The Rise Of The Dutch Republic A History,Vol-Iii

THE

RISE OF THE DUTCH REPUBLIC

A HISTORY.

THE RISE

-i AJL lu

OF

X

Jfi

A HISTORY

BY

JOHN LOTHROP MOTLEY

AUTHOR OF “THE HISTORY OF THE UNITED NETHERLANDS,” AND
‘THE LIFE AND DEATH OF JOAN OF BARNBVELD#*^

A NEW EDITION, IN THBEE Vo£lm$

YOl. in

LONDON

W. W. GIBBINGS, 18 BURY STREET, W.O.
Exeter: J. G. Commin
1892

CONTENTS OF VOL. Ill

PART IV:

( Continued .)

ADMINISTRATION OF THE GRAND COMMANDER. 1573-1576.

chapter in.

BARREN DIPLOMACY AND SUBMARINE LAURELS.

Latter days of the Blood-Council—Informal and insincere negotiations for
peace—Characteristics of the negotiators and of their diplomatic cor¬
respondence—Dr. Junius—Secret conferences between Dr. Leoninus
and Orange—Steadfastness of the Prince—Changes in the internal
government of the northern provinces—Generosity and increasing
power of the municipalities—Incipient jealousy in regard to Orange
rebuked—His offer of resignation refused by the Estates—His eleva¬
tion to almost unlimited power—Renewed mediation of Maximilian—
Views and positions of the parties—Advice of Orange—Opening of
negotiations at Breda—Propositions and counter-propositions—Adroit¬
ness of the plenipotentiaries on both sides—Insincere diplomacy and
unsatisfactory results—Union of Holland and Zeland under the Prince
of Orange—Act defining his powers—Charlotte de Bourbon—Charac-
ter, fortunes, and fate of Anna of Saxony—Marriage of Orange with
Mademoiselle de Bourbon—Indignation thereby excited—Horrible
tortures inflicted upon Papists by Sonoy in North Holland—Oude*
water and Schoonoven taken by Hierges—The Isles of Zeland—A
submarine expedition projected—Details of the adventure—Its entire
success—Death of Chiappin Vitelli—Deliberations in Holland and
Zeland concerning the renunciation of Philip’s authority—Declara¬
tion at Delft—Doubts as to which of the Great Powers the sovereignty
should be offered—Secret international relations—Mission to England

Vi CONTENTS.

—■'Unsatisfactory negotiations with. Elizabeth—Position of the Grand.
Commander—Siege of Zierickzee—Generosity of Count John—Des¬
perate project of the Prince—Death and character of Requesens,

Pp. 3-51

CHAPTER IV.

THE HOPPES POLICY AND THE MONSTER MEETING.

Assumption of affairs by the state council at Brussels—Hesitation at
Madrid—Joachim Hopper—Mal-administration—Vigilance of Orange
—The provinces drawn more closely together—Inequality of the
conflict—Physical condition of Holland—New act of Union between
Holland and Zeland—Authority of the Prince defined and enlarged
—Provincial polity characterised—Generous sentiments of the Prince
—His tolerant spirit—Letters from the King—Attitude of the great
powers towards the Netherlands—Correspondence and policy of
Elizabeth—Secret negociations with Prance and Alenin—Confused
and menacing aspect of Germany—Responsible and laborious posi¬
tion of Orange—Attempt to relieve Zierickzee—Death of Admiral
Boisot—Capitulation of the city upon honourable terms—Mutiny of
the Spanish troops in Schouwen—General causes of discontent—
Alarming increase of the mutiny—The rebel regiments enter Brabant
—Fruitless attempts to pacify them—They take possession of Alost—
Edicts, denouncing them, from the. state-council—Intense excitement
in Brussels and Antwerp—Letters from Philip brought by Marquis
Havre—The King’s continued procrastination—Ruinous royal con¬
firmation of the authority assumed by the state council—United and
general resistance to foreign military oppression—The German troops
and the Antwerp garrison, under Avila, join the revolt—Letter of
Verdugo—A crisis approaching—Jerome de Roda in the citadel—The
mutiny universal, ...... Pp. 52-80

CHAPTER V.

THE ANTWERP FURY RIPENS THE GHENT CONCORD.

Religious and political sympathies and antipathies in the seventeen pro¬
vinces—Unanimous hatred for the foreign soldiery.—Use made by the
Prince of the mutiny—His correspondence—Necessity of union en¬
forced—A congress from nearly all the provinces meets at Ghent—
Skirmishes between the foreign troops and partisan bands—Slaughter
at Tisnacq—Suspicions entertained of the State Council—Arrest of
the State Council—Siege of Ghent citadel—Assistance sent by Orange
—Maestricht lost and regained—Wealthy and perilous condition of

CONTENTS.

Vli

Antwerp—Preparations of the mutineers under the secret superin¬
tendence of Avila—Stupidity of Oberstein—Duplicity of Don Sancho
—Reinforcements of Walloons under Havr6, Egmont, and others sent
to Antwerp—Governor Champagny’s preparations for the expected
assault of the mutineers—Insubordination, incapacity, and negligence
of all but him—Concentration of all the mutineers from different points
in the eitadel—The attach, the panic, the flight, the massacre, the
fire, the sack, and other details of the “Spanish Fury”—Statistics of
murder and robbery—Letter of Orange to the States-general—Surren¬
der. of Ghent citadel—Conclusion of the “ Ghent Pacification ”—The
treaty characterised—Forms of ratification—Fall of Zierickzee and
Recovery of Zeland, t * ~ • Pp. 81-125

PART V.

DON JOHN OF AUSTRIA. 1576-1578.

CHAPTER i.

LEPANTO’S HERO.

Birth and parentage of Don John—Barbara Blomberg—Early education, and
recognition by Philip—Brilliant military career—Campaign against the
Moors—Battle of Lepanto—Extravagant ambition—Secret and rapid
journey of the new Governor to the Netherlands—Contrast between Don
John and William of Orange—Secret instructions of Philip and private
purposes of the Governor—Cautious policy and correspondence of the
Prince—Preliminary negociations with Don John at Luxemberg charac¬
terised—Union of Brussels—Resumption of negotiations with the Governor
at Huy—The discussions analysed and characterised—Influence of the new
Emperor Rodolph II., and of his envoys—Treaty of Marche en Famine,
or the Perpetual Edict, signed—Remarks upon that transaction—Views
and efforts of Orange in opposition to the treaty—His letter, in name of
Holland and Zeland, to the States-General—Anxiety of the Royal govern¬
ment to gain over the Prince—Secret mission of Leoninus—His instruc¬
tions from Don John—Fruitless attempts to corrupt the Prince—Secret
correspondence between Don John and Orange—Don John at Louvain—
His efforts to ingratiate himself with the Netherlanders—His incipient
popularity—Departure of the Spanish troops—Duke of Aerschot appointed
Governor of Antwerp citadel—His insincere character. • Pp. 129-178

CONTENTS.

riij

CHAPTER H.

THE TOPER SIBE OP THE CARPS.

Triumphal entrance of Eon John into Brussels—Reverse of the picture—
Analysis of the secret correspondence of Eon John and Escovedo with
Antonio Perez—Plots against the Governor’s liberty—3Tis desponding
language and gloomy anticipations—Recommendation of severe measures—
Position and principles of Orange and his family—His private views
on the question of peace and war—His tolerations to Catholics and
Anabaptists censured by his friends—Eeath of Yiglius—New mission
from the Governor to Orange—Eetails of the Gertruydenberg confer¬
ences—Nature and results of these negotiations—Papers exchanged
between the envoys and Orange—Peter Panis executed for heresy—
Three parties in the Netherlands—Dissimulation of Eon John—His
dread of capture, ..... Pp. 179-218

CHAPTER III.

A LION IN TIIE TOILS.

The city of Namur—Margaret of Valois—Her intrigues in Hainault in
favour of Alenin—Her reception by Eon John at Namur—Eestivities
in her honour—Seizure of Namur citadel by Eon John—Plan for seiz¬
ing that of Antwerp—Letter of the estates to Philip, sent by Escovedo
—Fortunes and fate of Escovedo in Madrid—Repairing of dikes—The
Prince’s visit to Holland—His letter to the estates-general on the
subject of Namur citadel—Hi? visit to Utrecht—Correspondence and
commissioners between Eon John and the estates—Acrimonious and
passionate character of these colloquies—Attempt of Treslong upon
Antwerp citadel frustrated by Ee Bourse—Fortunate panic of the
German mercenaries—Antwerp evacuated by the foreign troops—
Renewed correspondence—Audacity of the Governor’s demands—
Letters of Escovedo and others intercepted—Private schemes of Eon
John not understood by the estates—His letter to the Empress Eowager—
More correspondence with the estates—Painful and false position
of tlie Governor—Eemolition, in part, of Antwerp citadel, and of
other fortresses by the patriots—Statue of Alva—Letter of estates-*
general to the Ring, . . . . « Pp. 219-259

CHAPTER IY.

THE OUTLAW’S RETURN.

Orange invited to visit Brussels—His correspondence upon the subject
with the estates-general—Triumphant journey of the Prince to the

CONTENTS.

ix

capital—Stop put by him to the negotiations with Don John-New
and stringent demands made upon the Governor—His indignation—
Open rupture—Intrigue of Netherland grandees with Archduka
Matthias—Policy of Orange—Attitude of Queen Elizabeth—Flight of
Matthias from Vienna—Anxiety of Elizabeth—Adroitness of the Prince
—The office of Ruward—Election of Orange to that dignity—His com¬
plaints against the great nobles—Aerschot Governor of Flanders—A
Btorm brewing in Ghent—Ryhove and Imbize—Blood-Councillor Hessels
—Arrogance of the aristocratic party in Flanders—Ryhove’s secret
interview with Orange—Outbreak at Ghent—Arrest of Aerschot, Hessels,
and others of the reactionary party—The Duke liberated at demand of
Orange—The Prince’s visit to Ghent—“ Rhetorical ” demonstrations—
The new Brussels Union characterised—Treaty with England—Articles
by which Matthias is nominally constituted Governor-General—His
inauguration at Brussels—Brilliant and fantastic ceremonies—Letter of
Don John to the Emperor—His anger with England—An army collecting
—Arrival of Alexander Farnese—Injudicious distribution of offices in the
States’ army—The States’ army fall back upon Gemblours, followed by
Don John—Tremendous overthrow of the patriots—Wonderful disparity
in the respective losses of the two armies, • • Pp. 260-312

CHAPTER V.

THE GUARDIAN OP THE NETHERLAND BRIDE AND HER SUITORS.

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 Noue
—Action at Rijnemants—John Casimir—Perverse politics of Queen
Elizabeth—Alen^on 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 Alen^on 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 favour of the Roman Church
presented by Champagny and other Catholic nobles to the States-General

X

CONTENTS.

—Consequent commotion in Brussels—Champagny and others imprisoned
—Indolence and poverty of tlie 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, • Pp. 313-354

PART VI.

ALEXANDER OF PARMA. 1578-1584

CHAPTER i.

A NATION SEVERED AND A REPUBLIC BORN*

Birth, education, marriage, and youthful character of Alexander Farnese-—
His private adventures—Exploits at Lepanto and at Gemblours—He
succeeds to the government—Personal appearance and characteristics—
Aspect of affairs—Internal dissensions—Anjou at Mons—John Casimir’s
intrigues at Ghent—Anjou disbands his soldiers—The Netherlands
ravaged by various foreign troops—Anarchy and confusion in Ghent—
Imbize and Ryhove—Pate of Hessels and Visch—New pacification drawn
up by Orange—Representations of Queen Elizabeth—Remonstrance of
Brussels—Riots and image-breaking m Ghent—Displeasure of Orange—
His presence implored at Ghent, where he establishes a religious peace—
Painful situation of John Casimir—Sharp rebukes of Elizabeth—He takes
his departure—His troops apply to Farnese, who allows them to leave the
country—Anjou’s departure and manifesto—Elizabeth’s letters to the
states-general with regard to him—Complimentary addresses by the
Estates to the Duke—Death of Bossu—Calumnies against Orange—
Venality of the Malcontent grandees—La Motte’s treason—Intrigues of
the Prior of Renty—Sainte Aldegonde at Arras—The Prior of St. Vaast’s
exertions—Opposition of the clergy in the Walloon provinces to the
taxation of the general government—Triangular contest—Municipal
revolution in Arras led by Gosson and others—Counter-revolution—
Rapid trials and executions—“Reconciliation” of the malcontent
chieftains—Secret treaty of Mount St. Eloi—Mischief made by the
Prior of Renty—His accusations against the reconciled lords—Vengeance
taken upon him—Counter-movement by the liberal party—Union of
Utrecht—The act analysed and characterised, • • Pp. 357-406

CONTENTS*

xx

CHAPTER JX

TRIUMPHS OP TREASON*

Parma’s feint upon Antwerp—He invests Maestricht—Deputation and letters
from the states-general, from Brussels, and from Parma, to the Walloon
provinces—Active negotiations by Orange and by Farnese—Walloon
envoys in Parma’s camp before Maestricht—Festivities—The treaty of
Reconciliation—Rejoicings of the royalist party—Comedy enacted at the
Paris theatres—Religious tumults in Antwerp, Utrecht, and other cities—
Religious peace enforced by Orange—Philip Egmont’s unsuccessful
attempt upon Brussels—Siege of Maestricht—Failure at the Tongres
gate—Mining and countermining—Partial destruction of the Tongres
ravelin—Simultaneous attack upon the Tongres and Bois-le-duc gates—
The Spaniards repulsed with great loss—Gradual encroachments of the
besiegers — Bloody contests — The town taken—Horrible massacre—
Triumphal entrance and solemn thanksgiving—Calumnious attacks upon
Orange—Renewed troubles in Ghent, Imbize, and Dathenus—The presence
of the Prince solicited—Coup d’etat of Imbize—Order restored, and
Imbize expelled by Orange, * • . • Pp. 407-439

CHAPTER m.

STERILE CONFERENCES AND TEEMING INTRIGUES.

The Cologne conferences—Intentions of the parties—Preliminary attempt by
government to purchase the Prince of Orange—Offer and rejection of
various articles among the plenipotentiaries—Departure of the imperial
commissioners—Ultimatum of the States compared with that of the royal
government—Barren negotiations terminated—Treason of De Bour*
Governor of Mechlin—Liberal theories concerning the nature of govern
ment—Abjuration of Philip imminent—Self-denial of Orange—Attitude
of Germany; of England—Marriage negotiations between Elizabeth and
Anjou—Orange favours the election of the Duke as sovereign—Address
and speeches of the Prince—Parsimony and interprovincial jealousy
rebuked—Secret correspondence of Count Renneberg with the royal
government—His treason at Groningen, • • Pp. 440-467

CHAPTER IT.

DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE.

Captivity of La Noue—Cruel propositions of Philip—Siege of Groningen—
Death of Barthold Entes—His character—Hohenlo commands in the

CONTENTS.

xn

north—His incompetence—He is defeated on Hardehberg Heath—Petty
operations—Isolation of Orange—Dissatisfaction and departure of Count
John—Remonstrance of Archduke Matthias—Embassy to Anjou—
Holland and Zeland offer the sovereignty to Orange—Conquest of
Portugal—G-ranvelle proposes the Ban against the Prince—It is published
—The document analysed — The Apology of Orange analysed and
characterised — Siege of Steenwyk by Renneberg— Forgeries—Siege
relieved—Death of Renneberg—Institution of the “Land-Council”—
Duchess of Parma sent to the Netherlands—Anger of Alexander—Pro¬
hibition of Catholic worship in Antwerp, Utrecht, and elsewhere—
Declaration of Independence by the United Provinces—Negotiations with
Anjou—The sovereignty of Holland and Zeland provisionally accepted by
Orange—Tripartition of the Netherlands—Power of the Prince described
—Act of Abjuration analysed—Philosophy of Netkerland politics—Views
of the government compact—Acquiescence by the people in the action of
the estates—Departure of Archduke Matthias, • Pp. 468-505

CHAPTER V.

TWO ELECTED SOVEREIGNS.

Policy of electing Anjou as sovereign — Comnaoda et mcommoda—Views
of Orange—Opinions at the French Court—Anjou relieves Cambray—
Parma besieges Tournay—Brave defence by the Princess of Espinoy
—Honourable capitulation—Anjou’s courtship in England—The Duke’s
arrival in the Netherlands—Portrait ef Anjou—Festivities in Flushing
—Inauguration at Antwerp—The conditions or articles subscribed to by
the Duke — Attempt upon the life of Orange — The assassin’s papers
— Confession of Venero—Gaspar Anastro—His escape—Execution of
Venero and Zimmermann—Precarious condition of the Prince—His
recovery—Death of the Prmcess—Premature letters of Parma—Further
negotiations with Orange as to the sovereignty of Holland and Zeland—
Character of the revised Constitution—Comparison of the positions of the
Prince before and after his acceptance of the countship, . Pp. 506-539

CHAPTER VL

THE FRENCH FURY AND ITS RESULTS.

Parma recalls the foreign troops—Siege of Oudenarde—Coolness of Alexander
—Capture of the city and of Ninove—Inauguration of Anjou at Ghent—
Attempt upon his life and that of Orange—Lamoral Egmont’s implication
in the plot—Parma’s unsuccessful attack upon Ghent—Secret plans of

CONTENTS.

xiii

Anjou—Dunkirk, Ostend. and other towns surprised by bis adherents—
Failure at Bruges—Suspicions at Antwerp—Duplicity of Anjou—The
“French Fury”—Details of that transaction—Discomfiture and disgrace
of the Duke—His subsequent effrontery—His letters to the magistracy of
Antwerp, to the Estates, and to Orange—Extensive correspondence between
Anjou and the French Court with Orange and the Estates—Difficult
position of the Prince—His policy—Remarkable letter to the States-
general—Provisional arrangement with Anjou—Marriage of the Archbishop
of Cologne—Marriage of Orange with Louisa de Coligny—Movements in
Holland, Brabant, Flanders, and other provinces, to induce the Prince to
accept sovereignty over the whole country—His steady refusal—Treason
of Van den Berg m Gueldres—Intrigues of Prince Chimay and Imbize in
Flanders—Counter-efforts of Orange and the patriot party—Fate of
Imbize—Reconciliation of Bruges—Death of Anjou, , Pp. 640-580

CHAPTER V3X

A. hero’s DEATH.

Various attempts upon the life of Orange—Delft—Mansion of the Prince
described—Francis G-uion or Balthazar Gerard—His antecedents—His
correspondence and interviews with Parma and with D’Assonleville—
His employment in France—His return to Delft and interview with
Orange—The Crime—The confession—The punishment—The consequences
—Concluding remarks, • « # Pp. 581-612

FART IY.

( Continued .)

ADMINISTRATION ON THE GRAND COMMANDER.

1573-1576.

VOlfc in.

4

THE

EISE OF THE DUTCH EEPUBLIC.

CHAPTER III.

BARREN DIPLOMACY AND SUBMARINE LAURELS.

Latter clays of the Blood-Council—Informal and insincere negotiations for
peace—Characteristics of the negotiators and of their diplomatic cor¬
respondence—Dr. Junius—Seciet Conferences between Dr. Leoninus
and Orange — Steadfastness of the Prince — Changes in the internal
government of the northern provinces—Generosity and incieasing
power of the municipalities—Incipient jealousy in regard to Orange
rebuked—His offer of resignation refused by the Estates—Ilis eleva¬
tion to almost unlimited power—Renewed mediation of Maximilian—
Views and positions of the parties—Advice of Orange—Opening of
negotiations at Breda—Propositions and counter-propositions—Adroit¬
ness of the plenipotentiaries on both sides—Insincere diplomacy and
unsatisfactory results—Union of Holland and Zeland under the Prince
of Orange—Act defining his powers—Charlotte do Bourbon—Charac¬
ter, fortunes, and fate of Anna of Saxony—Marriago of Orange with
Mademoiselle do Bourbon—Indignation thereby excited—HytribloS
tortures inflicted upon Papists by Sonoy in North Holland—0 ude-
water and Schoonoven taken by Hiorges—The Isles of Zeland—A
submarine expedition projected—Details of the adventure—Its entire
success—Death of Chiappin Vitelli—Deliberations in Holland and
Zeland concerning the renunciation of Philip’s authority—Declara¬
tion at Delft—Doubts as to which of the Great Powers the sovereignty
should be offered—Secret international relations—Mission to England
—Unsatisfactory negotiations with Elizabeth—Position of the Grand
Commander—Siege of Zierickzee—Generosity of Count John—Des¬
perate project of the Prince—Death and character of Requesens.

4

THE EISE OF THE DUTCH REPUBLIC.

[1574.

The Council of Troubles, or, as it will be for ever denom¬
inated in history, the Council of Blood, still existed, although
the Grand Commander, upon his arrival in the Netherlands,
had advised his sovereign to consent to the immediate abolition
of so odious an institution. 1 Philip, accepting the advice of
his governor and his cabinet, had accordingly authorised him,
by a letter of the 10th of March 1574, to take that step if he
continued to believe it advisable.*

Requesens had made use of this permission to extort money
from the obedient portion of the provinces. An assembly of
deputies was held at Brussels on the 7th of June 1574, and
there was a tedious interchange of protocols, reports, and re¬
monstrances. 8 The estates, not satisfied with the extinction
of a tribunal which had at last worn itself out by its own
violence, and had become inactive through lack of victims,
insisted on greater concessions. They demanded the departure
.of the Spanish troops, the establishment of a council of Nether-
danders in Spain for Netherland affairs, the restoration to

- offices, in the province^, of natives and natives only; 4 for
v these drawers of documents thought it possible, at that epoch,
. to recover by pedantry what their brethren of Holland and

Zeland were maintaining with the sword. It was not the
, moment for historical disquisition, citations from Solomon, nor
. chopping of logic ; yet with such lucubrations were reams of
^paper filled, and days and weeks occupied. 5 The result was
what might have been expected. The Grand Commander ob-

- iained but little money; the estates obtained none of their
«demands; and the Blood-Council remained, as it were, sus¬
pended in mid-air. It continued to transact business at
intervals during the administration of Requesens, 6 and at last,
.after nine years of existence, was destroyed by the violent
imprisonment of the Council of State at Brussels. This event,
however, belongs to a subsequent page of this history.

1 Lettre deRequeeens & Philippe H. f I 8 Bor, viii. 517-523, seq. 4 Ibid.
Dec. 30, 1673, apud G-achard, Notice, 5 Vide Bor, vii. 517-523, seq.

<©tc., 24. 6 Gachard, Notice, etc., 27, 28, and

a Gachard, Notice, eto., 24, 26. | note, p. 27.

1574.]

NEGOTIATIONS.

5

Noircarmes had argued, from the tenor of S&inte Alde-
gonde’s letters, that the Prince would be ready to accept his
pardon upon almost any terms. 1 Noircarmes was now dead, 2
but Sainte Aldegonde still remained in prison, very anxious
for his release, and as well disposed as ever to render services
in any secret negotiation. It will be recollected that, at the
capitulation of Middelburg, it had been distinctly stipulated
by the Prince that Colonel Mondragon should at once effect
the liberation of Sainte Aldegonde, with certain other
prisoners, or himself return into confinement. He had done
neither fjie one nor the other. The patriots still languished in
prison, some of them being subjected to exceedingly harsh
treatment; but Mondragon, although repeatedly summoned, as
an officer and a gentleman, by the Prince, to return to
captivity, had been forbidden by the Grand Commander to
redeem his pledge. 3

Sainte Aldegonde was now released from prison upon parole,
and despatched on a secret mission to the Prince and estates. 4
As before, he was instructed that two points were to be left
untouched—the authority of the King, and the question of
religion. 5 Nothing could be more preposterous than to com¬
mence a negotiation from which the two important points were
thus carefully eliminated. The King’s authority and the ques¬
tion of religion covered the whole ground upon which the Span¬
iards and the Hollanders had been battling for six years, and
were destined to battle for three-quarters of a century longer.
Yet, although other affairs might be discussed, those two points
were to be reserved for the more conclusive arbitration of gun¬
powder. The result of negotiations upon such a basis was easily
to be foreseen. Breath, time, and paper were profusely wasted
and nothing gained. The Prince assured his friend, as he had
done secret agents previously sent to him, that he was himself

1 Con espondance de Guillaume le Guillaume le Tacit., iii. DXLiir. dxliv.
Tacit., iii. 369-373. xlv. — Compare Groen van Prmst.,

3 He died March 4,1574, at Utrecht, Archives, etc., v. 71, 72 .
of poison, according to suspicion.— 4 Bor, vii. 534. Gachard, Corres-

Bor, vii. 492. pondance de Guillaume le Tacit., iii,

* Tide Gachard, Correspondance de 40J, seq. * Ibid. Ibid,

6

THE JtlSE OP TEE DUTCH EEBUBLId

L1574

ready to leave the land, if by so doing he could confer upon it
the blessing of peace; 1 but that all hopes of reaching a reason¬
able conclusion from the premises established was futile. The
envoy treated also with the estates, and received from them in
return an elaborate report, which was addressed immediately to
the King. 2 The style of this paper was bold and blunt, its
substance bitter and indigestible. It informed Philip what he
had heard often enough before, that the Spaniards must go and
the exiles come back, the Inquisition be abolished and the
ancient privileges restored, the Roman Catholic religion re¬
nounce its supremacy, and the Reformed religion receive per¬
mission to exist unmolested, before he could call himself master
of that little hook of sand in the North Sea. With this paper,
which was entrusted to Sainte Aldegonde, by him to be de¬
livered to the Grand Commander, who was, after reading it,
to forward it to its destination, the negotiator returned to his
prison. 3 Thence he did not emerge again till the course of
events released him, upon the 15th of October 1574. 4

This report was far from agreeable to the Governor, and it
became the object of a fresh correspondence between his confi¬
dential agent, Champagny, and the learned and astute Junius
de Jonge, representative of the Prince of Orange, and Governor
of Veere. 5 The communication of De Jonge consisted of a brief
note and a long discourse. The note was sharp and stinging,
the discourse elaborate and somewhat pedantic. Unnecessarily
historicaland unmercifully extended, it was yet bold, bitter, and
eloquent. The presence of foreigners was proved to have been,
from the beginning of Philip’s reign, the curse of the country.
Doctor Sonnius, with his batch of bishops, had sowed the seed
of the first disorder. A prince, ruling in the Netherlands, had
no right to turn a deaf ear to the petitions of his subjects. If

1 “ Quant k luy il 6toi content, si * See the “ Vertooning ” in Bor, yii,
ceulxlaletreuYoientbon.de se retirer 535, seq.

du pays, afinquetantmieulxilzpuissent 4 Gachard, Guillaume le Tacit., iii.
parvenir k ce que dessus,” etc.— 101. Bor, yii.

Gachard, G-uillaume le Tacit., iii. 400. 5 See the correspondence in Bor,

2 Bor, vii. 535. vii. 535, 536.

£ 574 .]

SECRET CONFERENCES.

7

he did so, tlie Hollanders would tell him, as the old woman had
told the Emperor Adrian, that the potentate who had no time
to attend to the interests of his subjects, had not leisure enough
to be a sovereign. While Holland refused to bow its neck to
the Inquisition, the King of Spain dreaded the thunder and
lightning of the Pope. The Hollanders would, with pleasure,
emancipate Philip from his own thraldom, but it was absurd
that he, who was himself a slave to another potentate, should
affect unlimited control over a free people. It was Philip’s
eouncillors, not the Hollanders, who were his real enemies;
for it was they who held him in the subjection by which his
power was neutralised and his crown degraded. 1

It may be supposed that many long pages, conceived in
this spirit and expressed with great vigour, would hardly
smooth the way for the more official negotiations which were
soon to take place, yet Doctor Junius fairly and faithfully
represented the sentiments of his nation.

Towards the close of the year, Doctor Elbertus Leoninus, pro¬
fessor of Louvain, together with Hugo Bonte, ex-pensionary of
Middelburg, was commissioned by the Grand Commander to
treat secretly with the Prince. 2 He was, however, not found
very tractable when the commissioners opened the subject of
his own pardon and reconciliation with the King, and he abso¬
lutely refused to treat at all except with the co-operation of the
•estates. 3 He, moreover, objected to the use of the word
u pardon ” on the ground that he had never done anything
requiring his Majesty’s forgiveness. If adversity should visit
him he cared but little for it ; he had lived long enough, he
said, and should die with some glory, regretting the disorders
and oppressions which had taken place, but conscious that it
had not been in his power to remedy them. When reminded
by the commissioners of the King’s power, lie replied that he

1 See the discourse of Junius in 403-430. See also Bor, vii. 585.

Bor. Yii. 536-544. 3 See the account by Bonte, In.

3 The letters and documents concern- Gachard. Correspondance de Gull¬
ing this secret negotiation are published laume le Tacit., iii. 378, 379.
in Gachard, Guillaume le Tacit., iii.

s

THE RISE OF THE DUTCH REPUBLIC.

[1574.

knew liis Majesty to be very miglity, but that there was a
King more powerful still—even God the Creator, who, as he
humbly hoped, was upon his side. 1

At a subsequent interview with Hugo Bonte, the Prince de¬
clared it almost impossible for himself or the estates to hold any
formal communication with the Spanish government, as such
communications were not safe. No trust could be reposed
either in safe conducts or hostages. Faith had been too often
broken by the administration. The promise made by the
Duchess of Parma to the nobles, and afterwards violated, the
recent treachery of Mondragon, the return of three exchanged
prisoners from the Hague, who died next day of poison ad¬
ministered before their release, the frequent attempts upon his
own life—all such constantly recurring crimes made it doubt¬
ful, in the opinion of the Prince, whether it would be possible
to find commissioners to treat with his Majesty’s government.
All would fear assassination, afterwards to be disavowed by
the King, and pardoned by the Pope. 2 After much conversa¬
tion in this vein, the Prince gave the Spanish agents warning that
he might eventually be obliged to seek the protection of some
foreign power for the provinces. In this connexion he made
use of the memorable metaphor, so often repeated afterwards,
that “the country was a beautiful damsel, who certainly did
not lack suitors able and willing to accept her and defend her
against the world.” 3 As to the matter of religion, he said he
was willing to leave it to be settled by the estates-general;
but doubted whether anything short of entire liberty of
worship -would ever satisfy the people. 4

Subsequently there were held other conferences between the
Prince and Doctor Leoninus, with a similar result, all attempts
proving fruitless to induce him to abandon his position upon the
subject of religion, or to accept a pardon on any terms save the
departure of the foreign troops, the assembling of the estates-

1 See the account by Bonte, in
Gachard.—Correspondance de Guil¬
laume le Tacit., iii. 378, 379.

2 Ibid., iii. 383.

8 Ibid., 387.—Comp. Bor. viii. 613.

4 Correspondance de Guillaume lo
Tacit., iii. 387.—Compare Bor, viii.
CIS.

1571 ]

CHANGES IN THE GOVERNMENT.

9

general, and entire freedom of religion. Even if he were
willing to concede the religious question himself, he observed
that it was idle to hope either from the estates or people a
hand’s-brcadtli of concession upon that point. Leoninus was
subsequently admitted to a secret conference with the estates
of Holland, where liis representations were firmly met by the
same arguments as those already used by the Prince. 1

Those proceedings on the part of Sainte Aldegonde, Cham-
pagny, Junius, and Elbcrtus Leoninus, extended through the
whole summer and autumn of 1574, and were not terminated
until January of the following year.

Changes fast becoming necessary in the internal govern¬
ment of the provinces, were also undertaken during this year.
Hitherto the Prince had exercised his power under the con¬
venient fiction of the King’s authority, systematically con¬
ducting the rebellion in the name of his Majesty, and as his-
Majesty’s stadtholder. By this process an immense power
was * lodged in his hands; nothing less, indeed, than the
supreme executive and legislative functions of the land;
while, since the revolt had become, as it were, perpetual,
ample but anomalous functions had been additionally thrust
upon him by the estates and by the general voice of the'
people.

The two provinces, even while deprived of Harlem and Am¬
sterdam, now raised two hundred and ten thousand florins

1 Gacliard, Correspondance de Guil¬
laume le Tacit., iii. 403-430. Bor, vri.
505, seq.—Compare Iloofcl, is. 400,
401; Wagenaer, d. vii. 25-27. See
also a very ample memoir of the dis¬
tinguished scholar and diplomatist,
Albert de Leeuw (or Elbcrtus Leoni¬
nus), by J". P. Van Cappelle. Bijdragen
tot de Ges. d. NederL, 1-204. He
began his active life as law professor at
Louvain, in which city he married Bar¬
bara de Haze, with whom he lived
more than fifty-two years. The lady,
however, seems not to have pined away
after the termination of this wedlock

of more than half a century; for she-
survived her husband, thirty-six years.
The biographer shrewdly suspects,
therefore, that she must have been a
“very young miss when she married”
“Dit mexsje moet nog seer jong
zijn geweest, toon Leoninus zich met
haar in liet kuwelijk begaf.”—V. d.
Cappelle, 93, note 8. He was bom at
Bommel, in 1519 or 1520, and died im
1598, full of years and honours. Hi9
public services, on various important
occasions, will be often alluded to itt
subsequent pages.

10

THE RISE OF THE HUTCH REPUBLIC.

[1574.

monthly, 1 whereas Alva had never been able to extract from
Holland more than two-hundred and seventy-one thousand
florins yearly. They paid all rather than pay a tenth. In
consequence of this liberality, the cities insensibly acquired a
greater influence in the government. The coming contest
between the centrifugal aristocratic principle, represented by
these corporations, and the central popular authority of the
stadtholder, was already foreshadowed, but at first the estates
were in perfect harmony with the Prince. They even urged
upon him more power than he desired, and declined functions
which he wished them to exercise. On the 7th of September
1573, it had been formally proposed by a general council to
confer a regular and unlimited dictatorship upon him, 2 but in
the course of a year from that time the cities had begun to
feel their increasing importance. 3 Moreover, while growing
more ambitious, they became less liberal.

The Prince, dissatisfied with the conduct of the cities,
brought the whole subject before an assembly of the estates of
Holland on the 20th October 1574. He stated the in¬
conveniences produced by the anomalous condition of the
government. He complained that the common people had
often fallen into the error, that the money raised for public
purposes had been levied for his benefit only, and that they
had, therefore, been less willing to contribute to the taxes.
As the only remedy for these evils, he tendered his resigna¬
tion of all the powers with which he was clothed, so that the
estates might then take the government, which they could
exercise without conflict or control. For himself, he had never
desired power, except as a means of being useful to his coun¬
try, and he did not offer his resignation from unwillingness to
stand by the cause, but from a hearty desire to save it from dis¬
putes among its friends. He was ready, now as ever, to shed the
last drop of his blood to maintain the freedom of the land. 4

1 Resol. Holl., Mar. 15 und 17,
1576, bl. 16.19.

2 KLuit, Hist. Holl. Staat., dL i. 86.

3 Kluit. i. 7S, et seq. Wagenaer,

vii. 5. 6.

4 Resol. Holl., Oct. 20, Not. 1, bl.
147-176. Kluit, d. i. 90,97. Wage-
naer, vii. 10, 11.

1574 .]

ORANGE’S ELEVATION TO POWER.

A

This straightforward language produced an instantaneous
effect. The estates knew that they were dealing with a man
whose life was governed by lofty principles, and they felt that
they were in danger of losing him through their own selfish¬
ness and low ambition. They were embarrassed, for they did
not like to relinquish the authority which they had begun to
relish, nor to accept the resignation of a man who was indis¬
pensable. They felt that to give up William of Orange at that
time was to accept the Spanish yoke for ever. At an assembly
held at Delft on the 12th of November 1574, they accordingly
requested him cc to continue in his blessed government, with the
council established near him,” 1 and for this end they formally
offered to him, u under the name of Governor or Regent,” ab¬
solute power, authority, and sovereign command. In particu¬
lar, they conferred on him the entire control of all the ships of
war, hitherto reserved to the different cities, together with the
right to dispose of all prizes and all monies raised for the sup¬
port of fleets. They gave him also unlimited power over the
domains; they agreed that all magistracies, militia bands,
guilds, and communities should make solemn oath to con¬
tribute taxes, and to receive garrisons, exactly as the Prince,
with his council, should ordain; but they made it a condition
that the estates should be convened and consulted upon re¬
quests, impositions, and upon all changes in the governing
body. It was also stipulated that the judges of the supreme
court and of the exchequer, with other high officers, should
be appointed by and with the consent of the estates. 2

The Prince expressed himself willing to accept the govern¬
ment upon these terms. He, however, demanded an allowance
of forty-five thousand florins monthly for the army expenses and
other current outlays. 8 Here, however, the estates refused their
consent. In a mercantile spirit, unworthy the occasion and the
man with whom they were dealing, they endeavoured to chaffer

1 Resol. Holl., Nov. 1574, bl. 173.
Wagenaer, vii. 11, 12, 13. IQuit, 97,
$8, cl. i.

a Ibid. Eluit, Wagenaer, ubi. sup.

Groen v. Prinst., Archives, etc., v. 90-
94.

3 IbicL, Nov. 13 und 25, 1574, bL
196, 207, 208. Eluit, i. 101, 102.

12

THE RISE OF THE BUTCH REPUBLIC.

[ 1574 .

where they should have been only too willing to comply, and
they attempted to reduce the reasonable demand of the Prince
to thirty thousand florins. 1 The Prince, who had poured out
his own wealth so lavishly in the cause—who, together with his
brothers, particularly the generous John of Nassau, had con¬
tributed all which they could raise by mortgage, sales of jewel¬
lery and furniture, and by extensive loans, subjecting themselves
to constant embarrassment, and almost to penury—felt himself
outraged by the paltriness of this conduct. He expressed his
indignation, and denounced the niggardliness of the estates in
the strongest language, and declared that he would rather leave
the country for ever, with the maintenance of his honour, than
accept the government upon such disgraceful terms. 2 3 The
estates, disturbed by his vehemence, and struck with its
justice, instantly, and without further deliberation, consented
to his demand. They granted the forty-five thousand florins
monthly, and the Prince assumed the government, thus
remodelled. 8

During the autumn and early winter of the year 1574, the
Emperor Maximilian had been actively exerting himself to
bring about a pacification of the Netherlands. He was certainly
sincere, for an excellent reason. u The Emperor maintains,”
said Saint Goard, French ambassador at Madrid, u that if peace
is not made with the Beggars, the Empire will depart from the
house of Austria, and that such is the determination of the
electors.” 4 On the other hand, if Philip were not weary of the
war, at any rate his means for carrying it on were diminishing
daily. Bequesens could raise no money in the Netherlands ; 3
his secretary wrote to Spain, that the exchequer was at its last
gasp, and the cabinet of Madrid w^as at its wits’ end, and almost
incapable of raising ways and means. The peace party was

1 Resol. Holl., Nov. 25, 1574, bl.' the 25th Nov.—Resol. Holl., Nov. 25 r

207, 208. 11574, bl. 196-208. Eluit, Holl. Starts-

2 Ibid., Nov. 25, 1574, bl. 208. | reg., i. 102. Wagenaer, vii. 13, 14.

3 They made the offer of thirty , G-r. v. Prinst., Archives, etc., v. 90-94*

thousand in the morning, and granted 4 Archives et Correspondance v. 81.

the whole demand in the afternoon of j 9 Ibid., v. 28-32.

1C74L] RENEWED MEDIATION OP MAXIMILIAN. 13

obtaining the upper hand—the fierce policy of Alva regarded
with increasing disfavour. u The people here,” wrote Saint
Goard from Madrid, u are completely desperate, whatever
pains they take to put a good face on the matter.” They desire
most earnestly to treat, without losing their character. It
seemed, nevertheless, impossible for Philip to bend his neck.
The hope of wearing the imperial crown had alone made his
bigotry feasible* To less potent influences it was adamant:
and even now, with an impoverished exchequer, and after
seven years of unsuccessful warfare, his purpose was not less
rigid than at first. u The Hollanders demand liberty of con¬
science,said Saint Goard, “ to which the King will never
consent, or I am much mistaken.” 1

As for Orange, he was sincerely in favour of peace, but not a
dishonourable peace, in which should be renounced all the objects
of the war. He was far from sanguine on the subject, for he
read the signs of the times and the character of Philip too accu¬
rately to believe much more in the success of the present than
in that of the past efforts of Maximilian. Ho was pleased that
his brother-in-law, Count Schwarzburg, had been selected as
the Emperor’s agent in the affair, but expressed his doubts
whether much good would come of the proposed negotiations.
Remembering the many traps which in times past had been set
by Philip and his father, he feared that the present transac¬
tion might likewise prove a snare. “We have not forgotten
the words c ewig ’ and c einig ’ in the treaty with Landgrave
Philip,” he wrote; a at the same time, we beg to assure his
Imperial Majesty that we desire nothing more than a good
peace, tending to the glory of God, the service of the King of
Spain, and the prosperity of his subjects.” 2

This was his language to his brother, in a letter which was
meant to be shewn to the Emperor. In another, written on the
same day, he explained himself with more clearness, and stated
his distrust with more energy. There were no Papists left
except a few ecclesiastics, he said, so much had the number

1 Archives et Correspondanco, v. 83. 3 Ibid., v. 61-65.

14

THE RISE OF THE DUTCH REPUBLIC.

[1574.

of the Reformers been augmented, through the singular grace
of God. It was out of the question to suppose, therefore,
that a measure dooming all who were not Catholics to exile,
could be entertained. None would change their religion, and
none would consent, voluntarily, to abandon for ever their
homes, friends, and property. 6C Such a peace,” he said^
“ would be poor and pitiable indeed.” 1

These, then, were the sentiments of the party now about to
negotiate. The mediator was anxious for a settlement,
because the interests of the Imperial house required it. The
King ot Spain was desirous of peace, but was unwilling to
concede a hair. The Prince of Orange was equally anxious to
terminate the war, but was determined not to abandon the
objects for which it had been undertaken. A favourable result,
therefore, seemed hardly possible. A whole people claimed
the liberty to stay at home and practise the Protestant religion,
while their King asserted the right to banish them for ever,
or to burn them if they remained. The parties seemed too
far apart to be brought together by the most elastic compro¬
mise. The Prince addressed an earnest appeal to the assembly
of Holland, then in session at Dort, reminding them that,
although peace was desirable, it might be more dangerous
than war, and entreating them, therefore, to conclude no
treaty which should be inconsistent with the privileges of the
country and their duty to God. 2

It was now resolved that all the votes of the assembly should
consist of five; one for the nobles and large cities of Holland,
one for the estates of Zeland, one for the small cities of Hol¬
land, one for the cities Bommel and Buren, and the fifth for
William of Orange. 3 The Prince thus effectually held in his
hands three votes: his own; that of the small cities, which
through his means only had been admitted to the assembly;
and, thirdly, that of Buren, the capital of his son’s earldom.
He thus exercised a controlling influence over the coming

1 Archives et Correspondance, v. Feb. 6,1575.

?;>. 74. 3 Resol. Holl., Feb. 5, 6, 7,1575, bL

8 Bor, viii. 595, 590. Resol. Holl., 47,51. 52. Wagenaer, vii 29.

1575.]

OPENING OP NEGOTIATIONS AT BREDA.

15

deliberations. The ten commissioners, who were appointed
by the estates for the peace negotiations, were all his friends.
Among them were Sainte Aldegonde, Paul Bluis, Charles
Boisot, and Doctor Junius. The plenipotentiaries of the
Spanish government were Leoninus, the Seigneur de Ras-
singhem, Cornelius Suis, and Arnold Sasbout. 1

The proceedings were opened at Breda upon the 3d of March
1575. 3 The royal commissioners took the initiative, requesting
to be informed what complaints the estates had to make, and
offering to remove, if possible, all grievances which they might
be suffering. The estates’ commissioners replied that they de¬
sired nothing in the first place, but an answer to the petition
which they had already presented to the King. This was the
paper placed in the hands of Sainte Aldegonde during the
informal negotiations of the preceding year. An answer was
accordingly given, but couched in such vague and general
language as to be quite without meaning. The estates then
demanded a categorical reply to the two principal demands in
the petition, namely, the departure of the foreign troops and
the assembling of the states-general. They were asked what
they understood by foreigners, and by the assembly of estates-
general. They replied that by foreigners they meant those
who were not natives, and particularly the Spaniards. By the
estates-general they meant the same body before which, in
1555, Charles had resigned his sovereignty to Philip. The
royal commissioners made an extremely unsatisfactory answer,
concluding with a request that till cities, fortresses, and castles,
then in the power of the estates, together wdtli all their
artillery and vessels of war, should be delivered to the King.
The Roman Catholic worship, it was also distinctly stated,
■was to be re-established at once exclusively throughout the
Netherlands ; those of the Reformed religion receiving per¬
mission, for that time only , to convert their property into cash
within a certain time, and to depart the country. 3

1 Resol. HolL, Feb 12,1575, bl. 49-
69. 2 Bor, viii. 597

J Ibid., Maart 7, 1575, bl. 121,122

123, 125. Maart 17, 1575, bl. 158, et
seq. Bor, vi. 597, sqq. Wagenaer,.
vii. 3L

15

THE RISE OF THE DUTCH REPUBLIC.

[1575.

Orange and the estates made answer on the 21st March. It
could not be called hard, they said, to require the withdrawal
of the Spanish troops, for this had been granted in 1559, for
less imperious reasons. The estates had, indeed, themselves
znade use of foreigners, but those foreigners had never been
allowed to participate in the government. With regard to the
assembly of the estates-generai, that body had always enjoyed
the right of advising with the Sovereign on the condition of the
country, and on general measures of government. Now it was
only thought necessary to summon them, in order that they
might give their consent to the King’s u requests.” Touching
the delivery of cities and citadels, artillery and ships, the pro¬
position was pronounced to resemble that made by the wolves
to the sheep, in the fable—that the dogs should be delivered
up, as a preliminary to a lasting peace. It was unreasonable
to request the Hollanders to abandon their religion or their
country. The reproach of heresy was unjust, for they still
held to the Catholic Apostolic Church, wishing only to purify
it of its abuses. Moreover, it was certainly more cruel to expel
sx whole population than to dismiss three or four thousand
Spaniards, who for seven long years had been eating their fill
at the expense of the provinces. It would be impossible for
the exiles to dispose of their property, for all would by the pro¬
posed measure be sellers, while there would be no purchasers. 1

The royal plenipotentiaries, making answer to this communi¬
cation upon the 1st of April, signified a willingness that the
Spanish soldiers should depart, if the estates would consent to
disband their own foreign troops. They were likewise in
favour of assembling the estates-generai, but could not permit
any change in the religion of the country. His Majesty had
■sworn to maintain the true worship at the moment of assuming
the sovereignty. The dissenters, might, however, be allowed a
period of six months in which to leave the land, and eight or
ten years for the sale of their property. After the heretics had
all departed, his Majesty did not doubt that trade and manu-
1 Resol. Holl., Maart 21, 1575, bL 166. Bor, viii. 599. Wagenaer, Yii. 34-39.

1575.]

BREDA CONFERENCES.

17

factures would flourish again* along with the old religion. As
for the Spanish Inquisition, there was not, and there never
had been, any intention of establishing it in the Netherlands. 1

No doubt there was something specious in this paper. It
appeared to contain considerable concessions. The Prince and
estates had claimed the departure of the Spaniards. It was
now promised that they should depart. They had demanded
the assembling of the states-general. It was now promised
that they should assemble. They had denounced the Inquisi¬
tion. It was now averred that the Spanish Inquisition was
not to be established.

Nevertheless, the commissioners of the Prince were not de¬
ceived by such artifices. There was no parity between the
cases of the Spanish soldiery and of the troops in service of the-
estates. To assemble the estates-general was idle, if they were
to be forbidden the settlement of the great question at issue.
With regard to the Spanish Inquisition, it mattered little
whether the slaughter-house were called Spanish or Flemish,
or simply the Blood-Council. It was, however, necessary for
the states’ commissioners to consider their reply very carefully;
for the royal plenipotentiaries had placed themselves upon
specious grounds. It was not enough to feel that the King’s
government was paltering with them ; it was likewise necessary
for the states’ agents to impress this fact upon the people.

There was a pause in the deliberations. Meantime, Count
Scliwartzburg, reluctantly accepting the conviction that the
religious question was an insurmountable obstacle to a peace,
left the provinces for Germany. 2 The last propositions of the
government plenipotentiaries had been discussed in the councils
of the various cities, 3 so that the reply of the Prince and estates
was delayed until the 1st of June. They admitted, in this com¬
munication, that the offer to restore ancient privileges had an
agreeable sound; but regretted that if the whole population
were to be banished, there would be but few to derive advan-

1 Resol. noli., Apl. 1575, b l 203. 2 Bor, viii. 604, 605.

Bor. viii. 602. 3 Wagenaer, vii, 43.

18

THE RISE OF THE BUTCH REPUBLIC,

[1575,

tage from the restoration. If the King would put an end to
religious persecution, he would find as much loyalty in the
provinces as his forefathers had found. It was out of the ques¬
tion, they said, for the states to disarm and to deliver up their
strong places, before the Spanish soldiery had retired, and
before peace had been established. It was their wish to leave
the question of religion, together with all other disputed
matters, to the decision of the assembly. Were it possible, in
the meantime, to devise any effectual method for restraining
hostilities, it would gladly be embraced. 1

On the 8th of July, the royal commissioners inquired what
guarantee the states would be willing to give, that the deci¬
sion of the general assembly, whatever it might be, should be
obeyed. The demand was-answered by another, in which the
King’s agents were questioned as to their own guarantees.
Hereupon it was stated that his Majesty would give his word
and sign manual, together with the word and signature of the
Emperor into the bargain. In exchange for these promises,
the Prince and estates were expected to give their own oaths
and seals, together with a number of hostages. Over and
above this, they were requested to deliver up the cities of Brill
and Enkhuizen, Flushing and Arnemuyde. 3 The disparity of
such guarantees was ridiculous. The royal word, even when
strengthened by the imperial promise, and confirmed by the
autographs of Philip and Maximilian, was not so solid a security,
in the opinion of Netherlander, as to outweigh four cities
in Holland and Zeland, with all their population and wealth.
To give collateral pledges and hostages upon one side, while
the King offered none, was to assign a superiority to the royal
word over that of the Prince and the estates which there was
no disposition to recognise. Moreover, it was very cogently
urged that to give up the cities, was to give as security for
the contract some of the principal contracting parties. 3

1 Resol. Holl., April 19, 1575, bl. 2 Resol. Holl., July 8,1575, bl. 47,
240; May 20, 23, 1575; Jim. 5, 1575, 3 Ibid., July 8, 16, 1575, bl. 478,
bl. 240, 305, 314, 316, 355. Bor, vui. 506. Wagenaer, yii. 49.

605-608.

1675.]

END OF NEGOTIATIONS.

19

This closed the negotiations. The provincial plenipoten¬
tiaries took .their leave by a paper dated 13th July 1575,
which recapitulated the main incidents of the conference.
They expressed their deep regret that his Majesty should
insist so firmly on the banishment of the Keformers, for it was
unjust to reserve the provinces to the sole use of a small num¬
ber of Catholics. They lamented that the proposition which
had been made, to refer the religious question to the estates,
had neither been loyally accepted nor candidly refused. They
inferred, therefore, that the object of the royal government
had been to amuse the states, while time was thus gained for
reducing the country into a slavery more abject than any
which had yet existed. 1 On the other hand, the royal com¬
missioners as solemnly averred that the whole responsibility
for the failure of the negotiations belonged to the estates. 2

It was the general opinion in the insurgent provinces that
the government had been insincere from the beginning, and
had neither expected nor desired to conclude a peace. It is
probable, however, that Philip was sincere, so far as it could
be called sincerity to be willing to conclude a peace, if the
provinces would abandon the main objects of the war. 8 With
his impoverished exchequer, and ruin threatening his whole
empire if this mortal combat should bo continued many years

1 Resol. Holl., July 16, bl. 506 capable of conceding the real object
Wagenaer, vii. 49, 50. Bor, viii. G10. in dispute; but lie feared lost they

2 Resol. Holl., July 10, 1575, bl. might obscure the judgment of the

512. Bor, viii. 612. plain and well-meaning people with

3 See Kluit, Hist, dor Holl whom they liad to deal. Alluding
Staatsreg, i. 90, 91, noto 34.—Com- to the constant attempts made to
pare the remarks of Groom v. Prinst., poison himself and his brother, he
Archives, etc., v. 259-262; Bor. viu. likens the pretended negotiations to
606, G15; Mctcrcn, v. 100; Hoofd, Venetian drugs, by which eyesight,
x. 410.—Count John of Nassau was hearing, feeling, and intellect were
distrustful and disdainful from the destroyed. Under this pernicious
beginning. Against his brother’s influence, the luckless people would
loyalty and the ttriightJoruard in- not perceive the fire burning around
tentions of the estates, he felt that them, but would shrink at a rustling
the whole force of the Mach lav i Hi leaf. Not comprehending then the
system of policy would be brought tendency of their own acts, they
to bear with great effect. He felt would “lay bare their own backs to
that the object of the King’s party tho rod, and bring faggots for their
was to temporise, to confuse, and to own funeral pile.”—Archives, etc., v.
deceive. Ho did not believe them 131-137.

20

THE RISE OF THE DUTCH REPUBLIC.

[157 &

longer, lie could have no motive for further bloodshed, pro¬
vided all heretics should consent to abandon the country. As
usual, however, he left his agents in the dark as to liis rea?
intentions. Even Requesens was as much in doubt as to the
King’s secret purposes as Margaret of Parma had ever been
in former times. 1 Moreover, the Grand Commander and the
government had, after all, made a great mistake in their diplo¬
macy. The estates of Brabant, although strongly desirous that
the Spanish troops should be withdrawn, were equally stanch
for the maintenance of the Catholic religion, and many of the
southern provinces entertained the same sentiments. Had
the Governor, therefore, taken the states’ commissioners at
their word, and left the decision of the religious question to
the general assembly, he might perhaps have found the vote
in his favour. 2 In this case, it is certain that the Prince of
Orange and his party would have been placed in a very
awkward position. 3

The internal government of the insurgent provinces had
remained upon the footing which we have seen established
in the autumn of 1574, but in the course of this summer,
(1575,) however, the foundation was laid for the union ol
Holland and Zeland, under the authority of Orange. The
selfish principle of municipal aristocracy, which had tended
to keep asunder these various groups of cities, was now
repressed by the energy of the Prince and the strong deter¬
mination of the people.

In April 1575, certain articles of union between Holland and
Zeland were proposed, and six commissioners appointed to
draw up an ordinance for the government of the two provinces.
This ordinance was accepted in general assembly of both. 4 It
was in twenty articles. It declared that, during the war, the
Prince, as sovereign, should have absolute power in all matters

1 Vigl. ad Hopp., ep. 253. Groen v. Prinst., Archives, v. 69, et

2 See Wagenaer, vii. 52. seq., Hoofd, x. 400, 411.—Compare

3 Besides the Resolutions of the Bentivoglio, lib. ix. 157-161; Mendoza,
estates of Holland, already cited, see xiii. 269, 270.

for the history of these negotiations, 4 Resol. Holl., May 17,18, 1575, bE
Meteren, v. 96-100 j Bor, viii. 595-615; 291, 294. Wagenaer, vii. 15-18.

1575.]

UNION OF HOLLAND AND ZELAND.

21

•concerning the defence of the country. He was to appoint
military officers, high and low, establish and remove garrisons,
punish offenders against the laws of war. He was to regulate
the expenditure of all money voted by the estates. He was
to maintain the law, in the King’s name, as Count of Holland,
and to appoint all judicial officers upon nominations by the
estates. He was, at the usual times, to appoint and renew
the magistracies of the cities, according to their constitutions.
He was to protect the exercise of the Evangelical Reformed
religion, and to suppress the exercise of the Roman religion, 1
without permitting, however, that search should be made into
the creed of any person. A deliberative and executive coun¬
cil, by which the jealousy of the corporations had intended to
hamper his government, did not come into more than nominal
existence.*

The articles of union having been agreed upon, the Prince,
desiring an unfettered expression of the national will, wished
the ordinance to be laid before the people in their primary
assemblies. The estates, however, were opposed to this demo¬
cratic proceeding. They represented that it had been cus¬
tomary to consult, after the city magistracies, only the captains
of companies and the deans of guilds on matters of government.
The Prince yielding the point, the captains of companies and
deans of guilds accordingly alone united with the aristocratic
boards in ratifying the instrument by which his authority
over the two united provinces was established. On the 4th
of June this first union was solemnised. 3

Upon the lltli of July, the Prince formally accepted the
government. 4 He, however, made an essential change in a
very important clause of the ordinance. In place of the words,

1 “ Ook de oefening der Evange- 3 Ibid., vii. 19. Resol. HolL, May
lisclie Gereformeerde Religie hand- 21, 1575, bl. 311,313; June 4,1575,
haaven, doende de oefeninge der bl. 359. Compare Groen v. Prinst.,
Romische Religie opkouden.”—Resol. Archives, etc., v. 271, 272.

HoH., ubi sup. * Resol. Holl., July 12, 15, 18, 19,

2 Wagenaer, vii. 19, 22, 23, 25.— 20, 1575, bl. 487, 501, 514, 516,
Compare G-roen v. Prinst., Archives, v. 520. Bor, viii. 641-643. Hoofd, x*
268-272.—See Resol. HolL, June 10, 420,421.

21, 23, 1575, bl. 381, 414, 420.

22

TIIE RISE OE THE DUTCH REPUBLIC.

[157&

the u Roman religion/’ he insisted that the words, “religion
at variance with the gospel/’ should be substituted in the
article by which he was enjoined to prohibit the exercise of
such religion. 1 This alteration rebuked the bigotry which
had already grown out of the successful resistance to bigotry ?
and left the door open for a general religious toleration.

Early in this year the Prince had despatched Sainte Aide-
gonde on a private mission to the Elector Palatine. During
some of his visits to that potentate he had seen at Heidelberg
the Princess Charlotte of Bourbon. That lady was daughter
of the Due de Montpensier, the most ardent of the Catholic
Princes of France, and the one who at the conferences of
Bayonne had been most indignant at the Queen Dowager’s
hesitation to unite heartily with the schemes of Alva and Philip
for the extermination of the Huguenots. His daughter, a
woman of beauty, intelligence, and virtue, forced before the
canonical age to take the religious vows, had been placed in
the convent of Joiiarrs, of which she had become Abbess.
Always secretly inclined to the Reformed religion, she had fled
secretly from her cloister, in the year of horrors, 1572, and
had found refuge at the court of the Elector Palatine, after
which step her father refused to receive her letters, to con¬
tribute a farthing to her support, or even to acknowledge her
claims upon him by a single line or message of affection. 2

Under these circumstances the outcast Princess, who had
arrived at years of maturity, might be considered her own mis¬
tress, and she was neither morally nor legally bound, when her
hand was sought in marriage by the great champion of the
Reformation, to ask the consent of a parent who loathed her
religion and denied her existence. The legality of the divorce
from Anne of Saxony had been settled by a full expression of
the ecclesiastical authority which she most respected; 3 the

1 Res. HoU., July 22, 30, 1575, bl.
528, 542. Wagenaer, vii. 22.—Comp.
G-roen v. Prinst., Archives, v. 27'^;
Kluit, HoH. Staatsreg., i. 116, 117,
note 55.

3 Archives et Corresp., v. 113.

3 “Acte de cinq Ministres du Sfc
Evangile par lequel ils declarent 1©
manage du Prince d’Orange 6tre legi¬
time.”—Archives, etc., v. 216-226.

1575.]

AOTE OF SAXONY.

23

facts upon which the divorce had been founded having been
proved beyond peradventure.

Nothing, in truth, could well be more unfortunate in its
results than the famous Saxon marriage, the arrangements
for which had occasioned so much pondering to Philip, and
so much diplomatic correspondence on the part of high per¬
sonages in Germany, the Netherlands, and Spain. Certainly,
it was but of little consequence to what church the unhappy
Princess belonged, and they must be slightly versed in history
or in human nature who can imagine these nuptials to have
exercised any effect upon the religious or political sentiments
of Orange. The Princess was of a stormy, ill-regulated nature;
ahnost a lunatic from the beginning. The dislike which
succeeded to her fantastic fondness for the Prince, as well as
her general eccentricity, had soon become the talk of all the
court at Brussels. She would pass week after week without
emerging from her chamber, keeping the shutters closed and
candles burning, day and night. 1 She quarrelled violently
with Countess Egmont for precedence, so that the ludicrous
contentions of the two ladies in antechambers and doorways
were the theme and the amusement of society. 2 Her in¬
solence, not only in private but in public, towards her hus¬
band became intolerable. u I could not do otherwise than
bear it with sadness and patience,” said the Prince, with great
magnanimity, “ hoping that with age would come improve¬
ment.” Nevertheless, upon one occasion, at a supper party,
she had used such language in the presence of Count Horn
and many other nobles, ce that all wondered that he could
endure the abusive terms which she applied to him.” 3

When the clouds gathered about him, when he had become
an exile and a wanderer, her reproaches and her violence
increased. The sacrifice of their wealth, the mortgages
and sales which he effected of his estates, plate, jewels, and
furniture, to raise money for the struggling country, excited
her bitter resentment. She separated herself from blm by

1 G-roen v. Prinst., Archives, i. 386. | 3 Letter to the Elector Augustus.—

3 Papiers d’Etat. vii. 452. [ G-roen v. Prinst., Arch., ii. 31, 32.

24

THE RISE OF THE HUTCH REPUBLIC.

[1575.

degrees, and at last abandoned bim altogether. Her temper
became violent to ferocity. She beat her servants with
her hands and with clubs ; she threatened the lives of
hei*self, of her attendants, of Count John of Nassau, with
knives and daggers, and indulged in habitual profanity
and blasphemy, uttering frightful curses upon all those
about her. Her original tendency to intemperance had so
much increased, that she was often unable to stand on
her feet. A bottle of wine, holding more than a quart, in
the morning, and another in the evening, together with a
pound of sugar, was her usual allowance. She addressed
letters to Alva complaining that her husband had im¬
poverished himself “in his good-for-nothing Beggar war,”
and begging the Duke to furnish her with a little ready
money, and with the means of arriving at the possession
of her dower. 1 An illicit connexion with a certain John

1 “ Herkalben auch die Princessen es genant, den tollen man , nemlicli
sich dermassen ertzurnedt, das sio ihr ein guedte flaseke weins morgens
dor frawen man und die fraw midt und abermals ein guedte flaseko zu
einem sclieidtkolltz gleich falls aucli abendtszeidt melir dan ein masz hal-
mit fuesten geschlagen und sehr ubel tend bekumen, welches ir satnbt
gescholten hah,” etc.— Summarische einem Pfundt Zugkers bei sich zu
Verreichnisz und Protocolle der nomen nickt zu vil say/’ etc., etc.—
Abgesandten, S5-129. Act dor Fr. Ibid.

Prmcessm zu Uranien vorgeflicke vor- “Her man sich verweigert hat
handiung belangnt, Ao. 1572. MS., einen brief so sie an den Huca de
Hresden Archives. Alba gesebrieben gen Colin zu tragen

“Habe darnach des Abends, als und deselbst ferner zu uberschigken.

sie gakr und also beweindt gewesen -Her Innkalt solcbes Briefs sei

das sie nickt stehen konnen, ein ungeverlick gewesen, das sie 6ich
schreibmesserlein in den rechten er- beclagdt, wio man sie alkie so gahr
mel zu sick gestegkfc, vorhabens Graf ubel tractir—das guedt, so ihr auf
Johann wan er zu ihr kumen wehre, des Ivonings anordnung gehandtraicht

sollchs in den halsz zu stossen- habe sollen werden, entwendt und es

gleichfolls habe sie ein briefstecher ihrem harm zu scincm vnnul~cn Goescn
bekkumen und sollchen, alls sie auch Kncgk zu gebrauchcn zugc-nllt ImbLn.
etwa3 zuvicl getrunken, zu ihrem JBidte das der Dugcl dc Alba vtdlc vor

Haupfc ins bedt gelegt, etc., etc.- sicschreiben an das Camniergericlitumb

Es las ihr auch die Fr. Prinzessin Mandat, das sie von Gf. Johanns
offtmals eyer gahr kardt im salltz gefengknisz ledig und zu Spier vor
sieden, darauf, tringkt sie dan ed- recht gostellt werden moge. Auch des
twan zuvil und werde ungedultig, er, der von Alba, ir die nrchdc Mess
fluclie alle bosze flueche, und werfe etwas von e/cldt und dabei omen go-
die speisze und schussel und allem sandten mit mundlicher werbung zus-
von tisck von sich,” etc., etc.—Ibid., chigken wolle. Sey der Brief zwei
diet. act. Bogen lank,” etc.—Ibid.

- “ Und die Fr. Prinzessin, wie sie

1575.]

DEATH OP ANSE.

25

Rubens, an exiled magistrate of Antwerp, and father of tlio
celebrated painter, completed the list of her delinquencies, and
justified the marriage of the Prince with Charlotte de Bourbon. 1
It was therefore determined by the Elector of Saxony and the
Landgrave William to remove her from the custody of the
Nassaus. This took place with infinite difficulty, at the close
of the year 1575. Already, in 1572, Augustus had proposed
to the Landgrave that she should be kept in solitary confine¬
ment, and that a minister should preach to her daily through
the grated aperture by which her food was to be admitted.
The Landgrave remonstrated at so inhuman a proposition,
which was, however, carried into effect. The wretched Prin¬
cess, now completely a lunatic, was imprisoned in the electoral
palace, in a chamber where the windows were walled up, and
a email grating let into the upper part of the door. Through
this wicket came her food, as well as the words of the holy
man appointed to preach daily for her edification. 2

Two years long she endured this terrible punishment, and
died mad, 8 on tlie 18th of December 1577. On the following

1 Acta: Der, Fran Princessin zu l
Uranicn, etc. — Abscliriften von F.
Armen, Eheslifftung, etc. Schick-
ung an Job. G. tzu £Tass. Abliolung
der Princessin und todtlicbon Ab-
gang.—MS., Dresd. Ar., 1575-1570,
passim. Bakhuyzen v. d. Brinck.
JEIet Huwelijk van W. v. Oranje, 1153.
aqi*

-* “ Seindt auch der endlichen
meinung, wan sio also in gehoim
Yorwahret und ein Predicant verord-
net, der sie teglich durch ein fen-
sterlein do ir die speys und trar.ck
gericht werdo Irer begangenen sunde
mit Vleiss erinnore/’ — Letter of
Elector Augustus to Landgrave
William, July 0, 1572.—MS., JL)rcs.
Arch. “Ganz gestoaten Geistes.”—
Ibid.

3 “ Desgleichen, habe ioh auch
angeordnet,” writes Secretary Hans
Jenitz immediately after the decease
of tbe Princess, “ dasz die Fenster

I durch die Maurre, welche sie zuvor
zugemauert , wiedorum augebroeben
werden und sol der Bcttmeistor mit
JRcmigung dersdben Stube und Ram¬
mer sicb E. F. G-. befobl nacli ver-
halten, E. F. G. kann ich aucli
unterthanigst nicht verbalten, dasz
keine neue Thur vor solcbe stubo

gemaecho worden-sondern man

hat durch die alto Thuro in dem
obern Felde nur ein vicr ecldcht Loch
ausgcischnittcn und von starkem eiser-
n<j,i Blech ein enges Gitter dajur
gcmacht dasz man auswendig auf dem

Saal auch vcrscldicsscn kann.-Es

steht auch zu E. F. G. Gefallen, ob
man die grosse eisente bands mit den
Vorlego schlossem , damit die Thuere
von aussen vermart gowesen, also
daran bleibon lassen, oder wieder
aus dem stein aushauen und abfeilen
lassen wollo, aber die gegitter vor
den Fenstern konnen meines Bed-
unckene wohl bleibon.”—Hans Jeniti

26

THE RISE OF THE DUTCH REPUBLIC.

[1575.

day, she was buried in the electoral tomb at Meissen ; a pom¬
pous procession of “ school children, clergy, magistrates,
nobility, and citizens 55 conducting her to that rest of which
she could no longer be deprived by the cruelty of man nor
her own violent temperament. 1

So far, therefore, as the character of Mademoiselle de Bour¬
bon and the legitimacy of her future offspring were concerned,
she received ample guarantees. For the rest, the Prince, in
a simple letter, informed her that he was already past his
prime, having reached his forty-second 3 r ear, and that his
fortune was encumbered not only with settlements for his
children by previous marriages, but by debts contracted in the
cause of his oppressed country. 2 A convention of doctors and
bishops of France, summoned by the Due de Montpensier,
afterwards confirmed the opinion that the conventual vows of
the Princess Charlotte had been conformable neither to the
laws of France nor to the canons of the Trent Council. 3 She was
conducted to Brill by Sainte Aldegonde, where she was re¬
ceived by her bridegroom, to whom she was united on the 12th
of June. The wedding festival was held at Dort with much
revelry and holiday making, “but without dancing. 554

In this connexion, no doubt the Prince consulted his inclina¬
tion only. Eminently domestic in his habits, he required the

an Churfiirstin Anna Acta: Inven-
tarium uber F. Annen, p. 3. Uranicn
Vorlassenchaft, etc., Ao. 1577.—MS.,
Dresden Archives.

1 Diet. Act.—MS. Dresden Arch.

It can certainly be considered no
violation of the sanctity of archives
to make these slender allusions to a
tale, the main features of which have
already been published, not only by
MM. Groen v. Prinsterer and Bak-
huyzen, in Holland, but by the Saxon
Professor Bottiger in Germany. It
is impossible to understand the char¬
acter and career of Orange, and his
relations with Germany, without a
complete view of the Saxon marriage.
The extracts from the “ geomantic

letters” of Elector Augustas, how*
ever, given in Bottiger, (Hist. Ta-
schenb. 1S36, p. 109-173,) with their
furious attacks upon the Prince and
upon Charlotte of Bourbon, seem to
us too obscene to be admitted, even in
a note to these pages, and m a foreign
language.

2 “ Memoire pour le Comte de
Hohenlo allant de la part du Prince
d’Orange vers le Comte J. de Nassau,
l’Electeur Palatin, et son Spouse,
Mile, de Bourbon.”—Arch., etc., v.
189-192.

3 Apologie du Prince d’Orange.—
Ed. Sylvius, 37, 38.

4 Archives et Corresp., v. 226. Bor,
viii. 644.

1575.]

WRATH OP ELECTOR AND LANDGRAVE.

27

relief of companionship at home to the exhausting affairs which
made up his life abroad. For years he had never enjoyed social
converse, except at long intervals, with man or woman; it was
natural, therefore, that he should contract this marriage. It
was equally natural that he should make many enemies by so
impolitic a match. The Elector Palatine, who was in place of
guardian to the bride, decidedly disapproved, although he was
suspected of favouring the alliance. 1 The Landgrave of Hesse
for a time was furious; the Elector of Saxony absolutely de¬
lirious with rage. 2 The Diet of the Empire was to be held
within a few weeks at Frankfort, where it was very certain
that the outraged and .nliuential Elector would make his
appearance, overflowing with anger, and determined to re¬
venge upon the cause of the Netherland Reformation the injury
which he had personally received. Even the wise, conside¬
rate, affectionate brother, John of Nassau, considered the mar¬
riage an act of madness. He did what he could, by argument
and entreaty, to dissuade the Prince from its completion; 3 al¬
though he afterwards voluntarily confessed that the Princess
Charlotte had been deeply calumniated, and was an inestimable
treasure to his brother. 4 The French Government made use
of the circumstance to justify itself in a still further aliena¬
tion from the cause of the Prince than it had hitherto mani¬
fested, but this was rather pretence than reality.

It was not in the nature of things, however, that the Saxon
and Hessian indignation could be easily allayed. The Land¬
grave was extremely violent. u Truly I cannot imagine,” he
wrote to the Elector of Saxony, u quo consilio that wiseacre of
an Aldegonde, and whosoever else has been aiding and
abetting, have undertaken this affair. Nam si pietatem re$-
picias , it is to be feared that, considering she is a French¬
woman, a nun, and moreover a fugitive nun, about whose
chastity there has been considerable question, the Prince has-
got out of the frying-pan into the fire. Si formam , it is not to

1 Archives et Corresp., v. 30Qt I 8 Ibid., v. 203, 204.

* * Ibid. ) 4 Ibid., t. 312, 313.

•28

THE KISE OP THE DUTCH EEPUBUC.

[1575.

be supposed that it was her beauty which charmed him, since,
without doubt, he must be rather frightened than delighted,
when he looks upon her. Si spem prolis , the Prince has cer¬
tainly only too many heirs already, and ought to wish that lie
had neither wife nor children. Si amicitiam. , it is not to be
supposed, while her father expresses himself in such threaten¬
ing language with regard to her, that there will be much
cordiality of friendship on his part. Let them look to it, then,
lest it fare with them no better than with the Admiral, at his
Paris wedding; for those gentlemen can hardly forgive 'such
injuries, sine mercurio et arsenico sublimato.” 1

The Elector of Saxony was frantic with choler, and almost
ludicrous in the vehemence of its expression. Count John
was unceasing in his exhortations to his brother to respect the
sensitiveness of these important personages, and to remember
how much good and how much evil it was in their power to
compass, with regard to himself and the great cause of the
Protestant religion. He reminded him, too, that the divorce
had not been, and would not be, considered impregnable as to
form, and that much discomfort and detriment was likely to
grow out of the whole proceeding, for himself and his family. 2
The Prince, however, was immovable in his resolution, and from
the whole tone of his correspondence and deportment it was
obvious that his marriage was one rather of inclination than of
policy. “ I can assure you, my brother,” he wrote to Count
John, “that my character has always tended to this—to care
neither for words nor menaces in any matter where I can act
with a clear conscience,, and without doing injury to my neigh¬
bour. Truly, if I had paid regard to the threats of princes, I
should never have embarked in so many dangerous affairs, con¬
trary to the will of the King, my master, in times past , and
even to the advice of many of my relatives and friends.” 3

The evil consequences which had been foreseen were not slow
to manifest themselves. There was much discussion of the

1 Arch, et Corresp., v. 227, 228. (Prince of Orange, Archives* ▼. 208-

* 8ee the letter of Count John to | 213. # Ibid., v. 244-252.

1575.]

BARBARITIES OF SOSTOY.

29

Prince’s marriage at the Diet of Frankfort, and there was even
a proposition formally to declare the Calvinists excluded in
Germany from the benefits of the Peace of Passau. The Arch¬
duke Rudolph was soon afterwards elected King of the Romans
and of Bohemia, although hitherto, according to the policy of
the Prince of Orange, and in the expectation of benefit to the
cause of the Reformation in Germany and the Netherlands,
there had been a strong disposition to hold out hopes to
Henry the Third, and to excite the fears of Maximilian. 1

While these important affairs, public and private, had been
occurring in the south of Holland and in Germany, a very
nefarious transaction had disgraced the cause of the patriot
party in the northern quarter. Diedricli Sonoy, a governor of
that portion of Holland, a man of great bravery, but of extreme
ferocity of character, had discovered an extensive conspiracy
among certain of the inhabitants, in aid of an approaching
Spanish invasion. Bands of land-loupers had been employed,
according to the intimation which he had received, or affected
to have received, to set fire to villages and towns in every direc¬
tion, to set up beacons, and to conduct a series of signals by
which the expeditions about to be organised were to be fur¬
thered in their objects. 2 The Governor, determined to shew that
the Duke of Alva could not be more prompt nor more terrible
than himself, improvised, of his own authority, a tribunal in
imitation or the infamous Blood-Council. Fortunately for the
character of the country, Sonoy was not a Hollander, nor was
the jwiadiction of this newly-established court allowed to extend
■beyond very narrow limits. Eight vagabonds w^erc, however,
arrested and doomed to tortures the most horrible, in order to
extort from them confessions implicating persons of higher
position in the land than themselves. Seven, after a few turns
of the pully and the screw, confessed all which they were ex¬
pected to confess, and accused all whom they were requested to
accuse. The eighth was firmer, and refused to testify to the

1 Yide Groen. y. Prinst., Archives, v. [ 2 Bor, viii. 623, sqq. Hoofd, x.411>

299, 300. | 412. Wagenaer, vii. 54, et sea.

SO THE RISE OP THE DUTCH REPUBLIC. [1575.

guilt of certain respectable householders, whoso names he had,
perhaps, never heard, and against whom there was no shadow
of evidence. He was, however, reduced by three hours and a
half of sharp torture to confess, entirely according to their
orders, so that accusations and evidence were thus obtained
against certain influential gentlemen of the province, whose
only crime was a secret adherence to the Catholic Faith. 1

The eight wretches who had been induced, by promises of
unconditional pardon upon the one hand, and by savage
torture on the other, to bear this false witness, were condemned
to be burned alive, and on their way to the stake they all
retracted the statements which had only been extorted from
them by the rack. Nevertheless, the individuals who had been
thus designated were arrested. Charged with plotting a
general conflagration of the villages and farm-houses, in con¬
junction with an invasion by Hierges and other Papist generals,
they indignantly protested their innocence; but two of them,
a certain Kopp Corneliszoon, and his son, Nanning Koppezoon,
were selected to undergo the most cruel torture which had
been yet practised in the Netherlands. 2 Sonoy, to his eternal
shame, was disposed to prove that human ingenuity to inflict
human,misery had not been exhausted in the chambers of the
Blood-Council, for it was to be shewn that Reformers were
capable of giving a lesson even to inquisitors in this diabolical
science. Kopp, a man advanced in years, was + ^rtured during
a whole day. On the following morning he was again brought
to the rack, but the old man was too weak to endure all the
agony which his tormentors had provided for him. Hardly
had he been placed upon the bed of torture than he calmly
expired, to the great indignation of the tribunal. 3 cc The
devil has broken his neck, and carried him to hell,’' cried
they, ferociously. u Nevertheless, that shall not prevent
him from being hung and quartered.” This decree of im¬
potent vengeance was accordingly executed.' 1 The son of
Kopp, however, Nanning Koppezoon, was a man in the full

1 Bor, viii. G21, seq. Hoofcl, x. 412. j 5 Ibid , viii. 027, G28. Ibid.

2 Ibid., viii.G2G, seq. Ibid.,sea-J 4 Hu.-rd, x. 41d.

1575.]

BANNING KOPPEZOON.

31

vigour of his years. He bore with perfect fortitude a series
of incredible tortures, after which, with his body singed from
head to heel, and his feet almost entirely flayed, he was left
for six weeks to crawl about his dungeon on his knees. He
was then brought back to the torture-room, and again stretched
upon the rack, while a large earthen vessel, made for the pur¬
pose, was placed, inverted, upon his naked body. A number
of rats were introduced under this cover and hot coals were
heaped upon the vessel, till the rats, rendered furious by the
heat, gnawed into the very bowels of the victim, in their
agony to escape. 1 The holes thus torn in his bleeding flesh
were filled with ret-hot coals. He was afterwards subjected
to other tortures too foul to relate; nor was it till he had
endured all this agony, with a fortitude which seemed
supernatural, that he was at last discovered to be human.
Scorched, bitten, dislocated in every joint, sleepless, starv¬
ing, perishing with thirst, he was at last crushed into a
false confession by a promise of absolute forgiveness. He
admitted everything which was brought to his charge,
confessing a catalogue of contemplated burnings and beacon

firings of which he had never dreamed, and avowing him-
© ' ©

self in league with other desperate Papists, still more danger¬
ous than himself.

Notwithstanding the promises of pardon, Nanning was then
condemned to death. The sentence ordained that his heart
should be torn from his living bosom, and thrown in his face,

1 Bor (viii. G2S) conscientiously tlie Governor’s welfare. “ Noble,
furnishes diagrams of the machinery wise, virtuous, and very discreet,
by aid of winch this devilish cruelty sir,” they say, “ we have wished to
was inflicted. The rats wore sent appriso you of the foregoing, and wo
by the Governor himself.—Vide Let- now pray that God Almighty may
ter of the Commissioners to Sonoy, spare you in a happy, healthy, and
apud Bor, viii. 040, 041. The long-continued government.” It will

whole letter is a wonderful monu- be seen, however, that the “ wise,
ment of barbarity. The incredible virtuous, and very discreet ” Governor,
tortures to which the poor creatures who thus caused hi 3 fellow-citizen’s
had been subjected are detailed bowel* to bo gnawed by rats, was
in a business-like manner, as though not allowed to remain much longer
the transactions wero quite regular in his “ happy and healthy govern-
and laudable. The Commissioners ment,”
conclude with pious wishes for

32 THE RISE OR THE HUTCH REPUBLIC [157&

alter which his head was to be taken off and exposed on the
church steeple of his native village. His body was then to bo
cut in four, and a quarter fastened upon different towers of the
city of Alkmaar, for it was that city, recently so famous for its
heroic resistance to the Spanish army, which was now sullied by
all this cold-blooded atrocity. When led to execution, the
victim recanted indignantly the confessions forced from him by
weakness of body, and exonerated the persons whom he had
falsely accused. A certain clergyman, named Jurian Epeszoon,
endeavoured by loud praying to drown his voice, that the peo¬
ple might not rise with indignation, and the dying prisoner with
his last breath solemnly summoned this unworthy pastor of
Christ to meet him within three days before the judgment-seat of
God. It is a remarkable and authentic fact, that the clergyman
thus summoned, went home pensively from the place of exe¬
cution, sickened immediately, and died upon the appointed day. 1

Notwithstanding this solemn recantation, thepersons accused
were arrested, and in their turn subjected to torture. But the
affair now reached the ears of Orange ; his peremptory orders,
with the universal excitement produced in the neighbourhood, at
last checked the course of the outrage, and the accused persons
were remanded to prison, where they remained till liberated by
the Pacification of Ghent. After their release they commenced
legal proceedings against Sonoy, with a view of establishing
their own innocence, and of bringing the inhuman functionary
to justice. The process languished, however, and was finally
abandoned, for the powerful Governor had rendered such emi¬
nent service in the cause of liberty, that it was thought unwise
to push him to extremity. It is no impeachment upon the
character of the Prince that these horrible crimes were not pre¬
vented. It was impossible for him to be omnipresent. Neither
is it just to consider the tortures and death thus inflicted upon
innocent men an indelible stain upon the cause of liberty.
They were the crimes of an individual who had been useful, but

1 Bor, viii. 628, et seq. Hoofd, x. I His. Ref., i 563. Velius Horn, bL
414. Wagenaer, vii. 58* Brandt, J440.

1575.]

OUDEWATEB TAKEN AND SACKED

33

who, like the Count De la March, had now contaminated his
hand with the blood of the guiltless. The new tribunal never
took root, and was abolished as soon as its initiatory horrors
were known. 1

On the 19th of July, Oudewater, entirely unprepared for
such an event, was besieged by Hierges, but the garrison and
the population, although weak, were brave. The town re¬
sisted eighteen days, and on the 7th of August was carried
by assault, 2 after which the usual horrors were fully practised,
—the garrison was put to the sword, and the town’s people
fared little better. Men, women, and children were murdered
in cold blood, or obliged to purchase their lives by heavy
ransoms, while matrons and maids were sold by auction to
the soldiers at two or three dollars each. 3 Almost every
house in the city was burned to the ground, and these
horrible but very customary scenes having been enacted, the
army of Hierges took its way to Schoonhoven. That city,
not defending itself, secured tolerable terms of capitulation,
and surrendered on the 24th of August.

The Grand Commander had not yet given up the hope of
naval assistance from Spain, notwithstanding the abrupt ter¬
mination to the last expedition which had been organised. It
was, however, necessary that a foothold should be recovered
upon the seaboard, before a descent from without could be met
with proper co-operation from the land forces within, and he
was most anxious, therefore, to effect the reconquest of some
portion of Zeland. The island of Tholen was still Spanish, and
had been so since the memorable expedition of Mondragon
to South Beveland. From this interior portion of the archi¬
pelago the Governor now determined to attempt an expedition
against the outer and more important territory. He three
principal islands were Tholen, Duiveland, and Schouwen.
Tholen was the first which detached itself from the continent.

1 Bor, viii. 628-641. Hoofd, x. 415-
419.

2 Ibid., viii. 646. Meteren, v. 100.
VOL. III.

3 Ibid., viii. 646.
425.

4 Ibid., viii. 447.

Hoofd, x. 424
Meteren. v. 100.

C

34

THE EISE OF THE BUTCH KEPUBLIC.

[1575.

Next, and separated from it by a bay two leagues in width,
was Duiveland, or the Isle of Doves. Beyond, and parted l>v
a narrower frith, was Schouwen, fronting directly upon the
ocean, fortified by its strong capital city, Zieriekzee, and
containing other villages of inferior consequence. 1

Requesens had been long revolving in his mind the means
of possessing himself of this important island. He had caused
to be constructed a numerous armada of boats and light vessels
of various dimensions, and he now came to Tholen to organise
the expedition. His prospects were at first not flattering, for
the gulfs and estuaries swarmed with Zcland vessels, manned
by crews celebrated for their skill and audacity. Traitors,
however, from Zeland itself now came forward to teach the
Spanish Commander how to strike at the heart of their own
country. These refugees explained to Requesens that a narrow
flat extended under the sea from Philipsland, a small and un¬
inhabited islet situate close to Tholen, as far as the shore of
Duiveland. Upon this submerged tongue of land, the water,
during ebbtide, was sufficiently shallow to be waded, and it
would therefore be possible lor a determined band, under
cover of the night, to make the perilous passage. Once
arrived at Duiveland, they could more easily cross the inter¬
vening creek to Schouwen, which was not so deep and only
half as wide, so that a force thus sent through these dangerous
shallows, might take possession of Duiveland and lay siege to
Zieriekzee, in the very teeth of the Zeland fleet, which would
be unable to sail near enough to intercept their passage."

The Commander determined that the enterprise should beat-
tempted. It was not a novelty, because Mondragon, as we have
seen, had already most brilliantly conducted a very similar
.expedition. The present was, however, a much more daring
scheme. The other exploit, although sufficiently hazardous, and
entirely successful, had been a victory gained over the sea alone.

1 Bor, Yiii. 648-G50. Hoofd, x. 426, 3 Bor, ubi sup. Hoofd, x. 42G.

427* Meteren, y. 101,102. Mendoza, Mendoza, zir. 282. Bentivoglio, ix.
jdy. 281. Bentivoglio, ix. 164, et seq. 105.

1575.]

EXPEDITION TO DTTIVELAND.

35

It had been a surprise, and had been effected without any
opposition from human enemies. Here, however, they were
to deal, not only with the ocean and darkness, but with a
watchful and determined foe. The Zclanders were aware that
the enterprise was in contemplation, and their vessels lav
about the contiguous waters in considerable force. 1 Never-
theless, the determination of the Grand Commander was hailed
with enthusiasm by his troops. Having satisfied himself by
personal experiment that the enterprise was possible, and that
therefore his brave soldiers could accomplish it, he decided
that the glory of the achievement should be fairly shared, as
before, among the different nations which served the King.

After completing his preparations, Requcsens came to Tholen,
at which rendezvous were assembled three thousand infantry,
partly Spaniards, partly Germans, partly Walloons. Besides
these, a picked corps of two hundred sappers and miners was
to accompany the expedition, in order that no time might be h>\
in fortifying themselves as soon as they had seized possession
of Schouwen. Four hundred mounted troopers were, m or ever,
stationed in the town of Tholen, while the little fleet, which had
been prepared at Antwerp, lay near that city ready to co-operate
with the land forces as soon as they should complete their en¬
terprise. The Grand Commander now divided the whole force
into two parts. One half was to remain in the boats, under the
command of Mondragon; the other half, accompanied by the
two hundred pioneers, were to wade through the sea from
Pliilipsland to Duiveland and Schouwen. Each soldier of this
detachment was provided with a pair of shoes, two pounds of
powder, and rations for three days in a canvas bag suspended
at his neck. The leader of this expedition was Don Osorio
d’Ulloa, an officer distinguished for his experience and bravery. 2

On the night selected for the enterprise, that of the 27th
September, the moon was a day old in its fourth quarter, and

1 Bentivoglio, ix. 165. Hoofd, x. 2 Bentivoglio, ix. 166. Hoofd, x.
428. Bor viii. 648-650. Mendoza, 427,428. Mendoza, xiv. 283.

*dv, 283.

3 G

TIIE RISE OF THE BUTCH REPUBLIC.

[1575

rose a little before twelve. It was low water at between four
and five in the morning. The Grand Commander, at the ap¬
pointed hour of midnight, crossed to Philipsland, and stood on
the shore to watch the setting forth of the little army. He
addressed a short harangue to them, in which he skilfully
struck the chords of Spanish chivalry, and the national love of
glory, 1 and was answered with loud and enthusiastic cheers.
Don Osorio d’Ulloa then stripped and plunged into the sea
immediately after the guides. He was followed by the
Spaniards, affer whom came the Germans, and then the
Walloons. The two hundred sappers and miners came next,
and Don Gabriel Peralta, with his Spanish company, brought
up the rear. It was a wild night. Incessant lightning
alternately revealed and obscured the progress of the mid¬
night march through the black waters, as the anxious Com¬
mander watched the expedition from the shore, but the
soldiers were quickly swallowed up in the gloom. 2 As they
advanced cautiously, two by two, the daring adventurers
found themselves soon nearly up to their necks in the waves,
while so narrow was the submerged bank along which they
were marching, that a misstep to the right or left was fatal.
Luckless individuals repeatedly sank to rise no more. Mean¬
time, as the sickly light of the waning moon came forth at
intervals through the stormy clouds, the soldiers could plainly
perceive the files of Zeland vessels through which they were
to march, and which were anchored as close to the flat as
the water would allow. Some had recklessly stranded them¬
selves, in their eagerness to interrupt the passage of the troops,
and the artillery played unceasingly from the larger vessels.
Discharges of musketry came continually from all, but the
fitful lightning rendered the aim difficult and the fire com-

1 Hoofd, x. 428. Bor, viii. 648-
630. Mendoza, xiv. 283, 284.

2 Bor, viii. 648-650. Hoofd, x. 428.
Bentivoglio, ix. 167.— According to
Mendoza, the shy was full of preter¬
natural appearances on that memorable
night; literally,

“The exhalations whizzing through the
air

Gave so much light that one might read
by them.”

Julius Caesar.

“ Viendose en aqual punto cometas y
sen ales en d cielo de grande cUtridad
y tanta que sc laan cartas como si juera

1575.]

SUBMARINE EXPEDITION.

37

paratively harmless, 1 while the Spaniards were, moreover,
protected, as to a large part of their bodies, by the water
in which they were immersed.

At times, they halted for breath, or to engage in fierce skir¬
mishes with their nearest assailants. Standing breast-high in
the waves, and surrounded at intervals by total darkness, they
were yet able to pour an occasional well-directed volley into the
hostile ranks. The Zelanders, however, did not assail them
with fire-arms alone. They transfixed some with their fatal
harpoons; they dragged others from the path with boat-hooks ;
they beat out the brains of others with heavy flails. 2 Many
were the mortal duels thus fought in the darkness, and, as it
were, in the bottom of the sea ; many were the deeds of auda¬
city which no eye was to mark save those by whom they were
achieved. Still, in spite of all impediments and losses, the
Spaniards steadily advanced. If other arms proved less avail¬
able, they were attacked by the fierce taunts and invectives of
their often invisible foes, who reviled them as water-dogs,
fetching and carrying for a master who despised them; as
mercenaries, ■who coined their blood for gold, and were em¬
ployed by tyrants for the basest uses. If, stung by these
mocking voices, they turned in the darkness to chastise their
unseen tormentors, they were certain to be trampled upon by
their comrades, and to be pushed from their narrow pathway
into the depths of the sea. Thus many perished.

The night wore on, and the adventurers still fought it out
manfully, but very slowly, the main body of Spaniai'ds, Ger¬
mans, and Walloons, soon after daylight, reaching the opposite
shore, having sustained considerable losses, but in perfect order.

de dia, quo ponia admiracion el verlas ;
juzgando los mas ser cosa faera del
curso natural,” etc.: xiv. 284.—Com¬
pare Strada, viii. 898.

1 Bentivoglio, ix. 167. Hoofd, x.
429. Wagenaer, vii. 71.

2 “Ne bastara a nemici di travagl
argli solamente co i’ moschetti, e con

gli archibugi, ma piu d’appresso con
uncini di ferro, con legni maneggiabili
a molti doppi, 6 con altsi istromenti,”
etc.—Bentivoglio, ix. 167. “ Llegavan
a herir a los nuestros con unos instru-
mentos de lamanera que los con que
bateren el trigo para sacar el grano de
la paja.”—Mendoza, xiv. 285.

38

TEE RISE OE TIIE BUTCH REPUBLIC.

[1575

The pioneers were not so fortunate. The tide rose over them
before they could effect their passage, and swept nearly every
one away. 1 2 3 The rear-guard, under Peralta, not surprised,
like tlic pioneers, in the middle of their passage, by the rising
tide, but prevented, before it was too late, from advancing
far beyond the shore from which they had departed, were
fortunately enabled to retrace their steps."

Don Osorio, at the head of the successful adventurers, now
effected his landing upon Duiveland. Reposing f hemselves but
for an instant after this unparalleled march through the water,
of more than six hours, they took a slight refreshment, prayed
to the Virgin Mary and to Saint James, and then prepared to
meet their new enemies on land. Ten companies of French,
Scotch, and English auxiliaries lay in Duiveland, under the
command of Charles Van Boisot. Strange to relate, by an
inexplicable accident, or by treason, that general was slain by
his own soldiers, at the moment when tho royal troops landed.
The panic created by this event became intense, as the enemy
rose suddenly, as it were, out of the depths of the ocean to
attack them. They magnified the number of their assailants,
and fled terror-stricken in every direction. Some swam to
the Zeland vessels which lay in the neighbourhood; others
took refuge in the forts which had been constructed on tho
island, but these were soon carried by the Spaniards, and the
conquest of Duiveland was effected. 8

The enterprise was not yet completed, but tho remainder was
less difficult and not nearly so hazardous, for the creek which
separated Duiveland from Schouwen was much narrower than
the estuary which they had just traversed. It was less than a
league in width, but so encumbered by rushes and briars that,

1 ir«>ufd, x. 420. — “Donde vays
m.ilu’veutnrudos, quo os haren ser per-
ros do agua,” etc., etc.—Mcncloza, ubi
sup. BcnmogLo, ix 108. Hoot'd, x.
420. Mendoza, xiv. 285.

2 Mendoza, xiv. 285. Bentivoglio,
Iloofd, Bor, ubi sup.

3 Hoofd, x. 420. Bor, viii. (>49.

Mendoza, xiv. 280 —The oflioer, whoso
career was thus uul<ji hm it< ly clo-u'd,
was a brother of the funuu> Admiral
Boisot, had himself mulm d ujood
service to tho cause of his country, and
was Governor of Walcheren at the
tune of his death.—Archives et Cor-
resp., v. 280.

1575.]

CHIAPIN VITELLI.

39

although difficult to wade, it was not navigable for vessels of
any kind. 1 This part of the expedition was accomplished
with equal resolution, so that, after a few hours’ delay, the
soldiers stood upon the much-coveted island of Schouwen.
Five companies of states’ troops, placed to oppose their land¬
ing, fled in the most cowardly manner at the first discharge
of the Spanish muskets, 2 and took refuge in the city of
Zierickzee, which was soon afterwards beleaguered.

The troops had been disembarked upon Duiveland from the
armada, which had made its way to the scene of action, after
having received, by signal, information that the expedition
through the water had been successful. Brouwershaven, on
the northern side of Schouwen, was immediately reduced,
but Bommenede resisted till the 25th of October, when it was
at last carried by assault, and delivered over to fire and
sword. Of the whole population and garrison not twenty
were left alive. Siege was then laid to Zierickzee, and
Colonel Mondragon was left in charge of the operations.
Rcquesens himself came to Schouwen to give directions con¬
cerning this important enterprise. 3

Chiapin Vitelli also came thither in the middle of the winter,
and was so much injured by a fall from his litter, while making
the tour of the island, that he died on shipboard during his
return to Antwerp. 1 This officer had gained his laurels upon
more than one occasion, his conduct in the important action
near Mons, in which the Huguenot force under Genlis was de¬
feated, having been particularly creditable. He was of a dis¬
tinguished Umbrian family, and had passed his life in camps,
few of the generals who had accompanied Alva to the Nether¬
lands being better known or more odious to the inhabitants.
He was equally distinguished for his courage, his cruelty, and
his corpulence. The last characteristic was so remarkable, that

1 Mendoza, xiv. 286. Bentivoglio Bentivoglio, ix. 16S.

(ix. 16S) says, “Poco men d’una 3 Mendoza, xiv. 2S7-293, seq. Benfci-
longua.” — Compare Bor, viii. 649. voglio, ix. 169, 170. Bor, viii. 652,
Hoofd, x. 429. seq. Hoofd, x. 431.

3 Mendoza, xiv. 287. Hoofd, x. 429. * Meteren, v. 103. Strada, viii. 403

40

THE EISE OP THE HUTCH REPUBLIC.

[1575.

he was almost monstrous in his personal appearance. His
protuberant stomach was always supported in a bandage
suspended from his neck, yet in spite of this enormous im¬
pediment, he was personally active on the battle-field, and
performed more service, not only as a commander but as a
subaltern, than many a younger and lighter man. 1

The siege of Zierickzee was protracted till the following
June, the city holding out with firmness. Want of funds
caused the operations to be conducted with languor, but the
same cause prevented the Prince from accomplishing its
relief. Thus the expedition from Philipsland, the most
brilliant military exploit of the whole war, was attended
with important results. The communication between Wal-
cheren and the rest of Zeland was interrupted ; the province
cut in two; a foothold on the ocean, for a brief interval at
least, acquired by Spain. The Prince was inexpressibly
chagrined by these circumstances, and felt that the moment
had arrived when all honourable means were to be employed
to obtain foreign assistance. The Hollanders and Zelanders
had fought the battles of freedom alone hitherto, and had
fought them well, but poverty was fast rendering them inca¬
pable of sustaining much longer the unequal conflict. Offers of
men, whose wages the states were to furnish, were refused, as
worse than fruitless. Henry of Navarre, who perhaps deemed
it possible to acquire the sovereignty of the provinces by so
barren a benefit, was willing to send two or three thousand
men, but not at his own expense. The proposition was re¬
spectfully declined. 2 The Prince and his little country were all

1 Strada, viii. 404.—Vitelli seems
to have been unpopular with, the
Spaniards also, and Mendoza does
not even allude to his death. The
Netherlanders hated him cordially.
His name, which afforded the ma¬
terials for a pan, was, of course, a
whetstone for their wits. They im¬
proved his death by perpetrating a
multitude of epigrams, of which the
following may serve as a sample:—

EPITAPH IUJf CIIIAP VlTLLr.r, MAItCUIONIS
CETON1S, E 1C.

“O Deus omnipotens crassl misereie Vitelli,
Qu/’jn mor<t piooemem non stmt esse bovon.
Corpus in Italia est, tenet intestina llra-
bantus,

Astanimam nemo, cur? quia non hahuit."

—Vide Metcren, v. 10.5 b.

His death occurred towards the end of
February (157G), a few days before
that of the Grand Commander.

2 Wagonaer, vii. 88. Hesol. Holl.,
Mart. 15,1576.

1573.] DELIBERATIONS IN HOLLAND AND ZELAND.

41

alone. “Even if we should not only see om^elws deserted
by all the world, but also all the world against us,'" he said,
“ we should not cease to defend ourselves even to the last man.
Knowing the justice of our cause, we repose entirely in the
mercy of God .” 1 He determined, however, once more to
have recourse to the powerful of the earth, being disposed to
test the truth of his celebrated observation, that “there
would be no lack of suitors for the bride that he had to
bestow.” It was necessary, in short, to look the great ques¬
tion of formally renouncing Philip directly in the lace.

Hitherto the fiction of allegiance had been preserved,
and, even by the enemies of the Prince, it was admitted that
it had been retained with no disloyal intent . 2 The time,
however, had come when it was necessary to throw off alle¬
giance, provided another could be found strong enough and
frank enough to accept the authority which Philip had
forfeited. The question was, naturally, between France and
England, unless the provinces could effect their readmis¬
sion into the body of the Germanic Empire. Already, in
June, the Prince had laid the proposition formally before
the states, “whether they should not negotiate with the
Empire on the subject of their admission, with maintenance
of their own constitutions; ” but it was understood that this
plan was not to be carried out, if the protection of the
Empire could be obtained under easier conditions . 3

Nothing came of the proposition at that time. The nobles
and the deputies of South Holland now voted, in the beginning
of the ensuing month, “ that it was their duty to abandon the
King, as a tyrant who sought to oppress and destroy his sub¬
jects, and that it behoved them to seek another protector/’
This was while the Breda negotiations were still pending, but
when their inevitable result was very visible. There was still
a reluctance at taking the last and decisive step in the rebellion,

1 Archives do la Maison d’Orange, Archives, etc., v. 273. See also the

v. 2S1. Letter to Count John. letter in Bor, viii. 612.

2 See the remarks of Groen v. 3 Kesol. Holl., June 6,1575, hi. 3G3.
Prin^erer on a passage in a letter of Wagenaer, vii. 78.

the Council of State to Requesens.—

42

THE RISE OF THE DUTCH REPUBLIC.

[1575.

so tliat the semblance of loyalty was still retained—that ancient
scabbard, in which the sword might yet one day be sheathed.
The proposition was not adopted at the diet. A committee of
nine was merely appointed to deliberate with the Prince upon
the “means of obtaining foreign assistance, without accepting
foreign authority, or severing their connexion with his Ma¬
jesty/’ The estates were, however, summoned a few months
later, by the Prince, to deliberate on this important matter at
Rotterdam. On the 1st of October he then formally proposed,
either to make terms with their enemy, and that the sooner the
better, or else, once for all, to separate entirely from the King
of Spain 3 and to change their sovereign, in order, with the as¬
sistance and under protection of another Christian potentate, to
maintain the provinces againt their enemies. Orange, more¬
over, expressed the opinion, that upon so important a subject
it was decidedly incumbent upon them all to take the sense of
the city governments. The members for the various munici¬
palities acquiesced in the propriety of this suggestion, and re¬
solved to consult their constituents, while the deputies of the
nobility also desired to consult with their whole bod}'. After
an adjournment of a few days, the diet again assembled at
Delft, and it was then unanimoaJy resolved by the nobles and
the cities, u that they would forsake the King , and seek foreign
assistance, referring the choice to the Prince, who, in regard
to the government, was to take the opinion of the estates.” 1

Thus, the great step was taken, by which two little provinces
declared themselves independent of their ancient master. That
declaration, although taken in the midst of doubt and darkness,
was not destined to be cancelled, and the germ of a new and
powerful commonwealth was planted. So little, however, did
these republican fathers foresee their coming republic, that the
resolution to renounce one king was combined with a proposi¬
tion to ask for the authority of another. It was not imagined
that those two slender columns, which were all that had yet

1 RctoI. Holl., Jul. 7, 1575, bl. 474; I 66S, 660; Oct 13, 1575, bl. 602. Bor,
Jul. 9,1575, bl. 4S2; Oct 3, 1575, bl. I viii. 651. Wagenacr, vii. 81.

1575]

PRANCE AND ENGLAND.

43

been raised of the future stately peristyle, would be strong
enough to stand alone. The question now arose, to what foreign
power application should be made. But little hope was to be
entertained from Germany, a state which existed only in name,
and France was still in a condition of religious and intestine
discord. The attitude of revolt maintained by the Due d’Alen-
<jon seemed to make it difficult and dangerous to enter into
negotiations with a country where the civil wars had assumed
so complicated a character, that a loyal and useful alliance could
hardly be made with any party. The Queen of England, on
the other hand, dreaded the wrath of Philip, by which her
perpetual dangers from the side of Scotland would be aggra¬
vated, while she feared equally the extension of French
authority in the Netherlands, by which increase her neighbour
would acquire an overshadowing power. She was also ashamed
openly to abandon the provinces to their fate, for her realm was
supposed to be a bulwark of the Protestant religion. Afraid
to affront Philip, afraid to refuse the suit of the Netherlands,
afraid to concede an aggrandisement to France, what course
was open to the English Queen ? That which, politically and
personally, she loved the best—a course of barren coquetry.
This the Prince of Orange foresaw; and although not disposed
to leave a stone unturned in his efforts to find assistance for
his country, he on the whole rather inclined for France. He,
however, better than any man, knew how little cause there
was for sanguine expectation from either source. 1

It was determined, in the name of his Highness and the
estates, first to send a mission to England, but there had already
been negotiations this year of an unpleasant character with that
power. At the request of the Spanish envoy, the foremost
Netherland rebels, in number about fifty, including by name
the Prince of Orange, the Counts of Berg and Culemburg,
with Sainte Aldegonde, Boisot, Junius, and others, had been
formally forbidden by Queen Elizabeth to enter her realm."

1 De Thou, tom. vii. liv. 61. See I 2 Resol. HolL, Jul. 16,1575, bL 495
Wagenaer, yii. 81. J Meteren, y. 100, 101.

44

THE RISE OF THE DUTCH REPUBLIC.

[1575.

The Prince had, in consequence, sent Aldcgonde and Junius on
a secret mission to France, 1 * and the Queen, jealous and anxious,
had thereupon sent Daniel Rogers secretly to the Prince/ At
the same time she had sent an envoy to the Grand Commander,
counselling conciliatory measures, and promising to send a
special mission to Spain with the offer of her mediation; but
it was suspected by those most in the confidence of the Spanish
government at Brussels, that there was a great deal of decep¬
tion in these proceedings. 3 A truce for six months having
now been established between the Due cVAlen^on and his
brother, it was supposed that an alliance between France and
England, and perhaps between Alemjon and Elizabeth, was on
the carpet, and that a kingdom of the Netherlands was to be
the wedding present of the bride to her husband. These
fantasies derived additional colour from the fact that, while
the Queen was expressing the most amicable intentions towards
Spain, and the greatest jealousy of France, the English
residents at Antwerp and other cities of the Netherlands had
received private instructions to sell out their property as fast
as possible, and to retire from the country. 1 On the whole,
there was little prospect either of a final answer, or of sub¬
stantial assistance from the Queen.

The envoys to England were Advocate Buis and Doctor
Francis Maalzon, nominated by the estates, and Saiute Alde-
gonde, chief of the mission appointed by the Prince. They
arrived in England at Christmas-tide. Having represented to
the Queen the result of the Breda negotiations, they stated
that the Prince and the estates, in despair of a secure peace,
had addressed themselves to her as an upright protector of
the faith, and as a princess descended from the blood of
Holland. This allusion to the intermarriage of Edward III.
of England with Philippa, daughter of Count William III.
of Hainault and Holland, would not, it was hoped, be in vain.

1 Bor, viii. G41. G-ranvelle, of date Dec. 11, 1575,—

3 Wagenaer, vii. 83. Archives et Corresp. v. 3:25,33G.

3 Letter from Morillon to Cardinal 4 Letter of Morillon, ubi tup.

1575.]

MISSION TO ENGLAND.

45

They furthermore offered to her Majesty, in case she were
willing powerfully to assist the states, the sovereignty over
Holland and Zeland. under certain conditions. 1

The Queen listened graciously to the envoys, and appointed
commissioners to treat with them on the subject. Meantime,
Requesens sent Champagny to England, to counteract the effect
of tins embassy of the estates, and to beg the Queen to give no
heed to the prayers of the rebels, to enter into no negotiations
with them, and to expel them at once from her kingdom.®
The Queen gravely assured Champagny u that the envoys were
no rebels, but faithful subjects of his Majesty.” 3 There was
certainly some effrontery in such a statement, considering the
solemn offers which had just been made by the envoys. If to
renounce allegiance to Philip and to propose the sovereignty
to Elizabeth did not constitute rebellion, it would be difficult
to define or to discover rebellion anywhere. The statement
was as honest, however, as the diplomatic grimace with which
Champagny had reminded Elizabeth of the ancient and un¬
broken friendship which had always existed between herself
and his Catholic Majesty. The attempt of Philip to procure
her dethronement and assassination but a few years before
was, no doubt, thought too trifling a circumstance to have for
a moment interrupted those harmonious relations. Nothing
came of the negotiations on either side. The Queen coquetted
as was her custom. She could not accept the offer of the
estates; she could not say them nay. She would not offend
Philip; she would not abandon the provinces; she would
therefore negotiate—thus there was an infinite deal of diplo¬
matic nothing spun and unravelled, but the result was both
to abandon the provinces and to offend Philip,

In the first answer given by her commissioners to the
states’ envoys, it was declared, u that her Majesty considered
it too expensive to assume the protection of both provinces.
She was willing to protect them in name, but she should

1 Bor, yiii. 6G0, G61. Resol. Holl. t I 2 Ibid., Viii, G61. Vigl. Ep. Select.
Noy. 14,1575. bl. 730. I No. 177, p. 407. * Ibid., viii. 6G1.

45

THE RISE OF THE DUTCH REPUBLIC.

[1576.

confer the advantage exclusively on Walcheren in reality.
The defence of Holland must be maintained at the expense of
the Prince and the estates. 1

This was certainly not munificent, and the envoys insisted
upon more ample and liberal terms. The Queen declined,
however, committing herself beyond this niggardly and in¬
admissible offer. The states were not willing to exchange
the sovereignty over their country for so paltry a concession.
The Queen declared herself indisposed to go further, at least
before consulting Parliament. 2 The commissioners waited
for the assembling of Parliament. She then refused to lay
the matter before that body, and forbade the Hollanders
talcing any steps for that purpose. 3 It was evident that she
was disposed to trifle with the provinces, and had no idea of
encountering the open hostility of Philip. The envoys ac¬
cordingly begged for their purports. These were granted
in April 157G, with the assurance on the part of her
Majesty, that a she would thinlc more of the offer made to her
after she had done all in her power to bring about an arrange¬
ment between the provinces and Philip. 5 ’ 1

After the result of the negotiations of Breda, it is difficult to
imagine what method she was likely to devise for accomplishing
such a purpose. The King was not more disposed than during
the preceding summer to grant liberty of religion, nor were the
Hollanders more ready than they had been before to renounce
either their faith or their fatherland. The envoys, on parting,
made a strenuous effort to negotiate a loan, but the frugal Queen
considered the proposition quite inadmissible. She granted
themlibertytopurchase arms and ammunition, and to levy a few
soldiers with their own money, and this was accordingly clone to
a limited extent. As it was not difficult to hire soldiers or to
buy gunpowder anywhere, in that warlike age, provided the
money were ready, the states had hardly reason to consider
themselves under deep obligation for this concession. Yet this

1 Bor, Yin. G61-GG3. Wagenaer, vii. 3 Ibid., ubi sup.

85. 4 Bor, viii. GG3. Wagenaer, Yii. 86.

2 Wagen., vii. 85, S6. Bor, ubi sup.

1576.]

ITS MEAGRE RESULTS.

47

was the whole result of the embassy. Plenty of fine words liad
been bestowed, which might or might not have meaning, accord¬
ing to the turns talien b} r coining events. Besides these cheap,
empty civilities, they received permission to defend Holland a^
their own expense, with the privilege of surrendering its sove¬
reignty, if they liked, to Queen Elizabeth—and this was all.

On the 19th of April, the envoys returned to their country,
and laid before the estates the meagre result of their negotia¬
tions. 1 Very soon afterwards, upon an informal suggestion
from Henry III. and the Queen Mother, that a more favourable
result might be expected, if the same applications were made to
the Due d’Alengon which had been received in so unsatisfactory
a manner by Elizabeth, commissioners were appointed to
France. 2 It proved impossible, however, at that juncture, to
proceed with the negotiations, in consequence of the troubles oc¬
casioned by the attitude of the Duke. The provinces were still,
even as they had been from the beginning, entirely alone.

Requcsens was more than ever straitened for funds, wring¬
ing, with increasing difficulty, a slender subsidy, from time
to time, out of the reluctant estates of Brabant, Flanders, ami
the other obedient provinces. While he was still at Duive-
land, the estates-general sent him a long remonstrance against
the misconduct of the soldiery, in answer to his demand for
supplies. u Oh, these estates ! these estates! 55 cried the Grand
Commander, on receiving such vehement reproaches instead of
his money ; u may the Lord deliver me from these estates! 5,3
Meantime, the important siege of Zierickzee continued, and it
was evident that the city must fall. There was no money at
the disposal of the Prince. Count John, who was seriously
■embarrassed by reason of the great obligations in money which
he, with the rest of his family, had incurred on behalf of the
estates, had recently made application to the Prince for his
influence towards procuring him relief. He had forwarded an
account of the great advances made by himself and his

1 Bor, viii. 661-663. Hoofd, x. 434, 2 Erer. Reid. Ann., lib. i. 18.

435. Meteren, y. 101. Resol. Holl., 3 “Dio3 nos libera de estos Estadoa.’

April 19,1576, bl. 42. —Meteren, v. 103 b.

48

TIIE RISE OF THE BUTCH REPUBLIC.

[ 1576 .

brethren in money, plate, furniture, and endorsements of
various kinds, for which a partial reimbursement was almost
indispensable to save him from serious difficulties. 1 The Prince,
however, unable to procure him any assistance, had been
obliged once more to entreat him to display the generosity and
the self-denial which the country had never found wanting at
his hands or at those of his kindred. The appeal had not been
in vain ; but the Count was obviously not in a condition to
effect anything more at that moment to relieve the financial
distress of the states. The exchequer was crippled. 2 Holland
and Zeland were cut in twain by the occupation of Schouwen
and the approaching fall of its capital. Germany, England,
France, all refused to stretchout their hands to save the heroic
but exhaustless little provinces. It was at this moment that a
desperate but sublime resolution took possession of the Prince’s
mind. There seemed but one way left to exclude the Spaniards
for ever from Holland and Zeland, and to rescue the inhabit¬
ants from impending ruin. The Prince had long brooded
over the scheme, and the hour seemed to have struck for its
fulfilment His project was to collect all the vessels, of every
description, which could be obtained throughout the Nether¬
lands. The whole population of the two provinces, men,
women, and children, together with all the movable property
of the country, were then to be embarked on board this
numerous fleet, and to seek a new home beyond the seas.
The windmills were then to be burned, the dikes pierced, the
sluices opened in every direction, and the country restored
for ever to the ocean, from which it had sprung.**

1 Archives et Correspondance, v. florins each month to distribute among

301-304. the most meritorious of his company.

2 The contributions of Holland and Each soldier was likewise furnished
Zeland for war expenses amounted with food, bedding, fire, light, and
to one hundred and fifty thousand washing.—Renom do Franco MS., vol.
florins monthly. The pay of a cap- ii. c. 46.

tain was eighty florins monthly; 3 Bor relates that this plan had
that of a lieutenant, forty; that of been definitely formed by the
a corporal, fifteen; that of a drummer, Prince. His authority is ‘*a cre-
fifer, or minister , twelve; that of a dible gentleman of quality” (een
oommon soldier seven and a half. A geloofswaerdig edelmann van qual-
captain had also one hundred and fifty iteit) who, at the time, was a mom-

1570.]

DEATH OF EEQTJESENS.

49

It is difficult to say whether the resolution, if Providence
had permitted its fulfilment, would have been, on the whole,
better or worse for humanity and civilisation. The ships
which would have borne the heroic Prince and his fortunes
might have taken the direction of the newly-discovered Western
hemisphere. A religious colony, planted by a commercial and
liberty-loving race, in a virgin soil, and directed by patrician
but self-denying hands, might have preceded by half a
century, the colony which a kindred race, impelled by similar
motives, and under somewhat similar circumstances and con¬
ditions, was destined to plant upon the stern shores of New
England. Had they directed their course to the warm and
fragrant islands of the East, an independent Christian common¬
wealth might have arisen among those prolific regions, superior
in importance to any subsequent colony of Holland, cramped
from its birth by absolute subjection to a far distant metropolis.

The unexpected death of Requesens suddenly dispelled these
schemes. The siege of Zierickzee had occupied much of the
Governor’s attention, but he had recently written to his
sovereign, that its reduction was now certain. He had added
an earnest request for money, with a sufficient supply of
which he assured Philip that he should be able to bring the
war to an immediate conclusion. While waiting for these
supplies, he had, contrary to all law or reason, made an
unsuccessful attempt to conquer the post of Embden, in
Germany. A mutiny had, at about the same time, broken
out among his troops in Harlem, and he had furnished the
citizens with arms to defend themselves, giving free per¬
mission to use them against the insurgent troops. By this

ber of the estates and government of
Holland.—viii. 664. G-roen v. Prins-
terer, however, rejects the tale as fabu¬
lous ; or believes, at any rate, that the
personage alluded to by Bor, took the
Prince’s words too literally. It is prob¬
able that the thought was often in the
Prince’s mind, and found occasional ex¬
pression, although it had never been

VOL. HI. D

actually reduced to a scheme. It is
difficult to see that it was not consistent
with his character, supposing that there
had been no longer any room for hope.
Hoofd (v. 443) adopts the story without
hesitation. Wagenaer (vii. 88, 89)
alLudes to it as a matter of current
report.—Comp. Yan Wyn op Wageu,
vii. 33-35.

50

THE EISE OF THE BUTCH EEPUELIC.

[i:>ra

means the mutiny had been quelled, but a dangerous pre¬
cedent established. Anxiety concerning this rebellion is sup¬
posed to have hastened the Grand Commander’s death. A
violent fever seized him on the 1st, and terminated his exist¬
ence on the 5th of March, in the fifty-first year of his life. 1

It is not necessary to review elaborately his career, the
chief incidents of which have been sufficiently described.
Requesens was a man of high position by birth and office,
but a thoroughly commonplace personage. His talents,
either for war or for civil employment, were not above
mediocrity. His friends disputed whether he was greater
in the field or in the council, but it is certain lie was great
in neither. His bigotry was equal to that of Alva, but it
was impossible to rival the Duke in cruelty. Moreover,
the condition of the country, after seven years of torture
under his predecessor, made it difficult for him, at the time
of his arrival, to imitate the severity which had made the
name of Alva infamous. The Blood-Council had been re¬
tained throughout his administration, but its occupation was
gone, for want of food for its ferocity. The obedient pro¬
vinces had been purged of Protestants; while crippled, too,
by confiscation, they offered no field for further extortion.
From Holland and Zeland, whence Catholicism had been
nearly excluded, the King of Spain was nearly excluded also.
The Blood-Council, which, if set up in that country, would have
executed every living creature of its population, could only
gaze from a distance at those who would have been its victims.
Requesens had been previously distinguished in two fields of
action: the Granada massacres and the carnage of Lepanto.
Upon both occasions he had been the military tutor of Don
John of Austria, by whom he was soon to be succeeded in the
government of the Kctlierlands. To the imperial bastard had
been assigned the pre-eminence, but it was thought that
the Grand Commander had been entitled to a more than

1 Bor, Yiii. 6G3, COO. Hoofd, x. f Card. Gn ivclle, No. 178, p. 40S.

436, 437. Vigl. Ejpi't. Select., E»isfc. 1

1576.]

CHARACTER OE REQTJESENS

51

oqual share of the glory. We have seen how much addi¬
tional reputation was acquired by Requesens in the provinces.
The expedition against Duiveland and Schouwen, was, on the
whole, the most brilliant feat of arms during the war, and its
success reflects an undying lustre on the hardihood and disci¬
pline of the Spanish, German, and Walloon soldiery. As an
act of individual audacity in a bad cause, it has rarely been
equalled. It can hardly be said, however, that the Grand
Commander was entitled to any large measure of praise for
the success of the expedition. The plan was laid by Zeland
traitors. It was carried into execution by the devotion of the
Spanish, Walloon, and German troops, -while Requesens was
only a spectator of the transaction. His sudden death arrested,
for a moment, the ebb-tide in the affairs of the Netherlands,
which was fast leaving the country bare and desolate, and was
followed by a train of unforeseen transactions, which it is now
our duty to describe.

CHAPTER IV

THE HOPPER POLICY AND THE MONSTER MEETING-.

Assumption of affairs by tbo state council at Brussels—Hesitation at
Madrid—Joachim Hopper—Maladministration—Vigilance of Orange
—The provinces drawn more closely together—Inequality of the
conflict—Physical condition of Holland—New act of Union between
Holland and Zeland—Authority of the Prince defined and enlarged
—Provincial polity characterised—G-enerous sentiments of the Prince
—His tolerant spirit—Tetters from the King—Attitude of tho great
powers towards the Netherlands—Correspondence and policy of
Elizabeth—Secret negociations with France and Alemjon —Confused
and menacing aspect of Germany—[Responsible and laborious posi¬
tion of Orange—Attempt to relievo Zierickzee—Death of Admiral
Boisot—Capitulation of tho city upon honourable terms—Mutiny of
the Spanish troops in Schouwen—General causes of discontent—
Alarming increase of the mutiny—The rebel regiments enter Brabant
—Fruitless attempts to pacify them—They take possession of Alost—
Edicts, denouncing them, from the stato-council—Intense excitement
in Brussels and Antwerp—Letters from Philip brought by Marquis
Havr6—The King’s continued procrastination—Humous royal con¬
firmation of the authority assumed by the state council—United and
general resistance to foreign military oppression—Tho German troops
and the Antwerp garrison, under Avila, join the revolt—Letter of
Verdugo—A crisis approaching—Jerome de Koda in the citadel—The
mutiny universal.

The death of Kequesens, notwithstanding his four days’ illno^,
occurred so suddenly, that he had not had time to appoint iiis
successor. Had he exercised this privilege, which his patent
conferred upon him, it was supposed that he would have
nominated Count Mansfeldto exercise the functions of Gover¬
nor-General, until the King should otherwise ordain. 1 In tho
1 Bor, viii. 6GJ. MeUrcn, v. 104a.

1570.] HESITATION AT MADRID. 53

absence of any definite arrangement, the Council of State,
according to a right which that body claimed from custom,
assumed the reins of government. Of the old board, there
were none left but the Duke of Aerschot, Count Berlaymont,
and Viglius. To these were soon added, however, by royal
diploma, the Spaniard, Jerome de Rod a, and the Netherlander,
Assonleville, Baron Rassenghiem, and Arnold Sasbout. ’ Thus
all the members, save one, of what had now become the execu¬
tive body, were natives of the country. Roda was accordingly
looked askance upon by his colleagues. He was regarded by
Viglius as a man who desired to repeat the part which had
been played by Juan Vargas in the Blood-Council, while the
other members, although stanch Catholics, were all of them
well-disposed to vindicate the claim of Nethcrland nobles to a
share in the government of the Netherlands.

For atime, therefore, the transfer of authority seemed to have
been smoothly accomplished. The Council of State conducted
the administration of the country. Peter Ernest Mansfeld was
entrusted with the supreme military command, including the
government of Brussels; and the Spanish commanders, although
dissatisfied that any but a Spaniard should be thus honoured,
were for a time quiescent. 1 When the news reached Madrid,
Philip was extremely disconcerted. The death of Requcsens
excited his indignation. He was angry with him, not for dying,
but for dying at so very inconvenient a moment. He had not
yet fully decided either upon his successor, or upon the policy
to be enforced by his successor. There were several candidates
for the vacant post; there was a variety of opinions in the
cabinet as to the course of conduct to be adopted. 2 In the
impossibility of instantly making up his mind upon this unex¬
pected emergency, Philip fell, as it were, into a long reverie,

1 Bor, Meteren, ubi sup. Viglii
Epist. Select, ad Diversos, No. 179, p.
409. Yigl. Epist., ubi sup. Hoofd, xi.
43S. Bor, ix. 663. Wagenaer (vii. 91)
however, states that Mansfeld was en¬
trusted simply with, the government of

Brussels, and that it is an error to
describe him as invested with the
supreme military command.

* Letter of Philip (March 24,1576)
to states-genoral, in Bor, ix. 663.

54

THE RISE OF THE BUTCH REPUBLIC.

[1576,

than which nothing could be more inopportune. With a
country in a state of revolution and exasperation, the trance,
which now seemed to come over the government, was like to
be followed by deadly effects. The stationary policy, which
the death of Rcquesens had occasioned, was allowed to prolong
itself indefinitely, 1 and almost for the first time in his life,
Joachim Hopper was really consulted about the affairs of that
department over which he imagined himself, and v r as generally
supposed by others, to preside at Madrid. The creature of
Yiglius, having all the subserviency, with none of the acute¬
ness of his patron, he had been long employed as chief of the
Netherland bureau, while kept in profound ignorance of the
affairs which were transacted in his office. He was a privy-
councillor whose counsels were never heeded, a confidential
servant in whom the King reposed confidence only on the
ground that no man could reveal secrets -which he did not know.
This deportment of the King’s showed that he had accurately
measured the man, for Hopper was hardly competent for the
place of a chief clerk. He was unable to write clearly in any
language, because incapable of a fully developed thought upon
any subject. It may be supposed that nothing but an abortive
policy, therefore, would be produced upon the occasion thus
suddenly offered. u ’Tis a devout man, that poor Master
Hopper,” said G-ranvelle, “ but rather fitted for platonic re¬
searches than for affairs of state.” 3

It was a proof of this incompetency, that now, when really
called upon for advice in an emergency, he should recommend
a continuance of the interim. Certainly nothing worse could
be devised. Granvelle recommended a reappointment of the
Duchess Margaret. 3 Others suggested Duke Eric of Brunswick,
or an Archduke of the Austrian house ; although the opinion
held by most of the influential councillors was in favour of Don
John of Austria. 4 In the interests of Philip and his despotism,

1 Strada, viii. 407, 408. Hoofd, xi.
438. Bor, viii. 6G3, sqq. V. d. Vynckt,
ii. 176, et sqq., etc.
a Archives et Correspondance, v. 374.

3 MS. cited by Groen v. Prinst. v.
331.

4 Ibid.—Compare Bor, viii. 663, and
tbe letters of Philip to State Council.

1576.]

VIGILANCE OF OliAKGE.

55

nothing, at any rate, could be more fatal tlian delay. In the
condition of affairs which then existed, the worst or feeblest
governor would have been better than none at all. To leave a
vacancy was to play directly into the hands of Orange, for it
was impossible that so skilful an adversary should not at once
perceive the fault, and profit by it to the utmost. It was strange
that Philip did not see the danger of inactivity at such a crisis.
Assuredly, indolence was never his vice, but on this occasion
indecision did the work of indolence. Unwittingly, the despni
was assisting the efforts of the liberator. Viglius saw the por¬
tion of matters with his customary keenne-s, and wondered at
the blindness of Hopper and Philip. At the last gasp of a life,
which neither learning nor the accumulation of worldly prizes
and worldly pelf could redeem from intrinsic baseness, the
sagacious but not venerable old man saw that a chasm was
daily widening, in which the religion and the despotism which
he loved might soon be hopelessly swallowed. u The Prince
of Orange and his Beggars do not sleep/’ he cried, almost in
anguish; “ nor will they be quiet till they have made use of
this interregnum to do us some immense grievance.” 1

Certainly the Prince of Orange did not sleep upon this
nor any other great occasion of his life. In his own vigorous
language, used to stimulate his friends in various parts of the
country, he seized the swift occasion by the forelock. He
opened a fresh correspondence with many leading gentlemen in
Brussels and other places in the Netherlands : persons of influ¬
ence, who now, for the first time, shewed a disposition to side
with their country against its tyrants. 2 Hitherto the land had
been divided into two very unequal portions. Holland and
Zeland were devoted to the Prince; their whole population,
with hardly an individual exception, converted to the Reformed

in Bor, ubi sup.; letters which Cabrera —Cabrera, Vita do Felipo II., li.
characterises as “amorosas, suaves enlas 845.

razones fraternales,” and in which “ de- 1 Vigl. EpKfc. ad Joach. Hoppe rum,
zia los amaba como a hijos!! ” These ep. 265, p. 863.
letters distinctly indicated Eon John as 2 Ee Thou, liv. 62, t. vii. 3GS, 369#

the probable successor of Kequesens. Wagenaer, vii. 104, 105, sqfl.

56 THE RISE OF THE DUTCH REPUBLIC.

religion. The other fifteen provinces were, on the whole, loyal
to the King; while the old religion had, of late years, taken
root so rapidly again, that perhaps a moiety of their population
mio'ht be considered as Catholic. 1 At the same time, the reign
of terror under Alva, the paler but not less distinct tyranny
of Requesens, and the intolerable excesses of the foreign
soldiery, by which the government of foreigner's was supported,
had at last maddened all the inhabitants of the seventeen
provinces. Notwithstanding, therefore, the fatal difference ot
religious opinion, they were all drawn into closer relations
with each other; to regain their ancient privileges, and to
expel the detested foreigners from the soil, being objects
common to all. The provinces were united in one groat
hatred and one great hope.

The Hollanders and Zelanders, under their heroic leader, had
well-nigh accomplished both tasks, so far as those little pro¬
vinces were concerned. Never had a contest, however, seemed
more hopeless at its commencement. Cast a glance at the map.
Look at Holland—not the Republic, with its sister provinces
beyond the Zuyder Zee—but Holland only with the Zcland
archipelago. Look at the narrow tongue of half submerged
earth. Who could suppose that upon that slender sand-bank,
one hundred and twenty miles in length, and varying in breadth
from four miles to forty, one man, backed by the population of
a handful of cities, could do battle nine years long with the
master of two worlds, the u Dominator of Asia, Africa, and
America ”—the despot of the fairest realms of Europe—and
conquer him at last ? Nor was William even entirely master
of that narrow shoal where clung the survivors of a great,
national shipwreck. North and South Holland were cut in
two by the loss of Harlem, while the .enemy was in poshcs^ion
of the natural capital of the little country, Amsterdam. The
Prince affirmed that the cause had suffered more from the
disloyalty of Amsterdam than from all the efforts of the enemy.

1 G-roen v. Prinst., Archives v. 381-385.—Compare De Thou, liv. 02m

157(5.]

PHYSICAL CONDITION OF HOLLAND.

57

Moreover, the country was in a most desolate condition. It
was almost literally a sinking ship. The destruction of the
bulwarks against the ocean had been so extensive, in conse¬
quence of the voluntary inundations which have been described
in previous pages, and by reason of the general neglect which
more vital occupations had necessitated, that an enormous out¬
lay, both of labour and money, was now indispensable to save
the physical existence of the country. The labour and money,
notwithstanding the crippled and impoverished condition of
the nation, were, however, freely contributed; a wonderful
example of energy and patient heroism was again exhibited.
The dikes, which had been swept away in every direction, were
renewed at a vast expense. 1 Moreover, the country, in the
course of recent events, had become almost swept bare of its
cattle, and it was necessary to pass a law forbidding, for a con¬
siderable period, the slaughter of any animals, tc oxen, cows,
calves, sheep, or poultry.” 2 It was, unfortunately, not pos¬
sible to provide by law against that extermination of the human
population which had been decreed by Philip and the Pope.

Such was the physical and moral condition of the provinces
of Holland and ZelancL The political constitution of both
assumed, at this epoch, a somewhat altered aspect. The union
between the two states, effected in June 1575, required im¬
provement. The administration of justice, the conflicts of
laws, and more particularly the levying of moneys and troops
in equitable proportions, had not been adjusted with perfect
smoothness. The estates of the two provinces, assembled in
congress at Delft, concluded, therefore, a new act of union,
which was duly signed upon the 25th of April 15 76. 3 Those
estates, consisting of the knights and nobles of Holland, with
the deputies from the citizens and countships of Holland and
Zeland, had been duly summoned by the Priuce of Orange. 4

1 The work was, however, not fairly
taken in hand until the spring of 1577.

—Wagenaer, vii. 158, sqq. Bor, x.

810.

4 Resol. Holl., Feb. 28,1575, bl. 07.

Yan Wyn op Wagenaer, vii. 20.

3 Bor, ix. GG8. Kluit, Hist. Holl.
Beg., i. 115, et sqq. Wagenaer, vii. 04.

4 Bor, ix. 668. Wagenaer, vii. 03.
Kluit, i. 115, sqq.

58

THE RISE OP THE DUTCH REPUBLIC.

[1570.

They as fairly inpolitical capacities, and fur¬
nished as^fi6]5ious a representation of the national will, as
porjlchlJe expected; for, it is apparent, upon every page of
his history, that the Prince, upon all occasions, chose to refer
his policy to the approval and confirmation of as large a
portion of the people as any man in those days considered
capable or desirous of exercising political functions.

The new union consisted of eighteen articles. It was esta¬
blished that deputies from all the estates should meet, when
summoned by the Prince of Orange or otherwise, on penalty
of fine, and at the risk of measures binding upon them being
passed by the rest of the Congress. 1 Freshly arising causes
of litigation were to be referred to the Prince. 2 Free inter¬
course and traffic through the united provinces was guaran¬
teed. 3 The confederates were mutually to assist each oilier
in preventing all injustice, wrong, or violence, even towards
an enemy. 4 The authority of law and the pure administra¬
tion of justice were mutually promised by the contracting
states. 6 The common expenses were to be apportioned
among the different provinces, u as if they were all included
in the republic of a single city.” 6 Nine commissioners,
appointed by the Prince on nomination by the estates,
were to sit permanently, as his advisers, and as assessors
and collectors of the taxes. 7 The tenure of the union was
from six months to six months, with six weeks’ notice. 8

The framers of this compact having thus defined the general
outlines of the confederacy, declared that the government, thus
constituted, should be placed under a single head. They accord¬
ingly conferred supreme authority on the Prince,9 defining his
powers in eighteen articles. He was declared chief commander
by land and sea. He was to appoint all officers, from generals
to subalterns, and to pay them at his discretion. 10 The whole

1 Art. 3. The document is given in

full by Bor, ix. CCS, sqq.

3 Art. 4.

3 Ibid., 5

4 “ Hoewel ook viiand.”—Art. 7.

5 Article 7. 6 Ibid., 10

7 Ibid., 11.

• Articles 17 and 18.

9 Articles of Union, Bor, ix. G20.
10 Articles 1 and 2.

AUTHORITY OR THE PRINCE DEFINED.

59

1570.]

protection of tlio land was devolved upon him. He was to
send garrisons or troops into every city and village at his
pleasure, without advice or consent of the estates, magistrates
of the cities, or any other persons whatsoever. 1 He was, in
behalf of the King, as Count of Holland and Zeland, to cause
justice to be administered by the supreme court. 2 In the
same capacity it was to provide for vacancies in all political
and judicial offices of importance, 3 choosing, with the advice
of the estates, one officer for each vacant post out of three can¬
didates nominated to him by that body.' 1 He was to appoint
and renew, at the usual times, the magistracies in the cities,
according to the ancient constitutions. He was to make
changes in those boards, if necessary, at unusual times, with
consent of the majority of those representing the great coun¬
cil and corpus of the said cities. 5 He was to uphold the
authority and pre-eminence of all civil functionaries, and to
prevent governors and military officers from taking any
cognisance of political or judicial affairs. With regard to
religion, he was to maintain the practice of the Reformed
Evangelical religion, and to cause to cease the exercise of
all other religions contrary to the gospel . He was, however,
not to permit that bvjulsition should be made into any man’s
belief or conscience , or that any man by cause thereof should
suffer trouble , injury , or hindrance . 6

The league thus concluded was a confederation between a
group of virtually independent little republics. Each muni¬
cipality was, as it were, a little sovereign, sending envoys to a
congress to vote and to sign as plenipotentiaries. The vote of
each city was, therefore, indivisible, and it mattered little, prac¬
tically, whether there were one deputy or several. The nobles
represented not only their own order, but were supposed to act
also in behalf of the rural population. On the whole, there was

1 Articles 3-7. 2 Ibid., 8.1

3 Compare Kluit, HolL StaaUieg, i.

121 , 122 .

4 Article 10.—See Kin it’s Commen¬

tary on this article.—Holl. Staats.. i.
121, 155. * Art. 13.

6 Ibid. 15.—“ Sonder dat syne E. sal
toelaten dat men op jemands gcloof op
cunsuentic sal inquireren of dat jemand
ter cause van die eemge moeynis, inju-
rie, of letsel angedaen. sal worden,”
etc., etc.

60

THE RISE OF TnE DUTCH REPUBLIC.

[ir>7f>.

a tolerably fair representation of the whole nation. The people
were well and worthily represented in the government of each
city, and therefore equally so in the assembly of the estates. 1
It was not till later that the corporations, by the extinction of
the popular element, and by the usurpation of the right of self-
election, were thoroughly stiffened into fictitious personages
which never died, and which were never thoroughly alive.

At this epoch the provincial liberties, so far as they could
maintain themselves against Spanish despotism, wero practical
and substantial. The government was a representative one,*
in which all those who had the inclination possessed, in one
mode or another, a voice. Although the various members of
the confederacy were locally and practically republic, or self-
governed little commonwealths, the general government which
they established was, in form, monarchical. The powers
conferred upon Orange constituted him a sovereign ad interim ,
for while the authority of the Spanish monarch remained
suspended, the Prince was invested, not only w ith the whole
executive and appointing power, but even with a very large
share in the legislative functions of the state. 3

The whole system was rather practical than theoretical,
without an accurate distribution of political powers. In living,
energetic communities, where the blood of the body politic
circulates swiftly, there is an inevitable tendency of the differ¬
ent organs to sympathise and commingle more closely than
a priori philosophy would allow. It is usually more desirable
than practicable to keep the executive, legislative, and judi¬
cial departments entirely independent of each other. 1

Certainly, the Prince of Orange did not at that moment
indulge in speculations concerning the nature and origin of
government. The Congress of Delft had just clothed him with
almost regal authority. In his hands were the powers of war
and peace, joint control of the magistracies and courts of justice,
absolute supremacy over the army and the fleets. It is true that

1 Comp. Kluit, Holl. Sfcaats., i. 130. I 4 Comp. Guizot, du Syslcino Repre-

fl Kluit, 129, 130. 3 Ibid., i. 125. | sentatif, t. i.

1576.] GENEROUS SENTIMENTS OF THE PRINCE. 61

these attributes had been conferred upon him ad interim , but
it depended only upon himself to make the sovereignty personal
and permanent. 1 He was so thoroughly absorbed in his work,
however, that he did not even see the diadem which he put aside.
It was small matter to him whether they called him stadtholder
or guardian, prince or king. He was the father of his country
and its defender. The people, from highest to lowest, called
him u Father William,” and the title was enough for him.
The question with him was, not what men should call him,
but how he should best accomplish his task.

So little was he inspired by the sentiment of self-elevation,
that he was anxiously seeking for a fitting person—strong, wise,
and willing enough—to exercise the sovereignty which was
thrust upon himself, but which he desired to exchange against
an increased power to be actively useful to his country. To ex¬
pel the foreign oppressor—to strangle the Inquisition—to main¬
tain the ancient liberties of the nation—here was labour enough
for his own hands. The vulgar thought of carving a throne out
of the misfortunes of his country seems not to have entered his
mind. Upon one point, however, the Prince had been peremp¬
tory. He would have no persecution of the opposite creed.
He was requested to suppress the Catholic religion, in terms.
As we have seen, he caused the expression to be exchanged for
the words, u religion at variance with the gospel.” He reso¬
lutely stood out against all meddling with men’s consciences, or
inquiring into their thoughts. While smiting the Spanish In¬
quisition into the dust, he would have no Calvinist Inquisition
set up in its place. Earnestly a convert to the Reformed religion,
but hating and denouncing only what was corrupt in the ancient
Church, he would not force men, with fire and sword, to travel
to heaven upon his own road. Thought should be toll-free.
Neither monk nor minister should burn, drown, or hang his
fellow-creatures, when argument or expostulation failed to re¬
deem them from error. It was no small virtue in that age fco
I'ise to such a height. We know what Calvinists, Zwinglians,
1 Compare Groen v. Prinst., Archives et Corresponclance, v. .‘340'242.

62

THE RISE OF THE DTJTCII REPUBLIC.

[15TG,

Lutherans, have clone in the Netherlands, in Germany, in
Switzerland, and almost a century later in New England. It is,
therefore, with increased veneration that we regard this large
and truly catholic mind. His tolerance proceeded from no in¬
difference. No man can read his private writings, or form a
thorough acquaintance with his interior life, without recognising
him as a deeply religious man. He had faith unfaltering in
God. He had also faith in man, and love for his brethren. It
was no wonder that in that age of religious bigotry he should
have been assaulted on both sides. While the Pope excom¬
municated him as a heretic, and the King set a price upon his
head as a rebel, the fanatics of the new religion denounced him
as a godless main Peter Dathenus, the unfrocked monk of
Poperingen, shrieked out in his pulpit that the u Prince oi
Orange cared nothing either for God or for religion.” 1

The death of Requcsens had offered the first opening through
which the watchful Prince could hope to inflict a wound in the
vital part of Spanish authority in the Netherlands. The languor
of Philip, and the procrastinating counsel of the dull Hopper,
unexpectedly widened the opening. On the 24th of March,
letters were written by his Majesty to the states-gcneral, to the
provincial estates, and to the courts of justice, instructing them
that/until further orders, they were all to obey the Council ot
State. The King was confident that all would do their utmost
to assist that body in securing the holy Catholic Faith, and the
implicit obedience of the country to its sovereign. He would,
in the meantime, occupy himself in the selection of a new
Governor-General, who should be of his family and blood.
This uncertain and perilous condition of things was watched
with painful interest in neighbouring countries.

The fate of all nations was more or less involved in tiro de¬
velopment of the great religious contest now waging in the
Netherlands. England and France watched each other’s move¬
ments in the direction of the provinces with intense jealousy.
The Protestant Queen was the natural ally of the struggling
1 Brandt., Hist, der Ref., t. i. b. xi. 607.

1578.] COEEESPONDENCE AND POLICY OF ELIZABETH. 63

Reformers, but lier ‘despotic sentiments were averse to tlie fos¬
tering of rebellion against the Lord’s anointed. The thrifty
Queen looked with alarm at the prospect of large subsidies
which would undoubtedly be demanded of her. The jealous
Queen could as ill brook the presence of the French in the
Netherlands as that of the Spaniards whom they were to expel.
She therefore embarrassed, as usual, the operations of the Prince
by a course of stale political coquetry. She wrote to him on
the 18th of March, soon after the news of the Grand Com¬
mander’s death, 1 saying that she could not yet accept the offer
which had been made to her, to take the provinces of Holland
and Zeland under her safe keeping; to assume, as Countess,
the sovereignty over them; and to protect the inhabitants
against the alleged tyranny of the King of Spain. She was un¬
willing to do so until she had made every effort to reconcile them
with that sovereign. Before the death of Requesens she had
been intending to send him an envoy, proposing a truce, for the
purpose of negotiation. This purpose she still retained. She
should send commissioners to the Council of State and to the
new Governor, when he should arrive. She should also send
a special envoy to the King of Spain. She doubted not
that the King would take her advice, when he heard lier
speak in such straightforward language. In the meantime,
she hoped that they would negotiate with no other powers. 2

This was not very satisfactory. The Queen rejected the offers
to herself, but begged that they might by no means be made to
her rivals. The expressed intention of softening the heart of
Philip by the use of straightforward language seemed but a
sorry sarcasm. It was hardly worth while to wait long for so
improbable a result. Thus much for England at that juncture.
Not inimical, certainly; but over-cautious, ungenerous, teasing,
and perplexing, was the policy of the maiden Queen. With
regard to France, events there seemed to favour the hopes of
Orange. On the 14th of May, the cc Peace of Monsieur the

1 Bor, ix. GG7. 11G, 1576, in Bor, ix. 667.—'Compare

a Letter of Queen Elizabeth, Mar. ] Groen v. Prmst., v, 332, 333.

64

THE RISE OP THE DTJTCII REPUBLIC.

[1570.

treaty by which so ample but so short-lived a triumph was
achieved by the Huguenots, was signed at Paris. 1 Everything
was conceded, but nothing was secured. Rights of worship,
rights of office, political and civil, religious enfranchisement,
were recovered, but not guaranteed. 2 It seemed scarcely pos¬
sible that the King could be in earnest then, even if a Medieean
Yalois could ever be otherwise than treacherous. It was almost
certain, therefore, that a reaction would take place; but it is
easier for us, three centuries after the event, to mark the precise
moment of reaction, than it was for the most far-seeing contem¬
porary to foretell how soon it would occur. In the meantime,
it was the Prince’s cue to make use of tins sunshine while it
lasted. Already, so soon as the union of 25th of April had
been concluded between Holland and Zeland, he had forced the
estates to open negotiations with France.' 5 The provinces, al¬
though desirous to confer sovereignty upon him, were indisposed
to renounce their old allegiance to their King in order to place
it at the disposal of a foreigner. Nevertheless, a resolution, at
the reiterated demands of Orange, was passed by the estates, to
proceed to the change of master, and, for that purpose, to treat
with the King of France, his brother, or any other foreign po¬
tentate, who would receive these provinces of Holland and Ze¬
land under his government and protection/ Negotiations were
accordingly opened with the Duke of Anjou, tho dilethmie
leader of the Huguenots at that remarkable juncture. It was
a pity that no better champion could be looked for among the
anointed of the earth than the false, fickle, foolish Aleneon,
whose career, everywhere contemptible, was nowhere so
flagitious as in the Netherlands. By the fourteenth article of
the Peace of Paris, the Prince was reinstated and secured
in his principality of Orange, and his other possessions in
France. 5 The best feeling, for the time being, w r as mani¬
fested between the French court and the Reformation. 0

1 De Thou, t. vii. 1. Ixii. 418. ' Prinst., v. 341.

3 Ibid., vii. 413-418. — Compare 4 Ibid., Ibid. s Bor, ix. G84.

G-roeri v. Prmst.. v. 340*351. | 6 The Edict or Peace of Paris, iu

Resol. y. Holl., 64, 65. GSroen y. i sixty-tliree articles, is published at

1570.]

CONFUSED ASPECT OF GERMANY.

65

Thus much for England and France. As for Germany, the
prospects of the Netherlands were not flattering. The lieform¬
ing spirit had grown languid from various causes. The self-
seeking motives of many Protestant princes had disgusted the
nobles. Was that the object of the bloody wars of religion,
that a few potentates should be enabled to enrich themselves by
confiscating the broad lands and accumulated treasures of the
Church ? Had the creed of Luther been embraced only for such
unworthy ends ? These suspicions chilled the ardour of thou¬
sands, particularly among the greater ones of the land. More¬
over, the discord among the Reformers themselves waxed daily,
and became more and more mischievous. Neither the people
nor their leaders could learn that, not a new doctrine, but a
wise toleration for all Christian doctrines, was wanted. Of new
doctrines there was no lack. Lutherans, Calvinists, Flaccianists,
Majorists, Adiapliorists, Brantianists,Ubiquitists, swarmed and
contended pell-mell. 1 In this there would have been small
harm, if the Reformers had known what reformation meant.
But they could not invent or imagine toleration. All claimed
the privilege of persecuting. There were sagacious and honest
men among the great ones of the country, but they were but
few. Wise William of Hesse strove hard to effect a concordia
among the jarring sects; Count John of Nassau, though a
passionate Calvinist, did no less; while the Elector of Saxony,
on the other hand, raging and roaring like a bull of Bashan,
was for sacrificing the interest of millions on the altar of his
personal spite. Cursed was his tribe if he forgave the Prince.
He had done what he could at the Diet of Ratisbon to exclude
all Calvinists from a participation in the religious peace of
Germany, 2 and he redoubled his efforts to prevent the exten¬
sion of any benefits to the Calvinists of the Netherlands.
These determinations had remained constant and intense.

length by Bor, is. 6S3-690.—Compare Orange, dated Dillemborg, May 9,
Groen v. Prinst., v. 349-351. De 1576.—Archives de la Maison d’Orange,
Thou, t. v. 1. vii. 413-418. v. 349-358.

1 See in particular a letter of Count 2 Groen v. Prmst., Archives, etc., v.
John of Nassau to the Prince of 229, 230.

VOL. III. S

66

THE RISE OP THE HUTCH REPUBLIC.

[157(1

On the whole., tlio political appearance of Germany was as
menacing, as that of France seemed for a time favourable, to
the schemes of Orange. The quarrels of the princes, and the
daily widening schism between Lutherans and Calvinists.,
seemed to bode little good to the cause of religious freedom.
The potentates were perplexed and at variance, the nobles
lukewarm and discontented. Among the people, although
subdivided into hostile factions, there was more life. Here,,
at least, were heartiness of love and hate, enthusiastic con¬
viction, earnestness and agitation. “The true religion,’*
wrote Count John, “ is spreading daily among the common
men. Among the powerful, who think themselves highly
learned, and who sit in roses, it grows, alas, little. Here and
there a Nicodemus or two may be found, but things will
hardly go better here than in France or the Netherlands.” 1

Thus, then, stood affairs in the neighbouring countries. Tho
prospect was black in Germany, more encouraging in France,
dubious, or worse, in England. More work, more anxiety, more-
desperate struggles than ever, devolved upon the Prince. Sec¬
retary Brunynck wrote that his illustrious chief was tolerably
well in health, but so loaded witli affairs, sorrows, and travails,,
that, from morning till night, he had scarcely leisure to
breathe. 2 Besides his multitudinous correspondence with the
public bodies, whose labours he habitually directed; with the
various estates of the provinces, which he was gradually
moulding into an organised and general resistance to the
Spanish power; with public envoys and with secret agents to
foreign cabinets, all of whom received their instructions from
him alone; with individuals of eminence and influence, whom
he was eloquently urging to abandon their hostile position to
their fatherland, and to assist him in the great work which
he was doing; besides these numerous avocations, ho was
actively and anxiously engaged, during the spring of 1576 ?
with the attempt to relieve the city of Zierickzce. 3

1 Archives, etc., do la Maison d’ | 3 Bor, ix. 067, £qq- Mctcren, y.

Orange, v. CIO, 047. 2 Ibid., v. 3G5. 1102,10J.

i57a]

DEATH OF ADMIRAL BOISOT.

67

That important place, the capital of Schouwen, and the key
to half Zcland, had remained closely invested since the memor¬
able expedition to Duiveland. The Prince had passed much of
his time in the neighbourhood, during the month of May, in
order to attend personally to the contemplated relief, and to
correspond daily with the beleaguered garrison. 1 At last, on
the 25th of May, a vigorous effort was made to throw in suc¬
cour by sea. The brave Admiral Boisot, hero of the memo¬
rable relief of Leyden, had charge of the expedition. Mon-
dragon had surrounded the shallow harbour with hulks and
chains, and with a loose submerged dike of piles and rubbish.
Against this obstacle Boisot drove his ship, the Heel Lion ,
with his customary audacity, but did not succeed in cutting
it through. His vessel, the largest of the fleet, became en¬
tangled : he was, at the same time, attacked from a distance
by the besiegers. The tide ebbed, and left his ship aground,
while the other vessels had been beaten back by the enemy.
Night approached, and there was no possibility of accom¬
plishing the enterprise. His ship was hopelessly stranded.
With the morning sun his captivity was certain. Rather than
fall into the hands of his enemy, he sprang into the sea, fol¬
lowed by three hundred of his companions, some of whom
were fortunate enough to effect their escape. The gallant
Admiral swam a long time, sustained by a broken spar. Night
and darkness came on before assistance could be rendered, and
he perished. 2 Thus died Louis Boisot, one of the most en¬
terprising of the early champions of Netherland freedom—
one of the bravest precursors of that race of heroes, the com¬
manders of the Holland navy. The Prince deplored his loss
deeply as that of a u valiant gentleman, and one well affectioned
to the common cause.” 3 His brother, Charles Boisot, as will
be remembered, had perished by treachery at the first landing

1 Archives, etc., de la Maison June instead of the 25th of May, as

d’Orange, v. 358, 359. the date of the unfortunate adventure.

2 Bor, ix. 678. Hoofd, x. 440. Cabrera, xi. 846, who states the loss of
Archives de la Maison d’Orange, v. the Orangists at eight hundred and
364-368. Meteren, v. 102.—The last upwards.

historian erroneously gives the 12th of 3 Archives, etc., v. 367.

(J8 THE RISE OP TIIE DUTCH REPUBLIC.

of tlie Spanish troops, after their perilous passage from Duive-
land. Thus both the brethren had laid down tlieir lives for
their country, on this its outer barrier, and in the hour of its
utmost need. The fall of the beleaguered town could no longer
he deferred. The Spaniards were, at last, to receive the prize
of that romantic valour which had led them across the bottom
of the sea to attack the city. Nearly nine months had, how¬
ever, elapsed since that achievement, and the Grand Commander,
by whose orders it had been undertaken, had been four months
in his grave. He was permitted to see neither the long-delayed
success which crowned the enterprise, nor the procession of dis¬
asters and crimes which were to mark it as a most fatal success.

On the 21st of June 1576, Zierickzee, instructed by the
Prince of Orange to accept honourable terms, if offered, agreed
to surrender. Mondragon, whose soldiers were in a state of
suffering, and ready to break out in mutiny, was but too happy
to grant an honourable capitulation. The garrison were allowed
to go out with their arms and personal baggage. The citizens
were permitted to retain or resume their privileges and charters,
on payment of two hundred thousand guldens. Of sacking and
burning there was, on this occasion, fortunately, no question;
but the first half of the commutation money was to be paid in
cash. There was but little money in the impoverished little
town, but mint-masters were appointed by the magistrates to
take their seats at once in the Hotel de Ville. The citizens
brought their spoons and silver dishes, one after another, which
were melted and coined into dollars and half-dollars, until the
payment was satisfactorily adjusted. Thus fell Zierickzee, to
the deep regret of the Prince. “ Had we received the least
succour in the world from any side,” he wrote, “the poor
city should never have fallen. I could get nothing from
Prance or England, with all my efforts. Nevertheless, we do
not lose courage, but hope that, although abandoned by all the
world, the Lord God will extend His right hand over us.” 1

1 Bor, ix. 681. Hoofd, x. 440, 441. of 16th July, 1576, in Archives de la
Meteren v. 102, 103. Archives de la Maison d’Orange, y. 379-381.

Mai:on d’Orange, v. 372, 373. Letter

1573.] MUTINY OF THE SPANISH THOOPS. G9

The enemies were not destined to go further. From their own
hand now came the blow which was to expel them from the
soil which they had so long polluted. No sooner was Zierick-
zee captured than a mutiny broke forth among several com¬
panies of Spaniards and Walloons, belonging to the army in
Schouwen. 1 A large number of the most influential officers
had gone to Brussels, to make arrangements, if possible, for
the payment of the troops. In their absence, there was more
scope for the arguments of the leading mutineers;—arguments,
assuredly, not entirely destitute of justice or logical precision.
If ever labourers were worthy of their hire, certainly it was
the Spanish soldiery. Had not they done the work of demons
for nine years long ? Could Philip or Alva have found in the
wide world men to execute their decrees with more unhesitat¬
ing docility, with more sympathising eagerness? What
obstacle had ever given them pause in their career of duty ?
What element had they not braved ? Had they not fought
within the bowels of the earth, beneath the depths of the sea,
within blazing cities, and upon fields of ice ? Where was the
work which had been too dark and bloody for their perform¬
ance ? Had they not slaughtered unarmed human beings by
townfuls, at the word of command ? Had they not eaten the
flesh and drunk the hearts’ blood of their enemies ? Had they
not stained the house of God with wholesale massacre ? What
altar and what hearthstone had they not profaned ? What
fatigue, what danger, what crime, had ever checked them for
a moment ? And for all this obedience, labour, and blood¬
shed, were they not even to be paid such wages as the com¬
monest clown, who only tore the earth at home, received ?
Did Philip believe that a few thousand Spaniards were to
execute his sentence of death against three millions of Nether-
landers, and be cheated of their pay at last ?

It was in vain that arguments and expostulations were ad¬
dressed to soldiers who were suffering from want, and maddened

1 Bor, ix. 681, 692 sqq. Mefceren, I Prinst. v. 381, sqq.
tx. 106. Hoofd, x. 443. G-roen y. |

70

THE RISE OE THE DUTCH REPUBLIC.

[1S7G.

by injustice. They determined to take their came into their
own hand, as they had often done before. By the 15th of July,
the mutiny was general on the isle of Schouwcn. 1 Promises
were freely offered, both of pay and pardon; appeals were made
to their old sense of honour and loyalty; but they had had
enough of promises, of honour, and of work. What they wanted
now were shoes and jerkins, bread and meat and money.
Money they would have, and that at once. The King of Spain
was their debtor. The Netherlands belonged to the King of
Spain. They would therefore levy on the Netherlands for
payment of their debt. Certainly this was a logical deduction.
They knew by experience that this process had heretofore ex¬
cited more indignation in the minds of the Netherland people
than in that of their master. Moreover, at this juncture, they
cared little for their sovereign’s displeasure, and not at all for
that of the Netherlands. By the middle of July, then, the
mutineers, now entirely beyond control, held their officers im¬
prisoned within their quarters at Zierickzec. They even sur¬
rounded the house of Mondragon, who had so often led them to
victory, calling upon him with threats and taunts to furnish
them with money. 2 The veteran, roused to fury by their in¬
subordination and their taunts, sprang from his house into the
midst of the throng. Baring his breast beforo them, he fiercely
invited and dared their utmost violence. Of his life-blood, he
told them bitterly, he was no niggard, and it was at their dis¬
posal. His wealth, had he possessed any, would have been
.equally theirs. 3 Shamed into temporary respect, but not turned
from their purpose by the choler of their chief, they left him
to himself. Soon afterwards, having swept Schouwcn island
bare of everything which could be consumed, the mutineers
swarmed out of Zeland into Brabant, devouring as they went. 4

It was their purpose to hover for a time in the neighbour¬
hood of the capital, and either to force the Council of State to

1 Hoofd, x. 443, sqq. Bor, ix. 002. 3 Ibid., x. 444.—Compare Cabrera,

Meteren, vi. 106. Mendoza, xv. 208, xi. 843.

sqq. Cabrera, xi. 848, sqq. 4 P>or, iv. 002. Cabrera, xi. S48,

a Hoofd, t. 443, 444. sqq. Mendoza, r.v. 300.

&576.]

INCREASE OF THE MUTINY.

71

pay them their long arrears, or else to seize and sack the richest
city upon which they could lay their hands. The compact,
disciplined mass, rolled hither and thither with uncertainty of
purpose, but with the same military precision of movement
whichhad always characterised these remarkable mutinies. It
gathered strength daily. The citizens of Brussels contemplated
with dismay the eccentric and threatening apparition. They
knew that rapine, murder, and all the worst evils which man
can inflict on his brethren, were pent within it, and would soon
descend. Yet, even with all their past experience, did they not
foresee the depth of woe which was really impending. The
mutineers had discarded such of their officers as they could not
compel to obedience, and had, as usual, chosen their Eletto.
Many straggling companies joined them as they swept to and
fro. They came to Hcrcnthals, where they were met by Count
Mansfeld, who was deputed by the Council of State to treat
with them, to appeal to them, to pardon them, to offer them
everything but money. It may be supposed that the success of
the commander-in-ehief was no hotter than that of Mondragon
and his subalterns. They laughed him to scorn when ho re-
aninded them how their conduct was tarnishing the glory
which they had acquired by nine years of heroism. They
answered, with their former cjmicism, that glory could bo
put neither into pocket nor stomach. They had no use for
it; they had more than enough of it. Give them money,
or give them a city ; 1 these w r ere their last terms.

Sorrowfully and bodingly Mansfeld withdrew to consult
again with the State Council. The mutineers then made a
demonstration upon Mechlin, but that city having fortunately
strengthened its garrison, was allowed to escape. They then
hovered for a time outside the Avails of Brussels. At Grims-
berg, where they paused for a short period, they held a parley
with Captain Montesdocca, whom they received with fair
words and specious pretences. He returned to Brussels with
the favourable tidings, and the mutineers swarmed off to Assche.

1 Bor, ix. C92. Meteren, vi. 10G. Hoofd, x. 444, Mendoza, xv. 300.

72

TIIE BISE OF THE BUTCH REPUBLIC.

[ 157 ^

Thither Montesdocca was again despatched* with the expecta¬
tion that he would be able to bring them to terms, but they
drove him off with jeers and threats, finding 1 that he brought
neither money nor the mortgage of a populace city. The
next day, after a feint or two in a different direction, they
made a sudden swoop upon Alost, in Flanders. Here they
had at last made their choice, and the town was carried by
storm. All the inhabitants who opposed them were butchered,
and the mutiny, at last established in a capital, was able
to treat with the State Council upon equal terms. They
were now between two and three thousand strong, disci¬
plined, veteran troops, posted in a strong and wealthy city.
One hundred parishes belonged to the jurisdiction of Alost,
all of which were immediately laid under contribution. 1

The excitement was now intense in Brussels. Anxiety and
alarm had given place to rage, and the whole population rose
in arms to defend the capital, which was felt to be in imminent
danger. This spontaneous courage of the burghers prevented
the catastrophe, which was reserved for a sister city. Mean¬
time, the indignation and horror excited by the mutiny were so
universal that the Council of State could not withstand the
pressure. Even the women and children dem anded daily in the
streets that the rebel soldiers should be declared outlaws. On
the 26th of July, accordingly, the King of Spain was made to
pronounce his Spaniards traitors and murderers. All men were
enjoined to slay one or all of them, wherever they should be
found; to refuse them bread, water, and fire, and to assemble
at sound of bell, in every city, whenever the magistrates should
order an assault upon them. 2 A still more stringent edict was
issued on the 2d of August, 3 and so eagerly had these decrees
been expected, that they were published throughout Flanders
and Brabant almost as soon as issued. Hitherto the leading
officers of the Spanish army had kept aloof from the insurgents*
and frowned upon their proceedings. The Spanish member of,

1 Bor, ix. 693. Meteren, vi. 10G. | 2 See the Edict in Bor, ix 003.
Eeativo^lio, lx. 173. Hoofd, x. 445. | * Iloofd, x. 445.

1576.]

BRUSSELS THREATENED.

73

the State Council, Jerome de Roda, had joined without
opposition in the edict. As, however, the mutiny gathered
strength on the outside, the indignation waxed daily within
the capital. The citizens of Brussels, one and all, stood to
their arms. Not a ,man could enter or leave without their
permission. The Spaniards who were in the town, whether
soldiers or merchants, were regarded with suspicion and abhor¬
rence. The leading Spanish officers, Romero, Montesdocca,
Verdugo, and others, who had attempted to quell the mutiny,
had been driven off with threats and curses, their soldiers de¬
fying them and brandishing their swords in their very faces.
On the other hand, they were looked upon with ill-will by
the Netherlanders. The most prominent Spanish personages
in Brussels were kept in a state of half-imprisonment. 1
Romero, Roda, Verdugo, were believed to favour at heart
the cause of their rebellious troops, and the burghers of Bra¬
bant had come to consider all the King’s army in a state of
rebellion. Believing the State Council powerless to protect
them from the impending storm, they regarded that body
with little respect, keeping it, as it were, in durance, while
the Spaniards were afraid to walk the streets of Brussels for
fear of being murdered. A retainer of Roda, who had ven¬
tured to defend the character and conduct of his master
before a number of excited citizens, was slain on the spot. 2 3 *

In Antwerp, Champagny, brother of Granvelle, and governor
of the city, was disposed to cultivate friendly relations with the
Prince of Orange. Champagny hated the Spaniards, and the
hatred seemed to establish enough of sympathy between him¬
self and the liberal party to authorise confidence in him. The
Prince dealt with him but regarded him warily. 8 Fifteen com¬
panies of German troops, under Colonel Altaemst, were sus¬
pected of a strong inclination to join the mutiny. They were

1 Bor, ix. G92, 693. Cabrera, xi. v. 487, 488. Cabrera, xi. 863.—“ Pero

849. Hoofd, x. 445. . el Champaigne estaba convenido con

3 Bor, ix. 693. Meteren, vi. 106. los Estados y con le Principe de Orange

* Archives de la Maison d’Orange, su grande amigo.” 1

74

TIIE RISE OF THE DUTCH REPUBLIC.

[1576.

withdrawn from Antwerp, and in tlieir room came Count
Qberstein, with his regiment, who swore to admit no suspi¬
cions person inside the gates, and in all things to obey the orders
of Champagny. 1 In the citadel, however, matters were very
threatening. Sancho d’Avila, the governor, although he had
not openlyjoined the revolt, treated the edict of outlawry again-t
the rebellions soldiery with derision. He refused to publish a
decree which he proclaimed infamous, ancl which had boon
extorted, in his opinion, from an impotent and trembling
council. 2 Even Champagny had not desired or dared to
publish the edict within the city. The reasons alleged were
his fears of irritating and alarming the foreign merchants, whose
position was so critical and friendship so important at that
moment. 3 On the other hand, it was loudly and joyfully pub¬
lished in most other towns in Flanders and Brabant. In
Brussels there were two parties: one holding the decree too
audacious for his Majesty to pardon; the other clamouring for
its instantaneous fulfilment. By far the larger and more influ¬
ential portion of the population favoured the measure, and
wished the sentence of outlawry and extermination to be ex¬
tended at once against all Spaniards and other foreigners in
the service of the King. It seemed imprudent to wait until
all the regiments had formally accepted the mutiny, and con¬
centrated themselves into a single body. 4

At this juncture, on the last day of July, the Marquis of
Havre, brother to the Duke of Aerschot, arrived out of Spain.*
He was charged by the King with conciliatory but unmeaning
phrases to the estates. The occasion was not a happy one.
There never was a time when direct and vigorous action had
been more necessary. It was probably the Iving’s desire then,
as much as it ever had been his desire at all, to make up the
quarrel with his provinces. He had been wearied with the
policy which Alva had enforced, and for which he endeavoimed

1 Bor, ix. 694. Hoofd, x. 447. 4 Ibid., 69-1, sq.q. Hoofd, x. 447,

2 Mendoza, xy. 301. Cabrera, xi. sqq.

849. 3 Bor. ix- 694, 0 Bor, ix. 701.

1576.]

QUACKERY.

75

at that period to make the Duke appear responsible. The
barren clemency which the Grand Commander had been in¬
structed to affect had deceived but few persons, and had pro¬
duced but small results. The King was, perhaps, really
inclined at this juncture to exercise clemency—that is to say,
he was willing to pardon his people for having contended for
their rights, provided they were now willing to resign them for
ever. So the Catholic religion and his own authority were
exclusively and inviolably secured, he was willing to receive liis
disobedient provinces into favour. To accomplish this end,
however, he had still no more fortunate conception than to take
the advice of Hopper. A soothing procrastination was the
anodyne selected for the bitter pangs of the body politic—a
vague expression of royal benignity the styptic to be applied to
its mortal wounds. An interval of hesitation was to bridge
over the chasm between the provinces and their distant metro¬
polis. u The Marquis of Havre has been sent,” said the King,
u that he may expressly witness to you of our good intentions,
and of our desire, with the grace of God, to bring about a paci¬
fication.” 1 Alas, it was well known whence those pavements
of good intentions had been taken, and whither they would
lead. They were not the material for a substantial road to
reconciliation. “ His Majesty,” said the Marquis, on delivering
his report to the State Council , cc has long been pondering over
all things necessary to the peace of the land. His Majesty, like
a very gracious and bountiful prince, has ever been disposed, in
times past, to treat these, his subjects, by the best and sweetest
means.” 2 There being, however, room for an opinion that so
bountiful a prince might have discovered sweeter means, by all
this pondering, than to burn and gibbet his subjects by thou¬
sands, it w r as thought proper to insinuate that his orders had
been hitherto misunderstood. Alva and Kequesens had been
unfaithful agents, who did not know their business, but it was
to, be set right in future. u As the good-will and meaning of

1 See the letter in Bor, ix. 704. I Bor, ix. 704.

* Report of Marquis of Havre, in |

70

THE RISE OF THE DUTCH REPUBLIC.

[1575.

Ins Majesty lias by no means been followed/’ continued the
envoy, £C his Majesty lias determined to send Councillor
Hopper, keeper of the privy seal, and myself, hitherwards, to
execute the resolutions of his Majesty.” 1 Two such person¬
ages as poor, plodding, confused, time-serving Hopper, and
flighty, talkative 2 Havre, whom even Rcquescns despised, and
whom Don John, while shortly afterwards recommending him
for a state councillor , characterised to Philip as u a very great
scoundrel,” 3 would hardly be able, even if royally empowered,
to undo the work of two preceding administrations. More¬
over, Councillor Hopper, on further thoughts, was not de¬
spatched at all to the Netherlands.

The provinces were, how r ever, assured by the King’s letters
to the Brabant estates, to the State Council, and other public
bodies, as well as by the report of the Marquis, that efficacious
remedies were preparing in Madrid. The people were only to
wait patiently till they should arrive. 4 The public had heard
before of these nostrums, made up by the royal prescriptions in
Spain; and were not likely to accept them as a panacea for
their present complicated disorders. Never, in truth, had con¬
ventional commonplace been applied more unseasonably. Here
was a general military mutiny flaming in the very centre of
the land. Here had the intense hatred of race which for
years had been gnawing at the heart of the country, at last
broken out into most malignant manifestation. Hero was
nearly the 'whole native population of every province, from
grand seigneur to plebeian, from Catholic prelate to Anabap¬
tist artisan, exasperated alike by the excesses of six thousand
foreign brigands, and united by a common hatred into a band
of brethren. Here was a State Council too feeble to exercise
the authority which it had arrogated, trembling between the
wrath of its sovereign, the menacing cries of the Brussels

5 Rep. of M. of Havr<$, "Bor, ix. 704.

3 “ Loquillo y insubstancial.” —
Letter of Requesens to Philip, cited
by Grachard, Oorresp. G-uillaume lo
Tacit., iii. 130, n. L

9 “ Muy grandissimo vellacho.”—
Letter of Don John to Philip, cited by
G-achard, ubi sup.

4 Report of Marq. Hut re, etc., Bor*
ix. 705.

INTENSE EXCITEMENT.

77

I57G.]

burghers, and the wild threats of the rebellions army, and
held virtually captive in the capital which it was supposed
to govern.

Certainly, the confirmation of the Council in its authority,
for an indefinite, even if for a brief period, was a most un¬
lucky step at this juncture. There were two parties in the
provinces, but one was far the most powerful upon the great
point of the Spanish soldiery. A vast majority were in
favour of a declaration of outlawry against the whole army,
and it was thought desirable to improve the opportunity by
getting rid of them altogether. If the people could rise
en masse, now that the royal government was in abeyance,
and, as it were, in the nation’s hands, the incubus might be
cast off for ever. If any of the Spanish officers had been
sincere in tlicir efforts to arrest the mutiny, the sincerity was
not believed. If any of the foreign regiments of the King
appeared to hesitate at joining the Alost crew, the hesitation
was felt to be temporary. Meantime, the important German
regiments of Fugger, Fronsberger, and Pol wilier, with their
colonels and other officers, had openly joined the rebellion, 1 2
while there was*no doubt of the sentiments of Sancho d’Avila
and the troops under his command. 3 Thus there were two great
rallying-places for the sedition, and the most important for¬
tress of the country, the key which unlocked the richest
city in the world, was in the hands of the mutineers. The
commercial capital of Europe, filled to the brim with accu¬
mulated treasures, and with the merchandise of every clime*
lay at the feet of this desperate band of brigands. The
horrible result was but too soon to be made manifest.

Meantime, in Brussels, the few Spaniards trembled for
their lives. The few officers shut up there were in imminent
danger. “ As the devil does not cease to do his work,” wrote
Colonel Verdugo, 3 “he has put it into the heads of the

1 Bor, ix. 711, 712. Hoofd, x. 448.

2 Meteren, vi. 107. Mendoza, xv.
303, sqq. Cabrera, xi. 849, sqq.

a This letter of Verdugo to his lieu¬

tenant, Be Ea Margella, is published
by Bor, ix. 702, and by G-roen v.
Prinsterer, Archives, v. 387-389.

78

THE RISE OF THE DUTCH REPUBLIC.

[157 &

Brabanters to rebel, taking for a pretext the mutiny of the
Spaniards. The Brussels men have handled their weapons so
well against those who icere pi iced thereto r p r °tect them, that
they have begun to kill the Spaniards, threatening likewise
the Council of State. Such is their insolence, that they care
no more for these great lords than for so many varlets.”
The writer, who had taken refuge, together with Jerome
de Roda and other Spaniards, or u Hispaniolised ” persons,
in Antwerp citadel, proceeded to sketch the preparations
which were going on in Brussels, and the counter-measures
which were making progress in Antwerp. u The states,” he
wrote, u are enrolling troops, saying ’tis to put down the
mutiny; but I assure you 5 tis to attack the army indiscri¬
minately. To prevent such a villainous undertaking, troops
of all nations are assembling here , in order to march straight
upon Brussels, there to enforce everything which my lords
of the State Council shall ordain.” Events were obviously
hastening to a crisis—an explosion, before long, wms inevit¬
able. u I wish I had iny horses here,” continued the Colonel,
66 and must beg you to send them. I see a black cloud hanging
over our heads. I fear that the Brabantines will play the beasts
so much, that they will have all the soldiery at their throats.” 1

Jerome de Roda had been fortunate enough to make his
escape out of Brussels," and now claimed to be sole Governor
of the Netherlands, as the only remaining representative of the
State Council. His colleagues were in durance at the capital.
Their authority was derided. Although not yet actually im¬
prisoned, they were in reality bound hand and foot, and com¬
pelled to take their orders either from the Brabant estates or
from the burghers of Brussels. It was not an illogical proceed¬
ing, therefore, that Roda, under the shadow of the Antwerp
citadel, should set up his own person as all that remained of
the outraged majesty of Spain. Till the new Governor, Don
Juan, should arrive, whose appointment the King had already
communicated to the government, and who might be expected
1 Letter of Verdugo. 2 Bor, ix. 705. Hoofd, x. 449.

1576.]

GOVERNOR RODA.

79 ,

m the Netherlands before the close of the autumn, the solitary
councillor claimed to embody the whole Council. 1 Ide caused a
new seal to be struck—a proceeding very unreasonably charged
as forgery by the provincials—and forthwith began to thunder
forth proclamations and counter-proclamations in the King’s
name and under the royal seal. 2 It is difficult to see any
technical crime or mistake in such a course. As a Spaniard,
and a representative of his Majesty, he could hardly be expected
to take any other view of his duty. At any rate, being called
upon to choose between rebellious Netherlander and mutinous
Spaniards, he was not long in making up his mind.

By the beginning of September the mutiny was general. AH
the Spanish army, from general to pioneer, were united. The
most important German troops had taken side with them.
Sancho d 5 Avila held the citadel of Antwerp, vowing vengeance,
and holding open communication with the soldiers at Alost.*
The Council of State remonstrated with him for his disloyalty.
He replied by referring to his long years of service, and by
reproving them for affecting an authority which their imprison¬
ment rendered ridiculous. 4 The Spaniards were securely estab¬
lished. The various citadels which had been built by Charles
and Philip to curb the country now effectually did their work.
With the castles of Antwerp, Valenciennes, Ghent, Utrecht,
Culemburg, Viane, Alost, in the hands of six thousand veteran
Spaniards, the country seemed chained in every limb. , The
foreigner’s foot was on its neck. Brussels was almost the
only considerable town out of Holland and Zeland which was
even temporarily safe. The important city of Maastricht was
held by a Spanish garrison, while other capital towns and
stations w^ere in the power of the Walloon and German
mutineers. 5 The depredations committed in the villages, the
open country, and the cities, were incessant—the Spaniards
treating every Netherlander as their foe. Gentleman and

1 Bor, Hoofd, ubi sup. xi. 8G4, sqq.

3 Bor, ix. 712. Hoofd, x. 441. 4 Mendoza, ubi sup.

9 Mendoza, xv. 301, sqq. Cabrera, 6 Bor, ix. 715. Mendoza, xv. 303.

80 THE RISE OP THE DUTCH REPUBLIC. [1370*

peasant, Protestant and Catholic, priest and layman, all were
plundered, maltreated, outraged. The indignation became
daily more general and more intense. 1 There were frequent
skirmishes between the soldiery and promiscuous bands of
peasants, citizens, and students; conflicts in which the
Spaniards were invariably victorious. What could such half¬
armed and wholly untrained partisans effect against the
bravest and most experienced troops in the whole world ?
Such results only increased the general exasperation, while
they impressed upon the whole people the necessity of some
great and general effort to throw off the incubus.

1 Meteren, yL 107- Hoofd, x. 450-45&

CHAPTER V.

THE ANTWERP FURY RIPENS THE GHENT CONCORD.

Religious and political sympathies and antipathies in tlie seventeen pro¬
vinces—Unanimous hatred for the foreign soldiery.—Use made by the
Prince of the mutiny—His correspondence—Necessity of union en¬
forced—A congress from nearly all the provinces meets at Ghent—
Skirmishes between the foreign troops and partisan bands—Slaughter
at Tisnaeq—Suspicions entertained of the State Council—Arrest of
the State Council—Siege of Ghent citadel—Assistance sent by Orange
—Maastricht lost and regained—Wealthy and perilous condition of
Antwerp—Preparations of the mutineers under the secret superin¬
tendence of Avila—Stupidity of Oberstein—Duplicity of Don Sancbo
—Reinforcements of Walloons under Havr6, Egmont, and others sent
to Antwerp—Governor Ckampagny’s preparations for the expected
assault of the mutineers—Insubordination, incapacity, and negligenco
of all but him—Concentration of all the mutineers from different points
in the citadel—The attack, the panic, the flight, the massacre, the
fire, the sack, and other details of the “Spanish Fury”—Statistics of
murder and robbery—Letter of Orange to the States-general—Surren¬
der of Ghent citadel—Conclusion of the “ Ghent Pacification ”—The*
treaty characterised—Forms of ratification—Fail of Zierichzeo anch
Recovery of Zeland.

Meantime, the Prince of Orange sat at Middelbnrg, 1 watching
the storm. The position of Holland and Zeland with regard
to the other fifteen provinces was distinctly characterised.
Upon certain points there was an absolute sympathy, while-
upon others there was a grave and almost fatal difference..
It was the task of the Prince to deepen the sympathy, to
extinguish the difference.

1 Dor, ix. G94, sq$,

F

VOL. UL

82

THE RISE OF TIIE EUTCII REPUBLIC.

[1576.

In. Holland and Zelancl there was a warm and nearly
universal adhesion to the Reformed religion, a passionate
attachment to the ancient political liberties. The Prince,
although an earnest Calvinist himself, did all in his power to
check the growing spirit of intolerance toward the old
religion, omitted no opportunity of strengthening the attach¬
ment which the people justly felt for their liberal institutions.

On the other hand, in most of the other provinces, the
Catholic religion had been regaining its ascendency. Even in
1574, the estates assembled at Brussels declared to Reauesens,
“ that they would rather die the death than sec any change in
their religion.” 1 That feeling had rather increased than
diminished. Although there was a strong party attached to
the new faith, there was perhaps a larger—certainly a more
influential body—which regarded the ancient Church with
absolute fidelity. Owing partly to the persecution which had,
in the course of years, banished so many thousands of families
from the soil, partly to the coercion, which was more stringent
in the immediate presence of the Crown’s representative,
partly to the stronger infusion of the Celtic element, -which
from the earliest ages had always been so keenly alive to the
more sensuous and splendid manifestations of the devotional
principle—owing to these and many other causes, the old
religion, despite of all the outrages which had been committed
in its name, still numbered a host of zealous adherents in the
fifteen provinces. Attempts against its sanctity were regarded
with jealous eyes. It was believed, and with reason, that
there was a disposition on the part of the Reformers to de¬
stroy it, root and branch. It was suspected that the same
enginery of persecution would be employed in its extirpation,
should the opposite party gain the supremacy, which the Papists
had so long employed against the converts to the new religion.

As to political convictions, the fifteen provinces differed much
less from their two sisters. There was a strong attachment to

1 Datseliever willen sterven dedood, 1 religie”—Remonstrance, etc., in Bor,
dan te sien eenige verandcringe in do | Yin. 518 b.

157C.]

NECESSITY OF UNION.

83

their old constitutions—a general inclination to make use of the
present crisis to effect their restoration. At the same time, it
had not come to he the general conviction, as in Holland and
Zeland, that the maintenance of those liberties was incompat¬
ible with the continuance of Philip’s authority. There was,
moreover, a strong aristocratic faction which was by no means
disposed to take a liberal view of government in general, and
regarded with apprehension the simultaneous advance of here¬
tical notions both in church and state. Still there were, on
the whole, the elements of a controlling constitutional party
throughout the fifteen provinces. The great bond of sympathy,
however, between all the seventeen was their common hatred to
the foreign soldiery. Upon this deeply imbedded, immovable
fulcrum of an ancient hatred, the sudden mutiny of the whole
Spanish army served as a lever of incalculable power. The
Prince seized it as from the hand of God. Thus armed, ho
proposed to himself the task of upturning the mass of oppres¬
sion under which the old liberties of the country bad so long
been crushed. To effect this object, adroitness was as requisite
as courage. Expulsion of the foreign soldiery, union of the
seventeen provinces, a representative constitution^, according
to the old charters, by the states-gencral, under a hereditary
chief, a large religious toleration, suppression of all inquisition
into men’s consciences—these were the great objects to which
the Prince now devoted himself with renewed energy.

To bring about a general organisation and a general union,
much delicacy of handling was necessary. The sentiment of
extreme Catholicism and Monarchism was not to be suddenly
scared into opposition. The Pi’ince, therefore, in all his ad¬
dresses and documents, was careful to disclaim any intention
of disturbing the established religion, or of making any rash
political changes. u Let no man think,” said he to the
authorities of Brabant, u that, against the will of the estates,
we desire to bring about any change in religion. Let no one
suspect us capable of prejudicing the rights of any man. *\Ve
have long since taken up arms to maintain a legal and con-

84

TEE RISE OF THE DUTCH REPUBLIC.

[137a

stitutional freedom, founded upon law. God forbid that we
should now attempt to introduce novelties, by which the face
of liberty should be defiled.” 1 2

In a brief and very spirited letter to Count Lalain, a Catholic
and a loyalist, but a friend of his country and fervent hater of
foreign oppression, he thus appealed to his sense of chivalry
and justice:—“Although the honourable house from which you
spring,” he said, “and the virtue and courage of your ancestors,
have always impressed me with the conviction that you would
follow in their footsteps, yet am I glad to have received proofs
that my anticipations were correct. I cannot help, therefore,
entreating you to maintain the same high heart, and to accom¬
plish that which you have so worthily begun. Be not deluded
by false masks, mumming faces, and borrowed titles, which
people assume for their own profit, persuading others that the
King’s service consists in the destruction of his subjects.” 3

While thus careful to offend no man’s religious convictions,
to startle no man’s loyalty, he made skilful use of the general
indignation felt at the atrocities of the mutinous army. This
chord he struck boldly, powerfully, passionately, for he felt sure
of the depth and strength of its vibrations. In his address to
the estates of Gelderland, 3 he used vigorous language, inflam¬
ing and directing to a practical purpose the just wrath felt
in that, as in every other province. “ I write to warn you,”
he said, “ to seize this present opportunity. Shake from your
necks the yoke of the godless Spanish tyranny, join your¬
selves at once to the lovers of the fatherland, to the defenders
of freedom. According to the example of your own ancestors
and ours, redeem for the country its ancient laws, traditions,
and privileges. Permit no longer, to your shame and ours,
a band of Spanish landloupers and other foreigners, together
with three or four self-seeking enemies of their own land,
to keep their feet upon our necks. Let them no longer, in

1 Letter to States of Brabant, in
Por, ix. G95.

2 Tlie letter to Lalam is published by

Bor, ix. G9G.

a Address to the Estates of Gelder¬
land, npud Bor, ix. 702.

1576]

LETTERS OF CCANCE.

85

the very wantonness of tyranny, drive us about like a herd
of cattle—like a gang of well-tamed slaves.”

Thus, day after day, in almost countless addresses to public
bodies and private individuals, he made use of the crisis to pile
fresh fuel upon the flames. At the same time, while thus fan¬
ning the general indignation, lie had the adroitness to point out
that the people had already commit Led themselves. He repre¬
sented to them that the edict, by which they had denounced his
Majesty’s veterans as outlaws, and had devoted them to the
indiscriminate destruction which such brigands deserved, was
likely to prove an unpardonable crime in the eyes of majesty.
In short, they had entered the torrent. If they would avoid
being dashed over the precipice, they must struggle manfully
with the mad waves of civil war into which they had plunged.
iC I beg you, with all affection,” he said to the states of Brabant, 1
u to consider the danger in which you have placed yourselves.
You have to deal with the proudest and most overbearing race
in the world. For these qualities they are hated by all other
nations. They are even hateful to themselves. ’Tis a race
which seeks to domineer wheresoever it comes. It particularly
declares its intention to crush and to tyrannise you, my masters,
and all the land. They have conquered you already, as they
boast, for the crime of lese-majesty has placed you at their
mercy. I tell you that your last act, by which you liavo
declared this army to be rebels, is decisive. You have armed
and excited the whole people against them, even to the peasants
and the peasants’ children, and the insults and injuries thus
received, however richly deserved and dearly avenged, are all
set down to your account. Therefore, ’tis necessary for you to
decide now, whether to be utterly ruined, yourselves and your
children, or to continue firmly the work which you have begun
boldly, and rather to die a hundred thousand deaths than to
make a treaty with them, which can only end in your ruin.
Be assured that the measure dealt to you will be ignominy as
well as destruction. Let not your leaders expect the honour-
1 In For, ix. 691-096.

86

THE EISE OF THE DUTCH EEPUBLXC.

[I57&

able scaffolds of Counts Egmont and Horn. The whipping¬
post and then the gibbet will be their certain fate.” 1

Having by this and similar language, upon various occa¬
sions, sought to impress upon his countrymen the gravity of
the position, he led them to seek the remedy in audacity and
in union. He familiarised them with his theory, that the
legal, historical government of the provinces belonged to the
states-general, to a congress of nobles, clergy, and commons,
appointed from each of the seventeen provinces. 2 He main¬
tained, with reason, that the government of the Netherlands
was a representative constitutional government, under the here¬
ditary authority erf the King. 3 To recover this constitution,
to lift up these down-trodden rights, he set before them most
vividly the necessity of union. “’Tis impossible,” he said,
u that a chariot should move evenly, having its wheels un¬
equally proportioned ; and so must a confederation be broken
to pieces, if there be not an equal obligation on all to tend to a
common purpose.” 4 Union, close, fraternal, such as became
provinces of a common origin and with similar laws, could
alone save them from their fate. Union against a common
tyrant to save a common fatherland. Union, hy which differ¬
ences of opinion should be tolerated, in order that a million of
hearts should beat for a common purpose, a million of hands
work out, invincibly, a common salvation. a ’Tis hardly neces¬
sary,” he said, 66 to use many words in recommendation of
union. Disunion has been the cause of all our woes. There is
no remedy, no hope save in the bonds of friendship. Let all par¬
ticular disagreements be left to the decision of the states-general,
in order that with one heart and one will we may seek the dis-
thralment of the fatherland from the tyranny of strangers.” 5

The first step to a thorough union among all the provinces
was the arrangement of a closer connexion between the now

1 “ Aen de galge of kalce,” etc. Ad¬
dress to the estates of Brabant, etc.,
Bor, ubi sup

2 Missive of Prince of Orange to

States-general, in Dor, x. 747-749.

3 Missive, etc., Dor, ubi sup.

4 Grackard, Correspondance de Gruil-
laume le Tacit., iii. 140-154.

5 Address to Estates of Brabant*
apud Dor, ix. 694-695.

157(5.]

CONGRESS AT GHENT.

87

isolated states of Holland and Zeland on the one side, and
tlieir fifteen sisters on the other. The Prince professed the
readiness of those states which he might be said to represent in
his single person, to draw as closely as possible the bonds of
fellowship. It was almost superfluous for him to promise his
own ready co-operation. “ Nothing remains to us,” said he,
u but to discard all jealousy and distrust. Let us, with a
firm resolution and a common accord, liberate these lands
from the stranger. Hand to hand let us accomplish a just
and general peace. As for myself, I present to you, with
very good affection, my person and all which I possess,
assuring you that I shall regard all my labours and pains in
times which are past, well bestowed, if God now grant me
grace to sec th^ desired end. That this end will be reached,
if you hold fast your resolution and take to heart the means
which God presents to you, I feel to be absolutely certain.” 1 *

Such were the tenor and the motives of the documents which
lie scattered broadcast at this crisis. They wore addressed to
the estates of nearly every province. Those bodies were
urgently implored to appoint deputies to a general congress, at
■which a close and formal union between Holland and Zeland
with the other provinces might be effected. That important
measure secured, a general effort might, at the same time, be
made to expel the Spaniard from the soil. This done, the
remaining matters could bo disposed of by the assembly of
the cstates-gencral. His eloquence and energy were not
without effect. In the course of the autumn, deputies were
appointed from the greater number of the provinces, to
confer with the representatives of Holland and Zeland, in a
general congress.’ The place appointed for the delibera¬
tions was the city of Ghent. Here, by the middle of October,
a large number of delegates were already assembled. 3

Events were rapidly rolling together from every quarter, and

1 Loner to Estates of Brabant, Bor, 3 Ibid., ix. 710, sqq. Meteren, vi

ix. 004-096. 111.

3 Bor, ix. 703, 7IS, 719.

88

THE RISE OF THE DUTCH REPUBLIC.

[157&

accumulating to a crisis. A congress—a rebellious congi ess, as
the King might deem it—was assembling at Ghent; the Spanish
army proscribed, lawless, and terrible, war strengthening itself
daily for some dark and mysterious achievement; Don John of
Austria, the King’s natural brother, was expected from Spain
to assume the government, which the State Council was too
timid to wield and too loyal to resign; while, meantime, the
whole population of the Netherlands, with hardly an exception,
was disposed to see the great question of the foreign soldiery
settled before the chaos then existing should be superseded by
a more definite authority. Everywhere* men of all ranks and
occupations—the artisan in the city, the peasant in the fields—
were deserting their daily occupations to furbish helmets, handle
muskets, and learn the trade of war. 1 Skirmishes, sometimes
severe and bloody, were of almost daily occurrence. In these
the Spaniards were invariably successful; for whatever may be
said of their cruelty and licentiousness, it cannot be disputed
that their prowess was worthy of their renown. Romantic
valour, unflinching fortitude, consummate skill, characterised
them always. What could half-armed artisans achieve in the
open plain against such accomplished foes ? At Tisnacq, be¬
tween Louvain and Tirlemont, a battle was attempted by a
large miscellaneous mass of students, peasantry, and burghers,
led by country squires. 2 It soon changed to a carnage, in
which the victims were all on one side. A small number of
veterans, headed by Yargas, Mendoza, Tassis, and other chival¬
rous commanders, routed the undisciplined thousands at a
single charge. The rude militia threw away their arms, and
fled panic-struck in all directions, at the first sight of their
terrible foe. Two Spaniards lost their lives and two thousand
Netherlandcrs. 3 It was natural that these consummate warriors
should despise such easily slaughtered victims. A single

1 Strada. Spangaerds zonder booven twee man to

2 Bor, ix. 715, 716. Hoofd, x. 450. verliezen,” etc. This is Dutch author-

Mcndoza, xv. 305-308. ity. Mendoza, one of the chief com-

3 Hoofd, x, 450.—“ Bet dan. twee mander3 in the affair, says no Spaniard
duizent man, wil man dat er liet leeven was killed, and that but one was
liet,” etc., etc.—“Dit geluk liadden do wounded, slightly, in the foot; but he

1576.]

SUSPICIONS OF TIIE STATE COUNCIL.

SO

stroke of tlic iron flail, and tlic chaff was scattered to tlie
four winds; a single sweep of the disciplined scythe, and
countless acres were in an instant mown. Nevertheless,
although beaten constantly, the Netherlander were not con¬
quered. Holland and Zeland had read the foe a lesson which
lie had not forgotten, and although on the open fields, and
against the less vigorous population of the more central
provinces, his triumphs had been easier, yet it was obvious
that the spirit of resistance to foreign oppression was growing
daily stronger, notwithstanding daily defeats.

Meantime, while these desultory but deadly combats were
in daily progress, the Council of State was looked upon with
suspicion by the mass of the population. That body, in
which resided provisionally the powers of government, was
believed to be desirous of establishing relations with the
mutinous army. It was suspected of insidiously provoking
the excesses which it seemed to denounce. It was supposed
to bo secretly intriguing with those whom its own edicts
had outlawed. Its sympathies were considered Spanish. It
was openly boasted by the Spanish army that, before long,
they would descend from tlicir fastnesses upon Brussels, and
give the city to the sword. A shuddering sense of coming
evil pervaded the population, but no man could say where
the blow would first be struck. It was natural that tlio
capital should be thought exposed to imminent danger. At
the same time, while every man who had hands was disposed
to bear arms to defend the city, the Council seemed paralysed.
The capital was insufficiently garrisoned, yet troops were not
enrolling for its protection. The state councillors obviously
omitted to provide for defence, and it was supposed that they

does not give the number of tbe states-
troops, students, and burghers slam.—
Mendoza, xv. 308. Cabrera, xi, 850,
states the number at two thousand.
That bitter Walloon, Kenom de France,
who baw the States force pass through
Louvain on their way to the encoun¬
ter, exults, as usual, over the discom¬

fiture of his own countrymen. “ The
Spaniards cu t them all to pieces,” he
observes, “ teaching these pedants and
schoolboys that war was a game in
which they had no skill.”—Hist, dos
Causes des Eevoltes, etc.—MS., iii. c.
xii.

90

THE EISE OF THE DUTCH EErUBLIC.

[1576.

were secretly assisting the attack. It was thought Important*
therefore* to disarm* or* at least* to control this body* which
was impotent for protection* and seemed powerful only for
mischief It was possible to make it as contemptible as it
was believed to be malicious.

An unexpected stroke was therefore suddenly levelled against
the Council in full session. On the 5th of September, 1 the
Seigneur dc Heze, a young gentleman of a bold but unstable
character* then entertaining close but secret relations with the
Prince of Orange, appeared before the doors of the palace. Ho
was attended by about five hundred troops, under the immediate
command of the Seigneur de Glimes, bailiff of Walloon Brabant.
He demanded admittance, in the name of the Brabant estates*
to the presence of the State Council, and was refused. The
doors were closed and bolted. Without further ceremony the
soldiers produced iron bars brought with them for the purpose,
forced all the gates from the hinges* entered the hall of session*
and at a word from their commander, laid hands upon the
councillors^ and made every one prisoner. 2 The Duke of
Acrschot, President of the Council, who was then in close
alliance with the Prince, w r as not present at the meeting, but
lay, forewarned, at home, confined to his couch by a sickness
assumed for the occasion. Viglius, who rarely participated in
the deliberations of the board, being already afflicted with the
chronic malady under which he w r as ere long to succumb, also
escaped' the fate of his fellow-senators. 3 The others w r cre

1 Bor, is. 712, Meteren, vi. 197, fix 3 Ibid. There is, howcur, cun^ider-
the date of this important transaction able doubt upon this point. Viglius
at the 14th September. A letter of was ill and confined to his bed at the
William of Orange to Count John, of time of the Grand Cummandcr's death
l)th September, states, that it occurred in March. He ceased to write letters
on the 5th September.—Archives de la to Hopper in April. The arrest of the
Maison d’Orange, etc., v. 40S, and note State Council took place in September,.
1. Tassis gives the same date, hi. 207, and Viglius died on the 8th of May
203. of the following year, (1577.) It seems

- Gacliard, Correspondance de Guil- highly probable, therefore, that Tassis
laume le Tacit., in. 106—note 1. Bor, is correct in his statement, that Viglius
ubi sup. Hoofd, x. 448. Meteren, vi was kept at homo by the illness “quse
107. I. B. de Tassis, Com. de Turn, erat ei continua *’ The historians, how-
Belg., 1. in. 207, 208. ever, Meteren, (vi. 107,) Bor, (ix. 712,)

1576.] AEEEST OF THE STATE COUNCIL. 91

carried into confinement. Berlaymont andMansfeld were
imprisoned in tlie Brood-Huys , 1 where the last mortal
hours of Egmont and Horn had been passed. Others
were kept strictly guarded in their own houses. After
a few weeks, most of them were liberated. Councillor
Del Rio was, however, retained in confinement, and sent
to Holland, where he was subjected to a severe examina¬
tion by the Prince of Orange, touching his past career,
particularly concerning the doings of the famous Blood-
Council . 2 The others were set free, and even permitted to
resume their functions, but their dignity was gone,
their authority annihilated. Thenceforth the states of
Brabant and the community of Brussels were to govern for
an interval, for it was in their name that the daring
blow against the Council had been struck. All indi¬
viduals and bodies, however, although not displeased with
the result, clamorously disclaimed responsibility for the deed.
Men were appalled at the audacity of the transaction, and
dreaded the vengeance of the King. The Abbot Van Perch,
one of the secret instigators of the act, actually died of

Bentivoglio, (lib. ix. 176,) St?? da, (viii.
414,) Iioofd, (x. 448,) Be Thou, (lib
64, vii. 534,) all mention the name of
President Viglius among those of the
councillors arrested. The Prince of
Orange (Archives, etc., v. 40S) also
mentions him as having been arrested
and imprisoned with the rest. Bo
Thou (ubi sup.) gives an account of a
visit which he paid to him m the follow¬
ing spring, at which time the aged pre¬
sident seems to have been under arrest,
although “ il n’etoit pas garde fort
etroitement.”—Some writers mention
him as among those who were detained,
while others of the arrested were re¬
leased, (Meteren, Hoofd, Bor, etc.,)—
others, as Cabrera, (who is, however, no
authority in sulIi matters,) mention him
as one of those who were immediately
set at liberty, m order that the council,
might have an appearance of power.
(Bon Felippo II., ii. 853.) On the

whole it seems most probable that he
was arrested after the seizure of the
Council, but that he was kept confined
in a nominal durance, which the infir¬
mities of illness and age rendered quite
superfluous. It is almost unquestion¬
able that Be Thou visited him at hie
own house m Brussels, and not at any
state prison. Wagenaer, vii. 106, says
that Viglius was released in October,
and quotes Lviguai, ep , lib. i., (ii.,)
ep. 93, p. L'b'J —Compare Groen v.
Prinsterer, Archives, etc., v. 404,
sqq., and Hoynk van Papendreekt
Not. ad Vit. Yiglii, Analect. Belg.,
192, 193, and Not. ad Comm., I. B. de
Tassis, iii. 208.

1 Yan der Yynckt, ii. 18S.

2 Archives et Correspondance, v. 406.
Extracts from the confessions of Bel
Rio have been given in the first volume
of this history.

92

THE EISE OP THE DUTCH EEPUBLIC.

[1576.

anxiety for its possible consequences , 1 2 There was a mystery
concerning the affair. They in whose name it had been ac¬
complished denied having given any authority to the per¬
petrators. Men asked each other what unseen agency had
been at work, what secret spring had been adroitly touched.
There is but little doubt, however, that the veiled but skilful
hand which directed the blow, was the same which had so
long been guiding the destiny of the Netherlands . 3

It had been settled that the congress was to hold its sessions
in Ghent, although the citadel commanding that city was held
by the Spaniards. The garrison was not very strong, and Mon¬
dragon, its commander, was absent in Zeland , 3 but the wife of
the veteran ably supplied his place, and stimulated the slender
body of troops to hold out with heroism, under the orders of
his lieutenant, Avilos Maldonado . 4 * The mutineers, after having
accomplished their victory at Tisnacq, had been earnestly soli¬
cited to come to the relief of this citadel. They had refused
and returned to Alost . 6 Meantime, the siege was warmly
pressed by the states. There being, however, a deficiency of
troops, application for assistance was formally made to the
Prince of Orange. Count Rculx, governor of Planders, com¬
missioned the Seigneur d’Haussy, brother of Count Bossu, who,
to obtain the liberation of that long-imprisoned and distin¬
guished nobleman, was about visiting the Prince in Zeland, to
make a request for an auxiliary force . 6 It was, however,
stipulated that care should be taken lest any prejudice should
be done to the Roman Catholic religion or the authority of the
King. The Prince readily acceded to the request, and agreed
to comply with the conditions under which only it could be
accepted . 7 He promised to send twenty-eight companies. In
his letter announcing this arrangement, he gave notice that his

1 Hocfd, x. 448. Ev. Eeid. Ann.,
lib. ii. 20.

2 Wagenaer, vii. 105. Langueti

Epist., lib. i. (ii.) ep. 87, p. 230.—

Declaration of the Brussels Deputies

in 1584. Bor, xix. 20 (477.)—Com

pare Groen v. Prinst, Archives, etc. v.

404-407.

3 Bor, ix. 726, 727.

4 Ibid., 727. Hoofd, xi. 470.—Com¬
pare Meteren, vi. 108.

5 Hoofd, xi. 450, 451. Bor, ix. 716.

6 Bor, ix. 716.

7 Ibid.

1576.]

CONGRESS OF GHENT.

93

troops would receive strict orders to do no injury to person or
property, Catholic or Protestant, ecclesiastic or lay, and to offer
no obstruction to the Roman religion or the royal dignity . 1 He
added, however, that it was not to be taken amiss, if his soldiers
were permitted to exercise their own religious rites, and to sing
their Protestant hymns within their own quarters . 2 He more¬
over, as security for the expense and trouble, demanded the city
of Sluys . 3 The first detachment of troops, under command of
Colonel Yander Tympel, was, however, hardly on its way, be¬
fore an alarm was felt among the Catholic party at this prac¬
tical alliance with the rebel Prince. An envoy, named Ottin-
gen, was despatched to Zeland, bearing a letter from the
estates of Hainault, Brabant, and Flanders, countermanding
the request for troops, and remonstrating categorically upon
the subject of religion and loyalty . 4 Orange deemed such
tergiversations paltry, but controlled his anger. He answered
the letter in liberal terms, for he was determined that by no
fault of his should the great cause be endangered. He re¬
assured the states as to the probable behaviour of his troops.
Moreover, they had been already admitted into the city, while
the correspondence was proceeding. The matter of the psalm¬
singing was finally arranged to the satisfaction of both parties,
and it was agreed that Viewport, instead of Sluys, should be
given to the Prince as security . 5

The siege of the citadel was now pressed vigorously, and the
deliberations of the congress w T ere opened under the incessant
roar of cannon. While the attack was thus earnestly maintained
upon the important castle of Ghent, a courageous effort was
made by the citizens of Maestricht to wrest their city from the
hands of the Spaniards. The German garrison having been
gained by the burghers, the combined force rose upon the
Spanish troops, and drove them from the city . 0 Montosdocca,,

1 See the letter in Bor, ix. 716, 717.
Compare Grocn v. Prinst., Archives,
etc., 420, 421.

2 Letter of Prince of Orange in Bor,

ix. 716, 717. 3 Bor, ix. 717.

4 Ibid., ix. 717, 718.

5 Bor, ubi sup.—Compare Groen v,
Prinst. Archives, etc., 420, 421. Me-
teren, vi. 108.

6 Strada, viii. 416. Hoofd. xi. 454

94

THE EISE OF THE DUTCH KEPUDLIC.

[1576.

the commander, was arrested and imprisoned, but the triumph
was only temporary. Don Francis d’Ayala, Montesdocca’s
lieutenant, made a stand, with a few companies, in Wieck, a
village on the opposite side of the Meuse, and connected with
the city by a massive bridge of stone . 1 From this point ho
sent information to other commanders in the neighbourhood.
Don Ferdinand de Toledo soon arrived with several hundred
troops from Dalem. The Spaniards, eager to wipe out the dis¬
grace to their arms, loudly demanded to be led back to the city.
The head of the bridge, however, over which they must pass,
was defended by a strong battery, and the citizens were seen
clustering in great numbers to defend their firesides against a
foe whom they had once expelled. To advance across the
bridge seemed certain destruction to the little force. Even
Spanish bravery recoiled at so desperate an undertaking, but
unscrupulous ferocity supplied an expedient where courage was
at fault. There were few fighting men present among the popu¬
lation of Wcick, but there were many females. Each soldier
was commanded to seize a woman, and, placing her before his
own body, to advance across the bridge . 2 The column, thus
bucklered, to the shame of Spanish chivalry, by female bosoms,
moved in good order toward the battery. The soldiers levelled
their muskets with steady aim over the shoulders, or under the
arms of the women whom they thus held before them . 3 On
the other hand, the citizens dared not discharge their cannon
at their own townswomen, among whose number many recog¬
nised mothers, sisters, or wives . 4 The battery was soon taken,
while at the same time Alonzo Vargas, who had effected
his entrance from the land side by burning down the Brussels
gate, now entered the city at the head of a band of cavalry.
Maestricht w r as recovered, and an indiscriminate slaughter
instantly avenged its temporary loss. The plundering, stab¬
bing, drowning, burning, ravishing, were so dreadful that,
in the words of a contemporary historian, “ the burghers who

1 Strada, Hoofd, ubi sup.
4 Strada xiii. 41G.

3 Strada, viii. 416.

4 Ibid.

1576]

THE STORM GATHERING*.

95

had escaped the. fight liad reason to think themselves less
fortunate than those who had died with arms in their hands.”*

This was the lot of Maastricht on the 20th of October. It
was instinctively felt to be the precursor of fresh disasters.
Vague, incoherent, but widely-disseminated rumours, had long
pointed to Antwerp and its dangerous situation. The Spaniards,
foiled in their views upon Brussels, had recently avowed an
intention of avenging themselves in the commercial capital.
They had waited long enough and accumulated strength
enough. Such a trifling city as Alost could no longer content
their cupidity, but in Antwerp there was gold enough for the
gathering. There was reason for the fears of the inhabitants,
for the greedy longing of their enemy. Probably no city in
Christendom could at that day vie with Antwerp in wealth and
splendour. Its merchants lived in regal pomp and luxury. In
its numerous massive warehouses were the treasures of every
dime. Still serving as the main entrepot of the world’s traffic,
the Brabantine capital was the centre of that commercial
system which was soon to be superseded by a larger interna¬
tional life. In the midst of the miseries which had so lon<r
been raining upon the Netherlands, the stately and egotistical city
seemed to have taken stronger root and to flourish more freshly
than ever. It was not wonderful that its palaces and its maga¬
zines, glittering with splendour, and bursting with treasure,
should arouse the avidity of a reckless and famishing soldiery.
Had not a handful of warriors of their own race rifled the
golden Indies ? Had not their fathers, few in number, strong
in courage and discipline, revelled in the plunder of a new
world ? Here were the Indies in a single city. 2 Here were
gold and silver, pearls and diamonds, ready and portable ; the
precious fruit dropping, ripened, from the bough. * Was it to
be tolerated that base, pacific burghers should monopolise
the treasure by which a band of heroes might be enriched ?

A sense of coming evil diffused itself through the atmosphere.

1 Bor, ix. 725. — Compare Stradaf 2 “-quest© Indie d’una citta.”—

Hoofd, ubi sup. Meteren, vi. 109. | Bentivoglio, ix. 181.

96

THE RISE OP THE DUTCH REPUBLIC.

[1576

The air seemed lurid with the impending storm; for the situa¬
tion was one of peculiar horror. The wealthiest city in Chris¬
tendom lay at the mercy of the strongest fastness in the world ;
a castle which had been built to curb, not to protect the town.
It was now inhabited by a band of brigands, outlawed by
government, strong in discipline, furious from penury, reckless
by habit, desperate in circumstance—a crew which feared not
God, nor man, nor devil. The palpitating quarry lay expecting
hourly the swoop of its trained and pitiless enemy; for the re¬
bellious soldiers were now in a thorough state of discipline.
Sancho d’Avila, castellon of the citadel, was recognised as the
chief of the whole mutiny, the army and the mutiny being now
one. The band, entrenched at Alost, were upon the best pos¬
sible understanding with their brethren in the citadel, and
accepted without hesitation the arrangements of their superior.
On the side of the Sclield, opposite Antwerp, a fortification had
been thrown up by Don Sancho’s orders, and held by Julian
Romero. Lier, Breda, as ’well as Alost, w’ere likewise ready
to throw their reinforcements into the citadel at a moment’s
warning. At the signal of their chief, the united bands might
sweep from their impregnable castle with a single impulse. 1

The city cried aloud for help ; for it had become obvious that
an attack might be hourly expected. Meantime an attempt,
made by Don Sancho d’Avila to tamper with the German troops
stationed within the walls, was more than partially successful.
The forces were commanded by Colonel Yan Ende and Count
Oberstcin. Yan Ende, a crafty traitor to his country, desired
no better than to join the mutiny on so promising an occasion,
and his soldiers shared his sentiments. Oberstein,ja brave but
blundering German, was drawn into the net of treachery 2 by
the adroitness of the Spaniard and the effrontery of his comrade.
On the night of the 29 th of October, half-bewildered and half¬
drunk, he signed a treaty with Sancho d’Avila 3 and the three
colonels—Fugger, Frondsberger, and Pol wilier. By this un-

1 Meieren, tL 107. Bor, ix. 727,1 2 Bor, ix. 727, sqq.

sqq. Mendoza, xv. 303, sqq. | 3 Ibid. Hoofd, si. 455, 556.

1576.]

MEASURES OF DEFENCE.

97

lucky document, which was, of course, subscribed also by Yan
Ende, it w r as agreed that the Antwerp burghers should be forth¬
with disarmed; that their weapons should be sent into the
citadel; that Oberstcin should hold the city at the disposition
of Sancho d’Avila; that he should refuse admittance to all
troops which might be sent into the city, excepting by command
of Don Sancho, and that he should decline compliance with
any order which he might receive from individuals calling
themselves the council of state, the states-general, or the estates
of Brabant. This treaty was signed, moreover, by Don Jero¬
nimo de Rocla, then established in the citadel, and claiming to
represent exclusively his Majesty’s government. 1

Hardly had this arrangement been concluded than the Count
saw the trap into which he had fallen. Without intending to
do so, he had laid the city at the mercy of its foe ; but the only
remedy which suggested itself to his mind was an internal reso¬
lution not to keep his promises. The burghers were suffered to
retain their arms, while, on the other hand, Don Sancho lost
no time in despatching messages to Alost, to Lier, to Breda,
and even to Maastricht, that as large a force as possible might
be 2 assembled for the purpose of breaking immediately the
treaty of peace which he had just concluded. Never was a
solemn document regarded with such perfectly bad faith by all
its signers as the accord of 29th of October.

Three days afterwards, a large force of Walloons and Ger¬
mans was despatched from Brussels to the assistance of Ant¬
werp. The command of these troops was entrusted to the
Marquis of Havre, whose brother, the Duke of Aerschot, had
been recently appointed chief superintendent of military affairs
by the deputies assembled at Ghent. 3 The miscellaneous duties
comprehended under this rather vague denomination did not
permit the Duke to take charge of the expedition in person, and
his younger brother, a still more incompetent and unsubstantial

3 See the Articles in Bor, ix. 728.
Compare Meteren, v. 109, 110 ; Hoofd,
a. 455, 456.

2 Mendoza, xv. 303. Cabrera, xi.
S62, 863, sqq. Strada, viii. 417.
a Bor, ix. 719.

VOL. III.

O

98

THE RISE OP THE HUTCH REPUBLIC.

[1576.

character, was accordingly appointed to the post. A number of
voting men of high rank, but of lamentably low capacity, were
associated with him. Foremost among them was Philip, Count
of Egmont, a youth who had inherited few of his celebrated
father’s qualities, save personal courage and a love of personal
display. In character and general talents he was beneath
mediocrity. Besides these were the reckless but unstable De
Heze, who had executed the coup d’etat against the State
Council, De Berselen,. De Capres, D’Oyngies, and others, all
vaguely desirous of achieving distinction in those turbulent
times, but few of them having any political or religious convic¬
tions, and none of them possessing experience or influence
enough to render them useful at the impending crisis. 1

On Friday morning, the 2d of November, 2 the troops appeared
under the walls of Antwerp. They consisted of twenty-three
companies of infantry, and fourteen of cavalry, amounting to
five thousand foot and twelve hundred horse. They were nearly
all Walloons, soldiers who had already seen much active service,
but unfortunately of a race warlike and fiery indeed, but upon
whose steadiness not much more dependence could be placed
at that day than in the age of Civilis. Champagny, brother
of Grranvelle, was Governor of the city. He was a sincere
Catholic, but a still more sincere hater of the Spaniards. He
saw in the mutiny a means of accomplishing their expulsion,
and had already offered to the Prince of Orange his eager co¬
operation towards this result. In other matters there could be
but small sympathy between William the Silent and the
Cardinal’s brother, but a common hatred united them, for a
time at least, in a common purpose.

When the troops first made their appearance before the walls,
Champagny was unwilling to grant them admittance. The
addle-brained Oberstein had confessed to him the enormous
blunder which he had committed in his midnight treaty, and

1 Bor, is. 728, 729. Cabrera, si. Hoofcl, si. 457, and not the 3rd of
863. Mendoza, xv. 313. Meteren, vi. October, as stated by Mendoza, xv. 313,
109. and by Cabrera, xi. 863, following

* Bor, is. 728. Meteren, vi. 109. Mendoza.

1576.]

CONFUSED COUNCILS.

99

at tlic same time ingenuously confessed his intention of sending
it to the winds. 1 The enemy had extorted from his dulness or
his drunkenness a promise which his mature and sober reason
could not consider binding. It is needless to say that Cham-
pagny rebuked him for signing, and applauded him for breaking
the treaty. At the same time, its ill effects were already seen
in the dissensions which existed among the German troops.
Where all had been tampered with, and where the commanders
had set the example of infidelity, it would have been strange if
all had held firm. On the whole, however, Oberstein thought
he could answer for his own troops. Upon Van Ende’s division,
although the crafty colonel dissembled his real intentions, very
little reliance was placed. 2 Thus there was distraction within
the walls. Among those whom the burghers had been told to
consider their defenders, there were probably many who were
ready to join with their mortal foes at a moment’s warning.
Under these circumstances, Champagny hesitated about ad¬
mitting these fresh troops from Brussels. He feared lest the
Germans, who knew themselves doubted, might consider them¬
selves doomed. He trembled lest an irrepressible outbreak
should occur within the walls, rendering the immediate destruc¬
tion of the city by the Spaniards from without inevitable.
Moreover, he thought it more desirable that this auxiliary force
should be disposed at different points outside, in order to inter¬
cept the passage of the numerous bodies of Spaniards and other
mutineers, who, from various quarters, would soon be on their
way to the citadel. Havre, however, was so peremptory, and
the burghers were so importunate, that Champagny was obliged
to recede from his opposition before twenty-four hours had
elapsed. Unwilling to take the responsibility of a farther
refusal, he admitted the troops through the Burgherhout gate,
on Saturday, the 3d of November, at ten o’clock in the morning.

The Marquis of Havre, as commander-in-chief, called a coun-

1 Dor, is. 729. Hoofd, xi. 457. doza, xv. 313; Cabrera, si. 863, et aL

2 Ibid,, is. 729, sqq. Ibid., si. 457, 3 Bor, is. 729. Hoofd, xi. 457.

■sqq.—Compare Strada, yiii, 117; Hen- Heteren, vi. 110,

100

THE BISE OF THE DUTCH BEPUBLIC.

[1576.

cil of war. It assembled at Count Oberstein’s quarters, and
consulted at first concerning a bundle of intercepted letters
whicli Havre had brought with him. These constituted a
correspondence between Sancho d 5 Avila with the heads of
the mutiny at Alost, and many other places. The letters
were all dated subsequently to Don Sancho’s treaty with
Oberstein, and contained arrangements for an immediate con¬
centration of the whole available Spanish force at the citadel. 1

The treachery was so manifest, that Oberstein felt all self-
reproach for his own breach of faith to be superfluous. It was
however evident that the attack was to be immediately expected.
AVhat was to be done ? All the officers counselled the imme¬
diate erection of a bulwark on the side of the city exposed to
the castle, but there were no miners or engineers. Champagny,
however, recommended a skilful and experienced engineer to
superintend the work in the city; and pledged himself that
burghers enough would volunteer as miners. In less than an
hour, ten or twelve thousand persons, including multitudes of
women of all ranks, were at work upon the lines marked out by
the engineer. A ditch and breast-work extending from the gate
of the Beguins to the street of the Abbey Saint Michael, were
soon in rapid progress. Meantime, the newly arrived troops,
with military insolence, claimed the privilege of quartering
themselves in the best houses which they could find. They
already began to insult and annoy the citizens whom they had
been sent to defend; nor were they destined to atone, by their
subsequent conduct in the face of the enemy, for the brutality
with which they treated their friends. Champagny, however,
was ill-disposed to brook their licentiousness. They had been
sent to protect the city and the homes of Antwerp from invasion.
They were not to establish themselves at every fireside on their
first arrival. There was work enough for them out of doors
and they were to do that work at once. He ordered them to
prepare for a bivouac in the streets, and flew from house to
house, sword in hand, driving forth the intruders at imminent
1 Bor. ix. 730. Hoofd, xi. 457 f 458.

1570.]

CHAMP AGONY’S EXERTIONS.

101

peril of his life. Meantime, a number of Italian and Spanish
merchants fled from the city, and took refuge in the castle.
The Walloon soldiers were for immediately plundering their
houses, as if plunder had been the object for which they had
been sent to Antwerp. It was several hours before Champagny,
with all his energy, was able to quell these disturbances. 1

In the course of the day, Oberstein received a letter from
Don Sancho d 5 Avila, calling solemnly upon him to fulfil his
treaty of the 29th October. 2 The German colonels from the
citadel had, on the previous afternoon, held a personal interview
with Oberstein beneath the 'walls, which had nearly ended in
blows, and they had been obliged to save themselves by flight
from the anger of the Count’s soldiers, enraged at the deceit
by which their leader had been so nearly entrapped. 3 Thi*
summons of ridiculous solemnity to keep a treaty which had
already been tom to shreds by both parties, Oberstein
answered with defiance and contempt. The reply was an
immediate cannonade from the batteries of the citadel, which
made the position of those erecting the ramparts excessively
dangerous. The wall was strengthened with bales of merchan¬
dise, casks of earth, upturned waggons, and similar bulky
objects, hastily piled together. In some places it was sixteen
feet high; in others less than six. Night fell before the
fortification was nearly completed. Unfortunately it wa>
bright moonlight. The cannon from the fortress continued to
play upon the half-finished works. The Walloons, and afc last
the citizens, feared to lift their heads above their frail rampart.
The senators, whom Champagny had deputed to superintend
the progress of the enterprise, finding the men so ill disposed,
deserted their posts. They promised themselves that, in
the darkest hour of the following night, the work should be
thoroughly completed. 4 Alas! all hours of the coining

1 33or, ix. 730. Hoofd, xi. 45S. authority for many striking details of
Meteren, vi. 110. Cabrera, xi. 864. this memorable affair.

Strada, viii. 417. — A remarkable 2 Bor, ix. 729.

pamphlet, published by Champagny in 3 Hoofd, xi. 457, 458.

157S, entitled “ Recueil d’Ar6topkile,” 4 Bor, ix. 729, sqq. Meteren, xi.
(Lyon. G-uerin, 1578,) is the best 110. Hoofd, xi. 458-460.

102

THE RISE OE THE HUTCH REPUBLIC.

[1576.

night were destined to be dark enough, but in them was to be
done no manner of work for defence. On Champagny alone
seemed devolved all the labour and all the responsibility. He
did his duty well, but he was but one man. Alone, with a
Heart full of anxiety, he wandered up and down all the night. 1
With his own hands, assisted only by a few citizens and his
own servants, he planted all the cannon with which they were
provided, in the a Fencing Court,” at a point where the battery
might tell upon the castle. Unfortunately the troops from
Brussels had brought no artillery with them, and the means of
defence against the strongest fortress in Europe were meagre
indeed. The rampart had been left very weak at many vital
points. A single upturned waggon was placed across the
entrance to the important street of the Beguins. This negli¬
gence was to cost the city dear. At daybreak, there "was a
council held in Oberstein’s quarters. Nearly all Champagny’s
directions had been neglected. He had desired that strong
detachments should be posted during the night at various places
of security on the outskirts of the town, for the troops which
were expected to arrive in small bodies at the citadel from
various parts, might have thus been cut off before reaching
their destination. Not even scouts had been stationed in
sufficient numbers to obtain information of what was occurring
outside. A thick mist hung over the city that eventful morn¬
ing. Through its almost impenetrable veil, bodies of men had
been seen moving into the castle, and the tramp of cavalry had
been distinctly heard, and the troops of Bomero, Vargas,
Oliveira, and Yaldez, had already arrived from Lier, Breda,
Maestriclit, and from the forts on the Scheld. 2

The whole available force in the city was mustered without
delay. Havre had claimed for his post the defence of the lines
opposite the citadel, the place of responsibility and honour.
Here the whole body of Walloons were stationed, together with
a few companies of Germans. The ramparts, as stated, were

1 Recueil d’Ar&ophilc. . [ tophile. Hoofd, xi. 460. Bor, is. 73a

1 Meteren, tu. 1IQ. Recueil d’ArS-1 Cabrera, xi. S64. Mencloza, xv. 315,

1576.]

THE ATTACH.

103

far from impregnable, but it was hoped that this living rampart
of six thousand men, standing on their own soil, and in front
of the firesides and altars of their own countrymen, would
prove a sufficient bulwark even against Spanish fury. Un¬
happily, the living barrier proved more frail than the feeble
breast-work which the hands of burghers and women had con¬
structed. Six thousand men were disposed along the side of
the city opposite the fortress. The bulk of the German troops
was stationed at different points on the more central streets
and squares. The cavalry was posted on the opposite side of
the city, along the Horse-market, and fronting the “ New¬
town.” The stars were still in the sky when Champagny got
on horseback and rode through the streets, calling on the
burghers to arm and assemble at different points. The prin¬
cipal places of rendezvous were the Cattle-market and the
Exchange. He rode along the lines of the Walloon regi¬
ments, conversing with the officers, Egmont, De Heze, and
others, and encouraging the men, and went again to the
Fencing Court, where he pointed the cannon with his own
hand and ordered their first discharge at the fortress. Thence,
he rode to the end of the Beguin street, where he dismounted
and walked out upon the edge of the esplanade which stretched
between the city and the castle. On this battle-ground a
combat was even then occurring between a band of burghers
and a reconnoitring party from the citadel. Champagny saw
with satisfaction that the Antwerpors were victorious. They
were skirmishing well with their disciplined foe, whom they
at last beat back to the citadel. His experienced eye saw,
however, that the retreat was only the signal for a general
onslaught which was soon to follow; and he returned into
the city to give the last directions. 2

At ten o’clock, a moving wood was descried, approaching
the citadel from the south-west. The whole body of the muti¬
neers from Alosfc, -wearing green branches in their helmets, 3

1 Hoofd, xi. 458, 459. Kecueil vi. 110 b. Hoofd, xi. 458, 460, 461.

d’Avetopbile. Brantome, Hommes Hlnst., ii. 201

2 Kecueil d’Ai'iltoplule. Mcteren, (Sane. d’Ay.) 3 Ibid., 113.

104

THE RISE OF THE DUTCH REPUBLIC.

1576.]

liad arrived under command of tlieir Eletto, Navarrete.
Nearly three thousand in number, they rushed into the castle,
having accomplished their march of twenty-four miles since
three o’clock in the morning. 1 They were received with open
arms. Sancho d’Avila ordered food and refreshments to be
laid before them, but they refused everything but a draught
of wine. They would dine in Paradise, they said, or sup
in Antwerp. 2 Finding his allies in such spirit, Don Sancho
would not baulk their humour. Since early morning, his
own veterans had been eagerly awaiting his signal, “ strain¬
ing upon the start.” The troops of Romero, Vargas, Valdez,
were no less impatient. At about an hour before noon,
nearly every living man in the citadel was mustered for the
attack, hardly men enough being left behind to guard the
gates. Five thousand veteran foot soldiers, besides six hun¬
dred cavalry, armed to the teeth, sallied from the portals of
Alva’s citadel. 3 In the counterscarp they fell upon their knees,
to invoke, according to custom, the blessing of Grod 4 upon the
devil's -work, which they were about to commit. The Eletto
bore a standard, one side of which was emblazoned with the
crucified Saviour, and the other with the Virgin Mary. 5 The
image of Him who said, “Love your enemies,” and the gentle
face of the Madonna, were to smile from heaven upon deeds
which might cause a shudder in the depths of hell. Their
brief orisons concluded, they swept forward to the city. Three
thousand Spaniards, under their Eletto, were to enter by the

1 Memiozn, xv. 314, 315.

2 Mendoza, xiv. 315.—“Respondie-
ron el ester resueltos de comer en el
Parayso 6 cenar en la villa de Anvers.”
—Bor, ix. 730. Hoofd, xi. 4G1. Ca¬
brera, xi. 864, efc al.

3 Hoofd gives the numbers as two

thousand from Alost, five hundred

under Romero, five hundred under
Valdez, one thousand under the Ger¬
man colonels, and one thousand cavalry
under Vargas, in aU, five thousand.
—xi. 461. Mendoza states the whole
attacking force at two thousand two
hundred Spanish infantry, eight hun¬

dred Germans, and five hundred
cavalry, m all, three thousand five
hundred.—xv. 315. Cabrera, follow¬
ing Mendoza as usual, estimates the
number at a little more than three
thousand.—xi. 864.

4 Mendoza, xv. 315. Hoofd, xi.
491.

5 “Con la figura de Jesu Cristo
cruzificado en la una faz, i en la otra
la de su Madre Santissima maiufest-
ando iban a vengar la mage&tad divina
ofendida de la eregia depravada.”—
Cabrera, xi. 864. Mendoza, xv. 315.
Hoofd, xi. 431.

WO.] THE STRUGGLE.

street of Saint Michael; the Germans, and the remainder of the
Spanish foot, commanded by Romero, through that of Saint
George. Champagny saw them coming, and spoke a last word
of encouragement to the Walloons. The next moment the com¬
pact mass struck the barrier, as the thunderbolt descends from
the cloud. There was scarcely a struggle. The Walloons, not
waiting to look their enemy in the face, abandoned the posts
which they had themselves claimed. The Spaniards crashed
through the bulwark, as though it had been a wall of glass.
The Eletto was the first to mount the rampart; the next in¬
stant he was shot dead, while his followers, undismayed, sprang
over his body, and poured into the streets. The fatal gaps, due
to timidity and carelessness, let in the destructive tide. Cham¬
pagny, seeing that the enemies had all crossed the barrier, leaped
over a garden wall, passed through a house into a narrow lane,
and thence to the nearest station of the German troops. Hastily
collecting a small force, he led them in person to the rescue.
The Germans fought well, died well, but they could not reani¬
mate the courage of tlie Walloons, and all were now in full re¬
treat, pursued by the ferocious Spaniards. 1 In vain Champagny
stormed among them ; in vain he strove to rally their broken
ranks. With his own hand he seized a banner from a retreat¬
ing ensign, 2 and called upon the nearest soldiers to make a
stand against the foe. It was to bid the flying clouds pause
before the tempest. Torn, broken, aimless, the scattered troops
whirled through the streets before the pursuing wrath. Cham¬
pagny, not yet despairing, galloped hither and thither, calling
upon the burghers everywhere to rise in defence of their homes,
nor did he call in vain. They came forth from every place of
rendezvous, from every alley, from every house. They fought
as men fight to defend their hearths and altars ; but what coxdd
individual devotion avail against tlie compact, disciplined, re¬
sistless mass of their foes ? The order of defence was broken,
there was no system, no concert, no rallying point, no authority.

1 Recueil d’Aretopbile. Meteren, [ xi. 401. Bor, ix. 731.
vi. 110 c. Mendoza, xv. 316. Hoofd, | 2 Meteren, vi. 110 o . Hoofd, 4G1.

toe

THE RISE OB THE HUTCH REPUBLIC.

[157G.

So soon as it was known that the Spaniards had crossed the
rampart, that its six thousand defenders were in full retreat,
it was inevitable that panic should seize the city. 1 2

Their entrance once effected, the Spanish force had separated,
according to previous arrangement, into two divisions, half
charging up the long street of Saint Michael, the other forcing
its way through the street of Saint Joris. 2 u Santiago, Santiago!
Espaha, Espana! a sangre, a carne, 4 fuego, a sacco! ” Saint
James, Spain, blood, flesh, fire, sack!!—such were the hideous
cries which rang through every quarter of the city, as the savage
horde advanced. 3 Van Ende, with his German troops, had been
stationed by the Marquis of Havre to defend the Saint Joris
gate, but no sooner did the Spaniards under Vargas present
themselves, than he deserted to them instantly with his whole
force. 4 United with the Spanish cavalry, these traitorous de¬
fenders of Antwerp dashed in pursuit of those who had only
been faint-hearted. Thus the burghers saw themselves attacked
by many of their friends, deserted by more. Whom were they
to trust ? Nevertheless, Oberstein’s Germans were brave and
faithful, resisting to the last, and dying every man in his har¬
ness. 5 The tide of battle flowed hither and thither, through
every street and narrow lane. It poured along the magnificent
Place de Meer, where there was an obstinate contest. In front
of the famous Exchange, where, in peaceful hours, five thousand
merchants 6 met daily, to arrange the commercial affairs of
Christendom, there was a determined rally, a savage slaughter.
The citizens and faithful Germans, in this broader space, made
a stand against their pursuers. The tesselatcd marble pave¬
ment, the graceful, cloister-like arcades ran red with blood. The
ill-armed burghers faced their enemies clad in complete panoply,
but they could only die for their homes. The massacre at this
point was enormous, the resistance at last overcome. 7

1 Hoofd, si. 461. 5 Bor, ix. 7&0. Hoofd, xi. 465.

2 Ibid., xi. 461. Mendoza, xv. 315. 6 (Guicciardini, Belg. Rescript.

3 Brantome, Homines Illust., etc., ii. 7 Hoofd, xi. 460-465. Bor, ix. 731„

203. Mendoza, xv. 315. Mendoza, xv. 315. Meteren, vi. 110.

* Hoofd, xi. 461. Mendoza, xv. 316.

1676.]

THE ELIG-HT.

107

Meantime the Spanish cavalry had cleft its way through the
city. On the side farthest removed from the castle, along the
Horse-market., opposite the New-town, the states dragoons and
the light horse of Beveren had been posted, and the flying
masses of pursuers and pursued swept at last through this
outer circle. Champagny was already there. He essayed, as
his last hope, to rally the cavalry for a final stand, but the
effort was fruitless. Already seized by the panic, they had
attempted to rush from the city through the gate of Eeker.
It was locked; they then turned and fled towards the
Bed-gate, where they were met face to face by Don Pedro
Tassis, who charged upon them with his dragoons. Betreat
seemed hopeless. A horseman in complete armour, with
lance in rest, was seen to leap from the parapet of the outer
wall into the moat below, whence, still on horseback, he
escaped with life. Few were so fortunate. The confused
mob of fugitives and conquerors, Spaniards, Walloons,
Germans, and burghers, struggling, shouting, striking,
cursing, dying, swayed hither and thither like a stormy sea.
Along the spacious Horse-market, the fugitives fled onwards
towards the quays. Many fell beneath the swords of the
Spaniards, numbers were trodden to death by the hoofs of
horses, still greater multitudes were hunted into the Scheld.
Champagny, who had thought it possible, even at the last
moment, to make a stand in the New-town, and to fortify
the palace of the Hansa, saw himself deserted. With great
daring and presence of mind, he effected his escape to the
fleet of the Prince of Orange in the river. 1 The Marquis of
Havre, of whom no deeds of valour on that eventful day have
been recorded, was equally successful. The unlucky Oberstein,
attempting to leap into a boat, missed his footing, and
oppressed by the weight of his armour, was drowned. 2

Meantime, while the short November day was fast declin¬
ing, the combat still raged in the interior of the city*

1 Bor, is. 731. Hoofd, xi. 462.1 Cabrera, xl. 865.

Bee. d’Aretopkile. Mendoza, xv. 336. | 2 Ibid. Ibid. Mendoza, sv. 316.

108

THE RISE OF THE DUTCH REPUBLIC.

[1576.

Various currents of conflicts, forcing tlieir separate way
through many streets, had at last mingled in the Grande
Place . Around this irregular, not very spacious square,
stood the gorgeous Hotel de Ville, and the tall, many-storeyed,
fantastically gabled, richly decorated palaces of the guilds.
Here a long struggle took place. It was terminated for a time
by the cavalry of Vargas, who, arriving through the streets
of Saint Joris, accompanied by the traitor Van Ende, charged
decisively into the melee. The masses were broken, but
multitudes of armed men found refuge in the buildings, and
every house became a fortress. From every window and
balcony a hot fire was poured into the square, as, pent in a
corner, the burghers stood at last at bay. It was difficult to
carry the houses by storm, but they were soon set on fire.
A large number of sutlers and other varlets had accompanied
the Spaniards from the citadel, bringing torches and kindling
materials for the express purpose of firing the town. With
great dexterity, these means were now applied, and in a
brief interval, the City-hall and other edifices on the square
were in flames. The conflagration spread with rapidity,
house after honse, street after street, taking fire. Nearly a
thousand buildings, in the most splendid and wealthy quarter
of the city, were soon in a blaze, and multitudes of human
beings were burned with them. 1 In the Citv-hall many were
consumed, while others leaped from the windows to renew
the combat below. The many tortuous streets which led
down a slight descent from the rear of the Town-house to the
quays were all one vast conflagration. On the other side,
the magnificent cathedral, separated from the Grande Place by
a single row of buildings, was lighted up but not attacked by
the flames. The tall spire cast its gigantic shadow across the
last desperate conflict. In the street called the Canal an Sucre ,

1 Hoofd, xi. 462. Mendoza, xv.
316. Strada, viii. 419. — According
to Meteren (vi. 110) the whole town
was on hre, and fire hundred houses
entirely consumed. According to

the contemporary manuscript of De
Weerdt, who was a citizen of Antwerp,
one thousand houses were burned to
the ground.—Chronyke oft Journal,
MS., p. 83.

1576.1

THE MASSACRE.

109

immediately behind the Town-house, there was a fierce struggle,
a horrible massacre. A crowd of burghers, grave magistrates,
and such of the German soldiers as remained alive, still
confronted the ferocious Spaniards. There, amid the flaming
desolation, Goswyn Verreyck, the heroic margrave of the
city, fought with the energy of hatred and despair. The
burgomaster, Van der Meere, lay dead at his feet; senators,
soldiers, citizens, fell fast around him, and he sank at last
upon a heap of slain. With him effectual resistance ended.
The remaining combatants were butchered, or were slowly
forced downward to perish in the Scheld. 1 Women, children,
old men, were killed in countless numbers, and still, through
all this havoc, directly over the heads of the struggling
throng, suspended in mid-air above the din and smoke of
the conflict, there sounded, every half-quarter, or every
half-hour, as if in gentle mockery, from the belfry of the
cathedral, the tender and melodious chimes.

Never was there a more monstrous massacre, even in the
blood-stained history of the Netherlands. It was estimated
that, in course of this and the two following days, not
less than eight thousand human beings were murdered. 2
The Spaniards seemed to cast off even the vizard of humanity.

1 Mendoza, xv. 31G. Bor, 731. found, which were all buried together

Hoofd, xi. 463. in two great pits. He thus deducts

2 This is the estimate of Mendoza: exactly one thousand from the number
viz., two thousand five hundred slain of counted corpses, a9 given by every
with the sword, and double that num- other authority, Spanish or Flemish,
ber burned and drowned. — xv. 317. Strada (viii. 422) gives three thou-
Cabrera puts the figures at seven sand as the number of those slam
thousand and upwards. —xi. 865 b. with the sword.—Compare He Thou,
Bor and Hoofd give the same number vii. 383-390 (1. 62). The letter of
of dead bodies actually found in the Jerome de Roda to the King, written
streets—viz., two thousand five hun- from the citadel of Antwerp upon
dred; and estimating the drowned at the 6th November, when the ear¬
ns many more, leave the number of nage was hardly over, estimates the
the burned to conjecture. Meteren number of the slain at eight thou-
(vi. 110), who on all occasions seeks sand, and one thousand horse'?,
to diminish the number of his country* This authority, coming from the
men slain In battle or massacre, while very hour and spot, and from a
he magnifies the loss of his opponents, man so deeply implicated, may be
admits that from four to five thou- considered conclusive. — See the
sand were slain; adding, however, Letter of Roda, in Bor, ix. 737,
that but fifteen hundred bodies were 738.

no

THE RISE OE THE DUTCH REPUBLIC.

[ 1576 .

Hell seemed emptied of its fiends. Night fell upon the
scene before the soldiers were masters of the city; but
worse horrors began after the contest was ended. This
army of brigands had come thither with a definite, practical
purpose, for it was not blood-thirst, nor lust, nor revenge,
which had impelled them, but it was avarice, greediness for
gold. For gold they had waded through all this blood and
fire. Never had men more simplicity of purpose, more direct¬
ness in its execution. They had conquered their India at
last f its gold mines lay all before them, and every sword
should open a shaft. Eiot and rape might be deferred ; even
murder, though congenial to their taste, was only subsidiary
to their business. They had come to take possession of the
city’s wealth, and they set themselves faithfully to accom¬
plish their task. For gold, infants were dashed out of exist¬
ence in their mother’s arms; for gold, parents were tortured
in their children’s presence ; for gold, brides were scourged to
death before their husbands’ eyes. 1 Wherever treasure was
suspected, every expedient which ingenuity, sharpened by
greediness, could suggest, was employed to extort it from its
possessors. The fire, spreading more extensively and more
rapidly than had been desired through the wealthiest quarter
of the city, had unfortunately devoured a vast amount of
property. Six millions, 2 at least, had thus been swallowed; a
destruction by which no one had profited. There was, how¬
ever, much left. The strong boxes of the merchants, the
gold, silver, and precious jewellery, the velvets, satins, bro¬
cades, laces, and similar well-concentrated and portable plunder,
were rapidly appropriated. ‘ So far the course was plain and
easy, but in private houses it was more difficult. The cash,
plate, and other valuables of individuals were not so easily dis-

1 Bor, ix. 731, sqq. Hoof cl, x. 462,
sqq.

2 Hoofd, si. 462. Bor’s estimate
is three millions, ix. 731. The pro¬
perty consumed, says Meteren, was
equal in yalue to that which was ob¬

tained in the plundering afterward9
by the soldiery. This he estimates at
more than four millions in cash, not
counting jewellery and other merchan¬
dise, yL 110,

1576 .]

INCIDENTS OP KAPINE.

Ill

covered. Torture was, therefore, at once employed to discover
the hidden treasures. After all had been given, if the sum
seemed too little the proprietors were brutally punished for
their poverty or their supposed dissimulation. A gentlewoman,
named Fabry, 2 with her aged mother and other females of the
family, had taken refuge in the cellar of her mansion. As the
day was drawing to a close, a band of plunderers entered, who,
after ransacking the house, descended to the cellarage. Find-
ing the door barred, they forced it open with gunpowder. The
mother, who was nearest the entrance, fell dead on the thresh¬
old. Stepping across the mangled body, the brigands sprung
upon her daughter, loudly demanding the property which they
believed to be concealed. They likewise insisted on being in¬
formed where the master of the house had taken refuge. Pro¬
testations of ignorance as to hidden treasure, or the whereabouts
of her husband, who, for aught she knew, was lying dead in the
streets, were of no avail. To make her more communicative,
they hanged her on a beam in the cellar, and after a few
moments cut her down before life was extinct. Still receiving

o

no satisfactory reply, where a satisfactory reply was impossible,
they hanged her again. Again, after another brief interval,
they gave her a second release, and a fresh interrogatory. This
barbarity they repeated several times, till they were satisfied,
that there was nothing to be gained by it, while, on the other
hand, they were losing much valuable time. Hoping to be more
successful elsewhere, they left her hanging for the last time,
and trooped off to fresher fields. Strange to relate, the person
thus horribly tortured, survived. A servant in her family,
married to a Spanish soldier, providentially entered the house,
in time to rescue her perishing mistress. She was restored to
existence, but never to reason. Her brain was hopelessly crazed,
and she passed the remainder of her life, wandering about her
house, or feebly digging in her garden for the buried treasure
which she had been thus fiercely solicited to reveal. 8

1 Hoofd, xi. 403. | of the historian’s wife.

* Ibid.—The lady was grandmother | 3 Hoofd, xi. 463,484.

112 THE KISE OF THE DUTCH KEPUELIC. [1576.

A wedding feast was rudely interrupted. Two young persons,
neighbours of opulent families, had been long betrothed, and
the marriage day had been fixed for Sunday, the fatal 4th
of November. The guests were assembled, the ceremony con¬
cluded, the nuptial banquet in progress, when the horrible out¬
cries in the streets proclaimed that the Spaniards had broken
loose. Hour after hour of trembling expectation succeeded. At
last, a thundering at the gate proclaimed the arrival of a band
of brigands. Preceded by their captain, a large number of sol¬
diers forced their way into the house, ransacking every chamber,
no opposition being offered by the family and friends, too few
and powerless to cope with this band of well-armed ruffians.
Plate chests, wardrobes, desks, caskets of jewellery, were freely
offered, eagerly accepted, but not found sufficient; and to make
the luckless wretches furnish more than they possessed, the
usual brutalities were employed. The soldiers began by striking
the bridegroom dead. The bride fell shrieking into her mother’s
arms, whence she was torn by the murderers, who immediately
put the mother to death, and an indiscriminate massacre then
followed the fruitless attempts to obtain by threats and torture
treasure which did not exist. The bride who was of remark¬
able beauty, was carried off to the citadel. 1 Maddened by this
last outrage, the father, who w r as the only man of the party left
alive, rushed upon the Spaniards. Wresting a sword from one
of the crew r , the old man dealtwith it so fiercely that lie stretched
more than one enemy dead at his feet, but it is needless to add
that he was soon despatched. Meantime, while the party were
concluding the plunder of the mansion, the bride was left in a
lonely apartment of the fortress. Without wasting time in
fruitless lamentation, she resolved to quit the life which a few r
hours had made so desolate. She had almost succeeded in
hanging herself with a massive gold chain which she wore, w T hen
her captor entered the apartment. Inflamed, not with lust, but
with avarice, excited not by her charms but by her jewellery,
he rescued her from her perilous position. He then took posh
1 Dor, is. 731. Hoofd, xi. 464-

1576.1

THE SPANISH FURY,

113

session of her chain and the other trinkets with which her
wedding dress was adorned, and caused her to be entirely
stripped of her clothing. Slie was then scourged with rods
till her beautiful body was all bathed in blood, and at last
alone, naked, nearly mad, was sent back into the city. Here
the forlorn creature wandered up and down through the
blazing streets, among the heaps of dead and dying, till she
was at last put out of her misery by a gang of soldiers. 1

Such are a few isolated instances, accidentally preserved in
their details, of the general horrors inflicted on this occasion.
Others innumerable have sunk into oblivion. On the morn¬
ing of the 5th of November, Antwerp presented a ghastly
sight. The magnificent marble town-house, celebrated as a
u world’s wonder,’ 52 even in that age and country, in which
so much splendour was lavished on municipal palaces, stood a
blackened ruin—all but the walls destroyed, while its archives,
accounts, and other valuable contents had perished. The
more splendid portion of the city had been consumed; at least
five hundred palaces, mostly of marble or hammered stone,
being a smouldering mass of destruction. 3 The dead bodies
of those fallen in the massacre were on every side, in greatest
profusion around the Place de Meer, among the Gothic pillars
of the Exchange, and in the streets near the Town-house.
The German soldiers lay in their armour, some with their
heads burned from their bodies, some with legs and arms
consumed by the flames through which they had fought. 4 The
Margrave Goswyn Yerreyck, the burgomaster Yan der Meerc,
the magistrates Lancelot Yan Urselen, Nicholas Van Book-
holt, and other leading citizens, lay among piles of less dis¬
tinguished slain. 5 They remained unburied until the over¬
seers of the poor, on whom the living had then more impor¬
tunate claims than the dead, were compelled by Roda to bury
them out of the pauper fund. 6 The murderers were too

3 Bor, ix. 731. Hoofd, xi. 465.

* “ Het welk man moebt tellen onder
de wonderen der wereld.’ 7 —Address
of the States of Brabant to the States-
G-eneral, in Bor, ix. 734.

VOL. III.

3 Hoofd, xi. 462. Meteren,
110a.

4 Bor, ix. 732. Hoofd, xi. 465.
6 Ibid., ix. 731. Ibid., xi. 4G3.

8 Hoofd, xi. 466.

H

114

j prm [RISE OE THE DUTCH KEPUBLIC.

11576 ,

thrifty to be at funeral charges for their victims. The ceie-
mony was not hastily performed, for the number of corpses
had not been completed. Two days longer the havoc lasted
in the city. Of all the crimes which men can commit, whether
from deliberate calculation, or in the frenzy of passion, hardly
one was omitted, for riot, gaming, rape, which had been
postponed to the more stringent claims of robbery and
murder, was now rapidly added to the sum of atrocities. 1
History has recorded the account indelibly on her brazen
tablets; it can be adjusted only at the judgment-seat
above.

Of all the deeds of darkness yet compassed in the Nether¬
lands, this was the worst. It was called the Spanish Fury, 2
by which dread name it has been known for ages. The city,
which had been a world of wealth and splendour, was changed
to a charnel-house, and from that hour its commercial pros¬
perity was blasted. Other causes had silently girdled the yet
green and flourishing tree, but the Spanish Fury was the fire
which consumed it to ashes. Three thousand dead bodies were
discovered in the streets, as many more were estimated to have
perished in the Scheld, and nearly an equal number were
burned or destroyed in other ways. Eight thousand persons
undoubtedly were put to death. Six millions of property were
destroyed by the fire, and at least as much more was obtained
by the Spaniards. 3 In this enormous robbery no class of people
was respected. Foreign merchants, living under the express
sanction and protection of the Spanish monarch, were plundered
with as little reserve as Flemings. Ecclesiastics of the Roman
Church were compelled to disgorge their wealth as freely as

1 Eemonstranee of the States of Bra- precious stones, other articles of jewel-

bant to the States-G-eneral.—Bor, is. lery, laces, brocades, embroidery, and
733, 734. similar property of a portable and con-

2 Bor, is. 732. Hoofd, xi. 462. vertible character.—Meteren, vi. Ill a.

Meteren, vi. 111. Wagenaer, vii. 115, The estimates of Hoofd and Bor do
et mult. al. . not materially differ. In single houses

3 The estimate of Meteren is, that as much as 300,000 guldens were
four millions m hard cash alone, were found; over 90,000 in the dwelling of
obtained by the soldiery, exclusively of a widow.—Meteren, ubi sup.

1576,] STATISTICS OF MURDER AND ROBBERY. 115

Calvinists. The rich were made to contribute all their abund¬
ance, and the poor what could be wrung from their poverty.
•Neither paupers nor criminals were safe. Captain Caspar
Ortis made a brilliant speculation by taking possession of the
Stein, or city prison, whence he ransomed all the inmates who
could find means to pay for their liberty. Robbers, mur¬
derers, even Anabaptists, were thus again let loose. 1 Rarely
has so small a band obtained in three days’ robbery so large
an amount of wealth. Four or five millions divided among
five thousand soldiers made up for long arrearages, and the
Spaniards had reason to congratulate themselves upon having
thus taken the duty of payment into their own hands. It is
true that the wages of iniquity were somewhat unequally
distributed, somewhat foolishly squandered. A private trooper
was known to lose ten thousand crowns in one day in a
gambling transaction at the Bourse : 2 3 for the soldiers, being
thus handsomely in funds, became desirous of aping the
despised and plundered merchants, and resorted daily to the
Exchange, like men accustomed to affairs. The dearly
purchased gold was thus lightly squandered by many, while
others, more prudent, melted their portion into sword-hilts,
into scabbards, even into whole suits of armour, darkened,
by precaution, to appear made entirely of iron. The brocades,
laces, and jewellery of Antwerp merchants were converted
into coats of mail for their destroyers. The goldsmiths,
however, thus obtained an opportunity to outwit their plun¬
derers, and mingled in the golden armour which they were
forced to furnish much more alloy than their employers
knew. A portion of the captured booty w r as thus surrep¬
titiously redeemed. 8

In this Spanish Fury many more were massacred in Ant¬
werp than in the Saint Bartholomew at Paris. 4 Almost as

1 Bor, ix. 732: Hoofd, xi. 465. Strada, viii. 421.

Meteren, vi. 111. 4 Nearly three times as many, if the

2 Hoofd, xi. 406. Bor, ix. 732. estimate of De Thou as to the number

Ibid. of Huguenots slain, three thousand, be

3 Bor, Hoofd, Meteren, ubi 1 sup. correct—De Thou, liv. 53, vi. 443.

116

THE RISE OF THE DUTCH REPUBLIC.

[1570.

many living human beings were dashed out of existence now
as there had been statues destroyed in the memorable image-
breaking of Antwerp ten years before, an event which had
sent such a thrill of horror through the heart of Catholic
Christendom. Yet the Netherlander and the Protestants
of Europe may be forgiven if they regarded this massacre
of their brethren with as much execration as had been be¬
stowed upon that fury against stocks and stones. At least,
the image-breakers had been actuated by an idea, and their
hands were polluted neither with blood nor rapine. Perhaps
the Spaniards had been governed equally by religious fanati¬
cism. Might not they believe they were meriting well of
their Mother Church while they were thus disencumbering
infidels of their wealth, and earth of its infidels ? Had not
the pope and his cardinals gone to church in solemn pro¬
cession, to render thanks unto God for the massacre of Paris ? 1
Had not cannon thundered and beacons blazed to commemo¬
rate that auspicious event ? Why should not the Antwerp
executioners claim equal commendation ? Even if in their
delirium they had confounded friend with foe, Catholic with
Calvinist, and church property with lay, could they not
point to an equal number of dead bodies, and to an incredibly
superior amount of plunder ?

Marvellously few Spaniards were slain in these eventful days.
Two hundred killed is the largest number stated . 2 The dis-

Many contemporary writers have, how¬
ever, placed the number of the Paris
victims as high as ten thousand.

1 De Thou, vi. 442.

2 Bor’s estimate is two hundred
Spaniards killed and four hundred
wounded, ix. 731. Hoofd (xi. 463)
gives the same. Mendoza allows only
fourteen Spaniards to have been killed,
and rather more than twenty wounded.
Meteren, as usual, considering the
honour of his countrymen at stake,
finds a grim consolation in adding a
few to the number of the enemies slain,
and gives a total of three hundred
Spaniards killed.—vi. 110. Strada

(viii. 422) give3 the two extremes; so
that it is almost certain that the num -
ber was not less than fourteen nor
more than two hundred. These statis¬
tics are certainly curious, for it would
seem almost impossible that a force
numbering between thirty-five hundred
and five thousand men (there is this
amount of discrepancy in the different
estimates) should capture and plunder,
with so little loss to themselves, a city
of two hundred thousand souls, de¬
fended by an army of at least twelve
thousand, besides a large proportion of
burghers bearing weapons. No wonder
that the chivalrous Brantome was in an

1576.]

OFFICEKS TAKEN ALIVE.

117

crepancy seems monstrous, but it is hardly more than often
existed between the losses inflicted and sustained by the
Spaniards in such combats. Their prowess was equal to their
ferocity, and this was enough to make them seem endowed
with preter-liuman powers. When it-is remembered, also,
that the burghers were insufficiently armed, that many of
their defenders turned against them, that many thousands
fled in the first moments of the encounter—and when the
effect of a sudden and awful panic is duly considered, the
discrepancy between the number of killed on the two sides
will not seem so astonishing.

A few officers of distinction were taken alive and carried
to the castle. Among these were the Seigneur do Capres
and young Count Egmont. The councillor Jerome de Rotla
was lounging on a chair in an open gallery when these two

ecstasy of delight at the achievement
(Horn. Illust., etc., ii. 204), and that
the Netherlander, seeing the prowess
and the cruelty of their foes, should
come to doubt whether they were men
or devils. This disproportion between
the number of Spaniards and States’
soldiers slain was the same in all the
great encounters, particularly in those
of the period which now occupies us.
In the six months between the end of
August 1576 and the signing of the
perpetual edict on the 17th of February
1577, the Spaniards killed twenty thou¬
sand by the admission of the Nether-
landers themselves, and acknowledged
less than six slain on their own side !
Mendoza, xvi. 335.—Compare Cabrera,
xi. S66; Meteren, vi. 120. So much
for the blood expended annually or
monthly by the Netherlanders in de¬
fence of liberty and religion. As for
the money consumed, the usual esti¬
mate of the expense of the States’ army
was from 800,000 to one million gul¬
dens monthly. (Meteren, viii. 138 c?,
and 144.) The same historian calcu¬
lates the expense of Philip’s army at
forty-two millions of crowns for the
nine years from 1567 to 1576, which
would give nearly 400,000 dollars

monthly, half of which, he says, came
from Spain. The Netherlanders, there¬
fore, furnished the other half, so that
200,000 dollars, equal to 500,000 gul¬
dens, monthly, were to be added to the
million required for their own war
department. Here then was a tax of
one and a half millions monthly, or
eighteen millions yearly, simply for the
keeping of the two armies on foot to
I destroy the Netherlanders and consume
their substance. The frightful loss by
confiscations, plunderings, brand-schet-
tings, and the sackings of cities and
villages innumerable, was all in addi¬
tion of course, but that enormous
amount defies calculation. The regular
expense m money, which they were to
meet, if they could, for the mere pay
and provision of the armies, was a 3
above, and equal to at least sixty mil¬
lions yearly, to-day, making the com¬
mon allowance for the difference in the
value of money. This was certainly
sufficient for a population of three
millions. Their frequent promise to
maintain their liberty with theirgoods
and their blood” was no idle boast;
three thousand men and one and a
half million florins being consumed
monthly.

118

THE RISE OF THE DUTCH REPUBLIC.

[1576.

gentlemen were brought before him, and Capres was base
enough to make a low obeisance to the man who claimed to
represent the whole government of his Majesty . 1 The worthy
successor of Yargas replied to his captive’s greeting by a
u kick in his stomach / 5 adding, with a brutality which his
prototype might have envied, “ Ah puto tradiclor ,”—whore¬
son traitor—“ let me have no salutations from such as you .” 3
Young Egmont, who had been captured, fighting bravely at
the head of coward troops, by Julian Romero, who nine years
before had stood on his father’s scaffold, regarded this brutal
scene with haughty indignation. This behaviour had more
effect upon Roda than the suppleness of Oapres. “ I am
sorry for your misfortune, Count,” said the councillor, with¬
out, however, rising from his chair; “such is the lot of
those who take arms against their king .” 3 This was the un¬
fortunate commencement of Philip Egmont’s career, which
was destined to be inglorious, vacillating, base, and on more
than one occasion, unlucky.

A shiver ran through the coimtry as the news of the horrible
crime was spread, but it was a shiver of indignation, not of fear.
Already the negotiations at Ghent between the representatives
of the Prince and of Holland and Zeland with the deputies of
the other provinces were in a favourable train, and the effect of
this event upon their counsels was rather quickening than
appalling. A letter from Jerome de Roda to the King was
intercepted, giving an account of the transaction. In that docu¬
ment the senator gave the warmest praise to Sancho d’ Avila,
Julian Romero, Alonzo de Yargas, Francis Yerdugo, as well as
to the German colonels Fugger, Frondsberger, Polwiller, and

1 Bor, ix. 731. Hoofd, xi. 412. authorities of Antwerp, Sept. 8,1576,

Meteren, vi. 110. “-pour certaincs III. Register der Dolianten van Bra*

bonnes considerations j’ay prins mon bant, A<>. 1576, f. 203. MS., Hague
logis en ce cliastcau, qu’est la maison Archives.

royalle de saMaj., pourd’icy pourveoir 2 Bor, ix. 731. Hoofd, xi. 462. Me¬

et ordonner toutes les choses de son teren, vi. 110.

service, jusques les seigneurs du conseil 3 Bor, Hoofd, Meteren, ubi sup,

eoyent remis en leur entiere liberte,” Strada, viii. 418.
etc.—Letter of Jerome de Roda to the

1576 ,]

EEBfONSTEANCE OF THE ESTATES.

119

others who had most exerted themselves in the massacre. cc I
wish jour ilajesty much good of this victory,” concluded the
councillor, u ’tis a very great one, and the damage to the city is
enormous .” 1 This cynical view was not calculated to produce
a soothing effect on the exasperated minds of the people. On
the other hand, the estates of Brabant addressed an eloquent
appeal to the states-general, reciting their wrongs, and urging
immediate action. ec 5 Tis notorious,” said the remonstrants,
u that Antwerp was but yesterday the first and principal orna¬
ment of all Europe; the refuge of all the nations of the world ;
the source and supply of countless treasure; the nurse of all
arts and industry; the protectress of the Soman Catholic
religion; the guardian of science and virtue; and, above all
these pre-eminences, more than faithful and obedient to her
sovereign prince and lord. The city is now changed to a
gloomy cavern, filled -with robbers and murderers, enemies of
God, the King, and all good subjects .” 2 They then proceeded to
recite the story of the massacre, iC whereof the memory shall
be abominable so long as the world stands ,” 3 and concluded
with an urgent appeal for redress. They particularly suggested
that an edict should forthwith he passed, forbidding the
alienation of property and the exportation of goods in any form
from Antwerp, together with concession of the right to the
proprietors of reclaiming their stolen property summarily,
whenever and wheresoever it might be found. In accordance
with these instructions, an edict w r as passed, but somewhat
tardily, in the hope of relieving some few of the evil con¬
sequences by 'which the Antwerp Fury had been attended . 4

At about the same time the Prince of Orange addressed a
remarkable letter 6 to the states-general then assembled at
Ghent, urging them to hasten the conclusion of the treaty. The
news of the massacre, which furnished ail additional and most

1 Letter of Eoda, apud Bor, ix. staet ” etc.—Eemonstrance, etc. Bor,
737, 73S. ubi sup.

- Eemonstrance of the States of * Bor, is. 736, 737.

Brabant, in Bor, ix. 733. ^ 5 Xbo letter is published byGachard,

J “Wacrvnn de memorie is en sal Corrcspondance de Guillaume le Tacit. ;
aboinmabel nesen so lang als de wereld iii. 140-154.

320

THE EISE OF THE DUTCH REPUBLIC.

[157ft

vivid illustration of tlie truth of his letter, had not then reached
him at Middelburg, but the earnestness of his views, taken in
connexion with this last dark deed, exerted a powerful and
indelible effect. The letter was a masterpiece, because it was
necessary, in his position, to inflame without alarming; to
stimulate the feelings which were in unison, without shocking
those w T hich, if aroused, might prove discordant. Without,
therefore, alluding in terms to the religious question, he dwelt
upon the necessity of union, firmness, and wariness. If so
much had been done by Holland and Zeland, how much more
might be hoped when all the provinces v r ere united? u The
principal flower of the Spanish army has fallen,” he said,
“without having been able to conquer one of those provinces
from those whom they call in mockery, poor beggars ; yet what
is that handful of cities compared to all the provinces which
might join us in the quarrel ? ” 1 He warned the states of the
necessity of shewing a strong and united front; the King having
been ever led to consider the movement in the Netherlands a
mere conspiracy of individuals. “ The King told me himself,
in 1559,” said Orange, “that if the estates had no pillars to
loon upon, they would not talk so loud.” It was, therefore,
necessary to shew that prelates, abbots, monks, seigniors,
gentlemen, burghers, and peasants, the wdiole people in short,
now cried with one voice, and desired with one will. To such
demonstration the King would not dare oppose himself. By
thus preserving a firm and united front, sinking all minor
differences they would, moreover, inspire their friends and
foreign princes with confidence. The princes of Germany,
the lords and gentlemen of France, the Queen of England,
although sympathising -with the misfortunes of the Nether-
landers, had been unable effectually to help them, so long
as their disunion prevented them from helping themselves; so
long as even their appeal to arms seemed merely “ a levy of
bucklers, an emotion of the populace, which, like a wave of
tlie sea, rises and sinks again as soon as risen.” 2

1 Gacbard, Corresp., etc. iii. 147, 148. s Ibid., iii. 152.

1576.] OKANGE’S APPEAL. 121

While thus exciting to union and firmness, he also took
great pains to instil the necessity of wariness. They were
dealing with an artful foe. Intercepted letters had already
proved that the old dissimulation was still to be employed;
that while Don John of Austria was on his way, the Nether-
landers were to be lulled into confidence by glozing speeches.
Roda was provided by the King with a secret programme of
instructions for the new Governor’s guidance, and Don
Sancho d’Avila, for his countenance to the mutineers of Alost,
had been applauded to the echo in Spain. 1 Was not this ap¬
plause a frequent indication of the policy to be adopted by
Don John, and a thousand times more significative one than
the unmeaning phrases of barren benignity with which public
documents might be crammed? “The old tricks are again
brought into service,”said the Prince; “therefore ’tisnecessary
to ascertain your veritable friends, to tear off the painted masks
from those who, under pretence of not daring to displease the
King, are seeking to swim between two waters. ’Tis neces¬
sary to have a touchstone* to sign a declaration in such wise
that you may know whom to trust, and whom to suspect.”

The massacre at Antwerp and the eloquence of the Prince
produced a most quickening effect upon the Congress at
Ghent. Their deliberations had proceeded with decorum and
earnestness, in the midst of the cannonading against the

y o

citadel, and the fortress fell on the same day which saw the
conclusion of the treaty. 2

This important instrument, by which the sacrifices and
exertions of the Prince were, for a brief season, at least,
rewarded, contained twenty-five articles. 3 The Prince of
Orange with the estates of Holland and Zcland, on the one

1 G-aclmrd, Correspondance de Guil¬
laume le Tacit., lii. 120.

2 Bor, ix. 727. . Hoofd, xi. 470.—
The final and decisive assault was made
upon the Sth ; the articles of surrender
were arranged, and the castle was

evacuated upon the 11th of November.

—Meteren, ri. 113. Mendoza, xvi.
326. Archives, etc , v. 525.

3 See them in Bor, ix. 738-741;
Hoofd, xi. 467 and 470; Mendoza,
xvi. 320-326; Meteren, vi. 112, sqq.
eb al.

122 TEE RISE OF THE DUTCH REPUBLIC. [1670.

side, and the provinces signing, or thereafter to sign the
treaty, on the other, agreed that there should be a mutual for¬
giving and forgetting as regarded the past. They vowed a
close and faithful friendship for the future. They plighted a
mutual promise to expel the Spaniards from the Netherlands-
without delay. As soon as this great deed should be done,
there was to be a convocation of the states-general, on the
basis of that assembly before which the abdication of the
Emperor had taken place. By this congress, the affairs of
religion in Holland and Zeland should be regulated, as well as
the surrender of fortresses and other places belonging to his
Majesty. There was to be full liberty of communication and
traffic between the citizens of the one side and the other. It
should not be legal, however, for those of Holland and Zeland
to attempt anything outside their own territory against the
Roman Catholic religion, nor for cause thereof to injure or
irritate any one, by deed or word. All the placards and edicts
on the subject of heresy, together with the criminal ordinances
made by the Duke of Alva, were suspended, until the states-
general should otherwise ordain. The Prince was to remain
lieutenant, admiral, and general for his Majesty in Holland,
Zeland, and the associated places, till otherwise provided
by the states-general, after the departure of the Spaniards.
The cities and places included in the Prince’s commission, but
not yet acknowledging his authority, should receive satisfaction
from him, as to the point of religion and other matters, before
subscribing to the union. All prisoners, and particularly the
Comte de Bossu, should be released without ransom. All
estates and other property not already alienated should be
restored, all confiscations since 1566 being declared null and
void. The Countess Palatine, widow of Brederode, and Count
de Buren, son of the Prince of Orange, were expressly named in
this provision. Prelates and ecclesiastical persons having pro<
perty in Holland and Zeland should be reinstated, if possible ;
but in case of alienation, which was likely to be generally the
case, there should be reasonable compensation. It was to be

xm .]

THE GHENT PACIFICATION.

123

decided by the states-general whether the provinces should dis¬
charge the debt incurred by the Prince of Orange in his two
campaigns. Provinces and cities should not have the benefit
of this union until they had signed the treaty, but they should
be permitted to sign it when they chose. 1

This memorable document was subscribed at Ghent on the
8 th of November, by Sainte Aldegonde, with eight other
commissioners appointed by the Prince of Orange and the
estates of Holland on the one side, and by Elbertus Leoninus
and other deputies appointed by Brabant, Flanders, Artois,
Hainault, Valenciennes, Lille, Douay, Orchies, Namur,
Tournay, Utrecht, and Mechlin on the other side. 2

The arrangement was a masterpiece of diplomacy on the part
of the Prince, for it was as effectual a provision for the safety
of the Reformed religion as could be expected under the
circumstances. It was much, considering the change which
had been wrought of late years in the fifteen provinces, that
they should consent to any treaty with their two heretic
sisters. It was much more that the pacification should re¬
cognise the new religion as the established creed of Holland
and Zeland, while at the same time the infamous edicts of
Charles were formally abolished. In the fifteen Catholic
provinces there was to be no prohibition of private Reformed
worship, and it might be naturally expected that with time
and the arrival of the banished religionists, a firmer stand
would be taken in favour of the Reformation. Meantime,
the new religion was formally established in two provinces,
and tolerated, in secret, in the other fifteen; the Inqui¬
sition was for ever abolished, and the whole strength of the
nation enlisted to expel the foreign soldiery from the soil.
This was the work of William the Silent, 3 and the great

1 See particularly Arts. 1, 2, 4, 5, 7, l preparations for, or deliberations con-

8,10, and 25. corning, such a document. The infer*

2 Bor, is. 741. ence of Kluit (i. 146, 147) is that the

3 There is no mention in the Be- Prince, with his council and nine

solutions of Holland, from the 2oth of commissioners, managed the whole

April to the 8th of November 1576, negotiation; such was the confidence
of any draughts for a treaty, or of any reposed in him by the two provinces

124

THE RISE OF THE DUTCH REPUBLIC.

[ 1578 .

Prince thus saw the labour of years crowned with, at least,
a momentary success. His satisfaction was very great when
it was announced to him, many days before the exchange of
the signatures, that the treaty had been concluded. He was
desirous that the pacification should be referred for approval,
not to the municipal magistrates only, but to the people itself. 1
In all great emergencies, the man who, in his whole character,
least resembled a demagogue, either of antiquity or of
modern times, was eager for a fresh expression of the popular
will. On this occasion, however, the demand for approba¬
tion was superfluous. The whole country thought with his
thoughts, and spoke with his words, and the pacification, as
soon as published, was received with a shout of joy. 2 Pro¬
claimed in the market-place of every city and village, it was
ratified, not by votes, but by hymns of thanksgiving, h J
triumphal music, by thundering of cannon, and by the blaze
of beacons throughout the Netherlands. Another event
added to the satisfaction of the hour. The country so
recently, and by deeds of such remarkable audacity, conquered
by the Spaniards in the north, was recovered almost simul¬
taneously with the conclusion of the Ghent treaty. It was
a natural consequence of the great mutiny. The troops
having entirely deserted Mondragon, it became necessary
for that officer to abandon Zierickzee, the city which had
been won with so much valour. In the beginning of Novem-
ber, the capital, and with it the whole island of Schouwen,
together with the rest of Zeland, excepting Tholen, was
recovered by Count Hohenlo, lieutenant-general of the Prince
of Orange, and acting according to his instructions. 3

Thus, on this particular point of time, many great events had

1 Two commissioners were, in fact,
despatched to each city of Holland, to
lay tho treaty before the respective
governments, and obtain their signa¬
tures.—Kluit, Holl. Staatsreg., i. 148.

2 Bor, ix. 740. Wagenaer, vii. 117.—

“-avecq une si grande joie et

contentement du peuple, de toutcs les

provinces en g6n6ra! et en particular,
qu’il n’est memoire d’homme qui puisse
souvenir d’une pareille. Un cbascun.
se peult souvenir des promesses mu*
tuelles d’amitie qui y sont compris,*
etc—Apologie du Prince d’Orange*
p. 95

3 Bor, ix. 727. Hoofd, xi. 47 ).

RECOVERY OF ZELA^JX

125

we.]

been crowded. At the very same moment Zeland had been
redeemed, Antwerp ruined, and the league of all the Nether¬
lands against the Spaniards concluded. It now became
known that another and most important event had occurred
at the same instant. On the day before the Antwerp mas¬
sacre, four days before the publication of the Ghent treaty,
a foreign cavalier, attended by a Moorish slave and by six
men-at-arms, rode into the streets of Luxemburg. 1 The
cavalier was Don Ottavio Gonzaga, brother of the Prince of
Melfi. The Moorish slave was Don John of Austria, the son
of the Emperor, the conqueror of Granada, the hero of
Lepanto. 2 The new Governor-general had traversed Spain
and France in disguise with great celerity, and in the
romantic manner which belonged to his character. Ho stood
at last on the threshold of the Netnerlands, but with all his
speed he had arrived a few days, too late.

1 Bor, ix 742. Hoofd, xi. 472.

a Strata, ix. 423. Cabrera, ix. 374.

PART V.

DON JOHN OF AUSTRIA.

1576 - 1578 .

CHAPTER I.

lEPAUTO'S HEEO.

Birth and parentage of Don Jokn—Barbara Blomberg—Early education and
recognition by Philip—Brilliant military career—Campaign against the
Moors—Battle of Lepanto—Extravagant ambition—Secret and rapid
journey of the new Governor to the Netherlands—Contrast between Don
John and William of Orange—Secret instructions of Philip and private
purposes of the Governor—Cautious policy and correspondence of the
Prince—Preliminary negociations with Don John at Luxemberg charac¬
terised—Union of Brussels—Resumption of negotiations with the Governor
at Huy—The discussions analysed and characterised—Influence of the new
Emperor Rodolph II., and of his envoys—Treaty of Marche en Famine,
or the Perpetual Edict, signed—Remarks upon that transaction—Views
and efforts of Orange in opposition to the treaty—His letter, in name of
Holland and Zeland, to the States-General—Anxiety of the Royal govern¬
ment to gain over the Prince—Secret mission of Leoninus—His instruc¬
tions from Don John—Fruitless attempts to corrupt the Prince—Secret
correspondence between Don John and Orange—Don John at Louvain—
His efforts to ingratiate himself with the Netherlander—His incipient
popularity—Departure of the Spanish troops—Duke of Aersckot appointed
Governor of Antwerp citadel—Has insincere character.

Don John of Austria was now in his thirty-second year,
having been born in Eatisbon on the 24th of February 1545. 1
His father was Charles the Fifth, Emperor of Germany, King
of Spain, Dominator of Asia, Africa, and America; his
mother was Barbara Blomberg, washerwoman of Eatisbon.
Introduced to the Emperor, originally, that she might alle¬
viate his melancholy by her singing, 2 she soon exhausted all
that was harmonious in her nature, for never was a more
uncomfortable, unmanageable personage than Barbara in her

1 Strada,x,506. Ibid.—Compare Brantome, ii. 149.

VOL. ILL I

130 THE RISE OF THE HUTCH REPUBLIC. [1576.

after life. Married to one Pyramus Kegell, who was made
a military commissary in the Netherlands, she was left a
widow in the beginning of Alva’s administration. Placed
under the especial superintendence of the Duke, she became
the torment of that warrior’s life. The terrible Governor,
who could almost crush the heart out of a nation of three mil¬
lions, was unable to curb this single termagant. Philip had
expressly forbidden her to marry again, but Alva informed
him that she was surrounded by suitors. Philip had insisted
that she should go into a convent; but Alva, who, with great
difficulty, had established her quietly in Ghent, assured his
master that she would break loose again at the bare suggestion
of a convent. Philip wished her to go to Spain, sending her
word that Don John was mortified by the life his mother was
leading; but she informed the Governor that she would be
cut to pieces before she would go to Spain. She had no ob¬
jection to see her son, but she knew too well how women were
treated in that country. The Duke complained most pathe¬
tically to his Majesty of the life they all led with the ex¬
mistress of the Emperor. Never, he frequently observed, had
woman so terrible a head. 1 She was obstinate, reckless,
abominably extravagant. She had been provided in Ghent with
a handsome establishment: u with a duenna, six other women,
a major domo, two pages, one chaplain, an almoner, and four
men-servants,” and this seemed a sufficiently liberal scheme of
life for the widow of a commissary. Moreover, a very ample
allowance had been made for the education of her only legiti¬
mate son, Conrad, the other having perished by an accident
on the day of his father’s death. While Don John of Austria
was gathering laurels in Granada, his half-brother, Pyramus
junior, had been ingloriously drowned in a cistern at Ghent.

Barbara’s expenses were exorbitant; her way of life scandal¬
ous. To send her money, said Alva, was to throw it into the
sea. In two days she would have spent in dissipation and feast¬
ing any sums which the King might choose to supply. The

1 Correspond, de Philippe II., 884, 912, 960, 969, 984, 987, 1025,1054*

1576.] DOIT JOHN’S PARENTAGE. 131

Duke, who feared nothing else in the world, stood in mortal
awe of the widow Kegell. u A terrible animal, indeed, is an
unbridled woman,” wrote secretary Oayas, from Madrid, at the
close of Alva’s administration; for, notwithstanding every effort
to entice, to intimidate, and to kidnap her from the Netherlands,
there she remained, through all vicissitudes, even till the arrival
of Don John. By his persuasions or commands she was, at last,
induced to accept an exile for the remainder of her days, in
Spain, but revenged herself by asserting that he was quite mis¬
taken in supposing himself the Emperor’s child,—a point, cer¬
tainly, upon which her authority might be thought conclusive.
Thus there was a double mystery about Don John. He might
be the issue of august parentage on one side; he was, pos¬
sibly, sprung of most ignoble blood. Base-born at best, he
was not sure whether to look for the author of his beino- in

o

the halls of the Caesars or the booths of Batisbon mechanics. 1

Whatever might be the heart of the mystery, it is certain
that it was allowed to enwrap all the early life of Don John.
The Emperor, who certainly never doubted his responsibility
for the infant’s existence, had him conveyed instantly to
Spain, where he was delivered to Louis Quixada, of the im-

1 Corresp. de Philippe II., 1025.
a ‘ Lo tiene banqueteado ”—“ Quan terri-
bile animal es una inuger des enfren-
ada.”—Ibid., ii. 1255. Met, vi. 119 d.
—Compare Yan del* Hammen y Leon:
Don Juan de Austria; Historia, Ma¬
drid, 1627, vi. 294. Strada, Brantome.
—Compare V. d. Yynckt, ii. 218.

Wie Zijne ware moeder geweest zii,
is een raadsal gebleeven, dat nooit vol-
komen opgelost is,” etc., etc.—Cabrera,
xii. 1009. Am absurd rumour had ex¬
isted that Barbara Blomberg had only
been employed to personate Don John’s
mother. She died at an estate called
Arronjo de Molrnos, four leagues from
Madrid, some years after the death of
Don John.—Cabrera, xii. 1009. The
following squib, taken from a MS. col¬
lection of pasquilles of the day, shows
what was a very general opinion in the :
Netherlands concerning the parentage i

of Don John, and the position of Bar¬
bara Blomberg. The verses are not
without ingenuity:—

“ Echo.

“ — sed at Austriacum nostrum redeamus—
eamus.

Hunc Cesarts fllium esse satis est notum—
notlium

Multi tamen de e]us patie dubitavere —vert

Cuju-! cig'j hlmru euin dicunt Itali —Halt

Veruin mater satis est nota m nostra ic-
pubiicl— publh'd

lino bacicuus egit in Brabanti& ter voeie—
lioere

Crimen est ne frui amplexu unius Ccsaus
tam generosi—osi

Plnribus ergo usa m vita est—ita est

Seu posi Cesaris congressum nonvere ante-
ante

Tace garrala ne tale quippiam loquare—
quaie?

Nescis qua poena afficiendum dixciit Belgium
insigne—igne,”
etc. etc. etc.

Vers Satinqu.es contra Bom
Jean d’ Autriclie, MS.,
BibL deBourg., 17,524

132

THE RISE OF THE DUTCH REPUBLIC.

[1570-

peri al household, by whom he was brought up in great retire¬
ment at Villagarcia. Magdalen Ulloa, wife of Quixada,
watched over his infancy with maternal and magnanimous
care, for her husband’s extreme solicitude for the infant’s
welfare had convinced her that he was its father. On one
occasion, when their house was in flames, Quixada rescued
the infant before he saved his wife, “ although Magdalen knew
herself to be dearer to him than the apple of his eye.” From
that time forth she altered her opinion, and believed the mys¬
terious child to be of lofty origin. The boy grew up full of
beauty* grace, and agility, the leader of all his companions in
every hardy sport. Through the country round there were
none who could throw the javelin, break a lance, or ride at the
ring like little Juan Quixada. In taming unmanageable horses
he was celebrated for his audacity and skill. These accomplish¬
ments, however, were likely to prove of but slender advantage
in the ecclesiastical profession, to which he had been destined
by his Imperial father. The death of Charles occurred before
clerical studies had been commenced, and Philip, to whom the
secret had been confided at the close of the Emperor’s life, pro¬
longed the delay thus interposed. 1 Juan had already reached
his fourteenth year, when one day his supposed father Quixada
invited him to ride towards Valladolid to see the royal hunt.
Two horses stood at the door—a splendidly caparisoned charger
and a common hackney. The boy naturally mounted the hum¬
bler steed, and they set forth for the mountains of Toro, but
on hearing the bugles of the approaching huntsmen, Quixada
suddenly halted, and bade his youthful companion exchange
horses with himself. When this had been done, he seized the
hand of the wondering boy, and, kissing it respectfully, ex¬
claimed, u Your highness will be informed as to the meaning
of my conduct by his Majesty, who is even now approaching.”
They had proceeded but a short distance before they encoun¬
tered the royal hunting party, when both Quixada and young
Juan dismounted, and bent the knee to their monarch. Philip,
1 Stra&i, x. 506, 507. Cabrera, xi. 874.

1576.]

DON JOHN'S EARLY EDUCATION.

133

commanding the hoy to rise, asked him if he knew liis father’s
name. Jnan replied, with a sigh, that ho had at that mo¬
ment lost the only father whom he had known, for Quixada
had just disowned him. a You have the same father as
myself,” cried the King; u the Emperor Charles was the
august parent of us both.” Then tenderly embracing him,
he commanded him to remount his horse, and all returned
together to Valladolid, Philip observing, with a sentimentality
that seems highly apocryphal, that he had never brought
home such precious game from any hunt before.” 1

This theatrical recognition of imperial descent was one
among the many romantic incidents of Don John’s picturesque
career, for his life was never destined to know the common¬
place. He now commenced his education in company with
his two nephews, the Duchess Margaret’s son, and Don Carlos,
Prince-Royal of Spain. They were all of the same age, but
the superiority of Don John was soon recognised. It was not
difficult to surpass the limping, malicious Carlos, either in
physical graces or intellectual accomplishments; but the grace¬
ful, urbane, and chivalrous Alexander, destined afterwards to
such wide celebrity, was a more formidable rival; yet even the
professed panegyrist of the Farnese family exalts the son of
Barbara Blomberg over the grandson of Margaret Van Geest. 2

Still destined for the clerical profession, Don John, at the
age of eighteen, to avoid compliance with Philip’s commands,
made his escape to Barcelona. It was his intention to join the
Maltese expedition. Recalled peremptorily by Philip, he was
for a short time in disgrace, but afterwards made his peace
with the monarch by denouncing some of the mischievous
schemes of Don Carlos. Between the Prince Royal and the
imperial bastard there had always been a deep animosity, the

1 “Nunquam se jucundiorem ve-
nando prsedam quam eo die retulisse
domum—Strada, x. 508. It must be
borne in mind that the legends of Don
John’s boyhood have passed through
the busy and inventive brain of Father

Strada. Placed in a severe crucible
much of the romantic filigree woud,
perhaps disappear, but the substance of
his narrative is genuine—Compare Y.
d. Yynckt, ii. 219.

2 Strada, x. 509.

134

THE RISE OF THE DUTCH REPUBLIC.

ri570.

Infante having on one occasion sainted him with the most vigor¬
ous and offensive appellation which his illegitimate birth could
suggest. 6i Base-born or not/* returned Don John, “ at any rate
I had a better father than yours.” 1 The words were probably
reported to Philip, and doubtless rankled in his breast, but
nothing appeared on the surface, and the youth rose rapidly in
favour. In his twenty-third year, he was appointed to ‘the
command of the famous campaign against the insurgent Moors
of Granada. Here he reaped his first laurels, and acquired
great military celebrity. It is difficult to be dazzled by such
glory. He commenced his operations by the expulsion of
nearly all the Moorish inhabitants of Granada, bed-ridden men,
women, and children together; and the cruelty inflicted, the
sufferings patiently endured in that memorable deportation,
were enormous. 2 But few of the many thousand exiles sur¬
vived the horrid march, those who were so unfortunate as to
do so being sold into slavery by their captors. 3 Still a few
Moors held out in their mountain fastnesses, and two years
long the rebellion of this handful made head against the power
of Spain. Had their envoys to the Porte succeeded in their
negotiation, the throne of Philip might have trembled; but
Selim hated the Republic of Yenice as much as he loved the
wine of Cyprus. While the Moors were gasping out their
last breath in Granada and Ronda, the Turks had wrested the
island of Venus from the gasp of the haughty Republic.
Famagosta had fallen; thousands of Venetians had been
butchered with a ferocity which even Christians could not have
surpassed. The famous General Bragadino had been Saved,
stuffed, and sent hanging on the yard-arm of a frigate to
Constantinople, as a present to the Commander of the Faithful;
and the mortgage of Catherine Cornaro, to the exclusion of
her husband’s bastards, had been thus definitely cancelled.

1 “ Hijo de puta ” The anecdote is
related by V. der Vynctt (ii. 220) on
the authority of Amelot dela Honssaie.
“ Yo soy hijo de mejor padre.”—Strada,

x. 509.

3 Strada, 509. De Thou, liv. vi. 72,
a. (tom. vi.)

y De Thou, liv. xlviii. vi. 212-215,
(liv. xlix.)—Compare Cabrera, liv. vii„
c. 21, seq.

135

1576.] TT A VAT, ENGAGEMENT WITH THE TUBES*

With such practical enjoyments, Selim was indifferent to the
splendid but shadowy vision of the Occidental caliphate—yet
the revolt of the Moors was only terminated, after the depar¬
ture of Don John, by the Duke of Arcos.

The war which the Sultan had avoided in the West came to
seek him in the East. To lift the Crucifix against the Crescent,
at the head of the powerful hut quarrelsome alliance between
Venice, Spain, and Rome, Don John arrived at Naples. 1 He
brought with him more than a hundred ships and twenty-three
thousand men, as the Spanish contingent. Three months long
the hostile fleets had been cruising in the same waters without
an encounter; three more were wasted in barren manoeuvres.
Neither Mussulman nor Christian had much inclination for the
conflict, the Turk fearing the consequences of a defeat, by which
gains already secured might be forfeited—the allies being
appalled at the possibility of their own triumph. Nevertheless,
the Ottomans manoeuvred themselves at last into the Gulf of
Lepanto—the Christians manoeuvred themselves towards its
mouth as the foe was coming forth again. The conflict thus
rendered inevitable, both Turk and Christian became equally
eager for the fray, equally confident of victory. Six hundred
vessels of war met face to face. Rarely in history had so
gorgeous a scene of martial array been witnessed. An October
sun gilded the thousand beauties of an Ionian landscape.
Athens and Corinth were behind the combatants : the moun¬
tains of Alexander’s Macedon rose in the distance; the rock of
Sappho and the heights of Actium were before their eyes.
Since the day when the world had been lost and won beneath
that famous promontory, no such combat as the one now
approaching had been fought upon the waves. The chivalrous
young commander despatched energetic messages to his fellow-
chieftains ; and now that it was no longer possible to elude the
encounter, the martial ardour of the allies was kindled. The
Venetian High Admiral replied with words of enthusiasm,
Colonna, lieutenant of the league, answered his chief in the

1 Cabrera, ix. 675 a. X>e Thou, vi. 226.

136

THE RISE OP THE DUTCH REPUBLIC.

[ 1576 .

language of St. Peter: “ Though I die, yet will I not deny
thee.” 1

The fleet was arranged in three divisions. The Ottomans,
not drawn up in crescent form, as usual, had the same triple
disposition. Barbarigo and the other Venetians commanded on
the left, John Andrew Doria on the right, while Don John
himself and Colonna were in the centre. Crucifix in hand,* the
High Admiral rowed from ship to ship exhorting generals and
soldiers to shew themselves worthy of a cause which he had
persuaded himself was holy. 2 Fired by his eloquence and by
the sight of the enemy, his hearers answered with loud shouts,
while Don John returned to his ship, knelt upon the quarter¬
deck, and offered a prayer. He then ordered the trumpets to
sound the assault, commanded his sailing-master to lay him
alongside the Turkish Admiral, and the battle began. The
Venetians, who were first attacked, destroyed ship after ship
of their assailants after a close and obstinate contest, but Bar-
barigo fell dead ere the sunset, with an arrow through his
brain. Meantime the action, immediately after the first onset,
had become general. From noon till evening the battle raged,
with a carnage rarely recorded in history. Don John’s own
ship lay yard-arm and yard-arm with the Turkish Admiral,
and exposed to the fire of seven large vessels besides. It was
a day when personal audacity, not skilful tactics, was demanded,
and the imperial bastard showed the metal he was made of.
The Turkish Admiral’s ship was destroyed, his head exposed
from Don John’s deck upon a pike, and the trophy became
the signal for a general panic, and a complete victory. By
sunset the battle had been won. 3

1 De Thou, vi. liv. 1. 22G, et seq.
Cabrera, ix. cap. 24,25. Brantome, ii.
119, et seq. See the statements of Al-
Hamet, after the battle, to the Con¬
queror.—Navarrete, Documentos In-
editos, iii. 249-251. Total number of
Christian ships, three hundred and
thirty six; of Turkish, two hundred
and eighty-three.—Belacion cierta y

verdadera, Documentos ImSditos, iii.
255, 256. “Etiamsi opporteat me
mori, non te negabo.” — Brantome,
Homines Illu9t., ii. 122.

2 Belacion cierta y verdadera, etc.,
iii. 243. Ibid.—Compare De Thou, vi.
239-243. Brantome, ii. 124.

3 Belacion cierta y verdadera, 244.
Cabrera, ix. cap. 25. De Thou, vi. 24 2,

1576.]

DEFEAT OF THE TURKISH FLEET.

137

Of Dearly three hundred Turkish galleys, but fifty made
their escape. From twenty-five to thirty thousand Turks
were slain, and perhaps ten thousand Christians. The galley-
slaves on both sides fought well, and the only beneficial result
of the victory was the liberation of several thousand Christian
captives. It is true that their liberty was purchased with the
lives of a nearly equal number of Christian soldiers, and by
the reduction to slavery of almost as many thousand Mussul¬
mans, 1 duly distributed among the Christian victors. Many
causes contributed to this splendid triumph. The Turkish
ships, inferior in number, were also worse manned than those
of their adversaries, and their men were worse armed. Every
bullet of the Christians told on muslin turbands and em-

eqq. Brantome, ii. 126, sqq.

* Cabrera says that thirty thousand
Turks were slain, ten thousand made
prisoners, ten thousand Christians
killed, and fifteen thousand Christian
prisoners liberated, ix. 693. De Thou’s
estimate is twenty-five thousand Turks
killed, three thousand prisoners, and
ten thousand Christians killed, vi. 247.
Brantome states the number of Turks
killed at thirty thousand, without cuunt-
mg those who were drowned, or who
died afterwards of their wounds; six
thousand prisoners, twelve thousand
Christian prisoners liberated, and ten
thousand Christians killed. Hoofd, vi.
214, gives the figures at twenty-five
thousand Turks and ten thousand Chris¬
tians slain. Bor, v. 354 a (t. i.) makes
a minute estimate, on the authority of
Pietro Contareno, stating the number
of Christians killed at seven thousand
six hundred and fifty, that of Turks at
twenty-five thousand one hundred and
fifty; Turkish prisoners at three thou¬
sand eight hundred and forty-six, and
Christians liberated at twelve thousand;
giving the number of Turkish ships
destroyed at eighty, captured fifty. Ac¬
cording to the “Belacion cierta y vcr-
dadera” (which was drawn up a few
days after the action,) the number of
Turks slain was “ thirty thousand and
upwards, besides many prisoners; ” that

of Christians killed was seven thousand,
of Christian slaves liberated, twelve
thousand; of Ottoman ships taken or
destroyed, two hundred and thirty.
Documentos Ineditos, iii. 249. Philip
sent an express order, forbidding the
ransoming of even the captive officers,
(Carta de F. II. a D. I. de Zuniga.
Documentos Indditos, iii. 236.) The
Turkish slaves were divided among the
victors in the proportion of one-half to
Philip, and one-half to the Pope and
Venice. The other booty was distri¬
buted on the same principle. Out of
the Pope’s share Don John received, as
a present, one hundred and seventy-four
slaves (Documentos Ineditos, iii. 229).
Alexander of Parma received thirty
slaves; Requesens, thirty. To each
general of infantry was assigned six
slaves; to each colonel, four; to each
ship’s captain, -one. The number of
“ slaves in chains,” (esclavos decadena,)
allotted to Philip wa9 thirty-six hun¬
dred (Documentos Ineditos, 257.) Seven
thousand two hundred Turkish slaves,
therefore, at least, were divided among
Christians. This number of wretches,
who were not fortunate enough, to die
with their twenty-five thousand com¬
rades, must be set off against the twelve
thousand Christian slaves liberated in
the general settlement of the account
with Humanity.

138 THE RISE OE THE HUTCH REPUBLIC. [1576.

broidered tunics, while the arrows of the Moslems fell harmless
on the casques and corslets of their foes. The Turks, too,
had committed the fatal error of fighting upon a lee-shore.
Having no sea-room, and being repelled in their first onset,
many galleys were driven upon the rocks, to be destroyed
with all their crews. 1

But whatever the cause of the victory, its consequence was
to spread the name and fame of Don John of Austria
throughout the world. Alva wrote, with enthusiasm, to
congratulate him ; pronouncing the victory the most brilliant
one ever achieved by Christians, and Don John the greatest
general since the death of Julius Caesar. At the same time,
with a sarcastic fling at the erection of the Escorial, he
advised Philip to improve this new success in some more
practical way than by building a house for the Lord and a
sepulchre for the dead. 66 If,” said the Duke, u the conquests
of Spain be extended in consequence of this triumph, then,
indeed, will the Cherubim and Seraphim sing glory to God.”-
A courier, despatched post haste to Spain, bore the glorious
news, together with the sacred standard of the Prophet, the
holy of holies, inscribed with the name of Allah twenty-eiglit
thousand nine hundred times, always kept in Mecca during
peace, and never since the conquest of Constantinople lost in
battle before. The King was at vespers in the Escorial.
Entering the sacred precincts, breathless, travel-stained,
excited, the messenger found Philip impassible as marble
to the wondrous news. Hot a muscle of the royal visage
was moved, not a syllable escaped the royal lips, save a
brief order to the clergy to continue the interrupted vespers.
When the service had been methodically concluded, the
King made known the intelligence and requested a Te
Deum. 3

The youthful commander-in-chief obtained more tnan his

1 Ee Thou, vi. 245, 246,247. 3 Relacion por Luis del Marmol,—

5 Parabien clel Duquede Alba,Docu- Eocumentos Iueditos, lii. 270-57&
mentos Ineditos, ii. 270-2S7.

1576 .]

DON JOHN’S AMBITION.

139

full meed of glory. No doubt he had fought with brilliant
courage, yet, in so close and murderous a conflict, the valour
of no single individual could decide the day, and the result
was due to the combined determination of all. Had Don
John remained at Naples, the issue might have easily been
the same. Barbarigo, who sealed the victory with his blood;
Colonna, who celebrated a solemn triumph on his return to
Borne; Parma, Doria, Giustiniani, Yemen, might each as
well have claimed a monopoly of the glory, had not the Pope,
at Philip’s entreaty, conferred the baton of command upon
Don John. 1 The meagre result of the contest is as notorious
as the victory. While Constantinople was quivering with
apprehension, the rival generals were already wrangling with
animosity. Had the Christian fleet advanced, every soul
would have fled from the capital; but Providence had
ordained it otherwise, and Don John sailed westwardly with
his ships. He made a descent on the Barbary coast, cap¬
tured Tunis, destroyed Biserta, and brought King Amidas
and his two sons prisoners to Italy. Ordered by Philip to
dismantle the fortifications of Tunis, he replied by repairing
them thoroughly, and by placing a strong garrison within
the citadel. Intoxicated with his glory, the young adven¬
turer already demanded a crown, and the Pope was disposed
to proclaim him King of Tunis, for the Queen of the Lybian
sea was to be the capital of his Empire, the new Carthage
which he already dreamed.

Philip thought it time to interfere, for he felt that his own
crown might he insecure, with such a restless and ambitious
spirit indulging in possible and impossible chimeras. He
removed John de Soto, who had been Don John’s chief
councillor and emissary to the Pope, and substituted in his
place the celebrated and ill-starred Escovedo. 2 The new

1 De Tliou, vi. 243.—Compare Ca-
orera, ix. 689 b. Brantome, ii. 133.
Even Don John’s favourite monkey
distinguished himself m the action. The
creature is reported to have picked up

a shell, which had fallen upon a holy
shrine, close at his master’s feet, and to
have thrown it overboard.—Van der
Harnmen y Leon, iii. 180.

2 De Thou, Brantome, Cabrera in

140

THE RISE OF THE DUTCH REPUBLIC.

[1576.

secretary, however, entered heartily but secretly into all
these romantic schemes. 1 Disappointed of the Empire which
he contemplated on the edge of the African desert, the
champion of the Cross turned to the cold islands of the
northern seas. There sighed, in captivity, the beauteous
Mary of Scotland, victim of the heretic Elizabeth. His sus¬
ceptibility to the charms of beauty—a characteristic as
celebrated as his courage—was excited, his chivalry aroused.
What holier triumph for the conqueror of the Saracens than
the subjugation of these northern infidels ? He would de¬
throne the proud Elizabeth; he would liberate and espouse
the Queen of Scots, and together they would reign over the
two united realms. All that the Pope could do with bulls
and blessings, letters of excommunication, and patents of
investiture, lie did with his whole heart. Don John was
at liberty to be king of England and Scotland as soon
as he liked; 2 all that was left to do was to conquer the
kingdoms.

Meantime, while these schemes were flitting through his
brain, and were yet kept comparatively secret by the Pope,
Escovedo, and himself, the news reached him in Italy that he
had been appointed Governor-General of the Netherlands. 3
Nothing could be more opportune. In the provinces were ten
thousand, veteran Spaniards, ripe for adventure, hardened by
years of warfare, greedy for gold, audacious almost beyond
humanity, the very instruments for his scheme. The times
were critical in the Netherlands, it was true; yet he would soon

locis citatis. Strada, x. 510. DeTliou,
vii. 112. Van der Vynckt, ii. 221. Bor,
xi. 840, 841. Memorial de Ant. Perez,
Obras y Relaciones, Geneva, 1644,
p. 297.

1 Bor, xi. 840, 841. Strada, x. 510.
De Thou, vii. 112. Memorial de An¬
tonio Perez, Obras y Relaciones, pp.
29S, 299.

2 Strada, v. 511. Bor, xi. 840, 841,
V. d. Vynckt, ii. 221. De Tbou, vii.
. 549 ,—“ Y dixo le el nuncio que havia

tenido un despacko de Roma, en que le
avisa haver llegado alta otro, del Senor
Don Juan en ^ifra sobre lo de Ingla-
terra pidiendo a su sanctidad favor para
alto de persona, (y aun con la investi-
dura del Reyno en la persona de Don
Juan como seentendio despues,) bullas,
breves, dmero, y que assy se le havia
embiado persona con to do ello.”—Me¬
morial de Antonio Perez. Obras y
Relaciones, p. 303.

3 Strada, x. 510. De Tliou, vii. 391.

1570.] SECRET JOURNEY OF THE NEW GOVERNOR. 141

pacify those paltry troubles, and then sweep forward to his
prize. Yet events were rushing forward with such feverish
rapidity, that he might be too late for his adventure. Many
days were lost in the necessary journey from Italy into Spain
to receive the final instructions of the King. The news from
the provinces grew more and more threatening. With the im¬
petuosity and romance of his temperament, he selected his
confidential friend Ottavio Gonzaga, six men-at-arms, and an
adroit and well-experienced Swiss courier, who knew every road
of France. 1 It was no light adventure for the Catholic Gover¬
nor-General of the Netherlands to traverse the kingdom at that
particular juncture. Staining his bright locks and fair face to
the complexion of a Moor, he started on his journey, attired
as the servant of Gonzaga. Arriving at Paris, after a rapid
journey, he descended at a hostelry opposite the residence ot
the Spanish ambassador, Don Diego de Cuniga. After night¬
fall he had a secret interview with that functionary, and learn¬
ing, among other matters, that there was to be a great ball that
night at the Louvre, lie determined to go thither in disguise.
There, notwithstanding his hurry, he had time to see and to
become desperately enamoured of u that wonder of beauty,”
the fair and frail Margaret of Valois, Queen of Navatre. Her
subsequent visit to her young adorer at Namur, to be recorded
in a future page of this, history, was destined to mark the last
turning point in his picturesque career. On his way to the
Netherlands he held a rapid interview with the Duke of Guise,
to arrange his schemes for the liberation and espousal of that
noble’s kinswoman, the Scottish Queen; and on the 3d of
November he arrived at Luxemburg. 2

There stood the young conqueror of Lepanto, his brain full
of schemes, his heart full of hopes, on the threshold of the
Netherlands, at the entrance to what he believed the most
brilliant chapter of his life—schemes, hopes, and visions,

1 Brantome, ii. 137. Strada, ix. 423.! V. d. Vynckt, ii. 222.

Cabrera, xi. 874. 1 Brantome, ii. 137, 138.

2 Cabrera, xi. 874. Strada, ix. 423. | 472,

Bor, ix 742.
Hoofd, xi.

142

THE RISE OF THE DUTCH REPUBLIC.

[1576.

doomed speedily to fade before the cold reality with which he
was to be confronted. Throwing off his disguise after reaching
Luxemburg, the youthful paladin stood confessed. His appear¬
ance was as romantic as his origin and his exploits. Every
contemporary chronicler, French, Spanish, Italian, Flemish,
Roman, have dwelt upon his personal beauty and the singular
fascination of his manner. 1 Symmetrical features, blue eyes
of great vivacity, and a profusion of bright curling hair, were
combined with a person not much above middle height, but
perfectly well proportioned. Owing to a natural peculiarity
of his head, the hair fell backward from the temples, and he
had acquired the habit of pushing it from his brows. The
custom became a fashion among the host of courtiers, who
were but too happy to glass themselves in so brilliant a mirror.
As Charles the Fifth, on his journey to Italy to assume the
iron crown, had caused his hair to be clipped close, as a remedy
for the headaches with which, at that momentous epoch, he
was tormented, bringing thereby close shaven polls into
extreme fashion ; so a mass of hair pushed backward from the
temples, in the style to which the name of John of Austria
was appropriated, became the prevailing mode wherever the
favourite son of the Emperor appeared. 2

Such was the last crusader whom the annals of chivalry were
to know; the man who had humbled the crescent as it had not
been humbled since the days of the Tancreds, the Baldwins,
the Plantagenets—yet, after all, what was this brilliant adven¬
turer when weighed against the tranquil Christian champion
whom he was to meet face to face ? The contrast was striking
between the real and the romantic hero. Don John had pursued
and achieved glory through victories with which the world was
ringing; William was slowly compassing a country’s emanci¬
pation through a series of defeats. He moulded a common¬
wealth and united hearts with as much contempt for danger as
Don John had exhibited in scenes of slave-driving and carnage.

1 Meteren, yi. 110. Bentiyoglio, etc., 1509. J. R. Tassis, iy. 326.

218. Brantome, ii. 150. Strada, x. | 2 Slrada, x. 513, 514.

1576.]

DON JOHN AND PRINCE WILLIAM.

143

Amid fields of blood, and through webs of tortuous intrigue,
the brave and subtle son of the Emperor pursued only his own
objects. Tawdry schemes of personal ambition, conquests for
his own benefit, impossible crowns for his own wearing, were
the motives which impelled him, and the prizes which he
sought. His existence was feverish, fitful, and passionate.
u Tranquil amid the raging billows,” according to his favour¬
ite device, the father of his country waved aside the diadem
which for him had neither charms nor meaning. Their char¬
acters were as contrasted as their persons. The curled darling
of chivalry seemed a youth at thirty-one. Spare of figure,
plain in apparel, benignant, but haggard of countenance, with
temples bared by anxiety as much as by his helmet, earnest,
almost devout in manner, in his own words, “ Calvus efc
Calvinista,” 1 William of Orange was an old man at forty-three.

Perhaps there was as much good faith on the part of Don
John, when he arrived af Luxemburg, as could be expected
of a man coming directly from the cabinet of Philip. The
King had secretly instructed him to conciliate the provinces,
but to concede nothing, 2 for the Governor was only a new
incarnation of the insane paradox that benignity and the
system of Charles the Fifth were one. He was directed to
restore the government to its state during the imperial epoch. !
Seventeen provinces, in two of which the population were all
dissenters, in all of which the principle of mutual toleration
had just been accepted by Catholics and Protestants, were
now to be brought back to the condition according to which
all Protestants were beheaded, burned, or buried alive. So
that the Inquisition, the absolute authority of the monarch,
and the exclusive worship of the Roman Church were pre-

1 Gachard, Corresp. Guillaume le Felipe II., dio alSon. D. J. de Austria,
Tacit., iii., pref. Ixiii. and note.—Com- escrivio la de mano propria. Bibl. de
par© Strada, is. 44—“ Areschoti Duci Bourgogne, MS. No. acvii. 385.

-nudato capite subridens, Tides in- 3 “ Que se vuelvan las cosas al go-

quit hoc calvitum, scito me non magis vierno y pie antiguo dol tiempo del
capite quara corde calvuin esse.”— Emperador,” etc,—Instruccion Secret*
Strada, is. 434,435. M&

a Instruccion Secreta qu’el Rey D.

144

THE RISE OF THE BUTCH REPUBLIC.

[1576.

served intact, the King professed himself desirous of u ex¬
tinguishing the fires of rebellion, and of saving the people
from the last desperation.” With these slight exceptions,
Philip was willing to be very benignant. ci More than this/*
said he, cc cannot and ought not to be conceded .” 1 To these
brief hut pregnant instructions was added a morsel of advice,
personal in its nature, but very characteristic of the writer.
Don John was recommended to take great care of his soul,
and also to be very cautious in the management of his amours . 2

Thus counselled and secretly directed, the new Captain-
General had been dismissed to the unhappy Netherlands. The
position, however, was necessarily false. The man who was
renowned for martial exploits, and' notoriously devoured by
ambition, could hardly inspire deep confidence in the pacific
dispositions of the government. The crusader of Granada and
Lepanto, the champion of the ancient Church, was not likely to
please the rugged Zelanders who had let themselves be hacked
to pieces rather than say one Paternoster, and who had worn
crescents in their caps at Leyden, to prove their deeper hostility
to the Pope than to the Turk. The imperial bastard would
derive but slight consideration from his paternal blood in a
country where illegitimate birth was more unfavourably re¬
garded than in most other countries, and where a Brabantine
edict, recently issued in name of the King, deprived all political
or civil functionaries not born in wedlock of their offices . 3 Yet
he had received instructions, at his departure, to bring about a
pacification, if possible, always maintaining, however, the abso¬
lute authority of the crown and the exclusive exercise of the
Catholic religion. How the two great points of his instruction s
were to be made entirely palatable was left to time and chance.
There was a vague notion, that with the new Governor’s fame,

1 “ Salvando la Religion y mi obe- creta, MS.

diencia, quanto se puede llegando las 2 “-Lo d© la quenta con su alma

cosas a estos terminos presupuestos que -Andar con tiento en los amores,”

conviene atajar este fuego y no dexar etc. etc.—Ibid.

clegar aquella gente ala ultima despera- 3 Bor, ix. 673. The edict was dated
lion. Y con ello se cierre todo que se 26th of March 1576.
deve conceder,” etc.—Instruccion Se-

1576 ]

PUBPOSES OF DON JOHN.

145

fascinating manners, and imperial parentage, lie might accom¬
plish a result which neither fraud nor force—nor the arts of
Granvelle, nor the atrocity of Alya, nor the licentiousness of a
buccaneering soldiery had been able to effect. As for Don
John himself, he came with no definite plans for the Netlier-
landers, but with very daring projects of his own, and to pursue
these misty visions was his main business on arriving in
the provinces. In the meantime he was disposed to settle
the Netherland difficulty in some showy, off-hand fashion,
which should cost him but little trouble, and occasion no
detriment to the cause of Papacy or absolutism. Unfor¬
tunately for these rapid arrangements, William of Orange
was in Zeland, and the pacification had just been signed at
Ghent.

It was, naturally, with very little satisfaction that the Prince
beheld the arrival of Don John. His sagacious combinations
would henceforth be impeded, if not wholly frustrated. This he
foresaw. He knew that there could be no intention of makin s
any arrangement in which Holland and Zeland could be in¬
cluded. He was confident that any recognition of the Reformed
religion was as much out of the question now as ever. He
doubted not that there were many Catholic magnates, wavering
politicians, aspirants for royal favour, who would soon be ready
to desert the cause which had so recently been made a general
cause, and who would soon be undermining the work of their
own hands. The pacification of Ghent would never be main¬
tained in letter and spirit by the vicegerent of Philip; for
however its sense might be commented upon or perverted,
the treaty, while it recognised Catholicism as the state religion,
conceded, to a certain extent, liberty of conscience. An im¬
mense stride had been taken by abolishing the edicts, and
prohibiting persecution. If that step were now retraced, the
new religion was doomed, and the liberties of Holland and
Zeland destroyed. u If they make an arrangement with Don
John, it will be for us of the religion to run,” wrote the Prince
to his brother , iC for their intention is to suffer no person of

VOL. III. K

146

THE RISE OE THE HUTCH EEPUELIC.

[ 1576 .

that faith to have a fixed domicile in the Netherlands . 1 * 1 It
•was, therefore, with a calm determination to counteract and
crush the policy of the youthful Governor that William the
Silent awaited his antagonist. Were Don John admitted
to confidence, the peace of Holland and Zeland was gone.
Therefore it was necessary to combat him both openly and
secretly—by loud remonstrance and by invisible stratagem.
What chance had the impetuous and impatient young hero in
such an encounter with the foremost statesman of the age?
He had arrived with all the self-confidence of a conqueror; he
did not know that he was to be played upon like a pipe—to be
caught in meshes spread by his own hands—to struggle
blindly—to rage impotently—to die ingloriously.

The Prince had lost no time in admonishing the states-gene-
ral as to the course which should now be pursued. He was of
opinion, that upon their conduct at this crisis depended the
future destinies of the Netherlands. “ If we understand how
to make proper use of the new Governor’s arrival,” said he, “it
may prove very advantageous to us; if not, it will be the com¬
mencement of our total ruin .” 2 The spirit of all his communi¬
cations was to infuse the distrust which he honestly felt, and
which he certainly took no pains to disguise; to impress upon
his countrymen the importance of improving the present emer¬
gency by the enlargement, instead of the threatened contraction
of their liberties, and to enforce with all his energy the necessity
of a firm union. He assured the estates that Don John had
been sent, in this simple manner, to the country, because the
King and cabinet had begun to despair of carrying their point
by force. At the same time he warned them that force would
doubtless be replaced by fraud. He expressed his conviction
that so soon as Don John should attain the ascendency which
he had been sent to secure, the gentleness *which now smiled
upon the surface would give place to the deadlier purposes
which lurked below. He went so far as distinctly to recom-

1 Archives de la Maison d’Orange, ( 2 Archives et Correspondanee, v.

v, 544, 1495.

1576 .]

COUNSELS OF OEANGE.

14 ?

mend tlio seizure of Don John’s person. By so doing, much
bloodshed might be saved; for such was the King’s respect for
the Emperor’s son, that their demands would be granted
rather than that his liberty should be permanently endan¬
gered . 1 In a very striking and elaborate letter which he
addressed from Middelburg to the estates-general, he insisted
on the expediency of seizing the present opportunity in order
to secure and to expand their liberties, and urged them to
assert broadly the principle that the true historical polity of
the Netherlands was a representative, constitutional govern¬
ment. Don John, on arriving at Luxemburg, had demanded
hostages for his own security, a measure which could not but
strike the calmest spectator as an infraction of all provincial
rights. “ He asks you to disarm,” continued William of
Orange; “he invites you to furnish hostages, but the time
has been when the lord of the land came unarmed and un¬
covered, before the estates-general, and swore to support the
constitutions before his own sovereignty could be recognised.”

He reiterated his suspicions as to the honest intentions of
the government, and sought, as forcibly as possible, to infuse
an equal distrust into the minds of those he addressed. “ Ant¬
werp,” said he, “ once the powerful and blooming, now the
most forlorn and desolate city of Christendom, suffered because
she dared to exclude the King’s troops. You may be sure
that you are all to have a place at the same banquet. We may
forget the past, but princes never forget, when the means of ven¬
geance are placed within their hands. Nature teaches them to
arrive at their end by fraud, when violence will not avail them.
Like little children, they whistle to the birds they would
catch. Promises and pretences they will furnish in plenty .” 2

He urged them on no account to begin any negotiation with
the Governor, except on the basis of the immediate departure
of the soldiery. “ Make no agreement with him, unless the
Spanish and other foreign troops have been sent away before-

1 Archives et Correspondence, v. f 2 Letter to the states-general, 30th of
406. I November 1576, in Bor, 747-749.

148

TEE RISE OR THE DUTCH REPUBLIC.

[1570.

hand; beware, meantime, of disbanding your own, for that
were to put the knife into his hands to cut your own throats
withal .” 1 He then proceeded to sketch the outlines of a
negotiation, such as he could recommend. The plan was
certainly sufficiently bold, and it could hardly cause astonish¬
ment, if it were not immediately accepted by Don John as
the basis of an arrangement. u Remember this is not play”
said the Prince, u and that you have to choose between the
two, either total ruin, or manly self-defence. Don John must
command the immediate departure of the Spaniards. All
our privileges must be revised, and an oath to maintain them
required. Hew councils of state and finance must be ap¬
pointed by the estates. The general assembly ought to have
power to come together twice or thrice yearly, and, indeed, as
often as they choose. The states-general must administer and
regulate all affairs. The citadels must be demolished every¬
where. Ho troops ought to be enlisted, nor garrisons
established, without the consent of the estates .” 2

In all the documents, whether public memorials or private
letters, which came at this period from the hand of the Prince,
he assumed, as a matter of course, that in any arrangement with
the new Governor the pacification of Ghent was to be main¬
tained. This, too, was the determination of almost every man
in the country. Don John, soon after his arrival at Luxem¬
burg, had despatched messengers to the states-general, inform¬
ing them of his arrival. It was not before the close of the
month of November that the negotiations seriously began.
Provost Fonck, on the part of the Governor, then informed them
of Don John’s intention to enter Namur, attended by fifty
mounted troopers . 3 Permission, however, was resolutely re¬
fused, and the burghers of Namur were forbidden to render
oaths of fidelity until the Governor should have complied with
the preliminary demands of the estates . 4 To enunciate these
demands categorically, a deputation of the estates-general came

1 “ Het ware Lem bet mes in de band ral, etc., p. 748.
gegeven daer mede by u den lials soude a Letter to states general, etc.
afenyden,” etc.—Letter to states-gen^- 3 Bor. x. 761. 4 Ibid.

1576 .]

DEMANDS OP THE STATES-GENERAD.

149

io Luxemburg. 1 These gentlemen were received with cour¬
tesy by Don John, but their own demeanour was not
conciliatory. A dislike to the Spanish government, a dis¬
loyalty to the monarch with whose brother and representative
they were dealing, pierced through all their language. On
the other hand, the ardent temper of Don John was never
slow to take offence. • One of the deputies proposed to the
Governor, with great coolness, that he should assume the
government in his own name, and renounce the authority of
Philip. Were he willing to do so, the patriotic gentleman
pledged himself that the provinces would at once acknow¬
ledge him as sovereign, and sustain his government. Don
John, enraged at the insult to his own loyalty which the
proposition implied, drew his dagger and rushed towards the
offender. The deputy would probably have paid for his
audacity with his life had there not been bystanders enough
to prevent the catastrophe. This scene was an unsatisfactory
prelude to the opening negotiations. 2

On the 6th of December the deputies presented to the
Governor of Luxemburg a paper, containing their demands,
drawn up in eight articles, and their concessions in ten. 3
The states insisted on the immediate removal of the troops,
with the understanding that they were never to return, but
without prohibition of their departure by sea; they demanded
the immediate release of all prisoners; they insisted on the
maintenance of the Ghent treaty, there lelng nothing therein

1 Bor, x. 702. pare Y. d. Yynckt, who relates the

2 Stracla, x. 512. The anecdote is, circumstance much in the same manner
however, related differently by other as Strada.—V. d. Yynckt, ii. 227, 228.
historians, according to some of whom Also Tassis,iii.241, who states that the
the intimation was made indirectly on Governor was so angry with, the deputy
the part of the Prince of Orange, —“utpunireaudaciampropriismanibus
through Elbertus Leonmus to Don vix abstinuerit.”—Compare J. P. Yan
John, that if he chose to assume the Capelle, Elb. Leoninus in Bijdragen tot
sovereignty himself, he might rely on de Gesch. der Ned., 47-49. The story
the support of the Protestants and of Reid is entirely improbable, and is
patriot party. According to the same consistent with the character of neither
authorities, Don John neither accepted of the principal personages implicated,

nor rejected the offer.—See Ev. Reid, 3 See the Articles in Bor, x. 762,
ann. ii. 27: Wagenaer, vii. 237.—Com- 763.

150

THE BISE OF THE DUTCH EEPUBLIC.

[1576.

which did not tend to the furtherance of the Catholic religion;
they claimed an act of amnesty; they required the convoca¬
tion of the states-general, on the basis of that assembly
before which took place the abdication of Charles the Fifth;
they demanded an oath, on the part of Don John, to main¬
tain all the charters and customs of the country.

Should these conditions be complied with, the deputies
consented, on the part of the estates, that he should be ac¬
knowledged as Governor, and that the Catholic religion and
the authority of his Majesty should be maintained. They
agreed that all foreign leagues should be renounced, their
own foreign soldiery disbanded, and a guard of honour,
native Netherlanders, such as his Majesty was contented with
at his iC Blythe Entrance, 55 provided. A truce of fifteen
days, for negotiations, was furthermore proposed. 1

Don John made answers to these propositions by adding a
brief comment, as apostille, 2 upon each of the eighteen articles,
in succession. He w T ould send away the troops, but, at the
same time, the states must disband their own. He declined
engaging himself not to recall his foreign soldiery, should
necessity require their service. With regard to the Ghent
pacification, he professed himself ready for a general peace
negotiation, on condition that the supremacy of the Catholic
Church and the authority of his Majesty were properly secured.
He would settle upon some act of amnesty after due consulta¬
tion with the State Council. He was willing that the states
should be convoked in general assembly, provided sufficient
security were given him that nothing should be there trans¬
acted prejudicial to the Catholic religion and the King’s
sovereignty. As for their privileges, he would govern as had
been done in the time of his imperial father. He expressed
his satisfaction with most of the promises offered by the
estates, particularly with their expression in favour of the
Church and of his Majesty’s authority; the two all-important
points to secure which he had come thither unattended, at the
1 See the Articles m Bor, x. 762, 763. 3 Ibid.

1576.]

PRELIMINARY NEGOTIATIONS.

151

peril of his life ; but he received their offer as to a body-guard,
by which his hirelings were to be superseded, with very little
gratitude. He was on the point, he said, of advancing as
far as Marche en Famine, and should take with him as strong
a guard as he considered necessary, and composed of such
troops as he had at hand. 1 bTothing decisive came of this
first interview. The parties had taken the measures of their
mutual claims, and after a few days’ fencing with apostilles,
replies, and rejoinders, they separated, their acrimony rather
inflamed than appeased.

The departure of the troops and the Ghent treaty were the
vital points in the negotiation. The estates had originally
been content that the troops should go by sea. Their suspi¬
cions were, however, excited by the pertinacity with which
Hon John held to this mode of removal. Although they did
not suspect the mysterious invasion of England, a project
which was the real reason why the Governor objected to
their departure by land, 2 yet they soon became aware that
he had been secretly tampering with the troops at every point.
The effect of these secret negotiations with the leading officers
of the army was a general expression of their unwilling¬
ness, on account of the lateness of the season, the difficult
and dangerous condition of the roads and mountain-passes,
the plague in Italy, and other pretexts, to undertake so long
a journey by land. 3 On the other hand, the states, seeing
the anxiety and the duplicity of Don John upon this par¬
ticular point, came to the resolution to thwart him at all
hazards, and insisted on the land journey. Too long a time,
too much money, too many ships would be necessary, they
said, to forward so large a force by sea, and in the meantime
it would be necessary to permit them to live for another
indefinite period at the charge of the estates. 1

With regard to the Ghent pacification, the estates, in the
course of December, procured an express opinion from the

1 Bor, X. 762, 763. 3 Bor, x. 765, 766.

2 Ibid., x. 765. Hoofd, xi. 479— 4 Ibid., x. 766. Hoofd, 479, 480.

Compare Strada, ix 429.

152

THE RISE OF THE DUTCH REPUBLIC.

[ 1677 .

eleven professors of theology, and doctors utriusque juris of
Louvain, that the treaty contained nothing which conflicted
with the supremacy of the Catholic religion. 1 The various
bishops, deacons, abbots, and pastors of the Netherlands made
a similar decision. 2 An elaborate paper, drawn up by the
State-Council, at the request of the states-general, declared
that there was nothing in the pacification derogatory to the
supreme authority of his Majesty. 3 Thus fortified with
opinions which, it must be confessed, were rather dogmati¬
cally than argumentatively drawn up, and which it would
have been difficult very logically to defend, the states looked
forward confidently to the eventual acceptance by Don John
of the terms proposed. In the meantime, while there was
still an indefinite pause in the negotiations, a remarkable
measure came to aid the efficacy of the Ghent pacification.

Early in January 1577, the celebrated u Union of Brussels”
was formed. 4 This important agreement was originally signed
by eight leading personages, the Abbot of Saint Gertrude, the
Counts Lalain and Bossu, and the Seigneur de Champagny
being among the number. Its tenor was to engage its signers
to compass the immediate expulsion of the Spaniards and the
execution of the Ghent pacification, to maintain the Catholic
religion and the King’s authority, and to defend the fatherland
and all its constitutions. Its motive was to generalise the
position assumed by the Ghent treaty. The new act was to be
signed, not by a few special deputies alone, like a diplomatic
convention, but by all the leading individuals of all the provinces*
in order to exhibit to Don John such an array of united strength
that he would find himself forced to submit to the demands of
the estates. 5 The tenor, motive, and effect were all as had been
proposed and foreseen. The agreement to expel the Spaniards,
under the Catholic and loyal manifestations indicated, passed

1 See the document in Bor, x. 766. Dewez Hist. Gen de la Belg., vi. 58, 50.

2 Ibid. Gr. y. Prinsterer, y. 589, sqq. Bor, x.

3 Bor. x. 768. Opinion of the State 769.

Council. 5 Bor, x. 769, 770; and Meteren, vi.

4 De Jonghe, De Unie van Brussel. 116,117.

“ UNIOX OF BKITSSELS

153

1517.]

from hand to hand through all the provinces. It soon received
the signature and support of all the respectability, wealth, and
intelligence of the whole country. Nobles, ecclesiastics, citizens,
hastened to give it their adhesion. The states-general had
sent it, by solemn resolution, to every province, in order that
every man might be forced to range himself either upon the
side of the fatherland or of despotism. Two copies of the
signatures procured in each province were ordered, of which
one was to be deposited in its archives, and the other forwarded
to Brussels. In a short time, every province, with the single
v exception of Luxemburg, had loaded the document with signa¬
tures. This was a great step in advance. The Ghent pacifi¬
cation, which was in the nature of a treaty between the Prince
and the estates of Holland and Zeland on the one side, and a
certain number of provinces on the other, had only been signed
by the envoys of the contracting parties. Though received
with deserved and universal acclamation, it hacl not the
authority of a popular document. This, however, was the
character studiously impressed upon the “Brussels Union,”
The people, subdivided according to the various grades of their
social hierarchy, had been solemnly summoned to council, and
had deliberately recorded their conviction. No restraint had
been put upon their freedom of action, and there was hardly
a difference of opinion as to the necessity of the measure. 1

A rapid revolution in Friesland, Groningen, and the de¬
pendencies, had recently restored that important country to the
national party. The Portuguese De Billy had been deprived
of his authority as King’s stadtholder, and Count Hoog-
straaten’s brother, Baron de Villa, afterwards as Count
Benneberg infamous for his treason to the cause of liberty?
had been appointed by the estates in his room. 2 In all this
district the “ Union of Brussels ” was eagerly signed by men
of every degree. Holland and Zeland, no less than the Catholic

1 De Jonghe, De TJnie van Brussel.
Hoofd, xi. 479, 483. Meteren, yi., 116.
Dewez Hist. G-en. de la Belgique, vi. c.
ix. 56-68.—Compare G-roen v. Prinst.,

Archives, etc., v. 589, sqq.

2 Bor, x. 750-752. Hoofd, xi. 473-
475.

154

THE RISE OP THE DUTCH REPUBLIC.

[ 1577 .

provinces of the south, willingly accepted the compromise which
was thus laid down, and which was thought to he not only an
additional security for the past, not only a pillar more for the
maintenance of the Ghent pacification, but also a sure precursor
of a closer union in the future. The Union of Brussels became,
in fact, the stepping-stone to the “Union of Utrecht,” itself
the foundation-stone of a republic destined to endure more than
two centuries. On the other hand, this early union held the seed
of its own destruction within itself. It was not surprising, how¬
ever, that a strong declaration in favour of the Catholic religion
should be contained in a document intended for circulation
through all the provinces. The object was to unite as large a
force, and to make as striking a demonstration before the eyes
of the Governor-General, as was practicable under the circum¬
stances. The immediate purpose was answered, temporary
union was formed, but it was impossible that a permanent
crystallisation should take place where so strong a dissolvent
as the Catholic clause had been admitted. In the sequel, there-
foiu, the union fell asunder precisely at this fatal flaw. The next
union 1 was that which definitely separated the provinces into
Protestant and Catholic, into self-governing republics, and the
dependencies of a distant despotism. The immediate effect,
however, of the “Brussels Union” was to rally all lovers of the
fatherland and haters of a foreign tyranny upon one vital point
'—tiie expulsion of the stranger from the land. The foot of the
Spanish soldier should no longer profane their soil. All men
were forced to pronounce themselves boldly and unequivocally,
in order that the patriots might stand shoulder to shoulder, and
the traitors fee held up to infamy. This measure was in strict
accordance with the advice given more than once by the Prince
of Orange, and was almost in literal fulfilment of the compro¬
mise, which he had sketched before the arrival of Don John. 2

The deliberations were soon resumed with the new Governor,

1 The “new or closer Union of ration, be conslrh red as anything but an
Brussels,”. however admirable as a unsuccessful attempt at union
manifestation, and important as an ex- 2 Avis du Prince d’Orange, etc., Ar-
amplc, cannot from its very brief du- chives, etc., v. 437, sqq.

1577.]

NEGOTIATIONS AT HUY.

155

the scene being shifted from Luxemburg to Huy. 1 Hither
came a fresh deputation from the states-general—many signers
of the Brussels Union among them—and were received by Don
John with stately courtesy. They had, however, come deter¬
mined to carry matters with a high and firm hand, being no
longer disposed to brook his imperious demeanour, nor to tole¬
rate his dilatory policy. It is not surprising, therefore, that
the courtesy soon changed to bitterness, and that attack and re¬
crimination usurped the place of the dignified but empty for¬
malities -which had characterised the interviews at Luxemburg. 2

The envoys, particularly Sweveghem and Champagny,
made no concealment of their sentiments towards the Spanish
soldiery and the Spanish nation, and used a freedom of tone
and language which the petulant soldier had not been accus¬
tomed to hear. He complained, at the outset, that the
lULhmhnders seemed new-born—that instead of bending the
knee, they seemed disposed to grasp the sceptre. Insolence
had taken the place of pliancy, and the former slave now
applied the chain and whip to his master. With such exacer¬
bation of temper at the commencement of negotiations, their
progress was of necessity stormy and slow. 3

The envoys now addressed three concise questions to the
Governor. W as he satisfied that the Ghent pacification contained
nothing conflicting with the Roman religion and the King’s
authority? If so, was he walling to approve that treaty in all
its articles ? Was he ready to dismiss the troops at once, and
by land, the sea voyage being liable to too many objections ? *

Don John answered these three questions—which, in reality,
were but three forms of a single question—upon the same day,
the 24tli of January. His reply was as complex as the demand
had been simple. It consisted of a proposal in six articles,
and a requisition in twenty-one, making in all twenty-seven
articles. Substantially he proposed to dismiss the foreign troops

1 Bor, s. 771.

2 Ibid, y. 772, 773. Tassis, iii.
210 .

J <£ -Austriacum non lenibus ncc

mo&estis modis sed loris ac fu«tihus nt
servum ad suam volunlatem. adigere,”
etc.—Tassis, iii. 216.

* Bor, x. 773.

156

THE RISE OF THE DUTCH REPUBLIC.

[1577.

—to effect a general pacification of the Netherlands—to govern
on the basis of the administration in his imperial father’s reign—
to arrange affairs in and with regard to the assembly-general
as the King should judge to be fitting—to forgive and forget
past offences—and to release all prisoners. On the other hand,
he required the estates to pay the troops before their departure,
and to provide ships enough to transport them, as the Spaniards
did not choose to go by hind, and as the deputies at Luxem¬
burg had consented to their removal by sea. Furthermore, he
demanded that the states should dismiss their own troops. He
required ecclesiastical authority to prove the Ghent pacifica¬
tion not prejudicial to the Catholic religion; legal authority
that it was not detrimental to his Majesty’s supremacy; and
an oath from the states-general to uphold both points inviolably,
and to provide for their maintenance in Holland and Zeland.
He claimed the right to employ about his person soldiers and
civil functionaries of any nation he might choose, and he
exacted from the states a promise to prevent the Prince of
Orange from removing his son, Count Yan Buren, forcibly or
fraudulently, from his domicile in Spain. 1

The deputies were naturally indignant at this elaborate tri¬
fling. They had, in reality, asked him but one question, and
that a simple one—Would he maintain the treaty of Ghent?
Here were twenty-seven articles in reply, and yet no answer to
that question. They sat up all night, preparing a violent pro¬
tocol, by which the Governor’s claims vrere to be utterly de¬
molished. Early in the morning, they waited upon his High¬
ness, presented the document, and at the same time asked him
plainly, by word of mouth, did he or did he not intend to
uphold the treaty? Thus pressed into a corner in presence of
the deputies, the members of the State Council who were in
attendance from Brussels, and the envoys whom the Emperor
had recently sent to assist at these deliberations, the Governor
answered, No. He would not and could not maintain the
treaty, because the Spanish troops were in that instrument de-
1 Articles in Bor, x. 77 2, 773.

1577.]

UNSATISFACTOKY NEGOTIATIONS.

157

nounced as rebels, because be would not consent to the release of
Count Van Buren—and on account of various other reasons not
then specified. 1 Hereupon ensued a fierce debate, and all day
long the altercation lasted, without a result being reached. At
ten o’clock in the evening, the deputies having previously re¬
tired for a brief interval, returned with a protest 2 that they
were not to be held responsible for the termination of the pro¬
ceedings, and that they washed their hands of the bloodshed
which might follow the rupture. Upon reading this document,
Don John fell into a blazing passion. He vehemently denounced
the deputies as traitors. He swore that men who came to him
thus prepared with ready-made protests in- their pockets, were
rebels from the commencement, and had never intended any
agreement with him. His language and gesture expressed un¬
bounded fury. He was weary of their ways, he said. They had
better look to themselves, for the King would never leave their
rebellion unpunished. He was ready to draw the sword at once
—not his own, but his Majesty’s—and they might be sure that
the war which they were thus provoking should be the fiercest
ever waged. 3 More abusive language in this strain was uttered,
but it was not heard with lamb-like submission. The day had
gone by when the deputies of the states-general were wont to
quail before the wrath of vicarious royalty.

The fiery words of Don John were not oil to troubled water,
but a match to a mine. The passions of the deputies exploded
in their turn, and from hot words they had nearly come to hard
blows. One of the deputies replied with so much boldness and
vehemence that the Governor, seizing a heavy silver bell which
stood on the table, was about to hurl it at the offender’s head,
when an energetic and providential interference on the part of
the imperial envoys prevented the unseemly catastrophe. 4

The day thus unprofitably spent had now come to its close,
and the deputies left the presence of Don John with tempers as
inflamed as his own. They were, therefore, somewhat surprised

1 Bor, x. 772, 774. I 3 Bor, x. 755.

9 See the protest, Bor, x. 774, 775. [ 4 Tassis, iii 246.

158

TUB ETSE OP THE DUTCH EEPUBLIO.

[1577.

at being awakened in their beds, after midnight, by a certain
Father Trigoso, who came to them with a conciliatory message
from the Governor. While they were still rubbing their eyes
with sleep and astonishment, the Duke of Aerschot, the Bishop
of Lies'e, and several councillors of state, entered the room.
These personages brought the news that Don John had at last
consented to maintain the pacification of Ghent, as would ap¬
pear by a note written in his own hand, which was then deli¬
vered. The billet was eagerly read, but unfortunately did not
fulfil the anticipations which had been excited. “ I agree, ,J said
Don John, “ to approve the peace made between the states and
the Prince of Orange, on condition that nothing therein may
seem detrimental to the authority of his Majesty and the su¬
premacy of the Catholic religion, and also with reservation of
the points mentioned in my last communication.” 1

Men who had gone to bed in a high state of indignation
were not likely to w r ake in much better humour, when sud¬
denly aroused, in their first nap, to listen to such a message
as this. It seemed only one piece of trifling the more. The
deputies had offered satisfactory opinions of divines and juris¬
consults, as to the two points specified which concerned the
Ghent treaty. It was natural, therefore, that this vague con¬
dition concerning them, the determination of which was for
the Governor’s breast alone, should be instantly rejected, and
that the envoys should return to their disturbed slumbers
with an increase of ill-humour.

On the morrow, as the envoys, booted and spurred, were
upon the point of departure for Brussels, another communica¬
tion was brought to them from Don John. 2 This time, the
language of the Governor seemed more to the purpose. “ I
agree,” said he, “to maintain the peace concluded between the
states and the Prince of Orange, on condition of receiving from
the ecclesiastical authorities, and from the University of Lou¬
vain, satisfactory assurance that the said treaty contains nothing
derogatory to the Catholic religion, and similar assurance from
1 Bor, x. 775. 2 Ibid.

1577.]

PACIFICATION OF GHENT ADMITTED,

159

the State Council, the Bishop of Liege, and the imperial en¬
voys, that the treaty is in no wise prejudicial to the authority
of his Majesty.” Here seemed, at last, something definite. These
conditions could be complied with. They had, in fact, been
already complied with. The assurances required as to the two
points had already been procured, as the deputies and as Don
John well knew. The pacification of Ghent was, therefore,
virtually admitted. The deputies waited upon the Governor
accordingly, and the conversation was amicable. They vainly
endeavoured, however, to obtain his consent to the departure of
the troops by land—the only point then left in dispute. Don
John, still clinging to his secret scheme, with which the sea
voyage of the troops was so closely connected, refused to concede.
He reproached the envoys, on the contrary, with their impor¬
tunity in making a fresh demand, just as he had conceded the
Ghent treaty, upon his entire responsibility, and without in¬
structions. Mentally resolving that this point should still be
wrung from the Governor, but not suspecting his secret
motives for resisting it so strenuously, the deputies took an am¬
icable farewell of the Governor, promising a favourable report
upon the proceedings, as soon as they should arrive in Brussels. 1

Don John, having conceded so much, was soon obliged to
concede the whole. The Emperor Rudolph had lately succeeded
his father, Maximilian. 2 The deceased potentate, whose senti¬
ments on the great subject of religious toleration were so much
in harmony with those entertained by the Prince of Orange,
had, on the whole, notwithstanding the ties of relationship and
considerations of policy, uniformly befriended the Netherlands,
so far as -words and protestations could go, at the court of
Philip. Active co-operation, practical assistance, he had certainly
not rendered. He had unquestionably been too much inclined to
accomplish the impossibility of assisting the states without offend¬
ing the King—an effort which, in the homely language of Hans
Jenitz, -was u like wishing his skin washed without being wet.” 3

1 Bor,x. 775. I the 12th. of October 1576.

a The Emperor Maximilian died on J 3 “-und gehts nach dem sprich-

160

THE RISE OF THE DUTCH REPUBLIC.

[1577.

He had even interposed many obstacles to the free action of
the Prince, as has been seen in the course of this history;
but, nevertheless, the cause of the Netherlands, of religion,
and of humanity, had much to lose by his death. His eldest
son and successor, Rudolph the Second, was an ardent Catholic,
whose relations with a proscribed prince and a reformed popu¬
lation could hardly remain long in a satisfactory state. The
new Emperor had, however, received the secret envoys of
Orange with bounty, 1 and was really desirous of accomplish¬
ing the pacification of the provinces. His envoys had as¬
sisted at all the recent deliberations between the estates and
Don John, and their vivid remonstrances removed, at this
juncture, the last objection on the part of the Governor-
General. With a secret sigh, he deferred the darling and
mysterious hope which had lighted him to the Netherlands,
and consented to the departure of the troops by land. 2

All obstacles having been thus removed, the memorable treaty
called the Perpetual Edict was signed at Marche en Famine on
the 12th, and at Brussels on the 17th of February, 1577. 8 This
document, issued in the name of the King, contained nineteen
articles. It approved and ratified the peace of Ghent, in con¬
sideration that the prelates and clergy, with the doctors utriusque
juris of Louvain, had decided that nothing in that treaty con¬
flicted either with the supremacy of the Catholic Church or the
authority of the King, but, on the contrary, that it advanced
the interests of both. 4 It promised that the soldiery should
depart, “freely, frankly, and without delay, by land, 5 never to
return except in case of foreign war ”—the Spaniards to set
forth within forty days, the Germans and others so soon as
arrangements had been made by the states-general for their

wort, wasehe mir den beltz und mache xi. 901, 902. Strada, ix. 430. Bor and
niir ihn nickt nasz.”—MS. cited by Mcteren publish the treaty in full.
G-roen y. Prinsterer, Archives, etc., v. 4 Art. 2.—“Niet nadelig niaer ter
725. ^ contrarie tot yordering van de selve,”

1 Archives, etc., v. 426. etc.

2 Bor, x. 786. 5 Art. 3 —“ Te lande, yry, Trank en

1 Ibid., x. 786-7S9. Hoofd, xi. 485- onbelet.” etc.

4S7. Meteren, yi. f. 117-119. Cabrera,

1577 .]

THE PERPETUAL EDICT.

361

payment. It settled that all prisoners, on both sides, should
be released, excepting the Count Van Buren, who was to be
set free so soon as, the states-general having been convoked,
the Prince of Orange should have fulfilled the resolutions
to be passed by that assembly. It promised the maintenance
of all the privileges, charters, and constitutions of the
Netherlands. It required of the states an oath to maintain
the Catholic religion. It recorded their agreement to disband
their troops. It settled that Don John should be received
as Governor-General, immediately upon the departure of the
Spaniards, Italians, and Burgundians from the provinces. 1

These were the main provisions of this famous treaty, which
was confirmed a few weeks afterwards by Philip, in a letter
addressed to the states of Brabant, and by an edict issued at
Madrid. 2 It will be seen that everything required by the
envoys of the states, at the commencement of their negotiations,
had been conceded by Don John. They had claimed the depar¬
ture of the troops, either by land or sea. He had resisted the
demand a long time, but had at last consented to despatch them
by sea. Their departure by land had then been insisted upon.
This again he had most reluctantly conceded. The ratification
of the Ghent treaty he had peremptorily refused. He had come
to the provinces at the instant of its conclusion, and had, of
course, no instructions on the subject. Nevertheless, slowly
receding, he had agreed, under certain reservations, to accept
the treaty. Those reservations relating to the great points of
Catholic and royal supremacy, he insisted upon subjecting to
his own judgment alone. Again he was overruled. Most
unwillingly he agreed to accept, instead of his own conscientious
conviction, the dogmas of the state Council and of the Louvain
doctors. Not seeing very clearly how a treaty which abolished
the edicts of Charles the Fifth and the ordinances of Alva—
which removed the religious question in Holland and Zeland
from the King’s jurisdiction to that of the states-general—

1 See in particular Articles 8.10, 11, I 3 Bor, x. 789, 790. V. d. Vynckfc,
and 16. ! ii. 232.

VOL. III. L

162

THE KISE OF THE DUTCH REPUBLIC.

[1577.

which had caused persecution to surcease—had established
toleration—and which, moreover, had confirmed the arch
rebel and heretic of all the Netherlands in the government of
the two rebellious and heretic provinces, as stadtholder for the
King,—not seeing very clearly how such a treaty was u ad¬
vantageous rather than prejudicial to royal absolutism and an
exclusive Catholicism,” he naturally hesitated at first.

The Governor had thus disconcerted the Prince of Orange,
not by the firmness of his resistance, but by the amplitude of
his concessions. The combinations of William the Silent were,
for an instant, deranged. Had the Prince expected such liber¬
ality, he would have placed his demands upon a higher basis,
for it is not probable that he contemplated or desired a pacifi¬
cation. The Duke of Aerschot and the Bishop of Liege in vain
essayed to prevail upon his deputies at Marche en Famine, to
sign the agreement of the 27th January, upon which was
founded the Perpetual Edict. 1 They refused to do so without
consulting the Prince and the estates. Meantime, the other
commissioners forced the affair rapidly forward. The states
sent a deputation to the Prince to ask his opinion, and signed
the agreement before it was possible to receive his reply. 2 This
was to treat him with little courtesy, if not absolutely with bad
faith. The Prince was disappointed and indignant. In truth,
as appeared from all his language and letters, he had no confi¬
dence in Don John. He believed him a consummate hypocrite,
and as deadly a foe to the Netherlands as the Duke of Alva, or
Philip himself. He had carefully studied twenty-five intercepted
letters from the King, the Governor, Jerome de Roda, and
others, placed recently in his hands by the Duke of Aerschot, 3
and had found much to confirm previous and induce fresh sus¬
picion. Only a few days previously to the signature of the treaty,
he had also intercepted other letters from influential personages,
Alonzo de Vargas and others, disclosing extensive designs to

1 Bor, x 786.

2 Archives et Cor., v. 629. Bor, s.

791. Letter of Estates of Holland.

1 Archives et Correspondance, v. 588,
sqq.. Apologie du Prince d’Orange, j>.

1577.]

DISPLEASURE OF ORANGE.

163

obtain possession of the strong places in the country, and then
to reduce the land to absolute subjection. 1 He had assured the
estates, therefore, that the deliberate intention of the Govern¬
ment, throughout the whole negotiation, was to deceive, what¬
ever might be the public language of Don John and his agents.
He implored them, therefore, to have “ pity upon the poor coun¬
try,” and to save the people from falling into the trap which was
laid for them. From first to last, he had expressed a deep and
wise distrust, and justified it by ample proofs. He was, with
reason, irritated, therefore, at the haste with which the states
had concluded the agreement with Don John—at the celerity
with which, as he afterwards expressed it, “they had rushed
upon the boar-spear of that sanguinary heart.” 2 He believed
that everything had been signed and sworn by the Governor,
with the mental reservation that such agreements were valid
only until he should repent having made them. He doubted
the good faith and the stability of the grand seigniors. He had
never felt confidence in the professions of the time-serving
Aerschot, nor did he trust even the brave Champagny, notwith¬
standing his services at the sack of Antwerp. He was especially
indignant that provision had been made, not for demolishing
but for restoring to his Majesty those hateful citadels, nests of
tyranny, by which the flourishing cities of the land were kept
in perpetual anxiety. Whether in the hands of King, nobles,
or magistrates, they were equally odious to him, and he had
long since determined that they should be razed to the ground.
In short, he believed that the estates had thrust their heads into
the lion’s mouth, and he foresaw the most gloomy consequences
from the treaty which had just been concluded. He believed,
to use his own language, “that the only difference between
Don John and Alva or Eequesens was, that he was younger
and more foolish than his predecessors, less capable of conceal¬
ing his venom, more impatient to dip his hands in blood.” 3

1 Letter of Orange to the States- 2 Apologie du Prince d’Orange, p. 98.
General, 2d of February 1577, Acta 3 Letter of Prince of Orange and
Statuum Belgii, i. f. 258. MS., Hague the States of Holland, Bor, x. 791.—
ArchiTes. Compare Groen v. Prinst., Archives,

164

THE EISE OF THE HUTCH REPUBLIC.

[1577-

Iii the pacification of Ghent, the Prince had achieved the
prize of his life-long labours. He had banded a mass of pro¬
vinces ]by the ties of a common history, language, and customs?
into a league against a foreign tyranny. He had grappled Hol¬
land and Zeland to their sister provinces by a common love for
their ancient liberties, by a common hatred to a Spanish soldierv.
He had exorcised the evil demon of religious bigotry by which
the body politic had been possessed so many years: for the
Ghent treaty, largely interpreted, opened the door to universal
toleration. In the Perpetual Edict the Prince saw his work
undone. Holland and Zeland were again cut adrift from the
other fifteen provinces, and war would soon be let loose upon
that devoted little territory. The article stipulating the main¬
tenance of the Ghent treaty he regarded as idle wind; the
solemn saws of the State Council and the quiddities from Lou¬
vain being likely to prove but slender bulwarks against the
returning tide of tyranny. Either it was tacitly intended to
tolerate the Reformed religion, or to hunt it down. To argue
that the Ghent treaty, loyally interpreted, strengthened ecclesi¬
astical or royal despotism, was to contend that a maniac was
more dangerous in fetters than when armed with a sword ; it
was to be blind to the difference between a private conventicle
and a public scaffold. The Perpetual Edict, while affecting to
sustain the treaty, would necessarily destroy it at a blow, while
during the brief interval of repose, tyranny would have renewed
its youth like the eagle’s. Was it possible, then, for William of
Orange to sustain the Perpetual Edict, to compromise with Don
John ? Ten thousand ghosts from the Lake of Harlem, from
the famine and plague-stricken streets of Leyden, from the
smoking ruins of Antwerp, rose to warn him against such a
composition with a despotism as subtle as it was remorseless.

It was, therefore, not the policy of William of Orange, sus¬
pecting, as he did, Don John, abhorring Philip, doubting the
Netherland nobles, confiding only in the mass of the citizens,

etc., v.559, sqq. and “Instruction fromf etc., v. 579, sqq. Apologie du Prince
le Sieur de Haultain,” etc. Archives,) d’Orange, 97.

1577.]

OBANGKE’S EXCEPTIONS TO THE EDICT.

165

to give his support to the Perpetual Edict. He was not the
more satisfied because the states had concluded the arrange¬
ment without his sanction, and against his express advice. 1 He
refused to publish or recognise the treaty in Holland and
Zeland. 2 A few weeks before, he had privately laid before the
states of Holland and Zeland a series of questions, in order to
test their temper, asking them, in particular, whether they were
prepared to undertake a new and sanguinary war for the sake
of their religion, even although their other privileges should be
recognised by the new government; and a long and earnest
debate had ensued, of a satisfactory nature, although no positive
resolution was passed upon the subject. 3 As soon as the Perpetual
Edict had been signed, the states-general had sent to the Prince,
requesting his opinion and demanding his sanction. 4 Orange,
in the name of Holland and Zeland, instantly returned an
elaborate answer, 5 taking grave exceptions to the whole tenor of
the edict. He complained that the constitution of the land was
violated, because the ancient privilege of the states-general to
assemble at pleasure had been invaded, and because the laws of
every province were set at naught by the continued imprison¬
ment of Count Van Buren, who had committed no crime, and
whose detention proved that no man, whatever might be pro¬
mised, could expect security for life or liberty. The ratification
of the Ghent treaty, it was insisted, was in no wise distinct and
categorical, but was made dependent on a crowd of deceitful
subterfuges. 6 He inveighed bitterly against the stipulation in
the edict, that the states should pay the wages of the soldiers,
whom they had just proclaimed to be knaves and rebels, and at
whose hands they had suffered such monstrous injuries; he de¬
nounced the cowardice which could permit this band of hirelings
to retire with so much jewellery, merchandise, and plate, the

1 Apologie du Prince d’Orange, p. Bor, x. 790-792.—Compare Wagenaer,

98. vii. 144, 145. Meteren vi. 119. Ca-

2 Letter of Prince of Orange and brera, xi. 902,903.

the States of Holland, Bor, x. 791-793. * Letter of Prince of Orange and the

* Bor, x. 776. Estates, Bor, ubi sup.—“ Tot een ontal-

4 Ibid., x. 790. Hoofd, xii. 490. ligldieidvan bedreegelijke uitvluchten,*

' The letter is published at length in etc.

16 & THE PISE OP THE HUTCH REPUBLIC. [1577,

result of their robberies. He expressed, however, in the name
of the two provinces, a willingness to sign the edict, provided
the states-general would agree solemnly beforehand, in case the
departure of the Spaniards did not take place within the
stipulated time, to abstain from all recognition of, or com¬
munication with, Don John, and themselves to accomplish
the removal of the troops by force of arms. 1

Such was the first and solemn manifesto made by the Prince
in reply to the Perpetual Edict; the states of Holland and
Zeland uniting heart and hand in all that he thought, wrote,
and said. His private sentiments -were in strict accordance with
the opinions thus publicly recorded. u Whatever appearance
Don John may assume to the contrary,” wrote the Prince to his
brother, u ’tis by no means his intention to maintain the pacifi¬
cation, and less still to cause the Spaniards to depart, with
whom he keeps up the most strict correspondence possible.” 3

On the other hand, the Governor was most anxious to con¬
ciliate the Prince. He was earnest to win the friendship of the
man without whom every attempt to recover Holland and Zeland,
and to re-establish royal and ecclesiastical tyranny, he knew to
be hopeless. Ci This is the pilot,” wrote Don John to Philip,
ce who guides the bark. He alone can destroy or save it. The
greatest obstacles would be removed if he could be gained.”
He had proposed, and Philip had approved the proposition,
that the Count Yan Buren should be clothed with his father’s
dignities, on condition that the Prince should him self retire into
Germany. 3 It was soon evident, however, that such a propo¬
sition would meet with little favour, the office of father of his
country and protector of her liberties not being transferable.

While at Louvain, whither he had gone after the publication
of the Perpetual Edict, Don John had conferred with the Duke
of Aerschot, and they had decided that it would be well to send
Doctor Leoninus on a private mission to the Prince. Previously

1 Letter of Prince of Orange, etc. March, 1577, in G-achard; preface to
3 Archives, etc., v. Ill. vol. iii. Corresp. Guillaume le Tacit., p,

8 Ext. from MS. letter, 16th of li.

SECRET MISSION TO ORANGE.

167

1577 .]

to his departure on this errand, the learned envoy had there¬
fore a full conversation with the Governor. He was charged
to represent to the Prince the dangers to which Don John had
exposed himself in coming from Spain to effect the pacification
of the Netherlands. Leoninus was instructed to give assurance
that the treaty just concluded should be maintained, that the
Spaniards should depart, that all other promises should be
inviolably kept, and that the Governor would take up arms
against all who should oppose the fulfilment of his engage¬
ments. He was to represent that Don John, in proof of his
own fidelity, had placed himself in the power of the states.
He was to intimate to the Prince that an opportunity was
now offered him to do the crown a service, in recompense for
which he would obtain, not only pardon for his faults, but the
favour of the monarch, and all the honours which could be
desired; that by so doing he would assure the future pros¬
perity of his family; that Don John would be his good friend,
and, as such, would do more for him than he could imagine. 1
The envoy was also to impress upon the Prince, that if he
persisted in his opposition, every man’s hand would be
against him, and the ruin of his house inevitable. He was to
protest that Don John came but to forgive and to forget, to
restore the ancient government and the ancient prosperity;
so that, if it was for those objects the Prince had taken up
arms, it was now his duty to lay them down, and to do his
utmost to maintain peace and the Catholic religion. Finally,
the envoy was to intimate, that if he chose to write to Don
John, he might be sure to receive a satisfactory answer. In
these pacific instructions and friendly expressions Don John
was sincere. “ The name of your Majesty,” said he, plainly,
in giving an account of this mission to the King, u is as much
abhorred and despised in the Netherlands as that of the Prince
of Orange is loved and feared. I am negotiating with him,
and giving him every security, for I see that the establish¬
ment of peace, as well as the maintenance of the Catholic
1 Gackard, Oorresp. Guillaume le Tacit., iii, preface lii.

168

THE BISE OF THE DUTCH REPUBLIC.

[ 1577 .

religion, and the obedience to your Majesty, depend now upon
him. Things have reached that pass that ’tis necessary to
make a virtue of necessity. If he lend an ear to my proposals,
it will be only upon very advantageous conditions , but to these
it will be necessary to submit, rather than to lose everything .” 1

Don John was in earnest; unfortunately he was not aware
that the Prince was in earnest also. The crusader, who had
sunk thirty thousand paynims at a blow, and who was dream¬
ing of the Queen of Scotland and the throne of England, had
not room in his mind to entertain the image of a patriot.
Eoyal favours, family prosperity, dignities, offices, orders, ad¬
vantageous conditions, these were the baits with which the
Governor angled for William of Orange. He did not compre¬
hend that attachment to a half-drowned land and to a despised
religion could possibly stand in the way of those advantageous
conditions and that brilliant future. He did not imagine that
the rebel, once assured not only of pardon but of advancement,
could hesitate to refuse the royal hand thus amicably offered.
Don John had not accurately measured his great antagonist.

The results of the successive missions which he despatched
to the Prince were destined to enlighten him . 2 In the course
of the first conversation between Leoninus and the Prince at
Middelburg, the envoy urged that Don John had entered the
Netherlands without troops, that he had placed himself in the
power of the Duke of Aerschot, that he had since come to Lou¬
vain without any security but the promise of the citizens and
of the students; and that all these things proved the sincerity
of his intentions. He entreated the Prince not to let slip so
favourable an opportunity for placing his house above the
reach of every unfavourable chance , spoke to him of Marius,
Sylla, Julius Caesar, and other promoters of civil wars; and on

1 “ El nombre y servicio de V. M. Guillaume le Tacit., pages liv., sqq.

estan aborrecido y poco estimado cuanto That distinguished publicist has con-
temido y amado el del Principe de densed them from a MS. relation made
Oranges,*” etc.—Gachard, Cor. Guill. by Leoninus, on his return to Louvain,
le Tacit., iii., pref. lii. a narrative of which a Spanish transla-

2 Full details of the mission of Leo- tion was found by M. Gachard in the
ninus are given in the preface to Ga- archives of Simancas.

chard’s third volume of the Corr. de

1577.] CONFERENCE OE ORANGE AND LEONINUS.

169

retiring for the day, begged him to think gravely on what he
had thus suggested, and to pray that God might inspire tim
with good resolutions.

Next day, William informed the envoy that, having prayed
to God for assistance, he was more than ever convinced of his
obligation to lay the whole matter before the states, whose
servant he was. He added, that he could not forget the deaths
of Egmont and Horn, nor the manner in which the promise
made to the confederate nobles by the Duchess of Parma had
been visited, nor the conduct of the French monarch towards
Admiral Coligny. He spoke of information which he had
received from all quarters—from Spain, France, and Italy—
that there was a determination to make war upon him and
upon the states of Holland and Zeland. He added, that they
were taking their measures in consequence, and that they were
well aware that a Papal nuncio had arrived in the Netherlands
to intrigue against them . 1 In the evening, the Prince com¬
plained that the estates had been so precipitate in concluding
their arrangement with Don* John. He mentioned several
articles in the treaty which were calculated to excite distrust;
dwelling particularly on the engagement entered into by the
estates to maintain the Catholic religion. This article he
declared to be in direct contravention to the Ghent treaty, by
which this point was left to the decision of a future assembly
of the estates-general. Leoninus essayed, as well as he could,
to dispute these positions. In their last interview, the Prince
persisted in his intention of laying the whole matter before the
states of Holland and Zeland. Not to do so, he said, would be
to expose himself to ruin on one side, and on the other, to the
indignation of those who might suspect him of betraying them.
The envoy begged to be informed if any hope could be enter¬
tained of a future arrangement. Orange replied that he had
no expectation of any, but advised Doctor Leoninus to be
present at Dort when the estates should assemble.

Notwithstanding the unfavourable result of this mission,
1 Orchard, Correspondance de Guillaume le Tacit., in. lvi.

170

THE RISE OP THE DUTCH REPUBLIC.

[1577.

Don John did not even yet despair of bending the stubborn
character of the Prince. He hoped that, if a personal interview
between them could be arranged, he should be able to remove
many causes of suspicion from the mind of his adversary. 66 In
such times as these,” wrote the Governor to Philip, u we can
make no election, nor do I see any remedy to preserve the state
from destruction, save to gain over this man, who has so much
influence with the nation .” 1 The Prince had, in truth, the
whole game in his hand. There was scarcely a living creature
in Holland and Zeland who was not willing to be bound by
his decision in every emergency. Throughout the rest of the
provinces, the mass of the people looked up to him with absolute
confidence, the clergy and the prominent nobles respecting and
fearing him, even while they secretly attempted to thwart his
designs. Possessing dictatorial power in two provinces, vast
influences in the other fifteen, nothing could be easier for him
than to betray his country. The time was singularly propitious.
The revengeful King was almost on his knees to the denounced
rebel. Everything was proffered: pardon, advancement, power.
An indefinite vista was opened. u You cannot imagine,” said
Don John, u how much it will be within my ability to do for
you.” 2 The Governor was extremely anxious to purchase the
only enemy whom Philip feared. The Prince had nothing
personally to gain by a continuance of the contest. The ban,,
outlawry, degradation, pecuniary ruin, assassination, martyr¬
dom—these were the only guerdons he could anticipate. He
had much to lose: but yesterday loaded with dignities, sur¬
rounded by pomp and luxury, with many children to inherit
his worldly gear, could he not recover all, and more than all,
to-day ? What service had he to render in exchange ? A mere
nothing. He had but to abandon the convictions of a lifetime,
and to betray a million or two of hearts which trusted him.

As to the promises made by the Governor to rule the country
with gentleness, the Prince could not do otherwise than com-

1 Gachard, Correspondance de Guil- j 2 Ibid., p. lx., MS. letter of 16th of
laume le Tacit., iii. lviii. sqq. ) March, 1577.

1577.]

DON JOHN AT LOUVAIN.

171

mend the intention, even while distrusting the fulfilment. In
his reply to the two letters of Don'John, he thanked his High¬
ness, with what seemed a grave irony, for the benign courtesy
and signal honour which he had manifested to him, by inviting
him so humanely and so carefully to a tranquil life , wherein,
according to his Highness, consisted the perfection of felicity
in this mortal existence, and by promising him so liberally
favour and grace . 1 He stated, however, with earnestness, that
the promises in regard to the pacification of the poor Nether-
land people were much more important. He had ever re¬
spected, he said, beyond all comparison, the welfare and
security of the public before his own; “having always
placed his particular interests under his foot, even as he was
still resolved to do, as long as life should endure .” 2

Thus did William of Orange receive the private advances
made by the Government towards himself. Meantime, Don
John of Austria came to Louvain . 3 Until the preliminary
conditions of the Perpetual Edict had been fulfilled, and the
Spanish troops sent out of the country, he was not to be received
as Governor-General, but it seemed unbecoming for him to
remain longer upon the threshold of the provinces. He there¬
fore advanced into the heart of the country, trusting himself
without troops to the loyalty of the people, and manifesting a
show of chivalrous confidence which he was far from feeling.
He was soon surrounded by courtiers, time-servers, noble office-
seekers. They who had kept themselves invisible, so long as
the issue of a perplexed negotiation seemed doubtful, now
became obsequious and inevitable as his shadow. One grand
seignior wanted a regiment, another a government, a third a
chamberlain’s key; all wanted titles, ribbons, offices, livery,
wages. Don John distributed favours and promises with vast
liberality . 4 The object with which Philip had sent him to the

1 Letter of the Prince of Orange to lier, ainsi que suis encore r<§solu de fair©
Don John of Austria, May 24, 1577, in tantque la vie me demeurera.’

Gachard, Correspondance de G-uillaume a Bor, x. 804. Hoofd, xi. 493.

le Tacit., ni. 2S9-291. 4 Dor, Hoofd, ubi sup. Tassis, lii,

2 Ibid., 290 —“ Aiant tousjours mis 257, sqq. Cabrera, xi. 904.
dessoubz les pieds mon regard partiou-

172

THE RISE OP THE DUTCH REPUBLIC.

[1577.

Netherlands, that he might conciliate the hearts of its inhabi¬
tants by the personal graces which he had inherited from his
imperial father, seemed in a fair way of accomplishment, for it
was not only the venal applause of titled sycophants that he
strove to merit, but he mingled gaily and familiarly with all
classes of citizens . 1 Everywhere his handsome face and charm¬
ing manner produced their natural effect. He dined and supped
with the magistrates in the Town-house, honoured general
banquets of the burghers with his presence, and was affable
and dignified, witty, fascinating, and commanding by turns.
At Louvain, the five military guilds held a solemn festival.
The usual invitations were sent to the other societies, and to
all the martial brotherhoods, the country round. Gay and
gaudy processions, sumptuous banquets, military sports, rapidly
succeeded each other. Upon the day of the great trial of
skill, all the high functionaries of the land were, according to
custom, invited, and the Governor was graciously pleased to
honour the solemnity with his presence. Great was the joy
of the multitude when Don John, complying with the habit of
imperial and princely personages in former days, enrolled
himself, crossbow in hand, among the competitors. Greater
still was the enthusiasm when the conqueror of Lepanto brought
down the bird, and was proclaimed king of the year, amid the
tumultuous hilarity of the crowd. According to custom, the
captains of the guild suspended a golden popinjay around the
neck of his Highness, and, placing themselves in procession,
followed him to the great church. Thence, after the customary
religious exercises, the multitude proceeded to the banquet,
where the health of the new king of the cross-bowmen was
pledged in deep potations . 2 Long and loud was the merri¬
ment of this initiatory festival, to which many feasts succeeded
during those brief but halcyon days, for the good-natured
Netherlander already believed in the blessed advent of peace.
They did not dream that the war, which had been con¬
suming the marrow of their commonwealth for ten flaming

O

1 Bor, Hoofd, Tassis, ubi sup. 2 Tassis, iii. 257, 258. Wagemer, yii. 50.

1577.]

ms EFFORTS TO ING-RATIATE HIMSELF.

173

years, was but in its infancy, and that neither they nor
their children were destined to see its close.

For the moment, however, all was hilarity at Louvain.
The Governor, by his engaging deportment, awoke many re¬
miniscences of the once popular Emperor. He expressed un¬
bounded affection for the commonwealth, and perfect confidence
in the loyalty of the inhabitants. He promised to maintain
their liberties, and to restore their prosperity. Moreover, he
had just hit the popinjay with a skill which his imperial
father might have envied, and presided at burgher banquets
with a grace which Charles could have hardly matched. His
personal graces, for the moment, took the rank of virtues.
“ Such were the beauty and vivacity of his eyes,” says his
privy councillor, Tassis, “ that with a single glance he made
all hearts his own ;” 1 2 yet, nevertheless, the predestined victim
secretly felt himself the object of a marksman who had no
time for painted popinjays, but who rarely missed his aim.
u The whole country is at the devotion of the Prince, and
nearly every one of its inhabitants ;” 3 such was his secret lan¬
guage to his royal brother, at the very moment of the exuberant
manifestations which preceded his own entrance to Brussels.

While the Governor still tarried at Louvain, his secretary,
Escovedo, was busily engaged in arranging the departure of
the Spaniards , 3 for notwithstanding his original reluctance
and the suspicions of Orange, Don John loyally intended to
keep his promise. He even advanced twenty-seven thousand
florins towards the expense of their removal , 4 but to raise the
whole amount required for transportation and arrears was a
difficult matter. The estates were slow in providing the one
hundred and fifty thousand florins which they had stipulated
to furnish. The King’s credit, moreover, was at a very low

1 Tassis, iv. 326. veoir k leur defense contre le Seignr. D.

2 Letter of Don John to Philip, Jehan d’Austrice, p. 41—Ed. Gh Sylvias,
April 7, 1577, in the appendix to the Anvers, 1577.

intercepted letters, Discours Sommier 3 Letter of Escovedo, Discours Som-

des Justes Causes, etc. Qui ont con- mier, etc., p. 24, sqq.
trainct les Estats-Q-eneraux de pour- 4 Bor, x. 805, 807.

174 TICE KISE OF THE DUTCH KEPTJBLIC. [1577.

ebb. His previous bonds had not been duly honoured, and
there had even been instances of royal repudiation, which by
no means lightened the task of the financier, in effecting the
new loans required . 1 Escovedo was very blunt in his language
upon this topic, and both Don John and himself urged
punctuality in all future payments. They entreated that the
bills drawn in Philip’s name upon Lombardy bankers, and
discounted at a heavy rate of interest, by the Fuggers
of Antwerp, might be duly provided for at maturity. cc I
earnestly beg,” said Escovedo, “ that your Majesty will see to
the payment of these bills, at all events; ” adding, with
amusing simplicity, “ this will be a means of recovering your
Majesty’s credit, and as for my own, I don’t care to lose it,
small though it be.” Don John was even more solicitous.
“ For the love of Grod, Sire,” he wrote, “ do not be delinquent
now. You must reflect upon the necessity of recovering your
credit. If this receives now the final blow, all will desert your
Majesty, and the soldiers too will be driven to desperation .” 2

By dint of great diligence on the part of Escovedo, and
through the confidence reposed in his character, the necessary
funds were raised in the course of a few weeks. There was,
however, a difficulty among the officers as to the right of com¬
manding the anny on the homeward march. Don Alonzo de
Vargas, as chief of the cavalry, was appointed to the post by
the Governor ; but Valdez, Romero, and other veterans, indig¬
nantly refused to serve under one whom they declared their
inferior officer. There was much altercation and heartburning,
and an attempt was made to compromise the matter by the
appointment of Count Mansfeld to the chief command. This
was, however, only adding fuel to the flames. All were dis¬
satisfied with the superiority accorded to a foreigner, and Alonzo
de Vargas, especially offended, addressed most insolent language

1 See the letters of Escovedo in the April, 1577, in Diseours Sommier, etc.,
intercepted letters, Discours Sommier, p. H. Letter of Don John to the
■etc., passim. King, Discours Sommier, etc, p. 34,

a Letter of Escovedo to the King, 6 appendix.

15770

DEPARTURE OP THE TROOPS.

175

to the Governor . 1 Nevertheless, the arrangement was main¬
tained, and the troops finally took their departure from the
country, in the latter days of April . 2 A vast concourse of
citizens witnessed their departure, and could hardly believe
their eyes, as they saw this incubus at last rolling off, by
which the land had so many years been crushed . 3 Their joy,
although extravagant, was, however, limited by the reflection
that ten thousand Germans still remained in the provinces,
attached to the royal service, and that there was even yet a
possibility that the departure of the Spaniards was a feint.
In truth, Escovedo, although seconding the orders of Don
John, to procure the removal of these troops, did not scruple
to express his regret to the King, and his doubts as to the
result. He had been ever in hopes that an excuse might be
found in the condition of affairs in France, to justify the
retention of the forces near that frontier. He assured the King
that he felt very doubtful as to what turn matters might take,
after the soldiers were gone, seeing the great unruliness which
even their presence had been insufficient completely to check . 4 *
He had hoped that they might be retained in the neighbour¬
hood, ready to seize the islands at the first opportunity.

For my part,” he wrote, a I care nothing for the occupation
of places within the interior, but the islands must be secured.
To do this,” he continued, with a deceitful allusion to tne
secret projects of Don John , cc is, in my opinion, more difficult
than to effect the scheme upon England. If the one were
accomplished, the other would be easily enough managed, anci
would require but moderate means. Let not your Majesty
suppose that I say this as favouring the plan of Don John, for
this I put entirely behind me .” 6

1 Bor, x. 807. Hoofd, xii. 495.

2 Ibid. Ibid., xii. 496. Strada, ix.
433.

5 Among the many -witticisms perpe¬

trated upon this occasion, the following

specimen, may be thought worth, pre¬

serving:—

'* TCoetica gens Abit; cur ploras Belglca?
dicam

A quod in 0 non est Jitera versa queror.”

—Bor, x. 807. Hoofd, xii. 496.

4 Letter of Escovedo, etc., April 6,
1577, in Discours Sommier, p. 16, app.
4 Ibid., April 9, 1577, ibid., p. 50.

176

THE RISE OF THE HUTCH REPUBLIC.

[1577-

Notwithstanding these suspicions on the part of the people,
this reluctance on the part of the government, the troops
readily took up their line of march, and never paused till they
reached Lombardy . 1 2 Don John wrote repeatedly to the King,
warmly urging the claims of these veterans, and of their dis¬
tinguished officers, Romero, Avila, Yaldez, Montesdocca, Ver-
dugo, Mondragon, and others, to his bountiful consideration.
They had departed in very ill-humour, not having received any
recompense for their long and arduous services. Certainly, if
unflinching endurance, desperate valour, and congenial cruelty,
could atone in the monarch’s eyes for the mutiny, which had at
last compelled their withdrawal, then were these labourers
worthy of their hire. Don John had pacified them by assur¬
ances that they should receive adequate rewards on their
arrival in Lombardy, and had urged the full satisfaction of
their claims and his promises in the strongest language.
Although Don Alonzo de Vargas had abused him “ with
flying colours ,” 3 as he expressed himself, yet he hastened to
intercede for him with the King in the most affectionate
terms. u His impatience has not surprised me,” said the
Governor, u although I regret that he has been offended, for I
love and esteem him much. He has served many years with
great distinction, and I can certify that his character for
purity and religion is something extraordinary .” 8

The first scene in the withdrawal of the troops had been the
evacuation of the citadel of Antwerp, and it had been decided
that the command of this most important fortress should be
conferred upon the Duke of Aerschot . 4 His claims as com¬
mander-in-chief, under the authority of the State Council, and
chief of the Catholic nobility, could hardly be passed over, yet
he was a man whom neither party trusted. He was too visibly
governed by interested motives. Arrogant where he felt secure

1 Mendoza, xri. 336. Yand. Yynckfc, deras desplegadas de mi.”

ii. 233. Strada, ix. 433. 8 Ibid.

2 Letter of Hon John to the King, 4 Bor, x. 805. Cabrera, xi. 907.

April 7, 1577, in Discours Sommier, Meteren, vi. 119.

p. 29, appendix.—“Y quexase tan a ban-

1577.]

DUKE OE AERSCHOT.

177

of liis own, or doubtful as to another’s position, he could be
supple and cringing when the relations changed. He refused
an interview with William of Orange before consulting with
Don John, and solicited one afterwards when he found that
every effort was to be made to conciliate the Prince . 1 He was
insolent to the Governor- General himself in February, and
respectful in March. He usurped the first place in the church , 2
before Don John had been acknowledged Governor, and was
the first to go forth to welcome him after the matter had been
arranged. He made a scene of virtuous indignation in the
State Council , 3 because he was accused of place-hunting, but
was diligent to secure an office of the highest dignity which
the Governor could bestow. Whatever may have been his
merits, it is certain that he inspired confidence neither in the
adherents of the King nor of the Prince; while he by turns
professed the warmest regard both to the one party and the
other. Spaniards and patriots, Protestants and Catholics,
suspected the man at the same moment, and ever attributed
to his conduct a meaning which was the reverse of the
apparent . 4 Such is often the judgment passed upon those
who fish in troubled waters only to fill their own nets.

The Duke, however, was appointed Governor of the citadel.
Sancho d 5 Avila, the former constable, refused with Castillian
haughtiness, to surrender the place to his successor, but ap¬
pointed his lieutenant, Martin d’Oyo, to perform that cere¬
mony . 5 Escovedo, standing upon the drawbridge with
Aerschot, administered the oath: u I, Philip, Duke of Aer-
schot,” said the new constable, u solemnly swear to hold this
castle for the King, and for no others.” To which Escovedo
added, 66 God help you, with all His angels, if you keep your

1 Gl-achard, Correspondance de Gruil-
laume le Tacit., iii., Preface, p. lv. and
note 1.

2 Tassis, iii. 241.—Compare Van d.
Vynckt, li. 228.

3 Archives et Correspondance, vi. 66.

4 Ibid., vi. 60, G7.—Compare letter
of Escovedo, Discours Sommier, p. 16,
appendix.

5 Bor, x. 805. Meteren, vi. 119.
Hoofd, xii. 494. Cabrera, xi. 907.

VOL. III.

M

178

THE RISE OP THE DUTCH REPUBLIC.

[1577.

oath; if not, may the devil carry you away, body and soul.”
The few bystanders cried Amen; and with this hasty cere¬
mony, the keys were delivered, the prisoners, Egmont,
Capres, Goignies, and others, liberated, and the Spaniards
ordered to march forth . 1

1 Bor, Meteren, Hoofd, ubi sup Mendoza, xtl 325, 326. Cabrera. 2 d. 908.

CHAPTER II.

THE UNDER SIDE OR THE CARDS.

Triumphal entrance of Don John into Brussels—Reverse of the picture—
Analysis of the secret correspondence of Don John and Escovedo with
Antonio Perez—Plots against the Governor’s liberty—His desponding
language and gloomy anticipations—Recommendation of severe measures—
Position and principles of Orange and his family—His private views
on the question of peace and war—His tolerations to Catholics and
Anabaptists censured by his friends—Death of Viglius—New mission
from the Governor to Orange—Details of the Gorh-uydenberg confer¬
ences—Nature and results of these negotiations—Papers exchanged
between the envoys and Orange—Peter Panis executed for heresy—
Three parties in the Netherlands—Dissimulation of Don John—His
dread of capture.

As already narrated, the soldiery had retired definitely from
the country at the end of April, after which Don John made
his triumphal entrance into Brussels on the 1st of May. It
was long since so festive a May-day had gladdened the hearts
of Brabant. So much holiday magnificence had not been
seen in the Netherlands for years. A solemn procession of
burghers, preceded by six thousand troops, and garnished by
the free companies of archers and musketeers, in their pic¬
turesque costumes, escorted the young prince along the streets
of the capital. Don John was on horseback, wrapped in a
long green cloak, riding between the Bishop of Liege and the
papal nuncio. 1 He passed beneath countless triumphal archer

1 Bor, v. 811. Meteren, vi. 120.
Hoofd, xii. 500, eqq. Van d. Vynekt,
ii. 233. Strada, ix. 433. Lettre de
Bartlielemi Liebart (avocat efc bailli
g4n6ral de Tournay) 3^e Mai 1577.—,

“ Estant le Sr. Dom Jean a£fubl£ d’un
manteau de drap de couleur verd.” etc.
The Duke of Aerschot was magnificent
as usual—“ Yestu d’un collet de velours
rouge cremoisy brod$ d’or,” etc., etc.—

180

THE EISE OE THE DUTCH REPUBLIC.

[ 1577 ,

Banners waved before him, on which the battle of Lepanto
and other striking scenes in his life were emblazoned. Min¬
strels sang verses, poets recited odes, rhetoric clubs enacted
dramas in his honour, as he rode along. Young virgins
crowned him with laurels. Fair women innumerable were
clustered at every window, rorjf 5 and balcony, their bright
robes floating like summer clouds above him. “ Softly
from those lovely clouds/ 5 says a gallant chronicler, “ de¬
scended the gentle rain of flowers.” 1 Garlands were strewed
before his feet, laurelled victory sat upon his brow. The
same conventional enthusiasm and decoration which had
characterised the holiday marches of a thousand conventional
heroes were successfully produced. The proceedings began
with the church, and ended with the banquet, the day was
propitious, the populace pleased, and, after a brilliant festival,
Don John of Austria saw himself Governor-General of the
provinces.

Three days afterwards, the customary oaths, to be kept
with the customary conscientiousness, were rendered at
the Towm House, 2 and for a brief moment all seemed smiling
and serene.

There was a reverse to the picture. In truth, no language
can describe the hatred which Don John entertained for the
Netherlands and all the inhabitants. He had come to the
country only as a stepping-stone to the English throne, and he
never spoke, in his private letters, of provinces or people
but in terms of abhorrence. He was in a “ Babylon of dis¬
gust,’ 5 in a “hell,” surrounded by “drunkards,” “wine-skins,”
“ scoundrels 55 and the like. From the moment of his arrival
he had strained every nerve to retain the Spanish troops, and
to send them away by sea when it should be no longer feasible
to keep them. Escovedo shared in the sentiments, and entered
fully into the schemes of his chief. The plot, the secret enter¬
prise, was the great cause of the advent of Don John in the

Ibid., apud Gacbard.Documens In6dits 1 £ * Een liellyke reeglien uit zoo
concernant l’Hi-toire de la Belgique keldere wolkenHoofci, xii. 500.
{Bruxelles, 1855,) i. 56:2-56-t ~ Bor, x. S12. Heteren, vi. 1^0.

1577.]

INTRIGUES OF PEREZ.

181

uncongenial clime of Flanders. It had been, therefore, highly
important, in his estimation, to set about, as soon as possible,
the accomplishment of this important business. He accord¬
ingly entered into correspondence with Antonio Perez, the
King’s most confidential Secretary of State at that period.
That the Governor was plotting no treason is sufficiently
obvious from the context of his letters. At the same time,
with the expansiveness of his character, when he was dealing
with one whom he deemed his close and trusty friend, he
occasionally made use of expressions which might be made to
seem equivocal. This was still more the case with poor
Escovedo. Devoted to his master, and depending most im¬
plicitly upon the honour of Perez, he indulged in language
which might be tortured into a still more suspicious shape,
when the devilish arts of Perez and the universal distrust of
Philip were tending steadily to that end. For Perez—on
the whole, the boldest, deepest, and most unscrupulous
villain in that pit of duplicity, the Spanish court—was en¬
gaged at that moment with Philip, in a plot to draw from
Don John and Escovedo, by means of this coirespondence,
the proofs of a treason which the King and minister both de¬
sired to find. The letters from Spain were written with this
view—those from Flanders were interpreted to that end.
Every confidential letter received by Perez was immediately
laid by him before the King—every letter which the artful
demon wrote was filled with hints as to the danger of the
King’s learning the existence of the correspondence, and with
promises of profound secrecy upon his own part, and was
then immediately placed in Philip’s hands, to receive his
comments and criticisms, before being copied and despatched
to the Netherlands. 1 The minister was playing a bold, mur-

1 Many of these letters are contained that these copies were made by the
in a very valuable MS. collection be- direction of Perez himself, when obliged
longing to the royal library at the to deposit the originals before the
Hague, and entitled “ Cartas qu’el judges of Aragon.—Vide Gach.ird, Xo-
Sehor Eon Juan de Austria y cl Secre- tice sur un Manu^crit de la Bibliuth-'quPi
tar 10 Joan de Escobedo, descifradas, Royale de la Haye, etc. Pullet. Com.
escribieron a Su. Magd. y Antonio Roy. xiii.

Perez, desde Flandes.” It is probable

182

THE RISE OF THE DUTCH REPUBLIC.

[1577

derous, and treacherous game, and played it in a masterly
manner. Escovedo was limed to liis destruction, Don John
was made to fret his heart away, and Philip—more deceived
than all—was betrayed in what he considered his affections,
and made the mere tool of a man as false as himself, and
infinitely more accomplished.

Almost immediately after the arrival of Don John in the
Netherlands, he had begun to express the greatest impatience
for Escovedo, who had not been able to accompany his master
upon his journey, but without whose assistance the Governor
could accomplish none of his undertakings. u Being a man,
not an angel, I cannot do all which I have to do,” said he to
Perez, “without a single person in whom I can confide.” 1
He protested that he could do no more than he was then
doing. He went to bed at twelve and rose at seven, without
having an hour in the day in which to take his food regularly,
in consequence of all which he had already had three fevers.
He was plunged into a world of distrust. Every man suspected
him, and he had himself no confidence in a single individual
throughout that whole Babylon of disgusts. He observed to
Perez that he was at liberty to shew liis letters to the King,
or to read them in the council, as he meant always to speak
the truth in whatever he should write. He was sure that
Perez would do all for the best; and there is something touch¬
ing in these expressions of an honest purpose towards Philip,,
and of generous confidence in Perez, while the two were thus-
artfully attempting to inveigle him into damaging revelations.
The Netherlander certainly had small cause to love or trust
their new Governor, who very sincerely detested and sus¬
pected them, but Philip had little reason to complain of his-
brother. “ Tell me if my letters are read in council, and
what his Majesty says about them,” he wrote ; “and, above all,
send money. I am driven to desperation at finding myself
sold to this people, utterly unprovided as I am, and knowing-
the slow manner in which all affairs are conducted in Spain.” ~
1 Cartas del Sr. D. J. d’Austria y el S. Escobedo, MS., f. 1-4,21 Die., 1576. 2 IbicL

1577.]

DON JOHN TO PHILIP.

183

He informed the King that there was but one man in the
Netherlands, and that he was called the Prince of Orange. To
him everything was communicated, with him everything was
negotiated, opinions expressed by him were implicitly followed.
The Governor vividly described the misgivings with which he
had placed himself in the power of the states by going to
Louvain, and the reluctance with which he had consented to
send away the troops. After this concession, he complained
that the insolence of the states had increased. a They think
that they can do and undo what they like, now that I am at
their mercy,” he wrote to Philip. “ Nevertheless, I do what
you command without regarding that I am sold , and that I am
in great danger of losing my liberty, a loss which I dread more
than anything in the world, for I wish to remain justified be¬
fore God and men.” 1 He expressed, however, no hopes as to
the result. Disrespect and rudeness could be pushed no further
than it had already gone, while the Prince of Orange, the actual
governor of the country, considered his own preservation de¬
pendent upon maintaining things as they then were. Don John,
therefore, advised the King steadily to make preparations for
u a rude and terrible war,” 2 which was not to be avoided, save
by a miracle, and which ought not to find him in this unpre¬
pared state. He protested that it was impossible to exaggerate
the boldness which the people felt at seeing him thus defence¬
less. u They say publicly,” he continued, 66 that your Majesty
is not to be feared, not being capable of carrying on a war,
and having consumed and exhausted every resource. One of
the greatest injuries ever inflicted upon us was by Marquis
Havre, who, after his return from Spain, went about publishing
everywhere the poverty of the royal exchequer. This has em¬
boldened them to rise, for they believe that, whatever the dispo¬
sition, there is no strength to chastise them. They see a proof
of the correctness of their reasoning in the absence of new
levies, and in the heavy arrearages due to the old troops.” 8

1 Cartas del S. Don Juan, etc., MS., I 2 “ Una cruda y terible guerra.”—
f. 4-12, 2 Jan. 1577. I Ibid. 8 Ibid.

184

THE RISE OE THE HUTCH KEPUBLIC.

[1577.

He protested that he desired, at least, to be equal to the
enemy, without asking, as others had usually done, for double
the amount of the hostile force. He gave a glance at the
‘foreign complications of the Netherlands, telling Philip that
the estates were intriguing both with France and England.
The English envoy had expressed much uneasiness at the
possible departure of the Spanish troops from the Netherlands
by sea, coupling it with a probable attempt to liberate the
Queen of Scots. Don John, who had come to the provinces
for no other purpose, and whose soul had been full of that
romantic scheme, of course stoutly denied and ridiculed the
idea. u Such notions,” he had said to the envoy , 66 were sub¬
jects for laughter. If the troops were removed from the country,
it was to strengthen his Majesty’s force in the Levant.” 1 Mr.
Rogers, much comforted, had expressed the warm friendship
which Elizabeth entertained both for his Majesty and his
Majesty’s representative; protestations which could hardly
seem very sincere, after the series of attempts at the Queen’s
life, undertaken so recently by his Majesty and his Majesty’s
former representative. Nevertheless, Don John had responded
with great cordiality, had begged for Elizabeth’s portrait, and
had expressed the intention, if affairs went as he hoped, to go
privately to England for the purpose of kissing her royal hand. 2
Don John further informed the King, upon the envoy’s autho¬
rity, that Elizabeth had refused assistance to the estates, saying,
if she stirred it would be to render aid to Philip , especially if
France should meddle in the matter. As to France, the
Governor advised Philip to hold out hopes to Alengon of
espousing the Infanta, but by no means ever to fulfil such a
promise, as the Duke, 66 besides being the shield of heretics,
was unscrupulously addicted to infamous vices.” 3

1 Cartas del S. Hon Juan, etc., MS.,
f. 4-12, 2 Jan. 1577.

2 *•-y jo compedirle re retrato y

diciendo quo si las cossas de aqui tomas-
sen assiento come esperava lnria privi-
dam ente a besar la lag memos ”—Cartas
del S. Don Juan, etc., MS., f. 4-12, 2
Jan. 1577. Upon this passage in his

brother’s letter, Philip made the pithy
annotation, “ Mucho dear fue esto;
that was saying a good deal.”—Ibid.

3 “Porque de mas de ser este el
escudo de los hereges, so tiene entendido
que no hace escrupulo del pecado ne-
fando.”—Ibid.

1577.]

COMPLAINTS OP ESCOYEDO.

185

A month later, Escovedo described the downfall of Don
John’s hopes, and his own in dismal language — u You are
aware,” he wrote to Perez, u that a throne —a chair with a
canopy—is our intention and our appetite, and all the rest is
good for nothing. Having failed in our scheme, we are
desperate and like madmen. All is now weariness and death.” 1
Having expressed himself in such desponding accents, he
continued, a few days afterwards, in the same lugubrious vein,
“ I am ready to hang myself,” said he, u and I would have
done it already, if it were not for keeping myself as executioner
for those who have done us so much harm. Ah, Sehor Antonio
Perez ! ” he added, u what terrible pertinacity have those devils
shewn in making us give up our plot. It seems as though hell
were opened, and had sent forth heaps of demons to oppose
our schemes.” 2 After these vigorous ejaculations, he pro¬
ceeded to inform his friend that the English envoy and the
estates, governed by the Prince of Orange, in whose power
were the much-coveted ships, had prevented the departure
of the troops by sea. a These devils complain of the expense,”
said he, ic but we would willingly swallow the cost if we
could only get the ships.” He then described Don John
as so cast down by his disappointment as to be fit for nothing,
and most desirous of quitting the Netherlands as soon as
possible. He had no disposition to govern these wine-skins. 3
Any one who ruled in the provinces was obliged to do
exactly what they ordered him to do. Such rule was not
to the taste of Don John. Without any comparison, a
woman would answer the purpose better than any man, and
Escovedo accordingly suggested the Empress Dowager, or

1 Cartas, etc., MS., f. 12,3 Feb. 1577.
—“Yin se prevenga y crea que silla y
cortma es nuesfcro intento y apetito, y
cue todo lo demas es ymproprio y que
nbiendose caydo la traga deaquel amigo
f on loqual estamos desperados y como
locos; todo a de ser cansancio y
mucrte.”

a Cartas, etc, MS., f. 12-16, 7 Feb.
1577—“ Estoy por aorearme, ya lo habia

kecho sino me guardase para verdugo
de quien tanto mal nos hace. A! Sefior
Antonio Perez y que pertinacio y terri-
bilidad a sido la desos demonios on
quitarnos nuestra traga; el ynfierno
parece que sea abierto y que enbian de
all^ gentes a montones este efeto.”

3 “Y para gobiernar estos cueros
realmente no lo quiere ”—Cartas, etc.,
MS., f. 12-16, 7 Feb. 1577.

186

THE RISE OF THE DUTCH REPUBLIC.

; [1577.

Madame de Parma, or even Madame de Lorraine. He farther
recommended that the Spanish troops, thns forced to leave the
Netherlands by land, shonld be employed against the heretics
in France. This wonld be a salvo for the disgrace of remov¬
ing them. 1 “It wonld be read in history,” continued the
Secretary, “ that the troops went to France in order to render
assistance in a great religious necessity; while, at the same
time, they will be on hand to chastise these drunkards, if
necessary. 3 To have the troops in France is almost as well as
to keep them here.” He begged to be forgiven if he spoke
incoherently. ’Twas no wonder that he should do so, for his
reason had been disordered by the blow which had been re¬
ceived. As for Don John, he was dying to leave the country;
and although the force was small for so great a general, yet it
would be well for him to lead these troops to France in person.
“ It would sound well in history,” said poor Escovedo, who
always thought of posterity, without ever dreaming that his
own private letters would be destined, after three centuries,
to comment and earnest investigation; “ it would sound well
in history that Don John went to restore the French kingdom,
and to extirpate heretics, with six thousand foot and two
thousand horse. 5 Tis a better employment, too, than to
govern such vile creatures as these.” 3

If, however, all their plans should fail, the Secretary suggested
to his friend Antonio, that he must see and make courtiers of
them. He suggested that a strong administration might be
formed in Spain, with Don John, the Marquis de Los Yelez, and
the Duke of Sesa. “ With such chiefs, and with Anthony and
John 4 for acolytes,” he was of opinion that much good work
might be done, and that Don John might become u the staff of
his Majesty’s old age.” 5 He implored Perez, in the most
urgent language, to procure Philip’s consent that his brother

1 Cartas, etc., MS., f. 12-16, 7 Feb.
1577.

2 “ Y tanbien servira, esto de refrenar
estos borrachos.”—Ibid.

3 “ Se olgara mas de servir en esto
que no en govierno de tan ruin gente.”

—Ibid.

4 Viz., John of Escovedo and Antony
Perez

6 “El baculo por su bexez.”—Cartas,
etc., MS., 12-16, 7 Feb. 1577.

1577,]

DON JOHN TO PEREZ.

187

should leave the provinces. “ Otherwise/ 5 said lie, cc we shall
see the destruction of the friend whom we so much love! He
will become seriously ill, and, if so, good night to him ! 1 His
body is too delicate.” Escovedo protested that he would rather
die himself. “In the catastrophe of Don John’s death,” he
continued, “adieu the court, adieu the world!” He would
incontinently bury himself among the mountains of San Sebas¬
tian, “preferring to dwell among wild animals than among
courtiers.” Escovedo accordingly, not urged by the most dis¬
interested motives certainly, but with as warm a friendship for
his master as princes usually inspire, proceeded to urge upon
Perez the necessity of aiding the man who was able to help
them. The first step was to get him out of the Netherlands.
That was his constant thought, by day and night. As it would
hardly be desirable for him to go alone, it seemed proper that
Escovedo should, upon some pretext, be first sent to Spain.
Such a pretext would be easily found, because, as Don John
had accepted the government, “ it would be necessary for him
to do all which the rascals bade him.” 2 After these minute
statements, the Secretary warned his correspondent of the
necessity of secrecy, adding that he especially feared “ all the
court ladies, great and small, but that he in everything confided
entirely in Perez”

Nearly at the same time, Don John wrote to Perez in a simi¬
lar tone. “ Ah, Senor Antonio,” he exclaimed, “how certain
is my disgrace and my misfortune! Ruined is our enterprise,
after so much labour and such skilful management! ” 8 He was
to have commenced the work with the very Spanish soldiers
who were now to be sent off by land, and he had nothing for
it but to let them go, or to come to an open rupture with the
states. “ The last, his conscience, his duty, and the time, alike

1 “ Y es de cuerpo tan delicado que 8 Cartas, etc., MS., 16 Feb. 1577, f.
Io temo dexbarnos liia a buenas nockcs.” 16-18.—“ A, Senor Antonio v cuan
Cartas, etc., MS., f. 12*16, 7 Feb. 1577. cierto es de mi desgracia y desdicba—
Porque recebido el gobierno a de la quiebra de nostro designio tras
acer lo que le aconsejaren estos bella- muy trabaiado y bien guido que se
cos.”—Ibid. tenia.”

188

THE EISE OP THE DUTCH KEPTJBLIC.

[1577.

forbade.” 1 He was therefore obliged to submit to the ruin of
his plans, and “ could think of nothing save to turn hermit, a
condition in which a man’s labours, being spiritual, might not
be entirely in vain.” 2 He was so overwhelmed by the blow,
he said, that he was constantly thinking of an anchorite’s life.
That which he had been leading had become intolerable. Ho
was not fitted for the people of the Netherlands, nor they for
him. Rather than stay longer than was necessary in order to
appoint his successor, there was no resolution he might not
take, even to leaving everything and coming upon them when
they least expected him, although he were to receive a bloody
punishment in consequence. He, too, suggested the Empress,
who had all the qualities which he lacked himself, or Madame
de Parma, or Madame de Lorraine, as each of them was more
fitted to govern the provinces than he pretended to be. “ The
people,” said he, plainly, u are beginning to abhor one , and I
abhor them already .” 3 He entreated Perez to get him out of
the country by fair means or foul, u per fas aut per nefas .” 4
His friends ought to procure his liberation, if they wished to
save him from the sin of disobedience, and even of in finny.
He expressed the most unbounded confidence in the honour of
his correspondent, adding, that if nothing else could procure
his release, the letter might be shewn to the King. In
general, the Governor was always willing that Perez should
make what changes he thought advisable in the letters for his
Majesty, altering or softening whatever seemed crude or harsh,
provided always the main point—that of procuring his recall
—were steadily kept in view. u In this,” said the Governor,
vehemently, “my life, my honour, and my soul are all at
stake; for as to the two first, I shall forfeit them both cer¬
tainly, and, in my desperate condition, I shall run great
risk of losing the last.” 5

1 Cartas, etc., MS., 16 Peb. 1577, f. —Ibid.

16-18. 3 “ Por lo que me enpieqan avorrecer

2 “Pues no s£ en que pensar sino en y por lo que yo les aborresco.”—Ibid,

una hermita y donde no sera en vano lo 4 Ibid.

que cl hombre trabaja se con el espiritu.” 5 Cartas, etc., MS., 1 Marzo, 1577, f.

1577.1

LETTERS OF PEREZ.

189

On tlie other hand, Perez was profuse in his professions of
friendship both to Don Jon and to Escovedo ; dilating in all
his letters upon the difficulty of approaching the King upon
the subject of his brother’s recall, but giving occasional infor¬
mation that an incidental hint had been ventured which might
not remain without effect. All these letters were, however,
laid before Philip for his approval, before being despatched,
and the whole subject thoroughly and perpetually discussed
between them, about which Perez pretended that he hardly
dared breathe a syllable to his Majesty. He had done what
he could, he said, while reading, piece by piece, to the King,
during a fit of the gout, the official despatches from the
Netherlands, to insinuate such of the arguments used by the
Governor and Escovedo as might seem admissible, but it was
soon obvious that no impression could be made upon the royal
mind. Perez did not urge the matter, therefore, “ because,”
said he, “ if the King should suspect that we had any other
object than his interests, toe should all be lost .” 1 Every effort
should be made by Don John and all his friends to secure his
Majesty’s entire confidence, since by that course more progress
would be made in their secret plans, than by proceedings con¬
cerning which the Governor wrote “with such fury and anxiety
of heart.” 2 Perez warned his correspondent, therefore, most
solemnly, against the danger of “ striking the blow without
hitting the mark,” and tried to persuade him that his best in¬
terests required him to protract his residence in the provinces
for a longer period. He informed Don John that his disap¬
pointment as to the English scheme had met with the warm¬
est sympathy of the King, who had wished his brother
success. “ I have sold to him, at as high a price as I could,"
said Perez, “ the magnanimity with which your Highness had
sacrificed, on that occasion, a private object to his service.” 3

1S-19 —** Que en haeerlo me va la yida
y onra y alma, porque las dos primeras

partes perdere cierto-y la tercera de

pm o desperado hira a gran riesgo.”

1 Cartas, etc., MS., f. 20-24.

2 Ibid.—“ Con tanta furia y cuidado
de corason.”

3 *• Su Magd. ha manifestado gran
deseo de que se liubierapodido executar

l en esta occasion ; y yo le he vendido

190

•THE RISE OF THE HTJTCH REPUBLIC.

[1577*

The minister held the same language, when writing, in a
still more intimate and expansive style, to Escovedo. “ We
must avoid, hy a thousand leagues, the possibility of the
King’s thinking us influenced by private motives,” he ob¬
served ; “ for we know the King and the delicacy of these
matters. The only way to gain the goodwill of the man is
carefully to accommodate ourselves to his tastes, and to have
the appearance of being occupied solely with his interests.” 1
The letter, like all the rest, being submitted to “ the man ”
in question before being sent, was underlined by him at this
paragraph and -furnished with the following annotation:—
“ But you must enlarge upon the passage which I have
marked—say more, even if you are obliged to copy the
letter, in order that we may see the nature of the reply” 2
In another letter to Escovedo, Perez enlarged upon the
impropriety, the impossibility of Don John’s leaving the
Netherlands at that time. The King was so resolute upon
that point, he said, that ’twas out of the question to sug¬
gest the matter. £f We should, by so doing, only lose all
credit with him in other things. You know what a ter¬
rible man he is; if he should once suspect us of having
a private end in view, we should entirely miss our mark.” 3
Especially the secretary was made acquainted with the
enormous error which would be committed by Don John
in leaving his post. Perez u had ventured into the water”
upon the subject, he said, by praising the Governor warmly
to his Majesty. The King had responded by a hearty eulo-
gium, adding that the greatest comfort in having such a

quail caro be savido el aber pospuesto
V. A. su particular servicio.”—Cartas,
etc., MS., 20-24.

1 Cartas, etc., MS., f. 24-27.—“ Me
parece que hemos de hmr mil leguas de
que piense el rey que tratamos tan de
proposito de lo que toca al Sefior Don ]

J*uan-pues conocemos al rey y cuan

delicadas materias de estado son estas,
pues por el mismo caso no nos tiara
nada y el Qdmmoparagcmcir este Imibrt

la wluntad no a de ser sino tratar sola-
mente de su negocio y accomodalle los
estados y los negocios a su gusto.”

2 “ Mas os aviades de alargar en lo
que yo rayo. Decid mas aunque se
copie la carta, para ver el animo de la
respuesta.”—Ibid.

3 Cartas, etc., MS.,f. 27-32—“ Porque
no perdemos el credito con el para otras
cosas, que como Vm. sabe es terribile
hombre,” etc., etc.

ANNOTATIONS BY PHILIP.

191

J5TL]

brother was, that he might be where his Majesty could not be.
Therefore, it was out of the question for Don John to leave
the provinces. The greatest tact was necessary, urged Perez,
in dealing with the King. If he should once “ suspect that
we have a private purpose, we are lost, and no Demosthenes
or Cicero would be able to influence him afterwards.” 1
Perez begged that his ardent attachment to Don John might
be represented in the strongest colours to that high personage,
who was to be assured that every effort should be made to
place him at the head of affairs in Spain, according to the
suggestions of Escovedo. “It would never do, however,” he
continued, “ to let out man see that we desire it, for then we
should never succeed. The only way to conquer him is to
make him believe that things are going on as he wishes , not
as his Highness may desire, and that we have none of us
any -will but the King’s.” 2 Upon this passage the “ terrible
man ” made a brief annotation: “ This paragraph does ad¬
mirably,” he said, adding, with characteristic tautology,
“ and what you say in it is also excellent .” 3

“Therefore,” continued the minister, “ God forbid, Master
Escovedo, that you should come hither now; for we should
all be lost. In the English matter, I assure you that his
Majesty was extremely anxious that the plan should succeed,
either through the Pope, or otherwise. That puts me in
mind,” added Perez, “to say, body of God! Senor Es¬
covedo ! how the devil came you to send that courier to
Rome about the English plot without giving me warning?” 4
He then proceeded to state that the Papal nuncio in Spain
had been much troubled in mind upon the subject, and had
sent for him. “I went,” said Perez, “and after he had

1 “Porque la ora que lleguemos a 4 “Cuerpo de Dios, Seiior Escobedo
esto somos perdidos, j no abra Demos- como diablos despackaron el correo a

thenes ni Cxceron qui le persuada des- Roma sobro esto de Inglaterra,” etc._

pues Cartas, etc.. MS., 27-32. Ibid. Upon this passage the Ring lias

3 “Pero no lo mostremos a este also noted with bis own band: “And
ombre jamas que lo deseamos porque this paragraph is even still more to tbe
nunca lo veramos,” etc.—Ibid. purpose” (“ Y este capitulo va aun

3 “ Este capitulo va muy bien, y lo mejor al proposito.”)—Ibid,
que decis en el tanbien.”—Ibid.

192

THE RISE OP THE DUTCH REPUBLIC.

[1577.

closed the door, and looked through the keyhole to see that
there were no listeners, he informed me that he had received
intelligence from the Pope as to the demands made by Don
John upon his Holiness for bulls, briefs, and money to assist
him in his English scheme, and that eighty thousand ducats
had already been sent to him in consequence. 5 ’ Perez added
that the nuncio was very anxious to know how the affair
should best be communicated to the King, without prejudice
to his Highness. He had given him the requisite advice, he
continued, and had himself subsequently told the King that,
no doubt, letters had been written by Don John to his
Majesty, communicating these negotiations at Home, but
that probably the despatches had been forgotten. Thus,
giving himself the appearance of having smoothed the matter
with the Bang, Perez concluded with a practical suggestion
of much importance—the necessity, namely, of procuring the
assassination of the Prince of Orange as soon as possible.
“Let it never be absent from your mind, 55 said he, “that a
good occasion must be found for finishing Orange , since, be¬
sides the service which will thus be rendered to our master and
to the states, it will be worth something to ourselves ” 1

No apology is necessary for laying a somewhat extensive
analysis of this secret correspondence before the reader. If
there be any value in the examples of history, certainly few
chronicles can furnish a more instructive moral. Here are a
despotic King and his confidential minister laying their heads
together in one cabinet; the viceroy of the most important pro¬
vinces of the realm, with his secretary, deeply conferring in
another, not as to the manner of advancing the great interests,
moral or material, of the people over whom Grod has permitted
them to rule, but as to the best means of arranging conspiracies
against the throne and life of a neighbouring sovereign, with the

1 Ojo que no dexe Ym. de llevar en
su pensamiento para si eonvmiesse y se
pudiesse en ocasion pero compuesto
todo de los estados a acavar a Oranxe ,
que demas del servicio que se ara a

nuestro Seflor y bien a esos estados no$
mldria algo , y crea me que le digo la
verdad y creamele digo otra vez. w —
Cartas, etc., MS., f. 27-5:2.

1577.]

INTEIOTES OP THE CABINET.

193

connivance and subsidies of the Pope. In this scheme, and in
this only, the high conspirators are agreed. In every other
respect, mutual suspicion and profound deceit characterise the
scene. The Governor is filled with inexpressible loathing for
the whole nation of“ drunkards and wine-skins” who are at the
very moment strewing flowers in his path, and deafening his
ears with shouts of welcome; the King, while expressing un¬
bounded confidence in the Viceroy, is doing his utmost, through
the agency of the subtlest intriguer in the world, to inveigle
him into confessions of treasonable schemes, and the Minister
is filling reams of paper with protestations of affection for the
Governor and Secretary, with sneers at the character of the King,
and with instructions as to the best method of deceiving him,
and then laying the despatches before his Majesty for correction
and enlargement. To complete the picture, the Monarch and
his Minister are seen urging the necessity of murdering the fore¬
most man of the age upon the very dupe who, within a twelve-
month, was himself to be assassinated by the self-same pair; while
the arch-plotter who controls the strings of all these complicated
projects is equally false to King, Governor, and Secretary, and
is engaging all the others in these blind and tortuous paths, for
the accomplishment of his own secret and most ignoble aims.

In reply to the letters of Perez, Don John constantly ex¬
pressed the satisfaction and comfort which he derived from
them in the midst of his annoyances. “ He was very dis¬
consolate,” he said, “to be in that hell, and to be obliged to
remain in it,” 1 now that the English plot had fallen to the
ground; but he would nevertheless take patience, and wait
for a more favourable conjuncture.

Escovedo expressed the opinion, however, notwithstanding
all the suggestions of Perez, that the presence of Don John in
the provinces had become entirely superfluous. “An old
woman with her distaff,” suggested the Secretary, “ would be
more appropriate: for there would be nothing to do, if the

1 Cartas, etc., MS., 26 Mayo, 1577,f.1 por que -estar on este ynfierno y ayer
32-34.—“ Tiene me muy desconsolado | destar.”

VOL. JI1. N

194

THE RISE OF THE DUTCH REPUBLIC.

[1577.

states had their way, save to sign everything which they should
command .” 1 If there should be war, his Highness would, of
course, not abandon his post, even if permitted to do so ; but
otherwise, nothing could be gained by a prolonged residence.
As to the scheme of assassinating the Prince of Orange, Esco-
vedo prayed Perez to believe him incapable of negligence on
the subject. 66 You know that the finishing of Orange is very
near my heart,” wrote the poor dupe to the man by whom he
was himself so soon to he finished. u You may believe that
I have never forgotten it, and never will forget it, until it be
done. Much, and very much artifice is, however, necessary to
accomplish this object. A proper person to undertake a task
fraught with such well-known danger, is hard to find. Never¬
theless, I will not withdraw my attention from the subject
till such a person be procured, and the deed be done .” 2

A month later, Escovedo wrote that he was about to visit
Spain. He complained that he required rest in his old age,
but that Perez could judge how much rest he could get in
such a condition of affairs. He was, unfortunately, not
aware, when he wrote, how soon his correspondent was to
give him a long repose. He said, too, that the pleasure
af visiting his home was counterbalanced by the necessity of
travelling back to the Netherlands ; 3 but he did not know
that Perez was to spare him that trouble, and to send him
forth on a much longer journey.

The Grovernor-Greneral had in truth not inspired the popular
party or its leader with confidence, nor did he place the least
reliance upon them. While at Louvain, he had complained that
a conspiracy had been formed against his life and liberty. Two
French gentlemen, Bonnivet and Bellangreville, had been

1 Cartas, etc., MS., 29 Mayo, 1577, f.
33-37.-“EL Senor Don Juan no sera
menester sino una duena con su rueca
que firms lo quellos quisieren.”

2 “ Ya Vm. save cuanto que tengo
en el pensamiento el acavar a Oranxe

pues bien crera que no se me a
olvidado m olvidara hctsta ctcerlo; que

es menester mucho y muy mucko
artificio y -persona tal que se encarque
del casso que como trae consigo tan
conocido peligro no acavo de allaria
aunque la ke buscado. No perdere al
cuidado della cist a ver lo hecno —Ibid.

3 Cartas, etc., MS., 21 Junio 1577, f.
36, 37.

1577-] PLOTS AGAINST THE GOVERNOR’S LIBERTY.

195

arrested on suspicion of a conspiracy to secure his person,
and to carry him off a prisoner to Rochelle. Nothing came
of the examination which followed; the prisoners were re¬
leased, and an apology was sent by the states-general to the
Duke of Alenqon, as well for the indignity which had been
offered to two of his servants, as for the suspicion which had been
oast upon himself . 1 Don John, however, was not satisfied.
He persisted in asserting the existence of the conspiracy, and
made no secret of his belief that the Prince of Orange was
acquainted with the arrangement . 2 As may be supposed,
nothing was discovered in the course of the investigation to
implicate that astute politician. The Prince had indeed
secretly recommended that the Governor should be taken
into custody on his first arrival, not for the purpose of
assassination or personal injury, but in order to extort better
terms from Philip, through the affection or respect which he
might be supposed to entertain for his brother. It will be re¬
membered that unsuccessful attempts had also been made to
capture the Duke of Alva and the Commander Requesens.
Such achievements comported with the spirit of the age, and
although it is doubtful whether any well-concerted plot
existed against the liberty of the Governor, it is certain that
he entertained no doubt on the subject himself - 3

In addition to these real or suspected designs, there was an
ever-present consciousness in the mind of Don John that the
enthusiasm which greeted his presence was hollow, that no
real attachment was felt for his person, that his fate was
leading him into a false position, that the hearts of the people
were fixed upon another, and that they were never to be won
by himself. Instinctively he seemed to feel a multitude of
invisible threads twining into a snare around him, and the

1 Bor, x. 805. Hoofd, xi. 493. sion would liave been extorted from

2 Cabrera asserts that Count Lalain, them upon the rack, there being suffi-
with other deputies of the estates, had cient proofs of their guilt, but the
conspired (“ por persuasion del Brin- affair was hushed up.—xi. 909 a and b.
cipe de Orange y orden del Duque de 3 See the remarks of Groen van
Alengon”) to make the capture of Don Prinsterer, Archives, etc., vi. 42, 43.
John’s person; adding that the confes-

196

THE RISE OF THE DUTCH REPUBLIC.

[1577.

courageous heart and the bounding strength became uneasily
conscious of the act in which they were to be held captive till
life should be wasted quite away.

The universal affection for the rebel Prince, and the hopeless
abandonment of the people to that deadliest of sins, the liberty
of conscience, were alike unquestionable. “They mean to
remain free, sire,” wrote Escovedo to Philip, u and to live as
they please. To that end they would be willing that the Turk
should come to be master of the country. By the road which
they are travelling, however, it will be the Prince of Orange
—which comes to quite the same thing .” 1 At the same time,
however, it is hoped that something might be made of this
liberty of conscience. All were not equally sunk in the hor¬
rible superstition, and those who were yet faithful to Church
and King might be set against their besotted brethren.
Liberty of conscience might be thus turned to account.
While two great parties were u by the ears, and pulling out
each other’s hair, all might perhaps be reduced together .” 3
His Majesty was warned, nevertheless, to expect the worst,
and to believe that the country could only be cured with fire
and blood . 3 The position of the Governor was painful and
perplexing. u Don John,” said Escovedo, u is thirty years
old. I promise your Majesty nothing, save that if he finds
himself without requisite assistance, he will take himself off
when your Majesty is least thinking of such a thing .” 4

Nothing could be more melancholy than the tone of the
Governor’s letters. He believed himself disliked, even in the
midst of affectionate demonstrations. He felt compelled to use
moderate counsels, although he considered moderation of no
avail. He was chained to his post, even though the post could,
in his opinion, be more advantageously filled by another. He
would still endeavour to gain the affections of the people,
although he believed them hopelessly alienated. If patience

1 Letter of Escovedo to the King, 3 “ Est negocio no esta para curarse

March 27, 1577, Discours Sommier, con buenas razones, sinoconfuegoycon
etc., p. 4, appendix. sangre.”—Ibid.

2 Ibid., p. 16. 4 Ibid., appendix, p. 16.

1577.] DESPONDING- TONE OP DON JOHN’S LETTERS. 197

would cure the malady of the country, he professed himself
capable of applying the remedy, although the medicine had so
far done but little good, and although he had no very strong
hopes as to its future effects . 1 “ Thus far, however,” said he,
u I am but as one crying in the wilderness .” 2 * He took occa¬
sion to impress upon his Majesty, in very strong language, the
necessity of money. Secret agents, spies, and spies upon
spies, were more necessary than ever, and were very expensive
portions of government machinery. Never was money more
wanted. Nothing could be more important than to attend
faithfully to the financial suggestions of Escovedo; and Don
John, therefore, urged his Majesty, again and again, not to
dishonour their drafts. u Money is the gruel,” said he,
u with which we must cure this sick man; ” 8 and he therefore
prayed all those who wished well to his efforts, to see that his
Majesty did not fail him in this important matter. Notwith¬
standing, however, the vigour of his efforts, and the earnest¬
ness of his intentions, he gave but little hope to his Majesty
of any valuable fruit from the pacification just concluded.
He saw the Prince of Orange strengthening himself, u with
great fury,” in Holland and Zeland ; 4 he knew that the Prince
was backed by the Queen of England, who, notwithstanding
her promises to Philip and himself, had offered her support to
the rebels in case the proposed terms of peace were rejected
in Holland, and he felt that u nearly the whole people was at
the devotion of the Prince.” 5 * *

Don John felt more and more convinced, too, that a con¬
spiracy was on foot against his liberty. There were so many
of the one party, and so few of the other, that if he were once

1 Letter of Don John to the King, I Don John to Perez, Discours Sommier,
April 7, 1577, Disconrs Sommier, p. 27. p. 44.

2 “ Pero veo que hasta agora es todo 4 “ El Principe de Oranges con-

predicar en desierto.”—Letter of Don tinue el fortificar a gran fuia en Olanda

John, April 7,1577, Disconrs Sommier, y Zeland a.”—-Letter of Don John to

etc., appendix, p. 36. the King, Discours Sommier, p. 35.

s “-en materia, de dinero: por- 5 Ibid., p. 36—“La mayor parte de

.que este es el pisto con que a de bolver las estados esta a su devocion y casi

en si este enformo/ 5 etc.—Letter of l todo el pueblo/ 5 etc.

198

THE RISE OP THE DUTCH REPUBLIC.

[1577

fairly “ trussed/’ lie affirmed that not a man among the faith¬
ful would dare to budge an inch . 1 He therefore informed his
Majesty that he was secretly meditating a retreat to some place
of security; judging very properly that, if he were still liis own
master, he should be able to exert more influence over those
who were still well disposed, than if he should suffer himself to
be taken captive. A suppressed conviction that he could
effect nothing, except with his sword, pierced through all his
more prudent reflections. He maintained that, after all, there
was no remedy for the body but to cut off the diseased parts
at once , 2 and he therefore begged his Majesty for the means
of performing the operation handsomely. The general ex¬
pressions which he had previously used in favour of broths and
mild treatment hardly tallied with the severe amputation thus
recommended. There was, in truth, a constant struggle going
on between the fierceness of his inclinations and the shackles
which had been imposed upon him. He already felt entirely
out of place, and although he scorned to fly from his post so
long as it seemed the post of danger, he was most anxious
that the King should grant him his dismissal, so soon as his
presence should no longer be imperiously required. He was
sure that the people would never believe in his Majesty’s
forgiveness until the man concerning whom they entertained
so much suspicion should be removed; for they saw in him
only the “ thunderbolt of his Majesty’s wrath.” 3 Orange
and England confirmed their suspicions, and sustained their
malice. Should he be compelled, against his will, to remain,
he gave warning that he might do something which would
be matter of astonishment to everybody . 4

Meantime, the man in whose hands really lay the question of
war and peace, sat at Middelburg, watching the deep current of

1 Letter of Don John, etc., p. 36. 3 Letter of Don John to Philip,

2 «p ues no tiene este cuerpo otro Discours Sommier. p. 44.

remedio que el cortar lo dahado del: 4 “Ser6 foi^ada a hazer alguna cosa.
lo qual se a de hazer ajora haziendo la que de mucho que maraviUat a todos,’*

provision que supliao de nuevo,” etc, etc.—Letter to Perez, Discours Som-
etc.—Ibid., p. 35. mier, p. 45.

1577. J

OBANGrE AND HIS FAMILY.

199

events as it slowly flowed towards tlie precipice. The whole
population of Holland and Zeland hung on his words. In
approaching the realms of William the Silent, Don John felt
that he had entered a charmed circle, where the talisman of his
own illustrious name lost its power, where his valour was
paralysed, and his sword rusted irrevocably in its sheath. “ The
people here,” he wrote, “are* bewitched by the Prince of
Orange. They love him, they fear him, and wish to have him
for their master. They inform him of everything, and take
no resolution without consulting him .” 1

While William was thus directing and animating the whole
nation with his spirit, his immediate friends became more and
more anxious concerning the perils to which he was exposed.
His mother, who had already seen her youngest-born, Henry,
her Adolphus, her chivalrous Louis, laid in their bloody graves
for the cause of conscience, was most solicitous for the welfare
of her “ heart’s beloved lord and son,” the Prince of Orange.
Nevertheless, the high-spirited old dame was even more alarmed
at the possibility of a peace in which that religious liberty for
which so much dear blood had been poured forth should be
inadequately secured. “ My heart longs for certain tidings
from my lord,” she wrote to William, “ for methinks the peace
now in prospect will prove but an oppression for soul and con¬
science. I trust my heart’s dearly-beloved lord and son will be
supported by Divine grace to do nothing against God and his
own soul’s salvation. ’Tis better to lose the temporal than the
eternal .” 2 Thus wrote the mother of William, and we can feel
the sympathetic thrill which such tender and lofty words awoke
in his breast. His son, the ill-starred Philip, now for ten years
long a compulsory sojourner in Spain, was not yet weaned from
iiis affection for his noble parent, but sent messages of affection
to him whenever occasion offered, while a less commendable
proof of his filial affection he had lately afforded, at the expense

1 “-los tiene encantados porque Gacbard, Corresp. de Guil. le Tacit., iii.

le aman y temen y quieren por Seflor. pref. lxiii., note 3.

Elios le avisan de todo y sin el no resu- 2 G-roen v. Prinsterer, Archives, etc.,
elven cosa.”—Extract of MS. letter in vi. 49, 50.

200

THE RISE OF THE DUTCH REPUBLIC.

[1577.

of the luckless captain of his Spanish guard. That officer,
having dared in his presence to speak disrespectfully of his
father, was suddenly seized about the waist by the enraged
young Count, hurled out of the window, and killed stone-
dead upon the spot . 1 After this exhibition of his natural
feelings, the Spanish government thought it necessary to take
more subtle means to tame so turbulent a spirit. Unfortu¬
nately they proved successful.

Count John of Nassau, too, was sorely pressed for money.
Six hundred thousand florins, at least, had been advanced
by himself and brothers to aid the cause of Netherland free¬
dom . 2 Louis and himself had, unhesitatingly and imme¬
diately, turned into that sacred fund the hundred thousand
crowns which the King of France had presented them for
their personal use , 3 for it was not the Prince of Orange alone
who had consecrated his wealth and his life to the cause, but the
members of his family, less immediately interested in the
country, had thus furnished what may well be called an enor¬
mous subsidy, and one most disproportionefl to their means.
Not only had they given all the cash which they could com¬
mand, by mortgaging their lands and rents, their plate and
furniture, but, in the words of Count John himself, “ they had
taken the chains and jewels from the necks of their wives,
their children, and their mother, and had hawked them about,
as if they had themselves been traders and hucksters .” 4 And
yet, even now, while stooping under this prodigious debt,
Count John asked not for present repayment. He only wrote
to the Prince to signify his extreme embarrassment, and to
request some obligation or recognition from the cities of
Holland and Zeland, whence hitherto no expression of grati¬
tude or acknowledgment had proceeded . 5

The Prince consoled and assured, as best he could, his mother,
son, wife, and brother, even at the same moment that he com¬
forted his people. He also received at this time a second and

De la Pise, p. 603. G-roen v. 2 Archives et Correspondance, vi. 95
Prinsterer, Archives, etc., vi. 102. Du sqq, 3 Ibid,

Maurier, Memoires. 4 Ibid. s Ibid.

1577.]

SECOND EMBASSY FROM DON JOHN.

201

more solemn embassy from Don John . 1 No sooner had the
Governor exchanged oaths at Brussels, and been acknow¬
ledged as the representative of his Majesty, than he hastened
to make another effort to conciliate the Prince. Don John
saw before him only a grand seignior of lofty birth and
boundless influence, who had placed himself towards the
Crown in a false position, from which he might even yet be
rescued ; for to sacrifice the whims of a reforming and
transitory religious fanaticism, which had spun itself for a
moment about so clear a brain, would, he thought, prove
but a trifling task for so experienced a politician as the
Prince. William of Orange, on the other hand, looked upon
his young antagonist as the most brilliant impersonation
which had yet been seen of the foul spirit of persecution.

It will be necessary to follow, somewhat more in detail than
is usually desirable, the interchange of conversations, letters,
and protocols, out of which the brief but important administra¬
tion of Don John was composed ; for it was exactly in such
manifestations that the great fight was really proceeding. Don
John meant peace, wise William meant war, for he knew that
no other issue was possible. Peace, in reality, was war in its
worst shape. Peace would unchain every priestly tongue, and
unsheath every knightly sword in the fifteen provinces against
little Holland and Zeland. He had been able to bind all the
provinces together by the hastily forged chain of the Ghent
treaty, and had done what he could to strengthen that union
by the principle of mutual religious respect. By the arrival of
Don John that work had been deranged. It had, however,
been impossible for the Prince thoroughly to infuse his own
ideas on the subject of toleration into the hearts of his nearest
associates. He could not hope to inspire his deadly enemies
with a deeper sympathy. Was he not himself the mark of
obloquy among the Beformers, because of his leniency to
Catholics ? Nay more, was not his intimate councillor, the
accomplished Sainte Aldegonde, in despair because the Prince
1 Bor, x. 814. Meteren, vii. 121.

202

TEE EISE OP THE DUTCH EEPUBLIC.

[1577.

refused to exclude the Anabaptists of Holland from the rights
of citizenship? At the very moment when William was
straining every nerve to unite warring sects, and to persuade
men’s hearts into a system by which their consciences were to
be laid open to God alone—at the moment when it was most
necessary for the very existence of the fatherland that Catholic
and Protestant should mingle their social and political rela¬
tions, it was indeed a bitter disappointment for him to see
wise statesmen of his own creed unable to rise to the idea of
toleration. “ The affair of the Anabaptists,” wrote Sainte Al-
degonde, 6C has been renewed. The Prince objects to exclude
them from citizenship. He answered me sharply, that their
yea was equal to our oath, and that we should not press this
matter, unless we ■were willing to confess that it was just for
the Papists to compel us to a Divine service which was against
our conscience.” It seems hardly credible that this sentence,
containing so sublime a tribute to the character of the Prince,
should have been indited as a bitter censure, and that, too,
by an enlightened and accomplished Protestant. tc In short,”
continued Sainte Aldegonde, with increasing vexation, u I
don’t see how we can accomplish our wish in this matter.
The Prince has uttered reproaches to me that our clergy
are striving to obtain a mastery over consciences. He
praised lately the saying of a monk who was not long ago
here, that our pot had not gone to the fire as often as that of
our antagonists, but that when the time came it would be
black enough. In short, the Prince fears that, after a few
centuries, the clerical tyranny on both sides will stand in
this respect on the same footing .” 1

Early in the month of May, Doctor Leoninus and Caspar
Schetz, Seigneur de Grobbendonek, had been sent on a mission
from the states-general to the Prince of Orange . 2 While their
negotiations were still pending, four special envoys from Don
John arrived at Middelburg. To this commission was in-

1 See the letter of Sainte Aldegonde ( xi. 5SS, 589.
in Brandt, Hist, der Keformatie, i. b. | 2 Bor, x. 814. Hoofd, xii. 501

1577.]

CONFEEENCE AT GEETEUYDENBEEG.

203

formally adjoined Leoninus, who had succeeded to the general
position of Viglius. Viglius was dead . 1 Since the memor¬
able arrest of the State Council, he had not appeared on the
scene of public affairs. The house-arrest, to which he had
been compelled by a revolutionary committee, had been indefi¬
nitely prolonged by a higher power, and after a protracted
illness he had noiselessly disappeared from the stage of life.
There had been few more learned doctors of both laws than
he. There had been few more adroit politicians, considered
from his point of view. His punning device was u Vita
moj tedium vigilia ,” 2 and he acted accordingly, but with a
narrow interpretation. His life had indeed been a vigil, but
it must be confessed that the vigils had been for Viglius.
The weather-beaten Palinurus, as he loved to call himself,
had conducted his own argosy so warily that he had saved his
whole cargo, and perished in port at last; while others, not
sailing by his compass, were still tossed by the tempest.

The agents of Don John were the Duke of Aerschot, the
Seigneur de Hierges, Seigneur de Willerval, and Doctor
Meetkercke, accompanied by Doctor Andrew Gaill, one of
the imperial commissioners . 3 The two envoys from the states-
general, Leoninus and Schetz, being present at Gfertruyden-
berg, were added to the deputation . 4 5 An important con¬
ference took place, the details of which have been somewhat
minutely preserved.® The Prince of Orange, accompanied by
Sainte Aldegonde and four other councillors, encountered

1 He died May 8, 1577—Bor, x.
812. Hoofd. xn. 501.

2 Bor, x. 812. Meter en, vi. 120.—
Another motto of his was, “Em groot
jurist een looser Christ ; ” that is to say,
A good lawyer is a bad Christian.—Me-
teren, vi. 120. Unfortunately, his own
character did not give the lie satisfac¬
torily to the device.

3 Bor, x. 814. Hoofd, xii. 502.

4 Ibid., x. 816. Ibid.

5 By the learned and acute Gachard,
to whom the history of the Nether¬
lands is under such great obligations

Vide Correspondance de Guillaume le
Tacit., ni. preface, lxii. lxiii., and appen-
dice, pp. 447-459, where is to be found
the “ Yraye Narration des Propos da
Cost6 et d’aultre tenux entre des Depu¬
tes d’Hollande et de Zelande a Gheer-
trudenberg au mois de May, 1577.”
“ On recommit,” says Mr. Gachard, “en
lisant cette curieuse relation, qu’elle fufc
Touvrage d’un des conseillersdu Prince,
peut-Stre hauteur en est il Phihppe de
Marnix (St. Aldegonde) lui-meme.”—
I Note to p. 447, Guillaume le Tacit.,
lii.

204 THE RISE OE THE DUTCH REPUBLIC. [1577.

the seven champions from Brussels in a long debate, which
was more like a passage of arms or a trial of skill than a
friendly colloquy with a pacific result in prospect; for it
must be remembered that the Prince of Orange did not
mean peace. He had devised the pacification of Ghent as a
union of the other provinces with Holland and Zeland,
against Philip. He did not intend that it should be con¬
verted into a union of the other provinces with Philip,
against Holland and Zeland.

Meetkercke was the first to speak. He said that the
Governor had despatched them to the Prince, to express his
good intentions, to represent the fidelity with which his pro¬
mises had thus far been executed, and to entreat the Prince,
together with the provinces of Holland and Zeland, to unite
with their sister provinces in common allegiance to his Majesty.
His Highness also proposed to advise with them concerning
the proper method of convoking the states-general . 1 As soon
as Meetkercke had finished his observations, the Prince de¬
manded that the points and articles should be communicated
to him in writing. How this was precisely what the envoys
preferred to omit. It was easier, and far more agreeable, to
expatiate in a general field of controversy, than to remain
tethered to distinct points. It was particularly in these con¬
fused conferences, where neither party was entirely sincere,
that the volatile word was thought preferable to the permanent
letter. Already so many watery lines had been traced, in the
course of these fluctuating negotiations, that a few additional
records would be, if necessary, as rapidly effaced as the rest.

The commissioners, after whispering in each other’s ears
for a few minutes, refused to put down anything in writing.
Protocols, they said, only engendered confusion.

“ Ho, no,” said the Prince, in reply, “we will have nothing
except in black and white. Otherwise, things will be said on
both sides which will afterwards be interpreted in different
ways. Hay, it will be denied that some important points have
1 Vraye Narration, etc., 447, 448.

1577.] CONVERSATION WITHOUT PROTOCOLS. 205

been discussed at all. We know that by experience. Witness
the solemn treaty of Ghent, which ye have tried to make
fruitless, under pretence that some points, arranged by word
of mouth, and not stated particularly in writing, had been
intended in a different sense from the obvious one. Govern¬
ments given by royal commission, for example ; what point
could be clearer ? Nevertheless, ye have hunted up glosses
and cavils to obscure the intention of the contracting parties.
Ye have denied my authority over Utrecht, because not
mentioned expressly in the treaty of Ghent .” 1

“ But,” said cne of the envoys, interrupting at this point,
“ neither the Council of State nor the Court of Mechlin consider
Utrecht as belonging to your Excellency’s government .” 2

“ Neither the Council of State,” replied the Prince, “ nor the
Court of Mechlin have anything to do with the matter. ’Tis in
my commission, and all the world knows it .” 3 He added, that
instead of affairs being thrown into confusion by being reduced
to writing, he was of opinion, on the contrary, that it was by
that means alone they could be made perfectly clear.

Leoninus replied good-naturedly, that there should be no
difficulty upon that score, and that writings shouldbe exchanged.
In the meantime, however, he expressed the hope that the Prince
would honour them with some preliminary information as to the
points in which he felt aggrieved, as well as to the pledges
which he and the states were inclined to demand.

“ And what reason have we to hope,” cried the Prince,
“that your pledges, if made, will be redeemed ? That which
was promised so solemnly at Ghent, and ratified by Don John
and his Majesty, has not been fulfilled .” 4

“Of what particular point do you complain?” asked
Schetz. “ Wherein has the pacification been violated ? ”

Hereupon the Prince launched forth upon a flowing stream
of invective. He spoke to them of his son detained in distant

1 Vraye Narration, etc , 449, 450. 3 Bor, r. 819. Hoofd, xii. 504.

3 See details of Conferences at G-er- 4 Vraye Narration, etc. Gachard,

truydenberg, preserved by Bor, x. 819. Guillaume le Tacit., in. 450.

206 THE RISE OE THE DUTCH EEPUBLIC. [1577.

captivity—of his own property at Breda withheld—of a
thousand confiscated estates—of garrisons of German mer¬
cenaries—of ancient constitutions annihilated—of the infamous
edicts nominally suspended, but actually in full vigour. He
complained bitterly that the citadels, those nests and dens of
tyranny, were not yet demolished. “ Ye accuse me of dis¬
trust,” he cried; “ but while the castles of Antwerp, Ghent,
Namur, and so many more are standing, 'tis yourselves who
shew how utterly ye are without confidence in any permanent
and peaceful arrangement .” 1

“And what,” asked a deputy, smoothly, “is the point
which touches you most nearly ? What is it that your Ex¬
cellency most desires ? By what means will it be possible for
the government fully to give you contentment ? ” 2

“ I wish,” he answered, simply, “ the full execution of the
Ghent pacification. If you regard the general welfare of the
land, it is well, and I thank you. If not, ’tis idle to make pro¬
positions, for I regard my country’s profit, not my own .” 3
Afterwards, the Prince simply repeated his demand that the
Ghent treaty should be executed; adding, that after the
states-general should have been assembled, it would be time
to propose the necessary articles for mutual security.

Hereupon Doctor Leoninus observed that the assembly of the
states-general could hardly be without danger. He alluded to
the vast number of persons who would thus be convoked, to the
great discrepancy of humours which would thus be manifested.
Many men would be present neither discreet nor experienced.
He therefore somewhat coolly suggested that it might be better
to obviate the necessity of holding any general assembly at all.
An amicable conference, for the sake of settling doubtful ques¬
tions, would render the convocation superfluous, and save the
country from the dangers by which the step would be attended.
The Doctor concluded by referring to the recent assemblies
cf France, the only result of which had been fresh dissensions . 4

1 Bor, x. 819. Hoofd, xii. 504.1 2 Bor, Hoofd, ubi sup. 3 Ibid.Ibid.

•Compare Cabrera, xi. 913, 914. | 4 Vraye Narration, etc., 451.

1577 *]

CONTINUATION OF THE CONFERENCE.

207

It thus appeared that the proposition on the part of Don John
meant something very different from its apparent signification.
To advise with the Prince as to the proper method of assembling
the estates really meant, to advise him as to the best means
of preventing any such assembly. Here, certainly, was a good
reason for the preference expressed by the deputies, in favour
of amicable discussions over formal protocols. It might not
be so easy in a written document to make the assembly, and
the prevention of the assembly, appear exactly the same thing.

The Prince replied that there was a wide difference between
the condition of France and of the Netherlands. Here, was
one will and one intention. There, were many factions,
many partialities, many family intrigues. Since it had been
agreed by the Ghent treaty that certain points should be
provisionally maintained and others settled by a speedy con¬
vocation of the states-general, the plainest course was to main¬
tain the provisional points, and to summon the states-general
at once . 1 This certainly was concise and logical. It is
doubtful, however, whether he was really as anxious for the
assembly-general as he appeared to be. Both parties were
fencing at each other, without any real intention of carrying
their points; for neither wished the convocation, while both
aff ected an eagerness for that event. The conversation proceeded.

“At least,” said an envoy, “you can tell beforehand in
what you are aggrieved, and what you have to propose.”

“We are aggrieved in nothing, and we have nothing to
propose,” answered the Prince, “ so long as you maintain
the pacification. We demand no other pledge, and are
willing to refer everything afterwards to the assembly.”

“ But,” asked Schetz, “ what security do you offer us that
you will yourselves maintain the pacification ? ”

“We are not bound to give assurances,” answered the Prince.
“ The pacification is itself an assurance. ’Tis a provisional
arrangement, to be maintained by both parties, until after
the decision of the assembly. The pacification must therefore
1 Yraye Narration, etc., 452.

208 THE EISE OF THE BUTCH EEPUELIC. [1577,

be maintained or disavowed. Choose between the two.
Only, if you mean still to acknowledge it, you must keep its
articles. This we mean to do, and if up to the present time
you have any complaint to make of our conduct, as we trust
you have not, we are ready to give you satisfaction .” 1

“ In short,” said an envoy, “you mean, after we shall have
placed in your hands the government of Utrecht, Amsterdam,
and other places, to deny us any pledges on your part to
maintain the pacification.”

“ But,” replied the Prince, “ if we are already accomplish¬
ing the pacification, what more do you wish ? ”

“ In this fashion,” cried the others, “ after having got all
that you ask, and having thus fortified yourselves more than
you were ever fortified before, you will make war upon us.”

“War!” cried the Prince, “what are you afraid of?
We are but a handful of people; a worm compared to the
King of Spain. Moreover, ye are fifteen provinces to two.
What have you to fear ?

“ Ah,” said Meetkercke, “ we have seen what you could do,
when you were masters of the sea. Don’t make yourselves
out quite so little .” 3

“ But,” said the Prince, “ the pacification of Ghent provides
for all this. Your deputies were perfectly satisfied with the
guarantees it furnished. As to making war upon you, ’tis a
thing without foundation or appearance of probability. Had
you believed then that you had anything to fear, you would
not have forgotten to demand pledges enough. On the con¬
trary, you saw how roundly we were dealing with you then,
honestly disgarnishing the country, even before the peace
had been concluded. For ourselves, although we felt the
right to demand guarantees, we would not do it, for we were
treating with you on terms of confidence. We declared ex¬
pressly that had we been dealing with the King, we should
have exacted stricter pledges. As to demanding them of us

* Vraye Narration des Propos da | 3 “-et pourtant neyou faites pas

Cost6, etc., 422, 453. 2 Ibid. |si petits commc tous faictes.”—Ibid.

1577.]

DISCUSSION AT THE CONFERENCE.

209

at the moment* ’tis nonsense. We have neither the means
>f assailing you, nor do we deem it expedient to do so .” 1

“To say the truth/’ replied Schetz, u we are really confi¬
dent that you will not make war upon us. On the other hand,
however, we see you spreading your religion daily, instead of
keeping it confined within your provinces. What assurance
do you give us that, after all your demands shall have been
accorded, you will make no innovation in religion ?” 2

“ The assurance which we give you,” answered the Prince,
u is that we will really accomplish the pacification.”

66 But,” persisted Schetz, “ do you fairly promise to submit
to all which the states-general shall ordain, as well on this
point of religious exercise in Holland and Zeland, as on all
the others ?” 8

This was a home thrust. The Prince parried it for a while.
In his secret thoughts, he had no expectation or desire that
the states-general, summoned in a solemn manner by the
Governor-General, on the basis of the memorable assembly
before which was enacted the grand ceremony of the imperial
abdication, would ever hold their session; and although he
did not anticipate the prohibition by such assembly, should it
take place, of the Reformed worship in Holland and Zeland,
he did not intend to submit to it, even should it be made.

“ I cannot tell,” said he, accordingly, in reply to the last
question, “ for ye have yourselves already broken and violated
the pacification; having made an accord with Don John without
our consent, and having already received him as Governor.”

u So that you don’t mean,” replied Schetz, “ to accept the
decision of the states ? ” 4

“I don’t say that,” returned the Prince, continuing to
parry ; “ it is possible that we might accept it; it is possible
that we might not. We are no longer in our entire rights,
as we were at the time of our first submission at Ghent.”

66 But we will make you whole,” said Schetz.

“ That you cannot do,” replied the Prince, “for you have
1 Vraye Narration, etc., 454. 3 Ibid. 3 Ibid., 455. 4 Ibid., 456.

VOL. UT.

O

210

THE RISE OP THE HUTCH REPUBLIC.

[1577.

broken the pacification all to pieces. We have nothing, there¬
fore, to expect from the states, but to be condemned off-hand .” 1

“ You don’t mean, then,” repeated Schetz, to submit to
the estates touching the exercise of religion ?”

u No, we do not! ” replied the Prince, driven into a corner
at last, and striking out in his turn. “ We certainly do not.
To tell you the truth, we see that you intend our extirpation,
and we don’t mean to be extirpated .” 2

“ Ho ! ” said the Duke of Aerschot, u there is nobody who
wishes that.”

66 Indeed but you do,” said the Prince. 66 We have sub¬
mitted ourselves to you in good faith, and you now would com¬
pel us and all the world to maintain exclusively the Catholic
religion. This cannot be done except by extirpating us.”

A long, learned, vehement discussion upon abstract points,
between Sainte Aldegonde, Leoninus, and Doctor Gaill, then
ensued, during which the Prince, who had satisfied himself as
to the result of the conference, retired from the apartment.
He afterwards had a private convention with Schetz and
Leoninus, in which he reproached them with their inclination
to reduce their fatherland to slavery . 3 He also took occasion
to remark to Hierges, that it was a duty to content the people:
that whatever might be accomplished for them was durable,
whereas the will of kings was perishing. He told the Duke
of Aerschot that if Utrecht were not restored he would take
it by force. He warned the Duke that to trust the King was
to risk his head. He at least would never repose confidence
in him, having been deceived too often. The King cherished
the maxim, Hcereticis non est servanda fides; as for himself he
was calbo y calbanista , and meant to die so . 4

The formal interchange of documents soon afterwards took
place. The conversation thus held between the different parties

1 “ Que d’estre condamnes k pur et
a plain.”—Vrave Narration, etc., 456.

a Ibid.

3 Ibid., 459.

4 Extracts from the MS. letters

(2Sth and 20th of May 1577) of Hon
John to the King, given by M. Gachard
in the preface to the third vol. Cor-
respondance de Guillaume le Tacit, p.
lxiii.

1577.]

RESULTS OF THE CONFERENCE.

211

shews, however, the exact position of affairs. There was no
change in the intentions of either Reformers or Royalists.
Philip and his representatives still contended for two points,
and claimed the praise of moderation that their demands were
so few in number. They were willing to concede everything,
save the unlimited authority of the King and the exclusive
maintenance of the Catholic religion. The Prince of Orange,
on his side, claimed two points also—the ancient constitu¬
tions of the country and religious freedom. It was obvious
enough that the contest was the same, in reality, as it had
ever been. No approximation had been made towards re¬
conciling absolutism with national liberty—persecution with
toleration. The pacification of Ghent had been a step in
advance. That treaty opened the door to civil and religious
liberty , 1 but it was an agreement among the provinces, not a
compact between the people and the monarch. By the
casuists of Brussels and the licentiates of Louvain, it had, to
be sure, been dogmatically pronounced orthodox, and had
been confirmed by royal edict. To believe, however, that liis
Catholic Majesty had faith in the dogmas propounded, was as
absurd as to believe in the dogmas themselves. If the Ghent
pacification really had made no breach in royal and Roman
infallibility, then the efforts of Orange and the exultation
of the Reformers had indeed been idle.

The envoys accordingly, in obedience to their instructions,
made a formal statement to the Prince of Orange and the
states of Holland and Zeland, on the part of Don John . 2
They alluded to the departure of the Spaniards, as if that
alone had fulfilled every duty, and authorised every claim.
They therefore demanded the immediate publication in Hol¬
land and Zeland of the perpetual edict. They insisted on
the immediate discontinuance of all hostile attempts to reduce

1 Even Tassis admits this fact, which religionis.”
is indeed indisputable. “ Abkorrebat 2 See it in Bor, x. 816, 817.—Com-
Austriacus,” says he (liii. p. 245,) “ a pare the letter of instruction published
confirmations Pacis Gtindavensw, quod by Gachara, Correspond, de Guillaume
per earn tacite introducebatur libertas le Tacit., iii. 4oS-446.

212

THE RISE OP THE DUTCH REPUBLIC.

[1577.

Amsterdam to the jurisdiction of Orange; required the
Prince to abandon his pretensions to Utrecht, and denounced
the efforts making by him and his partisans to diffuse the
heretical doctrines through the other provinces. They ob¬
served, in conclusion, that the general question of religion
was not to be handled, because reserved for the consideration
of the states-general, according to the treaty of Ghent . 1

The reply, delivered on the following day by the Prince of
Orange and the deputies, maintained that the perpetual edict
was widely different from the pacification of Ghent, which it
affected to uphold; that the promises to abstain from all viola¬
tion of the ancient constitutions had not been kept, that the
German troops had not been dismissed, that the property of
the Prince in the Netherlands and Burgundy had not been
restored, that his son was detained in captivity, that the
government of Utrecht was withheld from him, that the char¬
ters and constitution of the country, instead of being ex¬
tended, had been contracted, and that the Governor had
claimed the right to convoke the states-general at his pleasure,
in violation of the ancient right to assemble at their own.
The document further complained that the adherents of the
Reformed religion were not allowed to frequent the different
provinces in freedom, according to the stipulations of Ghent;
that Don John, notwithstanding all these shortcomings, had
been acknowledged as Governor-General, without the consent
of the Prince; that he was surrounded with a train of
Spaniards, Italians, and other foreigners—Gonzaga,. Esco¬
bedo, and the like—as well as by renegade Netherlander
like Tassis, by whom he was unduly influenced against the
country and the people, and by whom a “back door was
held constantly open ” to the admission of evils innumerable . 2
Finally, it was asserted that, by means of this last act of
union, a new form of inquisition had been introduced, and one
which was much more cruel than the old system; inasmuch

1 Bor, x. 816, 817. G-achard, Cor- 2 “Dat Don Johan, een achter deure
respondance de Guillaume le Tacit., iii. open lioud met de boven genoemde, en
438-446. andere van gelijke stoffie,” etc., etc.

1577.]

RENEWED PERSECUTIONS.

213

as the Spanish Inquisition did not take information against
men except npon suspicion, whereas, by the new process, all
the world would be examined as to their conscience and
religion, under pretence of maintaining the union . 1

Such was the result of this second mission to the Prince of
Orange on the part of the Governor-General. Don John
never sent another. The swords were now fairly measured
between the antagonists, and the scabbard was soon to be
thrown away. A few weeks afterwards, the Governor wrote
to Philip that there was nothing in the world which William
of Orange so much abhorred as his Majesty; adding with
Castillian exaggeration, that if the Prince could drink the
King’s blood, he would do so with great pleasure . 2

Don John, being thus seated in the saddle, had a moment’s
leisure to look around him. It was but a moment, for he had
small confidence in the aspect of affairs, but one of his first acts,
after assuming the government, afforded a proof of the inter¬
pretation which he had adopted of the Ghent pacification. An
edict was issued, addressed to all bishops, u heretic-masters ,” 3
and provincial councils, commanding the strict enforcement of
the canons of Trent, and other ecclesiastical decrees. These
authorities were summoned instantly to take increased heed
of the flocks under their charge, u and to protect them from
the ravening wolves which were seeking to devour them.”

The measure bore instant fruit. A wretched tailor of Mech¬
lin, Peter Panis by name, an honest man, but a heretic, was
arrested upon the charge of having preached or exhorted at a
meeting in that city. He confessed that he had been present
at the meeting, but denied that he had preached. He was then
required to denounce the others who had been present, and the
men who had actually officiated. He refused, and was con¬
demned to death. The Prince of Orange, while the process was
pending, wrote an earnest letter to the Council of Mechlin, im-

1 Reply of the States of Holland, apud G-achard, preface to Cor. de G-uil-

Bor, x. 818 b. laume le Tacit, iii. lxiv. notes, 112.

2 Extract from MS. letter (28th of 3 “ Ketter meesters—See the edict.
July, 1577) of Eon John to the King, Bor, x. 819, 820.

214 THE RISE OF THE DUTCH REPUBLIC. [1577.

ploring them not now to rekindle the fires of religions persecu¬
tion. 1 His appeal was in vain. The poor tailor was beheaded
at Mechlin on the 15th of June, the Conqueror of Lepanto
being present at the execution, 2 and adding dignity to the
scene. Thus, at the moment when William of Orange was pro¬
tecting the Anabaptists of Middelburg in their rights of citizen¬
ship, even while they refused its obligations, the son of the
Emperor was dipping his hands in the blood of a poor wretch
who had done no harm but to listen to a prayer without de¬
nouncing the preacher. The most intimate friends of the Prince
were offended with his liberality. The imperial shade of Don
John’s father might have risen to approve the son who had so
dutifully revived his bloody edicts and his ruthless policy.

Three parties were now fairly in existence ; the nobles, who
hated the Spaniards, but who were disposed to hold themselves
aloof from the people; the adherents of Don John, commonly
called iC J ohanists; ” and the partisans of the Prince of Orange—•
for William the Silent had always felt the necessity of leaning
for support on something more substantial than the court party,
a reed shaken by the wind, and failing always when most relied
upon. His efforts were constant to elevate the middle class, to
build up a strong third party which should unite much of the
substantial wealth and intelligence of the land, drawing con¬
stantly from the people, and deriving strength from national
enthusiasm—a party which should include nearly all the poli¬
tical capacity of the country; and his efforts were successful.
Ho doubt the Governor and his Secretary were right when
they said the people of the Netherlands were inclined to brook
the Turk as easily as the Spaniard for their master, and that
their hearts were in reality devoted to the Prince of Orange.

As to the grandees, -they were mostly of those who u sought
to swim between two waters,” according to the Prince’s expres¬
sion. There were but few unswerving supporters of the Spanish
rule, like the Berlaymont and the Tassis families. The rest
veered daily with the veering wind. Aerschot, the great chief
1 Hor, x. 820. Hoofcl, adi. 507. Meteren, vii. 122 a , 2 Bor, Hoofd, Meteren, ubi sapy.

1577.] EFFORTS OF THE ESTATES. 215

of the Catholic party, was but a cringing courtier, false and
fawning both to Don John and the Prince. He sought to
play a leading part in a great epoch : he only distinguished
himself by courting and betraying all parties, and being thrown
away by all. His son and brother were hardly more re¬
spectable. The Prince knew how little dependence could be
placed on such allies, even although they had signed and
sworn the Ghent pacification. He was also aware how little it
was the intention of the Governor to be bound by that famous
treaty. The Spanish troops had been, indeed, disbanded, but
there were still between ten and fifteen thousand German
mercenaries in the service of the King; these were stationed
in different important places, and held firm possession of the
citadels. The great keys of the country were still in the
hands of the Spaniards. Aerschot, indeed, governed the
castle of Antwerp, in room of Sancho d’Avila, but how much
more friendly would Aerschot be than Avila, when interest
prompted him to sustain Don John against the Prince ?

Meanwhile, the estates, according to their contract, were
straining every nerve to raise the requisite sum for the payment
of the German troops. Equitable offers were made, by which
the soldiers were to receive a certain portion of the arrears due
to them in merchandise, and the remainder in cash. 1 The
arrangement was rejected, at the secret instance of Don John. 2
While the Governor affected an ingenuous desire to aid the
estates in their efforts to free themselves from the remaining
portion of this encumbrance, he was secretly tampering
with the leading German officers, in order to prevent their
acceptance of any offered terms. 3 He persuaded these mili¬
tary chiefs that a conspiracy existed, by which they were not
only to be deprived of their wages but of their lives. He
warned them to heed no promises, to accept no terms.
Convincing them that he, and he only, was their friend, he
arranged secret plans by which they should assist him in

1 Bor, X. 820. I sqq. Hoofd, arii. 505.

* Meteren, vii. 122. Bor, x. 820, | s Meteren, Bor, Hoofd, ubi sup.

216

THE RISE OF THE HUTCH REPUBLIC.

[1577.

taking the fortresses of the country into still more secure
possession, 1 for he was not more inclined to trust to the
Aerschots and the Havres than was the Prince himself.

The Governor lived in considerable danger, and in still
greater dread of capture, if not of assassination. His imagin¬
ation, excited by endless tales of ambush, and half-discovered
conspiracies, saw armed soldiers behind every bush, a pitfall
in every street. Had not the redoubtable Alva been nearly
made a captive ? Did not Louis of Nassau nearly entrap the
Grand Commander ? No doubt the Prince of Orange was
desirous of accomplishing a feat by which he would be placed,
in regard to Philip, on the vantage ground which the King
had obtained by his seizure of Count Yan Buren, nor did
Don John need for warnings coming from sources far from
obscure. In May, the Yiscount de Gand had forced his way
to his bedside in the dead of night, and wakening him from
his sleep, had assured him, with great solemnity, that his life
was not worth a pin’s purchase if he remained in Brussels.
He was aware, he said, of a conspiracy by which both his
liberty and his life were endangered, and assured him that in
immediate flight lay his only safety. 2

The Governor fled to Mechlin, where the same warnings were
soon afterwards renewed, for the solemn sacrifice of Peter Panis,
the poor preaching tailor of that city, had not been enough to
strike terror to the hearts of all the Netherlanders. One day,
toward the end of June, the Duke of Aerschot, riding out with
Don John, 3 gave him a circumstantial account of plots, old and
new, whose existence he had discovered or invented, and he
shewed a copy of a secret letter, written by the Prince of Orange
to the estates, recommending the forcible seizure of his High¬
ness. It is true that the Duke was, at that period and for long
after, upon terms of the most “fraternal friendship” with the
Prince, and was in the habit of signing himself u his very affec-

etc., gesta sunt, p. 13.—Luxembergi,
1578.

3 Ibid., p. 17.

1 Bor, Meteren, Hoofd.

1 Yera et simplex Nar ratio eorum
quae ab adventu H. Joannis Austriaci,

1577.] DON JOHN THREATENED AND WARNED. 217

tionate brother and cordial friend to serve him,” 1 yet this did
not prevent him from accomplishing what he deemed his duty,
in secretly denouncing his plans. It is also true that he, at
the same time, gave the Prince private information concerning
the government, and sent him intercepted letters from his
enemies, 2 thus easing his conscience on both sides, and trim¬
ming his sails to every wind which might blow. The Duke now,
however, reminded his Highness of the contumely with which
he had been treated at Brussels, of the insolent threats with
which the citizens had pursued his servants and secretaries
even to the very door of his palace. 3 He assured him that
the same feeling existed at Mechlin, and that neither himself
nor family were much safer there than in the capital, a plot
being fully organised for securing his person. The conspi¬
rators, he said, were openly supported by a large political
party, who called themselves anti-Johanists, and who clothed
themselves in symbolic costume, as had been done by the
disaffected in the days of Cardinal Granvelle. He assured the
Governor that nearly all the members of the states-general
were implicated in these schemes. u And what becomes,
then, of their promises ? ” asked Don John. “ That for their
promises! ” cried the Duke, snapping his fingers; 4 “no man in
the land feels bound by engagements now.” The Governor
demanded the object of the states in thus seeking to deprive
him of his liberty. The Duke informed him that it was to
hold him in captivity until they had compelled him to sign
every paper which they chose to lay before him. Such things
had been done in the Netherlands in former days, the Duke
observed, as he proceeded to narrate how a predecessor of his
Highness and a prince of the land, after having been com¬
pelled to sign innumerable documents, had been, in conclusion,

* Archives et Corres., vi. 141-143. 4 Ibid., p. 19.—See also the letter

2 See the letter last quoted, Ar- of Don John to the states-general,

chives, etc., vi. 143, 144. dated August 24, 1577, in Dor, xi.

3 Vera et simplex Narratio, etc., p 864, 865 .—“ Daerop hy antwoorde
14.—Compare the M£moire de Grob- klickenge mette fingera,” etc.
bendonck, p. 172; Bull. Com. Roy., x.

218

THE RISE OF THE DUTCH REPUBLIC.

[1577.

tossed out of the windows of his own palace, with all his
retinue, to perish upon the pikes of an insurgent mob below . 1
The Governor protested that it did not become the son of
Charles the Fifth and the representative of his Catholic
Majesty to hear such intimations a second time. After his
return, he brooded over what had been said to him for a few
days, and he then broke up his establishment at Mechlin,
selling off his superfluous furniture, and even the wine in his
cellars . 2 Thus shewing that his absence, both from Brussels
and Mechlin, was to be a prolonged one, he took advantage of
an unforeseen occurrence again to remove his residence.

1 Vera Narratio, etc., pp. 18, 19.1 2 Discours Sommier des Justcs

Letter of Don John, ubi sup. I Causes, etc., etc., p. 17. Bor, s. 828-

CHAPTER IH.

A LION IN THE TOILS.

The city of Namur—Margaret of Yalois—Her intrigues in Hainault in
favour of Alemjon—Her reception by Don John at Namur—Festivities
in her honour—Seizure of Namur citadel by Don John—Plan for seiz¬
ing that of Antwerp—Letter of the estates to Philip, sent by Escovedo
—Fortunes and fate of Escovedo in Madrid—Repairing of dikes—The
Prince’s visit to Holland—His letter to the estates-general on the
subject of Namur citadel—His visit to Utrecht—Correspondence and
commissioners between Don John and the estates—Acrimonious and
passionate character of these colloquies—Attempt of Treslong upon
Antwerp citadel frustrated by De Bourse—Fortunate panic of the
German mercenaries—Antwerp evacuated by the foreign troops—
Renewed correspondence—Audacity of the Governor’s demands—
Letters of Escovedo and others intercepted—Private schemes of Don
John not understood by the estates—His letter to the Empress Dowager—
More correspondence with the estates—Painful and false position
of the Governor—Demolition, in part, of Antwerp citadel, and of
other fortresses by the patriots—Statue of Alva—Letter of estates-
general to the King.

There were few cities of the Netherlands more picturesque in
situation, more trimly built, and more opulent of aspect than
the little city of Namur. Seated at the confluence of the
Sombre with the Meuse, and throwing over each river a
bridge of solid but graceful structure, it lay in the lap of a
most fruitful valley. A broad crescent-shaped plain, fringed
by the rapid Meuse, and enclosed by gently rolling hills
cultivated to their crests, or by abrupt precipices of lime¬
stone crowned with verdure, was divided by numerous
hedgerows, and dotted all over with corn-fields, vineyards,
and flower-gardens. Many eyes have gazed with delight
upon that well-known and most lovely valley, and many

220

THE ELSE OF THE HUTCH REPUBLIC.

[1577.

torrents of blood have mingled with those glancing waters
since that long-buried and most sanguinary age which forms
our theme; and still placid as ever is the valley, brightly
as ever flows the stream. Even now, as in that vanished, but
never-forgotten time, nestles the little city in the angle of the
two rivers; still directly over its head seems to hang in mid¬
air the massive and frowning fortress, like the gigantic helmet
in the fiction, as if ready to crush the pigmy town below.

It was this famous citadel, crowning an abrupt precipice
five hundred feet above the river’s bed, and placed near the
frontier of France, which made the city so important, and
which had now attracted Don John’s attention in this hour of
his perplexity. The unexpected visit of a celebrated person¬
age furnished him with the pretext which he desired. The
beautiful Margaret of Yalois, Queen of Navarre, was pro¬
ceeding to the baths of Spa, to drink the waters . 1 Her health
was as perfect as her beauty, but she was flying from a
husband whom she hated, to advance the interest of a brother
whom she loved with a more than sisterly fondness—for the
worthless Duke of Alengon was one of the many competitors
for the Netherland government; the correspondence between
himself and his brother with Orange and his agents being still
continued. The hollow truce with the Huguenots in France
had, however, been again succeeded by war. Henry of
Yalois had already commenced operations in Gascony against
Henry of Navarre, whom he hated almost 2 as cordially as
Margaret herself could do, and the Duke of Alenin was
besieging Issoire . 3 Meantime the beautiful Queen came to
mingle the golden thread of her feminine intrigues with the
dark woof of the Netherland destinies,

Few spirits have been more subtle, few faces so fatal as hers.
True child of the Medicean mother, worthy sister of Charles,
Henry, and Francis—princes for ever infamous in the annals of

1 Bor, x. 828. Meteren, vii. 122.1 2 Memoires de Marguerite de Yalois,

Cabrera, xi. 929. Hoofd, xii. 508, | p. 123. Biege, 1714.
et ah 3 He Thou, vii. 500 sqq., liv. 63.

1577.]

MARGARET OF VALOIS.

221

France—she possessed more beauty and wit than Mary of
Scotland, more learning and accomplishments than Elizabeth
of England. In the blaze of her beauty, according to the
inflated language of her most determined worshipper, the
wings of all rivals were melted. Heaven required to be raised
higher and earth made wider, before a full sweep could be
given to her own majestic flight . 1 We are further informed
that she was a Minerva for eloquence, that she composed
matchless poems which she sang most exquisitely to the sound
of her lute, and that her familiar letters were so full of genius,
that “ poor Cicero ” was but a fool to her in the same branch
of composition . 3 The world has shuddered for ages at the
dark tragedy of her nuptials. Was it strange that hatred,
incest, murder, should follow in the train of a wedding thus
hideously solemnised ?

Don John, as in his Moorish disguise he had looked upon
her perfections, had felt in danger of becoming really the slave
he personated—“her beauty is more divine than human,” he
had cried, “but fitter to destroy men’s souls than to bless
them; ” 3 —and now the enchantress was on her way to his
dominions. Her road led through Namur to Liege, and gal¬
lantry required that he should meet her as she passed. At¬
tended by a select band of gentlemen ana a few horsemen of
his body-guard, the Governor came to Namur . 4

Meantime the Queen crossed the frontier, and was courteously
received at Cambray. The bishop—of the loyal house of Ber-
laymont—was a stanch supporter of the King, and although a
Fleming, was Spanish to the core. On him the cajolery of the
beautiful Queen was first essayed, but was found powerless.
The prelate gave her a magnificent ball, but resisted her bland¬
ishments. He retired with the appearance of the confections^

1 Eloge de Marguerite de Valois, etc., etc.—Eloge, etc., etc., p. 18.

Bayne de France et Navarre, etc., par 3 “ Aunque la kermosura aesta Reyna
Brantome, p. 2, usa. se mas divina que humaiia, es mas

2 <<-Ses belles lettres—les mieux para perder y danar los hombres que

couckees so it pour estre graves, que salvarlos.”—Ibid., p. 4.

pour estre familieres-il n’y a nul 4 Bor, x. 828. Hoofd, id. 508.

qui les voyant ne se mocque du pauvre Cabrera, xi. 929.

Ciceron a?ec les siennes familieres.”

222

THE RISE OF THE DUTCH REPUBLIC.

[1577.

but the governor of the citadel, the Seigneur d’lnchy, re¬
mained, with whom Margaret was more successful. She found
him a cordial hater of Spain, a favourer of France, and very
impatient under the authority of the bishop. He obtained per¬
mission to accompany the royal visitor a few stages of her
journey, and returned to Cambray, her willing slave ; holding
the castle in future, neither for king nor bishop, but for
Margaret’s brother Alen^on, alone. At Mons she was received
’with great state by the Count Lalain, who was governor of
Hainault, vvhile his Countess governed him. A week of festi¬
vities graced the advent of the Queen, during which period the
hearts of both Lalain and his wife were completely subjugated.
They agreed that Flanders had been too long separated from
the parental France to which it of right belonged. The Count
was a stanch Catholic, but he hated Spain. He was a relative
of Egmont, and anxious to avenge his death, but he was no
lover of the people, and was jealous of Orange. Moreover, his
wife had become entirely fascinated by the designing Queen.
So warm a friendship had sprung up between the two fair
ladies as to make it indispensable that Flanders and Hainault
should be annexed to France. The count promised to hold
his whole government at the service of Alen^on, and recom¬
mended that an attempt should be made to gain over the
incorruptible Governor of Cambray. Margaret did not in¬
form him that she had already turned that functionary round
her finger, but she urged Lalain and his wife to seduce him
from his allegiance, if possible . 1

The Count, with a retinue of mounted men, accompanied
her on her way towards Namur, but turned as the distant
tramp of Don John’s cavalcade was heard approaching, for it
was not desirable for Lalain, at that moment, to find himself
face to face with the Governor. Don John stood a moment
awaiting the arrival of the Queen. He did not dream of her
political intrigues, nor see in the fair form approaching him
one mortal enemy the more. Margaret travelled in a splendid
1 Memoires de Marguerite de Valois, ii. pp. 125, 129-134, sqcp

1577.]

HER RECEPTION BY DON JOHN.

223

litter with, gilt pillars, lined with scarlet velvet, and entirely
enclosed in glass , 1 which was followed by those of the Princess
de la Eoche snr Yon, and of Madame de Tonrnon. After these
came ten ladies of honour on horseback, and six chariots filled
with female domestics. These, with the guards and other
attendants, made up the retinue. On meeting the Queen’s
litter, Don John sprang from his horse and presented his
greetings. The Queen returned his salutation, in the French
fashion, by offering her cheek to his embrace, extending the
same favour to the Duke of Aerschot and the Marquis of
Havre . 2 The cavaliers then remounted and escorted the Queen
to Namur, Don John riding by the side of the litter, and con¬
versing with her all the way. It was late in the evening when
the procession arrived in the city. The streets had, however,
been brilliantly illuminated; houses and shops, although it was
near midnight, being in a blaze of light. Don John believing
that no attentions could be so acceptable at that hour as to
provide for the repose of his guest, conducted the Queen at once
to the lodgings prepared for her. Margaret was astonished at
the magnificence of the apartments into which she was ushered.
A spacious and stately hall, most gorgeously furnished, opened
into a series of chambers and cabinets, worthy, in their appoint¬
ments, of a royal palace. The tent and bed coverings prepared
for the Queen were exquisitely embroidered in needlework with
scenes representing the battle of Lepanto . 3 The great hall was
hung with gorgeous tapestry of satin and velvet, ornamented
with columns of raised silver work, and with many figures in
antique costume, of the same massive embroidery. Tire rest of
the furniture was also of satin, velvet, cloth of gold, and
brocade. The Queen was dazzled with so much magnificence,
and one of the courtiers could not help expressing astonishment
at the splendour of the apartments and decorations, which, as
he observed to the Duke of Aerschot, seemed more appropriate
to the palace of a powerful monarch than to the apartments of

1 M6moires de Marguerite de Valois, | 2 Ibid., ii. 135. Hoofd, xii. 50S.
ii. 124, 125, sqq. 3 Ibid., 137.

224

THE RISE OF THE DUTCH REPUBLIC.

[1577.

a young bachelor prince . 1 The Duke replied by explaining that
the expensive embroidery which they saw was the result, not of
extravagance, but of valour and generosity. After the battle
of Lepanto, Don John had restored, without ransom, the two
sons, who had been taken prisoners, of a powerful Turkish
bashaw. The father, in gratitude, had sent this magnificent
tapestry as a present to the conqueror, and Don John had
received it at Milan, in which city, celebrated for the taste
of its upholsterers, it had been arranged for furniture . 3

The next morning a grand mass with military music was
performed, followed by a sumptuous banquet in the grand
hall. Don John and the Queen sat at a table three feet
apart from the rest, and Ottavio Gronzaga served them with
wine upon his knees . 3 After the banquet came, as usual,
the ball, the festivities continuing till late in the night, and
Don John scarcely quitting his fair guest for a moment.
The next afternoon, a festival had been arranged upon an
island in the river. The company embarked upon the Meuse,
in a fleet of gaily scarfed and painted vessels, many of which
were filled with musicians . 4 Margaret reclined in her gilded
barge, under a rich embroidered canopy. A fairer and falser
Queen than “Egypt” had bewitched the famous youth
who had triumphed, not lost the world, beneath the heights
of Actium. The revellers landed on the island, where the
banquet was already spread within a spacious bower of ivy,
and beneath umbrageous elms. The dance upon the sward
was protracted to a late hour, and the summer stars had
been long in the sky when the company returned to their
barges.

Don John, more than ever enthralled by the bride of St. Bar¬
tholomew, knew not that her sole purpose in visiting his do- -
minion had been to corrupt his servants and to undermine his

1 “ Ces meubles me semblent plustost 2 Ibid.—Compare Van der Hammen
d J un grand Roy que d’un jenne Prince y Leon, D. J. d’Austria; lib. ii,
k maner tel qu’est le Seigneur Dom 3 Memoires de M. de Valois, p. 137.
Jean,” etc.—M&noires de Marguerite Hoofd, xii. 508.
de Valois, ii. 136, 4 Ibid., ii. 137,138. Ibid.

1577 .]

SEIZURE OF NAMUE CITADEL.

225

authority. His own purpose, however, had been less to pay
court to the Queen than to make use of her presence to cover
his own designs. That purpose he proceeded instantly to exe¬
cute. The Queen next morning pursued her voyage by the
river to Liege, and scarcely had she floated out of his sight than
he sprang upon his horse, and, accompanied by a few trusty
attendants galloped out of the gate and across the bridge which
led to the citadel . 1 He had already despatched the loyal Ber-
laymont, with his four equally loyal sons, the Seigneurs de
Meghen, Floyon, Hierges, and Haultepenne to that fortress.
These gentlemen had informed the castellan that the Governor
was about to ride forth hunting, and that it would be proper to
offer him the hospitalities of the castle as he passed on his way.
A considerable number of armed men had been concealed in the
woods and thickets of the neighbourhood. The Seigneur de
Froymont, suspecting nothing, acceded to the propriety of the
suggestion made by the Berlaymonts. Meantime, with a blast
of his horn, Don John appeared at the castle gate. He entered
the fortress with the castellan, while one of the gentlemen
watched outside, as the ambushed soldiers came toiling up the
precipice. When all was ready, the gentleman returned to the
liall and made a signal to Don John as he sat at breakfast with
the constable. The Governor sprang from the table and drew his
sword; Berlaymont and his four sons drew their pistols, while
at the same instant the soldiers entered. Don John, exclaiming
that this was the first day of his government, commanded the
castellan to surrender. De Froymont, taken by surprise, and
hardly understanding this melo-dramatic attack upon a
citadel by its own lawful governor, made not much difficulty
in complying. He was then turned out of doors, along with
his garrison, mostly feeble old men and invalids. The newly
arrived soldiers took their places, at command of the Gover¬
nor, and the stronghold of Namur was his own.®

J M6moires de Marguerite de Valois, 2 Hoofd, xii. 509.—“ Stokouwde of
ii. 145, who relates the occurrence on verminkte soldaaten,” etc. Bor, x. 832.
the authority of the Marchioness of Discours Sommier, pp. 26, 27. Me-
HavrA Hoofd, xii. 508. teren, vii. 122. Bentiy., x. 194-195.

VOL. III. P

228 THE RISE OF THE DUTCH REPUBLIC, [1577.

There was little doubt that the representative of Philip had
a perfect right to possess himself of any fortress within his
government; there could be as little that the sudden stratagem
by which he had thus made himself master of this citadel would
prove offensive to the estates, while it could hardly be agreeable
to the King; and yet it is not certain that he could have accom¬
plished his purpose in any other way. Moreover, the achievement
was one of a projected series by which he meant to re-vindicate
his dwindling authority. He was weary of playing the hypo¬
crite, and convinced that he andhis monarch were both abhorred
by the Netherlander. Peace was impossible—war was for¬
bidden him. Reduced almost to a nullity by the Prince of
Orange, it was time for him to make a stand, and in this im¬
pregnable fastness his position at least was a good one. Many
months before, the Prince of Orange had expressed his anxious
desire that this most important town and citadel should be
secured for the estates. “ You know,” he had written to Bossu
in December, u the evil and the dismay which the loss of the
city and fortress of Namur would occasion to us. Let me be¬
seech you that all possible care be taken to preserve them .” 1
Nevertheless, their preservation had been entrusted to a feeble¬
minded old constable, at the head of a handful of cripples.

We know how intense had been the solicitude of the Prince,
not only to secure, but to destroy these citadels, u nests of
tyranny,” which had been built by despots to crush, not pro¬
tect, the towns at their feet. These precautions had been neg-
\ected, and the consequences were displaying themselves, for
the castle of Namur was not the only one of which Don John
felt himself secure. Although the Duke of Aerschot seemed so
very much his humble servant, the Governor did not trust him,
and wished to see the citadel of Antwerp in more unquestion¬
able keeping. He had therefore withdrawn, not only the Duke
but his son the Prince of Chimay, commander of the castle in
his father’s absence, from that important post, and insisted upon
their accompanying him to Namur * 2 So gallant a courtier as
1 Arch, de la Mnison d’Orange, v. 571. 2 Bor, x. 828. Meteren, vii. 122 b.

1577.]

ATTEMPT TO SEIZE ANTWERP CITADEL.

227

Aerschot could hardly refuse to pay his homage to so illustrious
a princess as Margaret of Valois, while during the absence of
the Duke and Prince the keys of Antwerp citadel had been, at
the command of Don John, placed in the keeping of the Seigneur
de Treslong , 1 an unscrupulous and devoted royalist. The cele¬
brated Colonel Van Ende, whose participation, at the head of
his German cavalry, in the terrible sack of that city which he
had been ordered to defend has been narrated, was commanded
to return to Antwerp. He was to present himself openly to the
city authorities, but he was secretly directed by the Governor -
General to act in co-operation with the Colonels Fugger,
Frondsberger, and Polwiller, who commanded the forces
already stationed in the city . 2 These distinguished officers
had been all summer in secret correspondence with Don John,
for they were the instruments with which he meant, by a
bold stroke, to recover his almost lost authority. While he
had seemed to be seconding the efforts of the states-general
to pay off and disband these mercenaries, nothing had in
reality been farther from his thoughts ; and the time had now
come when his secret plans were to be executed, according to
the agreement between himself and the German colonels.
He wrote to them, accordingly, to delay no longer the
accomplishment of the deed 3 —that deed being the seizure of
Antwerp citadel, as he had already successfully mastered that
of Namur. The Duke of Aerschot, his brother, and son, were
in his power, and could do nothing to prevent the co-operation
of the colonels in the city with Treslong in the castle, so
that the Governor would thus be enabled, laying his head
tranquilly upon “the pillow of the Antwerp citadel ,” 4 accord¬
ing to the reproachful expression subsequently used by the
estates, to await the progress of events.

1 Bor, x. 82S. Louis de Bloys, Seig- 3 Letter of Don Jolin, July 1C,
neur de Treslong. Meteren, ubi sup. 1577, to the Colonels Frondsberger and
Discours Soramier, etc., pp. 19, 20. Fugger. Discours Sommier, ubi sup.

2 Discours Sommier, etc., pp. 18, Bor, x. 843.

19. See the original letters in the ap- 4 “ Et se reposant sur l’oreiller du
pendix to Discours Sommier, etc., p. Chasteau d’Anvers duquel il se tenoit
56, et sqq.; also m Bor, x. 848, sqq.— entierement asseuri,” etc.—Discours
translated. Sommier. etc., p. 35.

228

THE RISE OE THE DUTCH REPUBLIC.

[1577.

The current of his adventurous career was not, however,
destined to run thus smoothly. It is true that the estates had
not yet entirely lost their confidence in his character, but the
seizure of Namur, and the attempt upon Antwerp, together with
the contents of the intercepted letters written by himself and
Escovedo to Philip, to Perez, to the Empress, to the Colonels
Frondsberger and Fugger, were soon destined to open their
eyes. In the meantime, almost exactly at the moment when
Don John was executing his enterprise against Namur, Esco¬
vedo had taken an affectionate farewell of the estates at Brussels , 1 2
for it had been thought necessary, as already intimated, both for
the apparent interests and the secret projects of Don John, that
the Secretary should make a visit to Spain. At the command
of the Governor-General he had offered to take charge of any
communication for his Majesty which the estates might be dis¬
posed to entrust to him, and they had accordingly addressed a
long epistle to the King, in which they gave ample expression
to their indignation and their woe. They remonstrated with the
King concerning the continued presence of the German mer¬
cenaries, whose knives were ever at their throats, whose plunder
and insolence impoverished and tortured the people. They re¬
minded him of the vast sums which the provinces had contri¬
buted in times past to the support of government, and they
begged assistance from his bounty now. They recalled to his
vision the melancholy spectacle of Antwerp, but lately the
“ nurse of Europe, the fairest flower in his royal garland, the
foremost and noblest city of the earth , 3 now quite desolate and
forlorn,” and with additional instructions to Escovedo, that he
should not fail, in his verbal communications, to represent the
evil consequences of the course hitherto pursued by his Majesty’s
governors in the Netherlands, they dismissed him with good
wishes and with u crowns for convoy ” in his purse to the amount
of a revenue of two thousand yearly. His secret correspondence

1 Bor, x. 825. Hoofd, xii. 507.
Discours Sommier, etc., p. 47.

2 “- voodster van geheel Eu-

ropa, d’edelste bloeme van uwe majes-

teits krone en de vornaemste en rijxste
van de wereldetc., etc.—Letter of
the States, Bor, 826, 827.

1677.]

PLOTS OF PEREZ.

229

was intercepted and made known a few weeks after his departure
for that terrible Spain whence so few travellers returned . 1

For a moment we follow him thither. With a single word
in anticipation, concerning the causes and the consummation
of this celebrated murder, which was delayed till the follow¬
ing year, the unfortunate Escovedo may be dismissed from
these pages. It has been seen how artfully Antonio Perez,
Secretary of State, paramour of Princess Eboli, and ruling
councillor at that day of Philip, had fostered in the King’s
mind the most extravagant suspicions as to the schemes of
Don John, and of his confidential secretary . 3 He had repre¬
sented it as their fixed and secret intention, after Don John
should be finally established on the throne of England, to
attack Philip himself in Spain, and to deprive him of his
crown—Escovedo being represented as the prime instigator
and controller of this astounding plot, which lunatics only could
have engendered, and which probably never had existence.

Ko proof of the wild design was offered. The language
which Escovedo was accused by Perez of having held pre¬
viously to his departure for Flanders—that it was the intention
of Don John and himself to fortify the rock of Mogro, with
which, and with the command of the city of Santander, they
could make themselves masters of Spain after having obtained
possession of England 3 —is too absurd to have been uttered by
a man of Escovedo’s capacity. Certainly, had Perez been
provided with the least scrap of writing from the hands of
Don John or Escovedo which could be tortured into evidence
upon this point, it would have been forthcoming, and would
have rendered such fictitious hearsay superfluous. Perez, in
connivance with Philip, had been systematically conducting
correspondence with Don John and Escovedo, in order to elicit
some evidence of the imputed scheme. u ’Twas the only
way,” said Perez to Philip, “to make them unbare their

1 Bor, x. 825. Hoofd, xii. 508. ticularly pages 284-317. Obras y Re-
Discours Sommier, p. 47. Meteren, laciones Geneva, 1644.

vii. 121. Bor, x. 827-842. 3 M&noires de Antonio Perez,

2 Mem. de Ant, Perez, passim; par- 313.

230

THE EISE 0P THE DUTCH EEPUELIC.

[1577.

bosoms to the sword.” “ I am quite of the same opinion,”
replied Philip to Perez, “for according to my theology, you
would do your duty neither to God nor the world, unless you
did as you are doing .” 1 Yet the excellent pair of conspirators
at Madrid could wring no damning proofs from the lips of the
supposititious conspirators in Flanders, save that Don John,
after Escovedo’s arrival in Madrid, wrote, impatiently and
frequently, to demand that he should be sent back, together
with the money which he had gone to Spain to procure.
“Money, more money, and Escovedo ,” 2 wrote the Governor,
and Philip was quite willing to accept this most natural excla¬
mation as evidence of his designs against his crown. Out of
these shreds and patches—the plot against England, the Pope’s
bull, the desire expressed by Don John to march into France
as a simple adventurer, with a few thousand men at his back
—Perez, according to his own statement, drew up a protocol,
afterwards formally approved by Philip, which concluded with
the necessity of taking Escovedo’s life, instantly but pri¬
vately, and by poison. The Marquis de Los Velos, to whom
the memorial was submitted for his advice, averred that if the
death-bed wafer were in his own lips, he should vote for the
death of the culprit ; 3 Philip had already jumped to the same
conclusion; Perez joyfully undertook the business, having
received carte blanche from the King, and thus the unfortunate
secretary w r as doomed. Immediately after the arrival of
Escovedo in Madrid, he addressed a letter to the King.
Philip filed it away among other despatches, with this anno¬
tation : “The avcmt courier has arrived—it is necessary to make
great haste, and to despatch him before he murders us .” 4

1 Es menester de escrivir y oyr de
aquella manera—porque assy se se me-
ten porla espada,” etc.—Billet of Ant.
Perez to the King. “Y segun mi
theologia yo entiendo lo mismo que yos
—Que no haviados para con Dios ni
para con el mundo, sino lo hiziessedes
ansy ” etc. — Annotation in Philip’s
hand on the billet, Hem. de Perez, pp.
310, 311.

2 “ Dmero, y mas dinero, y Esco-
yedo.”—Ibid., 314.

3 “Que con el Sacramento en la

boca-rotari la (muerte) de Juan de

Eseoyede,” etc, etc.—Mem. de Ant.
Perez, 317.

4 Cartas del S. D. Juan y del Sec.
Escoyedo, MS. of Eoyal Library*
Hague.

PLOT WITHIN PLOT.

231

1577 j

Tlie King, having been thus artfully inflamed against his
brother and his unfortunate secretary, became clamorous
for the blood of Escovedo. At the same time, that person¬
age, soon after his return to Spain, was shocked by the
discovery of the amour of Perez with the Princess Eboli.
He considered it his duty, both towards the deceased Prince
and the living King, to protest against this perfidy.
He threatened to denounce to the King, who seemed
the only person about the court ignorant of the affair, this
double treason of his mistress and his minister. Perez and
Anna of Eboli, furious at Escovedo’s insolence, and anxious
lest he should execute his menace, determined to disembar¬
rass themselves of so meddlesome a person . 1 2 Philip's rage
against Don John was accordingly turned to account, and
Perez received the King’s secret orders to procure Escovedo’s
assassination . 3 Thus an imaginary conspiracy of Don John
against the crown of Philip was the pretext, the fears and
rage of Eboli and her paramour were the substantial reason,
for the crime now projected.

The details of the murder were arranged and executed by
Perez , 4 but it must be confessed in justice to Philip, with much
inferior nicety to that of his own performances in the same field.
Many persons were privy to the plot. There was much blunder¬
ing, there was great public scandal in Madrid, and no one ever
had a reasonable doubt as to the instigators and the actual per¬
petrators of the crime. Two attempts to poison Escovedo were

1 Mignet, Perez et Philippe II., pp.
28-33.—Compare Hoofd, xii. 512-515 ;
Cabrera, xii. 972, who covers the name
of the Princess with a vail which could
have deceived no contemporary.

2 Mignet, p. 32.

3 Mem. de Ant. Perez, 314-317.
Mignet, Ant. Perez, and Philippe II.,
pp. 32, 33. Eoofd, xii. 514.—Com¬
pare Cabrera, xii. 972,—who, seeking
as usual to excuse the King, whose offi¬
cial panegyrist he is, narrates that

JEscovedo’s death-warrant was filled out
on one of those blanks with the King’s
signature, such as ambassadors and

viceroys have. Ee does not state why
Perez (being neither viceroy nor am¬
bassador) came to be provided with
such documents. He admits, too,
“ que no desplaria al Key su muerte
violenta,”—p. 972.

4 The narrative of this assassination,
so remarkable in its character, and
so important in its remote conse¬
quences, has been given in a masterly
manner by Mignet (Antonio Perez et
Philippe II.), p. 34, sqq., from the
MS. copy of the famous process
belonging to the Foreign Office of
France.

232

THE RISE OP THE DUTCH REPUBLIC.

[157Z,

made by Perez at his own table, through the agency of
Antonio Enriquez, a confidential servant or page. Both were
unsuccessful. A third was equally so, but suspicions were
aroused. A female slave in the household of Escovedo was
in consequence arrested, and immediately hanged in the public
square, for a pretended attempt to murder her master. 1 A
few days afterwards (on the 31st of March 1578) the deed
was accomplished at nightfall in the streets of Madrid, by six
conspirators. They consisted of the majordomo of Perez, a
page in his household, the page’s brother from the country,
an ex-scullion from the Royal kitchens, Juan Rubio by name,
who had been the unsuccessful agent in the poisoning scheme,
together with two professional bravos, hired for the occasion.
It was Insausti, one of the last-mentioned couple, who des¬
patched Escovedo with a single stab, the others aiding and
abetting, or keeping watch in the neighbourhood. 2

The murderers effected their escape, and made their report
to Perez, who, for the sake of appearances, was upon a visit
in the country. Suspicion soon tracked the real culprits, who
were above the reach of justice; nor, as to the motives which
had prompted the murders, were many ignorant, save only the
murderer himself. Philip had ordered the assassination, but
he was profoundly deceived as to the causes of its accomplish¬
ment. He was the dupe of a subtler villain than himself, and
thought himself sacrificing a conspirator against his crown,
while he had really only crushed a poor creature who had been
but too solicitous for what he thought his master’s honour.

The assassins were, of course, protected from prosecution, and
duly recompensed. Miguel Bosque, the country boy, received
one hundred crowns in gold, paid by a clerk of Perez. Mesa,
one of the bravos, was rewarded with a gold chain, fifty doub¬
loons of eight, and a silver cup, besides receiving from the fair
hand of Princess Eboli herself a certificate as under-steward

' Mignet; from tbe MS. process, pp. Perez at his own table, together with
38, 39. Cabrera also narrates briefly the execution of the slave.—xii. 972.
the attempts at poisoning made by 3 Mignet, p. 40.

1577J

WILLIAM IN HOLLAND.

233

upon her estates. 1 The second bravo, Insausti, who had done
the deed, the page Enriquez, and the scullion, were all ap¬
pointed ensigns in Ms Majesty's army , with twenty gold crowns
of annual pension besides. 2 Their commissions were signed
by Philip on the 19th of April 1578. Such were the wages
of murder at that day in Spain; gold chains, silver cups,
doubloons, annuities, and commissions in the army! The
reward of fidelity, as in poor Escovedo’s case, was oftener the
stiletto. Was it astonishing that murder was more common
than fidelity ?

With the subsequent career of Antonio Perez—his famous
process, his banishment, his intrigues, his innuendos, his long
exile, and his miserable death—this history has no concern.
We return from our brief digression.

Before narrating the issue of the plot against Antwerp
citadel, it is necessary to recur for a moment to the Prince of
Orange. In the deeds and the written words of that one man
are comprised nearly all the history of the Reformation in
the Netherlands—nearly the whole progress of the infant
Republic. The rest, during this period, is made up of the
plottings and counter-plottings, the mutual wranglings and
recriminations of Don John and the estates.

In the brief breathing-space now afforded them, the inhabit¬
ants of Holland and Zeland had been employing themselves
in the extensive repairs of their vast system of dikes. These
barriers, which protected their country against the ocean, but
which their own hands had destroyed to preserve themselves
against tyranny, were now thoroughly reconstructed, at a
great expense, the Prince everywhere encouraging the people
with his presence, directing them by his experience, inspiring
them with his energy. 3 The task accomplished was stupen¬
dous, and worthy, says a contemporary, of eternal memory. 4

At the popular request, the Prince afterwards made a

1 Mignet (from the MS. process),

p. 41.
a Ibid.

8 Bor, x. 819.
Hoofd, xii. 504.

4 Bor, x. 819.

Wagenaer, vii. 158.

234 THE K1SE OF THE DUTCH EEPUBLIC. [1577.

tour through the little provinces, honouring every city with
a brief visit. The spontaneous homage which went up to him
from every heart was pathetic and simple. There were no
triumphal arches, no martial music, no banners, no theatrical
pageantry—nothing but the choral anthem from thousands of
grateful hearts. “ Father William has come ! Father William
has come ! ” cried men, women, and children to each other,
when the news of his arrival in town or village was announced.*
He was a patriarch visiting his children, not a conqueror, not
a vulgar potentate displaying himself to his admirers. Happy
were they who heard his voice, happier they who touched his
hands, for his words were full of tenderness, his hand was
offered to all. There were none so humble as to be forbidden
to approach him, none so ignorant as not to know his deeds.
All knew that to combat in their cause he had descended
from princely station, from luxurious ease to the position of a
proscribed and almost beggared outlaw. For them he had
impoverished himself and his family, mortgaged his estates,
stripped himself of jewels, furniture, almost of food and
raiment. Through his exertions the Spaniards had been
banished from their little territory, the Inquisition crushed
within their borders, nearly all the sister provinces but yester¬
day banded into a common cause.

He found time, notwithstanding congratulating crowds who
thronged his footsteps, to direct the labours of the states-
general, who still looked more than ever to his guidance, as
their relations with Don John became more complicated and
unsatisfactory. In a letter addressed to them, on the 20th of
June, from Harlem, he warned them most eloquently to hold to
the Ghent pacification as to their anchor in the storm. He
assured them, if it was torn from them, that their destruction
was inevitable. He reminded them that hitherto they had got
but the shadow, not the substance of the treaty; that they had
been robbed of that which was to have been its chief fruit-
union among themselves. He and his brothers, with their
1 Bor, x. S30. Hoofd. xii, 520. Wagenaer, vii. 159,160.

1577.]

HIS ADDRESS TO THE STATES.

235

labour, their wealth, and their blood, had laid down the
bridge over which the country had stepped to the pacifica¬
tion of Ghent. It was for the nation to maintain what had
been so painfully won; yet he proclaimed to them that the
government were not acting in good faith, that secret pre¬
parations were making to annihilate the authority of the
states, to restore the edicts, to put strangers into high places,
and to set up again the scaffold and the whole machinery
of persecution. 1

In consequence of the seizure of Namur Castle, and the accu¬
sations made by Don John against Orange, in order to justify
that act, the Prince had already despatched Taffin and Sainte
Aldegonde to the states-general with a commission to declare
his sentiments upon the subject. He addressed, moreover, to
the same body a letter full of sincere and simple eloquence,
“ The Seigneur Don John,” said he, “has accused me of vio¬
lating the peace and of countenancing attempts against his life,
and in endeavouring to persuade you into joining him in a
declaration of war against me and against Holland and Zeland;
but I pray you, most affectionately, to remember our mutual
and solemn obligations to maintain the treaty of Ghent.” He
entreated the states, therefore, to beware of the artifices em¬
ployed to seduce them from the only path which led to the
tranquillity of their common country, and her true splendour
and prosperity. “ I believe there is not one of you,” he con¬
tinued, “ who can doubt me, if he will weigh carefully all my
actions, and consider closely the course which I am pursuing
and have always pursued. Let all these be confronted with
the conduct of Don John, and any man will perceive that all
my views of happiness, both for my country and myself, imply
a peaceful enjoyment of the union, joined with the legitimate
restoration of our liberties, to which all good patriots aspire,
and towards which all my designs have ever tended. As all
the grandeur of Don John, on the contrary, consists in war,
as there is nothing which he so much abhors as repose, as he
1 See the letter in Bor, x 829, 830.

236

THE RISE OF THE DUTCH REPUBLIC.

[1577.

has giveD ample proof of these inclinations in all his designs
and enterprises, both before and after the treaty of Marche en
Famine, both within the country, and beyond its borders, as it
is most manifest that his purpose is, and ever has been, to em¬
broil us with our neighbours of England and Scotland in new
dissensions, as it must be evident to every one of you that his
pretended accusations against me are but colours and shadows
to embellish and to shroud his own desire for war, his appetite
for vengeance, and his hatred not only to me but to yourselves,
and as his determination is, in the words of Escovedo, to chas¬
tise some of us by means of the rest, and to excite the jealousy
of one portion of the country against the other—therefore,
gentlemen, do I most affectionately exhort you to found your
decision, as to these matters, not upon words but upon actions.
Examine carefully my conduct in the points concerning which
the charges are made; listen attentively to what my envoys
will communicate to you in my behalf; and then, having com¬
pared it with all the proceedings of Seigneur Don John, you
will be able to form a resolution worthy the rank which you
occupy, and befitting your obligations to the whole people, of
whom you have been chosen chiefs and protectors by God and
by men. Put away all considerations which might obscure
your clear eye-sight; maintain with magnanimity, and like
men, the safety of yourselves, your wives, your children, your
estates, your liberties; see that this poor people, whose eyes
are fixed upon you, does not perish; preserve them from the
greediness of those who would grow ‘great at your expense;
guard them from the yoke of miserable servitude; let not all
our posterity lament that, by our pusillanimity, they have lost
the liberties which our ancestors had conquered for them, and
bequeathed to them as well as to us, and that they have been
subjugated by the proud tyranny of strangers.

“ Trusting,” said the Prince, in conclusion, 6C that you will
accord faith and attention to my envoys, I will only add an
expression of my sincere determination to employ myself in¬
cessantly in your service, and for the welfare of the whole

1577.]

THE PEINCE VISITS UTRECHT.

237

people, without sparing any means in my power, nor my
life itself.” 1

The vigilant Prince was, indeed, not slow to take advan¬
tage of the Governor’s false move. While in reality intending
peace, if it were possible, Don John had thrown down the
gauntlet; while affecting to deal openly and manfully, like a
warrior and an Emperor’s son, he had involved himself in petty
stratagems and transparent intrigues, by all which he had
gained nothing but the character of a plotter, whose word could
not be trusted. Sainte Aldegonde expressed the hope 2 that the
seizure of Namur Castle would open the eyes of the people,
and certainly the Prince did his best to sharpen their vision.

While in North Holland, William of Orange received an
urgent visitation from the magistracy and community of
Utrecht to visit that city. His authority, belonging to him
under his ancient commission, had not yet been recognised
over that province, but there was no doubt that the contem¬
plated convention of cc satisfaction ” was soon to be arranged,
for his friends there were numerous and influential. His
princess, Charlotte de Bourbon, who accompanied him on his
tour, trembled at the danger to which her husband would ex¬
pose himself by venturing thus boldly into a territory which
might be full of his enemies, but the Prince determined to trust
the loyalty of a province which he hoped would be soon his
own. With anxious forebodings, the Princess followed her
husband to the ancient episcopal city. As they entered its gates,
where an immense concourse was waiting to receive him, a shot
passed through the carriage window, and struck the Prince upon
the breast. The affrighted lady threw her arms about his
neck, shrieking that they were betrayed; but the Prince, per¬
ceiving that the supposed shot was but a wad from one of the
cannon, which were still roaring their welcome to him, soon

1 This letter, of date August 1577, i. foL 367, 368.—Compare Bor, x
the original of which is in French, has 830.

never been published. It is in a col- 2 Sainte Aldegonde to Count John
lection of MSS. in the Hague Archives, of Nassau.—Archives de la Maison
entitled “Actu Statuum Belgii,” tom. |d’Orange, vi. 116.

238

THE RISE OE THE DUTCH REPUBLIC.

[1577.

succeeded in calming her fears. 1 The carriage passed slowly
through the streets, attended by the vociferous greetings of
the multitude ; for the whole population had come forth to do
him honour. Women and children clustered upon every roof
and balcony, but a painful incident again marred the tran¬
quillity of the occasion. An apothecary’s child, a little girl
of ten years, leaning eagerly from a lofty balcony, lost her
balance and fell to the ground, directly before the horses of
the Prince’s carriage. She was killed stone dead by the
fall. The procession stopped ; the Prince alighted, lifted the
little corpse in his arms, and delivered it, with gentle words
and looks of consolation, to the unhappy parents. 2 The day
seemed marked with evil omens, which were fortunately des¬
tined to prove fallacious. The citizens of Utrecht became
more than ever inclined to accept the dominion of the Prince,
whom they honoured and whom they already regarded as
their natural chief. They entertained him with banquets and
festivities during his brief visit, and it was certain before he
took his departure that the treaty of u Satisfaction” would not
be long delayed. It was drawn up, accordingly, in the
autumn of the same year, upon the basis of that accepted by
Harlem and Amsterdam—a basis wide enough to support both
religions, with a nominal supremacy to the ancient church. 3

Meantime, much fruitless correspondence had taken place
between Don John and the states. Envoys, despatched by the
two parties to each other, had indulged in bitterness and re¬
crimination. As soon as the Governor had taken possession of
Namur Castle, he had sent the Seigneur de Rassinghem to the
states-general. That gentleman carried with him copies of two
anonymous letters, received by Don John upon the 19th and
21st of July 1577, in which a conspiracy against his life and
liberty was revealed. 4 It was believed by the Governor that
Count Lalain, who had secretly invited him to a conference,

1 Bor, x. 830. Hoofd, xii. 520.

2 Bor. Hoofd, xii. 521.

3 The articles of the “ Satisfactie,”

dated October 9, 1577, are given in

Bor, x. 893-890. Vera et Simplex
Narratio, etc., p. 26.

4 Bor. x. 832. Hoofd, xii. 509. Dis-
cours Soinmier, etc., 29.

1577.]

RENEWED NEGOTIATIONS.

239

had laid an ambush for him. It was known that the country
was full of disbanded soldiers, and the Governor asserted con¬
fidently that numbers of desperadoes were lying in wait for
him in every village alehouse of Hainault and Flanders. He
called on the states to ferret out these conspirators, and to
inflict condign punishment upon their more guilty chiefs ; he
required that the soldiers, as well as the citizens, should be
disarmed at Brussels and throughout Brabant, and he justi¬
fied his seizure of Namur, upon the general ground that his
life was no longer safe, except in a fortress. 1

In reply to the letter of the Governor, which was dated the
24th of July, the states despatched Marolles, Archdeacon of
Ypres, and the Seigneur de Bresse, to Namur, with a special
mission to enter into the whole subject of these grievances. 2
These gentlemen, professing the utmost devotion to the cause
of his Majesty’s authority and the Catholic religion, expressed
doubts as to the existence of the supposed conspiracy. They
demanded that Don John should denounce the culprits, if any
such were known, in order that proper chastisement might be
instantly inflicted. The conversation which ensued was cer¬
tainly unsatisfactory. The Governor used lofty and somewhat
threatening language, assuring Marolles that he was at that
moment in possession, not only of Namur but of Antwerp
citadel; and the deputies accordingly departed, having ac¬
complished very little by their journey. Their backs were
scarcely turned, when Don John, on his part, immediately
appointed another commission, consisting of Rassinghem and
Grobbendonck, to travel from Namur to Brussels. 3 These
envoys carried a long letter of grievances, enclosing a short
list of demands. 4 The letter reiterated his complaints about
conspiracies, and his protestations of sincerity. It was full
of censure upon the Prince of Orange; stigmatised his in¬
trigues to obtain possession of Amsterdam without a proper
u Satisfaction,” and of Utrecht, to which he had no claim at

1 See the letter of Eon John in j 3 Bor, xi. 834, 835. Biscours Som-
Bor, x. 832. nner, etc , on. 29. 30.

240

THE KISE OF THE HUTCH EEPUBL1C.

[1577-

all. It maintained that the Hollanders and Zelanders were
bent upon utterly extirpating the Catholic religion, and that
they avowed publicly their intention to refuse obedience to
the assembly-general, should it decree the maintenance of the
ancient worship only. His chief demands were that the
states should send him a list of persons qualified to be members
of the general assembly, that he might see whether there were
not individuals among them whom he might choose to reject.
He further required that, if the Prince of Orange did not
instantly fulfil the treaty of Ghent, the states should cease to
hold any communication with him. He also summoned the
states to provide him forthwith with a suitable body-guard. 1

To these demands and complaints the estates replied by a
string of resolutions. 2 They made their usual protestations of
attachment to his Majesty and the Catholic faith, and they
granted willingly a foot-guard of three hundred archers.
They, however, stoutly denied the Governor’s right to make
eliminations in their lists of deputies, because, from time
immemorial, these representatives had been chosen by the
clergy, nobles, cities, and boroughs. The names might change
daily, nor were there any suspicious ones among them, but it
was a matter with which the Governor had no concern.
They promised that every effort should be made to bring
about the execution of the treaty by the Prince of Orange.
They begged Don John, however, to abandon the citadel of
Namur, and gave him to understand that his secret practices
had been discovered, a large packet of letters having recently
been intercepted in the neighbourhood of Bourdeaux, and
sent to the Prince of Orange. 3 Among them were some of
the despatches of Don John and Escovedo to his Majesty and
to Antonio Perez, to which allusion has already been made.

1 Letter of Hon John, July 27,1577. Orange, by whom they were laid
Bor, ubi sup. before the deputies of the states-

a In Bor, si. 837, 838. general on the 28th of July.—Mete-

8 They had fallen into the hands ren, vii. 121. Hoofd, sii. 516.
of Henry of Navarre, who had for- Compare Discours Sommier, etc., pp.
warded them to the Prince of 32, 33.

1577.]

FETJITLESS CONFERENCES.

241

Count Bossu, De Bresse, and Meetkercke were the envoys
deputed to convey these resolutions to Namur. They had a
long and bitter conversation with Don John, who complained
more furiously than ever of the conspiracies against his person,
and of the intrigues of Orange. He insisted that this arch¬
traitor had been sowing the seed of his damnable doctrines
broadcast through the Netherlands; that the earth was groan¬
ing with a daily ripening harvest of rebellion and heresy. It
was time, he cried, for the states to abandon the Prince, and
rally round their King. Patience had been exhausted. He had
himself done all, and more than could have been demanded.
He had faithfully executed the Ghent pacification, but his con¬
duct had neither elicited gratitude nor inspired confidence. 1

The deputies replied, that to the due execution of the
Ghent treaty it was necessary that he should disband the
German troops, assemble the states-general, and carry out
their resolutions. Until these things, now undone, had been
accomplished, he had no right to plead his faithful fulfilment
of the pacification. After much conversation—in which the
same grievances were repeated, the same statements produced
and contradicted, the same demands urged and evaded, and
the same menaces exchanged as upon former occasions—
the deputies returned to Brussels. 2

Immediately after their departure, Don John learned the
result of his project upon Antwerp Castle. It will be remem¬
bered that he had withdrawn Aerschot, under pretext of requir¬
ing his company on the visit to Queen Margaret, and that he
had substituted Treslong, an unscrupulous partisan of his own,
in the government of the citadel. The temporary commander
soon found, however, that he had undertaken more than he
could perform. The troops under Van Ende were refused
admittance into the town, although permission to quarter them
there had been requested by the Governor-General. 3 The
authorities had been assured that the troops were necessary for
the protection of their city, but the magistrates had learned,

Bor, xi. S38, 839. 2 Ibid. 3 Bor, xi. 852. Hoofd, xii. 517

VOL. III.

Q

242

THE RISE 03? THE DUTCH REPUBLIC.

[1577.

but too recently, the nature of the protection which Van Ende,
with his mercenaries, would afford. A detachment of states
troops under De Yers, Champagny’s nephew, encountered the
regiment of Yan Ende, and put it to flight with considerable
loss. At the same time, an officer in the garrison of the citadel
itself, Captain De Bours, undertook secretly to carry the fort¬
ress for the estates. His operations were secret and rapid.
The Seigneur de Liedekerke had succeeded Champagny in the
government of the city. This appointment had been brought
about by the agency of the Greffier Mart ini , a warm partisan
of Orange. The new Governor was known to be very much
the Prince’s friend, and believed to be at heart a convert to the
Reformed religion. With Martini and Liedekerke, De Bours
arranged his plot. He was supplied with a large sum of
money, readily furnished in secret by the leading mercantile
houses of the city. These funds were successfully invested in
gaining over the garrison, only one company holding firm for
Treslong. The rest, as that officer himself informed Don John,
were ready at any moment ci to take him by the throat.” 1
On the 1st of August, the day fixed upon in concert with the
Governor and Greffier, he was, in fact, taken by the throat.
There was but a brief combat, the issue of which became acciden¬
tally doubtful in the city. The white-plumed hat of De Bours had
been struck from his head in the struggle, and had fallen into the
foss. Floating out into the river, it had been recognised by the
scouts sent out by the personages most interested, and the
information was quickly brought to Liedekerke, who was lying
concealed in the house of Martini, awaiting the result. Their
dismay was great, but Martini, having more confidence than the
Governor, sallied forth to learn the whole truth. 2 Scarcely had
he got into the streets than he heard a welcome cry. u The
Beggars have the castle! the Beggars have the castle!” shouted
a hundred voices. 3 He soon met a lieutenant coming: straight

o o

1 Bor, Hoofd, nbi sup. Meteren,
vii. 122. Discours Sommier, etc , p. 36.
sqq. Cabrera, xi. 933, sqq Letter of
Treslong to Don John, Aug. 1,1577, in

app. to Discours Sommier, pp. 76, 77.

2 Bor, xi. S53. Hoofd, xn. sis.

3 “Het casteel is gi.es ! liet custcel is
gies! ”—Bor, xi. 854.

1577]

ANTWERP CITADEL GAINED.

243

from the fortress, who related to him the whole affair. Learn¬
ing that De Bours was completely victorious, and that Treslong
was a prisoner, Martini hastened with the important intelligence
to his own home, where Liedekerke lay concealed. That func¬
tionary now repaired to the citadel, whither the magistrates,
the leading citizens, and the chief merchants were instantly
summoned. The castle was carried, but the city was already
trembling with apprehension lest the German mercenaries,
quartered within its walls, should rise with indignation or
panic, and repeat the horrid tragedy of the Antwerp Fury . 1

In truth, there seemed danger of such a catastrophe. The
secret correspondence of Don John with the colonels was
already discovered , 2 * and it was seen how warmly he had im¬
pressed upon the men with whom he had been tampering,
u that the die was cast, and that all their art was necessary to
make it turn up successfully .’ 53 The castle was carried, but
what would become of the city ? A brief and eager consul¬
tation terminated in an immediate offer of three hundred
thousand crowns by the leading merchants. This money was
to be employed in amicably satisfying, if possible, the German
soldiers, who had meanwhile actually come to arms, and were
assembled in the Place de Meer. Feeling unsafe, however,
in this locality, their colonels had led them into the new town.
Here, having barricaded themselves with gun-carriages, bales,
and boxes, they awaited, instead of initiating, the events
which the day might bring forth . 4 A deputation soon arrived
with a white flag from the castle, and commissioners were
appointed by the commanding officers of the soldiery. The
offer was made to pay over the arrears of their wages, at least
to a very large amount, on condition that the troops would
forthwith and for ever evacuate the city. One hundred and

1 Dor, xi. 854. Hoofd, xii. 518. corra buen.”—Letter of Don John to

2 It was discovered on tbe taking of Colonels Frondsberger and Fugger,

the citadel by De Fours.—Bor, xi. S54. July 23, 1577, appendix to Discours
Hoofd, xii. 518. Som., p. 60. Bor, xi. 849.

d “ Y pues queda ya el dado fuera de 4 Bor, xi. 854. Hoofd, xii. 518.
la inano, es menester encaminarle a que Meteren, vii. 122.

244

THE RISE OE THE DUTCH REPUBLIC.

[1577

fifty thousand crowns were offered on the nail. The merchants
stood on the bridge leading from the old town to the new, in
full sight of the soldiers. They held in their hands their
purses, filled with the glittering gold. The soldiers were
frantic with the opportunity, and swore that they would have
their officers’ lives, if the tempting and unexpected offer should
be declined. Nevertheless the commissioners went to and fro,
ever finding something to alter or arrange. In truth, the
merchants had agreed to furnish, if necessary, three hundred
thousand crowns ; but the thrifty negotiators were disposed,
if diplomacy could do it, to save the moiety of that sum. Day
began to sink, ere the bargain was completed, when suddenly
sails were descried in the distance, and presently a large fleet
of war vessels, with banner and pennon flying before a
favouring breeze, came sailing up the Scheld . 1 It was a
squadron of the Prince’s ships, under command of Admiral
Haultain. He had been sent against Tholen, but, having
received secret intelligence, had, with happy audacity, seized
the opportunity of striking a blow in the cause which he had
served so faithfully. A shot or two fired from the vessels
among the barricades had a quickening effect. A sudden and
astounding panic seized the soldiers. “ The Beggars are com¬
ing ! the Beggars are coming !” 2 they yelled in dismay;
for the deeds of the ocean-beggars had not become less appalling
since the memorable siege of Leyden. The merchants still stood
on the bridge with their purses in their hand. The envoys from
the castle still waved their white flags. It was too late. The
horror inspired by the wild Zelanders overpowered the hope of
the wages, extinguished all confidence in the friendship of the
citizens. The mercenaries, yielding to a violent paroxysm of
fears, fled hither and thither, panting, doubling, skulking, like
wolves before the hounds.” 3 Their flight was ludicrous. With¬
out staying to accept the money which the merchants were

’Bor, ix. 855. Hoofd, xii. 519. zynze!”—Hoofd,xii. 519. Bor, xi. 855.
Meteren, vii. 122. 3 “ Als wulven die nagejagt werden

“ Die guesen, die guesen, daar Tan de honden.”—Bor, xi. 855 a.

1677.]

BREDA SURRENDERED.

245

actually offering, without packing up their own property, in
many cases even throwing away their arms, they flecl, helter
shelter, some plunging into the Scheld, some skimming along
ihe dikes, some rushing across the open fields.

A portion of them under Colonel Fugger, afterwards shut
themselves up in Bergen op Zoom, where they were at once
besieged by Champagny, and were soon glad to compromise
the matter by surrendering their colonel, and laying down
their arms . 1 The remainder retreated to Breda, where they
held out for two months, and were at length overcome by a
neat stratagem of Orange. A captain, being known to be in
the employment of Don John, was arrested on his way to
Breda. Carefully sewed up in his waistband was found a letter,
of a finger’s breadth, written in cipher, and sealed with the
Governor-General’s seal. Colonel Frondsberger, commanding
in Breda, was in this missive earnestly solicited to hold out
two months longer, within which time a certain relief was
promised. In place of this letter, deciphered with much
difficulty, a new one was substituted, which the celebrated
printer, William Sylvius, of Antwerp, prepared with great
adroitness, adding the signature and seal of Don John . 2 In
this counterfeit epistle, the Colonel was directed to do the best
he could for himself, by reason that Don John was himself be¬
sieged, and unable to render him assistance. The same cap¬
tain who had brought the real letter was bribed to deliver the
counterfeit. This task he faithfully performed, spreading the
fictitious intelligence besides with such ardour through the
town, that the troops rose upon their leader, and surrendered
him, with the city and their own arms, into the custody of the
estates. Such was the result of the attempt by Don John to
secure the citadel of Antwerp. Not only was the fortress
carried for the estates, but the city itself, for the first time in
twelve years, was relieved from a foreign soldiery . 8

The rage and disappointment of the Governor-General

1 Bor, xi. 856. Hoofd, xi. 522. I 3 Bor, xi. 856, 857. Hoofd, xii.

2 Ibid. Ibid., xii. 522, 523. ( 253.

246

THE RISE OF THE DUTCH REPUBLIC.

[1577.

were excessive. He had boasted to Marolles a day too soon.
The prize which he thought already in his grasp had slipped
through his fingers, while an interminable list of demands
which he dreamed not of, and which were likely to make him
bankrupt, were brought to his door. To the states, not him¬
self, the triumph seemed for the moment decreed. The
u dice ” had taken a run against him, notwithstanding his
pains in loading and throwing. Nevertheless, he did not yet
despair of revenge. u These rebels,” he wrote to the Em¬
press-dowager, his sister, u think that fortune is all smiles
for them now, and that all is ruin for me. The wretches
are growing proud enough, and forget that their chastise¬
ment, some fine morning, will yet arrive.” 1

On the 7th of August, he addressed another long letter to
the estates. This document was accompanied, as usual, by cer¬
tain demands, drawn up categorically in twenty-three articles. 2
The estates considered his terms hard and strange, for in their
opinion it was themselves, not the Governor, who were masters
of the situation. Nevertheless, he seemed inclined to treat as
if he had gained, not missed, the citadel of Antwerp; as if the
troops with whom he had tampered were mustered in the field,
not shut up in distant towns, and already at the mercy of the
states party. The Governor demanded that all the forces of
the country should be placed under his own immediate control;
that Count Bossu, or some other person nominated by himself,
should be appointed to the government of Friesland; that the
people of Brabant and Flanders should set themselves instantly
to hunting, catching, and chastising all vagrant heretics and
preachers. He required, in particular, that Sainte Aldegonde
and Theron, those most mischievous rebels, should be prohibited
from setting their foot in any city of the Netherlands. He
insisted that the community of Brussels should lay down their
arms, and resume their ordinary handicrafts. He demanded
that the Prince of Orange should be made to execute the Ghent

1 Don John’s letter to the Empress, I Sommier, p. 82.

August 14, 1577, appendix to Discours l 2 Bor, xi* 839, eqq.

1577.]

DON JOHN’S DESIGNS FRUSTRATED.

247

treaty; to suppress the exercise of the Reformed religion in
Harlem, Schoonhoven, and other places; to withdraw his
armed vessels from their threatening stations, and to restore
Is ieuport, unjustly detained by him. Should the Prince persist
in his obstinacy, Don John summoned them to take arms
against him, and to support their lawful Governor. He,
moreover, required the immediate restitution of Antwerp
citadel, and the release of Treslong from prison. 1

Although, regarded from the Spanish point of view, such
demands might seem reasonable, it was also natural that their
audacity should astonish the estates. That the man who had
violated so openly the Ghent treaty should rebuke the Prince
for his default—that the man who had tampered with the
German mercenaries until they were on the point of making
another Antwerp Fury, should now claim the command over
them and all other troops—that the man who had attempted to
gain Antwerp citadel by a base stratagem should now coolly
demand its restoration, seemed to them the perfection of inso¬
lence. The baffled conspirator boldly claimed the prize which
was to have rewarded a successful perfidy. At the very moment
when the Escovedo letters and the correspondence with the
German colonels had been laid before their eyes, it was a little
too much that the double-dealing bastard of the double-dealing
Emperor should read them a lecture upon sincerity. It was
certain that the perplexed and outwitted warrior had placed
himself at last in a very false position. The Prince of Orange,
with his usual adroitness, made the most of his adversary’s
false moves. Don John had only succeeded in digging a pit-
fall for himself. His stratagems against Namur and Antwerp
had produced him no fruit, saving the character which his
antagonist now fully succeeded in establishing for him, of an
unscrupulous and artful schemer. This reputation was enhanced
by the discovery of the intercepted letters, and by the ingenuity
and eagerness with which they were turned to account against

1 Letter of Don John, 7th August 1577 —Dor, xi 839, 84:0

248 THE RISE OE THE HUTCH REPUBLIC. [1577.

him by the Prince, by Sainte Aldegonde, and all the anfci-
Oatholic party. The true key to his reluctance against de¬
spatching the troops by land, the states had not obtained.
They did not dream of his romantic designs upon England,
and were therefore excusable in attributing a still deeper per¬
fidy to his arrangements.

Even had he been sent to the Netherlands in the full posses¬
sion of his faculties, he would have been no match in political
combinations for his powerful antagonists. Hoodwinked and
fettered, suspected by his master, baffled, bewildered, irritated
by his adversary, what could he do but plunge from one diffi¬
culty to another, and oscillate between extravagant menace and
desponding concession, until his hopes and life were wasted
quite away? His instructions came from Philip through
Perez, and that most profound dissembler, as we have seen,
systematically deceived 1 the Governor, with the view of
eliciting treasonable matters, Philip wishing, if possible, to
obtain proofs of Don John’s secret designs against his own
crown. Thus every letter from Spain was filled with false
information and with lying persuasions. 2 No doubt the
Governor considered himself entitled to wear a crown, and
meant to win it, if not in Africa, then in England, or wherever
fate might look propitiously upon him. He was of the stuff
of which crusaders and dynasty founders had been made, at
a somewhat earlier epoch.. Who could have conquered the
holy sepulchre, or wrested a crown from its lawful wearer,
whether in Italy, Muscovy, the Orient, or in the British
Ultima Thule, more bravely than this imperial bastard, this
valiant and romantic adventurer ? Unfortunately, he came a
few centuries too late. The days when dynasties were founded,
and European thrones appropriated by a few foreign free¬
booters had passed, and had not yet returned. He had
come to the Netherlands desirous of smoothing over diffi¬
culties and of making a peaceful termination to that rebellion a

1 Memorial de .Ant. Perez, Obras y sim.—-Compare Mignet, Antonio Perez
ltelaciones, p. 309. et Philippe H. Bruxelles, 1845, p]

3 Memorial of Antonio Perez, pas- 16-21

1577.] LABOUR LOST ON THE NETHERLANDERS.

249

stepping-stone to Ms English throne. He was doomed to a
profound disappointment, a broken heart, and a premature
grave, instead of the glittering baubles which he pursued.
Already he found himself bitterly deceived in his hopes. The
obstinate Netherlanders would not love him, notwithstanding
the good wishes he had manifested. They would not even
love the King of Spain, notwithstanding the blessings which
his Majesty was declared to have heaped upon them. On the
contrary, they persisted in wasting their perverse affections
upon the pestilent Prince of Orange. That heretic was
leading them to destruction, for he was shewing them the
road to liberty, and nothing, in the eyes of the Governor,
could be more pitiable than to behold an innocent people
setting forth upon such a journey. u In truth,” said he,
bitterly, in his memorable letter to his sister the empress,
u they are willing to recognise neither God nor king. They
pretend to liberty in all things : so that ’tis a great pity to
see how they are going on; to see the impudence and disrespect
with which they repay his Majesty for the favours which he
has shewn them, and me for the labours, indignities, and
dangers which I have undergone for their sakes.” 1

Nothing, indeed, in the Governor’s opinion, could surpass
the insolence of the Netherlander, save their ingratitude.
That was the serpent’s tooth which was ever wounding the
clement Bang and his indignant brother. It seemed so bitter
to meet with thanklessness, after seven years of Alva and three
of Requesens; after the labours of the Blood Council, the
massacres of Naarden, Zutphen, and Harlem, the siege of
Leyden, and the fury of Antwerp. 66 Little profit there has
been,” said the Governor to his sister, “ or is like to be
from all the good which we have done to these bad people.

1 “ Porque estos aqui ni quieren
conveer a su Dios ni obedeger a su Rey
como eleven; antes pretenden libertad
en todo. De manera que es compassion
grandissima mr como lo tratan y las
desverguengas y poco respeto con que

pagan a su Majestad las mercedes que
les ha hecho; y a mi los trabajos in-
dignidades y peligros que he passado
por estas gentes.”—Letter to the Em¬
press, appendix to Discours Sommier,
p. 81

wDO THE RISE OF THE DUTCH REPUBLIC. [1577-

In short, they love and obey in all things the most perverse
and heretic tyrant and rebel in the whole world, which is this
damned Prince of Orange , while, on the contrary, without fear
of God or shame before men, they abhor and dishonour
the name and commandments of their natural sovereign.’’ 1
Therefore, with a doubting spirit, and almost with a
broken heart, had the warrior shut himself up in Namur
Castle, to await the progress of events, and to escape from
the snares of his enemies. u God knows how much I desire
to avoid extremities f said he, u but I know not what to do
with men who shew themselves so obstinately rebellious. ” 2
Thus pathetically Don John bewailed his fate. The nation
had turned from God, from Philip, from himself; yet he still
sat in his castle, determined to save them from destruction
and his own hands from bloodshed, if such an issue were yet
possible. Nor was he entirely deserted, for among the faith¬
less a few were faithful still. Although the people were in
open revolt, there was still a handful of nobles resolved to
do their duty towards their God and King. ee This little
band,” said the Governor, u has accompanied me hither, like
s gentlemen and chevaliers of honour.” 3 Brave Berlavmont and
his four sons were loyal to the last, but others of this limited
number of gentlemen and chevaliers of honour were already
deserting him* As soon as the result of the enterprise against
Antwerp citadel was known, and the storm was gathering
most darkly over the royal cause, Aerschot and Havre were
first to spread their wings and flutter away in search of a more
congenial atmosphere. 4 In September, the Duke was again, as
he had always professed himself to be, with some important

1 Mire V. Magd. quan poco que ha
aproyechado m aproyecna para los
raalos el bien que se les haze. A1 fin,
ellos aman y obedeeen de todo punto
al mas perverso y tyranno hereje y re-
belde de la tierra que es este condenado
del Prmcvpe de Oranges: y aborrecen y
desacatan el nombre y mandamientos
de su principe y natural Senor: sin
temor de Dios ni respeto o yerguenca

de las gentes.”—Letter to the Empress*
app. to Discours Sommier, p. 81.

- Ibid.

3 “ Como honradissimos cavaU-erosy
—Ibid.

4 Hoofd, xii. 520. Aerschot was in
such a hurry to escape, that he rode off
from the castle upon a horse without a
saddle.—Guchard, Bull. Com. Roy. ii.
135.

1577.] EEPLY OF THE STATES TO DON JOHN. 251

intervals of exception — <c the affectionate brother and cordial
friend of the Prince of Orange.” 1

The letter addressed by Don John to the states upon the
7th of August, had not yet been answered. Feeling, soon
afterwards, more sensible of his position, and perhaps less
inflamed with indignation, he addressed another communi¬
cation to them, upon the 13th of the same month. In this
epistle he expressed an extreme desire for peace, and a hearty
desire to be relieved, if possible, from his most painful situa¬
tion. He protested, before God and man, that his intentions
were most honest, and that he abhorred war more than any¬
thing else in the world. He averred that, if his person was
as odious to them as it seemed, he was only too ready to leave
the land, as soon as the King should appoint his successor.
He reminded them that the question of peace or war lay not
with himself, but with them; and that the world would
denounce as guilty those with whom rested the responsibility.
He concluded with an observation which, in its humility,
seemed sufficiently ironical, that if they had quite finished
the perusal of the despatches from Madrid to his address,
which they had intercepted, he should be thankft for an
opportunity of reading them himself. He expressed a hope,
therefore, that they would be forwarded to Namur. 2

This letter was answered at considerable length, upon the
second day. The states made their customary protestations
of attachment to his Majesty, their fidelity to the Catholic
Church, their determination to maintain both the Ghent treaty
and the Perpetual Edict. They denied all responsibility for
the present disastrous condition of the relations between them¬
selves and government, having disbanded nearly all their own
troops, while the Governor had been strengthening his forces
up to the period of his retreat into Namur. He protested,
indeed, friendship, and a sincere desire for peace, but the
intercepted letters of Escoveao and his own had revealed to
them the evil counsels to which he had been listening, and the
‘ Arch, de la Maison d’Orange, vi. pp. 143, 144. 2 See the letter in Bor, xL 857.

252 THE RISE OF THE DUTCH REPUBLIC. [1577

intrigues which he had been conducting. They left it to his
conscience whether they could reasonably believe, after the
perusal of these documents, that it was his intention to maintain
the Ghent treaty, or any treaty; and whether they were not
justified in their resort to the natural right of self-defence. 1

Don John was already fully aware of the desperate error
which he had committed. In seizing Namur and attempting
Antwerp, he had thrown down the gauntlet. Wishing peace,
he had, in a panic of rage and anxiety, declared and enacted
war. The bridge was broken behind him, the ships burned, a
gulf opened, a return to peace rendered almost impossible. Yet
it is painful to observe the almost passionate longings which at
times seemed to possess him for accommodating the quarrel,
together with his absolute incapacity to appreciate his position.
The Prince was triumphant; the Governor in a trap. More¬
over, it was a trap which he had not only entered voluntarily,
but which he had set himself; he had played into the Prince’s
hands, and was frantic to see his adversary tranquilly winning
the game. It was almost melancholy to observe the gradation
of his tone from haughty indignation to dismal concession. In
an elaborate letter which he addressed “to the particular states,
bishops, councillors, and cities of the Netherlands,” he protested
as to the innocence of his intentions, and complained bitterly of
the calumnies circulated to his discredit by the Prince of Orange.
He denied any intention of recalling the troops which he had
dismissed, except in case of absolute necessity. He affirmed
that his Majesty sincerely desired peace. He averred that the
country was either against the King, against the Catholic reli¬
gion, against himself, or against all three together. He bitterly»
asked what further concessions were required. Had he not done
allhe had ever promised? Had he not discharged the Spaniards,
placed the castles in the hands of natives, restored the privi¬
leges, submitted to insults and indecencies ? Yet, in spite of all
which had passed, he declared his readiness to resign, if another
prince or princess of the blood more acceptable to them could
1 Bor, xi. 85S.

1577.]

DON JOHN MISPLACED.

253

be appointed. 1 The letter to the states was followed by a pro¬
position for a cessation of hostilities, and for the appointment
ot a commission to devise means for faithfully executing the
Ghent treaty. This proposition was renewed, a few days
later, together with an offer for an exchange of hostages. 2

It was not difficult for the estates to answer the letters of the
Governor. Indeed, there was but little lack of argument on
either side throughout this unhappy controversy. It is dismal
to contemplate the interminable exchange of protocols, decla¬
rations, demands, apostilles, replications, and rejoinders, which
made up the substance of Don John’s administration. Never
was chivalrous crusader so out of place. It was not a soldier
that was then required for Philip’s exigency, but a scribe. In¬
stead of the famous sword of Lepanto, the u barbarous pen of
Hopperus had been much more suitable for the work required.
Scribbling Joachim in a war galley, yard-arm and yard-arm
with the Turkish captain-pacha, could have hardly felt less at
ease than did the brilliant warrior thus condemned to scrawl and
dissemble. While marching from concession to concession, he
found the states conceiving daily more distrust, and making
daily deeper encroachments. Moreover, his deeds up to the
time when he seemed desirous to retrace his steps, had certainly
been, at the least, equivocal. Therefore^ it was natural for the
estates, in reply to the questions in his letter, to observe that
he had indeed dismissed the Spaniards, but that he had tam¬
pered w T ith and retained the Germans ; that he had indeed
placed the citadels in the hands of natives, but that he had tried
his best to wrest them away again; that he had indeed professed
anxiety for peace, but that his intercepted letters proved his
preparations for war. 3 Already there were rumours of Spanish
troops returning in small detachments out of France. Already
the Governor was known to be enrolling fresh mercenaries to
supply the place of those whom he had unsuccessfully endea¬
voured to gain to his standard. As early as the 26th of July.

See the letter in Bor, xi. 838-860. I 8 Bor, xi. 861, S62.

» Ibid., xi. 800-862. I

254 THE RISE OF THE DUTCH REPUBLIC. [1577.

in fact, tlie Marquis d’Ayamonte in Milan, and Don Juan de
Idiaquez in Genoa, had received letters from Don John of
Austria, stating that, as the provinces had proved false to their
engagements, he would no longer be held by his own, and
intimating his' desire that the veteran troops which had but
so recently been dismissed from Flanders, should forthwith
return. 1 Soon afterwards, Alexander Farnese, Prince of Parma,
received instructions from the King to superintend these
movements, and to carry the aid of his own already distin¬
guished military genius to his uncle in the Netherlands. 2 3

On the other hand, the states felt their strength daily more
sensibly. Guided, as usual, by Orange, they had already
assumed a tone in their correspondence which must have
seemed often disloyal, and sometimes positively insulting to the
Governor. They even answered his hints of resignation in
favour of some other prince of the blood, by expressing their
hopes that his successor, if a member of the royal house at all,
would at least be a legitimate one. 8 This was a severe thrust
at the haughty chieftain, whose imperial airs rarely betrayed
any consciousness of Barbara Blomberg and the bend sinister
on his shield. He was made to understand, through the medium
of Brabantine bluntness, that more importance was attached to
the marriage ceremony in the Netherlands than he seemed to
imagine. The categorical demands made by the estates seemed
even more indigestible than such collateral affronts, for they
had now formally affirmed the views of Orange as to the con¬
stitutional government of the provinces. In their letter of 26th
August, they expressed their willingness, notwithstanding the
past delinquencies of the Governor, to yield him their confidence
again; but, at the same time, they enumerated conditions which,
with his education and views, could hardly seem to him admis¬
sible. They required him to disband all the soldiers in his ser¬
vice, to send the Germans instantly out of the country, to dis-

1 Cabrera, xi. 937, 938.

2 Ibid., xi. 940.

3 Bor, xi. 859.—Compare Meteren,

vi. 119 ; Groen v. Prinst, Archives* vi,
170, note 1.

1577.] DETERMINED ATTITUDE OF THE STATES. 255

miss every foreigner from office, whether civil or military,
and to renounce his secret league with the Duke of Guise.
They insisted that he should thenceforth govern only with
the advice and consent of the State Council, that he should
execute that which should by a majority of votes be ordained
there, that neither measures nor despatches should be binding
or authentic unless drawn up at that board. 1 These certainly
were views of administration which, even if consonant with a
sound historical view of the Netherland constitutions, hardly
tallied with his monarch’s instructions, his own opinions, or
the practice under Alva and Requesens ; but the country was
still in a state of revolution, and the party of the Prince was
gaining the upper hand.

It was the determination of that great statesman, according
to that which he considered the legitimate practice of the go*
vernment, to restore the administration to the State Council,
which executive body ought of right to be appointed by the
states-general. In the states-general as in the states-par-
ticular, a constant care was to be taken towards strengthening
the most popular element, the u community ” of each city,
the aggregate, that is to say, of its guild-representatives and
its admitted burghers. This was, in the opinion of the
Prince, the true theory of the government—republican in all
but form—under the hereditary protection, not the despotic
authority, of a family, whose rights were now nearly for¬
feited. It was a great step in advance that these views should
come to be thus formally announced, not in Holland and
Zeland only, but by the deputies of the states-general, al¬
though such a doctrine, to the proud stomach of Don John,
seemed sufficiently repulsive. Not less so was the cool inti¬
mation with which the paper concluded, that if he should
execute his threat of resigning, the country would bear his loss
with fortitude, coupled as was that statement with a declara¬
tion that, until his successor should be appointed, the State

CounciLwould consider itself charged ad interim with the go¬
es to

1 Letter of Aug. 26, 1577, in Bor, xi. 861, 862

256

THE RISE OF THE DUTCH REPUBLIC.

[1577.

vernment. In the meantime, the Governor was requested not
to calumniate the estates to foreign governments, as he had so
recently done in his intercepted letter to the Empress-dowager. 1

Upon receiving this letter, 66 Don John, 5 ’ says a faithful old
chronicler, u found that the cranes had invited the fox to
dinner. 55 2 In truth, the illustrious soldier was never very
successful in his efforts, for which his enemies gave him credit,
to piece out the skin of the lion with that of the fox. 3 He
now felt himself exposed and outwitted, while he did not feel
conscious of any very dark design. He answered the letter of
the states by a long communication, dated from Namur castle,
28th of August. 4 In style, he was comparatively temperate,
but the justification which he attempted of his past conduct
was not very happy. He noticed the three different points
which formed the leading articles of the accusation brought
against him, the matter, namely, of the intercepted letters, of
the intrigues with the German colonels, and the seizure of
Namur. He did not deny the authorship of the letters, but
contented himself with a reference to their date, as if its
priority to his installation as Governor furnished a sufficient
palliation of the bad faith which the letters revealed. 5 As to
the despatches of Escovedo, he denied responsibility for any
statements or opinions which they might contain. As the Secre¬
tary, however, was known to be his most confidential friend, this
attempt to shuffle off his own complicity was held to be both
lame and unhandsome. As for the correspondence with the
colonels, his defence was hardly more successful, and rested
upon a general recrimination upon the Prince of Orange. As
that personage was agitating and turbulent, it was not possible,
the Governor urged, that he should himself remain quiet. It
was out of his power to execute the treaty and the edict, in the
face of a notorious omission on the part of his adversary to
enforce the one or to publish the other. It comported neither

1 Letter of the States-General in
Bor, xi. 861, 862.

2 “-en dat de Kraen, so de

fabelseid, deYos te gasfc genoodhadde,”
etc.—Bor, xi. 862 5.

3 Response a un petit livret, intituU,
Declaration de l’lntention du SeignA
Don Jehan d’Austrico, p. 3.—Anvers,
1778. 4 Bor, xi. 862, 86a

6 Ibid. Hoofd, xii. 521.

1577.]

RAZING- OF ANTWERP CITADEL.

257

with liis dignity nor his safety to lay down his weapons while
the Prince and his adherents were arming. He should have
placed himself “ in a very foolish position,” had he allowed
himself unarmed to be dictated to by the armed. In defence
of himself on the third point, the seizure of Hamur Castle,
he recounted the various circumstances with which the reader
is already acquainted. He laid particular stress upon the
dramatic manner in which the Vicomte de Gand had drawn
his curtains at the dead of night; he narrated at great length
the ominous warning which he had likewise received from
the Duke of Aerschot in Brussels, and concluded with a
circumstantial account of the ambush which he believed
to have been laid for him by Count de Lalain. 1 The letter
concluded with a hope for an arrangement of difficulties,
not yet admitted by the Governor to be insurmountable,
and with a request for a formal conference, accompanied
by an exchange of hostages. 2

While this correspondence was proceeding between Hamur
and Brussels, an event was occurring in Antwerp which gave
much satisfaction to Orange. The Spanish Fury, and the
recent unsuccessful attempt of Don John to master the famous
citadel, had determined the authorities to take the counsel
which the Prince had so often given in vain, and the fortress of
Antwerp was at length razed to the ground, on the side
towards the city. 3 It would be more correct to say that it was
not the authorities, but the city itself which rose at last and
threw off the saddle by which it had so long been galled. More
than ten thousand persons were constantly at work, morning,
noon, and night, until the demolition was accomplished. 4
Grave magistrates, great nobles, fair ladies, citizens and their
wives, beggars and their children, all wrought together pell-
mell. All were anxious to have a haud in destroying the nest
where so many murders had been hatched, whence so much

1 Letter of Don John, Aug. 24, 3 Hoofd, xii. 323, 324. Bor, xi.

1577. Bor, xi. S64. 856.

2 Letter of Don John, 24th August 4 Hoofd, Bor, ubi sup. Strada, ix.

1577. . 443.

VOL. III. B

258 THE EISE OE THE DUTCH EEPUBLIC. [1577

desolation had flown. The task was not a long one for work¬
men so much in earnest, and the fortress was soon laid low
in the quarter where it could be injurious to the inhabitants.
As the work proceeded, the whole statue of Alva was dis¬
covered in a forgotten crypt, 1 where it had lain since it had
been thrown down by the order of Rcquesens. Amid the
destruction of the fortress, the gigantic phantom of its
founder seemed to start suddenly from the gloom, but the
apparition added fresh fuel to the rage of the people. The
image of the execrated Governor was fastened upon with as
much fierceness as if the bronze effigy could feel their blows,
or comprehended their wrath. It was brought forth from its
dark hiding-place into the daylight. Thousands of hands
were ready to drag it through the streets for universal in¬
spection and outrage. A thousand sledge-hammers were
ready to dash it to pieces, with a slight portion, at least, of
the satisfaction with which those who wielded them would
have dealt the same blows upon the head of the tyrant him¬
self. It was soon reduced to a shapeless mass. Small
portions were carried away and preserved for generations in
families as heirlooms of hatred. The bulk was melted a<rain
and reconverted, by a most natural metamorphosis, into the
cannon from which it had originally sprung. 2

The razing of the Antwerp citadel set an example which was
followed in other places; the castle of Ghent, in particular,
being immediately levelled, amid demonstrations of universal
enthusiasm/ Meantime, the correspondence between Don
John and the estates at Brussels dragged its slow length along,
while, at the same time, two elaborate letters were addressed to
the King, on the 24th of August and the 8th of September, by
the estatcs-general of the Netherlands. These documents,
which were long and able, gave a vigorous representation of
past evils, and of the present complication of disorders under
which the commonwealth was labouring. They asked, as usual,

1 Hoofd, xii. 523. Sfcrada, ix. 443. I 3 Bor, xi. 856. Hoofcl, xii. 524,

2 Strada, ubi sup. Hoofd, xii. 524. I Meteren, vii. 125.

1577 .]

DESIRE TO BEHOVE DON JOHN.

259

for a royal remedy; and expressed their doubts whether there
could be any sincere reconciliation so long as the present
Governor, whose duplicity and insolence they represented in
a very strong light, should remain in office. Should his
Majesty however, prefer, to continue Don John in the
government, they signified their willingness, in considera¬
tion of his natural good qualities, to make the best of the
matter. Should, however, the estrangement between them¬
selves and the Governor seem irremediable, they begged
that another and a legitimate prince of the blood might be
appointed in his place. 1

1 See the letters in Eor, xi. 807, 808. Meteren, vii 123.

CHAPTER IV

TIIE OUTLAW’S RETURN.

Orange invited to visit Brussels—His correspondence upon the subject
with the estates-general—Triumphant journey of the Prince to the
capital—Stop put by him to the negotiations with Don John—Hew
and stringent demands made upon the Governor—His indignation—
Open rupture—Intrigue of Hetherland grandees with Archduke
Matthias—Policy of Orange—Attitude of Queen Elizabeth—Flight of
Matthias from Vienna—Anxiety of Elizabeth—Adroitness of the Prince
—The office of Euward—Election of Orange to that dignity—His com¬
plaints against the great nobles—Aerschot Governor of Flanders—A
storm brewing in Ghent—Kyhove and Imbize—Blood-Councillor Hessels
—Arrogance of the aristocratic party in Flanders—Eyhove’s secret
interview with Orange—Outbreak at Ghent—Arrest of Aerschot, Hessels,
and others of the reactionary party—The Duke liberated at demand of
Orange—The Prince’s visit to Ghent—“ Bhotorical ” demonstrations—
The new Brussels Union characterised—Treaty with England—Articles
by which Matthias is nominally constituted Governor-General—His
inauguration at Brussels—Brilliant and fantastic ceremonies—Letter of
Don John to the Emperor—His anger with England—An army collecting
—Arrival of Alexander Farnese—Injudicious distribution of offices in the
States’ army—The States’ army fall back upon Gemblours, followed by
Don John—Tremendous overthrow of the patriots—Wonderful disparity
in the respective losses of the two armies.

While these matters were in progress, an important movement
was made by the estates-general. The Prince of Orange waa
formally and urgently invited to come to Brussels to aid them
with his counsel and presence. 1 The condemned traitor had
not set foot in the capital for eleven years. We have narrated
the circumstance of his departure, while the advancing
1 Bor, xi. 871. Mefceren, vii. 125. Hoofd, xii. 526.

1577.] ORANGE INVITED TO BRUSSELS. 261

trumpets of Alva’s army were almost heard in the distance.
His memorable and warning interview with Egmont has
been described. Since that period, although his spirit had
iilways been manifesting itself in the capital like an actual
presence; although he had been the magnet towards which
the states throughout all their oscillations had involuntarily
vibrated, yet he had been ever invisible. He had been
summoned by the Blood-Council to stand his trial, and had
been condemned to death by default. He answered the
summons by a defiance, and the condemnation by two cam¬
paigns, unsuccessful in appearance, but which had in reality
prostrated the authority of the sovereign.

Since that period, the representative of royalty had sued
the condemned traitor for forgiveness. The haughty brother
to Philip had almost gone upon his knees, that the Prince
might name his terms, and accept the proffered hand of
majesty. The Prince had refused, not from contumely, but
from distrust. He had spurned the supplications, as lie had
defied the proscription of the Bing. There could be no
friendship between the destroyer and the protector of a people.
Had the Prince desired only the reversal of his death-sentence,
and the infinite aggrandisement of his family, we have seen
how completely he had held these issues in his power.
Never had it been more easy, plausible, tempting, for a pro¬
scribed patriot to turn his back upon an almost sinking cause.
We have seen how his brave and subtle Batavian prototype,
Civilis, 1 dealt with the representative of Roman despotism.
The possible or impossible Netherland Republic of the first
century of our era had been reluctantly abandoned, but the
modern Civilis had justly more confidence in his people.

And now again the scene was changed. The son of the
Emperor, the King’s brother, was virtually beleaguered; the
proscribed rebel had arrived at victory through a long series of
defeats. The nation everywhere acknowledged him master, and
was in undisguised revolt against the anointed sovereign. The
1 Historical Introduction.

262

THE EISE OF THE DUTCH KEPUBLIC.

[1577

great nobles, who hated Philip on the one hand, and the Re¬
formed religion on the other, were obliged, in obedience to the
dictates of a people with whom they had little sympathy, to
accept the ascendency of the Calvinist Prince, of whom they
were profoundly jealous. Even the fleeting and incapable
Aerschot was obliged to simulate adhesion; even the brave
Champagny, cordial hater of Spaniards, but most devotedly
Catholic, “ the chiefest man of wvsedom and stomach at that
tyme in Brussels,” so envoy Wilson wrote to Burghley, 1 had
become u Brabantised,” as his brother Granvelle expressed
himself, 2 and was one of the commissioners to invite the great
rebel to Brussels. The other envoys were the Abbot of Saint
Gertrude, Dr. Leoninus, and the Seigneur de Liesvelt. 3 These
gentlemen, on arriving at Gertruydenberg, presented a brief
but very important memorial to the Prince. 4 In that docu¬
ment they informed him that the states-general, knowing how
efficacious would be his presence, by reason of his singular
prudence, experience, and love for the welfare and repose of
the country, had unanimously united in a supplication that
he would incontinently transport himself to the city of
Brussels, there to advise with them concerning the necessities
of the land; but, as the principal calumny employed by their
adversaries was that all the provinces and leading personages
intended to change both sovereign and religion, at the insti¬
gation of his Excellency, it w r as desirable to disprove such
fictions. They therefore very earnestly requested the Prince
to make some contrary demonstration, by which it might bt
manifest to all that his Excellency, together with the estates oi
Holland and Zeland, intended faithfully to keep what they had
promised. They prayed, therefore, that the Prince, permitting
the exercise of the Roman Catholic religion in the places which

3 Elizabeth and her Times, a series
of Original Letters, by Th. Wright, t.
ii. 45, London, 1838.

2 “On disoit qu’ils avoient bra-
bantis§ M. de Champagney, ce quine
me pleut quand je 1’entendis,” etc.,
etc.—Granvelle to M. de Bellefontaine,

March 31, 1578, Archives de la Mai son
d’Orange, vi. 339.

3 Bor, si. 871. Hoofd, xii. 52S.
Meteren, vii. 125.

4 In Bor, si. 872. Compare Mete¬
ren, Hoofd, ubi sup.

1577.3 CORRESPONDENCE WITH THE STATES-GENERAL. 263

had recently accepted his authority, would also allow its
exercise in Holland and Zeland. They begged, further, that
he would promise by a new and authentic act, that the pro¬
vinces of Holland and Zeland would not suffer the said
exercise to be impugned, or any new worship to be introduced,
in the other provinces of the Netherlands. 1

This letter might almost be regarded as a trap, set by the
Catholic nobles. Certainly the Ghent pacification forbade the
Reformed religion in form, and as certainly winked at its
exercise in fact. The proof was, that the new worship was
spreading everywhere, that the exiles for conscience’ sake were
returning in swarms, and that the synod of the Reformed
churches, lately held at Dort, had been publicly attended by
the ministers and deacons of numerous dissenting churches
established in many different places throughout all the pro¬
vinces. 2 The pressure of the edicts, the horror of the Inquisi¬
tion being removed, the down-trodden religion had sprung
from the earth more freshly than ever.

The Prince was not likely to fall into the trap, if a trap had
really been intended. He answered the envoys loyally, but with
distinct reservations. 3 He did not even accept the invitation,
save on condition that his visit to Brussels should be expressly
authorised by Holland and Zeland. Notwithstanding his de¬
sire once more to behold his dear country, and to enjoy the
good company of his best friends and brothers, he felt it his
duty to communicate beforehand with the states of those two
provinces, between which and himself there had been such
close and reciprocal obligations, such long-tried and faithful
affection. He therefore begged to refer the question to the
assembly of the said provinces about to be held at Gouda,
where, in point of fact, the permission for his journey was, noc
without considerable difficulty, a few days afterwards obtained

1 Memorial in Bor, si. 872. It is 8 Answer of tke Prince of Orange,
also published by Groen v. Prinst., in Bor, si. 873 a, also in Groen v.
Archives, etc., vi. 155-157. Prinst., Archives, etc., vi. 157-161.—

3 Groen v. Prinst., Archives, etc.,vi. Compare Meteren, vii. 125,126. Hoofd*
148, 149. langueti, Ep. Sec., i. 2, 298. xii. 527.

264

THE EISE OF THE DUTCH KEPUBLIC.

[1577.

With regard to the more difficult requests addressed to him
in the memorial, he professed generally his intention to execute
the treaty of Ghent. He observed, however, that the point
of permitting the exercise of the Roman Catholic religion in
Holland and Zeland regarded principally the estates of these
provinces, which had contracted for no innovation in this
matter, at least till the assembling of the states-general. He
therefore suggested that he neither could, nor ought to, permit
any innovation, without the knowledge and consent of those
estates. As to promising by authentic act, that neither he nor
the two provinces would suffer the exercise of the Catholic
religion to be in any wise impugned in the rest of the Nether¬
lands, the Prince expressed himself content to promise that,
according to the said Ghent pacification, they would suffer no
attempt to be made against the public repose or against the
Catholic worship. He added that, as he had no intention of
usurping any superiority over the states-general assembled at
Brussels, he was content to leave the settlement of this point
to their free-will and wisdom, engaging himself neither to
offer nor permit any hindrance to their operations. 1

With this answer the deputies are said to have been well
pleased. 2 If they were so, it must be confessed that they were
thankful for small favours. They had asked to have the
Catholic religion introduced into Holland and Zeland. The
Prince had simply referred them to the estates of these
provinces. They had asked him to guarantee that the exercise
of the Reformed religion should not be u procured ” in the rest
of the country. He had merely promised that the Catholic
worship should not be prevented. The difference between the
terms of the request and the reply was sufficiently wide.

The consent to his journey was with difficulty accorded by
the estates of Holland and Zeland ; 3 and his wife, with many
tears and anxious forebodings, beheld him depart for a capital

1 Answer of the Prince of Orange
to the proposition of the states-general,
Bor, Meteren, Hoofd, ubi sup.

2 Bor, si. 878. Hoofd, xii. 526.

3 Bor, si. 873.—“ Hoewel ongeyrne.”
Hoofd, xii. 527.

1577.]

ORANGE’S ARRIVAL AT ANTWERP.

265

where the heads of his brave and powerful friends had fallen,
and where still lurked so many of his deadly foes. During
his absence, prayers were offered daily for his safety in all the
churches of Holland and Zeland, by command of the estates. 1

He arrived at Antwerp on the 17th of September, and was
received with extraordinary enthusiasm. The Prince, who had
gone forth alone, without even a bodyguard, had the whole
population of the great city for his buckler. Here he spent
five days, observing, with many a sigh, the melancholy
changes which had taken place in the long interval of his
absence. The recent traces of the horrible “ Fury,” the
blackened walls of the Hotel de Ville, the prostrate ruins of
the marble streets, which he had known as the most imposing
in Europe, could be hardly atoned for in his eyes even by
the more grateful spectacle of the dismantled fortress.

On the 23rd of September, he was attended by a vast con¬
course of citizens to the new canal which led to Brussels,
where three barges were in waiting for himself and suite.
In one a banquet was spread; in the second, adorned with
emblematic devices and draped with the banners of the seven¬
teen provinces, he was to perform the brief journey; while
the third had been filled by the inevitable rhetoric societies,
with all the wonders of their dramatic and plastic ingenuity.
Rarely had such a complication of vices and virtues, of
crushed dragons, victorious archangels, broken fetters, and
resurgent nationalities, been seen before, within the limits of
a single canal boat. The affection was, however, sincere,
and the spirit noble, even though the taste which presided
at these demonstrations may have been somewhat pedantic. 2

The Prince was met several miles before the gates of Brus¬
sels by a procession of nearly half the inhabitants of the city,
and thus escorted, he entered the capital in the afternoon of
the 23rd of September. 3 It was the proudest day of his life.
The representatives of all the provinces, supported by the most

1 Bor, xi. 873. | * Ibid. Ibid., xii. 528. Meteren,

* Bor, xi. S73. Hoofd, xii. 527. jvii 126.

266

THE BISE OF THE DUTCH EEPUBLIC.

[1577.

undeniable fervour of the united Netherland people greeted
“ Father William.” Perplexed, discordant, hating, fearing,
doubting, they could believe nothing, respect nothing, love
nothing, save the “tranquil” Prince. His presence at that
moment in Brussels was the triumph of the people and of
religious toleration. He meant to make use of the crisis to ex¬
tend and to secure popular rights, and to establish the supremacy
of the states-general under the nominal sovereignty of some
prince, who was yet to be selected, while the executive body
was to be a state-council, appointed by the states-general. So
far as appears, he had not decided as to the future protector,
but he had resolved that it should be neither himself nor Philip
of Spain. The outlaw came to Brussels prepared at last to
trample out a sovereignty which had worked its own forfeiture.
So far as he had made any election within his breast, his choice
inclined to the miserable Duke of Anjou, a prince whom he
never came to know as posterity has known him, but whom he
at last learned to despise. Thus far the worthless and paltry
intriguer still wore the heroic mask, deceiving even such far-
seeing politicians as Sainte Aldegonde and the Prince.

William’s first act was to put a stop to the negotiations
already on foot with Don John. 1 He intended that they should
lead to war, because peace was impossible, except a peace for
which civil and religious liberty would be barters, for it was
idle, in his opinion, to expect the maintenance by the Spanish
Governor of the Ghent pacification, whatever promises might
be extorted from his fears. A deputation in the name of the
states, had already been sent with fresh propositions to Don
John, at Namur. The envoys were Caspar Schetz and the
Bishop of Bruges. 2 They had nearly come to an amicable con¬
vention with the Governor, the terms of which had been sent
to the states-general for approval, at the very moment of the
Prince’s arrival in Brussels. Orange, with great promptness,
prevented the ratification of these terms, which the estates had

1 Bor, xi. 874, seq. Hoofd,xii. 528.1 Bishop of Bruges, Hoofd, xii. 528.

* Ibid, xi. 874. Kemigius Brutius, | Cabrera, xi. 942-

1577.]

TEEMS PBESCEIBED TO DON JOHN.

267

in reality already voted to accept. New articles were added
to those which had originally been laid before Don John. 1
It was now stipulated that the Ghent treaty and the Perpetual
Edict should be maintained. The Governor was required
forthwith to abandon Namur Castle, and to dismiss the
German troops. He was to give up the other citadels and
strong places, and to disband all the soldiers in his service.
He was to command the governors of every province to
prohibit the entrance of all foreign levies. He was forth¬
with to release captives, restore confiscated property, and
reinstate officers who had been removed ; leaving the details
of such restorations to the Council of Mechlin and the other
provincial tribunals. He was to engage that the Count
Van Buren should be set free within two months. He was
himself, while waiting for the appointment of his successor,
to take up his residence in Luxemburg, and while there,
he was to be governed entirely by the decision of the State
Council, expressed by a majority of its members. Further¬
more, and as not the least stinging of these sharp requi¬
sitions, the Queen of England—she who had been the secret
ally of Orange, and whose crown the Governor had secretly
meant to appropriate—was to be included in the treaty. 2

It could hardly excite surprise that Don John, receiving
these insolent propositions at the very moment in which he
heard of the triumphant entrance into Brussels of the Prince,
should be filled with rage and mortification. 8 Never was

1 Memoirs efc Eecueil de ce qu’est Cabrera, xi. 942. Groen y. Prinst.,
pass§ entre le Seigneur Don Jan yi. 166-170.—Compare the “M€-
d’Autriche, etc., depuis sa retraiete au moire et Eecueil ” of Grobbendonck,
ckasteau de Namur—redigd par eseript passim.

par le Seigneur de Grobbendonck, p. 3 “ Memoire et Eecueil,” passim.—
220, seq. This very curious memoir, According to Cabrera (xi. 944,) a more
by one of the diplomatists engaged, has cheerful yiew of the subject was taken
been republished, according to the by those who surrounded the Governor,
original sketch, in the Bulletins de The propositions only excited their
la Com. Boy., x. 172-223.—Compare laughter. The same historian, as well
Archives et Correspondance, vi. 166- as all the Spanish writers, of course
170. represent the Prince as influenced in

2 These remarkable articles are to his policy solely by self-interest, by his
be found in Bor, xi. 874-876. A incapacity to pay his debts, and by
very meagre extract is given by his despair of obtaining a royal pardon.

268 the RISE OE THE DUTCH REPUBLIC. [1577.

champion of the Cross thus braved by infidels before. The
Ghent treaty, according to the Orange interpretation,
that is to say, heresy made legitimate, was to be the law
of the land. His Majesty was to surrender—colours and
cannon—to his revolted subjects. The royal authority was
to be superseded by that of a State Council, appointed
by the states-general, at the dictation of the Prince. The
Governor-General himself, brother of his Catholic Majesty,
was to sit quietly with folded arms in Luxemburg, while
the arch heretic and rebel reigned supreme in Brussels.
It was too much to expect that the choleric soldier would be
content with what he could not help regarding as a dis¬
honourable capitulation. The arrangement seemed to him
about as reasonable as it would have been to invite Sultan
Selim to the Escorial, and to send Philip to reside at Bayonne.
He could not but regard the whole proposition as an insolent
declaration of war. He was right. It was a declaration
of war; as much so as if proclaimed by trump of herald.
How could Don John refuse the wager of battle thus
haughtily proffered ?

Smooth Schetz, Lord of Grobbendonck, and his episcopal
colleague, in vain attempted to calm the Governor’s wrath,
which now flamed forth, in defiance of all considerations. 3
They endeavoured, without success, to palliate the presence of
Orange, and the circumstances of his reception, for it was not
probable that their eloquence would bring the Governor to look
at the subject with their eyes. Three days were agreed upon

should a peace ensue. Peace for the calumnious nature of such state-
country, so his enemies thought, was ments, by a perusal of the corres-
death for him; “ doliendose un minis- pondence and secret negotiations
tro de Orange, diziendo que ya se acabo between Don John and Orange,
el tratar de pazes aunque le fue nueva The personal and unlimited offers of
alegre, con indignation respondio fuera pardon and advancement, made to the
insigne par perder la vida el; mos- Prince by the G-overnor-G-eneral, on
trando que su prosperidad no con- his first arrival in the country, are
sistia en el bien publico, sino en la a sufficient answer to these stupid ac-
guerra: que a esto le truxo la desesper- cusations.

acion del perdon de su pena no mere - 1 MemoireetRecueil par le Seigneur
cido” xi. 944. The reader is al- G-robbendonck.—Compare Bor, xi. 87(5.
ready competent to appreciate the Hoofd, xii. 529.

1577.]

THE QUARREL DEFINED.

269

for tie suspension of hostilities, and Don John was highly
indignant that the estates would grant no longer a truce.
The refusal was, however, reasonable enough on their part,
for they were aware that veteran Spaniards and Italians
were constantly returning to him, and that he was daily
strengthening his position. The envoys returned to Brussels
to give an account of the Governor’s rage, which they could
not declare to be unnatural and to assist in preparations for
the war which was now deemed inevitable. Don John,
leaving a strong garrison in the citadel of Namur, from which
place he despatched a final communication to the estates-
general, dated the 2d of October, retired to Luxemburg. In
this letter., without exactly uttering defiance, he unequivo¬
cally accepted the hostilities which had been pressed upon
him, and answered their hollow professions of attachment to
the Catholic religion and his Majesty’s authority, by de¬
nouncing their obvious intentions to trample upon both. He
gave them, in short, to understand that he perceived their
intentions, and meant them to comprehend his own. 1

Thus the quarrel was brought to an issue, and Don John saw
with grim complacency, that the pen was at last to be super¬
seded by the sword. A remarkable pamphlet was now pub¬
lished, in seven different languages, Latin, French, Flemish,
German, Italian, Spanish, and English, containing a succinct
account of the proceedings between the Governor and the
estates, together with copies of the intercepted letters of Don
John and Escovedo to the King, to Perez, to the German col¬
onels, and to the Empress. This work, composed and published
by order of the estates-general, was transmitted with an accom¬
panying address to every potentate in Christendom. 2 It was

1 Bor, xi. 876. Hoofd, xii. 529,
530.

2 Bor, xi. 881.—The quotations in
the preceding pagts from this pamphlet
have been made from the original edi¬
tion published in 1577 at Antwerp, by
Silvius, under the title “ Discours Som-
mier des Justes Causes et Raisons qui
out contrainct les Estate Greneraulx

des Pais Bas de pourveoir a leur
Defence contre le Seigneur Don Jehan
d’Austrice: avecplusieurs lettres mter-
ceptees en plus grand nombre,” etc.,
etc. A Flemish translation is given in
the Byvoegsel Auth. Stukh. i. 151 en
176 of Bor, under the title of “ Eort
Verhael van de rechte oorsaken en re-
denen,” etc., etc.

270

THE RISE OF THE HXJTCH KEPUBLIC.

[1577.

soon after followed by a counter-statement, prepared by order
of Don John, and containing his account of the same matters,
with his recriminations against the conduct of the estates. 1

Another important movement had, meanwhile, been made
by the third party in this complicated game. The Catholic
nobles, jealous of the growing influence of Orange, and
indignant at the expanding power of the people, had opened
secret negotiations with the Archduke Matthias, then a
mild* easy-tempered youth of twenty, brother of the reigning
emperor, Rudolph. After the matter had been discussed
some time in secret, it was resolved, towards the end of
September, to send a messenger to Vienna, privately inviting
the young Prince to Brussels; but much to the surprise of
these nobles, it was discovered that some fifteen or sixteen of
the grandees of the land, among them Aerschot, Havre, Cham-
pagny, De Ville, Lalam, De Heze, and others, had already
taken the initiative in the matter. On the 26th of August,
the Seigneur de Maalsteede had set forth, by their appoint¬
ment, for Vienna. There is no doubt that this step originated
in jealousy felt towards Orange, but at the same time it is
certain that several of the leaders in the enterprise were still
his friends. 2 Some, like Champagny and De Heze, were
honestly so; others, like Aerschot, Havre, and De Ville* always
traitors in heart to the national cause, loyal to nothing but
their own advancement, were still apparently upon the best
terms with him. Moreover, it is certain that he had been made
aware of the scheme, at least, before the arrival of the Arch¬
duke in the Netherlands, for the Marquis Havre, on his way
to England, as special envoy from the estates, had a conference
with him at Gertruydenberg. 3 This was in the middle of Sep¬
tember, and before his departure for Brussels. Naturally, the

1 The addition of this pamphlet
from which the citations in the text
have been made, is the Latin one of
Marchant, published at Luxemburg,
anno 1578, under the title, “Vera et
Simplex Narratio eorum quae ab Ad-

ventu D. Joannis Austriaci Suprenn m
Belgio, etc., gesta sunt,” etc., etc.

2 Bor, xi. SOS. Meteren. vn. 126,
Hoofd, xii. 530, Cabrera, xi. 9-14,945.
G-r. v. Prinst., Archives, vi. 101.

3 Hoofd, xii. 520.

1577.]

ATTITUDE OP THE ENGLISH QUEEN.

271

proposition seemed, at first, anything but agreeable; but the
Marquis represented himself afterwards as having at last in¬
duced the Prince to look upon it with more favourable eyes.
Nevertheless, the step had been taken before the consulta¬
tion was held, nor was it the first time that the advice of
Orange had been asked concerning the adoption of a measure
after the measure had been adopted.

Whatever may have been his original sentiments upon the
subject, however, he was always less apt to complain of irrevo¬
cable events than quick to reconcile them with his own combi¬
nations, and it was soon to be discovered that the new stumbling-
block which his opponents had placed in his path, could be
converted into an additional stepping-stone towards his goal.
Meanwhile, the secret invitation to the Archduke was regarded
by the people and by foreign spectators, as a plot devised by his
enemies. Davison, envoy from Queen Elizabeth, was then in
Brussels, and informed his royal mistress, whose sentiments and
sympathies were unequivocally in favour of Orange, of the
intrigues against the Prince. 2 The efforts of England were
naturally to counteract the schemes of all who interfered with
his policy, the Queen especially, with her customary sagacity,
foreseeing the probable inclination of the Catholic nobles towards
the protectorate of Alenqon. She did not feel certain as to the
precise plans of Orange, and there was no course better adapted
to draw her from barren coquetry into positive engagements,
than to arouse her jealousy of the French influence in the pro¬
vinces. At this moment she manifested the warmest friendship
for the Prince. 3 Costly presents were transmitted by her to his
wife; among others, an ornament, of which a sculptured lizard
formed a part. The Princess, in a graceful letter to her hus¬
band, desiring that her acknowledgments should be presented
to her English Majesty, accepted the present as significative.
“ 5 Tis the fabled virtue of the lizard,” she said, “to awaken
sleepers whom a serpent is about to sting. You are the lizard,
and the Netherlands the sleepers,—pray Heaven they may
* Bor, si. 900. 8 Ibid., 899. 8 Archives et Corrcspondance, vi. 190.

272

THE EISE OF THE DUTCH EEPUBLIC.

[1577.

escape the serpent’s bite! ” 1 The Prince was well aware,
therefore, of the plots which were weaving against him. He
had small faith in the great nobles, whom he trusted “ as he
would adders fanged,” and relied only upon the communities,
upon the mass of burghers. They deserved his confidence, and
watched over his safety with jealous care. On one occasion,
when he was engaged at the State Council till a late hour, the
citizens conceived so much alarm, that a large number of them
spontaneously armed themselves, and repaired to the palace.
The Prince, informed of the circumstance, threw open a
window and addressed them, thanking them for their friend¬
ship and assuring them of his safety. They were not satis¬
fied, however, to leave him alone, but remained under arms
below till the session was terminated, when they escorted him
with affectionate respect to his own hotel. 2

The secret envoy arrived in Vienna, and excited the ambition
of the youthful Matthias. 3 It must be confessed that the offer
could hardly be a very tempting one, and it excites our surprise
that the Archduke should have thought the adventure worth the
seeking. A most anomalous position in the Netherlands was
offered to him by a slender and irresponsible faction of Nether-
landers. There was a triple prospect before him: that of a
hopeless intrigue against the first politician in Europe, a mortal
combat with the most renowned conqueror of the age, a deadly
feud with the most powerful and revengeful monarch in the
world. Into this threefold enterprise he was about to plunge
without any adequate resources, for the Archduke possessed no
experience, power, or wealth. 4 He brought, therefore, no
strength to a cause which was itself feeble. He could hope for
no protection, nor inspire any confidence. Nevertheless, he had
courage, pliability, and a turn for political adventure. Visions
of the discomfited Philip conferring the hand of his daughter,
with the Netherlands as her dowry, upon the enterprising youth

1 Archives et Corresp., vi. 190.

2 Langueti, Epist. ad Aug. 125, 17th

Oct. 1577, p. 324.

3 Bor, xi. 898.
Meteren, vii. 126.

4 Bor, xi. 899.

Hoofd. xii. 531.

1577.] ARRIVAL OF THE ARCHDUKE MATTHIAS.

273

wlio, at this juncture, should succeed in overturning the
Spanish authority in that country, were conjured up by those
who originated the plot, 1 and he was weak enough to con¬
sider such absurdities plausible, and to set forth at once to
take possession of this castle in the air.

On the evening of October 3rd, 1577, he retired to rest at
eight o’clock, feigning extreme drowsiness. After waiting till
his brother Maximilian, who slept in another bed in the same
chamber, was asleep, he slipped from his couch and from the
room in his night apparel, without even putting on his slippers.
He was soon after provided by the companions of his flight
with the disguise of a servant, arrayed in which, with his face
blackened, he made his escape by midnight from Vienna, 2 but
it is doubtful whether Rudolph was as ignorant as he affected
to be of the scheme. 3 The Archduke arrived at Cologne,
attended only by two gentlemen and a few servants. The
Governor was beside himself with fury; the Queen of England
was indignant; the Prince only, against whom the measure
was mainly directed, preserved his usual tranquillity. 4 *

Secretary Walsingham, as soon as the news reached Eng¬
land, sent for Meetkercke, colleague of Marquis Havre in the
mission from the estates. 6 He informed that functionary of
the great perplexity and excitement which, according to in¬
formation received from the English resident, Davison, were
then prevailing in Brussels, on account of the approach of the
Archduke. Some, he said, were for receiving him at one
place, some at another ; others were in favour of forbidding
his entrance altogether. Things had been sufficiently com-

1 Hoofd, xii 530.

2 Letter of Dr. Labbe to the Queen
Mother of France, in Archives et
Correspondance, vi. 202.

3 It was the opinion of Languet that

the Emperor affected ignorance of the
plot at its commencement, that he after¬
wards affected an original connivance,
and that he was equally disingenuous

in both pretences. “ PuLchre sane
mstructa fabula,” quoth shrewd Her¬

bert, ,£ sed caveant aucupes se suis reti-|

VOL. III. 1

bus involvant ; ” and again, six months
later, “ Jam profitetur se fuisse au-
thorem Matthise fratri, ut in Belgium
iret. Quam caute id faciat, nescio,
cum id antea constanter negaverit.”—
Huberti Langueti Epistobe ad lllus-
trem et generosum Dominum Philip-
pum Sydnseum, Francof., 1633, Ini.
224, lxvi. 13S.

4 Bor, xi. 900. Meteren, vii. 126.

5 Ibid., xi. 899, 900.

274

THE RISE OR THE HUTCH REPUBLIC.

[15 77.

plicated before, without this additional cause of confusion.
Don John was strengthening himself daily, through the
secret agency of the Duke of Guise and his party. His war¬
like genius was well known, as well as the experience of the
soldiers who were fast rallying under his banner. On the
other hand, the Duke of Alen^on had come to La Fere, and
was also raising troops, while to oppose this crowd of rival
enemies, to deal with this host of impending disasters, there
was but one man in the Netherlands. On the Prince of
Orange alone could the distracted states rely. To his pru¬
dence and valour only could the Queen look with hopeful
eyes. The Secretary proceeded to inform the envoy, there¬
fore, that her Majesty would feel herself compelled to with¬
draw all succour from the states if the Prince of Orange were
deprived of his leadership; for it was upon that leadership
only that she had relied for obtaining a successful result.
She was quite indisposed to encounter indefinite risk with an
impossibility of profit. 1

Meetkercke replied to the Secretary by observing, that the
great nobles of the land had been unanimous in desiring a new
Governor-General at this juncture. They had thought Matthias,
with a strong Council of State, composed of native Nether-
landers to control him, likely to prove a serviceable candidate
for the post. They had reason to believe that, after he should
be received, the Emperor would be reconciled to the measure,
and that by his intercession the King of Spain would be like¬
wise induced to acquiesce. 2 He alluded, moreover, to the con¬
ference between the Marquis of Havre and Orange at Gertruy-
denberg, and quoted the opinion of the Prince that it would
be unwise, after the invitation had been given, to insult the
Archduke and his whole imperial house, by treating him with
indignity upon his arrival. It was inevitable, said the envoy,
that differences of opinion should exist in large assemblies; but
according to information which he had recently received from
Marquis Havre, then in Brussels, affairs had already become
8S9.900. 2 Ibid.

1577.]

ORANGE ELECTED RUWARD.

275

smooth again. At the conclusion of the conference, TValsing-
ham repeated emphatically that the only condition upon
which the Queen would continue her succour to the Nether¬
lands was, that the Prince should be forthwith appointed
Lieutenant-General for the Archduke. 1

The immediate result of this movement was, that Matthias
was received at Antwerp by Orange at the head of two thou¬
sand cavalry, and attended by a vast concourse of inhabitants. 2
Had the Prince chosen a contrary course, the Archduke might
have been compelled to return, somewhat ridiculously, to
Vienna; but, at the same time, the anger of the Emperor and
of all Germany would have been aroused against Orange and
the cause he served. Had the Prince, on the contrary,
abandoned the field himself, and returned to Holland, he
would have left the game in the hands of his adversaries.
Ever since he had made what his brother John called that
“ dangerous gallows-journey ” to Brussels, 3 his influence had
been culminating daily, and the jealousy of the great nobles
rising as rapidly. Had he now allowed himself to be driven
from his post, he would have exactly fulfilled their object.
By remaining, he counteracted their schemes. By taking
Matthias wholly into his own possession, he obtained one
piece the more in the great game which he was playing
against his antagonist in the Escorial. By making adroit
use of events as they arose, he made the very waves which
were to sink him, carry his great cause triumphantly onward.

The first result of the invitation to Matthias was the elec¬
tion of Orange as Ruward of Brabant. 4 This office was one
of great historical dignity, but somewhat anomalous in its
functions. The province of Brabant, having no special
governor, was usually considered under the immediate super¬
intendence of the Governor-General. As the capital of Bra¬
bant was the residence of that functionary, no inconvenience

1 Bor, si. 900. 2 Ibid. Meteren, vii. I etc.,etc.—Archiveset Correspondance,

3 “-vrie man’s achten mocht, | vi. 215.

zwagalgreisen,sodes Hern Printzahn- I 4 Hoofd, xii. 5&2. Wagenaer, vu
hero und gehn Brussel—tliunmussen,” | 171.

276

THE RISE OF THE DUTCH REPUBLIC.

[1577.

from this course had been felt since the accession of the house
of Burgundy. At present, however, the condition of affairs
was so peculiar—the seat of government being empty without
having been permanently vacated—that a special opportunity
was offered for conferring both honour and power on the Prince.
A Kuward was not exactly dictator, although his authority
was universal. He was not exactly protector, nor governor,
nor stadtholder. His functions were unlimited as to time—
therefore superior to those of an ancient dictator; they were
commonly conferred on the natural heir to the sovereignty—
therefore more lofty than those of ordinary stadtholders. The
individuals who had previously held the office in the Nether¬
lands had usually reigned afterwards in their own right.
Duke Albert, of the Bavarian line, for example, had been
Ruward of Hainault and Holland, for thirty years, during the
insanity of his brother, and on the death of Duke William
had succeeded to his title. 1 2 Philip of Burgundy had declared
himself Ruward of Brabant in 1425, 2 and had shortly after¬
wards deprived Jacqueline of all her titles and appropri¬
ated them to himself. In the one case the regent, in the
second case the usurper, had become reigning prince. Thus
the movement of the jealous nobles against the Prince had for
its first effect his immediate appointment to an office whose
chief characteristic was, that it conducted to sovereignty.

The election was accomplished thus. The u members,” or
estates of Brussels, together with the deans, guilds, and other
of the principal citizens of Antwerp, addressed a request to the
states of Brabant, that William of Orange should be appointed
Ruward, and after long deliberation the measure was carried.
The unsolicited honour was then solemnly offered to him. He
refused, and was only, after repeated and urgent entreaties, in¬
duced to accept the office. The matter was then referred to the
states-general, who confirmed the dignity, after some demur,
and with the condition that it might be superseded by the

1 Wagenaer, iii. 304 (m 13S7, a.d.) I Groen v. Prinsterer, vi. 208-210 ,

2 Wagenaer, iii. 465.—Compare i Strada, ax. 440. 441; Wagenaer, vii. 171

1577,] ORANGE ELEVATED TO UNLIMITED POWER. 277

appointment of a governor-general. 1 He was finally con¬
firmed as Ruward on the 22nd of October, to the boundless
satisfaction of the people, who celebrated the event by a
solemn holiday in Antwerp, Brussels, and other cities. 2 His
friends, inspired by the intrigues of his enemies, had thus
elevated the Prince to almost unlimited power ; while a strong
expression in favour of his government had been elicited from
the most important ally of the Netherlands—England. It
soon rested with himself only to assume the government of
Flanders, having been elected stadtholder, not once only, but
many times, by the four estates of that important province,
and having as constantly refused the dignity. 3 With Holland
and Zeland devoted to him, Brabant and Flanders formally
under his government, the Netherland capital lavishing
testimonials of affection upon him, and the mass of the peo¬
ple almost worshipping him, it would not have been difficult
for the Prince to play a game as selfish as it had hitherto
been close and skilful. He might have proved to the grand
seigniors that their suspicions were just, by assuming a crown
which they had been intriguing to push from his brows.
Certainly the nobles deserved their defeat. They had done their
best to circumvent Orange, in all ways and at all times. They
had paid their court to power when it was most powerful, and
had sought to swim on the popular tide when it was rising.

He avenged himself upon their perfidy only by serving his
country more faithfully than ever, but it was natural that he
should be indignant at the conduct of these gentlemen, u child¬
ren of good houses ” (in his own words,) “ issue of worthy
sires,” whose fathers, at least, he had ever loved and honoured. 4

u They serve the Duke of Alva and the grand Commander
like varlets,” he cried; a they make war upon me to the knife.
Afterwards they treat -with me, they reconcile themselves with
me, they are sworn foes of the Spaniards. Don John arrives,
and they follow him; they intrigue for my ruin. Don John

1 Groen v. Prinst., 208, 209. Bon- 2 Hoofd, xii. 522.

dam, lii. 319, sqq. (cited by Groen v. 3 Apologie du. Prince d’Orange, pp.

Prinst.) 108, 109. 4 Ibid., p. 107.

278

THE RISE OF THE DUTCH REPUBLIC.

[1577.

fails in his enterprise upon Antwerp citadel; they quit him
incontinently and call upon me. No sooner do I come than,
against their oath and without previous communication with
the states or myself, they call upon the Archduke Matthias.
Are the waves of the sea more inconstant—is Euripus more
uncertain than the councils of such men?” 1

While these events were occurring at Brussels and Ant¬
werp, a scene of a different nature was enacting at Ghent.
The Duke of Aerschot had recently been appointed to the
government of Flanders by the state Council, 2 but the choice
was exceedingly distasteful to a large number of the inhabit¬
ants. Although, since the defeat of Don John’s party in
Antwerp, Aerschot had again become “the affectionate
brother ” of Orange, yet he was known to be the head of the
cabal which had brought Matthias from Vienna. Flanders,
moreover, swarmed with converts to the Reformed religion, 3
and the Duke’s strict Romanism was well known. The people,
therefore, who hated the Pope and adored the Prince, were
furious at the appointment of the new Governor; but by dint
of profuse promises regarding the instant restoration of privi¬
leges and charters which had long lain dormant, the friends of
Aerschot succeeded in preparing the way for his installation. 4

On the 20th of October, attended by twenty-three companies
of infantry and three hundred horse, he came to Ghent. 5 The
famous place was stiff one of the most powerful and turbulent
towns in Europe. Although diminished in importance since
the commercial decline which had been the inevitable result of
Philip’s bloody government, it was still swarming with a vigor¬
ous and dangerous population, 6 and it had not forgotten the
days when the iron tongue of Roland could call eighty thousand
fighting men to the city banner. 7 Even now, twenty thousand

A Apologie du Prince d’Orange, p.
107.

3 Bor, xi. 903. Meteren, vii. 126.
Van d. Vynckt, ii. 278.

3 Van d. Vynckt, ii. 276. Hoofd,
xn. 533.

4 Meteren, vii. 126. Van d. Vynckt,

ii. 279.

5 Meteren, Van d. Vynckt, ubi sup.
Bor, xi. 903-

! e Van d. Vynckt, ii. 276, 277.

I 7 Guicciardini-Gandavum, pp. 343,
'344; see Introduction to this work.
Tassis, iv. 916.

1577.] AERSCHOT GOVERNOR OF FLANDERS. 279

were secretly pledged 1 to rise at the bidding of certain chief¬
tains resident among them, noble by birth, warmly attached
to the Reformed religion, and devoted to Orange. These
gentlemen were perfectly conscious that a reaction was to be
attempted in favour of Don John and of Catholicism, through
the agency of the newly-appointed governor of Flanders.
Aerschot was trusted or respected by neither party. The
only difference in the estimates formed of him was, that some
considered him a deep and dangerous traitor ; others that he
was rather foolish than malicious, 2 and more likely to ruin a
good cause than to advance the interests of a bad one. The
leaders of the popular party at Ghent believed him dangerous.
They felt certain that it was the deeply-laid design of the
Catholic nobles—foiled as they had been in the objects with
which they had brought Matthias from Vienna, and enraged
as they were that the only result of that movement had been
to establish the power of Orange upon a firmer basis—to set
up an opposing influence in Ghent. Flanders in the posses¬
sion of the Catholics, was to weigh up Brabant, with its
recent tendencies to toleration. Aerschot was to counteract
the schemes of Orange. Matthias was to be withdrawn from
the influence of the great heretic, and be yet compelled to play
the part set down for him by those who had placed him upon
the stage. A large portion, no doubt, of the schemes here
suggested, was in agitation, but the actors were hardly equal
to the drama which they were attempting. The intrigue was,
however, to be frustrated at once by the hand of Orange,
acting as it often did from beneath a cloud.

Of all the chieftains possessing influence with the inhabitants
of Ghent, two young nobles, named Ryhove and Imbize, were
the most conspicuous. 3 Both were of ancient descent and
broken fortunes, both were passionately attached to the Prince,
both were inspired with an intense hatred for all that was

1 Van d. Vynckt, ii. 277. Languet. Ep. Sec., i. ii. 307.

2 “ Sed plerique existimant enm stul- 3 Van d. Vynckt, ii. 274, sqq,

titia potius quam malitia peccasse.”—

280

THE RISE OF THE DUTCH REPUBLIC.

[1577.

Catholic or Spanish. They had travelled further on the reform¬
ing path than many had done in that day, and might even be
called democratic in their notions. Their heads were filled with
visions of Greece and Rome; the praise of republics was ever
on their lips; and they avowed to their intimate associates that
it was already feasible to compose a commonwealth like that of
the Swiss Cantons out of the seventeen Netherlands. 1 They
were regarded as dreamers by some, as desperadoes by others.
Few had confidence in their capacity or their purity; but
Orange, who knew mankind, recognised in them useful instru¬
ments for any hazardous enterprise. They delighted in stra¬
tagems and sudden feats of arms. Audacious and cruel by
temperament, they were ever most happy in becoming a
portion of the desolation which popular tumults engender.

There were several excited meetings of the four estates of
Flanders immediately after the arrival of the Duke of Aerschot
in Ghent. 2 His coming had been preceded by extensive pro¬
mises, but it soon became obvious that their fulfilment was to
be indefinitely deferred. There was a stormy session on the
27th of October, many of the clergy and nobility being present,
and comparatively few members of the third estate. Yery vio¬
lent speeches were made, and threats openly uttered, that the
privileges, about which so much noise had been heard, would
be rather curtailed than enlarged under the new administration.
At the same session, the commission of Aerschot was formally
presented by Champagny and Sweveghem, deputed by the State
Council for that purpose. 3 Champagny was in a somewhat
anomalous position. There was much doubt in men’s minds
concerning him. He had seemed lately the friend of Orange,
but he was certainly the brother of Granvelle. His splendid
but fruitless services during the Antwerp Fury had not been
forgotten, but he was known to be a determined Catholic. He
was a hater of Spaniards, but no lover of popular liberty. The

x Yan d. Yynckt, ii. 284, 2S5. 8 Meteren, Yii. 126 b . Hoofd, xii.

2 Ibid., ii. 276, sqq_. Meteren, vii. 533.

126.

1577.1

INTRIGUES AT GHENT.

281

nature of his sentiments towards Orange was perhap® unjustly
suspected. At any rate, two or three days after the events
which now occupy our attention, he wrote him a private
letter, in which he assured him of his attachment. In refer¬
ence to the complaints of the Prince, that he had not been
seconded as he ought to have been, he said, moreover, that
he could solemnly swear never to have seen a single individual
who did not hold the Prince in admiration, and who -was not
affectionately devoted to him, not only by public profession,
but by private sentiment. 1 There was little doubt entertained
as to the opinions held by the rest of the aristocratic party, then
commencing their manoeuvres in Ghent. Their sentiments were
uttered with sufficient distinctness in this remarkable session.

Hessels, the old Blood Councillor, was then resident in
Ghent, -where he discharged high governmental functions. It
was he, as it will be remembered, who habitually fell asleep
at that horrible council board, and could only start from his
naps to shout “ ad patibulum,” while the other murderers had
found their work less narcotic. A letter from Hessels to
Count de Beux, late royal governor of Flanders, was at the
present juncture intercepted. 2 Perhaps it was invented, but,
genuine or fictitious, it was circulated extensively among the
popular leaders, and had the effect of proving Madame de
Hessels a true prophet. It precipitated the revolution in Fian-
ders, and soon afterwards cost the Councillor his life. “We
have already brought many notable magistrates of Flanders
over to the side of his Highness Don John,” wrote Hessels.
“We hope, after the Duke of Aerschot is governor, that we
shall fully carry out the intentions of his Majesty and the plans
of his Highness. We shall also know how to circumvent the
scandalous heretic with all his adherents and followers , m

Certainly, if this letter were true, it was high time for the
friends of the “ scandalous heretic ” to look about them. If it
were a forgery, 4 which is highly probable, it was ingeniously

1 Archives de la Maison d’Orange,
vi. 226.

a Bor, xi. 905 <z. * Ibid., 905.

4 Archives de la Maison d’Orange.

282

THE EISE OF THE HUTCH REPUBLIC.

[1577.

imagined, and did the work of truth. The revolutionary
party, being in a small minority in the assembly, were ad¬
vised by their leaders to bow before the storm. They did so,
and the bluster of the reactionary party grew louder as they
marked the apparent discomfiture of their foes. They openly
asserted that the men who w r ere clamouring for privileges
should obtain nothing but halters. The buried charters should
never be resuscitated; but the spirit of the dead Emperor,
who had once put a rope around the necks of the insolent
Ghenters, still lived in that of his son. There was no lack of
denunciation. Don John and the Duke of Aerscliot would

soon bring the turbulent burghers to their senses, and there
would then be an end to this renewed clamour about musty
parchments. 1 Much indignation was secretly excited in the
assembly by such menaces. Without doors the subterranean
flames spread rapidly, but no tumult occurred that night.
Before the session was over, Ryhove left the city, pretending
a visit to Tournay. No sooner had he left the gates, how¬
ever, than he turned his horse’s head in the opposite direction,
and rode off* post haste to Antwerp. There he had a con¬
ference with William of Orange, 3 and painted in lively
colours the alarming position of affairs. 66 And what do
you mean to do in the matter ? ” asked the Prince, rather
drily. 3 Eyhove was somewhat disconcerted. He had ex¬
pected a violent explosion, well as he knew the tranquil
personage whom he was addressing. u I know no better
counsel,” he replied* at length* “ than to take the Duke, with
his bishops, councillors, lords, and the whole nest of them, by
the throat, and thrust them all out together.” 4

v 1 220.— Compare the remarks of
Groen v. Prinsterer, Bor, xi. 223.

1 Meteren, vii. 126. Bor, xi. 903,

sqcj.

a Meteren, vi. 126 b . Hoofd, xii.
533.—Bor merely observes that it was
supposed, that Eyhove had visited
Orange during his brief absence from
Ghent. Meteren, however, gives a
minute account of their interview, in
which he is followed by Hoofd, who

had additional sources of information.
Compare Groen v. Prmst., vi. 217,
218; Wagenaer, vii. 177; V. d.
Vynckt, ii. 279, 280, et al.

3 “ Waer toe den Prince niet anders
en wiste op te segghen dan vraeghde
wat raedt ? ” — Meteren, vii. 126 b .
Hoofd, xii. 533.

4 “-met den geheeleneste by den

halse te vatten ende te verdrrjven.”—•
Meteren, vii. 126.—Compare Hoofd.

1577.] PEIYATE COOTEEENCE WITH OBANGE. 283

“Rather a desperate undertaking, however?” said the
Prince, carelessly, but interrogatively.

“ I know no other remedy,” answered Eyhove; “ I would
rather make the attempt, relying upon God alone, and die
like a man, if needful, than live in eternal slavery. Like an
ancient Roman,” continued the young republican noble, in
somewhat bombastic vein, “ I am ready to wager my life,
where my fatherland’s welfare is at stake.”

“ Bold words! ” said the Prince, looking gravely at Ryhove:
“but upon what force do you rely for your undertaking ? ”

“If I can obtain no assistance from your Excellency,” was
the reply, “ I shall throw myself on the mass of the citizens.
I can arouse them in the name of their ancient liberties,
which must be redeemed now or never.”

The Prince, believing probably that the scheme, if scheme
there were, was but a wild one, felt little inclination to com¬
promise himself with the young conspirator. He told him he
could do nothing at present, and saying that he must at
least sleep upon the matter, dismissed him for the night.
Next morning, at daybreak, Ryhove was again closeted with
him. The Prince asked his sanguine partisan if he were still
determined to carry out his project, with no more definite
support than he had indicated? Ryhove assured him, in
reply, that he meant to do so, or to die in the attempt. The
Prince shrugged his shoulders, and soon afterwards seemed to
fall into a reverie. 1 Ryhove continued talking, but it was
soon obvious that his Highness was not listening, and he
therefore took his leave somewhat abruptly. Hardly had he
left the house, however, when the Prince despatched Sainte
Aldegonde in search of him. That gentleman, proceeding to
his hotel, walked straight into the apartment of Ryhove, and
commenced a conversation with a person whom he found
there, but to his surprise he soon discovered, experienced
politician though be' was, that he had made an egregious

1 “He Prince trok syn shouderen r etc.—Meteren, ubi sup. Hoofd, xii.
ende aenkoorde hem doove ooren,” | 534.

284

TIIE RISE OF THE DUTCH REPUBLIC.

[1577.

blunder. He had opened a dangerous secret to an entire
stranger, 1 and Ryhove coming into the apartment a few
minutes afterwards, was naturally surprised to find the
Prince’s chief councillor in close conversation about the plot
with Yan Rooyen, the Burgomaster of Dendermonde. The
Blemish noble, however, always prompt in emergencies, drew^
his rapier, and assured the astonished burgomaster that h&.
would either have his life on the instant, or his oath never to*
reveal a syllable of what he had heard. That functionary, who
had neither desired the young noble’s confidence, nor contem¬
plated the honour of being run through the body as a con¬
sequence of receiving it, was somewhat aghast at the rapid
manner in which these gentlemen transacted business. He
willingly gave the required pledge, and was permitted to depart.

The effect of the conference between Sainte Aldegonde and
Ryhove was to convince the young partisan that the Prince
would neither openly countenance his project nor be ex¬
tremely vexed should it prove successful. In short, while, as
in the case of the arrest of the State Council, the subordi¬
nates were left to appear the principals in the transaction,
the persons most intimate with William of Orange were
allowed to form satisfactory opinions as to his wishes, and to
serve as instruments to his ends. 2 ie Vive qui vince /” cried
Sainte Aldegonde, encouragingly, to Ryhove, shaking hands
with him at parting. The conspirator immediately mounted,
and rode off towards Ghent. During his absence there
had been much turbulence, but no decided outbreak, in
that city. Imbize had accosted the Duke of Aerschot in
the street, and demanded when and how he intended to pro¬
claim the restoration of the ancient charters. The haughty
Duke had endeavoured to shake off his importunate questioner)
while Imbize persisted, with increasing audacity, till Aerscho i

1 Meteren. vii. 126. Hoofd, xii. 534.
a '‘Rybove, ziende dat den Prince
conniveerde ofte d’oogke luyckte om
eijn voorneemen m’t werk te stellen,” j
etc. —Meteren, vii. 127. “ Ryhove |

| kieruit scheppende dat zyn Doorluch-
tigkeit door de yingeren zagh,” etc.—
Hoofd, xii. 533. Compare Strada, ii.
lib. i. p. 4; G-roen y. Prinst., Archives,
etc., vi. 217, 218.

1577.]

DISTUEBANCES AT GHENT.

285

lost his temper at last. ££ Charters, charters! ” he cried, in
a rage; 66 you shall learn soon, ye that are thus howling for
charters, that we have still the old means of making you
dumb, with a rope on your throats. I tell you this—were you
ever so much hounded on by the Prince of Orange.” 1

The violence of the new governor excited the wrath of Imbize.
He broke from him abruptly, and rushed to a rendezvous of
his confederates, every man of whom was ready for a desperate
adventure. Groups of excited people were seen vociferating in
different places. A drum was heard to rattle from time to time.
Nevertheless, the rising tumult seemed to subside again after a
season, owing partly to the exertions of the magistrates, partly
to the absence of Ryhove. At four in the afternoon that gentle¬
man entered the town, and riding directly to the head-quarters
of the conspiracy, was incensed to hear that the work, which
had begun so bravely, had been allowed to cool. ££ ’Tis a time,”
he cried, ££ for vigilance. If we sleep now, we shall be dead in
our beds before morning. Better to fan the fire which has
begun to blaze in the people’s heart. Better to gather the
fruit while it is ripe. Let us go forward, each with his fol¬
lowers, and I pledge myself to lead the way. Let us scuttle
the old slfip of slavery; let us hunt the Spanish Inquisition,
once for all, to the hell from whence it came! ” 2

££ There spoke the voice of a man! ” cried the Flemish cap¬
tain, Mieghem, one of the chief conspirators; Ci lead on, Ryhove,
I swear to follow you as far as our legs will carry us.” Thus
encouraged, Byhove rushed about the city, calling upon the
people everywhere to rise. They rose almost to a man. Arm¬
ing and mustering at different points, according to previous
arrangements, a vast number assembled by toll of bell, after
nightfall, on the public square, whence, under command of
Bvhove, they swept to the residence of Aerschot at Saint
Bavon. The guards, seeing the fierce mob approaching, bran-

2 Meteren, vii. 127* Hoofd, xii. “ Daar (zeyde Mieghem hierop) hoor
534. Van d. Vynckt, ii. 280. ik een 5 man spreeken,” etc.—Ibid.,

2 Hoofd, Meteren, ubi sup. Bor, xi. Meteren, yii. 127.

903, 904.

286

THE EISE OF THE DUTCH REPUBLIC.

[1577.

dishing spears and waving torches, had scarce time to close
the gates, as the people loudly demanded entrance and the
delivery to them of the Governor. Both claims were refused.
cc Let us burn the birds in their nests,” cried Ryhove without
hesitation. 1 Pitch, light wood, and other combustibles, were
brought at his command, and in a few moments the palace
would have been in flames, had not Aerschot, seeing that the
insurgents were in earnest, capitulated. As soon as the gates
were open, the foremost of the mob rushed upon him, and
would have torn him limb from limb, had not Ryhove reso¬
lutely interfered, and twice protected the life of the Governor,
at the peril of his own. 2 The Duke was then made a prisoner,
and, under a strong guard, was conveyed, still in his night¬
gown, and barefooted, to the mansion of Ryhove. All the
other leading members of the Catholic party were captured,
the arrests proceeding till a late hour in the night. Rassing-
hem, Sweveghem, Fisch, De la Porta, and other prominent
members of the Flemish estates or council, were secured, but
Champagny was allowed to make his escape. 3 The Bishops
of Bruges and Ypres were less fortunate. Blood-councillor
Hessels, whose letter—genuine or counterfeited—had been so
instrumental in hastening this outbreak, was most carefully
guarded, and to him and to Senator Fisch the personal conse¬
quences of that night’s work were to be very tragic.

Thus audaciously, successfully, and hitherto without blood¬
shed, was the anti-Catholic revolution commenced in Flanders.
The event was the first of a long and most signal series. The
deed was done. The provisional government was established,
at the head of which was placed Ryhove, to whom oaths of
allegiance were rendered, subject to the future arrangements
of the states-general and Orange. On the 9 th of November, the
nobles, notables, and community of Ghent published an address,
in which they elaborately defended the revolution which had

1 Meteren, vii. 127. Hoofd, xii.
535. Bor, xi. 905.

2 Hoofd, xii. 535. Meteren, vii.

127. "Van d. Vynckt, ii. 282.

3 “ Zoo dat by verreyst, verborgken,
oft doorgunste, verschoon moet geweeat
zyn.”—Hoofd, xii. 535.

1577.]

ORANGE VISITS GHENT.

287

been effected and the arrests which had taken place ; while the
Catholic party, with Aerschot at its head, was declared to be
secretly in league with Don John to bring back the Spanish
troops, to overthrow the Prince of Orange, to deprive him
of the protectorate of Brabant, to set at nought the Ghent
treaty, and to suppress the Beformed religion. 1

The effect of this sudden rising of the popular party was
prodigious throughout the Netherlands. At the same time, the
audacity of such extreme proceedings could hardly be counte¬
nanced by any considerable party in the states-general. Cham-
pagny wrote to the Prince of Orange that, even if the letter of
Hessels were genuine, it proved nothing against Aerschot, 2 and
he urged the necessity of suppressing such scenes of licence
immediately, through the influence of those who could com¬
mand the passions of the mob. Otherwise, he affirmed that
all legitimate forms of justice would disappear, and that it
would be easy to set the bloodhounds upon any game whatever.
Sainte Aldegonde wrote to the Prince, that it would be a
great point, but a very difficult one, to justify the Ghent trans¬
action ; for there was little doubt that the Hessels 5 letter was
a forgery. 3 It was therefore as well, no doubt, that the Prince
had not decidedly committed himself to Byhove’s plot, and
thus deprived himself of the right to interfere afterwards, ac¬
cording to •what seemed the claims of justice and sound policy.

He now sent Arend Van Dorp to Ghent, to remonstrate
with the leaders of the insurrection upon the violence of
their measures, and to demand the liberation of the pri¬
soners—a request which was only complied with in the case
of Aerschot. That nobleman was liberated on the 14th of
November, under the condition that he would solemnly
pledge himself to forget and forgive the treatment which he
had received, but the other prisoners were retained in custody
for a much longer period. A few weeks afterwards, the
Prince of Orange visited Ghent, at the earnest request of the

1 Address of the Notables, in .Bor, j 2 Archives de la Maison d'Oran^e,

901, 905. I vi. 221. 3 Ibid., vi. 219, 220.

288

THE BISE OF THE DUTCH KEPUBLIC.

[1577.

four estates of Flanders, and it was hoped that his presence
would contribute to the restoration of tranquillity. 1

This visit was naturally honoured by a brilliant display of
u rhetorical 55 spectacles and tableaux vivants ; for nothing
could exceed the passion of the Netherlanders of that century
for apologues and charades. In allegory they found an ever¬
present comforter in their deepest afflictions. The prince
was escorted from the Town-gate to the Jacob’s church amid
a blaze of tar-barrels and torches, although it was mid-day,
where a splendid exhibition had been arranged by that
sovereign guild of rhetoric, u Jesus with the Balsam Flower.”
The drama was called Judas Maccabaeus, in compliment to
the Prince. In the centre of the stage stood the Hebrew
patriot, in full armour, symbolising the illustrious guest
doing battle for his country. He was attended by the three
estates of the country, ingeniously personified by a single in¬
dividual, who wore the velvet bonnet of a noble, the cassock of
a priest, and the breeches of a burgher. 2 Groups of allego¬
rical personages were drawn up on the right and left;—
Courage, Patriotism, Freedom, Mercy, Diligence, and other
estimable qualities upon one side, were balanced by Murder,
Rapine, Treason, and the rest of the sisterhood of Crime, on
the other. The Inquisition was represented as a lean and
hungry hag. The 6C Ghent Pacification ” was dressed in cra-
moisy satin, and wore a city on her head for a turban ; while,
tied to her apron-strings, were Catholicism and Protestantism,
bound in a loving embrace by a chain of seventeen links,
which she was forging upon an anvil. Under the anvil was an
individual in complete harness, engaged in eating his heart;
this w r as Discord. In front of the scene stood History and
Rhetoric, attired as “ triumphant maidens, in white garments,”

1 Bor, xi. 905, 906. The Prince
came to the city on the 29th December
1577.

2 “ Beschrijvinghe van het gene dat
vertoocht wierd ter inkomste Van del*
Excellentie, des Prinzen van Orangien,
bmnen der Stad van Ghendt.”—
Ghendt, 1578. For the history of

art in Flanders and Europe this little
,volume, filled not only with the poetry,
but with the designs and architectural
embellishments employed upon this
occasion, is worthy of attention. The
pamphlet is very rare. The one used
by the writer is in the Duncan
Collection of the Eoyal Library, Hague.

1577.]

TOLERATION.

289

each with a laurel crown and a burning torch. These person¬
ages, after holding a rhymed dialogue between themselves,
filled with wonderful conceits and quibbles, addressed the
Prince of Orange and Maccabaeus, one after the other, in a
great quantity of very detestable verses.

After much changing of scenes and groups, and an enormous
quantity of Flemish-woven poetry, the 66 Ghent Peace 55 came
forward, leading a lion in one hand, and holding a heart of pure
gold in the other. The heart, upon which was inscribed Sin-
ceritasy was then presented to the real Prince, as he sat u repos¬
ing after the spectacle,” and perhaps slightly yawning, the gift
being accompanied by another tremendous discharge of compli¬
mentary verses. 1 After this, William of Orange was permitted
to proceed towards the lodgings provided for him, but the
magistrates and notables met him upon the threshold, and the
pensionary made him a long oration. Even after the Prince
was fairly housed, he had not escaped the fangs of allegory;
for, while he sat at supper refreshing his exhausted frame after
so much personification and metaphor, a symbolical personage,
attired to represent the town corporation, 2 made his appearance,
and poured upon him a long and particularly dull heroic poem.
Fortunately, this episode closed the labours of the day.

On the 7th of December 1577, the states-general formally
declared that Don John was no longer Stadtholder, Governor,
nor Captain-General, but an infractor of the peace which he
had sworn to maintain, and an enemy of the fatherland. All
natives of the country who should shew him favour or assist¬
ance were declared rebels and traitors; and by a separate
edict, issued the same day, it was ordained that an inventory
of the estates of such persons should forthwith be taken. 3

Thus the war, which had for a brief period been suspended
during the angry, tortuous, and hopeless negotiations which
succeeded the arrival of Don John, was once more to be let
loose. To this point had tended all the policy of Orange—
faithful as ever to the proverb with which he had broken off the

1 Beschrijvinglie, eta. 2 Ibid. s Bor, xi. 916.

VOL. III. T

290

THE RISE OF THE DUTCH REPUBLIC.

[1577.

Breda conferences, “that war was preferable to a doubtful
peace.” Even, however, as his policy had pointed to a war
as the necessary forerunner of a solid peace with Spain, so had
his efforts already advanced the cause of internal religious
concord within the provinces themselves. On the 10th of
December, a new act of union was signed at Brussels, by
which those of the Roman Church and those who had retired
from that communion bound themselves to respect and to
protect each other with mutual guarantees against all enemies
whatsoever. 1 Here was a step beyond the Ghent pacification,
and in the same direction. The first treaty tacitly introduced
toleration by suppressing the right of persecution, but the
new union placed the Reformed religion on a level with the
old. This was the result of the Prince’s efforts; and, in truth,
there was no lack of eagerness among these professors of a
faith which had been so long under ban to take advantage of
his presence. Out of dark alleys, remote thickets, subter¬
ranean conventicles, where the dissenters had so long been
trembling for their lives, the oppressed now came forth into
the light of day. They indulged openly in those forms of
worship which persecution had affected to regard with as
much holy horror as the Badahuennan or Hercynian mysteries
-of Celtic ages could inspire, and they worshipped boldly the
common God of Catholic and Puritan, in the words most
consonant to their tastes, without dreading the gibbet as an
inevitable result of their audacity.

In truth, the time had arrived for bringing the northern and
southern, the Celtic and German, the Protestant and Catholic,
hearts together, or else for acquiescing in their perpetual divorce.

1 Meteren, yii. 127 d. Haraei Ann.,
lii. 268, 269.—It is singular that Bor,
Reyd, Bentivoglio, Van der Vynckt,
Grotius, and even the constitutional
historian, Kluit, are all silent con-
•ceming this remarkable Act of Union.
Hoofd alludes to it in exactly two
lines; Strada, Be Thou, and Wagenaer,
are equally concise. The Archivarius

de Jonghe has, however, left nothing
to he desired in his interesting mono-
grapky (“ Verhandelingen en Onuitge-
gevene Stukken,” pp. 163-204), besides
publishing the original French text of
the important document. The contem¬
porary historians above cited (Meteren
and Haraeus) had already given its
substance.

1577.]

THE BRUSSELS UNION CHARACTERISED.

291

If the sentiment of nationality, the cause of a common father-
land, could now overcome the attachment to a particular form
of worship—if a common danger and a common destiny could
now teach the great lesson of mutual toleration, it might yet be
possible to create a united Netherland, and defy for ever the
power of Spain. Since the union of Brussels, of January 1577,
the internal cancer of religious discord had again begun to cor¬
rode the body pditic. The pacification of Ghent had found the
door open to religious toleration. It had not opened, but had
left it open. The union of Brussels had closed the door again.
Contrary to the hopes of the Prince of Orange and of the patriots
who followed in his track, the sanction given to the Roman
religion had animated the Catholics to fresh arrogance and
fresh persecution. In the course of a few months, the only
fruits of the new union, from which so much had been hoped,
were to be seen in imprisonments, confiscations, banishments,
executions. 1 The perpetual edict, by which the fifteen pro¬
vinces had united in acknowledging Don John, while the Protest¬
ant stronghold of Holland and Zeland had been placed in a
state of isolation by the wise distrust of Orange, had widened
the breach between Catholics and Protestants. The subsequent
conduct of Don John had confirmed the suspicions and demon¬
strated the sagacity of the Prince. The seizure of Namur and
the open hostility avowed by the Governor once more forced the
provinces together. The suppressed flames of nationality burst
forth again. Catholic and Protestant, Fleming and Hollander,
instinctively approached each other, and felt the necessity of
standing once more shoulder to shoulder in defence of their
common rights. The Prince of Orange was called for by the
unanimous cry of the whole country. He came to Brussels.
His first step, as already narrated, was to break off nego¬
tiations which had been already ratified by the votes of the
states-general. The measure was reconsidered, under pretence
of adding certain amendments. Those amendments were

1 44 Die nieuwe oder nadere Unie. Verhandelingen und Onuitg. Stukk,
van BruseelL”—Doov. J. C. Jonghe. j p. 184.

292

THE RISE OF THE DUTCH REPUBLIC.

[1577.

the unconditional articles of surrender proposed for Don
John’s signature on the 25th of September—articles which
could only elicit words of defiance from his lips.

Thus far the Prince’s object was accomplished. A treach¬
erous peace, which would have insured destruction, was averted,,
but a new obstacle to the development of his broad and ener¬
getic schemes arose in the intrigue which brought the Archduke
from Yienna. The cabals of Orange’s secret enemies were again
thwarted with the same adroitness to which his avowed antao-n*
nists were forced to succumb. Matthias was made the exponent
of the new policy, the standard-bearer of the new union which
the Prince now succeeded in establishing; for his next step
was immediately to impress upon the provinces which had
thus united in casting down the gauntlet to a common
enemy the necessity of uniting in a permanent league. One
province was already lost by the fall of Namur. The bonds
of a permanent union for the other sixteen could be con¬
structed of but one material—religious toleration, and for a
moment, the genius of Orange, always so far beyond his
age, succeeded in raising the mass of his countrymen to
the elevation upon -which he had so long stood alone.

The u new or nearer union of Brussels ” was signed on the
10 th of December, eleven months after the formation of the first
union. This was the third and, unfortunately, the last confede¬
ration of all the Netherlands. The original records have been
lost, but it is known that the measure was accepted unanimously
in the estates-general as soon as presented. 1 The leading
Catholic nobles were with the army, but a deputation, sent to
the camp, returned with their signatures and hearty approval $
with the signatures and approval of such determined Catholics
as the Lalains, Meluns, Egmont, and La Motte. 2 If such men
could unite for the sake of the fatherland in an act of religious
toleration, what lofty hopes for the future was not the Prince
justified in forming ; for it was the Prince alone 3 who accom-

1 De Jonghe, p. 188. I 3 Jonghe, p. 185, seq. Meerbeck.

a Ibid., pp. 188-190. I Cbronyk., p. 4S8.

4578.] ALLIANCE WITH QUEEN ELIZABETH. 293

plished this victory of reason over passion. As a monument,
not only of his genius, but of the elevated aspirations of a whole
people in an age of intolerance, the “ closer union of Brussels ”
deserves especial place in the history of human progress. Un¬
fortunately, it was destined to a brief existence. The battle of
Gemblours was its death-blow, and before the end of a month,
the union thus hopefully constructed was shattered for ever.
The Netherland people was never united again. By the union
of Utrecht, seven states subsequently rescued their existence,
and lived to construct a powerful republic. The rest were
destined to remain for centuries in the condition of provinces
to a distant metropolis, to be shifted about as make-weights in
political balances, and only in our own age to come into the
honourable rank of independent constitutional states.

The Prince had, moreover, strengthened himself for the coming
■struggle by an alliance with England. The thrifty but politic
Queen, fearing the result of the secret practices of Alen^on—
whom Orange, as she suspected, still kept in reserve to be played
off, in case of need, against Matthias and Don John—had at last
•consented to a treaty of alliance and subsidy. On the 7th of
January 1578, the Marquis Havre, envoy from the estates, con¬
cluded an arrangement in London, by which the Queen was to
lend them her credit—in other words, to endorse their obliga¬
tions, to the amount of one hundred thousand pounds sterling.
The money was to be raised wherever the states might be able
to negotiate the bills, and her liability was to cease within a
year. She was likewise to be collaterally secured by pledges
from certain cities in the Netherlands. 1 This amount was cer¬
tainly not colossal, while the conditions were sufficiently parsi¬
monious. At the same time a beginning was made, and the
principle of subsidy was established. The Queen furthermore
agreed to send five thousand infantry and one thousand cavalry
to the provinces, under the command of an officer of high rank,
who was to have a seat and vote in the Netherland Council of

1 Meteren, vii. 127, 128. Bor, xi. 902, 903.

294

THE RISE OF THE DUTCH REPUBLIC.

[157a

State. 1 These troops were to be paid by the provinces, but
furnished by the Queen. The estates were to form no treaty
without her knowledge, nor undertake any movement of im¬
portance without her consent. In case she should be herself
attacked by any foreign power, the provinces were to assist her
to the same extent as the amount of aid now afforded to them¬
selves ; and in case of a naval war, with a fleet of at least forty
ships. It had already been arranged that the appointment of the
Prince of Orange as Lieutenant-General for Matthias was a sine
qua non in any treaty of assistance with England. Soon after
the conclusion of this convention, Sir Thomas Wilkes was
despatched on a special mission to Spain, and Mr. Leyton sent
to confer privately with Don John. 2 It was not probable,
however, that the diplomatic skill of either would make this,
new arrangement palatable to Philip or his Governor.

Within a few days after their signature of this important
treaty, the Prince had, at length, wholly succeeded in conquer¬
ing the conflicting passions in the states-general, and in recon¬
ciling them, to a certain extent, with each other. The closer
union had been accepted, and now thirty articles, which had
been prepared under his superintendence, and had already on
the 17th of December been accepted by Matthias, were estab¬
lished as the fundamental terms, according to which the Arch¬
duke was to be received as Governor-General. 3 No power
whatever was accorded to the young man, who had come so
far with eager and ambitious views. As the Prince had neither
solicited nor desired a visit which had, on the contrary, been
the result of hostile machinations, the Archduke could hardly
complain that the power accorded him was but shadowy, and
that his presence was rendered superfluous. It was not sur¬
prising that the common people gave him the name of Greffier,,

1 Bor, xi. 902, 903. Meteren, vii.
128.

2 Bor, xi. 900-903. Meteren, ubi

flup.

6 See the articles at full in Bor,
xi. 727-929. Xn the notes of De

Reiffenberg to Van d. Vynckt, iu
368-383; and in Meteren, vii. 129,
they are given with much less ex¬
actness. — Compare the remarks of
Groen van Prmsterer, Archives, vi,
259,260.

1578.]

A FREE CONSTITUTION.

295

or registering clerk to the Prince; 1 for his functions were
almost limited to the signing of acts which were counter¬
signed by Orange. According to the stipulations of the
Queen of Englam-i, and the views of the popular party, the
Prince remained tiuward of Brabant, notwithstanding the
appointment of a nominal Governor-General, by whom his
own duties were to be superseded.

The articles which were laid down as the basis upon which
the Archduke was to be accepted, composed an ample re¬
presentative constitution, by which all the legislative and
many of the executive powers of government were bestowed
upon the states-general or upon the council by them to be
elected. To avoid remaining in the condition of a people thus
left without a head, the states declared themselves willing to
accept Matthias as Governor-General, on condition of the
King’s subsequent approbation, and upon the general basis
of the Ghent treaty. The Archduke, moreover, was to take
an oath of allegiance to the King and to the states-general at
the same time. He was to govern the land by the advice of
a state-council, the members of which were to be appointed by
the states-general, and were u to be native Ketherlanders, true
patriots, and neither ambitious nor greedy .” 2 In all matters dis¬
cussed before the state-council, a majority of votes was to de¬
cide. The Governor-General, with his Council of State, should
conclude nothing concerning the common affairs of the nation
—such as requests, loans, treaties of peace or declarations of
war, alliances or confederacies with foreign nations—without
the consent of the states-general. He was to issue no edict
or ordinance, and introduce no law, without the consent of
the same body duly assembled, and representing each in¬
dividual province. 3 A majority of the members was declared
necessary to a quorum of the council. All acts and despatches
were to be drawn up by a member of the board. The states-
general were to assemble when , where , and as often as , and

1 Tassis, iv. 290. i niet wesende ambitious of gierig”—

4 “ Q-etrouvre en goede patriotten ! Art. 4. 3 Art. 8.

296

THE RISE OR THE DUTCH REPUBLIC.

[1578.

remain in session as long as, they might think it expedient - 1
At the request of any individual province, concerning matters
about which a convention of the generality was customary,
the other states should be bound to assemble without waiting
for directions from the Governor-General. The estates of
each particular province were to assemble at their pleasure.
The Governor and Council, with advice of the states-general,
were to appoint all the principal military officers. Troops
were lo be enrolled and garrisons established by and with the
consent of the states. Governors of provinces were to be
appointed by the Governor-General, with advice of his
council, and with the consent of the estates of the province
interested. All military affairs were to be conducted during
war bv the governor, with the advice of his council, while
the estates were to have absolute control over the levying and
expenditure of the common funds of the country. 3

It is sufficiently plain from this brief summary, that the
powers thus conferred upon Matthias alone, were absolutely
null, while those which he might exercise in conjunction with
the state-council were not much more extensive. The actual
force of the government—legislative, executive, and adminis¬
trative—was lodged in the general assembly, while no
authority was left to the King, except the nominal right to
approve these revolutionary proceedings, according to the
statement in the preamble. Such a reservation in favour of
his Majesty seemed a superfluous sarcasm. It was further¬
more resolved that the Prince of Orange should be appointed
Lieutenant-General for Matthias, and be continued in his
office of Ruward. 4 This constitution, drawn up under the
superintendence of the Prince, had been already accepted by
Matthias, while still at Antwerp, and upon the 18th of
January 1578, the ceremony of his inauguration took place.

2 Art 13. 2 Art. 14. tuyendo el gobierno popular a la tratja

s Art. 21.—“ Le hizieron jurar,” que Julio Cesar escrive de los antiguos
says Cabrera, “ treinta i una condi- Flamencos, que el pueblo tenia el
ciones v (one article more, by the way, mismo mando sobre el Rey, que el sobre
than the actual number, which was pueblo : i el Arohiduque les serveria ds
thirty — Bor, xi. 927-929), “insti- estatua —xii. 959 b. 4 Bor, xi. 927.

1578.]

INAUGURATION OF MATTHIAS.

297

It was the third triumphal procession which Brussels had
witnessed within nine months. It was also the most brilliant
of all; for the burghers, as if to make amends to the Archduke
for the actual nullity to which he had been reduced, seemed re¬
solved to raise him to the seventh heaven of allegory. By the
rhetorical guilds he was regarded as the most brilliant constel¬
lation of virtues which had yet shone above the Flemish horizon.
A brilliant cavalcade, headed by Orange, accompanied by
Count John of Nassau, the Prince de Chimay, and other
notables, met him at Vilvoorde, and escorted him to the city
gate. On an open field, outside the town, Count Bossu had
arranged a review of troops, concluding with a sham fight,
which, in the words of a classical contemporary, seemed as
“bloody a rencontre as that between Duke MiJtiades of Athens
and King Darius upon the plains of Attica.” 1 The procession
entered the Louvain gate, through a splendid triumphal arch,
filled with a band of invisible musicians. “ I believe that
Orpheus had never played so melodiously on his harp,” says the
same authority, “ nor Apollo on his lyre, nor Pan on his lute,
as the city waits then performed.” 2 On entering the gates,
Matthias was at once delivered over to the hands of mythology,
the burghers and rhetoricians taking possession of their illus¬
trious captive, and being determined to outdo themselves in
demonstrations of welcome. The representatives of the “ nine
nations” of Brussels met him in the Ritter-street, followed by
a gorgeous retinue. Although it was mid-day all bore flaming
torches. Although it was January, the streets were strewed
with flowers. The houses were festooned with garlands, and
hung with brilliant silks and velvets. The streets were thronged

1 Bor, xi. 927.

2 “ Sommare Beschryvingbe van den
triumphelijcke Incomst van den door
luchtigen Aertshoge Matthias binnen
die Princelijcke Stadt van Brussels.”
—*t Antwerpen. Plantin, 1579. This
little contemporary publication, drawn
up by J. B. Houwaert, contains a de¬
tailed account of the festivities upon
this occasion, together with all the

poems sung and spoken, and well exe¬
cuted engravings of the decorations,
temples, theatres, and triumphal
arches. For the literary and artistic
history of Flanders and Brabant, it is
important. The copy used by the
writer is in the “ Collectio Dun-
caniana” of the Royal Library at the
Hague.

298

THE RISE OE THE DUTCH REPUBLIC.

[1578,

with spectators, and encumbered with triumphal arches. On
the Grande Place, always the central scene in Brussels, whether
for comedies, or tournaments, or executions, the principal dra¬
matic effects had been accumulated. The splendid front of the
Hotel de Ville was wreathed with scarfs and banners; its
windows and balconies, as well as those of the picturesque
houses which formed the square, were crowded with gaily-
dressed women. Upon the area of the place, twenty-four
theatres had been erected, where a series of magnificent living
pictures were represented by the most beautiful young females
that could be found in the city. All were attired in brocades,
embroideries, and cloth of gold. The subjects of the tableaux
vivants were, of course, most classic, for the Netherlanders
were nothing, if not allegorical; yet, as spectacles, provided by
burghers and artisans for the amusement of their fellow-
citizens, they certainly proved a considerable culture in the
people who could thus be amused. All the groups were artis¬
tically arranged. Upon one theatre stood Juno with her
peacock, presenting Matthias with the city of Brussels, which
she held, beautifully modelled, in her hand. Upon another,
Cybele gave him the keys, Reason handed him a bridle, Hebe
a basket of flowers, Wisdom a looking-glass and two law books,
Diligence a pair of spurs; while Constancy, Magnanimity,
Prudence, and other virtues, furnished him with a helmet,
corslet, spear, and shield. Upon other theatres, Bellona pre¬
sented him with several men-at-arms, tied in a bundle; Fame
gave him her trumpet, and Glory her crown. Upon one
stage Quintus Curtius, on horseback, was seen plunging into the
yawning abyss; upon six others Scipio Africanus was exhibited,
as he appeared in the most picturesque moments of his career. 1
The beardless Archduke had never achieved anything, save his
nocturnal escape from Vienna in his night-gown; but the
honest Flemings chose to regard him as a reincarnation of
those two eminent Romans. Carried away by their own learn¬
ing, they already looked upon him as a myth ; and such indeed
1 Sommare Be&chryvinglie, etc.

1578.] BRILLIANT AND FANTASTIC CEREMONIES. 29$

he was destined to remain throughout his Netherland career.
After surveying all these wonders, Matthias was led up the
hill again to the ducal palace, where, after hearing speeches
and odes till he was exhausted, he was at last allowed to eat
his supper and go to bed.

Meantime the citizens feasted in the streets. Bonfires were
blazing everywhere, at which the people roasted, “ geese, pigs,
capons, partridges, and chickens,” while upon all sides were the
merriest piping and dancing. Of a sudden, a fiery dragon was
seen flying through the air. It poised for a while over the heads
of the revelling crowd in the Grande Place, and then burst
with a prodigious explosion, sending forth rockets and other
fireworks in every direction. This exhibition, then a new one,
so frightened the people, that they all took to their heels, “as
if a thousand soldiers had assaulted them,” tumbling over each
other in great confusion, and so dispersing to their homes. 1

The next day Matthias took the oaths as Governor-General,
to support the new constitution, while the Prince of Orange
was sworn in as Lieutenant-General and Governor of Brabant.
Upon the next a splendid banquet was given them in the grand
hall of the H6tel de Ville, by the states-general, and when the
cloth was removed, Rhetoric made her last and most ingenious
demonstration, through the famous guild of u Mary with the
Flower Garland.”

Two individuals—the one attired as a respectable burgher,
the other as a clerical personage in gown and bands—made
their appearance upon a stage opposite the seats of their High¬
nesses, and pronounced a long dialogue in rhyme. One of the
speakers rejoiced in the appellation of the 66 Desiring Heart,”
the other was called “ Common Comfort.” Common Sense
might have been more to the purpose, but appeared to have no
part in the play. Desiring Heart, being of an inquisitive dis¬
position, propounded a series of puzzling questions, mytholo¬
gical in their nature, which seemed like classical conundrums,
having reference mainly to the proceedings of Venus, Neptune,

1 Sommare Beschryvinghe, etc.

300

THE EISE OP THE DUTCH REPUBLIC*

[1578.

Juno, and other divinities. 1 They appeared to have little to do
with Matthias or the matter in hand, but Common Comfort
knew better. That clerical personage, accordingly, in a hand¬
some allowance of rhymes, informed his despairing colleague
that everything would end well; that Jupiter, Diana, Venus,
and the rest of them, would all do their duty, and that Belgica
would be relieved from all her woes, at the advent of a certain
individual. Whereupon cried Desiring Heart—

O Common Comfort! who is he ?

His name and of what family ?

To which 2 Comfort responded by mentioning the Archduke, in
a poetical and highly-complimentary strain, with handsome
allusions to the inevitable Quintus Curtius and Scipio Africanus.
The concluding words of the speech were not spoken, but were
taken as the cue for a splendid charade; the long-suffering
Scipio again making his appearance, in company with Alexander
and Hannibal; the group typifying the future government of
Matthias. After each of these heroic individuals had spouted
a hundred lines or so, the play was terminated, and Rhetoric
took her departure. The company had remained at table during
this long representation, and now the dessert was served,
consisting of a u richly triumphant banquet of confectionery,
marmalade, and all kinds of genteelnesses in sugar.” 3

Meanwhile, Don John sat chafing and almost frenzied with
rage at Hamur. Certainly he had reason enough for losing

1 As for example—

** Wanneer sal Jupiter Satumum verdrijven ?
Wanneer sal Neptunus Phaethon verdri-
jncken,

Wanneer sal Hercules Hydram ontlijven,
Wanneer sal Vulcanus laten sijn Mncken,"
etc., etc.

—Som. Beschryy.
Or, m the vernacular—

When shall Jove his father follow,

Or briny Neptune Phaethon swallow.

Or Herc’les leave off Hydra crimping,

Or honest Vulcan give up limping,

Or Brontes cease to forge his thunder ?

All these are wonders upon -wonder—etc,
*tc.

3 “ Hy is van Keyserlicken stamme gheboren,
Aartshertoge Matthias is sijnen name,

Die generate staten habben hem ghecoren,
Voor Gouvemenr, door sijne goete fame
Hy is als Julius Cesar cersame,” etc., etc.

,—Som. Bescliryv.

He is formed of fine material,

And is sprung of race imperial;

He is brave as Julius Csesar,

Archduke Matthias is his name;

He is chosen Governor-General
By the states for Ms great fame—etc.,
etc.

35 Sommare Beschryvinghe, etc., etc.

1578J

DON JOHN TO THE EMPEROR.

301

his temper. Never since the days of Maximilian had king’s
brother been so bearded by rebels. The Cross was humbled
in the dust, the royal authority openly derided, his Majesty’s
representative locked up in a fortress, while ££ the accursed
Prince of Orange ” reigned supreme in Brussels, with an
imperial Archduke for his private secretary.

The Governor addressed a long, private, and most bitter letter
to the Emperor, for the purpose of setting himself right in the
opinion of that potentate, and of giving him certain hints as to
what was expected of the imperial court by Philip and himself.
He expressed confidence that the imperial commissioners would
have some effect in bringing about the pacification of the
Netherlands, and protested his own strong desire for such a
result, provided always that the two great points of the Catholic
religion and his Majesty’s authority were preserved intact.
££ In the hope that those articles would be maintained,” said he,
££ I have emptied cities and important places of their garrisons,
when I might easily have kept the soldiers, and with the soldiers
the places, against all the world, instead of consigning them to
the care of men who at this hour have arms in their hands
against their natural prince.” He declared vehemently that in
all his conduct, since his arrival in the provinces, he had been
governed exclusively by the interests of Philip, an object which
he should steadily pursue to the end. He urged, too, that the
Emperor, being of the same house as Philip, and therefore
more obliged than all others to sustain his quarrel, would do
well to espouse his cause with all the warmth possible. ££ The
forgetfulness by vassals,” said Don John, ££ of the obedience
due to their sovereign is so dangerous, that all princes and
potentates, even those at the moment exempt from trouble,
should assist in preparing the remedy, in order that their sub¬
jects also may not take it into their heads to do the like»
liberty being a contagious disease , which goes on infecting out
neighbour after another , if the cure be not promptly applied” 1

1 “-Ob£issance de leur prince i dangereulx que to us princes et poten-

souverain, obly de laquelle est si | tats voires ceulx qui presentement

302

THE BISE OP THE DUTCH BEPUBLIC.

[1578.

It was, he averred, a desperate state of things for monarchs,
when subjects, having obtained such concessions as the Nether*
landers had obtained, nevertheless loved him and obeyed him
so little. They shewed, but too clearly, that the causes alleged
by them had been but pretexts, in order to effect designs,
long ago conceived, to overthrow the ancient constitution of
the country, and to live thenceforward in unbridled liberty.
So many indecent acts had been committed prejudicial to
religion and to his Majesty’s grandeur, that the Governor
avowed his determination to have no farther communication
with the provinces without fresh commands to that effect.
He begged the Emperor to pay no heed to what the states
said, but to observe what they did . He assured him that no¬
thing could be more senseless than the reports that Philip and
his Governor-General in the Netherlands were negotiating
with France, for the purpose of alienating the provinces from
the Austrian crown. Philip, being chief of the family, and
sovereign of the Netherlands, could not commit the absurdity
of giving away his own property to other people, nor would
Don John choose to be an instrument in so foolish a transac¬
tion. 1 The Governor entreated the Emperor, therefore, to
consider such fables as the invention of malcontents and traitors,
-of whom there were no lack at his court, and to remember
that nothing was more necessary for the preservation of the
greatness of his family than to cultivate the best relations with
all its members. “Therefore,” said he, with an absurd affecta¬
tion of candour, “ although I make no doubt whatever that the
expedition hitherwards of the Archduke Matthias has been
made with the best intentions; nevertheless, many are of
opinion that it would have been better altogether omitted. If
the Archduke,” he continued, with hardly dissembled irony,

sont exempts cle troubles en dervoient
soigner le remede affin que, a. l’exemple
de ceulx ci les leurs ne prennent
quelque jour envy© de fair© le sem-
blable, 6tant la liberte qu’ils cherchent
eomme ung mal contagieulx qui vast
Anfeetant au voisin si en temps et

promptement ny est remedi4.”

1 “-Car estant icelle chef de la

dite maison et Sgr des Pays Bas seroit
chose absurd© de lui attribuer une
imprudence si grande que le donner le
sien a autrui et a moi qu’en vouldraia
estre l’instrument.”

1578.]

WAR PROCLAIMED.

303

“ be desirous of taking charge of his Majesty’s affairs, it would
be preferable to employ himself in the customary manner.
Your Majesty would do a laudable action by recalling him
from this place, according to your Majesty’s promise to me to
that effect.” In conclusion, Don John complained that
difficulties had been placed in his way for making levies of
troops in the Empire, while every facility had been afforded
to the rebels. He therefore urgently insisted that so un¬
natural and unjust a condition of affairs should be remedied. 1

Don John was not sorry in his heart that the crisis was at
last come. His chain was broken. His wrath exploded in
his first interview with Leyton, the English envoy, whom
Queen Elizabeth had despatched to calm, if possible, his in¬
evitable anger at her recent treaty with the states. 2 He knew
nothing of England, he said, nor of France, nor of the
Emperor. His Catholic Majesty had commissioned him now
to make war upon these rebellious provinces. He would do it
with all his heart. As for the Emperor, he would unchain
the Turks upon him for his perfidy. As for the burghers of
Brussels, they would soon feel his vengeance. 3

It was very obvious that these were not idle threats. War
had again broken loose throughout these doomed provinces.
A small but well-appointed army had been rapidly collecting
under the banner of Don John at Luxemburg, Peter Ernest
Mansfeld had brought many well-trained troops from France,
and Prince Alexander of Parma had arrived with several choice
and veteran regiments of Italy and Spain. 4 The old school¬
fellow, playmate, and comrade of Don John, was shocked on
his arrival, to witness the attenuated frame and careworn
features of his uncle. 5 The son of Charles the Fifth, the hero

1 This letter, which has never lones,”—t. i. 44-54.
been published, is in French, in the 2 Bor, xi. 931.
handwriting of John Baptist de Tas- 3 Ibid.,xi. 931. Hoofd, xiii. 546.

sis, aud signed by Don John. It is 4 Ibid., xii. 932, 933. Ibid. Strada,

dated Luxembourg, 11th of January ix. 460.

1578, and is in the collection of MSS. 5 “ Attenuata non magis valetudine
in the Brussels Archives, entitled, quam specie ilia majestateque fortuna-
4L Reconciliation des Provinces Wal- tissimi Imperatoris.”—IbicL

304

THE RISE OF THE DUTCH REPUBLIC.

[1578-

of Lepanto, seemed even to have lost the air of majesty which
was so natural to him, for petty insults, perpetual crosses,
seemed to have left their squalid traces upon his features.
Nevertheless, the crusader was alive again, at the notes of
warlike preparation which now resounded throughout the land.

On the 25th of January he issued a proclamation, couched
in three languages—French, German, and Flemish. He de¬
clared in this document that he had not come to enslave the
provinces, but to protect them. At the same time he meant
to re-establish his Majesty’s authority, and the down-trod
religion of Home. He summoned all citizens and all soldiers
throughout the provinces to join his banners, offering them
pardon for their past offences, and protection against heretics
and rebels. 1 This declaration was the natural consequence of
the exchange of defiances which had already taken place, and
it was evident also that the angry manifesto was soon to be
followed up by vigorous blows. The army of Don John
already numbered more than twenty thousand well-seasoned
and disciplined veterans. 2 He was himself the most illustrious
chieftain in Europe. He was surrounded by lieutenants of
the most brilliant reputation. Alexander of Parma, who had
fought with distinction at Lepanto, was already recognised
as possessing that signal military genius which was soon to
stamp him as the first soldier of his age; while Mansfeld,
Mondragon, Mendoza, and other distinguished officers, who
had already won so much fame in the Netherlands, had now
returned to the scene of their former achievements. 3

On the other hand, the military affairs of the states were in
confusion. Troops in nearly equal numbers to those of the
royal army had been assembled, but the chief offices had been
bestowed, by a mistaken policy, upon the great nobles. Already
the jealousy of Orange, entertained by their whole order, was

1 Proclamation in Bor, xii. 932, —about 20,000 according to Strada, ix.

933. Compare Cabrera, xii. 966. 462. Cabrera asserts that there were

2 Bor, xii. 932. Hoofd, xiii. 546, but 10,000 in Don John’s army, while

547, say 22,300, viz.,—4,000 Spanish, the forces of the enemy amounted to
4,000 French, 5,000 Germans, 6,800 double that number.—xii. 967 <?.
Walloons, 2,500 cavalry; total 23,000; 3 Strada, ix. 467.

1578 .]

THE TWO ARMIES.

305 '

painfully apparent. Notwithstanding the signal popularity
which had made his appointment as Lieutenant-General
inevitable, it was not easy for him always to vindicate his
authority over captious and rival magnates. 1 He had every
wish to conciliate the affections of men whom he could not in
his heart respect, and he went as far in gratifying their
ambition as comported with his own dignity; perhaps farther
than was consistent with the national interests. He was still
willing to trust Lalain, of whose good affection to the country
he felt sure. He had even been desirous of declining the
office of Lieutenant-General, in order to avoid giving that
nobleman the least occasion to think £C that he would do him,
or any other gentleman of the army, prejudice in any single
matter in the world.” 2 This magnanimity had not been
repaid with corresponding confidence. We have already seen
that Lalain had been secretly in the interest of Anjou ever
since his wife and himself had lost their hearts to Margaret of
Navarre; yet the Count was chief commander of the infantry
in the states’ army then assembled. Robert Melun, Vicomte
de Gand, was commander of the cavalry, 8 but he had recently
been private envoy from Don John to the English Queen. 4
Both these gentlemen, together with Pardieu de la Motte,
general of the artillery, were voluntarily absent from the
forces, under pretext of celebrating the wedding of the
Seigneur De Bersel with the niece and heiress of the unfor¬
tunate Marquis of Bergen. 5 The ghost of that ill-starred
noble might almost have seemed to rise at the nuptial banquet
of his heiress, to warn the traitors of the signal and bloody
massacre which their treachery was soon to occasion. Philip
Egmont, eldest son of the famous Lamoral, was with the
army, as was the Seigneur de H6ze, hero of the State
Council’s arrest, and the unstable Havre. But little was to
be hoped from such leaders. Indeed, the affairs of the states

1 Strada, ix. 464. 8 Archives de la Maison d’Orange,

a Letter of Prince of Orange, vi. 279. _ 4 Strada, ix. 463. ^

Archives de la Maison d’Orange, vi. 5 Ibid., ix. 464, 465. Hoofd, xiii.
279. 548.

VOL. III. U

306

THE RISE OF THE DUTCH REPUBLIC.

L15T&

continued to be in as perplexed a condition as tbat which
honest John of Nassau had described some weeks before.
“There were very few patriots,” he had said, “but plenty
of priests, with no lack of inexperienced lads—some looking
for distinction, and others for pelf.” 1

The two armies had been mustered in the latter days of
January. The Pope had issued a bull for the benefit of Don
John, precisely similar to those formerly employed in the
crusades against the Saracens. 2 Authority was given him to*
levy contributions upon ecclesiastical property, "while full abso¬
lution, at the hour of death, for all crimes committed during a
whole lifetime, was proclaimed to those who should now join the
standard of the Cross. There was at least no concealment-
The Crescent-wearing Zelanders had been taken at their word,
and the whole nation of Netherlanders were formally banned as
unbelievers. The forces of Don John were mustered at Marche
in Luxemburg; those of the states in a plain within a few
miles of Namur. 3 Both armies were nearly equal in number,
amounting to nearly twenty thousand each, including a force of
two thousand cavalry oil each side. 4 It had been the original
intention of the patriots to attack Don John in Namur. Having
learned, however, that he purposed marching forth himself to-
offer battle, they decided to fall back upon Gemblours, which
was nine miles distant from that city. 5 On the last day of
January, they accordingly broke up their camp at Saint Martius,.
before dawn, and marched towards Gemblours. The chief com¬
mander was De Goignies, an old soldier of Charles the Fifth,,
■who had also fought at Saint Quentin. The states’ army was
disposed in three divisions. The van consisted of the infantry
regiments of De Heze and Montigny, flanked by a protective
body of light horse. The centre, composed of the Walloon and
German regiments, with a few companies of French, and thir-

1 Letter to the Landgrave W. de 4 All the authorities agree as to

Hesse. — Archives de la Maison the estimates of the forces of the
d’Orange, vi. 227. j states. Hoofd, xiii. 547. Cabrera*

2 See it in Bor, xii. 935 b. | xii. 969. Strada, ix. 463, et mult. al.

3 Bor, xii. 932, sqq. Hoofd, xiii. i 5 Bor, x. 933. Hoofd, xiii. 547.

548. I Strada. ix. 464.

1578.]

EETEEAT TO GEMBLOUES.

307

teen companies of Scotch and English under Colonel Balfour,
was commanded by two most distinguished officers, Bossu and
Champagny. The rear, which, of course, was the post of re¬
sponsibility and honour, comprised all the heavy cavalry, and
was commanded by Philip Egmont and Lumey de la March.
The Marquis Havre and the General-in-chief, Goignies, rode
to and fro, as the army proceeded, each attended by his staff. 1

The troops of Don John broke up from before hfamur with
the earliest dawn, and marched in pursuit of the retiring foe.
In front was nearly the whole of the cavalry—carabineers,
lancers, and heavy dragoons. The centre, arranged in two
squares, consisted chiefly of Spanish infantry, with a lesser
number of Germans. In the rear came the Walloons,
marching also in a square, and protecting the baggage and
ammunition. Charles Mansfeld had been left behind with
a reserved force, stationed on the Meuse; Ottavio Gonzaga
commanded in front, Ernest Mansfeld brought up the rear;
while in the centre rode Don John himself, attended by the
Prince of Parma. Over his head streamed the crucifix-
emblazoned banner, with its memorable inscription —In hoc
signo vici Turcos , in hoc Haereticos vincam 2

Small detachments of cavalry had been sent forward, under
Olivera and Acosta, to scour the roads and forests, and to dis¬
turb all ambuscades which might have been prepared. From
some stragglers captured by these officers, the plans of the
retreating generals were learned. The winter’s day was not
far advanced, when the rearward columns of the states’ army
were descried in the distance. Don John, making a selection
of some six hundred cavalry, all picked men, with a thousand
infantry, divided the whole into two bodies, which he placed
under command of Gonzaga, and the famous old Christopher
Mondragon. 3 These officers received orders to hang on the
rear of the enemy, to harass him, and to do him all possible

1 Bor. xii. 933, 934. Strada, ix.
464. Hoofd, xiii. 548.

2 Bor, xii. 933. Hoofd, xiii. 549.

Strada, ix. 465.

3 Strada, ix. 465, 466. Hoofd, xiii.
549. Bor, xii. 933, sqq.

308

THE RISE OF TH$ DUTCH REPUBLIC.

[1578.

damage consistent with the possibility of avoiding a general
engagement, until the main army under Parma and Don
John should arrive. The orders were at first strictly obeyed.
As the skirmishing grew hotter, however, Gronzaga observed
that a spirited cavalry officer* named Perotti, had already
advanced, with a handful of men, much further within the
reach of the hostile forces than was deemed expedient. He
sent hastily to recall the too eager chieftain. The order, de¬
livered in a tone more peremptory than agreeable, was flatly
disobeyed. “ Tell Ottavio Gronzaga,” said Perotti, “ that I
never yet turned my back on the enemy, nor shall I now
begin. Moreover, were I ever so much inclined to do so, re¬
treat is impossible.” 1 The retiring army was then proceeding
along the borders of a deep ravine, filled with mire and water,
and as broad and more dangerous than a river. 2 In the midst
of this skirmishing, Alexander of Parma rode up to recon¬
noitre. He saw at once that the columns of the enemy were
marching unsteadily to avoid being precipitated into this creek.
He observed the waving of their spears, the general confusion
of their ranks, and was quick to take advantage of the fortu¬
nate moment. Pointing out to the officers about him the
opportunity thus offered of attacking the retiring army un¬
awares in flank, he assembled, with great rapidity, the fore¬
most companies of cavalry already detached from the main
body. Mounting a fresh and powerful horse, which Camillo
Monte held in readiness for him, he signified his intention of
dashing through the dangerous ravine, and dealing a stroke
where it was least expected. “ Tell Don John of Austria,’*
he cried to an officer whom he sent back to the Commander-
in-chief, “that Alexander of Parma has plunged into the
abyss, to perish there, or to come forth again victorious. 5 ’ 3

The sudden thought was executed with lightning-like celerity*
In an instant the bold rider was already struggling through the
dangerous swamp; in another, his powerful charger had carried

1 Strada, ix. 466. 3 Strada, ix. 466, 467. Hoofd, xiii,

2 Strada, ubi sup. Bor, xii. 934. 549.

Hoofd, xiii. 459.

1678 .]

BATTLE OF GEMBLOURS.

309

him across. Halting for a few minutes, lance in rest, 1 till his
troops had also forced their passage, gained the level ground
unperceived, and sufficiently breathed their horses, he drew
up his little force in a compact column. Then with a few
words of encouragement, he launched them at the foe. The
violent and entirely unexpected shock was even more success¬
ful than the Prince had anticipated. The hostile cavalry
reeled and fell into hopeless confusion, Egmont in vain
striving to rally them to resistance. That name had lost
its magic. Goignies also attempted, without success, to
restore order among the panic-struck ranks. The sudden
conception of Parma, executed as suddenly and in so brilliant
a manner, had been decisive. Assaulted in flank and rear
at the same moment, and already in temporary confusion,
the cavalry of the enemy turned their backs and fled. The
centre of the states’ army, thus left exposed, was now warmly
attacked by Parma. It had, moreover, been already thrown
into disorder by the retreat of its own horse, as they charged
through them in rapid and disgraceful panic. The whole
army broke to pieces at once, 2 and so great was the tre¬
pidation, that the conquered troops had hardly courage to
run away. They were utterly incapable of combat. Not a
blow was struck by the fugitives. Hardly a man in the
Spanish ranks was wounded; while, in the course of an hour
and a half, the whole force of the enemy was exterminated.
It is impossible to state with accuracy the exact number
slain. Some accounts spoke of ten thousand killed, or captive,
with absolutely no loss on the royal side. 3 Moreover, this
slaughter was effected, not by the army under Don John,
but by so small a fragment of it, that some historians have
even set down the whole number of royalists engaged at the

1 “ Con gran valor, la lanea en |
pufio,” etc., etc.—Cabrera, xii. 968.

2 Strada, Hoofd, Bor, ubi sup.—

Compare Cabrera, xii. 968, 969;
Meteren, viii. 133; Haraei Ann.,
iii. 273, 274; Tassis, iv. 293, 294, et
mult. al.

3 “Dei vincitori non mori quasi
soldato aleuno” says Bentivoglio,
“ pochi restaron feriti.”—(Guerra di
Fiandra, x. 206 ) He, however, ha*
the modesty to claim but three thou-
jsand killed on the states’ side, with, a
'large number of prisoners.

310

THE RISE OR THE DUTCH REPUBLIC.

[ 1578 .

commencement of tlie action, at six hundred, increased
afterwards to twelve hundred. By this calculation, each
Spaniard engaged must have killed ten enemies with his own
hand ; and that within an hour and a half’s space ! 1 Other
historians more wisely omit the exact statistics of the massacre,
and allow that a very few—ten or eleven, at most—were slain
within the Spanish ranks. This, however, is the utmost that
is claimed by even the Netherland historians, and it is, at
any rate, certain that the whole states’ army was annihilated. 2
Rarely had a more brilliant exploit been performed by a
handful of cavalry. To the distinguished Alexander of
Parma, who improvised so striking and complete a victory
out of a fortuitous circumstance, belonged the whole credit
of the day, for his cuick eye detected a passing weakness
of the enemy, and turned it to terrible account with the
promptness which comes from genius alone. A whole army
was overthrown. Everything belonging to the enemy fell into
the hands of the Spaniards. Thirty-four standards, many

1 “ Siquidem a sexcentis equitibus -were afterwards drowned or banged,)

(tot enim xncepere aucti dein ad mille while of the Spanish troops two were
ac ducentos, confecere pugnam) pedi- killed and five were wounded. Ac¬
tum millia ommno decern , partim coesa, cording to Bor, thirty companies were
partim capta, ac reliquus exercitus non slain, and six hundred men taken pri¬
mmer octo bellatorum millibus sesqui- soners on the states’ side, while Don
hora sjpatio (!!) desideratis ex Regiis John lost but ten or twelve men.
tantum modo nomm , profiigatus est.”— Hoofd accepts the absurd statistics of
Strada, ix. 468. Rather too warm work fc'trada; repeating, after that historian,
even for the 31st of January. that twelve hundred Spaniards killed

2 According to Tassis, (iv. 294,) six, eight, nay even ten thousand of
seven thousand of the states’ army were the states’ army, within one hour and
killed or captured (the prisoners after- a half, with a loss of but ten men on
wards having been drowned,) while their own side,” (xiii. 550.) Van Me-
only ten royalists were killed or teren alone, in the teeth of all the evi-
wounded. According to Ilaraeus, deuce, doggedly maintains that it was
(iii. 271,) eight thousand of the states’ not nvuJt of a victory ajier all , and that
army were slain by two thousand there were not many states’ soldiers
royalist troops (being four men a-piece slam in the action.—“ Het gethal del
for each royalist). He does not state vcrslagenen war niet seer groot,” (viii.
that any of the Ring’s soldiers were 133.) A contemporary, and living near
slam or even wounded. According to the spot, he certainly manifests his
Cabrera, (xii. 90S,) there were more patriotism by so hardy an assertion;
than seven thousand of the Netherland but we have often noticed the perti-
army killed or taken (the number of nacity of the distinguished chronicler
the prisoners being nowhere stated at upon such points.

more than six hundred, all of whom

3578.] CAUSES OF THE DEFEAT. 311

field-pieces, much camp equipage, and ammunition, besides
some seven or eight thousand dead bodies, and six hundred
living prisoners, were the spoils of that winter’s day. 1 Of
the captives, some were soon afterwards hurled off the
bridge at Namur, and drowned like dogs in the Meuse, a
while the rest were all hanged, 3 none escaping with life.
Don John’s clemency was not superior to that of his san¬
guinary predecessors.

And so another proof was added—if proofs were still neces¬
sary—of Spanish prowess. The Netherlander may be pardoned
if their foes seemed to them supernatural, and almost invul¬
nerable. How else could these enormous successes be accounted
for ? How else could thousands fall before the Spanish swords,
while hardly a single Spanish corpse told of effectual resistance ?
At Jemmingen, Alva had lost seven soldiers, and slain seven
thousand ; in the Antwerp Fury, two hundred Spaniards, at
most, had fallen, while eight thousand burghers and states’
troops had been butchered ; and now at Gemblours, six, seven,
eight, ten—Heaven knew how many—thousand had been ex¬
terminated, and hardly a single Spaniard had been slain! Un¬
doubtedly, the first reason for this result was the superiority of
the Spanish soldiers. They were the boldest, the best-disci¬
plined, the most experienced in the world. Their audacity,
promptness, and ferocity made them almost invincible. In
this particular action, at least half the army of Don John wa 3
composed of Spanish or Spamsh-Italian veterans. Moreover,
they were commanded by the most renowned captains of the

3 Bor, Strada, Hoofd, Haraeus,
Meteren, Cabrera, ubi sup. et multal.

2 Tassis, iv. 294.

3 Bor, xii. 934. Hoofd, xiii. 555.—
The latter historian states that six hun¬
dred prisoners were hanged at Namur.
Cabrera, on the contrary, asserts that
Don John liberated the Scotch pri¬
soners : “ a Seiscientos Escoseses presos
dio libertad Don Juan, mostrando su
elemencia.” To this very gratuitous
.assertion it is a sufficient answer that

Tassis, who was on the spot, a leading
privy councillor of Don John, ex¬
pressly states that of the captives the
greater part, who were Scotch , were
thrown off Namur bridge into the
river. “ Ac capti, quorum magna pars,
qui Schoti erant, ex ponte Namunensi
in ffuvium postea prcecipitati,” iv. 294.
—Compare Haraei Ann., lii. 274, where
it is stated that all the prisoners were
hanged—“ extemplo suspendio necan-
tur.”

312 THE RISE OF THE DUTCH REPUBLIC. [157a

age—by Don John himself, and Alexander of Parma, sustained'
by such veterans as Mondragon, the hero of the memorable
submarine expeditions; Mendoza, the accomplished cavalry
officer, diplomatist, and historian; and Mansfeld, of whom Don
John had himself written to the King that his Majesty had not
another officer of such account in all the Netherlands. 1 Such
officers as these, besides Gronzaga, Camillo Monte, Mucio
Pagano, at the head of such troops as fought that day under
the banner of the Cross, might go far in accounting for this
last and most tremendous victory of the Inquisition. On the-
other hand, although Bossu and Champagny were with the*
states’ army, yet their hearts were hardly with the cause.
Both had long been loyal, and had earned many laurels-
against the rebels, while Champagny was still devoutly a
Papist, and wavered painfully between his hatred to heresy
and to Spain. Egmont and De Heze were raw, unpractised'
lads, in whom genius did not come to supply the place of
experience. The Commander, De G-oignies, was a veteran,
but a veteran who had never gained much glory, and the
chiefs of the cavalry, infantry, and artillery, were absent
at the Brussels wedding. The news of this additional mas¬
sacre inflicted upon a nation, for which Berghen and Mon-
tigny had laid down their lives, was the nuptial benediction
for Berghen’s heiress ; for it was to the chief wedding guests
upon that occasion that the disaster was justly attributed. The
rank and file of the states’ army were mainly mercenaries, with
whom the hope of plunder was the prevailing motive; the*
chief commanders were absent; while those officers who were
with the troops were neither heartily friendly to their own
flag, nor sufficiently experienced to make it respected.

1 “ Y que no tiene aqui otro hombre 1 to Philip. Discours Sommier, p, 37,>
de eu estado.”—Letter of Don John | appendix.

CHAPTER Y

THE GUARDIAN OP THE NETHERIAND BRIDE AND
HER SUITORS.

Towns taken by Don John—Wrath excited against the aristocratic party by the
recent defeat—Attempts upon Amsterdam —“ Satisfaction ” of Amsterdam
and its effeqts—Do Selles sent with royal letters from Spain—Terms
offered by Philip—Proclamation of Don John—Correspondence between
De Selles and the States-Q-eneral—Between the King and the Governor-
G-eneral—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 Noue
—Action at Rijnemants—John Casimir—Perverse politics of Queen
Elizabeth—Alengon in the Netherlands—Portrait of the Duke—Orange’s
position in regard to him—Avowed and supposed policy of the Drench
court—Anger of Elizabeth—Terms arranged between Alenin 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 favour 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—Has 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 feme
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,

314

THE RISE OF THE DUTCH REPUBLIC.

[1578.

Aerschot, Bouvignes, Sichem, Nivelle, Roeux, Soignies,
Binch, Beaumont, Walcourt, Maubeuge, and Chimay, either
submitted to their conqueror, or were taken after short sieges.
The usual atrocities were inflicted upon the unfortunate in¬
habitants 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
Demer. 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. 1

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 Gremblours was attri¬
buted, 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 resi¬
dence 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 vindi¬
cate the secret proceedings of the Catholic party, nor to
oppose the measures which the Prince might suggest. 2 The
terrible disaster had taught the necessity of union. All par¬
ties 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

1 Bor, xii. 934, sqq. Hoofd, xiii.
551. Meteren, viii. 133. Strada, ix.
473.—“Alexander omissa intemp estiva
benignitate” says the professed pane¬
gyrist of the Farnese family—** ex ipsa
arce decern palam suspendi, reliquos
(centum circiter ac septuaginta) noctu
jugulatos in subjectum amnem projici

jubet ”

2 Reidani Ann., ii. 22. “He qui-
dem habuisse rationem Archiducis
Metthise seq Orangius eum (popu-
lum) subtraxit periculo.”— Languet,
Ep. Seer. I., ii. p. 347. Bor, xii.
935. Languot ad Sydn., pp. 314, 317,

1578.]

AMSTERDAM.

315

the profit acquired by the states through their common mis¬
fortune. 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 Ze-
land, to recover possession of this 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 agree¬
ment to accept the authority of Orange, except, as Sainte
Aldegonde expressed himself, upon terms which would enable
them “to govern their governor.” 1 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 ho coercion, and
loyally adhering to his pledge, had only with extreme difficulty
restrained the violence of the Hollanders and Zelanders, who
were determined, by fair means or foul, to restore the capital
-city to its natural place within his stadtholderate. He had been
obliged, on various occasions, particularly on the 21st of Oc¬
tober of the preceding year, to address a most decided and
peremptory letter to the estates of Holland and Zeland, forbid¬
ding the employment of hostile measures against Amsterdam. 2
His commands had been reluctantly, partially, and only tem¬
porarily obeyed. The states desisted from their scheme of
reducing the city by famine, but they did not the less encourage
1 Archives et Correspondance, vi. 117. 3 Bor, xi. S97» 898.

316

THE RISE OE THE DUTCH REPUBLIC.

[1578.

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 1 had been made bj
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 com¬
mencement 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. 2 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 Zeland
at the most vulnerable and vital point. The “ Satisfaction ”
accepted by Utrecht, 3 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 suc¬
ceeded at last in arranging terms, which were accepted by the
sister city. 4 The basis of the treaty was, as usual, the nominal
supremacy of the Catholic religion, with toleration for the Re¬
formed 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 congre¬
gations 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

1 Bor, xi. 906 908.
a “ En het hort sonk de soldaaden
in de schoen; so men seid,” etc.—Bor,
xi. 908 a. Hoofd, xii. 537, 538.

3 Bor, 3d. 893-896.

4 The twenty four articles of the
“ Satisfactie ” are given at length in
Bor, 3d. 924-926.

1578.]

PROPOSITIONS PROM SPAIN.

317

attached at that day to a custom, at which the common senti¬
ment 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; 1 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. 2
The treaty was hailed with boundless joy in Holland and
Zeland, while countless benedictions were invoked upon the
u blessed peace-makers,” as the Utrecht deputies walked
through the streets of Amsterdam. 3 There is no doubt that
the triumph thus achieved by the national party far counter¬
balanced the Governor-General’s victory at Gemblours.

Meantime, the Seigneur De Selles, brother of the deceased
Noircarmes, had arrived from Spain. 4 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 5 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 Eeformation
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

1 Bor, xi. 810 a .—“-Die men

scilier den honden niet en soude kon-
nen ontseggen,” etc., etc.
a Satisfactie, m Bor, xii. 924, 926,

Art. 1; also Hoofd, xni. 554-558.

3 Bor, xii. 926.

4 Ibid., xii. 938. Hoofd, xiii. 558*
f See tlie letter in Bor, xii. 938.

318

THE RISE OF THE DUTCH REPUBLIC.

[1578.

security for the Eeformed worship. He had no desire to exter¬
minate 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 impos¬
sible. 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 . 1

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 . 2 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 pre¬
ferred 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 acknow¬
ledged 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 . 3 The
states instantly published an indignant rejoinder, affirming the
indisputable truth, that they had sworn to the maintenance

1 Letter of the King, December IS, Bor, xii. 939.

1577, in Bor, xii. 938. ^ 3 Proclamation, or Letters Patent,

3 The instructions are likewise in in Bor, xii. 940.

1678.]

MILITARY PREPARATIONS.

319

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 tor¬
tured into sanctioning the placards and the Inquisition, evils
which that sacred instrument had been expressly intended to
crush. 1

A letter was then formally addressed to his Majesty, in the
name of the Archduke Matthias and of the estates, demanding
the recall of Don John and the maintenance of the Ghent paci¬
fication. 2 De Selles, 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 con¬
tained, 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 agree¬
ment, together with a violent declaration of the Governor’s

> o

displeasure that they had dared to solicit the aid of foreign
princes. 3 On the 18th of February came a proposition from
De Selles, 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. 1 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 Netherlander, 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, execu-
j tioners, edicts, or inquisitions, and never more to return to the
principles of the Emperor and of Alva. 5 To this diplomatic
correspondence succeeded a war of words and of pamphlets,
some of them very inflammatory and eloquent. Meantime, the

1 Bor, xii. 939,940. j 4 In Bor, xii. 942.

* Ibid., xii. 940. 5 Letter of states-general, Eeb. 28,

8 Ibid., xii. 940, 941. 11678* in Bor, xii. 942, sqq.

320

THE RISE OP THE DUTCH EEPUBIIC.

[ 1578 .

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 consump¬
tion. By his advice, however, and with the consent of the
states-general, the provinces of Holland and Zeland 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. 1

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 thou¬
sand 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. 2

1 Bor, xii. 948, 949. 2 Letter of Philip, in Cabrera, ni. 978.

1578.]

DON JOHN’S MANIFESTO.

321

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/’ 1 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.” 2 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,” 3 said the Governor, dolefully. The
King had accordingly sent back De Billey, 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 thenceforth 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 func-

1 “ Sin encargar me que soplo frio y sucesion del mayor lierese y tiranno
y caliente, porque no lo comporta el que truYO mmca principe por vasallo.”
negocio, sino que bien lo uno 6 lo —Ibid.

otro,” etc., etc.—Carta del S. D. Juan al 8 “-Solamente del P. de Oranxes

Bey, mano propria, MS. Bib deBourg., que suyas son y no de otro,” etc.-
No. xvii. 385. Ibid.

2 “Estas gentes sean dado y entre- 4 Letter of Don John, MS. Bib. de
gado ya de todo punto a la obediencia Bourg.—Comp. Cabrera, xii. 978.

YOL. III. X

322

THE RISE OF THE HUTCH REPUBLIC.

[1578.

tionaries, and of contributions to any imposts which, might
be levied by their authority. 1 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. Sainte 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
shewing hardly more sympathy with Dutch Calvinists than
with Spanish Papists. 2

Envoys from Don John also attended the diet, and re¬
quested Sainte Aldegonde to furnish them with a copy of his
oration. This he declined to do. While in Germany, Sainte
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. 3 The Duke had
himself given information of this plot to the Prince Palatine.
It was therefore natural that Sainte Aldegonde should forth¬
with despatch the intelligence to his friends in the Nether¬
lands, 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. 4

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 Sainte Alde¬
gonde confirmed him in his purpose. There had been much
wrangling between the -Popish functionaries and those of the

1 Proclamation in Bor, xii. 946,947.
Compare Cabrera, xii. 978,979; Hoofd,
xii, 560.

2 Bor, xii. 953 960.

3 Ibid., xii. 952. Hoofd, xiii, 565^

4 Ibid., xn. 952.

1578.] MUNICIPAL REVOLUTION IN AMSTERDAM.

323

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. 1

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 forth¬
with a “ morion and a buckler of proof; ” for he intended to
see the matter fairly through. 2 Sonoy answered encourag¬
ingly, and sent him the armour 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 discussed. At about mid-day, one of the con¬
federates, 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.
£C All ve who love the Prince of Orange, take heart and follow
me! ” he shouted. 3 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

1 Bor, Ttii. 953. Hoofd, xiii. 569.
Wagenaer, Vad. Hist., vii. 205.

2 Bor, xii. 953. Hoofd, xiii. 570.

3 Hoofd, xiii. 571. Wagenaer, vii. 206

324

THE RISE OF THE HUTCH REPUBLIC.

[1578.

into the council-chamber, and arrested every one of the as¬
tonished 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. u To the gallows with them—to the gallows with them! 55
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, 5 ’ said the rueful burgomaster; “I shall never need
clean shirts again in this world. 5 ’ 1 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 ac¬
complished 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 dike, and left unharmed within the open country. 2

A new board of magistrates, of which stout William Barde 2
was one, was soon appointed; the train-bands were reorganised,
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
1 Wagenaer, rii. 207* 2 Hoofd, xiii. 571. Bor, xii. 953. Wagenaer, vii. 207.

1578 .]

TOLERATION OF ORANGE.

325

highly repugnant to the opinions of Orange. After a short
time, accordingly, the Catholics were again allowed access to
the churches, hut the tables had now been turned for ever in
the capital of Holland, and the Reformation was an estab¬
lished 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 Catholics. 1

Thus, the cause of the new religion was triumphant in Hol¬
land and Zeland, 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 indifferent places
in Antwerp. 2 “ 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 High¬
ness 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 ? ” 8 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 re¬
minded 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

1 Bor, xii. 953. Hoofd, xiii. 572. 3 Langueti, Ep. ad Aug. Sax., ep.

Wagenaer, yii. 209, 210. 147, p. 744.

2 Bor, Hoofd, ubi sup.

326

THE EISE OE THE HUTCH EEPUBLIC.

[1578.

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.” 1

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. 2 The states’ army
hardly numbered eighteen thousand foot and two thousand
cavalry, under the famous Francois de la Uoue, surnamed
Bras de Fer, who had been recently appointed Mardchal de
Camp, and, under Count Bossu, commander-in-chief. 3 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 Zutphen, but who was
still remaining there inglorious and inactive, until he could be
furnished with the requisite advance-money to his troops. 4

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 inde¬
cisive skirmishes was the result, in the last of which, near Rij-
nemants, 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. 5 Their offer of

1 This letter of the Prince to the
Calvinist authorities of Middelburg is
given by Bor, xii. 993, and by Brandt,
Hist, der Bef., i. 609, 610.

2 Bor, xii. 987. Meteren, viii. 140.

Strada, Bentivoglio, and others allow

only sixteen or seventeen thousand men.

—Compare Hoofd, xiii. 581.

3 Hoofd, xiii. 581.

4 Ibid., xiii. 581. Bor, xii. 987«.
Strada, x. 491.

5 Bor, xii. 987. Meteren, viii. 140.
Hoofd, xiii. 583.—The Spaniards, how¬
ever, only allow twenty killed and fifty
wounded.—Compare Hoofd, ubi sup.
Not the least picturesque feature in

1578.]

THE TWO AEMIES.

327

“double or quits,” the following morning, was steadily re¬
fused by Bossu, who, secure within his entrenchments, 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. 1 His patriotism,
which w r as 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 recognised as was his signal bravery. If he
refused upon this occasion a general battle, those who re¬
flected 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. 2

The states’ forces remained waiting for the long-promised
succour of John Casimir. It was the 26th of August, however,
before the Duke led his twelve thousand men to the neighbour¬
hood of Mechlin, where Bossu was encamped. 3 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 Netlierland drama. He was inspired by a vague
idea of personal aggrandisement, although he professed at the
same time the utmost deference to William of Orange. He ex¬
pressed the hope that he and the Prince cc should be but two
heads under one hat ;” 4 but he would have done well to ask
himself whether his own contribution to this partnership of

this celebrated action is one reported
by Strada The heat of the day was so
oppressive that a band of Scotch vete¬
rans, under Bobert Stuart, thought it
more comfortable to strip themselves
to their shirts; and, at last, as the
weather and the skirmish grew hotter,
to lay aside even those integuments,
and to fight all day long in the costume

of ancient Piets.—Strada, x. 497. The
date of the battle in Strada, and in
Bentivoglio, (x. 213,) is the first of
August. The same date is given by
Hoofd. Bor says 31st of July.

1 Bor, xii. 987. Hoofd, xiii. 584.

2 Ibid. 3 Bor, xii. 997.

4 Archives de la Maison d’Orange;

vi. 377.

328 THE RISE OF THE DUTCH REPUBLIC. [1578.

brains would very much enrich the silent statesman. Orange
himself regarded him with respectful contempt, and considered
his interference with ISTetherland 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 favour for his master. 1 To Casimir, therefore, had been
entrusted the command of the levies, and the principal expendi¬
ture of the subsidies which she had placed at the disposition of
the states. Upon Casimir she relied, as a counterweight to the
Duke of Alengon, who, as she knew, had already entered the
provinces at tlie secret solicitation of a large faction among the
nobles. She had as much confidence as ever in Orange, but she
imagined she was 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 shew 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. a

1 Oroen v. Prinst., Archives, etc., vi. | 3 Meteren, viii. 140. Hoofd, xiii,

376, 377, note 1. | 584. Grroen v. Prinst., Archives, etc.,

1578 .]

ELIZABETH OF ENGLAND.

329

This was the hero who was now thrust, head and shoulders,
as it were, into the entangled affairs of the Netherlander, and
it was Elizabeth of England, more than ever alarmed at the
schemes of Alengon, 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 Alengon, 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 over¬
come 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
favour 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

vi. 375, note. “ Dann, zu weib nelunen,
iiber mehr schiffen, nndt zmn Kriege,
kein frenndt dem andern, dem gemey-
nen Sprichwortt nach, rathen,” etc.—
Letter of Land gray© William, Archives
de la IVIaison d'Orange, vi. 317. He

adds that the Netherlander were a
wild, godless, and irresponsible crew,
neither attached to the true religion, nor
having any real regard for the Prince,
etc., etc.—Ibid. See also Archives efc
Correspondanee, vi. 300 and 427.

330

THE RISE OF THE HUTCH REPUBLIC.

[1578.

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 statesman of Eng¬
land, 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 con¬
sidered even more dangerous than a Spanish, and Elizabeth
partook of their sentiments, although incapable of their
promptness. With the perverseness which v? as 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. 1 She listened with undisguised
rapture to his proposals of love, while she was secretly
thwarting the plans of his ambition.

Meanwhile, Alengon 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 impor¬
tant 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 Alengon, 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 shew mankind the amount of
mischief which may be perpetrated by a prince, ferocious with¬
out courage, ambitious without talent, and bigoted without
opinions. Incapable of religious convictions himself, he had

1 See, for example, a letter from f ce9ter", in G-roen v. Prinet., yi. 421-
Sir Am ina Paulet to the Earl of Lei- [ 423.

1578.]

FEANCIS OF ALENCON.

331

alternately aspired to be a commander of Catholic and of Hu¬
guenot zealots, and he had acquired nothing by his vacillating
course, save entire contempt of all parties and of both religions.
Scared from the side of Navarre and Conde by the menacing
attitude of the u 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 after¬
wards been placed at the head of the army which was besieging
the Huguenots of Issoire. 1 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 Alengon, almost at the very moment
when his fair sister, Margaret, was preparing the way in the
Netherlands for the fresh treason 2 which he already meditated
to the Catholic cause. The treaty of Bergerac, signed in
the autumn of 1577, 3 again restored a semblance of repose to
France, and again afforded an opportunity for Alengon 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.

1 De Thou, vii. liv. Ixiii. MSmoires according to De Thou, yii. 502, liv.

de Marg. de Valois, liv. ii. lxiii.

2 But three men were spared, 3 De Thou, yii. 529, liv. lxiv.

332

THE RISE OF THE DUTCH REPUBLIC.

[ 1578 ,

It is perhaps an impeachment upon the perspicacity of
Orange, that he could tolerate this mischievous and worthless
u 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 Catharine 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. More¬
over, 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 Alengon 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 Alenqon 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 con¬
tinue 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, Alengon professed the most friendly
sentiments towards the Prince. Solicited by so ardent and con-

1578.]

POLICY OP ORANGE.

333

siderable a faction, the Duke was no longer to be withheld from
trying the venture, 1 and if he could not effect his entrance by
fair means, was determined to do so by force. 2 He would ob¬
trude 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, 3 * and early
in July had made his appearance in Mons. Hence he despatched
his envoys, Des Pruneaux and Kochefort, 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 succour might
be found in Germany which would render the 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. 5 At the same time,
private letters, written by him at this epoch, expressed dis¬
approbation of the schemes of Alen^on, and jealousy of his
aggrandisement. It was, perhaps, difficult to decide as to the
precise views of a monarch who was too weak to form opinions

1 See the remarks and citations of
Groen y. Prinst., Archives, etc , vi. pp.
364-370.—Compare Apologie d’Orange,
p. 107, and Bor, xii. 975.

2 Res. MSS. des Es. G-x., in G-roen v.

Prinst., vi. 370.

8 Meteren. viii. 140 a. Bor, xn.

950.

* Archives et Correspondance, vi.
404, sq_q. Letter of Des Pruneaux,
in Archives de la Maison d’Orange, vi.
399.

5 This was G-ranvelle’s opinion. See
letter from Granvelle to Bellefontaine.
Archives de la Maison d’Orange, vi.
[426.

334

THE RISE OF THE HUTCH REPUBLIC.

[157S.

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 pos¬
sible marriage between Alengon and the Infanta might be on
the cards. 1 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 compli¬
city 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. G-ran-
velle scouted the idea of her being ignorant of Anjou’s scheme,
or opposed to its success. 2 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 Alengon 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. 3

The Queen of England was highly incensed by the actual oc¬
currence of the invasion which she had long dreaded. She was
loud in her denunciations of the danger and dishonour 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 AlenQon for its master. She had originally agreed to
furnish one hundred thousand pounds by way of loan. This

1 Remarks and citations of Groen v.
Prinst., vi. 368, 424-427.—Compare
He Thou, vii. 698.

2 Letter of Granvelle to Bellefon-
taine.

8 “-Summa der comert und die

grosse prodigia so diesz jakr gesehenn
■wordenn, wollen ilire mrckimg haben.
Gott gebe dasz sie zu eynem guten
ende lauffen.”—Archives et Corres-
pondance, vi. 140. Compare Strada,
ix. 463.

1578 .]

CONVENTION WITH ALENCON.

335

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 o? 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
humour, the Queen would be induced to add to her favours. 1

The Prince, obliged by the necessity of the case, had pre¬
scribed the terms and the title under which Alengon should be
accepted. Upon the 13th of August the Duke’s envoy con¬
cluded a convention in twenty-three articles, which were after¬
wards subscribed by the Duke himself, at Mons, upon the
twentieth of the same month. 2 The substance of this arrange-
ment was that Alen^on should lend his assistance to the pro¬
vinces against the intolerable tyranny of the Spaniards and the
unjustifiable military invasion of Don John. He was, more¬
over, 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 “ De¬
fender 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

1 Bor, xii. 948,949, 975, sqq.—Com-1 2 Bor, xii. 976*978. Meteren, ylii.

pare Meteren, vui. 140. I 140, 141.

336

THE RISE OP THE DUTCH [REPUBLIC.

[ 1578 .

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 . 1

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 neutralised. Thus, for the present at least, had the
position of Anjou been defined.

As the month of August, during which it was agreed 2 that
negotiations with the Governor-General should remain open,
had already half expired, certain articles, drawn up by the states-
general, were at once laid before Don John. Lord Cobham and
Sir Francis Walsingham were then in the Netherlands, having
been sent by Elizabeth for the purpose of effecting a pacifica¬
tion of the estates with the Governor, if possible. They had
also explained—so far as an explanation was possible—the
assistance which the English government had rendered to the
rebels, upon the ground that the French invasion could be pre¬
vented in no other way . 3 This somewhat lame apology had
been passed over in silence rather than accepted by Don John.
In the same interview the envoys made an equally unsuccessful
effort to induce the acceptance by the Governor of the terms
offered by the states. A further proposition, on their part, for
an u Interim,” 4 upon the plan attempted by Charles the Fifth

1 See especially Articles 4, 5, 10, 14, los Estados, y que avia sido por mejor

15, 16, 21. y porque el frances no metiesse pie en

2 Article 21 of the Convention.— ellos.”—Lo que en substancia ha pas-
See Bor, xii. 978; Meteren, viii. 141. sado con su Alteza, 14 Agdsto, 1578.

3 “ Y disculpando a la Reyna su Acta Stat. Belg., iii. MS. Hague Ar-

ama de lo que avia hecho en favor de chives. 4 Ibid.

1578.]

NEGOTIATIONS.

537

in Germany, previously to the peace of Passau, met with no
more favour than it merited, for certainly that name—which
became so odious in Germany that cats and dogs were called
“ Interim” by the common people, in derision—was hardly a
potent word to conjure with, at that moment, in the Nether¬
lands. They then expressed their intention of retiring to Eng¬
land , much grieved at the result of their mission. The Governor
replied that they might do as they liked, but that he, at least,
had done all in his power to bring about a peace, and that the
King had been equally pacific in his intentions. He then asked
the envoys what they themselves thought of the terms pro¬
posed. “ Indeed, they are too hard, your highness,” 1 answered
Walsingham; “ but ’tis only by pure menace that we have ex¬
torted them from the states, unfavourable though they seem.”

“ Then you may tell them,” replied the Governor, “to
keep their offers to themselves. Such terms will go but little
way in any negotiation with me.”

The envoys shrugged their shoulders.

“What is your own opinion on the whole affair?” re¬
sumed Don John. “Perhaps your advice may yet help me
to a better conclusion.”

The envoys continued silent and pensive.

“ We can only answer,” said Walsingham, at length, “ by
imitating the physician, who would prescribe no medicine
until he was quite sure that the patient was ready to swallow
it. ’Tis no use wasting counsel or drugs.” 2

The reply was not satisfactory, but the envoys had convinced
themselves that the sword was the only surgical instrument
likely to find favour at that juncture. Don John referred, in
vague terms, to his peaceable inclinations, but protested that
there was no treating with so unbridled a people as the Nether-
landers. The ambassadors soon afterwards took their leave.
After this conference, which was on the 24th of August 1578*

1 44 Que in verity erano troppo duri ”
—-The conversation was carried on
partly in Italian, partly in French,

partly in Spanish.—MS. Memoran¬
dum, diet. act.

2 MS. Memorandum, diet. aot.

VOL. III.

Y

338

THE RISE OF THE DUTCH REPUBLIC.

[1578.

Walsingham and Cobham addressed a letter to the states-gene-
ral, deploring the disingenuous and procrastinating conduct of
the Governor, and begging that the failure to effect a pacification
might not be imputed to them. 1 They then returned to England.

The Imperial envoy, Count Schwartzburg, at whose urgent
solicitation this renewed attempt at a .composition had been
made, was most desirous that the Governor should accept the
articles. 2 They formed, indeed, the basis of a liberal, constitu¬
tional, representative government, in which the Spanish mon¬
arch was to retain only a strictly limited sovereignty. 3 The
proposed convention required Don John, with all his troops
and adherents, forthwith to leave the land after giving up all
strongholds and cities in his possession. It provided that the
Archduke Matthias should remain as Governor- General, under
the conditions according to which he had been originally accepted .
It left the question of religious worship to the decision of the
states-general. It provided for the release of all prisoners,
the return of all exiles, the restoration of all confiscated
property. It stipulated that upon the death or departure of
Matthias, his Majesty was not to appoint a governor-general
without the consent of the states-general*

When Count Schwartzburg waited upon the Governor with
-these astonishing propositions,—which Walsingham might well
call somewhat hard,—he found him less disposed to explode with
wrath than he had been in previous conferences. Already the
spirit of the impetuous young soldier was broken, both by the
iU health which was rapidly undermining his constitution and
by the helpless condition in which he had been left while con¬
tending with the great rebellion. He had soldiers, but no
money to pay them withal; he had no means of upholding that
supremacy of crown and church which he was so vigorously in¬
structed to maintain; and he was heartily wearied of fulminating
edicts which he had no power to enforce. He had repeatedly

1 Acta Stat. Belg., iii. f. 71.—MS.
Hague Archives.

a Bor, xii. 979. Hoofd, xii.
- 587 .

3 See the thirteen articles in Bor,
xii. 979, 980.

4 Articles 5 and 12 of the proposed
Convention, Bor, xii. 979.

SYNOD OF THE REFORMED CHURCH.

339

1578.]

solicited his recall, and was growing daily more impatient
that his dismissal did not arrive. Moreover, the horrible
news of Escovedo’s assassination had sickened him to the
soul. 1 The deed had flashed a sudden light into the abyss of
dark duplicity in which his own fate was suspended. His
most intimate and confidential friend had been murdered by
royal command, while he was himself abandoned by Philip,
exposed to insult, left destitute of defence. Ho money was
forthcoming, in spite of constant importunities and perpetual
promises. 2 Plenty of words were sent him, he complained,
as if he possessed the art of extracting gold from them, or
as if war could be carried on with words alone. 3

Being in so desponding a mood, he declined entering into
any controversy with regard to the new propositions, which,
however, he characterised as most iniquitous. He stated
merely that his Majesty had determined to refer the Nether-
land matters to the arbitration of the Emperor; that the Duke
de Terra Nova would soon be empowered to treat upon the
subject at the imperial court: and that, in the meantime, he
was himself most anxiously awaiting his recall. 4

A synod of the Keformed churches had been held, during
the month of June, at Dort. There they had laid down a
platform of their principles of church government in one
hundred and one articles. 5 In the same month, the leading

' o

members of the Reformed Church had drawn up an ably
reasoned address to Matthias and the Council of State on the
subject of a general peace of religion for the provinces. 6

William of Orange did his utmost to improve the opportu¬
nity. He sketched a system of provisional toleration, which
ne caused to be signed by the Archduke Matthias, and which,
at least for a season, was to establish freedom.* The brave,
tranquil, solitary man still held his track across the raging

1 That event had occurred, as already
stated, upon the 31st of March of this
year (1578).

2 See the letter of Philip in Cabrera,

-adi. 978. 3 Strada, x. 502.

4 Bor, xii. 981.—Compare Metoren,
Yiii. 140, 141.

5 G-iven m Bor, xii. 9S1-93G.

6 In Bor, xii. 971.

7 Bor, xn. 973.

340

THE EISE OF THE BUTCH EEPUBLIO.

[1578.

waves, shedding as much light as one clear human soul could
dispense; yet the dim lantern, so far in advance, was swal¬
lowed in the mist, ere those who sailed in his wake could
shape their course by his example. No man understood him.
Not even his nearest friends comprehended his views, nor saw
that he strove to establish not freedom for Calvinism, but
freedom for conscience. Sainte Aldegonde complained that
the Prince would not persecute the Anabaptists, 1 Peter
Dathenus denounced him as an atheist, while even Count
John, the only one left of his valiant and generous brothers,
opposed the religious peace—except where the advantage was
on the side of the new religion. Where the Catholics had
been effectually put down, as in Holland and Zeland, honest
John saw no reason for allowing them to lift themselves up
again. 2 In the Popish provinces, on the other hand, he was
for a religious peace. In this bigoted spirit he was followed
by too many of the Reforming mass, while, on their part, the
Walloons were already banding themselves together in the
more southern provinces, under the name of Malcontents.
Stigmatised by the Calvinists as u Paternoster Jacks,” 3 they
were daily drawing closer their alliance with Alengon, and
weakening the bonds which united them with their Protestant.

O

brethren. Count John had at length become a permanent
functionary in the Netherlands. Urgently solicited by the'
leaders and the great multitude of the Reformers, he had
long been unwilling to abandon his home, and to neglect
the private affairs w T hich his devotion to the Netherland
cause had thrown into great confusion. The Landgrave*
too, whose advice he had asked, had strongly urged
him not to u dip his fingers into the olla podrida” 4. The
future of the provinces was, in his opinion, so big with
disaster, that the past, with all its horrors, under Alva
and Requesens, had only furnished the “ preludia ” of that

1 Hoofd, xiii. 575. Ev. Eeyd. Ann.,
ii. 23.

2 Grroen v. Prinst., Archives, etc.,

vi. 434, 435.

3 “ Pater noster Knechten ”—Mote-
ren, viii. 143. Bor, xii. 998.—Compare-
Bentivoglio, x. 216.

4 G-roen v. Prinst., Archives, vi. 317.

1678.]

PROJECT OF RELIGIOUS PEACE.

341

which was to ensue. 1 For these desperate views his main
reason, as usual, was the comet; that mischievous luminary
still continuing to cast a lurid glare across the Landgrave’s
path. 2 Notwithstanding these direful warnings from a prince
of the Reformation, notwithstanding the “ olla podrida ” and
the 66 comet,” Count John had nevertheless accepted the office
of Governor of Gelderland, to which he had been elected by
the estates of that province on the 11th of March. 8 That im¬
portant bulwark of Holland, Zeland, and Utrecht on the one
side, and of Groningen and Friesland, on the other—the main
buttress, in short, of the nascent republic, was now in hands
which would defend it to the last.

As soon as the discussion came up in the states-general on
the subject of the Dort petitions, Orange requested that every
member who had formed his opinions should express them
fully and frankly. All wished, however, to be guided and
governed by the sentiments of the Prince. Not a man spoke,
save to demand their leader’s views, and to express adhesion in
advance to the course which his wisdom might suggest. 4 The
result was^, projected convention, a draft for a religious peace, 5
which, if definitely established, would have healed many wounds
and averted much calamity. It was not, however, destined to
be accepted at that time by the states of the different provinces
where it was brought up for discussion; and several changes
were made, both of form and substance, before the system was
adopted at all. Meantime, for the important city of Antwerp,
where religious broils were again on the point of breaking out,
the Prince preferred a provisional arrangement, which he forth¬
with carried into execution. A proclamation, in the name of
the Archduke Matthias and of the State Council, assigned five

1 Archives de la, Maison d’Orange, 147, p. 744.

vi. 256. 5 According to the 3rd and 4th Ar-

2 Letters of Landgrave William, tides, the Catholic or the Reformed

Archives et Correspondance, v. 34, ii. religion was to be re-established and
256-269. freely exercised in any town or village

3 Archives et Correspondance, vi. where such re-establishment should be

■308. demanded by one hundred families.—

4 Langueti Ep. Sec. ad Aug. Sax. Meteren, viii. 143 a.

342

THE RISE OF THE DUTCH REPUBLIC.

[1578.

special places in the city where the members of the “pretended
Reformed religion ” should have liberty to exercise their reli¬
gious worship, with preaching, singing, and the sacraments. 1
The churchyards of the parochial churches were to be opened
for the burial of their dead, but the funerals were to be unac¬
companied with exhortation, or any public demonstration which
1 might excite disturbance. The adherents of one religion were
forbidden to disturb, to insult, or in any way to interfere with
the solemnities of the other. All were to abstain from mutual
jeerings—by pictures, ballads, books, or otherwise—and from
all injuries to ecclesiastical property. Every man, of whatever
religion, was to be permitted entrance to the churches of either
religion, and when there, all were to conform to the regulations
of the church with modesty and respect. Those of the new
religion were to take oaths of obedience to the authorities, and
to abstain from meddling with the secular administration of
affairs. Preachers of both religions were forbidden to preach
out of doors, or to make use of language tending to sedition.
All were to bind themselves to assist the magistrates in
quelling riots, and in sustaining the civil government. 2

This example of religious peace, together with the active
correspondence thus occasioned with the different state assem¬
blies, excited the jealousy of the Catholic leaders and of the
W alloon population. 3 Champagny, who, despite his admirable
qualities and brilliant services, was still unable to place himself
on the same platform of toleration with Orange, now undertook
a decided movement against the policy of the Prince. Catholic
to the core, he drew up a petition, remonstrating most vigor¬
ously against the draft for a religious peace, then in circulation
through the provinces. 4 To this petition he procured many

1 See the document in Bor, xii. 974,
975. Hoofd, xiii. 575.

2 Bor, xii. 974, 975. The principle

of the Religious peace was adopted, and

churches accordingly allotted to the
members of the Reformed Church, in
the cities of Antwerp, Brussels, Mech¬

lin, Bergen, Breda, Liere, Bruges,
Ypres, and in many cities of Gelder-
land and Friesland.—Meteren, viii. 142.

3 Bor, xii. 975. Hoofd, xiii. 576.

4 See the Petition in Bor, xii. 989,
990.—Compare Hoofd, xni. 578. Me¬
teren, viii. 142.

1578. J

COMMOTION IN BRUSSELS.

843

signatures among the more ardent Catholic nobles. De Heze,
De Grlimes, and others of the same stamp, were willing enough
to follow the lead of so distinguished a chieftain. The remon¬
strance was addressed to the Archduke, the Prince of Orange,
the State Council, and the States-general, and called upon them
all to abide by their solemn promises to permit no schism in
the ancient Church. Should the exercise of the new religion
be allowed, the petitioners insisted that the godless licentious-
ness of the Netherlands would excite the contempt of all
peoples and potentates. They suggested, in conclusion, that
all the principal cities of France—and in particular the city
of Paris—had kept themselves clear of the exercise of the new
religion, and that repose and prosperity had been the result . 1

This petition was carried with considerable solemnity by
Champagny, attended by many of his confederates, to the Hotel
de Ville, and presented to the magistracy of Brussels. These
functionaries were requested to deliver it forthwith to the Arch¬
duke and Council. The magistrates demurred. A discussion
ensued, which grew warmer and warmer as it proceeded. The
younger nobles permitted themselves abusive language, which
the civic dignitaries would not brook. The session was dis¬
solved, and the magistrates, still followed by the petitioners,
came forth into the street. The confederates, more inflamed
than ever, continued to vociferate and to threaten. A crowd
soon collected in the square. The citizens were naturally
curious to know why their senators were thus browbeaten and
insulted by a party of insolent young Catholic nobles. The
old politician at their head, who, in spite of many services, was
nut considered a friend to the nation, inspired them with dis¬
trust . 2 Being informed of the presentation of the petition, the
multitude loudly demanded that the document should be

1 Petition in Bor, xii. 989, 990.
a Bor, xii. 988. Champagny was
a Catholic and the brother of Ghran-
velle; he was also one of the most
patriotic and honourable—as he was
unquestionably one of the bravest—of

the Netherland nobles. His character
is interesting, and his services were
remarkable. It is said that he could
not rise to the same tolerance in reli¬
gious matters which the Prince of
Orange had attained.

344

THE RISE OF THE HUTCH REPUBLIC.

[ 1578 .

read. This was immediately done. The general drift of the
remonstrance was anything but acceptable, but the allusion to
Paris, at the close, excited a tempest of indignation. “ Paris!
Paris ! Saint Bartholomew ! Saint Bartholomew! Are we
to have Paris weddings in Brussels also ? ” howled the mob,
as is often the case, extracting but a single idea, and that a
wrong one, from the public lecture which had just been made.
u Are we to have a Paris massacre, a Paris blood-bath here
in the Netherland capital ? God forbid! God forbid!
Away with the conspirators! Down with the Papists ! ” 1

It was easily represented to the inflamed imaginations of the
populace that a Brussels Saint Bartholomew had been organised,
and that Champagny, who stood there before them, was its ori¬
ginator and manager. The ungrateful Netherlander forgot
the heroism with which the old soldier had arranged the defence
of Antwerp against the u Spanish Fury ” but two years before.
They heard only the instigations of his enemies ; they remem¬
bered only that he was the hated Granvelle’s brother; they
believed only that there was a plot by which, in some utterly
incomprehensible manner, they were all to be immediately
engaged in cutting each other’s throats and throwing each other
out of the windows, as had been done half a dozen years before
in Paris. Such was the mischievous intention ascribed to a
petition, which Champagny and his friends had as much right
to offer—however narrow and mistaken their opinions might
now be considered—as had the synod of Dort to present their
remonstrances. Never was a more malignant or more stupid
perversion of a simple and not very alarming phrase. No allu¬
sion had been made to Saint Bartholomew, but all its horrors
were supposed to be concealed in the sentence which referred to
Paris. The nobles were arrested on the spot and hurried to
prison, with the exception of Champagny, who made his escape
at first, and lay concealed for several days . 2 He was, however,
finally ferreted out of his hiding-place and carried off to Ghent.

1 Bor, xii. 988. Hoofd, xiii. 578,1 2 Ibid. Hoofd, xiii. 579. Meteren,

579. I viii. 142.

1578.]

INDOLENCE OP THE TWO ARMIES.

345

There he was thrown into strict confinement, being treated in
all respects as the accomplice of Aerschot and the other
nobles who had been arrested in the time of Ryhove’s revolu¬
tion . 1 Certainly this conduct towards a brave and generous
gentleman was ill calculated to increase general sympathy for
the cause, or to merit the approbation of Orange. There was,
however, a strong prejudice against Champagny. His brother
Grranvelle had never been forgotten by the Netherlander, and
was still regarded as their most untiring foe, while Cham¬
pagny was supposed to be in close league with the Cardinal.
In these views the people were entirely wrong.

While these events were taking place in Brussels and Ant¬
werp, the two armies of the states and of Don John were
indolently watching each other. The sinews of war had been
cut upon both sides. Both parties were cramped by the most
abject poverty. The troops under Bossu and Casimir, in the
camp near Mechlin, were already discontented, for want of
pay. The one hundred thousand pounds of Elizabeth had
already been spent, and it was not probable that the offended
Queen would soon furnish another subsidy. The states could
with difficulty extort anything like the assessed quotas from
the different provinces. The Duke of Alenqon was still at
Mons, from which place he had issued a violent proclamation
of war against Don John—a manifesto which had, however, not
been followed up by very vigorous demonstrations. Don John
himself was in his fortified camp at Bouge, within a league
of Namur, but the hero was consuming with mental and
bodily fever. He was, as it were, besieged. He was left en¬
tirely without funds, while his royal brother obstinately refused
compliance with his earnest demands to be recalled, and
coldly neglected his importunities for pecuniary assistance . 2

Compelled to carry on a war against an armed rebellion with

1 Bor, xii. 988. Hoofd,. xiii. 579.
Meteren, viii. 142.—His captivity lasted
several years.

2 Bor, xii. 997 s 998. Hoofd, xiv.
584, 585. The states had agreed to

pay 600,000 guldens per month. The
expenses of the army were estimated at
800,000 guldens per month.—Groen v.
Prmst., Archives, vi. 397. Proclama¬
tion in Bor, xii. 996, 997.

346

THE RISE OF THE DUTCH REPUBLIC.

[1578.

such gold only as could be extracted from royal words ; stung
to the heart by the suspicion of which he felt himself the
object at home, and by the hatred with which he was re¬
garded in the provinces; outraged in his inmost feelings by
the murder of Escovedo; foiled, outwitted, reduced to a
political nullity by the masterly tactics of the “ odious heretic
of heretics 55 to whom he had originally offered his own pat¬
ronage and the royal forgiveness, the high-spirited soldier
was an object to excite the tenderness even of religious and
political opponents. Wearied with the turmoil of camps
without battle and of cabinets without counsel, he sighed for
repose, even if it could be found only in a cloister or the
grave. “ I rejoice to see by your letter/’ he wrote, patheti¬
cally, to John Andrew Doria, at Genoa, “that your life is
flowing on with such calmness, while the world around me is
so tumultuously agitated. I consider you most fortunate that
you are passing the remainder of your days for God and your¬
self ; that you are not forced to put yourself perpetually in the
scales of the world’s events, nor to venture yourself daily on
its hazardous games.” 1 He proceeded to inform his friend
of his own painful situation, surrounded by innumerable ene¬
mies, without means of holding out more than three months,
and cut off from all assistance by a government which could
not see that if the present chance were lost all was lost. He
declared it impossible for him to flght in the position to which
he was reduced, pressed as he was within half a mile of the
point which he had always considered as his last refuge. He
stated also that the French were strengthening themselves in
Hainault, under Alenqon, and that the King of France was
in readiness to break in through Burgundy, should his brother
obtain a firm foothold in the provinces. “ I have besought
his Majesty over and over again,” he continued, “to send to
me his orders; if they come they shall be executed, unless
they arrive too late. They have cut off our hands , and toe

1 This remarkable and pathetic let-1 doza, is published in Bor. xii. 1004,
ter, as well as that addressed to Men-1 1005, and Hoofd, xiv. 589, 590.

1578 .]

ILLNESS OF LON JOHN,

347

have now nothing for it hut to stretch forth our heads also
to the axe . I grieve to trouble you with my sorrows, but 1
trust to your sympathy as a man and a friend. I hope that
you will remember me in your prayers, for you can put your
trust where, in former days, I never could place my own.” 1

The dying crusader wrote another letter, in the same mourn¬
ful strain, to another intimate friend, Don Pedro Mendoza,
Spanish envoy in Genoa. It was dated upon the same day
from his camp near Namur, and repeated the statement that
the King of Prance was ready to invade the Netherlands, so
soon as AlenQon should prepare an opening. “His Majesty,”
continued Don John, “is resolved upon nothing; at least, I
am kept in ignorance of his intentions. Our life is doled out
to zcs here by moments . I cry aloud, but it profits me little*.
Matters will soon be disposed, through our negligence,
exactly as the devil would best wish them. It is plain that
we are left here to pine away till our last breath. God direct
us all as He may see fit; in His hands are all things.” 3

Four days later he wrote to the King, stating that he was
confined to his chamber with a fever, by which he was already
as much reduced as if he had been ill for a month. “ I assure
your Majesty,” said he, 66 that the work here is enough to
destroy any constitution and any life.” He reminded Philip
how often he had been warned by him as to the insidious
practices of the French. Those prophecies had now become
facts. The French had entered the country, while some of the
inhabitants were frightened, others disaffected. Don John
declared himself in a dilemma. With his small force, hardly
enough to make head against the enemy immediately in front,
and to protect the places which required guarding, ’twas im¬
possible for him to leave his position to attack the enemy in
Burgundy. If he remained stationary, the communications
were cut off through which his money and supplies reached
him. u Thus I remain,” said he, “ perplexed and confused,

1 Letter to Doria ; Bor, Hoofd, ubi I 2 Letter to Pedro de Mendoza; Bor,
sup. I xii. 1005. Hoofd, xiv. 590.

343

TEE RISE OF THE DUTCH REPUBLIC.

[1578.

desiring, more than life, some decision on your Majesty’s part,
for which I have implored so many times.” He urged the King
most vehemently to send Mm instructions as to the course to be
pursued , 2 adding that it wounded him to the soul to find them
so long delayed. He begged to be informed cc whether he
was to attack the enemy in Burgundy, whether he should
await where he then was the succour of his Majesty, or whether
he was to fight, and if so with which of his enemies : in fine,
what he was to do ; because, losing or winning, he meant to
conform to his Majesty’s will.” He felt deeply pained, he
said, at being disgraced and abandoned by the King, having
served him, both as a brother, and a man, with love and faith
and heartiness. “Our lives,” said he, “are at stake upon
this game, and all we wish is to lose them honourably.” 2 He
begged the King to send a special envoy to France, with
remonstrances on the subject of Alengon, and another to the
Pope to ask for the Duke’s excommunication. He protested
that he would give his blood rather than occasion so much
annoyance to the King, but that he felt it his duty to tell the
naked truth. The pest was ravaging his little army. Twelve
hundred were now in hospital, besides those nursed in private
houses, and he had no means or money to remedy the evil.
Moreover, the enemy, seeing that they were not opposed in
the open field, had cut off the passage into Liege by the
Meuse, and had advanced to Nivelles and Chimay for the
sake of communications with France, by the same river. 3

Ten days after these pathetic passages had been written, the
writer was dead. Since the assassination of Escovedo, a con¬
suming melancholy had settled upon his spirits, and a burning
fever came, in the month of September,, to destroy his physical

1 “ La orden de como trngo de go -
bemar ”—These words in Don John’s
letter were underlined by Philip, who
made upon reading them the following
most characteristic annotation:—“ The
marked request I will not grant. I
will not tell;’ 1 (lo rayado no yo le

dire.)

2 “ Nos van las vidas en esto juego,”
etc., etc.

3 Carta (descifrada) del Sor. D.
Juan a Su Magd., 20 Sept. 1578.
MS. Royal Library, Hague, f. 41-
44.

i57a]

DEATH OF DON JOHN.

349

strength. The house where he lay was a hovel, the only
chamber of which had been long used as a pigeon-house. This
wretched garret was cleansed as well as it could be of its filth,
and hung with tapestry emblazoned with armorial bearings.
In that dovecot the hero of Lepanto was destined to expire.
During the last few days of his illness he was delirious.
Tossing upon his uneasy couch, he again arranged in imagi¬
nation the combinations of great battles, again shouted his
orders to rushing squadrons, and listened with brightening
eye to the trumpet of victory. Reason returned, however,
before the hour of death, and permitted him the opportunity
to make the dispositions rendered necessary by his condition.
He appointed his nephew Alexander of Parma, who had been
watching assiduously over his death-bed, to succeed him,
provisionally, in the command of the army and in Iris other
dignities, received the last sacraments with composure, and
tranquilly breathed his last upon the first day of October,
the month which, since the battle of Lepanto, he had always
considered a festive and a fortunate one. 1

It was inevitable that suspicion of poison should be at once
excited by his disease. Those suspicions have been never set
at rest, and never proved. Two Englishmen, Ratcliffe and Gray
by name, had been arrested and executed on a charge of having
been employed by Secretary Walsingham to assassinate the
Governor. 2 The charge was doubtless an infamous falsehood;
but had Philip, who was suspected of being the real criminal,
really compassed the death of his brother, it was none the less
probable that an innocent victim or two would be executed, to
save appearances. How that time has unveiled to us many
mysteries, now that we have learned from Philip’s own lips and
those of his accomplices the exact manner in which Montigny
and Escovedo were put to death, the world will hardly be very
charitable with regard to other imputations. It was vehe-

1 Van der Hammen y Leon, vi. Hoofd, 591.

324. Bor, zii. 1005. Cabrera, xii. 2 De Thou, vii. 699.—Compare Ca-
1008,1009. Strada, x. 503, 505, 506. brera, xii. 1006.

350

THE RISE OE THE DUTCH REPUBLIC.

fl57a

mently suspected that Don John had been murdered by the
command of Philip, but no such fact was ever proved.

The body, when opened that it might be embalmed, was
supposed to offer evidence of poison. The heart was dry, the
other internal organs were likewise so desiccated as to crumble
when touched, and the general colour of the interior was of
a blackish brown, as if it had been singed. Various persons
were mentioned as the probable criminals; various motives
assigned for the commission of the deed. Nevertheless, it
must be admitted that there were causes, which were undis¬
puted, for his death, sufficient to render a search for the more
mysterious ones comparatively superfluous. A disorder
-called the pest was raging in his camp, and had carried off a
thousand of his soldiers within a few days, while his mental
sufferings had been acute enough to turn his heart to ashes.
Disappointed, tormented by friend and foe, suspected, in¬
sulted, broken spirited, it was not strange that he should
prove an easy victim to a pestilent disorder before which
many stronger men were daily falling. 1

On the third day after his decease, the funeral rites were
celebrated. A dispute between the Spaniards, Germans, and
Netherlander in the army arose, each claiming precedence in
the ceremony, on account of superior national propinquity to
the illustrious deceased. All were, in truth, equally near to him,
for different reasons, and it was arranged that all should share

1 “ iSamque in defunct! corpore exti- suggests that he was poisoned by
tisse non obscura veneni vestigia affir- means of perfumed boots (certainly an
mant, qui viderunt.”—Strada, x. 512. original method, and one which was
The Jesuit does not express any opinion not likely to make his “ interior ” look

as to the truth of the report.—Compare as if “toasted;”) “-car on tient

Cabrera, xii. 1009. Van d. Vynckt, ii. tout qu’il mourut empoissonn6 par

253, 254. “-hallaron la parte del des bottines parfumees.” — Homines

common seca i todo lo interior i lo Illust. et Gr., cap. ii. 140. The poi-
esterior denegrido i come tostado, quo soning was attributed to various per¬
se desbazia con el toque; i lo demas sons; to Philip, to the Prince of
de color palido de natural difunto.” Orange, and to the Abbot of St. G-er-
—Cabrera, xii. 1009. The Seigneur trude, who is said to have effected the
Brantome, after expressing his regrets deed through one Guerin, a well-known
that such a brave son of Mars should poisoner of Marseilles. — V. Wyn

have died in his bed, (“-comme si Aanm op Wagenaer, vii. 65. See also.

c’enst est6 quelque mignon de Venus,”) Hoofd, xiv. 591; Bor, xii. 1004

1578.]

FUNERAL RECESS.

351

equally in the obsequies. The corpse, disembowelled and em¬
balmed, was laid upon a couch of state. The hero was clad in
complete armour; his sword, helmet, and steel gauntlets lying
at his feet, a coronet, blazing with precious stones, upon his
head, the jewelled chain and insignia of the Golden Fleece
about his neck, and perfumed gloves upon his hands. Thus
royally and martially arrayed, he was placed upon his bier and
borne forth from the house where he had died, by the gentle¬
men of his bedchamber. From them he was received by the
colonels of the regiments stationed next his own quarters.
These chiefs, followed by their troops with inverted arms and
muffled drums, escorted the body to the next station, where it
was received by the commanding officers, of other national
regiments, to be again transmitted to those of the third.
Thus by soldiers of the three nations, it was successively
conducted to the gates of FTamur, where it was received by
the civic authorities. The pall-bearers, old Peter Ernest
Mansfeld, Ottavio Gonzaga, the Marquis de Villa Franca, and
the Count de Reux, then bore it to the church, where it was
•deposited until the royal orders should be received from Spain.
The heart of the hero was permanently buried beneath the
pavement of the little church, and a monumental inscription,
prepared by Alexander Farnese, still indicates the spot where
that lion heart returned to dust. 1

It had been Don John's dying request to Philip that his
remains might be buried in the Escorial by the side of his
imperial father, and the prayer being granted, the royal order
in due time arrived for the transportation of the corpse to
Spain. Permission had been asked and given for the passage
•of a small number of Spanish troops through France. The
thrifty king had, however, made no allusion to the fact that
those soldiers were to bear with them the mortal remains of

1 SStrada x. 515. Hoofd, xiv. 591. iii. 285.) The inscription on the
“Relacion de la enfermedad y muerte tablet may yet be read at Namur,
delS. D. Juan.”—Documentos In^ditos, although a new church has replaced
vii. 443-448. — Compare Tassis, iv. the one in which the heart was origin-
526 ; Hoold, xiv. 591; Haraeus, (Ann. ally deposited.

352

THE RISE OF THE HUTCH REPUBLIC.

[ 1578.

Lepanto’s hero, for lie was disposed to save the expense which
a public transportation of the body and the exchange of pom¬
pous courtesies with the authorities of every town upon the
long journey would occasion. The corpse was accordingly
divided into three parts, and packed in three separate bags;
and thus the different portions, to save weight , being suspended
at the saddle-bows of different troopers, the body of the
conqueror was conveyed to its distant resting-place. 1

“ Expends Hannibalem: quot libras in duce summo
Invenies?”.

Thus irreverently, almost blasphemously, the disjointed relics
of the great warrior were hurried through France; France,
which the romantic Saracen slave had traversed but two short
years before, filled with high hopes, and pursuing extravagant
visions. It has been recorded by classic historians, 2 that the
different fragments, after their arrival in Spain, were re-united
and fastened together with wire; that the body was then
stuffed, attired in magnificent habiliments, placed upon its
feet, and supported by a martial staff, and that thus prepared
for a royal interview, the mortal remains of Don John were
presented to his Most Catholic Majesty. Philip is said to
have manifested emotion at sight of the hideous spectre—for
hideous and spectral, despite of jewels, balsams, and brocades,
must have been that unburied corpse, aping life in attitude
and vestment, but standing there only to assert its privilege

1 Strada, x. 516,519.—“ Relacion de
la enfermedad y muerte,” pp. 443-448.
Hoofd, xiv. 592.

2 “-ubi ossibus iterum commis-

sis, asreique nexu fili colligatis, totam
facile articulayere compagem corporis.”

—Strada, x. 519. “-Quod tomento

expletum, ac superindutis armis, pre-
tiosis vestibus exornatum ita Regis ob-
tulere oculis quasi pedibus mnitens, Im-
peratorii videlicet baculi adjumento
plane vivere ac spirare viduretur ."—
Ibid. The story must be received,

however, with extreme caution, as being
perhaps only one of the imaginative
embroideries of that genial Jesuit,
Strada. There is no mention of the
circumstance in the “Relacion de la
enfermedad,” etc., but, on the con¬
trary, the body of the hero is there
represented as having been wrapped
decently in a shroud of “delicate
Hollands,” and placed in a “coffin
covered within and without with black
velvet.” —Documentos In6ditos- vii.
443-448.

1578.]

CHARACTER OF HON JOHN.

353

of descending into the tomb. The claim was granted, and
Don John of Austria at last found repose by the side of
his imperial father. 1

A sufficient estimate of his character has been apparent in
the course of the narrative. Dying before he had quite com¬
pleted his thirty-third year, 3 he excites pity and admiration
almost as much as censure. His military career was a blaze of
glory. Commanding in the Moorish wars at twenty-three, and
in the Turkish campaigns at twenty-six, he had achieved a
matchless renown before he had emerged from early youth;
but his sun was destined to go down at noon. He found
neither splendour nor power in the Netherlands, where he was
deserted by his king and crushed by the superior genius of the
Prince of Orange. Although he vindicated his martial skill at
G-emblours, the victory was fruitless. It was but the solitary
spring of the tiger from his jungle, and after that striking con¬
flict his life was ended in darkness and obscurity. Possessing
military genius of a high order, with extraordinary personal
bravery, he was the last of the paladins and the crusaders.
His accomplishments were also considerable, and he spoke
Italian, German, Drench, and Spanish with fluency. His
beauty was remarkable; his personal fascinations acknowledged
by either sex; but as a commander of men, excepting upon the
battle-field, he possessed little genius. His ambition was the
ambition of a knight-errant, an adventurer, a Norman pirate;
it was a personal and tawdry ambition. Yague and contra¬
dictory dreams of crowns, of royal marriages, of extemporised
dynasties, floated ever before him; but he was himself always
the hero of his own romance. He sought a throne in Africa
or in Britain; he dreamed of espousing Mary of Scotland at
the expense of Elizabeth, and was even thought to asjfire
secretly to the hand of the great English Queen herself. 3
Thus, crusader and bigot as he was, he was willing to be

1 Stracln, x. 519. 3 This project, among other visions,

3 Tassis, iv. 326. Cabrera, xii. may have occupied the dreamy mind
1009. Strada, x. 503. Bentivoglio, x. of Hon John himself, but it seems
218. astonishing that grave historians should

Z

VOL. TIT.

354 THE RISE OF THE FETCH REPUBLIC. [157a

reconciled with heresy, if heresy could furnish him with a
throne.

It is superfluous to state that he was no match, by mental
endowments, for William of Orange; but even had he been
so, the moral standard by which each measured himself placed
the Conqueror far below the Father of a people. It must be
admitted that Don John is entitled to but small credit for
his political achievements in the Netherlands. He was
incapable of perceiving that the great contest between the
Reformation and the Inquisition could never be amicably
arranged in those provinces, and that the character of
William of Orange was neither to be softened by royal
smiles, nor perverted by appeals to sordid interests. It
would have been perhaps impossible for him, with his educa¬
tion and temperament, to have embraced what seems to
us the right cause, but it ought, at least, to have been in
his power to read the character of his antagonist, and to
estimate his own position with something like accuracy.
He may be forgiven that he did not succeed in reconciling
hostile parties, when his only plan to accomplish such a
purpose was the extermination of the most considerable
faction; but although it was not to be expected that he
would look on the provinces with the eyes of William the
Silent, he might have comprehended that the Netherland
chieftain was neither to be purchased nor cajoled. The only
system by which the two religions could live together in
peace had been discovered by the Prince; but toleration,
in the eyes of Catholics, and of many Protestants, was still
thought the deadliest heresy of all.

record their opinion that such a scheme
had ever been sanctioned by Elizabeth.
Yet Cabrera, Bentivoglio, Strada, and
even the more modern Yan der Yynckt,

allude to the report.—Yide Cabrera,
xii. 971. Bentivoglio, x. 518. Strada,
x. 503. Yan d. Yynckt, ii. 254.—Com¬
pare Grroen v. Prinsterer, vi. 453.

PART YL

ALEX ODER OF PARMA.

1578 - 1584 .

CHAPTER I

A NATION SEVERED AND A REPUBLIC BORN.

Birth, education, marriage, and youthful character of Alexander Farnese—
His private adventures—Exploits at Lepanto and at Gemblours—He
succeeds to the government—Personal appearance and characteristics—
Aspect of affairs—Internal dissensions—Anjou at Mons—John Casimir’s
iut'igucs at Ghent—Anjou disbands his soldiers—The Netherlands
ravaged by various foreign troops—Anarchy and confusion in Ghent—
Imbize and Ryhove—Fate of Hessels and Visch—New pacification drawn
up by Orange—Representations of Queen Elizabeth—Remonstrance of
Brussels—Riots and image-breaking in Ghent—Displeasure of Orange —
His presence implored at Ghent, where he establishes a religious peace—
Painful situation of John Casimir—Sharp rebukes of Elizabeth—He takes
bis departure—His troops apply to Farnese, who allows them to leave the
country—Anjou’s departure and manifesto—Elizabeth’s letters to the
states-general with regard to him—Complimentary addresses by the
Estates to the Duke—Death of Bossu—Calumnies against Orange—
Venality of the Malcontent grandees—La Motte’s treason—Intrigues of
the Prior of Renty—Sainte ALdegonde at Arras—The Prior of St. Vaast’s
exertions—Opposition of the clergy in the Walloon provinces to the
taxation of the general government—Triangular contest—Municipal
revolution in Arras led by Gosson and others—Counter-revolution—
Rapid trials and executions—“ Reconciliation ” of the malcontent
chieftains—Secret treaty of Mount St. Eloi—-Mischief made by the
Prior of Renty—His accusations against the reconciled lords—Vengeance
taken upon him—Counter-movement by the liberal party—Union of
TJtrecht—The act analysed and characterised.

A fifth governor now stood in the place which had been
successively vacated by Margaret of Parma, by Alva, by the
Grand Commander, and by Don John of Austria. Of all the
eminent personages to whom Philip had confided the reins
of that most difficult and dangerous administration, the man
who was now to rule was by far the ablest and the best fitted

358

THE RISE OP THE DUTCH REPUBLIC.

[1578.

for his post. If there were living charioteer skilful enough
to guide the wheels of state, whirling now more dizzily than
ever through u confusum chaos” Alexander Farnese was the
charioteer to guide—his hand the only one which could
control.

He was now in his thirty-third year—his uncle Don John,
his cousin Don Carlos, and himself, having all been born
within a few months of each other. His father was
Ottavio Farnese, the faithful lieutenant of Charles the Fifth,
and grandson of Pope Paul the Third; his mother was Mar¬
garet of Parma, first regent of the Netherlands after the
departure of Philip from the provinces. He was one of
the twins by which the reunion of Margaret and her youthful
husband had been blessed, and the only one that survived.
His great-grandfather, Paul, whose secular name of Alexander
he had received, had placed his hand upon the new-born
infant’s head, and prophesied that he would grow up to become
a mighty warrior. 1 The boy, from his earliest years, seemed
destined to verify the prediction. - Though apt enough at his
studies, he turned with impatience from his literary tutors to
military exercises and the hardiest sports. The din of arms
surrounded his cradle. The trophies of Ottavio, returning
victorious from beyond the Alps, had dazzled the eyes of his
infancy, and when but six years of age he had witnessed the
siege of his native Parma, and its vigorous defence by his
martial father. When Philip was in the Netherlands—in the
years immediately succeeding the abdication of the Emperor
—he had received the boy from his parents as a hostage for
\ their friendship. Although but eleven years of age, Alex¬
ander had begged earnestly to be allowed to serve as a volun¬
teer on the memorable day of Saint Quentin, and had wept
bitterly when the amazed monarch refused his request. 2 His
education had been completed at Alcala, and at Madrid, under
the immediate supervision of his royal uncle, and in the com¬
panionship of the Infante Carlos and the brilliant Don John*
1 Strada, ix. 451, x. 508. 2 Ibid., ix. 458.

1578.] CHARACTERISTICS OF ALEXANDER FAENESE. 359

The imperial bastard was alone able to surpass, or even to
equal the Italian Prince in all martial and manly pursuits.
Both were equally devoted to the chase and to the tournay ;
both longed impatiently for the period when the irksome routine
of monkish pedantry, and the fictitious combats which formed
their main recreation, should be exchanged for the substantial
delights of war. At the age of twenty he had been affianced
to Maria of Portugal, daughter of Prince Edward, grand¬
daughter of King Emanuel, and his nuptials with that peerless
princess were, as we have seen, celebrated soon afterwards with
much pomp in Brussels. Sons and daughters were born to him
in due time, during his subsequent residence in Parma. Here,
however, the fiery and impatient spirit of the future illustrious
commander was doomed for a time to fret under restraint, and
to corrode in distasteful repose. His father, still in the vigour
of his years, governing the family duchies of Parma and Pia¬
cenza, Alexander had no occupation in the brief period of peace
which then existed. The martial spirit, pining for a wide and
lofty sphere of action, in which alone its energies could be fitly
exercised, now sought delight in the pursuits of the duellist and
gladiator. Nightly did the hereditary prince of the land per¬
ambulate the streets of his capital, disguised, w r ell-armed, alone,
or with a single confidential attendant. 1 Every chance pas¬
senger of martial aspect •whom he encountered in the midnight
streets was forced to stand and measure swords -with an un¬
known, almost unseen, but most redoubtable foe, and many
were the single combats which he thus enjoyed, so long as his
incognito -were preserved. Especially, it was his wont to seek
and defy every gentleman wdiose skill or bravery had ever been
commended in his hearing. At last, upon one occasion it was
his fortune to encounter a certain Count Torelli, whose reputa¬
tion as a swordsman and duellist was well established in Parma.
The blades were joined, and the fierce combat had already been
engaged in the darkness, when the torch of an accidental
passenger flashed full in the face of Alexander. Torelli,
1 Strada, ix. 454, 455.

360 THE RISE OP THE DUTCH REPUBLIC. [1578.

recognising thus suddenly his antagonist, dropped his sword
and implored forgiveness, 1 for the wily Italian was too keen
not to perceive that even if the death of neither combatant
should be the result of the fray, his own position was, in
every event, a false one. Victory would ensure him the
hatred, defeat the contempt of his future sovereign. The un¬
satisfactory issue and subsequent notoriety of this encounter
put a termination to these midnight joys of Alexander, and for
a season he felt obliged to assume more pacific habits, and to
solace himself with the society of that u phoenix of Portugal,”
who had so long sat brooding on his domestic hearth.

At last the holy league was formed, the new and last crusade
proclaimed, his uncle and bosom friend appointed to the com¬
mand of the united troops of Rome, Spain, and Venice. He
could no longer be restrained. Disdaining the pleadings of his
mother and of his spouse, he extorted permission from Philip,
and flew to the seat of war in the Levant. Don John received
him with open arms, just before the famous action of Lepanto,
and gave him an excellent position in the very front of the
battle, with the command of several Genoese galleys. Alex¬
ander’s exploits on that eventful day seemed those of a fabu¬
lous hero of romance. He laid his galley alongside of the
treasure-ship of the Turkish fleet, a vessel, on account of its
importance, doubly manned and armed. Impatient that the
crescent was not lowered, after a few broadsides, he sprang on
board the enemy alone, waving an immense two-handed sword
—his usual weapon—and mowing a passage right and left
through the hostile ranks for the warriors who tardily followed
the footsteps of their vehement chief. Mustapha Bey, the
treasurer and commander of the ship, fell before his sword,
besides many others, whom he hardly saw or counted. The
galley was soon his own, as well as another, which came to the
rescue of the treasure-ship, only to share its defeat. The booty
which Alexander’s crew secured was prodigious, individual
soldiers obtaining two and three thousand ducats each. 3 Don
1 Strada. ix. 455. a Ibid., ix. 456, 457.

1578.]

HIS PERSONAL APPEARANCE.

361

John received his nephew after the battle with commendations,
not, however, nnniingled with censure. The successful result
alone had justified such insane and desperate conduct, for had
he been slain or overcome, said the commander-in-chief,
there would have been few to applaud his temerity. Alexan¬
der gaily replied by assuring his uncle that he had felt
sustained by a more than mortal confidence, the prayers which
his saintly wife was incessantly offering in his behalf since
he went to the wars being a sufficient support and shield in
even greater danger than he had yet confronted. 1

This was Alexander’s first campaign, nor was he permitted
to reap any more glory for a few succeeding years. At last,.
Philip was disposed to send both his mother and himself to
the Netherlands, removing Don John from the rack where he
had been enduring such slow torture. Granvelle’s interces¬
sion proved fruitless with the Duchess, but Alexander was all
eagerness to go where blows were passing current, and he
gladly led the reinforcements which -were sent to Don John at
the close of the year 1577. He had reached Luxemburg on
the 18th of December of that year, in time, as we have seen, to
participate, and in fact, to take the lead in the signal victory of
Gemblours. He had been struck with the fatal change which
disappointment and anxiety had wrought upon the beautiful
and haughty features of his illustrious kinsman. 2 He had since
closed his eyes in the camp, and erected a marble tablet over
his heart in the little church. He now governed in his stead.

His personal appearance corresponded with his character.
He had the head of a gladiator, round, compact, combative,
with something alert and snake-like in its movements. The
black, closely-shorn hair was erect and bristling. The fore¬
head was lofty and narrow. The features were handsome, the
nose regularly aquiline, the eyes well opened, dark, piercing,
but with something dangerous and sinister in their expres¬
sion. 3 There was a habitual look askance, as of a man seeking

1 Strada, ix. 458. 3 Ibid., ix. 460. j xxix. 661; and the portraits confirm

8 “ Een fel gesicht,” says Bor, 3, | the statement.

362

THE RISE OF THE DUTCH REPUBLIC.

[.1578.

to parry or inflict a mortal blow—the look of a swordsman
and professional fighter. The lower part of the face was
swallowed in a bushy beard ; the mouth and chin being quite
invisible. He was of middle stature, well formed, and grace¬
ful in person, princely in demeanour, sumptuous and stately
in apparel. 1 His high ruff of point lace, his badge of the
Golden Fleece, his gold-inlaid Milan armour, marked him at
once as one of high degree- On the field of battle he possessed
the rare gift of inspiring his soldiers with his own impetuous
and chivalrous courage* He ever led the way upon the most
dangerous and desperate ventures, and, like his uncle and his
imperial grandfather, well knew how to reward the devotion
of his readiest followers with a poniard, a feather, a riband,
a jewel, taken with his own hands from his own attire. 2

His military abilities—now for the first time to be largely
called into employment—were unquestionably superior to those
of Don John, whose name had been surrounded with such
splendour by the world-renowned battle of Lepanto. Moreover,
lie possessed far greater power for governing men, whether in
camp or cabinet. Less attractive and fascinating, he was more
commanding than his kinsman. Decorous and self poised, he
was only passionate before the enemy, but he rarely permitted
a disrespectful look or word to escape condign and deliberate
chastisement. He was no schemer or dreamer. He was no
knight-errant. He would not have crossed seas and mountains
to rescue a captive queen, nor have sought to place her crown
on his own head as a reward for his heroism. He had a single
and concentrated kind of character. He knew precisely the
work Philip required to be done, and felt himself to be the
workman that had so long been wanted. Cool, incisive, fearless,
artful, he united the unscrupulous audacity of a condotiiere
with the wily patience of a Jesuit. He could coil unperceived
through unsuspected paths, could strike suddenly, sting mor¬
tally. He came prepared, not only to smite the Netherlanders
in the open field, but to cope with them in tortuous policy;
1 “ Kostelijck en overdadig in kleederen.”—Bor, loc. cit. 2 Strada, 2, iii. 150.

1578.]

ALEXANDER A STRICT CATHOLIC.

368

to outwatch and outweary tliem in the game to which his im¬
patient predecessor had fallen a baffled victim. He possessed
the art and the patience—as time was to prove—not only to
undermine their most impregnable cities, but to delve below the
intrigues of their most accomplished politicians. To circum¬
vent at once both their negotiators and their men-at-arms was
his appointed task. Had it not been for the courage, the
vigilance, and the superior intellect of a single antagonist,
the whole of the Netherlands would have shared the fate
which was reserved for the more southern portion. Had the
life of William of Orange been prolonged, perhaps the evil
genius of the Netherlands might have still been exercised
throughout the whole extent of the country.

As for religion, Alexander Farnese was, of course, strictly
Catholic, regarding all seceders from Romanism as mere
heathen dogs. Not that he practically troubled himself much
with sacred matters—for, during the lifetime of his wife, he
had cavalierly thrown the whole burden of his personal salva¬
tion upon her saintly shoulders. She had now flown to
higher spheres, but Alexander was, perhaps, willing to rely
ypon her continued intercessions in his behalf. The life of a
bravo in time of peace—the deliberate project in war to
exterminate whole cities full of innocent people, who had
different notions on the subject of image-worship and ecclesi¬
astical ceremonies from those entertained at Rome, did not
seem to him at all incompatible with the precepts of Jesus.
Hanging, drowning, burning, and butchering heretics were
the legitimate deductions of his theology. He was no casuist
nor pretender to holiness; but in those days every man was
devout, and Alexander looked with honest horror upon the im¬
piety of the heretics, whom he persecuted and massacred. He
attended mass regularly—in the winter mornings by torch-light
—and would as soon have foregone his daily tennis as his
religious exercises. Romanism was the creed of his taste. It
was the religion of princes and gentlemen of high degree. As
for Lutheranism, Zwinglism, Calvinism, and similar systems,

364. THE RISE OE THE DUTCH REPUBLIC. [1578.

they were but the fantastic rites of weavers, brewers, and the
like—an ignoble herd, whose presumption in entitling them¬
selves Christian, while rejecting the Pope, called for their
instant extermination. His personal habits were extremely
temperate. He was accustomed to say that he ate only to
support life ; and he rarely finished a dinner without having
risen three or four times from table to attend to some public
business which, in his opinion, ought not to be deferred. 1

His previous connexions in the Netherlands were of use to
him, and he knew how to turn them to immediate account.
The great nobles, who had been uniformly actuated by jealousy
of the Prince of Orange, who had been baffled in their intrigue
with Matthias, whose half-blown designs upon Anjou had
already been nipped in the bud, were now peculiarly in a posi¬
tion to listen to the wily tongue of Alexander Farnese. The
Montignys, the La Mottes, the Meluns, the Egmonts, the
Aerschots, the Havres, foiled and doubly foiled in all their small
intrigues and their base ambition, were ready to sacrifice their
country to the man they hated, and to the ancient religion
which they thought that they loved. The Malcontents, ravaging
the land of Hainault and threatening Ghent, the “Paternoster
Jacks,” who were only waiting for a favourable opportunity and
a good bargain to make their peace with Spain, were the very
instruments which Parma most desired to use at this opening
stage of his career. The position of affairs was far more
favourable for him than it had been for Don John when he
first succeeded to power. On the whole, there seemed a bright
prospect of suceess. It seemed quite possible that it would be
in Parma’s power to reduce, at last, this chronic rebellion, and
to re-establish the absolute supremacy of Church and King.
The pledges of the Ghent treaty had been broken, while in the
unions of Brussels which had succeeded, the fatal religious
cause had turned the instrument of peace into a sword. The
“ religion-peace ” which had been proclaimed at Antwerp had
hardly found favour anywhere. As the provinces, for an instant,
1 Bor. xxix. 661 b . d. iii.

1578.]

ANARCHY AND CONFUSION IN GHENT.

365

had seemingly got the better of their foe, they turned madly
upon each other, and the fires of religions discord, which had
been extinguished by the common exertions of a whole race
trembling for the destruction of their fatherland, were now
re-lighted with a thousand brands plucked from the sacred
domestic hearth. Fathers and children, brothers and sisters,
husbands and wives, were beginning to wrangle, and were
prepared to persecute. Catholic and Protestant, during the
momentary relief from pressure, forgot their voluntary and
most blessed pacification, to renew their internecine feuds. The
banished Reformers, who had swarmed back in droves at the
tidings of peace and good-will to all men, found themselves
bitterly disappointed. They were exposed in the Walloon pro¬
vinces to the persecutions of the Malcontents, in the Frisian
regions to the still powerful coercion of the royal stadtholders.

Persecution begat counter-persecution. The city of Ghent
became the centre of a system of insurrection, by which all the
laws of God and man were outraged under the pretence of
establishing a larger liberty in civil and religious matters. It
was at Ghent that the opening scenes in Parma’s administration
took place. Of the high-born suitors for the Netherland bride,
two were still watching each other with jealous eyes. Anjou
was at Mons, which city he had secretly but unsuccessfully
attempted to master for his own purposes. John Casimir was
at Ghent, 1 fomenting an insurrection which he had neither skill
to guide, nor intelligence to comprehend. There was a talk of
making him Count of Flanders, 2 and his paltry ambition was
dazzled by the glittering prize. Anjou, who meant to be Count
of Flanders himself, as well as Duke or Count of all the other
Netherlands, was highly indignant at this report, which he
chose to consider true. He wrote to the estates to express his
indignation. He wrote to Ghent to offer his mediation between
the burghers and the Malcontents. Casimir wanted money for
his troops. He obtained a liberal supply, but he wanted more.
Meantime, the mercenaries were expatiating on their own
1 Bor, 3, xiii. 3. 2 Ibid.

366

THE EISE OP THE DUTCH EEPUBLIC.

[1578.

account throughout the southern provinces; eating up every
green leaf, robbing and pillaging, where robbery and pillage
had gone so often that hardly anything was left for rapine. 1
Thus dealt the soldiers in the open country, while their master
at Ghent was plunging into the complicated intrigues spread
over that unfortunate city by the most mischievous demagogues
that ever polluted a sacred cause. Well had Cardinal Granvelle,
his enemy, William of Hesse, his friend and kinsman, under¬
stood the character of John Casimir, Robbery and pillage were
his achievements, to make chaos more confounded was his
destiny. Anjou—disgusted with the temporary favour accorded
to a rival whom he affected to despise—disbanded his troops in
dudgeon, and prepared to retire to France. 3 Several thousand
of these mercenaries took service immediately with the Mal¬
contents 3 under Montigny, thus swelling the ranks of the dead¬
liest foes to that land over which Anjou had assumed the title
of protector. The states’ army, meanwhile, had been rapidly
dissolving. There were hardly men enough left to make a
demonstration in the field, or properly to garrison the more
important towns. The unhappy provinces, torn by civil and
religious dissensions, were overrun by hordes of unpaid soldiers
of all nations, creeds, and tongues—Spaniards, Italians, Bur¬
gundians, Walloons, Germans, Scotch, and English; some who
came to attack and others to protect, but who all achieved
nothing and agreed in nothing save to maltreat and to outrage
the defenceless peasantry and denizens of the smaller towns.
The contemporary chronicles are full of harrowing domestic
tragedies, in which the actors are always the insolent foreign
soldiery and their desperate victims. 4

Ghent—energetic, opulent, powerful, passionate, unruly
Ghent—was now the focus of discord, the centre from whence
radiated not the light and warmth of reasonable and intelligent
liberty, but the bale-fires of murderous licence and savage
anarchy. The second city of the Netherlands, one of the

1 Bor, 3, xiii. 3. 2 Ibid , 12. | 4 Bor, b. xiii. Hoofd, b. xiv. Me-

3 Ibid., Meteren, yiii. 114 d. | teren, b. viii. passim.

15780

ORANGE’S PROJECTS.

367

wealthiest and most powerful cities of Christendom, it had
been its fate so often to overstep the bounds of reason and
moderation in its devotion to freedom, so often to incur igno¬
minious chastisement from power which its own excesses had
made more powerful, that its name was already becoming a
by-word. It now, most fatally and for ever, was to misun¬
derstand its true position. The Prince of Orange, the great
architect of his country’s fortunes, would have made it the
keystone of the arch which he was labouring to construct. Had
he been allowed to perfect his plan, the structure might have
endured for ages, a perpetual bulwark against tyranny and
wrong. The temporary and slender frame by which the great
artist had supported his arch while still unfinished, was plucked
away by rude and ribald hands; the keystone plunged into
the abyss, to be lost for ever, and the great work of Orange
remained a fragment from its commencement. The acts of
demagogues, the conservative disgust at licence, the jealousy
of rival nobles, the venality of military leaders, threw daily
fresh stumbling-blocks in his heroic path. It was not six
months after the advent of Farnese to power, before that bold
and subtle chieftain had seized the double-edged sword of
religious dissension as firmly as he had grasped his celebrated
brand when he boarded the galley of Mustapha Bey, and the
Netherlands were cut in twain, to be re-united nevermore.
The separate treaty of the Walloon provinces was soon des¬
tined to separate the Celtic and Romanesque elements from
the Batavian and Frisian portion of a nationality, which,
thoroughly fused in all its parts, would have formed as admir¬
able a compound of fire and endurance as history has ever seen.

Meantime, the grass was growing and the cattle were
grazing in the streets of Ghent, 1 where once the tramp of
workmen going to and from their labour was like the move¬
ment of a mighty army. 4 The great majority of the burghers
were of the Reformed religion, and disposed to make effectual
resistance to the Malcontents, led by the disaffected nobles,
1 Van d. Vynckfc, iii. 3. a Guicciardini, Descript. Gandav.

368 THE EISE OF THE ETJTCH BEPUBLIC. [1578.

The city, considering itself the natural head of all the southern
country, was indignant that the Walloon provinces should
dare to reassert that supremacy of Romanism which had been
so effectually suppressed, and to admit the possibility of friendly
relations with a sovereign who had been virtually disowned.
There were two parties, however, in Ghent. Both were led
by men of abandoned and dangerous character. 1 Imbize, the
worse of the two demagogues, was inconstant, cruel, cowardly,
and treacherous, but possessed of eloquence and a talent for
intrigue. Ryhove was a bolder ruffian—wrathful, bitter, and
unscrupulous. Imbize was at the time opposed to Orange,
disliking his moderation, and trembling at his firmness.
Ryhove considered himself the friend of the Prince. We
have seen that he had consulted him previously to his memo¬
rable attack upon Aerschot, in the autumn of the preceding
year,, and we know the result of that conference.

The Prince, with the slight dissimulation which belonged less
to his character than to his theory of politics, and which was
perhaps not to be avoided, in that age of intrigue, by any
man who would govern his fellow-men, whether for good or
evil, had winked at a project which he would not openly ap¬
prove. He was not thoroughly acquainted, however, with
the desperate character of the man, for he would have scorned
an instrument so thoroughly base as Ryhove subsequently
proved. The violence of that personage on the occasion of the
arrest of Aerschot and his colleagues was mildness compared
with the deed with which he now disgraced the cause of
freedom. He had been ordered out from Ghent to oppose
a force of Malcontents which was gathering in the neigh¬
bourhood of Courtray; 2 but he swore that he would not
leave the gates so long as two of the gentlemen whom he
had arrested on the twenty-eighth of the previous October, and
who yet remained in captivity, were still alive. 3 These two
prisoners were ex-procurafcor Yisch and Blood-Councillor
Hessels. Hessels, it seemed, had avowed undying hostility

1 Van d. Yynckt, iii. 38, 39. BorJ 2 Bor, xiii. 5.
il. sqq. Hoofd, xiv. 589, 599 I 3 Ibid.

1578.]

FATE OF VISCH AND HESSELS.

369

to Ryhove for the injury sustained at his hands, and he had
sworn, 66 by his gray beard,” that the ruffian should yet hang
for the outrage. Ryhove, not feeling very safe in the position
of affairs which then existed, and knowing that he could neither
trust Imbize, who had formerly been his friend, nor the impri¬
soned nobles, who had ever been his implacable enemies, was
resolved to make himself safe in one quarter at least, before he
set forth against the Malcontents. Accordingly, Hessels and
Visch, as they sat together in their prison, at chess, upon the
4th of October 1578, were suddenly summoned to leave the
house, and to enter a carriage which stood at the door. A
force of armed men brought the order, and were sufficiently
strong to enforce it. The prisoners obeyed, and the coach soon
rolled slowly through the streets, left the Courtray gate, and
proceeded a short distance along the road towards that city. 1

After a few minutes a halt was made. Ryhove then made
his appearance at the carriage-window, and announced to the
astonished prisoners that they were forthwith to be hanged upon
a tree which stood by the roadside. He proceeded to taunt the
aged Hessels with his threat against himself, and with his vow
66 by his gray beard.” “ Such gray beard shaft thou never live
thyself to wear, ruffian,” cried Hessels, stoutly—furious rather
than terrified at the suddenness of his doom. ci There thou
lieat, false traitor ! ” roared Ryhove, in reply; and to prove the
falsehood, he straightway tore out a handful of the old man’s
beard, and fastened it upon his own cap like a plume. His action
was imitated by several of his companions, who cut for them¬
selves locks from the same gray beard, and decorated themselves
as their leader had done. This preliminary ceremony having
been concluded, the two aged prisoners were forthwith hanged
on a tree, without the least pretence of trial, or even sentence. 2

Such was the end of the famous councillor who had been
wont to shout 6C ad patibulum ” in his sleep. It was cruel that
the fair face of civil -liberty shewing itself after years of total

1 Hoofd, xiv. 593. Bor, xiii. 5. 15, seq. Meteren, viii. 143. Wagenaer,

3 Hoofd, xix. 593, 594. Bor, xiii. j Vad. Hist., vii. 234.

VOL. III. 2 A

370

THE RISE OF THE DUTCH REPUBLIC.

[1578.

eclipse, should be insulted by such bloody deeds on the part
of her votaries. It was sad that the crimes of men like
Imbize and Ryhove should have cost more to the cause of
religious and political freedom than the lives of twenty
thousand such ruffians were worth. But for the influence of
demagogues like these, counteracting the lofty efforts and pure
life of Orange, the separation might never have occurred
between the two portions of the Netherlands. The Prince
had not power enough, however, nor the nascent common¬
wealth sufficient consistency, to repress the disorganising
tendency of a fanatical Romanism on the one side, and a
retaliatory and cruel ochlocracy on the other.

Such events, with the hatred growing daily more intense
between the Walloons and the Ghenters, made it highly im¬
portant that some kind of an accord should be concluded, if
possible. In the country, the Malcontents, under pretence of
protecting the Catholic clergy, were daily abusing and
plundering the people, while in Ghent the clergy were
maltreated, the cloisters pillaged, under pretence of main¬
taining liberty. 1 In this emergency the eyes of all honest
men turned naturally to Orange.

Deputies went to and fro between Antwerp and Ghent.
Three points were laid down by the Prince as indispensable to
any arrangement—firstly, that the Catholic clergy should be
allowed the free use of their property; secondly, that they
should not be disturbed in the exercise of their religion; thirdly,
that the gentlemen kept in prison since the memorable twenty-
eighth of October should be released. 2 If these points should
be granted, the Archduke Matthias, the states-gcneral, and the
Prince of Orange, would agree to drive off Walloon soldiery,
and to defend Ghent against all injury. 3 The two first points
were granted, upon condition that sufficient guarantees should
be established for the safety of the Reformed religion. The
third was rejected, but it was agreed that the prisoners,

1 Bor, xiii. Hoofcl, xiv. Yan der I 2 Bor, xiii. 5.

Vynckt, 3, lii. 33, sqq. I 3 Ibid.

15780

NEW PACIFICATION.

371

Champagny, Sweveghem, and the rest—who, after the horrid
fate of Hessels and Viseh, might be supposed to be suffi¬
ciently anxious as to their doom—should have legal trial,
and be defended in the meantime from outrage. 1

On the 3rd of November 1578, a formal act of acceptance of
these terms was signed at Antwerp. 3 At tho same time, there
was murmuring at Ghent, the extravagant portion of the liberal
party averring that they had no intention of establishing the
“religious peace” when they agreed not to molest the Catholics.
Onthellthof November, the Prince of Orange sent messengers
to Ghent in the name of the Archduke and the states-gcneral,
summoning the authorities to a faithful execution of the act of
acceptance. Upon the same day tho English envoy, Davidson,
made an energetic representation to the same magistrates,
declaring that the conduct of the Ghenters was exciting regret
throughout the world, and affording a proof that it was their
object to protract, not suppress, the civil war which had so long
been raging. Such proceedings, ho observed, created doubts
whether they were willing to obey any law or any magistracy.
As, however, it might be supposed that tho presence of John
Casimir in Ghent at that juncture was authorised by Queen
Elizabeth—inasmuch as it was known that he had received
a subsidy from her—the envoy took occasion to declare that
her Majesty entirely disavowed his proceedings* lie observed
further, that, in the opinion of her Majesty, it was still pos¬
sible to maintain peace by conforming to the counsels of the
Prince of Orange and of tho states-gcneral. This, however,
could bo done only by establishing the three points which ho
had laid down. Her Majesty likewise warned tho Ghcnters
that their conduct 'would soon compel her to abandon tho
country’s cause altogether, and, in conclusion, she requested,
with characteristic thriftinoss, to be immediately furnished
with a city bond for forty-five thousand pounds sterling. 3

Two days afterwards, envoys arrived from Brussels to re¬
monstrate, in their turn, with the sister city, and to save her,
1 See the Act of Acceptance; Bor, xiii. 5, sqq. a Bor, xiii. 6, 7. 3 Bor, xiii. 7.

372

THE BISE OF THE DUTCH BEPUBLIC.

[1578c-

if possible, from the madness which had seized upon her.
They recalled to the memory of the magistrates the frequent
and wise counsels of the Prince of Orange. He had declared
that he knew of no means to avert the impending desolation
of the fatherland save union of all the provinces and obedi¬
ence to the general government. His own reputation, and
the honour of his house, he felt now to be at stake ; for, by
reason of the offices which ho now held, he had been pcase-
lessly calumniated as the author of all the crimes which had
been committed at Ghent. Against these calumnies he had
avowed his intention of publishing his defence. 1 After thus
citing the opinion of the Prince, the envoys implored the
magistrates to accept the religious peace which he had pro¬
posed, and to liberate the prisoners as lie had demanded.
For their own part, they declared that the inhabitants of
Brussels would never desert him; for, next to God, there was
no one who understood their cause so entirely, or Tvho could
point out the remedy so intelligently. 3

Thus reasoned the envoys from the states-general and from
Brussels, but even while they were reasoning, a fresh tumult
occurred at Ghent. The jjcople had been inflamed by dema¬
gogues, and by the insane howlings of Peter Dathcnus, the
unfrocked monk of Poperingen, who had been the servant
and minister both of the Pope and of Orange, and who now
hated each with equal fervour. The populace, under these
influences, rose in its wrath upon the Catholics, smote all
their images into fragments, destroyed all their altar pictures,
robbed them of much valuable property, and turned all the
Papists themselves out of the city. The riot was so furious,
that it seemed, says a chronicler, as if all the inhabitants
had gone raving mad. 3 The drums beat the alarm, the magis¬
trates went forth to expostulate, but no commands were

1 Bor, xiii. 8. 3 “ Met sulken geraes, getier en-

2 “Als naest God niemand ken- gebaer datmen geseid soude liebben
nende die de gemeine sake en in- dafc alle de mwoonders dol en ra-
wendigen nood beter verstaet en de sende waren.”—Bor, xiii. 9. Meteren,
remedien beter kan dirigeren.”—Bor, ix. 149.

ubi sup.

1578.]

DISPLEASURE OF OEANG-E.

373

heeded till the work of destruction had been accomplished,
when the tumult expired at last by its own limitation.

Affairs seemed more threatening than ever. Nothing more
excited the indignation of the Prince of Orange than such
senseless iconomachy. In fact, he had at one time procured
an enactment by the Ghent authorities, making it a crime
punishable with death. 1 He was of Luther’s opinion, that idol-
worship was to be eradicated from the heart, and that then the
idols in the churches would fall of themselves. He felt too
with Landgrave William, (e that the destruction of such
worthless idols was ever avenged by torrents of good human
blood.” 2 Therefore it may be well supposed that this fresh act
of senseless violence, in the very teeth of his remonstrances, in
the very presence of his envoys, met with his stern disappro¬
bation. He was on the point of publishing his defence against
the calumnies which his toleration had drawn upon him from
both Catholic and Calvinist. He was deeply revolving the
question, whether it were not better to turn his back at once
upon a country which seemed so incapable of comprehending
his high purposes, or seconding his virtuous efforts. From both
projects he was dissuaded; and although bitterly wronged by
both friend and foe, although feeling that even in his own
Holland, 3 there were whispers against his purity, since his
favourable inclinations towards Anjou had become the general
topic, yet he still preserved his majestic tranquillity, and smiled
at the arrows which fell harmless at his feet. “ I admire his
wisdom, daily more and more,” cried Hubert Lanquet; “ I
see those who profess themselves his friends causing him more
annoyance than his foes; while, nevertheless, he ever remains
true to himself, is driven by no tempests from his equanimity,
nor provoked by repeated injuries to immoderate action.” 4

The Prince had that year been chosen unanimously by the
four u members” of Flanders to be governor of that province,

1 G-h. G-esch., ii. 39; cited by G-roen Correspondance, vi. 451, sqq,

v. Prinst., vi. 465. 3 G-roen y. Prinst., Archives, etc.,

2 Letter of Landgrave William of 481, 4S2.

Hesse.—G-roen v. Prinst., Archives et 4 Letter to Sir P. Sydney.

374

THE RISE OF THE DUTCH REPUBLIC.

[1578.

but had again declined the office. 1 The inhabitants, notwith¬
standing the furious transactions at Ghent, professed attach¬
ment to his person, and respect for his authority. He was
implored to go to the city. His presence, and that alone,
would restore the burghers to their reason, but the task was
not a grateful one. It was also not unattended with danger;
although this was a consideration which never influenced him,
from the commencement of his career to its close. Imbize
and his crew were capable of resorting to any extremity or any
ambush, to destroy the man whom they feared and hated. The
presence of John Casimir was an additional complication; for
Orange, while he despised the man, was unwilling to offend his
friends. Moreover, Casimir had professed a willingness to
assist the cause, and to defer to the better judgment of the
Prince. He had brought an army into the field, with which,
however, he had accomplished nothing except a thorough pil¬
laging of the peasantry, while, at the same time, he was loud
in his demands upon the states to pay his soldiers’ wages. The
soldiers of the different armies who now overran the country,
indeed vied with each other in extravagant insolence. “ Their
outrages are most execrable,” wrote Marquis Havre; “they
demand the most exquisite food, and drink Champaigne and
Burgundy by the bucketful.” 2 Nevertheless, on the 4th of
December, the Prince came to Ghent. 3 He held constant and
anxious conferences with the magistrates. He was closeted
daily with John Casimir, whose vanity and extravagance of
temper he managed with his usual skill. He even dined with
Imbize, and thus, by smoothing difficulties and reconciling
angry passions, he succeeded at last in obtaining the con¬
sent of all to a religious peace, which was published on the
27th of December 1578. It contained the same provisions
as those of the project prepared and proposed during the pre¬
vious summer throughout the Netherlands. Exercise of both
religions was established; mutual insults and irritations—

1 Bor, xiii. 9. Apologia d’Orange,
pp. 108, 109.

2 Kervyn de Volkersbeke et Dieg-

erick, Documents Historiques, i. 156,
157.

3 Bor, xiii. 10.

1578.]

THE PRINCE ARRIVES IN GHENT.

375

whether by word, book, picture, song, or gesture—were
prohibited, under severe penalties, while all persons were
sworn to protect the common tranquillity by blood, purse, and
life. The Catholics, by virtue of this accord, re-entered
into possession of their churches and cloisters, but nothing
could be obtained in favour of the imprisoned gentlemen. 1

The Walloons and Malcontents were now summoned to
lay down their arms; but, as might be supposed, they ex¬
pressed dissatisfaction with the religious peace, proclaiming
it hostile to the Ghent treaty and the Brussels union. 2 In
short, nothing would satisfy them but total suppression of
the Reformed religion; as nothing would content Imbize
and his faction but the absolute extermination of Romanism.
A strong man might well seem powerless in the midst of
such obstinate and worthless fanatics.

The arrival of the Prince in Ghent was, on the whole, a relief
to John Casimir. As usual, this addle-brained individual had
plunged headlong into difficulties, out of which he was unable
to extricate himself. He knew not what to do, or which way to
turn. He had tampered with Imbize and his crew, but he had
found that they were not the men for a person of his quality to
deal with. He had brought a large army into the field, and
had not a stiver in his coffers. He felt bitterly the truth of the
Landgrave’s warning—“That’t was better to have thirty thou¬
sand devils at one’s back than thirty thousand German troopers,
with no money to give them; it being possible to pay the devils
with the sign of the cross, while the soldiers could be discharged
only with money or hard knocks. 9 ’ 3 Queen Elizabeth, too,
under whose patronage he had made this most inglorious cam¬
paign, was incessant in her reproofs, and importunate in her
demands for reimbursement. She wrote to him personally, up¬
braiding him with his high pretensions and his shortcomings.
His visit to Ghent so entirely unjustified and mischievous; his

1 G-roen v. Prinst., Archives, etc.,
vi. 507, sqq. See the Accord in Bor, j
2, xiii. 10,11. I

2 Bor, xiii. 12.

3 Archives et Correspondance, vi.
479.

376

THE RISE OP THE DUTCH REPUBLIC.

[1578.

failure to effect that junction of his army with the estates'
forces under Bossu, by which the royal army was to have been
surprised and annihilated; his having given reason to the
common people to suspect her Majesty and the Prince of
Orange of collusion with his designs, and of a disposition to
seek their private advantage and not the general good of the
whole Netherlands; the imminent danger, which he had aggra¬
vated, that the Walloon provinces, actuated by such suspicions,
would fall away from the “ generality ” and seek a private
accord with Parma; £hese and similar sins of omission and
commission were sharply and shrewishly set forth in the
Queen’s epistle. 1 ’Twas not for such marauding and intriguing
work that she had appointed him her lieutenant, and furnished
him with troops and subsidies. She begged him forthwith
to amend his ways, for the sake of his name and fame, which
were sufficiently soiled in the places where his soldiers had
been plundering the country which they came to protect. 2

The Queen sent Daniel Rogers with instructions of similar
import to the states-general, repeatedly and expressly disa¬
vowing Casimir’s proceedings and censuring his character;
She also warmly insisted on her bonds. In short, never was
unlucky prince more soundly berated by his superiors, more
thoroughly disgraced by his followers. In this contemptible
situation had Casimir placed himself by his rash ambition to
prove before the world that German princes could bite and
scratch like griffins and tigers as well as carry them in their
shields. Prom this position Orange partly rescued him. He
made his peace with the states-general. He smoothed
matters with the extravagant Reformers, and he even extorted
from the authorities of Ghent the forty-five thousand pounds’
bond, on which Elizabeth had insisted with such obduracy. 3
Casimir repaid these favours of the Prince in the coin with
which narrow minds and jealous tempers are apt to discharge
such obligations—ingratitude. The friendship which he openly
manifested at first grew almost immediately cool. Soon after-

1 Bor, 3, xiii. 13, sqq. 2 Ibid., xiii. 13. 8 Ibid., xiii. 11, sqq.

1578.]

CASIMIR VISITS ENGLAND.

377

wards he left Ghent and departed for Germany, leaving behind
him a long and tedious remonstrance, addressed to the states-
general, in which document he narrated the history of his ex¬
ploits, and endeavoured to vindicate the purity of his character.
He concluded this very tedious and superfluous manifesto by
observing that—for reasons which he thought proper to give at
considerable length—he felt himself u neither too useful nor
too agreeable to the provinces.” As he had been informed, he
said, that the states-general had requested the Queen of England
to procure his departure, he had resolved, in order to spare her.
and them inconvenience, to return of his own accord, “ leaving
the issue of the war in the high and mighty hand of God.” 1

The estates answered this remonstrance with words of
unlimited courtesy: expressing themselves “obliged to all
eternity ” for his services, and holding out vague hopes that
the moneys which he demanded on behalf of his troops should
ere long be forthcoming. 2

Casimir having already answered Queen Elizabeth’s re¬
proachful letter by throwing the blame of his apparent mis¬
conduct upon the states-general, and having promised soon
to appear before her Majesty in person, tarried accordingly
but a brief season in Germany, and then repaired to England.
Here he was feasted, flattered, caressed, and invested with the
order of the Garter. 3 Pleased with royal blandishments, and
highly enjoying the splendid hospitalities of England, he
quite forgot the “ thirty thousand devils ” whom he had left
running loose in the Netherlands, while these wild soldiers,
on 'their part, being absolutely in a starving condition—for
there was little left for booty in a land which had been so
often plundered—now had the effontery to apply to the Prince
of Parma for payment of their wages. 4 Alexander Farnese
laughed heartily at the proposition, which he considered an
excellent jest. It seemed in truth a jest, although but a sorry
one. Parma replied to the messenger of Maurice of Saxony

2 See the document at length in Bor,
adii. 13-17.

3 Bor, 3, xiii. 17 (ii.)

3 Ibid., xiii. 34-35. Hoofd, xiv. 609.

4 Ibid., xiii. 34, sqq. Strada, Dee.
2. i. 26, sqq.

378

THE KISE OF THE HUTCH .REPUBLIC,

[1578.

who had made the proposition, that the Germans must be mad
to ask him for money, instead of offering to pay him a
heavy sum for permission to leave the country. Nevertheless,
he was willing to be so far indulgent as to furnish them with
passports, provided they departed from the Netherlands in¬
stantly. Should they interpose the least delay, he would set
upon them without further preface, and he gave them notice,
with the arrogance becoming a Spanish general, that the
courier was already waiting to report to Spain the number of
them left alive after the encounter. ■ Thus deserted by their
chief, and hectored by the enemy, the mercenaries, who had
little stomach for fight without wages, accepted the pass¬
ports proffered by Parma. 1 They revenged themselves for
the harsh treatment which they had received from Casimir
and from the states-general, by singing, everywhere as they
retreated, a doggerel ballad—half Flemish, half German—in
which their wrongs were expressed with uncouth vigour.

Casimir received the news of the departure of his ragged
soldiery on the very day which witnessed his investment with
the Garter by the fair hands of Elizabeth herself. 2 A few
days afterwards he left England, accompanied by an escort
of lords and gentlemen, especially appointed for that purpose
by the Queen. He landed in Flushing, where he was re¬
ceived with distinguished hospitality, by order of the Prince
of Orange, and on the 14th of February 1579, he passed
through Utrecht. 3 Here he conversed freely at his lodgings
in the “German House” on the subject of his vagabond
troops, whose final adventures and departure seemed to afford
him considerable amusement; and he, moreover, diverted his
company by singing, after supper, a few verses of the ballad
already mentioned. 4

1 Strada, 2, i. 27, 28.

2 Ibid., 2, i. 28.

3 Languet. ad Sydnseum, 90; G-roen
v. Prinst., Archives, etc., vi. 571, 572.
Bor, xiii. 34 (ii.)

4 Bor—who heard the Duke sing the
pong at the “German House” in
Utrecht, 3, xiii. 34.

A translation of a single verse may
serve as a specimen of the song :—

“ o, have you been in Brabant fighting for the
states ?

0, have you brought back anything except
yonr broken pates ?

0,1 have been in Brabant, myself and all my
mates.

1578.]

ADIEUX OF ANJOU.

379

The Duke of Anjou, meantime, after disbanding his troops,
had lingered for a while near the frontier. Upon taking his
final departure, he sent his resident minister, Des Pruneaux,
with a long communication to the states-general, complaining
that they had not published their contract with himself, nor
fulfilled its conditions. He excused, as well as he could, the
awkward fact that his disbanded troops had taken refuge with
the Walloons, and he affected to place his own departure
upon the ground of urgent political business in France, to
arrange which his royal brother had required his immediate
attendance. He furthermore most hypocritically expressed a
desire for a speedy reconciliation of the provinces with their
sovereign, and a resolution that—although for their sake he
had made himself a foe to his Catholic Majesty—he would
still interpose no obstacle to so desirable a result. 1

To such shallow discourse the estates answered with infinite
urbanity, for it was the determination of Orange not to make
enemies, at that juncture, of France and England in the same
breath. They had foes enough already, and it seemed obvious
at that moment, to all persons most observant of the course of
affairs, that a matrimonial alliance was soon to unite the two
crowns. The probability of Anjou’s marriage with Elizabeth
was, in truth, a leading motive with Orange for his close alli¬
ance with the Duke. The political structure, according to
which he had selected the French Prince as protector of the
Netherlands, was sagaciously planned; but unfortunately its
foundation was the shifting sandbank of female and royal
coquetry* Those who judge only by the result, will be quick
to censure a policy which might have had very different issue.
They who place themselves in the period anterior to Anjou’s
visit to England, will admit that it was hardly human not to
be deceived by the political aspects of that moment. The
Queen., moreover, took pains to upbraid the states-general, by

We’ll go no more to Brabant unless our For there’s neither gold nor glory got, in
"brains were addle, fighting for the states,” etc., etc.

We’re coming home on foot, we went there , _ .. _

in the saddle; 1 JSor, Ill. 12, sqq.

380

THE RISE OF THE DUTCH REPUBLIC.

[1578.

letter, with their disrespect and ingratitude towards the
Duke of Anjou—behaviour with which he had been “justly
scandalised.” For her own part, she assured them of her
extreme displeasure at learning that such a course of conduct
had been held with a view to her especial contentment—“ as
if the person of Monsieur, son of France, brother of the King,
were disagreeable to her, or as if she wished him ill; ”
whereas, on the contrary, they would best satisfy her wishes
by shewing him all the courtesy to which his high degree
and his eminent services entitled him. 1

The estates, even before receiving this letter, had, however,
acted in its spirit. They had addressed elaborate apologies
and unlimited professions to the Duke. They thanked him
heartily for his achievements, expressed unbounded regret at
his departure, with sincere hopes for his speedy return, and
promised “eternal remembrance of his heroic virtues.” 2
They assured him, moreover, that should the first of the fol¬
lowing March arrive without bringing with it an honourable
peace with his Catholic Majesty, they should then feel them¬
selves compelled to declare that the King had forfeited liis
right to the sovereignty of these provinces. In this case they
concluded that, as the inhabitants would be then absolved from
their allegiance to the Spanish monarch, it would then be in
their power to treat with his Highness of Anjou concerning
the sovereignty, according to the contract already existing. 3

These assurances were ample, but the states, knowing the
vanity of the man, offered other inducements, some of which
seemed sufficiently puerile. They promised that “his statue, in
copper, should be placed in the public squares of Antwerp and
Brussels, for the eternal admiration of posterity,” and that a
“ crown of olive-leaves should be presented to him every year.” 4
The Duke—not inexorable to such courteous solicitations—

1 Archives, etc., de la Maison
cTOrange, vi. 535, sqq.

2 “Sijel bewesen bystand en sijne

heroike deugt souden sy mmmermeer

vergeten.”—Bor, xiii. 12, sqq.

3 Ibid.

4 Meteren, ix. 145 a. —^Accompa¬
nied, however, by substantial presents
to the value of 100,000 livres Artois.”
—Meteren, ubi sup.

1578.]

DEATH OP COUNT BOSSU.

381

was willing to achieve both immortality and power by continu¬
ing his friendly relations with the states, and he answered
accordingly in the most courteous terms. The result of this
interchange of civilities it will be soon our duty to narrate.

At the close of the year the Count of Bossu died, much to
the regret of the Prince of Orange, whose party—since his
release from prison by virtue of the Ghent treaty—he had
warmly espoused. “ We are in the deepest distress in the
world,” wrote the Prince to his brother, three days before the
Count’s death, u for the dangerous malady of M. de Bossu.
Certainly, the country has much to lose in his death, but I
hope that God will not so much afflict us.” 1 Yet the calum¬
niators of the day did not scruple to circulate, nor the royalist
chroniclers to perpetuate, the most senseless and infamous
fables on the subject of this nobleman’s death. He died of
poison, they said, administered to him u in oysters ,” 2 by com¬
mand of the Prince of Orange, who had likewise made a point
of standing over him on his death-bed, for the express purpose
of sneering at the Catholic ceremonies by which his dying
hours were solaced. 3 Such were the tales which grave
historians have recorded concerning the death of Maximilian
of Bossu, who owed so much to the Prince. The command
of the states’ army, a yearly pension of five thousand florins,
granted at the especial request of Orange but a few months
before, and the profound words of regret in the private letter
just cited, are a sufficient answer to such slanders. 4

The personal courage and profound military science of
Parma were invaluable to the royal cause; but his subtle,
unscrupulous, and subterranean combinations of policy were
even more fruitful at this period. No man ever understood
the art of bribery more thoroughly, or practised it more
skilfully. He bought a politician, or a general, or a grandee,
or a regiment of infantry, usually at the cheapest price at
which those articles could be purchased, and always with the

1 Archives et Corresp., vi. 513. 4 Compare Groen v. Prinst., vi. 511,

2 J. 33. Tassis, Comment., lib. v. 329. 512. Bor, 2, xiii. 25 5. Wagenaer,

3 Strada, 2, i. 37. Vad. Hist., vii. 243, 244-

382

THE RISE OE THE DUTCH REPUBLIC.

[1578,

utmost delicacy with which such traffic could be conducted.
Men conveyed themselves to government for a definite price—
fixed accurately in florins and groats, in places and pensions—
while a decent gossamer of conventional phraseology was
ever allowed to float over the nakedness of unblushing treason.
Men high in station, illustrious by ancestry, brilliant in
valour, huckstered themselves, and swindled a confiding
country for as ignoble motives as ever led counterfeiters or
bravoes to the gallows, but they were dealt with in public
as if actuated only by the loftiest principles. Behind their
ancient shields, ostentatiously emblazoned with fidelity
to church and king, they thrust forth their itching palms
with the mendicity which would be hardly credible, were
it not attested by the monuments more perennial than
brass, of the$r own letters and recorded conversations.

Already, before the accession of Parma to power, the true
way to dissever the provinces had been indicated by the famous
treason of the Seigneur de la Motte. This nobleman com¬
manded a regiment in the service of the states-general, and was
Governor of Gravelines. On promise of forgiveness for all past
disloyalty, of being continued in the same military posts under
Philip which he then held for the patriots, and of a “ merced ”
large enough to satisfy his most avaricious dreams, he went over
to the royal government. 1 The negotiation was conducted by
Alonzo Curiel, financial agent of the King, and was not very
nicely handled. The paymaster, looking at the affair ptirely as
a money transaction—which in truth it was—had been disposed
to drive rather too hard a bargain. He offered only fifty thousand
crowns for La Motte and his friend Baron Montigny, and
assured his government that those gentlemen, with the soldiers
under their command, were very dear at the price. 2 La Motte
higgled very hard for more, and talked pathetically of his ser-

1 Reconciliation des Provinces Wal- 2 Lettres interceptees du Contador
lones, i. 2-12, 202, 213-216, 227-234, Alonzo Curiel au Pee de Parme. Plan-

271, 272. Letters of La Motte, and tin. Anvers, 1579.—“-Parece 4

Don John of Austria, etc., MS., Royal me que son soldados comprados 4 muy
Archives at Brussels. alto precio.”

1578.]

LA MOTTE’S TREASON.

383

vices and his wounds—for he had been a most distinguished
and courageous campaigner—hut Alonzo was implacable. 1
Moreover, one Robert Bien-Aime, Prior of Renty, was present
at all the conferences. This ecclesiastic was a busy intriguer,
but not very adroit. He was disposed to make himself useful
to government, for he had set his heart upon putting the mitre
of Saint Omer upon his head, and he had accordingly composed
a very ingenious libel upon the Prince of Orange, in which
production, “ although the prior did not pretend to be Apelles
or Lysippus,” he hoped that the Governor-General would
recognise a portrait coloured to the life. 2 This accomplished
artist was, however, not so successful as he was picturesque and
industrious. He was inordinately vain of his services, think¬
ing himself, said Alonzo, splenetically, worthy to be carried in a
procession like a little saint; 3 and as he had a busy brain, but
an unruly tongue, it will be seen that he possessed a remark¬
able faculty of making himself unpleasant. This was not the
way to earn his bishopric. La Motte, through the candid
communications of the Prior, found himself the subject of
mockery in Parma’s camp and cabinet, where treachery to
one’s country and party was not, it seemed, regarded as one
of the loftier virtues, however convenient it might be at the
moment to the royal cause. The Prior intimated especially
that Ottavio Gonzaga had indulged in many sarcastic remarks
at La Motte’s expense. The brave but venal warrior, highly
incensed at thus learning the manner in which his conduct
was estimated by men of such high rank in the royal service,
was near breaking off the bargain. He was eventually
secured, however, by still larger offers—Don John allowed
him three hundred florins a month, presenting him with the
two best horses in the stable, and sending him an open form,
which he was to fill out in the most stringent language which
he could devise, binding the government to the payment

1 —-Concienmilremonstraciones Prov. Wall., iii. 97. MS.

y histories de sus servicios y heridas,” 3 “-Que avia Va. Alteza de man-

etc.—Lettres interceptees de Curiel. dar traer en palmas o andas,” etc. Let¬

s' Renty to Prince ^ Parma, Rec. (tres intercepts de Cunel.

384

THE EISE OF THE DUTCH REPUBLIC.

[1378.

of an ample and entirely satisfactory “ merced.” 1 Thus La
Motte’s bargain was completed—a crime which, if it had only
entailed the loss of the troops under his command, and the
possession of Gravelines, would have been of no great historic
importance. It was, however, the first blow of a vast and
carefully sharpened treason, by which the country was soon
to be cut in twain for ever—the first in a series of bargains
by which the noblest names of the Netherlands were to be
contaminated with bribery and fraud.

While the negotiations with La Motte were in progress,
the government of the states-general at Brussels had sent
Sainte Aldegonde to Arras. The states of Artois, then
assembled in that city, had made much difficulty in acceding
to an assessment of seven thousand florins laid upon them by
the central authority. The occasion was skilfully made use
of by the agents of the royal party to weaken the allegiance
of the province, and of its sister Walloon provinces, to the
patriot cause. Sainte Aldegonde made his speech before the
assembly, taking the ground boldly, that the war was made
for liberty of conscience and of fatherland, and that all were
bound, whether Catholic or Protestant, to contribute to the
sacred fund. The vote passed, but it was provided that a
moiety of the assessment should be paid by the ecclesiastical
branch, and the stipulation excited a tremendous uproar.
The clerical bench regarded the tax as both a robbery and an
affront.. “We came nearly to knife-playing,” said the most
distinguished priest in the assembly, “ and if we had done
so, the ecclesiastics would not have been the first to cry
enough.” 2 They all withdrew in a rage, and held a private

1 “Don John to La Motte, Eec. [Wall, i. 76, 135, 136. The whole

Prov. Wall., MS., i. 271, 272. Lettres history of these Walloon intrigues is
de Curiel. narrated in the numerous letters—en-

2 “-Les communs forcerent les tirely unpublished—of the Prior, with

eeclesiastiques d’en prendre la juste much piquancy and spirit. They are
moite a leur charge—et de fait la chose m the CulhxLiou of Correspondence
etoit venue jusques de venir aux mains between Don John, Parma, and
et jouer des cousteaux pour veoir quy others, and the Malcontent nobles,
aurait belle amye—les eeclesiastiques entitled “ Eeconciliation des Provinces
neussent fait joucq,” etc.—MS. letter Wallones,” five vols., Eoval Archives
of tl** Prior of Saint Vaast, Eec. Prov. in Brussels. An examination of these

1578.]

PRIOR OF SAINT YAAST.

385

consultation upon “these exorbitant and more than Turkish
demands.” John Sarrasin, Prior of Saint Vaast, the keenest,
boldest, and most indefatigable of the royal partisans of that
epoch, made them an artful harangue. This man—a better
politician than the other prior—was playing for a mitre too,
and could use his cards better. He was soon to become the
most invaluable agent in the great treason preparing. No
one could be more delicate, noiseless, or unscrupulous, and
he was soon recognised both by Governor-General and King
as the individual above all others to whom the re-establish¬
ment of the royal authority over the Walloon provinces was
owing. With the shoes of swiftness on his feet, the coat of
darkness on his back, and the wishing purse in his hand, he
sped silently and invisibly from one great Malcontent chief¬
tain to another, buying up centurions, and captains, and
common soldiers; circumventing Orangists, Ghent democrats,
Anjou partisans; weaving a thousand intrigues, ventilating a
hundred hostile mines, and passing unharmed through the
most serious dangers and the most formidable obstacles. Elo¬
quent, too, at a pinch, he always understood his audience, and
upon this occasion unsheathed the most incisive, if not the
most brilliant weapon which could be used in the debate. It
was most expensive to be patriotic, he said, while silver was
to be saved, and gold to be earned by being loyal. They ought
to keep their money to defend themselves, not give it to the
Prince of Orange, who would only put it into his private pocket
on pretence of public necessities. The Euward would soon be
slinking back to his lair, he observed, and leave them all in
the fangs of their enemies. Meantime, it was better to rush
into the embrace of a bountiful king, who was still holding
forth his arms to them. They were approaching a precipice,
said the Prior; they were entering a labyrinth; and not only
was the “ sempiternal loss of body and soul impending over
them, but their property was to be taken also, and the cat to

most interesting documents is indis- Netherlands effected in the years 1578
pensable to a thorough understanding and 1579.
of the permanent separation of the

vol. ra. 2 b

386

THE RISE OF THE DUTCH REPUBLIC.

fl57a

be thrown against their legs.” By this sudden descent into a
very common proverbial expression, Sarrasin meant to inti¬
mate that they were getting themselves into a difficult position,
in which they were sure to reap both danger and responsibility. 1

The harangue had much effect upon his hearers, who were
now more than ever determined to rebel against the govern¬
ment which they had so recently accepted, preferring, in the
words of the Prior, “ to be maltreated by their prince, rather
than to be barbarously tyrannised over by a heretic.” So
much anger had been .excited in celestial minds by a demand
of thirty-five hundred florins.

Sainte Aldegonde was entertained in the evening at a great
banquet, followed by a theological controversy, in which John
Sarrasin complained that “he had been attacked upon his own
dunghill.” Next day the distinguished patriot departed on a
canvassing tour among the principal cities; the indefatigable
monk employing the interval of his absence in aggravating the
hostility of the Artesian orders to the pecuniary demands of
the general government. He w T as assisted in his task by a per¬
emptory order which came down from Brussels, ordering, in the
name of Matthias, a levy upon ecclesiastical property, “rings,
jewels, and reliquaries,” unless the clerical contribution should
be forthcoming. The rage uf the bench was now intense, and
by the time of Sainte Aldegonde’s return, a general opposition
had been organised. The envoy met with a chilling reception;
there were no banquets any more—no discussions of any kind.
To his demands for money, “ he got a fine nihil, v said Saint
Vaast; and as for polemics, the only conclusive argument for
the country would be, as he was informed on the same autho¬
rity, the “finishing of Orange, and of his minister along with
him. ’’ More than once had the Prior intimated to government
—as so many had done before him—that to “ despatch Orange,
author of all the troubles,” was the best preliminary to any
political arrangement. Prom Philip and his Governor-General,
down to the humblest partisan, this conviction had been daily
1 Letter of Saint Vaast, before cited.

1578.]

THE PRIOR IMPRISON ED.

387

strengthening. The knife or bullet of an assassin was the one

O o

thing needful to put an end to this incarnated rebellion. 1

Thus matters grew worse and worse in Artois. The Prior,
busier than ever in his schemes, was one day arrested along
with other royal emissaries, kept fifteen days u in a stinking
cellar, whore the scullion washed the dishes,” and then sent
to Antwerp to be examined by the states-general. He
behaved with great firmness, although he had good reason to
tremble for his neck. Interrogated by Leoninus on the part
of the central government, he boldly avowed that these pecu¬
niary demands upon the Walloon estates, and particularly
upon their ecclesiastical branches, would never be tolerated.
u In Alva’s time,” said Sarrasin, u men were flayed, but
not shorn.” Those who were more attached to their skin
than their fleece might have thought the practice in the
good old times of the Duke still more objectionable. Such
was not the opinion of the Prior and the rest of his order.
After an unsatisfactory examination and a brief duresse,
the busy ecclesiastic was released; and as his secret labours
had not been detected, he resumed them after his return
more ardently than ever. 2

A triangular intrigue was now fairly established in the
Walloon country. The Duke of Alenqon’s head-quarters were
at Mons; the rallying-point of the royalist faction was with
La Motte at Gravelines; while the ostensible leader of the
states’ party, Viscount Ghent, was Governor of Artois, and
supposed to be supreme in Arras. La Motte was provided
by government with a large fund of secret-service money, and
was instructed to be very liberal in his bribes to men of
distinction ; having a tender regard, however, to the excessive

1 “ Ils commencent k desestimer leur du Pee d’Orange. Et oil auparavant tout
Rouart et out opinion que si les affaires le monde l’adorait et tenoit pour son
bastent mal, ll se retirera en sa tas- saulveur, maintenunt l’on ose bien dire
mere. 11 semble aux bons que sy Ton qu’il le fault tuer ct son ministre aussi.”
peut depescher le chef des troubles, que —MS. letters of Saint Vaast, before
ce seroit le moyen pour reumr ce quy cited.

est tant divise. St® Aldegonde s’est 2 MS letters of Saint Vaast, Rec.
bien aperoheu que chacun se desgouste Prov. Wall., l. 209, 270, MS.

388

THE RISE OF THE DUTCH REPUBLIC.

[1578.

demands of this nature now daily made upon the royal purse. 1 * 3
The “ Little Count,” as the Prior called Lalain, together
with his brother, Baron Montigny, were considered highly
desirable acquisitions for government, if they could be gained.
It was thought, however, that they had the “ jleur-de-hjs
imprinted too deeply upon their hearts,” * for the effect
produced upon Lalain, governor of Hainault, by Margaret
of Yalois, had not yet been effaced. His brother also had
been disposed to favour the French Prince, but his mind was
more open to conviction. A few private conferences with
La Motte, and a course of ecclesiastical tuition from the Prior
—whose golden opinions had irresistible resonance—soon
wrought a change in the Malcontent chieftain’s mind. Other
leading seigniors were secretly dealt with in the same manner.
Lalain, H6ze, Havre, Capres, Egmont, and even the Viscount
of Ghent, all seriously inclined their ears to the charmer,
and looked longingly and lovingly as the wily Prior rolled
in his tangles before them—“to mischief swift.” Few had
yet declared themselves; but of the grandees who commanded
large bodies of troops, and whose influence with their order
was paramount, none were safe for the patriot cause through¬
out the Walloon country. 3

The nobles and ecclesiastics were ready to join hands in sup¬
port of church and king, but in the city of Arras, the capital of
the whole country, there was a strong Orange and liberal party.
Gosson, a man of great wealth, one of the most distinguished
advocates in the Netherlands, and possessing the gift of popular
eloquence to a remarkable degree, was the leader of this burgess
faction. In the earlier days of Parma’s administration, just as

i

1 Parma to La Motte, Rec. Prov.

WaU., li. 140-142, MS.

3 Moncheaux to Parma, Rec. Prov.
WaU., 216-218, MS. Emanuel de La¬
lain, Seigneur de Montigny, and after¬
wards Marquis de Renty, was brother
to Count de Lalain, governor of Hain-
^ult, and cousin to Count Hoogstraaten
and Count Renneberg. He was not
related to the unfortunate Baron

Montigny, whoso tragical fate has
been, recorded in a previous part of
this history, and who was a Montmo¬
rency.

J MS. correspondence of Parma with
Saint Vaasfc, La Motte, Lalain, Mon¬
tigny, Capres, Longueval, and others.
Rec. Prov. Wall., ii. 3, 4, 10, 20, 31-
42, 44, 61-77, 87, 88, 104, 105, ]15,
116, 140-142.

MUNICIPAL REVOLUTION AT ARRAS.

389

£578.]

a thorough union of the Walloon provinces in favour of the
royal government had nearly been formed, these Orangists of
Arras risked a daring stroke. Inflamed by the harangues of
Gosson, and supported by five hundred foot soldiers and fifty
troopers under one Captain Ambrose, they rose against the
city magistracy, whose sentiments were unequivocally for
Parma, and thrust them all into prison. 1 They then con¬
stituted a new board of fifteen, some Catholics and some
Protestants, but all patriots, of whom Gosson was chief. The
stroke took the town by surprise, and was for a moment suc¬
cessful. Meantime, they depended upon assistance from
Brussels. The royal and ecclesiastical party was. however, not
so easily defeated, and an old soldier, named Bourgeois, loudly
denounced Captain Ambrose, the general of the revolutionary
movement, as a vile coward, and affirmed that with thirty good
men-at-arms he would undertake to pound the whole rebel
army to powder—“a pack of scarecrows,” he said, “who
were not worth as many owls for military purposes.”

Three days after the imprisonment of the magistracy, a
strong Catholic rally was made in their behalf in the Fish-
market, the ubiquitous Prior of Saint Yaast flitting about
among the Malcontents, blithe and busy as usual when storms
were brewing. Matthew Doucet of the revolutionary fiction
—a man both martial and pacific in his pursuits, being
eminent both as a gingerbread baker and a sword-player*—
swore be would have the little monk’s life if he had to take

him from the very horns of the altar; but the Prior had
braved sharper threats than these. Moreover, the grand altar
would have been the last place to look for him on that occa-

1 MS. anonymous letter from Arras
{Oct. 20, lf>7fcj m Rec. Prov. Wall.,
i. 410-442.—The whole episode is also
mo4 admirably related in a manuscript
fragment by an eye-witness, entitled
“ iiiscours Veritable de ce quo sVst
passe en la villo d’Arras.” Bibl. de
Bourgogne, No. 6042. The author
was Pontus Payen, Seigneur des Ewarts,
a warm Catholic and partisan of the
royal cause, whose larger work—also

impubl^lied—upon the earlier troubles
m the Netherlands, has been often
cited in previous parts of this history.
A chapter m the hi-lory of Renom
de Franco is al-o devoted to this
series of events; Troubles des P. B.
iv., c. ft.

2 “ FaFeur des pains d’espiees-

epicier et joucur d’espee.”—Letter from
Arms, before cited, P. Payen, Troubles
! d’Arras, MB.

390

THE RISE OP THE DUTCH REPUBLIC.

[1578.

sion. While Gosson was making a tremendous speech in
favour of conscience and fatherland at the Hotel de Yille,
practical John Sarrasin, purse in hand, had challenged the
rebel general, Ambrose, to private combat. In half an hour,
that warrior was routed, and fled from the field at the head of
his scarecrows, 1 for there was no resisting the power before
which the Montignys and the La Mottes had succumbed.
Eloquent Gosson was left to his fate. Having the Catholic
magistracy in durance, and with nobody to guard them, he
felt, as was well observed by an ill-natured contemporary, like
a man holding a wolf by the ears, equally afraid to let go
or to retain his grasp.

His dilemma was soon terminated. While he was deliberat¬
ing with his colleagues—Mordacq, an old campaigner, Crugeot,
Bertoul, and others—whether to stand or fly, the drums and
trumpets of the advancing royalists were heard. In another
instant the Hotel de Yille was swarming with men-at-arms,
headed by Bourgeois, the veteran who had expressed so slight¬
ing an opinion as to the prowess of Captain Ambrose. The
tables were turned, the miniature revolution was at an end,
the counter-revolution effected. Gosson and his confederates
escaped out of a back door, but were soon afterwards arrested.
Next morning, Baron Capres, the great Malcontent seignior,
who was stationed with his regiment in the neighbourhood,
and who had long been secretly coquetting with the Prior and
Parma, marched into the city at the head of a strong detach¬
ment, and straightway proceeded to erect a very tall gibbet in
front of the Hotel de Yille. 2 This looked practical in the eyes
of the liberated and reinstated magistrates, and Gosson, Crugeot,
and the rest were summoned at once before them. The advo¬
cate thought, perhaps, with a sigh, that his judges, so recently
his prisoners, might have been the fruit for another gallows*
tree, had he planted it when the ground was his own; but
taking heart of grace, he encouraged his colleagues—now his
fellow-culprits. Crugeot, undismayed, made his appearance
1 Letter from Arras, MS. # P. Payen, Troubles d’Arras, MS.

1578.]

RAPID TRIALS.

391

before the tribunal, arrayed in a corslet of proof, with a
golden liilted sword, a scarf embroidered with pearls and gold,
and a hat bravely plmnaged with white, blue, and orange
feathers—the colours of William the Silent—of all which finery
he was stripped, however, as soon as ho entered the court. 1

The process was rapid. A summons from Brussels was ex¬
pected every hour from the general government, ordering the
cases to be brought before the federal tribunal, and as the
Walloon provinces were not yet ready for open revolt, the
order would be an inconvenient one. Hence the necessity
for haste. The superior court of Artois, to which an appeal
from the magistrates lay, immediately held a session in
another chamber of the Hotel de Yille while the lower court
was trying the prisoners, and Bertoul, Crugeot, Mordacq,
with several others, were condemned in a few hours to the
gibbet. They were invited to appeal, if they chose, to the
council of Artois, but hearing that the court was sitting next
door, so that there was no chance of a rescue in the streets,
they declared themselves satisfied with the sentence. Gosson
had not been tried, his case being reserved for the morrow.

Meantime, the short autumnal day had drawn to a close.
A wild, stormy, rainy night then set in, but still the royalist
party—citizens and soldiers intermingled—all armed to the
teeth, and uttering fierce cries, while the whole scene was fit¬
fully illuminated with the glare of the flambeaux and blazing
tar-barrels, kept watch in the open square arourd the city hall.
A series of terrible Bembrandt-like night-pieces succeeded—
grim, fantastic, and gory. Bertoul, an old man, who for years
had so surely felt himself predestined to his present doom that
he had kept a gibbet in his own house to accustom himself to
the sight of the machine, was led forth the first, and hanged at
ten in the evening. 2 He was a good man, of perfectly blame¬
less life, a sincere Catholic, but a warm partisan of Orange.

Valentine de Mordacq, an old soldier, came from the Hotel
de Ville to the gallows at midnight. As he stood on the
1 P. Payen, Troubles d’Arras, MS. a Ibid.

392 THE RISE OF THE DUTCH REPUBLIC. [1578.

ladder, amid the flaming torches, he broke forth into furious
execrations, wagging his long white beard to and fro, making
hideous grimaces, and cursing the hard fate which, after many
dangers in the battle-field and in beleaguered cities, had left
him to such a death. The cord strangled his curses. Crugeot
was executed at three in the morning, having obtained a few
hours’ respite in order to make his preparations, which he ac¬
cordingly occupied himself in doing as tranquilly as if he had
been setting forth upon an agreeable journey. He looked like
a phantom, according to eye-witnesses, as he stood under the
gibbet, making a most pious and Catholic address to the crowd.
The whole of the following day was devoted to the trial of
Gosson. He was condemned at nightfall, and heard by appeal
before the superior court directly afterwards. At midnight of
the 25th of October 1578, he was condemned to lose his head,
the execution to take place without delay. The city guards
and the infantry under Capres still bivouacked upon the square;
the howling storm still continued, but the glare of faggots and
torches made the place as light as day. The ancient advocate,
with haggard eyes and features distorted by wrath, walking
between the sheriff and a Franciscan monk, advanced through
the long lane of halberdiers, in the grand hall of the Town
House, and thence emerged upon the scaffold erected before the
door. He shook his fists with rage at the released magistrates,
so lately his prisoners, exclaiming that to his misplaced mercy
it was owing that his head, instead of their own, was to be
placed upon the block. He bitterly reproached the citizens
for their cowardice in shrinking from dealing a blow for their
fatherland, and in behalf of one who had so faithfully served
them. The clerk of the court then read the sentence amid a
silence so profound that every syllable he uttered, and every
sigh and ejaculation of the victim, were distinctly heard in the
most remote corner of the square. Gosson, then, exclaiming
that he was murdered without cause, knelt upon the scaffold.
His head fell while an angry imprecation was still upon his lips. 1

1 P. Payen, Troubles d’Arras, MS.

1578.]

TREACHERY OP CAPRES.

393

Several other persons of lesser note were hanged during the
week—among others, Matthew Doucet, the truculent man of
gingerbread, whose rage had been so judiciously but so un¬
successfully directed against the Prior of Saint Vaast.
Captain Ambrose, too, did not live long to enjoy the price of
his treachery. He was arrested very soon afterwards by the
states’ government in Antwerp, put to the torture, hanged
and quartered. 1 In troublous times like those, when honest
men found it difficult to keep their heads upon their shoulders,
rogues were apt to meet their deserts, unless they had the
advantage of lofty lineage and elevated position.

“ Hie crucem sceleris pretium. tulit, liic diadema"

This municipal revolution and counter revolution, obscure
though they seem, were in reality of very grave importance.
This was the last blow struck for freedom in the Walloon
country. The failure of the movement made that scission of
the Netherlands certain, which has endured till our days, for
the influence of the ecclesiastics in the states of Artois and
Hainault, together with the military power of the Malcontent
grandees, whom Parma and John Sarrasin had purchased,
could no longer be resisted. The liberty of the Celtic pro¬
vinces was sold, and a few high-born traitors received the
price. Before the end of the year (1578) Montigny had
signified to the Duke of Alengon that a prince who avowed
himself too poor to pay for soldiers was no master for him. 2
The Baron, therefore, came to an understanding with La
Motte and Sarrasin, acting for Alexander Farnese, and received
the command of the infantry in the Walloon provinces, a
merced of four thousand crowns a year, together with as large
a slice of La Motte’s hundred thousand florins for himself
and soldiers, as that officer could be induced to part with. 3

1 Letter of Saint Yaast, Rec. Prov. quis d’HavrS, et al.; Rec. Prov. Wall.,

Wall., ii. 41, 42, MS. ii. 104, 105, MS.

2 Memoir© de ce qui s’est pass6 4 3 MS. letters of Parma, Saint Yaast,

l’entrevu entre le S r . de Montigny, Montigny, La Motte, et al; Rec. Prov.
Oomte de Lalam, Ducd’Aerschot, Mar* Wall., ii. 85-37, 115; iii. 120; iv. 221

394

THE RISE OF THE BUTCH REPUBLIC.

[1578.

Baron Capres, whom Sarrasin—being especially enjoined
to purchase him—had, in his own language, u sweated blood
and water” to secure, at last agreed to reconcile himself with
the King’s party upon condition of receiving the government-
' general of Artois, together with the particular government of
Hesdin—very lucrative offices, which the Viscount of Ghent
then held by commission of the states-general . 1 That politic
personage, however, whose disinclination to desert the liberty
party which had clothed him with such high functions, was
apparently so marked that the Prior had caused an ambush
to be laid both for him and the Marquis Havre, in order to
obtain bodily possession of two such powerful enemies , 2 3 now,
at the last moment, displayed his true colours. He consented
to reconcile himself also, on condition of receiving the royal
appointment to the same government which he then held
from the patriot authorities, together with the title of
Marquis de Richebourg, the command of all the cavalry in
the royalist provinces, and certain rewards in money besides.
By holding himself at a high mark, and keeping at a
distance, he had obtained his price. Oapres, for whom
Philip, at Parma’s suggestion, had sent the commission as
governor of Artois and of Hesdin, was obliged to renounce
those offices, notwithstanding his earlier 66 reconciliation,”"
and the “ blood and water 5 of John Sarrasin . 8 Ghent
was not even contented with these guerdons, but insisted
upon the command of all the cavalry, including the band
of ordnance which, with handsome salary, had been assigned
to Lalain, as a part of the wages for his treason , 4 while
the “ little Count ”—fiery as his small and belligerent
cousin 5 whose exploits have been recorded in the earlier
pages of this history—boldly taxed Parma and the King with

1 Rec. Prov. Wall., ii. 130-133, MS.

2 Rec. Prov. Wall., ii. f. 73, MS.—
Compare Corresp. Alex. Farnese, p. 61.
—Parma to Philip II.

3 MS. letters of Vicomte de G-and to

Philip II., and of Philip II. to Vicomte

de G-and, Marquis de Richebourg;

Rec. Prov. Wall., ii. 197, 210.—Com¬
pare Correspondance, Alex. Farnese,
81, 85, 89, 97.

4 Rec. Prov. Wall., iv. 223, Lalain
to Parma, MS.

5 Anthony, Count of Hoogstraaten„
the friend of Orange.

1579.]

TROUBLES OF ARRAS.

395

cheating him out of his promised reward, in order to please
a noble whose services had been less valuable than those of
the Lalain family. 1 Having thus obtained the lion’s share,
due, as he thought, to his well-known courage and military
talents, as well as to the powerful family influence which he
wielded—his brother, the Prince of Espinoy, hereditary
seneschal of Hainault, having likewise rallied to the King’s
party—Ghent jocosely intimated to Parma his intention of
helping himself to the two best horses in the Prince’s stables
in exchange for those lost at Gemblours, 2 in which disastrous
action he had commanded the cavalry for the states. He also
sent two terriers to Farnese, hoping that they would “ prove
more useful than beautiful.” 3 The Prince might have
thought, perhaps, as much of the Viscount’s treason.

John Sarrasin, the all-accomplished Prior, as the reward
of his exertions, received from Philip the abbey of Saint
Vaast, the richest and most powerful ecclesiastical establish¬
ment in the Netherlands. At a subsequent period his
grateful sovereign created him Archbishop of Cambray. 4

Thus the u troubles of Arras”—as they were called—
terminated. Goss on, the respected, wealthy, eloquent, and
virtuous advocate, together with his colleagues—all Catho¬
lics, but at the same time patriots and liberals—died the
death of felons for their unfortunate attempt to save their
fatherland from an ecclesiastical and venal conspiracy ; while
the actors in the plot, having all performed well their parts,
received their full meed of prizes and applause.

The private treaty by which the Walloon provinces of
Artois, Hainault, Lille, Douay, and Orchies, united them¬
selves in a separate league, was signed upon the 6th of

1 “-j’esp&re que S. M. ne jugera

les services que fay fait et fais journel-
lement k icelle moindres que ceulx du
dit Marquis de Richebourg, et que
pour son seul respect elle ne m’estimera
si peu, de me frauder, de ce que le
Comte de Mansfeld m’avait auparavant
fait entendre de la part de V. E.,” etc.

—Lalain to Parma, Rec. Prov. Wall.,
iv. 278, MS. Parma to Lalain, Rec.
Prov. Wall., ii. 75-77.

2 Rec. Prov. Wall., ii. 202-204, MS.

3 Rec. Prov. Wall., iii. 127, Marquis
de Richebourg to Parma, MS.

4 Correspondance Alex. Farnese, 4l r
46, 55.

396 THE RISE OF THE DUTCH REPUBLIC. [1579.

January 1579, but the final arrangements for the recon¬
ciliation of the Malcontent nobles and their soldiers were
not completed until April 6th, upon which day a secret paper
was signed at Mount Saint Eloi.

The secret current of the intrigue had not, however, flowed
on with perfect smoothness until this placid termination. On
the contrary, there had been much bickering, heart-burning,
and mutual suspicions and recriminations. There had been
violent wranglings among the claimants of the royal rewards.
Lalain and Capres were not the only Malcontents who had
cause to complain of being cheated of the promised largess.
Montigny, in whose favour Parma had distinctly commanded
La Motte to be liberal of the King’s secret-service money,
furiously charged the Governor of Gravelines with having
received a large supply of gold from Spain, and of ce locking
the rascal counters from his friends,” so that Parma was
obliged to quiet the Baron, and many other barons in the
same predicament, out of his own purse. All complained
bitterly* too, that the King, whose promises had been so
profuse to the nobles while the reconciliation was pending,
turned a deaf ear to their petitions and left their letters
unanswered, after the deed was accomplished. 1

The unlucky Prior of Renty, whose disclosures to La Motte
concerning the Spanish sarcasms upon his venality had so
nearly caused the preliminary negotiation with that seignior to
fail, was the cause of still further mischief through the inter¬
ception of Alonzo Curiel’s private letters.- Such revelations of
corruption, and of contempt on the part of the corrupters, were
eagerly turned to account by the states’ government. A special
messenger was despatched to Montigny 2 with the intercepted
correspondence, accompanied by an earnest prayer that he
would not contaminate his sword and his noble name by sub¬
serviency to men who despised even while they purchased
traitors. That noble, both confounded and exasperated, was

1 Montigny to La Motte, Rec. Prov. ance Alex. Farnese, 135,

Wall., iii. 120, and v. 145. MS. Mans- 2 Groen v. Prinsterer, Archives, vi.
feld to Parma.—Compare Correspond- 006.

THE PRIOR OF RENTY.

397

1579 .]

for a moment inclined to listen to the voice of honour and
patriotism, but reflection and solitude induced him to pocket up
his wrongs and his u merced ” together. The states-general
also sent the correspondence to the Walloon provincial autho¬
rities, with an eloquent address, begging them to study well
the pitiful part which La Motte had enacted in the private
comedy then performing, and to behold as in a mirror their
own position, if they did not recede ere it was too late. 1

The only important effect produced by the discovery was
upon the Prior of Renty himself. Ottavio Gonzaga, the inti¬
mate friend of Don John, and now high in the confidence of
Parma, wrote to La Motte, indignantly denying the truth of
Bien Aime’s tattle, and affirming that not a word had ever
been uttered by himself or by any gentleman in his presence
to the disparagement of the Governor of Gravelines. He
added that if the Prior had worn another coat, and were of
quality equal to his own, he would have made him eat his
words or a few inches of steel. In the same vehement terms he
addressed a letter to Bien Aime himself. 2 Very soon after¬
wards, notwithstanding his coat and his quality, that unfortu¬
nate ecclesiastic found himself beset one dark night by two
soldiers, who left him severely wounded and bleeding nearly
to death upon the high road, 3 but escaping with life, he wrote
to Parma, recounting his wrongs and the u sword-thrust in
his left thigh,” and made a demand for a merced.

The Prior recovered from this difficulty only to fall into an¬
other, by publishing what he called an apologue, in which he
charged that the reconciled nobles were equally false to the
royal and to the rebel government, and that, although u the
fatted calf had been killed for them, after they had so long been
feeding with perverse heretical pigs,” they were, in truth, as
mutinous as ever, being bent upon establishing an oligarchy in

1 MS. letter of tbe states-general to
the estates of Artois, Hainault, Lille,
Douay, and Orchies ; Ord. LepSchen
Boek der St. gl. Ao. 1579, f. 200.
Royal Archives at tbe Hague.

2 Rec. Prov. Wall., ii. 270 and
273vo. MS. letters of Ottavio Q-on-
zaga.

® Prieur de Renty to Parma, MS.,
Rec. Prov. WalL. iU. 140.

398

THE BISE OF THE DUTCH BEPUBLIC.

[1579.

the Netherlands, and dividing the territory among themselves,
to the exclusion of the sovereign. This naturally excited the
wrath of the Viscount and others. The Seigneur d’Auberlicu,
in a letter written in what the writer himself called the u oross
style of a gendarme,” charged the Prior with maligning honour¬
able lords and—in the favourite colloquial phrase of the day—
with attempting u to throw the cat against their legs.” The
real crime of the meddling priest, however, was to have let that
troublesome animal out of the bag. He 'was accordingly
waylaid again, and thrown into prison by Count Lalain.
While in durance he published an abject apology for his
apologue, explaining that his allusions to u returned prodi¬
gals,” “ heretic swine,” and to u Sodom and Gomorrah,” had
been entirely misconstrued. He was, however, retained in
custody until Parma ordered his release on the ground that
the punishment had been already sufficient for the offence.
He then requested to be appointed Bishop of Saint Omer,
that see being vacant. Parma advised the King by no means
to grant the request—the Prior being neither endowed with
the proper age nor discretion for such a dignity—but to
bestow” some lesser reward, in money or otherwise, upon the
discomfited ecclesiastic, who had rendered so many services
and incurred so many dangers. 1

The states-general and the whole national party regarded
with prophetic dismay the approaching dismemberment of their
common country. They sent deputation on deputation to the
Walloon states, to warn them of their danger, and to avert, if
possible, the fatal measure. Meantime, as by the already accom¬
plished movement the “ generality ” was fast disappearing, and
was indeed but the shadow of its former self, it seemed neces¬
sary to make a vigorous effort to restore something like unity
to the struggling country. The Ghent pacification had been
their outer wall, ample enough and strong enough to enclose
and to protect all the provinces. Treachery and religious fana-

1 Bee. Prov. Wall., iv. 81-83, 264, fBenty, Auberlieu, and Parma—Com-
275, sqcj.. 33G v. 25. MS. letters of | pare Cor. Alex. Fames©, 74, 99.

£579.1

UNION OP UTRECHT.

399

ticism had undermined the bulwark almost as soon as reared.
The whole beleaguered country was in danger of becoming
utterly exposed to a foe who grew daily more threatening. As
in besieged cities, a sudden breastwork is thrown up internally,
when the outward defences are crumbling—so the energy of
Orange had been silently preparing the Union of Utrecht, as a
temporary defence until the foe should be beaten back, and
there should be time to decide on their future course of action. 1

During the whole month of December, an active correspond¬
ence had been carried on by the Prince and his brother John
with various agents in Gelderland, Friesland, and Groningen,
as well as with influential personages in the more central pro¬
vinces and cities. 2 Gelderland, the natural bulwark to Holland
and Zeland, commanding the four great rivers of the country,
had been fortunately placed under the government of the trusty
John of Nassau, that province being warmly in favour of a
closer union with its sister provinces, and particularly with
those more nearly allied to itself in religion and in language.

Already, in December, (1578,) Count John, in behalf of his
brother, had laid before the states of Holland and Zeland,
assembled at Gorcum, the project of a new union with u Gelder¬
land, Ghent, Friesland, Utrecht, Overyssel, and Groningen.” 3
The proposition had been favourably entertained, and com¬
missioners had been appointed to confer with other commis¬
sioners at Utrecht, whenever they should be summoned by
Count John. The Prince, with the silence and caution which
belonged to his whole policy, chose not to be the ostensible
mover in the plan himself. He did not choose to startle
unnecessarily the Archduke Matthias—the cipher who had
been placed by his side, whose sudden subtraction would
occasion more loss than his presence had conferred benefit.
He did not choose to be cried out upon as infringing the
Ghent pacification, although the whole world knew that
treaty to be hopelessly annulled. For these and many other
weighty motives, he proposed that the new union should
1 Gj-roen y. Prinst., vi. 537. 2 Ibid., vi. 479, sqq., 536, eqq. 3 Ibid., vi. 479, sqq.

400

THE RISE OF THE DUTCH REPUBLIC.

f!579.

be the apparent work of other hands, and only offered to
him and to the country when nearly completed.

After various preliminary meetings in December and
January, the deputies of Gelderland and Zutphen, with Count
John, stadtholder of these provinces, at their head met with
the deputies of Holland, Zeland, and the provinces between
the Ems and the Lauwers, early in January 1579, and on the
23rd of that month, without waiting longer for the deputies
of the other provinces, they agreed provisionally upon a
Treaty of Union which was published afterwards, on the
29th, from the Town House of Utrecht. 1

This memorable document—which is ever regarded as the
foundation of the Uetherland Republic—contained twenty-six
articles. 2

The preamble stated the object of the union. It was to
strengthen, not to forsake, the Ghent pacification, almost annihi¬
lated by the force of foreign soldiery. For this purpose, and
more conveniently to defend themselves against their foes, the
deputies of Gelderland, Zutphen, Holland, Zeland, Utrecht,
and the Frisian provinces, thought it desirable to form a still
closer union. The contracting provinces agreed to remain
eternally united, as if they were but one province. At the same
time, it was understood that each was to retain its particular
privileges, liberties, laudable and traditionary customs, and
other laws. The cities, corporations, and inhabitants of every
province were to be guaranteed as to their ancient constitutions.
Disputes concerning these various statutes and customs were
to be decided by the usual tribunals,by ‘‘good men,” or by ami¬
cable compromise. The provinces, by virtue of the union, were
to defend each other “ with life, goods, and blood,” against all
force brought against them in the King’s name or behalf. They
were also to defend each other against all foreign or domestic
potentates, provinces, or cities, provided such defence were con-

1 Kluit, His., der Holl. Staatsreg., i,
170, sqq. Bor, xiii. 21, sqq.

2 The whole document is given by
Bor. xiii. 26-30, and. somewhat

abridged, by Wagenaer, vii. 251-262;
Meteren, ix. 151, 152, Tassis, v. 339,
sqq.; Hoofd, xiv. 609 615.

1579.]

THE UNION OF UTEECHT.

401

trolled by the “generality” of the union. 1 For the expense
occasioned by the protection of the provinces, certain imposts
and excises were to be equally assessed and collected. No
truce or peace was to be concluded, no war commenced, no
impost established affecting the “ generality,” but by unani¬
mous advice and consent of the provinces. Upon other
matters the majority was to decide; the votes being taken in
the manner then customary in the assembly of states-general.
In case of difficulty in coming to a unanimous vote when
required, the matter was to be referred to the stadtholders
then in office. In case of their inability to agree, they were to
appoint arbitrators, by whose decision the parties were to be
governed. None of the imited provinces, or of their cities or
corporations, were to make treaties with other potentates or
states, without consent of their confederates. If neighbour¬
ing princes, provinces, or cities, wished to enter into this
confederacy, they were to be received by the unanimous con¬
sent of the united provinces. A common currency was to be
established for the confederacy. In the matter of divine
worship, Holland and Zeland were to conduct themselves as
they should think proper. The other provinces of the union,
however, were either to conform to the religious peace already
laid down by Archduke Matthias and his council, or to make
such other arrangements as each province should for itself
consider appropriate for the maintenance of its internal tran¬
quillity—provided always that every individual should remain
free in his religion, and that no man should be molested or
questioned on the subject of divine worship, as had been
already established by the Ghent pacification. 2 As a certain
dispute arose concerning the meaning of this important clause,
an additional paragraph was inserted a few days afterwards.
In this it was stated that there was no intention of excluding
from the confederacy any province or city, which was wholly
Catholic, or in which the number of the Reformed was not
sufficiently large to entitle them, by the religious peace, to

1 Articles l, 2, 3. 2 Articles, 5, 9,10, 11, 12. 13.

VOL. in. 2 C

402

THE RISE OF THE DUTCH REPUBLIC.

[1579.

public worship. On the contrary, the intention was to admit
them, provided they obeyed the articles of union, and con¬
ducted themselves as good patriots; it being intended that no
province or city should interfere with another in the matter
of divine service. Disputes between two provinces were to
be decided by the others, or—in case the generality were
concerned—by the provisions of the ninth article.

The confederates were to assemble at Utrecht whenever
summoned by those commissioned for that purpose. A majority
of votes was to decide on matters then brought before them,
even in case of the absence of some members of the confederacy,
who might, however, send written proxies. Additions or
amendments to these articles could only be made by unani¬
mous consent. The articles were to be signed by the stadt-
holders, magistrates, and principal officers of each province and
city, and by all the train-bands, fraternities, and sodalities
which might exist in the cities or villages of the union. 1

Such were the simple provisions of that instrument which
became the foundation of the powerful Commonwealth of the
United Netherlands. On the day when it was concluded, there
were present deputies from five provinces only. 2 Count John of
Nassau signed first, as stadtholder of Gelderland and Zutphen.
His signature was followed by those of four deputies from that
double province; and the envoys of Holland, Zeland, Utrecht,
and the Frisian provinces, then signed the document. 3

The Prince himself, although in reality the principal director
of the movement, delayed appending his signature until May
the 3rd, 1579.* Herein he was actuated by the reasons already
stated, and by the hope which lie still entertained that a wider

1 Articles 16, 19, 22.

2 Bor, 3, xiii. 26. Eluit. Holl. Staats-
reg., i. 173, sqq. Wagena^r, Vad. Hist.,
vii. 2(53, sqq.

3 Bor, Kluit, Wagenaer, ubi sup.
— Count Renneberg, as stadtholder
of Friesland, Overyssel, Groningen,
Drente, etc., did not give his final
adhesion until June 11, 1579. His
subsequent treason kept the city of

(Groningen out of the union, and it
was not admitted till the year 1504.
—(Wag. vii. 260.) On tho other hand,
several cities which wore not destined
eventually to form parts of the eonfed*
eracy became members soon after its
formation—as Ghent, on Feb. 4, 1579;
Antwerp, July 28, 1579: Bruges, Feb.
1, 1580, etc.—Boi\ xiii. 31, et sqq.

4 Bor, 2, xiii. 30.

1579.]

THE ACT CHARACTERISED.

403

union might be established, with Matthias for its, nominal chief.
His enemies, as usual, attributed this patriotic delay to baser
motives. They accused him of a desire to assume the gover¬
nor-generalship himself, to the exclusion of the Archduke—an
insinuation which the states of Holland took occasion formally
to denounce as a calumny. 1 For those who have studied the
character and history of the man, a defence against such
slander is superfluous. Matthias was but the shadow, Orange
the substance. The Archduke had been accepted only to
obviate the evil effects of a political intrigue, and with the
express condition that the Prince should be his lieutenant-
general in name, his master in fact. Directly after his de¬
parture in the following year, the Prince’s authority, which
nominally departed also, was re-established in his own person,
and by express act of the states-general. 2

The Union of Utrecht was the foundation-stone of the
Netherland Republic; but the framers of the confederacy did
not intend the establishment of a Republic, or of an indepen¬
dent commonwealth of any kind. They had not forsworn the
Spanish monarch. It was not yet their intention to forswear
him. Certainly the act of union contained no allusion to such
an important step. On the contrary, in the brief preamble
they expressly stated their intention to strengthen the Ghent
pacification, and the Ghent pacification acknowledged obedi¬
ence to the King. They intended no political innovation of any
kind. They expressly accepted matters as they were. All
statutes, charters, and privileges of provinces, cities, or corpor¬
ations were to remain untouched. They intended to form neither
an independent state nor an independent federal system. 3 No
doubt the formal renunciation of allegiance, which was to
follow within two years, was contemplated by many as a future
probability ; but it could not be foreseen with certainty.

The simple act of union was not regarded as the constitution

1 Resol. Holl., 8 Mei, f. 93. Kluit,
Holl. Staatsreg., i. ISO.

2 Kluit,180,181, note 15.

3 Kluit, Holl. Staatsreg., i, 182, sqq.
—Compare Groen v. Pnnst., Archives
de la Maison d’Orange, vi. 53G-564.

404 THE RISE OF THE DUTCH REPUBLIC. [1570.

of a commonwealth. Its object was a single one—defence
against a foreign oppressor. The contracting parties bound
themselves together to spend all their treasure and all their
blood in expelling the foreign soldiery from tlieir soil. To
accomplish this purpose, they carefully abstained from in-
termeddling with internal politics, and with religion. Every
man was to worship God according to the dictates of his
conscience. Every combination of citizens, from the pro¬
vincial states down to the humblest rhetoric club, was to
retain its ancient constitution. The establishment of a Re¬
public, which lasted two centuries, which threw a girdle of
rich dependencies entirely round the globe, and which attained
so remarkable a height of commercial prosperity and political
influence, was the result of the Utrecht Union; but it was
not a premeditated result. A state, single towards the rest
of the world, a unit in its external relations, while per¬
mitting internally a variety of sovereignties and institutions—
in many respects the prototype of our own much more exten¬
sive and powerful union—was destined to spring from the act
thus signed by the envoys of five provinces. Those envoys
were acting, however, under the pressure of extreme necessity,
and for what was believed an evanescent purpose. The future
confederacy w r as not to resemble the system of the German
empire, for it was to acknowledge no single head. It was to
differ from the Achaian league, in the far inferior amount
of power which it permitted to its general assembly, and in
the consequently greater proportion of sovereign attributes
which were retained by the individual states. It was, on the
other hand, to furnish a closer and more intimate bond than
that of the Swiss confederacy, which was only a union for
defence and external purposes, of cantons otherwise inde¬
pendent. 1 It was, finally, to differ from the American federal
commonwealth in the great feature that it was to be merely
a confederacy of sovereignties, not a representative republic.
Its foundation was a compact, not a constitution. The con-
1 Compare Kluit, i. 193, 194.

1579.]

SECESSION AND UNION.

405 '

traeting parties were states and corporations, who considered
themselves as representing small nationalities de jure et de
facto , and as succeeding to the supreme power at the very
instant in which allegiance to the Spanish monarch was re¬
nounced. The general assembly was a collection of diplomatic
envoys, bound by instructions from independent states. The
voting was not by heads, but by states. The deputies were
not representatives of the people, but of the states; for the
people of the United States of the Netherlands never
assembled—as did the people of the United States of America
two centuries later—to lay down a constitution, by which
they granted a generous amount of power to the union, while
they reserved enough of sovereign attributes to secure that
local self-government which is the life-blood of liberty.

The Union of Utrecht, narrowed as it was to the nether
portion of that country which, as a whole, might have formed
a commonwealth so much more powerful, was in origin a
proof of this lamentable want of patriotism. Could the
jealousy of great nobles, the rancour of religious differences,
the Catholic bigotry of the Walloon population on the one
side, contending with the democratic insanity of the Ghent
populace on the other, have been restrained within bounds
by the moderate counsels of William of Orange, it would
have been possible to unite seventeen provinces instead of
seven, and to save many long and blighting years of civil
war.

The Utrecht Union was, however, of inestimable value. It
was time for some step to be taken, if anarchy were not to
reign until the inquisition and absolutism were restored.
Already, out of Chaos and Night, the coming Republic was
assuming substance and form. The union, if it created
nothing else, at least constructed a league against a foreign
foe whose armed masses were pouring faster and faster inco
the territory of the provinces. Farther than this it did not
propose to go. It maintained what it found. It guaranteed
religious liberty, and accepted the civil and political constitu-

406

THE RISE OF THE HUTCH REPUBLIC.

[um.

tiom already in existence. Meantime, the defects of those
constitutions, although visible and sensible, had not grown to
the large proportions which they were destined to attain.

Thus by the Union of Utrecht on the one hand, and the fast
approaching reconciliation of the Walloon provinces on the
other, the work of decomposition and of construction went
hand in hand.

CHAPTER II

TRIUMPHS OP TREASON.

Parma’s feint upon Antwerp—He invests Maestricbt—Deputation and letters
from the states-general, from Brussels, and from Parma, to the Walloon
provinces—Active negotiations by Orange and by Farneso—Walloon
envoys in Parma’s camp before Maestrieht—Festivities—The treaty of
Reconciliation—Rejoicings of the royalist party—Comedy enacted at the
Paris theatres—Religious tumults in Antwerp, Utrecht, and other cities—
Religious peace enforced by Orange—Philip Egmont’s unsuccessful
attempt upon Brussels—Siege of Maastricht—Failuro at the Tongres
gate—Mining and countermining—Partial destruction of the Tongres
ravelin—Simultaneous attack upon the Tongres and Bois-le-duc gates—
The Spaniards repulsed with great loss—Gradual encroachments of the
besiegers — Bloody contests — The town taken—Horrible massacre—
Triumphal entrance and solemn thanksgiving—Calumnious attacks upon
Orange—Renewed troubles in Ghent, Imbize, and Datbenus—The presence
of the Prince solicited—Coup d’etat of Imbize—Order restored, and
Imbize expelled by Orange.

The political movements in both directions were to be
hastened by the military operations of the opening season.
On the night of the 2nd of March 1579, the Prince of Parma
made a demonstration against Antwerp. A body of three
thousand Scotch and English, lying at Borgerhout, was
rapidly driven in, and a warm skirmish ensued, directly
under the walls of the city. The Prince of Orange, with the
Archduke Matthias, being in Antwerp at the time, remained
on the fortifications superintending the action, and Parma
was obliged to retire after an hour or two of sharp fighting,
with a loss of four hundred men. 1 This demonstration was,
1 Bor, xiii. 35, 36. Hoofd, xv. 620.

4U8

THE RISE OF THE HUTCH REPUBLIC.

[1579.

however, only a feint. His real design was upon Maestricht,
before which important city he appeared in great force, ten
days afterwards, when he was least expected. 1 2

Well fortified, surrounded by a broad and deep moat, built
upon both sides of the Meuse, upon the right bank of which
river, however, the portion of the town was so inconsider¬
able that it was merely called the village of Wyk, this key
to the German gate of the Netherlands was, unfortunately, in
brave but feeble hands. The garrison was hardly one thou¬
sand strong; the trained bands of burghers amounted to
twelve hundred more; while between three and four thousand
peasants, who had taken refuge within the city walls, did
excellent service as sappers and miners. Parma, on the
other hand, had appeared before the walls with twenty
thousand men, to which number he received constant re¬
inforcements. The Bishop of Liege, too, had sent him four
thousand pioneers—a most important service; for mining
and countermining was to decide the fate of Maestricht. 3

Early in January the royalists had surprised the strong
chateau of Carpen, in the neighbourhood of the city, upon
which occasion the garrison were all hanged by moonlight
on the trees in the orchard. The commandant shared their
fate; and it is a curious fact that he had, precisely a year
previously, hanged the royalist captain, Blomaert, on the
same spot, who, with the rope around his neck, had foretold
a like doom to his destroyer. 3

The Prince of Orange, feeling the danger of Maestricht,
lost no time in warning the states to the necessary mea¬
sures, imploring them ci not to fall asleep in the shade of
a peace negotiation/’ 4 while meantime Parma threw two
bridges over the Meuse, above and below the city, and then
invested the place so closely that all communication was

1 Bor, xiii. 36. Hoofd, ubi sup. 3 Letter of G-. de Merode, Ordinaris

Slrada, 2, ii. 58. Hepechon Book der Statcngen., A°.

2 Bentivoglio, 2, lib. i. 235. Bor, 1579, f. 42. MS. Hague Archives,

xiii. 36. According to Strada, (2, ii. 4 Letter of Orange to States-general*

81), 3000. Ord. Hep. Boek, 1579, f. 41 vo MS.

1579.]

DEPUTATIONS TO THE WALLOONS.

409

absolutely suspended. Letters could pass to and fro only
at extreme peril to the messengers, and all possibility of
reinforcing the city at the moment was cut off. 1

While this eventful siege was proceeding, the negotiations
with the Walloons were ripening. The siege and the confer¬
ences went hand in hand. Besides the secret arrangements
already described for the separation of the Walloon provinces,
there had been much earnest and eloquent remonstrance on
the part of the states-general and of Orange—many solemn
embassies and public appeals. As usual, the pacification of
Ghent was the two-sided shield which hung between the
parties to cover or to justify the blows which each dealt at the
other. There is no doubt as to the real opinion entertained
concerning that famous treaty by the royal party. u Through
the peace of Ghent, 5 ’ said Saint Vaast, all our woes have
been brought upon us.” La Mottc informed Parma that it
was necessary to pretend a respect for the pacification, how¬
ever, on account of its popularity, but that it was well under¬
stood by the leaders of the Walloon movement, that the
intention was to restore the system of Charles the Fifth.
Parma signified his consent to make use of that treaty as a
basis, u provided always it were interpreted healthily, and
not dislocated by cavillations and sinister interpolations, as
as had been done by the Prince of Orange.” The Malcontent
generals of the Walloon troops were inexpressibly anxious
lest the cause of religion should be endangered; but the
arguments by which Parma convinced those military casuists
as to the compatibility of the Ghent peace with sound doctrine
have already been exhibited. The influence of the reconciled
nobles was brought to bear with fatal effect upon the states of
Artois, Iiainault, and of a portion of French Flanders. The
Gallic element in their blood, and an intense attachment to the
Roman ceremonial, which distinguished the Walloon population
from their Batavian brethren, were used successfully by the
wily Parma to destroy the unity of the revolted Netherlands. 3

1 Bor, xiii. 17-3G eqq. Hoofd, xv., lteren, ix. 134.

620-028. Strada, 2, i. 07, 57-G1. Me- ] 3 Bor, Hoofd, Strada, ubi sup Ar-

410

THE EISE OF THE DUTCH EEPUBLIC.

[1571

Moreover, the King offered good terms. The monarchy
feeling safe on the religious point, was willing to make
liberal promises upon the political questions. In truth, the
great grievance of which the Walloons complained was the
insolence and intolerable outrages of the foreign soldiers.
This, they said, had alone made them malcontent. 1 It was,
therefore, obviously the cue of Parma to promise the imme¬
diate departure of the troops. This could be done the more
easily, as he had no intention of keeping the promise.

Meantime the efforts of Orange, and of the states-general,
where his influence was still paramount, were unceasing to
counteract the policy of Parma. A deputation was appointed
by the generality to visit the estates of the Walloon provinces.
Another was sent by the authorities of Brussels. The Marquis-
of Havre with several colleagues on behalf of the states-general,
waited upon the Viscount of Ghent, by whom they were re¬
ceived with extreme insolence. He glared upon them, with¬
out moving, as they were admitted to his presence ; Cc looking
like a dead man, from whom the soul had entirely departed.’’
Recovering afterwards from this stony trance of indignation,
he demanded a sight of their instructions. This they courte¬
ously refused, as they were accredited not to him, but to the*
states of Artois. At this he fell into a violent passion, and
threatened them with signal chastisement for daring to come*
thither with so treasonable a purpose. In short, according to-
their own expression, he treated them u as if they had been
rogues and vagabonds.” 3 The Marquis of Havre, high-born
though he was, had been sufficiently used to such conduct.
The man who had successively served and betrayed every party,
who had been the obsequious friend and the avowed enemy of’
Don John within the same fortnight, and who had been able
to swallow and inwardly digest many an insult from that fiery
warrior, was even fain to brook the insolence of Robert Melun-

chives, etc., de la Maison d’Orange, vi.
610-613. 1 Strada, 2, i. 50, 51.

2 Bor, xiii. 37, 38. Hoofd, xv. 622,

sqq. Meteren, ix. 150, 151.

® Beport of the Commissioners, Bor*
xiii. 45.

1579.]

THEIR ILL SUCCESS.

411

The papers which the deputation had brought were finally
laid before the states of Artois, and received replies as
prompt and bitter as the addresses were earnest and eloquent.
The 'Walloons, when summoned to hold to that aegis of
national unity, the Ghent peace, replied that it was not they,
but the heretic portion of the states-general, who were for
dashing it to the ground. The Ghent treaty was never intended
to impair the supremacy of the Catholic religion, said those
provinces, which were already on the point of separating for
ever from the rest. The Ghent treaty was intended ex¬
pressly to destroy the inquisition and the placards, answered
the national party. Moreover the “ very marrow of that
treaty ” 1 2 Was the departure of the foreign soldiers, who were
even then overrunning the land. The Walloons answered
tliat Alexander had expressly conceded the withdrawal of the
troops. “ Believe not the fluting and the piping of the crafty
foe/’ urged the patriots. 3 u Promises are made profusely
enough—but only to lure you to perdition. Your enemies
allow you to slake your hunger and thirst with this idle hope
of the troops’ departure, but you are still in fetters, although
the chain be of Spanish pinchbeck, which you mistake for
gold.” “ 5 Tis not we,” cried the Walloons, “who wish to
separate from the generality; ’tis the generality which
separates from us. We had rather die the death than not
maintain the union.” 3 * In the very same breath, however,
they boasted of the excellent terms which the monarch was
offering, and of their strong inclination to accept them.
“ Kings, struggling to recover a lost authority, always pro¬
mise golden mountains and every sort of miracles,” replied
the patriots but the warning was uttered in vain.

1 44 De Bubstantie en prineipael merg
van seivo pacificate.”—Bor, nii. 39.

2 44 De vijand hem sal behelpen mot

hot woord van do Religie aes mot een

bcdriegelijk pijpken of fluijken om

ons met do Tarre te vangen.”—Address
of the States-general, March 3, 1579,
Bor, xiii. 41. 44 T gefluit en gepijp

van de gene die komen van onser vijan-
den Tvegen—om namaels te gecken en
te spotten met onse bederfenisse.”—
Ibid.

3 Bor, xiii. 38.

4 “Gewoont sijn te beloven goude
berge en vronderlijko saken.”—Address
of the States-general, Bor, xiii. 44.

412 THE RISE OF THE DUTCH REPUBLIC. [1579.

Meantime the deputation from the city of Brussels arrived
on the 28th of March, at Mons, in Hainault, where they were
received with great courtesy by Count de Lalain, governor
of the province. The enthusiasm with which he had espoused
the cause of Queen Margaret and her brother Anjou had
cooled, but the Count received the Brussels envoys with a
kindness in marked contrast with the brutality of Melim. He
made many fine speeches—protesting his attachment to the
union, for which he was ready to shed the last drop of his
blood—entertained the deputies at dinner, proposed toasts to
the prosperity of the united provinces, and dismissed his
guests at last with many flowery professions. After dancing
attendance for a few days, however, upon the estates of the
Walloon provinces, both sets of deputies were warned to take
their instant departure as mischief-makers and rebels. They
returned, accordingly, to Brussels, bringing the written
answers which the estates had vouchsafed to send. 1

The states-general, too, inspired by William of Orange,
addressed a solemn appeal to their sister provinces, thus about
to abjure the bonds of relationship for ever. 2 It seemed right,
once for all, to grapple with the Ghent pacification for the last
time, and to strike a final blow in defence of that large, states¬
manlike interpretation, which alone could make the treaty live.
This was done eloquently and logically. The Walloons were
reminded that at the epoch of the Ghent peace the number of
Reformers outside of Holland and Zeland was supposed small.
Now' the new religion had spread its roots through the whole
land, and innumerable multitudes desired its exercise. If
Holland and Zeland chose to re-establish the Catholic wor¬
ship within their borders, they could manifestly do so without
violating the treaty of Ghent. Why then was it not com¬
petent to other provinces, with equal allegiance to the treaty,
to sanction the Reformed religion wfithin their limits? 3

1 Bor, xiii. 44, 45. Hoofd xv. 022, full,
eqq. Mcteren, is. 130, 150. I J Address of the States, apud Bor,

- Bor (xiii. 39-42) gives the text in 13, xiii. 40, sqq.

1579.1 ACTIVE NEGOTIATIONS BY ORANGE. 413

Parma, on his part, publicly invited the states-general, by
letter, to sustain the Ghent treaty by accepting the terms offered
to the Walloons, and by restoring the system of the Emperor
Charles, of very lofty memory. To this superfluous invitation
die states-general replied, on the 19th of March, that it had been
the system of the Emperor Charles, of lofty memory, to main¬
tain the supremacy of Catholicism and of Majestv in the Nether¬
lands by burning Netherlander, a custom which the states, with
common accord, had thought it desirable to do away with. 1

In various fervently-written appeals by Orange, by the
states-general, and by other bodies, the wavering provinces
were warned against seduction. They were reminded that the
Prince of Parma was using this minor negotiation “ as a second
string to his bow; ” that nothing could be more puerile than
to suppose the Spaniards capable, after securing Maestricht, of
sending away their troops—thus “ deserting the bride in the
midst of the honeymoon.” They expressed astonishment at
being invited to abandon the great and general treaty which
had been made upon the theatre of the whole world by the
intervention of the principal princes of Christendom, in order
to partake in underhand negotiation with the commissioners of
Parma—men “ who, it would not be denied, were felons, and
traitors.” They warned their brethren not to embark on the
enemy’s ships in the dark, for that, while chaffering as to the
price of the voyage, they would find that the false pilots had
hoisted sail and borne them away in the night. In vain would
they then seek to reach the shore again. The example of
La Motte and others, u bird-limed with Spanish gold,”
should be salutary for all—men who were now driven forward
with a whip, laughed to scorn by their new masters, and
forced to drink the bitter draught of humiliation along witi
the sweet poison of bribery. They were warned to study
well the intercepted letters of Curiel, in order fully to fathom
the deep designs and secret contempt of the enemy. 2

1 Letter of the States-generaL—Bor, 2 Reponse des Etats-geniraux sur

3, xiii. 48 les lettres des Etats d’Artois, Haynault,

414 the RISE OF THE DUTCH REPUBLIC. [1579.

Such having been the result of the negotiations between the
states-general and the Walloon provinces, a strong deputa¬
tion now went forth from those provinces, towards the end of
April, to hold a final colloquy with Parma, then already
busied with the investment of Maestricht. They were met
upon the road with great ceremony, and escorted into the
presence of Farnese with drum, trumpet, and flaunting
banners. 1 He received them with stately affability, in a mag¬
nificently decorated pavilion, carelessly inviting them to a
repast, which he called an afternoon’s lunch, but which proved
a most sumptuous and splendidly appointed entertainment 2 .
This “ trifling foolish banquet” finished, the deputies were
escorted, with great military parade, to the lodgings which
had been provided for them in a neighbouring village.
During the period of their visit, the chief officers of the army
and the household were directed to entertain the Walloons
with showy festivals, dinners, suppers, dances, and carousals
of all kinds. At one of the most brilliant of these revels—a
magnificent ball, to which all the matrons and maids of the
whole country round had been bidden—the Prince of Parma
himself unexpectedly made his appearance. He gently
rebuked the entertainers for indulging in such splendid hos¬
pitality without, at least, permitting him to partake of it.
Charmingly affable to the ladies assembled in the ball-room,
courteous, but slightly reserved, towards the Walloon envoys,
he excited the admiration of all by the splendid decorum of
his manners. As he moved through the halls, modulating his
steps in grave cadence to the music, the dignity and grace
of his deportment seemed truly majestic; but when he
actually danced a measure himself, the enthusiasm was at
its height. 3 They should, indeed, be rustics, cried the Wal¬
loon envoys in a breath, not to give the hand of fellowship

Lille, Douay et Or dries; Ord. Depech. superbiamvocabulo,pomeridianam gus-
Boek der St.-gen., 1579, f. 35-51. MS. tationem appellabant, excepti sunt.”—
Hague Archives. Strada, 2, i. 52.

1 Strada, 2, i. 49, sr^q. 3 Strada, 2, i. 53, who describes the

2 “.Regib epulis quas extenuato ad scene with laughable gravity.

1579.]

TREATY OF RECONCILIATION.

415

at once to a Prince so condescending and amiable. 1 The
exclamation seemed to embody the general wish, and to fore¬
shadow a speedy conclusion.

Very soon afterwards a preliminary accord was signed be¬
tween the King’s government and the Walloon provinces.
The provisions on his Majesty’s part were sufficiently liberal
The religious question furnishing no obstacle, it was com¬
paratively easy for Philip to appear benignant. It was
stipulated that the provincial privileges should be respected;
that a member of the King’s own family, legitimately born,
should always be Governor-General, and that the foreign
troops should be immediately withdrawn. 2 The official ex¬
change and ratification of this treaty were delayed till the 4th
of the following September, 3 but the news that the reconcilia¬
tion had been definitely settled soon spread through the
country. The Catholics were elated, the patriots dismayed.
Orange—the u Prince of Darkness,” 4 as the Walloons of the
day were fond of calling him—still unwilling to despair, re¬
luctant to accept this dismemberment, which he foresaw was
to be a perpetual one, of his beloved country, addressed the

1 Strada, 2, i. 53.—“Agrostes se which lie had reluctantly consented to
plus nimio visum iri, nisi adeo be- sustain.

nigni amabilisque ingenii viro manus 3 Rec. Prov. Wall., iii, f. 179, 180.
darent,” > MS.—There is something almost comic

8 The preliminary accord was signed in the preamble to the ratification.
May 17, 1579. A copy was sent by the “ Certain good personages in our pro-
Prince of Orange to the united states, vinces of Artois,” etc., says Philip,
on August 1, 1579 —Bor, xiii. 95-9S. “ zealous in the service of G-od, and
Tratado de Reconciliacion de las Pro- desirous to escape danger to their pro¬
vinces d’Artois, Haynau, Lille, Douay, perty, and seeing the attempt to estab-
y Orchies ; Rec. Prov. Wall., iii. f. lish over the ecclesiastics, nobles, and
3289 i200. MS. The terms of the treaty good burgesses, a popular tyranny,
were not bad. The Ghent pacification which, by exorbitant contributions, is
was to be maintained and the foreign gnawing the nation to the bone, having
troops were to be removed. Unfurtu- at length opened their own eyes, have
nately the secret correspondence of the done their best to awaken their neigh -
parties shows that the faithful ob- boars,” etc.

servance of that pacification was very 4 “ Lo Prince d’Oranges, qu’iis nom-
far from their thoughts, while the sub- m6rent en ce temps Prince des-Tene-
sequem hktory of the country was to bres,” etc.—Renom de France, iv. c.
prove the removal of the troops to xii., MS. At least, in poor Tom’s
have been a comedy, in which the prin- phrase, “ the prince of darkness was a
cipal actor soon renounced the part gentleman.”

116

THE EISE OF THE BTJTCH REPUBLIC.

[1579.

most passionate and solemn adjurations to the Walloon pro¬
vinces, and to their military chieftains. He offered all his
children as hostages for his good faith in keeping sacredly
any covenant which his Catholic countrymen might be willing
to close with him. It was in vain. The step was irretrievably
taken; religious bigotry, patrician jealousy, and wholesale
bribery, had severed the Netherlands in twain for ever. The
friends of Romanism, the enemies of civil and religious
liberty, exulted from one end of Christendom to the other,
and it was recognised that Parma had, indeed, achieved a
victory which, although bloodless, was as important to the cause
of absolutism as any which even his sword was likely to achieve.

The joy of the Catholic party in Paris manifested itself in
a variety of ways. At the principal theatre 1 an uncouth
pantomime was exhibited, in which liis Catholic Majesty was
introduced upon the stage, leading by a halter a sleek cow,
typifying the Netherlands. The animal by a sudden effort,
broke the cord, and capered wildly about. Alexander of
Parma hastened to fasten the fragments together while sundry
personages, representing the states-general, seized her by the
horns, some leaping upon her back, others calling upon the
bystanders to assist in holding the restive beast. The
Emperor, the King of France, and the Queen of England—
which last personage was observed now to smile upon one
party, now to affect deep sympathy with the other—remained
stationary ; but the Duke of Alen$on rushed upon the stage,
and caught the cow by the tail. The Prince of Orange and
Hans Casimir then appeared with a bucket, and set themselves
busily to milk her, when Alexander again seized the halter.
The cow gave a plunge, upset the pail, prostrated Casimir
with one kick and Orange with another, and then followed
Parma with docility as he led her back to Philip. 2 This
seems not very 66 admirable fooling,” but it was highly relished
by the polite Parisians of the sixteenth century, and has
been thought -worthy of record by classical historians.

1 Strada, 2, i. 55. a Ibid., 2, i. 55, 56.

1579.]

RELIG-IOUS TUMULTS IN' ANTWERP.

417

The Walloon accord was an auspicious prelude, in the eyes
of the friends of absolutism, to the negotiations which were
opened in the month of May at Cologne. Before sketching,
as rapidly as possible, those celebrated but barren conferences,
it is necessary, for the sake of unity in the narrative, to cast
a glance at certain synchronical events in different parts of
the Netherlands.

The success attained by the Catholic party in the Walloon
negotiations had caused a corresponding bitterness in the
hearts of the Reformers throughout the country. As usual,
bitterness had begot bitterness; intolerance engendered in¬
tolerance. On the 28th of May 1579, as the Catholics of
Antwerp were celebrating the Ommegang —the same festival
which had been the exciting cause of the memorable tumults
of the year sixty-five—the irritation of the populace could
not be repressed. 1 The mob rose in its wratli to put down
these demonstrations—which, taken in connexion with recent
events, seemed ill-timed and insolent—of a religion whose
votaries then formed but a small minority of the Antwerp
citizens. There was a great tumult. Two persons were
killed. The Archduke Matthias, who was himself in the
Cathedral of Notre Dame assisting at the ceremony, was in
danger of his life. The well-known cry of u paapen uit ”
(out with the papists) resounded through the streets, and the
priests and monks were all hustled out of town amid a
tempest of execrations. 2 Orange did his utmost to quell the
mutiny, nor were his efforts fruitless—for the uproar,
although seditious and disgraceful, was hardly sanguinary.
Next day the Prince summoned the magistracy, the Monday
council, the guild officers, with all the chief municipal func*
tionaries, and expressed his indignation in decided terms.
He protested that if such tumults, originating in that very
spirit of intolerance which he most deplored, could not be
repressed for the future, he was determined to resign his
offices, and no longer to affect authority in a city where his
1 Bor, xiii. 67. 3 Ibid. Moteren, be. 153 a.

vol. m. 2 d

418

THE RISE OB' THE DUTCH REPUBLIC.

[1579.

counsels were derided. The magistrates, alarmed at his threats*
and sympathising with his anger, implored him not to desert
them, protesting that, if he should resign his offices, they
would instantly lay down their own. An ordinance was then
drawn up and immediately proclaimed at the Town House,
permitting the Catholics to re-enter the city, and to enjoy the
privileges of religious worship. At the same time, it was
announced that a new draft of a religious peace would be
forthwith issued for the adoption of every city. 1

A similar tumult, arising from the same cause, at Utrecht,
was attended with the like result. 2 On the other hand, the
city of Brussels was astonished by a feeble and unsuccessful
attempt 8 at treason, made by a youth who bore an illustrious
name. Philip, Count of Egmont, eldest son of the unfortunate
Lamoral, had command of a regiment in the service of the
states. He had, besides, a small body of cavalry in immediate
attendance upon his person. He had for some time felt inclined
—like the Lalains, Meluns, La Mottes, and others—to reconcile
himself with the Crown, and he wisely thought that the terms
accorded to him would be more liberal if he could bring the
capital of Brabant with him as a peaceoffering to his Majesty.
His residence was in Brussels. His regiment was stationed
outside the gates, but in the immediate neighbourhood of the
city. On the morning of the 4th of June he despatched his
troopers—as had been frequently his custom—on various
errands into the country. On their return, after having sum¬
moned the regiment, they easily mastered and butchered the
guard at the gate through which they had re-entered, supplying
their place with men from their own ranks. The Egmont regi¬
ment then came marching through the gate in good order—
Count Philip at tlieir head—andproceeded to station themselves
upon the Grande Place in the centre of the city. All this was
at dawn of day. The burghers, who looked forth from their
houses, were astounded and perplexed by this movement at
bo unwonted an hour, and hastened to seize their weapons.

1 Bor, xiii. 68. I 3 Ibid, xiii. 66, Bqq,. Meteren, be.

3 Ibid.. 70-73. 1153. Hoofd, xv. 637, sqq.

1579.]

TREASON OP EGMONT.

419

Egmont sent a detachment to take possession of the paiace.
He was too late. Colonel Yan der Tympel, commandant of the
-city, had been beforehand with him, had got his troops under
arms, and now secured the rebellious detachment. Meantime,
the alarm had spread. Armed burghers came from every house,
and barricades were hastily thrown up across every one of the
narrow streets leading to the square. Every issue was closed.
Hot a man of Egmont’s adherents—if he indeed had adherents
among the townsmen—dared to shew his face. The young
traitor and his whole regiment, drawn up on the Grande Place,
were completely entrapped. He had not taken Brussels, but
assuredly Brussels had taken him. All day long he was kept
in his self-elected prison and pillory, bursting with rage and
shame. His soldiers, who were without meat or drink, became
insolent and uproarious, and he was doomed also to hear the
bitter and well-merited taunts of the towns-people. A thou¬
sand stinging gibes, suggested by his name and the locality,
were mercilessly launched upon him. He was asked if he
came thither to seek his father’s head. Ho was reminded that
the morrow was the anniversary of that father’s murder—upon
that very spot—by those with whom the son would now make
his treasonable peace. He was bidden to tear up but a tew
stones from the pavement beneath his feet, that the hero’s blood
might cry out against him from the very ground . 1 Tears of
shame and fury sprang from the young man’s eyes 2 as he
listened to these biting sarcasms, but the night closed upon
that memorable square, and still the Count was a prisoner.
Eleven years before, the summer stars had looked down
upon a more dense array of armed men within that place.
The preparations lor the pompous and dramatic execu¬
tion, which on the morrow was to startle all Europe, had
been carried out in the midst of a hushed and overawed
population; and now, on the very anniversary of the mid¬
night in which that scaffold had risen, should not the grand

1 Bor, xiii, 66. Hoofd, xv. 638. | tranen hem van passie ontopronghen,”

4 Heteren, ix. 153.—“Sulex dat de | etc.—Bor, Hoofd, ubi sup.

420

THE RISE OP THE DUTCH REPUBLIC.

[ 1570 ,

spectre of the victim have started from the grave to chicle
his traitorous son ?

Thus for a whole day and night was the baffled conspirator
compelled to remain in the ignominious position which he had
selected for himself. On the morning of the 5th of June he
was permitted to depart, by a somewhat inexplicable indulgence,
together with all his followers. He rode out of the gate at early
dawn, contemptible and crest-fallen, at the head of his regi¬
ment of traitors, and shortly afterwards—pillaging and levying
black mail as he went—made his way to Montigny’s quarters. 1

It might have seemed natural, after such an exhibition,
that Philip Egmont should accept his character of renegade,
and confess his intention of reconciling himself with the mur-
derers of his father. On the contrary, he addressed a letter
to the magistracy of Brussels, denying with vehemence Ci any
intention of joining the party of the pernicious Spaniards,”
warmly protesting his zeal and affection for the states, and
denouncing the u perverse inventors of these calumnies against
him as the worst enemies of the poor afflicted country.” The
magistrates replied by expressing their inability to compre¬
hend how the Count, who had suffered villanous wrongs from
the Spaniards, such as he could never sufficiently deplore or
avenge, should ever be willing to enslave himself to those
tyrants. Nevertheless, exactly at the moment of this corres¬
pondence, Egmont was in close negotiation with Spain, having
fifteen days before the date of his letter to the Brussels senate?
conveyed to Parma his resolution to “ embrace the cause of
his Majesty and the ancient religion ”—an intention which
he vaunted himself to have proved 66 by cutting the throats of
three companies of states’ soldiers at Nivelle, Grandmont, and
Ninove.” Parma had already written to communicate the
intelligence to the Kang, and to beg encouragement for the
Count. In September, the monarch wrote a letter to Egmont,.
full of gratitude and promises, to which the Count replied
by expressing lively gratification that his Majesty was
1 Bor, Hoofd, Meteren, ubi sup.

1579.]

SIEGE OF MAESTBICHT.

421

pleased with his little services, by avowing profound attach¬
ment to Church and King, and by eagerly asking for money,
together with the government of Alost. He soon became
singularly importunate for rewards and promotion, demand¬
ing, among other posts, the command of the u band of
ordnance,” which had been his father’s. Parma, in reply,
was prodigal of promises, reminding the young noble u that
he was serving a sovereign who well knew liow to reward
the distinguished exploits of his subjects.” Such was the
language of Philip the Second and his Governor to the son
of the headless hero of Saint Quentin ; such was the fawning
obsequiousness with which Egmont could kiss that royal
hand reeking with his father’s blood. 1

Meanwhile the siege of Maestricht had been advancing with
steady precision. To military minds of that epoch—perhaps
of later ages—this achievement of Parma seemed a masterpiece
of art. The city commanded the Upper Meuse, and was the
gate into Germany. It contained thirty-four thousand inhabit¬
ants. An army, numbering almost as many souls, was brought
against it; and the number of deaths by which its capture
was at last effected, was probably equal to that of a moiety of
the population. 2 To the technical mind, the siege no doubt
seemed a beautiful creation of human intelligence. To the
honest student of history, to the lover of human progress, such
a manifestation of intellect seems a sufficiently sad exhibition.
Given, a city with strong walls and towers, a slender garrison
and a devoted population on one side; a consummate chieftain
on the other, with an army of veterans at his back, no inter¬
ruption to fear, and a long season to work in ; it would not
seem to an unsophisticated mind a very lofty exploit for the
soldier to carry the city at the end of four months’ hard labour.

1 Ordin. DepSchen Boek der Staten-
gen., Ao. 1579, f. 287. Hague Archives,
MS. Keconciliation des Provinces
Wallones, iv. f. 110-110. Brussels
Eoyal Archives,MS.—Compare Corres-
pondance d’Alexandre Farnese avec
Phil. II., Gackard, 1583. Kervyn und

Diogerich, Documents In&lits, i. 428.

2 Strada, 2, iii. 59, 130. At the
termination of the siege, the army of
Parma was estimated at twenty thou¬
sand men, and four thousand had
fallen in the two assaults of April
alone.—Bor, ubi sup.

422

THE BISE OF THE HUTCH BEPUBLIC.

(.1579.

The investment of Maestricht was commenced upon the 12th
of March 1579. In the city, beside the population, there were
two thousand peasants* both men and women, a garrison of one
thousand soldiers, and a trained burgher guard, numbering
about twelve hundred. 1 The name of the military command¬
ant was Melchior. Sebastian Tappin, a Lorraine officer of
much experience and bravery, was next in command, and was,
in truth, the principal director of the operations. He had been
despatched thither by the Prince of Orange, to serve under La
None, who was to have commanded in Maestricht, but had been
unable to enter the city. 2 Feeling that the siege was to be a
close one, and knowing how much depended upon the issue,
Sebastian lost no time in making every needful preparation for
coming events. The walls were strengthened everywhere;
shafts were sunk, preparatory to the countermining operations
which were soon to become necessary; the moat was deepened
and cleared, and the forts near the gates were put in thorough
repair. On the other hand, Alexander had encircled the city,
and had thrown two bridges, well fortified, across the river.
There were six gates to the town, each provided with ravelins,
and there was a doubt in what direction the first attack should
be made. Opinions wavered between the gate of Bois-le-Duc,
next the river, and that of Tongres on the south-western side,
but it was finally decided to attempt the gate of Tongres.

Over against that point the platforms were accordingly con¬
structed, and after a heavy cannonade from forty-six great
guns continued for several days, it was thought, by the 25th of
March, that an impression had been made upon the city. A
portion of the brick curtain had crumbled* but through the
breach was seen a massive terreplein, well moated, which, after
six thousand shots already delivered on the outer wall—still re¬
mained uninjured. 3 It was recognised that the gate of Tongres
was not the most assailable, but rather the strongest portion of

1 Bor, xiii. 36. Hoofd, xy. 628.
Meteren, ix. 154.—Compare Strada, 2,
ii. 59, 'who reckons the civic guards at
six thousand, and the boors at as many

more.

2 Strada, 2, ii. 59.
628.

3 Strada, ii. 65, 66.

Hoofd, xy*

1579.]

THE TONGRES GATE.

423

the defences, and Alexander therefore determined to shift his
batteries to the gate of Bois-le-Duc. At the same time, the
attempt upon that of Tongres was to be varied, but not aban¬
doned. Four thousand miners, who had passed half their lives
in burrowing for coal in that anthracite region, had been fur¬
nished by the Bishop of Liege, and this force was now set to
their subterranean work. 1 A mine having been opened at a
distance, the besiegers slowly worked their way towards the
Tongres gate, while at the same time the more ostensible ope¬
rations were in the opposite direction. The besieged had their
miners also, for the peasants in the city had been used to work
with mattock and pickaxe. The women, too, enrolled them¬
selves into companies, chose their officers—or cc mine-mis¬
tresses,” as they were called 2 —and did good service daily in
the caverns of the earth. Thus a whole army of gnomes were
noiselessly at work to destroy and defend the beleaguered city.
The mine advanced towards the gate; the besieged delved
deeper, and intersected it with a transverse excavation, and
the contending forces met daily, in deadly encounter, within
these sepulchral gangways. Many stratagems were mutually
employed. The citizens secretly constructed a dam across
the Spanish mine, and then deluged their foe with hogsheads
of boiling water. Hundreds were thus scalded to death.
They heaped branches and light fagots in the hostile mine,
set fire to the pile, and blew thick volumes of smoke along the
passage with organ-bellows brought from the churches for
the purpose. Many were thus suffocated. The discomfited
besiegers abandoned the mine where they had met with such
able countermining, and sunk another shaft, at midnight, in
secret, at a long distance from the Tongres gate. Still
towards that point, however, they burrowed in the darkness;
guiding themselves to their destination with magnet, plumb-
line, and level, as the mariner ci’osses the trackless ocean with
compass and chart. They worked their way, unobstructed,

1 Bor, xiii. 36. Hoofd, xv. 628.1 2 “ Magistras cunicularias appella-

^ada. | bant. 7 ’—-Strada, 70.

424 THE RISE OF THE DUTCH REPUBLIC. [1579.

till they arrived at their subterranean port, directly beneath
the doomed ravelin. Here they constructed a spacious
chamber, supporting it with columns, and making all their
architectural arrangements with as much precision and ele¬
gance as if their object had been purely aesthetic. Coffers full
of powder, to an enormous amount, were then placed in every
direction across the floor, the train was laid, and Parma in¬
formed that all was ready. Alexander, having already arrayed
the troops destined for the assault, then proceeded in person
to the mouth of the shaft, and gave orders to spring the mine.
The explosion was prodigious; a part of the tower fell with
the concussion, and the moat was choked with heaps of
rubbish. The assailants sprung across the passage thus afforded,
and mastered the ruined portion of the fort. They were met
in the breach, however, by the unflinching defenders of the
city, and, after a fierce combat of some hours, were obliged to
retire; remaining masters, however, of the moat, and the ruined
portion of the ravelin. This was upon the 3rd of April. 1

Five days afterwards, a general assault was ordered. A new
mine having been already constructed towards the Tongres
ravelin, and a constant cannonade having been kept up for a
fortnight against the Bois-le-Duc gate, it was thought advisable
to attack at both points at once. On the 8th of April, accord¬
ingly, after uniting in prayer, and listening to a speech from
Alexander Farnese, the great mass of the Spanish army ad¬
vanced to the breach. The moat had been rendered practicable
in many places by the heaps of rubbish with which it had
been encumbered, and by the faggots and earth with which it
had been filled by the besiegers. The action at the Bois-le-Due
gate was exceedingly warm. The tried veterans of Spain, Italy,
and Burgundy were met face to face by the burghers of Maas¬
tricht, together with their wives and children. All were armed
to the teeth, and fought with what seemed superhuman valour.
The women, fierce as tigresses defending their young, swarmed
to the walls, and fought in the foremost rank. They threw
pails of boiling water on the besiegers, they hurled firebrands
1 Strada, 2, ii. G:>G-671.

1579.]

EXPLOSION OP A MINE.

425

in their faces, they quoited blazing pitch-hoops with unerring
dexterity about their necks. The rustics, too, armed with
their ponderous flails, worked as cheerfully at this bloody
harvesting as if thrashing their corn at home. Heartily did
they winnow the ranks of the royalists who came to butcher
them, and thick and fast fell the invaders, fighting bravely,
but baffled by these novel weapons used by peasant and
woman, coming to the aid of the sword, spear, and musket
of trained soldiery. More than a thousand had fallen at the
Bois-le-Duc gate, and still fresh besiegers mounted the
breach, only to be beaten back, or to add to the mangled
heap of the slain. 1 At the Tongres gate, meanwhile, the
assault had fared no better. A herald had been despatched
thither in hot haste, to shout at the top of his lungs, “ Santi¬
ago I Santiago! the Lombards have the gate of Bois-le-
Duc I ” while the same stratagem was employed to persuade
the invaders on the other side of the town that their comrades
had forced the gate of Tongres. 2 The soldiers, animated by this
fiction, and advancing with fury against the famous ravelin,
which had been but partly destroyed, were received with a
broadside from the great guns of the unshattered portion,
and by a rattling discharge of musketry from the walls. They
wavered a little. At the same instant the new mine—which
was to have been sprung between the ravelin and the gate,
but which had been secretly countermined by the townspeople,
exploded with a horrible concussion, at a moment least ex¬
pected by the besiegers. Five hundred royalists were blown
into the air. Ortiz, a Spanish captain of engineers, who had
been inspecting the excavations, was thrown up bodily from
the subterranean depth. He fell back again instantly into
the same cavern, and was buried by the returning shower of
earth which had spouted from the mine. Forty-five years
afterwards, in digging for the foundation of a new wall, his
skeleton was found. Clad in complete armour, the helmet
and cuirass still sound, with his gold chain around his neck, 3

1 Stracla, 2, ii. 63-71. ( Strada, 2, ii. 75.

* Hoofd. xv. G29. Meteren, ix. 154.) 3 Strada, 2, ii. 76.

426 THE RISE OF THE DUTCH REPUBLIC. [1579*

and his mattock and pickaxe at his feet, the soldier lay
unmutilated, seeming almost capable of resuming his part
in the same war which—even after his half century’s sleep
—was still ravaging the land.

Five hundred of the Spaniards perished by the explosion, 1
but none of the defenders were injured; for they had been
prepared. Recovering from the momentary panic, the besiegers
again rushed to the attack. The battle raged. Six hundred
and seventy officers, commissioned or non-commissioned, had
already fallen, more than half mortally wounded. Four thou¬
sand royalists, horribly mutilated, lay on the ground. 3 It was
time that the day’s work should be finished, for Maestricht was
not to be carried upon that occasion. The best and bravest of
the surviving officers besought Parma to put an end to the
carnage by recalling the troops; but the gladiator-heart of the-
commander was heated, not softened, by the savage spectacle.
a Go back to the breach,” he cried, u and tell the soldiers-
that Alexander is coming to lead them into the city in triumph,
or to perish with his comrades.” 3 He rushed forward with
the fury which had marked him when he boarded Mustapha’s-
galley at Lepanto; but all the generals who were near him
threw themselves upon his path, and implored him to desist
from such insensate rashness. Their expostulations would
have probably been in vain, had not his confidential friend,
Serbelloni, interposed with something like paternal authority,
reminding him of the strict commands contained in his-
Majesty’s recent letters, that the Governor-General, to whom
so much was entrusted, should refrain, on pain of the royal
displeasure, from exposing his life like a common fighter. 4

Alexander reluctantly gave the signal of recall at last, and

3 Five to six hundred, according xv. 629, who puts the number of
to a letter 'written between the 12th Spaniards slain m this assault at two
and 15th of April 1579, by a citizen thousand.—Metercn, ix. 154. Haracua-
of Maestricht, and quoted by Bor, xiii. (Tumult. Belg.) t. iii. 299.

51, 52. 3 Strada, 2, ii. 77.

3 Letter from Maestricht above cited. 4 Ibid. The letter of Philip is partly
—Compare Strada, 2, ii. 79. Hoofd, given by the historian.

1579.]

' GBADUAL ADVANCE OF THE SIEGE.

427 *

accepted the defeat. For tlio future lie determined to rely
more upon the sapper and miner, 1 and less upon the superiority
of veterans to townsmen and rustics in open fight. Sure to
carry the city at last, according to line and rule, determined to
pass the whole summer beneath the walls, rather than abandon
his purpose, he calmly proceeded to complete his circumvalla-
tions. A chain of eleven forts upon the left, and five upon the
right side of the Meuse, the whole connected by a continuous
wall, 2 afforded him perfect security against interruptions, and
allowed him to continue the siege at leisure. His numerous-
army was well housed and amply supplied, and he had built a
strong and populous city in order to destroy another. Belief
was impossible. But a few thousand men were now required
to defend Farnese’s improvised town, while the bulk of his
army could be marched at any moment against an advancing
foe. A force of seven thousand, painfully collected by the
Prince of Orange, moved towards the place, under command ol
Hohenlo and John of Nassau, but struck with wonder at what
they saw, the leaders recognised the hopelessness of attempting
relief. Macstricht was surrounded by a second Maestricht.

The efforts of Orange were now necessarily directed towards
obtaining, if possible, a truce of a few weeks from the nego¬
tiators at Cologne. Parma was too crafty, however, to allow
Terranova 3 to consent; and as the Duke disclaimed any power
over the direct question of peace and war, tlio siege proceeded.
The gates of Bois-Ie-Duc and Tongres having thus far resisted
the force brought against them, the scene was changed to the
gate of Brussels. This adjoined that of Tongres, was farthest
from the river, and faced westwardly towards the open coun¬
try. Here the besieged had constructed an additional ravelin,
which they had christened, in derision, u Parma,” and against
which the batteries of Parma were now brought to bear.
Alexander erected a platform of great extent and strength

1 Strada, 2, ii. 80. Bor, xiii. 52.

a Ibid., 2, ii. 83.

3 See a remarkable letter from Parma

to tbe Buko of TcrranoYa, dated Camp
before Maestricht, May 21, 1579, in
Bor, Jtiii. 57, 58.

428 THE RISE OF THE HUTCH REPUBLIC. [1579t

directly opposite the new work, and after a severe and
constant cannonade from this elevation, followed by a bloody
action, the u Parma ” fort was carried. One thousand, at
least, of the defenders fell, as forced gradually from one defence
to another, they saw the triple walls of their ravelin crumble
successively before their eyes. The tower was absolutely
annihilated before they abandoned its ruins, and retired within
their last defences. Alexander being now master of the
fosse and the defences of the Brussels gate, drew up a large
force on both sides of that portal, along the margin of the
moat, and began mining beneath the inner wall of the city. 1

Meantime the garrison had been reduced to four hundred
soldiers, nearly all of whom were wounded. Wearied and
driven to despair, these soldiers were willing to treat. The
townspeople, however, answered the proposition with a shout
of fury, and protested that they would destroy the garrison
with their own hands if such an insinuation was repeated.
Sebastian Tappin, too, encouraged them with the hope of
speedy relief, and held out to them the wretched consequences
of trusting to the mercy of their foes. The garrison took
heart again, while that of the burghers and their wives had
never faltered. Their main hope now was in a fortification
which they had been constructing inside the Brussels gate—
a demilune of considerable strength. Behind it was a breast¬
work of turf and masonry, to serve as a last bulwark when
every other defence should be forced. The whole had been
surrounded by a fosse thirty feet in depth, and the besiegers,
as they mounted upon the breaches which they had at last
effected in the outer curtain, near the Brussels gate, saw for
the first time this new fortification. 2

The general condition of the defences, and the disposition of
the inhabitants, had been revealed to Alexander by a deserter
from the town. Against this last fortress the last efforts of the
foe were now directed. Alexander ordered a bridge to be
thrown across the city moat. As it was sixty feet wide and as
1 Bor, xiii. 64. Strada, iii. 113-117. 2 Strada, 2, ill. 117, 118.

1579.]

THE CITY SUMMONED TO SURRENDER.

429

many deep, and lay directly beneath the guns of the new
demilune, the enterprise was sufficiently hazardous. Alex¬
ander led the way in person, with a mallet in one hand and a
mattock in the other. Two men fell dead instantly, one on
his right hand and the other on his left, while he calmly com¬
menced, in his own person, the driving of the first piles for
the bridge. His soldiers fell fast around him. Count Ber-
laymont 1 was shot dead, many officers of distinction were
killed or wounded, but no soldier dared recoil while their
chieftain wrought amid the bullets like a common pioneer.
Alexander, unharmed, as by a miracle, never left the spot till
the bridge had been constructed, and till ten great guns had
been carried across it, and pointed against the demilune. 2 The
battery was opened, the mines previously excavated were
sprung, a part of the demilune was blown into the air, and
the assailants sprang into the breach. Again a furious hand-
to-hand conflict succeeded ; again, after an obstinate resistance,
the townspeople were forced to yield. Slowly abandoning
the shattered fort, they retired behind the breastwork in its
rear—their innermost and last defence. To this barrier they
clung as to a spar in shipwreck, and here at last they stood
at bay, prepared dearly to sell their lives.

The breastwork, being still strong, was not attempted upon
that day. The assailants were recalled, and in the meantime a
herald was sent by Parma, highly applauding the courage of
the defenders, and begging them to surrender at discretion.
They answered the messenger with words of haughty defiance,
and, rushing in a mass to the breastwork, began with spade,
pickaxe, and trowel, to add to its strength. Here all the able-
bodied men of the town took up their permanent position, and
here they ate, drank, and slept upon their posts, while their
food was brought to them by the women and children. 3

1 Better known as Baron Hierges, G4. Hoofd, xy. G30; Mefceren, ix.
eldest son of the celebrated royalist, 154 e; Archives de la Maison d’Orange,
afterwards Count Berlaymont. Hier- vi. G22; Tassis, v. 338.
ges had not long before succeeded to 3 Strada, 2, iii. 118.
the title on the death of his father.— 3 Bor, xiii. G4. Hoofd, xv. 630.

Strada, 2, iii. 119.—-Compare Bor, xiii. Strada, 2, iii. 120,121.

430

THE RISE OP THE DUTCH REPUBLIC.

[1579.

A little letter, cc written in a fine neat handwriting,” now
mysteriously arrived in the city, encouraging them in the
name of the Archduke and the Prince of Orange, and assuring
them of relief within fourteen days. 1 A brief animation was
thus produced, attended by a corresponding languor upon the
part of the besiegers, for Alexander had been lying ill with a
fever since the day when the demilune had been carried. From
his sick bed he rebuked his officers severely that a temporary
breastwork, huddled together by boors and burghers in the
midst of a siege, should prove an insurmountable obstacle to men
who had carried everything before them. The morrow was the
festival a of Saint Peter and Saint Paul, and it -was meet that
so sacred a day should be hallowed by a Christian and Apos¬
tolic victory. Saint Peter would be there with his keys to
open the gate ; Saint Paul would lead them to battle with his
invincible sword. Orders were given accordingly, and the
assault was assigned for the following morning.

Meantime, the guards were strengthened and commanded to
be more than usually watchful. The injunction had a re¬
markable effect. At the dead of night, a soldier of the watch
was £oinsr his rounds on the outside of the breastwork, listening;
if perchance he might catch, as was not unusual, a portion of
the conversation among the beleaguered burghers within.
Prying about on every side, he at last discovered a chink in
the wall, the result, doubtless, of the last cannonade, and hitherto
overlooked. He enlarged the gap with his fingers, and finally
made an opening wide enough to admit his person. Ho
crept boldly through, and looked around in the clear star¬
light. 3 The sentinels were all slumbering at their posts. He
advanced stealthily in the dusky streets. Not a watchman
was going his rounds. Soldiers, burghers, children, women,
exhausted by incessant fatigue, were all asleep. Not a foot¬
fall was heard; not a whisper broke the silence; it seemed a

1 This letter is still preserved in the G22, note. Bor, aciii. G5.

Archives of Holland.—Oroen v. Prinst. 2 29th of June, 1579.

Archives do la Maison d’Orange, vi. 3 Strada, 2, iii. 121.

157 *. ]

THE ASSAULT.

431

city of the dead. The soldier crept back through the crevice,
and hastened to apprise liis superiors of his adventure. 1

Alexander, forthwith instructed as to the condition of the
city, at once ordered the assault, and the last wall was sud¬
denly stormed before the morning broke. The soldiers forced
their way through the breach or sprang over the breastwork,
and surprised at last—in its sleep—the city which had so
long and vigorously defended itself. The burghers, startled
from their slumber, bewildered, unprepared, found themselves
•engaged in unequal conflict with alert and savage foes. The
battle, as usual when Netherland towns were surprised by
Philip’s soldiers, soon changed to a massacre. The towns¬
people rushed hither and thither, but there was neither escape,
nor means of resisting an enemy who now poured into the
town by thousands upon thousands. An indiscriminate
slaughter succeeded. Women, old men, and children, had all
been combatants; and all, therefore, had incurred the ven¬
geance of the conquerors. A cry of agony arose which was
distinctly heard at the distance of a league. Mothers took
their infants in their arms, and threw themselves by hundreds
into the Meuse—and against women the blood-thirst of the
assailants was especially directed. Females who had fought
daily in the trenches, who had delved in mines and mustered
•on the battlements, had unsexed themselves in the opinion of
those whose comrades they had helped to destroy. It was
nothing that they had laid aside the weakness of women, in
-order to defend all that was holy and dear to them on earth.
It was sufficient that many a Spanish, Burgundian, or
Italian mercenary had died by their hands. Women were
pursued from house to house, and hurled from roof and
window. They wore hunted into the river; they were torn
limb from limb in the streets. Men and children fired no
better; but the heart sickens at the oft-repeated tale. Horrors,
alas, were commonplaces in the Netherlands. Cruelty too
monstrous for description, too vast to be believed by a mind

1 Strada.—Comp. Bor, xiii. 65, sqq. Hoofd, xv. G32, 633; Meteren, ix. 155, sqq.

432

THE RISE OP THE DUTCH REPUBLIC.

[1579.

not familiar with the outrages practised by the soldiers of
Spain and Italy upon their heretic fellow-creatures, were now
committed afresh in the streets of Maestricht. 1

On the first day four thousand men and women were
slaughtered. 2 The massacre lasted two days longer; nor would
it be an exaggerated estimate, if we assume that the amount
of victims upon the two last days was equal to half the
number sacrificed on the first. 3 It was said that not four
hundred citizens were left alive after the termination of the
siege. 4 These soon wandered away, their places being
supplied by a rabble rout of Walloon sutlers and vagabonds.
Maestricht was depopulated as well as captured. The booty ob¬
tained after the massacre was very large, for the city had been
very thriving, its cloth manufacture extensive and important.
Sebastian Tappin, the heroic defender of the place, had been
shot through the shoulder at the taking of the Parma ravelin,,
and had been afterwards severely injured at the capture of
the demilune. At the fall of the city he was mortally
wounded, and carried a prisoner to the hostile camp, only to
expire. The governor, Swartsenberg, also lost his life. 5

Alexander, on the contrary, was raised from his sick bed
with the joyful tidings of victory, and, as soon as he could he
moved, made his appearance in the city. Seated in a splendid
chair of state, borne aloft on the shoulders of his veterans, with
a golden canopy above his head to protect him from the summer

1 Bentivoglio, 2, i. 239. Haraei,
Ann. Brab., iii. 299. Hoofd, xv. G33.
Bor, xiii. 66. Meteren, ix. 155. Strada,
2, iii. 124.

2 This is the estimate of the Jesuit
Strada.

3 Strada puts the total number of
inhabitants of Maestricht, slam during
the four months’ siege, at eight thou¬
sand, of whom seventeen hundred were
women.—P. 127.

4 Not more than three or four hun¬
dred, says Bor, xiii. 65. Not more
than four hundred, says Hoofd, xv.
633. Not three hundred, says Meteren,

ix. Th** «uist, of course, be an exagge¬

ration, for the population had num¬
bered thirty-four thousand at tlio com¬
mencement of tho siege. At any rate,
the survivors were but a remnant, and
they all wandered away. The place,
which had been so recently a very
thriving and industrious town, re¬
mained a desert. During the ensuing
winter most of tho remaining buildings
were torn down, that tho timber and
wood-work might be used as firewood
by the soldiers and vagabonds who
from time to time housed there.—Me¬
teren, Hoofd, Bor, ubi sup.
a Strada, 2, iii. 126.

1579.]

CALUMNIOUS ATTACKS UPON ORANGE.

433

sun, attended by the officers of his staff, who were decked by his
special command in their gayest trappings, escorted by his
body guard, followed by his u plumed troops,” to the number
of twenty thousand, surrounded by all the vanities of war, the
hero made his stately entrance into the town. 1 His way led
through deserted streets of shattered houses. The pavement
ran red with blood. Headless corpses, mangled limbs—an
obscene mass of wretchedness and corruption, were spread on
every side, and tainted the summer air. Through the thriv¬
ing city which, in the course of four months, Alexander had
converted into a slaughter-house and a solitude, the pompous
procession took its course to the church of Saint Servais. 2
Here humble thanks were offered to the God of Love, and to
Jesus of Nazareth, for this new victory. Especially was
gratitude expressed to the Apostles Paul and Peter, upon
whose festival, and by whose sword and key the crowning mercy
had been accomplished, 3 and by whose special agency eight
thousand heretics now lay unburied in the streets. These
acts of piety performed, the triumphal procession returned to
the camp, where, soon afterwards, the joyful news of Alex¬
ander Farnese’s entire convalescence was proclaimed.

The Prince of Orange, as usual, was blamed for the tragical
termination to this long drama. All that one man could do,
he had done to awaken his countrymen to the importance of
the siege. He had repeatedly brought the subject solemnly
before the assembly, and implored for Maestricht, almost
upon his knees. Lukewarm and parsimonious, the states
had responded to his eloquent appeals with wrangling ad¬
dresses and insufficient votes. With a special subsidy
obtained in April and May, he had organised the slight
attempt at relief, which was all which he had been empowered
to make, but which proved entirely unsuccessful. Now that
the massacre to be averted was accomplished, men were

1 Strada, 2, iii. 130. — Compare a payment of wages due to his Divine
Tassis, v. 339. 2 Ibid. comrades, Peter and Paul: u Petro

3 According to Father Strada, Alex- et Paulo gratias quasi stipendium pgp-
ander considered this ceremony as solvit commtiitonibus Divis —P. 130.

VOL. III. 2 E

434 THE RISE OF THE DUTCH REPUBLIC. [1579.

loud in reproof, who had been silent and passive while there
was yet time to speak and to work. It was the Prince, they
said, who had delivered so many thousands of his fellow
countrymen to butchery. To save himself, they insinuated
he was now plotting to deliver the land into the power of
the treacherous Frenchman, and he alone, they asserted,
was the insuperable obstacle to an honourable peace with
Spain. 1

A letter, brought by an unknown messenger, was laid before
the states’ assembly, in full session, and sent to the clerk’s
table, to be read aloud. After the first few sentences, that
functionary faltered in his recital. Several members also per¬
emptorily ordered him to stop; for the letter proved to be a
violent and calumnious libel upon Orange, together with a
strong appeal in favour of the peace proposition then under
debate at Cologne. The Prince alone, of all tho assembly,
preserving his tranquillity, ordered the document to be brought
to him, and forthwith read it aloud himself, from beginning to
end. Afterwards, he took occasion to express his mind con¬
cerning the ceaseless calumnies of which he was the mark.
He especially alluded to the oft-repeated accusation that ho
was the only obstacle to peace, and repeated that he was
ready at that moment to leave the land, and to close his
lips for ever, if by so doing he could benefit his country, and
restore her to honourable repose. The outcry, with the
protestations of attachment and confidence which at once
broke from the assembly, convinced him, however, that lie
was deeply rooted in the hearts of all patriotic Nether-
landers, and that it was beyond the power of slanderers to
loosen his hold upon their affection. 2

Meantime, his efforts had again and again been demanded to
restore order in that abode of anarchy, the city of Ghent. After
his visit during the previous winter, and the consequent depar¬
ture of John Casimir to the palatinate, the pacific arrangements

1 Groen t, Prinst., Archives, etc., vi. xvi., passim.

621, 622; vii. 41,42. Bor, sin. Hoofd, 2 Archives, etc., vii. 42, 43.

1570.]

IMBI ZE AND DATHENUS.

435

made by the Prince had for a short time held good. Early in
March, however, that master of misrule, John van Imbize,
had once more excited the populace to sedition. Again the
property of Catholics, clerical and lay, was plundered; again
the persons of Catholics, of every degree, were maltreated.
The magistrates, with first senator Imbize at their head, rather
encouraged than rebuked the disorder; but Orange, as soon
as he received official intelligence of the event, hastened to
address them in the words of earnest warning and wisdom. 1
He allowed that the inhabitants of the province had reason
to be discontented with the presence and misconduct of the
Walloon soldiery. He granted that violence and the menaces
of a foreign tyranny made it difficult for honest burghers to
gain a livelihood. At the same time he expressed astonish¬
ment that reasonable men should seek a remedy for such evils
in tumults which would necessarily bring utter destruction
upon the land. “It was,” ho observed, “as if a patient
should, from impatience, tear the bandages from his wounds,
and, like a maniac, instead of allowing himself to be cured,
plunge a dagger into his own heart.” 2

These exhortations exerted a -wholesome effect for a moment,
but matters soon went from bad to worse. Imbize, fearing
the influence of the Prince, indulged in open-mouthed abuse
of a man whose character he was unable even to comprehend.
He accused him of intriguing with France for his own benefit,
of being a Papist in disguise, of desiring to establish what he
called a “ religious peace,” merely to restore Roman idolatry.
In all these insane ravings, the demagogue was most ably
seconded by the ex-monk. Incessant and unlicensed were the
invectives hurled by Peter Dathenus from his pulpit upon
William the Silent’s head. He denounced him—as he had
often done before—as an atheist in heart; as a man who
changed his religion as easily as his garments ; as a man who
knew no god but state expediency, which was the idol of liis
worship; a mere politician who would tear his shirt from his

Archives, etc., vi. 5S6, sqq.

a Ibid., vi. 5S0.

436

THE KISE OF THE BUTCH BEPUBLIC.

[1579-

back and throw it in the fire, if he thought it were tainted
with religion. 1

Such witless but vehement denunciation from a preacher who
was both popular and comparatively sincere, could not but affect
the imagination of the weaker portion of his hearers. The fac¬
tion of Imbize became triumphant. Ryhove— the ruffian
whose hands were stained with the recent blood of Visch and
Hessels—rather did damage than service to tho cause of order.
He opposed himself to the demagogue who was prating daily
of Greece, Home, and Geneva, while his clerical associate was
denouncing William of Orange, but he opposed himself in vain.
An attempt to secure the person of Imbize failed,'- 1 but by the
influence of Ryhove, however, a messenger was dispatched to
Antwerp in the name of a considerable portion of the com¬
munity of Ghent. The counsel and the presence of the man
to whom all hearts in every part of the Netherlands instinc¬
tively turned in the hour of need, were once more invoked.

The Prince again addressed them in language which none
but he could employ with such effect. He told them that liis
life, passed in service and sacrifice, ought to witness sufficiently
for his fidelity. Nevertheless, ho thought it necessary—in view
of the calumnies which were circulated—to repeat once more
his sentiments that no treaty of peace, war, or alliance, ought to
be negociated, save with the consent of the people. 3 His course
in Holland and Zeland had proved, he said, his willingness
always to consult the wishes of his countrymen. As for tho
matter of religion, it was almost incredible that there should be
any who doubted the zeal which ho bore the religion for which
he had suffered so much. u I desire,” he continued, fervently,
66 that men should compare that which has been done by my
accusers during ten years past with that which I have done.
In that which touches the true advancement of religion, I will

1 Grh. (resell., ii. 199, cited in Gr.
y. Prinst., Archives, etc., vii. 81, note.

a Archives, etc., vi. 586, sqq. and vii.
18. Van der Vynckt, iii. 29, sqq.
s “ Bieu merci, je ne suis pas si peu

cognoissant quo jo no eacho bion qu’il
faut necc^airemciit traietcr, soifc do
paix, soitdo guerre, soitdalliance,avec
lo grd du peuple,” etc.—Letter of
Orange, Archives, etc., vii. 20, sqq.

1579.]

COUP D’ETAT.

4 3r

yield to no man. They who so boldly accuse me have no liberty
of speech , save that which has been acquired for them by the
blood of my kindred, by my labours, and my excessive ex¬
penditures. To me they owe it that they dare speak at all.”
This letter (which was dated on the 24th of July 1579) con¬
tained an assurance that the writer was about to visit Ghent. 1

On the following day, Imbize executed a coup d'etat.
Having a body of near two thousand soldiers at his disposal,
he suddenly secured the persons of all the magistrates and
other notable individuals not friendly to his policy, and then,
in violation of all law, set up a new board of eighteen
irresponsible functionaries, according to a list prepared by
himself alone. This was his way of enforcing the democratic
liberty of Greece, Rome, and Geneva, which was so near to
his heart. A proclamation, in fourteen articles, was forth¬
with issued, justifying this arbitrary proceeding. It was
declared that the object of the somewhat irregular measure
a was to prevent the establishment of the religious peace,
which was merely a method of replanting uprooted papistry
and the extirpated tyranny of Spain.” Although the arrange¬
ments had not been made in strict accordance with formal
usage and ceremony, yet they were defended upon the ground
that it had been impossible, by other means, to maintain
their ancient liberties and their religious freedom. At the
same time a pamphlet, already prepared for the occasion by
Dathenus, was extensively circulated. In this production the
arbitrary revolution effected by a demagogue was defended
with effrontery, while the character of Orange*was loaded
with customary abuse. To prevent the traitor from coming
to Ghent, and establishing what he called his religious peace,
these irregular measures, it was urged, had been wisely taken. 2

Such were the efforts of John Imbize—such the calumnies

1 Letter of Orange, Archives, etc., character of William of Orange,
vii. 20, sqq.—The whole of this noble 2 Archives et Correspondance, vii.
document should be read again and 31. V. d. Vynckt, iii. 38, sqq. Me-
again by all who feel interested in the teren, ix. 161, sqq. Bor, xiii. 84, 85.

438

THE RISE OE TEE DUTCH REPUBLIC.

[1570

of Peter Dathenus—in order to counteract the patriotic
endeavours of the Prince ; but neither the ruffianism of John
nor the libels of Peter were destined upon this occasion to be
successful. William the Silent treated the slanders of the
scolding monk with dignified contempt. u Having been in¬
formed/’ said he to the magistrates of Ghent, u that Master
Peter Dathenus has been denouncing me as a man without
religion or fidelity, and full of ambition, with other propo- ^
sitions hardly becoming his cloth, I do not think it worth
while to answer more at this time than that I willingly
refer myself to the judgment of all who know me.” 1

The Prince came to Ghent, great as had been tho efforts
of Imbize and his partisans to prevent his coming. His
presence was like magic. The demagogue and his whole
flock vanished like unclean birds at the first rays of tho sun.
Imbize dared not look the Father of his country in the face.
Orange rebuked the populace in the strong and indignant
language that public and private virtue, energy, and a high
purpose enabled such a leader of the people to use. Pie at
once set aside the board of eighteen—tho Grecian-Roman-
Genevese establishment of Imbize—and remained in tho city
until the regular election, in conformity with the privileges,
had taken place. Imbize, who had shrunk at his approach,
was meantime discovered by his own companions. He had
stolen forth secretly on the night before tho Prince’s arrival,
and was found cowering in the cabin of a vessel, half dead
with fear, by an ale-house keeper who had been his warm
partisan. “ Ho skulking,” cried the honest friend, seizing
the tribune of the peoplo by the shoulder; u no sailing away
in the night-time. You have got us all into this bog, and
must come back, and abide the issue with your supporters.” *

In this collapsed state was the windy demagogue, who had
filled half Flanders with his sound and fury, conveyed before
the patriot Prince. He met with grave and bitter rebukes, but

1 Archives efc Corresp., vii. 33,34. | ix. 1G1, sqq. Van dor Vynckt, iii. 38 r

1 Bor, xiii. 85, sqq. Meteren, \ sqq.

1579.]

ORDER RESTORED IN GHENT.

439

felt sufficiently relieved when allowed to depart unharmed. 1
Judging of his probable doom by the usual practice of him¬
self and his fellows in similar cases, he had anticipated
nothing short of the gibbet. That punishment, however,
was to bo inflicted at a later period, by other hands, and not
until he had added traeson to his country and a shameless
recantation of all his violent professions in favour of civil and
religious liberty to the list of his crimes. On the present
occasion he was permitted to go free. In company with his
clerical companion, Peter Dathenus, he fled to the abode of
his excellent friend, John Casimir, who received both with
open arms, and allowed them each a pension. 2

Order being thus again restored in Ghent by the exertions
of the Prince, when no other human hand could have dis¬
pelled the anarchy which seemed to reign supreme, William
the Silent, having accepted the government of Flanders,
which had again and again been urged upon him, now
returned to Antwerp. 5

x Bor, Meteren, Van derVynckt, ubi

BUp.

* Van dor Vynckt, iii. 38-42.—Com¬
pare Hoofd, xv. 145-150.

3 Archives, vii. 60, and Meteren,
ix. 163 b, but the Prince says, in
his Apologie, published eighteen months

later (Dec. 1580,) that he had hitherto,
although often urged to accept, re¬
fused the government of Pianders.
—Apologie, etc., 108, 109. It is
probable that his acceptance was only
conditional, as, indeed, Meteren ob¬
serves.

CHAPTER III.

STERILE CONFERENCES AND TEEMING INTRIGUES.

The Cologne conferences—Intentions of the parties—Preliminary attempt by
government to purchase the Prince of Orange—Offer and rejection of
various articles among the plenipotentiaries—Departure of the imperial
commissioners—Ultimatum of the States compared with that of the royal
government—Barren negotiations terminated—Treason of De Bours,
Governor of Mechlin—Liberal theories concerning the nature of govern¬
ment—Abjuration of Philip imminent—Self-denial of Orange—Attitude
of Germany; of England—Marriage negotiations between Elizabeth and
Anjou—Orange favours the election of the Duke as sovereign—Address
and speeches of the Prince—Parsimony and interprovincial jealousy
rebuked—Secret correspondence of Count Renneberg with the royal
government—His treason at Groningen.

Since the beginning of May, the Cologne negotiations had
been dragging their slow length along. Few persons believed
that any good was likely to result from these stately and
ponderous conferences; yet men were so weary of war, so
desirous that a termination might be put to the atrophy under
which the country was languishing, that many an eager
glance was turned towards the place where the august
assembly was holding its protracted session. Certainly, if
wisdom were to be found in mitred heads—if the power to
heal angry passions and to settle the conflicting claims of
prerogative and conscience were to be looked for among
men of lofty station, then the Cologne conferences ought
to have made the rough places smooth and the crooked paths
straight throughout all Christendom. There was the Arch¬
bishop of Eossano, afterwards Pope Urban VII., as pleni¬
potentiary from Eome; there was Charles of Aragon, Duke

1579.]

THE COLOGNE CONFERENCES.

441

of Terranova, supported by five councillors, as ambassador
from his Catholic Majesty; there were the Duke of Aerschot,
the Abbot of Saint Gertrude, the Abbot of Marolles,
Doctor Bucho Aytta, Caspar Schetz, Lord of Grobbendonck,
that learned Frisian, Aggeus van Albada, with seven other
wise men, as envoys from the states-general. There were
their serene Highnesses the Elector and Archbishops of
Cologne and Treves, with the Bishop of Wurtzburg. There
was also a numerous embassy from his Imperial Majesty,
with Count Otto de Schwartzenburg at its head. 1

Here then were holiness, serenity, dignity, law, and'
learning in abundance. Here was a pope in posse , with arch¬
bishops, princes, dukes, jurisconsults, and doctors of divinity
in esse , sufficient to remodel a world, if worlds were to be
remodelled by such instruments. If protocols, replications,
annotations, apostilles, could heal a bleeding country, here
were the physicians to furnish those drugs in unlimited pro¬
fusion. If reams of paper, scrawled over with barbarous
technicalities, could smother and bury a quarrel which had
its origin in the mutual antagonism of human elements, here
were the men to scribble unflinchingly, till the reams were
piled to a pyramid. If the same idea presented in many
aspects could acquire additional life, here were the word-
mongers who could clothe one shivering thought in a hundred
thousand garments, till it attained all the majesty which
decoration could impart. In truth, the envoys came from
Spain, Home, and Vienna, provided with but two ideas.
Was it not a diplomatic masterpiece, that from this frugal
store they could contrive to eke out seven mortal months of
negotiation? Two ideas—the supremacy of his Majesty’s
prerogative, the exclusive exercise of the Homan Catholic
religion—these were the be-all and the end-all of their com¬
mission. Upon these two strings they were to harp, at least
till the walls of Maestricht had fallen. The envoys did their
duty well; they were sent to enact a solemn comedy, and in
1 Bor, adii. 52. Meteren, ix. 155.

442

THE EISE OE THE HUTCH EEPUBLIC.

[1579.

the most stately manner did they walk through their several
parts. Not that the King was belligerent; on the contrary,
he was heartily weary of the war. Prerogative was weary—
Romanism was weary—conscience was weary—the Spirit of
Freedom was weary—but the Prince of Orange was not
weary. Blood and treasure had been pouring forth so pro¬
fusely during twelve flaming years, that all but that one
tranquil spirit were beginning to flag.

At the same time, neither party had more disposition to
concede than stomach to fight. Certainly the royal party had
no inclination to yield. The King had granted easy terms to
the Walloons, because upon the one great point of religion there
was no dispute, and upon the others there was no intention of
keeping faith. 1 2 With regard to the present negotiation, it was
desirable to gain a little time. It was thought probable that
the religious difference, judiciously managed at this juncture,
might be used to effect a permanent severance of the provinces
so lately banded together in a common union. u To divide
them,” wrote Tassis, in a very confidential letter, u no better
method can be found than to amuse them with this peace nego¬
tiation. Some are ready for a pacification from their desiro of
repose, some from their fear of war, some from the differences
which exist among themselves, and which it is especially impor¬
tant to keep alive.” 3 Above all things, it was desirable to
maintain the religious distraction till Maestricht had been
taken. That siege was the key to the whole situation. If
the separate Walloon accord conkl be quietly mado in a
corner, while Parma was battering that stronghold on the
Meuse, and while decorous negotiation was smoothly holding
its course on the Rhine, much disorganisation, it was hoped,
would be handsomely accomplished before the end of the year.

1 This is roost evident from the cor¬
respondence of Parma, both before and
after the treaty of Arras.—Bee. Prov.
Wallones, MS., Brussels Archives,
particularly vols. iv. and v.

2 Archives de la Maison d’Orange,

vii. 30. So also Du Plessis Mornay, m j

writing to a friend three years after¬
wards, observed:—“ Lo traits de Co-
loigno a suiftsament monstrd quelle a
este l’intention do Pennexni en propo*
sant ce beau nom de Paix, & scavoir de
diviser et rompre les provinces et sub¬
orner les villes.”—Mem. de Mornay, i. 75,

1579.]

INTENTIONS OF THE PARTIES.

443

“ As for a suspension of arms,” wrote Alexander to Terra-
nova, on the 21st of May, “the longer ’tis deferred the
better. With regard to Maestricht, everything depends upon
it that we possess, or desire to possess. Truly, if the Prince
of Orange can relieve the city he will do it. If he does so,
neither will this expedition of ours, nor any other expedition?
be brought to a good end. As soon as men are aware that
our affairs are looking badly, they will come again to a true
union, and all will join together, in hope to accomplish their
boasts.” 1 Therefore, it was natural that the peace-wrights
of Cologne should industriously ply their task.

It is not desirable to disturb much of that learned dust, after
its three centuries’ repose. A rapid sketch of the course of the
proceedings, with an indication of the spirit which animated
the contending parties, will be all that is necessary. They
came and they separated with precisely opposite views. “The
desires of Terranova and of the estates,” says the royalist,
Tassis, “ were diametrically contrary to each other. The
King wished that the exercise of the Roman Catholic religion
should be exclusively established, and the absolute prerogative
preserved in its integrity.” 2 On the other hand, the pro¬
vinces desired their charters and a religious peace. In these
perpetual lines and curves ran the asymptotical negotiation
from beginning to end—and so it might have run for two
/centuries, without hope of coincidence. Neither party was
yet vanquished. The freshly united provinces were no readier
now than before to admit that the Holy Office formed part of
their national institutions. The despotic faction was not pre¬
pared to renounce that establishment. Foiled, but not dis¬
heartened, sat the Inquisition, like a beldame, upon the border,
impotently threatening the land whence she had been for ever
excluded; while industrious as the Parcae, distaff in hand, sat,
in Cologne, the inexorable three—Spain, the Empire, and Rome
—grimly spinning and severing the web of mortal destinies.

1 Letter of Parma, May 21, 1579,1 Bor, 2, xiii. 57.
from his camp before Maestricht, apud | 3 Com. de Turn. Belg., v. 307.

444

THE BISE OF THE HUTCH BEPUBUC.

[ 1579 .

The first step in the proceedings had been a secret one. If
by any means the Prince of Orange could be detached from
his party—if by bribery, however enormous, he could be in¬
duced to abandon a tottering cause, and depart for the land
of his birth—he was distinctly but indirectly given to under¬
stand that he had but to name his terms. We have seen the
issue of similar propositions made by Don John of Austria.
Probably there was no man living who would care to make
distinct application of this dishonourable nature to the Father
of his country. The Aerschots, the Meluns, the Lalains, and
a swarm of other nobles, had their price, and were easilj
transferable from one to another, but it was not easy to make
a direct offer to William of Orange. They knew—as he
said shortly afterwards in his famous Apology — that
u neither for property nor for life, neither for wife nor for
children, would he mix in his cup a single drop of treason.” 1
Nevertheless, he was distinctly given to understand that u there
was nothing he could demand for himself personally that would
not be granted.” All his confiscated property, restoration of
his imprisoned son, liberty of worship for himself, payment
of all his debts, reimbursement of all his past expenses, and
anything else which he could desire, were all placed within
his reach. If he chose to retire into another land, his son
might be placed in possession of all his cities, estates, and
dignities, and himself indemnified in Germany; with a
million of money over and above as a gratuity. The imperial
envoy, Count Schwartzenburg, pledged his personal honour
and reputation that every promise which might be made to
the Prince should be most sacredly fulfilled. 3

It was all in vain. The indirect applications of the imperial

1 44 Si je ne veuille ni pour les biens Strada, who wrote with all the secret
ni pour la vie, ni pour femme ni pour papers of the Farneee family before

enfans, mesler en mon breuyage une him, 44 -si hoec omnia abituro homini

seule goutte de yenin de trahison.”— adhuc non sufRciant, neque banc neque
Apologie, p. 127. quamcumque porsimilem conditionem

- Quo je n’eusse rien eceu repudiandam,” etc.—2, ii. 8G.—Com-

demander pour mon particular, qu on pare, particularly, Ey. Beidani, Ann., ii.
ne m’eust accorde, et me donner comp- 29. Compare Qaehard, Corrcsp. de
tanfc uu million.” — Ibid. — Compare I Guillaume le Tacit., vol. iv., preface.

1579.]

SELF-DENIAL OP ORANGE.

445

commissioners made to his servants and his nearest relations
were entirely unsuccessful. The Prince was not to be drawn
into a negotiation in his own name or for his own benefit.
If the estates were satisfied, he was satisfied. He wanted no
conditions but theirs; “nor would he* directly or indirectly,”
he said, “ separate himself from the cause on which hung all
his evil or felicity.” He knew that it was the object of the
enemy to deprive the country of its head, and no inducements
were sufficient to make him a party to the plot. 1 At the
same time, he was unwilling to be an obstacle, in his own
person, to the conclusion of an honourable peace. He
would resign his offices, which he held at the solicitation of
the whole country, if thus a negotiation were likely to be
more successful. “ The Prince of Parma and the disunited
provinces,” said he to the statcs-gcncral, “ affect to consider
this war as one waged against me and in my name—as if the
question alone concerned the name and person of the general.
If it bo so, I beg you to consider whether it is not because I
have been ever faithful to the land. Nevertheless, if I am
an obstacle, I am ready to remove it. If you, therefore, in
order to deprive the enemy of every right to inculpate us,
think proper to choose another head and conductor of your
affairs, I promise you to serve and to be obedient to him with
all my heart . Thus shall we leave the enemy no standing-
place to work dissensions among us.” 2 Such was his lan¬
guage to friend and foe; and here, at least, was one man in
history whom kings were not rich enough to purchase.

On the 18th of May, the states 5 envoys at Cologne pre¬
sented fourteen articles, demanding freedom of religion and
the ancient political charters. Eeligion, they said, was to be
referred, not to man, but to God. To Him the King was
subject as well as the people. Both King and people—“and
by people was meant every individual in the land ”—were bound
to serve God according to their conscience. 3

1 Apologie, pp. 127, 128. Ev. 95-98.

Ecidani, ii. 29. 3 See the document in Bor, xiii. 54,

2 See the letter in Bor, xiii. sqq.—Compare Meteren, ix. 156, sqq.

446 TEE B1SE OF TEE DUTCH KEPUBLIO. [1570.

The imperial envoys found such language extremely repre¬
hensible, and promptly refused, as umpires, to entertain the
fourteen articles. Others drawn up by Terranova and col¬
leagues, embodying the claims of the royal and Roman party,
were then solemnly presented, and as promptly rejected.
Then the imperial umpires came forward with two bundles of
propositions—approved beforehand by the Spanish pleni¬
potentiaries. In the political bundle, obedience due to the
King was insisted upon, tc as in the time of the Emperor
Charles.” The religious category declared that “ the Roman
religion —all others excluded —should thenceforth be exer¬
cised in all the provinces.” Both these categories were con¬
sidered more objectionable by the states’ envoys than the
terms of Terranova, and astonishment was expressed that
“ mention should again be made of the edicts —as if blood
enough had not been shed already in the cause of religion.” 1

The Netherland envoys likewise gave the imperial commis¬
sioners distinctly to understand that—in case peace were not
soon made—“the states would forthwith declare the Kin<r
fallen from his sovereignty; ” -would for ever dispense the
people from their oaths of allegiance to him, and would
probably accept the Duke of Anjou in his place. The states-
general, to which body the imperial propositions had been
sent, also rejected the articles in a logical and historical
argument of unmerciful length. 2

An appeal secretly made by the imperial and Spanish com¬
missioners, from the states’ envoys to the states themselves,
and even to the people of the various provinces, had excited
the anger of the plenipotentiaries. They complained loudly
of this violation of all diplomatic etiquette, and the answer of
the states-general, fully confirming the views of their
ambassadors, did not diminish their wrath.

On the 13th of November 1579, the states’ envoys were in¬
vited into the council chamber of the imperial commissioners,
fcc hear the last solemn commonplaces of those departing func-
1 Eor, xiii. 5S, 59. * Ibid., 3, xiii. 58 a, 115-118.

1579.] BARREN NEGOTIATIONS TERMINATED. 447

tionaries. Seven months long they had been waiting in vain,
they said, for the states’ envoys to accede to moderate demands.
Patience was now exhausted. Moreover, their mediatory
views had been the subject of bitter lampooning throughout
the country, while the authorities of many cities had publicly
declared that all the inhabitants would rather die the death
than accept such terms. The peacemakers* accordingly, with
endless protestations as to their own purity, wisdom, and
benevolence, left the whole a in the hands of God and the
parties concerned.” 1

The reply to this elaborate farewell was curt and somewhat
crusty. u Had they known,” said the states' envoys, u that
their transparencies and worthinesses had no better intention,
and the Duke of Terranova no ampler commission, the whole
matter might have been despatched, not in six months, but in
six days.” 2

Thus ended the conferences, and the imperial commissioners
departed. Nevertheless, Sehwarfczenburg remained yet a little
time at Cologne, while five of the states’ envoys also pro¬
tracted their stay, in order to make their private peace with
the King. It is hardly necessary to observe that the chief of
these penitents was the Duke of Aerschot. 3 The ultimation of
the states was deposited by the departing envoys with Schwart-
zenburg, 4 and a comparison of its terms with those offered by
the imperial mediators, as the best which could be obtained
from Spain, shews the hopelessness of the pretended negotia¬
tion. Departure of the foreign troops, restitution of all con¬
fiscated property, unequivocal recognition of the Ghent treaty
and the perpetual edict* appointment to office of none but
natives, oaths of allegiance to the King and the states-general,
exercise of the Deformed religion and of the confession of
Augsburg in all places where it was then publicly practised :
such were the main demands of the patriot party.

1 Bor, xiii. 101, sqq. Moteren, ix. 1157, sqq.—Compare Sfcrada, 2, ii. 11CX
157, sqq. 111. 3 Bor, xiii. 10S.

a Bor, xiii. 101, sqq. Meteren, ix. \ 4 Apud Bor, 2, xiii. 108-110.

448

THE BISE OE THE DUTCH BEPUBLIC.

[157V.

In the secret instructions 1 furnished by the states to their
envoys, they were told to urge upon his Majesty the absolute
necessity, if he wished to retain the provinces, of winking at
the exercise of the Reformed and the Augsburg creeds. u The
new religion had taken too deep root,” it was urged, u ever to
be torn forth, save with the destruction of the whole country.”

Thus, after seven dreary months of negotiation, after
protocols and memoranda in ten thousand folia, the august
diplomatists had travelled round to the points from which
they had severally started. On the o'ne side, unlimited
prerogative and exclusive Catholicism; on the other, con¬
stitutional liberty, with freedom of conscience for Catholic
and Protestant alike: these were the claims which each party
announced at the commencement, and to which they held
with equal firmness at the close of the conferences. 2

The congress had been expensive. Though not much had
been accomplished for the political or religious advancement
of mankind, there had been much excellent eating and
drinking at Cologne during the seven months. Those drouthy
deliberations had needed moistening. The Bishop of Wurtz-
burg had consumed u eighty hogsheads of Rhenish wine and
twenty great casks of beer.” 8 The expenses of the states’
envoys were twenty-four thousand guldens. The Archbishop
of Cologne had expended forty thousand thalers. 4 The de¬
liberations were, on the whole, excessively detrimental to the
cause of the provinces, u and a great personage ” wrote to
the states-general, that the King had been influenced by no
motive save to cause dissension. 5 This was an exaggeration,
for his Majesty would have been well pleased to receive the

1 Apud Bor, xiii. 110-113. den, 1580.—Compare Strada, 2, ii. 82-

2 All the most important documents 112 ; Haraei, Turn. Belg., iii. 205-298;
of this elaborate but sterile negociation Tassis, Com. Turn. Belg., v. 348-385;
are given in full by Bor, iii. 13, sqq. Meteren, ix. 155-161; Wagonaer, Vad.
Tb© whole mass of the protocols and Hist., vii. 278-2S5, and 310-316;
arguments is also to bo found in a Hoofd, xv. 631, 632. and xvi. 658-672,
volume entitled, " Acta pacificationis et mult. al.

quse coram sac. ces. maj. inter, ser. reg. 3 Bor, xiii. 114.

Hisp. et Princip. Matth. ordmumque 4 Ibid.

Belg. leg. Colonise habita sunt." Ley- * Ibid.

1579.]

MORE TREASON.

449

whole of the country on the same terms which had been
accepted by the Walloons. Meantime, those southern pro¬
vinces had made their separate treaty, and the Netherlands
were permanently dissevered. Maestriclit had fallen. Dis¬
union and dismay had taken possession of the country.

During the course of the year other severe misfortunes had
happened to the states. Treachery, even among the men who
had done good service to the cause of freedom, was daily shew¬
ing her hateful visage. Not only the great chieftains who had
led the malcontent Walloon party, with the fickle Aerschot and
the wavering Havre besides, had made their separate reconci¬
liation with Parma, but the epidemic treason had mastered such
bold partisans as the Seigneur de Bours, the man whose services
in rescuing the citadel of Antwerp had been so courageous and
valuable. He was governor of Mechlin; Count Renneberg
was governor of Friesland. Both were trusted implicitly by
Orange and by the estates; both were on the eve of repaying
the confidence reposed in them by the most venal treason.

It was already known that Parma had tampered with De
Bours; but Eenneberg was still unsuspected. “ The Prince,”
wrote Count John, “is deserted by all the noblemen, save
the stadtholder of Friesland and myself, and has no man
else in whom he can repose confidence.” 1 The brothers
were doomed to be rudely awakened from the repose with
regard to Eenneberg, but previously the treason of a less
important functionary was to cause a considerable but less
lasting injury to the national party.

In Mechlin was a Carmelite friar, of audacious character and
great eloquence; a man who, “with his sweet, poisonous
tongue, could ever persuade the people to do his bidding. This
dangerous monk, Peter Lupus, or Peter Wolf, by name, had
formed the design of restoring Mechlin to the Prince of Parma,
and of obtaining the bishopric of Namur as the reward of his'

1 Archives cle la M’aison d’Orange,
vxi. 36, 37; letter of July 31, 1579.

* “En konde met sijn soete fenij-

nige tonge bet volk luiden en be«
wegen daer hy toe wilde ”—Eor, xiII.
80.

VOL. III.

2 F

450

THE RISE OF THE HUTCH REPUBLIC.

[ 1579 ,

services. To this end he had obtained a complete mastery over
the intellect of the bold but unprincipled De Bours. A corres¬
pondence was immediately opened between Parma and the
governor, and troops were secretly admitted into the city. The
Prince of Orange, in the name of the Archduke and the estates,
in vain endeavoured to recall the infatuated governor to do his
duty. In vain he conjured him, by letter after letter, to bo
true to his own bright fame so nobly earned. An old friend
of De Bours, and like himself a Catholic, was also employed to
remonstrate with him. This gentleman, De Fromont by name,
wrote him many letters; 1 but De Bours expressed his surprise
that Fromont, whom he had always considered a good
Catholic and a virtuous gentleman, should wish to force him
into a connexion with the Prince of Orange and his heretic
supporters. He protested that his mind was quite made up,
and that he had been guaranteed by Parma not only the post
which he now held, but even still farther advancement. 3

De Fromont reminded him, in reply, of the frequent revolu¬
tions of fortune’s wheel, and warned him that the advancement
of which he boasted would probably be an entire degradation.
He bitterly recalled to the remembrance of the new zealot for
Romanism his former earnest efforts to establish Calvinism.
He reproached him, too, with having melted up the silver
images of the Mechlin churches, including even the renowed
shrine of Saint Eombout, which the Prince of Orange had
always respected. u I don’t say how much you took of that
plunder for your own share,” continued the indignant De Fro¬
mont, “ for the very children cry it in your ears as you walk
the streets. ’Tis known that if God himself had been changed
into gold you would have put Him in your pocket.” 3

This was plain language, but as just as it was plain. The
famous shrine of Saint Rombout—valued at seventy thousand
guldens, of silver gilt, and enriched with precious stones—had

1 Bor, xili. 80-83. Hoofd, xv. GS(5, neur do Bours, apud Bor, xiii. 83.

G37. 2 Letter of J. v. Bourgoigne, Sr. de

* ‘Letter of Pontus do Noyollee, Seig- Fromont, apud Bor, 2, xii. 83.

1579.]

LIBERAL THEORIES OF GOVERNMENT.

451

been held sacred alike by the fanatical iconoclasts and the
greedy Spaniards who had successively held the city. It had
now been melted up, and appropriated by Peter Lupus, the
Carmelite, and De Bours, the Catholic convert, whose mouths
were full of devotion to the ancient Church and of horror
for heresy. 1

The efforts of Orange and of the states were unavailing. De
Bours surrendered the city, and fled to Parma, who received
him with cordiality, gave him five thousand florins—the price
promised for his treason, besides a regiment of infantry—
but expressed surprise that he should have reached the camp -
alive. 2 * His subsequent career was short, and he met his death
two years afterwards, in the trenches before Tournay. 5 The
archiepiscopal city was thus transferred to the royal party, but
the gallant Van der Tympel, governor of Brussels, retook it
by surprise within six months of its acquisition by Parma,
and once more restored it to the jurisdiction of the states.
Peter Lupus, the Carmelite, armed to ‘the teeth, and fighting
fiercely at the head of the royalists, was slain in the street,
and thus forfeited his chance for the mitre of Hamur. 4

During the weary progress of the Cologne negotiations, the
Prince had not been idle, and should this august and slow-
moving congress be unsuccessful in restoring peace, the pro¬
vinces were pledged to an act of abjuration. They would
then be entirely without a head. The idea of a nominal
Republic was broached by none. The contest had not been
one of theory, but of facts; for the war had not been for
revolution, but for conservation, so far as political rights were
concerned. In religion, the provinces had advanced from

1 Meteren, x. 172. Bor, ubi sup.
Hoofd, xv. 636.

2 Bor (xiii. 84) states that lie was
treated with great contempt by Parma,
and deprived of his posts. In this the
faithful old chronicler is mistaken; as

it appears from the manuscript letters
of the Prince that he received the

traitor with many caresses and with

much greater respect than he deserved.

Reports to the contrary were very
current, however, in consequence of the
Seigneur de Rossignol having been
appointed by Parma governor of Mech¬
lin in place of De Bours.—Letter of
Prince of Parma to Mansfeld, Rec.
Prov. Wall. iv. f. 324-328, MS. Royal
Archives, Brussels.

3 Bor, xv. 288.

4 Ibid., xiv. 175.

452

THE RISE OF THE DUTCH REPUBLIC.

[1579.

one step to another, till they now claimed the largest liberty
—freedom of conscience—for all. Religion, they held, was
God’s affair, not man’s, in which neither people nor king had
power oyer each other, but in which both were subject to
God alone. In politics it was different. Hereditary sove¬
reignty was acknowledged as a fact, but at the same time,
the spirit of freedom was already learning its appropriate
language. It already claimed boldly the natural right of
mankind to be governed according to the laws of reason and
of Divine justice. If a prince were a shepherd, it was at
least lawful to deprive him of his crook when he butchered
the flock which he had been appointed to protect.

“ What reason is there,” said the states-general, u why the
provinces should suffer themselves to be continually oppressed
by their sovereign, with robbings, burnings, stranglings, and
murderings? 1 Why, being thus oppressed, should they still
give their sovereign—exactly as if he were well conducting him¬
self 2 —the honour and title of lord of the land?” On the
other hand, if hereditary rule were an established fact, so
also were ancient charters. To maintain, not to overthrow ?
the political compact, was the purpose of the states. “ Je
maintiendrai ” was the motto of Orange’s escutcheon. That
a compact existed between prince and people, and that the
sovereign held office only on condition of doing his duty, were
startling truths which men were beginning, not to whisper to
each other in secret, but to proclaim in the market-place.
“ ’Tis well known to all,” said the famous Declaration of In¬
dependence, two years afterwards, “that if a prince is appointed
' by God over the land, ’tis to protect them from harm, even as a
shepherd to the guardianship of his fiock. The subjects are
not appointed by God for the behoof of the prince, but the
prince for his subjects, without whom he is no prince.

1 “Wat reden is dat de Landen etc.—Address of States-general, July
altijd sollen Tan hunnen Heere getrai- 1579, Bor, xiii. 93 b.
vaUeert, bedorven en met roven, bran- 2 “ G-elijk als ob hijewel dede,” etc,
den, -worgen en moorden continuelijk —Ibid,
overvallen en verkracht worden,” etc.,

1579 .]

SELF-DENIAL OF OKANGE.

453

Should he violate the laws, he is to be forsaken by his mean¬
est subject, and to be recognised no longer as prince.” 1

William of Orange always recognised these truths, but his
scheme of government contemplated a permanent chief, and
as it was becoming obvious that the Spanish sovereign would
soon be abjured, it was necessary to fix upon a substitute.
u As to governing these provinces in the form of a republic,”
said he, speaking for the states-general, “ those who know
the condition, privileges, and ordinances of the country, can
easily understand that J tis hardly possible to dispense with
a head or superintendent.” 8 At the same time, he plainly
intimated that this “ head or superintendent ” was to be,
not a monarch—a one-ruler—but merely the hereditary
chief magistrate of a free commonwealth.

Where was this hereditary chief magistrate to be found ?
His own claims he absolutely withdrew. The office was
within his grasp, and he might easily have constituted him¬
self sovereign of all the Netherlands. 3 Perhaps it would
have been better at that time had he advanced his claims, and
accepted the sovereignty which Philip had forfeited. As he
did not believe in the possibility of a republic, he might
honestly have taken into his own hands the sceptre which he
considered indispensable. His self-abnegation, was, however,
absolute. Not only did he decline sovereignty, but he re¬
peatedly avowed his readiness to lay down all the offices
which he held, if a more useful substitute could be found.
u Let no man think,” said he, in a remarkable speech to the
states-general, “that my good-will is in any degree changed
or diminished. I agree to obey—as the least of the lords or
gentlemen of the land could do—whatever person it may
please you to select. You have but to command my services
wheresoever they are most wanted; to guard a province or

1 Bor, xv. 277.

2 Ibid., xiii. 93.

3 “ TJ nog moet erkend worden dat
er gelegenheiden waren in welke zijne
vcr Hezinge met eene groote meer de
rJtcul doorgegaan zoude zijn—en mis-

chien zonder tegensrpraclc , indien hij
deze eerzuclit gehad had. Eckter ver-
neemt men niet dat noch hij noch
zijne aanhangelingen daartoe immer
het voorstel gewaagd liebben,” etc.—
V. d. Vynckt, iii. 72, sqq.

454

THE RISE OF THE HUTCH REPUBLIC.

[1579.

a single city, or in any capacity in which I may he found
most useful. I promise to do my duty, with all my strength
and skill, as God and my conscience are witnesses that I
have done it hitherto. 5 ’ 1

The negotiations pointed to a speedy abjuration of Philip;
the Republic was contemplated by none; the Prince of Orange
absolutely refused to stretch forth his own hand ; —who, then,
was to receive the sceptre which was so soon to be bestowed ?
A German prince had been tried—in a somewhat abnormal
position—but had certainly manifested small capacity for aid¬
ing the provinces. Nothing could well be more insignificant
than the figure of Matthias; and, moreover, his imperial brother
was anything but favourably disposed. It was necessary to
manage Rudolph. To treat the Archduke with indignity, now
that he had been partly established in the Netherlands, would
be to incur the Emperor’s enmity. His friendship, however,
could hardly be secured by any advancement bestowed upon
his brother; for Rudolph’s services against prerogative and the
Pope were in no case to be expected. Nor was there much hope
from the Protestant princes of Germany. The day had passed
for generous sympathy with those engaged in the great struggle
which Martin Luther had commenced. The present generation
of German Protestants were more inclined to put down the
CaJvinistic schism at home than to save it from oppression
abroad. Men were more disposed to wrangle over the thrice-
gnawed bones of ecclesiastical casuistry, than to assist their
brethren in the field. “ I know not,” said Gaultherus, u whether
the calamity of the Netherlands, or the more than bestial stu¬
pidity of the Germans, be most deplorable. To the insane
contests on theological abstractions we owe it that many are
ready to breathe blood and slaughter against their own
brethren. The hatred of the Lutherans has reached that
point that they can rather tolerate Papists than ourselves.” 3

1 Bor, xiv. 143. Speech of Nov. 26, the coldness of Germany towards her
1579. brethren in blood and creed. “ Ger-

3 Groen v. Prinst., Archives, etc., mania suo more,” he writes to Sir
Yu. 7. Hubert Languet, too, lamented Philip Sydney, “ est otiosa spec-

1579.]

ATTITUDE OF ENGLAND.

455

In England, there was much sympathy for the provinces,
and there—although the form of government was still arbi¬
trary—the instincts for civil and religious freedom which
have ever characterised the Anglo-Saxon race, were not to be
repressed. Upon many a battle-field for liberty in the Nether¬
lands, “men whose limbs were made in England” were found
contending for the right. The blood and treasure of English¬
men flowed freely in the cause of their relatives by religion
and race, but these were the efforts of individuals. Hitherto
but little assistance had been rendered by the English Queen,
who had, on the contrary, almost distracted the provinces by
her fast-and-loose policy, both towards them and towards
Anjou. The political rivalry between that Prince and herself
in the Netherlands had, however, now given place to the
memorable love-passage from which important results were
expected, and it was thought certain that Elizabeth would
view with satisfaction any dignity conferred upon her lover. 1

Orange had a right to form this opinion. At the same
time, it is well known that the chief councillors of Elizabeth—
while they were all in favour of assisting the provinces—looked
with anything but satisfaction upon the Anjou marriage.
“The Duke,” wrote Davidson to Walsingham (in July 1579),
“ seeks, forsooth, under a pretext of marriage with her Highness,
the rather to espouse the Low Countries—the chief ground
and object of his pretended love, howsoever it be disguised.”
The envoy believed both Elizabeth and the provinces in danger
of taking unto themselves a very bad master. “ Is there any
means,” he added, “ so apt to sound the very bottom of our
estate, and to hinder and breake the neck of all such good
purpose, as the necessity of the tyme shall set abroch? ” a

The provinces of Holland and Zeland, notwithstanding the
love they bore to William of Orange, could never be per¬
suaded by his arguments into favouring Anjou. Indeed, it

tatrix tragcediarum, quae apud vicinas
ipsi gentes aguntur et ex alienis in-
commodis sua commoda capit.”—Ep.
71? p. 254.

1 Letter of Orange to the “ Nearer-
united states,” apud Bor, 3, xiv. 132.

a Archives de la Maison d’Orange
etc., -vL 646, sqq.

456 THE RISE OF THE DUTCH REPUBLIC. H579.

was rather on account of the love they bore the Prince
whom they were determined to have for their sovereign
that they refused to listen to any persuasion in favour of his
rival, although coming from his own lips. The states-general,
in a report to the states of Holland, drawn up under the
superintendence of the Prince, brought lorward all the usual
arguments for accepting the French duke, in case the abjura¬
tion should take place. 1 They urged the contract with Anjou
(of August 13th, 1578), the great expenses he had already
incurred in their behalf; the danger of offending him; the
possibility that in such case he would ally himself with Spain;
the prospect that, in consequence of such a result, there
would be three enemies in the field against them—the
Walloons, the Spaniards, and the French, all whose forces
would eventually be turned upon Holland and Zeland alone.
It was represented that the selection of Anjou would, on the
other hand, secure the friendship of France—an alliance
which would inspire both the Emperor and the Spanish
monarch with fear; for they could not contemplate without
jealousy a possible incorporation of the provinces with that
kingdom. Moreover, the geographical situation of France
made its friendship inexpressibly desirable. The states of
Holland and Zeland were, therefore, earnestly invited to
send deputies to an assembly of the states-general, in order
to conclude measures touching the declaration of inde¬
pendence to be made against the King, and concerning the
election of the Duke of Anjou. 2

The official communications by speech or writing of Orange
to the different corporations and assemblies, were at this
period of enormous extent. He was moved to frequent anger
by the parsimony, the inter-provincial jealousy, the dull per¬
ception of the different estates, and he often expressed his
wrath in unequivocal language. He dealt roundly with all
public bodies. His eloquence was distinguished by a bold,
uncompromising, truth-telling spirit, whether the words
1 Report in Bor, ariii. 92-95. 2 Bor, adii. 95 a.

1579.] ADDRESS AND SPEECHES OE THE PRINCE.

457

might prove palatable or bitter to his audience. His language
rebuked his hearers more frequently than it caressed them;
for he felt it impossible, at all times, to consult both the
humours and the high interests of the people, and he had no
hesitation, as guardian of popular liberty, in denouncing the
popular vices by which it was endangered. 1

By both great parties, he complained, his shortcomings
were all noted, the good which he had accomplished passed
over in silence. 2 He solemnly protested that he desired,
out of his whole heart, the advancement of that religion
which he publicly professed, and with God’s blessing, hoped
to profess to the end of his life; 3 but nevertheless, he
reminded the states that he had sworn, upon taking office as
Lieutenant-General, to keep “ all the subjects of the land
equally under his protection,” and that he had kept his oath.
He rebuked the parsimony -which placed the accepted
chief of the provinces in a sordid and contemptible posi¬
tion. “ The Archduke has been compelled,” said he, in
August, to the states-general, “to break up housekeeping,
for want of means. How shameful and disreputable for
the country, if he should be compelled, for very poverty,

1 “ Artes ad regendam plebem,” says
one who knew him. well, “ in eo omnes;
quam licet prrefracti obstinati animi,
tandem ad obsequium flexit: nunc
blanda aspera nunc ac violenta ora-
tione, cujus frequentior illi usus , quam
lenoemiorum. Libertatis atque autori-
tatis sane adsiduus custos, ut liber6
plebi sua objicere vitia posset.”—Ev.
Reidan, Ann. Belg. ii. 50.

2 Letter to the States-general, Au¬
gust, 1579, apud Bor, xiv. 07, sqq.
This was the opinion frequently ex¬
pressed by Languet: “Cherish the
friendship of the Prince, I beseech
you,” he writes to Sir Philip Sydney,

“ for there is no man like him in all
Christendom. Nevertheless, his is the
lot of all men of prudence—to be cen¬
sured by all parties. The people com¬
plain that ho despises them; the no¬
bility declare that it is their order

which he hates: and this is as sensible
as if you were to tell me that you were
the son of a clown : (quasi v. dicebat
mihi, ego sim patro rustico natus)”—
Ep. ad. Sydn., ep. 7b, p. 270. “ Ego
non possum satis admirari Auriaci pru-
dentiam et cequanimitatem,” ho con¬
tinues, “ in tanta negotiorum mole sus-
tinenda et ferendis tot iivjuriis. Obsecro
respice ejus virtutem et no deterreat a
colenda cum co amicitia ejus fortuna,
qum tandem etiam forte magis laeta
fulgebit.”—Ibid.

3 “-koewel dat wy niet en willen

ontkennen dat wy niot uit ganscher
kerten on souden begeert hebben de vor-
deringe van der Rehgie van de welke wy
God lof openbare professiedoen en ver-
hopen’t selve te doen tot den einde
onser leevens,” etc.—Letter to the
States-general, ubi sup.

458

THE RISE OR THE HUTCH REPUBLIC.

[1579.

to leave the land! ” He offered to lay down all the
power with which he had himself been clothed, but insisted, if
he were to continue in office, upon being provided with larger
means of being useful. “ ’Twas impossible,” he said, “ for
him to serve longer on the same footing as heretofore ; finding
himself without power or authority, without means, without
troops, without money,' without obedience.” 1 He reminded
the states-general that the enemy—under pretext of peace
negotiations—were ever circulating calumnious statements to
the effect that he was personally the only obstacle to peace.
The real object of these hopeless conferences was to sow
dissension through the land, to set burgher against burgher,
house against house. As in Italy, Guelphs and Ghibellines—
as in Florence, the Neri and Bianchi—as in Holland, the Hooks
and Cabbeljaws had, by their unfortunate quarrels, armed
fellow-countrymen and families against each other—so also,
nothing was so powerful as religious difference to set friend
against friend, father against son, husband against wife. 3

He warned the states against the peace propositions of the
enemy. Spain had no intention to concede, but was resolved
to extirpate. For himself, he had certainly everything to lose
by continued war. His magnificent estates were withheld,
and—added he with simplicity—there is no man who does not
desire to enjoy his own. 3 The liberation of his son, too, from
his foreign captivity, was, after the glory of God and the wel¬
fare of the fatherland, the dearest object of his heart. More¬
over, he was himself approaching the decline of life. Twelve
years he had spent in perpetual anxiety and labour for the
cause. As he approached old age, he had sufficient reason to
desire repose. Nevertheless, considering the great multitude
of people who were leaning upon him, he should account him¬
self disgraced if, for the sake of his own private advantage, he
were to recommend a peace which was not perfectly secure.

1 Let. to the States-general., ubi sup.
3 Letter to the States-general, Sept.
18,1579, Bor, 2, xiv. 131, sqq.

3 “Uaer is niemand hy soude wel
begeren het sijne te gebruiken. 5 '—Letter
to the States-general.

1579.]

PARSIMONY AND JEALOUSY REBUKED.

459

As regarded his own personal interests, he could easily place
himself beyond danger—yet it would be otherwise with the
people. The existence of the religion which through the mercy
of God he professed, would be sacrificed, and countless mul¬
titudes of innocent men would, by his act, be thrown bodily
into the hands of the blood-thirsty inquisitors who, in times
past, had murdered so many persons, and so utterly desolated
the land. In regard to the ceaseless insinuations against his
character which men uttered “over their tables and in the
streets,” he observed philosophically, that “ mankind were
naturally inclined to calumny, particularly against those who
exercised government over them. His life was the best answer
to those slanders. Being overwhelmed with debt, he should
doubtless do better in a personal point of view to accept the
excellent and profitable offers which were daily made to him
by the enemy.” 1 Ho might bo justified in such a course,
when it was remembered how many had deserted him and
forsworn their religion. Nevertheless, he had ever refused,
and should ever refuse, to listen to offers by which only his
own personal interests were secured. As to the defence of
the country, he had thus far done all in his power, with the
small resources placed at his command. He was urged by the
“ nearer-united states ” to retain the post of Lieutenant-
General. He was ready to consent. He was, however, not
willing to hold office a moment, unless he had power to compel
cities to accept garrisons, to enforce the collection of needful
supplies throughout the provinces, and in general to do everything
which he judged necessary for the best interests of the country. 2

Three councils were now established—one to be in attendance
upon the Archduke and the Prince of Orange, the two others
to reside respectively in Flanders and in Utrecht. They were
to be appointed by Matthias and the Prince, upon a double

1 “ Ora aisulko good© vorderliike liandel tot eenig particular accord
condition aen to nemen als do zeivo verstaen.”—Letter to the States-gene-
zijn gepresenteert en aengeboden ral.

even verre hy daer na haddo willen 2 Letter to the States-general, Soph
luisteren en gedurende desen. vreden- 18, 1579. Bor, 2, xiy. 131, sqq.

460

THE EISE OF THE DUTCH EEPUBIIC.

[1579.

nomination from the estates of the united provinces. Their
decisions were to be made according to a majority of votes,
and there was to be no secret cabinet behind and above their
deliberations. 1 It was long, however, before these councils
were put into working order. The fatal jealousy of the pro¬
vincial authorities, the small ambition of local magistrates,
interposed daily obstacles to the vigorous march of the
generality. 2 Never was jealousy more mischievous, never
circumspection more misapplied. It was not a land nor a
crisis in which there was peril of centralisation. Local muni¬
cipal government was in truth the only force left. There
was no possibility of its being merged in a central authority
which did not exist. The country was without a centre.
There was small chance of apoplexy where there was no head.
The danger lay in the mutual repulsiveness of these atoms
of sovereignty—in the centrifugal tendencies which were
fast resolving a nebulous commonwealth into chaos. Dis¬
union and dissension would soon bring about a more fatal
centralisation—that of absorption in a distant despotism.

At the end of November 1579, Orange made another remark¬
able speech in the states-general at Antwerp. 3 He handled the
usual topics with his customary vigour, and with that grace and
warmth of delivery which always made his eloquence so per¬
suasive and impressive. 4 He spoke of the countless calumnies
against himself, the chaffering niggardliness of the provinces,
the slender result produced by his repeated warnings. He told
them bluntly the great cause of all their troubles. It was the
absence of a broad patriotism; it was the narrow power grudged
rather than given to the deputies who sat in the general
assembly. They were mere envoys, tied by instructions. They
were powerless to act, except after tedious reference to the will

1 Bor, xiv. 135. Archives de la M.
d’Orange, vii. 107.

2 Archives, etc., vii. 94.

3 In Bor, xiv. 141-143.

4 “ Avee un accent propre,” says
one of his most bitter enemies, “etj

action convenable, en quoi le Prince
d’Oranges escelloit—donnant a l’as-
semblSe si grande impression et per¬
suasion qu’il remporta le fruict qu’il
desiroit,” etc.—Eenom de France, MS.,
t. iv. c. xi.

1580.]

APPEAL TO RAISE AN ARMY.

461

of tlieir masters, the provincial boards. The deputies of the
Union came thither, he said, as advocates of their provinces
or their cities, not as councillors of a commonwealth—and
sought to further those narrow interests, even at the risk of
destruction to their sister states. The contributions, he com¬
plained, were assessed unequally, and expended selfishly.
Upon this occasion, as upon all occasions, he again challenged
inquiry into the purity of his government, demanded chas¬
tisement, if any act of mal-administration on his part could
be found, and repeated his anxious desire either to be relieved
from his functions, or to be furnished with the means of
discharging them with efficiency.

On the 12th of December 1579, he again made a powerful
speech in the states-general. 1 2 Upon the 9th of January 1580,
following, he made an elaborate address upon the state of the
country, urging the necessity of raising instantly a con¬
siderable army of good and experienced soldiers. He fixed
the indispensable number of such a force at twelve thousand
foot, four thousand horse, and at least twelve hundred pioneers.
ic Weigh well the matters,” said he, in conclusion, “ which 1
have thus urged, and which are of the most extreme necessity.
Men in their utmost need are daily coming to me for refuge,
as if I held power over all things in my hand” At the same
time he complained that by reason of the dilatoriness of the
states, he was prevented from alleviating misery when he
knew the remedy to be within reach. I beg you, however,
my masters,” he continued, u to believe that this address of
mine is no simple discourse. 5 Tis a faithful presentment of
matters which, if not reformed, will cause the speedy and
absolute ruin of the land. Whatever betide, however, I pray
you to hold yourselves assured, that with God’s help, I am
determined to live with you or to die with you.” 3 *

1 Bor. xiv. 150, 151. florins. This provided for 225 infantry

2 Ibid., xiv. 153-150. The estimated companies, amounting to 32,102 men,

expenses of the states army for the at a monthly pay of 350,240 florins ,

year 1580, to be assessed upon all the 3,750 cavalry at 80,590 florins monthly

provinces, 'was, per month, 518,000 wages, besides 1,200 German reiters at

462

THE RISE OF THE DUTCH REPUBLIC.

[158a

Early in the year 1580, the Prince was doomed to a bitter
disappointment, and the provinces to a severe loss, in the
treason of Count Renneberg, governor of Friesland. This
young noble was of the great Lalain family. He was a
younger brother of Anthony, Count of Hoogstraaten—the
unwavering friend of Orange. He had been brought up in
the family of his cousin, the Count de Lalain, governor of
Hainault, and had inherited the title of Renneberg from an
uncle, who was a dignitary of the church. 1 For more than a
year there had been suspicions of his fidelity. He was sup¬
posed to have been tampered with by the Duke of Terranova,
on the first arrival of that functionary in the Netherlands. 3
Nevertheless, the Prince of Orange was unwilling to listen to
the whispers against him. Being himself the mark of
calumny, and having a tender remembrance of the elder
brother, he persisted in reposing confidence in a man who
was in reality unworthy of his friendship. George Lalain,
therefore, remained stadtholder of Friesland and Drenthe,
and in possession of the capital city, Groningen.

The rumours concerning him proved correct. In November
1579, he entered into a formal treaty with Terranova, by which
he was to receive—as the price of u the virtuous resolution
which he contemplated”—the sum of ten thousand crowns in
hand, a further sum of ten thousand crowns within three months,
and a yearly pension of ten thousand florins. Moreover, his
barony of Ville was to be erected into a marquisate, and he was
to receive the order of the Golden Fleece at the first vacancy.
He was likewise to be continued in the same offices under the

King which he now held from the estates. 8 The bill of sale, by

40,000 florins per month, with, other
incidental expenses. A captain re¬
ceived 03 florins per month, a lieutenant
45, a sergeant 12, a surgeon 12, etc.,
etc.—Renom de France, MS., t. iv.
c. 37.

1 Bor, xv. 276.

2 Bor, xiv. 162, sqq. Meteren, x.
1G8. Koofd f xvi. 681.

3 Reconciliation de Groningen et du
Comte de Renneberg, MS., i. f. 59, 69,

75. Under this euphemism, by way of
title, the original agreements of Renne¬
berg, together with a large mass of
correspondence relative to his famous
treason, are arranged in the royal ar¬
chives at Brussels, in two folio vols. of
MS.—Compare Byvoegsel Auth Stukk.
tot P. Bor, ii. 3, 4. The terms of the
bargain thus coldly set forth are worthy
attention, as showing the perfectly mer¬
cantile manner in which these great

1680.]

TREACHERY OP RENNEBERG-.

463

which he agreed with a certain Quislain le Bailly to transfer
himself to Spain, fixed these terms with the technical scrupu¬
lousness of any other mercantile transaction. Renneberg
sold himself as one would sell a yoke of oxen, and his motives
were no whit nobler than the cynical contract would indicate.
“ See you not,” said he in a private letter to a friend, “ that
this whole work is brewed by the Nassaus for the sake of their
own greatness, and that they are everywhere provided with
the very best crumbs ? They are to be stadtholders of the
principal provinces ; we are to content ourselves with Overyssel
and Drenthe. Therefore I have thought it best to make my
peace with the King, from whom more benefits are to be
got.” 1

Jealousy and selfishness, then, were the motives of his
“virtuous resolution.” He had another, perhaps a nobler
incentive. He was in love with the Countess Me^hen,
widow of Lancelot Berlaymont, and it was privately stipu¬
lated that the influence of his Majesty’s government should
be employed to bring about his marriage with the lady. The
treaty, however, which Renneberg had made with Quislain
le Bailly was not immediately carried out Early in Febru¬
ary 1580, his sister and evil genius, Cornelia Lalain, wife
of Baron Monceau, made him a visit at Groningen. She
implored him not to give over his soul to perdition by
oppressing the Holy Church. She also appealed to his
family pride, which should keep him, she said, from the
contamination of companionship with “ base-born weavers and
furriers.” She was of opinion that to contaminate his high¬
born fingers with base bribes were a less degradation. Th

nobles sold themselves. An honest at- who deserted the cause of liberty and
tachroent, such as was manifested by conscience for hire. It must be re¬
cavaliers like Berlaymont and his four membered that Renneberg was much
brave sons, to the royal and Catholic more virtuous than a large number of
cause, can be respected, even while we his distinguished compeers, many of
regret that so much bravery should whom were transferred so often from
have been expended in support of so one side to the other, that they at last
infamous a tyranny. But while their lost aU convertible value,
fanaticism can be forgiven, no language 1 JKluifc. Holl. Staatsreg., l 176,
is strong enough to stigmatise the men note 5.

464

TEE RISE OF THE DUTCH REPUBLIC.

[1580.

pension, the crowns in hand, the marquisate, the collar of the
Golden Fleece, were all held before his eyes again. He was
persuaded, moreover, that the fair hand of the wealthy widow
would be the crowning prize of his treason, but in this he was
destined to disappointment. The Countess was reserved for a
more brilliant and a more bitter fate. She was to espouse a
man of higher rank, but more worthless character, also a
traitor to the cause of freedom, to which she was herself
devoted, and who was even accused of attempting her life in
her old age, in order to supply her place with a younger rival. 1

The artful eloquence of Cornelia de Lalain did its work,
and Renneberg entered into correspondence with Parma.
It is singular with how much indulgence his conduct and
character were regarded both before and subsequently to
his treason. There was something attractive about the man.
In an age when many German and Netherland nobles
were given to drunkenness and debauchery, and were dis¬
tinguished rather for coarseness of manner and brutality
of intellect 2 than for refinement or learning, Count Renne-
berg, on the contrary, was an elegant and accomplished
gentleman—the Sydney of his country in all but loyalty of
character. He was a classical scholar, a votary of music
and poetry, a graceful troubadour, and a valiant knight. 3
He was 66 sweet and lovely of conversation,” 4 generous and
bountiful by nature. With so many good gifts, it was a
thousand pities that the gift of truth had been denied him.
Never did treason look more amiable, but it was treason
of the blackest die. He was treacherous, in the hour of her
utmost need, to the country which had trusted him. He was
treacherous to the great man who had leaned upon his truth,
when all others had abandoned him. 5 He was treacherous

1 Meteren, x. 168. Bor, xiv. 161,
and Hoofd, xviii. 423.

2 See tlie letters of Count John of

Nassau and of the Landgrave Wil¬
liam, in Archives, etc., vols, vi. and vii.,
passim. j

3 Hoofd, xviii, 773. |

4 “ Soefc en lieflijk van conversatie.*
—Bor, x?i. 276 a .

5 “ Je me suis trouve,” wrote the
Prince in March 1580, to Lazarus
Schwendi, “ et trouve encore a present
abandonr±6 non seulement de secours
et assistance, mais mesme de comruum-

1580.]

RENNEBERG’S DUPLICITY.

465

from the most sordid of motives—-jealousy of his friend and
love of place and pelf; hut his subsequent remorse and his
early death have cast a veil over the blackness of his crime.

While Cornelia de Lalain was in Groningen, Orange was
in Holland. Intercepted letters left no doubt of the plot, and
it was agreed that the Prince, then on his way to Amsterdam,
should summon the Count to an interview. Eenneberg’s
trouble at the proximity of Orange could not be suppressed. 1
He felt that he could never look his friend in the face again.
His plans were not ripe; it was desirable to dissemble for a
season longer; but how could he meet that tranquil eye
which “looked quite through the deeds of men?” It was
obvious to Eenneberg that his deed was to be done forthwith,
if he would escape discomfiture. The Prince would soon be
in Groningen, and his presence would dispel the plots which
had been secretly constructed.

On the evening of March the 3rd, 1580, the Count enter¬
tained a large number of the most distinguished families of
the place at a ball and banquet. At the supper-table, Hilde¬
brand, chief burgomaster of the city, bluntly interrogated his
host concerning the calumnious reports which were in circula¬
tion, expressing the hope that there was no truth in these in¬
ventions of his enemies. Thus summoned, Eenneberg, seizing
the hands of Hildebrand in both his own, exclaimed, “ Oh,
my father! you whom I esteem as my father, can you suspect
me of such guilt ? I pray you, trust me, and fear me not I ” 3

With this he restored the burgomaster and all the other
guests to confidence. The feast and dance proceeded, while
Eenneberg was quietly arranging his plot. During the night
all the leading patriots were taken out of their beds, and
carried to prison, notice being at the same time given to the
secret adherents of Eenneberg. Before dawn, a numerous
mob of boatmen and vagrants, well armed, appeared upon the

cation et de conseil, en la plus grande 1 Bor, xir. 167.

difficult^ du temps et dangereuses oc- 2 Ibid., ^ 167. Meteren, x. 16&

currences qui me tombent sur les bras.” Hoofd, xvi. 682.

—Archives, vii. 231.

vol. in. 2 a

466

THE EISE OE THE BUTCH EEPUBLIC.

( 1580 .

public square. They bore torches and standards, and amazed
the quiet little city with their shouts. The place was formally
taken into possession, cannon were planted in front of the
Town House to command the principal streets, and barricades
erected at various important points. Just at daylight,
Eenneberg himself, in complete armour, rode into the square,
and it was observed that he looked ghastly as a corpse. 1 He
was followed by thirty troopers, armed like himself, from
head to foot. “ Stand by me now,” he cried to the assembled
throng; u fail me not at this moment, for now I am for the
first time your stadtholder.”

While he was speaking, a few citizens of the highest class
forced their way through the throng and addressed the mob in
tones of authority. They were evidently magisterial persons
endeavouring to quell the riot. As they advanced, one of
Eenneberg’s men-at-arms discharged his carabine at the fore¬
most gentleman, who was no other than burgomaster Hilde¬
brand. He fell dead at the feet of the stadtholder—of the
man who had clasped his hands a few hours before, called him
father, and implored him to entertain no suspicions of his
honour. The death of this distinguished gentleman created a
panic, during which Eenneberg addressed his adherents, and
stimulated them to atone by their future zeal in the King’s
service for their former delinquency. A few days afterwards
the city was formally reunited to the royal government, but
the Count’s measures had been precipitated to such an extent,
that he was unable to carry the province with him, as he had
hoped. On the contrary, although he had secured the city, he
had secured nothing else. He was immediately beleaguered
by the states’ force in the province under the command of
Barthold Entes, Hohenlo, and Philip Louis Nassau, and it
was necessary to send for immediate assistance-from Parma.

1 “ Van’fc hooft ten Yoete gewapent”
—Bor, ubi sup. “ In vollen harnas
—Hoofd, xvi. 682. “Hy sag anders
met dan een dood menscb.”—Bor, xir.
168 b . “ Heel bestorven om de kaaken.”

—Hoofd, ubi sup.

2 MS. holographic letter of Eenno-
berg to Prince of Parma, March 3,
1580.—Kec. Groning. et Eenneberg, i.
69. Bor, Meteren, Hoofd.—Compare

1580.]

THE PEINCE VISITS AMSTERDAM.

467

The Prince of Orange, being thus bitterly disappointed
by the treachery of his friend, and foiled in his attempt to
avert the immediate consequences, continued his interrupted
journey to Amsterdam. Here he was received with un¬
bounded enthusiasm.

Apologie d’Orange, p. 121. G-roen y. 12, iii. 135,136. Ev. Eeidani, ii. 30,
Prinst., Archives, vii. 243-24S; Strada, I 1 Eor, xiv. 170. Hoofd, xvi. 684.

CHAPTER IV

DECLARATION OP INDEPENDENCE.

Captivity of La Noue—Cruel propositions of Philip—Siege of Groningen—
Death of Barthold Entes—His character—Hohenlo commands in the
north—His incompetence—He is defeated on Hardenberg Heath—Petty
operations—Isolation of Orange—Dissatisfaction and departure of Count
John—Remonstrance of Archduke Matthias—Embassy to Anjou—
Holland and Zeland offer the sovereignty to Orange—Conquest of
Portugal—Granvelle proposes the Ban against the Prince—It is published
—The document analysed—The Apology of Orange analysed and
characterised — Siege of Steenwyk by Renneberg—Forgeries—Siege
relieved—Death of Renneberg—Institution of the “ Land-Council ”—
Duchess of Parma sent to the Netherlands—Anger of Alexander—Pro¬
hibition of Catholic worship in Antwerp, Utrecht, and elsewhere—
Declaration of Independence by the United Provinces—Negotiations with
Anjou—The sovereignty of Holland and Zeland provisionally accepted by
Orange—Tripartition of the Netherlands—Power of the Prince described
—Act of Abjuration analysed—Philosophy of Netherland politics—Views
of the government compact—Acquiescence by the people in the action of
the estates—Departure of Archduke Matthias.

The war continued in a languid and desultory manner in dif¬
ferent parts of the country. At an action near Ingelmunster,
the brave and accomplished De la Noue was made prisoner. 1
This was a severe loss to the states, a cruel blow to Orange, for
he was not only one of the most experienced soldiers, but one
of the most accomplished writers of his age. His pen was as
celebrated as his sword. 2 In exchange for the illustrious French-

1 Bor, xv. 194, 195. Hoofd, xvi. 690.

2 “ Che egli habbia saputo,” says
Bentivoglio, “ cosi ben msmeggiare la

penna come la spada; e valere in pace
non punto meno che in guerra.”—
Guerra di Fiandra, 2, i. 249.

1580.]

CAPTIVITY OF LA 3STOUK.

469

man the states in vain offered Count Egmont, who had been
made prisoner a few weeks before, and De Selles, who was
captured shortly afterwards. Parma answered, contemptu¬
ously, that he would not give a lion for two sheep . 1 Even
Champagny was offered in addition, but without success.
Parma had written to Philip, immediately upon the capture,
that, were it not for Egmont, Selles, and others, then in the
power of Orange, he should order the execution of La Noue.
Under the circumstances, however, he had begged to be in¬
formed as to his Majesty’s pleasure, and in the meantime had
placed the prisoner in the castle of Limburg, under charge of
De Billy . 1 His Majesty, of course, never signified his
pleasure, and the illustrious soldier remained for five years in
a loathsome dungeon more befitting a condemned malefactor
than a prisoner of war. It was in the donjon keep of the
castle, lighted only by an aperture in the roof, and was there¬
fore exposed to the rain and all inclemencies of the sky, while
rats, toads, and other vermin housed in the miry floor . 3 Here
this distinguished personage, Francis with the Iron Arm, whom
all Frenchmen, Catholic or Huguenot, admired for his genius,
bravery, and purity of character, passed five years of close
confinement. The government was most anxious to take his
life, but the captivity of Egmont and others prevented the
accomplishment of their wishes. During this long period, the
wife and numerous friends of La Houe were unwearied in
their efforts to effect his ransom or exchange , 4 but none of the
prisoners in the hands of the patriots were considered a fair
equivalent. The hideous proposition was even made by Philip
the Second to La Noue, that he should receive his liberty if
he would permit his eyes to be put out , as a preliminary con¬
dition. The fact is attested by several letters written by La
Noue to his wife. The prisoner, wearied, shattered in health,

1 Ev. Reidan., Ann. ii. 39. 1584.

2 Strada, d. 2, iii. 155,156. Parma 5 Moyse Amirault; la Vie da
is said to have hinted to Philip that Francois, Seigneur de la Nous di
De Billy would willingly undertake the Bras de Fer (Leyde, 1661), pp. 267
private assassination of La Noue.— 277.

Popeliniere, Hist, des Pays Bas, 1556- 4 Amirault, 267-298.

470 THE RISE OF THE DUTCH REPUBLIC. [168a

and sighing for air and liberty, was disposed and even anxious
to accept the infamous offer, and discussed the matter philo¬
sophically in his letters. That lady, however, horror-struck
at the suggestion, implored him to reject the condition, which
he accordingly consented to do. At last, in June 1585, he
was exchanged, on extremely rigorous terms, for Egmont.
During his captivity in this vile dungeon, he composed not
only his famous political and military discourses, but several
other works, among the rest, Annotations upon Plutarch and
upon the Histories of Guicciardini. 1

The siege of Groningen proceeded, and Parma ordered some
forces under Martin Schenck to advance to its relief. On the
other hand, the meagre states’ forces under Sonoy, Hohenlo*
Entes, and Count John of Nassau’s young son, William Louis,
had not yet made much impression upon the city. 2 There was
little military skill to atone for the feebleness of the assailing
army, although there was plenty of rude valour. Barthold
Entes, a man of desperate character, was impatient at the dila¬
toriness of the proceedings. After having been in disgrace with
the states, since the downfall of his friend and patron, the Count
De la Marck, he had recently succeeded to a regiment in place
of Colonel Ysselstein, “ dismissed for a homicide or two.” 3 On
the 17th of May he had been dining at Rolda, in company with
Hohenlo and the young Count of Nassau. Returning to the
trenches in a state of wild intoxication, he accosted a knot of
superior officers, informing them that they were but boys, and
that he should shew them how to carry the faubourg of Gronin¬
gen on the instant. He was answered that the faubourg, being
walled and moated, could be taken only by escalade or battery*

1 “Enfin on en Tint jusques k ce
degre de barbarie que de luy faire
suggerer sous main, que pour donner
une sufEsante caution de ne porter

i 'amais les armes contre le Roy Catbo-
lque, il falloit qu’il se laissait crever
les yeux. A peine l’eusse-je creu si
je ne l’avois sqeu que par la lecture
das bistoires et par le rapport d’un

tiers. Mais 7 on S letires qu’il en a
faites de sa propre main k sa femme
m’ont rendu la chose si ivduhi! able, que
sur sa foy je la donne icy pour telle.”
—Amirault, pp. 280, 281-298.—Com¬
pare Strada, 2, iii. 156.

3 Bor, xv. 203-205. Hoofd, xvi
691, sqq. Meteren, x. 169,170.

3 Hoofd, xvi. 691.

1580.]

DEATH OF ENTES.

471

Laughing loudly, he rushed forward toward the counterscarp,
waving his sword, and brandishing on his left arm the cover
of a butter firkin, which he had taken instead of his buckler.
He had advanced, however, but a step, when a bullet from the
faubourg pierced his brain, and he fell dead without a word. x

So perished one of the wild founders of the Netherland
commonwealth—one of the little band of reckless adventurers
who had captured the town of Brill in 1572, and thus laid the
foundation-stone of a great republic, which was to dictate its
laws to the empire of Charles the Fifth. He was in some
sort a type. His character was emblematical of the worst
side of the liberating movement. Desperate, lawless, fero¬
cious—a robber on land, a pirate by sea—he had rendered
great service in the cause of his fatherland, and had done it
much disgrace. By the evil deeds of men like himself, the fair
face of liberty had been profaned at its first appearance. Born
of a respectable family, he had been noted, when a student in
this very Groningen where he had now found his grave, for
the youthful profligacy of his character. After dissipating his
patrimony, he had taken to the sea, the legalised piracy of the
mortal struggle with Spain offering a welcome refuge to
spendthrifts like himself. In common with many a banished
" noble of ancient birth and broken fortunes, the riotous student
became a successful corsair, and it is probable that his prizes
were made as well among the friends as the enemies of his
country* He amassed in a short time one hundred thousand
crowns—no contemptible fortune in those days. He assisted
La Marck in the memorable attack upon Brill, but behaved
badly and took to flight when Mondragon made his memorable
expedition to relieve Tergoes.* He had subsequently been
imprisoned with La Marck for insubordination, and during
his confinement had dissipated a large part of his fortune. In
1576, after the violation of the Ghent treaty, he had returned
to his piratical pursuits, and having prospered again as
rapidly as he had done during his former cruises, had been
1 Hoofd, ubi sup. Meteren, x. 170 a.—-Comp, Bor, 3, xy. 205. * Meteren, x, 170 a J

472

THE RISE OF THE DUTCH REPUBLIC.

[1580.

glad to exchange the ocean for more honourable service on
shore. The result was the tragic yet almost ludicrous termi¬
nation which we have narrated. He left a handsome property,
the result of his various piracies, or, according to the usual
euphemism, prizes. He often expressed regret at the number
of traders whom he had cast into the sea, complaining, in
particular, of one victim whom he had thrown overboard,
who would never sink, but who for years long ever floated in
his wake, and stared him in the face whenever he looked over
his vessel’s side. A gambler, a profligate, a pirate, he had
yet rendered service to the cause of freedom, and his name—
sullying the purer and nobler ones of other founders of the
commonwealth—“ is enrolled in the capitol.” 1

Count Philip Hohenlo, upon whom now devolved the entire
responsibility of the Groningen siege and of the Friesland
operations, was only a few degrees superior to this northern
corsair. A noble of high degree, nearly connected with the
Nassau family, sprung of the best blood in Germany, handsome
and dignified in appearance, he was, in reality, only a debauchee
and a drunkard. Personal bravery was his main qualification
for a general; a virtue which he shared with many of his mean¬
est soldiers. He had never learnt the art of war, nor had he
the least ambition to acquire it. Devoted to his pleasures, he
depraved those under his command, and injured the cause for
which he was contending. 3 Nothing but defeat and disgrace
were expected by the purer patriots from such guidance.

‘ The benediction of God,” wrote Albada, u cannot be hoped
for under this chieftain, who by life and manners is fitter to
drive swine than to govern pious and honourable men.” 3

The event justified the prophecy. After a few trifling opera¬
tions before Groningen, Hohenlo was summoned to the neigh-

1 Meteren, x. 170. Bor, xv. 205. 3 Letter of Albada, Archives et Cor-

Hoofd, xvi. 691. Archives de la respondance, vii. 370. Ev. Reidani
Maison d’Orange, vii. 370. The Ann. Belg., ii. 34.

names of the band of adventurers 3 “-qui porcis regendis vita et

who seized Brill are all carefully pre- moribus magis est idoneus quam bonia
served in the old records of the Re- piisque defendendis.”—Archives et Cor-
public. respondance, vii. 370.

1580 .]

DEFEAT UPON HARDENBERG HEATH.

47S

bourhood of Coewerden, by the reported arrival of Martin
Schenck, at the head of a considerable force. On the 15th of
June, the Count marched all night and a part of the following
morning, in search of the enemy. He came up with them
upon Hardenberg Heath, in a broiling summer forenoon.
His men were jaded by the forced march, overcome with the
heat, tormented with thirst, and unable to procure even a
drop of water. The royalists were fresh, so that the result of
the contest was easily to be foreseen. Hohenlo’s army was
annihilated in an hour’s time, the whole population fled out
of Coewerden, the siege of Groningen was raised, Renneberg
was set free to resume his operations on a larger scale, and
the fate of all the North-eastern provinces was once more
swinging in the wind. 1 The boors of Drenthe and Friesland
rose again. They had already mustered in the field at an
earlier season of the year, in considerable force. Calling
themselves u the desperates,” and bearing on their standard
an eggshell with the yolk running out—to indicate that having
lost the meat they were yet ready to fight for the shell—they
had swept through the open country pillaging and burning.
Hohenlo had defeated them in two encounters, slain a large
number of their forces, and reduced them for a time to tran¬
quillity. 3 His late overthrow once more set them lose. Ren¬
neberg, always apt to be over-elated in prosperity, as he was
unduly dejected in adversity, now assumed all the airs of a
conqueror. He had hardly eight thousand men under his
orders, 8 but his strength lay in the weakness of his adversaries.
A small war now succeeded, with small generals, small
armies, small campaigns, small sieges. For the time, the
Prince of Orange was even obliged to content himself with
such a general as Hohenlo. As usual, he was almost alone.
a Donee eris felix,” said he, emphatically—

“ multos numerabis amicos,

Tempora cum erunt nubila, nullus erit 4

1 Bor, xv. 207. Meteren, x. 170, 8 Bor, xv. 221 a.

171. Hoofd, xvi. 693, 694. Strada, 4 Archives, vii. 231, Better to Baza*

2, iv. 169-172. a Bur, xiv. 177, 173. rus Schwendi.

474

TEE RISE OP THE HUTCH REPUBLIC.

[158a

and he was this summer doomed to a still harder deprivation
by the final departure of his brother John from the Nether¬
lands.

The Count had been wearied out by petty miseries. 1 His
stadtholderate of Gelderland had overwhelmed him with
annoyance, for throughout the north-eastern provinces
there was neither system nor subordination. The magis¬
trates could exercise no authority over an army which
they did not pay, or a people whom they did not protect.
There were endless quarrels between the various boards of
municipal and provincial government—particularly concern¬
ing contributions and expenditures. 2 During this wrangling,,
the country was exposed to the forces of Parma, to the
private efforts of the Malcontents, to the unpaid soldiery of
the states, to the armed and rebellious peasantry. Little heed
was paid to the admonitions of Count John, who was of a
hotter temper than was the tranquil Prince. The stadtholder
gave way to fits of passion at the meanness and the
insolence to which he was constantly exposed. He readily
recognised his infirmity, and confessed himself unable to ac¬
commodate his irascibility to the “ humores ” of the inhabi-

1 See the letters of Count John in language, he was unable to attend pro-
Ar chives, vol. vii. passim; particularly perly to public affairs, so frequent and
letters 929, 930, 931, 932, 974, 1019, so threatening were the applications
and the Memoir on pages 510,530. made upon him for payment. Day by

2 When the extraordinary generosity day he felt the necessity advancing
of the Count himself, and the altogether more closely upon him of placing him-
unexampled sacrifices of the Prince, self personally in the hands of his
are taken into account, it may well he creditors, and making over his estates
supposed that the patience of the to their mercy until the uttermost
brothers would be sorely tried by the farthing should be paid. In his two
parsimony of the states. It appears by campaigns against Alva (156S and
a document laid before the states- 1572) be had spent 1,050,000 florins,
general m the winter of 1580-1581, that He owed the Elector Palatine 150,000
the Count had himself. advanced to florins, the Landgrave 60,000, Count
Orange 270,000 florins in the cause. John 570,000, and other sums to other
The total of money spent by the Prince individuals.—Stoat endekort begrip van
himself for the sake of Netherland het geen, M. E. Heere den P. van
liberty was 2,200,000. These vast sums Orange betalt mag hebben mitsgaders
had been raised in various ways and bee geeno syne V. G, schuldig i 9
from various personages. His estates gebleoven, etc. Ordin. DopSchen Boek.
were deeply hypothecated, and his ere- A 0 . 1580, 15S1, f. 245 vo. 6 qq., MS.
aitors so troublesome, that, in his own Hague Archives.

1580.]

COUNT JOHN’S DISCONTENT.

475

tants. There was often sufficient cause for his petulance.
Never had praetor of a province a more penurious civil list.
u The baker has given notice,” wrote Count John, in Novem¬
ber, “ that he will supply no more bread after to-morrow, un¬
less he is paid.” The states would furnish no money to pay
the bill. It was no better with the butcher. a The cook has
often no meat to roast,” said the Count, in the same letter,
cC so that we are often obliged to go supperless to bed.” His
lodgings were ahalf-roofed, half-finished, unfurnished barrack,
where the stadtholder passed his winter days and evenings in
a small, dark, freezing-cold chamber, often without fire-wood. 1
Such circumstances were certainly not calculated to excite
envy. When in addition to such wretched parsimony, it is
remembered that the Count was perpetually worried by the
quarrels of the provincial authorities with each other and
with himself, he may be forgiven for becoming thoroughly
exhausted at last. He was growing u gray and grizzled ” with
perpetual perplexity. He had been fed with annoyance, as if
—to use his own. homely expression — a he had eaten it with a
spoon.” Having already loaded himself with a debt of six hun¬
dred thousand florins, which he had spent in the states’ service,
and having struggled manfully against the petty tortures of
his situation, he cannot be severely censured for relinquishing
his post. 2 The affairs of his own Countship were in great con¬
fusion. His children—boys and girls—were many, and needed
their father’s guidance, while the eldest, William Xouis, was
already in arms for the Netherlands, following the instincts of
his race. Distinguished for a rash valour, which had already
gained the rebuke of his father and the applause of his com¬
rades, he had commenced his long and glorious career by
receiving a severe wound at Coewerden, which caused him
to halt for life. 8 Leaving so worthy a representative, the
Count was more justified in his departure.

1 Archives et Correspondence, vii. 3 Dor, xv. 216. Archives, etc., vii.

109,113, 328, 329. 383-386 Hoofd, xvii. 707.

2 Ibid., vii. 334, 487.

476

THE RISE OF THE DUTCH REPUBLIC.

[ 1580 .

His wife, too, had died in his absence, and household affairs
required his attention. It must be confessed, however, that
if the memory of his deceased spouse had its claims, the selec¬
tion of her successor was still more prominent among his
anxieties. The worthy gentleman had been supematurally
directed as to his second choice, ere that choice seemed neces¬
sary, for before the news of his wife’s death had reached him,
the Count dreamed that he was already united in second
nuptials to the fair Cunigunda, daughter of the deceased
Elector Palatine—a vision which was repeated many times.
On the morrow he learned, to his amazement, that he was a
widower, and entertained no doubt that he had been specially
directed towards the princess seen in his slumbers, whom he
had never seen in life. 1 His friends were in favour of his
marrying the Electress Dowager, rather than her daughter,
whose years numbered less than half his own. The honest
Count, however, u after ripe consideration,” decidedly pre¬
ferred the maid to the widow. u I confess,” he said, with
much gravity, u that the marriage with the old Electress, in
respect of her God-fearing disposition, her piety, her virtue,
and the like, would be much more advisable. Moreover, as she
hath borne her cross, and knows how to deal with gentlemen,
so much the better would it be for me. Nevertheless, inas¬
much as she had already had two husbands, is of a tolerable
age, and is taller of stature than myself my inclination is
less towards her than towards her daughter.” 2

For these various considerations, Count John, notwith¬
standing the remonstrances of his brother, definitely laid
down his government of Gelderland, and quitted the Nether¬
lands about midsummer.* Enough had not been done, in the

1 Archives, etc., vii. 323, sqq. This
conviction of Divine interposition was
inserted in the marriage contract.—
Vide Memorial von Gr. Ernst zu
Schawenburg and Dr. Jacob Schwartz.
Archives et Correspondance, vii. 361,

sqq-

2 Archives et Correspondance, vii. 325
and 36-1, note—“ Item,” says the mar¬

riage memorial already cited, “the
widow is a tolerably stout person, which
would be almost derogatory to hig
Grace. When they should he in com¬
pany of other gentlemen and ladies, or
shouldbe walking together m the streets,
his Grace would seem almost little at
her side.”—Memoir of Dr. Schwartz.

8 Archives et Correspondance,vii. 390.

1580.]

ASSEMBLY AT ANTWERP.

477

opinion of the Prince, so long as aught remained to do, and
he could not hear that his brother should desert the country
in the hour of its darkness, or doubt the Almighty when His
hand was veiled in clouds. 66 One must do one’s best,” said
he, “ and believe that when such misfortunes happen, God
desires to prove us. If He sees that we do not lose our
courage. He will assuredly help us. Had we thought other¬
wise, we should never have pierced the dykes on a memorable
occasion, for it was an uncertain thing and a great sorrow
for the poor people; yet did God bless the undertaking. He
will bless us still, for His arm hath not been shortened.” 1

On the 22nd of July 1580, the Archduke Matthias, being
fully aware of the general tendency of affairs, summoned a
meeting of the generality of Antwerp. He did not make his
appearance before the assembly, but requested that a deputa¬
tion might wait upon him at his lodgings, and to this
committee he unfolded his griefs. He expressed his hope
that the States were not—in violation of the laws of God and
man—about to throw themselves into the arms of a foreign
prince. He reminded them of their duty to the holy Catholic
religion, and to the illustrious house of Austria, while he also
pathetically called their attention to the necessities of his
own household, and hoped that they would, at least, provide
for the arrears due to his domestics. 3

The states-general replied with courtesy as to the personal
claims of the Archduke. For the rest they took higher
grounds, and the coming declaration of independence already
pierced through the studied decorum of their language. They
defended their negotiation with Anjou on the ground of ne¬
cessity, averring that the King of Spain had proved inexorable
to all intercession, while, through the intrigues of their bitter¬
est enemies, they had been entirely forsaken by the Empire. 3

Soon afterwards, a special legation, with Sainte Aldegonde
at its head, was despatched to France to consult with the
Duke of Anjou, and settled terms of agreement with him by
1 Archives, etc., vii. 316L 1 Bor, xv. 212, 213. 8 Ibid.

478

THE EISE OF THE DUTCH REPUBLIC.

[1580.

the treaty of Plessis les Tours, (on the 29th of September
1580,) afterwards definitely ratified by the convention of
Bordeaux, signed on the 23rd of the following January. 1 *

The states of Holland and Zeland, however, kept entirely
aloof from this transaction, being from the beginning opposed
to the choice of Anjou. From the first to the last, they
would have no master but Orange* and to him, therefore,
this year they formally offered the sovereignty of their
provinces; but they offered it in vain.

The conquest of Portugal had effected a diversion in the
affairs of the Netherlands. It was but a transitory one. The
provinces found the hopes which they had built upon the
necessity of Spain for large supplies in the peninsula—to
their own consequent relief—soon changed into fears, for the
rapid success of Alva in Portugal gave his master additional
power to oppress the heretics of the north. Henry, the Car¬
dinal King, had died in 1580, after succeeding to the youthful
adventurer, Don Sebastian, slain during his chivalrous African
campaign, (4th of August 1578). The contest for the succes¬
sion which opened upon the death of the aged monarch was
brief, and in fifty-eight days, the bastard Antonio, Philip’s only
formidable competitor, had been utterly defeated and driven
forth to lurk like a hunted wild beast, among rugged moun¬
tain caverns, with the price of a hundred thousand crowns upon
his head. 2 In the course of the succeeding year* Philip received
homage at Lisbon as King of Portugal. 3 From the moment of
this conquest, he was more disposed, and more at leisure than
ever, to vent his wrath against the Netherlands, and against
the man whom he considered the incarnation of their revolt.

Cardinal Granvelle had ever whispered in the King’s ear the

1 Bor, xv. 214. sceptre grasped in his right hand, and

2 Cabrera, xii. cap. 29; xiii. cap. 1, his crown upon his head, he looked,

2, 5, 6, pp. 1095-1139. Bor, xiv. 178, says his enthusiastic biographer, “ like
sqq. Archives de la Maieon d’Orange, Kmg David—red, handsome, and vene-
vn. 39S, sqq. rable ” “ Parecia ai Bey David, rojo,

3 He wore on the occasion of the hermoso k la viBta, i venerable en la
ceremony “ a cassock of cramoisv bro- Majestad que representaba.**—Cabrera,
cade, with large folds.” With his jxiii, 1126.

1580*1

GRANVEDLE RECOMMENDS THE DAN.

479

expediency of taking off the Prince by assassination. It has
been seen how subtly distilled, and how patiently hoarded,
was this priest’s venom against individuals, until the time
arrived when he could administer the poison with effect. His
hatred of Orange was intense, and of ancient date. He was
of opinion, too, that the Prince might be scared from the post
of duty, even if the assassin’s hand were not able to reach his
heart. He was in favour of publicly setting a price upon his
head—thinking that if the attention of all the murderers in
the world were thus directed towards the illustrious victim,
the Prince would tremble at the dangers which surrounded
him. “A sum of money would be well employed in this
way,” said the Cardinal, cC and, as the Prince of Orange is a
vile coward , fear alone will throw him into confusion.” 1
Again, a few months latter, renewing the subject, he observed,
“ ’Iwould be well to offer a reward of thirty or forty thousand
crowns to any one who will deliver the Prince, dead or alive;
since from very fear of it—as he is pusillanimous—it would
not be unlikely that he should die of his own accord”

It was insulting even to Philip’s intelligence to insinuate
that the Prince would shrink before danger, or die of fear.
Had Orange ever been inclined to bombast, he might have
answered the churchman’s calumny, as Csesar the sooth¬
sayer’s warning—

“-Danger knows full well,

That Caesar is more dangerous than he ”—

and, in truth, Philip had long trembled on his throne
before the genius of the man who had foiled Spain’s
boldest generals and wiliest statesmen. The King, accept¬
ing the priest’s advice, resolved to fulminate a ban against
the Prince, and to set a price upon his head. “ It will be
well,” wrote Philip to Parma, “to offer thirty thousand

1 Archives, etc., vii. 166.—“ Y qua!- d’Oranges poner talla de 30 o 40 mil
quier dinero seria muy bien empleado escudos, & quien le mafcasse o di6sse

-y como es vil y cobarde, el miedo vivo, como hazen todos los potentados

lepondriaen confusion.”—Letter of the de Italia, pues con miedo solo desto
Cardinal to Philip, August 8, 1679. como es pusillamme , no seria mucho

2 “ Tarubien se podria al Principe mori^sse de suyo,” etc.—Ibid.

480

THE RISE OP THE DUTCH REPUBLIC.

(issa

crowns or so to any one who will deliver him dead or alive.
Thus the country may be rid of a man so pernicious; or at
any rate he will be held in perpetual fear, and therefore
prevented from executing leisurely his designs. 7,1

In accordance with these suggestions and these hopes, the
famous ban was accordingly drawn up, and dated on the 15th
of March 1580. It was, however, not formally published in
the Netherlands until the month of June of the same year. 2

This edict will remain the most lasting monument to the
memory of Cardinal Granvelle. It will be read when all his
other state-papers and epistles—able as they incontestably
are —shall have passed into oblivion. No panegyric of friend,
no palliating magnanimity of foe, can roll away this rock
of infamy from his tomb. It was by Cardinal Granvelle and
by Philip that a price was set upon the head of the foremost
man of his age, as if he had been a savage beast, and that
admission into the ranks of Spain’s haughty nobility was.
made the additional bribe to tempt the assassin.

The ban 3 consisted of a preliminary narrative to justify the
penalty with which it was concluded. It referred to the favours
conferred by Philip and his father upon the Prince; to his
signal ingratitude and dissimulation. It accused him of origi¬
nating the Bequest, the image-breaking, and the public preach¬
ing. It censured his marriage with an abbess—even during
the lifetime of his wife; alluded to his campaigns against Alva,
to his rebellion in Holland, and to horrible massacres com¬
mitted by Spaniards in that province—as the necessary conse¬
quences of his treason. It accused him of introducing liberty
of conscience, of procuring his own appointment as Buward, of
violating the Ghent treaty, of foiling the efforts of Don John,
and of frustrating the counsels of the Cologne commissioners
by his perpetual distrust. It charged him with a newly-organ-

1 Archives, vii. 165470. Letter of a Wagenaer, Yad. Hist., vii. 345.
Philip to the Prince of Parma, Nov. 346.

20, 1579. The letter, says G-roen v. 3 It is appended to the “Apolo-
Prinsterer, was doubtless dictated by giein the edition of Sylvius, tra.
Granvelle. 145460.

1580.]

THE APOLOGY OP ORANGE.

481

ised conspiracy, in the erection of the Utrecht Union; and fo'
these and similar crimes—set forth with involutions, slov,
spiral, and cautions as the head and front of the indictment was
direct and deadly—it denounced the chastisement due to the
“ wretched hypocrite ” who had committed such offences*

“ For these causes,” concluded the ban, u we declare him
traitor and miscreant, enemy of ourselves and of the country.
As such we banish him perpetually from all our realms, for¬
bidding all our subjects, of whatever quality, to communicate
with him openly or privately—to administer to him victuals,
drink, fire, or other necessaries. We allow all to injure him
in property or life. We expose the said William Nassau as
an enemy of the human race—giving his property to all who
may seize it. And if any one of our subjects or any stranger
should be found sufficiently generous of heart to rid us of this
pest, delivering hi*m to us, alive or dead, or taking his life, we
will cause to be furnished to him immediately after the deed
shall have been done, the sum of twenty-five thousand crowns
in gold. If he have committed any crime , however heinous , we
promise to pardon him ; and if he he not already noble , we will
ennoble him for his valour

Such was the celebrated ban against the Prince of Orange.
It was answered before the end of the year by the memorable
u Apology of the Prince of Orange,” one of the most startling
documents in history. No defiance was ever thundered forth
in the face of a despot in more terrible tones. It had become
sufficiently manifest to the royal party that the Prince was
not to be purchased by u millions of money,” or by unlimited
family advancement—not to be cajoled by flattery or offers of
illustrious friendship. It had been decided, therefore, to
terrify him into retreat, or to remove him by murder. The
government had been thoroughly convinced that the only
way to finish the revolt, was to 66 finish Orange,” according to
the ancient advice of Antonio Perez. The mask was thrown
off. It had been decided to forbid the Prince bread, water,
fire, and shelter; to give his wealth to the fisc, his heart to

von. ill. 2 H

482

THE RISE OF THE HUTCH REPUBLIC.

[15SQ.

the assassin, Ms soul, as it was hoped, to the Father of Evil.
The rupture being thus complete, it was right that the
“wretched hypocrite” should answer ban with ban, royal
denunciation with sublime scorn. He had ill-deserved, how¬
ever, the title of hypocrite, he said. When the friend of
government, he had warned them that by their complicated and
perpetual persecutions they were twisting the rope of their
own ruin. Was that hypocrisy ? Since becoming their
enemy, there had likewise been little hypocrisy found in him—
unless it were hypocrisy to make open war upon government,
to take their cities, to expel their armies from the country.

The proscribed rebel, towering to a moral and even social
superiority over the man who affected to be his master by right
divine, swept down upon his antagonist with crushing effect.
He repudiated the idea of a king in the Netherlands. The word
might be legitimate in Castille, or Naples, or the Indies, but
the provinces knew no such title. Philip had inherited in those
countries only the power of Duke or Count,—a power closely
limited by constitutions more ancient than his birthright.
Orange was no rebel then—Philij) no legitimate monarch.
Even were the Prince rebellious, it was no more than Philip’s
ancestor, Albert of Austria, had been towards 'his anointed
sovereign, Emperor Adolphus of Nassau, ancestor of William.
The ties of allegiance and conventional authority being
severed, it had become idle for the King to jaffect supe¬
riority of lineage to the man whose family had occupied illus¬
trious stations when the Habsburgs were obscure squires in
Switzerland, and had ruled as sovereign in thA Netherlands
before that overshadowing house had ever been na^ied.

But whatever the hereditary claims of Philip in tire country,
he had forfeited them by the violation of his oatjis, by his
tyrannical suppression of the charters of the land; | while by
his personal crimes he had lost all pretension to sit )in judg¬
ment upon his fellow-man. Was a people not justified^n rising
against authority -when all their laws had been troddeia^^ytef
foot, “ not once only, but a million of times ? ”—and was Wil-

1580.]

THE APOLOGY CHARACTERISED.

483

liam of Orange, lawful husband of the virtuous Charlotte de
Bourbon, to be denounced for moral delinquency by a lascivious,
incestuous, adulterous, and murderous king? With horrible
distinctness he laid before the monarch all the crimes of which
he believed him guilty, and having thus told Philip to his beard,
“Thus diddest thou,” he had a withering word for the priest who
stood at his back. “ Tell me,” he cried, “by whose command
Cardinal Granvelle administered poison to the Emperor Maxi¬
milian? I know what the Emperor told me, and how much
fear he felt afterwards for the King and for all Spaniards.”

He ridiculed the effrontery of men like Philip and Gran¬
velle, in charging “ distrust ” upon others, when it was the
very atmosphere of their own existence. He proclaimed that
sentiment to be the only salvation for the country. He re¬
minded Philip of the words which his namesake of Macedon—
a schoolboy in tyranny, compared to himself—had heard from
the lips of Demosthenes,—that the strongest fortress of a free
people against a tyrant was distrust That sentiment, worthy
of eternal memory, the Prince declared that he had taken
from the “ divine philippic,” to engrave upon the heart of
the nation, and he prayed God that he might be more readily
believed than the great orator had been by his people.

He treated with scorn the price set upon his head, ridi¬
culing this project to terrify him, for its want of novelty,
and asking the monarch if he supposed the rebel ignorant
of the various bargains which had frequently been made
before with cut-throats and poisoners to take away his life.
“ I am in the hand of God,” said William of Orange; “ my
worldly goods and my life have been long since dedicated to
His service. He will dispose of them as seems best for His
glory and my salvation.”

On the contrary, however, if it could be demonstrated, or
even hoped, that his absence would benefit the cause of the
country, he proclaimed himself ready to go into exile.
“Would to God,” said he, in conclusion, “that my perpetual
banishment, or even my death, could bring you a true deli-

484

THE BISE OE THE DUTCH BEPUBLIC.

[1580.

verance from so many calamities. Oh, how consoling would
be such banishment—how sweet such a death! For why
have I exposed my property? Was it that I might enrich
myself? Why have I lost my brothers ? Was it that I
might find new ones ? Why have I left my son so long a
prisoner ? Can you give me another ? Why have I put my
life so often in danger ? What reward can I hope after my
long services, and the almost total wreck of my earthly
fortunes, if not the prize of having acquired, perhaps at the
expense of my life, your liberty ? If then, my masters, you
judge that my absence or my death can serve you, behold me
ready to obey. Command me—send me to the ends of the
earth—I will obey. Here is my head, over which no prince,
no monarch, has power but yourselves. Dispose of it lor
your good, for the preservation of your Republic, but if you
judge that the moderate amount of experience and industry
which is in me, if you judge that the remainder of my pro¬
perty and of my life can yet be of service to you, I dedicate
them afresh to you and to the country.” 1 2

His motto—most appropriate to his life and character—
u Je maintiendrai was the concluding phrase of the docu¬
ment. His arms and signature were also formally appended,
and the Apology, translated into most modern languages,
was sent to nearly every potentate in Christendom. 3 It had
been previously, on the 13th of December 1580, read before
the assembly of the united states at Delft, and approved as
cordially as the ban was indignantly denounced. 3

1 Apologia, pp. 140,141.

2 Wagenaer, vii. 354.

3 Ibid. Archives et Correspondance,
vii. 480.—The “ Apologie” was drawn
up by Villiers, a clergyman of learning
and talent. (Vide Duplessis Mornay,
note to De Thou, v. 813, La Haye,
1740.) No man, however, at all con¬
versant with the writings and speeches
of the Prince, can doubt that the entire
substance of the famous document was
from his own hand. The whole was
submitted to him for his final emenda- \

I tions, and it seems by no means certain
I that it derived anything from the hand
of Villiers save the artistic arrangement
of the parts, together with certain in¬
flations of style, by which the severe
sublimity of the general effect is occa¬
sionally marred. The appearance of
the Apology created both admiration
jand alarm among 'the friends of its
! author. yNow is the Prince a dead
man,” cried Samte Aldegonde, when
he read it in Prance.—Hoofd. zvii.
735.

1680.1

SIEG-E OF STEENWZK.

485

During the remainder of the year 1580, and the half of the
following year, the seat of hostilities was mainly in the north¬
east—Parma, while waiting the arrival of fresh troops, being
inactive. The operations, like the armies and the generals,
were petty. Hohenlo was opposed to Renneberg. After a few
insignificant victories, the latter laid siege to Steenwyk, 1 a
city in itself of no great importance, but the key to the pro¬
vince of Drenthe. The garrison consisted of six hundred
soldiers, and half as many trained burghers. Renneberg,
having six thousand foot and twelve hundred horse, summoned
the place to surrender, but was answered with defiance.
Captain Cornput, who had escaped from Groningen, after un¬
successfully warning the citizens of Renneberg’s meditated trea¬
son, commanded in Steenwyk, and his courage and cheerfulness
sustained the population of the city during a close winter siege.
Tumultuous mobs in the streets demanding that the place
should be given over ere it was too late, he denounced to their
faces u as flocks of gabbling geese,” unworthy the attention
of brave men. To a butcher who, with the instinct of his
craft, begged to be informed what the population were to eat
when the meat was all gone, he coolly observed, “We will
eat you, villain, first of all, when the time comes: so go home
and rest assured that you, at least, are not to die of starva¬
tion.” 2 With such rough but cheerful admonitions did the
honest soldier, at the head of his little handful, sustain the
courage of the beleaguered city. -Meantime Renneberg
pressed it hard. He bombarded it with red-hot balls, a new
invention introduced five years before by Stephen Bathor,
King of Poland, at the siege of Dantzig. 3 Many houses were
consumed, but still Cornput and the citizens held firm. As
the winter advanced, and the succour which had been promised
still remained in the distance, Renneberg began to pelt the
city with sarcasms, which, it was hoped, might prove more
effective than the red-hot balls. He sent a herald to

1 Bor, rr. 219, 221. Hoofd, xvri. 178 a.

710- Meteren, x. 176, sqq. 3 Meteren, x. 169 d. Wagenaer, rii.

3 TToofd. xvii. 715. Meteren, x. 359

486

THE RISE OF THE DUTCH REPUBLIC.

[1581.

know if the citizens had eaten all their horses yet; a question
which was answered by an ostentatious display of sixty
starving hacks—all that could be mustered—upon the
heights. He sent them, on another occasion, a short letter,
which ran as follows:—

“ Most Honourable, most Steadfast, —As, during the
present frost, you have but little exercise in the trenches—as
you cannot pass your time in twirling your finger-rings,
seeing that they have all been sold to pay your soldiers’ wages
—as you have nothing to rub your teeth upon, nor to scour
your stomachs withal—and as nevertheless, you require some¬
thing if only to occupy your minds, I send you the enclosed
letter, in hope it may yield amusement.—January 15,1581.” 1

The enclosure was a letter from the Prince of Orange to the
Duke of Anjou, which, as it was pretended, had been inter¬
cepted. It was a clumsy forgery, but it answered the purpose
of more skilful counterfeiting, at a period when political and
religious enmity obscured men’s judgment. “ As to the point
of religion,” the Prince was made to observe, for example, to
his illustrious correspondent, “that is all plain and clear.
JSTo sovereign who hopes to come to any great advancement
ought to consider religion, or hold it in regard. Your
Highness, by means of the garrisons and fortresses, will be
easily master of the principal cities in Flanders and Brabant,
even if the citizens were opposed to you. Afterwards you
will compel them without difficulty to any religion which may
seem most conducive to the interests of your Highness.” 2
Odious and cynical as was the whole tone of the letter, it
was extensively circulated. There were always natures base
and brutal enough to accept the calumny and to make it cur¬
rent among kindred souls. It may be doubted whether Renne-
berg attached faith to the document; but it was natural that
he should take a malicious satisfaction in spreading this libel

1 Meteren, x. 178 c .

3 The whole letter is given by Bor,
of course as a forgery, xvi. 239-241.

f It was probably prepared by Assonle-
ville.—Ibid. Compare G-roen v. Prinst.,
Archives, vii. 3S0.

1581.]

FORGED LETTERS.

487

against the man whose perpetual scorn he had so recently
earned. Nothing was more common than such forgeries, and
at that very moment a letter, executed with equal grossness,
was passing from hand to hand, which purported to be from
the Count himself to Parma. 1 History has less interest in
contradicting the calumnies against a man like Renneberg.
The fictitious epistle of Orange, however, was so often repub¬
lished, and the copies so carefully distributed, that the Prince
had thought it important to add an express repudiation of
its authorship, by way of appendix to his famous Apology.
He took the occasion to say, that if a particle of proof could
be brought that he had written the letter, or any letter
resembling it, he would forthwith leave the Netherlands,
never to shew his face there again. 2

Notwithstanding this well known denial, however, Renne-
berg thought it facetious to send the letter into Steenwyk,
where it produced but small effect upon the minds of the
burghers. Meantime, they had received intimation that
succour was on its way. Hollow balls containing letters were
shot into the town, bringing the welcome intelligence that
the English colonel, John Norris, with six thousand states’
troops, would soon make his appearance for their relief, and
the brave Cornput added his cheerful exhortations to heighten
the satisfaction thus produced. A day or two afterwards,
three quails were caught in the public square, and the com¬
mandant improved the circumstance by many quaint homilies.
The number three, he observed, was typical of the Holy
Trinity, which had thus come symbolically to their relief.
The Lord had sustained the fainting Israelites with quails.
The number three indicated three weeks, within which time
the promised succour was sure to arrive. Accordingly, upon
the 22nd of February 1581, at the expiration of the third

1 This letter, the fictitious character which the historian introduces tho
of which is as obvious as that of the ridiculous document, evidently without
forged epistle of Orange, is given entertaining a doubt as to its genuine-
at length by Bor, xv. 211, 212. It nesa.
is amusing to see the gravity with 2 Bor, xvi. 200 b .

488

THE RISE OF THE DUTCH REPUBLIC.

[1581*

week, Norris succeeded in victualling the town, the merry
and steadfast Cornput was established as a true prophet, and
Count Renneberg abandoned the siege in despair. 1

The subsequent career of that unhappy nobleman was brief.
On the 19th of July his troops were signally defeated by
Sonoy and Norris, the fugitive royalists retreating into
Groningen at the very moment when their general, who had
been prevented by illness from commanding them, was re¬
ceiving the last sacraments. Remorse, shame, and dis¬
appointment had literally brought Renneberg to his grave.
“His treason,” says a contemporary, “was a nail in his
coffin,” and on his deathbed he bitterly bemoaned his crime.
“ Groningen ! Groningen! would that I had never seen thy
walls! ” he cried repeatedly in his last hours. He refused to
see his sister, whose insidious counsels had combined with
his own evil passions to make him a traitor; and he died on
the 23rd of July 1581, repentant and submissive. 54 His
heart, after his decease, was found “ shrivelled to the dimen¬
sions of a walnut,” 3 a circumstance attributed to poison by
some, to remorse by others. His regrets, his early death,
and his many attractive qualities, combined to save his
character from universal denunciation, and his name, al¬
though indelibly stained by treason, was ever mentioned
with pity rather than with rancour. 4

Great changes, destined to be perpetual, were steadily pre¬
paring in the internal condition of the provinces. A prelimi¬
nary measure of an important character had been taken early
this year by the assembly of the united provinces held in the
month of January at Delft. This was the establishment of a
general executive council. The constitution of the board was
arranged on the 13th of the month, and was embraced in

1 Strada, 2, iv. 172. Meteren, x. 179. royalists to regret at his ill success in
Bor, xvi. 238. Hoofd, xvii. 717, 718. accomplishing the work for which he

2 Bor, xvi. 276. Hoofd, xviii. 773. had received so large a price.—MS.

Meteren, x. 184. letter of Henri de Nebra to Prince of

3 “ So verdorret en kleen als een Parma, July 22,1581, Rec. Gron. und

walse note.”—Bor, xvi. 276. Renneberg, ii. f. 184, Royal Archives,

4 His death was attributed by the Brussels.

1581.]

THE national council.

489

eighteen articles. The number of councillors was fixed at
thirty, all to be native Netherlander; a certain proportion to
be appointed from each province by its estates. The advice
and consent of this body as to treaties with foreign powers
were to be indispensable, but they were not to interfere with
the rights and duties of the states-general, nor to interpose
any obstacle to the arrangements with the Duke of Anjou. 1

While this additional machine for the self-government of the
provinces was in the course of creation, the Spanish monarch,
on the other hand, had made another effort to recover the
authority which he felt slipping from his grasp. Philip was in
Portugal, preparing for his coronation in that new kingdom—
an event to be nearly contemporaneous with his deposition from
the Netherland sovereignty, so solemnly conferred upon him a
quarter of a century before in Brussels; but although thus
distant, he was confident that he could more wisely govern the
Netherlands than the inhabitants could do, and unwilling as
ever to confide in the abilities of those to whom he had dele¬
gated his authority. Provided, as he unquestionably was at *
that moment, with a more energetic representative than any
who had before exercised the functions of royal governor in the
provinces, he was still disposed to harass, to doubt, and to in¬
terfere. With the additional cares of the Portuguese conquest
upon his hands, he felt as irresistibly impelled as ever to super¬
intend the minute details of provincial administration. To do
this was impossible. It was, however, not impossible, by at¬
tempting to do it, to produce much mischief. u It gives me
pain,” wrote Granvelle, u to see his Majesty working as before
—choosing to understand everything and to do everything. By
this course, as I have often said before, he really accomplishes
much less. ” 2 The King had, moreover, recently committed the
profound error of sending the Duchess Margaret of Parma to
the Netherlands again. He had the fatuity to believe her
memory so tenderly cherished in the provinces as to ensure a

1 The constitution of the “ Land j 241-243.

Raed ” is given in full by Bor, rvi. j 2 Archives, etc., vii. 568.

490 THE EISE OF TEE DUTCH EEPUBLIO. [1581.

burarc of loyalty at her reappearance, while the irritation which
he thus created in the breast of her son he affected to disregard.
The event was what might have been foreseen. The Nether-
landers were very moderately excited by the arrival of their
former regent, but the Prince of Parma was furious. His
mother actually arrived at Namur in themonth of August 1580,
to assume the civil administration of the provinces, 1 and he was
himself, according to the King’s request, to continue in the
command of the army. Any one who had known human nature
at all, would have recognised that Alexander Farnese was not
the man to be put into leading strings. A sovereign who was
possessed of any administrative sagacity, would have seen the
absurdity 'of taking the reins of government at that crisis from
the hands of a most determined and energetic man, to confide
them to the keeping of a woman. A king who was willing to
reflect upon the consequences of his own acts, must have fore¬
seen the scandal likely to result from an open quarrel for pre¬
cedence between such a mother and son. Margaret of Parma
was instantly informed, however, by Alexander, that a divided
authority like that proposed was entirely out of the question.
Both offered to resign; but Alexander was unflinching in his
determination to retain all the power or none. The Duchess,
as docile to her son after her arrival as she had been to the
King on undertaking the journey, and feeling herself unequal
to the task imposed upon her, implored Philip’s permission to
withdraw, almost as soon as she had reached her destination.
Granvelle’s opinion was likewise opposed to this interference
with the administration of Alexander, and the King at last
suffered himself to be overruled. By the end of the year
1581, letters arrived confirming the Prince of Parma in his
government, but requesting the Duchess of Parma to remain
privately in the Netherlands. She accordingly continued to
reside there under an assumed name until the autumn of
1583, when she was at last permitted to return to Italy. 2

n l ... W n a S enaer » 344-345. Strada, I 3 Strada, 2,iii. 156-165. Wagenaer,
2, m. 156. | vii. 344, 345.—Compare Meteren, x.

1581.]

PAPISTS OPPRESSED.

491

During the summer of 1581, the same spirit of persecution
which had inspired the Catholics to inflict such infinite misery
upon those of the Eeformed faith in the bTetherlands, began to
manifest itself in overt acts against the Papists by those who
had at last obtained political ascendency over them. Edicts
were published in Antwerp, in Utrecht, and in different cities
of Holland, suspending the exercise of the Eoman worship.
These statutes were certainly a long way removed in horror
from those memorable placards which sentenced the Eeformers
by thousands to the axe, the cord, and the stake, but it was
still melancholy to see the persecuted becoming persecutors in
their turn. They were excited to these stringent measures by
the noisy zeal of certain Dominican monks in Brussels, whose
extravagant discourses 1 were daily inflaming the passions of
the Catholics to a dangerous degree. The authorities of the
city accordingly thought it necessary to suspend, by procla¬
mation, the public exercise of the ancient religion, assigning,
as their principal reason for this prohibition, the shocking
jugglery by which simple-minded persons were constantly
deceived. They alluded particularly to the practice of working
miracles by means of relics, pieces of the holy cross, bones of
saints, and the perspiration of statues. They charged that
bits of lath were daily exhibited as fragments of the cross;
that the bones of dogs and monkeys were held up for adora¬
tion as those of saints; and that oil was poured habitually
into holes drilled in the heads of statues, that the populace
might believe in their miraculous sweating. For these rea¬
sons, and to avoid the tumult and possible bloodshed to which
the disgust excited by such charlatanry might give rise, the
Roman Catholic worship was suspended until the country
should be restored to greater tranquillity. 2 Similar causes led
to similar proclamations in other cities. The Prince of
Orange lamented the intolerant spirit thus shewing itself

174, who states, erroneously, that the 1 Bor, xvi. 260.

Duchess retired during the year follow- 2 See the Proclamation in Bor, xir.

mg her arrival, 260, 26.',

492

THE RISE OF THE DUTCH REPUBLIC.

[1581.

among those who had been its martyrs, but it was not
possible at that moment to keep it absolutely under control.

A most important change was now to take place in his
condition, a most vital measure was to be consummated by
the provinces. The step, which could never be retraced, was,
after long hesitation, finally taken upon the 26th of July
1581, upon which day the united provinces, assembled at the
Hague, solemnly declared their independence of Philip, and
renounced their allegiance for ever. 1

This act was accomplished with the deliberation due to its
gravity. At the same time it left the country in a very divided
condition. This was inevitable. The Prince had done all that
one man could do to hold the Netherlands together and unite
them perpetually into one body politic, and perhaps, if he had
been inspired by a keener personal ambition, this task might
have been accomplished. The seventeen provinces might have
accepted his dominion, but they would agree to that of no
other sovereign. Providence had not decreed that the country,
after its long agony, should give birth to a single and perfect
commonwealth. The Walloon provinces had already fallen off
from the cause, notwithstanding the entreaties of the Prince.
The other Netherlands, after long and tedious negotiation with
Anjou, had at last consented to his supremacy, but from this
arrangement Holland and Zeland held themselves aloof. By a
somewhat anomalous proceeding, they sent deputies along with
those of the other provinces, to the conferences with the Duke,
but it was expressly understood that they would never accept
him as sovereign. They were willing to contract with him and
with their sister provinces—over which he was soon to exercise
authority—a firm and perpetual league, but as to their own
chief, their hearts were fixed. The Prince of Orange should be
their lord and master, and none other. It lay only in his self-
denying character that he had not been clothed with this dignity
long before. He had, however, persisted in the hope that alJ
the provinces might be brought to acknowledge the Duke of
1 Bor. xvi. 276. Meteren. x. 187 Strada 2 iv. 178, sqq

1581.]

DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE.

493

Anjou as their sovereign, under conditions which constituted
a free commonwealth with a hereditary chief, and in this hope
he had constantly refused concession to the wishes of the
northern provinces. He in reality exercised sovereign power
over nearly the whole population of the Netherlands. Already,
in 1580, at the assembly held in April, the states of Holland
had formally requested him to assume the full sovereignty over
them, with the title of Count 1 of Holland and Zelancl forfeited
by Philip. He had not consented, and the proceedings had
been kept comparatively secret. As the negotiations with
Anjou advanced, and as the corresponding abjuration of Philip
was more decisively indicated, the consent of the Prince to this
request was more warmly urged. As it was evident that the
provinces, thus bent upon placing him at their head, could by
no possibility be induced to accept the sovereignty of Anjou—
as, moreover, the act of renunciation of Philip could no longer
be deferred, the Prince of Orange reluctantly and provisionally
accepted the supreme power over Holland and Zeland. This
arrangement was finally accomplished upon the 24th of July
1581, 2 and the act of abjuration took place two days after¬
wards. The offer of the sovereignty over the other united
provinces had been accepted by Anjou six months before.

Thus, the Netherlands were divided into three portions—the
reconciled provinces, the united provinces under Anjou, and
the northern provinces under Orange; the last division form¬
ing the germ, already nearly developed, of the coming republic.
The constitution, or catalogue of conditions, by which the
sovereignty accorded to Anjou was reduced to such narrow
limits as to be little more than a nominal authority, while
the power remained in the hands of the representative body
of the provinces, will be described, somewhat later, together
with the inauguration of the Duke. For the present it is
necessary that the reader should fully understand the rela-

1 Gl-roen v. Prinst.. Archives, etc., vii. Prince of Orange and States of Holland,
307. Kluit, Holl. Staatsreg., i. 308, and in Bor, xv. 182, sqq., 186 a particularly,
note 42. Correspondence between 2 Bor, xv. 185.186.

494

THE KISE OP THE DUTCH [REPUBLIC.

[15S1.

tive position of the Prince and of the northern provinces.
The memorable act of renunciation—the Netherland decla¬
ration of independence—will then be briefly explained.

On the 29th of March 1580, a resolution passed the as¬
sembly of Holland and Zeland never to make peace or enter
into any negotiations with the King of Spain on the basis of
his sovereignty. The same resolution provided that his name
—hitherto used in all public acts—should be for ever discarded,
that his seal should be broken, and that the name and seal of
the Prince of Orange should be substituted in all commissions
and public documents. At almost the same time the states of
Utrecht passed a similar resolution. These offers were, how¬
ever, not accepted, and the affair was preserved profoundly
secret. 1 On the 5th of July 1581, u the knights, nobles, and
cities of Holland and Zeland,” again, ill an urgent and solemn
manner, requested the Prince to accept the u entire authority
as sovereign, and chief of the land, as long as the war should
continue .” 2 This limitation as to time was inserted most
reluctantly by the states, and because it was perfectly well
understood that without it the Prince would not accept the
sovereignty at all. 3 The act by which this dignity was
offered, conferred full power to command all forces by land
and sea, to appoint all military officers, and to conduct all
warlike operations, without the control or advice of any
person whatsoever. It authorised him, with consent of the
states, to appoint all financial and judicial officers, created
him the supreme executive chief, and fountain of justice and
pardon, and directed him “ to maintain the exercise only of
the Eeformed evangelical religion, without, however, per¬
mitting that inquiries should be made into any man’s belief
or conscience, or that any injury or hindrance should be
offered to any man on account of his religion.” 4

The sovereignty thus pressingly offered, and thus limited as-

1 Bor, xv. 181, IS2. reg., i. 213, sqq .; Grocn v. Prinst.,

* Ibid., xv. 184, 185. Archives, vii. 304-309.

3 Ibid.—Compare ICluit, Holl. Staats- 4 Bor, xv. 183-184.

1581.]

PAPISTS OPPRESSED.

495

to time, was finally accepted by William of Orange, accord¬
ing to a formal act dated at the Hague, 5th of July 1581, 1
but it will be perceived that no powers were conferred by
this new instrument beyond those already exercised by the
Prince. It was, as it were, a formal continuance of the
functions which he had exercised since 1576 as the King’s
stadtholder, according to his old commission of 1555, although
a vast difference existed in reality. The King’s name was
now discarded and his sovereignty disowned, while the pro¬
scribed rebel stood in his place, exercising supreme functions,
not vicai'iously, but in his own name. The limitation as to
time was, moreover, soon afterwards secretly , and without the
knowledge of Orange , cancelled by the states . 2 They were
determined that the Prince should be their sovereign—if
they could make him so—for the term of his life.

The offer having thus been made and accepted upon the
5th of July, oaths of allegiance and fidelity were exchanged
between the Prince and the estates upon the 24th of the same
month. In these solemnities, the states, as representing the
provinces, declared that because the King of Spain, contrary
to his oath as Count of Holland and Zeland, had not only not
protected these provinces, but had sought with all his might
to reduce them to eternal slavery, it had been found necessary
to forsake him. They therefore proclaimed every inhabitant
absolved from allegiance, -while at the same time, in the
name of the population, they swore fidelity to the Prince of
Orange, as representing the supreme authority. 3

Two days afterwards, upon the 26th of July 1581, the
memorable declaration of independence was issued by the
deputies of the united provinces, then solemnly assembled at
the Hague. It was called the Act of Abjuration. 4 It deposed

1 Bor, xv. 183, 184. the measure are commented upon by

2 Kluit, i. 213, 214. Kluit, the constitutional historian of

3 Bor, xv. 185, 186. Holland, in a masterly manner (x.

4 The document is given in full by Hoofd, vol. i. 198-280). Se . also
Bor, xvi. 276-280, by Meteren, x. 187- Wagenaer, vii. 391.—Compare Strada,
190. Tho native and consequences of who introduces his account of the ab-

^6 THE RISE OR THE DUTCH REPUBLIC. [1581

thilip from his sovereignty, but was not the proclamation of a
new form of government, for the united provinces were not
ready to dispense with a hereditary chief. Unluckily, they
had already provided themselves with a very bad one to succeed
Philip in the dominion over most of their territory, while the
northern provinces were fortunate enough and wise enough to
take the Father of the country for their supreme magistrate.

The document by which the provinces renounced their
allegiance was not the most felicitous of their state papers. It
was too prolix and technical. Its style had more of the formal
phraseology of legal documents than befitted this great appeal
to the whole world and to all time. Nevertheless, this is but
matter of taste. The Netherlander were so eminently a law-
abiding people, that, like the American patriots of the
eighteenth century, they on most occasions preferred punc¬
tilious precision to florid declamation. They chose to conduct
their revolt according to law. At the same time, while thus
decently wrapping herself in conventional garments, the spirit
of Liberty revealed none the less her majestic proportions.

At the very outset of the Abjuration, these fathers of the
Republic laid down wholesome truths, which at that time
seemed startling blasphemies in the ears of Christendom.
“All mankind know,” said the preamble, “that a prince is
appointed by God to cherish his subjects, even as a shepherd
to guard his sheep. When, therefore, the prince does not
fulfil his duty as protector; when he oppresses his sub¬
jects, destroys their ancient liberties, and treats them as
slaves, he is to be considered, not a prince, but a tyrant.
As such, the estates of the land may lawfully and reasonably
depose him, and elect another in his room.” 1

Having enunciated these maxims, the estates proceeded to
apply them to their own case, and certainly never was an ampler
justification for renouncing a prince since princes were first in¬
juration 'with sepulchral solemnity: animo, hactenus supersedi,” etc.—Bell,

“ Jam mihi dicendum est faemus, cujus Belg., 2, iv. 178, sqq.
a commemoratione, quasi abhorrente 1 Act of Abjuration.

1581.]

STYLE OF THE ABJURATION.

497

stituted. The states ran through the history of the past
quarter of a century, patiently accumulating a load of charges
against the monarch, a tithe of which would have furnished
cause for his dethronement. Without passion or exaggeration,
they told the world their wrongs. The picture was not highly
coloured. On the contrary, it was rather a feeble than a striking
portrait of the monstrous iniquity which had so long been
established over them. Nevertheless, they went through the
narrative conscientiously and earnestly. They spoke of the
King’s early determination to govern the Netherlands, not by
natives, but by Spaniards ; to treat them, not as constitutional
countries, but as conquered provinces; to regard the inhabi¬
tants, not as liege subjects, but as enemies; above all, to
supersede their ancient liberty by the Spanish Inquisition, and
they alluded to the first great step in this scheme—the creation
of the new bishoprics, each with its staff of inquisitors. 1

They noticed the memorable Petition, the mission of Berghen
and Montigny, their imprisonment and taking off, in violation
of all national law, even that which had ever been held
sacred by the most cruel and tyrannical princes. 9 . They
sketched the history of Alva’s administration; his entrapping
the most eminent nobles by false promises, and delivering
them to the executioner; his countless sentences of death,
outlawry, and confiscation; his erection of citadels to curb,
his imposition of the tenth and twentieth penny to exhaust
the land; his Blood-Council and its achievements; and the
immeasurable woe produced by hanging, burning, banishing,
and plundering, during his seven years of residence. They
adverted to the Grand Commander, as having been sent, not
to improve the condition of the country, but to pursue the
same course of tyranny by more concealed ways. They spoke
of the horrible mutiny which broke forth at his death ; of the
Antwerp Fury; of the express approbation rendered to that

i “-. e n door de yoorsz Canon- etc.—Act of Abjuration.

iken de Spaense Inquisitie ingebrocht 2 “ Ook onder de wreetste en tyran-
de welke m dese altijt so sckrickelijk nigste Prmcen altijd onyerbrekelijik
en odieus als de uitterste slavernye,” onderhouden.”—Ibid.

VOL. III. 2 I

498

TUB RISE OF THE DUTCH REPUBLIC.

[1581 t

great outrage by the King, who had not only praised the
crime, but promised to recompense the criminals. They
alluded to Don John of Austria and his duplicity; to his
pretended confirmation of the Ghent treaty; to his attempts
to divide the country against itself ; to the Escovedo policy;
to the intrigues with the German regiments. They touched
upon the Cologne negotiations, and the fruitless attempt of
the patriots upon that occasion to procure freedom of religion,
while the object of the royalists was only to distract and
divide the nation. Finally, they commented with sorrow and
despair upon that last and crowning measure of tyranny—
the ban against the Prince of Orange.

They calmly observed, after this recital, that they were
sufficiently justified in forsaking a sovereign who for more than
twenty years had forsaken them. 1 Obeying the law of nature
—desirous of maintaining the rights, charters, and liberties
of their fatherland—determined to escape from slavery to
Spaniards—and making known their decision to the world,
they declared the King of Spain deposed from his sovereignty,
and proclaimed that they should recognise thenceforth neither
his title nor jurisdiction. Three days afterwards, on the
29th of July, the assembly adopted a formula, by which all
persons were to be required to signify their abjuration. 2 * *

Such were the forms by which the united provinces threw off
their allegiance to Spain, and ipso facto established a republic,
which was to flourish for two centuries. This result, however,
was not exactly foreseen by the congress which deposed Philip.
The fathers of the commonwealth did not baptize it by the name

1 “-te meer dat in a! sulken

desordre en overlaet de Landen bet
dan 20 jaren van haren Coning sijn
verlaten geweest/ 5 etc.—Act of Abjura¬
tion.

2 Bor, xvi. 280.—It ran as follows:

“ I solemnly swear that I will hence¬
forward not respect, nor obey, nor

recognise the King of Spain as my
prince and master; but that I renounce

the King of Spain, and abjure the alle-1

giance by which I may have formerly
been bound to him. At the same time
I swear fidelity to the United Nether¬
lands—to wit, the provinces of Brabant,
Flanders, G-ueldres, Holland, Zeland,
etc., etc., and also to the national council
established by the estates of these pro¬
vinces ; and promise my assistance
according to the best of my abilities
against the King of Spain and hia
adherents.”

1581.]

ACT OF ABJURATION ANALYSED.

499

of Republic. They did not contemplate a change in their form
of government. They had neither an aristocracy nor a de¬
mocracy in their thoughts. 1 Like the actors in our own great
national drama, these Netherland patriots were struggling to
sustain, not to overthrow; unlike them, they claimed no
theoretical freedom for humanity—promulgated no doctrine of
popular sovereignty : they insisted merely on the fulfilment of
actual contracts, signed, sealed, and sworn to by many suc¬
cessive sovereigns. Acting upon the principle that government
should be for the benefit of the governed, and in conformity
to the dictates of reason and justice, they examined the facts
by those Divine lights, and discovered cause to discard their
ruler. They did not object to being ruled. They were satisfied
with their historical institutions, and preferred the mixture of
hereditary sovereignty with popular representation, to which
they were accustomed. They did not devise an a priori con¬
stitution. Philip having violated the law of reason and the
statutes of the land, was deposed, and a new chief magistrate
was to be elected in his stead. This was popular sovereignty
in fact, but not in words. The deposition and election could
be legally justified only by the inherent right of the people to
depose and to elect; yet the provinces, in their Declaration of
Independence, spoke of the Divine right of kings, even while
dethroning, by popular right, their own king !

So also, in the instructions given by the states to their envoys
charged to justify the abjuration before the Imperial diet held
at Augsburg, 2 twelve months later, the highest ground was
claimed for the popular right to elect or depose the sovereign,
while at the same time, kings were spoken of as “ appointed by
God.” It is true that they were described, in the same clause,
as £C chosen by the people”—which was, perhaps, as exact a
concurrence in the maxim of Vox populi , vox Dei , as the boldest
democrat of the day could demand. In truth, a more democratic
course would have defeated its own ends. The murderous and
mischievous pranks of Imbize, Ryhove, and such demagogues, at
1 Kluit, i. 199. 3 The instructions are given in Bor, xvii. 324-327.

500

THE KISE OP THE HUTCH REPUBLIC.

[1581.

Ghent and elsewhere, with their wild theories of what they
called Grecian, Roman, and Helvetian republicanism, had in¬
flicted damage enough on the cause of freedom, and had paved
the road for the return of royal despotism. The senators assem¬
bled at the Hague gave more moderate instructions to their
delegates at Augsburg. They were to place the King’s tenure
upon contract—not an implied one, but a contract as literal as
the lease of a farm. The house of Austria, theywere to maintain,
had come into the possession of the seventeen Netherlands upon
certain express conditions, and with the understanding that its
possession was to cease with the first condition broken. It was
a question of law and fact, not of royal or popular right. They
were to take the ground, not only that the contract had been
violated, but that the foundation of perpetual justice, upon which
it rested, had likewise been undermined. It was time to vindi¬
cate both written charters and general principles. cC God has
given absolute poicer to no mortal man” said Sainte Aldegonde,
“ to do his oion ivill against all laws and all reason” 1 “ The
contracts which the King has broken arc no pedantic fantasies,”
said the estates, “ but laws planted by nature in the universal
heart of mankind, and expressly acquiesced in by piince and
people.” 2 All men, at least, who speak the English tongue,
will accept the conclusion of the provinces, that when laws
which protected the citizen against arbitrary imprisonment
and guaranteed him a trial in his own province—which for¬
bade the appointment of foreigners to high ollicq^-which
secured the property of the citizen from taxation, except by
the representative body—which forbade intermeddling on the
part of the sovereign with the conscience of the subject in
religious matters—when such laws had been subverted by
blood-tribunals, where drowsy judges sentenced thousands to
stake and scaffold without a hearing—by excommunication,
confiscation, banishment—by hanging, beheading, burning, to
such enormous extent and with such terrible monotony that

1 Arcbiyes et Correspondance, vii. j 2 Instructions to tlio envoys, etc.
-77* I apud Bor, 3, xvii. 324-327.

1681.] PHILOSOPHY OF NETHERLAND POLITICS.

501

the executioner’s sword came to be looked upon as tlie only
symbol of justice—then surely it might be said, without
exaggeration, that the complaints of the Netherlands were
“no pedantic fantasies,” and that the King had ceased to
perform his functions as dispenser of God’s justice.

The Netherlands dealt with facts. They possessed a body
of laws, monuments of their national progress, by which as
good a share of individual liberty was secured to the citizen as
was then enjoyed in any country of the world. Their institu¬
tions admitted of great improvement, no doubt; but it was
natural that a people so circumstanced should be unwilling to
exchange their condition for the vassalage of Moors or Indians.

At the same time it may be doubted whether the instinct
for political freedom only would have sustained them in the
long contest, and whether the bonds which united them to
the Spanish Crown would have been broken, had it not been
for the stronger passion for religious liberty, by which so
large a portion of the people was animated. Boldly as the
united states of the Netherlands laid down the political maxims,
the quarrel might perhaps have been healed if the religious
question had admitted of a peaceable solution. Philip’s
bigotry amounting to frenzy, and the Netherlands of “ the
religion” being willing, in their own words, “to die the
death ’’rather than abandon the Reformed faith, there was upon
this point no longer room for hope. In the act of abjuration,
however, it was thought necessary to give offence to no class
of the inhabitants, but to lay down such principles only as
enlightened Catholics would not oppose. All parties abhorred
the Inquisition, and hatred to that institution is ever prominent
among the causes assigned for the deposition of the monarch.
“ Under pretence of maintaining the Roman religion,” said
the estates, “ the King has sought by evil means to bring
into operation the whole strength of the placards and of the
inquisition —the first and true cause of all our miseries .” 1

1 Transactions between the envoys 1 Anjou.—Eor, 3, xvii. 304-307. So also
a\ the Stv pc-general and the Bute of | in the remarkable circular addressed in

502

THE RISE OF THE HUTCH REPUBLIC.

[1581.

Without making any assault upon the Roman Catholic faith,
the authors of the great act by which Philip was for ever
expelled from the Netherlands shewed plainly enough that
religious persecution had driven them at last to extremity.
At the same time, they were willing—for the sake of con¬
ciliating all classes of their countrymen—to bring the political
causes of discontent into the foreground, and to use discreet
language upon the religious question. 1

Such, then, being the spirit which prompted the provinces
upon this great occasion, it may be asked who were the men
who signed a document of such importance? In whose
name and by what authority did they act against the
sovereign ? The signers of the Declaration of Independence
acted in the name and by the authority of the Netherland
people. The estates were the constitutional representatives
of that people. The statesmen of that day discovering, upon
cold analysis of facts, that Philip’s sovereignty was legally
forfeited, formally proclaimed that forfeiture. Then inquir¬
ing what had become of the sovereignty, they found it not
in the mass of the people, but in the representative body
which actually personated the people. The estates of the
different provinces—consisting of the knights, nobles and
burgesses of each—sent, accordingly, their deputies to the
general assembly at the Hague, and by this congress the
decree of abjuration was issued. It did not occur to any one
to summon the people in their primary assemblies, nor
would the people of that day have comprehended the objects
of such a summons. They were accustomed to the action of
the estates, and those bodies represented as large a number of
political capacities as could be expected of assemblies chosen

the year 1583 (May 6) by the States
of Holland to those of Utrecht and
other provinces, the same intolerable
grievance is described in the strongest
language. “ Under pretext of the new
bishoprics,” say the estates, “the In¬
quisition and Council of Trent have
been established. Thus the Spaniards

and their adherents have been em¬
powered to accuse all persons who are
known to be not of their humour, to
bring them into the snares of the In¬
quisition, and to rob them of liie,
honour,and property.”—Bor,3,xv. 1SS.

1 G-roen v. Prinst., Archives, vii.
588.

1581.]

CONDITION OF THE NATION.

503

then upon general principles. The hour had not arrived for
more profound analysis of the social compact. Philip was
accordingly deposed justly, legally, formally—justly, because
it had become necessary to abjure a monarch who was deter¬
mined not only to oppress but to exterminate his people;
legally, because he had habitually violated the constitutions
which he had sworn to support; formally, because the act
was done in the name of the people, by the body historically
representing the people.

What, then, was the condition of the nation, after this
great step had been taken ? It stood, as it were, with the
sovereignty in its hand, dividing it into two portions, and
offering it, thus separated, to two distinct individuals. The
sovereignty of Holland and Zeland had been reluctantly
accepted by Orange. The sovereignty of the united provinces
had been offered to Anjou, but the terms of agreement with
that Duke had not yet been ratified. The movement was
therefore triple, consisting of an abjuration and of two sepa¬
rate elections of hereditary chiefs; these two elections being
accomplished in the same manner, by the representative bodies
respectively of the united provinces, and of Holland and Ze¬
land. Neither the abjuration nor the elections were acted
upon beforehand by the communities, the train-bands, or the
guilds of the cities—all represented, in fact, by the magis¬
trates and councils of each; nor by the peasantry of the open
country—all supposed to be represented by the knights and
nobles. All classes of individuals, however, arranged in various
political or military combinations, gave their acquiescence
afterwards, together with their oaths of allegiance. The people
approved the important steps taken by their representatives. 1

Without a direct intention on the part of the people or its
leaders to establish a republic, the Kepublic established itself.
Providence did not permit the whole country, so full of
wealth, intelligence, healthy political action—so stocked with
powerful cities and an energetic population, to be combined
1 KLuit, i. 247-250.

504

THE EISE OE THE DUTCH KEPUBLIC.

[1581.

into one free and prosperous commonwealth. The factious
ambition of a few grandees, the cynical venality of many
nobles, the frenzy of the Ghent democracy, the spirit of
religious intolerance, the consummate military and political
genius of Alexander Farnese, the exaggerated self-abnega¬
tion and the tragic fate of Orange, all united to dissever this
group of flourishing and kindred provinces.

The want of personal ambition on the part of William the
Silent inflicted perhaps a serious damage upon his country.
He believed a single chief requisite for the united states ; he
might have been, but always refused to become that chief;
and yet lie has been held up for centuries by many writers as
a conspirator and a self-seeking intriguer. Cl It seems to me/’
said he, with equal pathos and truth, upon one occasion,
u that I was born in this bad planet that all which I do might
be misinterpreted.” 1 The people worshipped him, and there
was many an occasion when his election would have been
carried with enthusiasm. 2 u These provinces,” said John of
Nassau, cc are coming very unwillingly into the arrangement
with the Duke of Alengon. The majority feel much more
inclined to elect the Prince, who is daily , and without intermis¬
sion, implored to give his consent. His Grace, however, will in
no wise agree to this ; not because he fears the consequences,
such as loss of property or increased danger, for therein he is
plunged as deeply as he ever could be;—on the contrary, if
he considered only the interests of his race and the grandeur
of his house, he could expect nothing but increase of honour,
gold, and gear, with all other prosperity. He refuses only on
this account—that it may not be thought that , instead of reli
gious freedom for the country , he has been seeking a kingdom
for himself and his own private advancement. Moreover, he
believes that the connexion with France will be of more
benefit to the country and to Christianity than if a peace
should he made with Spain, or than if he should himself
accept the sovereignty, as he is desired to do.”*

1 Archives et Corresp., vii. 387. | Vynckt, iii. 73.

3 Bor, xix. 455 b. —Compare Van d. | 3 Archives, etc., vii. 332, 333.

1581.]

DEPARTURE OF ARCHETJKE MATTHIAS.

505

The unfortunate negotiations with Anjou, to which no man
was more opposed than Count John, proceeded therefore. In
the meantime, the sovereignty over the united provinces was
provisionally held by the national council, and, at the urgent
solicitation of the states-general, by the Prince. 1 The Arch-
Juke Matthias, whose functions were most unceremoniously
brought to an end by the transactions which we have been
recording, took his leave of the states, and departed in the
month of October. 2 Brought to the country a beardless boy,
by the intrigues of a faction who wished to use him as a tool
against William of Orange, he had quietly submitted, on the
contrary, to serve as the instrument of that great statesman.
His personality during his residence was null, and he had to
■expiate, by many a petty mortification, by many a bitter
tear, the boyish ambition which brought him to the Nether¬
lands. He had certainly had ample leisure to repent the
haste with which he had got out of his warm bed in Vienna
to take his bootless journey to Brussels. Nevertheless, in a
•country where so much baseness, cruelty, and treachery was
habitually practised by men of high position, as was the
case in the Netherlands, it is something in favour of .Matthias
that he had not been base, or cruel, or treacherous. 3 The
states voted him, on his departure, a pension of fifty thou¬
sand guldens annually, 4 which was probably not paid with
■exemplary regularity. 5

1 Archives, etc., vii. 589.

2 Bor, xvi. 282. Meteren, x. 190.
Wagenaer, vii. 414, 415.

3 He is, however, accused by Mete¬

ren of having entered at last into secret
-intrigues with the King of Spam against

'William of Orange.—Kederl. Hist.,

x. 190. Hoofd repeats the story.—
Nederl. Hist., xviii. 779. Wagenaer
discredits it: vii. 414.

4 Bor, xvi.. 282. Meteren, Hoofd,
Wagenaer, ubi sup.

6 Wagenaer, vii. 414, 415. G-roen
v. Prinst. Archives, vii. 588.

CHAPTER Y*

TWO ELECTED SOVEREIGNS

Policy of electing Anjou as sovereign—Commoda et incoinmoda—ViewB of
Orange—Opinions at the French Court—Anjou relieves Cambray—Parma
besieges Tournay—Brave defence by the Princess of Espinoy—Honourable
capitulation—Anjou’s courtship in England—The Duke’s arrival in the
Netherlands—Portrait of An jou —Festivities in Flushing—Inauguration
at Antwerp—The conditions or articles subscribed to by the Duke—Attempt
upon the life of Orange—The assassin’s papers—Confession of Venero—
Gaspar Anastro—His escape—Execution of Venero and Zimmermann—
Precarious condition of the Prince—His recovery—Death of the Princess
—Premature letters of Parma—Further negotiations with Orange as to
the sovereignty of Holland and Zeland—Character of the revised Con¬
stitution—Comparison of the positions of the Prince before and after his
acceptance of the countship.

Thus it was arranged that, for the present, at least, the Prince
should exercise sovereignty over Holland and Zeland; although
he had himself used his utmost exertions to induce those
provinces to join the rest of the United Netherlands in the pro¬
posed election of Anjou. 1 This, however, they sternly refused
to do. There was also a great disinclination felt by many in
the other states to this hazardous offer of their allegiance, 2 and
it was the personal influence of Orange that eventually carried
the measure through. Looking at the position of affairs and
at the character of Anjou, as they appear to us now, it seems
difficult to account for the Prince’s policy. It is so natural to

1 Bor, xiv. 183. I the subject. Archives et Corres-

2 See, in particular, two papers pondance, vii. 48-51, and 162 •
from the band of Count John upon 1165.

1581.]

POLICY OP ELECTING- ANJOU.

507

judge only by the result, that we are ready to censure states¬
men for consequences which beforehand might seem utterly
incredible, and for reading falsely human characters whose
entire development only a late posterity has had full oppor¬
tunity to appreciate. 1 Still, one would think that Anjou had
been sufficiently known to inspire distrust.

There was but little, too, in the aspect of the French court
to encourage hopes of valuable assistance from that quarter.
It was urged, not without reason, that the French were as
likely to become as dangerous as the Spaniards; that they
would prove nearer and more troublesome masters; that
France intended the incorporation of the Netherlands into her
own kingdom; that the provinces would therefore be dis¬
persed for ever from the German Empire ; and that it was as
well to hold to the tyrant under whom they had been born, as
to give themselves voluntarily to another of their own making. 2
In short, it was maintained, in homely language, that
“France and Spain were both under one coverlid.” 3 It
might have been added that only extreme misery could make
the provinces take either bedfellow. Moreover, it was
asserted, with reason, that Anjou would be a very expensive
master, for his luxurious and extravagant habits were notori-

1 Sainte Aldegonde, for instance, nix: “B. me trompera bien s’il ne
wrote from Paris to an intimate friend, trompe tous ceux qui se fieront en luy,
that after a conversation with Anjou of et surtout s’il aime jamais ceux de la
an hour and a half’s duration, he had Religion, ny leur fait aucuns advan-
formed the very highest estimate of his tages ; car je scay pour lui avoir ouy
talents and character. He praised to dire plus d’une fois, qiCil les halt comme
the skies the elegance of his manners, le diable dans son occur, et puis il a le
the liveliness of his mind, his remark- coeur si double et si malin, a le courage
able sincerity—in which last gifts he si lasche, le corps si mal basty, et est
so particularly resembled the Nether- tant inhabile a toules sortes de vertueux
landers themselves. Above all, he ex- exercices, que je ne me s^aurois per-
tolled the Duke’s extreme desire to suader qu’il fasse jamais nen ne gen£-
effect the liberation of the provinces, reux.”—Mem. de Sully, i. 102.—Com-
He added, that if the opportunity pare Groen v. Prinsterer, Archives, etc.,
should be let slip of securing such a vii. 4-13.

prince, “ posterity would regret it with 3 “ Incommoda et commoda,” etc.
bitter tears for a thousand years to — Archives et Correspondance, vii.
come.”—Hoofd, xvii. 736. The opinion 48.

expressed by Henry the Fourth to 3 “ Dasz Franckreich und Spanien
Sully is worth placing in juxtaposition mit einander under einer decke liegen.”"
with this extravagant eulogium of Mar-1 —Ibid.

508

THE RISE OF THE BUTCH REPUBLIC.

[1581.

ous—that he was a man in whom no confidence could be
placed, and one who would grasp at arbitrary power by any
means which might present themselves. 1 Above all, it was
urged that lie was not of the true religion, that he hated the
professors of that faith in his heart, and that it was extremely
unwise for men whose dearest interests were their religious
ones, to elect a sovereign of opposite creed to their own.
To these plausible views the Prince of Orange and those
who acted with him, had, however, sufficient answers. The
Netherlands had waited long enough for assistance from other
quarters. Germany would not lift a finger in the cause ; on
the contrary, the whole of Germany, whether Protestant or
Catholic, was either openly or covertly hostile. It was madness
to wait till assistance came to them from unseen sources. It
was time for them to assist themselves, and to take the best
they could get; for when men were starving they could not
afford to be dainty. They might be bound hand and foot,
they might be overwhelmed a thousand times before they
would receive succour from Germany, or from any land but
France. Under the circumstances in which they found
themselves, hope delayed was but a cold and meagre
consolation. 2

“To speak plainly,” said Orange, “asking us to wait is
very much as if you should keep a man three days without
any food in the expectation of a magnificent banquet—should
persuade him to refuse bread, and at the end of three days
should tell him that the banquet was not ready, but that a
still better one was in preparation. Would it not be better,
then, that the poor man, to avoid starvation, should wait no
longer, but accept bread wherever he might find it ? Such is
our case at present.” 3

It was in this vein that he ever wrote and spoke. The
Netherlands were to rely upon their own exertions, and to

1 Archives et Correspondance, vii.
48.

2 “ Une froide et bien maigre conso¬

lation”—Archives, vii. 240.

3 Archives, etc., vii. 240 and 245;
Letter to Lazarus Schwendi.

1581,]

LETTEES OF THE PEIHCE.

50H

procure the best alliance, together with the most efficient
protection possible. They were not strong enough to cope
single-handed with their powerful tyrant, but they were strong
enough if they used the instruments which Heaven offered. It
was not trusting but tempting Providence to wait supinely,
instead of grasping boldly at the means of rescue within
reach. It became the character of brave men to act, not to
expect. cc Otherwise,” said the Prince, u we may climb to
the tops of trees, like the Anabaptists of Munster, and expect
Goffs assistance to drop from the clouds.” 1 It is only by
listening to these arguments so often repeated, that we can
comprehend the policy of Orange at this period. “ God has
said that he would furnish the ravens with food, and the lions
with their prey,” said he; Ci but the birds and the lions do

not, therefore, sit in their nests and their lairs waiting for

their food to descend from heaven, but they seek it where it
is to be found.” 2 So also, at a later day, when events seemed
to have justified the distrust so generally felt in Anjou, the
Prince, nevertheless, held similar language. u I do not,”
said he, Ci calumniate those who tell us to put our trust in

God. That is my opinion also. But it is trusting God to

use the means which He places in our hands, and to ask that
His blessings may come upon them.” 3

There was a feeling entertained by the more sanguine that
the French King would heartily assist the Netherlands, after
his brother should be fairly installed. He had expressly -written
to that effect, assuring Anjou that he would help him with all
his strength, and would enter into close alliance with those
Netherlands which should accept him as prince and sovereign."
In another and more private letter to the Duke, the King

1 Archives, etc., vii. 576.

2 Letter to Count John, Archives et
Corrcsp., vii. 576.

3 Letter to States-general, apud Bor,
xvii. 619-354 (one of the noblest State
papers that ever came from his hand).

* The letter dated Blois, Lee. 26,
1580, is given by Hoofd, xviii. 754.,

According to Luplessis Mornay, the
Duke had, however, been expressly in¬
structed by his royal brother to with¬
draw the letter as soon as the deputies
had seen it. He was always com¬
manded never to importune his Ma¬
jesty on the subject.—V. Borgnet,
Philippe II. et la Belgique, p. 147.

510

THE RISE OF THE DUTCH REPUBLIC.

[1581.

promised to assist his brother, “even to his last shirt.” 1
There is no doubt that it was the policy of the statesmen of
France to assist the Netherlands, while the “ mvjnons ” of the
worthless King were of a contrary opinion. Many of them
were secret partisans of Spain, and found it more agreeable
to receive the secret pay of Philip than to assist his revolted
provinces. They found it easy to excite the jealousy of the
monarch against his brother—a passion which proved more
effective than the more lofty ambition of annexing the Low
Countries, according to the secret promptings of many French
politicians. 2 As for the Queen Mother* she was fierce in her
determination to see fulfilled in this way the famous prediction
■of Nostradamus. Three of her sons had successively worn
the crown of France. That she might be u the mother of
four kings,” without laying a third child in the tomb, she
was greedy for this proffered sovereignty to her youngest and
favourite son. This well-known desire of Catharine de
Medici was duly insisted upon by the advocates of the
election; for her influence, it was urged, would bring the
whole power of France to support the Netherlands. 3

At any rate, France could not be worse—could hardly be
so bad—as their present tyranny. “ Better the government
of the Gaul, though suspect and dangerous,” said Everard
Reyd, “ than the truculent dominion of the Spaniard. Even
thus will the partridge fly to the hand of man, to escape the
talons of the hawk.” 4 As for the individual character of
Anjou, proper means would be taken, urged the advocates of
his sovereignty, to keep him in check, for it was intended so
closely to limit the power conferred upon him, that it would
he only supreme in name. The Netherlands were to be, in
reality, a republic, of which Anjou was to be a kind of Italian
■or Frisian podesta. “ The Duke is not to act according to
his pleasure,” said one of the negotiators, in a private

1 Quotation in Archives, etc., vii.
403.

2 De Thou. ix. 2S-33.

8 Renom de France, MS., tom.
c. 5.—Compare Strada, ii. 214, 2L5.
4 Reidam, Ann. Belg., ii. 31.

v.

1581.]

RELIGIOUS OBJECTION TO ANJOU.

511

letter to Count John; “we shall take care to provide a
good muzzle for him. 551 How conscientiously the “ muzzle ”
was prepared, will appear from the articles by which the
states soon afterwards accepted the new sovereign. How
basely he contrived to slip the muzzle—in what cruel and
cowardly fashion he bathed his fangs in the blood of the
flock committed to him, will also but too soon appear.

As for the religious objection to Anjou, on which more stress
was laid than upon any other, the answer was equally ready.
Orange professed himself “ not theologian enough 55 to go
into the subtleties brought forward. As it was intended to
establish most firmly a religious peace, with entire tolerance
for all creeds, he did not think it absolutely essential to re¬
quire a prince of the Reformed faith. It was bigotry to
dictate to the sovereign, when full liberty in religious matters
was claimed for the subject. Orange was known to be a
zealous professor of the Reformed worship himself; but he did
not therefore reject political assistance, even though afforded
by a not very enthusiastic member of the ancient Church.

“ If the priest and the Levite pass us by when we are fallen
among thieves,” said he, with much aptness and some bitter¬
ness, “ shall we reject the aid proffered by the Samaritan,
because he was of a different faith from the worthy fathers
who have left us to perish?” 2 In short, it was observed
with perfect truth that Philip had been removed, not because
ho was a Catholic, but because he was a tyrant; not because
his faith was different from that of his subjects, but because
lie was resolved to exterminate all men whose religion differed
from his own. It was not, therefore, inconsistent to choose
another Catholic for a sovereign, if proper guarantees could
bo obtained that he would protect and not oppress the
Reformed churches. “ If the Duke have the same designs
as the King,” said Sainte Aldegonde, “ it would be a great
piece of folly to change one tyrant and persecutor for another.
If, on the contrary, instead of oppressing our liberties, he
1 Archives et Correspondance, vii. 290. 1 Ibid., vii. 573.

512 THE RISE OF THE DUTCH REPUBLIC. [1581

will maintain them, and in place of extirpating tlie disciples
of the true religion, he will protect them, then are all the
reasons of our opponents without vigour.” 1

By midsummer the Duke of Anjou made his appearance in
the western part of the Netherlands. The Prince of Parma had
recently come before Cambray with the intention of reducing
that important city. On the arrival of Anjou, however, at the
head of five thousand cavalry—nearly all of them gentlemen of
high degree, serving as volunteers—and of twelve thousand
infantry, Alexander raised the siege precipitately, and retired
towards Tournay. Anjou victualled the city, strengthened the
garrison, and then, as his cavalry had only enlisted for a sum¬
mer’s amusement, and could no longer be held together, he
disbanded his forces. The bulk of the infantry took service for
the states under the Prince of Espinoy, governor of Tournay.
The Duke himself, finding that, notwithstanding the treaty of
Plessis les Tours and the present showy demonstration upon his
part, the states were not yet prepared to render him formal
allegiance, and being, moreover, in the heyday of what was
universally considered his prosperous courtship of Queen
Elizabeth, soon afterwards took his departure for England. 2

Parma being thus relieved of his interference, soon after¬
wards .laid siege to the important city of Tournay. The Prince
of Espinoy was absent with the army in the north, but the
Princess commanded in his absence. She fulfilled her duty in
a manner worthy of the house from which she sprung, for the
blood of Count Horn was in her veins. The daughter of Mary
de Montmorency, the admiral’s sister, answered the summons
of Parma to surrender at discretion with defiance. The o-arri-

O

son was encouraged by her steadfastness. The Princess appeared
daily among her troops, superintending the defences, and per¬
sonally directing the officers. During one of the assaults,
she is said, but perhaps erroneously, to have been wounded
in the arm, notwithstanding which she refused to retire. 3

1 Archives et Correspondance, vii. 785.

278. 3 Bor, xvi. 287, 2S8. Meteren, a,

2 Bor, xvi. 287. Strada, 2, iv. 190. Hoofd, xviii. 785, 780. Sfcrada,
185-193. Tassia, vi. 428. Hoofd, xviii. 2, iv. 195-213. et al

1682.]

SURRENDER OP TOURNAY.

513

The siege lasted two months. Meantime, it became impos¬
sible for Orange and the estates, notwithstanding their efforts,
to raise a sufficient force to drive Parma from his entrench¬
ments. The city was becoming gradually and surely under¬
mined from without, while at the same time the insidious art
of a Dominican friar, Father Gr&ry by name, had been as surely
sapping the fidelity of the garrison from within. An open
revolt of the Catholic population being on the point of taking
place, it became impossible any longer to hold the city.
Those of the Reformed faith insisted that the place should be
surrendered; and the Princess, being thus deserted by all par¬
ties, made an honourable capitulation with Parma. She herself,
with all her garrison, was allowed to retire with personal pro¬
perty, and with all the honours of war, while the sack of the
city was commuted for one hundred thousand crowns, levied
upon the inhabitants. The Princess, on leaving the gates, was
received with such a shout of applause from the royal army,
that she seemed less like a defeated commander than a conqueror.
Upon the 30th November, Parma accordingly entered the
place which he had been besieging since the 1st of October. 1

By the end of the autumn, the Prince of Orange, more than
ever dissatisfied with the anarchical condition of affairs, and
with the obstinate jealousy and parsimony of the different
provinces, again summoned the country in the most earnest
language to provide for the general defence, and to take
measures for the inauguration of Anjou. He painted in
sombre colours the prospect which lay before them, if nothing
was done to arrest the progress of the internal disorders and
of the external foe, whose forces were steadily augmenting.
Had the provinces followed his advice, instead of quarrelling
among themselves, they would have had a powerful army on
foot to second the efforts of Anjou, and subsequently to save
Toumay. They had remained supine and stolid, even while
the cannonading against those beautiful cities was in their
very ears. No man seemed to think himself interested in
1 Bor, Hoofd, Meteren, Strada, Bentiroglio.

2 K

vol. in.

514 THE RISE OP THE DUTCH REPUBLIC. [158a

public affairs, save when his own province or village was
directly attacked. 1 The general interests of the commonwealth
were forgotten in local jealousy. Had it been otherwise, the
enemy would have long since been driven over the Meuse.
u When money,” continued the Prince, “is asked for to carry
on the war, men answer as if they were talking with the dead
Emperor. 2 To say, however, that they will pay no more, is
as much as to declare that they will give up their land and
their religion both. I say this, not because I have any
desire to put my hand into the common purse. You well
know that I never touched the public money, but it is
important that you should feel that there is no war in the
country except the one which concerns you all.”

The states, thus shamed and stimulated, set themselves in
earnest to obey the mandates of the 1 rince, and sent a
special mission to England, to arrange with the Duke of
Anjou for his formal installation as sovereign. Sainte Aide-
gonde and other commissioners were already there. It was
the memorable epoch in the Anjou wooing, when the rings
were exchanged between Elizabeth and the Duke, and when
the world thought that the nuptials were on the point of being
celebrated. Sainte Aldegonde wrote to the Prince of Orange
on the 22nd of November, that the marriage had been finally
settled upon that day. 3 Throughout the Netherlands, the
auspicious tidings were greeted with bonfires, illuminations,
and cannonading/ and the measures for hailing the Prince,
thus highly favoured by so great a Queen, as sovereign mas¬
ter of the provinces, were pushed forward with great energy.

Nevertheless, the marriage ended in smoke. There were
plenty of tournays, pageants, and banquets; a profusion of
nuptial festivities, in short, where nothing was omitted but the
nuptials. By the end of January 1582, the Duke was no nearer

. 1 Remonstrance to the States- met den doden Kayser.”—Ibid.

G-eneral, Dec. 1, 1581, in Bor, xvi. 3 Strada, 2, iv. 214 sqq. Bor xyi.
289, 290. 290. De Thou, Yin. 530, sqq.

2 “-So varen sy in de sate voort 4 Bor, De Thou, ubi sup. Iloofd,

en antwoorden daer op als sy spraken xviii. 788.

PORTRAIT OP ALENCON.

515

1582 j

the goal than upon his arrival three months before. Acced¬
ing, therefore, to the wishes of the Netherland envoys, he
prepared for a visit to their country, where the ceremony of
his joyful entrance as Duke of Brabant and sovereign of the
other provinces was to take place. No open rupture with
Elizabeth occurred. On the contrary, the Queen accom¬
panied the Duke, with a numerous and stately retinue, as
far as Canterbury, and sent a most brilliant train of her
greatest nobles and gentlemen to escort him to the Nether¬
lands, communicating at the same time, by special letter*
her wishes to the Estates-General, that he should be treated
with as much honour u as if he were her second self.” 1

On the 10th of February, fifteen large vessels cast anchor
at Flushing. The Duke of Anjou, attended by the Earl of
Leicester, the Lords Hunsdon, Willoughby, Sheffield, Howard,
Sir Philip Sidney, and many other personages of high rank
and reputation, 2 landed from this fleet. He was greeted on
his arrival by the Prince of Orange, who, with the Prince of
Espinoy and a large deputation of the States-General, had
been for some days waiting to welcome him. The man whom
the Netherlands had chosen for their new master stood on
the shores of Zeland. Francis Hercules, Son of France*
Duke of Alen^on and Anjou, was at that time just twenty-
eight years of age; yet not even his flatterers, or his
“ minions*” of whom he had as regular a train as his royal
brother, could claim for him the external graces of youth or
of princely dignity. He was below the middle height, puny
and ill-shaped. His hair and eyes were brown, his face was
seamed with the small-pox, his skin covered with blotches,

1 “Oblectatus distractusque juvenis, |

-- videt se in mediis nuptns cele-

brare omnia prater nuptias.”—Strada,
2, iv 217.—Compare De Thou, viii.

GOO, sqq. Hoofd, six. 795. “-

qu’il allast accompagn6 de la recom¬
mendation d’une Princess© -qui

estime avoir tel interest en vous que
vous en serez pousses d’avantage k hon-
uorer un Prince qui lui est si cher

qu’elle fait autant de lui comrne d’un
autre soi-mSme,” etc., etc.—Lettre de
la Serenissime Reine d’Angleterre aux
Etats-G*en6raux, Eev. 6, 1511, MS. Or-
dinaris Dep6chen Boek der Staten-
G-eneral, A°, 1582-1583, f. Ivo, Hague
Archives.

3 De Thou, Hoofd, ubi sup. Bor,
xvii. 296. Meteren, xi, 192.

516

THE RISE OF THE HUTCH REPUBLIC.

[im

Iiis nose so swollen and distorted that it seemed to be double.
This prominent feature did not escape the sarcasms of his-
countrymen, who, among other gibes, were wont to observe
that the man who always wore two faces, might be expected 1
to have two noses also. It was thought that his revolting
appearance was the principal reason for the rupture of the
English marriage, and it was in vain that his supporters-
maintained that if he could forgive her age, she might, in
return, excuse his ugliness. It seemed that there was a point
of hideousness beyond which even royal princes could not
descend with impunity, and the only wonder seemed that
Elizabeth, with the handsome Eobert Dudley ever at her
feet, could even tolerate the addresses of Francis Valois. 1

His intellect was by no means contemptible. He was not
without a certain quickness of apprehension and vivacity of
expression which passed current among his admirers for wit and
wisdom. Even the experienced Sainte Aldegonde was deceived
in his character, and described him after an hour and half’s
interview, as a Prince overflowing with bounty, intelligence,
and sincerity. That such men as Sainte Aldegonde and the
Prince of Orange should be at fault in their judgment, is evi¬
dence not so much of their want of discernment, as of the differ¬
ence between the general reputation of the Duke at that period,
and that which has been eventually established for him in his¬
tory. Moreover, subsequent events were to exhibit the utter
baseness of his character more signally than it had been dis¬
played during his previous career, however vacillating. No more
ignoble yet more dangerous creature, had yet been loosed upon
the devoted.soil of the Netherlands. Not one of the person¬
ages who had hitherto figured in the long drama of the revolt
had enacted so sorry a part. Ambitious but trivial, enterprising
but cowardly, an intriguer and a dupe, without religious con-

1 Bor, xvii. 296. Meteren, xi. 192. rG*. di Fiandra, 2, ii. 275. “Pusillo aa
Hoofd, ubi sup. Mem. de Sully, loc. deformi in corporo.”—Ev. Reidan.,
cit. “l\i piccioli di statura e poco Ann. Belg., ii. 34; iii. 42. Van der
ben fafcfco della persona.”—Bentivoglio, Vynckt, iii. 69. Strada, 2, iv. 215.

15S2.] HIS RECEPTION IN THE NETHERLANDS.

517

victions or political principles, save that he was willing to ac¬
cept any creed or any system which might advance his own
schemes, he was the most unfit protector for a people who,
whether wrong or right, were at least in earnest, and who were
accustomed to regard truth as one of the virtues. He was
certainly not deficient in self-esteem. With a figure which
was insignificant, and a countenance which was repulsive, he
had hoped to efface the impression made upon Elizabeth’s
imagination by the handsomest man in Europe. With a com¬
monplace capacity, and with a narrow political education, he
intended to circumvent the most profound statesman of his age.
And there, upon the pier at Flushing, he stood between them
both; between the magnificent Leicester, whom he had
thought to outshine, and the silent Prince of Orange, whom
he was determined to outwit. Posterity has long been aware
how far he succeeded in the one and the other attempt.

The Duke’s arrival was greeted with the roar of artillery,
the ringing of bells, and the acclamations of a large con¬
course of the inhabitants ; suitable speeches were made by the
magistrates of the town, the deputies of Zeland, and other
functionaries, 1 and a stately banquet was provided, so
remarkable “for its sugar-work and other delicacies, as to
entirely astonish the French and English lords who partook
thereof.” 3 The Duke visited Middelburg, where he was re¬
ceived with great state, and to the authorities of which he
expressed his gratification at finding two such stately cities
situate so close to each other on one little island. 3

On the 17th of February, he set sail for Antwerp. A fleet
of fifty-four vessels, covered with flags and streamers, con¬
veyed him and his retinue, together with the large deputation
which had welcomed him at Flushing, to the great commer¬
cial metropolis. He stepped on shore at Kiel, within a
bowshot of the city—for, like other Dukes of Brabant, he was
not to enter Antwerp until he had taken the oaths to respect
the constitution—and the ceremony of inauguration was to

1 Bor, ivii. 206. Hoofd, six. 705. 1 Bor, xyii. 297 3 Ibid.

518

THE KISE OP THE HUTCH BEPUBLIC.

[15S&

take place outside the walls. A large platform tad keen
erected for this purpose, commanding a view of the stately
city, with its bristling fortifications and shady groves.* A
throne, covered with velvet and gold, was prepared, and here
the Duke took his seat, surrounded by a brilliant throng,
including many of the most distinguished personages in
Europe.

It was a bright winter’s morning. The gaily-bannered'fleet
lay conspicuous in the river, while an enormous concourse of
people were thronging from all sides to greet the new sove¬
reign. Twenty thousand burgher troops, in bright uniforms,
surrounded the platform, upon the tapestried floor of which stood
the magistrates of Antwerp, the leading members of the Bra¬
bant estates, with the Prince of Orange at their head, together
with many other great functionaries. The magnificence every¬
where displayed, and especially the splendid costumes of the
military companies, excited the profound astonishment of the
French, who exclaimed that every soldier seemed a captain, and
who regarded with vexation their own inferior equipments. 2

Andrew Hessels, doctor utriusque juris , delivered a saluta¬
tory oration, in which, among other flights of eloquence, he
expressed the hope of the provinces that the Duke, with the
beams of his greatness, wisdom, and magnanimity, would
dissipate all the mists, fogs, and other exhalations which were
pernicious to their national prosperity, and that he would
bring back the sunlight of their ancient glory. 3

Anjou answered these compliments with equal courtesy*
and had much to say of his willingness to shed every drop
of his blood in defence of the Brabant liberties. But it
might have damped the enthusiasm of the moment could the
curtain of the not-very-distant future have been lifted; the
audience, listening to these promises, might have seen that
it was not so much his blood as theirs which he was disposed

1 M La joyeuse et magnifique entre6 —Compare Bor, xvii. 297. Hoof d, xix.
du Monseignr Frangois, Fils de France, 795. 2 Benom de France, MS., v. 2,

Hue d’Anjou, etc., en sa tres renommee 3 The oration is given in full by Bor.
villed’ Anvers”—Anvers. Plantin., 1582. xvii. 297, 298.

1582 .]

GREAT STATE PROCESSION.

519

to shed, and less too, in defence than in violation of those
same liberties which he was swearing to protect.

Orator Hesscls then read aloud the articles of the Joyous
Entry, in the Flemish language, and the Duke was asked if
he required any explanations of that celebrated constitution.
He replied that he had thoroughly studied its provisions, with
the assistance of the Prince of Orange, during his voyage
from Flushing, and was quite prepared to swear to maintain
them. The oaths, according to the antique custom, were
then administered. Afterwards, the ducal hat and the velvet
mantle, lined with ermine, were brought, the Prince of
Orange assisting his Highness to assume this historical
costume of the Brabant dukes, and saying to him, as he fast¬
ened the button at the throat , u I must secure this robe so firmly,
my lord, that no man may ever tear it from your shoulders .” 1

Thus arrayed in his garment of sovereignty, Anjou was
compelled to listen to another oration from the pensionary of
Antwerp, John Van der Werken. He then exchanged oaths
with the magistrates of the city, and received the keys, which
he returned for safe-keeping to the burgomaster. Meanwhile
the trumpets sounded, largess of gold and silver coins was
scattered among the people, and the heralds cried aloud,
u Long live the Duke of Brabant! ” 2

A procession was then formed to escort the new Duke to his
commercial capital. A stately and striking procession it was.
The Hanseatic merchants in ancient German attire, the English
merchants in long velvet cassocks, the heralds in their quaint
costume, the long train of civic militia with full bands of
music, the chief functionaries of city and province in their black
mantles and gold chains, all marching under emblematical
standards or time-honoured blazons, followed each other in
dignified order. Then came the Duke himself, on a white Bar¬
bary horse, caparisoned with cloth of gold. He was surrounded

1 Bor, xvii. 208. Hoofd, xix. 796. tiously gives all the long speeches at
Meteren, xi. 102. full length. Meteren, xi. 192. Tassis,

s “La joyeuseet magnifique entree,” vi. 429.
etc., Bor, xvii. 297, sqq., who conscien-1

520

THE RISE OF THE DUTCH REPUBLIC.

1582.

with English, French, and Netherland grandees, many of
them of world-wide reputation. There was stately Leicester;
Sir Philip Sidney, the mirror of chivalry; the gaunt and im¬
posing form of William the Silent; his son, Count Maurice of
Nassau, destined to be the first captain of his age, then a
handsome, dark-eyed lad of fifteen; the Dauphin of Auvergne;
the Marechal de Biron and his sons ; the Prince of Espinoy;
the Lords Sheffield, Willoughby, Howard, Hunsdon, and many
others of high degree and distinguished reputation . 1 The
ancient guilds of the crossbow-men and archers of Brabant,
splendidly accoutred, formed the body-guard of the Dube,
while his French cavaliers, the life-guardsmen of the Prince
of Orange, and- the troops of the line, followed in great
numbers, their glittering uniforms all gaily intermingled, u like
the flowers de luce upon a royal mantle.” The procession,
thus gorgeous and gay, was terminated by a dismal group of
three hundred malefactors, marching in fetters, and imploring
pardon of the Duke, a boon which was to be granted at
evening. Great torches, although it was high noon, were
burning along the road, at intervals of four or five feet, in a
continuous line reaching from the platform at Kiel to the
portal of Saint Joris, through which the entrance to the
city was to be made.

Inside the gate a stupendous allegory was awaiting the ap¬
proach of the new sovereign . 3 A huge gilded car, crowded
with those emblematical and highly-bedizened personages so
dear to the Netherlanders, obstructed the advance of the
procession. All the virtues seemed to have come out for an
airing in one chariot, and were now waiting to offer their
homage to Francis Hercules Valois. Eeligion in u red satin,”
holding the gospel in her hand, was supported by Justice, “in
orange velvet,” armed with blade and beam. Prudence and
Fortitude embraced each other near a column enwreathed

1 " La joyeuse efc magnifique entree,” etc., in 'which, contemporary pamphlet
etc., Bor, rvii. 300, eqq. Hoofd, xix. are many beautifully executed engrav-
797, 798. ings of the wonders exhibited on. this

% “ La joyeuse et magnifique entree,” occasion.—Bor, xrii. 300, 301.

1582.]

FALSE HOPES.

521

by serpents, “ with their tails in their ears to typify deafness
to flattery ; ” while Patriotism as a pelican, and Patience as a
brooding hen, looked benignantly upon the scene. This
greeting duly acknowledged, the procession advanced into the
-city. The streets were lined with troops and with citizens;
the balconies were filled with fair women; cc the very gables,”
says an enthusiastic contemporary, “ seemed to laugh with
ladies’ eyes.” 1 The market-place was filled with waxen
torches and with blazing tar-barrels, while in its centre stood
the giant Antigonus—founder of the city thirteen hundred
years before the Christian era—the fabulous personage who
was accustomed to throw the right hands of all smuggling
merchants into the Scheld. 2 This colossal individual, attired
in a u surcoat of sky-blue,” and holding a banner emblazoned
with the arms of Spain, turned its head as the Duke entered
the square, saluted the new sovereign, and then dropping the
Spanish escutcheon upon the ground, raised aloft another
bearing the arms of Anjou. 8

And thus, amid exuberant outpouring of confidence, another
lord and master had made his triumphal entrance into the
Netherlands. Alas 1 how often had this sanguine people
greeted with similar acclamations the advent of their betrayers
and their tyrants! How soon were they to discover that the
man whom they were thus receiving with the warmest
♦enthusiasm was the most treacherous tyrant of all!

It was nightfall before the procession at last reached the
palace of Saint Michael, which had been fitted up for the
temporary reception of the Duke. 4 The next day was devoted
to speech-making; various deputations waiting upon the new

1 Hoofd, xix. 798. that author, “ novit DeusV —Tot. Belg.

3 “ La joyeuse entree,” etc. Descript., 131.

3 “La joyeuse entree,” etc., Bor,

44 Hie fuit Antigoni castrum inslgne Gi- xvii. 301.

Quem Brabo devicit, de quo Brabonica * ■^ or ’ u ^ 8U P; Hoofd, xix. 798,
tellus," etc., etc. *99. 44 Maer de Geheele stadt was vol

Tortsen, Fackelen ende Vyeren op alle
Ancient verses quoted by Ludov. de straden, ende op de kerck torens,
-Guicciardini, in his description of dat de stadt scheen in een vyer te
Antwerp, “ but by whom written,” eaya staen.”—Meteren, xi. 193 o.

522

THE RISE OF THE BUTCH REPUBLIC.

[1582.

Duke of Brabant with congratulatory addresses. The Grand
Pensionary delivered a pompous oration upon a platform hung
with sky-blue silk, and carpeted with cloth of gold. A com¬
mittee of the German and French Reformed Churches made
a long harangue, in which they expressed the hope that the
Lord would make the Duke “ as valiant as David, as wise as
Solomon, and as pious as Hezekiali.” 1 A Roman Catholic
deputation informed his Highness that for eight months the
members of the Ancient Church had been forbidden all
religious exercises, saving baptism, marriage, visitation of the
sick, and burials. A promise was therefore made that this
prohibition, which had been the result of the disturbances-
recorded in a preceding chapter, should bo immediately
modified, and on the 15 th of March, accordingly, it was
arranged, by command of the magistrates, that all Catholics
should have permission to attend public worship, according to
the ancient ceremonial, in the church of Saint Michael, which
had been originally designated for the use of the new Duke of
Brabant. It was, however, stipulated that all who desired to
partake of this privilege should take the oath of abjuration
beforehand, and go to the church without arms.” 2

Here, then, had been oaths enough, orations enough, compli¬
ments enough, to make any agreement steadfast, so far as windy
suspirations could furnish a solid foundation for the social com¬
pact. Bells, trumpets, and the brazen throats of men and of
cannons had made a sufficient din, torches and tar-barrels had
made a sufficient glare, to confirm—so far as noise and blazing
pitch could confirm—the decorous proceedings of church and
town-house ; but time was soon to shew the value of such de¬
monstrations. Meantime, the “ muzzle ” had been fastened
with solemnity, and accepted with docility. The terms of the
treaty concluded at Plessis les Tours and Bordeaux were made*

public. The Duke had subscribed to twenty-seven articles,
which made as stringent and sensible a constitutional compact
as could be desired by any Netherland patriot. These articles, 3

1 Bor, xvii. 303.
3 Ibid.

3 The articles are given in full by
Bor, 3, xvii. 307-309.

1582.] STRINGENT NATURE OR THE CONSTITUTION. 523

taken in connexion xvitli the ancient charters which they
expressly upheld, left to the new sovereign no vestige of
arbitrary power. He was merely the hereditary president of
a representative republic. He was to be Duke, Count, Mar¬
grave, or Seignior of the different provinces, on the same terms
which his predecessors had accepted. He was to transmit the
dignities to his children. If there were more than one child,
the provinces were to select one of the number for their
sovereign. He was to maintain all the ancient privileges,
charters, statutes, and customs, and to forfeit his sovereignty at
the first violation. He was to assemble the States-General at
least once a year. He was always to reside in the Netherlands.
He was to permit none but natives to hold office. His right
of appointment to all important posts was limited to a selection
from three candidates, to be proposed by the estates of the
province concerned, at each vacancy. He was to maintain cc the
Religion ” and the religious peace in the same state in which
they then were, or as should afterwards be ordained by the
estates of each province, without making any innovation on his
own part. 1 Holland and Zeland were to remain as they were,
both in the matter of religion and otherwise . a His Highness
was not to permit that any one should be examined or molested
in his house, or otherwise, in the matter or under pretext of
religion. 3 He was to procure the assistance of the King of
France for the Netherlands. He was to maintain a perfect
and a perpetual league, offensive and defensive, between that
kingdom and the provinces; without, however, permitting
any incorporation of territory. He was to carry on the war
against Spain with his own means and those furnished by his
royal brother, in addition to a yearly contribution by the estates
of two million four hundred thousand guldens. 4 He was to
dismiss all troops at command of the States-General. He was
to make no treaty with Spain without their consent.

1 Article 12.

a Holland en Zeland sullen blijyen
ala sy tegenwoordlijk sijn in 7 t stuk Tan

den Religie en andersins. —Art. 13.
8 Art. 14.

4 Ibid. 18.

524 THE EISE OP THE DUTCH REPUBLIC. [1582.

It would be superfluous to point out the great difference
between the notions entertained upon international law in the
sixteenth century and in our own. A state of nominal peace
existed between Spain, France, and England; yet here was
the brother of the French monarch, at the head of French
troops, and attended by the grandees of England, solemnly
accepting the sovereignty over the revolted provinces of
Spain. 1 It is also curious to observe that the constitutional
compact by which the new sovereign of the Netherlands was
admitted to the government, would have been repudiated as
revolutionary and republican by the monarchs of France or
England, if an attempt had been made to apply it to their
own realms, for the ancient charters—which in reality con¬
stituted a republican form of government—had all been
re-established by the agreement with Anjou.

The first-fruits of the ban now began to display themselves.
Sunday, 18th of March 1582, was the birthday of the Duke of
Anjou* and a great festival had been arranged, accordingly,
for the evening, at the palace of Saint Michael, the Prince of
Orange* as well as all the great French lords being, of course,
invited. The Prince dined, as usual, at his house in the neigh¬
bourhood of the citadel, in company with the Counts Hohenlo
and Laval, and the two distinguished French commissioners,
Bonnivet and Des Pruneaux. Young Maurice of Nassau, and
two nephews of the Prince, sons of his brother John, were
also present at table. During dinner the conversation was
animated, many stories being related of the cruelties which
had been practised by the Spaniards in the provinces. On
rising from the table, Orange led the way from th^dining-
room to his own apartments, shewing the noblemen in his
company, as he passed along, a piece of tapestry upon which
some Spanish soldiers were represented. At this moment,
as he stood upon the threshold of the antechamber, a youth

1 On the other hand, the denial by from her shores, led to the occupation
England of an asylum to the refugees, of Brill and the foundation of the
in 1572, and their forcible expulsion Dutch Republic.

1582.]

THE PEINCE OF OEANG-E SHOT.

525

of small stature, vulgar mien, and pale dark complexion,
appeared from among the servants and offered him a petition.
He took the paper, and as he did so, the stranger suddenly
drew a pistol and discharged it at the head of the Prince.
The ball entered the neck under the right ear, passed through
the roof of the mouth, and came out under the left jaw-bone,
carrying with it two teeth. 1 The pistol had been held so
near, that the hair and beard of the Prince were set on fire
by the discharge. He remained standing, but blinded,
stunned, and for a moment entirely ignorant of what had
occurred. As he afterwards observed, he thought perhaps
that a part of the house had suddenly fallen. Finding very
soon that his hair and beard were burning, he comprehended
what had occurred, and called out quickly, “Do not kill
him—I forgive him my death! ” and turning to the French
noblemen present, he added, “ Alas ! what a faithful servant
does his Highness lose in me! ” 2

These were his first words spoken when, as all believed, he
had been mortally wounded. The message of mercy came
however, too late; for two of the gentlemen present, by an
irresistible impulse, had run the assassin through with their
rapiers. The halberdiers rushed upon him immediately after¬
wards, so that he fell pierced in thirty-two vital places. 8 The
Prince, supported by his friends, walked to his chamber, where
he was put to bed, while the surgeons examined and bandaged
the wound. It was most dangerous in appearance, but a very
strange circumstance gave more hope than could otherwise

1 Hoofcl, xix. 804. Bor, xvii. 313.
Meteren, xi. 194 c. Tassis, vi. 431.
Strada, 2, iv. 219. “ Korte Verhaal van
den moorddadigen aanslag, bedreven
op den persoon van den zeer doorluch-
tigen vorst, den heere Prins van
Oranje, door Jan Jauregui, een Span¬
iard.” This is the title of a pamphlet
ublished at the time "with authentic
ocuments, by Plantin, at Antwerp.
There is also a French edition, printed
eimultaneAusly with that in Flemish, j

intituled, “ Bref Becueil de l’Assassi-
nat,” etc.—Eeiffenberg has republished
it in his edition of Van der Vynckt.
Letter of Lerens, March 27, 1582,
in Archives et Correspondance, viii. 77.

2 “ Doodt hem niet, ik vergeef hem
mijen dood!”—Korte Verhaal. Bor,
xvii. 312. Hoofd, sx. 804. Meteren,
xi. 194.

3 Ibid. Letter of Herle, Archives, etc.,
suppl., pp. 220, sqq. Letter of Lorens,
Archives et Correspondance, viii. 78.

526 THE RISE OF THE HUTCH REPUBLIC. [158a

have been entertained. The flame from the pistol had been so
close that it had actually cauterised the wound inflicted by the
ball. But for this, it was supposed that the flow of blood from
the veins which had been shot through would have proved
fatal before the wound could be dressed. The Prince, after
the first shock, had recovered full possession of his senses, and
believing himself to be dying, he expressed the most unaffected
sympathy for the condition in which the Duke of Anjou would
be placed by his death. “Alas, poor Prince!” he cried fre¬
quently; “alas, what troubles will now beset thee!” 1 The
surgeons enjoined and implored his silence, as speaking might
cause the wound to prove immediately fatal. He complied,
but wrote incessantly. 2 As long as his heart could beat, it
was impossible for him not to be occupied with his country.

Lion Petit, a trusty captain of the city guard, forced his
way to the chamber, it being absolutely necessary, said the
honest burgher, for him to see with his own eyes that the
Prince was living, and report the fact to the townspeople:
otherwise, so great was the excitement, it was impossible to
say what might be the result. It was, in fact, believed
that the Prince was already dead, and it was whispered
that he had been assassinated by the order of Anjou. This
horrible suspicion was flying through the city, and pro¬
ducing fierce exasperation, 3 as men talked of the murder
of Coligny, of Saint Bartholomew, of the murderous pro¬
pensities of the Valois race. Had the attempt taken place
in the evening, at the birthnight banquet of Anjou, a horrible
, massacre would have been the inevitable issue. As it hap¬
pened, however, circumstances soon occurred to remove the
suspicion from the French, and to indicate the origin of the
crime. Meantime, Cap bain Petit was urged by the Prince, in
writing, to go forth instantly with the news that he yet

1 “ Ach arm© vorst, arm© vorst!
wat zult gij nog moeijelijkheden ont
moeten! ”—Forte Verhaal. Bor, xvii.
313. Meteren, xi. 194 c. Hoofd, xix.
S05.

2 Forte Verhaal, etc.—“Met eeno
vaste ban den vlug schreef.”

3 Forte Verhaal, 591. Bor, nbi sup.
Meteren, xi. 194. Hoofd, xix. 804
Strada, 2, iv. 219. Bor, xvii. 313.

1582.] COOLNESS AND DETERMINATION OF MACJRICE. 527

survived, but to implore the people, in case Grod should call
him to himself, to hold him in kind remembrance, to make no
tumult, and to serve the Duke obediently and faithfully. 1

Meantime, the youthful Maurice of Nassau was giving proof
of that cool determination which already marked his character.
It was natural that a boy of fifteen should be somewhat agi¬
tated at seeing such a father shot through the head before his
eyes. His situation was rendered doubly grave by the suspi¬
cions which were instantly engendered as to the probable origin
of the attempt. It was already whispered in the hall that the
gentlemen who had been so officious in slaying the assassin
were his accomplices, who—upon the principle that dead men
would tell no tales—were disposed, now that the deed was
done, to preclude inconvenient revelations as to their own
share in the crime. Maurice, notwithstanding these causes
for perturbation, and despite his grief at his father’s pro¬
bable death, remained steadily by the body of the murderer.
He was determined, if possible, to unravel the plot, and he
waited to possess himself of all papers and other articles
which might be found upon the person of the deceased. 2

A scrupulous search was at once made by the attendants,
and everything placed in the young Count’s own hands. This
done, Maurice expressed a doubt lest some of the villain’s
accomplices might attempt to take the articles from him, 3
whereupon a faithful old servant of his father came forward,
tvho, with an emphatic expression of the importance of
securing such important documents, took his young master
under his cloak, and led him to a retired apartment of the
house. Here, after a rapid examination, it was found that
the papers were all in Spanish, written by Spaniards to
Spaniards, so that it was obvious that the conspiracy, if one
there were, was not a French conspiracy. The servant,
therefore, advised Maurice to go to his father, while he

1 Bor, Meteren, Hoofd, ubi sup.
Forte V erliaal.

2 Eorto Verh., etc. Bor, xvii. 313.

Hoofd, xix. 805. Meteren, xi. 194.

3 Korte VerhaaL—“Helas,” said the
boy ik ben zoo bevreest dat hier
eenig andere booswicht zij, die mij die
papieren afneemt.”

528

THE RISE OF THE DUTCH REPUBLIC.

[1582.

would himself instantly descend to the hall with this impor¬
tant intelligence. Count Hohenlo had, from the instant of
the murder, ordered the doors to be fastened, and had per¬
mitted no one to enter or to leave the apartment without his
permission. The information now brought by the servant as»
to the character of the papers caused great relief to the minds
of all; for, till that moment, suspicion had even lighted upon
men who were the firm friends of the Prince. 1

Sainte Aldegonde, who had meantime arrived, now proceeded,
in company of the other gentlemen, to examine the papers and
other articles taken from the assassin. The pistol with which
he had done the deed was lying upon the floor; a naked poniard,
which he would probably have used also, had his thumb not
been blown off by the discharge of the pistol, was found in his
trunk hose. In his pockets were an Agnus Dei, a taper of
green- wax, two bits of hareskin, two dried toads—which were
supposed to be sorcerer’s charms—a crucifix, a Jesuit catechism,
a prayer-book, a pocket-book, containing two Spanish bills of
exchange—one for two thousand, and one for eight hundred
and seventy-seven crowns—and a set of writing tablets. 2 These
last were covered with vows and pious invocations, in reference
to the murderous affair which the writer had in hand. He had
addressed fervent prayers to the Virgin Mary, to the Angel
Gabriel, to the Saviour, and to the Saviour's Son— u as if,” says
the Antwerp chronicler, with simplicity, “ the Lord Jesus had
a son” 3 —that they might all use their intercession with the
Almighty towards the certain and safe accomplishment of the

1 Korte Yerhaal, Bor, Meteren,
Hoofd, ubi sup. Strada, 2, iv. 219.

2 Korte Yerhaal, etc., 589, 590.
Strada, 2, iv. 219.—Compare Haraei,
Turn. Belg., iii. 336.—“ Twee stukken
huid, zoo het sckeen van eenen haas;
keb geen velen aanleiding gaf om te
zeggen, dat hij padden en too very bij
zich had.” Korte Yerhaal, etc. Bor,
Hoofd, Meteren, ubi sup.

3 “ A1b of Ckristus noch eenen
sonne hadde.”—Meteren, xi. 194. The

following extracts from the assassin’s
memorandum-book are worthy of at¬
tention. The papers were published
by authority, immediately after the
deed. “ AI Angel G-abriel me en-
comiendocontodo mi spiritu y cora^on
para que agora y siempre me sea mi
intercessor a nuestro Seiior Jesu Christo
y a su kjo preciosissimo, y a la Yirgen
Sancta Maria y a todos los sanctos y
sanctas de la corte del cielo de guar-
darme,” etc., etc.—Korte Yerhaal.

1682.]

DISCOVERY OE THE CRIMINALS.

529

contemplated deed. Should he come off unsuccessful and
unharmed, he solemnly vowed to fast a week on bread and
water. Furthermore, he promised to Christ a u new coat of
costly pattern; ” to the Mother of God, at Guadalupe, a new
gown; to Our Lady of Montserrat, a crown, a gown, and a
lamp; and so on through a long list of similar presents thus
contemplated for various shrines. 1 The poor fanatical fool
had been taught by deeper villains than himself that his pistol
was to rid the world of a tyrant, and to open his own path¬
way to heaven, if his career should be cut short on earth.
To prevent so undesirable a catastrophe to himself, however,
his most natural conception had been to bribe the whole
heavenly host, from the Virgin Mary downwards, for he had
been taught that absolution for murder was to be bought and
sold like other merchandise. He had also been persuaded that,
after accomplishing the deed, he would have become invisible . 2 3

Sainte Aldegonde hastened to lay the result of this exami¬
nation before the Duke of Anjou. Information was likewise
instantly conveyed to the magistrates at the Town House, and
these measures were successful in restoring confidence through¬
out the city as to the intentions of the new government. Anjou
immediately convened the State-Council, issued a summons for
an early meeting of the states-general, and published a procla¬
mation that all persons having information to give concerning
the crime which had just been committed, should come instantly
forward, upon pain of death. The body of the assassin was
forthwith exposed upon the public square, and was soon recog¬
nised as that of one Juan Jaureguy, a servant in the employ of
Gaspar d’Anastro, a Spanish merchant of Antwerp. The letters
and bills of exchange had also, on nearer examination at the
Town House, implicated Anastro in the affair. His house was
immediately searched, but the merchant had taken his depar¬
ture, upon the previous Tuesday, under pretext of pressing

1 Korte VerhaaL Meteren. Dor,

rrii. 313.

3 Letter of P. van Reigersberg,

vol. m. 2 l

March 19, 1582; apud Van Wyn op
Wagenaer, 7, iii. 112. Letter of Herle
before cited.

530

THE RISE OF THE HUTCH REPUBLIC.

[1582.

affairs at Calais. His cashier, Venero, and a Dominican
friar, named Antony Zimmermann, both inmates of his
family, were, however, arrested upon suspicion. On the
following day the -watch stationed at the gate carried the
foreign post-bags, as soon as they arrived, to the magis¬
tracy, when letters were found from Anastro to Venero,
which made the affair quite plain. 1 After they had been
thoroughly studied, they were shewn to Venero, who,
seeing himself thus completely ruined, asked for pen and
ink, and wrote a full confession.

It appeared that the crime was purely a commercial specu¬
lation on the part of Anastro. That merchant, being on the
verge of bankruptcy, had entered w r ith Philip into a mutual
contract, which the King had signed with his hand and sealed
with his seal, and according to which Anastro, within a certain
period, was to take the life of William of Orange, and for so
doing was to receive eighty thousand ducats, and the cross of
Santiago. 2 To be a knight companion of Spain’s proudest order
of chivalry was the guerdon, over and above the eighty thou¬
sand pieces of silver, which Spain’s monarch promised the mur¬
derer, if he should succeed. As for Anastro himself, he was
too frugal and too wary to risk his own life, or to lose much of
the premium. With tears streaming down his cheeks, he
painted to his faithful cashier the picture which his master
would present, when men should point at him and say , ec Behold
yon bankrupt! ” protesting, therefore, that he would murder
Orange and secure the reward, or perish in the attempt. 3 Say¬
ing this, he again shed many tears. Venero, seeing his master
thus disconsolate, wept bitterly likewise, and begged him not
to risk his own precious life. 4 After this pathetic commingling
of their grief, the merchant and his book-keeper became more
composed, and it was at last concerted between them that John

1 Korte Verbaal. Bor, xvii. 313. bancarote,” etc.—Confession of Venero
JECoofd, xix. 805. Meteren, xi. 104. in Bref. Recueil.

2 Xo-rte VerhaaL Bor, xvii. 313. 4 “ Todo lo dezia llorando e yo vien-

Hoofd, xix. S02. Meteren, xi. 194 b. dole tan desconsolado llorava mucho.*

3 “Miradaquelhombreque hahecho —Ibid.

1682.]

CEITICAL CONDITION OF OBANGK.

531

Jaurcguy should be entrusted with the job, Anastro had
intended—as he said in a letter afterwards intercepted—“ to
accomplish the deed with his own hand; but, as God had
probably reserved him for other things, and particularly to
be of service to his very affectionate friends, he had thought
b$st to entrust the execution of the design to his servant.” 1
The price paid by the master to the man, for the work, seems
to have been but two thousand eight hundred and seventy-
seven crowns. The cowardly and crafty principal escaped.
He had gone post haste to Dunkirk, pretending that the
sudden death of his agent in Calais required his immediate
presence in that city. Governor Sweveseel, of Dunkirk,
sent an orderly to get a passport for him from La Motte,
commanding at Gravelingen. Anastro being on tenter-hooks
lest the news should arrive that the projected murder had
been consummated before he had crossed the border, testified
extravagant joy on the arrival of the passport, and gave the
messenger who brought it thirty pistoles. Such conduct
naturally excited a vague suspicion in the mind of the
governor, but the merchant’s character was good, and he had
brought pressing letters from Admiral Treslong. Sweveseel
did not dare to arrest him without cause, and he neither
knew that any crime had been committed, nor that the man
before him was the criminal. Two hours after the traveller’s
departure, the news arrived of the deed, together with
orders to arrest Anastro, but it was too late. The merchant
had found refuge within the lines of Parma. 2

Meanwhile, the Prince lay in a most critical condition. Be¬
lieving that his end was fast approaching, he dictated letters
to the states-general, entreating them to continue in their
obedience to the Duke, than whom he affirmed that he knew

1 “- Dock het mag wesen dat xvii. 315. It must have been isad-

God mij nock keeft, willen bewaren greeablo to the very magnificent Drogue
om dienst en vrundschap te mogen doen —and to Admiral Treslong, who re^
mijn geaffectioneerde vrienden, gelijk ceived a letter of similar purport from
ik die kebbe op selcere hjde” —Letter of Anastro—to find tkemsalves inscribed
Anastro to tke “ very magnificent Lord, on tbe list of “ kis affectionate friends ”
Martin Drogue, sea captain in Flush- by this consummate villain,
ing/’ dated March 2S, 15S2, in Bor, 2 Bor, xvii. 314. Hoofd, xix. 803, 804.

*32

THE RISE OF THE BUTCH REPUBLIC.

[i58a

no better prince for the government of the provinces.
These letters were despatched by Sainte Aldegonde to the
assembly, from which body a deputation, in obedience to the
wishes of Orange, was sent to Anjou, with expressions of
condolence and fidelity. 1

On Wednesday a solemn fast was held, according to pro¬
clamation, in Antwerp, all work and all amusements being
prohibited, and special prayers commanded in all the
churches for the recovery of the Prince. u Never, within
men’s memory,” says an account published at the moment,
in Antwerp, u had such crowds been seen in the churches,
nor so many tears been shed.” 2

The process against Venero and Zimmermann was rapidly
carried through, for both had made a full confession of their
share in the crime. The Prince had enjoined from his sickbed,,
however, that the case should be conducted with strict regard
to justice, and, when the execution could no longer be de¬
ferred, he had sent a written request, by the hands of Sainte
Aldegonde, that they should be put to death in the least pain¬
ful manner. The request was complied with, but there can be
no doubt*that the criminals, had it not been made, would have
expiated their offence by the most lingering tortures. Owing
to the intercession of the man who was to have been their
victim, they were strangled, before being quartered, upon a
scaffold erected in the market-place, opposite the Town House.
This execution took place on Wednesday, the 28th of March. 3

The Prince, meanwhile, was thought to be mending, and
thanksgivings began to be mingled with the prayers offered
almost every hour in the churches; but for eighteen days he lay

1 Korte Yerliaal. 2 Ibid.

3 Bor, xvii. 314.—The following is
the test of this most interesting letter:
—“Monsieur de Sainte Aldegonde:
j’ay entendu que Ton doibt demain faire
justice de deux prisonniers, estans com¬
plices de celuy qui m’a tir6 le coup.
Be ma part, je leur pardonne tres
volontiers de ce qu’ils me peuvent avoir
offensA et s’ils ont peut etre merits un I

chastoy et rigoureus, je vous prie
vouloir tenir la main devers Messrs du
Magistrat qu’ils ne les veuillent fair*
souifrir grand tourment et se contenter,
s’ils Tont merits, d’une courte morfc.
Yotre bien bon amy a vous faire service.
Ghullaume de Nassau.”—Bref. Eecueii
de l’Assassinat commis en la personne
du tres illustre Prince d’Orange, (An¬
vers. Chr. Plantin, 1582.)

1582.]

DEATH OF THE PKINCESS OF OEANGKE.

533

in a most precarious state. His wife hardly left his bedside,
and his sister, Catherine Countess of Schwartzburg, was
indefatigable in her attentions. The Duke of Anjou visited
him daily, and expressed the most filial anxiety for his
recovery, but the hopes, which had been gradually growing
stronger, were on the 5th of April exchanged for the deepest
apprehensions. Upon that day the cicatrix by which the flow
of blood from the neck had been prevented, almost from the
first infliction of the wound, fell off. The veins poured forth
a vast quantity of blood; it seemed impossible to check
the haemorrhage, and all hope appeared to vanish. The
Prince resigned himself to his fate, and bade his children
‘‘good night for ever,’’ saying calmly, cc It is now all over
with me.” 1

It was difficult, without suffocating the patient, to fasten a
bandage tightly enough to stanch the wound, but Leonardo
Botalli, of Asti, body physician of Anjou, was nevertheless
fortunate enough to devise a simple mechanical expedient,
which proved successful. By his advice, a succession of
attendants, relieving each other day and night, prevented
the flow of blood by keeping the orifice of the wound
slightly but firmly compressed with the thumb. After a
period of anxious expectation, the wound again closed,
and by the end of the month the Prince was convalescent.
On the 2nd of May he went to offer thanksgiving in the
Great Cathedral, amid the joyful sobs of a vast and most
earnest throng. 2

The Prince was saved, but unhappily the murderer had yet
found an illustrious victim. The Princess of Orange,
Charlotte de Bourbon—the devoted wife who for seven years
had so faithfully shared his joys and sorrows—lay already on

1 For, xvii. 314. Korte Verhaal. (as stated in the text). Bor and

Bor, xvii. 316. Hoofd, xix. 806. Meteren, however, only mention the
Meteren, xi. 194. Tetter of Mary of name of Joseph Michaeli, of Lucca.
Orange to Count John, Archives et Bor does not speak at all of the singular
Correspondance, viii. 88. expedient employed to stop the effusion

2 Hoofd (xix. 806) ascribes the su- of blood; Hoofd, Meteren, and others,
perintendence of the cure to Botalli allude to it.

534 THE RISE OE THE DUTCH REPUBLIC. [1582

her deathbed. Exhausted by anxiety, long watchings, and the
alternations of hope and fear during the first eighteen days,
she had been prostrated by despair at the renewed haemor¬
rhage. A violent fever seized her, under which she sank on
the 5th of May, three days after the solemn thanksgiving for
her husband’s recovery. 1 The Prince, who loved her tenderly,
was in great danger of relapse upon the sad event, which,
although not sudden, had not been anticipated. She was laid
in her grave on the 9th of May, amid the lamentations of the
whole country, 3 for her virtues were universally known and
cherished. She was a woman of rare intelligence, accom¬
plishment, and gentleness of disposition, whose only offence
had been to break, by her marriage, the Church vows to which
she had been forced in her childhood, but which had been
pronounced illegal by competent authority, both ecclesiastical
and lay. Por this, and for the contrast which her virtues
afforded to the vices of her predecessor, she was the mark of
calumny and insult. These attacks, however, had cast no
shadow upon the serenity of her married life, and so long as
she lived she was the trusted com|3anion and consoler of her
husband. “ His Highness,” wrote Count John in 1580, “is
in excellent health, and, in spite of adversity, incredible
labour, perplexity, apd dangers, is in such good spirits that it
makes me happy to witness it. No doubt a chief reason is
the consolation he derives from the pious and highly-intelligent
wife whom the Lord has given him—a woman who ever con¬
forms to his wishes, and is inexpressibly dear to him.” 8

The Princess left six daughters—Louisa Juliana, Elizabeth,
Catharina Belgica, Flandrina, Charlotta Brabantica, and
Emilia Secunda. 4

Parma received the first intelligence of the attempt from the
mouth of Anastro himself, who assured him that the deed had
been entirely successful, and claimed the promised reward.

1 Hoofd, Meteren, Bor, ubi sup. | 3 Apologie d’Orange. Archives, eta

2 “ With a stately procession of two vii. 333

thousand mourning mantles,” says 1 4 Bor, xvii. 316. Meteren, xi.

Hoofd, xix. 807. ‘ 1195.

1582.]

A NEW CONSTITUTION.

535

Alexander, in consequence, addressed circular letters to the
authorities of Antwerp, Brussels, Bruges, and other cities,
calling upon them, now that they had been relieved of their
tyrant and their betrayer, to return again to the path of
their duty and to the ever open arms of their lawful monarch. 1
These letters were premature. On the other hand, the states
of Holland and Zeland remained in permanent session,
awaiting with extreme anxiety the result of the Prince’s
wound. a "With the death of his Excellency, if God should
please to take him to Himself,” said the magistracy of Ley¬
den, u in the death of the Prince we all foresee our own
death.” It was, in truth, an anxious moment, and the
revulsion of feeling consequent on his recovery was pro¬
portionately intense. 2

In consequence of the excitement produced by this event,
it v r as no longer possible for the Prince to decline accepting
the countship of flolland and Zeland, which lie had re¬
fused absolutely two years before, and which he had again
rejected, except lor a limited period, in the year 1581.' 3 It
was well understood, as appears by the treaty with Anjou,
and afterwards formally arranged, “ that the Duke was
never to claim sovereignty over Holland and Zeland,” 4,
and the offer of the sovereign countship of Holland was
again made to the Prince of Orange in most urgent
terms. It will be recollected that he had accepted the sove¬
reignty on the 5 th of July 1581, only for the term of
the war. In a letter, dated Bruges, 14th of August 1582,
he accepted the dignity without limitation. 5 This offer
and acceptance, however, constituted but the preliminaries,
for it was further necessary that the letters of cc Renversal ”
should be drawn up, that they should be formally delivered,
and that a new constitution should be laid down, and

1 Bor (xvii. 314, 315) gives the 5 Bor, xv. 183, 184,185.—Compare
letters. Meteren, xi. 195. IQuit, i. 213, 214. The deeds of offer

3 Bor, xvii. 316. Kluit, i. 292. and of acceptance were dated July 5th,

3 Ibid., i. 263; 201, sqq. 1581. The oaths were exchanged

4 Ibid., i« 246, 247. Bor, xv. 182, between the estates and the Prmoe,

183. I July 24th, two days before the act of

536

THE RISE OE THE DUTCH REPUBLIC.

[1582.

confirmed by mutual oaths. After these steps had been
taken the ceremonious inauguration or rendering of
homage was to be celebrated.

All these measures were duly arranged, except the last.
The installation of the new Count of Holland was prevented
by his death, and the northern provinces remained a re¬
public, not only in fact but in name. 1 *

In political matters, the basis of the new constitution was
the 66 Great Privilege ” of the Lady Mary, the Magna Charta
of the country. That memorable monument in the history
of the Netherlands and of municipal progress had been over¬
thrown by Mary’s son, with the forced acquiescence of the
states, and it was therefore stipulated by the new article, that
even such laws and privileges as had fallen into disuse should
be revived. It was furthermore provided that the little

abjuration. The letter of August 14th,
1582, is given in Bor, xv. 186, 187.

1 As the measures therefore were,
after all, inchoate, a brief indication ot'
these dates and objects will suffice to
showthe relative position of the Prince
and the people of Holland and Zeland.
The act of acceptance by William the
Silent of the proirered sovereignty was
dated August 12, 1582.—(Bor, xv ISO,
187.) The letters patent, or the Ren-
versal, as they were technically called,
were drawn up and signed and sealed
by the “three eldest nobles.”—(Bor,
xv. 187. Kluit, i. 311, 312.) They
were then sent to all the cities, and re¬
ceived their twenty-five separate seals
at different dates.—(Kluit, i. 311, 312,
and Bijlagen, 451-403.) The original
was afterwards delivered to the Prince,
and still exists, with its twenty-eight
seals, among the Archives of the now
royal family of OrangeNassau.—(Kluit,
i. 316) On the 6th of May 1583, the
States of Holland addressed a remark¬
able circular, (Bor, xv. 187-190,) who
states that it was addressed only to the
State of Utrecht, while Kluit (i. 322)
shews that it was a general circular
to the States of Utrecht, Friesland,
Overyssel, Brabant, Flanders, Grelder-
land,. and to the States general also,

giving an historical sketch of the life
and services of William the Silent,
together with the weighty reason which
Li ul induced thorn to urge the ancient
Countship of Holland upon his accept¬
ance. This step they declared them¬
selves to liavo taken “after frequent
comnumie itinn with our cities, and
each of them; after ripe deliberation
and counsel; after having heard the
advice of the colleges and communities
of the cities, as well as that of the
magistrates and senates, and of all other
persons whom it bohoved to consult,
and whose counsel in matters of conse¬
quence is usually asked.”—(See the
Commentary of Kluit, i. 322-326.) They
moreover expressed the hope that the
measure would meet with tho approval
of all their sister-provinces and with
tho especial co-operation of those es¬
tates with which they wero accustomed
to act. On tho 15th of November
1583, the Deputies of Zeland and
Utrecht, thus especially alluded to,
formally declared their intention to
remain in their ancient friendship and
union with Holland, “ under one sove¬
reignty and government.”—(Kluit, i.
329, 330.) An act to this effect was
drawn up, to be referred for ratifica*
tion to their principals at the next

1582.]

ITS FEATURES.

537

state should be a free Countship, and should thus silently
sever its connexion with the Empire. 1

With regard to the position of the Prince, as hereditary
chief of the little commonwealth, his actual power was rather
diminished than increased by his new dignity. What was
his position at the moment ? He was sovereign during the
war y on the general basis of the authority originally bestowed
upon him by the King’s commission of stadtholder. In 1581,
his Majesty had been abjured and the stadtholder had become
sovereign. He held in his hands the supreme power, legisla¬
tive, judicial, executive. The Counts of Holland—and
Philip as their successor—were the great fountains of that
triple stream. Concessions and exceptions had become so
extensive, no doubt, that the provincial charters constituted
a vast body of “ liberties ” by which the whole country was
reasonably well supplied. At the same time, all the power
not expressly granted away remained in the breast of the
Count. 2 If ambition, then, had been William’s ruling
principle, he had exchanged substance for shadow, for the
new state now constituted was a free commonwealth—a
republic in all but name.

By the new constitution he ceased to be the source of
governmental life, or to derive his own authority from above
by right divine. The sacred oil which had flowed from
Charles the Simple’s beard was dried up. Orange’s sove¬
reignty was from the estates, as legal representatives of the

assembly.—It Fad, however, not been
ratified when the proceedings were for
ever terminated by the Prince’s death.
—(Kluit, 330, 351, 352, 353. Bor, xv.
1S15.) Holland accepted this formality
as sufficient, and the act of Renversal
was accordingly delivered on the 7th of
December, 1583.—(Kluit, i. 330.) On
the 30th of the same month, forty-nine
articles, (they are given in full by Bor,
xv. 191-194,) containing as sensible a
plan for a free Commonwealth as had
ever been drawn up previously to that
-day in Christendom, were agreed upon

by the Prince and the estates, as the
fundamental conditions under which he
should be invested with the Countship
The Prince, however, accepted the dig¬
nity, and the articles, only upon the
further condition that the whole pro¬
ceeding should be once more approved
and confirmed by the senates of the
cities.—(Kluit, i. 335.—Compare Bor,
iii. xv. 194 b.)

1 Kluit, i. 346, 347. See introduc¬
tion to this work. Article 5. Kluit,
i. 337, note 63.

2 Kluit, i. 11-16 and 346, sqq.

538

THE BISE OF THE HUTCH KEPUBLIO.

fl882L

people, and, instead of exercising all tlie powers not other¬
wise granted away, he ■was content with those especially
conferred upon him. He could neither declare war nor
conclude peace without the co-operation of the representative
body. The appointing power was scrupulously limited.
Judges, magistrates, governors, sheriffs, provincial and
municipal officers, were to be nominated by the local
authorities or by the estates, or the triple principle. From
these triple nominations he had only the right of selection by
advice and consent of his council. He was expressly enjoined
to see that the law was carried to every man’s door, without
any distinction of persons, to submit himself to its behests, to
watch against all impediments to the even flow of justice, to
prevent false imprisonments, and to secure trials for every
accused person by the local tribunals. This was certainly
little in accordance with the arbitrary practice of the past
quarter of a century.

With respect to the great principle of taxation, stricter
bonds even were provided than those which already existed.
Not only the right of taxation remained with the states, but
the Count was to see that, except for war purposes, every
impost was levied by a unanimous vote. He was expressly
forbidden to tamper with the currency. As executive head,
save in his capacity as Commander-in-chief by land or sea,
the new sovereign was, in short, strictly limited by self-
imposed laws. It had rested with him to dictate or to accept
a constitution. He had in his memorable letter of August
1582, from Bruges, laid down generally the articles prepared
at Plessis and Bordeaux, for Anjou—together with all appli¬
cable provisions of the Joyous Entry of Brabant—as the
outlines of the constitution for the little commonwealth then
forming in the north. To these provisions he was willing
to add any others which, after ripe deliberation, might be
thought beneficial to the country.

Thus limited were his executive functions. As to his judicial
authority, it had ceased to exist. The Count of Holland was

15S2.J

TWO LEGISLATIVE CHAMBERS.

539

now the guardian of the laws, but the judges were to
administer them. He held the sword of justice to protect
and to execute, while the scales were left in the hands which
had learned to weigh and to measure.

As to the Count’s legislative authority, it had become
co-ordinate with, if not subordinate to, that of the representa¬
tive body. He was strictly prohibited from interfering with
the right of the separate or the general states to assemble as
often as they should think proper; and he was also forbidden
to summon them outside their own territory. 1 This was one
immense step in the progress of representative liberty, and the
next was equally important. It was now formally stipulated
that the estates were to deliberate upon all measures which
u concerned justice and polity,” and that no change wa£ to
be made—that is to say, no new law was to pass—without
their consent as well as that of the council. 2 Thus, the
principle was established of two legislative chambers, with
the right, but not the exclusive right, of initiation on the
part of government, and in the sixteenth century one would
hardly look for broader views of civil liberty and representa¬
tive government. The foundation of a free commonwealth
was thus securely laid, which, had William lived, would
have been a representative monarchy, but which his death
converted into a federal republic. It was necessary for the
sake of unity to give a connected outline of these proceedings
with regard to the sovereignty of Orange. The formal
inauguration only remained, and this, as will be seen, was
for ever interrupted.

1 Kluit, i. 347.

Article 20.—Compare KLuit, i. 348.

CHAPTER VI

THE FRENCH FURY AND ITS RESULTS.

Parma recalls the foreign troops—Siege of Oudenarde—Coolness of Alexander
—Capture of the city and of IN move—Inauguration of Anjou at Ghent—
Attempt upon his life and that of Orange—Lamoral Egmont’s implication
in the plot—Parma’s unsuccessful attack upon Ghent—Secret plans of
Anjou—Dunkirk, Ostend, and other towns surprised hy his adherents—
Failure at Bruges—Suspicions at Antwerp—Duplicity of Anjou—The
“ French Fury ”—Details of that transaction—Discomfiture and disgrace
of the Duke—His subsequent effrontery—His letters to the magistracy of
Antwerp, to the Estates, and to Orange—Extensive correspondence between
Anjou and the French Court with Orange and the Estates—Difficult
position of the Prince—His policy—Remarkable letter to the States-
general—Provisional arrangement with Anjou—Marriage of the Archbishop
of Cologne—Marriage of Orange with Louisa de Coligny—Movements in
Holland, Brabant, Flanders, and other provinces, to induce the Prince to
accept sovereignty over the whole country—His steady refusal—Treason
of Yan den Berg in Gueldres—Intrigues of Prince Chimay and Imbize in
Flanders—Counter-efforts of Orange and the patriot party—Fate of
Imbize—Reconciliation of Bruges—Death of Anjou.

During the course of the year 1582, the military operations on
both sides had been languid and desultory, the Prince of Parma,
not having a large force at his command, being comparatively
inactive. In consequence, however, of the treaty concluded
between the united states and Anjou, Parma had persuaded the
Walloon provinces that it had now become absolutely necessary
for them to permit the entrance of fresh Italian and Spanish
troops. 1 This, then, was the end of the famous provision

1 Bor, xvii. 320, 321.

1532.:

SIEG-E OF OUDENARDE.

541

against foreign soldiery in the Walloon treaty of reconcilia¬
tion. The Abbot of Saint Yaast was immediately despatched
on a special mission to Spain, and the troops, by midsummer,
had already began to pour into the Netherlands. 1

In the meantime, Farnese, while awaiting these reinforce¬
ments, had not been idle, but had been quietly picking up
several important cities. Early in the spring he had laid siege
to Oudenarde, a place of considerable importance upon the
Scheld, and celebrated as the birthplace of his grandmother,
Margaret van Geest. 2 The burghers were obstinate, the de¬
fence was protracted; the sorties were bold; the skirmishes
frequent and sanguinary. Alexander commanded personally in
the trenches, encouraging his men by his example, and often
working with the mattock, or handling a spear in the assault,
like a private pioneer or soldier. Towards the end of the
siege, he scarcely ever left the scene of operation, and he took
his meals near the outer defences, that he might lose no oppor¬
tunity of superintending the labours of his troops. One day
his dinner was laid for himself and staff in the open air, close
to the entrenchment. 3 He was himself engaged in planting a
battering against a weak point in the city wall, and would on no
account withdraw for an instant. The tablecloth was stretched
over a number of drum-heads, placed close together, and several
nobles of distinction—Aremberg, Montigny, Richebourg, La
Motte, and others, wei'e his guests at dinner. Hardly had the
repast commenced, when a ball came flying over the table,
taking off the head of a young Walloon officer who was sitting
near Parma, and who was earnestly requesting a foremost
place in the morrow’s assault. A portion of his skull struck
out the eye of another gentleman present. A second ball from
the town fortifications, equally well directed, destroyed two

1 Bor, xvii. 320, 321.—Compare Re-
conc. Prov. Wall., t. v. MS.

2 Bor, vii. 322. Strada, 2, iv. 225-

234. Meteren, xi. 195. The city is in
Flanders, on the Scheld, in the country
of the ancient Nervii, from which

valiant tribe, according to Meteren,
it derived its name, Oude-narde,
Oude Naarden, old Nervii. — xi.
195 5.

8 Bor, ubi sup. Strada, 2, iv. 225-
234.

o42

THE RISE OP THE DUTCH REPUBLIC.

[15S2.

more of the guests as they sat at the banquet—one a German
captain, the other the Judge-Advocate-General. The blood
and brains of these unfortunate individuals were strewn over
the festive board, and the others all started to their feet, having
little appetite left for their dinner. Alexander alone remained
in his seat, manifesting no discomposure. Quietly ordering the
attendants to remove the dead bodies, and to bring a clean
tablecloth, 1 he insisted that his guests should resume their
places at the banquet which had been interrupted in such
ghastly fashion. He stated with very determined aspect that
he could not allow the heretic burghers of Oudenarde the
triumph of frightening him from his dinner, or from the post
of danger. The other gentlemen could, of course, do no less
than imitate the impassibility of their chief, and the repast was
accordingly concluded without further interruption. Not long
afterwards, the city, close pressed by so determined a com¬
mander, accepted terms, which were more favourable by
reason of the respect which Alexander chose to render to
his mother’s birthplace. The pillage was commuted for thirty
thousand crowns, and on the 5th of July the place was
surrendered to Parma almost under the very eyes of Anjou,
who was making a demonstration of relieving the siege. 2

Ninove, a citadel then belonging to the Egmont family, was
next reduced. Here, too, the defence was more obstinate than
could have been expected from the importance of the place,
and as the autumn advanced, Parma’s troops were nearly
starved in their trenches, from the insufficient supplies fur¬
nished them. They had eaten no meat but horseflesh for
weeks, and even that was gone. The cavalry horses were all
consumed, and even the chargers of the officers were not re¬
spected. An aide-de-camp of Parma fastened his steed one day
at the door of the Prince’s tent, while he entered to receive his
commander’s instructions. When he came out again, a few

1 “-solus Alexander nec sedem 2, v. 233.

nec vultum mutavit-jubet auferri 2 Strada, 2, y. 232-234.—Compare

illinc, humarique cadavera, alia induci Bor, xyii. 322. Hoofd, xix. 812.
in mensam lintea t alias dages*” —Strada,

1682.]

OTHER OPERATIONS.

543

minutes afterwards, he found nothing but the saddle and bridle
hanging where he had fastened the horse. Remonstrance was
useless, for the animal had already been cut into quarters, and
the only satisfaction offered to the aide-de-camp was in the
shape of a steak. The famine was long familiarly known as
the “Ninove starvation, 55 but notwithstanding this obstacle,
the place was eventually surrendered. 1

An attempt upon Lochum, an important city in Grelderland,
was unsuccessful, the place being relieved by the Duke of
Anjou’s forces, and Parma’s troops forced to abandon the
siege. At Steenwyk, the royal arms were more successful,
Colonel Tassis, conducted by a treacherous Frisian peasant,
having surprised the city which had so long and so manfully
sustained itself against Renneberg during the preceding
winter. With this event the active operations under Parma
closed for the year. By the end of the autumn, however, he
had the satisfaction of numbering, under his command, full
sixty thousand well-appointed and disciplined troops, including
the large reinforcements recently despatched from Spain and
Italy. 2 The monthly expense of this army—half of which
was required for garrison duty, leaving only the other moiety
for field operations—was estimated at six hundred and fifty
thousand florins. 3 The forces under Anjou and the united
provinces were also largely increased, so that the marrow of
the land was again in fair way of being thoroughly exhausted
by its defenders and its foes. 4

The incidents of Anjou’s administration, meantime, during
the year 1582, had been few and of no great importance.
After the pompous and elaborate u homage-making ” at Ant¬
werp, he had, in the month of July, been formally accepted, by
writing, as Duke of Gruelders and Lord of Friesland. In the
same month he had been ceremoniously inaugurated at Bruges
as Count of Flanders—an occasion upon which the Prince of
Orange had been present. In that ancient and stately city

1 Strada, 2, v. 242. 3 654,356 guldens.—Meteren.

2 56,550 infantry and 3537 cavalry 4 Meteren, si. 197. Tassis, vi. 433.

—total 60,037.—Meteren, xi. IDS a. Strada, 2, v. 244, 245.

544

THE RISE OP THE HUTCH EEPUBLIC.

1,1532

there had been* accordingly, much marching about under tri¬
umphal arches, much cannonading and haranguing, much
symbol work of suns dispelling fogs, with other cheerful
emblems, much decoration of ducal shoulders with velvet robes
lined with weasel skin, much blazing of tar-barrels and
torches . 1 In the midst of this event, an attempt was made
upon the lives both of Orange and Anjou. An Italian, named
Basa, and a Spaniard, called Salseda, were detected in a scheme
to administer poison to both princes, and when arrested, con¬
fessed that they had been hired by the Prince of Parma to
compass this double assassination. Basa destroyed himself in
prison. His body was, however, gibbeted, with an inscription
that he had attempted, at the instigation of Parma, to take the
lives of Orange and Anjou. Salseda, less fortunate, was sent
to Paris, where he was found guilty, and executed by being torn
to pieces by four horses. Sad to relate, Lamoral Egmont,
younger son and namesake of the great general, was intimate
with Salseda, and implicated in this base design . 2 His mother,
on her deathbed, had especially recommended the youth to the
kindly care of Orange . 3 The Prince had ever recognised the
claim, manifesting uniform tenderness for the son of his ill-
starred friend ; and now the youthful Lamoral—as if the name
of Egmont had not been sufficiently contaminated by the elder
brother’s treason at Brussels—had become the comrade of
hired conspirators against his guardian’s life. The affair
was hushed up, but the story was current and generally
believed that Egmont had himself undertaken to destroy the
Prince at his own table by means of poison which he
kept concealed in a ring. Sainte Aldegonde was to have

1 Bor, xvii. 328, 329, 332. Meteren, I
xi. 196. A rising sun, with, the motto, j
“fovet et discutit,” was the favourite
device of Anjou.

2 Bor, xvii. 331. Hoofd, xix. 814,
815. Meteren, xi. 196. Egmont pre¬
tended to be studying alchemy with
Salseda.

3 Meteren, Hoofd, ubi sup. See a
letter of Orange to Josse Borlunt, j

October 11, 1580, requesting him to
furnish young Lamoral with needful
funds, adding, “ lo principal point pour
se faire valoir au chemin de la vertu
pour auquel continuer au bien en
mieulx, ay donne ordre qu’il soit guide
de personnes 4 ce bien propres et quali¬
fies.”—Documents Inedits, par Kervyn
de Volkaerebeke et J. Diogorick. ii.
158.

1682.]

ANJOU IN GHENT.

545

been taken off in the same way, and a hallow ring filled
with poison was said to have been found in Egmont’s lodg¬
ings. 1

The young noble was imprisoned; his guilt was far from
doubtful; but the powerful intercessions of Orange himself,
combined with Egmont’s near relationship to the French
Queen, saved his life, and he was permitted, after a brief
captivity, to take his departure for France. 2

The Duke of Anjou, a month later, was received with equal
pomp, in the city of Ghent. Here the ceremonies were inter¬
rupted in another manner. The Prince of Parma, at the head
of a few regiments of Walloons, making an attack on a body
of troops by which Anjou had been escorted into Flanders,
the troops retreated in good order, and without much loss,
under the walls of Ghent, where a long and sharp action took
place, much to the disadvantage of Parma. The Prince of
Orange and the Duke of Anjou were on the city walls
during the whole skirmish, giving orders and superintend¬
ing the movements of their troops, and at nightfall Parma
was forced to retire, leaving a large number of dead behind
him. 3

The 15th day of December, in this year, was celebrated—
according to the new ordinance of Gregory the Thirteenth—
as Christmas. 4 It was the occasion of more than usual merry¬
making among the Catholics of Antwerp, who had procured,
during the preceding summer, a renewed right of public
worship from Anjou and the estates. Many nobles of high
rank came from France, to pay their homage to the new
Duke of Brabant. They secretly expressed their disgust,
however, at the close constitutional bonds in which they

1 Wreede Turkshe wonderlijeke ver-
haaiinge van dit leste verraet, teghen
Ducks Dangu (sic) en tegen den edelen
P. v. Orangien,” etc., etc.—Leyden,
1582. This curious pamphlet, in the
Duncan collection, consists of a letter
from Bruges of 25th July, and another
from Antwerp, of 27th July 1582.

voim ill 2

2 Louise de Vaudemont, wife of
Henry III., was daughter of the great
Count Egmont’s sister. She was, conse¬
quently, first cousin to young Lamoral.

3 Bor, xvii. 354. Strada, 2 , v. 240,
241. Meteren, xi. 197.

4 Bor, xvu. 338. Meteren, xi. 198,
sqq. Hoofd, xix. 827» Strada, 2, v. 245

M

546

THE RISE OF THE DUTCH REPUBLIC.

[1583.

found their own future sovereign imprisoned by the provinces.
They thought it far beneath the dignity of the “ Son of
France 55 to play the secondary part of titular Duke of Bra¬
bant, Count of Flanders, Lord of Friesland, and the like,
while the whole power of government was lodged with the
estates. They whispered that it was time to take measures
for the incorporation of the Netherlands into France, and they
persuaded the false and fickle Anjou that there would never
be any hope of his royal brother’s assistance, except upon
the understanding that the blood and treasure of Frenchmen
were to be spent to increase the power, not of upstart and
independent provinces, but of the French crown. 1

They struck the basest chords of the Duke’s base nature by
awakening his jealousy of Orange. His whole soul vibrated to
the appeal. He already hated the man by whose superior
intellect he web overawed, and by whose pure character he was
shamed. He stoutly but secretly swore that he would assert
his own rights, and that he would no longer serve as a shadow,
a statue, a zero, a Matthias. 2 It is needless to add, that
neither in his own judgment nor in that of his oivignous , were
the constitutional articles which he had recently sworn to sup¬
port, or the solemn treaty which he had signed and sealed, at
Bordeaux, to furnish any obstacles to his seizure of unlimited
power, whenever the design could be cleverly accomplished.
He rested not, day or night, in the elaboration of his plan.

Early in January 1583, he sent one night for several of his
intimate associates, to consult with him after he had retired to
bed. He complained of tne insolence of the states, of the
importunity of the council which they had forced upon him, of
the insufficient sums which they furnished both for him and his
troops, of the daily insults offered to the Catholic religion. He
protested that he should consider himself disgraced in the eves
of all Christendom, should he longer consent to occupy his

1 Bor, xvii. 339 sqq. Strada, 2, y.
246, eqq. Meteren.xi. 199,200. Hoofd,
xix. 837, 838.

2 Bor, xvii. 339.
Strada, 2, y. 247.

Hoofd, xix. 837.

THE DUKE’S PLOT.

547

1583.]

present ignoble position. But two ways were open to him,
he observed: either to retire altogether from the Nether-
lands, or to maintain his authority with the strong hand, as
became a prince. The first course would cover him with
disgrace. It was therefore necessary for him to adopt the
other. He then unfolded his plan to his confidential friends,
La Fougere, De Fazy, Valette, the sons of Marechal Biron,
and others. Upon the same day, if possible, he was deter¬
mined to take possession, with his own troops, of the principal
cities of Flanders. Dunkirk, Dixmuyde, Dendermonde,
Bruges, Ghent, Vilvoorde, Alost, and other important places,
were to be simultaneously invaded, under pretext of quieting
tumults artfully created and encouraged between the burghers
and the garrisons, while Antwerp was reserved for his,own
especial enterprise. That important capital he would carry
by surprise at the same moment in which the other cities
were to be secured by his lieutenants. 1

The jfiot was pronounced an excellent one by the friends
around his bed—all of them eager for Catholic supremacy, for
the establishment of the right divine on the part of France to
the Netherlands, and for their share in the sacking of so many
wealthy cities at once. These worthless mignons applauded
their weak master to the echo; whereupon the Duke leaped
from his bed, and kneeling on the floor in his night-gown,
raised his eyes and his clasped hands to heaven, and piously
invoked the blessing of the Almighty upon the project which he
had thus announced. 2 He added the solemn assurance that, if
favoured with success in his undertaking, he would abstain
in future from all unchastity, and forego the irregular habits
by which his youth had been stained. Having thus bribed the
Deity, and received the encouragement of his flatterers, the
Duke got into bed again. His next care was to remove the
Seigneur du Plessis, whom he had observed to be often in
colloquy with the Prince of Orange, his suspicious and guilty

1 Bor. xvii. 339, 340. Meteren, xi.
200,201. Hoofd, xix. 837,838. Strada,
2. v. 248, 249.

2 Deposition of La Fougere, the
Duke’s maitre d’hotel, in Bor, xvii. 340.
Hoofd, xix. 838.

548

THE RISE OP THE DUTCH REPUBLIC.

[1583s.

imagination finding nothing but mischief to himself in the
conjunction of two such natures. He therefore dismissed Du
Plessis, under pi'etextof a special mission to his sister, Margaret
of Navarre ; but in reality, that he might rid himself of the
presence of an intelligent and honourable countryman. 1

On the 15th of January 1583, the day fixed for the execution
of the plot, the French commandant of Dunkirk, Captain
Chamois, skilfully took advantage of a slight quarrel between
the citizens and the garrison, to secure that important frontier
town. The same means were employed simultaneously, with
similar results, atOstend, Dixmuyde, Dendermonde, Alost,and
Vilvoorde, but there was a fatal delay at one important city.
La Fougere, who had been with Chamois at Dunkirk, was
arrested on his way to Bruges by some patriotic citizens who
had got wind of what had just been occurring in the other
cities, so that when Yalette, the provost of Anjou, and Colonel
la Eebours, at the head of fifteen hundred French troops,
appeared before the gates, entrance was flatly refused. De
Grijse, burgomaster of Bruges, encouraged his fellow-towns¬
men by words and stout action, to resist the nefarious project
then on foot against religious liberty and free government, in
favour of a new foreign tyranny. 2 He spoke to men who
could sympathise with, and second his courageous resolu¬
tion, and the delay of twenty-four hours, during which the
burghers had time to take the alarm, saved the city. The
whole population was on the alert, and the baffled Frenchmen
were forced to retire from the gates, to avoid being torn to
pieces by the citizens whom they had intended to surprise.

At Antwerp, meanwhile, the Duke of Anjou had been
rapidly maturing his plan, under pretext of a contemplated
enterprise against the city of Endhoven, having concentrated
what he esteemed a sufficient number of French troops at
Borgerhout, a village close to the walls of Antwerp.

On the 16 th of January, suspicion was aroused in the city.
A man in a mask entered the mainguard-house in the night,

1 Hoofd, xix. 838. Strada, 2, v. 248. 2 Bor, xvii. 340. Hoofd, xix. 834.

1583 .]

PROTESTATIONS OF ANJOU.

549

mysteriously gave warning that a great crime was in con¬
templation, and vanished before he conld be arrested. His
accent proved him to be a Frenchman. Strange rumours flew
about the streets. A vague uneasiness pervaded the whole
population as to the intention of their new master, but
nothing was definitely known, for of course there was entire
ignorance of the events which were just occurring in other
cities. The colonels and captains of the burgher guard came
to consult the Prince of Orange. He avowed the most entire
confidence in the Duke of Anjou, but, at the same time,
recommended that the chains should be drawn, the lanterns
hung out, and the drawbridge raised an hour earlier than usual,
and that other precautions, customary in the expectation of
an attack, should be duly taken. He likewise sent the Burgo¬
master of the interior, Dr. Alostanus, to the Duke of Anjou,
in order to communicate the suspicions created in the minds
of the city authorities by the recent movements of troops. 1

Anjou, thus addressed, protested in the most solemn
manner that nothing was farther from his thoughts than
any secret enterprise against Antwerp. He was willing,
according to the figure of speech which he had always ready
upon every emergency, u to shed every drop of his blood in
her defence. ,, He swore that he would signally punish all
those who had dared to invent such calumnies against
himself and his faithful Frenchmen, declaring earnestly, at
the same time, that the troops had only been assembled in
the regular course of their duty. As the Duke was so
loud and so fervent; as he, moreover, made no objections to
the precautionary measures which had been taken; as the
burgomaster thought, moreover, that the public attention
thus aroused would render all evil designs futile, even if any

1 Corte Yerclaering, gkedaen by by authority immediately after tb e
Burgemeesteren, Schepenen ende Raedt event—and tbe source whence Bor.
der Stadt Antwerpen, nopende den Meteren, and other contemporary
aenslaeg tegen de selve stadt aen- chroniclers have derived the details of
gerichtet den xvii. dcser maendt. Jan. this important transaction.—Compare
1583.—Antwerp. Christ. Blantin, 1583. Bor, xvii. 341, sqq. Meteren, xi. 201, sqq.
This is the official account—published Hoofd, xix. 838,839, sqq. Reid, hi. 40.

550 THE RISE OF THE RETCH REPUBLIC. [1583.

had been entertained; it was thought that the city might
sleep in security for that night at least. 1 „

On the following morning, as vague suspicions were still
entertained by many influential persons, a deputation of
magistrates and militia officers waited upon the Duke, the
Prince of Orange—although himself still feeling a confidence
which seems now almost inexplicable—consenting to accom¬
pany them. The Duke was more vehement than ever in his K
protestations of loyalty to his recent oaths, as well as of deep
affection for the Netherlands—for Brabant in particular, and
for Antwerp most of all, and he made use of all his vivacity
to persuade the Prince, the burgomasters, and the colonels,
that they had deeply wronged him by such unjust suspicions.
His assertions were accepted as sincere, and the deputation
withdrew, Anjou having first solemnly promised—at the sug¬
gestion of Orange—not to leave the city during the whole day,
in order that unnecessary suspicion might be prevented. 2

This pledge the Duke proceeded to violate almost as soon
as made. Orange returned with confidence to his own house,
which was close to the citadel, and therefore far removed from
the proposed point of attack, but he had hardly arrived there
when he received a visit from the Duke’s private secretary,
Quinsay, who invited him to accompany his Highness on
a visit to the camp. Orange declined the request, and sent
an earnest prayer to the Duke not to leave the city that morn¬
ing. The Duke dined as usual at noon. While at dinner
he received a letter, was observed to turn pale on reading it,
and to conceal it hastily in a muff which he wore on his left
arm. The repast finished, the Duke ordered his horse. The
animal was restive, and so strenuously resisted being mounted
that, although it was his usual charger, it was exchanged for
another. This second horse started in such a flurry that the
Duke lost his cloak, and almost his seat. He maintained his
self-possession, however, and placing himself at the head of

1 Corte Yerclaering. Bor, Hoofd,. 46, 47.

Meteren, ubi sup. Ev. Reidani, iii. | 2 Bor, xvii. 342. Corte Ver., etc.

1583,]

THE ATTEMPT UPON ANTWERP.

551

his body-guard and some troopers, numbering in all three
hundred mounted men, rode out of the palace-yard towards
the Kipdorp gate. 1

This portal opened on the road towards Borgerhout, where
his troops were stationed, and at the present day bears the
name of that village. It is on the side of the city farthest
removed from and exactly opposite the river. The town was
very quiet, the streets almost deserted; for it was one o’clock,
the universal dinner-hour, and all suspicion had been disarmed
by the energetic protestations of the Duke. The guard at
the gate looked listlessly upon the cavalcade as it approached,
but as soon as Anjou had crossed the first drawbridge, he rose
in his stirrups and waved his hands. eC There is your city,
my lads,” said he to the troopers behind him; u go and take
possession of it.” 2

At the same time he set spurs to his horse, and galloped
off towards the camp at Borgerhout. Instantly afterwards, a
gentleman of his suite, Count Bochepot, 3 affected to have
broken his leg through the plunging of his horse, a cir¬
cumstance by which he had been violently pressed against
the wall as he entered the gate. Kaiser, the commanding
officer at the guard-house, stepped kindly forward to render
him assistance, and his reward was a desperate thrust from
the Frenchman’s rapier. As he wore a steel cuirass, he
fortunately escaped with a slight wound. 4

The expression u broken leg,” was the watch-word, for at one
and the same instant, the troopers and guardsmen of Anjou
set upon the burgher watch at the gate, and butchered every
man. A sufficient force was left to protect the entrance thus
easily mastered, while the rest of the Frenchmen entered the
town at full gallop, shrieking u Ville gctignie, mile gaignie!

1 Hoofd, xix. 839-843. Meteren, xi. fat aussi! ”—Tom. ix. liv. 77, p. 37

201. Bor, xvii. 342. Reyd, however, says it was Count.

2 Corte Verelaering, etc. Bor, Rochepot. — Ann. Belg., 347. I)e

Meteren, Hoofd, ubi sup. Strada, 2, Weert’s MS. Journal also gives the
v. 249. Ev. Reid., iii. 47. name and the incident.

3 “Dont le nom est enseveli dans 4 Be Thou, Reyd, Bor, Meteren*
l’oubli,” says Be'Thou, adding, “ et plat Hoofd.

k Dieu que 1’infamie de son action le

552

THE RISE OP THE HUTCH REPUBLIC.

[1583.

i rive la messe! vive le Due d Anjou!” They were followed
by their comrades from the camp outside, who now poured
into the town at the preconcerted signal, at least six hundred
tavalry and three thousand musketeers, all perfectly appointed,
entering Antwerp at once. From the Kipdorp gate, two
main arteries—the streets called the Kipdorp and the Meer—
led quite through the heart of the city, towards the town-
house and the river beyond. Along these great thoroughfares
the French soldiers advanced at a rapid pace; the cavalry
clattering furiously in the van, shouting u Ville gaignie , mile
gaignde ! vive la messe , vive la messe ! tue , tue , tue! ” 1

The burghers coming to door and window to look for the
cause of all this disturbance, were saluted with volleys of
musketry. They were for a moment astonished, but not
appalled, for at first they believed it to be merely an accidental
tumult. Observing, however, that the soldiers, meeting with
but little effective resistance, were dispersing into dwellings
and warehouses, particularly into the shops of the goldsmiths
and lapidaries, the citizens remembered the dark suspicions
which had been so rife, and many recalled to mind that
distinguished French officers had during the last few days
been carefully examining the treasures of the jewellers, under
the pretext of purchasing, but, as it now appeared, with
intent to rob intelligently. 2

The burghers, taking this rapid view of their position, flew
instantly to arms. Chains and barricades were stretched across
the streets; the trumpets sounded through the city; the muni¬
cipal guard swarmed to the rescue. An effective rally was
made, as usual, at the Bourse, whither a large detachment of
the invaders had forced their way. Inhabitants of all classes
and conditions, noble and simple, Catholic and Protestant,
gave each other the hand, and swore to die at each other’s side
in defence of the city against the treacherous strangers. The

1 Corte Verclaering, etc. Bor, Y. 249, eqq.
xvii. 343. Hoofd, xix. 841, sqq. 2 Strada, 2, y. 262. Ey. Reidani*
Meteren, Reyd, ubt sup. Strada, 2, jii. 53.

1583.]

DEFENCE OF THE CITIZENS

553

gathering was rapid and enthusiastic. Gentlemen came with
lance and cutlass* burghers with musket and bandoleer, arti-
zans with axe, mallet, and other implements of their trade. A
bold baker, standing by his oven—stark naked* according to
the custom of bakers at that day—rushed to the street as the
sound of the tumult reached his ear. With his heavy bread
shovel, which he still held in his hand, he dealt a French
cavalry officer, just riding and screaming by, such a hearty
blow that he fell dead from his horse. The baker seized
the officer’s sword, sprang all unattired as he was, upon
his steed, and careered furiously through the streets, en¬
couraging his countrymen everywhere to the attack, and
dealing dismay through the ranks of the enemy. His services
in that eventful hour were so signal that he was publicly
thanked afterwards by the magistrates for his services, and
rewarded with a pension of three hundred florins for life. 1

The invaders had been forced from the Bourse, while
another portion of them had penetrated as far as the Market¬
place. The resistance which they encountered became every
instant more formidable, and Fervacques, a leading French
officer, who was captured on the occasion, acknowledged that
no regular troops could have fought more bravely than did
these stalwart burghers. 2 Women and children mounted to
roof and window, whence they hurled, not only tiles and
chimney pots* but tables* ponderous chairs, and other bulky
articles, upon the heads of the assailants, 3 while such citizens
as had used all their bullets, loaded their pieces with the silver
buttons from their doublets, or twisted gold and silver coins
with their teeth into ammunition. With a population so
resolute, the four thousand invaders, however audacious,
soon found themselves swallowed up. The city had closed
over them like water, and within an hour nearly a third of
their whole number had been slain. Very few of the burghers
had perished, and fresh numbers were constantly advancing

1 Corte Verclaering. Bor, xvii. 343.1 435.

Meteren, xi. 201. Hoofd, xix. 841, i 2 Ev. Reid., iii. 48.

642. Strv 1 * 2, v. 250. Tassis, vi. I * Bor, Hoofd, Meteren, Strode

554

THE RISE OF THE DUTCH REPUBLIC.

[1583.

to the attack. The Frenchmen, blinded, staggering, beaten,
attempted to retreat. Many threw themselves from the forti¬
fications into the moat. The rest of the survivors struggled
through the streets—falling in large numbers at every step—
towards the point at which they had so lately entered the
city. Here at the Kipdorp gate was a ghastly spectacle,
the slain being piled up in the narrow passage full ten feet
high, while some of the heap, not quite dead, were striving
to extricate a hand or foot, and others feebly thrust forth
their heads to gain a mouthful of air. 1

From the outside, some of Anjou’s officers were attempting
to climb over this mass of bodies in order to enter the city;
from the interior, the baffled and fugitive remnant ot their
comrades were attempting to force their passage through the
same horrible barrier; while many dropped at every instant
upon the heap of slain, under the blows of the unrelenting
burghers. 2 On the other hand, Count Eochepot himself, to
whom the principal command of the enterprise had been en¬
trusted by Anjou, stood directly in the path of his fugitive
soldiers, not only bitterly upbraiding them with their cowardice,
but actually slaying ten or twelve of them with his own hands, 8
as the most effectual mode of preventing their retreat. Hardly
an hour had elapsed from the time when the Duke of Anjou
first rode out of the Kipdorp gate, before nearly the whole of
the force which he had sent to accomplish his base design was
either dead or captive. Two hundred and fifty nobles of high
rank and illustrious name were killed; recognised at once as
they lay in the streets by their magnificent costume. A larger
number of the gallant chivalry of France had been sacrificed—
as Anjou confessed—in this treacherous and most shameful
enterprise, than had often fallen upon noble and honourable
fields. Nearly two thousand of the rank and file had perished

1 Bor, xvii. 343, 344. Meteren, xi. 2 Meteren, xi. 201, sqq., who liad
201. Hoofd, xix. 841, 842, 843. bis information from eye-witnesses.—
Strada, 2, v. 250. “Ut duorum alti- Compare Hoofd, Bor, Meteren, Strada,
tudinem hominum exaequaret cadave- loc. cit.

rum strues 3 Hoofd, xix, 843. Reidani, iii. 47.

1683.] THE FRENCH FURY. 555

and the rest were prisoners. It was at first asserted that
exactly fifteen hundred and eighty-three Frenchmen had
fallen, hut this was only because this number happened to be
the date of the year, to which the lovers of marvellous coinci¬
dences struggled very hard to make the returns of the dead
correspond. Less than one hundred burghers lost their lives. 1

Anjou, as he looked on at a distance, was bitterly re¬
proached for his treason by several of the high-minded gentle¬
men about his person, to whom he had not dared to confide
his plot. The Duke of Montpensier protested vehemently that
he washed his hands of the whole transaction, whatever might
be the issue. 2 He was responsible for the honour of an illus¬
trious house, which should never be stained, he said, if he
could prevent it, with such foul deeds. The same language
was held by Laval, by Rochefoucauld, and by the Marechal de
Biron, the last gentleman, whose two sons were engaged in
the vile enterprise, bitterly cursing the Duke to his face, as he
rode through the gate after revealing his secret undertaking. 3

Meanwhile, Anjou, in addition to the punishment of hearing
these reproaches from men of honour, was the victim of a rapid
and violent fluctuation of feeling. Hope, fear, triumph, doubt,
remorse, alternately swayed him. As he saw the fugitives
leaping from the walls, he shouted exultingly, without accu¬
rately discerning what manner of men they were, that the city
was his, that four thousand of his brave soldiers were there,
and were hurling the burghers from the battlements. On being
made afterwards aware of his error, he was proportionably
depressed; and when it was obvious at last that the result of
the enterprise was an absolute and disgraceful failure, together
with a complete exposure of his treachery, he fairly mounted
his horse, and fled conscious-stricken from the scene. 4

1 According to a statement made by
» French prisoner, more than fifty
gentlemen had been killed, of whom
the poorest had six thousand livres
annual income. Bor, xvii. 343.—Com¬
pare Meteren, xi. 202. Ev. Reid., iii.

48. Strada, 2, v. 252. Hoofd, xix. 843.

2 De Thou, ix. 37, and xxvii.

3 Hoofd, xix. 834. Bentivoglio, 2,
ii. 268, 271. De Thou, loc. cit.

4 Corte Yerclaering. Meteren, xi.
201 d. Bor, xrii. 343. Hoofd, xix. 842.

556 THE RISE OF THE DUTCH REPUBLIC. [1583.

The attack had been so unexpected, in consequence of the
credence that had been rendered by Orange and the magis¬
tracy to the solemn protestations of the Duke, that it had
been naturally out of any one’s power to prevent the catas¬
trophe. The Prince was lodged in a pai't of the town remote
from the original scene of action, and it does not appear that
information had reached him that anything unusual was
occurring, until the affair was approaching its termination.
Then there was little for him to do. He hastened, however,
to the scene, and mounting the ramparts, persuaded the
citizens to cease cannonading the discomfited and retiring
foe. He felt the full gravity of the situation, and the
necessity of diminishing the rancour of the inhabitants
against their treacherous allies, if such a result were yet pos¬
sible. 1 The burghers had done their duty, and it certainly
would have been neither in his power nor his inclination to
protect the French marauders from expulsion and castigation.

Such was the termination of the French Fury, and it seems
sufficiently strange that it should have been so much less
disastrous to Antwerp than was the Spanish Fury of 1576, to
which men could still scarcely allude without a shudder. One
would have thought the French more likely to prove successful
in their enterprise than the Spaniards in theirs. The Spaniards
were enemies against whom the city had long been on its
guard. The French were friends in whose sincerity a somewhat
shaken confidence had just been restored. When the Spanish
attack was made, a large force of defenders was drawn up in
battle array behind freshly strengthened fortifications. When
the French entered at leisure through a scarcely guarded gate,
the whole population and garrison of the town were quietly
eating their dinners. The number of the invading forces on
the two occasions did not materially differ; but at the time of
the French Fury there was not a large force of regular troops
under veteran generals to resist the attack. Perhaps this was
the main reason for the result, which seems at first almost

1 Meteren, xi. 201 d. Hoofd, xix. 843.—Compare Bentivoglio, 2, ii. 271.

1583.]

FRENCH AND SPANISH FURIES.

557

inexplicable. For protection against the Spanish invasion, the
burghers relied on mercenaries, some of whom proved treacher¬
ous, while the rest became panic-struck. On the present
occasion the burghers relied on themselves. Moreover, the
French committed the great error of despising their enemy.
Recollecting the ease with which the Spaniards had ravished
the city, they believed that they had nothing to do but to
enter and take possession. Instead of repressing their greedi¬
ness, as the Spaniards had done, until they had overcome
resistance, they dispersed almost immediately into by-streets,
and entered warehouses to search for plunder. They seemed
actuated by a fear that they shotild not have time to rifle the
city before additional troops should be sent by Anjou to share
in the spoil. 1 They were less used to the sacking of Uether-
land cities than were the Spaniards, whom long practice had
made perfect in the art of methodically butchering a popula¬
tion at first, before attention should be diverted to plundering,
and supplementary outrages. At any rate, whatever the
causes, it is certain that the panic, which upon such occasions
generally decides the fate of the day, seized upon the invaders
and not upon the invaded, almost from the very first. As
soon as the marauders faltered in their purpose and wished to
retreat, it was all over with them. Returning was worse
than advance, and it was the almost inevitable result that
hardly a man escaped death or capture.

The Duke retreated the same day in the direction of Dender-
monde,and on his way met v^ith another misfortune, by which
an additional number of his troops lost their lives. A dike
was cut by the Mechlin citizens to impede his march, and the
swollen waters of the Dill, liberated and flowing across the
country which he was to traverse, produced such an inundation,
that at least a thousand of his followers were drowned. 2

As soon as he had established himself in a camp near Berg-
hem, he opened a correspondence with the Prince of Orange,

1 Strada, 2, y. 252. Reidani, ii. I 3 Meteren, xi. 202 b. Hoofd, xx
53. 1848. Strada, 2, v. 251.

558

THE RISE OF THE DUTCH REPUBLIC.

[£583.

and with the authorities of Antwerp. His language was
marked by wonderful effrontery. He found himself and sol¬
diers suffering for want of food; he remembered that he had
left much plate and valuable furniture in Antwerp ; and he
was therefore desirous that the citizens, whom he had so
basely outraged, should at once send him supplies and restore
his property. He also reclaimed the prisoners who still
remained in the city, and to obtain all this he applied to the
man whom he had bitterly deceived, and whose life would
have been sacrificed by the Duke, had the enterprise suc¬
ceeded. 1

It had been his intention to sack the city, to re-establish
exclusively the Roman Catholic worship, to trample upon the
constitution which he had so recently sworn to maintain, to
deprive Orange, by force, of the Renversal by which the Duke
recognised the Prince as sovereign of Holland, Zeland, and
Utrecht; 2 yet notwithstanding that his treason had been
enacted in broad daylight, and in a most deliberate manner, he
had the audacity to ascribe the recent tragic occurrences to
chance. He had the farther originality to speak of himself as
an aggrieved person, who had rendered great services to the
Netherlands, and who had only met with ingratitude in return.
His envoys, Messieurs Landmater and Escolieres, despatched
on the very day of the French Fury to the burgomasters and
senate of Antwerp, were instructed to remind those magistrates
that the Duke had repeatedly exposed his life in the cause of
the Netherlands. The affronts, they were to add, which he had
received, and the approaching ruin of the country, which he
foresaw, had so altered his excellent nature, as to engender the
present calamity, which he infinitely regretted. Nevertheless,
the senate was to be assured that his affection for the common¬
wealth was still so strong, as to induce a desire on his part to
be informed what course was now to be pursued with regard to
him. Information upon that important point was therefore
to be requested, while at the same time the liberation of

3 Hoofd, xix. 844,—Compare De Thou, t. ix. 1. 77. 3 Bor, xvii. 344

1583.]

THE DTJKE’S EFFRONTERY.

559

the prisoners at Antwerp, and the restoration of the Duke’s
furniture and papers, were to be urgently demanded. 1

Letters of similar import were also despatched by the Duke
to the states of the Union, while to the Prince of Orange his
application was brief but brazen. u You know well, my
cousin,” said he, “ the just and frequent causes of offence
which this people has given me. The insults which I this
morning experienced cut me so deeply to the heart, that they
are the only reasons of the misfortune which has happened to¬
day. Nevertheless, to those who desire my friendship, I shall
shew equal friendship and affection. Herein I shall follow
the counsel you have uniformly given me, since I know it
comes from one who has always loved me. Therefore I beg
that you will kindly bring it to pass, that I may obtain some
decision, and that no injury may be inflicted upon my people.
Otherwise the land shall pay for it dearly.” 2

To these appeals, neither the Prince nor the authorities of
Antwerp answered immediately in their own names. A general
consultation was, however, immediately held with the estates-
general, and an answer forthwith despatched to the Duke by
the hands of his envoys. It was agreed to liberate the
prisoners, to restore the furniture, and to send a special
deputation for the purpose of making further arrangements
with the Duke by word of mouth, and for this deputation
his Highness was requested to furnish a safe conduct. 3

Anjou was overjoyed when he received this amicable com¬
munication. Believed for a time from his fears as to the
result of his crime, he already assumed a higher ground.
He not only spoke to the states in a paternal tone, which was
sufficiently ludicrous, but he had actually the coolness to
assure them of his forgiveness . u He felt hurt,” he said,
u that they should deem a safe conduct necessary for the
deputation which they proposed to send. If they thought
that he had reason , on account of the past, to feel offended,

1 Bor (xvii. 344, sqq.) gives the 2 See the letter in Bor, xvii.
instructions, together with the whole 345 a.
correspondence. 3 Ibid., xvii. 345.

560

THE RISE OF THE HUTCH REPUBLIC.

[15S3.

he begged them to believe that he had forgotten it all, and
that he had buried the past in its ashes, even as if it had
never been.” He furthermore begged them—and this
seemed the greatest insult of all —in future to trust to his word ,
and to believe that if anything should be attempted to their
disadvantage, he would be the very first to offer himself for
their protection.” 1

It will be observed that in his first letters the Duke had not.
affected to deny his agency in the outrage—an agency so flag¬
rant that all subterfuge seemed superfluous. He in fact
avowed that the attempt had been made by his command,
but sought to palliate the crime on the ground that it had
been the result of the ill-treatment which he had experienced
from the states. “ The affronts which I have received,” said
he, both to the magistrates of Antwerp and to Orange, “ have
engendered the present calamity.” So also, in a letter
written at the same time to his brother, Henry the Third,
he observed that “ the indignities which were put upon him,
and the manifest intention of the states to make a Matthias
of him, had been the cause of the catastrophe.” 2

He now, however, ventured a step further. Presuming upon
the indulgence which he had already experienced, and bravely
assuming the tone of injured innocence, he ascribed the enter¬
prise partly to accident, and partly to the insubordination of his
troops. This was the ground which he adopted in his inter¬
views with the states’ commissioners. So also, in a letter ad¬
dressed to Van der Tympel, commandant of Brussels, in which
he begged for supplies for his troops, he described the recent
invasion of Antwerp as entirely unexpected by himself; and
beyond his control. He had been intending, he said, to leave
the city and to j oin his army. A tumult had accidentally arisen
between his soldiers and the guard at the gate. Other troops
rushing in from without, had joined in the affray, so that to
his great sorrow an extensive disorder had arisen. He mani¬
fested the same Christian inclination to forgive, however, which
* Bor. xvii. 3-15. 1 Bor gives the letter, xvii. 348.

1683.]

THE DUKE’S EFFKONTERT.

561

he had before exhibited. He observed that “ good men would
never grow cold in his regard, or find his affection diminished.”
He assured Yan der Tympel, in particular, of his ancient good
will, as he knew him to be a lover of the common weal. 1 *

In his original communications he had been both cringing
and threatening—but, at least, he had not denied truths which
were plain as daylight. His new position considerably damaged
his cause. This forgiving spirit on the part of the malefactor
was a little more than the states could bear, disposed as they
felt, from policy, to be indulgent, and to smooth over the crime
as gently as possible. The negotiations were interrupted, and
the authorities of Antwerp published a brief and spirited
defence of their own conduct. They denied that any affront
or want of respect on their part could have provoked the
outrage of which the Duke had been guilty. They severely
handled his self-contradiction, in ascribing originally the
recent attempt to his just vengeance for past injuries, and in
afterwards imputing it to accident or sudden mutiny, while
they cited the simultaneous attempts at Bruges, Dendermonde,
Alost, Dixmuyde, Newport, Ostend, Yilvoorde, and Dunkirk,
as a series of damning proofs of a deliberate design. 3

The publication of such plain facts did not advance the
negotiations when resumed. High and harsh words were in¬
terchanged between his Highness and the commissioners, Anjou
complaining, as usual, of affronts and indignities, but when
pushed home for particulars, taking refuge in equivocation.
“ He did not wish,” he said, “ to re-open wounds which had
been partially healed.” He also affected benignity, and wish¬
ing to forgive and to forget, he offered some articles as the
basis of a fresh agreement. Of these it is sufficient to state
that they were entirely different from the terms of the Bordeaux
treaty, and that they were rejected as quite inadmissible. 3

He wrote again to the Prince of Orange, 4 invoking his-

1 See the letter to V. der Tympel I 3 Ibid., xvii. 347.

in Bor, xvii. 345, 348. - Prom Vilvoorde, Jan. 25, 1583.

3 Bor, vii. 346,347. ' Bor, xrii. 347, 348.

VOL. III. 2 N

562

THE RISE OF THE DUTCH REPUBLIC.

[1585.

influence to bring about an arrangement. The Prince, justly
indignant at the recent treachery and the present insolence of
the man whom he had so profoundly trusted, but feeling
certain that the welfare of the country depended at present
upon avoiding, if possible, a political catastrophe, answered
the Duke in plain, firm, mournful, and appropriate language.
He had ever manifested to his Highness, he said, the most
uniform and sincere friendship. He had, therefore, the right
to tell him that affairs were now so changed that his greatness
and glory had departed. Those men in the Netherlands, who,
but yesterday, had been willing to die at the feet of his High¬
ness, were now so exasperated that they avowedly preferred
an open enemy to a treacherous protector. He had hoped,
he said, that, after what had happened in so many cities, at
the same moment, his Highness would have been pleased to
give the deputies a different and a more becoming answer.
He had hoped for some response which might lead to an
arrangement. He, however, stated frankly, that the articles
transmitted by his Highness were so unreasonable that no
man in the land would dare open his mouth to recommend
them. His Highness, by this proceeding, had much deepened
the distrust. He warned the Duke, accordingly, that he was
not taking the right course to reinstate himself in a position of
honour and glory, and he begged him, therefore, to adopt
more appropriate means. Such a step was now demanded
of him, not only by the country, but by all Christendom. 1

This moderate but heartfelt appeal to the better nature of
the Duke, if he had a better nature, met with no immediate
response.

While matters were in this condition, a special envoy arrived
out of France, despatched by the King and Queen-mother, on
the first reception of the recent intelligence from Antwerp. 2
M. de Mirambeau, the ambassador, whose son had been killed
in the Fury, brought letters of credence to the states of the

1 The letter is given in Bor, xvii. I 2 Bor. xvii, 340. MetoreiL xi,

m 1202 d.

1563.] LETTER FROM THE QUEEN*MOTHER TO ORANGE. 563

Union and to the Prince of Orange. 1 He delivered also a
short confidential note, written in her own hand, from Catherine
de Medici to the Prince, to the following effect:—

6C My Cousin, —The King, my son, and myself, send you
Monsieur de Mirambeau, to prove to you that we do not
believe—tor we esteem you an honourable man-r that you would
manifest ingratitude to my son, and to those who have followed
him for the welfare of your country. We feel that you have
too much affection for one who has the support of so powerful
a prince as the King of France, as to play him so base a trick.
Until I learn the truth, I shall not renounce the good hope
which I have always indulged—that you would never have
invited my son to your country, without intending to serve
him faithfully. As long as you do this, you may ever reckon
on the support of all who belong to him.

66 Your good Cousin,

“ Catherine.” 2

It would have been very difficult to extract much informa¬
tion or much comfort from this wily epistle. The menace was
sufficiently plain, the promise disagreeably vague. Moreover,'
a letter from the same Catherine de Medici had been recently
found in a casket at the Duke’s lodgings in Antwerp. In
that communication, she had distinctly advised her son to
re-establish the Homan Catholic religion, assuring him that
by so doing he would be enabled to marry the Infanta of
Spain. 3 Nevertheless, the Prince, convinced that it was his
duty to bridge over the deep and fatal chasm which had opened
between the French Prince and the provinces, if an honourable
reconciliation were possible, did not attach an undue importance

1 Bor, Meteren, ubi sup. Hoofd, que vous vous marierez area lTn-

xx. 849. fante d’Espagne.”—xx 846.—Compare

2 Archives et Correspondance, viii. Strada, 2, v. 258, who alludes to the

148. Bor, xvii. 349. rumour which was spread “ either by

3 Hoofd is the authority for the anec- Anjou or by Orange,” that a marriage
dote, having heard it related by old between the Bute and the Infanta was
inhabitants of the place. “ Replantez in contemplation, and that Parma was
la religion Catholique dans Amvers,” privy to the scheme.

said Catherine, “et je me fais fort

564

THE RISE OF THE EtJTCH REPUBLIC.

T15S3.

either to the stimulating or to the upbraiding portion of the
communication from Catherine. He was most anxious to
avert the chaos which he saw returning. He knew that while
the tempers of Rudolph, of the English Queen, and of the
Protestant princes of Germany, and the internal condition of
the Netherlands remained the same, it were madness to provoke
the government of France, and thus gain an additional enemy,
while losing their only friend. He did not renounce the hope
of forming all the Netherlands—excepting, of course, the
Walloon provinces, already reconciled to Philip—into one
independent commonwealth, freed for ever from Spanish
tyranny. A dynasty from a foreign house he was willing to
accept, but only on condition that the new royal line should
become naturalised in the Netherlands, should conform itself to
the strict constitutional compact established, and should employ
only natives in the administration of Netherland affairs. Not¬
withstanding, therefore, the recent treachery of Anjou, he was
willing to treat with him upon the ancient basis. The dilemma
was a very desperate one, for whatever might be his course,
it was impossible that it should escape censure. Even at this
day, it is difficult to decide what might have been the result
if openly braving the French government, and expelling
Anjou. The Prince of Parma—subtle, vigilant, prompt with
word and blow—was waiting most anxiously to take advan¬
tage of every false step of his adversary. The provinces had
been already summoned in most eloquent language, to take
warning by the recent fate of Antwerp, and to learn by the
manifestation just made by Anjou of his real intentions, that
their only salvation lay in a return to the King’s arms. 2
Anjou himself, as devoid of shame as of honour, was secretly
holding interviews with Parma’s agents, Acosta and Flaminio
Carnero,* at the very moment when he was alternately
expressing to the states his resentment that they dared
to doubt his truth, or magnanimously extending to them
his pardon for their suspicions. He was writing letters
Bor, xyii. 348, sqq. Meteren, xi. 202 d, Hoofd, xx. 849. 3 Strada, ii. 257.

1585] ANJOU’S INTRIGUE WITH PARMA DISCOVERED. 565

full of injured innocence to Orange and to the states, while
secretly cavilling over the terms of the treaty by which he was
to sell himself to Spain. Scruples as to enacting so base a
part did not trouble the “ Son of France.” He did not hesitate
at playing this doubly and trebly false game with the provinces,
but he was anxious to drive the best possible bargain for him¬
self with Parma. He offered to restore Dunkirk, Dixmuyde,
and the other cities which he had so recently filched from the
states, and to enter into a strict alliance with Philip; but he
claimed that certain Netlierland cities on the French frontier
should be made over to him in exchange. He required, like¬
wise, ample protection for his retreat from a country which
was likely to be sufficiently exasperated. Parma andhis agents
smiled, of course, at such exorbitant terms. 1 Nevertheless, it
was necessary to deal cautiously with a man who, although but
a poor baffled rogue to day, might to-morrow be seated on the
throne of France. While they were all secretly haggling over
the terms of the bargain, the Prince of Orange discovered the
intrigue. 2 It convinced him of the necessity of closing with a
man whose baseness was so profound, but whose position made
his enmity, on the whole, more dangerous than his friendship.
Anjou, backed by so astute and unscrupulous a politician as
Parma, was not to be trifled with. The feeling of doubt and
anxiety was spreading daily through the country; many men,
hitherto firm, were already wavering, while at the same time
the Prince had no confidence in the power of any of the
states, save those of Holland and Utrecht, to maintain a
resolute attitude of defiance, if not assisted from without.

He therefore endeavoured to repair the breach, if possible,
and thus save the Union. Mirambeau, in his conferences with
the estates, suggested, on his part, all that words could effect.
He expressed the hope that the estates would /use their dis¬
cretion “in compounding some sweet and friendly medicine”
for the present disorder ; and that they would not judge the
Duke too harshly for a fault which he assured them did not
1 Strada. ii. 255-257. a Ibid., 257.

566

THE RISE OF THE DUTCH REPUBLIC.

[1583

come from his natural disposition. He warned them that
the enemy would be quick to take advantage of the present
occasion to bring about, if possible, their destruction;
and he added that he was commissioned to wait upon the
Duke of Anjou, in order to assure him that, however
alienated he might then be from the Netherlands, his Ma¬
jesty was determined to effect an entire reconciliation. 1

The envoy conferred also with the Prince of Orange, and
urged him most earnestly to use his efforts to heal the rupture.
The Prince, inspired by the sentiments already indicated, spoke
with perfect sincerity. His Highness, he said, had never known
a more faithful and zealous friend than himself. He had be¬
gun to lose, his own credit with the people by reason of the
earnestness with which he had ever advocated the Duke’s
cause, and he could not flatter himself that his recommenda¬
tion would now be of any advantage to his Highness. It
would be more injurious than his silence. Nevertheless, he
was willing to make use of all the influence which was left to-
him for the purpose of bringing about a reconciliation, provided
that the Duke were acting in good faith. If his Highness
were now sincerely desirous of conforming to the or initial
treaty , and willing to atone for the faults committed by him on
the same day in so many cities —offences which could not be
excused upon the ground of any affronts which he might
have received from the citizens of Antwerp—it might even
now be possible to find a remedy for the past. He very
bluntly told the envoy, however, that the frivolous excuses
offered by the Duke caused more bitterness than if he had
openly acknowledged his fault. It were better, he said, to ex¬
press contrition, than to excuse himself by laying blame on
those to whom no blame belonged, but who, on the contrary,
had ever shewn themselves faithful servants of his Highness. 2

The estates of the Union, in great perplexity as to their
proper course, now applied formally, as they always did in
times of danger and doubt, to the Prince, for a public expression
1 Bor, xvii. 349.—Comp. Met. xi. 202, 203. Hoofd, xx. 850. 2 Bor, xvii. 349.

1583.]

LETTER OF ORANGE TO THE STATES.

567

of his views. 1 2 Somewhat reluctantly, he complied with their
wishes in one of the most admirable of his state papers. 3

He told the states that he felt some hesitation in expressing
his views. The blame of the general ill success was always
laid upon his shoulders; as if the chances of war could be
controlled even by a great potentate with ample means at his
disposal. As for himself, with so little actual power that he
could never have a single city provided with what, he
thought a sufficient garrison, it could not be expected that he
could command fortune. His advice, he said, was always
asked, but ever judged good or evil according to the result, as
if the issues were in any hands but God’s. It did not seem
advisable for a man of his condition and years, who had so
often felt the barb of calumny’s tongue, to place his honour
again in the judgment scale of mankind, particularly as he
was likely to incur fresh censure for another man’s crime. 3
Nevertheless, he was willing, for the love he bore the land,
once more to encounter this danger.

He then rapidly reviewed the circumstances which had led to
the election of Anjou, and reminded the estates that they had
employed sufficient time to deliberate concerning that trans¬
action. He recalled to their remembrance his frequent as¬
surances of support and sympathy if they would provide any
other means of self-protection than the treaty with the French
Prince. He thought it, therefore, unjust, now that calamity had
sprung from the measure, to ascribe the blame entirely to him,
even had the injury been greater than the one actually sus¬
tained. He was far from palliating the crime, or from denying
that the Duke’s rights under the treaty of Bordeaux had been

1 Bor, xvii. 349. Meteren, xi. 203 b .
Hoofd, xx. 851.

2 It is given in fuU by Bor, xvii.
349-354, and abridged by Meteren, xi.
203-205, and by Hoofd, xx. 851-856.

3 The Prince was always keenly sen¬
sitive to attacks upon his honour. On
the other hand he was singularly
exempt from “the last infirmity of

noble minds.” “ To reply to what men
tell me— namely, that 1 ham rendered my
name sufficiently famous ” he observed
in a remarkable letter to his brother,
at this period, “ seems quite superfluous,
since never did such vanity move me to
so much labour, so many losses, and to
confront such dangerous enmities.”—
Archives et Corresp., viii. 354, 355.

568 THE RISE OF THE DUTCH REPUBLIC. [1583.

.utterly forfeited. He was now asked what was to be done.
Of three courses, he said, one must be taken : they must make
their peace with the King, or consent to a reconciliation with
Anjou, or use all the strength which God had given them to
resist, single-handed, the enemy. With regard to the first
point, he resumed the argument as to the hopelessness of a
satisfactory arrangement with the monarch of Spain. The
recent reconciliation of the Walloon provinces, and its shame¬
ful infraction by Parma in the immediate recall of large masses
of Spanish and Italian troops, shewed too plainly the value of
all solemn stipulations with his Catholic Majesty. Moreover,
the time was unpropitious. It was idle to look, after what
had recently occurred, for even fair promises. It was mad¬
ness, then, to incur the enmity of two such powers at once.
The French could do the Netherlands more harm as enemies
than the Spaniards. The Spaniards would be more dangerous
as friends, for in case of a treaty with Philip, the Inquisition
would be established in the place of a religious peace. For
these reasons the Prince declared himself entirely opposed to
any negotiations with the Crown of Spain.

As to the second point, he admitted that Anjou had gained
little honour by his recent course, and that it would be a mis¬
take on their part to stumble a second time over the same stone.
He foresaw, nevertheless, that the Duke—irritated as he was
by the loss of so many of his nobles, and by the downfall of
all his hopes in the Netherlands—would be likely to inflict
great injuries upon their cause. Two powerful nations like
.France and Spain would be too much to have on their hands
at once. How much danger, too, would be incurred by braving
at once the open wrath of the French King and the secret
displeasure of the English Queen. She had warmly recom¬
mended the Duke of Anjou. She had said that honours to
him were rendered to herself, and she was now entirely op¬
posed to their keeping the present quarrel alive. 1 If France

1 Discourse of Orange, apud Bor, i admonestrer,” wrote Elizabeth to the
loc. cit.—“-vous conseHler et vous | States-General, “ que voiis donnez bien

1583.]

HONEST COUNSEL.

56S

became their enemy, the road was at once opened through
that kingdom for Spain. The estates were to pond*,/ well
whether they possessed the means to carry on such a double
war without assistance. They were likewise to remember
how many cities still remained in the hands of Anjou, and
their possible fate if the Duke were pushed to extremity.

The third point was then handled with vigour. He re¬
minded the states of the perpetual difficulty of raising armies?
of collecting money to pay for troops, of inducing cities
to accept proper garrisons, of establishing a council which
could make itself respected. He alluded briefly and bitterly
to the perpetual quarrels of the states among themselves ; to
their mutual jealousy; to their obstinate parsimony; to their
jealousy of the general government; to their apathy and
inertness before impending ruin. He would not calumniate
those, he said, who counselled trust in God. That was his
sentiment also. To attempt great affairs, however, and,
through avarice, to withhold sufficient means, was not trust¬
ing, but tempting God. On the contrary, it was trusting
God to use the means which He offered to their hands.

With regard, then, to the three points, he rejected the first.
Reconciliation with the King of Spain was impossible. For
his own part, he would much prefer the third course . ' He
had always been in favour of their maintaining independence
by their own means and the assistance of the Almighty.
He was obliged, however, in sadness, to confess, that the
narrow feeling of individual state rights, the general ten¬
dency to disunion, and the constant wrangling, had made
this course a hopeless one. There remained, therefore, only
the second, and they must effect an honourable reconciliation

garde d’offencer un Prince de sa quality
—— aijant d^ja par le mtpris passi re-
froidi beaucoup en lui la premiere affec¬
tion qu’il vous portoit. (!) Car vous
pourriez aisement penser, que s’il est
si avant irriU par teUes fagons de faire,
qu’il en de vienne votre ennemi. Celui
sera chose assez facile de se venger sur

vous aveo les moyens et la force que
son frere lui pourra mettre en main,”
etc.—Lettre de la Ser^e Boine d’Anglet.
MS., 20 Ap. 15S3. Ord. Dep. Boek
der Sfc.-G-l., Ao. 1582-1583, f. 557^.—
Compare Elizabeth’s instructions to Sir
John Somers, special envoy to the Luke
of Anjou; Meter en, xi. 203.

570 THE EISE OF THE DUTCH EEPUBIIO. ' ~ [1583,

with Anjou. Whatever might be their decision, however, it
was meet that it should be a speedy one. Not an hour was
to be lost. Many fair churches of God, in Anjou’s power,
were trembling on the issue, and religious and political
liberty was more at stake than ever. In conclusion, the
Prince again expressed his determination, whatever might
be their decision, to devote the rest of his days to the
services of his country. 1

The result of these representations by the Prince—of fre¬
quent letters from Queen Elizabeth, 3 urging a reconciliation,
and of the professions made by the Duke and the French
envoys—was a provisional arrangement, signed on the 26th
and 28th of March. According to the terms of this accord,
the Duke was to receive thirty thousand florins for his troops,
and to surrender the cities still in his power. The French
prisoners were to* be liberated, the Duke’s property at
Antwerp was to be restored, and the Duke himself was to
await at Dunkirk the arrival of plenipotentiaries to treat
with him as to a new and perpetual arrangement. 3

The negotiations, however, were languid. The quarrel was
healed on the surface, but confidence so recently and violently
uprooted was slow to revive. On the 28th of June* the
Duke of Anjou left Dunkirk for Paris, never to return to
the Netherlands, but he exchanged on his departure affec¬
tionate letters with the Prince and the estates. M. des
Pruneaux remained as his representative, and it was under¬
stood that the arrangements for re-installing him as soon as
possible in the sovereignty which he had so basely forfeited,
were to be pushed forward with earnestness. 4

In the spring of the same year, Gerard Truchses, Archbishop
of Cologne, who had lost his see for the love of Agnes Mans-
feld, whom he had espoused in defiance of the Pope, took refuge
with the Prince of Orange at Delft. 5 A civil war in Germany

1 Discourse of Orange, etc. 4 Bor, xviii. 371, 372, sqq. Meteren,

3 Meteren, xi. 203. xi. 206 c.

i See the Accord, in twenty-one arti- 5 Bor, xviii. 360, 361.
cles, in Bor, xvii. 355-357.

1583.] THE SOVEREIGNTY OFFERED TO ORANGE. 571

broke forth, the Protestant Princes undertaking to support the
Archbishop, in opposition to Ernest of Bavaria, who had been
appointed in his place. The Palatine, John Casimir, thought it
necessary to mount and ride as usual. Making his appearance
at the head of a hastily-collected force, and prepared for another
plunge into chaos, he suddenly heard, however, of his elder
brother’s death at Heidelberg. Leaving his men, as was his
habit, to shift for themselves, and Baron Truchses, the Arch¬
bishop’s brother, to fall into the hands of the enemy, he dis¬
appeared from the scene with great rapidity, in order that
his own interests in the palatinate and in the guardianship
of the young palatines might not suffer by his absence. 1

At this time, too, on the 12th of April, the Prince of Orange
was married, for the fourth time, to Louisa, widow of the Seig¬
neur de Teligny, and daughter of the illustrious Coligny. 2

In the course of the summer, the states of Holland and
Zeland, always bitterly opposed to the connexion with Anjou,
and more than ever dissatisfied with the resumption of negotia¬
tions since the Antwerp catastrophe, sent a committee to the
Prince in order to persuade him to set his face against the
whole proceedings. They delivered at the same time a formal
remonstrance in writing, (25th of August 1583,) in which they
explained how odious the arrangement with the Duke had ever
been to them. They expressed the opinion that even the wfisest
might be sometimes mistaken, and that the Prince had been
bitterly deceived by Anjou and by the French court. They be¬
sought him to rely upon the assistance of the Almighty, and
upon the exertions of the nation, and they again hinted at the
propriety of his accepting that supreme sovereignty over all
the united provinces which would be so gladly conferred, while,
for their own parts, they voluntarily offered largely to increase
the sums annually contributed to the common defence. 3

Very soon afterwards, in August 1583, the states of the
united provinces assembled at Middelburg formally offered

1 Bor, ubi sup. I Hoofd, xx. 864.

7 Ibid., xviii. 366. Meteren, xi. 205.] 3 Bor, xviii.397,308,

572

THE RISE OF THE HUTCH REPUBLIC.

[1583.

tlie general government—which, under the circumstances,
was the general sovereignty—to the Prince, warmly urging
his acceptance of the dignity. He manifested, however, the
same reluctance which he had always expressed, demanding
that the project should beforehand be laid before the councils
of all the large cities, and before the estates of certain pro¬
vinces which had not been represented at the Middelburg
diet. He also made use of the occasion to urge the necessity
of providing more generously for the army expenses and
other general disbursements. As to ambitious views, he was
a stranger to them, and his language at this moment was as
patriotic and self-denying as at any previous period. He
expressed his thanks to the estates for this renewed proof of
their confidence in his character, and this additional appro¬
bation of his course,—a sentiment which lie was always
ready “as a good patriot to justify by his most faithful
service.” He reminded them, however, that he was no great
monarch, having in his own hands the means to help and the
power to liberate them; and that even were he in possession
of all which God had once given him, he should be far from
strong enough to resist, single-handed, their powerful enemy.
All that was left to him, he said, was an “honest and moderate
experience in affairs.” With this he was ever ready to serve
them to the utmost; but they knew very well that the means
to make that experience available were to be drawn from the
country itself. With modest simplicity, he observed that he
had been at work fifteen or sixteen years, doing his best, with
the grace of God, to secure the freedom of the fatherland and
to resist tyranny of conscience; that he alone—assisted by
his brothers and some friends and relatives—had borne the
whole burthen in the beginning, and that he had afterwards
been helped by the states of Holland and Zeland, so that
he could not but render thanks to God for His great mercy
in thus granting His blessing to so humble an instrument,
and thus restoring so many beautiful provinces to their
ancient freedom and to the true religion. The Prince pro-

1583.] SOLICITED TO BECOME DUKE Oi BRABANT. 573

tested that this result was already a sufficient reward for his
labours—a great consolation in his sufferings. He had hoped,
he said, that the estates, “ taking into consideration his long-
continued labours, would have been willing to excuse him
from a new load of cares, and would have granted him some
little rest in his already advanced age;” that they would
have selected “some other person more fitted for the labour,
whom he would himself faithfully promise to assist to the
best of his abilities, rendering him willing obedience pro¬
portionate to the authority conferred upon him.” 1

Like all other attempts to induce the acceptance, by the
Prince, of supreme authority, this effort proved ineffectual,
from the obstinate unwillingness of his hand to receive the
proffered sceptre.

In connexion with this movement, and at about the same
epoch, Jacob Swerius, member of the Brabant Council, with
other deputies, waited upon Orange, and formally ten¬
dered him the sovereign dukedom of Brabant, 2 forfeited
and vacant by the late crime of Anjou. The Prince, how¬
ever, resolutely refused to accept the dignity, assuring the
committee that he had not the means to afford the country
as much protection as they had a right to expect from their
sovereign. He added that “ he would never give the King
of Spain the right to say that the Prince of Orange had
been actuated by no other motives in his career than the
hope of self-aggrandisement, and the desire to deprive his
Majesty of the provinces in order to appropriate them to
himself.” 3

Accordingly, firmly refusing to heed the overtures of the
united states, and of Holland in particular, he continued to

1 Message of Orange to the States- Compare Wagenaer, vii. 484.

G-eneral, MS.— ££ G-he exkibeertby sijne 3 “ Maer dat het syne Excellence
Exetie den vi. Sept., 1583.” Ordinaris afsloeg seggende den middel van sich
Dep&clien Boek der St.-G-1. A o. 15S3, selven niet te kebben om dat te bescker-
1584, f. 21, 22, Hague Archives. This men en dat by ook de Honing van
very important and characteristic docu- Spangien geen oorsake wilde geven te
ment has never been published. seggen dat by anders niet hadde gesocht

2 Bor, six. 455 b, who had his inf or- dan hem alle sijne landen of te neinen.”
meiion from Jacob Swerius himself.— —Bor, loc. cit.

574

THE RISE OF THE DUTCH REPUBLIC.

[1583

further the re-establishment of Anjou—a measure in which,
as he deliberately believed, lay the only chance of union and
independence.

The Prince of Parma, meantime, had not been idle. He
had been unable to induce the provinces to listen to his wiles,
and to rush to the embrace of the monarch whose arms he
described as ever open to the repentant. He had, however,
been busily occupied in the course of the summer in taking
up many o 1 the towns which the treason of Anjou had laid
open to his attacks. 1

Eindhoven, Diest, Dunkirk, Newport, and other places,
were successively surrendered to royalist generals. 2 On the
22nd of September 1583, the city of Zutphen, too, was sur¬
prised by Colonel Tassis, on the fall of which most important
place, the treason of Orange’s brother-in-law, Count Van
den Berg, governor of G-ueldres, was revealed. His fidelity
had been long suspected, particularly by Count John of
Nassau, but always earnestly vouched for by his wife and by
his sons. 3 On the capture of Zutphen, however, a docu¬
ment was found and made public, by which Van den Berg
bound himself to deliver the principal cities of Gueldres
and Zutphen, beginning with Zutphen itself, into the hands
of Parma, on condition of receiving the pardon and friend¬
ship of the King. 4

Not much better could have been expected of Van den Berg.
His pusillanimous retreat from his post in Alva’s time will be
recollected; and it is certain that the Prince had never placed

1 Strada, 2, v. 259, sqq. able to the Prince of Orange. When

2 Bor, xviii. 36G, 3(37, 371, 372. applied to by Van den Berg for a
Strada, 2, v. 259-2G6. Meteren, xi. recommendation, he had thus addressed

2U7. Hoofd, xx. 866-872. Tassis, the estates of Gueldres. “ My brother-
vi. 436, 437, 440. in-law, desirous of obtaining the govern-

3 See the letters of the various mem- ment of your province, has asked for

bars of the family in Archives et Oor- my recommendation. He professes
respondance, vii., passim. the greatest enthusiasm for the service,

4 See the agreement, (signed and and the just cause of the fatherland*
scaled upon the 25th of August 1583,) I could wish that he had shown it
apud Bor, 3, xvin. 402. He had sue- sooner. Nevertheless, ’tis better late
ceeded Count John in the stadtholderate than never.”—Ev. Reid., 37. Hoofd,
of Gueldres in 1581, hut the appoint* xx.875.

ment had never been particularly agree-

1683 .]

TREASON OP PRINCE OP CHIMAY.

575

implicit confidence in his character. Nevertheless, it was the
fate of this great man to be often deceived by the friends
whom he trusted, although never to be outwitted by his
enemies. Van den Berg was arrested on the 15th of November,
carried to the Hague, examined and imprisoned for a time in
Delftshaven. After a time he was, however, liberated, when
he instantly, with all his sons, took service under the King. 1

While treason was thus favouring the royal arms in the north,
the same powerful element, to which so much of the Nether-
land misfortunes had always been owing, was busy in Flanders.

Towards the end of the year 1583, the Prince of Ohimay,
eldest son of the Duke of Aerschot, had been elected governor
of that province. 2 This noble was as unstable in character, as
vain, as unscrupulous, and as ambitious as his father and uncle.
He had been originally desirous of espousing the eldest daughter
of the Prince of Orange, afterwards the Countess of Hohenlo,
but the Duchess of Aerschot was too strict a • Catholic to
consent to the marriage, 3 and her son was afterwards united
to the Countess of Meghem, widow of Lancelot Berlaymont. 4

As affairs seemed going on prosperously for the states in the
beginning of this year, the Prince of Chimay had affected a
strong inclination for the Reformed religion, and as governor
of Bruges, he had appointed many members of that Church to
important offices, to the exclusion of Catholics. By so decided
a course, he acquired the confidence of the patriot party, and at
the end of the year he became the governor of Flanders. No
sooner was he installed in this post, than he opened a private
correspondence with Parma, for it was his intention to make his
peace with the King, and to purchase pardon and advancement
by the brilliant service which he now undertook, of restoring
this important province to the royal authority. In the arrange¬
ment of his plans he was assisted by Champagny, who, as will
be recollected, had long been a prisoner in Ghent, but whose

1 Bor, xviii. 402. Hoofd, xx. 875. 3 Meteren, xii. 209.

Archives et Corresp., viii. 288, saq.* 4 The same lady whose charms and

2 Bor, xviii. 400, egg.. Meteren, xi. whose dower had so fatal an influence

206, 207. upon the career of Count Renneberg.

576

THE BISE OP THE DUTCH BEPUBLIC.

[I5S3.

confinement was not so strict as to prevent frequent intercourse
with his friends without. 1 Champagny was, indeed, believed
to be the life of the whole intrigue. The plot was, however,
forwarded by Imbize, the roaring demagogue whose repub¬
licanism could never reconcile itself with what he esteemed
the aristocratic policy of Orange, and whose stern puritanism
could be satisfied with nothing short of a general extermina¬
tion of Catholics. This man, after having been allowed to
depart, infamous and contemptible, from the city which he
had endangered, now ventured, after five years, to return, and
to engage in fresh schemes which were even more criminal
than his previous enterprises. The uncompromising foe to
Romanism, the advocate of Grecian and Genevan democracy,
now allied himself with Champagny and with Chimay, to
effect a surrender of Flanders to Philip and to the Inquisition.
He succeeded in getting himself elected chief senator in
Ghent, and forthwith began to use all his influence to further
the secret plot. 2 The joint efforts and intrigues of Parma,
Champagny, Chimay, and Imbize, were near being success¬
ful. Early in the spring of 1584 a formal resolution was
passed by the government of Ghent, to open negotiations with
Parma. Hostages were accordingly exchanged, and a truce
of three weeks was agreed upon, during which an animated
correspondence was maintained between the authorities of
Ghent and the Prince of Chimay on the one side, and the
united States-General, the magistracy of Antwerp, the states
of Brabant, and other important bodies on the other.

The friends of the Union and of liberty used all their elo¬
quence to arrest the city of Ghent in its course, and to save the
province of Flanders from accepting the proposed arrangement
with Parma. The people of Ghent were reminded that the
chief promoter of this new negotiation was Champagny, 3 a man

1 Bor, xviii. 40(5. Meteren, xii. 211.
Ev. Eeidani, iii. 55.

2 Bor, xviii. 407. Meteren, xii. 211.

212. Hoofd, xx. SS5, SS6. Van der
Vyn ekt, iii, 104-110.

3 Bor, xviii. 407, 410-419.—“ There
13 a report,” wrote the Princo of Orange
to the magistracy of Ghent, “ that a
passport has been given to one of our
most especial enemies (eenen van ens

FLANDERS WARNED.

577

1584.]

who owed a deep debt of hatred to their city, for the long
and, as he believed, the unjust confinement which he had en¬
dured within its walls. Moreover, he was the brother of
G-ranvelle, source of all their woes. To take counsel with
Champagny, was to come within reach of a deadly foe, for
u he who confesses himself to a wolf,” said the burgomasters
of Antwerp, will get wolf 5 s absolution.” The Flemings
were warned by all their correspondents that it was puerile to
hope for faith in Philip ; a monarch whose first principle was*
that promises to heretics were void. They were entreated to
pay no heed to the “ sweet singing of the royalists,” who
just then affected to disapprove of the practice adopted by the
Spanish Inquisition, that they might most surely separate
them from their friends. u Imitate not,” said the magistrates
of Brussels, u the foolish sheep who made with the wolves a
treaty of perpetual amity, from which the faithful dogs were
to be excluded.” It was affirmed—and the truth was certainly
beyond peradventure—that religious liberty was dead at the
moment when the treaty with Parma should be signed. “ To
look for political privilege or evangelical liberty,” said the
Antwerp authorities, u in any arrangement with the Spaniards,
is to look for light in darkness, for fire in water.” u Philip
is himself the slave of the Inquisition,” said the States- General,
“ and has but one great purpose in life—to cherish the insti¬
tution everywhere, and particularly in the Netherlands. Be¬
fore Margaret of Parma’s time, one hundred thousand Nether-
landers had been burned or strangled, and Alva had spent
seven years in butchering and torturing many thousands
more. ” The magistrates of Brussels used similar expressions. 1

pnrtiaelste vyanden) to come within the of March 14, in Bor, xviii. 415, 416.
city of Ghent in order to converse with 1 Letter of the burgomasters of

Champagny by word of month, (mon- Antwerp to the authorities of G-hent,
delmce met Champigny te spreechen.)” in Bor, xviii. 417. Letter from the
—Letter of May 31, in de Jonge, Onuit- magistrates of Brussels to those of
ge^evene Stukken’s. Gravenliage und Ghent, March 16, 1584.—-Bor, xviii.
Amsterdam, 1S27. “’Tis Champagny 414. Letter of Stotes-General to
who is at the bottom of all these pro- Prince of Chimay and the bailiffs of
ceedings,” wrote the states of Brabant Bruges, March 17, 1584.—Bor, 3, xvm.
to the magistrates of Ghent.—Letter 410 5.

VOL. III. 2 0

578

THE EISE OB THE DUTCH REPUBLIC.

[1684.

“ The King of Spain,” said they to their brethren of Ghent,
“ is fastened to the Inquisition. Yea, he is so much in its
power, that even if he desired, he is unable to maintain his
promises.” 1 The Prince of Orange, too, was indefatigable in
public and private efforts to counteract the machinations of
Parma and the Spanish party in Ghent. He saw with horror
the progress which the political decomposition of that most
important commonwealth was making, for he considered the
city the keystone to the union of the provinces, for he felt
with a prophetic instinct that its loss would entail that of all
the southern provinces, and make a united and independent
Netherland state impossible. Already in the summer of
1583, he addressed a letter full of wisdom and of warning to
the authorities of Ghent, a letter in which he set fully before
them the iniquity and stupidity of their proceedings, while
at the same time he expressed himself with so much dexterity
and caution as to avoid giving offence, by accusations whicli
he made, as it were, hypothetically, when, in truth, they
were real ones. 2

These remonstrances were not fruitless, and the authorities
and citizens of Ghent once more paused ere they stepped from
the precipice. While they were thus wavering, the whole ne¬
gotiation with Parma was abruptly brought to a close by a new
incident, the demagogue Imbize having been discovered in a
secret attempt to obtain possession of the city of Dendermonde,
and deliver it to Parma. 3 The old acquaintance, ally, and
enemy of Imbize, the Seigneur de Ryhove, was commandant of
the city, and information was privately conveyed to him of the
design, before there had been time for its accomplishment.
Ryhove, being thoroughly on his guard, arrested his old com¬
rade, who was shortly afterwards brought to trial, and executed
at Ghent. 4 John van Imbize had returned to the city from

1 Letter of magistrates of Brussels. 3 Bor, xviii. 420. Meteren, xi. 212*

—Bor, xviii. 414. Hoofd, xx. 886. Van der Vynckt, iii.

2 The letter is published, together 105-110.

with others of great interest, by 4 Van der Vynckt, iii. 110. Meteren,
De Jonge, Onuitgegevene Stukken., xii. 213 a . In the month of August,
84-92. 1584.

1664.1

BRUGES SURRENDERED TO PARMA.

57 &

which the contemptuous mercy of Orange had permitted him
formerly to depart, only to expiate fresh turbulence and fresh
treason by a felon’s death. Meanwhile the citizens of Ghent,
thus warned by word and deed, passed an earnest resolution
to have no more intercourse with Parma, but to abide faith¬
fully by the union. 1 Their example was followed by the other
Flemish cities, excepting, unfortunately, Bruges; for that
important town, being entirely in the power of Chimay, was
now surrendered by him to the royal government. On the
20th of May 1584, Baron Montigny, on the part of Parma,
signed an accord with the Prince of Chimay, by which the
city was restored to his Majesty, and by which all inhabitants
not willing to abide by the Homan Catholic religion were per¬
mitted to leave the land. The Prince was received with
favour by Parma, on conclusion of the transaction, and sub¬
sequently met with advancement from the King, while the
Princess, who had embraced the Reformed religion, retired
to Holland. 2

The only other city of importance gained on this occasion
by the government was Ypres, which had been long besieged,
and was soon afterwards forced to yield. The new Bishop,
on taking possession, resorted to instant measures for cleansing
a place which had been so long in the hands of the infidels,
and as the first step in this purification, the bodies of many
heretics who had been buried for years were taken from their
graves, and publicly hanged in their coffins. All living
adherents to the Reformed religion were instantly expelled
from the place. 3

Ghent and the rest of Flanders were, for the time, saved
from the power of Spain, the inhabitants being confirmed in
their resolution of sustaining their union with the other
provinces by the news from France. Early in the spring the
negotiations between Anjou and the States-General had been
earnestly renewed, and 'Junius, Mouillerie, and Asseliers had
?een despatched on a special mission to France, for the pur-
3 Bor, xyiii. 420. 2 Ibid., 420-423.’ * Ibid., 425. Hoofd, xx. 887.

580

THE RISE OF THE DUTCH REPUBLIC.

[1584.

pose of arranging a treaty with the Duke. On the 19th of
April 1584, they arrived in Delft, on their return, bringing
warm letters from the French court, full of promises to assist
the Netherlands ; and it was understood that a constitution,
upon the basis of the original arrangement of Bordeaux,
would be accepted by the Duke. 1 These arrangements were,
however, for ever terminated by the death of Anjou, who had
been ill during the whole course of the negotiations. On the
10th of June 1584, he expired at Chateau Thierry, in great
torture, sweating blood from every pore, and under circum¬
stances which, as usual, suggested strong suspicions of
poison. 3

1 Bor, xriii. 423. I Hnofd, xx. 890, 891. Ev. Reydaai, iii

1 Ibii, 426. Meteren, xii. 214. | 54. De Thou, ix. 181-IS4.

CHAPTER VII.

A HEBO’S DEATH.

Various attempts upon the life of Orange—Delft—Mansion of the Prince
described—Francis Gruion or Balthazar G6rard—His antecedents—His
correspondence and interviews with Parma and with D’Assonleville—
His employment in France—His return to Delft and interview with
Orange—The crime—The confession—The punishment—The consequences
—Concluding remarks.

It has been seen that the Ban against the Prince of Orange
had not been hitherto without fruits, for although unsuccessful,
the efforts to take his life and earn the promised guerdon
had been incessant. The attempt of Jaureguy, at Antwerp,
of Salseda and Baza at Bruges, have been related, and in
March, 1583, moreover, one Pietro Dordogno was executed
in Antwerp for endeavouring to assassinate the Prince.
Before his death, he confessed that he had come from Spain
solely for the purpose, and that he had conferred with La
Motte, governor of Gravelines, as to the best means of accom¬
plishing his design. 1 In April 1584, Hans Hanzoon, a
merchant of Flushing, had been executed for attempting to
destroy the Prince by means of gunpowder, concealed under
his house in that city, and under his seat in the church.
He confessed that he had deliberately formed the inten¬
tion of performing the deed, and that he had discussed the
details of the enterprise with the Spanish ambassador in
Paris. 2 At about the same time, one Le Goth, a captive
French officer, had been applied to by the Marquis de
1 Meteren, xi. 205 d. 3 Ibid. Bor, xviii. 423. Hoofd, xx. 892.

582

THE RISE OF THE DUTCH REPUBLIC.

[ 1684 .

Ricbebourg, on the part of Alexander of Parma, to attempt
the murder of the Prince. Le Goth had consented, saying
that nothing could be more easily done; and that he would
undertake to poison him in a dish of eels, of which he knew
him to be particularly fond. The Frenchman was liberated
with this understanding ; but being very much the friend of
Orange, straightway told him the whole story, and remained
ever afterwards a faithful servant of the states 1 It is to
be presumed that he excused the treachery to which he
owed his escape from prison on the ground that faith was
no more to be kept with murderers than with heretics. Thus
within two years there had been five distinct attempts to
assassinate the Prince, all of them with the privity of the
Spanish government. A sixth was soon to follow.

In the summer of 1584, William of Orange was residing
at Delft, 2 where his wife 3 Louisa de Coligny, had given birth,
in the preceding winter, to a son, afterwards the celebrated
stadtholder, Frederic Henry. The child had received these
names from his two godfathers, the Kings of Denmark and
of Navarre, and his baptism had been celebrated with much
rejoicing on the 12th of June, in the place of his birth. 3

It was a quiet, cheerful, yet somewhat drowsy little city,
that ancient burgh of Delft. The placid canals by which it
was intersected in every direction were all planted with whis¬
pering umbrageous rows of limes and poplars, and along these
watery highways the traffic of the place glided so noiselessly
that the town seemed the abode of silence and tranquillity.

1 Meteren, xi. 205, 206. Hoofd,
xx. 891, 892. He is sometimes called
G-ott.

2 He had removed thither from

Antwerp on the 22nd July, 15S3. His
departure from the commercial metro¬
polis had been hastened by an indignity
offered to him by a portion of the
populace, on the occasion of some
building which had been undertaken in
the neighbourhood of the citadel. A
senseless rumour had been circulated

that the Prince had filled the castle with
French troops, and was about to sur¬
render it to Anjou. Although the false¬
hood of the report had been publicly
demonstrated, and although the better
portion of the citizens felt indignant at
its existence, yet the calumniators had
not been punished. The Prince, justly
aggrieved, retired accordingly from the
city.—Meteren, xi. 207, 208.

® Bor, xviii. 407 6. Hoofd, xx.
883.

1584.]

FRANCIS GUION.

583

These streets were clean and airy* the houses well built,
the whole aspect of the place thriving.

One of the principal thoroughfares was called the old Delft
Street. It was shaded on both sides by lime-trees, which in
that midsummer season covered the surface of the canal which
flowed between them with their light and fragrant blossoms.
On one side of this street was the u old kirk,” a plain antique
structure uf brick, with lancet windows, and with a tall,
slender tower, which inclined, at a very considerable angle,
towards a house upon the other side of the canal. That house
was the mansion of William the Silent. It stood directly
opposite the church, being separated by a spacious courtyard
from the street, while the stables and other offices in the rear
extended to the city wall. A narrow lane, opening out of
Delft Street, ran along the side of the house and court, in the
direction of the ramparts. The house was a plain, two-storied
edifice of brick, with red-tiled, roof, and had formerly been a
cloister dedicated to Saint Agatha, the last prior of which
had been hanged by the furious Lumey de la Marck.

The news of Anjou’s death had been brought to Delft by a
special messenger from the French court. On Sunday morning,
the 8th of July 1584, the Prince of Orange, having read the
despatches before leaving his bed, caused the man who had
brought them to be summoned, that he might give some par¬
ticular details by word of mouth concerning the last illness of
the Duke. 1 The courier was accordingly admitted to the
Prince’s bed-chamber, and proved to be one Francis Guion,
as he called himself. This man had, early in the spring,
claimed and received the protection of Orange, on the ground
of being the son of a Protestant at Besan^on, who had
suffered death for his religion, and of his own ardent attach¬
ment to the Keformed faith. 2 A pious, psalm-singing ?

1 Bor, xviii. 427, sqq. MeJ-eren, xii. historians cited in the last note, and all
214, sqq. Hoofd, re. 892-894, sqq. other writers have derived their account
Wagenaer, vii. 529, sqq. Le Petit, of Balthazar Gterard, his crime and
G-rand Chronique des P. B., liv. v. punishment, is the official statement

2 The main source from which the drawn up by order of the States-

584

THE BISE OF THE DUTCH BEPUBLIG

[J5S4.

thoroughly Calvinistic youth he seemed to be, having a
Bible or a hymn-book under his arm whenever he walked
the street, and most exemplary in his attendance at sermon
and lecture- For the rest, a singularly unobtrusive per¬
sonage, twenty-seven years of age, low of stature, meagre,
mean-visaged, muddy-complexioned, and altogether a man of
no account—quite insignificant in the eyes of all who looked
upon him. If there were one opinion in which few who had
taken the trouble to think of the puny, somewhat shambling
stranger from Burgundy at all coincided, it was that he
was inoffensive, but quite incapable of any important
business. He seemed well educated, claimed to be of respect¬
able parentage, and had considerable facility of speech, when
any person could be found who thought it worth while to
listen to him ; but on the whole, he attracted little attention.

Nevertheless, this insignificant frame locked up a desperate

General, entitled, “ Verkael van de
Moordt gkedaen aen den personne des
doorluclitigen fursten endc lieeren
"Wilhelms Prince van Oraengien,” etc.
etc., Delft, Ao. 1584, of which a copy
may be found in the Duncan collection
in the Boyal Library at the Hague.
The basis of this account was the con¬
fession of Balthazar, written in the
convent of Saint Agatha (or Prinzen
Hof., the residence of Orange) imme¬
diately after his arrest, together with
his answers to the interrogatories
between the 101k and 14th of July.
The confession has been recently pub¬
lished by M. Gackard (Acad. Boy. de
Belg., t. xx. No. 9, Bulletins) from an
old and probably contemporaneous MS.
copy. A very curious pamphlet—a copy
of which also may be found in die
Duncan Collection—should also be con¬
sulted, called, “Histone Balthazars
Geraert, alias Serach, die den Tyran
van ’t Nederlandt den Prmcen van
Orangie doorsekoten keeft: ende is
darom duer grouwelijeke ende vele
tormenten binnen de stadt van Delft
openbaerlijck gkedooclt, 1548,” (with no
name of place or publisher.) Tins

i account, by a very bitter royalist and
I Papist—perhaps a personal acquaint¬
ance of Gerard—extols the deed to the
skies, and depicts the horrible sufferings
of the malci'acLor as those of a blessed
martyr. A manuscript m the Bib-
liotheque de Bourgogne, (now the MS.
section of the Boyai Libraiy at Brus¬
sels,) entitled, “Particularity touchant
Balthazar Gfcrard,” No. 17,3S6, con¬
tains many important documents, let¬
ters of Parma, of Gerard, and of
Cornelius Aertsens. The fifth volume
of the MS. history of Bcnom do Franco
has a chapter devoted to the subject,
important because he wrote from the
papers of d’As-onlcnlk, nho was
Parma’s agent in the preliminary nego¬
tiations with G6rard. Part of these
documents have been published by
Dewez, (Hist. Gen. de la Ifilg , tome
vi.,) by Beiffcnbcrg, and still more
recently by Professor Arens, (“ Ke-
ckerckes Critiques et Historiques sur
la Confession de B. G6rard, Bruxelles,
1854,”) who has ably demonstrated the
authenticity of the “ Confession ” pub¬
lished by M. Gackard.

1584.]

GERARD’S DELIBERATE PLAN.

585

and daring character; this mild and inoffensive nature had
gone pregnant seven years with a terrible crime, whose birth
could not much longer be retarded. Francis Guion, the
Calvinist, son of a martyred Calvinist, was in reality
Balthazar Gerard, a fanatical Catholic, whose father and
mother were still living at Villefans in Burgundy. Before
reaching man’s estate, he had formed the design of murder¬
ing the Prince of Orange, 66 who, so long as he lived,
seemed like to remain a rebel against the Catholic King,
and to make every effort to disturb the repose of the Roman
Catholic Apostolic religion.”

When but twenty years of age, he had struck his dagger
with all his might into a door, exclaiming, as he did so,
“ Would that the blow had been in the heart of Orange! ”
For this he was rebuked by a bystander, who told him it was
not for him to kill princes, and that it was not desirable to
destroy so good a captain as the Prince, who, after all, might
one day reconcile himself with the King. 1

As soon as the ban against Orange was published, Baltha¬
zar, more anxious than ever to execute his long-cherished
design, left D61e and came to Luxemburg. Here he learned
that the deed had already been done by John Jaureguy.
He received this intelligence at first with a sensation of relief,
was glad to be excused from putting himself in danger, 2 and
believing the Prince dead, took service as clerk with one
John Duprel, secretary to Count Mansfeld, governor of
Luxemburg. Erelong, the ill success of Jaureguy’s attempt
becoming known, the 6e inveterate determination ” of Gerard
aroused itself more fiercely than ever. He accordingly, took
models of Mansfeld’s official seals in wax, in order that he
might make use of them as an acceptable offering to the
Orange party, whose confidence he meant to gain.

Various circumstances detained him, however. A sum of

1 Confession de B. Gerard.—Bor,
Moteren, Hoofd, Le Petit, ubi sup.,
et al.

2 “-Des queRes nouveHes je fus

fort aise, tant pour estre (comnie
j’estimois) la justice faite, quo pour
avoir excuse de me rnettre en danger. 3 '
—Conf. de Gerard.

586

THE RISE OF THE DUTCH REPUBLIC.

[1584.

money was stolen, and lie was forced to stay till it was
found, for fear of being arrested as the thief. Then his
cousin and employer fell sick, and Gerard was obliged to
wait for his recovery. At last, in March 1584, “the
weather,” as he said, “appearing to be fine,” Balthazar left
Luxemburg and came to Treves. While there, he confided
his scheme to the regent of the Jesuit college—a “red-
haired man,” whose name has not been preserved. 1 That
dignitary expressed high approbation of the plan, gave
Gerard his blessing, and promised him that, if his life should
be sacrificed in achieving his purpose, he should be enrolled
among the martyrs. 2 Another Jesuit, however, in the same
college, with whom he likewise communicated, held very
different language, making great efforts to turn the young
man from his design, on the ground of the inconveniences
which might arise from the forging of Mansfeld's seals —
adding, that neither he nor any of the Jesuits liked to
meddle with such affairs, but advising that the whole matter
should be laid before the Prince of Parma. 3 It does not

appear that this personage, “ an excellent man and a learned,”
attempted to dissuade the young man from his project by
arguments drawn from any supposed criminality in the assas¬
sination itself, or from any danger, temporal or eternal, to
which the perpetrator might expose himself.

Not influenced, as it appears, except on one point, by the
advice of this second ghostly confessor, Balthazar came to Tour-
nay, and held counsel with a third—the celebrated Franciscan
Father Gery—by whom he was much comforted and strength¬
ened in his determination. 4 His next step was to lay the pro-

1 Verhaal van de Moordt, etc.—
Coni pare Bor, ubi sap.

- Ibid., Compare Meteren, Petit,
ubi sup.

1 This curious fact was disingenu¬
ously suppressed in the official account.
“ Verhaal van de Moordt,” etc., and is
consequently not mentioned by the
previously cited authors. The state¬
ment appears in the copy of the Con¬
fession published by M. Gachard; |

“- e t s’effor^ajledit pn*o dum

de teste ceste mienne deliberation, pour
les dangers et inconvemens qu’il m’alle-
goit en pourroient survenir, au pre¬
judice de Dieu et du Roy, par le moyen
des cachets vollans; disant, au reste,
quM ne se mesloit pas volonticrs de lelz
alLaires. ny pareillement tous ceulx de
leur dicte compagme.”

1 Verhaal van de Moordt, etc. Bois
Meteren, Le Petit, ubi sup.

1584.]

PAEMAS SHAPE IN THE CEIME.

587

ject before Parma, as the “excellent and learned” Jesuit
at Treves had advised. This he did by a letter, drawn up
with much care, and which he evidently thought well of
as a composition. One copy of this letter he deposited with
the guardian of the Franciscan convent at Tournay; the
other he presented with his own hand to the Prince of
Parma. 1 “The vassal,” said he, “ought always to prefer
justice, and the will of the king to his own life.” That
being the case, he expressed his astonishment that no man
had yet been found to execute the sentence against William
of Nassau, “except the gentle Biscayan, since defunct.” 2
To accomplish the task, Balthazar observed, very judiciously,
that it was necessary to have access to the person of the
Prince—wherein consisted the difficulty. Those who had
that advantage, he continued, were therefore bound to extir¬
pate the pest at once, without obliging his Majesty to send
to Borne for a chevalier, because not one of them was willing
to precipitate himself into the venomous gulf, which by its
contagion infected and killed the souls and bodies of all
poor abused subjects, exposed to its influence. Gerard
avowed himself to have been so long goaded and stimulated
by these considerations—so extremely nettled with displeasure
and bitterness at seeing the obstinate wretch still escaping his
just judgment—as to have formed the design of baiting a trap
for the fox, hoping thus to gain access to him, and to take
him unawares. 3 He added—without explaining the nature
of the trap and the bait—that he deemed it his duty to lay
the subject before the most serene Prince of Parma, pro¬
testing at the same time that ‘he did not contemplate the
exploit for the sake of the rewrard mentioned in the sentence,

1 This letter, with several others piqu6 et stimuli par ces deux points et
relative to the subject, is contained m a pemejonne extremement de duplaisir et

manuscript of tlm Bib. de Bourgogne, amertume-si dnabment me suis

No. 17,oSG, entitled, “ Particularity advis6 dedonnerune amorce a ce renard
touchant Balthazar Gerard.” pour avoir acc6s chez-lui, aim de le

2 “ Hormis le gentil Biscayen d<$- prendre au trdbuchet en moinens op-

funct ” portuns, et si proprement qu’il n’en

8 “ Esfcant de long temps durement pmsse 6chapper.”

588 THE EISE OF THE DUTCH EEPUBLIO. [1584.

and that he preferred trusting in that regard to the immense
liberality of his Majesty. 1

Parma had long been looking for a good man to murder
Orange, 2 3 feeling — as Philip, Granvelle, and all former
governors of the Netherlands had felt—that this was the
only means of saving the royal authority in any part of
the provinces. Many unsatisfactory assassins had presented
themselves from time to time, and Alexander had paid money
in hand to various individuals—Italians, Spaniards, Lor-
rainers, Scotchmen, Englishmen, who had generally spent
the sums received without attempting the job. Others were
supposed to be still engaged in the enterprise, and at that
moment there were four persons—each unknown to the
others, and of different nations—in the city of Delft, seeking
to compass the death of William the Silent.® Shag-eared?
military, hirsute ruffians—ex-captains of free companies and
such marauders—were daily offering their services; there
was no lack of them, and they had done but little. How
should Parma, seeing this obscure, under-sized, thin-bearded,
runaway clerk before him, expect pith and energy from him ?
He thought him quite unfit for an enterprise of moment, and
declared as much to his secret councillors and to the King. 4
He soon dismissed him, after receiving his letters, and it
may be supposed that the bombastic style of that epistle
would not efface the unfavourable impression produced by
Balthazar’s exterior. The representations of Haultepenne

1 a -Et mo i lls encore ytre vue si

pr^somplueux que de pilferer la
liberality immense de S. M.,” etc.

2 “Y porque tal enemigo tuviese
castigo, audava el Principe de Parma
buscando maneras como quitarle del
mundo.”—(Herrera, Hist, del Mundo
en le Eeynado del Eey D. Plielipe II.,
xiv. 10, tom. ii. 550.

3 “ -Aulcuns Italiens et soldats

avoient paravant obtenu certaines
eommes au mesme effet sans avoir rien
attend.”—Eenom do France MS., tom.
v. c. 26.—Compare Strada, 2, v. 287. j

4 “-Le dit jeuno liomme,” wrote

Parma to tbe King, “ m’avait cominu-
niquy sa rysolution de la quelle pour
dire la verity 30 tenois pm de compte,
pour ce que la disposition du person-
nage ne sembloit proinottre emprinso
de si grande importance Touttefois je
le laisaye aller, apres l’avoir fait exorter
par quelques ungz de ceux qui servent
ici.”—Eolation au Due do Parme au
Eoy Phil. II .; in the manuscript en¬
titled, “ Particulars touchant Bal¬
thazar Gerard,”Bib.de Bourgogne, No.
17,386.

1584.]

GERARD’S LETTER TO PARMA.

589

and others induced him so far to modify his views as to send
his confidential councillor, D’Assonleville, to the stranger,
in order to learn the details of the scheme. 1 Assonleville had
accordingly an interview with Gerard, in which he requested
the young man to draw up a statement of his plan in
writing, and this was done upon the 11th of April 1584.

In this letter Gerard explained his plan of introducing
himself to the notice of Orange, at Delft, as the son of an
executed Calvinist; as himself warmly, though secretly,
devoted to the Reformed faith, and as desirous, therefore* of
placing himself in the Prince’s service, in order to avoid the
insolence of the Papists. Having gained the confidence of
those about the Prince, he would suggest to them the great
use which might be made of Mansfeld’s signet in forging
passports for spies and other persons whom it might be
desirous to send into the territory of the royalists. u With
these or similar feints and frivolities,” continued Gerard, “ he
should soon obtain access to the person of the said Nassau,”
repeating his protestation that nothing had moved him to his
enterprise u save the good zeal which he bore to the faith
and true religion guarded by the Holy Mother Church Catholic,
Apostolic, and Roman, and to the service of his Majesty.” He
begged pardon for having purloined the impressions of the
seals—a turpitude which he would never have committed, but
would sooner have suffered a thousand deaths, except for the
great end in view. He particularly wished forgiveness for
that crime before going to his task, cc in order that he might
confess, and receive the holy communion at the coming Easter,
without scruples of conscience.” He likewise begged the
Prince of Parma to obtain for him absolution from his Holi¬
ness for .this crime of pilfering—the more^Ao u as he was
about to keep company for some time with heretics and
atheists, and in some sort to conform himself to their customs.” 2

From the general tone of the letters of Gerard, he might be

1 Renom de France MS., loc. cit.,
who wrote his history from the papers
of Councillor d’Assonleville.

2 The letter is contained in the MS.
before cited, “ Particularity touchant
B. Gtfrard.”

590

THE RISE OF THE HUTCH REPUBLIC.

[1584.

set down at once as a simple, religious fanatic, who felt sure
that, in executing the command of Philip publicly issued to
all the murderers of Europe, he was meriting well of God
and his King. There is no doubt that he was an exalted
enthusiast, but not purely an enthusiast. The man’s char¬
acter offers more than one point of interest, as a psychologi¬
cal phenomenon. He had convinced himself that the work
which he had in hand was eminently meritorious, and he
was utterly without fear of consequences. He was, however,
by no means so disinterested as he chose to represent him¬
self in letters which, as he instinctively felt, were to be of
perennial interest. On the contrary, in his interviews with
Assonleville, he urged that he was a poor fellow, and that he
had undertaken this enterprise in order to acquire property
—to make himself rich 1 —and that he depended upon the
Prince of Parma’s influence in obtaining the reward promised
by the ban to the individual who should put Orange to death.

This second letter decided Parma so far that he authorised
Assonleville to encourage the young man in his attempt, and to
promise that the reward should be given to him in case of suc¬
cess, and to his heirs in the event of his death. 2 Assonleville, in
the second interview, accordingly made known these assurances
in the strongest manner to Gerard, warning him, at the same
time, on no account, if arrested, to inculpate the Prince ot
Parma. The councillor, while thus exhorting the stranger,
according to Alexander’s commands, confined himself, however,
to generalities, refusing even to advance fifty crowns, which
Balthazar had begged from the Governor-General in order to
provide for the necessary expenses of his project. 3 Parma had
made similar advances too often to men who had promised to

1 “ Estant povre compagnon,” etc.— courager a uno emprinso si hazard-

Verhaal yan de Moordt, etc. Le Petit, euse.”—Renom de Franco MS., loc.
Bor, loc. cit. cit.

2 “- qu’on procureroit en sa 3 “- et aianct B’Assoulovillo

faveur ou de ses proclies hSritiers traict6 la dessus ayec lo Prince de
les mercedes et recompenses promises Parme fut conclud quo on n avanceroit
par l’edict, qui fut toute la conso- rien a Balthazar Gr6rard, non pas les
iation qu’il receut, plus propre pour 50 escus ausquels il se restraindoit,’ 7 etc.
le retirer et divertir que pour l’en- —Ibid.

1584.] HIS INTERVIEW WITH THE PRINCE. 591

assassinate the Prince and had then done little, and he was
resolute in his refusal to this new adventurer, of whom he
expected absolutely nothing. Gerard, notwithstanding this
rebuff, was not disheartened. a I will provide myself out of
my own purse/ 5 said he to Assonleville, u and within six
weeks you will hear of me. 55 “ Go forth, my son/ 5 said

Assonleville, paternally, upon this spirited reply, u and if
you succeed in your enterprise, the King will fulfil all his
promises, and you will gain an immortal name beside. 551

The ci inveterate deliberation/ 5 thus thoroughly matured,
Gerard now proceeded to carry into effect. He came to
Delft, obtained a hearing of Villiers, the clergyman and
intimate friend of Orange, shewed him the Mansfeld seals, and
was, somewhat against his will, sent to Prance, to exhibit
them to Mareclial Biron, who, it was thought, was soon to be
appointed governor of Cambray. Through Orange’s recom¬
mendation., the Burgundian was received into the suite of Noel
de Caron, Seigneur de Schoneval, then setting forth on a
special mission to the duke of Anjou. 2 While in Prance,
Gerard could rest neither by day nor night, so tormented was
he by the desire of accomplishing his project/ and at length
he obtained permission, upon the death of the Duke, to carry
this important intelligence to the Prince of Orange. The
despatches having been entrusted to him, he travelled post¬
haste to Delft, and, to his astonishment, the letters had hardly
been delivered before he was summoned in person to the
chamber of the Prince. Here was an opportunity such as
he had never dared to hope for. The arch-enemy to the
Church and to the human race, whose death would confer upon
his destroyer wealth and nobility in this world, besides a
crown of glory in the next, lay unarmed, alone, in bed, before
the man who had thirsted seven long years for his blood.

Balthazar could scarcely control his emotions sufficiently to
answer the questions which the Prince addressed to him con-

1 Renom de Prance, MS. Verb van van de Moordt. Bor, Meteren, Le
de Moordt. Bor, Meteren, Le Petit. Petit, Hoofd, ubi sup.

a Confession de G-erard. Verkaal 3 Verkaal van de Moordt.

592

THE EISE OE THE DUTCH BEPUBLIC.

P584.

cerning the death of Anjou, 1 2 3 but Orange, deeply engaged with
the despatches, and with the reflections which their deeply-
important contents suggested, did not observe the countenance
of the humble Calvinistic exile, who had been recently recom¬
mended to his patronage by Villiers. Gerard had, moreover,
made no preparation for an interview so entirely unexpected,
had come unarmed, and had formed no plan for escape. He
was obliged to forego his prey when most within his reach,
and after communicating all the information which the
Prince required, he was dismissed from the chamber.

It was Sunday morning, and the bells were tolling for
church. Upon leaving the house he loitered about the court¬
yard, furtively examining the premises, so that a sergeant of
halberdiers asked him why he was waiting there. Balthazar
meekly replied that he was desirous of attending Divine
worship in the church opposite, but added, pointing to his shabby
and travel-stained attire, that, without at least a new pair of
shoes and stockings, he was unfit to join the congregation.
Insignificant as over, the small, pious, dusty stranger excited
no suspicion in the mind of the good-natured sergeant. He
forthwith spoke of the wants of Gerard to an officer, by
whom they were communicated to Orange himself, and the
Prince instantly ordered a sum of money to be given him.*
Thus Balthazar obtained from William’s charity what Parma’s
thrift had denied—a fund for carrying out his purpose !

Next morning, with the money thus procured he purchased
a pair of pistols, or small carabines, from a soldier, chaffering
long about the price because the vender could not supply a
particular kind of chopped bullets or slugs which he desired.
Before the sunset of the following day that soldier had
stabbed himself to the heart, and died despairing, on hearing
for what purpose the pistols had been bought. 8

1 Yerhaal, etc. Bor, Meteren, Le
Petit.

2 Yerhaal van de Moordt. Bor,
Meteren, Hoofd. loc. cit.

3 *•-zig op’t hooren van’t gruuw-

zaam gebruik, ’t geen er de Booswigt
van gemackt hadt, uit wanhoop, met
twee of drie poignaard steeken ora ’t
leven bragt.”—Yan Wyn op Wagenaer,
vii. 116.

1584.]

THE PRINCE’S LAST DINNER.

593

On Tuesday, the 10th of July 1584, at about half-past
twelve, the Prince, with his wife on his arm, and followed by
the ladies and gentlemen of his family, was going to the
dining-room. "William the Silent was dressed upon that day,
according to his usual custom, in very plain fashion. He
wore a wide-leaved, loosely-shaped hat of dark felt, with a
silken cord round the crown—such as had been worn by the
Beggars in the early days of the revolt. A high ruff encircled
his neck, from which also depended one of the Beggars’
medals, with the motto, Ci Fideles an roy jusqu'a la besace
while a loose surcoat of gray frieze cloth, over a tawny leather
doublet, with wide, slashed underclothes completed his cos¬
tume. 1 Gerard presented himself at the doorway, and
demanded a passport. The Princess, struck with the pale
and agitated countenance of the man, anxiously questioned
her husband concerning the stranger. The Prince carelessly
observed, that u it was merely a person who came for a pass¬
port,” ordering, at the same time, a secretary forthwith to
prepare one. The Princess, still not relieved, observed in an
under-tone that u she had never seen so villanous a counte¬
nance.” 5 Orange, however, not at all impressed with the
appearance of Gerard, conducted himself at table with his
usual cheerfulness, conversing much with the burgomaster of
Leewarden, the only guest present at the family dinner,
concerning the political and religious aspects of Friesland.*
At two o’clock the company rose from the table. The Prince
led the way, intending to pass to his private apartments
above. The dining-room, which was on the ground-floor,
opened into a little square vestibule, which communicated,
through an arched passage-way, with the main entrance into
the court-yard. This vestibule was also directly at the foot
of the wooden staircase leading to the next floor, and was
scarcely six feet in width. 4 Upon its left side, as one ap-

1 The whole drees worn by the
Prince on this tragical occasion is still
to be Been at the Hague in the National
Museum.

VOL. HI.

* Bor, Meteren, Hoofd, nbi sup.

* Historic Balth. Geraerts alias
Serach, etc.

4 The house (now called the Prinso*
2 p

594

THE RISE OF THE DUTCH REPUBLIC.

[ 1584 .

proached the stairway, was an obscure arch, sunk deep in the
wall, and completely in the shadow of the door. Behind this
arch a portal opened to the narrow lane at the side of the
house. The stairs themselves were completely lighted by a
large window, half way up the flight. The Prince came from
the dining-room, and began leisurely to ascend. He had only
reached the second stair, when a man emerged from the sunken
arch, and, standing within a foot or two of him, discharged a
pistol full at his heart. Three balls entered his body, one of
which, passing quite through him, struck with violence against
the wall beyond. The Prince exclaimed in French, as he felt
the wound, “ 0 my Grod, have mercy upon my soul! 0 my

Q-od, have mercy upon this poor people!

These were the last words he ever spoke, save that when
his sister, Catherine of Schwartzburg, immediately afterwards
asked him if he commended his soul to Jesus Christ, he faintly
answered, “ Yes.” His master of the horse, Jacob van
Maldere, had caught him in his arms as the fatal shot was fired.
The Prince was then placed on the stairs for an instant,
when he immediately began to swoon. He was afterwards

Hof, but used as a barrack) still pre- evidence. See also a letter from young
sents nearly tbe same appearance as it Maurice of Nassau to tbe magistracy of
did in 1584. Ghent, relating the death’and ’Last

1 Korte Verhaal van den Moordt, words of his father in similar terms,
etc.—Bor, Meteren, Hoofd. Doubts but in the Flemish tongue. “Maer
have been expressed by some writers as alzoo do leste woorden van zijno
to the probability of the Prince, thus Exc^e waeron, Myn G-odl! ontfermt U.
mortaHy wounded, having been able to mynder ziele ' Myn Grodt! ontfermt
speak so many words distinctly. (See uwer gkemeente.” (De Jon go Onuit".
Wagenaer, Yad. Hist., vii. 532, and Stukken., 100-103 — Compare Regist.
note.) There can, however, be no der-Resolut. Holl., July 10,15S4; Bor,
doubt on the subject. The circular Auth. Stukk., ii. 58) The Greiner,
letter of the . States-General to the Cornelius Aertsens, writing to Brussels
respective provinces, dated Delft, July on the 11th of July fi uni Delft, uses
12,1584, has this passage: “Die corts precisely the same language: “Son
daervan t’ onser grooten leedwesen ende Exce e st trespasse et fini on Dieu,
verdriete overleden, segghende deselve n’aiant parlo autre chose que ces mots
ont faen hebbende, Mon Dieu, ayez bien hauts—Mon Dieu, ayez pitid de
piti<§ de mon ame! Mon Dieu, ayez mon ame! ot apres, Ayez pitie do co
piti6 de ce pauvre peuple!” (Brieven pauvro peuple! dcmeuraus lcs deux
van de Gen.-staten, etc., nopende de demiers mots quasi on sa bouelie.”—
dood van heere P. van Orangien. Or- Relation au Mag. de Brux,, No. 17.380,
dinaris Dep. Boek, MS., 1584, f. 162, Bib. de Bourg., MS.

Hague ArchivesJ This is conclusive]

10S4.] CAPTURE AND TORTURE OF THE ASSASSIN. 595

laid upon a couch in the dining-room, where in a few minutes,
lie breathed his last in the arms of his wife and sister. 1

The murderer succeeded in making his escape through the
side door, and sped swiftly up the narrow lane. He had almost
reached the ramparts, from which he intended to spring into
the moat, when he stumbled over a heap of rubbish. As he
rose, he was seized by several pages and halberdiers, who had
pursued him from the house. He had dropped his pistols upon
the spot where he had committed the crime, and upon his
person were found a couple of bladders, provided with a
piece of pipe with which he had intended to assist himself
across the moat, beyond which a horse was waiting for him.
He made no effort to deny his identity, but boldly avowed him¬
self and his deed. He was brought back to the house, where
he immediately underwent a preliminary examination before
the city magistrates. He was afterwards subjected to
excruciating tortures; for the fury against the wretch who had
destroyed the Father of the country was uncontrollable, and
William the Silent was no longer alive to intercede—as he had
often done before—in behalf of those who assailed his life.

The organization of Balthazar Gerard would furnish a
subject of profound study, both for the physiologist and the
metaphysician. Neither wholly a fanatic, nor entirely a
ruffian, lie combined the most dangerous elements of both
characters. In his puny body and mean exterior were
enclosed considerable mental powers and accomplishments, a
daring ambition, and a courage almost superhuman. Yet
those qualities led him only to form upon the threshold of
life a deliberate determination to achieve greatness by the
assassin’s trade. The rewards held out by the Ban, combin¬
ing with his religious bigotry and his passion for distinction,
fixed all his energies with patient concentration upon the one
great purpose for which he seemed to have been born, and after
seven years’ preparation, he had at last fulfilled his design.

Upon being interrogated by the magistrates, he manifested
1 Bor, Meteren, Hoofd, ubi eup. Histone B. G-eraorts alias Sorachu

596

THE EISE OP THE DtiaCH EEPUBLIC.

[1584.

neither despair nor contrition, but rather a quiet exultation.
“ Like David,” he said, “he had slain Goliath of Gath.” 1
When falsely informed that his victim was not dead, he
shewed no credulity or disappointment. Ho had discharged
three poisoned balls into the Prince’s stomach, and he knew
that death must have already ensued. 2 He expressed, regret,
however, that the resistance of the halberdiers had pre¬
vented him from using his second pistol, and avowed that,
if he were a thousand leagues away, he would return in order
to do the deed again, if possible. He deliberately wrote a
detailed confession of his crime, and of the motives and
manner of its commission, taking care, however, not to
implicate Parma in the transaction. After sustaining day
after day the most horrible tortures, he subsequently related
his interviews with Assonleville and with the president of the
Jesuit college at Treves, adding that he had been influenced
in his work by the assurance of obtaining the rewards pro¬
mised by the Ban. 3 During the intervals of repose from the
rack he conversed with ease, and even eloquence, answering
all questions addressed to him with apparent sincerity. His
constancy in suffering so astounded his judges that they
believed him supported by witchcraft. “ Ecce homo! ”
he exclaimed from time to time, with insane blasphemy, as he
raised his blood-streaming head from the bench. In order to
destroy the charm which seemed to render him insensible to
pain, they sent for the shirt of a hospital patient, supposed to
be a sorcerer. When clothed in this garment, however, Bal¬
thazar was none the less superior to the arts of the tormentors,
enduring all their inflictions, according to an eye-witness,
“without once exclaiming, Ah me! ” and avowing that he
would repeat his enterprise, if possible, were he to die a

1 Haraei Annales, iii. 363.

2 «- J’ai ce jourd’kui tir6 et

debende celle portant le3 trois balles
contre restomach du diet Prince
d’Orange,” etc.—Confession de Gerard.

* - en lieeft hem also met een

l^tolet onder zijne mantel met drij ]

fenijnige ende geketende looten aen ecn
gelieckt geladen zijnde aen die treppen
vander eetplatsen verwaeht,” etc.—-His-
torie B. Geraerts alias Serach.

3 Verhaal van de Moordt. Bor,
Meteren.

1584.]

HIS SENTENCE AND EXECUTION.

597

thousand deaths in consequence. Some of those present
refused to believe that he was a man at alL Others asked him
how long since he had sold himself to the devil; to which
he replied, mildly, that he had no acquaintance whatever
with the deviL He thanked the judges politely for the food
which he received in prison, and promised to recompense them
for the favour. Upon being asked how that was possible,
he replied, that he would serve as their advocate in Paradise. 1

The sentence pronounced against the assassin was execra¬
ble—a crime against the memory of the great man whom it
professed to avenge. It was decreed that the right hand of
Grerard should be burnt off with a red-hot iron, that his flesh
should be torn from his bones with pincers in six different
places, that he should be quartered and disembowelled alive,
that his heart should be torn from his bosom and flung in his
face, and that, finally, his head should be taken off. Not
even his horrible crime, with its endless consequences, nor the
natural frenzy of indignation which he had excited, could
justify this savage decree, to rebuke which the murdered
hero might have almost risen from the sleep of death. The
sentence was literally executed on the 14th of July, the
criminal supporting its horrors with the same astonishing
fortitude. So calm were his nerves, crippled and half roasted
as he was ere he mounted the scaffold, that when one of the
executioners was slightly injured in the ear by the flying
from the handle of the hammer with which he was breaking
the fatal pistol in pieces, as the first step in the execution—a
circumstance which produced a general laugh in the crowd
—a smile was observed upon Balthazar’s face in sympathy

1 Verkaal van de Moordt, Bor, cruelle que je n’eusse laiss6 mon

Meteren.—“-mais je n’ay ouy de entreprinse ni encore si j’etois libre

ma vie une .plus grande resolution la laisseroie, comme que je deusse
d’homme ny Constance, il n’a oncques mourir mille morts,” etc. — Extrait
dit * Ay my; * mais en tous tourmens d’une Delation faite a ceux du
s’est tenu sans dire mot, et sur tous Magistrat de Bruxelles, par Corneille
interrogatories a repondu bien apro- Aertsens alors leur G-reffier, 11 Juillet
pos et avec bonne suite, quelquefois que 1584. Bib. de Bourg. MS., No.
voulez-vous faire de moy? je suis 17,386, Historic B. Geraerts alias
resolu de mourir aussj d’une mort Serack.

598

THE RISE 0E THE HUTCH REPUBLIC.

[1584.

with the general hilarity. His lips were seen to move np
to the moment when his heart was thrown in his face—
“ Then,” said a looker-on, “ he gave up the ghost.” 1

The reward promised by Philip to the man who should
murder Orange was paid to the heirs of Gerard. Parma
informed his sovereign that the “ poor man ” had been exe¬
cuted, but that his father and mother were still living, to
whom he recommended the payment of that “ mercede ”
which “the laudable and generous deed had so well de¬
served.” 3 This was accordingly done, and the excellent
parents, ennobled and enriched by the crime of their son,
received, instead of the twenty-five thousand crowns promised
in the Ban, the three seignories of Lievremont, Hostal, and
Dampmartin, in the Franche Comte, and took their place at
once among the landed aristocracy. 3 Thus the bounty of the
Prince had furnished the weapon by which his life was de¬
stroyed, and his estates supplied the fund out of which the
s assassin’s family received the price of blood. At a later day,
when the unfortunate eldest son of Orange returned from
Spain after twenty-seven years’ absence, a changeling and a
Spaniard, the restoration of those very estates was offered to
him by Philip the Second, provided he would continue to
pay a fixed proportion of their rents to the family of his
father's murderer. The education which Philip William had
received, under the King’s auspices had, however, not entirely
destroyed all his human feelings, and he rejected the proposal
with scorn. 4 The estates remained with the Gerard family and
the patents of nobility which they had received were used to
justify their exemption from certain taxes, until the union of

1 Extrait d’une Relation de Corneille
Aertsens (14 Juillet 1584). He was
present at all tlie tortures and at the
execution, and drew up his report the
same day. Manuscript before cited.—
Compare Meteren, Bor, Le Petit, His¬
tone B. Geraerts alias Serach.

' 9 Relation du Hue de Parma au
Roy Phil. H., 12 Aoht 15S4.—“Le

pauvre Homme est demeurtf prisonnier.
L’acte est tel qu’il merite grande
louange, et je mo vais informant des
parens du deffunt, duquel j’entends le
pere et la mere etro encoires vivans,
pour apres supplier V. M. leur fair© le
mercede qu’une si gdnereuso resolution
merite.”—MS. before cited. 3 Ibirl

4 Van Kempen, i. 545.

1584]

RESULTS OF THE DEATH OF ORANGE,

599

Franclie Comte with France, when a French governor tore
the documents in pieces and trampled them under foot. 1

William of Orange, at the period of his death, was aged
fifty-one years and sixteen days. He left twelve children.
By his first wife, Anne of Egmont, he had one son, Philip,
and one daughter, Mary, afterwards married to Count
Hohenlo. By his second wife, Anna of Saxony, he had one
son, the celebrated Maurice of Nassau, and two daughters,
Anna, married afterwards to her cousin, Count William
Louis, and Emilie, who espoused the Pretender of Portugal,
Prince Emanuel. By Charlotte of Bourbon, his third wife,
he had six daughters; and by his fourth* Louisa de Coligny,
one son, Frederic William* afterwards stadtholder of the
^Republic in her most palmy days. 2 The Prince was entombed
on the 3rd of August, at Delft, amid the tears of a whole
nation. 3 Never was a more extensive, unaffected, and legiti¬
mate sorrow felt at the death of any human being.

The life and labours of Orange had established the emanci¬
pated commonwealth upon a secure foundation, but his death
rendered the union of all the Netherlands into one republic
hopeless. The efforts of the malcontent nobles, the religious
discord, the consummate ability, both political and military,
of Parma* all combined with the lamentable loss of William
the Silent to separate for ever the Southern and Catholic
provinces from the northern confederacy. So long as the
Prince remained alive, he was the Father of the whole
country; the Netherlands—saving only the two Walloon pro¬
vinces—constituting a whole. Notwithstanding the spirit of
faction and the blight of the long civil war, there was at least
one country, or the hope of a country, one strong heart, one
guiding head, for the patriotic party throughout the land.
Philip and Granvelle were right in their estimate of the ad-

1 Van d. Vyncfct, iii.—Notes of Tarte Meteren, xii. 216.
and Reiffenberg. 3 Bor, xviii. 433. Meteren, xii. 215.

51 Cor, ubi sup. Archives, ubi sup. Hoofd, xx. 806.

600

THE RISE OP THE HUTCH REPUBLIC.

[ 1584 .

vantage to be derived from the Prince’s death; in believing
that an assassin’s hand could achieve more than all the wiles
which Spanish or Italian statesmanship could teach, or all the
armies which Spain or Italy could muster. The pistol of the
insignificant Gerard destroyed the possibility of a united
Netherland state, while during the life of William there
was union in the policy, unity in the history of the country.

In the following year, Antwerp, hitherto the centre around
which all the national interests and historical events group
themselves, fell before the scientific efforts of Parma. The
city which had so long been the freest, as well as the most
opulent capital in Europe, sunk for ever to the position of a
provincial town. With its fall, combined with other circum¬
stances, which it is not necessary to narrate in anticipation,
the final separation of the Netherlands was completed. On
the other hand, at the death of Orange, whose formal inaugu¬
ration as sovereign Count had not yet taken place, the states
of Holland and Zeland reassumed the sovereignty. The com¬
monwealth which William had liberated for ever from Spanish
tyranny continued to exist as a great and flourishing republic
during more than two centuries, under the successive stadt-
holderates of his sons and descendants.

His life gave existence to an independent country—his death
defined its limits. Had he lived twenty years longer, it is
probable that the seven provinces would have been seventeen;
and that the Spanish title would have been for ever extinguished
both in Nether Germany and Celtic Gaul. Although there was
to be the length of two human generations more of warfare
ere Spain acknowledged the new government, yet before the
termination of that period the united states had become the
first naval power and one of the most considerable common¬
wealths in the world; while the civil and religious liberty, the
political independence of the land, together with the total ex¬
pulsion of the ancient foreign tyranny from the soil, had been
achieved ere the eyes of William were closed. The republic)
existed, in fact, from the moment of the abjuration in 1581.

1584.]

HIS PERSON AND CHARACTER.

601

The most important features of the polity which thus as¬
sumed a prominent organisation have been already indicated.
There was no revolution, no radical change. The ancient rugged
tree of Netherland liberty—with its moss-grown trunk, gnarled
branches, and deep-reaching roots—which had been slowly
growing for ages, was still full of sap, and was to deposit for
centuries longer its annual rings of consolidated and concen¬
tric strength. Though lopped of some luxuriant boughs, it
was sound at the core, and destined for a still larger life than
even in the healthiest moments of its mediaeval existence.

The history of the rise of the Netherland Republic has been
at the same time the biography of William the Silent. This
while it gives unity to the narrative, renders an elaborate
description of his character superfluous. That life was a
noble Christian epic; inspired with one great purpose from
its commencement to its close; the stream flowing ever from
one fountain with expanding fulness, but retaining all its
original purity. A few general observations are all which
are necessary by way of conclusion.

In person, Orange was above the middle height, perfectly
well made and sinewy, but rather spare than stout. His eyes,
hair, beard, and complexion were brown. His head was small,
symmetrically-shaped, combining the alertness and compact¬
ness characteristic of the soldier, with the capacious brow
furrowed prematurely with the horizontal lines of thought,
denoting the statesman and the sage. His physical appear¬
ance was, therefore, in harmony with his organisation, which
was of antique model. Of his moral qualities, the most pro¬
minent was his piety. He was more than anything else a
religious man. From his trust in God, he ever derived
support and consolation in the darkest hours. Implicitly rely¬
ing upon almighty wisdom and goodness, he looked danger in
the face with a constant smile, and endured incessant labours
and trials with a serenity which seemed more than human.
"While, however, his soul was full of piety, it was tolerant of
error. Sincerely and deliberately himself a convert to the

602

THE RISE OE THE HUTCH REPUBLIC.

[1584.

Reformed Church, he was ready to extend freedom of worship
to Catholics on the one hand, and to Anabaptists on the
other; for no man ever felt more keenly than he, that the
Reformer who becomes in his turn a bigot is doubly odious.

His firmness was allied to his piety. His constancy in bearing
the whole weight of struggle, as unequal as men have ever
undertaken, was the theme of admiration even to his enemies.
The rock in the ocean, u tranquil amid raging billows,” was the
favourite emblem by which his friends expressed their sense of
his firmness. From the time when, as a hostage in France, he
first discovered the plan of Philip to plant the Inquisition in
the Netherlands, up to the last moment of his life, he never
faltered in his determination to resist that iniquitous scheme.
This resistance was the labour of his life. To exclude the
Inquisition, to maintain the ancient liberties of his country, was
the task which he appointed to himself when a youth of three-
and-twenty. Never speaking a word concerning a heavenly
mission, never deluding himself or others with the usual phrase-
ologyof enthusiasts, he accomplished the task, through danger,
amid toils, and with sacrifices such as few men have ever been
able to make on their country’s altar ;—for the disinterested
benevolence of the man was as prominent as his fortitude. A
prince of high rank and with royal revenues, he stripped him¬
self of station, w r ealth, almost at times of the common neces¬
saries of life, and became, in his country’s cause, nearly a beggar
as well as an outlaw. Nor was lie forced into his career by an
accidental impulse from which there was no recovery. Retreat
was ever open to him. Not only pardon but advancement was
urged upon him again and again. Officially and privately,
directly and circuitously, his confiscated estates, together with
indefinite and boundless favours in addition, were offered to him
on every great occasion. On the arrival of Don John, at tho
Breda negotiations, at the Cologne conferences, we have seen
how calmly these offers were waved aside, as if their rejection
was so simple that it hardly required many words for its signi¬
fication ; yet he had mortgaged his estates so deeply that his

1584.]

HIS MILITARY GENIUS.

603

heirs hesitated at accepting their inheritance, 1 for fear it
should involve them in debt. Ten years after his death, the
account between his executors and his brother John amounted
to one million four hundred thousand florins 2 due to the
Count, secured by various pledges of real and personal property,
and it was finally settled upon this basis. He was, besides,
largely indebted to every one of his powerful relatives, so
that the payment of the incumbrances upon his estates very
nearly justified the fears of his children. While on the one
hand, therefore, he poured out these enormous sums like water,
and firmly refused a hearing to the tempting offers of the
royal government, upon the other hand, he proved the
disinterested nature of his services by declining, year after
year, the sovereignty over the provinces ; and by only accept¬
ing, in the last days of his life, when refusal had become
almost impossible, the limited constitutional supremacy over
that portion of them which now makes the realm of his de¬
scendants. He lived and died, not for himself, but for his
country. “ God, pity this poor people! ” were his dying words.

His intellectual faculties were various and of the highest
order. He had the exact, practical, and combining qualities
which make the great commander; and his friends claimed
that, in military genius, he was second to no captain in
Europe. 3 This was, no doubt, an exaggeration of partial
attachment, but it is certain that the Emperor Charles had an
exalted opinion of his capacity for the field. His fortification
of Philippeville and Charlemont, in the face of the enemy—
his passage of the Meuse in Alva’s sight—his unfortunate but
well-ordered campaign against that general—his sublime plan
of relief, projected and successfully directed at last from his
sick-bed, for the besieged city of Leyden—will always remain
monuments of his practical military skill.

Of the soldier’s great virtues—constancy in disaster, devotion
to duty, hopefulness in defeat—no man ever possessed a larger

A Er. Beyd. iii. 59. 2 Bor, xviii. 438. I pore parem habuit,” says Ev. Beyd,

a “ Belli artibus neminem suo tern- 1 Ann. iii. 59.

604

THE RISE OF THE DUTCH REPUBLIC.

[ 1584 .

share. He arrived, through a series of reverses, -at a perfect
victory. He planted a free commonwealth under the very
battery of the Inquisition, in defiance of the most powerful
empire existing. He was therefore a conqueror in the loftiest
sense, for he conquered liberty and a national existence for a
whole people. The contest was long, and he fell in the
struggle; but the victory was to the dead hero, not to the
living monarch. It is to be remembered, too, that he always
wrought with inferior instruments. His troops were usually
mercenaries, who were but too apt to mutiny upon the eve of
battle, while he was opposed by the most formidable veterans
of Europe, commanded successively by the first captains of the
age. That, with no lieutenant of eminent valour or experience,
save only his brother Louis, and with none at all after that
chieftain’s death, William of Orange should succeed in baffling
the efforts of Alva, Eequesens, Don John of Austria, and
Alexander Earnese—men whose names are among the most
brilliant in the military annals of the world—is in itself
sufficient evidence of his warlike ability. At the period
of his death he had reduced the number of obedient
provinces to two; only Artois and Hainault acknowledging
Philip, while the other fifteen were in open revolt, the
greater part having solemnly forsworn their sovereign.

The supremacy of his political genius was entirely beyond
question. He was the first statesman of the age. The quick¬
ness of his perception was only equalled by the caution which
enabled him to mature the results of his observations. His
knowledge of human nature was profound. He governed the
passions and sentiments of a great nation as if they had been
but the keys and chords of one vast instrument; and his hand
rarely failed to evoke harmony even out of the wildest storms.
The turbulent city of Ghent, which could obey no other master,
which even the haughty Emperor could only crush without
controlling, was ever responsive to the master-hand of Orange.
His presence scared away Imbize and his bat-like crew, con¬
founded the schemes of John Casimir, frustrated the wiles of

1584.] POWER OF HIS ELOQUENCE. (JOS

Prince Chimay, and while he lived, Ghent was what it ought
always to have remained, the bulwark, as it had been the cradle,
of popular liberty. After his death it became its tomb.

Ghent, saved thrice by the policy, the eloquence, the self-
sacrifices of Orange, fell within three months of his murder
into the hands of Parma. The loss of this most important
city, followed in the next year by the downfall of Antwerp,
sealed the fate of the Southern Netherlands. Had the Prince
lived, how different might have been the country’s fate. If
seven provinces could dilate, in so brief a space, into the
powerful commonwealth which the Republic soon became, what
might not have been achieved by the united seventeen ; a con¬
federacy which would have united the adamantine vigour of
the Batavian and Frisian races with the subtler, more delicate,
and more graceful national elements in which the genius of
the Prank, the Roman, and the Romanised Celt were so in¬
timately blended. As long as the Father of the country lived,
such a union was possible. His power of managing men was
so unquestionable, that there was always a hope, even in the
darkest hour, for men felt implicit reliance, as well on his
intellectual resources as on his integrity.

This power of dealing with his fellow-men he manifested in
the various ways in which it has been usually exhibited by
statesmen. He possessed a ready eloquence—sometimes impas¬
sioned, oftener argumentative, always rational. His influence
over his audience was unexampled in the annals of that country
or age \ yet he never condescended to flatter the people. He
never followed the nation, but always led her in the path of
duty and of honour, and was much more prone to rebuke the
vices than to pander to the passions of his hearers. He never
failed to administer ample chastisement to parsimony, to jeal¬
ousy, to insubordination, to intolerance, to infidelity, wherever
it was due, nor feared to confront the states or the people in
their most angry hours, and to tell them the truth to their faces.
This commanding position he alone could stand upon, for his
countrymen knew the generosity which had sacrificed his all for

606 THE EISE OE THE DUTCH REPUBLIC. [1584.

them, tlie self-denial which had eluded, not sought political
advancement, whether from king or people, and the untiring
devotion which had consecrated a whole life to toil and danger
in the cause of their emancipation. While, therefore, he was
ever ready to rebuke, and always too honest to flatter, he at the
same time possessed the eloquence which could convince or
persuade. He knew how to reach both the mind and heart
of his hearers. His orations, whether extemporaneous or
prepared—his written messages to the States-General, to the
provincial authorities, to the municipal bodies—his private
correspondence with men of all ranks, from emperors and kings
down to secretaries, and even children—all shew an easy flow
of language, a fulness of thought, a power of expression rare in
that age, a fund of historical allusion, a considerable power of
imagination, a warmth of sentiment, a breadth of view, a direct¬
ness of purpose—a range of qualities, in short, which would in
themselves have stamped him as one of the master minds of his
century, had there been no other monument to his memory
than the remains of his spoken or written eloquence. The bulk
of liis performances in this department was prodigious. Not
even Philip was more industrious in the cabinet. Not even
Granvelle held a more facile pen. He wrote and spoke equally
well in French, German, or Flemish; and he possessed, besides,
Spanish, Italian, Latin. The weight of his correspondence
alone would have almost sufficed for the common industry of
a lifetime, and although many volumes of his speeches and
letters have been published, there remain in the various
archives of the Netherlands and Germany many documents
from his hand which will probably never see the light. If the
capacity for unremitted intellectual labour in an honourable
cause be the measure of human greatness, few minds could be
compared to the 66 large composition 99 of this man. The
efforts made to destroy the Netherlands by the most laborious
and painstaking of tyrants were counteracted by the industry
of the most indefatigable of patriots.

Thus his eloquence, oral or written, gave him almost

SKILL IN STATECRAFT.

607

1584 .]

boundless power over his countrymen. He possessed, also, a
rare perception of human character, together with an iron
memory which n^ver lost a face, a place, or an event, once
seen or known. He read the minds, even the faces of men,
like printed hooks. No man could over-reach him, except¬
ing only those to whom he gave his heart. He might be
mistaken where he had confided, never wdiere he had been
distrustful or indifferent. He was deceived by Renneberg,
by his brother-in-law Yan den Berg, by the Duke of
Anjou. Had it been possible for his brother Louis, or his
brother John, to have proved false, lie might have been
deceived by them. He was never outwitted by Philip, or
Granvelle, or Don John, or Alexander of Parma. Anna
of Saxony was false to him, and entered into correspond¬
ence with the royal governors and with the King of Spain;
Charlotte of Bourbon or Louisa de Coligny might have
done the same had it been possible for their natures also
to descend to such depths of guile.

As for the Aerschots, the Havr6s, the Chimays, he was
never influenced either by their blandishments or their plots.
He was willing to use them when their interest made them
friendly, or to crush them when their intrigues against his
policy rendered them dangerous. The adroitness with which
he converted their schemes in behalf of Matthias, of Don
John, of Anjou, into so many additional weapons for his own
cause, can never be too often studied. It is instructive to
observe the wiles of the Machiavelian school employed by a
master of the craft, to frustrate, not to advance, a knavish
purpose. This character, in a great measure, marked his
whole policy. He was profoundly skilled in the subtleties
of Italian statesmanship, which he had learned as a youth at
the imperial court, and which he employed in his manhood in
the service, not of tyranny, but of liberty. He fought the
Inquisition with its own weapons. He dealt with Philip on
iiis own ground. He excavated the earth beneath the King’s
feet by a mpre subtle process than that practised by the

608

THE RISE OF THE DUTCH REPUBLIC.

[1584.

most fraudulent monarch that ever governed the Spanish
empire, and Philip, chain-mailed as he was in complicated
wiles, was pierced to the quick by a keener policy than his own.

Ten years long the King placed daily his most secret
letters in hands which regularly transmitted copies of the
correspondence to the Prince of Orange, together with a key
to the ciphers and every other illustration which might be
required. 1 Thus the secrets of the King were always as
well known to Orange as to himself; and the Prince being
as prompt as Philip was hesitating, the schemes could often
be frustrated before their execution had been commenced.
The crime of the unfortunate clerk, John de Castillo, was
discovered in the autumn of the year 1581, and he was torn
to pieces by four horses. 3 Perhaps his treason to the mon¬
arch whose bread he was eating, while he received a regular
salary from the King’s most determined foe, deserved even
this horrible punishment, but casuists must determine how
much guilt attaches to the Prince for his share in the
transaction. This history is not the eulogy of Orange,
although, in discussing his character, it is difficult to avoid
the monotony of panegyric. Judged by a severe moral
standard, it cannot be called virtuous or honourable to suborn
treachery or any other crime, even to accomplish a lofty
purpose; yet the universal practice of mankind in all ages
has tolerated the artifices of war, and no people has ever
engaged in a holier or more mortal contest than did the
Netherlands in their great struggle with Spain. Orange
possessed the rare quality of caution, a characteristic by
which he was distinguished from his youth. At fifteen he
was the confidential counseller, as at twenty-one he became
the general-in-chief, to the most politic, as well as the most
warlike potentate of his age; and if he at times indulged in
wiles which modern statesmanship, even while it practises,
condemns, he ever held in his hand the clue of an honour¬
able purpose to guide him through the tortuous labyrinth.

1 Bor. xvi. 288 b . Hoofcl, xviii. 791. * Meteren, Bor, ubi sup.

15&t]

PUEITY OF HIS PATRIOTISM.

609

It is difficult to find any other characteristic deserving of
grave censure, but his enemies have adopted a similar process.
They have been able to find few flaws in his nature, and there¬
fore have denounced it in gross. It is not that hiB character
was here and there defective, but that the eternal jewel was
false. The patriotism was counterfeit; the self-abnegation and
the generosity were counterfeit. He was governed only by
ambition—by a desire of personal advancement. They never
attempted to deny his talents, his industry, his vast sacrifices
of wealth and station ; but they ridiculed the idea that he could
have been inspired by any but unworthy motives. 1 God alone
knows the heart of man. He alone can unweave the tangled
skein of human motives, and detect the hidden springs of
human action, but as far as can be judged by a careful obser¬
vation of undisputed facts, and by a diligent collation of
public and private documents, it would seem that no man—
not even Washington—has ever been inspired by a purer
patriotism. At any rate, the charge of ambition and self-
seeking can only be answered by a reference to the whole
picture which these volumes have attempted to portray. The

1 “ A man born to the greatest
fame,” says Bentivoglio, “if content
with his fortunes, he had not sought
amid precipices for a still greater one.”
While paymg homage to the extraor¬
dinary genius of the Prince, to his
energy, eloquence, perspicacity in all
kinds of affairs, his absolute dominion
over the minds and hearts of men, and
his consummate skill in improving his
own positions and taking advantage of
the false moves of his adversary, the
Cardinal proceeds to accuse him of
“ ambition, fraud, audacity, and rapa¬
city.” The last qualification seems
sufficiently absurd to those who have
even' superficially studied the life of
William the Silent. Of course, the
successive changes of religion by the
Prince are ascribed to motives of in¬
terest— “ Videsi variare di religione
seconde che vario d’interessi. Da fan-
ciullo in Germania fu Luterano. Pas-

2

sato in Fiandra mostrossi Cattohco.
A1 principio della rivolte si dicbiara
fautore delle nuove setle ma non
professore manifesto d’alcuna; sinche
finalmente gli parve di seguitar quella
de Calvmisti, come la piu coni raria di
tutte alia religione Cattolica sostenuta
■del Re di Spagna.” — (Guerra di
Fiandra, p. 2,1. ii. 276.) The Cardinal
does not add that the conversion of the
Prince to the Reformed religion w'as at
the blackest hour of the Reformation.
Cabrera is cooler and coarser. Accord¬
ing to him the Prince was a mere im¬
postor. The Emperor even had been
often cautioned as to his favourite’s
arrogance, deceit and ingratitude, and
warned that the Prince was “ a fox who
wrnuld eat up all his Majesty’s chickens.”
While acknowledging that he “could
talk well of public affairs,” and that he
“ entertained the ambassadors and nobi¬
lity with spleudour and magnificence,

Q

VOL. III.

610

THE RISE OF THE HUTCH REPUBLIC.

[1531.

words, tlie deeds of the man are there. As much as possible,
Ins inmost soul is revealed in his confidential letters, and he
who looks in a right spirit will hardly fail to find what he
desires.

Whether originally of a timid temperament or not, lie was
certainly possessed of perfect courage at last. In siege and
battle—in the deadly air of pestilential cities—in the long ex¬
haustion of mind and body which comes from unduly-pro¬
tracted labour and anxiety—amid the countless conspiracies of
assassins—he was daily exposed to death in every shape.
Within two years, five different attempts against his life had
been discovered. Rank and fortune were offered to any male¬
factor who would compass the murder. He had already been
shot through the head, and almost mortally wounded. Under
such circumstances even a brave man might have seen a pitfall
at every step, a dagger in every hand, and poison in every cup.
On the contrary he was ever cheerful, and hardly took more
precaution than usual. cc God in his mercy,” said he, with
unaffected simplicity, u will maintain my innocence and my
honour during my life and in future ages. As to my fortune

the historian proclaims him, however,
“ faithless and mendacious, a flatterer
and a cheat.”—(Cabrera, v. 233.) We
have seen that Tassis accused the Prince
of poisoning Count Bossu with oysters,
and that Strada had a long story of his
attending the deathbed of that noble¬
man in order to sneer at the viaticum.
We have also seen the simple and heart¬
felt regret which the Prince expressed
in his private letters for Bossu’s death,
and the solid service which he rendered
to him in life. Of false accusations of
this nature there was no end. One of the
most atrocious has been recently resus¬
citated. A certain Christopher de Hols¬
tein accused the Prince in 1578 of
having instigated him to murder Duke
Eric of Brunswick. The assassin under¬
took the job, but seems to have been
deterred by a mysterious bleeding at
his nose from proceeding with the busi¬
ness. As this respectable witness, by

his own confession, had murdered his
own brother for money, and two mer¬
chants besides, had moreover been con¬
cerned in the killing or plundering of
a “ curate, a monk, and two hermits”
and had been all his life a professional
highwayman and assassin, it seems
hardly worth while to discuss his state¬
ments. Probably a thousand such ca¬
lumnies were circulated at different
times against the Prince. Yet the tes¬
timony of this wretched rmih*t actor is
gravely reproduced, at the expiration
of near three centuries, as if it were
admissible m any healthy court of his
torical justice. Truly says the adage,
“ Calomniez toujours : ll en restera
quelque chose.”—See Compte Kendu
de la Com. Roy. d’Hist. tom. xi ,
Bruxelles, 1846. Notice sur les Aveux
de Chr. do Holstein, etc., etc., par le
Dr. Coremans, pp. 10-18.

1534.] HIS PHYSICAL AND MENTAL POWERS. 61 1

and my life, I have dedicated both, long since, to His service.
He will do therewith what pleases Him for His glory and my
salvation.” 1 Thus his suspicions were not even excited by the
ominous face of Gerard, when he first presented himself at the
dining-room door. The Prince laughed off his wife’s prophetic
apprehension at the sight of his murderer, and was as cheerful
as usual to the last.

He possessed, too, that which to the heathen philosopher
seemed the greatest good—the sound mind in the sound body.
His physical frame was after death found so perfect that a long
life might have been in store for him, notwithstanding all which
he had endured. The desperate illness of 1574, the frightful
gunshot wound inflicted by Jaureguy in 1582, had left no
traces. The physicians pronounced that his body presented
an aspect of perfect health. 2

His temperament was cheerful. At table, the pleasures of
which, in moderation, were his only relaxation, he was always
animated and merry, and this jocoseness was partly natural,
partly intentional. In the darkest hours of his country’s trial,
he affected a serenity which he was far from feeling, so that his
apparent gaiety at momentous epochs was even censured by
dullards, who could not comprehend its philosophy, nor applaud
the flippancy of William the Silent. 3

He went through life bearing the load of a people’s sorrows
upon his shoulders with a smiling face. Their name was the
last word upon his lips, save the simple affirmative, with which
the soldier who had been battling for the right all his lifetime,
commended his soul in dying u to his great captain, Christ.”
The people were grateful and affectionate, for they trusted the
character of their “ Father William,” and not all the clouds
which calumny could collect ever dimmed to their eyes the

1 Apo^ogie, p. 133. coactam earn laetitiam baud capiebanfc:

2 Ueydani, m. 50. cum illius aspectu cuneti refoverentur,

3 “ Imprimis inter cibos hilaris et illius ex vultu spei quisbue aut despera~
velufc omnium securus; qua re et tionsi caussam sumeret.”— Ey. Keyd.,
tetnoos atque arrogantiores nonnul- ubisup.

los offend it, qui simulatem saepe et

612

THE RISE OF THE DUTCH REPUBLIC.

[1584.

radiance of that lofty mind to which they were accustomed, in
their darkest calamities, to look for light. As long as he lived,
he was the guiding-star of a whole brave nation, and when he
died the little children cried in the streets. 1

1 Literal expression in the official
report made by tlie Greffier Corneille
Aertsens: “ Dont par toute la yille Ton
est en si grand duil tel lenient que les

petits enfans en pleurent par les rues.”
—Relation faite a ceux du Magistrat
de Bruxelles, 11 Juillet 1584. MS.,
Bib. de Bourg., No. 17,386.

JNDEX

INDEX

Accord, signed between Margaret of
Parma and confederated Netherhmd
nobles, 1566, i. 539; of 29th of Octo¬
ber, 1576, between Sancho d’Avila and
Count Oberstein, iii. 96.

AiM css, royal, issued by Alva after the
f-11 of Harlem, ii. 447.

Adiian VI., Pope, denounces the crimes
of the Church, i. 78.

Ae.schot, Duke of, his birth and charac¬
ter, i. 100; quarrels with Egmont, and
refuses to join league against Gran-
velle, 363; appointed Governor of the
citadel of Antwerp, after its evacua¬
tion by Spanish troops, iii. 177 ; selfish¬
ness of his character and motives, ib .;
is distrusted by all parties, zb .; oath
of all^giauce administered to him by
Escovedo, ib .; his falseness, both to
Bon John and Prince of Orange, 215;
informs Bon John that the Piince of
Orange is meditating a forcible seizure
of his person, 216; gives Orange pri¬
vate information concerning the go¬
vernment, and sends him intercepted
letters from his enemies, 217; deserts
Bon John and makes up to Orange
again, after failure of the former’s plan
against Antwerp citadel, 250; head of
the cabal to bring Archduke of Austria
to Netherlands, 278; discontent of the
people with his appointment as Gover¬
nor of Flanders, ib.; his entry into
Ghent as Governor of Flanders, ib.;
suspicions entertained of him by Re¬

formed paity there, 279; capitulates
to insurgents of Ghent, 286 ; is taken
prisoner by them, zb.

Alava, Bon Francis de, forged letter
from, to Margaiet of Parma, ii. 32; re¬
port to Philip on state of Netherlands
and conduct of Alva, 336.

AklegoncV, St. Philip de Mainix, lord of,
said to be the author of the compro¬
mise, i. 459; his character and attain¬
ments, 461; address to congress of
Bort, in behalf of Prince of Change,

ii. 363; despatched to Harlem by the
Prince of Orange, to make a thorough
change in body of magistracy, 416; his
life saved by captuie of Spanish Admi¬
ral Bossu, 479; is released fiom prison,
and despatched on secret mission to
Orange and the estates, iii. 5; report
of estates in answer to his propositions,
6; is sent as chief of a mission to Queen
Elizabeth of England, to offer to her
the sovereignty of Holland and Zeland,
44; leaves England without hiving
effected his purpose, 46; lays before
estates meagre result of his mission,
47; his despair at religious tolerance
of Prince of Orange, 201.

Alengon, Duke of, and Anjou, intrigues
of Catholic Netherland nobles with,

iii. 329; his character and caieer, 330;
relations with Piince of Orange, 332;
despatches envoys to states-general of
Netheilands and to Orange, to offer
assistance after battle of Gemblouis,

INDEX.

G]6

533; engagements entered into between
him and states-general, 335; departure
from Netherlands, 379; exchange of
courtesy with estates, ib.; policy of
electing him for sovereign of Nether¬
lands, iii. 506 ; limitations to be put to
his power, 510; arrives in Netherlands
in 1581, at the head of five thousand
troops, 512; departs for England, ib.';
special mission from estates, proceeds
to England to make arrangements for
his formal installation as sovereign of
Netherlands, 514; returns to Nether¬
lands, accompanied by a number of
English gentlemen, 515; is received at
Flushing by Orange and deputation
from states-general, ib .; his personal
appearance, ib .; his ' character and
capacities, 516; ceremony of his in¬
auguration, 518; procession escoiting
him to Antwerp, 519; festive recep¬
tion within the city, 520; prohibitions
against Catholic worship raised, 522;
constitution signed by him at Bor¬
deaux, ib .; is suspected of complicity
in attempted assassination of Oiange,
526; is formally accepted as Duke of
Gueldres and Lord of Friesland, 543;
scheme to poison him and Orange, 544;
ceremonies of his reception at Ghent
interrupted by an attack on his troops
by Parma, 545; first whisperings of
treason against Orange and against the
‘dates, 5--6 plot for seizing the most
'tnpoi tent cities by surprise, and mak¬
ing himself absolute master, 547; fail¬
ure of the plot at Bruges, 548; men¬
dacious asseverations used to allay
«uspicions of his plot against Antwerp,
ib.; attempt upon the city, 551; total
failure, 554; indignation of French
noblemen in his suite at his treachery,
555; causes of his defeat at Antwerp,
556; effrontery evinced in subsequent
communications with Orange and with
magistracy of Antwerp, 558; declares
attempt upon Antwerp to have been
quite unexpected by him, ib.; efforts
at reconciliation, ib .; intrigues with
agents of Parma, 564; provisional ac¬
cord signed between him and provinces,
26th and 28th March, 570; leaves

Netherlands never to return, ib. ;
enters into renewed negotiations with
states-general, 579; is taken ill and
dies, 580.

Alkmaar, city of, its situation, ii. 448; is
invested by Don Fredeiic de Toledo
450; heroic repulses of the assault*
454; raising of the siege, 458.

Alva, Ferdinando Alvarez de Toledo,
Duke of, enmity to Ruy Gomez, i. 145;
at first not beloved by Philip II., ib. ;
eclipsed by Buy Gomez, ib.; believed
to be hesitating and timid, 146; his
conduct of Italian campaign, 160; signs
treaty of peace with Pope Paul IV.,
163 ; negotiates with King of France a
scheme for extirpation of Protestant¬
ism, 232; his advice to Philip about
Granvelle’s dismissal, 3S9; accompanies
Queen of Spain to Bayonne to meet
Catherine de Medici, 443; instructed
by Philip to promote in every way plan
for simultaneous destruction of here¬
tics in France and in Spanish domin¬
ions, ib.; diplomatic talent revealed in
the letters from Bayonne, ib .; proposes
secret league against Protestants, 444;
despatchi d from Madrid with a Span¬
ish army to crush the remaining liber¬
ties of Netherlands, ii. 79; his suitable¬
ness for task assigned to him in Nether¬
lands, 101; his great military attain¬
ments, ib.; his descent, education, and
early career, 102; cause of his hatred
to Egmont, 104; his character and
manners, 105; his personal appearance,
106; exquisiteness of the army with
which he proceeds to Netherlands,
107; commanders of this army, ib.;
embarks at Carthagena on 10th May,
10S ; order of march of his army, ib .;
armies of observation hovering on his
flanks, 109; encamps within Nether-
land territory without having en¬
countered any opposition, ib.; his con¬
tempt for Regent and people, 110;
begins to receive trembling welcomes
from cities and authorities, ib.; his
first meeting with Egmont, ib.; his
reception by Margaret of Parma, 112;
circular letters from the king and the
Regent command unconditional sub-

INDEX.

617

mission to his orders, 113; distributes
his troops through the principal cities,
and demands the keys of them, 114;
purpose for -which he was despatched
to Netherlands, 115; treacherous pro¬
ceedings to entrap Horn, 118; informs
Philip of success of his plan, 124;
establishes Council of Troubles, 132;
is assisted in the choice of members by
Viglius, 134; his zealous attendance
at the Council, 13S; is appointed
Governor-Geneial of Netherlands, 143;
propositions made to him by French
court, 146; despatches an auxiliary
force to France, ib .; his plan for seizing
the person of the Count de Buren, son
of the Prince of Orange, 152; ferocious
reply to magistracy of Antwerp when
soliciting mercy for imprisoned citizens,
154; his reply to appeals in favour of
Egmont and Horn, 161; first mcasuro
taken against patriot army, 180; his
wrath at loss of battle of Holy Lion,
192; atrocious measures against nobles
taken in consequence, ib. ; his cruelly
ambiguous answer to Countess of Eg¬
mont, 195 ; increased hatred of him in
consequence of execution of Egmont
and Horn, 206; measures taken to
avenge the defeat of Aremberg, 20S;
routs Nassau near Groningen, 212;
defeats him again at Jemmingen, 214;
destroys Nassau’s army near Selwaert
Abbey, 217; returns to Utrecht and
beheads an old woman, 219; repairs to
Brussels and recommences his perse¬
cutions against citizens, 233; his plans
of campaign against William of Orange,
245; incidents of the campaign, 248;
returns in triumph to Brussels after
discornflture of William of Orange,
257 ; causes monument to be erected
to himself, 258; quarrel with Queen
Elizabeth of England, 270; severe
measures against English subjects, 271;
continuation of atrocious religious per¬
secutions, ib. ; signal marks of the
Pope’s approbation of his proceedings,
274; new scheme of taxation laid
before provincial estates of Brussels,
277; atrocious means used for enforc¬
ing new system of taxation, 281; begs

to be recalled from Netherlands, 285;
proclaims an amnesty, 288; renewed
contentions with estates of Nether¬
lands on the subject of taxes, 318;
symptoms of declining power, 320;
his opinion of scheme against Queen of
England, 325; prudential and artful
remonstrances against Philip’s instruc¬
tions, 326; sends assassins to England
to attempt the life of the Queen, 328 ;
his successor in Netherlands appointed,
330; protestations of love for Nether¬
lands, 331; interview with Alava at
Brussels, 335; open revolt against his
new tax, 337; his rage at rapid and
successful revolt of various provinces
and cities, 364; despatches his son to
lay siege to Mons, ib.; consents to
abolish tax of tenth penny on condition
of an yearly supply from estates, 336;
congratulates Philip on sack of Mechlin,
ordeied by himself, 399; blasphemous
account of atrocious proceedings against
Naarden, 411; relations with Medina
Cceli, 446; attempts to win back the
allegiance of other cities after the fall
of Harlem, 447; letters to Philip on
the subject of Alkmaar, 451; suspicions
against King of France, 459; his posi¬
tion in Netherlands in 1573/ and rela¬
tions with vaiious individuals there,
479; surreptitious departure from
Amsterdam, 481; final departure from
Netherlands, 482; number of persons
executed in Netherlands during his
government, 483; close of his career,
ib .; retrospective view of his great
military talents, 484; his ignorance
and want of skill as a financier, 486;
his character as an administrator of
civil and judicial affairs, 487; parting
advice on leaving Netherlands, 489;
his inconceivable cruelty, 490; vindica¬
tion of the view given of his character,
491, in note.

Amnesty, proclaimed at Antwerp in 1570,
ii. 288; exceptions in, 289; dissatisfac¬
tion with, 290 ; published in 1754,542;
effect produced by it, 543.

Amsterdam, its critical position during
siege of Harlem, ii. 427; refuses to ac¬
knowledge the authority of Prince of

618

INDEX

Orange, iii. 315; various schemes set
on foot by estates of the provinces to
gain the city, ib. ; treaty of “ Satisfac¬
tion” at length established, ib.; plot
for placing city in the hands of Don
John by aid of Swedish ships, 322;
municipal revolution in, 324; incidents
of popular movement, ib.

Anabaptists, their excesses, i. 79; perse¬
cution of, 80.

Anastro, Gaspar d’, a Spanish merchant
of Antwerp, saved from bankruptcy by
Philip II. on condition of assassinating
Prince of Orange, iii. 530.

Antwerp, city of, its cownurcial great¬
ness, i. 83; origin of its name and
escutcheon, ib.; its great commercial
houses, ib.; its civic institutions, ib.;
state of schools, 86; gorgeous pageant¬
ries in honour of Philip II., 135; re¬
joicings at supposed birth of heir of
Philip and Mary, 137; on occasion of
truce of Vaucelles, 152; rejoicings at
conclusion of peace of Cateau Cainbre-
sis, 201; popular outbreak at, on occa¬
sion of execution of Christopher Smith,
417; effects of republication of edicts
and canons of Trent on prospeiitv of
city, 449 ; enthusiastic reception of
William of Orange in 1566, 505; tu¬
mult at, in consequence of defeat of
sectarian force at Ostrawell, ii. 61; sub¬
mits to receive a garrison, 79; building
of citadel of, 147; desciiption of cita¬
del, tb. ; magistracy of Antwerp solicit
mercy for imprisoned citizens, 154;
proclamation of amnesty at, in 1570,
288; seized by mutinous Spanish troops,
533; engagements entered into by citi¬
zens to rid themselves of mutineers,
535; is again menaced by the Spanish
mutineers, iii. 95; its flourishing state
in the midst of general desolation, ib. ;
measures of defence, 97; confused
councils, 99; zeal of citizens of all
ranks in defence of city, 100; first can¬
nonade from the citadel, 101; exertions
of Clumpagny, 102; the morning be¬
fore the attack, 103; the attack, 104;
incidents of the struggle, 105; destruc¬
tion of the city, 10S; horrible mas¬
sacre, 109; atrocious acts committed

by Spanish soldiery to extort gold from
citizens, 110; dreadful spectacle pre¬
sented by the city after the massacre
and pillage, 113; speculations of vic¬
tors, 115; statistics of the slain, ib .;
negotiations with German troops after
seizure of citadel by De Pours, 243;
flight of mercenaries, 244; abortive at¬
tempt made by Puke of Anjou to seize
the city, 551; incidents of struggle be¬
tween burghers and followers of Duke
of Anjou, 552; defence of their conduct
published by the authorities of the
city, 561.

Antwerp, citadel of, plots and counter¬
plots for obtaining possession of, iii.
241; eventually gained for estates, 243;
razed to the ground on side towards
city, 257; popular fury against statute
of Alva, 258.

Apology of Prince of Orange in reply to-
Ban of King of Spain, iii. 481.

Architecture of Netherlands, i. 516; de¬
struction of architectural monuments-
by image-breakers, 517; cathedral of
Antwerp, 518.

Aremberg and Meghem despatched with
a Spanish force against Louis of Nassau,

ii. 183; meets Nassau near the monas¬
tery of the Holy Lion, 186; is defeated,
189; his death, ib.

Aristocracy, character of, at commence¬
ment of Regency of Margaret of Parma,

i. 246; views entertained by, with re¬
gard to the Church, 248.

Armenteros, Thomas de, despatched by
Regent to Spain, i. 370; his character,
371; his instructions, ib .; his first in¬
terview with Philip, 372; his cupidity
and venality, 411; his confidential in¬
timacy with the Regent, ib.

Army, rate of payment in Netherlands,

iii. 48, in note.

Arras, intrigues at, to weaken the alle¬
giance of Artois and other Walloon pro¬
vinces to patriot cause, iii. 387; muni¬
cipal revolution effected by Gosson,
389; counter-revolution, 390.

Arsens, Pierre, president of Artois, me¬
morialises Alva in favour of Egmont,

ii. 175.

Artois, estates of, their address to Philip

INDEX.

619

II. on his departure from Netherlands,
i 209.

Austria, Don John of, his romantic entry
into Netherlands, iii. 125; his birth,
129; early education, 132; tliealiical
disclosure of his imperial descent, 133,
enmity between him and Don Cailos,
tb.\ his campaigns against the Moors
and the Turks, 134; battle of Lepanto,
135; spread of his fame, 138; disobe¬
dience to Philip, 139; his plans upon
Mary Stuart and the kingdoms of
England and Scotland, 140; is ap¬
pointed Governor-General of the Ne¬
therlands, ib.; stops at Paris on his
way to Netherlands, and becomes en¬
amoured of Queen of Navarre, 141; his
personal beauty, 142; comparison be¬
tween him and William of Change, ib.;
instructions furnished to him by Philip,
143; false position in which he was
placed in Netherlands, 144; citizens of
Namur forbidden to take oath of alle¬
giance to him until he has complied
with preliminary demands of estates,
148; first interview with estates-gene-
ral at Luxemburg, 149; demands made
by deputies, ib .; reply to them, 150;
new discussions with deputies from
estates at Huy, 155; freedom of tone
used bj T deputies, ib .; his reply to thiee
questions put by deputies, ib.; declares
his intention not to maintain Treaty of
Ghent, 156; altercations with depu¬
ties, 157 ; concessions offered by him,
158; virtually accedes to Pacification
of Ghent, 159; desiies and endeavours
to conciliate Prince of Orange, 166; his
views as to position held by Orange in
estimation of Netherland people, 168;
repaiis to Louvain, 171; his affability
and popularity, 172; intercedes with
Philip in favour of commanders of
Spanish troops withdrawn from Nether¬
lands, 176; his triumphal entiance
into Brussels, 179; his hatred of
Netherlands, ISO; his correspondence
with, and betrayal by, Antonio Perez,
181; letters to Philip on his position in
Netherlands, 183; on relations with
England, 184; letters to Perez on same
subjects, 187 ; further communications

to Philip on the same subjects, 197,
makes new advances to Orange, 201;
issues edict commanding sliict enforce¬
ment of Canons of Trent, 213; his in¬
trigues with German troops in Nether
lands, 215; constant fears of capture
or assassination, 216; flies from Brus¬
sels to Mechlin, ib ; is informed by
Aerschot that Piince of Orange is plan¬
ning a violent seizure of his peison,
217; repairs to Namur to greet the
Queen of Navarre, 220; chivalrous re¬
ception given to Queen of Navarre,
223; treacherous seizure of castle of
Namur, 225; plan for seizure of citadel
of Antwerp, 227; reiterated complaints
to estates of conspiracies against his
life, 238; demands that soldiers and
citizens throughout Brabant shall he
disarmed, 239; and that a list of per¬
sons qualified to sit in general assembly
shall be submitted to him for elimina¬
tion, 240; requnes that estates shall
cease to hold communication with
Prince of Change if he does not fulfil
Tieaty of Ghent, ib.; requests to be
provided with a body-guard, ib.; reply
of estates to these demands, ib.; his
secret practices discovered by intercep¬
tion of Lis letters, ib.; furious com¬
plaints of intrigues of Orange, 241; re¬
sult of his projects on Antwerp cita¬
del, 245; rage at failure of his plan,
ib.; extraordinary demands addressed
by him to estates in letter of 7th of
August 1577, 246; letter to Empress-
dowager his sister, characterising the
Netherlanders as a bad people, and the
Prince of Orange as a perverse and
heretic tyiant, 249; his courtiers begin
to desert him, 250; letter to estates,
dated 13th August 1577, expressive of
his extreme desire for peace, 251; r e-
ply of estates to this letter, intimating
that his intercepted letters proved him
unworthy of their confidence, ib.; ar¬
rangement with Ayamonte and Idia-
quez for return of Spanish troops to
Flanders, 245; increasing bluntness of
tone assumed by estates in their cor¬
respondence with him, ib.; categorical
conditions of reconciliation stipulated

€20

INDEX.

by estates, ib.‘, attempted justification
of his own conduct in reply to estates,
256; requests a formal conference with
estates, accompanied by an exchange
of hostages, 25 7 ; new and harder con¬
ditions imposed on him by estates after
arrival of Prince of Orange in Brussels,
267; his extreme indignation at these
proposals, xb. ; leaves Namur for Lux¬
emburg after having despatched a final
communication to estates, 269; in¬
trigues with Duke of Guise, 274; de-
claied by estates-j;i.nerul an enemy si
the country, 2S9; letter to Emperor of
Germany, urging him to adopt the
cause of Spanish government in Nether¬
lands, 301; threat uttered in interview
with English envoy, Leyton, 303 • col¬
let ts an army at Luxemburg, ib. ; change
in his appearance, xb. ; issues a procla¬
mation in French, German, and Flem¬
ish, 304; military advantages possessed
by him, ib privileges conferred on
him by the Pope, 306; towns taken by
him after battle of Gemblours, and
atrocities committed, 314; preparations
for new campaign, 320; unsuccessful
efforts to rouse the King to a more de¬
cisive policy, 321; issues manifesto dis¬
solving estates, general and provincial,
ib.; renewed attempts at conciliation
with estates, 336; convention submit¬
ted to him by states-general, 338; is
rejected by him as iniquitous, 339;
forced to inactivity in his fortified camp
■of Bouge, gives himself up to despond¬
ency, 34 5; melancholy letter to An¬
drew Doria, 346; idem, to Pedro Men¬
doza, 347; idem to Philip II.. ib. ;
feeling death approaching, appoints
Alexander Farnese to be his successor,
349; his death supposed to be occa¬
sioned by poison, ib. ; his funeral rites,
350; mode in which his body was
transported through France to Spain,
352; presentation of the corpse to
Philip, ib.; retrospective view of his
character and capacities, 353.

Austria, House of, accession of, i. 54;
obtains absolute dominion over Flan¬
ders and other provinces, ib.

Austria, Matthias, Archduke of, invited

to Brussels by Catholic nobles, iii.
270; escapes secretly from Vienna and
repairs to Netherlands, 273; opposi¬
tion of Queen of England to his nomi¬
nation, 274; is received at Antwerp by
Orange, 275; is accepted as Governor-
General of Netheilands, 294; limita¬
tion of his power as such, ib .; articles
forming basis on which he was accepted,
295; ceremony of his inauguration, 296 ;
summons meeting of estates at Ant¬
werp to remonstrate against negotia¬
tions with Anjou, 477; departs from
Netherlands, 505; insignificance of
part played by him there, ib.

Austria, Maximilian of, marries Mary of
Burgundy, i. 53 ; his crafty policy, ib .;
Governor of the Netherlands during
minority of his children, 54; is taken
prisoner by the citizens of Bruges, ib .;
is released by the other estates, ib .;
swears to the treaty with the FUming-,
ib .; succeeds to the imperial throne,
56; intrigues to be elected Pope, 74.

Auto-da-fd on return of Philip II. to
Spain, i. 216; description of cere¬
monials observed at, 314.

Avila, Don Sancho d’, successful opeia-
tions against Louis of Nassau at Maas¬
tricht, ii. 520; defeats Louis in battle
of Mook, 524; opens communication
with mutineers while holding the cita¬
del of Antwerp, iii. 79; recognised as
chief of the mutiny, 96; gains over the
leaders of the German forces in the
city of Antwerp, ib.

Badovaro, testimony to Ruy Gomez* de¬
votion to Philip XX., i. 147.

Bakkerzeel, confidential secretary of Eg-
mont, his character, and influence over
his master, i. 437; his influence over
Egmont, and excessive cruelty, ii. 15;
arrested the same day as his master,
123; is suDjected to the torture to
extract his secrets, 128; is executed by
order of Alva, 234.

Ballads, popular, illustrative of Flemish
people’s view of Alva’s proceedings, u.
492, in note.

Ban against the Prince of Orange, issued
by King of Spain, iii. 480.

INDEX.

621

Bandes dordonnance, standing army of
Netherlands, i. 205.

Bardez, William, a warm partisan of
Prince of Orange, effects a municipal
revolution in Amsteulam, iii. 323.

Bartholomew, the massacre of, ii. 378;
rejoicings caused by, in Spanish camp
before Mons, 3S2.

Batavia, Island of, i. 1.

Batavians, cliaracteiistics of, i. 5 ; esteem
in which they were held by Eome, zb .;
form an alliance with Eome, 13; help
Grermanicus to crush the libeities of
their German kindLed, zb.; extinction
of name, 19.

Batenburg is despatched, at the head of
a considerable but htegular force, to
relieve Harlem, ii. 435; his plans dis¬
covered by Spaniards, ib .; is slain, and
his troops utterly routed, 436.

Bavaria, Duke William of, established as
Lord of Hainault, i. 40; is succeeded
by his bi other Albert, zb.

Beauvoir, Philip de Lannoy, Seigneur de,
attacks and disperses Tholouse’s force
at Ostrawell, ii. 60.

Bede or Bequest made to the e&tates in
1556, i. 154.

Beggars, the Wild, origin of the brother¬
hood, ii. 156; cruelties perpetrated by
them, ib .; of the Sea, laws given to
them by Prince of Orange, 315; of the
Sea, assembled by Boisot, for the re¬
lief of Leyden, 550.

Berg, Count Van den, brother-in law of
Orange, abandons his trust and flies the
country, ii. 406; seiious consequences
to patriot cause, ib ; delivers up the
important town of Zutfen to Parma,
iii. 574; is arrested and imprisoned,
575; he and all his sons take service
under Philip, ib.

Berghen, Marquis of, his detestation of
system of persecution, i. 332; refuses
to sign letter of nobles to Philip, com¬
plaining of Grranvelle, 365; his sickness
and death at Madrid, ii. 131; confisca¬
tion of his property, ib.

Bvii'laymont, Baron, his character, i. 100 ;
member of State-Council appointed by
Philip, 225; various opinions of his
character, ib .; attempts to conciliate

both parties, and discredits himself
with both, 365; accepts the ofhce oi
member of the Blood Council, ii. 136.

Berty, Secretary, sent by Eegent on a
special mission to Antwerp, to gam
William of Orange, ii. 82; prevails
upon the Prince to hold an interview
with other seigniors at Willebroek, ib.

Billy, Seigneur de, despatched to Spain
by Margaret of Parma, to represent the
inexpediency of sending Alva to Nethei -
lands, ii. 80; warns lSgmont of the
coming danger, 117; and lulls Horn
into false security, 118.

Bishops, number of, increased, i. 25S;
Bull of Paul IV., authorising electron
of new bishoprics, 252; dissatisfaction
created by this measure, 262.

Bias, Bertrand le, a velvet manufacturer
of Tournay, takes the consecrated wafer
from the hands of a priest in cathedral,
and tramples it under foot, i. 324;
frightful punishment invented for him,
325.

Blomberg, Barbaia, mother of Don John
of Austiia, iii. 129; her shiewish char¬
acter the torment of Alva’s life, 130.

Boards of Council, therr constitution, i.
203; number of, ib.

Boisot, Admiral, assembles a fleet for the
relief of Leyden, ii. 550- gradual ad¬
vance with force towards Leyden, 552;
captuies Zoeteiwoude, 560; despairs
of passing fortress of Laurmen, 561; is
relieved by flight of Spaniaids, 562;
enteis Leyden, ib .; abortive attempt to
lelieve Zierickzee, iii. 67 ; death of, zb.

Boisot, Charles van, slain by his own
soldiers at Duiveland, iii. 38.

Boideaux, treaty of, signed by Duke of
Anjou, on accepting soveieignty of
Netherlands, iii. 522.

Bossu, Count, appointed commander-in¬
chief of patriot army, iii. 326; worsts
the royalists near Bijnemants, zb.;
avoids a geneial engagement with ene¬
my, 327; suspicions against him, ib. •
his death calumniously attributed to
poison administered by Prince of
Orange, 318.

Bourbon, Charlotte of, her early history,
iii. 22; marries William of Orange, 26.

«22

INDEX.

Bours, De, carries Antwerp citadel for
the estates, iii. 242; is induced by
Peter Lupus to become a traitor to
Orange and the patriot cause, 450; sur¬
renders the city, 451.

Bouzet, Blaise, a cobbler of Mons, hanged
for eating meat soup on a Friday, ii 393.

Brabant, ancient constitution of, called
the “Joyeuse Entrde,” i. 262 ; compro¬
mise in, between abbeys and bishops,
310; four principal cities of, enter
solemn protestation against edicts, as
violations of the Joyeuse Entree, 450;
declared free of the Inquisition, 451.

Bray, Guido de, a Reformed preacher of
Valenciennes, ii. 76; his answer to the
Countess of Roeulx, 77; his firmness
under the gibbet, zb.

Breda, negotiations for peace opened at,
iii 15; closing of conferences, 19.

Brederode, his personal appearance and
character, i. 100; his efforts to make
Granvelle ridiculous, 342; his devotion
to Egmont, and insulting conduct to
Archbishop of Cambray, 427; one of
the first to sign Compromise, 461; se¬
lected to present Request to Regent,
477; his genealogical claims to sove¬
reignty of Netherlands, id .; his habits
and character, 478; his famous ban¬
quet to confederates, 486; accused of
eating capons on Good Friday, 491; his
eccentricities during the autumn and
winter of 1566, ii. 50; presents new
Petition of Request to Regent, 56;
enrols troops against government, and
contemplates an attempt against Wal-
cheren, 57 ; proposes to march to the
relief of Valenciennes, 59; his ridicu¬
lous conduct at Amsterdam, 89; ar¬
rests La Torre, sent thither by Regent
to obtain from magistracy his forcible
ejection from the city, 90; makes his
submission to Margaret of Parma, ib .;
dies in Germany, 91; fate of his fol¬
lowers, ib.

Brill, attack and capture of fortress of,
by Beggars of the Sea, ii. 344; vain
attempt at recapture by Spaniards,
346; population takes oath of allegi¬
ance to Prince of Orange as stadtholder,
347*

Biueuil, commandant of St. Quentin,
applies for reinforcements to resist
attack of Spanish army, i, 172.

Bruges, inhabitants of, present remon¬
strances to Regent, against proceedings
of Peter Titelmann, the inquisitor, i.
418; successful resistance of citizens
of, to scheme of Anjou to seize the
city, iii. 548; city of, surrendered by
Piince of Chimay to Spanish govern¬
ment, 579; Accord signed at, allow¬
ing Protestants to leave the country,
ib.

Bruges, John of, disciple of Hubert Van
Eyck, i. 46.

Brussels, character of the city, i. 96;
meeting of states-general of Brussels
at, on occasion of abdication of Chailes
V., 97; preparations for execution of
Egmont and Horn, ii. 199; forced re¬
joicings on occasion of Alva’s triumph¬
ant return after first campaign against
Orange, 257; revolt against Spaniards,
iii. 77; new Act of Union signed 10th
December 1577, guaranteeing rights of
Catholics and Protestants, 290; third
and last confederation of all the
Netherlands, 292; ceremony of the
inauguration of Archduke Matthias,
as Governor-General of Netherlands,
297; rage of people against nobles after
battle of Gemblours, 314; complete
defence of, zb.

Buren, Count de, son of William of
Orange, kidnapped by Alva, and sent
to Spain, ii. 152; change in his char¬
acter under Spanish influence, 153.

Burgher class, power of, in Netherlands,
i. 42.

Burgundy, Margaret of, marries William
of Hainault, i. 40.

Burgundy, Mary of, succeeds her father,
Charles the Bold, i. 49; people of
Netherlands rise against her to recover
their liberties, 50; Louis XI. seizes
her Burgundian inheritance, ib.; grants
the “ Groot Privilegie ” and other char¬
ters, ib .; intrigues with Louis XI., 52;
marries Maximilian of Austria, 53;
is succeeded by her son Philip, 54.

Burgundy, Philip of, sumamed The
Good, succeeds to the Lordships of

INDEX.

62h

Holland, Zeland, and Hainault, i. 41;
his other possessions, ib. ; marries Isa¬
bella ot Portugal, 42; institutes order
of Golden Fleece, .ib.; curtails the
hbeities of the Netherlands, 43; his
death, 46; his numerous grants of
clutters of monopoly, ib.; his char¬
acter and administration—his encour¬
agement of art and liteiature, ib.

buigunduri library, founded at Brussels
by Philip the Good, i. 47.

'Cabiera, biographer of Philip II., his
euiogiuin of autos da-iV, i. 316; main¬
tains that Don Cailos died a natural
death, ii. 226.

Calais taken by Duke de Guise, i. 136.

Callerg, Thomas, tapestry weaver, of
Tourney, burned alive for having
copied some hyipns, i. 323.

Cambray, Archbishop of, insulted by
nobles, at banquet given in honour of
Egmont, i. 427; his chaiacter, 429.

Caiuiciata, or mock assault on Home in
1557, i. 102.

C'araffa, Cardmal, endeavours to excite
France against Spain, i. 153; goes to
Pans as legate of the Pope, ib.; his
duplicity, 159.

Carlos, Don, son of Philip II., absuidity
of repiesenting him as loving his step¬
mother, ii. 221; Philip’s seciet letteis
to the Pope concerning him, ib .; sup¬
positions and accounts relating to his
death, 222; his chaiacter, 227; in¬
stances of his excessive ferocity and
malignity, 22S; his hatred of his
fatliei, and indignation at Alva’s nomi¬
nation to government of Netheilands,
231.

Casimir, Prince-palatine of Pfalz, joins
Netherland patriots with twelve thou¬
sand men, iii. 327; his chaiacter and
motives, ib.; is held in contempt by i
Orange, 323; motives of Queen Eliza¬
beth for entrusting him with command
of her levies, ib .; foments insurrection
at Ghent, 365; his mercenaiies pillage
the southern provinces, $.; difficulties
of his position, 376; repeated rebukes
of Queen of England, ib.; is relieved
oy Prince of Orange, and rewards him

with ingiatitude, ib .; leaves Nether¬
lands, 377 ; repairs to England, ib.;
is invested with the Order of the Gar¬
ter, ib ; his German troops expelled
from Netheilands by Duke of Parma,
37S.

Castillo, John de, punishment of, for be¬
traying correspondence of Philip II.
with Prince of Orange, ni.

Cateau CninbtLsb, tieaty of, i. 199.

Celtic and German races, characteiistic
distinctions of, i. 6; difference of poli¬
tics, 7; of social arts, 8; of religion, 9;
of social characteristics, 10.

Cerbelloni, Gabriel de, one of the archi¬
tects of the famous citadel of Antweip,
ii. 147.

Cercamp, congress of, i. 193.

Champagny, his conduct as governor of
city of Antwerp, during struggle against
Spanish mutineers, ni. 93; makes his
escape from Antwerp, 107; as leader
of Catholic party, presents a petition
to magistiacy of Brussels against the
draft of a religious peace, drawn up by
Prince of Orange, 343; consequent riots
and arrest of nobles, 344; is carried to
Ghent, ib.

Charles V., his birth, i. 56; issues the
document called the Kalf Vel, or calf
skin, 61; resolves to quell insurrection
in Flanders, 63; enttance into Ghent,
ib.; pronounces sentence on the city,
64; promulgates new form of municipal
goveinment, 65; his cruel treatment of
the citizens, 66; his hypocritical be¬
nignity, ib ; his proceedings against the
Pirfuimation, 77; his sanguinary per¬
secution of heretics in the Netherlands,
80; ceieinonies on occasion of his
abdication, 97; his personal appeal ance,
102; his address to the states on abdica¬
tion, 106; his oppression of Nether¬
lands, 111; introduces Inquisition into
Netherlands, 113; his mock piety, 115;
his popularity in Netheilands, 116; his
accomplishments, ib.; his personal
qualities, 117; and person il habits,
122; difficulties relative to his abdica¬
tion, 123; his reverses, 125; causes
which led to his abdication, 123; his

' retirement at Juste, 129; liis endca-

624

INDEX.

vours to secure the succession in Ne- ; Claudius Civilus, a Batavian noble, effects
therlands to his sisters, in case of j a general confederation of the Nether-
default or direct male issue, 134; his land tribes, i. 14 ; is unsuccessful, and

obsequies at Brussels, 201.

Charles of BuigumH, surnamed the Bold,
his character and caiecr, i. 47; extor¬
tions practised by him in Netherlands,
48: he removes the supreme court of
Holland from the Hague to Mechlin,
49; invests it with supreme jurisdiction
over the charters of the provinces, ib .;
proclaims all its authority derived from
his will, ib .; centralises government of
NttheLlauds, ib.; establishes a standing
army, ib.; dies, 1477, ib.

Charles, Archduke of Austria, despatched
to Madrid by Maximilian II. on a
special mission concerning state of Ne¬
therlands and proceedings of William
of Orange, ii. 261; public and private
letter of King of Spain, ib .; is author¬
ised by Maximilian to offer to Philip
the hand of the Archduchess Anne,
206.

Charles IX., of France, alarmed at the
crossing of the Fiench frontier by
Prince of Orange and his army, ii. 253;
letter to Louis of Nassau expressive of
liis determination to assist Netherlands,
370; gives the signal for the St. Bar¬
tholomew massacre, 378; duplicity of
his dealings with Alva and Orange,
381; change of tone on.- perceiving the
effects of the St. Bartholomew on the
various courts of Europe, 463; distress
at desertion of his cause by King of
Spam, ib .; designs upon the crown of
Poland, 404.

Charters, earliest in Netherlands, i. 35;

ancient, of Netherland provinces, 262.
Chimay, Prince of, eldest son of Duke of
Aerschot, is elected Governor of Flan¬
ders, iii. 575; immediately opens ne¬
gotiations with Parma for delivering
up the province to Philip, ib.

Church, depravity of Homan Catholic, i.
75.

Cities, growth of, i. 34; earliest charters,
35; acquire right to send deputies to
estates of the provinces, 37; allowed to
choose their chief magistrates, ib.;
number of, 91.

is deserted by his countrymen, 15;
enters into negotiations with the Ho¬
mans, 15; meets Ceiialis on the bridge
across the Nabalia, ib.

Clergy, power of, i. 09; decline of power,
71; their opposition to canons of Trent,
438.

Cocqucville, De, commanding a division
under Louis of Nassau, is defeated at
St. VaMry, ii. 180.

Coligny, Admiral, appointed Governor of
Picardy, leceives orders to make foray
on Frontiers of Flanders,!. 164; shrinks
from breaking truce signed by himself,
165; is foiled in attack on Douay,
166; attacks and sacks Lens, ib.;
throws himself into St. Quentin, 173;
is taken prisoner at St. Quentin, 182;
is converted to Calvinism during Flem¬
ish captivity, 185; makes peace with
the French court, ii. 312; memoir on
invasion of Netherlands, drawn up by
desire of Charles IX., 313.

Cologne, conferences at, for settlement of
disputes between King of Spain and Ne¬
therland provinces, in. 440; failure of
conferences after seven months of use¬
less negotiation, 44S; ultimatum of
patriot party, ib .; expenses incurred
by envoys to conferences, ib.

Commerce carried on with England and
the Baltic, i. 36; with Mediterranean,
37.

Commission of Troubles established at
Mons after capitulation, ii. 392; cruel
and unjust proceedings of, zb.; in¬
famous sentiments of commissioners,
394.

Compromise, foundation of league thus
called, i. 458; contents of the docu¬
ment signed, 464; character of hoble<
who joined in league, 467; growing
audacity and turbulence of confederates,
468; they propose to present a Request
to Regent, 472; entrance ol confede¬
rates into Brussels, 478; procession of
confederates to deliver Request, 479;
confederates present a second address
promising to maintain the ancient Te-

INDEX.

ligion, 484; assembly of members at
St. Troncl, 511.

Conjuring books consulted by Augustus
of Saxony, ii. 525, in note.

Constitution, new, of Holland and Zeland,
lii. 536.

Consulta, its constitution, i. 204; its
members, ib.

Convention between England and Spain
with regard to the Netherlands diffi¬
culty, published 1573, ii. 460.

Cornaille, Piene, locksmith and Calvinist
preacher, places himself at the head of
3,000 combatants to march to the aid
of Valenciennes, ii. 46; is defeated at
Laiinw/, 47.

Cossb, Governor of Picardy, beats army
of Netkeiland patriots at St. Valbry,
ii. 180.

Coster, Lorenz, introduces the use of
moveable types, i. 45.

Council, general executive, for United
Provinces, established 15S1, iii. 48S;
constitution of council, ib.

Council of Philip II., how constituted, i.
145.

Council, royal, of Spain, how constituted,

ii. 4.

Council of State, assumes the reins of
government at death of Reqnesens,

iii. 53; names of members, ib .; con¬
firmed in government by King, 62;
members held captive in Brussels, 73;
falls into contempt on account of in¬
ability to put down mutiny, ib .; is
formally arrested, 90; members again
liberated, 91.

Council of Troubles, or Blood-Council,
established by Alva, ii. 132; its con¬
stitution and functions, ; its first
session, 138; mode of procedure, 139;
number of victims sacrificed, 140;
senseless pretexts for prosecutions,
142; abolition of the institution, iii. 4.

Court, organisation of Flemish, during
reign of Philip II., i. 144.

Culembuig is cited before the Blood-
Council, ii. 150.

Dathenus, Peter, a converted monk and
Reformed preacher, i. 499; his char¬
acter, ib.

VOL. III. 2

Delft, diet assembled at, unanimously
resolves to throw off allegiance to the
King of Spain, and seeks foreign assist¬
ance, iii. 42; the estates of Holland and
Zeland assembled at, conclude a new
act of union, 57; articles of union of,
58; character of league concluded at,
ib .; assembly of United Provinces at,
in 1581, establish a general executive
council, 488; description of the city
and of the house of Prince of Orange,
582.

Dendermonde, meeting of nobles at, ii.
32.

Diaz, Francisco, a Spanish soldier, cap¬
tures Admiral Coligny at storming of
St. Quentin, i. 1S2.

Diemen, Vrouw van, a woman of eighty
years, beheaded for having given a
night’s lodging to a heretic preachei,

ii. 219.

Diikzoon, Arent, and three other eccle¬
siastics, put to death for heresy, ii.
273.

Dort, Congress of, resolves to support
Orange with blood and money, ii. 369;
invests the Prince virtually with dicta¬
torial power, 371.

Douay, city of, betrayed by an old gamb¬
ler, saved by an old woman, i. 165,

166.

Duiveland and Schouwen, expedition to,

iii. 33; heroism of Spaniards, 37; con¬
quest of the islands effected, 38; iim¬
portant results of expedition, 40.

Dunkerk taken by assault, i. 189.

Edict of 1550, its leading provisions, i.
254; of the 24th of May 1567, against
Protestants, excites the wrath of Philip

[ on account of its clemency, ii. 94;
against Spanish mutineers, iii. 72;
dissensions caused by it, 74; Perpe¬
tual, signed at Marche en Famine,
and at Brussels, 160; provisions of this

. document, ib. ; is confirmed by Philip,
161; displeases Orange, 162; tendencies
of treaty, 164; published in Holland,
suspending exercises of Romish wor¬
ship, 491; cause of these measures, ib.

Education, flourishing condition of, L

86 .

R

626

INDEX.

Egmond, Nicholas of, a Carmelite monk,
appointed coadjutor of Inquisitor-gene¬
ral, i. 318.

Egmont, Anne of, the greatest heiress in
Netheilands, married to William of
Orange, i. 234.

Egmont, Countess of, her desolate state
after her husband's arrest, ii. 159; en¬
deavours to save her husband, 160;
lier misery and poverty after her hus¬
band’s death, 207.

Egmont, Lamoral, Count of, his personal
appearance, i. 100; his biilliant victo¬
ries in Picardy determine the issue of
the Italian campaign, 161; his charac¬
ter, descent, and early history, 168;
persuades Duke of Savoy to deliver
battle to Montmorency before St. Quen¬
tin, 175; conduct and battle of St.
Quentin, 177; assumes the field against
De Thermes, 190; conduct at battle of
Gravelines, 191; becomes the idol of
the army, 193; gains the enmity of
Duke of Alva, 194; one of hostages
for execution of treaty of Cateau
Cambresis, 199; his enmity to Car¬
dinal Granvelle, 275; and Orange com¬
plains to the King of Cardinal Gran¬
velle, 282; joins Orange and Horn in
a letter to Philip, showing danger of
leaving unlimited power in hands of
Granvelle, 361; quarrel with Aerschot,
363; andAremberg, 364; his reckless¬
ness and indiscretion, ib .; declines
Philip’s invitation to come to Spain,
368; adoption of fool’s-cap liveries, in
order to humiliate Granvelle, 387;
growing favour at Eegent’s court, 410;
cultivates the good graces of lower
classes, ib .; accepts a mission to Spain,
425; outrageous conduct of nobles to
Archbishop of Cambray on occasion of
Egmont’s passing through that city on
his way to Spain, 426; distinction
with which he is treated in Spain,
430; returns from Spain to Nether¬
lands expressing himself perfectly con¬
tent, 434; gives an account to the
council of his interview with the King,
and a statement of the royal intentions,
id.; his high commendations of Philip
and warm expressions of loyalty, 435;

his indignation at Philip’s duplicity,
436; influence of Bakkerzeel over him,
437; returns to his government of
Flanders and acts as an unscrupulous
partizan of government, ii. 13; views
expressed at meeting at Dendermonde,
34; offers to throw himself into Wal-
cheren to oppose rebels, 5S; proceeds
with Aerschot to Valenciennes, on
mission from Regent, 72; suggests
point of assault on Valenciennes, 74;
his zeal in carrying out the wishes of
Philip and Margaret, 75; declares, in
interview with Orange at Willebroek,
his attention on no account whatsoever
to take up arms agiinst King of Spain,
84; proceeds to Tirlemont to receive
and compliment Alva, 110; his infa¬
tuation as regards the danger that
threatened himself, 117; his intimacy
with Alva’s son, 120; his arrest, 122;
commencement of mnck process against
him, 157 ; judgment pronounced against
him, 159; endeavours made to save
him, 160; charges against him, 170;
his reply to these, 171; is sentenced
to death by Alva, 194; is informed of
his doom by Bishop of Ypics, 195; his
last night, ib .; his letter to the King,
197; his execution, 200; sympathy of
the people, 203, in note; his head
sent td Madrid, 204; retrospective
view of his character, ib.

Egmont, Lamoial, the younger, impli¬
cated in Salsecla’s scheme to poison
Orange and Anjou, iii. 544; escapes
punishment on account of his relation¬
ship to Queen of France, 545.

Egmont, Philip, Count of, accompanies
Marquis of Havid to Antwcip, iii. 98;
is taken prisoner by the Spaniards, 117;
attempts to seize Brussels to deliver it
over to the Spaniards, 41S; his com¬
plete disCum fume, 419; is allowed to
depart unscathed, 420; mendacious at¬
tempts to clear himself of blame, ib .;
base endeavours to obtain favour of
Spanish government, ib.

Electors of Get many, their appeal ta
Emperor in favour of Netherlands,
ii. 260.

Elizabeth of Ensdand, her quarrel with

INDEX

627

Duke of Alva, ii. 270; plot against her i
enteied into by Philip, 323; accused of
having hired an assassin to attempt the
life cf Prince John of Nassau, 541, see
note; coquetting policy with legald to
Nctheilands, iii. 43; sovereignty over
Zelancl and Holland offeied to, 44; first
answer to commissioners from these
states, 45; empty promises and paltry
concessions, 46; attitude assumed to¬
wards N» thcilands after death of Re-
quesens, 63; makes advances to Prince
of Orange, 271; indignation at intrigues
of nobles with Archduke of Austria,
273; her minister informs Netherlands
envoy that she will withdraw all suc¬
cour from provinces if Orange be de¬
prived of his leadership, 274; reply of
Mectkercke, ib .; consents to a treaty
of alliance and subsidy with Nether¬
lands, 293; conditions of treaty, ib .;
ihami^ to withdiaw herself from the
cause of Nctheiland patriots, and even
to take up arms against them, on ac¬
count of their friendly relations with
Alencon, 334.

u Encamisada,” or nocturnal attack made
by Don Frederic of Toledo and Julian
Romero on Prince of Orange’s army at
Hermigny, ii. 3S6.

Entes, Barthold, one of the Beggars of
the Sea, character and career, ni. 470;
his death before Groningen, 471.

Erasmus of Rottftidam, his testimony to
the power and importance of Ghent, i.
CO; his moderation, 73; upholds Lu¬
ther, 76; is attacked by the clergy, ib.

Escoriul, palace of the, erected in com-
Lueuitnation of battle of St. Quentin, i.
ISO.

Escovedo, secretary to Don John of Aus-
tiia, entrusted with airangements for
depnitiue of Spanish troops fioxn Ne-
tbcilands, iii. 173; difficulties of his
task, 174; communications to Philip
on subject of departuie of the tioops,
175; letters to Antonio Perez on state
of affairs in Netherlands, 185; suggests
the lecall of Don John and the appoint¬
ment of a woman as governor, ib .; ex¬
presses to Peiez his willingness to enter
into scheme for assassination of Prince

of Orange, 194; suggests to Philip the
benefit to be derived from pitting the
Reformed and Catholic parties against
each other, 196; departs for Madrid,
and takes charge of a remonstrance
from estates of Brabant to the King
as to the evil consequences of the
course pursued by his Majesty’s gover¬
nor in Nethei lands, 223; plots against
him at Madrid, 230; his death deter¬
mined on, ib .; various attempts at,
and ultimate success of, murder, 232;
rewards given to assassins, ib.

Eslesmes, Francois de Glarges, Seigneur
d’, an innocent Catholic gentleman,
condemned to death by Blood-Council
at Mons, and his property confiscated
to enrich Noiicarmes, ii. 394.

Espinoy, Mary de Montmorency, Princess
ot, undertakes defence of Tournay, in
absence of her husband, iii. 512.

Estates of Holland, assembled at Dort to
take formal measures for renouncing
the authoiity of Alva, ii. 36S; and
Zeland offers suve i c. i rnty over provinces
to a French prince, iii. 64.

Estates-General, their power, i. 85; their
constituent elements, ib .; remonstrance
against foreign troops, 210; clamour of
people and nobles for convocation ot,
iii. 204; address letters to Philip of
24th August and Sth September 1577,
on state of Netherlands, 258; formally
declare Don John of Austria to have
forfeited his offices and to be an enemy
of the country, 289; declare themselves
willing to accept Archduke Matthias
as Governor-Geneial, 295; in theii own
name, and that of Archduke Matthias,
demand of Philip the recall ©f Don
John, and the maintenance of the
Pacification of Ghent, 319; summoned
in return to obey the King’s commands,
ib .; affirm their resolution never more
to submit to Spanish tyranny, or re¬
turn to the piinciples of Charles V.
and of Alra, ib.; efforts to avert the
approaching dismemberment of coun¬
try, 398; deputations sent to Walloon
piovinces to endeavour to reconcile
contending parties, 410; solemn ap¬
peal addressed to seceding provinces'

628

INDEi.

412: invited by Parma to accept terms
offeied to Walloons, and to restore
system of Charles V., 413; bitter
reply, ib.

Estates of United Provinces formally
offer the general government to Prince
of Orange, hi. 571.

Estonteville, succeeds to Thermes, i. 1S9.

Eyck, Van, John and Hubert, attracted
to Bruges by generosity of Philip the
Good, i. 46.

Faveau and Mallait, Protestant ministers*
condemned to death for reading Bible,
i. 332; attempt of the people to rescue
them, 333; their escape, 3‘34; Faveau
recantuied and burnt, tb.

Flanders, refuses to recognise Maximilian
as governor, i. 45; is subdued and
obliged to nake humble submission,
55; the fom estates of, present solemn
address to King against monstrous pro¬
ceedings of Peter Titelmann, 419; no¬
minally pacified by cruel exertions of
Egrnont, ii. 15 ; outbreak of anti-Catlio-

* lie revolution in, iii, 2S6.

Fleece, order of Golden, instituted by
Philip of Burgundy, i. 42; assembly of
knights of the, convoked by the Regent
in 1562, 346; subsequent meeting at
Prince of Orange’s, 347; meeting dis¬
solved, 34S ; chevaheis of the, declare
to the Regent that it is below the dig¬
nity of any of their older to take a long
and troublesome journey in order to
accuse Granvelle, 369; statutes of, ap¬
pealed to, with a view to saving Counts
Egmont and Horn, ii. 159; set aside
by Philip, 161; legal mode of pro¬
ceeding against knights of, 163, in
note

Fleet, Portuguese, captured by insurgent
patriots, ii. 365.

Flushing, the town of, rises in rebellion
after capture of Brill, and ejects
bpauish government, ii. 348.

Friesland, separation of West and East,
ii 3S; political constitution of East,
? b.; the people of East, elect the Duke
of Saxony podesta, 56; sold by him to
house of Austria, ib.

Fiisians, territory inhabited by, i. 6;

accept Chiistianity, 21; eventually
subdued by the Franks, 22; their
ancient laws, 27.

Fuente, Ponce de la, his bones burnt at
Seville, i. 217.

Fury, the Spanish, iii. 114.

Gemblours, battle of, iii. 306; defeat of
patriots, 309; cruelty of victors to¬
wards captives, 311; names of com¬
manders in victorious Spanish army,
312.

Genlis, is despatched to France for rein¬
forcements after capture of Mons, ii'
372; returns with a Huguenot force,
which is routed by the Spaniards, 373;
is taken captive and subsequently pul
to death, ib.

Gdrard, Balthazar, murderer of Prince
of Orange, receives the protection of
Orange under the name of Guion, iii.
5S3; personal appearance, parentage,
and education, 584: long-noun shed
determination to murder Prince of
Orange, 5S5; lays his project before
Parma, 5S7; is considered unfit for the
task, 5S8; draws up a written statement
of his plan, by desiie of Asaonlcvillo,
589 ; his motives for the murder, ib ; is
at length approved fit by Paima, 590 ;
pioceeds to put his plan into execu¬
tion, 591; the deed done, 594; is
seized and put to the torture, 595;
hoirible sentence passed upon him,
597; the rewaid of his crime paid by
Philip to his heiis, 598.

Germany, state of religious parties in
1576, iii. l>5.

Ghent, convention of, i. 50; its wealth
and power, 60; its constitution, 61;
insurrection of, under Chailcs V., 0.7;
its privileges and immunities annulled,
64; humiliation of citizens of, 65; con-
M'utiuU of provinces, 216; congress
of, in >1576, iii. 87; tieaty of u ! n
with William of Orange and estates
of Holland and 2eland, 122; stormy
meetings of estates at, after arrival of
Duke of Aerschot in capacity of Gover¬
nor of Flanders, 230; paity dissensions
at, 282; commencement of revolution,
285; nobles and community of, pub-

INDEX.

629

lish vindication of revolution; 286. j
effect of revolution throughout Nel
theilands, 287; pageantries on occa¬
sion of visit of Prince of Orange after
the insurrection, 288; dissensions be¬
tween malcontents and burghers, 365;
act of accord between contending par¬
ties meditated by Prince of Oiange, 371;
remonstrances addiessed to magistracy
by Queen of England, ib ; by envoys
from states-general at Brussels, ib .;
fresh riots, 372; continued anarchical
state of, 434; government of, opens
negotiations with Parma, 576; effoits of
other states to dissuade them from pro¬
posed step, ib. ; negotiations brought to
a sudden close, 578.

Goard, St., French ambassador at Madrid,
urges Philip II. to command the im¬
mediate execution of Genlis and other
Huguenot prisoners in Netherlands, ii.
3S0; statement of i cairns of Maximi¬
lian II. for meditating between Nether¬
lands and King of Spain, iii. 12
Godelaevus, testimony to emotion of
Flemish people, on abdication of
Chailes V., i. 110.

Gomez, Ruy, his hatred to Alva, i. 145 •
early history, 146; influence over
Philip, 147; character and acquire¬
ments, ib. ; endeavours to prevent the
mission of to Netherlands, ii. 100 ;
continued jealousy and hatred between
him and Alva, ib. ; perfidious conduct
to Monsieur Eerghen in his last moments,
130.

Gonzaga, Ferdinand, advises Philip II,
to march on Paris after battle of St-
Quentin, i. 180.

Gosson, leader of the burgess faction m
Arras, iii. 3S8; effects a municipal re¬
volution in city, 3S9; counter revolu¬
tion and retaliation, ib. ; condemned to
death and executed, 392.

Grandfoit, I)r., called “the Light of the
World,” i 73; denounces (.LLkria^tnal
enors, ib. ; disputes the infallibility of
the Pope and various popish doctrines,
ib.

Grange, Peregrine de la, Protestant
preacher at Valenciennes, urges citizens
to refuse to admit a mercenary garrison,

ii.44; hanged after surrender of city;
77; his last words, ib.

Granvelle, the elder, his influence with
Charles V., i. 121.

Granvelle, Anthony Perrenot, Bishop of
Arras, afterwards Cardinal, pronounces
address to Flemish people for Philip
II. on abdication of Charles V., i. 108;
advises the re-enactment of edict of
1550, 153; disapproves of war with
France and the Pope, 161; negotiations
with the Cardinal of Loriaine, at Per-
rone, 187; appointed chief of the
Consulta, 241; his paientage and
education, ib. ; acquiies the favour
and confidence of Charles V, ib. ; his
mental and moral characteristics, ib.;
his political principles, 243; his con¬
tempt for the people, 244; his extra¬
ordinary industry, ib ; his liches and
covetousness, ib.; is appointed Arch¬
bishop of Mechlin, 264; his glowing
unpopularity, ib. ; inaemnifies himself
for pecuniary loss acciumg to him by
acceptance of Aichbishopiic of Mechlin,
265; his zeal in ferreting out heietics,
271; Margaret of Parma obtains for
him the cardinal’s hat, 272; his growing
assumption, and unfriendly relations
with Egmont, 274; his early intimacy
with Oiange, 275; breach with
Orange, 277; prejudices Philip against
Count Horn, 280; suggests to the
King his answers to remonstrances
of Nethciland nobles, 2S2; his in¬
trigues lelative to the marriage of
Prince of Oiange with Princess of Lor¬
raine, 295; his entry into city of
Mechlin, as archbishop, 310; his bane¬
ful influence on Philip, 332; his zeal
in carrying out Philip’s views itg udmg
Inquisition, 333; inci easing hatred of
the people to him, 335; lampoons
directed against him, 337; hostility of
nobles towards him, 339; 'anMunded
accusations of cowardice, 343; his
countiy house of La Fuiriame, zb •
shunned by gieat nobles, surrounds
himself with their inferiors, 344; his
reports to Philip on proceedings in
Netheilands, regarding introduction
of Inquisition, and accusations and

630

INDEX.

innuendoes against nobles, 350 sug¬
gests to Philip how to proceed towards
Netheiland nobles, and in interviews
with Montigny, 355; lays a scheme
with King and Regent to sow dissen¬
sions among nobles, 356; acquires
knowledge of joint letter of Orange,
Egmont, and Horn, and instructs Philip
how to reply, 363; his acknowledgment
of his own unpopularity, 366; continued
leports regarding, and artful insinua¬
tions against, nobles, 374; lecommends
Philip to come to Netheilands to allay
the lising storm, 383; contemptuous i
expressions against the people, 384;
approaching crisis in his fate, 385;
dehum mat lou of nobles to insult and
humiliate him, 3SG; is recalled by
Philip, 392; departure from Biussels,
304; carries out the deception regard¬
ing his retirement, as planned by
Philip, 396; his adherents deceived by
his and the King’s duplicity, 397; his
life in retirement, 398; turned into
ridicule by nobles at masquerade in
Count Mnn-feM's house, 404; aban¬
dons all idea of returning to Nether¬
lands, and repairs to Rome, 405; is
employed by Philip to negotiate tieaty
between Spain, Rome, and Venice, ?b ;
is made viceroy of Naples, and returns
to Madiid in 1575, 406; dies there,
1586, id.; policy devised by him and
Spinosa, for entire subjugation of
Netherlands, ii. 79; his duplicity as
regards capture of Netheiland nobles,
126; regret at escape of William of
Oiange, 127; cruel insinuations against
Egmont, ib.; exultation at dis^intitule
of Prince of Oiange in fiist campaign
against Alva, 256.

Giavelines, battle of, i. 191.

Gresham, Sir Thunns, his anticipation of
coming stoim in Netheilands, ii. IS;
testimony to excessive fury of citizens
of Antwerp during tumult subsequent to
defeat of Ostrawell, 68.

Giiet-mann, chief ruler of an East Fries¬
land district, i. 38.

Groningen, city of, delivered up to Prince
of Parma by Count Renneberg, iii. 466;
beleaguered by patriot forces, ib .;

i siege of, 470; death of Entes, 471-
siege laised by defeat of Hohenlo on
Hardenberg Heath, 473.

“ Groot Pi ivilegie,” the Magna Charta of
Holland, granted by Maiy of Burgundy,
i. 50.

“ Gueux,” origin of the appellation as a
paity name, i. 481; vindication of this
origin in opposition to Gachard, 482, in
note; adoption of the name and of the
symbols, 487; adoption of costume, 490 •
ultimate fate of the confederates, ii. 91

Guilds, institution of, l. 34; military, S7;
literary, it?.

Guines, reduction of, i. 186.

Guise, Duke of, is defeated by Alva in
Italian campaign, i. 161; is recalled
from Italy to take command on Flemish
frontieis, impelilled by Egmont; ; is
reproved by Pope, 162; assembles a now
army, 186; takes Calais by assault, ?5.;
renews h- "jtih tics by attack on Thionville,
188 ; neglects to follow up his successes
in Flanders, 189; assembles a new army
at Pierrepont, 197.

Ilammes, Nicholas de, his zeal in promo¬
tion of the Compromise league, 463; his
imprudent impetuosity, 464.

Harangue, the, document issued by William
of Oiange, and addressed to princes of
Germany, ii. 333.

Haiing, John, heroic conduct in battle of
the Diemerdyk, ii. 42S; loses his life in
naval engugumuit in the Zuyder Zee,
478.

Hailem, city of, is thicuteiud by Spanish
army, ii. 414; skirmish upon the ice,
415; a portion of the magistracy enter
into seciet negotiations with Alva, 416 ,
situation of the city and natural fea¬
tures of enviions, ib.; character of
foitifications, 417; investment of the
city, 418; chuncUi of the stiuggle,
and incidents of the siege, 419; first
assault, 421; continuation of siege and
horrors attending it, 422; second as¬
sault, 424; the Spanish general deter¬
mines to reduce the city by famine;
425; rescuing force under Sonoy de¬
feated, 428; cruelty and heroism of
citizens, 429; miseries of famine, 432;

INDEX.

631

desperate projects of the besieged, 437;
the city surrenders at discretion, 438;
subsequent plunder and butchery, 440.

Harlem, lake of, situation of, ii. 417;
battles on, 432.

Has^elaer, Kenau, a lady of Harlem, -who
distinguished herself during the siege as
the leader of a female corps, ii. 420.

Haud, Marquis of, despatched by Philip
to Netherlands, to try and conciliate the
people, iii. 74; is despatched to Antwerp
with reinforcements, 97; incompetency
of himself and young nobles who
accompany him, 9S.

Henry II. of France enters into secret
treaty with Pope Paul IV. to drive the
Spaniards out of Italy, i. 151; lesolves
upon war with Spain, 158; joins the
army of Pierrepoint, 197; his death,
200; arrangement with King of Spain!
for destruction of Huguenots, ib.; reve-i'
lation to William of Orange of plot for
extirpation of Piotestantism, 233.

Heretics, persecution of, i. SI; increasing
persecution of, 334; police regulations
excluding them from all share in usual
conveniences of society, 421.

Herlin, Michael, a citizen of Valen¬
ciennes, beheaded, together with his
son, by Noircarmes, after surrender of
city, ii. 77.

Herdt, the Seigneur de, a partisan of
Orange, excites the citizens of Flushing
to revolt, ii. 34S.

Hessels, member of the Blood Council,
his cruelty, ii. 138; letter from, to Count
de Reux, which precipitates revolution
in Flandeis, iii. 2S1; and Visch put to
death by Ryhove, 369.

Ileuteius, Pontus, testimony to emotion
of Flemish people on abdication of
Charles V., i. 110.

Hohenlo, Count Philip of, leader of patriot
army at siege of Groningen, iii. 472;
his discreditable character and manners,
ib.; maiches to Coenverden to meet
royalist troops, and is defeated by them
at Hardenbeig Heathy 473.

Holland, its geogiaphical separation from
Friesland, i. 38; Counts of, 40; joined
to the province of Hainault, ib .; im¬
portance of its fisheries, 44,

Holland, Jacqueline, Countess of, her ro¬
mantic history, i. 41.

Holland, union with Zeland, iii. 20; ar¬
ticles of union, ib. ; ratification of these,
21 .

Holland and Zeland relinquish the
“Great Privilege,” i. 56; moral and
physical condition of provinces at the
peiiod of Requesena death, iii. 57;
change in political constitution, ib. ;
supreme authority in, oomerred on
Prince of Orange, 5S; character of
league concluded, 59; estates of, offer
sovereignty to Orange, 478; new con¬
stitution drawn up on occasion of con¬
ferring sovereign rule on Piince of
Orange, 536; estates of, make a formal
remonstrance against anaugements with
the Duke of Anjou, 571.

Hoogstiaaten, his disgraceful conduct to
Archbishop of Cambray, i. 427 ; conduct
at Antwerp during winter of 1556, ii. 56;
is cited befoie the Blood-Council, 150 *,
charges against him, 151; publishes a
reply to act of condemnation, 177;
death of, 250.

“ Hooks,” first rise of party of this name,
i. 40.

Hopper, Joachim, takes Viglius’s place in
council, i. 424; his previous career and
mental characteristics, ib.; his incom
petency, iii. 54.

Horn, Count of, his personal appearance
and character, i. 100; joins Orange
and Egmont in remonstrances against
power of Granvelle, 361; private letter
to Philip concerning Granvelle’s con¬
duct of affairs in Netherlands, 370;
his proceedings at Tournay subsequent
to image-breaking excesses, ii. 18; is
recalled from Tournay by Regent, 23 *
grants permission to Reformed congre¬
gations to preach in Clothiers 5 Hall, at
Tournay, ib. ; goes to Brussels, 24; Ms
state of mind and position after recall
from Tournay, 36; comes to Brussels
by persuasion of Alva, 119; is arrested,
122; his papers are seized, 124; com¬
mencement of mock process against,
157; judgment pronounced against
him, 159; endeavours made to save
him, 160 s charges against him, 164;

632

INDEX.

answer to charges, 166; is condemned
to death by Alva, 193; preparations for
his and Egmont’s execution, 199; his
death, 202; his head sent to Madrid,
204; retrospective view of his character,
205.

Hugonet enters into treasonable negotia¬
tions with Louis XI., and is beheaded,
i. 53.

Huguenots; new outburst of dissensions
between this party and the Guise fac¬
tion in France, ii. 145.

Hulst, Francis Van der, appointed inquisi¬
tor-general for the Netherlands, i. 318 ?
his character, 319; degraded from his
position, ib.

Hungary, Mary, Queen of, regent of Ne¬
therlands, resigns her office, i. 109; hei
character, 14S; her detestation of Ne¬
therlands, ib,

Huy, deliberations at, between Don John
of Austria and deputies from estates, iii.
155; three questions put by deputies,
ib.; altercations between deputies and
governor, 156.

Image-breaking; commencement of riots
at Antwerp, i. 523; excesses committed,
528; simultaneous outbreak of riots
throughout all provinces, 530; incidents
of riots at Toumay, ib .; at Anchin, 532;
at Valenciennes, 533; deprecated by
all ministers of Reformed religion, 534;
remarkable abstinence of rioters from
robbery and peisonal violence, ib .; pre¬
text furnished by riots for subsequent
oppression, 536.

Irnbize, leader of a party in Ghent, iii.
279; gives first impulse to outbreak of
revolution in Ghent, 284; imprisons
the magistrates, and establishes new
form of government, 437 ; his scheme
defeated by Orange, 438; seeks refuge
with John Casimir, 439; intrigues at
Ghent, with a view to enabling Chimay
to surrender Flanders to Philip, 576; his
ultimate fate, 578.

Imbrecourt betrays his country, and is
beheaded, i. 53.

Independence, declaration of, signed at
the Hague, July 26,1581, iii. 492; events
imm ediately preccduu this act, ib.

Indulgences, sale of, in Netherlands, i.
72.

Inquisition, its introduction into Nether¬
lands by Charles V., i. 113; number of
victims to, in Holland and Friesland,
114; the leal cause of the revolt of the
Netherlands, 311; the three varieties
of the institution, 312; Spanish Inqui¬
sition desciibed, ib .; introduction of
Inquisition into the Netherland pro¬
vinces, 317; distinction between Span¬
ish and Netherland, 328; council of
doctors and theologians to settle the
matters concerning, 438; growing wrath
of people against, 442; new mode of
punishment adopted for heretics, ib .;
frenzy of people at renewed proclama¬
tion of, 449; abolition of, insisted upon
by Netherlanders, ii. 5; preposterous
death-warrant issued against inhabitants
of Netherlands by, 155.

Inquisitors, papal, in Netherlands, i. 318;
their powers and functions, 319; com¬
plain to King and Regent of indisposi¬
tion of civil functionaries to assist them
in their duties, and of other difficulties
encountered in prosecution of their
office, 441.

Institutions in Netherlands, their last
form, i. 81.

Inundation in Netherlands in 1570, ii.
305.

Isabella of France married to Philip IL, i.
217.

Italy, campaign in, 1556, i. 161.

Jaureguy, Juan, attempts the life of
Prince of Orange at Antwerp, iii. 525;
is killed on the spot, ib .; suspicion of
complicity against Anjou and the
French, 527; resolute conduct of Mau¬
rice of Nassau, 527; examination of
papers found on assassin, ib .; curious
indications of fanaticism and supersti¬
tion in muiderer, 528; result of exa¬
mination laid before Anjou by St.
Aldegonde, 529; the ciime proved to
be a commeicial speculation, 530.

Jemmingen, defeat of, ii. 215.

Jonge, Junius de, representative of Prince
of Orange, reply to proposals of Go¬
vernor Requesens, iii. 6.

ESDEX.

Junius, Francis, a French Huguenot, in¬
vited to Brussels to preach a sermon
in house of Count Culemburg, i. 459;
his previous career, ib.

u Kabbeljaws,” first rise of party of the
name, i. 40.

Kalf Vd issued by Chailes V., i. 61; de¬
struction of the document, 63.

Kapell, Walter, burned for heresy, i.
323; singular devotion of an idiot to
him, ib.

ICnuttel, William, used by Prince of
Orange to gain assent of Landgrave of
Hesse to his marriage with the Princess
Anna, i. 297.

Koop van Flandern, tradition of the,
i. 61.

Koppelstok, Peter, ferryman on the
Meuse, assists the Beggais of the Sea
in the capture of Brill, ii. 343.

Ivoppezoon, Nanning, subjected to atro¬
cious tortiues by Governor Sonoy, iii.
31.

Lalain, Count, Governor of Ilainault, won
over by Queen of Navarre, promises to
hold his government at service of Duke i
of Alen^on, iii. 152.

La Loo, Horn’s secretary, is executed by
order of Alva, ii. 234.

La Torre dispatched by Regent to Am¬
sterdam to obtain forcible ejectment of
Brederode, ii. S9.

Laurens, president of the grand council
of Mechlin, his character, i. 318.

Lens, town of, sacked by Colignv, i. 166.
Leoninus, Dr. Elbertus, and Hugo Bonte,
commissioned by Requesens to treat
with Prince of Orange, iii. 7; liis early
career, 9, in note; despatched on mission
from Don John of Austria to Prince
of Orange, 166; instructions given to
him, 167; reply of Orange to liis pro¬
posals, 169.

Letters of Prince of Orange, to principal
cities of Netherlands, requesting funds
for the support of his army, ii. 366;
effect of these letters, 367.

Leyden, preparations for laising the siege
of, ii. 517; commencement of second
siege, 539; description of city, ib .; pre¬

£33

liminaries of siege, 540; endeavours of
the “Glippers” to peisuade their coun¬
trymen to submit, 543; reply of citi¬
zens of Leyden, 544; Orange’s plan for
rescuing the city, 545; called upon to
surrender by Yaldez, 546; joy of citi¬
zens on receipt of intelligence that the
sluices had been opened, 547; despond¬
ing appeal to estates, 548; patriots take
possession of the Land-scheiding, 551;
gradual advance of the relieving fiotilla
through the dikes, 552; pest and fa¬
mine within tlie city, 555 ; heroic con¬
duct of Adrian van der Werf, 557 ; the
providential tempest, 559; progress of
the fiotilla, ib .; the last night, 561;
fiiglit of the Spaniaids, 562; the city
saved, ib .; thanksgiving after the dan¬
ger 563; rewards for suffering, 565;
charter of university, 566; solemnities
of inauguration, ib.

Lion, battle of the Holy, or Ileiliger-Lee,
ii. 185.

Llorent, his testimony as to mode of
death of Don Carlos, ii. 226.

Lodrono, Sancho de, and Sancho de Avila,
defeat patriot army at Dal cm, ii 181.

Longehaye, one of the members of the
Commission of Troubles at Mods, in¬
tercedes for people, ii. 395.

Lorraine, Christina of, seeks to become
Regent of Netherlands, i. 202.

Louvain, university of, i. 86; character
of its teaching, ib .; merry-making at,
on occasion of presence of Don John of
Austria, iii. 172.

Lupus, Peter, a Carmelite friar of Mech¬
lin, forms the design of restoring the
city to the Prince of Parma, iii. 449.

Luxemburg, negotiations between Don
John of Austria and deputies from
estates at, iii. 143.

Maas, Engelbert, Chancellor of Brabant,
openly charged by William of Orange
with knavery and corruption, i. 423.

Maestricht, citizens of, wrest the town
from the hands of Spanish troops, iii
93; shameful expedient used by Span¬
ish soldiery in attempt to regain the
place, 94; city recovered by Spamm-li,
ib.; importance of the city as key to

634

INDEX

the German gate of Netherlands, 40S;
is invested by Prince of Parma, ib .;
narrative of siege, 422; the assault re¬
pulsed, 426; the successful storm and
the massacie, 431.

Mansfeld, Charles de, signs the Com¬
promise, i. 461; sent out of the coun¬
try by his father before the arrival of
Alva, ii. 126.

Mansfeld, Peter Ernest de, betrays and
is sneered at by Netheiland nobles, ii.
27; entrusted -with supreme military
command after death of Requesens,
iii. 52; interview with mutineers at
Herenthals, 71; arrives in Netheilands
with an aimy of well-trained troops,
303.

Manufactures, influence on rise of small
republics, i. 36.

March, Robert de la, his animosity to
Granvelle, and efforts to make him
ridiculous, i. 362.

March, William de la, chief of the Beg¬
gars of the Sea, ii. 349; is driven out
of the English ports with his followers
by order of the Queen, 341; sails for
Holland, ib .; summons the fortress of
Brill to surrendci, 342; attacks and
takes the town, 344; requires citizens
to take oath of allegiance to Prince of
Orange, 347; is despatched by Orange
from Leyden with a force for the relief
of Harlem, but is defeated on the road,
420; is deprived of his commission,
422; enormities practised by him laid
at the door of Prince of Orange, 461;
murder of Cornelius Musius, ib .; dies
of the bite of a mad dog, ib.

Mary Tudor, her devotion to Philip II.,
i. 136; personal appearance, ib .; char¬
acter and accomplishments, 137 ; her
death, 19S.

Mason, Sir John, testimony to emotion of
the people at the ceremony of the ab¬
dication of Charles V., i. 110.

Mau-bruldz, journde des, i. 334.

Maurice, Duke of Saxony, intercedes
with Philip for release of Landgrave of
Hesse, i. 134.

Maximilian II., Emperor of Germany,
intercessions in favour of Netherland
nobles, ii. 260; despatches the Arch¬

duke Charles to Madrid on a special
mission concerning state of Netheilands
and proceedings of William of Orange,
261; public and private answers of
King of Spain, 262; change in his views
caused by widowhood of Philip II., 266;
again issues his injunctions against
military operations of Orange, 375;
reply of Orange to these, ib .; new at¬
tempts at mediation between Nether¬
lands and King of Spain, iii. 12.

Mechlin, city of, abandoned by Alva to
the licence •? the Spanish soldiers, ii*
396; delivered up to Parma by treason
of De Bours. iii. 451; recaptured for
estates by Yau der Tympel, ib.

Medici, Catherine de, interview with
Queen of Spam at Bayonne, i. 442;
proposals made by her, 443; refuses to
enter into secret league against Pro¬
testants, ib .; letter to Prince of Orange
after attempt of Anjou to make him¬
self absolute master in United, Pro¬
vinces, iii. 536; letter to Anjou recom¬
mending him to re-establish Catholic
religion in Netherlands, ib.

Medici, Cosmo de, reaps the benefits of
war between Fiance and Spain, i. 164.

Medina Coeli, Duke of, appointed Gover¬
nor-General of Netherlands, ii. 330;
anives in Netherlands, 364; bickerings
with Alva, 446; departure from Nethex
lands, 447.

Meghern denounces conspiracy of heretics
and sectaries to Regent, i. 475.

Mey, Peter Van der, a carpenter of Alk-
maar, undertakes a dangerous mission
for the besieged, ii. 454.

Middelburg, siege of, ii. 50D; capitula¬
tion of, 516; restoration of ancient
constitution by Prince of Orange, ib.

Mirambeau, ambassador from France to
Netheilands, endeavours to effect a
reconciliatien between the provinces
and Duke of Anjou, iii. 565.

Mondoucet, French envoy in the Nether¬
lands, by order of his King urges Alva
to put to death all French prisoners
taken before Mons, ii. 334.

Mondragon, a Spanish colonel, heads a
most adventurous expedition for the
relief of the town of Tergoes, il. 403;

INDEX.

635

is besieged by patriots in Middelburg,
509; is forced to abandon Zierickzee,
iii. 124,

Monluc, his opinion of treaty of Cateau
C'auibreri*, i 109

Mons, captuie of, by Louis of Nassau, ii.
360; is besieged by Don Frederick of
Toledo, 372; capitulation of, 3S9;
brutal violation of articles of capitula¬
tion, 392; establishment of a commis¬
sion of Troubles, ib.

Mmitigny despatched as envoy to Spain,
i. 349; his impiudent revelation to
Philip of his opinion of Granvelle, 359;
returns to Netherlands, ib. ; reports to
state-council result of his mission, ib .;
violent scene in council occasioned by
this report, 360; lefuses to sign letter
to Philip concerning undue power of
Granvelle, 3C5; Beighen and Mansfeld
refuse to enforce edicts within their
governments, 449; his nuptials with
the Princess d’Espinoy, 452; and Ber-
ghen proceed on mission to Madrid, 496;
represents to Philip state of Nether¬
lands and determination of people not
to be trampled on, ii. 4; three great
points of his instructions, ib.; is cited
before Blood-Council, 150; is im¬
prisoned at Segovia, 293; stratagem by
means of which he learns the fate of
his brother and Egniont, ib. ; unsuc¬
cessful plan for his escape fiom prison,
294; his case brought before the Blood-
Council in Netherlands, 295; intei ces¬
sion of his wife on his behalf, 296;
sentence of death pronounced against
him by Alva, ib. ; his secret execution
determined upon, 297; elaborate and
extraordinary preparations for this, ib .;
his last hours, 302; witnesses of his
death forbidden to reveal the secret on
pain of death, 303; elaborate measures
taken to conceal his having died a
violent death, ib.

Montmorency, Constable of France, takes
command of French army at Pierre-
point, i. 171; forms a project for re¬
lieving St. Quentin, 175; is wounded at
battle of St. Quentin and taken prisoner,
178; dispute about his capture after
battle of St. Quentin, 179; decline of his

influence after battle, 180; empowered
to open secret negotiations for peace,
197; death of, ii. 145.

Mook, battle of, ri. 522; defeat and death
of Louis of Nassau, 524.

Morillon, a favourite of Gian voile, called
double A B C, i. 339; his rage at
Schwendr’s letter to Regent, 3S4.

Motte, Seigneur de la, Governor of Grave-
lines, sells himself and his troops to
Spaniards, iii. 3S2.

Miller, Geleyn de, schoolmaster of Oude-
narde, executed for ciime of reading the
Bible, i. 322.

Musius, Cornelius, pastor of Saint Agatha,
put to death by De la Marck, under cir¬
cumstances of great atrocily, ii. 461.

Mutiny of Spanish troops after surrender
of Zierickzee, iii. 69; mutineers pruu nl
from Zeland to Brabant, devouring as
they go, 70; demonstration upon Mech¬
lin, 71; alarm created at Liu^cB, 72 ;
mutineers dechued outlaws by Spanish
government, ib .; joined by Geiman
regiments, 79; by Sancho d 5 Avila, ib.;
mutineers in possession of all the prin¬
cipal fortresses, ib.; embraces whole
Spanish army, and is headed by Sancho
d’Avila, 96.

Naarden, a small town of Holland, re¬
fuses to abandon the cause of the Prince
of Oiange, ii. 407; is invested by Don
Fiederic de Toledo, 408; surrenders, ib.;
the citizens massacred and town set on
fire, 409; atrocities committed by
Spanish soldieiy, ib.

Namur, city of, description of, iii. 219;
festivities on occasion of piesence of
Queen of Navarre, 223.

Namur, citadel of, taken by stratagem by
Don John of Austria, iii. 225.

Nassau, Adolphus of, brother of William
of Oiange, is killed by Arembeig in
battle of the Holy Lion, ii. 190.

Nassau-Clialons, Bdne de, leaves his titles
and estates to his cousin-german William
of Nassau, wdio thus succeeds to the
title of Prince of Oiange, i. 229.

Nassau, Count John of, is appointed gover¬
nor of Gelderland, iii. 341; exceeding
poverty of his household, 475; excuses

636

INDEX

for his retirement, ib .; his second
marriage, 476.

"Nassau, Henry of, governor and confiden¬
tial friend of Charles V., by his in¬
fluence places the imperial crown on
Charles’s head, i. 228.

Nassau, history of family of, i. 227.

Nassau, Louis of, one of the first to sign
the Compromise, i. 461; his character
andpeisonal appearance, 463; and his
twelve apostles despatched to Brussels
to lay proposals of confederates before
Regent, 513; appealed to for interces¬
sion in favour of Reformers persecuted
by Egmont, 215; is cited before the
Blood-Council, 150; looked to as chief
of Huguenots of France, in case of Co-
ligny’s fall, 178; commences to levy
tioops and money, 179; makes an un¬
successful attempt to capture Alva and
Brussels, ib .; enters Friesland, 181;
summons Groningen to join him, 182;
takes up a position near monastery of
Holy Lion, 1S5; defeats Aremberg,
190; entrenches himself before Gronin¬
gen, 192; his position after battle of
Iioly Lion, 209; his army is routed
ncai Groningen, 212 ; is defeated again
at Jemmingen, 215; total destruction
of his army near Sclwaert Abbey, 217;
takes refuge in Germany, 218; joins
aimy of Huguenots in Fiance, 312;
his conduct at battle of Moncontour,
ib.; his endeavours to gain friends for
Netherlands, 314; captures Mons, the
capital of Hainault, 360; his address to
citizens of Mons, 361; condition of,
within the walls of Mons, 3S9; pays his
respects to victorious generals after
capitulation, 390; incidents attending
departure from the city, ib ; agreement
between him and representative of
France with reference to Netherlands,
469; promises to use his influence to
procuie crowm of Poland for Duke of
Anjou, ib.; frank and fearless letter
to King of France, 470; promises of
support received from France, 517;
assembles a small army in Geimany ?
513; crosses the Rhine in Februaiy
1574, and encamps within foiu miles of
Maastricht, ib .; disasters encountered

there, 519; is obliged to abandon bis
position, 520; mutiny in the army,
521; battle of Mook, 522; death of
Louis and his brother Henry, 524.

Nassau, Maurice of, son of Prince of
Orange, his resolute conduct after
attempted assassination of his father,
iii. 527.

Nassau, William of, sumamed The Rich,
father of the great Prince of Orange,
i. 229.

Nervii, heroic resistance offered by this
people to Caesar, i. 12.

Netherlands, the earliest history of, i 1;
physical geography of, 2; primitive
natural features, original inhubirants,
4; state of population subsequent to the
migrations of the nations, 19; become
a province of the empire of Chaile-
magne, 22; pass into the German em¬
pire, 24; aspect of country at com¬
mencement of regency of Margaret of
Paima, 246; causes preparatory of
revolt, 250; receive the ideas of the
Reformation from France, 252; ancient
charters, 262; their industry taxed to
enable France to attack the Huguenots,
316; anarchy and confusion after de¬
parture of Granvelle, 408; public cor¬
ruption, ib .; spread of Reformed
religion, and growing enthusiasm of its
followers, 498; state of country after
departure of William of Orange for
Germany, ii. 92; dismay at arrival of
Alva, 114; consternation created by
arrest of Egmont and Horn, 124; state
of discouragement caused by proceed¬
ings of Blood-Council, 143; depopula¬
tion of country in consequence of cruel
proceedings of Alva, ib .; all the in¬
habitants of, condemned to death by
Inquisition, 155; wholesale executions
and frightful cruelties, 156; severe
blow inflicted on their commerce b'’
quarrel between Alva and Queen of
England, 271; continuation of religious
persecutions, new scheme of taxa¬
tion introduced, in violation of pro¬
vincial charters, 277; state of manu¬
facturing industry in year 1570, 278.
in note; opposition to new system o.t
taxation, 230; terrible destruction by

INDEX.

637

inundation in 1570, 305; open revolt
against the new taxes, 337; successive
insurrections in various cities and
provinces, o55; state of countiy at
death of Requesens, lii. 56; state of
religious paities in the various pro¬
vinces, 82; state of country at period
of death of Don John of Austria, 364;
division of countiy into three portions,
493.

Nevers, Duke de, Governor of Cham¬
pagne, disposes his forces to meet an
attack of Spanish army, i. 171; makes
his escape after battle of St. Quentin,
178; his escape deemed impossible, ib.

Ninove, the starvation of, iii. 513.

Nobles, d saffccted state of, holding com¬
mand in patriot army, iii. 305; mal¬
content paity brought over by Duke
of Paima, 393; jealousies, bickerings,
and mutual recrimin umns among
them, 396.

None runs proceeds to Tournay to dis¬
arm the citizens, ii. 25; his calumnious
reports to Regent relative to intended
massacre of Catholics, 28; invests
Valenciennes, 45; conduct after sur¬
render of Valenciennes, 76; persuades
Egmont to disregard the repeated
warnings to him to fly, 120; accepts
the office of member of the Dlood-
Council, 136; his testimony to despe¬
rate state of Netherland citizens in
consequence of Alva’s cruel persecu¬
tions, 334; cruel proceedings at Mons,
393; his base cupidity, ib.

Noue, De la, is made prisoner in an
action near In gel minister, iii. 46S; vain
endeavours of patriot party to obtain
Iris release, 469; is kept in prison five
years, and then offered his release on
condition of sacrificing his eyes, ib .;
works composed by him in prison, 470.

Ogier, Robert, of Ryssel, and his family,
executed for not attending mass, i.
325.

Oliver, Antony, a native of Mons, lays a
plan for the capture of city, with Louis
of Nassau and other Huguenot chiefs,
ii. 359; killed at the battle of the Die-
merdyk, 429.

Orange, William of Nassau, Prince of,
his personal appear ance, i. 106; em¬
powered to open secret negotiations of
peace after battle of Gravelines, 197;
one of the hostages for execution of
treaty of Cateau Cambresis, 199; learns
from King of France designs against
Protestants, 201; supports endeavours
of Duchess of Loirame to become Re¬
gent of Netherlands, 203; appointed,
together with Egmont, to command of
foreign troops, 212; rebuked by Philip
II. when leaving Netherlands, 214;
succeeds at the age of eleven to prin¬
cipality of Orange, 230; is sent to
Erussels for education, ib.; becomes
the friend and favourite of Charles
V., ‘ib. ; appointed geneial-iu-chief of
army on French frontier, 231; secret
ncgi'tlut'-r of peace of 1559, with Fiance,
ib. ; one of the hv-fages selected by
King of Fiance, for execution of tieaty,
232; discovers scheme of Henry II.
and Philip II., for extirpating Pio-
testantism, ib. ; earns the surname of
“The Silent,” 233; though still a
Catholic, determines to save Protest¬
ants if he can, ib.; increases Iris posses¬
sions by maniage with Anne of Eg¬
mont, 234; becomes a widower, 1558;
ib. ; is accused of having murdered his
wife, ib. ; his character and conduct
in eaily part of his caieer, 235; his
splendour and hospitality, 236; his
gentleness and winning addiess, 237;
expensive habits and consequent debts,
ib. ; his various sources of revenue,
238; is falsely accused of cowardice,
239; his talents and accomplishments,
210; his opposition to institution of
new bishops, 267; resigns command of
Spanish legion, 2G9; his early intimacy
with Grauvelle, 276; his quanel with
the Cardinal, 277; and Egmont ad¬
dress joint letter to tlie King, com¬
plaining of the undue power ano-
gated by Cardinal Grauvelle, 278; his
marriage with Anna of Saxony, and
difficulties attending it, with vindica¬
tion of his conduct with regard to these,
286 ; proceedings and festivities on oc¬
casion of his wedding, 302; meeting of

638

INDEX.

Knights of the Fleece, at his house, to
discuss public matteis, 348 ; supported
by people in Ins opposition to Gran-
velle and the Regent, 350; frankness
and legality of this opposition, vin¬
dicated, ib. ; determines that lie will
withdraw from Government if Gran-
velle be not recalled, 360; writes joint
letter with Egmont and Horn, to
Philip, on necessity of witlidi awing
power of Granvelle, 361; quarrels with
Aremberg because he lefuses to join
the league against Gianvclle, 364;
writes second joint letter with Egmont
and Horn to Philip, tendeiing their
resignation as members of Council of
State, 3G9; hand in remonstrances to
Regent, 371; abstain from sessions of
state council, 372; attempts to stem
tide of corruption after departure of
Gianvelle, 409; his noble ambition and
puiity of character, 410; declines in
favour at Regent’s court, ib. ; his speech
on occasion of Egmont’s mission to
Spain, and Viglius’s instructions, 422;
effect of this speech on members of
council, 423; his indignation at Philip’s
persistence in religious persecution,
436; upbiaids Egmont -with having
forgotten interests of his country dur¬
ing mission to Spain, 437; declares !
that the King’s orders lelative to In- j
quisition are too peiemptory not to be :
obeyed, but washes his hands of con¬
sequences, 447; is supported by Eg¬
mont and Horn, ib. ; is not consulted
in formation of Compromise league,
406; his opinions on enforcement of
Edicts and Inquisition, ib.; disapproves
of the Compromise league, 468; com¬
mences system of espionage upon
Philip, 469; invites leading nobles to
meet at Ercda, for a conference on
public affairs, 473; effects change in
tone and purport of Request, 474; his
modulation, 476 ; inclines to Lutheran¬
ism, 503; repairs to Antweip at solici¬
tation of citizens to restore public
tianquilldy, 506; r^gri ded by all par¬
ties as the only man able to stem the
rising tide of revolution, 503; remon¬
strates at Luff ell with deputation from

members of Compromise assembled at
St. Trond, 512; is not deceived by false
promises of Philip, ii. 9; his moderate
proceedings at Antwerp relative to
image-breakers, 16; draws up sixteen
articles of agreement between heads of
Reformed lcligion and government, 17 ;
growing liberality of his views, ib .;
establishes icligrons peace at Utrecht
and Amsterdam on same basis as at
Antwerp, ib. ; his peisonal conduct at
Antwerp ■when circle i\■ miing to restoie
order after the iconoclast liots, 29;
first thoughts of resistance to tire plans
of the Spanish government, and pro¬
posals to Egmont and Horn on the
subject, 31; interviews at Lendermoncle
between Orange, Horn, Egmont, lloog-
straaten, and Count Louis of Nassau,
32; his isolated position, 35; Iris in¬
creasing watulffiiliiuSa, 39; publishes a
pamphlet on necessity of allowing some
degree of religious liberty, 42; en¬
courages citizens to resist introduction
of mercenary garrisons, 45; his endea¬
vours in favour of Protestants of
Amsterdam, 52; refuses to take the
new oath of allegiance imposed by go¬
vernment, 53; tenders his resignation,
54; is consulted by Rrcdcrode and
other seigniors as to new petition to be
presented to Regent, 55; partially con¬
nives at proceedings of Rrederode, 57 ;
his dauntless conduct at Antwerp dur¬
ing tumult caused by defeat at Ostra-
well, 62; proposes terms of arrange¬
ment, 65; avails himself of antagonism
between Lutherans and Calvinists to
save the city, G7; meets the insurrec¬
tionists in the Mere, and proposes arti¬
cles of accommodatnm, 69 ; succeeds
in re-establishing order, 70; his efforts
unappreciated by Regent, ib .; his re¬
solute resistance to all efforts to gain
him over to the Spanish party, S2; in¬
terview with MtUisfeLl and Egmont at
Willebrock, 83; i.mhtvuins to save
Egmont, 85; letter to Philip announc¬
ing his intention to withdraw from
Netherlands, 86; letters to Horn and
Egmont on same subject, ib.i is in¬
formed by Vandenesse that Alva has

INDEX.

639

orders to arrest and condemn him at
once, 88; and other seigniors are cited
before the Blood-Council, 150; charges
against them, ib.; his reply to the
summons, 151; hi3 son seized as a
hostage, 153; publishes a repty to act
of condemnation, 176; his exertions to
raise troops and gain allies in Germany,
England, and France, 177; grants com¬
mission to Count Louis, to levy troops
and wage war on Philip, 178; is recom¬
mended by his friends among the Ger¬
man princes, to pause m his attempts
to save the Netherland provinces, 235;
eniols himself for life as a soldier of
the Reformation, 236; change super¬
vened in his religions character, 237;
sincerity of his piety, ib is required
by the Emperor to lay down, arms
under penalty of forfeiting his lights
and privileges, 239; his reply to Em¬
peror’s requisition, ib.; his formal de¬
claration of war against Alva, 240;
proclamation to the people of the
Netherlands, ib.; crosses the Meuse
with his aimy, 244; enters Brabant
and takes up a position within a short
distance of Alva’s encampment, 245;
baffling plan of his adveisary, ib.; inci¬
dents of the campaign, 248; effects a
junction with Genlis, at Waveren, 251;
disappointment at supmeness of people,
'ib.; mutinous state of liis army, ib.;
crosses the frontier of France, 252; is
summoned by the King of France to
declare his intentions, 253; his reply,
ib.; is forced to lead back and disband
his army, 255; sets forth with his two
brothers to join the banner of Condd,
ib.; proceedings in France after dis¬
banding his army at Strasburg, 311;
returns to .Germany, 314; extensive
correspondence with leading person¬
ages in every part of Netherlands, ib.;
issues commissions to privateers, ib.;
gives laws to the Beggars of the Sea,
315; his forlorn condition but unbroken
spirit after return from France, 316;
persevering efforts to obtain money
and allies, 331; instructions to Died-
ricli Sonoy, 332; document called the
Harangue addressed to princes of Ger¬

many, 333; oath of allegiance taken by
revolted provinces to him as stadt-
holder of King of Spain, 357; resumes
stadtholderate over Holland and Ze-
land, 35S; leligimis toleration exhibited
in his instructions to functionaries ap¬
pointed by him, and in new oath of al¬
legiance imposed, ib ; assembles a new
army in Germany, 366; addiesseg let¬
ters to principal cities of Netherlands,
adjuring them to be true to his and
their cause, ib.; power conferred on
him by congress of Doit, 370; ordi¬
nance issued by him as a provisional
form of government and voluntarily
imposing limits on himself, 371; crosses
the Rhine at Duisburg with a consider¬
able army, 374; takes Roermond, ib.;
diffLiciice between his character as
military commander and that of Alva,
ib.; his further advance, 375; learns
the news of the massacre of the Hu¬
guenots in Paiis, 377; advances with
liis army towaids Mons, in the hope of
provoking the enemy into a pitched
battle, 3S5; night attack on his army
by Don Frederic de Toledo, 386; re¬
treats to Perenne and Nivedes, 387;
is followed by an assassin hired by
Aiva, ib.; his soldiers refuse to remain
longer in the field, ib.; is obliged to
advise his brother to capitulate, 388;
crosses the Rhine, disbands his army,
and repairs to Holland, ib.; his recep¬
tion. in province of Holland after
breaking up his army, 413; unfolds his
plan of future proceedings in secret
session, of states of provinces at Har¬
lem, ib.; despatches a force under De
la Marck to the relief of Ilarlem, 420;
makes a fresh effort to succour the
town, 423; fuither ondiMvuuis to suc¬
cour llailem, 428; keeps firm in faith
and hope in spite of repeated disasters,
443; for want of funds is obliged to de¬
cline offer of Spanish soldiery to deliver
Harlem into his hands, 449; his lofty
enthusiasm, 453; chi utilities experi¬
enced by him in raising funds for liis
enterprise, 460; his lofty and generous
purpose, ib.; accusations against him
by bigoted adherents of both religions.

G40

INDEX

461; his reliance npon secret: negotia¬
tions re-opened witli the court of
France, 462; reasons for conquering
his repugnance to King of France,
466; outlines of new treaty with
France drawn up by him, 467; solitary
and anxious position during the mis-
foitunes of Harlem and Alkmaar, 472; !
appeal to the general assembly of the
Netherlands, exhorting the country to
union against the oppressor, 473;
epistle to the King of Spain, 474; con¬
fidence in God the mi induing of his
energy, 476; liberty of eon ; < Ir-nce for
the people his main object, ib. ; pub¬
licly joins the Calvinist Church at
Rort, ib.; his fears relative to impics-
sion likely to be produced by the King’s
promise of pardon, 510; position taken
up by him dining siege of Leyden,
545; desperate plan for the rescue of
Leyden, zb. ; his illness at Rotterdam,
54S; lesumes preparations for relief of
Leyden, 550; proceeds on board the
Beet before Leyden, 555; lereivcs news
of the rescue of Leyden, 563; enters
the city, 564; giants privileges to the
city as a rev-u-l fyi its sufferings, 565;
reply to proposals of Requ*'si*ns, made
through Sfc. Aldtomde, iii. 5; answer
to other negutbit<>i-, 7; power lodged
in his hands, 9; complains in assembly
of states of Holland of conduct of cities
and offers to resign, 10; porvers vested
m him by estates, 11; refuses to ac¬
cept government on these terms unless
furnished with a monthly allowance,
ib.; suspicions of Spanish government
and fear of a disastrous peace, 13 ; ac¬
cepts the government of Holland and
Zeland, 20; results of his mairiage
with Anne of Saxony, 23; marries the
Princess Charlotte of Bourbon, 26; en¬
mities caused by this marriage, 27;
evil consequences, 2S; resolution to
throw off allegiance to King of Spain,
41; difficulties as to choice of new so¬
vereign for the states, 43; financial
embarrassments of himself and brother
John, 47; desperate scheme for rescu¬
ing inhabitants of Holland and Zeland,
43; prompt and decided conduct after

death of Requesens, 55; changes intro
duccd by him into political constitution
of Holland and Zeland, 57; supieme
authority in Holland and Zeland con¬
ferred on him, 5S; especial powers
vested in him, 59; absence of personal
views and ambition, 61; honourable
title bestowed on him by people, ib .,
his unswerving ldigions toleration, ib.;
reinstated in his principality of Orange
by King of France, 64; piepares to
take adwmhgc of mutiny of Spanish
tioops to biing about a general union
and organisation, S3 ; letter to Count
Lalain, S4; to estates of Geldciland,
ib.; to estates of Biabant, S5; implores
the vaiious provinces to send deputies
to a general congress to effect a close
union between Holland and Zeland and
the other provinces, 87; sends troops
to the assistance of Flanders against
mutineers, 92; letter addressed by
him to the states-gencral, assembled
at Ghent, u:ging them to hasten to
conclude fieaty of union, 119; diffi¬
culties suggested by the arrival of Ron
John of Austria, 145; counsels to
statr-s-genoral lclative to arrival of
new govern or-geneial, 146; outlines
of in jotiatiiin to be enteied into with
Ron John, 147; basis of his policy, 148;
his combination disai ranged by ampli¬
tude of concessions made by Ron John
of Austria, 162; his distrust of Ron
John, and realms for this, 1G2; is irri¬
tated at haste with which estates con¬
cluded treaty with Ron John, ib .;
displeasure at provisions of Perpetual
Edict, 164; refuses to publish or re¬
cognise the treaty in Holland and Ze¬
land, 165; his written opinion of treaty-
given to states-geneial at their request,
ib.; perfect accord between him and
estates of Holland and Zeland, 166;
his reply to proposals made by Rr.
Leoninus in name of Ron John of
Austria, 169; his unbounded influence
in Holland and Zeland, 170; respect
in which he was held in other pro¬
vinces, ib.; his reply to letter of Ron
John, 171; tokens of sympathy re¬
ceived from his mother, 199; and from

INDEX.

641

his son, ib.; financial embarrassments
of his family, caused by their sacrifices
to the cause of the Netherlands, 200;
new advances made to him by Don
John of Austria, 201; his struggles to
establish a system of toleration, ib.;
interview and discussions with envoys
sent by Don John of Austria and by
estates-general of Catholic provinces,

203; envoys make a formal statement
to him and the states of Holland and
Zeland on the part of Don John, 211;
protest against Perpetual Edict em¬
bodied in his reply to the document,

212; encourages and superintends the
re-erection of dikes in Holland and
Zeland, 233; touching love and grati¬
tude of people towards him, 234;
letter, never hitherto published, to
estates-general on seizure of citadel of
Namur and general conduct of Don
John, 235; vindication of himself
against charges made by Don John
and others, ib.; repairs to Utrecht,
on invitation from magistracy, 237;
hearty welcome given to him, 238;
treaty of “Satisfaction” drawn up,
ib.; stratagem for overcoming Gennan
troops shut up in Breda, 245; his de¬
termination to restore the administra¬
tion to a state-council appointed by
estates-general, 255; is invited by
estates-general to come to Brussels
to aid them with his counsels, 260;
increase of his power and influence,

261; Memorial presented to him at
Gertruydenburg by commissioners
sent to invite him to Brussels, 262;
permission for his journey obtained
from estates of Holland and Zeland,
263; reply to memorial of commis¬
sioners, 264; enthusiastic reception
at Antwerp, 265; entry into Brussels,
ib future measures contemplated by
him, 266; puts a stop to negotiations
with Don John, ib .; exceeding de¬
votion of burghers of Brussels for him,
272; his wise conduct with regard to
Archduke Matthias, 275; is elected
Ruward of Brabant, ib.; significance
of this office, 276; his new dignity
confirmed by estates-general, ib .; the

vol. in. 2 S

crown within his grasp, 277; indigna¬
tion at treacherous conduct of nobles,
ib.; interview with Ryhove previous
to outbreak of revolution in Ghent,
282; proceedings relative to outbreak,
285; repairs to Ghent on invitation of
four estates of Flanders, 287; brings
about a new act of union, securing the
religious rights of Catholics and Pro¬
testants, 290; succeeds in negotiating
treaty of alliance and subsidy with '
England, 293; establishes fundamental
terms on which Archduke Matthias is
to be received as Governor-General of
Netherlands, 294; is appointed lieu¬
tenant-general for the Archduke Mat¬
thias, 296; jealousy of him entertained
by nobles, 304; loyal conduct with re¬
gard to Amsterdam, 315; preparations
for campaign of 157S, 320; negotiations
with England, ib.; again confers chief
posts of command on Catholic nobles,
ib .; rebukes his own Church for its
intolerance, 325; his reasons for main¬
taining relations with Duke of Alen-
con, 332; prescribes the terms on which
Alencon’s assistance may be accepted,
335; causes a system of provisional
toleration to be signed by Matthias,
339; incapability of his contempo¬
raries to understand his tolerance,
340; provisional arrangement for re¬
ligious toleration in Antwerp, 341;
discontent caused among Catholic
leaders and Walloon population by
his attempt to establish religious tole¬
ration, 342; endeavours to conciliate
the contending parties in Ghent, 370;
indignation at image-breaking riots at
Ghent, 373; is induced to go to Ghent
to appease uproar, 374; obtains con¬
sent of all parties to a religious peace,
published 27th December 1578, ib. *
import of this document, ib .; mal¬
contents summoned to lay down their
arms, and refuse, 375; growing con¬
viction of his enemies that his death
alone would enable them to put down
Netherland rebellion, 3S6; effects the
Union of Utrecht, the foundation of
the Netherland republic, 400; false
accusations against, relative to Union

642

INDEX.

of Utrecht, 403; unceasing efforts to (
counteract the dismembering policy of
Parma, 410; is blamed for the fall of
Maestricht, and accused of plotting to
deliver the country into the hands of
France, 433; libellous letter against
him laid before the assembly of
the estates, 434; efforts to allay new
disorders in Ghent, ib.; repairs a
second time to Ghent, and again his
presence restores order, 438; accepts
the government of Flanders, and re¬
turns to Antwerp, 439; attempts to
bribe him made by members of Co¬
logne conferences, 444; their utter
failure, 445; offers to cede his powers
to any successor appointed by estates-
general, ib.; new schemes of govern¬
ment contemplated by him, 453; his
arguments in favour of choice of Duke
of Anjou as future ruler of the Nether¬
lands, 455; rebukes and warnings and
self-vindication addressed to various
corporations and assemblies in 1579,
456; speech in estates-general at Ant¬
werp, in 1579, upbraiding the people
with the want of a broad patriotism,
460; address upon the state of the
country in January 1580, urging
the necessity of raising a numerous
and efficient army, 461; is offered the
sovereignty by estates of Holland and
Zeland, 478; by advice of CardinaL
Granvelle a price is set upon his head,
479; contents of Ban, 480; replies by
his famous Apology, 481; reluctantly
accepts provisional sovereignty over
Holland and Zeland, 494; substance
>f act conferring this sovereignty, 495;
limitation of sovereignty as to time
subsequently cancelled by the states
without his knowledge, ib.; absence
of personal ambition in him injurious
to his country, 504; his reasons for
wishing Anjou to he elected sovereign
of Netherlands, ib.; again summons
country to provide for the general de¬
fence and to take measures for inaugur¬
ation of Anjou, 513; attempt to assas¬
sinate him at Antwerp, 524; his gener-
ioos forgiveness of assassin, 525; his
solicitude for Duke of Anjou and his

country when thinking himself mor
tally wounded, 526; agitation of the
people, ib .; investigations relative to
attempted crime, 528; discovery of in¬
stigator, 530; letter to estates-geneial,
imploring them, in case of his death,
to remain faithful to Anjou, 531;
solemn fast in Antwerp* 532; his care
that the proceedings against his assas¬
sins should be conducted with strict
justice, "b.; his convalescence and re¬
lapse, 533; Leonardo Botalli, body
physician to Anjou, saves his life by
an ingenious expedient, ib.; joy of
people at his recovery, ib.; death of
his wife, Charlotte of Bourbon, 534;
happiness enjoyed in marriage with
her, ib .; is forced by the excitement,
in consequence of his recovery, to ac¬
cept permanently the countship of
Holland and Zeland, 535; position
assigned to hi m by the new constitu¬
tion, 537; other provisions of new con¬
stitution, -ib.; appeal to Anjou in re¬
ference to invasion of Antwerp, 562;
letter from Catherine de Medici, 563;
efforts to effect an honourable recon¬
ciliation, if possible, between Duke of
Anjou and the provinces, 563; his un¬
ceasing desire to see all the Netheiland
provinces united into one independent
commonwealth, 5G4; discovers in¬
trigues of Anjou with Parma and
Philip, 565; reply to Mirambeau, de¬
spatched to Netherlands by lung of
France to endeavour to effect a recon¬
ciliation between Anjou and the pro¬
vinces, 566; statement of opinions as
to necessity of not breaking with An¬
jou, drawn up at request of estates,
567; Accord signed in consequence, 570?
married, for the fourth time, to Louisa,
widow of Teligny and daughter of
Coligny, 571; refuses the sovereignty
of United Provinces offered to him by
the estates, 572; patriotic and self-
denying tone of his answer on the
occasion, ib.; sovereign dukedom of
Brabant forfeited by Anjou, offered to
him, 573; refuses this also, and con¬
tinues his efforts in favour of Anjou,
ib. ; indefatigable endeavours to coun-

INDEX.

643

(eract the machinations of Spanish
party in Ghent, 578; various new
attempts against his life, 581; last and
successful attempt, 593; his last words,
594; children by his four marriages,
599; deep sorrow of the people at his
death, ib.; effect of his death on
country, 600; his physical appearance
and moral qualities, 601; the great
aim of his life and policy, 602; disin¬
terestedness of his services, 603; his
intellectual faculties, id. ; his never-
failing constancy, ib. ; his political
genius, 604; his power of dealing with
his fellow-men, 605; his eloquence,
oral and written, 606; his industry,
ib. ; penetration and adroitness, 607;
caution, 608; false view of his charac¬
ter given by his enemies, 609, in note;
his calm courage and cheerful disposi¬
tion, 610; unvarying love and esteem
of the people for him, 611.

Ostrawell, defeat of Marnix de Tholouse
and Protestant troops at, ii. 60.

Oudewater, besieged and taken by assault
by Spaniards, iii. 33.

Outreman, pensionary of Valenciennes,
excites the fury of his fellow-citizens
by being the bearer of propositions
from Noircarmes, ii. 46.

Pacheco, or Paciotti, an Italian engineer
attached to the army of Duke of Alva,
ii. 107; employed in the erection of
the famous citadel of Antwerp, 147; is
put to death by the populace of Flush¬
ing, 351.

Pacification of Ghent, opinion of juris¬
consults and divines upon, iii. 151.

Ranis, Peter, a tailor of Mechlin, con¬
demned to death on the charge of hav¬
ing preached the Deformed faith in
that city, iii. 213.

Parma, Alexander of, his bearing and
character, i. 453; his nuptials with
Maria of Portugal, 456; joins Don
John of Austria at Luxemburg with
several choice regiments from Spain
and Italy, iii. 303; distinguished con¬
duct in battle of Gemblours, 308; his
birth and early characteristics, 358;
education and youthful tastes, ib ;

mode of life at Parma, 359; heroic
conduct at battle of Lepanto, 360; his
personal appearance, 361; his military
abilities and mental characteristics,
362; his religious sentiments, 363;
favourable auspices under which he
assumed power in the Netherlands,
364; his subtle and unscrupulous
policy, 3S1; commences campaign of
1579 with a feint against Antwerp,
and then moves upon Maestricht, 407;
continued negotiations and intrigues
with Walloon provinces, 409 ; signs
Treaty of Accord with Walloon pro¬
vinces, 415; pantomime at Paris illus¬
trative of his success, 416; his entry
into Maestricht after capture of the
city, 432; indignation at arrival of his
mother in Netherlands to assume civil
administration of provinces, 490; de¬
clares his determination not to sub¬
mit to divided authority, and con¬
quers, ib.; measures taken in conse¬
quence of proposed assassination of
Prince of Orange, 534; draws foreign
troops into the country in spite of
treaty to the contrary with United Wal¬
loon Provinces, 540; lays siege to Ou-
denarde, 541; traits of courage and
coolness evinced by him during siege,
ib.; reduces Ninove, 543; unsuccess¬
ful attack on Loclium, ib.; expenses
of his army, ib. ; position at close
autumn 1582—is accused of having in
stigated attempt to poison Anjou ami
Orange at Bruges, 544; intrigues with
Prince of Chimay, by which Bruges is
restored to Philip, 579; his share in
murder of Prince of Orange, 588 ; in¬
tercedes with Philip to secure to the
heirs of the murderer the reward for
the assassination of Prince of Orange,
598.

Parma, Margaret of, nominated Regent
of Netherlands, i. 203; her descent and
early education, 221; is given in mar¬
riage to Alexander de Medici, 222,
married a second time, to Ottavio Far-
nese, ib.; her aversion to her husband,
ib.; remorse at his reported death, 223;
her hatred for him changes to passion¬
ate fondness, ib. ; reasons for her being

644

INDEX

apP'-Gucd "necront of Netherlands, ib.;
her 1 11 y, 224; her personal appear¬

ance and mental chaiacteri'dics, ib .;
stratagem used by her to induce the
council to C"Uij ly with Philip’s request,
to send troops to France, 345; forbid¬
den by Philip to convoke the estates-
geneial, summons a meeting of Knights
of the Fleece, 346; exeits herself to
reconcile contending factions, 348;
infoims Philip that the Piince of
Orange is reported to be revolving
some great design, 357; reports to
Phdip dissensions among seigniors,
364; despatches Armenteios to Spain,
370; her instructions to him, 371; her
alarm at incieasing discontent of nobles,
ib. ; urges Philip to give satisfaction to
Netherlaiul nobles, 3S9; her delight at
having escaped from servitude to
Granveile, 401; contumelious treat¬
ment of his friends, ib.; her denunci¬
ations of Granveile and his party to
the King, and secret protestations of
friendship to Granveile himself, 402;
her intimacy with Armenteros, and
disgraceful participation in his pecu¬
lations, 411; her contemptuous treat¬
ment of former adherents of Granveile,
ib.; hei insinuations against Viglius,
414; difficulties of her position, 442;
urges Philip to change instructions to
inquisitors, ib.; expense and distress
caused by her son’s nuptials, 454;
driven to despair by disturbed state
of couni»y and discontent of the nobles,
470; informs Philip that he must take
up arms or make concessions, 475;
convenes grand assembly of notables,
476; her agitation on the presentation
of Reqm't, 481; her answer to Be¬
quest, 453; reply to second address
hi eu'iii,.lc. i*eo, 484; issues the “Mo¬
deration, 1 ’ 493; purport of Moderation,
ib .; issues piuc! muttons to put down
religious a^mnbhes, 500; her rage at
bold laugaue of members of Compro¬
mise assembled at St. Trend, 514; in¬
dignation, and terror at image-break¬
ing, 536; determines to seek lefuge in
Mons, 537; is advised by seigniors to
remain at her post, ib.; is forced to

concede liberty of worship where al¬
ready established, 539; signs articles
of agreement called the “ Accord,” ib .;
announces to Philip that if the three
points demanded by Bergken and Mon-
tigny be not granted she can no longer
restrain rebellion, ii. 6; letter to Philip
on subject of concessions made to con¬
federates, 11; calumnies against Orange,
Egmont, Horn, and Hoogstraaten, 12;
compact agreed to with confederates
fur pULiticaLion of provinces. 13; begins
to assume a tone of open defiance to¬
ward malcontents, 22; recalls Horn
from Tournay, 23; despatches Noir-
cames to Tournay to disarm citizens
and suppress the Accord, 25; continued
treacherous conduct to Orange, Horn,
and Egmont, 26; informs the King that
a scheme is arranged for dividing the
country and massacreing the people,
27; declares Valenciennes in a state
of siege, and all citizens rebels, 44; ap¬
peals to Orange for assistance against
proceedings of Brederode, 51; grants
permission to Protestants of Amster¬
dam to preach in the Lastadge, and
Iimne* lively afterward withdraws the
same, 52; refuses to accept resignation
of Orange, 54; haughty reply to Bre-
derode’s second request, 56; visits
Antwerp after the pacification of Cal¬
vinist tumults, 79; her expressions on
the occasion, ib .; her indignation at
being superseded by Alva, ib .; her
efforts to gain over Orange, 81; her
indignation on arrival of Alva, 111;
conduct subsequent to arrest of Eg¬
mont and Horn, 124; her resignation
is finally accepted, 143; she departs
from Netherlands, 144.

Parma, Ottavio Famese, afterwards Duke
of, married to Margaret, daughter of
Charles V., i. 222; accompanies the
Emperor to Barbary, 223.

Parties, three political, in Netherlands
during government of Don John ol
Austria, iii. 214.

Passau, treaty of, affirmed by Granveile
to have been secretly revoked by
Charles V., ii. 268.

“ Paternoster Jacks,” name given to

INDEX.

t!-l5

malcontent Walloon party by Calvin¬
ists, Hi. 340.

Patriots, position of, after departure of
Alva, ii. 509.

rani IV., indignation of, at the truce of
Vaucelles, i. 155; his ambitious char¬
acter, ib .; his hatred of Spaniards, 156;
absolves King of France from keeping
faith with Spain, 158; makes peace
with Spain, 163.

Peace, universal desire for, in Netherlands,
after departure of Alva, ii. 503.

People, degraded condition of, i. 32;
state of, at commencement of Regency
of Margaret of Parma, 253; refuse to
repair dikes if Spanish troops are
not removed, 288; their growing
terror of and wrath at Inquisition,
440; call upon Orange, Egmont, and
Horn, to come forward as their cham¬
pions, 446; despair at republication
of edicts and renewed proclama¬
tion of Inquisition, 449; sufferings of
and commencement of emigration to
England, 471.

Perez, Antonio, confidential secretary of
state of Philip II., his betrayal of Eon
John of Austria, iii. Ml; plottings
with Philip against Eon John of Aus¬
tria, and professions of friendship to
the latter, 189; conduct towards Esco-
vedo, 190; suggests to Don John the
necessity of procuring assassination of
Prince of Orange, 193.

Perez, Gonzalo, secretary of Philip II.,
draws up letter by which the King
recalls G-ranvelle, i. 398.

Peronne, interview of Cardinal de Lor¬
raine and Bishop of Arras at, i. 187.

Philip the Fair receives the homage of
the states of Netherlands, i. 56; cur¬
tails the privileges of the states, ib.;
marries Joanna, daughter of Ferdinand
and Isabella of Castile and Arragon, ib.;
dies at Burgos, 57.

Philip II., King of Spain and of the Ne-
theilands, his personal appearance, i.
103; his ingratitude to his father, 127;
accession to the sovereignty of the
Netherlands, 133 ; his marriage with
Maria of Portugal, ib .; his first ap¬
pearance in Netherlands as crown

prince, ib. ; swears without reserva¬
tion to support all the constitutions
and privileges of the provinces, 134:
his marriage with Mary of England,
135; his repulsive manners, 13S; his
temperament and characteristics, 139;
his accomplishments and peisonal ha¬
bits, 143 ; desires to annihilate pro¬
vincial independence of Netherlands,
153; re-enacts the edict of 1550, ib. j
qualms of conscience, occasioned by
hostile position toward the Church,
161; his concessions to Pope Paul IV.,
163; induces England to declare war
against France, 1557, 166; neglects to
follow up victory of St Quentin by
marching on Paris, 180; causes body
of St Quentin to be brought to hi3
tent, 184; disbands his army after
victory of St Quentin, 185; proposes
to marry daughter of King of France,
199; recommends the councils of the
provinces to extirpate all heretics, 206 ;
takes leave of the estates, 207 ; makes
a “ Request ” for new supplies, ib. ;
nominates Eucliess of Parma Regent,
ib.; his rage at remonstrance relative
to foreign troops presented by the
states-general, 211; his subsequent
dissimulation, 212; issues further in¬
structions for persecution of heretics,
ib. ; rebukes William of Orange, 213;
lands in Spain after quitting Nether¬
lands, 215; celebrates liis return by an
auto-da-fe , 216; swears to uphold the
Inquisition, ib. ; his reasons for ap¬
pointing Margaret of Raima Regent
of Netherlands, 223; carries out mea¬
sures relative to creation of new bishop¬
rics, without consulting Anthony Per-
ronet, 264; diiects from Spain ciiminal
informations against individuals in Ne¬
therlands, 271; his rage at complaints
against Granvelle and opposition to in
stitution of new bishops, 2S0; submis
sion to inspirations of bnn\ <Jle, 282;
state of his exchequer, 2S3; confirms
instructions of Charles V. to inquisi¬
tors in Netherlands, 321; his charac¬
terisation of Inquisition in Netheilands,
330 ; urged by Granvelle, denies the
intention to introduce Spanish Inqui-

646

INDEX.

sition in Netherlands, 341; protests to
Montigny that he has no intention to
introduce Spanish Inquisition into Ne¬
therlands, and that Granvelle was not
consulted previously to introduction of
new bishoprics, 358 ; requests opinion
of Alva on letters and remonstrances
of Netheiland nobles, 373; orders
Margaret of Parma to proclaim and
enforce decrees of Council of Trent in
Netherlands, 420; endeavours to win
Egmont when in Spain, 430; dissimu- ,
lation with all parties, 437; suggestions
as to new mode of punishing heretics,
442; instructions to Alva for his guid¬
ance in interview with Catherine de
Medici at Bayonne, 443; letters to in¬
quisitors in Netherlands, 445; ex¬
presses his dissatisfaction at opposition
of Netherlands to Inquisition, and en¬
joins Regent strictly to carry out reli¬
gious decrees, ib .; applauds decision
of theological assembly, 446; open and
secret proceedings after arrival of Ber-
ghen and Montigny in Madrid, ii. 4;
communications to the Pope regard¬
ing pretended concessions made to
Netherlands, 7; false promises to
visit Netherlands, 9; declares to Re¬
gent his determination never to allow
states-general to be convened, but de¬
sires the people to be deceived on the
subject, 10; letter to Egmont expres¬
sive of approbation of his having
taken the new oath, and his whole
couise of conduct, 88; letter to Mar¬
garet of Parma expressive of disappro¬
bation of edict of 24th May 1557, on
account of its leniency, 94; the veil of
hypociitical clemency towards Nether¬
lands is thrown off, 100; is counselled
by Ruy Gomez to proceed in person to
Netherlands, ib .; intentions with which
he despatched Alva to Netherlands,
115; his joy at Alva’s success in cap¬
turing Netherland nobles, 126 ; perfi¬
dious instructions to Eboli regarding
his conduct to Berghen and Montigny,
130; issues proclamation concerning
the decree of the Holy Office con¬
demning to death all the inhabitants
of the Netherlands, 155; expression

of determination to sacrifice his own
flesh, if required by the Lord, 227;
public answer to Emperor of Germany’s
intercession in favour of Netherlands
and William of Orange, 262; private
answer to same, 264; elaborate pre¬
parations for secret and extraordinary
execution of Montigny, 297; instructs
Alva to make known that Montigny
has died a natural death, 304; con¬
summate hypocrisy evinced on this
occasion, ib .; plot against Queen of
England, 323; orders Alva to supply
troops to carry out plot against Queen
of England, 325; appoints Duke of
Medina Coeli Governor - General of
Netherlands, in lieu of Alva, 330; re¬
primands deputies from Netherland
provinces, sent to Spain to remonstrate
against imposition of the new taxes,
337; his exultation at massacre of
Huguenots in France, 379; letters to
Alva on the subject, 380; secret en¬
deavours to obtain the imperial crown of
Germany, 465; pledges himself to with¬
draw Spanish troops from Netherlands,
and to allow the free exercise of the Re¬
formed religion there, 5.; his ministers
and governors mere puppets in his
hands, 500 ; dissimulation as regards
his intended policy towards Nether¬
lands, 502; expenses of Netherland
rebellion, 505; anger at death of Reque-
sens, iii. 53; undecided policy subse¬
quent to this event, 54; despatches
Havre to endeavour to pacify the
country, 74; letters to estates of Bra¬
bant, and to state-council, 76; plottings
with Antonio Perez to ensnare Don
John of Austria, 181; suggests to Don
John, through the means of Perez,
the necessity of the assassination
of Prince of Orange, 192; letter to
estates-general of Netherlands in reply
to their communications of 24th August
and 8th September 1577, 317; insists
upon necessity of maintaining the royal
supremacy and the Catholic religion on
the basis adopted by his father, 318;
issues ban against Prince of Orange,
480; despatches Duchess Margaret of
Parma to Netherlands, 489; offers to

INDEX.

647

restore to eldest son of Prince of Orange
the estates bestowed on the relatives
of his father’s murderer, on condition
of his paying a pension to them, 598.

Philip, Landgrave of Hesse, his opposition
to maniage of his grand-daughter, Anna
of Saxony, with William of Orange, i.
291; his protest against said marriage,
301.

Philibert de Bruxelles, hi3 speech on the
Emperor’s abdication, i. 1Q4.

Pierrepoint, French army assembled at,
in 1557, i. 166; army assembled at,
197.

Plessis les Tours, convention of, between
estates-general of Netherlands and
Duke of Anjou, iii. 477.

Podesta, chief magistiate of East Fries¬
land, elected by provinces, i. 38.

Pontus Payen, author of a history of the
times, i. 169, in note.

Portugal, Maria of, first wife of Philip
II., i. 133.

Portugal, Maria of, wife of Alexander of
Parma, her beauty and accomplish¬
ments, i. 451.

Protestants, purity of their lives, i. 457.

Rassinghem defrits sectaries at Watre-
lots, ii. 47.

Ratcliffe and Gray, two Englishmen exe¬
cuted on charge of having assassinated
Don John of Austria, iii. 349.

Reformation, progress of, in Netherlands,
i. 72; attempts to suppress, in Nether¬
lands, 77.

Reformed religion triumphant in Hol¬
land and Zeland, iii. 325; rapid spread
through the provinces, ib.

Reformers, their increasing boldness and
religious meetings in the fields, i. 498 ;
their preachers, 499; sects to which
they principally belonged, 503; com¬
mence building their first temple out¬
side Toumay, ii. 21; demand permission
to preach inside the city, ib .; their
conduct at Valenciennes, 43; their
conduct at Antwerp after defeat of
Tholouse, 61.

Remonstrance of estates of Brabant on
destruction of Antwerp, iii. 119.

Renard, Simon, suspected of writing a

stinging lampoon against Cardinal
G-ranvelle, i. 337.

Renneberg, Count, brother of Count
Hoogstraaten, and stadtholder of Fries¬
land and Drenthe, betrays patriot
cause, iii. 462; price paidfor his treachery,
tb.; evil influence of his sister, Cor¬
nelia Lalain, Baroness Monceau, 463;
his character, 464; intercepted letters
reveal his treason to Orange, 465; inci¬
dents attending his seizure of the city
of Groningen for Prince of Parma,
ib .; lays siege to Steenwyk, 485; is
obliged to abandon the siege, 488; his
subsequent career and death, ib.

Requesens, Don Louis de, appointed suc¬
cessor of Alva, arrives in Brussels, ii
481; his previous career, 500; in¬
structions received from Philip on as¬
suming governorship of Netherlands,
502; his views of Netherland affairs,
on first assuming office, 506 ; opposite
opinions held by him and Alva, 507;
sends two fleets under Romero and
d’Avila, to attempt to rescue Middel-
burg, 512; parleys with mutinous
Spanish troops, 533; vain negotiations
with assembly of deputies at Brussels,
iii. 4; various negotiations with Orange,
5; his ignorance as to Philip’s real
wishes and intentions regarding peace,

| 20; preparations for taking possession

of isles of Zeland, 33; his financial
difficulties, 47; unexpected death, 49
retrospective views of his character ana
career, 50.

Request proposed to be presented to
Margaret of Parma by confederates of
the Compromise league, i. 472; Orange’s
steps with regard to it, 473; subject of,
discussed in assembly of notables, 476 ;
presentation of, 479 ; purport of this
document, 480 ; answer to, 481.

Reulx, Count, Governor of FlanJui 0 , so¬
licits aid from Prince of Orange against
mutineers, iii. 92.

Rhetoric chambers, their liberal tenden¬
cies and influence on people, i. 335

Richardot, Juan, nephew of the Bishop
of Arras, his testimony to the incredible
horrors of the sack of Mechlin, ii.
398.

648

INDEX.

Biots of Reformers against Catholics, in
Antwerp, iii. 417 ; in Utrecht, 418.

Ripperda, commander of the garrison of
Harlem, •warns the citizens of the
absolute necessity of mating a last
effort for freedom, ii. 416.

Boda, Jerome de, claims to be sole Gover¬
nor of Netherlands, iii. 78; his un¬
worthy treatment of Netherland nobles
after capture of Antwerp, 118; writes
letter of congratulation to Philip, after
capture of the city, ib.

Rodolph II., accession to the imperial
throne, iii. 159; his sentiments towards
Netherlands, ib.

Romero, Julian, supposed to have
been the officer who urged Egmont to
escape, ii. 120; disgraceful conduct at
Naarden, 408.

Rotterdam, onslaught of Spanish troops
on, after vain attempts to recapture
Brill, ii. 347.

Ruyter, Herman de, a cattle drover and
partisan of Orange, murders the Go¬
vernor of Lowestein, and takes pos¬
session of the castle, ii. 308; blows up
the castle, 309.

Ryhove, a nobleman of Ghent, passion¬
ately attached to Prince of Orange, and
desirous of forming a free confedera¬
tion of Nctheilands, iii. 279; seeks an
interview with Prince of Orange, at
Antwerp, to propose a revolution in
Ghent, 282; incidents and result of 1
interview, 283; returns to Ghent, and
urges on the people to throw off the
Spanish yoke, 285; is placed at the
head of provisional government, 2S6;
atrocious proceedings against Visck
and Hessels, 369: struggles for power
with Imbize, at Ghent, 436.

Bythovius, Peter, doctor of divinity,
raises popular commotion by enter¬
ing into disputation with Refoimed
preacher, i. 510.

Saint Quentin, city of, strategical im¬
portance of its position, i, 172; is
threatened by the Duke of Savoy,
ib.; battle of, 176; assault and sack
of the city, 182.

Saint Winochsberg, taken by De Thermw,
i. 189.

Salseda, a Spaniard, and Basa, an Italian,
detected in a scheme to poison Anjou
and Orange, at instigation of Duke' of
Parma, iii. 544; fearful mode of execu¬
tion at Paris, ib.

Sarrasin, John, prior of Saint Vaast, his
zeal in buying over adherents to roj’al
cause, and services in re-establishing
the Royal authority over the Walloon
provinces, iii. 385; purchases effected
by him among Catholic nobles, 393.

Savoy, Emanuel Philibert, Duke of, Re¬
gent of Netherlands, i. 143; his char¬
acter and early career, 149; takes
command of army, 168; invests St.
Quentin, 172; recovers his sovereignty,
199; promises to marry Margaret, sister
of King of France, ib .; rebukes estates
for indignity offered to Philip, 211.

Saxony, Augustus, Elector of, his eager¬
ness for marriage of his niece, Anna,
with William of Orange, i. 291.

Saxony, Anna of, married to William of
Orange, i. 306; her eccentricity, iii. 23 ;
her conduct towards Orange, ib .; her
intemperance, 24; her letters to Alva,
ib.; her infidelity, ib .; her solitary
confinement, 25; death, ib.

Scheld, victory of the patriot fleet over
the Spanish fleet, in the year 1574, ii.
515; victory of patriot Admiral Haem-
stede, off Antwerp, 537.

Schetz, Caspar, Baron of Grobbendonck,
his position, i. 325; his venality, ib .;
humiliation of Granvelle fixed upon by
nobles at banquet at his house, 3S6.

Schoonoven, surrender to Hierges, ii. 33.

Schout and Schfepens, chief magistrates
and aldermen of Flemish cities, how
appointed, i. 36.

Schouwen conquered by the Spaniards,
iii. 39.

Schwartzburg, Count Gunther de, de¬
spatched to Germany, to sue for the
hand of the Princess Anna of Saxony
for William of Orange, i. 292.

Schwendi, Lazarus, friend of Prince of
Orange, urges King and Regent to take
means to allay stoim gathering in Ne¬
therlands, i. 384.

INDEX.

64<>

Sects, religious, in Netherlands, i. 63;
dreadful persecution of, 69.

Segovia, consultations of Spanish council
at, on the subject of discontent in Ne¬
therlands, li. 4.

Seiwaert Abbey, total destruction of
Nassau’s army near, ii. 217.

Sessa, Carlos de, burnt as a heretic, i.
217.

Sienna ceded to Cosmo de Medici, i. 163.

Slaves and serfs in Netherlands, i. 33.

Smith, Christopher, a Carmelite monk,
converted to Protestantism, put to
death at Antwerp, i. 417.

Soldiery, Spanish, become mutinous, ii.
449; offer to deliver Harlem into the
hands of Orange, ib .; are appeased
by Alva, 450; their peculiar situation
and constitution in Netherlands, 530;
mutiny immediately after battle of
Mook, 532; seize Antwerp, 533; mu¬
tiny settled by treaty with Governor-
General, 535; departure of, from Ne¬
therlands, iii. 175.

Sonnius, Dr Francis, sent on a mission
to Rome to represent necessity of in¬
crease of bishoprics in Netherlands, i.
259.

Sonoy, Diedrich, appointed by Orange
Lieutenant-Governor of North Hol¬
land, ii. 358 ; written instructions
given to him by the Prince, ib .; floods
the country to save Alkmaar, 456;
discovers conspiracy among ceitain in¬
habitants of Holland to favour a Span¬
ish invasion, iii. 29; establishes a kind
of blood-council, and commits horrible
cruelty on some of the conspirators,
ib.

Sorrento, Archbishop of, his mission in
Netherlands, i. 496.

^pa, meeting of nobles at, to lay the
foundations of the Compromise, i. 460.

Su'lthulders of provinces, their functions
and powers, i. 205.

Statistics of life and money, expended in
Netherlands during the struggle for
liberty, iii. 116, in note.

Steenwyk, the key to the province of
Drcnthe, is besieged by Renneberg,
iii. 485; is assailed with red-hot balls
and with stingless sarcasms, ib .; pre¬

tended intercepted letter of Orange,
486; homilies of Captain Cornput, 4S7;
siege abandoned by Renneberg, 48S.

Stolberg, Juliana of, mother of ‘William
of Orange, i. 229; her piety and bene¬
ficial influence on her sons, ib.

Straalen, Antony van, burgomaster of
Antwerp, arrested the same day as
Egmont and Horn, ii. 123; is executed
by older of Alva, 234.

Strozzi, Marshal, commences campaign in
Italy in 1556, i. 158; his death, 188.

Strycker, Hermann, a converted monk,
addresses an assembly of eight thou¬
sand persons in neighbourhood of
Ghent, i. 499.

Swarte, John de, and other persons,
burned for reading the Bible, i. 326.

Taffin, Nicholas, demands that the com¬
munity of Tournay shall defray ex¬
penses of building Protestant temples,
ii. 21.

Tanchelyn, his character and career, i.
67.

Teligny, son-in-law of Coligny, shut up
in St Quentin, makes an imprudent
sortie, and further increases dangers of
the fortress, i. 173; falls in the en¬
counter, ib.

Tergoes, besieged by Jerome de’t Zera-
erts, ii. 401; position of town, 402;
expedition to lelieve the place, ib .;
defeat of besieging army, 404.

Thermes, Paul de, Governor of Calais,
i. 186; attacks and takes Dunkerk,
189; taken prisoner after battle of
Gravelines, 193.

Thionville, siege of, i. 188.

Tholouse, Marnix de, commands expedi¬
tion against Walcheren, projected by
Brederode, ii. 58.

Tiskaen, Hans, his execution for heresy
by order of Regent, i. 492.

Tisnacq, engagement at, between muti¬
nous Spanish troops and a mass of
students, burgheis, and peasantry, iii.
88 .

Titelmann, Peter, inquisitor in Flanders,
Douay, and Tournay, his character and
cruelty, i. 321; reiuuiistunices made
by citizens and estates against his

550

INDEX.

monstrous proceedings, 419; prognos¬
ticates evil from tlie escape of Orange,

ii. 127.

Toledo, Don Ferdinand de, grand prior,
natural son of the Duke of Alva, his
friendship for Egmont, ii. 118; urges
Egmont to escape, 120.

Torquemada, first grand inquisitor, i.
312; number of individuals burnt alive
during his administration, ib.

Toumay, its liberties destroyed by
Charles V., i, 112; citizens of, dis¬
armed, ii. 25 ; is besieged by Alex¬
ander of Parma, iii. 512; defended by
Princess of Espinoy, ib.; capitulation
of, 513.

Treaty of Union signed between Prince
of Orange and estates of Holland and
Zeland on the one side, and other pro¬
vinces of Nethei lands on the other,

iii. 123; great credit and benefits ac¬
cruing from the treaty, ib .; popularity
of the treaty, 124.

Trent, decrees of Council of, ordered to
be enforced in Netherlands, i. 420;
their provisions, ib .; contrary to the
privileges of provinces, 421; opposi¬
tion to their promulgation, ib .; oppo¬
sition of clergy to Council of, 438;
orders to publish Council of Trent
Edicts and Inquisition throughout
Netherlands, 448.

Treslong, William de Blois, Seigneur
de, one of the leaders of the Beggars
of the Sea, his part in capture of Brill,
ii. 342.

Tribaulet, jester at the court of Charles
V., 122.

Trond, St, assembly of members of Com¬
promise league at, i. 511; dissolution
of assembly, 515.

Truchses, Gerard, Archbishop of Cologne,
seeks refuge with Prince of Orange at
Delft, iii. 570.

Uitenhoove, a Flemish noble, roasted to
death by slow fire for having been en¬
gaged in the capture of Brill, ii. 480

Union of Brussels, iii. 152; tenor, motive,
and effect of agreement, ib.; germ of
destruction contained in it, 154.

Utrecht foundation of bishopric of, L

21; city and province of, declared to
have forfeited all rights and property
by opposition to new system «f taxa¬
tion, ii. 281; appeal to Philip against
Alva, 283; Union of, effected by Wil¬
liam of Orange, iii. 400; object and
provisions of Union, ib.; characterisa¬
tion of Union, 405.

Valenciennes, city of, its origin and situ¬
ation, ii. 43; refuses to admit a garri¬
son of Spanish mercenaries, 44; is
invested by Noircarmes, 45; appeals
to the Knights of the Fleece for assist¬
ance, 49; terms proposed by Regent,
and counter-propositions to these, 73;
assault and surrender of, 75; sufferings
of citizens, 77.

Valladolid, first auto-da-fe at, i. 215.

Valois, Margaret of, Queen of Navarre,
her exceeding beauty and great talents,
iii. 220; her intrigues in Hainault in
favour of Duke of Alen^on, ib.; her
reception at Namur by Don John of
Austria, 223.

Vandenesse, private secretary to Philip
II., and secret agent of Orange, in-
foims the latter that Alva has received
orders to arrest him, ii. 88.

Vargas, Francis de, opinion as to infalli¬
bility of Council of Trent, i. 420.

Vargas, Juan de, member of the Blood-
Council, his vicious and cruel char¬
acter, ii. 137.

Vaucelles, truce of, concluded 5th Feb¬
ruary 1556; rejoicings caused by, i. 151.

Velleda, a German prophetess, promises
success to Claudius Civilis, and gains
confederates for him, i. 14; is bought
over by the Romans, 15.

Venero and Zimmermann, execution of,
the accomplices of assassin of Prince of
Orange, iii. 532.

Verdugo, report of state of affairs in
Brussels and Antwerp in consequence
of mutiny of Spanish soldiery, iii. 77.

Vervins, town of, burned and pillaged
by Spanish army, under Duke of
Savoy, i. 171.

Viglius, van Aytta, president cf the
council, his personal appearance, i.
100; his origin, talents, and learning^

INDEX.

651

225; his early career, ih.% nominated
member of council of state and of con¬
sults, 226; odious on account of sup¬
posed participation in composition of
edict of 1550, ib.; his bigotry and
intolerance, ib. ; his pusillanimity,
839; Ms desire to retire, and Philip’s
bribes to retain him in office, 340; his
speech to the assembly of Kniglits of
the Fleece, convoked in 1562, 346;
rendered uneasy by uprooting of a
mulberry - tree, 348; his uneasiness
after recall of Granvelle, and con¬
tempt -with which he was treated by
the Regent, 412; his love of lucre, 413;
accusations of Regent against him, 414;
being attacked by apoplexy is super¬
seded by Hopper, 424; attempts to
smooth the troubled waters, 448; re¬
presents necessity for the King’s pre¬
sence in the Netherlands, ii. 9; his obse¬
quiousness to Alva, 135; assists in the
choice of members of the Blood-Coun
cil, 136; his eulogy on the prudence
and gentleness of Alva, 143; opposes
Alva’s new scheme of aibitrary taxar
tion in Net hei lands, 2T9; his en¬
deavours to procure an amnesty, 284;
adopts the cause of the people in oppo¬
sition to Alva, 318; dissenting state¬
ments as to his piesence in state-coun¬
cil on occasion of its arrest by the
Seigneur de Hdze, iii. 90, in note; his
death, 203.

Villages, number of, i. 91.

Villars, De, comunnding a division of
patriot army under Louis of Nassau,
is defeated first at Roermonde, ii. 180;
subsequently at Erkelens and Dalem,
181; betrays Orange’s designs, ib.

Vitelli, Chiapin, his character, extra¬
ordinary obesity, and death, iii. 39.

Vroedschappen, or councillors, elected
by the cities in Netherlands, i. 38.

Walckeren, horrid internecine warfare In"
the island of, ii. 356; detestable Qtilelty
of natives towards Spaniards, ib. £

Walloon, provinces of, Artois, Haxnault,
Lille, Douay, and Orchies, un\te- in a
separate to&ue, 157.9, ui. 395; ‘cnfdjeg-

ences with deputations from statcs-
general, 410; deputation sent to Prince
of Parma before Maestri clit, 414; flat¬
tering reception given to deputation,
ib.; fascination exercised by Prince on
deputation, ib .; pieliminary Accord
signed with King’s government, 415;
provisions of Accord, ib .; effect pro¬
duced by Accord throughout Nether¬
lands, on Prince of Orange, and in
France, 417.

Walsingliam, Sir Francis, and Lord Cob-
ham, despatched to Netherlands by
Queen of England to endeavour to
effect pacification between the estates
and the Governor, Don John of Aus¬
tria, iii. 336; conference with Don
John, ib. ; leave Netherlands, having
failed in their mission, 337.

Willebroek, interview berween Orange,
Egmont, and Mansfeld, at, ii S3.

Willemzoon, Dirk, an Aualnptist, put tp
death under dreadful tortures after an
admirable act of Christian self-devo¬
tion, ii. 272.

Women, condition of, in Netherlands, i.
91.

Ypres forced to yield to Spanish govern¬
ment, and dead heretics hanged and
living ones killed, iii. 579.

Zeland, islands of, recovered by patriots,
iii. 126.

Zeraerts, Jerome van’t, appointed by
Orange Governor of the island of Wal-
cheren, ii. 353.

Zierickzee, besieged by Mon dragon, iii.
39; attempts to relieve city, 67; sur¬
renders on advice of Prince of Orange,
61; conditions of surrender, ib.; mu¬
tiny of Spanish troops after surrender,
69.

Zutphen, enormous cruelties committed

’ ^at, order of Alva, ii. 405.

Zuyfteg Zee formed by submersion of
landfealong the Vlie. i. 3S; naval en¬
gagement in, between Count Eossu
and Admiral Dirkzoon, ii. 477; vic¬
tory of patriots and capture of Spanish
Admiral, 478.

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