of all the courts and cabinets +in Europe. Moreover, it must be remembered that, if he alone could guide +himself and his country through the perplexing labyrinth in which they +were involved; it was because he held in his hand the clue of an honest +purpose. His position in regard to the Duke of Alencon, had now become +sufficiently complicated, for the tiger that he had led in a chain had +been secretly unloosed by those who meant mischief. In the autumn of the +previous year, the aristocratic and Catholic party in the states-general +had opened their communications with a prince, by whom they hoped to be +indemnified for their previous defeat. + +The ill effects of Elizabeth's coquetry too plainly manifested themselves +at last, and Alencon had now a foothold in the Netherlands. Precipitated +by the intrigues of the party which had always been either openly or +secretly hostile to Orange, his advent could no longer be delayed. It +only remained for the Prince to make himself his master, as he had +already subdued each previous rival. This he accomplished with his +customary adroitness. It was soon obvious, even to so dull and so base a +nature as that of the Duke, that it was his best policy to continue to +cultivate so powerful a friendship. It cost him little to crouch, but +events were fatally, to prove at a later day, that there are natures too +malignant to be trusted or to be tamed. For the present, however, +Alencon professed the most friendly sentiments towards the Prince. +Solicited by so ardent and considerable a faction, the Duke was no longer +to be withheld from trying the venture, and if, he could not effect his +entrance by fair means, was determined to do so by force.--He would +obtrude his assistance, if it were declined. He would do his best to +dismember the provinces, if only a portion of them would accept his +proffered friendship. Under these circumstances, as the Prince could no +longer exclude him from the country, it became necessary to accept his +friendship, and to hold him in control. The Duke had formally offered +his assistance to the states-general, directly after the defeat of +Gemblours, and early in July had made his appearance in Mons. Hence he +despatched his envoys, Des Pruneaux and Rochefort, to deal with the +States-general and with Orange, while he treated Matthias with contempt, +and declared that he had no intention to negotiate with him. The +Archduke burst into tears when informed of this slight; and feebly +expressed a wish that succor might be found in Germany which would render +this French alliance unnecessary. It was not the first nor the last +mortification which the future Emperor was to undergo. The Prince was +addressed with distinguished consideration; Des Pruneaux protesting that +he desired but three things--the glory of his master, the glory of God, +and the glory of William of Orange. + +The French King was naturally supposed to be privy to his brother's +schemes, for it was thought ridiculous to suggest that Henry's own troops +could be led by his own brother, on this foreign expedition, without his +connivance. At the same time, private letters, written by him at this +epoch, expressed disapprobation of the schemes of Alencon, and jealousy +of his aggrandizement. It was, perhaps, difficult to decide as to the +precise views of a monarch who was too weak to form opinions for himself, +and too false to maintain those with which he had been furnished by +others. With the Medicean mother it was different, and it was she who +was believed to be at the bottom of the intrigue. There was even a vague +idea that the Spanish Sovereign himself might be privy to the plot, and +that a possible marriage between Alencon and the Infanta might be on the +cards. In truth, however, Philip felt himself outraged by the whole +proceedings. He resolutely refused to accept the excuses proffered by +the French court, or to doubt the complicity of the Queen Dowager, who, +it was well known, governed all her sons. She had, to be sure, thought +proper to read the envoys of the states-general a lecture upon the +impropriety of subjects opposing the commands of their lawful Prince, but +such artifices were thought too transparent to deceive. Granvelle +scouted the idea of her being ignorant of Anjou's scheme, or opposed to +its success. As for William of Hesse, while he bewailed more than ever +the luckless plunge into "confusum chaos" which Casimir had taken, he +unhesitatingly expressed his conviction that the invasion of Alencon was +a master-piece of Catherine. The whole responsibility of the transaction +he divided, in truth, between the Dowager and the comet, which just then +hung over the world, filling the soul of the excellent Landgrave with +dismal apprehension. + +The Queen of England was highly incensed by the actual occurrence +of the invasion which she had so long dreaded. She was loud in her +denunciations of the danger and dishonor which would be the result to the +provinces of this French alliance. She threatened not only to withdraw +herself from their cause, but even to take arms against a commonwealth +which had dared to accept Alencon for its master. She had originally +agreed to furnish one hundred thousand pounds by way of loan. This +assistance had been afterwards commuted into a levy of three thousand +foot and-two thousand horse, to be added to the forces of John Casimir, +and to be placed under his command. It had been stipulated; also, that +the Palatine should have the rank and pay of an English general-in-chief, +and be considered as the Queen's lieutenant. The money had been +furnished and the troops enrolled. So much had been already bestowed, +and could not be recalled, but it was not probable that, in her present +humor, the Queen would be induced to add to her favors. + +The Prince, obliged by the necessity of the case, had prescribed the +terms and the title under which Alencon should be accepted. Upon the +13th of August the Duke's envoy concluded a convention in twenty-three +articles; which were afterwards subscribed by the Duke himself, at Mons, +upon the twentieth of the same month. The substance of this arrangement +was that Alencon should lend his assistance to the provinces against the +intolerable tyranny of the Spaniards and the unjustifiable military +invasion of Don John. He was, moreover, to bring into the field ten +thousand foot and two thousand horse for three months. After the +expiration of this term, his forces might be reduced to three thousand +foot and five hundred horse. The states were to confer upon him the +title of "Defender of the Liberty of the Netherlands against the Tyranny +of the Spaniards and their adherents." He was to undertake no +hostilities against Queen Elizabeth. The states were to aid him, +whenever it should become necessary, with the same amount of force with +which he now assisted them. He was to submit himself contentedly to the +civil government of the country, in everything regarding its internal +polity. He was to make no special contracts or treaties with any cities +or provinces of the Netherlands. Should the states-general accept +another prince as sovereign, the Duke was to be preferred to all others, +upon conditions afterwards to be arranged. All cities which might be +conquered within the territory of the united provinces were to belong to +the states. Such places not in that territory, as should voluntarily +surrender, were to be apportioned, by equal division, between the Duke +and the states. The Duke was to bring no foreign troops but French into +the provinces. The month of August was reserved, during which the states +were, if possible, to make a composition with Don John. + +These articles were certainly drawn up with skill. A high-sounding but +barren title, which gratified the Duke's vanity and signified nothing, +had been conferred upon him, while at the same time he was forbidden to +make conquests or contracts, and was obliged to submit himself to the +civil government of the country: in short, he was to obey the Prince +of Orange in all things--and so here was another plot of the Prince's +enemies neutralized. Thus, for the present at least, had the position +of Anjou been defined. + +As the month of August, during which it was agreed that negotiations with +the Governor-General should remain open, had already half expired, +certain articles, drawn up by the states-general, were at once laid +before Don John. Lord Cobham and Sir Francis Walsingham were then in the +Netherlands, having been sent by Elizabeth for the purpose of effecting a +pacification of the estates with the Governor, if possible. They had +also explained--so far as an explanation was possible--the assistance +which the English government had rendered to the rebels, upon the ground +that the French invasion could be prevented in no other way. This +somewhat lame apology had been passed over in silence rather than +accepted by Don John. In the same interview the envoys made an equally +unsuccessful effort to induce the acceptance by the Governor of the terms +offered by the states. A further proposition, on their part, for an +"Interim," upon the plan attempted by Charles the Fifth in Germany, +previously to the Peace of Passau, met with no more favor than it +merited, for certainly that name--which became so odious in Germany that +cats and dogs were called "Interim" by the common people, in derision-- +was hardly a potent word to conjure with, at that moment, in the +Netherlands. They then expressed their intention of retiring to England, +much grieved at the result of their mission. The Governor replied that +they might do as they liked, but that he, at least, had done all in his +power to bring about a peace, and that the King had been equally pacific +in his intentions. He then asked the envoys what they themselves thought +of the terms proposed. "Indeed, they are too hard, your Highness," +answered Walsingham, "but 'tis only by pure menace that we have extorted +them from the states, unfavorable though they, seem." + +"Then you may tell them," replied the Governor, "to keep their offers to +themselves. Such terms will go but little way in any negotiation with +me." + +The envoys shrugged their shoulders. + +"What is your own opinion on the whole affair?" resumed Don John. +"Perhaps your advice may yet help me to a better conclusion." + +The envoys continued silent and pensive. + +"We can only answer," said Walsingham, at length, "by imitating the +physician, who would prescribe no medicine until he was quite sure that +the patient was ready to swallow it. 'Tis no use wasting counsel or +drugs." + +The reply was not satisfactory, but the envoys had convinced themselves +that the sword was the only surgical instrument likely to find favor at +that juncture. Don John referred, in vague terms, to his peaceable +inclinations, but protested that there was no treating with so unbridled +a people as the Netherlanders. The ambassadors soon afterwards took +their leave. After this conference, which was on the 24th of August, +1578, Walsingham and Cobham addressed a letter to the states-general, +deploring the disingenuous and procrastinating conduct of the Governor, +and begging that the failure to effect a pacification might not be +imputed to them. They then returned to England. + +The Imperial envoy, Count Schwartzburg, at whose urgent solicitation this +renewed attempt at a composition had been made, was most desirous that +the Governor should accept the articles. They formed, indeed, the basis +of a liberal, constitutional, representative government, in which the +Spanish monarch was to retain only a strictly limited sovereignty. The +proposed convention required Don John, with all his troops and adherents, +forthwith to leave the land after giving up all strongholds and cities in +his possession. It provided that the Archduke Matthias should remain as +Governor general, under the conditions according to which he had been +originally accepted. It left the question of religious worship to the +decision of the states-general. It provided for the release of all +prisoners, the return of all exiles, the restoration of all confiscated +property. It stipulated that upon the death or departure of Matthias, +his Majesty was not to appoint a governor-general without the consent of +the states-general. + +When Count Schwartzburg waited upon the Governor with these astonishing +propositions--which Walsingham might well call somewhat hard--he found +him less disposed to explode with wrath than he had been in previous +conferences. Already the spirit of the impetuous young soldier was +broken, both by the ill health which was rapidly undermining his +constitution and by the helpless condition in which he had been left +while contending with the great rebellion. He had soldiers, but no money +to pay them withal; he had no means of upholding that supremacy of crown +and church which he was so vigorously instructed to maintain; and he was +heartily wearied of fulminating edicts which he had no power to enforce. +He had repeatedly solicited his recal, and was growing daily more +impatient that his dismissal did not arrive. Moreover, the horrible news +of Escovedo's assassination had sickened him to the soul. The deed had +flashed a sudden light into the abyss of dark duplicity in which his own +fate was suspended. His most intimate and confidential friend had been +murdered by royal command, while he was himself abandoned by Philip, +exposed to insult, left destitute of defence. No money was forthcoming, +in spite of constant importunities and perpetual promises. Plenty of +words were sent him; he complained, as if he possessed the art of +extracting gold from them, or as if war could be carried on with words +alone. + +Being in so desponding a mood, he declined entering into any controversy +with regard to the new propositions, which, however, he characterized as +most iniquitous. He stated merely that his Majesty had determined to +refer the Netherland matters to the arbitration of the Emperor; that the +Duke de Terra Nova would soon be empowered to treat upon the subject at +the imperial court; and that, in the meantime, he was himself most +anxiously awaiting his recal. + +A synod of the Reformed churches had been held, during the month of June, +at Dort. There they had laid down a platform of their principles of +church government in one hundred and one articles. In the same month, +the leading members of the Reformed Church had drawn up an ably reasoned +address to Matthias and the Council of State on the subject of a general +peace of religion for the provinces. + +William of Orange did his utmost to improve the opportunity. He sketched +a system of provisional toleration, which he caused to be signed by the +Archduke Matthias, and which, at least for a season, was to establish +religious freedom. The brave; tranquil, solitary man still held his +track across the raging waves, shedding as much light as one clear human +soul could dispense; yet the dim lantern, so far in advance, was +swallowed in the mist, ere those who sailed in his wake could shape their +course by his example. No man understood him. Not even his nearest +friends comprehended his views, nor saw that he strove to establish not +freedom for Calvinism, but freedom for conscience. Saint Aldegonde +complained that the Prince would not persecute the Anabaptists, Peter +Dathenus denounced him as an atheist, while even Count John; the only +one left of his valiant and generous brothers, opposed the religious +peace--except where the advantage was on the side of the new religion. +Where the Catholics had been effectually put down, as in Holland and +Zealand, honest John saw so reason for allowing them to lift themselves +up again. In the Popish provinces, on the other hand, he was for a +religious peace. In this bigoted spirit he was followed by too many of +the Reforming mass, while, on their part, the Walloons were already +banding themselves together in the more southern provinces, under the +name of Malcontents. Stigmatized by the Calvinists as "Paternoster +Jacks," they were daily drawing closer their alliance with Alencon; and +weakening the bands which united them with their Protestant brethren. +Count John had at length become a permanent functionary in the +Netherlands. Urgently solicited by the leaders and the great multitude +of the Reformers, he had long been unwilling to abandon his home, and to +neglect the private affairs which his devotion to the Netherland cause +had thrown into great confusion. The Landgrave, too, whose advice he had +asked, had strongly urged him not to "dip his fingers into the olla +podrida." The future of the provinces was, in his opinion, so big with +disaster, that the past, with all its horrors; under Alva and Requesens, +had only furnished the "preludia" of that which was to ensue. For these +desperate views his main reason, as usual, was the comet; that +mischievous luminary still continuing to cast a lurid glare across the +Landgrave's path. Notwithstanding these direful warnings from a prince +of the Reformation, notwithstanding the "olla podrida" and the "comet," +Count John had nevertheless accepted the office of Governor of +Gelderland, to which he had been elected by the estates of that province +on the 11th of March. That important bulwark of Holland, Zealand, and +Utrecht on the one side, and of Groningen and Friesland on the other--the +main buttress, in short, of the nascent republic, was now in hands which +would defend it to the last. + +As soon as the discussion came up in the states-general on the subject of +the Dort petitions, Orange requested that every member who had formed his +opinions should express them fully and frankly. All wished, however, to +be guided and governed by the sentiments of the Prince. Not a man spoke, +save to demand their leader's views, and to express adhesion in advance +to the course which his wisdom might suggest. The result was a projected +convention, a draft for a religious peace, which, if definitely +established, would have healed many wounds and averted much calamity. +It was not, however, destined to be accepted at that time by the states +of the different provinces where it was brought up for discussion; and +several changes were made, both of form and substance, before the system +was adopted at all. Meantime, for the important city of Antwerp, where +religious broils were again on the point of breaking out, the Prince +preferred a provisional arrangement, which he forthwith carried into +execution. A proclamation, in the name of the Archduke Matthias and of +the State Council, assigned five special places in the city where the +members of the "pretended Reformed religion" should have liberty to +exercise their religious worship, with preaching, singing, and the +sacraments. The churchyards of the parochial churches were to be opened +for the burial of their dead, but the funerals were to be unaccompanied +with exhortation, or any public demonstration which might excite +disturbance. The adherents of one religion were forbidden to disturb, to +insult, or in any way to interfere with the: solemnities of the other. +All were to abstain from mutual jeerings--by pictures, ballads, books, or +otherwise--and from all injuries to ecclesiastical property. Every man, +of whatever religion, was to be permitted entrance to the churches of +either religion, and when there, all were to conform to the regulations +of the church with modesty and respect. Those of the new religion were +to take oaths of obedience to the authorities, and to abstain from +meddling with the secular administration of affairs. Preachers of both +religions were forbidden to preach out of doors, or to make use of +language tending to sedition. All were to bind themselves to assist the +magistrates in quelling riots, and in sustaining the civil government. + +This example of religious peace, together with the active correspondence +thus occasioned with the different state assemblies, excited the jealousy +of the Catholic leaders and of the Walloon population. Champagny, who +despite his admirable qualities and brilliant services, was still unable +to place himself on the same platform of toleration with Orange, now +undertook a decided movement against the policy of the Prince. Catholic +to the core, he drew up a petition, remonstrating most vigorously against +the draft for a religions peace, then in circulation through the +provinces. To this petition he procured many signatures among the more +ardent Catholic nobles. De Heze, De Glimes, and others of the same +stamp, were willing enough to follow the lead of so distinguished a +chieftain. The remonstrance was addressed to the Archduke, the Prince of +Orange, the State Council, and the States-general, and called upon them +all to abide by their solemn promises to permit no schism in the ancient +Church. Should the exercise of the new religion be allowed, the +petitioners insisted that the godless licentiousness of the Netherlands +would excite the contempt of all peoples and potentates. They suggested, +in conclusion, that all the principal cities of France--and in particular +the city of Paris--had kept themselves clear of the exercise of the new +religion, and that repose and prosperity had been the result. + +This petition was carried with considerable solemnity by Champagny, +attended by many of his confederates, to the Hotel-de Ville, and +presented to the magistracy of Brussels. These functionaries were +requested to deliver it forthwith to the Archduke and Council. The +magistrates demurred. A discussion ensued, which grew warmer and warmer +as it proceeded. The younger nobles permitted themselves abusive +language, which the civic dignitaries would not brook. The session +was dissolved, and the magistrates, still followed by the petitioners, +came forth into the street. The confederates, more inflamed than ever, +continued to vociferate and to threaten. A crowd soon collected in the +square. The citizens were naturally curious to know why their senators +were thus browbeaten and insulted by a party of insolent young Catholic +nobles. The old politician at their head, who, in spite of many +services, was not considered a friend to the nation, inspired them with +distrust. Being informed of the presentation of the petition, the +multitude loudly demanded that the document should be read. This was +immediately done. The general drift of the remonstrance was anything but +acceptable, but the allusion to Paris, at the close, excited a tempest of +indignation. "Paris! Paris! Saint Bartholomew! Saint Bartholomew! +Are we to have Paris weddings in Brussels also?" howled the mob, as is +often the case, extracting but a single idea, and that a wrong one; from +the public lecture which had just been made. "Are we to have a Paris +massacre, a Paris blood-bath here in the Netherland capital? God forbid! +God forbid! Away with the conspirators! Down with the Papists!" + +It was easily represented to the inflamed imaginations of the populace +that a Brussels Saint Bartholomew had been organized, and that Champagny, +who stood there before them, was its originator and manager. The +ungrateful Netherlanders forgot the heroism with which the old soldier +had arranged the defence of Antwerp against the "Spanish Fury" but two +years before. They heard only the instigations of his enemies; they +remembered only that he was the hated Granvelle's brother; they believed +only that there was a plot by which, in some utterly incomprehensible +manner, they were all to be immediately engaged in cutting each others +throats and throwing each other out of the windows, as had been done half +a dozen years before in Paris. Such was the mischievous intention +ascribed to a petition, which Champagny and his friends had as much +right to offer--however narrow and mistaken their, opinions might now +be considered--as had the, synod of Dort to present their remonstrances. +Never was a more malignant or more stupid perversion of a simple and not +very alarming phrase. No allusion had been made to Saint Bartholomew, +but all its horrors were supposed to be concealed in the sentence which +referred to Paris. The nobles were arrested on the spot and hurried to +prison, with the exception of Champagny, who made his escape at first, +and lay concealed for several days. He was, however, finally ferreted +out of his hiding-place and carried off to Ghent. There he was thrown +into strict confinement, being treated in all respects as the accomplice +of Aerschot and the other nobles who had been arrested in the time of +Ryhove's revolution. Certainly, this conduct towards a brave and +generous gentleman was ill calculated to increase general sympathy for +the cause, or to merit the approbation of Orange. There was, however, +a strong prejudice against Champagny. His brother Granvelle had never +been forgotten by the Netherlanders, and, was still regarded as their +most untiring foe, while Champagny was supposed to be in close league +with the Cardinal. In these views the people were entirely wrong. + +While these events were taking place in Brussels and Antwerp, the two +armies of the states and of Don John were indolently watching each other. +The sinews of war had been cut upon both sides. Both parties were +cramped by the most abject poverty. The troops under Bossu and Casimir, +in the camp sear Mechlin, were already discontented, for want of pay. +The one hundred thousand pounds of Elizabeth had already been spent, +and it was not probable that the offended Queen would soon furnish +another subsidy. The states could with difficulty extort anything like +the assessed quotas from the different provinces. The Duke of Alencon +was still at Mons, from which place he had issued a violent proclamation +of war against Don John--a manifesto which had, however, not been +followed up by very vigorous demonstrations. Don John himself was in +his fortified camp at Bouge, within a league of Namur, but the here +was consuming with mental and with bodily fever. He was, as it were, +besieged. He was left entirely without funds, while his royal brother +obstinately refused compliance with his earnest demands to be recalled, +and coldly neglected his importunities for pecuniary assistance. + +Compelled to carry on a war against an armed rebellion with such gold +only as could be extracted from loyal swords; stung to the heart by the +suspicion of which he felt himself the object at home, and by the hatred +with which he was regarded in the provinces; outraged in his inmost +feelings by the murder of Escovedo; foiled, outwitted, reduced to a +political nullity by the masterly tactics of the "odious heretic of +heretics" to whom he had originally offered his patronage and the royal +forgiveness, the high-spirited soldier was an object to excite the +tenderness even of religious and political opponents. Wearied with the +turmoil of camps without battle and of cabinets without counsel, he +sighed for repose, even if it could be found only in a cloister or the +grave. "I rejoice to see by your letter," he wrote, pathetically, to +John Andrew Doria, at Genoa, "that your life is flowing on with such +calmness, while the world around me is so tumultuously agitated. I +consider you most fortunate that you are passing the remainder of your +days for God and yourself; that you are not forced to put yourself +perpetually in the scales of the world's events, nor to venture yourself +daily on its hazardous games." He proceeded to inform his friend of his +own painful situation, surrounded by innumerable enemies, without means +of holding out more than three months, and cut off from all assistance by +a government which could not see that if the present chance were lost all +was lost. He declared it impossible for him to fight in the position to +which he was reduced, pressed as he was within half a mile of the point +which he had always considered as his last refuge. He stated also that +the French were strengthening themselves in Hainault, under Alencon, and +that the King of France was in readiness to break in through Burgundy, +should his brother obtain a firm foothold in the provinces. "I have +besought his Majesty over and over again," he continued, "to send to me +his orders; if they come they shall be executed, unless they arrive too +late. They have cut of our hands and we have now nothing for it but to +stretch forth our heads also to the axe. I grieve to trouble you with my +sorrows, but I trust to your sympathy as a man and a friend. I hope that +you will remember me in your prayers, for you can put your trust where, +in former days, I never could place my own." + +The dying crusader wrote another letter, in the same mournful strain, +to another intimate friend, Don Pedro Mendoza, Spanish envoy in Genoa. +It was dated upon the same day from his camp near Namur, and repeated the +statement that the King of France was ready to invade the Netherlands, so +soon as Alencon should prepare an opening. "His Majesty," continued Don +John, "is resolved upon nothing; at least, I am kept in ignorance of his +intentions. Our life is doled out to us here by moments. I cry aloud, +but it profits me little. Matters will soon be disposed, through our +negligence, exactly as the Devil would best wish them. It is plain that +we are left here to pine away till our last breath. God direct us all as +He may see fit; in His hands are all things." + +Four days later he wrote to the King, stating that he was confined to his +chamber with a fever, by which he was already as much reduced as if he +had been ill for a month. "I assure your Majesty," said he "that the +work here is enough to destroy any constitution and any life." He +reminded Philip how often he had been warned by him as to the insidious +practices of the French. Those prophecies had now become facts. The +French had entered the country, while some of the inhabitants were +frightened, others disaffected. Don John declared himself in a dilemma. +With his small force, hardly enough to make head against the enemy +immediately in front, and to protect the places which required guarding, +'twas impossible for him to leave his position to attack the enemy in +Burgundy. If he remained stationary, the communications were cut off +through which his money and supplies reached him. "Thus I remain," said +he, "perplexed and confused, desiring, more than life, some decision on +your Majesty's part, for which I have implored so many times." He urged +the King most vehemently to send him instructions as to the course to be +pursued, adding that it wounded him to the soul to find them so long +delayed. He begged to be informed whether he was to attack the enemy in +Burgundy, whether he should await where he then was the succor of his +Majesty, or whether he was to fight, and if so with which of his enemies: +in fine, what he was to do; because, losing or winning, he meant to +conform to his Majesty's will. He felt deeply pained, he said, at being +disgraced and abandoned by the King, having served him, both as a +brother, and a man, with love and faith and heartiness. "Our lives," +said he, "are at stake upon this game, and all we wish is to lose them +honorably." He begged the King to send a special envoy to France, with +remonstrances on the subject of Alencon, and another to the Pope to ask +for the Duke's excommunication. He protested that he would give his +blood rather than occasion so much annoyance to the King, but that he +felt it his duty to tell the naked truth. The pest was ravaging his +little army. Twelve hundred were now in hospital, besides those nursed +in private houses, and he had no means or money to remedy the evil. +Moreover, the enemy, seeing that they were not opposed in the open field, +had cut off the passage into Liege by the Meuse, and had advanced to +Nivelles and Chimay for the sake of communications with France, by the +same river. + +Ten days after these pathetic passages had been written, the writer was +dead. Since the assassination of Escovedo, a consuming melancholy had +settled upon his spirits, and a burning fever came, in the month of +September, to destroy his physical strength. The house where he lay was +a hovel, the only chamber of which had been long used as a pigeon-house. +This wretched garret was cleansed, as well as it could be of its filth, +and hung with tapestry emblazoned with armorial bearings. In that +dovecot the hero of Lepanto was destined to expire. During the last few, +days of his illness, he was delirious. Tossing upon his uneasy couch, he +again arranged in imagination, the combinations of great battles, again +shouted his orders to rushing squadrons, and listened with brightening +eye to the trumpet of victory. Reason returned, however, before the hour +of death, and permitted him, the opportunity to make the dispositions +rendered necessary by his condition. He appointed his nephew, Alexander +of Parma, who had been watching assiduously over his deathbed, to succeed +him, provisionally, in the command of the army and in his other +dignities, received the last sacraments with composure, and tranquilly +breathed his last upon the first day of October, the month which, since +the battle of Lepanto, he had always considered a festive and a fortunate +one. + +It was inevitable that suspicion of poison should be at once excited by +his decease. Those suspicions have been never set at rest, and never +proved. Two Englishmen, Ratcliff and Gray by name, had been arrested and +executed on a charge of having been employed by Secretary Walsingham to +assassinate the Governor. The charge was doubtless an infamous +falsehood; but had Philip, who was suspected of being the real criminal, +really compassed the death of his brother, it was none the less probable +that an innocent victim or two would be executed, to save appearances. +Now that time has unveiled to us many mysteries, now that we have learned +from Philip's own lips and those of his accomplices the exact manner in +which Montigny and Escovedo were put to death, the world will hardly be +very charitable with regard to other imputations. It was vehemently +suspected that Don John had been murdered by the command of Philip; but +no such fact was ever proved. + +The body, when opened that it might be embalmed, was supposed to offer +evidence of poison. The heart was dry, the other internal organs were +likewise so desiccated as to crumble when touched, and the general color +of the interior was of a blackish brown, as if it had been singed. +Various persona were mentioned as the probable criminals; various motives +assigned for the commission of the deed. Nevertheless, it must be +admitted that there were causes, which were undisputed, for his death, +sufficient to render a search for the more mysterious ones comparatively +superfluous. A disorder called the pest was raging in his camp, and had +carried off a thousand of his soldiers within a few days, while his +mental sufferings had been acute enough to turn his heart to ashes. +Disappointed, tormented by friend and foe, suspected, insulted, broken +spirited, it was not strange that he should prove an easy victim to a +pestilent disorder before which many stronger men were daily falling. + +On the third day after his decease, the funeral rites were celebrated. +A dispute between the Spaniards, Germans, and Netherlanders in the army +arose, each claiming precedence in the ceremony, on account of superior +national propinquity to the illustrious deceased. All were, in truth, +equally near to him, for different reasons, and it was arranged that all +should share equally in the obsequies. The corpse disembowelled and +embalmed, was laid upon a couch of state. The hero was clad in complete +armor; his swords helmet, and steel gauntlets lying at his feet, a +coronet, blazing with precious stones, upon his head, the jewelled chain +and insignia of the Golden Fleece about his neck, and perfumed gloves +upon his hands. Thus royally and martially arrayed, he was placed upon +his bier and borne forth from the house where he had died, by the +gentlemen of his bedchamber. From them he was received by the colonels +of the regiments stationed next his own quarters. These chiefs, followed +by their troops with inverted arms and mined drums, escorted the body to +the next station, where it was received by the commanding officers of +other national regiments, to be again transmitted to those of the third. +Thus by soldiers of the three nations, it was successively conducted to +the gates of Namur, where it was received by the civic authorities. The +pall-bearers, old Peter Ernest Mansfeld, Ottavio Gonzaga, the Marquis de +Villa Franca, and the Count de Reux, then bore it to the church, where it +was deposited until the royal orders should be received from Spain. The +heart of the hero was permanently buried beneath the pavement of the +little church, and a monumental inscription, prepared by Alexander +Farnese, still indicates the spot where that lion heart returned to dust. + +It had been Don John's dying request to Philip that his remains might be +buried in the Escorial by the side of his imperial father, and the prayer +being granted, the royal order in due time arrived for the transportation +of the corpse to Spain. Permission had been asked and given for the +passage of a small number of Spanish troops through France. The thrifty +king had, however, made no allusion to the fact that those soldiers were +to bear with them the mortal remains of Lepanto's hero, for he was +disposed to save the expense which a public transportation of the body +and the exchange of pompous courtesies with the authorities of every town +upon the long journey would occasion. The corpse was accordingly divided +into three parts, and packed in three separate bags; and thus the +different portions, to save weight, being suspended at the saddle-bows of +different troopers, the body of the conqueror was conveyed to its distant +resting-place. + + "Expende Hannibalem: quot libras in duce summo + Invenies?". . . . . . . . . . + +Thus irreverently, almost blasphemously, the disjointed relics of the +great warrior were hurried through France; France, which the romantic +Saracen slave had traversed but two short years before, filled with high +hopes, and pursuing extravagant visions. It has been recorded by classic +historians, that the different fragments, after their arrival in Spain, +were re-united, and fastened together with wire; that the body was then +stuffed, attired in magnificent habiliments, placed upon its feet, and +supported by a martial staff, and that thus prepared for a royal +interview, the mortal remains of Don John were presented to his Most +Catholic Majesty. Philip is said to have manifested emotion at sight of +the hideous spectre--for hideous and spectral, despite of jewels, +balsams, and brocades, must have been that unburied corpse, aping life in +attitude and vestment, but standing there only to assert its privilege of +descending into the tomb. The claim was granted, and Don John of Austria +at last found repose by the side of his imperial father. + +A sufficient estimate of his character has been apparent in the course of +the narrative. Dying before he had quite completed his thirty-third +year, he excites pity and admiration almost as much as censure. His +military career was a blaze of glory. Commanding in the Moorish wars at +twenty-three, and in the Turkish campaigns at twenty-six, he had achieved +a matchless renown before he had emerged from early youth; but his sun +was destined to go down at noon. He found neither splendor nor power in +the Netherlands, where he was deserted by his king and crushed by the +superior genius of the Prince of Orange. Although he vindicated his +martial skill at Gemblours, the victory was fruitless. It was but the +solitary sprig of the tiger from his jungle, and after that striking +conflict his life was ended in darkness and obscurity. Possessing +military genius of a high order, with extraordinary personal bravery, +he was the last of the paladins and the crusaders. His accomplishments +were also considerable, and he spoke Italian, German, French, and Spanish +with fluency. His beauty was remarkable; his personal fascinations +acknowledged by either sex; but as a commander of men, excepting upon the +battle-field, he possessed little genius. His ambition was the ambition +of a knight-errant, an adventurer, a Norman pirate; it was a personal and +tawdry ambition. Vague and contradictory dreams of crowns, of royal +marriages, of extemporized dynasties, floated ever before him; but he was +himself always the hero of his own romance. He sought a throne in Africa +or in Britain; he dreamed of espousing Mary of Scotland at the expense of +Elizabeth, and was even thought to aspire secretly to the hand of the +great English Queen herself. Thus, crusader and bigot as he was, he was +willing to be reconciled with heresy, if heresy could furnish him with a +throne. + +It is superfluous to state that he was no match, by mental endowments, +for William of Orange; but even had he been so, the moral standard by +which each measured himself placed the Conqueror far below the Father +of a people. It must be admitted that Don John is entitled to but small +credit for his political achievements in the Netherlands. He was +incapable of perceiving that the great contest between the Reformation +and the Inquisition could never be amicably arranged in those provinces, +and that the character of William of Orange was neither to be softened +by royal smiles, nor perverted by appeals to sordid interests. It would +have been perhaps impossible for him, with his education and temperament, +to have embraced what seems to us the right cause, but it ought, at +least, to have been in his power to read the character of his antagonist, +and to estimate his own position with something like accuracy. He may be +forgiven that he did not succeed in reconciling hostile parties, when his +only plan to accomplish such a purpose was the extermination of the most +considerable faction; but although it was not to be expected that he +would look on the provinces with the eyes of William the Silent, +he might have comprehended that the Netherland chieftain was neither +to be purchased nor cajoled. The only system by which the two religions +could live together in peace had been discovered by the Prince; but +toleration, in the eyes of Catholics, and of many Protestants, was still +thought the deadliest heresy of all. + + + + +ETEXT EDITOR'S BOOKMARKS: + +Difficult for one friend to advise another in three matters +Establish not freedom for Calvinism, but freedom for conscience +Taxes upon income and upon consumption +Toleration thought the deadliest heresy of all + + + + +End of this Project Gutenberg Etext of The Dutch Republic, v30 +by John Lothrop Motley + + + + + + +MOTLEY'S HISTORY OF THE NETHERLANDS, Project Gutenberg Edition, Vol. 31 + +THE RISE OF THE DUTCH REPUBLIC + +By John Lothrop Motley + +1855 + + + + +PART VI. + +ALEXANDER OF PARMA + +1578-1584. + + + +CHAPTER I. + + Birth, education, marriage, and youthful character of Alexander + Farnese--His private adventures--Exploits at Lepanto and at + Gemblours--He succeeds to the government--Personal appearance and + characteristics--Aspect of affairs--Internal dissensions--Anjou at + Mons--John Casimir's intrigues at Ghent--Anjou disbands his + soldiers--The Netherlands ravaged by various foreign troops--Anarchy + and confusion in Ghent--Imbize and Ryhove--Fate of Hessels and + Visch--New Pacification drawn up by Orange--Representations of Queen + Elizabeth--Remonstrance of Brussels Riots and image-breaking in + Ghent--Displeasure of Orange--His presence implored at Ghent, where + he establishes a Religious Peace--Painful situation of John Casimir + --Sharp rebukes of Elizabeth--He takes his departure--His troops + apply to Farnese, who allows them to leave the country--Anjou's + departure and manifesto--Elizabeth's letters to the states-general + with regard to him--Complimentary addresses by the Estates to the + Duke--Death of Bossu--Calumnies against Orange--Venality of the + malcontent grandees--La Motte's treason--Intrigues of the Prior of + Renty--Saint Aldegonde at Arras--The Prior of St. Vaast's exertions + --Opposition of the clergy in the Walloon provinces to the taxation + of the general government--Triangular contest--Municipal revolution + in Arras led by Gosson and others--Counter-revolution--Rapid trials + and executions--"Reconciliation" of the malcontent chieftains-- + Secret treaty of Mount St. Eloi: Mischief made by the Prior of + Renty--His accusations against the reconciled lords--Vengeance taken + upon him--Counter movement by the liberal party--Union of Utrecht-- + The Act analyzed and characterized. + +A fifth governor now stood in the place which had been successively +vacated by Margaret of Parma, by Alva, by the Grand Commander, and by Don +John of Austria. Of all the eminent personages to whom Philip had +confided the reins of that most difficult and dangerous administration, +the man who was now to rule was by far the ablest and the best fitted for +his post. If there were living charioteer skilful enough to guide the +wheels of state, whirling now more dizzily than ever through "confusum +chaos," Alexander Farnese was the charioteer to guide--his hand the only +one which could control. + +He was now in his thirty-third year--his uncle Don John, his cousin Don +Carlos, and himself, having all been born within a few months of each +other. His father was Ottavio Farnese, the faithful lieutenant of +Charles the Fifth, and grandson of Pope Paul the Third; his mother was +Margaret of Parma, first Regent of the Netherlands after the departure of +Philip from the provinces. He was one of the twins by which the reunion +of Margaret and her youthful husband had been blessed, and the only one +that survived. His great-grandfather, Paul, whose secular name of +Alexander he had received, had placed his hand upon the new-born infant's +head, and prophesied that he would grow up to become a mighty warrior. +The boy, from his earliest years, seemed destined to verify the +prediction. Though apt enough at his studies, he turned with impatience +from his literary tutors to military exercises and the hardiest sports. +The din of arms surrounded his cradle. The trophies of Ottavio, +returning victorious from beyond the Alps, had dazzled the eyes of his +infancy, and when but six years of age he had witnessed the siege of his +native Parma, and its vigorous defence by his martial father. When +Philip was in the Netherlands--in the years immediately succeeding the +abdication of the Emperor--he had received the boy from his parents as a +hostage for their friendship. Although but eleven years of age, +Alexander had begged earnestly to be allowed to serve as a volunteer on +the memorable day of Saint Quentin, and had wept bitterly when the amazed +monarch refused his request.--His education had been, completed at +Alcala, and at Madrid, under the immediate supervision of his royal +uncle, and in the companionship of the Infante Carlos and the brilliant +Don John. The imperial bastard was alone able to surpass, or even to +equal the Italian prince in all martial and manly pursuits. Both were +equally devoted to the chase and to the tournay; both longed impatiently +for the period when the irksome routine of monkish pedantry, and the +fictitious combats which formed their main recreation, should be +exchanged for the substantial delights of war. At the age of twenty he +had been affianced to Maria of Portugal; daughter of Prince Edward, +granddaughter of King Emanuel, and his nuptials with that peerless +princess were; as we have seen, celebrated soon afterwards with much pomp +in Brussels. Sons and daughters were born to him in due time, during his +subsequent residence in Parma. Here, however, the fiery and impatient +spirit of the future illustrious commander was doomed for a time to fret +under restraint, and to corrode in distasteful repose. His father, still +in the vigor of his years, governing the family duchies of Parma and +Piacenza, Alexander had no occupation in the brief period of peace which +then existed. The martial spirit, pining for a wide and lofty sphere of +action, in which alone its energies could be fitly exercised, now sought +delight in the pursuits of the duellist and gladiator. Nightly did the +hereditary prince of the land perambulate the streets of his capital, +disguised, well armed, alone, or with a single confidential attendant. +Every chance passenger of martial aspect whom he encountered in the +midnight streets was forced to stand and measure swords with an unknown, +almost unseen but most redoubtable foe, and many were the single combats +which he thus enjoyed, so long as his incognito was preserved. +Especially, it was his wont to seek and defy every gentleman whose skill +or bravery had ever been commended in his hearing: At last, upon one +occasion it was his fortune to encounter a certain Count Torelli, whose +reputation as a swordsman and duellist was well established in Parma. +The blades were joined, and the fierce combat had already been engaged in +the darkness, when the torch of an accidental passenger gashed full in +the face of Alexander. Torelli, recognising thus suddenly his +antagonist, dropped his sword and implored forgiveness, for the wily +Italian was too keen not to perceive that even if the death of neither +combatant should be the result of the fray, his own position was, in +every event, a false one. Victory would ensure him the hatred, defeat +the contempt of his future sovereign. The unsatisfactory issue and +subsequent notoriety of this encounter put a termination to these +midnight joys of Alexander, and for a season he felt obliged to assume +more pacific habits, and to solace himself with the society of that +"phoenix of Portugal," who had so long sat brooding on his domestic +hearth. + +At last the holy league was formed, the new and last crusade proclaimed, +his uncle and bosom friend appointed to the command of the united troops +of Rome, Spain, and Venice. He could no longer be restrained. +Disdaining the pleadings of his mother and of his spouse, he extorted +permission from Philip, and flew to the seat of war in the Levant. Don +John received him with open arms, just before the famous action of +Lepanto, and gave him an, excellent position in the very front of the +battle, with the command of several Genoese galleys. Alexander's +exploits on that eventful day seemed those of a fabulous hero of romance. +He laid his galley alongside of the treasure-ship of the Turkish fleet, a +vessel, on account of its importance, doubly manned and armed. Impatient +that the Crescent was not lowered, after a few broadsides, he sprang on +board the enemy alone, waving an immense two-handed sword--his usual +weapon--and mowing a passage right and left through the hostile ranks for +the warriors who tardily followed the footsteps of their vehement chief. +Mustapha Bey, the treasurer and commander of the ship, fell before his +sword, besides many others, whom he hardly saw or counted. The galley +was soon his own, as well as another, which came to the rescue of the +treasure-ship only to share its defeat. The booty which Alexander's crew +secured was prodigious, individual soldiers obtaining two and three +thousand ducats each. Don John received his nephew after the battle with +commendations, not, however, unmingled with censure. The successful +result alone had justified such insane and desperate conduct, for had he +been slain or overcome, said the commander-in-chief, there would have +been few to applaud his temerity. Alexander gaily replied by assuring +his uncle that he had felt sustained by a more than mortal confidence, +the prayers which his saintly wife was incessantly offering in his behalf +since he went to the wars being a sufficient support and shield in even +greater danger than he had yet confronted. + +This was Alexander's first campaign, nor was he permitted to reap any +more glory for a few succeeding years. At last, Philip was disposed to +send both his mother and himself to the Netherlands; removing Don John +from the rack where he had been enduring such slow torture. Granvelle's +intercession proved fruitless with the Duchess, but Alexander was all +eagerness to go where blows were passing current, and he gladly led the +reinforcements which were sent to Don John at the close of the year 1577. +He had reached Luxemburg, on the 18th of December of that year, in time, +as we have seen, to participate, and, in fact, to take the lead in the +signal victory of Gemblours. He had been struck with the fatal change +which disappointment and anxiety had wrought upon the beautiful and +haughty features of his illustrious kinsman. He had since closed his +eyes in the camp, and erected a marble tablet over his heart in the +little church. He now governed in his stead. + +His personal appearance corresponded with his character. He had the head +of a gladiator, round; compact, combative, with something alert and +snake-like in its movements. The black, closely-shorn hair was erect and +bristling. The forehead was lofty and narrow. The features were, +handsome, the nose regularly aquiline, the eyes well opened, dark +piercing, but with something dangerous and sinister in their expression. +There was an habitual look askance; as of a man seeking to parry or +inflict a mortal blow--the look of a swordsman and professional fighter. +The lower part of the face was swallowed in a bushy beard; the mouth and +chin being quite invisible. He was of middle stature, well formed, and +graceful in person, princely in demeanor, sumptuous and stately in +apparel. His high ruff of point lace, his badge of the Golden Fleece, +his gold-inlaid Milan armor, marked him at once as one of high degree. +On the field of battle he possessed the rare gift of inspiring his +soldiers with his own impetuous and chivalrous courage. He ever led the +way upon the most dangerous and desperate ventures, and, like his uncle +and his imperial grandfather, well knew how to reward the devotion of his +readiest followers with a poniard, a feather, a riband, a jewel, taken +with his own hands from his own attire. + +His military, abilities--now for the first time to be largely called into +employment--were unquestionably superior to those of Don John; whose name +had been surrounded with such splendor by the World-renowned battle of +Lepanto. Moreover, he possessed far greater power for governing men, +whether in camp or cabinet. Less attractive and fascinating, he was more +commanding than his kinsman. Decorous and self-poised, he was only +passionate before the enemy, but he rarely permitted a disrespectful look +or word to escape condign and deliberate chastisement. He was no schemer +or dreamer. He was no knight errant. He would not have crossed seas and +mountains to rescue a captive queen, nor have sought to place her crown +on his own head as a reward for his heroism. He had a single and +concentrated kind of character. He knew precisely the work which Philip +required, and felt himself to be precisely the workman that had so long +been wanted. Cool, incisive, fearless, artful, he united the +unscrupulous audacity of a condottiere with the wily patience of a +Jesuit. He could coil unperceived through unsuspected paths, could +strike suddenly, sting mortally. He came prepared, not only to smite the +Netherlanders in the open field, but to cope with them in tortuous +policy; to outwatch and outweary them in the game to which his impatient +predecessor had fallen a baked victim. He possessed the art and the +patience--as time was to prove--not only to undermine their most +impregnable cities, but to delve below the intrigues of their most +accomplished politicians. To circumvent at once both their negotiators +and their men-at-arms was his appointed task. Had it not been for the +courage, the vigilance, and the superior intellect of a single +antagonist, the whole of the Netherlands would have shared the fate which +was reserved for the more southern portion. Had the life of William of +Orange been prolonged, perhaps the evil genius of the Netherlands might +have still been exorcised throughout the whole extent of the country. +As for religion, Alexander Farnese was, of course, strictly Catholic, +regarding all seceders from Romanism as mere heathen dogs. Not that he +practically troubled himself much with sacred matters--for, during the +life-time of his wife, he had cavalierly thrown the whole burden of his +personal salvation upon her saintly shoulders. She had now flown to +higher spheres, but Alexander was, perhaps, willing to rely upon her +continued intercessions in his behalf. The life of a bravo in time of +peace--the deliberate project in war to exterminate whole cities full of +innocent people, who had different notions on the subject of image- +worship and ecclesiastical ceremonies from those entertained at Rome, did +not seem to him at all incompatible with the precepts of Jesus. Hanging, +drowning, burning and butchering heretics were the legitimate deductions +of his theology. He was no casuist nor pretender to holiness: but in +those days every man was devout, and Alexander looked with honest horror +upon the impiety of the heretics, whom he persecuted and massacred. He +attended mass regularly--in the winter mornings by torch-light--and would +as soon have foregone his daily tennis as his religious exercises. +Romanism was the creed of his caste. It was the religion of princes and +gentlemen of high degree. As for Lutheranism, Zwinglism, Calvinism, and +similar systems, they were but the fantastic rites of weavers, brewers, +and the like--an ignoble herd whose presumption in entitling themselves +Christian, while rejecting the Pope; called for their instant +extermination. His personal habits were extremely temperate. He was +accustomed to say that he ate only to support life; and he rarely +finished a dinner without having risen three or four times from table to +attend to some public business which, in his opinion, ought not to be +deferred. + +His previous connections in the Netherlands were of use to him, and he +knew how to turn them to immediate account. The great nobles, who had +been uniformly actuated by jealousy of the Prince of Orange, who had been +baffled in their intrigue with Matthias, whose half-blown designs upon +Anjou had already been nipped in the bud, were now peculiarly in a +position to listen to the wily tongue of Alexander Farnese. The +Montignys, the La Mottes, the Meluns, the Egmonts, the Aerschots, the +Havres, foiled and doubly foiled in all their small intrigues and their +base ambition, were ready to sacrifice their country to the man they +hated, and to the ancient religion which they thought that they loved. +The Malcontents ravaging the land of Hainault and threatening Ghent, the +"Paternoster Jacks" who were only waiting for a favorable opportunity and +a good bargain to make their peace with Spain, were the very instruments +which Parma most desired to use at this opening stage of his career. The +position of affairs was far more favorable for him than it had been for +Don John when he first succeeded to power. On the whole, there seemed +a bright prospect of success. It seemed quite possible that it would be +in Parma's power to reduce, at last, this chronic rebellion, and to +reestablish the absolute supremacy of Church and King. The pledges of +the Ghent treaty had been broken, while in the unions of Brussels which +had succeeded, the fatal religious cause had turned the instrument of +peace into a sword. The "religion-peace" which had been proclaimed at +Antwerp had hardly found favor anywhere. As the provinces, for an +instant, had seemingly got the better of their foe, they turned madly +upon each other, and the fires of religious discord, which had been +extinguished by the common exertions of a whole race trembling for the +destruction of their fatherland, were now re-lighted with a thousand +brands plucked from the sacred domestic hearth. Fathers and children, +brothers and sisters, husbands and wives, were beginning to wrangle, and +were prepared to persecute. Catholic and Protestant, during the +momentary relief from pressure, forgot their voluntary and most blessed +Pacification, to renew their internecine feuds. The banished Reformers, +who had swarmed back in droves at the tidings of peace and good-will to +all men, found themselves bitterly disappointed. They were exposed in +the Walloon provinces to the persecutions of the Malcontents, in the +Frisian regions to the still powerful coercion of the royal stadholders. + +Persecution begat counter-persecution. The city of Ghent became the +centre of a system of insurrection, by which all the laws of God and man +were outraged under the pretence of establishing a larger liberty in +civil and religious matters. It was at Ghent that the opening scenes, +in Parma's administration took place. Of the high-born suitors for the +Netherland bride, two were still watching each other with jealous eyes. +Anjou was at Mons, which city he had secretly but unsuccessfully +attempted to master for, his, own purposes. John Casimir was at Ghent, +fomenting an insurrection which he had neither skill to guide, nor +intelligence to comprehend. There was a talk of making him Count of +Flanders,--and his paltry ambition was dazzled by the glittering prize. +Anjou, who meant to be Count of Flanders himself, as well as Duke or +Count of all the other Netherlands, was highly indignant at this report, +which he chose to consider true. He wrote to the estates to express his +indignation. He wrote to Ghent to offer his mediation between the +burghers and the Malcontents. Casimir wanted money for his troops. He +obtained a liberal supply, but he wanted more. Meantime, the mercenaries +were expatiating on their own account throughout the southern provinces; +eating up every green leaf, robbing and pillaging, where robbery and +pillage had gone so often that hardly anything was left for rapine. Thus +dealt the soldiers in the open country, while their master at Ghent was +plunging into the complicated intrigues spread over that unfortunate city +by the most mischievous demagogues that ever polluted a sacred cause. +Well had Cardinal Granvelle, his enemy, William of Hesse, his friend and +kinsman, understood the character of John Casimir. Robbery and pillage +were his achievements, to make chaos more confounded was his destiny. +Anjou--disgusted with the temporary favor accorded to a rival whom he +affected to despise--disbanded his troops in dudgeon, and prepared to +retire to France. Several thousand of these mercenaries took service +immediately with the Malcontents under Montigny, thus swelling the ranks +of the deadliest foes to that land over which Anjou had assumed the title +of protector. The states' army, meanwhile, had been rapidly dissolving. +There were hardly men enough left to make a demonstration in the field, +or properly to garrison the more important towns. The unhappy provinces, +torn by civil and religious dissensions, were overrun by hordes of unpaid +soldiers of all nations, creeds, and tongues-Spaniards, Italians, +Burgundians, Walloons, Germans, Scotch and English; some who came to +attack and others to protect, but who all achieved nothing and agreed in +nothing save to maltreat and to outrage the defenceless peasantry and +denizens of the smaller towns. The contemporary chronicles are full of +harrowing domestic tragedies, in which the actors are always the insolent +foreign soldiery and their desperate victims. + +Ghent energetic, opulent, powerful, passionate, unruly Ghent--was now the +focus of discord, the centre from whence radiated not the light and +warmth of reasonable and intelligent liberty, but the bale-fires of +murderous licence and savage anarchy. The second city of the +Netherlands, one of the wealthiest and most powerful cities of +Christendom, it had been its fate so often to overstep the bounds of +reason and moderation in its devotion to freedom, so often to incur +ignominious chastisement from power which its own excesses had made more +powerful, that its name was already becoming a bye-word. It now, most +fatally and for ever, was to misunderstand its true position. The Prince +of Orange, the great architect of his country's fortunes, would have made +it the keystone of the arch which he was laboring to construct. Had he +been allowed to perfect his plan, the structure might have endured for +ages, a perpetual bulwark against, tyranny and wrong. The temporary and +slender frame by which the great artist had supported his arch while +still unfinished, was plucked away by rude and ribald hands; the keystone +plunged into the abyss, to be lost for ever, and the great work of Orange +remained a fragment from its commencement. The acts of demagogues, the +conservative disgust at licence, the jealousy of rival nobles, the +venality of military leaders, threw daily fresh stumbling-blocks in his +heroic path. It was not six months after the advent of Farnese to power, +before that bold and subtle chieftain had seized the double-edged sword +of religious dissension as firmly as he had grasped his celebrated brand +when he boarded the galley of Muatapha Bey, and the Netherlands were cut +in twain, to be re-united nevermore. The separate treaty of the Walloon +provinces was soon destined to separate the Celtic and Romanesque +elements from the Batavian and Frisian portion of a nationality, which; +thoroughly fused in all its parts, would have formed as admirable a +compound of fire and endurance as history has ever seen. + +Meantime, the grass was growing and the cattle were grazing in the +streets of Ghent, where once the tramp of workmen going to and from their +labor was like the movement of a mighty army. The great majority of the +burghers were of the Reformed religion, and disposed to make effectual +resistance to the Malcontents, led by the disaffected nobles. The city, +considering itself the natural head of all the southern country, was +indignant that the Walloon provinces should dare to reassert that +supremacy of Romanism which had been so effectually suppressed, and to +admit the possibility of friendly relations with a sovereign who had been +virtually disowned. There were two parties, however, in Ghent. Both +were led by men of abandoned and dangerous character. Imbize, the worse +of the two demagogues, was inconstant, cruel, cowardly, and treacherous, +but possessed of eloquence and a talent for intrigue. Ryhove was a +bolder ruffian--wrathful, bitter, and unscrupulous. Imbize was at the +time opposed to Orange, disliking his moderation, and trembling at his +firmness. Ryhove considered himself the friend of the Prince. We have +seen that he had consulted him previously to his memorable attack upon +Aerschot, in the autumn of the preceding year, and we know the result of +that conference. + +The Prince, with the slight dissimulation which belonged less to his +character than to his theory of politics, and which was perhaps not to be +avoided, in that age of intrigue, by any man who would govern his fellow- +men, whether for good or evil, had winked at a project which he would not +openly approve. He was not thoroughly acquainted, however, with the +desperate character of the man, for he would have scorned an instrument +so thoroughly base as Ryhove subsequently proved. The violence of that +personage on the occasion of the arrest of Aerschot and his colleagues +was mildness compared with the deed with which he now disgraced the cause +of freedom. He had been ordered out from Ghent to oppose a force of +Malcontents which was gathering in the neighbourhood of Courtray; but he +swore that he would not leave the gates so long as two of the gentlemen +whom he had arrested on the twenty-eighth of the previous October, and +who yet remained in captivity, were still alive. These two prisoners +were ex-procurator Visch and Blood-Councillor Hessels. Hessels, it +seemed, had avowed undying hostility to Ryhove for the injury sustained +at his hands, and he had sworn, "by his grey beard," that the ruffian +should yet hang for the outrage. Ryhove, not feeling very safe in the +position of affairs which then existed, and knowing that he could neither +trust Imbize, who had formerly been his friend, nor the imprisoned +nobles, who had ever been his implacable enemies, was resolved to make +himself safe in one quarter at least, before he set forth against the +Malcontents. Accordingly, Hessels and Visch, as they sat together in +their prison, at chess, upon the 4th of October, 1578, were suddenly +summoned to leave the house, and to enter a carriage which stood at the +door. A force of armed men brought the order, and were sufficiently +strong to enforce it. The prisoners obeyed, and the coach soon rolled +slowly through the streets, left the Courtray gate, and proceeded a short +distance along the road towards that city. + +After a few minutes a halt was made. Ryhove then made his appearance at +the carriage-window, and announced to the astonished prisoners that, they +were forthwith to be hanged upon a tree which stood by the road-side. He +proceeded to taunt the aged Hessels with his threat against himself, and +with his vow "by his grey beard." "Such grey beard shalt thou never live +thyself to wear, ruffian," cried Hessels, stoutly-furious rather than +terrified at the suddenness of his doom. "There thou liest, false +traitor!" roared Ryhove in reply; and to prove the falsehood, he +straightway tore out a handful of the old man's beard, and fastened it +upon his own cap like a plume. His action was imitated by several of his +companions, who cut for themselves locks from the same grey beard, and +decorated themselves as their leader had done. This preliminary ceremony +having been concluded, the two aged prisoners were forthwith hanged on a +tree, without-the least pretence of trial or even sentence. + +Such was the end of the famous councillor who had been wont to shout +"ad patibulum" in his sleep. It was cruel that the fair face of civil +liberty showing itself after years of total eclipse, should be insulted +by such bloody deeds on the part of her votaries. It was sad that the +crimes of men like Imbize and Ryhove should have cost more to the cause +of religious and political freedom than the lives of twenty thousand such +ruffians were worth. But for the influence of demagogues like these, +counteracting the lofty efforts and pure life of Orange, the separation +might never have occurred between the two portions of the Netherlands. +The Prince had not power enough, however, nor the nascent commonwealth +sufficient consistency, to repress the disorganizing tendency of a +fanatical Romanism on the one side, and a retaliatory and cruel +ochlocracy on the other. + +Such events, with the hatred growing daily more intense between the +Walloons and the Ghenters, made it highly important that some kind +of an accord should be concluded, if possible. In the country, the +Malcontents, under pretence of protecting the Catholic clergy, were +daily abusing and plundering the people, while in Ghent the clergy were +maltreated, the cloisters pillaged, under the pretence of maintaining +liberty. In this emergency the eyes of all honest men turned naturally +to Orange. + +Deputies went to and fro between Antwerp and Ghent, Three points were +laid down by the Prince as indispensable to any arrangement--firstly, +that the Catholic clergy should be allowed the free use of their +property; secondly, that they should not be disturbed in the exercise of +their religion; thirdly, that the gentlemen kept in prison since the +memorable twenty-eighth of October should be released. If these points +should be granted, the Archduke Matthias, the states-general, and the +Prince of Orange would agree to drive off the Walloon soldiery, and to +defend Ghent against all injury. The two first points were granted, upon +condition that sufficient guarantees should be established for the safety +of the Reformed religion. The third was rejected, but it was agreed that +the prisoners, Champagny, Sweveghem, and the rest--who, after the horrid +fate of Hessels and Visch, might be supposed to be sufficiently anxious +as to their own doom--should have legal trial, and be defended in the +meantime from outrage. + +On the 3rd of November, 1578, a formal act of acceptance of these terms +was signed at Antwerp. At the same time, there was murmuring at Ghent, +the extravagant portion of the liberal party averring that they had no +intention of establishing the "religious peace" when they agreed not to +molest the Catholics. On the 11th of November, the Prince of Orange sent +messengers to Ghent in the name of the Archduke and the states-general, +summoning the authorities to a faithful execution of the act of +acceptance. Upon the same day the English envoy, Davidson, made an +energetic representation to the same magistrates, declaring that the +conduct of the Ghenters was exciting regret throughout the world, and +affording a proof that it was their object to protract, not suppress, the +civil war which had so long been raging. Such proceedings, he observed, +created doubts whether they were willing to obey any law or any +magistracy. As, however, it might be supposed that the presence of John +Casimir in Ghent at that juncture was authorized by Queen Elizabeth-- +inasmuch as it was known that he had received a subsidy from her--the +envoy took occasion to declare that her Majesty entirely disavowed his +proceedings. He observed further that, in the opinion of her Majesty, +it was still possible to maintain peace by conforming to the counsels +of the Prince of Orange and of the states-general. This, however, could +be done only by establishing the three points which he had laid down. +Her Majesty likewise warned the Ghenters that their conduct would soon +compel her to abandon the country's cause altogether, and, in conclusion, +she requested, with characteristic thriftiness, to be immediately +furnished with a city bond for forty-five thousand pounds sterling. + +Two days afterwards, envoys arrived from Brussels to remonstrate, in +their turn, with the sister city, and to save her, if possible, from the +madness which had seized upon her. They recalled to the memory of the +magistrates the frequent and wise counsels of the Prince of Orange. He +had declared that he knew of no means to avert the impending desolation +of the fatherland save union of all the provinces and obedience to the +general government. His own reputation, and the honor of his house, he +felt now to be at stake; for, by reason of the offices which he now held, +he had been ceaselessly calumniated as the author of all the crimes which +had been committed at Ghent. Against these calumnies he had avowed his +intention of publishing his defence. After thus citing the opinion of +the Prince, the envoys implored the magistrates to accept the religious +peace which he had proposed, and to liberate the prisoners as he had +demanded. For their own part, they declared that the inhabitants of +Brussels would never desert him; for, next to God, there was no one who +understood their cause so entirely, or who could point out the remedy so +intelligently. + +Thus reasoned the envoys from the states-general and from Brussels, but +even while they were reasoning, a fresh tumult occurred at Ghent. The +people had been inflamed by demagogues, and by the insane howlings of +Peter Dathenus, the unfrocked monk of Poperingen, who had been the +servant and minister both of the Pope and of Orange, and who now hated +each with equal fervor. The populace, under these influences, rose in +its wrath upon the Catholics, smote all their images into fragments, +destroyed all their altar pictures, robbed them of much valuable +property, and turned all the Papists themselves out of the city. The +riot was so furious that it seemed, says a chronicler, as if all the +inhabitants had gone raving mad. The drums beat the alarm, the +magistrates went forth to expostulate, but no commands were heeded till +the work of destruction had been accomplished, when the tumult expired at +last by its own limitation. + +Affairs seemed more threatening than ever. Nothing more excited the +indignation of the Prince of Orange than such senseless iconomachy. In +fact, he had at one time procured an enactment by the Ghent authorities, +making it a crime punishable with death. He was of Luther's opinion, +that idol-worship was to be eradicated from the heart, and that then the +idols in the churches would fall of themselves. He felt too with +Landgrave William, that "the destruction of such worthless idols was ever +avenged by torrents of good human blood." Therefore it may be well +supposed that this fresh act of senseless violence, in the very teeth of +his remonstrances, in the very presence of his envoys, met with his stern +disapprobation. He was on the point of publishing his defence against +the calumnies which his toleration had drawn upon him from both Catholic +and Calvinist. He was deeply revolving the question, whether it were not +better to turn his back at once upon a country which seemed so incapable +of comprehending his high purposes, or seconding his virtuous efforts. +From both projects he was dissuaded; and although bitterly wronged by +both friend and foe, although, feeling that even in his own Holland, +there were whispers against his purity, since his favorable inclinations +towards Anjou had become the general topic, yet he still preserved his +majestic tranquillity, and smiled at the arrows which fell harmless at +his feet. "I admire his wisdom, daily more and more," cried Hubert +Languet; "I see those who profess themselves his friends causing him more +annoyance than his foes; while, nevertheless, he ever remains true to +himself, is driven by no tempests from his equanimity, nor provoked by +repeated injuries to immoderate action." + +The Prince had that year been chosen unanimously by the four "members" +of Flanders to be governor of that province, but had again declined the +office. The inhabitants, notwithstanding the furious transactions at +Ghent, professed attachment to his person, and respect for his authority. +He was implored to go to the city. His presence, and that alone, would +restore the burghers to their reason, but the task was not a grateful +one. It was also not unattended with danger; although this was a +consideration which never influenced him, from the commencement of his +career to its close. Imbize and his crew were capable of resorting to +any extremity or any ambush; to destroy the man whom they feared and +hated. The presence of John Casimir was an additional complication; for +Orange, while he despised the man, was unwilling to offend his friends. +Moreover, Casimir had professed a willingness to assist the cause, and +to, defer to the better judgment of the Prince: He had brought an army +into the field, with which, however, he had accomplished nothing except a +thorough pillaging of the peasantry, while, at the same time, he was loud +in his demands upon the states to pay his soldiers' wages. The soldiers +of the different armies who now overran the country, indeed, vied with +each other in extravagant insolence. "Their outrages are most +execrable," wrote Marquis Havre; "they demand the most exquisite food, +and drink Champagne and Burgundy by the bucketfull." Nevertheless, on +the 4th of December, the Prince came to Ghent. He held constant and +anxious conferences with the magistrates. He was closeted daily with +John Casimir, whose vanity and extravagance of temper he managed with +his usual skill. He even dined with Imbue, and thus, by smoothing +difficulties and reconciling angry passions, he succeeded at last in +obtaining the consent of all to a religious peace, which was published on +the 27th of December, 1578. It contained the same provisions as those of +the project prepared and proposed during the previous summer throughout +the Netherlands. Exercise of both religions was established; mutual +insults and irritations--whether by word, book, picture, song, or +gesture--were prohibited, under severe penalties, while all persons were +sworn to protect the common tranquillity by blood, purse, and life. The +Catholics, by virtue of this accord, re-entered into possession of their +churches and cloisters, but nothing could be obtained in favor of the +imprisoned gentlemen. + +The Walloons and Malcontents were now summoned to lay down their arms; +but, as might be supposed, they expressed dissatisfaction with the +religious peace, proclaiming it hostile to the Ghent treaty and the +Brussels union. In short, nothing would satisfy them but total +suppression of the Reformed religion; as nothing would content Imbize +and his faction but the absolute extermination of Romanism. A strong +man might well seem powerless in the midst of such obstinate and +worthless fanatics. + +The arrival of the Prince in Ghent was, on the whole, a relief to John +Casimir. As usual, this addle-brained individual had plunged headlong +into difficulties, out of which he was unable to extricate himself. He +knew not what to do, or which way to turn. He had tampered with Imbue +and his crew, but he had found that they were not the men for a person of +his quality to deal with. He had brought a large army into the field, +and had not a stiver in his coffers. He felt bitterly the truth of the +Landgrave's warning--"that 'twas better to have thirty thousand devils at +one's back than thirty thousand German troopers, with no money to give +them;" it being possible to pay the devils with the sign of the cross, +while the soldiers could be discharged only with money or hard knocks. +Queen Elizabeth, too, under whose patronage he had made this most +inglorious campaign, was incessant in her reproofs, and importunate in +her demands for reimbursement. She wrote to him personally, upbraiding +him with his high pretensions and his shortcomings. His visit to Ghent, +so entirely unjustified and mischievous; his failure to effect that +junction of his army with the states' force under Bossu, by which the +royal army was to have been surprised and annihilated; his having given +reason to the common people to suspect her Majesty and the Prince of +Orange of collusion with his designs, and of a disposition to seek their +private advantage and not the general good of the whole Netherlands; the +imminent danger, which he had aggravated, that the Walloon provinces, +actuated by such suspicions, would fall away from the "generality" and +seek a private accord with Parma; these and similar sins of omission and +commission were sharply and shrewishly set forth in the Queen's epistle. +'Twas not for such marauding and intriguing work that she had appointed +him her lieutenant, and furnished him with troops and subsidies. She +begged him forthwith to amend his ways, for the sake of his name and +fame, which were sufficiently soiled in the places where his soldiers had +been plundering the country which they came to protect. + +The Queen sent Daniel Rogers with instructions of similar import to the +states-general, repeatedly and expressly disavowing Casimir's proceedings +and censuring his character. She also warmly insisted on her bonds. +In short, never was unlucky prince more soundly berated by his superiors, +more thoroughly disgraced by his followers. In this contemptible +situation had Casimir placed himself by his rash ambition to prove before +the world that German princes could bite and scratch like griffins and +tigers as well as carry them in their shields. From this position Orange +partly rescued him. He made his peace with the states-general. He +smoothed matters with the extravagant Reformers, and he even extorted +from the authorities of Ghent the forty-five thousand pounds bond, on +which Elizabeth had insisted with such obduracy. Casimir repaid these +favors of the Prince in the coin with which narrow minds and jealous +tempers are apt to discharge such obligations--ingratitude. The +friendship which he openly manifested at first grew almost immediately +cool. Soon afterwards he left Ghent and departed for Germany, leaving +behind him a long and tedious remonstrance, addressed to the states- +general, in which document he narrated the history of his exploits, and +endeavored to vindicate the purity of his character. He concluded this +very tedious and superfluous manifesto by observing that--for reasons +which he thought proper to give at considerable length--he felt himself +"neither too useful nor too agreeable to the provinces." As he had been +informed, he said, that the states-general had requested the Queen of +England to procure his departure, he had resolved, in order to spare her +and them inconvenience, to return of his own accord, "leaving the issue +of the war in the high and mighty hand of God." + +The estates answered this remonstrance with words of unlimited courtesy; +expressing themselves "obliged to all eternity" for his services, and +holding out vague hopes that the monies which he demanded on behalf of +his troops should ere long be forthcoming. + +Casimir having already answered Queen Elizabeth's reproachful letter by +throwing the blame of his apparent misconduct upon the states-general, +and having promised soon to appear before her Majesty in person, tarried +accordingly but a brief season in Germany, and then repaired to England. +Here he was feasted, flattered, caressed, and invested with the order of +the Garter. Pleased with royal blandishments, and highly enjoying the +splendid hospitalities of England he quite forgot the "thirty thousand +devils" whom he had left running loose in the Netherlands, while these +wild soldiers, on their part, being absolutely in a starving condition +--for there was little left for booty in a land which had been so often +plundered--now had the effrontery to apply to the Prince of Parma for +payment of their wages. Alexander Farnese laughed heartily at the +proposition, which he considered an excellent jest. It seemed in truth, +a jest, although but a sorry one. Parma replied to the messenger of +Maurice of Saxony who had made the proposition, that the Germans must be +mad to ask him for money, instead of offering to pay him, a heavy sum for +permission to leave the country. Nevertheless, he was willing to be so +far indulgent as to furnish them with passports, provided they departed +from the Netherlands instantly. Should they interpose the least delay, +he would set upon them without further preface, and he gave them notice, +with the arrogance becoming a Spanish general; that the courier was +already waiting to report to Spain the number of them left alive after +the encounter. Thus deserted by their chief, and hectored by the enemy, +the mercenaries, who had little stomach for fight without wages, accepted +the passports proffered by Parma. They revenged themselves for the harsh +treatment which they had received from Casimir and from the states- +general, by singing, everywhere as they retreated, a doggerel ballad +--half Flemish, half German--in which their wrongs were expressed with +uncouth vigor. + +Casimir received the news of the departure of his ragged soldiery on the +very day which witnessed his investment with the Garter by the fair hands +of Elizabeth herself. A few days afterwards he left England, +accompanied by an escort of lords and gentlemen, especially appointed for +that purpose by the Queen. He landed in Flushing, where he was received +with distinguished hospitality, by order of the Prince of Orange, and on +the 14th of February, 1579, he passed through Utrecht. Here he conversed +freely at his lodgings in the "German House" on the subject of his +vagabond troops, whose final adventures and departure seemed to afford +him considerable amusement; and he, moreover, diverted his company by +singing, after supper, a few verses of the ballad already mentioned. + + O, have you been in Brabant, fighting for the states? + O, have you brought back anything except your broken pates? + O, I have been in Brabant, myself and all my mates. + We'll go no more to Brabant, unless our brains were addle, + We're coming home on foot, we went there in the saddle; + For there's neither gold nor glory got, in fighting for the states. + +The Duke of Anjou, meantime, after disbanding his troops, had lingered +for a while near the frontier. Upon taking his final departure, he sent +his resident minister, Des Pruneaux, with a long communication to the +states-general, complaining that they had not published their contract +with himself, nor fulfilled its conditions. He excused, as well as he +could, the awkward fact that his disbanded troops had taken refuge with +the Walloons, and he affected to place his own departure upon the ground +of urgent political business in France, to arrange which his royal +brother had required his immediate attendance. He furthermore most +hypocritically expressed a desire for a speedy reconciliation of the +provinces with their sovereign, and a resolution that--although for their +sake he had made himself a foe to his Catholic Majesty--he would still +interpose no obstacle to so desirable a result. + +To such shallow discourse the states answered with infinite urbanity, +for it was the determination of Orange not to make enemies, at that +juncture, of France and England in the same breath. They had foes enough +already, and it seemed obvious at that moment, to all persons most +observant of the course of affairs, that a matrimonial alliance was soon +to unite the two crowns. The probability of Anjou's marriage with +Elizabeth was, in truth, a leading motive with Orange for his close +alliance with the Duke. The political structure, according to which he +had selected the French Prince as protector of the Netherlands, was +sagaciously planned; but unfortunately its foundation was the shifting +sandbank of female and royal coquetry. Those who judge only by the +result, will be quick to censure a policy which might have had very +different issue. They who place themselves in the period anterior to +Anjou's visit to England, will admit that it was hardly human not to be +deceived by the apolitical aspects of that moment. The Queen, moreover, +took pains to upbraid the states-general, by letter, with their +disrespect and ingratitude towards the Duke of Anjou--behaviour with +which he had been "justly scandalized." For her own part, she assured +them of her extreme displeasure at learning that such a course of conduct +had been held with a view to her especial contentment--"as if the person +of Monsieur, son of France, brother of the King, were disagreeable to +her, or as if she wished him ill;" whereas, on the contrary, they would +best satisfy her wishes by showing him all the courtesy to which his high +degree and his eminent services entitled him. + +The estates, even before receiving this letter, had, however, acted in +its spirit. They had addressed elaborate apologies and unlimited +professions to the Duke. They thanked him heartily for his achievements, +expressed unbounded regret at his departure, with sincere hopes for his +speedy return, and promised "eternal remembrance" of his heroic virtues. +They assured him, moreover, that should the first of the following March +arrive without bringing with it an honorable peace with his Catholic +Majesty, they should then feel themselves compelled to declare that the +King had forfeited his right to the sovereignty of these provinces. In +this case they concluded that, as the inhabitants would be then absolved +from their allegiance to the Spanish monarch, it would then be in their +power to treat with his Highness of Anjou concerning the sovereignty, +according to the contract already existing. + +These assurances were ample, but the states, knowing the vanity of the +man, offered other inducements, some of which seemed sufficiently +puerile. They promised that "his statue, in copper, should be placed in +the public squares of Antwerp and Brussels, for the eternal admiration of +posterity," and that a "crown of olive-leaves should be presented to him +every year." The Duke--not inexorable to such courteous solicitations-- +was willing to achieve both immortality and power by continuing his +friendly relations with the states, and he answered accordingly in the +most courteous terms. The result of this interchange of civilities it +will be soon our duty to narrate. + +At the close of the year the Count of Bossu died, much to the regret of +the Prince of Orange, whose party--since his release from prison by +virtue of the Ghent treaty--he had warmly espoused. "We are in the +deepest distress in the world," wrote the Prince to his brother, three +days before the Count's death, "for the dangerous malady of M. de Bossu. +Certainly, the country has much to lose in his death, but I hope that God +will not so much afflict us." Yet the calumniators of the day did not +scruple to circulate, nor the royalist chroniclers to perpetuate, the +most senseless and infamous fables on the subject of this nobleman's +death. He died of poison, they said, administered to him "in oysters," +by command of the Prince of Orange, who had likewise made a point of +standing over him on his death-bed, for the express purpose of sneering +at the Catholic ceremonies by which his dying agonies were solaced. Such +were the tales which grave historians have recorded concerning the death +of Maximilian of Bossu, who owed so much to the Prince. The command of +the states' army, a yearly pension of five thousand florins, granted at +the especial request of Orange but a few months before, and the profound +words of regret in the private letter jest cited, are a sufficient answer +to such slanders. + +The personal courage and profound military science of Parma were +invaluable to the royal cause; but his subtle, unscrupulous, and +subterranean combinations of policy were even more fruitful at this +period. No man ever understood the art of bribery more thoroughly +or practised it more skillfully. He bought a politician, or a general, +or a grandee, or a regiment of infantry, usually at the cheapest price +at which those articles could be purchased, and always with the utmost +delicacy with which such traffic could be conducted. Men conveyed +themselves to government for a definite price--fixed accurately in +florins and groats, in places and pensions--while a decent gossamer +of conventional phraseology was ever allowed to float over the nakedness +of unblushing treason. Men high in station, illustrious by ancestry, +brilliant in valor, huckstered themselves, and swindled a confiding +country for as ignoble motives as ever led counterfeiters or bravoes to +the gallows, but they were dealt with in public as if actuated only by +the loftiest principles. Behind their ancient shields, ostentatiously +emblazoned with fidelity to church and king, they thrust forth their +itching palms with the mendicity which would be hardly credible, were it +not attested by the monuments more perennial than brass, of their own +letters and recorded conversations. + +Already, before the accession of Parma to power, the true way to dissever +the provinces had been indicated by the famous treason of the Seigneur de +la Motte. This nobleman commanded a regiment in the service of the +states-general, and was Governor of Gravelines. On promise of +forgiveness for all past disloyalty, of being continued in the same +military posts under Philip which he then held for the patriots, and of a +"merced" large enough to satisfy his most avaricious dreams, he went over +to the royal government. The negotiation was conducted by Alonzo Curiel, +financial agent of the King, and was not very nicely handled. The +paymaster, looking at the affair purely as a money transaction--which in +truth it was--had been disposed to drive rather too hard a bargain. He +offered only fifty thousand crowns for La Motte and his friend Baron +Montigny, and assured his government that those gentlemen, with the +soldiers under their command, were very dear at the price. La Motte +higgled very hard for more, and talked pathetically of his services and +his wounds--for he had been a most distinguished and courageous +campaigner--but Alonzo was implacable. Moreover, one Robert Bien-Aime, +Prior of Renty, was present at all the conferences. This ecclesiastic +was a busy intriguer, but not very adroit. He was disposed to make +himself useful to government, for he had set his heart upon putting the +mitre of Saint Omer upon his head, and he had accordingly composed a very +ingenious libel upon the Prince of Orange, in which production, "although +the Prior did not pretend to be Apelles or Lysippus," he hoped that the +Governor-General would recognize a portrait colored to the life. This +accomplished artist was, however, not so successful as he was picturesque +and industrious. He was inordinately vain of his services, thinking +himself, said Alonzo, splenetically, worthy to be carried in a procession +like a little saint, and as he had a busy brain, but an unruly tongue, +it will be seen that he possessed a remarkable faculty of making himself +unpleasant. This was not the way to earn his bishopric. La Motte, +through the candid communications of the Prior, found himself the subject +of mockery in Parma's camp and cabinet, where treachery to one's country +and party was not, it seemed, regarded as one of the loftier virtues, +however convenient it might be at the moment to the royal cause. The +Prior intimated especially that Ottavio Gonzaga had indulged in many +sarcastic remarks at La Motte's expense. The brave but venal warrior, +highly incensed at thus learning the manner in which his conduct was +estimated by men of such high rank in the royal service, was near +breaking off the bargain. He was eventually secured, however, by still +larger offers--Don John allowing him three hundred florins a month, +presenting him with the two best horses in his stable, and sending him an +open form, which he was to fill out in the most stringent language which +he could devise, binding the government to the payment of an ample and +entirely satisfactory "merced." Thus La Motte's bargain was completed +a crime which, if it had only entailed the loss of the troops under his +command, and the possession of Gravelines, would have been of no great +historic importance. It was, however, the first blow of a vast and +carefully sharpened treason, by which the country was soon to be cut in +twain for ever--the first in a series of bargains by which the noblest +names of the Netherlands were to be contaminated with bribery and fraud. + +While the negotiations with La Notte were in progress, the government of +the states-general at Brussels had sent Saint Aldegonde to Arras. The +states of Artois, then assembled in that city, had made much difficulty +in acceding to an assessment of seven thousand florins laid upon them by +the central authority. The occasion was skillfully made use of by the +agents of the royal party to weaken the allegiance of the province, and +of its sister Walloon provinces, to the patriot cause. Saint Aldegonde +made his speech before the assembly, taking the ground boldly, that the +war was made for liberty of conscience and of fatherland, and that all +were bound, whether Catholic or Protestant, to contribute to the sacred +fund. The vote passed, but it was provided that a moiety of the +assessment should be paid by the ecclesiastical branch, and the +stipulation excited a tremendous uproar. The clerical bench regarded +the tax as both a robbery and an affront. "We came nearly to knife- +playing," said the most distinguished priest in the assembly, "and if we +had done so, the ecclesiastics would not have been the first to cry +enough." They all withdrew in a rage, and held a private consultation +upon "these exorbitant and more than Turkish demands." John Sarrasin, +Prior of Saint Yaast, the keenest, boldest, and most indefatigable of the +royal partisans of that epoch, made them an artful harangue. This man +--a better politician than the other prior--was playing for a mitre too, +and could use his cards better. He was soon to become the most +invaluable agent in the great treason preparing. No one could, be more +delicate, noiseless, or unscrupulous, and he was soon recognized both by +Governor-General and King as the individual above all others to whom the +re-establishment of the royal authority over the Walloon provinces was +owing. With the shoes of swiftness on his feet, the coat of darkness on +his back, and the wishing purse in his hand, he sped silently and +invisibly from one great Malcontent chieftain to another, buying up +centurions, and captains, and common soldiers; circumventing Orangists, +Ghent democrats, Anjou partisans; weaving a thousand intrigues, +ventilating a hundred hostile mines, and passing unharmed through the +most serious dangers and the most formidable obstacles. Eloquent, too, +at a pinch, he always understood his audience, and upon this occasion +unsheathed the most incisive, if not the most brilliant weapon which +could be used in the debate. It was most expensive to be patriotic, he +said, while silver was to be saved, and gold to be earned by being loyal. +They ought to keep their money to defend themselves, not give it to the +Prince of Orange, who would only put it into his private pocket on +pretence of public necessities. The Ruward would soon be slinking back +to his lair, he observed, and leave them all in the fangs of their +enemies. Meantime, it was better to rush into the embrace of a bountiful +king, who was still holding forth his arms to them. They were +approaching a precipice, said the Prior; they were entering a labyrinth; +and not only was the "sempiternal loss of body and soul impending over +them, but their property was to be taken also, and the cat to be thrown +against their legs." By this sudden descent into a very common +proverbial expression, Sarrasin meant to intimate that they were getting +themselves into a difficult position, in which they were sure to reap +both danger and responsibility. + +The harangue had much effect upon his hearers, who were now more than +ever determined to rebel against the government which they had so +recently accepted, preferring, in the words of the Prior, "to be +maltreated by their prince, rather than to be barbarously tyrannized +over by a heretic." So much anger had been excited in celestial minds +by a demand of thirty-five hundred florins. + +Saint Aldegonde was entertained in the evening at a great banquet, +followed by a theological controversy, in which John Sarrasin complained +that "he had been attacked upon his own dunghill." Next day the +distinguished patriot departed on a canvassing tour among the principal +cities; the indefatigable monk employing the interval of his absence in +aggravating the hostility of the Artesian orders to the pecuniary demands +of the general government. He was assisted in his task by a peremptory +order which came down from Brussels, ordering, in the name of Matthias, a +levy upon the ecclesiastical property, "rings, jewels, and reliquaries," +unless the clerical contribution should be forthcoming. The rage of the +bench was now intense, and by the time of Saint Aldegonde's return a +general opposition had been organized. The envoy met with a chilling +reception; there were no banquets anymore--no discussions of any kind. +To his demands for money, "he got a fine nihil," said Saint Vaast; and +as for polemics, the only conclusive argument for the country would be, +as he was informed on the same authority, the "finishing of Orange and of +his minister along with him." More than once had the Prior intimated to +government--as so many had done before him--that to "despatch Orange, +author of all the troubles," was the best preliminary to any political +arrangement. From Philip and his Governor-General, down to the humblest +partisan, this conviction had been daily strengthening. The knife or +bullet of an assassin was the one thing needful to put an end to this +incarnated rebellion. + +Thus matters grew worse and worse in Artois. The Prior, busier than ever +in his schemes, was one day arrested along with other royal emissaries, +kept fifteen days "in a stinking cellar, where the scullion washed the +dishes," and then sent to Antwerp to be examined by the states-general. +He behaved with great firmness, although he had good reason to tremble +for his neck. Interrogated by Leoninus on the part of the central +government, he boldly avowed that these pecuniary demands upon the +Walloon estates, and particularly upon their ecclesiastical branches, +would never be tolerated. "In Alva's time," said Sarrasin, "men were +flayed, but not shorn." Those who were more attached to their skin than +their fleece might have thought the practice in the good old times of the +Duke still more objectionable. Such was not the opinion of the Prior and +the rest of his order. After an unsatisfactory examination and a brief +duresse, the busy ecclesiastic was released; and as his secret labors had +not been detected, he resumed them after his return more ardently than +ever. + +A triangular intrigue was now fairly established in the Walloon country. +The Duke of Alencon's head-quarters were at Mons; the rallying-point of +the royalist faction was with La Motte at Gravelines; while the +ostensible leader of the states' party, Viscount Ghent, was governor of +Artois, and supposed to be supreme in Arras. La Motte was provided by +government with a large fund of secret-service money, and was instructed +to be very liberal in his bribes to men of distinction; having a tender +regard, however, to the excessive demands of this nature now daily made +upon the royal purse. The "little Count," as the Prior called Lalain, +together with his brother, Baron Montigny, were considered highly +desirable acquisitions for government, if they could be gained. It was +thought, however, that they had the "fleur-de-lys imprinted too deeply +upon their hearts," for the effect produced upon Lalain, governor of +Hainault, by Margaret of Valois, had not yet been effaced. His brother +also had been disposed to favor the French prince, but his mind was more +open to conviction. A few private conferences with La Motte, and a +course of ecclesiastical tuition from the Prior--whose golden opinions +had irresistible resonance--soon wrought a change in the Malcontent +chieftain's mind. Other leading seigniors were secretly dealt with in +the same manner. Lalain, Heze, Havre, Capres, Egmont, and even the +Viscount of Ghent, all seriously inclined their ears to the charmer, and +looked longingly and lovingly as the wily Prior rolled in his tangles +before them--"to mischief swift." Few had yet declared themselves; but +of the grandees who commanded large bodies of troops, and whose influence +with their order was paramount, none were safe for the patriot cause +throughout the Walloon country. + +The nobles and ecclesiastics were ready to join hands in support of +church and king, but in the city of Arras, the capital of the whole +country, there was a strong Orange and liberal party. Gosson, a man of +great wealth, one of the most distinguished advocates in the Netherlands, +and possessing the gift of popular eloquence to a remarkable degree, was +the leader of this burgess faction. In the earlier days of Parma's +administration, just as a thorough union of the Walloon provinces in +favor of the royal government had nearly been formed, these Orangists of +Arras risked a daring stroke. Inflamed by the harangues of Gosson, and +supported by five hundred foot soldiers and fifty troopers under one +Captain Ambrose, they rose against the city magistracy, whose sentiments +were unequivocally for Parma, and thrust them all into prison. They then +constituted a new board of fifteen, some Catholics and some Protestants, +but all patriots, of whom Gosson was chief. The stroke took the town by +surprise; and was for a moment successful. Meantime, they depended upon +assistance from Brussels. The royal and ecclesiastical party was, +however, not so easily defeated, and an old soldier, named Bourgeois, +loudly denounced Captain Ambrose, the general of the revolutionary +movement, as a vile coward, and affirmed that with thirty good men-at- +arms he would undertake to pound the whole rebel army to powder--" a pack +of scarecrows," he said, "who were not worth as many owls for military +purposes." + +Three days after the imprisonment of the magistracy, a strong Catholic +rally was made in their behalf in the Fishmarket, the ubiquitous Prior +of Saint Vaast flitting about among the Malcontents, blithe and busy as +usual when storms were brewing. Matthew Doucet, of the revolutionary +faction--a man both martial and pacific in his pursuits, being eminent +both as a gingerbread baker and a swordplayer--swore he would have the +little monk's life if he had to take him from the very horns of the +altar; but the Prior had braved sharper threats than these. Moreover, +the grand altar would have been the last place to look fox him on that +occasion. While Gosson was making a tremendous speech in favor of +conscience and fatherland at the Hotel de Ville, practical John Sarrasin, +purse in hand, had challenged the rebel general, Ambrose to private +combat. In half an hour, that warrior was routed, and fled from the +field at the head of his scarecrows, for there was no resisting the power +before which the Montignys and the La Mottes had succumbed. Eloquent +Gosson was left to his fate. Having the Catholic magistracy in durance, +and with nobody to guard them, he felt, as was well observed by an ill- +natured contemporary, like a man holding a wolf by the ears, equally +afraid to let go or to retain his grasp. + +His dilemma was soon terminated. While he was deliberating with his +colleagues--Mordacq, an old campaigner, Crugeot, Bertoul, and others-- +whether to stand or, fly, the drums and trumpets of the advancing +royalists were heard. In another instant the Hotel de Ville was swarming +with men-at-arms, headed by Bourgeois, the veteran who had expressed so +alighting an opinion as to the prowess of Captain Ambrose. The tables +were turned, the miniature revolution was at an end, the counter- +revolution effected. Gosson and his confederates escaped out of a back +door, but were soon afterwards arrested. Next morning, Baron Capres, the +great Malcontent seignior, who was stationed with his regiment in the +neighbourhood, and who had long been secretly coquetting with the Prior +and Parma, marched into the city at the head of a strong detachment, and +straightway proceeded to erect a very tall gibbet in front of the Hotel +de Ville. This looked practical in the eyes of the liberated and +reinstated magistrates, and Gosson, Crugeot, and the rest were summoned +at once before them. The advocate thought, perhaps, with a sigh, that +his judges, so recently his prisoners, might have been the fruit for +another gallowstree, had he planted it when the ground was his own; but +taking heart of grace, he encouraged his colleagues--now his fellow- +culprits. Crugeot, undismayed, made his appearance before the tribunal, +arrayed in a corslet of proof, with a golden hilted sword, a scarf +embroidered with pearls and gold, and a hat bravely plumaged with white, +blue, and, orange feathers--the colors of William the Silent--of all +which finery he was stripped, however, as soon as he entered the court. + +The process was rapid. A summons from Brussels was expected every hour +from the general government, ordering the cases to be brought before the +federal tribunal; and as the Walloon provinces were not yet ready for +open revolt, the order would be an inconvenient one. Hence the necessity +for haste. The superior court of Artois, to which an appeal from the +magistrates lay, immediately held a session in another chamber of the +Hotel de Ville while the lower court was trying the prisoners, and +Bertoul, Crugeot, Mordacq, with several others, were condemned in a few +hours to the gibbet. They were invited to appeal, if they chose, to the +council of Artois, but hearing that the court was sitting next door, so +that there was no chance of a rescue in the streets, they declared +themselves satisfied with the sentence. Gosson had not been tried, his +case being reserved for the morrow. + +Meantime, the short autumnal day had drawn to a close. A wild, stormy, +rainy night then set in, but still the royalist party--citizens and +soldiers intermingled--all armed to the teeth, and uttering fierce cries, +while the whole scene was fitfully illuminated with the glare of +flambeaux and blazing tar-barrels, kept watch in the open square around +the city hall. A series of terrible Rembrandt-like nightpieces +succeeded--grim, fantastic, and gory. Bertoul, an old man, who for years +had so surely felt himself predestined to his present doom that he had +kept a gibbet in his own house to accustom himself to the sight of the +machine, was led forth the first, and hanged at ten in the evening. He +was a good man, of perfectly blameless life, a sincere Catholic, but a +warm partisan of Orange. + +Valentine de Mordacq, an old soldier, came from the Hotel de Ville to +the gallows at midnight. As he stood on the ladder, amid the flaming +torches, he broke forth into furious execrations, wagging his long white +beard to and fro, making hideous grimaces, and cursing the hard fate +which, after many dangers on the battle-field and in beleaguered cities, +had left him to such a death. The cord strangled his curses. Crugeot +was executed at three in the morning, having obtained a few hours' +respite in order to make his preparations, which he accordingly occupied +himself in doing as tranquilly as if he had been setting forth upon an +agreeable journey. He looked like a phantom, according to eye-witnesses, +as he stood under the gibbet, making a most pious and, Catholic address +to the crowd. + +The whole of the following day was devoted to the trial of Gosson. He +was condemned at nightfall, and heard by appeal before the superior court +directly afterwards. At midnight, of the 25th of October, 1578, he was +condemned to lose his head, the execution to take place without delay. +The city guards and the infantry under Capres still bivouacked upon the +square; the howling storm still continued, but the glare of fagots and +torches made the place as light as day. The ancient advocate, with +haggard eyes and features distorted by wrath, walking between the sheriff +and a Franciscan monk, advanced through the long lane of halberdiers, in +the grand hall of the Town House, and thence emerged upon the scaffold +erected before the door. He shook his fists with rage at the released +magistrates, so lately his prisoners, exclaiming that to his misplaced +mercy it was owing that his head, instead of their own, was to be placed +upon the block. He bitterly reproached the citizens for their cowardice +in shrinking from dealing a blow for their fatherland, and in behalf of +one who had so faithfully served them. The clerk of the court then read +the sentence amid a silence so profound that every syllable he uttered, +and, every sigh and ejaculation of the victim were distinctly heard in +the most remote corner of the square. Gosson then, exclaiming that he +was murdered without cause, knelt upon the scaffold. His head fell while +an angry imprecation was still upon his lips. + +Several other persons of lesser note were hanged daring the week-among +others, Matthew Doucet, the truculent man of gingerbread, whose rage had +been so judiciously but so unsuccessfully directed against the Prior of +Saint Vaast. Captain Ambrose, too, did not live long to enjoy the price +of his treachery. He was arrested very soon afterwards by the states' +government in Antwerp, put to the torture, hanged and quartered. In +troublous times like those, when honest men found it difficult to keep +their heads upon their shoulders, rogues were apt to meet their deserts, +unless they had the advantage of lofty lineage and elevated position. + + "Ille crucem sceleris pretium tulit, hic diadema." + +This municipal revolution and counter-revolution, obscure though they +seem, were in reality of very grave importance. This was the last blow +struck for freedom in the Walloon country. The failure of the movement +made that scission of the Netherlands certain, which has endured till our +days, for the influence of the ecclesiastics in the states of Artois and +Hainault, together with the military power of the Malcontent grandees, +whom Parma and John Sarrasin had purchased, could no longer be resisted. +The liberty of the Celtic provinces was sold, and a few high-born +traitors received the price. Before the end of the year (1578) Montigny +had signified to the Duke of Alencon that a prince who avowed himself too +poor to pay for soldiers was no master for him. The Baron, therefore, +came, to an understanding with La Motte and Sarrasin, acting for +Alexander Farnese, and received the command of the infantry in the +Walloon provinces, a merced of four thousand crowns a year, together with +as large a slice of La Motte's hundred thousand florins for himself and +soldiers, as that officer could be induced to part with. + +Baron Capres, whom Sarrasin--being especially enjoined to purchase him-- +had, in his own language, "sweated blood and water" to secure, at last +agreed to reconcile himself with the King's party upon condition of +receiving the government-general of Artois, together with the particular +government of Hesdin--very lucrative offices, which the Viscount of Ghent +then held by commission of the states-general. That politic personage, +however, whose disinclination to desert the liberty party which had +clothed him with such high functions, was apparently so marked that the +Prior had caused an ambush to be laid both for him and the Marquis Havre, +in-order to obtain bodily possession of two such powerful enemies, now, +at the last moment, displayed his true colors. He consented to reconcile +himself also, on condition of receiving the royal appointment to the same +government which he then held from the patriot authorities, together with +the title of Marquis de Richebourg, the command of all the cavalry in the +royalist provinces, and certain rewards in money besides. By holding +himself at a high mark, and keeping at a distance, he had obtained his +price. Capres, for whom Philip, at Parma's suggestion, had sent the +commission as governor of Artois and of Hesdin, was obliged to renounce +those offices, notwithstanding his earlier "reconciliation," and the +"blood and water" of John Sarrasin. Ghent was not even contented with +these guerdons, but insisted upon the command of all the cavalry, +including the band of ordnance which, with handsome salary, had been +assigned to Lalain as a part of the wages for his treason, while the +"little Count"--fiery as his small and belligerent cousin whose exploits +have been recorded in the earlier pages of this history--boldly taxed +Parma and the King with cheating him out of his promised reward, in order +to please a noble whose services had been less valuable than those of the +Lalain family. Having thus obtained the lion's share, due, as he +thought, to his well known courage and military talents, as well as to +the powerful family influence, which he wielded--his brother, the Prince +of Espinoy, hereditary seneschal of Hainault, having likewise rallied to +the King's party--Ghent jocosely intimated to Parma his intention of +helping himself to the two best horses in the Prince's stables in +exchange for those lost at Gemblours, in which disastrous action he +had commanded the cavalry for the states. He also sent two terriers +to Farnese, hoping that they would "prove more useful than beautiful." +The Prince might have thought, perhaps, as much of the Viscount's +treason. + +John Sarrasin, the all-accomplished Prior, as the reward of his +exertions, received from Philip the abbey of Saint Vaast, the richest +and most powerful ecclesiastical establishment in the Netherlands. +At a subsequent period his grateful Sovereign created him Archbishop +of Cambray. + +Thus the "troubles of Arras"--as they were called--terminated. Gosson +the respected, wealthy, eloquent, and virtuous advocate; together with +his colleagues--all Catholics, but at the same time patriots and +liberals--died the death of felons for their unfortunate attempt to save +their fatherland from an ecclesiastical and venal conspiracy; while the +actors in the plot, having all performed well their parts, received their +full meed of prizes and applause. + +The private treaty by which the Walloon provinces of Artois, Hainault, +Lille, Douay, and Orchies, united themselves in a separate league was +signed upon the 6th of January, 1579; but the final arrangements for the +reconciliation of the Malcontent nobles and their soldiers were not +completed until April 6th, upon which day a secret paper was signed at +Mount Saint Eloi. + +The secret current of the intrigue had not, however, flowed on with +perfect smoothness until this placid termination. On the contrary, +here had been much bickering, heart-burning, and mutual suspicions and +recriminations. There had been violent wranglings among the claimants +of the royal rewards. Lalain and Capres were not the only Malcontents +who had cause to complain of being cheated of the promised largess. +Montigny, in whose favor Parma had distinctly commanded La Motte to be +liberal of the King's secret-service money, furiously charged the +Governor of Gravelines with having received a large supply of gold from +Spain, and of "locking the rascal counters from his friends," so that +Parma was obliged to quiet the Baron, and many other barons in the same +predicament, out of his own purse. All complained bitterly, too, that +the King, whose promises had been so profuse to the nobles while the +reconciliation was pending, turned a deaf ear to their petitions and left +their letters unanswered; after the deed was accomplished. + +The unlucky Prior of Renty, whose disclosures to La Motte concerning the +Spanish sarcasms upon his venality, had so nearly caused the preliminary +negotiation with that seignior to fail, was the cause of still further +mischief through the interception of Alonzo Curiel's private letters. +Such revelations of corruption, and of contempt on the part of the +corrupters, were eagerly turned to account by the states' government. +A special messenger was despatched to Montigny with the intercepted +correspondence, accompanied by an earnest prayer that he would not +contaminate his sword and his noble name by subserviency to men who +despised even while they purchased traitors. That noble, both confounded +and exasperated, was for a moment inclined to listen to the voice of +honor and patriotism, but reflection and solitude induced him to pocket +up his wrongs and his "merced" together. The states-general also sent +the correspondence to the Walloon provincial authorities, with an +eloquent address, begging them to study well the pitiful part which La +Motte had enacted in the private comedy then performing, and to +behold as in a mirror their own position, if they did not recede ere it +was too late. + +The only important effect produced by the discovery was upon the Prior of +Renty himself. Ottavio Gonzaga, the intimate friend of Don John, and now +high in the confidence of Parma, wrote to La Motte, indignantly denying +the truth of Bien Aime's tattle, and affirming that not a word had ever +been uttered by himself or by any gentleman in his presence to the +disparagement of the Governor of Gravelines. He added that if the Prior +had worn another coat, and were of quality equal to his own, he would +have made him eat his words or a few inches of steel. In the same +vehement terms he addressed a letter to Bien Aime himself. Very soon +afterwards, notwithstanding his coat and his quality, that unfortunate +ecclesiastic found himself beset one dark night by two soldiers, who left +him, severely wounded and bleeding nearly to death upon the high road, +but escaping with life, he wrote to Parma, recounting his wrongs and the +"sword-thrust in his left thigh," and made a demand for a merced. + +The Prior recovered from this difficulty only to fall into another, +by publishing what he called an apologue, in which he charged that the +reconciled nobles were equally false to the royal and to the rebel +government, and that, although "the fatted calf had been killed for them, +after they had so long been feeding with perverse heretical pigs," they +were, in truth, as mutinous as ever, being bent upon establishing an +oligarchy in the Netherlands, and dividing the territory among +themselves, to the exclusion of the sovereign. This naturally excited +the wrath of the Viscount and others. The Seigneur d'Auberlieu, in a +letter written in what the writer himself called the "gross style of a +gendarme," charged the Prior with maligning honorable lords and--in the +favorite colloquial phrase of the day--with attempting "to throw the cat +against their legs." The real crime of the meddling priest, however, was +to have let that troublesome animal out of the bag. He was accordingly +waylaid again, and thrown into prison by Count Lalain. While in durance +he published an abject apology for his apologue, explaining that his +allusions to "returned prodigals," "heretic swine," and to "Sodom and +Gomorrah," had been entirely misconstrued. He was, however, retained in +custody until Parma ordered his release on the ground that the punishment +had been already sufficient for the offence. He then requested to be +appointed Bishop of Saint Omer, that see being vacant. Parma advised the +King by no means to grant the request--the Prior being neither endowed +with the proper age nor discretion for such a dignity--but to bestow some +lesser reward, in money or otherwise, upon the discomfited ecclesiastic, +who had rendered so many services and incurred so many dangers. + +The states-general and the whole national party regarded, with prophetic +dismay, the approaching dismemberment of their common country. They sent +deputation on deputation to the Walloon states, to warn them of their +danger, and to avert, if possible, the fatal measure. Meantime, as by +the already accomplished movement, the "generality" was fast +disappearing, and was indeed but the shadow of its former self, it seemed +necessary to make a vigorous effort to restore something like unity to +the struggling country. The Ghent Pacification had been their outer +wall, ample enough and strong enough to enclose and to protect all the +provinces. Treachery and religious fanaticism had undermined the bulwark +almost as soon as reared. The whole beleaguered country was in danger of +becoming utterly exposed to a foe who grew daily more threatening. As in +besieged cities, a sudden breastwork is thrown up internally, when the +outward defences are crumbling--so the energy of Orange had been silently +preparing the Union of Utrecht, as a temporary defence until the foe +should be beaten back, and there should be time to decide on their future +course of action. + +During the whole month of December, an active correspondence had been +carried on by the Prince and his brother John with various agents in +Gelderland, Friesland, and Groningen, as well as with influential +personages in the more central provinces and cities. Gelderland, the +natural bulwark to Holland and Zealand, commanding the four great rivers +of the country, had been fortunately placed under the government of the +trusty John of Nassau, that province being warmly in favor of a closer +union with its sister provinces, and particularly with those more nearly +allied to itself in religion and in language. + +Already, in December (1578), Count John, in behalf of his brother, had +laid before the states of Holland and Zealand, assembled at Gorcum, the +project of a new union with "Gelderland, Ghent, Friesland, Utrecht, +Overyssel, and Groningen." The proposition had been favorably +entertained, and commissioners had been appointed to confer with other +commissioners at Utrecht, whenever they should be summoned by Count John. +The Prince, with the silence and caution which belonged to his whole +policy, chose not to be the ostensible mover in the plan himself. He did +not choose to startle unnecessarily the Archduke Matthias--the cipher who +had been placed by his side, whose sudden subtraction would occasion more +loss than his presence had conferred benefit. He did not choose to be +cried out upon as infringing the Ghent Pacification, although the whole +world knew that treaty to be hopelessly annulled. For these and many +other weighty motives, he proposed that the new Union should be the +apparent work of other hands, and only offered to him and to the country, +when nearly completed. January, the deputies of Gelderland and Zutfelt, +with Count John, stadholder of these provinces, at their head, met with +the deputies of Holland, Zealand, and the provinces between the Ems and +the Lauwers, early in January, 1579, and on the 23rd of that month, +without waiting longer for the deputies of the other provinces, they +agreed provisionally upon a treaty of union which was published +afterwards on the 29th, from the Town House of Utrecht. + +This memorable document--which is ever regarded as the foundation of the +Netherland Republic--contained twenty-six articles. + +The preamble stated the object of the union. It was to strengthen, not +to forsake the Ghent Pacification, already nearly annihilated by the +force of foreign soldiery. For this purpose, and in order more +conveniently to defend themselves against their foes, the deputies of +Gelderland, Zutfen, Holland, Zealand, Utrecht, and the Frisian provinces, +thought it desirable to form a still closer union. The contracting +provinces agreed to remain eternally united, as if they were but one +province. At the same time, it was understood that each was to retain +its particular privileges, liberties, laudable and traditionary customs, +and other laws. The cities, corporations, and inhabitants of every +province were to be guaranteed as to their ancient constitutions. +Disputes concerning these various statutes and customs were to be decided +by the usual tribunals, by "good men," or by amicable compromise. The +provinces, by virtue of the Union, were to defend each other "with life, +goods, and blood," against all force brought against them in the King's +name or behalf. They were also to defend each other against all foreign +or domestic potentates, provinces, or cities, provided such defence were +controlled by the "generality" of the union. For the expense occasioned +by the protection of the provinces, certain imposts and excises were +to be equally assessed and collected. No truce or peace was to be +concluded, no war commenced, no impost established affecting the +"generality," but by unanimous advice and consent of the provinces. +Upon other matters the majority was to decide; the votes being taken in +the manner then customary in the assembly of states-general. In case of +difficulty in coming to a unanimous vote when required, the matter was +to be referred to the stadholders then in office. In case cf their +inability to agree, they were to appoint arbitrators, by whose decision +the parties were to be governed. None of the united provinces, or of +their cities or corporations, were to make treaties with other potentates +or states, without consent of their confederates. If neighbouring +princes, provinces, or cities, wished to enter into this confederacy, +they were to be received by the unanimous consent of the united +provinces. A common currency was to be established for the confederacy. +In the matter of divine worship, Holland and Zealand were to conduct +themselves as they should think proper. The other provinces of the +union, however, were either to conform to the religious peace already +laid down by Archduke Matthias and his council, or to make such other +arrangements as each province should for itself consider appropriate for +the maintenance of its internal tranquillity--provided always that every +individual should remain free in his religion, and that no man should be +molested or questioned on the subject of divine worship, as had been +already established by the Ghent Pacification. As a certain dispute +arose concerning the meaning of this important clause, an additional +paragraph was inserted a few days afterwards. In this it was stated that +there was no intention of excluding from the confederacy any province or +city which was wholly Catholic, or in which the number of the Reformed +was not sufficiently large to entitle them, by the religious peace, to +public worship. On the contrary, the intention was to admit them, +provided they obeyed the articles of union, and conducted themselves +as good patriots; it being intended that no province or city should +interfere with another in the matter of divine service. Disputes +between two provinces were to be decided by the others, or--in case +the generality were concerned--by the provisions of the ninth article. + +The confederates were to assemble at Utrecht whenever summoned by those +commissioned for that purpose. A majority of votes was to decide on +matters then brought before them, even in case of the absence of some +members of the confederacy, who might, however, send written proxies. +Additions or amendments to these articles could only be made by unanimous +consent. The articles were to be signed by the stadholders, magistrates, +and principal officers of each province and city, and by all the train- +bands, fraternities, and sodalities which might exist in the cities or +villages of the union. + +Such were the simple provisions of that instrument which became the +foundation of the powerful Commonwealth of the United Netherlands. On +the day when it was concluded, there were present deputies from five +provinces only. Count John of Nassau signed first, as stadholder of +Gelderland and Zutfen. His signature was followed by those of four +deputies from that double province; and the envoys of Holland, Zealand, +Utrecht and the Frisian provinces, then signed the document. + +The Prince himself, although in reality the principal director of the +movement, delayed appending his signature until May the 3rd, 1579. +Herein he was actuated by the reasons already stated, and by the hope +which he still entertained that a wider union might be established, with +Matthias for its nominal chief. His enemies, as usual, attributed this +patriotic delay to baser motives. They accused him of a desire to assume +the governor-generalship himself, to the exclusion of the Archduke-- +an insinuation which the states of Holland took occasion formally to +denounce as a calumny. For those who have studied the character and +history of the man, a defence against such slander is superfluous. +Matthias was but the shadow, Orange the substance. The Archduke had +been accepted only to obviate the evil effects of a political intrigue, +and with the express condition that the Prince should be his lieutenant- +general in name, his master in fact. Directly after his departure in the +following year, the Prince's authority, which nominally departed also, +was re-established in his own person, and by express act of the states- +general. + +The Union of Utrecht was the foundation-stone of the Netherland Republic; +but the framers of the confederacy did not intend the establishment of a +Republic, or of an independent commonwealth of any kind. They had not +forsworn the Spanish monarch. It was not yet their intention to forswear +him. Certainly the act of union contained no allusion to such an +important step. On the contrary, in the brief preamble they expressly +stated their intention to strengthen the Ghent Pacification, and the +Ghent Pacification acknowledged obedience to the King. They intended no +political innovation of any kind. They expressly accepted matters as +they were. All statutes, charters, and privileges of provinces, cities, +or corporations were to remain untouched. They intended to form neither +an independent state nor an independent federal system. No doubt the +formal renunciation of allegiance, which was to follow within two years, +was contemplated by many as a future probability; but it could not be +foreseen with certainty. + +The simple act of union was not regarded as the constitution of a +commonwealth. Its object was a single one--defence against a foreign +oppressor. The contracting parties bound themselves together to spend +all their treasure and all their blood in expelling the foreign soldiery +from their soil. To accomplish this purpose, they carefully abstained +from intermeddling with internal politics and with religion. Every man +was to worship God according to the dictates of his conscience. Every +combination of citizens, from the provincial states down to the humblest +rhetoric club, was to retain its ancient constitution. The establishment +of a Republic, which lasted two centuries, which threw a girdle of rich +dependencies entirely round the globe, and which attained so remarkable a +height of commercial prosperity and political influence, was the result +of the Utrecht Union; but, it was not a premeditated result. A state, +single towards the rest of the world, a unit in its external relations, +while permitting internally a variety of sovereignties and institutions-- +in many respects the prototype of our own much more extensive and +powerful union--was destined to spring from the act thus signed by the +envoys of five provinces. Those envoys were acting, however, under the +pressure of extreme necessity, and for what was believed an evanescent +purpose. The future confederacy was not to resemble the system of the +German empire, for it was to acknowledge no single head. It was to +differ from the Achaian league, in the far inferior amount of power which +it permitted to its general assembly, and in the consequently greater +proportion of sovereign attributes which were retained by the individual +states. It was, on the other hand, to furnish a closer and more intimate +bond than that of the Swiss confederacy, which was only a union for +defence and external purposes, of cantons otherwise independent. It was, +finally, to differ from the American federal commonwealth in the great +feature that it was to be merely a confederacy of sovereignties, +not a representative Republic. Its foundation was a compact, not a +constitution. The contracting parties were states and corporations, +who considered themselves as representing small nationalities 'dejure et +de facto', and as succeeding to the supreme power at the very instant in +which allegiance to the Spanish monarch was renounced. The general +assembly was a collection of diplomatic envoys, bound by instructions +from independent states. The voting was not by heads, but by states. +The deputies were not representatives of the people, but of the states; +for the people of the United States of the Netherlands never assembled-- +as did the people of the United States of America two centuries later--to +lay down a constitution, by which they granted a generous amount of power +to the union, while they reserved enough of sovereign attributes to +secure that local self-government which is the life-blood of liberty. + +The Union of Utrecht; narrowed as it was to the nether portion of that +country which, as a whole, might have formed a commonwealth so much more +powerful, was in origin a proof of this lamentable want of patriotism. +Could the jealousy of great nobles, the rancour of religious differences, +the Catholic bigotry of the Walloon population, on the one side, +contending with the democratic insanity of the Ghent populace on the +other, have been restrained within bounds by the moderate counsels of +William of Orange, it would have been possible to unite seventeen +provinces instead of seven, and to save many long and blighting years of +civil war. + +The Utrecht Union was, however, of inestimable value. It was time for +some step to be taken, if anarchy were not to reign until the inquisition +and absolutism were restored. Already, out of Chaos and Night, the +coming Republic was assuming substance and form. The union, if it +created nothing else, at least constructed a league against a foreign +foe whose armed masses were pouring faster and faster into the territory +of the provinces. Farther than this it did not propose to go. +It maintained what it found. It guaranteed religious liberty, and +accepted the civil and political constitutions already in existence. +Meantime, the defects of those constitutions, although visible and +sensible, had not grown to the large proportions which they were destined +to attain. + +Thus by the Union of Utrecht on the one hand, and the fast approaching +reconciliation of the Walloon provinces on the other, the work of +decomposition and of construction went Land in hand. + + + + +ETEXT EDITOR'S BOOKMARKS: + +Are apt to discharge such obligations--(by) ingratitude +Like a man holding a wolf by the ears +Local self-government which is the life-blood of liberty +No man ever understood the art of bribery more thoroughly +Not so successful as he was picturesque +Plundering the country which they came to protect +Presumption in entitling themselves Christian +Protect the common tranquillity by blood, purse, and life +Republic, which lasted two centuries +Throw the cat against their legs +Worship God according to the dictates of his conscience + + + + +End of this Project Gutenberg Etext of The Dutch Republic, v31 +by John Lothrop Motley + + + + + + +MOTLEY'S HISTORY OF THE NETHERLANDS, Project Gutenberg Edition, Vol. 32 + +THE RISE OF THE DUTCH REPUBLIC + +By John Lothrop Motley + +1855 + + + + +CHAPTER II. + + Parma's feint upon Antwerp--He invests Maestricht--Deputation and + letters from the states-general, from Brussels, and from Parma, to + the Walloon provinces--Active negotiations by Orange and by Farnese + --Walloon envoys in Parma's camp before Maestricht--Festivities--The + Treaty of Reconciliation--Rejoicings of the royalist party--Comedy + enacted at the Paris theatres--Religious tumults in Antwerp, + Utrecht, and other cities--Religious Peace enforced by Orange-- + Philip Egmont's unsuccessful attempt upon Brussels--Siege of + Maestricht--Failure at the Tongres gate--Mining and countermining-- + Partial destruction of the Tongres ravelin--Simultaneous attack upon + the Tongres and Bolls-le-Duo gates--The Spaniards repulsed with + great loss--Gradual encroachments of the besiegers--Bloody contests + --The town taken--Horrible massacre--Triumphal entrance and solemn + thanksgiving--Calumnious attacks upon Orange--Renewed troubles in + Ghent--Imbue and Dathenus--The presence of the Prince solicited-- + Coup d'etat of Imbue--Order restored, and Imbue expelled by Orange + +The political movements in both directions were to be hastened by the +military operations of the opening season. On the night of the 2nd of +March, 1579, the Prince of Parma made a demonstration against Antwerp. +A body of three thousand Scotch and English, lying at Borgerhout, was +rapidly driven in, and a warm skirmish ensued, directly under the walls +of the city. The Prince of Orange, with the Archduke Matthias, being in +Antwerp at the time, remained on the fortifications; superintending the +action, and Parma was obliged to retire after an hour or two of sharp +fighting, with a loss of four hundred men. This demonstration was, +however, only a feint. His real design was upon Maestricht; before which +important city he appeared in great force, ten days afterwards, +when he was least expected. + +Well fortified, surrounded by a broad and deep moat; built upon both +sides of the Meuse, upon the right bank of which river, however, the +portion of the town was so inconsiderable that it was merely called the +village of Wyk, this key to the German gate of the Netherlands was, +unfortunately, in brave but feeble hands. The garrison was hardly one +thousand strong; the trained bands of burghers amounted to twelve hundred +more; while between three and four thousand peasants; who had taken +refuge within the city walls, did excellent service as sappers and +miners. Parma, on the other hand, had appeared before the walls with +twenty thousand men; to which number he received constant reinforcements. +The Bishop of Liege, too, had sent him four thousand pioneers--a most +important service; for mining and countermining was to decide the fate of +Maestricht. + +Early in January the royalists had surprised the strong chateau of +Carpen, in the neighbourhood of the city, upon which occasion the +garrison were all hanged by moonlight on the trees in the orchard. The +commandant shared their fate; and it is a curious fact that he had, +precisely a year previously, hanged the royalist captain, Blomaert, on +the same spot, who, with the rope around his neck, had foretold a like +doom to his destroyer. + +The Prince of Orange, feeling the danger of Maestricht, lost no time in +warning the states to the necessary measures, imploring them "not to fall +asleep in the shade of a peace negotiation," while meantime Parma threw +two bridges over the Meuse, above and below the city, and then invested +the place so closely that all communication was absolutely suspended. +Letters could pass to and fro only at extreme peril to the messengers, +and all possibility of reinforcing the city at the moment was cut off. + +While this eventful siege was proceeding, the negotiations with the +Walloons were ripening. The siege and the conferences went hand in hand. +Besides the secret arrangements already described for the separation of +the Walloon provinces, there had been much earnest and eloquent +remonstrance on the part of the states-general and of Orange--many solemn +embassies and public appeals. As usual, the Pacification of Ghent was +the two-sided shield which hung between the parties to cover or to +justify the blows which each dealt at the other. There is no doubt as to +the real opinion entertained concerning that famous treaty by the royal +party. "Through the peace of Ghent," said Saint Vaast, "all our woes +have been brought upon us." La Motte informed Parma that it was +necessary to pretend a respect for the Pacification, however, on account +of its popularity, but that it was well understood by the leaders of the +Walloon movement, that the intention was to restore the system of Charles +the Fifth. Parma signified his consent to make use of that treaty as a +basis, "provided always it were interpreted healthily, and not dislocated +by cavillations and sinister interpolations, as had been done by the +Prince of Orange." The Malcontent generals of the Walloon troops were +inexpressibly anxious lest the cause of religion should be endangered; +but the arguments by which Parma convinced those military casuists as to +the compatibility of the Ghent peace with sound doctrine have already +been exhibited. The influence of the reconciled nobles was brought to +bear with fatal effect upon the states of Artois, Hainault, and of a +portion of French Flanders. The Gallic element in their blood, and an +intense attachment to the Roman ceremonial, which distinguished the +Walloon population from their Batavian brethren, were used successfully +by the wily Parma to destroy the unity of the revolted Netherlands. +Moreover, the King offered good terms. The monarch, feeling safe on the +religious point, was willing to make liberal promises upon the political +questions. In truth, the great grievance of which the Walloons +complained was the insolence and intolerable outrages of the foreign +soldiers. This, they said, had alone made them malcontent. It was; +therefore, obviously the cue of Parma to promise the immediate departure +of the troops. This could be done the more easily, as he had no +intention of keeping the promise. + +Meantime the efforts of Orange, and of the states-general, where his +influence was still paramount, were unceasing to counteract the policy of +Parma. A deputation was appointed by the generality to visit the estates +of the Walloon provinces. Another was sent by the authorities of +Brussels. The Marquis of Havre, with several colleagues on behalf of +the states-general, waited upon the Viscount of Ghent, by whom they were +received with extreme insolence. He glared upon them, without moving, +as they were admitted to his presence; "looking like a dead man, from +whom the soul had entirely departed." Recovering afterwards from this +stony trance of indignation, he demanded a sight of their instructions. +This they courteously refused, as they were accredited not to him, but +to the states of Artois. At this he fell into a violent passion, and +threatened them with signal chastisement for daring to come thither with +so treasonable a purpose. In short, according to their own expression; +he treated them "as if they had been rogues and vagabonds." The Marquis +of Havre, high-born though he was, had been sufficiently used to such +conduct. The man who had successively served and betrayed every party, +who had been the obsequious friend and the avowed enemy of Don John +within the same fortnight, and who had been able to swallow and inwardly +digest many an insult from that fiery warrior, was even fain to brook the +insolence of Robert Melun. + +The papers which the deputation had brought were finally laid before +the states of Artois, and received replies as prompt and bitter as the +addresses were earnest and eloquent. The Walloons, when summoned to hold +to that aegis of national unity, the Ghent peace, replied that it was not +they, but the heretic portion of the states-general, who were for dashing +it to the ground. The Ghent treaty was never intended to impair the +supremacy of the Catholic religion, said those provinces, which were +already on the point of separating for ever from the rest. The Ghent +treaty was intended expressly to destroy the inquisition and the +placards, answered the national-party. Moreover, the "very marrow of +that treaty" was the-departure of the foreign soldiers, who were even +then overrunning the land. The Walloons answered that Alexander had +expressly conceded the withdrawal of the troops. "Believe not the +fluting and the piping of the crafty foe," urged the patriots. "Promises +are made profusely enough--but only to lure you to perdition. Your +enemies allow you to slake your hunger and thirst with this idle hope of +the troops' departure, but you are still in fetters, although the chain +be of Spanish pinchbeck, which you mistake for gold." "'Tis not we," +cried the Walloons, "who wish to separate from the generality; 'tis the +generality which separates from us. We had rather die the death than not +maintain the union. In the very same breath, however, they boasted of +the excellent terms which the monarch was offering, and of their strong +inclination to accept them." "Kings, struggling to recover a lost +authority, always promise golden mountains and every sort of miracles," +replied the patriots; but the warning was uttered in vain. + +Meantime the deputation from the city of Brussels arrived on the 28th of +March at Mons, in Hainault, where they were received with great courtesy +by Count de Lalain, governor of the province. The enthusiasm with which +he had espoused the cause of Queen Margaret and her brother Anjou had +cooled, but the Count received the Brussels envoys with a kindness in +marked contrast with the brutality of Melun. He made many fine speeches +--protesting his attachment to, the union, for which he was ready to shed +the last drop of his blood--entertained the deputies at dinner, proposed +toasts to the prosperity of the united provinces, and dismissed his +guests at last with many flowery professions. After dancing attendance +for a few days, however, upon the estates of the Walloon provinces, both +sets of deputies were warned to take their instant departure as mischief- +makers and rebels. They returned, accordingly, to Brussels, bringing the +written answers which the estates had vouchsafed to send. + +The states-general, too, inspired by William of Orange, addressed a +solemn appeal to their sister provinces, thus about to abjure the bonds +of relationship for ever. It seemed right, once for all, to grapple with +the Ghent Pacification for the last time, and to strike a final blow in +defence of that large statesmanlike interpretation, which alone could +make the treaty live. This was done eloquently and logically. The +Walloons were reminded that at the epoch of the Ghent peace the number of +Reformers outside of Holland and Zealand was supposed small. Now the new +religion had spread its roots through the whole land, and innumerable +multitudes desired its exercise. If Holland and Zealand chose to +reestablish the Catholic worship within their borders, they could +manifestly do so without violating the treaty of Ghent. Why then was +it not competent to other provinces, with equal allegiance to the treaty, +to sanction the Reformed religion within their limits? + +Parma, on his part, publicly invited the states-general, by letter, to +sustain the Ghent treaty by accepting the terms offered to the Walloons, +and by restoring the system of the Emperor Charles, of very lofty memory. +To this superfluous invitation the states-general replied, on the 19th of +March, that it had been the system of the Emperor Charles; of lofty +memory, to maintain the supremacy of Catholicism and of Majesty in the +Netherlands by burning Netherlanders--a custom which the states, with +common accord, had thought it desirable to do away with. + +In various fervently-written appeals by Orange, by the states-general, +and by other bodies, the wavering provinces were warned against +seduction. They were reminded that the Prince of Parma was using this +minor negotiation "as a second string to his bow;" that nothing could be +more puerile than to suppose the Spaniards capable, after securing +Maestricht, of sending away their troops thus "deserting the bride in the +midst of the honeymoon." They expressed astonishment at being invited to +abandon the great and general treaty which had been made upon the theatre +of the whole world by the intervention of the principal princes of +Christendom, in order to partake in underhand negotiation with the +commissioners of Parma-men, "who, it would not be denied, were felons and +traitors." They warned their brethren not to embark on the enemy's ships +in the dark, for that, while chaffering as to the price of the voyage, +they would find that the false pilots had hoisted sail and borne them +away in the night. In vain would they then seek to reach the shore +again. The example of La Motte and others, "bird-limed with Spanish +gold," should be salutary for all-men who were now driven forward with a +whip, laughed to scorn by their new masters, and forced to drink the +bitter draught of humiliation along with the sweet poison of bribery. +They were warned to study well the intercepted letters of Curiel, in +order fully to fathom the deep designs and secret contempt of the enemy. + +Such having been the result of the negotiations between the states- +general and the Walloon provinces, a strong deputation now went forth +from those provinces, towards the end of April, to hold a final colloquy +with Parma, then already busied with the investment of Maestricht. They +were met upon the road with great ceremony, and escorted into the +presence of Farnese with drum, trumpet, and flaunting banners. +He received them with stately affability, in a magnificently decorated +pavilion, carelessly inviting them to a repast, which he called an +afternoon's lunch, but which proved a most sumptuous and splendidly +appointed entertainment. This "trifling foolish banquet" finished, the +deputies were escorted, with great military parade, to the lodgings which +had been provided for them in a neighbouring village. During the period +of their visit, all the chief officers of the army and the household were +directed to entertain the Walloons with showy festivals, dinners, +suppers, dances, and carousals of all kinds. At one of the most +brilliant of these revels--a magnificent ball, to which all the matrons +and maids of the whole country round had been bidden--the Prince of Parma +himself unexpectedly made his appearance. He gently rebuked the +entertainers for indulging in such splendid hospitality without, +at least, permitting him to partake of it. Charmingly affable to the +ladies assembled in the ball-room, courteous, but slightly reserved, +towards the Walloon envoys, he excited the admiration of all by the +splendid decorum of his manners. As he moved through the halls, +modulating his steps in grave cadence to the music, the dignity and grace +of his deportment seemed truly majestic; but when he actually danced a +measure himself the enthusiasm was at its height. They should, indeed, +be rustics, cried the Walloon envoys in a breath, not to give the hand +of fellowship at once to a Prince so condescending and amiable. The +exclamation seemed to embody the general wish, and to foreshadow a speedy +conclusion. + +Very soon afterwards a preliminary accord was signed between the King's +government and the Walloon provinces. The provisions on his Majesty's +part were sufficiently liberal. The religious question furnishing no +obstacle, it was comparatively easy for Philip to appear benignant. It +was stipulated that the provincial privileges should be respected; that a +member of the King's own family, legitimately born, should always be +Governor-General, and that the foreign troops should be immediately +withdrawn. The official exchange and ratification of this treaty were +delayed till the 4th of the following September, but the news that, the +reconciliation had been definitely settled soon spread through the +country. The Catholics were elated, the patriots dismayed. Orange-the +"Prince of Darkness," as the Walloons of the day were fond of calling +him--still unwilling to despair, reluctant to accept this dismemberment, +which he foresaw was to be a perpetual one, of his beloved country, +addressed the most passionate and solemn adjurations to the Walloon +provinces, and to their military chieftains. He offered all his children +as hostages for his good faith in keeping sacredly any covenant which his +Catholic countrymen might be willing to close with him. It was in vain. +The step was irretrievably taken; religious bigotry, patrician jealousy, +and wholesale bribery, had severed the Netherlands in twain for ever. +The friends of Romanism, the enemies of civil and religious liberty, +exulted from one end of Christendom to the other, and it was recognized +that Parma had, indeed, achieved a victory which although bloodless, was +as important to the cause of absolutism as any which even his sword was +likely to achieve. + +The joy of the Catholic party in Paris manifested itself in a variety of +ways. At the principal theatre an uncouth pantomime was exhibited, in +which his Catholic Majesty was introduced upon the stage, leading by a +halter a sleek cow, typifying the Netherlands. The animal by a sudden +effort, broke the cord, and capered wildly about. Alexander of Parma +hastened to fasten the fragments together, while sundry personages, +representing the states-general, seized her by the horns, some leaping +upon her back, others calling upon the bystanders to assist in holding +the restive beast. The Emperor, the King of France, and the Queen of +England--which last personage was observed now to smile upon one party, +now to affect deep sympathy with the other--remained stationary; but the +Duke of Alencon rushed upon the stage, and caught the cow by the tail. +The Prince of Orange and Hans Casimir then appeared with a bucket, and +set themselves busily to milk her, when Alexander again seized the +halter. The cow gave a plunge, upset the pail, prostrated Casimir with +one kick and Orange with another, and then followed Parma with docility +as be led her back to Philip. This seems not very "admirable fooling," +but it was highly relished by the polite Parisians of the sixteenth +century, and has been thought worthy of record by classical historians. + +The Walloon accord was an auspicious prelude, in the eyes of the friends +of absolutism, to the negotiations which were opened in the month of May, +at Cologne. Before sketching, as rapidly as possible, those celebrated +but barren conferences, it is necessary, for the sake of unity in the +narrative, to cast a glance at certain synchronical events in different +parts of the Netherlands. + +The success attained by the Catholic party in the Walloon negotiations +had caused a corresponding bitterness in the hearts of the Reformers +throughout the country. As usual, bitterness had begot bitterness; +intolerance engendered intolerance. On the 28th of May, 1579, as the +Catholics of Antwerp were celebrating the Ommegang--the same festival +which had been the exciting cause of the memorable tumults of the year +sixty-five--the irritation of the populace could not be repressed. The +mob rose in its wrath to put down these demonstrations--which, taken in +connection with recent events, seemed ill-timed and insolent--of a +religion whose votaries then formed but a small minority of the Antwerp +citizens. There was a great tumult. Two persons were killed. The +Archduke Matthias, who was himself in the Cathedral of Notre Dame +assisting at the ceremony, was in danger of his life. The well known cry +of "paapen uit" (out with the papists) resounded through the streets, and +the priests and monks were all hustled out of town amid a tempest of +execrations. Orange did his utmost to quell the mutiny, nor were his +efforts fruitless--for the uproar, although seditious and disgraceful, +was hardly sanguinary. Next day the Prince summoned the magistracy, +the Monday council, the guild officers, with all the chief municipal +functionaries, and expressed his indignation in decided terms. He +protested that if such tumults, originating in that very spirit of +intolerance which he most deplored, could not be repressed for the +future, he was determined to resign his offices, and no longer to affect +authority in a city where his counsels were derided. The magistrates, +alarmed at his threats, and sympathizing with his anger, implored him not +to desert them, protesting that if he should resign his offices, they +would instantly lay down their, own. An ordinance was then drawn up and +immediately, proclaimed at the Town House, permitting the Catholics to +re-enter the city, and to enjoy the privileges of religious worship. At +the same time, it was announced that a new draft of a religious peace +would be forthwith issued for the adoption of every city. + +A similar tumult, arising from the same cause, at Utrecht, was attended +with the like result. On the other hand, the city of Brussels was +astonished by a feeble and unsuccessful attempts at treason, made by a +youth who bore an illustrious name. Philip, Count of Egmont, eldest son +of the unfortunate Lamoral, had command of a regiment in the service of +the states. He had, besides, a small body of cavalry in immediate +attendance upon his person. He had for some time felt inclined--like the +Lalains, Meluns, La Mottes, and others to reconcile himself with the +Crown, and he wisely thought that the terms accorded to him would be more +liberal if he could bring the capital of Brabant with him as a peace +offering to his Majesty. His residence was in Brussels. His regiment +was stationed outside the gates, but in the immediate neighbourhood of +the city. On the morning of the 4th of June he despatched his troopers-- +as had been frequently his custom--on various errands into the country. +On their return, after having summoned the regiment, they easily mastered +and butchered the guard at the gate through which they had re-entered, +supplying their place with men from their own ranks. The Egmont regiment +then came marching through the gate in good order--Count Philip at their +head--and proceeded to station themselves upon the Grande Place in the +centre of the city. All this was at dawn of day. The burghers, who +looked forth from their houses, were astounded and perplexed by this +movement at so unwonted an hour, and hastened to seize their weapons. +Egmont sent a detachment to take possession of the palace. He was too +late. Colonel Van der Tympel, commandant of the city, had been beforehand +with him, had got his troops under arms, and now secured the rebellious +detachment. Meantime, the alarm had spread. Armed burghers came from +every house, and barricades were hastily thrown up across every one of +the narrow streets leading to the square. Every issue was closed. Not a +man of Egmont's adherents--if he indeed had adherents among the townsmen +--dared to show his face. The young traitor and his whole regiment, +drawn up on the Grande Place, were completely entrapped. He had not +taken Brussels, but assuredly Brussels had taken him. All day long he +was kept in his self-elected prison and pillory, bursting with rage and +shame. His soldiers, who were without meat or drink, became insolent and +uproarious, and he was doomed also to hear the bitter and well-merited +taunts of the towns-people. A thousand stinging gibes, suggested by his +name and the locality, were mercilessly launched upon him. He was asked +if he came thither to seek his father's head. He was reminded that the +morrow was the anniversary of that father's murder upon that very spot-- +by those with whom the son would now make his treasonable peace. He was +bidden to tear up but a few stones from the pavement beneath his feet, +that the hero's blood might cry out against him from the very ground. + +Tears of shame and fury sprang from the young man's eyes as he listened +to these biting sarcasms, but the night closed upon that memorable +square, and still the Count was a prisoner. Eleven years before, the +summer stars had looked down upon a more dense array of armed men within +that place. The preparations for the pompous and dramatic execution, +which on the morrow was to startle all Europe, had been carried out in +the midst of a hushed and overawed population; and now, on the very +anniversary of the midnight in which that scaffold had risen, should not +the grand spectre of the victim have started from the grave to chide his +traitorous son? + +Thus for a whole day and night was the baffled conspirator compelled to +remain in the ignominious position which he had selected for himself. On +the morning of the 5th of June he was permitted to depart, by a somewhat +inexplicable indulgence, together with all his followers. He rode out of +the gate at early dawn, contemptible and crest-fallen, at the head of his +regiment of traitors, and shortly afterwards--pillaging and levying black +mail as he went--made his way to Montigny's quarters. + +It might have seemed natural, after such an exhibition, that Philip +Egmont should accept his character of renegade, and confess his intention +of reconciling himself with the murderers of his father. On the +contrary, he addressed a letter to the magistracy of Brussels, denying +with vehemence "any intention of joining the party of the pernicious +Spaniards," warmly protesting his zeal and affection for the states, and +denouncing the "perverse inventors of these calumnies against him as the +worst enemies of the poor afflicted country." The magistrates replied by +expressing their inability to comprehend how the Count, who had suffered +villainous wrongs from the Spaniards, such as he could never sufficiently +deplore or avenge, should ever be willing to enslave himself, to those +tyrants. Nevertheless, exactly at the moment of this correspondence, +Egmont was in close negotiation with Spain, having fifteen days before +the date of his letter to the Brussels senate, conveyed to Parma his +resolution to "embrace the cause of his Majesty and the ancient +religion"--an intention which he vaunted himself to have proved "by +cutting the throats of three companies of states' soldiers at Nivelle, +Grandmont, and Ninove." Parma had already written to communicate the +intelligence to the King, and to beg encouragement for the Count. In +September, the monarch wrote a letter to Egmont, full of gratitude and +promises, to which the Count replied by expressing lively gratification +that his Majesty was pleased with his little services, by avowing +profound attachment to Church and King, and by asking eagerly for money, +together with the government of Alost. He soon became singularly +importunate for rewards and promotion, demanding, among other posts, the +command of the "band of ordnance," which had been his father's. Parma, +in reply, was prodigal of promises, reminding the young noble "that he +was serving a sovereign who well knew how to reward the distinguished +exploits of his subjects." Such was the language of Philip the Second +and his Governor to the son of the headless hero of Saint Quentin; such +was the fawning obsequiousness with which Egmont could kiss that royal +hand reeking with his father's blood. + +Meanwhile the siege of Maestricht had been advancing with steady +precision. To military minds of that epoch--perhaps of later ages--this +achievement of Parma seemed a masterpiece of art. The city commanded the +Upper Meuse, and was the gate into Germany. It contained thirty-four +thousand inhabitants. An army, numbering almost as many Souls, was +brought against it; and the number of deaths by which its capture was at +last effected, was probably equal to that of a moiety of the population. +To the technical mind, the siege no doubt seemed a beautiful creation of +human intelligence. To the honest student of history, to the lover of +human progress, such a manifestation of intellect seems a sufficiently +sad exhibition. Given, a city with strong walls and towers, a slender +garrison and a devoted population on one side; a consummate chieftain on +the other, with an army of veterans at his back, no interruption to fear, +and a long season to work in; it would not seem to an unsophisticated +mind a very lofty exploit for the soldier to carry the city at the end of +four months' hard labor. + +The investment of Maestricht was commenced upon the 12th of March, 1579. +In the city, besides the population, there were two thousand peasants, +both men and women, a garrison of one thousand soldiers; and a trained +burgher guard; numbering about twelve hundred. The name of the military +commandant was Melchior. Sebastian Tappin, a Lorraine officer of much +experience and bravery, was next in command, and was, in truth, the +principal director of the operations. He had been despatched thither by +the Prince of Orange, to serve under La None, who was to have commanded +in Maestricht, but had been unable to enter the city. Feeling that the +siege was to be a close one, and knowing how much depended upon the +issue, Sebastian lost no time in making every needful preparation for +coming events. The walls were strengthened everywhere; shafts were sunk, +preparatory to the countermining operations which were soon to become +necessary; the moat was deepened and cleared, and the forts near the +gates were put in thorough repair. On the other hand, Alexander had +encircled the city, and had thrown two bridges, well fortified, across +the river. There were six gates to the town, each provided with +ravelins, and there was a doubt in what direction the first attack should +be made. Opinions wavered between the gate of Bois-le-Duc, next the +river, and that of Tongres on the south-western side, but it was finally +decided to attempt the gate of Tongres. + +Over against that point the platforms were accordingly constructed, and +after a heavy cannonade from forty-six great guns continued for several +days, it was thought, by the 25th of March, that an impression had been +made upon the city. A portion of the brick curtain had crumbled, but +through the breach was seen a massive terreplein, well moated, which, +after six thousand shots already delivered on the outer wall--still +remained uninjured. It was recognized that the gate of Tongres was not +the most assailable, but rather the strongest portion of the defences, +and Alexander therefore determined to shift his batteries to the gate of +Bois-le-Duc. At the same time, the attempt upon that of Tongres was to +be varied, but not abandoned. Four thousand miners, who had passed half +their lives in burrowing for coal in that anthracite region, had been +furnished by the Bishop of Liege, and this force was now set to their +subterranean work. A mine having been opened at a distance, the +besiegers slowly worked their way towards the Tongres gate, while at the +same time the more ostensible operations were in the opposite direction. +The besieged had their miners also, for the peasants in the city had been +used to work with mattock and pickaxe. The women, too, enrolled +themselves into companies, chose their officers--or "mine-mistresses," as +they were called--and did good service daily in the caverns of the earth. +Thus a whole army of gnomes were noiselessly at work to destroy and +defend the beleaguered city. The mine advanced towards the gate; the +besieged delved deeper, and intersected it with a transverse excavation, +and the contending forces met daily, in deadly encounter, within these +sepulchral gangways. Many stratagems were, mutually employed. The +citizens secretly constructed a dam across the Spanish mine, and then +deluged their foe with hogsheads of boiling water. Hundreds were thus +scalded to death. They heaped branches and light fagots in the hostile +mine, set fire to the pile, and blew thick volumes of smoke along the +passage with organ-bellows brought from the churches for the purpose. +Many were thus suffocated. The discomfited besiegers abandoned the mine +where they had met with such able countermining, and sunk another shaft, +at midnight, in secret, at a long distance from the Tongres gate. Still +towards that point, however, they burrowed in the darkness; guiding +themselves to their destination with magnet, plumbline and level, as the +mariner crosses the trackless ocean with compass and chart. They worked +their way, unobstructed, till they arrived at their subterranean port, +directly beneath the doomed ravelin. Here they constructed a spacious +chamber, supporting it with columns, and making all their architectural +arrangements with as much precision and elegance as if their object had +been purely esthetic. Coffers full of powder, to an enormous amount, +were then placed in every direction across the floor, the train was laid, +and Parma informed that all was ready. Alexander, having already arrayed +the troops destined for the assault, then proceeded in person to the +mouth of the shaft, and gave orders to spring the mine. The explosion +was prodigious; a part of the tower fell with the concussion, and the +moat was choked with heaps of rubbish. The assailants sprang across the +passage thus afforded, and mastered the ruined portion of the fort. They +were met in the breach, however, by the unflinching defenders of the +city, and, after a fierce combat of some hours, were obliged to retire; +remaining masters, however, of the moat, and of the ruined portion of the +ravelin. This was upon the 3rd of April. + +Five days afterwards, a general assault was ordered. A new mine having +been already constructed towards the Tongres ravelin, and a faithful +cannonade having been kept up for a fortnight against the Bois-le-Duc +gate, it was thought advisable to attack at both points at once. On the +8th of April, accordingly, after uniting in prayer, and listening to a +speech from Alexander Farnese, the great mass of the Spanish army +advanced to the breach. The moat had been rendered practicable in many +places by the heaps of rubbish with which it had been encumbered, and by +the fagots and earth with which it had been filled by the besiegers. The +action at the Bois-le-Duc gate was exceedingly warm. The tried veterans +of Spain, Italy, and Burgundy, were met face to face by the burghers of +Maestricht, together with their wives and children. All were armed to +the teeth, and fought with what seemed superhuman valor. The women, +fierce as tigresses defending their young, swarmed to the walls, and +fought in the foremost rank. They threw pails of boiling water on the +besiegers, they hurled firebrands in their faces; they quoited blazing +pitch-hoops with, unerring dexterity about their necks. The rustics too, +armed with their ponderous flails, worked as cheerfully at this bloody +harvesting as if thrashing their corn at home. Heartily did they winnow +the ranks of the royalists who came to butcher them, and thick and fast +fell the invaders, fighting bravely, but baffled by these novel weapons +used by peasant and woman, coming to the aid of the sword; spear, and +musket of trained soldiery. More than a thousand had fallen at the Bois- +le-Duc gate, and still fresh besiegers mounted the breach, only to be +beaten back, or to add to the mangled heap of the slain. At the Tongres +gate, meanwhile, the assault had fared no better. A herald had been +despatched thither in hot haste, to shout at the top of his lungs, +"Santiago! Santiago! the Lombards have the gate of Bois-le-Duc!" +while the same stratagem was employed to persuade the invaders on the +other side of the town that their comrades had forced the gate of +Tongres. The soldiers, animated by this fiction, and advancing with fury +against the famous ravelin; which had been but partly destroyed, were +received with a broadside from the great guns of the unshattered portion, +and by a rattling discharge of musketry from the walls. They wavered a +little. At the same instant the new mine--which was to have been sprung +between the ravelin and the gate, but which had been secretly +countermined by the townspeople, exploded with a horrible concussion, +at a moment least expected by the besiegers. Five hundred royalists were +blown into the air. Ortiz, a Spanish captain of engineers, who had been +inspecting the excavations, was thrown up bodily from the subterranean +depth. He fell back again instantly into the same cavern, and was buried +by the returning shower of earth which had spouted from the mine. Forty- +five years afterwards, in digging for the foundations of a new wall, his +skeleton was found. Clad in complete armor, the helmet and cuirass still +sound, with his gold chain around his neck, and his mattock and pickaxe +at his feet, the soldier lay unmutilated, seeming almost capable of +resuming his part in the same war which--even after his half century's +sleep--was still ravaging the land. + +Five hundred of the Spaniards, perished by the explosion, but none of the +defenders were injured, for they, had been prepared. Recovering from the +momentary panic, the besiegers again rushed to the attack. The battle +raged. Six hundred and seventy officers, commissioned or non- +commissioned, had already fallen, more than half mortally wounded. Four +thousand royalists, horribly mutilated, lay on the ground. It was time +that the day's work should be finished, for Maastricht was not to be +carried upon that occasion. The best and bravest of the surviving +officers besought Parma to put an end to the carnage by recalling the +troops; but the gladiator heart of the commander was heated, not +softened, by the savage spectacle. "Go back to the breach," he cried, +"and tell the soldiers that Alexander is coming to lead them into the +city in triumph, or to perish with his comrades." He rushed forward +with the fury which had marked him when he boarded Mustapha's galley at +Lepanto; but all the generals who were near him threw themselves upon his +path, and implored him to desist from such insensate rashness. Their +expostulations would have probably been in vain, had not his confidential +friend, Serbelloni, interposed with something like paternal authority, +reminding him of the strict commands contained in his Majesty's recent +letters, that the Governor-General, to whom so much was entrusted, should +refrain, on pain of the royal displeasure, from exposing his life like a +common fighter. + +Alexander reluctantly gave the signal of recal at last, and accepted the +defeat. For the future he determined to rely more upon the sapper and +miner, and less upon the superiority of veterans to townsmen and rustics +in open fight. Sure to carry the city at last, according to line and +rule, determined to pass the whole summer beneath the walls, rather +than abandon his purpose, he calmly proceeded to complete his +circumvallations. A chain of eleven forts upon the left, and five upon +the right side of the Meuse, the whole connected by a continuous wall, +afforded him perfect security against interruptions, and allowed him to +continue the siege at leisure. His numerous army was well housed and +amply supplied, and he had built a strong and populous city in order to +destroy another. Relief was impossible. But a few thousand men were now +required to defend Farnese's improvised town, while the bulk of his army +could be marched at any moment against an advancing foe. A force of +seven thousand, painfully collected by the Prince of Orange, moved +towards the place, under command of Hohenlo and John of Nassau, but +struck with wonder at what they saw, the leaders recognized the +hopelessness of attempting relief. Maestricht was surrounded by +a second Maestricht. + +The efforts of Orange were now necessarily directed towards obtaining, +if possible, a truce of a few weeks from the negotiators at Cologne. +Parma was too crafty, however, to allow Terranova to consent, and as the +Duke disclaimed any power over the direct question of peace and war, the +siege proceeded. The gates of Bois-le-Duc and Tongres having thus far +resisted the force brought against them, the scene was changed to the +gate of Brussels. This adjoined that of Tongres, was farthest from the +river, and faced westwardly towards the open country. Here the besieged +had constructed an additional ravelin, which they had christened, in +derision, "Parma," and against which the batteries of Parma were now +brought to bear. Alexander erected a platform of great extent and +strength directly opposite the new work, and after a severe and constant +cannonade from this elevation, followed by a bloody action, the "Parma" +fort was carried. One thousand, at least, of the defenders fell, as, +forced gradually from one defence to another, they saw the triple walls +of their ravelin crumble successively before their eyes. The tower was +absolutely annihilated before they abandoned its ruins, and retired +within their last defences. Alexander being now master of the fosa and +the defences of the Brussels gate, drew up a large force on both aides of +that portal, along the margin of the moat, and began mining beneath the +inner wall of the city. + +Meantime, the garrison had been reduced to four hundred soldiers, nearly +all of whom were wounded: wearied and driven to despair, these soldiers +were willing to treat. The townspeople, however, answered the +proposition with a shout of fury, and protested that they would destroy +the garrison with their own hands if such an insinuation were repeated. +Sebastian Tappin, too, encouraged them with the hope of speedy relief, +and held out to them the wretched consequences of trusting to the mercy +of their foes. The garrison took heart again, while that of the burghers +and their wives had, never faltered. Their main hope now was in a +fortification which they had been constructing inside the Brussels gate +--a demilune of considerable strength. Behind it was a breastwork of +turf and masonry, to serve as a last bulwark when every other defence +should be forced. The whole had been surrounded by a foss thirty feet in +depth, and the besiegers, as they mounted upon the breaches which they +had at last effected in the outer curtain, near the Brussels gate, saw +for the first time this new fortification. + +The general condition of the defences, and the disposition of the +inhabitants, had been revealed to Alexander by a deserter from the town. +Against this last fortress the last efforts of the foe were now directed. +Alexander ordered a bridge to be thrown across the city moat. As it was +sixty feet wide and as many deep, and lay directly beneath the guns of +the new demilune, the enterprise was sufficiently hazardous. Alexander +led the way in person, with a mallet in one hand and a mattockin the +other. Two men fell dead instantly, one on his right hand and his left, +while he calmly commenced, in his own person, the driving of the first +piles for the bridge. His soldiers fell fast around him. Count +Berlaymont was shot dead, many officers of distinction were killed or +wounded, but no soldier dared recoil while their chieftain wrought amid +the bullets like a common pioneer. Alexander, unharmed, as by a miracle, +never left the spot till the bridge had been constructed, and till ten +great guns had been carried across it, and pointed against the demilune. +The battery was opened, the mines previously excavated were sprung, a +part of the demilune was blown into the air, and the assailants sprang +into the breach. Again a furious hand-to-hand conflict succeeded; again, +after an obstinate resistance, the townspeople were forced to yield. +Slowly abandoning the shattered fort, they retired behind the breastwork +in its rear--their innermost and last defence. To this barrier they +clung as to a spar in shipwreck, and here at last they stood at bay, +prepared dearly to sell their lives. + +The breastwork, being still strong, was not attempted upon that day. The +assailants were recalled, and in the mean time a herald was sent by +Parma, highly applauding the courage of the defenders, and begging them +to surrender at discretion. They answered the messenger with words of +haughty defiance, and, rushing in a mass to the breastwork, began with +spade, pickax, and trowel, to add to its strength. Here all the able- +bodied men of the town took up their permanent position, and here they +ate, drank, and slept upon their posts, while their food was brought to +them by the women and children. + +A little letter, "written in a fine neat handwriting," now mysteriously +arrived in the city, encouraging them in the name of the Archduke and the +Prince of Orange, and assuring them of relief within fourteen days. A +brief animation was thus produced, attended by a corresponding languor +upon the part of the besiegers, for Alexander had been lying ill with a +fever since the day when the demilune had been carried. From his sick +bed he rebuked his officers severely that a temporary breastwork, huddled +together by boors and burghers in the midst of a siege, should prove an +insurmountable obstacle to men who had carried everything before them. +The morrow was the festival of Saint Peter and Saint Paul, and it was +meet that so sacred a day should be hallowed by a Christian and Apostolic +victory. Saint Peter would be there with, his keys to open the gate; +Saint Paul would lead them to battle with his invincible sword. Orders +were given accordingly, and the assault was assigned for the following +morning. + +Meantime, the guards were strengthened and commanded to be more than +usually watchful. The injunction had a remarkable effect. At the dead +of night, a soldier of the watch was going his rounds on the outside of +the breastwork, listening, if perchance he might catch, as was not +unusual, a portion of the conversation among the beleaguered burghers +within. Prying about on every side, he at last discovered a chink in the +wall, the result, doubtless, of the last cannonade, and hitherto +overlooked. He enlarged the gap with his fingers, and finally made an +opening wide enough to admit his person. He crept boldly through, and +looked around in the clear starlight. The sentinels were all slumbering +at their posts. He advanced stealthily in the dusky streets. Not a +watchman was going his rounds. Soldiers, burghers, children, women, +exhausted by incessant fatigue, were all asleep. Not a footfall was +heard; not a whisper broke the silence; it seemed a city of the dead. +The soldier crept back through the crevice, and hastened to apprise his +superiors of his adventure. + +Alexander, forthwith instructed as to the condition of the city, at once +ordered the assault, and the last wall was suddenly stormed before the +morning broke. The soldiers forced their way through the breach or +sprang over the breastwork, and surprised at last--in its sleep--the city +which had so long and vigorously defended itself. The burghers, startled +from their slumber, bewildered, unprepared, found themselves engaged in +unequal conflict with alert and savage foes. The battle, as usual when +Netherland towns were surprised by Philip's soldiers, soon changed to a +massacre. The townspeople rushed hither and thither, but there was +neither escape, nor means of resisting an enemy who now poured into the +town by thousands upon thousands. An indiscriminate slaughter succeeded: +Women, old men, and children, had all been combatants; and all, +therefore, had incurred the vengeance of the conquerors. A cry of agony +arose which was distinctly heard at the distance of a league. Mothers +took their infants in their arms, and threw themselves by hundreds into +the Meuse--and against women the blood-thirst of the assailants was +especially directed. Females who had fought daily in the trenches, who +had delved in mines and mustered on the battlements, had unsexed +themselves in the opinion of those whose comrades they had helped to +destroy. It was nothing that they had laid aside the weakness of women +in order to defend all that was holy and dear to them on earth. It was +sufficient that many a Spanish, Burgundian, or Italian mercenary had died +by their hands. Women were pursued from house to house, and hurled from +roof and window. They were hunted into the river; they were torn limb +from limb in the streets. Men and children fared no better; but the +heart sickens at the oft-repeated tale. Horrors, alas, were commonplaces +in the Netherlands. Cruelty too monstrous for description, too vast to +be believed by a mind not familiar with the outrages practised by the +soldiers of Spain and Italy upon their heretic fellow-creatures, were now +committed afresh in the streets of Maestricht. + +On the first day four thousand men and women were slaughtered. The +massacre lasted two days longer; nor would it be an exaggerated estimate, +if we assume that the amount of victims upon the two last days was equal +to half the number sacrificed on the first. It was said that not four +hundred citizens were left alive after the termination of the siege. +These soon wandered away, their places being supplied by a rabble rout of +Walloon sutlers and vagabonds. Maestricht was depopulated as well as +captured. The booty obtained after the massacre was very large, for the +city had been very thriving, its cloth manufacture extensive and +important. Sebastian Tappin, the heroic defender of the place, had been +shot through the shoulder at the taking of the Parma ravelin, and had +been afterwards severely injured at the capture of the demilune. At the +fall of the city he was mortally wounded, and carried a prisoner to the +hostile camp, only to expire. The governor, Swartsenberg, also lost his +life. + +Alexander, on the contrary, was raised from his sick bed with the joyful +tidings of victory, and as soon as he could be moved, made his appearance +in the city. Seated in a splendid chair of state, borne aloft on the +shoulders of his veterans, with a golden canopy above his head to protect +him from the summer's sun, attended by the officers of his staff, who +were decked by his special command in, their gayest trappings, escorted +by his body-guard, followed by his "plumed troops," to the number of +twenty thousand, surrounded by all the vanities of war, the hero made his +stately entrance into the town. His way led through deserted streets of +shattered houses. The pavement ran red with blood. Headless corpses, +mangled limbs--an obscene mass of wretchedness and corruption, were +spread on every side, and tainted the summer air. Through the thriving +city which, in the course of four months Alexander had converted into a +slaughter-house and a solitude, the pompous procession took its course to +the church of Saint Servais. Here humble thanks were offered to the. +God of Love, and to Jesus of Nazareth, for this new victory. Especially +was gratitude expressed to the Apostles Paul and Peter; upon whose +festival, and by whose sword and key the crowning mercy had been +accomplished,--and by whose special agency eight thousand heretics now +lay unburied in the streets. These acts of piety performed, the +triumphal procession returned to the camp, where, soon afterwards, the +joyful news of Alexander Farnese's entire convalescence was proclaimed. + +The Prince of Orange, as usual, was blamed for the tragical termination +to this long drama. All that one man could do, he had done to awaken his +countrymen to the importance of the siege. He had repeatedly brought the +subject solemnly before the assembly, and implored for Maestricht, almost +upon his knees. Lukewarm and parsimonious, the states had responded to +his eloquent appeals with wrangling addressee and insufficient votes. +With a special subsidy obtained in April and May, he had organized the +slight attempt at relief, which was all which he had been empowered to +make, but which proved entirely unsuccessful. Now that the massacre to +be averted was accomplished, men were loud in reproof, who had been +silent, and passive while there was yet time to speak and to work. It +was the Prince, they said, who had delivered so many thousands of his +fellow-countrymen to, butchery. To save himself, they insinuated he was +now plotting to deliver the land into the power of the treacherous +Frenchman, and he alone, they asserted, was the insuperable obstacle to +an honorable peace with Spain. + +A letter, brought by an unknown messenger, was laid before the states' +assembly, in full session, and sent to the clerk's table, to be read +aloud. After the first few sentences, that functionary faltered in his +recital. Several members also peremptorily ordered him to stop; for the +letter proved to be a violent and calumnious libel upon Orange, together +with a strong appeal in favor of the peace propositions then under debate +at Cologne. The Prince alone, of all the assembly, preserving his +tranquillity, ordered the document to be brought to him, and forthwith +read it aloud himself, from beginning to end. Afterwards, he took +occasion to express his mind concerning the ceaseless calumnies of which +he was the mark. He especially alluded to the oft-repeated accusation +that he was the only obstacle to peace, and repeated that he was ready at +that moment to leave the land, and to close his lips for ever, if by so +doing he could benefit his country, and restore her to honorable repose. +The outcry, with the protestations of attachment and confidence which at +once broke from the assembly, convinced him, however, that he was deeply +rooted in the hearts of all patriotic Netherlanders, and that it was +beyond the power of slanderers to loosen his hold upon their affection. + +Meantime, his efforts had again and again been demanded to restore order +in that abode of anarchy, the city of Ghent. After his visit during the +previous winter, and the consequent departure of John Casimir to the +palatinate, the pacific arrangements made by the Prince had for a short +time held good. Early in March, however, that master of misrule, John +van Imbize, had once more excited the populace to sedition. Again the +property of Catholics, clerical and lay, was plundered; again the persons +of Catholics, of every degree, were maltreated. The magistrates, with +first senator Imbize at their head, rather encouraged than rebuked the +disorder; but Orange, as soon as he received official intelligence of +the event, hastened to address them in the words of earnest warning and +wisdom. He allowed that the inhabitants of the province had reason to +be discontented with the presence and the misconduct of the Walloon +soldiery. He granted that violence and the menaces of a foreign tyranny +made it difficult for honest burghers to gain a livelihood. At the same +time he expressed astonishment that reasonable men should seek a remedy +for such evils in tumults which would necessarily bring utter destruction +upon the land. "It was," he observed, "as if a patient should from +impatience, tear the bandages from his wounds, and, like a maniac, +instead of allowing himself to be cured, plunge a dagger into his own +heart." + +These exhortations exerted a wholesome effect for a moment, but matters +soon went from bad to worse. Imbize, fearing the influence of the +Prince, indulged in open-mouthed abuse of a man whose character he was +unable even to comprehend, He accused him of intriguing with France for +his own benefit, of being a Papist in disguise, of desiring to establish +what he called a "religious peace," merely to restore Roman idolatry. +In all these insane ravings, the demagogue was most ably seconded by the +ex-monk. Incessant and unlicensed were the invectives hurled by Peter +Dathenus from his pulpit upon William the Silent's head. He denounced +him--as he had often done before--as an atheist in heart; as a man who +changed his religion as easily as his garments; as a man who knew no God +but state expediency, which was the idol of his worship; a mere +politician who would tear his shirt from his back and throw it in the +fire, if he thought it were tainted with religion. + +Such witless but vehement denunciation from a preacher who was both +popular and comparatively sincere, could, not but affect the imagination +of the weaker portion of his, healers. The faction of Imbize became +triumphant. Ryhove--the ruffian whose hands were stained with the recent +blood of Visch and Hessels--rather did damage than service to the cause +of order. He opposed himself to the demagogue who was prating daily of +Greece, Rome, and Geneva, while his clerical associate was denouncing +William of Orange, but he opposed himself in vain. An attempt to secure +the person of Imbize failed, but by the influence of Ryhove, however, a +messenger was despatched to Antwerp in the name of a considerable portion +of the community of Ghent. The counsel and the presence of the man to +whom all hearts in every part of the Netherlands instinctively turned in +the hour of need, were once more invoked. + +The Prince again addressed them in language which none but he could +employ with such effect. He told them that his life, passed in service +and sacrifice, ought to witness sufficiently for his fidelity. +Nevertheless, he thought it necessary--in view of the calumnies which +were circulated--to repeat once more his sentiment that no treaty of +peace, war, or alliance, ought to be negotiated, save with the consent of +the people. His course in Holland and Zealand had proved, he said, his +willingness always to consult the wishes of his countrymen. As for the +matter of religion it was almost incredible that there should be any who +doubted the zeal which he bore the religion for which he had suffered so +much. "I desire," he continued, fervently, "that men should compare that +which has been done by my accusers during ten years past with that which +I have done. In that which touches the true advancement of religion, I +will yield to no man. They who so boldly accuse me have no liberty of +speech, save that which has been acquired for them by the blood of my +kindred, by my labors, and my excessive expenditures. To me they owe it +that they dare speak at all." This letter, (which was dated on the 24th +of July, 1579) contained an assurance that the writer was about to visit +Ghent. + +On the following day, Imbize executed a coup d'etat. Having a body of +near two thousand soldiers at his disposal, he suddenly secured the +persons of all the magistrates and other notable individuals not friendly +to his policy, and then, in violation of all law, set up a new board of +eighteen irresponsible functionaries, according to a list prepared by +himself alone. This was his way of enforcing the democratic liberty +of Greece, Rome, and Geneva, which was so near to his heart. A +proclamation, in fourteen articles, was forthwith issued, justifying this +arbitrary proceeding. It was declared that the object of the somewhat +irregular measure "was to prevent the establishment of the religious +peace, which was merely a method of replanting uprooted papistry and the +extirpated tyranny of Spain." Although the arrangement's had not been +made in strict accordance with formal usage and ceremony, yet they were +defended upon the ground that it had been impossible, by other means, to +maintain their ancient liberties and their religious freedom. At the +same time a pamphlet, already prepared for the occasion by Dathenus, +was extensively circulated. In this production the arbitrary revolution +effected by a demagogue was defended with effrontery, while the +character, of Orange, was loaded with customary abuse. To prevent +the traitor from coming to Ghent, and establishing what he called his +religious peace, these irregular measures, it was urged, had been wisely +taken. + +Such were the efforts of John Imbize--such the calumnies of Peter +Dathenus--in order to counteract the patriotic endeavors of the Prince; +but neither the ruffianism of John nor the libels of Peter were destined +upon this occasion to be successful. William the Silent treated the +slanders of the scolding monk with dignified contempt. "Having been +informed," said he to the magistrates of Ghent, "that Master Peter +Dathenns has been denouncing me as a man without religion or fidelity, +and full of ambition, with other propositions hardly becoming his cloth; +I do not think it worth while to answer more at this time than that I +willingly refer myself to the judgment of all who know me." + +The Prince came to Ghent, great as had been the efforts of Imbize and his +partisans to prevent his coming. His presence was like magic. The +demagogue and his whole flock vanished like unclean birds at the first +rays of the sun. Imbize dared not look the Father of his country in the +face. Orange rebuked the populace in the strong and indignant language +that public and private virtue, energy, and a high purpose enabled such a +leader of the people to use. He at once set aside the board of eighteen +--the Grecian-Roman-Genevese establishment of Imbize--and remained in the +city until the regular election, in conformity with the privileges, had +taken place. Imbize, who had shrunk at his approach, was meantime +discovered by his own companions. He had stolen forth secretly on the +night before the Prince's arrival, and was found cowering in the cabin of +a vessel, half dead with fear, by an ale-house keeper who had been his +warm partisan. "No Skulking," cried the honest friend; seizing the +tribune of the people by the shoulder;" no sailing away in the night- +time. You have got us all into this bog, and must come back, and abide +the issue with your supporters." + +In this collapsed state was the windy demagogue, who had filled half +Flanders with his sound and fury, conveyed before the patriot Prince. +He met with grave and bitter rebukes, but felt sufficiently relieved when +allowed to depart unharmed. Judging of his probable doom by the usual +practice of himself and his fellows in similar cases, he had anticipated +nothing short of the gibbet. That punishment, however, was to be +inflicted at a later period, by other hands, and not until he had added +treason to his country and a shameless recantation of all his violent +professions in favor of civil and religious liberty to the list of his +crimes. On the present occasion he was permitted to go free. In company +with his clerical companion, Peter Dathenus, he fled to the abode of his +excellent friend, John Casimir, who received both with open arms, and +allowed them each a pension. + +Order being thus again restored in Ghent by the exertions of the Prince, +when no other human hand could have dispelled the anarchy which seemed to +reign supreme, William the Silent, having accepted the government of +Flanders, which had again and again been urged upon him, now returned to +Antwerp. + + + + +CHAPTER III. + + The Cologne conferences--Intentions of the parties--Preliminary + attempt by government to purchase the Prince of Orange--Offer and + rejection of various articles among the plenipotentiaries--Departure + of the imperial commissionere--Ultimatum of the States compared with + that of the royal government--Barren negotiations terminated-- + Treason of De Bours, Governor of Mechlin--Liberal theories + concerning the nature of government--Abjuration of Philip imminent-- + Self-denial of Orange--Attitude of Germany--of England--Marriage + negotiations between Elizabeth and Anjou--Orange favors the election + of the Duke as sovereign--Address and speeches of the Prince-- + Parsimony and interprovincial jealousy rebuked----Secret + correspondence of Count Renneberg with the royal government-- + His treason at Groningen. + +Since the beginning of May, the Cologne negotiations had been dragging +their slow length along. Few persons believed that any good was likely +to result from these stately and ponderous conferences; yet men were so +weary of war, so desirous that a termination might be put to the atrophy +under which the country was languishing, that many an eager glance was +turned towards the place where the august assembly was holding its +protracted session. Certainly, if wisdom were to be found in mitred +heads--if the power to heal angry passions and to settle the conflicting +claims of prerogative and conscience were to be looked for among men of +lofty station, then the Cologne conferences ought to have made the rough +places smooth and the crooked paths straight throughout all Christendom. +There was the Archbishop of Rossano, afterwards Pope Urban VII, as +plenipotentiary from Rome; there was Charles of Aragon, Duke of +Terranova, supported by five councillors, as ambassador from his Catholic +Majesty; there were the Duke of Aerschot, the Abbot of Saint Gertrude, +the Abbot of Marolles, Doctor Bucho Aytta, Caspar Schetz, Lord of +Grobbendonck, that learned Frisian, Aggeus van Albada, with seven other +wise men, as envoys from the states-general: There were their Serene +Highnesses the Elector and Archbishops of Cologne and Treves, with the +Bishop of Wurtzburg. There was also a numerous embassy from his Imperial +Majesty, with Count Otto de Schwartzenburg at its head. + +Here then were holiness, serenity, dignity, law, and learning in +abundance. Here was a pope 'in posse', with archbishops, princes, dukes, +jurisconsults, and doctors of divinity 'in esse', sufficient to remodel +a world, if worlds were to be remodelled by such instruments. If +protocols, replications, annotations, apostilles, could heal a bleeding +country, here were the physicians to furnish those drugs in unlimited +profusion. If reams of paper, scrawled over with barbarous +technicalities, could smother and bury a quarrel which had its origin in +the mutual antagonism of human elements, here were the men to scribble +unflinchingly, till the reams were piled to a pyramid. If the same idea +presented in many aspects could acquire additional life, here were the +word-mongers who, could clothe one shivering thought in a hundred +thousand garments, till it attained all the majesty which decoration +could impart. In truth, the envoys came from Spain, Rome, and Vienna, +provided with but two ideas. Was it not a diplomatic masterpiece, that +from this frugal store they could contrive to eke out seven mortal months +of negotiation? Two ideas--the supremacy of his Majesty's prerogative, +the exclusive exercise of the Roman Catholic religion--these were the be- +all and the end-all of their commission. Upon these two strings they +were to harp, at least till the walls of Maestricht had fallen. The +envoys did their duty well; they were sent to enact a solemn comedy, and +in the most stately manner did they walk through their several parts. +Not that the King was belligerent; on, the contrary, he was heartily +weary of the war. Prerogative was weary--Romanism was weary--Conscience +was weary--the Spirit of Freedom was weary but the Prince of Orange was +not weary. Blood and treasure had been pouring forth so profusely during +twelve flaming years, that all but that one tranquil spirit were +beginning to flag. + +At the same time, neither party had more disposition to concede than +stomach to fight. Certainly the royal party had no inclination to yield. +The King had granted easy terms to the Walloons, because upon the one +great point of religion there was, no dispute, and upon the others there +was no intention of keeping faith. With regard to the present +negotiation, it was desirable to gain a little time. It was thought +probable that the religious difference, judiciously managed at this +juncture, might be used to effect a permanent severance of the provinces +so lately banded together in a common union. "To, divide them," wrote +Tassis, in a very confidential letter, "no better method can be found +than to amuse them with this peace negotiation. Some are ready for a +pacification from their desire of repose, some from their fear of war, +some from the differences which exist among themselves, and which it is +especially important to keep alive." Above all things, it was desirable +to maintain the religious distraction till Maestricht had been taken. +That siege was the key to the whole situation. If the separate Walloon +accord could be quietly made in a corner, while Parma was battering that +stronghold on the Meuse, and while decorous negotiation was smoothly +holding its course on the Rhine, much disorganization, it was hoped, +would be handsomely accomplished before the end of the year. + +"As for a suspension of arms," wrote Alexander to Terranova, on the 21st +of May, "the longer 'tis deferred the better. With regard to Maestricht, +everything depends upon it that we possess, or desire to possess. Truly, +if the Prince of Orange can relieve the city he will do it. If he does +so, neither will this expedition of ours, nor any other expedition, be +brought to a good end. As soon as men are aware that our affairs are +looking badly, they will come again to a true union, and all will join +together, in hope to accomplish their boasts." Therefore, it was natural +that the peace-wrights of Cologne should industriously ply their task. + +It is not desirable to disturb much of that learned dust, after its three +centuries' repose. A rapid sketch of the course of the proceedings, with +an indication of the spirit which animated the contending parties, will +be all that is necessary. They came and they separated with precisely +opposite views. "The desires of Terranova and of the estates," says the +royalist, Tassis, "were diametrically contrary, to each other. The King +wished that the exercise of the Roman Catholic religion should be +exclusively established, and the absolute prerogative preserved in its +integrity." On the other hand, the provinces desired their charters and +a religious' peace. In these perpetual lines and curves ran the +asymptotical negotiation from beginning to end--and so it might have run +for two centuries, without hope of coincidence. Neither party was yet +vanquished. The freshly united provinces were no readier now than +before to admit that the Holy Office formed part of their national +institutions. The despotic faction was not prepared to renounce that +establishment. Foiled, but not disheartened, sat the Inquisition, like a +beldame, upon the border, impotently threatening the land whence she had +been for ever excluded; while industrious as the Parcae, distaff in hand, +sat, in Cologne, the inexorable three--Spain, the Empire, and Rome-- +grimly, spinning and severing the web of mortal destinies. + +The first step in the proceedings had been a secret one. If by any means +the Prince of Orange could be detached from his party--if by bribery, +however enormous, he could be induced--to abandon a tottering cause, and +depart for the land of his birth--he was distinctly but indirectly given +to understand that he had but to name his terms. We have seen the issue +of similar propositions made by Don John of Austria. Probably there was +no man living who would care to make distinct application of this +dishonorable nature to the Father of his country. The Aerschots, the +Meluns, the Lalains, and a swarm of other nobles, had their price, and +were easily transferable from one to another, but it was not easy to make +a direct offer to William of Orange. They knew--as he said shortly +afterwards in his famous Apology--that "neither for property nor for +life, neither for wife nor for children, would he mix in his cup a single +drop of treason." Nevertheless, he was distinctly given to understand +that "there was nothing he could demand for himself personally that would +not be granted." All his confiscated property, restoration of his +imprisoned son, liberty of worship for himself, payment of all his debts, +reimbursement of all his past expenses, and anything else which he could +desire, were all placed within his reach. If he chose to retire into +another land, his son might be placed in possession of all his cities, +estates, and dignities, and himself indemnified in Germany; with a +million of money over and above as a gratuity. The imperial envoy, Count +Schwartzenburg, pledged his personal honor and reputation that every +promise which might be made to the Prince should be most sacredly +fulfilled. + +It was all in vain. The indirect applications of the imperial +commissioners made to his servants and his nearest relations were +entirely unsuccessful. The Prince was not to be drawn into a negotiation +in his own name or for his own benefit. If the estates were satisfied, +he was satisfied. He wanted no conditions but theirs; "nor would he +directly, or indirectly," he said, "separate himself from the cause on +which hung all his evil or felicity." He knew that it was the object of +the enemy to deprive the country of its head, and no inducements were +sufficient to make him a party to the plot. At the same time, he was +unwilling to be an obstacle, in his own person, to the conclusion of an +honorable peace. He would resign his offices which he held at the +solicitation of the whole country, if thus a negotiation were likely to +be more successful. "The Prince of Parma and the disunited provinces," +said he to the states-general, "affect to consider this war as one waged +against me and in my name--as if the question alone concerned the name +and person of the general. If it be so, I beg you to consider whether it +is not because I have been ever faithful to the land. Nevertheless, if I +am an obstacle, I am ready to remove it. If you, therefore, in order to +deprive the enemy of every right to inculpate us, think proper to choose +another head and conductor of your affairs, I promise you to serve and to +be obedient to him with all my heart. Thus shall we leave the enemy no +standing-place to work dissensions among us." Such was his language to +friend and foe, and here, at least, was one man in history whom kings +were not rich enough to purchase. + +On the 18th of May, the states' envoys at Cologne presented fourteen +articles, demanding freedom of religion and the ancient political +charters. Religion, they said, was to be referred; not to man, but to +God. To him the King was subject as well as the people. Both King and +people--"and by people was meant every individual in the land"--were +bound to serve God according to their conscience. + +The imperial envoys found such language extremely reprehensible, and +promptly refused, as umpires, to entertain the fourteen articles. Others +drawn up by Terranova and colleagues, embodying the claims of the royal +and Roman party, were then solemnly presented, and as promptly rejected. +Then the imperial umpires came forward with two bundles of +proposisitions--approved beforehand by the Spanish plenipotentiaries. +In the political bundle; obedience due to the King was insisted upon, +"as in the time of the Emperor Charles." The religious category declared +that "the Roman religion--all others excluded--should thenceforth be +exercised in all the provinces." Both these categories were considered +more objectionable by the states' envoys than the terms of Terranova, and +astonishment was expressed that "mention should again be made of the +edicts--as if blood enough had not been shed already in the cause of +religion." + +The Netherland envoys likewise gave the imperial commissioners distinctly +to understand that--in case peace were not soon made--"the states would +forthwith declare the King fallen from his sovereignty;" would for ever +dispense the people from their oaths of allegiance to him, and would +probably accept the Duke of Anjou in his place. The states-general, to +which body the imperial propositions had been sent, also rejected the +articles in a logical and historical argument of unmerciful length. + +An appeal secretly made by the imperial and Spanish commissioners, from +the states' envoys to the states themselves, and even to the people of +the various provinces, had excited the anger of the plenipotentiaries. +They complained loudly of this violation of all diplomatic etiquette, and +the answer of the states-general, fully confirming the views of their +ambassadors, did not diminish their wrath. + +On the 13th of November, 1579, the states' envoys were invited into the +council chamber of the imperial commissioners, to hear the last solemn +commonplaces of those departing, functionaries. Seven months long they +had been waiting in vain, they said, for the states' envoys to accede to +moderate demands. Patience was now exhausted. Moreover, their mediatory +views had been the subject of bitter lampooning throughout the country, +while the authorities of many cities had publicly declared that all the +inhabitants would rather, die the death than accept such terms. The +peace-makers, accordingly, with endless protestations as to, their own +purity, wisdom, and benevolence, left the whole "in the hands of God and +the parties concerned." + +The reply to this elaborate farewell was curt and somewhat crusty. "Had +they known," said the states' envoys, "that their transparencies and +worthinesses had no better intention, and the Duke of Terranova no ampler +commission, the whole matter might have been despatched, not in six +months, but in six days." + +Thus ended the conferences, and the imperial commissioners departed. +Nevertheless, Schwartzenburg remained yet a little time at Cologne, while +five of the states' envoys also protracted their stay, in order to make +their private peace with the King. It is hardly necessary to observe +that the chief of these penitents was the Duke of Aerschot. The +ultimatum of the states was deposited by the departing envoys with +Schwartzenburg, and a comparison of its terms with those offered by the +imperial mediators, as the best which could be obtained from Spain, shows +the hopelessness of the pretended negotiation. Departure of the foreign +troops, restitution of all confiscated property, unequivocal recognition +of the Ghent treaty and the perpetual edict, appointment to office of +none but natives, oaths of allegiance to the King and the states-general, +exercise of the Reformed religion and of the Confession of Augsburg in +all places where it was then publicly practised: such were the main +demands of the patriot party. + +In the secret instructions furnished by the states to their envoys, they +were told to urge upon his Majesty the absolute necessity, if he wished +to retain the provinces, of winking at the exercise of the Reformed and +the Augsburg creeds. "The new religion had taken too deep root," it was +urged, "ever to be torn forth, save with the destruction of the whole +country." + +Thus, after seven dreary months of negotiation, after protocols and +memoranda in ten thousand folia, the august diplomatists had travelled +round to the points from which they had severally started. On the one +side, unlimited prerogative and exclusive Catholicism; on the other, +constitutional liberty, with freedom of conscience for Catholic and +Protestant alike: these were the claims which each party announced at the +commencement, and to which they held with equal firmness at the close of +the conferences. + +The congress had been expensive. Though not much had been accomplished +for the political or religious advancement of mankind, there had been +much excellent eating and drinking at Cologne during the seven months. +Those drouthy deliberations had needed moistening. The Bishop of +Wurtzburg had consumed "eighty hogsheads of Rhenish wine and twenty great +casks of beer." The expense of the states' envoys were twenty-four +thousand guldens. The Archbishop of Cologne had expended forty thousand +thalers. The deliberations were, on the whole, excessively detrimental +to the cause of the provinces, "and a great personage" wrote to the +states-general, that the King had been influenced by no motive save to +cause dissension. This was an exaggeration, for his Majesty would have +been well pleased to receive the whole of the country on the same terms +which had been accepted by the Walloons. Meantime, those southern +provinces had made their separate treaty, and the Netherlands were +permanently dissevered. Maestricht had fallen. Disunion and dismay had +taken possession of the country. + +During the course of the year other severe misfortunes had happened to +the states. Treachery, even among the men who had done good service to +the cause of freedom, was daily showing her hateful visage. Not only +the great chieftains who had led the Malcontent Walloon party, with the +fickle Aerschot and the wavering Havre besides, had made their separate +reconciliation with Parma, but the epidemic treason had mastered such +bold partisans as the Seigneur de Bours, the man whose services in +rescuing the citadel of Antwerp had been so courageous and valuable. He +was governor of Mechlin; Count Renneberg was governor of Friesland. Both +were trusted implicitly by Orange and by the estates; both were on the +eve of repaying the confidence reposed in them by the most venal treason. + +It was already known that Parma had tampered with De Bours; but Renneberg +was still unsuspected. "The Prince," wrote Count John, "is deserted by +all the noblemen; save the stadholder of Friesland and myself, and has no +man else in whom he can repose confidence." The brothers were doomed to +be rudely awakened from the repose with regard to Renneberg, but +previously the treason of a less important functionary was to cause a +considerable but less lasting injury to the national party. + +In Mechlin was a Carmelite friar, of audacious character and great +eloquence; a man who, "with his sweet, poisonous tongue, could ever +persuade the people to do his bidding." This dangerous monk, Peter +Lupus, or Peter Wolf, by name, had formed the design of restoring +Mechlin to the Prince of Parma, and of obtaining the bishopric of Namur +as the reward of his services. To this end he had obtained a complete +mastery over the intellect of the bold but unprincipled De Bours. +A correspondence was immediately opened between Parma and the governor, +and troops were secretly admitted into the city. The Prince of Orange, +in the name of the Archduke and the estates, in vain endeavoured to recal +the infatuated governor to his duty. In vain he conjured him, by letter +after letter, to be true to his own bright fame so nobly earned. An old +friend of De Bours, and like himself a Catholic, was also employed to +remonstrate with him. This gentleman, De Fromont by name, wrote him many +letters; but De Bours expressed his surprise that Fromont, whom he had +always considered a good Catholic and a virtuous gentleman, should wish +to force him into a connection with the Prince of Orange and his heretic +supporters. He protested that his mind was quite made up, and that he +had been guaranteed by Parma not only the post which he now held, but +even still farther advancement. + +De Fromont reminded him, in reply, of the frequent revolutions of +fortune's wheel, and warned him that the advancement of which he boasted +would probably be an entire degradation. He bitterly recalled to the +remembrance of the new zealot for Romanism his former earnest efforts to +establish Calvinism. He reproached him, too, with having melted up the +silver images of the Mechlin churches, including even the renowned shrine +of Saint Rombout, which the Prince of Orange had always respected. +"I don't say how much you took of that plunder for your own share," +continued the indignant De Fromont, "for the very children cry it in your +ears as you walk the streets. 'Tis known that if God himself had been +changed into gold you would have put him in your pocket." + +This was plain language, but as just as it was plain. The famous shrine +of Saint Rombout--valued at seventy thousand guldens, of silver gilt, and +enriched with precious stones--had been held sacred alike by the +fanatical iconoclasts and the greedy Spaniards who had successively held +the city. It had now been melted up, and appropriated by Peter Lupin; +the Carmelite, and De Bours, the Catholic convert, whose mouths were full +of devotion to the ancient Church and of horror for heresy. + +The efforts of Orange and of the states were unavailing. De Bours +surrendered the city, and fled to Parma, who received him with +cordiality, gave him five thousand florins--the price promised for his +treason, besides a regiment of infantry--but expressed surprise that he +should have reached the camp alive. His subsequent career was short, and +he met his death two years afterwards, in the trenches before Tournay. +The archiepiscopal city was thus transferred to the royal party, but the +gallant Van der Tympel, governor of Brussels, retook it by surprise +within six months of its acquisition by Parma, and once more restored it +to the jurisdiction of the states. Peter Lupus, the Carmelite, armed to +the teeth, and fighting fiercely at the head of the royalists, was slain +in the street, and thus forfeited his chance for the mitre of Namur. + +During the weary progress of the Cologne negotiations, the Prince +had not been idle, and should this august and slow-moving congress be +unsuccessful in restoring peace, the provinces were pledged to an act of +abjuration. They would then be entirely without a head. The idea of a +nominal Republic was broached by none. The contest had not been one of +theory, but of facts; for the war had not been for revolution, but for +conservation, so far as political rights were concerned. In religion, +the provinces had advanced from one step to another, till they now +claimed the largest liberty--freedom of conscience--for all. Religion, +they held, was God's affair, not man's, in which neither people nor king +had power over each other, but in which both were subject to God alone. +In politics it was different. Hereditary sovereignty was acknowledged as +a fact, but at the same time, the spirit of freedom was already learning +its appropriate language. It already claimed boldly the natural right of +mankind to be governed according to the laws of reason and of divine +justice. If a prince were a shepherd, it was at least lawful to deprive +him of his crook when he butchered the flock which he had been appointed +to protect. + +"What reason is there," said the states-general, "why the provinces +should suffer themselves to be continually oppressed by their sovereign, +with robbings, burnings, stranglings, and murderings? Why, being thus +oppressed, should they still give their sovereign--exactly as if he were +well conducting himself--the honor and title of lord of the land?" On +the other hand, if hereditary rule were an established fact, so also were +ancient charters. To maintain, not to overthrow, the political compact, +was the purpose of the states. "Je maintiendrai" was the motto of +Orange's escutcheon. That a compact existed between prince and people, +and that the sovereign held office only on condition of doing his duty, +were startling truths which men were beginning, not to whisper to each +other in secret, but to proclaim in the market-place. "'Tis well known +to all," said the famous Declaration of Independence, two years +afterwards, "that if a prince is appointed by God over the land, 'tis to +protect them from harm, even as a shepherd to the guardianship of his +flock. The subjects are not appointed by God for the behoof of the +prince, but the prince for his subjects, without whom he is no prince. +Should he violate the laws, he is to be forsaken by his meanest subject, +and to be recognized no longer as prince." + +William of Orange always recognized these truths, but his scheme of +government contemplated a permanent chief, and as it was becoming obvious +that the Spanish sovereign would soon be abjured, it was necessary to fix +upon a substitute. "As to governing these provinces in the form of a +republic," said he, speaking for the states-general, "those who know the +condition, privileges, and ordinances of the country, can easily +understand that 'tis hardly possible to dispense with a head or +superintendent." At the same time, he plainly intimated that this "head +or superintendent" was to be, not a monarch--a one-ruler--but merely the +hereditary chief magistrate of a free commonwealth. + +Where was this hereditary chief magistrate to be found? His own claims +he absolutely withdrew. The office was within his grasp, and he might +easily have constituted himself sovereign of all the Netherlands. +Perhaps it would have been better at that time had he advanced his claims +and accepted the sovereignty which Philip had forfeited. As he did not +believe in the possibility of a republic, he might honestly have taken +into his own hands the sceptre which he considered indispensable. His +self-abnegation was, however, absolute. Not only did he decline +sovereignty, but he repeatedly avowed his readiness to, lay down all the +offices which he held, if a more useful substitute could be found. "Let +no man think," said he, in a remarkable speech to the states-general," +that my good-will is in any degree changed or diminished. I agree to +obey--as the least of the lords or gentlemen of the land could do-- +whatever person it may, please you to select. You have but to command +my services wheresoever they are most wanted; to guard a province or a +single city, or in any capacity in which I may be found most useful. +I promise to do my duty, with all my strength and skill, as God and my +conscience are witnesses that I have done it hitherto." + +The negotiations pointed to a speedy abjuration of Philip; the Republic +was contemplated by none; the Prince of Orange absolutely refused to +stretch forth his own hand; who then was to receive the sceptre which was +so soon to be bestowed? A German Prince--had been tried--in a somewhat +abnormal position--but had certainly manifested small capacity for aiding +the provinces. Nothing could well be more insignificant than the figure +of Matthias; and, moreover, his imperial brother was anything but +favorably disposed. It was necessary to manage Rudolph. To treat the +Archduke with indignity, now that he had been partly established in the +Netherlands, would be to incur the Emperor's enmity. His friendship, +however, could hardly be secured by any advancement bestowed upon his +brother; for Rudolph's services against prerogative and the Pope were in +no case to be expected. Nor was there much hope from the Protestant +princes of Germany. The day had passed for generous sympathy with those +engaged in the great struggle which Martin Luther had commenced. The +present generation of German Protestants were more inclined to put down +the Calvinistic schism at home than to save it from oppression abroad. +Men were more disposed to wrangle over the thrice-gnawed bones of +ecclesiastical casuistry, than to assist their brethren in the field. +"I know not," said Gaultherus, "whether the calamity of the Netherlands, +or the more than bestial stupidity of the Germans, be most deplorable. +To the insane contests on theological abstractions we owe it that many +are ready to breathe blood and slaughter against their own brethren. The +hatred of the Lutherans has reached that point that they can rather +tolerate Papists than ourselves." + +In England, there was much sympathy for the provinces and there--although +the form of government was still arbitrary--the instincts for civil and +religious freedom, which have ever characterized the Anglo-Saxon race, +were not to be repressed. Upon many a battle-field for liberty in the +Netherlands, "men whose limbs were made in England" were found contending +for the right. The blood and treasure of Englishmen flowed freely in the +cause of their relatives by religion and race, but these were the efforts +of individuals. Hitherto but little assistance had been rendered by the +English Queen, who had, on the contrary, almost distracted the provinces +by her fast-and-loose policy, both towards them and towards Anjou. The +political rivalry between that Prince and herself in the Netherlands had, +however, now given place to the memorable love-passage from which +important results were expected, and it was thought certain that +Elizabeth would view with satisfaction any dignity conferred upon her +lover. + +Orange had a right to form this opinion. At the same time, it is well +known that the chief councillors of Elizabeth--while they were all in +favor of assisting the provinces--looked with anything but satisfaction +upon the Anjou marriage. "The Duke," wrote Davidson to Walsingham in +July, 1579, "seeks, forsooth, under a pretext of marriage with her +Highness, the rather to espouse the Low Countries--the chief ground and +object of his pretended love, howsoever it be disguised." The envoy +believed both Elizabeth and the provinces in danger of taking unto +themselves a very bad master. "Is there any means," he added, "so apt to +sound the very bottom of our estate, and to hinder and breake the neck of +all such good purpose as the necessity of the tyme shall set abroch?" + +The provinces of Holland and Zealand, notwithstanding the love they bore +to William of Orange, could never be persuaded by his arguments into +favoring Anjou. Indeed, it was rather on account of the love they bore +the Prince--whom they were determined to have for their sovereign--that +they refused to listen to any persuasion in favor of his rival, although +coming from his own lips. The states-general, in a report to the states +of Holland, drawn up under the superintendence of the Prince, brought +forward all the usual arguments for accepting the French duke, in case +the abjuration should take place. They urged the contract with Anjou (of +August 13th, 1578), the great expenses he had already incurred in their +behalf; the danger of offending him; the possibility that in such case +he would ally himself with Spain; the prospect that, in consequence of +such a result, there would be three enemies in the field against them-- +the Walloons, the Spaniards, and the French, all whose forces would +eventually be turned upon Holland and Zealand alone. It was represented +that the selection of Anjou would, on the other hand, secure the +friendship of France--an alliance which would inspire both the Emperor +and the Spanish monarch with fear; for they could not contemplate without +jealousy a possible incorporation of the provinces with that kingdom. +Moreover, the geographical situation of France made its friendship +inexpressibly desirable. The states of Holland and Zealand were, +therefore, earnestly invited to send deputies to an assembly of the +states-general, in order to conclude measures touching the declaration +of independence to be made against the King, and concerning the election +of the Duke of Anjou. + +The official communications by speech or writing of Orange to the +different corporations and assemblies, were at this period of enormous +extent. He was moved to frequent anger by the parsimony, the inter- +provincial jealousy, the dull perception of the different estates, and he +often expressed his wrath in unequivocal language. He dealt roundly with +all public bodies. His eloquence was distinguished by a bold, +uncompromising, truth-telling spirit, whether the words might prove +palatable or bitter to his audience. His language rebuked his hearers +more frequently than it caressed them, for he felt it impossible, at all +times, to consult both the humors and the high interests of the people, +and he had no hesitation, as guardian of popular liberty, in denouncing +the popular vices by which it was endangered. + +By both great parties, he complained, his shortcomings were all noted, +the good which he had accomplished passed over in silence. + + [Letter to the States-general, August, 1579, apud Bor, xiv. 97, + sqq. This was the opinion frequently expressed by Languet: "Cherish + the friendship of the Prince, I beseech you," he writes to Sir + Philip Sydney, "for there is no man like him in all Christendom. + Nevertheless, his is the lot of all men of prudence--to be censured + by all parties. The people complain that he despises them; the + nobility declare that it is their order which he hates; and this is + as sensible as if you were to tell me that you were the son of a + clown."] + +He solemnly protested that he desired, out of his whole heart, the +advancement of that religion which he publicly professed, and with God's +blessing, hoped to profess to the end of his life, but nevertheless, he +reminded the states that he had sworn, upon taking office as Lieutenant- +General, to keep "all the subjects of the land equally under his +protection," and that he had kept his oath. He rebuked the parsimony +which placed the accepted chief of the provinces in a sordid and +contemptible position. "The Archduke has been compelled," said he, in +August, to the states-general, "to break up housekeeping, for want of +means. How shameful and disreputable for the country, if he should be +compelled, for very poverty, to leave the land!" He offered to lay down +all the power with which he had himself been clothed, but insisted, if he +were to continue in office, upon being provided with, larger means of +being useful. "'Twas impossible," he said, "for him to serve longer on +the same footing as heretofore; finding himself without power or +authority, without means, without troops, without money, without +obedience." He reminded the states-general that the enemy--under pretext +of peace negotiations--were ever circulating calumnious statements to the +effect that he was personally the only obstacle to peace. The real +object of these hopeless conferences was to sow dissension through the +land, to set burgher against burgher, house against house. As in Italy, +Guelphs and Ghibellines--as in Florence, the Neri and Bianchi--as in +Holland, the Hooks and Cabbeljaws had, by their unfortunate quarrels, +armed fellow countrymen and families against each other--so also, nothing +was so powerful as religious difference to set friend against friend, +father against son, husband against wife. + +He warned the States against the peace propositions of the enemy. Spain +had no intention to concede, but was resolved to extirpate. For himself; +he had certainly everything to lose by continued war. His magnificent +estates were withheld, and--added he with simplicity--there is no man who +does not desire to enjoy his own. The liberation of his son, too, from +his foreign captivity, was, after the glory of God and the welfare of the +fatherland, the dearest object of his heart. Moreover, he was himself +approaching the decline of life. Twelve years he had spent in perpetual +anxiety and labor for the cause. As he approached old age, he had +sufficient reason to desire repose. Nevertheless, considering the great +multitude of people who were leaning upon him, he should account himself +disgraced if, for the sake of his own private advantage, he were to +recommend a peace which was not perfectly secure. As regarded his own +personal interests, he could easily place himself beyond danger--yet it +would be otherwise with the people. The existence of the religion which, +through the mercy of God he professed, would be sacrificed, and countless +multitudes of innocent men would, by his act, be thrown bodily into the +hands of the blood-thirsty inquisitors who, in times past, had murdered +so many persons, and so utterly desolated the land. In regard to the +ceaseless insinuations against his character which men uttered "over +their tables and in the streets," he observed philosophically, that +"mankind were naturally inclined to calumny, particularly against those +who exercised government over them. His life was the best answer to +those slanders. Being overwhelmed with debt, he should doubtless do +better in a personal point of view to accept the excellent and profitable +offers which were daily made to him by the enemy." He might be justified +in such a course, when it was remembered how many had deserted him and +forsworn their religion. Nevertheless, he had ever refused, and should +ever refuse to listen to offers by which only his own personal interests +were secured. As to the defence of the country, he had thus far done all +in his power, with the small resources placed at his command. He was +urged by the "nearer-united states" to retain the poet of Lieutenant- +General. He was ready to consent. He was, however, not willing to hold +office a moment, unless he had power to compel cities to accept +garrisons, to enforce the collection of needful supplies throughout the +provinces, and in general to do everything which he judged necessary for +the best interests of the country. + +Three councils were now established--one to be in attendance upon the +Archduke and the Prince of Orange, the two others to reside respectively +in Flanders and in Utrecht. They were to be appointed by Matthias and +the Prince, upon a double nomination from the estates of the united +provinces. Their decisions were to be made according to a majority of +votes,--and there was to be no secret cabinet behind and above their +deliberations. It was long, however, before these councils were put into +working order. The fatal jealousy of the provincial authorities, the, +small ambition of local magistrates, interposed daily obstacles to the +vigorous march of the generality. Never was jealousy more mischievous, +never circumspection more misapplied. It was not a land nor a crisis in +which there was peril of centralization: Local municipal government was +in truth the only force left. There was no possibility of its being +merged in a central authority which did not exist. The country was +without a centre. There was small chance of apoplexy where there was no +head. The danger lay in the mutual repulsiveness of these atoms of +sovereignty--in the centrifugal tendencies which were fast resolving a +nebulous commonwealth into chaos. Disunion and dissension would soon +bring about a more fatal centralization--that of absorption in a distant +despotism. + +At the end of November, 1579, Orange made another remarkable speech in +the states-general at Antwerp. He handled the usual topics with his +customary vigor, and with that grace and warmth of delivery which always +made his eloquence so persuasive and impressive. He spoke of the +countless calumnies against himself, the chaffering niggardliness of the +provinces, the slender result produced by his repeated warnings. He told +them bluntly the great cause of all their troubles. It was the absence +of a broad patriotism; it was the narrow power grudged rather than given +to the deputies who sat in the general assembly. They were mere envoys, +tied by instructions. They were powerless to act, except after tedious +reference to the will of their masters, the provincial boards. The +deputies of the Union came thither, he said, as advocates of their +provinces or their cities, not as councillors of a commonwealth--and +sought to further those narrow interests, even at the risk of destruction +to their sister states. The contributions, he complained, were assessed +unequally, and expended selfishly. Upon this occasion, as upon all +occasions, he again challenged inquiry into the purity of his government, +demanded chastisement, if any act of mal-administration on his part could +be found, and repeated his anxious desire either to be relieved from his +functions, or to be furnished with the means of discharging them with +efficiency. + +On the 12th of December, 1579, he again made a powerful speech in the +states-general. Upon the 9th of January 1580, following, he made an +elaborate address upon the state of the country, urging the necessity of +raising instantly a considerable army of good and experienced soldiers. +He fixed the indispensable number of such a force at twelve thousand +foot, four thousand horse, and at least twelve hundred pioneers. "Weigh +well the matters," said he, in conclusion; "which I have thus urged, and +which are of the most extreme necessity. Men in their utmost need are +daily coming to me for refuge, as if I held power over all things in my +hand." At the same time he complained that by reason of the dilatoriness +of the states, he was prevented from alleviating misery when he knew the +remedy to be within reach. "I beg you, however, my masters," he +continued, "to believe that this address of mine is no simple discourse. +'Tis a faithful presentment of matters which, if not reformed, will cause +the speedy and absolute ruin of the land. Whatever betide, however, I +pray you to hold yourselves assured, that with God's help, I am +determined to live with you or to die with you." + +Early in the year 1580, the Prince was doomed to a bitter disappointment, +and the provinces to a severe loss, in the treason of Count Renneberg, +governor of Friesland. This young noble was of the great Lalain family. +He was a younger brother of: Anthony, Count of Hoogstraaten--the +unwavering friend of Orange. He had been brought up in the family of his +cousin, the Count de Lalain, governor of Hainault, and had inherited the +title of Renneberg from an uncle, who was a dignitary of the church. +For more than a year there had been suspicions of his fidelity. He was +supposed to have been tampered with by the Duke of Terranova, on the +first arrival of that functionary in the Netherlands. Nevertheless, the +Prince of Orange was unwilling to listen to the whispers against him. +Being himself the mark of calumny, and having a tender remembrance of the +elder brother, he persisted in reposing confidence in a man who was in +reality unworthy of his friendship. George Lalain, therefore, remained +stadholder of Friesland and Drenthe, and in possession of the capital +city, Groningen. + +The rumors concerning him proved correct. In November, 1579, he entered +into a formal treaty with Terranova, by which he was to receive--as the +price of "the virtuous resolution which he contemplated"--the sum of ten +thousand crowns in hand, a further sum of ten thousand crowns within +three months, and a yearly pension of ten thousand florins. Moreover, +his barony of Ville was to be erected into a marquisate, and he was to +receive the order of the Golden Fleece at the first vacancy. He was +likewise to be continued in the same offices under the King which he now +held from the estates. The bill of sale, by which he agreed with a +certain Quislain le Bailly to transfer himself to Spain, fixed these +terms with the technical scrupulousness of any other mercantile +transaction. Renneberg sold himself as one would sell a yoke of oxen, +and his motives were no whit nobler than the cynical contract would +indicate. "See you not," said he in a private letter to a friend, "that +this whole work is brewed by the Nassaus for the sake of their own +greatness, and that they are everywhere provided with the very best +crumbs. They are to be stadholders of the principal provinces; we are +to content ourselves with Overyssel and Drente. Therefore I have thought +it best to make my peace with the King, from whom more benefits are to be +got." + +Jealousy and selfishness; then, were the motives of his "virtuous +resolution." He had another, perhaps a nobler incentive. He was in love +with the Countess Meghen, widow of Lancelot Berlaymont, and it was +privately stipulated that the influence of his Majesty's government +should be employed to bring about his marriage with the lady. The +treaty, however, which Renneberg had made with Quislain le Bailly was not +immediately carried out. Early in February, 1580, his sister and evil +genius, Cornelia Lalain, wife of Baron Monceau, made him a visit at +Groningen. She implored him not to give over his soul to perdition by +oppressing the Holy Church. She also appealed to his family pride, which +should keep him, she said, from the contamination of companionship with +"base-born weavers and furriers." She was of opinion that to contaminate +his high-born fingers with base bribes were a lower degradation. The +pension, the crowns in hand, the marquisate, the collar of the Golden +Fleece, were all held before his eyes again. He was persuaded, moreover, +that the fair hand of the wealthy widow would be the crowning prize of +his treason, but in this he was destined to disappointment. The Countess +was reserved for a more brilliant and a more bitter fate. She was to +espouse a man of higher rank, but more worthless character, also a +traitor to the cause of freedom, to which she was herself devoted, and +who was even accused of attempting her life in her old age, in order to +supply her place with a younger rival. + +The artful eloquence of Cornelia de Lalain did its work, and Renneberg +entered into correspondence with Parma. It is singular with how much +indulgence his conduct and character were regarded both before and +subsequently to his treason. There was something attractive about the +man. In an age when many German and Netherland nobles were given to +drunkenness and debauchery, and were distinguished rather for coarseness +of manner and brutality of intellect than for refinement or learning, +Count Renneberg, on the contrary, was an elegant and accomplished +gentleman--the Sydney of his country in all but loyalty of character. +He was a classical scholar, a votary of music and poetry, a graceful +troubadour, and a valiant knight. He was "sweet and lovely of +conversation," generous and bountiful by nature. With so many good +gifts, it was a thousand pities that the gift of truth had been denied +him. Never did treason look more amiable, but it was treason of the +blackest die. He was treacherous, in the hour of her utmost need, to the +country which had trusted him. He was treacherous to the great man who +had leaned upon his truth, when all others had abandoned him. He was +treacherous from the most sordid of motives jealousy of his friend and +love of place and pelf; but his subsequent remorse and his early death +have cast a veil over the blackness of his crime. + +While Cornelia de Lalain was in Groningen, Orange was in Holland. +Intercepted letters left no doubt of the plot, and it was agreed that the +Prince, then on his way to Amsterdam, should summon the Count to an +interview. Renneberg's trouble at the proximity of Orange could not be +suppressed. He felt that he could never look his friend in the face +again. His plans were not ripe; it was desirable to dissemble for a +season longer; but how could he meet that tranquil eye which "looked +quite through the deeds of men?" It was obvious to Renneberg that his +deed was to be done forthwith, if he would escape discomfiture. The +Prince would soon be in Groningen, and his presence would dispel the +plots which had been secretly constructed. + +On the evening of March the 3rd, 1580, the Count entertained a large +number of the most distinguished families of the place at a ball and +banquet. At the supper-table, Hildebrand, chief burgomaster of the city, +bluntly interrogated his host concerning the calumnious reports which +were in circulation, expressing the hope that there was no truth in these +inventions of his enemies. Thus summoned, Renneberg, seizing the hands +of Hildebrand in both his own, exclaimed, "Oh; my father! you whom I +esteem as my father, can you suspect me of such guilt? I pray you, +trust me, and fear me not!" + +With this he restored the burgomaster and all the other guests to +confidence. The feast and dance proceeded, while Renneberg was quietly +arranging his plot. During the night all the leading patriots were taken +out of their beds, and carried to prison, notice being at the same time +given to the secret adherents of Renneberg. Before dawn, a numerous mob +of boatmen and vagrants, well armed, appeared upon the public square. +They bore torches and standards, and amazed the quiet little city with +their shouts. The place was formally taken into possession, cannon were +planted in front of the Town House to command the principal streets, and +barricades erected at various important points. Just at daylight, +Renneberg himself, in complete armor, rode into the square, and it was +observed that he looked ghastly as a corpse. He was followed by thirty +troopers, armed like himself, from head to foot. "Stand by me now," he +cried to the assembled throng; "fail me not at this moment, for now I am +for the first time your stadholder." + +While he was speaking, a few citizens of the highest class forced their +way through the throng and addressed the mob in tones of authority. They +were evidently magisterial persons endeavoring to quell the riot. As +they advanced, one of Renneberg's men-at-arms discharged his carabine at +the foremost gentleman, who was no other than burgomaster Hildebrand. He +fell dead at the feet of the stadholder--of the man who had clasped his +hands a few hours before, called him father, and implored him to +entertain no suspicions of his honor. The death of this distinguished +gentleman created a panic, during which Renneberg addressed his +adherents, and stimulated them to atone by their future zeal in the +King's service for their former delinquency. A few days afterwards the +city was formally reunited to the royal government; but the Count's +measures had been precipitated to such an extent, that he was unable to +carry the province with him, as he had hoped. On the contrary, although +he had secured the city, he had secured nothing else. He was immediately +beleaguered by the states' force in the province under the command of +Barthold Entes, Hohenlo, and Philip Louis Nassau, and it was necessary to +send for immediate assistance from Parma. + +The Prince of Orange, being thus bitterly disappointed. by the treachery +of his friend, and foiled in his attempt to avert the immediate +consequences, continued his interrupted journey to Amsterdam. Here he +was received with unbounded enthusiasm. + + + + +ETEXT EDITOR'S BOOKMARKS: + +All the majesty which decoration could impart +Amuse them with this peace negotiation +Conflicting claims of prerogative and conscience +It is not desirable to disturb much of that learned dust +Logical and historical argument of unmerciful length +Mankind were naturally inclined to calumny +Men were loud in reproof, who had been silent +More easily, as he had no intention of keeping the promise +Not to fall asleep in the shade of a peace negotiation +Nothing was so powerful as religious difference +On the first day four thousand men and women were slaughtered +Power grudged rather than given to the deputies +The disunited provinces +There is no man who does not desire to enjoy his own +To hear the last solemn commonplaces +Word-mongers who, could clothe one shivering thought + + + + +End of this Project Gutenberg Etext of The Dutch Republic, v32 +by John Lothrop Motley + + + + + + +MOTLEY'S HISTORY OF THE NETHERLANDS, Project Gutenberg Edition, Vol. 33 + +THE RISE OF THE DUTCH REPUBLIC + +By John Lothrop Motley + +1855 + + + +CHAPTER IV. + + Captivity of La Noue--Cruel propositions of Philip--Siege of + Groningen--Death of Barthold Enter--His character--Hohenlo commands + in the north--His incompetence--He is defeated on Hardenberg Heath-- + Petty operations--Isolation of Orange--Dissatisfaction and departure + of Count John--Remonstrance of Archduke Matthias--Embassy to Anjou-- + Holland and Zealand offer the sovereignty to Orange--Conquest of + Portugal--Granvelle proposes the Ban against the Prince--It is + published--The document analyzed--The Apology of Orange analyzed and + characterized--Siege of Steenwyk by Renneberg--Forgeries--Siege + relieved--Death of Renneberg--Institution of the "land-Council"-- + Duchess of Parma sent to the Netherlands--Anger of Alexander-- + Prohibition of Catholic worship in Antwerp, Utrecht, and elsewhere-- + Declaration of Independence by the United Provinces--Negotiations + with Anjou--The sovereignty of Holland and Zealand provisionally + accepted by Orange--Tripartition of the Netherlands--Power of the + Prince described--Act of Abjuration analyzed--Philosophy of + Netherland politics.--Views of the government compact--Acquiescence + by the people in the action of the estates--Departure of Archduke + Matthias. + +The war continued in a languid and desultory manner in different parts of +the country. At an action near Ingelmunster, the brave and accomplished +De la Noue was made prisoner. This was a severe loss to the states, a +cruel blow to Orange, for he was not only one of the most experienced +soldiers, but one of the most accomplished writers of his age. His pen +was as celebrated as his sword. In exchange for the illustrious +Frenchman the states in vain offered Count Egmont, who had been made +prisoner a few weeks before, and De Belles, who was captured shortly +afterwards. Parma answered contemptuously, that he would not give a lion +for two sheep. Even Champagny was offered in addition, but without +success. Parma had written to Philip, immediately upon the capture, +that, were it not for Egmont, Seller, and others, then in the power of +Oranges he should order the execution of La Noue. Under the +circumstances, however, he had begged to be in formed as to his Majesty's +pleasure, and in the meantime had placed the prisoner in the castle of +Limburg, under charge of De Billy. + + [Strada, d. 2, iii. 155, 156. Parma is said to have hinted to + Philip that De Billy would willingly undertake, the private + assassination of La Noue.--Popeliniere, Hist. des Pays Bas; 1556- + 1584.] + +His Majesty, of course, never signified his pleasure, and the illustrious +soldier remained for five years in a loathsome dungeon more befitting a +condemned malefactor than a prisoner of war. It was in the donjon keep +of the castle, lighted only by an aperture in the roof, and was therefore +exposed to the rain and all inclemencies of the sky, while rats, toads, +and other vermin housed in the miry floor. Here this distinguished +personage, Francis with the Iron Arm, whom all Frenchmen, Catholic or +Huguenot, admired far his genius, bravery, and purity of character, +passed five years of close confinement. The government was most anxious +to take his life, but the captivity of Egmont and others prevented the +accomplishment of their wishes. During this long period, the wife and +numerous friends of La Noue were unwearied in, their efforts to effect +his ransom or exchange, but none of the prisoners in the hands of the +patriots were considered a fair equivalent. The hideous proposition was +even made by Philip the Second to La Noue, that he should receive his +liberty if he would permit his eyes to be put out, as a preliminary +condition. The fact is attested by several letters written by La Noue to +his wife. The prisoner, wearied, shattered in health, and sighing for +air and liberty, was disposed and even anxious to accept the infamous +offer, and discussed the matter philosophically in his letters. That +lady, however, horror-struck at the suggestion, implored him to reject +the condition, which he accordingly consented to do. At last, in June, +1585, he was exchanged, on extremely rigorous terms, for Egmont. During +his captivity in this vile dungeon, he composed not only his famous +political and military discourses, but several other works, among the +rest; Annotations upon Plutarch and upon the Histories of Guicciardini. + +The siege of Groningen proceeded, and Parma ordered some forces under +Martin Schenck to advance to its relief. On the other hand, the meagre +states' forces under Sonoy, Hohenlo, Entes, and Count John of Nassau's +young son, William Louis, had not yet made much impression upon the city. +There was little military skill to atone for the feebleness of the +assailing army, although there was plenty of rude valor. Barthold Entes, +a man of desperate character, was impatient at the dilatoriness of the +proceedings. After having been in disgrace with the states, since the +downfall of his friend and patron, the Count De la Marck, he had recently +succeeded to a regiment in place of Colonel Ysselstein, "dismissed for a +homicide or two." On the 17th of May, he had been dining at Rolda, in +company with Hohenlo and the young Count of Nassau. Returning to the +trenches in a state of wild intoxication, he accosted a knot of superior +officers, informing them that they were but boys, and that he would show +them how to carry the faubourg of Groningen on the instant. He was +answered that the faubourg, being walled and moated, could be taken only +by escalade or battery. Laughing loudly, he rushed forward toward the +counterscarp, waving his sword, and brandishing on his left arm the cover +of a butter firkin, which he had taken instead of his buckler. He had +advanced, however, but a step, when a bullet from the faubourg pierced +his brain, and he fell dead without a word. + +So perished one of the wild founders of the Netherland commonwealth--one +of the little band of reckless adventurers who had captured the town of +Brill in 1572, and thus laid the foundation stone of a great republic, +which was to dictate its laws to the empire of Charles the Fifth. He was +in some sort a type. His character was emblematical of the worst side of +the liberating movement. Desperate, lawless, ferocious--a robber on +land, a pirate by sea--he had rendered great service in the cause of his +fatherland, and had done it much disgrace. By the evil deeds of men like +himself, the fair face of liberty had been profaned at its first +appearance. Born of a respectable family, he had been noted, when a +student in this very Groningen where he had now found his grave, for the +youthful profligacy of his character. After dissipating his partrimony, +he had taken to the sea, the legalized piracy of the mortal struggle with +Spain offering a welcome refuge to spendthrifts like himself. In common +with many a banished noble of ancient birth and broken fortunes, the +riotous student became a successful corsair, and it is probable that his +prizes were made as well among the friends as the enemies of his country. +He amassed in a short time one hundred thousand crowns--no contemptible +fortune in those days. He assisted La Marck in the memorable attack upon +Brill, but behaved badly and took to flight when Mondragon made his +memorable expedition to relieve Tergoes. He had subsequently been +imprisoned, with La Marck for insubordination, and during his confinement +had dissipated a large part of his fortune. In 1574, after the violation +of the Ghent treaty, he had returned to, his piratical pursuits, and +having prospered again as rapidly as he had done during his former +cruises, had been glad to exchange the ocean for more honorable service +on shore. The result was the tragic yet almost ludicrous termination +which we have narrated. He left a handsome property, the result of his +various piracies, or, according to the usual euphemism, prizes. He often +expressed regret at the number of traders whom he had cast into the sea, +complaining, in particular, of one victim whom he had thrown overboard, +who would never sink, but who for years long ever floated in his wake, +and stared him in the face whenever he looked over his vessel's side. A +gambler, a profligate, a pirate, he had yet rendered service to the cause +of freedom, and his name--sullying the purer and nobler ones of other +founders of the commonwealth--"is enrolled in the capitol." + +Count Philip Hohenlo, upon whom now, devolved the, entire responsibility +of the Groningen siege and of the Friesland operations, was only a few +degrees superior to this northern corsair. A noble of high degree, +nearly connected with the Nassau family, sprung of the best blood in +Germany, handsome and dignified in appearance, he was, in reality only a +debauchee and a drunkard. Personal bravery was his main qualification +for a general; a virtue which he shared with many of his meanest +soldiers. He had never learned the art of war, nor had he the least +ambition to acquire it. Devoted to his pleasures, he depraved those +under his command, and injured the cause for which he was contending. +Nothing but defeat and disgrace were expected by the purer patriots from +such guidance. "The benediction of God," wrote Albada, "cannot be hoped +for under this chieftain, who by life and manners is fitter to drive +swine than to govern pious and honorable men." + +The event justified the prophecy. After a few trifling operations before +Groningen, Hohenlo was summoned to the neighbourhood of Coewerden, by the +reported arrival of Martin Schenck, at the head of a considerable force. +On the 15th of June, the Count marched all night and a part of the follow +morning, in search of the enemy. He came up with them upon Hardenberg +Heath, in a broiling summer forenoon. His men were jaded by the forced +march, overcame with the heat, tormented with thirst, and unable to +procure even a drop of water. The royalists were fresh so that the +result of the contest was easily to be foreseen. Hohenlo's army was +annihilated in an hour's time, the whole population fled out of +Coewerden, the siege of Groningen was raised; Renneberg was set free to +resume his operations on a larger scale, and the fate of all the north- +eastern provinces was once more swinging in the wind. The boors of +Drenthe and Friesland rose again. They had already mustered in the field +at an earlier season of the year, in considerable force. Calling +themselves "the desperates," and bearing on their standard an eggshell +with the yolk running out--to indicate that, having lost the meat they +were yet ready to fight for the shell--they had swept through the open +country, pillaging and burning. Hohenlo had defeated them in two +enchanters, slain a large number of their forces, and reduced them for +a time to tranquillity. His late overthrow once more set them loose. +Renneberg, always apt to be over-elated in prosperity, as he was unduly +dejected in adversity, now assumed all the airs of a conqueror. He had +hardly eight thousand men under his orders, but his strength lay in the +weakness of his adversaries. A small war now succeeded, with small +generals, small armies, small campaigns, small sieges. For the time, the +Prince of Orange was even obliged to content himself with such a general +as Hohenlo. As usual, he was almost alone. "Donec eris felix," said he, +emphatically-- + + "multos numerabis amicos, + Tempera cum erunt nubila, nullus erit," + +and he was this summer doomed to a still harder deprivation by the final +departure of his brother John from the Netherlands. + +The Count had been wearied out by petty miseries. His stadholderate of +Gelderland had overwhelmed him with annoyance, for throughout the north- +eastern provinces there was neither system nor subordination. The +magistrates could exercise no authority over an army which they did not +pay, or a people whom they did not protect. There were endless quarrels +between the various boards of municipal and provincial government-- +particularly concerning contributions and expenditures. + + [When the extraordinary generosity of the Count himself; and the + altogether unexampled sacrifices of the Prince are taken into + account, it may well be supposed that the patience of the brothers + would be sorely tried by the parsimony of the states. It appears by + a document laid before the states-general in the winter of 1580- + 1581, that the Count had himself advanced to Orange 570,000 florins + in the cause. The total of money spent by the Prince himself for + the sake of Netherland liberty was 2,200,000. These vast sums had + been raised in various ways and from various personages. His + estates were deeply hypothecated, and his creditors so troublesome, + that, in his own language, he was unable to attend properly to + public affairs, so frequent and so threatening were the applications + made upon him for payment. Day by day he felt the necessity + advancing more closely upon him of placing himself personally in the + hands of his creditors and making over his estates to their mercy + until the uttermost farthing should be paid. In his two campaigns + against Alva (1568 and 1572) he had spent 1,050,000 florins. He + owed the Elector Palatine 150,000 florins, the Landgrave 60,000, + Count John 670,000, and other sums to other individuals.] + +During this wrangling, the country was exposed to the forces of Parma, to +the private efforts of the Malcontents, to the unpaid soldiery of the +states, to the armed and rebellious peasantry. Little heed was paid to +the admonitions of Count John, who was of a hotter temper than was the +tranquil Prince. The stadholder gave way to fits of passion at the +meanness and the insolence to which he was constantly exposed. He +readily recognized his infirmity, and confessed himself unable to +accommodate his irascibility to the "humores" of the inhabitants. There +was often sufficient cause for his petulance. Never had praetor of a +province a more penurious civil list. "The baker has given notice," +wrote Count John, in November, "that he will supply no more bread after +to-morrow, unless he is paid." The states would furnish no money to pay +the, bill. It was no better with the butcher. "The cook has often no +meat to roast," said the Count, in the same letter, "so that we are often +obliged to go supperless to bed." His lodgings were a half-roofed, half- +finished, unfurnished barrack, where the stadholder passed his winter +days and evenings in a small, dark, freezing-cold chamber, often without +fire-wood. Such circumstances were certainly not calculated to excite +envy. When in addition to such wretched parsimony, it is remembered that +the Count was perpetually worried by the quarrels of the provincial +authorities with each other and with himself, he may be forgiven for +becoming thoroughly exhausted at last. He was growing "grey and +grizzled" with perpetual perplexity. He had been fed with annoyance, +as if--to use his own homely expression--"he had eaten it with a spoon." +Having already loaded himself with a debt of six hundred thousand +florins, which he had spent in the states' service, and having struggled +manfully against the petty tortures of his situation, he cannot be +severely censured for relinquishing his post. The affairs of his own +Countship were in great confusion. His children--boys and girls--were +many, and needed their fathers' guidance, while the eldest, William +Louis, was already in arms for the-Netherlands, following the instincts +of his race. Distinguished for a rash valor, which had already gained +the rebuke of his father and the applause of his comrades, he had +commenced his long and glorious career by receiving a severe wound at +Coewerden, which caused him to halt for life. Leaving so worthy a +representative, the Count was more justified in his departure. + +His wife, too, had died in his absence, and household affairs required +his attention. It must be confessed, however, that if the memory of his +deceased spouse had its claims, the selection of her successor was still +more prominent among his anxieties. The worthy gentleman had been +supernaturally directed as to his second choice, ere that choice seemed +necessary, for before the news of his wife's death had reached him, the +Count dreamed that he was already united in second nuptials to the fair +Cunigunda, daughter of the deceased Elector Palatine--a vision which was +repeated many times. On the morrow he learned, to his amazement, that +he was a widower, and entertained no doubt that he had been specially +directed towards the princess seen in his slumbers, whom he had never +seen in life. His friends were in favor of his marrying the Electress +Dowager, rather than her daughter, whose years numbered less than half +his own. The honest Count, however, "after ripe consideration," +decidedly preferred the maid to the widow. "I confess," he said, with +much gravity, "that the marriage with the old Electress, in respect of +her God-fearing disposition, her piety, her virtue, and the like, would +be much more advisable. Moreover, as she hath borne her cross, and knows +how to deal with gentlemen, so much the better would it be for me. +Nevertheless, inasmuch as she has already had two husbands, is of a +tolerable age, and is taller of stature than myself, my inclination is +less towards her than towards her daughter." + +For these various considerations, Count John, notwithstanding the +remonstrances of his brother, definitely laid down his government of +Gelderland, and quitted the Netherlands about midsummer. Enough had not +been done, in the opinion of the Prince, so long as aught remained to do, +and he could not bear that his brother should desert the country in the +hour of its darkness, or doubt the Almighty when his hand was veiled in +clouds. "One must do one's best," said he, "and believe that when such +misfortunes happen, God desires to prove us. If He sees that we do not +lose our courage, He will assuredly help us. Had we thought otherwise, +we should never have pierced the dykes on a memorable occasion, for it +was an uncertain thing and a great sorrow for the poor people; yet did +God bless the undertaking. He will bless us still, for his arm hath not +been shortened." + +On the 22nd of July, 1580, the Archduke Matthias, being fully aware of +the general tendency of affairs, summoned a meeting of the generality in +Antwerp. He did not make his appearance before the assembly, but +requested that a deputation might wait upon him at his lodgings, and to +this committee he unfolded his griefs. He expressed his hope that the +states were not--in violation of the laws of God and man--about to throw +themselves into the arms of a foreign prince. He reminded them of their +duty to the holy Catholic religion to the illustrious house of Austria, +while he also pathetically called their attention to the necessities of +his own household, and hoped that they would, at least, provide for the +arrears due to his domestics. + +The states-general replied with courtesy as to the personal claims of the +Archduke. For the rest, they took higher grounds, and the coming +declaration of independence already pierced through the studied decorum +of their language. They defended their negotiation with Anjou on the +ground of necessity, averring that the King of Spain had proved +inexorable to all intercession, while, through the intrigues of their +bitterest enemies, they had been entirely forsaken by the Empire. + +Soon afterwards, a special legation, with Saint Aldegonde at its head, +was despatched to France to consult with the Duke of Anjou, and settled +terms of agreement with him by the treaty of Plessis les Tours (on the +29th of September, 1580), afterwards definitely ratified by the +convention of Bordeaux, signed on the 23rd of the following January. + +The states of Holland and Zealand, however, kept entirely aloof from this +transaction, being from the beginning opposed to the choice of Anjou. +From the first to the last, they would have no master but Orange, and to +him, therefore, this year they formally offered the sovereignty of their +provinces; but they offered it in vain. + +The conquest of Portugal had effected a diversion in the affairs of the +Netherlands. It was but a transitory one. The provinces found the hopes +which they had built upon the necessity of Spain for large supplies in +the peninsula--to their own consequent relief--soon changed into fears, +for the rapid success of Alva in Portugal gave his master additional +power to oppress the heretics of the north. Henry, the Cardinal King, +had died in 1580, after succeeding to the youthful adventurer, Don +Sebastian, slain during his chivalrous African campaign (4th of August, +1578). The contest for the succession which opened upon the death of the +aged monarch was brief, and in fifty-eight days, the bastard Antonio, +Philip's only formidable competitor, had been utterly defeated and driven +forth to lurk, like 'a hunted wild beast, among rugged mountain caverns, +with a price of a hundred thousand crowns upon his head. In the course +of the succeeding year, Philip received homage at Lisbon as King of +Portugal. From the moment of this conquest, he was more disposed, and +more at leisure than ever, to vent his wrath against the Netherlands, and +against the man whom he considered the incarnation of their revolt. + +Cardinal Granvelle had ever whispered in the King's ear the expediency +of taking off the Prince by assassination. It has been seen how subtly +distilled, and how patiently hoarded, was this priest's venom against +individuals, until the time arrived when he could administer the poison +with effect. His hatred of Orange was intense and of ancient date. He +was of opinion, too, that the Prince might be scared from the post of +duty, even if the assassin's hand were not able to reach his heart. He +was in favor of publicly setting a price upon his head-thinking that if +the attention of all the murderers in the world were thus directed +towards the illustrious victim, the Prince would tremble at the dangers +which surrounded him. "A sum of money would be well employed in this +way," said the Cardinal, "and, as the Prince of Orange is a vile coward, +fear alone will throw him into confusion." Again, a few months later, +renewing the subject, he observed, "'twould be well to offer a reward of +thirty or forty thousand crowns to any one who will deliver the Prince, +dead or alive; since from very fear of it--as he is pusillanimous--it +would not be unlikely that he should die of his own accord." + +It was insulting even to Philip's intelligence to insinuate that the +Prince would shrink before danger, or die of fear. Had Orange ever been +inclined to bombast, he might have answered the churchman's calumny, as +Caesar the soothsayer's warning:-- + + "-----------------Danger knows full well + That Caesar is more dangerous than he--" + +and in truth, Philip had long trembled on his throne before the genius of +the man who had foiled Spain's boldest generals and wiliest statesmen. +The King, accepting the priest's advice, resolved to fulminate a ban +against the Prince, and to set a price upon his head. "It will be well," +wrote Philip to Parma, "to offer thirty thousand crowns or so to any one +who will deliver him dead or alive. Thus the country may be rid of a man +so pernicious; or at any rate he will be held in perpetual fear, and +therefore prevented from executing leisurely his designs." + +In accordance with these suggestions and these hopes, the famous ban was +accordingly drawn up, and dated on the 15th of March, 1580. It was, +however, not formally published in the Netherlands until the month of +June of the same year. + +This edict will remain the most lasting monument to the memory of +Cardinal Granvelle. It will be read when all his other state-papers +and epistles--able as they incontestably are--shall have passed into +oblivion. No panegyric of friend, no palliating magnanimity of foe, +can roll away this rock of infamy from his tomb. It was by Cardinal +Granvelle and by Philip that a price was set upon the head of the +foremost man of his age, as if he had been a savage beast, and that +admission into the ranks of Spain's haughty nobility was made the +additional bribe to tempt the assassin. + +The ban consisted of a preliminary narrative to justify the penalty with +which it was concluded. It referred to the favors conferred by Philip +and his father upon the Prince; to his-signal ingratitude and +dissimulation. It accused him of originating the Request, the image- +breaking, and the public preaching. It censured his marriage with an +abbess--even during the lifetime of his wife; alluded to his campaigns +against Alva, to his rebellion in Holland, and to the horrible massacres +committed by Spaniards in that province--the necessary consequences of +his treason. It accused him of introducing liberty of conscience, of +procuring his own appointment as Ruward, of violating the Ghent treaty, +of foiling the, efforts of Don John, and of frustrating the counsels of +the Cologne commissioners by his perpetual distrust. It charged him with +a newly-organized conspiracy, in the erection of the Utrecht Union; and +for these and similar crimes--set forth, with involutions, slow, spiral, +and cautious as the head and front of the indictment was direct and +deadly--it denounced the chastisement due to the "wretched hypocrite" +who had committed such offences. + +"For these causes," concluded the ban, "we declare him traitor and +miscreant, enemy of ourselves and of the country. As such we banish him +perpetually from all our realms, forbidding all our subjects, of whatever +quality, to communicate with him openly or privately--to administer to +him victuals, drink, fire, or other necessaries. We allow all to injure +him in property or life. We expose the, said William Nassau, as an enemy +of the human-race--giving his property to all who may; seize it. And if +anyone of our subjects or any stranger should be found sufficiently +generous of heart to rid us of this pest, delivering him to us, alive or +dead, or taking his life, we will cause to be furnished to him +immediately after the deed shall have been done, the sum of twenty-five +thousand crowns; in gold. If he have committed any crime, however +heinous, we promise to pardon him; and if he be not already noble, we +will ennoble him for his valor." + +Such was the celebrated ban against the Prince of Orange. It was +answered before the end of the year by the memorable "Apology of the +Prince of Orange" one of the moat startling documents in history. No +defiance was ever thundered forth in the face of a despot in more +terrible tones. It had become sufficiently manifest to the royal party +that the Prince was not to be purchased by "millions of money," or by +unlimited family advancement--not to be cajoled by flattery or offers of +illustrious friendship. It had been decided, therefore, to terrify him +into retreat, or to remove him by murder. The Government had been +thoroughly convinced that the only way to finish the revolt, was to +"finish Orange," according to the ancient advice of Antonio Perez. The +mask was thrown off. It had been decided to forbid the Prince bread, +water, fire, and shelter; to give his wealth to the fisc, his heart to +the assassin, his soul, as it was hoped, to the Father of Evil. The +rupture being thus complete, it was right that the "wretched hypocrite" +should answer ban with ban, royal denunciation with sublime scorn. He +had ill-deserved, however, the title of hypocrite, he said. When the +friend of government, he had warned them that by their complicated and +perpetual persecutions they were twisting the rope of their own ruin. +Was that hypocrisy? Since becoming their enemy, there had likewise been +little hypocrisy found in him--unless it were hypocrisy to make open war +upon government, to take their cities, to expel their armies from the +country. + +The proscribed rebel, towering to a moral and even social superiority +over the man who affected to be his master by right divine, swept down +upon his antagonist with crushing effect. He repudiated the idea of a +king in the Netherlands. The word might be legitimate in Castillo, or +Naples, or the Indies, but the provinces knew no such title. Philip had +inherited in those countries only the power of Duke or Count--a power +closely limited by constitutions more ancient than his birthright. +Orange was no rebel then--Philip no legitimate monarch. Even were the +Prince rebellious, it was no more than Philip's ancestor, Albert of +Austria, had been towards his anointed sovereign, Emperor Adolphus of +Nassau, ancestor of William. The ties of allegiance and conventional +authority being, severed, it had become idle for the King to affect +superiority of lineage to the man whose family had occupied illustrious +stations when the Habsburgs were obscure squires in Switzerland, and had +ruled as sovereign in the Netherlands before that overshadowing house had +ever been named. + +But whatever the hereditary claims of Philip in the country, he had +forfeited them by the violation of his oaths, by his tyrannical +suppression of the charters of the land; while by his personal crimes he +had lost all pretension to sit in judgment upon his fellow man. Was a +people not justified in rising against authority when all their laws had +been trodden under foot, "not once only, but a million of times?"--and +was William of Orange, lawful husband of the virtuous Charlotte de +Bourbon, to be denounced for moral delinquency by a lascivious, +incestuous, adulterous, and murderous king? With horrible distinctness +he laid before the monarch all the crimes of which he believed him +guilty, and having thus told Philip to his beard, "thus diddest thou," +he had a withering word for the priest who stood at his back. "Tell me," +he cried, "by whose command Cardinal Granvelle administered poison to the +Emperor Maximilian? I know what the Emperor told me, and how much fear +he felt afterwards for the King and for all Spaniards." + +He ridiculed the effrontery of men like Philip and Granvelle; in charging +"distrust" upon others, when it was the very atmosphere of their own +existence. He proclaimed that sentiment to be the only salvation for the +country. He reminded Philip of the words which his namesake of Macedon-- +a schoolboy in tyranny, compared to himself--had heard from the lips of +Demosthenes--that the strongest fortress of a free people against a +tyrant was distrust. That sentiment, worthy of eternal memory, the +Prince declared that he had taken from the "divine philippic," to engrave +upon the heart, of the nation, and he prayed God that he might be more +readily believed than the great orator had been by his people. + +He treated with scorn the price set upon his head, ridiculing this +project to terrify him, for its want of novelty, and asking the monarch +if he supposed the rebel ignorant of the various bargains which had +frequently been made before with cutthroats and poisoners to take away +his life. "I am in the hand of God," said William of Orange; "my worldly +goods and my life have been long since dedicated to His service. He will +dispose of them as seems best for His glory and my salvation." + +On the contrary, however, if it could be demonstrated, or even hoped, +that his absence would benefit the cause of the country, he proclaimed +himself ready to go into exile. + +Would to God," said he, in conclusion, that my perpetual banishment, or +even my death, could bring you a true deliverance from so many +calamities. Oh, how consoling would be such banishment--how sweet such a +death! For why have I exposed my property? Was it that I might enrich +myself? Why have I lost my brothers? Was it that I might find new; +ones? Why have I left my son so long a prisoner? Can you give me +another? Why have I put my life so often in, danger? What reward, can +I hope after my long services, and the almost total wreck, of my earthly +fortunes, if not the prize, of having acquired, perhaps at the expense +of my life, your liberty?--If then, my masters, if you judge that my +absence or my death can serve you, behold me ready to obey. Command me +--send me to the ends of the earth--I will obey. Here is my head, over +which no prince, no monarch, has power but yourselves. Dispose of it for +your good, for the preservation of your Republic, but if you judge that +the moderate amount of experience and industry which is in me, if you +judge that the remainder of my property and of my life can yet be of +service to you, I dedicate them afresh to you and to the country." + +His motto--most appropriate to his life and character--"Je maintiendrai," +was the concluding phrase of the document. His arms and signature were +also formally appended, and the Apology, translated into most modern +languages, was sent, to nearly every potentate in Christendom. It had +been previously, on the 13th of December, 1580, read before the assembly +of the united states at Delft, and approved as cordially as the ban was +indignantly denounced. + +During the remainder of the year 1580, and the half of the following +year, the seat of hostilities was mainly in the northeast-Parma, while +waiting the arrival of fresh troops, being inactive. The operations, +like the armies and the generals, were petty. Hohenlo was opposed to +Renneberg. After a few insignificant victories, the latter laid siege to +Steenwyk, a city in itself of no great importance, but the key to the +province of Drenthe. The garrison consisted of six hundred soldiers, and +half as many trained burghers. Renneberg, having six thousand foot and +twelve hundred horse, summoned the place to surrender, but was answered +with defiance. Captain Cornput, who had escaped from Groningen, after +unsuccessfully warning the citizens of Renneberg's meditated treason, +commanded in Steenwyk, and his courage and cheerfulness sustained the +population of the city during a close winter siege. Tumultuous mobs in +the streets demanding that the place should be given over ere it was too +late, he denounced to their faces as "flocks of gabbling geese," unworthy +the attention of brave men. To a butcher who, with the instinct of his +craft, begged to be informed what the population were to eat when the +meat was all gone, he coolly observed, "We will eat you, villain, first +of all, when the time comes; so go home and rest assured that you, at +least, are not to die of starvation." + +With such rough but cheerful admonitions did the honest soldier, at the +head of his little handful, sustain the courage of the beleaguered city. +Meantime Renneberg pressed it hard. He bombarded it with red-hot balls, +a new invention introduced five years before by Stephen Bathor, King of +Poland, at the siege of Dantzig. Many houses were consumed, but still +Cornput and the citizens held firm. As the winter advanced, and the +succor which had been promised still remained in the distance, Renneberg +began to pelt the city with sarcasms, which, it was hoped, might prove +more effective than the red-hot balls. He sent a herald to know if the +citizens had eaten all their horses yet; a question which was answered by +an ostentatious display of sixty starving hacks--all that could be +mustered-upon the heights. He sent them on another occasion, a short +letter, which ran as follows: + +"MOST HONORABLE, MOST STEADFAST,--As, during the present frost, you have +but little exercise in the trenches--as you cannot pass your time in +twirling your finger-rings, seeing that they have all been sold to pay +your soldiers' wages--as you have nothing to rub your teeth upon, nor to +scour your stomachs withal, and as, nevertheless, you require something +if only to occupy your minds, I send you the enclosed letter, in hope it +may yield amusement.--January 15, 1581." + +The enclosure was a letter from the Prince of Orange to the Duke of +Anjou, which, as it was pretended, had been intercepted. It was a clumsy +forgery, but it answered the purpose of more skilful counterfeiting, at a +period when political and religious enmity obscured men's judgment. "As +to the point of religion," the Prince was made to observe, for example, +to his illustrious correspondent, "that is all plain and clear. No +sovereign who hopes to come to any great advancement ought to consider +religion, or hold it in regard. Your Highness, by means of the +garrisons, and fortresses, will be easily master of the principal cities +in Flanders and Brabant, even if the citizens were opposed to you. +Afterwards you will compel them without difficulty to any religion +which may seem most conducive to the interests of your Highness." + +Odious and cynical as was the whole tone of the letter, it was +extensively circulated. There were always natures base and brutal enough +to accept the calumny and to make it current among kindred souls. It may +be doubted whether Renneberg attached faith to the document; but it was +natural that he should take a malicious satisfaction in spreading this +libel against the man whose perpetual scorn he had so recently earned. +Nothing was more common than such forgeries, and at that very moment a +letter, executed with equal grossness, was passing from hand to hand, +which purported to be from the Count himself to Parma. History has less +interest in contradicting the calumnies against a man like Renneberg. +The fictitious epistle of Orange, however, was so often republished, +and the copies so carefully distributed, that the Prince had thought +it important to add an express repudiation of its authorship, by way of +appendix to his famous Apology. He took the occasion to say, that if a +particle of proof could be brought that he had written the letter, or any +letter resembling it, he would forthwith leave the Netherlands, never to +show his face there again. + +Notwithstanding this well known denial, however, Renneberg thought it +facetious to send the letter into Steenvayk, where it produced but small +effect upon the minds' of the burghers. Meantime, they had received +intimation that succor was on its way. Hollow balls containing letters +were shot into the town, bringing the welcome intelligence that the +English colonel, John Norris, with six thousand states' troops, would +soon make his appearance for their relief, and the brave Cornput added +his cheerful exhortations to heighten the satisfaction thus produced. +A day or two afterwards, three quails were caught in the public square, +and the commandant improved the circumstance by many quaint homilies. +The number three, he observed, was typical of the Holy Trinity, which had +thus come symbolically to their relief. The Lord had sustained the +fainting Israelites with quails. The number three indicated three weeks, +within which time the promised succor was sure to arrive. Accordingly, +upon the 22nd of February, 1581, at the expiration of the third week, +Norris succeeded in victualling the town, the merry and steadfast Cornput +was established as a true prophet, and Count Renneberg abandoned the +siege in despair. + +The subsequent career of that unhappy nobleman was brief. On the 19th of +July his troops were signally defeated by Sonny--and Norris, the fugitive +royalists retreating into Groningen at the very moment when their +general, who had been prevented by illness from commanding them, was +receiving the last sacraments. Remorse, shame, and disappointment had +literally brought Renneberg to his grave. + +"His treason," says a contemporary, "was a nail in his coffin, and on +his deathbed he bitterly bemoaned his crime. 'Groningen! Groningen!' +would that I had never seen thy walls!" he cried repeatedly in his last +hours. He refused to see his sister, whose insidious counsels had +combined with his own evil passions to make him a traitor; and he died on +the 23rd of July, 1581, repentant and submissive. His heart, after his +decease, was found "shrivelled to the dimensions of a walnut," a +circumstance attributed to poison by some, to remorse by others. His +regrets; his early death, and his many attractive qualities, combined to: +save his character from universal denunciation, and his name, although +indelibly stained by treason, was ever mentioned with pity rather than +with rancor. + +Great changes, destined to be perpetual, were steadily preparing in the +internal condition of the provinces. A preliminary measure of an +important character had been taken early this year by the assembly of the +united provinces held in the month of January at Delft. This was the +establishment of a general executive council. The constitution of the +board was arranged on the 13th of the month, and was embraced in eighteen +articles. The number of councillors was fixed at thirty, all to be +native Netherlanders; a certain proportion to be appointed from each +province by its estates. The advice and consent of this body as to +treaties with foreign powers were to be indispensable, but they were not +to interfere with the rights and duties of the states-general, nor to +interpose any obstacle to the arrangements with the Duke of Anjou. + +While this additional machine for the self-government of the provinces +was in the course of creation; the Spanish monarch, on the other hand, +had made another effort to recover the authority which he felt slipping +from his grasp. Philip was in Portugal, preparing for his coronation in, +that, new kingdom--an event to be nearly contemporaneous with his +deposition from the Netherland sovereignty, so solemnly conferred upon +him a quarter of a century before in Brussels; but although thus distant, +he was confident that he could more wisely govern the Netherlands than +the inhabitants could do, and unwilling as ever to confide in the +abilities of those to whom he had delegated his authority. Provided; +as he unquestionably was at that moment, with a more energetic +representative than any who had before exercised the functions of royal +governor in the provinces, he was still disposed to harass, to doubt, and +to interfere. With the additional cares of the Portuguese Conquest upon +his hands, he felt as irresistibly impelled as ever to superintend the +minute details of provincial administration. To do this was impossible. +It was, however, not impossible, by attempting to do it, to produce much +mischief. "It gives me pain," wrote Granvelle, "to see his Majesty +working as before--choosing to understand everything and to do +everything. By this course, as I have often said before, he really +accomplishes much less." The King had, moreover, recently committed +the profound error of sending the Duchess Margaret of Parma to the +Netherlands again. He had the fatuity to believe her memory so tenderly +cherished in the provinces as to ensure a burst of loyalty at her +reappearance, while the irritation which he thus created in the breast +of her son he affected to disregard. The event was what might have been +foreseen. The Netherlanders were very moderately excited by the arrival +of their former regent, but the Prince of Parma was furious. His mother +actually arrived at Namur in the month of August, 1580, to assume the +civil administration of the provinces,--and he was himself, according to +the King's request, to continue in the command of the army. Any one who +had known human nature at all, would have recognized that Alexander +Farnese was not the man to be put into leading strings. A sovereign who +was possessed of any administrative sagacity, would have seen the +absurdity of taking the reins of government at that crisis from the hands +of a most determined and energetic man, to confide them to the keeping of +a woman. A king who was willing to reflect upon the consequences of his +own acts, must have foreseen the scandal likely to result from an open +quarrel for precedence between such a mother and son. Margaret of Parma +was instantly informed, however, by Alexander, that a divided authority +like that proposed was entirely out of the question. Both offered to +resign; but Alexander was unflinching in his determination to retain all +the power or none. The Duchess, as docile to her son after her arrival +as she had been to the King on undertaking the journey, and feeling +herself unequal to the task imposed upon her, implored Philip's +permission to withdraw, almost as soon as she had reached her +destination. Granvelle's opinion was likewise opposed to this +interference with the administration of Alexander, and the King at last +suffered himself to be overruled. By the end of the year 1581, letters +arrived confirming the Prince of Parma in his government, but requesting +the Duchess of Parma to remain, privately in the Netherlands. She +accordingly continued to reside there under an assumed name until the +autumn of 1583, when she was at last permitted to return to Italy. + +During the summer of 1581, the same spirit of persecution which had +inspired the Catholics to inflict such infinite misery upon those of the +Reformed faith in the Netherlands, began to manifest itself in overt acts +against the Papists by those who had at last obtained political. +ascendency over them. Edicts were published in Antwerp, in Utrecht, and +in different cities of Holland, suspending the exercise of the Roman +worship. These statutes were certainly a long way removed in horror from +those memorable placards which sentenced the Reformers by thousands to +the axe; the cord, and the stake, but it was still melancholy to see the +persecuted becoming persecutors in their turn. They were excited to +these stringent measures by the noisy zeal of certain Dominican monks in +Brussels, whose extravagant discourses were daily inflaming the passions +of the Catholics to a dangerous degree. The authorities of the city +accordingly thought it necessary to suspend, by proclamation, the public +exercise of the ancient religion, assigning, as their principal reason +for this prohibition, the shocking jugglery by which simple-minded +persons were constantly deceived. They alluded particularly to the +practice of working miracles by means of relics, pieces of the holy +cross, bones of saints, and the perspiration of statues. They charged +that bits of lath were daily exhibited as fragments of the cross; that +the bones of dogs and monkeys were held up for adoration as those of +saints; and that oil was poured habitually into holes drilled in the +heads of statues, that the populace might believe in their miraculous +sweating. For these reasons, and to avoid the tumult and possible +bloodshed to which the disgust excited by such charlatanry might give +rise, the Roman Catholic worship was suspended until the country should +be restored to greater tranquillity. Similar causes led to similar +proclamations in other cities. The Prince of Orange lamented the +intolerant spirit thus showing itself among those who had been its +martyrs, but it was not possible at that moment to keep it absolutely +under control. + +A most important change was now to take place in his condition, a most +vital measure was to be consummated by the provinces. The step, which +could never be retraced was, after long hesitation, finally taken upon +the 26th of July, 1581, upon which day the united provinces, assembled at +the Hague, solemnly declared their independence of Philip, and renounced +their allegiance for ever. + +This act was accomplished with the deliberation due to its gravity. At +the same time it left the country in a very divided condition. This was +inevitable. The Prince had done all that one man could do to hold the +Netherlands together and unite them perpetually into one body politic, +and perhaps, if he had been inspired by a keener personal ambition, this +task might have been accomplished.--The seventeen provinces might have +accepted his dominion, but they would agree to that of no other +sovereign. Providence had not decreed that the country, after its long +agony, should give birth to a single and perfect commonwealth. The +Walloon provinces had already fallen off from the cause, notwithstanding +the entreaties of the Prince. The other Netherlands, after long and +tedious negotiation with Anjou, had at last consented to his supremacy, +but from this arrangement Holland and Zealand held themselves aloof. +By a somewhat anomalous proceeding, they sent deputies along with those +of the other provinces, to the conferences with the Duke, but it was +expressly understood that they would never accept him as sovereign. +They were willing to contract with him and with their sister provinces-- +over which he was soon to exercise authority--a firm and perpetual +league, but as to their own chief, their hearts were fixed. The Prince +of Orange should be their lord and master, and none other. It lay only +in his self-denying character that he had not been clothed with this +dignity long before. He had, however, persisted in the hope that all +the provinces might be brought to acknowledge the Duke of Anjou as their +sovereign, under conditions which constituted a free commonwealth with an +hereditary chief, and in this hope he had constantly refused concession +to the wishes of the northern provinces. He in reality exercised +sovereign power over nearly the whole population, of the Netherlands. +Already in 1580, at the assembly held in April, the states of Holland had +formally requested him to assume the full sovereignty over them, with the +title of Count of Holland and Zealand forfeited by Philip. He had not +consented, and the proceedings had been kept comparatively secret. As +the negotiations with Anjou advanced, and as the corresponding abjuration +of Philip was more decisively indicated, the consent of the Prince to +this request was more warmly urged. As it was evident that the provinces +thus bent upon placing him at their head, could by no possibility be +induced to accept the sovereignty of Anjou--as, moreover; the act of +renunciation of Philip could no longer be deferred, the Prince of Orange +reluctantly and provisionally accepted the supreme power over Holland and +Zealand. This arrangement was finally accomplished upon the 24th of +July, 1581, and the act of abjuration took place two days afterwards. +The offer of the sovereignty over the other united provinces had been +accepted by Anjou six months before. + +Thus, the Netherlands were divided into three portions--the reconciled +provinces, the united provinces under Anjou, and the northern provinces +under Orange; the last division forming the germ, already nearly +developed, of the coming republic. The constitution, or catalogue of +conditions, by which the sovereignty accorded to Anjou was reduced to +such narrow limits as to be little more than a nominal authority, while +the power remained in the hands of the representative body of the +provinces, will be described, somewhat later, together with the +inauguration of the Duke. For the present it is necessary that the +reader should fully understand the relative position of the Prince and of +the northern provinces. The memorable act of renunciation--the +Netherland declaration of independence--will then be briefly explained. + +On the 29th of March, 1580, a resolution passed the assembly of Holland +and Zealand never to make peace or enter into any negotiations with the +King of Spain on the basis of his sovereignty. The same resolution +provided that his name--hitherto used in all public acts--should be for +ever discarded, that his seal should be broken, and that the name and +seal of the Prince of Orange should be substituted in all commissions and +public documents. At almost the same time the states of Utrecht passed a +similar resolution. These offers were, however, not accepted, and the +affair was preserved profoundly secret. On the 5th of July, 1581, "the +knights, nobles, and cities of Holland and Zealand," again, in an urgent +and solemn manner, requested the Prince to accept the "entire authority +as sovereign and chief of the land, as long as the war should continue." +This limitation as to time was inserted most reluctantly by the states, +and because it was perfectly well understood that without it the Prince +would not accept the sovereignty at all. The act by which this dignity +was offered, conferred full power to command all forces by land and sea, +to appoint all military officers, and to conduct all warlike operations, +without the control or advice of any person whatsoever. It authorized +him, with consent of the states, to appoint all financial and judicial +officers, created him the supreme executive chief, and fountain of +justice and pardon, and directed him "to maintain the exercise only of +the Reformed evangelical religion, without, however, permitting that +inquiries should be made into any man's belief or conscience, or that any +injury or hindrance should be offered to any man on account of his +religion." + +The sovereignty thus pressingly offered, and thus limited as to time, was +finally accepted by William of Orange, according to a formal act dated at +the Hague, 5th of July, 1581, but it will be perceived that no powers +were conferred by this new instrument beyond those already exercised by +the Prince. It was, as it were, a formal continuance of the functions +which he had exercised since 1576 as the King's stadholder, according to +his old commission of 1555, although a vast, difference existed in +reality. The King's name was now discarded and his sovereignty disowned, +while the proscribed rebel stood in his place, exercising supreme +functions, not vicariously, but in his own name. The limitation as to +time was, moreover, soon afterwards secretly, and without the knowledge +of Orange, cancelled by the states. They were determined that the Prince +should be their sovereign--if they could make him so--for the term of his +life. + +The offer having thus been made and accepted upon the 5th of July, oaths +of allegiance and fidelity were exchanged between the Prince and the +estates upon the 24th of the same month. In these solemnities, the +states, as representing the provinces, declared that because the King of +Spain, contrary to his oath as Count of Holland and Zealand, had not only +not protected these provinces, but had sought with all his might to +reduce them to eternal slavery, it had been found necessary to forsake +him. They therefore proclaimed every inhabitant absolved from +allegiance, while at the same time, in the name of the population, they +swore fidelity to the Prince of Orange, as representing the supreme +authority. + +Two days afterwards, upon the 26th of July, 1581, the memorable +declaration of independence was issued by the deputies of the united +provinces, then solemnly assembled at the Hague. It was called the Act +of Abjuration. It deposed Philip from his sovereignty, but was not the +proclamation of a new form of government, for the united provinces were +not ready to dispense with an hereditary chief. Unluckily, they had +already provided themselves with a very bad one to succeed Philip in the +dominion over most of their territory, while the northern provinces were +fortunate enough and wise enough to take the Father of the country for +their supreme magistrate. + +The document by which the provinces renounced their allegiance was not +the most felicitous of their state papers. It was too prolix and +technical. Its style had more of the formal phraseology of legal +documents than befitted this great appeal to the whole world and to all +time. Nevertheless, this is but matter of taste. The Netherlanders were +so eminently a law-abiding people, that, like the American patriots of +the eighteenth century, they on most occasions preferred punctilious +precision to florid declamation. They chose to conduct their revolt +according to law. At the same time, while thus decently wrapping herself +in conventional garments, the spirit of Liberty revealed none the less +her majestic proportions. + +At the very outset of the Abjuration, these fathers of the Republic laid +down wholesome truths, which at that time seemed startling blasphemies in +the ears of Christendom. "All mankind know," said the preamble, "that a +prince is appointed by God to cherish his subjects, even as a shepherd to +guard his sheep. When, therefore, the prince--does not fulfil his duty +as protector; when he oppresses his subjects, destroys their ancient +liberties, and treats them as slaves, he is to be considered, not a +prince, but a tyrant. As such, the estates of the land may lawfully and +reasonably depose him, and elect another in his room." + +Having enunciated these maxims, the estates proceeded to apply them to +their own case, and certainly never was an ampler justification for +renouncing a prince since princes were first instituted. The states ran +through the history of the past quarter of a century, patiently +accumulating a load of charges against the monarch, a tithe of which +would have furnished cause for his dethronement. Without passion or +exaggeration, they told the world their wrongs. The picture was not +highly colored. On the contrary, it was rather a feeble than a striking +portrait of the monstrous iniquity which had so long been established +over them. Nevertheless, they went through the narrative conscientiously +and earnestly. They spoke of the King's early determination to govern +the Netherlands, not by natives but by Spaniards; to treat them not as +constitutional countries, but as conquered provinces; to regard the +inhabitants not as liege subjects, but as enemies; above all, to +supersede their ancient liberty by the Spanish Inquisition, and they +alluded to the first great step in this scheme--the creation of the new +bishoprics, each with its staff of inquisitors. + +They noticed the memorable Petition, the mission of Berghen and Montigny, +their imprisonment and taking off, in violation of all national law, even +that which had ever been held sacred by the most cruel and tyrannical +princes. They sketched the history of Alva's administration; his +entrapping the most eminent nobles by false promises, and delivering them +to the executioner; his countless sentences of death, outlawry, and +confiscation; his erection of citadels to curb, his imposition of the +tenth and twentieth penny to exhaust the land; his Blood Council and its +achievements; and the immeasurable, woe produced by hanging, burning, +banishing, and plundering, during his seven years of residence. They +adverted to the Grand Commander, as having been sent, not to improve the +condition of the country, but to pursue the same course of tyranny by +more concealed ways. They spoke of the horrible mutiny which broke forth +at his death; of the Antwerp Fury; of the express approbation rendered to +that great outrage by the King, who had not only praised the crime, but +promised to recompense the criminals. They alluded to Don John of +Austria and his duplicity; to his pretended confirmation of the Ghent +treaty; to his attempts to divide the country against itself; to the +Escovedo policy; to the intrigues with the German regiments. They +touched upon the Cologne negotiations, and the fruitless attempt of the +patriots upon that occasion to procure freedom of religion, while the +object of the royalists was only to distract and divide the nation. +Finally, they commented with sorrow and despair upon that last and +crowning measure of tyranny--the ban against the Prince of Orange. + +They calmly observed, after this recital, that they were sufficiently +justified in forsaking a sovereign who for more than twenty years had +forsaken them. Obeying the law of nature--desirous of maintaining the +rights, charters, and liberties of their fatherland--determined to escape +from slavery to Spaniards--and making known their decision to the world, +they declared the King of Spain deposed from his sovereignty, and +proclaimed that they should recognize thenceforth neither his title nor +jurisdiction. Three days afterwards, on the 29th of July, the assembly +adopted a formula, by which all persons were to be required to signify +their abjuration. + +Such were the forms by which the united provinces threw off their +allegiance to Spain, and ipso facto established a republic, which was to +flourish for two centuries. This result, however, was not exactly +foreseen by the congress which deposed Philip. The fathers of the +commonwealth did not baptize it by the name of Republic. They did not +contemplate a change in their form of government. They had neither an +aristocracy nor a democracy in their thoughts. Like the actors in our +own great national drama, these Netherland patriots were struggling to +sustain, not to overthrow; unlike them, they claimed no theoretical +freedom for humanity--promulgated no doctrine of popular sovereignty: +they insisted merely on the fulfilment of actual contracts, signed +sealed, and sworn to by many successive sovereigns. Acting, upon the +principle that government should be for the benefit of the governed, and +in conformity to the dictates of reason and justice, they examined the +facts by those divine lights, and discovered cause to discard their +ruler. They did not object to being ruled. They were satisfied with +their historical institutions, and preferred the mixture of hereditary +sovereignty with popular representation, to which they were accustomed. +They did not devise an a priori constitution. Philip having violated the +law of reason and the statutes of the land, was deposed, and a new chief +magistrate was to be elected in his stead. This was popular sovereignty +in fact, but not in words. The deposition and election could be legally +justified only by the inherent right of the people to depose and to +elect; yet the provinces, in their Declaration of Independence, spoke of +the divine right of kings, even while dethroning, by popular right, their +own King! + +So also, in the instructions given by the states to their envoys charged +to justify the abjuration before the Imperial diet held at Augsburg, +twelve months later, the highest ground was claimed for the popular right +to elect or depose the sovereign, while at the same time, kings were +spoken of as "appointed by God." It is true that they were described, in +the same clause, as "chosen by the people"--which was, perhaps, as exact +a concurrence in the maxim of Vox populi, vox Dei, as the boldest +democrat of the day could demand. In truth, a more democratic course +would have defeated its own ends. The murderous and mischievous pranks +of Imbize, Ryhove, and such demagogues, at Ghent and elsewhere, with +their wild theories of what they called Grecian, Roman, and Helvetian +republicanism, had inflicted damage enough on the cause of freedom, and +had paved the road for the return of royal despotism. The senators +assembled at the Hague gave more moderate instructions to their delegates +at Augsburg. They were to place the King's tenure upon contract--not an +implied one, but a contract as literal as the lease of a farm. The house +of Austria, they were to maintain, had come into the possession of the +seventeen Netherlands upon certain express conditions, and with the +understanding that its possession was to cease with the first condition +broken. It was a question of law and fact, not of royal or popular +right. They were to take the ground, not only that the contract had been +violated, but that the foundation of perpetual justice upon which it +rested; had likewise been undermined. It was time to vindicate both +written charters and general principles. "God has given absolute power +to no mortal man," said Saint Aldegonde, "to do his own will against all +laws and all reason." "The contracts which the King has broken are no +pedantic fantasies," said the estates, "but laws planted by nature in the +universal heart of mankind, and expressly acquiesced in by prince and +people." All men, at least, who speak the English tongue, will accept +the conclusion of the provinces, that when laws which protected the +citizen against arbitrary imprisonment and guaranteed him a trial in his +own province--which forbade the appointment of foreigners to high office +--which secured the property of the citizen from taxation, except by the +representative body--which forbade intermeddling on the part of the +sovereign with the conscience of the subject in religious matters--when +such laws had been subverted by blood tribunals, where drowsy judges +sentenced thousands to stake and scaffold without a hearing by +excommunication, confiscation, banishment-by hanging, beheading, burning, +to such enormous extent and with such terrible monotony that the +executioner's sword came to be looked upon as the only symbol of justice +--then surely it might be said, without exaggeration, that the complaints +of the Netherlanders were "no pedantic fantasies," and that the King had +ceased to perform his functions as dispenser of God's justice. + +The Netherlanders dealt with facts. They possessed a body of laws, +monuments of their national progress, by which as good a share of +individual liberty was secured to the citizen as was then enjoyed in any +country of the world. Their institutions admitted of great improvement, +no doubt; but it was natural that a people so circumstanced should be +unwilling to exchange their condition for the vassalage of "Moors or +Indians." + +At the same time it may be doubted whether the instinct for political +freedom only would have sustained them in the long contest, and whether +the bonds which united them to the Spanish Crown would have been broken, +had it not been for the stronger passion for religious liberty, by which +so large a portion of the people was animated. Boldly as the united +states of the Netherlands laid down their political maxima, the quarrel +might perhaps have been healed if the religious question had admitted of +a peaceable solution. Philip's bigotry amounting to frenzy, and the +Netherlanders of "the religion" being willing, in their own words, "to +die the death" rather than abandon the Reformed faith, there was upon +this point no longer room for hope. In the act of abjuration, however, +it was thought necessary to give offence to no class of the inhabitants, +but to lay down such principles only as enlightened Catholics would not +oppose. All parties abhorred the Inquisition, and hatred to that +institution is ever prominent among the causes assigned for the +deposition of the monarch. "Under pretence of maintaining the Roman +religion," said the estates, "the King has sought by evil means to bring +into operation the whole strength of the placards and of the Inquisition +--the first and true cause of all our miseries." + +Without making any assault upon the Roman Catholic faith, the authors of +the great act by which Philip was for ever expelled from the Netherlands +showed plainly enough that religious persecution had driven them at last +to extremity. At the same time, they were willing--for the sake of +conciliating all classes of their countrymen--to bring the political +causes of discontent into the foreground, and to use discreet language +upon the religious question. + +Such, then, being the spirit which prompted the provinces upon this great +occasion, it may be asked who were the men who signed a document of such +importance? In whose-name and by what authority did they act against the +sovereign? The signers of the declaration of independence acted in the +name and by the authority of the Netherlands people. The estates were +the constitutional representatives of that people. The statesmen of that +day discovering, upon cold analysis of facts, that Philip's sovereignty +was, legally forfeited; formally proclaimed that forfeiture. Then +inquiring what had become of the sovereignty, they found it not in the +mass of the people, but in the representative body, which actually +personated the people. The estates of the different provinces-- +consisting of the knights, nobles, and burgesses of each--sent, +accordingly, their deputies to the general assembly at the Hague; and by +this congress the decree of abjuration was issued. It did, not occur to +any one to summon the people in their primary assemblies, nor would the +people of that day, have comprehended the objects of such a summons. +They were accustomed to the action of the estates, and those bodies +represented as large a number of political capacities as could be +expected of assemblies chosen then upon general principles. The hour had +not arrived for more profound analysis of the social compact. Philip was +accordingly deposed justly, legally formally justly, because it had +become necessary to abjur a monarch who was determined not only to +oppress; but to exterminate his people; legally, because he had +habitually violated the constitutions which he had sworn to support; +formally, because the act was done in the name of the people, by the body +historically representing the people. + +What, then, was the condition of the nation, after this great step had +been taken? It stood, as it were, with its sovereignty in its hand, +dividing it into two portions, and offering it, thus separated, to two +distinct individuals. The sovereignty of Holland and Zealand had been +reluctantly accepted by Orange. The sovereignty of the united provinces +had been offered to Anjou, but the terms of agreement with that Duke had +not yet been ratified. The movement was therefore triple, consisting of +an abjuration and of two separate elections of hereditary chiefs; these +two elections being accomplished in the same manner, by the +representative bodies respectively of the united provinces, and of +Holland and Zealand. Neither the abjuration nor the elections were acted +upon beforehand by the communities, the train-bands, or the guilds of the +cities--all represented, in fact, by the magistrates and councils of +each; nor by the peasantry of the open country--all supposed to be +represented by the knights and nobles. All classes of individuals, +however; arranged in various political or military combinations, gave +their acquiescence afterwards, together with their oaths of allegiance. +The people approved the important steps taken by their representatives. + +Without a direct intention on the part of the people or its leaders to +establish a republic, the Republic established itself. Providence did +not permit the whole country, so full of wealth intelligence, healthy +political action--so stocked with powerful cities and an energetic +population, to be combined into one free and prosperous commonwealth. +The factious ambition of a few grandees, the cynical venality of many +nobles, the frenzy of the Ghent democracy, the spirit of religious +intolerance, the consummate military and political genius of Alexander +Farnese, the exaggerated self-abnegation and the tragic fate of Orange, +all united to dissever this group of flourishing and kindred provinces. + +The want of personal ambition on the part of William the Silent inflicted +perhaps a serious damage upon his country. He believed a single chief +requisite for the united states; he might have been, but always refused +to become that chief; and yet he has been held up for centuries by many +writers as a conspirator and a self-seeking intriguer. "It seems to me," +said he, with equal pathos and truth, upon one occasion, "that I was born +in this bad planet that all which I do might be misinterpreted." The +people worshipped him, and there was many an occasion when his election +would have been carried with enthusiasm. "These provinces," said John of +Nassau, "are coming very unwillingly into the arrangement with the Duke +of Alencon, The majority feel much more inclined to elect the Prince, who +is daily, and without intermission, implored to give his consent. His +Grace, however, will in no wise agree to this; not because he fears the +consequences, such as loss of property or increased danger, for therein +he is plunged as deeply as he ever could be;--on the contrary, if he +considered only the interests of his race and the grandeur of his house, +he could expect nothing but increase of honor, gold, and gear, with all +other prosperity. He refuses only on this account that it may not be +thought that, instead of religious freedom for the country, he has been +seeking a kingdom for himself and his own private advancement. Moreover, +he believes that the connexion with France will be of more benefit to the +country and to Christianity than if a peace should be made with Spain, or +than if he should himself accept the sovereignty, as he is desired to +do." + +The unfortunate negotiations with Anjou, to which no man was more opposed +than Count John, proceeded therefore. In the meantime, the sovereignty +over the united provinces was provisionally held by the national council, +and, at the urgent solicitation of the states-general, by the Prince. +The Archduke Matthias, whose functions were most unceremoniously brought +to an end by the transactions which we have been recording, took his +leave of the states, and departed in the month of October. Brought to +the country a beardless boy, by the intrigues of a faction who wished to +use him as a tool against William of Orange, he had quietly submitted, on +the contrary, to serve as the instrument of that great statesman. His +personality during his residence was null, and he had to expiate, by many +a petty mortification, by many a bitter tear, the boyish ambition which +brought him to the Netherlands. He had certainly had ample leisure to +repent the haste with which he had got out of his warm bed in Vienna to +take his bootless journey to Brussels. Nevertheless, in a country where +so much baseness, cruelty, and treachery was habitually practised by men +of high position, as was the case in the Netherlands; it is something in +favor of Matthias that he had not been base, or cruel, or treacherous. +The states voted him, on his departure, a pension of fifty thousand +guldens annually, which was probably not paid with exemplary regularity. + + + + +CHAPTER V. + + Policy of electing Anjou as sovereign--Commode et incommode--Views + of Orange--Opinions at the French Court,--Anjou relieves Cambray-- + Parma besieges Tourney--Brave defence by the Princess of Espinoy-- + Honorable capitulation--Anjou's courtship in England--The Duke's + arrival in the Netherlands--Portrait of Anjou--Festivities in + Flushing--Inauguration at Antwerp--The conditions or articles + subscribed to by the Duke--Attempt upon the life of Orange--The + assassin's papers--Confession of Venero--Gaspar Anastro--His escape + --Execution of Venero and Zimmermann--Precarious condition of the + Prince--His recovery--Death of the Princess--Premature letters of + Parma--Further negotiations with Orange as to the sovereignty of + Holland and Zealand--Character of the revised Constitution-- + Comparison of the positions of the Prince before and after his + acceptance of the countship. + +Thus it was arranged that, for the--present, at least, the Prince should +exercise sovereignty over Holland and Zealand; although he had himself +used his utmost exertions to induce those provinces to join the rest of +the United Netherlands in the proposed election of Anjou. This, however, +they sternly refused to do. There was also a great disinclination felt +by many in the other states to this hazardous offer of their allegiance, +and it was the personal influence of Orange that eventually carried the +measure through. Looking at the position of affairs and at the character +of Anjou, as they appear to us now, it seems difficult to account for the +Prince's policy. It is so natural to judge only by the result, that we +are ready to censure statesmen for consequences which beforehand might +seem utterly incredible, and for reading falsely human characters whose +entire development only a late posterity has had full opportunity to +appreciate. Still, one would think that Anjou had been sufficiently +known to inspire distrust. + +There was but little, too, in the aspect of the French court to encourage +hopes of valuable assistance from that quarter. It was urged, not +without reason, that the French were as likely to become as dangerous as +the Spaniards; that they would prove nearer and more troublesome masters; +that France intended the incorporation of the Netherlands into her own +kingdom; that the provinces would therefore be dispersed for ever from +the German Empire; and that it was as well to hold to the tyrant under +whom they had been born, as to give themselves voluntarily to another of +their own making. In short, it was maintained, in homely language, that +"France and Spain were both under one coverlid." It might have been +added that only extreme misery could make the provinces take either +bedfellow. Moreover, it was asserted, with reason, that Anjou would be +a very expensive master, for his luxurious and extravagant habits were +notorious--that he was a man in whom no confidence could be placed, and +one who would grasp at arbitrary power by any means which might present +themselves. Above all, it was urged that he was not of the true +religion, that he hated the professors of that faith in his heart, and +that it was extremely unwise for men whose dearest interests were their +religious ones, to elect a sovereign of opposite creed to their own. To +these plausible views the Prince of Orange and those who acted with him, +had, however; sufficient answers. The Netherlands had waited long enough +for assistance from other quarters. Germany would not lift a finger in +the cause; on the contrary, the whole of Germany, whether Protestant or +Catholic, was either openly or covertly hostile. It was madness to wait +till assistance came to them from unseen sources. It was time for them +to assist themselves, and to take the best they could get; for when men +were starving they could not afford to be dainty. They might be bound, +hand and foot, they might be overwhelmed a thousand times before they +would receive succor from Germany, or from any land but France. Under +the circumstances in which they found themselves, hope delayed was but a +cold and meagre consolation. + +"To speak plainly," said Orange, "asking us to wait is very much as if +you should keep a man three days without any food in the expectation of a +magnificent banquet, should persuade him to refuse bread, and at the end +of three days should tell him that the banquet was not ready, but that a +still better one was in preparation. Would it not be better, then, that +the poor man, to avoid starvation, should wait no longer, but accept +bread wherever he might find it? Such is our case at present." + +It was in this vein that he ever wrote and spoke: The Netherlands were to +rely upon their own exertions, and to procure the best alliance, together +with the most efficient protection possible. They were not strong enough +to cope singlehanded with their powerful tyrant, but they were strong +enough if they used the instruments which Heaven offered. It was not +trusting but tempting Providence to wait supinely, instead of grasping +boldly at the means of rescue within reach. It became the character of +brave men to act, not to expect. "Otherwise," said the Prince, "we may +climb to the top of trees, like the Anabaptists of Munster, and expect +God's assistance to drop from the clouds." It is only by listening to +these arguments so often repeated, that we can comprehend the policy of +Orange at thin period. "God has said that he would furnish the ravens +with food, and the lions with their prey," said he; "but the birds and +the lions do not, therefore, sit in their nests and their lairs waiting +for their food to descend from heaven, but they seek it where it is to be +found." So also, at a later day, when events seemed to have justified +the distrust so, generally felt in Anjou, the Prince; nevertheless, held +similar language. "I do not," said he, calumniate those who tell us to +put our trust in God. That is my opinion also. But it is trusting God +to use the means which he places in our hands, and to ask that his +blessings may come upon them. + +There was a feeling entertained by the more sanguine that the French King +would heartily assist the Netherlands, after his brother should be fairly +installed. He had expressly written to that effect, assuring Anjou that +he would help him with all his strength, and would enter into close +alliance with those Netherlands which should accept him as prince and +sovereign. In another and more private letter to the Duke, the King +promised to assist his brother, "even to his last shirt." There is no +doubt that it was the policy of the statesmen of France to assist the +Netherlands, while the "mignons" of the worthless King were of a contrary +opinion. Many of them were secret partizans of Spain; and found it more +agreeable to receive the secret pay of Philip than to assist his revolted +provinces. They found it easy to excite the jealousy of the monarch +against his brother--a passion which proved more effective than the more +lofty ambition of annexing the Low Countries, according to the secret +promptings of many French politicians. As for the Queen Mother, she was +fierce in her determination to see fulfilled in this way the famous +prediction of Nostradamus. Three of her sons had successively worn the +crown of France. That she might be "the mother of four kings," without +laying a third child in the tomb, she was greedy for this proffered +sovereignty to her youngest and favorite son. This well-known desire of +Catherine de Medici was duly insisted upon by the advocates of the +election; for her influence, it was urged, would bring the whole power of +France to support the Netherlands. + +At any rate, France could not be worse--could hardly be so bad--as their +present tyranny. "Better the government of the Gaul, though suspect and +dangerous," said Everard Reyd, "than the truculent dominion of the +Spaniard. Even thus will the partridge fly to the hand of man, to escape +the talons of the hawk." As for the individual character of Anjou, +proper means would be taken, urged the advocates of his sovereignty, to +keep him in check, for it was intended so closely to limit the power +conferred upon him, that it would be only supreme in name. The +Netherlands were to be, in reality, a republic, of which Anjou was to be +a kind of Italian or Frisian podesta. "The Duke is not to act according +to his pleasure," said one of the negotiators, in a private letter to +Count John; "we shall take care to provide a good muzzle for him." How +conscientiously the "muzzle" was prepared, will appear from the articles +by which the states soon afterwards accepted the new sovereign. How +basely he contrived to slip the muzzle--in what cruel and cowardly +fashion he bathed his fangs in the blood of the flock committed to him, +will also but too soon appear. + +As for the religious objection to Anjou, on which more stress was laid +than upon any other, the answer was equally ready. Orange professed +himself "not theologian enough" to go into the subtleties brought +forward. As it was intended to establish most firmly a religious peace, +with entire tolerance for all creeds, he did not think it absolutely +essential to require a prince of the Reformed faith. It was bigotry to +dictate to the sovereign, when full liberty in religious matters was +claimed for the subject. Orange was known to be a zealous professor of +the Reformed worship himself; but he did not therefore reject political +assistance, even though offered by a not very enthusiastic member of the +ancient Church. + +"If the priest and the Levite pass us by when we are fallen among +thieves," said he, with much aptness and some bitterness, "shall we reject +the aid proffered by the Samaritan, because he is of a different faith +from the worthy fathers who have left us to perish?" In short, it was +observed with perfect truth that Philip had been removed, not because he +was a Catholic, but because he was a tyrant; not because his faith was +different from that of his subjects, but because he was resolved to +exterminate all men whose religion differed from his own. It was not, +therefore, inconsistent to choose another Catholic for a sovereign, if +proper guarantees could be obtained that he would protect and not oppress +the Reformed churches. "If the Duke have the same designs as the King," +said Saint Aldegonde, "it would be a great piece of folly to change one +tyrant and persecutor for another. If, on the contrary, instead of +oppressing our liberties, he will maintain them, and in place of +extirpating the disciples of the true religion, he will protect them, +then are all the reasons of our opponents without vigor." + +By midsummer the Duke of Anjou made his appearance in the western part of +the Netherlands. The Prince of Parma had recently come before Cambray +with the intention of reducing that important city. On the arrival of +Anjou, however, at the head of five thousand cavalry--nearly all of them +gentlemen of high degree, serving as volunteers--and of twelve thousand +infantry, Alexander raised the siege precipitately, and retired towards +Tournay. Anjou victualled the city, strengthened the garrison, and then, +as his cavalry had only enlisted for a summer's amusement, and could no +longer be held together, he disbanded his forces. The bulk of the +infantry took service for the states under the Prince of Espinoy, +governor of Tournay. The Duke himself, finding that, notwithstanding the +treaty of Plessis les Tours and the present showy demonstration upon his +part, the states were not yet prepared to render him formal allegiance, +and being, moreover, in the heyday of what was universally considered his +prosperous courtship of Queen Elizabeth, soon afterwards took his +departure for England. + +Parma; being thus relieved of his interference, soon afterwards laid +siege to the important city of Tournay. The Prince of Espinoy was absent +with the army in the north, but the Princess commanded in his absence. +She fulfilled her duty in a manner worthy of the house from which she +sprang, for the blood of Count Horn was in her veins. The daughter of +Mary, de Montmorency, the admiral's sister, answered the summons of Parma +to surrender at discretion with defiance. The garrison was encouraged by +her steadfastness. The Princess appeared daily among her troops, +superintending the defences, and personally directing the officers. +During one of the assaults, she is said, but perhaps erroneously; to have +been wounded in the arm, notwithstanding which she refused to retire. + +The siege lasted two months. Meantime, it became impossible for Orange +and the estates, notwithstanding their efforts, to raise a sufficient +force to drive Parma from his entrenchments. The city was becoming +gradually and surely undermined from without, while at the same time the +insidious art of a Dominican friar, Father Gery by name, had been as +surely sapping the fidelity of the garrison from within. An open revolt +of the Catholic population being on the point of taking place, it became +impossible any longer to hold the city. Those of the Reformed faith +insisted that the place should be surrendered; and the Princess, being +thus deserted by all parties, made an honorable capitulation with Parma. +She herself, with all her garrison, was allowed to retire with personal +property, and with all the honors of war, while the sack of the city was +commuted for one hundred thousand crowns, levied upon the inhabitants: +The Princess, on leaving the gates, was received with such a shout of +applause from the royal army that she seemed less like a defeated +commander than a conqueror. Upon the 30th November, Parma accordingly +entered the place which he had been besieging since the 1st of October. + +By the end of the autumn, the Prince of Orange, more than ever +dissatisfied with the anarchical condition of affairs, and with the +obstinate jealousy and parsimony of the different provinces, again +summoned the country in the most earnest language to provide for the +general defence, and to take measures for the inauguration of Anjou. He +painted in sombre colors the prospect which lay before them, if nothing +was done to arrest the progress of the internal disorders and of the +external foe, whose forces were steadily augmenting: Had the provinces +followed his advice, instead of quarreling among themselves, they would +have had a powerful army on foot to second the efforts of Anjou, and +subsequently to save Tournay. They had remained supine and stolid, even +while the cannonading against these beautiful cities was in their very +ears. No man seemed to think himself interested in public affair, save +when his own province or village was directly attacked. The general +interests of the commonwealth were forgotten, in local jealousy. Had it +been otherwise, the enemy would have long since been driven over the +Meuse. "When money," continued the Prince, "is asked for to carry on the +war, men answer as if they were talking with the dead Emperor. To say, +however, that they will pay no more, is as much as to declare that they +will give up their land and their religion both. I say this, not because +I have any desire to put my hands into the common purse. You well know +that I have never touched the public money, but it is important that you +should feel that there is no war in the country except the one which +concerns you all." + +The states, thus shamed and stimulated, set themselves in earnest to obey +the mandates of the Prince, and sent a special mission to England, to +arrange with the Duke of Anjou for his formal installation as sovereign. +Saint Aldegonde and other commissioners were already there. It was the +memorable epoch in the Anjou wooing, when the rings were exchanged +between Elizabeth and the Duke, and when the world thought that the +nuptials were on the point of being celebrated. Saint Aldegonde wrote to +the Prince of Orange on the 22nd of November, that the marriage had been +finally settled upon that day. Throughout the Netherlands, the +auspicious tidings were greeted with bonfires, illuminations, and +cannonading, and the measures for hailing the Prince, thus highly favored +by so great a Queen, as sovereign master of the provinces, were pushed +forward with great energy. + +Nevertheless, the marriage ended in smoke. There were plenty of +tournays, pageants, and banquets; a profusion of nuptial festivities, +in short, where nothing was omitted but the nuptials. By the end of +January, 1582, the Duke was no nearer the goal than upon his arrival +three months before. Acceding, therefore, to the wishes of the +Netherland envoys, he prepared for a visit to their country, where the +ceremony of his joyful entrance as Duke of Brabant and sovereign of the +other provinces was to take place. No open rupture with Elizabeth +occurred. On the contrary, the Queen accompanied the Duke, with a +numerous and stately retinue, as far as Canterbury, and sent a most +brilliant train of her greatest nobles and gentlemen to escort him to +the Netherlands, communicating at the same time, by special letter, her +wishes to the estates-general, that he should be treated with as much +honor "as if he were her second self." + +On the 10th of February, fifteen large vessels cast anchor at Flushing. +The Duke of Anjou, attended by the Earl of Leicester, the Lords Hunsdon, +Willoughby, Sheffield, Howard, Sir Philip Sidney, and many other +personages of high rank and reputation, landed from this fleet. He was +greeted on his arrival by the Prince of Orange, who, with the Prince of +Espinoy and a large deputation of the states-general, had been for some +days waiting to welcome him. The man whom the Netherlands had chosen for +their new master stood on the shores of Zealand. Francis Hercules, Son +of France, Duke of Alencon and Anjou, was at that time just twenty-eight +years of age; yet not even his flatterers, or his "minions," of whom he +had as regular a train as his royal brother, could claim for him the +external graces of youth or of princely dignity. He was below the middle +height, puny and ill-shaped. His hair and eyes were brown, his face was +seamed with the small-pox, his skin covered with blotches, his nose so +swollen and distorted that it seemed to be double. This prominent +feature did not escape the sarcasms of his countrymen, who, among other +gibes, were wont to observe that the man who always wore two faces, might +be expected to have two noses also. It was thought that his revolting +appearance was the principal reason for the rupture of the English +marriage, and it was in vain that his supporters maintained that if he +could forgive her age, she might, in return, excuse his ugliness. It +seemed that there was a point of hideousness beyond which even royal +princes could not descend with impunity, and the only wonder seemed that +Elizabeth, with the handsome Robert Dudley ever at her feet, could even +tolerate the addresses of Francis Valois. + +His intellect was by no means contemptible. He was not without a certain +quickness of apprehension and vivacity of expression which passed +current, among his admirers for wit and wisdom. Even the experienced. +Saint Aldegonde was deceived in his character, and described him after +an hour and half's interview, as a Prince overflowing with bounty, +intelligence, and sincerity. That such men as Saint Aldegonde and the +Prince of Orange should be at fault in their judgment, is evidence not +so much of their want of discernment, as of the difference between the +general reputation of the Duke at that period, and that which has been +eventually established for him in history. Moreover, subsequent events +were to exhibit the utter baseness of his character more signally than it +had been displayed during his previous career, however vacillating. No +more ignoble yet more dangerous creature had yet been loosed upon the +devoted soil of the Netherlands. Not one of the personages who had +hitherto figured in the long drama of the revolt had enacted so sorry a +part. Ambitious but trivial, enterprising but cowardly, an intriguer and +a dupe, without religious convictions or political principles, save that +he was willing to accept any creed or any system which might advance his +own schemes, he was the most unfit protector for a people who, whether +wrong or right; were at least in earnest, and who were accustomed to +regard truth as one of the virtues. He was certainly not deficient in +self-esteem. With a figure which was insignificant, and a countenance +which was repulsive, he had hoped to efface the impression made upon +Elizabeth's imagination by the handsomest man in Europe. With a +commonplace capacity, and with a narrow political education, he intended +to circumvent the most profound statesman of his age. And there, upon +the pier at Flushing, he stood between them both; between the magnificent +Leicester, whom he had thought to outshine, and the silent Prince of +Orange, whom he was determined to outwit. Posterity has long been aware +how far he succeeded in the one and the other attempt. + +The Duke's arrival was greeted with the roar of artillery, the ringing of +bells, and the acclamations of a large concourse of the inhabitants; +suitable speeches were made by the magistrates of the town, the deputies +of Zealand, and other functionaries, and a stately banquet was provided, +so remarkable "for its sugar-work and other delicacies, as to entirely +astonish the French and English lords who partook thereof." The Duke +visited Middelburg, where he was received with great state, and to the +authorities of which he expressed his gratification at finding two such +stately cities situate so close to each other on one little island. + +On the 17th of February, he set sail for Antwerp. A fleet of fifty-four +vessels, covered with flags and streamers, conveyed him and his retinue, +together with the large deputation which had welcomed him at Flushing, to +the great commercial metropolis. He stepped on shore at Kiel within a +bowshot of the city--for, like other Dukes of Brabant, he was not to +enter Antwerp until he had taken the oaths to respect the constitution-- +and the ceremony of inauguration was to take place outside the walls. +A large platform had been erected for this purpose, commanding a view +of the stately city, with its bristling fortifications and shady groves. +A throne, covered with velvet and gold, was prepared, and here the Duke +took his seat, surrounded by a brilliant throng, including many of the +most distinguished personages in Europe. + +It was a bright winter's morning. The gaily bannered fleet lay +conspicuous in the river, while an enormous concourse of people were +thronging from all sides to greet the new sovereign. Twenty thousand +burgher troops, in bright uniforms, surrounded the platform, upon the +tapestried floor of which stood the magistrates of Antwerp, the leading +members of the Brabant estates, with the Prince of Orange at their head, +together with many other great functionaries. The magnificence +everywhere displayed, and especially the splendid costumes of the +military companies, excited the profound astonishment of the French, +who exclaimed that every soldier seemed a captain, and who regarded +with vexation their own inferior equipments. + +Andrew Hesaels, 'doctor utriusque juris', delivered a salutatory oration, +in which, among other flights of eloquence, he expressed the hope of the +provinces that the Duke, with the beams of his greatness, wisdom, and +magnanimity, would disipate all the mists, fogs, and other exhalations +which were pernicious to their national prosperity, and that he would +bring back the sunlight of their ancient glory. + +Anjou answered these compliments with equal courtesy, and had much to say +of his willingness to shed every drop of his blood in defence of the +Brabant liberties; but it might have damped the enthusiasm of the moment +could the curtain of the not very distant future have been lifted. The +audience, listening to these promises, might have seen that it was not so +much his blood as theirs which he was disposed to shed, and less, too, in +defence than in violation of those same liberties which he was swearing +to protect. + +Orator Hessels then read aloud the articles of the Joyous Entry, in the +Flemish language, and the Duke was asked if he required any explanations +of that celebrated constitution. He replied that he had thoroughly +studied its provisions, with the assistance of the Prince of Orange, +during his voyage from Flushing, and was quite prepared to swear to +maintain them. The oaths, according to the antique custom, were then +administered. Afterwards, the ducal hat and the velvet mantle, lined +with ermine, were brought, the Prince of Orange assisting his Highness to +assume this historical costume of the Brabant dukes, and saying to him, +as he fastened the button at the throat, "I must secure this robe so +firmly, my lord, that no man may ever tear it from your shoulders." + +Thus arrayed in his garment of sovereignty, Anjou was compelled to listen +to another oration from, the pensionary of Antwerp, John Van der Werken. +He then exchanged oaths with the magistrates of the city, and received +the keys, which he returned for safe-keeping to the burgomaster. +Meanwhile the trumpets sounded, largess of gold and silver coins was +scattered among the people, and the heralds cried aloud, "Long live the +Duke of Brabant." + +A procession was then formed to escort the new Duke to his commercial +capital. A stately and striking procession it was. The Hanseatic +merchants in ancient German attires the English merchants in long velvet +cassocks, the heralds is their quaint costume, the long train of civic +militia with full, bands of music, the chief functionaries of city and +province in their black mantles and gold chains, all marching under +emblematical standards or time-honored blazons, followed each other in +dignified order. Then came the Duke himself on a white Barbary horse, +caparisoned with cloth of gold. He was surrounded with English, French, +and Netherland grandees, many of them of world-wide reputation. There +was the stately Leicester; Sir Philip Sidney, the mirror of chivalry; the +gaunt and imposing form of William the Silent; his son; Count Maurice of +Nassau, destined to be the first captain of his age, then a handsome, +dark-eyed lad of fifteen; the Dauphin of Auvergne; the Marechal de Biron +and his sons; the Prince of Espinoy; the Lords Sheffield; Willoughby, +Howard; Hunsdon, and many others of high degree and distinguished +reputation. The ancient guilds of the crossbow-men; and archers of +Brabant, splendidly accoutred; formed the bodyguard of the Duke, while +his French cavaliers, the life-guardsmen of the Prince of Orange, and the +troops of they line; followed in great numbers, their glittering uniforms +all, gaily intermingled, "like the flowers de luce upon a royal mantle!" +The procession, thus gorgeous and gay, was terminated by, a dismal group +of three hundred malefactors, marching in fetters, and imploring pardon +of the Duke, a boon which was to be granted at evening. Great torches, +although it was high noon were burning along the road, at intervals of +four or five feet, in a continuous line reaching from the platform at +Kiel to the portal of Saint Joris, through which the entrance to the city +was to be made. + +Inside the gate a stupendous allegory was awaiting the approach of the +new sovereign. A huge gilded car, crowded with those emblematical and +highly bedizened personages so dear to the Netherlanders, obstructed the +advance of the procession. All the virtues seemed to have come out for +an airing in one chariot, and were now waiting to offer their homage to +Francis Hercules Valois. Religion in "red satin," holding the gospel in +her hand, was supported by Justice, "in orange velvet," armed with blade +and beam. Prudence and Fortitude embraced each other near a column +enwreathed by serpents "with their tails in their ears to typify deafness +to flattery," while Patriotism as a pelican, and Patience as a brooding +hen, looked benignantly upon the scene. This greeting duly acknowledged, +the procession advanced into the city. The streets were lined with +troops and with citizens; the balconies were filled with fair women; "the +very gables," says an enthusiastic contemporary, "seemed to laugh with +ladies' eyes." The market-place was filled with waxen torches and with +blazing tar barrels, while in its centre stood the giant Antigonus-- +founder of the city thirteen hundred years before the Christian era--the +fabulous personage who was accustomed to throw the right hands of all +smuggling merchants into the Scheld. This colossal individual, attired +in a "surcoat of sky-blue," and holding a banner emblazoned with the arms +of Spain, turned its head as the Duke entered the square, saluted the new +sovereign, and then dropping the Spanish scutcheon upon the ground, +raised aloft another bearing the arms of Anjou. + +And thus, amid exuberant outpouring of confidence, another lord and +master had made his triumphal entrance into the Netherlands. Alas how +often had this sanguine people greeted with similar acclamations the +advent of their betrayers and their tyrants! How soon were they to +discover that the man whom they were thus receiving with the warmest +enthusiasm was the most treacherous tyrant of all. + +It was nightfall before the procession at last reached the palace of +Saint Michael, which had been fitted up for the temporary reception of +the Duke. The next day was devoted to speech-making; various deputations +waiting upon the new Duke of Brabant with congratulatory addresses. The +Grand Pensionary delivered a pompous oration upon a platform hung with +sky-blue silk, and carpeted with cloth of gold. A committee of the +German and French Reformed Churches made a long harangue, in which they +expressed the hope that the Lord would make the Duke "as valiant as +David, as wise as Solomon, and as pious as Hezekiah." A Roman Catholic +deputation informed his Highness that for eight months the members of the +Ancient Church had been forbidden all religious exercises, saving +baptism, marriage, visitation of the sick, and burials. A promise was +therefore made that this prohibition, which had been the result of the +disturbances recorded in a preceding chapter, should be immediately +modified, and on the 15th of March, accordingly, it was arranged, by +command of the magistrates, that all Catholics should have permission to +attend public worship, according to the ancient ceremonial, in the church +of Saint Michael, which had been originally designated for the use of the +new Duke of Brabant. It was, however, stipulated that all who desired to +partake of this privilege should take the oath of abjuration beforehand, +and go to the church without arms. + +Here then had been oaths enough, orations enough, compliments enough, to +make any agreement steadfast, so far as windy suspirations could furnish +a solid foundation for the social compact. Bells, trumpets, and the +brazen throats of men and of cannons had made a sufficient din, torches +and tar-barrels had made a sufficient glare, to confirm--so far as noise +and blazing pitch could confirm--the decorous proceedings of church and +town-house, but time was soon to show the value of such demonstrations. +Meantime, the "muzzle" had been fastened with solemnity and accepted with +docility. The terms of the treaty concluded at Plessis lea Tours and +Bordeaux were made public. The Duke had subscribed to twenty-seven +articles; which made as stringent and sensible a constitutional compact +as could be desired by any Netherland patriot. These articles, taken in +connection with the ancient charters which they expressly upheld, left to +the new sovereign no vestige of arbitrary power. He was merely the +hereditary president of a representative republic. He was to be Duke, +Count, Margrave, or Seignior of the different provinces on the same terms +which his predecessors had accepted. He was to transmit the dignities to +his children. If there were more than one child, the provinces were to +select one of the number for their sovereign. He was to maintain all the +ancient privileges, charters, statutes, and customs, and to forfeit his +sovereignty at the first violation. He was to assemble the states- +general at least once a year. He was always to reside in the +Netherlands. He was to permit none but natives to hold office. His +right of appointment to all important posts was limited to a selection +from three candidates, to be proposed by the estates of the province +concerned, at each vacancy. He was to maintain "the Religion" and the +religious peace in the same state in which they then were, or as should +afterwards be ordained by the estates of each province, without making +any innovation on his own part. Holland and Zealand were to remain as +they were, both in the matter of religion and otherwise. His Highness +was not to permit that any one should be examined or molested in his +house, or otherwise, in the matter or under pretext of religion. He was +to procure the assistance of the King of France for the Netherlands. +He was to maintain a perfect and a perpetual league, offensive and +defensive, between that kingdom and the provinces; without; however, +permitting any incorporation of territory. He was to carry on the war +against Spain with his own means and those furnished by his royal +brother, in addition to a yearly, contribution by the estates of two +million four hundred thousand guldens. He was to dismiss all troops at +command of the states-general. He was to make no treaty with Spain +without their consent. + +It would be superfluous to point out the great difference between the +notions entertained upon international law in the sixteenth century and +in our own. A state of nominal peace existed between Spain, France and +England; yet here was the brother of the French monarch, at the head of +French troops, and attended by the grandees of England solemnly accepting +the sovereignty over the revolted provinces of Spain. It is also curious +to observe that the constitutional compact, by which the new sovereign +of the Netherlands was admitted to the government, would have been +repudiated as revolutionary and republican by the monarchs of France or +England, if an attempt had been made to apply it to their own realms, for +the ancient charters--which in reality constituted a republican form of +government--had all been re-established by the agreement with Anjou. The +first-fruits of the ban now began to display themselves. Sunday, 18th of +March, 1582, was the birthday of the Duke of Anjou, and a great festival +had been arranged, accordingly, for the evening, at the palace of Saint +Michael, the Prince of Orange as well as all the great French lords being +of course invited. The Prince dined, as usual, at his house in the +neighbourhood of the citadel, in company with the Counts Hohenlo and +Laval, and the two distinguished French commissioners, Bonnivet and Des +Pruneaux. Young Maurice of Nassau, and two nephews of the Prince, sons +of his brother John, were also present at table. During dinner the +conversation was animated, many stories being related of the cruelties +which had been practised by the Spaniards in the provinces. On rising +from the table, Orange led the way from the dining room to his own +apartments, showing the noblemen in his company as he passed along, +a piece of tapestry upon which some Spanish soldiers were represented. +At this moment, as he stood upon the threshold of the ante-chamber, a +youth of small stature, vulgar mien, and pale dark complexion, appeared +from among the servants and offered him a petition. He took the paper, +and as he did so, the stranger suddenly drew a pistol and discharged it +at the head of the Prince. The ball entered the neck under the right +ear, passed through the roof of the mouth, and came out under the left +jaw-bone, carrying with it two teeth. The pistol had been held so near, +that the hair and beard of the Prince were set on fire by the discharge. +He remained standing, but blinded, stunned, and for a moment entirely +ignorant of what had occurred. As he afterwards observed, he thought +perhaps that a part of the house had suddenly fallen. Finding very soon +that his hair and beard were burning, he comprehended what had occurred; +and called out quickly, "Do not kill him--I forgive him my death!" and +turning to the French noblemen present, he added, "Alas! what a faithful +servant does his Highness lose in me!" + +These were his first words, spoken when, as all believed, he had been +mortally wounded. The, message of mercy came, however, too late; for two +of the gentlemen present, by an irresistible impulse, had run the +assassin through with their rapiers. The halberdiers rushed upon him +immediately after wards, so that he fell pierced in thirty-two vital +places. The Prince, supported by his friends, walked to his chamber, +where he was put to bed, while the surgeons examined and bandaged the +wound. It was most dangerous in appearance, but a very strange +circumstance gave more hope than could otherwise have been entertained. +The flame from the pistol had been so close that it had actually +cauterized the wound inflicted by the ball. But for this, it was +supposed that the flow of blood from the veins which had been shot +through would have proved fatal before the wound could be dressed. The +Prince, after the first shock, had recovered full possession of his +senses, and believing himself to be dying, he expressed the most +unaffected sympathy for the condition in which the Duke of Anjou would be +placed by his death. "Alas, poor Prince!" he cried frequently; "alas, +what troubles will now beset thee!" The surgeons enjoined and implored +his silence, as speaking might cause the wound to prove immediately +fatal. He complied, but wrote incessantly. As long as his heart could +beat, it was impossible for him not to be occupied with his country. + +Lion Petit, a trusty Captain of the city guard, forced his way to the +chamber, it being, absolutely necessary, said the honest burgher, for him +to see with his own eyes that the Prince was living, and report the fact +to the townspeople otherwise, so great was the excitement, it was +impossible to say what might be the result. It was in fact believed that +the Prince was already dead, and it was whispered that he had been +assassinated by the order of Anjou. This horrible suspicion was flying +through the city, and producing a fierce exasperation, as men talked of +the murder of Coligny, of Saint Bartholomew, of the murderous +propensities of the Valois race. Had the attempt taken place in the +evening, at the birth-night banquet of Anjou, a horrible massacre would +have been the inevitable issue. As it happened, however, circumstances +soon, occurred to remove, the suspicion from the French, and to indicate +the origin of the crime. Meantime, Captain Petit was urged by the +Prince, in writing, to go forth instantly with the news that he yet +survived, but to implore the people, in case God should call him to +Himself, to hold him in kind remembrance, to make no tumult, and to serve +the Duke obediently and faithfully. + +Meantime, the youthful Maurice of Nassau was giving proof of that cool +determination which already marked his character. It was natural that a +boy of fifteen should be somewhat agitated at seeing such a father shot +through the head before his eyes. His situation was rendered doubly +grave by the suspicions which were instantly engendered as to the +probable origin of the attempt. It was already whispered in the hall +that the gentlemen who had been so officious in slaying the assassin, +were his accomplices, who--upon the principle that dead men would tell no +tales--were disposed, now that the deed was done, to preclude +inconvenient revelations as to their own share in the crime. Maurice, +notwithstanding these causes for perturbation, and despite his grief at +his father's probable death, remained steadily by the body of the +murderer. He was determined, if possible, to unravel the plot, and he +waited to possess himself of all papers and other articles which might +be found upon the person of the deceased. + +A scrupulous search was at once made by the attendants, and everything +placed in the young Count's own hands. This done, Maurice expressed a +doubt lest some of the villain's accomplices might attempt to take the +articles from him, whereupon a faithful old servant of his father came +forward, who with an emphatic expression of the importance of securing +such important documents, took his young master under his cloak, and led +him to a retired apartment of the house. Here, after a rapid +examination, it was found that the papers were all in Spanish, written +by Spaniards to Spaniards, so that it was obvious that the conspiracy, +if one there were, was not a French conspiracy. The servant, therefore, +advised Maurice to go to his father, while he would himself instantly +descend to the hall with this important intelligence. Count Hohenlo had, +from the instant of the murder, ordered the doors to be fastened, and had +permitted no one to enter or to leave the apartment without his +permission. The information now brought by the servant as to the +character of the papers caused great relief to the minds of all; for, +till that moment, suspicion had even lighted upon men who were the firm +friends of the Prince. + +Saint Aldegonde, who had meantime arrived, now proceeded, in company of +the other gentlemen, to examine the papers and other articles taken from +the assassin. The pistol with which he had done the deed was lying upon +the floor; a naked poniard, which he would probably have used also, had +his thumb not been blown off by the discharge of the pistol, was found in +his trunk hose. In his pockets were an Agnus Dei, a taper of green wax, +two bits of hareskin, two dried toads--which were supposed to be +sorcerer's charms--a, crucifix, a Jesuit catechism, a prayer-book, +a pocket-book containing two Spanish bills of exchange--one for two +thousand, and one for eight hundred and seventy-seven crowns--and a +set of writing tablets. These last were covered with vows and pious +invocations, in reference to the murderous affair which the writer had in +hand. He had addressed fervent prayers to the Virgin Mary, to the Angel +Gabriel, to the Saviour, and to the Saviour's Son" as if, "says the +Antwerp chronicler, with simplicity, "the Lord Jesus had a son"--that +they might all use their intercession with the Almighty towards the +certain and safe accomplishment of the contemplated deed. Should he come +off successful and unharmed, he solemnly vowed to fast a week on bread +and water. Furthermore, he promised to Christ a "new coat of costly +pattern;" to the Mother of God, at Guadalupe, a new gown; to Our Lady of +Montserrat, a crown, a gown, and a lamp; and so on through along list of +similar presents thus contemplated for various Shrines. The poor +fanatical fool had been taught by deeper villains than himself that his +pistol was to rid the world of a tyrant, and to open his own pathway to +Heaven, if his career should be cut short on earth. To prevent so +undesirable a catastrophe to himself, however, his most natural +conception had been to bribe the whole heavenly host, from the Virgin +Mary downwards, for he had been taught that absolution for murder was to +be bought and sold like other merchandise. He had also been persuaded +that, after accomplishing the deed, he would become invisible. + +Saint Aldegonde hastened to lay the result of this examination before +the Duke of Anjou. Information was likewise instantly conveyed to the +magistrates at the Town House, and these measures were successful in +restoring confidence throughout the city as to the intentions of the new +government. Anjou immediately convened the State Council, issued a +summons for an early meeting of the states-general, and published a +proclamation that all persons having information to give concerning the +crime which had just been committed, should come instantly forward, upon +pain of death. The body of the assassin was forthwith exposed upon the +public square, and was soon recognized as that of one Juan Jaureguy, a +servant in the employ of Gaspar d'Anastro, a Spanish merchant of Antwerp. +The letters and bills of exchange had also, on nearer examination at the +Town House, implicated Anastro in the affair. His house was immediately +searched, but the merchant had taken his departure, upon the previous +Tuesday, under pretext of pressing affairs at Calais. His cashier, +Venero, and a Dominican friar, named Antony Zimmermann, both inmates of +his family, were, however, arrested upon suspicion. On the following day +the watch stationed at the gate carried the foreign post-bags, as soon as +they arrived, to the magistracy, when letters were found from Anastro to +Venero, which made the affair quite plain. After they had been +thoroughly studied, they were shown to Venero, who, seeing himself thus +completely ruined, asked for pen and ink, and wrote a full confession. + +It appeared that the crime was purely a commercial speculation on the +part of Anastro. That merchant, being on the verge of bankruptcy, had +entered with Philip into a mutual contract, which the King had signed +with his hand and sealed with his seal, and according to which Anastro, +within a certain period, was to take the life of William of Orange, and +for so doing was to receive eighty thousand ducats, and the cross of +Santiago. To be a knight companion of Spain's proudest order of chivalry +was the guerdon, over and above the eighty thousand pieces of silver, +which Spain's monarch promised the murderer, if he should succeed. As +for Anastro himself, he was too frugal and too wary to risk his own life, +or to lose much of the premium. With, tears streaming down his cheeks, +he painted to his faithful cashier the picture which his master would +present, when men should point at him and say, "Behold yon bankrupt!" +protesting, therefore, that he would murder Orange and secure the reward, +or perish in the attempt. Saying this, he again shed many tears. +Venero, seeing his master thus disconsolate, wept bitterly likewise; and +begged him not to risk his own precious life. After this pathetic +commingling of their grief, the merchant and his book-keeper became more +composed, and it was at last concerted between them that John Jaureguy +should be entrusted with the job. Anastro had intended--as he said in a +letter afterwards intercepted--"to accomplish the deed with his own hand; +but, as God had probably reserved him for other things, and particularly +to be of service to his very affectionate friends, he had thought best to +entrust the execution of the design to his servant." The price paid by +the master to the man, for the work, seems to have been but two thousand +eight hundred and seventy-seven crowns. The cowardly and crafty +principal escaped. He had gone post haste to Dunkirk, pretending that +the sudden death of his agent in Calais required his immediate presence +in that city. Governor Sweveseel, of Dunkirk, sent an orderly to get a +passport for him from La Motte, commanding at Gravelingen. Anastro being +on tenter-hooks lest the news should arrive that the projected murder had +been consummated before he had crossed the border, testified extravagant +joy on the arrival of the passport, and gave the messenger who brought it +thirty pistoles. Such conduct naturally excited a vague suspicion in the +mind of the governor, but the merchant's character was good, and he had +brought pressing letters from Admiral Treslong. Sweveseel did not dare +to arrest him without cause, and he neither knew that any crime had been +committed; nor that the man before him was the criminal. Two hours after +the traveller's departure, the news arrived of the deed, together with +orders to arrest Anastro, but it was too late. The merchant had found +refuge within the lines of Parma. + +Meanwhile, the Prince lay in a most critical condition. Believing that +his end was fast approaching; he dictated letters to the states-general, +entreating them to continue in their obedience to the Duke, than whom he +affirmed that he knew no better prince for the government of the +provinces. These letters were despatched by Saint Aldegonde to the +assembly, from which body a deputation, in obedience to the wishes of +Orange, was sent to Anjou, with expressions of condolence and fidelity. + +On Wednesday a solemn fast was held, according to proclamation, in +Antwerp, all work and all amusements being prohibited, and special +prayers commanded in all the churches for the recovery of the Prince. +"Never, within men's memory," says an account published at the moment, +in Antwerp, "had such crowds been seen in the churches, nor so many tears +been shed." + +The process against Venero and Zimmermann was rapidly carried through, +for both had made a full confession of their share in the crime. The +Prince had enjoined from his sick bed, however, that the case should be +conducted with strict regard to justice, and, when the execution could no +longer be deferred, he had sent a written request, by the hands of Saint +Aldegonde, that they should be put to death in the least painful manner. +The request was complied with, but there can be no doubt that the +criminals, had it not been made, would have expiated their offence by the +most lingering tortures. Owing to the intercession of the man who was to +have been their victim, they were strangled, before being quartered, upon +a scaffold erected in the market-place, opposite the Town House. This +execution took place on Wednesday, the 28th of March. + +The Prince, meanwhile, was thought to be mending, and thanksgivings began +to be mingled with the prayers offered almost every hour in the churches; +but for eighteen days he lay in a most precarious state. His wife hardly +left his bedside, and his sister, Catharine Countess of Schwartzburg, was +indefatigable in her attentions. The Duke of Anjou visited him daily, +and expressed the most filial anxiety for his recovery, but the hopes, +which had been gradually growing stronger, were on the 5th of April +exchanged for the deepest apprehensions. Upon that day the cicatrix by +which the flow of blood from the neck had been prevented, almost from the +first infliction of the wound, fell off. The veins poured forth a vast +quantity of blood; it seemed impossible to check the haemorrhage, and all +hope appeared to vanish. The Prince resigned himself to his fate, and +bade his children "good night for ever," saying calmly, "it is now all +over with me." + +It was difficult, without suffocating the patient, to fasten a bandage +tightly enough to staunch the wound, but Leonardo Botalli, of Asti, body +physician of Anjou, was nevertheless fortunate enough to devise a simple +mechanical expedient, which proved successful. By his advice; a +succession of attendants, relieving each other day and night, prevented +the flow of blood by keeping the orifice of the wound slightly but firmly +compressed with the thumb. After a period of anxious expectation, +the wound again closed; and by the end of the month the Prince was +convalescent. On the 2nd of May he went to offer thanksgiving in the +Great Cathedral, amid the joyful sobs of a vast and most earnest throng. + +The Prince, was saved, but unhappily the murderer had yet found an +illustrious victim. The Princess of Orange; Charlotte de Bourbon--the +devoted wife who for seven years, had so faithfully shared his joys and +sorrows--lay already on her death-bed. Exhausted by anxiety, long +watching; and the alternations of hope and fear during the first eighteen +days, she had been prostrated by despair at the renewed haemorrhage. A +violent fever seized her, under which she sank on the 5th of May, three +days after the solemn thanksgiving for her husband's recovery. The +Prince, who loved her tenderly, was in great danger of relapse upon the +sad event, which, although not sudden, had not been anticipated. She was +laid in her grave on the 9th of May, amid the lamentations of the whole +country, for her virtues were universally known and cherished. She +was a woman of rare intelligence, accomplishment, and gentleness of +disposition; whose only offence had been to break, by her marriage, the +Church vows to which she had been forced in her childhood, but which had +been pronounced illegal by competent authority, both ecclesiastical and +lay. For this, and for the contrast which her virtues afforded to the +vices of her predecessor, she was the mark of calumny and insult. These +attacks, however, had cast no shadow upon the serenity of her married +life, and so long as she lived she was the trusted companion and consoler +of her husband. "His Highness," wrote Count John in 1580, "is in +excellent health, and, in spite of adversity, incredible labor, +perplexity, and dangers, is in such good spirits that, it makes me happy +to witness it. No doubt a chief reason is the consolation he derives +from the pious and highly-intelligent wife whom, the Lord has given him +--a woman who ever conforms to his wishes, and is inexpressibly dear to +him." + +The Princess left six daughters--Louisa Juliana, Elizabeth, Catharina +Belgica, Flandrina, Charlotta Brabantica, and Emilia Secunda. + +Parma received the first intelligence of the attempt from the mouth of +Anastro himself, who assured him that the deed had been entirely +successful, and claimed the promised reward. + +Alexander, in consequence, addressed circular letters to the authorities +of Antwerp, Brussels, Bruges, and other cities, calling upon them, now +that they had been relieved of their tyrant and their betrayer, to return +again to the path of their duty and to the ever open arms of their lawful +monarch. These letters were premature. On the other hand, the states of +Holland and Zealand remained in permanent session, awaiting with extreme +anxiety the result of the Prince's wound. "With the death of his +Excellency, if God should please to take him to himself," said the +magistracy of Leyden, "in the death of the Prince we all foresee our own +death." It was, in truth, an anxious moment, and the revulsion of +feeling consequent on his recovery was proportionately intense. + +In consequence of the excitement produced by this event, it was no longer +possible for the Prince to decline accepting the countship of Holland and +Zealand, which he had refused absolutely two years before, and which he +had again rejected, except for a limited period, in the year 1581. It +was well understood, as appears by the treaty with Anjou, and afterwards +formally arranged, "that the Duke was never, to claim sovereignty over +Holland and Zealand," and the offer of the sovereign countship of Holland +was again made to the Prince of Orange in most urgent terms. It will be +recollected that he had accepted the sovereignty on the 5th of July, +1581, only for the term of the war. In a letter, dated Bruges, 14th of +August, 1582, he accepted the dignity without limitation. This offer and +acceptance, however, constituted but the preliminaries, for it was +further necessary that the letters of "Renversal" should be drawn up, +that they should be formally delivered, and that a new constitution +should be laid down, and confirmed by mutual oaths. After these steps +had been taken, the ceremonious inauguration or rendering of homage was +to be celebrated. + +All these measures were duly arranged, except the last. The installation +of the new Count of Holland was prevented by his death, and the northern +provinces remained a Republic, not only in fact but in name. + +In political matters; the basis of the new constitution was the "Great +Privilege" of the Lady Mary, the Magna Charta of the country. That +memorable monument in the history of the Netherlands and of municipal +progress had, been overthrown by Mary's son, with the forced acquiescence +of the states, and it was therefore stipulated by the new article, that +even such laws and privileges as had fallen into disuse should be +revived. It was furthermore provided that the little state should be a +free Countship, and should thus silently sever its connexion with the +Empire. + +With regard to the position of the Prince, as hereditary chief of the +little commonwealth, his actual power was rather diminished than +increased by his new dignity. What was his position at the moment? +He was sovereign during the war, on the general basis of the authority +originally bestowed upon him by the King's commission of stadholder. +In 1581, his Majesty had been abjured and the stadholder had become +sovereign. He held in his hands the supreme power, legislative, +judicial, executive. The Counts of Holland--and Philip as their +successor--were the great fountains of that triple stream. Concessions +and exceptions had become so extensive; no doubt, that the provincial +charters constituted a vast body of "liberties" by which the whole +country was reasonably well supplied. At the same time, all the power +not expressly granted away remained in the breast of the Count. If +ambition, then, had been William's ruling principle, he had exchanged +substance for shadow, for the new state now constituted was a free +commonwealth--a republic in all but name. + +By the new constitution he ceased to be the source of governmental life, +or to derive his own authority from above by right divine. The sacred +oil which had flowed from Charles the Simple's beard was dried up. +Orange's sovereignty was from the estates; as legal representatives of +the people; and, instead of exercising all the powers not otherwise +granted away, he was content with those especially conferred upon him. +He could neither declare war nor conclude peace without the co-operation +of the representative body. The appointing power was scrupulously +limited. Judges, magistrates, governors, sheriffs, provincial and +municipal officers, were to be nominated by the local authorities or by +the estates, on the triple principle. From these triple nominations he +had only the right of selection by advice and consent of his council. +He was expressly enjoined to see that the law was carried to every man's +door, without any distinction of persons; to submit himself to its +behests, to watch against all impedimenta to the even flow of justice, to +prevent false imprisonments, and to secure trials for every accused +person by the local tribunals. This was certainly little in accordance +with the arbitrary practice of the past quarter of a century. + +With respect to the great principle of taxation, stricter bonds even were +provided than those which already existed. Not only the right of +taxation remained with the states, but the Count was to see that, except +for war purposes, every impost was levied by a unanimous vote. He was +expressly forbidden to tamper with the currency. As executive head, save +in his capacity as Commander-in-chief by land or sea, the new sovereign +was, in short, strictly limited by self-imposed laws. It had rested with +him to dictate or to accept a constitution. He had in his memorable +letter of August, 1582, from Bruges, laid down generally the articles +prepared at Plessia and Bourdeaux, for Anjou-together with all applicable +provisions of the Joyous Entry of Brabant--as the outlines of the +constitution for the little commonwealth then forming in the north. To +these provisions he was willing to add any others which, after ripe +deliberation, might be thought beneficial to the country. + +Thus limited were his executive functions. As to his judicial authority +it had ceased to exist. The Count of Holland was now the guardian of the +laws, but the judges were to administer them. He held the sword of +justice to protect and to execute, while the scales were left in the +hands which had learned to weigh and to measure. + +As to the Count's legislative authority, it had become coordinate with, +if not subordinate to, that of the representative body. He was strictly +prohibited from interfering with the right of the separate or the general +states to assemble as often as they should think proper; and he was also +forbidden to summon them outside their own territory. This was one +immense step in the progress of representative liberty, and the next was +equally important. It was now formally stipulated that the estates were +to deliberate upon all measures which "concerned justice and polity," and +that no change was to be made--that is to say, no new law was to pass +without their consent as well as that of the council. Thus, the +principle was established of two legislative chambers, with the right, +but not the exclusive right, of initiation on the part of government, and +in the sixteenth century one would hardly look for broader views of civil +liberty and representative government. The foundation of a free +commonwealth was thus securely laid, which had William lived, would have +been a representative monarchy, but which his death converted into a +federal republic. It was necessary for the sake of unity to give a +connected outline of these proceedings with regard to the sovereignty of +Orange. The formal inauguration, only remained, and this, as will be +seen, was for ever interrupted. + + + + +ETEXT EDITOR'S BOOKMARKS: + +Character of brave men to act, not to expect +Colonel Ysselstein, "dismissed for a homicide or two" +God has given absolute power to no mortal man +Hope delayed was but a cold and meagre consolation +Natural to judge only by the result +No authority over an army which they did not pay +Unduly dejected in adversity + + + + +End of this Project Gutenberg Etext of The Dutch Republic, v33 +by John Lothrop Motley + + + + + + +MOTLEY'S HISTORY OF THE NETHERLANDS, Project Gutenberg Edition, Vol. 34 + +THE RISE OF THE DUTCH REPUBLIC + +By John Lothrop Motley + +1855 + + + +CHAPTER VI. + + Parma recals the foreign troops--Siege of Oudenarde--Coolness of + Alexander--Capture of the city and of Nineve--Inauguration of Anjou + at Ghent--Attempt upon his life and that of Orange--Lamoral Egmont's + implication in the plot--Parma's unsuccessful attack upon Ghent-- + Secret plans of Anjou--Dunkirk, Ostend, and other towns surprised by + his adherents--Failure at Bruges--Suspicions at Antwerp--Duplicity + of Anjou--The "French Fury"--Details of that transaction-- + Discomfiture and disgrace of the Duke--His subsequent effrontery-- + His letters to the magistracy of Antwerp, to, the Estates, and to + Orange--Extensive correspondence between Anjou and the, French Court + with Orange and the Estates--Difficult position of the Prince--His + policy--Remarkable letter to the States-general--Provisional + arrangement with Anjou--Marriage of the Archbishop of Cologne-- + Marriage of Orange with Louisa de Coligny--Movements in Holland, + Brabant, Flanders, and other provinces, to induce the Prince to + accept sovereignty over the whole country--His steady refusal-- + Treason of Van den Berg in Gueldres--Intrigues of Prince Chimay and + Imbize in Flanders--Counter efforts of Orange and the patriot party + --Fate of Imbize--Reconciliation of Bruges--Death of Anjou + +During the course of the year 1582, the military operations on both sides +had been languid and desultory, the Prince of Parma, not having a large +force at his command, being comparatively inactive. In consequence, +however, of the treaty concluded between the United states and Anjou, +Parma had persuaded the Walloon provinces that it had now become +absolutely necessary for them to permit the entrance of fresh Italian and +Spanish troops. This, then, was the end of the famous provision against +foreign soldiery in the Walloon treaty of reconciliation. The Abbot of +Saint Vaast was immediately despatched on a special mission to Spain, and +the troops, by midsummer, had already begun to pour, into the +Netherlands. + +In the meantime, Farnese, while awaiting these reinforcements, had not +been idle, but had been quietly picking up several important cities. +Early in the spring he had laid siege to Oudenarde, a place of +considerable importance upon the Scheld, and celebrated as the birthplace +of his grandmother, Margaret van Geest. The burghers were obstinate; the +defence was protracted; the sorties were bold; the skirmishes frequent +and sanguinary: Alexander commanded personally in the trenches, +encouraging his men by his example, and often working with the mattock, +or handling a spear in the assault, Like a private pioneer or soldier. +Towards the end of the siege, he scarcely ever left the scene of +operation, and he took his meals near the outer defences, that he might +lose no opportunity of superintending the labors of his troops. One day +his dinner was laid for himself and staff in the open air, close to the +entrenchment. He was himself engaged in planting a battery against a +weak point in the city wall, and would on no account withdraw for all +instant. The tablecloth was stretched over a number of drum-heads, +placed close together, and several, nobles of distinction--Aremberg, +Montigny, Richebourg, La Motte, and others, were his guests at dinner. +Hardly had the repast commenced, when a ball came flying over the table, +taking off the head of a, young Walloon officer who was sitting near +Parma, and, who was earnestly requesting a foremost place in the. +morrow's assault. A portion of his skull struck out the eye of another +gentleman present. A second ball from the town fortifications, equally +well directed, destroyed two more of the guests as they sat at the +banquet--one a German captain, the other the Judge-Advocate-General. +The blood and brains of these unfortunate individuals were strewn over +the festive board, and the others all started to their feet, having +little appetite left for their dinner. Alexander alone remained in his +seat, manifesting no discomposure. Quietly ordering the attendants to +remove the dead bodies, and to bring a clean tablecloth, he insisted +that his guests should resume their places at the banquet which had been +interrupted in such ghastly fashion. He stated with very determined +aspect that he could not allow the heretic burghers of Oudenarde the +triumph of frightening him from his dinner, or from the post of danger. +The other gentlemen could, of course, do no less than imitate the +impassibility of their chief, and the repast was accordingly concluded +without further interruption. Not long afterwards, the city, close +pressed by so determined a commander, accepted terms, which were more +favorable by reason of the respect which Alexander chose to render to his +mother's birthplace. The pillage was commuted for thirty thousand, +crowns, and on the 5th of July the place was surrendered to Parma almost +under the very eyes of Anjou, who was making a demonstration of relieving +the siege. + +Ninove, a citadel then belonging to the Egmont family, was next reduced. +Here, too, the defence was more obstinate than could have been expected +from the importance of the place, and as the autumn advanced, Parma's +troops were nearly starved in their trenches, from the insufficient +supplies furnished them. They had eaten no meat but horseflesh for +weeks, and even that was gone. The cavalry horses were all consumed, and +even the chargers of the officers were not respected. An aid-de-camp of +Parma fastened his steed one day at the door of the Prince's tent, while +he entered to receive his commander's instructions. When he came out +again, a few minutes afterwards, he found nothing but the saddle and +bridle hanging where he had fastened the horse. Remonstrance was +useless, for the animal had already been cut into quarters, and the only +satisfaction offered to the aid-de-camp was in the shape of a steak. The +famine was long familiarly known as the "Ninove starvation," but +notwithstanding this obstacle, the place was eventually surrendered. + +An attempt upon Lochum, an important city, in Gelderland, was +unsuccessful, the place being relieved by the Duke of Anjou's forces, and +Parma's troops forced to abandon the siege. At Steenwyk, the royal arms +were more successful, Colonel Tassis, conducted by a treacherous Frisian +peasant, having surprised the city which had so, long and so manfully +sustained itself against Renneberg during the preceding winter. With +this event the active operations under Parma closed for the year. By the +end of the autumn, however, he had the satisfaction of numbering, under +his command, full sixty thousand well-appointed and disciplined troops, +including the large reinforcements recently despatched: from Spain and +Italy. The monthly expense of this army-half of which was required for +garrison duty, leaving only the other moiety for field Operations--was +estimated at six hundred and fifty thousand florins. The forces under +Anjou and the united provinces were also largely increased, so that the +marrow of the land was again in fair way of being thoroughly exhausted by +its defenders and its foes. + +The incidents of Anjou's administration, meantime, during the year 1582, +had been few and of no great importance. After the pompous and elaborate +"homage-making" at Antwerp, he had, in the month of July, been formally +accepted, by writing, as Duke of Guelders and Lord of Friesland. In the +same month he had been ceremoniously, inaugurated at Bruges as Count of +Flanders--an occasion upon which the Prince of Orange had been present. +In that ancient and stately city there had been, accordingly, much +marching about under triumphal arches, much cannonading and haranguing, +much symbol work of suns dispelling fogs, with other cheerful emblems, +much decoration of ducal shoulders with velvet robes lined with weasel +skin, much blazing of tar-barrels and torches. In the midst of this +event, an attempt was made upon the lives both of Orange and Anjou. An +Italian, named Basa, and a Spaniard, called Salseda, were detected in a +scheme to administer poison to both princes, and when arrested, confessed +that they had been hired by the Prince of Parma to compass this double +assassination. Basa destroyed himself in prison. His body was, however, +gibbeted, with an inscription that he had attempted, at the instigation +of Parma, to take the lives of Orange and Anjou. Salseda, less +fortunate, was sent to Paris, where he was found guilty, and executed. +by being torn to pieces by four horses. Sad to relate, Lamoral Egmont, +younger son and namesake of the great general, was intimate with Salseda, +and implicated in this base design. His mother, on her death-bed, had +especially recommended the youth to the kindly care of Orange. The +Prince had ever recognized the claim, manifesting uniform tenderness for +the son of his ill-started friend; and now the youthful Lamoral--as if +the name of Egmont had not been sufficiently contaminated by the elder +brother's treason at Brussels--had become the comrade of hired +conspirators against his guardian's life. The affair was hushed up, +but the story was current and generally believed that Egmont had himself +undertaken to destroy the Prince at his own table by means of poison +which he kept concealed in a ring. Saint Aldegonde was to have been +taken off in the same way, and a hollow ring filled with poison was said +to have been found in Egmont's lodgings. + +The young noble was imprisoned; his guilt was far from doubtful; but the +powerful intercessions of Orange himself, combined with Egmont's near +relationship to the French Queen saved his life, and he was permitted, +after a brief captivity, to take his departure for France. + +The Duke of Anjou, a month later, was received with equal pomp, in the +city of Ghent. Here the ceremonies were interrupted in another manner. +The Prince of Parma, at the head of a few regiments of Walloons, making +an attack on a body of troops by which Anjou had been escorted into +Flanders, the troops retreated in good order, and without much loss, +under the walls of Ghent, where a long and sharp action took place, much +to the disadvantage of Parma, The Prince, of Orange and the Duke; of +Anjou were on the city walls during the whole skirmish giving orders and +superintending the movements of their troops, and at nightfall Parma was +forced, to retire, leaving a large number of dead behind him. + +The 15th day of December, in this year was celebrated according to the +new ordinance of Gregory the Thirteenth--as Christmas. It was the +occasion of more than usual merry-making among the Catholics of Antwerp, +who had procured, during the preceding summer, a renewed right of public +worship from Anjou and the estates. Many nobles of high rank came from +France, to pay their homage to the new Duke of Brabant. They secretly +expressed their disgust, however, at the close constitutional bonds in +which they found their own future sovereign imprisoned by the provinces. +They thought it far beneath the dignity of the "Son of France" to play +the secondary part of titular Duke of Brabant, Count of Flanders, Lord of +Friesland, and the like, while the whole power of government was lodged +with the states. They whispered that it was time to take measures for +the incorporation of the Netherlands into France, and they persuaded the +false and fickle Anjou that there would never be any hope of his royal +brother's assistance, except upon the understanding that the blood and +treasure of Frenchmen were to be spent to increase the power, not of +upstart and independent provinces, but of the French crown. + +They struck the basest chords of the Duke's base nature by awakening his +jealousy of Orange. His whole soul vibrated to the appeal. He already +hated the man by whose superior intellect he was overawed, and by whose +pure character he was shamed. He stoutly but secretly swore that he +would assert his own rights; and that he would no longer serve as a +shadow, a statue, a zero, a Matthias. It is needless to add, that +neither in his own judgment nor in that of his mignons, were the +constitutional articles which he had recently sworn to support, or the +solemn treaty which he had signed and sealed at Bordeaux, to furnish any +obstacles to his seizure of unlimited power, whenever the design could be +cleverly accomplished. He rested not, day or night, in the elaboration +of his plan. + +Early in January, 1583, he sent one night for several of his intimate +associates, to consult with him after he had retired to bed. He +complained of the insolence of the states, of the importunity of the +council which they had forced upon him, of the insufficient sums which +they furnished both for him and his troops, of the daily insults offered +to the Catholic religion. He protested that he should consider himself +disgraced in the eyes of all Christendom, should he longer consent to +occupy his present ignoble position. But two ways were open to him, he +observed; either to retire altogether from the Nether lands, or to +maintain his authority with the strong hand, as became a prince. The +first course would cover him with disgrace. It was therefore necessary +for him to adopt the other. He then unfolded his plan to his confidential +friends, La Fougere, De Fazy, Palette, the sons of Marechal Biron, and +others. Upon the same day, if possible, he was determined to take +possession, with his own troops, of the principal cities in Flanders. +Dunkirk, Dixmuyde, Denremonde, Bruges, Ghent, Vilvoorde, Alost, and other +important places, were to be simultaneously invaded, under pretext of +quieting tumults artfully created and encouraged between the burghers and +the garrisons, while Antwerp was reserved for his own especial +enterprise. That important capital he would carry by surprise at the +same moment in which the other cities were to be secured by his +lieutenants. + +The plot was pronounced an excellent one by the friends around his bed-- +all of them eager for Catholic supremacy, for the establishment of the +right divine on the part of France to the Netherlands, and for their +share in the sacking of so many wealthy cities at once. These worthless +mignons applauded their weak master to the echo; whereupon the Duke +leaped from his bed, and kneeling on the floor in his night-gown, raised +his eyes and his clasped hands to heaven, and piously invoked the +blessing of the Almighty upon the project which he had thus announced. +He added the solemn assurance that; if favored with success in his +undertaking, he would abstain in future from all unchastity, and forego +the irregular habits by which his youth had been stained. Having thus +bribed the Deity, and received the encouragement of his flatterers, the +Duke got into bed again. His next care was to remove the Seigneur du +Plessis, whom he had observed to be often in colloquy with the Prince of +Orange, his suspicious and guilty imagination finding nothing but +mischief to himself in the conjunction of two such natures. He therefore +dismissed Du Plessis, under pretext of a special mission to his sister, +Margaret of Navarre; but in reality, that he might rid himself of the +presence of an intelligent and honorable countryman. + +On the a 15th January, 1583, the day fixed for the execution of the plot, +the French commandant of Dunkirk, Captain Chamois, skillfully took +advantage of a slight quarrel between the citizens and the garrison, +to secure that important frontier town. The same means were employed +simultaneously, with similar results, at Ostend, Dixmuyde, Denremonde, +Alost, and Vilvoorde, but there was a fatal delay at one important city. +La Fougere, who had been with Chamois at Dunkirk, was arrested on his way +to Bruges by some patriotic citizens who had got wind of what had just +been occurring in the other cities, so that when Palette, the provost of +Anjou, and Colonel la Rebours, at the head of fifteen hundred French +troops, appeared before the gates, entrance was flatly refused. De +Grijse, burgomaster of Bruges, encouraged his fellow townsmen by words +and stout action, to resist the nefarious project then on foot against +religious liberty and free government, in favor of a new foreign tyranny. +He spoke to men who could sympathize with, and second his courageous +resolution, and the delay of twenty-four hours, during which the burghers +had time to take the alarm, saved the city. The whole population was on +the alert, and the baffled Frenchmen were forced to retire from the +gates, to avoid being torn to pieces by the citizens whom they had +intended to surprise. + +At Antwerp, meanwhile, the Duke of Anjou had been rapidly maturing his +plan, under pretext of a contemplated enterprise against the city of +Endhoven, having concentrated what he esteemed a sufficient number of +French troops at Borgerhout, a village close to the walls of Antwerp. + +On the 16th of January, suspicion was aroused in the city. A man in a +mask entered the main guard-house in the night, mysteriously gave warning +that a great crime was in contemplation, and vanished before he could be +arrested. His accent proved him to be a Frenchman. Strange rumors flew +about the streets. A vague uneasiness pervaded the whole population as +to the intention of their new master, but nothing was definitely known, +for of course there was entire ignorance of the events which were just +occurring in other cities. The colonels and captains of the burgher +guard came to consult the Prince of Orange. He avowed the most entire +confidence in the Duke of Anjou, but, at the same time; recommended that +the chains should be drawn, the lanterns hung out, and the drawbridge +raised an hour earlier than usual, and that other precautions; customary +in the expectation of an attack, should be duly taken. He likewise sent +the Burgomaster of the interior, Dr. Alostanus, to the Duke of Anjou, in +order to communicate the suspicions created in the minds of the city +authorities by the recent movements of troops. + +Anjou, thus addressed, protested in the most solemn manner that nothing +was farther from his thoughts than any secret enterprise against Antwerp. +He was willing, according to the figure of speech which he had always +ready upon every emergency, "to shed every drop of his blood in her +defence." He swore that he would signally punish all those who had dared +to invent such calumnies against himself and his faithful Frenchmen, +declaring earnestly, at the same time, that the troops had only been +assembled in the regular course of their duty. As the Duke was so loud +and so fervent; as he, moreover, made no objections to the precautionary +measures which had been taken; as the burgomaster thought, moreover, that +the public attention thus aroused would render all evil designs futile, +even if any had been entertained; it was thought that the city might +sleep in security for that night at least. + +On the following, morning, as vague suspicions were still entertained by +many influential persons, a deputation of magistrates and militia +officers waited upon the Duke, the Prince of Orange--although himself +still feeling a confidence which seems now almost inexplicable-- +consenting to accompany them. The Duke was more vehement than ever in +his protestations of loyalty to his recent oaths, as well as of deep +affection for the Netherlands--for Brabant in particular, and for Antwerp +most of all, and he made use of all his vivacity to persuade the Prince, +the burgomasters, and the colonels, that they had deeply wronged him by +such unjust suspicions. His assertions were accepted as sincere, and the +deputation withdrew, Anjou having first solemnly promised--at the +suggestion of Orange--not to leave the city during the whole day, in +order that unnecessary suspicion might be prevented. + +This pledge the Duke proceeded to violate almost as soon as made. +Orange returned with confidence to his own house, which was close to the +citadel, and therefore far removed from the proposed point of attack, but +he had hardly arrived there when he received a visit from the Duke's +private secretary, Quinsay, who invited him to accompany his Highness on +a visit to the camp. Orange declined the request, and sent an earnest +prayer to the Duke not to leave the city that morning. The Duke dined as +usual at noon. While at dinner he received a letter; was observed to +turn pale on reading it, and to conceal it hastily in a muff which he +wore on his left arm. The repast finished, the Duke ordered his horse. +The animal was restive, and so, strenuously resisted being mounted that, +although it was his usual charger; it was exchanged for another. This +second horse started in such a flurry that the Duke lost his cloak, and +almost his seat. He maintained his self-possession, however, and placing +himself at the head of his bodyguard and some troopers, numbering in all +three hundred mounted men, rode out of the palace-yard towards the +Kipdorp gate. + +This portal opened on the road towards Borgerhout, where his troops were +stationed, and at the present day bears the name of that village: It is +on the side of the city farthest removed from and exactly opposite the +river. The town was very quiet, the streets almost deserted; for it was +one o'clock, the universal dinner-hour, and all suspicion had been +disarmed by the energetic protestations of the Duke. The guard at the +gate looked listlessly upon the cavalcade as it approached, but as soon +as Anjou had crossed the first drawbridge, he rose in his stirrups and +waved his hand. "There is your city, my lads," said he to the troopers +behind him; "go and take possession of it!" + +At the same time he set spurs to his horse, and galloped off towards the +camp at Borgerhout. Instantly afterwards; a gentleman of his suite, +Count Bochepot, affected to have broken his leg through the plunging of +his horse, a circumstance by which he had been violently pressed, against +the wall as he entered the gate. Kaiser, the commanding officer at the +guard-house, stepped kindly forward to render him assistance, and his +reward was a desperate thrust from the Frenchman's rapier. As he wore a +steel cuirass, he fortunately escaped with a slight wound. + +The expression, "broken leg," was the watch-word, for at one and the same +instant, the troopers and guardsmen of Anjou set upon the burgher watch +at the gate, and butchered every man. A sufficient force was left to +protect the entrance thus easily mastered, while the rest of the +Frenchmen entered the town at full gallop, shrieking "Ville gaignee, +ville gaignee! vive la messe! vive le Due d'Anjou!" They were followed +by their comrades from the camp outside, who now poured into the town at +the preconcerted signal, at least six hundred cavalry and three thousand +musketeers, all perfectly appointed, entering Antwerp at once. From the +Kipdorp gate two main arteries--the streets called the Kipdorp and the +Meer--led quite through the heart of the city, towards the townhouse and +the river beyond. Along these great thoroughfares the French soldiers +advanced at a rapid pace; the cavalry clattering furiously in the van, +shouting "Ville gaignee, ville gaignee! vive la messe, vive la messe! +tue, tue, tue!" + +The burghers coming to door and window to look for the cause of all this +disturbance, were saluted with volleys of musketry. They were for a +moment astonished, but not appalled, for at first they believed it to be +merely an accidental tumult. Observing, however, that the soldiers, +meeting with but little effective resistance, were dispersing into +dwellings and warehouses, particularly into the shops of the goldsmiths +and lapidaries, the citizens remembered the dark suspicions which had +been so rife, and many recalled to mind that distinguished French +officers had during, the last few days been carefully examining the +treasures of the jewellers, under pretext of purchasing, but, as it now +appeared, with intent to rob intelligently. + +The burghers, taking this rapid view of their position, flew instantly to +arms. Chains and barricades were stretched across the streets; the +trumpets sounded through the city; the municipal guards swarmed to the +rescue. An effective rally was made, as usual, at the Bourse, whither a +large detachment of the invaders had forced their way. Inhabitants of +all classes and conditions, noble and simple, Catholic and Protestant, +gave each other the hand, and swore to die at each other's side in +defence of the city against the treacherous strangers. The gathering was +rapid and enthusiastic. Gentlemen came with lance and cuirass, burghers +with musket and bandoleer, artisans with axe, mallet, and other +implements of their trade. A bold baker, standing by his oven-stark +naked, according to the custom of bakers at that day--rushed to the +street as the sound of the tumult reached his ear. With his heavy bread +shovel, which he still held in his hand, he dealt a French cavalry, +officer, just riding and screaming by, such a hearty blow that he fell +dead from his horse. The baker seized the officer's sword, sprang all +unattired as he was, upon his steed, and careered furiously through the +streets, encouraging his countrymen everywhere to the attack, and dealing +dismay through the ranks of the enemy. His services in that eventful +hour were so signal that he was publicly thanked afterwards by the +magistrates for his services, and rewarded with a pension of three +hundred florins for life. + +The invaders had been forced from the Bourse, while another portion of +them had penetrated as far as the Market-place. The resistance which +they encountered became every instant more formidable, and Fervacques, +a leading French officer, who was captured on the occasion, acknowledged +that no regular troops could have fought more bravely than did these +stalwart burghers. Women and children mounted to roof and window, whence +they hurled, not only tiles and chimney pots, but tables, ponderous +chairs, and other bulky articles, upon the heads of the assailants, while +such citizens as had used all their bullets, loaded their pieces with the +silver buttons from their doublets, or twisted gold and silver coins with +their teeth into ammunition. With a population so resolute, the four +thousand invaders, however audacious, soon found themselves swallowed up. +The city had closed over them like water, and within an hour nearly a +third of their whole number had been slain. Very few of the burghers had +perished, and fresh numbers were constantly advancing to the attack. The +Frenchmen, blinded, staggering, beaten, attempted to retreat. Many threw +themselves from the fortifications into the moat. The rest of the +survivors struggled through the streets--falling in large numbers at +every step-towards the point at which they had so lately entered the +city. Here at the Kipdorp gate was a ghastly spectacle, the slain being +piled up in the narrow passage full ten feet high, while some of the +heap, not quite dead, were striving to extricate a hand or foot, and +others feebly thrust forth their heads to gain a mouthful of air. + +From the outside, some of Anjou's officers were attempting to climb over +this mass of bodies in order to enter the city; from the interior, the +baffled and fugitive remnant of their comrades were attempting to force +their passage through the same horrible barrier; while many dropped at, +every instant upon the heap of slain, under the blows of the unrelenting +burghers. On the other hand, Count Rochepot himself, to whom the +principal command of the enterprise had been entrusted by Anjou, stood +directly in the path of his fugitive soldiers, not only bitterly +upbraiding them with their cowardice, but actually slaying ten or twelve +of them with his own hands, as the most effectual mode of preventing +their retreat. Hardly an hour had elapsed from the time when the Duke of +Anjou first rode out of the Kipdorp gate, before nearly the whole of the +force which he had sent to accomplish his base design was either dead or +captive. Two hundred and fifty nobles of high rank and illustrious name +were killed; recognized at once as they lay in the streets by their +magnificent costume. A larger number of the gallant chivalry of France +had been sacrificed--as Anjou confessed--in this treacherous and most +shameful enterprise, than had often fallen upon noble and honorable +fields. Nearly two thousand of the rank and file had perished, and the +rest were prisoners. It was at first asserted that exactly fifteen +hundred and eighty-three Frenchmen had fallen, but this was only because +this number happened to be the date of the year, to which the lovers of +marvellous coincidences struggled very hard to make the returns of the +dead correspond. Less than one hundred burghers lost their lives. + +Anjou, as he looked on at a distance, was bitterly reproached for his +treason by several of the high-minded gentlemen about his person, to whom +he had not dared to confide his plot. The Duke of Montpensier protested +vehemently that he washed his hands of the whole transaction, whatever +might be the issue. He was responsible for the honor of an illustrious +house, which should never be stained, he said, if he could prevent it, +with such foul deeds. The same language was held by Laval, by +Rochefoucauld, and by the Marechal de Biron, the last gentleman, whose +two sons were engaged in the vile enterprise, bitterly cursing the Duke +to his face, as he rode through the gate after revealing his secret +undertaking. + +Meanwhile, Anjou, in addition to the punishment of hearing these +reproaches from men of honor, was the victim of a rapid and violent +fluctuation of feeling. Hope, fear, triumph, doubt, remorse, alternately +swayed him. As he saw the fugitives leaping from the walls, he shouted +exultingly, without accurately discerning what manner of men they were, +that the city was his, that four thousand of his brave soldiers were +there, and were hurling the burghers from the battlements. On being made +afterwards aware of his error, he was proportionably depressed; and when +it was obvious at last that the result of the enterprise was an absolute +and disgraceful failure, together with a complete exposure of his +treachery, he fairly mounted his horse, and fled conscience-stricken from +the scene. + +The attack had been so unexpected, in consequence of the credence +that had been rendered by Orange and the magistracy to the solemn +protestations of the Duke, that it had been naturally out of any one's +power to prevent the catastrophe. The Prince was lodged in apart of the +town remote from the original scene of action, and it does not appear +that information had reached him that anything unusual was occurring, +until the affair was approaching its termination. Then there was little +for him to do. He hastened, however, to the scene, and mounting the +ramparts, persuaded the citizens to cease cannonading the discomfited +and retiring foe. He felt the full gravity of the situation, and the +necessity of diminishing the rancor of the inhabitants against their +treacherous allies, if such a result were yet possible. The burghers +had done their duty, and it certainly would have been neither in his +power nor his inclination to protect the French marauders from +expulsion and castigation. + +Such was the termination of the French Fury, and it seems sufficiently +strange that it should have been so much less disastrous to Antwerp than +was the Spanish Fury of 1576, to which men could still scarcely allude +without a shudder. One would have thought the French more likely to +prove successful in their enterprise than the Spaniards in theirs. The +Spaniards were enemies against whom the city had long been on its guard. +The French were friends in whose sincerity a somewhat shaken confidence +had just been restored. When the Spanish attack was made, a large force +of defenders was drawn up in battle array behind freshly strengthened +fortifications. When the French entered at leisure through a scarcely +guarded gate, the whole population and garrison of the town were quietly +eating their dinners. The numbers of the invading forces on the two +occasions did not materially differ; but at the time of the French Fury +there was not a large force of regular troops under veteran generals to +resist the attack. Perhaps this was the main reason for the result, +which seems at first almost inexplicable. For protection against the +Spanish invasion, the burghers relied on mercenaries, some of whom proved +treacherous, while the rest became panic-struck. On the present occasion +the burghers relied on themselves. Moreover, the French committed the +great error of despising their enemy. Recollecting the ease with which +the Spaniards had ravished the city, they believed that they had nothing +to do but to enter and take possession. Instead of repressing their +greediness, as the Spaniards had done, until they had overcome +resistance, they dispersed almost immediately into by-streets, and +entered warehouses to search for plunder. They seemed actuated by a fear +that they should not have time to rifle the city before additional troops +should be sent by Anjou to share in the spoil. They were less used to +the sacking of Netherland cities than were the Spaniards, whom long +practice had made perfect in the art of methodically butchering a +population at first, before attention should be diverted to plundering, +and supplementary outrages. At any rate, whatever the causes, it is +certain that the panic, which upon such occasions generally decides the +fate of the day, seized upon the invaders and not upon the invaded, +almost from the very first. As soon as the marauders faltered in their +purpose and wished to retreat, it was all over with them. Returning was +worse than advance, and it was the almost inevitable result that hardly +a man escaped death or capture. + +The Duke retreated the same day in the direction of Denremonde, and on +his way met with another misfortune, by which an additional number of his +troops lost their lives. A dyke was cut by the Mechlin citizens to +impede his march, and the swollen waters of the Dill, liberated and +flowing across the country which he was to traverse, produced such an +inundation, that at least a thousand of his followers were drowned. + +As soon as he had established himself in a camp near Berghem, he opened +a correspondence with the Prince of Orange, and with the authorities of +Antwerp. His language was marked by wonderful effrontery. He found +himself and soldiers suffering for want of food; he remembered that he +had left much plate and valuable furniture in Antwerp; and he was +therefore desirous that the citizens, whom he had so basely outraged, +should at once send him supplies and restore his property. He also +reclaimed the prisoners who still remained in the city, and to obtain all +this he applied to the man whom he had bitterly deceived, and whose life +would have been sacrificed by the Duke, had the enterprise succeeded. + +It had been his intention to sack the city, to re-establish exclusively +the Roman Catholic worship, to trample upon the constitution which he had +so recently sworn to maintain, to deprive Orange, by force, of the +Renversal by which the Duke recognized the Prince as sovereign of +Holland; Zealand; and Utrecht, yet notwithstanding that his treason had- +been enacted in broad daylight, and in a most deliberate manner, he had +the audacity to ascribe the recent tragic occurrences to chance. He had +the farther originality to speak of himself as an aggrieved person, who +had rendered great services to the Netherlands, and who had only met with +ingratitude in return. His envoys, Messieurs Landmater and Escolieres, +despatched on the very day of the French Fury to the burgomasters and +senate of Antwerp, were instructed to remind those magistrates that the +Duke had repeatedly exposed his life in the cause of the Netherlands. +The affronts, they were to add, which he had received, and the +approaching ruin of the country, which he foresaw, had so altered his +excellent nature, as to engender the present calamity, which he +infinitely regretted. Nevertheless, the senate was to be assured that +his affection for the commonwealth was still so strong, as to induce a +desire on his part to be informed what course was now to be pursued with, +regard to him. Information upon that important point was therefore to be +requested, while at the same time the liberation of the prisoners at +Antwerp, and the restaration of the Duke's furniture and papers, were to +be urgently demanded. + +Letters of similar, import were also despatched by the Duke to the states +of the Union, while to the Prince of Orange; his application was brief +but brazen. "You know well,--my cousin," said he "the just and frequent +causes of offence which this people has given me. The insults which I, +this morning experienced cut me so deeply to the heart that they are the +only reasons of the misfortune which has happened today. Nevertheless, +to those who desire my friendship I shall show equal friendship and +affection. Herein I shall follow the counsel you have uniformly given +me, since I know it comes from one who has always loved me. Therefore I +beg that you will kindly bring it to pass, that I may obtain some +decision, and that no injury may be inflicted upon my people. Otherwise +the land shall pay for it dearly." + +To these appeals, neither the Prince nor the authorities of Antwerp +answered immediately in their own names. A general consultation was, +however, immediately held with the estates-general, and an answer +forthwith despatched to the Duke by the hands of his envoys. It was +agreed to liberate the prisoners, to restore the furniture, and to send +a special deputation for the purpose of making further arrangements with +the Duke by word of mouth, and for this deputation his Highness was +requested to furnish a safe conduct. + +Anjou was overjoyed when he received this amicable communication. +Relieved for a time from his fears as to the result of his crime, he +already assumed a higher ground. He not only spoke to the states in a +paternal tone, which was sufficiently ludicrous, but he had actually the +coolness to assure them of his forgiveness. "He felt hurt," he said, +"that they should deem a safe conduct necessary for the deputation which +they proposed to send. If they thought that he had reason on account of +the past, to feel offended, he begged them to believe that he had +forgotten it all, and that he had buried the past in its ashes, even as +if it had never been." He furthermore begged them--and this seemed the +greatest insult of all--"in future to trust to his word, and to believe +that if any thing should be attempted to their disadvantage, he would be +the very first to offer himself for their protection." + +It will be observed that in his first letters the Duke had not affected +to deny his agency in the outrage--an agency so flagrant that all +subterfuge seemed superfluous. He in fact avowed that the attempt had +been made by his command, but sought to palliate the crime on the ground +that it had been the result of the ill-treatment which he had experienced +from the states. "The affronts which I have received," said he, both to +the magistrates of Antwerp and to Orange, "have engendered the present +calamity." So also, in a letter written at the same time to his brother, +Henry the Third, he observed that "the indignities which were put upon +him, and the manifest intention of the states to make a Matthias of him, +had been the cause of the catastrophe." + +He now, however, ventured a step farther. Presuming upon the indulgence +which he had already experienced; and bravely assuming the tone of +injured innocence, he ascribed the enterprise partly to accident, and +partly to the insubordination of his troops. This was the ground which +he adopted in his interviews with the states' commissioners. So also, +in a letter addressed to Van der Tympel, commandant of Brussels, in which +he begged for supplies for his troops, he described the recent invasion +of Antwerp as entirely unexpected by himself, and beyond his control. +He had been intending, he said, to leave the city and to join his army. +A tumult had accidentally arisen between his soldiers and the guard at +the gate. Other troops rushing in from without, had joined in the +affray, so that to, his great sorrow, an extensive disorder had arisen. +He manifested the same Christian inclination to forgive, however, which +he had before exhibited. He observed that "good men would never grow +cold in his regard, or find his affection diminished." He assured Van +der Tympel, in particular, of his ancient goodwill, as he knew him to be +a lover of the common weal. + +In his original communications he had been both cringing and threatening +but, at least, he had not denied truths which were plain as daylight. +His new position considerably damaged his cause. This forgiving spirit +on the part of the malefactor was a little more than the states could +bear, disposed as they felt, from policy, to be indulgent, and to smooth +over the crime as gently as possible. The negotiations were interrupted, +and the authorities of Antwerp published a brief and spirited defence of +their own conduct. They denied that any affront or want of respect on +their part could have provoked the outrage of which the Duke had been +guilty. They severely handled his self-contradiction, in ascribing +originally the recent attempt to his just vengeance for past injuries, +and in afterwards imputing it to accident or sudden mutiny, while they +cited the simultaneous attempts at Bruges, Denremonde, Alost, Digmuyde, +Newport, Ostend, Vilvoorde, and Dunkirk, as a series of damning proofs of +a deliberate design. + +The publication of such plain facts did not advance the negotiations when +resumed. High and harsh words were interchanged between his Highness and +the commissioners, Anjou complaining, as usual, of affronts and +indignities, but when pushed home for particulars, taking refuge in +equivocation. "He did not wish," he said, "to re-open wounds which had +been partially healed." He also affected benignity, and wishing to +forgive and to forget, he offered some articles as the basis of a fresh +agreement. Of these it is sufficient to state that they were entirely +different from the terms of the Bordeaux treaty, and that they were +rejected as quite inadmissible. + +He wrote again to the Prince of Orange, invoking his influence to bring +about an arrangement. The Prince, justly indignant at the recent +treachery and the present insolence of the man whom he had so profoundly +trusted, but feeling certain that the welfare of the country depended at +present upon avoiding, if possible, a political catastrophe, answered the +Duke in plain, firm, mournful, and appropriate language. He had ever +manifested to his Highness, he said, the most uniform and sincere +friendship. He had, therefore, the right to tell him that affairs were +now so changed that his greatness and glory had departed. Those men in +the Netherlands, who, but yesterday, had been willing to die at the feet +of his Highness, were now so exasperated that they avowedly preferred an +open enemy to a treacherous protector. He had hoped, he said, that after +what had happened in so many cities at the same moment, his Highness +would have been pleased to give the deputies a different and a more +becoming answer. He had hoped for some response which might lead to an +arrangement. He, however, stated frankly, that the articles transmitted +by his Highness were so unreasonable that no man in the land would dare +open his mouth to recommend them. His Highness, by this proceeding, had +much deepened the distrust. He warned the Duke accordingly, that he was +not taking the right course to reinstate himself in a position of honor +and glory, and he begged him, therefore, to adopt more appropriate means. +Such a step was now demanded of him, not only by the country, but by all +Christendom. + +This moderate but heartfelt appeal to the better nature of the Duke, if +he had a better nature, met with no immediate response. + +While matters were in this condition, a special envoy arrived out of +France, despatched by the King and Queen-mother, on the first reception +of the recent intelligence from Antwerp. M. de Mirambeau, the +ambassador, whose son had been killed in the Fury, brought letters of +credence to the states of the; Union and to the Prince of Orange. He +delivered also a short confidential note, written in her own hand, from +Catherine de Medici to the Prince, to the following effect: + +"My COUSIN,--The King, my son, and myself, send you Monsieur de +Mirambeau, to prove to you that we do not believe--for we esteem you an +honorable man--that you would manifest ingratitude to my son, and to +those who have followed him for the welfare of your country. We feel +that you have too much affection for one who has the support of so +powerful a prince as the King of France, as to play him so base a trick. +Until I learn the truth, I shall not renounce the good hope which I have +always indulged--that you would never have invited my son to your +country, without intending to serve him faithfully. As long as you do +this, you may ever reckon on the support of all who belong to him. + + "Your good Cousin, + + "CATHERINE." + +It would have been very difficult to extract much information or much +comfort from this wily epistle. The menace was sufficiently plain, the +promise disagreeably vague. Moreover, a letter from the same Catherine +de Medici, had been recently found in a casket at the Duke's lodgings in +Antwerp. In that communication, she had distinctly advised her son to +re-establish the Roman Catholic religion, assuring him that by so doing, +he would be enabled to marry the Infanta of Spain. Nevertheless, the +Prince, convinced that it was his duty to bridge over the deep and fatal +chasm which had opened between the French Prince and the provinces, +if an honorable reconciliation were possible, did not attach an undue +importance either to the stimulating or to the upbraiding portion of the +communication from Catherine. He was most anxious to avert the chaos +which he saw returning. He knew that while the tempers of Rudolph, +of the English Queen, and of the Protestant princes of Germany, and the +internal condition of the Netherlands remained the same, it were madness +to provoke the government of France, and thus gain an additional enemy, +while losing their only friend. He did not renounce the hope of forming +all the Netherlands--excepting of course the Walloon provinces already +reconciled to Philip--into one independent commonwealth, freed for ever +from Spanish tyranny. A dynasty from a foreign house he was willing to +accept, but only on condition that the new royal line should become +naturalized in the Netherlands, should, conform itself to the strict +constitutional compact established, and should employ only natives in the +administration of Netherland affairs. Notwithstanding, therefore, the +recent treachery of Anjou, he was willing to treat with him upon the +ancient basis. The dilemma was a very desperate one, for whatever might +be his course, it was impossible that it should escape censure. Even at +this day, it is difficult to decide what might have been the result of +openly braving the French government, and expelling Anjou. The Prince of +Parma--subtle, vigilant, prompt with word and blow--was waiting most +anxiously to take advantage of every false step of his adversary. The +provinces had been already summoned in most eloquent language, to take +warning by the recent fate of Antwerp, and to learn by the manifestation +just made by Anjou, of his real intentions; that their only salvation lay +in a return to the King's arms. Anjou himself, as devoid of shame as of +honor, was secretly holding interviews with Parma's agents, Acosta and +Flaminio Carnero, at the very moment when he was alternately expressing +to the states his resentment that they dared to doubt his truth, or +magnanimously extending to them his pardon for their suspicions. He was +writing letters full of injured innocence to Orange and to the states, +while secretly cavilling over the terms of the treaty by which he was to +sell himself to Spain. Scruples as to enacting so base a part did not +trouble the "Son of France." He did not hesitate at playing this doubly +and trebly false game with the provinces, but he was anxious to drive the +best possible bargain for himself with Parma. He, offered to restore +Dunkirk, Dixmuyde, and the other cities which be had so recently filched +from the states, and to enter into a strict alliance with Philip; but he +claimed that certain Netherland cities on the French frontier, should be +made over to him in exchange. He required; likewise; ample protection +for his retreat from a country which was likely to be sufficiently +exasperated. Parma and his agents smiled, of course, at such exorbitant +terms. Nevertheless, it was necessary to deal cautiously with a man +who, although but a poor baffled rogue to-day, might to-morrow be seated +on the throne of France. While they were all secretly haggling over the +terms of the bargain, the Prince of Orange discovered the intrigue. It +convinced him of the necessity of closing with a man whose baseness was +so profound, but whose position made his enmity, on the whole, more +dangerous than his friendship. Anjou, backed by so astute and +unscrupulous a politician as Parma, was not to be trifled with. The +feeling of doubt and anxiety was spreading daily through the country: +many men, hitherto firm, were already wavering, while at the same time +the Prince had no confidence in the power of any of the states, save +those of Holland and Utrecht; to maintain a resolute attitude of +defiance, if not assisted from without. + +He therefore endeavored to repair the breach, if possible, and thus save +the Union. Mirambeau, in his conferences with the estates, suggested, on +his part, all that words could effect. He expressed the hope that the +estates would use their discretion "in compounding some sweet and +friendly medicine" for the present disorder; and that they would not +judge the Duke too harshly for a fault which he assured them did not come +from his natural disposition. He warned them that the enemy would be +quick to take advantage of the present occasion to bring about, if +possible, their destruction, and he added that he was commissioned to +wait upon the Duke of Anjou, in order to assure him that, however +alienated he might then be from the Netherlands, his Majesty was +determined to effect an entire reconciliation. + +The envoy conferred also with the Prince of Orange, and urged him most +earnestly to use his efforts to heal the rupture. The Prince, inspired +by the sentiments already indicated, spoke with perfect sincerity. His +Highness, he said, had never known a more faithful and zealous friend +than himself, He had begun to lose his own credit with the people by +reason of the earnestness with which he had ever advocated the Duke's +cause, and he could not flatter himself that his recommendation would now +be of any advantage to his Highness. It would be more injurious than his +silence. Nevertheless, he was willing to make use of all the influence +which was left to him for the purpose of bringing about a reconciliation, +provided that the Duke were acting in good faith. If his Highness were +now sincerely desirous of conforming to the original treaty, and willing +to atone for the faults committed by him on the same day in so many +cities--offences which could not be excused upon the ground of any +affronts which he might have received from the citizens of Antwerp-- +it might even now be possible to find a remedy for the past. He very +bluntly told the envoy, however, that the frivolous excuses offered by +the Duke caused more bitterness than if he had openly acknowledged his +fault. It were better, he said, to express contrition, than to excuse +himself by laying blame on those to whom no blame belonged, but who, on +the contrary, had ever shown themselves faithful servants of his +Highness. + +The estates of the Union, being in great perplexity as to their proper +course, now applied formally, as they always did in times of danger and +doubt, to the Prince, for a public expression of his views. Somewhat +reluctantly, he complied with their wishes in one of the most admirable +of his state papers. + +He told the states-that he felt some hesitation in expressing his views. +The blame of the general ill success was always laid upon his shoulders; +as if the chances of war could be controlled even by a great potentate +with ample means at his disposal. As for himself, with so little actual +power that he could never have a single city provided with what he +thought a sufficient garrison, it could not be expected that he could +command fortune. His advice, he said, was always asked, but ever judged +good or evil according to the result, as if the issue were in any hands +but God's. It did not seem advisable for a man of his condition and +years, who had so often felt the barb of calumny's tongue, to place his +honor, again in the judgment scale of mankind, particularly as he was +likely to incur fresh censure for another man's crime. Nevertheless, +he was willing, for the love he bore the land, once more to encounter +this danger. + +He then rapidly reviewed the circumstances which had led to the election +of Anjou, and reminded the estates that they had employed sufficient time +to deliberate concerning that transaction. He recalled to their +remembrance his frequent assurances of support and sympathy if they would +provide any other means of self-protection than the treaty with the +French Prince. He thought it, therefore, unjust, now that calamity had +sprung from the measure, to ascribe the blame entirely to him, even had +the injury been greater than the one actually sustained. He was far from +palliating the crime, or from denying that the Duke's rights under the +Treaty of Bordeaux had been utterly forfeited. He was now asked what was +to be done. Of three courses, be said, one must be taken: they must make +their peace with the King, or consent to a reconciliation with Anjou, or +use all the strength which God had given them to resist, single-handed, +the enemy. With regard to the first point, he resumed the argument as to +the hopelessness of a satisfactory arrangement with the monarch of Spain. +The recent reconciliation of the Walloon provinces and its shameful +infraction by Parma in the immediate recal of large masses of Spanish and +Italian troops, showed too plainly the value of all solemn stipulations +with his Catholic Majesty. Moreover, the time was unpropitious. It was +idle to look, after what had recently occurred, for even fair promises. +It was madness then to incur the enmity of two such powers at once. The +French could do the Netherlands more harm as enemies than the Spaniards. +The Spaniards would be more dangerous as friends, for in cases of a +treaty with Philip the Inquisition would be established in the place of a +religious peace. For these reasons the Prince declared himself entirely +opposed to any negotiations with the Crown of Spain. + +As to the second point, he admitted that Anjou had gained little honor +by his recent course; and that it would be a mistake on their part to +stumble a second time over the same stone. He foresaw, nevertheless, +that the Duke--irritated as he was by the loss of so many of his nobles, +and by the downfall of all his hopes in the Netherlands--would be likely +to inflict great injuries upon their cause. Two powerful nations like +France and Spain would be too much to have on their hands at once. How +much danger, too, would be incurred by braving at once the open wrath of +the French King, and, the secret displeasure of the English Queen. She +had warmly recommended the Duke of Anjou. She had said--that honors to +him were rendered to herself; and she was now entirely opposed to their +keeping the present quarrel alive. If France became their enemy, the +road was at once opened through that kingdom for Spain. The estates were +to ponder well whether they possessed the means to carry on such a double +war without assistance. They were likewise to remember how many cities +still remained in the hands of Anjou, and their possible fate if the Duke +were pushed to extremity. + +The third point was then handled with vigor. He reminded the states of +the perpetual difficulty of raising armies, of collecting money to pay +for troops, of inducing cities to accept proper garrisons, of +establishing a council which could make itself respected. He alluded +briefly and bitterly to the perpetual quarrels of the states among +themselves; to their mutual jealousy; to their obstinate parsimony; to +their jealousy of the general government; to their apathy and inertness +before impending ruin. He would not calumniate those, he said, who +counselled trust in God. That was his sentiment also: To attempt great +affairs, however, and, through avarice, to-withhold sufficient means, was +not trusting, but tempting God.--On the contrary, it was trusting God to +use the means which He offered to their hands. + +With regard, then, to the three points, he rejected the first. +Reconciliation with the King of Spain was impossible. For his own part, +he would much prefer the third course. He had always been in favor of +their maintaining independence by their own means and the assistance of +the Almighty. He was obliged, however, in sadness; to confess that the +narrow feeling of individual state rights, the general tendency to +disunion, and the constant wrangling, had made this course a hopeless +one. There remained, therefore, only the second, and they must effect an +honorable reconciliation with Anjou. Whatever might be their decision, +however, it was meet that it should be a speedy one. Not an hour was to +be lost. Many fair churches of God, in Anjou's power, were trembling on +the issue, and religious and political liberty was more at stake than +ever. In conclusion, the Prince again expressed his determination, +whatever might be their decision, to devote the rest of his days to the +services of his country. + +The result of these representations by the Prince--of frequent letters +from Queen Elizabeth, urging a reconciliation--and of the professions +made by the Duke and the French envoys, was a provisional arrangement, +signed on the 26th and 28th of March. According to the terms of this +accord, the Duke was to receive thirty thousand florins for his troops, +and to surrender the cities still in his power. The French prisoners +were to be liberated, the Duke's property at Antwerp was to be restored, +and the Duke himself was to await at Dunkirk the arrival of +plenipotentiaries to treat with him as to a new and perpetual +arrangement. + +The negotiations, however, were languid. The quarrel was healed on the +surface, but confidence so recently and violently uprooted was slow to +revive. On the 28th of June, the Duke of Anjou left Dunkirk for Paris, +never to return to the Netherlands, but he exchanged on his departure +affectionate letters with the Prince and the estates. M. des Pruneaux +remained as his representative, and it was understood that the +arrangements for re-installing him as soon as possible in the sovereignty +which he had so basely forfeited, were to be pushed forward with +earnestness. + +In the spring of the same year, Gerard Truchses, Archbishop of Cologne, +who had lost his see for the love of Agnes Mansfeld, whom he had espoused +in defiance of the Pope; took refuge with the Prince of Orange at Delft. +A civil war in Germany broke forth, the Protestant princes undertaking to +support the Archbishop, in opposition to Ernest of Bavaria, who had been +appointed in his place. The Palatine, John Casimir, thought it necessary +to mount and ride as usual. Making his appearance at the head of a +hastily collected force, and prepared for another plunge into chaos, he +suddenly heard, however, of his elder brother's death at Heidelberg. +Leaving his men, as was his habit, to shift for themselves, and Baron +Truchses, the Archbishop's brother, to fall into the hands of the enemy, +he disappeared from the scene with great rapidity, in order that his own +interests in the palatinate and in the guardianship of the young +palatines might not suffer by his absence. + +At this time, too, on the 12th of April, the Prince of Orange was +married, for the fourth time, to Louisa, widow of the Seigneur de +Teligny, and daughter of the illustrious Coligny. + +In the course of the summer, the states of Holland and Zealand, always +bitterly opposed to the connection with Anjou, and more than ever +dissatisfied with the resumption of negotiations since the Antwerp +catastrophe, sent a committee to the Prince in order to persuade him to +set his face against the whole proceedings. They delivered at the same +time a formal remonstrance, in writing (25th of August, 1583), in which +they explained how odious the arrangement with the Duke had ever been to +them. They expressed the opinion that even the wisest might be sometimes +mistaken, and that the Prince had been bitterly deceived by Anjou and by +the French court. They besought him to rely upon the assistance of the +Almighty, and upon the exertions of the nation, and they again hinted at +the propriety of his accepting that supreme sovereignty over all the +united provinces which would be so gladly conferred, while, for their own +parts, they voluntarily offered largely to increase the sums annually +contributed to the common defence. + +Very soon afterwards, in August, 1583, the states of the united provinces +assembled at Middelburg formally offered the general government--which +under the circumstances was the general sovereignty--to the Prince, +warmly urging his acceptance of the dignity. He manifested, however, the +same reluctance which he had always expressed, demanding that the project +should beforehand be laid before the councils of all the large cities, +and before the estates of certain provinces which had not been +represented at the Middelburg diet. He also made use of the occasion to +urge the necessity of providing more generously for the army expenses and +other general disbursements. As to ambitious views, he was a stranger to +them, and his language at this moment was as patriotic and self-denying +as at any previous period. He expressed his thanks to the estates for +this renewed proof of their confidence in his character, and this +additional approbation of his course,--a sentiment which he was always +ready "as a good patriot to justify by his most faithful service." He +reminded them, however, that he was no great monarch, having in his own +hands the means to help and the power to liberate them; and that even +were he in possession of all which God had once given him, he should be +far from strong enough to resist, single-handed, their powerful enemy. +All that was left to him, he said, was an "honest and moderate experience +in affairs." With this he was ever ready to serve them to the utmost; +but they knew very well that the means to make that experience available +were to be drawn from the country itself. With modest simplicity, he +observed that he had been at work fifteen or sixteen years, doing his +best, with the grace of God, to secure the freedom of the fatherland and +to resist tyranny of conscience; that he alone--assisted by his brothers +and some friends and relatives--had borne the whole burthen in the +beginning, and that he had afterwards been helped by the states of +Holland and Zealand, so that he could not but render thanks to God for +His great mercy in thus granting His blessing to so humble an instrument, +and thus restoring so many beautiful provinces to their ancient freedom +and to the true religion. The Prince protested that this result was +already a sufficient reward for his labors--a great consolation in his +sufferings. He had hoped, he said, that the estates, "taking into +consideration his long-continued labors, would have been willing to +excuse him from a new load of cares, and would have granted him some +little rest in his already advanced age;" that they would have selected +"some other person more fitted for the labor, whom he would himself +faithfully promise to assist to the best of his abilities, rendering him +willing obedience proportionate to the authority conferred upon him." + +Like all other attempts to induce the acceptance, by the Prince, of +supreme authority, this effort proved ineffectual, from the obstinate +unwillingness of his hand to receive the proffered sceptre. + +In connection with this movement, and at about the same epoch, Jacob +Swerius, member of the Brabant Council, with other deputies, waited upon +Orange, and formally tendered him the sovereign dukedom of Brabant, +forfeited and vacant by the late crime of Anjou. The Prince, however, +resolutely refused to accept the dignity, assuring the committee that he +had not the means to afford the country as much protection as they had a +right to expect from their sovereign. He added that "he would never give +the King of Spain the right-to say that the Prince of Orange had been +actuated by no other motives in his career than the hope of self- +aggrandizement, and the desire to deprive his Majesty of the provinces +in order to appropriate them to himself." + +Accordingly, firmly refusing to heed the overtures of the United +States, and of Holland in particular, he continued to further the re- +establishment of Anjou--a measure in which, as he deliberately believed, +lay the only chance of union and in dependence. + +The Prince of Parma, meantime, had not been idle. He had been unable to +induce the provinces to listen to his wiles, and to rush to the embrace +of the monarch whose arms he described as ever open to the repentant. +He had, however, been busily occupied in the course of the summer in +taking up many of the towns which the treason of Anjou had laid open to +his attacks. + +Eindhoven, Diest, Dunkirk, Newport, and other places, were successively +surrendered to royalist generals. On the 22nd of September, 1583, the +city of Zutfen, too, was surprised by Colonel Tassis, on the fall of +which most important place, the treason of Orange's brother-in-law, Count +Van den Berg, governor of Gueldres, was revealed. His fidelity had been +long suspected, particularly by Count John of Nassau, but always +earnestly vouched for by his wife and by his sons. On the capture of +Zutfen, however, a document was found and made public, by which Van den +Berg bound himself to deliver the principal cities of Gueldres and +Zutfen, beginning with Zutfen itself, into the hands of Parma, on +condition of receiving the pardon and friendship of the King. + +Not much better could have been expected of Van den Berg. His +pusillanimous retreat from his post in Alva's time will be recollected; +and it is certain that the Prince had never placed implicit confidence +in his character. Nevertheless, it was the fate of this great man to +be often deceived by the friends whom he trusted, although never to be +outwitted by his enemies. Van den Berg was arrested, on the 15th of +November, carried to the Hague, examined and imprisoned for a time in +Delftshaven. After a time he was, however, liberated, when he instantly, +with all his sons, took service under the King. + +While treason was thus favoring the royal arms in the north, the same +powerful element, to which so much of the Netherland misfortunes had +always been owing was busy in Flanders. + +Towards the end of the year 1583, the Prince of Chimay, eldest son of the +Duke of Aerschot, had been elected governor of that province. This noble +was as unstable in character, as vain, as unscrupulous, and as ambitious +as his father and uncle. He had been originally desirous of espousing +the eldest daughter of the Prince of Orange, afterwards the Countess of +Hohenlo, but the Duchess of Aerschot was too strict a Catholic to +consent to the marriage, and her son was afterwards united to the +Countess of Meghem, widow of Lan celot Berlaymont. + +As affairs seemed going on prosperously for the states in the beginning, +of this year, the Prince of Chimay had affected a strong inclination for +the Reformed religion, and as governor of Bruges, he had appointed many +members of that Church to important offices, to the exclusion of +Catholics. By so decided a course, he acquired the confidence of the +patriot party and at the end of the year he became governor of Flanders. +No sooner was he installed in this post, than he opened a private +correspondence with Parma, for it was his intention to make his peace +with the King, and to purchase pardon and advancement by the brilliant +service which he now undertook, of restoring this important province to +the royal authority. In the arrangement of his plans he was assisted by +Champagny, who, as will be recollected, had long been a prisoner in +Ghent, but whose confinement was not so strict as to prevent frequent +intercourse with his friends without. Champagny was indeed believed to +be the life of the whole intrigue. The plot was, however, forwarded by +Imbize, the roaring demagogue whose republicanism could never reconcile +itself with what he esteemed the aristocratic policy of Orange, and whose +stern puritanism could be satisfied with nothing short of a general +extermination of Catholics. This man, after having been allowed to +depart, infamous and contemptible, from the city which he had endangered, +now ventured after five years, to return, and to engage in fresh schemes +which were even more criminal than his previous enterprises. The +uncompromising foe to Romanism, the advocate of Grecian and Genevan +democracy, now allied himself with Champagny and with Chimay, to effect a +surrender of Flanders to Philip and to the Inquisition. He succeeded in +getting himself elected chief senator in Ghent, and forthwith began to +use all his influence to further the secret plot. The joint efforts and +intrigues of Parma, Champagny, Chimay, and Imbize, were near being +successful. Early, in the spring of 1584 a formal resolution was passed +by the government of Ghent, to open negotiations with Parma. Hostages +were accordingly exchanged, and a truce of three weeks was agreed upon, +during which an animated correspondence was maintained between the +authorities of Ghent and the Prince of Chimay on the one side, and the +United States-general, the magistracy of Antwerp, the states of Brabant, +and other important bodies on the other. + +The friends of the Union and of liberty used all their eloquence to +arrest the city of Ghent in its course, and to save the province of +Flanders from accepting the proposed arrangement with Parma. The people +of Ghent were reminded that the chief promoter of this new negotiation +was Champagny, a man who owed a deep debt of hatred to their city, for +the long, and as he believed, the unjust confinement which he had endured +within its walls. Moreover, he was the brother of Granvelle, source of +all their woes. To take counsel with Champagny, was to come within reach +of a deadly foe, for "he who confesses himself to a wolf," said the +burgomasters of Antwerp, "will get wolf's absolution." The Flemings were +warned by all their correspondents that it was puerile to hope for faith +in Philip; a monarch whose first principle was, that promises to heretics +were void. They were entreated to pay no heed to the "sweet singing of +the royalists," who just then affected to disapprove of the practice +adopted by the Spanish Inquisition, that they might more surely separate +them from their friends. "Imitate not," said the magistrates of +Brussels, "the foolish sheep who made with the wolves a treaty of +perpetual amity, from which the faithful dogs were to be excluded." +It was affirmed--and the truth was certainly beyond peradventure--that +religious liberty was dead at the moment when the treaty with Parma +should be signed. "To look for political privilege or evangelical +liberty," said the Antwerp authorities, "in any arrangement with the +Spaniards, is to look for light in darkness, for fire in water." "Philip +is himself the slave of the Inquisition," said the states-general, "and +has but one great purpose in life--to cherish the institution everywhere, +and particularly in the Netherlands. Before Margaret of Parma's time, +one hundred thousand Netherlanders had been burned or strangled, and Alva +had spent seven years in butchering and torturing many thousands more." +The magistrates of Brussells used similar expressions. "The King of +Spain," said they to their brethren of Ghent, "is fastened to the +Inquisition. Yea, he is so much in its power, that even if he desired, +he is unable to maintain his promises." The Prince of Orange too, +was indefatigable in public and private efforts to counteract the +machinations of Parma and the Spanish party in Ghent. He saw with horror +the progress which the political decomposition of that most important +commonwealth was making, for he considered the city the keystone to the +union of the provinces, for he felt with a prophetic instinct that its +loss would entail that of all the southern provinces, and make a united +and independent Netherland state impossible. Already in the summer of +1583, he addressed a letter full of wisdom and of warning to the +authorities of Ghent, a letter in which he set fully before them the +iniquity and stupidity of their proceedings, while at the same time he +expressed himself with so much dexterity and caution as to avoid giving +offence, by accusations which he made, as it were, hypothetically, when, +in truth, they were real ones. + +These remonstrances were not fruitless, and the authorities and citizens +of Ghent once more paused ere they stepped from the precipice. While +they were thus wavering, the whole negotiation with Parma was abruptly +brought to a close by a new incident, the demagogue Imbize having been +discovered in a secret attempt to obtain possession of the city of +Denremonde, and deliver it to Parma. The old acquaintance, ally, and +enemy of Imbize, the Seigneur de Ryhove, was commandant of the city, and +information was privately conveyed to him of the design, before there had +been time for its accomplishment. Ryhove, being thoroughly on his guard, +arrested his old comrade, who was shortly afterwards brought to trial, +and executed at Ghent. John van Imbize had returned to the city from +which the contemptuous mercy of Orange had permitted him formerly to +depart, only to expiate fresh turbulence and fresh treason by a felon's +death. Meanwhile the citizens: of Ghent; thus warned by word and deed, +passed an earnest resolution to have no more intercourse with Parma, but +to abide faithfully by the union. Their example was followed by the +other Flemish cities, excepting, unfortunately, Bruges, for that +important town, being entirely in the power of Chimay, was now +surrendered by him to the royal government. On the 20th of May, 1584, +Baron Montigny, on the part of Parma, signed an accord with the Prince of +Chimay, by which the city was restored to his Majesty, and by which all +inhabitants not willing to abide by the Roman Catholic religion were +permitted to leave the land. The Prince was received with favor by +Parma, on conclusion of the transaction, and subsequently met with +advancement from the King, while the Princess, who had embraced the +Reformed religion, retired to Holland. + +The only other city of importance gained on this occasion by the +government was Ypres, which had been long besieged, and was, soon +afterwards forced to yield. The new Bishop, on taking possession, +resorted to instant measures for cleansing a place which had been so +long in the hands of the infidels, and as the first step in this +purification, the bodies of many heretics who had been buried for years +were taken from their graves, and publicly hanged in their coffins. All +living adherents to the Reformed religion were instantly expelled from +the place. + +Ghent and the rest of Flanders were, for the time, saved from the power +of Spain, the inhabitants being confirmed in their resolution of +sustaining their union with the other provinces by the news from France. +Early in the spring the negotiations between Anjou and the states-general +had been earnestly renewed, and Junius, Mouillerie, and. Asseliers, had +been despatched on a special mission to France, for the purpose of +arranging a treaty with the Duke. On the 19th of April, 1584, they +arrived in Delft, on their return, bringing warm letters from the French +court, full of promises to assist the Netherlands; and it was understood +that a constitution, upon the basis of the original arrangement of +Bordeaux, would be accepted by the Duke. These arrangements were, +however, for ever terminated by the death of Anjou, who had been ill +during the whole course of the negotiations. On the 10th of June, 1584, +he expired at Chateau Thierry, in great torture, sweating blood from +every pore, and under circumstances which, as usual, suggested strong +suspicions of poison. + + + + +CHAPTER VII. + + Various attempts upon the life of Orange--Delft--Mansion of the + Prince described--Francis Guion or Balthazar Girard--His + antecedents--His correspondence and interviews with Parma and with + d'Assonleville--His employment in France--His return to Delft and + interview with Orange--The crime--The confession--The punishment-- + The consequences--Concluding remarks. + +It has been seen that the Ban against the Prince of Orange had not been +hitherto without fruits, for although unsuccessful, the efforts to take +his life and earn the promised guerdon had been incessant. The attempt +of Jaureguy, at Antwerp, of Salseda and Baza at Bruges, have been +related, and in March, 1583, moreover, one Pietro Dordogno was executed +in Antwerp for endeavoring to assassinate the Prince. Before his death, +he confessed that he had come from Spain solely for the purpose, and that +he had conferred with La Motte, governor of Gravelines, as to the best +means of accomplishing his design. In April, 1584, Hans Hanzoon, a +merchant of Flushing, had been executed for attempting to destroy the +Prince by means of gunpowder, concealed under his house in that city, +and under his seat in the church. He confessed that he had deliberately +formed the intention of performing the deed, and that he had discussed +the details of the enterprise with the Spanish ambassador in Paris. At +about the same time, one Le Goth, a captive French officer, had been +applied to by the Marquis de Richebourg, on the part of Alexander of +Parma, to attempt the murder of the Prince. Le Goth had consented, +saying that nothing could be more easily done; and that he would +undertake to poison him in a dish of eels, of which he knew him to be +particularly fond. The Frenchman was liberated with this understanding; +but being very much the friend of Orange, straightway told him the whole +story, and remained ever afterwards a faithful servant of the states. +It is to be presumed that he excused the treachery to which he owed his +escape from prison on the ground that faith was no more to be kept with +murderers than with heretics. Thus within two years there had been five +distinct attempts to assassinate the Prince, all of them, with the +privity of the Spanish government. A sixth was soon to follow. + +In the summer of 1584, William of Orange was residing at Delft, where his +wife, Louisa de Coligny, had given birth, in the preceding winter, to a +son, afterwards the celebrated stadholder, Frederic Henry. The child had +received these names from his two godfathers, the Kings of Denmark and of +Navarre, and his baptism had been celebrated with much rejoicing on the +12th of June, in the place of his birth. + +It was a quiet, cheerful, yet somewhat drowsy little city, that ancient +burgh of Delft. The placid canals by which it was intersected in every +direction were all planted with whispering, umbrageous rows of limes and +poplars, and along these watery highways the traffic of the place glided +so noiselessly that the town seemed the abode of silence and +tranquillity. The streets were clean and airy, the houses well built, +the whole aspect of the place thriving. + +One of the principal thoroughfares was called the old Delftstreet. It +was shaded on both sides by lime trees, which in that midsummer season +covered the surface of the canal which flowed between them with their +light and fragrant blossoms. On one side of this street was the "old +kirk," a plain, antique structure of brick, with lancet windows, and with +a tall, slender tower, which inclined, at a very considerable angle, +towards a house upon the other side of the canal. That house was the +mansion of William the Silent. It stood directly opposite the church, +being separated by a spacious courtyard from the street, while the +stables and other offices in the rear extended to the city wall. A +narrow lane, opening out of Delft-street, ran along the side of the house +and court, in the direction of the ramparts. The house was a plain, two- +storied edifice of brick, with red-tiled roof, and had formerly been a +cloister dedicated to Saint Agatha, the last prior of which had been +hanged by the furious Lumey de la Merck. + +The news of Anjou's death had been brought to Delft by a special +messenger from the French court. On Sunday morning, the 8th of July, +1584, the Prince of Orange, having read the despatches before leaving his +bed, caused the man who had brought them to be summoned, that he might +give some particular details by word of mouth concerning the last illness +of the Duke. The courier was accordingly admitted to the Prince's bed- +chamber, and proved to be one Francis Guion, as he called himself. This +man had, early in the spring, claimed and received the protection of +Orange, on the ground of being the son of a Protestant at Besancon, who +had suffered death for--his religion, and of his own ardent attachment to +the Reformed faith. A pious, psalm-singing, thoroughly Calvinistic youth +he seemed to be having a bible or a hymn-book under his arm whenever he +walked the street, and most exemplary in his attendance at sermon and +lecture. For, the rest, a singularly unobtrusive personage, twenty-seven +years of age, low of stature, meagre, mean-visaged, muddy complexioned, +and altogether a man of no account--quite insignificant in the eyes of +all who looked upon him. If there were one opinion in which the few who +had taken the trouble to think of the puny, somewhat shambling stranger +from Burgundy at all coincided, it was that he was inoffensive but quite +incapable of any important business. He seemed well educated, claimed to +be of respectable parentage and had considerable facility of speech, when +any person could be found who thought it worth while to listen to him; +but on the whole he attracted little attention. + +Nevertheless, this insignificant frame locked up a desperate and daring +character; this mild and inoffensive nature had gone pregnant seven years +with a terrible crime, whose birth could not much longer be retarded. +Francis Guion, the Calvinist, son of a martyred Calvinist, was in reality +Balthazar Gerard, a fanatical Catholic, whose father and mother were +still living at Villefans in Burgundy. Before reaching man's estate, he +had formed the design of murdering the Prince of Orange, "who, so long as +he lived, seemed like to remain a rebel against the Catholic King, and to +make every effort to disturb the repose of the Roman Catholic Apostolic +religion." + +When but twenty years of age, he had struck his dagger with all his might +into a door, exclaiming, as he did so, "Would that the blow had been in +the heart of Orange!" For this he was rebuked by a bystander, who told +him it was not for him to kill princes, and that it was not desirable to +destroy so good a captain as the Prince, who, after all, might one day +reconcile himself with the King. + +As soon as the Ban against Orange was published, Balthazar, more anxious +than ever to execute his long-cherished design, left Dole and came to +Luxemburg. Here he learned that the deed had already been done by John +Jaureguy. He received this intelligence at first with a sensation of +relief, was glad to be excused from putting himself in danger, and +believing the Prince dead, took service as clerk with one John Duprel, +secretary to Count Mansfeld, governor of Luxemburg. Ere long, the ill +success of Jaureguy's attempt becoming known, the "inveterate +determination" of Gerard aroused itself more fiercely than ever. He +accordingly took models of Mansfeld's official seals in wax, in order +that he might make use of them as an acceptable offering to the Orange +party, whose confidence he meant to gain. + +Various circumstances detained him, however. A sum of money was stolen, +and he was forced to stay till it was found, for fear of being arrested +as the thief. Then his cousin and employer fell sick, and Gerard was +obliged to wait for his recovery. At last, in March, 1584, "the weather, +as he said, appearing to be fine," Balthazar left Luxemburg and came to +Treves. While there, he confided his scheme to the regent of the Jesuit +college--a "red-haired man" whose name has not been preserved. That +dignitary expressed high approbation of the plan, gave Gerard his +blessing, and promised him that, if his life should be sacrificed in +achieving his purpose, he should be enrolled among the martyrs. Another +Jesuit, however, in the same college, with whom he likewise communicated, +held very different language, making great efforts to turn the young man +from his design, on the ground of the inconveniences which might arise +from the forging of Mansfeld's seals--adding, that neither he nor any of +the Jesuits liked to meddle with such affairs, but advising that the +whole matter should be laid before the Prince of Parma. It does not +appear that this personage, "an excellent man and a learned," attempted +to dissuade the young man from his project by arguments, drawn from any +supposed criminality in the assassination itself, or from any danger, +temporal or eternal, to which the perpetrator might expose himself. + +Not influenced, as it appears, except on one point, by the advice of this +second ghostly confessor, Balthazar came to Tournay, and held council +with a third--the celebrated Franciscan, Father Gery--by whom he was much +comforted and strengthened in his determination. His next step was to +lay the project before Parma, as the "excellent and learned" Jesuit at +Treves had advised. This he did by a letter, drawn up with much care, +and which he evidently thought well of as a composition. One copy of +this letter he deposited with the guardian of the Franciscan convent at +Tournay; the other he presented with his own hand to the Prince of Parma. +"The vassal," said he, "ought always to prefer justice and the will of +the king to his own life." That being the case, he expressed his +astonishment that no man had yet been found to execute the sentence +against William of Nassau, "except the gentle Biscayan, since defunct." +To accomplish the task, Balthazar observed, very judiciously, that it was +necessary to have access, to the person of the Prince--wherein consisted +the difficulty. Those who had that advantage, he continued, were +therefore bound to extirpate the pest at once, without obliging his +Majesty to send to Rome for a chevalier, because not one of them was +willing to precipitate himself into the venomous gulf, which by its +contagion infected and killed the souls and bodies, of all poor abused +subjects, exposed to its influence. Gerard avowed himself to have been +so long goaded and stimulated by these considerations--so extremely +nettled with displeasure and bitterness at seeing the obstinate wretch +still escaping his just judgment--as to have formed the design of baiting +a trap for the fox, hoping thus to gain access to him, and to take him +unawares. He added--without explaining the nature of the trap and the +bait--that he deemed it his duty to lay the subject before the most +serene Prince of Parma, protesting at the same time that he did not +contemplate the exploit for the sake of the reward mentioned in the +sentence, and that he preferred trusting in that regard to the immense +liberality of his Majesty. + +Parma had long been looking for a good man to murder Orange, feeling--as +Philip, Granvelle, and all former governors of the Netherlands had felt-- +that this was the only means of saving the royal authority in any part of +the provinces. Many unsatisfactory assassins had presented themselves +from time to time, and Alexander had paid money in hand to various +individuals--Italians, Spaniards, Lorrainers; Scotchmen, Englishmen, who +had generally spent the sums received without attempting the job. Others +were supposed to be still engaged in the enterprise; and at that moment +there were four persons--each unknown to the others, and of different +nations--in the city of Delft, seeking to compass the death of William +the Silent. Shag-eared, military, hirsute ruffians--ex-captains of free +companies and such marauders--were daily offering their services; there +was no lack of them, and they had done but little. How should Parma, +seeing this obscures undersized, thin-bearded, runaway clerk before him, +expect pith and energy from him? He thought him quite unfit for an +enterprise of moment, and declared as much to his secret councillors and +to the King. + +He soon dismissed him, after receiving his letters; and it may be +supposed that the bombastic style of that epistle would not efface +the unfavorable impression produced by Balthazar's exterior. The +representations of Haultepenne and others induced him so far to modify +his views as to send his confidential councillor, d'Assonleville, to the +stranger, in order to learn the details of the scheme. Assonleville had +accordingly an interview with Gerard, in which he requested the young man +to draw up a statement of his plan in writing, ani this was done upon the +11th of April, 1584. + +In this letter Gerard explained his plan of introducing himself to the +notice of Orange, at Delft, as the son of an executed Calvinist; as +himself warmly, though secretly, devoted to the Reformed faith, and as +desirous, therefore, of placing himself in the Prince's service, in order +to avoid the insolence of the Papists. Having gained the confidence of +those about the Prince, he would suggest to them the great use which +might be made of Mansfeld's signet in forging passports for spies and +other persons whom it might be desirous to send into the territory of the +royalists. "With these or similar feints and frivolities," continued +Gerard, "he should soon obtain access to the person of the said Nassau," +repeating his protestation that nothing had moved him to his enterprise +"save the good zeal which he bore to the faith and true religion guarded +by the Holy Mother Church Catholic, Apostolic, and Roman, and to the +service of his Majesty." He begged pardon for having purloined the +impressions of the seals--a turpitude which he would never have +committed, but would sooner have suffered a thousand deaths, except for +the great end in view. He particularly wished forgiveness for that crime +before going to his task, "in order that he might confess, and receive +the holy communion at the coming Easter, without scruples of conscience." +He likewise begged the Prince of Parma to obtain for him absolution from +his Holiness for this crime of pilfering--the more so "as he was about to +keep company for some time with heretics and atheists, and in some sort +to conform himself to their customs." + +From the general tone of the letters of Gerard, he might be set down at +once as a simple, religious fanatic, who felt sure that, in executing the +command of Philip publicly issued to all the murderers of Europe, he was +meriting well of God and his King. There is no doubt that he was an +exalted enthusiast, but not purely an enthusiast. The man's character +offers more than one point of interest, as a psychological phenomenon. +He had convinced himself that the work which he had in hand was eminently +meritorious, and he was utterly without fear of consequences. He was, +however, by no means so disinterested as he chose to represent himself in +letters which, as he instinctively felt, were to be of perennial +interest. On the contrary, in his interviews with Assonleville, he urged +that he was a poor fellow, and that he had undertaken this enterprise in +order to acquire property--to make himself rich--and that he depended +upon the Prince of Parma's influence in obtaining the reward promised by +the Ban to the individual who should put Orange to death. + +This second letter decided Parma so far that he authorized Assonleville +to encourage the young man in his attempt, and to promise that the reward +should be given to him in case of success, and to his heirs in the event +of his death. Assonleville, in the second interview, accordingly made +known these assurances in the strongest manner to Gerard, warning him, at +the same time, on no account; if arrested, to inculpate the Prince of +Parma. The councillor, while thus exhorting the stranger, according to +Alexander's commands, confined himself, however, to generalities, +refusing even to advance fifty crowns, which Balthazar had begged from +the Governor-General in order to provide for the necessary expenses of +his project. Parma had made similar advances too often to men who had +promised to assassinate the Prince and had then done little, and he was +resolute in his refusal to this new adventurer, of whom he expected +absolutely nothing. Gerard, notwithstanding this rebuff, was not +disheartened. "I will provide myself out of my own purse," said he to +Assonleville, "and within six weeks you will hear of me."--"Go forth, my +son," said Assonleville, paternally, upon this spirited reply, "and if +you succeed in your enterprise, the King will fulfil all his promises, +and you will gain an immortal name beside." + +The "inveterate deliberation," thus thoroughly matured, Gerard now +proceeded to carry into effect. He came to Delft; obtained a hearing of +Millers, the clergyman and intimate friend of Orange, showed him the +Mansfeld seals, and was, somewhat against his will, sent to France, to +exhibit them to Marechal Biron, who, it was thought, was soon to be +appointed governor of Cambray. Through Orange's recommendation, the +Burgundian was received into the suite of Noel de Caron, Seigneur de +Schoneval, then setting forth on a special mission to the Duke of Anjou. +While in France, Gerard could rest neither by day nor night, so tormented +was he by the desire of accomplishing his project, and at length he +obtained permission, upon the death of the Duke, to carry this important +intelligence to the Prince of Orange. The despatches having been +entrusted to him, he travelled posthaste to Delft, and, to his +astonishment, the letters had hardly been delivered before he was +summoned in person to the chamber of the Prince. Here was an opportunity +such as he had never dared to hope for. The arch-enemy to the Church and +to the human race, whose death, would confer upon his destroyer wealth +and nobility in this world, besides a crown of glory in the next, lay +unarmed, alone, in bed, before the man who had thirsted seven long years +for his blood. + +Balthazar could scarcely control his emotions sufficiently to answer +the questions which the Prince addressed to him concerning the death of +Anjou, but Orange, deeply engaged with the despatches, and with the +reflections which their deeply-important contents suggested, did not +observe the countenance of the humble Calvinist exile, who had been +recently recommended to his patronage by Millers. Gerard, had, moreover, +made no preparation for an interview so entirely unexpected, had come +unarmed, and had formed no plan for escape. He was obliged to forego +his prey when most within his reach, and after communicating all the +information which the Prince required, he was dismissed from the chamber. + +It was Sunday morning, and the bells were tolling for church. Upon +leaving the house he loitered about the courtyard, furtively examining +the premises, so that a sergeant of halberdiers asked him why he was +waiting there. Balthazar meekly replied that he was desirous of +attending divine worship in the church opposite, but added, pointing to, +his shabby and travel-stained attire, that, without at least a new pair +of shoes and stockings, he was unfit to join the congregation. +Insignificant as ever, the small, pious, dusty stranger excited no +suspicion in the mind of the good-natured sergeant. He forthwith spoke +of the wants of Gerard to an officer, by whom they were communicated to +Orange himself, and the Prince instantly ordered a sum of money to be +given him. Thus Balthazar obtained from William's charity what Parma's +thrift had denied--a fund for carrying out his purpose. + +Next morning, with the money thus procured he purchased a pair of +pistols, or small carabines, from a soldier, chaffering long about the +price because the vender could not supply a particular kind of chopped +bullets or slugs which he desired. Before the sunset of the following +day that soldier had stabbed himself to the heart, and died despairing, +on hearing for what purpose the pistols had been bought. + +On Tuesday, the 10th of July, 1584, at about half-past twelve, the +Prince, with his wife on his arm, and followed by the ladies and +gentlemen of his family, was going to the dining-room. William the +Silent was dressed upon that day, according to his usual custom, in very +plain fashion. He wore a wide-leaved, loosely-shaped hat of dark felt; +with a silken cord round the crown-such as had been worn by the Beggars +in the early days of the revolt. A high ruff encircled his neck, from +which also depended one of the Beggar's medals, with the motto, "Fideles +au roy jusqu'a la besace," while a loose surcoat of grey frieze cloth, +over a tawny leather doublet, with wide, slashed underclothes completed +his costume. Gerard presented himself at the doorway, and demanded a +passport. The Princess, struck with the pale and agitated countenance of +the man, anxiously questioned her husband concerning the stranger. The +Prince carelessly observed that "it was merely a person who came for a +passport," ordering, at the same time, a secretary forthwith to prepare +one. The Princess, still not relieved, observed in an under-tone that +"she had never seen so villainous a countenance." Orange, however, not +at all impressed with the appearance of Gerard, conducted himself at +table with his usual cheerfulness, conversing much with the burgomaster +of Leewarden, the only guest present at the family dinner, concerning the +political and religious aspects of Friesland. At two o'clock the company +rose from table. The Prince led the way, intending to pass to his +private apartments above. The dining-room, which was on the ground +floor, opened into a little square vestibule, which communicated, through +an arched passageway, with the main entrance into the court-yard. This +vestibule was also directly at the foot of the wooden staircase leading +to the next floor, and was scarcely six feet in width. Upon its left +side, as one approached the stairway, was an, obscure arch, sunk deep in +the wall, and completely in the shadow of the door. Behind this arch a +portal opened to the narrow lane at the side of the house. The stairs +themselves were completely lighted by a large window, half way up the +flight. The Prince came from the dining-room, and began leisurely to +ascend. He had only reached the second stair, when a man emerged from +the sunken arch, and, standing within a foot or two of him, discharged +a pistol full at his heart. Three balls entered his body, one of which, +passing quite through him, struck with violence against the wall beyond. +The Prince exclaimed in French, as he felt the wound, "O my God; have +mercy upon my soul! O my God, have mercy upon this poor people." + +These were the last words he ever spoke, save that when his sister, +Catherine of Schwartzburg, immediately afterwards asked him if he +commended his soul to Jesus Christ, he faintly answered, "Yes." His +master of the horse, Jacob van Maldere, had caught him in his arms as the +fatal shot was fired. The Prince was then placed on the stairs for an +instant, when he immediately began to swoon. He was afterwards laid upon +a couch in the dining-room, where in a few minutes, he breathed his last +in the arms of his wife and sister. + +The murderer succeeded in making his escape through the side door, and +sped swiftly up the narrow lane. He had almost reached the ramparts, +from which he intended to spring into the moat, when he stumbled over a +heap of rubbish. As he rose, he was seized by several pages and +halberdiers, who had pursued him from the house. He had dropped his +pistols upon the spot where he had committed the crime, and upon his +person were found a couple, of bladders, provided with apiece of pipe +with which he had intended to assist himself across the moat, beyond +which a horse was waiting for him. He made no effort to deny his +identity, but boldly avowed himself and his deed. He was brought back to +the house, where he immediately underwent a preliminary examination +before the city magistrates. He was afterwards subjected to excruciating +tortures; for the fury against the wretch who had destroyed the Father of +the country was uncontrollable, and William the Silent was no longer +alive to intercede--as he had often done before--in behalf of those who +assailed his life. + +The organization of Balthazar Gerard would furnish a subject of profound +study, both for the physiologist and the metaphysician. Neither wholly a +fanatic, nor entirely a ruffian, he combined the most dangerous elements +of both characters. In his puny body and mean exterior were enclosed +considerable mental powers and accomplishments, a daring ambition, and a +courage almost superhuman. Yet those qualities led him only to form upon +the threshold of life a deliberate determination to achieve greatness by +the assassin's trade. The rewards held out by the Ban, combining with +his religious bigotry and his passion for distinction, fixed all his +energies with patient concentration upon the one great purpose for which +he seemed to have been born, and after seven years' preparation, he had +at last fulfilled his design. + +Upon being interrogated by the magistrates, he manifested neither despair +nor contrition, but rather a quiet exultation." Like David," he said, +"he had slain Goliath of Gath." + +When falsely informed that his victim was not dead, he showed no +credulity or disappointment. He had discharged three poisoned balls into +the Prince's stomach, and he knew that death must have already ensued. +He expressed regret, however, that the resistance of the halberdiers had +prevented him from using his second pistol, and avowed that if he were a +thousand leagues away he would return in order to do the deed again, if +possible. He deliberately wrote a detailed confession of his crime, and +of the motives and manner of its commission, taking care, however, not to +implicate Parma in the transaction. After sustaining day after day the +most horrible tortures, he subsequently related his interviews with +Assonleville and with the president of the Jesuit college at Treves +adding that he had been influenced in his work by the assurance of +obtaining the rewards promised by the Ban. During the intervals of +repose from the rack he conversed with ease, and even eloquence, +answering all questions addressed to him with apparent sincerity. His +constancy in suffering so astounded his judges that they believed him +supported by witchcraft. "Ecce homo!" he exclaimed, from time to time, +with insane blasphemy, as he raised his blood-streaming head from the +bench. In order to destroy the charm which seemed to render him +insensible to pain, they sent for the shirt of a hospital patient, +supposed to be a sorcerer. When clothed in this garment, however, +Balthazar was none the less superior to the arts of the tormentors, +enduring all their inflictions, according to an eye-witness, "without +once exclaiming, Ah me!" and avowing that he would repeat his +enterprise, if possible, were he to die a thousand deaths in consequence. +Some of those present refused to believe that he was a man at all. +Others asked him how long since he had sold himself to the Devil? to +which he replied, mildly, that he had no acquaintance whatever with the +Devil. He thanked the judges politely for the food which he received in +prison, and promised to recompense them for the favor. Upon being asked +how that was possible, he replied; that he would serve as their advocate +in Paradise. + +The sentence pronounced against the assassin was execrable--a crime +against the memory of the great man whom it professed to avenge. It was +decreed that the right hand of Gerard should be burned off with a red-hot +iron, that his flesh should be torn from his bones with pincers in six +different places, that he should be quartered and disembowelled alive, +that his heart should be torn from his bosom and flung in his face, and +that, finally, his head should be taken off. Not even his horrible +crime, with its endless consequences, nor the natural frenzy of +indignation which it had excited, could justify this savage decree, +to rebuke which the murdered hero might have almost risen from the sleep +of death. The sentence was literally executed on the 14th of July, the +criminal supporting its horrors with the same astonishing fortitude. So +calm were his nerves, crippled and half roasted as he was ere he mounted +the scaffold, that when one of the executioners was slightly injured in +the ear by the flying from the handle of the hammer with which he was +breaking the fatal pistol in pieces, as the first step in the execution +--a circumstance which produced a general laugh in the crowd--a smile was +observed upon Balthazar's face in sympathy with the general hilarity. +His lips were seen to move up to the moment when his heart was thrown in +his face--"Then," said a looker-on, "he gave up the ghost." + +The reward promised by Philip to the man who should murder Orange was +paid to the heirs of Gerard. Parma informed his sovereign that the "poor +man" had been executed, but that his father and mother were still living; +to whom he recommended the payment of that "merced" which "the laudable +and generous deed had so well deserved." This was accordingly done, and +the excellent parents, ennobled and enriched by the crime of their son, +received instead of the twenty-five thousand crowns promised in the Ban, +the three seignories of Lievremont, Hostal, and Dampmartin in the Franche +Comte, and took their place at once among the landed aristocracy. Thus +the bounty of the Prince had furnished the weapon by which his life was +destroyed, and his estates supplied the fund out of which the assassin's +family received the price of blood. At a later day, when the unfortunate +eldest son of Orange returned from Spain after twenty-seven years' +absence, a changeling and a Spaniard, the restoration of those very +estates was offered to him by Philip the Second, provided he would +continue to pay a fixed proportion of their rents to the family of his +father's murderer. The education which Philip William had received, +under the King's auspices, had however, not entirely destroyed all his +human feelings, and he rejected the proposal with scorn. The estates +remained with the Gerard family, and the patents of nobility which they +had received were used to justify their exemption from certain taxes, +until the union of Franche Comte, with France, when a French governor +tore the documents in pieces and trampled them under foot. + +William of Orange, at the period of his death, was aged fifty-one years +and sixteen days. He left twelve children. By his first wife, Anne of +Egmont, he had one son, Philip, and one daughter, Mary, afterwards +married to Count Hohenlo. By his second wife, Anna of Saxony; he had one +son, the celebrated Maurice of Nassau, and two daughters, Anna, married +afterwards to her cousin, Count William Louis, and Emilie, who espoused +the Pretender of Portugal, Prince Emanuel. By Charlotte of Bourbon, his +third wife, he had six daughters; and by his fourth, Louisa de Coligny, +one son, Frederic William, afterwards stadholder of the Republic in +her most palmy days. The Prince was entombed on the 3rd of August, +at Delft, amid the tears of a whole nation. Never was a more extensive, +unaffected, and legitimate sorrow felt at the death of any human being. + + + +The life and labors of Orange had established the emancipated common- +wealth upon a secure foundation, but his death rendered the union of all +the Netherlands into one republic hopeless. The efforts of the +Malcontent nobles, the religious discord, the consummate ability, both +political and military, of Parma, all combined with the lamentable loss +of William the Silent to separate for ever the southern and Catholic +provinces from the northern confederacy. So long as the Prince remained +alive, he was the Father of the whole country; the Netherlands--saving +only the two Walloon provinces--constituting a whole. Notwithstanding +the spirit of faction and the blight of the long civil war, there was at +least one country; or the hope of a country, one strong heart, one +guiding head, for the patriotic party throughout the land. Philip and +Granvelle were right in their estimate of the advantage to be derived +from the Prince's death, in believing that an assassin's hand could +achieve more than all the wiles which Spanish or Italian statesmanship +could teach, or all the armies which Spain or Italy could muster. The +pistol of the insignificant Gerard destroyed the possibility of a united +Netherland state, while during the life of William there was union in the +policy, unity in the history of the country. + +In the following year, Antwerp, hitherto the centre around which all the +national interests and historical events group themselves, fell before +the scientific efforts of Parma. The city which had so long been the +freest, as well as the most opulent, capital in Europe, sank for ever to +the position of a provincial town. With its fall, combined with other +circumstances, which it is not necessary to narrate in anticipation, +the final separation of the Netherlands was completed. On the other +hand, at the death of Orange, whose formal inauguration as sovereign +Count had not yet taken place, the states of Holland and Zealand +reassumed the Sovereignty. The commonwealth which William had liberated +for ever from Spanish tyranny continued to exist as a great and +flourishing republic during, more than two centuries, under the +successive stadholderates of his sons and descendants. + +His life gave existence to an independent country--his death defined its +limits. Had he lived twenty years longer, it is probable that the seven +provinces would have been seventeen; and that the Spanish title would +have been for ever extinguished both in Nether Germany and Celtic Gaul. +Although there was to be the length of two human generations more of +warfare ere Spain acknowledged the new government, yet before the +termination of that period the United States had become the first naval +power and one of the most considerable commonwealths in the world; while +the civil and religious liberty, the political independence of the land, +together with the total expulsion of the ancient foreign tyranny from the +soil, had been achieved ere the eyes of William were closed. The +republic existed, in fact, from the moment of the abjuration in 1581. + +The most important features of the polity which thus assumed a prominent +organization have been already indicated. There was no revolution, no +radical change. The ancient rugged tree of Netherland liberty--with its +moss-grown trunk, gnarled branches, and deep-reaching roots--which had +been slowly growing for ages, was still full of sap, and was to deposit +for centuries longer its annual rings of consolidated and concentric +strength. Though lopped of some luxuriant boughs, it was sound at the +core, and destined for a still larger life than even in the healthiest +moments of its mediveval existence. + +The history of the rise of the Netherland Republic has been at the same +time the biography of William the Silent. This, while it gives unity to +the narrative, renders an elaborate description of his character +superfluous. That life was a noble Christian epic; inspired with one +great purpose from its commencement to its close; the stream flowing ever +from one fountain with expanding fulness, but retaining all its original +pity. A few general observations are all which are necessary by way of +conclusion. + +In person, Orange was above the middle height, perfectly well made and +sinewy, but rather spare than stout. His eyes, hair, beard, and +complexion were brown. His head was small, symmetrically-shaped, +combining the alertness and compactness characteristic of the soldier; +with the capacious brow furrowed prematurely with the horizontal lines of +thought, denoting the statesman and the sage. His physical appearance +was, therefore, in harmony, with his organization, which was of antique +model. Of his moral qualities, the most prominent was his piety. He was +more than anything else a religious man. From his trust in God, he ever +derived support and consolation in the darkest hours. Implicitly relying +upon Almighty wisdom and goodness, he looked danger in the face with a +constant smile, and endured incessant labors and trials with a serenity +which seemed more than human. While, however, his soul was full of +piety, it was tolerant of error. Sincerely and deliberately himself a +convert to the Reformed Church, he was ready to extend freedom of worship +to Catholics on the one hand, and to Anabaptists on the other, for no man +ever felt more keenly than he, that the Reformer who becomes in his turn +a bigot is doubly odious. + +His firmness was allied to his piety. His constancy in bearing the whole +weight of struggle as unequal as men have ever undertaken, was the theme +of admiration even to his enemies. The rock in the ocean, "tranquil amid +raging billows," was the favorite emblem by which his friends expressed, +their sense of his firmness. From the time when, as a hostage in France, +he first discovered the plan of Philip to plant the Inquisition in the +Netherlands, up to the last moment of his life, he never faltered in his +determination to resist that iniquitous scheme. This resistance was the +labor of his life. To exclude the Inquisition; to maintain the ancient +liberties. of his country, was the task which he appointed to himself +when a youth of three-and-twenty. Never speaking a word concerning a +heavenly mission, never deluding himself or others with the usual +phraseology of enthusiasts, he accomplished the task, through danger, +amid toils, and with sacrifices such as few men have ever been able to +make on their country's altar; for the disinterested benevolence of the +man was as prominent as his fortitude. A prince of high rank, and, with +royal revenues, he stripped himself of station, wealth, almost at times +of the common necessaries of life, and became, in his country's cause, +nearly a beggar as well as an outlaw. Nor was he forced into his career +by an accidental impulse from which there was no recovery. Retreat was +ever open to him. Not only pardon but advancement was urged upon him +again and again. Officially and privately, directly and circuitously, +his confiscated estates, together with indefinite and boundless favors in +addition, were offered to him on every great occasion. On the arrival of +Don John, at the Breda negotiations, at the Cologne conferences, we have +seen how calmly these offers were waved aside, as if their rejection was +so simple that it hardly required many words for its signification, yet +he had mortgaged his estates so deeply that his heirs hesitated at +accepting their inheritance, for fear it should involve them in debt. +Ten years after his death, the account between his executors and his +brother John amounted to one million four hundred thousand florins--due +to the Count, secured by various pledges of real and personal property; +and it was finally settled upon this basis. He was besides largely +indebted to every one of his powerful relatives, so that the payment of +the incumbrances upon his estate very nearly justified the fears of his +children. While on the one hand, therefore, he poured out these enormous +sums like water, and firmly refused a hearing to the tempting offers of +the royal government, upon the other hand he proved the disinterested +nature of his services by declining, year after year, the sovereignty +over the provinces; and by only accepting, in the last days of his life, +when refusal had become almost impossible, the limited, constitutional +supremacy over that portion of them which now makes the realm of his +descendants. He lived and died, not for himself, but for his country: +"God pity this poor people!" were his dying words. + +His intellectual faculties were various and of the highest order. He had +the exact, practical, and combining qualities which make the great +commander, and his friends claimed that, in military genius, he was +second to no captain in Europe. This was, no doubt, an exaggeration +of partial attachment, but it is certain that the Emperor Charles had +an exalted opinion of his capacity for the field. His fortification of +Philippeville and Charlemont, in the face of the enemy his passage of the +Meuse in Alva's sight--his unfortunate but well-ordered campaign against +that general--his sublime plan of relief, projected and successfully +directed at last from his sick bed, for the besieged city of Leyden-- +will always remain monuments of his practical military skill. + +Of the soldier's great virtues--constancy in disaster, devotion to duty, +hopefulness in defeat--no man ever possessed a larger share. He arrived, +through a series of reverses, at a perfect victory. He planted a free +commonwealth under the very battery of the Inquisition, in defiance of +the most powerful empire existing. He was therefore a conqueror in the +loftiest sense, for he conquered liberty and a national existence for a +whole people. The contest was long, and he fell in the struggle, but the +victory was to the dead hero, not to the living monarch. It is to be +remembered, too, that he always wrought with inferior instruments. His +troops were usually mercenaries, who were but too apt to mutiny upon the +eve of battle, while he was opposed by the most formidable veterans of +Europe, commanded successively by the first captains of the age. That, +with no lieutenant of eminent valor or experience, save only his brother +Louis, and with none at all after that chieftain's death, William of +Orange should succeed in baffling the efforts of Alva, Requesens, Don +John of Austria, and Alexander Farnese--men whose names are among the +most brilliant in the military annals of the world--is in itself, +sufficient evidence of his warlike ability. At the period of his death +he had reduced the number of obedient provinces to two; only Artois and +Hainault acknowledging Philip, while the other fifteen were in open +revolt, the greater part having solemnly forsworn their sovereign. + +The supremacy of his political genius was entirely beyond question. He +was the first statesman of the age. The quickness of his perception was +only equalled by the caution which enabled him to mature the results of +his observations. His knowledge of human nature was profound. He +governed the passions and sentiments of a great nation as if they had +been but the keys and chords of one vast instrument; and his hand rarely +failed to evoke harmony even out of the wildest storms. The turbulent +city of Ghent, which could obey no other master, which even the haughty +Emperor could only crush without controlling, was ever responsive to the +master-hand of Orange. His presence scared away Imbize and his bat-like +crew, confounded the schemes of John Casimir, frustrated the wiles of +Prince Chimay, and while he lived, Ghent was what it ought always to have +remained, the bulwark, as it had been the cradle, of popular liberty. +After his death it became its tomb. + +Ghent, saved thrice by the policy, the eloquence, the self-sacrifices of +Orange, fell within three months of his murder into the hands of Parma. +The loss of this most important city, followed in the next year by the +downfall of Antwerp, sealed the fate of the Southern Netherlands. +Had the Prince lived, how different might have been the country's fate! +If seven provinces could dilate, in so brief a space, into the powerful +commonwealth which the Republic soon became, what might not have been +achieved by the united seventeen; a confederacy which would have united +the adamantine vigor of the Batavian and Frisian races with the subtler, +more delicate, and more graceful national elements in which the genius of +the Frank, the Roman, and the Romanized Celt were so intimately blended. +As long as the Father of the country lived, such a union was possible. +His power of managing men was so unquestionable, that there was always a +hope, even in the darkest hour, for men felt implicit reliance, as well +on his intellectual resources as on his integrity. + +This power of dealing with his fellow-men he manifested in the various +ways in which it has been usually exhibited by statesmen. He possessed a +ready eloquence--sometimes impassioned, oftener argumentative, always +rational. His influence over his audience was unexampled in the annals +of that country or age; yet he never condescended to flatter the people. +He never followed the nation, but always led her in the path of duty and +of honor, and was much more prone to rebuke the vices than to pander to +the passions of his hearers. He never failed to administer ample +chastisement to parsimony, to jealousy, to insubordination, to +intolerance, to infidelity, wherever it was due, nor feared to confront +the states or the people in their most angry hours, and to tell them the +truth to their faces. This commanding position he alone could stand +upon, for his countrymen knew the generosity which had sacrificed his +all for them, the self-denial which had eluded rather than sought +political advancement, whether from king or people, and the untiring +devotion which had consecrated a whole life to toil and danger in the +cause of their emancipation. While, therefore, he was ever ready to +rebuke, and always too honest to flatter, he at the same time possessed +the eloquence which could convince or persuade. He knew how to reach +both the mind and the heart of his hearers. His orations, whether +extemporaneous or prepared--his written messages to the states-general, +to the provincial authorities, to the municipal bodies--his private +correspondence with men of all ranks, from emperors and kings down to +secretaries, and even children--all show an easy flow of language, a +fulness of thought, a power of expression rare in that age, a fund of +historical allusion, a considerable power of imagination, a warmth of +sentiment, a breadth of view, a directness of purpose--a range of +qualities, in short, which would in themselves have stamped him as one of +the master-minds of his century, had there been no other monument to his +memory than the remains of his spoken or written eloquence. The bulk of +his performances in this department was prodigious. Not even Philip was +more industrious in the cabinet. Not even Granvelle held a more facile +pen. He wrote and spoke equally well in French German, or Flemish; and +he possessed, besides; Spanish, Italian, Latin. The weight of his +correspondence alone would have almost sufficed for the common industry +of a lifetime, and although many volumes of his speeches and, letters +have been published, there remain in the various archives of the +Netherlands and Germany many documents from his hand which will probably +never see the light. If the capacity for unremitted intellectual labor +in an honorable cause be the measure of human greatness, few minds could +be compared to the "large composition" of this man. The efforts made to +destroy the Netherlands by the most laborious and painstaking of tyrants +were counteracted by the industry of the most indefatigable of patriots. + +Thus his eloquence, oral or written, gave him almost boundless power +over his countrymen. He possessed, also, a rare perception of human +character, together with an iron memory which never lost a face, a place, +or an event, once seen or known. He read the minds even the faces of +men, like printed books. No man could overreach him, excepting only +those to whom he gave his heart. He might be mistaken where he had +confided, never where he had been distrustful or indifferent. He was +deceived by Renneberg, by his brother-in-law Van den Berg, by the Duke of +Anjou. Had it been possible for his brother Louis or his brother John to +have proved false, he might have been deceived by them. He was never +outwitted by Philip, or Granvelle, or Don John, or Alexander of Parma. +Anna of Saxony was false to him; and entered into correspondence with the +royal governors and with the King of Spain; Charlotte of Bourbon or +Louisa de Coligny might have done the same had it been possible for their +natures also to descend to such depths of guile. + +As for the Aerschots, the Havres, the Chimays, he was never influenced +either by their blandishments or their plots. He was willing to use them +when their interest made them friendly, or to crush them when their +intrigues against his policy rendered them dangerous. The adroitness +with which he converted their schemes in behalf of Matthias, of Don John, +of Anjou, into so many additional weapons for his own cause, can never be +too often studied. It is instructive to observe the wiles of the +Macchiavelian school employed by a master of the craft, to frustrate, +not to advance, a knavish purpose. This character, in a great measure, +marked his whole policy. He was profoundly skilled in the subtleties of +Italian statesmanship, which he had learned as a youth at the Imperial +court, and which he employed in his manhood in the service, not of +tyranny, but of liberty. He fought the Inquisition with its own weapons. +He dealt with Philip on his own ground. He excavated the earth beneath +the King's feet by a more subtle process than that practised by the most +fraudulent monarch that ever governed the Spanish empire, and Philip, +chain-mailed as he was in complicated wiles, was pierced to the quick by +a keener policy than his own. + +Ten years long the King placed daily his most secret letters in hands +which regularly transmitted copies of the correspondence to the Prince of +Orange, together with a key to the ciphers and every other illustration +which might be required. Thus the secrets of the King were always as +well known to Orange as to himself; and the Prince being as prompt as +Philip was hesitating, the schemes could often be frustrated before their +execution had been commenced. The crime of the unfortunate clerk, John +de Castillo, was discovered in the autumn of the year 1581, and he was +torn to pieces by four horses. Perhaps his treason to the monarch whose +bread he was eating, while he received a regular salary from the King's +most determined foe, deserved even this horrible punishment, but casuists +must determine how much guilt attaches to the Prince for his share in the +transaction. This history is not the eulogy of Orange, although, in +discussing his character, it is difficult to avoid the monotony of +panegyric. Judged by a severe moral standard, it cannot be called +virtuous or honorable to suborn treachery or any other crime, even to +accomplish a lofty purpose; yet the universal practice of mankind in all +ages has tolerated the artifices of war, and no people has ever engaged +in a holier or more mortal contest than did the Netherlands in their +great struggle with Spain. Orange possessed the rare quality of caution, +a characteristic by which he was distinguished from his youth. At +fifteen he was the confidential counsellor, as at twenty-one he became +the general-in-chief, to the most politic, as well as the most warlike +potentate of his age, and if he at times indulged in wiles which modern +statesmanship, even while it practises, condemns, he ever held in his +hand the clue of an honorable purpose to guide him through the tortuous +labyrinth. + +It is difficult to find any other characteristic deserving of grave +censure, but his enemies have adopted a simpler process. They have been +able to find few flaws in his nature, and therefore have denounced it in +gross. It is not that his character was here and there defective, but +that the eternal jewel was false. The patriotism was counterfeit; the +self-abnegation and the generosity were counterfeit. He was governed +only by ambition--by a desire of personal advancement. They never +attempted to deny his talents, his industry, his vast sacrifices of +wealth and station; but they ridiculed the idea that he could have been +inspired by any but unworthy motives. God alone knows the heart of man. +He alone can unweave the tangled skein of human motives, and detect the +hidden springs of human action, but as far as can be judged by a careful +observation of undisputed facts, and by a diligent collation of public +and private documents, it would seem that no man--not even Washington-- +has ever been inspired by a purer patriotism. At any rate, the charge of +ambition and self-seeking can only be answered by a reference to the +whole picture which these volumes have attempted to portray. The words, +the deeds of the man are there. As much as possible, his inmost soul is +revealed in his confidential letters, and he who looks in a right spirit +will hardly fail to find what he desires. + +Whether originally of a timid temperament or not, he was certainly +possessed of perfect courage at last. In siege and battle--in the deadly +air of pestilential cities--in the long exhaustion of mind and body which +comes from unduly protracted labor and anxiety--amid the countless +conspiracies of assassins--he was daily exposed to death in every shape. +Within two years, five different attempts against his life had been +discovered. Rank and fortune were offered to any malefactor who would +compass the murder. He had already been shot through the head, and +almost mortally wounded. Under such circumstances even a brave man might +have seen a pitfall at every step, a dagger in every hand, and poison in +every cup. On the contrary, he was ever cheerful, and hardly took more +precaution than usual. "God in his mercy," said he, with unaffected +simplicity, "will maintain my innocence and my honor during my life and +in future ages. As to my fortune and my life, I have dedicated both, +long since, to His service. He will do therewith what pleases Him for +His glory and my salvation." Thus his suspicions were not even excited +by the ominous face of Gerard, when he first presented himself at the +dining-room door. The Prince laughed off his wife's prophetic +apprehension at the sight of his murderer, and was as cheerful +as usual to the last. + +He possessed, too, that which to the heathen philosopher seemed the +greatest good--the sound mind in the sound body. His physical frame was +after death found so perfect that a long life might have been in store +for him, notwithstanding all which he had endured. The desperate illness +of 1574, the frightful gunshot wound inflicted by Jaureguy in 1582, had +left no traces. The physicians pronounced that his body presented an +aspect of perfect health. His temperament was cheerful. At table, +the pleasures of which, in moderation, were his only relaxation, he was +always animated and merry, and this jocoseness was partly natural, partly +intentional. In the darkest hours of his country's trial, he affected a +serenity which he was far from feeling, so that his apparent gaiety at +momentous epochs was even censured by dullards, who could not comprehend +its philosophy, nor applaud the flippancy of William the Silent. + +He went through life bearing the load of a people's sorrows upon his +shoulders with a smiling face. Their name was the last word upon his +lips, save the simple affirmative, with which the soldier who had been +battling for the right all his lifetime, commended his soul in dying +"to his great captain, Christ." The people were grateful and +affectionate, for they trusted the character of their "Father William," +and not all the clouds which calumny could collect ever dimmed to their +eyes the radiance of that lofty mind to which they were accustomed, in +their darkest calamities, to look for light. As long as he lived, he was +the guiding-star of a whole brave nation, and when he died the little +children cried in the streets. + + + + +ETEXT EDITOR'S BOOKMARKS: + +Bribed the Deity +Forgiving spirit on the part of the malefactor +Great error of despising their enemy +Mistake to stumble a second time over the same stone +Modern statesmanship, even while it practises, condemns +Preferred an open enemy to a treacherous protector +Reformer who becomes in his turn a bigot is doubly odious +Unremitted intellectual labor in an honorable cause +Usual phraseology of enthusiasts +Writing letters full of injured innocence + + + + +End of this Project Gutenberg Etext of The Dutch Republic, v34 +by John Lothrop Motley + + + + + + +ETEXT EDITOR'S BOOKMARKS, RISE OF THE DUTCH REPUBLIC, 1574-76 + +A terrible animal, indeed, is an unbridled woman +A good lawyer is a bad Christian +A most fatal success +A common hatred united them, for a time at least +Absurd affectation of candor +Agreements were valid only until he should repent +All the majesty which decoration could impart +All Protestants were beheaded, burned, or buried alive +All claimed the privilege of persecuting +Always less apt to complain of irrevocable events +Amuse them with this peace negotiation +Are apt to discharge such obligations--(by) ingratitude +Arrive at their end by fraud, when violence will not avail them +As the old woman had told the Emperor Adrian +Attachment to a half-drowned land and to a despised religion +Barbara Blomberg, washerwoman of Ratisbon +Beautiful damsel, who certainly did not lack suitors +Believed in the blessed advent of peace +Blessing of God upon the Devil's work +Breath, time, and paper were profusely wasted and nothing gained +Bribed the Deity +Care neither for words nor menaces in any matter +Character of brave men to act, not to expect +Claimed the praise of moderation that their demands were so few +Colonel Ysselstein, "dismissed for a homicide or two" +Compassing a country's emancipation through a series of defeats +Conflicting claims of prerogative and conscience +Confused conferences, where neither party was entirely sincere +Country would bear his loss with fortitude +Customary oaths, to be kept with the customary conscientiousness +Daily widening schism between Lutherans and Calvinists +Deadliest of sins, the liberty of conscience +Difficult for one friend to advise another in three matters +Distinguished for his courage, his cruelty, and his corpulence +Don John of Austria +Don John was at liberty to be King of England and Scotland +Dying at so very inconvenient a moment +Eight thousand human beings were murdered +Establish not freedom for Calvinism, but freedom for conscience +Everything was conceded, but nothing was secured +Fanatics of the new religion denounced him as a godless man +Ferocity which even Christians could not have surpassed +Forgiving spirit on the part of the malefactor +Glory could be put neither into pocket nor stomach +God has given absolute power to no mortal man +Great error of despising their enemy +Happy to glass themselves in so brilliant a mirror +He had never enjoyed social converse, except at long intervals +He would have no Calvinist inquisition set up in its place +He would have no persecution of the opposite creed +His personal graces, for the moment, took the rank of virtues +Hope delayed was but a cold and meagre consolation +Human ingenuity to inflict human misery +I regard my country's profit, not my own +Imagined, and did the work of truth +In character and general talents he was beneath mediocrity +Indecision did the work of indolence +Insinuate that his orders had been hitherto misunderstood +It is not desirable to disturb much of that learned dust +Its humility, seemed sufficiently ironical +Judas Maccabaeus +King set a price upon his head as a rebel +Like a man holding a wolf by the ears +Local self-government which is the life-blood of liberty +Logical and historical argument of unmerciful length +Made no breach in royal and Roman infallibility +Mankind were naturally inclined to calumny +Men were loud in reproof, who had been silent +Mistake to stumble a second time over the same stone +Modern statesmanship, even while it practises, condemns +More easily, as he had no intention of keeping the promise +Natural to judge only by the result +Necessary to make a virtue of necessity +Neither wished the convocation, while both affected an eagerness +Neither ambitious nor greedy +No man ever understood the art of bribery more thoroughly +No authority over an army which they did not pay +No man could reveal secrets which he did not know +Not so successful as he was picturesque +Not upon words but upon actions +Not to fall asleep in the shade of a peace negotiation +Nothing was so powerful as religious difference +Of high rank but of lamentably low capacity +On the first day four thousand men and women were slaughtered +One-half to Philip and one-half to the Pope and Venice (slaves) +Our pot had not gone to the fire as often +Peace was desirable, it might be more dangerous than war +Peace, in reality, was war in its worst shape +Perfection of insolence +Plundering the country which they came to protect +Pope excommunicated him as a heretic +Power grudged rather than given to the deputies +Preferred an open enemy to a treacherous protector +Presumption in entitling themselves Christian +Preventing wrong, or violence, even towards an enemy +Proposition made by the wolves to the sheep, in the fable +Protect the common tranquillity by blood, purse, and life +Quite mistaken: in supposing himself the Emperor's child +Rebuked the bigotry which had already grown +Reformer who becomes in his turn a bigot is doubly odious +Reformers were capable of giving a lesson even to inquisitors +Republic, which lasted two centuries +Result was both to abandon the provinces and to offend Philip +Sentimentality that seems highly apocryphal +She knew too well how women were treated in that country +Superfluous sarcasm +Suppress the exercise of the Roman religion +Taxes upon income and upon consumption +The disunited provinces +The more conclusive arbitration of gunpowder +There is no man who does not desire to enjoy his own +They could not invent or imagine toleration +Those who "sought to swim between two waters" +Those who fish in troubled waters only to fill their own nets +Throw the cat against their legs +To hear the last solemn commonplaces +Toleration thought the deadliest heresy of all +Unduly dejected in adversity +Unremitted intellectual labor in an honorable cause +Usual phraseology of enthusiasts +Unmeaning phrases of barren benignity +Volatile word was thought preferable to the permanent letter +Was it astonishing that murder was more common than fidelity? +Word-mongers who, could clothe one shivering thought +Worn crescents in their caps at Leyden +Worship God according to the dictates of his conscience +Writing letters full of injured innocence + + + + + +*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE DUTCH REPUBLIC, 1574-84 *** + +******** This file should be named jm35v10.txt or jm35v10.zip ******** + +Corrected EDITIONS of our eBooks get a new NUMBER, jm35v11.txt +VERSIONS based on separate sources get new LETTER, jm35v10a.txt + +This eBook was produced by David Widger <widger@cecomet.net> + +Project Gutenberg eBooks are often created from several printed +editions, all of which are confirmed as Public Domain in the US +unless a copyright notice is included. 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