"So unprecedented already was the slaughter that even in the

beginning of March 1568, when Alva had been scarcely six

months in the country, the Emperor Maximilian, himself a Roman

Catholic, addressed a formal remonstrance to the king on the

subject, as his dignity entitled him to do, since the

Netherlands were a part of the Germanic body. It received an

answer which was an insult to the remonstrant from its

defiance of truth and common sense, and which cut off all hope

from the miserable Flemings. Philip declared that what he had

done had been done 'for the repose of the Provinces,' … and

almost on the same day he published a new edict, confirming a

decree of the Inquisition which condemned all the inhabitants

of the Netherlands to death as heretics, with the exception of

a few persons who were named [see above]. … In their utter

despair, the Flemings implored the aid of the Prince of

Orange, who … had quitted the country. … He was now

residing at Dillenbourg, in Nassau, in safety from Philip's

threats, and from the formal sentence which, in addition to

the general condemnation of the whole people, the Council of

Blood had just pronounced against him by name. But he resolved

that in such an emergency it did not become him to weigh his

own safety against the claims his countrymen had on his

exertions. After a few weeks energetically spent in levying

troops and raising money to maintain them, he published a

document which he entitled his 'Justification,' and which

stated his own case and that of the Provinces with a most

convincing clearness; and at the end of April he took the

field at the head of a small force, composed of French

Huguenots, Flemish exiles, … and German mercenaries. …

Thus in the spring of 1568 began that terrible war which for

40 years desolated what, in spite of great natural

disadvantages, had hitherto been one of the most prosperous

countries of Europe. … To dwell on many of its details …

would require volumes. … And, indeed, the pitched battles

were few. At the outset [May 23, 1568] Count Louis of Nassau,

the prince's brother, defeated and slew Count Aremberg, the

Spanish governor of the province of Groningen, very nearly on

the spot [near the convent of Heiliger-Lee, or the Holy Lion]

on which, in the palmy days of Rome, the fierce valor of

Arminius had annihilated the legions whose loss was so deeply

imprinted on the heart of Augustus; and Alva had avenged the

disaster by so complete a rout of Louis at Jemmingen, that

more than half of the rebel army was slaughtered on the field,

and Louis himself only escaped a capture, which would have

delivered him to the scaffold, by swimming the Ems, and

escaping with a mere handful of troops, all that were left of

his army, into Germany. But after dealing this blow … Alva

rarely fought a battle in the open field.

{2263}

He preferred showing the superiority of his generalship by

defying the endeavours of the prince and his brothers to bring

him to action, miscalculating, indeed, the eventual

consequences of such tactics, and believing that the

protraction of the war must bring the rebels to his

sovereign's feet by the utter exhaustion of their resources;

while the event proved that it was Spain which was exhausted

by the contest, that kingdom being in fact so utterly

prostrated by continued draining of men and treasure which it

involved, that her decay may be dated from the moment when

Alva reached the Flemish borders. His career in the

Netherlands seemed to show that, warrior though he was,

persecution was more to his taste than even victory.

Victorious, indeed, he was, so far as never failing to reduce

every town which he besieged, and to baffle every design of

the prince which he anticipated. … Every triumph which he

gained was sullied by a ferocious and deliberate cruelty, of

which the history of no other general in the world affords a

similar example. … Whenever Alva captured a town, he himself

enjoined his troops to show no mercy either to the garrison or

to the peaceful inhabitants. Every atrocity which greed of

rapine, wantonness of lust, and blood-thirsty love of

slaughter could devise was perpetrated by his express

direction. … He had difficulties to encounter besides those

of his military operations, and such as he was less skilful in

meeting. He soon began to be in want of money. A fleet laden

with gold and silver was driven by some French privateers into

an English harbour, where Elizabeth at once laid her hands on

it. If it belonged to her enemies, she had a right, she said,

to seize it: if to her friends, to borrow it (she had not

quite decided in which light to regard the Spaniards, but the

logic was irresistible, and her grasp irremovable), and, to

supply the deficiency, Alva had recourse to expedients which

injured none so much as himself. To avenge himself on the

Queen, he issued a proclamation [March, 1569] forbidding all

commercial intercourse between the Netherlands and England;

… but his prohibition damaged the Flemings more than the

English merchants, and in so doing inflicted loss upon

himself. … For he at the same time endeavoured to compel the

States to impose, for his use, a heavy tax on every

description of property, on every transfer of property, and

even on every article of merchandise [the tenth penny, or ten

per cent.] as often as it should be sold: the last impost, in

the Provinces which were terrified into consenting to it, so

entirely annihilating trade that it even roused the

disapproval of his own council; and that, finding themselves

supported by that body, even those Provinces which had

complied, retracted their assent. … After a time [1572] he

was forced first to compromise his demands for a far lower sum

than that at which he had estimated the produce of his taxes,

and at last to renounce even that. He was bitterly

disappointed and indignant, and began to be weary of his

post."

_C. D. Yonge,

Three Centuries of Modern History,

chapter 5._

ALSO IN:

_J. L. Motley,

The Rise of the Dutch Republic,

part 3, chapters 2-7 (volume 2)._

_D. Campbell,

The Puritan in Holland, England, and America,

chapter 3 (volume 1)._

NETHERLANDS: A. D. 1572.

The Beggars of the Sea and their capture of Brill.

Rapid Revolution in Holland and Zealand, but wholly in the

name of the King and his Stadtholder, William of Orange.

The Provisional Government organized.

In the spring of 1572, Alva having re-established friendly

relations with Queen Elizabeth, all the cruisers of the

rebellious Netherlanders—"Beggars of the Sea" as they had

styled themselves—were suddenly expelled from English ports,

where they had previously found shelter and procured supplies.

The consequence was unexpected to those who brought it about,

and proved most favorable to the patriotic cause. Desperately

driven by their need of some harbor of refuge, the fleet of

these adventurers made an attack upon the important seaport of

Brill, took it with little fighting and held it stubbornly.

Excited by this success, the patriotic burghers of Flushing,

on the isle of Walcheren, soon afterwards rose and expelled

the Spanish garrison from their town. "The example thus set by

Brill and Flushing was rapidly followed. The first half of the

year 1572 was distinguished by a series of triumphs rendered

still more remarkable by the reverses which followed at its

close. … Enkhuizen, the key to the Zuyder Zee, the principal

arsenal, and one of the first commercial cities in the

Netherlands, rose against the Spanish Admiral, and hung out

the banner of Orange on its ramparts. The revolution effected

here was purely the work of the people—of the mariners and

burghers of the city. Moreover, the magistracy was set aside

and the government of Alva repudiated without shedding one

drop of blood, without a single wrong to person or property.

By the same spontaneous movement, nearly all the important

cities of Holland and Zealand raised the standard of him in

whom they recognized their deliverer. The revolution was

accomplished under nearly similar circumstances everywhere.

With one fierce bound of enthusiasm the nation shook, off its

chain. Oudewater, Dort, Harlem, Leyden, Gorcum, Loewenstein,

Gouda, Medenblik, Horn, Alkmaar, Edam, Monnikendam,

Purmerende, as well as Flushing, Veer, and Enkhuizen, all

ranged themselves under the government of Orange as lawful

stadholder for the King. Nor was it in Holland and Zealand

alone that the beacon fires of freedom were lighted. City

after city in Gelderland, Overyssel, and the See of Utrecht,

all the important towns of Friesland, some sooner, some later,

some without a struggle, some after a short siege, some with

resistance by the functionaries of government, some by

amicable compromise, accepted the garrisons of the Prince and

formally recognized his authority. Out of the chaos which a

long and preternatural tyranny had produced, the first

struggling elements of a new and a better world began to

appear. … Not all the conquests thus rapidly achieved in the

cause of liberty were destined to endure, nor were any to be

retained without a struggle. The little northern cluster of

republics, which had now restored its honor to the ancient

Batavian name, was destined, however, for a long and vigorous

life. From that bleak isthmus the light of freedom was to

stream through many years upon struggling humanity in Europe,

a guiding pharos across a stormy sea; and Harlem, Leyden,

Alkmaar—names hallowed by deeds of heroism such as have not

often illustrated human annals, still breathe as

trumpet-tongued and perpetual a defiance to despotism as

Marathon, Thermopylae, or Salamis.

{2264}

A new board of magistrates had been chosen in all the redeemed

cities by popular election. They were required to take an oath

of fidelity to the King of Spain, and to the Prince of Orange

as his stadholder; to promise resistance to the Duke of Alva,

the tenth penny, and the Inquisition; 'to support every man's

freedom and the welfare of the country; to protect widows,

orphans, and miserable persons, and to maintain justice and

truth.' Diedrich Sonoy arrived on the 2nd June at Enkhuizen.

He was provided by the Prince with a commission, appointing

him Lieutenant-Governor of North Holland or Waterland. Thus,

to combat the authority of Alva, was set up the authority of

the King. The stadholderate over Holland and Zealand, to which

the Prince had been appointed in 1559, he now reassumed. Upon

this fiction reposed the whole provisional polity of the

revolted Netherlands. … The people at first claimed not an

iota more of freedom than was secured by Philip's coronation

oath. There was no pretence that Philip was not sovereign, but

there was a pretence and a determination to worship God

according to conscience, and to reclaim the ancient political

'liberties' of the land. So long as Alva reigned, the Blood

Council, the Inquisition, and martial law, were the only codes

or courts, and every charter slept. To recover this practical

liberty and these historical rights, and to shake from their

shoulders a most sanguinary government, was the purpose of

William and of the people. No revolutionary standard was

displayed. The written instructions given by the Prince to his

lieutenant Sonoy were to 'see that the Word of God was

preached, without, however, suffering any hindrance to the

Roman Church in the exercise of its religion.' … The Prince

was still in Germany, engaged in raising troops and providing

funds."

_J. L. Motley,

The Rise of the Dutch Republic,

part 3, chapters 6-7 (volume 2)._

NETHERLANDS: A. D. 1572-1573.

Capture of Mons by Louis of Nassau and

its recovery by the Spaniards.

Spanish massacres at Mechlin, Zutphen and Naarden.

The siege and capture of Haarlem.

"While William of Orange was in Germany, raising money and

troops, he still directed the affairs of the Netherlands. His

prospects were again brightened by the capture, by his gallant

brother Louis of Nassau, of the important city of Mons. …

This last startling blow forced Alva to immediate action. He

at once sent his son, Don Frederic, to lay siege to Mons. Soon

after, the Duke of Medina Cœli, Alva's successor as governor

of the Netherlands [to whom, however, Alva did not surrender

his authority], arrived safely with his fleet, but another

Spanish squadron fell with its rich treasures into the hands

of the rebels. Alva was now so pressed for money that he

agreed to abolish the useless tenth-penny tax, if the

states-general of the Netherlands would grant him a million

dollars a year. He had summoned the states of Holland to meet

at the Hague on the 15th of July, but they met at Dort to

renounce his authority, at the summons of William of Orange,

who had raised an army in Germany, but was without means to

secure the necessary three months' payment in advance. While

still owning allegiance to the king, the states recognized

Orange as stadtholder, empowered him to drive out the Spanish

troops, and to maintain religious freedom. … Treating the

Emperor Maximilian's peace orders as useless, the prince

marched his army of 24,000 men to the relief of Mons. Most of

the Netherland cities on the way accepted his authority, and

everything looked favorable for his success, when an

unforeseen and terrible calamity occurred. The French king,

Charles IX., whose troops had been routed before Mons [by the

Spaniards], had promised to furnish further aid to the

provinces. Admiral Coligny was to join the forces of Orange

with 15,000 men. The frightful massacre of St. Bartholomew in

Paris, on the 24th of August, … was a terrible blow to the

prince. It broke up all his plans. He had reached the

neighborhood of Mons, which he was trying to reinforce, when a

night attack was made by the Spaniards on his lines, September

11. … Obliged to leave his gallant brother Louis to his fate

in Mons, Orange narrowly escaped being killed on his retreat.

… Deserted by the cities that had been so earnest in his

cause, sorrowful, but not despairing for his country, William

had only his trust in God and his own destiny to sustain him.

As Holland was the only province that clung to the hero

patriot, he went there expecting and prepared to die for

liberty. Louis of Nassau was forced, on the 21st of September,

to abandon Mons to the Spaniards, who allowed Noircarmes …

to massacre and pillage the inhabitants contrary to the terms

of surrender. This wretch killed Catholics and Protestants

alike, in order to secure their riches for himself. … The

city of Mechlin, which had refused to admit a garrison of his

troops, was even more brutally ravaged by Alva in order to

obtain gold. … Alva's son, Don Frederic, now proved an apt

pupil of his father, by almost literally executing his command

to kill every man and burn every house in the city of Zutphen,

which had opposed the entrance of the king's troops. The

massacre was terrible and complete. The cause of Orange

suffered still more by the cowardly flight of his

brother-in-law, Count Van den Berg, from his post of duty in

the provinces of Gelderland and Overyssel. By this desertion

rugged Friesland was also lost to the patriot side. Holland

alone held out against the victorious Spaniards. The little

city of Naarden at first stoutly refused to surrender, but

being weak was obliged to yield without striking a blow. Don

Frederic's agent, Julian Romero, having promised that life and

property should be spared, the people welcomed him and his

soldiers at a grand feast on the 2d of December. Hardly was

this over when 500 citizens, who had assembled in the town

hall, were warned by a priest to prepare for death. This was

the signal for the entrance of the Spanish troops, who

butchered everyone in the building. They then rushed furiously

through the streets, pillaging and then setting fire to the

houses. As the inmates came forth, they were tortured and

killed by their cruel foes. … Alva wrote boastfully to the

king that 'they had cut the throats of the burghers and all

the garrison, and had not left a mother's son alive.' He

ascribed this success to the favor of God in permitting the

defence of so feeble a city to be even attempted. … As the

city of Haarlem was the key to Holland, Don Frederic resolved

to capture it at any cost. But the people were so bent upon

resistance that they executed two of their magistrates for

secretly negotiating with Alva. …

{2265}

Ripperda, the commandant of the Haarlem garrison, cheered

soldiers and people by his heroic counsels, and through the

efforts of Orange the city was placed under patriot rule.

Amsterdam, which was in the enemy's hands, was ten miles

distant, across a lake traversed by a narrow causeway, and the

prince had erected a number of forts to command the frozen

surface. As a thick fog covered the lake in these December

days, supplies of men, provisions, and ammunition were brought

into the city in spite of the vigilance of the besiegers. The

sledges and skates of the Hollanders were very useful in this

work. But against Don Frederic's army of 30,000 men, nearly

equalling the entire population of Haarlem, the city with its

extensive but weak fortifications had only a garrison of about

4,000. The fact that about 300 of these were respectable

women, armed with sword, musket, and dagger, shows the heroic

spirit of the people. The men were nerved to fresh exertions

by these Amazons, who, led by their noble chief, the Widow

Kenau Hasselaer, fought desperately by their side, both within

and without the works. The banner of this famous heroine, who

has been called the Joan of Arc of Haarlem, is now in the City

Hall. A vigorous cannonade was kept up against the city for

three days, beginning December 18, and men, women, and

children worked incessantly in repairing the shattered walls.

They even dragged the statues of saints from the churches to

fill up the gaps, to the horror of the superstitious

Spaniards. The brave burghers repelled their assaults with all

sorts of weapons. Burning coals and boiling oil were hurled at

their heads, and blazing pitch-hoops were skilfully caught

about their necks. Astonished by this terrible resistance,

which cost him hundreds of lives, Don Frederic resolved to

take the city by siege." On the last day of January. 1573, Don

Frederic having considerably shattered an outwork called the

ravelin, ordered a midnight assault, and the Spaniards carried

the fort. "They mounted the walls expecting to have the city

at their mercy. Judge of their amazement to find a new and

stronger fort, shaped like a half-moon, which had been

secretly constructed during the siege, blazing away at them

with its cannon. Before they could recover from their shock,

the ravelin, which had been carefully undermined, blew up, and

sent them crushed and bleeding into the air. The Spaniards

outside, terrified at these outbursts, retreated hastily to

their camp, leaving hundreds of dead beneath the walls. Two

assaults of veteran soldiers, led by able generals, having

been repelled by the dauntless burghers of Haarlem, famine

seemed the only means of forcing its surrender. Starvation in

fact soon threatened both besiegers and besieged. Don Frederic

wished to abandon the contest, but Alva threatened to disown

him as a son if he did so. … There was soon a struggle for

the possession of the lake, which was the only means of

conveying supplies to the besieged. In the terrible

hand-to-hand fight which followed the grappling of the rival

vessels, on the 28th of May, the prince's fleet, under Admiral

Brand, was totally defeated. … During the month of June the

wretched people of Haarlem had no food but linseed and

rapeseed, and they were soon compelled to eat dogs, cats,

rats, and mice. When these gave out they devoured shoe-leather

and the boiled hides of horses and oxen, and tried to allay

the pangs of hunger with grass and weeds. The streets were

full of the dead and the dying." Attempts at relief by Orange

were defeated. "As a last resort the besieged resolved to form

a solid column, with the women and children, the aged and

infirm, in the centre, to fight their way out; but Don

Frederic, fearing the city would be left in ruins, induced

them to surrender on the 12th of July, under promise of mercy.

This promise was cruelly broken by a frightful massacre of

2,000 people, which gave great joy to Alva and Philip."

_A. Young,

History of the Netherlands,

chapters 10-11._

ALSO IN:

_R. Watson,

History of Philip II.,

books 11-12._

NETHERLANDS: A. D. 1573-1574.

Siege and deliverance of Alkmaar.

Displacement of Alva.

Battle of Mookerhyde and death of Louis of Nassau.

Siege and relief of Leyden.

The flooding of the land.

Founding of Leyden University.

After the surrender of Haarlem, a mutiny broke out among the

Spanish troops that had been engaged in the siege, to whom 28

months' arrears of pay were due. "It was appeased with great

difficulty at the end of seven weeks, when Alva determined to

make a decisive attack on Holland both by land and water, and

with this view commanded his son, Don Frederic di Toledo, to

march to the siege of Alkmaar, and repaired in person to

Amsterdam. … Don Frederic laid siege to Alkmaar at the head

of 16,000 able and efficient troops; within the town were

1,300 armed burghers and 800 soldiers, as many perhaps as it

was at that time capable of containing. With this handful of

men the citizens of Alkmaar defended themselves no less

resolutely than the Haarlemmers had done. The fierce

onslaughts of the Spaniards were beaten back with uniform

success on the part of the besieged; the women and girls were

never seen to shrink from the fight, even where it was

hottest, but unceasingly supplied the defenders with stones

and burning missiles, to throw amongst their enemies. … But

as there were no means of conveying reinforcements to the

besieged from without, and their supplies began to fail, they

resolved, after a month's siege, on the desperate measure of

cutting through the dykes. Some troops sent by Sonnoy having

effected this, and opened the sluices, the whole country was

soon deluged with water. Don Frederic, astounded at this novel

mode of warfare, and fearing that himself and his whole army

would be drowned, broke up his camp in haste, and fled, rather

than retreated, to Amsterdam. It seemed almost as though the

blessing which the Prince of Orange had promised his people

had come upon them. The capture of Geertruydenberg, about this

time, by one of his lieutenants, was followed by a naval

victory, as signal as it was important. The Admiral Bossu, to

whom was given the command of the [Spanish] fleet at

Amsterdam, having sailed through the Pampus with the design of

occupying the Zuyderzee, and thus making himself master of the

towns of North Holland, encountered the fleet of those towns,

consisting of 24 vessels, commanded by Admiral Dirkson,

stationed in the Zuyderzee to await his arrival." After

several days of skirmishing, the Dutch fleet forced a close

fight, "which lasted with little intermission from the

afternoon of the 11th of October to midday of the 12th, during

which time two of the royalist ships were sunk and a

third captured.

{2266}

"The remainder fled or surrendered, Bossu, himself, being

taken prisoner. "On intelligence of the issue of the battle,

Alva quitted Amsterdam in haste and secrecy. This success

delivered the towns of North Holland from the most imminent

danger, and rendered the possession of Amsterdam nearly

useless to the royalists." Alva was now forced to call a

meeting of the states-general, in the hope of obtaining a vote

of money. "Upon their assembling at Brussels, the states of

Holland despatched an earnest and eloquent address, exhorting

them to emancipate themselves from Spanish slavery and the

cruel tyranny of Alva, which the want of unanimity in the

provinces had alone enabled him to exercise. … Their

remonstrance appears to have been attended with a powerful

effect, since the states-general could neither by threats or

remonstrances be induced to grant the smallest subsidy. …

Alva, having become heartily weary of the government he had

involved in such irretrievable confusion, now obtained his

recall; his place was filled by Don Louis de Requesens, grand

commander of Castile. In the November of this year, Alva

quitted the Netherlands, leaving behind him a name which has

become a bye-word of hatred, scorn, and execration. … During

the six years that he had governed the Netherlands, 18,000

persons had perished by the hand of the executioner, besides

the numbers massacred at Naarden, Zutphen, and other conquered

cities." The first undertaking of the new governor was an

attempt to raise the siege of Middleburg, the Spanish garrison

in which had been blockaded by the Gueux for nearly two years;

but the fleet of 40 ships which he fitted out for the purpose

was defeated, at Romers-waale, with a loss of ten vessels.

"The surrender of Middleburg immediately followed, and with it

that of Arnemuyden, which put the Gueux in possession of the

principal islands of Zealand, and rendered them masters of the

sea." But these successes were counterbalanced by a disaster

which attended an expedition led from Germany by Louis of

Nassau, the gallant but unfortunate brother of the Prince of

Orange. His army was attacked and utterly destroyed by the

Spaniards (April 14, 1574) at the village of Mookerheyde, or

Mook, near Nimeguen, and both Louis and his brother Henry of

Nassau were slain. "After raising the siege of Alkmaar, the

Spanish forces, placed under the command of Francesco di

Valdez on the departure of Don Frederic di Toledo, had for

some weeks blockaded Leyden; but were recalled in the spring

of this year to join the rest of the army on its march against

Louis of Nassau. From that time the burghers of Leyden … had

not only neglected to lay up any fresh stores of corn or other

provision, but to occupy or destroy the forts with which the

enemy had encompassed the town. This fact coming to the

knowledge of Don Louis, he once more dispatched Valdez to

renew the siege at the head of 8,000 troops. … Mindful of

Haarlem and Alkmaar, the Spanish commander … brought no

artillery, nor made any preparations for assault, but, well

aware that there were not provisions in the town sufficient

for three months, contented himself with closely investing it

on all sides, and determined to await the slow but sure

effects of famine." In this emergency, the States of Holland

"decreed that all the dykes between Leyden and the Meuse and

Yssel should be cut through, and the sluices opened at

Rotterdam and Schiedam, by which the waters of those rivers,

overflowing the valuable lands of Schieland and Rhynland,

would admit of the vessels bringing succours up to the very

gates of Leyden. The damage was estimated at 600,000 guilders.

… The cutting through the dykes was a work of time and

difficulty, as well from the labour required as from the

continual skirmishes with the enemy. … Even when completed,

it appeared as if the vast sacrifice were utterly unavailing.

A steady wind blowing from the north-east kept back the

waters. … Meanwhile the besieged, who for some weeks heard

no tidings of their deliverers, had scarcely hope left to

enable them to sustain the appalling sufferings they endured.

… 'Then,' says the historian, who heard it from the mouths

of the sufferers, 'there was no food so odious but it was

esteemed a dainty.' … The siege had now lasted five months.

… Not a morsel of food, even the most filthy and loathsome,

remained … when, on a sudden, the wind veered to the

north-west, and thence to the south-west; the waters of the

Meuse rushed in full tide over the land, and the ships rode

triumphantly on the waves. The Gueux, attacking with vigour

the forts on the dykes, succeeded in driving out the garrisons

with considerable slaughter. … On the … 3rd of October …

Valdez evacuated all the forts in the vicinity. … In memory

of this eventful siege, the Prince and States offered the

inhabitants either to found an university or to establish a

fair. They chose the former; but the States … granted both:

the fair of Leyden was appointed to be held on the 1st of

October in every year, the 3rd being ever after held as a

solemn festival; and on the 8th of February in the next year,

the university received its charter from the Prince of Orange

in the name of King Philip. Both proved lasting monuments."

_C. M. Davies,

History of Holland,

part 2, chapters 8-9 (volumes 1-2)._

ALSO IN:

_J. L. Motley,

The Rise of the Dutch Republic,

part 4, chapters 1-2 (volume 2)._

_W. T. Hewett,

The University of Leiden

(Harper's Magazine, March, 1881)._

_C. M. Yonge,

Cameos from English History,

series 5, chapter 16._

NETHERLANDS: A. D. 1575-1577.

Congress at Breda.

Offer of sovereignty to the English Queen.

Death of Requesens.

Mutiny of the Soldiery.

The Spanish Fury.

Alliance of Northern and Southern provinces under

the Pacification of Ghent and the Union of Brussels.

Arrival of Don John of Austria.

"The bankrupt state of Philip II.'s exchequer, and the

reverses which his arms had sustained, induced him to accept

… the proffered mediation of the Emperor Maximilian, which

he had before so arrogantly rejected, and a Congress was held

at Breda from March till June 1575. But the insurgents were

suspicious, and Philip was inflexible; he could not be induced

to dismiss his Spanish troops, to allow the meeting of the

States-General, or to admit the slightest toleration in

matters of religion; and the contest was therefore renewed

with more fury than ever. The situation of the patriots became

very critical when the enemy, by occupying the islands of

Duyveland and Schouwen, cut off the communication between

Holland and Zealand; especially as all hope of succour from

England had expired.

{2267}

Towards the close of the year envoys were despatched to

solicit the aid of Elizabeth, and to offer her, under certain

conditions, the sovereignty of Holland and Zealand. Requesens

sent Champagny to counteract these negociations, which ended

in nothing. The English Queen was afraid of provoking the

power of Spain, and could not even be induced to grant the

Hollanders a loan. The attitude assumed at that time by the

Duke of Alençon, in France, also prevented them from entering

into any negociations with that Prince. In these trying

circumstances, William the Silent displayed the greatest

firmness and courage. It was now that he is said to have

contemplated abandoning Holland and seeking with its

inhabitants a home in the New World, having first restored the

country to its ancient state of a waste of waters; a thought,

however, which he probably never seriously entertained, though

he may have given utterance to it in a moment of irritation or

despondency. … The unexpected death of Requesens, who

expired of a fever, March 5th 1576, after a few days' illness,

threw the government into confusion. Philip II. had given

Requesens a carte blanche to name his successor, but the

nature of his illness had prevented him from filling it up.

The government therefore devolved to the Council of State, the

members of which were at variance with one another; but Philip

found himself obliged to intrust it 'ad interim' with the

administration, till a successor to Requesens could be

appointed. Count Mansfeld was made commander-in-chief, but was

totally unable to restrain the licentious soldiery. The

Spaniards, whose pay was in arrear, had now lost all

discipline. After the raising of the siege of Leyden they had

beset Utrecht and pillaged and maltreated the inhabitants,

till Valdez contrived to furnish their pay. No sooner had

Requesens expired than they broke into open mutiny, and acted

as if they were entire masters of the country. After wandering

about some time and threatening Brussels, they seized and

plundered Alost, where they established themselves; and they

were soon afterwards joined by the Walloon and German troops.

To repress their violence, the Council of State restored to

the Netherlanders the arms of which they had been deprived,

and called upon them by a proclamation to repress force by

force; but these citizen-soldiers were dispersed with great

slaughter by the disciplined troops in various rencounters.

Ghent, Utrecht, Valenciennes, Maestricht were taken and

plundered by the mutineers; and at last the storm fell upon

Antwerp, which the Spaniards entered early in November, and

sacked during three days. More than 1,000 houses were burnt,

8,000 citizens are said to have been slain, and enormous sums

in ready money were plundered. The whole damage was estimated

at 24,000,000 florins. The horrible excesses committed in this

sack procured for it the name of the 'Spanish Fury.' The

government was at this period conducted in the name of the

States of Brabant. On the 5th of September, De Hèze, a young

Brabant gentleman who was in secret intelligence with the

Prince of Orange, had, at the head of 500 soldiers, entered

the palace where the Council of State was assembled, and

seized and imprisoned the members. William, taking advantage

of the alarm created at Brussels by the sack of Antwerp,

persuaded the provisional government to summon the

States-General, although such a course was at direct variance

with the commands of the King. To this assembly all the

provinces except Luxemburg sent deputies. The nobles of the

southern provinces, although they viewed the Prince of Orange

with suspicion, feeling that there was no security for them so

long as the Spanish troops remained in possession of Ghent,

sought his assistance in expelling them; which William

consented to grant only on condition that an alliance should

be effected between the northern and the southern, or Catholic

provinces of the Netherlands. This proposal was agreed to, and

towards the end of September Orange sent several thousand men

from Zealand to Ghent, at whose approach the Spaniards, who

had valorously defended themselves for two months under the

conduct of the wife of their absent general Mondragon,

surrendered, and evacuated the citadel. The proposed alliance

was now converted into a formal union by the treaty called the

Pacification of Ghent, signed November 8th 1576; by which it

was agreed, without waiting for the sanction of Philip, whose

authority however was nominally recognised, to renew the edict

of banishment against the Spanish troops, to procure the

suspension of the decrees against the Protestant religion, to

summon the States-General of the northern and southern

provinces, according to the model of the assembly which had

received the abdication of Charles V., to provide for the

toleration and practise of the Protestant religion in Holland

and Zealand, together with other provisions of a similar

character. About the same time with the Pacification of Ghent,

all Zealand, with the exception of the island of Tholen, was

recovered from the Spaniards. … It was a mistake on the part

of Philip II. to leave the country eight months with only an

'ad interim' government. Had he immediately filled up the

vacancy … the States could not have seized upon the

government, and the alliance established at Ghent would not

have been effected, by which an almost independent

commonwealth had been erected. But Philip seems to have been

puzzled as to the choice of a successor; and his selection, at

length, of his brother Don John of Austria [a natural son of

Charles V.], caused a further considerable delay. … The

state of the Netherlands compelled Don John to enter them, not

with the pomp and dignity becoming the lawful representative

of a great monarch, but stealthily, like a traitor or

conspirator. In Luxemburg alone, the only province which had

not joined the union, could he expect to be received; and he

entered its capital a few days before the publication of the

treaty of Ghent, in the disguise of a Moorish slave, and in

the train of Don Ottavio Gonzaga, brother of the Prince of

Melfi. Having neither money nor arms, he was obliged to

negociate with the provincial government in order to procure

the recognition of his authority. At the instance of the

Prince of Orange, the States insisted on the withdrawal of the

Spanish troops, the maintenance of the treaty of Ghent, an act

of amnesty for past offences, the convocation of the

States-General, and an oath from Don John that he would

respect all the charters and customs of the country. The new

governor was violent, but the States were firm, and in January

1577 was formed the Union of Brussels, the professed objects

of which were, the immediate expulsion of the Spaniards, and

the execution of the Pacification of Ghent; while at the same

time the Catholic religion and the royal authority were to be

upheld.

{2268}

This union, which was only a more popular repetition of the

treaty of Ghent, soon obtained numberless signatures. …

Meanwhile Rodolph II., the new Emperor of Germany, had offered

his mediation, and appointed the Bishop of Liege to use his

good offices between the parties; who, with the assistance of

Duke William of Juliers, brought, or seemed to bring, the new

governor to a more reasonable frame of mind. … Don John

yielded all the points in dispute, and embodied them in what

was called the Perpetual Edict, published March 12th, 1577.

The Prince of Orange suspected from the first that these

concessions were a mere deception."

_T. H. Dyer,

History of Modern Europe,

book 3, chapters 7-9 (volume 2)._

ALSO IN:

_Sir W. Stirling-Maxwell,

Don John of Austria,

volume 2, chapters 4-5._

NETHERLANDS: A. D. 1577-1581.

The administration of Don John.

Orange's well-founded distrust.

Emancipation of Antwerp.

Battle of Gemblours.

Death of Don John and appointment of Parma.

Corruption of Flemish nobles.

Submission of the Walloon provinces.

Pretensions of the Duke of Anjou.

Constitution and declared independence of the Dutch Republic.

"It now seemed that the Netherlands had gained all they asked

for, and that everything for which they had contended had been

conceded. The Blood Council of Alva had almost extirpated the

Reformers, and an overwhelming majority of the inhabitants of

the Low Countries, with the exception of the Hollanders and

Zelanders, belonged to the old Church, provided the

Inquisition was done away with, and a religious peace was

accorded. But Don John had to reckon with the Prince of

Orange. In him William had no confidence. He could not forget

the past. He believed that the signatures and concessions of

the governor and Philip were only expedients to gain time, and

that they would be revoked or set aside as soon as it was

convenient or possible to do so. … He had intercepted

letters from the leading Spaniards in Don John's employment,

in which, when the treaty was in course of signature, designs

were disclosed of keeping possession of all the strong places

in the country, with the object of reducing the patriots in

detail. … Above all, William distrusted the Flemish nobles.

He knew them to be greedy, fickle, treacherous, ready to

betray their country for personal advantage, and to ally

themselves blindly with their natural enemies. … As events

proved, Orange was in the right. Hence he refused to recognize

the treaty in his own states of Holland and Zeland. As soon as

it was published and sent to him, William, after conference

with these states, published a severe criticism on its

provisions. … In all seeming however Don John was prepared

to carry out his engagements. He got together with difficulty

the funds for paying the arrears due to the troops, and sent

them off by the end of April. He caressed the people and he

bribed the nobles. He handed over the citadels to Flemish

governors, and entered Brussels on May 1st. Everything pointed

to success and mutual good will. But we have Don John's

letters, in which he speaks most unreservedly and most

unflatteringly of his new friends, and of his designs on the

liberties of the Netherlands. And all the while that Philip

was soothing and flattering his brother, he had determined on

ruining him, and on murdering the man [Escovedo] whom that

brother loved and trusted. About this time, too, we find that

Philip and his deputy were casting about for the means by

which they might assassinate the Prince of Orange, 'who had

bewitched the whole people!' An attempt of Don John to get

possession of the citadel of Antwerp for himself failed, and

the patriots gained it. The merchants of Antwerp 'agreed to

find the pay still owing to the soldiers, on condition of

their quitting the city. But while they were discussing the

terms, a fleet of Zeland vessels came sailing up the Scheldt.

Immediately a cry was raised, 'The Beggars are coming,' and

the soldiers fled in dismay [August 1, 1577]. Then the

Antwerpers demolished the citadel, and turned the statue of

Alva again into cannon. After these events, William of Orange

put an end to negotiations with Don John. Prince William was

in the ascendant. But the Catholic nobles conspired against

him, and induced the Archduke Matthias, brother of the German

Emperor Rodolph, to accept the place of governor of the

Netherlands in lieu of Don John. He came, but Orange was made

the Ruwaard of Brabant, with full military power. It was the

highest office which could be bestowed on him. The 'Union of

Brussels' followed and was a confederation of all the

Netherlands. But the battle of Gemblours was fought in

February, 1578, and the patriots were defeated. Many small

towns were captured, and it seemed that in course of time the

governor would recover at least a part of his lost authority.

But in the month of September, Don John was seized with a

burning fever, and died on October 1st. … The new governor

of the Netherlands, son of Ottavio Farnese, Prince of Parma,

and of Margaret of Parma, sister of Philip of Spain, was a

very different person from any of the regents who had hitherto

controlled the Netherlands. He was, or soon proved himself to

be, the greatest general of the age, and he was equally,

according to the statesmanship of the age, the most

accomplished and versatile statesman. He had no designs beyond

those of Philip, and during his long career in the

Netherlands, from October, 1578, to December, 1592, he served

the King of Spain as faithfully and with as few scruples as

Philip could have desired. … Parma was religious, but he had

no morality whatever. … He had no scruple in deceiving,

lying, assassinating, and even less scruple in saying or

swearing that he had done none of these things. … He had an

excellent judgment of men, and indeed he had experience of the

two extremes, of the exceeding baseness of the Flemish nobles,

and of the lofty and pure patriotism of the Dutch patriots.

Nothing indeed was more unfortunate for the Dutch than the

belief which they entertained, that the Flemings who had been

dragooned into uniformity, could be possibly stirred to

patriotism. Alva had done his work thoroughly. It is possible

to extirpate a reformation. But the success of the process is

the moral ruin of those who are the subjects of the

experiment. Fortunately for Parma, there was a suitor for the

Netherland sovereignty, in the person of the very worst prince

of the very worst royal family that ever existed in Europe,

i. e., the Duke of Anjou, of the house of Valois.

See FRANCE: A. D. 1577-1578.

{2269}

This person was favoured by Orange, probably because he had

detected Philip's designs on France, and thought that national

jealousy would induce the French government, which was

Catherine of Medici, to favour the low countries. Besides,

Parma had a faction in every Flemish town, who were known as

the Malcontents, who were the party of the greedy and

unscrupulous nobles. And, besides Anjou, there was the party

of another pretender, John Casimir, of Poland. He, however,

soon left them. Parma quickly found in such dissensions plenty

of men whom he could usefully bribe. He made his first

purchases in the Walloon district, and secured them. The

provinces here were Artois, Hainault, Lille, Douay, and

Orchies. They were soon permanently reunited to Spain. On

January 20, 1570, the Union of Utrecht, which was virtually

the Constitution of the Dutch Republic, was agreed to. It was

greater in extent on the Flemish side than the Dutch Republic

finally remained, less on that of Friesland [comprising

Holland, Zeland, Gelderland, Zutphen, Utrecht, and the Frisian

provinces]. Orange still had hopes of including most of the

Netherland seaboard, and he still kept up the form of

allegiance to Philip. The principal event of the year was the

siege and capture of Maestricht [with the slaughter of almost

its entire population of 34,000]. … Mechlin also was

betrayed by its commander, De Bours, who reconciled himself to

Romanism, and received the pay for his treason from Parma at

the same time. In March, 1580, a similar act of treason was

committed by Count Renneberg, the governor of Friesland, who

betrayed its chief city, Groningen. … In the same year,

1580, was published the ban of Philip. This instrument, drawn

up by Cardinal Granvelle, declared Orange to be a traitor and

miscreant, made him an outlaw, put a heavy price on his head

(25,000 gold crowns), offered the assassin the pardon of any

crime, however heinous, and nobility, whatever be his rank.

… William answered the ban by a vigorous appeal to the

civilized world. … Renneberg, the traitor, laid siege to

Steenwyk, the principal fortress of Drenthe, at the beginning

of 1581. … In February, John Norris, the English general,

… relieved the town. Renneberg raised the siege, was

defeated in July by the same Norris, and died, full of

remorse, a few days afterwards. But the most important event

in 1581 was the declaration of Dutch Independence formally

issued at the Hague on the 26th of July. By this instrument,

Orange, though most unwillingly, felt himself obliged to

accept the sovereignty over Holland and Zeland, and whatever

else of the seven provinces was in the hands of the patriots.

The Netherlands were now divided into three portions. The

Walloon provinces in the south were reconciled to Philip and

Parma. The middle provinces were under the almost nominal

sovereignty of Anjou, the northern were under William. …

Philip's name was now discarded from public documents … ;

his seal was broken, and William was thereafter to conduct the

government in his own name. The instrument was styled an 'Act

of Abjuration.'"

_J. E. T. Rogers,

The Story of Holland,

chapters 11-12._

ALSO IN:

_J. L. Motley,

The Rise of the Dutch Republic,

part 5, chapters 4-5,

and part 6, chapters 1-4._

_Sir W. Stirling-Maxwell,

Don John of Austria,

volume 2, chapters 8-10._

NETHERLANDS: A. D. 1581-1584.

Refusal of the sovereignty of the United Provinces by Orange.

Its bestowal upon the Duke of Anjou.

Base treachery of Anjou.

The "French Fury" at Antwerp.

Assassination of the Prince of Orange.

"What, then, was the condition of the nation, after this great

step [the Act of Abjuration] had been taken? It stood, as it

were, with its sovereignty in its hand, dividing it into two

portions, and offering it, thus separated, to two distinct

individuals. The sovereignty of Holland and Zealand had been

reluctantly accepted by Orange. The sovereignty of the United

Provinces had been offered to Anjou, but the terms of

agreement with that Duke had not yet been ratified. The

movement was therefore triple, consisting of an abjuration and

of two separate elections of hereditary chiefs; these two

elections being accomplished in the same manner by the

representative bodies respectively of the united provinces and

of Holland and Zealand. … Without a direct intention on the

part of the people or its leaders to establish a republic, the

Republic established itself. Providence did not permit the

whole country, so full of wealth, intelligence, healthy

political action—so stocked with powerful cities and an

energetic population, to be combined into one free and

prosperous commonwealth. The factious ambition of a few

grandees, the cynical venality of many nobles, the frenzy of

the Ghent democracy, the spirit of religious intolerance, the

consummate military and political genius of Alexander Farnese,

the exaggerated self-abnegation and the tragic fate of Orange,

all united to dissever this group of flourishing and kindred

provinces. The want of personal ambition on the part of

William the Silent inflicted, perhaps, a serious damage upon

his country. He believed a single chief requisite for the

united states; he might have been, but always refused to

become that chief; and yet he has been held up for centuries

by many writers as a conspirator and a self-seeking intriguer.

… 'These provinces,' said John of Nassau, 'are coming very

unwillingly into the arrangement with the Duke of Alençon

[soon afterwards made Duke of Anjou]. The majority feel much

more inclined to elect the Prince, who is daily, and without

intermission, implored to give his consent. … He refuses

only on this account—that it may not be thought that,

instead of religious freedom for the country, he has been

seeking a kingdom for himself and his own private advancement.

Moreover, he believes that the connexion with France will be

of more benefit to the country and to Christianity.' … The

unfortunate negotiations with Anjou, to which no man was more

opposed than Count John, proceeded therefore. In the meantime,

the sovereignty over the united provinces was provisionally

held by the national council, and, at the urgent solicitation

of the states-general, by the Prince. The Archduke Matthias,

whose functions were most unceremoniously brought to an end by

the transactions which we have been recording, took his leave

of the states, and departed in the month of October. … Thus

it was arranged that, for the present, at least, the Prince

should exercise sovereignty over Holland and Zealand; although

he had himself used his utmost exertions to induce those

provinces to join the rest of the United Netherlands in the

proposed election of Anjou.

{2270}

This, however, they sternly refused to do. There was also a

great disinclination felt by many in the other states to this

hazardous offer of their allegiance, and it was the personal

influence of Orange that eventually carried the measure

through. … By midsummer [1581] the Duke of Anjou made his

appearance in the western part of the Netherlands. The Prince

of Parma had recently come before Cambray with the intention

of reducing that important city. On the arrival of Anjou,

however, … Alexander raised the siege precipitately and

retired towards Tournay," to which he presently laid siege,

and which was surrendered to him in November.

_J. L. Motley,

The Rise of the Dutch Republic,

part 6, chapters 4-5 (volume 3)._

Meantime, the Duke of Anjou had visited England, paying court

to Queen Elizabeth, whom he hoped to marry, but who declined

the alliance after making the acquaintance of her suitor.

"Elizabeth made all the reparation in her power, by the

honours paid him on his dismissal. She accompanied him as far

as Canterbury, and sent him away under the convoy of the earl

of Leicester, her chief favourite; and with a brilliant suite

and a fleet of fifteen sail. Anjou was received at Antwerp

with equal distinction; and was inaugurated there on the 19th

of February [1582] as Duke of Brabant, Lothier, Limbourg, and

Guelders, with many other titles, of which he soon proved

himself unworthy. … During the rejoicings which followed

this inauspicious ceremony, Philip's proscription against the

Prince of Orange put forth its first fruits. The latter gave a

grand dinner in the chateau of Antwerp, which he occupied, on

the 18th of March, the birth-day of the duke of Anjou." As he

quitted the dining hall, he was shot in the cheek by a young

man who approached him with the pretence of offering a

petition, and who proved to be the tool of a Spanish merchant

at Antwerp, with whom Philip of Spain had contracted for the

procurement of the assassination. The wound inflicted was

severe but not fatal. "Within three months, William was able

to accompany the duke of Anjou in his visits to Ghent, Bruges,

and the other chief towns of Flanders; in each of which the

ceremony of inauguration was repeated. Several military

exploits now took place [the most important of them being the

capture of Oudenarde, after a protracted siege, by the Prince

of Parma]. … The duke of Anjou, intemperate, inconstant, and

unprincipled, saw that his authority was but the shadow of

power. … The French officers, who formed his suite and

possessed all his confidence, had no difficulty in raising his

discontent into treason against the people with whom he had

made a solemn compact. The result of their councils was a

deep-laid plot against Flemish liberty; and its execution was

ere-long attempted. He sent secret orders to the governors of

Dunkirk, Bruges, Termonde, and other towns, to seize on and

hold them in his name; reserving for himself the infamy of the

enterprise against Antwerp. To prepare for its execution, he

caused his numerous army of French and Swiss to approach the

city." Then, on the 17th of January, 1583, with his body guard

of 200 horse, he suddenly attacked and slew the Flemish guards

at one of the gates and admitted the troops waiting outside.

"The astonished but intrepid citizens, recovering from their

confusion, instantly flew to arms. All differences in religion

or politics were forgotten in the common danger to their

freedom. … The ancient spirit of Flanders seemed to animate

all. Workmen, armed with the instruments of their various

trades, started from their shops and flung themselves upon the

enemy. … The French were driven successively from the

streets and ramparts. … The duke of Anjou saved himself by

flight, and reached Termonde. His loss in this base enterprise

[known as the French Fury] amounted to 1,500; while that of

the citizens did not exceed 80 men. The attempts

simultaneously made on the other towns succeeded at Dunkirk

and Termonde; but all the others failed. The character of the

Prince of Orange never appeared so thoroughly great as at this

crisis. With wisdom and magnanimity rarely equalled and never

surpassed, he threw himself and his authority between the

indignation of the country and the guilt of Anjou; saving the

former from excess and the latter from execration. The

disgraced and discomfited duke proffered to the states excuses

as mean as they were hypocritical. … A new treaty was

negotiated, confirming Anjou in his former station, with

renewed security against any future treachery on his part. He

in the mean time retired to France," where he died, June 10,

1584. Exactly one month afterwards (July 10), Prince William

was murdered, in his house, at Delft, by Balthazar Gerard, one

of the many assassins whom Philip II. and Parma had so

persistently sent against him. He was shot as he placed his

foot upon the first step of the great stair in his house,

after dining in a lower apartment, and he died in a few

moments.

_T. C. Grattan,

History of the Netherlands,

chapter 13._

ALSO IN:

_J. A. Froude,

History of England: Reign of Elizabeth,

chapters 26, 29, 31-32 (volume 5-6)._

_D. Campbell,

The Puritan in Holland, England, and America,

chapter 4 (volume 1)._

NETHERLANDS: A. D. 1584-1585.

Limits of the United Provinces and the Spanish Provinces.

The Republican constitution of the United Provinces,

and the organization of their government.

Disgraceful surrender of Ghent.

Practical recovery of Flanders and Brabant by the Spanish king.

At the time of the assassination of the Prince of Orange, "the

limit of the Spanish or 'obedient' Provinces, on the one hand,

and of the United Provinces on the other, cannot … be

briefly and distinctly stated. The memorable treason—or, as

it was called, the 'reconciliation' of the Walloon Provinces

in the year 1583-4—had placed the Provinces of Hainault,

Arthois, Douay, with the flourishing cities, Arras,

Valenciennes, Lille, Tournay, and others—all Celtic

Flanders, in short—in the grasp of Spain. Cambray was still

held by the French governor, Seigneur de Balagny, who had

taken advantage of the Duke of Anjou's treachery to the

States, to establish himself in an unrecognized but practical

petty sovereignty, in defiance both of France and Spain; while

East Flanders and South Brabant still remained a disputed

territory, and the immediate field of contest. With these

limitations, it may be assumed, for general purposes, that the

territory of the United States was that of the modern Kingdom

of the Netherlands, while the obedient Provinces occupied what

is now the territory of Belgium. …

{2271}

What now was the political position of the United Provinces at

this juncture? The sovereignty which had been held by the

Estates, ready to be conferred respectively upon Anjou and

Orange, remained in the hands of the Estates. There was no

opposition to this theory. … The people, as such, claimed no

sovereignty. … What were the Estates? … The great

characteristic of the Netherland government was the

municipality. Each Province contained a large number of

cities, which were governed by a board of magistrates, varying

in number from 20 to 40. This college, called the Vroedschap

(Assembly of Sages), consisted of the most notable citizens,

and was a self-electing body—a close corporation—the members

being appointed for life, from the citizens at large. Whenever

vacancies occurred from death or loss of citizenship, the

college chose new members—sometimes immediately, sometimes by

means of a double or triple selection of names, the choice of

one from among which was offered to the stadtholder [governor,

or sovereign's deputy] of the province. This functionary was

appointed by the Count, as he was called, whether Duke of

Bavaria or of Burgundy, Emperor, or King. After the abjuration

of Philip [1581], the governors were appointed by the Estates

of each Province. The Sage-Men chose annually a board of

senators, or schepens, whose functions were mainly judicial;

and there were generally two, and sometimes three,

burgomasters, appointed in the same way. This was the popular

branch of the Estates. But, besides this body of

representatives, were the nobles, men of ancient lineage and

large possessions, who had exercised, according to the general

feudal law of Europe, high, low, and intermediate jurisdiction

upon their estates, and had long been recognized as an

integral part of the body politic, having the right to appear,

through delegates of their order, in the provincial and in the

general assemblies. Regarded as a machine for bringing the

most decided political capacities into the administration of

public affairs, and for organizing the most practical

opposition to the system of religious tyranny, the Netherland

constitution was a healthy, and, for the age, an enlightened

one. … Thus constituted was the commonwealth upon the death

of William the Silent. The gloom produced by that event was

tragical. Never in human history was a more poignant and

universal sorrow for the death of any individual. The despair

was, for a brief season, absolute; but it was soon succeeded

by more lofty sentiments. … Even on the very day of the

murder, the Estates of Holland, then sitting at Delft, passed

a resolution 'to maintain the good cause, with God's help, to

the uttermost, without sparing gold or blood.' … The next

movement, after the last solemn obsequies had been rendered to

the Prince, was to provide for the immediate wants of his

family. For the man who had gone into the revolt with almost

royal revenues, left his estate so embarrassed that his

carpets, tapestries, household linen—nay, even his silver

spoons, and the very clothes of his wardrobe—were disposed of

at auction for the benefit of his creditors. He left eleven

children—a son and daughter by the first wife, a son and

daughter by Anna of Saxony, six daughters by Charlotte of

Bourbon, and an infant, Frederic Henry, born six months before

his death. The eldest son, Philip William, had been a captive

in Spain for seventeen years, having been kidnapped from

school, in Leyden, in the year 1567. He had already become …

thoroughly Hispaniolized under the masterly treatment of the

King and the Jesuits. … The next son was Maurice, then 17

years of age. … Grandson of Maurice of Saxony, whom he

resembled in visage and character, he was summoned by every

drop of blood in his veins to do life-long battle with the

spirit of Spanish absolutism, and he was already girding

himself for his life's work. … Very soon afterwards the

States General established a State Council, as a provisional

executive board, for the term of three months, for the

Provinces of Holland, Zeeland, Utrecht, Friesland, and such

parts of Flanders and Brabant as still remained in the Union.

At the head of this body was placed young Maurice, who

accepted the responsible position, after three days'

deliberation. … The Council consisted of three members from

Brabant, two from Flanders, four from Holland, three from

Zeeland, two from Utrecht, one from Mechlin, and three from

Friesland—eighteen in all. They were empowered and enjoined

to levy troops by land and sea, and to appoint naval and

military officers; to establish courts of admiralty, to expend

the moneys voted by the States, to maintain the ancient

privileges of the country, and to see that all troops in

service of the Provinces made oath of fidelity to the Union.

Diplomatic relations, questions of peace and war, the

treaty-making power, were not entrusted to the Council,

without the knowledge and consent of the States General, which

body was to be convoked twice a year by the State Council. …

Alexander of Parma … was swift to take advantage of the

calamity which had now befallen the rebellious Provinces. …

In Holland and Zeeland the Prince's blandishments were of no

avail. … In Flanders and Brabant the spirit was less noble.

Those provinces were nearly lost already. Bruges [which had

made terms with the King early in 1584] seconded Parma's

efforts to induce its sister-city Ghent to imitate its own

baseness in surrendering without a struggle; and that

powerful, turbulent, but most anarchical little commonwealth

was but too ready to listen to the voice of the tempter. …

Upon the 17th August [1584] Dendermonde surrendered. … Upon

the 7th September Vilvoorde capitulated, by which event the

water-communication between Brussels and Antwerp was cut off,

Ghent, now thoroughly disheartened, treated with Parma

likewise; and upon the 17th September made its reconciliation

with the King. The surrender of so strong and important a

place was as disastrous to the cause of the patriots as it was

disgraceful to the citizens themselves. It was, however, the

result of an intrigue which had been long spinning. … The

noble city of Ghent—then as large as Paris, thoroughly

surrounded with moats, and fortified with bulwarks, ravelins,

and counterscarps, constructed of earth, during the previous

two years, at great expense, and provided with bread and meat,

powder and shot, enough to last a year—was ignominiously

surrendered. The population, already a very reduced and

slender one for the great extent of the place and its former

importance, had been estimated at 70,000.

{2272}

The number of houses was 35,000, so that, as the inhabitants

were soon farther reduced to one-half, there remained but one

individual to each house. On the other hand, the 25

monasteries and convents in the town were repeopled. … The

fall of Brussels was deferred till March, and that of Mechlin

(19th July, 1585), and of Antwerp [see below] (19th August,

1585), till Midsummer of the following year; but the surrender

of Ghent foreshadowed the fate of Flanders and Brabant. Ostend

and Sluys, however, were still in the hands of the patriots,

and with them the control of the whole Flemish coast. The

command of the sea was destined to remain for centuries with

the new republic."

_J. L. Motley,

History of the United Netherlands,

chapter 1 (volume 1)._

NETHERLANDS: A. D. 1584-1585.

The Siege and surrender of Antwerp.

Decay of the city.

"After the fall of Ghent, Farnese applied himself earnestly to

the siege of Antwerp, one of the most memorable recorded in

history. The citizens were animated in their defence by the

valour and talent of Ste Aldegonde. It would be impossible to

detail with minuteness in this general history the various

contrivances resorted to on either side for the attack and the

defence; and we must therefore content ourselves with briefly

adverting to that stupendous monument of Farnese's military

genius, the bridge which he carried across the Scheldt, below

Antwerp, in order to cut off the communication of the city

with the sea and the maritime provinces. From the depth and

wideness of the river, the difficulty of finding the requisite

materials, and of transporting them to the place selected in

the face of an enemy that was superior on the water, the

project was loudly denounced by Farnese's officers as

visionary and impracticable; yet in spite of all these

discouragements and difficulties, as the place seemed

unapproachable in the usual way, he steadily persevered, and

at last succeeded in an undertaking which, had he failed,

would have covered him with perpetual ridicule. The spot fixed

upon for the bridge was between Ordam and Kalloo, where the

river is both shallower and narrower than at other parts. The

bridge consisted of piles driven into the water to such

distance as its depth would allow; which was 200 feet on the

Flanders side and 900 feet on that of Brabant. The interval

between the piles, which was 12 feet broad, was covered with

planking; but at the extremities towards the centre of the

river the breadth was extended to 40 feet, thus forming two

forts, or platforms, mounted with cannon. There was still,

however, an interstice in the middle of between 1,000 and

1,100 feet, through which the ships of the enemy, favoured by

the wind and tide, or by the night, could manage to pass

without any considerable loss, and which it therefore became

necessary to fill up. This was accomplished by mooring across

it the hulls of 32 vessels, at intervals of about 20 feet

apart, and connecting them together with planks. Each vessel

was planted with artillery and garrisoned by about 30 men;

while the bridge was protected by a flota of vessels moored on

each side, above and below, at a distance of about 200 feet.

During the construction of the bridge, which lasted half a

year, the citizens of Antwerp viewed with dismay the progress

of a work that was not only to deprive them of their maritime

commerce, but also of the supplies necessary for their

subsistence and defence. At length they adopted a plan

suggested by Gianbelli, an Italian engineer, and resolved to

destroy the bridge by means of fire-ships, which seem to have

been first used on this occasion. Several such vessels were

sent down the river with a favourable tide and wind, of which

two were charged with 6,000 or 7,000 lbs. of gunpowder each,

packed in solid masonry, with various destructive missiles.

One of these vessels went ashore before reaching its

destination; the other arrived at the bridge and exploded with

terrible effect. Curiosity to behold so novel a spectacle had

attracted vast numbers of the Spaniards, who lined the shores

as well as the bridge. Of these 800 were killed by the

explosion, and by the implements of destruction discharged

with the powder; a still greater number were maimed and

wounded, and the bridge itself was considerably damaged.

Farnese himself was thrown to the earth and lay for a time

insensible. The besieged, however, did not follow up their

plan with vigour. They allowed Farnese time to repair the

damage, and the Spaniards, being now on the alert, either

diverted the course of the fire-ships that were subsequently

sent against them, or suffered them to pass the bridge through

openings made for the purpose. In spite of the bridge,

however, the beleaguered citizens might still have secured a

transit down the river by breaking through the dykes between

Antwerp and Lillo, and sailing over the plains thus laid under

water, for which purpose it was necessary to obtain possession

of the counter-dyke of Kowenstyn; but after a partial success,

too quickly abandoned by Hohenlohe and Ste Aldegonde, they

were defeated in a bloody battle which they fought upon the

dyke. Antwerp was now obliged to capitulate; and as Farnese

was anxious to put an end to so long a siege, it obtained more

favourable terms than could have been anticipated (August 17th

1585). The prosperity of this great commercial city received,

however, a severe blow from its capture by the Spaniards. A

great number of the citizens, as well as of the inhabitants of

Brabant and Flanders, removed to Amsterdam and Middelburg."

_T. H. Dyer,

History of Modern Europe,

book 3, chapter 9 (volume 2)._

The downfall of the prosperity of the great capital "was

instantaneous. The merchants and industrious citizens all

wandered away from the place which had been the seat of a

world-wide traffic. Civilization and commerce departed, and in

their stead were the citadel and the Jesuits."

_J. L. Motley,

History of the United Netherlands,

chapter 5 (volume 1)._

ALSO IN:

_F. Schiller,

Siege of Antwerp._

NETHERLANDS: A. D. 1585-1586.

Proffered sovereignty of the United Provinces

declined by France and England.

Delusive English succors.

The queen's treachery and Leicester's incompetency.

Useless battle at Zutphen.

"It was natural that so small a State, wasted by its

protracted struggles, should desire, more earnestly than ever,

an alliance with some stronger power; and it was from among

States supposed to have sympathies with Protestants, that such

an alliance was sought. From the Protestant countries of

Germany there was no promise of help; and the eyes of the

Dutch diplomatists were therefore turned towards France and

England. In France, the Huguenots, having recovered from St.

Bartholomew, now enjoyed toleration; and were a rising and

hopeful party, under the patronage of Henry of Navarre.

{2273}

If the king of France would protect Holland from Philip, and

extend to its people the same toleration which he allowed his

own subjects, Holland offered him the sovereignty of the

united provinces. This tempting offer was declined: for a new

policy was now to be declared, which united France and Spain

in a bigoted crusade against the Protestant faith. The League,

under the Duke de Guise, gained a fatal ascendency over the

weak and frivolous king, Henry III., and held dominion in

France. … Nor was the baneful influence of the League

confined to France: it formed a close alliance with Philip and

the Pope, with whom it was plotting the overthrow of

Protestant England, the subjection of the revolted provinces

of Spain, and the general extirpation of heresy throughout

Europe. … The only hope of the Netherlands was now in

England, which was threatened by a common danger; and envoys

were sent to Elizabeth with offers of the sovereignty, which

had been declined by France. So little did the Dutch statesmen

as yet contemplate a republic, that they offered their country

to any sovereign, in return for protection. Had bolder

counsels prevailed, Elizabeth might, at once, have saved the

Netherlands, and placed herself at the head of the Protestants

of Europe. She saw her own danger, if Philip should recover

the provinces: but she held her purse-strings with the grasp

of a miser: she dreaded an open rupture with Spain; and she

was unwilling to provoke her own Catholic subjects. Sympathy

with the Protestant cause, she had none. … She desired to

afford as much assistance as would protect her own realm

against Philip, at the least possible cost, without

precipitating a war with Spain. She agreed to send men and

money: but required Flushing, Brill, and Rammekens to be held

as a security for her loans. She refused the sovereignty of

the States: but she despatched troops to the Netherlands, and

sent her favourite, the Earl of Leicester, to command them. As

she had taken the rebellious subjects of Spain under her

protection, Philip retaliated by the seizure of British ships.

Spanish vengeance was not averted, while the Netherlands

profited little by her aid."

_Sir T. E. May,

Democracy in Europe,

chapter 11 (volume 2)._

Leicester sailed for the Hague in the middle of December,

1585, having been preceded by 8,000 English troops, eager to

prevent or revenge the fall of Antwerp. "Had there been good

faith and resolution, and had Lord Grey, or Sir Richard

Bingham, or Sir John Norris been in command, 20,000 Dutch and

English troops might have taken the field in perfect

condition. The States would have spent their last dollar to

find them in everything which soldiers could need. They would

have had at their backs the enthusiastic sympathy of the

population, while the enemy was as universally abhorred; and

Parma, exhausted by his efforts in the great siege, with his

chest empty, and his ranks thinned almost to extinction, could

not have encountered them with a third of their numbers. A

lost battle would have been followed by a renewed revolt of

the reconciled Provinces, and Elizabeth, if she found peace so

necessary to her, might have dictated her own conditions." But

months passed and nothing was done, while Queen Elizabeth was

treacherously negotiating with agents of Spain. In the summer

of 1586, "half and more than half of the brave men who had

come over in the past September were dead. Their places were

taken by new levies gathered in haste upon the highways, or by

mutinous regiments of Irish kernes, confessed Catholics, and

led by a man [Sir William Stanley] who was only watching an

opportunity to betray his sovereign. … Gone was now the

enthusiasm which had welcomed the landing of Leicester. In the

place of it was suspicion and misgiving, distracted councils,

and divided purposes. Elizabeth while she was diplomatising

held her army idle. Parma, short-handed as he was, treated

with his hand upon his sword, and was for ever carving slice

on slice from the receding frontiers of the States. At the

time of Leicester's installation he was acting on the Meuse.

He held the river as far as Venloo. Venloo and Grave were in

the hands of the patriots, both of them strong fortresses, the

latter especially. … After the fall of Antwerp these two

towns were Parma's next object. The siege of Grave was formed

in January. In April Colonel Norris and Count Hohenlohe forced

the Spanish lines and threw in supplies; but Elizabeth's

orders prevented further effort. Parma came before the town in

person in June, and after a bombardment which produced little

or no effect, Grave, to the surprise of everyone, surrendered.

Count Hemart, the governor, was said to have been corrupted,

by his mistress. Leicester hanged him; but Hemart's gallows

did not recover Grave or save Venloo, which surrendered also

three weeks later. The Earl, conscious of the disgrace, yet

seeing no way to mend it, … was willing at last to play into

his mistress's hands. He understood her [Queen Elizabeth] at

last, and saw what she was aiming at. 'As the cause is now

followed,' he wrote to her on the 27th of June, 'it is not

worth the cost or the danger. … They [the Netherlanders]

would rather have lived with bread and drink under your

Majesty's protection than with all their possessions under the

King of Spain. It has almost broken their hearts to think your

Majesty should not care any more for them. But if you mean

soon to leave them they will be gone almost before you hear of

it. I will do my best, therefore, to get into my hands three

or four most principal places in North Holland, so as you

shall rule these men, and make war and peace as you list. Part

not with Brill for anything. With these places you can have

what peace you will in an hour, and have your debts and

charges readily answered. But your Majesty must deal

graciously with them at present, and if you mean to leave them

keep it to yourself.' … No palliation can be suggested, of

the intentions to which Leicester saw that she was still

clinging, and which he was willing to further in spite of his

oath to be loyal to the States. … The incapacity of

Leicester … was growing evident. He had been used as a lay

figure to dazzle the eyes of the Provinces, while both he and

they were mocked by the secret treaty. The treaty was hanging

fire. … The Queen had … so far opened her eyes as to see

that she was not improving her position by keeping her army

idle; and Leicester, that he might not part with his

government in entire disgrace, having done absolutely nothing,

took the field for a short campaign in the middle of August

[1586].

{2274}

Parma had established himself in Gelderland, at Zutphen, and

Duesberg. The States held Deventer, further down the Issel;

but Deventer would probably fall as Grave and Venloo had

fallen if the Spaniards kept their hold upon the river;

Leicester therefore proposed to attempt to recover Zutphen.

Everyone was delighted to be moving. … The Earl of Essex,

Sir William Russell, Lord Willoughby, and others who held no

special commands, attached themselves to Leicester's staff;

Sir Philip Sidney obtained leave of absence from Flushing; Sir

John Norris and his brother brought the English contingent of

the States army; Sir William Stanley had arrived with his

Irishmen; and with these cavaliers glittering about him, and

9,000 men, Leicester entered Gelderland. Duesberg surrendered

to him without a blow; Norris surprised a fort outside

Zutphen, which commanded the river and straitened the

communications of the town." Parma made an attempt, on the

morning of September 22, to throw supplies into the town, and

Leicester's knights and gentlemen, forewarned of this project

by a spy, "Volunteered for an ambuscade to cut off the convoy.

… Parma brought with him every man that he could spare, and

the ambuscade party were preparing unconsciously to encounter

4,000 of the best troops in the world. They were in all about

500. … The morning was misty. The waggons were heard coming,

but nothing could be seen till a party of horse appeared at

the head of the train where the ambuscade was lying. Down

charged the 500, much as in these late years 600 English

lancers charged elsewhere, as magnificently and as uselessly.

… Never had been a more brilliant action seen or heard of,

never one more absurd and profitless. For the ranks of the

Spanish infantry were unbroken, the English could not touch

them, could not even approach them, and behind the line of

their muskets the waggons passed steadily to the town. … A

few, not many, had been killed; but among those whose lives

had been flung away so wildly was Philip Sidney. He was struck

by a musket ball on his exposed thigh, as he was returning

from his last charge," and died a few weeks later. "Parma

immediately afterwards entered Zutphen unmolested. …

Leicester's presence was found necessary in England. With the

natural sympathy of one worthless person for another, he had

taken a fancy to Stanley, and chose to give him an independent

command; and leaving the government to the Council of the

States, and the army again without a chief, he sailed in

November for London."

_J. A. Froude,

History of England: The Reign of Elizabeth,

chapter 33 (volume 6)._

ALSO IN:

_Correspondence of Leicester during his

Government of the Low Countries

(Camden Society 27)._

_W. Gray,

Life and Times of Sir Philip Sidney,

chapter 10._

_C. R. Markham,

The Fighting Veres,

chapters 7-8._

NETHERLANDS: A. D. 1587-1588.

The ruin of the Spanish Provinces.

Great prosperity of the United Provinces.

Siege and capture of Sluys.

The last of Leicester.

"Though the United Provinces were distracted by domestic

dissensions and enfeebled by mutual distrust, their condition,

compared with that portion of the Netherlands reduced under

the yoke of Spain, was such as to afford matter of deep

gratulation and thankfulness. The miseries of war had visited

the latter unhappy country in the fullest measure; multitudes

of its inhabitants had fled in despair; and the sword, famine,

and pestilence, vied with each other in destroying the

remainder. … The rich and smiling pastures, once the

admiration and envy of the less favoured countries of Europe,

were now no more; woods, roads, and fields, were confounded in

one tangled mass of copse and brier. In the formerly busy and

wealthy towns of Flanders and Brabant, Ghent, Antwerp, and

Bruges, members of noble families were seen to creep from

their wretched abodes in the darkness of night to beg their

bread, or to search the streets for bones and offal. A

striking and cheering contrast is the picture presented by the

United Provinces. The crops had, indeed, failed there also,

but the entire command of the sea which they preserved, and

the free importation of corn, secured plentiful supplies. …

They continued to carry on, under Spanish colours, a lucrative

half-smuggling traffic, which the government of that nation

found it its interest to connive at and encourage. The war,

therefore, instead of being, as usual, an hindrance to

commerce, rather gave it a new stimulus; the ports were

crowded with vessels. … Holland and Zealand had now for more

than ten years been delivered from the enemy. … The security

they thus offered, combined with the freedom of religion, and

the activity of trade and commerce, drew vast multitudes to

their shores; the merchants and artisans expelled, on account

of their religion, from the Spanish Netherlands, transferred

thither the advantages of their enterprise and skill. … The

population of the towns became so overflowing that it was

found impossible to build houses fast enough to contain it.

… The miserable condition of the Spanish Netherlands, and

the difficulty of finding supplies for his troops, caused the

Duke of Parma to delay taking the field until late in the

summer [1587]; when, making a feint attack upon Ostend, he

afterwards … commenced a vigorous siege of Sluys. In order

to draw him off from this undertaking, Maurice, with the Count

of Hohenlohe, marched towards Bois-le-Duc. … The danger of

Sluys hastened the return of the Earl of Leicester to the

Netherlands, who arrived in Ostend with 7,000 foot and 500

horse. … Sluys had been besieged seven weeks, and the

garrison was reduced from 1,600 men to scarcely half that

number, when Leicester made an attempt to master the fort of

Blankenburg, in the neighbourhood of the enemy's camp; but on

intelligence that Parma was approaching to give him battle, he

hastily retreated to Ostend," and Sluys was surrendered. "The

loss of Sluys exasperated the dissensions between Leicester

and the States into undisguised and irreconcilable hostility."

He was soon afterwards recalled to England, and early in the

following year the queen required him to resign his command

and governorship in the Netherlands. In the meantime, the

English queen had reopened negotiations with Parma, who

occupied her attention while his master, Philip II. of Spain,

was preparing the formidable Armada which he launched against

England the next year

See ENGLAND: A. D. 1588.

_C. M. Davies,

History of Holland,

part 3, chapters 2-3 (volume 2)._

{2275}

NETHERLANDS: A. D. 1588-1593.

Successes of Prince Maurice.

Departure of Parma to France.

His death.

Appointment of Archduke Albert to the Government.

"The destruction of the great Spanish Armada by the English in

1588 infused new hopes into all the enemies of Spain, and

animated the Dutch with such courage, that Maurice led his

army against that of the Duke of Parma, and forced him to

raise the siege of Bergen-op-Zoom, at that time garrisoned by

a portion of Leicester's army under the command of Sir Francis

Vere. … The young Stadtholder was induced by this success to

surprise the Castle of Blyenbeck, which was yielded to his

arms in 1589; and the following year [March 1] he got

possession of Breda by a 'ruse de guerre,'"—having introduced

70 men into the town by concealing them in a boat laden with

turf. "The Duke of Parma was now recalled from the Low

Countries into France [see FRANCE: A. D. 1590], and the old

Peter Ernest, Count de Mansfeld, succeeded to the government

of the Low Countries. … Maurice defeated the Spanish army in

the open field at Caervorden, and took Nimeguen [October 21,

1591] and Zutphen [May 30, 1591; also, Deventer, June 10, of

the same year]. … These successes added greatly to the

reputation of Count Maurice, who now made considerable

progress, so that in the year 1591 the Dutch saw their

frontiers extended, and had well-grounded hopes of driving the

Spaniards out of Friesland in another campaign. … The death

of the Prince of Parma [which occurred December 3, 1592]

delivered the Confederates from a formidable adversary; but

old Count Mansfeld, at the head of an army of 30,000 men, took

the field against them. Maurice, however, in 1593,

notwithstanding this covering force, sat down before

Gertruydenberg, advantageously situated on the frontier of

Brabant." The siege was regarded as a masterpiece of the

military art of the day, and the city was brought to surrender

at the end of three months. "With the useful aid of Sir

Francis Vere and the English, Maurice afterwards took

Gronenburg and Grave, which formed part of his own patrimony.

The Duke of Parma was succeeded in the government of the

Netherlands by the Archduke Albert, a younger son of the

Emperor Maximilian, who was married to Isabella, daughter of

King Philip."

_Sir E. Cust,

Lives of the Warriors of the Thirty Years' War:

Maurice of Orange-Nassau,

pages 25-28._

ALSO IN:

_C. R. Markham,

The Fighting Veres,

part 1, chapters 10-15._

NETHERLANDS: A. D. 1594-1597.

Spanish operations in Northern France.

See FRANCE: A. D. 1593-1598.

NETHERLANDS: A. D. 1594-1609.

Steady decline of Spanish power.

Sovereignty of the provinces made over to the Infanta

Isabella and the Archduke, her husband.

Death of Philip II.

Negotiations for peace.

A twelve years' truce agreed upon.

Acknowledgment of the independence of the republic.

"Philip's French enterprise had failed. The dashing and

unscrupulous Henry of Navarre had won his crown, by conforming

to the Catholic faith. …

See FRANCE: A. D. 1591-1593.

Great was the shock given by his politic apostacy to the

religious sentiments of Europe: but it was fatal to the

ambition of Philip; and again the Netherlands could count upon

the friendship of a king of France. Their own needs were

great: but the gallant little republic still found means to

assist the Protestant champion against their common enemy, the

king of Spain. In the Netherlands the Spanish power was

declining. The feeble successors of Parma were no match for

Maurice of Nassau and the republican leaders: the Spanish

troops were starving and mutinous: the provinces under Spanish

rule were reduced to wretchedness and beggary. Cities and

fortresses fell, one after another, into the hands of the

stadtholder. The Dutch fleet joined that of England in a raid

upon Spain itself, captured and sacked Cadiz [see SPAIN: A. D.

1596], raised the flag of the republic on the battlements of

that famous city; and left the Spanish fleet burning in the

harbour. Other events followed, deeply affecting the fortunes

of the republic. Philip at length made peace with Henry of

Navarre, and was again free to coerce his revolted provinces.

But his accursed rule was drawing to a close. In 1598 he made

over the sovereignty of the Netherlands to the Infanta

Isabella and her affianced husband, the Archduke Albert, who

had cast aside his cardinal's hat, his archbishopric, and his

priestly vows of celibacy, for a consort so endowed. Philip

had ceased to reign in the Netherlands; and a few months

afterwards [September 13, 1598] he closed his evil life, in

the odour of sanctity. … The tyrant was dead: the little

republic, which he had scourged so cruelly, was living and

prosperous. … Far different was the lot of the ill-fated

provinces still in the grasp of the tyrant. The land lay waste

and desolate: its inhabitants had tied to England or Holland,

or were reduced to want and beggary. … That the republic

should have outlived its chief oppressor was an event of happy

augury: but years of trial and danger were still to be passed

through. The victory of Nieuport [gained July 2, 1600, by an

army of Dutch and English over the superior forces of the

Archduke Albert] raised Prince Maurice's fame, as a soldier,

to its highest point; and the gallant defence of Ostend, for

upwards of three years [against a siege, conducted by the

Spanish general Spinola, to which its garrison finally

succumbed in 1604, when the town was a heap of ruins, and

after 100,000 men are said to have been sacrificed on both

sides] … proved that the courage and endurance of his

soldiers had not declined during the protracted war [while

Sluys was taken by the Prince the same year]. At sea the Dutch

fleets won new victories over the Spaniards and Portuguese;

and privateers made constant ravages upon the enemy's

commerce. But there were also failures and reverses, on the

side of the republic, dissensions among its leaders, and

anxieties concerning the attitude of foreign States. And thus,

with varied fortunes, this momentous war had now continued for

upwards of forty years. … On both sides there was a desire

for peace. The Dutch would accept nothing short of

unconditional independence: the Spaniards almost despaired of

reducing them to subjection, while they dreaded more

republican victories at sea, and the extension of Dutch

maritime enterprise in the East. Overtures for peace were

first made cautiously and secretly by the archdukes ['this was

the title of the archduke and archduchess'], and received by

the States with grave distrust. Jealous and haughty was the

bearing of the republic, in the negotiations which ensued. The

states-general, in full session, represented Holland, and

received the Spanish envoys. The independence of the States

was accepted, on both sides, as the basis of any treaty: but,

as a preliminary to the negotiations, the republic insisted

upon its formal recognition, as a free and equal State, in

words dictated by itself. …

{2276}

At length an armistice was signed, in order to arrange the

terms of a treaty of peace. It was a welcome breathing time:

but peace was still beset with difficulties and obstacles. The

Spaniards were insincere: they could not bring themselves to

treat seriously, and in good faith, with heretics and rebels:

they desired the re-establishment of the Church of Rome; and

they claimed the exclusive right of trading with the East and

West Indies. The councils of the republic were also divided.

Barneveldt, the civilian, was bent upon peace: Prince Maurice,

the soldier, was burning for the renewal of the war. But

Barneveldt and the peace party prevailed, and negotiations

were continued. Again and again, the armistice was renewed:

but a treaty of peace seemed as remote as ever. At length

[April 9, 1609], after infinite disputes, a truce for twelve

years was agreed upon. In form it was a truce, and not a

treaty of peace: but otherwise the republic gained every point

upon which it had insisted. Its freedom and independence were

unconditionally recognised: it accepted no conditions

concerning religion: it made no concessions in regard to its

trade with the Indies. The great battle for freedom was won:

the republic was free: its troubles and perils were at an end.

Its oppressors had been the first to sue for peace: their

commissioners had treated with the states-general at the

Hague; and they had yielded every point for which they had

been waging war for nearly half a century."

_Sir T. E. May,

Democracy in Europe,

chapter 11 (volume 2)._

ALSO IN:

_C. M. Davies,

History of Holland,

part 3, chapters 3-4 (volume 2)._

_J. L. Motley,

History of the United Netherlands,

chapters 30-52 (volumes 3-4)._

_Douglas Campbell,

The Puritan in Holland England, and America,

chapter 18 (volume 2)._

NETHERLANDS: A. D. 1594-1620.

Rise and growth of Eastern trade.

Formation of the Dutch East India Company.

"Previous to their assertion of national independence, the

commerce of the Dutch did not extend beyond the confines of

Europe. But new regions of traffic were now to open to their

dauntless enterprise. It was in 1594 that Cornelius Houtman,

the son of It brewer at Gouda, returned from Lisbon, where,

having passed the preceding year, he had seen the gorgeous

produce of the East piled on the quays of the Tagus. His

descriptions fired the emulation of his friends at Amsterdam,

nine of whom agreed to join stock and equip a little flotilla

for a voyage round the Cape of Good Hope; Houtman undertook

the command, and thus the marvellous commerce of the Dutch in

India began. The influence which their trade with India and

their settlements there exerted in maturing and extending the

greatness of the Dutch, has often been overrated. It was a

source, indeed, of infinite pride, and for a time of rapid and

glittering profit; but it was attended with serious drawbacks,

both of national expenditure and national danger. … From the

outset they were forced to go armed. The four ships that

sailed on the first voyage of speculation from Amsterdam, in

1595, were fitted out for either war or merchandise. They were

about to sail into hitherto interdicted waters; they knew that

the Portuguese were already established in the Spice Islands,

whither they were bound; and Portugal was then a dependency of

Spain. On their arrival at Java, they had, consequently, to

encounter open hostility both from Europeans and the natives

whom the former influenced against them. At Bali, however,

they were better received; and, in 1597, they reached home

with a rich cargo of spices and Indian wares. It was a proud

and joyous day in Amsterdam when their return was known. …

From various ports of Zealand and Holland 80 vessels sailed

the following year to America, Africa, and India. Vainly the

Portuguese colonists laboured to convince the native princes

of the East that the Dutch were a mere horde of pirates with

whom no dealings were safe. Their businesslike and punctilious

demeanour, and probably, likewise, the judiciously selected

cargoes with which they freighted their ships outwards,

whereby they were enabled to offer better terms for the silk,

indigo, and spice they wished to buy, rapidly disarmed the

suspicion of several of the chiefs. … In 1602 the celebrated

East India Company was formed under charter granted by the

States-General,—the original capital being 6,000,000

guilders, subscribed by the merchants of Delft, Rotterdam,

Hoorn, Enkhuysen, Middleberg, but above all Amsterdam. They

established factories at many places, both on the continent of

India and in the islands; but their chief depot was fixed at

Bantam," until, dissatisfied with certain taxes imposed on

them by the lord of Bantam, they looked elsewhere for a

station. "The sovereign of Java gladly offered them a

settlement not above 100 miles distant, with full permission

to erect such buildings as they chose, and an engagement that

pepper (the chief spice thence exported) should be sent out of

his dominions toll-free. These terms were accepted. Jocatra, a

situation very propitious for traffic, was chosen as the site

of their future factory. Warehouses of stone and mortar

quickly rose; and dwellings, to the number of 1,000, were in a

short time added. All nations had leave to settle and trade

within its walls; and this was the origin of Batavia. In six

years the Company sent out 46 vessels, of which 43 returned in

due course laden with rich cargoes. … By the books of the

Company it appeared that, during the next eleven years, they

maintained 30 ships in the Eastern trade, manned by 5,000

seamen. … Two hundred per cent. was divided by the

proprietors of the Company's stock on their paid-up capital in

sixteen years. … But of all the proud results of their

Indian commerce, that which naturally afforded to the Dutch

the keenest sense of exultation, was the opportunity it

afforded them of thoroughly undermining the once exclusive

trade of Spain, not with foreign nations merely, but with her

own colonies, and even at home. The infatuated policy of her

government had prepared the way for her decline. … In the

space of a few years the Dutch had taken and rifled 11 Spanish

galleons, 'carkets and other huge ships, and made about 40 of

them unserviceable.' So crippled was their colonial trade

that, even for their own use, the Spaniards were obliged to

buy nutmegs, cloves, and mace, from their hated rivals."

_W. T. McCullagh,

Industrial History of Free Nations,

chapter 13 (volume 2)._

ALSO IN:

_D. McPherson,

Annals of Commerce,

volume 2, pages 206-296._

_J. Yeats,

Growth and Vicissitudes of Commerce,

part 3, chapters 3-4._

{2277}

NETHERLANDS: A. D. 1603-1619.

Calvinistic persecution of Arminianism.

The hunting down of John of Barneveldt by Prince Maurice.

Synod of Dort.