_DEFENCE OF FREEDOM ON DUTCH DIKES._
1. After the destruction of the Roman Empire all Europe was in a state
of anarchy. The long domination of Rome, and the general acceptance of
the Roman idea that "the state is everything and the individual man
nothing," had unfitted the people for self-government. While Rome
fell, the system of Rome, leading to absolute monarchy, persisted, and
out of it grew the present governments of Europe. The conquering Goths
brought in a modifying condition which changed the whole relations of
monarch to people. In their social and political relations chieftains
of tribes or clans divided power with the monarch, and for many
centuries there was continuous warfare between these antagonistic
ideas. This period is known as the "dark ages," for while it lasted
there was little visible progress, and an apparent almost entire
forgetfulness of the ancient civilizations.
2. During the dark ages roving bands of freebooters wandered about
from place to place, engaged in robbery, rapine, and murder. To resist
this systematic plunder the people placed themselves under the
guardianship of some powerful chieftain in the vicinity, and paid a
certain amount of their earnings for the privilege of enjoying the
remainder. Hence there grew up, in the Gothic communities of Europe,
that peculiar state of society known as "the feudal system." A great
chieftain or lord lived in a strong castle built for defense against
neighboring lords. A retinue of soldiers was in immediate attendance,
who, when not engaged in war, passed their time in hunting and
debauchery. All the expenses and waste of the castle and its occupants
were defrayed by the peasants who cultivated the lands, and who were
all obliged to take up arms whenever their lord's dominions were
invaded.
3. In process of time the taxes upon the people became so burdensome
that they were reduced to the condition of serfs, when all their
earnings, except enough to supply the barest necessaries of life, were
taken from them in the shape of taxes and rents. A constantly
increasing number were yearly taken from the ranks of the industrious
to swell the numbers of the soldiery, until Europe seemed one vast
camp.
4. The feudal system demanded little in the way of industry except
agriculture and rude home manufactures to furnish food and clothing.
Arms were purchased from other lands, the best being obtained from the
higher civilization of the Moslems; but, as population increased,
people began to congregate in centers and towns, and cities sprung up.
These called for more varied industries, and a class of people soon
became numerous who had little or no dependence upon the feudal lord.
To protect themselves, craftsmen engaged in the same kind of work
united and formed guilds, and the various guilds, though often warring
with each other, united for the common defense. The leaders of the
guilds gradually became the heads of notable burgher families who
became influential and wealthy. As the cities became powerful the
feudal system declined, and in many regions the powerful burghers were
able to maintain their independence, not only against their old lords,
but also against the monarch who ruled many lordships.
5. Between the monarch and the lords there was a natural
antagonism--the monarch endeavoring to gain power, and the lords
endeavoring to retain their privileges. The burghers made use of these
contending forces; and by sometimes siding with the one and sometimes
with the other, they not only secured their own freedom, but laid the
foundation for the freedom of the people which is now generally
recognized, and which forms the very corner-stone of our republican
institutions.
6. But the rise of the burgher class, and the evolution of human
liberty through their work, was by no means an easy task. As the
military spirit was dominant, the calling of an artisan was considered
derogatory, and lords and soldiers looked down upon the industrious
classes as inferior beings. Scott well represents this spirit in the
speech of Rob Roy, the Highland chief, in his reply to the offer of
Bailie Jarvie to get his sons employment in a factory: "Make my sons
weavers! I would see every loom in Glasgow, beam, treadle, and
shuttles, burnt in hell-fire sooner!" To break the force of the strong
military power, and to secure to the industrious classes the rights of
human beings, required a continuous warfare which lasted through many
centuries, and which is far from being finished at the present time.
But, thanks to the sturdy valor of the burghers of the middle ages,
human liberty was maintained and transmitted to succeeding
generations.
[Illustration: _Dutch Dikes_]
7. Hitherto in the history of the world mountains had been found
necessary for the preservation of human liberty. Thermopylæ,
Morgarten, Bannockburn, were all fought where precipitous hill-sides
and narrow valleys prevented the champions of freedom from being
overwhelmed by numbers, and where a single man in defense of his home
could wield more power than ten men in attack. The tyrants who lorded
it over plains had learned by dear experience to shun mountains and
avoid collisions with mountaineers; and, in case of controversies,
they always endeavored to gain by stratagem what they could not obtain
by force. Austrian tyranny had dashed itself in vain against the Alps,
and English tyranny had turned back southward, thwarted and impotent,
from the Scotch Highlands.
8. But it was to be demonstrated that liberty might have a home in
other than mountain fastnesses. Along the North Sea is a stretch of
country redeemed from the ocean. Great dikes, faced with granite from
Norway, withstand the tempest from the turbulent ocean, and smaller
dikes prevent inundations from rivers. In thousands of square miles
the only land above sea-level is the summit of the dikes. In the
polders or hollow places below the sea, and saved from destruction
only by the dikes, is some of the richest and most productive land in
Europe. Here prospered a teeming and industrious population.
Agriculture, the parent of national prosperity, flourished as nowhere
else. Manufactures and trade had followed in its train, until the
hollow lands had become the beehive of Europe. The direction of the
most vast commercial enterprises had been transferred from the lagoons
of Venice to the cities of the dikes.
9. This country for centuries had constituted a part of the German
Empire. At one side of the great lines of communication, and moored so
far out to sea, it had been overlooked and neglected to a certain
degree by the reigning dynasties; and out of this neglect grew its
prosperity. While the rule of the central government was nearly
nominal, the feudal lords never obtained a strong foothold in the
country, and the order and peace of the communities were preserved by
municipal officers chosen by suffrage. In process of time wealthy
burgher families fairly divided political influence with princes, acid
dictated a policy at once wise and humane. Extortioners were
suppressed, industries fostered, and peace maintained.
10. In the religious controversies which followed the preaching of
Luther, the eastern provinces of the hollow land almost exclusively
espoused the new religion, while the western provinces clung as
tenaciously to the old. While this difference in religious opinions
gave rise to disputes, and tended toward the disruption of social
relations, for many years toleration was practiced and peace
preserved.
11. During the reign of Charles V as emperor of Germany, the lowland
countries were permitted to go on in their career of prosperity, with
the exception of a religious persecution. Charles was a bigot, and,
for a time, he tried to put down heresy with a strong hand; but,
finding the new doctrines firmly established in the hearts of the
people, he relaxed his persecutions, and permitted things to take
pretty much their own course.
12. On the abdication of Charles V, in 1555, Spain and the low
countries fell to the lot of Philip II. Notwithstanding the riches
which had poured into Spain from the plunder of Mexico and Peru, the
Netherlands were the richest part of Philip's dominions, yielding him
a princely revenue. But the free spirit manifested by these artisans,
in their homes by the sea, was contrary to all Philip's ideas of
government, and was constantly galling to his personal pride. So he
determined to reduce his Teutonic subjects to the same degree of
abject submission that he had the residents of the sunny lands of
Spain. To give intensity to his resolve, Philip was a cold-blooded
bigot, and in carrying out his state designs he was also gratifying
his religious animosities, and giving expression to his almost insane
religious hatreds. His policy was directly calculated to ruin the most
prosperous part of his own dominions--to "kill the goose which laid
the golden egg."
13. Philip spent the first five years of his reign in the Netherlands,
waiting the issue of a war in which he was engaged with France. During
this period his Flemish and Dutch subjects began to have some
experience of his government. They observed with alarm that the king
hated the country and distrusted the people. He would speak no other
language than Spanish; his counselors were Spaniards; he kept
Spaniards alone about his person, and it was to Spaniards that all
vacant posts were assigned. Besides, certain of his measures gave
great dissatisfaction. He re-enacted the persecuting edicts against
the Protestants which his father, in the end of his reign, had
suffered to fall into disuse; and the severities which ensued began to
drive hundreds of the most useful citizens out of the country, as well
as to injure trade by deterring Protestant merchants from the Dutch
and Flemish ports. Dark hints, too, were thrown out that he intended
to establish an ecclesiastical court in the Netherlands similar to the
Spanish Inquisition, and the spirit of Catholics as well as
Protestants revolted from the thought that this chamber of horrors
should ever become one of the institutions of their free land.
14. He had also increased the number of bishops in the Netherlands
from five to seventeen; and this was regarded as the mere appointment
of twelve persons devoted to the Spanish interest, who would help, if
necessary, to overawe the people. Lastly, he kept the provinces full
of Spanish troops, and this was in direct violation of a fundamental
law of the country.
15. Against these measures the nobles and citizens complained
bitterly, and from them drew sad anticipations of the future. Nor were
they more satisfied with the address in which, through the bishop of
Arras as his spokesman, he took farewell of them at a convention of
the states held at Ghent previous to his departure to Spain. The
oration recommended severity against heresy, and only promised the
withdrawal of the foreign troops. The reply of the states was firm and
bold, and the recollection of it must have rankled afterward in the
revengeful mind of Philip. "I would rather be no king at all," he said
to one of his ministers at the time, "than have heretics for my
subjects." But suppressing his resentment in the mean time, be set
sail for Spain in August, 1559, leaving his half-sister to act as his
viceroy in the Netherlands.
16. At this juncture, while the Dutch were threatened by a complete
subjugation of their liberties, a champion arose who in the end proved
more than a match for Philip both in diplomatic fields and in military
operations. This was William, Prince of Orange, one of the highest
nobility, but with his whole heart in sympathy with the people.
Inheriting a personality almost perfect in physical, mental, and moral
vigor and harmony, he early manifested a prudence and wisdom which
gained for him the entire confidence of the suspicious and experienced
Charles V.
17. It was on the arm of William of Orange that Charles had leaned for
support on that memorable day when, in the assembly of the states at
Brussels, he rose feebly from his seat, and declared his abdication of
the sovereign power; and it was said that one of Charles's last
advices to his son Philip was to cultivate the goodwill of the people
of the Netherlands, and especially to defer to the counsels of the
Prince of Orange. When, therefore, in the year 1555, Philip began his
rule in the Netherlands, there were few persons who were either better
entitled or more truly disposed to act the part of faithful and loyal
advisers than William of Nassau, then twenty-two years of age.
18. But, close as had been William's relations to the late emperor,
there were stronger principles and feelings in his mind than gratitude
to the son of the monarch whom he had loved. He had thought deeply on
the question, how a nation should be governed, and had come to
entertain opinions very hostile to arbitrary power; he had observed
what appeared to him, as a Catholic, gross blunders in the mode of
treating religious differences; he had imbibed deeply the Dutch spirit
of independence; and it was the most earnest wish of his heart to see
the Netherlands prosperous and happy. Nor was he at all a visionary,
or a man whose activity would be officious and troublesome; he was
eminently a practical man, one who had a strong sense of what is
expedient in existing circumstances; and his manner was so grave and
quiet that he obtained the name of "William the Silent." Still, many
things occurred during Philip's four years' residence in the
Netherlands to make him speak out and remonstrate. He was one of those
who tried to get the king to use gentler and more popular measures,
and the consequence was that a decided aversion grew up in the dark
and haughty mind of Philip to the Prince of Orange.
19. After the departure of Philip the administration of the Duchess of
Parma produced violent discontent. The persecutions of the Protestants
were becoming so fierce that, over and above the suffering inflicted
on individuals, the commerce of the country was sensibly falling off.
The establishment of a court like the Inquisition was still in
contemplation; Spaniards were still appointed to places of trust in
preference to Flemings; and finally, the Spanish soldiers, who ought
to have been removed long ago, were still burdening the country with
their presence. The woes of the people were becoming intolerable;
occasionally there were slight outbreaks of violence; and a low murmur
of vehement feeling ran through the whole population, foreboding a
general eruption. "Our poor fatherland!" they said to each other; "God
has afflicted as with two enemies, water and Spaniards; we have built
dikes and overcome the one, but how shall we get rid of the other?
Why, if nothing better occurs, we know one way at least, and we shall
keep it in reserve--we can set the two enemies against each other. We
can break down the dikes, inundate the country, and let the water and
the Spaniards fight it out between them."
20. About this time, too, the decrees of the famous Council of Trent,
which had been convened in 1545 to take into consideration the state
of the Church and the means of checking the new religion, and which
had closed its sittings in the end of 1563, were made public; and
Philip, the most zealous Catholic of his time, issued immediate orders
for their being enforced both in Spain and in the Netherlands. In
Spain the decrees were received as a matter of course, the council
having authority over the Catholic people; but the attempt to force
the mandates of an ecclesiastical body upon a people who neither
acknowledged its authority nor believed in its truth, was justly
regarded as an outrage, and the whole country burst out in a storm of
indignation. In many places the decrees were not executed at all; and
wherever the authorities did attempt to execute them, the people rose
and compelled them to desist.
21. A political club or confederacy was organized among the nobility
for the express purpose of resisting the establishment of the
Inquisition. They bound themselves by a solemn oath "to oppose the
introduction of the Inquisition, whether it were attempted openly or
secretly, or by whatever name it should be called," and also to
protect and defend each other from all the consequences which might
result from their having formed this league.
22. Perplexed and alarmed, the regent implored the Prince of Orange
and his two associates, Counts Egmont and Horn, to return to the
council and give her their advice. They did so; and a speech of the
Prince of Orange, in which he asserted strongly the utter folly of
attempting to suppress opinion by force, and argued that "such is the
nature of heresy that if it rests it rusts, but whoever rubs it whets
it," had the effect of inclining the regent to mitigate the ferocity
of her former edicts. Meanwhile the confederates were becoming bolder
and more numerous. Assembling in great numbers at Brussels, they
walked in procession through the streets to the palace of the regent,
where they were admitted to an interview. In reply to their petition,
she said she was willing to send one or more persons to Spain to lay
the complaint before the king.
23. While the nobles and influential persons were thus preparing to
co-operate, in case of a collision with the Spanish government, a
sudden and disastrous movement occurred among the lower classes. It
was stated and believed that the regent had given permission for the
exercise of the Protestant form of worship, and throughout Flanders
multitudes poured into the fields after the preachers. The reaction
after the suppression of the previous years was very great, and the
pent-up emotions were easily kindled into rage against the Catholics.
Led on by fanatics, the ignorant masses made a concerted attack upon
the Catholic churches, shattering their windows, tearing up their
pavements, and destroying all the objects of art which they contained.
The cathedral at Antwerp was the special object of attack, and it was
reduced to an almost hopeless ruin. The patriot nobles exerted their
influence, and at last succeeded in suppressing the violence and in
restoring order.
24. Before the news of this outburst had reached Spain, Philip had
resolved to crush the confederacy and break the proud spirit of the
Netherlands. Secret orders; were given for the collection of troops;
the regent was instructed to amuse the patriots until the means of
punishing them were ready; and in a short time it was hoped that there
would no longer be a patriot or a heretic in the Low Countries. It is
easy to conceive with what rage and bitterness of heart Philip, while
indulging these dreams, must have received intelligence of the
terrible doings of the iconoclasts. But, as cautious and dissimulating
as he was obstinate and revengeful, he concealed his intentions in the
mean time, announced them to the regent only in secret letters and
dispatches, and held out hopes in public to the patriots and people of
the Netherlands that he was soon to pay them a visit in person to
inquire into the condition of affairs.
25. William had secret intelligence of the purpose of Philip in time
to avert its worst consequences. The man whom Philip sent into the
Netherlands at the head of the army, as a fit instrument of his
purpose of vengeance, was the Duke of Alva, a personage who united the
most consummate military skill with the disposition of a ruffian,
ready to undertake any enterprise however base. Such was the man who,
at the age of sixty, in the month of August, 1567, made his entry into
the Netherlands at the head of an army of fifteen thousand men. One of
his first acts was the arrest of the Counts Egmont and Horn. The
regent resigned, and Alva was left in supreme control. Now ensued the
grand struggle in the Netherlands. On the one hand was a nation of
quiet, orderly people, industrious in a high degree, prosperous in
their commerce, and disposed to remain peaceful subjects to a foreign
monarch; on the other hand was a sovereign who, unthankful for the
blessing of reigning over such a happy and well-disposed nation, and
stimulated by passion and bigotry, resolved on compelling all to
submit to his will on penalty of death.
26. Alva at once commenced his persecutions. Supported by his army,
blood was shed like water. The Inquisition was established, and began
its work of unspeakable horrors in the Netherlands. Patriots and
Protestants in crowds left the country. The leading men of the
Netherlands were arrested and executed. Under circumstances of extreme
ferocity Counts Egmont and Horn were beheaded at Brussels.
Overwhelming taxes were imposed upon the people, and during the short
period of his administration Alva executed eighteen thousand patriots,
including many Catholics; for, in his rage against the free spirit of
the Netherlanders, he recognized no distinction in condition or in
religious belief.
27. In the mean time the Prince of Orange was active in devising means
to liberate his unfortunate country from the terrible scourge to which
it was subjected. For five years he battled incessantly against the
Spanish power. Now he entered into combination with the English and
now with the French, with the vain hope of obtaining a sufficient
force to drive the Spaniards out of the country. Twice he raised an
army and marched to the aid of the brave burghers, who still
maintained their independence, and both times was defeated by the
superior force and generalship of Alva. He organized a fleet which
ravaged the coast, captured vessels laden with provisions for Alva's
army, and defended the ports within reach of their guns, When the
shattered remains of William's last army retreated across the German
frontier, it seemed that the people of the Netherlands were about to
be left to their fate.
28. But sixty cities and towns were now in revolt, and, unless they
were recovered, Philip could no longer be considered the king of the
Netherlands. Nothing was left but the slow process of siege
operations. Haarlem held out seven months, and cost the Spaniards ten
thousand men. It surrendered at last under the promise of an amnesty
to its defenders, when they were murdered by thousands in cold blood.
But Philip was dissatisfied with Alva for his slow progress, and for
his execution of Catholics as well as Protestants; and in 1753, after
five years' rule, he recalled him, and, with characteristic
ingratitude, neglected and ill-treated him for his faithful but bloody
services.
29. Don Luis Requesens succeeded the Duke of Alva as governor of the
Netherlands and as commander of the Spanish army. While a zealous
Catholic, he seems to have been a much more humane and just man than
Alva. He began his administration by abolishing the most obnoxious
measures of his predecessor, thus changing the whole tone of the
government. Had he been left to follow his own counsels in everything,
he doubtless would have come to an understanding with the Prince of
Orange, and established peace upon a permanent basis. But the king was
obstinately determined to capture the revolted cities and punish his
rebel subjects, and the general was obliged to continue the war. At
this time William was besieging Middleburg, on the island of Zealand,
and one of the first acts of the newly-appointed, governor was to
raise the siege. To this end he caused a large fleet to be assembled,
and under the command of two experienced admirals he sent it down the
Scheldt to the relief of Middleburg. The Prince of Orange immediately
hastened to the critical spot, and gave direction to patriot
operations. The Holland ships were collected, and a great naval battle
took place on January 29, 1574. Although their force was much the
greater, the Spaniards had little chance upon the water in a contest
with the half-amphibious inhabitants of the Low Countries. The smaller
vessels of the Prince of Orange fell upon the Spanish fleet with a
ferocity which they could not withstand, and the result was a complete
victory, with the destruction of their principal vessels. Middleburg
soon after surrendered to the patriots, and the sway of William over
the maritime provinces was rendered complete.
30. In April an army from Germany, raised through the influence of the
Prince of Orange, and commanded by his brother, Count Henry of Nassau,
marched into the Low Countries; but the Spaniards dominated the land
as the Dutch the sea, and the relief array was defeated and Count
Henry was killed. This defeat, however, to the patriot cause, was
almost equal to a victory. The Spanish troops, who had long been
without pay, became mutinous and unmanageable, and before they could
be appeased much precious time was lost. The Prince of Orange made the
best use of this time. The revolted cities were strengthened and
supplied with provisions, and every preparation made for both
defensive and offensive war. But, best of all, the Dutch admiral
boldly sailed up the Scheldt, captured forty of the Spanish vessels,
and sunk many more.
31. At length the Spanish general was once more ready to continue his
aggressive movements, and he proceeded to lay siege to the populous
city of Leyden. The story of this siege is one of the most
spirit-stirring in the annals of heroism. Leyden stands in a low
situation, in the midst of a labyrinth of rivulets and canals. That
branch of the Rhine which still retains the name of its upper course
passes through the middle of it, and front this stream such an
infinity of canals are derived that it is difficult to say whether the
water or the land possesses, the greater space. By these canals the
ground on which the city stands is divided into a great number of
small islands, united together by bridges.
32. For five months all other operations were suspended; all the
energy of Requesens, on the one hand, was directed toward getting
possession of the city, and all the energy of the Prince of Orange, on
the other hand, toward assisting the citizens, and preventing it from
being taken. The issue depended entirely, however, on the bravery and
resolution of the citizens of Leyden themselves. Pent up within their
walls, they had to resist the attacks and stratagems of the besiegers;
and all that the Prince of Orange could do was to occupy the
surrounding country, harass the besiegers as much as possible, and
enable the citizens to hold out, by conveying to them supplies of
provisions and men.
33. There was not in the city a single scion of a noble family. There
were no men trained to military operations. It was a city of artisans
and tradesmen, and the Spaniards expected scarcely more than a show of
resistance from a foe so ignoble. As well might the sheep resist a
pack of ravening wolves as the men of the counting-house and workshop
resist the best trained soldiers of Europe. But nobly, nay, up to the
highest heroic pitch of human nature, did the citizens behave! They
had to endure a siege in its most dreary form--that of a blockade.
Instead of attempting to storm the town, Valdez, the Spanish general,
resolved to reduce it by the slow process of starvation. For this
purpose he completely surrounded the town by a circle of forts more
than sixty in number; and the inhabitants thus saw themselves walled
completely in from the rest of the earth, with its growing crops and
its well-filled granaries, and restricted entirely to whatever
quantity of provisions there happened to be on the small spot of
ground on which they walked up and down. Their only means of
communication with the Prince of Orange was by carrier-pigeons trained
for the purpose.
34. One attempt was made by them to break through the line of
blockade, for the sake of keeping possession of a piece of
pasture-ground for their cattle; but it was unsuccessful; and they
began now to work day and night in repairing their fortifications, so
as to resist the Spanish batteries when they should begin to play.
Like fire pent up, the patriotism of the inhabitants burned more
fiercely and brightly; every man became a hero, every woman an orator,
and words of flashing genius were spoken and deeds of wild bravery
done, such as would have been impossible except among twenty thousand
human beings living in the same city, and all roused at once to the
same unnatural pitch of emotion.
35. The two leading spirits were John van der Dors, the commander,
better known by his Latinized name of Dousa; and Peter van der Werf,
the burgomaster. Plebeian names these, but loftier natures never
possessed the hearts of kings or nobles! Beside their deeds, the
chivalry of knighthood looks trivial and mean. Under the management of
these two men every precaution was adopted for the defense of the
city. The resolution come to was, that the last man among them should
die of want rather than admit the Spaniards into the town. Coolly, and
with a foresight thoroughly Dutch, Dousa and Van der Werf set about
making an inventory of all that was eatable in the town: corn,
cattle--nay, even horses and dogs; calculating how long the stock
could last at the rate of so much a day to every man and woman in the
city; adopting means to get the whole placed under the management of a
dispensing committee; and deciding what should be the allowance per
head at first, so as to prevent their stock from being eaten up too
fast.
36. It was impossible, however, to collect all the food into one fund,
or to regulate its consumption by municipal arrangements; and, after
two months had elapsed, famine bad commenced in earnest, and those
devices for mitigating the gnawings of hunger began to be employed
which none but starving men would think of. Not only the flesh of dogs
and horses, but roots, weeds, nettles--everything green that the eye
could detect shooting up from the earth--was ravenously eaten. Many
died of want, and thousands fell ill. Still they held out, and
indignantly rejected the offers made to them by the besiegers.
37. "When we have nothing else," said Dousa, in reply to a message
from Valdez, "we will eat our left hands, keeping the right to fight
with." Once, indeed, hunger seemed to overcome patriotism, and for
some days crowds of gaunt and famished wretches moved along the
streets, crying: "Let the Spaniards in; for God's sake let them in!"
Assembling with hoarse clamor at the house of Van der Werf, they
demanded that he should give them food or surrender. "I have no food
to give you," was the burgomaster's reply, "and I have sworn that I
will not surrender to the Spaniards; but, if my body will be of any
service to you, tear me in pieces, and let the hungriest of you eat
me." The poor wretches went away, and thought no more of
surrendering.
38. The thought of the Prince of Orange night and day was how to
render assistance to the citizens of Leyden--how to convey provisions
into the town. He had collected a large supply, but, with all his
exertions, could not raise a sufficient force to break through the
blockade. In this desperate extremity the Dutch resolved to have
recourse to that expedient which they had kept in reserve until it
should be clear that no other was left--they would break their dikes,
open their sluices, inundate the whole level country around Leyden,
and wash the Spaniards and their forts utterly away!
39. It was truly a desperate measure, and it was only in the last
extremity that they could bring themselves to think of it. All that
fertile land, which the labor of ages had drained and cultivated--to
see it converted into a sheet of water! There could not possibly be a
sight more unseemly and melancholy to a Dutchman's eyes. But, when the
measure was once resolved upon, they set to work with a heartiness and
zeal greater than that which had attended their building. Hatchets,
hammers, spades, and pickaxes were in requisition; and by the labor of
a single night the work of ages was demolished and undone. The water,
availing itself of the new inlets, poured over the flat country, and
in a short time the whole of the region between Leyden and Rotterdam
was flooded.
40. The Spaniards, terror-stricken, at first resolved upon immediate
flight; but, seeing that the water did not rise above a certain level,
they recovered their courage, and, though obliged to abandon their
forts, which were stationed upon the low grounds, they persevered in
the blockade. But there was another purpose to be served by the
inundation of the country beside that of washing away the Spaniards,
and the Prince of Orange made preparations for effecting it. He had
caused two hundred flat-bottomed boats to be built, and loaded with
provisions; these now began to row toward the famished city. The
inhabitants saw them coming; they watched them eagerly advancing
across the waters, fighting their way past the Spanish forts, and
bringing bread to them. But it seemed as if Heaven itself had become
cruel; for a north wind was blowing, and, so long as it continued to
blow, the waters would not be deep enough for the boats to reach the
city. They waited for days, every eye fixed on the vanes; but still
the wind continued in the north, though never within the memory of the
oldest citizen had it blown in that direction so long at that time of
year. Many died in sight of the vessels that contained the food which
would have kept them alive; and those who survived shuffled along the
streets, living skeletons instead of men!
41. But the sea did not at last desert the brave men who had so long
dominated it. At the last extremity it roused itself and swept down in
its might upon the doomed Spaniards. When but two days stood between
the starving citizens and death, lo! the vanes trembled and veered
round; the wind shifted first to the northwest, blowing the sea-tides
with hurricane force into the mouth of the rivers, and then to the
south, driving the waters directly toward the city. The remaining
forts of the Spaniards were quickly begirt with water. The Spaniards
themselves, pursued by the Zealanders in their boats, were either
drowned or shot swimming, or fished out with hooks fastened to the end
of poles, and killed with the sword. Several bodies of them, however,
effected their escape. The citizens had all crowded at the gates to
meet their deliverers. With bread in their hands they ran through the
streets; and many who had outlived the famine died of surfeit. The
same day they met in one of the churches--a lean and sickly
congregation--with the magistrates at their head, to return thanks to
Almighty God for his mercy.
42. The citizens of Leyden had performed their duty nobly and well. It
was a triple service--they had driven away from their city the hated
Spaniard; they had secured the freedom of their country; and they had
preserved liberty for mankind. No nobler deeds are chronicled in all
history than this long battle with death, than this silent,
uncomplaining endurance during the long weeks, while the life-giving
succors were delayed by adverse winds. As a recompense to the people
of Leyden for their heroic conduct, the Prince of Orange gave them the
choice of exemption from taxes for a certain number of years, or of
having a university established in the city; and, much to their honor,
they preferred the latter. The University of Leyden was accordingly
established in 1575. At one time it attained so high a reputation for
learning that Leyden was styled the Athens of the West.