A new board of magistrates, of which stout William Bardez wa

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MOTLEY'S HISTORY OF THE NETHERLANDS, Project Gutenberg Edition, Vol. 30

THE RISE OF THE DUTCH REPUBLIC, 1578

By John Lothrop Motley

1855

CHAPTER V.

Towns taken by Don John--Wrath excited against the aristocratic

party by the recent defeat--Attempts upon Amsterdam--"Satisfaction"

of Amsterdam and its effects--De Selles sent with royal letters from

Spain--Terms offered by Philip--Proclamation of Don John--

Correspondence between de Selles and the States-General--Between the

King and the Governor-General--New forces raised by the States--St.

Aldegonde at the Diet--Municipal revolution in Amsterdam--The

Prince's letter on the subject of the Anabaptists of Middelburg--

The two armies inactive--De la None--Action at Rijnemants--John

Casimir--Perverse politics of Queen Elizabeth--Alencon in the

Netherlands--Portrait of the Duke--Orange's position in regard to

him--Avowed and supposed policy of the French court--Anger of

Elizabeth--Terms arranged between Alencon and the Estates--Renewed

negotiations with Don John--Severe terms offered him--Interview of

the English envoys with the Governor--Despondency of Don John--

Orange's attempts to enforce a religious peace--His isolation in

sentiment--The malcontent party--Count John Governor of Gelderland

--Proposed form of religious peace--Proclamation to that effect by

Orange, in Antwerp--A petition in favor of the Roman Church

presented by Champagny and other Catholic nobles to the States--

General--Consequent commotion in Brussels--Champagny and others

imprisoned--Indolence and poverty of the two armies--Illness and

melancholy of Don John--His letters to Doria, to Mendoza, and to the

King--Death of Don John--Suspicions of poison--Pompous burial--

Removal of his body to Spain--Concluding remarks upon his character.

Don John having thus vindicated his own military fame and the amazing

superiority of the Spanish arms, followed up his victory by the rapid

reduction of many towns of second-rate importance Louvain, Judoigne,

Tirlemont, Aerschot, Bauvignes, Sichem, Nivelle, Roeux, Soignies, Binch,

Beaumont, Walcourt, Tviaubeuge, and Chimay, either submitted to their

conqueror, or were taken after short sieges. The usual atrocities were

inflicted upon the unfortunate inhabitants of towns where resistance was

attempted. The commandant of Sichem was hanged out of his own window,

along with several chief burghers and officers, while the garrison was

put to the sword, and the bodies cast into the Denver. The only crime

committed by these unfortunates was to have ventured a blow or two in

behalf of the firesides which they were employed to protect.

In Brussels, on the other hand, there was less consternation excited by

these events than boundless rage against the aristocratic party, for the

defeat of Gemblours was attributed, with justice, to the intrigues and

the incapacity of the Catholic magnates. It was with difficulty that

Orange, going about by night from house to house, from street to street,

succeeded in calming the indignation of the people, and in preventing

them from sweeping in a mass to the residence of the leading nobles, in

order to inflict summary vengeance on the traitors. All looked to the

Prince as their only saviour, not a thought nor a word being wasted upon

Matthias. Not a voice was raised in the assembly to vindicate the secret

proceedings of the Catholic party, nor to oppose the measures which the

Prince might suggest. The terrible disaster had taught the necessity of

union. All parties heartily joined in the necessary steps to place the

capital in a state of complete defence, and to assemble forthwith new

troops to take the place of the army just annihilated. The victor gained

nothing by his victory, in comparison with the profit acquired by the

states through their common misfortune. Nor were all the towns which

had recently fallen into the hands of Don John at all comparable in

importance to the city of Amsterdam, which now, by a most timely

arrangement, furnished a rich compensation to the national party for the

disaster of Gemblours.

Since the conclusion of the Ghent Pacification, it had been the most

earnest wish of the Prince, and of Holland and Zealand, to recover

possession of this most important city. The wish was naturally shared

by every true patriot in the states-general. It had, however, been

extremely difficult to arrange the terms of the "Satisfaction." Every

fresh attempt at an amicable compromise was wrecked upon the obstinate

bigotry of the leading civic authorities. They would make no agreement

to accept the authority of Orange, except, as Saint Aldegonde expressed

himself; upon terms which would enable them "to govern their governor."

The influence of the monks, who were resident in large numbers within the

city, and of the magistrates, who were all stanch Catholics, had been

hitherto sufficient to outweigh the efforts made by the large masses of

the Reformed religionists composing the bulk of the population. It was,

however, impossible to allow Amsterdam to remain in this isolated and

hostile attitude to the rest of Holland. The Prince, having promised to

use no coercion, and loyally adhering to his pledge, had only with

extreme difficulty restrained the violence of the Hollanders and

Zealanders, who were determined, by fair means or foul, to restore the

capital city to its natural place within his stadholderate. He had been

obliged, on various occasions, particularly on the 21st of October of the

preceding year, to address a most decided and peremptory letter to the

estates of Holland and Zealand, forbidding the employment of hostile

measures against Amsterdam. His commands had been reluctantly,

partially, and only temporarily obeyed. The states desisted from

their scheme of reducing the city by famine, but they did not the less

encourage the secret and unofficial expeditions which were daily set on

foot to accomplish the annexation by a sudden enterprise.

Late in November, a desperate attempt had been made by Colonel Helling,

in conjunction with Governor Sonoy, to carry the city by surprise. The

force which the adventurer collected for the purpose was inadequate, and

his plans were unskilfully arranged. He was himself slain in the

streets, at the very commencement of the action; whereupon, in the quaint

language of the contemporary chronicler, "the hearts of his soldiers sank

in their shoes," and they evacuated the city with much greater rapidity

than they had entered it. The Prince was indignant at these violent

measures, which retarded rather than advanced the desired consummation.

At the same time it was an evil of immense magnitude--this anomalous

condition of his capital. Ceaseless schemes were concerted by the

municipal and clerical conspirators within its walls, and various

attempts were known, at different times, to have been contemplated by Don

John, to inflict a home-thrust upon the provinces of Holland and Zealand

at the most vulnerable and vital point. The "Satisfaction" accepted by

Utrecht, in the autumn of 1577, had, however, paved the way for the

recovery of Amsterdam; so that upon February the 8th, 1578, certain

deputies from Utrecht succeeded at last in arranging terms, which were

accepted by the sister city. The basis of the treaty was, as usual,

the nominal supremacy of the Catholic religion, with toleration for the

Reformed worship. The necessary effect would be, as in Harlem, Utrecht,

and other places, to establish the new religion upon an entire equality

with the old. It was arranged that no congregations were to be disturbed

in their religious exercises in the places respectively assigned to them.

Those of the Reformed faith were to celebrate their worship without the

walls. They were, however, to enjoy the right of burying their dead

within these precincts, and it is singular how much importance was

attached at that day to a custom, at which the common sentiment and the

common sense of modern times revolt. "To bury our dead within our own

cities is a right hardly to be denied to a dog," said the Prince of

Orange; and accordingly this right was amply secured by the new

Satisfaction of Amsterdam. It was, however, stipulated that the funerals

should be modest, and attended by no more than twenty-four persons at

once. The treaty was hailed with boundless joy in Holland and Zealand,

while countless benedictions were invoked upon the "blessed peace-

makers," as the Utrecht deputies walked through the streets of Amsterdam.

There is no doubt that the triumph thus achieved by the national party

far counterbalanced the Governor-General's victory at Gemblours.

Meantime, the Seigneur de Selles, brother of the deceased Noircarmes, had

arrived from Spain. He was the special bearer of a letter from the King

to the states-general, written in reply to their communications of the

24th of August and 8th of September of the previous year. The tone of

the royal despatch was very affectionate, the substance such as entirely

to justify the whole policy of Orange. It was obvious that the

penetrating and steadfast statesman had been correct in refusing to be

moved to the right or the left by the specious language of Philip's

former letters, or by the apparent frankness of Don John. No doubt the

Governor had been sincere in his desire for peace, but the Prince knew

very well his incapacity to confer that blessing. The Prince knew--what

no man else appeared fully to comprehend at that epoch--that the mortal

combat between the Inquisition and the Reformation was already fully

engaged. The great battle between divine reason and right divine, on

which the interests of unborn generations were hanging, was to be fought

out, before the eyes of all Christendom, on the plain of the Netherlands.

Orange was willing to lay down his arms if he could receive security for

the Reformed worship. He had no desire to exterminate the ancient

religion, but he meant also to protect the new against extermination.

Such security, he felt, would never be granted, and he had therefore

resolutely refused to hearken to Don John, for he was sure that peace

with him was impossible. The letters now produced by De Selles confirmed

his positions completely. The King said not a word concerning the

appointment of a new governor-general, but boldly insisted upon the

necessity of maintaining the two cardinal points--his royal supremacy,

and the Catholic religion upon the basis adopted by his father, the

Emperor Charles the Fifth.

This was the whole substance of his communication: the supremacy of

royalty and of papacy as in the time of Charles the Fifth. These

cabalistic words were repeated twice in the brief letter to the estates.

They were repeated five times in the instructions furnished by his

Majesty to De Selles. The letter and the instructions indeed contained

nothing else. Two simples were offered for the cure of the body politic,

racked by the fever and convulsion of ten horrible years--two simples

which the patient could hardly be so unreasonable as to reject--unlimited

despotism and religious persecution. The whole matter lay in a nut-

shell, but it was a nut-shell which enclosed the flaming edicts of

Charles the Fifth, with their scaffolds, gibbets, racks, and funeral

piles. The Prince and the states-general spurned such pacific overtures,

and preferred rather to gird themselves for the combat.

That there might be no mistake about the matter, Don John, immediately

after receiving the letter, issued a proclamation to enforce the King's

command. He mentioned it as an acknowledged fact that the states-general

had long ago sworn the maintenance of the two points of royal and

Catholic supremacy, according to the practice under the Emperor Charles.

The states instantly published an indignant rejoinder, affirming the

indisputable truth, that they had sworn to the maintenance of the Ghent

Pacification, and proclaiming the assertion of Don John an infamous

falsehood. It was an outrage upon common sense, they said, that the

Ghent treaty could be tortured into sanctioning the placards and the

Inquisition, evils which that sacred instrument had been expressly

intended to crush.

A letter was then formally addressed to his Majesty, in the name of the

Archduke Matthias--and of the estates, demanding the recal of Don John

and the, maintenance of the Ghent Pacification. De Seller, in reply,

sent a brief, deprecatory paper, enclosing a note from Don John, which

the envoy acknowledged might seem somewhat harsh in its expressions. The

letter contained, indeed, a sufficiently fierce and peremptory summons to

the states to obey the King's commands with regard to the system of

Charles the Fifth, according to their previous agreement, together with a

violent declaration of the Governor's displeasure that they had dared to

solicit the aid of foreign princes. On the 18th of February came a

proposition from De Seller that the Prince, of Orange should place

himself in the hands of Don John, while the Prince of Parma, alone and

without arms, would come before the assembly, to negotiate with them upon

these matters. The reply returned by the states-general to this absurd

suggestion expressed their regret that the son of the Duchess Margaret

should have taken part with the enemy of the Netherlanders, complained of

the bull by which the Pope had invited war against them as if they had

been Saracens, repeated their most unanswerable argument--that the Ghent

Pacification had established a system directly the reverse of that which

existed under Charles the Fifth--and affirmed their resolution never more

to submit to Spanish armies, executioners, edicts, or inquisitions, and

never more to return to the principles of the Emperor and of Alva. To

this diplomatic correspondence succeeded a war of words and of pamphlets,

some of them very inflammatory and very eloquent. Meantime, the

preparations for active hostilities were proceeding daily. The Prince of

Orange, through his envoys in England, had arranged for subsidies in the

coming campaign, and for troops which were to be led to the Netherlands,

under Duke Casimir of the palatinate. He sent commissioners through the

provinces to raise the respective contributions agreed upon, besides an

extraordinary quota of four hundred thousand guilders monthly. He also

negotiated a loan of a hundred and twenty thousand guilders from the

citizens of Antwerp. Many new taxes were imposed by his direction, both

upon income and upon consumption. By his advice, however, and with the

consent of the states-general, the provinces of Holland and Zealand held

no community of burthens with the other provinces, but of their own free

will contributed more than the sums for which they would have been

assessed. Mr. Leyton, who was about to return from his unsuccessful

mission from Elizabeth to Don John, was requested by the states-general

to convey to her Majesty a faithful report of the recent correspondence,

and especially of the language held by the Governor-General. He was also

urged to use his influence with the Queen, to the end that her promises

of assistance might be speedily fulfilled.

Troops were rapidly enrolled, and again, by the same honest but mistaken

policy, the chief offices were conferred upon the great nobles--Aerschot,

Champagny, Bossu, Egmont, Lalain, the Viscount of Ghent, Baron de Ville,

and many others, most of whom were to desert the cause in the hour of its

need. On the other hand, Don John was proceeding with his military

preparations upon an extensive scale. The King had recently furnished

him with one million nine hundred thousand dollars, and had promised to

provide him with two hundred thousand more, monthly. With these funds

his Majesty estimated that an army of thirty thousand foot, sixteen

thousand cavalry, and thirty pieces of artillery, could be levied and

kept on foot. If more remittances should prove to be necessary, it was

promised that they should be forthcoming.

This was the result of many earnest remonstrances made by the Governor

concerning the dilatory policy of the King. Wearied with being

constantly ordered "to blow hot and cold with the same, breath," he had

insisted that his Majesty should select the hot or the cold, and furnish

him with the means of enforcing the choice. For himself, Don John

assured his brother that the hottest measures were most to his taste, and

most suitable to the occasion. Fire and sword could alone save the royal

authority, for all the provinces had "abandoned themselves, body and

soul, to the greatest heretic and tyrant that prince ever had for

vassal." Unceasing had been the complaints and entreaties of the

Captain-General, called forth by the apathy or irresolution of Philip.

It was--only by assuring him that the Netherlands actually belonged to

Orange, that the monarch could be aroused. "His they are; and none

other's," said the Governor, dolefully. The King had accordingly sent

back De Billy, Don John's envoy; with decided injunctions to use force

and energy to put down the revolt at once, and with an intimation that

funds might be henceforth more regularly depended upon, as the Indian

fleets were expected in July. Philip also advised his brother to employ

a portion of his money in purchasing the governors and principal persons

who controlled the cities and other strong places belonging to the

states.

Meantime, Don John thundered forth a manifesto which had been recently

prepared in Madrid, by which the estates, both general and particular,

were ordered forthwith to separate, and forbidden to assemble again,

except by especial licence. All commissions, civil or military, granted

by states' authority, were moreover annulled, together with a general

prohibition of any act of obedience to such functionaries, and of

contribution to any imposts which might be levied by their authority.

Such thunders were now comparatively harmless, for the states had taken

their course, and were busily engaged, both at home and abroad, in arming

for the conflict. Saint Aldegonde was deputed to attend the Imperial

diet, then in session at Worms, where he delivered an oration, which was

very celebrated in its day as a composition, but, which can hardly be

said to have produced much practical effect. The current was setting

hard in Germany against the Reformed religion and against the Netherland

cause, the Augsburg Confessionists showing hardly more sympathy with

Dutch Calvinists than with Spanish Papists.

Envoys from Don John also attended the diet, and requested Saint

Aldegonde to furnish them with a copy of his oration. This he declined

to do. While in Germany, Saint Aldegonde was informed by John Casimir

that Duke Charles of Sweden, had been solicited to furnish certain ships

of war for a contemplated operation against Amsterdam. The Duke had

himself given information of this plot to the Prince Palatine. It was

therefore natural that Saint Aldegonde should forthwith despatch the

intelligence to his friends in the Netherlands, warning them of the

dangers still to be apprehended from the machinations of the Catholic

agents and functionaries in Amsterdam; for although the Reformation had

made rapid progress in that important city since the conclusion of the

Satisfaction, yet the magistracy remained Catholic.

William Bardez, son of a former high-sheriff, a warm partisan of

Orange and of the "religion," had already determined to overthrow that

magistracy and to expel the friars who infested the city. The recent

information despatched by Saint Aldegonde confirmed him in his purpose.

There had been much wrangling between the Popish functionaries and those

of the Reformed religion concerning the constitution of the burgher

guard. The Calvinists could feel no security for their own lives,

or the repose of the commonwealth of Holland, unless they were themselves

allowed a full participation in the government of those important bands.

They were, moreover, dissatisfied with the assignment which had been made

of the churchyards to the members of their communion. These causes of

discord had maintained a general irritation among the body of the

inhabitants, and were now used as pretexts by Bardez for his design.

He knew the city to be ripe for the overthrow of the magistracy, and he

had arranged with Governor Sonoy to be furnished with a sufficient number

of well-tried soldiers, who were to be concealed in the houses of the

confederates. A large number of citizens were also ready to appear at

his bidding with arms in their hands.

On the 24th of May, he wrote to Sonoy, begging him to hold himself in

readiness, as all was prepared within the city. At the same time, he

requested the governor to send him forthwith a "morion and a buckler of

proof;" for, he intended to see the matter fairly through. Sonoy

answered encouragingly, and sent him the armor, as directed. On the 28th

of May, Bardez, with four confederates, went to the council-room, to

remonstrate with the senate concerning the grievances which had been so

often discussed. At about mid-day, one of the confederates, upon leaving

the council-room, stepped out for a moment upon the balcony, which looked

towards the public square. Standing there for a moment, he gravely

removed his hat, and then as gravely replaced it upon his head. This was

a preconcerted signal. At the next instant a sailor was seen to rush

across the square, waving a flag in both hands. "All ye who love the

Prince of Orange, take heart and follow me!" he shouted. In a moment

the square was alive. Soldiers and armed citizens suddenly sprang forth,

as if from the bowels of the earth. Bardez led a strong force directly

into the council-chamber, and arrested every one of the astonished

magistrates. At the same time, his confederates had scoured the town and

taken every friar in the city into custody. Monks and senators were then

marched solemnly down towards the quay, where a vessel was in readiness

to receive them. "To the gallows with them--to the gallows with them!"

shouted the populace, as they passed along. "To the gibbet, whither they

have brought many a good fellow before his time!" Such were the openly,

expressed desires of their fellow-citizens, as these dignitaries and holy

men proceeded to what they believed their doom. Although treated

respectfully by those who guarded them, they were filled with

trepidation, for they believed the execrations of the populace the

harbingers of their fate. As they entered the vessel, they felt

convinced that a watery death had been substituted for the gibbet.

Poor old Heinrich Dirckzoon, ex-burgomaster, pathetically rejected a

couple of clean shirts which his careful wife had sent him by the hands

of the housemaid. "Take them away; take them home again," said the

rueful burgomaster; "I shall never need clean shirts again in this

world." He entertained no doubt that it was the intention of his

captors to scuttle the vessel as soon as they had put a little out

to sea, and so to leave them to their fate. No such tragic end was

contemplated, however, and, in fact, never was a complete municipal

revolution accomplished in so good-natured and jocose a manner. The

Catholic magistrates and friars escaped with their fright. They were

simply turned out of town, and forbidden, for their lives, ever to come

back again. After the vessel had proceeded a little distance from the

city, they were all landed high and dry upon a dyke, and so left unharmed

within the open country.

A new board of magistrates, of which stout William Bardez was one, was

soon appointed; the train-bands were reorganized, and the churches thrown

open to the Reformed worship--to the exclusion, at first, of the

Catholics. This was certainly contrary to the Ghent treaty, and to the

recent Satisfaction; it was also highly repugnant to the opinions of

Orange. After a short time, accordingly, the Catholics were again

allowed access to the churches, but the tables had now been turned for

ever in the capital of Holland, and the Reformation was an established

fact throughout that little province.

Similar events occurring upon the following day at Harlem, accompanied

with some bloodshed--for which, however, the perpetrator was punished

with death--opened the great church of that city to the Reformed

congregations, and closed them for a time to the Catholics.

Thus, the cause of the new religion was triumphant in Holland and

Zealand, while it was advancing with rapid strides through the other

provinces. Public preaching was of daily occurrence everywhere. On a

single Sunday; fifteen different ministers of the Reformed religion

preached in different places in Antwerp. "Do you think this can be

put down?" said Orange to the remonstrating burgomaster of that city.

"'Tis for you to repress it," said the functionary, "I grant your

Highness full power to do so." "And do you think," replied the Prince,

"that I can do at this late moment, what the Duke of Alva was unable to

accomplish in the very plenitude of his power?" At the same time, the

Prince of Orange was more than ever disposed to rebuke his own Church for

practising persecution in her turn. Again he lifted his commanding voice

in behalf of the Anabaptists of Middelburg. He reminded the magistrates

of that city that these peaceful burghers were always perfectly willing

to bear their part in all the common burthens, that their word was as

good as their oath, and that as to the matter of military service,

although their principles forbade them to bear arms, they had ever been

ready to provide and pay for substitutes. "We declare to you therefore,"

said he, "that you have no right to trouble yourselves with any man's

conscience, so long as nothing is done to cause private harm or public

scandal. We therefore expressly ordain that you desist from molesting

these Baptists, from offering hindrance to their handicraft and daily

trade, by which they can earn bread for their wives and children, and

that you permit them henceforth to open their shops and to do their work,

according to the custom of former days. Beware, therefore, of

disobedience and of resistance to the ordinance which we now establish."

Meantime, the armies on both sides had been assembled, and had been

moving towards each other. Don John was at the head of nearly thirty

thousand troops, including a large proportion of Spanish and Italian

veterans. The states' army hardly numbered eighteen thousand foot and

two thousand cavalry, under the famous Francois de la None, surnamed Bras

de Fer, who had been recently appointed Marechal de Camp, and, under

Count Bossu, commander-in-chief. The muster-place of the provincial

forces was in the plains between Herenthals and Lier. At this point they

expected to be reinforced by Duke Casimir, who had been, since the early

part of the summer, in the country of Zutfen, but who was still remaining

there inglorious and inactive, until he could be furnished with the

requisite advance-money to his troops. Don John was determined if

possible, to defeat the states army, before Duke Casimir, with his twelve

thousand Germans, should effect his juncture with Bossu. The Governor

therefore crossed the Demer, near Aerschot, towards the end of July, and

offered battle, day after day, to the enemy. A series of indecisive

skirmishes was the result, in the last of which, near Rijnemants, on the

first day of August, the royalists were worsted and obliged to retire,

after a desultory action of nearly eight hours, leaving a thousand dead.

upon the field. Their offer of "double or quits," the following morning

was steadily refused by Bossu, who, secure within his intrenchments, was

not to be induced at that moment to encounter the chances of a general

engagement. For this he was severely blamed by the more violent of the

national party.

His patriotism, which was of such recent origin, was vehemently

suspected; and his death, which occurred not long afterwards, was

supposed to have alone prevented his deserting the states to fight again

under Spanish colours. These suspicions were probably unjust. Bossu's

truth of character had been as universally recognized as was his signal

bravery. If he refused upon this occasion a general battle, those

who reflected upon the usual results to the patriot banner of such

engagements, might confess, perhaps, that one disaster the more had been

avoided. Don John, finding it impossible to accomplish his purpose, and

to achieve another Gemblours victory, fell back again to the

neighbourhood of Namur.

The states' forces remained waiting for the long-promised succor of John

Casimir. It was the 26th of August, however, before the Duke led his

twelve thousand men to the neighbourhood of Mechlin, where Bossu was

encamped. This young prince possessed neither the ability nor the

generosity which were requisite for the heroic part which he was

ambitious to perform in the Netherland drama. He was inspired by a vague

idea of personal aggrandizement, although he professed at the same time

the utmost deference to William of Orange. He expressed the hope that he

and the Prince "should be but two heads under one hat;" but he would have

done well to ask himself whether his own contribution to this partnership

of brains would very much enrich the silent statesman. Orange himself

regarded him with respectful contempt, and considered his interference

with Netherland matters but as an additional element of mischief. The

Duke's right hand man, however, Peter Peutterich, the "equestrian

doctor"--as Sir Philip Sydney called him--equally skilful with the sword

as with the pen, had succeeded, while on a mission to England, in

acquiring the Queen's favor for his master. To Casimir, therefore, had

been entrusted the command of the levies, and the principal expenditure

of the subsidies which she had placed at the disposition of the states.

Upon Casimir she relied, as a counterweight to the Duke of Alencon, who,

as she knew, had already entered the provinces at the secret solicitation

of a large faction among the nobles. She had as much confidence as ever

in Orange, but she imagined herself to be strengthening his cause by

providing him with such a lieutenant. Casimir's immediate friends had

but little respect for his abilities. His father-in-law, Augustus of

Saxony, did not approve his expedition. The Landgrave William, to whom

he wrote for counsel, answered, in his quaint manner, that it was always

difficult for one friend to advise another in three matters--to wit, in

taking a wife, going to sea, and going to war; but that, nevertheless,

despite the ancient proverb, he would assume the responsibility of

warning Casimir not to plunge into what he was pleased to call the

"'confusum chaos' of Netherland politics." The Duke felt no inclination,

however, to take the advice which he had solicited. He had been stung by

the sarcasm which Alva had once uttered, that the German potentates

carried plenty of lions, dragons, eagles, and griffins on their shields;

but that these ferocious animals were not given to biting or scratching.

He was therefore disposed, once for all, to show that the teeth and claws

of German princes could still be dangerous. Unfortunately, he was

destined to add a fresh element of confusion to the chaos, and to furnish

rather a proof than a refutation of the correctness of Alva's gibe.

This was the hero who was now thrust, head and shoulders as it were, into

the entangled affairs of the Netherlanders, and it was Elizabeth of

England, more than ever alarmed at the schemes of Alencon, who had pushed

forward this Protestant champion, notwithstanding the disinclination of

Orange.

The Queen was right in her uneasiness respecting the French prince. The

Catholic nobles, relying upon the strong feeling still rife throughout

the Walloon country against the Reformed religion, and inflamed more than

ever by their repugnance to Orange, whose genius threw them so completely

into the shade, had already drawn closer to the Duke. The same

influences were at work to introduce Alencon, which had formerly been

employed to bring Matthias from Vienna. Now that the Archduke, who was

to have been the rival, had become the dependent of William, they turned

their attention to the son of Catherine de Medici, Orange himself having

always kept the Duke in reserve, as an instrument to overcome the

political coquetry of Elizabeth. That great Princess never manifested

less greatness than in her earlier and most tormenting connexion with the

Netherlands. Having allured them for years with bright but changeful

face, she still looked coldly down upon the desolate sea where they were

drifting She had promised much; her performance had been nothing. Her

jealousy of French influence had at length been turned to account; a

subsidy and a levy extorted from her fears. Her ministers and prominent

advisers were one and all in favor of an open and generous support to the

provinces. Walsingham, Burleigh, Knollys, Davidson, Sidney, Leicester,

Fleetwood, Wilson, all desired that she should frankly espouse their

cause. A bold policy they believed to be the only prudent one in this

case; yet the Queen considered it sagacious to despatch envoys both to

Philip and to Don John, as if after what they knew of her secret

practices, such missions could effect any useful purpose. Better,

therefore, in the opinion of the honest and intrepid statesmen of

England, to throw down the gauntlet at once in the cause of the oppressed

than to shuffle and palter until the dreaded rival should cross the

frontier. A French Netherlands they considered even mere dangerous than

a Spanish, and Elizabeth partook of their sentiments, although incapable

of their promptness. With the perverseness which was the chief blot upon

her character, she was pleased that the Duke should be still a dangler

for her hand, even while she was intriguing against his political hopes.

She listened with undisguised rapture to his proposal of love, while she

was secretly thwarting the plans of his ambition.

Meanwhile, Alencon had arrived at Mons, and we have seen already the

feminine adroitness with which his sister of Navarre had prepared his

entrance. Not in vain had she cajoled the commandant of Cambray citadel;

not idly had she led captive the hearts of Lalain and his Countess, thus

securing the important province of Hainault for the Duke. Don John

might, indeed, gnash his teeth with rage, as he marked the result of all

the feasting and flattery, the piping and dancing at Namur.

Francis Duke of Alencon, and since the accession of his brother Henry to

the French throne--Duke of Anjou was, upon the whole, the most despicable

personage who had ever entered the Netherlands. His previous career at

home had, been so flagrantly false that he had forfeited the esteem of

every honest man in Europe, Catholic or Lutheran, Huguenot or Malcontent.

The world has long known his character. History will always retain him

as an example, to show mankind the amount of mischief which may be

perpetrated by a prince, ferocious without courage, ambitious without

talent, and bigoted without opinions. Incapable of religious convictions

himself, he had alternately aspired to be a commander of Catholic and of

Huguenot zealots, and he had acquired nothing by his vacillating course,

save the entire contempt of all parties and of both religions. Scared

from the aide of Navarre and Conde by the menacing attitude of the

"league," fearing to forfeit the succession to the throne, unless he made

his peace with the court, he had recently resumed his place among the

Catholic commanders. Nothing was easier for him than to return

shamelessly to a party which he had shamelessly deserted, save perhaps to

betray it again, should his interest prompt him to do so, on the morrow.

Since the peace of 1576, it had been evident that the Protestants could

not count upon his friendship, and he had soon afterwards been placed at

the head of the army which was besieging the Huguenots of Issoire. He

sought to atone for having commanded the troops of the new religion by

the barbarity with which he now persecuted its votaries. When Issoire

fell into his hands, the luckless city was spared none of the misery

which can be inflicted by a brutal and frenzied soldiery. Its men were

butchered, its females outraged; its property plundered with a

thoroughness which rivalled the Netherland practice of Alva, or Frederic

Toledo, or Julian Romero. The town was sacked and burned to ashes by

furious Catholics, under the command of Francis Alencon,--almost at the

very moment when his fair sister, Margaret, was preparing the way in the

Netherlands for the fresh treason--which he already meditated to the

Catholic cause. The treaty of Bergerac, signed in the autumn of 1577,

again restored a semblance of repose to France, and again afforded an

opportunity for Alencon to change his politics, and what he called his

religion. Reeking with the blood of the Protestants of Issoire, he was

now at leisure to renew his dalliance with the Queen of Protestant

England, and to resume his correspondence with the great-chieftain of the

Reformation in the Netherlands.

It is perhaps an impeachment upon the perspicacity of Orange, that he

could tolerate this mischievous and worthless "son of France," even for

the grave reasons which influenced him. Nevertheless, it must be

remembered that he only intended to keep him in reserve, for the purpose

of irritating the jealousy and quickening the friendship of the English

Queen. Those who see anything tortuous in such politics must beware of

judging the intriguing age of Philip and Catherine de' Medici by the

higher standard of later, and possibly more candid times. It would have

been puerile for a man of William the Silent's resources, to allow

himself to be outwitted by the intrigues of all the courts and cabinets

in Europe. Moreover, it must be remembered that, if he alone could guide

himself and his country through the perplexing labyrinth in which they

were involved; it was because he held in his hand the clue of an honest

purpose. His position in regard to the Duke of Alencon, had now become

sufficiently complicated, for the tiger that he had led in a chain had

been secretly unloosed by those who meant mischief. In the autumn of the

previous year, the aristocratic and Catholic party in the states-general

had opened their communications with a prince, by whom they hoped to be

indemnified for their previous defeat.

The ill effects of Elizabeth's coquetry too plainly manifested themselves

at last, and Alencon had now a foothold in the Netherlands. Precipitated

by the intrigues of the party which had always been either openly or

secretly hostile to Orange, his advent could no longer be delayed. It

only remained for the Prince to make himself his master, as he had

already subdued each previous rival. This he accomplished with his

customary adroitness. It was soon obvious, even to so dull and so base a

nature as that of the Duke, that it was his best policy to continue to

cultivate so powerful a friendship. It cost him little to crouch, but

events were fatally, to prove at a later day, that there are natures too

malignant to be trusted or to be tamed. For the present, however,

Alencon professed the most friendly sentiments towards the Prince.

Solicited by so ardent and considerable a faction, the Duke was no longer

to be withheld from trying the venture, and if, he could not effect his

entrance by fair means, was determined to do so by force.--He would

obtrude his assistance, if it were declined. He would do his best to

dismember the provinces, if only a portion of them would accept his

proffered friendship. Under these circumstances, as the Prince could no

longer exclude him from the country, it became necessary to accept his

friendship, and to hold him in control. The Duke had formally offered

his assistance to the states-general, directly after the defeat of

Gemblours, and early in July had made his appearance in Mons. Hence he

despatched his envoys, Des Pruneaux and Rochefort, to deal with the

States-general and with Orange, while he treated Matthias with contempt,

and declared that he had no intention to negotiate with him. The

Archduke burst into tears when informed of this slight; and feebly

expressed a wish that succor might be found in Germany which would render

this French alliance unnecessary. It was not the first nor the last

mortification which the future Emperor was to undergo. The Prince was

addressed with distinguished consideration; Des Pruneaux protesting that

he desired but three things--the glory of his master, the glory of God,

and the glory of William of Orange.

The French King was naturally supposed to be privy to his brother's

schemes, for it was thought ridiculous to suggest that Henry's own troops

could be led by his own brother, on this foreign expedition, without his

connivance. At the same time, private letters, written by him at this

epoch, expressed disapprobation of the schemes of Alencon, and jealousy

of his aggrandizement. It was, perhaps, difficult to decide as to the

precise views of a monarch who was too weak to form opinions for himself,

and too false to maintain those with which he had been furnished by

others. With the Medicean mother it was different, and it was she who

was believed to be at the bottom of the intrigue. There was even a vague

idea that the Spanish Sovereign himself might be privy to the plot, and

that a possible marriage between Alencon and the Infanta might be on the

cards. In truth, however, Philip felt himself outraged by the whole

proceedings. He resolutely refused to accept the excuses proffered by

the French court, or to doubt the complicity of the Queen Dowager, who,

it was well known, governed all her sons. She had, to be sure, thought

proper to read the envoys of the states-general a lecture upon the

impropriety of subjects opposing the commands of their lawful Prince, but

such artifices were thought too transparent to deceive. Granvelle

scouted the idea of her being ignorant of Anjou's scheme, or opposed to

its success. As for William of Hesse, while he bewailed more than ever

the luckless plunge into "confusum chaos" which Casimir had taken, he

unhesitatingly expressed his conviction that the invasion of Alencon was

a master-piece of Catherine. The whole responsibility of the transaction

he divided, in truth, between the Dowager and the comet, which just then

hung over the world, filling the soul of the excellent Landgrave with

dismal apprehension.

The Queen of England was highly incensed by the actual occurrence

of the invasion which she had so long dreaded. She was loud in her

denunciations of the danger and dishonor which would be the result to the

provinces of this French alliance. She threatened not only to withdraw

herself from their cause, but even to take arms against a commonwealth

which had dared to accept Alencon for its master. She had originally

agreed to furnish one hundred thousand pounds by way of loan. This

assistance had been afterwards commuted into a levy of three thousand

foot and-two thousand horse, to be added to the forces of John Casimir,

and to be placed under his command. It had been stipulated; also, that

the Palatine should have the rank and pay of an English general-in-chief,

and be considered as the Queen's lieutenant. The money had been

furnished and the troops enrolled. So much had been already bestowed,

and could not be recalled, but it was not probable that, in her present

humor, the Queen would be induced to add to her favors.

The Prince, obliged by the necessity of the case, had prescribed the

terms and the title under which Alencon should be accepted. Upon the

13th of August the Duke's envoy concluded a convention in twenty-three

articles; which were afterwards subscribed by the Duke himself, at Mons,

upon the twentieth of the same month. The substance of this arrangement

was that Alencon should lend his assistance to the provinces against the

intolerable tyranny of the Spaniards and the unjustifiable military

invasion of Don John. He was, moreover, to bring into the field ten

thousand foot and two thousand horse for three months. After the

expiration of this term, his forces might be reduced to three thousand

foot and five hundred horse. The states were to confer upon him the

title of "Defender of the Liberty of the Netherlands against the Tyranny

of the Spaniards and their adherents." He was to undertake no

hostilities against Queen Elizabeth. The states were to aid him,

whenever it should become necessary, with the same amount of force with

which he now assisted them. He was to submit himself contentedly to the

civil government of the country, in everything regarding its internal

polity. He was to make no special contracts or treaties with any cities

or provinces of the Netherlands. Should the states-general accept

another prince as sovereign, the Duke was to be preferred to all others,

upon conditions afterwards to be arranged. All cities which might be

conquered within the territory of the united provinces were to belong to

the states. Such places not in that territory, as should voluntarily

surrender, were to be apportioned, by equal division, between the Duke

and the states. The Duke was to bring no foreign troops but French into

the provinces. The month of August was reserved, during which the states

were, if possible, to make a composition with Don John.

These articles were certainly drawn up with skill. A high-sounding but

barren title, which gratified the Duke's vanity and signified nothing,

had been conferred upon him, while at the same time he was forbidden to

make conquests or contracts, and was obliged to submit himself to the

civil government of the country: in short, he was to obey the Prince

of Orange in all things--and so here was another plot of the Prince's

enemies neutralized. Thus, for the present at least, had the position

of Anjou been defined.