were become unwarlike, and confided entirely for their defence in that
mercenary army which they maintained. After the treaty of Westphalia,
the states, trusting to their peace with Spain, and their alliance with
France, had broken a great part of this army, and did not support with
sufficient vigilance the discipline of the troops which remained. When
the aristocratic party prevailed, it was thought prudent to dismiss
many of the old, experienced officers, who were devoted to the house of
Orange; and their place was supplied by raw youths, the sons or kinsmen
of burgomasters, by whose interest the party was supported. These new
officers, relying on the credit of their friends and family, neglected
their military duty; and some of them, it is said, were even allowed
to serve by deputies, to whom they assigned a small part of their pay.
During the war with England, all the forces of that nation had been
disbanded: Lewis’s invasion of Flanders, followed by the triple league,
occasioned the dismission of the French regiments: and the place of
these troops, which had ever had a chief share in the honor and fortune
of all the wars in the Low Countries, had not been supplied by any new
levies.
De Wit, sensible of this dangerous situation, and alarmed by the reports
which came from all quarters, exerted himself to supply those defects
to which it was not easy of a sudden to provide a suitable remedy. But
every proposal which he could make met with opposition from the Orange
party, now become extremely formidable. The long and uncontrolled
administration of this statesman had begotten envy; the present
incidents roused up his enemies and opponents, who ascribed to his
misconduct alone the bad situation of the republic; and above all, the
popular affection to the young prince, which had so long been held in
violent constraint, and had thence acquired new accession of force,
began to display itself, and to threaten the commonwealth with
some great convulsion. William III., prince of Orange, was in the
twenty-second year of his age, and gave strong indications of those
great qualities by which his life was afterwards so much distinguished.
De Wit himself, by giving him an excellent education, and instructing
him in all the principles of government and sound policy, had generously
contributed to make his rival formidable. Dreading the precarious
situation of his own party, he was always resolved, he said, by
conveying to the prince the knowledge of affairs, to render him capable
of serving his country, if any future emergence should ever throw the
administration into his hands. The conduct of William had hitherto been
extremely laudable. Notwithstanding his powerful alliances with England
and Brandenburgh, he had expressed his resolution of depending entirely
on the states for his advancement; and the whole tenor of his behavior
suited extremely the genius of that people. Silent and thoughtful given
to hear and to inquire; of a sound and steady understanding; firm in
what he once resolved, or once denied; strongly intent on business,
little on pleasure; by these virtues he engaged the attention of all men
And the people, sensible that they owed their liberty and very existence
to his family, and remembering that his great-uncle Maurice had been
able, even in more early youth, to defend them against the exorbitant
power of Spain, were desirous of raising this prince to all the
authority of his ancestors; and hoped, from his valor and conduct alone,
to receive protection against those imminent dangers with which they
were at present threatened.
While these two powerful factions struggled for superiority, every
scheme for defence was opposed, every project retarded What was
determined with difficulty, was executed without vigor. Levies, indeed,
were made, and the army completed to seventy thousand men;[*] the prince
was appointed both general and admiral of the commonwealth, and the
whole military power was put into his hands. But new troops could not
of a sudden acquire discipline and experience: and the partisans of the
prince were still unsatisfied, as long as the perpetual edict (so it
was called) remained in force; by which he was excluded from the
stadtholdership, and from all share in the civil administration.
* Temple, vol. i. p. 75.
It had always been the maxim of De Wit’s party to cultivate naval
affairs with extreme care, and to give the fleet a preference above the
army, which they represented as the object of an unreasonable partiality
la the princes of Orange. The two violent wars which had of late been
waged with England, had exercised the valor and improved the skill of
the sailors. And, above all, De Ruyter, the greatest sea commander of
the age, was closely connected with the Lovestein party; and every one
was disposed, with confidence and alacrity, to obey him. The equipment
of the fleet was therefore hastened by De Wit; in hopes that, by
striking at first a successful blow, he might inspire courage into the
dismayed states, and support his own declining authority. He seems to
have been, in a peculiar manner, incensed against the English; and
he resolved to take revenge on them for their conduct, of which, he
thought, he himself and his country had such reason to complain. By
ihe offer of a close alliance for mutual defence, they had seduced the
republic to quit the alliance of France; but no sooner had she embraced
these measures, than they formed leagues for her destruction, with that
very power which they had treacherously engaged her to offend. In the
midst of full peace, nay, during an intimate union, they attacked
her commerce, her only means of subsistence; and, moved by shameful
rapacity, had invaded that property which, from a reliance on their
faith, they had hoped to find unprotected and defenceless. Contrary
to their own manifest interest, as well as to their honor, they still
retained a malignant resentment for her successful conclusion of the
former war; a war which had at first sprung from their own wanton
insolence and ambition. To repress so dangerous an enemy would, De Wit
imagined, give peculiar pleasure, and contribute to the future security
of his country, whose prosperity was so much the object of general envy.
Actuated by like motives and views, De Ruyter put to sea with a
formidable fleet, consisting of ninety-one ships of war and forty-four
fireships. Cornelius De Wit was on board, as deputy from the states.
They sailed in quest of the English, who were under the command of the
duke of York, and who had already joined the French under Mareschal
D’Etrées. The combined fleets lay at Solebay in a very negligent
posture, and Sandwich, being an experienced officer, had given the
duke warning of the danger, but received, it is said, such an answer
as intimated that there was more of caution than of courage in his
apprehensions. Upon the appearance of the enemy, every one ran to
his post with precipitation; and many ships were obliged to cut their
cables, in order to be in readiness. Sandwich commanded the van; and
though determined to conquer or to perish, he so tempered his courage
with prudence, that the whole fleet was visibly indebted to him for its
safety. He hastened out of the bay, where it had been easy for De Ruyter
with his fireships to have destroyed the combined fleets, which were
crowded together; and by this wise measure, he gave time to the duke of
York, who commanded the main body, and to Mareschal D’Etrées, admiral
of the rear, to disengage themselves. He himself meanwhile rushed into
battle with the Hollanders; and by presenting himself to every danger,
had drawn upon him all the bravest of the enemy, He killed Van Ghent,
a Dutch admiral, and beat off his ship: he sunk another ship, which
ventured to lay him aboard: he sunk three fireships, which endeavored
to grapple with him: and though his vessel was torn in pieces with shot,
and of a thousand men she contained, near six hundred were laid dead
upon the deck, he continued still to thunder with all his artillery in
the midst of the enemy. But another fireship, more fortunate than the
preceding, having laid hold of his vessel, her destruction was now
inevitable. Warned by Sir Edward Haddock, his captain, he refused to
make his escape; and bravely embraced death, as a shelter from that
ignominy which a rash expression of the duke’s, he thought, had thrown
upon him.
During this fierce engagement with Sandwich, De Ruyter remained not
inactive. He attacked the duke of York, and fought him with such fury
for above two hours, that of two and thirty actions in which that
admiral had been engaged, he declared this combat to be the most
obstinately disputed. The duke’s ship was so shattered, that he was
obliged to leave her, and remove his flag to another. His squadron was
overpowered with numbers, till Sir Joseph Jordan, who had succeeded to
Sandwich’s command, came to his assistance; and the fight, being more
equally balanced, was continued till night, when the Dutch retired, and
were not followed by the English. The loss sustained by the fleets of
the two maritime powers was nearly equal, if it did not rather fall more
heavy on the English. The French suffered very little, because they had
scarcely been engaged in the action; and as this backwardness is not
their national character, it was concluded, that they had received
secret orders to spare their ships, while the Dutch and English should
weaken each other by their mutual animosity. Almost all the other
actions during the present war tended to confirm this suspicion.
It might be deemed honorable for the Dutch to have fought with some
advantage the combined fleets of two such powerful nations; but nothing
less than a complete victory could serve the purpose of De Wit, or save
his country from those calamities which from every quarter threatened to
overwhelm her. He had expected, that the French would make their attack
on the side of Maestricht, which was well fortified, and provided with a
good garrison; but Lewis, taking advantage of his alliance with Cologne,
resolved to invade the enemy on that frontier, which he knew to be
more feeble and defenceless. The armies of that elector, and those of
Munster, appeared on the other side of the Rhine, and divided the force
and attention of the states. The Dutch troops, too weak to defend
so extensive a frontier, were scattered into so many towns, that no
considerable body remained in the field and a strong garrison was
scarcely to be found in any fortress Lewis passed the Meuse at Viset;
and laying siege to Orsoi, a town of the elector of Brandenburgh’s, but
garrisoned by the Dutch, he carried it in three days. He divided his
army, and invested at once Burik, Wesel, Emerik, and Rhimberg, four
places regularly fortified, and not unprovided with troops: in a few
days, all these places were surrendered. A general astonishment had
seized the Hollanders, from the combination of such powerful princes
against the republic; and nowhere was resistance made suitable to the
ancient glory or present greatness of the state. Governors without
experience commanded troops without discipline; and despair had
universally extinguished that sense of honor, by which alone men in such
dangerous extremities can be animated to a valorous defence.
Lewis advanced to the banks of the Rhine, which he prepared to pass. To
all the other calamities of the Dutch was added the extreme drought of
the season, by which the greatest rivers were much diminished, and
in some places rendered fordable. The French cavalry, animated by the
presence of their prince, full of impetuous courage, but ranged in exact
order, flung themselves into the river: the infantry passed in boats:
a few regiments of Dutch appeared on the other side, who were unable to
make resistance. And thus was executed without danger, but not without
glory, the passage of the Rhine so much celebrated at that time by the
flattery of the French courtiers, and transmitted to posterity by the
more durable flattery of their poets.
Each success added courage to the conquerors, and struck the vanquished
with dismay. The prince of Orange, though prudent beyond his age, was
but newly advanced to the command, unacquainted with the army, unknown
to them; and all men, by reason of the violent factions which prevailed,
were uncertain of the authority on which they must depend. It was
expected that the fort of Skink, famous for the sieges which it had
formerly sustained, would make some resistance; but it yielded to
Turenne in a few days. The same general made himself master of Arnheim,
Knotzembourg, and Nimeguen, as soon as he appeared before them.
Doesbourg at the same time opened its gates to Lewis: soon after,
Harderwic, Amersfort, Campen, Rhenen, Viane, Elbe g, Zwol. Cuilemberg,
Wageninguen, Lochem, Woerden, fe into the enemy’s hands. Groll and
Deventer surrendered to the mareschal Luxembourg, who commanded the
troops of Munster. And every hour brought to the states news of the
rapid progress of the French, and of the cowardly defence of their own
garrisons.
The prince of Orange, with his small and discouraged army, retired into
the province of Holland; where he expected, from the natural strength of
the country, since all human art and courage failed, to be able to make
some resistance. The town and province of Utrecht sent deputies, and
surrendered themselves to Lewis Naerden, a place within three leagues of
Amsterdam, was seized by the marquis of Rochfort; and had he pushed on
to Muyden, he had easily gotten possession of it. Fourteen stragglers of
his army having appeared before the gates of that town, the magistrates
sent them the keys; but a servant maid, who was alone in the castle,
having raised the drawbridge, kept them from taking possession of that
fortress. The magistrates afterwards, finding the party so weak, made
them drunk, and took the keys from them. Muyden is so near to Amsterdam,
thai its cannon may infest the ships which enter that city.
Lewis with a splendid court made a solemn entry into Utrecht, full of
glory, because every where attended with success; though more owing to
the cowardice and misconduct of his enemies, than to his own valor
or prudence. Three provinces were already in his hands, Guelderland,
Overyssel, and Utrecht; Groninghen was threatened; Friezeland was
exposed: the only difficulty lay in Holland and Zealand; and the monarch
deliberated concerning the proper measures for reducing them. Condé
and Turenne exhorted him to dismantle all the towns which he had taken,
except a few; and fortifying his main army by the garrisons, put himself
in a condition of pushing his conquests. Louvois, hoping that the other
provinces, weak and dismayed, would prove an easy prey, advised him to
keep possession of places which might afterwards serve to retain the
people in subjection. His counsel was followed though it was found, soon
after, to have been the most impolitic.
Meanwhile the people throughout the republic, instead of collecting a
noble indignation against the haughty conqueror discharged their rage
upon their own unhappy minister, on whose prudence and integrity every
one formerly bestowed the merited applause. The bad condition of the
armies was laid to his charge: the ill choice of governors was ascribed
to his partiality: as instances of cowardice multiplied, treachery was
suspected; and his former connections with France being remembered, the
populace believed, that he and his partisans had now combined to betray
them to their most mortal enemy. The prince of Orange, notwithstanding
his youth and inexperience, was looked on as the only savior of the
state; and men were violently driven by their fears into his party, to
which they had always been led by favor and inclination.
Amsterdam alone seemed to retain some courage; and by forming a regular
plan of defence, endeavored to infuse spirit into the other cities. The
magistrates obliged the burgesses to keep a strict watch: the populace,
whom want of employment might engage to mutiny, were maintained by
regular pay, and armed for the defence of the public. Some ships which
lay useless in the harbor, were refitted, and stationed to guard the
city; and the sluices being opened, the neighboring country, without
regard to the damage sustained, was laid under water. All the province
followed the example, and scrupled not, in this extremity, to restore to
the sea those fertile fields which with great art and expense had been
won from it.
The states were assembled to consider whether any means were left
to save the remains of their lately flourishing and now distressed
commonwealth. Though they were surrounded with waters, which barred all
access to the enemy, their deliberations were not conducted with that
tranquillity which could alone suggest measures proper to extricate
them from their present difficulties. The nobles gave their vote, that,
provided their religion, liberty, and sovereignty could be saved, every
thing else should without scruple be sacrificed to the conqueror.
Eleven towns concurred in the same sentiments. Amsterdam singly
declared against all treaty with insolent and triumphant enemies: but
notwithstanding that opposition, ambassadors were despatched to implore
the pity of the two combined monarchs. It was resolved to sacrifice
to Lewis, Maestricht and all the frontier towns which lay without
the bounds of the seven provinces; and to pay him a large sum for the
charges of the war.
Lewis deliberated with his ministers, Louvois and Pomponne, concerning
the measures which he should embrace in the present emergence; and
fortunately for Europe, he still preferred the violent counsels of
the former. He offered to evacuate his conquests, on condition that all
duties lately imposed on the commodities of France should be taken off:
that the public exercise of the Romish religion should be permitted in
the United Provinces; the churches shared with the Catholics; and
their priests maintained by appointments from the states: that all the
frontier towns of the republic should be yielded to him, together with
Nimeguen, Skink, Knotzembourg, and that part of Guelderland which lay
on the other side of the Rhine; as likewise the Isle of Bommel, that of
Voorn, the fortress of St. Andrew, those of Louvestein and Crevecoeur:
that the states should pay him the sum of twenty millions of livres for
the charges of the war: that they should every year send him a solemn
embassy, and present him with a golden medal, as an acknowledgment
that they owed to him the preservation of that liberty which, by the
assistance of his predecessors, they had formerly acquired: and that
they should give entire satisfaction to the king of England: and he
allowed them but ten days for the acceptance of these demands.
The ambassadors sent to London met with still worse reception: no
minister was allowed to treat with them; and they were retained in a
kind of confinement. But notwithstanding this rigorous conduct of the
court, the presence of the Dutch ambassadors excited the sentiments of
tender compassion, and even indignation, among the people in general,
especially among those who could foresee the aim and result of those
dangerous counsels. The two most powerful monarchs, they said, in
Europe, the one by land, the other by sea, have, contrary to the faith
of solemn treaties, combined to exterminate an illustrious republic:
what a dismal prospect does their success afford to the neighbors of
the one, and to the subjects of the other? Charles had formed the triple
league, in order to restrain the power of France; a sure proof that
he does not now err from ignorance. He had courted and obtained the
applauses of his people by that wise measure: as he now adopts contrary
counsels, he must surely expect by their means to render himself
independent of his people, whose sentiments are become so indifferent to
him. During the entire submission of the nation, and dutiful behavior of
the parliament, dangerous projects, without provocation, are formed to
reduce them to subjection; and all the foreign interests of the people
are sacrificed, in order the more surely to bereave them of their
domestic liberties. Lest any instance of freedom should remain within
their view, the United Province; the real barrier of England, must be
abandoned to the most dangerous enemy of England; and by a universal
combination of tyranny against laws and liberty, all mankind, who
have retained in any degree their precious, though hitherto precarious
birthrights, are forever to submit to slavery and injustice.
Though the fear of giving umbrage to his confederate had engaged Charles
to treat the Dutch ambassadors with such rigor, he was not altogether
without uneasiness on account of the rapid and unexpected progress of
the French arms. Were Holland entirely conquered, its whole commerce
and naval force, he perceived, must become an accession to France; the
Spanish Low Countries must soon follow; and Lewis, now independent of
his ally, would no longer think it his interest to support him against
his discontented subjects. Charles, though he never carried his
attention to very distant consequences, could not but foresee these
obvious events; and though incapable of envy or jealousy, he was touched
with anxiety, when he found every thing yield to the French arms, while
such vigorous resistance was made to his own. He soon dismissed the
Dutch ambassadors, lest they should cabal among his subjects, who bore
them great favor: but he sent over Buckingham and Arlington, and soon
after Lord Halifax, to negotiate anew with the French king, in the
present prosperous situation of that monarch’s affairs.
These ministers passed through Holland; and as they were supposed to
bring peace to the distressed republic, they were every where received
with the loudest acclamations. “God bless the king of England! God bless
the prince of Orange! Confusion to the states!” This was every where the
cry of the populace. The ambassadors had several conferences with the
states and the prince of Orange; but made no reasonable advances towards
an accommodation. They went to Utrecht where they renewed the league
with Lewis, and agreed, that neither of the kings should make peace with
Holland but by common consent. They next gave in their pretensions, of
which the following are the principal articles: that the Dutch should
give up the honor of the flag, without the least reserve or limitation
nor should whole fleets, even on the coast of Holland, refuse to strike
or lower their topsails to the smallest ship carrying the British flag:
that all persons guilty of treason against the king, or of writing
seditious libels, should, on complaint, be banished forever the
dominions of the states; that the Dutch should pay the king a million
sterling towards the charges of the war, together with ten thousand
pounds a year, for permission to fish on the British seas: that they
should share the Indian trade with the English: that the prince of
Orange and his descendants should enjoy the sovereignty of the United
Provinces; at least, that they should be invested with the dignities of
stadtholder, admiral, and general, in as ample a manner as had ever been
enjoyed by any of his ancestors: and that the Isle of Walcheren, the
city and castle of Sluis, together with the isles of Cadsant, Gorée, and
Vorne, should be put into the king’s hands, as a security for the
performance of articles.
The terms proposed by Lewis bereaved the republic of all security
against any invasion by land from France: those demanded by Charles
exposed them equally to an invasion by sea from England; and when both
were united, they appeared absolutely intolerable, and reduced the
Hollanders, who saw no means of defence, to the utmost despair. What
extremely augmented their distress, were the violent factions with which
they continued to be every where agitated. De Wit, too pertinacious
in defence of his own system of liberty, while the very being of the
commonwealth was threatened, still persevered in opposing the repeal
of the perpetual edict, now become the object of horror to the Dutch
populace. Their rage at last broke all bounds, and bore every
thing before it. They rose in an insurrection at Dort, and by force
constrained their burgomasters to sign the repeal so much demanded. This
proved a signal of a general revolt throughout all the provinces.
At Amsterdam, the Hague, Middlebourg, Rotterdam, the people flew to
arms, and trampling under foot the authority of their magistrates,
obliged them to submit to the prince of Orange. They expelled from their
office such as displeased them: they required the prince to appoint
others in their place; and, agreeably to the proceedings of the
populace in all ages, provided they might wreak their vengeance on their
superiors, they expressed great indifference for the protection of their
civil liberties.
The superior talents and virtues of De Wit made him on this occasion
the chief object of envy, and exposed him to the utmost rage of popular
prejudice. Four assassins, actuated by no other motive than mistaken
zeal, had assaulted him in the streets; and after giving him many
wounds, had left him for dead. One of them was punished: the others were
never questioned for the crime. His brother Cornelius, who had behaved
with prudence and courage on board the fleet, was obliged by sickness
to come ashore; and he was now confined to his house at Dort. Some
assassins broke in upon him; and it was with the utmost difficulty that
his family and servants could repel their violence. At Amsterdam,
the house of the brave De Ruyter, the sole resource of the distressed
commonwealth, was surrounded by the enraged populace; and his wife and
children were for some time exposed to the most imminent danger.
One Tichelaer, a barber, a man noted for infamy, accused Cornelius de
Wit of endeavoring by bribes to engage him in the design of poisoning
the prince of Orange. The accusation, though attended with the most
improbable, and even absurd circumstances, was greedily received by
the credulous multitude; and Cornelius was cited before a court of
judicature. The judges, either blinded by the same prejudices, or
not daring to oppose the popular torrent, condemned him to suffer the
question. This man, who had bravely served his country in war, and who
had been invested with the highest dignities, was delivered into
the hands of the executioner, and torn in pieces by the most inhuman
torments. Amidst the severe agonies which he endured, he still made
protestations of his innocence, and frequently repeated an ode of
Horace, which contained sentiments suited to his deplorable condition:--
Justum et tenacem propositi virum, etc.[*]
* Which may be thus translated:--
The man whose mind, on virtue bent, Pursues some greatly
good intent, With undiverted aim, Serene beholds the angry
crowd; Nor can their clamors, fierce and loud, His stubborn
honor tame.
Not the proud tyrant’s fiercest threat, Nor storms, that
from their dark retreat The lawless surges wake; Not Jove’s
dread bolt, that shakes the pole, The firmer purpose of his
soul With all its power can shake.
Should nature’s frame in ruins fall, And chaos o’er the
sinking ball Resume primeval sway, His courage chance and
fate defies, Nor feels the wreck of earth and skies Obstruct
its destined way--BLACKLOCKE
The judges, however, condemned him to lose his offices, and to be
banished the commonwealth. The pensionary, who had not been terrified
from performing the part of a kind brother and faithful friend during
this prosecution, resolved not to desert him on account of the unmerited
infamy which was endeavored to be thrown upon him. He came to his
brothers prison, determined to accompany him to the place of his exile.
The signal was given to the populace. They rose in arms: they broke
open the doors of the prison; they pulled out the two brothers; and a
thousand hands vied who should first be imbrued in their blood. Even
their death did not satiate the brutal rage of the multitude. They
exercised on the dead bodies of those virtuous citizens, indignities
too shocking to be recited; and till tired with their own fury, they
permitted not the friends of the deceased to approach, or to bestow on
them the honors of a funeral, silent and unattended.
The massacre of the De Wits put an end for the time to the remains of
their party; and all men, from fear, inclination, or prudence, concurred
in expressing the most implicit obedience to the prince of Orange. The
republic, though half subdued by foreign force, and as yet dismayed by
its misfortunes, was now firmly united under one leader, and began
to collect the remains of its pristine vigor. William, worthy of that
heroic family from which he sprang, adopted sentiments becoming the head
of a brave and free people. He bent all his efforts against the public
enemy: he sought not against his country any advantages which might be
dangerous to civil liberty. Those intolerable conditions demanded by
their insolent enemies, he exhorted the states to reject with scorn;
and by his advice they put an end to negotiations, which served only to
break the courage of their fellow-citizens, and delay the assistance of
their allies. He showed them, that the numbers and riches of the people,
aided by the advantages of situation, would still be sufficient, if they
abandoned not themselves to despair, to resist, at least retard, the
progress of their enemies, and preserve the remaining provinces, till
the other nations of Europe, sensible of the common danger, could come
to their relief. He represented that, as envy at their opulence and
liberty had produced this mighty combination against them they would
in vain expect by concessions to satisfy foes whose pretensions were as
little bounded by moderation as by justice He exhorted them to remember
the generous valor of their ancestors, who, yet in the infancy of the
state, preferred liberty to every human consideration; and rousing
their spirits to an obstinate defence, repelled all the power, riches,
and military discipline of Spain. And he professed himself willing to
tread in the steps of his illustrious predecessors, and hoped, that as
they had honored him with the same affection which their ancestors paid
to the former princes of Orange, they would second his efforts with the
same constancy and manly fortitude.
The spirit of the young prince infused itself into his hearers. Those
who lately entertained thoughts of yielding their necks to subjection,
were now bravely determined to resist the haughty victor, and to defend
those last remains of their native soil, of which neither the irruptions
of Lewis, nor the inundation of waters, had as yet bereaved them. Should
even the ground fail them on which they might combat, they were
still resolved not to yield the generous strife; but, flying to their
settlements in the Indies, erect a new empire in those remote regions,
and preserve alive, even in the climates of slavery, that liberty of
which Europe was become unworthy. Already they concerted measures for
executing this extraordinary resolution; and found that the vessels
contained in their harbors could transport above two hundred thousand
inhabitants to the East Indies.
The combined princes, finding at last some appearance of opposition,
bent all their efforts to seduce the prince of Orange, on whose
valor and conduct the fate of the commonwealth entirely depended.
The sovereignty of the province of Holland was offered him, and the
protection of England and France, to insure him, as well against the
invasion of foreign enemies, as the insurrection of his subjects.
All proposals were generously rejected; and the prince declared his
resolution to retire into Germany, and to pass his life in hunting on
his lands there, rather than abandon the liberty of his country, or
betray the trust reposed in him. When Buckingham urged the inevitable
destruction which hung over the United Provinces, and asked him whether
he did not see that the commonwealth was ruined, “There is one certain
means,” replied the prince, “by which I can be sure never to see my
country’s ruin: I will die in the last ditch.”
The people in Holland had been much incited to espouse the prince’s
party, by the hopes that the king of England pleased with his nephew’s
elevation, would abandon those dangerous engagements into which he had
entered, and would afford his protection to the distressed republic.
But all these hopes were soon found to be fallacious. Charles still
persisted in his alliance with France; and the combined fleets
approached the coast of Holland with an English army on board, commanded
by Count Schomberg. It is pretended that an unusual tide carried them
off the coast; and that Providence thus interposed, in an extraordinary
manner, to save the republic from the imminent danger to which it was
exposed. Very tempestuous weather, it is certain, prevailed all the rest
of the season; and the combined fleets either were blown to a distance,
or durst not approach a coast which might prove fatal to them. Lewis,
finding that his enemies gathered courage behind their inundations, and
that no further success was likely for the present to attend his arms,
had retired to Versailles.
The other nations of Europe regarded the subjection of Holland as the
forerunner of their own slavery, and retained no hopes of defending
themselves, should such a mighty accession be made to the already
exorbitant power of France. The emperor, though he lay at a distance,
and was naturally slow in his undertakings, began to put himself in
motion; Brandenburgh showed a disposition to support the states; Spain
had sent some forces to their assistance; and by the present efforts of
the prince of Orange, and the prospect of relief from their allies, a
different face of affairs began already to appear. Groninghen was
the first place that stopped the progress of the enemy: the bishop of
Munster was repulsed from before that town, and obliged to raise the
siege with loss and dishonor. Naerden was attempted by the prince of
Orange; but Mareschal Luxembourg, breaking in upon his intrenchments
with a sudden irruption, obliged him to abandon the enterprise.
{1673.} There was no ally on whom the Dutch more relied for assistance,
than the parliament of England, which the king’s necessities at last
obliged him to assemble. The eyes of all men, both abroad and at home,
were fixed on this session, which met after prorogations continued for
near two years. It was evident how much the king dreaded the assembling
of his parliament; and the discontents universally excited by the bold
measures entered into, both in foreign and domestic administration, had
given but too just foundation for his apprehensions.
The king, however, in his speech, addressed them with all the appearance
of cordiality and confidence. He said, that he would have assembled them
sooner, had he not been desirous to allow them leisure for attending
their private affairs, as well as to give his people respite from taxes
and impositions: that since their last meeting, he had been forced into
a war, not only just, but necessary; necessary both for the honor and
interest of the nation: that in order to have peace at home, while
he had war abroad, he had issued his declaration of indulgence to
dissenters, and had found many good effects to result from that measure:
that he heard of some exceptions which had been taken to this exercise
of power; but he would tell them plainly, that he was resolved to stick
to his declaration, and would be much offended at any contradiction: and
that though a rumor had been spread, as if the new-levied army had been
intended to control law and property, he regarded that jealousy as so
frivolous, that he was resolved to augment his forces next spring, and
did not doubt but they would consider the necessity of them in their
supplies. The rest of the business he left to the chancellor.
The chancellor enlarged on the same topics, and added many extraordinary
positions of his own. He told them, that the Hollanders were the common
enemies of all monarchies, especially that of England, their only
competitor for commerce and naval power, and the sole obstacle to their
views of attaining a universal empire, as extensive as that of ancient
Rome: that, even during their present distress and danger, they were so
intoxicated with these ambitious projects, as to slight all treaty, nay,
to refuse all cessation of hostilities: that the king, in entering on
this war, did no more than prosecute those maxims which had engaged the
parliament to advise and approve of the last; and he might therefore
safely say, that it was their war: that the states being the eternal
enemies of England, both by interest and inclination, the parliament had
wisely judged it necessary to extirpate them, and had laid it down as an
eternal maxim, that “delenda est Carthago,” this hostile government by
all means is to be subverted: and that though the Dutch pretended to
have assurances that the parliament would furnish no supplies to the
king, he was confident that this hope, in which they extremely trusted,
would soon fail them.
Before the commons entered upon business, there lay before them an
affair, which discovered, beyond a possibility of doubt, the arbitrary
projects of the king; and the measures taken upon it, proved that the
house was not at present in a disposition to submit to them. It had been
the constant, undisputed practice, ever since the parliament in 1604,
for the house, in case of any vacancy, to issue out writs for new
elections; and the chancellor, who, before that time, had had some
precedents in his favor, had ever afterwards abstained from all exercise
of that authority. This indeed was one of the first steps which the
commons had taken in establishing and guarding their privileges; and
nothing could be more requisite than this precaution, in order to
prevent the clandestine issuing of writs, and to insure a fair and free
election. No one but so desperate a minister as Shaftesbury, who had
entered into a regular plan for reducing the people to subjection, could
have entertained thoughts of breaking in upon a practice so reasonable
and so well established, or could have hoped to succeed in so bold an
enterprise. Several members had taken their seats upon irregular writs
issued by the chancellor; but the house was no sooner assembled, and the
speaker placed in the chair, than a motion was made against them; and
the members themselves had the modesty to withdraw. Their election was
declared null; and new writs, in the usual form, were issued by the
speaker.
The next step taken by the commons had the appearance of some more
complaisance; but in reality proceeded from the same spirit of liberty
and independence. They entered a resolution, that, in order to supply
his majesty’s extraordinary occasions, (for that was the expression
employed,) they would grant eighteen months’ assessment, at the rate of
seventy thousand pounds a month, amounting in the whole to one million
two hundred and sixty thousand pounds. Though unwilling to come to
a violent breach with the king, they would not express the least
approbation of the war; and they gave him the prospect of this supply,
only that they might have permission to proceed peaceably in the redress
of the other grievances of which they had such reason to complain.
No grievance was more alarming, both on account of the secret views from
which it proceeded, and the consequences which might attend it, than the
declaration of indulgence. A remonstrance was immediately framed against
that exercise of prerogative. The king defended his measure. The commons
persisted in their opposition to it; and they represented, that such a
practice, if admitted, might tend to interrupt the free course of
the laws, and alter the legislative power, which had always been
acknowledged to reside in the king and the two houses. All men were in
expectation with regard to the issue of this extraordinary affair. The
king seemed engaged in honor to support his measure; and in order to
prevent all opposition, he had positively declared that he would support
it. The commons were obliged to persevere, not only because it was
dishonorable to be foiled, where they could plead such strong reasons,
but also because, if the king prevailed in his pretensions, an end
seemed to be put to all the legal limitations of the constitution.
It is evident, that Charles was now come to that delicate crisis which
he ought at first to have foreseen, when he embraced those desperate
counsels; and his resolutions, in such an event, ought long ago to have
been entirely fixed and determined. Besides his usual guards, he had an
army encamped at Blackheath, under the command of Mareschal Schomberg,
a foreigner; and many of the officers were of the Catholic religion.
His ally, the French king, he might expect, would second him, if
force became requisite for restraining his discontented subjects, and
supporting the measures which, by common consent, they had agreed to
pursue. But the king was startled when he approached so dangerous a
precipice as that which lay before him. Were violence once offered,
there could be no return, he saw, to mutual confidence and trust with
his people; the perils attending foreign succors, especially from so
mighty a prince, were sufficiently apparent; and the success which his
own arms had met with in the war, was not so great as to increase his
authority, or terrify the malecontents from opposition. The desire
of power, likewise, which had engaged Charles in these precipitate
measures, had less proceeded, we may observe, from ambition than from
love of ease. Strict limitations of the constitution rendered the
conduct of business complicated and troublesome; and it was impossible
for him, without much contrivance and intrigue, to procure the money
necessary for his pleasures, or even for the regular support of
government. When the prospect, therefore, of such dangerous opposition
presented itself, the same love of ease inclined him to retract what it
seemed so difficult to maintain; and his turn of mind, naturally pliant
and careless, made him find little objection to a measure which a more
haughty prince would have embraced with the utmost reluctance. That he
might yield with the better grace, he asked the opinion of the house of
peers, who advised him to comply with the commons. Accordingly the king
sent for the declaration, and with his own hands broke the seals. The
commons expressed the utmost satisfaction with this measure, and the
most entire duty to his majesty. Charles assured them, that he would
willingly pass any law offered him, which might tend to give them
satisfaction in all their just grievances.
Shaftesbury, when he found the king recede at once from so capital
a point, which he had publicly declared his resolution to maintain,
concluded, that all schemes for enlarging royal authority were vanished,
and that Charles was utterly incapable of pursuing such difficult and
such hazardous measures. The parliament, he foresaw, might push their
inquiries into those counsels which were so generally odious; and the
king, from the same facility of disposition, might abandon his ministers
to their vengeance. He resolved, therefore, to make his peace in time
with that party which was likely to predominate, and to atone for all
his violences in favor of monarchy by like violences in opposition to
it. Never turn was more sudden, or less calculated to save appearances.
Immediately he entered into all the cabals of the country party; and
discovered to them, perhaps magnified, the arbitrary designs of the
court, in which he himself had borne so deep a share. He was received
with open arms by that party, who stood in need of so able a leader; and
no questions were asked with regard to his late apostasy. The various
factions into which the nation had been divided, and the many sudden
revolutions to which the public had been exposed, had tended much to
debauch the minds of men, and to destroy the sense of honor and decorum
in their public conduct.
But the parliament, though satisfied with the king’s compliance, had
not lost all those apprehensions to which the measures of the court had
given so much foundation. A law passed for imposing a test on all who
should enjoy any public office. Besides taking the oaths of allegiance
and supremacy, and receiving the sacrament in the established
church, they were obliged to abjure all belief in the doctrine of
transubstantiation. As the dissenters had seconded the efforts of
the commons against the king’s declaration of indulgence, and seemed
resolute to accept of no toleration in an illegal manner, they had
acquired great favor with the parliament; and a project was adopted to
unite the whole Protestant interest against the common enemy, who now
began to appear formidable. A bill passed the commons for the ease and
relief of the Protestant nonconformists; but met with some difficulties,
at least delays, in the house of peers.
The resolution for supply was carried into a law; as a recompense to
the king for his concessions. An act, likewise, of general pardon and
indemnity was passed, which screened the ministers from all further
inquiry. The parliament probably thought, that the best method of
reclaiming the criminals, was to show them that their case was not
desperate. Even the remonstrance which the commons voted of their
grievances, may be regarded as a proof that their anger was, for the
time, somewhat appeased. None of the capital points are there touched
on; the breach of the triple league, the French alliance, or the
shutting up of the exchequer. The sole grievances mentioned are, an
arbitrary imposition on coals for providing convoys, the exercise of
martial law, the quartering and pressing of soldiers: and they prayed
that, after the conclusion of the war, the whole army should be
disbanded. The king gave them a gracious, though an evasive answer. When
business was finished, the two houses adjourned themselves.
Though the king had receded from his declaration of indulgence, and
thereby had tacitly relinquished the dispensing power, he was still
resolved, notwithstanding his bad success both at home and abroad,
to persevere in his alliance with France, and in the Dutch war, and
consequently in all those secret views, whatever they were, which
depended on those fatal measures. The money granted by parliament
sufficed to equip a fleet, of which Prince Rupert was declared admiral;
for the duke was set aside by the test. Sir Edward Sprague and the earl
of Ossory commanded under the prince. A French squadron joined them,
commanded by d’Etrées. The combined fleets set sail towards the coast
of Holland, and found the enemy lying at anchor within the sands at
Schonvelt. There is a natural confusion attending sea fights, even
beyond other military transactions; derived from the precarious
operations of winds and tides, as well as from the smoke and darkness in
which every thing is there involved. No wonder, therefore, that accounts
of those battles are apt to contain uncertainties and contradictions;
especially when delivered by writers of the hostile nations, who
take pleasure in exalting the advantages of their own countrymen, and
depressing those of the enemy. All we can say with certainty of this
battle is, that both sides boasted of the victory; and we may thence
infer, that the event was not decisive. The Dutch, being near home,
retired into their harbors. In a week, they were refitted, and presented
themselves again to the combined fleets. A new action ensued, not more
decisive than the foregoing. It was not fought with great obstinacy on
either side; but whether the Dutch or the allies first retired, seems to
be a matter of uncertainty. The loss in the former cf these actions fell
chiefly on the French, whom the English, diffident of their intentions,
took care to place under their own squadrons; and they thereby exposed
them to all the fire of the enemy. There seems not to have been a ship
lost on either side in the second engagement.
It was sufficient glory to De Ruyter, that, with a fleet much inferior
to the combined squadrons of France and England, he could fight them
without any notable disadvantage; and it was sufficient victory, that
he could defeat the project of a descent in Zealand, which, had it taken
place, had endangered, in the present circumstances, the total overthrow
of the Dutch commonwealth. Prince Rupert was also suspected not to favor
the king’s projects for subduing Holland, or enlarging his authority at
home; and from these motives he was thought not to have pressed so
hard on the enemy, as his well-known valer gave reason to expect. It is
indeed remarkable, that during this war, though the English with their
allies much overmatched the Hollanders, they were not able to gain any
advantage over them; while in the former war, though often overborne by
numbers, they still exerted themselves with the greatest courage, and
always acquired great renown, sometimes even signal victories. But they
were disgusted at the present measures, which they deemed pernicious to
their country; they were not satisfied in the justice of the quarrel;
and they entertained a perpetual jealousy of their confederates, whom,
had they been permitted, they would, with much more pleasure, have
destroyed than even the enemy themselves.
If Prince Rupert was not favorable to the designs of the court, he
enjoyed as little favor from the court, at least from the duke, who,
though he could no longer command the fleet still possessed the chief
authority in the admiralty. The prince complained of a total want of
every thing, powder shot, provisions, beer, and even water; and he went
into harbor, that he might refit his ships, and supply their numerous
necessities. After some weeks, he was refitted; and he again put to sea.
The hostile fleets met at the mouth of the Texel, and fought the last
battle, which, during the course of so many years, these neighboring
maritime powers have disputed with each other. De Ruyter, and under him
Tromp, commanded the Dutch in this action, as in the two former; for the
prince of Orange had reconciled these gallant rivals; and they retained
nothing of their former animosity, except that emulation which made them
exert themselves with more distinguished bravery against the enemies
of their country. Brankert was opposed to d’Etrées, De Ruyter to Prince
Rupert, Tromp to Sprague. It is to be remarked, that in all actions,
these brave admirals last mentioned had still selected each other as the
only antagonists worthy each other’s valor; and no decisive advantage
had as yet been gained by either of them. They fought in this battle, as
if there were no mean between death and victory.
D’Etrées and all the French squadron, except Rear-Admiral Martel, kept
at a distance; and Brankert, instead of attacking them, bore down to the
assistance of De Ruyter, who was engaged in furious combat with Prince
Rupert. On no occasion did the prince acquire more deserved honor:
his conduct, as well as valor, shone out with signal lustre. Having
disengaged his squadron from the numerous enemies with whom he was every
where surrounded, and having joined Sir John Chichely, his rear-admiral,
who had been separated from him, he made haste to the relief of Sprague,
who was hard pressed by Tromp’s squadron. The Royal Prince, in which
Sprague first engaged, was so disabled, that he was obliged to hoist his
flag on board the St. George; while Tromp was for a like reason obliged
to quit his ship, the Golden Lion, and go on board the Comet. The fight
was renewed with the utmost fury by these valorous rivals, and by the
rear-admirals, their seconds. Ossory, rear-admiral to Sprague, was
preparing to board Tromp, when he saw the St. George terribly torn, and
in a manner disabled. Sprague was leaving her, in order to hoist his
flag on board a third ship, and return to the charge, when a shot, which
had passed through the St. George, took his boat, and sunk her. The
admiral was drowned, to the regret of Tromp himself, who bestowed on his
valor the deserved praises.
Prince Rupert found affairs in this dangerous situation, and saw most
of the ships in Sprague’s squadron disabled from fight. The engagement,
however, was renewed, and became very close and bloody. The prince
threw the enemy into disorder. To increase it, he sent among them two
fireships, and at the same time made a signal to the French to bear
down; which if they had done, a decisive victory must have ensued. But
the prince, when he saw that they neglected his signal, and observed
that most of his ships were in no condition to keep the sea long, wisely
provided for their safety by making easy sail towards the English coast.
The victory in this battle was as doubtful as in all the actions fought
during the present war.
The turn which the affairs of the Hollanders took by land was more
favorable. The prince of Orange besieged and took Naerden; and from
this success gave his country reason to hope for still more prosperous
enterprises. Montecuculi, who commanded the imperialists on the
Upper Rhine, deceived, by the most artful conduct, the vigilance and
penetration of Turenne, and making a sudden march, sat down before
Bonne. The prince of Orange’s conduct was no less masterly; while he
eluded all the French generals, and leaving them behind him, joined his
army to that of the imperialists. Bonne was taken in a few days: several
other places in the electorate of Cologne fell into the hands of the
allies; and the communication being thus cut off between France and the
United Provinces, Lewis was obliged to recall his forces, and to abandon
all his conquests with greater rapidity than he had at first made them.
The taking of Maestricht was the only advantage which he gained this
campaign.
A congress was opened at Cologne under the mediation of Sweden; but with
small hopes of success. The demands of the two kings were such as must
have reduced the Hollanders to perpetual servitude. In proportion as
the affairs of the states rose, the kings sunk in their demands; but the
states still sunk lower in their offers; and it was found impossible for
the parties ever to agree on any conditions. After the French evacuated
Holland, the congress broke up; and the seizure of Prince William of
Furstenburg by the Imperialists, afforded the French and English a good
pretence for leaving Cologne. The Dutch ambassadors, in their memorials,
expressed all the haughtiness and disdain so natural to a free state,
which had met with such unmerited ill usage.
The parliament of England was now assembled, and discovered much greater
symptoms of ill humor than had appeared in the last session. They had
seen for some time a negotiation of marriage carried on between the
duke of York and the archduchess of Inspruc, a Catholic of the Austrian
family; and they had made no opposition. But when that negotiation
failed, and the duke applied to a princess of the house of Modena, then
in close alliance with France, this circumstance, joined to so many
other grounds of discontent, raised the commons into a flame; and they
remonstrated with the greatest zeal against the intended marriage. The
king told them, that their remonstrance came too late, and that the
marriage was already agreed on, and even celebrated by proxy. The
commons still insisted; and proceeding to the examination of the other
parts of government, they voted the standing army a grievance, and
declared, that they would grant no more supply unless it appeared that
the Dutch were so obstinate as to refuse all reasonable conditions of
peace. To cut short these disagreeable attacks, the king resolved to
prorogue the parliament; and with that intention he came unexpectedly
to the house of peers, and sent the usher to summon the commons. It
happened that the speaker and the usher nearly met at the door of the
house; but the speaker being within, some of the members suddenly shut
the door, and cried, “To the chair, to the chair;” while others cried,
“The black rod is at the door.” The speaker was hurried to the chair;
and the following motions were instantly made: That the alliance with
France is a grievance; that the evil counsellors about the king are a
grievance; that the duke of Lauderdale is a grievance, and not fit to be
trusted or employed. There was a general cry, “To the question, to the
question;” but the usher knocking violently at the door, the speaker
leaped from the chair, and the house rose in great confusion.
During the interval, Shaftesbury, whose intrigues with the malecontent
party were now become notorious, was dismissed from the office of
chancellor; and the great seal was given to Sir Heneage Finch, by the
title of lord keeper. The test had incapacitated Clifford; and the white
staff was conferred on Sir Thomas Osborne, soon after created earl
of Danby, a minister of abilities, who had risen by his parliamentary
talents. Clifford retired into the country, and soon after died.
{1674.} The parliament had been prorogued, in order to give the duke
leisure to finish his marriage; but the king’s necessities soon obliged
him again to assemble them; and by some popular acts he paved the way
for the session. But all his efforts were in vain. The disgust of the
commons was fixed in foundations too deep to be easily removed. They
began with applications for a general fast; by which they intimated that
the nation was in a very calamitous condition: they addressed against
the king’s guards, which they represented as dangerous to liberty,
and even as illegal, since they never had yet received the sanction of
parliament: they took some steps towards establishing a new and more
rigorous test against Popery: and what chiefly alarmed the court, they
made an attack on the members of the cabal, to whose pernicious
counsels they imputed all their present grievances. Clifford was dead:
Shaftesbury had made his peace with the country party, and was become
their leader: Buckingham was endeavoring to imitate Shaftesbury; but his
intentions were as yet known to very few. A motion was therefore made in
the house of commons for his impeachment: he desired to be heard at the
bar, but expressed himself in so confused and ambiguous a manner, as
gave little satisfaction. He was required to answer precisely to certain
queries which they proposed to him. These regarded all the articles
of misconduct above mentioned; and among the rest, the following query
seems remarkable: “By whose advice was the army brought up to overawe
the debates and resolutions of the house of commons?” This shows to
what length the suspicions of the house were at that time carried.
Buckingham, in all his answers, endeavored to exculpate himself, and to
load Arlington. He succeeded not in the former intention: the commons
voted an address for his removal. But Arlington, who was on many
accounts obnoxious to the house, was attacked. Articles were drawn up
against him; though the impeachment was never prosecuted.
The king plainly saw, that he could expect no supply from the commons
for carrying on a war so odious to them. He resolved, therefore, to make
a separate peace with the Dutch on the terms which they had proposed
through the channel of the Spanish ambassador. With a cordiality which,
in the present disposition on both sides, was probably but affected, but
which was obliging, he asked advice of the parliament. The parliament
unanimously concurred, both in thanks for this gracious condescension,
and in their advice for peace. Peace was accordingly concluded. The
honor of the flag was yielded by the Dutch in the most extensive terms:
a regulation of trade was agreed to: all possessions were restored to
the same condition as before the war: the English planters in Surinam
were allowed to remove at pleasure: and the states agreed to pay to the
king the sum of eight hundred thousand patacoons, near three hundred
thousand pounds. Four days after the parliament was prorogued, the peace
was proclaimed in London, to the great joy of the people. Spain had
declared, that she could no longer remain neuter, if hostilities were
continued against Holland; and a sensible decay of trade was foreseen,
in case a rupture should ensue with that kingdom. The prospect of this
loss contributed very much to increase the national aversion to the
present war, and to enliven the joy for its conclusion.
There was in the French service a great body of English, to the number
of ten thousand men, who had acquired honor in every action, and had
greatly contributed to the successes of Lewis. These troops, Charles
said, he was bound by treaty not to recall; but he obliged himself to
the states by a secret article not to allow them to be recruited. His
partiality to France prevented a strict execution of this engagement.