TO THE SYNOD AT DORT AND THE EXECUTION OF BARNEVELDT
A.D. 1606--1619
The states-general now resolved to confine their military operations
to a war merely defensive. Spinola had, by his conduct during the
late campaign, completely revived the spirits of the Spanish
troops, and excited at least the caution of the Dutch. He now
threatened the United Provinces with invasion; and he exerted his
utmost efforts to raise the supplies necessary for the execution
of his plan. He not only exhausted the resources of the king
of Spain and the archduke, but obtained money on his private
account from all those usurers who were tempted by his confident
anticipations of conquest. He soon equipped two armies of about
twelve thousand men each. At the head of one of those he took
the field; the other, commanded by the count of Bucquoi, was
destined to join him in the neighborhood of Utrecht; and he was
then resolved to push forward with the whole united force into
the very heart of the republic.
Prince Maurice in the meantime concentrated his army, amounting
to twelve thousand men, and prepared to make head against his
formidable opponents. By a succession of the most prudent manoeuvres
he contrived to keep Spinola in check, disconcerted all his projects,
and forced him to content himself with the capture of two or
three towns--a comparatively insignificant conquest. Desiring
to wipe away the disgrace of this discomfiture, and to risk
everything for the accomplishment of his grand design, Spinola
used every method to provoke the prince to a battle, even though a
serious mutiny among his troops, and the impossibility of forming a
junction with Bucquoi, had reduced his force below that of Maurice;
but the latter, to the surprise of all who expected a decisive
blow, retreated from before the Italian general--abandoning the
town of Groll, which immediately fell into Spinola's power, and
giving rise to manifold conjectures and infinite discontent at
conduct so little in unison with his wonted enterprise and skill.
Even Henry IV. acknowledged it did not answer the expectation he
had formed from Maurice's splendid talents for war. The fact
seems to be that the prince, much as he valued victory, dreaded
peace more; and that he was resolved to avoid a decisive blow,
which, in putting an end to the contest, would at the same time
have decreased the individual influence in the state which his
ambition now urged him to augment by every possible means.
The Dutch naval expeditions this year were not more brilliant than
those on land. Admiral Hautain, with twenty ships, was surprised
off Cape St. Vincent by the Spanish fleet. The formidable appearance
of their galleons inspired on this occasion a perfect panic among
the Dutch sailors. They hoisted their sails and fled, with the
exception of one ship, commanded by Vice-Admiral Klaazoon, whose
desperate conduct saved the national honor. Having held out until
his vessel was quite unmanageable, and almost his whole crew
killed or wounded, he prevailed on the rest to agree to the
resolution he had formed, knelt down on the deck, and putting up
a brief prayer for pardon for the act, thrust a light into the
powder-magazine, and was instantly blown up with his companions.
Only two men were snatched from the sea by the Spaniards; and
even these, dreadfully burned and mangled, died in the utterance
of curses on the enemy.
This disastrous occurrence was soon, however, forgotten in the
rejoicings for a brilliant victory gained the following year by
Heemskirk, so celebrated for his voyage to Nova Zembla, and by
his conduct in the East. He set sail from the ports of Holland
in the month of March, determined to signalize himself by some
great exploit, now necessary to redeem the disgrace which had
begun to sully the reputation of the Dutch navy. He soon got
intelligence that the Spanish fleet lay at anchor in the bay
of Gibraltar, and he speedily prepared to offer them battle.
Before the combat began he held a council of war, and addressed
the officers in an energetic speech, in which he displayed the
imperative call on their valor to conquer or die in the approaching
conflict. He led on to the action in his own ship; and, to the
astonishment of both fleets, he bore right down against the enormous
galleon in which the flag of the Spanish admiral-in-chief was
hoisted. D'Avila could scarcely believe the evidence of his eyes
at this audacity: he at first burst into laughter at the notion;
but as Heemskirk approached, he cut his cables and attempted
to escape under the shelter of the town. The heroic Dutchman
pursued him through the whole of the Spanish fleet, and soon
forced him to action. At the second broadside Heemskirk had his
left leg carried off by a cannon-ball, and he almost instantly
died, exhorting his crew to seek for consolation in the defeat
of the enemy. Verhoef, the captain of the ship, concealed the
admiral's death; and the whole fleet continued the action with
a valor worthy the spirit in which it was commenced. The victory
was soon decided: four of the Spanish galleons were sunk or burned,
the remainder fled; and the citizens of Cadiz trembled with the
apprehension of sack and pillage. But the death of Heemskirk,
when made known to the surviving victors, seemed completely to
paralyze them. They attempted nothing further; but sailing back
to Holland with the body of their lamented chief, thus paid a
greater tribute to his importance than was to be found in the
mausoleum erected to his memory in the city of Amsterdam.
[Illustration: WILLIAM THE SILENT OF ORANGE.]
The news of this battle reaching Brussels before it was known
in Holland, contributed not a little to quicken the anxiety of
the archdukes for peace. The king of Spain, worn out by the war
which drained his treasury, had for some time ardently desired it.
The Portuguese made loud complaints of the ruin that threatened
their trade and their East Indian colonies. The Spanish ministers
were fatigued with the apparently interminable contest which
baffled all their calculations. Spinola, even, in the midst of
his brilliant career, found himself so overwhelmed with debts
and so oppressed by the reproaches of the numerous creditors
who were ruined by his default of payment, that he joined in the
general demand for repose. In the month of May, 1607, proposals
were made by the archdukes, in compliance with the general desire;
and their two plenipotentiaries, Van Wittenhorst and Gevaerts,
repaired to The Hague.
Public opinion in the United Provinces was divided on this important
question. An instinctive hatred against the Spaniards, and long
habits of warfare, influenced the great mass of the people to
consider any overture for peace as some wily artifice aimed at
their religion and liberty. War seemed to open inexhaustible
sources of wealth; while peace seemed to threaten the extinction
of the courage which was now as much a habit as war appeared to
be a want. This reasoning was particularly convincing to Prince
Maurice, whose fame, with a large portion of his authority and
revenues, depended on the continuance of hostilities: it was
also strongly relished and supported in Zealand generally, and
in the chief towns, which dreaded the rivalry of Antwerp. But
those who bore the burden of the war saw the subject under a
different aspect. They feared that the present state of things
would lead to their conquest by the enemy, or to the ruin of
their liberty by the growing power of Maurice. They hoped that
peace would consolidate the republic and cause the reduction
of the debt, which now amounted to twenty-six million florins.
At the head of the party who so reasoned was De Barneveldt; and
his name is a guarantee with posterity for the wisdom of the
opinion.
To allow the violent opposition to subside, and to prevent any
explosion of party feuds, the prudent Barneveldt suggested a
mere suspension of arms, during which the permanent interests
of both states might be calmly discussed. He even undertook to
obtain Maurice's consent to the armistice. The prince listened
to his arguments, and was apparently convinced by them. He, at
any rate, sanctioned the proposal; but he afterward complained
that Barneveldt had deceived him, in representing the negotiation
as a feint for the purpose of persuading the kings of France and
England to give greater aid to the republic. It is more than
likely that Maurice reckoned on the improbability of Spain's
consenting to the terms of the proposed treaty; and, on that
chance, withdrew an opposition which could scarcely be ascribed
to any but motives of personal ambition. It is, however, certain
that his discontent at this transaction, either with himself
or Barneveldt, laid the foundation of that bitter enmity which
proved fatal to the life of the latter, and covered his own name,
otherwise glorious, with undying reproach.
The United Provinces positively refused to admit even the
commencement of a negotiation without the absolute recognition
of their independence by the archdukes. A new ambassador was
accordingly chosen on the part of these sovereigns, and empowered
to concede this important admission. This person attracted
considerable attention, from his well-known qualities as an able
diplomatist. He was a monk of the order of St. Francis, named
John de Neyen, a native of Antwerp, and a person as well versed
in court intrigue as in the studies of the cloister. He, in the
first instance, repaired secretly to The Hague; and had several
private interviews with Prince Maurice and Barneveldt, before he
was regularly introduced to the states-general in his official
character. Two different journeys were undertaken by this agent
between The Hague and Brussels, before he could succeed in obtaining
a perfect understanding as to the specific views of the archdukes.
The suspicions of the states-general seem fully justified by
the dubious tone of the various communications, which avoided
the direct admission of the required preliminary as to the
independence of the United Provinces. It was at length concluded
in explicit terms; and a suspension of arms for eight months
was the immediate consequence.
But the negotiation for peace was on the point of being completely
broken, in consequence of the conduct of Neyen, who justified
every doubt of his sincerity by an attempt to corrupt Aarsens
the greffier of the states-general, or at least to influence
his conduct in the progress of the treaty. Neyen presented him,
in the name of the archdukes, and as a token of his esteem, with
a diamond of great value and a bond for fifty thousand crowns.
Aarsens accepted these presents with the approbation of Prince
Maurice, to whom he had confided the circumstance, and who was no
doubt delighted at what promised a rupture to the negotiations.
Verreiken, a councillor of state, who assisted Neyen in his
diplomatic labors, was formally summoned before the assembled
states-general, and there Barneveldt handed to him the diamond
and the bond; and at the same time read him a lecture of true
republican severity on the subject. Verreiken was overwhelmed
by the violent attack: he denied the authority of Neyen for the
measure he had taken; and remarked, "that it was not surprising
that monks, naturally interested and avaricious, judged others
by themselves." This repudiation of Neyen's suspicious conduct
seems to have satisfied the stern resentment of Barneveldt; and
the party which so earnestly labored for peace. In spite of all
the opposition of Maurice and his partisans, the negotiation
went on.
In the month of January, 1608, the various ambassadors were assembled
at The Hague. Spinola was the chief of the plenipotentiaries
appointed by the king of Spain; and Jeannin, president of the
parliament of Dijon, a man of rare endowments, represented France.
Prince Maurice, accompanied by his brother Frederick Henry, the
various counts of Nassau his cousins, and a numerous escort,
advanced some distance to meet Spinola, conveyed him to The Hague
in his own carriage, and lavished on him all the attentions
reciprocally due between two such renowned captains during the
suspension of their rivalry. The president Richardst was, with
Neyen and Verreiken, ambassador from the archdukes; but Barneveldt
and Jeannin appear to have played the chief parts in the important
transaction which now filled all Europe with anxiety. Every state
was more or less concerned in the result; and the three great
monarchies of England, France, and Spain, had all a vital interest
at stake. The conferences were therefore frequent; and the debates
assumed a great variety of aspects, which long kept the civilized
world in suspense.
King James was extremely jealous of the more prominent part taken
by the French ambassadors, and of the sub-altern consideration
held by his own envoys, Winwood and Spencer, in consequence of
the disfavor in which he himself was held by the Dutch people.
It appears evident that, whether deservedly or the contrary,
England was at this period unpopular in the United Provinces,
while France was looked up to with the greatest enthusiasm. This
is not surprising, when we compare the characters of Henry IV.
and James I., bearing in mind how much of national reputation
at the time depended on the personal conduct of kings; and how
political situations influence, if they do not create, the virtues
and vices of a people. Independent of the suspicions of his being
altogether unfavorable to the declaration required by the United
Provinces from Spain, to which James's conduct had given rise, he
had established some exactions which greatly embarrassed their
fishing expeditions on the coasts of England.
The main points for discussion, and on which depended the decision
for peace or war, were those which concerned religion; and the
demand, on the part of Spain, that the United Provinces should
renounce all claims to the navigation of the Indian seas. Philip
required for the Catholics of the United Provinces the free exercise
of their religion; this was opposed by the states-general: and
the archduke Albert, seeing the impossibility of carrying that
point, despatched his confessor, Fra Inigo de Briznella, to Spain.
This Dominican was furnished with the written opinion of several
theologians, that the king might conscientiously slur over the
article of religion; and he was the more successful with Philip, as
the duke of Lerma, his prime minister, was resolved to accomplish
the peace at any price. The conferences at The Hague were therefore
not interrupted on this question; but they went on slowly, months
being consumed in discussions on articles of trifling importance.
They were, however, resumed in the month of August with greater
vigor. It was announced that the king of Spain abandoned the
question respecting religion; but that it was in the certainty
that his moderation would be recompensed by ample concessions
on that of the Indian trade, on which he was inexorable. This
article became the rock on which the whole negotiation eventually
split. The court of Spain on the one hand, and the states-general
on the other, inflexibly maintained their opposing claims. It
was in vain that the ambassadors turned and twisted the subject
with all the subtleties of diplomacy. Every possible expedient was
used to shake the determination of the Dutch. But the influence
of the East India Company, the islands of Zealand, and the city
of Amsterdam, prevailed over all. Reports of the avowal on the
part of the king of Spain, that he would never renounce his title
to the sovereignty of the United Provinces, unless they abandoned
the Indian navigation and granted the free exercise of religion,
threw the whole diplomatic corps into confusion; and, on the
25th of August, the states-general announced to the marquis of
Spinola and the other ambassadors that the congress was dissolved,
and that all hopes of peace were abandoned.
Nothing seemed now likely to prevent the immediate renewal of
hostilities, when the ambassadors of France and England proposed
the mediation of their respective masters for the conclusion of
a truce for several years. The king of Spain and the archdukes
were well satisfied to obtain even this temporary cessation of
the war; but Prince Maurice and a portion of the Provinces
strenuously opposed the proposition. The French and English
ambassadors, however, in concert with Barneveldt, who steadily
maintained his influence, labored incessantly to overcome those
difficulties; and finally succeeded in overpowering all opposition
to the truce. A new congress was agreed on, to assemble at Antwerp
for the consideration of the conditions; and the states-general
agreed to remove from The Hague to Berg-or-Zoom, to be more within
reach, and ready to co-operate in the negotiation.
But, before matters assumed this favorable turn, discussions and
disputes had intervened on several occasions to render fruitless
every effort of those who so incessantly labored for the great causes
of humanity and the general good. On one occasion, Barneveldt,
disgusted with the opposition of Prince Maurice and his partisans,
had actually resigned his employments; but brought back by the
solicitations of the states-general, and reconciled to Maurice by
the intervention of Jeannin, the negotiations for the truce were
resumed; and, under the auspices of the ambassadors, they were
happily terminated. After two years' delay, this long-wished-for
truce was concluded, and signed on the 9th of April, 1609, to
continue for the space of twelve years.
This celebrated treaty contained thirty-two articles; and its
fulfilment on either side was guaranteed by the kings of France
and England. Notwithstanding the time taken up in previous
discussions, the treaty is one of the most vague and unspecific
state papers that exists. The archdukes, in their own names and
in that of the king of Spain, declared the United Provinces to
be free and independent states, on which they renounced all claim
whatever. By the third article each party was to hold respectively
the places which they possessed at the commencement of the armistice.
The fourth and fifth articles grant to the republic, but in a
phraseology obscure and even doubtful, the right of navigation
and free trade to the Indies. The eighth contains all that regards
the exercise of religion; and the remaining clauses are wholly
relative to points of internal trade, custom-house regulations,
and matters of private interest.
Ephemeral and temporary as this peace appeared, it was received
with almost universal demonstrations of joy by the population of
the Netherlands in their two grand divisions. Everyone seemed
to turn toward the enjoyment of tranquillity with the animated
composure of tired laborers looking forward to a day of rest and
sunshine. This truce brought a calm of comparative happiness upon
the country, which an almost unremitting tempest had desolated for
nearly half a century; and, after so long a series of calamity,
all the national advantages of social life seemed about to settle
on the land. The attitude which the United Provinces assumed at
this period was indeed a proud one. They were not now compelled
to look abroad and solicit other states to become their masters.
They had forced their old tyrants to acknowledge their independence;
to come and ask for peace on their own ground; and to treat with
them on terms of no doubtful equality. They had already become
so flourishing, so powerful, and so envied, that they who had
so lately excited but compassion from the neighboring states
were now regarded with such jealousy as rivals, unequivocally
equal, may justly inspire in each other.
The ten southern provinces, now confirmed under the sovereignty of
the House of Austria, and from this period generally distinguished
by the name of Belgium, immediately began, like the northern division
of the country, to labor for the great object of repairing the
dreadful sufferings caused by their long and cruel war. Their
success was considerable. Albert and Isabella, their sovereigns,
joined, to considerable probity of character and talents for
government, a fund of humanity which led them to unceasing acts of
benevolence. The whole of their dominions quickly began to recover
from the ravages of war. Agriculture and the minor operations of
trade resumed all their wonted activity. But the manufactures
of Flanders were no more; and the grander exercise of commerce
seemed finally removed to Amsterdam and the other chief towns
of Holland.
This tranquil course of prosperity in the Belgian provinces was
only once interrupted during the whole continuance of the twelve
years' truce, and that was in the year following its commencement.
The death of the duke of Cleves and Juliers, in this year, gave
rise to serious disputes for the succession to his states, which
was claimed by several of the princes of Germany. The elector
of Brandenburg and the duke of Neuburg were seconded both by
France and the United Provinces; and a joint army of both nations,
commanded by Prince Maurice and the marshal de la Chatre, was
marched into the county of Cleves. After taking possession of the
town of Juliers, the allies retired, leaving the two princes above
mentioned in a partnership possession of the disputed states. But
this joint sovereignty did not satisfy the ambition of either,
and serious divisions arose between them, each endeavoring to
strengthen himself by foreign alliances. The archdukes Albert
and Isabella were drawn into the quarrel; and they despatched
Spinola at the head of twenty thousand men to support the duke
of Neuburg, whose pretensions they countenanced. Prince Maurice,
with a Dutch army, advanced on the other hand to uphold the claims
of the elector of Brandenburg. Both generals took possession of
several towns; and this double expedition offered the singular
spectacle of two opposing armies, acting in different interests,
making conquests, and dividing an important inheritance, without
the occurrence of one act of hostility to each other. But the
interference of the court of Madrid had nearly been the cause
of a new rupture. The greatest alarm was excited in the Belgic
provinces; and nothing but the prudence of the archdukes and
the forbearance of the states-general could have succeeded in
averting the threatened evil.
With the exception of this bloodless mimicry of war, the United
Provinces presented for the space of twelve years a long-continued
picture of peace, as the term is generally received; but a peace
so disfigured by intestine troubles, and so stained by actions
of despotic cruelty, that the period which should have been that
of its greatest happiness becomes but an example of its worst
disgrace.
The assassination of Henry IV., in the year 1609, was a new instance
of the bigoted atrocity which reigned paramount in Europe at the
time; and while robbing France of one of its best monarchs, it
deprived the United Provinces of their truest and most powerful
friend. Henry has, from his own days to the present, found a
ready eulogy in all who value kings in proportion as they are
distinguished by heroism, without ceasing to evince the feelings
of humanity. Henry seems to have gone as far as man can go, to
combine wisdom, dignity and courage with all those endearing
qualities of private life which alone give men a prominent hold
upon the sympathies of their kind. We acknowledge his errors,
his faults, his follies, only to love him the better. We admire
his valor and generosity, without being shocked by cruelty or
disgusted by profusion. We look on his greatness without envy;
and in tracing his whole career we seem to walk hand in hand
beside a dear companion, rather than to follow the footsteps of
a mighty monarch.
But the death of this powerful supporter of their efforts for
freedom, and the chief guarantee for its continuance, was a trifling
calamity to the United Provinces, in comparison with the rapid
fall from the true point of glory so painfully exhibited in the
conduct of their own domestic champion. It had been well for
Prince Maurice of Nassau that the last shot fired by the defeated
Spaniards in the battle of Nieuport had struck him dead in the
moment of his greatest victory and on the summit of his fame.
From that celebrated day he had performed no deed of war that
could raise his reputation as a soldier, and all his acts as
stadtholder were calculated to sink him below the level of civil
virtue and just government. His two campaigns against Spinola
had redounded more to the credit of his rival than to his own;
and his whole conduct during the negotiation for the truce too
plainly betrayed the unworthy nature of his ambition, founded on
despotic principles. It was his misfortune to have been completely
thrown out of the career for which he had been designed by nature
and education. War was his element. By his genius, he improved
it as a science: by his valor, he was one of those who raised
it from the degradation of a trade to the dignity of a passion.
But when removed from the camp to the council room, he became all
at once a common man. His frankness degenerated into roughness;
his decision into despotism; his courage into cruelty. He gave a
new proof of the melancholy fact that circumstances may transform
the most apparent qualities of virtue into those opposite vices
between which human wisdom is baffled when it attempts to draw
a decided and invariable line.
Opposed to Maurice in almost every one of his acts, was, as we
have already seen, Barneveldt, one of the truest patriots of any
time or country; and, with the exception of William the Great,
prince of Orange, the most eminent citizen to whom the affairs
of the Netherlands have given celebrity. A hundred pens have
labored to do honor to this truly virtuous man. His greatness
has found a record in every act of his life; and his death, like
that of William, though differently accomplished, was equally
a martyrdom for the liberties of his country. We cannot enter
minutely into the train of circumstances which for several years
brought Maurice and Barneveldt into perpetual concussion with
each other. Long after the completion of the truce, which the
latter so mainly aided in accomplishing, every minor point in the
domestic affairs of the republic seemed merged in the conflict
between the stadtholder and the pensionary. Without attempting
to specify these, we may say, generally, that almost every one
redounded to the disgrace of the prince and the honor of the
patriot. But the main question of agitation was the fierce dispute
which soon broke out between two professors of theology of the
university of Leyden, Francis Gomar and James Arminius. We do
not regret on this occasion that our confined limits spare us the
task of recording in detail controversies on points of speculative
doctrine far beyond the reach of the human understanding, and
therefore presumptuous, and the decision of which cannot be regarded
as of vital importance by those who justly estimate the grand
principles of Christianity. The whole strength of the intellects
which had long been engaged in the conflict for national and
religious liberty, was now directed to metaphysical theology,
and wasted upon interminable disputes about predestination and
grace. Barneveldt enrolled himself among the partisans of Arminius;
Maurice became a Gomarist.
It was, however, scarcely to be wondered at that a country so
recently delivered from slavery both in church and state should
run into wild excesses of intolerance, before sectarian principles
were thoroughly understood and definitively fixed. Persecutions
of various kinds were indulged in against Papists, Anabaptists,
Socinians, and all the shades of doctrine into which Christianity
had split. Every minister who, in the milder spirit of Lutheranism,
strove to moderate the rage of Calvinistic enthusiasm, was openly
denounced by its partisans; and one, named Gaspard Koolhaas,
was actually excommunicated by a synod, and denounced in plain
terms to the devil. Arminius had been appointed professor at
Leyden in 1603, for the mildness of his doctrines, which were
joined to most affable manners, a happy temper, and a purity
of conduct which no calumny could successfully traduce.
His colleague Gomar, a native of Bruges, learned, violent, and
rigid in sectarian points, soon became jealous of the more popular
professor's influence. A furious attack on the latter was answered
by recrimination; and the whole battery of theological authorities
was reciprocally discharged by one or other of the disputants.
The states-general interfered between them: they were summoned to
appear before the council of state; and grave politicians listened
for hours to the dispute. Arminius obtained the advantage, by the
apparent reasonableness of his creed, and the gentleness and
moderation of his conduct. He was meek, while Gomar was furious;
and many of the listeners declared that they would rather die
with the charity of the former than in the faith of the latter.
A second hearing was allowed them before the states of Holland.
Again Arminius took the lead; and the controversy went on
unceasingly, till this amiable man, worn out by his exertions
and the presentiment of the evil which these disputes were
engendering for his country, expired in his forty-ninth year,
piously persisting in his opinions.
The Gomarists now loudly called for a national synod, to regulate
the points of faith. The Arminians remonstrated on various grounds,
and thus acquired the name of Remonstrants, by which they were
soon generally distinguished. The most deplorable contests ensued.
Serious riots occurred in several of the towns of Holland; and
James I. of England could not resist the temptation of entering
the polemical lists, as a champion of orthodoxy and a decided
Gomarist. His hostility was chiefly directed against Vorstius,
the successor and disciple of Arminius. He pretty strongly
recommended to the states-general to have him burned for heresy.
His inveterate intolerance knew no bounds; and it completed the
melancholy picture of absurdity which the whole affair presents
to reasonable minds.
In this dispute, which occupied and agitated all, it was impossible
that Barneveldt should not choose the congenial temperance and
toleration of Arminius. Maurice, with probably no distinct conviction
or much interest in the abstract differences on either side, joined
the Gomarists. His motives were purely temporal; for the party
he espoused was now decidedly as much political as religious.
King James rewarded him by conferring on him the ribbon of the
Order of the Garter, vacant by the death of Henry IV. of France.
The ceremony of investment was performed with great pomp by the
English ambassador at The Hague; and James and Maurice entered
from that time into a closer and more uninterrupted correspondence
than before.
During the long continuance of the theological disputes, the
United Provinces had nevertheless made rapid strides toward
commercial greatness; and the year 1616 witnessed the completion
of an affair which was considered the consolidation of their
independence. This important matter was the recovery of the towns
of Brille and Flessingue, and the fort of Rammekins, which had
been placed in the hands of the English as security for the loan
granted to the republic by Queen Elizabeth. The whole merit of
the transaction was due to the perseverance and address, of
Barneveldt acting on the weakness and the embarrassments of King
James. Religious contention did not so fully occupy Barneveldt
but that he kept a constant eye on political concerns. He was
well informed on all that passed in the English court; he knew
the wants of James, and was aware of his efforts to bring about
the marriage of his son with the infanta of Spain. The danger
of such an alliance was evident to the penetrating Barneveldt,
who saw in perspective the probability of the wily Spaniards
obtaining from the English monarch possession of the strong places
in question. He therefore resolved on obtaining their recovery; and
his great care was to get them back with a considerable abatement
of the enormous debt for which they stood pledged, and which now
amounted to eight million florins.
Barneveldt commenced his operations by sounding the needy monarch
through the medium of Noel Caron, the ambassador from the
states-general; and he next managed so as that James himself
should offer to give up the towns, thereby allowing a fair pretext
to the states for claiming a diminution of the debt. The English
garrisons were unpaid and their complaints brought down a strong
remonstrance from James, and excuses from the states, founded
on the poverty of their financial resources. The negotiation
rapidly went on, in the same spirit of avidity on the part of
the king, and of good management on that of his debtors. It was
finally agreed that the states should pay in full of the demand
two million seven hundred and twenty-eight thousand florins (about
two hundred and fifty thousand pounds sterling), being about
one-third of the debt. Prince Maurice repaired to the cautionary
towns in the month of June, and received them at the hands of
the English governors; the garrisons at the same time entering
into the service of the republic.
The accomplishment of this measure afforded the highest satisfaction
to the United Provinces. It caused infinite discontent in England;
and James, with the common injustice of men who make a bad bargain
(even though its conditions be of their own seeking and suited to
their own convenience), turned his own self-dissatisfaction into
bitter hatred against him whose watchful integrity had successfully
labored for his country's good. Barneveldt's leaning toward France
and the Arminians filled the measure of James's unworthy enmity.
Its effects were soon apparent, on the arrival at The Hague of
Carleton, who succeeded Winwood as James's ambassador. The haughty
pretensions of this diplomatist, whose attention seemed turned to
theological disputes rather than politics, gave great disgust;
and he contributed not a little to the persecution which led to
the tragical end of Barneveldt's valuable life.
While this indefatigable patriot was busy in relieving his country
from its dependence on England, his enemies accused him of the
wish to reduce it once more to Spanish tyranny. Francis Aarsens,
son to him who proved himself so incorruptible when attempted
to be bribed by Neyen, was one of the foremost of the faction
who now labored for the downfall of the pensionary. He was a
man of infinite dissimulation; versed in all the intrigues of
courts; and so deep in all their tortuous tactics that Cardinal
Richelieu, well qualified to prize that species of talent, declared
that he knew only three great political geniuses, of whom Francis
Aarsens was one.
Prince Maurice now almost openly avowed his pretensions to absolute
sovereignty: he knew that his success wholly depended on the
consent of Barneveldt. To seduce him to favor his designs he had
recourse to the dowager princess of Orange, his mother-in-law,
whose gentle character and exemplary conduct had procured her
universal esteem and the influence naturally attendant on it.
Maurice took care to make her understand that her interest in
his object was not trifling. Long time attached to Gertrude van
Mechlen, his favorite mistress, who had borne him several children,
he now announced his positive resolution to remain unmarried;
so that his brother Frederick Henry, the dowager's only son,
would be sure to succeed to the sovereignty he aimed at. The
princess, not insensible to this appeal, followed the instructions
of Maurice, and broached the affair to Barneveldt; but he was
inexorable. He clearly explained to her the perilous career on
which the prince proposed to enter; he showed how great, how
independent, how almost absolute, he might continue, without
shocking the principles of republicanism by grasping at an empty
dignity, which could not virtually increase his authority, and
would most probably convulse the state to its foundation and
lead to his own ruin. The princess, convinced by his reasoning,
repaired to Maurice; but instead of finding him as ready a convert
as she herself had been, she received as cold an answer as was
compatible with a passionate temper, wounded pride, and disappointed
ambition. The princess and Barneveldt recounted the whole affair
to Maurier, the French ambassador; and his son has transmitted
it to posterity.
We cannot follow the misguided prince in all the winding ways
of intrigue and subterfuge through which he labored to reach his
object. Religion, the holiest of sentiments, and Christianity,
the most sacred of its forms, were perpetually degraded by being
made the pretexts for that unworthy object. He was for a while
diverted from its direct pursuit by the preparation made to afford
assistance to some of the allies of the republic. Fifty thousand
florins a month were granted to the duke of Savoy, who was at
war with Spain; and seven thousand men, with nearly forty ships,
were despatched to the aid of the republic of Venice, in its
contest with Ferdinand, archduke of Gratz, who was afterward
elected emperor. The honorary empire of the seas seems at this
time to have been successfully claimed by the United Provinces.
They paid back with interest the haughty conduct with which they
had been long treated by the English; and they refused to pay
the fishery duties to which the inhabitants of Great Britain
were subject. The Dutch sailors had even the temerity, under
pretext of pursuing pirates, to violate the British territory.
They set fire to the town of Crookhaven, in Ireland, and massacred
several of the inhabitants. King James, immersed in theological
studies, appears to have passed slightly over this outrage. More
was to have been expected from his usual attention to the affairs
of Ireland; his management of which ill-fated country is the
best feature of his political character, and ought, to Irish
feelings at least, to be considered to redeem its many errors.
But he took fire at the news that the states had prohibited the
importation of cloth dyed and dressed in England. It required
the best exertion of Barneveldt's talents to pacify him; and
it was not easy to effect this through the jaundiced medium of
the ambassador Carleton. But it was unanswerably argued by the
pensionary that the manufacture of cloth was one of those ancient
and natural sources of wealth which England had ravished from the
Netherlands, and which the latter was justified in recovering by
every effort consistent with national honor and fair principles
of government.
The influence of Prince Maurice had gained complete success for
the Calvinist party, in its various titles of Gomarists,
non-remonstrants, etc. The audacity and violence of these ferocious
sectarians knew no bounds. Outrages, too many to enumerate, became
common through the country; and Arminianism was on all sides assailed
and persecuted. Barneveldt frequently appealed to Maurice without
effect; and all the efforts of the former to obtain justice by
means of the civil authorities were paralyzed by the inaction in
which the prince retained the military force. In this juncture,
the magistrates of various towns, spurred on by Barneveldt, called
out the national militia, termed Waardegelders, which possessed
the right of arming at its own expense for the protection of the
public peace. Schism upon schism was the consequence, and the
whole country was reduced to that state of anarchy so favorable
to the designs of an ambitious soldier already in the enjoyment
of almost absolute power. Maurice possessed all the hardihood and
vigor suited to such an occasion. At the head of two companies
of infantry, and accompanied by his brother Frederick Henry, he
suddenly set out at night from The Hague; arrived at the Brille;
and in defiance of the remonstrances of the magistrates, and
in violation of the rights of the town, he placed his devoted
garrison in that important place. To justify this measure, reports
were spread that Barneveldt intended to deliver it up to the
Spaniards; and the ignorant, insensate, and ungrateful people
swallowed the calumny.
This and such minor efforts were, however, all subservient to the
one grand object of utterly destroying, by a public proscription,
the whole of the patriot party, now identified with Arminianism.
A national synod was loudly clamored for by the Gomarists; and in
spite of all opposition on constitutional grounds, it was finally
proclaimed. Uitenbogaard, the enlightened pastor and friend of
Maurice, who on all occasions labored for the general good, now
moderated, as much as possible, the violence of either party; but
he could not persuade Barneveldt to render himself, by compliance,
a tacit accomplice with a measure that he conceived fraught with
violence to the public privileges. He had an inflexible enemy
in Carleton, the English ambassador. His interference carried
the question; and it was at his suggestion that Dordrecht, or
Dort, was chosen for the assembling of the synod. Du Maurier,
the French ambassador, acted on all occasions as a mediator; but
to obtain influence at such a time it was necessary to become
a partisan. Several towns--Leyden, Gouda, Rotterdam, and some
others--made a last effort for their liberties, and formed a
fruitless confederation.
Barneveldt solicited the acceptance of his resignation of all
his offices. The states-general implored him not to abandon the
country at such a critical moment: he consequently maintained
his post. Libels the most vindictive and atrocious were published
and circulated against him; and at last, forced from his silence
by these multiplied calumnies, he put forward his "Apology,"
addressed to the States of Holland.
This dignified vindication only produced new outrages; Maurice,
now become Prince of Orange by the death of his elder brother
without children, employed his whole authority to carry his object,
and crush Barneveldt. At the head of his troops he seized on
towns, displaced magistrates, trampled under foot all the ancient
privileges of the citizens, and openly announced his intention to
overthrow the federative constitution. His bold conduct completely
terrified the states-general. They thanked him; they consented to
disband the militia; formally invited foreign powers to favor
and protect the synod about to be held at Dort. The return of
Carleton from England, where he had gone to receive the more
positive promises of support from King James, was only wanting,
to decide Maurice to take the final step; and no sooner did the
ambassador arrive at The Hague than Barneveldt and his most able
friends, Grotius, Hoogerbeets, and Ledenberg, were arrested in
the name of the states-general.
The country was taken by surprise; no resistance was offered.
The concluding scenes of the tragedy were hurried on; violence
was succeeded by violence, against public feeling and public
justice. Maurice became completely absolute in everything but
in name. The supplications of ambassadors, the protests of
individuals, the arguments of statesmen, were alike unavailing
to stop the torrent of despotism and injustice. The synod of
Dort was opened on the 13th of November, 1618. Theology was
mystified; religion disgraced; Christianity outraged. And after
one hundred and fifty-two sittings, during six months' display
of ferocity and fraud, the solemn mockery was closed on the 9th
of May, 1619, by the declaration of its president, that "its
miraculous labors had made hell tremble."
Proscriptions, banishments, and death were the natural consequences
of this synod. The divisions which it had professed to extinguish
were rendered a thousand times more violent than before. Its
decrees did incalculable ill to the cause they were meant to
promote. The Anglican Church was the first to reject the canons
of Dort with horror and contempt. The Protestants of France and
Germany, and even Geneva, the nurse and guardian of Calvinism,
were shocked and disgusted, and unanimously softened down the
rigor of their respective creeds. But the moral effects of this
memorable conclave were too remote to prevent the sacrifice which
almost immediately followed the celebration of its rites. A trial
by twenty-four prejudiced enemies, by courtesy called judges,
which in its progress and its result throws judicial dignity into
scorn, ended in the condemnation of Barneveldt and his fellow
patriots, for treason against the liberties they had vainly labored
to save. Barneveldt died on the scaffold by the hands of the
executioner on the 13th of May, 1619, in the seventy-second year
of his age. Grotius and Hoogerbeets were sentenced to perpetual
imprisonment. Ledenberg committed suicide in his cell, sooner
than brave the tortures which he anticipated at the hands of
his enemies.
Many more pages than we are able to afford sentences might be
devoted to the details of these iniquitous proceedings, and an
account of their awful consummation. The pious heroism of Barneveldt
was never excelled by any martyr to the most holy cause. He appealed
to Maurice against the unjust sentence which condemned him to death;
but he scorned to beg his life. He met his fate with such temperate
courage as was to be expected from the dignified energy of his
life. His last words were worthy a philosopher whose thoughts,
even in his latest moments, were superior to mere personal hope
or fear, and turned to the deep mysteries of his being. "O God!"
cried De Barneveldt, "what then is man?" as he bent his head to
the sword that severed it from his body, and sent the inquiring
spirit to learn the great mystery for which it longed.