Calvin's doctrine of predestination was strongly expressed in

what was called the Heidelberg Catechism. "A synod of the

pastors of Holland had decreed that this must be signed by all

their preachers, and be to them what the Thirty-nine Articles

are to the English Church and the Confession of Augsburg to

the Lutherans. Many preachers hesitated to pledge themselves

to doctrines that they did not think Scriptural nor according

to primitive faith, and still more, not accordant with the

eternal mercy of God. Of these Jacob Hermann, a minister of

Amsterdam, or as he Latinised his name, Arminius, was the

foremost, and under his influence a number of clergy refused

their signature. The University of Leyden in 1603 chose

Arminius as their Professor of Theology. The opposite party,

in great wrath, insisted on holding a synod, and the

States-General gave permission, but at first only on condition

that there should be a revision of the confession of faith and

catechism. The ministers refused, but the States-General

insisted, led by John Barneveldt, then Advocate and Keeper of

the Seals, who declared in their name that as 'foster fathers

and protectors of the churches to them every right belonged.'

It was an Erastian sentiment, but this opinion was held by all

reformed governments, including the English, and Barneveldt

spoke in the hope of mitigating Calvinistic violence. The

Advocate of the States-General was in fact their mouthpiece.

They might vote, but no one expressed their decisions at home

or abroad save the Advocate; and Barneveldt, both from

position and character, was thus the chief manager of civil

affairs, and an equal if not a superior power to Maurice of

Nassau, the Stadtholder and commander-in-chief, and recently,

by the death of his elder brother, Prince of Orange. The

question had even been mooted of giving him the sovereignty,

but to this Barneveldt was strongly averse. Maurice knew very

little about the argument, and his real feelings were

Arminian, though jealousy of Barneveldt made him favour the

opposite party, whose chief champion was Jacob Gomer, or

Gomerus as he called himself. King James, though really

holding with the Arminians, disliked Barneveldt, and therefore

threw all the weight of England into the scale against them.

Arguments were held before Maurice and before the university,

in which three champions on the one side were pitted against

three on the other, but nothing came of them but a good deal

of audacious profanity, till Arminius, in ministering to the

sick during a visitation of the plague at Amsterdam, caught

the disease and died. He was so much respected that the

University of Leyden pensioned his widow. They chose a young

Genevese, named Conrad Voorst or Vorstius, as his successor.

Voorst had written two books, one on the nature of God,

Tractatus Theologicus de Deo, and the other, Exegesis

Apologetica, in which (by Fuller's account) there was a

considerable amount of materialism, and likewise what amounted

to a denial of the Divine Omniscience, being no doubt a

reaction from extreme Calvinism. King James met with the book,

and was horrified at its statements. He conceived himself

bound to interfere both as protector to the States—which he

said had been cemented with English blood—and because the

University of Leyden was much frequented by the youth of

England and Scotland, who often completed their legal studies

there. He ordered Sir Ralf Winwood, his ambassador at the

Hague, to deliver a sharp remonstrance to the States, and to

read them a catalogue of the dangerous and blasphemous errors

that he had detected, recommending the States to protest

against the appointment, and burn the books. Barneveldt was

much distressed, and uncertain whether James really was

speaking out of zeal for orthodoxy, or to have an excuse for a

quarrel. Letters and arguments passed without number. …

Leyden supported the professor it had invited, and, together

with Barneveldt, felt that to expel a man whom they had

chosen, at the bidding of a foreign sovereign, was almost

accepting a yoke like that of the Inquisition. … Maurice, on

the other hand, was glad to set the English King against

Barneveldt, and to represent that support of the foes of

strict Calvinism meant treachery to the Republic and a

betrayal to Spain. Winwood, on the King's part, insisted on

Vorstius's dismissal and banishment. … Maurice's own

preacher, Uytenbogen, wrote a remonstrance on behalf of the

Arminians, who were therefore sometimes termed Remonstrants,

while the Gomerists, from their answer, were called

Counter-Remonstrants. Unfortunately, political jealousy of

Barneveldt on the part of Maurice caused the influence of

Uytenbogen to decline. Most of the preachers and of the

populace held to the Counter-Remonstrants and their

old-fashioned Calvinism, most of the nobles and magistrates

were Remonstrants. The question began to branch into a second,

namely, whether the state had power to control the faith of

all its subjects, and whether when it convoked a synod it

could control its decisions, or was bound to enforce them

absolutely and without question. … Whichever party was

predominant in a place turned the other out of church. Appeals

were made to the Stadtholder, and he became angry. The

States-General at large, with Barneveldt to speak for them,

were Remonstrant; the states of Holland were

Counter-Remonstrant; and one of the questions thus at issue

was how far the power of the general government outweighed

that of a particular state. … By steps here impossible to

follow, Maurice destroyed the ascendency of Barneveldt, and

the reports that the old statesman was playing into the hands

of Spain grew more and more current. The magistrates of the

Arminian persuasion found themselves depending for protection

on the Waartgelders, a sort of burgher militia, who

endeavoured to keep the peace between the furious mobs who

struggled on either side. Accusations flew about freely that

now Maurice, now Barneveldt wanted the sovereignty. England

favoured the former; and after Henri IV. was dead, French

support little availed the latter, but rather did him harm.

Maurice did not scruple to raise the popular cry that there

were two factions in Holland, for Orange or for Spain, though

he must have known that there never had been a more steady foe

of Spain than the old statesman. The public, however,

preferred the general to the statesman, and bit by bit Maurice

succeeded in exchanging Remonstrant magistrates for

Counter-Remonstrant, or, as Barneveldt explained the matter to

Sir Dudley Carleton, who had become ambassador from England,

Puritan for double Puritan. … Sunday, the 17th of July,

1617, Uytenbogen preached against the assembly of a national

synod, knowing well that it would only confirm and narrow the

cruel doctrine. Maurice, who was bent on the synod came out in

a rage. …

{2278}

Barneveldt on this moved the States-General to refuse their

consent to the synod as inconsistent with their laws. This was

carried by a majority, and was called the Sharp Resolve. …

The High Council by a majority of one set aside the Sharp

Resolve, and decided for the synod. Barneveldt had a severe

illness, during which Maurice's influence made progress,

assisted by detestable accusations that the Advocate was in

league with the Spaniards. At last Maurice mastered Utrecht,

hitherto the chief hold of Arminianism. He disbanded the

Waartgelders, and when the States-General came together in the

summer of 1618, he had all prepared for sweeping his

adversaries from his path. On the 29th of August, as

Barneveldt was going to take his place at the States-General,

he was told by a chamberlain that the Prince wished to speak

with him, and in Maurice's ante-room was arrested by a

lieutenant of the guard and locked up. In exactly the same

manner was arrested his friend and supporter Pensionary

Rambolt Hoogenboets, who had protested against the decree by

which the High Council reversed that of the States-General,

and Hugo Van Groot, or, as he called himself, Hugo Grotius,

one of the greatest scholars who ever lived, especially in

jurisprudence, and a strong adherent of the Advocate. … The

synod met at Dordrecht [or Dort] in January, 1619, and lasted

till April. The Calvinists carried the day completely, and

Arminians were declared heretics, schismatics, incapable of

preaching, or of acting as professors or schoolmasters, unless

they signed the Heidelberg Catechism and Netherland

Confession, which laid down the hard-and-fast doctrine that

predestination excluded all free will on man's part, but

divided the human race into vessels of wrath and vessels of

mercy, without power on their own part to reverse the doom.

… The trial of Barneveldt was going on at the same time with

the Synod of Dordrecht after he had been many months in

prison. Twenty-four commissioners were appointed, twelve from

Holland, and two from each of the other states, and most of

them were personal enemies of the prisoner. Before them he was

examined day by day for three months, without any indictment;

no witnesses, no counsel on either side; nor was he permitted

pen and ink to prepare his defence, nor the use of his books

and papers." Barneveldt and his family protested against the

flagrant injustice and illegality of the so-called trial, but

refused to sue for pardon, which Maurice was determined they

should do. "It was submission that he wanted, not life"; but

as the submission was not yielded he coldly exacted the life.

Barneveldt was condemned and sentenced to be beheaded by the

sword. The sentence was executed on the same day it was

pronounced, May 12, 1619. Grotius was condemned to perpetual

imprisonment, but made his escape, by the contrivance of his

wife, in 1621.

_C. M. Yonge,

Cameos from English History,

series 6, chapter 9._

ALSO IN:

_J. L. Motley,

Life and Death of John of Barneveld,

chapters 14-22 (volume 2)._

_J. Arminius,

Works, etc.; edited by Nichols,

volume 1._

NETHERLANDS: (United Provinces): A. D.1608-1620.

Residence of the exiled Independents who afterwards founded

Plymouth Colony in New England.

See INDEPENDENTS: A. D. 1604-1617.

NETHERLANDS: (United Provinces): A. D. 1609.

The founding of the Bank of Amsterdam.

See MONEY AND BANKING: 17TH CENTURY.

NETHERLANDS: (United Provinces): A. D. 1609.

Henry Hudson's voyage of exploration.

See AMERICA: A. D. 1609.

NETHERLANDS: (United Provinces): A. D. 1610-1614.

Possession taken of New Netherland (New York).

See NEW YORK: A. D. 1610-1614.

NETHERLANDS: (United Provinces): A. D. 1621.

Incorporation of the Dutch West India Company.

See NEW YORK: A. D. 1621-1646.

NETHERLANDS: A. D. 1621-1633.

End of the Twelve Years Truce.

Renewal of war.

Death of Prince Maurice.

Reversion of the sovereignty of the Spanish Provinces to

the king of Spain.

"In 1621, the twelve years' truce being expired, the King of

Spain and the Archdukes offered to renew it, on the condition

that the States would acknowledge their ancient sovereigns,

one of whom, the Archduke Albert, died this year. Even if the

States had been inclined to negotiate, the will of Maurice was

in the ascendant, and the war was renewed. The Dutch, it is

true, were now entirely insulated. James of England was making

overtures to Spain and being cajoled. France, who had wished

to save Barneveldt, was unfriendly in consequence of the

manner in which her intercession had been treated. The Dutch

party which was opposed to Maurice was exasperated, and the

great counsellor was no more there to advise his country in

its emergencies. The safety of Holland lay in the fact that

the wars of religion were being waged on a wider and more

distant field, for a larger stake, and with larger armies. Not

content with murdering Barneveldt, Maurice took care to ruin

his family. But at last, and just before his death in 1625,

Maurice, in the bitterness of disappointment, said, 'As long

as the old rascal was alive, we had counsels and money; now we

can find neither one nor the other.' … The memory of

Barneveldt was avenged, even though his reputation has not

been rehabilitated. Frederic Henry, half-brother of Maurice,

was at once made Captain and Admiral-General of the States,

and soon after Stadtholder. … Very speedily the controversy

which had threatened to tear Holland asunder was silenced by

mutual consent, except in synods and presbyteries. In a few

years, Holland became, as far as the government was concerned,

the most tolerant country in the world, the asylum of those

whom bigotry hunted from their native land. Hence it became

the favourite abode of those wealthy and enterprising Jews,

who greatly increased its wealth by aiding its external and

internal commerce."

_J. E. T. Rogers,

Story of Holland,

chapter 26._

"Marquis Spinola commenced the campaign by the siege of.

Bergen-op-Zoom, with a considerable Spanish army, in 1622, but

Maurice was enabled to meet him with the united forces of

Mansfeld, Brunswick [see GERMANY: A. D. 1621-1623], and his

own, and obliged the Marquis to raise the siege. He afterwards

encountered Don Gonsalvo de Cordova, who endeavoured to stay

their passage into Germany with a Spanish force near Fleurus;

but he also was defeated. After this, however, Prince Maurice

could effect nothing considerable, but maintained his ground

solely by acting on the defensive during the entire year 1623.

… He could not prevent the capture [by Spinola] of Breda,

one of the strongest fortifications of the Low Countries. …

The mortification at being unable to relieve this place during

a long blockade of six months preyed upon the mind of Prince

Maurice, whose health had already begun to give way. … An

access of fever obliged him to quit the field and withdraw to

the Hague, where he died in 1625, at the age of 58 years."

_Sir E. Cust,

Lives of the Warriors of the Thirty Years' War:

Maurice of Orange-Nassau,

page 47._

{2279}

The new Stadtholder, Prince Frederic Henry, made every effort

to raise the siege of Breda, but without success, and the

place was surrendered (June 2, 1625) to the Spaniards. In the

next year little was accomplished on either side; but in 1627

the Prince took Grol, after a siege of less than one month. In

1628 the Dutch Admiral Piet Heyn captured one of the Spanish

silver-fleets, with a cargo, largely pure silver, valued at

12,000,000 florins. In 1629 the king of Spain and the

Archduchess made overtures of peace, with offers of a renewed

truce for 24 years. "But no sooner did the negotiations become

public than they encountered general and violent opposition,"

especially from the West India Company, which found the war

profitable, and from the ministers of the church. At the same

time the operations of the war assumed more activity. The

Prince laid siege to Bois-le-Duc, a Brabant town deemed

impregnable, and the Spaniards, to draw him away, invaded

Guelderland, and captured Amersfoort, near Utrecht. They laid

waste the country, and were compelled to retire, without

interrupting the siege of Bois-le-Duc, which presently was

surrendered. In 1631 the Prince undertook the siege of

Dunkirk, which had long been a rendezvous of pirates,

troublesome to the commerce of all the surrounding nations;

but on the approach of a Spanish relieving force, the deputies

of the States, who had authority over the commander, required

him to relinquish the undertaking. In 1632, the Prince

achieved a great success, in the siege and reduction of

Maestricht, which he accomplished, notwithstanding his lines

were attacked by a Spanish army of 24,000 men, and by an army

from Germany, under the Imperial general Pappenheim, who

brought 16,000 men to assist in raising the siege. In the face

of these two armies, Maestricht was forced to capitulate, and

the fall of Limburg followed. Peace negotiations were reopened

the same year, but came to nothing, and they were followed

shortly by the death of the Archduchess Isabella. "At her

death, the Netherlands, in pursuance of the terms of the

surrender made by Philip II., reverted to the King of Spain,

who placed the government, after it had been administered a

short time by a commission, in the hands of the Marquis of

Aitona, commander-in-chief of the army, until the arrival of

his brother Ferdinand, cardinal and archbishop of Toledo

[known as 'the Cardinal Infant'], whom he had, during the

lifetime of the Archduchess, appointed her successor."

_C. M. Davies,

History of Holland,

part 3, chapter 6 (volume 2)._

ALSO IN:

_C. R. Markham,

The Fighting Veres,

part 2, chapter 4._

NETHERLANDS: (United Provinces): A. D. 1623.

The massacre of Amboyna.

See INDIA: A. D. 1600-1702.

NETHERLANDS: (United Provinces): A. D. 1624-1661.

Conquests in Brazil and their loss.

See BRAZIL: A. D. 1510-1661.

NETHERLANDS: A. D. 1625.

The Protestant alliance in the Thirty Years War.

See GERMANY: A. D. 1624-1626.

NETHERLANDS: (United Provinces): A. D. 1635.

Alliance with France against Spain and Austria.

See GERMANY: A. D. 1634-1639.

NETHERLANDS: A. D. 1635-1638.

The Cardinal Infant in the government

of the Spanish Provinces.

His campaigns against the Dutch and French.

Invasion of France.

Dutch capture of Breda.

In 1635, the Archduchess Isabella having recently died, it was

thought expedient in Spain "that a member of the royal family

should be intrusted with the administration of the Netherlands

[Spanish Provinces]. This appointment was accordingly

conferred on the Cardinal Infant [Ferdinand, son of Philip

III.], who was at that time in Italy, where he had collected a

considerable army. With this force, amounting to about 12,000

men, he had passed in the preceding year through Germany, on

his route to the Netherlands, and, having formed a junction

with the Imperialists, under the King of Hungary, he greatly

contributed to the victory gained over the Swedes and German

Protestants, at Nordlingen. …

See GERMANY: A. D. 1634-1639.

The Cardinal Infant entered on the civil and military

government of the Spanish Netherlands nearly at the time when

the seizure of the Elector of Treves had called forth from

France an open declaration of war. By uniting the newly raised

troops which he had brought with him from Italy to the veteran

legions of the provinces, he found himself at the head of a

considerable military force. At the same time, an army of

20,000 French was assembled under the inspection of their king

at Amiens, and was intrusted to Chatillon, and Mareschal Brezé

the brother-in-law of Richelieu. … It was intended, however,

that this army should form a junction with the Dutch at

Maestricht, after which the troops of both nations should be

placed under the orders of Frederic Henry, Prince of Orange,

who had inherited all the military talents of his ancestors.

In order to counteract this movement, the Cardinal Infant

separated his army into two divisions. One was ordered to

confront the Dutch, and the other, under Prince Thomas of

Savoy, marched to oppose the progress of the French. This

latter division of the Spaniards encountered the enemy at

Avein, in the territory of Liege; but though it had taken up a

favourable position, it was totally defeated, and forced to

retreat to Namur. The French army then continued its march

with little farther interruption, and effected its intended

union with the Dutch in the neighbourhood of Maestricht. After

this junction, the Prince of Orange assumed the command of the

allied army, which now stormed and sacked Tillemont, where

great cruelties were committed. … The union of the two

armies spread terror throughout the Spanish Netherlands, and

the outrages practised at Tillemont gave the Catholics a

horror at the French name and alliance. … The Flemings,

forgetting their late discontents with the Spanish government,

now made the utmost efforts against their invaders. … The

Spanish prince … contrived to elude a general engagement.

… His opponents … were obliged to employ their arms in

besieging towns. It was believed for some time that they

intended to invest Brussels, but the storm fell on Louvain."

The Emperor now sent from Germany a force of 18,000 men, under

Piccolomini, "to the succour of the Cardinal Infant.

{2280}

The slowness of all the operations of the Prince of Orange

afforded sufficient time for these auxiliaries to cut off the

French supplies of provisions, and advance to the relief of

Louvain. On the intelligence of their approach, the

half-famished French abandoned the siege, and, after suffering

severely in their retreat, retired to recruit at Ruremonde.

The Dutch afforded them no assistance, and showed them but

little sympathy in their disasters. Though the Dutch hated

Spain, they were jealous of France, and dreaded an increase of

its power in the Netherlands. … Mareschals Chatillon and

Brezé, who were thus in a great measure the victims of the

policy of their allies, were under the necessity of leading

back beyond the Meuse, to Nimeguen, the wretched remains of

their army, now reduced to 9,000 men. … After the departure

of the French, the exertions of the Prince of Orange were

limited, during this season, to an attempt for the recovery of

the strong fortress of Skink, which had recently been reduced

by the Spaniards. The Cardinal Infant, availing himself of the

opportunity thus presented to him, quickly regained, by aid of

the Austrian reinforcements, his superiority in the field. He

took several fortresses from the Dutch, and sent to the

frontiers of France detachments which levied contributions

over great part of Picardy and Champagne. … Encouraged by

these successes, Olivarez [the Spanish minister] redoubled his

exertions, and now boldly planned invasions of France from

three different quarters"—to enter Picardy on the north,

Burgundy on the east, and Guienne at the south. "Of all these

expeditions, the most successful, at least for a time, was the

invasion of Picardy, which, indeed, had nearly proved fatal to

the French monarchy. By orders of the Cardinal Infant, his

generals, Prince Thomas of Savoy, Piccolomini, and John de

Vert, or Wert, … began their march at the head of an army

which exceeded 30,000 men, and was particularly strong in

cavalry. … No interruption being … offered by the Dutch,

the Spanish generals entered Picardy [1636], and seized almost

without resistance on La Capelle and Catelet, which the French

ministry expected would have occupied their arms for some

months. The Count de Soissons, who was already thinking more

of his plots against Richelieu than the defence of his

country, did nothing to arrest the progress of the Spaniards,

till they arrived at the Somme," and there but little. They

forced the passage of the river with slight difficulty, and

"occupied Roye, to the south of the Somme, on the river Oise;

and having thus obtained an entrance into France, spread

themselves over the whole country lying between these rivers.

The smoke of the villages to which they set fire was seen from

the heights in the vicinity of Paris; and such in that capital

was the consternation consequent on these events that it seems

probable, had the Spanish generals marched straight on Paris,

the city would have fallen into their hands." But Prince

Thomas was not bold enough for the exploit, and prudently

"receded with his army to form the siege of Corbie. This town

presented no great resistance to his arms, but the time

occupied by its capture allowed the Parisians to recover from

their consternation, and to prepare the means of defence."

They raised an army of 60,000 men, chiefly apprentices and

artisans of the capital, before which Prince Thomas was

obliged to retreat. "The French quickly recovered all those

fortified places in Picardy which had been previously lost by

the incapacity, or, as Richelieu alleged, by the treachery of

their governors. But they could not prevent the Spaniards from

plundering and desolating the country as they retired. … The

Cardinal Infant was obliged to remain on the defensive for

some time after his retreat from Picardy to the Netherlands,

which were anew invaded by a French force, under the Cardinal

La Valette, a younger son of the Duke d'Epernon. But even

while restricting his operations to defence, the Infant could

not prevent the capture by the French of Ivry and Landreci in

Hainault. While opposing the enemy in that quarter, he

received intelligence of an unexpected attempt on Breda by the

Dutch [1637]. He immediately hastened to its relief; but the

Prince of Orange having rapidly collected 6,000 or 7,000

peasants, whom he had employed in forming intrenchments and

drawing lines of circumvallation, was so well fortified on the

arrival of the Cardinal Infant, who had crossed the Scheldt at

Antwerp, and approached with not fewer than 25,000 men, that

that Prince, in despair of forcing the enemy's camp, or in any

way succouring Breda, marched towards Guelderland. In that

province he took Venlo and Ruremonde; but Breda, as he had

anticipated, surrendered to the Dutch after a siege of nine

weeks. … Its capture greatly relieved the Dutch in Brabant,

who now, for many years, had been checked by an enemy in the

heart of their territories. … Early in the year 1638, the

Infant resumed offensive operations, and again rendered

himself formidable to his enemies. He frustrated the attempts

which the Dutch had concerted against Antwerp. … In person

he beat off the army of the Prince of Orange, who had invested

Gueldres; and, about the same time, his active generals;

Prince Thomas of Savoy and Piccolomini, compelled the French

to raise the siege of St. Omer."

_J. Dunlop,

Memoirs of Spain from 1621 to 1700,

volume 1, chapter 4._

NETHERLANDS: A. D. 1643.

Invasion of France by the Spaniards and their defeat at Rocroi.

Loss of Thionville and the line of the Moselle.

See FRANCE: A. D. 1642-1643; and 1643.

NETHERLANDS: A. D. 1645-1646.

French campaign in Flanders, under Orleans and Enghien (Conde).

Siege and capture of Dunkirk.

"In 1645, Orleans led the [French] army into Flanders, and

began the campaign with the capture of Mardyck. A few weeks of

leisurely siege resulted in the conquest of some towns, and by

the first of September Gaston sought rest at the Court. As it

was now well towards the end of the season, the Hollanders

were at last ready to cooperate, and they joined the French

under Gassion and Rantzau. But the allied armies did little

except march and countermarch, and at the end of the year the

Spaniards surprised the French garrison at Mardyck and retook

the only place of importance they had lost. … Gaston was,

however, well content even with the moderate glory of such

warfare. In 1646 he commanded an army of 35,000 men, one

portion of which was led by Enghien himself. The Hollanders

were under arms unusually early, but they atoned for this by

accomplishing nothing. The French laid siege to Courtrai,

which in due time surrendered, and they then spent three weeks

in a vigorous siege of Mardyck.

{2281}

This place was finally captured for the second time in

fourteen months. It was now late in August, and Orleans was

ready to rest from a campaign which had lasted three months.

… By the departure of Gaston the Duke of Enghien was left

free to attempt some important movement, and his thoughts

turned upon the capture of the city of Dunkirk. Dunkirk was

situated on the shore of the North Sea, in a position that

made it alike important and formidable to commerce. … Its

harbor leading to a canal in the city where a fleet might

safely enter, and its position near the shores of France and

the British Channel, had rendered it a frequent retreat for

pirates. The cruisers that captured the ships of the merchants

of Havre and Dieppe, or made plundering expeditions along the

shores of Picardy and Normandy, found safe refuge in the

harbor of Dunkirk. Its name was odious through northern

France, alike to the shipper and the resident of the towns

along the coast. The ravages of the pirates of Dunkirk are

said to have cost France as much as a million a year. … The

position of Dunkirk was such that it seemed to defy attack,

and the strangeness and wildness of its approaches added

terror to its name. It was surrounded by vast plains of sand,

far over which often spread the waters of the North Sea, and

its name was said to signify the church of the dunes. Upon

them the fury of the storms often worked strange changes. What

had seemed solid land would be swallowed up in some tempest.

What had been part of the ocean would be left so that men and

wagons could pass over what the day before had been as

inaccessible as the Straits of Dover. An army attempting a

siege would find itself on these wild dunes far removed from

any places for supplies, and exposed to the utmost severity of

storm and weather. Tents could hardly be pitched, and the

changing sands would threaten the troops with destruction. The

city was, moreover, garrisoned by 3,000 soldiers, and by 3,000

of the citizens and 2,000 sailors. … The ardor of Enghien

was increased by these difficulties, and he believed that with

skill and vigor the perils of a siege could be overcome. This

plan met the warm approval of Mazarin. … Enghien advanced

with his army of about 15,000 men, and on the 10th of

September the siege began. It was necessary to prevent

supplies being received by sea. Tromp, excited to hearty

admiration of the genius of the young general, sailed with ten

ships into the harbor, and cut off communications. Enghien, in

the meantime, was pressing the circumvallation of the city

with the utmost vigor. … Half fed, wet, sleepless, the men

worked on, inspired by the zeal of their leader. Piccolomini

attempted to relieve the city, but he could not force

Enghien's entrenchments, except by risking a pitched battle,

and that he did not dare to venture. Mines were now carried

under the city by the besiegers, and a great explosion made a

breach in the wall. The French and Spanish met, but the smoke

and confusion were so terrible that both sides at last fell

back in disorder. The French finally discovered that the

advantage was really theirs, and held the position. Nothing

now remained but a final and bloody assault, but Leyde did not

think that honor required him to await this. He agreed that if

he did not receive succor by the 10th of October, the city

should be surrendered. Piccolomini dared not risk the last

army in Flanders in an assault on Enghien's entrenchments,

and, on October 11th, the Spanish troops evacuated the town. A

siege of three weeks had conquered obstacles of man and

nature, and destroyed the scourge of French commerce."

_J. B. Perkins,

France under [Richelieu and] Mazarin,

chapter 8 (volume 1)._

ALSO IN:

_Lord Mahon,

Life of Condé,

chapter 2._

NETHERLANDS: A. D. 1646-1648.

Final Negotiation of Peace between Spain and the

United Provinces.

"The late campaign had been so unfortunate [to the Spaniards]

that they felt their only possibility of obtaining reasonable

terms, or of continuing the war with the hope of a change in

fortune, was to break the alliance between Holland and

France. A long debt of gratitude, assistance rendered in the

struggle with Spain when assistance was valuable, the treaty

of 1635 renewed in 1644, forbade Holland making a peace,

except jointly with France. On the other hand, the

States-General were weary of war, and jealous of the power and

ambition of the French. … This disposition was skilfully

fostered by the Spanish envoys. Pau and Knuyt,

plenipotentiaries from Holland to the Congress at Münster

[where, in part, the negotiations of the Peace of Westphalia

were in progress—see GERMANY: A. D. 1648], were gained to the

Spanish interest, as Mazarin claimed, by the promise to each

of 100,000 crowns. But, apart from bribes, the Spanish used

Mazarin's own plans to alarm the Hollanders. … It was

intimated to the Hollanders that France was about to make a

separate peace, that the Spanish Netherlands were to be given

her, and that perhaps with the hand of the infanta might be

transferred what claims Spain still made on the allegiance of

the United Provinces. The French protested in vain they had

never thought of making any treaty unless Holland joined, and

that the proposed marriage of Louis with the infanta had been

idle talk, suggested by the Spanish for the purpose of

alarming the States-General. The Hollanders were suspicious,

and they became still more eager for peace. … In the spring

of 1646, seventy-one proposed articles had been submitted to

the Spanish for their consideration. The French made repeated

protests against these steps, but the States-General insisted

that they were only acting with such celerity as should enable

them to have the terms of their treaty adjusted as soon as

those of the French. The successes of 1646 and the capture of

Dunkirk quickened the desires of the United Provinces for a

treaty with their ancient enemy. … In December, 1646,

articles were signed between Spain and Holland, to be inserted

in the treaty of Münster, when that should be settled upon,

though the States-General still declared that no peace should

be made unless the terms were approved by France. Active

hostilities were again commenced in 1647, but little progress

was made in Flanders during this campaign. Though the

Hollanders had not actually made peace with Spain, they gave

the French no aid. … On January 30, 1648, the treaty was at

last signed. 'One would think,' wrote Mazarin, 'that for

eighty years France had been warring with the provinces, and

Spain had been protecting them. They have stained their

reputation with a shameful blemish.'

{2282}

It was eighty years since William of Orange had issued his

proclamation inviting all the Netherlands to take up arms 'to

oppose the violent tyranny of the Spaniards.' Unlike the truce

of 1609, a formal and final peace was now made. The United

Provinces were acknowledged as free and sovereign states. At

the time of the truce the Spaniards had only treated with them

'in quality of, and as holding them for independent

provinces.' By a provision which had increased the eagerness

for peace of the burghers and merchants of the United

Provinces, it was agreed that the Escaut [Scheldt] should be

closed. The wealth and commerce of Antwerp were thus

sacrificed for the benefit of Amsterdam. The trade with the

Indies was divided between the two countries. Numerous

commercial advantages were secured and certain additional

territory was ceded to the States-General."

_J. B. Perkins,

France under [Richelieu and] Mazarin,

chapter 8 (volume 1)._

"It had … become a settled conviction of Holland that a

barrier of Spanish territory between the United Provinces and

France was necessary as a safeguard against the latter. But

the idea of fighting to maintain that barrier had not yet

arisen, though fighting was the outcome of the doctrine. All

that the United Provinces now did, or could do, was simply to

back out of the war with Spain, sit still, and look passively

upon the conflict between her and France for possession of the

barrier, until it should please the two belligerents to make

peace."

_J. Geddes,

History of the Administration of John De Witt,

book 2, chapter 1, section 1 (volume 1)._

NETHERLANDS: (Spanish Provinces): A. D. 1647-1648.

The Spanish war with France.

Siege and Battle of Lens.

"While Condé was at the head of the army of the Netherlands,

it at least suffered no disaster; but, while he was affording

the enemy a triumph in Spain [by his failure at Lerida,—the

army which he left behind him was equally unfortunate].

See SPAIN: A. D. 1644-1646.

As he had taken some regiments with him to Spain, it did not

exceed 16,000 men; and in 1647 was commanded by the two

marshals, Gassion and Rantzau," who exercised the command on

alternate days. Both were brave and skilful officers, but they

were hostile to one another, and Rantzau was, unfortunately, a

drunkard. "The Spanish army had been raised to 22,000 men, and

besides being superior in numbers to them, was now under the

command of a singularly active leader, the Archduke Leopold.

He took town after town before their face; and towards the end

of June laid siege to Landrecies. The danger of so important a

place stimulated Mazarin to send some strong battalions,

including the royal guards, to reinforce the army: and the two

marshals made skilful dispositions to surprise the Spanish

camp. By a night march of great rapidity, they reached the

neighbourhood of the enemy without their presence being

suspected; but the next morning, when the attack was to be

made, it was Rantzau's turn to command; and he was too

helplessly drunk to give the necessary orders. Before he had

recovered his consciousness daylight had revealed his danger

to the archduke, and he had taken up a position in which he

could give battle with advantage. Greatly mortified, the

French were forced to draw off, and leave Landrecies to its

fate. As some apparent set-off to their losses, they succeeded

in taking Dixmude, and one or two other unimportant towns, and

were besieging Lens, when Gassion was killed; and though, a

few days afterwards, that town was taken, its capture made but

small amends. … Though the war was almost at an end in

Germany, Turenne was still in that country; and, therefore,

the next year there was no one who could be sent to replace

Gassion but Condé and Grammont, who fortunately for the

prince, was his almost inseparable comrade and adviser. …

Though 16,000 men had been thought enough for Gassion and

Rantzau, 30,000 were now collected to enable Condé to make a

more successful campaign. The archduke had received no

reinforcements, and had now only 18,000 men to make head

against him; yet with this greatly inferior force he, for a

while, balanced Condé's successes; losing Ypres, it is true,

but taking Courtrai and Furnes, and defeating and almost

annihilating a division with which the prince had detached

Rantzau to make an attempt upon Ostend. At last, in the middle

of August, he laid siege to Lens, the capture of which had, as

we have already mentioned, been the last exploit of the French

army in the preceding campaign, and which was now retaken

without the garrison making the slightest effort at

resistance. But, just as the first intelligence of his having

sat down before it reached Condé, he was joined by the Count

d'Erlach with a reinforcement of 5,000 men from the German

army; and he resolved to march against the archduke in the

hope of saving" the place. "He arrived in sight of the town on

the 20th of August, a few hours after it had surrendered; and

he found the archduke's victorious army in a position which,

eager as he was for battle, he could not venture to attack.

For Leopold had 18,000 men under arms, and the force that

Condé had been able to bring with him did not exceed 14,000,

with 18 guns. For the first time in his life he decided on

retreating;" but early in the retreat his army was thrown into

disorder by an attack from the archduke's cavalry, commanded

by General Beck. "All was nearly lost, when Grammont turned

the fortune of the day. He was in the van, but the moment that

he learnt what was taking place behind him, he halted the

advanced guard, and leading it back towards the now triumphant

enemy, gave time for those regiments which had been driven in

to rally behind the firm line which he presented. … It soon

came to be a contest of hard fighting, unvaried by manœuvres

on either side; and in hard fighting no troops could stand

before those who might be lead by Condé. … At last victory

declared for him in every part of his line. He had sustained a

heavy loss himself, but less than that of the enemy, who left

3,000 of their number slain upon the field; while 5,000

prisoners, among whom was Beck himself, struck down by a

mortal wound, and nearly all their artillery and baggage,

attested the reality and greatness of his triumph."

_C. D. Yonge,

History of France under the Bourbons,

chapter 10 (volume 2)._

ALSO IN:

_Sir E. Cust,

Lives of the Warriors of the Civil Wars,

part 1, pages 149-152._

{2283}

NETHERLANDS: A. D. 1647-1650.

Suspension of the Stadtholdership.

Supremacy of the States of Holland.

The fourth stadtholder, William II., who succeeded his father,

Frederick Henry, in 1647, "was young and enterprising, and not at

all disposed to follow the pacific example of his father. …

His attempt at a coup d'état only prepared the way for an

interregnum. … He was brother-in-law to the Elector of

Brandenburg … and son-in-law to Charles I. of England and

Henrietta Maria, the sister of Louis XIII. … The proud

descendant of the Stuarts, the Princess Mary, who had been

married to him when hardly more than a child, thought it

beneath her not to be the wife of a sovereign, and encouraged

her husband not to be satisfied to remain merely 'the official

of a republic.' Thus encouraged, the son of Frederick Henry

cherished the secret purpose of transforming the elective

stadtholdership into an hereditary monarchy. … He needed

supreme authority to enable him to render assistance to

Charles I. … Finding in the opposition of the States an

insurmountable obstacle to his wish of intervention, he sought

the support of France, … and was now ready to come to an

understanding with Mazarin to break the treaty of Munster and

wrest the Netherlands from Spain. Mazarin promised in return

to help him to assert his authority over the States. … But

if William desired war, the United Provinces, and in

particular the province of Holland, could not dispense with

peace. … The States of Holland … fixed the period for the

disbanding of the twenty-nine companies whose dismissal had

been promised to them. After twelve days of useless

deliberations they issued definite orders to that effect. The

step had been provoked, but it was precipitate and might give

rise to a legal contest as to their competency. The Prince of

Orange, therefore, eager to hasten a struggle from which he

expected an easy victory, chose to consider the resolution of

the States of Holland as a signal for the rupture of the

Union, and the very next day solemnly demanded reparation from

the States-General, who in their turn issued a counter order.

The Prince made skilful use of the rivalry of power between

the two assemblies to obtain for himself extraordinary powers

which were contrary to the laws of the Confederation. By the

terms of the resolution, which was passed by only four

provinces, of which two were represented by but one deputy

each, he was authorised to take all measures necessary for the

maintenance of order and peace, and particularly for the

preservation of the Union. 'The States-General consequently

commissioned him to visit the town councils of Holland,

accompanied by six members of the States-General and of the

Council of State, with all the pomp of a military escort,

including a large number of officers. He was charged to

address them with remonstrances and threats intended to

intimidate the provincial States.' This was the first act of

the coup d'état that he had prepared, and his mistake was

quickly shown him." The Prince gained nothing by his

visitation of the towns. At Amsterdam he was not permitted to

enter the place with his following, and he returned to the

Hague especially enraged against that bold and independent

city. He planned an expedition to take it by surprise; but the

citizens got timely warning and his scheme was baffled. He had

succeeded, however, in arresting and imprisoning six of the

most influential deputies of the Assembly of Holland, and his

attitude was formidable enough to extort some concessions from

the popular party, by way of compromise. A state of suspicious

quiet was restored for the time, which William improved by

renewing negotiations for a secret treaty with France.

"Arrogating to himself already the right to dispose as he

pleased of the republic, he signed a convention with Count

d'Estrades, whom he had summoned to the Hague. By this the

King of France and the Prince of Orange engaged themselves 'to

attack conjointly the Netherlands on May 1, 1651, with an army

of 20,000 foot and 10,000 horse, to break at the same time

with Cromwell, to re-establish Charles II. as King of England,

and to make no treaty with Spain excepting in concert with

each other.' The Prince of Orange guaranteed a fleet of 50

vessels besides the land contingent, and in return for his

co-operation was promised the absolute possession of the city

of Antwerp and the Duchy of Brabant or Marquisate of the Holy

Roman Empire. William thus interested France in the success of

his cause by making ready to resume the war with Spain, and

calculated, as he told his confidants, on profiting by her

assistance to disperse the cabal opposed to him. … The

internal pacification amounted then to no more than a truce,

when three months later the Prince of Orange, having

over-fatigued and heated himself in the chase, was seized with

small-pox, of which in a few days he died. He was thus carried

off at the age of 24, in the full force and flower of his age,

leaving only one son, born a week after his father's death.

… His attempt at a coup d'état was destined to press heavily

and long upon the fate of the posthumous son, who had to wait

22 years before succeeding to his ancestral functions. It

closed the succession to him for many years, by making the

stadtholdership a standing menace to the public freedom. …

The son of William II., an orphan before his birth, and named

William like his father, seemed destined to succeed to little

more than the paternal name. … Three days after the death of

William II., the former deputies, whom he had treated as state

prisoners and deprived of all their offices, were recalled to

take their seats in the Assembly. At the same time the

provincial Town Councils assumed the power of nominating their

own magistrates, which had almost always been left to the

pleasure of the Stadtholder, and thus obtained the full

enjoyment of municipal freedom. The States of Holland, on

their side, grasped the authority hitherto exercised in their

province by the Prince of Orange, and claimed successively all

the rights of sovereignty. The States of Zealand … exhibited

the same eagerness to free themselves from all subjection. …

Thus, before declaring the stadtholdership vacant, the office

was deprived of its prerogatives. To complete this

transformation of the government, the States of Holland took

the initiative in summoning to the Hague a great assembly of

the Confederation, which met at the beginning of the year

1651. … The congress was called upon to decide between two

forms of constitution. The question was whether the United

Provinces should be a republic governed by the States-General,

or whether the government should belong to the States of each

province, with only a reservation in favour of the obligations

imposed by the Act of Union. Was each province to be sovereign

in itself, or subject to the federal power?" The result was a

suspension and practical abolition of the stadtholdership.

"Freed from the counterbalancing power of the Stadtholder,

Holland to a great extent absorbed the federal power, and was

the gainer by all that that power lost. …

{2284}

The States of Holland, … destined henceforward to be the

principal instrument of government of the republic, was

composed partly of nobles and partly of deputies from the

towns. … The Grand Pensionary was the minister of the States

of Holland. He was appointed for five years, and represented

them in the States-General. … Called upon by the vacancy in

the stadtholdership to the government of the United Provinces,

without any legal power of enforcing obedience, Holland

required a statesman who could secure this political supremacy

and use it for her benefit. The nomination of John de Witt as

Grand Pensionary placed at her service one of the youngest

members of the assembly."

_A. L. Pontalis,

John de Witt,

chapters 1-2 (volume 1)._

NETHERLANDS: (Spanish Provinces): A. D. 1648.

Still held to form a part of the Empire.

See GERMANY: A. D. 1648.

NETHERLANDS: (United Provinces): A. D. 1648-1665.

Prosperity and pre-eminence of the Dutch Republic.

The causes.

"That this little patch of earth, a bog rescued from the

waters, warred on ever by man and by the elements, without

natural advantages except those of contact with the sea,

should in the middle of the seventeenth century have become

the commercial centre of Europe, is one of the phenomena of

history. But in the explanation of this phenomenon history has

one of its most instructive lessons. Philip II. said of

Holland, 'that it was the country nearest to hell.' Well might

he express such an opinion. He had buried around the walls of

its cities more than three hundred thousand Spanish soldiers,

and had spent in the attempt at its subjugation more than two

hundred million ducats. This fact alone would account for his

abhorrence, but, in addition, the republic was in its every

feature opposed to the ideal country of a bigot and a despot.

The first element which contributed to its wealth, as well as

to the vast increase of its population, was its religious

toleration. … This, of course, was as incomprehensible to a

Spanish Catholic as it was to a High-Churchman or to a

Presbyterian in England. That Lutherans, Calvinists,

Anabaptists, Jews, and Catholics should all be permitted to

live under the same government seemed to the rest of Europe

like flying in the face of Providence. Critics at this time

occasionally said that the Hollanders cared nothing for

religion; that with them theology was of less account than

commerce. To taunts like these no reply was needed by men who

could point to their record of eighty years of war. This war

had been fought for liberty of conscience, but more than all,

as the greater includes the less, for civil liberty. During

its continuance, and at every crisis, Catholics had stood side

by side with Protestants to defend their country, as they had

done in England when the Spanish Armada appeared upon her

coast. It would have been a strange reward for their fidelity

to subject them, as Elizabeth did, to a relentless

persecution, upon the pretext that they were dangerous to the

State. In addition to the toleration, there were other causes

leading to the marvellous prosperity of the republic, which

are of particular interest to Americans. In 1659, Samuel Lamb,

a prominent and far-seeing London merchant, published a

pamphlet, in the form of a letter to Cromwell, urging the

establishment of a bank in England similar to the one at

Amsterdam. In this pamphlet, which Lord Somers thought worthy

of preservation, the author gives the reasons, as they

occurred to him, which accounted for the vast superiority of

Holland over the rest of Europe as a commercial nation. … As

the foundation of a bank for England was the subject of the

letter, the author naturally lays particular stress upon that

factor, but the other causes which he enumerates as explaining

the great trade of the republic are the following: First. The

statesmen sitting at the helm in Holland are many of them

merchants, bred to trade from their youth, improved by foreign

travel, and acquainted with all the necessities of commerce.

Hence, their laws and treaties are framed with wisdom. Second.

In Holland when a merchant dies, his property is equally

divided among his children, and the business is continued and

expanded, with all its traditions and inherited experience. In

England, on the contrary, the property goes to the eldest son,

who often sets up for a country gentleman, squanders his

patrimony, and neglects the business by which his father had

become enriched. Third. The honesty of the Hollanders in their

manufacturing and commercial dealings. When goods are made up

in Holland, they sell everywhere without question, for the

purchaser knows that they are exactly as represented in

quality, weight, and measure. Not so with England's goods. Our

manufacturers are so given to fraud and adulteration as to

bring their commodities into disgrace abroad. 'And so the

Dutch have the pre-eminence in the sale of their manufactures

before us, by their true making, to their very files and

needles.' Fourth. The care and vigilance of the government in

the laying of impositions so as to encourage their own

manufactures; the skill and rapidity with which they are

changed to meet the shifting wants of trade; the encouragement

given by ample rewards from the public treasury for useful

inventions and improvements; and the promotion of men to

office for services and not for favor or sinister ends. Such

were the causes of the commercial supremacy of the Dutch as

they appeared to an English merchant of the time, and all

modern investigations support his view. … Sir Joshua

[Josiah] Child, writing a few years later ['A New Discourse of

Trade, page 2, and after—1665], gives a fuller explanation of

the great prosperity of the Netherland Republic. He evidently

had Lamb's pamphlet before him, for he enumerates all the

causes set forth by his predecessor. In addition, he gives

several others, as to some of which we shall see more

hereafter. Among these are the general education of the

people, including the women, religious toleration, care of the

poor, low custom duties and high excise, registration of

titles to real estate, low interest, the laws permitting the

assignment of debts, and the judicial system under which

controversies between merchants can be decided at one fortieth

part of the expense in England. … Probably, no body of men

governing a state were ever more enlightened and better

acquainted with the necessities of legislation than were these

burghers, merchants, and manufacturers who for two centuries

gave laws to Holland. It was largely due to the intelligence

displayed by these men that the republic, during the

continuance of its war, was enabled to support a burden of

taxation such as the world has rarely seen before or since.

{2285}

The internal taxes seem appalling. Rents were taxed

twenty-five per cent.; on all sales of real estate two and a

half per cent. were levied, and on all collateral inheritances

five per cent. On beer, wine, meat, salt, spirits, and all

articles of luxury, the tax was one hundred per cent., and on

some articles this was doubled. But this was only the internal

taxation, in the way of excise duties, which were levied on

everyone, natives and foreigners alike. In regard to foreign

commodities, which the republic needed for its support, the

system was very different. Upon them there was imposed only a

nominal duty of one per cent., while wool, the great staple

for the manufacturers, was admitted free. Here the statesmen

of the republic showed the wisdom which placed them, as

masters of political economy, at least two centuries in

advance of their contemporaries."

_D. Campbell,

The Puritan in Holland, England, and America,

volume 2, pages 324-331._

ALSO IN:

_W. T. McCullagh,

Industrial History of Free Nations,

volume 2: The Dutch, chapter 12._

NETHERLANDS: (The United Provinces): A. D. 1651-1660.

The rule of Holland, and her Grand Pensionary, John de Witt.

"The Republic had shaken off the domination of a person; it

now fell under the domination of a single province. Holland

was overwhelmingly preponderant in the federation. She

possessed the richest, most populous, and most powerful towns.

She contributed more than one-half of the whole federal

taxation. She had the right of naming the ambassadors at

Paris, Stockholm, and Vienna. The fact that the States General

met on her territory—at the Hague—necessarily gave her

additional influence and prestige. … With the Stadtholder's

power that of the States General also, as representing the

idea of centralisation, had largely disappeared. The

Provincial Estates of Holland, therefore, under the title of

'Their High Mightinesses,' became the principal power—to

such an extent, indeed, that the term 'Holland' had by the

time of the Restoration [the English Restoration, A. D. 1660]

become synonymous among foreign powers with the whole

Republic. Their chief minister was called 'The Grand

Pensionary,' and the office had been since 1653 filled by one

of the most remarkable men of the time, John de Witt. John de

Witt therefore represented, roughly speaking, the power of the

merchant aristocracy of Holland, as opposed to the claims of

the House of Orange, which were supported by the 'noblesse,'

the army, the Calvinistic clergy, and the people below the

governing class. Abroad the Orange family had the sympathy of

monarchical Governments. Louis XIV. despised the Government of

'Messieurs les Marchands,' while Charles II., at once the

uncle and the guardian of the young Prince of the house of

Orange, the future William III. of England, and mindful of

the scant courtesy which, to satisfy Cromwell, the Dutch had

shown him in exile, was ever their bitter and unscrupulous

foe. The empire of the Dutch Republic was purely commercial

and colonial, and she held in this respect the same position

relatively to the rest of Europe that England holds at the

present day."

_O. Airy,

The English Restoration and Louis XIV.,

chapter 9._

ALSO IN:

_J. Geddes,

History of the Administration of John de Witt,

volume 1._

NETHERLANDS: (Spanish Provinces): A. D. 1652.

Recovery of Dunkirk and Gravelines.

Invasion of France. See FRANCE: A. D. 1652.

NETHERLANDS: (The United Provinces): A. D. 1652.

First Settlement at the Cape of Good Hope.

See SOUTH AFRICA: A. D. 1486-1806.

NETHERLANDS: (The United Provinces): A. D. 1652-1654.

War with the English Commonwealth.

See ENGLAND: A. D. 1652-1654.

NETHERLANDS: (Spanish Provinces): A. D. 1653-1656.

Campaigns of Condé in the service of Spain against France.

See FRANCE: A. D 1653-1656.

NETHERLANDS: (Spanish Provinces): A. D. 1657-1658.

England in alliance with France in the Franco-Spanish War.

Loss of Dunkirk and Gravelines.

See FRANCE: A. D. 1655-1658.

NETHERLANDS: (Spanish Provinces): A. D. 1659.

Cessions of territory to France by the Treaty of the Pyrenees.

See FRANCE: A. D. 1659-1661.

NETHERLANDS: (Holland): A. D. 1664.

The seizure of New Netherland by the English.

See NEW YORK: A. D. 1664.

NETHERLANDS: (Holland): A. D. 1665-1666.

War with England renewed.

"A formal declaration of war between Holland and England took

place in March, 1665. The English nation, jealous of the

commercial prosperity of Holland, eagerly seconded the views

of the king against that country, and in regard to the war a

remarkable degree of union prevailed throughout Great Britain.

Such, however, was not the case with the Dutch, who were very

much divided in opinion, and had many reasons to be doubtful

of the support of France. One of the grand objects of Charles

II. was undoubtedly … to restore his nephew the Prince of

Orange to all the power which had been held by his ancestors

in the United Provinces. But between Holland and England there

existed, besides numerous other most fertile causes of

discord, unsettled claims, upon distant territories, rival

colonies in remote parts of the world, maritime jealousy and

constant commercial opposition. These were national motives

for hostility, and affected a large body of the Dutch people.

But, on the other hand, considerations of general interest

were set aside by the political factions which divided the

United Provinces, and which may be classed under the names of

the Republican and the Monarchical parties. The Monarchical

party was, of course, that which was attached to the interests

of the House of Orange. … In the end of 1664, 130 Dutch

merchantmen had been captured by England; acts of hostility

had occurred in Guinea, at the Cape de Verd, [in New

Netherland], and in the West Indies: but Louis [XIV. of

France] had continued to avoid taking any active part against

Great Britain, notwithstanding all the representations of De

Witt, who on this occasion saw in France the natural ally of

Holland. On the 13th of June [1665], however, a great naval

engagement took place between the Dutch fleet, commanded by

Opdam and Van Tromp, and the English fleet, commanded by the

Duke of York and Prince Rupert. Opdam was defeated and killed;

Van Tromp saved the remains of his fleet; and on the very same

day a treaty was concluded between Arlington [the English

minister] and an envoy of the Bishop of Munster, by which it

was agreed that the warlike and restless prelate should invade

the United Provinces with an army of 20,000 men, in

consideration of sums of money to be paid by England.

{2286}

This treaty at once called Louis into action, and he notified

to the Bishop of Munster that if he made any hostile movement

against the States of Holland he would find the troops of

France prepared to oppose him. This fact was announced to the

States by D'Estrades on the 22nd of July, together with the

information that the French monarch was about to send to their

assistance a body of troops by the way of Flanders. … Still,

however, Louis hung back in the execution of his purposes,

till the aspect of affairs in the beginning of 1666 forced him

to declare war against England, on the 26th of January in that

year, according to the terms of his treaty with Holland. …

The part that France took in the war was altogether

insignificant, and served but little to free the Dutch from

the danger in which they were placed. That nation itself made

vast efforts to obtain a superiority at sea; and in the

beginning of June, 1666, the Dutch fleet, commanded by De

Ruyter and Van Tromp, encountered the English fleet, under

Monk and Prince Rupert, and a battle which lasted for four

days, with scarcely any intermission, took place. It would

seem that some advantage was gained by the Dutch; but both

fleets were tremendously shattered, and retired to the ports

of their own country to refit. Shortly after, however, they

again encountered, and one of the most tremendous naval

engagements in history took place, in which the Dutch suffered

a complete defeat; 20 of their first-rate men-of-war were

captured or sunk; and three admirals, with 4,000 men, were

killed on the part of the States. The French fleet could not

come up in time to take part in the battle, and all that Louis

did was to furnish De Witt with the means of repairing the

losses of the States as rapidly as possible. The energy of the

grand pensionary himself, however, effected much more than the

slow and unwilling succour of the French king. With almost

superhuman exertion new fleets were made ready and manned,

while the grand pensionary amused the English ministers with

the prospect of a speedy peace on their own terms; and at a

moment when England was least prepared, De Ruyter and

Cornelius de Witt appeared upon the coast, sailed up the

Thames, attacked and took Sheerness, and destroyed a great

number of ships of the line. A multitude of smaller vessels

were burnt; and the consternation was so great throughout

England, that a large quantity of stores and many ships were

sunk and destroyed by order of the British authorities

themselves, while De Ruyter ravaged the whole sea-coast from

the mouth of the Thames to the Land's End. The negotiations

for peace, which had commenced at Breda, were now carried on

upon terms much more advantageous to Holland, and were

speedily concluded; England, notwithstanding the naval glory

she had gained, being fully as much tired of the war as the

States themselves. A general treaty was signed on the 25th of

July."

_G. P. R. James,

Life and Times of Louis XIV.,

volume 2, chapter 6._

"The thunder of the Dutch guns in the Medway and the Thames

woke England to a bitter sense of its degradation. The dream

of loyalty was roughly broken. 'Everybody now-a-days,' Pepys

tells us, 'reflect upon Oliver and commend him: what brave

things he did, and made all the neighbour princes fear him.'

But Oliver's successor was coolly watching this shame and

discontent of his people with the one aim of turning it to his

own advantage."

_J. R. Green,

History of the English People,

book 8, chapter 1 (volume 3)._

ALSO IN:

_C. D. Yonge,

History of the British Navy,

volume 2, chapter 5._

NETHERLANDS: (The Spanish Provinces): A. D. 1667.

The claims and conquests of Louis XIV.

The War of the Queen's Rights.

In 1660 Louis XIV., king of France, was married to the Infanta

of Spain, Maria Theresa, daughter of Philip IV., who solemnly

renounced at the time, for herself and her posterity, all

rights to the Spanish crown. The insincerity and hollowness of

the renunciation was proved terribly at a later time by the

long "war of the Spanish succession." Meantime Louis

discovered other pretended rights in his Spanish wife on which

he might found claims for the satisfaction of his territorial

greed. These rested on the fact that she was born of her

father's first marriage, and that a customary right in certain

provinces of the Spanish Netherlands gave daughters of a first

marriage priority of inheritance over sons of a second

marriage. At the same time, in the laws of Luxembourg and

Franche-Comté, which admitted all children to the partition of

an inheritance, he found pretext for claiming, on behalf of

his wife, one fourth of the former and one third of the

principality last named. Philip IV. of Spain died in

September, 1665, leaving a sickly infant son under the regency

of an incapable and priest-ruled mother, and Louis began

quickly to press his claims. Having made his preparations on a

formidable scale, he sent forth in May, 1667, to all the

courts of Europe, an elaborate "Treatise on the Rights of the

Most Christian Queen over divers States of the monarchy of

Spain," announcing at the same time his intention to make a

"journey" in the Catholic Netherlands—the intended journey

being a ruthless invasion, in fact, with 50,000 men, under the

command of the great marshal-general, Turenne. The army began

its march simultaneously with the announcement of its purpose,

crossing the frontier on the 24th of May. Town after town was

taken, some without resistance and others after a short, sharp

siege, directed by Vauban, the most famous among military

engineers. Charleroi was occupied on the 2d of June; Tournay

surrendered on the 24th; two weeks later Douai fell; Courtrai

endured only four days of siege and Oudenarde but two; Lille

was a more difficult prize and held Turenne and the king

before it for twenty days. "All Walloon Flanders had again

become French at the price of less effort and bloodshed than

it had cost, in the Middle Ages, to force one of its places.

… September 1, the whole French army was found assembled

before the walls of Ghent." But Ghent was not assailed, the

French army being greatly fatigued and much reduced by the

garrisoning of the conquered places. Louis, accordingly,

returned to Saint-Germain, and Turenne, after taking Alost,

went into winter quarters. Before the winter passed great

changes of circumstance had occurred. The Triple Alliance of

England, Holland and Sweden had been formed, Louis had made

his secret treaty at Vienna with the Emperor, for the

partitioning of the Spanish dominions, and his further

"journey" in the Netherlands was postponed.

_H. Martin,

History of France: Age of Louis XIV.

(translated by M. L. Booth),

volume 1, chapter 4._

ALSO IN:

_A. F. Pontalis,

John de Witt,

chapter 7 (volume 1)._

{2287}

NETHERLANDS: (Holland): A. D. 1668.

The Triple Alliance with England and Sweden

against the French king.

"The rapid conquests of the French king in Flanders during the

last summer had drawn the eyes of Europe towards the seat of

war in that country. The pope, Clement IX., through pity for

the young king of Spain, and the States, alarmed at the

approach of the French arms to their frontier, offered their

mediation. To both Louis returned the same answer, that he

sought nothing more than to vindicate the rights of his wife;

that he should be content to retain possession of the

conquests which he had already made, or to exchange them

either for Luxembourg, or Franche-comté, with the addition of

Aire, St. Omer, Donai, Cambrai, and Charleroi, to strengthen

his northern frontier. … But Spain was not sufficiently

humbled to submit to so flagrant an injustice. … If it was

the interest of England, it was still more the interest of the

States, to exclude France from the possession of Flanders.

Under this persuasion, sir William Temple, the resident at

Brussels, received instructions to proceed to the Hague and

sound the disposition of de Witt; and, on his return to

London, was despatched back again to Holland with the proposal

of a defensive alliance, the object of which should be to

compel the French monarch to make peace with Spain on the

terms which he had previously offered. … Temple acted with

promptitude and address: … he represented the danger of

delay; and, contrary to all precedent at the Hague, in the

short space of five days—had the constitutional forms been

observed it would have demanded five weeks—he negotiated

[January, 1668] three treaties which promised to put an end to

the war, or, if they failed in that point, to oppose at least

an effectual barrier to the further progress of the invader.

The first was a defensive alliance by which the two nations

bound themselves to aid each other against any aggressor with

a fleet of forty men of war, and an army of 6,400 men, or with

assistance in money in proportion to the deficiency in men; by

the second, the contracting powers agreed by every means in

their power to dispose France to conclude a peace with Spain

on the alternative already offered, to persuade Spain to

accept one part of that alternative before the end of May,

and, in case of a refusal, to compel her by war, on condition

that France should not interfere by force of arms. These

treaties were meant for the public eye: the third was secret,

and bound both England and the States, in case of the refusal

of Louis, to unite with Spain in the war, and not to lay down

their arms till the peace of the Pyrenees were confirmed. On

the same day the Swedish ambassadors gave a provisional, and

afterwards a positive assent to the league, which from that

circumstance obtained the name of the Triple Alliance. Louis

received the news of this transaction with an air of haughty

indifference. … In consequence of the infirm state of

Charles II. of Spain, he had secretly concluded with the

emperor Leopold an 'eventual' treaty of partition of the

Spanish monarchy on the expected death of that prince, and

thus had already bound himself by treaty to do the very thing

which it was the object of the allied powers to effect. …

The intervention of the emperor, in consequence of the

eventual treaty, put an end to the hesitation of the Spanish

cabinet; the ambassadors of the several powers met at

Aix-la-Chapelle [April-May, 1668]; Spain made her choice; the

conquered towns in Flanders were ceded to Louis, and peace was

re-established between the two crowns. … The States could

ill dissemble their disappointment. They never doubted that

Spain, with the choice in her hands, would preserve Flanders,

and part with Franche-comté. … The result was owing, it is

said, to the resentment of Castel-Rodrigo [the governor of the

Spanish Netherlands], who, finding that the States would not

join with England to confine France within its ancient limits,

resolved to punish them by making a cession, which brought the

French frontier to the very neighbourhood of the Dutch

territory."

_J. Lingard,

History of England,

volume 11, chapter 6._

"Dr. Lingard, who is undoubtedly a very able and well-informed

writer, but whose great fundamental rule of judging seems to

be that the popular opinion on a historical question cannot

possibly be correct, speaks very slightingly of this

celebrated treaty [of the Triple Alliance]. … But grant that

Louis was not really stopped in his progress by this famous

league; still it is certain that the world then, and long

after, believed that he was so stopped; and that this was the

prevailing impression in France as well as in other countries.

Temple, therefore, at the very least, succeeded in raising the

credit of his country, and lowering the credit of a rival

power."

_Lord Macaulay,

Sir William Temple (Essays)_.

ALSO IN:

_O. Airy,

The English Restoration and Louis XIV.,

chapter 14._

_Sir W. Temple,

Letters, January 1668

(Works, volume 1)._

_L. von Ranke,

History of England, 17th Century,

book 15, chapter 4 (volume 3)._

_A. F. Pontalis,

John de Witt,

chapter 7 (volume 1)._

NETHERLANDS: (Holland): A. D. 1670.

Betrayed to France by the English king.

See ENGLAND: A. D. 1668-1670.

NETHERLANDS: (Holland): A. D. 1672-1674.

The war with France and England.

Murder of the DeWitts.

Restoration of the Stadtholdership.

"The storm that had been prepared in secret for Holland began

to break in 1672. France and England had declared war at once

by land and sea, without any cause of quarrel, except that

Louis declared that the Dutch insulted him, and Charles

complained that they would not lower their flag to his, and

that they refused the Stadtholdership to his nephew, William

of Orange. Accordingly, his fleet made a piratical attack on

the Dutch ships returning from Smyrna, and Louis, with an

immense army, entered Holland. … They [the French] would

have attempted the passage of the Yssel, but the Dutch forces,

under the Prince of Orange, were on the watch, and turned

towards the Rhine, which was so low, in consequence of a

drouth, that 2,000 adventurous cavalry were able to cross,

half wading, half swimming, and gained a footing on the other

side." This "passage of the Rhine" was absurdly celebrated as

a great military exploit by the servile flatterers of the

French king. "The passage thus secured, the King crossed the

river the next day on a bridge of boats, and rapidly overran

the adjoining country, taking the lesser towns, and offering

to the Republic the most severe terms, destructive of their

independence, but securing the nominal Stadtholdership to the

Prince of Orange.

{2288}

The magistrates of Amsterdam had almost decided on carrying

the keys to Louis, and the Grand Pensionary himself was ready

to yield; but William, who preferred ruling a free people by

their own choice to being imposed on them by the conqueror,

still maintained that perseverance would save Holland, that

her dykes, when opened, would admit floods that the enemy

could not resist, and that they had only to be firm. The

spirit of the people was with him, and in Amsterdam,

Dordrecht, and the other cities, there were risings with loud

outcries of 'Orange boven,' Up with Orange, insisting that he

should be appointed Stadtholder. The magistracy confirmed the

choice, but Cornelius de Witt, too firm to yield to a popular

cry, refused to sign the appointment, and thus drew on himself

the rage of the people. He was arrested under an absurd

accusation of having bribed a man to assassinate the Prince,

and … [after torture] was sentenced to exile, whereupon his

brother [the Grand Pensionary] announced that he should

accompany him; but while he was with him in his prison at [the

Hague], the atrocious mob again arose [August 20, 1672], broke

open the doors, and, dragging out the two brothers, absolutely

tore them limb from limb."

_C. M. Yonge,

Landmarks of History,

part 3, chapter 4, part 6._

The Prince of Orange, profiting by the murder of the De Witts,

rewarded the murderers, and is smirched by the deed, whether

primarily responsible for it or not; but the power which it

secured to him was used ably for Holland. The dykes had

already been cut, on the 18th of June, and "the sea poured in,

placing a waste of water between Louis and Amsterdam, and the

province of Holland at least was saved. The citizens worked

with the intensest energy to provide for their defence. …

Every fourth man among the peasantry was enlisted; mariners

and gunners were drawn from the fleet." Meantime, on the 7th

of June, the fleet itself, under De Ruyter, had been

victorious, in Southwold Bay, or Solebay, over the united

fleets of England and France. The victory was indecisive, but

it paralyzed the allied navy for a season, and prevented a

contemplated descent on Zealand. "All active military

operations against Holland were now necessarily at an end.

There was not a Dutch town south of the inundation which was

not in the hands of the French; and nothing remained for the

latter but to lie idle until the ice of winter should enable

them to cross the floods which cut them off from Amsterdam.

Leaving Turenne in command, Louis therefore returned to St.

Germain on August 1." Before winter came, however, the alarm

of Europe at Louis' aggressions had brought about a coalition

of the Emperor Leopold and the Elector of Brandenburg, to

succor the Dutch States. Louis was forced to call Turenne with

16,000 men to Westphalia and Condé with 17,000 to Alsace. "On

September 12 the Austrian general Montecuculi, the Duke of

Lorraine, and the Grand Elector effected their junction,

intending to cross the Rhine and join William;" but Turenne,

by a series of masterly movements, forced them to retreat,

utterly baffled, into Franconia and Halberstadt. The Elector

of Brandenburg, discouraged, withdrew from the alliance, and

made peace with Louis, June 6, 1673. The spring of 1673 found

the French king advantageously situated, and his advantages

were improved. Turning on the Spaniards in their Belgian

Netherlands, he laid siege to the important stronghold of

Maestricht and it was taken for him by the skill of Vauban, on

the 30th of June. But while this success was being scored, the

Dutch, at sea, had frustrated another attempt of the

Anglo-French fleet to land troops on the Zealand coast. On the

7th of June, and again on the 14th, De Ruyter and Van Tromp

fought off the invaders, under Prince Rupert and D'Estrees,

driving them back to the Thames. Once more, and for the last

time, they made their attempt, on the 21st of August, and were

beaten in a battle near the Zealand shore which lasted from

daylight until dark. The end of August found a new coalition

against Louis formed by treaties between Holland, Spain, the

Emperor and the Duke of Lorraine. A little later, the Prince

of Orange, after capturing Naarden, effected a junction near

Bonn with Montecuculi; who had evaded Turenne. The Electors of

Treves and Mayence thereupon joined the coalition and Cologne

and Munster made peace. By this time, public opinion in

England had become so angrily opposed to the war that Charles

was forced to arrange terms of peace with Holland,

notwithstanding his engagements with Louis. The tide was now

turning fast against France. Denmark had joined the coalition.

In March it received the Elector Palatine; in April the Dukes

of Brunswick and Lüneburg came into the league; in May the

Emperor procured from the Diet a declaration of war in the

name of the Empire, and on the 1st of July the Elector of

Brandenburg cast in his lot once more with the enemies of

France. To effectually meet this new league of his foes, Louis

resolved with heroic promptitude to abandon his conquests in

the Netherlands. Maestricht and Grave, alone, of the places he

had taken, were retained. But Holland still refused to make

peace on the terms which the French king proposed, and held

her ground in the league.

_O. Airy,

The English Reformation and Louis XIV.,

chapter 19._

ALSO IN:

_F. P. Guizot,

History of France,

chapter 44 (volume 5)._

_C. D. Yonge,

History of France under the Bourbons,

chapter 15 (volume 2)._

_A. F. Pontalis,

John de Witt,

chapters 12-14 (volume 2)._

_Sir W. Temple,

Memoirs,

part 2 (works, volume 2)._

See, also,

NEW YORK: A. D. 1673.

NETHERLANDS: (Holland): A. D. 1673.

Reconquest of New Netherland from the English.

See NEW YORK: A. D. 1673.

NETHERLANDS: (The Spanish Provinces): A. D. 1673-1678.

Fresh conquests by Louis XIV.

See NETHERLANDS (HOLLAND): A. D. 1672-1674, and 1674-1678;

also, NIMEGUEN, PEACE OF.

NETHERLANDS: (Holland): A. D. 1674.

The Treaty of Westminster.

Peace with England.

Relinquishment of New Netherland.

An offer from the Dutch to restore New Netherland to England

"was extorted from the necessities of the republic, and its

engagement with Spain. With the consent of the States General,

the Spanish ambassador offered advantageous articles to the

British government. Charles, finding that Louis refused him

further supplies, and that he could not expect any from

Parliament, replied that he was willing to accept reasonable

conditions. … Sir William Temple was summoned from his

retirement, and instructed to confer with the Spanish

ambassador at London, the Marquis del Fresno, to whom the

States General had sent full powers.

{2289}

In three days all the points were arranged; and a treaty was

signed at Westminster [February 19, 1674] by Arlington and

four other commissioners on the part of Great Britain, and by

Fresno on the part of the United Netherlands. The honor of the

flag, which had been refused by De Witt, was yielded to

England; the Treaty of Breda was revived; the rights of

neutrals guaranteed; and the commercial principles of the

Triple Alliance renewed. By the sixth article it was

covenanted that 'all lands, islands, cities, havens, castles

and fortresses, which have been or shall be taken by one party

from the other, during the time of this last unhappy war,

whether in Europe or elsewhere, and before the expiration of

the times above limited for the duration of hostilities, shall

be restored to the former Lord and Proprietor in the same

condition they shall be in at the time that this peace shall

be proclaimed.' This article restored New Netherland to the

King of Great Britain. The Treaty of Breda had ceded it to him

on the principle of 'uti possidetis.' The Treaty of

Westminster gave it back to him on the principle of reciprocal

restitution. Peace was soon proclaimed at London and at the

Hague. The treaty of Westminster delivered the Dutch from fear

of Charles, and cut off the right arm of Louis, their more

dreaded foe. England, on her part, slipped out of a disastrous

war. … By the treaty of Westminster the United Provinces

relinquished their conquest of New Netherland to the King of

England. The sovereign Dutch States General had treated

directly with Charles as sovereign. A question at once arose

at Whitehall about the subordinate interest of the Duke of

York. It was claimed by some that James's former American

proprietorship was revived. … The opinion of counsel having

been taken, they advised that the duke's proprietorship had

been extinguished by the Dutch conquest, and that the king was

now alone seized of New Netherland, by virtue of the Treaty of

Westminster. … A new patent to the Duke of York was

therefore sealed. By it the king again conveyed to his brother

the territories he had held before, and granted him anew the

absolute powers of government he had formerly enjoyed over

British subjects, with the like additional authority over 'any

other person or persons' inhabiting his province. Under the

same description of boundaries, New Jersey, and all the

territory west of the Connecticut River, together with Long

Island and the adjacent islands, and the region of Pemaquid,

were again included in the grant. The new patent did not, as

has been commonly, but erroneously stated, 'recite and confirm

the former.' It did not in any way allude to that instrument.

It read as if no previous English patent had ever existed. …

As his colonial lieutenant and deputy, the duke, almost

necessarily, appointed Major Edmund Andros, whom the king had

directed in the previous March to receive New Netherland from

the Dutch."

_J. R. Brodhead,

History of the State of New York,

volume 2, chapters 5-6._

NETHERLANDS: (Holland): A. D. 1674-1678.

Continued war of the Coalition against France.

"The enemies of France everywhere took courage. … Louis XIV.

embraced with a firm glance the whole position, and, well

advised by Turenne, clearly took his resolution. He understood

the extreme difficulty of preserving his conquests, and the

facility moreover of making others more profitable, while

defending his own frontier. To evacuate Holland, to indemnify

himself at the expense of Spain, and to endeavor to treat

separately with Holland while continuing the war against the

House of Austria,—such was the new plan adopted; an

excellent plan, the very wisdom of which condemned so much the

more severely the war with Holland. … The places of the

Zuyder-Zee were evacuated in the course of December by the

French and the troops of Munster. … The evacuation of the

United Provinces was wholly finished by spring. … Louis

resolved to conquer Franche-Comté in person; while Turenne

covered Alsace and Lorraine, Schomberg went to defend

Roussillon, and Condé labored to strengthen the French

positions on the Meuse, by sweeping the enemy from the

environs of Liege and Maestricht. On the ocean, the defensive

was preserved." Louis entered Franche-Comté at the beginning

of May with a small army of 8,000 infantry and 5,000 or 6,000

cavalry, but with Vauban, the great master of sieges, to do

his serious work for him. A small corps had been sent into the

country in February, and had already taken Gray, Vesoul and

Lons-le-Saulnier. Besançon was now reduced by a short siege;

Dole surrendered soon afterward, and early in July the

subjugation of the province was complete. "The second conquest

of Franche-Comté had cost a little more trouble than the

first; but it was definitive. The two Burgundies were no more

to be separated, and France was never again to lose her

frontier of the Jura. … The allies, from the beginning of

the year, had projected a general attack against France. They

had debated among themselves the design of introducing two

great armies, one from Belgium into Champagne, the other from

Germany into Alsace and Lorraine; the Spaniards were to invade

Roussillon; lastly, the Dutch fleet was to threaten the coasts

of France and attempt some enterprise there. The tardiness of

the Germanic diet to declare itself" frustrated the first of

these plans. Condé, occupying a strong position near

Charleroi, from which the allies could not draw him, took

quick advantage of an imprudent movement which they made, and

routed them by a fierce attack, at the village of Seneffe

(August 11, 1674). But William of Orange rallied the flying

forces—Dutch, German and Spanish now fighting side by

side—so successfully that Condé was repulsed with terrible

loss in the end, when he attempted to make his victory

complete. The battle was maintained, by the light of the moon,

until midnight, and both armies withdrew next morning, badly

crippled. Turenne meantime, in June, had crossed the Rhine at

Philippsburg and encountered the Imperialists, on the 16th,

near Sinsheim, defeated them there and driven them beyond the

Neckar. The following month, he again crossed the river and

inflicted upon the Palatinate the terrible destruction which

made it for the time being a desert, and which is the black

blot on the fame of the great soldier. "Turenne ordered his

troops to consume and waste cattle, forage, and harvests, so

that the enemy's army, when it returned in force, as he

foresaw it would do, could find nothing whereon to subsist."

In September the city of Strasburg opened its gates to the

Imperialists and gave them the control of its fortified

bridge, crossing the Rhine.

{2290}

Turenne, hastening to prevent the disaster, but arriving too

late, attacked his enemies, October 4, at the village of

Ensisheim and gained an inconclusive victory. Then followed,

before the close of the year, the most famous of the military

movements of Turenne. The allies having been heavily

reinforced, he retired before them into Lorraine, meeting and

gathering up reinforcements of his own as he moved. Then, when

he had completely deceived them as to his intentions, he

traversed the whole length of the Vosges with his army, in

December, and appeared suddenly at Belfort, finding their

forces scattered and entirely unprepared. Defeating them at

Mülhausen December 29, and again at Colmar, January 5, he

expelled them from Alsace, and offered to Strasburg the

renewal of its neutrality, which the anxious city was glad to

accept. "Thus ended this celebrated campaign, the most

glorious, perhaps, presented in the military history of

ancient France. None offers higher instruction in the study of

the great art of war." In the campaign of 1675, which opened

in May, Turenne was confronted by Montecuculi, and the two

masterly tacticians became the players of a game which has

been the wonder of military students ever since. "Like two

valiant athletes struggling foot to foot without either being

able to overthrow the other, Turenne and Montecuculi manœuvred

for six weeks in the space of a few square leagues [in the

canton of Ortnau, Swabia] without succeeding in forcing each

other to quit the place." At length, on the 27th of July,

Turenne found an opportunity to attack his opponent with

advantage, in the defile of Salsbach, and was just completing

his preparations to do so, when a cannon-ball from one of the

enemy's batteries struck him instantly dead. His two

lieutenants, who succeeded to the command, could not carry out

his plans, but fought a useless bloody battle at Altenheim and

nearly lost their army before retreating across the Rhine.

Condé was sent to replace Turenne. Before he arrived,

Strasburg had again given its bridge to the Imperialists and

they were in possession of Lower Alsace; but no important

operations were undertaken during the remainder of the year.

In other parts of the wide war field the French suffered

disaster. Marshal de Crequi, commanding on the Moselle, was

badly defeated at Konsaarbrück, August 11, and Treves, which

he defended, was lost a few weeks later. The Swedes, also,

making a diversion in the north, as allies of France, were

beaten back, at Fehrbellin.

See SCANDINAVIAN STATES (SWEDEN): A. D. 1644-1697.

But next year (1676) Louis recovered all his prestige. His

navy, under the command of Duquesne and Tourville, fought the

Dutch and Spaniards on equal terms, and defeated them twice in

the Mediterranean, on the Sicilian coast. On land the main

effort of the French was directed against the Netherlands.

Condé, Bouchain and Aire were taken by siege; and Maestricht

was successfully defended against Orange, who besieged it for

nearly eight weeks. But Philippsburg, the most important

French post on the Rhine, was lost, surrendering to the Duke

of Lorraine. Early in 1677, Louis renewed his attacks on the

Spanish Netherlands and took Valenciennes March 17, Cambrai

April 4, and Saint-Omer April 20, defeating the Prince of

Orange at Cassel (April 11) when he attempted to relieve the

latter place. At the same time Crequi, unable to defend Lower

Alsace, destroyed it—burning the villages, leaving the

inhabitants to perish—and prevented the allies, who

outnumbered him, from making any advance. In November, when

they had gone into winter-quarters, he suddenly crossed the

Rhine and captured Freiburg. The next spring (1678) operations

began early on the side of the French with the siege of Ghent.

The city capitulated, March 9, after a short bombardment. The

Spanish governor withdrew to the citadel, but "surrendered, on

the 11th, that renowned castle built by Charles V. to hold the

city in check. The city and citadel of Ghent had not cost the

French army forty men." Ypres was taken the same month.

Serious negotiations were now opened and the Peace of

Nimeguen, between France and Holland, was signed August 11,

followed early the next year by a general peace. The Prince of

Orange, who opposed the peace, fought one bootless but bloody

battle at Saint-Denis, near Mons, on the 14th of August, three

days after it had been signed.

_H. Martin,

History of France: Age of Louis XIV.

(translated by M. L. Booth),

volume 1, chapters 5-6._

"It may be doubted whether Europe has fully realised the

greatness of the peril she so narrowly escaped on this

occasion. The extinction of political and mental freedom,

which would have followed the extinction of the Dutch

Republic, would have been one of the most disastrous defeats

of the cause of liberty and enlightenment possible in the then

condition of the world. … The free presses of Holland gave

voice to the stilled thought and agony of mankind. And they

were the only free presses in the world. But Holland was not

only the greatest book mart of Europe, it was emphatically the

home of thinkers and the birthplace of ideas. … The two men

then living to whose genius and courage the modern spirit of

mental emancipation and toleration owes its first and most

arduous victories were Pierre Bayle and John Locke. And it is

beyond dispute that if the French King had worked his will on

Holland, neither of them would have been able to accomplish

the task they did achieve under the protection of Dutch

freedom. They both were forced to seek refuge in Holland from

the bigotry which hunted them down in their respective

countries. All the works of Bayle were published in Holland,

and some of the earliest of Locke's writings appeared there

also; and if the remainder saw the light afterwards in

England, it is only because the Dutch, by saving their own

freedom, were the means of saving that of England as well. …

At least, no one can maintain that if Holland had been

annihilated in 1672, the English revolution could have

occurred in the form and at the time it did."

_J. C. Morison,

The Reign of Louis XIV.

(Fortnightly Review, March, 1874)._

ALSO IN:

_H. M. Hozier,

Turenne,

chapters 12-13._

_T. O. Cockayne,

Life of Turenne._

_Lord Mahon,

Life of Condé,

chapter 12._

See, also, NIMEGUEN, PEACE OF.

NETHERLANDS: (Holland): A. D. 1689.

Invasion of England by the Prince of Orange.

His accession to the English throne.

See ENGLAND A. D. 1688 (JULY-NOVEMBER),

to 1689 (JANUARY-FEBRUARY).

NETHERLANDS: (Holland): A. D. 1689-1696.

The War of the League of Augsburg, or the Grand Alliance

against Louis XIV.

See FRANCE: A. D. 1689-1690, to 1695-1696.

{2291}

NETHERLANDS: (The Spanish Provinces): A. D; 1690-1691.

The Battle of Fleurus and the loss of Mons.

See FRANCE: A. D. 1689-1691.

NETHERLANDS: (Holland): A. D. 1692.

The Naval Battle of La Hogue.

See ENGLAND: A. D. 1692.

NETHERLANDS: (The Spanish Provinces): A. D. 1692.

The loss of Namur and the Battle of Steenkerke.

See FRANCE: A. D. 1692.

NETHERLANDS: (The Spanish Provinces): A. D. 1693.

The Battle of Neerwinden.

See FRANCE: A. D. 1693 (JULY).

NETHERLANDS: (The Spanish Provinces): A. D. 1694-1696.

Campaigns without battles.

The recovery of Namur.

See FRANCE: A. D. 1694; and 1695-1696.

NETHERLANDS: A. D. 1697.

The Peace of Ryswick.

French conquests restored.

See FRANCE: A. D. 1697.

A. D. 1698-1700.

The question of the Spanish Succession.

The Treaties of Partition.

See SPAIN: A. D. 1698-1700.

NETHERLANDS: (The Spanish Provinces): A. D. 1701.

Occupied by French troops.

See SPAIN: A. D. 1701-1702.

NETHERLANDS: (Holland): A. D. 1702.

The Second Grand Alliance against France and Spain.

See SPAIN: A. D. 1701-1702;

and ENGLAND: A. D. 1701-1702.

NETHERLANDS: A. D. 1702.

The War of the Spanish Succession: The Expedition to Cadiz.

The sinking of the treasure ships in Vigo Bay.

See SPAIN: A. D. 1702.