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diff --git a/4847.txt b/4847.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..7a6a873 --- /dev/null +++ b/4847.txt @@ -0,0 +1,17471 @@ +The Project Gutenberg EBook of History of the United Netherlands, +1584-86, Vol. I. Complete, by John Lothrop Motley + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: History of the United Netherlands, 1584-86, Vol. I.(of IV) Complete + +Author: John Lothrop Motley + +Release Date: October 15, 2006 [EBook #4847] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK UNITED NETHERLANDS, I. *** + + + + +Produced by David Widger + + + + +HISTORY OF THE UNITED NETHERLANDS, 1584-1586, Volume I. (of IV), Complete + +From the Death of William the Silent to the Twelve Year's Truce + + + + +Volume I. + + +By John Lothrop Motley + + + + +PREFACE. + +The indulgence with which the History of the Rise of the Dutch Republic +was received has encouraged me to prosecute my task with renewed +industry. + +A single word seems necessary to explain the somewhat increased +proportions which the present work has assumed over the original design. +The intimate connection which was formed between the Kingdom of England +and the Republic of Holland, immediately after the death of William the +Silent, rendered the history and the fate of the two commonwealths for a +season almost identical. The years of anxiety and suspense during which +the great Spanish project for subjugating England and reconquering the +Netherlands, by the same invasion, was slowly matured, were of deepest +import for the future destiny of those two countries, and for the cause +of national liberty. The deep-laid conspiracy of Spain and Rome against +human rights deserves to be patiently examined, for it is one of the +great lessons of history. The crisis was long and doubtful, and the +health--perhaps the existence--of England and Holland, and, with them, +of a great part of Christendom, was on the issue. + +History has few so fruitful examples of the dangers which come from +superstition and despotism, and the blessings which flow from the +maintenance of religious and political freedom, as those afforded by the +struggle between England and Holland on the one side, and Spain and Rome +on the other, during the epoch which I have attempted to describe. It is +for this reason that I have thought it necessary to reveal, as minutely +as possible, the secret details of this conspiracy of king and priest +against the people, and to show how it was baffled at last by the strong +self-helping energy of two free nations combined. + +The period occupied by these two volumes is therefore a short one, when +counted by years, for it begins in 1584 and ends with the commencement of +1590. When estimated by the significance of events and their results for +future ages, it will perhaps be deemed worthy of the close examination +which it has received. With the year 1588 the crisis was past; England +was safe, and the new Dutch commonwealth was thoroughly organized. It is +my design, in two additional volumes, which, with the two now published, +will complete the present work, to carry the history of the Republic down +to the Synod of Dort. After this epoch the Thirty Years' War broke out in +Germany; and it is my wish, at a future day, to retrace the history of +that eventful struggle, and to combine with it the civil and military +events in Holland, down to the epoch when the Thirty Years' War and the +Eighty Years' War of the Netherlands were both brought to a close by the +Peace of Westphalia. + +The materials for the volumes now offered to the public were so abundant +that it was almost impossible to condense them into smaller compass +without doing injustice to the subject. It was desirable to throw full +light on these prominent points of the history, while the law of +historical perspective will allow long stretches of shadow in the +succeeding portions, in which less important objects may be more slightly +indicated. That I may not be thought capable of abusing the reader's +confidence by inventing conversations, speeches, or letters, I would take +this opportunity of stating--although I have repeated the remark in the +foot-notes--that no personage in these pages is made to write or speak +any words save those which, on the best historical evidence, he is known +to have written or spoken. + +A brief allusion to my sources of information will not seem superfluous: +I have carefully studied all the leading contemporary chronicles and +pamphlets of Holland, Flanders, Spain, France, Germany, and England; but, +as the authorities are always indicated in the notes, it is unnecessary +to give a list of them here. But by far my most valuable materials are +entirely unpublished ones. + +The archives of England are especially rich for the history of the +sixteenth century; and it will be seen, in the course of the narrative, +how largely I have drawn from those mines of historical wealth, the State +Paper Office and the MS. department of the British Museum. Although both +these great national depositories are in admirable order, it is to be +regretted that they are not all embraced in one collection, as much +trouble might then be spared to the historical student, who is now +obliged to pass frequently from the one place to the other, in order to, +find different portions of the same correspondence. + +From the royal archives of Holland I have obtained many most important, +entirely unpublished documents, by the aid of which I have endeavoured to +verify, to illustrate, or sometimes to correct, the recitals of the elder +national chroniclers; and I have derived the greatest profit from the +invaluable series of Archives and Correspondence of the Orange-Nassau +Family, given to the world by M. Groen van Prinsterer. I desire to renew +to that distinguished gentleman, and to that eminent scholar M. Bakhuyzen +van den Brink, the expression of my gratitude for their constant kindness +and advice during my residence at the Hague. Nothing can exceed the +courtesy which has been extended to me in Holland, and I am deeply +grateful for the indulgence with which my efforts to illustrate the +history of the country have been received where that history is best +known. + +I have also been much aided by the study of a portion of the Archives of +Simancas, the originals of which are in the Archives de l'Empire in +Paris, and which were most liberally laid before me through the kindness +of M. le Comte de La Borde. + +I have, further; enjoyed an inestimable advantage in the perusal of the +whole correspondence between Philip II., his ministers, and governors, +relating to the affairs of the Netherlands, from the epoch at which this +work commences down to that monarch's death. Copies of this +correspondence have been carefully made from the originals at Simancas by +order of the Belgian Government, under the superintendence of the eminent +archivist M. Gachard, who has already published a synopsis or abridgment +of a portion of it in a French translation. The translation and +abridgment of so large a mass of papers, however, must necessarily occupy +many years, and it may be long, therefore, before the whole of the +correspondence--and particularly that portion of it relating to the epoch +occupied by these volumes sees the light. It was, therefore, of the +greatest importance for me to see the documents themselves unabridged and +untranslated. This privilege has been accorded me, and I desire to +express my thanks to his Excellency M. van de Weyer, the distinguished +representative of Belgium at the English Court, to whose friendly offices +I am mainly indebted for the satisfaction of my wishes in this respect. A +letter from him to his Excellency M. Rogier, Minister of the Interior in +Belgium--who likewise took the most courteous interest in promoting my +views--obtained for me the permission thoroughly to study this +correspondence; and I passed several months in Brussels, occupied with +reading the whole of it from the year 1584 to the end of the reign of +Philip II. + +I was thus saved a long visit to the Archives of Simancas, for it would +be impossible conscientiously to write the history of the epoch without a +thorough examination of the correspondence of the King and his ministers. +I venture to hope, therefore--whatever judgment may be passed upon my own +labours--that this work may be thought to possess an intrinsic value; for +the various materials of which it is composed are original, and--so far +as I am aware--have not been made use of by any historical writer. + +I would take this opportunity to repeat my thanks to M. Gachard, +Archivist of the kingdom of Belgium, for the uniform courtesy and +kindness which I have received at his-hands, and to bear my testimony to +the skill and critical accuracy with which he has illustrated so many +passages of Belgian and Spanish history. + +31, HERTFORD-STREET, MAY-FAIR, November 11th 1860. + + + + +THE UNITED NETHERLANDS. + + + + +CHAPTER I. + + Murder of Orange--Extension of Protestantism--Vast Power of Spain-- + Religious Origin of the Revolt--Disposal of the Sovereignty--Courage + of the Estates of Holland--Children of William the Silent-- + Provisional Council of State--Firm attitude of Holland and Zeeland-- + Weakness of Flanders--Fall of Ghent--Adroitness of Alexander + Farnese. + +WILLIAM THE SILENT, Prince of Orange, had been murdered on the 10th of +July, 1584. It is difficult to imagine a more universal disaster than the +one thus brought about by the hand of a single obscure fanatic. For +nearly twenty years the character of the Prince had been expanding +steadily as the difficulties of his situation increased. Habit, +necessity, and the natural gifts of the man, had combined to invest him +at last with an authority which seemed more than human. There was such +general confidence in his sagacity, courage, and purity, that the nation +had come to think with his brain and to act with his hand. It was natural +that, for an instant, there should be a feeling as of absolute and +helpless paralysis. + +Whatever his technical attributes in the polity of the Netherlands--and +it would be difficult to define them with perfect accuracy--there is no +doubt that he stood there, the head of a commonwealth, in an attitude +such as had been maintained by but few of the kings, or chiefs, or high +priests of history. Assassination, a regular and almost indispensable +portion of the working machinery of Philip's government, had produced, in +this instance, after repeated disappointments, the result at last which +had been so anxiously desired. The ban of the Pope and the offered gold +of the King had accomplished a victory greater than any yet achieved by +the armies of Spain, brilliant as had been their triumphs on the +blood-stained soil of the Netherlands. + +Had that "exceeding proud, neat, and spruce" Doctor of Laws, William +Parry, who had been busying himself at about the same time with his +memorable project against the Queen of England, proved as successful as +Balthazar Gerard, the fate of Christendom would have been still darker. +Fortunately, that member of Parliament had made the discovery in +time--not for himself, but for Elizabeth--that the "Lord was better +pleased with adverbs than nouns;" the well-known result being that the +traitor was hanged and the Sovereign saved. + +Yet such was the condition of Europe at that day. A small, dull, elderly, +imperfectly-educated, patient, plodding invalid, with white hair and +protruding under jaw, and dreary visage, was sitting day after day; +seldom speaking, never smiling, seven or eight hours out of every +twenty-four, at a writing table covered with heaps of interminable +despatches, in a cabinet far away beyond the seas and mountains, in the +very heart of Spain. A clerk or two, noiselessly opening and shutting the +door, from time to time, fetching fresh bundles of letters and taking +away others--all written and composed by secretaries or high +functionaries--and all to be scrawled over in the margin by the diligent +old man in a big schoolboy's hand and style--if ever schoolboy, even in +the sixteenth century, could write so illegibly or express himself so +awkwardly; couriers in the court-yard arriving from or departing for the +uttermost parts of earth-Asia, Africa America, Europe-to fetch and carry +these interminable epistles which contained the irresponsible commands of +this one individual, and were freighted with the doom and destiny of +countless millions of the world's inhabitants--such was the system of +government against which the Netherlands had protested and revolted. It +was a system under which their fields had been made desolate, their +cities burned and pillaged, their men hanged, burned, drowned, or hacked +to pieces; their women subjected to every outrage; and to put an end to +which they had been devoting their treasure and their blood for nearly +the length of one generation. It was a system, too, which, among other +results, had just brought about the death of the foremost statesman of +Europe, and had nearly effected simultaneously the murder of the most +eminent sovereign in the world. The industrious Philip, safe and tranquil +in the depths of the Escorial, saying his prayers three times a day with +exemplary regularity, had just sent three bullets through the body of +William the Silent at his dining-room door in Delft. "Had it only been +done two years earlier," observed the patient old man, "much trouble +might have been spared me; but 'tis better late than never." Sir Edward +Stafford, English envoy in Paris, wrote to his government--so soon as the +news of the murder reached him--that, according to his information out of +the Spanish minister's own house, "the same practice that had been +executed upon the Prince of Orange, there were practisers more than two +or three about to execute upon her Majesty, and that within two months." +Without vouching for the absolute accuracy of this intelligence, he +implored the Queen to be more upon her guard than ever. "For there is no +doubt," said the envoy, "that she is a chief mark to shoot at; and seeing +that there were men cunning enough to inchant a man and to encourage him +to kill the Prince of Orange, in the midst of Holland, and that there was +a knave found desperate enough to do it, we must think hereafter that +anything may be done. Therefore God preserve her Majesty." + +Invisible as the Grand Lama of Thibet, clothed with power as extensive +and absolute as had ever been wielded by the most imperial Caesar, Philip +the Prudent, as he grew older and feebler in mind and body seemed to +become more gluttonous of work, more ambitious to extend his sceptre over +lands which he had never seen or dreamed of seeing, more fixed in his +determination to annihilate that monster Protestantism, which it had been +the business of his life to combat, more eager to put to death every +human creature, whether anointed monarch or humble artizan, that defended +heresy or opposed his progress to universal empire. + +If this enormous power, this fabulous labour, had, been wielded or +performed with a beneficent intention; if the man who seriously regarded +himself as the owner of a third of the globe, with the inhabitants +thereof, had attempted to deal with these extensive estates inherited +from his ancestors with the honest intention of a thrifty landlord, an +intelligent slave-owner, it would have yet been possible for a little +longer to smile at the delusion, and endure the practice. + +But there was another old man, who lived in another palace in another +remote land, who, in his capacity of representative of Saint Peter, +claimed to dispose of all the kingdoms of the earth--and had been willing +to bestow them upon the man who would go down and worship him. Philip +stood enfeoffed, by divine decree, of all America, the East Indies, the +whole Spanish Peninsula, the better portion of Italy, the seventeen +Netherlands, and many other possessions far and near; and he contemplated +annexing to this extensive property the kingdoms of France, of England, +and Ireland. The Holy League, maintained by the sword of Guise, the +pope's ban, Spanish ducats, Italian condottieri, and German mercenaries, +was to exterminate heresy and establish the Spanish dominion in France. +The same machinery, aided by the pistol or poniard of the assassin, was +to substitute for English protestantism and England's queen the Roman +Catholic religion and a foreign sovereign. "The holy league," said +Duplessis-Mornay, one of the noblest characters of the age, "has destined +us all to the name sacrifice. The ambition of the Spaniard, which has +overleaped so many lands and seas, thinks nothing inaccessible." + +The Netherland revolt had therefore assumed world-wide proportions. Had +it been merely the rebellion of provinces against a sovereign, the +importance of the struggle would have been more local and temporary. But +the period was one in which the geographical land-marks of countries were +almost removed. The dividing-line ran through every state, city, and +almost every family. There was a country which believed in the absolute +power of the church to dictate the relations between man and his Maker, +and to utterly exterminate all who disputed that position. There was +another country which protested against that doctrine, and claimed, +theoretically or practically, a liberty of conscience. The territory of +these countries was mapped out by no visible lines, but the inhabitants +of each, whether resident in France, Germany, England, or Flanders, +recognised a relationship which took its root in deeper differences than +those of race or language. It was not entirely a question of doctrine or +dogma. A large portion of the world had become tired of the antiquated +delusion of a papal supremacy over every land, and had recorded its +determination, once for all, to have done with it. The transition to +freedom of conscience became a necessary step, sooner or later to be +taken. To establish the principle of toleration for all religions was an +inevitable consequence of the Dutch revolt; although thus far, perhaps +only one conspicuous man in advance of his age had boldly announced that +doctrine and had died in its defence. But a great true thought never +dies--though long buried in the earth--and the day was to come, after +long years, when the seed was to ripen into a harvest of civil and +religious emancipation, and when the very word toleration was to sound +like an insult and an absurdity. + +A vast responsibility rested upon the head of a monarch, placed as Philip +II. found himself, at this great dividing point in modern history. To +judge him, or any man in such a position, simply from his own point of +view, is weak and illogical. History judges the man according to its +point of view. It condemns or applauds the point of view itself. The +point of view of a malefactor is not to excuse robbery and murder. Nor is +the spirit of the age to be pleaded in defence of the evil-doer at a time +when mortals were divided into almost equal troops. The age of Philip II. +was also the age of William of Orange and his four brethren, of Sainte +Aldegonde, of Olden-Barneveldt, of Duplessis-Mornay, La Noue, Coligny, of +Luther, Melancthon, and Calvin, Walsingham, Sidney, Raleigh, Queen +Elizabeth, of Michael Montaigne, and William Shakspeare. It was not an +age of blindness, but of glorious light. If the man whom the Maker of the +Universe had permitted to be born to such boundless functions, chose to +put out his own eyes that he might grope along his great pathway of duty +in perpetual darkness, by his deeds he must be judged. The King perhaps +firmly believed that the heretics of the Netherlands, of France, or of +England, could escape eternal perdition only by being extirpated from the +earth by fire and sword, and therefore; perhaps, felt it his duty to +devote his life to their extermination. But he believed, still more +firmly, that his own political authority, throughout his dominions, and +his road to almost universal empire, lay over the bodies of those +heretics. Three centuries have nearly past since this memorable epoch; +and the world knows the fate of the states which accepted the dogma which +it was Philip's life-work to enforce, and of those who protested against +the system. The Spanish and Italian Peninsulas have had a different +history from that which records the career of France, Prussia, the Dutch +Commonwealth, the British Empire, the Transatlantic Republic. + +Yet the contest between those Seven meagre Provinces upon the sand-banks +of the North Sea, and--the great Spanish Empire, seemed at the moment +with which we are now occupied a sufficiently desperate one. Throw a +glance upon the map of Europe. Look at the broad magnificent Spanish +Peninsula, stretching across eight degrees of latitude and ten of +longitude, commanding the Atlantic and the Mediterranean, with a genial +climate, warmed in winter by the vast furnace of Africa, and protected +from the scorching heats of summer by shady mountain and forest, and +temperate breezes from either ocean. A generous southern territory, +flowing with wine and oil, and all the richest gifts of a bountiful +nature-splendid cities--the new and daily expanding Madrid, rich in the +trophies of the most artistic period of the modern world--Cadiz, as +populous at that day as London, seated by the straits where the ancient +and modern systems of traffic were blending like the mingling of the two +oceans--Granada, the ancient wealthy seat of the fallen Moors--Toledo, +Valladolid, and Lisbon, chief city of the recently-conquered kingdom of +Portugal, counting, with its suburbs, a larger population than any city, +excepting Paris, in Europe, the mother of distant colonies, and the +capital of the rapidly-developing traffic with both the Indies--these +were some of the treasures of Spain herself. But she possessed Sicily +also, the better portion of Italy, and important dependencies in Africa, +while the famous maritime discoveries of the age had all enured to her +aggrandizement. The world seemed suddenly to have expanded its wings from +East to West, only to bear the fortunate Spanish Empire to the most dizzy +heights of wealth and power. The most accomplished generals, the most +disciplined and daring infantry the world has ever known, the +best-equipped and most extensive navy, royal and mercantile, of the age, +were at the absolute command of the sovereign. Such was Spain. + +Turn now to the north-western corner of Europe. A morsel of territory, +attached by a slight sand-hook to the continent, and half-submerged by +the stormy waters of the German Ocean--this was Holland. A rude climate, +with long, dark, rigorous, winters, and brief summers, a territory, the +mere wash of three great rivers, which had fertilized happier portions of +Europe only to desolate and overwhelm this less-favoured land, a soil so +ungrateful, that if the whole of its four hundred thousand acres of +arable land had been sowed with grain, it could not feed the labourers +alone, and a population largely estimated at one million of souls--these +were the characteristics of the Province which already had begun to give +its name to the new commonwealth. The isles of Zeeland--entangled in the +coils of deep slow-moving rivers, or combating the ocean without--and the +ancient episcopate of Utrecht, formed the only other Provinces that had +quite shaken off the foreign yoke. In Friesland, the important city of +Groningen was still held for the King, while Bois-le-Duc, Zutphen, +besides other places in Gelderland and North Brabant, also in possession +of the royalists, made the position of those provinces precarious. + +The limit of the Spanish or "obedient" Provinces, on the one hand, and of +the United Provinces on the other, cannot, therefore, be briefly and +distinctly stated. The memorable treason--or, as it was called, the +"reconciliation" of the Walloon Provinces in the year 1583-4--had placed +the Provinces of Hainault, Arthois, Douay, with the flourishing cities +Arran, Valenciennes, Lille, Tournay, and others--all Celtic Flanders, in +short-in the grasp of Spain. Cambray was still held by the French +governor, Seigneur de Balagny, who had taken advantage of the Duke of +Anjou's treachery to the States, to establish himself in an unrecognized +but practical petty sovereignty, in defiance both of France and Spain; +while East Flanders and South Brabant still remained a disputed +territory, and the immediate field of contest. With these limitations, it +may be assumed, for general purposes, that the territory of the United +States was that of the modern Kingdom of the Netherlands, while the +obedient Provinces occupied what is now the territory of Belgium. + +Such, then, were the combatants in the great eighty years' war for civil +and religious liberty; sixteen of which had now passed away. On the one +side, one of the most powerful and, populous world-empires of history, +then in the zenith of its prosperity; on the other hand, a slender group +of cities, governed by merchants and artisans, and planted precariously +upon a meagre, unstable soil. A million and a half of souls against the +autocrat of a third part of the known world. The contest seemed as +desperate as the cause was certainly sacred; but it had ceased to be a +local contest. For the history which is to occupy us in these volumes is +not exclusively the history of Holland. It is the story of the great +combat between despotism, sacerdotal and regal, and the spirit of +rational human liberty. The tragedy opened in the Netherlands, and its +main scenes were long enacted there; but as the ambition of Spain +expanded, and as the resistance to the principle which she represented +became more general, other nations were, of necessity, involved in the +struggle. There came to be one country, the citizens of which were the +Leaguers; and another country, whose inhabitants were Protestants. And in +this lay the distinction between freedom and absolutism. The religious +question swallowed all the others. There was never a period in the early +history of the Dutch revolt when the Provinces would not have returned to +their obedience, could they have been assured of enjoying liberty of +conscience or religious peace; nor was there ever a single moment in +Philip II.'s life in which he wavered in his fixed determination never to +listen to such a claim. The quarrel was in its nature irreconcilable and +eternal as the warfare between wrong and right; and the establishment of +a comparative civil liberty in Europe and America was the result of the +religious war of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. The struggle +lasted eighty years, but the prize was worth the contest. + +The object of the war between the Netherlands and Spain was not, +therefore, primarily, a rebellion against established authority for the +maintenance of civil rights. To preserve these rights was secondary. The +first cause was religion. The Provinces had been fighting for years +against the Inquisition. Had they not taken arms, the Inquisition would +have been established in the Netherlands, and very probably in England, +and England might have become in its turn a Province of the Spanish +Empire. + +The death of William the Silent produced a sudden change in the political +arrangements of the liberated Netherlands. During the year 1583, the +United Provinces had elected Francis, Duke of Anjou, to be Duke of +Brabant and sovereign of the whole country, under certain constitutional +provisions enumerated in articles of solemn compact. That compact had +been grossly violated. The Duke had made a treacherous attempt to possess +himself of absolute power and to seize several important cities. He had +been signally defeated in Antwerp, and obliged to leave the country, +covered with ignominy. The States had then consulted William of Orange as +to the course to be taken in the emergency. The Prince had told them that +their choice was triple. They might reconcile themselves with Spain, and +abandon the contest for religious liberty which they had so long been +waging; they might reconcile themselves with Anjou, notwithstanding that +he had so utterly forfeited all claims to their consideration; or they +might fight the matter out with Spain single-handed. The last course was, +in his opinion, the most eligible one, and he was ready to sacrifice his +life to its furtherance. It was, however, indispensable, should that +policy be adopted, that much larger supplies should be voted than had +hitherto been raised, and, in general, that a much more extensive and +elevated spirit of patriotism should manifest itself than had hitherto +been displayed. + +It was, on the whole, decided to make a second arrangement with the Duke +of Anjou, Queen Elizabeth warmly urging that course. At the same time, +however, that articles of agreement were drawn up for the installation of +Anjou as sovereign of the United Provinces, the Prince had himself +consented to accept the title of Count of Holland, under an ample +constitutional charter, dictated by his own lips. Neither Anjou nor +Orange lived to be inaugurated into the offices thus bestowed upon them. +The Duke died at Chateau-Thierry on the 10th June, and the Prince was +assassinated a month later at Delft. + +What now was the political position of the United Provinces at this +juncture? The sovereignty which had been held by the Estates, ready to be +conferred respectively upon Anjou and Orange, remained in the hands of +the Estates. There was no opposition to this theory. No more enlarged +view of the social compact had yet been taken. The people, as such, +claimed no sovereignty. Had any champion claimed it for them they would +hardly have understood him. The nation dealt with facts. After abjuring +Philip in 1581--an act which had been accomplished by the Estates--the +same Estates in general assembly had exercised sovereign power, and had +twice disposed of that sovereign power by electing a hereditary ruler. +Their right and their power to do this had been disputed by none, save by +the deposed monarch in Spain. Having the sovereignty to dispose of, it +seemed logical that the Estates might keep it, if so inclined. They did +keep it, but only in trust. While Orange lived, he might often have been +elected sovereign of all the Provinces, could he have been induced to +consent. After his death, the Estates retained, ex necessitate, the +sovereignty; and it will soon be related what they intended to do with +it. One thing is very certain, that neither Orange, while he lived, nor +the Estates, after his death, were actuated in their policy by personal +ambition. It will be seen that the first object of the Estates was to +dispossess themselves of the sovereignty which had again fallen into +their hands. + +What were the Estates? Without, at the present moment, any farther +inquiries into that constitutional system which had been long +consolidating itself, and was destined to exist upon a firmer basis for +centuries longer, it will be sufficient to observe, that the great +characteristic of the Netherland government was the municipality. + +Each Province contained a large number of cities, which were governed by +a board of magistrates, varying in number from twenty to forty. This +college, called the Vroedschap (Assembly of Sages), consisted of the most +notable citizens, and was a self-electing body--a close corporation--the +members being appointed for life, from the citizens at large. Whenever +vacancies occurred from death or loss of citizenship, the college chose +new members--sometimes immediately, sometimes by means of a double or +triple selection of names, the choice of one from among which was offered +to the stadtholder of the province. This functionary was appointed by the +Count, as he was called, whether Duke of Bavaria or of Burgundy, Emperor, +or King. After the abjuration of Philip, the governors were appointed by +the Estates of each Province. + +The Sage-Men chose annually a board of senators, or schepens, whose +functions were mainly judicial; and there were generally two, and +sometimes three, burgomasters, appointed in the same way. This was the +popular branch of the Estates. But, besides this body of representatives, +were the nobles, men of ancient lineage and large possessions, who had +exercised, according to the general feudal law of Europe, high, low, and +intermediate jurisdiction upon their estates, and had long been +recognized as an integral part of the body politic, having the right to +appear, through delegates of their order, in the provincial and in the +general assemblies. + +Regarded as a machine for bringing the most decided political capacities +into the administration of public affairs, and for organising the most +practical opposition to the system of religious tyranny, the Netherland +constitution was a healthy, and, for the age, an enlightened one. The +officeholders, it is obvious, were not greedy for the spoils of office; +for it was, unfortunately, often the case that their necessary expenses +in the service of the state were not defrayed. The people raised enormous +contributions for carrying on the war; but they could not afford to be +extremely generous to their faithful servants. + +Thus constituted was the commonwealth upon the death of William the +Silent. The gloom produced by that event was tragical. Never in human +history was a more poignant and universal sorrow for the death of any +individual. The despair was, for a brief season, absolute; but it was +soon succeeded by more lofty sentiments. It seemed, after they had laid +their hero in the tomb, as though his spirit still hovered above the +nation which he had loved so well, and was inspiring it with a portion of +his own energy and wisdom. + +Even on the very day of the murder, the Estates of Holland, then sitting +at Delft, passed a resolution "to maintain the good cause, with God's +help, to the uttermost, without sparing gold or blood." This decree was +communicated to Admiral de Warmont, to Count Hohenlo, to William Lewis of +Nassau, and to other commanders by land and sea. At the same time, the +sixteen members--for no greater number happened to be present at the +session--addressed letters to their absent colleagues, informing them of +the calamity which had befallen them, summoning them at once to +conference, and urging an immediate convocation of the Estates of all the +Provinces in General Assembly. They also addressed strong letters of +encouragement, mingled with manly condolence, upon the common affliction, +to prominent military and naval commanders and civil functionaries, +begging them to "bear themselves manfully and valiantly, without +faltering in the least on account of the great misfortune which had +occurred, or allowing themselves to be seduced by any one from the union +of the States." Among these sixteen were Van Zuylen, Van Nyvelt, the +Seigneur de Warmont, the Advocate of Holland, Paul Buys, Joost de Menin, +and John van Olden-Barneveldt. A noble example was thus set at once to +their fellow citizens by these their representatives--a manful step taken +forward in the path where Orange had so long been leading. + +The next movement, after the last solemn obsequies had been rendered to +the Prince was to provide for the immediate wants of his family. For the +man who had gone into the revolt with almost royal revenues, left his +estate so embarrassed that his carpets, tapestries, household linen--nay, +even his silver spoons, and the very clothes of his wardrobe were +disposed of at auction for the benefit of his creditors. He left eleven +children--a son and daughter by the first wife, a son and daughter by +Anna of Saxony, six daughters by Charlotte of Bourbon, and an infant, +Frederic Henry, born six months before his death. The eldest son, Philip +William, had been a captive in Spain for seventeen years, having been +kidnapped from school, in Leyden, in the year 1567. He had already become +so thoroughly Hispaniolized under the masterly treatment of the King and +the Jesuits, that even his face had lost all resemblance to the type of +his heroic family, and had acquired a sinister, gloomy, forbidding +expression, most painful to contemplate. All of good that he had retained +was a reverence for his father's name--a sentiment which he had +manifested to an extravagant extent on a memorable occasion in Madrid, by +throwing out of window, and killing on the spot a Spanish officer who had +dared to mention the great Prince with insult. + +The next son was Maurice, then seventeen years of age, a handsome youth, +with dark blue eyes, well-chiselled features, and full red lips, who had +already manifested a courage and concentration of character beyond his +years. The son of William the Silent, the grandson of Maurice of Saxony, +whom he resembled in visage and character, he was summoned by every drop +of blood in his veins to do life-long battle with the spirit of Spanish +absolutism, and he was already girding himself for his life's work. He +assumed at once for his device a fallen oak, with a young sapling +springing from its root. His motto, "Tandem fit surculus arbor," "the +twig shall yet become a tree"--was to be nobly justified by his career. + +The remaining son, then a six months' child, was also destined to high +fortunes, and to win an enduring name in his country's history. For the +present he remained with his mother, the noble Louisa de Coligny, who had +thus seen, at long intervals, her father and two husbands fall victims to +the Spanish policy; for it is as certain that Philip knew beforehand, and +testified his approbation of, the massacre of St. Bartholomew, as that he +was the murderer of Orange. + +The Estates of Holland implored the widowed Princess to remain in their +territory, settling a liberal allowance upon herself and her child, and +she fixed her residence at Leyden. + +But her position was most melancholy. Married in youth to the Seigneur de +Teligny, a young noble of distinguished qualities, she had soon become +both a widow and an orphan in the dread night of St. Bartholomew. She had +made her own escape to Switzerland; and ten years afterwards she had +united herself in marriage with the Prince of Orange. At the age of +thirty-two, she now found herself desolate and wretched in a foreign +land, where she had never felt thoroughly at home. The widow and children +of William the Silent were almost without the necessaries of life. "I +hardly know," wrote the Princess to her brother-in-law, Count John, "how +the children and I are to maintain ourselves according to the honour of +the house. May God provide for us in his bounty, and certainly we have +much need of it." Accustomed to the more luxurious civilisation of +France, she had been amused rather than annoyed, when, on her first +arrival in Holland for her nuptials, she found herself making the journey +from Rotterdam to Delft in an open cart without springs, instead of the +well-balanced coaches to which she had been used, arriving, as might have +been expected, "much bruised and shaken." Such had become the primitive +simplicity of William the Silent's household. But on his death, in +embarrassed circumstances, it was still more straightened. She had no +cause either to love Leyden, for, after the assassination of her husband, +a brutal preacher, Hakkius by name, had seized that opportunity for +denouncing the French marriage, and the sumptuous christening of the +infant in January, as the deeds which had provoked the wrath of God and +righteous chastisement. To remain there in her widowhood, with that six +months' child, "sole pledge of her dead lord, her consolation and only +pleasure," as she pathetically expressed herself, was sufficiently +painful, and she had been inclined to fix her residence in Flushing, in +the edifice which had belonged to her husband, as Marquis of Vere. She +had been persuaded, however, to remain in Holland, although "complaining, +at first, somewhat of the unkindness of the people." + +A small well-formed woman, with delicate features, exquisite complexion, +and very beautiful dark eyes, that seemed in after-years, as they looked +from beneath her coif, to be dim with unshed tears; with remarkable +powers of mind, angelic sweetness of disposition, a winning manner, and a +gentle voice, Louisa de Coligny became soon dear to the rough Hollanders, +and was ever a disinterested and valuable monitress both to her own child +and to his elder brother Maurice. + +Very soon afterwards the States General established a State Council, as a +provisional executive board, for the term of three months, for the +Provinces of Holland, Zeeland, Utrecht, Friesland, and such parts of +Flanders and Brabant as still remained in the Union. At the head of this +body was placed young Maurice, who accepted the responsible position, +after three days' deliberation. The young man had been completing his +education, with a liberal allowance from Holland and Zeeland, at the +University of Leyden; and such had been their tender care for the child +of so many hopes, that the Estates had given particular and solemn +warning, by resolution, to his governor during the previous summer, on no +account to allow him to approach the sea-shore, lest he should be +kidnapped by the Prince of Parma, who had then some war-vessels cruising +on the coast. + +The salary of Maurice was now fixed at thirty thousand florins a year, +while each of the councillors was allowed fifteen hundred annually, out +of which stipend he was to support at least one servant; without making +any claim for travelling or other incidental expenses. + +The Council consisted of three members from Brabant, two from Flanders, +four from Holland, three from Zeeland, two from Utrecht, one from +Mechlin, and three from Friesland--eighteen in all. They were empowered +and enjoined to levy troops by land and sea, and to appoint naval and +military officers; to establish courts of admiralty, to expend the moneys +voted by the States, to maintain the ancient privileges of the country, +and to see that all troops in service of the Provinces made oath of +fidelity to the Union. Diplomatic relations, questions of peace and war, +the treaty-making power, were not entrusted to the Council, without the +knowledge and consent of the States General, which body was to be +convoked twice a year by the State Council. + +Thus the Provinces in the hour of danger and darkness were true to +themselves, and were far from giving way to a despondency which under the +circumstances would not have been unnatural. + +For the waves of bitterness were rolling far and wide around them. A +medal, struck in Holland at this period, represented a dismasted hulk +reeling through the tempest. The motto, "incertum quo fate ferent" (who +knows whither fate is sweeping her?) expressed most vividly the ship +wrecked condition of the country. Alexander of Parma, the most +accomplished general and one of the most adroit statesmen of the age, was +swift to take advantage of the calamity which had now befallen the +rebellious Provinces. Had he been better provided with men and money, the +cause of the States might have seemed hopeless. He addressed many letters +to the States General, to the magistracies of various cities, and to +individuals, affecting to consider that with the death of Orange had died +all authority, as well as all motive for continuing the contest with +Spain. He offered easy terms of reconciliation with the discarded +monarch--always reserving, however, as a matter of course, the religious +question--for it was as well known to the States as to Parma that there +was no hope of Philip making concessions upon that important point. + +In Holland and Zeeland the Prince's blandishments were of no avail. His +letters received in various towns of those Provinces, offered, said one +who saw them, "almost every thing they would have or demand, even till +they should repent." But the bait was not taken. Individuals and +municipalities were alike stanch, remembering well that faith was not to +be kept with heretics. The example was followed by the Estates of other +Provinces, and all sent in to the General Assembly, soon in session at +Delft, "their absolute and irrevocable authority to their deputies to +stand to that which they, the said States General, should dispose of as +to their persons, goods and country; a resolution and agreement which +never concurred before among them, to this day, in what age or government +soever." + +It was decreed that no motion of agreement "with the tyrant of Spain" +should be entertained either publicly or privately, "under pain to be +reputed ill patriots." It was also enacted in the city of Dort that any +man that brought letter or message from the enemy to any private person +"should be forthwith hanged." This was expeditious and business-like. The +same city likewise took the lead in recording its determination by public +act, and proclaiming it by sound of trumpet, "to live and die in the +cause now undertaken." + +In Flanders and Brabant the spirit was less noble. Those Provinces were +nearly lost already. Bruges seconded Parma's efforts to induce its +sister-city Ghent to imitate its own baseness in surrendering without a +struggle; and that powerful, turbulent, but most anarchical little +commonwealth was but too ready to listen to the voice of the tempter. +"The ducats of Spain, Madam, are trotting about in such fashion," wrote +envoy Des Pruneaux to Catherine de Medici, "that they have vanquished a +great quantity of courages. Your Majesties, too, must employ money if you +wish to advance one step." No man knew better than Parma how to employ +such golden rhetoric to win back a wavering rebel to his loyalty, but he +was not always provided with a sufficient store of those practical +arguments. + +He was, moreover, not strong in the field, although he was far superior +to the States at this contingency. He had, besides his garrisons, +something above 18,000 men. The Provinces had hardly 3000 foot and 2500 +horse, and these were mostly lying in the neighbourhood of Zutphen. +Alexander was threatening at the same time Ghent, Dendermonde, Mechlin, +Brussels, and Antwerp. These five powerful cities lie in a narrow circle, +at distances varying from six miles to thirty, and are, as it were, +strung together upon the Scheldt, by which river, or its tributary, the +Senne, they are all threaded. It would have been impossible for Parma, +with 100,000 men at his back, to undertake a regular and simultaneous +siege of these important places. His purpose was to isolate them from +each other and from the rest of the country, by obtaining the control of +the great river, and so to reduce them by famine. The scheme was a +masterly one, but even the consummate ability of Farnese would have +proved inadequate to the undertaking, had not the preliminary +assassination of Orange made the task comparatively easy. Treason, +faint-heartedness, jealousy, were the fatal allies that the +Governor-General had reckoned upon, and with reason, in the council-rooms +of these cities. The terms he offered were liberal. Pardon, permission +for soldiers to retreat with technical honour, liberty to choose between +apostacy to the reformed religion or exile, with a period of two years +granted to the conscientious for the winding up of their affairs; these +were the conditions, which seemed flattering, now that the well-known +voice which had so often silenced the Flemish palterers and intriguers +was for ever hushed. + +Upon the 17th August (1584) Dendermonde surrendered, and no lives were +taken save those of two preachers, one of whom was hanged, while the +other was drowned. Upon the 7th September Vilvoorde capitulated, by which +event the water-communication between Brussels and Antwerp was cut off. +Ghent, now thoroughly disheartened, treated with Parma likewise; and upon +the 17th September made its reconciliation with the King. The surrender +of so strong and important a place was as disastrous to the cause of the +patriots as it was disgraceful to the citizens themselves. It was, +however, the result of an intrigue which had been long spinning, although +the thread had been abruptly, and, as it was hoped, conclusively, severed +several months before. During the early part of the year, after the +reconciliation of Bruges with the King--an event brought about by the +duplicity and adroitness of Prince Chimay--the same machinery had been +diligently and almost successfully employed to produce a like result in +Ghent. Champagny, brother of the famous Cardinal Granvelle, had been +under arrest for six years in that city. His imprisonment was not a +strict one however; and he avenged himself for what he considered very +unjust treatment at the hands of the patriots, by completely abandoning a +cause which he had once begun to favour. A man of singular ability, +courage, and energy, distinguished both for military and diplomatic +services, he was a formidable enemy to the party from which he was now +for ever estranged. As early as April of this year, secret emissaries of +Parma, dealing with Champagny in his nominal prison, and with the +disaffected burghers at large, had been on the point of effecting an +arrangement with the royal governor. The negotiation had been suddenly +brought to a close by the discovery of a flagrant attempt by Imbue, one +of the secret adherents of the King, to sell the city of Dendermonde, of +which he was governor, to Parma. For this crime he had been brought to +Ghent for trial, and then publicly beheaded. The incident came in aid of +the eloquence of Orange, who, up to the latest moment of his life, had +been most urgent in his appeals to the patriotic hearts of Ghent, not to +abandon the great cause of the union and of liberty. William the Silent +knew full well, that after the withdrawal of the great keystone-city of +Ghent, the chasm between the Celtic-Catholic and the Flemish-Calvinist +Netherlands could hardly be bridged again. Orange was now dead. The +negotiations with France, too, on which those of the Ghenters who still +held true to the national cause had fastened their hopes, had previously +been brought to a stand-still by the death of Anjou; and Champagny, +notwithstanding the disaster to Imbize, became more active than ever. A +private agent, whom the municipal government had despatched to the French +court for assistance, was not more successful than his character and +course of conduct would have seemed to warrant; for during his residence +in Paris, he had been always drunk, and generally abusive. This was not +good diplomacy, particularly on the part of an agent from a weak +municipality to a haughty and most undecided government. + +"They found at this court," wrote Stafford to Walsingham, "great fault +with his manner of dealing that was sent from Gaunt. He was scarce sober +from one end of the week to the other, and stood so much on his tiptoes +to have present answer within three days, or else that they of Gaunt +could tell where to bestow themselves. They sent him away after keeping +him three weeks, and he went off in great dudgeon, swearing by yea and +nay that he will make report thereafter." + +Accordingly, they of Ghent did bestow themselves very soon thereafter +upon the King of Spain. The terms were considered liberal, but there was, +of course, no thought of conceding the great object for which the +patriots were contending--religious liberty. The municipal +privileges--such as they might prove to be worth under the interpretation +of a royal governor and beneath the guns of a citadel filled with Spanish +troops--were to be guaranteed; those of the inhabitants who did not +choose to go to mass were allowed two years to wind up their affairs +before going into perpetual exile, provided they behaved themselves +"without scandal;" while on the other hand, the King's authority as Count +of Flanders was to be fully recognised, and all the dispossessed monks +and abbots to be restored to their property. + +Accordingly, Champagny was rewarded for his exertions by being released +from prison and receiving the appointment of governor of the city: and, +after a very brief interval, about one-half of the population, the most +enterprising of its merchants and manufacturers, the most industrious of +its artizans, emigrated to Holland and Zeeland. The noble city of +Ghent--then as large as Paris, thoroughly surrounded with moats, and +fortified with bulwarks, ravelins, and counterscarps, constructed of +earth, during the previous two years, at great expense, and provided with +bread and meat, powder and shot, enough to last a year--was ignominiously +surrendered. The population, already a very reduced and slender one for +the great extent of the place and its former importance, had been +estimated at 70,000. The number of houses was 35,000, so that as the +inhabitants were soon farther reduced to one-half, there remained but one +individual to each house. On the other hand, the twenty-five monasteries +and convents in the town were repeopled--with how much advantage as a +set-off to the thousands of spinners and weavers who had wandered away, +and who in the flourishing days of Ghent had sent gangs of workmen +through the streets "whose tramp was like that of an army"--may be +sufficiently estimated by the result. + +The fall of Brussels was deferred till March, and that of Mechlin (19th +July, 1585) and of Antwerp (19th August, 1585), till Midsummer of the +following year; but, the surrender of Ghent (10th March 1585) +foreshadowed the fate of Flanders and Brabant. Ostend and Sluys, however, +were still in the hands of the patriots, and with them the control of the +whole Flemish coast. The command of the sea was destined to remain for +centuries with the new republic. + +The Prince of Parma, thus encouraged by the great success of his +intrigues, was determined to achieve still greater triumphs with his +arms, and steadily proceeded with his large design of closing the +Scheldt--and bringing about the fall of Antwerp. The details of that +siege-one of the most brilliant military operations of the age and one of +the most memorable in its results--will be given, as a connected whole, +in a subsequent series of chapters. For the present, it will be better +for the reader who wishes a clear view of European politics at this +epoch, and of the position of the Netherlands, to give his attention to +the web of diplomatic negotiation and court-intrigue which had been +slowly spreading over the leading states of Christendom, and in which the +fate of the world was involved. If diplomatic adroitness consists mainly +in the power to deceive, never were more adroit diplomatists than those +of the sixteenth century. It would, however, be absurd to deny them a +various range of abilities; and the history of no other age can show more +subtle, comprehensive, indefatigable--but, it must also be added, often +unscrupulous--intellects engaged in the great game of politics in which +the highest interests of millions were the stakes, than were those of +several leading minds in England, France, Germany, and Spain. With such +statesmen the burgher-diplomatists of the new-born commonwealth had to +measure themselves; and the result was to show whether or not they could +hold their own in the cabinet as on the field. + +For the present, however, the new state was unconscious of its latent +importance, The new-risen republic remained for a season nebulous, and +ready to unsphere itself so soon as the relative attraction of other +great powers should determine its absorption. By the death of Anjou and +of Orange the United Netherlands had became a sovereign state, an +independent republic; but they stood with that sovereignty in their +hands, offering it alternately, not to the highest bidder, but to the +power that would be willing to accept their allegiance, on the sole +condition of assisting them in the maintenance of their religious +freedom. + + + + +CHAPTER II. + + Relations of the Republic to France--Queen's Severity towards + Catholics and Calvinists--Relative Positions of England and France-- + Timidity of Germany--Apathy of Protestant Germany--Indignation of + the Netherlanders--Henry III. of France--The King and his Minions-- + Henry of Guise--Henry of Navarre--Power of France--Embassy of the + States to France--Ignominious position of the Envoys--Views of the + French Huguenots--Efforts to procure Annexation--Success of Des + Pruneaux. + +The Prince of Orange had always favoured a French policy. He had ever +felt a stronger reliance upon the support of France than upon that of any +other power. This was not unreasonable, and so long as he lived, the +tendency of the Netherlands had been in that direction. It had never been +the wish of England to acquire the sovereignty of the Provinces. In +France on the contrary, the Queen Dowager, Catharine de' Medici had +always coveted that sovereignty for her darling Francis of Alencon; and +the design had been favoured, so far as any policy could be favoured, by +the impotent monarch who occupied the French throne. + +The religion of the United Netherlands was Calvinistic. There were also +many Anabaptists in the country. The Queen of England hated Anabaptists, +Calvinists, and other sectarians, and banished them from her realms on +pain of imprisonment and confiscation of property. As firmly opposed as +was her father to the supremacy of the Bishop of Rome, she felt much of +the paternal reluctance to accept the spirit of the Reformation. Henry +Tudor hanged the men who believed in the Pope, and burnt alive those who +disbelieved in transubstantiation, auricular confession, and the other +'Six Articles.' His daughter, whatever her secret religious convictions, +was stanch in her resistance to Rome, and too enlightened a monarch not +to see wherein the greatness and glory of England were to be found; but +she had no thought of tolerating liberty of conscience. All opposed to +the Church of England, whether Papists or Puritans, were denounced as +heretics, and as such imprisoned or banished. "To allow churches with +contrary rites and ceremonies," said Elizabeth, "were nothing else but to +sow religion out of religion, to distract good men's minds, to cherish +factious men's humours, to disturb religion and commonwealth, and mingle +divine and human things; which were a thing in deed evil, in example +worst of all; to our own subjects hurtful, and to themselves--to whom it +is granted, neither greatly commodious, nor yet at all safe."--[Camden] +The words were addressed, it is true, to Papists, but there is very +little doubt that Anabaptists or any other heretics would have received a +similar reply, had they, too, ventured to demand the right of public +worship. It may even be said that the Romanists in the earlier days of +Elizabeth's reign fared better than the Calvinists. The Queen neither +banished nor imprisoned the Catholics. She did not enter their houses to +disturb their private religious ceremonies, or to inquire into their +consciences. This was milder treatment than the burning alive, burying +alive, hanging, and drowning, which had been dealt out to the English and +the Netherland heretics by Philip and by Mary, but it was not the spirit +which William the Silent had been wont to manifest in his measures +towards Anabaptists and Papists alike. Moreover, the Prince could hardly +forget that of the nine thousand four hundred Catholic ecclesiastics who +held benefices at the death of Queen Mary, all had renounced the Pope on +the accession of Queen Elizabeth, and acknowledged her as the head of the +church, saving only one hundred and eighty-nine individuals. In the +hearts of the nine thousand two hundred and eleven others, it might be +thought perhaps that some tenderness for the religion from which they had +so suddenly been converted, might linger, while it could hardly be hoped +that they would seek to inculcate in the minds of their flocks or of +their sovereign any connivance with the doctrines of Geneva. + +When, at a later period, the plotting of Catholics, suborned by the Pope +and Philip, against the throne and person of the Queen, made more +rigorous measures necessary; when it was thought indispensable to execute +as traitors those Roman seedlings--seminary priests and their +disciples--who went about preaching to the Queen's subjects the duty of +carrying out the bull by which the Bishop of Rome had deposed and +excommunicated their sovereign, and that "it was a meritorious act to +kill such princes as were excommunicate," even then, the men who preached +and practised treason and murder experienced no severer treatment than +that which other "heretics" had met with at the Queen's hands. Jesuits +and Popish priests were, by Act of Parliament, ordered to depart the +realm within forty days. Those who should afterwards return to the +kingdom were to be held guilty of high treason. Students in the foreign +seminaries were commanded to return within six months and recant, or be +held guilty of high treason. Parents and guardians supplying money to +such students abroad were to incur the penalty of a preamunire--perpetual +exile, namely, with loss of all their goods. + +Many seminary priests and others were annually executed in England under +these laws, throughout the Queen's reign, but nominally at least they +were hanged not as Papists, but as traitors; not because they taught +transubstantiation, ecclesiastical celibacy, auricular confession, or +even Papal supremacy, but because they taught treason and murder--because +they preached the necessity of killing the Queen. It was not so easy, +however, to defend or even comprehend the banishment and imprisonment of +those who without conspiring against the Queen's life or throne, desired +to see the Church of England reformed according to the Church of Geneva. +Yet there is no doubt that many sectaries experienced much inhuman +treatment for such delinquency, both in the early and the later years of +Elizabeth's reign. + +There was another consideration, which had its due weight in this +balance, and that was the respective succession to the throne in the two +kingdoms of France and England. Mary Stuart, the Catholic, the niece of +the Guises, emblem and exponent of all that was most Roman in Europe, the +sworn friend of Philip, the mortal foe to all heresy, was the legitimate +successor to Elizabeth. Although that sovereign had ever refused to +recognize that claim; holding that to confirm Mary in the succession was +to "lay her own winding sheet before her eyes, yea, to make her, own +grave, while she liveth and looketh on;" and although the unfortunate +claimant of two thrones was a prisoner in her enemy's hands, yet, so long +as she lived, there was little security for Protestantism, even in +Elizabeth's lifetime, and less still in case of her sudden death. On the +other hand, not only were the various politico-religious forces of France +kept in equilibrium by their action upon each other--so that it was +reasonable to believe that the House of Valois, however Catholic itself, +would be always compelled by the fast-expanding strength of French +Calvinism, to observe faithfully a compact to tolerate the Netherland +churches--but, upon the death of Henry III. the crown would be +legitimately placed upon the head of the great champion and chief of the +Huguenots, Henry of Navarre. + +It was not unnatural, therefore, that the Prince of Orange, a Calvinist +himself, should expect more sympathy with the Netherland reformers in +France than in England. A large proportion of the population of that +kingdom, including an influential part of the nobility, was of the +Huguenot persuasion, and the religious peace, established by royal edict, +had endured so long, that the reformers of France and the Netherlands had +begun to believe in the royal clemency, and to confide in the royal word. +Orange did not live to see the actual formation of the Holy League, and +could only guess at its secrets. + +Moreover, it should be remembered that France at that day was a more +formidable state than England, a more dangerous enemy, and, as it was +believed, a more efficient protector. The England of the period, glorious +as it was for its own and all future ages, was, not the great British +Empire of to-day. On the contrary, it was what would now be considered, +statistically speaking, a rather petty power. The England of Elizabeth, +Walsingham, Burghley, Drake, and Raleigh, of Spenser and Shakspeare, +hardly numbered a larger population than now dwells in its capital and +immediate suburbs. It had neither standing army nor considerable royal +navy. It was full of conspirators, daring and unscrupulous, loyal to none +save to Mary of Scotland, Philip of Spain, and the Pope of Rome, and +untiring in their efforts to bring about a general rebellion. With +Ireland at its side, nominally a subject province, but in a state of +chronic insurrection--a perpetual hot-bed for Spanish conspiracy and +stratagem; with Scotland at its back, a foreign country, with half its +population exasperated enemies of England, and the rest but doubtful +friends, and with the legitimate sovereign of that country, "the daughter +of debate, who discord still did sow,"--[Sonnet by Queen Elizabeth.]--a +prisoner in Elizabeth's hands, the central point around which treason was +constantly crystallizing itself, it was not strange that with the known +views of the Queen on the subject of the reformed Dutch religion, England +should seem less desirable as a protector for the Netherlands than the +neighbouring kingdom of France. + +Elizabeth was a great sovereign, whose genius Orange always appreciated, +in a comparatively feeble realm. Henry of Valois was the contemptible +monarch of a powerful state, and might be led by others to produce +incalculable mischief or considerable good. Notwithstanding the massacre +of St. Bartholomew, therefore, and the more recent "French fury" of +Antwerp, Orange had been willing to countenance fresh negociations with +France. + +Elizabeth, too, it should never be forgotten, was, if not over generous, +at least consistent and loyal in her policy towards the Provinces. She +was not precisely jealous of France, as has been unjustly intimated on +distinguished authority, for she strongly advocated the renewed offer of +the sovereignty to Anjou, after his memorable expulsion from the +Provinces. At that period, moreover, not only her own love-coquetries +with Anjou were over, but he was endeavouring with all his might, though +in secret, to make a match with the younger Infanta of Spain. Elizabeth +furthered the negociation with France, both publicly and privately. It +will soon be narrated how those negociations prospered. + +If then England were out of the question, where, except in France, +should the Netherlanders, not deeming themselves capable of standing +alone, seek for protection and support? + +We have seen the extensive and almost ubiquitous power of Spain. Where +she did not command as sovereign, she was almost equally formidable as an +ally. The Emperor of Germany was the nephew and the brother-in-law of +Philip, and a strict Catholic besides. Little aid was to be expected from +him or the lands under his control for the cause of the Netherland +revolt. Rudolph hated his brother-in-law, but lived in mortal fear of +him. He was also in perpetual dread of the Grand Turk. That formidable +potentate, not then the "sick man" whose precarious condition and +territorial inheritance cause so much anxiety in modern days, was, it is +true, sufficiently occupied for the moment in Persia, and had been +sustaining there a series of sanguinary defeats. He was all the more +anxious to remain upon good terms with Philip, and had recently sent him +a complimentary embassy, together with some rather choice presents, among +which were "four lions, twelve unicorns, and two horses coloured white, +black, and blue." Notwithstanding these pacific manifestations towards +the West, however, and in spite of the truce with the German Empire which +the Turk had just renewed for nine years,--Rudolph and his servants still +trembled at every report from the East. + +"He is much deceived," wrote Busbecq, Rudolph's ambassador in Paris, "who +doubts that the Turk has sought any thing by this long Persian war, but +to protect his back, and prepare the way, after subduing that enemy, to +the extermination of all Christendom, and that he will then, with all his +might, wage an unequal warfare with us, in which the existence of the +Empire will be at stake." + +The envoy expressed, at the same period, however, still greater awe of +Spain. "It is to no one," he wrote, "endowed with good judgment, in the +least obscure, that the Spanish nation, greedy of empire, will never be +quiet, even with their great power, but will seek for the dominion of the +rest of Christendom. How much remains beyond what they have already +acquired? Afterwards, there will soon be no liberty, no dignity, for +other princes and republics. That single nation will be arbiter of all +things, than which nothing can be more miserable, nothing more degrading. +It cannot be doubted that all kings, princes, and states, whose safety or +dignity is dear to them, would willingly associate in arms to extinguish +the common conflagration. The death of the Catholic king would seem the +great opportunity 'miscendis rebus'." + +Unfortunately neither Busbecq's master nor any other king or prince +manifested any of this commendable alacrity to "take up arms against the +conflagration." Germany was in a shiver at every breeze from East or +West-trembling alike before Philip and Amurath. The Papists were making +rapid progress, the land being undermined by the steady and stealthy +encroachments of the Jesuits. Lord Burghley sent many copies of his +pamphlet, in Latin, French, and Italian, against the Seminaries, to +Gebhard Truchsess; and the deposed archbishop made himself busy in +translating that wholesome production into German, and in dispersing it +"all Germany over." The work, setting duly forth "that the executions of +priests in England were not for religion but for treason," was +"marvellously liked" in the Netherlands. "In uttering the truth," said +Herle, "'tis likely to do great good;" and he added, that Duke Augustus +of Saxony "did now see so far into the sect of Jesuits, and to their +inward mischiefs, as to become their open enemy, and to make friends +against them in the Empire." + +The love of Truchsess for Agnes Mansfeld had created disaster not only +for himself but for Germany. The whole electorate of Cologne had become +the constant seat of partisan warfare, and the resort of organised bands +of brigands. Villages were burned and rifled, highways infested, cities +threatened, and the whole country subjected to perpetual black mail +(brandschatzung)--fire-insurance levied by the incendiaries in person--by +the supporters of the rival bishops. Truchsess had fled to Delft, where +he had been countenanced and supported by Orange. Two cities still held +for him, Rheinberg and Neuss. On the other hand, his rival, Ernest of +Bavaria; supported by Philip II., and the occasional guest of Alexander +of Parma, had not yet succeeded in establishing a strong foothold in the +territory. Two pauper archbishops, without men or means of their own, +were thus pushed forward and back, like puppets, by the contending +highwaymen on either side; while robbery and murder, under the name of +Protestantism or Catholicism, were for a time the only motive or result +of the contest. + +Thus along the Rhine, as well as the Maas and the Scheldt, the fires of +civil war were ever burning. Deeper within the heart of Germany, there +was more tranquillity; but it was the tranquillity rather of paralysis +than of health. A fearful account was slowly accumulating, which was +evidently to be settled only by one of the most horrible wars which +history has ever recorded. Meantime there was apathy where there should +have been enthusiasm; parsimony and cowardice where generous and combined +effort were more necessary than ever; sloth without security. The +Protestant princes, growing fat and contented on the spoils of the +church, lent but a deaf ear to the moans of Truchsess, forgetting that +their neighbour's blazing roof was likely soon to fire their own. "They +understand better, 'proximus sum egomet mild'," wrote Lord Willoughby +from Kronenburg, "than they have learned, 'humani nihid a me alienum +puto'. These German princes continue still in their lethargy, careless of +the state of others, and dreaming of their ubiquity, and some of them, it +is thought, inclining to be Spanish or Popish more of late than +heretofore." + +The beggared archbishop, more forlorn than ever since the death of his +great patron, cried woe from his resting-place in Delft, upon Protestant +Germany. His tones seemed almost prophetic of the thirty years' wrath to +blaze forth in the next generation. "Courage is wanting to the people +throughout Germany," he wrote to William Lewis of Nassau. "We are +becoming the laughing-stock of the nations. Make sheep of yourselves, and +the wolf will eat you. We shall find our destruction in our immoderate +desire for peace. Spain is making a Papistical league in Germany. +Therefore is Assonleville despatched thither, and that's the reason why +our trash of priests are so insolent in the empire. 'Tis astonishing how +they are triumphing on all sides. God will smite them. Thou dear God! +What are our evangelists about in Germany? Asleep on both ears. 'Dormiunt +in utramque aurem'. I doubt they will be suddenly enough awakened one +day, and the cry will be, 'Who'd have thought it?' Then they will be for +getting oil for the lamp, for shutting the stable-door when the steed is +stolen," and so on, with a string of homely proverbs worthy of Sancho +Panza, or landgrave William of Hesse. + +In truth, one of the most painful features is the general aspect of +affairs was the coldness of the German Protestants towards the +Netherlands. The enmity between Lutherans and Calvinists was almost as +fatal as that between Protestants and Papists. There was even a talk, at +a little later period, of excluding those of the "reformed" church from +the benefits of the peace of Passau. The princes had got the Augsburg +confession and the abbey-lands into the bargain; the peasants had got the +Augsburg confession without the abbey-lands, and were to believe exactly +what their masters believed. This was the German-Lutheran +sixteenth-century idea of religious freedom. Neither prince nor peasant +stirred in behalf of the struggling Christians in the United Provinces, +battling, year after year, knee-deep in blood, amid blazing cities and +inundated fields, breast to breast with the yellow jerkined pikemen of +Spain and Italy, with the axe and the faggot and the rack of the Holy +Inquisition distinctly visible behind them. Such were the realities which +occupied the Netherlanders in those days, not watery beams of theological +moonshine, fantastical catechism-making, intermingled with scenes of riot +and wantonness, which drove old John of Nassau half frantic; with +banquetting and guzzling, drinking and devouring, with unchristian +flaunting and wastefulness of apparel, with extravagant and wanton +dancing, and other lewd abominations; all which, the firm old reformer +prophesied, would lead to the destruction of Germany. + +For the mass, slow moving but apparently irresistible, of Spanish and +papistical absolutism was gradually closing over Christendom. The +Netherlands were the wedge by which alone the solid bulk could be riven +asunder. It was the cause of German, of French, of English liberty, for +which the Provinces were contending. It was not surprising that they were +bitter, getting nothing in their hour of distress from the land of Luther +but dogmas and Augsburg catechisms instead of money and gunpowder, and +seeing German reiters galloping daily to reinforce the army of Parma in +exchange for Spanish ducats. + +Brave old La Noue, with the iron arm, noblest of Frenchmen and +Huguenots--who had just spent five years in Spanish bondage, writing +military discourses in a reeking dungeon, filled with toads and vermin, +after fighting the battle of liberty for a life-time, and with his brave +son already in the Netherlands emulating his father's valour on the same +field--denounced at a little later day, the lukewarmness of Protestant +Germany with whimsical vehemence:--"I am astounded," he cried, "that +these princes are not ashamed of themselves; doing nothing while they see +the oppressed cut to pieces at their gates. When will God grant me grace +to place me among those who are doing their duty, and afar from those who +do nothing, and who ought to know that the cause is a common one. If I am +ever caught dancing the German cotillon, or playing the German flute, or +eating pike with German sauce, I hope it may be flung in my teeth." + +The great league of the Pope and Philip was steadily consolidating +itself, and there were but gloomy prospects for the counter-league in +Germany. There was no hope but in England and France. For the reasons +already indicated, the Prince of Orange, taking counsel with the Estates, +had resolved to try the French policy once more. The balance of power in +Europe, which no man in Christendom so well understood as he, was to be +established by maintaining (he thought) the equilibrium between France +and Spain. In the antagonism of those two great realms lay the only hope +for Dutch or European liberty. Notwithstanding the treason of Anjou, +therefore, it had been decided to renew negociations with that Prince. On +the death of the Duke, the envoys of the States were accordingly +instructed to make the offer to King Henry III. which had been intended +for his brother. That proposition was the sovereignty of all the +Netherlands, save Holland and Zeeland, under a constitution maintaining +the reformed religion and the ancient laws and privileges of the +respective provinces. + +But the death of Francis of Anjou had brought about a considerable change +in French policy. It was now more sharply defined than ever, a +right-angled triangle of almost mathematical precision. The three Henrys +and their partizans divided the realm into three hostile +camps--threatening each other in simulated peace since the treaty of +Fleig (1580), which had put an end to the "lover's war" of the preceding +year,--Henry of Valois, Henry of Guise, and Henry of Navarre. + +Henry III., last of the Valois line, was now thirty-three years of age. +Less than king, less even than man, he was one of those unfortunate +personages who seem as if born to make the idea of royalty ridiculous, +and to test the capacity of mankind to eat and drink humiliation as if it +were wholesome food. It proved how deeply engraved in men's minds of that +century was the necessity of kingship, when the hardy Netherlanders, who +had abjured one tyrant, and had been fighting a generation long rather +than return to him, were now willing to accept the sovereignty of a thing +like Henry of Valois. + +He had not been born without natural gifts, such as Heaven rarely denies +to prince or peasant; but the courage which he once possessed had been +exhausted on the field of Moncontour, his manhood had been left behind +him at Venice, and such wit as Heaven had endowed him withal was now +expended in darting viperous epigrams at court-ladies whom he was only +capable of dishonouring by calumny, and whose charms he burned to +outrival in the estimation of his minions. For the monarch of France was +not unfrequently pleased to attire himself like a woman and a harlot. +With silken flounces, jewelled stomacher, and painted face, with pearls +of great price adorning his bared neck and breast, and satin-slippered +feet, of whose delicate shape and size he was justly vain, it was his +delight to pass his days and nights in a ceaseless round of gorgeous +festivals, tourneys, processions; masquerades, banquets, and balls, the +cost of which glittering frivolities caused the popular burthen and the +popular execration to grow, from day to day, more intolerable and more +audible. Surrounded by a gang of "minions," the most debauched and the +most desperate of France, whose bedizened dresses exhaled perfumes +throughout Paris, and whose sanguinary encounters dyed every street in +blood, Henry lived a life of what he called pleasure, careless of what +might come after, for he was the last of his race. The fortunes of his +minions rose higher and higher, as their crimes rendered them more and +more estimable in the eyes of a King who took a woman's pride in the +valour of such champions to his weakness, and more odious to a people +whose miserable homes were made even more miserable, that the coffers of +a few court-favourites might be filled: Now sauntering, full-dressed, in +the public promenades, with ghastly little death's heads strung upon his +sumptuous garments, and fragments of human bones dangling among his +orders of knighthood--playing at cup and ball as he walked, and followed +by a few select courtiers who gravely pursued the same exciting +occupation--now presiding like a queen of beauty at a tournament to +assign the prize of valour, and now, by the advice of his mother, going +about the streets in robes of penitence, telling his beads as he went, +that the populace might be edified by his piety, and solemnly offering up +prayers in the churches that the blessing of an heir might be vouchsafed +to him,--Henry of Valois seemed straining every nerve in order to bring +himself and his great office into contempt. + +As orthodox as he was profligate, he hated the Huguenots, who sought his +protection and who could have saved his throne, as cordially as he loved +the Jesuits, who passed their lives in secret plottings against his +authority and his person, or in fierce denunciations from the Paris +pulpits against his manifold crimes. Next to an exquisite and sanguinary +fop, he dearly loved a monk. The presence of a friar, he said, exerted as +agreeable an effect upon his mind as the most delicate and gentle +tickling could produce upon his body; and he was destined to have a +fuller dose of that charming presence than he coveted. + +His party--for he was but the nominal chief of a faction, 'tanquam unus +ex nobis'--was the party in possession--the office-holders' party; the +spoilsmen, whose purpose was to rob the exchequer and to enrich +themselves. His minions--for the favourites were called by no other +name--were even more hated, because less despised than the King. Attired +in cloth of gold--for silk and satin were grown too coarse a material for +them--with their little velvet porringer-caps stuck on the sides of their +heads, with their long hair stiff with pomatum, and their heads set +inside a well-starched ruff a foot wide, "like St. John's head in a +charger," as a splenetic contemporary observed, with a nimbus of musk and +violet-powder enveloping them as they passed before vulgar mortals, these +rapacious and insolent courtiers were the impersonation of extortion and +oppression to the Parisian populace. They were supposed, not unjustly, to +pass their lives in dancing, blasphemy, dueling, dicing, and intrigue, in +following the King about like hounds, fawning at his feet, and showing +their teeth to all besides; and for virtues such as these they were +rewarded by the highest offices in church, camp, and state, while new +taxes and imposts were invented almost daily to feed their avarice and +supply their extravagance. France, doomed to feel the beak and talons of +these harpies in its entrails, impoverished by a government that robbed +her at home while it humiliated her abroad, struggled vainly in its +misery, and was now on the verge of another series of internecine +combats--civil war seeming the only alternative to a voluptuous and +licentious peace. + +"We all stood here at gaze," wrote ambassador Stafford to Walsingham, +"looking for some great matter to come of this sudden journey to Lyons; +but, as far as men can find, 'parturient montes', for there hath been +nothing but dancing and banquetting from one house to another, bravery in +apparel, glittering like the sun." He, mentioned that the Duke of +Epernon's horse, taking fright at a red cloak, had backed over a +precipice, breaking his own neck, while his master's shoulder merely was +put out of joint. At the same time the Duke of Joyeuse, coming over Mount +Cenis, on his return from Savoy, had broken his wrist. The people, he +said, would rather they had both broken their necks "than any other +joint, the King having racked the nation for their sakes, as he +hath-done." Stafford expressed much compassion for the French in the +plight in which they found themselves. "Unhappy people!" he cried, "to +have such a King, who seeketh nothing but to impoverish them to enrich a +couple, and who careth not what cometh after his death, so that he may +rove on while he liveth, and careth neither for doing his own estate good +nor his neighbour's state harm." Sir Edward added, however, in a +philosophizing vein, worthy of Corporal Nym, that, "seeing we cannot be +so happy as to have a King to concur with us to do us any good, yet we +are happy to have one that his humour serveth him not to concur with +others to do us harm; and 'tis a wisdom for us to follow these humours, +that we may keep him still in that humour, and from hearkening to others +that may egg him on to worse." + +It was a dark hour for France, and rarely has a great nation been reduced +to a lower level by a feeble and abandoned government than she was at +that moment under the distaff of Henry III. Society was corrupted to its +core. "There is no more truth, no more justice, no more mercy," moaned +President L'Etoile. "To slander, to lie, to rob, to wench, to steal; all +things are permitted save to do right and to speak the truth." Impiety +the most cynical, debauchery the most unveiled, public and unpunished +homicides, private murders by what was called magic, by poison, by hired +assassins, crimes natural, unnatural, and preternatural, were the common +characteristics of the time. All posts and charges were venal. Great +offices of justice were sold to the highest bidder, and that which was +thus purchased by wholesale was retailed in the same fashion. Unhappy the +pauper client who dreamed of justice at the hands of law. The great +ecclesiastical benefices were equally matter of merchandise, and married +men, women, unborn children, enjoyed revenues as dignitaries of the +church. Infants came into the world, it was said, like the mitre-fish, +stamped with the emblems of place. + +"'Twas impossible," said L'Etoile, "to find a crab so tortuous and +backsliding as the government." + +This was the aspect of the first of the three factions in France. Such +was the Henry at its head, the representative of royalty. + +Henry with the Scar, Duke of Guise, the well-known chief of the house of +Lorraine, was the chief of the extreme papistical party. He was now +thirty-four years of age, tall, stately, with a dark, martial face and +dangerous eyes, which Antonio Moro loved to paint; a physiognomy made +still more expressive by the arquebus-shot which had damaged his left +cheek at the fight near Chateau-Thierry and gained him his name of +Balafre. Although one of the most turbulent and restless plotters of that +plotting age, he was yet thought more slow and heavy in character than +subtle, Teutonic rather than Italian. He was the idol of the Parisian +burghers. The grocers, the market-men, the members of the arquebus and +crossbow clubs, all doated on him. The fishwomen worshipped him as a god. +He was the defender of the good old religion under which Paris and the +other cities of France had thriven, the uncompromising opponent of the +new-fangled doctrines which western clothiers, and dyers, and +tapestry-workers, had adopted, and which the nobles of the +mountain-country, the penniless chevaliers of Bearn and Gascony and +Guienne, were ceaselessly taking the field and plunging France into +misery and bloodshed to support. But for the Balafre and Madam League--as +the great Spanish Catholic conspiracy against the liberties of France, +and of England, and of all Europe, was affectionately termed by the Paris +populace--honest Catholics would fare no better in France than they did +in England, where, as it was well known, they were every day subjected to +fearful tortures: The shopwindows were filled with coloured engravings, +representing, in exaggerated fashion, the sufferings of the English +Catholics under bloody Elizabeth, or Jezebel, as she was called; and as +the gaping burghers stopped to ponder over these works of art, there were +ever present, as if by accident, some persons of superior information who +would condescendingly explain the various pictures, pointing out with a +long stick the phenomena most worthy of notice. These caricatures proving +highly successful, and being suppressed by order of government, they were +repeated upon canvas on a larger scale, in still more conspicuous +situations, as if in contempt of the royal authority, which sullied +itself by compromise with Calvinism! The pulpits, meanwhile, thundered +denunciations on the one hand against the weak and wicked King, who +worshipped idols, and who sacrificed the dearly-earned pittance of his +subjects to feed the insolent pomp of his pampered favourites; and on the +other, upon the arch-heretic, the arch-apostate, the Bearnese Huguenot, +who, after the death of the reigning monarch, would have the effrontery +to claim his throne, and to introduce into France the persecutions and +the horrors under which unhappy England was already groaning. + +The scarce-concealed instigator of these assaults upon the royal and upon +the Huguenot faction was, of course, the Duke of Guise,--the man whose +most signal achievement had been the Massacre of St. Bartholomew--all the +preliminary details of that transaction having been arranged by his +skill. So long as Charles IX. was living, the Balafre had created the +confusion which was his element, by entertaining and fomenting the +perpetual intrigues of Anjou and Alencon against their brother; while the +altercations between them and the Queen Mother and the furious madman who +then sat upon the throne, had been the cause of sufficient disorder and +calamity for France. On the death of Charles IX. Guise had sought the +intimacy of Henry of Navarre, that by his means he might frustrate the +hopes of Alencon for the succession. During the early period of the +Bearnese's residence at the French court the two had been inseparable, +living together, going to the same festivals, tournaments, and +masquerades, and even sleeping in the same bed. "My master," was ever +Guise's address to Henry; "my gossip," the young King of Navarre's reply. +But the crafty Bearnese had made use of the intimacy only to read the +secrets of the Balafre's heart; and on Navarre's flight from the court, +and his return to Huguenotism, Guise knew that he had been played upon by +a subtler spirit than his own. The simulated affection was now changed +into undisguised hatred. Moreover, by the death of Alencon, Navarre now +stood next the throne, and Guise's plots became still more extensive and +more open as his own ambition to usurp the crown on the death of the +childless Henry III. became more fervid. + +Thus, by artfully inflaming the populace of Paris, and through his +organized bands of confederates--that of all the large towns of France, +against the Huguenots and their chief, by appeals to the religious +sentiment; and at the same time by stimulating the disgust and +indignation of the tax-payers everywhere at the imposts and heavy +burthens which the boundless extravagance of the court engendered, Guise +paved the way for the advancement of the great League which he +represented. The other two political divisions were ingeniously +represented as mere insolent factions, while his own was the true +national and patriotic party, by which alone the ancient religion and the +cherished institutions of France could be preserved. + +And the great chief of this national patriotic party was not Henry of +Guise, but the industrious old man who sat writing despatches in the +depths of the Escorial. Spanish counsels, Spanish promises, Spanish +ducats--these were the real machinery by which the plots of Guise against +the peace of France and of Europe were supported. Madam League was simply +Philip II. Nothing was written, officially or unofficially, to the French +government by the Spanish court that was not at the same time +communicated to "Mucio"--as the Duke of Guise was denominated in the +secret correspondence of Philip, and Mucio was in Philip's pay, his +confidential agent, spy, and confederate, long before the actual +existence of the League was generally suspected. + +The Queen-Mother, Catharine de' Medici, played into the Duke's hands. +Throughout the whole period of her widowhood, having been accustomed to +govern her sons, she had, in a certain sense, been used to govern the +kingdom. By sowing dissensions among her own children, by inflaming party +against party, by watching with care the oscillations of France--so than +none of the great divisions should obtain preponderance--by alternately +caressing and massacring the Huguenots, by cajoling or confronting +Philip, by keeping, as she boasted, a spy in every family that possessed +the annual income of two thousand livres, by making herself the head of +an organized system of harlotry, by which the soldiers and politicians of +France were inveigled, their secrets faithfully revealed to her by her +well-disciplined maids of honour, by surrounding her unfortunate sons +with temptation from earliest youth, and plunging them by cold +calculation into deepest debauchery, that their enervated faculties might +be ever forced to rely in political affairs on the maternal counsel, and +to abandon the administration to the maternal will; such were the arts by +which Catharine had maintained her influence, and a great country been +governed for a generation--Machiavellian state-craft blended with the +more simple wiles of a procuress. + +Now that Alencon was dead, and Henry III. hopeless of issue, it was her +determination that the children of her daughter, the Duchess of Lorraine, +should succeed to the throne. The matter was discussed as if the throne +were already vacant, and Guise and the Queen-Mother, if they agreed in +nothing else, were both cordial in their detestation of Henry of Navarre. +The Duke affected to support the schemes in favour of his relatives, the +Princes of Lorraine, while he secretly informed the Spanish court that +this policy was only a pretence. He was not likely, he said, to advance +the interests of the younger branch of a house of which he was himself +the chief, nor were their backs equal to the burthen. It was necessary to +amuse the old queen, but he was profoundly of opinion that the only +sovereign for France, upon the death of Henry, was Philip II. himself. +This was the Duke's plan of arriving, by means of Spanish assistance, at +the throne of France; and such was Henry le Balafre, chief of the League. + +And the other Henry, the Huguenot, the Bearnese, Henry of Bourbon, Henry +of Navarre, the chieftain of the Gascon chivalry, the king errant, the +hope and the darling of the oppressed Protestants in every land--of him +it is scarce needful to say a single word. At his very name a figure +seems to leap forth from the mist of three centuries, instinct with ruddy +vigorous life. Such was the intense vitality of the Bearnese prince, that +even now he seems more thoroughly alive and recognizable than half the +actual personages who are fretting their hour upon the stage. + +We see, at once, a man of moderate stature, light, sinewy, and strong; a +face browned with continual exposure; small, mirthful, yet commanding +blue eyes, glittering from beneath an arching brow, and prominent +cheekbones; a long hawk's nose, almost resting upon a salient chin, a +pendent moustache, and a thick, brown, curly beard, prematurely grizzled; +we see the mien of frank authority and magnificent good humour, we hear +the ready sallies of the shrewd Gascon mother-wit, we feel the +electricity which flashes out of him, and sets all hearts around him on +fire, when the trumpet sounds to battle. The headlong desperate charge, +the snow-white plume waving where the fire is hottest, the large capacity +for enjoyment of the man, rioting without affectation in the 'certaminis +gaudia', the insane gallop, after the combat, to lay its trophies at the +feet of the Cynthia of the minute, and thus to forfeit its fruits; all +are as familiar to us as if the seven distinct wars, the hundred pitched +battles, the two hundred sieges; in which the Bearnese was personally +present, had been occurrences of our own day. + +He at least was both king and man, if the monarch who occupied the throne +was neither. He was the man to prove, too, for the instruction of the +patient letter-writer of the Escorial, that the crown of France was to be +won with foot in stirrup and carbine in hand, rather than to be caught by +the weaving and casting of the most intricate nets of diplomatic +intrigue, though thoroughly weighted with Mexican gold. + +The King of Navarre was now thirty-one years old; for the three Henrys +were nearly of the same age. The first indications of his existence had +been recognized amid the cannon and trumpets of a camp in Picardy, and +his mother had sung a gay Bearnese song as he was coming into the world +at Pau. Thus, said his grandfather, Henry of Navarre, thou shalt not bear +to us a morose and sulky child. The good king, without a kingdom, taking +the child, as soon as born, in the lapel of his dressing-gown, had +brushed his infant lips with a clove of garlic, and moistened them with a +drop of generous Gascon wine. Thus, said the grandfather again, shall the +boy be both merry and bold. There was something mythologically prophetic +in the incidents of his birth. + +The best part of Navarre had been long since appropriated by Ferdinand of +Aragon. In France there reigned a young and warlike sovereign with four +healthy boys. But the new-born infant had inherited the lilies of France +from St. Louis, and a later ancestor had added to the escutcheon the +motto "Espoir." His grandfather believed that the boy was born to revenge +upon Spain the wrongs of the House of Albret, and Henry's nature seemed +ever pervaded with Robert of Clermont's device. + +The same sensible grandfather, having different views on the subject of +education from those manifested by Catherine de Medici towards her +children, had the boy taught to run about bare-headed and bare-footed, +like a peasant, among the mountains and rocks of Bearn, till he became as +rugged as a young bear, and as nimble as a kid. Black bread, and beef, +and garlic, were his simple fare; and he was taught by his mother and his +grandfather to hate lies and liars, and to read the Bible. + +When he was fifteen, the third religious war broke out. Both his father +and grandfather were dead. His mother, who had openly professed the +reformed faith, since the death of her husband, who hated it, brought her +boy to the camp at Rochelle, where he was received as the chief of the +Huguenots. His culture was not extensive. He had learned to speak the +truth, to ride, to shoot, to do with little sleep and less food. He could +also construe a little Latin, and had read a few military treatises; but +the mighty hours of an eventful life were now to take him by the hand, +and to teach him much good and much evil, as they bore him onward. He now +saw military treatises expounded practically by professors, like his +uncle Condo, and Admiral Coligny, and Lewis Nassau, in such lecture-rooms +as Laudun, and Jarnac, and Montcontour, and never was apter scholar. + +The peace of Arnay-le-Duc succeeded, and then the fatal Bartholomew +marriage with the Messalina of Valois. The faith taught in the mountains +of Bearn was no buckler against the demand of "the mass or death," +thundered at his breast by the lunatic Charles, as he pointed to +thousands of massacred Huguenots. Henry yielded to such conclusive +arguments, and became a Catholic. Four years of court imprisonment +succeeded, and the young King of Navarre, though proof to the artifices +of his gossip Guise, was not adamant to the temptations spread for him by +Catherine de' Medici. In the harem entertained for him in the Louvre many +pitfalls entrapped him; and he became a stock-performer in the state +comedies and tragedies of that plotting age. + +A silken web of palace-politics, palace-diplomacy, palace revolutions, +enveloped him. Schemes and counter-schemes, stratagems and conspiracies, +assassinations and poisonings; all the state-machinery which worked so +exquisitely in fair ladies' chambers, to spread havoc and desolation over +a kingdom, were displayed before his eyes. Now campaigning with one royal +brother against Huguenots, now fighting with another on their side, now +solicited by the Queen-Mother to attempt the life of her son, now +implored by Henry III. to assassinate his brother, the Bearnese, as fresh +antagonisms, affinities; combinations, were developed, detected, +neutralized almost daily, became rapidly an adept in Medicean +state-chemistry. Charles IX. in his grave, Henry III. on the throne, +Alencon in the Huguenot camp--Henry at last made his escape. The brief +war and peace of Monsieur succeeded, and the King of Navarre formally +abjured the Catholic creed. The parties were now sharply defined. Guise +mounted upon the League, Henry astride upon the Reformation, were +prepared to do battle to the death. The temporary "war of the amorous" +was followed by the peace of Fleix. + +Four years of peace again; four fat years of wantonness and riot +preceding fourteen hungry famine-stricken years of bloodiest civil war. +The voluptuousness and infamy of the Louvre were almost paralleled in +vice, if not in splendour, by the miniature court at Pau. Henry's Spartan +grandfather would scarce have approved the courses of the youth, whose +education he had commenced on so simple a scale. For Margaret of Valois, +hating her husband, and living in most undisguised and promiscuous +infidelity to him, had profited by her mother's lessons. A seraglio of +maids of honour ministered to Henry's pleasures, and were carefully +instructed that the peace and war of the kingdom were playthings in their +hands. While at Paris royalty was hopelessly sinking in a poisonous +marsh, there was danger that even the hardy nature of the Bearnese would +be mortally enervated by the atmosphere in which he lived. + +The unhappy Henry III., baited by the Guises, worried by Alencon and his +mother, implored the King of Navarre to return to Paris and the Catholic +faith. M. de Segur, chief of Navarre's council, who had been won over +during a visit to the capital, where he had made the discovery that +"Henry III. was an angel, and his ministers devils," came back to Pau, +urging his master's acceptance of the royal invitation. Henry wavered. +Bold D'Aubigne, stanchest of Huguenots, and of his friends, next day +privately showed Segur a palace-window opening on a very steep precipice +over the Bayae, and cheerfully assured him that he should be flung from +it did he not instantly reverse his proceedings, and give his master +different advice. If I am not able to do the deed myself, said D'Aubigne, +here are a dozen more to help me. The chief of the council cast a glance +behind him, saw a number of grim Puritan soldiers, with their hats +plucked down upon their brows, looking very serious; so made his bow, and +quite changed his line of conduct. + +At about the same time, Philip II. confidentially offered Henry of +Navarre four hundred thousand crowns in hand, and twelve hundred thousand +yearly, if he would consent to make war upon Henry III. Mucio, or the +Duke of Guise, being still in Philip's pay, the combination of Leaguers +and Huguenots against the unfortunate Valois would, it was thought, be a +good triangular contest. + +But Henry--no longer the unsophisticated youth who had been used to run +barefoot among the cliffs of Coarasse--was grown too crafty a politician +to be entangled by Spanish or Medicean wiles. The Duke of Anjou was now +dead. Of all the princes who had stood between him and the throne, there +was none remaining save the helpless, childless, superannuated youth, who +was its present occupant. The King of Navarre was legitimate heir to the +crown of France. "Espoir" was now in letters of light upon his shield, +but he knew that his path to greatness led through manifold dangers, and +that it was only at the head of his Huguenot chivalry that he could cut +his way. He was the leader of the nobles of Gascony, and Dauphins, and +Guienne, in their mountain fastnesses, of the weavers, cutlers, and +artizans, in their thriving manufacturing and trading towns. It was not +Spanish gold, but carbines and cutlasses, bows and bills, which could +bring him to the throne of his ancestors. + +And thus he stood the chieftain of that great austere party of Huguenots, +the men who went on, their knees before the battle, beating their breasts +with their iron gauntlets, and singing in full chorus a psalm of David, +before smiting the Philistines hip and thigh. + +Their chieftain, scarcely their representative--fit to lead his Puritans +on the battle-field, was hardly a model for them elsewhere. Yet, though +profligate in one respect, he was temperate in every other. In food, +wine, and sleep, he was always moderate. Subtle and crafty in +self-defence, he retained something of his old love of truth, of his +hatred for liars. Hardly generous perhaps, he was a friend of justice, +while economy in a wandering King, like himself, was a necessary virtue, +of which France one day was to feel the beneficent action. Reckless and +headlong in appearance, he was in truth the most careful of men. On the +religious question, most cautious of all, he always left the door open +behind him, disclaimed all bigotry of opinion, and earnestly implored the +Papists to seek, not his destruction, but his instruction. Yet prudent as +he was by nature in every other regard, he was all his life the slave of +one woman or another, and it was by good luck rather than by sagacity +that he did not repeatedly forfeit the fruits of his courage and conduct, +in obedience to his master-passion. + +Always open to conviction on the subject of his faith, he repudiated the +appellation of heretic. A creed, he said, was not to be changed like a +shirt, but only on due deliberation, and under special advice. In his +secret heart he probably regarded the two religions as his chargers, and +was ready to mount alternately the one or the other, as each seemed the +more likely to bear him safely in the battle. The Bearnese was no +Puritan, but he was most true to himself and to his own advancement. His +highest principle of action was to reach his goal, and to that principle +he was ever loyal. Feeling, too, that it was the interest of France that +he should succeed, he was even inspired--compared with others on the +stage--by an almost lofty patriotism. + +Amiable by nature and by habit, he had preserved the most unimpaired +good-humour throughout the horrible years which succeeded St. +Bartholomew, during which he carried his life in his hand, and learned +not to wear his heart upon his sleeve. Without gratitude, without +resentment, without fear, without remorse, entirely arbitrary, yet with +the capacity to use all men's judgments; without convictions, save in +regard to his dynastic interests, he possessed all the qualities, +necessary to success. He knew how to use his enemies. He knew how to use +his friends, to abuse them, and to throw them away. He refused to +assassinate Francis Alencon at the bidding of Henry III., but he +attempted to procure the murder of the truest of his own friends, one of +the noblest characters of the age--whose breast showed twelve scars +received in his services--Agrippa D'Aubigne, because the honest soldier +had refused to become his pimp--a service the King had implored upon his +knees. + +Beneath the mask of perpetual careless good-humour, lurked the keenest +eye, a subtle, restless, widely combining brain, and an iron will. Native +sagacity had been tempered into consummate elasticity by the fiery +atmosphere in which feebler natures had been dissolved. His wit was as +flashing and as quickly unsheathed as his sword. Desperate, apparently +reckless temerity on the battle-field was deliberately indulged in, that +the world might be brought to recognise a hero and chieftain in a King. +The do-nothings of the Merovingian line had been succeeded by the Pepins; +to the effete Carlovingians had come a Capet; to the impotent Valois +should come a worthier descendant of St. Louis. This was shrewd Gascon +calculation, aided by constitutional fearlessness. When despatch-writing, +invisible Philips, stargazing Rudolphs, and petticoated Henrys, sat upon +the thrones of Europe, it was wholesome to show the world that there was +a King left who could move about in the bustle and business of the age, +and could charge as well as most soldiers at the head of his cavalry; +that there was one more sovereign fit to reign over men, besides the +glorious Virgin who governed England. + +Thus courageous, crafty, far-seeing, consistent, untiring, imperturbable, +he was born to command, and had a right to reign. He had need of the +throne, and the throne had still more need of him. + +This then was the third Henry, representative of the third side of the +triangle, the reformers of the kingdom. + +And before this bubbling cauldron of France, where intrigues, foreign and +domestic, conflicting ambitions, stratagems, and hopes, were whirling in +never-ceasing tumult, was it strange if the plain Netherland envoys +should stand somewhat aghast? + +Yet it was necessary that they should ponder well the aspect of affairs; +for all their hopes, the very existence of themselves and of their +religion, depended upon the organization which should come of this chaos. + +It must be remembered, however, that those statesmen--even the wisest or +the best-informed of them--could not take so correct a view of France and +its politics as it is possible for us, after the lapse of three +centuries, to do. The interior leagues, subterranean schemes, conflicting +factions, could only be guessed at; nor could the immediate future be +predicted, even by such far-seeing politicians as William of Orange; at a +distance, or Henry of Navarre, upon the spot. + +It was obvious to the Netherlanders that France, although torn by +faction, was a great and powerful realm. There had now been, with the +brief exception of the lovers' war in 1580, a religious peace of eight +years' duration. The Huguenots had enjoyed tranquil exercise of their +worship during that period, and they expressed perfect confidence in the +good faith of the King. That the cities were inordinately taxed to supply +the luxury of the court could hardly be unknown to the Netherlanders. +Nevertheless they knew that the kingdom was the richest and most populous +of Christendom, after that of Spain. Its capital, already called by +contemporaries the "compendium of the world," was described by travellers +as "stupendous in extent and miraculous for its numbers." It was even +said to contain eight hundred thousand souls; and although, its actual +population did not probably exceed three hundred and twenty thousand, yet +this was more than double the number of London's inhabitants, and thrice +as many as Antwerp could then boast, now that a great proportion of its +foreign denizens had been scared away. Paris was at least by one hundred +thousand more populous than any city of Europe, except perhaps the remote +and barbarous Moscow, while the secondary cities of France, Rouen in the +north, Lyons in the centre, and Marseilles in the south, almost equalled +in size, business, wealth, and numbers, the capitals of other countries. +In the whole kingdom were probably ten or twelve millions of inhabitants, +nearly as many as in Spain, without her colonies, and perhaps three times +the number that dwelt in England. + +In a military point of view, too, the alliance of France was most +valuable to the contiguous Netherlands. A few regiments of French troops, +under the command of one of their experienced Marshals, could block up +the Spaniards in the Walloon Provinces, effectually stop their operations +against Ghent, Antwerp, and the other great cities of Flanders and +Brabant, and, with the combined action of the United Provinces on the +north, so surround and cripple the forces of Parma, as to reduce the +power of Philip, after a few vigorous and well-concerted blows, to an +absolute nullity in, the Low Countries. As this result was of as vital +importance to the real interests of France and of Europe, whether +Protestant or Catholic, as it was to the Provinces, and as the French +government had privately manifested a strong desire to oppose the +progress of Spain towards universal empire, it was not surprising that +the States General, not feeling capable of standing alone, should make +their application to France. This they had done with the knowledge and +concurrence of the English government. What lay upon the surface the +Netherland statesmen saw and pondered well. What lurked beneath, they +surmised as shrewdly as they could, but it was impossible, with plummet +and fathom-line ever in hand, to sound the way with perfect accuracy, +where the quicksands were ever shifting, and the depth or shallowness of +the course perpetually varying. It was not easy to discover the +intentions of a government which did not know its own intentions, and +whose changing policy was controlled by so many hidden currents. + +Moreover, as already indicated, the envoys and those whom they +represented had not the same means of arriving at a result as are granted +to us. Thanks to the liberality of many modern governments of Europe, the +archives where the state-secrets of the buried centuries have so long +mouldered, are now open to the student of history. To him who has +patience and industry many mysteries are thus revealed, which no +political sagacity or critical acumen could have divined. He leans over +the shoulder of Philip the Second at his writing-table, as the King +spells patiently out, with cipher-key in hand, the most concealed +hieroglyphics of Parma or Guise or Mendoza. He reads the secret thoughts +of "Fabius,"--[The name usually assigned to Philip himself in the +Paris-Simancas Correspondence.]--as that cunctative Roman scrawls his +marginal apostilles on each despatch; he pries into all the stratagems of +Camillus, Hortensius, Mucius, Julius, Tullius, and the rest of those +ancient heroes who lent their names to the diplomatic masqueraders of the +16th century; he enters the cabinet of the deeply-pondering Burghley, and +takes from the most private drawer the memoranda which record that +minister's unutterable doubtings; he pulls from the dressing-gown folds +of the stealthy, softly-gliding Walsingham the last secret which he has +picked from the Emperor's pigeon-holes, or the Pope's pocket, and which, +not Hatton, nor Buckhurst, nor Leicester, nor the Lord Treasurer, is to +see; nobody but Elizabeth herself; he sits invisible at the most secret +councils of the Nassaus and Barneveldt and Buys, or pores with Farnese +over coming victories, and vast schemes of universal conquest; he reads +the latest bit of scandal, the minutest characteristic of king or +minister, chronicled by the gossiping Venetians for the edification of +the Forty; and, after all this prying and eavesdropping, having seen the +cross-purposes, the bribings, the windings, the fencings in the dark, he +is not surprised, if those who were systematically deceived did not +always arrive at correct conclusions. + +Noel de Caron, Seigneur de Schoneval, had been agent of the States at the +French court at the time of the death of the Duke of Anjou. Upon the +occurrence of that event, La Mouillerie and Asseliers were deputed by the +Provinces to King Henry III., in order to offer him the sovereignty, +which they had intended to confer upon his brother. Meantime that +brother, just before his death, and with the privity of Henry, had been +negotiating for a marriage with the younger daughter of Philip II.--an +arrangement somewhat incompatible with his contemporaneous scheme to +assume the sovereignty of Philip's revolted Provinces. An attempt had +been made at the same time to conciliate the Duke of Savoy, and invite +him to the French court; but the Duc de Joyeuse, then on his return from +Turin, was bringing the news, not only that the match with Anjou was not +favored--which, as Anjou was dead, was of no great consequence--but that +the Duke of Savoy was himself to espouse the Infanta, and was therefore +compelled to decline the invitation to Paris, for fear of offending his +father-in-law. Other matters were in progress, to be afterwards +indicated, very much interfering with the negotiations of the Netherland +envoys. + +When La Mouillerie and Asseliers arrived at Rouen, on their road from +Dieppe to Paris, they received a peremptory order from the Queen-Mother +to proceed no farther. This prohibition was brought by an unofficial +personage, and was delivered, not to them, but to Des Pruneaux, French +envoy to the States General, who had accompanied the envoys to France. + +After three weeks' time, during which they "kept themselves continually +concealed in Rouen," there arrived in that city a young nephew of +Secretary Brulart, who brought letters empowering him to hear what they +had in charge for the King. The envoys, not much flattered by such +cavalier treatment on the part of him to, whom they were offering a +crown, determined to digest the affront as they best might, and, to save +time, opened the whole business to this subordinate stripling. He +received from them accordingly an ample memoir to be laid before his +Majesty, and departed by the post the same night. Then they waited ten +days longer, concealed as if they had been thieves or spies, rather than +the representatives of a friendly power, on a more than friendly errand. + +At last, on the 24th July 1854, after the deputies had been thus shut up +a whole month, Secretary Brulart himself arrived from Fontainebleau. + +He stated that the King sent his royal thanks to the States for the offer +which they had made him, and to the deputies in particular for taking the +trouble of so long a journey; but that he did not find his realm in +condition to undertake a foreign war so inopportunely. In every other +regard, his Majesty offered the States "all possible favours and +pleasures." + +Certainly, after having been thus kept in prison for a month, the +ambassadors had small cause to be contented with this very cold +communication. To be forbidden the royal presence, and to be turned out +of the country without even an official and accredited answer to a +communication in which they had offered the sovereignty of their +fatherland, was not flattering to their dignity. "We little thought," +said they to Brulart, after a brief consultation among themselves, "to +receive such a reply as this. It displeases us infinitely that his +Majesty will not do us the honour to grant us an audience. We must take +the liberty of saying, that 'tis treating the States, our masters, with +too much contempt. Who ever heard before of refusing audience to public +personages? Kings often grant audience to mere letter-carriers. Even the +King of Spain never refused a hearing to the deputies from the +Netherlands when they came to Spain to complain of his own government. +The States General have sent envoys to many other kinds and princes, and +they have instantly granted audience in every case. His Majesty, too, has +been very ill-informed of the contracts which we formerly made with the +Duke of Anjou, and therefore a personal interview is the more necessary." +As the envoys were obstinate on the point of Paris, Brulart said "that +the King, although he should himself be at Lyons, would not prevent any +one from going to the capital on his own private affairs; but would +unquestionably take it very ill if, they should visit that city in a +public manner, and as deputies." + +Des Pruneaux professed himself "very grievous at this result, and +desirous of a hundred deaths in consequence." + +They stated that they should be ready within a month to bring an army of +3,000 horse and 13,000 foot into the field for the relief of Ghent, +besides their military operations against Zutphen; and that the enemy had +recently been ignominiously defeated in his attack upon Fort Lille, and +had lost 2,000 of his best soldiers. + +Here were encouraging facts; and it certainly was worth the while of the +French sovereign to pause a moment before rejecting without a hearing, +the offer of such powerful and conveniently-situated provinces. + +Des Pruneaux, a man of probity and earnestness, but perhaps of +insufficient ability to deal with such grave matters as now fell almost +entirely upon his shoulders, soon afterwards obtained audience of the +King. Being most sincerely in favour of the annexation of the Netherlands +to France, and feeling that now or never was the opportunity of bringing +it about, he persuaded the King to send him back to the Provinces, in +order to continue the negotiation directly with the States General. The +timidity and procrastination of the court could be overcome no further. + +The two Dutch envoys, who had stolen secretly to Paris, were indulged in +a most barren and unmeaning interview with the Queen-Mother. Before their +departure from France, however, they had the advantage of much +conversation with leading members of the royal council, of the +parliaments of Paris and Rouen, and also with various persons professing +the reformed religion. They endeavoured thus to inform themselves, as +well as they could, why the King made so much difficulty in accepting +their propositions, and whether, and by what means, his Majesty could be +induced to make war in their behalf upon the King of Spain. + +They were informed that, should Holland and Zeeland unite with the rest +of the Netherlands, the King "without any doubt would undertake the cause +most earnestly." His councillors, also--even those who had been most +active in dissuading his Majesty from such a policy--would then be +unanimous in supporting the annexation of the Provinces and the war with +Spain. In such a contingency, with the potent assistance of Holland and +Zeeland, the King would have little difficulty, within a very short time, +in chasing every single Spaniard out of the Netherlands. To further this +end, many leading personages in France avowed to the envoys their +determination "to venture their lives and their fortunes, and to use all +the influence which they possessed at court." + +The same persons expressed their conviction that the King, once satisfied +by the Provinces as to conditions and reasons, would cheerfully go into +the war, without being deterred by any apprehension as to the power of +Spain. It was, however, fitting that each Province should chaffer as +little as possible about details, but should give his Majesty every +reasonable advantage. They should remember that they were dealing with "a +great, powerful monarch, who was putting his realm in jeopardy, and not +with a Duke of Anjou, who had every thing to gain and nothing to lose." + +All the Huguenots, with whom the envoys conversed, were excessively +sanguine. Could the King be once brought they said, to promise the +Netherlands his protection, there was not the least fear but that he +would keep his word. He would use all the means within his power; "yea, +he would take the crown from his head," rather than turn back. Although +reluctant to commence a war with so powerful a sovereign, having once +promised his help, he would keep his pledge to the utmost, "for he was a +King of his word," and had never broken and would never break his faith +with those of the reformed religion. + +Thus spoke the leading Huguenots of France, in confidential communication +with the Netherland envoys, not many months before the famous edict of +extermination, published at Nemours. + +At that moment the reformers were full of confidence; not foreseeing the +long procession of battles and sieges which was soon to sweep through the +land. Notwithstanding the urgency of the Papists for their extirpation, +they extolled loudly the liberty of religious worship which Calvinists, +as well as Catholics, were enjoying in France, and pointed to the fact +that the adherents of both religions were well received at court, and +that they shared equally in offices of trust and dignity throughout the +kingdom. + +The Netherland envoys themselves bore testimony to the undisturbed +tranquillity and harmony in which the professors of both religions were +living and worshipping side by side "without reproach or quarrel" in all +the great cities which they had visited. They expressed the conviction +that the same toleration would be extended to all the Provinces when +under French dominion; and, so far as their ancient constitutions and +privileges were concerned, they were assured that the King of France +would respect and maintain them with as much fidelity as the States could +possibly desire. + +Des Pruneaux, accompanied by the two States' envoys, departed forthwith +for the Netherlands. On the 24th August, 1584 he delivered a discourse +before the States General, in which he disclosed, in very general terms, +the expectations of Henry III., and intimated very clearly that the +different Provinces were to lose no time in making an unconditional offer +to that monarch. With regard to Holland and Zeeland he observed that he +was provided with a special commission to those Estates. It was not long +before one Province after the other came to the conclusion to offer the +sovereignty to the King without written conditions, but with a general +understanding that their religious freedom and their ancient +constitutions were to be sacredly respected. Meantime, Des Pruneaux made +his appearance in Holland and Zeeland, and declared the King's intentions +of espousing the cause of the States, and of accepting the sovereignty of +all the Provinces. He distinctly observed, however, that it was as +sovereign, not as protector, that his Majesty must be recognised in +Holland and Zeeland, as well as in the rest of the country. + +Upon this grave question there was much debate and much difference of +opinion. Holland and Zeeland had never contemplated the possibility of +accepting any foreign sovereignty, and the opponents of the present +scheme were loud and angry, but very reasonable in their remarks. + +The French, they said, were no respecters of privileges nor of persons. +The Duke of Anjou had deceived William of Orange and betrayed the +Provinces. Could they hope to see farther than that wisest and most +experienced prince? Had not the stout hearts of the Antwerp burghers +proved a stronger defence to Brabant liberties than the "joyous entry" on +the dread day of the "French fury," it would have fared ill then and for +ever with the cause of freedom and religion in the Netherlands. The King +of France was a Papist, a Jesuit. He was incapable of keeping his +pledges. Should they make the arrangement now proposed and confer the +sovereignty upon him, he would forthwith make peace with Spain, and +transfer the Provinces back to that crown in exchange for the duchy of +Milan, which France had ever coveted. The Netherlands, after a quarter of +a century of fighting in defence of their hearths and altars, would find +themselves handed over again, bound and fettered, to the tender mercies +of the Spanish Inquisition. + +The Kings of France and of Spain always acted in concert, for religion +was the most potent of bonds. Witness the sacrifice of thousands of +French soldiers to Alva by their own sovereign at Mons, witness the fate +of Genlis, witness the bloody night of St. Bartholomew, witness the +Antwerp fury. Men cited and relied upon the advice of William of Orange +as to this negotiation with France. But Orange never dreamed of going so +far as now proposed. He was ever careful to keep the Provinces of Holland +and Zeeland safe from every foreign master. That spot was to be holy +ground. Not out of personal ambition. God forbid that they, should accuse +his memory of any such impurity, but because he wished one safe refuge +for the spirit of freedom. + +Many years long they had held out by land and sea against the Spaniards, +and should they now, because this Des Pruneaux shrugged his shoulders, be +so alarmed as to open the door to the same Spaniard wearing the disguise +of a Frenchman? + +Prince Maurice also made a brief representation to the States' Assembly +of Holland, in which, without distinctly opposing the negotiation with +France, he warned them not to proceed too hastily with so grave a matter. +He reminded them how far they had gone in the presentation of the +sovereignty to his late father, and requested them, in their dealings +with France, not to forget his interests and those of his family. He +reminded them of the position of that family, overladen with debt +contracted in their service alone. He concluded by offering most +affectionately his service in any way in which he, young and +inexperienced as he knew himself to be, might be thought useful; as he +was long since resolved to devote his life to the welfare of his country. + +These passionate appeals were answered with equal vehemence by those who +had made up their minds to try the chances of the French sovereignty. Des +Pruneaux, meanwhile, was travelling from province to province, and from +city to city, using the arguments which have already been sufficiently +indicated, and urging a speedy compliance with the French King's +propositions. At the same time, in accordance with his instructions, he +was very cautious to confine himself to generalities, and to avoid +hampering his royal master with the restrictions which had proved so +irksome to the Duke of Anjou. + +"The States General demanded a copy of my speech," he wrote the day after +that harangue had been delivered, "but I only gave them a brief outline; +extending myself [25th August, 1584] as little as I possibly could, +according to the intention and command of your Majesty. When I got here, +I found them without hope of our assistance, and terribly agitated by the +partizans of Spain. There was some danger of their going over in a panic +to the enemy. They are now much changed again, and the Spanish partizans +are beginning to lose their tongues. I invite them, if they intend to +address your Majesty, to proceed as they ought towards a veritably grand +monarch, without hunting up any of their old quibbles, or reservations of +provinces, or any thing else which could inspire suspicion. I have sent +into Gelderland and Friesland, for I find I must stay here in Holland and +Zeeland myself. These two provinces are the gates and ramparts through +which we must enter. 'Tis, in my opinion, what could be called superb, to +command all the sea, thus subject to the crown of France. And France, +too, with assistance of this country, will command the land as well. They +are much astonished here, however, that I communicate nothing of the +intention of your Majesty. They say that if your Majesty does not accept +this offer of their country, your Majesty puts the rope around their +necks." + +The French envoy was more and more struck with the brilliancy of the +prize offered to his master. "If the King gets these Provinces," said he +to Catharine, "'t will be the most splendid inheritance which Prince has +ever conquered." + +In a very few weeks the assiduity of the envoy and of the French party +was successful. All the other provinces had very soon repeated the offer +which they had previously made through Asseliers and La Mouillerie. By +the beginning of October the opposition of Holland was vanquished. The +estates of that Province--three cities excepted, however--determined "to +request England and France to assume a joint protectorate over the +Netherlands. In case the King of France should refuse this proposition, +they were then ready to receive him as prince and master, with knowledge +and consent of the Queen of England, and on such conditions as the United +States should approve." + +Immediately afterwards, the General Assembly of all the States determined +to offer the sovereignty to King Henry "on conditions to be afterwards +settled." + +Des Pruneaux, thus triumphant, received a gold chain of the value of two +thousand florins, and departed before the end of October for France. + +The departure of the solemn embassy to that country, for the purpose of +offering the sovereignty to the King, was delayed till the beginning of +January. Meantime it is necessary to cast a glance at the position of +England in relation to these important transactions. + + ETEXT EDITOR'S BOOKMARKS: + + Diplomatic adroitness consists mainly in the power to deceive + Enmity between Lutherans and Calvinists + Find our destruction in our immoderate desire for peace + German-Lutheran sixteenth-century idea of religious freedom + Intentions of a government which did not know its own intentions + Lord was better pleased with adverbs than nouns + Make sheep of yourselves, and the wolf will eat you + Necessity of kingship + Neighbour's blazing roof was likely soon to fire their own + Nor is the spirit of the age to be pleaded in defence + Pauper client who dreamed of justice at the hands of law + Seem as if born to make the idea of royalty ridiculous + Shutting the stable-door when the steed is stolen + String of homely proverbs worthy of Sancho Panza + The very word toleration was to sound like an insult + There was apathy where there should have been enthusiasm + Tranquillity rather of paralysis than of health + Write so illegibly or express himself so awkwardly + + + + +HISTORY OF THE UNITED NETHERLANDS + +From the Death of William the Silent to the Twelve Year's Truce--1609 + +By John Lothrop Motley + +History United Netherlands, 1584-1585 + + + + +CHAPTER III. + + Policy of England--Schemes of the Pretender of Portugal--Hesitation + of the French Court--Secret Wishes of France--Contradictory Views as + to the Opinions of Netherlanders--Their Love for England and + Elizabeth--Prominent Statesmen of the Provinces--Roger Williams the + Welshman Views of Walsingham, Burghley, and the Queen--An Embassy to + Holland decided upon--Davison at the Hague--Cautious and Secret + Measures of Burghley--Consequent Dissatisfaction of Walsingham-- + English and Dutch Suspicion of France--Increasing Affection of + Holland for England. + +The policy of England towards the Provinces had been somewhat hesitating, +but it had not been disloyal. It was almost inevitable that there should +be timidity in the councils of Elizabeth, when so grave a question as +that of confronting the vast power of Spain was forcing itself day by day +more distinctly upon the consideration of herself and her statesmen. It +was very clear, now that Orange was dead, that some new and decided step +would be taken. Elizabeth was in favour of combined action by the French +and English governments, in behalf of the Netherlands--a joint +protectorate of the Provinces, until such time as adequate concessions on +the religious question could be obtained from Spain. She was unwilling to +plunge into the peril and expense of a war with the strongest power in +the world. She disliked the necessity under which she should be placed of +making repeated applications to her parliament, and of thus fostering the +political importance of the Commons; she was reluctant to encourage +rebellious subjects in another land, however just the cause of their +revolt. She felt herself vulnerable in Ireland and on the Scottish +border. Nevertheless, the Spanish power was becoming so preponderant, +that if the Netherlands were conquered, she could never feel a moment's +security within her own territory. If the Provinces were annexed to +France, on the other hand, she could not contemplate with complacency the +increased power thus placed in the hands of the treacherous and +jesuitical house of Valois. + +The path of the Queen was thickly strewed with peril: her advisers were +shrewd, far-seeing, patriotic, but some of them were perhaps over +cautious. The time had, however, arrived when the danger was to be faced, +if the whole balance of power in Europe were not to come to an end, and +weak states, like England and the Netherlands, to submit to the tyranny +of an overwhelming absolutism. The instinct of the English sovereign, of +English statesmen, of the English nation, taught them that the cause of +the Netherlands was their own. Nevertheless, they were inclined to look +on yet a little longer, although the part of spectator had become an +impossible one. The policy of the English government was not treacherous, +although it was timid. That of the French court was both the one and the +other, and it would have been better both for England and the Provinces, +had they more justly appreciated the character of Catharine de' Medici +and her son. + +The first covert negotiations between Henry and the States had caused +much anxiety among the foreign envoys in France. Don Bernardino de +Mendoza, who had recently returned from Spain after his compulsory +retreat from his post of English ambassador, was now established in +Paris, as representative of Philip. He succeeded Tasais--a Netherlander +by birth, and one of the ablest diplomatists in the Spanish service--and +his house soon became the focus of intrigue against the government to +which he was accredited--the very head-quarters of the League. His salary +was large, his way of living magnificent, his insolence intolerable. + +"Tassis is gone to the Netherlands," wrote envoy Busbecq to the Emperor, +"and thence is to proceed to Spain. Don Bernardino has arrived in his +place. If it be the duty of a good ambassador to expend largely, it would +be difficult to find a better one than he; for they say 'tis his +intention to spend sixteen thousand dollars yearly in his embassy. I +would that all things were in correspondence; and that he were not in +other respects so inferior to Tassis." + +It is, however, very certain that Mendoza was not only a brave soldier, +but a man of very considerable capacity in civil affairs, although his +inordinate arrogance interfered most seriously with his skill as a +negotiator. He was, of course, watching with much fierceness the progress +of these underhand proceedings between the French court and the +rebellious subjects of his master, and using threats and expostulations +in great profusion. "Mucio," too, the great stipendiary of Philip, was +becoming daily more dangerous, and the adherents of the League were +multiplying with great celerity. + +The pretender of Portugal, Don Antonio, prior of Crato, was also in +Paris; and it was the policy of both the French and the English +governments to protect his person, and to make use of him as a rod over +the head of Philip. Having escaped, after the most severe sufferings, in +the mountains of Spain, where he had been tracked like a wild beast, with +a price of thirty thousand crowns placed upon his head, he was now most +anxious to stir the governments of Europe into espousing his cause, and +into attacking Spain through the recently acquired kingdom of Portugal. +Meantime, he was very desirous of some active employment, to keep himself +from starving, and conceived the notion, that it would be an excellent +thing for the Netherlands and himself, were he to make good to them the +loss of William the Silent. + +"Don Antonio," wrote Stafford, "made a motion to me yesterday, to move +her Majesty, that now upon the Prince of Orange's death, as it is a +necessary thing for them to have a governor and head, and him to be at +her Majesty's devotion, if her Majesty would be at the means to work it +for him, she should be assured nobody should be more faithfully tied in +devotion to her than he. Truly you would pity the poor man's case, who is +almost next door to starving in effect." + +A starving condition being, however, not the only requisite in a governor +and head to replace the Prince of Orange, nothing came of this motion. +Don Antonio remained in Paris, in a pitiable plight, and very much +environed by dangers; for the Duke of Guise and his brother had +undertaken to deliver him into the hands of Philip the Second, or those +of his ministers, before the feast of St. John of the coming year. Fifty +thousand dollars were to be the reward of this piece of work, combined +with other services; "and the sooner they set about it the better," said +Philip, writing a few months later, "for the longer they delay it, the +less easy will they find it."' + +The money was never earned, however, and meantime Don Antonio made +himself as useful as he could, in picking up information for Sir Edward +Stafford and the other opponents of Spanish policy in Paris. + +The English envoy was much embarrassed by the position of affairs. He +felt sure that the French monarch would never dare to enter the lists +against the king of Spain, yet he was accurately informed of the secret +negotiations with the Netherlands, while in the dark as to the ultimate +intentions of his own government. + +"I was never set to school so much," he wrote to Walsingham (27th July, +1584), "as I have been to decipher the cause of the deputies of the Low +Countries coming hither, the offers that they made the King here, and the +King's manner of dealing with them!" + +He expressed great jealousy at the mystery which enveloped the whole +transaction; and much annoyance with Noel de Caron, who "kept very +secret, and was angry at the motion," when he endeavoured to discover the +business in which they were engaged. Yet he had the magnanimity to +request Walsingham not to mention the fact to the Queen, lest she should +be thereby prejudiced against the States. + +"For my part," said he, "I would be glad in any thing to further them, +rather than to hinder them--though they do not deserve it--yet for the +good the helping them at this time may bring ourselves." + +Meantime, the deputies went away from France, and the King went to Lyons, +where he had hoped to meet both the Duke of Savoy and the King of +Navarre. But Joyeuse, who had been received at Chambery with "great +triumphs and tourneys," brought back only a broken wrist, without +bringing the Duke of Savoy; that potentate sending word that the "King of +Spain had done him the honour to give him his daughter, and that it was +not fit for him to do any thing that might bring jealousy." + +Henry of Navarre also, as we have seen, declined the invitation sent him, +M. de Segur not feeling disposed for the sudden flight out of window +suggested by Agrippa D' Aubigne; so that, on the whole, the King and his +mother, with all the court, returned from Lyons in marvellous ill humour. + +"The King storms greatly," said Stafford, "and is in a great dump." It +was less practicable than ever to discover the intentions of the +government; for although it was now very certain that active exertions +were making by Des Pruneaux in the Provinces, it was not believed by the +most sagacious that a serious resolution against Spain had been taken in +France. There was even a talk of a double matrimonial alliance, at that +very moment, between the two courts. + +"It is for certain here said," wrote Stafford, "that the King of Spain +doth presently marry the dowager of France, and 'tis thought that if the +King of Spain marry, he will not live a year. Whensoever the marriage +be," added the envoy, "I would to God the effect were true, for if it be +not by some such handy work of God, I am afraid things will not go so +well as I could wish." + +There was a lull on the surface of affairs, and it was not easy to sound +the depths of unseen combinations and intrigues. + +There was also considerable delay in the appointment and the arrival of +the new deputies from the Netherlands; and Stafford was as doubtful as +ever as to the intentions of his own government. + +"They look daily here for the States," he wrote to Walsingham (29th Dec. +1584), "and I pray that I may hear from you as soon as you may, what +course I shall take when they be here, either hot or cold or lukewarm in +the matter, and in what sort I shall behave myself. Some badly affected +have gone about to put into the King's head, that they never meant to +offer the sovereignty, which, though the King be not thoroughly persuaded +of, yet so much is won by this means that the King hearkeneth to see the +end, and then to believe as he seeth cause, and in the meantime to speak +no more of any such matter than if it had never been moved." + +While his Majesty was thus hearkening in order to see more, according to +Sir Edward's somewhat Hibernian mode of expressing himself, and keeping +silent that he might see the better, it was more difficult than ever for +the envoy to know what course to pursue. Some persons went so far as to +suggest that the whole negotiation was a mere phantasmagoria devised by +Queen Elizabeth--her purpose being to breed a quarrel between Henry and +Philip for her own benefit; and "then, seeing them together by the ears, +as her accustomed manner was, to let them go alone, and sit still to look +on." + +The King did not appear to be much affected by these insinuations against +Elizabeth; but the doubt and the delay were very harassing. "I would to +God," wrote the English envoy, "that if the States mean to do anything +here with the King, and if her. Majesty and the council think it fit, +they would delay no time, but go roundly either to an agreement or to a +breach with the King. Otherwise, as the matter now sleepeth, so it will +die, for the King must be taken in his humour when he begins to nibble at +any bait, for else he will come away, and never bite a full bite while he +liveth." + +There is no doubt that the bait, at which Henry nibbled with much +avidity, was the maritime part of the Netherlands. Holland and Zeeland in +the possession of either England or Spain, was a perpetual inconvenience +to France. The King, or rather the Queen-Mother and her advisers--for +Henry himself hardly indulged in any profound reflections on +state-affairs,--desired and had made a sine qua non of those Provinces. +It had been the French policy, from the beginning, to delay matters, in +order to make the States feel the peril of their position to the full. + +"The King, differing and temporising," wrote Herle to the Queen, "would +have them fall into that necessity and danger, as that they should offer +unto him simply the possession of all their estates. Otherwise, they were +to see, as in a glass, their evident and hasty ruin." + +Even before the death of Orange, Henry had been determined, if possible, +to obtain possession of the island of Walcheren, which controlled the +whole country. "To give him that," said Herle, "would be to turn the hot +end of the poker towards themselves, and put the cold part in the King's +hand. He had accordingly made a secret offer to William of Orange, +through the Princess, of two millions of livres in ready money, or, if he +preferred it, one hundred thousand livres yearly of perpetual +inheritance, if he would secure to him the island of Walcheren. In that +case he promised to declare war upon the King of Spain, to confirm to the +States their privileges, and to guarantee to the Prince the earldoms of +Holland and Zeeland, with all his other lands and titles." + +It is superfluous to say that such offers were only regarded by the +Prince as an affront. It was, however, so necessary, in his opinion; to +maintain the cause of the reformed churches in France, and to keep up the +antagonism between that country and Spain, that the French policy was not +abandoned, although the court was always held in suspicion. + +But on the death of William, there was a strong reaction against France +and in favour of England. Paul Buys, one of the ablest statesmen of the +Netherlands, Advocate of Holland, and a confidential friend of William +the Silent up to the time of his death, now became the leader of the +English party, and employed his most strenuous efforts against the French +treaty-having "seen the scope of that court." + +With regard to the other leading personages, there was a strong +inclination in favour of Queen Elizabeth, whose commanding character +inspired great respect. At the same time warmer sentiments of adhesion +seem to have been expressed towards the French court, by the same +individuals, than the mere language of compliment justified. + +Thus, the widowed Princess of Orange was described by Des Pruneaux to his +sovereign, as "very desolate, but nevertheless doing all in her power to +advance his interests; the Count Maurice, of gentle hopes, as also most +desirous of remaining his Majesty's humble servant, while Elector +Truchsess was said to be employing himself, in the same cause, with very +great affection." + +A French statesman resident in the Provinces, whose name has not been +preserved, but who was evidently on intimate terms with many eminent +Netherlanders, declared that Maurice, "who had a mind entirely French, +deplored infinitely the misfortunes of France, and regretted that all the +Provinces could not be annexed to so fair a kingdom. I do assure you," he +added, "that he is in no wise English." + +Of Count Hohenlo, general-in-chief of the States' army under Prince +Maurice, and afterwards his brother-in-law, the same gentleman spoke with +even greater confidence. "Count d'Oloc," said he (for by that ridiculous +transformation of his name the German general was known to French and +English), "with whom I have passed three weeks on board the fleet of the +States, is now wholly French, and does not love the English at all. The +very first time I saw him, he protested twice or thrice, in presence of +members of the States General and of the State Council, that if he had no +Frenchmen he could never carry on the war. He made more account," he +said, "of two thousand French than of six thousand others, English, or +Germans." + +Yet all these distinguished persons--the widowed Princess of Orange, +Count Maurice, ex-elector Truchsess, Count Holenlo--were described to +Queen Elizabeth by her confidential agent, then employed in the +Provinces, as entirely at that sovereign's devotion. + +"Count Maurice holds nothing of the French, nor esteems them," said +Herle, "but humbly desired me to signify unto your Majesty that he had in +his mind and determination faithfully vowed his service to your Majesty, +which should be continued in his actions with all duty, and sealed with +his blood; for he knew how much his father and the cause were beholden +ever to your Highness's goodness." + +The Princess, together with her sister-in-law Countess Schwartzenburg, +and the young daughters of the late Prince were described on the same +occasion "as recommending their service unto her Majesty with a most +tender affection, as to a lady of all ladies." "Especially," said Herle, +"did the two Princesses in most humble and wise sort, express a certain +fervent devotion towards your Majesty." + +Elector Truchsess was spoken of as "a prince well qualified and greatly +devoted to her Majesty; who, after many grave and sincere words had of +her Majesty's virtue, calling her 'la fille unique de Dieu, and le bien +heureuse Princesse', desired of God that he might do her service as she +merited." + +And, finally, Count Hollock--who seemed to "be reformed in sundry things, +if it hold" (a delicate allusion to the Count's propensity for strong +potations), was said "to desire humbly to be known for one that would +obey the commandment of her Majesty more than of any earthly prince +living besides." + +There can be no doubt that there was a strong party in favour of an +appeal to England rather than to France. The Netherlanders were too +shrewd a people not to recognize the difference between the king of a +great realm, who painted his face and wore satin petticoats, and the +woman who entertained ambassadors, each in his own language, on gravest +affairs of state, who matched in her wit and wisdom the deepest or the +most sparkling intellects of her council, who made extemporaneous Latin +orations to her universities, and who rode on horseback among her +generals along the lines of her troops in battle-array, and yet was only +the unmarried queen of a petty and turbulent state. + +"The reverend respect that is borne to your Majesty throughout these +countries is great," said William Herle. They would have thrown +themselves into her arms, heart and soul, had they been cordially +extended at that moment of their distress; but she was coy, hesitating, +and, for reasons already sufficiently indicated, although not so +conclusive as they seemed, disposed to temporize and to await the issue +of the negotiations between the Provinces and France. + +In Holland and Zeeland especially, there was an enthusiastic feeling in +favour of the English alliance. "They recommend themselves," said Herleo +"throughout the country in their consultations and assemblies, as also in +their common and private speeches, to the Queen of England's only favour +and goodness, whom they call their saviour, and the Princess of greatest +perfection in wisdom and sincerity that ever governed. Notwithstanding +their treaty now on foot by their deputies with France, they are not more +disposed to be governed by the French than to be tyrannized over by the +Spaniard; concluding it to be alike; and even 'commutare non sortem sed +servitutem'." + +Paul Buys was indefatigable in his exertions against the treaty with +France, and in stimulating the enthusiasm for England and Elizabeth. He +expressed sincere and unaffected devotion to the Queen on all occasions, +and promised that no negotiations should take place, however secret and +confidential, that were not laid before her Majesty. "He has the chief +administration among the States," said Herle, "and to his credit and +dexterity they attribute the despatch of most things. He showed unto me +the state of the enemy throughout the provinces, and of the negotiation +in France, whereof he had no opinion at all of success, nor any will of +his own part but to please the Prince of Orange in his life-time." + +It will be seen in the sequel whether or not the views of this +experienced and able statesman were lucid and comprehensive. It will also +be seen whether his strenuous exertions in favour of the English alliance +were rewarded as bountifully as they deserved, by those most indebted to +him. + +Meantime he was busily employed in making the English government +acquainted with the capacity, disposition, and general plans of the +Netherlanders. + +"They have certain other things in consultation amongst the States to +determine of," wrote Herle, "which they were sworn not to reveal to any, +but Buys protested that nothing should pass but to your liking and +surety, and the same to be altered and disposed as should seem good to +your Highness's own authority; affirming to me sincerely that Holland and +Zeeland, with the rest of the provinces, for the estimation they had of +your high virtue and temperancy, would yield themselves absolutely to +your Majesty and crown for ever, or to none other (their liberties only +reserved), whereof you should have immediate possession, without +reservation of place or privilege." + +The important point of the capability of the Provinces to defend +themselves, about which Elizabeth was most anxious to be informed, was +also fully elucidated by the Advocate. "The means should be such, +proceeding from the Provinces," said he, "as your Majesty might defend +your interest therein with facility against the whole world." He then +indicated a plan, which had been proposed by the States of Brabant to the +States General, according to which they were to keep on foot an army of +15,000 foot and 5000 horse, with which they should be able, "to expulse +the enemy and to reconquer their towns and country lost, within three +months." Of this army they hoped to induce the Queen to furnish 5000 +English footmen and 500 horse, to be paid monthly by a treasurer of her +own; and for the assistance thus to be furnished they proposed to give +Ostend and Sluys as pledge of payment. According to this scheme the +elector palatine, John Casimir, had promised to furnish, equip, and pay +2000 cavalry, taking the town of Maestricht and the country of Limburg, +when freed from the enemy, in pawn for his disbursements; while Antwerp +and Brabant had agreed to supply 300,000 crowns in ready money for +immediate use. Many powerful politicians opposed this policy, however, +and urged reliance upon France, "so that this course seemed to be lame in +many parts."--[Letter of Herle]. + +Agents had already been sent both to England and France, to procure, if +possible, a levy of troops for immediate necessity. The attempt was +unsuccessful in France, but the Dutch community of the reformed religion +in London subscribed nine thousand and five florins. This sum, with other +contributions, proved sufficient to set Morgan's regiment on foot, which +soon after began to arrive in the Netherlands by companies. "But if it +were all here at once," said Stephen Le Sieur, "'t would be but a +breakfast for the enemy." + +The agent for the matter in England was De Griyse, formerly bailiff of +Bruges; and although tolerably successful in his mission, he was not +thought competent for so important a post, nor officially authorised for +the undertaking. While procuring this assistance in English troops he had +been very urgent with the Queen to further the negotiations between the +States and France; and Paul Buys was offended with him as a +mischief-maker and an intriguer. He complained of him as having "thrust +himself in, to deal and intermeddle in the affairs of the Low Countries +unavowed," and desired that he might be closely looked after. + +After the Advocate, the next most important statesman in the provinces +was, perhaps, Meetkerk, President of the High Court of Flanders, a man of +much learning, sincerity, and earnestness of character; having had great +experience in the diplomatic service of the country on many important +occasions. "He stands second in reputation here," said Herle, "and both +Buys and he have one special care in all practises that are discovered, +to examine how near anything may concern your person or kingdom, whereof +they will advertise as matter shall fall out in importance." + +John van Olden-Barneveldt, afterwards so conspicuous in the history of +the country, was rather inclined, at this period, to favour the French +party; a policy which was strenuously furthered by Villiers and by Sainte +Aldegonde. + +Besides the information furnished to the English government, as to the +state of feeling and resources of the Netherlands, by Buys, Meetkerk, and +William Herle, Walsingham relied much upon the experienced eye and the +keen biting humour of Roger Williams. + +A frank open-hearted Welshman, with no fortune but his sword, but as true +as its steel, he had done the States much important service in the +hard-fighting days of Grand Commander Requesens and of Don John of +Austria. With a shrewd Welsh head under his iron morion, and a stout +Welsh heart under his tawny doublet, he had gained little but hard knocks +and a dozen wounds in his campaigning, and had but recently been +ransomed, rather grudgingly by his government, from a Spanish prison in +Brabant. He was suffering in health from its effects, but was still more +distressed in mind, from his sagacious reading of the signs of the times. +Fearing that England was growing lukewarm, and the Provinces desperate, +he was beginning to find himself out of work, and was already casting +about him for other employment. Poor, honest, and proud, he had +repeatedly declined to enter the Spanish service. Bribes, such as at a +little later period were sufficient to sully conspicuous reputations and +noble names, among his countrymen in better circumstances than his own, +had been freely but unsuccessfully offered him. To serve under any but +the English or States' flag in the Provinces he scorned; and he thought +the opportunity fast slipping away there for taking the Papistical party +in Europe handsomely by the beard. He had done much manful work in the +Netherlands, and was destined to do much more; but he was now +discontented, and thought himself slighted. In more remote regions of the +world, the thrifty soldier thought that there might be as good +harvesting for his sword as in the thrice-trampled stubble of Flanders. + +"I would refuse no hazard that is possible to be done in the Queen's +service," he said to Walsingham; "but I do persuade myself she makes no +account of me. Had it not been for the duty that nature bound me towards +her and my country, I needed not to have been in that case that I am in. +Perhaps I could have fingered more pistoles than Mr. Newell, the late +Latiner, and had better usage and pension of the Spaniards than he. Some +can tell that I refused large offers, in the misery of Alost, of the +Prince of Parma. Last of all, Verdugo offered me very fair, being in +Loccum, to quit the States' service, and accept theirs, without treachery +or betraying of place or man." + +Not feeling inclined to teach Latin in Spain, like the late Mr. Newell, +or to violate oaths and surrender fortresses, like brave soldiers of +fortune whose deeds will be afterwards chronicled, he was disposed to +cultivate the "acquaintance of divers Pollacks," from which he had +received invitations. "Find I nothing there," said he, "Duke Matthias has +promised me courtesy if I would serve in Hungary. If not, I will offer +service to one of the Turk's bashaws against the Persians." + +Fortunately, work was found for the trusty Welshman in the old fields. +His brave honest face often reappeared; his sharp sensible tongue uttered +much sage counsel; and his ready sword did various solid service, in +leaguer, battle-field, and martial debate, in Flanders, Holland, Spain, +and France. + +For the present, he was casting his keen glances upon the negotiations in +progress, and cavilling at the general policy which seemed predominant. + +He believed that the object of the French was to trifle with the States, +to protract interminably their negotiations, to prevent the English +government from getting any hold upon the Provinces, and then to leave +them to their fate. + +He advised Walsingham to advance men and money, upon the security of +Sluys and Ostend. + +"I dare venture my life," said he, with much energy, "that were Norris, +Bingham, Yorke, or Carlisle, in those ports, he would keep them during +the Spanish King's life." + +But the true way to attack Spain--a method soon afterwards to be carried +into such brilliant effect by the naval heroes of England and the +Netherlands--the long-sighted Welshman now indicated; a combined attack, +namely, by sea upon the colonial possessions of Philip. + +"I dare be bound," said he, "if you join with Treslong, the States +Admiral, and send off, both, three-score sail into his Indies, we will +force him to retire from conquering further, and to be contented to let +other princes live as well as he." + +In particular, Williams urged rapid action, and there is little doubt, +that had the counsels of prompt, quick-witted, ready-handed soldiers like +himself, and those who thought with him, been taken; had the stealthy but +quick-darting policy of Walsingham prevailed over the solemn and stately +but somewhat ponderous proceedings of Burghley, both Ghent and Antwerp +might have been saved, the trifling and treacherous diplomacy of +Catharine de' Medici neutralized, and an altogether more fortunate aspect +given at once to the state of Protestant affairs. + +"If you mean to do anything," said he, "it is more than time now. If you +will send some man of credit about it, will it please your honour, I will +go with him, because I know the humour of the people, and am acquainted +with a number of the best. I shall be able to show him a number of their +dealings, as well with the French as in other affairs, and perhaps will +find means to send messengers to Ghent, and to other places, better than +the States; for the message of one soldier is better than twenty boors." + +It was ultimately decided--as will soon be related--to send a man of +credit to the Provinces. Meantime, the policy of England continued to be +expectant and dilatory, and Advocate Buys, after having in vain attempted +to conquer the French influence, and bring about the annexation of the +Provinces to England, threw down his office in disgust, and retired for a +time from the contest. He even contemplated for a moment taking service +in Denmark, but renounced the notion of abandoning his country, and he +will accordingly be found, at a later period, conspicuous in public +affairs. + +The deliberations in the English councils were grave and anxious, for it +became daily more obvious that the Netherland question was the hinge upon +which the whole fate of Christendom was slowly turning. To allow the +provinces to fall back again into the grasp of Philip, was to offer +England herself as a last sacrifice to the Spanish Inquisition. This was +felt by all the statesmen in the land; but some of them, more than the +rest, had a vivid perception of the danger, and of the necessity of +dealing with it at once. + +To the prophetic eye of Walsingham, the mists of the future at times were +lifted; and the countless sails of the invincible Armada, wafting +defiance and destruction to England, became dimly visible. He felt that +the great Netherland bulwark of Protestantism and liberty was to be +defended at all hazards, and that the death-grapple could not long be +deferred. + +Burghley, deeply pondering, but less determined, was still disposed to +look on and to temporize. + +The Queen, far-seeing and anxious, but somewhat hesitating, still clung +to the idea of a joint protectorate. She knew that the reestablishment of +Spanish authority in the Low Countries would be fatal to England, but she +was not yet prepared to throw down the gauntlet to Philip. She felt that +the proposed annexation of the Provinces to France would be almost as +formidable; yet she could not resolve, frankly and fearlessly, to assume, +the burthen of their protection. Under the inspiration of Burghley, she +was therefore willing to encourage the Netherlanders underhand; +preventing them at every hazard from slackening in their determined +hostility to Spain; discountenancing, without absolutely forbidding, +their proposed absorption by France; intimating, without promising, an +ultimate and effectual assistance from herself. Meantime, with something +of feline and feminine duplicity, by which the sex of the great sovereign +would so often manifest itself in the most momentous affairs, she would +watch and wait, teasing the Provinces, dallying with the danger, not +quite prepared as yet to abandon the prize to Henry or Philip, or to +seize it herself. + +The situation was rapidly tending to become an impossible one. + +Late in October a grave conference was held council, "upon the question +whether her Majesty should presently relieve the States of the Low +Countries." + +It was shown, upon one side, that the "perils to the Queen and to the +realm were great, if the King of Spain should recover Holland and +Zeeland, as he had the other countries, for lack of succour in seasonable +time, either by the French King or the Queen's Majesty." + +On the other side, the great difficulties in the way of effectual +assistance by England, were "fully remembered." + +"But in the end, and upon comparison made," said Lord Burghley, summing +up, "betwixt the perils on the one part, and the difficulties on the +other," it was concluded that the Queen would be obliged to succumb to +the power of Spain, and the liberties of England be hopelessly lost, if +Philip were then allowed to carry out his designs, and if the Provinces +should be left without succour at his mercy. + +A "wise person" was accordingly to be sent into Holland; first, to +ascertain whether the Provinces had come to an actual agreement with the +King of France, and, if such should prove to be the case, to enquire +whether that sovereign had pledged himself to declare war upon Philip. In +this event, the wise person was to express her Majesty's satisfaction +that the Provinces were thus to be "relieved from the tyranny of the King +of Spain." + +On the other hand, if it should appear that no such conclusive +arrangements had been made, and that the Provinces were likely to fall +again victims to the "Spanish tyranny," her Majesty would then "strain +herself as far as, with preservation of her own estate, she might, to +succour them at this time." + +The agent was then to ascertain "what conditions the Provinces would +require" upon the matter of succour, and, if the terms seemed reasonable, +he would assure them that "they should not be left to the cruelties of +the Spaniards." + +And further, the wise person, "being pressed to answer, might by +conference of speeches and persuasions provoke them to offer to the Queen +the ports of Flushing and Middelburg and the Brill, wherein she meant not +to claim any property, but to hold them as gages for her expenses, and +for performances of their covenants." + +He was also to make minute inquiries as to the pecuniary resources of the +Provinces, the monthly sums which they would be able to contribute, the +number of troops and of ships of war that they would pledge themselves to +maintain. These investigations were very important, because the Queen, +although very well disposed to succour them, "so nevertheless she was to +consider how her power might be extended, without ruin or manifest peril +to her own estate." + +It was also resolved, in the same conference, that a preliminary step of +great urgency was to "procure a good peace with the King of Scots." +Whatever the expense of bringing about such a pacification might be, it +was certain that a "great deal more would be expended in defending the +realm against Scotland," while England was engaged in hostilities with +Spain. Otherwise, it was argued that her Majesty would be "so impeached +by Scotland in favour of the King of Spain, that her action against that +King would be greatly weakened." + +Other measures necessary to be taken in view of the Spanish war were also +discussed. The ex-elector of Cologne, "a man of great account in +Germany," was to be assisted with money to make head against his rival +supported by the troops of Philip. + +Duke Casimir of the Palatinate was to be solicited to make a diversion in +Gelderland. + +The King of France was to be reminded of his treaty with England for +mutual assistance in case of the invasion by a foreign power of either +realm, and to be informed "not only of the intentions of the Spaniards to +invade England, upon their conquest of the Netherlands, but of their +actual invasion of Ireland." + +It was "to be devised how the King of Navarre and Don Antonio of +Portugal, for their respective titles, might be induced to offend and +occupy the King of Spain, whereby to diminish his forces bent upon the +Low Countries." + +It was also decided that Parliament should be immediately summoned, in +which, besides the request of a subsidy, many other necessary, provisions +should be made for her Majesty's safety. + +"The conclusions of the whole," said Lord Burghley, with much +earnestness, "was this. Although her Majesty should hereby enter into a +war presently, yet were she better to do it now, while she may make the +same out of her realm, having the help of the people of Holland, and +before the King of Spain shall have consummated his conquests in those +countries, whereby he shall be so provoked with pride, solicited by the +Pope, and tempted by the Queen's own subjects, and shall be so strong by +sea, and so free from all other actions and quarrels,--yea, shall be so +formidable to all the rest of Christendom, as that her Majesty shall no +wise be able, with her own power, nor with aid of any other, neither by +sea nor land, to withstand his attempts, but shall be forced to give +place to his insatiable malice, which is most terrible to be thought of, +but miserable to suffer." + +Thus did the Lord Treasurer wisely, eloquently, and well, describe the +danger by which England was environed. Through the shield of Holland the +spear was aimed full at the heart of England. But was it a moment to +linger? Was that buckler to be suffered to fall to the ground, or to be +raised only upon the arm of a doubtful and treacherous friend? Was it an +hour when the protection of Protestantism and of European liberty against +Spain was to be entrusted to the hand of a feeble and priest-ridden +Valois? Was it wise to indulge any longer in doubtings and dreamings, and +in yet a little more folding of the arms to sleep, while that insatiable +malice, so terrible to be thought of, so miserable to feel, was bowing +hourly more formidable, and approaching nearer and nearer? + +Early in December, William Davison, gentleman-in-ordinary of her +Majesty's household, arrived at the Hague; a man painstaking, earnest, +and zealous, but who was fated, on more than one great occasion, to be +made a scape-goat for the delinquencies of greater personages than +himself. + +He had audience of the States General on the 8th December. He then +informed that body that the Queen had heard, with, sorrowful heart, of +the great misfortunes which the United Provinces had sustained since the +death of the Prince of Orange; the many cities which they had lost, and +the disastrous aspect of the common cause. Moved by the affection which +she had always borne the country, and anxious for its preservation, she +had ordered her ambassador Stafford to request the King of France to +undertake, jointly with herself, the defence of the provinces against the +king of Spain. Not till very lately, however, had that envoy succeeded in +obtaining an audience, and he had then received "a very cold answer." It +being obvious to her Majesty, therefore, that the French government +intended to protract these matters indefinitely, Davison informed the +States that she had commissioned him to offer them "all possible +assistance, to enquire into the state of the country, and to investigate +the proper means of making that assistance most useful." He accordingly +requested the appointment of a committee to confer with him upon the +subject; and declared that the Queen did not desire to make herself +mistress of the Provinces, but only to be informed how she best could aid +their cause. + +A committee was accordingly appointed, and a long series of somewhat +concealed negotiations was commenced. As the deputies were upon the eve +of their departure for France, to offer the sovereignty of the Provinces +to Henry, these proceedings were necessarily confused, dilatory, and at +tines contradictory. + +After the arrival of the deputies in France, the cunctative policy +inspired by the Lord Treasurer was continued by England. The delusion of +a joint protectorate was still clung to by the Queen, although the +conduct of France was becoming very ambiguous, and suspicion growing +darker as to the ultimate and secret purport of the negotiations in +progress. + +The anxiety and jealousy of Elizabeth were becoming keener than ever. If +the offers to the King were unlimited; he would accept them, and would +thus become as dangerous as Philip. If they were unsatisfactory, he would +turn his back upon the Provinces, and leave them a prey to Philip. Still +she would not yet renounce the hope of bringing the French King over to +an ingenuous course of action. It was thought, too, that something might +be done with the great malcontent nobles of Flanders, whose defection +from the national cause had been so disastrous, but who had been much +influenced in their course, it was thought, by their jealousy of William +the Silent. + +Now that the Prince was dead, it was thought probable that the Arschots, +and Havres, Chimays, and Lalaings, might arouse themselves to more +patriotic views than they had manifested when they espoused the cause of +Spain. + +It would be desirable to excite their jealousy of French influence, and, +at the same time, to inspire throughout the popular mind the fear of +another tyranny almost as absolute as that of Spain. "And if it be +objected," said Burghley, "that except they shall admit the French King +to the absolute dominion, he will not aid them, and they, for lack of +succour, be forced to yield to the Spaniard, it may be answered that +rather than they should be wholly subjected to the French, or overcome by +the Spaniard, her Majesty would yield unto them as much as, with +preservation of her estate, and defence of her own country, might be +demanded." + +The real object kept in view by the Queen's government was, in short, to +obtain for the Provinces and for the general cause of liberty the +greatest possible amount of assistance from Henry, and to allow him to +acquire in return the least possible amount of power. The end proposed +was a reasonable one, but the means employed savoured too much of +intrigue. + +"It may be easily made probable to the States," said the Lord Treasurer, +"that the government of the French is likely to prove as cumbersome and +perilous as that of the Spaniards; and likewise it may probably be +doubted how the French will keep touch and covenants with them, when any +opportunity shall be offered to break them; so that her Majesty thinketh +no good can be looked for to those countries by yielding this large +authority to the French. If they shall continue their title by this grant +to be absolute lords, there is no end, for a long time, to be expected of +this war; and, contrariwise, if they break off, there is an end of any +good composition with the King of Spain." + +Shivering and shrinking, but still wading in deeper and deeper, inch by +inch, the cautious minister was fast finding himself too far advanced to +retreat. He was rarely decided, however, and never lucid; and least of +all in emergencies, when decision and lucidity would have been more +valuable than any other qualities. + +Deeply doubting, painfully balancing, he at times drove the unfortunate +Davison almost distraught. Puzzled himself and still more puzzling to +others, he rarely permitted the Netherlanders, or even his own agents, to +perceive his drift. It was fair enough, perhaps, to circumvent the French +government by its own arts, but the Netherlanders meanwhile were in +danger of sinking into despair. + +"Thus," wrote the Lord Treasurer to the envoy, "I have discoursed to you +of these uncertainties and difficulties, things not unknown to yourself, +but now being imparted to you by her Majesty's commandment, you are, by +your wisdom, to consider with whom to deal for the stay of this French +course, and yet, so to use it (as near as you may) that they of the +French faction there be not able to charge you therewith, by-advertising +into France. For it hath already appeared, by some speeches past between +our ambassador there and Des Pruneaux, that you are had in some jealousy +as a hinderer of this French course, and at work for her Majesty to have +some entrance and partage in that country. Nevertheless our ambassador; +by his answer, hath satisfied them to think the contrary." + +They must have been easily satisfied, if they knew as much of the +dealings of her Majesty's government as the reader already knows. To +inspire doubt of the French, to insinuate the probability of their not +"keeping touch and covenant," to represent their rule as "cumbersome and +perilous," was wholesome conduct enough towards the Netherlanders--and +still more so, had it been accompanied with frank offers of +assistance--but it was certainly somewhat to "hinder the courses of the +French." + +But in truth all parties were engaged for a season in a round game of +deception, in which nobody was deceived. + +Walsingham was impatient, almost indignant at this puerility. "Your +doings, no doubt of it," he wrote to Davison, "are observed by the French +faction, and therefore you cannot proceed so closely but it will be +espied. Howsoever it be, seeing direction groweth from hence, we cannot +but blame ourselves, if the effects thereof do not fall out to our +liking." + +That sagacious statesman was too well informed, and too much accustomed +to penetrate the designs of his antagonists, to expect anything from the +present intrigues. + +To loiter thus, when mortal blows should be struck, was to give the +Spanish government exactly that of which it was always most +gluttonous--time; and the Netherlanders had none of it to spare. "With +time and myself, there are two of us," was Philip II.'s favourite +observation; and the Prince of Parma was at this moment sorely perplexed +by the parsimony and the hesitations of his own government, by which his +large, swift and most creative genius was so often hampered. + +Thus the Spanish soldiers, deep in the trenches, went with bare legs and +empty stomachs in January; and the Dutchmen, among their broken dykes, +were up to their ears in mud and water; and German mercenaries, in the +obedient Provinces, were burning the peasants' houses in order to sell +the iron to buy food withal; while grave-visaged statesmen, in +comfortable cabinets, wagged their long white beards at each other from a +distance, and exchanged grimaces and protocols which nobody heeded. + +Walsingham was weary of this solemn trifling. "I conclude," said he to +Davison, "that her Majesty--with reverence be it spoken--is ill advised, +to direct you in a course that is like to work so great peril. I know you +will do your best endeavour to keep all things upright, and yet it is +hard--the disease being now come to this state, or, as the physicians +term it, crisis--to carry yourself in such sort, but that it will, I +fear, breed a dangerous alteration in the cause." + +He denounced with impatience, almost with indignation, the insincerity +and injustice of these intolerable hesitations. "Sorry am I," said he, +"to see the course that is taken in this weighty cause, for we will +neither help those poor countries ourselves, nor yet suffer others to do +it. I am not ignorant that in time to come the annexing of these +countries to the crown of France may prove prejudicial to England, but if +France refuse to deal with them, and the rather for that we shall +minister some cause of impediment by a kind of dealing underhand, then +shall they be forced to return into the hands of Spain, which is like to +breed such a present peril towards her Majesty's self, as never a wise +man that seeth it, and loveth her, but lamenteth it from the bottom of +his heart." + +Walsingham had made up his mind that it was England, not France, that +should take up the cause of the Provinces, and defend them at every +hazard. He had been overruled, and the Queen's government had decided to +watch the course of the French negotiation, doing what it could, +underhand, to prevent that negotiation from being successful. The +Secretary did not approve of this disingenuous course. At the same time +he had no faith in the good intentions of the French court. + +"I could wish," said he, "that the French King were carried with that +honourable mind into the defence of these countries that her Majesty is, +but France has not been used to do things for God's sake; neither do they +mean to use our advice or assistance in making of the bargain. For they +still hold a jealous conceit that when Spain and they are together by the +ears, we will seek underhand to work our own peace." Walsingham, +therefore, earnestly deprecated the attitude provisionally maintained by +England. + +Meantime, early in January, (Jan. 3, 1585) the deputation from the +Provinces had arrived in France. The progress of their 1585 negotiation +will soon be related, but, before its result was known, a general +dissatisfaction had already manifested itself in the Netherlands. The +factitious enthusiasm which had been created in favour of France, as well +as the prejudice against England, began to die out. It became probable in +the opinion of those most accustomed to read the signs of the times, that +the French court was acting in connivance with Philip, and that the +negotiation was only intended to amuse the Netherlanders, to circumvent +the English, and to gain time both for France and Spain. It was not +believed that the character of Henry or the policy of his mother was +likely to the cause of any substantial aid to the cause of civil liberty +or Protestant principles. + +"They look for no better fruit from the commission to France," wrote +Davison, who surveyed the general state of affairs with much keenness and +breadth of vision, "than a dallying entertainment of the time, neither +leaving them utterly hopeless, nor at full liberty to seek for relief +elsewhere, especially in England, or else some pleasing motion of peace, +wherein the French King will offer his mediation with Spain. Meantime the +people, wearied with the troubles, charges, and hazard of the war, shall +be rocked asleep, the provision for their defence neglected, some +Provinces nearest the danger seduced, the rest by their defection +astonished, and the enemy by their decay and confusions, strengthened. +This is the scope whereto the doings of the French King, not without +intelligence with the Spanish sovereign, doth aim, whatever is +pretended." + +There was a wide conviction that the French King was dealing falsely with +the Provinces. It seemed certain that he must be inspired by intense +jealousy of England, and that he was unlikely, for the sake of those +whose "religion, popular liberty, and rebellion against their sovereign," +he could not but disapprove, to allow Queen Elizabeth to steal a march +upon him, and "make her own market with Spain to his cost and +disadvantage." + +In short, it was suspected--whether justly or not will be presently +shown--that Henry III. "was seeking to blear the eyes of the world, as +his brother Charles did before the Massacre of St. Bartholomew." As the +letters received from the Dutch envoys in France became less and less +encouraging, and as the Queen was informed by her ambassador in Paris of +the tergiversations in Paris, she became the more anxious lest the States +should be driven to despair. She therefore wrote to Davison, instructing +him "to nourish in them underhand some hope--as a thing proceeding from +himself--that though France should reject them, yet she would not abandon +them." + +He was directed to find out, by circuitous means, what towns they would +offer to her as security for any advances she might be induced to make, +and to ascertain the amount of monthly contributions towards the support +of the war that they were still capable of furnishing. She was beginning +to look with dismay at the expatriation of wealthy merchants and +manufacturers going so rapidly forward, now that Ghent had fallen and +Brussels and Antwerp were in such imminent peril. She feared that, while +so much valuable time had been thrown away, the Provinces had become too +much impoverished to do their own part in their own defence; and she was +seriously alarmed at rumours which had become prevalent of a popular +disposition towards treating for a peace at any price with Spain. It soon +became evident that these rumours were utterly without foundation, but +the other reasons for Elizabeth's anxiety were sufficiently valid. + +On the whole, the feeling in favour of England was rapidly gaining +ground. In Holland especially there was general indignation against the +French party. The letters of the deputies occasioned "murmur and mislike" +of most persons, who noted them to contain "more ample report of +ceremonies and compliments than solid argument of comfort." + +Sir Edward Stafford, who looked with great penetration into the heart of +the mysterious proceedings at Paris, assured his government that no +better result was to be looked for, "after long dalliance and +entertainment, than either a flat refusal or such a masked embracing of +their cause, as would rather tend to the increasing of their miseries and +confusion than relief for their declining estate." While "reposing upon a +broken reed," they were, he thought, "neglecting other means more +expedient for their necessities." + +This was already the universal opinion in Holland. Men now remembered, +with bitterness, the treachery of the Duke of Anjou, which they had been +striving so hard to forget, but which less than two years ago had nearly +proved fatal to the cause of liberty in the Provinces. A committee of the +States had an interview with the Queen's envoy at the Hague; implored her +Majesty through him not to abandon their cause; expressed unlimited +regret for the course which had been pursued, and avowed a determination +"to pluck their heads out of the collar," so soon as the opportunity +should offer. + +They stated, moreover, that they had been directed by the assembly to lay +before him the instructions for the envoys to France, and the articles +proposed for the acceptance of the King. The envoy knew his business +better than not to have secretly provided himself with copies of these +documents, which he had already laid before his own government. + +He affected, however, to feel hurt that he had been thus kept in +ignorance of papers which he really knew by heart. "After some pretended +quarrel," said he, "for their not acquainting me therewith sooner, I did +accept them, as if I had before neither seen nor heard of them." + +This then was the aspect of affairs in the provinces during the absence +of the deputies in France. It is now necessary to shift the scene to that +country. + + + + +CHAPTER IV. + + Reception of the Dutch Envoys at the Louvre--Ignominious Result of + the Embassy--Secret Influences at work--Bargaining between the + French and Spanish Courts--Claims of Catharine de' Medici upon + Portugal--Letters of Henry and Catharine--Secret Proposal by France + to invade England--States' Mission to Henry of Navarre--Subsidies + of Philip to Guise--Treaty of Joinville--Philip's Share in the + League denied by Parma--Philip in reality its Chief--Manifesto of + the League--Attitude of Henry III. and of Navarre--The League + demands a Royal Decree--Designs of France and Spain against England + --Secret Interview of Mendoza and Villeroy--Complaints of English + Persecution--Edict of Nemours--Excommunication of Navarre and his + Reply. + +The King, notwithstanding his apparent reluctance, had, in Sir Edward +Stafford's language, "nibbled at the bait." He had, however, not been +secured at the first attempt, and now a second effort was to be made, +under what were supposed to be most favourable circumstances. In +accordance with his own instructions, his envoy, Des Pruneaux, had been +busily employed in the States, arranging the terms of a treaty which +should be entirely satisfactory. It had been laid down as an +indispensable condition that Holland and Zeeland should unite in the +offer of sovereignty, and, after the expenditure of much eloquence, +diplomacy, and money, Holland and Zeeland had given their consent. The +court had been for some time anxious and impatient for the arrival of the +deputies. Early in December, Des Pruneaux wrote from Paris to Count +Maurice, urging with some asperity, the necessity of immediate action. + +"When I left you," he said, "I thought that performance would follow +promises. I have been a little ashamed, as the time passed by, to hear +nothing of the deputies, nor of any excuse on the subject. It would seem +as though God had bandaged the eyes of those who have so much cause to +know their own adversity." + +To the States his language was still more insolent. "Excuse me, +Gentlemen," he said, "if I tell you that I blush at hearing nothing from +you. I shall have the shame and you the damage. I regret much the capture +of De Teligny, and other losses which are occasioned by your delays and +want of resolution." + +Thus did the French court, which a few months before had imprisoned, and +then almost ignominiously dismissed the envoys who came to offer the +sovereignty of the Provinces, now rebuke the governments which had ever +since been strenuously engaged in removing all obstacles to the entire +fulfillment of the King's demands. The States were just despatching a +solemn embassy to renew that offer, with hardly any limitation as to +terms. + +The envoys arrived on January 3rd, 1585, at Boulogne, after a stormy +voyage from Brielle. Yet it seems incredible to relate, that, after all +the ignominy heaped upon the last, there was nothing but solemn trifling +in reserve for the present legation; although the object of both +embassies was to offer a crown. The deputies were, however, not kept in +prison, upon this occasion, nor treated like thieves or spies. They were +admirably lodged, with plenty of cooks and lacqueys to minister to them; +they fared sumptuously every day, at Henry's expense, and, after they had +been six weeks in the kingdom, they at last succeeded in obtaining their +first audience. + +On the 13th February the King sent five "very splendid, richly-gilded, +court-coach-waggons" to bring the envoys to the palace. At one o'clock +they arrived at the Louvre, and were ushered through four magnificent +antechambers into the royal cabinet. The apartments through which they +passed swarmed with the foremost nobles, court-functionaries, and ladies +of France, in blazing gala costume, who all greeted the envoys with +demonstrations of extreme respect: The halls and corridors were lined +with archers, halbardiers, Swiss guards, and grooms "besmeared with +gold," and it was thought that all this rustle of fine feathers would be +somewhat startling to the barbarous republicans, fresh from the fens of +Holland. + +Henry received them in his cabinet, where he was accompanied only by the +Duke of Joyeuse--his foremost and bravest "minion"--by the Count of +Bouscaige, M. de Valette, and the Count of Chateau Vieux. + +The most Christian King was neatly dressed, in white satin doublet and +hose, and well-starched ruff, with a short cloak on his shoulders, a +little velvet cap on the side of his head, his long locks duly perfumed +and curled, his sword at his side, and a little basket, full of puppies, +suspended from his neck by a broad ribbon. He held himself stiff and +motionless, although his face smiled a good-humoured welcome to the +ambassadors; and he moved neither foot, hand, nor head, as they advanced. + +Chancellor Leoninus, the most experienced, eloquent, and tedious of men, +now made an interminable oration, fertile in rhetoric and barren in +facts; and the King made a short and benignant reply, according to the +hallowed formula in such cases provided. And then there was a +presentation to the Queen, and to the Queen-Mother, when Leoninus was +more prolix than before, and Catharine even more affectionate than her +son; and there were consultations with Chiverny and Villeroy, and Brulart +and Pruneaux, and great banquets at the royal expense, and bales of +protocols, and drafts of articles, and conditions and programmes and +apostilles by the hundred weight, and at last articles of annexation were +presented by the envoys, and Pruneaux looked at and pronounced them "too +raw and imperative," and the envoys took them home again, and dressed +them and cooked them till there was no substance left in them; for +whereas the envoys originally offered the crown of their country to +France, on condition that no religion but the reformed religion should be +tolerated there, no appointments made but by the States, and no security +offered for advances to be made by the Christian King, save the hearts +and oaths of his new subjects--so they now ended by proposing the +sovereignty unconditionally, almost abjectly; and, after the expiration +of nearly three months, even these terms were absolutely refused, and the +deputies were graciously permitted to go home as they came. The +annexation and sovereignty were definitely declined. Henry regretted and +sighed, Catharine de' Medici wept--for tears were ever at her +command--Chancellor Chiverny and Secretary Brulart wept likewise, and +Pruneaux was overcome with emotion at the parting interview of the +ambassadors with the court, in which they were allowed a last opportunity +for expressing what was called their gratitude. + +And then, on the lath March, M. d'Oignon came to them, and presented, on +the part of the King, to each of the envoys a gold chain weighing +twenty-one ounces and two grains. + +Des Pruneaux, too--Des Pruneaux who had spent the previous summer in the +Netherlands, who had travelled from province to province, from city to +city, at the King's command, offering boundless assistance, if they would +unanimously offer their sovereignty; who had vanquished by his +importunity the resistance of the stern Hollanders, the last of all the +Netherlanders to yield to the royal blandishments--Des Pruneaux, who had +"blushed"--Des Pruneaux who had wept--now thought proper to assume an +airy tone, half encouragement, half condolence. + +"Man proposes, gentlemen," said he "but God disposes. We are frequently +called on to observe that things have a great variety of times and terms. +Many a man is refused by a woman twice, who succeeds the third time," and +so on, with which wholesome apothegms Des Pruneaux faded away then and +for ever from the page of Netherland history. + +In a few days afterwards the envoys took shipping at Dieppe, and arrived +early in April at the Hague. + +And thus terminated the negotiation of the States with France. + +It had been a scene of elaborate trifling on the King's part from +beginning to end. Yet the few grains of wheat which have thus been +extracted from the mountains of diplomatic chaff so long mouldering in +national storehouses, contain, however dry and tasteless, still something +for human nourishment. It is something to comprehend the ineffable +meanness of the hands which then could hold the destiny of mighty +empires. Here had been offered a magnificent prize to France; a great +extent of frontier in the quarter where expansion was most desirable, a +protective network of towns and fortresses on the side most vulnerable, +flourishing, cities on the sea-coast where the marine traffic was most +lucrative, the sovereignty of a large population, the most bustling, +enterprising, and hardy in Europe--a nation destined in a few short years +to become the first naval and commercial power in the world--all this was +laid at the feet of Henry Valois and Catharine de' Medici, and rejected. + +The envoys, with their predecessors, had wasted eight months of most +precious time; they had heard and made orations, they had read and +written protocols, they had witnessed banquets, masquerades, and revels +of stupendous frivolity, in honour of the English Garter, brought +solemnly to the Valois by Lord Derby, accompanied by one hundred +gentlemen "marvellously, sumptuously, and richly accoutred," during that +dreadful winter when the inhabitants of Brussels, Antwerp, Mechlin--to +save which splendid cities and to annex them to France, was a main object +of the solemn embassy from the Netherlands--were eating rats, and cats, +and dogs, and the weeds from the pavements, and the grass from the +churchyards; and were finding themselves more closely pressed than ever +by the relentless genius of Farnese; and in exchange for all these losses +and all this humiliation, the ambassadors now returned to their +constituents, bringing an account of Chiverny's magnificent banquets and +long orations, of the smiles of Henry III., the tears of Catharine de' +Medici, the regrets of M. des Pruneaux, besides sixteen gold chains, each +weighing twenty-one ounces and two grains. + +It is worth while to go for a moment behind the scene; We have seen the +actors, with mask and cothurn and tinsel crown, playing their well-conned +parts upon the stage. Let us hear them threaten, and whimper, and chaffer +among themselves. + +So soon as it was intimated that Henry III. was about to grant the +Netherland, envoys an audience, the wrath of ambassador Mendoza was +kindled. That magniloquent Spaniard instantly claimed an interview with +the King, before whom, according to the statement of his colleagues, +doing their best to pry into these secrets, he blustered and bounced, and +was more fantastical in his insolence than even Spanish envoy had ever +been before. + +"He went presently to court," so Walsingham was informed by Stafford, +"and dealt very passionately with the King and Queen-Mother to deny them +audience, who being greatly offended with his presumptuous and malapert +manner of proceeding, the King did in choler and with some sharp +speeches, let him plainly understand that he was an absolute king, bound +to yield account of his doings to no man, and that it was lawful for him +to give access to any man within his own realm. The Queen-Mother answered +him likewise very roundly, whereupon he departed for the time, very much +discontented." + +Brave words, on both sides, if they had ever been spoken, or if there had +been any action corresponding to their spirit. + +But, in truth, from the beginning, Henry and his mother saw in the +Netherland embassy only the means of turning a dishonest penny. Since the +disastrous retreat of Anjou from the Provinces, the city of Cambray had +remained in the hands of the Seigneur de Balagny, placed there by the +duke. The citadel, garrisoned by French troops, it was not the intention +of Catharine de' Medici to restore to Philip, and a truce on the subject +had been arranged provisionally for a year. Philip, taking Parma's advice +to prevent the French court, if possible, from "fomenting the Netherland +rebellion," had authorized the Prince to conclude that truce, as if done +on his own responsibility, and not by royal order. Meantime, Balagny was +gradually swelling into a petty potentate, on his own account, making +himself very troublesome to the Prince of Parma, and requiring a great +deal of watching. Cambray was however apparently acquired for France. + +But, besides this acquisition, there was another way of earning something +solid, by turning this Netherland matter handsomely to account. Philip +II. had recently conquered Portugal. Among the many pretensions to that +crown, those of Catherine de' Medici had been put forward, but had been +little heeded. The claim went back more than three hundred years, and to +establish its validity would have been to convert the peaceable +possession of a long line of sovereigns into usurpation. To ascend to +Alphonso III. was like fetching, as it was said, a claim from Evander's +grandmother. Nevertheless, ever since Philip had been upon the Portuguese +throne, Catherine had been watching the opportunity, not of unseating +that sovereign, but of converting her claim into money. + +The Netherland embassy seemed to offer the coveted opportunity. There +was, therefore, quite as much warmth at the outset, on the part of +Mendoza, in that first interview after the arrival of the deputies, as +had been represented. There was however less dignity and more cunning on +the part of Henry and Catherine than was at all suspected. Even before +that conference the King had been impatiently expecting overtures from +the Spanish envoy, and had been disappointed. "He told me," said Henry, +"that he would make proposals so soon as Tassis should be gone, but he +has done nothing yet. He said to Gondi that all he meant was to get the +truce of Cambray accomplished. I hope, however, that my brother, the King +of Spain, will do what is right in regard to madam my mother's +pretensions. 'Tis likely that he will be now incited thereto, seeing that +the deputies of all the Netherland provinces are at present in my +kingdom, to offer me carte blanche. I shall hear what they have to say, +and do exactly what the good of my own affairs shall seem to require. The +Queen of England, too, has been very pressing and urgent with me for +several months on this subject. I shall hear, too, what she has to say, +and I presume, if the King of Spain will now disclose himself, and do +promptly what he ought, that we may set Christendom at rest." + +Henry then instructed his ambassador in Spain to keep his eyes wide open, +in order to penetrate the schemes of Philip, and to this end ordered him +an increase of salary by a third, that he might follow that monarch on +his journey to Arragon. + +Meanwhile Mendoza had audience of his Majesty. "He made a very pressing +remonstrance," said the King, "concerning the arrival of these deputies, +urging me to send them back at once; denouncing them as disobedient +rebels and heretics. I replied that my kingdom was free, and that I +should hear from them all that they had to say, because I could not +abandon madam my mother in her pretensions, not only for the filial +obedience which I owe her, but because I am her only heir. Mendoza +replied that he should go and make the same remonstrance to the +Queen-Mother, which he accordingly did, and she will herself write you +what passed between them. If they do not act up to their duty down there +I know how to take my revenge upon them." + +This is the King's own statement--his veriest words--and he was surely +best aware of what occurred between himself and Mendoza, under their four +eyes only. The ambassador is not represented as extremely insolent, but +only pressing; and certainly there is little left of the fine periods on +Henry's part about listening to the cry of the oppressed, or preventing +the rays of his ancestors' diadem from growing pale, with which +contemporary chronicles are filled. + +There was not one word of the advancement and glory of the French nation; +not a hint of the fame to be acquired by a magnificent expansion of +territory, still less of the duty to deal generously or even honestly +with an oppressed people, who in good faith were seeking an asylum in +exchange for offered sovereignty, not a syllable upon liberty of +conscience, of religious or civil rights; nothing but a petty and +exclusive care for the interests of his mother's pocket, and of his own +as his mother's heir. This farthing-candle was alone to guide the steps +of "the high and mighty King," whose reputation was perpetually +represented as so precious to him in all the conferences between his +ministers and the Netherland deputies. Was it possible for those envoys +to imagine the almost invisible meanness of such childish tricks? + +The Queen-Mother was still more explicit and unblushing throughout the +whole affair. + +"The ambassador of Spain," she said, "has made the most beautiful +remonstrances he could think of about these deputies from the +Netherlands. All his talk, however, cannot persuade me to anything else +save to increase my desire to have reparation for the wrong that has been +done me in regard to my claims upon Portugal, which I am determined to +pursue by every means within my power. Nevertheless I have told Don +Bernardino that I should always be ready to embrace any course likely to +bring about a peaceful conclusion. He then entered into a discussion of +my rights, which, he said, were not thought in Spain to be founded in +justice. But when I explained to him the principal points (of which I +possess all the pieces of evidence and justification), he hardly knew +what to say, save that he was astounded that I had remained so long +without speaking of my claims. In reply, I told him ingenuously the +truth." + +The truth which the ingenuous Catharine thus revealed was, in brief, that +all her predecessors had been minors, women, and persons in situations +not to make their rights valid. Finding herself more highly placed, she +had advanced her claims, which had been so fully recognized in Portugal, +that she had been received as Infanta of the kingdom. All pretensions to +the throne being now through women only, hers were the best of any. At +all this Don Bernardino expressed profound astonishment, and promised to +send a full account to his master of "the infinite words" which had +passed between them at this interview! + +"I desire," said Catharine, "that the Lord King of Spain should open his +mind frankly and promptly upon the recompense which he is willing to make +me for Portugal, in order that things may pass rather with gentleness +than otherwise." + +It was expecting a great deal to look for frankness and promptness from +the Lord King of Spain, but the Queen-Mother considered that the +Netherland envoys had put a whip into her hand. She was also determined +to bring Philip up to the point, without showing her own game. "I will +never say," said Catharine--ingenuous no longer--"I will never say how +much I ask, but, on the contrary, I shall wait for him to make the offer. +I expect it to be reasonable, because he has seen fit to seize and occupy +that which I declare to be my property." + +This is the explanation of all the languor and trifling of the French +court in the Netherland negotiation. A deep, constant, unseen current was +running counter to all the movement which appeared upon the surface. The +tergiversations of the Spanish cabinet in the Portugal matter were the +cause of the shufflings of the French ministers on the subject of the +Provinces. + +"I know well," said Henry a few days later, "that the people down there, +and their ambassador here, are leading us on with words, as far as they +can, with regard to the recompense of madam my mother for her claims upon +Portugal. But they had better remember (and I think they will), that out +of the offers which these sixteen deputies of the Netherlands are +bringing me--and I believe it to be carte blanche--I shall be able to pay +myself. 'Twill be better to come promptly to a good bargain and a brief +conclusion, than to spin the matter out longer." + +"Don Bernardino," said the Queen-Mother on the same day, "has been +keeping us up to this hour in hopes of a good offer, but 'tis to be +feared, for the good of Christendom, that 'twill be too late. The +deputies are come, bringing carte blanche. Nevertheless, if the King of +Spain is willing to be reasonable, and that instantly, it will be well, +and it would seem as if God had been pleased to place this means in our +hands." + +After the conferences had been fairly got under way between the French +government and the envoys, the demands upon Philip for a good bargain and +a handsome offer became still more pressing. + +"I have given audience to the deputies from the Provinces," wrote Henry, +"and the Queen-Mother has done the same. Chancellor Chiverny, Villequier, +Bellievre, and Brulart, will now confer with them from day today. I now +tell you that it will be well, before things go any farther, for the King +of Spain to come to reason about the pretensions of madam mother. This +will be a means of establishing the repose of Christendom. I shall be +very willing to concur in such an arrangement, if I saw any approximation +to it on the part of the King or his ministers. But I fear they will +delay too long, and so you had better tell them. Push them to the point +as much as possible, without letting them suspect that I have been +writing about it, for that would make them rather draw back than come +forward." + +At the same time, during this alternate threatening and coaxing between +the French and the Spanish court, and in the midst of all the solemn and +tedious protocolling of the ministry and the Dutch envoys, there was a +most sincere and affectionate intercourse maintained between Henry III. +and the Prince of Parma. The Spanish Governor-General was assured that +nothing but the warmest regard was entertained for him and his master on +the part of the French court. Parma had replied, however, that so many +French troops had in times past crossed the frontier to assist the +rebels, that he hardly knew what to think. He expressed the hope, now +that the Duke of Anjou was dead, that his Christian Majesty would not +countenance the rebellion, but manifest his good-will. + +"How can your Highness doubt it," said Malpierre, Henry's envoy, "for his +Majesty has given proof enough of his good will, having prevented all +enterprises in this regard, and preferred to have his own subjects cut +into pieces rather than that they should carry out their designs. Had his +Majesty been willing merely to connive at these undertakings, 'tis +probable that the affairs of your highness would not have succeeded so +well as they have done." + +With regard to England, also, the conduct of Henry and his mother in +these negotiations was marked by the same unfathomable duplicity. There +was an appearance of cordiality on the surface; but there was deep +plotting, and bargaining, and even deadly hostility lurking below. We +have seen the efforts which Elizabeth's government had been making to +counteract the policy which offered the sovereignty of the provinces to +the French monarch. At the same time there was at least a loyal +disposition upon the Queen's part to assist the Netherlands, in +concurrence with Henry. The demeanour of Burghley and his colleagues was +frankness itself, compared with the secret schemings of the Valois; for +at least peace and good-will between the "triumvirate" of France, England +and the Netherlands, was intended, as the true means of resisting the +predominant influence of Spain. + +Yet very soon after the solemn reception by Henry of the garter brought +by Lord Derby, and in the midst of the negotiations between the French +court and the United Provinces, the French king was not only attempting +to barter the sovereignty offered him by the Netherlanders against a +handsome recompense for the Portugal claim, but he was actually proposing +to the King of Spain to join with him in an invasion of England! Even +Philip himself must have admired and respected such a complication of +villany on the part of his most Christian brother. He was, however, not +disposed to put any confidence in his schemes. + +"With regard to the attempt against England," wrote Philip to Mendoza, +"you must keep your eyes open--you must look at the danger of letting +them, before they have got rid of their rivals and reduced their +heretics, go out of their own house and kingdom, and thus of being made +fools of when they think of coming back again. Let them first exterminate +the heretics of France, and then we will look after those of England; +because 'tis more important to finish those who are near than those afar +off. Perhaps the Queen-Mother proposes this invasion in order to proceed +more feebly with matters in her own kingdom; and thus Mucio (Duke of +Guise) and his friends will not have so safe a game, and must take heed +lest they be deceived." + +Thus it is obvious that Henry and Catharine intended, on the whole, to +deceive the English and the Netherlanders, and to get as good a bargain +and as safe a friendship from Philip as could be manufactured out of the +materials placed in the French King's hands by the United Provinces. +Elizabeth honestly wished well to the States, but allowed Burghley and +those who acted with him to flatter themselves with the chimera that +Henry could be induced to protect the Netherlands without assuming the +sovereignty of that commonwealth. The Provinces were fighting for their +existence, unconscious of their latent strength, and willing to trust to +France or to England, if they could only save themselves from being +swallowed by Spain. As for Spain itself, that country was more practised +in duplicity even than the government of the Medici-Valois, and was of +course more than a match at the game of deception for the franker +politicians of England and Holland. + +The King of Navarre had meanwhile been looking on at a distance. Too keen +an observer, too subtle a reasoner to doubt the secret source of the +movements then agitating France to its centre, he was yet unable to +foresee the turn that all these intrigues were about to take. He could +hardly doubt that Spain was playing a dark and desperate game with the +unfortunate Henry III.; for, as we have seen, he had himself not long +before received a secret and liberal offer from Philip II., if he would +agree to make war upon the King. But the Bearnese was not the man to play +into the hands of Spain, nor could he imagine the possibility of the +Valois or even of his mother taking so suicidal a course. + +After the Netherland deputies had received their final dismissal from the +King, they sent Calvart, who had been secretary to their embassy, on a +secret mission to Henry of Navarre, then resident at Chartres. + +The envoy communicated to the Huguenot chief the meagre result of the +long negotiation with the French court. Henry bade him be of good cheer, +and assured him of his best wishes for their cause. He expressed the +opinion that the King of France would now either attempt to overcome the +Guise faction by gentle means, or at once make war upon them. The Bishop +of Acqs had strongly recommended the French monarch to send the King of +Navarre, with a strong force, to the assistance of the Netherlands, +urging the point with much fervid eloquence and solid argument. Henry for +a moment had seemed impressed, but such a vigorous proceeding was of +course entirely beyond his strength, and he had sunk back into his +effeminate languor so soon as the bold bishop's back was turned. + +The Bearnese had naturally conceived but little hope that such a scheme +would be carried into effect; but he assured Calvart, that nothing could +give him greater delight than to mount and ride in such a cause. + +"Notwithstanding," said the Bearnese, "that the villanous intentions of +the Guises are becoming plainer and plainer, and that they are obviously +supplied with Spanish dollars, I shall send a special envoy to the most +Christian King, and, although 'tis somewhat late, implore him to throw +his weight into the scale, in order to redeem your country from its +misery. Meantime be of good heart, and defend as you have done your +hearths, your liberty, and the honour of God." + +He advised the States unhesitatingly to continue their confidence in the +French King, and to keep him informed of their plans and movements; +expressing the opinion that these very intrigues of the Guise party would +soon justify or even force Henry III. openly to assist the Netherlands. + +So far, at that very moment, was so sharp a politician as the Bearnese +from suspecting the secret schemes of Henry of Valois. Calvart urged the +King of Navarre to assist the States at that moment with some slight +subsidy. Antwerp was in such imminent danger as to fill the hearts of all +true patriots with dismay; and a timely succour, even if a slender one, +might be of inestimable value. + +Henry expressed profound regret that his own means were so limited, and +his own position so dangerous, as to make it difficult for him to +manifest in broad daylight the full affection which he bore the +Provinces. + +"To my sorrow," said he, "your proposition is made in the midst of such +dark and stormy weather, that those who have clearest sight are unable to +see to what issue these troubles of France are tending." + +Nevertheless, with much generosity and manliness, he promised Calvart to +send two thousand soldiers, at his own charges, to the Provinces without +delay; and authorised that envoy to consult with his agent at the court +of the French King, in order to obtain the royal permission for the +troops to cross the frontier. + +The crownless and almost houseless King had thus, at a single interview, +and in exchange for nothing but good wishes, granted what the most +Christian monarch of France had refused, after months of negotiation, and +with sovereignty as the purchase-money. The envoy, well pleased, sped as +swiftly as possible to Paris; but, as may easily be imagined, Henry of +Valois forbade the movement contemplated by Henry of Navarre. + +"His Majesty," said Villeroy, secretary of state, "sees no occasion, in +so weighty a business, thus suddenly to change his mind; the less so, +because he hopes to be able ere long to smooth over these troubles which +have begun in France. Should the King either openly or secretly assist +the Netherlands or allow them to be assisted, 'twould be a reason for all +the Catholics now sustaining his Majesty's party to go over to the Guise +faction. The Provinces must remain firm, and make no pacification with +the enemy. Meantime the Queen of England is the only one to whom God has +given means to afford you succour. One of these days, when the proper +time comes, his Majesty will assist her in affording you relief." + +Calvart, after this conference with the King of Navarre, and subsequently +with the government, entertained a lingering hope that the French King +meant to assist the Provinces. "I know well who is the author of these +troubles," said the unhappy monarch, who never once mentioned the name of +Guise in all those conferences, "but, if God grant me life, I will give +him as good as he sends, and make him rue his conduct." + +They were not aware after how many strange vacillations Henry was one day +to wreak this threatened vengeance. As for Navarre, he remained upon the +watch, good humoured as ever, more merry and hopeful as the tempest grew +blacker; manifesting the most frank and friendly sentiments towards the +Provinces, and writing to Queen Elizabeth in the chivalrous style so dear +to the heart of that sovereign, that he desired nothing better than to be +her "servant and captain-general against the common enemy." + +But, indeed, the French King was not so well informed as he imagined +himself to be of the authorship of these troubles. Mucio, upon whose head +he thus threatened vengeance, was but the instrument. The concealed hand +that was directing all these odious intrigues, and lighting these flames +of civil war which were so long to make France a scene of desolation, was +that of the industrious letter-writer in the Escorial. That which Henry +of Navarre shrewdly suspected, when he talked of the Spanish dollars in +the Balafre's pocket, that which was dimly visible to the Bishop of Acqs +when he told Henry III. that the "Tagus had emptied itself into the Seine +and Loire, and that the gold of Mexico was flowing into the royal +cabinet," was much more certain than they supposed. + +Philip, in truth, was neglecting his own most pressing interests that he +might direct all his energies towards entertaining civil war in France. +That France should remain internally at peace was contrary to all his +plans. He had therefore long kept Guise and his brother, the Cardinal de +Lorraine, in his pay, and he had been spending large sums of money to +bribe many of the most considerable functionaries in the kingdom. + +The most important enterprises in the Netherlands were allowed to +languish, that these subterranean operations of the "prudent" monarch of +Spain should be pushed forward. The most brilliant and original genius +that Philip had the good fortune to have at his disposal, the genius of +Alexander Farnese, was cramped and irritated almost to madness, by the +fetters imposed upon it, by the sluggish yet obstinate nature of him it +was bound to obey. Farnese was at that moment engaged in a most arduous +military undertaking, that famous siege of Antwerp, the details of which +will be related in future chapters, yet he was never furnished with men +or money enough to ensure success to a much more ordinary operation. His +complaints, subdued but intense, fell almost unheeded on his master's +ear. He had not "ten dollars at his command," his cavalry horses were all +dead of hunger or had been eaten by their riders, who were starving to +death themselves, his army had dwindled to a "handful," yet he still held +on to his purpose, in spite of famine, the desperate efforts of +indefatigable enemies, and all the perils and privations of a deadly +winter. He, too, was kept for a long time in profound ignorance of +Philip's designs. + +Meantime, while the Spanish soldiers were starving in Flanders, Philip's +dollars were employed by Mucio and his adherents in enlisting troops in +Switzerland and Germany, in order to carry on the civil war in France. +The French king was held systematically up to ridicule or detestation in +every village-pulpit in his own kingdom, while the sister of Mucio, the +Duchess of Montpensier, carried the scissors at her girdle, with which +she threatened to provide Henry with a third crown, in addition to those +of France and Poland, which he had disgraced--the coronal tonsure of a +monk. The convent should be, it was intimated, the eventual fate of the +modern Childeric, but meantime it was more important than ever to +supersede the ultimate pretensions of Henry of Navarre. To prevent that +heretic of heretics, who was not to be bought with Spanish gold, from +ever reigning, was the first object of Philip and Mucio. + +Accordingly, on the last day of the year 1584, a secret treaty had been +signed at Joinville between Henry of Guise and his brother the Duc de +Mayenne, holding the proxies of their brother the Cardinal and those of +their uncles, Aumale and Elbeuf, on the one part, and John Baptist Tassis +and Commander Moreo, on the other, as representatives of Philip. This +transaction, sufficiently well known now to the most superficial student +of history, was a profound mystery then, so far as regarded the action of +the Spanish king. It was not a secret, however, that the papistical party +did not intend that the Bearnese prince should ever come to the throne, +and the matter of the succession was discussed, precisely as if the +throne had been vacant. + +It was decided that Charles, paternal uncle to Henry of Navarre, commonly +called the Cardinal Bourbon, should be considered successor to the crown, +in place of Henry, whose claim was forfeited by heresy. Moreover, a great +deal of superfluous money and learning was expended in ordering some +elaborate legal arguments to be prepared by venal jurisconsults, proving +not only that the uncle ought to succeed before the nephew, but that +neither the one nor the other had any claim to succeed at all. The pea +having thus been employed to do the work which the sword alone could +accomplish, the poor old Cardinal was now formally established by the +Guise faction as presumptive heir to the crown. + +A man of straw, a superannuated court-dangler, a credulous trifler, but +an earnest Papist as his brother Antony had been, sixty-six years old, +and feeble beyond his years, who, his life long, had never achieved one +manly action, and had now one foot in the grave; this was the puppet +placed in the saddle to run a tilt against the Bearnese, the man with +foot ever in the stirrup, with sword rarely in its sheath. + +The contracting parties at Joinville agreed that the Cardinal should +succeed on the death of the reigning king, and that no heretic should +ever ascend the throne, or hold the meanest office in the kingdom. They +agreed further that all heretics should be "exterminated" without +distinction throughout France and the Netherlands. In order to procure +the necessary reforms among the clergy, the council of Trent was to be +fully carried into effect. Philip pledged himself to furnish at least +fifty thousand crowns monthly, for the advancement of this Holy League, +as it was denominated, and as much more as should prove necessary. The +sums advanced were to be repaid by the Cardinal on his succeeding to the +throne. All the great officers of the crown, lords and gentlemen, cities, +chapters, and universities, all Catholics, in short, in the kingdom, were +deemed to be included in the league. If any foreign Catholic prince +desired to enter the union, he should be admitted with the consent of +both parties. Neither his Catholic majesty nor the confederated princes +should treat with the most Christian King, either directly or indirectly. +The compact was to remain strictly secret--one copy of it being sent to +Philip, while the other was to be retained by Cardinal Bourbon and his +fellow leaguers. + +And now--in accordance with this program--Philip proceeded stealthily and +industriously to further the schemes of Mucio, to the exclusion of more +urgent business. Noiseless and secret himself, and delighting in clothing +so much as to glide, as it were, throughout Europe, wrapped in the mantle +of invisibility, he was perpetually provoked by the noise, the bombast, +and the bustle, which his less prudent confederates permitted themselves. +While Philip for a long time hesitated to confide the secret of the +League to Parma, whom it most imported to understand these schemes of his +master, the confederates were openly boasting of the assistance which +they were to derive from Parma's cooperation. Even when the Prince had at +last been informed as to the state of affairs, he stoutly denied the +facts of which the leaguers made their vaunt; thus giving to Mucio and +his friends a lesson in dissimulation. + +"Things have now arrived at a point," wrote Philip to Tassis, 15th March, +1585, "that this matter of the League cannot and ought not to be +concealed from those who have a right to know it. Therefore you must +speak clearly to the Prince of Parma, informing him of the whole scheme, +and enjoining the utmost secrecy. You must concert with him as to the +best means of rendering aid to this cause, after having apprised him of +the points which regarded him, and also that of the security of Cardinal +de Bourbon, in case of necessity." + +The Prince was anything but pleased, in the midst of his anxiety and his +almost superhuman labour in the Antwerp siege, to be distracted, +impoverished, and weakened, in order to carry out these schemes against +France; but he kept the secret manfully. + +To Malpierre, the French envoy in Brussels--for there was the closest +diplomatic communication between Henry III. and Philip, while each was +tampering with the rebellious subjects of the other--to Malpierre Parma +flatly contradicted all complicity on the part of the Spanish King or +himself with the Holy League, of which he knew Philip to be the +originator and the chief. + +"If I complain to the Prince of Parma," said the envoy, "of the companies +going from Flanders to assist the League, he will make me no other reply +than that which the President has done--that there is nothing at all in +it--until they are fairly arrived in France. The President (Richardot) +said that if the Catholic King belonged to the League, as they insinuate, +his Majesty would declare the fact openly." + +And a few days later, the Prince himself averred, as Malpierre had +anticipated, that "as to any intention on the part of himself or his +Catholic Majesty, to send succour to the League, according to the boast +of these gentlemen, he had never thought of such a thing, nor had +received any order on the subject from his master. If the King intended +to do anything of the kind, he would do it openly. He protested that he +had never seen anything, or known anything of the League." + +Here was a man who knew how to keep a secret, and who had no scruples in +the matter of dissimulation, however enraged he might be at seeing men +and money diverted from his own masterly combinations in order to carry +out these schemes of his master. + +Mucio, on the contrary, was imprudent and inclined to boast. His contempt +for Henry III, made him blind to the dangers to be apprehended from Henry +of Navarre. He did little, but talked a great deal. + +Philip was very anxious that the work should be done both secretly and +thoroughly. "Let the business be finished before Saint John's day," said +he to Tassis, when sending fifty thousand dollars for the use of the +brothers Guise. "Tell Iniquez to warn them not to be sluggish. Let them +not begin in a lukewarm manner, but promise them plenty of assistance +from me, if they conduct themselves properly. Let them beware of +wavering, or of falling into plans of conciliation. If they do their +duty, I will do mine." + +But the Guise faction moved slowly despite of Philip's secret promptings. +The truth is, that the means proposed by the Spanish monarch were +ludicrously inadequate to his plans, and it was idle to suppose that the +world was to be turned upside down for his benefit, at the very low price +which he was prepared to pay. + +Nothing less than to exterminate all the heretics in Christendom, to +place himself on the thrones of France and of England, and to extinguish +the last spark of rebellion in the Netherlands, was his secret thought, +and yet it was very difficult to get fifty thousand dollars from him from +month to month. Procrastinating and indolent himself, he was for ever +rebuking the torpid movements of the Guises. + +"Let Mucio set his game well at the outset," said he; "let him lay the +axe to the root of the tree, for to be wasting time fruitlessly is +sharpening the knife for himself." + +This was almost prophetic. When after so much talking and tampering, +there began to be recrimination among the leaguers, Philip was very angry +with his subordinate. + +"Here is Mucio," said he, "trying to throw the blame of all the +difficulties, which have arisen, upon us. Not hastening, not keeping his +secret, letting the execution of the enterprise grow cold, and lending an +ear to suggestions about peace, without being sure of its conclusion, he +has turned his followers into cowards, discredited his cause, and given +the King of France opportunity to strengthen his force and improve his +party. These are all very palpable things. I am willing to continue my +friendship for them, but not, if, while they accept it, they permit +themselves to complain, instead of manifesting gratitude." + +On the whole, however, the affairs of the League seemed prosperous. There +was doubtless too much display among the confederates, but there was a +growing uneasiness among the royalists. Cardinal Bourbon, discarding his +ecclesiastical robes and scarlet stockings, paraded himself daily in +public, clothed in military costume, with all the airs of royalty. Many +persons thought him mad. On the other hand, Epergnon, the haughty +minion-in-chief, who governed Henry III., and insulted all the world, was +becoming almost polite. + +"The progress of the League," said Busbecq, "is teaching the Duc d' +Epergnon manners. 'Tis a youth of such insolence, that without uncovering +he would talk with men of royal descent, while they were bareheaded. 'Tis +a common jest now that he has found out where his hat is." + +Thus, for a long time, a network of secret political combinations had +been stretching itself over Christendom. There were great movements of +troops throughout Germany, Switzerland, the Netherlands, slowly +concentrating themselves upon France; yet, on the whole, the great mass +of the populations, the men and women who were to pay, to fight, to +starve, to be trampled upon, to be outraged, to be plundered, to be +burned out of houses and home, to bleed, and to die, were merely +ignorant, gaping spectators. That there was something very grave in +prospect was obvious, but exactly what was impending they knew no more +than the generation yet unborn. Very noiselessly had the patient manager +who sat in the Escorial been making preparations for that European +tragedy in which most of the actors had such fatal parts assigned them, +and of which few of the spectators of its opening scenes were doomed to +witness the conclusion. A shifting and glancing of lights, a vision of +vanishing feet, a trampling and bustling of unseen crowds, movements of +concealed machinery, a few incoherent words, much noise and confusion +vague and incomprehensible, till at last the tinkling of a small bell, +and a glimpse of the modest manager stealing away as the curtain was +rising--such was the spectacle presented at Midsummer 1585. + +And in truth the opening picture was effective. Sixteen black-robed, +long-bearded Netherland envoys stalking away, discomfited and indignant +upon one side; Catharine de' Medici on the other, regarding them with a +sneer, painfully contorted into a pathetic smile; Henry the King, robed +in a sack of penitence, trembling and hesitating, leaning on the arm of +Epergnon, but quailing even under the protection of that mighty +swordsman; Mucio, careering, truncheon in hand, in full panoply, upon his +war-horse, waving forward a mingled mass of German lanzknechts, Swiss +musketeers, and Lorraine pikemen; the redoubtable Don Bernardino de +Mendoza, in front, frowning and ferocious, with his drawn sword in his +hand; Elizabeth of England, in the back ground, with the white-bearded +Burghley and the monastic Walsingham, all surveying the scene with eyes +of deepest meaning; and, somewhat aside, but in full view, silent, calm, +and imperturbably good-humoured, the bold Bearnese, standing with a +mischievous but prophetic smile glittering through his blue eyes and +curly beard--thus grouped were the personages of the drama in the +introductory scenes. + +The course of public events which succeeded the departure of the +Netherland deputies is sufficiently well known. The secret negotiations +and intrigues, however, by which those external facts were preceded or +accompanied rest mainly in dusty archives, and it was therefore necessary +to dwell somewhat at length upon them in the preceding pages. + +The treaty of Joinville was signed on the last day of the year 1584. + +We have seen the real nature of the interview of Ambassador Mendoza with +Henry III. and his mother, which took place early in January, 1585. +Immediately after that conference, Don Bernardino betook himself to the +Duke of Guise, and lost no time in stimulating his confederate to prompt +but secret action. + +The Netherland envoys had their last audience on the 18th March, and +their departure and disappointment was the signal for the general +exhibition and explosion. The great civil war began, and the man who +refused to annex the Netherlands to the French kingdom soon ceased to be +regarded as a king. + +On the 31st March, the heir presumptive, just manufactured by the Guises, +sent forth his manifesto. Cardinal Bourbon, by this document, declared +that for twenty-four years past no proper measures had been taken to +extirpate the heresy by which France was infested. There was no natural +heir to the King. Those who claimed to succeed at his death had deprived +themselves, by heresy, of their rights. Should they gain their ends, the +ancient religion would be abolished throughout the kingdom, as it had +been in England, and Catholics be subjected to the same frightful +tortures which they were experiencing there. New men, admitted to the +confidence of the crown, clothed with the highest honours, and laden with +enormous emoluments, had excluded the ancient and honoured functionaries +of the state, who had been obliged to sell out their offices to these +upstart successors. These new favourites had seized the finances of the +kingdom, all of which were now collected into the private coffers of the +King, and shared by him with his courtiers. The people were groaning +under new taxes invented every day, yet they knew nothing of the +distribution of the public treasure, while the King himself was so +impoverished as to be unable to discharge his daily debts. Meantime these +new advisers of the crown had renewed to the Protestants of the kingdom +the religious privileges of which they had so justly been deprived, yet +the religious peace which had followed had not brought with it the +promised diminution of the popular burthens. Never had the nation been so +heavily taxed or reduced to such profound misery. For these reasons, he, +Cardinal Bourbon, with other princes of the blood, peers, gentlemen, +cities, and universities, had solemnly bound themselves by oath to +extirpate heresy down to the last root, and to save the people from the +dreadful load under which they were languishing. It was for this that +they had taken up arms, and till that purpose was accomplished they would +never lay them down. + +The paper concluded with the hope that his Majesty would not take these +warlike demonstrations amiss; and a copy of the document was placed in +the royal hands. + +It was very obvious to the most superficial observer, that the manifesto +was directed almost as much against the reigning sovereign as against +Henry of Navarre. The adherents of the Guise faction, and especially +certain theologians in their employ, had taken very bold grounds upon the +relations between king and subjects, and had made the public very +familiar with their doctrines. It was a duty, they said, "to depose a +prince who did not discharge his duty. Authority ill regulated was +robbery, and it was as absurd to call him a king who knew not how to +govern, as it was to take a blind man for a guide, or to believe that a +statue could influence the movements of living men." + +Yet to the faction, inspired by such rebellious sentiments, and which was +thundering in his face such tremendous denunciations, the unhappy Henry +could not find a single royal or manly word of reply. He threw himself on +his knees, when, if ever, he should have assumed an attitude of command. +He answered the insolence of the men, who were parading their contempt +for his authority, by humble excuses, and supplications for pardon. He +threw his crown in the dust before their feet, as if such humility would +induce them to place it again upon his head. He abandoned the minions who +had been his pride, his joy, and his defence, and deprecated, with an +abject whimper, all responsibility for the unmeasured ambition and the +insatiable rapacity of a few private individuals. He conjured the +party-leaders, who had hurled defiance in his face, to lay down their +arms, and promised that they should find in his wisdom and bounty more +than all the advantages which they were seeking to obtain by war. + +Henry of Navarre answered in a different strain. The gauntlet had at last +been thrown down to him, and he came forward to take it up; not +insolently nor carelessly, but with the cold courtesy of a Christian +knight and valiant gentleman. He denied the charge of heresy. He avowed +detestation of all doctrines contrary to the Word of God, to the decrees +of the Fathers of the Church, or condemned by the Councils. + +The errors and abuses which had from time to time crept into the church, +had long demanded, in the opinion of all pious persons, some measures of +reform. After many bloody wars, no better remedy had been discovered to +arrest the cause of these dire religious troubles, whether in France or +Germany, than to permit all men to obey the dictates of their own +conscience. The Protestants had thus obtained in France many edicts by +which the peace of the kingdom had been secured. He could not himself be +denounced as a heretic, for he had always held himself ready to receive +instruction, and to be set right where he had erred. To call him +"relapsed" was an outrage. Were it true, he were indeed unworthy of the +crown, but the world knew that his change at the Massacre of St. +Bartholomew had been made under duresse, and that he had returned to the +reformed faith when he had recovered his liberty. Religious toleration +had been the object of his life. In what the tyranny of the popes and the +violence of the Spaniards had left him of his kingdom of Navarre, +Catholics and Protestants enjoyed a perfect religious liberty. No man had +the right, therefore, to denounce him as an enemy of the church, or a +disturber of the public repose, for he had ever been willing to accept +all propositions of peace which left the rights of conscience protected. + +He was a Frenchman, a prince of France, a living member of the kingdom; +feeling with its pains, and bleeding with its wounds. They who denounced +him were alien to France, factitious portions of her body, feeling no +suffering, even should she be consuming with living fire. The Leaguers +were the friends and the servants of the Spaniards, while he had been +born the enemy, and with too good reason, of the whole Spanish race. + +"Let the name of Papist and of Huguenot," he said, "be heard no more +among us. Those terms were buried in the edict of peace. Let us speak +only of Frenchmen and of Spaniards. It is the counter-league which we +must all unite to form, the natural union of the head with all its +members." + +Finally, to save the shedding of so much innocent blood, to spare all the +countless miseries of civil war, he implored the royal permission to +terminate this quarrel in person, by single combat with the Duke of +Guise, one to one, two to two, or in as large a number as might be +desired, and upon any spot within or without the kingdom that should be +assigned. "The Duke of Guise," said Henry of Navarre, "cannot but accept +my challenge as an honour, coming as it does from a prince infinitely his +superior in rank; and thus, may God defend the right." + +This paper, drawn up by the illustrious Duplessis-Mornay, who was to have +been the second of the King of Navarre in the proposed duel, was signed +10 June 1585. + +The unfortunate Henry III., not so dull as to doubt that the true object +of the Guise party was to reduce him to insignificance, and to open their +own way to the throne, was too impotent of purpose to follow the dictates +which his wisest counsellors urged and his own reason approved. His +choice had lain between open hostility with his Spanish enemy and a more +terrible combat with that implacable foe wearing the mask of friendship. +He had refused to annex to his crown the rich and powerful Netherlands, +from dread of a foreign war; and he was now about to accept for himself +and kingdom all the horrors of a civil contest, in which his avowed +antagonist was the first captain of the age, and his nominal allies the +stipendiaries of Philip II. + +Villeroy, his prime minister, and Catharine de' Medici, his mother, had +both devoted him to disgrace and ruin. The deputies from the Netherlands +had been dismissed, and now, notwithstanding the festivities and +exuberant demonstrations of friendship with which the Earl of Derby's +splendid embassy had been greeted, it became necessary to bind Henry hand +and foot to the conspirators, who had sworn the destruction of that +Queen, as well as his own, and the extirpation of heresy and heretics in +every realm of Christendom. + +On the 9th June the league demanded a royal decree, forbidding the +practice of all religion but the Roman Catholic, on pain of death. In +vain had the clear-sighted Bishop of Acqs uttered his eloquent warnings. +Despite such timely counsels, which he was capable at once of +appreciating and of neglecting, Henry followed slavishly the advice of +those whom he knew in his heart to be his foes, and authorised the great +conspiracy against Elizabeth, against Protestantism, and against himself. + +On the 5th June Villeroy had expressed a wish for a very secret interview +with Mendoza, on the subject of the invasion of England. + +"It needed not this overture," said that magniloquent Spaniard, "to +engender in a person of my talents, and with the heart of a Mendoza, +venom enough for vengeance. I could not more desire than I did already to +assist in so holy a work; nor could I aspire to greater honour than would +be gained in uniting those crowns (of France and Spain) in strict +friendship, for the purpose of extirpating heresy throughout Europe, and +of chastising the Queen of England--whose abominations I am never likely +to forget, having had them so long before my eyes--and of satisfying my +just resentment for the injuries she has inflicted on myself. It was on +this subject," continued the ambassador, "that Monsieur de Villeroy +wished a secret interview with me, pledging himself--if your Majesty +would deign to unite yourself with this King, and to aid him with your +forces--to a successful result." + +Mendoza accordingly expressed a willingness to meet the ingenuous +Secretary of State--who had so recently been assisting at the banquets +and rejoicings with Lord Derby and his companions, which had so much +enlivened the French capital--and assured him that his most Catholic +Majesty would be only too glad to draw closer the bonds of friendship +with the most Christian King, for the service of God and the glory of his +Church. + +The next day the envoy and the Secretary of State met, very secretly, in +the house of the Signor Gondi. Villeroy commenced his harangue by an +allusion to the current opinion, that Mendoza had arrived in France with +a torch in his hand, to light the fires of civil war in that kingdom, as +he had recently done in England. + +"I do not believe," replied Mendoza, "that discreet and prudent persons +in France attribute my actions to any such motives. As for the ignorant +people of the kingdom, they do not appal me, although they evidently +imagine that I have imbibed, during my residence in England, something of +the spirit of the enchanter Merlin, that, by signs and cabalistic words +alone, I am thought capable of producing such commotions." + +After this preliminary flourish the envoy proceeded to complain bitterly +of the most Christian King and his mother, who, after the propositions +which they had made him, when on his way to Spain, had, since his return, +become so very cold and dry towards him. And on this theme he enlarged +for some time. + +Villeroy replied, by complaining, in his turn, about the dealings of the +most Catholic King, with the leaguers and the rebels of France; and +Mendoza rejoined by an intimation that harping upon past grievances and +suspicions was hardly the way to bring about harmony in present matters. + +Struck with the justice of this remark, the French Secretary of State +entered at once upon business. He made a very long speech upon the +tyranny which "that Englishwoman" was anew inflicting upon the Catholics +in her kingdom, upon the offences which she had committed against the +King of Spain, and against the King of France and his brothers, and upon +the aliment which she had been yielding to the civil war in the +Netherlands and in France for so many years. He then said that if Mendoza +would declare with sincerity, and "without any of the duplicity of a +minister"--that Philip would league himself with Henry for the purpose of +invading England, in order to reduce the three kingdoms to the Catholic +faith, and to place their crowns on the head of the Queen of Scotland, to +whom they of right belonged; then that the King, his master, was most +ready to join in so holy an enterprise. He begged Mendoza to say with +what number of troops the invasion could be made; whether Philip could +send any from Flanders or from Spain; how many it would be well to send +from France, and under what chieftain; in what manner it would be best to +communicate with his most Catholic Majesty; whether it were desirable to +despatch a secret envoy to him, and of what quality such agent ought to +be. He also observed that the most Christian King could not himself speak +to Mendoza on the subject before having communicated the matter to the +Queen-Mother, but expressed a wish that a special carrier might be +forthwith despatched to Spain; for he might be sure that, on an affair of +such weight, he would not have permitted himself to reveal the secret +wishes of his master, except by his commands. + +Mendoza replied, by enlarging with much enthusiasm on the facility with +which England could be conquered by the combined power of France and +Spain. If it were not a very difficult matter before--even with the +jealousy between the two crowns--how much less so, now that they could +join their fleets and armies; now that the arming by the one prince would +not inspire the other with suspicion; now that they would be certain of +finding safe harbour in each other's kingdoms, in case of unfavourable +weather and head-winds, and that they could arrange from what ports to +sail, in what direction, and under what commanders. He disapproved, +however, of sending a special messenger to Spain, on the ground of +wishing to keep the matter entirely secret, but in reality--as he +informed Philip--because he chose to keep the management in his own +hands; because he could always let slip Mucio upon them, in case they +should play him false; because he feared that the leaking out of the +secret might discourage the Leaguers, and because he felt that the bolder +and more lively were the Cardinal of Bourbon and his confederates, the +stronger was the party of the King, his master, and the more intimidated +and dispirited would be the mind and the forces of the most Christian +King. "And this is precisely the point," said the diplomatist, "at which +a minister of your Majesty should aim at this season." + +Thus the civil war in France--an indispensable part of Philip's +policy--was to be maintained at all hazards; and although the ambassador +was of opinion that the most Christian King was sincere in his +proposition to invade England, it would never do to allow any interval of +tranquillity to the wretched subjects of that Christian King. + +"I cannot doubt," said Mendoza, "that the making of this proposal to me +with so much warmth was the especial persuasion of God, who, hearing the +groans of the Catholics of England, so cruelly afflicted, wished to force +the French King and his minister to feel, in the necessity which +surrounds them, that the offending Him, by impeding the grandeur of your +Majesty, would be their total ruin, and that their only salvation is to +unite in sincerity and truth with your Majesty for the destruction of the +heretics." + +Therefore, although judging from the nature of the French--he might +imagine that they were attempting to put him to sleep, Mendoza, on the +whole, expressed a conviction that the King was in earnest, having +arrived at the conclusion that he could only get rid of the Guise faction +by sending them over to England. "Seeing that he cannot possibly +eradicate the war from his kingdom," said the envoy, "because of the +boldness with which the Leaguers maintain it, with the strong assistance +of your Majesty, he has determined to embrace with much fervour, and +without any deception at all, the enterprise against England, as the only +remedy to quiet his own dominions. The subjugation of those three +kingdoms, in order to restore them to their rightful owner, is a purpose +so holy, just, and worthy of your Majesty, and one which you have had so +constantly in view, that it is superfluous for me to enlarge upon the +subject. Your Majesty knows that its effects will be the tranquillity and +preservation of all your realms. The reasons for making the attempt, even +without the aid of France, become demonstrations now that she is +unanimously in favour of the scheme. The most Christian King is +resolutely bent--so far as I can comprehend the intrigues of Villeroy--to +carry out this project on the foundation of a treaty with the Guise +party. It will not take much time, therefore, to put down the heretics +here; nor will it consume much more to conquer England with the armies of +two such powerful Princes. The power of that island is of little moment, +there being no disciplined forces to oppose us, even if they were all +unanimous in its defence; how much less then, with so many Catholics to +assist the invaders, seeing them so powerful. If your Majesty, on account +of your Netherlands, is not afraid of putting arms into the hands of the +Guise family in France, there need be less objection to sending one of +that house into England, particularly as you will send forces of your own +into that kingdom, by the reduction of which the affairs of Flanders will +be secured. To effect the pacification of the Netherlands the sooner, it +would be desirable to conquer England as early as October." + +Having thus sufficiently enlarged upon the sincerity of the French King +and his prime minister, in their dark projects against a friendly power, +and upon the ease with which that friendly power could be subjected, the +ambassador begged for a reply from his royal master without delay. He +would be careful, meantime, to keep the civil war alive in France--thus +verifying the poetical portrait of himself, the truth of which he had +just been so indignantly and rhetorically denying--but it was desirable +that the French should believe that this civil war was not Philip's sole +object. He concluded by drawing his master's attention to the sufferings +of the English Catholics. "I cannot refrain," he said, "from placing +before your eyes the terrible persecutions which the Catholics are +suffering in England; the blood of the martyrs flowing in so many kinds +of torments; the groans of the prisoners, of the widows and orphans; the +general oppression and servitude, which is the greatest ever endured by a +people of God, under any tyrant whatever. Your Majesty, into whose hands +God is now pleased to place the means, so long desired, of extirpating +and totally destroying the heresies of our time, can alone liberate them +from their bondage." + +The picture of these kings, prime ministers, and ambassadors, thus +plotting treason, stratagem, and massacre, is a dark and dreary one. The +description of English sufferings for conscience' sake, under the +Protestant Elizabeth, is even more painful; for it had unfortunately too +much, of truth, although as wilfully darkened and exaggerated as could be +done by religious hatred and Spanish bombast. The Queen was surrounded by +legions of deadly enemies. Spain, the Pope, the League, were united in +one perpetual conspiracy against her; and they relied on the cooperation +of those subjects of hers whom her own cruelty was converting into +traitors. + +We read with a shudder these gloomy secrets of conspiracy and wholesale +murder, which make up the diplomatic history of the sixteenth century, +and we cease to wonder that a woman, feeling herself so continually the +mark at which all the tyrants and assassins of Europe were +aiming--although not possessing perhaps the evidences of her peril so +completely as they have been revealed to us--should come to consider +every English Papist as a traitor and an assassin. It was unfortunate +that she was not able to rise beyond the vile instincts of the age, and +by a magnanimous and sublime toleration, to convert her secret enemies +into loyal subjects. + +And now Henry of Valois was to choose between league and counter-league, +between Henry of Guise and Henry of Navarre, between France and Spain. +The whole chivalry of Gascony and Guienne, the vast swarm of industrious +and hardy Huguenot artisans, the Netherland rebels, the great English +Queen, stood ready to support the cause of French nationality, and of all +nationalities, against a threatening world-empire, of religious liberty +against sacerdotal absolutism, and the crown of a King, whose only merit +had hitherto been to acquiesce in a religious toleration dictated to him +by others, against those who derided his authority and insulted his +person. The bold knight-errant of Christendom, the champion to the +utterance against Spain, stood there with lance in rest, and the King +scarcely hesitated. + +The League, gliding so long unheeded, now reared its crest in the very +palace of France, and full in the monarch's face. With a single shudder +the victim fell into its coils. + +The choice was made. On the 18th of July (1585) the edict of Nemours was +published, revoking all previous edicts by which religious peace had been +secured. Death and confiscation of property were now proclaimed as the +penalty of practising any religious rites save those of the Roman +Catholic Church. Six months were allowed to the Nonconformists to put +their affairs in order, after which they were to make public profession +of the Catholic religion, with regular attendance upon its ceremonies, or +else go into perpetual exile. To remain in France without abjuring heresy +was thenceforth a mortal crime, to be expiated upon the gallows. As a +matter of course, all Huguenots were instantaneously incapacitated from +public office, the mixed chambers of justice were abolished, and the +cautionary towns were to be restored. On the other hand, the Guise +faction were to receive certain cities into their possession, as pledges +that this sanguinary edict should be fulfilled. + +Thus did Henry III. abjectly kiss the hand which smote him. His mother, +having since the death of Anjou no further interest in affecting to +favour the Huguenots, had arranged the basis of this treaty with the +Spanish party. And now the unfortunate King had gone solemnly down to the +Parliament of Paris, to be present at the registration of the edict. The +counsellors and presidents were all assembled, and as they sat there in +their crimson robes, they seemed, to the excited imagination of those who +loved their country, like embodiments of the impending and most +sanguinary tragedy. As the monarch left the parliament-house a faint cry +of 'God save the King' was heard in the street. Henry hung his head, for +it was long since that cry had met his ears, and he knew that it was a +false and languid demonstration which had been paid for by the Leaguers. + +And thus was the compact signed--an unequal compact. Madam League was on +horseback, armed in proof, said a contemporary; the King was on foot, and +dressed in a shirt of penitence. The alliance was not an auspicious one. +Not peace, but a firebrand--'facem, non pacem'--had the King held forth +to his subjects. + +When the news came to Henry of Navarre that the King had really +promulgated this fatal edict, he remained for a time, with amazement and +sorrow, leaning heavily upon a table, with his face in his right hand. +When he raised his head again--so he afterwards asserted--one side of his +moustachio had turned white. + +Meantime Gregory XIII., who had always refused to sanction the League, +was dead, and Cardinal Peretti, under the name of Sixtus V., now reigned +in his place. Born of an illustrious house, as he said--for it was a +house without a roof--this monk of humble origin was of inordinate +ambition. Feigning a humility which was but the cloak to his pride, he +was in reality as grasping, self-seeking, and revengeful, as he seemed +gentle and devout. It was inevitable that a pontiff of this character +should seize the opportunity offered him to mimic Hildebrand, and to +brandish on high the thunderbolts of the Church. + +With a flaming prelude concerning the omnipotence delegated by Almighty +God to St. Peter and his successors--an authority infinitely superior to +all earthly powers--the decrees of which were irresistible alike by the +highest and the meanest, and which hurled misguided princes from their +thrones into the abyss, like children of Beelzebub, the Pope proceeded to +fulminate his sentence of excommunication against those children of +wrath, Henry of Navarre and Henry of Conde. They were denounced as +heretics, relapsed, and enemies of God (28th Aug.1585). The King was +declared dispossessed of his principality of Bearne, and of what remained +to him of Navarre. He was stripped of all dignities, privileges, and +property, and especially proclaimed incapable of ever ascending the +throne of France. + +The Bearnese replied by a clever political squib. A terse and spirited +paper found its way to Rome, and was soon affixed, to the statutes of +Pasquin and Marforio, and in other public places of that city, and even +to the gates of the papal palace. Without going beyond his own doors, his +Holiness had the opportunity of reading, to his profound amazement, that +Mr. Sixtus, calling himself Pope, had foully and maliciously lied in +calling the King of Navarre a heretic. This Henry offered to prove before +any free council legitimately chosen. If the Pope refused to submit to +such decision, he was himself no better than excommunicate and +Antichrist, and the King of Navarre thereby declared mortal and perpetual +war upon him. The ancient kings of France had known how to chastise the +insolence of former popes, and he hoped, when he ascended the throne, to +take vengeance on Mr. Sixtus for the insult thus offered to all the kings +of Christendom--and so on, in a vein which showed the Bearnese to be a +man rather amused than blasted by these papal fireworks. + +Sixtus V., though imperious, was far from being dull. He knew how to +appreciate a man when he found one, and he rather admired the cheerful +attitude maintained by Navarre, as he tossed back the thunderbolts. He +often spoke afterwards of Henry with genuine admiration, and declared +that in all the world he knew but two persons fit to wear a crown--Henry +of Navarre and Elizabeth of England. "'Twas pity," he said, "that both +should be heretics." + +And thus the fires of civil war had been lighted throughout Christendom, +and the monarch of France had thrown himself head foremost into the +flames. + + ETEXT EDITOR'S BOOKMARKS: + + Hibernian mode of expressing himself + His inordinate arrogance + His insolence intolerable + Humility which was but the cloak to his pride + Longer they delay it, the less easy will they find it + Oration, fertile in rhetoric and barren in facts + Round game of deception, in which nobody was deceived + Wasting time fruitlessly is sharpening the knife for himself + With something of feline and feminine duplicity + 'Twas pity, he said, that both should be heretics + + + + +HISTORY OF THE UNITED NETHERLANDS + +From the Death of William the Silent to the Twelve Year's Truce--1609 + +By John Lothrop Motley + +History of The United Netherlands, 1585 + +Alexander Farnese, The Duke of Parma + + + + +CHAPTER V., Part 1. + + Position and Character of Farnese--Preparations for Antwerp Siege-- + Its Characteristics--Foresight of William the Silent--Sainte + Aldegonde, the Burgomaster--Anarchy in Antwerp--Character of Sainte + Aldegonde--Admiral Treslong--Justinus de Nassau--Hohenlo--Opposition + to the Plan of Orange--Liefkenshoek--Head--Quarters of Parma at + Kalloo--Difficulty of supplying the City--Results of not piercing + the Dykes--Preliminaries of the Siege--Successes of the Spaniards-- + Energy of Farnese with Sword and Pen--His Correspondence with the + Antwerpers--Progress of the Bridge--Impoverished Condition of Parma + --Patriots attempt Bois-le-Duc--Their Misconduct--Failure of the + Enterprise--The Scheldt Bridge completed--Description of the + Structure + +The negotiations between France and the Netherlands have been massed, in +order to present a connected and distinct view of the relative attitude +of the different countries of Europe. The conferences and diplomatic +protocolling had resulted in nothing positive; but it is very necessary +for the reader to understand the negative effects of all this +dissimulation and palace-politics upon the destiny of the new +commonwealth, and upon Christendom at large. The League had now achieved +a great triumph; the King of France had virtually abdicated, and it was +now requisite for the King of Navarre, the Netherlands, and Queen +Elizabeth, to draw more closely together than before, if the last hope of +forming a counter-league were not to be abandoned. The next step in +political combination was therefore a solemn embassy of the +States-General to England. Before detailing those negotiations, however, +it is proper to direct attention to the external public events which had +been unrolling themselves in the Provinces, contemporaneously with the +secret history which has been detailed in the preceding chapters. + +By presenting in their natural groupings various distinct occurrences, +rather than by detailing them in strict chronological order, a clearer +view of the whole picture will be furnished than could be done by +intermingling personages, transactions, and scenery, according to the +arbitrary command of Time alone. + +The Netherlands, by the death of Orange, had been left without a head. On +the other hand, the Spanish party had never been so fortunate in their +chief at any period since the destiny of the two nations had been blended +with each other. Alexander Farnese, Prince of Parma, was a general and a +politician, whose character had been steadily ripening since he came into +the command of the country. He was now thirty-seven years of age--with +the experience of a sexagenarian. No longer the impetuous, arbitrary, +hot-headed youth, whose intelligence and courage hardly atoned for his +insolent manner and stormy career, he had become pensive, modest, almost +gentle. His genius was rapid in conception, patient in combination, +fertile in expedients, adamantine in the endurance or suffering; for +never did a heroic general and a noble army of veterans manifest more +military virtue in the support of an infamous cause than did Parma and +his handful of Italians and Spaniards. That which they considered to be +their duty they performed. The work before them they did with all their +might. + +Alexander had vanquished the rebellion in the Celtic provinces, by the +masterly diplomacy and liberal bribery which have been related in a +former work. Artois, Hainault, Douay, Orchies, with the rich cities of +Lille, Tournay, Valenciennes, Arras, and other important places, were now +the property of Philip. These unhappy and misguided lands, however, were +already reaping the reward of their treason. Beggared, trampled upon, +plundered, despised, they were at once the prey of the Spaniards, and the +cause that their sister-states, which still held out, were placed in more +desperate condition than ever. They were also, even in their abject +plight, made still more forlorn by the forays of Balagny, who continued +in command of Cambray. Catharine de' Medici claimed that city as her +property, by will of the Duke of Anjou. A strange title--founded upon the +treason and cowardice of her favourite son--but one which, for a time, +was made good by the possession maintained by Balagny. That usurper +meantime, with a shrewd eye to his own interests, pronounced the truce of +Cambray, which was soon afterwards arranged, from year to year, by +permission of Philip, as a "most excellent milch-cow;" and he continued +to fill his pails at the expense of the "reconciled" provinces, till they +were thoroughly exhausted. + +This large south-western section of the Netherlands being thus +permanently re-annexed to the Spanish crown, while Holland, Zeeland, and +the other provinces, already constituting the new Dutch republic, were +more obstinate in their hatred of Philip than ever, there remained the +rich and fertile territory of Flanders and Brabant as the great +debateable land. Here were the royal and political capital, Brussels, the +commercial capital, Antwerp, with Mechlin, Dendermonde, Vilvoorde, and +other places of inferior importance, all to be struggled for to the +death. With the subjection of this district the last bulwark between the +new commonwealth and the old empire would be overthrown, and Spain and +Holland would then meet face to face. + +If there had ever been a time when every nerve in Protestant Christendom +should be strained to weld all those provinces together into one great +commonwealth, as a bulwark for European liberty, rather than to allow +them to be broken into stepping-stones, over which absolutism could +stride across France and Holland into England, that moment had arrived. +Every sacrifice should have been cheerfully made by all Netherlanders, +the uttermost possible subsidies and auxiliaries should have been +furnished by all the friends of civil and religious liberty in every land +to save Flanders and Brabant from their impending fate. + +No man felt more keenly the importance of the business in which he was +engaged than Parma. He knew his work exactly, and he meant to execute it +thoroughly. Antwerp was the hinge on which the fate of the whole country, +perhaps of all Christendom, was to turn. "If we get Antwerp," said the +Spanish soldiers--so frequently that the expression passed into a +proverb--"you shall all go to mass with us; if you save Antwerp, we will +all go to conventicle with you." + +Alexander rose with the difficulty and responsibility of his situation. +His vivid, almost poetic intellect formed its schemes with perfect +distinctness. Every episode in his great and, as he himself termed it, +his "heroic enterprise," was traced out beforehand with the tranquil +vision of creative genius; and he was prepared to convert his conceptions +into reality, with the aid of an iron nature that never knew fatigue or +fear. + +But the obstacles were many. Alexander's master sat in his cabinet with +his head full of Mucio, Don Antonio, and Queen Elizabeth; while Alexander +himself was left neglected, almost forgotten. His army was shrinking to a +nullity. The demands upon him were enormous, his finances delusive, +almost exhausted. To drain an ocean dry he had nothing but a sieve. What +was his position? He could bring into the field perhaps eight or ten +thousand men over and above the necessary garrisons. He had before him +Brussels, Antwerp, Mechlin, Ghent, Dendermonde, and other powerful +places, which he was to subjugate. Here was a problem not easy of +solution. Given an army of eight thousand, more or less, to reduce +therewith in the least possible time, half-a-dozen cities; each +containing fifteen or twenty thousand men able to bear arms. To besiege +these places in form was obviously a mere chimera. Assault, battery, and +surprises--these were all out of the question. + +Yet Alexander was never more truly heroic than in this position of vast +entanglement. Untiring, uncomplaining, thoughtful of others, prodigal of +himself, generous, modest, brave; with so much intellect and so much +devotion to what he considered his duty, he deserved to be a patriot and +a champion of the right, rather than an instrument of despotism. + +And thus he paused for a moment--with much work already accomplished, but +his hardest life-task before him; still in the noon of manhood, a fine +martial figure, standing, spear in hand, full in the sunlight, though all +the scene around him was wrapped in gloom--a noble, commanding shape, +entitled to the admiration which the energetic display of great powers, +however unscrupulous, must always command. A dark, meridional +physiognomy, a quick; alert, imposing head; jet black, close-clipped +hair; a bold eagle's face, with full, bright, restless eye; a man rarely +reposing, always ready, never alarmed; living in the saddle, with harness +on his back--such was the Prince of Parma; matured and mellowed, but +still unharmed by time. + +The cities of Flanders and Brabant he determined to reduce by gaining +command of the Scheldt. The five principal ones Ghent, Dendermonde, +Mechlin, Brussels Antwerp, lie narrow circle, at distances from each +other varying from five miles to thirty, and are all strung together by +the great Netherland river or its tributaries. His plan was immensely +furthered by the success of Balthasar Gerard, an ally whom Alexander had +despised and distrusted, even while he employed him. The assassination of +Orange was better to Parma than forty thousand men. A crowd of allies +instantly started up for him, in the shape of treason, faintheartedness, +envy, jealousy, insubordination, within the walls of every beleaguered +city. Alexander knew well how to deal with those auxiliaries. Letters, +artfully concocted, full of conciliation and of promise, were circulated +in every council-room, in almost every house. + +The surrender of Ghent--brought about by the governor's eloquence, aided +by the golden arguments which he knew so well how to advance--had by the +middle of September (19th Sept. 1584), put him in possession of West +Flanders, with the important exception of the coast. Dendermonde +capitulated at a still earlier day; while the fall of Brussels, which +held out till many persons had been starved to death, was deferred till +the 10th March of the following year, and that of Mechlin till midsummer. + +The details of the military or political operations, by which the +reduction of most of these places were effected, possess but little +interest. The siege of Antwerp, however, was one of the most striking +events of the age; and although the change in military tactics and the +progress of science may have rendered this leaguer of less technical +importance than it possessed in the sixteenth century, yet the +illustration that it affords of the splendid abilities of Parma, of the +most cultivated mode of warfare in use at that period, and of the +internal politics by which the country was then regulated, make it +necessary to dwell upon the details of an episode which must ever possess +enduring interest. + +It is agreeable to reflect, too, that the fame of the general is not +polluted with the wholesale butchery, which has stained the reputation of +other Spanish commanders so indelibly. There was no killing for the mere +love of slaughter. With but few exceptions, there was no murder in cold +blood; and the many lives that were laid down upon those watery dykes +were sacrificed at least in bold, open combat; in a contest, the ruling +spirits of which were patriotism, or at least honour. + +It is instructive, too, to observe the diligence and accuracy with which +the best lights of the age were brought to bear upon the great problem +which Parma had undertaken to solve. All the science then at command was +applied both by the Prince and by his burgher antagonists to the +advancement of their ends. Hydrostatics, hydraulics, engineering, +navigation, gunnery, pyrotechnics, mining, geometry, were summoned as +broadly, vigorously, and intelligently to the destruction or preservation +of a trembling city, as they have ever been, in more commercial days, to +advance a financial or manufacturing purpose. Land converted into water, +and water into land, castles built upon the breast of rapid streams, +rivers turned from their beds and taught new courses; the distant ocean +driven across ancient bulwarks, mines dug below the sea, and canals made +to percolate obscene morasses--which the red hand of war, by the very +act, converted into blooming gardens--a mighty stream bridged and +mastered in the very teeth of winter, floating ice-bergs, ocean-tides, +and an alert and desperate foe, ever ready with fleets and armies and +batteries--such were the materials of which the great spectacle was +composed; a spectacle which enchained the attention of Europe for seven +months, and on the result of which, it was thought, depended the fate of +all the Netherlands, and perhaps of all Christendom. + +Antwerp, then the commercial centre of the Netherlands and of Europe, +stands upon the Scheldt. The river, flowing straight, broad, and full +along the verge of the city, subtends the arc into which the place +arranges itself as it falls back from the shore. Two thousand ships of +the largest capacity then known might easily find room in its ample +harbours. The stream, nearly half a mile in width, and sixty feet in +depth, with a tidal rise and fall of eleven feet, moves, for a few miles, +in a broad and steady current between the provinces of Brabant and +Flanders. Then, dividing itself into many ample estuaries, and gathering +up the level isles of Zeeland into its bosom, it seems to sweep out with +them into the northern ocean. Here, at the junction of the river and the +sea, lay the perpetual hope of Antwerp, for in all these creeks and +currents swarmed the fleets of the Zeelanders, that hardy and amphibious +race, with which few soldiers or mariners could successfully contend, on +land or water. + +Even from the beginning of the year 1584 Parma had been from time to time +threatening Antwerp. The victim instinctively felt that its enemy was +poising and hovering over head, although he still delayed to strike. +Early in the summer Sainte Aldegonde, Recorder Martini, and other +official personages, were at Delft, upon the occasion of the christening +ceremonies of Frederic Henry, youngest child of Orange. The Prince, at +that moment, was aware of the plans of Parma, and held a long +conversation with his friends upon the measures which he desired to see +immediately undertaken. Unmindful of his usual hospitality, he insisted +that these gentlemen should immediately leave for Antwerp. Alexander +Farnese, he assured them, had taken the firm determination to possess +himself of that place, without further delay. He had privately signified +his purpose of laying the axe at once to the root of the tree, believing +that with the fall of the commercial capital the infant confederacy of +the United States would fall likewise. In order to accomplish this +object, he would forthwith attempt to make himself master of the banks of +the Scheldt, and would even throw a bridge across the stream, if his +plans were not instantly circumvented. + +William of Orange then briefly indicated his plan; adding that he had no +fears for the result; and assuring his friends, who expressed much +anxiety on the subject, that if Parma really did attempt the siege of +Antwerp it should be his ruin. The plan was perfectly simple. The city +stood upon a river. It was practicable, although extremely hazardous, for +the enemy to bridge that river, and by so doing ultimately to reduce the +place. But the ocean could not be bridged; and it was quite possible to +convert Antwerp, for a season, into an ocean-port. Standing alone upon an +island, with the sea flowing around it, and with full and free marine +communication with Zeeland and Holland, it might safely bid defiance to +the land-forces, even of so great a commander as Parma. To the +furtherance of this great measure of defence, it was necessary to destroy +certain bulwarks, the chief of (10th June, 1584) which was called the +Blaw-garen Dyke; and Sainte Aldegonde was therefore requested to return +to the city, in order to cause this task to be executed without delay. + +Nothing could be more judicious than this advice. The low lands along the +Scheldt were protected against marine encroachments, and the river itself +was confined to its bed, by a magnificent system of dykes, which extended +along its edge towards the ocean, in parallel lines. Other barriers of a +similar nature ran in oblique directions, through the wide open pasture +lands, which they maintained in green fertility, against the +ever-threatening sea. The Blaw-garen, to which the prince mainly alluded, +was connected with the great dyke upon the right bank of the Scheldt. +Between this and the city, another bulwark called the Kowenstyn Dyke, +crossed the country at right angles to the river, and joined the other +two at a point, not very far from Lillo, where the States had a strong +fortress. + +The country in this neighbourhood was low, spongy, full of creeks, small +meres, and the old bed of the Scheldt. Orange, therefore, made it very +clear, that by piercing the great dyke just described, such a vast body +of water would be made to pour over the land as to submerge the Kowenstyn +also, the only other obstacle in the passage of fleets from Zeeland to +Antwerp. The city would then be connected with the sea and its islands, +by so vast an expanse of navigable water, that any attempt on Parma's +part to cut off supplies and succour would be hopeless. Antwerp would +laugh the idea of famine to scorn; and although this immunity would be +purchased by the sacrifice of a large amount of agricultural territory +the price so paid was but a slender one, when the existence of the +capital, and with it perhaps of the whole confederacy was at stake. + +Sainte Aldegonde and Martini suggested, that, as there would be some +opposition to the measure proposed, it might be as well to make a similar +attempt on the Flemish side, in preference, by breaking through the dykes +in the neighbourhood of Saftingen. Orange replied, by demonstrating that +the land in the region which he had indicated was of a character to +ensure success, while in the other direction there were certain very +unfavourable circumstances which rendered the issue doubtful. The result +was destined to prove the sagacity of the Prince, for it will be shown in +the sequel, that the Saftingen plan, afterwards really carried out, was +rather advantageous than detrimental to the enemy's projects. + +Sainte Aldegonde, accordingly, yielded to the arguments and entreaties of +his friend, and repaired without delay to Antwerp. + +The advice of William the Silent--as will soon be related--was not acted +upon; and, within a few weeks after it had been given, he was in his +grave. Nowhere was his loss more severely felt than in Antwerp. It +seemed, said a contemporary, that with his death had died all authority. +The Prince was the only head which the many-membered body of that very +democratic city ever spontaneously obeyed. Antwerp was a small +republic--in time of peace intelligently and successfully +administered--which in the season of a great foreign war, amid plagues, +tumults, famine, and internal rebellion, required the firm hand and the +clear brain of a single chief. That brain and hand had been possessed by +Orange alone. + +Before his death he had desired that Sainte Aldegonde should accept the +office of burgomaster of the city. Nominally, the position was not so +elevated as were many of the posts which that distinguished patriot had +filled. In reality, it was as responsible and arduous a place as could be +offered to any man's acceptance throughout the country. Sainte Aldegonde +consented, not without some reluctance. He felt that there was odium to +be incurred; he knew that much would be expected of him, and that his +means would be limited. His powers would be liable to a constant and +various restraint. His measures were sure to be the subject of perpetual +cavil. If the city were besieged, there were nearly one hundred thousand +mouths to feed, and nearly one hundred thousand tongues to dispute about +furnishing the food. + +For the government of Antwerp had been degenerating from a well-organised +municipal republicanism into anarchy. The clashing of the various bodies +exercising power had become incessant and intolerable. The burgomaster +was charged with the chief executive authority, both for peace and war. +Nevertheless he had but a single vote in the board of magistrates, where +a majority decided. Moreover, he could not always attend the sessions, +because he was also member of the council of Brabant. Important measures +might therefore be decided by the magistracy, not only against his +judgment, but without his knowledge. Then there was a variety of boards +or colleges, all arrogating concurrent--which in truth was +conflicting-authority. There was the board of militia-colonels, which +claimed great powers. Here, too, the burgomaster was nominally the chief, +but he might be voted down by a majority, and of course was often absent. +Then there were sixteen captains who came into the colonels' sessions +whenever they liked, and had their word to say upon all subjects +broached. If they were refused a hearing, they were backed by eighty +other captains, who were ready at any moment to carry every disputed +point before the "broadcouncil." + +There were a college of ward-masters, a college of select men, a college +of deacons, a college of ammunition, of fortification, of ship-building, +all claiming equal authority, and all wrangling among themselves; and +there was a college of "peace-makers," who wrangled more than all the +rest together. + +Once a week there was a session of the board or general council. Dire was +the hissing and confusion, as the hydra heads of the multitudinous +government were laid together. Heads of colleges, presidents of chambers, +militia-chieftains; magistrates, ward-masters, deans of fishmongers, of +tailors, gardeners, butchers, all met together pell-mell; and there was +no predominant authority. This was not a convenient working machinery for +a city threatened with a siege by the first captain of the age. Moreover +there was a deficiency of regular troops: The burgher-militia were well +trained and courageous, but not distinguished for their docility. There +was also a regiment of English under Colonel Morgan, a soldier of great +experience, and much respected; but, as Stephen Le Sieur said, "this +force, unless seconded with more, was but a breakfast for the enemy." +Unfortunately, too, the insubordination, which was so ripe in the city, +seemed to affect these auxiliaries. A mutiny broke out among the English +troops. Many deserted to Parma, some escaped to England, and it was not +until Morgan had beheaded Captain Lee and Captain Powell, that discipline +could be restored. + +And into this scene of wild and deafening confusion came Philip de +Marnix, Lord of Sainte Aldegonde. + +There were few more brilliant characters than he in all Christendom. He +was a man, of a most rare and versatile genius. Educated in Geneva at the +very feet of Calvin, he had drunk, like mother's milk, the strong and +bitter waters of the stern reformer's, creed; but he had in after life +attempted, although hardly with success, to lift himself to the height of +a general religious toleration. He had also been trained in the severe +and thorough literary culture which characterised that rigid school. He +was a scholar, ripe and rare; no holiday trifler in the gardens of +learning. He spoke and wrote Latin like his native tongue. He could +compose poignant Greek epigrams. He was so familiar with Hebrew, that he +had rendered the Psalms of David out of the original into flowing Flemish +verse, for the use of the reformed churches. That he possessed the modern +tongues of civilized Europe, Spanish, Italian, French, and German, was a +matter of course. He was a profound jurisconsult, capable of holding +debate against all competitors upon any point of theory or practice of +law, civil, municipal, international. He was a learned theologian, and +had often proved himself a match for the doctors, bishops, or rabbin of +Europe, in highest argument of dogma, creed, or tradition. He was a +practised diplomatist, constantly employed in delicate and difficult +negotiations by William the Silent, who ever admired his genius, +cherished his friendship, and relied upon his character. He was an +eloquent orator, whose memorable harangue, beyond all his other efforts, +at the diet of Worms, had made the German princes hang their heads with +shame, when, taking a broad and philosophical view of the Netherland +matter, he had shown that it was the great question of Europe; that +Nether Germany was all Germany; that Protestantism could not be +unravelled into shreds; that there was but one cause in Christendom--that +of absolutism against national liberty, Papacy against the reform; and +that the seventeen Provinces were to be assisted in building themselves +into an eternal barrier against Spain, or that the "burning mark of shame +would be branded upon the forehead of Germany;" that the war, in short, +was to be met by her on the threshold; or else that it would come to seek +her at home--a prophecy which the horrible Thirty Years' War was in after +time most signally to verify. + +He was a poet of vigour and originality, for he had accomplished what has +been achieved by few; he had composed a national hymn, whose strophes, as +soon as heard, struck a chord in every Netherland heart, and for three +centuries long have rung like a clarion wherever the Netherland tongue is +spoken. "Wilhelmus van Nassouwe," regarded simply as a literary +composition, has many of the qualities which an ode demands; an +electrical touch upon the sentiments, a throb of patriotism, sympathetic +tenderness, a dash of indignation, with rhythmical harmony and graceful +expression; and thus it has rung from millions of lips, from generation +to generation. + +He was a soldier, courageous, untiring, prompt in action, useful in +council, and had distinguished himself in many a hard-fought field. Taken +prisoner in the sanguinary skirmish at Maaslandssluys, he had been +confined a year, and, for more than three months, had never laid his +head, as he declared, upon the pillow without commending his soul as for +the last time to his Maker, expecting daily the order for his immediate +execution, and escaping his doom only because William the Silent +proclaimed that the proudest head among the Spanish prisoners should fall +to avenge his death; so that he was ultimately exchanged against the +veteran Mondragon. + +From the incipient stages of the revolt he had been foremost among the +patriots. He was supposed to be the author of the famous "Compromise of +the Nobles," that earliest and most conspicuous of the state-papers of +the republic, and of many other important political documents; and he had +contributed to general literature many works of European celebrity, of +which the 'Roman Bee-Hive' was the most universally known. + +Scholar, theologian, diplomatist, swordsman, orator, poet, pamphleteer, +he had genius for all things, and was eminent in all. He was even famous +for his dancing, and had composed an intelligent and philosophical +treatise upon the value of that amusement, as an agent of civilisation, +and as a counteractor of the grosser pleasures of the table to which +Upper and Nether Germans were too much addicted. + +Of ancient Savoyard extraction, and something of a southern nature, he +had been born in Brussels, and was national to the heart's core. + +A man of interesting, sympathetic presence; of a physiognomy where many +of the attaching and attractive qualities of his nature revealed +themselves; with crisp curling hair, surmounting a tall, expansive +forehead--full of benevolence, idealism, and quick perceptions; broad, +brown, melancholy eyes, overflowing with tenderness; a lean and haggard +cheek, a rugged Flemish nose; a thin flexible mouth; a slender moustache, +and a peaked and meagre beard; so appeared Sainte Aldegonde in the +forty-seventh year of his age, when he came to command in Antwerp. + +Yet after all--many-sided, accomplished, courageous, energetic, as he +was--it may be doubted whether he was the man for the hour or the post. +He was too impressionable; he had too much of the temperament of genius. +Without being fickle, he had, besides his versatility of intellect, a +character which had much facility in turning; not, indeed, in the breeze +of self-interest, but because he seemed placed in so high and clear an +atmosphere of thought that he was often acted upon and swayed by subtle +and invisible influences. At any rate his conduct was sometimes +inexplicable. He had been strangely fascinated by the ignoble Duke of +Anjou, and, in the sequel, it will be found that he was destined to +experience other magnetic or magical impulses, which were once thought +suspicious, and have remained mysterious even to the present day. + +He was imaginative. He was capable of broad and boundless hopes. He was +sometimes prone to deep despair. His nature was exquisitely tempered; too +fine and polished a blade to be wielded among those hydra-heads by which +he was, now surrounded; and for which the stunning sledgehammer of +arbitrary force was sometimes necessary. + +He was perhaps deficient in that gift, which no training and no culture +can bestow, and which comes from above alone by birth-right divine--that +which men willingly call master, authority; the effluence which came so +naturally from the tranquil eyes of William the Silent. + +Nevertheless, Sainte Aldegonde was prepared to do his best, and all his +best was to be tasked to the utmost. His position was rendered still more +difficult by the unruly nature of some of his coordinates. + +"From the first day to the last," said one who lived in Antwerp during +the siege, "the mistakes committed in the city were incredible." It had +long been obvious that a siege was contemplated by Parma. A liberal sum +of money had been voted by the States-General, of which Holland and +Zeeland contributed a very large proportion (two hundred thousand +florins); the city itself voted another large subsidy, and an order was +issued to purchase at once and import into the city at least a year's +supply of every kind of provisions of life and munitions of war. + +William de Blois, Lord of Treslong, Admiral of Holland and Zeeland, was +requested to carry out this order, and superintend the victualling of +Antwerp. But Treslong at once became troublesome. He was one of the old +"beggars of the sea," a leader in the wild band who had taken possession +of the Brill, in the teeth of Alva, and so laid the foundation of the +republic. An impetuous noble, of wealthy family, high connections, and +refractory temper--a daring sailor, ever ready for any rash adventure, +but possessed of a very moderate share of prudence or administrative +ability, he fell into loose and lawless courses on the death of Orange, +whose firm hand was needed to control him. The French negotiation had +excited his profound disgust, and knowing Sainte Aldegonde to be heart +and soul in favour of that alliance, he was in no haste whatever to carry +out his orders with regard to Antwerp. He had also an insignificant +quarrel with President Meetkerk. The Prince of Parma--ever on the watch +for such opportunities--was soon informed of the Admiral's discontent, +and had long been acquainted with his turbulent character. Alexander at +once began to inflame his jealousy and soothe his vanity by letters and +messengers, urging upon him the propriety of reconciling himself with the +King, and promising him large rewards and magnificent employments in the +royal service. Even the splendid insignia of the Golden Fleece were +dangled before his eyes. It is certain that the bold Hollander was not +seduced by these visions, but there is no doubt that he listened to the +voice of the tempter. He unquestionably neglected his duty. Week after +week he remained, at Ostend, sneering at the French and quaffing huge +draughts in honour of Queen Elizabeth. At last, after much time had +elapsed, he agreed to victual Antwerp if he could be furnished with +thirty krom-stevens,--a peculiar kind of vessel, not to be found in +Zeeland. The krom-stevens were sent to him from Holland. Then, hearing +that his negligence had been censured by the States-General, he became +more obstinate than ever, and went up and down proclaiming that if people +made themselves disagreeable to him he would do that which should make +all the women and children in the Netherlands shriek and tremble. What +this nameless horror was to be he never divulged, but meantime he went +down to Middelburg, and swore that not a boat-load of corn should go up +to Antwerp until two members of the magistracy, whom he considered +unpleasant, had been dismissed from their office. Wearied with all this +bluster, and imbued with grave suspicion as to his motives, the States at +last rose upon their High Admiral and threw him into prison. He was +accused of many high crimes and misdemeanours, and, it was thought, would +be tried for his life. He was suspected and even openly accused of having +been tampered with by Spain, but there was at any rate a deficiency of +proof. + +"Treslong is apprehended," wrote Davison to Burghley, "and, is charged to +have been the cause that the fleet passed not up to Antwerp. He is +suspected to have otherwise forgotten himself, but whether justly or not +will appear by his trial. Meantime he is kept in the common prison of +Middelburg, a treatment which it is thought they would not offer him if +they had not somewhat of importance against him." + +He was subsequently released at the intercession of Queen Elizabeth, and +passed some time in England. He was afterwards put upon trial, but no +accuser appearing to sustain the charges against him, he was eventually +released. He never received a command in the navy again, but the very +rich sinecures of Grand Falconer and Chief Forester of Holland were +bestowed upon him, and he appears to have ended his days in peace and +plenty. + +He was succeeded in the post of Admiral of Holland and Zeeland by +Justinus de Nassau, natural son of William the Silent, a young man of +much promise but of little experience. + +General Count Hohenlo, too, lieutenant for young Maurice, and virtual +commander-in-chief of the States' forces, was apt to give much trouble. A +German noble, of ancient descent and princely rank; brave to temerity, +making a jest of danger; and riding into a foray as if to a merry-making; +often furiously intoxicated, and always turbulent and uncertain; a +handsome, dissipated cavalier, with long curls floating over his +shoulders, an imposing aristocratic face, and a graceful, athletic +figure, he needed some cool brain and steady hand to guide him--valuable +as he was to fulfil any daring project but was hardly willing to accept +the authority of a burgomaster. While the young Maurice yet needed +tutelage, while "the sapling was growing into the tree," Hohenlo was a +dangerous chieftain and a most disorderly lieutenant. + +With such municipal machinery and such coadjutors had Sainte Aldegonde to +deal, while, meantime, the delusive French negociation was dragging its +slow length along, and while Parma was noiselessly and patiently +proceeding with his preparations. + +The burgomaster--for Sainte Aldegonde, in whom vulgar ambition was not a +foible, had refused the dignity and title of Margrave of Antwerp, which +had been tendered him--had neglected no effort towards carrying into +effect the advice of Orange, given almost with his latest breath. The +manner in which that advice was received furnished a striking +illustration of the defective machinery which has been pourtrayed. + +Upon his return from Delft, Sainte Aldegonde had summoned a meeting of +the magistracy of Antwerp. He laid before the board the information +communicated by Orange as to Parma's intentions. He also explained the +scheme proposed for their frustration, and urged the measures indicated +with so much earnestness that his fellow-magistrates were convinced. The +order was passed for piercing the Blauw-garen Dyke, and Sainte Aldegonde, +with some engineers, was requested to view the locality, and to take +order for the immediate fulfilment of the plan. + +Unfortunately there were many other boards in session besides that of the +Schepens, many other motives at work besides those of patriotism. The +guild of butchers held a meeting, so soon as the plan suggested was +known, and resolved with all their strength to oppose its execution. + +The butchers were indeed furious. Twelve thousand oxen grazed annually +upon the pastures which were about to be submerged, and it was +represented as unreasonable that all this good flesh and blood should be +sacrificed. At a meeting of the magistrates on the following day, sixteen +butchers, delegates from their guild, made their appearance, hoarse with +indignation. They represented the vast damage which would be inflicted +upon the estates of many private individuals by the proposed inundation, +by this sudden conversion of teeming meadows, fertile farms, thriving +homesteads, prolific orchards, into sandy desolation. Above all they +depicted, in glowing colours and with natural pathos, the vast +destruction of beef which was imminent, and they urged--with some show of +reason--that if Parma were really about to reduce Antwerp by famine, his +scheme certainly would not be obstructed by the premature annihilation of +these wholesome supplies. + +That the Scheldt could be, closed in any manner was, however, they said, +a preposterous conception. That it could be bridged was the dream of a +lunatic. Even if it were possible to construct a bridge, and probable +that the Zeelanders and Antwerpers would look on with folded arms while +the work proceeded, the fabric, when completed, would be at the mercy of +the ice-floods of the winter and the enormous power of the ocean-tides. +The Prince of Orange himself, on a former occasion, when Antwerp was +Spanish, had attempted to close the river with rafts, sunken piles, and +other obstructions, but the whole had been swept away, like a dam of +bulrushes, by the first descent of the ice-blocks of winter. It was +witless to believe that Parma contemplated any such measure, and utterly +monstrous to believe in its success. + +Thus far the butchers. Soon afterwards came sixteen colonels of militia, +as representatives of their branch of the multiform government. These +personages, attended by many officers of inferior degree, sustained the +position of the butchers with many voluble and vehement arguments. Not +the least convincing of their conclusions was the assurance that it would +be idle for the authorities to attempt the destruction of the dyke, +seeing that the municipal soldiery itself would prevent the measure by +main force, at all hazards, and without regard to their own or others' +lives. + +The violence of this opposition, and the fear of a serious internecine +conflict at so critical a juncture, proved fatal to the project. Much +precious time was lost, and when at last the inhabitants of the city +awoke from their delusion, it was to find that repentance, as usual, had +come many hours too late. + +For Parma had been acting while his antagonists had been wrangling. He +was hampered in his means, but he was assisted by what now seems the +incredible supineness of the Netherlanders. Even Sainte Aldegonde did not +believe in the possibility of erecting the bridge; not a man in Antwerp +seemed to believe it. "The preparations," said one who lived in the city, +"went on before our very noses, and every one was ridiculing the Spanish +commander's folly." + +A very great error was, moreover, committed in abandoning Herenthals to +the enemy. The city of Antwerp governed Brabant, and it would have been +far better for the authorities of the commercial capital to succour this +small but important city, and, by so doing, to protract for a long time +their own defence. Mondragon saw and rejoiced over the mistake. "Now 'tis +easy to see that the Prince of Orange is dead," said the veteran, as he +took possession, in the Icing's name, of the forsaken Herenthals. + +Early in the summer, Parma's operations had been, of necessity, +desultory. He had sprinkled forts up and down the Scheldt, and had +gradually been gaining control of the navigation upon that river. Thus +Ghent and Dendermonde, Vilvoorde, Brussels, and Antwerp, had each been +isolated, and all prevented from rendering mutual assistance. Below +Antwerp, however, was to be the scene of the great struggle. Here, within +nine miles of the city, were two forts belonging to the States, on +opposite sides of the stream, Lille, and Liefkenshoek. It was important +for the Spanish commander to gain possession of both; before commencing +his contemplated bridge. + +Unfortunately for the States, the fortifications of Liefkenshoek, on the +Flemish side of the river, had not been entirely completed. Eight hundred +men lay within it, under Colonel John Pettin of Arras, an old patriotic +officer of much experience. Parma, after reconnoitring the place in +person, despatched the famous Viscount of Ghent--now called Marquis of +Roubaix and Richebourg--to carry it by assault. The Marquis sent one +hundred men from his Walloon legion, under two officers, in whom he had +confidence, to attempt a surprise, with orders, if not successful, to +return without delay. They were successful. The one hundred gained +entrance into the fort at a point where the defences had not been put +into sufficient repair. + +They were immediately followed by Richebourg, at the head of his +regiment. The day was a fatal one. It was the 10th July, 1584 and William +of Orange was falling at Delft by the hand of Balthazar Gerard. +Liefkenshoek was carried at a blow. Of the eight hundred patriots in the +place, scarcely a man escaped. Four hundred were put to the sword, the +others were hunted into the river, when nearly all were drowned. Of the +royalists a single man was killed, and two or three more were wounded. +"Our Lord was pleased," wrote Parma piously to Philip, that we "should +cut the throats of four hundred of them in a single instant, and that a +great many more should be killed upon the dykes; so that I believe very +few to have escaped with life. We lost one man, besides two or three +wounded." A few were taken prisoners, and among them was the commander +John Pettin. He was at once brought before Richebourg, who was standing +in the presence of the Prince of Parma. The Marquis drew his sword, +walked calmly up to the captured Colonel, and ran him through the body. +Pettin fell dead upon the spot. The Prince was displeased. "Too much +choler, Marquis, too much choler,"--said he reprovingly. "Troppa colera, +Signor Marchese, a questa." But Richebourg knew better. He had, while +still Viscount of Ghent, carried on a year previously a parallel intrigue +with the royalists and the patriots. The Prince of Parma had bid highest +for his services, and had, accordingly, found him a most effectual +instrument in completing the reduction of the Walloon Provinces. The +Prince was not aware, however, that his brave but venal ally had, at the +very same moment, been secretly treating with William of Orange; and as +it so happened that Colonel Pettin had been the agent in the unsuccessful +negotiation, it was possible that his duplicity would now be exposed. The +Marquis had, therefore, been prompt to place his old confederate in the +condition wherein men tell no tales, and if contemporary chronicles did +not bely him, it was not the first time that he had been guilty of such +cold-blooded murder. The choler had not been superfluous. + +The fortress of Lille was garrisoned by the Antwerp volunteers, called +the "Young Bachelors." Teligny, the brave son of the illustrious +"Iron-armed" La None, commanded in chief: and he had, besides the +militia, a company of French under Captain Gascoigne, and four hundred +Scotchmen under Colonel Morgan--perhaps two thousand men in all. + +Mondragon, hero of the famous submarine expeditions of Philipsland and +Zierickzee, was ordered by Parma to take the place at every hazard. With +five thousand men--a large proportion of the Spanish effective force at +that moment--the veteran placed himself before the fort, taking +possession, of the beautiful country-house and farm of Lille, where he +planted his batteries, and commenced a regular cannonade. The place was +stronger than Liefkenshoek, however, and Teligny thoroughly comprehended +the importance of maintaining it for the States. Mondragon dug mines, and +Teligny countermined. The Spanish daily cannonade was cheerfully +responded to by the besieged, and by the time Mondragon had shot away +fifty thousand pounds of powder, he found that he had made no impression +upon the fortress, while the number of his troops had been diminishing +with great rapidity. Mondragon was not so impetuous as he had been on +many former occasions. He never ventured an assault. At last Teligny made +a sortie at the head of a considerable force. A warm action succeeded, at +the conclusion of which, without a decided advantage on either side, the +sluice-gate in the fortress was opened, and the torrent of the Scheldt, +swollen by a high tide, was suddenly poured upon the Spaniards. Assailed +at once by the fire from the Lillo batteries, and by the waters of the +river, they were forced to a rapid retreat. This they effected with great +loss, but with signal courage; struggling breast high in the waves, and +bearing off their field-pieces in their arms in the very face of the +enemy. + +Three weeks long Mondragon had been before Fort Lille, and two thousand +of his soldiers had been slain in the trenches. The attempt was now +abandoned. Parma directed permanent batteries to be established at +Lillo-house, at Oordam, and at other places along the river, and +proceeded quietly with his carefully-matured plan for closing the river. + +His own camp was in the neighbourhood of the villages of Beveren, Kalloo, +and Borght. Of the ten thousand foot and seventeen hundred horse, which +composed at the moment his whole army, about one-half lay with him, while +the remainder were with Count Peter Ernest Mansfield, in the +neighbourhood of Stabroek. Thus the Prince occupied a position on the +left bank of the Scheldt, nearly opposite Antwerp, while Mansfield was +stationed upon the right bank, and ten miles farther down the river. From +a point in the neighbourhood of Kalloo, Alexander intended to throw a +fortified bridge to the opposite shore. When completed, all traffic up +the river from Zeeland would be cut off; and as the country on the +land-side; abut Antwerp, had been now reduced, the city would be +effectually isolated. If the Prince could hold his bridge until famine +should break the resistance of the burghers, Antwerp would fall into his +hands. + +His head-quarters were at Kalloo, and this obscure spot soon underwent a +strange transformation. A drowsy placid little village--with a modest +parish spire peeping above a clump of poplars, and with half a dozen +cottages, with storks nests on their roofs, sprinkled here and there +among pastures and orchards--suddenly saw itself changed as it were into +a thriving bustling town; for, saving the white tents which dotted the +green turf in every direction, the aspect of the scene was, for a time, +almost pacific. It was as if, some great manufacturing enterprise had +been set on foot, and the world had suddenly awoke to the hidden +capabilities of the situation. + +A great dockyard and arsenal suddenly revealed themselves--rising like an +exhalation--where ship-builders, armourers, blacksmiths, joiners, +carpenters, caulkers, gravers, were hard at work all day long. The din +and hum of what seemed a peaceful industry were unceasing. From Kalloo, +Parma dug a canal twelve miles long to a place called Steeken, hundreds +of pioneers being kept constantly at work with pick and spade till it was +completed. Through this artificial channel--so soon as Ghent and +Dendermonde had fallen--came floats of timber, fleets of boats laden with +provisions of life and munitions of death, building-materials, and every +other requisite for the great undertaking, all to be disembarked at +Kalloo. The object was a temporary and destructive one, but it remains a +monument of the great general's energy and a useful public improvement. +The amelioration of the fenny and barren soil, called the Waesland, is +dated from that epoch; and the spot in Europe which is the most prolific, +and which nourishes the largest proportion of inhabitants to the square +mile, is precisely the long dreary swamp which the Prince thus drained +for military purposes, and converted into a garden. Drusus and Corbulo, +in the days of the Roman Empire, had done the same good service for their +barbarian foes. + +At Kalloo itself, all the shipwrights, cutlers, masons, brass-founders, +rope-makers, anchor-forgers, sailors, boatmen, of Flanders and Brabant, +with a herd of bakers, brewers, and butchers, were congregated by express +order of Parma. In the little church itself the main workshop was +established, and all day long, week after week, month after month, the +sound of saw and hammer, adze and plane, the rattle of machinery, the cry +of sentinels, the cheers of mariners, resounded, where but lately had +been heard nothing save the drowsy homily and the devout hymn of rustic +worship. + +Nevertheless the summer and autumn wore on, and still the bridge was +hardly commenced. The navigation of the river--although impeded and +rendered dangerous by the forts which Parma held along the banks--was +still open; and, so long as the price of corn in Antwerp remained three +or four times as high as the sum for which it could be purchased in +Holland and Zeeland, there were plenty of daredevil skippers ready to +bring cargoes. Fleets of fly-boats, convoyed by armed vessels, were +perpetually running the gauntlet. Sharp actions on shore between the +forts of the patriots and those of Parma, which were all intermingled +promiscuously along the banks, and amphibious and most bloody encounters +on ship-board, dyke, and in the stream itself, between the wild +Zeelanders and the fierce pikemen of Italy and Spain, were of repeated +occurrence. Many a lagging craft fell into the enemy's hands, when, as a +matter of course, the men, women, and children, on board, were horribly +mutilated by the Spaniards, and were then sent drifting in their boat +with the tide--their arms, legs, and ears lopped off up to the city, in +order that--the dangerous nature of this provision-trade might be fully +illustrated. + +Yet that traffic still went on. It would have continued until Antwerp had +been victualled for more than a year, had not the city authorities, in +the plentitude of their wisdom, thought proper to issue orders for its +regulation. On the 25th October (1584) a census was taken, when the +number of persons inside the walls was found to be ninety thousand. For +this population it was estimated that 300,000 veertell, or about 900,000 +bushels of corn, would be required annually. The grain was coming in very +fast, notwithstanding the perilous nature of the trade; for wheat could +be bought in Holland for fifty florins the last, or about fifteen pence +sterling the bushel, while it was worth five or six florins the veertel, +or about four shillings the bushel, in Antwerp. + +The magistrates now committed a folly more stupendous than it seemed +possible for human creatures, under such circumstances, to compass. They +established a maximum upon corn. The skippers who had run their cargoes +through the gauntlet, all the way from Flushing to Antwerp, found on +their arrival, that, instead of being rewarded, according to the natural +laws of demand and supply, they were required to exchange their wheat, +rye, butter, and beef, against the exact sum which the Board of Schepens +thought proper to consider a reasonable remuneration. Moreover, in order +to prevent the accumulation of provisions in private magazines, it was +enacted, that all consumers of grain should be compelled to make their +purchases directly from the ships. These two measures were almost as +fatal as the preservation of the Blaw-garen Dyke, in the interest of the +butchers. Winter and famine were staring the city in the face, and the +maximum now stood sentinel against the gate, to prevent the admission of +food. The traffic ceased without a struggle. Parma himself could not have +better arranged the blockade. + +Meantime a vast and almost general inundation had taken place. The aspect +of the country for many miles around was strange and desolate. The +sluices had been opened in the neighbourhood of Saftingen, on, the +Flemish side, so that all the way from Hulst the waters were out, and +flowed nearly to the gates of Antwerp. A wide and shallow sea rolled over +the fertile plains, while church-steeples, the tops of lofty trees, and +here and there the turrets of a castle, scarcely lifted themselves above +the black waters; the peasants' houses, the granges, whole rural +villages, having entirely disappeared. The high grounds of Doel, of +Kalloo, and Beveren, where Alexander was established, remained out of +reach of the flood. Far below, on the opposite side of the river, other +sluices had been opened, and the sea had burst over the wide, level +plain. The villages of Wilmerdonk, Orderen, Ekeren, were changed to +islands in the ocean, while all the other hamlets, for miles around, were +utterly submerged. + +Still, however, the Blaw-garen Dyke and its companion the Kowenstyn +remained obstinately above the waters, forming a present and more fatal +obstruction to the communication between Antwerp and Zeeland than would +be furnished even by the threatened and secretly-advancing bridge across +the Scheldt. Had Orange's prudent advice been taken, the city had been +safe. Over the prostrate dykes, whose destruction he had so warmly urged, +the ocean would have rolled quite to the gates of Antwerp, and it would +have been as easy to bridge the North Sea as to control the free +navigation of the patriots over so wide a surface. + +When it was too late, the butchers, and colonels, and captains, became +penitent enough. An order was passed, by acclamation, in November, to do +what Orange had recommended in June. It was decreed that the Blaw-garen +and the Kowenstyn should be pierced. Alas, the hour had long gone by. +Alexander of Parma was not the man to undertake the construction of a +bridge across the river, at a vast expense, and at the same time to +permit the destruction of the already existing barrier. There had been a +time for such a deed. The Seigneur de Kowenstyn, who had a castle and +manor on and near the dyke which bore his name, had repeatedly urged upon +the Antwerp magistracy the propriety of piercing this bulwark, even after +their refusal to destroy the outer barrier. Sainte Aldegonde, who +vehemently urged the measure, protested that his hair had stood on end, +when he found, after repeated entreaty, that the project was rejected. +The Seigneur de Kowenstyn, disgusted and indignant, forswore his +patriotism, and went over to Parma. The dyke fell into the hands of the +enemy. And now from Stabroek, where old Mansfeid lay with his army, all +the way across the flooded country, ran the great bulwark, strengthened +with new palisade-work and block-houses, bristling with Spanish cannon, +pike, and arquebus, even to the bank of the Scheldt, in the immediate +vicinity of Fort Lille. At the angle of its junction with the main dyke +of the river's bank, a strong fortress called Holy Cross (Santa Cruz) had +been constructed. That fortress and the whole line of the Kowenstyn were +held in the iron grip of Mondragon. To wrench it from him would be no +child's play. Five new strong redoubts upon the dyke, and five or six +thousand Spaniards established there, made the enterprise more formidable +than it would have been in June. It had been better to sacrifice the +twelve thousand oxen. Twelve thousand Hollanders might now be +slaughtered, and still the dyke remain above the waves. + +Here was the key to the fate of Antwerp. + +On the other hand, the opening of the Saftingen Sluice had done Parma's +work for him. Even there, too, Orange had been prophetic. Kalloo was high +and dry, but Alexander had experienced some difficulty in bringing a +fleet of thirty vessels, laden with cannon and other valuable materials, +from Ghent along the Scheldt, into his encampment, because it was +necessary for them, before reaching their destination, to pass in front +of Antwerp. The inundation, together with a rupture in the Dyke of +Borght, furnished him with a watery road; over which his fleet completely +avoided the city, and came in triumph to Kalloo. + +Sainte Aldegonde, much provoked by this masterly movement on the part of +Parma, had followed the little squadron closely with some armed vessels +from the city. A sharp action had succeeded, in which the burgomaster, +not being properly sustained by the Zeeland ships on which he relied, had +been defeated. Admiral Jacob Jacobzoon behaved with so little spirit on +the occasion that he acquired with the Antwerp populace the name of +"Run-away Jacob," "Koppen gaet loppen;" and Sainte Aldegonde declared, +that, but for his cowardice, the fleet of Parma would have fallen into +their hands. The burgomaster himself narrowly escaped becoming a +prisoner, and owed his safety only to the swiftness of his barge, which +was called the "Flying Devil." + +The patriots, in order to counteract similar enterprises in future, now +erected a sconce, which they called Fort Teligny; upon the ruptured dyke +of Borght, directly in front of the Borght blockhouse, belonging to the +Spaniards, and just opposite Fort Hoboken. Here, in this narrow passage, +close under the walls of Antwerp, where friends and foes were brought +closely, face to face, was the scene of many a sanguinary skirmish, from +the commencement of the siege until its close. + +Still the bridge was believed to be a mere fable, a chimaera. Parma, men +said, had become a lunatic from pride. It was as easy to make the +Netherlands submit to the yoke of the Inquisition as to put a bridle on +the Scheldt. Its depth; breadth, the ice-floods of a northern winter, the +neighbourhood of the Zeeland fleets, the activity of the Antwerp +authorities, all were pledges that the attempt would be signally +frustrated. + +And they should have been pledges--more than enough. Unfortunately, +however, there was dissension within, and no chieftain in the field, no +sage in the council, of sufficient authority to sustain the whole burthen +of the war, and to direct all the energies of the commonwealth. Orange +was dead. His son, one day to become the most illustrious military +commander in Europe, was a boy of seventeen, nominally captain-general, +but in reality but a youthful apprentice to his art. Hohenlo was wild, +wilful, and obstinate. Young William Lewis Nassau, already a soldier of +marked abilities, was fully occupied in Friesland, where he was +stadholder, and where he had quite enough to do in making head against +the Spanish governor and general, the veteran Verdugo: Military +operations against Zutphen distracted the attention of the States, which +should have been fixed upon Antwerp. + +Admiral Treslong, as we have seen, was refractory, the cause of great +delinquency on the part of the fleets, and of infinite disaster to the +commonwealth. More than all, the French negotiation was betraying the +States into indolence and hesitation; and creating a schism between the +leading politicians of the country. Several thousand French troops, under +Monsieur d'Allaynes, were daily expected, but never arrived; and thus, +while English and French partisans were plotting and counter-plotting, +while a delusive diplomacy was usurping the place of lansquenettes and +gun-boats--the only possible agents at that moment to preserve +Antwerp--the bridge of Parma was slowly advancing. Before the winter had +closed in, the preparatory palisades had been finished. + +Between Kalloo and Ordam, upon the opposite side, a sandbar had been +discovered in the river's bed, which diminished the depth of the stream, +and rendered the pile-driving comparatively easy. The breadth of the +Scheldt at this passage was twenty-four hundred feet; its depth, sixty +feet. Upon the Flemish side, near Kalloo, a strong fort was erected, +called Saint Mary, in honour of the blessed Virgin, to whom the whole +siege of Antwerp had been dedicated from the beginning. On the opposite +bank was a similar fort, flamed Philip, for the King. From each of these +two points, thus fortified, a framework of heavy timber, supported upon +huge piles, had been carried so far into the stream on either side that +the distance between the ends had at last been reduced to thirteen +hundred feet. The breadth of the roadway--formed of strong sleepers +firmly bound together--was twelve feet, along which block-houses of great +thickness were placed to defend the whole against assault. + +Thus far the work had been comparatively easy. To bridge the remaining +open portion of the river, however, where its current was deepest and +strongest, and where the action of tide, tempest, and icebergs, would be +most formidable, seemed a desperate undertaking; for as the enterprise +advanced, this narrow open space became the scene of daily amphibious +encounters between the soldiers and sailors of Parma and the forces of +the States. Unfortunately for the patriots, it was only skirmishing. Had +a strong, concerted attack, in large force, from Holland and Zeeland +below and from the city above, been agreed upon, there was hardly a +period, until very late in the winter, when it might not have had the +best chances of success. With a vigorous commander against him, Parma, +weak in men, and at his wits' end for money, might, in a few hours, have +seen the labour of several months hopelessly annihilated. On the other +hand, the Prince was ably seconded by his lieutenant, Marquis Richebourg, +to whom had been delegated the immediate superintendence of the +bridge-building in its minutest details. He was never idle. Audacious, +indefatigable, ubiquitous, he at least atoned by energy and brilliant +courage for his famous treason of the preceding year, while his striking +and now rapidly approaching doom upon the very scene of his present +labours, made him appear to have been building a magnificent though +fleeting monument to his own memory. + +Sainte Aldegonde, shut up in Antwerp, and hampered by dissension within +and obstinate jealousy without the walls, did all in his power to +frustrate the enemy's enterprise and animate the patriots. Through the +whole of the autumn and early winter, he had urged the States of Holland +and Zeeland to make use of the long winter nights, when moonless and +stormy, to attempt the destruction of Parma's undertaking, but the fatal +influences already indicated were more efficient against Antwerp than +even the genius of Farnese; and nothing came of the burgomaster's +entreaties save desultory skirmishing and unsuccessful enterprises. An +especial misfortune happened in one of these midnight undertakings. +Teligny ventured forth in a row-barge, with scarcely any companions, to +notify the Zeelanders of a contemplated movement, in which their +co-operation was desired. It was proposed that the Antwerp troops should +make a fictitious demonstration upon Fort Ordam, while at the same moment +the States' troops from Fort Lillo should make an assault upon the forts +on Kowenstyn Dyke; and in this important enterprise the Zeeland vessels +were requested to assist. But the brave Teligny nearly forfeited his life +by his rashness, and his services were, for a long time, lost to the +cause of liberty. It had been better to send a less valuable officer upon +such hazardous yet subordinate service. The drip of his oars was heard in +the darkness. He was pursued by a number of armed barges, attacked, +wounded severely in the shoulder, and captured. He threw his letters +overboard, but they were fished out of the water, carried to Parma, and +deciphered, so that the projected attack upon the Kowenstyn was +discovered, and, of necessity, deferred. As for Teligny, he was taken, as +a most valuable prize, into the enemy's camp, and was soon afterwards +thrust into prison at Tournay, where he remained six years--one year +longer than the period which his illustrious father had been obliged to +consume in the infamous dungeon at Mons. Few disasters could have been +more keenly felt by the States than the loss of this brilliant and +devoted French chieftain, who, young as he was, had already become very +dear to the republic; and Sainte Aldegonde was severely blamed for +sending so eminent a personage on that dangerous expedition, and for +sending him, too, with an insufficient convoy. + +Still Alexander felt uncertain as to the result. He was determined to +secure Antwerp, but he yet thought it possible to secure it by +negotiation. The enigmatical policy maintained by France perplexed him; +for it did not seem possible that so much apparent solemnity and +earnestness were destined to lead to an impotent and infamous conclusion. +He was left, too, for a long time in ignorance of his own master's secret +schemes, he was at liberty to guess, and to guess only, as to the +projects of the league, he was without adequate means to carry out to a +certain triumph his magnificent enterprise, and he was in constant alarm +lest he should be suddenly assailed by an overwhelming French force. Had +a man sat upon the throne of Henry III., at that moment, Parma's +bridge-making and dyke-fortifying skilful as they were--would have been +all in vain. Meantime, in uncertainty as to the great issue, but resolved +to hold firmly to his purpose, he made repeated conciliatory offers to +the States with one hand, while he steadily prosecuted his aggressive +schemes with the other. + +Parma had become really gentle, almost affectionate, towards the +Netherlanders. He had not the disposition of an Alva to smite and to +blast, to exterminate the rebels and heretics with fire and sword, with +the axe, the rack, and the gallows. Provided they would renounce the +great object of the contest, he seemed really desirous that they should +escape further chastisement; but to admit the worship of God according to +the reformed creed, was with him an inconceivable idea. To do so was both +unrighteous and impolitic. He had been brought up to believe that mankind +could be saved from eternal perdition only by believing in the +infallibility of the Bishop of Rome; that the only keys to eternal +paradise were in the hands of St. Peter's representative. Moreover, he +instinctively felt that within this religious liberty which the +Netherlanders claimed was hidden the germ of civil liberty; and though no +bigger than a grain of mustard-seed, it was necessary to destroy it at +once; for of course the idea of civil liberty could not enter the brain +of the brilliant general of Philip II. + +On the 13th of November he addressed a letter to the magistracy and +broad-council of Antwerp. He asserted that the instigators of the +rebellion were not seeking to further the common weal, but their own +private ends. Especially had this been the ruling motive with the prince +of Orange and the Duke of Anjou, both of whom God had removed from the +world, in order to manifest to the States their own weakness, and the +omnipotence of Philip, whose prosperity the Lord was constantly +increasing. It was now more than time for the authorities of the country +to have regard for themselves, and for the miseries of the poor people. +The affection Which he had always felt for the Provinces from which he +had himself sprung and the favours which he had received from them in his +youth, had often moved him to propose measures, which, before God and his +conscience, he believed adequate to the restoration of peace. But his +letters had been concealed or falsely interpreted by the late Prince of +Orange, who had sought nothing but to spread desolation over the land, +and to shed the blood of the innocent. He now wrote once more, and for +the last time, in all fervour and earnestness, to implore them to take +compassion on their own wives and children and forlorn fatherland, to +turn their eyes backward on the peace and prosperity which they had +formerly enjoyed when obedient to his Majesty, and to cast a glance +around them upon the miseries which were so universal since the +rebellion. He exhorted them to close their ears to the insidious tongues +of those who were leading them into delusion as to the benevolence and +paternal sweetness of their natural lord and master, which were even now +so boundless that he did not hesitate once more to offer them his entire +forgiveness. If they chose to negotiate, they would find everything +granted that with right and reason could be proposed. The Prince +concluded by declaring that he made these advances not from any doubt as +to the successful issue of the military operations in which he was +engaged, but simply out of paternal anxiety for the happiness of the +Provinces. Did they remain obstinate, their ultimate conditions would be +rendered still more severe, and themselves, not he, would be responsible +for the misery and the bloodshed to ensue. + +Ten days afterwards, the magistrates, thus addressed--after communication +with the broad-council--answered Parma's. 23rd Nov., letter manfully, +copiously, and with the customary but superfluous historical sketch. They +begged leave to entertain a doubt as to the paternal sweetness of a king +who had dealt so long in racks and gibbets. With Parma's own mother, as +they told the Prince, the Netherlanders had once made a treaty, by which +the right to worship God according to their consciences had been secured; +yet for maintaining that treaty they had been devoted to indiscriminate +destruction, and their land made desolate with fire and sword. Men had +been massacred by thousands, who had never been heard in their own +defence, and who had never been accused of any crime, "save that they had +assembled together in the name of God, to pray to Him through their only +mediator and advocate Jesus Christ, according to His command." + +The axis of the revolt was the religious question; and it was impossible +to hope anything from a monarch who was himself a slave of the +Inquisition, and who had less independence of action than that enjoyed by +Jews and Turks, according to the express permission of the Pope. +Therefore they informed Parma that they had done with Philip for ever, +and that in consequence of the extraordinary wisdom, justice, and +moderation, of the French King, they had offered him the sovereignty of +their land, and had implored his protection. + +They paid a tribute to the character of Farnese, who after gaining +infinite glory in arms, had manifested so much gentleness and disposition +to conciliate. They doubted not that he would, if he possessed the power, +have guided the royal councils to better and more generous results, and +protested that they would not have delayed to throw themselves into his +arms, had they been assured that he was authorized to admit that which +alone could form the basis of a successful negotiation--religious +freedom. They would in such case have been willing to close with him, +without talking about other conditions than such as his Highness in his +discretion and sweetness might think reasonable. + +Moreover, as they observed in conclusion, they were precluded, by their +present relations with France, from entering into any other negotiation; +nor could they listen to any such proposals without deserving to be +stigmatized as the most lewd, blasphemous, and thankless mortals, that +ever cumbered the earth. + +Being under equal obligations both to the Union and to France, they +announced that Parma's overtures would be laid before the French +government and the assembly of the States-General. + +A day was to come, perhaps, when it would hardly seem lewdness and +blasphemy for the Netherlanders to doubt the extraordinary justice and +wisdom of the French King. Meantime, it cannot be denied that they were +at least loyal to their own engagements, and long-suffering where they +had trusted and given their hearts. + +Parma replied by another letter, dated December 3rd. He assured the +citizens that Henry III. was far too discreet, and much too good a friend +to Philip II., to countenance this rebellion. If he were to take up their +quarrel, however, the King of Spain had a thousand means of foiling all +his attempts. As to the religious question--which they affirmed to be the +sole cause of the war--he was not inclined to waste words upon that +subject; nevertheless, so far as he in his simplicity could understand +the true nature of a Christian, he could not believe that it comported +with the doctrines of Jesus, whom they called their only mediator, nor +with the dictates of conscience, to take up arms against their lawful +king, nor to burn, rob, plunder, pierce dykes, overwhelm their +fatherland, and reduce all things to misery and chaos, in the name of +religion. + +Thus moralizing and dogmatizing, the Prince concluded his letter, and so +the correspondence terminated. This last despatch was communicated at +once both to the States-General and to the French government, and +remained unanswered. Soon afterwards the Netherlands and England, France +and Spain, were engaged in that vast game of delusion which has been +described in the preceding chapters. Meantime both Antwerp and Parma +remained among the deluded, and were left to fight out their battle on +their own resources. + +Having found it impossible to subdue Antwerp by his rhetoric, Alexander +proceeded with his bridge. It is impossible not to admire the steadiness +and ingenuity with which the Prince persisted in his plans, the courage +with which he bore up against the parsimony and neglect of his sovereign, +the compassionate tenderness which he manifested for his patient little +army. So much intellectual energy commands enthusiasm, while the +supineness on the other side sometimes excites indignation. There is even +a danger of being entrapped into sympathy with tyranny, when the cause of +tyranny is maintained by genius; and of being surprised into indifference +for human liberty, when the sacred interests of liberty are endangered by +self-interest, perverseness, and folly. + +Even Sainte Aldegonde did not believe that the bridge could be completed. +His fears were that the city would be ruined rather by the cessation of +its commerce than by want of daily food. Already, after the capture of +Liefkenshoek and the death of Orange, the panic among commercial people +had been so intense that seventy or eighty merchants, representing the +most wealthy mercantile firms in Antwerp, made their escape from the +place, as if it had been smitten with pestilence, or were already in the +hands of Parma. All such refugees were ordered to return on peril of +forfeiting their property. Few came back, however, for they had found +means of converting and transferring their funds to other more secure +places, despite the threatened confiscation. It was insinuated that +Holland and Zeeland were indifferent to the fate of Antwerp, because in +the sequel the commercial cities of those Provinces succeeded to the vast +traffic and the boundless wealth which had been forfeited by the +Brabantine capital. The charge was an unjust one. At the very +commencement of the siege the States of Holland voted two hundred +thousand florins for its relief; and, moreover, these wealthy refugees +were positively denied admittance into the territory of the United +States, and were thus forced to settle in Germany or England. This +cessation of traffic was that which principally excited the anxiety of +Aldegonde. He could not bring himself to believe in the possibility of a +blockade, by an army of eight or ten thousand men, of a great and wealthy +city, where at least twenty thousand citizens were capable of bearing +arms. Had he thoroughly understood the deprivations under which Alexander +was labouring, perhaps he would have been even more confident as to the +result. + +"With regard to the affair of the river Scheldt," wrote Parma to Philip, +"I should like to send your Majesty a drawing of the whole scheme; for +the work is too vast to be explained by letters. The more I examine it, +the more astonished I am that it should have been conducted to this +point; so many forts, dykes, canals, new inventions, machinery, and +engines, have been necessarily required." + +He then proceeded to enlighten the King--as he never failed to do in all +his letters--as to his own impoverished, almost helpless condition. +Money, money, men! This was his constant cry. All would be in vain, he +said, if he were thus neglected. "'Tis necessary," said he, "for your +Majesty fully to comprehend, that henceforth the enterprise is your own. +I have done my work faithfully thus far; it is now for your Majesty to +take it thoroughly to heart; and embrace it with the warmth with which an +affair involving so much of your own interests deserves to be embraced." + +He avowed that without full confidence in his sovereign's sympathy he +would never have conceived the project. "I confess that the enterprise is +great," he said, "and that by many it will be considered rash. Certainly +I should not have undertaken it, had I not felt certain of your Majesty's +full support." + +But he was already in danger of being forced to abandon the whole +scheme--although so nearly carried into effect--for want of funds. "The +million promised," he wrote, "has arrived in bits and morsels, and with +so many ceremonies, that I haven't ten crowns at my disposal. How I am to +maintain even this handful of soldiers--for the army is diminished to +such a mere handful that it would astonish your Majesty--I am unable to +imagine. It would move you to witness their condition. They have suffered +as much as is humanly possible." + +Many of the troops, indeed, were deserting, and making their escape, +beggared and desperate, into France, where, with natural injustice, they +denounced their General, whose whole heart was occupied with their +miseries, for the delinquency of his master, whose mind was full of other +schemes. + +"There past this way many Spanish soldiers," wrote Stafford from Paris, +"so poor and naked as I ever saw any. There have been within this +fortnight two hundred at a time in this town, who report the extremity of +want of victuals in their camp, and that they have been twenty-four +months without pay. They exclaim greatly upon the Prince of Parma. +Mendoza seeks to convey them away, and to get money for them by all means +he can." + +Stafford urged upon his government the propriety of being at least as +negligent as Philip had showed himself to be of the Spaniards. By +prohibiting supplies to the besieging army, England might contribute, +negatively, if not otherwise, to the relief of Antwerp. "There is no +place," he wrote to Walsingham, "whence the Spaniards are so thoroughly +victualled as from us. English boats go by sixteen and seventeen into +Dunkirk, well laden with provisions." + +This was certainly not in accordance with the interests nor the +benevolent professions of the English ministers. + +These supplies were not to be regularly depended upon however. They were +likewise not to be had without paying a heavy price for them, and the +Prince had no money in his coffer. He lived from hand to mouth, and was +obliged to borrow from every private individual who had anything to lend. +Merchants, nobles, official personages, were all obliged to assist in +eking out the scanty pittance allowed by the sovereign. + +"The million is all gone," wrote Parma to his master; "some to Verdugo in +Friesland; some to repay the advances of Marquis Richebourg and other +gentlemen. There is not a farthing for the garrisons. I can't go on a +month longer, and, if not supplied, I shall be obliged to abandon the +work. I have not money enough to pay my sailors, joiners, carpenters, and +other mechanics, from week to week, and they will all leave me in the +lurch, if I leave them unpaid. I have no resource but to rely on your +Majesty. Otherwise the enterprise must wholly fail." + +In case it did fail, the Prince wiped his hands of the responsibility. He +certainly had the right to do so. + +One of the main sources of supply was the city of Hertogenbosch, or +Bois-le-Duc. It was one of the four chief cities of Brabant, and still +held for the King, although many towns in its immediate neighbourhood had +espoused the cause of the republic. The States had long been anxious to +effect a diversion for the relief of Antwerp, by making an attack on +Bois-le-Duc. Could they carry the place, Parma would be almost inevitably +compelled to abandon the siege in which he was at present engaged, and he +could moreover spare no troops for its defence. Bois-le-Duc was a +populous, wealthy, thriving town, situate on the Deeze, two leagues above +its confluence with the Meuse, and about twelve leagues from Antwerp. It +derived its name of `Duke's Wood' from a magnificent park and forest, +once the favourite resort and residence of the old Dukes of Brabant, of +which some beautiful vestiges still remained. It was a handsome +well-built city, with two thousand houses of the better class, besides +more humble tenements. Its citizens were celebrated for their courage and +belligerent skill, both on foot and on horseback. They were said to +retain more of the antique Belgic ferocity which Caesar had celebrated +than that which had descended to most of their kinsmen. The place was, +moreover, the seat of many prosperous manufactures. Its clothiers sent +the products of their looms over all Christendom, and its linen and +cutlery were equally renowned. + +It would be a most fortunate blow in the cause of freedom to secure so, +thriving and conspicuous a town, situated thus in the heart of what +seemed the natural territory of the United States; and, by so doing, to +render nugatory the mighty preparations of Parma against Antwerp. +Moreover, it was known that there was no Spanish or other garrison within +its walls, so that there was no opposition to be feared, except from the +warlike nature of the citizens. + +Count Hohenlo was entrusted, early in January, with this important +enterprise. He accordingly collected a force of four thousand infantry, +together with two hundred mounted lancers; having previously +reconnoitered the ground. He relied very much, for the success of the +undertaking, on Captain Kleerhagen, a Brussels nobleman, whose wife was a +native of Bois-le-Duc, and who was thoroughly familiar with the locality. +One dark winter's night, Kleerhagen, with fifty picked soldiers, advanced +to the Antwerp gate of Bois-le-Duc, while Hohenlo, with his whole force, +lay in ambuscade as near as possible to the city. + +Between the drawbridge and the portcullis were two small guard-houses, +which, very carelessly, had been left empty. Kleerhagen, with his fifty +followers, successfully climbed into these lurking-places, where they +quietly ensconced themselves for the night. At eight o'clock of the +following morning (20th January) the guards of the gate drew up the +portcullis, and reconnoitered. At the same instant, the ambushed fifty +sprang from their concealment, put them to the sword, and made themselves +masters of the gate. None of the night-watch escaped with life, save one +poor old invalided citizen, whose business had been to draw up the +portcullis, and who was severely wounded, and left for dead. The fifty +immediately summoned all of Rohenlo's ambuscade that were within hearing, +and then, without waiting for them, entered the town pell-mell in the +best of spirits, and shouting victory! victory! till they were hoarse. A +single corporal, with two men, was left to guard the entrance. Meantime, +the old wounded gate-opener, bleeding and crippled, crept into a dark +corner, and laid himself down, unnoticed, to die. + +Soon afterwards Hohenlo galloped into the town, clad in complete armour, +his long curls floating in the wind, with about two hundred troopers +clattering behind him, closely followed by five hundred pike-men on foot. + +Very brutally, foolishly, and characteristically, he had promised his +followers the sacking of the city so soon as it should be taken. They +accordingly set about the sacking, before it was taken. Hardly had the +five or six hundred effected their entrance, than throwing off all +control, they dispersed through the principal streets, and began bursting +open the doors of the most opulent households. The cries of "victory!" +"gained city!" "down with the Spaniards!" resounded on all sides. Many of +the citizens, panic-struck, fled from their homes, which they thus +abandoned to pillage, while, meantime, the loud shouts of the assailants +reached the ears of the sergeant and his two companies who had been left +in charge of the gate. Fearing that they should be cheated of their +rightful share in the plunder, they at once abandoned their post, and set +forth after their comrades, as fast as their legs could carry them. + +Now it so chanced--although there was no garrison in the town--that forty +Burgundian and Italian lancers, with about thirty foot-soldiers, had come +in the day before to escort a train of merchandise. The Seigneur de +Haultepenne, governor of Breda, a famous royalist commander--son of old +Count Berlaymont, who first gave the name of "beggars" to the +patriots-had accompanied them in the expedition. The little troop were +already about to mount their horses to depart, when they became aware of +the sudden tumult. Elmont, governor of the city, had also flown to the +rescue, and had endeavoured to rally the burghers. Not unmindful of their +ancient warlike fame, they had obeyed his entreaties. Elmont, with a +strong party of armed citizens, joined himself to Haultepenne's little +band of lancers. They fired a few shots at straggling parties of +plunderers, and pursued others up some narrow streets. They were but an +handful in comparison with the number of the patriots, who had gained +entrance to the city. They were, however, compact, united, and resolute. +The assailants were scattered, disorderly, and bent only upon plunder. +When attacked by an armed and regular band, they were amazed. They had +been told that there was no garrison; and behold a choice phalanx of +Spanish lancers, led on by one of the most famous of Philip's Netherland +chieftains. They thought themselves betrayed by Kleerhagen, entrapped +into a deliberately arranged ambush. There was a panic. The soldiers, +dispersed and doubtful, could not be rallied. Hohenlo, seeing that +nothing was to be done with his five hundred, galloped furiously out of +the gate, to bring in the rest of his troops who had remained outside the +walls. The prize of the wealthy city of Bois-le-Duc was too tempting to +be lightly abandoned; but he had much better have thought of making +himself master of it himself before he should present it as a prey to his +followers. + +During his absence the panic spread. The States' troops, bewildered, +astonished, vigorously assaulted, turned their backs upon their enemies, +and fled helter-skelter towards the gates, through which they had first +gained admittance. But unfortunately for them, so soon as the corporal +had left his position, the wounded old gate-opener, in a dying condition, +had crawled forth on his hands and knees from a dark hole in the tower, +cut, with a pocket-knife, the ropes of the portcullis, and then given up +the ghost. Most effective was that blow struck by a dead man's hand. Down +came the portcullis. The flying plunderers were entrapped. Close behind +them came the excited burghers--their antique Belgic ferocity now fully +aroused--firing away with carbine and matchlock, dealing about them with +bludgeon and cutlass, and led merrily on by Haultepenne and Elmont armed +in proof, at the head of their squadron of lancers. The unfortunate +patriots had risen very early in the morning only to shear the wolf. Some +were cut to pieces in the streets; others climbed the walls, and threw +themselves head foremost into the moat. Many were drowned, and but a very +few effected their escape. Justinus de Nassau sprang over the parapet, +and succeeded in swimming the ditch. Kleerhagen, driven into the Holy +Cross tower, ascended to its roof, leaped, all accoutred as he was, into +the river, and with the assistance of a Scotch soldier, came safe to +land. Ferdinand Truchsess, brother of the ex-elector of Cologne, was +killed. Four or five hundred of the assailants--nearly all who had +entered the city--were slain, and about fifty of the burghers. + +Hohenlo soon came back, with Colonel Ysselstein, and two thousand fresh +troops. But their noses, says a contemporary, grew a hundred feet long +with surprise when they saw the gate shut in their faces. It might have +occurred to the Count, when he rushed out of the town for reinforcements, +that it would be as well to replace the guard, which--as he must have +seen--had abandoned their post. + +Cursing his folly, he returned, mavellously discomfited, and deservedly +censured, to Gertruydenberg. And thus had a most important enterprise; +which had nearly been splendidly successful, ended in disaster and +disgrace. To the recklessness of the general, to the cupidity which he +had himself awakened in his followers, was the failure alone to be +attributed. Had he taken possession of the city with a firm grasp at the +head of his four thousand men, nothing could have resisted him; +Haultepenne, and his insignificant force, would have been dead, or his +prisoners; the basis of Parma's magnificent operations would have been +withdrawn; Antwerp would have been saved. + +"Infinite gratitude," wrote Parma to Philip, "should be rendered to the +Lord. Great thanks are also due to Haultepenne. Had the rebels succeeded +in their enterprise against Bolduc, I should have been compelled to +abandon the siege of Antwerp. The town; by its strength and situation, is +of infinite importance for the reduction both of that place and of +Brussels, and the rebels in possession of Bolduc would have cut off my +supplies." + +The Prince recommended Haultepenne most warmly to the King as deserving +of a rich "merced." The true hero of the day, however--at least the chief +agent in the victory was the poor, crushed, nameless victim who had cut +the ropes of the portcullis at the Antwerp gate. + +Hohenlo was deeply stung by the disgrace which he had incurred. For a +time he sought oblivion in hard drinking; but--brave and energetic, +though reckless--he soon became desirous of retrieving his reputation by +more successful enterprises. There was no lack of work, and assuredly his +hands were rarely idle. + +"Hollach (Hohenlo) is gone from hence on Friday last," wrote Davison to +Walsingham, "he will do what he may to recover his reputation lost in the +attempt, of Bois-le-Duc; which, for the grief and trouble he hath +conceived thereof, hath for the time greatly altered him." + +Meantime the turbulent Scheldt, lashed by the storms of winter, was +becoming a more formidable enemy to Parma's great enterprise than the +military demonstrations of his enemies, or the famine which was making +such havoc, with his little army. The ocean-tides were rolling huge +ice-blocks up and down, which beat against his palisade with the noise of +thunder, and seemed to threaten its immediate destruction. But the work +stood firm. The piles supporting the piers, which had been thrust out +from each bank into the stream, had been driven fifty feet into the +river's bed, and did their duty well. But in the space between, twelve +hundred and forty feet in width, the current was too deep for +pile-driving and a permanent bridge was to be established upon boats. And +that bridge was to be laid across the icy and tempestuous flood, in the +depth of winter, in the teeth of a watchful enemy, with the probability +of an immediate invasion from France, where the rebel envoys were known +to be negotiating on express invitation of the King--by half-naked, +half-starving soldiers and sailors, unpaid for years, and for the sake of +a master who seemed to have forgotten their existence. + +"Thank God," wrote Alexander, "the palisade stands firm in spite of the +ice. Now with the favour of the Lord, we shall soon get the fruit we have +been hoping, if your Majesty is not wanting in that to which your +grandeur, your great Christianity, your own interests, oblige you. In +truth 'tis a great and heroic work, worthy the great power of your +Majesty." "For my own part," he continued, "I have done what depended +upon me. From your own royal hand must emanate the rest;--men, namely, +sufficient to maintain the posts, and money enough to support them +there." + +He expressed himself in the strongest language concerning the danger to +the royal cause from the weak and gradually sinking condition of the +army. Even without the French intrigues with the rebels, concerning +which, in his ignorance of the exact state of affairs, he expressed much +anxiety, it would be impossible, he said, to save the royal cause without +men and money. + +"I have spared myself," said the Prince, "neither day nor night. Let not +your Majesty impute the blame to me if we fail. Verdugo also is uttering +a perpetual cry out of Friesland for men--men and money." + +Yet, notwithstanding all these obstacles, the bridge was finished at +last. On the 25th February, (1585) the day sacred to Saint Matthew, and +of fortunate augury to the Emperor Charles, father of Philip and +grandfather of Alexander, the Scheldt was closed. + +As already stated, from Fort Saint Mary on the Kalloo side, and from Fort +Philip, not far from Ordain on the Brabant shore of the Scheldt, strong +structures, supported upon piers, had been projected, reaching, +respectively, five hundred feet into the stream. These two opposite ends +were now connected by a permanent bridge of boats. There were thirty-two +of these barges, each of them sixty-two feet in length and twelve in +breadth, the spaces between each couple being twenty-two feet wide, and +all being bound together, stem, stern, and midships, by quadruple hawsers +and chains. Each boat was anchored at stem and stern with loose cables. +Strong timbers, with cross rafters, were placed upon the boats, upon +which heavy frame-work the planked pathway was laid down. A thick parapet +of closely-fitting beams was erected along both the outer edges of the +whole fabric. Thus a continuous and well-fortified bridge, two thousand +four hundred feet in length, was stretched at last from shore to shore. +Each of the thirty-two boats on which the central portion of the +structure reposed, was a small fortress provided with two heavy pieces of +artillery, pointing, the one up, the other down the stream, and manned by +thirty-two soldiers and four sailors, defended by a breastwork formed of +gabions of great thickness. + +The forts of Saint Philip and St. Mary, at either end of the bridge, had +each ten great guns, and both were filled with soldiers. In front of each +fort, moreover, was stationed a fleet of twenty armed vessels, carrying +heavy pieces of artillery; ten anchored at the angle towards Antwerp, and +as many looking down the river. One hundred and seventy great guns, +including the armaments of the boats under the bridge of the armada and +the forts, protected the whole structure, pointing up and down the +stream. + +But, besides these batteries, an additional precaution had been taken. On +each side, above and below the bridge, at a moderate distance--a bow +shot--was anchored a heavy, raft floating upon empty barrels. Each raft +was composed of heavy timbers, bound together in bunches of three, the +spaces between being connected by ships' masts and lighter spar-work, and +with a tooth-like projection along the whole outer edge, formed of strong +rafters, pointed and armed with sharp prongs and hooks of iron. Thus a +serried phalanx, as it were, of spears stood ever on guard to protect the +precious inner structure. Vessels coming from Zeeland or Antwerp, and the +floating ice-masses, which were almost as formidable, were obliged to +make their first attack upon these dangerous outer defences. Each raft; +floating in the middle of the stream, extended twelve hundred, and +fifty-two feet across, thus protecting the whole of the bridge of boats +and a portion of that resting upon piles. + +Such was the famous bridge of Parma. The magnificent undertaking has been +advantageously compared with the celebrated Rhine-bridge of Julius +Caesar. When it is remembered; however; that the Roman work was performed +in summer, across a river only half as broad as the Scheldt, free from +the disturbing, action of the tides; and flowing through an unresisting +country; while the whole character of the structure; intended only to, +serve for the single passage of an army, was far inferior to the massive +solidity of Parma's bridge; it seems not unreasonable to assign the +superiority to the general who had surmounted all the obstacles of a +northern winter, vehement ebb and flow from the sea, and enterprising and +desperate enemies at every point. + +When the citizens, at last, looked upon the completed fabric, converted +from the "dream," which they had pronounced it to be, into a terrible +reality; when they saw the shining array of Spanish and Italian legions +marching and counter-marching upon their new road; and trampling, as it +were; the turbulent river beneath their feet; when they witnessed the +solemn military spectacle with which the Governor-General celebrated his +success, amid peals of cannon and shouts of triumph from his army, they +bitterly bewailed their own folly. Yet even then they could hardly +believe that the work had been accomplished by human agency, but they +loudly protested that invisible demons had been summoned to plan and +perfect this fatal and preter-human work. They were wrong. There had been +but one demon--one clear, lofty intelligence, inspiring a steady and +untiring hand. The demon was the intellect of Alexander Farnese; but it +had been assisted in its labour by the hundred devils of envy, +covetousness, jealousy, selfishness, distrust, and discord, that had +housed, not, in his camp, but in the ranks of those who were contending +for their hearths and altars. + +And thus had the Prince arrived at success in spite of every obstacle. He +took a just pride in the achievement, yet he knew by how many dangers he +was still surrounded, and he felt hurt at his sovereign's neglect. "The +enterprise at Antwerp," he wrote to Philip on the day the bridge was +completed, "is so great and heroic that to celebrate it would require me +to speak more at large than I like, to do, for fear of being tedious to +your Majesty. What I will say, is that the labours and difficulties have +been every day so, great, that if your Majesty knew them, you would +estimate, what we have done more highly than-you do; and not forget us so +utterly, leaving us to die of hunger." + +He considered the fabric in itself almost impregnable, provided he were +furnished with the means to maintain what he had so painfully +constructed. + +"The whole is in such condition," said he, "that in opinion of all +competent military judges it would stand though all Holland and Zeeland +should come to destroy our palisades. Their attacks must be made at +immense danger, and disadvantage, so severely can we play upon them with +our artillery and musketry. Every boat is, garnished with the most dainty +captains and soldiers, so that if the enemy should attempt to assail us +now, they would come back with broken heads." + +Yet in the midst of his apparent triumph he had, at times, almost despair +in his heart. He felt really at the last gasp. His troops had dwindled to +the mere shadow of an army, and they were forced to live almost upon air. +The cavalry had nearly vanished. The garrisons in the different cities +were starving. The burghers had no food for the soldiers nor for +themselves. "As for the rest of the troops," said Alexander, "they are +stationed where they have nothing to subsist upon, save salt water and +the dykes, and if the Lord does not grant a miracle, succour, even if +sent by your Majesty, will arrive too late." He assured his master, that +he could not go on more than five or six days longer, that he had been +feeding his soldiers for a long time from hand to mouth, and that it +would soon be impossible for him to keep his troops together. If he did +not disband them they would run away. + +His pictures were most dismal, his supplications for money very moving +but he never alluded to himself. All his anxiety, all his tenderness, +were for his soldiers. "They must have food," he said: "'Tis impossible +to sustain them any longer by driblets, as I have done for a long time. +Yet how can I do it without money? And I have none at all, nor do I see +where to get a single florin." + +But these revelations were made only to his master's most secret ear. His +letters, deciphered after three centuries, alone make manifest the almost +desperate condition in which the apparently triumphant general was +placed, and the facility with which his antagonists, had they been well +guided and faithful to themselves, might have driven him into the sea. + +But to those adversaries he maintained an attitude of serene and smiling +triumph. A spy, sent from the city to obtain intelligence for the anxious +burghers, had gained admission into his lines, was captured and brought +before the Prince. He expected, of course, to be immediately hanged. On +the contrary, Alexander gave orders that he should be conducted over +every part of the encampment. The forts, the palisades, the bridge, were +all to be carefully exhibited and explained to him as if he had been a +friendly visitor entitled to every information. He was requested to count +the pieces of artillery in the forts, on the bridge, in the armada. After +thoroughly studying the scene he was then dismissed with a safe-conduct +to the city. + +"Go back to those who sent you," said the Prince. "Convey to them the +information in quest of which you came. Apprize them of every thing which +you have inspected, counted, heard explained. Tell them further, that the +siege will never be abandoned, and that this bridge will be my sepulcher +or my pathway into Antwerp." + +And now the aspect of the scene was indeed portentous. The chimera had +become a very visible bristling reality. There stood the bridge which the +citizens had ridiculed while it was growing before their faces. There +scowled the Kowenstyn--black with cannon, covered all over with +fortresses which the butchers had so sedulously preserved. From Parma's +camp at Beveren and Kalloo a great fortified road led across the river +and along the fatal dyke all the way to the entrenchments at Stabroek, +where Mansfeld's army lay. Grim Mondragon held the "holy cross" and the +whole Kowenstyn in his own iron grasp. A chain of forts, built and +occupied by the contending hosts of the patriots and the Spaniards, were +closely packed together along both banks of the Scheldt, nine miles long +from Antwerp to Lillo, and interchanged perpetual cannonades. The country +all around, once fertile as a garden, had been changed into a wild and +wintry sea where swarms of gun-boats and other armed vessels manoeuvred +and contended with each other over submerged villages and orchards, and +among half-drowned turrets and steeples. Yet there rose the great +bulwark--whose early destruction would have made all this desolation a +blessing--unbroken and obstinate; a perpetual obstacle to communication +between Antwerp and Zeeland. The very spirit of the murdered Prince of +Orange seemed to rise sadly and reproachfully out of the waste of waters, +as if to rebuke the men who had been so deaf to his solemn warnings. + +Brussels, too, wearied and worn, its heart sick with hope deferred, now +fell into despair as the futile result of the French negotiation became +apparent. The stately and opulent city had long been in a most abject +condition. Many of its inhabitants attempted to escape from the horrors +of starving by flying from its walls. Of the fugitives, the men were +either scourged back by the Spaniards into the city, or hanged up along +the road-side. The women were treated, leniently, even playfully, for it +was thought an excellent jest to cut off the petticoats of the +unfortunate starving creatures up to their knees, and then command them +to go back and starve at home with their friends and fellow-citizens. A +great many persons literally died of hunger. Matrons with large families +poisoned their children and themselves to avoid the more terrible death +by starving. At last, when Vilvoorde was taken, when the baseness of the +French King was thoroughly understood, when Parma's bridge was completed +and the Scheldt bridled, Brussels capitulated on as favourable terms as +could well have been expected. + + ETEXT EDITOR'S BOOKMARKS: + + College of "peace-makers," who wrangled more than all + Military virtue in the support of an infamous cause + Not distinguished for their docility + Repentance, as usual, had come many hours too late + + + + +HISTORY OF THE UNITED NETHERLANDS + +From the Death of William the Silent to the Twelve Year's Truce--1609 + +By John Lothrop Motley + +History United Netherlands, 1585 + +Alexander Farnese, The Duke of Parma + + + + +CHAPTER V., Part 2. + + Position of Alexander and his Army--La Motte attempts in vain + Ostend--Patriots gain Liefkenshoek--Projects of Gianibelli--Alarm on + the Bridge--The Fire Ships--The Explosion--Its Results--Death of the + Viscount of Ghent--Perpetual Anxiety of Farnese--Impoverished State + of the Spaniards--Intended Attack of the Kowenstyn--Second Attack of + the Kowenstyn--A Landing effected--A sharp Combat--The Dyke pierced + --Rally of the Spaniards--Parma comes to the Rescue--Fierce Struggle + on the Dyke--The Spaniards successful--Premature Triumph at Antwerp + --Defeat of the Patriots--The Ship War's End--Despair of the Citizens + +Notwithstanding these triumphs, Parma was much inconvenienced by not +possessing the sea-coast of Flanders. Ostend was a perpetual +stumbling-block to him. He therefore assented, with pleasure to a +proposition made by La Motte, one of the most experienced and courageous +of the Walloon royalist, commanders, to attempt the place by surprise. +And La Motte; at the first blow; was more than half successful. + +On the night of the 29th March, (1585) with two thousand foot and twelve +hundred cavalry, he carried the whole of the old port of Ostend. Leaving +a Walloon officer, in whom he had confidence, to guard the position +already gained, he went back in person for reinforcements. During his +advance, the same ill luck attended his enterprise which had blasted +Hohenlo's achievement at Bois-le-Duc. The soldiers he left behind him +deserted their posts for the sake of rifling the town. The officer in +command, instead of keeping them to their duty, joined in the chase. The +citizens roused themselves, attacked their invaders, killed many of them, +and put the rest to flight. When La Motte returned; he found the panic +general. His whole force, including the fresh soldiers just brought to +the rescue, were beside themselves with fear. He killed several with his +own hand, but the troops were not to be rallied. His quick triumph was +changed into an absolute defeat. + +Parma, furious at the ignominious result of a plan from which so much had +been expected, ordered the Walloon captain, from whose delinquency so +much disaster had resulted, to be forthwith hanged. "Such villainy," said +he, "must never go unpunished." + +It was impossible for the Prince to send a second expedition to attempt +the reduction of Ostend, for the patriots were at last arousing +themselves to the necessity of exertion. It was very obvious--now that +the bridge had been built, and the Kowenstyn fortified--that one or the +other was to be destroyed, or Antwerp abandoned to its fate. + +The patriots had been sleeping, as it were, all the winter, hugging the +delusive dream of French sovereignty and French assistance. No language +can exaggerate the deadly effects from the slow poison of that +negotiation. At any rate, the negotiation was now concluded. The dream +was dispelled. Antwerp must now fall, or a decisive blow must be struck +by the patriots themselves, and a telling blow had been secretly and +maturely meditated. Certain preparatory steps were however necessary. + +The fort of Liefkenshoek, "darling's corner," was a most important post. +The patriots had never ceased to regret that precious possession, lost, +as we have seen, in so tragical a manner on the very day of Orange's +death. Fort Lillo, exactly opposite, on the Brabant shore of the Scheldt, +had always been securely held by them; and was their strongest position. +Were both places in their power, the navigation of the river, at least as +far as the bridge, would be comparatively secure. + +A sudden dash was made upon Liefkenshoek. A number of armed vessels +sailed up from Zeeland, under command of Justinus de Nassau. They were +assisted from Fort Lillo by a detachment headed by Count Hohenlo. These +two officers were desirous of retrieving the reputation which they had +lost at Bois-le-Duc. They were successful, and the "darling" fort was +carried at a blow. After a brief cannonade, the patriots made a breach, +effected a landing, and sprang over the ramparts. The Walloons and +Spaniards fled in dismay; many of them were killed in the fort, and along +the dykes; others were hurled into the Scheldt. The victors followed up +their success by reducing, with equal impetuosity, the fort of Saint +Anthony, situate in the neighbourhood farther down the river. They thus +gained entire command of all the high ground, which remained in that +quarter above the inundation, and was called the Doel. + +The dyke, on which Liefkenshoek stood, led up the river towards Kalloo, +distant less than a league. There were Parma's head-quarters and the +famous bridge. But at Fort Saint Mary; where the Flemish head of that +bridge rested, the dyke was broken. Upon that broken end the commanders +of the expedition against Liefkenshoek were ordered to throw up an +entrenchment, without loss of a moment, so soon as they should have +gained the fortresses which they were ordered first to assault. Sainte +Aldegonde had given urgent written directions to this effect. From a +redoubt situated thus, in the very face of Saint Mary's, that position, +the palisade-work, the whole bridge, might be battered with all the +artillery that could be brought from Zeeland. + +But Parma was beforehand with them. Notwithstanding his rage and +mortification that Spanish soldiers should have ignominiously lost the +important fortress which Richebourg had conquered so brilliantly nine +months before, he was not the man to spend time in unavailing regrets. +His quick eye instantly, detected the flaw which might soon be fatal. In +the very same night of the loss of Liefkenshoek, he sent as strong a +party as could be spared, with plenty of sappers and miners, in +flat-bottomed boats across from Kalloo. As the morning dawned, an +improvised fortress, with the Spanish flag waving above its bulwarks, +stood on the broken end of the dyke. That done, he ordered one of the two +captains who had commanded in Liefkenshoek and Saint Anthony to be +beheaded on the same dyke. The other was dismissed with ignominy. Ostend +was, of course, given up; "but it was not a small matter," said Parma, +"to fortify ourselves that very night upon the ruptured place, and so +prevent the rebels from doing it, which would have been very +mal-a-propos." + +Nevertheless, the rebels had achieved a considerable success; and now or +never the telling blow, long meditated, was to be struck. + +There lived in Antwerp a subtle Mantuan, Gianibelli by name, who had +married and been long settled in the city. He had made himself busy with +various schemes for victualling the place. He had especially urged upon +the authorities, at an early period of the siege, the propriety of making +large purchases of corn and storing it in magazines at a time when +famine-price had by no means been reached. But the leading men had then +their heads full of a great ship, or floating castle, which they were +building, and which they had pompously named the 'War's End,' 'Fin de la +Guerre.' We shall hear something of this phenomenon at a later period. +Meanwhile, Gianibelli, who knew something of shipbuilding, as he did of +most other useful matters, ridiculed the design, which was likely to +cost, in itself before completion, as much money as would keep the city +in bread for a third of a year. + +Gianibelli was no patriot. He was purely a man of science and of great +acquirements, who was looked upon by the ignorant populace alternately as +a dreamer and a wizard. He was as indifferent to the cause of freedom as +of despotism, but he had a great love for chemistry. He was also a +profound mechanician, second to no man of his age in theoretic and +practical engineering. + +He had gone from Italy to Spain that he might offer his services to +Philip, and give him the benefit of many original and ingenious +inventions. Forced to dance attendance, day after day, among sneering +courtiers and insolent placemen, and to submit to the criticism of +practical sages and philosophers of routine, while, he was constantly +denied an opportunity of explaining his projects, the quick-tempered +Italian had gone away at last, indignant. He had then vowed revenge upon +the dulness by which his genius had been slighted, and had sworn that the +next time the Spaniards heard the name of the man whom they had dared to +deride, they should hear it with tears. + +He now laid before the senate of Antwerp a plan for some vessels likely +to prove more effective than the gigantic 'War's End,' which he had +prophesied would prove a failure. With these he pledged himself to +destroy the bridge. He demanded three ships which he had selected from +the city fleet; the 'Orange,' the 'Post,' and the 'Golden Lion,' +measuring, respectively, one hundred and fifty, three hundred and fifty, +and five hundred tons. Besides these, he wished sixty flat-bottomed +scows, which he proposed to send down the river, partially submerged, +disposed in the shape of a half moon, with innumerable anchors and +grapnel's thrusting themselves out of the water at every point. This +machine was intended to operate against the raft. + +Ignorance and incredulity did their work, as usual, and Gianbelli's +request was refused. As a quarter-measure, nevertheless, he was allowed +to take two smaller vessels of seventy and eighty tons. The Italian was +disgusted with parsimony upon so momentous an occasion, but he at the +same time determined, even with these slender materials, to give an +exhibition of his power. + +Not all his the glory, however, of the ingenious project. Associated with +him were two skilful artizans of Antwerp; a clockmaker named Bory, and a +mechanician named Timmerman--but Gianibelli was the chief and +superintendent of the whole daring enterprise. + +He gave to his two ships the cheerful names of the 'Fortune' and the +'Hope,' and set himself energetically to justify their titles by their +efficiency. They were to be marine volcanos, which, drifting down the +river with tide, were to deal destruction where the Spaniards themselves +most secure. + +In the hold of each vessel, along the whole length, was laid down a solid +flooring of brick and mortar, one foot thick and five feet wide. Upon +this was built a chamber of marble mason-work, forty feet long, three and +a half feet broad, as many high, and with side-walks [walls? D.W.] five +feet in thickness. + +This was the crater. It was filled with seven thousand of gunpowder, of a +kind superior to anything known, and prepared by Gianibelli himself. It +was covered with a roof, six feet in thickness, formed of blue +tombstones, placed edgewise. Over this crater, rose a hollow cone, or +pyramid, made of heavy marble slabs, and filled with mill-stones, cannon +balls, blocks of marble, chain-shot, iron hooks, plough-coulters, and +every dangerous missile that could be imagined. The spaces between the +mine and the sides of each ship were likewise filled with paving stones, +iron-bound stakes, harpoons, and other projectiles. The whole fabric was +then covered by a smooth light flooring of planks and brick-work, upon +which was a pile of wood: This was to be lighted at the proper time, in +order that the two vessels might present the appearance of simple +fire-ships, intended only to excite a conflagration of the bridge. On the +'Fortune' a slow match, very carefully prepared, communicated with the +submerged mine, which was to explode at a nicely-calculated moment. The +eruption of the other floating volcano was to be regulated by an +ingenious piece of clock-work, by which, at the appointed time, fire, +struck from a flint, was to inflame the hidden mass of gunpowder below. + +In addition to these two infernal machines, or "hell-burners," as they +were called, a fleet of thirty-two smaller vessels was prepared. Covered +with tar, turpentine, rosin, and filled with inflammable and combustible +materials, these barks were to be sent from Antwerp down the river in +detachments of eight every half hour with the ebb tide. The object was to +clear the way, if possible, of the raft, and to occupy the attention of +the Spaniards, until the 'Fortune' and the `Hope' should come down upon +the bridge. + +The 5th April, (1885) being the day following that on which the +successful assault upon Liefkenshoek and Saint Anthony had taken place, +was fixed for the descent of the fire-ships. So soon as it should be +dark, the thirty-two lesser burning-vessels, under the direction of +Admiral Jacob Jacobzoon, were to be sent forth from the neighborhood of +the 'Boor's Sconce'--a fort close to the city walls--in accordance with +the Italian's plan. "Run-a-way Jacob," however, or "Koppen Loppen," had +earned no new laurels which could throw into the shade that opprobrious +appellation. He was not one of Holland's naval heroes, but, on the whole, +a very incompetent officer; exactly the man to damage the best concerted +scheme which the genius of others could invent. Accordingly, +Koppen-Loppen began with a grave mistake. Instead of allowing the +precursory fire-ships to drift down the stream, at the regular intervals +agreed upon, he despatched them all rapidly, and helter skelter, one +after another, as fast as they could be set forth on their career. Not +long afterwards, he sent the two "hellburners," the 'Fortune' and the +'Hope,' directly in their wake. Thus the whole fiery fleet had set forth, +almost at once, upon its fatal voyage. + +It was known to Parma that preparations for an attack were making at +Antwerp, but as to the nature of the danger he was necessarily in the +dark. He was anticipating an invasion by a fleet from the city in +combination with a squadron of Zeelanders coming up from below. So soon +as the first vessels, therefore, with their trains not yet lighted, were +discovered bearing down from the city, he was confirmed in his +conjecture. His drama and trumpets instantly called to arms, and the +whole body of his troops was mustered upon the bridge; the palisades, and +in the nearest forts. Thus the preparations to avoid or to contend with +the danger, were leading the Spaniards into the very jaws of destruction. +Alexander, after crossing and recrossing the river, giving minute +directions for repelling the expected assault, finally stationed himself +in the block-house at the point of junction, on the Flemish aide, between +the palisade and the bridge of boats. He was surrounded by a group of +superior officers, among whom Richebourg, Billy, Gaetano, Cessis, and the +Englishman Sir Rowland Yorke, were conspicuous. + +It was a dark, mild evening of early spring. As the fleet of vessels +dropped slowly down the river, they suddenly became luminous, each ship +flaming out of the darkness, a phantom of living fire. The very waves of +the Scheldt seemed glowing with the conflagration, while its banks were +lighted up with a preternatural glare. It was a wild, pompous, theatrical +spectacle. The array of soldiers on both aides the river, along the dykes +and upon the bridge, with banners waving, and spear and cuirass glancing +in the lurid light; the demon fleet, guided by no human hand, wrapped in +flames, and flitting through the darkness, with irregular movement; but +portentous aspect, at the caprice of wind and tide; the death-like +silence of expectation, which had succeeded the sound of trumpet and the +shouts of the soldiers; and the weird glow which had supplanted the +darkness-all combined with the sense of imminent and mysterious danger to +excite and oppress the imagination. + +Presently, the Spaniards, as they gazed from the bridge, began to take +heart again. One after another, many of the lesser vessels drifted +blindly against the raft, where they entangled themselves among the hooks +and gigantic spearheads, and burned slowly out without causing any +extensive conflagration. Others grounded on the banks of the river, +before reaching their destination. Some sank in the stream. + +Last of all came the two infernal ships, swaying unsteadily with the +current; the pilots of course, as they neared the bridge, having +noiselessly effected their escape in the skiffs. The slight fire upon the +deck scarcely illuminated the dark phantom-like hulls. Both were carried +by the current clear of the raft, which, by a great error of judgment, as +it now appeared, on the part of the builders, had only been made to +protect the floating portion of the bridge. The 'Fortune' came first, +staggering inside the raft, and then lurching clumsily against the dyke, +and grounding near Kalloo, without touching the bridge. There was a +moment's pause of expectation. At last the slow match upon the deck +burned out, and there was a faint and partial explosion, by which little +or no damage was produced. + +Parma instantly called for volunteers to board the mysterious vessel. The +desperate expedition was headed by the bold Roland York, a Londoner, of +whom one day there was more to be heard in Netherland history. The party +sprang into the deserted and now harmless volcano, extinguishing the +slight fires that were smouldering on the deck, and thrusting spears and +long poles into the hidden recesses of the hold. There was, however, +little time to pursue these perilous investigations, and the party soon +made their escape to the bridge. + +The troops of Parma, crowding on the palisade, and looking over the +parapets, now began to greet the exhibition with peals of derisive +laughter. It was but child's play, they thought, to threaten a Spanish +army, and a general like Alexander Farnese, with such paltry fire-works +as these. Nevertheless all eyes were anxiously fixed upon the remaining +fire-ship, or "hell-burner," the 'Hope,' which had now drifted very near +the place of its destination. Tearing her way between the raft and the +shore, she struck heavily against the bridge on the Kalloo side, close to +the block-house at the commencement of the floating portion of the +bridge. A thin wreath of smoke was seen curling over a slight and +smouldering fire upon her deck. + +Marquis Richebourg, standing on the bridge, laughed loudly at the +apparently impotent conclusion of the whole adventure. It was his last +laugh on earth. A number of soldiers, at Parma's summons, instantly +sprang on board this second mysterious vessel, and occupied themselves, +as the party on board the 'Fortune' had done, in extinguishing, the +flames, and in endeavoring to ascertain the nature of the machine. +Richebourg boldly directed from the bridge their hazardous experiments. + +At the same moment a certain ensign De Vega, who stood near the Prince of +Parma, close to the block-house, approached him with vehement entreaties +that he should retire. Alexander refused to stir from the spot, being +anxious to learn the result of these investigations. Vega, moved by some +instinctive and irresistible apprehension, fell upon his knees, and +plucking the General earnestly by the cloak, implored him with such +passionate words and gestures to leave the place, that the Prince +reluctantly yielded. + +It was not a moment too soon. The clockwork had been better adjusted than +the slow match in the 'Fortune.' Scarcely had Alexander reached the +entrance of Saint Mary's Fort, at the end of the bridge, when a horrible +explosion was heard. The 'Hope' disappeared, together with the men who +had boarded her, and the block-house, against which she had struck, with +all its garrison, while a large portion of the bridge, with all the +troops stationed upon it, had vanished into air. It was the work of a +single instant. The Scheldt yawned to its lowest depth, and then cast its +waters across the dykes, deep into the forts, and far over the land. The +earth shook as with the throb of a volcano. A wild glare lighted up the +scene for one moment, and was then succeeded by pitchy darkness. Houses +were toppled down miles away, and not a living thing, even in remote +places, could keep its feet. The air was filled with a rain of +plough-shares, grave-stones, and marble balls, intermixed with the heads, +limbs, and bodies, of what had been human beings. Slabs of granite, +vomited by the flaming ship, were found afterwards at a league's +distance, and buried deep in the earth. A thousand soldiers were +destroyed in a second of time; many of them being torn to shreds, beyond +even the semblance of humanity. + +Richebourg disappeared, and was not found until several days later, when +his body was discovered; doubled around an iron chain, which hung from +one of the bridge-boats in the centre of the river. The veteran Robles, +Seigneur de Billy, a Portuguese officer of eminent service and high +military rank, was also destroyed. Months afterwards, his body was +discovered adhering to the timber-work of the bridge, upon the ultimate +removal of that structure, and was only recognized by a peculiar gold +chain which he habitually wore. Parma himself was thrown to the ground, +stunned by a blow on the shoulder from a flying stake. The page, who was +behind him, carrying his helmet, fell dead without a wound, killed by the +concussion of the air. + +Several strange and less tragical incidents occurred. The Viscomte de +Bruxelles was blown out of a boat on the Flemish side, and descended safe +and, sound into another in the centre of the stream. Captain Tucci, clad +in complete armour, was whirled out of a fort, shot perpendicularly into +the air, and then fell back into the river. Being of a cool temperament, +a good swimmer, and very pious, he skilfully divested himself of cuirass +and helmet, recommended himself to the Blessed Virgin, and swam safely +ashore. Another young officer of Parma's body-guard, Francois de Liege by +name, standing on the Kalloo end of the bridge, rose like a feather into +the clouds, and, flying quite across the river, alighted on the opposite +bank with no further harm than a contused shoulder. He imagined himself +(he said afterwards) to have been changed into a cannon-ball, as he +rushed through the pitchy atmosphere, propelled by a blast of +irresistible fury. + + [The chief authorities used in the foregoing account of this famous + enterprise are those already cited on a previous page, viz.: the MS. + Letters of the Prince of Parma in the Archives of Simancas; Bor, ii. + 596, 597; Strada, H. 334 seq.; Meteren, xii. 223; Hoofd Vervolgh, + 91; Baudartii Polemographia, ii. 24-27; Bentivoglio, etc., I have + not thought it necessary to cite them step by step; for all the + accounts, with some inevitable and unimportant discrepancies, agree + with each other. The most copious details are to be found in Strada + and in Bor.] + +It had been agreed that Admiral Jacobzoon should, immediately after the +explosion of the fire-ships, send an eight-oared barge to ascertain the +amount of damage. If a breach had been effected, and a passage up to the +city opened, he was to fire a rocket. At this signal, the fleet stationed +at Lillo, carrying a heavy armament, laden with provisions enough to +relieve Antwerp from all anxiety, and ready to sail on the instant, was +at once to force its way up the river. + +The deed was done. A breach, two hundred feet in width was made. Had the +most skilful pilot in Zeeland held the helm of the 'Hope,' with a choice +crew obedient to his orders, he could not have guided her more carefully +than she had been directed by wind and tide. Avoiding the raft which lay +in her way, she had, as it were, with the intelligence of a living +creature, fulfilled the wishes of the daring genius that had created her; +and laid herself alongside the bridge, exactly at the most telling point. +She had then destroyed herself, precisely at the right moment. All the +effects, and more than all, that had been predicted by the Mantuan wizard +had come to pass. The famous bridge was cleft through and through, and a +thousand picked men--Parma's very "daintiest"--were blown out of +existence. The Governor-General himself was lying stark and stiff upon +the bridge which he said should be his triumphal monument or his tomb. +His most distinguished officers were dead, and all the survivors were +dumb and blind with astonishment at the unheard of, convulsion. The +passage was open for the fleet, and the fleet, lay below with sails +spread, and oars in the rowlocks, only waiting for the signal to bear up +at once to the scene of action, to smite out of existence all that +remained of the splendid structure, and to carry relief and triumph into +Antwerp. + +Not a soul slept in the city. The explosion had shook its walls, and +thousands of people thronged the streets, their hearts beating high with +expectation. It was a moment of exquisite triumph. The 'Hope,' word of +happy augury, had not been relied upon in vain, and Parma's seven months +of patient labour had been annihilated in a moment. Sainte Aldegonde and +Gianibelli stood in the 'Boors' Sconce' on the edge of the river. They +had felt and heard the explosion, and they were now straining their eyes +through the darkness to mark the flight of the welcome rocket. + +That rocket never rose. And it is enough, even after the lapse of three +centuries, to cause a pang in every heart that beats for human liberty to +think of the bitter disappointment which crushed these great and +legitimate hopes. The cause lay in the incompetency and cowardice of the +man who had been so unfortunately entrusted with a share in a noble +enterprise. + +Admiral Jacobzoon, paralyzed by the explosion, which announced his own +triumph, sent off the barge, but did not wait for its return. The +boatmen, too, appalled by the sights and sounds which they had witnessed, +and by the murky darkness which encompassed them, did not venture near +the scene of action, but, after rowing for a short interval hither and +thither, came back with the lying report that nothing had been +accomplished, and that the bridge remained unbroken. Sainte Aldegonde and +Gianibelli were beside themselves with rage, as they surmised the +imbecility of the Admiral, and devoted him in their hearts to the +gallows, which he certainly deserved. The wrath of the keen Italian may +be conceived, now that his ingenious and entirely successful scheme was +thus rendered fruitless by the blunders of the incompetent Fleming. + +On the other side, there was a man whom no danger could appall. Alexander +had been thought dead, and the dismay among his followers was universal. +He was known to have been standing an instant before the explosion on the +very block-house where the 'Hope' had struck. After the first terrible +moments had passed, his soldiers found their general lying, as if in a +trance, on the threshold of St. Mary's Fort, his drawn sword in his hand, +with Cessis embracing his knees, and Gaetano extended at his side, +stunned with a blow upon the head. + +Recovering from his swoon, Parma was the first to spring to his feet. +Sword in hand, he rushed at once upon the bridge to mark the extent of +the disaster. The admirable structure, the result of so much patient and +intelligent energy, was fearfully shattered; the bridge, the river, and +the shore, strewed with the mangled bodies of his soldiers. He expected, +as a matter of certainty, that the fleet from below would instantly force +its passage, destroy, the remainder of his troops-stunned as they were +with the sudden catastrophe complete the demolition of the bridge, and +then make its way to Antwerp, with ample reinforcements and supplies. And +Alexander saw that the expedition would be successful. Momently expecting +the attack, he maintained his courage and semblance of cheerfulness, with +despair in his heart. + +His winter's work seemed annihilated, and it was probable that he should +be obliged to raise the siege. Nevertheless, he passed in person from +rank to rank, from post to post, seeing that the wounded were provided +for, encouraging those that remained unhurt, and endeavouring to infuse a +portion of his own courage into the survivors of his panic-stricken army. + +Nor was he entirely unsuccessful, as the night wore on and the expected +assault was still delayed. Without further loss of time, he employed his +men to collect the drifting boats, timber, and spar-work, and to make a +hasty and temporary restoration--in semblance at least--of the ruined +portion of his bridge. And thus he employed himself steadily all the +night, although expecting every instant to hear the first broadside of +the Zeeland cannon. When morning broke, and it became obvious that the +patriots were unable or unwilling to follow up their own success, the +Governor-General felt as secure as ever. He at once set about the +thorough repairs of his great work, and--before he could be again +molested--had made good the damage which it had sustained. + +It was not till three days afterwards that the truth was known in +Antwerp. Hohenlo then sent down a messenger, who swam, under the bridge, +ascertained the exact state of affairs, and returned, when it was too +late, with the first intelligence of the triumph which had been won and +lost. The disappointment and mortification were almost intolerable. And +thus had. Run-a-way Jacob, 'Koppen Loppen,' blasted the hopes of so many +wiser and braver spirits than his own. + +The loss to Parma and to the royalist cause in Marquis Richebourg, was +very great. The death of De Billy, who was a faithful, experienced, and +courageous general, was also much lamented. "The misfortune from their +death," said Parma, "is not to be exaggerated. Each was ever ready to do +his duty in your Majesty's service, and to save me much fatigue in all my +various affairs. Nevertheless," continued the Prince, with great piety, +"we give the Lord thanks for all, and take as a favour everything which +comes from His hand." + +Alexander had indeed reason to deplore the loss of Robert de Melun, +Viscount of Ghent, Marquis of Roubaix and Richebourg. He was a most +valuable officer. His wealth was great. It had been recently largely +increased by the confiscation of his elder brother's estates for his +benefit, a measure which at Parma's intercession had been accorded by the +King. That brother was the patriotic Prince of Espinoy, whom we have +recently seen heading the legation of the States to France. And +Richebourg was grateful to Alexander, for besides these fraternal spoils, +he had received two marquisates through his great patron, in addition to +the highest military offices. Insolent, overbearing, truculent to all the +world, to Parma he was ever docile, affectionate, watchful, obsequious. A +man who knew not fatigue, nor fear, nor remorse, nor natural affection, +who could patiently superintend all the details of a great military work, +or manage a vast political intrigue by alternations of browbeating and +bribery, or lead a forlorn hope, or murder a prisoner in cold blood, or +leap into the blazing crater of what seemed a marine volcano, the Marquis +of Richebourg had ever made himself most actively and unscrupulously +useful to his master. Especially had he rendered invaluable services in +the reduction, of the Walloon Provinces, and in the bridging of the +Scheldt, the two crowning triumphs of Alexander's life. He had now passed +from the scene where he had played so energetic and dazzling a part, and +lay doubled round an iron cable beneath the current of the restless +river. + +And in this eventful night, Parma, as always, had been true to himself +and to his sovereign. "We expected," said he, "that the rebels would +instantly attack us on all sides after the explosion. But all remained so +astonished by the unheard-of accident, that very few understood what was +going on. It seemed better that I--notwithstanding the risk of letting +myself be seen--should encourage the people not to run away. I did so, +and remedied matters a little but not so much as that--if the enemy had +then attacked us--we should not have been in the very greatest risk and +peril. I did not fail to do what I am obliged to do, and always hope to +do; but I say no more of what passed, or what was done by myself, because +it does not become me to speak of these things." + +Notwithstanding this discomfiture, the patriots kept up heart, and were +incessantly making demonstrations against Parma's works. Their +proceedings against the bridge, although energetic enough to keep the +Spanish commander in a state of perpetual anxiety, were never so +efficient however as on the memorable occasion when the Mantuan engineer +and the Dutch watchmaker had exhausted all their ingenuity. Nevertheless, +the rebel barks swarmed all over the submerged territory, now threatening +this post, and now that, and effecting their retreat at pleasure; for +nearly the whole of Parma's little armada was stationed at the two +extremities of his bridge. Many fire-ships were sent down from time to +time, but Alexander had organized a systematic patrol of a few +sentry-boats, armed with scythes and hooks, which rowed up and down in +front of the rafts, and protected them against invasion. + +Some little effect was occasionally produced, but there was on the whole +more anxiety excited than damage actually inflicted. The perturbation of +spirit among the Spaniards when any of these 'demon fine-ships,' as they +called them, appeared bearing down upon their bridge, was excessive. It +could not be forgotten, that the `Hope' had sent into space a thousand of +the best soldiers of the little army within one moment of time. + +Such rapid proceedings had naturally left an uneasy impression on the +minds of the survivors. The fatigue of watching was enormous. Hardly an +officer or soldier among the besieging forces knew what it was to sleep. +There was a perpetual exchanging of signals and beacon-fires and rockets +among the patriots--not a day or night, when a concerted attack by the +Antwerpers from above, and the Hollanders from below, with gun-boats and +fire-ships, and floating mines, and other devil's enginry, was not +expected. + +"We are always upon the alert," wrote Parma, "with arms in our hands. +Every one must mount guard, myself as well as the rest, almost every +night, and the better part of every day." + +He was quite aware that something was ever in preparation; and the +nameless, almost sickening apprehension which existed among +his stout-hearted veterans, was a proof that the Mantuan's +genius--notwithstanding the disappointment as to the great result--had +not been exercised entirely in vain. The image of the Antwerp devil-ships +imprinted itself indelibly upon the Spanish mind, as of something +preternatural, with which human valour could only contend at a +disadvantage; and a day was not very far distant--one of the memorable +days of the world's history, big with the fate of England, Spain, +Holland, and all Christendom--when the sight of a half-dozen blazing +vessels, and the cry of "the Antwerp fireships," was to decide the issue +of a most momentous enterprise. The blow struck by the obscure Italian +against Antwerp bridge, although ineffective then, was to be most +sensibly felt after a few years had passed, upon a wider field. + +Meantime the uneasiness and the watchfulness in the besieging army were +very exhausting. "They are never idle in the city," wrote Parma. "They +are perpetually proving their obstinacy and pertinacity by their +industrious genius and the machines which they devise. Every day we are +expecting some new invention. On our side we endeavour to counteract +their efforts by every human means in our power. Nevertheless, I confess +that our merely human intellect is not competent to penetrate the designs +of their diabolical genius. Certainly, most wonderful and extraordinary +things have been exhibited, such as the oldest soldiers here have never +before witnessed." + +Moreover, Alexander saw himself growing weaker and weaker. His force had +dwindled to a mere phantom of an army. His soldiers, ill-fed, +half-clothed, unpaid, were fearfully overworked. He was obliged to +concentrate all the troops at his disposal around Antwerp. Diversions +against Ostend, operations in Friesland and Gelderland, although most +desirable, had thus been rendered quite impossible. + +"I have recalled my cavalry and infantry from Ostend," he wrote, "and Don +Juan de Manrique has fortunately arrived in Stabroek with a thousand good +German folk. The commissary-general of the cavalry has come in, too, with +a good lot of the troops that had been encamped in the open country. +Nevertheless, we remain wretchedly weak--quite insufficient to attempt +what ought to be done. If the enemy were more in force, or if the French +wished to make trouble, your Majesty would see how important it had been +to provide in time against such contingencies. And although our +neighbours, crestfallen, and rushing upon their own destruction, leave us +in quiet, we are not without plenty of work. It would be of inestimable +advantage to make diversions in Gelderland and Friesland, because, in +that case, the Hollanders, seeing the enemy so near their own borders, +would be obliged to withdraw their assistance from Antwerp. 'Tis pity to +see how few Spaniards your Majesty has left, and how diminished is our +army. Now, also, is the time to expect sickness, and this affair of +Antwerp is obviously stretching out into large proportions. Unless soon +reinforced, we must inevitably go to destruction. I implore your Majesty +to ponder the matter well, and not to defer the remedy." + +His Majesty was sure to ponder the matter well, if that had been all. +Philip was good at pondering; but it was equally certain that the remedy +would be deferred. Meantime Alexander and his starving but heroic little +army were left to fight their battles as they could. + +His complaints were incessant, most reasonable, but unavailing. With all +the forces he could muster, by withdrawing from the neighbourhood of +Ghent, Brussels, Vilvoorde, and from all the garrisons, every man that +could be spared, he had not strength enough to guard his own posts. To +attempt to win back the important forts recently captured by the rebels +on the Doel, was quite out of the question. The pictures he painted of +his army were indeed most dismal. + +The Spaniards were so reduced by sickness that it was pitiful to see +them. The Italians were not in much better condition, nor the Germans. +"As for the Walloons," said he, "they are deserting, as they always do. +In truth, one of my principal dangers is that the French civil wars are +now tempting my soldiers across the frontier; the country there is so +much richer, and offers so much more for the plundering." + +During the few weeks which immediately followed them famous descent of +the 'Hope' and the 'Fortune,' there had accordingly been made a variety +of less elaborate, but apparently mischievous, efforts against the +bridge. On the whole, however, the object was rather to deceive and amuse +the royalists, by keeping their attention fixed in that quarter, while a +great attack was, in reality, preparing against the Kowenstyn. That +strong barrier, as repeatedly stated, was even a more formidable obstacle +than the bridge to the communication between the beleagured city and +their allies upon the outside. Its capture and demolition, even at this +late period, would open the navigation to all the fleets of Zeeland. + +In the undertaking of the 5th of April all had been accomplished that +human ingenuity could devise; yet the triumph had been snatched away even +at the very moment when it was complete. A determined and vigorous effort +was soon to be made upon the Kowenstyn, in the very face of Parma; for it +now seemed obvious that the true crisis was to come upon that fatal dyke. +The great bulwark was three miles long. It reached from Stabroek in +Brabant, near which village Mansfeld's troops were encamped, across the +inundated country, up to the line of the Scheldt. Thence, along the +river-dyke, and across the bridge to Kalloo and Beveren, where Parma's +forces lay, was a continuous fortified road some three leagues in length; +so that the two divisions of the besieging army, lying four leagues +apart, were all connected by this important line. + +Could the Kowenstyn be pierced, the water, now divided by that great +bulwark into two vast lakes, would flow together in one continuous sea. +Moreover the Scheldt, it was thought, would, in that case, return to its +own cannel through Brabant, deserting its present bed, and thus leaving +the famous bridge high and dry. A wide sheet of navigable water would +then roll between Antwerp and the Zeeland coasts, and Parma's bridge, the +result of seven months' labour, would become as useless as a child's +broken toy. + +Alexander had thoroughly comprehended the necessity of maintaining the +Kowenstyn. All that it was possible to do with the meagre forces at his +disposal, he had done. He had fringed both its margins, along its whole +length, with a breastwork of closely-driven stakes. He had strengthened +the whole body of the dyke with timber-work and piles. Upon its +river-end, just at the junction with the great Scheldt dyke, a strong +fortress, called the Holy Cross, had been constructed, which was under +the special command of Mondragon. Besides this, three other forts had +been built, at intervals of about a mile, upon the dyke. The one nearest +to Mondragon was placed at the Kowenstyn manor-house, and was called +Saint James. This was entrusted to Camillo Bourbon del Monte, an Italian +officer, who boasted the blood royal of France in his veins, and was +disposed on all occasions to vindicate that proud pedigree by his deeds. +The next fort was Saint George's, sometimes called the Black Sconce. It +had been built by La Motte, but it was now in command of the Spanish +officer, Benites. The third was entitled the Fort of the Palisades, +because it had been necessary to support it by a stockade-work in the +water, there being absolutely not earth enough to hold the structure. It +was placed in the charge of Captain Gamboa. These little castles had been +created, as it were, out of water and upon water, and under a hot fire +from the enemy's forts and fleets, which gave the pioneers no repose. + +"'Twas very hard work," said Parma, "our soldiers are so exposed during +their labour, the rebels playing upon them perpetually from their +musket-proof vessels. They fill the submerged land with their boats, +skimming everywhere as they like, while we have none at all. We have been +obliged to build these three forts with neither material nor space; +making land enough for the foundation by bringing thither bundles of +hurdles and of earth. The fatigue and anxiety are incredible. Not a man +can sleep at night; not an officer nor soldier but is perpetually +mounting guard. But they are animated to their hard work by seeing that I +share in it, like one of themselves. We have now got the dyke into good +order, so far as to be able to give them a warm reception, whenever they +choose to come." + +Quite at the farther or land end of the Kowenstyn, was another fort, +called the Stabroek, which commanded and raked the whole dyke, and was in +the neighbourhood of Mansfeld's head-quarters. + +Placed as were these little citadels upon a slender, and--at brief +distance--invisible thread of land, with the dark waters rolling around +them far and near, they presented an insubstantial dream-like aspect, +seeming rather like castles floating between air and ocean than actual +fortifications--a deceptive mirage rather than reality. There was nothing +imaginary, however, in the work which they were to perform. + +A series of attacks, some serious, others fictitious, had been made, from +time to time, upon both bridge and dyke; but Alexander was unable to +inspire his soldiers with his own watchfulness. Upon the 7th of May a +more determined attempt was made upon the Kowenstyn, by the fleet from +Lillo. Hohenlo and Colonel Ysselstein conducted the enterprise. The +sentinels at the point selected--having recently been so often threatened +by an enemy, who most frequently made a rapid retreat, as to have grown +weary and indifferent-were surprised, at dawn of day, and put to the +sword. "If the truth must be told," said Parma, "the sentries were sound +asleep." Five hundred Zeelanders, with a strong party of sappers and +miners, fairly established themselves upon the dyke, between St. George's +and Fort Palisade. The attack, although spirited at its commencement, was +doomed to be unsuccessful. A co-operation, agreed upon by the fleet from +Antwerp, failed through a misunderstanding. Sainte Aldegonde had +stationed certain members of the munition-chamber in the cathedral tower, +with orders to discharge three rockets, when they should perceive a +beacon-fire which he should light in Fort Tholouse. The watchmen mistook +an accidental camp-fire in the neighbourhood for the preconcerted signal, +and sent up the rockets. Hohenlo understanding, accordingly, that the +expedition was on the point of starting from Antwerp, hastened to perform +his portion of the work, and sailed up from Lillo. He did his duty +faithfully and well, and established himself upon the dyke, but found +himself alone and without sufficient force to maintain his position. The +Antwerp fleet never sailed. It was even whispered that the delinquency +was rather intended than accidental; the Antwerpers being supposed +desirous to ascertain the result of Hohenlo's attempt before coming forth +to share his fate. Such was the opinion expressed by Farnese in his +letters to Philip, but it seems probable that he was mistaken. Whatever +the cause, however, the fact of the Zeelanders' discomfiture was certain. +The St. George battery and that of the Palisade were opened at once upon +them, the balls came plunging among the sappers and miners before they +had time to throw up many spade-fulls of earth, and the whole party were +soon dead or driven from the dyke. The survivors effected their retreat +as they best could, leaving four of their ships behind them and three or +four hundred men. + +"Forty rebels lay dead on the dyke," said Parma, "and one hundred and +fifty more, at least, were drowned. The enemy confess a much larger loss +than the number I state, but I am not a friend of giving details larger +than my ascertained facts; nor do I know how many were killed in the +boats." + +This enterprise was but a prelude, however, to the great undertaking +which had now been thoroughly matured. Upon the 26th May, another and +most determined attack was to be made upon the Kowenstyn, by the +Antwerpers and Hollanders acting in concert. This time, it was to be +hoped, there would be no misconception of signals. "It was a +determination," said Parma, "so daring and desperate that there was no +substantial reason why we should believe they would carry it out; but +they were at last solemnly resolved to die or to effect their purpose." + +Two hundred ships in all had been got ready, part of them under Hohenlo +and Justinus de Nassau, to sail up from Zeeland; the others to advance +from Antwerp under Sainte Aldegonde. Their destination was the Kowenstyn +Dyke. Some of the vessels were laden with provisions, others with +gabions, hurdles, branches, sacks of sand and of wool, and with other +materials for the rapid throwing up of fortifications. + +It was two o'clock, half an hour before the chill dawn of a May morning, +Sunday, the 26th of the month. The pale sight of a waning moon was +faintly perceptible in the sky. Suddenly the sentinels upon the +Kowenstyn--this time not asleep--descried, as they looked towards Lillo, +four fiery apparitions gliding towards them across the waves. The alarm +was given, and soon afterwards the Spaniards began to muster, somewhat +reluctantly, upon the dyke, filled as they always were with the +mysterious dread which those demon-vessels never failed to inspire. + +The fire-ships floated slowly nearer, and at last struck heavily against +the stockade-work. There, covered with tar, pitch, rosin, and gunpowder, +they flamed, flared, and exploded, during a brief period, with much +vigour, and then burned harmlessly out. One of the objects for which they +had been sent--to set fire to the palisade--was not accomplished. The +other was gained; for the enemy, expecting another volcanic shower of +tombstones and plough-coulters, and remembering the recent fate of their +comrades on the bridge, had retired shuddering into the forts. Meantime, +in the glare of these vast torches, a great swarm of gunboats and other +vessels, skimming across the leaden-coloured waters, was seen gradually +approaching the dyke. It was the fleet of Hohenlo and Justinus de Nassau, +who had been sailing and rowing since ten o'clock of the preceding night. +The burning ships lighted them on their way, while it had scared the +Spaniards from their posts. + +The boats ran ashore in the mile-long space between forts St. George and +the Palisade, and a party of Zeelanders, Admiral Haultain, governor of +Walcheren, at their head, sprang upon the dyke. Meantime, however, the +royalists, finding that the fire-ships had come to so innocent an end, +had rallied and emerged from their forts. Haultain and his Zeelanders, by +the time they had fairly mounted the dyke, found themselves in the iron +embrace of several hundred Spaniards. After a brief fierce struggle, face +to face, and at push of pike, the patriots reeled backward down the bank, +and took refuge in their boats. Admiral Haultain slipped as he left the +shore, missed a rope's end which was thrown to him, fell into the water, +and, borne down by the weight of his armour, was drowned. The enemy, +pursuing them, sprang to the waist in the ooze on the edge of the dyke, +and continued the contest. The boats opened a hot fire, and there was a +severe skirmish for many minutes, with no certain result. It was, +however, beginning to go hard with the Zeelanders, when, just at the +critical moment, a cheer from the other side of the dyke was heard, and +the Antwerp fleet was seen coming swiftly to the rescue. The Spaniards, +taken between the two bands of assailants, were at a disadvantage, and it +was impossible to prevent the landing of these fresh antagonists. The +Antwerpers sprang ashore. Among the foremost was Sainte Aldegonde, poet, +orator, hymn-book maker, burgomaster, lawyer, polemical divine--now armed +to the teeth and cheering on his men, in the very thickest of the fight. +The diversion was successful, and Sainte Aldegonde gallantly drove the +Spaniards quite off the field. The whole combined force from Antwerp and +Zeeland now effected their landing. Three thousand men occupied all the +space between Fort George and the Palisade. + +With Sainte Aldegonde came the unlucky Koppen Loppen, and all that could +be spared of the English and Scotch troops in Antwerp, under Balfour and +Morgan. With Hohenlo and Justinus de Nassau came Reinier Kant, who had +just succeeded Paul Buys as Advocate of Holland. Besides these came two +other men, side by side, perhaps in the same boat, of whom the world was +like to hear much, from that time forward, and whose names are to be most +solemnly linked together, so long as Netherland history shall endure; +one, a fair-faced flaxen-haired boy of eighteen, the other a +square-visaged, heavy-browed man of forty--Prince Maurice and John of +Olden-Barneveldt. The statesman had been foremost to urge the claim of +William the Silent's son upon the stadholderate of Holland and Zeeland, +and had been, as it were, the youth's political guardian. He had himself +borne arms more than once before, having shouldered his matchlock under +Batenburg, and marched on that officer's spirited but disastrous +expedition for the relief of Haarlem. But this was the life of those +Dutch rebels. Quill-driving, law-expounding, speech-making, diplomatic +missions, were intermingled with very practical business in besieged +towns or open fields, with Italian musketeers and Spanish pikemen. And +here, too, young Maurice was taking his first solid lesson in the art of +which he was one day to be so distinguished a professor. It was a sharp +beginning. Upon this ribband of earth, scarce six paces in breadth, with +miles of deep water on both sides--a position recently fortified by the +first general of the age, and held by the famous infantry of Spain and +Italy--there was likely to be no prentice-work. + +To assault such a position was in truth, as Alexander had declared it to +be, a most daring and desperate resolution on the part of the States. +"Soldiers, citizens, and all," said Parma, "they are obstinate as dogs to +try their fortune." + +With wool-sacks, sand-bags, hurdles, planks, and other materials brought +with them, the patriots now rapidly entrenched themselves in the position +so brilliantly gained; while, without deferring for an instant the great +purpose which they had come to effect, the sappers and miners fastened +upon the ironbound soil of the dyke, tearing it with pick, mattock, and +shovel, digging, delving, and throwing up the earth around them, busy as +human beavers, instinctively engaged in a most congenial task. + +But the beavers did not toil unmolested. The large and determined force +of Antwerpers and English, Hollanders and Zeelanders, guarded the +fortifications as they were rapidly rising, and the pioneers as they were +so manfully delving; but the enemy was not idle. From Fort Saint James, +next beyond Saint George, Camillo del Monte led a strong party to the +rescue. There was a tremendous action, foot to foot, breast to breast, +with pike and pistol, sword and dagger. Never since the beginning of the +war had there been harder fighting than now upon that narrow isthmus. +"'Twas an affair of most brave obstinacy on both sides," said Parma, who +rarely used strong language. "Soldiers, citizens, and all--they were like +mad bulldogs." Hollanders, Italians, Scotchmen, Spaniards, Englishmen, +fell thick and fast. The contest was about the entrenchments before they +were completed, and especially around the sappers and miners, in whose +picks and shovels lay the whole fate of Antwerp. Many of the +dyke-breakers were digging their own graves, and rolled, one after +another, into the breach which they were so obstinately creating. Upon +that slender thread of land the hopes of many thousands were hanging. To +tear it asunder, to roll the ocean-waves up to Antwerp, and thus to +snatch the great city triumphantly from the grasp of Philip--to +accomplish this, the three thousand had come forth that May morning. To +prevent it, to hold firmly that great treasure entrusted to them, was the +determination of the Spaniards. And so, closely pent and packed, +discharging their carbines into each other's faces, rolling, coiled +together, down the slimy sides of the dyke into the black waters, +struggling to and fro, while the cannon from the rebel fleet and from the +royal forts mingled their roar with the sharp crack of the musketry, +Catholics and patriots contended for an hour, while still, through all +the confusion and uproar, the miners dug and delved. + +At last the patriots were victorious. They made good their entrenchments, +drove the Spaniards, after much slaughter, back to the fort of Saint +George on the one side, and of the Palisade on the other, and cleared the +whole space between the two points. The centre of the dyke was theirs; +the great Kowenstyn, the only key by which the gates of Antwerp could be +unlocked, was in the deliverers' hands. They pursued their victory, and +attacked the Palisade Fort. Gamboa, its commandant, was severely wounded; +many other officers dead or dying; the outworks were in the hands of the +Hollanders; the slender piles on which the fortress rested in the water +were rudely shaken; the victory was almost complete. + +And now there was a tremendous cheer of triumph. The beavers had done +their work, the barrier was bitten through and through, the salt water +rushed like a river through the ruptured dyke. A few moments later, and a +Zeeland barge, freighted with provisions, floated triumphantly into the +waters beyond, now no longer an inland sea. The deed was done--the +victory achieved. Nothing more was necessary than to secure it, to tear +the fatal barrier to fragments, to bury it, for its whole length, beneath +the waves. Then, after the isthmus had been utterly submerged, when the +Scheldt was rolled back into its ancient bed, when Parma's famous bridge +had become useless, when the maritime communication between Antwerp and +Holland had been thoroughly established, the Spaniards would have nothing +left for it but to drown like rats in their entrenchments or to abandon +the siege in despair. All this was in the hands of the patriots. The +Kowenstyn was theirs. The Spaniards were driven from the field, the +batteries of their forts silenced. For a long period the rebels were +unmolested, and felt themselves secure. + +"We remained thus some three hours," says Captain James, an English +officer who fought in the action, and described it in rough, soldierly +fashion to Walsingham the same day, "thinking all things to be secure." +Yet in the very supreme moment of victory, the leaders, both of the +Hollanders and of the Antwerpers, proved themselves incompetent to their +position. With deep regret it must be admitted, that not only the +reckless Hohenlo, but the all-accomplished Sainte Aldegonde, committed +the gravest error. In the hour of danger, both had comported themselves +with perfect courage and conduct. In the instant of triumph, they gave +way to puerile exultation. With a celerity as censurable as it seems +incredible, both these commanders sprang into the first barge which had +thus floated across the dyke, in order that they might, in person, carry +the news of the victory to Antwerp, and set all the bells ringing and the +bonfires blazing. They took with them Ferrante Spinola, a +mortally-wounded Italian officer of rank, as a trophy of their battle, +and a boatload of beef and flour, as an earnest of the approaching +relief. + +While the conquerors were thus gone to enjoy their triumph, the +conquered, though perplexed and silenced, were not yet disposed to accept +their defeat. They were even ignorant that they were conquered. They had +been forced to abandon the field, and the patriots had entrenched +themselves upon the dyke, but neither Fort Saint George nor the Palisade +had been carried, although the latter was in imminent danger. + +Old Count Peter Ernest Mansfeld--a grizzled veteran, who had passed his +childhood, youth, manhood, and old age, under fire--commanded at the +land-end of the dyke, in the fortress of Stabroek, in which neighbourhood +his whole division was stationed. Seeing how the day was going, he called +a council of war. The patriots had gained a large section of the dyke. So +much was certain. Could they succeed in utterly demolishing that bulwark +in the course of the day? If so, how were they to be dislodged before +their work was perfected? It was difficult to assault their position. +Three thousand Hollanders, Antwerpers, Englishmen--"mad bulldogs all," as +Parma called them--showing their teeth very mischievously, with one +hundred and sixty Zeeland vessels throwing in their broadsides from both +margins of the dyke, were a formidable company to face. + +"Oh for one half hour of Alexander in the field!" sighed one of the +Spanish officers in council. But Alexander was more than four leagues +away, and it was doubtful whether he even knew of the fatal occurrence. +Yet how to send him a messenger. Who could reach him through that valley +of death? Would it not be better to wait till nightfall? Under the cover +of darkness something might be attempted, which in the daylight would be +hopeless. There was much anxiety, and much difference of opinion had been +expressed, when Camillo Capizucca, colonel of the Italian Legion, +obtained a hearing. A man bold in words as in deeds, he vehemently +denounced the pusillanimity which would wait either for Parma or for +nightfall. "What difference will it make," he asked, "whether we defer +our action until either darkness or the General arrives? In each case we +give the enemy time enough to destroy the dyke, and thoroughly to relieve +the city. That done, what good can be accomplished by our arms? Then our +disheartened soldiers will either shrink from a fruitless combat or march +to certain death." Having thus, very warmly but very sagaciously, defined +the position in which all were placed, he proceeded to declare that he +claimed, neither for himself nor for his legion, any superiority over the +rest of the army. He knew not that the Italians were more to be relied +upon than others in the time of danger, but this he did know, that no man +in the world was so devoted as he was to the Prince of Parma. To show +that devotion by waiting with folded arms behind a wall until the Prince +should arrive to extricate his followers, was not in his constitution. He +claimed the right to lead his Italians against the enemy at once--in the +front rank, if others chose to follow; alone, if the rest preferred to +wait till a better leader should arrive. + +The words of the Italian colonel sent a thrill through all who heard him. +Next in command under Capizucca was his camp-marshal, an officer who bore +the illustrious name of Piccolomini--father of the Duke Ottavio, of whom +so much was to be heard at a later day throughout the fell scenes of that +portion of the eighty years' tragedy now enacting, which was to be called +the Thirty Years' War of Germany. The camp-marshal warmly seconded the +proposition of his colonel. Mansfeld, pleased with such enthusiasm among +his officers, yielded to their wishes, which were, in truth, his own. Six +companies of the Italian Legion were in his encampment while the +remainder were stationed, far away, upon the bridge, under command of his +son, Count Charles. Early in the morning, before the passage across the +dyke had been closed the veteran condottiere, pricking his ears as he +snuffed the battle from afar, had contrived to send a message to his son. + +"Charles, my boy," were his words, "to-day we must either beat them or +burst." + +Old Peter Ernest felt that the long-expected, long-deferred assault was +to be made that morning in full force, and that it was necessary for the +royalists, on both bridge and dyke, to hold their own. Piccolomini now +drew up three hundred of his Italians, picked veterans all, and led them +in marching order to Mansfeld. That general at the same moment, received +another small but unexpected reinforcement. A portion of the Spanish +Legion, which had long been that of Pedro Pacchi, lay at the extreme +verge of the Stabroek encampment, several miles away. Aroused by the +distant cannonading, and suspecting what had occurred, Don Juan d'Aquila, +the colonel in command, marched without a moment's delay to Mansfeld's +head-quarters, at the head of all the force he could muster--about two +hundred strong. With him came Cardona, Gonzales de Castro, Toralva, and +other distinguished officers. As they arrived, Capizucca was just setting +forth for the field. There arose a dispute for precedence between the +Italians and the Spaniards. Capizucca had first demanded the privilege of +leading what seemed a forlorn hope, and was unwilling to yield his claim +to the new comer. On the other hand, the Spaniards were not disposed to +follow where they felt entitled to lead. The quarrel was growing warm, +when Aquila, seizing his Italian rival by the hand, protested that it was +not a moment for friends to wrangle for precedence. + +"Shoulder to shoulder," said he, "let us go into this business, and let +our blows rather fall on our enemies' heads than upon each other's." This +terminated the altercation. The Italians and Spaniards--in battle array +as they were--all dropped on their knees, offered a brief prayer to the +Holy Virgin, and then, in the best possible spirits, set forth along the +dyke. Next to fort Stabroek--whence they issued--was the Palisade Fort, +nearly a mile removed, which the patriots had nearly carried, and between +which and St. George, another mile farther on, their whole force was +established. + +The troops under Capizucca and Aquila soon reached the Palisade, and +attacked the besiegers, while the garrison, cheered by the unexpected +relief, made a vigorous sortie. There was a brief sharp contest, in which +many were killed on both sides; but at last the patriots fell back upon +their own entrenchments, and the fort was saved. Its name was instantly +changed to Fort Victory, and the royalists then prepared to charge the +fortified camp of the rebels, in the centre of which the dyke-cutting +operations were still in progress. At the same moment, from the opposite +end of the bulwark, a cry was heard along the whole line of the dyke. +From Fort Holy Cross, at the Scheldt end, the welcome intelligence was +suddenly communicated--as if by a magnetic impulse--that Alexander was in +the field! + +It was true. Having been up half the night, as usual, keeping watch along +his bridge, where he was ever expecting a fatal attack, he had retired +for a few hours' rest in his camp at Beveren. Aroused at day-break by the +roar of the cannon, he had hastily thrown on his armour, mounted his +horse, and, at the head of two hundred pikemen, set forth for the scene +of action. Detained on the bridge by a detachment of the Antwerp fleet, +which had been ordered to make a diversion in that quarter, he had, after +beating off their vessels with his boat-artillery, and charging Count +Charles Mansfeld to heed well the brief injunction of old Peter Ernest, +made all the haste he could to the Kowenstyn. Arriving at Fort Holy +Cross, he learned from Mondragon how the day was going. Three thousand +rebels, he learned, were established on the dyke, Fort Palisade was +tottering, a fleet from both sides was cannonading the Spanish +entrenchments, the salt water was flowing across the breach already made. +His seven months' work, it seemed, had come to nought. The navigation was +already open from the sea to Antwerp, the Lowenstyn was in the rebels' +hands. But Alexander was not prone to premature despair. "I arrived," +said he to Philip in a letter written on the same evening, "at the very +nick of time." A less hopeful person might have thought that he had +arrived several hours too late. Having brought with him every man that +could be spared from Beveren and from the bridge, he now ordered Camillo +del Monte to transport some additional pieces of artillery from Holy +Cross and from Saint James to Fort Saint Georg. At the same time a sharp +cannonade was to be maintained upon the rebel fleet from all the forts. + +Mondragon, with a hundred musketeers and pikemen, was sent forward +likewise as expeditiously as possible to Saint George. No one could be +more alert. The battered veteran, hero of some of the most remarkable +military adventures that history has ever recorded,' fought his way on +foot, in the midst of the fray, like a young ensign who had his first +laurels to win. And, in truth, the day was not one for cunning +manoeuvres, directed, at a distance, by a skillful tactician. It was a +brisk close contest, hand to hand and eye to eye--a Homeric encounter, in +which the chieftains were to prove a right to command by their personal +prowess. Alexander, descending suddenly--dramatically, as it were--when +the battle seemed lost--like a deity from the clouds-was to justify, by +the strength of his arm, the enthusiasm which his name always awakened. +Having, at a glance, taken in the whole situation, he made his brief +arrangements, going from rank to rank, and disposing his troops in the +most effective manner. He said but few words, but his voice had always a +telling effect. + +"The man who refuses, this day, to follow me," he said, "has never had +regard to his own honour, nor has God's cause or the King's ever been +dear to his heart." + +His disheartened Spaniards and Italians--roused as by a magic +trumpet--eagerly demanded to be led against the rebels. And now from each +end of the dyke, the royalists were advancing toward the central position +occupied by the patriots. While Capizucca and Aquila were occupied at +Fort Victory, Parma was steadily cutting his way from Holy Cross to Saint +George. On foot, armed with sword and shield, and in coat of mail, and +marching at the head of his men along the dyke, surrounded by Bevilacqua, +Bentivoglio, Manriquez, Sforza, and other officers of historic name and +distinguished courage, now upon the summit of the causeway, now on its +shelving banks, now breast-high in the waters, through which lay the +perilous path, contending at every inch with the scattered bands of the +patriots, who slowly retired to their entrenched camp, and with the +Antwerp and Zeeland vessels, whose balls tore through the royalist ranks, +the General at last reached Saint George. On the preservation of that +post depended the whole fortune of the day, for Parma had already +received the welcome intelligence that the Palisade--now Fort +Victory--had been regained. He instantly ordered an outer breast-work of +wool-sacks and sand-bags to be thrown up in front of Saint George, and +planted a battery to play point-blank at the enemy's entrenchments. Here +the final issue was to be made. + +The patriots and Spaniards were thus all enclosed in the mile-long space +between St. George and the Palisade. Upon that narrow strip of earth, +scarce six paces in width, more than five thousand men met in mortal +combat--a narrow arena for so many gladiators, hemmed in on both sides by +the sea. The patriots had, with solemn ceremony, before starting upon +their enterprise, vowed to destroy the dyke and relieve Antwerp, or to +perish in the attempt. They were true to their vow. Not the ancient +Batavians or Nervii had ever manifested more tenacity against the Roman +legions than did their descendants against the far-famed Spanish infantry +upon this fatal day. The fight on the Kowenstyn was to be long remembered +in the military annals of Spain and Holland. Never, since the curtain +first rose upon the great Netherland tragedy, had there been a fiercer +encounter. Flinching was impossible. There was scant room for the play of +pike and dagger, and, close packed as were the combatants, the dead could +hardly fall to the ground. It was a mile-long series of separate mortal +duels, and the oozy dyke was soon slippery with blood. + +From both sides, under Capizucca and Aquila on the one band, and under +Alexander on the other, the entrenchments of the patriots were at last +assaulted, and as the royalists fell thick and fast beneath the +breast-work which they were storming, their comrades clambered upon their +bodies, and attempted, from such vantage-ground, to effect an entrance. +Three times the invaders were beaten back with heavy loss, and after each +repulse the attack was renewed with fresh vigour, while within the +entrenchments the pioneers still plied the pick and shovel, undismayed by +the uproar around them. + +A fourth assault, vigorously made, was cheerfully repelled by the +Antwerpers and Hollanders, clustering behind their breast-works, and +looking steadily into their enemies' eyes. Captain Heraugiere--of whom +more was to be heard one day--had led two hundred men into action, and +now found himself at the head of only thirteen. The loss had been as +severe among many other patriot companies, as well as in the Spanish +ranks, and again the pikemen of Spain and Italy faltered before the iron +visages and cordial blows of the Hollanders. + +This work had lasted a good hour and a half, when at last, on the fifth +assault, a wild and mysterious apparition renewed the enthusiasm of the +Spaniards. The figure of the dead commander of the old Spanish Legion, +Don Pedro Pacchi, who had fallen a few months before at the siege of +Dendermonde was seen charging in front of his regiment, clad in his +well-known armour, and using the gestures which had been habitual with +him in life. No satisfactory explanation was ever made of this singular +delusion, but it was general throughout the ranks, and in that +superstitious age was as effective as truth. The wavering Spaniards +rallied once more under the guidance of their phantom leader, and again +charged the breast-work of the patriots. Toralva, mounting upon the back +of one of his soldiers, was first to vault into the entrenchments. At the +next instant he lay desperately wounded on the ground, but was close +followed by Capizucca, sustained by a determined band. The entrenchment +was carried, but the furious conflict still continued. At nearly the same +moment, however, several of the patriot vessels were observed to cast off +their moorings, and to be drifting away from the dyke. A large number of +the rest had been disabled by the hot fire, which by Alexander's +judicious orders had been directed upon the fleet. The ebbing tide left +no choice to the commander of the others but to retreat or to remain and +fall into the enemy's hands, should he gain the day. Had they risked the +dangerous alternative, it might have ensured the triumph of the whole +enterprise, while their actual decision proved most disastrous in the +end. + +"We have conquered," cried Alexander, stretching his arm towards the +receding waters. "The sea deserts the impious heretics. Strike from them +now their last hope, and cut off their retreat to the departing ships." +The Spaniards were not slow to perceive their advantage, while the +courage of the patriots at last began to ebb with the tide. The day was +lost. In the hour of transitory triumph the leaders of the expedition had +turned their backs on their followers, and now, after so much heroism had +been exhibited, fortune too had averted her face. The grim resistance +changed to desperate panic, and a mad chase began along the blood-stained +dyke. Some were slain with spear and bullet, others were hunted into the +sea, many were smothered in the ooze along the edge of the embankment. +The fugitives, making their way to the retreating vessels, were pursued +by the Spaniards, who swam after them, with their swords in their teeth, +and engaged them in mortal combat in the midst of the waves. + +"And so we cut all their throats," said Parma, "the rebels on every side +remaining at our mercy, and I having no doubt that my soldiers would +avenge the loss of their friends." + +The English and the Scotch, under Balfour and Morgan, were the very last +to abandon the position which they had held so manfully seven hours long. +Honest Captain James, who fought to the last, and described the action +the same night in the fewest possible words, was of opinion that the +fleet had moved away only to obtain a better position. "They put off to +have more room to play on the enemy," said he; "but the Hollanders and +Zeelanders, seeing the enemy come on so hotly, and thinking our galleys +would leave them, abandoned their string. The Scots, seeing them to +retire, left their string. The enemy pursued very hotly; the Englishmen +stood to repulse, and are put most to the sword. In this shameful retreat +there were slain or drowned to the number of two thousand." The blunt +Englishman was justly indignant that an enterprise, so nearly successful, +had been ruined by the desertion of its chiefs. "We had cut the dyke in +three places," said he; "but left it most shamefully for want of +commandment." + +Poor Koppen Loppen--whose blunders on former occasions had caused so much +disaster--was now fortunate enough to expiate them by a soldier's death. +Admiral Haultain had, as we have seen, been drowned at the commencement +of the action. Justinus de Nassau, at its close, was more successful in +his retreat to the ships. He, too, sprang into the water when the +overthrow was absolute; but, alighting in some shallows, was able to +conceal himself among weeds and waterlilies till he had divested himself +of his armour, when he made his escape by swimming to a boat, which +conveyed him to Lillo. Roelke van Deest, an officer of some note, was so +horribly wounded in the face, that he was obliged to wear a mask for the +remainder of his life. + +Parma, overjoyed at his victory, embraced Capizucca before the whole +army, with warm expressions of admiration for his conduct. Both the +Italian colonel and his Spanish rival Aquila were earnestly recommended +to Philip for reward and promotion. The wounded Toralva was carried to +Alexander's own quarters, and placed in Alexander's own bed, where he +remained till his recovery, and was then presented--a distinction which +he much valued--with the armour which the Prince had worn on the day of +the battle. Parma himself, so soon as the action was concluded, went with +his chief officers straight from the field to the little village-church +of Stabroek, where he fell upon his knees and offered up fervent thanks +for his victory. He next set about repairing the ruptured dyke, damaged +in many places but not hopelessly ruined, and for this purpose the bodies +of the rebels, among other materials, were cast by hundreds into the +ditches which their own hands had dug. + +Thus ended the eight hours' fight on the Kowenstyn. "The feast lasted +from seven to eight hours," said Parma, "with the most brave obstinacy on +both sides that has been seen for many a long day." A thousand royalists +were killed and twice as many patriots, and the issue of the conflict was +most uncertain up to the very last. + +"Our loss is greater than I wish it was," wrote Alexander to Philip: "It +was a very close thing, and I have never been more anxious in my life as +to the result for your Majesty's service. The whole fate of the battle +was hanging all the time by a thread." More than ever were reinforcements +necessary, and it was only by a miracle that the victory had at last been +gained with such slender resources. "'Tis a large, long, laborious, +expensive, and most perilous war," said Parma, when urging the claims of +Capizucca and Aquila, "for we have to fight every minute; and there are +no castles and other rewards, so that if soldiers are not to have +promotion, they will lose their spirit." Thirty-two of the rebel vessels +grounded, and fell into the hands of the Spaniards, who took from them +many excellent pieces of artillery. The result was most conclusive and +most disheartening for the patriots. + +Meantime--as we have seen--Hohenlo and Sainte Aldegonde had reached +Antwerp in breathless haste to announce their triumph. They had been met +on the quay by groups of excited citizens, who eagerly questioned the two +generals arriving thus covered with laurels from the field of battle, and +drank with delight all the details of the victory. The poor dying Spinola +was exhibited in triumph, the boat-load of breadstuffs received with +satisfaction, and vast preparations were made to receive, on wharves and +in storehouses, the plentiful supplies about to arrive. Beacons and +bonfires were lighted, the bells from all the steeples rang their +merriest peals, cannon thundered in triumph not only in Antwerp itself, +but subsequently at Amsterdam and other more distant cities. In due time +a magnificent banquet was spread in the town-house to greet the +conquering Hohenlo. Immense gratification was expressed by those of the +reformed religion; dire threats were uttered against the Catholics. Some +were for hanging them all out of hand, others for throwing them into the +Scheldt; the most moderate proposed packing them all out of town so soon +as the siege should be raised--an event which could not now be delayed +many days longer. + +Hohenlo, placed on high at the head of the banquet-table, assumed the +very god of war. Beside and near him sat the loveliest dames of Antwerp, +rewarding his bravery with their brightest smiles. The Count drained huge +goblets to their health, to the success of the patriots, and to the +confusion of the royalists, while, as he still drank and feasted, the +trumpet, kettle-drum, and cymbal, and merry peal of bell without, did +honour to his triumph. So gay and gallant was the victor, that he +announced another banquet on the following day, still further to +celebrate the happy release of Antwerp, and invited the fair ladies +around him again to grace the board. It is recorded that the gentlewoman +next him responded with a sigh, that, if her presentiments were just, the +morrow would scarcely be so joyful as the present day had been, and that +she doubted whether the triumph were not premature. + +Hardly had she spoken when sinister sounds were heard in the streets. The +first few stragglers, survivors of the deadly fight, had arrived with the +fatal news that all was lost, the dyke regained, the Spaniards +victorious, the whole band of patriots cut to pieces. A few +frightfully-wounded and dying sufferers were brought into the +banqueting-hall. Hohenlo sprang from the feast--interrupted in so ghastly +a manner--pursued by shouts and hisses. Howls of execration, saluted him +in the streets, and he was obliged to conceal himself for a time, to +escape the fury of the populace. + +On the other hand, Parma was, not unnaturally, overjoyed at the +successful issue to the combat, and expressed himself on the subject in +language of (for him) unusual exultation. "To-day, Sunday, 26th of June," +said he, in a letter to Philip, despatched by special courier on the very +same night, "the Lord has been pleased to grant to your Majesty a great +and most signal victory. In this conjuncture of so great importance it +may be easily conceived that the best results that can be desired will be +obtained if your Majesty is now ready to do what is needful. I +congratulate your Majesty very many times on this occasion, and I desire +to render infinite thanks to Divine Providence." + +He afterwards proceeded, in a rapid and hurried manner, to give his +Majesty the outlines of the battle, mentioning, with great encomium, +Capizucca and Aquila, Mondragon and Vasto, with many other officers, and +recommending them for reward and promotion; praising, in short, heartily +and earnestly, all who had contributed to the victory, except himself, to +whose personal exertions it was chiefly due. "As for good odd Mansfeld," +said he, "he bore himself like the man he is, and he deserves that your +Majesty should send him a particular mark of your royal approbation, +writing to him yourself pleasantly in Spanish, which is that which will +be most highly esteemed by him." Alexander hinted also that Philip would +do well to bestow upon Mansfeld the countship of Biart, as a reward for +his long years of faithful service! + +This action on the Kowenstyn terminated the effective resistance of +Antwerp. A few days before, the monster-vessel, in the construction of +which so much time and money had been consumed, had at last been set +afloat. She had been called the War's End, and, so far as Antwerp was +concerned, the fates that presided over her birth seemed to have been +paltering in a double sense when the ominous name was conferred. She was +larger than anything previously known in naval architecture; she had four +masts and three helms. Her bulwarks were ten feet thick; her tops were +musket-proof. She had twenty guns of largest size, besides many other +pieces of artillery of lesser calibre, the lower tier of which was almost +at the water's level. She was to carry one thousand men, and she was so +supported on corks and barrels as to be sure to float under any +circumstances. Thus she was a great swimming fortress which could not be +sunk, and was impervious to shot. Unluckily, however, in spite of her +four masts and three helms, she would neither sail nor steer, and she +proved but a great, unmanageable and very ridiculous tub, fully +justifying all the sarcasms that had been launched upon her during the +period of her construction, which had been almost as long as the siege +itself. + +The Spaniards called her the Bugaboo--a monster to scare children withal. +The patriots christened her the Elephant, the Antwerp Folly, the Lost +Penny, with many similar appellations. A small army might have been +maintained for a month, they said, on the money she had cost, or the +whole city kept in bread for three months. At last, late in May, a few +days before the battle of the Kowenstyn, she set forth from Antwerp, +across the submerged land, upon her expedition to sweep all the Spanish +forts out of existence, and to bring the war to its end. She came to her +own end very briefly, for, after drifting helplessly about for an hour, +she stuck fast in the sand in the neighbourhood of Ordam, while the crew +and soldiers made their escape, and came back to the city to share in the +ridicule which, from first to last, had attached itself to the +monster-ship. + +Two days after the Kowenstyn affair, Alexander sent an expedition under +Count Charles Mansfeld to take possession of the great Bugaboo. The boat, +in which were Count Charles, Count Aremberg, his brother de Barbancon, +and other noble volunteers, met with an accident: a keg of gun powder +accidentally exploding, blowing Aremberg into the water, whence he +escaped unharmed by swimming, and frightfully damaging Mansfeld in the +face. This indirect mischief--the only injury ever inflicted by the War's +End upon the enemy--did not prevent the rest of the party in the boats +from taking possession of the ship, and bringing her in triumph to the +Prince of Parma. After being thoroughly examined and heartily laughed at +by the Spaniards, she was broken up--her cannon, munitions, and other +valuable materials, being taken from her--and then there was an end of +the War's End. + +This useless expenditure-against the judgment and entreaties of many +leading personages--was but a type of the difficulties with which Sainte +Aldegonde had been obliged to contend from the first day of the siege to +the last. Every one in the city had felt himself called on to express an +opinion as to the proper measures for defence. Diversity of humours, +popular license, anarchy, did not constitute the best government for a +city beleagured by Alexander Farnese. We have seen the deadly injury +inflicted upon the cause at the outset by the brutality of the butchers, +and the manful struggle which Sainte Aldegonde had maintained against +their cupidity and that of their friends. He had dealt with the thousand +difficulties which rose up around him from day to day, but his best +intentions were perpetually misconstrued, his most strenuous exertions +steadily foiled. It was a city where there was much love of money, and +where commerce--always timid by nature, particularly when controlled by +alien residents--was often the cause of almost abject cowardice. + +From time to time there had been threatening demonstrations made against +the burgomaster, who, by protracting the resistance of Antwerp, was +bringing about the absolute destruction of a worldwide trade, and the +downfall of the most opulent capital in Christendom. There were also many +popular riots--very easily inflamed by the Catholic portion of the +inhabitants--for bread. "Bread, bread, or peace!" was hoarsely shouted by +ill-looking mischievous crowds, that dogged the steps and besieged the +doors of Sainte Aldegonde; but the burgomaster had done his best by +eloquence of tongue and personal courage, both against mobs and against +the enemy, to inspire the mass of his fellow-citizens with his own +generous spirit. He had relied for a long time on the negotiation with +France, and it would be difficult to exaggerate the disastrous effects +produced by the treachery of the Valois court. The historian Le Petit, a +resident of Antwerp at the time of the siege, had been despatched on +secret mission to Paris, and had communicated to the States' deputies +Sainte Aldegonde's earnest adjurations that they should obtain, if +possible, before it should be too late, an auxiliary force and a +pecuniary subsidy. An immediate assistance, even if slight, might be +sufficient to prevent Antwerp and its sister cities from falling into the +hands of the enemy. On that messenger's return, the burgomaster, much +encouraged by his report, had made many eloquent speeches in the senate, +and for a long time sustained the sinking spirits of the citizens. + +The irritating termination to the triumph actually achieved against the +bridge, and the tragical result to the great enterprise against the +Kowenstyn, had now thoroughly broken the heart of Antwerp. For the last +catastrophe Sainte Aldegonde himself was highly censurable, although the +chief portion of the blame rested on the head of Hohenlo. Nevertheless +the States of Holland were yet true to the cause of the Union and of +liberty. Notwithstanding their heavy expenditures, and their own loss of +men, they urged warmly and earnestly the continuance of the resistance, +and promised, within at latest three months' time, to raise an army of +twelve thousand foot and seven thousand horse, with which they pledged +themselves to relieve the city, or to perish in the endeavour. At the +same time, the legation, which had been sent to England to offer the +sovereignty to Queen Elizabeth, sent encouraging despatches to Antwerp, +assuring the authorities that arrangements for an auxiliary force had +been effected; while Elizabeth herself wrote earnestly upon the subject +with her own hand. + +"I am informed," said that Princess, "that through the closing of the +Scheldt you are likely to enter into a treaty with the Prince of Parma, +the issue of which is very much to be doubted, so far as the maintenance +of your privileges is concerned. Remembering the warm friendship which +has ever existed between this crown and the house of Burgundy, in the +realms of which you are an important member, and considering that my +subjects engaged in commerce have always met with more privilege and +comity in the Netherlands than in any other country, I have resolved to +send you at once, assistance, comfort, and aid. The details of the plan +will be stated by your envoys; but be assured that by me you will never +be forsaken or neglected." + +The negotiations with Queen Elizabeth--most important for the +Netherlands, for England, and for the destinies of Europe--which +succeeded the futile diplomatic transactions with France, will be laid +before the reader in a subsequent chapter. It is proper that they should +be massed by themselves, so that the eye can comprehend at a single +glance their whole progress and aspect, as revealed both by public and +official, and by secret and hitherto unpublished records. Meantime, so +far as regards Antwerp, those negotiations had been too deliberately +conducted for the hasty and impatient temper of the citizens. + +The spirit of the commercial metropolis, long flagging, seemed at last +broken. Despair was taking possession of all hearts. The common people +did nothing but complain, the magistrates did nothing but wrangle. In the +broad council the debates and dissensions were discouraging and endless. +Six of the eight militia-colonels were for holding out at all hazards, +while a majority of the eighty captains were for capitulation. The +populace was tumultuous and threatening, demanding peace and bread at any +price. Holland sent promises in abundance, and Holland was sincere; but +there had been much disappointment, and there was now infinite +bitterness. It seemed obvious that a crisis was fast approaching, +and--unless immediate aid should come from Holland or from England--that +a surrender was inevitable. La None, after five years' imprisonment, had +at last been exchanged against Count Philip Egmont. That noble, chief of +an ancient house, cousin of the Queen of France, was mortified at being +ransomed against a simple Huguenot gentleman--even though that gentleman +was the illustrious "iron-armed" La Noue--but he preferred to sacrifice +his dignity for the sake of his liberty. He was still more annoyed that +one hundred thousand crowns as security were exacted from La Noue--for +which the King of Navarre became bondsman--that he would never again bear +arms in the Netherlands except in obedience to the French monarch, while +no such pledges were required of himself. La None visited the Prince of +Parma at Antwerp, to take leave, and was received with the courtesy due +to his high character and great distinction. Alexander took pleasure in +showing him all his fortifications, and explaining to him the whole +system of the siege, and La Noue was filled with honest amazement. He +declared afterwards that the works were superb and impregnable; and that +if he had been on the outside at the head of twelve thousand troops, he +should have felt obliged to renounce the idea of relieving the city. +"Antwerp cannot escape you," confessed the veteran Huguenot, "but must +soon fall into your hands. And when you enter, I would counsel you to +hang up your sword at its gate, and let its capture be the crowning +trophy in your list of victories." + +"You are right," answered Parma, "and many of my friends have given me +the same advice; but how am I to retire, engaged as I am for life in the +service of my King?" + +Such was the opinion of La None, a man whose love for the reformed +religion and for civil liberty can be as little doubted as his competency +to form an opinion upon great military subjects. As little could he be +suspected just coming as he did from an infamous prison, whence he had +been at one time invited by Philip II. to emerge, on condition of +allowing his eyes to be put out--of any partiality for that monarch or +his representative. + +Moreover, although the States of Holland and the English government were +earnestly desirous of relieving the city, and were encouraging the +patriots with well-founded promises, the Zeeland authorities were +lukewarm. The officers of the Zeeland navy, from which so much was +expected, were at last discouraged. They drew up, signed, and delivered +to Admiral Justinus de Nassau, a formal opinion to the effect that the +Scheldt had now so many dry and dangerous places, and that the tranquil +summer-nights--so different from those long, stormy ones of winter--were +so short as to allow of no attempt by water likely to be successful to +relieve the city. + +Here certainly was much to discourage, and Sainte Aldegonde was at length +discouraged. He felt that the last hope of saving Antwerp was gone, and +with it all possibility of maintaining the existence of a United +Netherland commonwealth. The Walloon Provinces were lost already; Ghent, +Brussels, Mechlin, had also capitulated, and, with the fall of Antwerp, +Flanders and Brabant must fall. There would be no barrier left even to +save Holland itself. Despair entered the heart of the burgomaster, and he +listened too soon to its treacherous voice. Yet while he thought a free +national state no longer a possibility, he imagined it practicable to +secure religious liberty by negotiation with Philip II. He abandoned with +a sigh one of the two great objects for which he had struggled side by +side with Orange for twenty years, but he thought it possible to secure +the other. His purpose was now to obtain a favourable capitulation for +Antwerp, and at the same time to bring about the submission of Holland, +Zeeland, and the other United Provinces, to the King of Spain. Here +certainly was a great change of face on the part of one so conspicuous, +and hitherto so consistent, in the ranks of Netherland patriots, and it +is therefore necessary, in order thoroughly to estimate both the man and +the crisis, to follow carefully his steps through the secret path of +negotiation into which he now entered, and in which the Antwerp drama was +to find its conclusion. In these transactions, the chief actors are, on +the one side, the Prince of Parma, as representative of absolutism and +the Papacy; on the other, Sainte Aldegonde, who had passed his life as +the champion of the Reformation. + +No doubt the pressure upon the burgomaster was very great. Tumults were +of daily occurrence. Crowds of rioters beset his door with cries of +denunciations and demands for bread. A large and turbulent mob upon one +occasion took possession of the horse-market, and treated him with +personal indignity and violence, when he undertook to disperse them. On +the other hand, Parma had been holding out hopes of pardon with more +reasonable conditions than could well be expected, and had, with a good +deal of art, taken advantage of several trivial circumstances to inspire +the burghers with confidence in his good-will. Thus, an infirm old lady +in the city happened to imagine herself so dependent upon asses milk as +to have sent her purveyor out of the city, at the peril of his life, to +procure a supply from the neighbourhood. The young man was captured, +brought to Alexander, from whose hands he very naturally expected the +punishment of a spy. The prince, however, presented him, not only with +his liberty, but with a she-ass; and loaded the animal with partridges +and capons, as a present for the invalid. The magistrates, hearing of the +incident, and not choosing to be outdone in courtesy, sent back a +waggon-load of old wine and remarkable confectionary as an offering to +Alexander, and with this interchange of dainties led the way to the +amenities of diplomacy. + + ETEXT EDITOR'S BOOKMARKS: + + Courage and semblance of cheerfulness, with despair in his heart + Demanding peace and bread at any price + Not a friend of giving details larger than my ascertained facts + + + + +HISTORY OF THE UNITED NETHERLANDS + +From the Death of William the Silent to the Twelve Year's Truce--1609 + +By John Lothrop Motley + +History United Netherlands, v41, 1584 + +Alexander Farnese, The Duke of Parma + + + + +CHAPTER V., Part 3. + + Sainte Aldegonde discouraged--His Critical Position--His + Negotiations with the Enemy--Correspondence with Richardot-- + Commotion in the City--Interview of Marnix with Parma--Suspicious + Conduct of Marnix--Deputation to the Prince--Oration of Marnix-- + Private Views of Parma--Capitulation of Antwerp--Mistakes of Marnix + --Philip on the Religious Question--Triumphal Entrance of Alexander-- + Rebuilding of the Citadel--Gratification of Philip--Note on Sainte + Aldegonde + +Sainte Aldegonde's position had become a painful one. The net had been +drawn closely about the city. The bridge seemed impregnable, the great +Kowenstyn was irrecoverably in the hands of the enemy, and now all the +lesser forts in the immediate vicinity of Antwerp-Borght, Hoboken, +Cantecroix, Stralen, Berghen, and the rest--had likewise fallen into his +grasp. An account of grain, taken on the 1st of June, gave an average of +a pound a-head for a month long, or half a pound for two months. This was +not the famine-point, according to the standard which had once been +established in Leyden; but the courage of the burghers had been rapidly +oozing away, under the pressure of their recent disappointments. It +seemed obvious to the burgomaster, that the time for yielding had +arrived. + +"I had maintained the city," he said, "for a long period, without any +excessive tumult or great effusion of blood--a city where there was such +a multitude of inhabitants, mostly merchants or artisans deprived of all +their traffic, stripped of their manufactures, destitute of all +commodities and means of living. I had done this in the midst of a great +diversity of humours and opinions, a vast popular license, a confused +anarchy, among a great number of commanders, most of them inexperienced +in war; with very little authority of my own, with slender forces of +ships, soldiers, and sailors; with alight appearance of support from king +or prince without, or of military garrison within; and under all these +circumstances I exerted myself to do my uttermost duty in preserving the +city, both in regard to its internal government, and by force of arms by +land and sea, without sparing myself in any labour or peril. + +"I know very well that there are many persons, who, finding themselves +quite at their ease, and far away from the hard blows that are passing, +are pleased to exhibit their wisdom by sitting in judgment upon others, +founding their decision only upon the results. But I demand to be judged +by equity and reason, when passion has been set aside. I claim that my +honour shall be protected against my calumniators; for all should +remember that I am not the first man, nor shall I be the last, that has +been blamed unjustly. All persons employed in public affairs are subject +to such hazards, but I submit myself to Him who knows all hearts, and who +governs all. I take Him to witness that in the affair of Antwerp, as in +all my other actions since my earliest youth, I have most sincerely +sought His glory and the welfare of His poor people, without regard to +my own private interests." + +For it is not alone the fate of Antwerp that is here to be recorded. The +fame of Sainte Aldegonde was now seriously compromised. The character of +a great man must always be closely scanned and scrutinised; protected, if +needful, against calumny, but always unflinchingly held up to the light. +Names illustrious by genius and virtue are History's most precious +treasures, faithfully to be guarded by her, jealously to be watched; but +it is always a misfortune when her eyes are deceived by a glitter which +is not genuine. + +Sainte Aldegonde was a man of unquestionable genius. His character had +ever been beyond the reproach of self-seeking or ignoble ambition. He had +multiplied himself into a thousand forms to serve the cause of the United +Netherland States, and the services so rendered had been brilliant and +frequent. A great change in his conduct and policy was now approaching, +and it is therefore the more necessary to examine closely at this epoch +his attitude and his character. + +Early in June, Richardot, president of the council of Artois, addressed a +letter to Sainte Aldegonde, by command of Alexander of Parma, suggesting +a secret interview between the burgomaster and the Prince. + +On the 8th of June, Sainte Aldegonde replied, in favourable terms, as to +the interview; but observed, that, as he was an official personage, it +was necessary for him to communicate the project to the magistracy of the +city. He expressed likewise the hope that Parma would embrace the present +opportunity for making a general treaty with all the Provinces. A special +accord with Antwerp, leaving out Holland and Zeeland, would, he said, +lead to the utter desolation of that city, and to the destruction of its +commerce and manufactures, while the occasion now presented itself to the +Prince of "winning praise and immortal glory by bringing back all the +country to a voluntary and prompt obedience to his Majesty." He proposed, +that, instead of his coming alone, there should be a number of deputies +sent from Antwerp to confer with Alexander. + +On the 11th June, Richardot replied by expressing, his own regrets and +those of the Prince, that the interview could not have been with the +burgomaster alone, but acknowledging the weight of his reasons, and +acquiescing in the proposition to send a larger deputation. Three days +afterwards, Sainte Aldegonde, on private consultation with some +confidential personages, changed his ground; announced his preference for +a private interview, under four eyes, with Parma; and requested that a +passport might be sent. The passport was accordingly forwarded the same +day, with an expression of Alexander's gratification, and with the offer, +on the part of Richardot, to come himself to Antwerp as hostage during +the absence of the burgomaster in Parma's camp at Beveren. + +Sainte Aldegonde was accordingly about to start on the following day +(16th of June), but meantime the affair had got wind. A secret interview, +thus projected, was regarded by the citizens as extremely suspicious. +There was much bitter insinuation against the burgomaster--many violent +demonstrations. "Aldegonde, they say, is going to see Parma," said one of +the burghers, "which gives much dissatisfaction, because, 'tis feared +that he will make a treaty according to the appetite and pleasure of his +Highness, having been gained over to the royal cause by money. He says +that it would be a misfortune to send a large number of burghers. Last +Sunday (16th June) there was a meeting of the broad council. The +preachers came into the assembly and so animated the citizens by +demonstrations of their religion, that all rushed from the council-house, +crying with loud voices that they did not desire peace but war." + +This desire was a healthy and a reasonable one; but, unfortunately, the +Antwerpers had not always been so vigorous or so united in their +resistance to Parma. At present, however, they were very furious, so soon +as the secret purpose of Sainte Aldegonde became generally known. The +proposed capitulation, which great mobs had been for weeks long savagely +demanding at the hands of the burgomaster, was now ascribed to the +burgomaster's unblushing corruption. He had obviously, they thought, been +purchased by Spanish ducats to do what he had hitherto been so steadily +refusing. A certain Van Werne had gone from Antwerp into Holland a few +days before upon his own private affairs, with a safe-conduct from Parma. +Sainte Aldegonde had not communicated to him the project then on foot, +but he had permitted him to seek a secret interview with Count Mansfeld. +If that were granted, Van Werne was to hint that in case the Provinces +could promise themselves a religious peace it would be possible, in the +opinion of Sainte Aldegonde, to induce Holland and Zealand and all the +rest of the United Provinces, to return to their obedience. Van Werne, on +his return to Antwerp, divulged these secret negotiations, and so put a +stop to Sainte Aldegonde's scheme of going alone to Parma. "This has +given a bad suspicion to the people," wrote the burgomaster to Richardot, +"so much so that I fear to have trouble. The broad council has been in +session, but I don't know what has taken place there, and I do not dare +to ask." + +Sainte Aldegonde's motive, as avowed by himself, for seeking a private +interview, was because he had received no answer to the main point in his +first letter, as to the proposition for a general accord. In order +therefore to make the deliberations more rapid, he had been disposed to +discuss that preliminary question in secret. "But now," said he to +Richardot, "as the affair had been too much divulged, as well by diverse +reports and writings sown about, very inopportunely, as by the arrival of +M. Van Werne, I have not found it practicable to set out upon my road, +without communication with the members of the government. This has been +done, however, not in the way of consultation, but as the announcement of +a thing already resolved upon." + +He proceeded to state, that great difficulties had arisen, exactly as he +had foreseen. The magistrates would not hear of a general accord, and it +was therefore necessary that a delay should be interposed before it would +be possible for him to come. He begged Richardot to persuade Alexander, +that he was not trifling with him. "It is not," said he, "from lightness, +or any other passion, that I am retarding this affair. I will do all in +my power to obtain leave to make a journey to the camp of his Highness, +at whatever price it may cost and I hope before long to arrive at my +object. If I fail, it must be ascribed to the humours of the people; for +my anxiety to restore all the Provinces to obedience to his Majesty is +extreme." + +Richardot, in reply, the next day, expressed regret, without +astonishment, on the part of Alexander and himself, at the intelligence +thus received. People had such difference of humour, he said, and all men +were not equally capable of reason. Nevertheless the citizens were warned +not to misconstrue Parma's gentleness, because he was determined to die, +with his whole army, rather than not take Antwerp. "As for the King," +said Richardot, "he will lay down all his crowns sooner than abandon this +enterprise." Van Werne was represented as free from blame, and sincerely +desirous of peace. Richardot had only stated to him, in general terms, +that letters had been received from Sainte Aldegonde, expressing an +opinion in favour of peace. As for the royalists, they were quite +innocent of the reports and writings that had so inopportunely been +circulated in the city. It was desirable, however, that the negotiation +should not too long be deferred, for otherwise Antwerp might perish, +before a general accord with Holland and Zeeland could be made. He begged +Sainte Aldegonde to banish all anxiety as to Parma's sentiments towards +himself or the community. "Put yourself, Sir, quite at your ease," said +he. "His Highness is in no respects dissatisfied with you, nor prone to +conceive any indignation against this poor people." He assured the +burgomaster that he was not suspected of lightness, nor of a wish to +delay matters, but he expressed solicitude with regard to the threatening +demonstrations which had been made against him in Antwerp. "For," said +he, "popular governments are full of a thousand hazards, and it would be +infinitely painful to me, if you should come to harm." + +Thus it would appear that it was Sainte Aldegonde who was chiefly anxious +to effect the reconciliation of Holland and Zeeland with the King. The +initiative of this project to include all the United Provinces in one +scheme with the reduction of Antwerp came originally from him, and was +opposed, at the outset, by the magistrates of that city, by the Prince of +Parma and his councillors, and, by the States of Holland and Zeeland. The +demonstrations on the part of the preachers, the municipal authorities, +and the burghers, against Sainte Aldegonde and his plan for a secret +interview, so soon as it was divulged, made it impossible to carry that +project into effect. + +"Aldegonde, who governs Antwerp," wrote Parma to Philip, "was +endeavouring, eight days ago, to bring about some kind of negotiation for +an accord. He manifested a desire to come hither for the sake of a +personal interview with me, which I permitted. It was to have taken place +last Sunday, 16th of this month, but by reason of a certain popular +tumult, which arose out of these circumstances, it has been necessary to +defer the meeting." + +There was much disappointment felt by the royalist at this unsatisfactory +result. "These bravadoes and impertinent demonstrations on the part of +some of your people," wrote Richardot, ten days later, "will be the +destruction of the whole country, and will convert the Prince's +gentleness into anger. 'Tis these good and zealous patriots, trusting to +a little favourable breeze that blew for a few days past, who have been +the cause of all this disturbance, and who are ruining their miserable +country--miserable, I say, for having produced such abortions as +themselves." + +Notwithstanding what had passed, however, Richardot intimated that +Alexander was still ready to negotiate. "And if you, Sir," he concluded, +in his letter to Aldegonde, "concerning whom many of our friends have at +present a sinister opinion, as if your object was to circumvent us, are +willing to proceed roundly and frankly, as I myself firmly believe that +you will do, we may yet hope for a favourable issue." + +Thus the burgomaster was already the object of suspicion to both parties. +The Antwerpers denounced him as having been purchased by Spanish gold; +the royalists accused him of intending to overreach the King. It was not +probable therefore that all were correct in their conjectures. + +At last it was arranged that deputies should be appointed by the broad +council to commence a negotiation with Parma. Sainte Aldegonde informed +Richardot, that he would (5th July, 1585) accompany them, if his affairs +should permit. He protested his sincerity and frankness throughout the +whole affair. "They try to calumniate me," he said, "as much on one side +as on the other, but I will overcome by my innocence all the malice of my +slanderers. If his Highness should be pleased to grant us some liberty +for our religion, I dare to promise such faithful service as will give +very great satisfaction." + +Four days later, Sainte Aldegonde himself, together with M. de Duffel, M. +de Schoonhoven, and Adrian Hesselt, came to Parma's camp at Beveren, as +deputies on the part of the Antwerp authorities. They were courteously +received by the Prince, and remained three days as his guests. During the +period of this visit, the terms of a capitulation were thoroughly +discussed, between Alexander and his councillors upon one part, and the +four deputies on the other. The envoys endeavoured, with all the +arguments at their command, to obtain the consent of the Prince to three +preliminary points which they laid down as indispensable. Religious +liberty must be granted, the citadel must not be reconstructed, a foreign +garrison must not be admitted; they said. As it was the firm intention of +the King, however, not to make the slightest concession on any one of +these points, the discussion was not a very profitable one. Besides the +public interviews at which all the negotiators were present, there was a +private conference between Parma and Sainte Aldegonde which lasted more +than four hours, in which each did his best to enforce his opinions upon +the other. The burgomaster endeavoured to persuade the Prince with all +the eloquence for which he was so renowned, that the hearts not of the +Antwerpers only, but of the Hollanders and Zeelanders, were easily to be +won at that moment. Give them religious liberty, and attempt to govern +them by gentleness rather than by Spanish garrisons, and the road was +plain to a complete reconciliation of all the Provinces with his Majesty. + +Alexander, who knew his master to be inexorable upon these three points, +was courteous but peremptory in his statements. He recommended that the +rebels should take into consideration their own declining strength, the +inexhaustible resources of the King, the impossibility of obtaining +succour from France, and the perplexing dilatoriness of England, rather +than waste their time in idle expectations of a change in the Spanish +policy. He also intimated, obliquely but very plainly, to Sainte +Aldegonde, that his own fortune would be made, and that he had everything +to hope from his Majesty's bounty, if he were now willing to make himself +useful in carrying into effect the royal plans. + +The Prince urged these views with so much eloquence, that he seemed, in +his own words, to have been directly inspired by the Lord for this +special occasion! Sainte Aldegonde, too, was signally impressed by +Alexander's language, and thoroughly fascinated-magnetized, as it +were--by his character. He subsequently declared, that he had often +conversed familiarly with many eloquent personages, but that he had never +known a man more powerful or persuasive than the Prince of Parma. He +could honestly say of him--as Hasdrubal had said of Scipio--that Farnese +was even more admirable when seen face to face, than he had seemed when +one only heard of his glorious achievements. + +"The burgomaster and three deputies," wrote Parma to Philip, "were here +until the 12th July. We discussed (30th July, 1585) the points and form +of a capitulation, and they have gone back thoroughly satisfied. Sainte +Aldegonde especially was much pleased with the long interview which he +had with me, alone, and which lasted more than three hours. I told him, +as well as my weakness and suffering from the tertian fever permitted, +all that God inspired me to say on our behalf." + +Nevertheless, if Sainte Aldegonde and his colleagues went away thoroughly +satisfied, they had reason, soon after their return, to become thoroughly +dejected. The magistrates and burghers would not listen to a proposition +to abandon the three points, however strongly urged to do so by arguments +drawn from the necessity of the situation, and by representations of +Parma's benignity. As for the burgomaster, he became the target for +calumny, so soon as his three hours' private interview became known; and +the citizens loudly declared that his head ought to be cut off, and sent +in a bag, as a present, to Philip, in order that the traitor might meet +the sovereign with whom he sought a reconciliation, face to face, as soon +as possible. + +The deputies, immediately after their return, made their report to the +magistrates, as likewise to the colonels and captains, and to the deans +of guilds. Next day, although it was Sunday, there was a session of the +broad council, and Sainte Aldegonde made a long address, in which--as he +stated in a letter to Richardot--he related everything that had passed in +his private conversation with Alexander. An answer was promised to Parma +on the following Tuesday, but the burgomaster spoke very discouragingly +as to the probability of an accord. + +"The joy with which our return was greeted," he said, "was followed by a +general disappointment and sadness, so soon as the result was known. The +want of a religious toleration, as well as the refusal to concede on the +other two points, has not a little altered the hearts of all, even of the +Catholics. A citadel and a garrison are considered ruin and desolation to +a great commercial city. I have done what I can to urge the acceptance of +such conditions as the Prince is willing to give, and have spoken in +general terms of his benign intentions. The citizens still desire peace. +Had his Highness been willing to take both religions under his +protection, he might have won all hearts, and very soon all the other +Provinces would have returned to their obedience, while the clemency and +magnanimity of his Majesty would thus have been rendered admirable +throughout the world." + +The power to form an accurate conception as to the nature of Philip and +of other personages with whom he was dealing, and as to the general signs +of his times, seems to have been wanting in the character of the gifted +Aldegonde. He had been dazzled by the personal presence of Parma, and he +now spoke of Philip II., as if his tyranny over the Netherlands--which +for twenty years had been one horrible and uniform whole--were the +accidental result of circumstances, not the necessary expression of his +individual character, and might be easily changed at will--as if Nero, at +a moment's warning, might transform himself into Trajan. It is true that +the innermost soul of the Spanish king could by no possibility be +displayed to any contemporary, as it reveals itself, after three +centuries, to those who study the record of his most secret thoughts; +but, at any rate, it would seem that his career had been sufficiently +consistent, to manifest the amount of "clemency and magnanimity" which he +might be expected to exercise. + +"Had his Majesty," wrote Sainte Aldegonde, "been willing, since the year +sixty-six, to pursue a course of toleration, the memory of his reign +would have been sacred to all posterity, with an immortal praise of +sapience, benignity, and sovereign felicity." + +This might be true, but nevertheless a tolerating Philip, in the year +1585, ought to have seemed to Sainte Aldegonde an impossible idea. + +"The emperors," continued the burgomaster, "who immediately succeeded +Tiberius were the cause of the wisdom which displayed itself in the good +Trajan--also a Spaniard--and in Antoninus, Verus, and the rest: If you +think that this city, by the banishment of a certain number of persons, +will be content to abandon the profession of the reformed faith, you are +much mistaken. You will see, with time, that the exile of this religion +will be accompanied by a depopulation and a sorrowful ruin and desolation +of this flourishing city. But this will be as it pleases God. Meantime I +shall not fail to make all possible exertions to induce the citizens to +consent to a reconciliation with his Majesty. The broad council will soon +give their answer, and then we shall send a deputation. We shall invite +Holland and Zeeland to join with us, but there is little hope of their +consent." + +Certainly there was little hope of their consent. Sainte Aldegonde was +now occupied in bringing about the capitulation of Antwerp, without any +provision for religious liberty--a concession which Parma had most +distinctly refused--and it was not probable that Holland and Zeeland, +after twenty years of hard fighting, and with an immediate prospect of +assistance from England--could now be induced to resign the great object +of the contest without further struggle. + +It was not until a month had elapsed that the authorities of Antwerp sent +their propositions to the Prince of Parma. On the 12th August, however, +Sainte Aldegonde, accompanied by the same three gentlemen who had been +employed on the first mission, and by seventeen others besides, proceeded +with safe-conduct to the camp at Beveren. Here they were received with +great urbanity, and hospitably entertained by Alexander, who received +their formal draft of articles for a capitulation, and referred it to be +reported upon to Richardot, Pamel, and Vanden Burgh. Meantime there were +many long speeches and several conferences, sometimes between all the +twenty-one envoys and the Prince together; on other occasions, more +secret ones, at which only Aldegonde and one or two of his colleagues +were present. It had been obvious, from the date of the first interview, +in the preceding month, that the negotiation would be of no avail until +the government of Antwerp was prepared to abandon all the conditions +which they had originally announced as indispensable. Alexander had not +much disposition and no authority whatever to make concessions. + +"So far as I can understand," Parma had written on the 30th July, "they +are very far from a conclusion. They have most exorbitant ideas, talking +of some kind of liberty of conscience, besides refusing on any account to +accept of garrisons, and having many reasons to allege on such subjects." + +The discussions, therefore, after the deputies had at last arrived, +though courteously conducted, could scarcely be satisfactory to both +parties. "The articles were thoroughly deliberated upon," wrote +Alexander, "by all the deputies, nor did I fail to have private +conferences with Aldegonde, that most skilful and practised lawyer and +politician, as well as with two or three of the others. I did all in my +power to bring them to a thorough recognition of their errors, and to +produce a confidence in his Majesty's clemency, in order that they might +concede what was needful for the interests of the Catholic religion and +the security of the city. They heard all I had to say without +exasperating themselves, and without interposing any strong objections, +except in the matter of religion, and, still more, in the matter of the +citadel and the garrison. Aldegonde took much pains to persuade me that +it would be ruinous for a great, opulent, commercial city to submit to a +foreign military force. Even if compelled by necessity to submit now, the +inhabitants would soon be compelled by the same necessity to abandon the +place entirely, and to leave in ruins one of the most splendid and +powerful cities in the world, and in this opinion Catholics and heretics +unanimously concurred. The deputies protested, with one accord, that so +pernicious and abominable a thing as a citadel and garrison could not +even be proposed to their constituents. I answered, that, so long as the +rebellion of Holland and Zeeland lasted, it would be necessary for your +Majesty to make sure of Antwerp, by one or the other of those means, but +promised that the city should be relieved of the incumbrance so soon as +those islands should be reduced. + +"Sainte Aldegonde was not discouraged by this statement, but in the hope +of convincing others, or with the wish of showing that he had tried his +best, desired that I would hear him before the council of state. I +granted the request, and Sainte Aldegonde then made another long and very +elegant oration, intended to divert me from my resolution." + +It must be confessed--if the reports, which have come down to us of that +long and elegant oration be correct--that the enthusiasm of the +burgomaster for Alexander was rapidly degenerating into idolatry. + +"We are not here, O invincible Prince," he said, "that we may excuse, by +an anxious legation, the long defence which we have made of our homes. +Who could have feared any danger to the most powerful city in the +Netherlands from so moderate a besieging force? You would yourself have +rather wished for, than approved of, a greater facility on our part, for +the brave cannot love the timid. We knew the number of your troops, we +had discovered the famine in your camp, we were aware of the paucity of +your ships, we had heard of the quarrels in your army, we were expecting +daily to hear of a general mutiny among your soldiers. Were we to believe +that with ten or eleven thousand men you would be able to block up the +city by land and water, to reduce the open country of Brabant, to cut off +all aid as well from the neighbouring towns as from the powerful +provinces of Holland and Zeeland, to oppose, without a navy, the whole +strength of our fleets, directed against the dyke? Truly, if you had been +at the head of fifty thousand soldiers, and every soldier had possessed +one hundred hands, it would have seemed impossible for you to meet so +many emergencies in so many places, and under so many distractions. What +you have done we now believe possible to do, only because we see that it +has been done. You have subjugated the Scheldt, and forced it to bear its +bridge, notwithstanding the strength of its current, the fury of the +ocean-tides, the tremendous power of the icebergs, the perpetual +conflicts with our fleets. We destroyed your bridge, with great slaughter +of your troops. Rendered more courageous by that slaughter, you restored +that mighty work. We assaulted the great dyke, pierced it through and +through, and opened a path for our ships. You drove us off when victors, +repaired the ruined bulwark, and again closed to us the avenue of relief. +What machine was there that we did not employ? what miracles of fire did +we not invent? what fleets and floating citadels did we not put in +motion? All that genius, audacity, and art, could teach us we have +executed, calling to our assistance water, earth, heaven, and hell +itself. Yet with all these efforts, with all this enginry, we have not +only failed to drive you from our walls, but we have seen you gaining +victories over other cities at the same time. You have done a thing, O +Prince, than which there is nothing greater either in ancient or modern +story. It has often occurred, while a general was besieging one city that +he lost another situate farther off. But you, while besieging Antwerp, +have reduced simultaneously Dendermonde, Ghent, Nymegen, Brussels, and +Mechlin." + +All this, and much more, with florid rhetoric, the burgomaster pronounced +in honour of Farnese, and the eulogy was entirely deserved. It was hardly +becoming, however, for such lips, at such a moment, to sound the praise +of him whose victory had just decided the downfall of religious liberty, +and of the national independence of the Netherlands. His colleagues +certainly must have winced, as they listened to commendations so lavishly +bestowed upon the representative of Philip, and it is not surprising that +Sainte Aldegonde's growing unpopularity should, from that hour, have +rapidly increased. To abandon the whole object of the siege, when +resistance seemed hopeless, was perhaps pardonable, but to offer such +lip-homage to the conqueror was surely transgressing the bounds of +decorum. + +His conclusion, too, might to Alexander seem as insolent as the whole +tenor of his address had been humble; for, after pronouncing this solemn +eulogy upon the conqueror, he calmly proposed that the prize of the +contest should be transferred to the conquered. + +"So long as liberty of religion, and immunity from citadel and garrison +can be relied upon," he said, "so long will Antwerp remain the most +splendid and flourishing city in Christendom; but desolation will ensue +if the contrary policy is to prevail." + +But it was very certain that liberty of religion, as well as immunity +from citadel and garrison, were quite out of the question. Philip and +Parma had long been inexorably resolved upon all the three points. + +"After the burgomaster had finished his oration," wrote Alexander to his +sovereign, "I discussed the matter with him in private, very distinctly +and minutely." + +The religious point was soon given up, Sainte Aldegonde finding it waste +of breath to say anything more about freedom of conscience. A suggestion +was however made on the subject of the garrison, which the prince +accepted, because it contained a condition which it would be easy to +evade. + +"Aldegonde proposed," said Parma, "that a garrison might be admissible if +I made my entrance into the city merely with infantry and cavalry of +nations which were acceptable--Walloons, namely, and Germans--and in no +greater numbers than sufficient for a body-guard. I accepted, because, in +substance, this would amount to a garrison, and because, also, after the +magistrates shall have been changed, I shall have no difficulty in making +myself master of the people, continuing the garrison, and rebuilding the +citadel." + +The Prince proceeded to give his reasons why he was willing to accept the +capitulation on what he considered so favourable terms to the besieged. +Autumn was approaching. Already the fury of the storms had driven vessels +clean over the dykes; the rebels in Holland and Zeeland were preparing +their fleets--augmented by many new ships of war and fire-machines--for +another desperate attack upon the Palisades, in which there was great +possibility of their succeeding; an auxiliary force from England was soon +expected; so that, in view of all these circumstances, he had resolved to +throw himself at his Majesty's feet and implore his clemency. "If this +people of Antwerp, as the head, is gained," said he, "there will be +tranquillity in all the members." + +These reasons were certainly conclusive; nor is it easy to believe, that, +under the circumstances thus succinctly stated by Alexander, it would +have been impossible for the patriots to hold out until the promised +succour from Holland and from England should arrive. In point of fact, +the bridge could not have stood the winter which actually ensued; for it +was the repeatedly expressed opinion of the Spanish officers in Antwerp, +that the icebergs which then filled the Scheldt must inevitably have +shattered twenty bridges to fragments, had there been so many. It +certainly was superfluous for the Prince to make excuses to Philip for +accepting the proposed capitulation. All the prizes of victory had been +thoroughly secured, unless pillage, massacre, and rape, which had been +the regular accompaniments of Alva's victories, were to be reckoned among +the indispensable trophies of a Spanish triumph. + +Nevertheless, the dearth in the city had been well concealed from the +enemy; for, three days after the surrender, not a loaf of bread was to be +had for any money in all Antwerp, and Alexander declared that he would +never have granted such easy conditions had he been aware of the real +condition of affairs. + +The articles of capitulation agreed upon between Parma and the deputies +were brought before the broad council on the 9th August. There was much +opposition to them, as many magistrates and other influential personages +entertained sanguine expectations from the English negotiation, and were +beginning to rely with confidence upon the promises of Queen Elizabeth. +The debate was waxing warm, when some of the councillors, looking out of +window of the great hall, perceived that a violent mob had collected in +the streets. Furious cries for bread were uttered, and some +meagre-looking individuals were thrust forward to indicate the famine +which was prevailing, and the necessity of concluding the treaty without +further delay. Thus the municipal government was perpetually exposed to +democratic violence, excited by diametrically opposite influences. +Sometimes the burgomaster was denounced for having sold himself and his +country to the Spaniards, and was assailed with execrations for being +willing to conclude a sudden and disgraceful peace. At other moments he +was accused of forging letters containing promises of succour from the +Queen of England and from the authorities of Holland, in order to +protract the lingering tortures of the war. Upon this occasion the +peace-mob carried its point. The councillors, looking out of window, +rushed into the hall with direful accounts of the popular ferocity; the +magistrates and colonels who had been warmest in opposition suddenly +changed their tone, and the whole body of the broad council accepted the +articles of capitulation by a unanimous vote. + +The window was instantly thrown open, and the decision publicly +announced. The populace, wild with delight, rushed through the streets, +tearing down the arms of the Duke of Anjou, which had remained above the +public edifices since the period of that personage's temporary residence +in the Netherlands, and substituting, with wonderful celerity, the +escutcheon of Philip the Second. Thus suddenly could an Antwerp mob pass +from democratic insolence to intense loyalty. + +The articles, on the whole, were as liberal as could have been expected. +The only hope for Antwerp and for a great commonwealth of all the +Netherlands was in holding out, even to the last gasp, until England and +Holland, now united, had time to relieve the city. This was, +unquestionably, possible. Had Antwerp possessed the spirit of Leyden, had +William of Orange been alive, that Spanish escutcheon, now raised with +such indecent haste, might have never been seen again on the outside wall +of any Netherland edifice. Belgium would have become at once a +constituent portion of a great independent national realm, instead of +languishing until our own century, the dependency of a distant and a +foreign metropolis. Nevertheless, as the Antwerpers were not disposed to +make themselves martyrs, it was something that they escaped the nameless +horrors which had often alighted upon cities subjected to an enraged +soldiery. It redounds to the eternal honour of Alexander Farnese--when +the fate of Naarden and Haarlem and Maestricht, in the days of Alva, and +of Antwerp itself in the horrible "Spanish fury," is remembered--that +there were no scenes of violence and outrage in the populous and wealthy +city, which was at length at his mercy after having defied him so long. + +Civil and religious liberty were trampled in the dust, commerce and +manufactures were destroyed, the most valuable portion of the citizens +sent into hopeless exile, but the remaining inhabitants were not +butchered in cold blood. + +The treaty was signed on the 17th August. Antwerp was to return to its +obedience. There was to be an entire amnesty and oblivion for the past, +without a single exception. Royalist absentees were to be reinstated in +their possessions. Monasteries, churches, and the King's domains were to +be restored to their former proprietors. The inhabitants of the city were +to practise nothing but the Catholic religion. Those who refused to +conform were allowed to remain two years for the purpose of winding up +their affairs and selling out their property, provided that during that +period they lived "without scandal towards the ancient religion"--a very +vague and unsatisfactory condition. All prisoners were to be released +excepting Teligny. Four hundred thousand florins were to be paid by the +authorities as a fine. The patriot garrison was to leave the city with +arms and baggage and all the honours of war. + +This capitulation gave more satisfaction to the hungry portion of the +Antwerpers than to the patriot party of the Netherlands. Sainte Aldegonde +was vehemently and unsparingly denounced as a venal traitor. It is +certain, whatever his motives, that his attitude had completely changed. +For it was not Antwerp alone that he had reconciled or was endeavouring +to reconcile with the King of Spain, but Holland and Zeeland as well, and +all the other independent Provinces. The ancient champion of the patriot +army, the earliest signer of the 'Compromise,' the bosom friend of +William the Silent, the author of the 'Wilhelmus' national song, now +avowed his conviction, in a published defence of his conduct against the +calumnious attacks upon it, "that it was impossible, with a clear +conscience, for subjects, under any circumstances, to take up arms +against Philip, their king." Certainly if he had always entertained that +opinion he must have suffered many pangs of remorse during his twenty +years of active and illustrious rebellion. He now made himself secretly +active in promoting the schemes of Parma and in counteracting the +negotiation with England. He flattered himself, with an infatuation which +it is difficult to comprehend, that it would be possible to obtain +religious liberty for the revolting Provinces, although he had consented +to its sacrifice in Antwerp. It is true that he had not the privilege of +reading Philip's secret letters to Parma, but what was there in the +character of the King--what intimation had ever been given by the +Governor-General--to induce a belief in even the possibility of such a +concession? + +Whatever Sainte Aldegonde's opinions, it is certain that Philip had no +intention of changing his own policy. He at first suspected the +burgomaster of a wish to protract the negotiations for a perfidious +purpose. + +"Necessity has forced Antwerp," he wrote on the 17th of August--the very +day on which the capitulation was actually signed--"to enter into +negotiation. I understand the artifice of Aldegonde in seeking to prolong +and make difficult the whole affair, under pretext of treating for the +reduction of Holland and Zeeland at the same time. It was therefore very +adroit in you to defeat this joint scheme at once, and urge the Antwerp +matter by itself, at the same time not shutting the door on the others. +With the prudence and dexterity with which this business has thus far +been managed I am thoroughly satisfied." + +The King also expressed his gratification at hearing from Parma that the +demand for religious liberty in the Netherlands would soon be abandoned. + +"In spite of the vehemence," he said, "which they manifest in the +religious matter, desiring some kind of liberty, they will in the end, as +you say they will, content themselves with what the other cities, which +have returned to obedience, have obtained. This must be done in all cases +without flinching, and without permitting any modification." + +What "had been obtained" by Brussels, Mechlin, Ghent, was well known. The +heretics had obtained the choice of renouncing their religion or of going +into perpetual exile, and this was to be the case "without flinching" in +Holland and Zeeland, if those provinces chose to return to obedience. Yet +Sainte Aldegonde deluded himself with the thought of a religious peace. + +In another and very important letter of the same date Philip laid down +his policy very distinctly. The Prince of Parma, by no means such a bigot +as his master, had hinted at the possibility of tolerating the reformed +religion in the places recovered from the rebels, sub silentio, for a +period not defined, and long enough for the heretics to awake from their +errors. + +"You have got an expression of opinion, I see," wrote the King to +Alexander, "of some grave men of wisdom and conscience, that the +limitation of time, during which the heretics may live without scandal, +may be left undefined; but I feel very keenly the danger of such a +proposition. With regard to Holland and Zeeland, or any other provinces +or towns, the first step must be for them to receive and maintain alone +the exercise of the Catholic religion, and to subject themselves to the +Roman church, without tolerating the exercise of any other religion, in +city, village, farm-house, or building thereto destined in the fields, or +in any place whatsoever; and in this regulation there is to be no flaw, +no change, no concession by convention or otherwise of a religious peace, +or anything of the sort. They are all to embrace the Roman Catholic +religion, and the exercise of that is alone to be permitted." + +This certainly was distinct enough, and nothing had been ever said in +public to induce a belief in any modification of the principles on which +Philip had uniformly acted. That monarch considered himself born to +suppress heresy, and he had certainly been carrying out this work during +his whole lifetime. + +The King was willing, however, as Alexander had intimated in his +negotiations with Antwerp, and previously in the capitulation of +Brussels, Ghent, and other places, that there should be an absence of +investigation into the private chambers of the heretics, during the +period allotted them for choosing between the Papacy and exile. + +"It may be permitted," said Philip, "to abstain from inquiring as to what +the heretics are doing within their own doors, in a private way, without +scandal, or any public exhibition of their rites during a fixed time. But +this connivance, and the abstaining from executing the heretics, or from +chastising them, even although they may be living very circumspectly, is +to be expressed in very vague terms." + +Being most anxious to provide against a second crop of heretics to +succeed the first, which he was determined to uproot, he took pains to +enjoin with his own hand upon Parma the necessity of putting in Catholic +schoolmasters and mistresses to the exclusion of reformed teachers into +all the seminaries of the recovered Provinces, in order that all the boys +and girls might grow up in thorough orthodoxy. + +Yet this was the man from whom Sainte Aldegonde imagined the possibility +of obtaining a religious peace. + +Ten days after the capitulation, Parma made his triumphal entrance into +Antwerp; but, according to his agreement, he spared the citizens the +presence of the Spanish and Italian soldiers, the military procession +being composed of the Germans and Walloons. Escorted by his body-guard, +and surrounded by a knot of magnates and veterans, among whom the Duke of +Arschot, the Prince of Chimay, the Counts Mansfeld, Egmont, and Aremberg, +were conspicuous, Alexander proceeded towards the captured city. He was +met at the Keyser Gate by a triumphal chariot of gorgeous workmanship, in +which sat the fair nymph Antwerpia, magnificently bedizened, and +accompanied by a group of beautiful maidens. Antwerpia welcomed the +conqueror with a kiss, recited a poem in his honour, and bestowed upon +him the keys of the city, one of which was in gold. This the Prince +immediately fastened to the chain around his neck, from which was +suspended the lamb of the golden fleece, with which order he had just +been, amid great pomp and ceremony, invested. + +On the public square called the Mere, the Genoese merchants had erected +two rostral columns, each surmounted by a colossal image, representing +respectively Alexander of Macedon and Alexander of Parma. Before the +house of Portugal was an enormous phoenix, expanding her wings quite +across the street; while, in other parts of the town, the procession was +met by ships of war, elephants, dromedaries, whales, dragons, and other +triumphal phenomena. In the market-place were seven statues in copper, +personifying the seven planets, together with an eighth representing +Bacchus; and perhaps there were good mythological reasons why the god of +wine, together with so large a portion of our solar system, should be +done in copper by Jacob Jongeling, to honour the triumph of Alexander, +although the key to the enigma has been lost. + +The cathedral had been thoroughly fumigated with frankincense, and +besprinkled with holy water, to purify the sacred precincts from their +recent pollution by the reformed rites; and the Protestant pulpits which +had been placed there, had been soundly beaten with rods, and then burned +to ashes. The procession entered within its walls, where a magnificent Te +Deum was performed, and then, after much cannon-firing, bell-ringing, +torch-light exhibition, and other pyrotechnics, the Prince made his way +at last to the palace provided for him. The glittering display, by which +the royalists celebrated their triumph, lasted three days' long, the city +being thronged from all the country round with eager and frivolous +spectators, who were never wearied with examining the wonders of the +bridge and the forts, and with gazing at the tragic memorials which still +remained of the fight on the Kowenstyn. + +During this interval, the Spanish and Italian soldiery, not willing to be +outdone in demonstrations of respect to their chief, nor defrauded of +their rightful claim to a holiday amused themselves with preparing a +demonstration of a novel character. The bridge, which, as it was well +known, was to be destroyed within a very few days, was adorned with +triumphal arches, and decked with trees and flowering plants; its roadway +was strewed with branches; and the palisades, parapets, and forts, were +garnished with wreaths, emblems, and poetical inscriptions in honour of +the Prince. The soldiers themselves, attired in verdurous garments of +foliage and flower-work, their swart faces adorned with roses and lilies, +paraded the bridge and the dyke in fantastic procession with clash of +cymbal and flourish of trumpet, dancing, singing, and discharging their +carbines, in all the delirium of triumph. Nor was a suitable termination +to the festival wanting, for Alexander, pleased with the genial character +of these demonstrations, repaired himself to the bridge, where he was +received with shouts of rapture by his army, thus whimsically converted +into a horde of fauns and satyrs. Afterwards, a magnificent banquet was +served to the soldiers upon the bridge. The whole extent of its surface, +from the Flemish to the Brabant shore--the scene so lately of deadly +combat, and of the midnight havoc caused by infernal enginery--was +changed, as if by the stroke of a wand, into a picture of sylvan and +Arcadian merry-making, and spread with tables laden with delicate viands. +Here sat that host of war--bronzed figures, banqueting at their ease, +their heads crowned with flowers, while the highest magnates of the army, +humouring them in their masquerade, served them with dainties, and filled +their goblets with wine. + +After these festivities had been concluded, Parma set himself to +practical business. There had been a great opposition, during the +discussion of the articles of capitulation to the reconstruction of the +famous citadel. That fortress had been always considered, not as a +defence of the place against a foreign enemy, but as an instrument to +curb the burghers themselves beneath a hostile power. The city +magistrates, however, as well as the dean and chief officers in all the +guilds and fraternities, were at once changed by Parma--Catholics being +uniformly substituted for heretics. In consequence, it was not difficult +to bring about a change of opinion in the broad council. It is true that +neither Papists nor Calvinists regarded with much satisfaction the +prospect of military violence being substituted for civic rule, but in +the first effusion of loyalty, and in the triumph of the ancient +religion, they forgot the absolute ruin to which their own action was now +condemning their city. Champagny, who had once covered himself with glory +by his heroic though unsuccessful efforts to save Antwerp from the +dreadful "Spanish fury" which had descended from that very citadel, was +now appointed governor of the town, and devoted himself to the +reconstruction of the hated fortress. "Champagny has particularly aided +me," wrote Parma, "with his rhetoric and clever management, and has +brought the broad council itself to propose that the citadel should be +rebuilt. It will therefore be done, as by the burghers themselves, +without your Majesty or myself appearing to desire it." + +This was, in truth, a triumph of "rhetoric and clever management," nor +could a city well abase itself more completely, kneeling thus cheerfully +at its conqueror's feet, and requesting permission to put the yoke upon +its own neck. "The erection of the castle has thus been determined upon," +said Parma, "and I am supposed to know nothing of the resolution." + +A little later he observed that they, were "working away most furiously +at the citadel, and that within a month it would be stronger than it ever +had been before." + +The building went on, indeed, with astonishing celerity, the fortress +rising out of its ruins almost as rapidly, under the hands of the +royalists, as it had been demolished, but a few years before, by the +patriots. The old foundations still remained, and blocks of houses, which +had been constructed out of its ruins, were thrown down that the +materials might be again employed in its restoration. + +The citizens, impoverished and wretched, humbly demanded that the expense +of building the citadel might be in part defrayed by the four hundred +thousand florins in which they had been mulcted by the capitulation. "I +don't marvel at this," said Parma, "for certainly the poor city is most +forlorn and poverty-stricken, the heretics having all left it." It was +not long before it was very satisfactorily established, that the presence +of those same heretics and liberty of conscience for all men, were +indispensable conditions for the prosperity of the great capital. Its +downfall was instantaneous. The merchants and industrious artisans all +wandered away from the place which had been the seat of a world-wide +traffic. Civilisation and commerce departed, and in their stead were the +citadel and the Jesuits. By express command of Philip, that order, +banished so recently, was reinstated in Antwerp, as well as throughout +the obedient provinces; and all the schools and colleges were placed +under its especial care. No children could be thenceforth instructed +except by the lips of those fathers. Here was a curb more efficacious +even than the citadel. That fortress was at first garrisoned with +Walloons and Germans. "I have not yet induced the citizens," said Parma, +"to accept a Spanish garrison, nor am I surprised; so many of them +remembering past events (alluding to the 'Spanish fury,' but not +mentioning it by name), and observing the frequent mutinies at the +present time. Before long, I expect, however, to make the Spaniards as +acceptable and agreeable as the inhabitants of the country themselves." + +It may easily be supposed that Philip was pleased with the triumphs that +had thus been achieved. He was even grateful, or affected to be grateful, +to him who had achieved them. He awarded great praise to Alexander for +his exertions, on the memorable occasions of the attack upon the bridge, +and the battle of the Kowenstyn; but censured him affectionately for so +rashly exposing his life. "I have no words," he said, "to render the +thanks which are merited for all that you have been doing. I recommend +you earnestly however to have a care for the security of your person, for +that is of more consequence than all the rest." + +After the news of the reduction of the city, he again expressed +gratification, but in rather cold language. "From such obstinate people," +said he, "not more could be extracted than has been extracted; therefore +the capitulation is satisfactory." What more he wished to extract it +would be difficult to say, for certainly the marrow had been extracted +from the bones, and the dead city was thenceforth left to moulder under +the blight of a foreign garrison and an army of Jesuits. "Perhaps +religious affairs will improve before long," said Philip. They did +improve very soon, as he understood the meaning of improvement. A +solitude of religion soon brought with it a solitude in every other +regard, and Antwerp became a desert, as Sainte Aldegonde had foretold +would be the case. + +The King had been by no means so calm, however, when the intelligence of +the capitulation first reached him at Madrid. On the contrary, his oldest +courtiers had never seen him exhibit such marks of hilarity. + +When he first heard of the glorious victory at Lepanto, his countenance +had remained impassive, and he had continued in the chapel at the +devotional exercises which the messenger from Don John had interrupted. +Only when the news of the Massacre of St. Bartholomew first reached him, +had he displayed an amount of cheerfulness equal to that which he +manifested at the fall of Antwerp. "Never," said Granvelle, "had the King +been so radiant with joy as when he held in his hand the despatches which +announced the capitulation." The letters were brought to him after he had +retired to rest, but his delight was so great that he could not remain in +his bed. Rushing from his chamber, so soon as he had read them, to that +of his dearly-beloved daughter, Clara Isabella, he knocked loudly at the +door, and screaming through the keyhole the three words, "Antwerp is +ours," returned precipitately again to his own apartment. + +It was the general opinion in Spain, that the capture of this city had +terminated the resistance of the Netherlands. Holland and Zeeland would, +it was thought, accept with very little hesitation the terms which Parma +had been offering, through the agency of Sainte Aldegonde; and, with the +reduction of those two provinces, the Spanish dominion over the whole +country would of course become absolute. Secretary Idiaquez observed, on +drawing up instructions for Carlo Coloma, a Spanish financier then +departing on special mission for the Provinces, that he would soon come +back to Spain, for the Prince of Parma was just putting an end to the +whole Belgic war. + +Time was to show whether Holland and Zeeland were as malleable as +Antwerp, and whether there would not be a battle or two more to fight +before that Belgic war would come to its end. Meantime Antwerp was +securely fettered, while the spirit of commerce--to which its unexampled +prosperity had been due--now took its flight to the lands where civil and +religious liberty had found a home. + + ===================================== + +NOTE on MARNIX DE SAINTE ALDEGONDE. + +As every illustration of the career and character of this eminent +personage excites constant interest in the Netherlands, I have here +thrown together, in the form of an Appendix, many important and entirely +unpublished details, drawn mainly from the Archives of Simancas, and from +the State Paper Office and British Museum in London. + +The ex-burgomaster seemed determined to counteract the policy of those +Netherlanders who wished to offer the sovereignty of the Provinces to the +English Queen. He had been earnestly in favour of annexation to France, +for his sympathies and feelings were eminently French. He had never been +a friend to England, and he was soon aware that a strong feeling of +indignation--whether just or unjust--existed against him both in that +country and in the Netherlands, on account of the surrender of Antwerp. + +"I have had large conference with Villiers," wrote Sir John Norris to +Walsingham, "he condemneth Ste. Aldegonde's doings, but will impute it to +fear and not to malice. Ste. Aldegonde, notwithstanding that he was +forbidden to come to Holland, and laid for at the fleet, yet stole +secretly to Dort, where they say he is staid, but I doubt he will be +heard speak, and then assuredly he will do great hurt." + +It was most certainly Sainte Aldegonde's determination, so soon as the +capitulation of Antwerp had been resolved upon, to do his utmost to +restore all the independent Provinces to their ancient allegiance. Rather +Spanish than English was his settled resolution. Liberty of religion, if +possible--that was his cherished wish--but still more ardently, perhaps, +did he desire to prevent the country from falling into the hands of +Elizabeth. + +"The Prince of Parma hath conceived such an assured hope of the fidelity +of Aldegonde," wrote one of Walsingham's agents, Richard Tomson, "in +reducing the Provinces, yet enemies, into a perfect subjection, that the +Spaniards are so well persuaded of the man as if he had never been +against them. They say, about the middle of this month, he departed for +Zeeland and Holland, to prosecute the effect of his promises, and I am +the more induced to believe that he is become altogether Spanish, for +that the common bruit goeth that he hastened the surrendering of the town +of Antwerp, after he had intelligence of the coming of the English +succours." + +There was naturally much indignation felt in the independent Provinces, +against all who had been thought instrumental in bringing about the +reduction of the great cities of Flanders. Famars, governor of Mechlin, +Van den Tympel, governor of Brussels, Martini, who had been active in +effecting the capitulation of Antwerp, were all arrested in Holland. +"From all that I can hear," said Parma, "it is likely that they will be +very severely handled, which is the reason why Ste. Aldegonde, although +he sent his wife and children to Holland, has not ventured thither +himself: It appears that they threaten him there, but he means now to go, +under pretext of demanding to justify himself from the imputations +against him. Although he tells me freely that, without some amplification +of the concessions hitherto made on the point of religion, he hopes for +no good result, yet I trust that he will do good offices in the meantime, +in spite of the difficulties which obstruct his efforts. On my part, +every exertion will be made, and not without hope of some fruit, if not +before, at least after, these people have become as tired of the English +as they were of the French." + +Of this mutual ill-feeling between the English and the burgomaster, there +can be no doubt whatever. The Queen's government was fully aware of his +efforts to counteract its negotiation with the Netherlands, and to bring +about their reconciliation with Spain. When the Earl of Leicester--as +will soon be related--arrived in the Provinces, he was not long in +comprehending his attitude and his influence. + +"I wrote somewhat of Sir Aldegonde in putting his case," wrote Leicester, +"but this is certain, I have the copy of his very letters sent hither to +practise the peace not two days before I came, and this day one hath told +me that loves him well, that he hates our countrymen unrecoverably. I am +sorry for it." + +On the other hand, the Queen was very indignant with the man whom she +looked upon as the paid agent of Spain. She considered him a renegade, +the more dangerous because his previous services had been so illustrious. +"Her Majesty's mislike towards Ste. Aldegonde continueth," wrote +Walsingham to Leicester, "and she taketh offence that he was not +restrained of his liberty by your Lordship's order." It is unquestionable +that the exburgomaster intended to do his best towards effecting the +reconciliation of all the Provinces with Spain; and it is equally certain +that the King had offered to pay him well, if he proved successful in his +endeavours. There is no proof, however, and no probability that Sainte +Aldegonde ever accepted or ever intended to accept the proffered bribe. +On the contrary, his whole recorded career ought to disprove the +supposition. Yet it is painful, to find him, at this crisis, assiduous in +his attempts to undo the great work of his own life, and still more +distressing to find that great rewards were distinctly offered to him for +such service. Immense promises had been frequently made no doubt to +William the Silent; nor could any public man, in such times, be so pure +that an attempt to tamper with him might not be made: but when the +personage, thus solicited, was evidently acting in the interests of the +tempters, it is not surprising that he should become the object of grave +suspicion. + +"It does not seem to me bad," wrote Philip to Parma, "this negotiation +which you have commenced with Ste. Aldegonde, in order to gain him, and +thus to employ his services in bringing about a reduction of the islands +(Holland and Zeeland). In exchange for this work, any thing which you +think proper to offer to him as a reward, will be capital well invested; +but it must not be given until the job is done." + +But the job was hard to do, and Sainte Aldegonde cared nothing for the +offered bribe. He was, however, most strangely confident of being able to +overcome, on the one hand, the opposition of Holland and Zeeland to the +hated authority of Spain, and, on the other, the intense abhorrence +entertained by Philip to liberty of conscience. + +Soon after the capitulation, he applied for a passport to visit those two +Provinces. Permission to come was refused him. Honest men from Antwerp, +he was informed, would be always welcome, but there was no room for him. +There was, however--or Parma persuaded himself that there was--a +considerable party in those countries in favour of reconciliation with +Spain. If the ex-burgomaster could gain a hearing, it was thought +probable that his eloquence would prove very effective. + +"We have been making efforts to bring about negotiations with Holland and +Zeeland," wrote Alexander to Philip. "Gelderland and Overyssel likewise +show signs of good disposition, but I have not soldiers enough to animate +the good and terrify the bad. As for Holland and Zeeland, there is a +strong inclination on the part of the people to a reconciliation, if some +concession could be made on the religious question, but the governors +oppose it, because they are perverse, and are relying on assistance from +England. Could this religious concession be made, an arrangement could, +without doubt, be accomplished, and more quickly than people think. +Nevertheless, in such a delicate matter, I am obliged to await your +Majesty's exact instructions and ultimatum." + +He then proceeded to define exactly the position and intentions of the +burgomaster. + +"The government of Holland and Zeeland," he said, "have refused a +passport to Ste. Aldegonde, and express dissatisfaction with him for +having surrendered Antwerp so soon. They know that he has much credit +with the people and with the ministers of the sects, and they are in much +fear of him because he is inclined for peace, which is against their +interests. They are, therefore, endeavouring to counteract my +negotiations with him. These have been, thus far, only in general terms. +I have sought to induce him to perform the offices required, without +giving him reason to expect any concession as to the exercise of +religion. He persuades himself that, in the end, there will be some +satisfaction obtained upon this point, and, under this impression he +considers the peace as good as concluded, there remaining no doubt as to +other matters. He has sent his wife to Zeeland, and is himself going to +Germany, where, as he says, he will do all the good service that he can. +He hopes that very shortly the Provinces will not only invite, but +implore him to come to them; in which case, he promises me to perform +miracles." + +Alexander then proceeded to pay a distinct tribute to Sainte Aldegonde's +motives; and, when it is remembered that the statement thus made is +contained in a secret despatch, in cipher, to the King, it may be assumed +to convey the sincere opinion of the man most qualified to judge +correctly as to this calumniated person's character. + +"Ste. Aldegonde offers me wonders," he said, "and I have promised him +that he shall be recompensed very largely; yet, although he is poor, I do +not find him influenced by mercenary or selfish considerations, but only +very set in opinions regarding his religion." + +The Prince had however no doubt of Sainte Aldegonde's sincerity, for +sincerity was a leading characteristic of the man. His word, once given, +was sacred, and he had given his word to do his best towards effecting a +reconciliation of the Provinces with Spain, and frustrating the efforts +of England. "Through the agency of Ste. Aldegonde and that of others" +wrote Parma, "I shall watch, day and night, to bring about a reduction of +Holland and Zeeland, if humanly possible. I am quite persuaded that they +will soon be sick of the English, who are now arriving, broken down, +without arms or money, and obviously incapable of holding out very long. +Doubtless, however, this English alliance, and the determination of the +Queen to do her utmost against us, complicates matters, and assists the +government of Holland and Zeeland in opposing the inclinations of their +people." + +Nothing ever came of these intended negotiations. The miracles were never +wrought, and even had Sainte Aldegonde been as venal as he was suspected +of being--which we have thus proof positive that he was not--he never +could have obtained the recompense, which, according to Philip's thrifty +policy, was not to be paid until it had been earned. Sainte Aldegonde's +hands were clean. It is pity that we cannot render the same tribute to +his political consistency of character. It is also certain that he +remained--not without reason--for a long time under a cloud. He became +the object of unbounded and reckless calumny. Antwerp had fallen, and the +necessary consequence of its reduction was the complete and permanent +prostration of its commerce and manufactures. These were transferred to +the new, free, national, independent, and prosperous commonwealth that +had risen in the "islands" which Parma and Sainte Aldegonde had vainly +hoped to restore to their ancient servitude. In a very few years after +the subjugation of Antwerp, it appeared by statistical documents that +nearly all the manufactures of linen, coarse and fine cloths, serges, +fustians, tapestry, gold-embroidery, arms-work, silks, and velvets, had +been transplanted to the towns of Holland and Zeeland, which were +flourishing and thriving, while the Flemish and Brabantine cities had +become mere dens of thieves and beggars. It was in the mistaken hope of +averting this catastrophe--as melancholy as it was inevitable and in +despair of seeing all the Netherlands united, unless united in slavery, +and in deep-rooted distrust of the designs and policy of England, that +this statesman, once so distinguished, had listened to the insidious +tongue of Parma. He had sought to effect a general reconciliation with +Spain, and the only result of his efforts was a blight upon his own +illustrious name. + +He published a defence of his conduct, and a detailed account of the +famous siege. His apology, at the time, was not considered conclusive, +but his narrative remains one of the clearest and most trustworthy +sources for the history of these important transactions. He was never +brought to trial, but he discovered, with bitterness, that he had +committed a fatal error, and that his political influence had passed +away. He addressed numerous private epistles to eminent persons, +indignantly denying the imputations against his character, and demanding +an investigation. Among other letters he observed in one to Count +Hohenlo, that he was astonished and grieved to find that all his faithful +labours and sufferings in the cause of his fatherland had been forgotten +in an hour. In place of praise and gratitude, he had reaped nothing but +censure and calumny; because men ever judged, not by the merits, but by +the issue. That common people should be so unjust, he said, was not to be +wondered at, but of men like Hohenlo be had hoped better things. He +asserted that he had saved Antwerp from another "Spanish fury," and from +impending destruction--a city in which there was not a single regular +soldier, and in which his personal authority was so slight that he was +unable to count the number of his masters. If a man had ever performed a +service to his country, he claimed to have done so in this capitulation. +Nevertheless, he declared that he was the same Philip Marnix, earnestly +devoted to the service of God, the true religion, and the fatherland; +although he avowed himself weary of the war, and of this perpetual +offering of the Netherland sovereignty to foreign potentates. He was now +going, he said, to his estates in Zeeland; there to turn farmer again; +renouncing public affairs, in the administration of which he had +experienced so much ingratitude from his countrymen. Count Maurice and +the States of Holland and Zeeland wrote to him, however, in very plain +language, describing the public indignation as so strong as to make it +unsafe for him to visit the country. + +The Netherlands and England--so soon as they were united in policy--were, +not without reason, indignant with the man who had made such strenuous +efforts to prevent that union. The English were, in truth, deeply +offended. He had systematically opposed their schemes, and to his +prejudice against their country, and distrust of their intentions, they +attributed the fall of Antwerp. Envoy Davison, after his return to +Holland, on the conclusion of the English treaty, at once expressed his +suspicions of the ex-burgomaster, and the great dangers to be apprehended +from his presence in the free States. "Here is some working underhand," +said he to Walsingham, "to draw hither Sainte Aldegonde, under a pretext +of his justification, which--as it has hitherto been denied him--so is +the sequel suspected, if he should obtain it before they were well +settled here, betwixt her Majesty and them, considering the manifold +presumptions that the subject of his journey should be little profitable +or advantageous to the state of these poor countries, as tending, at the +best, to the propounding of some general reconcilement." It was certainly +not without substantial grounds that the English and Hollanders, after +concluding their articles of alliance, felt uneasy at the possibility of +finding their plans reversed by the intrigues of a man whom they knew to +be a mediator between Spain and her revolted Provinces, and whom they +suspected of being a venal agent of the Catholic King. It was given out +that Philip had been induced to promise liberty of religion, in case of +reconciliation. We have seen that Parma was at heart in favour of such a +course, and that he was very desirous of inducing Marnix to believe in +the possibility of obtaining such a boon, however certain the Prince had +been made by the King's secret letters, that such a belief was a +delusion. "Martini hath been examined," wrote Davison, "who confesseth +both for himself and others, to become hither by direction of the Prince +of Parma and intelligence of Sainte Aldegonde, from whom he was first +addressed by Villiers and afterwards to others for advice and assistance. +That the scope of this direction was to induce them here to hearken to a +peace, wherein the Prince of Parma promiseth them toleration of religion, +although he confesseth yet to have no absolute power in that behalf, but +hath written thereof to the King expressly, and holdeth himself assured +thereof by the first post, as I have likewise been advertised from +Rowland York, which if it had been propounded openly here before things +had been concluded with her Majesty, and order taken for her assurance, +your honour can judge what confusion it must of necessity have brought +forth." + +At last, when Marnix had become convinced that the toleration would not +arrive "by the very next mail from Spain," and that, in truth, such a +blessing was not to be expected through the post-office at all, he felt +an inward consciousness of the mistake which he had committed. Too +credulously had he inclined his ear to the voice of Parma; too +obstinately had he steeled his heart against Elizabeth, and he was now +the more anxious to clear himself at least from the charges of corruption +so clamorously made against him by Holland and by England. Conscious of +no fault more censurable than credulity and prejudice, feeling that his +long fidelity to the reformed religion ought to be a defence for him +against his calumniators, he was desirous both to clear his own honour, +and to do at least a tardy justice to England. He felt confident that +loyal natures, like those of Davison and his colleagues at home, would +recognize his own loyalty. He trusted, not without cause, to English +honour, and coming to his manor-house of Zoubourg, near Flushing, he +addressed a letter to the ambassador of Elizabeth, in which the strong +desire to vindicate his aspersed integrity is quite manifest. + +"I am very joyous," said he, "that coming hither in order to justify +myself against the false and malignant imputations with which they charge +me, I have learned your arrival here on the part of her Majesty, as well +as the soon expected coming of the Earl of Leicester. I see, in truth, +that the Lord God is just, and never abandons his own. I have never +spared myself in the service of my country, and I would have sacrificed +my life, a thousand times, had it been possible, in her cause. Now, I am +receiving for all this a guerdon of blame and calumny, which is cast upon +me in order to cover up faults which have been committed by others in +past days. I hope, however, to come soon to give you welcome, and to +speak more particularly to you of all these things. Meantime demanding my +justification before these gentlemen, who ought to have known me better +than to have added faith to such villanous imputations, I will entreat +you that my definite justification, or condemnation, if I have merited +it, may be reserved till the arrival of Lord Leicester." + +This certainly was not the language of a culprit, Nevertheless, his words +did not immediately make a deep impression on the hearts of those who +heard him. He had come secretly to his house at Zoubourg, having +previously published his memorable apology; and in accordance with the +wishes of the English government, he was immediately confined to his own +house. Confidence in the intention of a statesman, who had at least +committed such grave errors of judgment, and who had been so deeply +suspected of darker faults, was not likely very soon to revive. So far +from shrinking from an investigation which would have been dangerous, +even to his life, had the charges against his honour been founded in +fact, he boldly demanded to be confronted with his accusers, in order +that he might explain his conduct before all the world. "Sir, +yesternight, at the shutting of the gates," wrote Davison to Walsingham, +transmitting the little note from Marnix, which has just been cited--"I +was advertised that Ste. Aldegonde was not an hour before secretly landed +at the head on the other side the Rammekens, and come to his house at +Zoubourg, having prepared his way by an apology, newly published in his +defence, whereof I have as yet recovered one only copy, which herewith I +send your honour. This day, whilst I was at dinner, he sent his son unto +me, with a few lines, whereof I send you the copy, advertising me of his +arrival (which he knew I understood before), together with the desire he +had to see me, and speak with me, if the States, before whom he was to +come to purge himself of the crimes wherewith he stood, as he with, +unjustly charged, would vouchsafe him so much liberty. The same morning, +the council of Zeeland, taking knowledge of his arrival, sent unto him +the pensioner of Middelburgh and this town, to sound the causes of his +coming, and to will him, in their behalf, to keep his house, and to +forbear all meddling by word or writing, with any whatsoever, till they +should further advise and determine in his cause. In defence thereof, he +fell into large and particular discourse with the deputies, accusing his +enemies of malice and untruth, offering himself to any trial, and to +abide what punishment the laws should lay upon him, if he were found +guilty of the crimes imputed to him. Touching the cause of his coming, he +pretended and protested that he had no other end than his simple +justification, preferring any hazard he might incur thereby, to his +honour and good fame." As to the great question at issue, Marnix had at +last become conscious that he had been a victim to Spanish dissimulation, +and that Alexander Fainese was in reality quite powerless to make that +concession of religious liberty, without which a reconciliation between +Holland and Philip was impossible. "Whereas," said Davison, "it was +supposed that Ste. Aldegonde had commission from the Prince of Parma to +make some offer of peace, he assured them of the contrary as a thing +which neither the Prince had any power to yield unto with the surety of +religion, or himself would, in conscience, persuade without it; with a +number of other particularities in his excuse; amongst the rest, allowing +and commending in his speech, the course they had taken with her Majesty, +as the only safe way of deliverance for these afflicted +countries--letting them understand how much the news thereof--specially +since the entry of our garrison into this place (which before they would +in no sort believe), hath troubled the enemy, who doth what he may to +suppress the bruit thereof, and yet comforteth himself with the hope that +between the factions and partialities nourished by his industry, and +musters among the towns, especially in Holland and Zeeland (where he is +persuaded to find some pliable to a reconcilement) and the disorders and +misgovernment of our people, there will be yet occasion offered him to +make his profit and advantage. I find that the gentleman hath here many +friends indifferently persuaded of his innocency, notwithstanding the +closing up of his apology doth make but little for him. Howsoever it be, +it falleth out the better that the treaty with her Majesty is finished, +and the cautionary towns assured before his coming, which, if he be ill +affected, will I hope either reform his judgment or restrain his will. I +will not forget to do the best I can to sift and decipher him yet more +narrowly and particularly." + +Thus, while the scales had at length fallen from the eyes of Marnix, it +was not strange that the confidence which he now began to entertain in +the policy of England, should not be met, at the outset, with a +corresponding sentiment on the part of the statesman by whom that policy +was regulated. "Howsoever Ste. Aldegonde would seem to purge himself," +said Davison, "it is suspected that his end is dangerous. I have done +what I may to restrain him, so nevertheless as it may not seem to come +from me." And again--"Ste. Aldegonde," he wrote, "contimieth still our +neighbor at his house between this and Middelburg; yet unmolested. He +findeth many favourers, and, I fear, doth no good offices. He desireth to +be reserved till the coming of my Lord of Leicester, before whom he +pretends a desired trial." + +This covert demeanour on the part of the ambassador was in accordance +with, the wishes of his government. It was thought necessary that Sainte +Aldegonde should be kept under arrest until the arrival of the Earl, but +deemed preferable that the restraint should proceed from the action of +the States rather than from the order of the Queen. Davison was +fulfilling orders in attempting, by underhand means, to deprive Marnix, +for a time, of his liberty. "Let him, I pray you, remain in good safety +in any wise," wrote Leicester, who was uneasy at the thought of so +influential, and, as he thought, so ill-affected a person being at large, +but at the same time disposed to look dispassionately upon his past +conduct, and to do justice, according to the results of an investigation. +"It is thought meet," wrote Walsingham to Davison, "that you should do +your best endeavour to procure that Ste. Aldegonde may be restrained, +which in mine opinion were fit to be handled in such sort, as the +restraint might rather proceed from themselves than by your solicitation. +And yet rather than he should remain at liberty to practise underhand, +whereof you seem to stand in great doubt, it is thought meet that you +should make yourself a partizan, to seek by all the means that you may to +have him restrained under the guard of some well affected patriot until +the Earl's coming, at what time his cause may receive examination." + +This was, however, a result somewhat difficult to accomplish; for twenty +years of noble service in the cause of liberty had not been utterly in +vain, and there were many magnanimous spirits to sympathize with a great +man struggling thus in the meshes of calumny. That the man who challenged +rather than shunned investigation, should be thrown into prison, as if he +were a detected felon upon the point of absconding, seemed a heartless +and superfluous precaution. Yet Davison and others still feared the man +whom they felt obliged to regard as a baffled intriguer. "Touching the +restraint of Ste. Aldegonde," wrote Davison to Lord Burghley, "which I +had order from Mr. Secretary to procure underhand, I find the difficulty +will be great in regard of his many friends and favourers, preoccupied +with some opinion of his innocence, although I have travailled with +divers of them underhand, and am promised that some order shall be taken +in that behalf, which I think will be harder to execute as long as Count +Maurice is here. For Ste. Aldegonde's affection, I find continual matter +to suspect it inclined to a peace, and that as one notably prejudging our +scope and proceeding in this cause, doth lie in wait for an occasion to +set it forward, being, as it seems, fed with a hope of 'telle quelle +liberte de conscience,' which the Prince of Parma and others of his +council have, as he confesseth, earnestly solicited at the King's hands. +This appeareth, in truth, the only apt and easy way for them to prevail +both against religion and the liberty of these poor countries, having +thereby once recovered the authority which must necessarily follow a +peace, to renew and alter the magistrates of the particular towns, which, +being at their devotion, may turn, as we say, all upside down, and so in +an instant being under their servitude, if not wholly, at the least in a +great part of the country, leaving so much the less to do about the rest, +a thing confessed and looked for of all men of any judgment here, if the +drift of our peace-makers may take effect." + +Sainte Aldegonde had been cured of his suspicions of England, and at last +the purity of his own character shone through the mists. + +One winter's morning, two days after Christmas, 1585, Colonel Morgan, an +ingenuous Welshman, whom we have seen doing much hard fighting on +Kowenstyn Dyke, and at other places, and who now commanded the garrison +at Flushing, was taking a walk outside the gates, and inhaling the salt +breezes from the ocean. While thus engaged he met a gentleman coming +along, staff in hand, at a brisk pace towards the town, who soon proved +to be no other than the distinguished and deeply suspected Sainte +Aldegonde. The two got at once into conversation. "He began," said +Morgan, "by cunning insinuations, to wade into matters of state, and at +the last fell to touching the principal points, to wit, her Majesty's +entrance into the cause now in hand, which, quoth he, was an action of +high importance, considering how much it behoved her to go through the +same, as well in regard of the hope that thereby was given to the +distressed people of these parts, as also in consideration of that worthy +personage whom she hath here placed, whose estate and credit may not be +suffered to quail, but must be upholden as becometh the lieutenant of +such a princess as her Majesty." + +"The opportunity thus offered," continued honest Morgan, "and the way +opened by himself, I thought good to discourse with him to the full, +partly to see the end and drift of his induced talk, and consequently to +touch his quick in the suspected cause of Antwerp." And thus, word for +word, taken down faithfully the same day, proceeded the dialogue that +wintry morning, near three centuries ago. From that simple +record--mouldering unseen and unthought of for ages, beneath piles of +official dust--the forms of the illustrious Fleming and the bold Welsh +colonel, seem to start, for a brief moment, out of the three hundred +years of sleep which have succeeded their energetic existence upon earth. +And so, with the bleak winds of December whistling over the breakers of +the North Sea, the two discoursed together, as they paced along the +coast. + +Morgan.--"I charge you with your want of confidence in her Majesty's +promised aid. 'Twas a thing of no small moment had it been embraced when +it was first most graciously offered." + +Sainte Aldegonde.--"I left not her prince-like purpose unknown to the +States, who too coldly and carelessly passed over the benefit thereof, +until it was too late to put the same in practice. For my own part, I +acknowledge that indeed I thought some further advice would either alter +or at least detract from the accomplishment of her determination. I +thought this the rather because she had so long been wedded to peace, and +I supposed it impossible to divorce her from so sweet a spouse. But, set +it down that she were resolute, yet the sickness of Antwerp was so +dangerous, as it was to be doubted the patient would be dead before the +physician could come. I protest that the state of the town was much worse +than was known to any but myself and some few private persons. The want +of victuals was far greater than they durst bewray, fearing lest the +common people, perceiving the plague of famine to be at hand, would +rather grow desperate than patiently expect some happy event. For as they +were many in number, so were they wonderfully divided: some being +Martinists, some Papists, some neither the one nor the other, but +generally given to be factious, so that the horror at home was equal to +the hazard abroad." + +Morgan.--"But you forget the motion made by the martial men for putting +out of the town such as were simple artificers, with women and children, +mouths that consumed meat, but stood in no stead for defence." + +Sainte Aldegonde.--"Alas, alas! would you have had me guilty of the +slaughter of so many innocents, whose lives were committed to my charge, +as well as the best? Or might I have answered my God when those massacred +creatures should have stood up against me, that the hope of Antwerp's +deliverance was purchased with the blood of so many simple souls? No, no. +I should have found my conscience such a hell and continual worm as the +gnawing thereof would have been more painful and bitter than the +possession of the whole world would have been pleasant." + +Morgan continued to press the various points which had created suspicion +as to the character and motives of Marnix, and point by point Marnix +answered his antagonist, impressing him, armed as he had been in +distrust, with an irresistible conviction as to the loftiness of the +nature which had been so much calumniated. + +Sainte Aldegonde (with vehemence).--"I do assure you, in conclusion, that +I have solemnly vowed service and duty to her Majesty, which I am ready +to perform where and when it may best like her to use the same. I will +add moreover that I have oftentimes determined to pass into England to +make my own purgation, yet fearing lest her Highness would mislike so +bold a resolution, I have checked that purpose with a resolution to tarry +the Lord's leisure, until some better opportunity might answer my desire. +For since I know not how I stand in her grace, unwilling I am to attempt +her presence without permission; but might it please her to command my +attendance, I should not only most joyfully accomplish the same, but also +satisfy her of and in all such matters as I stand charged with, and +afterwards spend life, land, and goods, to witness my duty towards her +Highness." + +Morgan.--"I tell you plainly, that if you are in heart the same man that +you seem outwardly to be, I doubt not but her Majesty might easily be +persuaded to conceive a gracious opinion of you. For mine own part, I +will surely advertise Sir Francis Walsingham of as much matter as this +present conference hath ministered. + +"Hereof," said the Colonel--when, according to his promise, faithfully +recording the conversation in all its details for Mr. Secretary's +benefit, "he seemed not only content but most glad. Therefore I beseech +your honour to vouchsafe some few lines herein, that I may return him +some part of your mind. I have already written thereof to Sir Philip +Sidney, lord governor of Flushing, with request that his Excellency the +Earl of Leicester may presently be made acquainted with the cause." + +Indeed the brave Welshman was thoroughly converted from his suspicions by +the earnest language and sympathetic presence of the fallen statesman. +This result of the conference was creditable to the ingenuous character +of both personages. + +"Thus did he," wrote Morgan to Sir Francis, "from point to point, answer +all objections from the first to the last, and that in such sound and +substantial manner, with a strong show of truth, as I think his very +enemies, having heard his tale, would be satisfied. And truly, Sir, as +heretofore I have thought hardly of him, being led by a superficial +judgment of things as they stood in outward appearance; so now, having +pierced deep, and weighed causes by a sounder and more deliberate +consideration, I find myself somewhat changed in conceit--not so much +carried away by the sweetness of his speech, as confirmed by the force of +his religious profession, wherein he remaineth constant, without +wavering--an argument of great strength to set him free from treacherous +attempts; but as I am herein least able and most unworthy to yield any +censure, much less to give advice, so I leave the man and the matter to +your honour's opinion. Only (your graver judgment reserved) thus I think, +that it were good either to employ him as a friend, or as an enemy to +remove him farther from us, being a man of such action as the world +knoweth he is. And to conclude," added Morgan, "this was the upshot +between us." + +Nevertheless, he remained in this obscurity for a long period. When, +towards the close of the year 1585, the English government was +established in Holland, he was the object of constant suspicion. + +"Here is Aldegonde," wrote Sir Philip Sidney to Lord Leicester from +Flushing, "a man greatly suspected, but by no man charged. He lives +restrained to his own house, and for aught I can find, deals with +nothing, only desiring to have his cause wholly referred to your +Lordship, and therefore, with the best heed I can to his proceedings, I +will leave him to his clearing or condemning, when your Lordship shall +hear him." + +In another letter, Sir Philip again spoke of Sainte Aldegonde as "one of +whom he kept a good opinion, and yet a suspicious eye." + +Leicester himself was excessively anxious on the subject, deeply fearing +the designs of a man whom he deemed so mischievous, and being earnestly +desirous that he should not elude the chastisement which he seemed to +deserve. + +"Touching Ste. Aldegonde," he wrote to Davison, "I grieve that he is at +his house without good guard. I do earnestly pray you to move such as +have power presently to commit a guard about him, for I know he is a +dangerous and a bold man, and presumes yet to carry all, for he hath made +many promises to the Prince of Parma. I would he were in Fort Rammekyns, +or else that Mr. Russell had charge of him, with a recommendation from me +to Russell to look well to him till I shall arrive. You must have been so +commanded in this from her Majesty, for she thinks he is in close and +safe guard. If he is not, look for a turn of all things, for he hath +friends, I know." + +But very soon after his arrival, the Earl, on examining into the matter, +saw fit to change his opinions and his language. Persuaded, in spite of +his previous convictions, even as the honest Welsh colonel had been, of +the upright character of the man, and feeling sure that a change had come +over the feelings of Marnix himself in regard to the English alliance, +Leicester at once interested himself in removing the prejudices +entertained towards him by the Queen. + +"Now a few words for Ste. Aldegonde," said he in his earliest despatches +from Holland; "I will beseech her Majesty to stay her judgment till I +write next. If the man be as he now seemeth, it were pity to lose him, +for he is indeed marvellously friended. Her Majesty will think, I know, +that I am easily pacified or led in such a matter, but I trust so to deal +as she shall give me thanks. Once if he do offer service it is sure +enough, for he is esteemed that way above all the men in this country for +his word, if he give it. His worst enemies here procure me to win him, +for sure, just matter for his life there is none. He would fain come into +England, so far is he come already, and doth extol her Majesty for this +work of hers to heaven, and confesseth, till now an angel could not make +him believe it." + +Here certainly was a noble tribute paid unconsciously, as it were, to the +character of the maligned statesman. "Above all the men in the country +for his word, if he give it." What wonder that Orange had leaned upon +him, that Alexander had sought to gain him, and how much does it add to +our bitter regret that his prejudices against England should not have +been removed until too late for Antwerp and for his own usefulness. Had +his good angel really been present to make him believe in that "work of +her Majesty," when his ear was open to the seductions of Parma, the +destiny of Belgium and his own subsequent career might have been more +fortunate than they became. + +The Queen was slow to return from her prejudices. She believed--not +without reason--that the opposition of Ste. Aldegonde to her policy had +been disastrous to the cause both of England and the Netherlands; and it +had been her desire that he should be imprisoned, and tried for his life. +Her councillors came gradually to take a more favourable view of the +case, and to be moved by the pathetic attitude of the man who had once +been so conspicuous. + +"I did acquaint Sir Christopher Hatton," wrote Walsingham to Leicester, +"with the letter which Ste. Aldegonde wrote to your Lordship, which, +carrying a true picture of an afflicted mind, cannot but move an honest +heart, weighing the rare parts the gentleman is endowed withal, to pity +his distressed estate, and, to procure him relief and comfort, which Mr. +Vice-Chamberlain (Hatton) bath promised on his part to perform. I thought +good to send Ste. Aldegonde's letter unto the Lord Treasurer (Burghley), +who heretofore has carried a hard conceit of the gentleman, hoping that +the view of his letter will breed some remorse towards him. I have also +prayed his Lordship, if he see cause, to acquaint her Majesty with the +said letter." + +But his high public career was closed. He lived down calumny; and put his +enemies to shame, but the fatal error which he had committed, in taking +the side of Spain rather than of England at so momentous a crisis, could +never be repaired. He regained the good opinion of the most virtuous and +eminent personages in Europe, but in the noon of life he voluntarily +withdrew from public affairs. The circumstances just detailed had made +him impossible as a political leader, and it was equally impossible for +him to play a secondary part. He occasionally consented to be employed in +special diplomatic missions, but the serious avocations of his life now +became theological and literary. He sought--in his own words--to +penetrate himself still more deeply than ever with the spirit of the +reformation, and to imbue the minds of the young with that deep love for +the reformed religion which had been the guiding thought of his own +career. He often spoke with a sigh of his compulsory exile from the field +where he had been so conspicuous all his lifetime; he bitterly lamented +the vanished dream of the great national union between Belgium and +Holland, which had flattered his youth and his manhood; and he sometimes +alluded with bitterness to the calumny which had crippled him of his +usefulness. He might have played a distinguished part in that powerful +commonwealth which was so steadily and splendidly arising out of the +lagunes of Zeeland and Holland, but destiny and calumny and his own error +had decided otherwise. + +"From the depth of my exile--" he said, "for I am resolved to retire, I +know not where, into Germany, perhaps into Sarmatia, I shall look from +afar upon the calamities of my country. That which to me is most mournful +is no longer to be able to assist my fatherland by my counsels and my +actions." He did not go into exile, but remained chiefly at his mansion +of Zoubourg, occupied with agriculture and with profound study. Many +noble works conspicuous in the literature of the epoch--were the results +of his learned leisure; and the name of Marnix of Sainte Aldegonde will +be always as dear to the lovers of science and letters as to the +believers in civil and religious liberty. At the request of the States of +Holland he undertook, in 1593, a translation of the Scriptures from the +original, and he was at the same time deeply engaged with a History of +Christianity, which he intended for his literary master-piece. The man +whose sword had done knightly service on many a battle-field for freedom, +whose tongue had controlled mobs and senates, courts and councils, whose +subtle spirit had metamorphosed itself into a thousand shapes to do +battle with the genius of tyranny, now quenched the feverish agitation of +his youth and manhood in Hebrew and classical lore. A grand and noble +figure always: most pathetic when thus redeeming by vigorous but solitary +and melancholy hard labor, the political error which had condemned him to +retirement. To work, ever to work, was the primary law of his nature. +Repose in the other world, "Repos ailleurs" was the device which he +assumed in earliest youth, and to which he was faithful all his days. + +A great and good man whose life had been brim-full of noble deeds, and +who had been led astray from the path, not of virtue, but of sound +policy, by his own prejudices and by the fascination of an intellect even +more brilliant than his own, he at least enjoyed in his retirement +whatever good may come from hearty and genuine labor, and from the high +regard entertained for him by the noblest spirits among his +contemporaries. + +"They tell me," said La Noue, "that the Seigneur de Ste. Aldegonde has +been suspected by the Hollanders and the English. I am deeply grieved, +for 'tis a personage worthy to be employed. I have always known him to be +a zealous friend of his religion and his country, and I will bear him +this testimony, that his hands and his heart are clean. Had it been +otherwise, I must have known it. His example has made me regret the less +the promise I was obliged to make, never to bear arms again in the +Netherlands. For I have thought that since this man, who has so much +credit and authority among your people, after having done his duty well, +has not failed to be calumniated and ejected from service, what would +they have done with me, who am a stranger, had I continued in their +employment? The consul Terentius Varro lost, by his fault, the battle of +Canna; nevertheless, when he returned to Rome, offering the remainder of +his life in the cause of his Republic reduced to extremity, he was not +rejected, but well received, because he hoped well for the country. It is +not to be imputed as blame to Ste. Aldegonde that he lost Antwerp, for he +surrendered when it could not be saved. What I now say is drawn from me +by the compassion I feel when persons of merit suffer without cause at +the hands of their fellow citizens. In these terrible tempests, as it is +a duty rigorously to punish the betrayers of their country, even so it is +an obligation upon us to honor good patriots, and to support them in +venial errors, that we may all encourage each other to do the right." + +Strange too as it may now seem to us, a reconciliation of the Netherlands +with Philip was not thought an impossibility by other experienced and +sagacious patriots, besides Marnix. Even Olden-Barneveld, on taking +office as Holland's Advocate, at this period, made it a condition that +his service was to last only until the reunion of the Provinces with +Spain. + +There was another illustrious personage in a foreign land who ever +rendered homage to the character of the retired Netherland statesman. +Amid the desolation of France, Duplessis Mornay often solaced himself by +distant communion with that kindred and sympathizing spirit. + +"Plunged in public annoyances," he wrote to Sainte Aldegonde, "I find no +consolation, except in conference with the good, and among the good I +hold you for one of the best. With such men I had rather sigh profoundly +than laugh heartily with others. In particular, Sir, do me the honor to +love me, and believe that I honor you singularly. Impart to me something +from your solitude, for I consider your deserts to be more fruitful and +fertile than our most cultivated habitations. As for me, think of me as +of a man drowning in the anxieties of the time, but desirous, if +possible, of swimming to solitude." + +Thus solitary, yet thus befriended,--remote from public employment, yet +ever employed, doing his daily work with all his soul and strength, +Marnix passed the fifteen years yet remaining to him. Death surprised him +at last, at Leyden, in the year 1598, while steadily laboring upon his +Flemish translation of the Old Testament, and upon the great political, +theological, controversial, and satirical work on the differences of +religion, which remains the most stately, though unfinished, monument of +his literary genius. At the age of sixty he went at last to the repose +which he had denied to himself on earth. "Repos ailleurs." + + ETEXT EDITOR'S BOOKMARKS: + + Honor good patriots, and to support them in venial errors + Possible to do, only because we see that it has been done + Repose in the other world, "Repos ailleurs" + Soldiers enough to animate the good and terrify the bad + To work, ever to work, was the primary law of his nature + When persons of merit suffer without cause + + + + +HISTORY OF THE UNITED NETHERLANDS + +From the Death of William the Silent to the Twelve Year's Truce--1609 + +By John Lothrop Motley + +History United Netherlands, Volume 42, 1585 + + + + +CHAPTER VI., Part 1. + + Policy of England--Diplomatic Coquetry--Dutch Envoys in England-- + Conference of Ortel and Walsingham--Interview with Leicester-- + Private Audience of the Queen--Letters of the States--General-- + Ill Effects of Gilpin's Despatch--Close Bargaining of the Queen and + States--Guarantees required by England--England's comparative + Weakness--The English characterised--Paul Hentzner--The Envoys in + London--Their Characters--Olden-Barneveldt described--Reception at + Greenwich--Speech of Menin--Reply of the Queen--Memorial of the + Envoys--Discussions with the Ministers--Second Speech of the Queen + --Third Speech of the Queen + +England as we have seen--had carefully watched the negotiations between +France and the Netherlands. Although she had--upon the whole, for that +intriguing age--been loyal in her bearing towards both parties, she was +perhaps not entirely displeased with the result. As her cherished +triumvirate was out of the question, it was quite obvious that, now or +never, she must come forward to prevent the Provinces from falling back +into the hands of Spain. The future was plainly enough foreshadowed, and +it was already probable, in case of a prolonged resistance on the part of +Holland, that Philip would undertake the reduction of his rebellious +subjects by a preliminary conquest of England. It was therefore quite +certain that the expense and danger of assisting the Netherlands must +devolve upon herself, but, at the same time it was a consolation that her +powerful next-door neighbour was not to be made still more powerful by +the annexation to his own dominion of those important territories. + +Accordingly, so soon as the deputies in France had received their +definite and somewhat ignominious repulse from Henry III. and his mother, +the English government lost no time in intimating to the States that they +were not to be left without an ally. Queen Elizabeth was however +resolutely averse from assuming that sovereignty which she was not +unwilling to see offered for her acceptance; and her accredited envoy at +the Hague, besides other more secret agents, were as busily employed in +the spring of 1585--as Des Pruneaux had been the previous winter on the +part of France--to bring about an application, by solemn embassy, for her +assistance. + +There was, however, a difference of view, from the outset, between the +leading politicians of the Netherlands and the English Queen. The +Hollanders were extremely desirous of becoming her subjects; for the +United States, although they had already formed themselves into an +independent republic, were quite ignorant of their latent powers. The +leading personages of the country--those who were soon to become the +foremost statesmen of the new commonwealth--were already shrinking from +the anarchy which was deemed inseparable from a non-regal form of +government, and were seeking protection for and against the people under +a foreign sceptre. On the other hand, they were indisposed to mortgage +large and important fortified towns, such as Flushing, Brill, and others, +for the repayment of the subsidies which Elizabeth might be induced to +advance. They preferred to pay in sovereignty rather than in money. The +Queen, on the contrary, preferred money to sovereignty, and was not at +all inclined to sacrifice economy to ambition. Intending to drive a hard +bargain with the States, whose cause was her own, and whose demands for +aid she; had secretly prompted, she meant to grant a certain number of +soldiers for as brief a period as possible, serving at her expense, and +to take for such outlay a most ample security in the shape of cautionary +towns. + +Too intelligent a politician not to feel the absolute necessity of at +last coming into the field to help the Netherlanders to fight her own +battle, she was still willing, for a season longer, to wear the mask of +coyness and coquetry, which she thought most adapted to irritate the +Netherlanders into a full compliance with her wishes. Her advisers in the +Provinces were inclined to take the same view. It seemed obvious, after +the failure in France, that those countries must now become either +English or Spanish; yet Elizabeth, knowing the risk of their falling +back, from desperation, into the arms of her rival, allowed them to +remain for a season on the edge of destruction--which would probably have +been her ruin also--in the hope of bringing them to her feet on her own +terms. There was something of feminine art in this policy, and it was not +without the success which often attends such insincere manoeuvres. At the +same time, as the statesmen of the republic knew that it was the Queen's +affair, when so near a neighbour's roof was blazing, they entertained +little doubt of ultimately obtaining her alliance. It was pity--in so +grave an emergency--that a little frankness could not have been +substituted for a good deal of superfluous diplomacy. + +Gilpin, a highly intelligent agent of the English government in Zeeland, +kept Sir Francis Walsingham thoroughly informed of the sentiments +entertained by the people of that province towards England. Mixing +habitually with the most influential politicians, he was able to render +material assistance to the English council in the diplomatic game which +had been commenced, and on which a no less important stake than the crown +of England was to be hazarded. + +"In conference," he said, "with particular persons that bear any rule or +credit, I find a great inclination towards her Majesty, joined +notwithstanding with a kind of coldness. They allege that matters of such +importance are to be maturely and thoroughly pondered, while some of them +harp upon the old string, as if her Majesty, for the security of her own +estate, was to have the more care of theirs here." + +He was also very careful to insinuate the expediency of diplomatic +coquetry into the mind of a Princess who needed no such prompting. "The +less by outward appearance," said he, "this people shall perceive that +her Majesty can be contented to take the protection of them upon her, the +forwarder they will be to seek and send unto her, and the larger +conditions in treaty may be required. For if they see it to come from +herself, then do they persuade themselves that it is for the greater +security of our own country and her Highness to fear the King of Spain's +greatness. But if they become seekers unto her Majesty, and if they may, +by outward show, deem that she accounteth not of the said King's might, +but able and sufficient to defend her own realms, then verily I think +they may be brought to whatsoever points her Majesty may desire." + +Certainly it was an age of intrigue, in which nothing seemed worth +getting at all unless it could be got by underhand means, and in which it +was thought impossible for two parties to a bargain to meet together +except as antagonists, who believed that one could not derive a profit +from the transaction unless the other had been overreached. This was +neither good morality nor sound diplomacy, and the result of such +trifling was much loss of time and great disaster. In accordance with +this crafty system, the agent expressed the opinion that it would "be +good and requisite for the English government somewhat to temporise," and +to dally for a season longer, in order to see what measures the States +would take to defend themselves, and how much ability and resources they +would show for belligerent purposes. If the Queen were too eager, the +Provinces would become jealous, "yielding, as it were, their power, and +yet keeping the rudder in their own hands." + +At the same time Gilpin was favourably impressed with the character both +of the country and the nation, soon to be placed in such important +relations with England. "This people," he said, "is such as by fair means +they will be won to yield and grant any reasonable motion or demand. What +these islands of Zeeland are her Majesty and all my lords of her council +do know. Yet for their government thus much I must write; that during +these troubles it never was better than now. They draw, in a manner, one +line, long and carefully in their resolution; but the same once taken and +promises made, they would perform them to the uttermost." + +Such then was the character of the people, for no man was better enabled +to form an opinion on the subject than was Gilpin. Had it not been as +well, then, for Englishmen--who were themselves in that age, as in every +other, apt to "perform to the uttermost promises once taken and made," +and to respect those endowed with the same wholesome characteristic--to +strike hands at once in a cause which was so vital to both nations? + +So soon as the definite refusal of Henry III, was known in England, +Leicester and Walsingham wrote at once to the Netherlands. The Earl +already saw shining through the distance a brilliant prize for his own +ambition, although he was too haughty, perhaps too magnanimous, but +certainly far too crafty, to suffer such sentiments as yet to pierce to +the surface. + +"Mr. Davison," he wrote, "you shall perceive by Mr. Secretary's letters +how the French have dealt with these people. They are well enough served; +but yet I think, if they will heartily and earnestly seek it, the Lord +hath appointed them a far better defence. But you must so use the matter +as that they must seek their own good, although we shall be partakers +thereof also. They may now, if they will effectually and liberally deal, +bring themselves to a better end than ever France would have brought +them." + +At that moment there were two diplomatic agents from the States resident +in England--Jacques de Gryze; whom Paul Buys had formerly described as +having thrust himself head and shoulders into the matter without proper +authority, and Joachim Ortel, a most experienced and intelligent man, +speaking and writing English like a native, and thoroughly conversant +with English habits and character. So soon as the despatches from France +arrived, Walsingham, 18th March, 1585, sent for Ortel, and the two held a +long conference. + +Walsingham.--"We have just received letters from Lord Derby and Sir +Edward Stafford, dated the 13th March. They inform us that your +deputies--contrary to all expectation and to the great hopes that had +been hold out to them--have received, last Sunday, their definite answer +from the King of France. He tells them, that, considering the present +condition of his kingdom, he is unable to undertake the protection of the +Netherlands; but says that if they like, and if the Queen of England be +willing to second his motion, he is disposed to send a mission of +mediation to Spain for the purpose of begging the King to take the +condition of the provinces to heart, and bringing about some honourable +composition, and so forth, and so forth. + +"Moreover the King of France has sent Monsieur de Bellievre to Lord Derby +and Mr. Stafford, and Bellievre has made those envoys a long oration. He +explained to them all about the original treaty between the States and +Monsieur, the King's brother, and what had taken place from that day to +this, concluding, after many allegations and divers reasons, that the +King could not trouble himself with the provinces at present; but hoped +her Majesty would make the best of it, and not be offended with him. + +"The ambassadors say further, that they have had an interview with your +deputies, who are excessively provoked at this most unexpected answer +from the King, and are making loud complaints, being all determined to +take themselves off as fast as possible. The ambassadors have recommended +that some of the number should come home by the way of England." + +Ortel.--"It seems necessary to take active measures at once, and to leave +no duty undone in this matter. It will be advisable to confer, so soon as +may be, with some of the principal counsellors of her Majesty, and +recommend to them most earnestly the present condition of the provinces. +They know the affectionate confidence which the States entertain towards +England, and must now, remembering the sentiments of goodwill which they +have expressed towards the Netherlands, be willing to employ their +efforts with her Majesty in this emergency." + +Walsingham (with much show of vexation).--"This conduct on the part of +the French court has been most pernicious. Your envoys have been delayed, +fed with idle hopes, and then disgracefully sent away, so that the best +part of the year has been consumed, and it will be most difficult now, in +a great hurry, to get together a sufficient force of horse and foot folk, +with other necessaries in abundance. On the contrary, the enemy, who knew +from the first what result was to be expected in France, has been doing +his best to be beforehand with you in the field: add, moreover, that this +French negotiation has given other princes a bad taste in their mouths. +This is the case with her Majesty. The Queen is, not without reason, +annoyed that the States have not only despised her friendly and +good-hearted offers, but have all along been endeavouring to embark her +in this war, for the defence of the Provinces, which would have cost her +several millions, without offering to her the slightest security. On the +contrary, others, enemies of the religion, who are not to be depended +upon--who had never deserved well of the States or assisted them in their +need, as she has done--have received this large offer of sovereignty +without any reserve whatever." + +Ortel (not suffering himself to be disconcerted at this unjust and +somewhat insidious attack).--"That which has been transacted with France +was not done except with the express approbation and full foreknowledge +of her Majesty, so far back as the lifetime of his Excellency (William of +Orange), of high and laudable memory. Things had already gone so far, and +the Provinces had agreed so entirely together, as to make it inexpedient +to bring about a separation in policy. It was our duty to hold together, +and, once for all, thoroughly to understand what the King of France, +after such manifold presentations through Monsieur Des Pruneaulx and +others, and in various letters of his own, finally intended to do. At the +same time, notwithstanding these negotiations, we had always an especial +eye upon her Majesty. We felt a hopeful confidence that she would never +desert us, leaving us without aid or counsel, but would consider that +these affairs do not concern the Provinces alone or even especially, but +are just as deeply important to her and to all other princes of the +religion." + +After this dialogue, with much more conversation of a similar character, +the Secretary and the envoy set themselves frankly and manfully to work. +It was agreed between them that every effort should be made with the +leading members of the Council to induce the Queen "in this terrible +conjuncture, not to forsake the Provinces, but to extend good counsel and +prompt assistance to them in their present embarrassments." + +There was, however, so much business in Parliament just then, that it was +impossible to obtain immediately the desired interviews. + +On the 20th, Ortel and De Gryze had another interview with Walsingham at +the Palace of Greenwich. The Secretary expressed the warmest and most +sincere affection for the Provinces, and advised that one of the two +envoys should set forth at once for home in order to declare to the +States, without loss of time, her Majesty's good inclination to assume +the protection of the land, together with the maintenance of the reformed +religion and the ancient privileges. Not that she was seeking her own +profit, or wished to obtain that sovereignty which had just been offered +to another of the contrary religion, but in order to make manifest her +affectionate solicitude to preserve the Protestant faith and to support +her old allies and neighbours. Nevertheless, as she could not assume this +protectorate without embarking in a dangerous war with the King of Spain, +in which she would not only be obliged to spend the blood of her +subjects, but also at least two millions of gold, there was the more +reason that the States should give her certain cities as security. Those +cities would be held by certain of her gentlemen, nominated thereto, of +quality, credit, and religion, at the head of good, true, and well-paid +garrisons, who should make oath never to surrender them to the King of +Spain or to any one else without consent of the States. The Provinces +were also reciprocally to bind themselves by oath to make no treaty with +the King, without the advice and approval of her Majesty. It was likewise +thoroughly to be understood that such cautionary towns should be restored +to the States so soon as payment should be made of all moneys advanced +during the war. + +Next day the envoys had an interview with the Earl of Leicester, whom +they found as amicably disposed towards their cause as Secretary +Walsingham had been. "Her Majesty," said the Earl, "is excessively +indignant with the King of France, that he should so long have abused the +Provinces, and at last have dismissed their deputies so contemptuously. +Nevertheless," he continued, "'tis all your own fault to have placed your +hopes so entirely upon him as to entirely forget other princes, and more +especially her Majesty. Notwithstanding all that has passed, however, I +find her fully determined to maintain the cause of the Provinces. For my +own part, I am ready to stake my life, estates, and reputation, upon this +issue, and to stand side by side with other gentlemen in persuading her +Majesty to do her utmost for the assistance of your country." + +He intimated however, as Walsingham had done, that the matter of +cautionary towns would prove an indispensable condition, and recommended +that one of the two envoys should proceed homeward at once, in order to +procure, as speedily as possible, the appointment of an embassy for that +purpose to her Majesty. "They must bring full powers," said the Earl, "to +give her the necessary guarantees, and make a formal demand for +protection; for it would be unbecoming, and against her reputation, to be +obliged to present herself, unsought by the other party." + +In conclusion, after many strong expressions of good-will, Leicester +promised to meet them next day at court, where he would address the Queen +personally on the subject, and see that they spoke with her as well. +Meantime he sent one of his principal gentlemen to keep company with the +envoys, and make himself useful to them. This personage, being "of good +quality and a member of Parliament," gave them much useful information, +assuring them that there was a strong feeling in England in favour of the +Netherlands, and that the matter had been very vigorously taken up in the +national legislature. That assembly had been strongly encouraging her +Majesty boldly to assume the protectorate, and had manifested a +willingness to assist her with the needful. "And if," said he, "one +subsidy should not be enough, she shall have three, four, five, or six, +or as much as may be necessary." + +The same day, the envoys had an interview with Lord Treasurer Burghley, +who held the same language as Walsingham and Leicester had done. "The +Queen, to his knowledge," he said, "was quite ready to assume the +protectorate; but it was necessary that it should be formally offered, +with the necessary guarantees, and that without further loss of time." + +On the 22nd March, according to agreement, Ortel and De Gryze went to the +court at Greenwich. While waiting there for the Queen, who had ridden out +into the country, they had more conversation with Walsingham, whom they +found even more energetically disposed in their favour than ever, and who +assured them that her Majesty was quite ready to assume the protectorate +so soon as offered. "Within a month," he said, "after the signing of a +treaty, the troops would be on the spot, under command of such a +personage of quality and religion as would be highly satisfactory." While +they were talking, the Queen rode into the court-yard, accompanied by the +Earl of Leicester and other gentlemen. Very soon afterwards the envoys +were summoned to her presence, and allowed to recommend the affairs of +the Provinces to her consideration. She lamented the situation of their +country, and in a few words expressed her inclination to render +assistance, provided the States would manifest full confidence in her. +They replied by offering to take instant measures to gratify all her +demands, so soon as those demands should be made known; and the Queen +finding herself surrounded by so many gentlemen and by a crowd of people, +appointed them accordingly to come to her private apartments the same +afternoon. + +At that interview none were present save Walsingham and Lord Chamberlain +Howard. The Queen showed herself "extraordinarily resolute" to take up +the affairs of the Provinces. "She had always been sure," she said, "that +the French negotiation would have no other issue than the one which they +had just seen. She was fully aware what a powerful enemy she was about to +make--one who could easily create mischief for her in Scotland and +Ireland; but she was nevertheless resolved, if the States chose to deal +with her frankly and generously, to take them under her protection. She +assured the envoys that if a deputation with full powers and reasonable +conditions should be immediately sent to her, she would not delay and +dally with them, as had been the case in France, but would despatch them +back again at the speediest, and would make her good inclination manifest +by deeds as well as words. As she was hazarding her treasure together +with the blood and repose of her subjects, she was not at liberty to do +this except on receipt of proper securities." + +Accordingly De Gryze went to the Provinces, provided with complimentary +and affectionate letters from the Queen, while Ortel remained in England. +So far all was plain and above-board; and Walsingham, who, from the +first, had been warmly in favour of taking up the Netherland cause, was +relieved by being able to write in straightforward language. Stealthy and +subtle, where the object was to get within the guard of an enemy who +menaced a mortal blow, he was, both by nature and policy, disposed to +deal frankly with those he called his friends. + +"Monsieur de Gryze repaireth presently," he wrote to Davison, "to try if +he can induce the States to send their deputies hither, furnished with +more ample instructions than they had to treat with the French King, +considering that her Majesty carryeth another manner of princely +disposition than that sovereign. Meanwhile, for that she doubteth lest in +this hard estate of their affairs, and the distrust they have conceived +to be relieved from hence, they should from despair throw themselves into +the course of Spain, her pleasure therefore is--though by Burnham I sent +you directions to put them in comfort of relief, only as of +yourself--that you shall now, as it were, in her name, if you see cause +sufficient, assure some of the aptest instruments that you shall make +choice of for that purpose, that her Majesty, rather than that they +should perish, will be content to take them under her protection." + +He added that it was indispensable for the States, upon their part, to +offer "such sufficient cautions and assurances as she might in reason +demand." + +Matters were so well managed that by the 22nd April the States-General +addressed a letter to the Queen, in which they notified her, that the +desired deputation was on the point of setting forth. "Recognizing," they +said, "that there is no prince or potentate to whom they are more obliged +than they are to your Majesty, we are about to request you very humbly to +accept the sovereignty of these Provinces, and the people of the same for +your very humble vassals and subjects." They added that, as the necessity +of the case was great, they hoped the Queen would send, so soon as might +be, a force of four or five thousand men for the purpose of relieving the +siege of Antwerp. + +A similar letter was despatched by the same courier to the Earl of +Leicester. + +On the 1st of May, Ortel had audience of the Queen, to deliver the +letters from the States-General. He found that despatches, very +encouraging and agreeable in their tenor, had also just arrived from +Davison. The Queen was in good humour. She took the letter from Ortel, +read it attentively, and paused a good while. Then she assured him that +her good affection towards the Provinces was not in the least changed, +and that she thanked the States for the confidence in her that they were +manifesting. "It is unnecessary," said the Queen, "for me to repeat over +and over again sentiments which I have so plainly declared. You are to +assure the States that they shall never be disappointed in the trust that +they have reposed in my good intentions. Let them deal with me sincerely, +and without holding open any back-door. Not that I am seeking the +sovereignty of the Provinces, for I wish only to maintain their +privileges and ancient liberties, and to defend them in this regard +against all the world. Let them ripely consider, then, with what fidelity +I am espousing their cause, and how, without fear of any one, I am +arousing most powerful enemies." + +Ortel had afterwards an interview with Leicester, in which the Earl +assured him that her Majesty had not in the least changed in her +sentiments towards the Provinces. "For myself," said he, "I am ready, if +her Majesty choose to make use of me, to go over there in person, and to +place life, property, and all the assistance I can gain from my friends, +upon the issue. Yea, with so good a heart, that I pray the Lord may be +good to me, only so far as I serve faithfully in this cause." He added a +warning that the deputies to be appointed should come with absolute +powers, in order that her Majesty's bountiful intentions might not be +retarded by their own fault. + +Ortel then visited Walsingham at his house, Barn-Elms, where he was +confined by illness. Sir Francis assured the envoy that he would use +every effort, by letter to her Majesty and by verbal instructions to his +son-in-law, Sir Philip Sidney, to further the success of the negotiation, +and that he deeply regretted his enforced absence from the court on so +important an occasion. + +Matters were proceeding most favourably, and the all-important point of +sending an auxiliary force of Englishmen to the relief of Antwerp--before +it should be too late, and in advance of the final conclusion of the +treaty between the countries-had been nearly conceded. Just at that +moment, however, "as ill-luck would have it," said Ortel, "came a letter +from Gilpin. I don't think he meant it in malice, but the effect was most +pernicious. He sent the information that a new attack was to be made by +the 10th May upon the Kowenstyn, that it was sure to be successful, and +that the siege of Antwerp was as good as raised. So Lord Burghley +informed me, in presence of Lord Leicester, that her Majesty was +determined to await the issue of this enterprise. It was quite too late +to get troops in readiness; to co-operate with the States' army, so soon +as the 10th May, and as Antwerp was so sure to be relieved, there was no +pressing necessity for haste. I uttered most bitter complaints to these +lords and to other counsellors of the Queen, that she should thus draw +back, on account of a letter from a single individual, without paying +sufficient heed to the despatches from the States-General, who certainly +knew their own affairs and their own necessities better than any one else +could do, but her Majesty sticks firm to her resolution." + +Here were immense mistakes committed on all sides. The premature shooting +up of those three rockets from the cathedral-tower, on the unlucky 10th +May, had thus not only ruined the first assault against the Kowenstyn, +but also the second and the more promising adventure. Had the four +thousand bold Englishmen there enlisted, and who could have reached the +Provinces in time to cooperate in that great enterprise, have stood side +by side with the Hollanders, the Zeelanders, and the Antwerpers, upon +that fatal dyke, it is almost a certainty that Antwerp would have been +relieved, and the whole of Flanders and Brabant permanently annexed to +the independent commonwealth, which would have thus assumed at once most +imposing proportions. + +It was a great blunder of Sainte Aldegonde to station in the cathedral, +on so important an occasion, watchmen in whose judgment he could not +thoroughly rely. It was a blunder in Gilpin, intelligent as he generally +showed himself, to write in such sanguine style before the event. But it +was the greatest blunder of all for Queen Elizabeth to suspend her +cooperation at the very instant when, as the result showed, it was likely +to prove most successful. It was a chapter of blunders from first to +last, but the most fatal of all the errors was the one thus prompted by +the great Queen's most traitorous characteristic, her obstinate +parsimony. + +And now began a series of sharp chafferings on both sides, not very much +to the credit of either party. The kingdom of England, and the rebellious +Provinces of Spain, were drawn to each other by an irresistible law of +political attraction. Their absorption into each other seemed natural and +almost inevitable; and the weight of the strong Protestant organism, had +it been thus completed, might have balanced the great Catholic League +which was clustering about Spain. + +It was unfortunate that the two governments of England and the +Netherlands should now assume the attitude of traders driving a hard +bargain with each other, rather than that of two important commonwealths, +upon whose action, at that momentous epoch, the weal and wo of +Christendom was hanging. It is quite true that the danger to England was +great, but that danger in any event was to be confronted--Philip was to +be defied, and, by assuming the cause of the Provinces to be her own, +which it unquestionably was, Elizabeth was taking the diadem from her +head--as the King of Sweden well observed--and adventuring it upon the +doubtful chance of war. Would it not have been better then--her mind +being once made up--promptly to accept all the benefits, as well as all +the hazards, of the bold game to which she was of necessity a party? But +she could not yet believe in the incredible meanness of Henry III. "I +asked her Majesty" (3rd May, 1585), said Ortel, "whether, in view of +these vast preparations in France, it did not behove her to be most +circumspect and upon her guard. For, in the opinion of many men, +everything showed one great scheme already laid down--a general +conspiracy throughout Christendom against the reformed religion. She +answered me, that thus far she could not perceive this to be the case; +'nor could she believe,' she said, 'that the King of France could be so +faint-hearted as to submit to such injuries from the Guises.'" + +Time was very soon to show the nature of that unhappy monarch with regard +to injuries, and to prove to Elizabeth the error she had committed in +doubting his faint-heartedness. Meanwhile, time was passing, and the +Netherlands were shivering in the storm. They, needed the open sunshine +which her caution kept too long behind the clouds. For it was now +enjoined upon Walsingham to manifest a coldness upon the part of the +English government towards the States. Davison was to be allowed to +return; "but," said Sir Francis, "her Majesty would not have you +accompany the commissioners who are coming from the Low Countries; but to +come over, either before them or after them, lest it be thought they come +over by her Majesty's procurement." + +As if they were not coming over by her Majesty's most especial +procurement, and as if it would matter to Philip--the union once made +between England and Holland--whether the invitation to that union came +first from the one party or the other! + +"I am retired for my health from the court to mine own house," said +Walsingham, "but I find those in whose judgment her Majesty reposeth +greatest trust so coldly affected unto the cause, as I have no great hope +of the matter; and yet, for that the hearts of princes are in the hands +of God, who both can will and dispose them at his pleasure, I would be +loath to hinder the repair of the commissioners." + +Here certainly, had the sun gone most suddenly into a cloud. Sir Francis +would be loath to advise the commissioners to stay at home, but he +obviously thought them coming on as bootless an errand as that which had +taken their colleagues so recently into France. + +The cause of the trouble was Flushing. Hence the tears, and the coldness, +and the scoldings, on the part of the imperious and the economical Queen. +Flushing was the patrimony--a large portion of that which was left to +him--of Count Maurice. It was deeply mortgaged for the payment of the +debts of William the Silent, but his son Maurice, so long as the elder +brother Philip William remained a captive in Spain, wrote himself Marquis +of Flushing and Kampveer, and derived both revenue and importance from +his rights in that important town. The States of Zeeland, while desirous +of a political fusion of the two countries, were averse from the prospect +of converting, by exception, their commercial, capital into an English +city, the remainder of the Provinces remaining meanwhile upon their +ancient footing. The negociations on the subject caused a most ill-timed +delay. The States finding the English government cooling, affected to +grow tepid themselves. This was the true mercantile system, perhaps, for +managing a transaction most thriftily, but frankness and promptness would +have been more statesmanlike at such a juncture. + +"I am sorry to understand," wrote Walsingham, "that the States are not +yet grown to a full resolution for the delivering of the town of Flushing +into her Majesty's hands. The Queen finding the people of that island so +wavering and inconstant, besides that they can hardly, after the so long +enjoying a popular liberty, bear a regal authority, would be loath to +embark herself into so dangerous a war without some sufficient caution +received from them. It is also greatly to be doubted, that if, by +practice and corruption, that town might be recovered by the Spaniards, +it would put all the rest of the country in peril. I find her Majesty, in +case that town may be gotten, fully resolved to receive them into her +protection, so as it may also be made probable unto her that the promised +three hundred thousand guilders the month will be duly paid." + +A day or two after writing this letter, Walsingham sent one afternoon, in +a great hurry, for Ortel, and informed him very secretly, that, according +to information just received, the deputies from the States were coming +without sufficient authority in regard to this very matter. Thus all the +good intentions of the English government were likely to be frustrated, +and the Provinces to be reduced to direful extremity. + +"What can we possibly advise her Majesty to do?" asked Walsingham, "since +you are not willing to put confidence in her intentions. You are trying +to bring her into a public war, in which she is to risk her treasure and +the blood of her subjects against the greatest potentates of the world, +and you hesitate meantime at giving her such security as is required for +the very defence of the Provinces themselves. The deputies are coming +hither to offer the sovereignty to her Majesty, as was recently done in +France, or, if that should not prove acceptable, they are to ask +assistance in men and money upon a mere 'taliter qualiter' guaranty. +That's not the way. And there are plenty of ill-disposed persons here to +take advantage of this position of affairs to ruin the interest of the +Provinces now placed on so good a footing. Moreover, in this perpetual +sending of despatches back and forth, much precious time is consumed; and +this is exactly what our enemies most desire." + +In accordance with Walsingham's urgent suggestions, Ortel wrote at once +to his constituents, imploring them to remedy this matter. "Do not allow," +he said, "any, more time to be wasted. Let us not painfully, build a wall +only to knock our own heads against it, to the dismay of our friends and +the gratification of our enemies." + +It was at last arranged that an important blank should be left in the +articles to be brought by the deputies, upon which vacant place the names +of certain cautionary towns, afterwards to be agreed upon, were to be +inscribed by common consent. + +Meantime the English ministers were busy in preparing to receive the +commissioners, and to bring the Netherland matter handsomely before the +legislature. + +The integrity, the caution, the thrift, the hesitation, which +characterized Elizabeth's government, were well pourtrayed in the +habitual language of the Lord Treasurer, chief minister of a third-rate +kingdom now called on to play a first-rate part, thoroughly acquainted +with the moral and intellectual power of the nation whose policy he +directed, and prophetically conscious of the great destinies which were +opening upon her horizon. Lord Burghley could hardly be censured--least +of all ridiculed--for the patient and somewhat timid attributes of his +nature: The ineffable ponderings, which might now be ludicrous, on the +part of a minister of the British Empire, with two hundred millions of +subjects and near a hundred millions of revenue, were almost inevitable +in a man guiding a realm of four millions of people with half a million +of income. + +It was, on the whole, a strange negotiation, this between England and +Holland. A commonwealth had arisen, but was unconscious of the strength +which it was to find in the principle of states' union, and of religious +equality. It sought, on the contrary, to exchange its federal sovereignty +for provincial dependence, and to imitate, to a certain extent, the very +intolerance by which it had been driven into revolt. It was not unnatural +that the Netherlanders should hate the Roman Catholic religion, in the +name of which they had endured such infinite tortures, but it is, +nevertheless, painful to observe that they requested Queen Elizabeth, +whom they styled defender, not of "the faith" but of the "reformed +religion," to exclude from the Provinces, in case she accepted the +sovereignty, the exercise of all religious rites except those belonging +to the reformed church. They, however, expressly provided against +inquisition into conscience. Private houses were to be sacred, the +papists free within their own walls, but the churches were to be closed +to those of the ancient faith. This was not so bad as to hang, burn, +drown, and bury alive nonconformists, as had been done by Philip and the +holy inquisition in the name of the church of Rome; nor is it very +surprising that the horrible past should have caused that church to be +regarded with sentiments of such deep-rooted hostility as to make the +Hollanders shudder at the idea of its re-establishment. Yet, no doubt, it +was idle for either Holland or England, at that day, to talk of a +reconciliation with Rome. A step had separated them, but it was a step +from a precipice. No human power could bridge the chasm. The steep +contrast between the league and the counter-league, between the systems +of Philip and Mucio, and that of Elizabeth and Olden-Barneveld, ran +through the whole world of thought, action, and life. + +But still the negociation between Holland and England was a strange one. +Holland wished to give herself entirely, and England feared to accept. +Elizabeth, in place of sovereignty, wanted mortgages; while Holland was +afraid to give a part, although offering the whole. There was no great +inequality between the two countries. Both were instinctively conscious, +perhaps, of standing on the edge of a vast expansion. Both felt that they +were about to stretch their wings suddenly for a flight over the whole +earth. Yet each was a very inferior power, in comparison with the great +empires of the past or those which then existed. + +It is difficult, without a strong effort of the imagination, to reduce +the English empire to the slender proportions which belonged to her in +the days of Elizabeth. That epoch was full of light and life. The +constellations which have for centuries been shining in the English +firmament were then human creatures walking English earth. The captains, +statesmen, corsairs, merchant-adventurers, poets, dramatists, the great +Queen herself, the Cecils, Raleigh, Walsingham, Drake, Hawkins, Gilbert, +Howard, Willoughby, the Norrises, Essex, Leicester, Sidney, Spenser, +Shakspeare and the lesser but brilliant lights which surrounded him; such +were the men who lifted England upon an elevation to which she was not +yet entitled by her material grandeur. At last she had done with Rome, +and her expansion dated from that moment. + +Holland and England, by the very condition of their existence, were sworn +foes to Philip. Elizabeth stood excommunicated of the Pope. There was +hardly a month in which intelligence was not sent by English agents out +of the Netherlands and France, that assassins, hired by Philip, were +making their way to England to attempt the life of the Queen. The +Netherlanders were rebels to the Spanish monarch, and they stood, one and +all, under death-sentence by Rome. The alliance was inevitable and +wholesome. Elizabeth was, however, consistently opposed to the acceptance +of a new sovereignty. England was a weak power. Ireland was at her side +in a state of chronic rebellion--a stepping-stone for Spain in its +already foreshadowed invasion. Scotland was at her back with a strong +party of Catholics, stipendiaries of Philip, encouraged by the Guises and +periodically inflamed to enthusiasm by the hope of rescuing Mary Stuart +from her imprisonment, bringing her rival's head to the block, and +elevating the long-suffering martyr upon the throne of all the British +Islands. And in the midst of England itself, conspiracies were weaving +every day. The mortal duel between the two queens was slowly approaching +its termination. In the fatal form of Mary was embodied everything most +perilous to England's glory and to England's Queen. Mary Stuart meant +absolutism at home, subjection to Rome and Spain abroad. The uncle Guises +were stipendiaries of Philip, Philip was the slave of the Pope. Mucio had +frightened the unlucky Henry III. into submission, and there was no +health nor hope in France. For England, Mary Stuart embodied the possible +relapse into sloth, dependence, barbarism. For Elizabeth, Mary Stuart +embodied sedition, conspiracy, rebellion, battle, murder, and sudden +death. + +It was not to be wondered at that the Queen thus situated should be +cautious, when about throwing down the gauntlet to the greatest powers of +the earth. Yet the commissioners from the United States were now on their +way to England to propose the throwing of that gauntlet. What now was +that England? + +Its population was, perhaps, not greater than the numbers which dwell +to-day within its capital and immediate suburbs. Its revenue was perhaps +equal to the sixtieth part of the annual interest on the present national +debt. Single, highly-favoured individuals, not only in England but in +other countries cis-and trans-Atlantic, enjoy incomes equal to more than +half the amount of Elizabeth's annual budget. London, then containing +perhaps one hundred and fifty thousand inhabitants, was hardly so +imposing a town as Antwerp, and was inferior in most material respects to +Paris and Lisbon. Forty-two hundred children were born every year within +its precincts, and the deaths were nearly as many. In plague years, which +were only too frequent, as many as twenty and even thirty thousand people +had been annually swept away. + +At the present epoch there are seventeen hundred births every week, and +about one thousand deaths. + +It is instructive to throw a glance at the character of the English +people as it appeared to intelligent foreigners at that day; for the +various parts of the world were not then so closely blended, nor did +national colours and characteristics flow so liquidly into each other, as +is the case in these days of intimate juxta-position. + +"The English are a very clever, handsome, and well-made people," says a +learned Antwerp historian and merchant, who had resided a long time in +London, "but, like all islanders, by nature weak and tender. They are +generally fair, particularly the women, who all--even to the peasant +women--protect their complexions from the sun with fans and veils, as +only the stately gentlewomen do in Germany and the Netherlands. As a +people they are stout-hearted, vehement, eager, cruel in war, zealous in +attack, little fearing: death; not revengeful, but fickle, presumptuous, +rash, boastful, deceitful, very suspicious, especially of strangers, whom +they despise. They are full of courteous and hypocritical gestures and +words, which they consider to imply good manners, civility, and wisdom. +They are well spoken, and very hospitable. They feed well, eating much +meat, which-owing to the rainy climate and the ranker character of the +grass--is not so firm and succulent as the meat of France and the +Netherlands. The people are not so laborious as the French and +Hollanders, preferring to lead an indolent life, like the Spaniards. The +most difficult and ingenious of the handicrafts are in the hands of +foreigners, as is the case with the lazy inhabitants of Spain. They feed +many sheep, with fine wool, from which, two hundred years ago, they +learned to make cloth. They keep many idle servants, and many wild +animals for their pleasure, instead of cultivating the sail. They have +many ships, but they do not even catch fish enough for their own +consumption, but purchase of their neighbours. They dress very elegantly. +Their costume is light and costly, but they are very changeable and +capricious, altering their fashions every year, both the men and the +women. When they go away from home, riding or travelling, they always +wear their best clothes, contrary to the habit of other nations. The +English language is broken Dutch, mixed with French and British terms and +words, but with a lighter pronunciation. They do not speak from the +chest, like the Germans, but prattle only with the tongue." + +Here are few statistical facts, but certainly it is curious to see how +many national traits thus photographed by a contemporary, have quite +vanished, and have been exchanged for their very opposites. Certainly the +last physiological criticism of all would indicate as great a national +metamorphosis, during the last three centuries, as is offered by many +other of the writer's observations. + +"With regard to the women," continues the same authority, "they are +entirely in the power of the men, except in matters of life and death, +yet they are not kept so closely and strictly as in Spain and elsewhere. +They are not locked up, but have free management of their household, like +the Netherlanders and their other neighbours. They are gay in their +clothing, taking well their ease, leaving house-work to the +servant-maids, and are fond of sitting, finely-dressed, before their +doors to see the passers-by and to be seen of them. In all banquets and +dinner-parties they have the most honour, sitting at the upper end of the +board, and being served first. + +"Their time is spent in riding, lounging, card-playing, and making merry +with their gossips at child-bearings, christenings, churchings, and +buryings; and all this conduct the men wink at, because such are the +customs of the land. They much commend however the industry and careful +habits of the German and Netherland women, who do the work which in +England devolves upon the men. Hence, England is called the paradise of +married women, for the unmarried girls are kept much more strictly than +upon the continent. The women are, handsome, white, dressy, modest; +although they go freely about the streets without bonnet, hood, or veil; +but lately learned to cover their faces with a silken mask or vizard with +a plumage of feathers, for they change their fashions every year, to the +astonishment of many." + +Paul Hentzner, a tourist from Germany at precisely the same epoch, +touches with equal minuteness on English characteristics. It may be +observed, that, with some discrepancies, there is also much similarity, +in the views of the two critics. + +"The English," says the whimsical Paul, are serious, like the Germans, +lovers of show, liking to be followed, wherever they go, by troops of +servants, who wear their master's arms, in silver, fastened to their left +sleeves, and are justly ridiculed for wearing tails hanging down their +backs. They excel in dancing and music, for they are active and lively, +although they are of thicker build than the Germans. They cut their hair +close on the forehead, letting it hang down on either side. They are good +sailors, and better pirates, cunning, treacherous, thievish. Three +hundred and upwards are hanged annually in London. Hawking is the +favourite sport of the nobility. The English are more polite in eating +than the French, devouring less bread, but more meat, which they roast in +perfection. They put a great deal of sugar in their drink. Their beds are +covered with tapestry, even those of farmers. They are powerful in the +field, successful against their enemies, impatient of anything like +slavery, vastly fond of great ear-filling noises, such as cannon-firing, +drum-beating, and bell-ringing; so that it is very common for a number of +them, when they have got a cup too much in their heads, to go up to some +belfry, and ring the bells for an hour together, for the sake of the +amusement. If they see a foreigner very well made or particularly +handsome, they will say "'tis pity he is not an Englishman." + +It is also somewhat amusing, at the present day, to find a German +elaborately explaining to his countrymen the mysteries of +tobacco-smoking, as they appeared to his unsophisticated eyes in England. +"At the theatres and everywhere else," says the traveller, "the English +are constantly smoking tobacco in the following manner. They have pipes, +made on purpose, of clay. At the further end of these is a bowl. Into the +bowl they put the herb, and then setting fire to it, they draw the smoke +into their mouths, which they puff out again through their nostrils, like +funnels," and so on; conscientious explanations which a German tourist of +our own times might think it superfluous to offer to his compatriots. + +It is also instructive to read that the light-fingered gentry of the +metropolis were nearly as adroit in their calling as they are at present, +after three additional centuries of development for their delicate craft; +for the learned Tobias Salander, the travelling companion of Paul +Hentzner, finding himself at a Lord Mayor's Show, was eased of his purse, +containing nine crowns, as skilfully as the feat could have been done by +the best pickpocket of the nineteenth century, much to that learned +person's discomfiture. + +Into such an England and among such English the Netherland envoys had now +been despatched on their most important errand. + +After twice putting back, through stress of weather, the commissioners, +early in July, arrived at London, and were "lodged and very worshipfully +appointed at charges of her Majesty in the Clothworkers' Hall in +Pynchon-lane, near Tower-street." About the Tower and its faubourgs the +buildings were stated to be as elegant as they were in the city itself, +although this was hardly very extravagant commendation. From this +district a single street led along the river's strand to Westminster, +where were the old and new palaces, the famous hall and abbey, the +Parliament chambers, and the bridge to Southwark, built of stone, with +twenty arches, sixty feet high, and with rows of shops and +dwelling-houses on both its sides. Thence, along the broad and beautiful +river, were dotted here and there many stately mansions and villas, +residences of bishops and nobles, extending farther and farther west as +the city melted rapidly into the country. London itself was a town lying +high upon a hill--the hill of Lud--and consisted of a coil of narrow, +tortuous, unseemly streets, each with a black, noisome rivulet running +through its centre, and with rows of three-storied, leaden-roofed houses, +built of timber-work filled in with lime, with many gables, and with the +upper stories overhanging and darkening the basements. There were one +hundred and twenty-one churches, small and large, the most conspicuous of +which was the Cathedral. Old Saint Paul's was not a very magnificent +edifice--but it was an extremely large one, for it was seven hundred and +twenty feet long, one hundred and thirty broad, and had a massive +quadrangular tower, two hundred and sixty feet high. Upon this tower had +stood a timber-steeple, rising, to a height of five hundred and +thirty-four feet from the ground, but it had been struck by lightning in +the year 1561, and consumed to the stone-work. + +The Queen's favourite residence was Greenwich Palace, the place of her +birth, and to this mansion, on the 9th of July, the Netherland envoys +were conveyed, in royal barges, from the neighbourhood of Pynchon-lane, +for their first audience. + +The deputation was a strong one. There was Falck of Zeeland, a man of +consummate adroitness, perhaps not of as satisfactory integrity; "a +shrewd fellow and a fine," as Lord Leicester soon afterwards +characterised him. There was Menin, pensionary of Dort, an eloquent and +accomplished orator, and employed on this occasion as chief spokesman of +the legation--"a deeper man, and, I think, an honester," said the same +personage, adding, with an eye to business, "and he is but poor, which +you must consider, but with great secrecy." There was Paul Buys, whom we +have met with before; keen, subtle, somewhat loose of life, very +passionate, a most most energetic and valuable friend to England, a +determined foe to France, who had resigned the important post of +Holland's Advocate, when the mission offering sovereignty to Henry III. +had been resolved upon, and who had since that period been most +influential in procuring the present triumph of the English policy. +Through his exertions the Province of Holland had been induced at an +early moment to furnish the most ample instructions to the commissioners +for the satisfaction of Queen Elizabeth in the great matter of the +mortgages. "Judge if this Paul Buys has done his work well," said a +French agent in the Netherlands, who, despite the infamous conduct of his +government towards the Provinces, was doing his best to frustrate the +subsequent negotiation with England, "and whether or no he has Holland +under his thumb." The same individual had conceived hopes from Falck of +Zeeland. That Province, in which lay the great bone of contention between +the Queen and the States--the important town of Flushing--was much slower +than Holland to agree to the English policy. It is to be feared that +Falck was not the most ingenuous and disinterested politician that could +be found even in an age not distinguished for frankness or purity; for +even while setting forth upon the mission to Elizabeth, he was still +clinging, or affecting to cling, to the wretched delusion of French +assistance. "I regret infinitely," said Falck to the French agent just +mentioned, "that I am employed in this affair, and that it is necessary +in our present straits to have recourse to England. There is--so to +speak--not a person in our Province that is inclined that way, all +recognizing very well that France is much more salutary for us, besides +that we all bear her a certain affection. Indeed, if I were assured that +the King still felt any goodwill towards us, I would so manage matters +that neither the Queen of England, nor any other prince whatever except +his most Christian-Majesty should take a bite at this country, at least +at this Province, and with that view, while waiting for news from France, +I will keep things in suspense, and spin them out as long as it is +possible to do." + +The news from France happened soon to be very conclusive, and it then +became difficult even for Falek to believe--after intelligence received +of the accord between Henry III. and the Guises--that his Christian +Majesty, would be inclined for a bite at the Netherlands. This duplicity +on the part of so leading a personage furnishes a key to much of the +apparent dilatoriness on the part of the English government: It has been +seen that Elizabeth, up to the last moment, could not fairly comprehend +the ineffable meanness of the French monarch. She told Ortel that she saw +no reason to believe in that great Catholic conspiracy against herself +and against all Protestantism which was so soon to be made public by the +King's edict of July, promulgated at the very instant of the arrival in +England of the Netherland envoys. Then that dread fiat had gone forth, +the most determined favourer of the French alliance could no longer admit +its possibility, and Falck became the more open to that peculiar line of +argument which Leicester had suggested with regard to one of the other +deputies. "I will do my best," wrote Walsingham, "to procure that Paul +Buys and Falck shall receive underhand some reward." + +Besides Menin, Falck, and Buys, were Noel de Caron, an experienced +diplomatist; the poet-soldier, Van der Does; heroic defender of Leyden; +De Gryze, Hersolte, Francis Maalzoon, and three legal Frisians of pith +and substance, Feitsma, Aisma, and Jongema; a dozen Dutchmen together--as +muscular champions as ever little republic sent forth to wrestle with all +comers in the slippery ring of diplomacy. For it was instinctively felt +that here were conclusions to be tried with a nation of deep, solid +thinkers, who were aware that a great crisis in the world's history had +occurred, and would put forth their most substantial men to deal with it: +Burghley and Walsingham, the great Queen herself, were no feather-weights +like the frivolous Henry III., and his minions. It was pity, however, +that the discussions about to ensue presented from the outset rather the +aspect of a hard hitting encounter of antagonists than that of a frank +and friendly congress between two great parties whose interests were +identical. + +Since the death of William the Silent, there was no one individual in the +Netherlands to impersonate the great struggle of the Provinces with Spain +and Rome, and to concentrate upon his own head a poetical, dramatic, and +yet most legitimate interest. The great purpose of the present history +must be found in its illustration of the creative power of civil and +religious freedom. Here was a little republic, just born into the world, +suddenly bereft of its tutelary saint, left to its own resources, yet +already instinct with healthy vigorous life, and playing its difficult +part among friends and enemies with audacity, self-reliance, and success. +To a certain extent its achievements were anonymous, but a great +principle manifested itself through a series of noble deeds. Statesmen, +soldiers, patriots, came forward on all sides to do the work which was to +be done, and those who were brought into closest contact with the +commonwealth acknowledged in strongest language the signal ability with +which, self-guided, she steered her course. Nevertheless, there was at +this moment one Netherlander, the chief of the present mission to +England, already the foremost statesman of his country, whose name will +not soon be effaced from the record of the sixteenth and seventeenth +centuries. That man was John of Olden-Barneveld. + +He was now in his thirty-eighth year, having been born at Amersfoot on +the 14th of September, 1547. He bore an imposing name, for the +Olden-Barnevelds of Gelderland were a race of unquestionable and antique +nobility. His enemies, however, questioned his right to the descent which +he claimed. They did not dispute that the great grandfather, Class van +Olden-Barneveld, was of distinguished lineage and allied to many +illustrious houses, but they denied that Class was really the great +grandfather of John. John's father, Gerritt, they said, was a nameless +outcast, a felon, a murderer, who had escaped the punishment due to his +crimes, but had dragged out a miserable existence in the downs, burrowing +like a rabbit in the sand. They had also much to say in disparagement of +all John's connections. Not only was his father a murderer, but his wife, +whom he had married for money, was the child of a most horrible incest, +his sisters were prostitutes, his sons and brothers were debauchees and +drunkards, and, in short, never had a distinguished man a more +uncomfortable and discreditable family-circle than that which surrounded +Barneveld, if the report of his enemies was to be believed. Yet it is +agreeable to reflect that, with all the venom which they had such power +of secreting, these malignant tongues had been unable to destroy the +reputation of the man himself. John's character was honourable and +upright, his intellectual power not disputed even by those who at a later +period hated him the most bitterly. He had been a profound and +indefatigable student from his earliest youth. He had read law at Leyden, +in France, at Heidelberg. Here, in the head-quarters of German Calvinism, +his youthful mind had long pondered the dread themes of foreknowledge, +judgment absolute, free will, and predestination: To believe it worth the +while of a rational and intelligent Deity to create annually several +millions of thinking beings, who were to struggle for a brief period on +earth, and to consume in perpetual brimstone afterwards, while others +were predestined to endless enjoyment, seemed to him an indifferent +exchange for a faith in the purgatory and paradise of Rome. Perplexed in +the extreme, the youthful John bethought himself of an inscription over +the gateway of his famous but questionable great grandfather's house at +Amersfort--'nil scire tutissima fides.' He resolved thenceforth to adopt +a system of ignorance upon matters beyond the flaming walls of the world; +to do the work before him manfully and faithfully while he walked the +earth, and to trust that a benevolent Creator would devote neither him +nor any other man to eternal hellfire. For this most offensive doctrine +he was howled at by the strictly pious, while he earned still deeper +opprobrium by daring to advocate religious toleration: In face of the +endless horrors inflicted by the Spanish Inquisition upon his native +land, he had the hardihood--although a determined Protestant himself--to +claim for Roman Catholics the right to exercise their religion in the +free States on equal terms with those of the reformed faith. "Anyone," +said his enemies, "could smell what that meant who had not a wooden +nose." In brief, he was a liberal Christian, both in theory and practice, +and he nobly confronted in consequence the wrath of bigots on both sides. +At a later period the most zealous Calvinists called him Pope John, and +the opinions to which he was to owe such appellations had already been +formed in his mind. + +After completing his very thorough legal studies, he had practised as an +advocate in Holland and Zeeland. An early defender of civil and religious +freedom, he had been brought at an early day into contact with William +the Silent, who recognized his ability. He had borne a snap-hance on his +shoulder as a volunteer in the memorable attempt to relieve Haarlem, and +was one of the few survivors of that bloody night. He had stood outside +the walls of Leyden in company of the Prince of Orange when that +magnificent destruction of the dykes had taken place by which the city +had been saved from the fate impending over it. At a still more recent +period we have seen him landing from the gun-boats upon the Kowenstyn, on +the fatal 26th May. These military adventures were, however, but brief +and accidental episodes in his career, which was that of a statesman and +diplomatist. As pensionary of Rotterdam, he was constantly a member of +the General Assembly, and had already begun to guide the policy of the +new commonwealth. His experience was considerable, and he was now in the +high noon of his vigour and his usefulness. + +He was a man of noble and imposing presence, with thick hair pushed from +a broad forehead rising dome-like above a square and massive face; a +strong deeply-coloured physiognomy, with shaggy brow, a chill blue eye, +not winning but commanding, high cheek bones, a solid, somewhat scornful +nose, a firm mouth and chin, enveloped in a copious brown beard; the +whole head not unfitly framed in the stiff formal ruff of the period; and +the tall stately figure well draped in magisterial robes of velvet and +sable--such was John of Olden-Barneveld. + +The Commissioners thus described arrived at Greenwich Stairs, and were at +once ushered into the palace, a residence which had been much enlarged +and decorated by Henry VIII. + +They were received with stately ceremony. The presence-chamber was hung +with Gobelin tapestry, its floor strewn with rushes. Fifty-gentlemen +pensioners, with gilt battle-ages, and a throng of 'buffetiers', or +beef-eaters, in that quaint old-world garb which has survived so many +centuries, were in attendance, while the counsellors of the Queen, in +their robes of state, waited around the throne. + +There, in close skull-cap and dark flowing gown, was the subtle, +monastic-looking Walsingham, with long, grave, melancholy face and +Spanish eyes. There too, white staff in hand, was Lord High Treasurer +Burghley, then sixty-five years of age, with serene blue eye, large, +smooth, pale, scarce-wrinkled face and forehead; seeming, with his +placid, symmetrical features, and great velvet bonnet, under which such +silver hairs as remained were soberly tucked away, and with his long dark +robes which swept the ground, more like a dignified gentlewoman than a +statesman, but for the wintery beard which lay like a snow-drift on his +ancient breast. + +The Queen was then in the fifty-third year of her age, and considered +herself in the full bloom of her beauty. Her, garments were of satin and +velvet, with fringes of pearl as big as beans. A small gold crown was +upon her head, and her red hair, throughout its multiplicity of curls, +blazed with diamonds and emeralds. Her forehead was tall, her face long, +her complexion fair, her eyes small, dark, and glittering, her nose high +and hooked, her lips thin, her teeth black, her bosom white and liberally +exposed. As she passed through the ante-chamber to the presence-hall, +supplicants presented petitions upon their knees. Wherever she glanced, +all prostrated themselves on the ground. The cry of "Long live Queen +Elizabeth" was spontaneous and perpetual; the reply; "I thank you, my +good people," was constant and cordial. She spoke to various foreigners +in their respective languages, being mistress, besides the Latin and +Greek, of French, Spanish, Italian, and German. As the Commissioners were +presented to her by Lord Buckhurst it was observed that she was +perpetually gloving and ungloving, as if to attract attention to her +hand, which was esteemed a wonder of beauty. She spoke French with purity +and elegance, but with a drawling, somewhat affected accent, saying "Paar +maa foi; paar le Dieeu vivaant," and so forth, in a style which was +ridiculed by Parisians, as she sometimes, to her extreme annoyance, +discovered. + +Joos de Menin, pensionary of Dort, in the name of all the envoys, made an +elaborate address. He expressed the gratitude which the States +entertained for her past kindness, and particularly for the good offices +rendered by Ambassador Davison after the death of the Prince of Orange, +and for the deep regret expressed by her Majesty for their disappointment +in the hopes they had founded upon France. + +"Since the death of the Prince of Orange," he said, "the States have lost +many important cities, and now, for the preservation of their existence, +they have need of a prince and sovereign lord to defend them against the +tyranny and iniquitous oppression of the Spaniards and their adherents, +who are more and more determined utterly to destroy their country, and +reduce the poor people to a perpetual slavery worse than that of Indians, +under the insupportable and detestable yoke of the Spanish Inquisition. +We have felt a confidence that your Majesty will not choose to see us +perish at the hands of the enemy against whom we have been obliged to +sustain this long and cruel war. That war we have undertaken in order to +preserve for the poor people their liberty, laws, and franchises, +together with the exercise of the true Christian religion, of which your +Majesty bears rightfully the title of defender, and against which the +enemy and his allies have made so many leagues and devised so many +ambushes and stratagems, besides organizing every day so many plots +against the life of your Majesty and the safety of your realms--schemes +which thus far the good God has averted for the good of Christianity and +the maintenance of His churches. For these reasons, Madam, the States +have taken a firm resolution to have recourse to your Majesty, seeing +that it is an ordinary thing for all oppressed nations to apply in their +calamity to neighbouring princes, and especially to such as are endowed +with piety, justice, magnanimity, and other kingly virtues. For this +reason we have been deputed to offer to your Majesty the sovereignty over +these Provinces, under certain good and equitable conditions, having +reference chiefly to the maintenance of the reformed religion and of our +ancient liberties and customs. And although, in the course of these long +and continued wars, the enemy has obtained possession of many cities and +strong places within our couniry, nevertheless the Provinces of Holland, +Zeeland, Utrecht, and Friesland, are, thank God, still entire. And in +those lands are many large and stately cities, beautiful and deep rivers, +admirable seaports, from which your Majesty and your successors can +derive much good fruit and commodity, of which it is scarcely, necessary +to make a long recital. This point, however, beyond the rest, merits a +special consideration; namely, that the conjunction of those Provinces of +Holland, Zeeland, Utrecht, and Friesland, together with the cities of +Sluys and Ostend, with the kingdoms of your Majesty, carries with it the +absolute empire of the great ocean, and consequently an assurance of +perpetual felicity for your subjects. We therefore humbly entreat you to +agree to our conditions, to accept the sovereign seignory of these +Provinces, and consequently to receive the people of the same as your +very humble and obedient subjects, under the perpetual safeguard of your +crown--a people certainly as faithful and loving towards their princes +and sovereign lords, to speak without boasting, as any in all +Christendom. + +"So doing, Madam, you will preserve many beautiful churches which it has +pleased God to raise up in these lands, now much afflicted and shaken, +and you will deliver this country and people--before the iniquitous +invasion of the Spaniards, so rich and flourishing by the great Commodity +of the sea, their ports and rivers, their commerce and manufactures, for +all which they have such natural advantages--from ruin and perpetual +slavery of body and soul. This will be a truly excellent work, agreeable +to God, profitable to Christianity, worthy of immortal praise, and +comporting with the heroic virtues of your Majesty, and ensuring the +prosperity of your country and people. With this we present to your +Majesty our articles and conditions, and pray that the King of Kings may +preserve you from all your enemies and ever have you in His holy +keeping." + +The Queen listened intently and very courteously to the delivery of this +address, and then made answer in French to this effect:--"Gentlemen,--Had +I a thousand tongues I should not be able to express my obligation to you +for the great and handsome offers which you have just made. I firmly +believe that this proceeds from the true zeal, devotion, and affection, +which you have always borne me, and I am certain that you have ever +preferred me to all the princes and potentates in the world. Even when +you selected the late Duke of Anjou, who was so dear to me, and to whose +soul I hope that God has been merciful, I know that you would sooner have +offered your country to me if I had desired that you should do so. +Certainly I esteem it a great thing that you wish to be governed by me, +and I feel so much obliged to you in consequence that I will never +abandon you, but, on the contrary, assist you till the last sigh of my +life. I know very well that your princes have treated you ill, and that +the Spaniards are endeavouring to ruin you entirely; but I will come to +your aid, and I will consider what I can do, consistently with my honour, +in regard to the articles which you have brought me. They shall be +examined by the members of my council, and I promise that I will not keep +you three or four months, for I know very well that your affairs require +haste, and that they will become ruinous if you are not assisted. It is +not my custom to procrastinate, and upon this occasion I shall not dally, +as others have done, but let you have my answer very soon." + +Certainly, if the Provinces needed a king, which they had most +unequivocally declared to be the case, they might have wandered the whole +earth over, and, had it been possible, searched through the whole range +of history, before finding a monarch with a more kingly spirit than the +great Queen to whom they had at last had recourse. + +Unfortunately, she was resolute in her refusal to accept the offered +sovereignty. The first interview terminated with this exchange of +addresses, and the deputies departed in their barges for their lodgings +in Pynchon-lane. + +The next two days were past in perpetual conferences, generally at Lord +Burghley's house, between the envoys and the lords of the council, in +which the acceptance of the sovereignty was vehemently urged on the part +of the Netherlanders, and steadily declined in the name of her Majesty. + +"Her Highness," said Burghley, "cannot be induced, by any writing or +harangue that you can make, to accept the principality or proprietorship +as sovereign, and it will therefore be labour lost for you to exhibit any +writing for the purpose of changing her intention. It will be better to +content yourselves with her Majesty's consent to assist you, and to take +you under her protection." + +Nevertheless, two days afterwards, a writing was exhibited, drawn up by +Menin, in which another elaborate effort was made to alter the Queen's +determination. This anxiety, on the part of men already the principal +personages in a republic, to merge the independent existence of their +commonwealth in another and a foreign political organism, proved, at any +rate; that they were influenced by patriotic motives alone. It is also +instructive to observe the intense language with which the necessity of a +central paramount sovereignty for all the Provinces, and the +inconveniences of the separate States' right principle were urged by a +deputation, at the head of which stood Olden-Barneveld. "Although it is +not becoming in us," said they, "to enquire into your Majesty's motives +for refusing the sovereignty of our country, nevertheless, we cannot help +observing that your consent would be most profitable, as well to your +Majesty, and your successors, as to the Provinces themselves. By your +acceptance of the sovereignty the two peoples would be, as it were, +united in one body. This would cause a fraternal benevolence between +them, and a single reverence, love, and obedience to your Majesty.--The +two peoples being thus under the government of the same sovereign prince, +the intrigues and practices which the enemy could attempt with persons +under a separate subjection, would of necessity surcease. Moreover, those +Provinces are all distinct duchies, counties, seignories, governed by +their own magistrates, laws, and ordinances; each by itself, without any +authority or command to be exercised by one Province over another. To +this end they have need of a supreme power and of one sovereign prince or +seignor, who may command all equally, having a constant regard to the +public weal--considered as a generality, and not with regard to the +profit of the one or the other individual Province--and, causing promptly +and universally to be executed such ordinances as may be made in the +matter of war or police, according to various emergencies. Each Province, +on the contrary, retaining its sovereignty over its own inhabitants, +obedience will not be so promptly and completely rendered to the commands +of the lieutenant-general of your Majesty, and many, a good enterprise +and opportunity, will be lost. Where there is not a single authority it +is always found that one party endeavours to usurp power over another, or +to escape doing his duty so thoroughly as the others. And this has +notoriously been the case in the matter of contributions, imposts, and +similar matters." + +Thus much, and more of similar argument, logically urged, made it +sufficiently evident that twenty years of revolt and of hard fighting +against one king, had not destroyed in the minds of the leading +Netherlanders their conviction of the necessity of kingship. If the new +commonwealth was likely to remain a republic, it was, at that moment at +any rate, because they could not find a king. Certainly they did their +best to annex themselves to England, and to become loyal subjects of +England's Elizabeth. But the Queen, besides other objections to the +course proposed by the Provinces, thought that she could do a better +thing in the way of mortgages. In this, perhaps, there was something of +the penny-wise policy, which sprang from one great defect in her +character. At any rate much mischief was done by the mercantile spirit +which dictated the hard chaffering on both sides the Channel at this +important juncture; for during this tedious flint-paring, Antwerp, which +might have been saved, was falling into the hands of Philip. It should +never be forgotten, however, that the Queen had no standing army, and but +a small revenue. The men to be sent from England to the Netherland wars +were first to be levied wherever it was possible to find them. In truth, +many were pressed in the various wards of London, furnished with red +coats and matchlocks at the expense of the citizens, and so despatched, +helter-skelter, in small squads as opportunity offered. General Sir John +Norris was already superintending these operations, by command of the +Queen, before the present formal negotiation with the States had begun. + +Subsequently to the 11th July, on which day the second address had been +made to Elizabeth, the envoys had many conferences with Leicester, +Burghley, Walsingham, and other councillors, without making much +progress. There was perpetual wrangling about figures and securities. + +"What terms will you pledge for the repayment of the monies to be +advanced?" asked Burghley and Walsingham. + +"But if her Majesty takes the sovereignty," answered the deputies, "there +will be no question of guarantees. The Queen will possess our whole land, +and there will be no need of any repayment." + +"And we have told you over and over again," said the Lord Treasurer, +"that her Majesty will never think of accepting the sovereignty. She will +assist you in money and men, and must be repaid to the last farthing when +the war is over; and, until that period, must have solid pledges in the +shape of a town in each Province." + +Then came interrogatories as to the amount of troops and funds to be +raised respectively by the Queen and the States for the common cause. The +Provinces wished her Majesty to pay one-third of the whole expense, while +her Majesty was reluctant to pay one-quarter. The States wished a +permanent force to be kept on foot in the Netherlands of thirteen +thousand infantry and two thousand cavalry for the field, and +twenty-three thousand for garrisons. The councillors thought the last +item too much. Then there were queries as to the expense of maintaining a +force in the Provinces. The envoys reckoned one pound sterling, or ten +florins, a month for the pay of each foot soldier, including officers; +and for the cavalry, three times as much. This seemed reasonable, and the +answers to the inquiries touching the expense of the war-vessels and +sailors were equally satisfactory. Nevertheless it was difficult to bring +the Queen up to the line to which the envoys had been limited by their +instructions. Five thousand foot and one thousand horse serving at the +Queen's expense till the war should be concluded, over and above the +garrisons for such cautionary towns as should be agreed upon; this was +considered, by the States, the minimum. The Queen held out for giving +only four thousand foot and four hundred horse, and for deducting the +garrisons even from this slender force. As guarantee for the expense thus +to be incurred, she required that Flushing and Brill should be placed in +her hands. Moreover the position of Antwerp complicated the negotiation. +Elizabeth, fully sensible of the importance of preserving that great +capital, offered four thousand soldiers to serve until that city should +be relieved, requiring repayment within three months after the object +should have been accomplished. As special guarantee for such repayment +she required Sluys and Ostend. This was sharp bargaining, but, at any +rate, the envoys knew that the Queen, though cavilling to the ninth-part +of a hair, was no trifler, and that she meant to perform whatever she +should promise. + +There was another exchange of speeches at the Palace of Nonesuch, on the +5th August; and the position of affairs and the respective attitudes of +the Queen and envoys were plainly characterized by the language then +employed. + +After an exordium about the cruelty of the Spanish tyranny and the +enormous expense entailed by the war upon the Netherlands, Menin, who, as +usual, was the spokesman, alluded to the difficulty which the States at +last felt in maintaining themselves. + +"Five thousand foot and one thousand horse," he said, "over and above the +maintenance of garrisons in the towns to be pledged as security to your +Majesty, seemed the very least amount of succour that would be probably +obtained from your royal bounty. Considering the great demonstrations of +affection and promises of support, made as well by your Majesty's own +letters as by the mouth of your ambassador Davison, and by our envoys De +Gryse and Ortel, who have all declared publicly that your Majesty would +never forsake us, the States sent us their deputies to this country in +full confidence that such reasonable demands as we had been authorized to +make would be satisfied." + +The speaker then proceeded to declare that the offer made by the royal +councillors of four thousand foot and four hundred horse, to serve during +the war, together with a special force of four thousand for the relief of +Antwerp, to be paid for within three months after the siege should be +raised, against a concession of the cities of Flushing, Brill, Sluys, and +Ostend, did not come within the limitations of the States-General. They +therefore begged the Queen to enlarge her offer to the number of five +thousand foot and one thousand horse, or at least to allow the envoys to +conclude the treaty provisionally, and subject to approval of their +constituents. + +So soon as Menin had concluded his address, her Majesty instantly +replied, with much earnestness and fluency of language. + +"Gentlemen," she said, "I will answer you upon the first point, because +it touches my honour. You say that I promised you, both by letters and +through my agent Davison, and also by my own lips, to assist you and +never to abandon you, and that this had moved you to come to me at +present. Very well, masters, do you not think I am assisting you when I +am sending you four thousand foot and four hundred horse to serve during +the war? Certainly, I think yes; and I say frankly that I have never been +wanting to my word. No man shall ever say, with truth, that the Queen of +England had at any time and ever so slightly failed in her promises, +whether to the mightiest monarch, to republics, to gentlemen, or even to +private persons of the humblest condition. Am I, then, in your opinion, +forsaking you when I send you English blood, which I love, and which is +my own blood, and which I am bound to defend? It seems to me, no. For my +part I tell you again that I will never forsake you. + +"'Sed de modo?' That is matter for agreement. You are aware, gentlemen, +that I have storms to fear from many quarters--from France, Scotland, +Ireland, and within my own kingdom. What would be said if I looked only +on one side, and if on that side I employed all my resources. No, I will +give my subjects no cause for murmuring. I know that my counsellors +desire to manage matters with prudence; 'sed aetatem habeo', and you are +to believe, that, of my own motion, I have resolved not to extend my +offer of assistance, at present, beyond the amount already stated. But I +don't say that at another time I may not be able to do more for you. For +my intention is never to abandon your cause, always to assist you, and +never more to suffer any foreign nation to have dominion over you. + +"It is true that you present me with two places in each of your +Provinces. I thank you for them infinitely, and certainly it is a great +offer. But it will be said instantly, the Queen of England wishes to +embrace and devour everything; while, on the contrary, I only wish to +render you assistance. I believe, in truth, that if other monarchs should +have this offer, they would not allow such an opportunity to escape. I do +not let it slip because of fears that I entertain for any prince +whatever. For to think that I am not aware--doing what I am doing--that I +am embarking in a war against the King of Spain, is a great mistake. I +know very well that the succour which I am affording you will offend him +as much as if I should do a great deal more. But what care I? Let him +begin, I will answer him. For my part, I say again, that never did fear +enter my heart. We must all die once. I know very well that many princes +are my enemies, and are seeking my ruin; and that where malice is joined +with force, malice often arrives at its ends. But I am not so feeble a +princess that I have not the means and the will to defend myself against +them all. They are seeking to take my life, but it troubles me not. He +who is on high has defended me until this hour, and will keep me still, +for in Him do I trust. + +"As to the other point, you say that your powers are not extensive enough +to allow your acceptance of the offer I make you. Nevertheless, if I am +not mistaken, I have remarked in passing--for princes look very close to +words--that you would be content if I would give you money in place of +men, and that your powers speak only of demanding a certain proportion of +infantry and another of cavalry. I believe this would be, as you say, an +equivalent, 'secundum quod'. But I say this only because you govern +yourselves so precisely by the measure of your instructions. Nevertheless +I don't wish to contest these points with you. For very often 'dum Romae +disputatur Saguntum perit.' Nevertheless, it would be well for you to +decide; and, in any event, I do not think it good that you should all +take your departure, but that, on the contrary, you should leave some of +your number here. Otherwise it would at once be said that all was broken +off, and that I had chosen to nothing for you; and with this the bad +would comfort themselves, and the good would be much discouraged. + +"Touching the last point of your demand--according to which you desire a +personage of quality--I know, gentlemen, that you do not always agree +very well among yourselves, and that it would be good for you to have +some one to effect such agreement. For this reason I have always +intended, so soon as we should have made our treaty, to send a lord of +name and authority to reside with you, to assist you in governing, and to +aid, with his advice, in the better direction of your affairs. + +"Would to God that Antwerp were relieved! Certainly I should be very +glad, and very well content to lose all that I am now expending if that +city could be saved. I hope, nevertheless, if it can hold out six weeks +longer, that we shall see something good. Already the two thousand men of +General Norris have crossed, or are crossing, every day by companies. I +will hasten the rest as much as possible; and I assure you, gentlemen, +that I will spare no diligence. Nevertheless you may, if you choose, +retire with my council, and see if together you can come to some good +conclusion." + +Thus spoke Elizabeth, like the wise, courageous, and very parsimonious +princess that she was. Alas, it was too true, that Saguntum was perishing +while the higgling went on at Rome. Had those two thousand under Sir John +Norris and the rest of the four thousand but gone a few weeks earlier, +how much happier might have been the result! + +Nevertheless, it was thought in England that Antwerp would still hold +out; and, meantime, a treaty for its relief, in combination with another +for permanent assistance to the Provinces, was agreed upon between the +envoys and the lords of council. + +On the 12th August, Menin presented himself at Nonesuch at the head of +his colleagues, and, in a formal speech, announced the arrangement which +had thus been entered into, subject to the approval of the States. Again +Elizabeth, whose "tongue," in the homely phrase of the Netherlanders, +"was wonderfully well hung," replied with energy and ready eloquence. + +"You see, gentlemen," she said, "that I have opened the door; that I am +embarking once for all with you in a war against the King of Spain. Very +well, I am not anxious about the matter. I hope that God will aid us, and +that we shall strike a good blow in your cause. Nevertheless, I pray you, +with all my heart, and by the affection you bear me, to treat my soldiers +well; for they are my own Englishmen, whom I love as I do myself. +Certainly it would be a great cruelty, if you should treat them ill, +since they are about to hazard their lives so freely in your defence, and +I am sure that my request in this regard will be received by you as it +deserves. + +"In the next place, as you know that I am sending, as commander of these +English troops, an honest gentleman, who deserves most highly for his +experience in arms, so I am also informed that you have on your side a +gentleman of great valour. I pray you, therefore, that good care be taken +lest there be misunderstanding between these two, which might prevent +them from agreeing well together, when great exploits of war are to be +taken in hand. For if that should happen--which God forbid--my succour +would be rendered quite useless to you. I name Count Hohenlo, because him +alone have I heard mentioned. But I pray you to make the same +recommendation to all the colonels and gentlemen in your army; for I +should be infinitely sad, if misadventures should arise from such a +cause, for your interest and my honour are both at stake. + +"In the third place, I beg you, at your return, to make a favourable +report of me, and to thank the States, in my behalf, for their great +offers, which I esteem so highly as to be unable to express my thanks. +Tell them that I shall remember them for ever. I consider it a great +honour, that from the commencement, you have ever been so faithful to me, +and that with such great constancy you have preferred me to all other +princes, and have chosen me for your Queen. And chiefly do I thank the +gentlemen of Holland and Zeeland, who, as I have been informed, were the +first who so singularly loved me. And so on my own part I will have a +special care of them, and will do my best to uphold them by every +possible means, as I will do all the rest who have put their trust in me. +But I name Holland and Zeeland more especially, because they have been so +constant and faithful in their efforts to assist the rest in shaking off +the yoke of the enemy. + +"Finally, gentlemen, I beg you to assure the States that I do not decline +the sovereignty of your country from any dread of the King of Spain. For +I take God to witness that I fear him not; and I hope, with the blessing +of God, to make such demonstrations against him, that men shall say the +Queen of England does not fear the Spaniards." + +Elizabeth then smote herself upon the breast, and cried, with great +energy, "'Illa que virgo viri;' and is it not quite the same to you, even +if I do not assume the sovereignty, since I intend to protect you, and +since therefore the effects will be the same? It is true that the +sovereignty would serve to enhance my grandeur, but I am content to do +without it, if you, upon your own part, will only do your duty. + +"For myself, I promise you, in truth, that so long as I live, and even to +my last sigh, I will never forsake you. Go home and tell this boldly to +the States which sent you hither." + +Menin then replied with fresh expressions of thanks and compliments, and +requested, in conclusion, that her Majesty would be pleased to send, as +soon as possible, a personage of quality to the Netherlands. + +"Gentlemen," replied Elizabeth, "I intend to do this, so soon as our +treaty shall be ratified, for, in contrary case, the King of Spain, +seeing your government continue on its present footing, would do nothing +but laugh at us. Certainly I do not mean this year to provide him with so +fine a banquet." + + ETEXT EDITOR'S BOOKMARKS: + + Anarchy which was deemed inseparable from a non-regal form + Dismay of our friends and the gratification of our enemies + Her teeth black, her bosom white and liberally exposed (Eliz.) + Holland was afraid to give a part, although offering the whole + Resolved thenceforth to adopt a system of ignorance + Say "'tis pity he is not an Englishman" + Seeking protection for and against the people + Three hundred and upwards are hanged annually in London + We must all die once + Wrath of bigots on both sides + + + + +HISTORY OF THE UNITED NETHERLANDS + +From the Death of William the Silent to the Twelve Year's Truce--1609 + +By John Lothrop Motley + +History United Netherlands, Volume 43, 1585 + + + + +CHAPTER VI., Part 2. + + Sir John Norris sent to Holland--Parsimony of Elizabeth--Energy of + Davison--Protracted Negotiations--Friendly Sentiments of Count + Maurice--Letters from him and Louisa de Coligny--Davison vexed by + the Queen's Caprice--Dissatisfaction of Leicester--His vehement + Complaints--The Queen's Avarice--Perplexity of Davison--Manifesto + of Elizabeth--Sir Philip Sidney--His Arrival at Flushing. + +The envoys were then dismissed, and soon afterwards a portion of the +deputation took their departure from the Netherlands with the proposed +treaty. It was however, as we know, quite too late for Saguntum. Two days +after the signing of the treaty, the remaining envoys were at the palace +of Nonesuch, in conference with the Earl of Leicester, when a gentleman +rushed suddenly into the apartment, exclaiming with great manifestations +of anger: + +"Antwerp has fallen! A treaty has been signed with the Prince of Parma. +Aldegonde is the author of it all. He is the culprit, who has betrayed +us;" with many more expressions of vehement denunciation. + +The Queen was disappointed, but stood firm. She had been slow in taking +her resolution, but she was unflinching when her mind was made up. +Instead of retreating from her, position, now that it became doubly +dangerous, she advanced several steps nearer towards her allies. For it +was obvious, if more precious time should be lost, that Holland and +Zeeland would share the fate of Antwerp. Already the belief, that, with +the loss of that city, all had been lost, was spreading both in the +Provinces and in England, and Elizabeth felt that the time had indeed +come to confront the danger. + +Meantime the intrigues of the enemy in the independent Provinces were +rife. Blunt Roger Williams wrote in very plain language to Walsingham, a +very few days after the capitulation of Antwerp: + +"If her Majesty means to have Holland and Zeeland," said he, "she must +resolve presently. Aldegonde hath promised the enemy to bring them to +compound. Here arrived already his ministers which knew all his dealings +about Antwerp from first to last. Count Maurice is governed altogether by +Villiers, and Villiers was never worse for the English than at this hour. +To be short, the people say in general, they will accept a peace, unless +her Majesty do sovereign them presently. All the men of war will be at +her Highness' devotion, if they be in credit in time. What you do, it +must be done presently, for I do assure your honour there is large offers +presented unto them by the enemies. If her Majesty deals not roundly and +resolutely with them now, it will be too late two months hence." + +Her Majesty meant to deal roundly and resolutely. Her troops had already +gone in considerable numbers. She wrote encouraging letters with her own +hand to the States, imploring them not to falter now, even though the +great city had fallen. She had long since promised never to desert them, +and she was, if possible, more determined than ever to redeem her pledge. +She especially recommended to their consideration General Norris, +commander of the forces that had been despatched to the relief of +Antwerp. + +A most accomplished officer, sprung of a house renowned for its romantic +valour, Sir John was the second of the six sons of Lord Norris of Rycot, +all soldiers of high reputation, "chickens of Mars," as an old writer +expressed himself. "Such a bunch of brethren for eminent achievement," +said he, "was never seen. So great their states and stomachs that they +often jostled with others." Elizabeth called their mother, "her own +crow;" and the darkness of her hair and visage was thought not unbecoming +to her martial issue, by whom it had been inherited. Daughter of Lord +Williams of Tame, who had been keeper of the Tower in the time of +Elizabeth's imprisonment, she had been affectionate and serviceable to +the Princess in the hour of her distress, and had been rewarded with her +favour in the days of her grandeur. We shall often meet this crow-black +Norris, and his younger brother Sir Edward--the most daring soldiers of +their time, posters of sea and land--wherever the buffeting was closest, +or adventure the wildest on ship-board or shore, for they were men who +combined much of the knight-errantry of a vanishing age with the more +practical and expansive spirit of adventure that characterized the new +epoch. + +Nor was he a stranger in the Netherlands. "The gentleman to whom we have +committed the government of the forces going to the relief of Antwerp," +said Elizabeth, "has already given you such proofs of his affection by +the good services he has rendered you, that without recommendation on our +part, he should stand already recommended. Nevertheless, in respect for +his quality, the house from which he is descended, and the valour which +he has manifested in your own country, we desire to tell you that we hold +him dear, and that he deserves also to be dear to you." + +When the fall of Antwerp was certain, the Queen sent Davison, who had +been for a brief period in England, back again to his post. "We have +learned," she said in the letter which she sent by that envoy; "with very +great regret of the surrender of Antwerp. Fearing lest some apprehension +should take possession of the people's mind in consequence, and that some +dangerous change might ensue, we send you our faithful and well-beloved +Davison to represent to you how much we have your affairs at heart, and +to say that we are determined to forget nothing that may be necessary to +your preservation. Assure yourselves that we shall never fail to +accomplish all that he may promise you in our behalf." + +Yet, notwithstanding the gravity of the situation, the thorough +discussion that had taken place of the whole matter, and the enormous +loss which had resulted from the money-saving insanity upon both sides, +even then the busy devil of petty economy was not quite exorcised. +Several precious weeks were wasted in renewed chafferings. The Queen was +willing that the permanent force should now be raised to five thousand +foot and one thousand horse--the additional sixteen, hundred men being +taken from the Antwerp relieving-force--but she insisted that the +garrisons for the cautionary towns should be squeezed out of this general +contingent. The States, on the contrary, were determined to screw these +garrisons out of her grip, as an additional subsidy. Each party +complained with reason of the other's closeness. No doubt the states were +shrewd bargainers, but it would have been difficult for the sharpest +Hollander that ever sent a cargo of herrings to Cadiz, to force open +Elizabeth's beautiful hand when she chose to shut it close. Walsingham +and Leicester were alternately driven to despair by the covetousness of +the one party or the other. + +It was still uncertain what "personage of quality" was to go to the +Netherlands in the Queen's name, to help govern the country. Leicester +had professed his readiness to risk his life, estates, and reputation, in +the cause, and the States particularly desired his appointment. "The name +of your Excellency is so very agreeable to this people," said they in a +letter to the Earl, "as to give promise of a brief and happy end to this +grievous and almost immortal war." The Queen was, or affected to be, +still undecided as to the appointment. While waiting week after week for +the ratifications of the treaty from Holland, affairs were looking gloomy +at home, and her Majesty was growing very uncertain in her temper. + +"I see not her Majesty disposed to use the service of the Earl of +Leicester," wrote Walsingham. "I suppose the lot of government will light +on Lord Gray. I would to God the ability of his purse were answerable to +his sufficiency otherwise." This was certainly a most essential +deficiency on the part of Lord Gray, and it will soon be seen that the +personage of quality to be selected as chief in the arduous and +honourable enterprise now on foot, would be obliged to rely quite as much +on that same ability of purse as upon the sufficiency of his brain or +arm. The Queen did not mean to send her favourite forth to purchase +anything but honour in the Netherlands; and it was not the Provinces only +that were likely to struggle against her parsimony. Yet that parsimony +sprang from a nobler motive than the mere love of pelf. Dangers +encompassed her on every side, and while husbanding her own exchequer, +she was saving her subjects' resources. "Here we are but book-worms," +said Walsingham, "yet from sundry quarters we hear of great practices +against this poor crown. The revolt in Scotland is greatly feared, and +that out of hand." + +Scotland, France, Spain, these were dangerous enemies and neighbours to a +maiden Queen, who had a rebellious Ireland to deal with on one side the +channel, and Alexander of Parma on the other. + +Davison experienced great inconvenience and annoyance before the definite +arrangements could be made. There is no doubt that the Spanish party had +made great progress since the fall of Antwerp. Roger Williams was right +in advising the Queen to deal "roundly and resolutely" with the States, +and to "sovereign them presently." + +They had need of being sovereigned, for it must be confessed that the +self-government which prevailed at that moment was very like no +government. The death of Orange, the treachery of Henry III., the +triumphs of Parma, disastrous facts, treading rapidly upon each other, +had produced a not very unnatural effect. The peace-at-any-price party +was struggling hard for the ascendancy, and the Spanish partizans were +doing their best to hold up to suspicion the sharp practice of the +English Queen. She was even accused of underhand dealing with Spain, to +the disadvantage of the Provinces; so much had slander, anarchy, and +despair, been able to effect. The States were reluctant to sign those +articles with Elizabeth which were absolutely necessary to their +salvation. + +"In how doubtful and uncertain terms I found things at my coming hither," +wrote Davison to Burghley, "how thwarted and delayed since for a +resolution, and with what conditions, and for what reasons I have been +finally drawn to conclude with them as I have done, your Lordship may +perceive by that I have written to Mr. Secretary. The chief difficulty +has rested upon the point of entertaining the garrisons within the towns +of assurance, over and besides the five thousand footmen and one thousand +horse." + +This, as Davison proceeded to observe, was considered a 'sine qua non' by +the States, so that, under the perilous circumstances in which both +countries were placed, he had felt it his duty to go forward as far as +possible to meet their demands. Davison always did his work veraciously, +thoroughly, and resolutely; and it was seldom that his advice, in all +matters pertaining to Netherland matters, did not prove the very best +that could be offered. No man knew better than he the interests and the +temper of both countries. + +The imperious Elizabeth was not fond of being thwarted, least of all by +any thing savouring of the democratic principle, and already there was +much friction between the Tudor spirit of absolutism and the rough +"mechanical" nature with which it was to ally itself in the Netherlands. +The economical Elizabeth was not pleased at being overreached in a +bargain; and, at a moment when she thought herself doing a magnanimous +act, she was vexed at the cavilling with which her generosity was +received. "'Tis a manner of proceeding," said Walsingham, "not to be +allowed of, and may very well be termed mechanical, considering that her +Majesty seeketh no interest in that country--as Monsieur and the French +King did--but only their good and benefit, without regard had of the +expenses of her treasure and the hazard of her subjects' lives; besides +throwing herself into a present war for their sakes with the greatest +prince and potentate in Europe. But seeing the government of those +countries resteth in the hands of merchants and advocates--the one +regarding profit, the other standing upon vantage of quirks--there is no +better fruit to be looked to from them." + +Yet it was, after all, no quirk in those merchants and advocates to urge +that the Queen was not going to war with the great potentate for their +sakes alone. To Elizabeth's honour, she did thoroughly comprehend that +the war of the Netherlands was the war of England, of Protestantism, and +of European liberty, and that she could no longer, without courting her +own destruction, defer taking a part in active military operations. It +was no quirk, then, but solid reasoning, for the States to regard the +subject in the same light. Holland and England were embarked in one boat, +and were to sink or swim together. It was waste of time to wrangle so +fiercely over pounds and shillings, but the fault was not to be +exclusively imputed to the one side or the other. There were bitter +recriminations, particularly on the part of Elizabeth, for it was not +safe to touch too closely either the pride or the pocket of that frugal +and despotic heroine. "The two thousand pounds promised by the States to +Norris upon the muster of the two thousand volunteers," said Walsingham, +"were not paid. Her Majesty is not a little offended therewith, seeing +how little care they have to yield her satisfaction, which she imputeth +to proceed rather from contempt, than from necessity. If it should fall +out, however, to be such as by them is pretended, then doth she conceive +her bargain to be very ill made, to join her fortune with so weak and +broken an estate." Already there were indications that the innocent might +be made to suffer for the short-comings of the real culprits; nor would +it be, the first time, or by any means the last, for Davison to appear in +the character of a scape-goat. + +"Surely, sir," continued Mr. Secretary, "it is a thing greatly to be +feared that the contributions they will yield will fall not more true in +paper than in payment; which if it should so happen, it would turn some +to blame, whereof you among others are to bear your part." + +And thus the months of September and of October wore away, and the +ratifications of the treaty had not arrived from the Netherlands. +Elizabeth became furious, and those of the Netherland deputation who had +remained in England were at their wits' end to appease her choler. No +news arrived for many weeks. Those were not the days of steam and +magnetic telegraphs--inventions by which the nature of man and the aspect +of history seem altered--and the Queen had nothing for it but to fret, +and the envoys to concert with her ministers expedients to mitigate her +spleen. Towards the end of the month, the commissioners chartered a +vessel which they despatched for news to Holland. On his way across the +sea the captain was hailed on the 28th October by a boat, in which one +Hans Wyghans was leisurely proceeding to England with Netherland +despatches dated on the 5th of the same month. This was the freshest +intelligence that had yet been received. + +So soon as the envoys were put in possession of the documents, they +obtained an audience of the Queen. This was the last day of October. +Elizabeth read her letters, and listened to the apologies made by the +deputies for the delay with anything but a benignant countenance. Then, +with much vehemence of language, and manifestations of ill-temper, she +expressed her displeasure at the dilatoriness of the States. Having sent +so many troops, and so many gentlemen of quality, she had considered the +whole affair concluded. + +"I have been unhandsomely treated," she said, "and not as comports with a +prince of my quality. My inclination for your support--because you show +yourselves unworthy of so great benefits--will be entirely destroyed, +unless you deal with me and mine more worthily for the future than you +have done in the past. Through my great and especial affection for your +welfare, I had ordered the Earl of Leicester to proceed to the +Netherlands, and conduct your affairs; a man of such quality as all the +world knows, and one whom I love, as if he were my own brother. He was +getting himself ready in all diligence, putting himself in many perils +through the practices of the enemy, and if I should have reason to +believe that he would not be respected there according to his due, I +should be indeed offended. He and many others are not going thither to +advance their own affairs, to make themselves rich, or because they have +not means enough to live magnificently at home. They proceed to the +Netherlands from pure affection for your cause. This is the case, too, +with many other of my subjects, all dear to me, and of much worth. For I +have sent a fine heap of folk thither--in all, with those his Excellency +is taking with him, not under ten thousand soldiers of the English +nation. This is no small succour, and no little unbaring of this realm of +mine, threatened as it is with war from many quarters. Yet I am seeking +no sovereignty, nor anything else prejudicial to the freedom of your +country. I wish only, in your utmost need, to help you out of this +lamentable war, to maintain for you liberty of conscience, and to see +that law and justice are preserved." + +All this, and more, with great eagerness of expression and gesture, was +urged by the Queen, much to the discomfiture of the envoys. In vain they +attempted to modify and to explain. Their faltering excuses were swept +rapidly away upon the current of royal wrath; until at last Elizabeth +stormed herself into exhaustion and comparative tranquillity. She then +dismissed them with an assurance that her goodwill towards the States was +not diminished, as would be found to be the case, did they not continue +to prove themselves unworthy of her favour that a permanent force of five +thousand foot and one thousand horse should serve in the Provinces at the +Queen's expense; and that the cities of Flushing and Brill should be +placed in her Majesty's hands until the entire reimbursement of the debt +thus incurred by the States. Elizabeth also--at last overcoming her +reluctance--agreed that the force necessary to garrison these towns +should form an additional contingent, instead of being deducted from the +general auxiliary force. + +Count Maurice of Nassau had been confirmed by the States of Holland and +Zeeland as permanent stadholder of those provinces. This measure excited +some suspicion on the part of Leicester, who, as it was now understood, +was the "personage of quality" to be sent to the Netherlands as +representative of the Queen's authority. "Touching the election of Count +Maurice," said the Earl, "I hope it will be no impairing of the authority +heretofore allotted to me, for if it will be, I shall tarry but awhile." + +Nothing, however, could be more frank or chivalrously devoted than the +language of Maurice to the Queen. "Madam, if I have ever had occasion," +he wrote, "to thank God for his benefits, I confess that it was when, +receiving in all humility the letters with which it pleased your Majesty +to honour me, I learned that the great disaster of my lord and father's +death had not diminished the debonaire affection and favour which it has +always pleased your Majesty to manifest to my father's house. It has been +likewise grateful to me to learn that your Majesty, surrounded by so many +great and important affairs, had been pleased to approve the command +which the States-General have conferred upon me. I am indeed grieved that +my actions cannot correspond with the ardent desire which I feel to serve +your Majesty and these Provinces, for which I hope that my extreme youth +will be accepted as an excuse. And although I find myself feeble enough +for the charge thus imposed upon me, yet God will assist my efforts to +supply by diligence and sincere intention the defect of the other +qualities requisite for my thorough discharge of my duty to the +contentment of your Majesty. To fulfil these obligations, which are +growing greater day by day, I trust to prove by my actions that I will +never spare either my labour or life." + +When it was found that the important town of Flushing was required as +part of the guaranty to the Queen, Maurice, as hereditary seignor and +proprietor of the place--during the captivity of his elder brother in +Spain--signified his concurrence in the transfer, together with the most +friendly feelings towards the Earl of Leicester, and to Sir Philip +Sidney, appointed English governor of the town. He wrote to Davison, whom +he called "one of the best and most certain friends that the house of +Nassau possessed in England," begging that he would recommend the +interests of the family to the Queen, "whose favour could do more than +anything else in the world towards maintaining what remained of the +dignity of their house." After solemn deliberation with his step-mother, +Louisa de Coligny, and the other members of his family, he made a formal +announcement of adhesion on the part of the House of Nassau to the +arrangements concluded with the English government, and asked the +benediction of God upon the treaty. While renouncing, for the moment, any +compensation for his consent to the pledging of Flushing his "patrimonial +property, and a place of such great importance"--he expressed a +confidence that the long services of his father, as well as those which +he himself hoped to render, would meet in time with "condign +recognition." He requested the Earl of Leicester to consider the +friendship which had existed between himself and the late Prince of +Orange, as an hereditary affection to be continued to the children, and +he entreated the Earl to do him the honour in future to hold him as a +son, and to extend to him counsel and authority; declaring, on his part, +that he should ever deem it an honour to be allowed to call him father. +And in order still more strongly to confirm his friendship, he begged Sir +Philip Sidney to consider him as his brother, and as his companion in +arms, promising upon his own part the most faithful friendship. In the +name of Louisa de Coligny, and of his whole family, he also particularly +recommended to the Queen the interests of the eldest brother of the +house, Philip William, "who had been so long and so iniquitously detained +captive in Spain," and begged that, in case prisoners of war of high rank +should fall into the hands of the English commanders, they might be +employed as a means of effecting the liberation of that much-injured +Prince. He likewise desired the friendly offices of the Queen to protect +the principality of Orange against the possible designs of the French +monarch, and intimated that occasions might arise in which the +confiscated estates of the family in Burgundy might be recovered through +the influence of the Swiss cantons, particularly those of the Grisons and +of Berne. + +And, in conclusion, in case the Queen should please--as both Count +Maurice and the Princess of Orange desired with all their hearts--to +assume the sovereignty of these Provinces, she was especially entreated +graciously to observe those suggestions regarding the interests of the +House of Nassau, which had been made in the articles of the treaty. + +Thus the path had been smoothed, mainly through the indefatigable energy +of Davison. Yet that envoy was not able to give satisfaction to his +imperious and somewhat whimsical mistress, whose zeal seemed to cool in +proportion to the readiness with which the obstacles to her wishes were +removed. Davison was, with reason, discontented. He had done more than +any other man either in England or the Provinces, to bring about a hearty +cooperation in the common cause, and to allay mutual heart-burnings and +suspicions. He had also, owing to the negligence of the English treasurer +for the Netherlands, and the niggardliness of Elizabeth, been placed in a +position, of great financial embarrassment. His situation was very +irksome. + +"I mused at the sentence you sent me," he wrote, "for I know no cause her +Majesty hath to shrink at her charges hitherto. The treasure she hath yet +disbursed here is not above five or six thousand pounds, besides that +which I have been obliged to take up for the saving of her honour, and +necessity of her service, in danger otherwise of some notable disgrace. I +will not, for shame, say how I have been left here to myself." + +The delay in the formal appointment of Leicester, and, more particularly, +of the governors for the cautionary towns, was the cause of great +confusion and anarchy in the transitional condition of the country. "The +burden I am driven to sustain," said Davison, "doth utterly weary me. If +Sir Philip Sidney were here, and if my Lord of Leicester follow not all +the sooner, I would use her Majesty's liberty to return home. If her +Majesty think me worthy the reputation of a poor, honest, and loyal +servant, I have that contents me. For the rest, I wish + + 'Vivere sine invidia, mollesque inglorius annos + Egigere, amicitias et mihi jungere pares.'" + +There was something almost prophetic in the tone which this faithful +public servant--to whom, on more than one occasion, such hard measure was +to be dealt--habitually adopted in his private letters and conversation. +He did his work, but he had not his reward; and he was already weary of +place without power, and industry without recognition. + +"For mine own particular," he said, "I will say with the poet, + + 'Crede mihi, bene qui latuit bene vixit, + Et intra fortunam debet quisque manere suam.'" + +For, notwithstanding the avidity with which Elizabeth had sought the +cautionary towns, and the fierceness with which she had censured the +tardiness of the States, she seemed now half inclined to drop the prize +which she had so much coveted, and to imitate the very languor which she +had so lately rebuked. "She hath what she desired," said Davison, "and +might yet have more, if this content her not. Howsoever you value the +places at home, they are esteemed here, by such as know them best, no +little increase to her Majesty's honour, surety, and greatness, if she be +as careful to keep them as happy in getting them. Of this, our cold +beginning doth already make me jealous." + +Sagacious and resolute Princess as she was, she showed something of +feminine caprice upon this grave occasion. Not Davison alone, but her +most confidential ministers and favourites at home, were perplexed and +provoked by her misplaced political coquetries. But while the alternation +of her hot and cold fits drove her most devoted courtiers out of +patience, there was one symptom that remained invariable throughout all +her paroxysms, the rigidity with which her hand was locked. Walsingham, +stealthy enough when an advantage was to be gained by subtlety, was +manful and determined in his dealings with his friends; and he had more +than once been offended with Elizabeth's want of frankness in these +transactions. + +"I find you grieved, and not without cause," he wrote to Davison, "in +respect to the over thwart proceedings as well there as here. The +disorders in those countries would be easily redressed if we could take a +thoroughly resolute course here--a matter that men may rather pray for +than hope for. It is very doubtful whether the action now in hand will be +accompanied by very hard success, unless they of the country there may be +drawn to bear the greatest part of the burden of the wars." + +And now the great favourite of all had received the appointment which he +coveted. The Earl of Leicester was to be Commander-in-Chief of her +Majesty's forces in the Netherlands, and representative of her authority +in those countries, whatever that office might prove to be. The nature of +his post was anomalous from the beginning. It was environed with +difficulties, not the least irritating of which proceeded from the +captious spirit of the Queen. The Earl was to proceed in great pomp to +Holland, but the pomp was to be prepared mainly at his own expense. +Besides the auxiliary forces that had been shipped during the latter +period of the year, Leicester was raising a force of lancers, from four +to eight hundred in number; but to pay for that levy he was forced to +mortgage his own property, while the Queen not only refused to advance +ready money, but declined endorsing his bills. + +It must be confessed that the Earl's courtship of Elizabeth was anything +at that moment but a gentle dalliance. In those thorny regions of finance +were no beds of asphodel or amaranthine bowers. There was no talk but of +troopers, saltpetre, and sulphur, of books of assurance, and bills of +exchange; and the aspect of Elizabeth, when the budget was under +discussion, must effectually have neutralized for the time any very +tender sentiment. The sharpness with which she clipped Leicester's +authority, when authority was indispensable to his dignity, and the heavy +demands upon his resources that were the result of her avarice, were +obstacles more than enough to the calm fruition of his triumphs. He had +succeeded, in appearance at least, in the great object of his ambition, +this appointment to the Netherlands; but the appointment was no sinecure, +and least of all a promising pecuniary speculation. Elizabeth had told +the envoys, with reason, that she was not sending forth that man--whom +she loved as a brother--in order that he might make himself rich. On the +contrary, the Earl seemed likely to make himself comparatively poor +before he got to the Provinces, while his political power, at the moment, +did not seem of more hopeful growth. + +Leicester had been determined and consistent in this great enterprize +from the beginning. He felt intensely the importance of the crisis. He +saw that the time had come for swift and uncompromising action, and the +impatience with which he bore the fetters imposed upon him may be easily +conceived. + +"The cause is such," he wrote to Walsingham, "that I had as lief be dead +as be in the case I shall be in if this restraint hold for taking the +oath there, or if some more authority be not granted than I see her +Majesty would I should have. I trust you all will hold hard for this, or +else banish me England withal. I have sent you the books to be signed by +her Majesty. I beseech you return them with all haste, for I get no money +till they be under seal." + +But her Majesty would not put them under her seal, much to the +favourite's discomfiture. + +"Your letter yieldeth but cold answer," he wrote, two days afterwards. +"Above all things yet that her Majesty doth stick at, I marvel most at +her refusal to sign my book of assurance; for there passeth nothing in +the earth against her profit by that act, nor any good to me but to +satisfy the creditors, who were more scrupulous than needs. I did +complain to her of those who did refuse to lend me money, and she was +greatly offended with them. But if her Majesty were to stay this, if I +were half seas over, I must of necessity come back again, for I may not +go without money. I beseech, if the matter be refused by her, bestow a +post on me to Harwich. I lie this night at Sir John Peters', and but for +this doubt I had been to-morrow at Harwich. I pray God make you all that +be counsellors plain and direct to the furtherance of all good service +for her Majesty and the realm; and if it be the will of God to plague us +that go, and you that tarry, for our sins, yet let us not be negligent to +seek to please the Lord." + +The Earl was not negligent at any rate in seeking to please the Queen, +but she was singularly hard to please. She had never been so uncertain in +her humours as at this important crisis. She knew, and had publicly +stated as much, that she was "embarking in a war with the greatest +potentate in Europe;" yet now that the voyage had fairly commenced, and +the waves were rolling around her, she seemed anxious to put back to the +shore. For there was even a whisper of peace-negotiations, than which +nothing could have been more ill-timed. "I perceive by your message," +said Leicester to Walsingham, "that your peace with Spain will go fast +on, but this is not the way." Unquestionably it was not the way, and the +whisper was, for the moment at least, suppressed. Meanwhile Leicester had +reached Harwich, but the post "bestowed on him," contained, as usual, but +cold comfort. He was resolved, however, to go manfully forward, and do +the work before him, until the enterprise should prove wholly +impracticable. It is by the light afforded by the secret never-published +correspondence of the period with which we are now occupied, that the +true characteristics of Elizabeth, the Earl of Leicester, and other +prominent personages, must be scanned, and the study is most important, +for it was by those characteristics, in combination with other human +elements embodied in distant parts of Christendom, that the destiny of +the world was determined. In that age, more than in our own perhaps, the +influence of the individual was widely and intensely felt. Historical +chymistry is only rendered possible by a detection of the subtle +emanations, which it was supposed would for ever elude analysis, but +which survive in those secret, frequently ciphered intercommunications. +Philip II., William of Orange, Queen Elizabeth, Alexander Farnese, Robert +Dudley, never dreamed--when disclosing their inmost thoughts to their +trusted friends at momentous epochs--that the day would come on earth +when those secrets would be no longer hid from the patient enquirer after +truth. Well for those whose reputations before the judgment-seat of +history appear even comparatively pure, after impartial comparison of +their motives with their deeds. + +"For mine own part, Mr. Secretary," wrote Leicester, "I am resolved to do +that which shall be fit for a poor man's honour, and honestly to obey her +Majesty's commandment. Let the rest fall out to others, it shall not +concern me. I mean to assemble myself to the camp, where my authority +must wholly lie, and will there do that which in good reason and duty I +shall be bound to do. I am sorry that her Majesty doth deal in this sort, +and if content to overthrow so willingly her own cause. If there can be +means to salve this sore, I will. If not,--I tell you what shall become +of me, as truly as God lives." + +Yet it is remarkable, that, in spite of this dark intimation, the Earl, +after all, did not state what was to become of him if the sore was not +salved. He was, however, explicit enough as to the causes of his grief, +and very vehement in its manifestations. "Another matter which shall +concern me deeply," he said, "and all the subjects there, is now by you +to be carefully considered, which is--money. I find that the money is +already gone, and this now given to the treasurer will do no more than +pay to the end of the month. I beseech you look to it, for by the Lord! I +will bear no more so miserable burdens; for if I have no money to pay +them, let them come home, or what else. I will not starve them, nor stay +them. There was never gentleman nor general so sent out as I am; and if +neither Queen nor council care to help it, but leave men desperate, as I +see men shall be, that inconvenience will follow which I trust in the +Lord I shall be free of." + +He then used language about himself, singularly resembling the +phraseology employed by Elizabeth concerning him, when she was scolding +the Netherland commissioners for the dilatoriness and parsimony of the +States. + +"For mine own part," he said, "I have taken upon me this voyage, not as a +desperate nor forlorn man, but as one as well contented with his place +and calling at home as any subject was ever. My cause was not, nor is, +any other than the Lord's and the Queen's. If the Queen fail, yet must I +trust in the Lord, and on Him, I see, I am wholly to depend. I can say no +more, but pray to God that her Majesty never send General again as I am +sent. And yet I will do what I can for her and my country." + +The Earl had raised a choice body of lancers to accompany him to the +Netherlands, but the expense of the levy had come mainly upon his own +purse. The Queen had advanced five thousand pounds, which was much less +than the requisite amount, while for the balance required, as well as for +other necessary expenses, she obstinately declined to furnish Leicester +with funds, even refusing him, at last, a temporary loan. She violently +accused him of cheating her, reclaimed money which he had wrung from her +on good security, and when he had repaid the sum, objected to give him a +discharge. As for receiving anything by way of salary, that was quite out +of the question. At that moment he would have been only too happy to be +reimbursed for what he was already out of pocket. Whether Elizabeth loved +Leicester as a brother, or better than a brother, may be a historical +question, but it is no question at all that she loved money better than +she did Leicester. Unhappy the man, whether foe or favourite, who had +pecuniary transactions with her Highness. + +"I am sorry," said the Earl, "that her Majesty hath so hard a conceit of +me, that I should go about to cozen her, as though I had got a fee simple +from her, and had it not before, or that I had not had her full release +for payment of the money I borrowed. I pray God, any that did put such +scruple in her, have not deceived her more than I have done. I thank God +I have a clear conscience for deceiving her, and for money matters. I +think I may justly say I have been the only cause of more gain to her +coffers than all her chequer-men have been. But so is the hap of some, +that all they do is nothing, and others that do nothing, do all, and have +all the thanks. But I would this were all the grief I carry with me; but +God is my comfort, and on Him I cast all, for there is no surety in this +world beside. What hope of help can I have, finding her Majesty so strait +with myself as she is? I did trust that--the cause being hers and this +realm's--if I could have gotten no money of her merchants, she would not +have refused to have lent money on so easy prized land as mine, to have +been gainer and no loser by it. Her Majesty, I see, will make trial of me +how I love her, and what will discourage me from her service. But +resolved am I that no worldly respect shall draw me back from my faithful +discharge of my duty towards her, though she shall show to hate me, as it +goeth very near; for I find no love or favour at all. And I pray you to +remember that I have not had one penny of her Majesty towards all these +charges of mine--not one penny-and, by all truth, I have already laid out +above five thousand pounds. Her Majesty appointed eight thousand pounds +for the levy, which was after the rate of four hundred horse, and, upon +my fidelity, there is shipped, of horse of service, eight hundred, so +that there ought eight thousand more to have been paid me. No general +that ever went that was not paid to the uttermost of these things before +he went, but had cash for his provision, which her Majesty would not +allow me--not one groat. Well, let all this go, it is like I shall be the +last shall bear this, and some must suffer for the people. Good Mr. +Secretary, let her Majesty know this, for I deserve God-a-mercy, at the +least." + +Leicester, to do him justice, was thoroughly alive to the importance of +the Crisis. On political principle, at any rate, he was a firm supporter +of Protestantism, and even of Puritanism; a form of religion which +Elizabeth detested, and in which, with keen instinct, she detected a +mutinous element against the divine right of kings. The Earl was quite +convinced of the absolute necessity that England should take up the +Netherland matter most vigorously, on pain of being herself destroyed. +All the most sagacious counsellors of Elizabeth were day by day more and +more confirmed in this opinion, and were inclined heartily to support the +new Lieutenant-General. As for Leicester himself, while fully conscious +of his own merits, and of his firm intent to do his duty, he was also +grateful to those who were willing to befriend him in his arduous +enterprise. + +"I have received a letter from my Lord Willoughby," he said, "to my +seeming, as wise a letter as I have read a great while, and not unfit for +her Majesty's sight. I pray God open her eyes, that they may behold her +present estate indeed, and the wonderful means that God doth offer unto +her. If she lose these opportunities, who can look for other but +dishonour and destruction? My Lord Treasurer hath also written me a most +hearty and comfortable letter touching this voyage, not only in showing +the importance of it, both for her Majesty's own safety and the realm's, +but that the whole state of religion doth depend thereon, and therefore +doth faithfully promise his whole and best assistance for the supply of +all wants. I was not a little glad to receive such a letter from him at +this time." + +And from on board the 'Amity,' ready to set sail, he expressed his thanks +to Burghley, at finding him so "earnestly bent for the good supply and +maintenance of us poor men sent in her Majesty's service and our +country's." + +As for Walsingham, earnestly a defender of the Netherland cause from the +beginning, he was wearied and disgusted with fighting against the Queen's +parsimony and caprice. "He is utterly discouraged," said Leicester to +Burghley, "to deal any more in these causes. I pray God your Lordship +grow not so too; for then all will to the ground; on my poor side +especially." + +And to Sir Francis himself, he wrote, even as his vessel was casting off +her moorings:--"I am sorry, Mr. Secretary," he said, "to find you so +discouraged, and that her Majesty doth deem you so partial. And yet my +suits to her Majesty have not of late been so many nor great, while the +greatest, I am sure, are for her Majesty's own service. For my part, I +will discharge my duty as far as my poor ability and capacity shall +serve, and if I shall not have her gracious and princely support and +supply, the lack will be to us, for the present, but the shame and +dishonour will be hers." + +And with these parting words the Earl committed himself to the December +seas. + +Davison had been meantime doing his best to prepare the way in the +Netherlands for the reception of the English administration. What man +could do, without money and without authority, he had done. The governors +for Flushing and the Brill, Sir Philip Sidney and Sir Thomas Cecil, +eldest son of Lord Burghley, had been appointed, but had not arrived. +Their coming was anxiously looked for, as during the interval the +condition of the garrisons was deplorable. The English treasurer--by some +unaccountable and unpardonable negligence, for which it is to be feared +the Queen was herself to blame--was not upon the spot, and Davison was +driven out of his wits to devise expedients to save the soldiers from +starving. + +"Your Lordship has seen by my former letters," wrote the Ambassador to +Burghley from Flushing, "what shift I have been driven to for the relief +of this garrison here, left 'a l'abandon;' without which means they had +all fallen into wild and shameful disorder, to her Majesty's great +disgrace and overthrow of her service. I am compelled, unless I would see +the poor men famish, and her Majesty dishonoured, to try my poor credit +for them." + +General Sir John Norris was in the Betuwe, threatening Nvymegen, a town +which he found "not so flexible as he had hoped;" and, as he had but two +thousand men, while Alexander Farnese was thought to be marching upon him +with ten thousand, his position caused great anxiety. Meantime, his +brother, Sir Edward, a hot-headed and somewhat wilful young man, who +"thought that all was too little for him," was giving the sober Davison a +good deal of trouble. He had got himself into a quarrel, both with that +envoy and with Roger Williams, by claiming the right to control military +matters in Flushing until the arrival of Sidney. "If Sir Thomas and Sir +Philip," said Davison, "do not make choice of more discreet, staid, and +expert commanders than those thrust into these places by Mr. Norris, they +will do themselves a great deal of worry, and her Majesty a great deal of +hurt." + +As might naturally be expected, the lamentable condition of the English +soldiers, unpaid and starving--according to the report of the Queen's +envoy himself--exercised anything but a salutary influence upon the minds +of the Netherlanders and perpetually fed the hopes of the Spanish +partizans that a composition with Philip and Parma would yet take place. +On the other hand, the States had been far more liberal in raising funds +than the Queen had shown herself to be, and were somewhat indignant at +being perpetually taunted with parsimony by her agents. Davison was +offended by the injustice of Norris in this regard. "The complaints which +the General hath made of the States to her Majesty," said he, "are +without cause, and I think, when your Lordship shall examine it well, you +will find it no little sum they have already disbursed unto him for their +part. Wherein, nevertheless, if they had been looked into, they were +somewhat the more excusable, considering how ill our people at her +Majesty's entertainment were satisfied hitherto--a thing that doth much +prejudice her reputation, and hurt her service." + +At last, however, the die had been cast. The Queen, although rejecting +the proposed sovereignty of the Netherlands, had espoused their cause, by +solemn treaty of alliance, and thereby had thrown down the gauntlet to +Spain. She deemed it necessary, therefore, out of respect for the +opinions of mankind, to issue a manifesto of her motives to the world. +The document was published, simultaneously in Dutch, French, English, and +Italian. + +In this solemn state-paper she spoke of the responsibility of princes to +the Almighty, of the ancient friendship between England and the +Netherlands, of the cruelty and tyranny of the Spaniards, of their +violation of the liberties of the Provinces, of their hanging, beheading, +banishing without law and against justice, in the space of a few months, +so many of the highest nobles in the land. Although in the beginning of +the cruel persecution, the pretext had been the maintenance of the +Catholic religion, yet it was affirmed they had not failed to exercise +their barbarity upon Catholics also, and even upon ecclesiastics. Of the +principal persons put to death, no one, it was asserted, had been more +devoted to the ancient church than was the brave Count Egmont, who, for +his famous victories in the service of Spain, could never be forgotten in +veracious history any more than could be the cruelty of his execution. + +The land had been made desolate, continued the Queen, with fire, sword, +famine, and murder. These misfortunes had ever been bitterly deplored by +friendly nations, and none could more truly regret such sufferings than +did the English, the oldest allies, and familiar neighbours of the +Provinces, who had been as close to them in the olden time by community +of connexion and language, as man and wife. She declared that she had +frequently, by amicable embassies, warned her brother of Spain--speaking +to him like a good, dear sister and neighbour--that unless he restrained +the cruelty of his governors and their soldiers, he was sure to force his +Provinces into allegiance to some other power. She expressed the danger +in which she should be placed if the Spaniards succeeded in establishing +their absolute government in the Netherlands, from which position their +attacks upon England would be incessant. She spoke of the enterprise +favoured and set on foot by the Pope and by Spain, against the kingdom of +Ireland. She alluded to the dismissal of the Spanish envoy, Don +Bernardino de Mendoza, who had been treated by her with great regard for +a long time, but who had been afterwards discovered in league with +certain ill-disposed and seditious subjects of hers, and with publicly +condemned traitors. That envoy had arranged a plot according to which, as +appeared by his secret despatches, an invasion of England by a force of +men, coming partly from Spain, and partly from the Netherlands, might be +successfully managed, and he had even noted down the necessary number of +ships and men, with various other details. Some of the conspirators had +fled, she observed, and were now consorting with Mendoza, who, after his +expulsion from England, had been appointed ambassador in Paris; while +some had been arrested, and had confessed the plot. So soon as this envoy +had been discovered to be the chief of a rebellion and projected +invasion, the Queen had requested him, she said, to leave the kingdom +within a reasonable time, as one who was the object of deadly hatred to +the English people. She had then sent an agent to Spain, in order to +explain the whole transaction. That agent had not been allowed even to +deliver despatches to the King. + +When the French had sought, at a previous period, to establish their +authority in Scotland, even as the Spaniards had attempted to do in the +Netherlands, and through the enormous ambition of the House of Guise, to +undertake the invasion of her kingdom, she had frustrated their plots, +even as she meant to suppress these Spanish conspiracies. She spoke of +the Prince of Parma as more disposed by nature to mercy and humanity, +than preceding governors had been, but as unable to restrain the +blood-thirstiness of Spaniards, increased by long indulgence. She avowed, +in assuming the protection of the Netherlands, and in sending her troops +to those countries, but three objects: peace, founded upon the +recognition of religious freedom in the Provinces, restoration of their +ancient political liberties, and security for England. Never could there +be tranquillity, for her own realm until these neighbouring countries +were tranquil. These were her ends and aims, despite all that slanderous +tongues might invent. The world, she observed, was overflowing with +blasphemous libels, calumnies, scandalous pamphlets; for never had the +Devil been so busy in supplying evil tongues with venom against the +professors of the Christian religion. + +She added that in a pamphlet, ascribed to the Archbishop of Milan, just +published, she had been accused of ingratitude to the King of Spain, and +of plots to take the life of Alexander Farnese. In answer to the first +charge, she willingly acknowledged her obligations to the King of Spain +during the reign of her sister. She pronounced it, however, an absolute +falsehood that he had ever saved her life, as if she had ever been +condemned to death. She likewise denied earnestly the charge regarding +the Prince of Parma. She protested herself incapable of such a crime, +besides declaring that he had never given her offence. On the contrary, +he was a man whom she had ever honoured for the rare qualities that she +had noted in him, and for which he had deservedly acquired a high +reputation. + +Such, in brief analysis, was the memorable Declaration of Elizabeth in +favour of the Netherlands--a document which was a hardly disguised +proclamation of war against Philip. In no age of the world could an +unequivocal agreement to assist rebellious subjects, with men and money, +against their sovereign, be considered otherwise than as a hostile +demonstration. The King of Spain so regarded the movement, and forthwith +issued a decree, ordering the seizure of all English as well as all +Netherland vessels within his ports, together with the arrest of persons, +and confiscation of property. + +Subsequently to the publication of the Queen's memorial, and before the +departure of the Earl of Leicester, Sir Philip Sidney, having received +his appointment, together with the rank of general of cavalry, arrived in +the Isle of Walcheren, as governor of Flushing, at the head of a portion +of the English contingent. + +It is impossible not to contemplate with affection so radiant a figure, +shining through the cold mists of that Zeeland winter, and that distant +and disastrous epoch. There is hardly a character in history upon which +the imagination can dwell with more unalloyed delight. Not in romantic +fiction was there ever created a more attractive incarnation of martial +valour, poetic genius, and purity of heart. If the mocking spirit of the +soldier of Lepanto could "smile chivalry away," the name alone of his +English contemporary is potent enough to conjure it back again, so long +as humanity is alive to the nobler impulses. + +"I cannot pass him over in silence," says a dusty chronicler, "that +glorious star, that lively pattern of virtue, and the lovely joy of all +the learned sort. It was God's will that he should be born into the +world, even to show unto our age a sample of ancient virtue." The +descendant of an ancient Norman race, and allied to many of the proudest +nobles in England, Sidney himself was but a commoner, a private +individual, a soldier of fortune. He was now in his thirty second year, +and should have been foremost among the states men of Elizabeth, had it +not been, according to Lord Bacon, a maxim of the Cecils, that "able men +should be by design and of purpose suppressed." Whatever of truth there +may have been in the bitter remark, it is certainly strange that a man so +gifted as Sidney--of whom his father-in-law Walsingham had declared, that +"although he had influence in all countries, and a hand upon all affairs, +his Philip did far overshoot him with his own bow"--should have passed so +much of his life in retirement, or in comparatively insignificant +employments. The Queen, as he himself observed, was most apt to interpret +everything to his disadvantage. Among those who knew him well, there +seems never to have been a dissenting voice. His father, Sir Henry +Sidney, lord-deputy of Ireland, and president of Wales, a states man of +accomplishments and experience, called him "lumen familiae suae," and +said of him, with pardonable pride, "that he had the most virtues which +he had ever found in any man; that he was the very formular that all +well-disposed young gentlemen do form their manners and life by." + +The learned Hubert Languet, companion of Melancthon, tried friend of +William the Silent, was his fervent admirer and correspondent. The great +Prince of Orange held him in high esteem, and sent word to Queen +Elizabeth, that having himself been an actor in the most important +affairs of Europe, and acquainted with her foremost men, he could "pledge +his credit that her Majesty had one of the ripest and greatest +councillors of state in Sir Philip Sidney that lived in Europe." + +The incidents of his brief and brilliant life, up to his arrival upon the +fatal soil of the Netherlands, are too well known to need recalling. +Adorned with the best culture that, in a learned age, could be obtained +in the best seminaries of his native country, where, during childhood and +youth, he had been distinguished for a "lovely and familiar gravity +beyond his years," he rapidly acquired the admiration of his comrades and +the esteem of all his teachers. + +Travelling for three years, he made the acquaintance and gained the +personal regard of such opposite characters as Charles IX. of France, +Henry of Navarre, Don John of Austria, and William of Orange, and +perfected his accomplishments by residence and study, alternately, in +courts, camps, and learned universities. He was in Paris during the +memorable days of August, 1572, and narrowly escaped perishing in the St. +Bartholomew Massacre. On his return, he was, for a brief period, the idol +of the English court, which, it was said, "was maimed without his +company." At the age of twenty-one he was appointed special envoy to +Vienna, ostensibly for the purpose of congratulating the Emperor Rudolph +upon his accession, but in reality that he might take the opportunity of +sounding the secret purposes of the Protestant princes of Germany, in +regard to the great contest of the age. In this mission, young as he was, +he acquitted himself, not only to the satisfaction, but to the admiration +of Walsingham, certainly a master himself in that occult science, the +diplomacy of the sixteenth century. "There hath not been," said he, "any +gentleman, I am sure, that hath gone through so honourable a charge with +as great commendations as he." + +When the memorable marriage-project of Queen Elizabeth with Anjou seemed +about to take effect, he denounced the scheme in a most spirited and +candid letter, addressed to her Majesty; nor is it recorded that the +Queen was offended with his frankness. Indeed we are informed that +"although he found a sweet stream of sovereign humours in that +well-tempered lady to run against him, yet found he safety in herself +against that selfness which appeared to threaten him in her." Whatever +this might mean, translated out of euphuism into English, it is certain +that his conduct was regarded with small favour by the court-grandees, by +whom "worth, duty, and justice, were looked upon with no other eyes than +Lamia's." + +The difficulty of swimming against that sweet stream of sovereign humours +in the well-tempered Elizabeth, was aggravated by his quarrel, at this +period, with the magnificent Oxford. A dispute at a tennis-court, where +many courtiers and foreigners were looking on, proceeded rapidly from one +extremity to another. The Earl commanded Sir Philip to leave the place. +Sir Philip responded, that if he were of a mind that he should go, he +himself was of a mind that he should remain; adding that if he had +entreated, where he had no right to command, he might have done more than +"with the scourge of fury."--"This answer," says Fulke Greville, in a +style worthy of Don Adriano de Armado, "did, like a bellows, blowing up +the sparks of excess already kindled, make my lord scornfully call Sir +Philip by the name of puppy. In which progress of heat, as the tempest +grew more and more vehement within, so did their hearts breathe out their +perturbations in a more loud and shrill accent;" and so on; but the +impending duel was the next day forbidden by express command of her +Majesty. Sidney, not feeling the full force of the royal homily upon the +necessity of great deference from gentlemen to their superiors in rank, +in order to protect all orders from the insults of plebeians, soon +afterwards retired from the court. To his sylvan seclusion the world owes +the pastoral and chivalrous romance of the 'Arcadia' and to the pompous +Earl, in consequence, an emotion of gratitude. Nevertheless, it was in +him to do, rather than to write, and humanity seems defrauded, when +forced to accept the 'Arcadia,' the `Defence of Poesy,' and the +'Astrophel and Stella,' in discharge of its claims upon so great and pure +a soul. + +Notwithstanding this disagreeable affair, and despite the memorable +letter against Anjou, Sir Philip suddenly flashes upon us again, as one +of the four challengers in a tournament to honour the Duke's presence in +England. A vision of him in blue gilded armour--with horses caparisoned +in cloth of gold, pearl-embroidered, attended by pages in cloth of +silver, Venetian hose, laced hats, and by gentlemen, yeomen, and +trumpeters, in yellow velvet cassocks, buskins, and feathers--as one of +"the four fostered children of virtuous desire" (to wit, Anjou) storming +"the castle of perfect Beauty" (to wit, Queen Elizabeth, aetatis 47) +rises out of the cloud-dusts of ancient chronicle for a moment, and then +vanishes into air again. + + "Having that day his hand, his horse, his lance, + Guided so well that they attained the prize + Both in the judgment of our English eyes, + But of some sent by that sweet enemy, France," + +as he chivalrously sings, he soon afterwards felt inclined for wider +fields of honourable adventure. It was impossible that knight-errant so +true should not feel keenest sympathy with an oppressed people struggling +against such odds, as the Netherlanders were doing in their contest with +Spain. So soon as the treaty with England was arranged, it was his +ambition to take part in the dark and dangerous enterprise, and, being +son-in-law to Walsingham and nephew to Leicester, he had a right to +believe that his talents and character would, on this occasion, be +recognised. But, like his "very friend," Lord Willoughby, he was "not of +the genus Reptilia, and could neither creep nor crouch," and he failed, +as usual, to win his way to the Queen's favour. The governorship of +Flushing was denied him, and, stung to the heart by such neglect, he +determined to seek his fortune beyond the seas. + +"Sir Philip hath taken a very hard resolution," wrote Walsingham to +Davison, "to accompany Sir Francis Drake in this voyage, moved thereto +for that he saw her Majesty disposed to commit the charge of Flushing +unto some other; which he reputed would fall out greatly to his disgrace, +to see another preferred before him, both for birth and judgment inferior +unto him. The despair thereof and the disgrace that he doubted he should +receive have carried him into a different course." + +The Queen, however, relenting at last, interfered to frustrate his +design. Having thus balked his ambition in the Indian seas, she felt +pledged to offer him the employment which he had originally solicited, +and she accordingly conferred upon him the governorship of Flushing, with +the rank of general of horse, under the Earl of Leicester. In the latter +part of November, he cast anchor, in the midst of a violent storm, at +Rammekins, and thence came to the city of his government. Young, and +looking even younger than his years--"not only of an excellent wit, but +extremely beautiful of face"--with delicately chiselled Anglo-Norman +features, smooth fair cheek, a faint moustache, blue eyes, and a mass of +amber-coloured hair; such was the author of 'Arcadia' and the governor of +Flushing. + +And thus an Anglo-Norman representative of ancient race had come back to +the home of his ancestors. Scholar, poet, knight-errant, finished +gentleman, he aptly typified the result of seven centuries of +civilization upon the wild Danish pirate. For among those very quicksands +of storm-beaten Walachria that wondrous Normandy first came into +existence whose wings were to sweep over all the high places of +Christendom. Out of these creeks, lagunes, and almost inaccessible +sandbanks, those bold freebooters sailed forth on their forays against +England, France, and other adjacent countries, and here they brought and +buried the booty of many a wild adventure. Here, at a later day, Rollo +the Dane had that memorable dream of leprosy, the cure of which was the +conversion of North Gaul into Normandy, of Pagans into Christians, and +the subsequent conquest of every throne in Christendom from Ultima Thule +to Byzantium. And now the descendant of those early freebooters had come +back to the spot, at a moment when a wider and even more imperial swoop +was to be made by their modern representatives. For the sea-kings of the +sixteenth century--the Drakes, Hawkinses, Frobishers, Raleighs, +Cavendishes--the De Moors, Heemskerks, Barendts--all sprung of the old +pirate-lineage, whether called Englanders or Hollanders, and instinct +with the same hereditary love of adventure, were about to wrestle with +ancient tyrannies, to explore the most inaccessible regions, and to +establish new commonwealths in worlds undreamed of by their ancestors--to +accomplish, in short, more wondrous feats than had been attempted by the +Knuts, and Rollos, Rurics, Ropers, and Tancreds, of an earlier age. + +The place which Sidney was appointed to govern was one of great military +and commercial importance. Flushing was the key to the navigation of the +North Seas, ever since the disastrous storm of a century before, in which +a great trading city on the outermost verge of the island had been +swallowed bodily by the ocean. The Emperor had so thoroughly recognized +its value, as to make special mention of the necessity for its +preservation, in his private instructions to Philip, and now the Queen of +England had confided it to one who was competent to appreciate and to +defend the prize. "How great a jewel this place (Flushing) is to the +crown of England," wrote Sidney to his Uncle Leicester, "and to the +Queen's safety, I need not now write it to your lordship, who knows it so +well. Yet I must needs say, the better I know it, the more I find the +preciousness of it." + +He did not enter into his government, however, with much pomp and +circumstance, but came afoot into Flushing in the midst of winter and +foul weather. "Driven to land at Rammekins," said he, "because the wind +began to rise in such sort as from thence our mariners durst not enter +the town, I came with as dirty a walk as ever poor governor entered his +charge withal." But he was cordially welcomed, nor did he arrive by any +means too soon. + +"I find the people very glad of our coming," he said, "and promise myself +as much surety in keeping this town, as popular good-will, gotten by +light hopes, and by as slight conceits, may breed; for indeed the +garrison is far too weak to command by authority, which is pity . . . . I +think, truly, that if my coming had been longer delayed, some alteration +would have followed; for the truth is, this people is weary of war, and +if they do not see such a course taken as may be likely to defend them, +they will in a sudden give over the cause. . . . All will be lost if +government be not presently used." + +He expressed much anxiety for the arrival of his uncle, with which +sentiments he assured the Earl that the Netherlanders fully sympathized. +"Your Lordship's coming," he said, "is as much longed for as Messias is +of the Jews. It is indeed most necessary that your Lordship make great +speed to reform both the Dutch and English abuses." + + ETEXT EDITOR'S BOOKMARKS: + + Able men should be by design and of purpose suppressed + He did his work, but he had not his reward + Matter that men may rather pray for than hope for + Not of the genus Reptilia, and could neither creep nor crouch + Others that do nothing, do all, and have all the thanks + Peace-at-any-price party + The busy devil of petty economy + Thought that all was too little for him + Weary of place without power + + + + +HISTORY OF THE UNITED NETHERLANDS + +From the Death of William the Silent to the Twelve Year's Truce--1609 + +By John Lothrop Motley + +History United Netherlands, Volume 44, 1585-1586 + + + + +CHAPTER VII., Part 1. + + The Earl of Leicester--His Triumphal Entrance into Holland--English + Spies about him--Importance of Holland to England--Spanish Schemes + for invading England--Letter of the Grand Commander--Perilous + Position of England--True Nature of the Contest--wealth and Strength + of the Provinces--Power of the Dutch and English People--Affection + of the Hollanders for the Queen--Secret Purposes of Leicester-- + Wretched condition of English Troops--The Nassaus and Hohenlo--The + Earl's Opinion of them--Clerk and Killigrew--Interview with the + States Government General offered to the Earl--Discussions on the + Subject--The Earl accepts the Office--His Ambition and Mistakes--His + Installation at the Hague--Intimations of the Queen's Displeasure-- + Deprecatory Letters of Leicester--Davison's Mission to England-- + Queen's Anger and Jealousy--Her angry Letters to the Earl and the + States--Arrival of Davison--Stormy Interview with the Queen--The + second one is calmer--Queen's Wrath somewhat mitigated--Mission of + Heneago to the States--Shirley sent to England by the Earl--His + Interview with Elizabeth + +At last the Earl of Leicester came. Embarking at Harwich, with a fleet of +fifty ships, and attended "by the flower and chief gallants of +England"--the Lords Sheffield, Willoughby, North, Burroughs, Sir Gervase +Clifton, Sir William Russell, Sir Robert Sidney, and others among the +number--the new lieutenant-general of the English forces in the +Netherlands arrived on the 19th December, 1585, at Flushing. + +His nephew, Sir Philip Sidney, and Count Maurice of Nassau, with a body +of troops and a great procession of civil functionaries; were in +readiness to receive him, and to escort him to the lodgings prepared for +him. + +Robert Dudley, Earl of Leicester, was then fifty-four years of age. There +are few personages in English history whose adventures, real or +fictitious, have been made more familiar to the world than his have been, +or whose individuality has been presented in more picturesque fashion, by +chronicle, tragedy, or romance. Born in the same day of the month and +hour of the day with the Queen, but two years before her birth, the +supposed synastry of their destinies might partly account, in that age of +astrological superstition, for the influence which he perpetually +exerted. They had, moreover, been fellow-prisoners together, in the +commencement of the reign of Mary, and it is possible that he may have +been the medium through which the indulgent expressions of Philip II. +were conveyed to the Princess Elizabeth. + +His grandfather, John Dudley, that "caterpillar of the commonwealth," who +lost his head in the first year of Henry VIII. as a reward for the grist +which he brought to the mill of Henry VII.; his father, the mighty Duke +of Northumberland, who rose out of the wreck of an obscure and ruined +family to almost regal power, only to perish, like his predecessor, upon +the scaffold, had bequeathed him nothing save rapacity, ambition, and the +genius to succeed. But Elizabeth seemed to ascend the throne only to +bestow gifts upon her favourite. Baronies and earldoms, stars and +garters, manors and monopolies, castles and forests, church livings and +college chancellorships, advowsons and sinecures, emoluments and +dignities, the most copious and the most exalted, were conferred upon him +in breathless succession. Wine, oil, currants, velvets, ecclesiastical +benefices, university headships, licences to preach, to teach, to ride, +to sail, to pick and to steal, all brought "grist to his mill." His +grandfather, "the horse leach and shearer," never filled his coffers more +rapidly than did Lord Robert, the fortunate courtier. Of his early +wedlock with the ill-starred Amy Robsart, of his nuptial projects with +the Queen, of his subsequent marriages and mock-marriages with Douglas +Sheffield and Lettice of Essex, of his plottings, poisonings, imaginary +or otherwise, of his countless intrigues, amatory and political--of that +luxuriant, creeping, flaunting, all-pervading existence which struck its +fibres into the mould, and coiled itself through the whole fabric, of +Elizabeth's life and reign--of all this the world has long known too much +to render a repetition needful here. The inmost nature and the secret +deeds of a man placed so high by wealth and station, can be seen but +darkly through the glass of contemporary record. There was no tribunal to +sit upon his guilt. A grandee could be judged only when no longer a +favourite, and the infatuation of Elizabeth for Leicester terminated only +with his life. He stood now upon the soil of the Netherlands in the +character of a "Messiah," yet he has been charged with crimes sufficient +to send twenty humbler malefactors to the gibbet. "I think," said a most +malignant arraigner of the man, in a published pamphlet, "that the Earl +of Leicester hath more blood lying upon his head at this day, crying for +vengeance, than ever had private man before, were he never so wicked." + +Certainly the mass of misdemeanours and infamies hurled at the head of +the favourite by that "green-coated Jesuit," father Parsons, under the +title of 'Leycester's Commonwealth,' were never accepted as literal +verities; yet the value of the precept, to calumniate boldly, with the +certainty that much of the calumny would last for ever, was never better +illustrated than in the case of Robert Dudley. Besides the lesser +delinquencies of filling his purse by the sale of honours and dignities, +by violent ejectments from land, fraudulent titles, rapacious enclosures +of commons, by taking bribes for matters of justice, grace, and +supplication to the royal authority, he was accused of forging various +letters to the Queen, often to ruin his political adversaries, and of +plottings to entrap them into conspiracies, playing first the comrade and +then the informer. The list of his murders and attempts to murder was +almost endless. "His lordship hath a special fortune," saith the Jesuit, +"that when he desireth any woman's favour, whatsoever person standeth in +his way hath the luck to die quickly." He was said to have poisoned Alice +Drayton, Lady Lennox, Lord Sussex, Sir Nicholas Throgmorton, Lord +Sheffield, whose widow he married and then poisoned, Lord Essex, whose +widow he also married, and intended to poison, but who was said to have +subsequently poisoned him--besides murders or schemes for murder of +various other individuals, both French and English. "He was a rare artist +in poison," said Sir Robert Naunton, and certainly not Caesar Borgia, nor +his father or sister, was more accomplished in that difficult profession +than was Dudley, if half the charges against him could be believed. +Fortunately for his fame, many of them were proved to be false. Sir Henry +Sidney, lord deputy of Ireland, at the time of the death of Lord Essex, +having caused a diligent inquiry to be made into that dark affair, wrote +to the council that it was usual for the Earl to fall into a bloody flux +when disturbed in his mind, and that his body when opened showed no signs +of poison. It is true that Sir Henry, although an honourable man, was +Leicester's brother-in-law, and that perhaps an autopsy was not conducted +at that day in Ireland on very scientific principles. + +His participation in the strange death of his first wife was a matter of +current belief among his contemporaries. "He is infamed by the death of +his wife," said Burghley, and the tale has since become so interwoven +with classic and legendary fiction, as well as with more authentic +history, that the phantom of the murdered Amy Robsart is sure to arise at +every mention of the Earl's name. Yet a coroner's inquest--as appears +from his own secret correspondence with his relative and agent at +Cumnor--was immediately and persistently demanded by Dudley. A jury was +impaneled--every man of them a stranger to him, and some of them +enemies. Antony Forster, Appleyard, and Arthur Robsart, brother-in-law +and brother of the lady, were present, according to Dudley's special +request; "and if more of her friends could have been sent," said he, "I +would have sent them;" but with all their minuteness of inquiry, "they +could find," wrote Blount, "no presumptions of evil," although he +expressed a suspicion that "some of the jurymen were sorry that they +could not." That the unfortunate lady was killed by a fall down stairs +was all that could be made of it by a coroner's inquest, rather hostile +than otherwise, and urged to rigorous investigation by the supposed +culprit himself. Nevertheless, the calumny has endured for three +centuries, and is likely to survive as many more. + +Whatever crimes Dudley may have committed in the course of his career, +there is no doubt whatever that he was the most abused man in Europe. He +had been deeply wounded by the Jesuit's artful publication, in which all +the misdeeds with which he was falsely or justly charged were drawn up in +awful array, in a form half colloquial, half judicial. "You had better +give some contentment to my Lord Leicester," wrote the French envoy from +London to his government, "on account of the bitter feelings excited in +him by these villainous books lately written against him." + +The Earl himself ascribed these calumnies to the Jesuits, to the Guise +faction, and particularly to--the Queen of Scots. He was said, in +consequence, to have vowed an eternal hatred to that most unfortunate and +most intriguing Princess. "Leicester has lately told a friend," wrote +Charles Paget, "that he will persecute you to the uttermost, for that he +supposeth your Majesty to be privy to the setting forth of the book +against him." Nevertheless, calumniated or innocent he was at least +triumphant over calumny. Nothing could shake his hold upon Elizabeth's +affections. The Queen scorned but resented the malignant attacks upon the +reputation of her favourite. She declared "before God and in her +conscience, that she knew the libels against him to be most scandalous, +and such as none but an incarnate devil himself could dream to be true." +His power, founded not upon genius nor virtue, but upon woman's caprice, +shone serenely above the gulf where there had been so many shipwrecks. "I +am now passing into another world," said Sussex, upon his death-bed, to +his friends, "and I must leave you to your fortunes; but beware of the +gipsy, or he will be too hard for you. You know not the beast so well as +I do." + +The "gipsy," as he had been called from his dark complexion, had been +renowned in youth for the beauty of his person, being "tall and +singularly well-featured, of a sweet aspect, but high foreheaded, which +was of no discommendation," according to Naunton. The Queen, who had the +passion of her father for tall and proper men, was easier won by +externals, from her youth even to the days of her dotage, than befitted +so very sagacious a personage. Chamberlains, squires of the body, +carvers, cup-bearers, gentlemen-ushers, porters, could obtain neither +place nor favour at court, unless distinguished for stature, strength, or +extraordinary activity. To lose a tooth had been known to cause the loss +of a place, and the excellent constitution of leg which helped Sir +Christopher Hatton into the chancellorship, was not more remarkable +perhaps than the success of similar endowments in other contemporaries. +Leicester, although stately and imposing, had passed his summer solstice. +A big bulky man, with a long red face, a bald head, a defiant somewhat +sinister eye, a high nose, and a little torrent of foam-white curly +beard, he was still magnificent in costume. Rustling in satin and +feathers, with jewels in his ears, and his velvet toque stuck as airily +as ever upon the side of his head, he amazed the honest Hollanders, who +had been used to less gorgeous chieftains. + +"Every body is wondering at the great magnificence and splendour of his +clothes," said the plain chronicler of Utrecht. For, not much more than a +year before, Fulke Greville had met at Delft a man whose external +adornments were simpler; a somewhat slip-shod personage, whom he thus +pourtrayed: "His uppermost garment was a gown," said the euphuistic +Fulke, "yet such as, I confidently affirm, a mean-born student of our +Inns of Court would not have been well disposed to walk the streets in. +Unbuttoned his doublet was, and of like precious matter and form to the +other. His waistcoat, which showed itself under it, not unlike the best +sort of those woollen knit ones which our ordinary barge-watermen row us +in. His company about him, the burgesses of that beerbrewing town. No +external sign of degree could have discovered the inequality of his worth +or estate from that multitude. Nevertheless, upon conversing with him, +there was an outward passage of inward greatness." + +Of a certainty there must have been an outward passage of inward +greatness about him; for the individual in unbuttoned doublet and +bargeman's waistcoat, was no other than William the Silent. A different +kind of leader had now descended among those rebels, yet it would be a +great mistake to deny the capacity or vigorous intentions of the +magnificent Earl, who certainly was like to find himself in a more +difficult and responsible situation than any he had yet occupied. + +And now began a triumphal progress through the land, with a series of +mighty banquets and festivities, in which no man could play a better part +than Leicester. From Flushing he came to Middelburg, where, upon +Christmas eve (according to the new reckoning), there was an +entertainment, every dish of which has been duly chronicled. Pigs served +on their feet, pheasants in their feathers, and baked swans with their +necks thrust through gigantic pie-crust; crystal castles of confectionery +with silver streams flowing at their base, and fair virgins leaning from +the battlements, looking for their new English champion, "wine in +abundance, variety of all sorts, and wonderful welcomes "--such was the +bill of fare. The next day the Lieutenant-General returned the compliment +to the magistrates of Middelburg with a tremendous feast. Then came an +interlude of unexpected famine; for as the Earl sailed with his suite in +a fleet of two hundred vessels for Dort--a voyage of not many hours' +usual duration--there descended a mighty frozen fog upon the waters, and +they lay five whole days and nights in their ships, almost starved with +hunger and cold--offering in vain a "pound of silver for a pound of +bread." Emerging at last from this dismal predicament, he landed at Dort, +and so went to Rotterdam and Delft, everywhere making his way through +lines of musketeers and civic functionaries, amid roaring cannon, pealing +bells, burning cressets, blazing tar-barrels, fiery winged dragons, +wreaths of flowers, and Latin orations. + +The farther he went the braver seemed the country, and the better beloved +his. Lordship. Nothing was left undone, in the language of ancient +chronicle, to fill the bellies and the heads of the whole company. At the +close of the year he came to the Hague, where the festivities were +unusually magnificent. A fleet of barges was sent to escort him. Peter, +James, and John, met him upon the shore, while the Saviour appeared +walking upon the waves, and ordered his disciples to cast their nets, and +to present the fish to his Excellency. Farther on, he was confronted by +Mars and Bellona, who recited Latin odes in his honour. Seven beautiful +damsels upon a stage, representing the United States, offered him golden +keys; seven others equally beautiful, embodying the seven sciences, +presented him with garlands, while an enthusiastic barber adorned his +shop with seven score of copper basins, with a wax-light in each, +together with a rose, and a Latin posy in praise of Queen Elizabeth. Then +there were tiltings in the water between champions mounted upon whales, +and other monsters of the deep-representatives of siege, famine, +pestilence, and murder--the whole interspersed with fireworks, poetry, +charades, and Matthias, nor Anjou, nor King Philip, nor the Emperor +Charles, in their triumphal progresses, had been received with more +spontaneous or more magnificent demonstrations. Never had the living +pictures been more startling, the allegories more incomprehensible, the +banquets more elaborate, the orations more tedious. Beside himself with +rapture, Leicester almost assumed the God. In Delft, a city which he +described as "another London almost for beauty and fairness," he is said +so far to have forgotten himself as to declare that his family had--in +the person of Lady Jane Grey, his father, and brother--been unjustly +deprived of the crown of England; an indiscretion which caused a shudder +in all who heard him. It was also very dangerous for the +Lieutenant-General to exceed the bounds of becoming modesty at that +momentous epoch. His power, as we shall soon have occasion to observe, +was anomalous, and he was surrounded by enemies. He was not only to +grapple with a rapidly developing opposition in the States, but he was +surrounded with masked enemies, whom he had brought with him from +England. Every act and word of his were liable to closest scrutiny, and +likely to be turned against him. For it was most characteristic of that +intriguing age, that even the astute Walsingham, who had an eye and an +ear at every key-hole in Europe, was himself under closest domestic +inspection. There was one Poley, a trusted servant of Lady Sidney, then +living in the house of her father Walsingham, during Sir Philip's +absence, who was in close communication with Lord Montjoy's brother, +Blount, then high in favour of Queen Elizabeth--"whose grandmother she +might be for his age and hers"--and with another brother Christopher +Blount, at that moment in confidential attendance upon Lord Leicester in +Holland. Now Poley, and both the Blounts, were, in reality, Papists, and +in intimate correspondence with the agents of the Queen of Scots, both at +home and abroad, although "forced to fawn upon Leicester, to see if they +might thereby live quiet." They had a secret "alphabet," or cipher, among +them, and protested warmly, that they "honoured the ground whereon Queen +Mary trod better than Leicester with all his generation; and that they +felt bound to serve her who was the only saint living on the earth." + +It may be well understood then that the Earl's position was a slippery +one, and that great assumption might be unsafe. "He taketh the matter +upon him," wrote Morgan to the Queen of Scots, "as though he were an +absolute king; but he hath many personages about him of good place out of +England, the best number whereof desire nothing more than his confusion. +Some of them be gone with him to avoid the persecution for religion in +England. My poor advice and labour shall not be wanting to give Leicester +all dishonour, which will fall upon him in the end with shame enough; +though for the present he be very strong." Many of these personages of +good place, and enjoying "charge and credit" with the Earl had very +serious plans in their heads. Some of them meant "for the service of God, +and the advantage of the King of Spain, to further the delivery of some +notable towns in Holland and Zeeland to the said King and his ministers," +and we are like to hear of these individuals again. + +Meantime, the Earl of Leicester was at the Hague. Why was he there? What +was his work? Why had Elizabeth done such violence to her affection as to +part with her favourite-in-chief; and so far overcome her thrift, as to +furnish forth, rather meagrely to be sure, that little army of +Englishmen? Why had the flower of England's chivalry set foot upon that +dark and bloody ground where there seemed so much disaster to encounter, +and so little glory to reap? Why had England thrown herself so heroically +into the breach, just as the last bulwarks were falling which protected +Holland from the overwhelming onslaught of Spain? It was because Holland +was the threshold of England; because the two countries were one by +danger and by destiny; because the naval expedition from Spain against +England was already secretly preparing; because the deposed tyrant of +Spain intended the Provinces, when again subjugated, as a steppingstone +to the conquest of England; because the naval and military forces of +Holland--her numerous ships, her hardy mariners, her vast wealth, her +commodious sea-ports, close to the English coast--if made Spanish +property would render Philip invincible by sea and land; and because the +downfall of Holland and of Protestantism would be death to Elizabeth, and +annihilation to England. + +There was little doubt on the subject in the minds of those engaged in +this expedition. All felt most keenly the importance of the game, in +which the Queen was staking her crown, and England its national +existence. + +"I pray God," said Wilford, an officer much in Walsingham's confidence, +"that I live not to see this enterprise quail, and with it the utter +subversion of religion throughout all Christendom. It may be I may be +judged to be afraid of my own shadow. God grant it be so. But if her +Majesty had not taken the helm in hand, and my Lord of Leicester sent +over, this country had been gone ere this. . . . This war doth defend +England. Who is he that will refuse to spend his life and living in it? +If her Majesty consume twenty thousand men in the cause, the experimented +men that will remain will double that strength to the realm." + +This same Wilford commanded a company in Ostend, and was employed by +Leicester in examining the defences of that important place. He often +sent information to the Secretary, "troubling him with the rude stile of +a poor soldier, being driven to scribble in haste." He reiterated, in +more than one letter, the opinion, that twenty thousand men consumed in +the war would be a saving in the end, and his own determination--although +he had intended retiring from the military profession--to spend not only +his life in the cause, but also the poor living that God had given him. +"Her Highness hath now entered into it," he said; "the fire is kindled; +whosoever suffers it to go out, it will grow dangerous to that side. The +whole state of religion is in question, and the realm of England also, if +this action quail. God grant we never live to see that doleful day. Her +Majesty hath such footing now in these parts, as I judge it impossible +for the King to weary her out, if every man will put to the work his +helping hand, whereby it may be lustily followed, and the war not +suffered to cool. The freehold of England will be worth but little, if +this action quail, and therefore I wish no subject to spare his purse +towards it." + +Spain moved slowly. Philip the Prudent was not sudden or rash, but his +whole life had proved, and was to prove, him inflexible in his purposes, +and patient in his attempts to carry them into effect, even when the +purposes had become chimerical, and the execution impossible. Before the +fall of Antwerp he had matured his scheme for the invasion of England, in +most of its details--a necessary part of which was of course the +reduction of Holland and Zeeland. "Surely no danger nor fear of any +attempt can grow to England," wrote Wilford, "so long as we can hold this +country good." But never was honest soldier more mistaken than he, when +he added:--"The Papists will make her Highness afraid of a great fleet +now preparing in Spain. We hear it also, but it is only a scare-crow to +cool the enterprise here." + +It was no scare-crow. On the very day on which Wilford was thus writing +to Walsingham, Philip the Second was writing to Alexander Farnese. "The +English," he said, "with their troops having gained a footing in the +islands (Holland and Zeeland) give me much anxiety. The English Catholics +are imploring me with much importunity to relieve them from the +persecution they are suffering. When you sent me a plan, with the coasts, +soundings, quicksands, and ports of England, you said that the enterprise +of invading that country should be deferred till we had reduced the +isles; that, having them, we could much more conveniently attack England; +or that at least we should wait till we had got Antwerp. As the city is +now taken, I want your advice now about the invasion of England. To cut +the root of the evils constantly growing up there, both for God's service +and mine, is desirable. So many evils will thus be remedied, which would +not be by only warring with the islands. It would be an uncertain and +expensive war to go to sea for the purpose of chastising the insolent +English corsairs, however much they deserve chastisement. I charge you to +be secret, to give the matter your deepest attention, and to let me have +your opinions at once." Philip then added a postscript, in his own hand, +concerning the importance of acquiring a sea-port in Holland, as a basis +of operations against England. "Without a port," he said, "we can do +nothing whatever." + +A few weeks later, the Grand Commander of Castile, by Philip's orders, +and upon subsequent information received from the Prince of Parma, drew +up an elaborate scheme for the invasion of England, and for the +government of that country afterwards; a program according to which the +King was to shape his course for a long time to come. The plot was an +excellent plot. Nothing could be more artistic, more satisfactory to the +prudent monarch; but time was to show whether there might not be some +difficulty in the way of its satisfactory development. + +"The enterprise," said the Commander, "ought certainly to be undertaken +as serving the cause of the Lord. From the Pope we must endeavour to +extract a promise of the largest aid we can get for the time when the +enterprise can be undertaken. We must not declare that time however, in +order to keep the thing a secret, and because perhaps thus more will be +promised, under the impression that it will never take effect. He added +that the work could not well be attempted before August or September of +the following year; the only fear of such delay being that the French +could hardly be kept during all that time in a state of revolt." For this +was a uniform portion of the great scheme. France was to be kept, at +Philip's expense, in a state of perpetual civil war; its every city and +village to be the scene of unceasing conflict and bloodshed--subjects in +arms against king, and family against family; and the Netherlands were to +be ravaged with fire and sword; all this in order that the path might be +prepared for Spanish soldiers into the homes of England. So much of +misery to the whole human race was it in the power of one painstaking +elderly valetudinarian to inflict, by never for an instant neglecting the +business of his life. + +Troops and vessels for the English invasion ought, in the Commander's +opinion, to be collected in Flanders, under colour of an enterprise +against Holland and Zeeland, while the armada to be assembled in Spain, +of galleons, galeazas, and galleys, should be ostensibly for an +expedition to the Indies. + +Then, after the conquest, came arrangements for the government of +England. Should Philip administer his new kingdom by a viceroy, or should +he appoint a king out of his own family? On the whole the chances for the +Prince of Parma seemed the best of any. "We must liberate the Queen of +Scotland," said the Grand Commander, "and marry her to some one or +another, both in order to put her out of love with her son, and to +conciliate her devoted adherents. Of course the husband should be one of +your Majesty's nephews, and none could be so appropriate as the Prince of +Parma, that great captain, whom his talents, and the part he has to bear +in the business, especially indicate for that honour." + +Then there was a difficulty about the possible issue of such a marriage. +The Farneses claimed Portugal; so that children sprung from the +bloodroyal of England blended with that of Parma, might choose to make +those pretensions valid. But the objection was promptly solved by the +Commander:--"The Queen of Scotland is sure to have no children," he said. + +That matter being adjusted, Parma's probable attitude as King of England +was examined. It was true his ambition might cause occasional uneasiness, +but then he might make himself still more unpleasant in the Netherlands. +"If your Majesty suspects him," said the Commander, "which, after all, is +unfair, seeing the way, in which he has been conducting himself--it is to +be remembered that in Flanders are similar circumstances and +opportunities, and that he is well armed, much beloved in the country, +and that the natives are of various humours. The English plan will +furnish an honourable departure for him out of the Provinces; and the +principle of loyal obligation will have much influence over so chivalrous +a knight as he, when he is once placed on the English throne. Moreover, +as he will be new there, he will have need of your Majesty's favour to +maintain himself, and there will accordingly be good correspondence with +Holland and the Islands. Thus your Majesty can put the Infanta and her +husband into full possession of all the Netherlands; having provided them +with so excellent a neighbour in England, and one so closely bound and +allied to them. Then, as he is to have no English children" (we have seen +that the Commander had settled that point) "he will be a very good +mediator to arrange adoptions, especially if you make good provision for +his son Rainuccio in Italy. The reasons in favour of this plan being so +much stronger than those against it, it would be well that your Majesty +should write clearly to the Prince of Parma, directing him to conduct the +enterprise" (the English invasion), "and to give him the first offer for +this marriage (with Queen Mary) if he likes the scheme. If not, he had +better mention which of the Archdukes should be substituted in his +place." + +There happened to be no lack of archdukes at that period for anything +comfortable that might offer--such as a throne in England, Holland, or +France--and the Austrian House was not remarkable for refusing convenient +marriages; but the immediate future only could show whether Alexander I. +of the House of Farnese was to reign in England, or whether the next king +of that country was to be called Matthias, Maximilian, or Ernest of +Hapsburg. + +Meantime the Grand Commander was of opinion that the invasion-project was +to be pushed forward as rapidly and as secretly as possible; because, +before any one of Philip's nephews could place himself upon the English +throne, it was first necessary to remove Elizabeth from that position. +Before disposing of the kingdom, the preliminary step of conquering it +was necessary. Afterwards it would be desirable, without wasting more +time than was requisite, to return with a large portion of the invading +force out of England, in order to complete the conquest of Holland. For +after all, England was to be subjugated only as a portion of one general +scheme; the main features of which were the reannexation of Holland and +"the islands," and the acquisition of unlimited control upon the seas. + +Thus the invasion of England was no "scarecrow," as Wilford imagined, but +a scheme already thoroughly matured. If Holland and Zeeland should +meantime fall into the hands of Philip, it was no exaggeration on that +soldier's part to observe that the "freehold of England would be worth +but little." + +To oppose this formidable array against the liberties of Europe stood +Elizabeth Tudor and the Dutch Republic. For the Queen, however arbitrary +her nature, fitly embodied much of the nobler elements in the expanding +English national character. She felt instinctively that her reliance in +the impending death-grapple was upon the popular principle, the national +sentiment, both in her own country and in Holland. That principle and +that sentiment were symbolized in the Netherland revolt; and England, +although under a somewhat despotic rule, was already fully pervaded with +the instinct of self-government. The people held the purse and the sword. + +No tyranny could be permanently established so long as the sovereign was +obliged to come every year before Parliament to ask for subsidies; so +long as all the citizens and yeomen of England had weapons in their +possession, and were carefully trained to use them; so long, in short, as +the militia was the only army, and private adventurers or trading +companies created and controlled the only navy. War, colonization, +conquest, traffic, formed a joint business and a private speculation. If +there were danger that England, yielding to purely mercantile habits of +thought and action, might degenerate from the more martial standard to +which she had been accustomed, there might be virtue in that Netherland +enterprise, which was now to call forth all her energies. The Provinces +would be a seminary for English soldiers. + +"There can be no doubt of our driving the enemy out of the country +through famine and excessive charges," said the plain-spoken English +soldier already quoted, who came out with Leicester, "if every one of us +will put our minds to go forward without making a miserable gain by the +wars. A man may see, by this little progress journey, what this long +peace hath wrought in us. We are weary of the war before we come where it +groweth, such a danger hath this long peace brought us into. This is, and +will be, in my opinion, a most fit school and nursery to nourish soldiers +to be able to keep and defend our country hereafter, if men will follow +it." + +Wilford was vehement in denouncing the mercantile tendencies of his +countrymen, and returned frequently to that point in his communications +with Walsingham and other statesmen. "God hath stirred up this action," +he repeated again, "to be a school to breed up soldiers to defend the +freedom of England, which through these long times of peace and quietness +is brought into a most dangerous estate, if it should be attempted. Our +delicacy is such that we are already weary, yet this journey is naught in +respect to the misery and hardship that soldiers must and do endure." + +He was right in his estimate of the effect likely to be produced by the +war upon the military habits of Englishmen; for there can be no doubt +that the organization and discipline of English troops was in anything +but a satisfactory state at that period. There was certainly vast room +for improvement. Nevertheless he was wrong in his views of the leading +tendencies of his age. Holland and England, self-helping, self-moving, +were already inaugurating a new era in the history of the world. The +spirit of commercial maritime enterprise--then expanding rapidly into +large proportions--was to be matched against the religious and knightly +enthusiasm which had accomplished such wonders in an age that was passing +away. Spain still personified, and had ever personified, chivalry, +loyalty, piety; but its chivalry, loyalty, and piety, were now in a +corrupted condition. The form was hollow, and the sacred spark had fled. +In Holland and England intelligent enterprise had not yet degenerated +into mere greed for material prosperity. The love of danger, the thirst +for adventure, the thrilling sense of personal responsibility and human +dignity--not the base love for land and lucre--were the governing +sentiments which led those bold Dutch and English rovers to +circumnavigate the world in cockle-shells, and to beard the most potent +monarch on the earth, both at home and abroad, with a handful of +volunteers. + +This then was the contest, and this the machinery by which it was to be +maintained. A struggle for national independence, liberty of conscience, +freedom of the seas, against sacerdotal and world-absorbing tyranny; a +mortal combat of the splendid infantry of Spain and Italy, the +professional reiters of Germany, the floating castles of a world-empire, +with the militiamen and mercantile-marine of England and Holland united. +Holland had been engaged twenty years long in the conflict. England had +thus far escaped it; but there was no doubt, and could be none, that her +time had come. She must fight the battle of Protestantism on sea and +shore, shoulder to shoulder, with the Netherlanders, or await the +conqueror's foot on her own soil. + +What now was the disposition and what the means of the Provinces to do +their part in the contest? If the twain as Holland wished, had become of +one flesh, would England have been the loser? Was it quite sure that +Elizabeth--had she even accepted the less compromising title which she +refused--would not have been quite as much the protected as the +"protectress?" + +It is very certain that the English, on their arrival in the Provinces, +were singularly impressed by the opulent and stately appearance of the +country and its inhabitants. Notwithstanding the tremendous war which the +Hollanders had been waging against Spain for twenty years, their commerce +had continued to thrive, and their resources to increase. Leicester was +in a state of constant rapture at the magnificence which surrounded him, +from his first entrance into the country. Notwithstanding the admiration +expressed by the Hollanders for the individual sumptuousness of the +Lieutenant-General; his followers, on their part, were startled by the +general luxury of their new allies. "The realm is rich and full of men," +said Wilford, "the sums men exceed in apparel would bear the brunt of +this war;" and again, "if the excess used in sumptuous apparel were only +abated, and that we could convert the same to these wars, it would stop a +great gap." + +The favourable view taken by the English as to the resources and +inclination of the Netherland commonwealth was universal. "The general +wish and desire of these countrymen," wrote Sir Thomas Shirley, "is that +the amity begun between England and this nation may be everlasting, and +there is not any of our company of judgment but wish the same. For all +they that see the goodliness and stateliness of these towns, strengthened +both with fortification and natural situation, all able to defend +themselves with their own abilities, must needs think it too fair a prey +to be let pass, and a thing most worthy to be embraced." + +Leicester, whose enthusiasm continued to increase as rapidly as the +Queen's zeal seemed to be cooling, was most anxious lest the +short-comings of his own Government should work irreparable evil. "I pray +you, my lord," he wrote to Burghley, "forget not us poor exiles; if you +do, God must and will forget you. And great pity it were that so noble +provinces and goodly havens, with such infinite ships and mariners, +should not be always as they may now easily be, at the assured devotion +of England. In my opinion he can neither love Queen nor country that +would not wish and further it should be so. And seeing her Majesty is +thus far entered into the cause, and that these people comfort themselves +in full hope of her favour, it were a sin and a shame it should not be +handled accordingly, both for honour and surety." + +Sir John Conway, who accompanied the Earl through the whole of his +"progress journey," was quite as much struck as he by the flourishing +aspect and English proclivities of the Provinces. "The countries which we +have passed," he said, "are fertile in their nature; the towns, cities, +buildings, of more state and beauty, to such as have travelled other +countries, than any they have ever seen. The people the most industrious +by all means to live that be in the world, and, no doubt, passing rich. +They outwardly show themselves of good heart, zeal, and loyalty, towards +the Queen our mistress. There is no doubt that the general number of them +had rather come under her Majesty's regiment, than to continue under the +States and burgomasters of their country. The impositions which they lay +in defence of their State is wonderful. If her Highness proceed in this +beginning, she may retain these parts hers, with their good love, and her +great glory and gain. I would she might as perfectly see the whole +country, towns, profits, and pleasures thereof, in a glass, as she may +her own face; I do then assure myself she would with careful +consideration receive them, and not allow of any man's reason to the +contrary . . . . The country is worthy any prince in the world, the +people do reverence the Queen, and in love of her do so believe that the +Grace of Leicester is by God and her sent among them for her good. And +they believe in him for the redemption of their bodies, as they do in God +for their souls. I dare pawn my soul, that if her Majesty will allow him +the just and rightful mean to manage this cause, that he will so handle +the manner and matter as shall highly both please and profit her Majesty, +and increase her country, and his own honour." + +Lord North, who held a high command in the auxiliary force, spoke also +with great enthusiasm. "Had your Lordship seen," he wrote to Burghley, +"with what thankful hearts these countries receive all her Majesty's +subjects, what multitudes of people they be, what stately cities and +buildings they have, how notably fortified by art, how strong by nature, +flow fertile the whole country, and how wealthy it is, you would, I know, +praise the Lord that opened your lips to undertake this enterprise, the +continuance and good success whereof will eternise her Majesty, beautify +her crown, with the most shipping, with the most populous and wealthy +countries, that ever prince added to his kingdom, or that is or can be +found in Europe. I lack wit, good my Lord, to dilate this matter." + +Leicester, better informed than some of those in his employment, +entertained strong suspicions concerning Philip's intentions with regard +to England; but he felt sure that the only way to laugh at a Spanish +invasion was to make Holland and England as nearly one as it was possible +to do. + +"No doubt that the King of Spain's preparations by sea be great," he, +said; "but I know that all that he and his friends can make are not able +to match with her Majesty's forces, if it please her to use the means +that God hath given her. But besides her own, if she need; I will +undertake to furnish her from hence, upon two months' warning, a navy for +strong and tall ships, with their furniture and mariners, that the King +of Spain, and all that he can make, shall not be able to encounter with +them. I think the bruit of his preparations is made the greater to +terrify her Majesty and this country people. But, thanked be God, her +Majesty hath little cause to fear him. And in this country they esteem no +more of his power by sea than I do of six fisher-boats off Rye." + +Thus suggestive is it to peep occasionally behind the curtain. In the +calm cabinet of the Escorial, Philip and his comendador mayor are laying +their heads together, preparing the invasion of England; making +arrangements for King Alexander's coronation in that island, and--like +sensible, farsighted persons as they are--even settling the succession to +the throne after Alexander's death, instead of carelessly leaving such +distant details to chance, or subsequent consideration. On the other +hand, plain Dutch sea-captains, grim beggars of the sea, and the like, +denizens of a free commonwealth and of the boundless ocean-men who are at +home on blue water, and who have burned gunpowder against those +prodigious slave-rowed galleys of Spain--together with their new allies, +the dauntless mariners of England--who at this very moment are "singeing +the King of Spain's beard," as it had never been singed before--are not +so much awestruck with the famous preparations for invasion as was +perhaps to be expected. There may be a delay, after all, before Parma can +be got safely established in London, and Elizabeth in Orcus, and before +the blood-tribunal of the Inquisition can substitute its sway for that of +the "most noble, wise, and learned United States." Certainly, Philip the +Prudent would have been startled, difficult as he was to astonish, could +he have known that those rebel Hollanders of his made no more account of +his slowly-preparing invincible armada than of six fisher-boats off Rye. +Time alone could show where confidence had been best placed. Meantime it +was certain, that it well behoved Holland and England to hold hard +together, nor let "that enterprise quail." + +The famous expedition of Sir Francis Drake was the commencement of a +revelation. "That is the string," said Leicester, "that touches the King +indeed." It was soon to be made known to the world that the ocean was not +a Spanish Lake, nor both the Indies the private property of Philip. +"While the riches of the Indies continue," said Leicester, "he thinketh +he will be able to weary out all other princes; and I know, by good +means, that he more feareth this action of Sir Francis than he ever did +anything that has been attempted against him." With these continued +assaults upon the golden treasure-houses of Spain, and by a determined +effort to maintain the still more important stronghold which had been +wrested from her in the Netherlands, England might still be safe. "This +country is so full of ships and mariners," said Leicester, "so abundant +in wealth, and in the means to make money, that, had it but stood +neutral, what an aid had her Majesty been deprived of. But if it had been +the enemy's also, I leave it to your consideration what had been likely +to ensue. These people do now honour and love her Majesty in marvellous +sort." + +There was but one feeling on this most important subject among the +English who went to the Netherlands. All held the same language. The +question was plainly presented to England whether she would secure to +herself the great bulwark of her defence, or place it in the hands of her +mortal foe? How could there be doubt or supineness on such a momentous +subject? "Surely, my Lord," wrote Richard Cavendish to Burghley, "if you +saw the wealth, the strength, the shipping, and abundance of mariners, +whereof these countries stand furnished, your heart would quake to think +that so hateful an enemy as Spain should again be furnished with such +instruments; and the Spaniards themselves do nothing doubt upon the hope +of the consequence hereof, to assure themselves of the certain ruin of +her Majesty and the whole estate." + +And yet at the very outset of Leicester's administration, there was a +whisper of peace-overtures to Spain, secretly made by Elizabeth in her +own behalf, and in that of the Provinces. We shall have soon occasion to +examine into the truth of these rumours, which, whether originating in +truth or falsehood, were most pernicious in their effects. The Hollanders +were determined never to return to slavery again, so long as they could +fire a shot in their own defence. They earnestly wished English +cooperation, but it was the cooperation of English matchlocks and English +cutlasses, not English protocols and apostilles. It was military, not +diplomatic machinery that they required. If they could make up their +minds to submit to Philip and the Inquisition again, Philip and the Holy +office were but too ready to receive the erring penitents to their +embrace without a go-between. + +It was war, not peace, therefore, that Holland meant by the English +alliance. It was war, not peace, that Philip intended. It was war, not +peace, that Elizabeth's most trusty counsellors knew to be inevitable. +There was also, as we have shown, no doubt whatever as to the good +disposition, and the great power of the republic to bear its share in the +common cause. The enthusiasm of the Hollanders was excessive. "There was +such a noise, both in Delft, Rotterdam, and Dort," said Leicester, "in +crying 'God save the Queen!' as if she had been in Cheapside." Her own +subjects could not be more loyal than were the citizens and yeomen of +Holland. "The members of the States dare not but be Queen Elizabeth's," +continued the Earl, "for by the living God! if there should fall but the +least unkindness through their default, the people would kill them. All +sorts of people, from highest to lowest, assure themselves, now that they +have her Majesty's good countenance, to beat all the Spaniards out of +their country. Never was there people in such jollity as these be. I +could be content to lose a limb, could her Majesty see these countries +and towns as I have done." He was in truth excessively elated, and had +already, in imagination, vanquished Alexander Farnese, and eclipsed the +fame of William the Silent. "They will serve under me," he observed, +"with a better will than ever they served under the Prince of Orange. Yet +they loved him well, but they never hoped of the liberty of this country +till now." + +Thus the English government had every reason to be satisfied with the +aspect of its affairs in the Netherlands. But the nature of the Earl's +authority was indefinite. The Queen had refused the sovereignty and the +protectorate. She had also distinctly and peremptorily forbidden +Leicester to assume any office or title that might seem at variance with +such a refusal on her part. Yet it is certain that, from the very first, +he had contemplated some slight disobedience to these prohibitions. "What +government is requisite"--wrote he in a secret memorandum of "things most +necessary to understand"--"to be appointed to him that shall be their +governor? First, that he have as much authority as the Prince of Orange, +or any other governor or captain-general, hath had heretofore." Now the +Prince of Orange hath been stadholder of each of the United Provinces, +governor-general, commander-in-chief, count of Holland in prospect, and +sovereign, if he had so willed it. It would doubtless have been most +desirable for the country, in its confused condition, had there been a +person competent to wield, and willing to accept, the authority once +exercised by William I. But it was also certain that this was exactly the +authority which Elizabeth had forbidden Leicester to assume. Yet it is +difficult to understand what position the Queen intended that her +favourite should maintain, nor how he was to carry out her instructions, +while submitting to her prohibitions. He was directed to cause the +confused government of the Provinces to be redressed, and a better form +of polity to be established. He was ordered, in particular, to procure a +radical change in the constitution, by causing the deputies to the +General Assembly to be empowered to decide upon important matters, +without, as had always been the custom, making direct reference to the +assemblies of the separate Provinces. He was instructed to bring about, +in some indefinite way, a complete reform in financial matters, by +compelling the States-General to raise money by liberal taxation, +according to the "advice of her Majesty, delivered unto them by her +lieutenant." + +And how was this radical change in the institutions of the Provinces to +be made by an English earl, whose only authority was that of +commander-in-chief over five thousand half-starved, unpaid, +utterly-forlorn English troops? + +The Netherland envoys in England, in their parting advice, most +distinctly urged him "to hale authority with the first, to declare +himself chief head and governor-general" of the whole country,--for it +was a political head that was wanted in order to restore unity of +action--not an additional general, where there were already generals in +plenty. Sir John Norris, valiant, courageous, experienced--even if not, +as Walsingham observed, a "religious soldier," nor learned in anything +"but a kind of licentious and corrupt government"--was not likely to +require the assistance of the new lieutenant-general in field operations +nor could the army be brought into a state of thorough discipline and +efficiency by the magic of Leicester's name. The rank and file of the +English army--not the commanders-needed strengthening. The soldiers +required shoes and stockings, bread and meat, and for these articles +there were not the necessary funds, nor would the title of +Lieutenant-General supply the deficiency. The little auxiliary force was, +in truth, in a condition most pitiable to behold: it was difficult to say +whether the soldiers who had been already for a considerable period in +the Netherlands, or those who had been recently levied in the purlieus of +London, were in the most unpromising plight. The beggarly state in which +Elizabeth had been willing that her troops should go forth to the wars +was a sin and a disgrace. Well might her Lieutenant-General say that her +"poor subjects were no better than abjects." There were few effective +companies remaining of the old force. "There is but a small number of the +first bands left," said Sir John Conway, "and those so pitiful and unable +ever to serve again, as I leave to speak further of theirs, to avoid +grief to your heart. A monstrous fault there hath been somewhere." + +Leicester took a manful and sagacious course at starting. Those who had +no stomach for the fight were ordered to depart. The chaplain gave them +sermons; the Lieutenant-General, on St. Stephen's day, made them a "pithy +and honourable" oration, and those who had the wish or the means to buy +themselves out of the adventure, were allowed to do so: for the Earl was +much disgusted with the raw material out of which he was expected to +manufacture serviceable troops. Swaggering ruffians from the disreputable +haunts of London, cockney apprentices, brokendown tapsters, discarded +serving men; the Bardolphs and Pistols, Mouldys, Warts, and the +like--more at home in tavern-brawls or in dark lanes than on the +battle-field--were not the men to be entrusted with the honour of England +at a momentous crisis. He spoke with grief and shame of the worthless +character and condition of the English youths sent over to the +Netherlands. "Believe me," said he, "you will all repent the cockney kind +of bringing up at this day of young men. They be gone hence with shame +enough, and too many, that I will warrant, will make as many frays with +bludgeons and bucklers as any in London shall do; but such shall never +have credit with me again. Our simplest men in show have been our best +men, and your gallant blood and ruffian men the worst of all others." + +Much winnowed, as it was, the small force might in time become more +effective; and the Earl spent freely of his own substance to supply the +wants of his followers, and to atone for the avarice of his sovereign. +The picture painted however by muster-master Digger of the plumed troops +that had thus come forth to maintain the honour of England and the cause +of liberty, was anything but imposing. None knew better than Digges their +squalid and slovenly condition, or was more anxious to effect a +reformation therein. "A very wise, stout fellow he is," said the Earl, +"and very careful to serve thoroughly her Majesty." Leicester relied much +upon his efforts. "There is good hope," said the muster-master, "that his +excellency will shortly establish such good order for the government and +training of our nation, that these weak, bad-furnished, ill-armed, and +worse-trained bands, thus rawly left unto him, shall within a few months +prove as well armed, trained, complete, gallant companies as shall be +found elsewhere in Europe." The damage they were likely to inflict upon +the enemy seemed very problematical, until they should have been improved +by some wholesome ball-practice. "They are so unskilful," said Digger, +"that if they should be carried to the field no better trained than yet +they are, they would prove much more dangerous to their own leaders and +companies than any ways serviceable on their enemies. The hard and +miserable estate of the soldiers generally, excepting officers, hath been +such, as by the confessions of the captains themselves, they have been +offered by many of their soldiers thirty and forty pounds a piece to be +dismissed and sent away; whereby I doubt not the flower of the pressed +English bands are gone, and the remnant supplied with such paddy persons +as commonly, in voluntary procurements, men are glad to accept." + +Even after the expiration of four months the condition of the paddy +persons continued most destitute. The English soldiers became mere +barefoot starving beggars in the streets, as had never been the case in +the worst of times, when the States were their paymasters. The little +money brought from the treasury by the Earl, and the large sums which he +had contributed out of his own pocket, had been spent in settling, and +not fully settling, old scores. "Let me entreat you," wrote Leicester to +Walsingham, "to be a mean to her Majesty, that the poor soldiers be not +beaten for my sake. There came no penny of treasure over since my coming +hither. That which then came was most part due before it came. There is +much still due. They cannot get a penny, their credit is spent, they +perish for want of victuals and clothing in great numbers. The whole are +ready to mutiny. They cannot be gotten out to service, because they +cannot discharge the debts they owe in the places where they are. I have +let of my own more than I may spare."--"There was no soldier yet able to +buy himself a pair of hose," said the Earl again, "and it is too, too +great shame to see how they go, and it kills their hearts to show +themselves among men." + +There was no one to dispute the Earl's claims. The Nassau family was +desperately poor, and its chief, young Maurice, although he had been +elected stadholder of Holland and Zeeland, had every disposition--as Sir +Philip upon his arrival in Flushing immediately informed his uncle--to +submit to the authority of the new governor. Louisa de Coligny, widow of +William the Silent, was most anxious for the English alliance, through +which alone she believed that the fallen fortunes of the family could be +raised. It was thus only, she thought, that the vengeance for which she +thirsted upon the murderers of her father and her husband could be +obtained. "We see now," she wrote to Walsingham, in a fiercer strain than +would seem to comport with so gentle a nature--deeply wronged as the +daughter of Coligny and the wife of Orange had been by Papists--"we see +now the effects of our God's promises. He knows when it pleases Him to +avenge the blood of His own; and I confess that I feel most keenly the +joy which is shared in by the whole Church of God. There is none that has +received more wrong from these murderers than I have done, and I esteem +myself happy in the midst of my miseries that God has permitted me to see +some vengeance. These beginnings make me hope that I shall see yet more, +which will be not less useful to the good, both in your country and in +these isles." + +There was no disguise as to the impoverished condition to which the +Nassau family had been reduced by the self-devotion of its chief. They +were obliged to ask alms of England, until the "sapling should become a +tree."--"Since it is the will of God," wrote the Princess to Davison, "I +am not ashamed to declare the necessity of our house, for it is in His +cause that it has fallen. I pray you, Sir, therefore to do me and these +children the favour to employ your thoughts in this regard." If there had +been any strong French proclivities on their part--as had been so warmly +asserted--they were likely to disappear. Villiers, who had been a +confidential friend of William the Silent, and a strong favourer of +France, in vain endeavoured to keep alive the ancient sentiments towards +that country, although he was thought to be really endeavouring to bring +about a submission of the Nassaus to Spain. "This Villiers," said +Leicester, "is a most vile traitorous knave, and doth abuse a young +nobleman here extremely, the Count Maurice. For all his religion, he is a +more earnest persuader secretly to have him yield to a reconciliation +than Sainte Aldegonde was. He shall not tarry ten days neither in Holland +nor Zeeland. He is greatly hated here of all sorts, and it shall go hard +but I will win the young Count." + +As for Hohenlo, whatever his opinions might once have been regarding the +comparative merits of Frenchmen and Englishmen, he was now warmly in +favour of England, and expressed an intention of putting an end to the +Villiers' influence by simply drowning Villiers. The announcement of this +summary process towards the counsellor was not untinged with rudeness +towards the pupil. "The young Count," said Leicester, "by Villiers' +means, was not willing to have Flushing rendered, which the Count Hollock +perceiving, told the Count Maurice, in a great rage, that if he took any +course than that of the Queen of England, and swore by no beggars, he +would drown his priest in the haven before his face, and turn himself and +his mother-in-law out of their house there, and thereupon went with Mr. +Davison to the delivery of it." Certainly, if Hohenlo permitted himself +such startling demonstrations towards the son and widow of William the +Silent, it must have been after his habitual potations had been of the +deepest. Nevertheless it was satisfactory for the new chieftain to know +that the influence of so vehement a partisan was secured for England. The +Count's zeal deserved gratitude upon Leicester's part, and Leicester was +grateful. "This man must be cherished," said the Earl; "he is sound and +faithful, and hath indeed all the chief holds in his hands, and at his +commandment. Ye shall do well to procure him a letter of thanks, taking +knowledge in general of his good-will to her Majesty. He is a right +Almayn in manner and fashion, free of his purse and of his drink, yet do +I wish him her Majesty's pensioner before any prince in Germany, for he +loves her and is able to serve her, and doth desire to be known her +servant. He hath been laboured by his nearest kinsfolk and friends in +Germany to have left the States and to have the King of Spain's pension +and very great reward; but he would not. I trust her Majesty will accept +of his offer to be her servant during his life, being indeed a very noble +soldier." The Earl was indeed inclined to take so cheerful view of +matters as to believe that he should even effect a reform in the noble +soldier's most unpleasant characteristic. "Hollock is a wise gallant +gentleman," he said, "and very well esteemed. He hath only one fault, +which is drinking; but good hope that he will amend it. Some make me +believe that I shall be able to do much with him, and I mean to do my +best, for I see no man that knows all these countries, and the people of +all sorts, like him, and this fault overthrows all." + +Accordingly, so long as Maurice continued under the tutelage of this +uproarious cavalier--who, at a later day, was to become his +brother-in-law-he was not likely to interfere with Leicester's authority. +The character of the young Count was developing slowly. More than his +father had ever done, he deserved the character of the taciturn. A quiet +keen observer of men and things, not demonstrative nor talkative, nor +much given to writing--a modest, calm, deeply-reflecting student of +military and mathematical science--he was not at that moment deeply +inspired by political ambition. He was perhaps more desirous of raising +the fallen fortunes of his house than of securing the independence of his +country. Even at that early age, however, his mind was not easy to read, +and his character was somewhat of a puzzle to those who studied it. "I +see him much discontented with the States," said Leicester; "he hath a +sullen deep wit. The young gentleman is yet to be won only to her +Majesty, I perceive, of his own inclination. The house is marvellous poor +and little regarded by the States, and if they get anything it is like to +be by her Majesty, which should be altogether, and she may easily, do for +him to win him sure. I will undertake it." Yet the Earl was ever anxious +about some of the influences which surrounded Maurice, for he thought him +more easily guided than he wished him to be by any others but himself. +"He stands upon making and marring," he said, "as he meets with good +counsel." And at another time he observed, "The young gentleman hath a +solemn sly wit; but, in troth, if any be to be doubted toward the King of +Spain, it is he and his counsellors, for they have been altogether, so +far, French, and so far in mislike with England as they cannot almost +hide it." + +And there was still another member of the house of Nassau who was already +an honour to his illustrious race. Count William Lewis, hardly more than +a boy in years, had already served many campaigns, and had been +desperately wounded in the cause for which so much of the heroic blood of +his race had been shed. Of the five Nassau brethren, his father Count +John was the sole survivor, and as devoted as ever to the cause of +Netherland liberty. The other four had already laid down their lives in +its defence. And William Lewis, was worthy to be the nephew of William +and Lewis, Henry and Adolphus, and the son of John. Not at all a +beautiful or romantic hero in appearance, but an odd-looking little man, +with a round bullet-head, close-clipped hair, a small, twinkling, +sagacious eye, rugged, somewhat puffy features screwed whimsically awry, +with several prominent warts dotting, without ornamenting, all that was +visible of a face which was buried up to the ears in a furzy thicket of +yellow-brown beard, the tough young stadholder of Friesland, in his iron +corslet, and halting upon his maimed leg, had come forth with other +notable personages to the Hague. + +He wished to do honour heartily and freely to Queen Elizabeth and her +representative. And Leicester was favourably impressed with his new +acquaintance. "Here is another little fellow," he said, "as little as may +be, but one of the gravest and wisest young men that ever I spake withal; +it is the Count Guilliam of Nassau. He governs Friesland; I would every +Province had such another." + +Thus, upon the great question which presented itself upon the very +threshold--the nature and extent of the authority to be exercised by +Leicester--the most influential Netherlanders were in favour of a large +and liberal interpretation of his powers. The envoys in England, the +Nassau family Hohenlo, the prominent members of the States, such as the +shrewd, plausible Menin, the "honest and painful" Falk, and the +chancellor of Gelderland--"that very great, wise, old man Leoninus," as +Leicester called him,--were all desirous that he should assume an +absolute governor-generalship over the whole country. This was a grave +and a delicate matter, and needed to be severely scanned, without delay. +But besides the natives, there were two Englishmen--together with +ambassador Davison--who were his official advisers. Bartholomew Clerk, +LL.D., and Sir Henry Killigrew had been appointed by the Queen to be +members of the council of the United States, according to the provisions +of the August treaty. The learned Bartholomew hardly seemed equal to his +responsible position among those long-headed Dutch politicians. Philip +Sidney--the only blemish in whose character was an intolerable tendency +to puns--observed that "Doctor Clerk was of those clerks that are not +always the wisest, and so my lord too late was finding him." The Earl +himself, who never undervalued the intellect of the Netherlanders whom he +came to govern, anticipated but small assistance from the English +civilian. "I find no great stuff in my little colleague," he said, +"nothing that I looked for. It is a pity you have no more of his +profession, able men to serve. This man hath good will, and a pretty +scholar's wit; but he is too little for these big fellows, as heavy as +her Majesty thinks them to be. I would she had but one or two, such as +the worst of half a score be here." The other English statecounsellor +seemed more promising. "I have one here," said the Earl, "in whom I take +no small comfort; that is little Hal Killigrew. I assure you, my lord, he +is a notable servant, and more in him than ever I heretofore thought of +him, though I always knew him to be an honest man and an able." + +But of all the men that stood by Leicester's side, the most faithful, +devoted, sagacious, experienced, and sincere of his counsellors, English +or Flemish, was envoy Davison. It is important to note exactly the +opinion that had been formed of him by those most competent to judge, +before events in which he was called on to play a prominent and +responsible though secondary part, had placed him in a somewhat false +position. + +"Mr. Davison," wrote Sidney, "is here very careful in her Majesty's +causes, and in your Lordship's. He takes great pains and goes to great +charges for it." The Earl himself was always vehement in his praise. "Mr. +Davison," said he at another time, "has dealt most painfully and +chargeably in her Majesty's service here, and you shall find him as +sufficiently able to deliver the whole state of this country as any man +that ever was in it, acquainted with all sorts here that are men of +dealing. Surely, my Lord, you shall do a good deed that he may be +remembered with her Majesty's gracious consideration, for his being here +has been very chargeable, having kept a very good countenance, and a very +good table, all his abode here, and of such credit with all the chief +sort, as I know no stranger in any place hath the like. As I am a suitor +to you to be his good friend to her Majesty, so I must heartily pray you, +good my Lord, to procure his coming hither shortly to me again, for I +know not almost how to do without him. I confess it is a wrong to the +gentleman, and I protest before God, if it were for mine own particular +respect, I would not require it for L5000. But your Lordship doth little +think how greatly I have to do, as also how needful for her Majesty's +service his being here will, be. Wherefore, good my Lord, if it may not +offend her Majesty, be a mean for this my request, for her own service' +sake wholly." + +Such were the personages who surrounded the Earl on his arrival in the +Netherlands, and such their sentiments respecting the position that it +was desirable for him to assume. But there was one very important fact. +He had studiously concealed from Davison that the Queen had peremptorily +and distinctly forbidden his accepting the office of governor-general. It +seemed reasonable, if he came thither at all, that he should come in that +elevated capacity. The Staten wished it. The Earl ardently longed for it. +The ambassador, who knew more of Netherland politics and Netherland +humours than any man did, approved of it. The interests of both England +and Holland seemed to require it. No one but Leicester knew that her +Majesty had forbidden it. + +Accordingly, no sooner had the bell-ringing, cannon-explosions, bonfires, +and charades, come to an end, and the Earl got fairly housed in the +Hague, than the States took the affair of government seriously in hand. + +On the 9th January, Chancellor Leoninus and Paul Buys waited upon +Davison, and requested a copy of the commission granted by the Queen to +the Earl. The copy was refused, but the commission was read; by which it +appeared that he had received absolute command over her Majesty's forces +in the Netherlands by land and sea, together with authority to send for +all gentlemen and other personages out of England that he might think +useful to him. On the 10th the States passed a resolution to offer him +the governor-generalship over all the Provinces. On the same day another +committee waited upon his "Excellency"--as the States chose to denominate +the Earl, much to the subsequent wrath of the Queen--and made an +appointment for the whole body to wait upon him the following morning. + +Upon that day accordingly--New Year's Day, by the English reckoning, 11th +January by the New Style--the deputies of all the States at an early hour +came to his lodgings, with much pomp, preceded by a herald and +trumpeters. Leicester, not expecting them quite so soon, was in his +dressing-room, getting ready for the solemn audience, when, somewhat to +his dismay, a flourish of trumpets announced the arrival of the whole +body in his principal hall of audience. Hastening his preparations as +much as possible, he descended to that apartment, and was instantly +saluted by a flourish of rhetoric still more formidable; for that "very +great, and wise old Leoninus," forthwith began an oration, which promised +to be of portentous length and serious meaning. The Earl was slightly +flustered, when, fortunately; some one whispered in his ear that they had +come to offer him the much-coveted prize of the stadholderate-general. +Thereupon he made bold to interrupt the flow of the chancellor's +eloquence in its first outpourings. "As this is a very private matter," +said he, "it will be better to treat of it in a more private place I pray +you therefore to come into my chamber, where these things may be more +conveniently discussed." + +"You hear what my Lord says," cried Leoninus, turning to his companions; +"we are to withdraw into his chamber." + +Accordingly they withdrew, accompanied by the Earl, and by five or six +select counsellors, among whom were Davison and Dr. Clerk. Then the +chancellor once more commenced his harangue, and went handsomely through +the usual forms of compliment, first to the Queen, and then to her +representative, concluding with an earnest request that the +Earl--although her Majesty had declined the sovereignty "would take the +name and place of absolute governor and general of all their forces and +soldiers, with the disposition of their whole revenues and taxes." + +So soon as the oration was concluded, Leicester; who did not speak +French, directed Davison to reply in that language. + +The envoy accordingly, in name of the Earl, expressed the deepest +gratitude for this mark of the affection and confidence of the +States-General towards the Queen. He assured them that the step thus +taken by them would be the cause of still more favour and affection on +the part of her Majesty, who would unquestionably, from day to day, +augment the succour that she was extending to the Provinces in order to +relieve men from their misery. For himself, the Earl protested that he +could never sufficiently recompense the States for the honour which had +thus been conferred upon him, even if he should live one hundred lives. +Although he felt himself quite unable to sustain the weight of so great +an office, yet he declared that they might repose with full confidence on +his integrity and good intentions. Nevertheless, as the authority thus +offered to him was very arduous, and as the subject required deep +deliberation, he requested that the proposition should be reduced to +writing, and delivered into his hands. He might then come to a conclusion +thereupon, most conducive to the glory of God and the welfare of the +land. + +Three days afterwards, 14th January, the offer, drawn up formally in +writing, was presented to envoy Davison, according to the request of +Leicester. Three days latter, 17th January, his Excellency having +deliberated upon the proposition, requested a committee of conference. +The conference took place the same day, and there was some discussion +upon matters of detail, principally relating to the matter of +contributions. The Earl, according to the report of the committee, +manifested no repugnance to the acceptance of the office, provided these +points could be satisfactorily adjusted. He seemed, on the contrary, +impatient, rather than reluctant; for, on the day following the +conference, he sent his secretary Gilpin with a somewhat importunate +message. "His Excellency was surprised," said the secretary, "that the +States were so long in coming to a resolution on the matters suggested by +him in relation to the offer of the government-general; nor could his +Excellency imagine the cause of the delay." + +For, in truth, the delay was caused by an excessive, rather than a +deficient, appetite for power on the part of his Excellency. The States, +while conferring what they called the "absolute" government, by which it +afterwards appeared that they meant absolute, in regard to time, not to +function--were very properly desirous of retaining a wholesome control +over that government by means of the state-council. They wished not only +to establish such a council, as a check upon the authority of the new +governor, but to share with him at least in the appointment of the +members who were to compose the board. But the aristocratic Earl was +already restive under the thought of any restraint--most of all the +restraint of individuals belonging to what he considered the humbler +classes. + +"Cousin, my lord ambassador," said he to Davison, "among your sober +companions be it always remembered, I beseech you, that your cousin have +no other alliance but with gentle blood. By no means consent that he be +linked in faster bonds than their absolute grant may yield him a free and +honourable government, to be able to do such service as shall be meet for +an honest man to perform in such a calling, which of itself is very +noble. But yet it is not more to be embraced, if I were to be led in +alliance by such keepers as will sooner draw my nose from the right scent +of the chace, than to lead my feet in the true pace to pursue the game I +desire to reach. Consider, I pray you, therefore, what is to be done, and +how unfit it will be in respect of my poor self, and how unacceptable to +her Majesty, and how advantageous to enemies that will seek holes in my +coat, if I should take so great a name upon me, and so little power. They +challenge acceptation already, and I challenge their absolute grant and +offer to me, before they spoke of any instructions; for so it was when +Leoninus first spoke to me with them all on New Years Day, as you +heard--offering in his speech all manner of absolute authority. If it +please them to confirm this, without restraining instructions, I will +willingly serve the States, or else, with such advising instructions as +the Dowager of Hungary had." + +This was explicit enough, and Davison, who always acted for Leicester in +the negotiations with the States, could certainly have no doubt as to the +desires of the Earl, on the subject of "absolute" authority. He did +accordingly what he could to bring the States to his Excellency's way of +thinking; nor was he unsuccessful. + +On the 22nd January, a committee of conference was sent by the States to +Leyden, in which city Leicester was making a brief visit. They were +instructed to procure his consent, if possible, to the appointment, by +the States themselves, of a council consisting of members from each +Province. If they could not obtain this concession, they were directed to +insist as earnestly as possible upon their right to present a double. +list of candidates, from which he was to make nominations. And if the one +and the other proposition should be refused, the States were then to +agree that his Excellency should freely choose and appoint a council of +state, consisting of native residents from every Province, for the period +of one year. The committee was further authorised to arrange the +commission for the governor, in accordance with these points; and to draw +up a set of instructions for the state-council, to the satisfaction of +his Excellency. The committee was also empowered to conclude the matter +at once, without further reference to the States. + +Certainly a committee thus instructed was likely to be sufficiently +pliant. It had need to be, in order to bend to the humour of his +Excellency, which was already becoming imperious. The adulation which he +had received; the triumphal marches, the Latin orations, the flowers +strewn in his path, had produced their effect, and the Earl was almost +inclined to assume the airs of royalty. The committee waited upon him at +Leyden. He affected a reluctance to accept the "absolute" government, but +his coyness could not deceive such experienced statesmen as the "wise old +Leoliinus," or Menin, Maalzoon, Florin Thin, or Aitzma, who composed the +deputation. It was obvious enough to them that it was not a King Log that +had descended among them, but it was not a moment for complaining. The +governor elect insisted, of course, that the two Englishmen, according to +the treaty with her Majesty, should be members of, the council. He also, +at once, nominated Leoninus, Meetkerk, Brederode, Falck, and Paul Buys, +to the same office; thinking, no doubt, that these were five keepers--if +keepers he must have--who would not draw his nose off the scent, nor +prevent his reaching the game he hunted, whatever that game might be. It +was reserved for the future, however, to show, whether, the five were +like to hunt in company with him as harmoniously as he hoped. As to the +other counsellors, he expressed a willingness that candidates should be +proposed for him, as to whose qualifications he would make up his mind at +leisure. + +This matter being satisfactorily adjusted-and certainly unless the game +pursued by the Earl was a crown royal, he ought to have been satisfied +with his success--the States received a letter from their committee at +Leyden, informing them that his Excellency, after some previous +protestations, had accepted the government (24th January, 1586). + +It was agreed that he should be inaugurated Governor-General of the +United Provinces of Gelderland and Zutphen, Flanders, Holland, Zeeland, +Utrecht, Friesland, and all others in confederacy with them. He was to +have supreme military command by land and sea. He was to exercise supreme +authority in matters civil and political, according to the customs +prevalent in the reign of the Emperor Charles V. All officers, political, +civil, legal, were to be appointed by him out of a double or triple +nomination made by the States of the Provinces in which vacancies might +occur. The States-General were to assemble whenever and wherever he +should summon them. They were also--as were the States of each separate +Province--competent to meet together by their own appointment. The +Governor-General was to receive an oath of fidelity from the States, and +himself to swear the maintenance of the ancient laws, customs, and +privileges of the country. + +The deed was done. In vain had an emissary of the French court been +exerting his utmost to prevent the consummation of this close alliance. +For the wretched government of Henry III., while abasing itself before +Philip II., and offering the fair cities and fertile plains of France as +a sacrifice to that insatiable ambition which wore the mask of religious +bigotry, was most anxious that Holland and England should not escape the +meshes by which it was itself enveloped. The agent at the Hague came +nominally upon some mercantile affairs, but in reality, according to +Leicester, "to impeach the States from binding themselves to her +Majesty." But he was informed that there was then no leisure for his +affairs; "for the States would attend to the service of the Queen of +England, before all princes in the world." The agent did not feel +complimented by the coolness of this reception; yet it was reasonable +enough, certainly, that the Hollanders should remember with bitterness +the contumely, which they had experienced the previous year in France. +The emissary was; however, much disgusted. "The fellow," said Leicester, +"took it in such snuff, that he came proudly to the States and offered +his letters, saying; 'Now I trust you have done all your sacrifices to +the Queen of England, and may yield me some leisure to read my masters +letters.'"--"But they so shook him, up," continued the Earl, "for naming +her Majesty in scorn--as they took it--that they hurled him his letters; +and bid him content himself;" and so on, much to the agent's +discomfiture, who retired in greater "snuff" than ever. + +So much for the French influence. And now Leicester had done exactly what +the most imperious woman in the world, whose favour was the breath of his +life, had expressly forbidden him to do. The step having been taken, the +prize so tempting to his ambition having been snatched, and the policy +which had governed the united action of the States and himself seeming so +sound, what ought he to have done in order to avert the tempest which he +must have foreseen? Surely a man who knew so much of woman's nature and +of Elizabeth's nature as he did, ought to have attempted to conciliate +her affections, after having so deeply wounded her pride. He knew his +power. Besides the graces of his person and manner--which few women, once +impressed by them, could ever forget--he possessed the most insidious and +flattering eloquence, and, in absence, his pen was as wily as his tongue. +For the Earl was imbued with the very genius of courtship. None was +better skilled than he in the phrases of rapturous devotion, which were +music to the ear both of the woman and the Queen; and he knew his royal +mistress too well not to be aware that the language of passionate +idolatry, however extravagant, had rarely fallen unheeded upon her soul. +It was strange therefore, that in this emergency, he should not at once +throw himself upon her compassion without any mediator. Yet, on the +contrary, he committed the monstrous error of entrusting his defence to +envoy Davison, whom he determined to despatch at once with instructions +to the Queen, and towards whom he committed the grave offence of +concealing from him her previous prohibitions. But how could the Earl +fail to perceive that it was the woman, not the Queen, whom he should +have implored for pardon; that it was Robert Dudley, not William Davison, +who ought to have sued upon his knees. This whole matter of the +Netherland sovereignty and the Leicester stadholderate, forms a strange +psychological study, which deserves and requires some minuteness of +attention; for it was by the characteristics of these eminent personages +that the current history was deeply stamped. + +Certainly, under the peculiar circumstances of the case, the first letter +conveying intelligence so likely to pique the pride of Elizabeth, should +have been a letter from Leicester. On the contrary, it proved to be a +dull formal epistle from the States. + +And here again the assistance of the indispensable Davison was considered +necessary. On the 3rd February the ambassador--having announced his +intention of going to England, by command of his Excellency, so soon as +the Earl should have been inaugurated, for the purpose of explaining all +these important transactions to her Majesty--waited upon the States with +the request that they should prepare as speedily as might be their letter +to the Queen, with other necessary documents, to be entrusted to his +care. He also suggested that the draft or minute of their proposed +epistle should be submitted to him for advice--"because the humours of +her Majesty were best known to him." + +Now the humours of her Majesty were best known to Leicester of all men in +the whole world, and it is inconceivable that he should have allowed so +many days and weeks to pass without taking these humours properly into +account. But the Earl's head was slightly turned by his sudden and +unexpected success. The game that he had been pursuing had fallen into +his grasp, almost at the very start, and it is not astonishing that he +should have been somewhat absorbed in the enjoyment of his victory. + +Three days later (6th February) the minute of a letter to Elizabeth, +drawn up by Menin, was submitted to the ambassador; eight days after that +(14th February) Mr. Davison took leave of the States, and set forth for +the Brill on his way to England; and three or four days later yet, he was +still in that sea-port, waiting for a favourable wind. Thus from the 11th +January, N.S., upon which day the first offer of the absolute government +had been made to Leicester, nearly forty days had elapsed, during which +long period the disobedient Earl had not sent one line, private or +official, to her Majesty on this most important subject. And when at last +the Queen was to receive information of her favourite's delinquency, it +was not to be in his well-known handwriting and accompanied by his +penitent tears and written caresses, but to be laid before her with all +the formality of parchment and sealingwax, in the stilted diplomatic +jargon of those "highly-mighty, very learned, wise, and very foreseeing +gentlemen, my lords the States-General." Nothing could have been managed +with less adroitness. + +Meantime, not heeding the storm gathering beyond the narrow seas, the new +governor was enjoying the full sunshine of power. On the 4th February the +ceremony of his inauguration took place, with great pomp and ceremony at +the Hague. + +The beautiful, placid, village-capital of Holland wore much the same +aspect at that day as now. Clean, quiet, spacious streets, shaded with +rows of whispering poplars and umbrageous limes, broad sleepy +canals--those liquid highways alone; which glided in phantom silence the +bustle, and traffic, and countless cares of a stirring population--quaint +toppling houses, with tower and gable; ancient brick churches, with +slender spire and musical chimes; thatched cottages on the outskirts, +with stork-nests on the roofs--the whole without fortification save the +watery defences which enclosed it with long-drawn lines on every side; +such was the Count's park, or 's Graven Haage, in English called the +Hague. + +It was embowered and almost buried out of sight by vast groves of oaks +and beeches. Ancient Badahuennan forests of sanguinary Druids, the "wild +wood without mercy" of Saxon savages, where, at a later period, sovereign +Dirks and Florences, in long succession of centuries, had ridden abroad +with lance in rest, or hawk on fist; or under whose boughs, in still +nearer days, the gentle Jacqueline had pondered and wept over her +sorrows, stretched out in every direction between the city and the +neighbouring sea. In the heart of the place stood the ancient palace of +the counts, built in the thirteenth century by William II. of Holland, +King of the Romans, with massive brick walls, cylindrical turrets, +pointed gable and rose-shaped windows, and with spacious coup-yard, +enclosed by feudal moat, drawbridge, and portcullis. + +In the great banqueting-hall of the ancient palace, whose cedarn-roof of +magnificent timber-work, brought by crusading counts from the Holy Land, +had rung with the echoes of many a gigantic revel in the days of +chivalry--an apartment one hundred and fifty feet long and forty feet +high--there had been arranged an elevated platform, with a splendid chair +of state for the "absolute" governor, and with a great profusion of +gilding and velvet tapestry, hangings, gilt emblems, complimentary +devices, lions, unicorns, and other imposing appurtenances. Prince +Maurice, and all the members of his house, the States-General in full +costume, and all the great functionaries, civil and military, were +assembled. There was an elaborate harangue by orator Menin, in which it +was proved; by copious citations from Holy Writ and from ancient +chronicle, that the Lord never forsakes His own; so that now, when the +Provinces were at their last gasp by the death of Orange and the loss of +Antwerp, the Queen of England and the Earl of Leicester had suddenly +descended, as if from Heaven; to their rescue. Then the oaths of mutual +fidelity were exchanged between the governor and the States, and, in +conclusion, Dr. Bartholomew Clerk ventured to measure himself with the +"big fellows," by pronouncing an oration which seemed to command +universal approbation. And thus the Earl was duly installed +Governor-General of the United States of the Netherlands. + +But already the first mutterings of the storm were audible. A bird in the +air had whispered to the Queen that her favourite was inclined to +disobedience. "Some flying tale hath been told me here," wrote Leicester +to Walsingham, "that her Majesty should mislike my name of Excellency. +But if I had delighted, or would have received titles, I refused a title +higher than Excellency, as Mr. Davison, if you ask him, will tell you; +and that I, my own self, refused most earnestly that, and, if I might +have done it, this also." Certainly, if the Queen objected to this common +form of address, which had always been bestowed upon Leicester, as he +himself observed, ever since she had made him an earl, it might be +supposed that her wrath would mount high when she should hear of him as +absolute governor-general. It is also difficult to say what higher title +he had refused, for certainly the records show that he had refused +nothing, in the way of power and dignity, that it was possible for him to +obtain. + +But very soon afterwards arrived authentic intelligence that the Queen +had been informed of the proposition made on New Year's-Day (O.S.), and +that, although she could not imagine the possibility of his accepting, +she was indignant that he had not peremptorily rejected the offer. + +"As to the proposal made to you," wrote Burghley, "by the mouth of +Leoninus, her Majesty hath been informed that you had thanked them in her +name, and alleged that there was no such thing in the contract, and that +therefore you could not accept nor knew how to answer the same." + +Now this information was obviously far from correct, although it had been +furnished by the Earl himself to Burghley. We have seen that Leicester +had by no means rejected, but very gratefully entertained, the +proposition as soon as made. Nevertheless the Queen was dissatisfied, +even without suspecting that she had been directly disobeyed. "Her +Majesty," continued the Lord-Treasurer; "is much offended with this +proceeding. She allows not that you should give them thanks, but findeth +it very strange that you did not plainly declare to them that they did +well know how often her Majesty had refused to have any one for her take +any such government there, and that she had always so answered +peremptorily. Therefore there might be some suspicion conceived that by +offering on their part, and refusal on hers, some further mischief might +be secretly hidden by some odd person's device to the hurt of the cause. +But in that your Lordship did not flatly say to them that yourself did +know her Majesty's mind therein, that she never meant, in this sort, to +take the absolute government, she is offended considering, as she saith, +that none knew her determination therein better than yourself. For at +your going hence, she did peremptorily charge you not to accept any such +title and office; and therefore her straight commandment now is that you +shall not accept the same, for she will never assent thereto, nor avow +you with any such title." + +If Elizabeth was so wrathful, even while supposing that the offer had +been gratefully declined, what were likely to be her emotions when she +should be informed that it had been gratefully accepted. The Earl already +began to tremble at the probable consequences of his mal-adroitness. +Grave was the error he had committed in getting himself made +governor-general against orders; graver still, perhaps fatal, the blunder +of not being swift to confess his fault, and cry for pardon, before other +tongues should have time to aggravate his offence. Yet even now he shrank +from addressing the Queen in person, but hoped to conjure the rising +storm by means of the magic wand of the Lord-Treasurer. He implored his +friend's interposition to shield him in the emergency, and begged that at +least her Majesty and the lords of council would suspend their judgment +until Mr. Davison should deliver those messages and explanations with +which, fully freighted, he was about to set sail from the Brill. + +"If my reasons seem to your wisdoms," said he, "other than such as might +well move a true and a faithful careful man to her Majesty to do as I +have done, I do desire, for my mistaking offence, to bear the burden of +it; to be disavowed with all displeasure and disgrace; a matter of as +great reproach and grief as ever can happen to any man." He begged that +another person might be sent as soon as possible in his place-protesting, +however, by his faith in Christ, that he had done only what he was bound +to do by his regard for her Majesty's service--and that when he set foot +in the country he had no more expected to be made Governor of the +Netherlands than to be made King of Spain. Certainly he had been paying +dear for the honour, if honour it was, and he had not intended on setting +forth for the Provinces to ruin himself, for the sake of an empty title. +His motives--and he was honest, when he so avowed them--were motives of +state at least as much as of self-advancement. "I have no cause," he +said, "to have played the fool thus far for myself; first, to have her +Majesty's displeasure, which no kingdom in the world could make me +willingly deserve; next, to undo myself in my later days; to consume all +that should have kept me all my life in one half year. But I must thank +God for all, and am most heartily grieved at her Majesty's heavy +displeasure. I neither desire to live, nor to see my country with it." + +And at this bitter thought, he began to sigh like furnace, and to shed +the big tears of penitence. + +"For if I have not done her Majesty good service at this time," he said, +"I shall never hope to do her any, but will withdraw me into some +out-corner of the world, where I will languish out the rest of my few-too +many-days, praying ever for her Majesty's long and prosperous life, and +with this only comfort to live an exile, that this disgrace hath happened +for no other cause but for my mere regard for her Majesty's estate." + +Having painted this dismal picture of the probable termination to his +career--not in the hope of melting Burghley but of touching the heart of +Elizabeth--he proceeded to argue the point in question with much logic +and sagacity. He had satisfied himself on his arrival in the Provinces, +that, if he did not take the governor-generalship some other person +would; and that it certainly was for the interest of her Majesty that her +devoted servant, rather than an indifferent person, should be placed in +that important position. He maintained that the Queen had intimated, to +him, in private, her willingness that he should accept the office in +question provided the proposition should come from the States and not +from her; he reasoned that the double nature of his functions--being +general and counsellor for her, as well as general and counsellor for the +Provinces--made his acceptance of the authority conferred on him almost +indispensable; that for him to be merely commander over five thousand +English troops, when an abler soldier than himself, Sir John Norris, was +at their head, was hardly worthy her Majesty's service or himself, and +that in reality the Queen had lost nothing, by his appointment, but had +gained much benefit and honour by thus having the whole command of the +Provinces, of their forces by land and sea, of their towns and treasures, +with knowledge of all their secrets of state. + +Then, relapsing into a vein of tender but reproachful melancholy, he +observed, that, if it had been any man but himself that had done as he +had done, he would have been thanked, not censured. "But such is now my +wretched case," he said, "as for my faithful, true, and loving heart to +her Majesty and my country, I have utterly undone myself. For favour, I +have disgrace; for reward, utter spoil and ruin. But if this taking upon +me the name of governor is so evil taken as it hath deserved dishonour, +discredit, disfavour, with all griefs that may be laid upon a man, I must +receive it as deserved of God and not of my Queen, whom I have reverenced +with all humility, and whom I have loved with all fidelity." + +This was the true way, no doubt, to reach the heart of Elizabeth, and +Leicester had always plenty of such shafts in his quiver. Unfortunately +he had delayed too long, and even now he dared not take a direct aim. He +feared to write to the Queen herself, thinking that his so doing, "while +she had such conceipts of him, would only trouble her," and he therefore +continued to employ the Lord-Treasurer and Mr. Secretary as his +mediators. Thus he committed error upon error. + +Meantime, as if there had not been procrastination enough, Davison was +loitering at the Brill, detained by wind and weather. Two days after the +letter, just cited, had been despatched to Walsingham, Leicester sent an +impatient message to the envoy. "I am heartily sorry, with all my heart," +he said, "to hear of your long stay at Brill, the wind serving so fair as +it hath done these two days. I would have laid any wager that you had +been in England ere this. I pray you make haste, lest our cause take too +great a prejudice there ere you come, although I cannot fear it, because +it is so good and honest. I pray you imagine in what care I dwell till I +shall hear from you, albeit some way very resolute." + +Thus it was obvious that he had no secret despair of his cause when it +should be thoroughly laid before the Queen. The wonder was that he had +added the offence of long silence to the sin of disobedience. Davison had +sailed, however, before the receipt of the Earl's letter. He had been +furnished with careful instructions upon the subject of his mission. He +was to show how eager the States had been to have Leicester for their +absolute governor--which was perfectly true--and how anxious the Earl had +been to decline the proffered honour--which was certainly false, if +contemporary record and the minutes of the States-General are to be +believed. He was to sketch the general confusion which had descended upon +the country, the quarrelling of politicians, and the discontent of +officers and soldiers, from out of all which chaos one of two results was +sure to arise: the erection of a single chieftain, or a reconciliation of +the Provinces with Spain. That it would be impossible for the Earl to +exercise the double functions with which he was charged--of general of +her Majesty's forces, and general and chief counsellor of the States--if +any other man than himself should be appointed governor; was obvious. It +was equally plain that the Provinces could only be kept at her Majesty's +disposition by choosing the course which, at their own suggestion, had +been adopted. The offer of the government by the States, and its +acceptance by the Earl, were the logical consequence of the step which +the Queen had already taken. It was thus only that England could retain +her hold upon the country, and even upon the cautionary towns. As to a +reconciliation of the Provinces with Spain--which would have been the +probable result of Leicester's rejection of the proposition made by the +Stateait was unnecessary to do more than allude to such a catastrophe. No +one but a madman could doubt that, in such an event, the subjugation of +England was almost certain. + +But before the arrival of the ambassador, the Queen had been thoroughly +informed as to the whole extent of the Earl's delinquency. Dire was the +result. The wintry gales which had been lashing the North Sea, and +preventing the unfortunate Davison from setting forth on his disastrous +mission, were nothing to the tempest of royal wrath which had been +shaking the court-world to its centre. The Queen had been swearing most +fearfully ever since she read the news, which Leicester had not dared to +communicate directly, to herself. No one was allowed to speak a word in +extenuation of the favourite's offence. Burghley, who lifted up his voice +somewhat feebly to appease her wrath, was bid, with a curse, to hold his +peace. So he took to his bed-partly from prudence, partly from gout--and +thus sheltered himself for a season from the peltings of the storm. +Walsingham, more manful, stood to his post, but could not gain a hearing. +It was the culprit that should have spoken, and spoken in time. "Why, why +did you not write yourself?" was the plaintive cry of all the Earl's +friends, from highest to humblest. "But write to her now," they +exclaimed, "at any rate; and, above all, send her a present, a +love-gift." "Lay out two or three hundred crowns in some rare thing, for +a token to her Majesty," said Christopher Hatton. + +Strange that his colleagues and his rivals should have been obliged to +advise Leicester upon the proper course to pursue; that they--not +himself--should have been the first to perceive that it was the enraged +woman, even more than the offended sovereign, who was to be propitiated +and soothed. In truth, all the woman had been aroused in Elizabeth's +bosom. She was displeased that her favourite should derive power and +splendour from any source but her own bounty. She was furious that his +wife, whom she hated, was about to share in his honours. For the +mischievous tongues of court-ladies had been collecting or fabricating +many unpleasant rumours. A swarm of idle but piquant stories had been +buzzing about the Queen's ears, and stinging her into a frenzy of +jealousy. The Countess--it was said--was on the point of setting forth +for the Netherlands, to join the Earl, with a train of courtiers and +ladies, coaches and side-saddles, such as were never seen before--where +the two were about to establish themselves in conjugal felicity, as well +as almost royal state. What a prospect for the jealous and imperious +sovereign! "Coaches and side-saddles! She would show the upstarts that +there was one Queen, and that her name was Elizabeth, and that there was +no court but hers." And so she continued to storm and swear, and threaten +unutterable vengeance, till all her courtiers quaked in their shoes. + +Thomas Dudley, however, warmly contradicted the report, declaring, of his +own knowledge, that the Countess had no wish to go to the Provinces, nor +the Earl any intention of receiving her there. This information was at +once conveyed to the Queen, "and," said Dudley, "it did greatly pacify +her stomach." His friends did what they could to maintain the governor's +cause; but Burghley, Walsingham, Hatton, and the rest of them, were all +"at their wits end," and were nearly distraught at the delay in Davison's +arrival. Meantime the Queen's stomach was not so much pacified but that +she was determined to humiliate the Earl with the least possible delay. +Having waited sufficiently long for his explanations, she now appointed +Sir Thomas Heneage as special commissioner to the States, without waiting +any longer. Her wrath vented itself at once in the preamble to the +instructions for this agent. + +"Whereas," she said, "we have been given to understand that the Earl of +Leicester hath in a very contemptuous sort--contrary to our express +commandment given unto him by ourself, accepted of an offer of a more +absolute government made by the States unto him, than was agreed on +between us and their commissioners--which kind of contemptible manner of +proceeding giveth the world just cause to think that there is not that +reverent respect carried towards us by our subjects as in duty +appertaineth; especially seeing so notorious a contempt committed by one +whom we have raised up and yielded in the eye of the world, even from the +beginning of our reign, as great portion of our favour as ever subject +enjoyed at any prince's hands; we therefore, holding nothing dearer than +our honour, and considering that no one thing could more touch our +reputation than to induce so open and public a faction of a prince, and +work a greater reproach than contempt at a subject's hand, without +reparation of our honour, have found it necessary to send you unto him, +as well to charge him with the said contempt, as also to execute such +other things as we think meet to be done, for the justifying of ourselves +to the world, as the repairing of the indignity cast upon us by his +undutiful manner of proceeding towards us. . . . And for that we find +ourselves also not well dealt withal by the States, in that they have +pressed the said Earl, without our assent or privity, to accept of a more +absolute government than was agreed on between us and their +commissioners, we have also thought meet that you shall charge them +therewith, according to the directions hereafter ensuing. And to the end +there may be no delay used in the execution of that which we think meet +to be presently done, you shall charge the said States, even as they +tender the continuance of our good-will towards them, to proceed to the +speedy execution of our request." + +After this trumpet-like preamble it may be supposed that the blast which +followed would be piercing and shrill. The instructions, in truth, +consisted in wild, scornful flourishes upon one theme. The word contempt +had occurred five times in the brief preamble. It was repeated in almost +every line of the instructions. + +"You shall let the Earl" (our cousin no longer) "understand," said the +Queen, "how highly and justly we are offended with his acceptation of the +government, which we do repute to be a very great and strange contempt, +least looked for at our hands, being, as he is, a creature of our own." +His omission to acquaint her by letter with the causes moving him "so +contemptuously to break" her commandment, his delay in sending Davison +"to answer the said contempt," had much "aggravated the fault," although +the Queen protested herself unable to imagine any "excuse for so manifest +a contempt." The States were to be informed that she "held it strange" +that "this creature of her own" should have been pressed by them to +"commit so notorious a contempt" against her, both on account of this +very exhibition of contempt on Leicester's part, and because they thereby +"shewed themselves to have a very slender and weak conceit of her +judgment, by pressing a minister of hers to accept that which she had +refused, as: though her long experience in government had not taught her +to discover what was fit to do in matters of state." As the result of +such a proceeding would be to disgrace her in the eyes of mankind, by +inducing an opinion that her published solemn declaration on this great +subject had been intended to abuse the world, he was directed--in order +to remove the hard conceit justly to be taken by the world, "in +consideration of the said contempt,"--to make a public and open +resignation of the government in the place where he had accepted the +same. + +Thus it had been made obvious to the unlucky "creature of her own," that +the Queen did not easily digest "contempt." Nevertheless these +instructions to Heneage were gentle, compared with the fierce billet +which she addressed directly to the Earl: It was brief, too, as the posy +of a ring; and thus it ran: "To my Lord of Leicester, from the Queen, by +Sir Thomas Heneage. How contemptuously we conceive ourself to have been +used by you, you shall by this bearer understand, whom we have expressly +sent unto you to charge you withal. We could never have imagined, had we +not seen it fall out in experience, that a man raised up by ourself, and +extraordinarily favoured by us above any other subject of this land, +would have, in so contemptible a sort, broken our commandment, in a cause +that so greatly toucheth us in honour; whereof, although you have showed +yourself to make but little account, in most undutiful a sort, you may +not therefore think that we have so little care of the reparation thereof +as we mind to pass so great a wrong in silence unredressed. And therefore +our express pleasure and commandment is, that--all delays and excuses +laid apart--you do presently, upon the duty of your allegiance, obey and +fulfil whatsoever the bearer hereof shall direct you to do in our name. +Whereof fail not, as you will answer the contrary at your uttermost +peril." + +Here was no billing and cooing, certainly, but a terse, biting +phraseology, about which there could be no misconception. + +By the same messenger the Queen also sent a formal letter to the +States-General; the epistle--'mutatis mutandis'--being also addressed to +the state-council. + +In this document her Majesty expressed her great surprise that Leicester +should have accepted their offer of the absolute government, "both for +police and war," when she had so expressly rejected it herself. "To tell +the truth," she observed, "you seem to have treated us with very little +respect, and put a too manifest insult upon us, in presenting anew to one +of, our subjects the same proposition which we had already declined, +without at least waiting for our answer whether we should like it or no; +as if we had not sense enough to be able to decide upon what we ought to +accept or refuse." She proceeded to express her dissatisfaction with the +course pursued, because so repugnant to her published declaration, in +which she had stated to the world her intention of aiding the Provinces, +without meddling in the least with the sovereignty of the country. "The +contrary would now be believed," she said, "at least by those who take +the liberty of censuring, according to their pleasure, the actions of +princes." Thus her honour was at stake. She signified her will, +therefore, that, in order to convince the world of her sincerity, the +authority conferred should be revoked, and that "the Earl," whom she had +decided to recall very soon, should, during his brief residence there, +only exercise the power agreed upon by the original contract. She warmly +reiterated her intention, however, of observing inviolably the promise of +assistance which she had given to the States. "And if," she said, "any +malicious or turbulent spirits should endeavour, perchance, to persuade +the people that this our refusal proceeds from lack of affection or +honest disposition to assist you--instead of being founded only on +respect for our honour, which is dearer to us than life--we beg you, by +every possible means, to shut their mouths, and prevent their pernicious +designs." + +Thus, heavily laden with the royal wrath, Heneage was on the point of +leaving London for the Netherlands, on the very day upon which Davison +arrived, charged with deprecatory missives from that country. After his +long detention he had a short passage, crossing from the Brill to Margate +in a single night. Coming immediately to London, he sent to Walsingham to +inquire which way the wind was blowing at court, but received a somewhat +discouraging reply. "Your long detention by his Lordship," said the +Secretary, "has wounded the whole cause;" adding, that he thought her +Majesty would not speak with him. On the other hand, it seemed +indispensable for him to go to the court, because if the Queen should +hear of his arrival before he had presented himself, she was likely to be +more angry than ever. + +So, the same afternoon, Davison waited upon Walsingham, and found him in +a state of despondency. "She takes his Lordship's acceptance of the +government most haynously," said Sir Francis, "and has resolved to send +Sir Thomas Heneage at once, with orders for him to resign the office. She +has been threatening you and Sir Philip Sidney, whom she considers the +chief actors and persuaders in the matter, according to information +received from some persons about my Lord of Leicester." + +Davison protested himself amazed at the Secretary's discourse, and at +once took great pains to show the reasons by which all parties had been +influenced in the matter of the government. He declared roundly that if +the Queen should carry out her present intentions, the Earl would be most +unworthily disgraced, the cause utterly overthrown, the Queen's honour +perpetually stained, and that her kingdom would incur great disaster. + +Directly after this brief conversation, Walsingham went up stairs to the +Queen, while Davison proceeded to the apartments of Sir Christopher +Hatton. Thence he was soon summoned to the royal presence, and found that +he had not been misinformed as to the temper of her Majesty. The Queen +was indeed in a passion, and began swearing at Davison so soon as he got +into the chamber; abusing Leicester for having accepted the offer of the +States, against her many times repeated commandment, and the ambassador +for not having opposed his course. The thing had been done, she said, in +contempt of her, as if her consent had been of no consequence, or as if +the matter in no way concerned her. + +So soon as she paused to take breath, the envoy modestly, but firmly, +appealed to her reason, that she would at any rate lend him a patient and +favourable ear, in which case he doubted not that she would form a more +favourable opinion of the case than she had hitherto done: He then +entered into a long discourse upon the state of the Netherlands before +the arrival of Leicester, the inclination in many quarters for a peace, +the "despair that any sound and good fruit would grow of her Majesty's +cold beginning," the general unpopularity of the States' government, the +"corruption, partiality, and confusion," which were visible everywhere, +the perilous condition of the whole cause, and the absolute necessity of +some immediate reform. + +"It was necessary," said Davison, "that some one person of wisdom and +authority should take the helm. Among the Netherlanders none was +qualified for such a charge. Lord Maurice is a child, poor, and of but +little respect among them. Elector Truchsess, Count Hohenlo, Meurs, and +the rest, strangers and incapable of the burden. These considerations +influenced the States to the step which had been taken; without which all +the rest of her benevolence was to little purpose." Although the contract +between the commissioners and the Queen had not literally provided for +such an arrangement, yet it had always been contemplated by the States, +who had left themselves without a head until the arrival of the Earl. + +"Under one pretext or another," continued the envoy, "my Lord of +Leicester had long delayed to satisfy them,"--(and in so stating he went +somewhat further in defence of his absent friend than the facts would +warrant), "for he neither flatly refused it, nor was willing to accept, +until your Majesty's pleasure should be known." Certainly the records +show no reservation of his acceptance until the Queen had been consulted; +but the defence by Davison of the offending Earl was so much the more +courageous. + +"At length, wearied by their importunity, moved with their reasons, and +compelled by necessity, he thought it better to take the course he did," +proceeded the diplomatist, "for otherwise he must have been an +eye-witness of the dismemberment of the whole country, which could not be +kept together but by a reposed hope in her Majesty's found favour, which +had been utterly despaired of by his refusal. He thought it better by +accepting to increase the honour, profit; and surety, of her Majesty, and +the good of the cause, than, by refusing, to utterly hazard the one, and +overthrow the other." + +To all this and more, well and warmly urged by Davison; the Queen +listened by fits and starts, often interrupting his discourse by violent +abuse of Leicester, accusing him of contempt for her, charging him with +thinking more of his own particular greatness than of her honour and +service, and then "digressing into old griefs," said the envoy, "too long +and tedious to write." She vehemently denounced Davison also for +dereliction of duty in not opposing the measure; but he manfully declared +that he never deemed so meanly of her Majesty or of his Lordship as to +suppose that she would send him, or that he would go to the Provinces, +merely, "to take command of the relics of Mr. Norris's worn and decayed +troops." Such a change, protested Davison, was utterly unworthy a person +of the Earl's quality, and utterly unsuited to the necessity of the time +and state. + +But Davison went farther in defence of Leicester. He had been present at +many of the conferences with the Netherland envoys during the preceding +summer in England, and he now told the Queen stoutly to her face that she +herself, or at any rate one of her chief counsellors, in her hearing and +his, had expressed her royal determination not to prevent the acceptance +of whatever authority the states might choose to confer, by any one whom +she might choose to send. She had declined to accept it in person, but +she had been willing that it should be wielded by her deputy; and this +remembrance of his had been confirmed by that of one of the commissioners +since their return. She had never--Davison maintained--sent him one +single line having any bearing on the subject. Under such circumstances, +"I might have been accused of madness,", said he, "to have dissuaded an +action in my poor opinion so necessary and expedient for your Majesty's +honour, surety, and greatness." If it were to do over again, he avowed, +and "were his opinion demanded, he could give no other advice than that +which he had given, having received no contrary, commandment from her +Highness." + +And so ended the first evening's long and vehement debate, and Davison +departed, "leaving her," as he said, "much qualified, though in many +points unsatisfied." She had however, absolutely refused to receive a +letter from Leicester, with which he had been charged, but which, in her +opinion, had better have been written two months before. + +The next day, it seemed, after all, that Heneage was to be despatched, +"in great heat," upon his mission. Davison accordingly requested an +immediate audience. So soon as admitted to the presence he burst into +tears, and implored the Queen to pause before she should inflict the +contemplated disgrace on one whom she had hitherto so highly esteemed, +and, by so doing, dishonour herself and imperil both countries. But the +Queen was more furious than ever that morning, returning at every pause +in the envoy's discourse to harp upon the one string--"How dared he come +to such a decision without at least imparting it to me?"--and so on, as +so many times before. And again Davison, with all the eloquence and with +every soothing art he had at command; essayed to pour oil upon the waves. +Nor was he entirely unsuccessful; for presently the Queen became so calm +again that he ventured once more to present the rejected letter of the +Earl. She broke the seal, and at sight of the well-known handwriting she +became still more gentle; and so soon as she had read the first of her +favourite's honied phrases she thrust the precious document into her +pocket, in order to read it afterwards, as Davison observed, at her +leisure. + +The opening thus successfully made, and the envoy having thus, "by many +insinuations," prepared her to lend him a "more patient and willing ear +than she had vouchsafed before," he again entered into a skilful and +impassioned argument to show the entire wisdom of the course pursued by +the Earl. + +It is unnecessary to repeat the conversation. Since to say that no man +could have more eloquently and faithfully supported an absent friend +under difficulties than Davison now defended the Earl. The line of +argument is already familiar to the reader, and, in truth, the Queen had +nothing to reply, save to insist upon the governor's delinquency in +maintaining so long and inexplicable a silence. And--at this thought, in +spite of the envoy's eloquence, she went off again in a paroxysm of +anger, abusing the Earl, and deeply censuring Davison for his "peremptory +and partial dealing." + +"I had conceived a better opinion of you," she said, "and I had intended +more good to you than I now find you worthy of." + +"I humbly thank your Highness," replied the ambassador, "but I take +yourself to witness that I have never affected or sought any such grace +at your hands. And if your Majesty persists in the dangerous course on +which you are now entering, I only pray your leave, in recompense for all +my travails, to retire myself home, where I may spend the rest of my life +in praying for you, whom Salvation itself is not able to save, if these +purposes are continued. Henceforth, Madam, he is to be deemed happiest +who is least interested in the public service." + +And so ended the second day's debate. The next day the Lord-Treasurer, +who, according to Davison, employed himself diligently--as did also +Walsingham and Hatton--in dissuading the Queen from the violent measures +which she had resolved upon, effected so much of a change as to procure +the insertion of those qualifying clauses in Heneage's instructions which +had been previously disallowed. The open and public disgrace of the Earl, +which was to have been peremptorily demanded, was now to be deferred, if +such a measure seemed detrimental to the public service. Her Majesty, +however, protested herself as deeply offended as ever, although she had +consented to address a brief, somewhat mysterious, but benignant letter +of compliment to the States. + +Soon after this Davison retired for a few days from the court, having +previously written to the Earl that "the heat of her Majesty's offence to +his Lordship was abating every day somewhat, and that she was disposed +both to hear and to speak more temperately of him." + +He implored him accordingly to a "more diligent entertaining of her by +wise letters and messages, wherein his slackness hitherto appeared to +have bred a great part of this unkindness." He observed also that the +"traffic of peace was still going on underhand; but whether to use it as +a second string to our bow, if the first should fail, or of any settled +inclination thereunto, he could not affirm." + +Meantime Sir Thomas Heneage was despatched on his mission to the Staten, +despite all the arguments and expostulations of Walsingham, Burghley, +Hatton, and Davison. All the Queen's counsellors were unequivocally in +favour of sustaining Leicester; and Heneage was not a little embarrassed +as to the proper method of conducting the affair. Everything, in truth, +was in a most confused condition. He hardly understood to what power he +was accredited. "Heneage writes even now unto me," said Walsingham to +Davison, "that he cannot yet receive any information who be the States, +which he thinketh will be a great maimer unto him in his negotiation. I +have told him that it is an assembly much like that of our burgesses that +represent the State, and that my Lord of Leicester may cause some of them +to meet together, unto whom he may deliver his letters and messages." +Thus the new envoy was to request the culprit to summon the very assembly +by which his downfall and disgrace were to be solemnized, as formally as +had been so recently his elevation to the height of power. The prospect +was not an agreeable one, and the less so because of his general want of +familiarity with the constitutional forms of the country he was about to +visit. Davison accordingly, at the request of Sir Francis, furnished +Heneage with much valuable information and advice upon the subject. + +Thus provided with information, forewarned of danger, furnished with a +double set of letters from the Queen to the States--the first expressed +in language of extreme exasperation, the others couched in almost +affectionate terms--and laden with messages brimfull of wrathful +denunciation from her Majesty to one who was notoriously her Majesty's +dearly-beloved, Sir Thomas Heneage set forth on his mission. These were +perilous times for the Davisons and the Heneages, when even Leicesters +and Burghleys were scarcely secure. + +Meantime the fair weather at court could not be depended upon from one +day to another, and the clouds were perpetually returning after the rain. + +"Since my second and third day's audience," said Davison, "the storms I +met with at my arrival have overblown and abated daily. On Saturday again +she fell into some new heat, which lasted not long. This day I was myself +at the court, and found her in reasonable good terms, though she will not +yet seem satisfied to me either with the matter or manner of your +proceeding, notwithstanding all the labour I have taken in that behalf. +Yet I find not her Majesty altogether so sharp as some men look, though +her favour has outwardly cooled in respect both of this action and of our +plain proceeding with her here in defence thereof." + +The poor Countess--whose imaginary exodus, with the long procession of +coaches and side-saddles, had excited so much ire--found herself in a +most distressing position. "I have not seen my Lady these ten or twelve +days," said Davison. "To-morrow I hope to do my duty towards her. I found +her greatly troubled with tempestuous news she received from court, but +somewhat comforted when she understood how I had proceeded with her +Majesty . . . . But these passions overblown, I hope her Majesty will +have a gracious regard both towards myself and the cause." + +But the passions seemed not likely to blow over so soon as was desirable. +Leicester's brother the Earl of Warwick took a most gloomy view of the +whole transaction, and hoarser than the raven's was his boding tone. + +"Well, our mistress's extreme rage doth increase rather than diminish," +he wrote, "and she giveth out great threatening words against you. +Therefore make the best assurance you can for yourself, and trust not her +oath, for that her malice is great and unquenchable in the wisest of +their opinions here, and as for other friendships, as far as I can learn, +it is as doubtful as the other. Wherefore, my good brother, repose your +whole trust in God, and He will defend you in despite of all your +enemies. And let this be a great comfort to you, and so it is likewise to +myself and all your assured friends, and that is, that you were never so +honoured and loved in your life amongst all good people as you are at +this day, only for dealing so nobly and wisely in this action as you have +done; so that, whatsoever cometh of it, you have done your part. I praise +God from my heart for it. Once again, have great care of yourself, I mean +for your safety, and if she will needs revoke you, to the overthrowing of +the cause, if I were as you, if I could not be assured there, I would go +to the farthest part of Christendom rather than ever come into England +again. Take heed whom you trust, for that you have some false boys about +you." + +And the false boys were busy enough, and seemed likely to triumph in the +result of their schemes. For a glance into the secret correspondence of +Mary of Scotland has already revealed the Earl to us constantly +surrounded by men in masks. Many of those nearest his person, and of +highest credit out of England, were his deadly foes, sworn to compass his +dishonour, his confusion, and eventually his death, and in correspondence +with his most powerful adversaries at home and abroad. Certainly his path +was slippery and perilous along those icy summits of power, and he had +need to look well to his footsteps. + +Before Heneage had arrived in the Netherlands, Sir Thomas Shirley, +despatched by Leicester to England with a commission to procure supplies +for the famishing soldiers, and, if possible, to mitigate the Queen's +wrath, had, been admitted more than once to her Majesty's presence. He +had fought the Earl's battle as manfully as Davison had done, and, like +that envoy, had received nothing in exchange for his plausible arguments +but bitter words and big oaths. Eight days after his arrival he was +introduced by Hatton into the privy chamber, and at the moment of his +entrance was received with a volley of execrations. + +"I did expressly and peremptorily forbid his acceptance of the absolute +government, in the hearing of divers of my council," said the Queen. + +Shirley.--"The necessity of the case was imminent, your Highness. It was +his Lordship's intent to do all for your Majesty's service. Those +countries did expect him as a governor at his first landing, and the +States durst do no other than satisfy the people also with that opinion. +The people's mislike of their present government is such and so great as +that the name of States is grown odious amongst them. Therefore the +States, doubting the furious rage of the people, conferred the authority +upon his Lordship with incessant suit to him to receive it. +Notwithstanding this, however, he did deny it until he saw plainly both +confusion and ruin of that country if he should refuse. On the other +hand, when he had seen into their estates, his lordship found great +profit and commodity like to come unto your Majesty by your acceptance of +it. Your Highness may now have garrisons of English in as many towns as +pleaseth you, without any more charge than you are now at. Nor can any +peace be made with Spain at any time hereafter, but through you: and by +you. Your Majesty should remember, likewise, that if a man of another +nation had been chosen governor it might have wrought great danger. +Moreover it would have been an indignity that your lieutenant-general +should of necessity be under him that so should have been elected. +Finally, this is a stop to any other that may affect the place of +government there." + +Queen (who has manifested many signs of impatience during this +discourse).--"Your speech is all in vain. His Lordship's proceeding is +sufficient to make me infamous to all princes, having protested the +contrary, as I have done, in a book which is translated into divers and +sundry languages. His Lordship, being my servant, a creature of my own, +ought not, in duty towards me, have entered into this course without my +knowledge and good allowance." + +Shirley.--"But the world hath conceived a high judgment of your Majesty's +great wisdom and providence; shown by your assailing the King of Spain at +one time both in the Low Countries and also by Sir Francis Drake. I do +assure myself that the same judgment which did first cause you to take +this in hand must continue a certain knowledge in your Majesty that one +of these actions must needs stand much better by the other. If Sir +Frances do prosper, then all is well. And though he should not prosper, +yet this hold that his Lordship hath taken for you on the Low Countries +must always assure an honourable peace at your Highness's pleasure. I +beseech your Majesty to remember that to the King of Spain the government +of his Lordship is no greater matter than if he were but your +lieutenant-general there; but the voyage of Sir Francis is of much +greater offence than all." + +Queen (interrupting).--"I can very well answer for Sir Francis. Moreover, +if need be, the gentleman careth not if I should disavow him." + +Shirley.--"Even so standeth my Lord, if your disavowing of him may also +stand with your Highness's favour towards him. Nevertheless; should this +bruit of your mislike of his Lordship's authority there come unto the +ears of those people; being a nation both sudden and suspicious, and +having been heretofore used to stratagem--I fear it may work some strange +notion in them, considering that, at this time, there is an increase of +taxation raised upon them, the bestowing whereof perchance they know not +of. His Lordship's giving; up of the government may leave them altogether +without government, and in worse case than they were ever in before. For +now the authority of the States is dissolved, and his Lordship's +government is the only thing that holdeth them together. I do beseech +your Highness, then, to consider well of it, and if there be any private +cause for which you take grief against his Lordship, nevertheless, to +have regard unto the public cause, and to have a care of your own safety, +which in many wise men's opinions, standeth much upon the good +maintenance and upholding of this matter." + +Queen.--"I believe nothing of, what you say concerning the dissolving of +the authority of the States. I know well enough that the States do remain +states still. I mean not to do harm to the cause, but only to reform that +which his Lordship hath done beyond his warrant from me." + +And with this the Queen swept suddenly from the apartment. Sir Thomas, at +different stages of the conversation, had in vain besought her to accept +a letter from the Earl which had been entrusted to his care. She +obstinately refused to touch it. Shirley had even had recourse to +stratagem: affecting ignorance on many points concerning which the Queen +desired information, and suggesting that doubtless she would find those +matters fully explained in his Lordship's letter. The artifice was in +vain, and the discussion was, on the whole, unsatisfactory. Yet there is +no doubt that the Queen had had the worst of the argument, and she was +far too sagacious a politician not to feel the weight of that which had +been urged so often in defence of the course pursued. But it was with her +partly a matter of temper and offended pride, perhaps even of wounded +affection. + +On the following morning Shirley saw the Queen walking in the garden of +the palace, and made bold to accost her. Thinking, as he said, "to test +her affection to Lord Leicester by another means," the artful Sir Thomas +stepped up to her, and observed that his Lordship was seriously ill. "It +is feared," he said, "that the Earl is again attacked by the disease of +which Dr. Goodrowse did once cure him. Wherefore his Lordship is now a +humble suitor to your Highness that it would please you to spare +Goodrowse, and give him leave to go thither for some time." + +The Queen was instantly touched. + +"Certainly--with all my heart, with all my heart, he shall have him," she +replied, "and sorry I am that his Lordship hath that need of him." + +"And indeed," returned sly Sir Thomas, "your Highness is a very gracious +prince, who are pleased not to suffer his Lordship to perish in health, +though otherwise you remain deeply offended with him." + +"You know my mind," returned Elizabeth, now all the queen again, and +perhaps suspecting the trick; "I may not endure that any man should alter +my commission and the authority that I gave him, upon his own fancies and +without me." + +With this she instantly summoned one of her gentlemen, in order to break +off the interview, fearing that Shirley was about to enter again upon a +discussion of the whole subject, and again to attempt the delivery of the +Earl's letter. + +In all this there was much of superannuated coquetry, no doubt, and much +of Tudor despotism, but there was also a strong infusion of artifice. For +it will soon be necessary to direct attention to certain secret +transactions of an important nature in which the Queen was engaged, and +which were even hidden from the all-seeing eye of Walsingham--although +shrewdly suspected both by that statesman and by Leicester--but which +were most influential in modifying her policy at that moment towards the +Netherlands. + +There could be no doubt, however, of the stanch and strenuous manner in +which the delinquent Earl was supported by his confidential messengers +and by some of his fellow-councillors. His true friends were urgent that +the great cause in which he was engaged should be forwarded sincerely and +without delay. Shirley had been sent for money; but to draw money from +Elizabeth was like coining her life-blood, drachma by drachma. + +"Your Lordship is like to have but a poor supply of money at this time," +said Sir Thomas. "To be plain with you, I fear she groweth weary of the +charge, and will hardly be brought to deal thoroughly in the action." + +He was also more explicit than he might have been--had he been better +informed as to the disposition of the chief personages of the court, +concerning whose temper the absent Earl was naturally anxious. Hatton was +most in favour at the moment, and it was through Hatton that the +communications upon Netherland matters passed; "for," said Shirley, "she +will hardly endure Mr. Secretary (Walsingham) to speak unto her therein." + +"And truly, my Lord," he continued, "as Mr. Secretary is a noble, good, +and true friend unto you, so doth Mr. Vice-Chamberlain show himself an +honourable, true, and faithful gentleman, and doth carefully and most +like a good friend for your Lordship." + +And thus very succinctly and graphically had the envoy painted the +situation to his principal. "Your Lordship now sees things just as they +stand," he moralized. "Your Lordship is exceeding wise. You know the +Queen and her nature best of any man. You know all men here. Your +Lordship can judge the sequel by this that you see: only this I must tell +your Lordship, I perceive that fears and doubts from thence are like to +work better effects here than comforts and assurance. I think it my part +to send your Lordship this as it is, rather than to be silent." + +And with these rather ominous insinuations the envoy concluded for the +time his narrative. + + ETEXT EDITOR'S BOOKMARKS: + + Intolerable tendency to puns + New Years Day in England, 11th January by the New Style + Peace and quietness is brought into a most dangerous estate + + + + +HISTORY OF THE UNITED NETHERLANDS + +From the Death of William the Silent to the Twelve Year's Truce--1609 + +By John Lothrop Motley + +History United Netherlands, Volume 45, 1586 + + + + +CHAPTER VII., Part 2. + + Leicester's Letters to his Friends--Paltry Conduct of the Earl to + Davison--He excuses himself at Davison's Expense--His Letter to + Burghley--Effect of the Queen's Letters to the States--Suspicion and + Discontent in Holland--States excuse their Conduct to the Queen-- + Leicester discredited in Holland--Evil Consequences to Holland and + England--Magic: Effect of a Letter from Leicester--The Queen + appeased--Her Letters to the States and the Earl--She permits the + granted Authority----Unhappy Results of the Queen's Course--Her + variable Moods--She attempts to deceive Walsingham--Her Injustice to + Heneage--His Perplexity and Distress--Humiliating Position of + Leicester--His melancholy Letters to the Queen--He receives a little + Consolation--And writes more cheerfully--The Queen is more + benignant--The States less contented than the Earl--His Quarrels + with them begin. + +While these storms were blowing and "overblowing" in England, Leicester +remained greatly embarrassed and anxious in Holland. He had sown the wind +more extensively than he had dreamed of when accepting the government, +and he was now awaiting, with much trepidation, the usual harvest: And we +have seen that it was rapidly ripening. Meantime, the good which he had +really effected in the Provinces by the course he had taken was likely to +be neutralized by the sinister rumours as to his impending disgrace, +while the enemy was proportionally encouraged. "I understand credibly," +he said, "that the Prince of Parma feels himself in great jollity that +her Majesty doth rather mislike than allow of our doings here, which; if +it be true, let her be sure her own sweet self shall first smart." + +Moreover; the English troops were, as we have seen, mere shoeless, +shivering, starving vagabonds. The Earl had generously advanced very +large sums of money from his own pocket to relieve their necessity. The +States, on the other hand, had voluntarily increased the monthly +contribution of 200,000 florins, to which their contract with Elizabeth +obliged them, and were more disposed than ever they had been since the +death of Orange to proceed vigorously and harmoniously against the common +enemy of Christendom. Under such circumstances it may well be imagined +that there was cause on Leicester's part for deep mortification at the +tragical turn which the Queen's temper seemed to be taking. + +"I know not," he said, "how her Majesty doth mean to dispose of me. It +hath grieved me more than I can express that for faithful and good +service she should so deeply conceive against me. God knows with what +mind I have served her Highness, and perhaps some others might have +failed. Yet she is neither tied one jot by covenant or promise by me in +any way, nor at one groat the more charges, but myself two or three +thousand pounds sterling more than now is like to be well spent. I will +desire no partial speech in my favour. If my doings be ill for her +Majesty and the realm, let me feel the smart of it. The cause is now well +forward; let not her majesty suffer it to quail. If you will have it +proceed to good effect, send away Sir William Pelham with all the haste +you can. I mean not to complain, but with so weighty a cause as this is, +few men have been so weakly assisted. Her Majesty hath far better choice +for my place, and with any that may succeed me let Sir William Pelham be +first that may come. I speak from my soul for her Majesty's service. I am +for myself upon an hour's warning to obey her good pleasure." + +Thus far the Earl had maintained his dignity. He had yielded to the +solicitations of the States, and had thereby exceeded his commission, and +gratified his ambition, but he had in no wise forfeited his self-respect. +But--so soon as the first unquestionable intelligence of the passion to +which the Queen had given way at his misdoings reached him--he began to +whimper, The straightforward tone which Davison had adopted in his +interviews with Elizabeth, and the firmness with which he had defended +the cause of his absent friend, at a moment when he had plunged himself +into disgrace, was worthy of applause. He deserved at least a word of +honest thanks. + +Ignoble however was the demeanor of the Earl towards the man--for whom he +had but recently been unable to invent eulogies sufficiently warm--so +soon as he conceived the possibility of sacrificing his friend as the +scape-goat for his own fault. An honest schoolboy would have scorned to +leave thus in the lurch a comrade who had been fighting his battles so +honestly. + +"How earnest I was," he wrote to the lords of the council, 9th March, +1586, "not only to acquaint her Majesty, but immediately upon the first +motion made by the States, to send Mr. Davison over to her with letters, +I doubt not but he will truly affirm for me; yea, and how far against my +will it was, notwithstanding any reasons delivered me, that he and others +persisted in, to have me accept first of this place. . . . The +extremity of the case, and my being persuaded that Mr. Davison might have +better satisfied her Majesty, than I perceive he can, caused, me-neither +arrogantly nor contemptuously, but even merely and faithfully--to do her +Majesty the best service." + +He acknowledged, certainly, that Davison had been influenced by honest +motives, although his importunities had been the real cause of the Earl's +neglect of his own obligations. But he protested that he had himself, +only erred through an excessive pliancy to the will of others. "My +yielding was my own fault," he admitted, "whatsoever his persuasions; but +far from a contemptuous heart, or else God pluck out both heart and +bowels with utter shame." + +So soon as Sir Thomas Heneage had presented himself, and revealed the +full extent of the Queen's wrath, the Earl's disposition to cast the +whole crime on the shoulders of Davison became quite undisguised. + +"I thank you for your letters," wrote Leicester to Walsingham, "though +you can send me no comfort. Her Majesty doth deal hardly to believe so +ill of me. It is true I faulted, but she doth not consider what +commodities she hath withal, and herself no way engaged for it, as Mr. +Davison might have better declared it, if it had pleased him. And I must +thank him only for my blame, and so he will confess to you, for, I +protest before God, no necessity here could have made me leave her +Majesty unacquainted with the cause before I would have accepted of it, +but only his so earnest pressing me with his faithfull assured promise to +discharge me, however her Majesty should take it. For you all see there +she had no other cause to be offended but this, and, by the Lord, he was +the only cause; albeit it is no sufficient allegation, being as I am . . +. . . He had, I think, saved all to have told her, as he promised me. But +now it is laid upon me, God send the cause to take no harm, my grief must +be the less. + +"How far Mr. Heneage's commission shall deface me I know not. He is wary +to observe his commission, and I consent withal. I know the time will be +her Majesty will be sorry for it. In the meantime I am too, too weary of +the high dignity. I would that any that could serve her Majesty were +placed in it, and I to sit down with all my losses." + +In more manful strain he then alluded to the sufferings of his army. +"Whatsoever become of me," he said, "give me leave to speak for the poor +soldiers. If they be not better maintained, being in this strange +country, there will be neither good service done, nor be without great +dishonour to her Majesty. . . . Well, you see the wants, and it is one +cause that will glad me to be rid of this heavy high calling, and wish me +at my poor cottage again, if any I shall find. But let her Majesty pay +them well, and appoint such a man as Sir William Pelham to govern them, +and she never wan more honour than these men here will do, I am +persuaded." + +That the Earl was warmly urged by all most conversant with Netherland +politics to assume the government was a fact admitted by all. That he +manifested rather eagerness than reluctance on the subject, and that his +only hesitation arose from the proposed restraints upon the power, not +from scruples about accepting the power, are facts upon record. There is +nothing save his own assertion to show any backwardness on his part to +snatch the coveted prize; and that assertion was flatly denied by +Davison, and was indeed refuted by every circumstance in the case. It is +certain that he had concealed from Davison the previous prohibitions of +the Queen. He could anticipate much better than could Davison, therefore, +the probable indignation of the Queen. It is strange then that he should +have shut his eyes to it so wilfully, and stranger still that he should +have relied on the envoy's eloquence instead of his own to mitigate that +emotion. Had he placed his defence simply upon its true basis, the +necessity of the case, and the impossibility of carrying out the Queen's +intentions in any other way, it would be difficult to censure him; but +that he should seek to screen himself by laying the whole blame on a +subordinate, was enough to make any honest man who heard him hang his +head. "I meant not to do it, but Davison told me to do it, please your +Majesty, and if there was naughtiness in it, he said he would make it all +right with your Majesty." Such, reduced to its simplest expression, was +the defence of the magnificent Earl of Leicester. + +And as he had gone cringing and whining to his royal mistress, so it was +natural that he should be brutal and blustering to his friend. + +"By your means," said he, "I have fallen into her Majesty's deep +displeasure . . . . If you had delivered to her the truth of my +dealing, her Highness never could have conceived, as I perceive she doth +. . . . Nor doth her Majesty know how hardly I was drawn to accept this +place before I had acquainted her--as to which you promised you would not +only give her full satisfaction, but would, procure me great thanks. . . . +You did chiefly persuade me to take this charge upon me . . . . You +can remember how many treaties you and others had with the States, before +I agreed; for all yours and their persuasion to take it. . . . You +gave me assurance to satisfy her Majesty, but I see not that you have +done anything . . . . I did not hide from you the doubt I had of her +Majesty's ill taking it . . . . You chiefly brought me into it . . . . +and it could no way have been heavy to you, though you had told the +uttermost of your own doing, as you faithfully promised you would . . . . +I did very unwillingly come into the matter, doubting that to fall out +which is come to pass . . . . and it doth so fall out by your negligent +carelessness, whereof I many hundred times told you that you would both +mar the goodness of the matter, and breed me her Majesty's displeasure. +. . . Thus fare you well, and except your embassages have better +success, I shall have no cause to commend them." + +And so was the unfortunate Davison ground into finest dust between the +upper and lower millstones of royal wrath and loyal subserviency. + +Meantime the other special envoy had made his appearance in the +Netherlands; the other go-between between the incensed Queen and the +backsliding favourite. It has already been made sufficiently obvious, by +the sketch given of his instructions, that his mission was a delicate +one. In obedience to those instructions, Heneage accordingly made his +appearance before the council, and, in Leicester's presence, delivered to +them the severe and biting reprimand which Elizabeth had chosen to +inflict upon the States and upon the governor. The envoy performed his +ungracious task as daintily, as he could, and after preliminary +consultation with Leicester; but the proud Earl was deeply mortified. +"The fourteenth day of this month of March," said he, "Sir Thomas Heneage +delivered a very sharp letter from her Majesty to the council of estate, +besides his message--myself being, present, for so was her Majesty's +pleasure, as he said, and I do think he did but as he was commanded. How +great a grief it must be to an honest heart and a true, faithful servant, +before his own face, to a company of very wise and grave counsellors, who +had conceived a marvellous opinion before of my credit with her Majesty, +to be charged now with a manifest and wilful contempt! Matter enough to +have broken any man's heart, that looked rather for thanks, as God doth +know I did when I first heard of Mr. Heneage's arrival--I must say to +your Lordship, for discharge of my duty, I can be no fit man to serve +here--my disgrace is too great--protesting to you that since that day I +cannot find it in my heart to come into that place, where, by my own +sufferings torn, I was made to be thought so lewd a person." + +He then comforted himself--as he had a right to do--with the reflection +that this disgrace inflicted was more than he deserved, and that such +would be the opinion of those by whom he was surrounded. + +"Albeit one thing," he said, "did greatly comfort me, that they all best +knew the wrong was great I had, and that her Majesty was very wrongfully +informed of the state of my cause. I doubt not but they can and will +discharge me, howsoever they shall satisfy her Majesty. And as I would +rather wish for death than justly to deserve her displeasure; so, good my +Lord, this disgrace not coming for any ill service to her, pray procure +me a speedy resolution, that I may go hide me and pray for her. My heart +is broken, though thus far I can quiet myself, that I know I have done +her Majesty as faithful and good service in these countries as ever she +had done her since she was Queen of England . . . . Under correction, +my good Lord, I have had Halifax law--to be condemned first and inquired +upon after. I pray God that no man find this measure that I have done, +and deserved no worse." + +He defended himself--as Davison had already defended him--upon the +necessities of the case. + +"I, a poor gentleman," he said, "who have wholly depended upon herself +alone--and now, being commanded to a service of the greatest importance +that ever her Majesty employed any servant in, and finding the occasion +so serving me, and the necessity of time such as would not permit such +delays, flatly seeing that if that opportunity were lost, the like again +for her service and the good of the realm was never, to be looked for, +presuming upon the favour of my prince, as many servants have done, +exceeding somewhat thereupon, rather than breaking any part of my +commission, taking upon me a place whereby I found these whole countries +could be held at her best devotion, without binding her Majesty to any +such matter as she had forbidden to the States before finding, I say, +both the time and opportunity to serve, and no lack but to trust to her +gracious acceptation, I now feel that how good, how honourable, how +profitable soever it be, it is turned to a worse part than if I had +broken all her commissions and commandments, to the greatest harm, and +dishonour, and danger, that may be imagined against her person, state, +and dignity." + +He protested, not without a show of reason, that he was like to be worse +punished "for well-doing than any man that had committed a most heinous +or traitorous offence," and he maintained that if he had not accepted the +government, as he had done, "the whole State had been gone and wholly +lost." All this--as we have seen--had already been stoutly urged by +Davison, in the very face of the tempest, but with no result, except to +gain the enmity of both parties to the quarrel. The ungrateful Leicester +now expressed confidence that the second go-between would be more adroit +than the first had proved. "The causes why," said he, "Mr. Davison could +have told--no man better--but Mr. Heneage can now tell, who hath sought +to the uttermost the bottom of all things. I will stand to his report, +whether glory or vain desire of title caused me to step one foot forward +in the matter. My place was great enough and high enough before, with +much less trouble than by this, besides the great indignation of her +Majesty . . . . If I had overslipt the good occasion then in danger, I +had been worthy to be hanged, and to be taken for a most lewd servant to +her Majesty, and a dishonest wretch to my country." + +But diligently as Heneage had sought to the bottom of all things, he had +not gained the approbation of Sidney. Sir Philip thought that the new man +had only ill botched a piece of work that had been most awkwardly +contrived from the beginning. "Sir Thomas Heneage," said he, "hath with +as much honesty, in my opinion done as much hurt as any man this +twelve-month hath done with naughtiness. But I hope in God, when her +Majesty finds the truth of things, her graciousness will not utterly, +overthrow a cause so behooveful and costly unto her." + +He briefly warned the government that most disastrous effects were likely +to ensue, if the Earl should be publicly disgraced, and the recent action +of the States reversed. The penny-wise economy, too, of the Queen, was +rapidly proving a most ruinous extravagance. "I only cry for Flushing;" +said Sidney, "but, unless the monies be sent over, there will some +terrible accident follow, particularly to the cautionary towns, if her +Majesty mean to have them cautions." + +The effect produced by the first explosion of the Queen's wrath was +indeed one of universal suspicion and distrust. The greatest care had +been taken, however, that the affair should be delicately handled, for +Heneage, while, doing as much hurt by honesty as, others by naughtiness, +had modified his course as much as he dared in deference to the opinions +of the Earl himself, and that of his English counsellors. The great +culprit himself, assisted by his two lawyers, Clerk and Killigrew--had +himself drawn the bill of his own indictment. The letters of the Queen to +the States, to the council, and to the Earl himself, were, of necessity, +delivered, but the reprimand which Heneage had been instructed to +fulminate was made as harmless as possible. It was arranged that he +should make a speech before the council; but abstain from a protocol. The +oration was duly pronounced, and it was, of necessity, stinging. +Otherwise the disobedience to the Queen, would have been flagrant. But +the pain inflicted was to disappear with the first castigation. The +humiliation was to be public and solemn, but it was not to be placed on +perpetual record. + +"We thought best," said Leicester, Heneage, Clerk, and Killigrew--"In +according to her Majesty's secret instructions--to take that course which +might least endanger the weak estate of the Provinces--that is to say, to +utter so much in words as we hoped might satisfy her excellent Majesty's +expectation, and yet leave them nothing in writing to confirm that which +was secretly spread in many places to the hindrance of the good course of +settling these affairs. Which speech, after Sir Thomas Heneage had +devised, and we both perused and allowed, he, by our consent and advice, +pronounced to the council of state. This we did think needful--especially +because every one of the council that was present at the reading of her +Majesty's first letters, was of the full mind, that if her Majesty should +again show the least mislike of the present government, or should not by +her next letters confirm it, they, were all undone--for that every man +would cast with himself which way to make his peace." + +Thus adroitly had the "poor gentleman, who could not find it in his heart +to come again into the place, where--by his own sufferings torn--he was +made to appear so lewd a person"--provided that there should remain no +trace of that lewdness and of his sovereign's displeasure, upon the +record of the States. It was not long, too, before the Earl was enabled +to surmount his mortification; but the end was not yet. + +The universal suspicion, consequent on these proceedings, grew most +painful. It pointed to one invariable quarter. It was believed by all +that the Queen was privately treating for peace, and that the transaction +was kept a secret not only from the States but from her own most trusted +counsellors also. It would be difficult to exaggerate the pernicious +effects of this suspicion. Whether it was a well-grounded one or not, +will be shown in a subsequent chapter, but there is no doubt that the +vigour of the enterprise was thus sapped at a most critical moment. The +Provinces had never been more heartily banded together since the fatal +10th of July, 1584, than they were in the early spring of 1586. They were +rapidly organizing their own army, and, if the Queen had manifested more +sympathy with her own starving troops, the united Englishmen and +Hollanders would have been invincible even by Alexander Farnese. + +Moreover, they had sent out nine war-vessels to cruise off the Cape Verd +Islands for the homeward-bound Spanish treasure fleet from America, with +orders, if they missed it, to proceed to the West Indies; so that, said +Leicester, "the King of Spain will have enough to do between these men +and Drake." All parties had united in conferring a generous amount of +power upon the Earl, who was, in truth, stadholder-general, under grant +from the States--and both Leicester and the Provinces themselves were +eager and earnest for the war. In war alone lay the salvation of England +and Holland. Peace was an impossibility. It seemed to the most +experienced statesmen of both countries even an absurdity. It may well be +imagined, therefore, that the idea of an underhand negotiation by +Elizabeth would cause a frenzy in the Netherlands. In Leicester's +opinion, nothing short of a general massacre of the English would be the +probable consequence. "No doubt," said he, "the very way it is to put us +all to the sword here. For mine own part it would be happiest for me, +though I wish and trust to lose my life in better sort." + +Champagny, however, was giving out mysterious hints that the King of +Spain could have peace with England when he wished for it. Sir Thomas +Cecil, son of Lord Burghley, on whose countenance the States especially +relied, was returning on sick-leave from his government of the Brill, and +this sudden departure of so eminent a personage, joined with the public +disavowal of the recent transaction between Leicester and the Provinces, +was producing a general and most sickening apprehension as to the Queen's +good faith. The Earl did not fail to urge these matters most warmly on +the consideration of the English council, setting forth that the States +were stanch for the war, but that they would be beforehand with her if +she attempted by underhand means to compass a peace. "If these men once +smell any such matter," wrote Leicester to Burghley, "be you sure they +will soon come before you, to the utter overthrow of her Majesty and +state for ever." + +The Earl was suspecting the "false boys," by whom he was surrounded, +although it was impossible for him to perceive, as we have been enabled +to do, the wide-spread and intricate meshes by which he was enveloped. +"Your Papists in England," said he, "have sent over word to some in this +company, that all that they ever hoped for is come to pass; that my Lord +of Leicester shall be called away in greatest indignation with her +Majesty, and to confirm this of Champagny, I have myself seen a letter +that her Majesty is in hand with a secret peace. God forbid! for if it be +so, her Majesty, her realm, and we, are all undone." + +The feeling in the Provinces was still sincerely loyal towards England. +"These men," said Leicester, "yet honour and most dearly love her +Majesty, and hardly, I know, will be brought to believe ill of her any +way." Nevertheless these rumours, to the discredit of her good faith, +were doing infinite harm; while the Earl, although keeping his eyes and +ears wide open, was anxious not to compromise himself any further with +his sovereign, by appearing himself to suspect her of duplicity. "Good, +my Lord," he besought Burghley, "do not let her Majesty know of this +concerning Champagny as coming from me, for she will think it is done for +my own cause, which, by the Lord God, it is not, but even on the +necessity of the case for her own safety, and the realm, and us all. Good +my Lord, as you will do any good in the matter, let not her Majesty +understand any piece of it to come from me." + +The States-General, on the 25th March, N.S., addressed a respectful +letter to the Queen, in reply to her vehement chidings. They expressed +their deep regret that her Majesty should be so offended with the +election of the Earl of Leicester as absolute governor. + +They confessed that she had just cause of displeasure, but hoped that +when she should be informed of the whole matter she would rest better +satisfied with their proceedings. They stated that the authority was the +same which had been previously bestowed upon governors-general; observing +that by the word "absolute," which had been used in designation of that +authority, nothing more had been intended than to give to the Earl full +power to execute his commission, while the sovereignty of the country was +reserved to the people. This commission, they said, could not be without +danger revoked. And therefore they most humbly besought her Majesty to +approve what had been done, and to remember its conformity with her own +advice to them, that a multitude of heads, whereby confusion in the +government is bred, should be avoided. + +Leicester, upon the same occasion, addressed a letter to Burghley and +Walsingham, expressing himself as became a crushed and contrite man, +never more to raise his drooping head again, but warmly and manfully +urging upon the attention of the English government--for the honour and +interest of the Queen herself--"the miserable state of the poor +soldiers." The necessity of immediate remittances in order to keep them +from starving, was most imperious. For himself, he was smothering his +wretchedness until he should learn her Majesty's final decision, as to +what was to become of him. "Meantime," said he, "I carry my grief inward, +and will proceed till her Majesty's full pleasure come with as little +discouragement to the cause as I can. I pray God her Majesty may do that +may be best for herself. For my own part my heart is broken, but not by +the enemy." + +There is no doubt that the public disgrace thus inflicted upon the +broken-hearted governor, and the severe censure administered to the +States by the Queen were both ill-timed and undeserved. Whatever his +disingenuousness towards Davison, whatever his disobedience to Elizabeth, +however ambitious his own secret motives may, have been, there is no +doubt at all that thus far he had borne himself well in his great office. + +Richard Cavendish--than whom few had better opportunities of +judging--spoke in strong language on the subject. "It is a thing almost +incredible," said he, "that the care and diligence of any, one man living +could, in so small time; have so much repaired so disjointed and loose an +estate as my Lord found this country, in. But lest he should swell in +pride of that his good success, your Lordship knoweth that God hath so +tempered the cause with the construction thereof, as may well hold him in +good consideration of human things." He alluded with bitterness--as did +all men in the Netherlands who were not open or disguised Papists--to the +fatal rumours concerning the peace-negotiation in connection with the +recall of Leicester. "There be here advertisements of most fearful +instance," he said, "namely, that Champagny doth not spare most liberally +to bruit abroad that he hath in his hands the conditions of peace offered +by her Majesty unto the King his master, and that it is in his power to +conclude at pleasure--which fearful and mischievous plot, if in time it +be not met withal by some notable encounter, it cannot but prove the root +of great ruin." + +The "false boys" about Leicester were indefatigable in spreading these +rumours, and in taking advantage--with the assistance of the Papists in +the obedient Provinces and in England--of the disgraced condition in +which the Queen had placed the favourite. Most galling to the haughty +Earl--most damaging to the cause of England, Holland, and, liberty--were +the tales to his discredit, which circulated on the Bourse at Antwerp, +Middelburg, Amsterdam, and in all the other commercial centres. The most +influential bankers and merchants, were assured--by a thousand +chattering--but as it were invisible--tongues, that the Queen had for a +long time disliked Leicester; that he was a man of no account among the +statesmen of England; that he was a beggar and a bankrupt; that, if he +had waited two months longer, he would have made his appearance in the +Provinces with one man and one boy for his followers; that the Queen had +sent him thither to be rid of him; that she never intended him to have +more authority than Sir John Norris had; that she could not abide the +bestowing the title of Excellency upon him, and that she had not +disguised her fury at his elevation to the post of governor-general. + +All who attempted a refutation of these statements were asked, with a +sneer, whether her Majesty had ever written a line to him, or in +commendation of him, since his arrival. Minute inquiries were made by the +Dutch merchants of their commercial correspondents, both in their own +country and in England, as to Leicester's real condition and character. +at home. What was his rank, they asked, what his ability, what: his +influence at court? Why, if he were really of so high quality as had been +reported, was he thus neglected, and at last disgraced? Had he any landed +property in England? Had he really ever held any other office but that of +master of the horse? "And then," asked one particular busy body, who made +himself very unpleasant on the Amsterdam Exchange, "why has her Majesty +forbidden all noblemen and gentlemen from coming hither, as was the case +at the beginning? Is it because she is hearkening to a peace? And if it +be so, quoth he, we are well handled; for if her Majesty hath sent a +disgraced man to amuse us, while she is secretly working a peace for +herself, when we--on the contrary--had broken off all our negotiations, +upon confidence of her Majesty's goodness; such conduct will be +remembered to the end of the world, and the Hollanders will never abide +the name of England again." + +On such a bed of nettles there was small chance of repose for the +governor. Some of the rumours were even more stinging. So +incomprehensible did it seem that the proud sovereign of England should +send over her subjects to starve or beg in the streets of Flushing and +Ostend, that it was darkly intimated that Leicester had embezzled the +funds, which, no doubt, had been remitted for the poor soldiers. This was +the most cruel blow of all. The Earl had been put to enormous charges. +His household at the Hague cost him a thousand pounds a month. He had +been paying and furnishing five hundred and fifty men out of his own +purse. He had also a choice regiment of cavalry, numbering seven hundred +and fifty horse; three hundred and fifty of which number were over and +above those allowed for by the Queen, and were entirely at his expense. +He was most liberal in making presents of money to every gentleman in his +employment. He had deeply mortgaged his estates in order to provide for +these heavy demands upon him, and professed his willingness "to spend +more, if he might have got any more money for his land that was left;" +and in the face of such unquestionable facts--much to the credit +certainly of his generosity--he was accused of swindling a Queen whom +neither Jew nor Gentile had ever yet been sharp enough to swindle; while +he was in reality plunging forward in a course of reckless extravagance +in order to obviate the fatal effects of her penuriousness. + +Yet these sinister reports were beginning to have a poisonous effect. +Already an alteration of mien was perceptible in the States-General. +"Some buzzing there is amongst them," said Leicester, "whatsoever it be. +They begin to deal very strangely within these few days." Moreover the +industry of the Poleys, Blunts, and Pagets, had turned these unfavourable +circumstances to such good account that a mutiny had been near breaking +out among the English troops. "And, before the Lord I speak it," said the +Earl, "I am sure some of these good towns had been gone ere this, but for +my money. As for the States, I warrant you, they see day at a little +hole. God doth know what a forward and a joyful country here was within a +month. God send her Majesty to recover it so again, and to take care of +it, on the condition she send me after Sir Francis Drake to the Indies, +my service here being no more acceptable." + +Such was the aspect of affairs in the Provinces after the first explosion +of the Queen's anger had become known. Meanwhile the court-weather was +very changeable in England, being sometimes serene, sometimes +cloudy,--always treacherous. + +Mr. Vavasour, sent by the Earl with despatches to her Majesty and the +council, had met with a sufficiently benignant reception. She accepted +the letters, which, however, owing to a bad cold with a defluxion in the +eyes, she was unable at once to read; but she talked ambiguously with the +messenger. Yavasour took pains to show the immediate necessity of sending +supplies, so that the armies in the Netherlands might take the field at +the earliest possible moment. "And what," said she, "if a peace should +come in the mean time?" + +"If your Majesty desireth a convenient peace," replied Vavasour, "to take +the field is the readiest way to obtain it; for as yet the King of Spain +hath had no reason to fear you. He is daily expecting that your own +slackness may give your Majesty an overthrow. Moreover, the Spaniards are +soldiers, and are not to be moved by-shadows." + +But the Queen had no ears for these remonstrances, and no disposition to +open her coffers. A warrant for twenty-four thousand pounds had been +signed by her at the end of the month of March, and was about to be sent, +when Vavasour arrived; but it was not possible for him, although assisted +by the eloquence of Walsingham and Burghley, to obtain an enlargement of +the pittance. "The storms are overblown," said Walsingham, "but I fear +your Lordship shall receive very scarce measure from hence. You will not +believe how the sparing humour doth increase upon us." + +Nor were the storms so thoroughly overblown but that there were not daily +indications of returning foul weather. Accordingly--after a conference +with Vavasour--Burghley, and Walsingham had an interview with the Queen, +in which the Lord Treasurer used bold and strong language. He protested +to her that he was bound, both by his duty to himself and his oath as her +councillor, to declare that the course she was holding to Lord Leicester +was most dangerous to her own honour, interest and safety. If she +intended to continue in this line of conduct, he begged to resign his +office of Lord Treasurer; wishing; before God and man, to wash his bands +of the shame and peril which he saw could not be avoided. The Queen, +astonished at the audacity of Burghley's attitude and language, hardly +knew whether to chide him for his presumption or to listen to his +arguments. She did both. She taxed him with insolence in daring to +address her so roundly, and then finding he was speaking even in +'amaritudine animae' and out of a clear conscience, she became calm +again, and intimated a disposition to qualify her anger against the +absent Earl. + +Next day, to their sorrow, the two councillors found that the Queen had +again changed her mind--"as one that had been by some adverse counsel +seduced." She expressed the opinion that affairs would do well enough in +the Netherlands, even though Leicester were displaced. A conference +followed between Walsingham, Hatton, and Burghley, and then the three +went again to her Majesty. They assured her that if she did not take +immediate steps to satisfy the States and the people of the Provinces, +she would lose those countries and her own honour at the same time; and +that then they would prove a source of danger to her instead of +protection and glory. At this she was greatly troubled, and agreed to do +anything they might advise consistently with her honour. It was then +agreed that Leicester should be continued in the government which he had +accepted until the matter should be further considered, and letters to +that effect were at once written. Then came messenger from Sir Thomas +Heneage, bringing despatches from that envoy, and a second and most secret +one from the Earl himself. Burghley took the precious letter which the +favourite had addressed to his royal mistress, and had occasion to +observe its magical effect. Walsingham and the Lord Treasurer had been +right in so earnestly remonstrating with him on his previous silence. + +"She read your letter," said Burghley, "and, in very truth, I found her +princely heart touched with favourable interpretation of your actions; +affirming them to be only offensive to her, in that she was not made +privy to them; not now misliking that you had the authority." + +Such, at fifty-three, was Elizabeth Tudor. A gentle whisper of idolatry +from the lips of the man she loved, and she was wax in his hands. Where +now were the vehement protestations of horror that her public declaration +of principles and motives had been set at nought? Where now were her +vociferous denunciations of the States, her shrill invectives against +Leicester, her big oaths, and all the 'hysterica passio,' which had sent +poor Lord Burghley to bed with the gout, and inspired the soul of +Walsingham with dismal forebodings? Her anger had dissolved into a shower +of tenderness, and if her parsimony still remained it was because that +could only vanish when she too should cease to be. + +And thus, for a moment, the grave diplomatic difference between the crown +of England and their high mightinesses the United States--upon the +solution of which the fate of Christendom was hanging--seemed to shrink +to the dimensions of a lovers' quarrel. Was it not strange that the +letter had been so long delayed? + +Davison had exhausted argument in defence of the acceptance by the Earl +of the authority conferred by the States and had gained nothing by his +eloquence, save abuse from the Queen, and acrimonious censure from the +Earl. He had deeply offended both by pleading the cause of the erring +favourite, when the favourite should have spoken for himself. "Poor Mr. +Davison," said Walsingham, "doth take it very grievously that your +Lordship should conceive so hardly of him as you do. I find the conceit +of your Lordship's disfavour hath greatly dejected him. But at such time +as he arrived her Majesty was so incensed, as all the arguments and +orators in the world could not have wrought any satisfaction." + +But now a little billet-doux had done what all the orators in the world +could not do. The arguments remained the same, but the Queen no longer +"misliked that Leicester should have the authority." It was natural that +the Lord Treasurer should express his satisfaction at this auspicious +result. + +"I did commend her princely nature," he said, "in allowing your good +intention, and excusing you of any spot of evil meaning; and I thought +good to hasten her resolution, which you must now take to come from a +favourable good mistress. You must strive with your nature to throw over +your shoulder that which is past." + +Sir Walter Raleigh, too, who had been "falsely and pestilently" +represented to the Earl as an enemy, rather than what he really was, a +most ardent favourer of the Netherland cause, wrote at once to +congratulate him on the change in her Majesty's demeanour. "The Queen is +in very good terms with you now," he said, "and, thanks be to God, well +pacified, and you are again her 'sweet Robin.'" + +Sir Walter wished to be himself the bearer of the comforting despatches +to Leicester, on the ground that he had been represented as an "ill +instrument against him," and in order that he might justify himself +against the charge, with his own lips. The Queen, however, while +professing to make use of Shirley as the messenger, bade Walsingham +declare to the Earl, upon her honour, that Raleigh had done good offices +for him, and that, in the time of her anger, he had been as earnest in +his defence as the best friend could be. It would have been--singular, +indeed, had it been otherwise. "Your Lordship," said Sir Walter, "doth +well understand my affection toward Spain, and how I have consumed the +best part of my fortune, hating the tyrannous prosperity of that state. +It were strange and monstrous that I should now become an enemy to my +country and conscience. All that I have desired at your Lordship's hands +is that you will evermore deal directly with me in all matters--of +suspect doubleness, and so ever esteem me as you shall find me deserving +good or bad. In the mean time, let no poetical scribe work your Lordship +by any device to doubt that I am a hollow or cold servant to the action." + +It was now agreed that letters should be drawn, up authorizing Leicester +to continue in the office which he held, until the state-council should +devise some modification in his commission. As it seemed, however, very +improbable that the board would devise anything of the kind, Burghley +expressed the belief that the country was like to continue in the Earl's +government without any change whatever. The Lord Treasurer was also of +opinion that the Queen's letters to Leicester would convey as much +comfort as he had received discomfort; although he admitted that there +was a great difference: The former letters he knew had deeply wounded his +heart, while the new ones could not suddenly sink so low as the wound. + +The despatch to the States-General was benignant, elaborate, slightly +diffuse. The Queen's letter to 'sweet Robin' was caressing, but +argumentative. + +"It is always thought," said she, "in the opinion of the world, a hard +bargain when both parties are losers, and so doth fall out in the case +between us two. You, as we hear, are greatly grieved in respect of the +great displeasure you find we have conceived against you. We are no less +grieved that a subject of ours of that quality that you are, a creature +of our own, and one that hath always received an extraordinary portion of +our favour above all our subjects, even from the beginning of our reign, +should deal so carelessly, not to say contemptuously, as to give the +world just cause to think that we are had in contempt by him that ought +most to respect and reverence us, which, we do assure you, hath wrought +as great grief in us as anyone thing that ever happened unto us. + +"We are persuaded that you, that have so long known us, cannot think that +ever we could have been drawn to have taken so hard a course therein had +we not been provoked by an extraordinary cause. But for that your grieved +and wounded mind hath more need of comfort than reproof, who, we are +persuaded, though the act of contempt can no ways be excused, had no +other meaning and intent than to advance our service, we think meet to +forbear to dwell upon a matter wherein we ourselves do find so little +comfort, assuring you that whosoever professeth to love you best taketh +not more comfort of your well doing, or discomfort of your evil doing +than ourself." + +After this affectionate preface she proceeded to intimate her desire that +the Earl should take the matter as nearly as possible into his own hands. +It was her wish that he should retain the authority of absolute governor, +but--if it could be so arranged--that he should dispense with the title, +retaining only that of her lieutenant-general. It was not her intention +however, to create any confusion or trouble in the Provinces, and she was +therefore willing that the government should remain upon precisely the +same footing as that on which it then stood, until circumstances should +permit the change of title which she suggested. And the whole matter was +referred to the wisdom of Leicester, who was to advise with Heneage and +such others as he liked to consult, although it was expressly stated that +the present arrangement was to be considered a provisional and not a +final one. + +Until this soothing intelligence could arrive in the Netherlands the +suspicions concerning the underhand negotiations with Spain grew daily +more rife, and the discredit cast upon the Earl more embarrassing. The +private letters which passed between the Earl's enemies in Holland and in +England contained matter more damaging to himself and to the cause which +he had at heart than the more public reports of modern days can +disseminate, which, being patent to all, can be more easily contradicted. +Leicester incessantly warned his colleagues of her Majesty's council +against the malignant manufacturers of intelligence. "I pray you, my +Lords, as you are wise," said he, "beware of them all. You shall find +them here to be shrewd pick-thinks, and hardly worth the hearkening +unto." + +He complained bitterly of the disgrace that was heaped upon him, both +publicly and privately, and of the evil consequences which were sure to +follow from the course pursued. "Never was man so villanously handled by +letters out of England as I have been," said he, "not only advertising +her Majesty's great dislike with me before this my coming over, but that +I was an odious man in England, and so long as I tarried here that no +help was to be looked for, that her Majesty would send no more men or +money, and that I was used here but for a time till a peace were +concluded between her Majesty and the Prince of Parma. What the +continuance of a man's discredit thus will turn out is to be thought of, +for better I were a thousand times displaced than that her Majesty's +great advantage of so notable Provinces should be hindered." + +As to the peace-negotiations--which, however cunningly managed, could not +remain entirely concealed--the Earl declared them to be as idle as they +were disingenuous. "I will boldly pronounce that all the peace you can +make in the world, leaving these countries," said he to Burghley, "will +never prove other than a fair spring for a few days, to be all over +blasted with a hard storm after." Two days later her Majesty's comforting +letters arrived, and the Earl began to raise his drooping head. Heneage, +too, was much relieved, but he was, at the same time, not a little +perplexed. It was not so easy to undo all the mischief created by the +Queen's petulance. The "scorpion's sting"--as her Majesty expressed +herself--might be balsamed, but the poison had spread far beyond the +original wound. + +"The letters just brought in," wrote Heneage to Burghley, "have well +relieved a most noble and sufficient servant, but I fear they will not +restore the much-repaired wrecks of these far-decayed noble countries +into the same state I found them in. A loose, disordered, and unknit +state needs no shaking, but propping. A subtle and fearful kind of +people--should not be made more distrustful, but assured." He then +expressed annoyance at the fault already found with him, and surely if +ever man had cause to complain of reproof administered him, in quick +succession; for not obeying contradictory directions following upon each +other as quickly, that man was Sir Thomas Heneage. He had been, as he +thought, over cautious in administering the rebuke to the Earl's +arrogance, which he had been expressly sent over to administer but +scarcely had he accomplished his task, with as much delicacy as he could +devise, when he found himself censured;--not for dilatoriness, but for +haste. "Fault I perceive," said he to Burghley, "is found in me, not by +your Lordship, but by some other, that I did not stay proceeding if I +found the public cause might take hurt. It is true I had good warrant for +the manner, the place, and the persons, but, for the matter none, for +done it must be. Her Majesty's offence must be declared. Yet if I did not +all I possibly could to uphold the cause, and to keep the tottering cause +upon the wheels, I deserve no thanks, but reproof." + +Certainly, when the blasts of royal rage are remembered, by which the +envoy had been, as it were, blown out of England into Holland, it is +astonishing to find his actions censured for undue precipitancy. But it +was not the first, nor was it likely to be the last time, for +comparatively subordinate agents in Elizabeth's government to be, +distressed by, contradictory commands, when the sovereign did not know or +did not chose to make known, her own mind on important occasions. "Well, +my Lord," said plaintive Sir Thomas, "wiser men may serve more pleasingly +and happily, but never shall any serve her Majesty more, faithfully and +heartily. And so I cannot be persuaded her Majesty thinketh; for from +herself I find nothing but most sweet and--gracious, favour, though by +others' censures I may gather otherwise of her judgment; which I confess, +doth cumber me." + +He was destined to be cumbered more than once before these negotiations +should be concluded; but meantime; there was a brief gleam of sunshine. +The English friends of Leicester in the Netherlands were enchanted with +the sudden change in the Queen's humour; and to Lord Burghley, who was +not, in reality, the most stanch of the absent Earl's defenders, they +poured themselves out in profuse and somewhat superfluous gratitude. + +Cavendish, in strains exultant, was sure that Burghley's children, +grand-children, and remotest posterity, would rejoice that their great +ancestor, in such a time of need had been "found and felt to be indeed a +'pater patria,' a good-father to a happy land." And, although unwilling +to "stir up the old Adam" in his Lordship's soul, he yet took the liberty +of comparing the Lord Treasurer, in his old and declining years with Mary +Magdalen; assuring him, that for ever after; when the tale of the +preservation of the Church of God, of her Majesty; and of the Netherland +cause; which were all one, should be told; his name and well-doing would +be held in memory also. + +And truly there was much of honest and generous enthusiasm, even if +couched in language somewhat startling to the ears of a colder and more +material age; in the hearts of these noble volunteers. They were fighting +the cause of England, of the Netherland republic, and of human liberty; +with a valour worthy the best days of English' chivalry, against manifold +obstacles, and they were certainly; not too often cheered by the beams of +royal favour. + +It was a pity that a dark cloud was so soon again to sweep over the +scene: For the temper of Elizabeth at this important juncture seemed as +capricious: as the April weather in which the scenes were enacting. We +have seen the genial warmth of her letters and messages to Leicester, to +Heneage,--to the States-General; on the first of the month. Nevertheless +it was hardly three weeks after they had been despatched when Walsingham +and Burghley found, her Majesty one morning a towering passion, because, +the Earl had not already laid down the government. The Lord Treasurer +ventured to remonstrate, but was bid to bold his tongue. Ever variable +and mutable as woman, Elizabeth was perplexing and baffling to her +counsellors, at this epoch, beyond all divination. The "sparing humour" +was increasing fearfully, and she thought it would be easier for her to +slip out of the whole expensive enterprise, provided Leicester were +merely her lieutenant-general, and not stadholder for the Provinces. +Moreover the secret negotiations for peace were producing a deleterious +effect upon her mind. Upon this subject, the Queen and Burghley, +notwithstanding his resemblance to Mary Magdalen, were better informed +than the Secretary, whom, however, it had been impossible wholly to +deceive. The man who could read secrets so far removed as the Vatican, +was not to be blinded to intrigues going on before his face. The Queen, +without revealing more than she could help, had been obliged to admit +that informal transactions were pending, but had authorised the Secretary +to assure the United States that no treaty would be made without their +knowledge and full concurrence. "She doth think," wrote Walsingham to +Leicester, "that you should, if you shall see no cause to the contrary, +acquaint the council of state there that certain overtures of peace are +daily made unto her, but that she meaneth not to proceed therein without +their good liking and privity, being persuaded that there can no peace be +made profitable or sure for her that shall not also stand with their +safety; and she doth acknowledge hers to be so linked with theirs as +nothing can fall out to their prejudice, but she must be partaker of +their harm." + +This communication was dated on the 21st April, exactly three weeks after +the Queen's letter to Heneage, in which she had spoken of the "malicious +bruits" concerning the pretended peace-negotiations; and the Secretary +was now confirming, by her order, what she had then stated under her own +hand, that she would "do nothing that might concern them without their +own knowledge and good liking." + +And surely nothing could be more reasonable. Even if the strict letter of +the August treaty between the Queen and the States did not provide +against any separate negotiations by the one party without the knowledge +of the other, there could be no doubt at all that its spirit absolutely +forbade the clandestine conclusion of a peace with Spain by England +alone, or by the Netherlands alone, and that such an arrangement would be +disingenuous, if not positively dishonourable. + +Nevertheless it would almost seem that Elizabeth had been taking +advantage of the day when she was writing her letter to Heneage on the +1st of April. Never was painstaking envoy more elaborately trifled with. +On the 26th of the month--and only five days after the communication by +Walsingham just noticed--the Queen was furious that any admission should +have been made to the States of their right to participate with her in +peace-negotiations. + +"We find that Sir Thomas Heneage," said she to Leicester, "hath gone +further--in assuring the States that we would make no peace without their +privity and assent--than he had commission; for that our direction +was--if our meaning had been well set down, and not mistaken by our +Secretary--that they should have been only let understand that in any +treaty that might pass between us and Spain, they might be well assured +we would have no less care of their safety than of our own." Secretary +Walsingham was not likely to mistake her Majesty's directions in this or +any other important affair of state. Moreover, it so happened that the +Queen had, in her own letter to Heneage, made the same statement which +she now chose to disavow. She had often a convenient way of making +herself misunderstood, when she thought it desirable to shift +responsibility from her own shoulders upon those of others; but upon this +occasion she had been sufficiently explicit. Nevertheless, a scape-goat +was necessary, and unhappy the subordinate who happened to be within her +Majesty's reach when a vicarious sacrifice was to be made. Sir Francis +Walsingham was not a man to be brow-beaten or hood-winked, but Heneage +was doomed to absorb a fearful amount of royal wrath. + +"What phlegmatical reasons soever were made you," wrote the Queen, who +but three weeks before had been so gentle and affectionate to her, +ambassador, "how happeneth it that you will not remember, that when a man +hath faulted and committed by abettors thereto, neither the one nor the +other will willingly make their own retreat. Jesus! what availeth wit, +when it fails the owner at greatest need? Do that you are bidden, and +leave your considerations for your own affairs. For in some things you +had clear commandment, which you did not, and in others none, and did. We +princes be wary enough of our bargains. Think you I will be bound by your +own speech to make no peace for mine own matters without their consent? +It is enough that I injure not their country nor themselves in making +peace for them without their consent. I am assured of your dutiful +thoughts, but I am utterly at squares with this childish dealing." + +Blasted by this thunderbolt falling upon his head out of serenest sky, +the sad. Sir. Thomas remained, for a time, in a state of political +annihilation. 'Sweet Robin' meanwhile, though stunned, was +unscathed--thanks to the convenient conductor at his side. For, in +Elizabeth's court, mediocrity was not always golden, nor was it usually +the loftiest mountains that the lightnings smote. The Earl was deceived +by his royal mistress, kept in the dark as to important transactions, +left to provide for his famishing' soldiers as he best might; but the +Queen at that moment, though angry, was not disposed, to trample upon +him. Now that his heart was known to be broken, and his sole object in +life to be retirement to remote regions--India or elsewhere--there to +languish out the brief remainder of his days in prayers for Elizabeth's +happiness, Elizabeth was not inclined very bitterly to upbraid him. She +had too recently been employing herself in binding up his broken heart, +and pouring balm into the "scorpion's sting," to be willing so soon to +deprive him of those alleviations. + +Her tone--was however no longer benignant, and her directions were +extremely peremptory. On the 1st of April she had congratulated +Leicester, Heneage, the States, and all the world, that her secret +commands had been staid, and that the ruin which would have followed, +had, those decrees been executed according to her first violent wish, was +fortunately averted. Heneage was even censured, not by herself, but by +courtiers in her confidence, and with her concurrence, for being over +hasty in going before the state-council, as he had done, with her +messages and commands. On the 26th of April she expressed astonishment +that Heneage had dared to be so dilatory, and that the title of governor +had not been laid down by Leicester "out of hand." She marvelled greatly, +and found it very strange that "ministers in matters of moment should +presume to do things of their own head without direction." She +accordingly gave orders that there should be no more dallying, but that +the Earl should immediately hold a conference with the state-council in +order to arrange a modification in his commission. It was her pleasure +that he should retain all the authority granted to him by the States, but +as already intimated by her, that he should abandon the title of +"absolute governor," and retain only that of her lieutenant-general. + +Was it strange that Heneage, placed in so responsible a situation, and +with the fate of England, of Holland, and perhaps of all Christendom, +hanging in great measure upon this delicate negotiation, should be amazed +at such contradictory orders, and grieved by such inconsistent censures? + +"To tell you my griefs and my lacks," said he to Walsingham, "would +little please you or help me. Therefore I will say nothing, but think +there was never man in so great a service received so little comfort and +so contrarious directions. But 'Dominus est adjutor in tribulationibus.' +If it be possible, let me receive some certain direction, in following +which I shall not offend her Majesty, what good or hurt soever I do +besides." + +This certainly seemed a loyal and reasonable request, yet it was not one +likely to be granted. Sir Thomas, perplexed, puzzled, blindfolded, and +brow-beaten, always endeavoring to obey orders, when he could comprehend +them, and always hectored and lectured whether he obeyed them or +not--ruined in purse by the expenses, of a mission on which he had been +sent without adequate salary--appalled at the disaffection waging more +formidable every hour in Provinces which were recently so loyal to her +Majesty, but which were now pervaded by a suspicion that there was +double-dealing upon her part became quite sick of his life. He fell +seriously ill, and was disappointed, when, after a time, the physicians +declared him convalescent. For when when he rose from his sick-bed, it +was only to plunge once more, without a clue, into the labyrinth where he +seemed to be losing his reason. "It is not long," said he to Walsingham, +"since I looked to have written you no more letters, my extremity was so +great. . . But God's will is best, otherwise I could have liked better to +have cumbered the earth no longer, where I find myself contemned, and +which I find no reason to see will be the better in the wearing . . . It +were better for her Majesty's service that the directions which come were +not contrarious one to another, and that those you would have serve might +know what is meant, else they cannot but much deceive you, as well as +displease you." + +Public opinion concerning the political morality of the English court was +not gratifying, nor was it rendered more favourable by these recent +transactions. "I fear," said Heneage, "that the world will judge what +Champagny wrote in one of his letters out of England (which I have lately +seen) to be over true. His words be these, 'Et de vray, c'est le plus +fascheux et le plus incertain negocier de ceste court, que je pense soit +au monde.'" And so "basting," as he said, "with a weak body and a willing +mind; to do, he feared, no good work," he set forth from Middelburgh to +rejoin Leicester at Arnheim, in order to obey, as well as he could, the +Queen's latest directions. + +But before he could set to work there came more "contrarious" orders. The +last instructions, both to Leicester and himself, were that the Earl +should resign the post of governor absolute "out of hand," and the Queen +had been vehement in denouncing any delay on such an occasion. He was now +informed, that, after consulting with Leicester and with the +state-council, he was to return to England with the result of such +deliberations. It could afterwards be decided how the Earl could retain +all the authority of governor absolute, while bearing only the title of +the Queen's lieutenant general. "For her meaning is not," said +Walsingham, "that his Lord ship should presently give it over, for she +foreseeth in her princely judgment that his giving over the government +upon a sudden, and leaving those countries without a head or director, +cannot but breed a most dangerous alteration there." The secretary +therefore stated the royal wish at present to be that the "renunciation +of the title" should be delayed till Heneage could visit England, and +subsequently return to Holland with her Majesty's further directions. +Even the astute Walsingham was himself puzzled, however, while conveying +these ambiguous orders; and he confessed that he was doubtful whether he +had rightly comprehended the Queen's intentions. Burghley, however, was +better at guessing riddles than he was, and so Heneage was advised to +rely chiefly upon Burghley. + +But Heneage had now ceased to be interested in any enigmas that might be +propounded by the English court, nor could he find comfort, as Walsingham +had recommended he should do, in railing. "I wish I could follow your +counsel," he said, "but sure the uttering of my choler doth little ease +my grief or help my case." + +He rebuked, however, the inconsistency and the tergiversations of the +government with a good deal of dignity. "This certainly shall I tell her +Majesty," he said, "if I live to see her, that except a more constant +course be taken with this inconstant people, it is not the blaming of her +ministers will advance her Highness's service, or better the state of +things. And shall I tell you what they now say here of us--I fear not +without some cause--even as Lipsius wrote of the French, 'De Gallis +quidem enigmata veniunt, non veniunt, volunt, holunt, audent, timent, +omnia, ancipiti metu, suspensa et suspecta.' God grant better, and ever +keep you and help me." + +He announced to Burghley that he was about to attend a meeting of the +state-council the next day, for the purpose of a conference on these +matters at Arnheim, and that he would then set forth for England to +report proceedings to her Majesty. He supposed, on the whole, that this +was what was expected of him, but acknowledged it hopeless to fathom the +royal intentions. Yet if he went wrong, he was always, sure to make +mischief, and though innocent, to be held accountable for others' +mistakes. "Every prick I make," said he, "is made a gash; and to follow +the words of my directions from England is not enough, except I likewise +see into your minds. And surely mine eyesight is not so good. But I will +pray to God for his help herein. With all the wit I have, I will use all +the care I can--first, to satisfy her Majesty, as God knoweth I have ever +most desired; then, not to hurt this cause, but that I despair of." +Leicester, as maybe supposed, had been much discomfited and perplexed +during the course of these contradictory and perverse directions. There +is no doubt whatever that his position bad been made discreditable and +almost ridiculous, while he was really doing his best, and spending large +sums out of his private fortune to advance the true interests of the +Queen. He had become a suspected man in the Netherlands, having been, in +the beginning of the year, almost adored as a Messiah. He had submitted +to the humiliation which had been imposed upon him, of being himself the +medium to convey to the council the severe expressions of the Queen's +displeasure at the joint action of the States-General and himself. He had +been comforted by the affectionate expressions with which that explosion +of feminine and royal wrath had been succeeded. He was now again +distressed by the peremptory command to do what was a disgrace to him, +and an irreparable detriment to the cause, yet he was humble and +submissive, and only begged to be allowed, as a remedy for all his +anguish, to return to the sunlight of Elizabeth's presence. He felt that +her course; if persisted in, would lead to the destruction of the +Netherland commonwealth, and eventually to the downfall of England; and +that the Provinces, believing themselves deceived by the Queen; were +ready to revolt against an authority to which, but a short time before, +they were so devotedly loyal Nevertheless, he only wished to know what +his sovereign's commands distinctly were, in order to set himself to +their fulfilment. He had come from the camp before Nymegen in order to +attend the conference with the state-council at Arnheim, and he would +then be ready and anxious to, despatch Heneage to England, to learn her +Majesty's final determination. + +He protested to the Queen that he had come upon this arduous and perilous +service only, because he, considered her throne in danger, and that this +was the only means of preserving it; that, in accepting the absolute +government, he had been free from all ambitious motives, but deeply +impressed with the idea that only by so doing could he conduct the +enterprise entrusted to him to the desired consummation; and he declared +with great fervour that no advancement to high office could compensate +him for this enforced absence from her. To be sent back even in disgrace +would still be a boon to him, for he should cease to be an exile from her +sight. He knew that his enemies had been busy in defaming him, while he +had been no longer there to defend himself, but his conscience acquitted +him of any thought which was not for her happiness and glory. "Yet +grievous it is to me," said he in, a tone of tender reproach, "that +having left all--yea, all that may be imagined--for you, you have left me +for very little, even to the uttermost of all hard fortune. For what have +I, unhappy man, to do here either with cause or country but for you?" + +He stated boldly that his services had not been ineffective, that the +enemy had never been in worse plight than now, that he had lost at least +five thousand men in divers overthrows, and that, on the other hand, the +people and towns of the Seven Provinces had been safely preserved. "Since +my arrival," he said, "God hath blessed the action which you have taken +in hand, and committed to the charge of me your poor unhappy servant. I +have good cause to say somewhat for myself, for that I think I have as +few friends to speak for me as any man." + +Nevertheless--as he warmly protested--his only wish was to return; for +the country in which he had lost her favour, which was more precious than +life, had become odious to him. + +The most lowly office in her presence was more to be coveted than the +possession of unlimited power away from her. It was by these tender and +soft insinuations, as the Earl knew full well, that he was sure to obtain +what he really coveted--her sanction for retaining the absolute +government in the Provinces. And most artfully did he strike the key. + +"Most dear and gracious Lady," he cried, "my care and service here do +breed me nothing but grief and unhappiness. I have never had your +Majesty's good favour since I came into this charge--a matter that from +my first beholding your eyes hath been most dear unto me above all +earthly treasures. Never shall I love that place or like that soil which +shall cause the lack of it. Most gracious Lady, consider my long, true, +and faithful heart toward you. Let not this unfortunate place here +bereave me of that which, above all the world, I esteem there, which is +your favor and your presence. I see my service is not acceptable, but +rather more and more disliketh you. Here I can do your Majesty no +service; there I can do you some, at the least rub your horse's heels--a +service which shall be much more welcome to me than this, with all that +these men may give me. I do, humbly and from my heart, prostrate at your +feet, beg this grace at your sacred hands, that you will be pleased to +let me return to my home-service, with your favour, let the revocation be +used in what sort shall please and like you. But if ever spark of favour +was in your Majesty toward your old servant, let me obtain this my humble +suit; protesting before the Majesty of all Majesties, that there was no +cause under Heaven but his and yours, even for your own special and +particular cause, I say, could have made me take this absent journey from +you in hand. If your Majesty shall refuse me this, I shall think all +grace clean gone from me, and I know: my days will not be long." + +She must melt at this, thought 'sweet Robin' to himself; and meantime +accompanied by Heneage; he proceeded with the conferences in the +state-council-chamber touching the modification of the title and the +confirmation of his authority. This, so far as Walsingham could divine, +and Burghley fathom, was the present intention of the Queen. He averred +that he had ever sought most painfully to conform his conduct to her +instructions as fast as they were received, and that he should continue +so to do. On the whole it was decided by the conference to let matters +stand as, they were for a little longer, and until: after Heneage should +have time once more to go and come. "The same manner of proceeding that +was is now," said Leicester, "Your pleasure is declared to the council +here as you have willed it. How it will fall out again in your Majesty's +construction, the Lord knoweth." + +Leicester might be forgiven for referring to higher powers, for any +possible interpretation of her Majesty's changing humour; but meantime; +while Sir. Thomas was getting ready, for his expedition to England, the +Earl's heart was somewhat gladdened by more gracious messages from the +Queen. The alternation of emotions would however prove too much for him, +he feared, and he was reluctant to open his heart to so unwonted a tenant +as joy. + +"But that my fear is such, most dear and gracious Lady," he said, "as my +unfortunate destiny will hardly permit; whilst I remain here; any +good-acceptation of so simple a service as, mine, I should, greatly +rejoice and comfort myself with the hope of your Majesty's most +prayed-for favour. But of late, being by your own sacred hand lifted even +up into Heaven with joy of your favour, I was bye and bye without any new +desert or offence at all, cast down and down: again into the depth of all +grief. God doth know, my dear and dread Sovereign, that after I first +received your resolute pleasure by Sir Thomas Heneage, I made neither +stop nor stay nor any excuse to be rid of this place, and to satisfy your +command. . . . So much I mislike this place and fortune of mine; as I +desire nothing in the world so much, as to be delivered, with your +favours from all charge here, fearing still some new cross of your +displeasure to fall upon me, trembling continually with the fear thereof, +in such sort as till I may be fully confirmed in my new regeneration of +your wonted favour I cannot receive that true comfort which doth +appertain to so great a hope. Yet I will not only acknowledge with all +humbleness and dutiful thanks the exceeding joy these last blessed lines +brought to my long-wearied heart, but will, with all true loyal +affection, attend that further joy from your sweet self which may +utterly, extinguish all consuming fear away." + +Poor Heneage--who likewise received a kind word or two after having been +so capriciously and petulantly dealt with was less extravagant in his +expressions of gratitude. "The Queen hath sent me a paper-plaister which +must please for a time," he said. "God Almighty bless her Majesty ever, +and best direct her." He was on the point of starting for England, the +bearer of the States' urgent entreaties that Leicester might retain the +government, and of despatches; announcing the recent success of the +allies before Grave. "God prospereth the action in these countries beyond +all expectation," he said, "which all amongst you will not be over glad +of, for somewhat I know." The intrigues of Grafigni, Champagny, and +Bodman, with Croft, Burghley, and the others were not so profound a +secret as they could wish. + +The tone adopted by Leicester has been made manifest in his letters to +the Queen. He had held the same language of weariness and dissatisfaction +in his communications to his friends. He would not keep the office, he +avowed, if they should give him "all Holland and Zeeland, with all their +appurtenances," and he was ready to resign at any moment. He was not +"ceremonious for reputation," he said, but he gave warning that the +Netherlanders would grow desperate if they found her Majesty dealing +weakly or carelessly with them. As for himself he had already had enough +of government. "I am weary, Mr. Secretary," he plaintively exclaimed, +"indeed I am weary; but neither of pains nor travail. My ill hap that I +can please her Majesty no better hath quite discouraged me." + +He had recently, however--as we have seen--received some comfort, and he +was still further encouraged, upon the eve of Heneage's departure, by +receiving another affectionate epistle from the Queen. Amends seemed at +last to be offered for her long and angry silence, and the Earl was +deeply grateful. + +"If it hath not been, my most dear and gracious Lady," said he in reply, +"no small comfort to your poor old servant to receive but one line of +your blessed hand-writing in many months, for the relief of a most +grieved, wounded heart, how far more exceeding joy must it be, in the +midst of all sorrow, to receive from the same sacred hand so many +comfortable lines as my good friend Mr. George hath at once brought me. +Pardon me, my sweet Lady, if they cause me to forget myself. Only this I +do say, with most humble dutiful thanks, that the scope of all my service +hath ever been to content and please you; and if I may do that, then is +all sacrifice, either of life or whatsoever, well offered for you." + +The matter of the government absolute having been so fully discussed +during the preceding four months, and the last opinions of the +state-council having been so lucidly expounded in the despatches to be +carried by Heneage to England, the matter might be considered as +exhausted. Leicester contented himself, therefore, with once more calling +her Majesty's attention to the fact that if he had not himself accepted +the office thus conferred upon him by the States, it would have been +bestowed upon some other personage. It would hardly have comported with +her dignity, if Count Maurice of Nassau, or Count William, or Count +Moeurs, had been appointed governor absolute, for in that case the Earl, +as general of the auxiliary English force, would have been subject to the +authority of the chieftain thus selected. It was impossible, as the +state-council had very plainly shown, for Leicester to exercise supreme +authority, while merely holding the military office of her Majesty's +lieutenant-general. The authority of governor or stadholder could only be +derived from the supreme power of the country. If her Majesty had chosen +to accept the sovereignty, as the States had ever desired, the requisite +authority could then have been derived from her, as from the original +fountain. As she had resolutely refused that offer however, his authority +was necessarily to be drawn from the States-General, or else the Queen +must content herself with seeing him serve as an English military +officer, only subject to the orders of the supreme power, wherever that +power might reside. In short, Elizabeth's wish that her general might be +clothed with the privileges of her viceroy, while she declined herself to +be the sovereign, was illogical, and could not be complied with. + +Very soon after inditing these last epistles to the Provinces, the Queen +became more reasonable on the subject; and an elaborate communication was +soon received by the state-council, in which the royal acquiescence was +signified to the latest propositions of the States. The various topics, +suggested in previous despatches from Leicester and from the council, +were reviewed, and the whole subject was suddenly placed in a somewhat +different light from that in which it seemed to have been previously +regarded by her Majesty. She alluded to the excuse, offered by the +state-council, which had been drawn from the necessity of the case, and +from their "great liking for her cousin of Leicester," although in +violation of the original contract. "As you acknowledge, however," she +said, "that therein you were justly to be blamed, and do crave pardon for +the same, we cannot, upon this acknowledgment of your fault, but remove +our former dislike." + +Nevertheless it would now seem that her "mistake" had proceeded, not from +the excess, but from the insufficiency of the powers conferred upon the +Earl, and she complained, accordingly, that they had given him shadow +rather than substance. + +Simultaneously with this royal communication, came a joint letter to +Leicester, from Burghley, Walsingham; and Hatton, depicting the long and +strenuous conflict which they had maintained in his behalf with the +rapidly varying inclinations of the Queen. They expressed a warm sympathy +with the difficulties of his position, and spoke in strong terms of the +necessity that the Netherlands and England should work heartily together. +For otherwise, they said, "the cause will fall, the enemy will rise, and +we must stagger." Notwithstanding the secret negotiations with the enemy, +which Leicester and Walsingham suspected, and which will be more fully +examined in a subsequent chapter, they held a language on that subject, +which in the Secretary's mouth at least was sincere. "Whatsoever speeches +be blown abroad of parleys of peace," they said, "all will be but smoke, +yea fire will follow." + +They excused themselves for their previous and enforced silence by the +fact that they had been unable to communicate any tidings but messages of +distress, but they now congratulated the Earl that her Majesty, as he +would see by her letter to the council, was firmly resolved, not only to +countenance his governorship, but to sustain him in the most thorough +manner. It would be therefore quite out of the question for them to +listen to his earnest propositions to be recalled. + +Moreover, the Lord Treasurer had already apprized Leicester that Heneage +had safely arrived in England, that he, had made his report to the Queen, +and that her Majesty was "very well contented with him and his mission." +It may be easily believed that the Earl would feel a sensation of relief, +if not of triumph, at this termination to the embarrassments under which +he had been labouring ever since, he listened to the oration of the wise +Leoninus upon New Years' Day. At last the Queen had formally acquiesced +in the action of the States, and in his acceptance of their offer. He now +saw himself undisputed "governor absolute," having been six months long a +suspected, discredited, almost disgraced man. It was natural that he +should express himself cheerfully. + +"My great comfort received, oh my most gracious Lady," he said, "by your +most favourable lines written by your own sacred hand, I did most humbly +acknowledge by my former letter; albeit I can no way make testimony of +enough of the great joy I took thereby. And seeing my wounded heart is by +this means almost made whole, I do pray unto God that either I may never +feel the like again from you, or not be suffered to live, rather than I +should fall again into those torments of your displeasure. Most gracious +Queen, I beseech you, therefore, make perfect that which you have begun. +Let not the common danger, nor any ill, incident to the place I serve you +in, be accompanied with greater troubles and fears indeed than all the +horrors of death can bring me. My strong hope doth now so assure me, as I +have almost won the battle against despair, and I do arm myself with as +many of those wonted comfortable conceits as may confirm my new revived +spirits, reposing myself evermore under the shadow of those blessed beams +that must yield the only nourishment to this disease." + +But however nourishing the shade of those blessed beams might prove to +Leicester's disease, it was not so easy to bring about a very sunny +condition in the Provinces. It was easier for Elizabeth to mend the +broken heart of the governor than to repair the damage which had been +caused to the commonwealth by her caprice and her deceit. The dispute +concerning the government absolute had died away, but the authority of +the Earl had got a "crack in it" which never could be handsomely made +whole. The States, during the long period of Leicester's +discredit--feeling more and more doubtful as to the secret intentions of +Elizabeth--disappointed in the condition of the auxiliary troops and in +the amount of supplies furnished from England, and, above all, having had +time to regret their delegation of a power which they began to find +agreeable to exercise with their own hands, became indisposed to entrust +the Earl with the administration and full inspection of their resources. +To the enthusiasm which had greeted the first arrival of Elizabeth's +representative had succeeded a jealous, carping, suspicious sentiment. +The two hundred thousand florins monthly were paid, according to the +original agreement, but the four hundred thousand of extra service-money +subsequently voted were withheld, and withheld expressly on account of +Heneage's original mission to disgrace the governor. + +"The late return of Sir Thomas Heneage," said Lord North, "hath put such +busses in their heads, as they march forward with leaden heels and +doubtful hearts." + +In truth, through the discredit cast by the Queen upon the Earl in this +important affair, the supreme authority was forced back into the hands of +the States, at the very moment when they had most freely divested +themselves of power. After the Queen had become more reasonable, it was +too late to induce them to part, a second time, so freely with the +immediate control of their own affairs. Leicester had become, to a +certain extent, disgraced and disliked by the Estates. He thought +himself, by the necessity of the case, forced to appeal to the people +against their legal representatives, and thus the foundation of a +nominally democratic party, in opposition to the municipal one, was +already laid. Nothing could be more unfortunate at that juncture; for we +shall, in future, find the Earl in perpetual opposition to the most +distinguished statesmen in the Provinces; to the very men indeed who had +been most influential in offering the sovereignty to England, and in +placing him in the position which he had so much coveted. No sooner +therefore had he been confirmed by Elizabeth in that high office than his +arrogance broke forth, and the quarrels between himself and the +representative body became incessant. + +"I stand now in somewhat better terms than I did," said he; "I was not in +case till of late to deal roundly with them as I have now done. I have +established a chamber of finances, against some of their wills, whereby I +doubt not to procure great benefit to increase our ability for payments +hereafter. The people I find still best devoted to her Majesty, though of +late many lewd practices have been used to withdraw their good wills. But +it will not be; they still pray God that her Majesty may be their +sovereign. She should then see what a contribution they will all bring +forth. But to the States they will never return, which will breed some +great mischief, there is such mislike of the States universally. I would +your Lordship had seen the case I had lived in among them these four +months, especially after her Majesty's mislike was found. You would then +marvel to see how I have waded, as I have done, through no small +obstacles, without help, counsel, or assistance." + +Thus the part which he felt at last called upon to enact was that +of an aristocratic demagogue, in perpetual conflict with the +burgher-representative body. + +It is now necessary to lift a corner of the curtain, by which some +international--or rather interpalatial--intrigues were concealed, as much +as possible, even from the piercing eyes of Walsingham. The Secretary +was, however, quite aware--despite the pains taken to deceive him--of the +nature of the plots and of the somewhat ignoble character of the actors +concerned in them. + + ETEXT EDITOR'S BOOKMARKS: + + A hard bargain when both parties are losers + Condemned first and inquired upon after + Disordered, and unknit state needs no shaking, but propping + Upper and lower millstones of royal wrath and loyal subserviency + Uttering of my choler doth little ease my grief or help my case + + + + +HISTORY OF THE UNITED NETHERLANDS + +From the Death of William the Silent to the Twelve Year's Truce--1609 + +By John Lothrop Motley + +History of the United Netherlands, Volume 46, 1586 + + + + +CHAPTER VIII. + + Forlorn Condition of Flanders--Parma's secret Negotiations with the + Queen--Grafigni and Bodman--Their Dealings with English Counsellors + --Duplicity of Farnese--Secret Offers of the English Peace-Party-- + Letters and Intrigues of De Loo--Drake's Victories and their Effect + --Parma's Perplexity and Anxiety--He is relieved by the News from + England--Queen's secret Letters to Parma--His Letters and + Instructions to Bodman--Bodman's secret Transactions at Greenwich-- + Walsingham detects and exposes the Plot--The Intriguers baffled-- + Queen's Letter to Parma and his to the King--Unlucky Results of the + Peace--Intrigues--Unhandsome Treatment of Leicester--Indignation of + the Earl and Walsingham--Secret Letter of Parma to Philip--Invasion + of England recommended--Details of the Project. + +Alexander Farnese and his heroic little army had been left by their +sovereign in as destitute a condition as that in which Lord Leicester and +his unfortunate "paddy persons" had found themselves since their arrival +in the Netherlands. These mortal men were but the weapons to be used and +broken in the hands of the two great sovereigns, already pitted against +each other in mortal combat. That the distant invisible potentate, the +work of whose life was to do his best to destroy all European +nationality, all civil and religious freedom, should be careless of the +instruments by which his purpose was to be effected, was but natural. It +is painful to reflect that the great champion of liberty and of +Protestantism was almost equally indifferent to the welfare of the human +creatures enlisted in her cause. Spaniards and Italians, English and +Irish, went half naked and half starving through the whole inclement +winter, and perished of pestilence in droves, after confronting the less +formidable dangers of battlefield and leaguer. Manfully and +sympathetically did the Earl of Leicester--while whining in absurd +hyperbole over the angry demeanour of his sovereign towards +himself-represent the imperative duty of an English government to succour +English troops. + +Alexander Farnese was equally plain-spoken to a sovereign with whom +plain-speaking was a crime. In bold, almost scornful language, the Prince +represented to Philip the sufferings and destitution of the little band +of heroes, by whom that magnificent military enterprise, the conquest of +Antwerp, had just been effected. "God will be weary of working miracles +for us," he cried, "and nothing but miracles can save the troops from +starving." There was no question of paying them their wages, there was no +pretence at keeping them reasonably provided with lodging and clothing, +but he asserted the undeniable proposition that they "could not pass +their lives without eating," and he implored his sovereign to send at +least money enough to buy the soldiers shoes. To go foodless and barefoot +without complaining, on the frozen swamps of Flanders, in January, was +more than was to be expected from Spaniards and Italians. The country +itself was eaten bare. The obedient Provinces had reaped absolute ruin as +the reward of their obedience. Bruges, Ghent, and the other cities of +Brabant and Flanders, once so opulent and powerful, had become mere dens +of thieves and paupers. Agriculture, commerce, manufactures--all were +dead. The condition of Antwerp was most tragical. The city, which had +been so recently the commercial centre of the earth, was reduced to +absolute beggary. Its world-wide traffic was abruptly terminated, for the +mouth of its great river was controlled by Flushing, and Flushing was in +the firm grasp of Sir Philip Sidney, as governor for the English Queen. +Merchants and bankers, who had lately been possessed of enormous +resources, were stripped of all. Such of the industrial classes as could +leave the place had wandered away to Holland and England. There was no +industry possible, for there was no market for the products of industry. +Antwerp was hemmed in by the enemy on every side, surrounded by royal +troops in a condition of open mutiny, cut off from the ocean, deprived of +daily bread, and yet obliged to contribute out of its poverty to the +maintenance of the Spanish soldiers, who were there for its destruction. +Its burghers, compelled to furnish four hundred thousand florins, as the +price of their capitulation, and at least six hundred thousand more for +the repairs of the dykes, the destruction of which, too long deferred, +had only spread desolation over the country without saving the city, and +over and above all forced to rebuild, at their own expense, that fatal +citadel, by which their liberty and lives were to be perpetually +endangered, might now regret at leisure that they had not been as +stedfast during their siege as had been the heroic inhabitants of Leyden +in their time of trial, twelve years before. Obedient Antwerp was, in +truth, most forlorn. But there was one consolation for her and for +Philip, one bright spot in the else universal gloom. The ecclesiastics +assured Parma, that, notwithstanding the frightful diminution in the +population of the city, they had confessed and absolved more persons that +Easter than they had ever done since the commencement of the revolt. +Great was Philip's joy in consequence. "You cannot imagine my +satisfaction," he wrote, "at the news you give me concerning last +Easter." + +With a ruined country, starving and mutinous troops, a bankrupt +exchequer, and a desperate and pauper population, Alexander Farnese was +not unwilling to gain time by simulated negotiations for peace. It was +strange, however, that so sagacious a monarch as the Queen of England +should suppose it for her interest to grant at that moment the very delay +which was deemed most desirable by her antagonist. + +Yet it was not wounded affection alone, nor insulted pride, nor startled +parsimony, that had carried the fury of the Queen to such a height on the +occasion of Leicester's elevation to absolute government. It was still +more, because the step was thought likely to interfere with the progress +of those negotiations into which the Queen had allowed herself to be +drawn. + +A certain Grafigni--a Genoese merchant residing much in London and in +Antwerp, a meddling, intrusive, and irresponsible kind of individual, +whose occupation was gone with the cessation of Flemish trade--had +recently made his appearance as a volunteer diplomatist. The principal +reason for accepting or rather for winking at his services, seemed to be +the possibility of disavowing him, on both sides, whenever it should be +thought advisable. He had a partner or colleague, too, named Bodman, who +seemed a not much more creditable negotiator than himself. The chief +director of the intrigue was, however, Champagny, brother of Cardinal +Granvelle, restored to the King's favour and disposed to atone by his +exuberant loyalty for his heroic patriotism on a former and most +memorable occasion. Andrea de Loo, another subordinate politician, was +likewise employed at various stages of the negotiation. + +It will soon be perceived that the part enacted by Burghley, Hatton, +Croft, and other counsellors, and even by the Queen herself, was not a +model of ingenuousness towards the absent Leicester and the +States-General. The gentlemen sent at various times to and from the Earl +and her Majesty's government; Davison, Shirley, Vavasor, Heneage, and the +rest--had all expressed themselves in the strongest language concerning +the good faith and the friendliness of the Lord-Treasurer and the +Vice-Chamberlain, but they were not so well informed as they would have +been, had they seen the private letters of Parma to Philip II. + +Walsingham, although kept in the dark as much as it was possible, +discovered from time to time the mysterious practices of his political +antagonists, and warned the Queen of the danger and dishonour she was +bringing upon herself. Elizabeth, when thus boldly charged, equivocated +and stormed alternately. She authorized Walsingham to communicate the +secrets--which he had thus surprised--to the States-General, and then +denied having given any such orders. + +In truth, Walsingham was only entrusted with such portions of the +negotiations as he had been able, by his own astuteness, to divine; and +as he was very much a friend to the Provinces and to Leicester, he never +failed to keep them instructed, to the best of his ability. It must be +confessed, however, that the shuffling and paltering among great men and +little men, at that period, forms a somewhat painful subject of +contemplation at the present day. + +Grafigni having some merchandise to convey from Antwerp to London, went +early in the year to the Prince of Parma, at Brussels, in order to +procure a passport. They entered into some conversation upon the misery +of the country, and particularly concerning the troubles to which the +unfortunate merchants had been exposed. Alexander expressed much sympathy +with the commercial community, and a strong desire that the ancient +friendship between his master and the Queen of England might be restored. +Grafigni assured the Prince--as the result of his own observation in +England--that the Queen participated in those pacific sentiments: "You +are going to England," replied the Prince, "and you may say to the +ministers of her Majesty, that, after my allegiance to my King, I am most +favourably and affectionately inclined towards her. If it pleases them +that I, as Alexander Farnese, should attempt to bring about an accord, +and if our commissioners could be assured of a hearing in England, I +would take care that everything should be conducted with due regard to +the honour and reputation of her Majesty." + +Grafigni then asked for a written letter of credence. "That cannot be," +replied Alexander; "but if you return to me I shall believe your report, +and then a proper person can be sent, with authority from the King to +treat with her Majesty." + +Grafigni proceeded to England, and had an interview with Lord Cobham. A +few days later that nobleman gave the merchant a general assurance that +the Queen had always felt a strong inclination to maintain firm +friendship with the House of Burgundy. Nevertheless, as he proceeded to +state, the bad policy of the King's ministers, and the enterprises +against her Majesty, had compelled her to provide for her own security +and that of her realm by remedies differing in spirit from that good +inclination. Being however a Christian princess, willing to leave +vengeance to the Lord and disposed to avoid bloodshed, she was ready to +lend her ear to a negotiation for peace, if it were likely to be a +sincere and secure one. Especially she was pleased that his Highness of +Parma should act as mediator of such a treaty, as she considered him a +most just and honourable prince in all his promises and actions. Her +Majesty would accordingly hold herself in readiness to receive the +honourable commissioners alluded to, feeling sure that every step taken +by his Highness would comport with her honour and safety. + +At about the same time the other partner in this diplomatic enterprise, +William Bodman, communicated to Alexander, the result of his observations +in England. He stated that Lords Burghley, Buckhurst, and Cobham, Sir +Christopher Hatton, and Comptroller Croft, were secretly desirous of +peace with Spain and that they had seized the recent opportunity of her +pique against the Earl of Leicester to urge forward these underhand +negotiations. Some progress had been made; but as no accredited +commissioner arrived from the Prince of Parma, and as Leicester was +continually writing earnest letters against peace, the efforts of these +counsellors had slackened. Bodman found them all, on his arrival, anxious +as he said, "to get their necks out of the matter;" declaring everything +which had been done to be pure matter of accident, entirely without the +concurrence of the Queen, and each seeking to outrival the other in the +good graces of her Majesty. Grafigni informed Bodman, however, that Lord +Cobham was quite to be depended upon in the affair, and would deal with +him privately, while Lord Burghley would correspond with Andrea de Loo at +Antwerp. Moreover, the servant of Comptroller Croft would direct Bodman +as to his course, and would give him daily instructions. + +Now it so happened that this servant of Croft, Norris by name, was a +Papist, a man of bad character, and formerly a spy of the Duke of Anjou. +"If your Lordship or myself should use such instruments as this," wrote +Walsingham to Leicester, "I know we should bear no small reproach; but it +is the good hap of hollow and doubtful men to be best thought of." Bodman +thought the lords of the peace-faction and their adherents not +sufficiently strong to oppose the other party with success. He assured +Farnese that almost all the gentlemen and the common people of England +stood ready to risk their fortunes and to go in person to the field to +maintain the cause of the Queen and religious liberty; and that the +chance of peace was desperate unless something should turn the tide, such +as, for example, the defeat of Drake, or an invasion by Philip of Ireland +or Scotland. + +As it so happened that Drake was just then engaged in a magnificent +career of victory, sweeping the Spanish Main and startling the nearest +and the most remote possessions of the King with English prowess, his +defeat was not one of the cards to be relied on by the peace-party in the +somewhat deceptive game which they had commenced. Yet, strange to say, +they used, or attempted to use, those splendid triumphs as if they had +been disasters. + +Meantime there was an active but very secret correspondence between Lord +Cobham, Lord Burghley, Sir James Croft, and various subordinate +personages in England, on the one side, and Champagny, President +Richardot, La Motte, governor of Gravelines, Andrea de Loo, Grafigni, and +other men in the obedient Provinces, more or less in Alexander's +confidence, on the other side. Each party was desirous of forcing or +wheedling the antagonist to show his hand. "You were employed to take +soundings off the English coast in the Duke of Norfolk's time," said +Cobham to La Motte: "you remember the Duke's fate. Nevertheless, her +Majesty hates war, and it only depends on the King to have a firm and +lasting peace." + +"You must tell Lord Cobham," said Richardot to La Motte, "that you are +not at liberty to go into a correspondence, until assured of the +intentions of Queen Elizabeth. Her Majesty ought to speak first, in order +to make her good-will manifest," and so on. + +"The 'friend' can confer with you," said Richardot to Champagny; "but his +Highness is not to appear to know anything at all about it. The Queen +must signify her intentions." + +"You answered Champagny correctly," said Burghley to De Loo, "as to what +I said last winter concerning her Majesty's wishes in regard to a +pacification. The Netherlands must be compelled to return to obedience to +the King; but their ancient privileges are to be maintained. You omitted, +however, to say a word about toleration, in the Provinces, of the +reformed religion. But I said then, as I say now, that this is a +condition indispensable to peace." + +This was a somewhat important omission on the part of De Loo, and gives +the measure of his conscientiousness or his capacity as a negotiator. +Certainly for the Lord-Treasurer of England to offer, on the part of her +Majesty, to bring about the reduction of her allies under the yoke which +they had thrown off without her assistance, and this without leave asked +of them, and with no provision for the great principle of religious +liberty, which was the cause of the revolt, was a most flagitious +trifling with the honour of Elizabeth and of England. Certainly the more +this mysterious correspondence is examined, the more conclusive is the +justification of the vague and instinctive jealousy felt by Leicester and +the States-General as to English diplomacy during the winter and spring +of 1586. + +Burghley summoned De Loo, accordingly, to recall to his memory all that +had been privately said to him on the necessity of protecting the +reformed religion in the Provinces. If a peace were to be perpetual, +toleration was indispensable, he observed, and her Majesty was said to +desire this condition most earnestly. + +The Lord-Treasurer also made the not unreasonable suggestion, that, in +case of a pacification, it would be necessary to provide that English +subjects--peaceful traders, mariners, and the like--should no longer be +shut up in the Inquisition prisons of Spain and Portugal, and there +starved to death, as, with great multitudes, had already been the case. + +Meantime Alexander, while encouraging and directing all these underhand +measures, was carefully impressing upon his master that he was not, in +the least degree; bound by any such negotiations. "Queen Elizabeth," he +correctly observed to Philip, "is a woman: she is also by no means fond +of expense. The kingdom, accustomed to repose, is already weary of war +therefore, they are all pacifically inclined." "It has been intimated to +me," he said, "that if I would send a properly qualified person, who +should declare that your Majesty had not absolutely forbidden the coming +of Lord Leicester, such an agent would be well received, and perhaps the +Earl would be recalled." Alexander then proceeded, with the coolness +befitting a trusted governor of Philip II., to comment upon the course +which he was pursuing. He could at any time denounce the negotiations +which he was secretly prompting. Meantime immense advantages could be +obtained by the deception practised upon an enemy whose own object was to +deceive. + +The deliberate treachery of the scheme was cynically enlarged upon, and +its possible results mathematically calculated: + +Philip was to proceed with the invasion while Alexander was going on with +the negotiation. If, meanwhile, they could receive back Holland and +Zeeland from the hands of England, that would be an immense success. The +Prince intimated a doubt, however, as to so fortunate a result, because, +in dealing with heretics and persons of similar quality, nothing but +trickery was to be expected. The chief good to be hoped for was to "chill +the Queen in her plots, leagues, and alliances," and during the chill, to +carry forward their own great design. To slacken not a whit in their +preparations, to "put the Queen to sleep," and, above all, not to leave +the French for a moment unoccupied with internal dissensions and civil +war; such was the game of the King and the governor, as expounded between +themselves. + +President Richardot, at the same time, stated to Cardinal Granvelle that +the English desire for peace was considered certain at Brussels. Grafigni +had informed the Prince of Parma and his counsellors that the Queen was +most amicably disposed, and that there would be no trouble on the point +of religion, her Majesty not wishing to obtain more than she would +herself be willing to grant. "In this," said Richardot, "there is both +hard and soft;" for knowing that the Spanish game was deception, pure and +simple, the excellent President could not bring himself to suspect a +possible grain of good faith in the English intentions. Much anxiety was +perpetually felt in the French quarter, her Majesty's government being +supposed to be secretly preparing an invasion of the obedient Netherlands +across the French frontier, in combination, not with the Bearnese, but +with Henry III. So much in the dark were even the most astute +politicians. "I can't feel satisfied in this French matter," said the +President: "we mustn't tickle ourselves to make ourselves laugh." +Moreover, there was no self-deception nor self-tickling possible as to +the unmitigated misery of the obedient Netherlands. Famine was a more +formidable foe than Frenchmen, Hollanders, and Englishmen combined; so +that Richardot avowed that the "negotiation would be indeed holy," if it +would restore Holland and Zeeland to the King without fighting. The +prospect seemed on the whole rather dismal to loyal Netherlanders like +the old leaguing, intriguing, Hispamolized president of the privy +council. "I confess," said he plaintively, "that England needs +chastisement; but I don't see how we are to give it to her. Only let us +secure Holland and Zeeland, and then we shall always find a stick +whenever we like to beat the dog." + +Meantime Andrea de Loo had been bustling and buzzing about the ears of +the chief counsellors at the English court during all the early spring. +Most busily he had been endeavouring to efface the prevalent suspicion +that Philip and Alexander were only trifling by these informal +negotiations. We have just seen whether or not there was ground for that +suspicion. De Loo, being importunate, however--"as he usually was," +according to his own statement--obtained in Burghley's hand a +confirmation, by order of the Queen, of De Loo's--letter of the 26th +December. The matter of religion gave the worthy merchant much +difficulty, and he begged Lord Buckhurst, the Lord Treasurer, and many +other counsellors, not to allow this point of toleration to ruin the +whole affair; "for," said he, "his Majesty will never permit any exercise +of the reformed religion." + +At last Buckhurst sent for him, and in presence of Comptroller Croft, +gave him information that he had brought the Queen to this conclusion: +firstly, that she would be satisfied with as great a proportion of +religious toleration for Holland, Zeeland, and the other United +Provinces, as his Majesty could concede with safety to his conscience and +his honour; secondly, that she required an act of amnesty; thirdly, that +she claimed reimbursement by Philip for the money advanced by her to the +States. + +Certainly a more wonderful claim was never made than this--a demand upon +an absolute monarch for indemnity for expenses incurred in fomenting a +rebellion of his own subjects. The measure of toleration proposed for the +Provinces--the conscience, namely, of the greatest bigot ever born into +the world--was likely to prove as satisfactory as the claim for damages +propounded by the most parsimonious sovereign in Christendom. It was, +however, stipulated that the nonconformists of Holland and Zeeland, who +should be forced into exile, were to have their property administered by +papist trustees; and further, that the Spanish inquisition was not to be +established in the Netherlands. Philip could hardly demand better terms +than these last, after a career of victory. That they should be offered +now by Elizabeth was hardly compatible with good faith to the States. + +On account of Lord Burghley's gout, it was suggested that the negotiators +had better meet in England, as it would be necessary for him to take the +lead in the matters and as he was but an indifferent traveller. Thus, +according to De Loo, the Queen was willing to hand over the United +Provinces to Philip, and to toss religious toleration to the winds, if +she could only get back the seventy thousand pounds--more or less--which +she had invested in an unpromising speculation. A few weeks later, and at +almost the very moment when Elizabeth had so suddenly overturned +her last vial of wrath upon the discomfited Heneage for having +communicated--according to her express command--the fact of the pending +negotiations to the Netherland States; at that very instant Parma was +writing secretly, and in cipher, to Philip. His communication--could Sir +Thomas have read it--might have partly explained her Majesty's rage. + +Parma had heard, he said, through Bodman, from Comptroller Croft, that +the Queen would willingly receive a proper envoy. It was very easy to +see, he observed, that the English counsellors were seeking every means +of entering into communication with Spain, and that they were doing so +with the participation of the Queen! Lord-Treasurer Burghley and +Comptroller Croft had expressed surprise that the Prince had not yet sent +a secret agent to her Majesty, under pretext of demanding explanations +concerning Lord Leicester's presence in the Provinces, but in reality to +treat for peace. Such an agent, it had been intimated, would be well +received. The Lord-Treasurer and the Comptroller would do all in their +power to advance the negotiation, so that, with their aid and with the +pacific inclination of the Queen, the measures proposed in favour of +Leicester would be suspended, and perhaps the Earl himself and all the +English would be recalled. + +The Queen was further represented as taking great pains to excuse both +the expedition of Sir Francis Drake to the Indies, and the mission of +Leicester to the Provinces. She was said to throw the whole blame of +these enterprises upon Walsingham and other ill-intentioned personages, +and to avow that she now understood matters better; so that, if Parma +would at once send an envoy, peace would, without question, soon be made. + +Parma had expressed his gratification at these hopeful dispositions on +the part of Burghley and Croft, and held out hopes of sending an agent to +treat with them, if not directly with her Majesty. For some time +past--according to the Prince--the English government had not seemed to +be honestly seconding the Earl of Leicester, nor to correspond with his +desires. "This makes me think," he said, "that the counsellors +before-mentioned, being his rivals, are trying to trip him up." + +In such a caballing, prevaricating age, it is difficult to know which of +all the plotters and counterplotters engaged in these intrigues could +accomplish the greatest amount of what--for the sake of diluting in nine +syllables that which could be more forcibly expressed in one--was then +called diplomatic dissimulation. It is to be feared, notwithstanding her +frequent and vociferous denials, that the robes of the "imperial +votaress" were not so unsullied as could be wished. We know how loudly +Leicester had complained--we have seen how clearly Walsingham could +convict; but Elizabeth, though convicted, could always confute: for an +absolute sovereign, even without resorting to Philip's syllogisms of axe +and faggot, was apt in the sixteenth century to have the best of an +argument with private individuals. + +The secret statements of Parma-made, not for public effect, but for the +purpose of furnishing his master with the most accurate information he +could gather as to English policy--are certainly entitled to +consideration. They were doubtless founded upon the statements of +individuals rejoicing in no very elevated character; but those +individuals had no motive to deceive their patron. If they clashed with +the vehement declarations of very eminent personages, it must be +admitted, on the other hand, that they were singularly in accordance with +the silent eloquence of important and mysterious events. + +As to Alexander Farnese--without deciding the question whether Elizabeth +and Burghley were deceiving Walsingham and Leicester, or only trying to +delude Philip and himself--he had no hesitation, of course, on his part, +in recommending to Philip the employment of unlimited dissimulation. +Nothing could be more ingenuous than the intercourse between the King and +his confidential advisers. It was perfectly understood among them that +they were always to deceive every one, upon every occasion. Only let them +be false, and it was impossible to be wholly wrong; but grave mistakes +might occur from occasional deviations into sincerity. It was no question +at all, therefore, that it was Parma's duty to delude Elizabeth and +Burghley. Alexander's course was plain. He informed his master that he +would keep these difficulties alive as much as it was possible. In order +to "put them all to sleep with regard to the great enterprise of the +invasion," he would send back Bodman to Burghley and Croft, and thus keep +this unofficial negotiation upon its legs. The King was quite +uncommitted, and could always disavow what had been done. Meanwhile he +was gaining, and his adversaries losing, much precious time. "If by this +course," said Parma, "we can induce the English to hand over to us the +places which they hold in Holland and Zeeland, that will be a great +triumph." Accordingly he urged the King not to slacken, in the least, his +preparations for invasion, and, above all, to have a care that the French +were kept entangled and embarrassed among themselves, which was a most +substantial point. + +Meantime Europe was ringing with the American successes of the bold +corsair Drake. San Domingo, Porto Rico, Santiago, Cartliagena, Florida, +were sacked and destroyed, and the supplies drawn so steadily from the +oppression of the Western World to maintain Spanish tyranny in Europe, +were for a time extinguished. Parma was appalled at these triumphs of the +Sea-King--"a fearful man to the King of Spain"--as Lord Burghley well +observed. The Spanish troops were starving in Flanders, all Flanders +itself was starving, and Philip, as usual, had sent but insignificant +remittances to save his perishing soldiers. Parma had already exhausted +his credit. Money was most difficult to obtain in such a forlorn country; +and now the few rich merchants and bankers of Antwerp that were left +looked very black at these crushing news from America. "They are drawing +their purse-strings very tight," said Alexander, "and will make no +accommodation. The most contemplative of them ponder much over this +success of Drake, and think that your Majesty will forget our matters +here altogether." For this reason he informed the King that it would be +advisable to drop all further negotiation with England for the time, as +it was hardly probable that, with such advantages gained by the Queen, +she would be inclined to proceed in the path which had been just secretly +opened. Moreover, the Prince was in a state of alarm as to the intentions +of France. Mendoza and Tassis had given him to understand that a very +good feeling prevailed between the court of Henry and of Elizabeth, and +that the French were likely to come to a pacification among themselves. +In this the Spanish envoys were hardly anticipating so great an effect as +we have seen that they had the right to do from their own indefatigable +exertions; for, thanks to their zeal, backed by the moderate subsidies +furnished by their master, the civil war in France already seemed likely +to be as enduring as that of the Netherlands. But Parma--still quite in +the dark as to French politics--was haunted by the vision of seventy +thousand foot and six thousand horses ready to be let slip upon him at +any, moment, out of a pacified and harmonious France; while he had +nothing but a few starving and crippled regiments to withstand such an +invasion. When all these events should have taken place, and France, in +alliance with England, should have formally declared war against Spain, +Alexander protested that he should have learned nothing new. + +The Prince was somewhat mistaken as to political affairs; but his doubts +concerning his neighbours, blended with the forlorn condition of himself +and army, about which there was no doubt at all, showed the exigencies of +his situation. In the midst of such embarrassments it is impossible not +to admire his heroism as a military chieftain, and his singular +adroitness as a diplomatist. He had painted for his sovereign a most +faithful and horrible portrait of the obedient Provinces. The soil was +untilled; the manufactories had all stopped; trade had ceased to exist. +It was a pity only to look upon the raggedness of his soldiers. No +language could describe the misery of the reconciled Provinces--Artois, +Hainault, Flanders. The condition of Bruges would melt the hardest heart; +other cities were no better; Antwerp was utterly ruined; its inhabitants +were all starving. The famine throughout the obedient Netherlands was +such as had not been known for a century. The whole country had been +picked bare by the troops, and the plough was not put into the ground. +Deputations were constantly with him from Bruges, Dendermonde, +Bois-le-Duc, Brussels, Antwerp, Nymegen, proving to him by the most +palpable evidence that the whole population of those cities had almost +literally nothing to eat. He had nothing, however, but exhortations to +patience to feed them withal. He was left without a groat even to save +his soldiers from starving, and he wildly and bitterly, day after day, +implored his sovereign for aid. These pictures are not the sketches of a +historian striving for effect, but literal transcripts from the most +secret revelations of the Prince himself to his sovereign. On the other +hand, although Leicester's complaints of the destitution of the English +troops in the republic were almost as bitter, yet the condition of the +United Provinces was comparatively healthy. Trade, external and internal, +was increasing daily. Distant commercial and military expeditions were +fitted out, manufactures were prosperous, and the war of independence was +gradually becoming--strange to say--a source of prosperity to the new +commonwealth. + +Philip--being now less alarmed than his nephew concerning French affairs, +and not feeling so keenly the misery of the obedient Provinces, or the +wants of the Spanish army--sent to Alexander six hundred thousand ducats, +by way of Genoa. In the letter submitted by his secretary recording this +remittance, the King made, however, a characteristic marginal note:--"See +if it will not be as well to tell him something concerning the two +hundred thousand ducats to be deducted for Mucio, for fear of more +mischief, if the Prince should expect the whole six hundred thousand." + +Accordingly Mucio got the two hundred thousand. One-third of the meagre +supply destined for the relief of the King's starving and valiant little +army in the Netherlands was cut off to go into the pockets of the +intriguing Duke of Guise. "We must keep the French," said Philip, "in a +state of confusion at home, and feed their civil war. We must not allow +them to come to a general peace, which would be destruction for the +Catholics. I know you will put a good face on the matter; and, after all, +'tis in the interest of the Netherlands. Moreover, the money shall be +immediately refunded." + +Alexander was more likely to make a wry face, notwithstanding his views +of the necessity of fomenting the rebellion against the House of Valois. +Certainly if a monarch intended to conquer such countries as France, +England, and Holland, without stirring from his easy chair in the +Escorial, it would have been at least as well--so Alexander thought--to +invest a little more capital in the speculation. No monarch ever dreamed +of arriving at universal empire with less personal fatigue or exposure, +or at a cheaper rate, than did Philip II. His only fatigue was at his +writing-table. But even here his merit was of a subordinate description. +He sat a great while at a time. He had a genius for sitting; but he now +wrote few letters himself. A dozen words or so, scrawled in hieroglyphics +at the top, bottom, or along the margin of the interminable despatches of +his secretaries, contained the suggestions, more or less luminous, which +arose in his mind concerning public affairs. But he held firmly to his +purpose: He had devoted his life to the extermination of Protestantism, +to the conquest of France and England, to the subjugation of Holland. +These were vast schemes. A King who should succeed in such enterprises, +by his personal courage and genius, at the head of his armies, or by +consummate diplomacy, or by a masterly system of finance-husbanding and +concentrating the resources of his almost boundless realms--might be in +truth commended for capacity. Hitherto however Philip's triumph had +seemed problematical; and perhaps something more would be necessary than +letters to Parma, and paltry remittances to Mucio, notwithstanding +Alexander's splendid but local victories in Flanders. + +Parma, although in reality almost at bay, concealed his despair, and +accomplished wonders in the field. The military events during the spring +and summer of 1586 will be sketched in a subsequent chapter. For the +present it is necessary to combine into a complete whole the subterranean +negotiations between Brussels and England. + +Much to his surprise and gratification, Parma found that the peace-party +were not inclined to change their views in consequence of the triumphs of +Drake. He soon informed the King that--according to Champagny and +Bodman--the Lord Treasurer, the Comptroller, Lord Cobham, and Sir +Christopher Hatton, were more pacific than they had ever been. These four +were represented by Grafigni as secretly in league against Leicester and +Walsingham, and very anxious to bring about a reconciliation between the +crowns of England and Spain. The merchant-diplomatist, according to his +own statement, was expressly sent by Queen Elizabeth to the prince of +Parma, although without letter of credence or signed instructions, but +with the full knowledge and approbation of the four counsellors just +mentioned. He assured Alexander that the Queen and the majority of her +council felt a strong desire for peace, and had manifested much +repentance for what had been done. They had explained their proceedings +by the necessity of self-defence. They had avowed--in case they should be +made sure of peace--that they should, not with reluctance and against +their will, but, on the contrary, with the utmost alacrity and at once, +surrender to the King of Spain the territory which they possessed in the +Netherlands, and especially the fortified towns in Holland and Zeeland; +for the English object had never been conquest. Parma had also been +informed of the Queen's strong desire that he should be employed as +negotiator, on account of her great confidence in his sincerity. They had +expressed much satisfaction on hearing that he was about to send an agent +to England, and had protested themselves rejoiced at Drake's triumphs, +only because of their hope that a peace with Spain would thus be rendered +the easier of accomplishment. They were much afraid, according to +Grafigni, of Philip's power, and dreaded a Spanish invasion of their +country, in conjunction with the Pope. They were now extremely anxious +that Parma--as he himself informed the King--should send an agent of good +capacity, in great secrecy, to England. + +The Comptroller had said that he had pledged himself to such a result, +and if it failed, that they would probably cut off his head. The four +counsellors were excessively solicitous for the negotiation, and each of +them was expecting to gain favour by advancing it to the best of his +ability. + +Parma hinted at the possibility that all these professions were false, +and that the English were only intending to keep the King from the +contemplated invasion. At the same time he drew Philip's attention to the +fact that Burghley and his party had most evidently been doing everything +in their power to obstruct Leicester's progress in the Netherlands and to +keep back the reinforcements of troops and money which he so much +required. + +No doubt these communications of Parma to the King were made upon the +faith of an agent not over-scrupulous, and of no elevated or recognised +rank in diplomacy. It must be borne in mind, however, that he had been +made use of by both parties; perhaps because it would be easy to throw +off, and discredit, him whenever such a step should be convenient; and +that, on the other hand, coming fresh from Burghley and the rest into the +presence of the keen-eyed Farnese, he would hardly invent for his +employer a budget of falsehoods. That man must have been a subtle +negotiator who could outwit such a statesman as Burghley--and the other +counsellors of Elizabeth, and a bold one who could dare to trifle on a +momentous occasion with Alexander of Parma. + +Leicester thought Burghley very much his friend, and so thought Davison +and Heneage; and the Lord-Treasurer had, in truth, stood stoutly by the +Earl in the affair of the absolute governorship;--"a matter more severe +and cumbersome to him and others," said Burghley, "than any whatsoever +since he was a counsellor." But there is no doubt that these negotiations +were going forward all the spring and summer, that they were most +detrimental to Leicester's success, and that they were kept--so far as it +was possible--a profound secret from him, from Walsingham, and from the +States-General. Nothing was told them except what their own astuteness +had discovered beforehand; and the game of the counsellors--so far as +their attitude towards Leicester and Walsingham was concerned--seems both +disingenuous and impolitic. + +Parma, it was to be feared, was more than a match for the English +governor-general in the field; and it was certainly hopeless for poor old +Comptroller Croft, even though backed by the sagacious Burghley, to +accomplish so great an amount of dissimulation in a year as the Spanish +cabinet, without effort, could compass in a week. Nor were they +attempting to do so. It is probable that England was acting towards +Philip in much better faith than he deserved, or than Parma believed; but +it is hardly to be wondered at that Leicester should think himself +injured by being kept perpetually in the dark. + +Elizabeth was very impatient at not receiving direct letters from Parma, +and her anxiety on the subject explains much of her caprice during the +quarrel about the governor-generalship. Many persons in the Netherlands +thought those violent scenes a farce, and a farce that had been arranged +with Leicester beforehand. In this they were mistaken; for an examination +of the secret correspondence of the period reveals the motives--which to +contemporaries were hidden--of many strange transactions. The Queen was, +no doubt, extremely anxious, and with cause, at the tempest slowly +gathering over her head; but the more the dangers thickened, the more was +her own official language to those in high places befitting the sovereign +of England. + +She expressed her surprise to Farnese that he had not written to her on +the subject of the Grafigni and Bodman affair. The first, she said, was +justified in all which he had narrated, save in his assertion that she +had sent him. The other had not obtained audience, because he had not +come provided with any credentials, direct or indirect. Having now +understood from Andrea de Loo and the Seigneur de Champagny that Parma +had the power to conclude a peace, which he seemed very much to desire, +she observed that it was not necessary for him to be so chary in +explaining the basis of the proposed negotiations. It was better to enter +into a straightforward path, than by ambiguous words to spin out to great +length matters which princes should at once conclude. + +"Do not suppose," said the Queen, "that I am seeking what belongs to +others. God forbid. I seek only that which is mine own. But be sure that +I will take good heed of the sword which threatens me with destruction, +nor think that I am so craven-spirited as to endure a wrong, or to place +myself at the mercy of my enemy. Every week I see advertisements and +letters from Spain that this year shall witness the downfall of England; +for the Spaniards--like the hunter who divided, with great liberality, +among his friends the body and limbs of the wolf, before it had been +killed--have partitioned this kingdom and that of Ireland before the +conquest has been effected. But my royal heart is no whit appalled by +such threats. I trust, with the help of the Divine hand--which has thus +far miraculously preserved me--to smite all these braggart powers into +the dust, and to preserve my honour, and the kingdoms which He has given +me for my heritage. + +"Nevertheless, if you have authority to enter upon and to conclude this +negotiation, you will find my ears open to hear your propositions; and I +tell you further, if a peace is to be made, that I wish you to be the +mediator thereof. Such is the affection I bear you, notwithstanding that +some letters, written by your own hand, might easily have effaced such +sentiments from my mind." + +Soon afterwards, Bodman was again despatched to England, Grafigni being +already there. He was provided with unsigned instructions, according to +which he was to say that the Prince, having heard of the Queen's good +intentions, had despatched him and Grafigni to her court. They were to +listen to any suggestions made by the Queen to her ministers; but they +were to do nothing but listen. If the counsellors should enter into their +grievances against his Majesty, and ask for explanations, the agents were +to say that they had no authority or instructions to speak for so great +and Christian a monarch. Thus they were to cut the thread of any such +discourse, or any other observations not to the purpose. + +Silence, in short, was recommended, first and last, as the one great +business of their mission; and it was unlucky that men whose talent for +taciturnity was thus signally relied upon should be somewhat remarkable +for loquacity. Grafigni was also the bearer of a letter from Alexander to +the Queen--of which Bodman received a copy--but it was strictly enjoined +upon them to keep the letter, their instructions, and the objects of +their journey, a secret from all the world. + +The letter of the Prince consisted mainly of complimentary flourishes. He +had heard, he said, all that Agostino Grafigni had communicated, and he +now begged her Majesty to let him understand the course which it was +proper to take; assuring her of his gratitude for her good opinion +touching his sincerity, and his desire to save the effusion of blood, and +so on; concluding of course with expressions of most profound +consideration and devotion. + +Early in July Bodman arrived in London. He found Grafigni in very low +spirits. He had been with Lord Cobham, and was much disappointed with his +reception, for Cobham--angry that Grafigni had brought no commission from +the King--had refused to receive Parma's letter to the Queen, and had +expressed annoyance that Bodman should be employed on this mission, +having heard that lie was very ill-tempered and passionate. The same +evening, he had been sent for by Lord Burghley--who had accepted the +letter for her Majesty without saying a word--and on the following +morning, he had been taken to task, by several counsellors, on the ground +that the Prince, in that communication, had stated that the Queen had +expressed a desire for peace. + +It has just been shown that there was no such intimation at all in the +letter; but as neither Grafigni nor Bodman had read the epistle itself, +but only the copy furnished them, they could merely say that such an +assertion; if made by the Prince, had been founded on no statement of +theirs. Bodman consoled his colleague, as well as he could, by assurances +that when the letter was fairly produced, their vindication would be +complete, and Grafigni, upon that point, was comforted. He was, however, +very doleful in general, and complained bitterly of Burghley and the +other English counsellors. He said that they had forced him, against his +will, to make this journey to Brussels, that they had offered him +presents, that they would leave him no rest in his own house, but had +made him neglect all his private business, and caused him a great loss of +time and money, in order that he might serve them. They had manifested +the strongest desire that Parma should open this communication, and had +led him to expect a very large recompense for his share in the +transaction. "And now," said Grafigni to his colleague, with great +bitterness, "I find no faith nor honour in them at all. They don't keep +their word, and every one of them is trying to slide out of the very +business, in which each was, but the other day, striving to outrival the +other, in order that it might be brought to a satisfactory conclusion." + +After exploding in this way to Bodman, he went back to Cobham, and +protested, with angry vehemence, that Parma had never written such a word +to the Queen, and that so it would prove, if the letter were produced. + +Next day, Bodman was sent for to Greenwich, where her Majesty was, as +usual, residing. A secret pavilion was indicated to him, where he was to +stay until sunset. When that time arrived, Lord Cobham's secretary came +with great mystery, and begged the emissary to follow him, but at a +considerable distance, towards the apartments of Lord Burghley in the +palace. Arriving there, they found the Lord Treasurer accompanied by +Cobham and Croft. Burghley instantly opened the interview by a defence of +the Queen's policy in sending troops to the Netherlands, and in espousing +their cause, and then the conversation proceeded to the immediate matter +in hand. + +Bodman (after listening respectfully to the Lord-Treasurer's +observations).--"His Highness has, however, been extremely surprised that +my Lord Leicester should take an oath, as governor-general of the King's +Provinces. He is shocked likewise by the great demonstrations of +hostility on the part of her Majesty." + +Burghley.--"The oath was indispensable. The Queen was obliged to tolerate +the step on account of the great urgency of the States to have a head. +But her Majesty has commanded us to meet you on this occasion, in order +to hear what you have to communicate on the part of the Prince of Parma." + +Bodman (after a profusion of complimentary phrases).--"I have no +commission to say anything. I am only instructed to listen to anything +that may be said to me, and that her Majesty may be pleased to command." + +Burghley.--"'Tis very discreet to begin thus. But time is pressing, and +it is necessary to be brief. We beg you therefore to communicate, without +further preface, that which you have been charged to say." + +Bodman.--"I can only repeat to your Lordship, that I have been charged to +say nothing." + +After this Barmecide feast of diplomacy, to partake of which it seemed +hardly necessary that the guests should have previously attired +themselves in such garments of mystery, the parties separated for the +night. + +In spite of their care, it would seem that the Argus-eyed Walsingham had +been able to see after sunset; for, the next evening--after Bodman had +been introduced with the same precautions to the same company, in the +same place--Burghley, before a word had been spoken, sent for Sir +Francis. + +Bodman was profoundly astonished, for he had been expressly informed that +Walsingham was to know nothing of the transaction. The Secretary of State +could not so easily be outwitted, however, and he was soon seated at the +table, surveying the scene, with his grave melancholy eyes, which had +looked quite through the whole paltry intrigue. + +Burghley.--"Her Majesty has commanded us to assemble together, in order +that, in my presence, it may be made clear that she did not commence this +negotiation. Let Grafigni be summoned." + +Grafigni immediately made his appearance. + +Burghley.--"You will please to explain how you came to enter into this +business." + +Grafigni.--"The first time I went to the States, it was on my private +affairs; I had no order from any one to treat with the Prince of Parma. +His Highness, having accidentally heard, however, that I resided in +England, expressed a wish to see me. I had an interview with the Prince. +I told him, out of my own head, that the Queen had a strong inclination +to hear propositions of peace, and that--as some of her counsellors were +of the same opinion--I believed that if his Highness should send a +negotiator, some good would be effected. The Prince replied that he felt +by no means sure of such a result; but that, if I should come back from +England, sent by the Queen or her council, he would then despatch a +person with a commission to treat of peace. This statement, together with +other matters that had passed between us, was afterwards drawn up in +writing by command of his Highness." + +Burghley.--"Who bade you say, after your second return to Brussels, that +you came on the part of the Queen? For you well know that her Majesty did +not send you." + +Grafigni.--"I never said so. I stated that my Lord Cobham had set down in +writing what I was to say to the Prince of Parma. It will never appear +that I represented the Queen as desiring peace. I said that her Majesty +would lend her ears to peace. Bodman knows this too; and he has a copy of +the letter of his Highness." + +Walsingham to Bodman.--"Have you the copy still?" + +Bodman.--"Yes, Mr. Secretary." + +Walsingham.--"Please to produce it, in order that this matter may be +sifted to the bottom." + +Bodman.--"I supplicate your Lorships to pardon me, but indeed that cannot +be. My instructions forbid my showing the letter." + +Walsingham (rising).--"I will forthwith go to her Majesty, and fetch the +original." A pause. Mr. Secretary returns in a few minutes, having +obtained the document, which the Queen, up to that time, had kept by her, +without showing it to any one. + +Walsingham (after reading the letter attentively, and aloud).--"There is +not such a word, as that her Majesty is desirous of peace, in the whole +paper." + +Burghley (taking the letter, and slowly construing it out of Italian into +English).--"It would seem that his Highness hath written this, assuming +that the Signor Grafigni came from the Queen, although he had received +his instructions from my Lord Cobham. It is plain, however, that the +negotiation was commenced accidentally." + +Comptroller Croft (nervously, and with the air of a man fearful of +getting into trouble).--"You know very well, Mr. Bodman, that my servant +came to Dunkirk only to buy and truck away horses; and that you then, by +chance, entered into talk with him, about the best means of procuring a +peace between the two kingdoms. My servant told you of the good feeling +that prevailed in England. You promised to write on the subject to the +Prince, and I immediately informed the Lord-Treasurer of the whole +transaction." + +Burghley.--"That is quite true." + +Croft.--"My servant subsequently returned to the Provinces in order to +learn what the Prince might have said on the subject." + +Bodman (with immense politeness, but very decidedly).--"Pardon me, Mr. +Comptroller; but, in this matter, I must speak the truth, even if the +honour and life of my father were on the issue. I declare that your +servant Norris came to me, directly commissioned for that purpose by +yourself, and informed me from you, and upon your authority, that if I +would solicit the Prince of Parma to send a secret agent to England, a +peace would be at once negotiated. Your servant entreated me to go to his +Highness at Brussels. I refused, but agreed to consider the proposition. +After the lapse of several days, the servant returned to make further +enquiries. I told him that the Prince had come to no decision. Norris +continued to press the matter. I excused myself. He then solicited and +obtained from me a letter of introduction to De Loo, the secretary of his +Highness. Armed with this, he went to Brussels and had an interview--as I +found, four days later--with the Prince. In consequence of the +representations of Norris, those of Signor Grafigni, and those by way of +Antwerp, his Highness determined to send me to England." + +Burghley to Croft.--"Did you order your servant to speak with Andrea de +Loo?" + +Croft.--"I cannot deny it." + +Burghley.--"The fellow seems to have travelled a good way out of his +commission. His master sends him to buy horses, and he commences a +peace-negotiation between two kingdoms. It would be well he were +chastised. As regards the Antwerp matter, too, we have had many letters, +and I have, seen one from the Seigneur de Champagny, the same effect as +that of all the rest." + +Walsingham.--"I see not to what end his Highness of Parma has sent Mr. +Bodman hither. The Prince avows that he hath no commission from Spain." + +Bodman.--"His Highness was anxious to know what was her Majesty's +pleasure. So soon as that should be known, the Prince could obtain ample +authority. He would never have proceeded so far without meaning a good +end." + +Walsingham.--"Very like. I dare say that his Highness will obtain the +commission. Meantime, as Prince of Parma, he writes these letters, and +assists his sovereign perhaps more than he doth ourselves." + +Here the interview terminated. A few days later, Bodman had another +conversation with Burghley and Cobham. Reluctantly, at their urgent +request, he set down in writing all that he had said concerning his +mission. + +The Lord Treasurer said that the Queen and her counsellors were "ready to +embrace peace when it was treated of sincerely." Meantime the Queen had +learned that the Prince had been sending letters to the cautionary towns +in Holland and Zeeland, stating that her Majesty was about to surrender +them to the King of Spain. These were tricks to make mischief, and were +very detrimental to the Queen. + +Bodman replied that these were merely the idle stories of quidnuncs; and +that the Prince and all his counsellors were dealing with the utmost +sincerity. + +Burghley answered that he had intercepted the very letters, and had them +in his possession. + +A week afterwards, Bodman saw Walsingham alone, and was informed by him +that the Queen had written an answer to Parma's letter, and that +negotiations for the future were to be carried on in the usual form, or +not at all. Walsingham, having thus got the better of his rivals, and +delved below their mines, dismissed the agent with brief courtesy. +Afterwards the discomfited Mr. Comptroller wished a private interview +with Bodman. Bodman refused to speak with him except in presence of Lord +Cobham. This Croft refused. In the same way Bodman contrived to get rid, +as he said, of Lord Burghley and Lord Cobham, declining to speak with +either of them alone. Soon afterwards he returned to the Provinces! + +The Queen's letter to Parma was somewhat caustic. It was obviously +composed through the inspiration of Walsingham rather than that of +Burghley. The letter, brought by a certain Grafigni and a certain Bodman, +she said, was a very strange one, and written under a delusion. It was a +very grave error, that, in her name, without her knowledge, contrary to +her disposition, and to the prejudice of her honour, such a person as +this Grafigni, or any one like him, should have the audacity to commence +such a business, as if she had, by messages to the Prince, sought a +treaty with his King, who had so often returned evil for her good. +Grafigni, after representing the contrary to his Highness, had now denied +in presence of her counsellors having received any commission from the +Queen. She also briefly gave the result of Bodman's interviews with +Burghley and the others, just narrated. That agent had intimated that +Parma would procure authority to treat for peace, if assured that the +Queen would lend her ear to any propositions. + +She replied by referring to her published declarations, as showing her +powerful motives for interfering in these affairs. It was her purpose to +save her own realm and to rescue her ancient neighbours from misery and +from slavery. To this end she should still direct her actions, +notwithstanding the sinister rumours which had been spread that she was +inclined to peace before providing for the security and liberty of her +allies. She was determined never to separate their cause from her own. +Propositions tending to the security of herself and of her neighbours +would always be favourably received. + +Parma, on his part, informed his master that there could be no doubt that +the Queen and the majority of her council abhorred the war, and that +already much had been gained by the fictitious negotiation. +Lord-Treasurer Burghley had been interposing endless delays and +difficulties in the way of every measure proposed for the relief of Lord +Leicester, and the assistance rendered him had been most lukewarm. +Meantime the Prince had been able, he said, to achieve much success in +the field, and the English had done nothing to prevent it. Since the +return of Grafigni and Bodman, however, it was obvious that the English +government had disowned these non-commissioned diplomatists. The whole +negotiation and all the negotiators were now discredited, but there was +no doubt that there had been a strong desire to treat, and great +disappointment at the result. Grafigni and Andrea de Loo had been +publishing everywhere in Antwerp that England would consider the peace as +made, so soon as his Majesty should be willing to accept any +propositions. + +His Majesty, meanwhile, sat in his cabinet, without the slightest +intention of making or accepting any propositions save those that were +impossible. He smiled benignantly at his nephew's dissimulation and at +the good results which it had already produced. He approved of gaining +time, he said, by fictitious negotiations and by the use of a mercantile +agent; for, no doubt, such a course would prevent the proper succours +from being sent to the Earl of Leicester. If the English would hand over +to him the cautionary towns held by them in Holland and Zeeland, promise +no longer to infest the seas, the Indies, and the Isles, with their +corsairs, and guarantee the complete obedience to their King and +submission to the holy Catholic Church of the rebellious Provinces, +perhaps something might be done with them; but, on the whole, he was +inclined to think that they had been influenced by knavish and deceitful +motives from the beginning. He enjoined it upon Parma, therefore, to +proceed with equal knavery--taking care, however, not to injure his +reputation--and to enter into negotiations wherever occasion might serve, +in order to put the English off their guard and to keep back the +reinforcements so imperatively required by Leicester. + +And the reinforcements were indeed kept back. Had Burghley and Croft been +in the pay of Philip II. they could hardly have served him better than +they had been doing by the course pursued. Here then is the explanation +of the shortcomings of the English government towards Leicester and the +States during the memorable spring and summer of 1586. No money, no +soldiers, when most important operations in the field were required. The +first general of the age was to be opposed by a man who had certainly +never gained many laurels as a military chieftain, but who was brave and +confident, and who, had he been faithfully supported by the government +which sent him to the Netherlands, would have had his antagonist at a +great disadvantage. Alexander had scarcely eight thousand effective men. +Famine, pestilence, poverty, mutiny, beset and almost paralyzed him. +Language could not exaggerate the absolute destitution of the country. +Only miracles could save the King's cause, as Farnese repeatedly +observed. A sharp vigorous campaign, heartily carried on against him by +Leicester and Hohenlo, with plenty of troops and money at command, would +have brought the heroic champion of Catholicism to the ground. He was +hemmed in upon all sides; he was cut off from the sea; he stood as it +were in a narrowing circle, surrounded by increasing dangers. His own +veterans, maddened by misery, stung by their King's ingratitude, naked, +starving, ferocious, were turning against him. Mucio, like his evil +genius, was spiriting away his supplies just as they were reaching his +hands; a threatening tempest seemed rolling up from France; the whole +population of the Provinces which he had "reconciled"--a million of +paupers--were crying to him for bread; great commercial cities, suddenly +blasted and converted into dens of thieves and beggars, were cursing the +royal author of their ruin, and uttering wild threats against his +vicegerent; there seemed, in truth, nothing left for Alexander but to +plunge headlong into destruction, when, lo! Mr. Comptroller Croft, +advancing out of the clouds, like a propitious divinity, disguised in the +garb of a foe--and the scene was changed. + +The feeble old man, with his shufling, horse-trucking servant, ex-spy of +Monsieur, had accomplished more work for Philip and Alexander than many +regiments of Spaniards and Walloons could have done. The arm of Leicester +was paralyzed upon the very threshold of success. The picture of these +palace-intrigues has been presented with minute elaboration, because, +however petty and barren in appearance, they were in reality prolific of +grave results. A series of victories by Parma was substituted for the +possible triumphs of Elizabeth and the States. + +The dissimulation of the Spanish court was fathomless. The secret +correspondence of the times reveals to us that its only purpose was to +deceive the Queen and her counsellors, and to gain time to prepare the +grand invasion of England and subjugation of Holland--that double purpose +which Philip could only abandon with life. There was never a thought, on +his part, of honest negotiation. On the other hand, the Queen was +sincere; Burghley and Hatton and Cobham were sincere; Croft was sincere, +so far as Spain was concerned. At least they had been sincere. In the +private and doleful dialogues between Bodman and Grafigni which we have +just been overhearing, these intriguers spoke the truth, for they could +have no wish to deceive each other, and no fear of eaves-droppers not to +be born till centuries afterwards. These conversations have revealed to +us that the Lord Treasurer and three of his colleagues had been secretly +doing their best to cripple Leicester, to stop the supplies for the +Netherlands, and to patch up a hurried and unsatisfactory, if not a +disgraceful peace; and this, with the concurrence of her Majesty. After +their plots had been discovered by the vigilant Secretary of State, there +was a disposition to discredit the humbler instruments in the cabal. +Elizabeth was not desirous of peace. Far from it. She was qualmish at the +very suggestion. Dire was her wrath against Bodman, De Loo, Graafigni, +and the rest, at their misrepresentations on the subject. But she would +"lend her ear." And that royal ear was lent, and almost fatal was the +distillment poured into its porches. The pith and marrow of the great +Netherland enterprise was sapped by the slow poison of the ill-timed +negotiation. The fruit of Drake's splendid triumphs in America was +blighted by it. The stout heart of the vainglorious but courageous +Leicester was sickened by it, while, meantime, the maturing of the great +armada-scheme, by which the destruction of England was to be +accomplished, was furthered, through the unlimited procrastination so +precious to the heart of Philip. + +Fortunately the subtle Walsingham was there upon the watch to administer +the remedy before it was quite too late; and to him England and the +Netherlands were under lasting obligations. While Alexander and Philip +suspected a purpose on the part of the English government to deceive +them, they could not help observing that the Earl of Leicester was both +deserted and deceived. Yet it had been impossible for the peace-party in +the government wholly to conceal their designs, when such prating fellows +as Grafigni and De Loo were employed in what was intended to be a secret +negotiation. In vain did the friends of Leicester in the Netherlands +endeavour to account for the neglect with which he was treated, and for +the destitution of his army. Hopelessly did they attempt to counteract +those "advertisements of most fearful instance," as Richard Cavendish +expressed himself, which were circulating everywhere. + +Thanks to the babbling of the very men, whose chief instructions had been +to hold their tongues, and to listen with all their ears, the secret +negotiations between Parma and the English counsellors became the +town-talk at Antwerp, the Hague, Amsterdam, Brussels, London. It is true +that it was impossible to know what was actually said and done; but that +there was something doing concerning which Leicester was not to be +informed was certain. Grafigni, during one of his visits to the obedient +provinces, brought a brace of greyhounds and a couple of horses from +England, as a present to Alexander, and he perpetually went about, +bragging to every one of important negotiations which he was conducting, +and of his intimacy with great personages in both countries. Leicester, +on the other hand, was kept in the dark. To him Grafigni made no +communications, but he once sent him a dish of plums, "which," said the +Earl, with superfluous energy, "I will boldly say to you, by the living +God, is all that I have ever had since I came into these countries." When +it is remembered that Leicester had spent many thousand pounds in the +Netherland cause, that he had deeply mortgaged his property in order to +provide more funds, that he had never received a penny of salary from the +Queen, that his soldiers were "ragged and torn like rogues-pity to see +them," and were left without the means of supporting life; that he had +been neglected, deceived, humiliated, until he was forced to describe +himself as a "forlorn man set upon a forlorn hope," it must be conceded +that Grafigni's present of a dish of plums could hardly be sufficient to +make him very happy. + +From time to time he was enlightened by Sir Francis, who occasionally +forced his adversaries' hands, and who always faithfully informed the +Earl of everything he could discover. "We are so greedy of a peace, in +respect of the charges of the wars," he wrote in April, "as in the +procuring thereof we weigh neither honour nor safety. Somewhat here is +a dealing underhand, wherein there is great care taken that I should not +be made acquainted withal." But with all their great care, the +conspirators, as it has been seen, were sometimes outwitted by the +Secretary, and, when put to the blush, were forced to take him into +half-confidence. "Your Lordship may see," he wrote, after getting +possession of Parma's letter to the Queen, and unravelling Croft's +intrigues, "what effects are wrought by such weak ministers. They that +have been the employers of them are ashamed of the matter." + +Unutterable was the amazement, as we have seen, of Bodman and Grafigni +when they had suddenly found themselves confronted in Burghley's private +apartments in Greenwich Palace, whither they had been conducted so +mysteriously after dark from the secret pavilion--by the grave Secretary +of State, whom they had been so anxious to deceive; and great was the +embarrassment of Croft and Cobham, and even of the imperturbable +Burghley. + +And thus patiently did Walsingham pick his course, plummet in hand, +through the mists and along the quicksands, and faithfully did he hold +out signals to his comrade embarked on the same dangerous voyage. As for +the Earl himself, he was shocked at the short-sighted policy of his +mistress, mortified by the neglect to which he was exposed, disappointed +in his ambitious schemes. Vehemently and judiciously he insisted upon the +necessity of vigorous field operations throughout the spring and summer +thus frittered away in frivolous negotiations. He was for peace, if a +lasting and honourable peace could be procured; but he insisted that the +only road to such a result was through a "good sharp war." His troops were +mutinous for want of pay, so that he had been obliged to have a few of +them executed, although he protested that he would rather have "gone a +thousand miles a-foot" than have done so; and he was crippled by his +government at exactly the time when his great adversary's condition was +most forlorn. Was it strange that the proud Earl should be fretting his +heart away when such golden chances were eluding his grasp? He would +"creep upon the ground," he said, as far as his hands and knees would +carry him, to have a good peace for her Majesty, but his care was to have +a peace indeed, and not a show of it. It was the cue of Holland and +England to fight before they could expect to deal upon favourable terms +with their enemy. He was quick enough to see that his false colleagues at +home were playing into the enemy's hands. Victory was what was wanted; +victory the Earl pledged himself, if properly seconded, to obtain; and, +braggart though he was, it is by no means impossible that he might have +redeemed his pledge. "If her Majesty will use her advantage," he said, +"she shall bring the King, and especially this Prince of Parma, to seek +peace in other sort than by way of merchants." Of courage and confidence +the governor had no lack. Whether he was capable of outgeneralling +Alexander Farnese or no, will be better seen, perhaps, in subsequent +chapters; but there is no doubt that he was reasonable enough in +thinking, at that juncture, that a hard campaign rather than a +"merchant's brokerage" was required to obtain an honourable peace. Lofty, +indeed, was the scorn of the aristocratic Leicester that "merchants and +pedlars should be paltering in so weighty a cause," and daring to send +him a dish of plums when he was hoping half a dozen regiments from the +Queen; and a sorry business, in truth, the pedlars had made of it. + +Never had there been a more delusive diplomacy, and it was natural that +the lieutenant-general abroad and the statesman at home should be sad and +indignant, seeing England drifting to utter shipwreck while pursuing that +phantom of a pacific haven. Had Walsingham and himself tampered with the +enemy, as some counsellors he could name had done, Leicester asserted +that the gallows would be thought too good for them; and yet he hoped he +might be hanged if the whole Spanish faction in England could procure for +the Queen a peace fit for her to accept. + +Certainly it was quite impossible for the Spanish-faction to bring about +a peace. No human power could bring it about. Even if England had been +willing and able to surrender Holland, bound hand and foot, to Philip, +even then she could only have obtained a hollow armistice. Philip had +sworn in his inmost soul the conquest of England and the dethronement of +Elizabeth. His heart was fixed. It was only by the subjugation of England +that he hoped to recover the Netherlands. England was to be his +stepping-stone to Holland. The invasion was slowly but steadily maturing, +and nothing could have diverted the King from his great purpose. In the +very midst of all these plots and counterplots, Bodmans and Grafignis, +English geldings and Irish greyhounds, dishes of plums and autograph +letters of her Majesty and his Highness, the Prince was deliberately +discussing all the details of the invasion, which, as it was then hoped, +would be ready by the autumn of the year 1586. Although he had sent a +special agent to Philip, who was to state by word of mouth that which it +was deemed unsafe to write, yet Alexander, perpetually urged by his +master, went at last more fully into particulars than he had ever +ventured to do before; and this too at the very moment when Elizabeth was +most seriously "lending her ear" to negotiation, and most vehemently +expressing her wrath at Sir Thomas Heneage for dealing candidly with the +States-General. + +The Prince observed that when, two or three years before, he had sent his +master an account of the coasts, anchoring-places, and harbours of +England, he had then expressed the opinion that the conquest of England +was an enterprise worthy of the grandeur and Christianity of his Majesty, +and not so difficult as to be considered altogether impossible. To make +himself absolutely master of the business, however, he had then thought +that the King should have no associates in the scheme, and should make no +account of the inhabitants of England. Since that time the project had +become more difficult of accomplishment, because it was now a stale and +common topic of conversation everywhere--in Italy, Germany, and +France--so that there could be little doubt that rumours on the subject +were daily reaching the ears of Queen Elizabeth and of every one in her +kingdom. Hence she had made a strict alliance with Sweden, Denmark, the +Protestant princes of Germany, and even with the Turks and the French. +Nevertheless, in spite of these obstacles, the King, placing his royal +hand to the work, might well accomplish the task; for the favour of the +Lord, whose cause it was, would be sure to give him success. + +Being so Christian and Catholic a king, Philip naturally desired to +extend the area of the holy church, and to come to the relief of so many +poor innocent martyrs in England, crying aloud before the Lord for help. +Moreover Elizabeth had fomented rebellion in the King's Provinces for a +long time secretly, and now, since the fall of Antwerp, and just as +Holland and Zeeland were falling into his grasp, openly. + +Thus, in secret and in public, she had done the very worst she could do; +and it was very clear that the Lord, for her sins; had deprived her of +understanding, in order that his Majesty might be the instrument of that +chastisement which she so fully deserved. A monarch of such great +prudence, valour, and talent as Philip, could now give all the world to +understand that those who dared to lose a just and decorous respect for +him, as this good lady had done, would receive such chastisement as royal +power guided by prudent counsel could inflict. Parma assured his +sovereign, that, if the conquest of England were effected, that of the +Netherlands would be finished with much facility and brevity; but that +otherwise, on account of the situation, strength and obstinacy of those +people, it would be a very long, perilous, and at best doubtful business. + +"Three points," he said, "were most vital to the invasion of +England--secrecy, maintenance of the civil war in France, and judicious +arrangement of matters in the Provinces." + +The French, if unoccupied at home, would be sure to make the enterprise +so dangerous as to become almost impossible; for it might be laid down as +a general maxim that that nation, jealous of Philip's power, had always +done and would always do what it could to counteract his purposes. + +With regard to the Netherlands, it would be desirable to leave a good +number of troops in those countries--at least as many as were then +stationed there--besides the garrisons, and also to hold many German and +Swiss mercenaries in "wartgeld." It would be further desirable that +Alexander should take most of the personages of quality and sufficiency +in the Provinces over with him to England, in order that they should not +make mischief in his absence. + +With regard to the point of secrecy, that was, in Parma's opinion, the +most important of all. All leagues must become more or less public, +particularly those contrived at or with Rome. Such being the case, the +Queen of England would be well aware of the Spanish projects, and, +besides her militia at home, would levy German infantry and cavalry, and +provide plenty of vessels, relying therein upon Holland and Zeeland, +where ships and sailors were in such abundance. Moreover, the English and +the Netherlanders knew the coasts, currents, tides, shallows, quicksands, +ports, better than did the pilots of any fleets that the King could send +thither. Thus, having his back assured, the enemy would meet them in +front at a disadvantage. Although, notwithstanding this inequality, the +enemy would be beaten, yet if the engagement should be warm, the +Spaniards would receive an amount of damage which could not fail to be +inconvenient, particularly as they would be obliged to land their troops, +and to give battle to those who would be watching their landing. Moreover +the English would be provided with cavalry, of which his Majesty's forces +would have very little, on account of the difficulty of its embarkation. + +The obedient Netherlands would be the proper place in which to organize +the whole expedition. There the regiments could be filled up, provisions +collected, the best way of effecting the passage ascertained, and the +force largely increased without exciting suspicion; but with regard to +the fleet, there were no ports there capacious enough for large vessels. +Antwerp had ceased to be a seaport; but a large number of flat-bottomed +barges, hoys, and other barks, more suitable for transporting soldiers, +could be assembled in Dunkirk, Gravelines, and Newport, which, with some +five-and-twenty larger vessels, would be sufficient to accompany the +fleet. + +The Queen, knowing that there were no large ships, nor ports to hold them +in the obedient Provinces, would be unauspicious, if no greater levies +seemed to be making than the exigencies of the Netherlands might +apparently require. + +The flat-bottomed boats, drawing two or three feet of water, would be +more appropriate than ships of war drawing twenty feet. The passage +across, in favourable weather, might occupy from eight to twelve hours. + +The number of troops for the invading force should be thirty thousand +infantry, besides five hundred light troopers, with saddles, bridles, and +lances, but without horses, because, in Alexander's opinion, it would be +easier to mount them in England. Of these thirty thousand there should be +six thousand Spaniards, six thousand Italians, six thousand Walloons, +nine thousand Germans, and three thousand Burgundians. + +Much money would be required; at least three hundred thousand dollars the +month for the new force, besides the regular one hundred and fifty +thousand for the ordinary provision in the Netherlands; and this ordinary +provision would be more necessary than ever, because a mutiny breaking +forth in the time of the invasion would be destruction to the Spaniards +both in England and in the Provinces. + +The most appropriate part of the coast for a landing would, in +Alexander's opinion, be between Dover and Margate, because the Spaniards, +having no footing in Holland and Zeeland, were obliged to make their +starting-point in Flanders. The country about Dover was described by +Parma as populous, well-wooded, and much divided by hedges; advantageous +for infantry, and not requiring a larger amount of cavalry than the small +force at his disposal, while the people there were domestic in their +habits, rich, and therefore less warlike, less trained to arms, and more +engrossed by their occupations and their comfortable ways of life. +Therefore, although some encounters would take place, yet after the +commanders of the invading troops had given distinct and clear orders, it +would be necessary to leave the rest in the "hands of God who governs +all things, and from whose bounty and mercy it was to be hoped that He +would favour a cause so eminently holy, just, and His own." + +It would be necessary to make immediately for London, which city, not +being fortified, would be very easily taken. This point gained, the whole +framework of the business might be considered as well put together. If +the Queen should fly--as, being a woman, she probably would +do--everything would be left in such confusion, as, with the blessing of +God, it might soon be considered that the holy and heroic work had been +accomplished: Her Majesty, it was suggested, would probably make her +escape in a boat before she could be captured; but the conquest would be +nevertheless effected. Although, doubtless, some English troops might be +got together to return and try their fortune, yet it would be quite +useless; for the invaders would have already planted themselves upon the +soil, and then, by means of frequent excursions and forays hither and +thither about the island, all other places of importance would be gained, +and the prosperous and fortunate termination of the adventure assured. + +As, however, everything was to be provided for, so, in case the secret +could not be preserved, it would be necessary for Philip, under pretext +of defending himself against the English and French corsairs, to send a +large armada to sea, as doubtless the Queen would take the same measure. +If the King should prefer, however, notwithstanding Alexander's advice to +the contrary, to have confederates in the enterprise,--then, the matter +being public, it would be necessary to prepare a larger and stronger +fleet than any which Elizabeth, with the assistance of her French and +Netherland allies, could oppose to him. That fleet should be well +provided with vast stores of provisions, sufficient to enable the +invading force, independently of forage, to occupy three or four places +in England at once, as the enemy would be able to come from various towns +and strong places to attack them. + +As for the proper season for the expedition, it would be advisable to +select the month of October of the current year, because the English +barns would then be full of wheat and other forage, and the earth would +have been sown for the next year--points of such extreme importance, that +if the plan could not be executed at that time, it would be as well to +defer it until the following October. + +The Prince recommended that the negotiations with the League should be +kept spinning, without allowing them to come to a definite conclusion; +because there would be no lack of difficulties perpetually offering +themselves, and the more intricate and involved the policy of France, the +better it would be for the interests of Spain. Alexander expressed the +utmost confidence that his Majesty, with his powerful arm, would overcome +all obstacles in the path of his great project, and would show the world +that he "could do a little more than what was possible." He also assured +his master, in adding in this most extravagant language, of his personal +devotion, that it was unnecessary for him to offer his services in this +particular enterprise, because, ever since his birth, he had dedicated +and consecrated himself to execute his royal commands. + +He further advised that old Peter Ernest Mansfeld should be left +commander-in-chief of the forces in the Netherlands during his own +absence in England. "Mansfeld was an honourable cavalier," he said, "and +a faithful servant of the King;" and although somewhat ill-conditioned at +times, yet he had essential good qualities, and was the only general fit +to be trusted alone. + +The reader, having thus been permitted to read the inmost thoughts of +Philip and Alexander, and to study their secret plans for conquering +England in October, while their frivolous yet mischievous negotiations +with the Queen had been going on from April to June, will be better able +than before to judge whether Leicester were right or no in doubting if a +good peace could be obtained by a "merchant's brokerage." + +And now, after examining these pictures of inter-aulic politics and +back-stairs diplomacy, which represent so large and characteristic a +phasis of European history during the year 1586, we must throw a glance +at the external, more stirring, but not more significant public events +which were taking place during the same period. + + ETEXT EDITOR'S BOOKMARKS: + + Could do a little more than what was possible + Elizabeth, though convicted, could always confute + He sat a great while at a time. He had a genius for sitting + Mistakes might occur from occasional deviations into sincerity + Nine syllables that which could be more forcibly expressed in on + They were always to deceive every one, upon every occasion + We mustn't tickle ourselves to make ourselves laugh + + ETEXT EDITOR'S BOOKMARKS OF THE HISTORY OF THE UNITED NETHERLANDS +1584-86 + + A hard bargain when both parties are losers + Able men should be by design and of purpose suppressed + Anarchy which was deemed inseparable from a non-regal form + College of "peace-makers," who wrangled more than all + Condemned first and inquired upon after + Could do a little more than what was possible + Courage and semblance of cheerfulness, with despair in his heart + Demanding peace and bread at any price + Diplomatic adroitness consists mainly in the power to deceive + Dismay of our friends and the gratification of our enemies + Disordered, and unknit state needs no shaking, but propping + Elizabeth, though convicted, could always confute + Enmity between Lutherans and Calvinists + Find our destruction in our immoderate desire for peace + German-Lutheran sixteenth-century idea of religious freedom + He sat a great while at a time. He had a genius for sitting + He did his work, but he had not his reward + Her teeth black, her bosom white and liberally exposed (Eliz.) + Hibernian mode of expressing himself + His inordinate arrogance + His insolence intolerable + Holland was afraid to give a part, although offering the whole + Honor good patriots, and to support them in venial errors + Humility which was but the cloak to his pride + Intentions of a government which did not know its own intentions + Intolerable tendency to puns + Longer they delay it, the less easy will they find it + Lord was better pleased with adverbs than nouns + Make sheep of yourselves, and the wolf will eat you + Matter that men may rather pray for than hope for + Military virtue in the support of an infamous cause + Mistakes might occur from occasional deviations into sincerity + Necessity of kingship + Neighbour's blazing roof was likely soon to fire their own + New Years Day in England, 11th January by the New Style + Nine syllables that which could be more forcibly expressed in on + Nor is the spirit of the age to be pleaded in defence + Not a friend of giving details larger than my ascertained facts + Not of the genus Reptilia, and could neither creep nor crouch + Not distinguished for their docility + Oration, fertile in rhetoric and barren in facts + Others that do nothing, do all, and have all the thanks + Pauper client who dreamed of justice at the hands of law + Peace and quietness is brought into a most dangerous estate + Peace-at-any-price party + Possible to do, only because we see that it has been done + Repentance, as usual, had come many hours too late + Repose in the other world, "Repos ailleurs" + Resolved thenceforth to adopt a system of ignorance + Round game of deception, in which nobody was deceived + Seeking protection for and against the people + Seem as if born to make the idea of royalty ridiculous + Shutting the stable-door when the steed is stolen + Soldiers enough to animate the good and terrify the bad + String of homely proverbs worthy of Sancho Panza + The very word toleration was to sound like an insult + The busy devil of petty economy + There was apathy where there should have been enthusiasm + They were always to deceive every one, upon every occasion + Thought that all was too little for him + Three hundred and upwards are hanged annually in London + Tis pity he is not an Englishman + To work, ever to work, was the primary law of his nature + Tranquillity rather of paralysis than of health + Twas pity, he said, that both should be heretics + Upper and lower millstones of royal wrath and loyal subserviency + Uttering of my choler doth little ease my grief or help my case + Wasting time fruitlessly is sharpening the knife for himself + We must all die once + We mustn't tickle ourselves to make ourselves laugh + Weary of place without power + When persons of merit suffer without cause + With something of feline and feminine duplicity + Wrath of bigots on both sides + Write so illegibly or express himself so awkwardly + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of History of the United Netherlands, +1584-1686, Vol. I. 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