THE ADMINISTRATION OF JOHN DE WITT 1654-1665
FROM THE PEACE OF WESTMINSTER TO THE OUT-BREAK OF THE SECOND ENGLISH WAR
The position of John de Witt in July, 1654, was a difficult one. The
conduct of the council-pensionary in the matter of the Act of Exclusion
was openly attacked in the States-General. Had the leaders of the Orange
party been united, the attack might have had serious consequences; but
notoriously the princess royal, the princess dowager and William
Frederick were on bad terms, and De Witt, with his usual adroitness,
knew well how to play off one against another. To meet the accusations
of his assailants in the States-General he drew up however an elaborate
defence of the action taken by the Estates of Holland and by himself.
The document bore the title "Deduction of the Estates of Holland." It
was laborious rather than convincing, and it did not convince opponents.
Nevertheless, though resentment continued to smoulder, the fact that
peace had been assured soon reconciled the majority to allow the
doubtful means by which it had been obtained to be overlooked. The tact,
the persuasiveness, the great administrative powers of the
council-pensionary effected the rest; and his influence from this time
forward continued to grow, until he attained to such a control over
every department of government, as not even Oldenbarneveldt had
possessed in the height of his power.
John de Witt was possibly not the equal of the famous Advocate in sheer
capacity for great affairs, but he had practical abilities of the
highest order as a financier and organiser, and he combined with these
more solid qualifications a swiftness of courageous decision in moments
of emergency which his almost infinite resourcefulness in extricating
himself from difficult and perilous situations, enabled him to carry to
a successful issue. His marriage in February, 1655, to Wendela Bicker,
who belonged to one of the most important among the ruling
burgher-families of Amsterdam, brought to him enduring domestic
happiness. It was likewise of no slight political value. Andries and
Cornelis Bicker, who had headed the opposition to William II and had
been declared by him in 1650 incapable of holding henceforth any
municipal office, were her uncles; while her maternal uncle, Cornelis de
Graeff, was a man of weight and influence both in his native town and in
the Provincial Estates. By this close relationship with such leading
members of the regent-aristocracy of Amsterdam the council-pensionary
became almost as secure of the support of the commercial capital in the
north of Holland, as he was already of Dordrecht in the south. Two of
his cousins, Slingelandt and Vivien, were in turn his successors, as
pensionaries of Dordrecht, while for his predecessor in that post,
Nicolas Ruysch, he obtained the extremely influential office of
_griffier_ or secretary to the States-General. Nor did he scruple to
exercise his powers of patronage for other members of his family. His
father, Jacob de Witt, was made a member of the Chamber of Finance; his
elder brother, Cornelis, Ruwaard of Putten. By these and other
appointments of men who were his friends and supporters, to important
positions diplomatic, military and naval, De Witt contrived to
strengthen more and more his personal authority and influence. And yet
in thus favouring his relatives and friends, let us not accuse De Witt
of base motives or of venality. He firmly believed in his own ability to
serve the State, and, without doubt, he was convinced that it was for
the best interest of his country for him to create for himself, as far
as was possible amidst the restrictions by which he was hemmed in on
every side, a free field of diplomatic and administrative action. No
one, not even his bitterest enemies, ever charged John de Witt with
personal corruption. Throughout his whole career he lived quietly and
unostentatiously, as a simple citizen, on a very moderate income, and he
died a poor man.
One of the first cares of the council-pensionary after the peace with
England was to deal with the internal troubles which were disturbing
certain parts of the land, notably Groningen, Zeeland and Overyssel. In
the last-named province a serious party struggle arose out of the
appointment of a strong Orangist, named Haersolte, to the post of Drost
or governor of Twente. The Estates were split up, the Orange partisans
meeting at Zwolle, the anti-Orange at Deventer. Both enlisted troops,
but those of Zwolle were the stronger and laid siege to Deventer. The
victorious Orangists then nominated William III as stadholder with
William Frederick as his lieutenant. At last, after three years' strife,
the parties called in De Witt and William Frederick as mediators. But De
Witt was far too clever for the Friesland stadholder. It happened that
the post of field-marshal had just fallen vacant by the death of
Brederode. Both William Frederick and his cousin Joan Maurice aspired to
the office. The council-pensionary induced his co-mediator, with the
hope of becoming Brederode's successor, to yield on all points.
Haersolte was deprived of office; the prince's appointment as stadholder
was suspended until his majority; and therefore William Frederick could
not act as his lieutenant. Thus peace was restored to Overyssel, but
William Frederick was not appointed field-marshal. In the other
provinces the tact and skill of De Witt were equally successful in
allaying discord. He would not have been so successful had the Orange
party not been hopelessly divided and had it possessed capable leaders.
As an administrator and organiser the council-pensionary at once applied
himself to two most important tasks, financial reform and naval
reconstruction. The burden of debt upon the province of Holland, which
had borne so large a part of the charges of the war, was crushing. The
rate of interest had been reduced in 1640 from 6 J to 5 per cent. But
the cost of the English war, which was wholly a naval war, had caused
the debt of Holland to mount to 153,000,000 guilders, the interest on
which was 7,000,000 guilders per annum. De Witt first took in hand a
thorough overhauling of the public accounts, by means of which he was
enabled to check unnecessary outlay and to effect a number of economies.
Finding however that, despite his efforts to reduce expenditure, he
could not avoid an annual deficit, the council-pensionary took the bold
step of proposing a further reduction of interest from 5 to 4 per cent.
He had some difficulty in persuading the investors in government funds
to consent, but he overcame opposition by undertaking to form a sinking
fund by which the entire debt should be paid off in 41 years. Having
thus placed the finances of the province on a sound basis, De Witt next
brought a similar proposal before the States-General with the result
that the interest on the Generality debt was likewise reduced to 4 per
cent.
The English war had conclusively proved to the Dutch their inferiority
in the size and armament of their war-vessels, and of the need of a
complete reorganisation of the fleet. De Witt lost no time in taking the
necessary steps. The custom which had hitherto prevailed of converting
merchantmen into ships of war at the outbreak of hostilities was
abandoned. Steps were taken to build steadily year by year a number of
large, strongly-constructed, powerfully armed men-of-war, mounting 60,70
and 80 guns. These vessels were specially adapted for passing in and out
of the shallow waters and were built for strength rather than for speed.
Again, the part taken in the war by the light, swift-sailing English
frigates led to a large flotilla of these vessels being built, so useful
for scouting purposes and for preying upon the enemy's commerce. The
supply and training of seamen was also dealt with, and the whole system
of pay and of prize-money revised and reorganised. It was a great and
vitally necessary task, and subsequent events were to show how admirably
it had been carried out.
No one knew better than John de Witt that peace was the chief interest
of the United Provinces, but his lot was cast in troubled times, and he
was one of those prescient statesmen who perceive that meekness in
diplomacy and willingness to submit to injury do not promote the cause
of peace or further the true interests of any country.
The conquests of France in the southern Netherlands caused great anxiety
to the Dutch; and the high-handed action of French pirates in searching
and seizing Dutch merchantmen in the Mediterranean aroused much
indignation. The States, acting on De Witt's advice, replied by sending
a squadron under De Ruyter to put a stop to these proceedings. The Dutch
admiral took vigorous action and captured some French freebooters. The
French government thereupon forbade Dutch vessels to enter French
harbours. The Dutch replied by a similar embargo and threatened to
blockade the French coast. This threat had the desired effect, and an
accommodation was reached. The peace of the Pyrenees in 1659, by which
the French retained a large part of their conquests in Flanders,
Hainault and Namur, while the English acquired possession of Dunkirk,
was disquieting. For the relations with England, despite the goodwill
of the Protector, were far from satisfactory. The trade interests of
the two republics clashed at so many points that a resumption of
hostilities was with difficulty prevented. More especially was this the
case after the outbreak of war with Portugal in November, 1657.
The Dutch accused the Portuguese government of active connivance with
the successful revolt of the Brazilian colonists against Dutch rule.
What was once Dutch Brazil was now claimed by the Lisbon government as a
Portuguese possession, and De Witt demanded an indemnity. As this was
not conceded, a squadron under Obdam, November, 1657, blockaded the
Portuguese coast, while another under De Ruyter made many seizures of
merchant vessels. Cromwell was disposed to intervene, but his death on
September 3,1658, removed any fears of English action. Meanwhile the
Dutch captured Ceylon and Macassar and practically cut off Portuguese
intercourse with the East Indies. At last in August, 1661, a treaty was
signed by which the Dutch abandoned all territorial claims in Brazil,
but were granted freedom of trade and an indemnity of 8,000,000 fl. to
be paid in sixteen years, and, what was more valuable, they retained
possession of their conquests in the East.
The protracted dispute with Portugal was however of quite subordinate
importance to the interest of the Dutch in the complications of the
so-called Northern War. On the abdication of Christina in 1654, Charles
X Gustavus had succeeded to the Swedish throne. The new king was fired
with the ambition of following in the footsteps of Gustavus Adolphus,
and of rendering Sweden supreme in the Baltic by the subjection of
Poland and Denmark. Charles was a man of great force of character and
warlike energy, and he lost no time in attempting to put his schemes of
conquest into execution. Having secured the alliance of the Great
Elector, anxious also to aggrandise himself in Polish Prussia, the
Swedish king declared war against Poland, and in the early summer of
1656 laid siege to Danzig. But the importance of the Baltic trade to
Holland was very great and Danzig was the corn emporium of the Baltic.
Under pressure therefore of the Amsterdam merchants the States-General
despatched (July) a fleet of forty-two ships under Obdam van Wassenaer
through the Sound, which raised the siege of Danzig and with Polish
consent left a garrison in the town. Thus checked, the Swedish king at
Elbing (September, 1656) renewed amicable relations with the republic,
and Danzig was declared a neutral port. At the same time a defensive
alliance was concluded between the States and Denmark. It was obvious
from, this that the Dutch were hostile to Swedish pretensions and
determined to resist them. De Witt was anxious to preserve peace, but
he had against him all the influence of Amsterdam, and that of the able
diplomatist, Van Beuningen, who after being special envoy of the States
at Stockholm had now been sent to Copenhagen. Van Beuningen held that,
whatever the risks of intervention on the part of the States, the
control of the Sound must not fall into the hands of Sweden. The
emergency came sooner than was expected.
Brandenburg having changed sides, the Swedes were expelled from Poland;
and Frederick III of Denmark, despite the advice of De Witt, seized the
opportunity to declare war on Sweden. Although it was the depth of
winter Charles Gustavus lost no time in attacking Denmark. He quickly
drove the Danes from Schonen and Funen and invaded Seeland. Frederick
was compelled at Roeskilde (February, 1658) to accept the terms of the
conqueror. Denmark became virtually a Swedish dependency, and undertook
to close the Sound to all foreign ships. Involved as the republic was in
disputes at this time with both France and England, and engaged in war
with Portugal, De Witt would have been content to maintain a watchful
attitude in regard to Scandinavian matters and to strive by diplomacy to
secure from Sweden a recognition of Dutch rights. But his hand was
forced by Van Beuningen, who went so far as to urge the Danish king to
rely on his defensive alliance with the republic and to break the treaty
of Roeskilde. Charles Gustavus promptly invaded Denmark, drove the
Danish fleet from the sea, placed strong garrisons at Elsinore and
Kronborg, and laid siege to Copenhagen. Van Beuningen had proudly
asserted that "the oaken keys of the Sound lay in the docks of
Amsterdam," and his boast was no empty one. At the beginning of October
a force of thirty-five vessels under Obdam carrying 4000 troops sailed
for the Sound with orders to destroy the Swedish fleet, and to raise the
siege of Copenhagen. On November 8 Obdam encountered the Swedes in the
entrance to the Baltic. The Swedish admiral Wrangel had forty-five ships
under his command, and the battle was obstinate and bloody. Obdam
carried out his instructions. Only a remnant of the Swedish fleet found
refuge in the harbour of Landskrona, but the Dutch also suffered
severely. The two vice-admirals, Witte de With and Floriszoon, were
killed, and Obdam himself narrowly escaped capture, but Copenhagen was
freed from naval blockade.
Charles Gustavus however held military possession of a large part of
Denmark, and in the spring began to press the attack on the capital
from the land side. As both England and France showed a disposition to
interfere in the conflict, the States-General now acted with unexpected
vigour, recognising that this question to them was vital. An imposing
force of seventy-five warships, carrying 12,000 troops and mounting 3000
guns, was despatched in May, 1659, under De Ruyter to the Baltic.
Negotiations for peace between the Scandinavian powers under the
mediation of France, England and the United Provinces, were now set on
foot and dragged on through the summer. But neither Charles Gustavus nor
Frederick could be brought to agree to the terms proposed, and the
former in the autumn again threatened Copenhagen. In these circumstances
De Ruyter was ordered to expel the Swedes from Funen. On November 24 the
town of Nyborg was taken by storm and the whole Swedish force compelled
to surrender. De Ruyter was now supreme in the Baltic and closely
blockaded the Swedish ports. The spirit of Charles Gustavus was broken
by these disasters; he died on February 20, 1660. Peace was now
concluded at Oliva on conditions favourable to Sweden, but securing for
the Dutch the free passage of the Sound. The policy of De Witt was at
once firm and conciliatory. Without arousing the active opposition of
England and France, he by strong-handed action at the decisive moment
succeeded in maintaining that balance of power in the Baltic which was
essential in the interest of Dutch trade. The republic under his skilful
leadership undoubtedly gained during the northern wars fresh weight and
consideration in the Councils of Europe.
The peace of the Pyrenees, followed by the peace of Oliva and the
settlement with Portugal, seemed to open out to the United Provinces a
period of rest and recuperation, but probably no one knew better than
the council-pensionary that outward appearances were deceptive. In the
spring of 1660 a bloodless revolution had been accomplished in England,
and Charles II was restored to the throne. The hostility of De Witt and
of the States party to the house of Stuart had been marked. It happened
that Charles was at Breda when he received the invitation recalling him
to England. The position was a difficult one, but the council-pensionary
at once saw, with his usual perspicacity, that there was but one course
to pursue. Acting under his advice, every possible step was taken by the
States-General and the Estates of Holland to propitiate the prince,
who from being a forlorn exile had suddenly become a powerful king.
Immense sums were spent upon giving him a magnificent reception at the
Hague; and, when he set sail from Scheveningen, deputations from the
States-General and the Estates of Holland attended in state his
embarkation and lavish promises of friendship were exchanged. It was
significant, however, that Charles handed to the council-pensionary a
declaration commending to the care of their High Mightinesses "the
Princess my sister and the Prince of Orange my nephew, persons who are
extremely dear to me." He had previously expressed the same wish to De
Witt privately; and compliance with it, _i.e._ the annulling of the Act
of Exclusion, was inevitable. But all the actors in this comedy were
playing a part. Charles was not deceived by all this subservience, and,
continuing to entertain a bitter grudge against De Witt and his party,
only waited his time to repay their enmity in kind. De Witt on his side,
though in his anxiety to conciliate the new royalist government he
consented to deliver up three regicides who were refugees in Holland (an
act justly blamed), refused to restore the Prince of Orange to any of
the ancient dignities and offices of his forefathers. Acting however on
his advice, the Estates of Holland passed a unanimous resolution
declaring William a ward of the Estates and voting a sum of money for
his maintenance and education.
Very shortly after this momentous change in the government of England,
Cardinal Mazarin died (March, 1661); and the youthful Louis XIV took the
reins of power into his own hands. Outwardly all seemed well in the
relations between France and the republic, and in point of fact an
offensive and defensive alliance for twenty-five years was concluded
between them on April 27,1662. Later in the same year Count D'Estrades,
formerly ambassador in the time of Frederick Henry, resumed his old
post. The relations between him and De Witt were personally of the
friendliest character, but the conciliatory attitude of D'Estrades did
not deceive the far-sighted council-pensionary, who was seriously
disquieted as to the political aims of France in the southern
Netherlands.
By the treaty of the Pyrenees, 1659, the French had already acquired a
large slice of territory in Flanders and Artois. They had since obtained
Dunkirk by purchase from Charles II. Moreover Louis XIV had married the
eldest daughter of Philip IV, whose only son was a weakly boy. It is
true that Maria Theresa, on her marriage, had renounced all claims to
the Spanish succession. But a large dowry had been settled upon her, and
by the treaty the renunciation was contingent upon its payment. The
dowry had not been paid nor was there any prospect of the Spanish
treasury being able to find the money. Besides it was no secret that
Louis claimed the succession to Brabant for his wife and certain other
portions of the Netherlands under what was called the Law of Devolution.
By this law the female child of a first wife was the heir in preference
to the male child of a later marriage. The Dutch dreaded the approach of
the French military power to their frontiers, and yet the decrepitude of
Spain seemed to render it inevitable. There appeared to De Witt to be
only two solutions of the difficulty. Either what was styled "the
cantonment" of the southern Netherlands, _i.e._ their being formed into
a self-governing republic under Dutch protection guaranteed by a French
alliance, or the division of the Belgic provinces between the two
powers. The latter proposal, however, had two great disadvantages: in
the first place it gave to France and the Republic the undesirable
common frontier; in the second place Amsterdam was resolved that Antwerp
should not be erected into a dangerous rival. The last objection proved
insuperable; and, although De Witt had many confidential discussions
with D'Estrades, in which the French envoy was careful not to commit
himself to any disclosure of the real intentions of his government, no
settlement of any kind had been arrived at, when the threatening state
of relations with England threw all other questions into the background.
The accession of Charles II placed upon the throne of England a man who
had no goodwill to Holland and still less to the council-pensionary, and
who, like all the Stewart kings, had a keen interest in naval and
maritime matters. The Navigation Act, far from being repealed, was
vigorously enforced, as were the English claims to the sovereignty of
the narrow seas. The grievances of the English East India Company
against its Dutch rival with regard to the seizure of certain ships and
especially as to the possession of a small island named Poeloe-Rum in
the Moluccas led to a growing feeling of bitterness and hostility. A
special embassy, headed by De Witt's cousin, Beverweert, was sent to
London in the autumn of 1660 to try to bring about a friendly
understanding, but was fruitless. At the same time George Downing, a
skilful intriguer and adventurer, who after serving Cromwell had
succeeded in gaining the confidence of the royal government, had been
sent as ambassador to the Hague, where he worked underhand to exacerbate
the disputes and to prevent a settlement of the differences between the
two peoples. The position and treatment of the Prince of Orange had
likewise been a source of difficulty and even of danger to the supremacy
of the States party. There arose a general movement among the provinces,
headed by Gelderland and Zeeland, to nominate William captain-and
admiral-general of the Union and stadholder. The lack of leadership in
the Orangist party, and the hostility between the two princesses,
rendered, however, any concentrated action impossible. De Witt, with his
usual adroitness, gained the ear of the princess royal, who accepted the
proposal that the Estates of Holland should undertake the education of
the prince, and even consented that De Witt himself and his wife's
uncle, De Graef, should superintend the prince's studies. This arranged,
Mary, for the first time since her marriage, paid a visit to her native
land, being desirous to consult her brother on various subjects.
Unfortunately she died of small-pox in January, 1661, having nominated
Charles as her son's guardian. This nomination did not tend to smooth
matters between the two countries.
There was a powerful war party in England, supported by the Duke of
York. It was at his instigation that a strong-handed act took place
which aroused intense indignation in Holland. A company called "The
Royal African Company" had been formed in which the duke had a large
interest. A fleet fitted out by this company under the command of
Admiral Holmes seized, in February, 1664, a portion of the coast of
Guinea on which the Dutch had settlements. Strong protests meeting with
nothing but evasive replies, in all secrecy a squadron was got ready to
sail under De Ruyter, nominally to the Mediterranean. Dilatory
negotiations were in the meantime being conducted by Beverweert in
London, and by Downing at the Hague in regard to this and other
grievances, but without any approach to a settlement. Downing in fact
was surreptitiously doing his best not to reconcile, but to aggravate
differences. Matters were brought to a head by the news that an English
fleet had crossed the Atlantic and had taken possession of the Dutch
colony of New Netherland (September), and that Holmes had made himself
master of Cabo Corso on the West African coast, and was threatening
further conquests. This was too much. De Ruyter received orders to
proceed to Guinea, where he speedily drove out the English intruders and
reoccupied the lost settlements. During the winter both powers prepared
for a struggle for maritime supremacy which had become inevitable; and
at last war was declared by England (March 4, 1665).
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