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ALEXANDER FARNESE, PRINCE OF PARMA.
From a Bcarce Engraving by Wierix

FroDtUpiece, Vol. L

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HISTORY

OF THE

UNITED NETHERLANDS

FROM THE DEATH OF WILLIAM THE SILENT
TO THE TWELVE YEARS' TRVCE-1609

JOHN LOTHROP MOTLEY, D.C.L., LL.D.

G0BBI8P0NDIN0 MEMBER OF THE UiSnTUTE OF FRANCE, ETC.

IN FOUR VOLUMES— Vol. I
1584-86

WITH PORTRAITS

i?- ■ .:r. ■/

NEW YORK

HARPER & BROTHERS, PUBLISHERS

FRANKLIN SQUARE

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Entered, according to Act of Congress, in the year one thousand eight hundied

and sixty, by

John Lothrop MoiLsr,

in the Clerk's Office of the District Court of the District of Massachusetta

Entered, according to Act of Congress, in the year one thousand eight hundred
and sixty-seven, by

John Lothrop Motlkt,

in the Clerli^s Office of the District Court of the District of Massachusetts.

DON

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PREFACE.

The indulgence with which the History of the Rise
of the Dutch Republic was received has encouraged me
to prosecute my task with renewed industry.

A single word seems necessary to explain the some-
what increased proportions which the present work
has assumed over the original design. The intimate
connection which was formed between the Kingdom
of England and the Republic of HoUand, immediately
after the death of William the Silent, rendered the
history and the fate of the two commonwealths for
a season almost identical. The years of anxiety and
suspense during which the great Spanish project for
subjugating England and recotiquering the Nether*
lands, by the same invasion, was slowly matured, were
of deepest import for the future destiny of those two
countries and for the cause of national liberty. The
deep-laid conspiracy of Spain and Rome against
human rights deserves to be patiently examined, for
it is one of the great lessons of history. The crisis
was long and doubtful, and the health — ^perhaps the
existence — of England and Holland, and, with them,
of a great part of Christendom, was on the issue.

History has few so fruitful examples of the dangers
which come from superstition and despotism, and the

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IV PREFACE.

blessings which flow from the maintenance of religions
and political freedom^ as those afforded by the struggle
between England and Holland on the one side, and
Spain and Rome on the other, during the epoch which I
have attempted to describe. It is for this reason that I
have thought it necessary to reveal, as minutely as pos-
sible, the secret details of this conspiracy of king and
priest against the people, and to show how it was
baffled at last by the strong self-helping energy of two
free nations combined.

The period occupied by these two volumes is
therefore a short one, when counted by years, for it
begins in 1584 and ends with the commencement of
1590. When estimated by the significance of events
and their results for future ages, it will perhaps be
deemed worthy of the close examination which it
has received. With the year 1588 the crisis was
past; England was safe, and the new Dutch com-
monwealth was thoroughly organized. It is my
design, in two additional volumes, which, with the
two now published, will complete the present work,
to carry the history of the Republic down to the
Synod of Dort. After this epoch the Thirty Years'
War broke out in Germany; and it is my wish, at
a future day, to retrace the history of that eventful
struggle, and to combine with it the civil and mili-
tary events in Holland, down to the epoch when the
Thirty Years' War and the Eighty Years' War of the
Netherlands were both brought to a close by the Peace
of Westphalia.

The materials for the volumes now offered to the
public were so abundant that it was almost impossible

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PREPACB, V

to condense them into smaller compass without doing
injustice to the subject. It was desirable to throw
full light on these prominent points of the history,
while the law of historical perspective will allow
long stretches of shadow in the succeeding portions,
in which less important objects may be more slightly
indicated. That I may not be thought capable of
abusing the reader's confidence by inventing conversa-
tions, speeches, or letters, I would take this oppor-
tunity of stating — ^although I have repeated the remark
in the foot-notes — that no personage in these pages is
made to write or speak any words save those which, on
the best historical evidence, he is known to have writ-
ten or spoken.

A brief allusion to my sources of information
will not seem superfluous. I have carefully studied
all the leading contemporary chronicles and pamphlets
of Holland, Flanders, Spain, France, Germany, and
England ; but, as the authorities are always indicated
in the notes, it is unnecessary to give a list of them
here. But by far my most valuable materials are
entirely unpublished ones.

The archives of England are especially rich for
the history of the sixteenth century ; and it wiQ be
seen, in the course of the narrative, how largely I
have drawn from those mines of historical wealth,
the State Paper Office and the MS. department of
the British Museum. Although both these great
national depositories are in admirable order, it is to
be regretted that they are not all embraced in one
collection, as much trouble might then be spared
to the historical student, who is now obliged to

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Vl PREFACE.

pass frequently from the one place to the other^ in
order to find different portions of the same corre-
spondence.

From the royal archives of Holland I have obtained
many most important, entirely unpublished docu-
ments, by the aid of which I have endeavoured to
verify, to illustrate, or sometimes to correct, the
recitals of the elder national chroniclers ; and I have
derived the greatest profit from the invaluable series
of Archives and Correspondence of the Orange*
Nassau Family, given to the world by M. Groen van
Prinsterer. I desire to renew to that distinguished
gentleman, and to that eminent scholar M. Bakhuy-
zen van den Brink, the expression of my gratitude
for their constant kindness and advice during my
residence at the Hague. Nothing can exceed the
courtesy which has been extended to me in Holland,
and I am deeply grateful for the indulgence with which
my eflTorts to illustrate the history of the country
have been received where that history is best
known.

I have also been much aided by the study of a por-
tion of the Archives of Simancas, the originals of which
are in the Archives de TEmpire in Paris, and which
were most liberally laid before me through the kindness
of M. le Comte de La Borde.

I have, further, enjoyed an inestimable advantage
in the perusal of the whole correspondence between
Philip n., his ministers, and governors, relating to
the afiairs of the Netherlands, from the epoch at
which this work commences down to that monarch's
death. Copies of this correspondence have been

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PREFACE. VU

carefoUj made from the origmals at Simancas by
order of the Belgian Govermnent, under the super-
intendence of the eminent archivist M. Gachard,
who has akeady published a synopsis or abridgment
of a portion of it in a French translation. The
translation and abridgment of so large a mass of
papers, however, must necessarily occupy many years,
and it may be long, therefore, before the whole of
the correspondence — and particularly that portion of
it relating to the epoch occupied by these volumes —
sees the light. It was, therefore, of the greatest
importance for me to see the documents themselves
unabridged and untranslated. This privilege has
been accorded me, and I desire to express my thanks
to his Excellency M. van de Weyer, the distin-
guished representative of Belgium at the English
Court, to whose friendly offices I am mainly indebted
for the satisfaction of my wishes in this respect.
A letter from him to his Excellency M. Rogier,
Minister of the Interior in Belgium — who likewise
took the most courteous interest in promoting my
views — obtained for me the permission thoroughly
to study this correspondence ; and I passed several
months in Brussels, occupied with reading the whole
of it from the year 1584 to the end of the reign of
Philip II.

I was thus saved a long visit to the Archives of Si-
mancas, for it would be impossible conscientiously to
write the history of the epoch without a thorough exam-
ination of the correspondence of the King and his min-
isters. I venture to hope, therefore — whatever judg-
ment may be passed upon my own labours — ^that this

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Vm PREFACE.

work may be thonght to possess an intrinsic value ; for
the various materials of which it is composed are ori-
ginal, and — so far as I am aware — ^have not been made
use of by any historical writer.

I would take this opportunity to repeat my thanks to
M. Ghtchard, Archivist of the kingdom of Belgium, for
the uniform courtesy and kindness which I have received
at his hands, and to bear my testimony to the skill and
critical accuracy with which he has illustrated so many
passages of Belgian and Spanish history.

31, Hbrtfobd-Stbeet, Mat*Faib,
Kofember llih, 1860.

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CONTENTS OF VOL. I.

CHAPTER I.

FAOa

Knrder of Orange— Extension of Protestantism— Vast Power of Spain— Be-
ligions Origin of the Revolt — Disposal of the Sovereigntj — Courage of the
Estates of Holland— Children of William the Silent— Provisional Council of
State— firm Attitude of Holland and Zeeland— Weakness of Flanders— Fall
of Qhent— AdroitneaB of Alexander Famese 1

CHAPTER II.

Belations of the Bepublio to France— Queen Elizabeth's Severity towards
Catholios and Calvinists— Relative Positions of England and Franco —
llmidity of Germany — Apathy of Protestant Germany— Indignation of the
Netherlanders— Henry IIL of France— The King and his Minions — Henry
of Guise— Hemy of Navarre— Power of France— Embas^ of the States
to France— Ignominious Position of the Envoys — ^Yiews of the French
Huguenots — Efforts to procure Annexation— Success of Des Pruneaux. ... 26

CHAPTER III.

Policy of England— Schemes of the Pretender of Portugal- Hesitation of the
French Court — Secret Wishes of France— Contradictory Views as to the
Opinions of Netherlanders— Their Love for England and Elizabeth — ^Prom-
inent Statesmen of the Provinces — Roger Williams tho Welshmanr— Views
of Walsingham, Burghley, and the Queen — An Embassy to Holland decided
upon— Davison at the Hague— Cautious and Secret Measures of Burghley
—Consequent Dissatisfaction of Walsingham — En^^iah and Dutch Suspicion
of France— Increasing Affection of Holland for England 65

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00NTBNT8 OF VOL. L

CHAPTER IV.

TAmM

BeoeptioQ of tho Dutch Envoys at tho Louvre— Ignominious Result of the
Embassj— Secret Influences at work — Bargaining between the French
and Spanish Courts-^^laims of Catharine de' Medici upon Portugal —
Letters of Henry and Catharine— Secret Proposal by Franoe to invade
England — States* Mission to Henry of Navarre— Subsidies of Philip to
Guise— Treaty of JoinviUe — ^Philip's Share in the League denied by
Parma— Philip in reality its Chief— Manifesto of the League— Attitude of
Henry IIL and of Navarre— The League demands a Boyal Decree-
Designs of Franoe and Spain against England — Secret Interview of Men-
dossa and Villeroy — Complaints of English Persecution — Edict of Nemours
—Excommunication of Navarre and his Reply 04

CHAPTER V.

Position and Character of Famese— Preparations ibr Antwerp Siege— Its
Characteristics— Foresight of William the Silent — Sainte Aldegonde, the
Burgomaster — Anarchy in Antwerp — Character of Sainte Aldegonde—
Admiral Treslong — Justinus de Nasaau — ^Hohenlo— Opposition to the Plan
of Orange — ^Liefkenshoek — Head-Quarters of Parma at Kalloo— Difficulty
of supplying the City — ^Results of not piercing tho Dykes — Preliminaries
of the Siege— Successes of the Spaniards — Energy of Famese with Sword
and Pen — "Sia Correspondence with the Antwerpers — Progress of the
Bridge — ^Impoverished Condition of Parma — Patriots attempt Bois-le-Duo
— ^Their Misconduct — ^Failure of the Enterprise — The Scheldt Bridge com-
pleted— Description of the Structure— Position of Alexander and his Army
— La Motte attempts in vain Ostend — Patriots gain Liefkenshoek — Pro-
jects of Gianibelli — Alarm on the Bridge— The Fire-Shipa—The Explosion
— Its Results— Death of the Viscount of Ghent — ^Perpetual Anxiety of
Famese — ^Impoverished State of tho Spaniards — Intended Attack on tho
Kowenstyn — Second Attack on the Kowenstyn — A Landing effected — A
sharp Combat — ^The Dyke pierced — ^Rally of the Spaniards — ^Parma comes
to the Rescue— Fierce Struggle on the Dyke — ^The Spainards successful
— ^Premature Triumph at Antwerp— Defeat of tho Patriots — ^The Ship
* "War's End' — ^Despair of the Citizens — Sainte Aldegonde Discouraged—
His critical Position — ^His Negotiations with the Enemy — Correspondence
with Richardot — Commotion in the City — ^Interview of Mamix with Parma
— Suspicious Conduct of Mamix — ^Deputation to the Prince— Oration of
Mamix — Private Views of Parma — Capitulation of Antwerp— Mistakes of
Mamix — ^Philip on the Religious Question — ^Triumphal Entrance of Alex-
ander— Rebuilding of the Citadel — Gratification of Philip— Note on Sainte
Aldegonde 134

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CONTENTS OF YGh. L jx

CHAPTER VI.

PAQB

Bolky of England — ^Diplomatic Coquetry — Dutch Envoys in England— Con-
ference of Ortel and Walaingham — Interview with Leicester — Private
Audience of the Queen — ^Letters of the States^-General — ^111 Effects of
Gilpin^s Despatch — Close Bargaining of the Queen and States — Guarantees
required by England — ^England's comparative Weakness — ^The English
characterized — ^Paul Hentzner — The Envoys in London — ^Their Characters
— Olden-Bameveld described — Reception at Greenwich — Speech of Menin
— ^Beply of the Queen — ^Memorial of the Envoys— Discussions with the
lOnisters— Second Speech of the Queen — ^Third Speech of the Queen — Sir
John Norris sent to Holland — ^Parsimony of Elizabeth — Energy of Davison
— ^Protracted Negotiations — ^Friendly Sentiments of Count Maurice — Let-
tera from him and Louisa de Coligny — Davison vexed by the Queen*s
Caprioe->Di8satis&otion of Leioester — His vehement Complaints — ^The
Queen^s Avarice— Perplexity of Davison — Manifesto of Elizabeth — Sir
FhOip Sidney— His Arrival at Flushing 285

CHAPTER VII.

The Earl of Leioester — His Triumphal Entrance into Holland — ^English Spies
about him — ^Importance of Holland to England — Spanish Schemes for
invading England — Letter of the Grand Commander — Perilous Position
of England — ^True Nature of the Contest — Wealth and Strength of the
Provinces — ^Power of the Dutch and English People— Affection of the
Hollanders for the Queen — Secret Purposes of Leicester — Wretched Con-
dition of English Troops — ^The Nassaus and Hohenlo— The Earl's Opinion
of them — Clerk and Killigrew — ^Interview with the States — Government-
General offered to the Earl — ^Discussions on the Subject — ^The Earl accepts
the Office— His Ambition and Mistakes — His Installation at the Hague —
Intimations of the Queen's Displeasure — ^Deprecatory Letters of Leicester —
Davison's Mission to England — Queen's Anger and Jealousy — ^Her Angry
Letters to the Earl aud the States — Arrival of Davison — Stormy Interview
with the Queen — ^The second one is calmer — Queen's Wrath somewhat
mitigated — Mission of Heneage to the States — Shirley sent to England by
the Earl— His Interview with Elizabeth — Leicester's Letters to his Friends
— ^Paltry Conduct of the Earl to Davison — ^He excuses himself at Davison's
Expense— His Letter to Burghley — Effect of the Queen's Letters to the
States — Suspidon and Discontent in Holland — States excuse their Con-
duct to the Queen — ^Leicester discredited in Holland — Evil Consequences
to Holland and England — ^Magic Effect of a Letter Ih}m Leicester — The
Queen appeased — ^Her Letters to the States and the Earl — She permits
the granted Authority — Unhappy Results of the Queen's Course— Her

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Xii OONTBNTS OP VOL. I.

PAOK

variable Moods — She attempts to deceive Walsinghaiii— >Her I^jostioe
to Heneage^Uis Perplexitf and Distress— Humiliatiiig Positioa of Lei-
cester—His melandiolj Letters to the Queens-He receives a little Con-
solation— And writes more cheerfully — ^The Queen is more benignant —
The States less contented than the Eail— His Quarrels with them begin. . . 365

CHAPTER VIII.

Forlorn Condition of Flanders — ^Parma's secret Negotiations with the Queen
— Grafigni and Bodman—Their Dealings with English Counsellors—
Duplicity of Eamese— Secret Offers of the English Peace-Party — ^Letters
and Intrigues of De Loo— Drake's Victories and their Effect — ^Panna's
Perplexity and Anxiety — He is relieved by the News fixMn England —
Queen's secret Letters to Parma— His Letters and Instructions to Bodman
— Bodman's secret Transactions at Greenwich— Walsingham detects and
exposes the Plot — ^The Intriguers baffled — Queen's Letter to Parma and
his to the King — ^Unlucky Results of the Peace-Intrigues — ^Unhandsome
Treatment of Leicester — ^Indignation of the Earl and Walaingham — Secret
Letter of Parma to Philip— Invasion of England recommended — ^Details of
the Project 488

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^.^^**V-

fmfii^r

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THE UNITED NETHERLANDS.

CHAPTER I.

Knrder of Orange— Extension of ProtestanUsm — Vast Power of Spain —
BeUgious Origin of the Revolt — IMspoeal of the Sovereignty — Courage of
the Estates of Holland— Children of William the SUent— Provisional
CoancQ ef State ~ Firm attitude of Holland and Zeeland— Weaknen of
Flanders — Fall of Ghent — Adroitness of Alexander Famese.

William the Silent, Prince of Orange, had been murdered
on the 10th of July, 1584. It is difficult to imagine a more
universal disaster than the one thus brought about by the
hand of a single obscure fanatic. For nearly twenty years
the character of the Prince had been expanding steadily as
the difficulties of his situation increased. Habit, necessity,
and the natural gifts of the man, had combined to invest him
at last with an authority which seemed more than human.
There was such general confidence in his sagacity, courage,
and purity, that the nation had come to think with his brain
and to act with his hand. It was natural that, for an in-
stant, there should be a feeling as of absolute and helpless
paralysis.

Whatever his technical attributes in the polity of the
Netherlands — and it would be difficult to define them with
perfect accuracy — ^there is no doubt that he stood there, the
head of a commonwealtn, in an attitude such as had been
maintained by but few of the kings, or chiefs, or high priests
of history. Assassination, a regular and almost indispensable
portion of the working machinery of Philip's government,
had produced, in this instance, after repeated disappoint-
ments, the result at last which had been so anxiously desired.

VOL. I. — ^B

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THE UNITED KETHEBLANDa

Ohap. L

The ban of the Pope and the offered gold of the King had
accomplished a victory greater than any yet achieved by
the armies of Spain^ brilliant as had been their triumphs on
the blood-stained soil of the Netherlands.

Had that "exceeding proud, neat/ and spruce''^ Doctor of
Laws, William Parry, who had been busying himself at about
the same time with his memorable project against the Queen
of England, proved as successful as Balthazar Gerard, the fate
of Christendom would have been still darker. Fortunately,
that member of Parliament had made the discovery in time —
not for himself, but for Elizabeth — that the " Lord was better
pleased with adverbs than nouns ;"^ the well-known result
being that the traitor was hanged and the Sovereign saved.

Yet such was the condition of Europe at that day. A
small, dull, elderly, imperfectly-educated, patient, plodding
invalid, with white hair and protruding imder-jaw, and dreary
visage, was sitting day after day, seldom speaking, never
smiling, seven or eight hours out of every twenty-four, at a
writing table covered with heaps of interminable despatches,
in a cabinet far away beyond the seas and mountains, in the
very heart of Spain. A clerk or two, noiselessly opening and
shutting the door, from time to time, fetching fresh bundles
of letters and taking away others — all written and composed
by secretaries or high functionaries — and all to be scrawled
over in the margin by the diligent old man in a big school-
boy's hand and style — ^if ever schoolboy, even in the six-
teenth century, could write so illegibly or express himself
so awkwardly f couriers in the court-yard arriving from or
departing for the uttermost parts of earth — ^Asia, Africa,
America, Europe — to fetch and carry these interminable
epistles which contained the irresponsible commands of this
one individual, and were freighted with the doom and destiny
of countless millions of the world's inhabitants — such was
the system of government against which the Netherlands had

* Oamden'B 'Elizabeth,' ed. 1688,
p. 306.

* Oamden, p. 307.

' See vol il of this work for inr

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1584.

IfUBDSB OF THB FBINOB OF OBAKGE.

protested and revolted. It was a system tuider which their
Mds had been made desolate, their cities burned and pillaged,
their men hanged, bmned, drowned, or hacked to pieces;
iheir women subjected to every outrage ; and to put an end
to which they had been devoting their treasure and their
blood for nearly the length of one generation. It was a
system, too, which, among other results, had just brought
about the death of the foremost statesman of Europe, and
had nearly effected simultaneously the murder of the most
eminent sovereign in the world. The industrious Philip, safe
and tranquil in the depths of the Escorial, saying his prayers
three times a day with exemplary regularity, had just sent
three bullets through the body of William the Silent at his
dining-room door in Delfl;. "Had it only been done two
years earlier," observed the patient old man, "much trouble
might have been spared me ; but His better late than never/'
Sir Edward Stafford, English envoy in Paris, wrote to his
government — so soon as the news of the murder reached
him — ^that, according to his information out of the Spanish
ministar's own house, " the same practice that had been exe-
cuted upon the Prince of Orange, there were practisers more
than two or three about to execute upon her Majesty, and
that within two months." Without vouching for the absolute
accuracy of this intdligence, he implored the Queen to be
more upon her guard than ever. " For there is no doubt,"
said the envoy, " that she is a chief mark to shoot at ; and
seeing that there were men cunning enough to inchant a
man and to encourage him to kill the Prince of Orange,
in the midst of Holland, and that there was a knave
£>und desperate enough to do it, we must think hereafter
that anything may be done. Therefore God preserve her
Majesty."^

Invisible as the Grand Lama of Thibet, clothed with power

' Uurdiii's 'State Papers,' 412-416.

WDliam Herle, too, wrote from Hoi*
land, immediately after the murder,
warning the Queen to be more than
ever on her guard. The seminaiy at

Dieppe, placed "upon the brim of
England," was constantly sending
Scotch and English ftBHaminfl into
their own country. "'Tis known to
me," he said, "that there are entered

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TH£ UNITED KSTHEBLANDS.

Oha:p. 1

as extensive and absolute as had ever been wielded by the
most imperial Caesar, Philip the Prudent, as he grew older
and feebler in mind and body seemed to become more glut-
tonous of work/ more ambitious to extend his sceptre ov^
lands which he had never seen or dreamed of seeing, more
fixed in his determination to annihilate that monster Pro-
testantism, which it had been the business of his life to
combat, more eager to put to death every human creature,
whether anointed monarch or humble artizan, that defended
heresy or opposed his progress to universal empire.

If this enormous power, this fabulous labour, had been
wielded or performed with a beneficent intention ; if the
man who seriously r^arded himself as the owner of a third
of the globe, with the inhabitants thereof, had attempted
to deal with these extensive estates inherited from his
ancestors with the honest intention of a thrifty landlord,
an intelligent slave-owner, it would have yet been possible
for a little longer to smile at the delusion, and endiu-e the
practice.

But there was another old man, who lived in another palace
in another remote land, who, in his capacity of representative
of Saint Peter, claimed to dispose of all the kingdoms of the
earth — and had been willing to bestow them upon the man
who would go down and worship him. Philip stood enfeoffed,
by divine decree, of all America, the East Indies, the whole
Spanish Peninsula, the better portion of Italy, the seventeen
Netherlands, and many other possessions far and near ; and
he contemplated annexing to this extensive property the

above seven score lurking Jesuits into
the realm of late, and they do secretly
repair more and more to sow infection
and rebellion among your subjects,
and to conspire against your royal
person, whom God alway, for his
mercy's sake, preserve." (Herle to
the Queen, 22nd July, 1684, State-
Paper Office MS.) Moreover, another
secret agent of Walsingham, Stephen
Le Sieur, wrote shortly afterwards
from Antwerp, that the Prince of
Qrange had been warned by persona

resident in Cologne of the attempt
about to be made upon his life, but
had unfortunately not heeded the ad-
monition. The same persons who had
furnished that information now wrote
to apprise Le Sieur that there was a
similar pbt on foot against the Queen.
(Le Sieur to Walsingham, Tth Sep-
tember, 1684, State-Paper Office MS.)

* Longl^ au Roi de France, apud
Groen van Prinsterer, * Archives et
Correspondence de la Maison d'Orange
Nassau, deuxidme s^rie,' toiZL i p. 29.

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1584 EXTENSION OF PB0TB8TANTIBIC 5

kingdoms of France^ of England, and Ireland. The Holy
League, maintained by the sword of Guise, the pope's ban,
Spanish ducats, Italian condottieri, and German mercenaries,
was to exterminate heresy and establish the Spanish dominion
in France. The same machinery, aided by . the pistol or
poniard of the assassin, was to substitute for English pro-
testantism and England's queen the Boman Catholic religion
and a foreign sovereign. " The holy league," said Duplessis-
Momay, one of the noblest characters of the age, "has
destined us all to the same sacrifice. The ambition of the
Spaniard, which has overleaped so many lands and seas, thinks
nothing inaccessible."*

The Netherland revolt had therefore assumed world-wide
proportions. Had it been merely the rebellion of pro-
vinces against a sovereign, the importance of the struggle
would have been more local and temporary. But the period
was one in which the geographical land-marks of countries
were almost removed. The dividing-line ran through every
state, city, and almost every family. There was a country
which believed in the absolute power of the church to dictate
the relations between man and his Maker, and to utterly
exterminate all who disputed that position. There was
another coimtry which protested against that doctrine, and
claimed, theoretically or practically, a liberty of conscience.
The territory of these countries was mapped out by no visible
lines, but the inhabit£tnts of each, whether resident in France,
Germany, England, or Flanders, recognised a relationship
which took its root in deeper differences than those of race or
language. It was not entirely a question of doctrine or
dogma. A large portion of the world had become tired of
the antiquated delusion of a papal supremacy over every
land, and had recorded its determination, once for all, to have
done with it. The transition to freedom of conscience became
a necessary step, sooner or later to be taken. To establish
the principle of toleration for all religions was an inevitable
consequence of the Dutch revolt ; although thus far, perhaps

' *M^moirai et Ooirespondence de Doplessia-Moniaj,' Paris, 1824^ iii 27.

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6 THE UNHBD HRTHBBLOBa Chap. L

only one conspicaoiis man in adyance of his age had boldly
announced that doctrine and had died in its defence. But a
great true thought never dies — though long buried in the
earth — and the day was to come, after long years, when the
seed was to ripen into a harvest of civil and religious eman-
cipation, and when the very word toleration was to sound
like an insult and an absurdity.

A vast responsibility rested upon the head of a monardi,
placed as Philip II. found himself, at this great dividing
point in modem history. To judge him, or any man in such
a position, simply from his own point of view, is weak and
ill(^cal. History judges the man according to its point of
view. It condenms or applauds the point of view itself. The
point of view of a malefactor is not to excuse robbery and
murder. Nor is the spirit of the age to be pleaded in defence
of the evil-doer at a time when mortals were divided into
almost equal troops. The age of Philip II. was also the age of
William of Orange and his four brethren, of Sainte Aldegonde,
of Oldoi-Bameveldt, of Duplessis-Momay, La None, Coligny,
of Luther, Melancthon, and Calvin, Walsingham, Sidney,
Baleigh, Queen Elizabeth, of Michael Montaigne, and William
Shakspeare. It was not an age of blindness, but of glorious
light. If the man whom the Maker of the Universe had
permitted to be bom to such boundless functions, chose to
put out his own eyes that he might grope along his great
pathway of duty in perpetual darkness, by his deeds he must
be judged. The King perhaps firmly believed that the
heretics of the Netherlands, of France, or of England, could
escape eternal perdition only by being extirpated from the
earth by fire and sword, and therefore, perhaps, felt it his
duty to devote his life to their extermination. But he
believed, still more firmly, that his own political authority,
throughout his dominions, and his road to almost universal
empire, lay over the bodies of those heretics. Three centuries
have nearly past since this memorable epoch ; and the world
knows the fate of the states which accepted the dogma which
it was Philip's life-work to enforce, and of those who protested

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2584. EXTBNSITE POWER OF SPAIN. 7

against the system. The Spanish and Italian Peninsulas have
had a different history from that which records the career
of France, Prussia, the Dutch Commonwealth, the British
Empire, the Transatlantic Bepublic.

Yet the contest between those Seven meagre Provinces upon
the sand-banks oi the North Sea, and the great Spanish Empire,
seemed at the moment with which we are now occupied a
sufficiently desperate one. Throw a glance upon the map of
Europe. Look at the broad magnificent Spanish Peninsul%
stretching across dght d^rees of latitude and ten of longi-
tude, commanding the Atlantic and the Mediterranean, with
a genial climate, warmed in winter by the vast furnace of
Africa, and protected from the scorching heats of summer by
shady- mountain and forest, and temperate breezes from either
ocean. A generous southern territory, fiowing with wine and
oil, and all the richest gifts of a bountifril nature — splendid
cities — ^the new and daily expanding Madrid, rich in the
trophies of the most artistic period of the modem world —
Cadiz, as populous at that day as London, seated by the
straits where the ancient and modem systems of traffic were
blending like the mingUng of the two oceans — Granada, the
ancient wealthy seat of the fallen Moors — Toledo, Valladolid,
and Lisbon, chief city of the recently-conquered kingdom of
Portugal, counting, with its suburbs, a larger population
than any city, excepting Paris, in Europe, the mother of
distant colonies, and the capital of the rapidly-developing
traffic with both the Indies — these were some of the treasures
of Spain herself.^ But she possessed Sicily also, the better
portion of Italy, and important dependencies in Africa, while
the famous maritime discoveries of the age had all enured to
her aggrandizement. The world seemed suddenly to have
expanded its wings from East to West, only to bear the for-
tunate Spanish Empire to the most dizzy heights of wealth
and power. The most accomplished generals, the most dis-
ciplined and daring infantry the world has ever known, the
best-equipped and most extensive navy, royal and mercantile.

Compare GoiociuHlmi, *Belgio8d Desoript* Amst 1660, p. 210 seq.

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S .THE IJHITBD ^JfiTHWuLAKDS. . Ohap. t

of the age^ were at the absolute command of the soTereign.
Such was Spain.

Turn now to the north-western comer of Europe. A
morsel of territory, attached bj a slight sand-hook to the con-
tinent, and half-submerged by the stormy waters of the Qer-
man Ocean — ^this was Holland. A rude climate, with long,
dark, rigorous, winters, and brief summers, a territory, the
mere wash of three great rivers, which had fertilized happier
portions of Europe only to desolate and overwhelm this less^
fikvoured land, a soil so ungrateful, that if the whole of its
four hundred thousand acres of arable land had been sowed
with grain,^ it could not feed the labourers alone, and a popu-
lation largely estimated at one million of souls — ^^these were
the characteristics of the Province which already had begun
to give its name to the new commonwealth. The isles of
Zeeland— entangled in the coils of deep slow-moving rivers,
or combating the ocean without — and the ancient episcopate
of Utrecht, formed the only other Provinces that had quite
shaken off the foreign yoke. In Friesland, the important city
of Groningen was still held for the King, while Bois-le-Duc,
Zutj^en, besides other places in Gelderland and North Bra-
bant, also in possession of the royalists, made the position of
those provinces precarious.

The limit of the Spanish or " obedient " Provinces, on the
one hand, and of the United Provinces on the other, cannot,
therefore, be briefly and distinctly stated. The memorable
treason — or, as it was called, the "reconciliation" of the
Walloon Provinces in the year 1583-4 — ^had placed the Pro-
vinces of Hainault, Arthois, Douay, with the flourishing cities
Arras, Valenciennes, Lille, Toumay, and others — all Celtic
Flanders, in short — ^in the grasp of Spain. Cambray was still
held by the French governor, Seigneur de Balagny, who had
taken advantage of the Duke of Anjou's treachery to the
States, to establish himself in an unrecognized but practical
petty sovereignty, in defiance both of France and Spain ;
while East Flanders and South Brabant still remained a dis-

i 'M^oires de Jean de TTit,' La Haye, 1709-18-19.

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15S4. BBUGIOnS OBIGUr OF THE BEYOLT. 9

puted territory, and the immediate field of contest. With
these limitations, it may be assumed, for general purposes,
that the territory of the United States was that of the modem
Kingdom of the Netherlands, while the obedient Provinces
occupied what is now the territory of Belgium.

Such, then, were the combatants in the great eighty years'
war for ciril and religious liberty ; sixteen of which had now
passed away. On the one side, one of the most powerful and
populous world-anpires of history, then in the zenith of its
prosperity ; on the other hand, a slender group of cities,
goy^med by merchants and artisans, and planted precariously
upon a meagre, unstable soil A million and a half of souls
against the autocrat of a third part of the known world The
contest seemed as desperate as the cause was certainly sacred ;
but it had ceased to be a local contest. For the history which
is to occupy us in these volumes is not exclusively the history
of Holland. It is the story of the great combat between
despotism, sacerdotal and. regal, and the spirit of rational
human liberty. The tragedy opened in the Netherlands, and
its main scenes were long enacted there ; but as the ambition
of Spain expanded, and as the resistance to the principle
which she represented became more general, other nations
were, of necessity, involved in the struggle. There came to
be one country, the citizens of which were the Leaguers ; and
another country, whose inhabitants were Protestants. And
in this lay the distinction between fireedom and absolutism.
The religious question swallowed all the others. There was
never a period in the early history of the Dutch revolt when
the Provinces would not have returned to their obedience,
could they have been assured of enjoying liberty of conscience
or religious peace ; nor was there ever a single moment in
Philip II.'s life in which he wavered in his fixed determina-
tion never to listen to such a claim. The quarrel was in
its nature irreconcilable and eternal as the warfare between
wrong and right ; and the establishment of a comparative
dvil liberty in Europe and America was the result of the
religious war of the sixteenth and seventeenth centurie&

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10 TBS UniTBD NBTHBSLAND& Ohap.I.

The struggle lasted eighty years, bat the prize was worth the
contest

The object of the war between the Netherlands and Spain
was not^ therefore, primarily, a rebellion against established
authority for the maintenance of civil rights. To preserve
these rights was secondary. The first cause was religion. The
Provinces had been fighting for years against the Inquisition.
Had they not taken arms, the Inquisition would have been
established in the Netherluids, and very probaby in England,
and England might have become in its turn a Province of
the Spanish Empire.

The death of William the Silent produced a sudden change
in the political arrangements of the liberated Netherlands.
During the year 1583, the United Provinces had elected
Francis, Duke of Anjou, to be Duke of Brabant and sove-
reign of the whole country, under certain ccmstitutional pro-
visions enumerated in articles of solemn compact. That
compact had been grossly violated. The Duke had made a
treacherous attempt to possess himself of absolute power and
to seize several important cities. He had been signally
defeated in Antwerp, and obliged to leave the country,
covered with ignominy. The States had then consulted Wil-
liam of Orange as to the course to be taken in the emergency.
The Prince had told them that their choice was triple. They
might reconcile themselves with Spain, and abandon the
contest for religious liberty which they had so long been
waging ; they might reconcile themselves vrith Anjou, not-
withstanding that he had so utterly forfeited all cliums to
their consideration ; or they might fight the matter out vnth
Spain single-handed. The last course was, in his opinion,
the most eligible one, and he was ready to sacrifice his life to
its fiirtherance. It was, however, indispensable, shoidd that
policy be adopted, that much larger supplies should be voted
than had hitherto been raised, and, in general, that a much
more extensive and elevated spirit of patriotism should mani-
fest itself than had hitherto been disj^yed.

It was, on the whole, decided to make a second arrange-

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1584. SIBFOSAL 07 THB SOirBBBiaNTr. H

ment mih the Dnke of Anjou, Queen Elizabeth warmly
mging that course. At the same time, however, that articles
of agreement w^^ drawn up for the installation of Anjou aa
soT^reign of the United Provinces, the Prince had himself
consented to accept the title of Count of Holland, under
an ample constitutional charter, dictated by his own lips.
Neither A^jou nor Orange lived to be inaugurated into the
offices thus bestowed upon them. The Duke died at Chateau-
Thierry on the 10th June, and the Prince was assassinated a
mcmth later at Delft.

What now was the political position of the United Provinces
at this juncture ? The sovereignty which had been held by
the Estates, ready to be conferred respectively upon Anjou
and Orange, remained in the hands of the Estates. There
was no opposition to this theory. No more enlarged view of
the social compact had yet been taken. The people, as such,
claimed no sovereignty. Had any champion claimed it for
them they would hardly have imderstood him. The nation
dealt with fSicts. After abjuring Philip in 1581 — an act which
had been accomplished by the Estates — the same Estates
in general assembly had exercised sovereign power, and had
twice disposed of that sovereign power by electing a hereditary
ruler. Their right and their power to do this had been
disputed by none, save by the deposed monarch in Spain.
Having the sovereignty to dispose of, it seemed logical that
the Estates might keep it, if so inclined. They did keep it,
but only in trust. While Orange lived, he might often have
been elected sovereign of aU the Provinces, could he have
been induced to consent. After his death, the Estates retained,
ex necessitate^ the sovereignty; and it will soon be related
what they intended to do with it. One thing is very certain,
that neither Orange, while he lived, nor the Estates, after his
death, were actuated in their policy by personal ambition.
It will be seen that the first object of the Estates was to dis-
possess themselves of the sovereignty which had again fallen
into th^ hands.

What were the Estates ? Without, at the present moment.

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12 THE T7KITAD KBTBGEBLAKIXS. Ohap. L

any £su*ther inquiries into that constitutional system which
had been long consolidating itself^ and was destined to exist
upon a firmer basis for centuries longer, it will be suffi-
cient to observe, that the great characteristic of the Nether-
land government was the municipality. Each Province con-
tained a large number of cities, which were governed by a
board of magistrates, varying in number from twenty to forty.
This college, called the Vroedschap (Assembly of Sages), con-
sisted of the most notable citizens, and was a self-electing
body — a close corporation — the members being appointed for
life, from the citizens at large. Whenever vacancies occurred
from death or loss of citizenship, the coll^ chose new mem-
bers— sometimes immediately, sometimes by means of a
double or triple selection of names, the choice of one from
among which was offered to the stadtholder of the province.
This frmctionary was appointed by the Count, as he was
called, whether Duke of Bavaria or of Burgundy, Emperor,
or King. After the abjuration of Philip, the governors were
appointed by the Estates of each Province.

The Sage-Men chose annually a board of senators, or sche-
pens, whose functions were mainly judicial ; and there were
generally two, and sometimes three, burgomasters, appointed
in the same way.' This was the popular branch of the Estates.
But, besides this body of representatives, were the nobles,
men of ancient lineage and large possessions, who had exer-
cised, according to the general feudal law of Europe, high,
low, and intermediate jurisdiction upon their estates, and had
long been recognized as an integral part of the body politic,
having the right to appear, through del^ates of their order, in
the provincial and in the general assemblies.

Begarded as a machine for bringing the most decided
political capacities into the administration of public afiairs,
and for organising the most practical opposition to the system
of religious tyranny, the Netherland constitution was a
healthy, and, for the age, an enlightened one. The office-
holders, it is obvious, were not greedy for the spoils of office ;

' Keteren, Joe ciL

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1584

OOUBAGB 09 THB ESTATES OF HOLLAND.

for it was, tmfortimately, often the case that their necessary
expenses in the service of the state were not defrayed. The
people raised enormous contributions for carrying on the
war ; but they could not afford to be extremely generous to
tiieir faithful servants.

Thus constituted was the commonwealth upon the death
of William the Silent. The gloom produced by that event
was tragical. Never in human history was a more poignant
and universal sorrow for the death of any individual. The
despair was, for a brief season, absolute ; but it was soon
succeeded by more lofty sentiments. It seemed, after they
had laid their hero in the tomb, as though his spirit still
hovered above the nation which he had loved so well, and
was inspiring it with a portion of his own energy and wisdom**

Even on the very day of the murder, the Estates of Holland,
then sitting at Delft, passed a resolution ^^ to maintain the
good cause, with God's help, to the uttermost, vHith- loth Juij,
out sparing gold or blood." This decree was com- 1584
municated to Admiral de Warmont, to Count Hohenlo, to
William Lewis of Nassau, and to other commanders by land
and sea. At the same time, the sixteen members — ^for no

' "The people of that country,"
wrote Walfiingham, ten days after the
death of Onmgey to Davison, "have
Mtherto shewed themselves but little
amazed with the accident. Rather,
ihe wickedness of the deed hath har-
dened their stomachs to hold out as
long as they shall have any means of

<^«^°ce-" - July, 1684, S. P. Off. M&

William Herle, also, a secret and
most capable emissary of the English
government, was visiting the cities of
Holland and Zeeland at the time of the
tragic occurrence. He described, in
vi^ colours, the courageous attitude
maintained by all persons in the midst
of the general gloom. "The recent
death of the Prince of Orange," he
wrote to Queen Elizabeth, " has crea-
ted no astonishment (dismay) at all,
either of the people or magistrates, by
fear or division, but rather generally
animated them with a great resolution

of courage and hatred engraved in
them, to revenge the foulness of the
fact committed on the person of the
prince by the tyrant of Spain, and to
defend their liberties advisedly against
him and his adherents by all means
that God has given them, to the utter-
most portion of their substance, and
the last drop of their blood." f July,
1684, a P. Office MS. i Aug.,

In tiie city of Dort he was waited
upon by the magistrates, and received
by them with smgular respect, as the
known, although secret, representative
of the Queen. " They repaired to me
immediately," he wrote, "not as men
condoling their estate, or craving
courage to be instilled into them —
though wanting now a head— but irri-
tated above measure to be revenged,
and to defend all their heads, so ap-
parently sought for by the King of
Spain, in murdering their head, the
Prince of Orange." (Ibid.)

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THE X7NITED NETHBBLAKDa

Ohap.I

greater namber happened to be present at the session —
addressed letters to their absent colleagues, informing
them of the calamity which had befallen them, summon-
ing them at once to conference, and urging an immediate
convocation of the Estates of all the Provinces in General
Assembly. They also addressed strong letters of encou-
ragement, mingled with manly condolence, upon the
common affliction, to prominent military and naval com-
manders and civil functionaries, b^ging them to ^'bear
themselves manfully and valiantly, without fidtering in the
least on account of the great misfortune which had occurred,
or allowing themselves to be seduced by any one from the
union of the States."* Among these sixteen were Van Zuylen,
Van Nyvelt, the Seigneur de Warmont, the Advocate of
Holland, Paul Buys, Joost de Menin, and John van Olden-
Bameveldt. A noble example was thus set at once to their
fellow citizens by these their representatives — a manful step
taken forward in the path where Orange had so long been
leading.

The next movement, after the last solemn obsequies had
been rendered to the Prince was to provide for the immediate
wants of his family. For the man who had gone into the
revolt with almost royal revenues, left his estate so embar-
rassed that his carpets, tapestries, household linen — ^nay,
even his silver spoons, and the very clothes of his wardrobe —
were disposed of at auction for the benefit of his creditors.*
He left eleven children — a son and daughter by the first wife,
a son and daughter by Anna of Saxony, six daughters by
Charlotte of Bourbon, and an infant, Frederic Henry, bom six
months before his death. The eldest son, Philip William,
had be^n a captive in Spain for seventeen years, having been
kidnapped from school, in Leyden, in the year 1567. He

> 'Yan Wyn et al AanmerkingeQ
op Wagenaar,' viiL 1-6.

' His extensive estates were all
deeplj mortgaged, and he left abso-
lutely no ready money. " Both Buis
and Heetkerk told me," wrote Herle

to Qoeen Elizabeth, "that the prino»
had not in ready money at his deatti
one hundred gmlders, which was a
note of his popularity." 22 jxHy^
& P. Office MS. 1 Aug,

Compare Wagenaar, viil 12-15.

1588,

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1584.

GHUDBBN 07 THB FBDSrOB OF OBANGK

had already become so thoroughly Hispaniolized tinder the
masterly treatment of the King and the Jesnits, that even
his face had lost all resemblance to the type of his heroic
fajmbfy and had acquired a sinister, gloomy, forbidding ex-
pression, most painful to contemplate. All of good that he
had retained was a reverence for his father's name — a senti-
ment which he had manifested to an extravagant extent on
a memorable occasion in Madrid, by throwing out of window,
and tilling on the spot^ a Spanish officer who had dared to
mention the great Prince with insult.

The next son was Maurice, then seventeen years of age, a
handsome youth, with dark blue eyes, well-chiselled features,
and full red lips, who had already manifested a courage and
concentration of character beyond his years. The son of
William the Silent, the grandson of Maurice of Saxony, whom
he resembled in visage and character, he was summoned by
every drop of blood in his veins to do life-long battle with the
spirit of Spanish absolutism, and he was already girding
himself for his life's work. He assumed at once for his
device a fallen oak, with a young sapling springing from
its root. His motto, — "Tandem fit surcidus arbor," "the
twig shall yet become a tree" — ^was to be nobly justified by
his career.'

The remaining son, then a six months' child, was also
destined to high fortunes, and to win an enduring name in
his country's history. For the present he remained with his
mother, the noble Louisa de Coligny, who had thus seen, at
long intervals, her father and two husbands fall victims to
the Spanish policy; for it is as certain that Philip knew
beforehand, and testified his approbation of, the massacre of
St. Bartholomew, as that he was the murderer of Orange.

The Estates of Holland implored the widowed Princess
to remain in their territority, settling a liberal allowance

' " The Count Maorioe, with whom
I waS) most gradous SovereigD," said
Heiie, '* is a gentleman of the age of
seventeen years, one of great toward-
ncas, good presence, and courage,
flaxen-haired, endued with a singular

wit, and no less learned for his tima
He somewhat resembles the counte-
nance and spirit of his grand&ther of
the mother's side." (Herle to the
Queen, MS. just dted.) Compare
Meteren, xH. 214.

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\Q THE ITNITBD NBTEBBLANBa Ohap. L

upon herself and her child^ and she fixed her residence at
Leyden,'

But her position was most melancholy. Married in youth
to the Seigneur de Teligny^ a young noble of distinguished
qualities, she had soon become both a widow and an orphan
in the dread night of St. Bartholomew. She had made hfr
own escape to Switzerland; and ten years afterwards she
had united herself in marriage with the Prince of Orange.
At the age of thirty-two^ she now found herself desolate
and wretched in a foreign land, where she had never fdft
thoroughly at home. The widow and children of William
the Silent were almost without the necessaries of life. ^^ I
hardly know/' wrote the Princess to her brother-in-law, Count
John, ^^how the children and I are to maintain ourselves
according to the honour of the house. May God provide for
us in his bounty, and certainly we have much need of it."*
Accustomed to the more luxurious civilisation of France, she
had been amused rather than annoyed, when, on her first
arrival in Holland for her nuptials, she found herself making
the journey firom Botterdam to Delft in an open cart without
springs, instead of the well-balanced coaches to which she
had been used, arriving, as might have been expected, ^^ much
bruised and shaken/' Such had become the primitive sim-
plicity of William the Silent's household.* But on his death,
in embarrassed circumstances, it was still more straightened.
She had no cause either to love Leyden, for, after the assas-
sination of her husband, a brutal preacher, Hakkius by name,
had seized that opportunity for denouncing the French mar-
riage, and the sumptuous christening of the infant in Januaryr
as the deeds which had provoked the wrath of God and
righteous chastisement.* To remain there in her widowhood,
with that six months' child, " sole pledge of her dead lord,
her consolation -and only pleasure,"* as she pathetically ex-
pressed herself, was sufficiently painful, and she had been
inclined to fix her residence in Flushing, in the edifice whicli

* Wagenaar, 'Yaderlandache His-
torie,' viii. 8 scq. ; Van Wyn op Wa-
genaar, yiiL 5 seq.^ 16 Mg.

• Groen v. Prinsterer, ' Archives,* Ac.

2 a, i. 98.

■ Du Manner, 'M^moires,* 182.

* Van Wyn op Wagenaar, viii. 19.

• Groen v. Prinsterer ubi «^p.

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1584

PROVISIONAL COUNCIL,

had belonged to her htuibaDd, as Marquis of Yere. She had
been persuaded^ however, to remain in Holland, although
"complaining, at first, somewhat of the unkindness of the
people/'^

A small well-formed woman, with delicate features, exqui-
site complexion, and very beautiful dark eyes, that seemed
in after-years, as they looked from beneath her coif, to be
dim with unshed tears ; with remarkable powers of mind,
angelic sweetness of disposition, a winning manner, and a
gentle voice, Louisa de Coligny became soon dear to the
rough Holhmders, and was ever a disinterested and valuable
monitress both to her own child and to his elder brother
Maurice.'

Very soon afterwards the States General established a
State Council, as a provisional executive board, for the term
of three months, for the Provinces of Holland, Zeeland,
Utrecht, Friesland, and such parts of Flanders and Brabant
as still remained in the Union. At the head of this body was
placed young Maurice, who accepted the responsible position,
after three days' deliberation. The young man had been
completing his education, with a liberal allowance from
Holland and Zeeland, at the University of Leyden ; and such
had been their tender care for the child of so many hopes,
that the Estates had given particular and solemn warning,
by resolution, to his governor during the previous sununer, on
no account to allow him to approach the sea-shore, lest he
should be kidnapped by the Prince of Parma, who had then
some war-vessels cruising on the coast.*

The salary of Maurice was now fixed at thirty thousand

> MS. letter of Herie.

a "I viaited the Prinoefls of Orange
by her own request," said Herle, a few
isys after the death of the Prince,
'*and found her in a most dark me-
lancholic little chamber. T was a
twice scnrowful sight to behold her
heaviness and appiu^ augmented bj
the woefulness of the place ; and truly
the perplexity was great that I found
her in, not only for the consideration
of things past, but for that which might

VOL. I. — C

follow hereafter, her afflictions having
been groat She was accompanied by
the Princess Chimay, who was new^
come to Delft, and no lees dolorous
in another degree than she, but truly
a virtuous and wise lady, whatsoever,
under correction, hath been otherwise
interpreted of her." (Herle's MS.,
before cited.)

* 'Resol Holl.,* nth August, 1684
bl 294 ; Wagenaar, viil 6.

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18 THE UNITBD NSTHBBLANDa Chap. I.

florins a year^ while each of the councillors was allowed fifteen
hundred annually, out of which stipend he was to support at
least one servant, without making any claim for trayelling or
other incidental expenses.^

The Council consisted of three members from Brabant, two
firom Flanders, four from Holland, three from Zeeland, two
from Utrecht, one from Mechlin, and three from Friesland —
eighteen in all. They were empowered and enjoined to levy
troops by land and sea, and to appoint naval and militaiy
officers ; to establish courts of admiralty, to expend the
moneys voted by the States, to maintain the ancient privileges
of the country, and to see that all troops in service of the
Provinces made oath of fidelity to the Union. Diplomatic
relations, questions of peace and war, the treaty-making
power, were not entrusted to the Council, without the know-
ledge and consent of the States General, which body was to
be convoked twice a year by the State Coimcil.'

Thus the Provinces in the hour of danger and darkness
were true to themselves, and were far from giving way to a
despondency which under the circumstances would not have
been unnatural.

For the waves of bitterness were rolling far and wide
around them. A medal, struck in Holland at this period,
represented a dismasted hulk reeling through the tempest.
The motto, "incertum quo &ta ferent" (who knows whither
fete is sweeping her?) expressed most vividly the ship-
wrecked condition of the country. Alexander of Parma,
the most accomplished general and one of the most adroit
statesmen of the age, was swift to take advantage of the
calamity which had now befallen the rebellious Provinces.
Had he been better provided with men and money, the cause
of the States might have seemed hopeless. He addressed
many letters to the States General, to the magistracies of
various cities, and to individuals, affecting to consider that
with the death of Orange had died all authority, as well as
all motive for continuing the contest with Spain. He offered

' Wagenaar, yiii. 8 j Van Wyn op Wagenaar, viiL 12. • Ibid,

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1584 FIBK ATTrrUDB OF HOLLAND! 19

easy terms of reconciliation with the discarded monarch —
always reserving, however, as a matter of course, the religions
question — ^for it was as well known to the States as to Parma
that there was no hope of Philip making concessions upon
that important point.

In Holland and Zeeland the Prince's blandishments were
of no avail. His letters received in various towns of those
Provinces, offered, said one who saw them, "almost every-
thing they would have or demand, even till they should
repent/'^ But the bait was not taken. Individuals and
municipalities were alike stanch, remembering well that
fidth was not to be kept with heretics. The ex;itmple was
followed by the Estates of other Provinces, and all sent in to
the General Assembly, soon in session at Delft, "their
absolute and irrevocable authority to their deputies to stand
to that which they, the said States Qeneral, should dispose of
as to iheir persons, goods and country ; a resolution and
agreement which never concurred before among them, to this
day, in what age or government soever."*

It was decreed that no motion of agreement " with the tyrant
of Spain'' should be entertained either publicly or privately,
" under pain to be reputed ill patriots.'' It was also enacted
in the city of Dort that any man that brought letter or
message from the enemy to any private person "should be
forthwith hanged." This was expeditious and business-like.
The same city likewise took the lead in recording its deter-
mination by public act, and proclaiming it by sound of
trumpet, " to live and die in the cause now undertaken."^

In Flanders and Brabant the spirit was less noble. Those
Provinces were nearly lost already. Bruges seconded Parma's
efforts to induce its sister-city Ghent to imitate its own base-
ness in surrendering without a struggle ; and that powerful,
turbulent, but most anarchical little commonwealth was but
too ready to listen to the voice of the tempter. " The ducats
of Spain, Madam, are trotting about in such fuhion," wrote
envoy Des Pruneaux to Catharine de' Medici, " that they have

' Heriet^ the Qneen, Ma before dted. * Ibid. > ndd.

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20 7HB UNITBD KBTHKBLAND& Gbaf. L

YanqaiBhed a great quantity of courages. Tour Majeaties, too,
must employ money if you wish to advance one step/'^ No
man knew better than Parma how to employ such golden
rhetoric to win back a wavering rebel to his loyalty, but he
was not always provided with a sufficient store of those
practical arguments.

He was, moreover, not strong in the field, although he was
far superior to the States at this contingency. He had,
besides his garrisons, something above 18,000 men. The
Provinces had hardly 3000 foot and 2500 horse, and these
were mostly lying in the neighbourhood of Zutphen.*
Alexander was threatening at the same time Ghent, Dender-
monde, Mechlin, Brussels, and Antwerp. These five powerful
cities lie in a narrow circle, at distances varying from six miles
to thirty, and are, as it were, strung together upon the Scheldt,
by which river, or its tributary, the Sonne, they are all threaded.
It would have been impossible for Parma, with 100,000 men
at his back, to undertake a r^ular and simultaneous siege of
these important places. His purpose was to isolate them from
each other and from the rest of the country, by obtaining the
control of the great river, and so to reduce them by fiunine.
The scheme was a masterly one, but even the consummate
ability of Famese would have proved inadequate to the under-
taking, had not the preliminary assassination of Orange made
the task comparatively easy. Treason, faint-heartedness,
jealousy, were the fatal allies that the Governor-General had
reckoned upon, and with reason, in the council-rooms of these
cities. The terms he offered were liberal. Pardon, permission
for soldiers to retreat with technical honour, liberty to choose
between apostacy to the reformed religion or exile, with a period
of two years granted to the conscientious for the winding up of
their affidrs; these were the conditions, which seemed flattering,
now that the well-known voice which had so often silenced the
Flemish palterers and intriguers was for ever hushed.
17th Aug., Upon the 17th August Dendermonde sunen-

1684. dered, and no lives were taken save those of two

> Groen v. Prinsterer, ' Archivee,' Jba, 4 * Wageiuuu; Yiil 13.

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15M. WBAENE8S OF FLANDBB& 21

preachers, one of whom was hanged, while the other was drowned.
Upon the 7th September Vilvoorde capitulated, by which event
the water-communication between Brussels and Antwerp
was cut off Ghent, now thoroughly disheartened, treated
with Parma likewise ; and upon the 17th September made
its reconciliation with the King.' The surrender of so strong
and important a place was as disastrous to the cause of the
patriots as it was disgraceful to the citizens themselves. It
was, however, the result of an intrigue which had been long
spinning, although the thread had been abruptly, and, as
it was hoped, conclusively, severed several months before.
During the early part of the year, after the reconciliation of
Bruges with the King — an event brought about by the
duplicity and adroitness of Prince Chimay — the same ma-
chinery had been diligently and almost successfully em-
ployed to produce a like result in Ghent Champagny,
brother of the famous Cardinal Granvelle, had been imder
arrest for six years in that city. His imprisonment was not
a strict one however, and he avenged himself for what he
considered very unjust treatment at the hands of the patriots,
by completely abandoning a cause which he had once begun
to favour. A man of singular ability, courage, and energy,
distinguished both for military and diplomatic services, he
was a formidable enemy to the party from which he was now
for ever estranged. As early as April of this year, secret
emissaries of Parma, dealing with Champagny in his nominal
prison, and with the disaffected burghers at large, had been
on the point of effecting an arrangement with the royal
governor. The negotiation had been suddenly brought to a
close by the discovery of a flagrant attempt by Imbize, one
of the secret adherents of the King, to sell the city of Den-
dermonde, of which he was governor, to Parma.* For this
crime he had been brought to Ghent for trial, and then
publicly beheaded. The incident came in aid of the eloquence
of Orange, who, up to the latest moment of his life, had been

* lleteren, xiL 216, 31t. there cited ; Eyerbard van Reyd, ' Hia-

' See ' Rise of the Dutch Republic,' torie der Nederlandscher Oorlogeiiy*
?oL ill diap. yl, and the aathorities ed. 1650; iii 47.

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22 T9B UNITED KBTHEBLAKDa Chap. I

most ui^nt in his appeals to the patriotic hearts of Ghent,
not to abandon the great cause of the union and of liberty.
William the Silent knew full well, that after the withdrawal
of the great keystone-city of Ghent, the chasm between the
Celtic-Catholic and the Flemish-Calvinist Netherlands could
hardly be bridged again. Orange was now dead. The nego-
tiations with France, too, on which those of the Ghenters
who still held, true to the national cause had fastened their
hopes, had previously been brought to a stand-still by the
death of Anjou ; and Champagny, notwithstanding the disaster
to Imbize, became more active than ever. A private agent,
whom the municpal government had despatched to the
French court for assistance, was not more successful than his
character and course of conduct would have seemed to
warrant; for during his residence in Paris, he had been
always drunk, and generally abusive. This was not good
diplomacy, particularly on the part of an agent from a weak
municipality to a haughty and most undecided government.

" They found at this court," wrote Stafford to Walsingham,
^^ great fault with his manner of dealing that was sent from
Gaxmt. He was scarce sober from one end of the week to
the other, and stood so much on his tiptoes to have present
answer within three days, or else that they of Gaunt could
tdl where to bestow themselves. They sent him away after keep-
ing him three weeks, and he went off in great dudgeon, swear-
ing by yea and nay that he will make report thereafter." *

Accordingly, they of Ghent did bestow themselves very
soon thereafter upon the King of Spain. The terms were
considered liberal, but there was, of course, no thought of
conceding the great object for which the patriots were con-
tending— ^religious liberty. The municipal privil^es — such
as they might prove to be worth under the interpretation of a
royal governor and beneath the guns of a citadel filled with
Spanish troops — ^were to be guaranteed ; those of the inha-
bitants who did not choose to go to mass were allowed two
years to wind up their affitirs before going into perpetual

> Stafford to Walsingham, 27th Julj, 1584^ in Mordin, il pp. 412-416.

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1584. TXLL OF aHESTT. 23

ezQe, proTided they behaved themselves ^^ without scandal;"
while on the other hand, the King's authority as Count of
Flanders was to be fully recognised, and all the dispossessed
monks and abbots to be restored to their property.'

Accordingly, Champagny was rewarded for his exertions by
being released from prison and receiving the appointment of
governor of the city : and, after a very brief interval, about
one-half of the population, the most enterprising of its mer-
chants and manufacturers, the most industrious of its ortizans^
emigrated to Holland and Zeeland.' The noble city of GthejA
— ^then as large as Paris, thoroughly surrounded with moats,
and fortified with bulwarks, ravelins, and counterscarps, con-
structed of earth, during the previous two years, at great
expense, and provided with bread and meat, powder and shot,
enough to last a year — ^was ignominiously surrendered. The
population, already a very reduced and slender one for the
great extent of the place and its former importance, had
been estimated at 70,000.* The number of houses was 35,000,
so that as the inhabitants were soon farther reduced to one-
half^ there remained but one individual to each house. On
the other hand, the twenty-five monasteries and convents in the
town were repeopled — ^with how much advantage as a set-off
to the thousands of spinners and weavers who had wandered
away, and who in the flourishing days of Ghent had sent gangs
of workmen through the streets ^' whose tramp was like that
of an army" — ^may be sufficiently estimated by the result

The fall of Brussels was deferred till March, and that of
Mechlin (19th July, 1585) and of Antwerp (19th August,
1585), till Midsummer of the following year ; but loth Mareb,
flie surrender of Ghent foreshadowed the fate of ^^^•
Flanders and Brabant. Ostend and Sluys, however, were
still in the hands of the patriots, and with them the control
of the whole Flemish coast. The command of the sea was
destined to remain for centuries with the new republic.

» Meteren, xiL 217 ; V. Eeyd, in.
4t; Le Petit, * Grande Chroniqae de
HoQande,' ed. 1601, xir. 409, 500.

s Meteren, ubi sup,
* Qaiociardini, p. 207.

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24 ^I^B^ UKITBD NBTHSBLAND6. Ohaf. L

The Prince of Parma, thos enoooraged by the great Bacoess
of his intrigues, was determined to achieve still greater
triumphs with his arms, and steadily proceeded with his laige
design of closing the Scheldt and bringing about the fall of
Antwerp. The details of that siege — one of the most brilliant
military operations of the age and one of the most memorable
in its results — ^will be given, as a connected whole, in a subse-
quent series of chapters. For the present, it will be better
for the reader who wishes a clear view of European politics
at this epoch, and of the position of the Netherlands, to give
his attention to the web of diplomatic negotiation and court-
intrigue which had been slowly spreading over the leading
states of Christendom, and in which the fate of the world was
involved. If diplomatic adroitness consists mainly in the
power to deceive, never were more adroit diplomatists than
those of the sixteenth century. It would, however, be absurd
to deny them a various range of abilities ; and the history of
no other age can show more subtle, comprehensive, inde->
fatigable — ^but, it must also be added, often xmscrupulous — ^m^
tellects engaged in the great game of politics in which the
highest interests of millions were the stakes, than were those
of several leading minds in England, France, Germany, and
Spain. With such statesmen the burgher-diplomatists of the
new-bom conmionwealth had to measure themselves; and
the result was to show whether or not they could hold theb
own in the cabinet as on the field.

For the present, however, the new state was unconscious of
its latent importance. The new-risen republic remained for
a season nebulous, and ready to imsphere itself so soon as the
relative attraction of other great powers should determine its
absorption. By the death of Anjou and of Orange the United
Netherlands had become a sovereign state, an independent
republic ; but they stood with that sovereignty in their hands,
offering it alternately, not to the highest bidder, but to the
power that would be willing to accept their alliance, on the
sole condition of assisting them in the maintenance of their
religious freedom.

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UH. BSLLnOSa OB THB BBFUBUO TO XSAKOB. 25

CHAPTER II.

TMAtknifl of &e Bepoblio to Franoe— Qoeen's Severity towards CatboUcs and
Cahnnists — Belative PoaitioDS of England and France — Timiditj of
Germany — Apatby of Protestant Germany — Indignation of the Nether-
laoders — Heniy III. of France — The King and his Minions — Henry of
Golae — Henry of Navarre — Power of Fraooe — Embassy of the States to
France — Ignominious position of the Envoys — Views of the French
Hngcieiiots — EfGorts to prooore Annexation — Success of Des Praneanx.

The Prince of Orange had always favoured a French policy.
He had ever felt a stronger reliance upon the support of
France than upon that of any other power. This was not
unreasonable^ and so long as he lived, the tendency of the
Netherlands had been in that direction. It had never been
the wish of England to acquire the sovereignty of the Pro-
vinces. In France on the contrary, the Queen Dowager,
Catharine de' Medici, had always coveted that sovereignty for
her darling Francis of Alen9on ; and the design had been
&voured, so far as any policy could be favoured, by the impo-
tent monarch who occupied the French throne.

The religion of the United Netherlands was Calvinistic.
There were also many Anabaptists in the country. The
Queen of England hated Anabaptists, Calvinists, and other
sectarians, and banished them from her realms on pain of
imprisonment and confiscation of property.' As firmly op-
posed as was her father to the supremacy of the Bishop of
Bome, she felt much of the paternal reluctance to accept the
spirit of the Beformation. Henry Tudor hanged the men
who believed in the Pope, and burnt alive those who disbe-
lieved in transubstantiation, auricular confession, and the
other 'Six Articles.' His daughter, whatever her secret
religious convictions, was stanch in her resistance to Bome,

' Camden, I 48.

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26 ^^HB UNITBD KBTHRBLANDa Ohaf. U

and too enli^tened a monarch not to see wherein the great-
ness and glory of England were to be foand ; but she had no
thought of tolerating liberty of conscience. All opposed to
the Church of England, whether Papists or Puritans, were
denounced as heretics, and as such imprisoned or banished.
" To allow churches with contrary rites and ceremonies/' said
Elizabeth, "were nothing else but to sow religion out of
religion, to distract good men's minds, to cherish factious
men's humours, to disturb religion and commonwealth, and
mingle divine and human things ; which were a thing in deed
evil, in example worst of all ; to our own subjects hurtful,
and to themselves to whom it is granted, neither greatly com-
modious, nor yet at all safe."* The words were addressed, it
is true, to Papists, but there is very little doubt that Ana-
baptists or any other heretics would have received a similar
reply, had they, too, ventured to demand the right of public
worship. It may even be said that the Bomanists in the
earlier days of Elizabeth's reign fared better than the Cal-
vinists. The Queen neither banished nor imprisoned the
Catholics. She did not enter their houses to disturb their
private religious ceremonies, or to inquire into their con-
sciences. This was milder treatment than the burning alive,
burying alive, hanging, and drowning, which had been dealt
out to the English and the Netherland heretics by Philip
and by Mary, but it was not the spirit which William
the Silent had been Wont to manifest in his measures towards
Anabaptists and Papists alike. Moreover, the Prince could
hardly forget that of the nine thousand four hundred Catholio
ecclesiastics who held benefices at the death of Queen Mary,
all had renounced the Pope on the accession of Queen Eliza-
beth, and acknowledged her as the head of the church, saving
only one hundred and eighty-pine individuals.' In the hearts
of the nine thousand two hundred and eleven others, it might
be thought perhaps that some tenderness for the religion from
which they had so suddenly been converted, might linger,
while it could hardly be hoped that they would seek to incul^

' Camden, L 32. • Ibid., I 28.

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1684 SBYERirr TOWARDS CATHOMOS AND CALVmiSTa 27

Gate in the minds of their flocks or of their sovereign any
connivanoe with the doctrines of Geneva.

When, at a later period, the plotting of Catholics, suborned
by the Pope and Philip, against the throne and person of the
Queen, made more rigorons measures necessary ; when it was
thought indispensable to execute as traitors those Boman
seedlings — seminary priests and their disciples — ^who went
about preaching to the Queen's subjects the duty of carrying
out the bull by which the Bishop of Bome had deposed and
excommunicated their sovereign, and that ^4t was a merito-
rious act to kill such princes as were excommunicate,"^ even
then, the men who preached and practised treason and murder
experienced no severer treatment than that which other
'^heretics" had met with at the Queen's hands. Jesuits
and Popish priests were, by Act of Parliament, ordered
to depart the realm within forty days.* Those who should
afterwards return to the kingdom were to be held guilty of
high treason. Students in the foreign seminaries were com-
manded to return within six months and recant, or be held
guilty of high treason. Parents and guardians supplying
money to such students abroad were to incur the penalty of a
praemunire — perpetual exile, namely, with loss of all their goods.

Many seminary priests and others were annually executed
in England under these laws, throughout the Queen's reign,
but nominally at least they were hanged not as Papists,
but as traitors ; not because they taught transubstantiation,
ecclesiastical celibacy, auricular confession, or even Papal
supremacy, but because they laught treason and murder —
because they preached the necessity of killing the Queen.
It was not so easy, however, to defend or even compre-
hend the banishment and imprisonment of those who without
conspiring against the Queen's life or throne, desired to see
the Church of England reformed according to the Church
of Geneva. Yet there is no doubt that many sectaries
experienced much inhuman treatment for such delinquency,
both in the early and the later years of Elizabeth's reign.^

> Camden, iiL 336. * Ibid, ill 309. > Ibid. < Ibid. 107, 469.

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28 'I^HB UNITED NETHEBLAin)a Ohap. IL

There was another consideration, which had its due weight
in this balance, and that was the respective succession to the
throne in the two kingdoms of France and England. Mary
Btnart, the Catholic, the niece of the Guises, emblem and
exponent of all that was most Boman in Europe, the sworn
friend of Philip, the mortal foe to all heresy, was the legiti-
mate successor to Elizabeth. Although that sovereign had
ever refused to recognize that claim ; holding that to confirm
Mary in the succession was to ^' lay her own winding sheet
before her eyes, yea, to make her own grave, while she liveth
and looketh on ;"^ and although the unfortunate claimant of
two thrones was a prisoner in her enemy's hands, yet, so long
as she lived, there was little security for Protestantism, even
in Elizabeth's lifetime, and less still in case of her sudden
death. On the other hand, not only were the various politico-
religious forces of France kept in equilibrium by their action
upon each other — so that it was reasonable to believe that
the House of Valois, however Catholic itself, would be always
compelled by the fast-expanding strength of French Calvin-
ism, to observe faithfully a compact to tolerate the Netherland
churches — ^but, upon the death of Henry III. the crown
would be legitimately placed upon the head of the great
champion and chief of the Huguenots, Henry of Navarre.

It was not unnatural, therefore, that the Prince of Orange,
a Calvinist himself, should expect more sympathy with the
Netherland reformers in France than in England. A large
proportion of the population of that kingdom, including an
influential part of the nobility, was of the Huguenot persua-
sion, and the religious peace, established by royal edict, had
endured so long, that the reformers of France and the Nether-
lands had b^un to believe in the royal clemency, and to
confide in the royal word. Orange did not live to see the
actual formation of the Holy League, and could only guess
at its secrets.

Moreover, it should be remembered that France at that
day was a more formidable state than England, a more

> Camden, I 54.

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1M4 EBLiLTiyB P06ITI0NS OF BNGLAHD AND FRANCK 29

dangerous enemy^ and, as it was believed, a more efficient
protector. The England of the period, glorious as it was for
its own and all future ages, was not the great British Empire
of to-day. On the contrary, it was what would now be con-
sidered, statistically speaking, a rather petty power. The
England of Elizabeth, Walsingham, Burghley, Drake, and
Baleigh, of Spenser and Shakspeare, hardly numbered a
larger population than now dwells in its capital and imme-
diate suburbs. It had neither standing army nor considerable
royal navy. It was full of conspirators, daring and unscru-
pulous, loyal to none save to Mary of Scotland, Philip of
Spain, and the Pope of Rome, and untiring in their efforts to
bring about a general rebellion. With Ireland at its side,
nominally a subject province, but in a state of chronic insur-
rection— a perpetual hot-bed for Spanish conspiracy and
stratagem ; with Scotland at its back, a foreign country, with
half its population exasperated enemies of England, and the
rest but doubtful friends, and with the legitimate sovereign of
that country, ^^ the daughter of debate, who discord still did
sow,''^ a prisoner in Elizabeth's hands, the central point
around which treason was constantly crystallizing itself, — it
was not strange that with the known views of the Queen on
the subject of the reformed Dutch religion, England should
seem less desirable as a protector for the Netherlands than
the neighbouring kingdom of France.

Elizabeth was a great sovereign, whose genius Orange
always appreciated, in a comparatively feeble realm. Henry
of Valois was the contemptible monarch of a powerful state,
and might be led by others to produce incalculable mischief
or considerable good. Notwithstanding the massacre of St.
Bartholomew, therefore, and the more recent "French fury"
of Antwerp, Orange had been willing to countenance firesh
negociations with France.

Elizabeth, too, it should never be forgotten, was, if not over
generous, at least consistent and loyal in her policy towards
the Provinces. She was not precisely jealous of France, as

' Sonnet bjr Queen Elizabeth.

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THB UmTBD NRTHKBLAUBS.

Ohjlp. IL

has been unjustly intimated on distinguished authoritj/ for
she strongly advocated the renewed offer of the sovereignty
to Anjou, after his memorable expulsion fix)m the Provinces."
At that period, moreover, not only her own love-coquetries
with Anjou were over, but he was endeavouring with all his
might, though in secret, to make a match with the youngs
Infanta of Spain.^ Elizabeth furthered the negociation with
France, both publicly and privately. It will soon be narrated
how those n^ociations prospered.

If then England were out of the question, where, except in
France, should the Netherlanders, not deeming themselves
capable of standing alone, seek for protection and support ?

We have seen the extensive and almost ubiquitous power
of Spain. Where she did not command as sovereign, she was
almost equaUy formidable as an ally. The Emperor of
Germany was the nephew and the brother-in-law of Philip,
and a strict Catholic besides. Little aid was to be expected
from him or the lands under his control for the cause of the
Netherland revolt. Rudolph hated his broiher-in-law, but
lived in mortal fear of him. He was also in perpetual dread
of the Grand Turk. That formidable potentate, not then the
^^sick man'' whose precarious condition and territorial in-
heritance cause so much anxiety in modem days, was, it
is true, sufficiently occupied for the moment in Persia, and
had been sustaining there a series of sanguinary defeats. He
was all the more anxious to remain upon good terms with
Philip, and had recently sent him a complimentary embassy,^
together with some rather choice presents, among which were
"four lions, twelve unicorns, and two horses coloured white,
black, and blue.''' Notwithstanding these pacific manifesta-

» *H. Grota Annalimn,* v. 126, ed.
1658, Amst

* * Rise of the Dutch Republic,* iii.
chap. yL, and MS. Letter of Queen
Elisabeth, cited in note.

* 'Collection de Lettres relatives
aox Negotiations sur le Prorjeot de
Mariage du Due d^Ai^u avee une des
In&ntes d'Espagne^ et aux AflUres

traict^ de part et d^autre pour les
Pays Bas, Cambray, la succession de
Portugal,* Aa Bib. Imp. de France,
Brienne MS.
* De Thou, *Hi8t Univ.* ix. 209

516.

Meteron, ziil 233 ; Le Petit, xtk

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1584. TZMmirr of gssicakt. 31

tions towards the West, however, and in spite of the trace
with the German Empire which the Turk had jnst renewed
for nine years, — ^Rudolph and his servants still trembled at
every report from the East.

"He is much deceived/' wrote Busbecq, Rudolph's am-
bassador in Paris, "who doubts tiiat the Turk has sought any
thing by this long Persian war, but to protect his back, and
prepare the way, after subduing that enemy, to the extermi-
nation of all Christendom, and that he will then, with all his
might, wage an unequal warfare with us, in which the exis-
tence of the Empire will be at stake.'' *

The envoy expressed, at the same period, however, still
greater awe of Spain. " It is to no one," he wrote, " endowed
with good judgment, in the least obscure, that the Spanish
nation, greedy of empire, will never be quiet, even with their
great power, but will seek for the dominion of the rest of
Christendom. How much remains beyond what they have
already acquired ? Afterwards, there will soon be no liberty,
no dignity, for other princes and republics. That single
nation will be arbiter of all things, than which nothing can
be more miserable, nothing more degrading. It cannot be
doubted that all kings, princes, and states, whose safety or
dignity is dear to them, would willingly associate in arms to
extinguish the common conflagration. The death of the
Catholic king would seem the great opportunity miacendis
rebusr '

Unfortunately neither Busbecq's master nor any other king
or prince manifested any of this commendable alacrity to
" take up arms against the conflagration." Germany was in
a shiver at every breeze from East or West — trembling alike
before Philip and Amurath. The Papists were making rapid
px)gress, the land being undermined by the steady and
stealthy encroachments of the Jesuits. Lord BurgUey sent
many copies of his pamphlet, in Latin, French, and Italian,
ag^dnst the Seminaries, to G^bhard Truchsess ; and the de-

> 'Bosbequli Epistolae ad Rudol- I ' Ibid., p. 124-126.
pbum IL,' Bnix., 1631, p. 152-3. I

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32 '^BE UHITBD NBTHBBLAND6. Oeap. H

posed archbishop made himself busy in translatiiig that
wholesome production into Gtorman^ and in dispersing it ^^all
Germany over/' The work^ setting dnly forth ^^that the
executions of priests in England were not for religion but for
treason/^ was ^^marvellously liked'' in the Netherlands. ''In
uttering the truth/' said Herle, '' 'tis likely to do great good ; "
and he added, that Duke Augustus of Saxony " did now see
so far into the sect of Jesuits, and to their inward mischiefe,
as to become their open enemy, and to make friends against
them in the Empire." *

The love of Truchsess for Agnes Mansfeld had created
disaster not only for himself but for Germany. The whole
electorate of Cologne had become the constant seat of partisan
warfare, and the resort of organised bands of brigands.
Villages were burned and rifled, highways infested, cities
threatened, and the whole country subjected to perpetual
black mail (brandschatzung) — ^fire-insurance levied by the
incendiaries in person — ^by the supporters of the rival bishops.
Truchsess had fled to Delft, where he had been countenanced
and supported by Orange. Two cities still held for him,
Bheinberg and Neuss. On the other hand, his rival, Ernest
of Bavaria, supported by Philip II., and the occasional guest
of Alexander of Parma, had not yet succeeded in establishing
a strong foothold in the territory. Two pauper archbishops,
without men or means of their own, were thus pushed forward
and back, like puppets, by the contending highwaymen on
either side ; while robbery and murder, under the name of
Protestantism or Catholicism, were for a time the only motive
or result of the contest.

Thus along the Rhine, as well as the Maas and the Scheldt,
the fires of civil war were ever burning. Deeper within the
heart of Germany, there was more tranquillity ; but it was
the tranquillity rather of paralysis than of health. A fearful
account was slowly accumulating, which was evidently to be
settled only by one of the most horrible wars which history
has ever recorded. Meantime there was apathy where there

^ Herle to Qoeen Elizabeth, 22nd Jolj, 1584^ IIS. before dted.

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1584. APATHT OF PBOTBSTANT GEBMAKT. 33

Bhould have been enthusiasm ; parsimony and cowardice
where generous and combined effort were more necessary
than ever ; sloth without security. The Protestant princes,
growing fat and contented on the spoils of the church, lent
but a deaf ear to the moans of Truchsess, forgetting that
their neighbour's blazing roof was likely soon to fire their own.
" They understand better, proximus sum egomet mihi" wrote
Lord Willoughby from Kronenburg, " than they have learned,
liumani nihil a me alienum puto. These German princes
continue still in their lethargy, careless of the state of others,
and dreaming of their ubiquity, and some of them, it is
thought, inclining to be Spanish or Popish more of late than
hOTetofore." '

The beggared archbishop, more forlorn than ever since the
death of his great patron, cried woe from his resting-place
in Delft, upon Protestant Germany. His tones seemed almost
prophetic of the thirty years' wrath to blaze forth in the next
generation. "Courage is wanting to the people throughout
Germany," he wrote to William Lewis of Nassau. " We are
becoming the laughing-stock of the nations. Make sheep of
yourselves, and the wolf will cat you. We shall find our
destruction in our immoderate desire for peace. Spain is
making a Papistical league in Germany. Therefore is Asson-
leville despatched thither, and that's the reason why our.
trash of priests are so insolent in the empire. 'Tis astonishing
how they are triumphing on all sides. God will smite
them. Thou dear God ! What are our evangelists about
in Germany ? Asleep on both ears. Dormiunt in utramque
aurem. I doubt they will be suddenly enough awakened one
day, and the cry will be, * Who'd have thought it ? ' Then
they will be for getting oil for the lamp, for shutting the
stable-door when the steed is stolen," ' and so on, with a string
of homely proverbs worthy of Sancho Panza, or landgrave
William of Hesse.'

' WiDoughby to Burghley, in
Wrigfat'fl 'Queen Elizabeth and her
TSmeSy' vol il 273.
VOIu L— D

« Groen v. Prinsterer, 'Archirea,'
Ac., i. 9.
s The statesmen of England wore

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THE UNITED KBTHEBLANBa

Chap. II

In tmth, one of the most painful features in the general
aspect of affairs was the coldness of the German Protestants
towards the Netherlands. The enmity between Lutherans
and Calvinists was almost as &tal as that between Protestants
and Papists. There was even a talk, at a little later period,
of excluding those of the " reformed " church from the benefits

too sagadous not to see tho impor*
tance to Protestant Germanj of sus-
taining the ex-clectoFf if to sustain
him were possible. Bat to this end
It was neoossary that tho German
princes', whom it most nearly con-
corned, should unite in his support
Queen Elizabeth had authorizeKl a
subsidy to enable Tnichsess to carry
on tho war; but his Bavarian com-
petitor was backed by the power of
Spain, and was himself of higher rank
and larger resources.

"No man," wrote Wahingham to
Davison, "wishes better success than
myself to the elector, knowing how
greatly it importeth the common cause
of religion that he should bo upholden,
and tho benefit that those distressed
countries, where you now are, may re-
ceive by way of diversion through his
emplojrment,* for that Spain, and his
minister tho Princo of Parma, must
not see the Bishop of Liege quaiL
Yet when I consider, upon view of
the report of the conference between
you and tho said elector, how Uttlo
i4>pearance is of any great assistance
that we shall have, and that tho prince-
electors whom tho cause doth touch,
especially Saxony and Brandenburg,
have as yet no disposition to deal
therein, ca (hough the conservation of
Uhe libisrty of Germany did in no re-
spect touch thern, I seo no great reason
to hope that this onterprize will bo
accompanied with that good success
that both I wish and is also looked for
here." (30th Dec., 1584. S. P. Office
MS.)

It was therefore necessary, in tho
opinion of tho English government^
to movo warily in the matter. For re-
mote allies to expend their strength
in sustaining the sinking elector, while
the Protestants nearest hitn looked
upon his struggles with folded arms,
seemed superfluous and unreasonable.

"For it is httnd," said Walsingham,
" lor men of judgo^nt to think that
he, having no great likelihood of sap-
port than yet appearetfa he hath, tAuiil
bo able to prevail against a bishop of
Liege, by birth more noble than him-
self alr^y possessed of tho most part
of tho bishopric^ who will not lack waj
assistanco that the Catholic princes
can yield him. As ibr the supports
promised by tiio kings of Denmark
and of Navarre, being in respect of
tlie others but weak and iar distant in
place, 'tis very doubtfiil, before tho
£lector can take any ^tcAx thereof
that his causo may miscany, unless v%
shall be through God's goodness up-
holden." (Ibid.)

But, in truth, tho Protestant princes
of Germany were most lukewarm io
the matter, and the complaints of poor
Truchsess were founded upon very
accurate knowledge as to tho senti-
ments of his oomps^ots. " By letters
received from Germany, as well firom
Casimir (elector-palatine) as others,"
continued Walsingham, " I do not find
any other fbrwardne^ in those that
are thought the best affected towards
him there, than to vrish well unto him.
But because that help which consists
in well-wishing groweth fruitless, un-
less it be accompanied by effects^
which the dulness of the Almaine
nature easily yieldeth not until the
disease grow desperate, I cannot but
advise you, for the Queen's honour,
to induce him to make it very pro-
bable unto you, that the support now
yielded by her Majesty is like to work
that effect which he pretendeth."
(Ibid.)

Otherwise it was cautiously sug-
gested by the secretary, that the
envoy would "do well to forbear to
be over-forward in delivering of the
money."

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1684. INDIGNATION OP THE NBTHERLANDBEa 35

of the peace of PassaiL The princes had got the Augsburg
confession and the abbey-lands into the bargain ; the peasants
had got the Augsburg confession mthout the abbey-lands,
and were to believe exactly what their masters believed.
This was the German-Lutheran sixteenth-century idea of
religious freedom. Neither prince nor peasant stirred in
behalf of the struggling Christians in the United Provinces,
battling, year after year, knee-deep in blood, amid blazing cities
and inundated fields, breast to breast with the yellow-jerkined
pikemen of Spain and Italy, with the axe and the faggot and
the rack of the Holy Inquisition distinctly visible behind them.
Such were the realities which occupied the Netherlanders
in those days, not watery beams of theological moonshine,
fantastical catechism-making, intermingled with scenes of riot
and wantonness, which drove old John of Nassau half frantic;
"with banquetting and guzzling, drinking and devouring,
with unchristian flaunting and wastefulness of apparel, with
extravagant and wanton dancing, and other lewd abomina-
tions ;" * all which, the firm old reformer prophesied, would lead
to the destruction of Germany.

For the mass, slow moving but apparently irresistible, of
Spanish and papistical absolutism was gradually closing over
Christendom. The Netherlands were the wedge by which
alone the solid bulk could be riven asunder. It was the
cause of Gterman, of French, of English liberty, for which the
Provinces were contending. It was not surprising that they
were bitter, getting nothing in their hour of distress from the
land of Luther but dogmas and Augsburg catechisms instead
of money and gxmpowder, and seeing German reiters galloping
daily to reinforce the army of Parma in exchange for Spanish
ducata

Brave old La None, with the iron arm, noblest of Frenchmen
and Huguenots — who had just spent five years in Spanish
bondage, writing military discourses in a reeking dungeon,
filled with toads and vermin, after fighting the battle of
liberty for a life-time, and with his brave son already in the

* Groen v. Prinsterer, * Archives,* &a, i 227.

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36 THB UKITBD KBTHEBLAND& CHiP. IL

N^etherlands emulating his father's valour on the same field
— denounced at a little later day, the lukewarmness of
Protestant Gtermany with whimsical vehemence: — "I am
astounded/' he cried, '^ that these princes are not ashamed
of themselves; doing nothing while they see the oppressed
cut to pieces at their gates. When will God grant me
grace to place me among those who are doing their duty,
and afar from those who do nothing, and who ought to
know that the cause is a common one. If I am ever caught
dancing the German cotillon, or playing the German flute,
or eating pike with German sauce, I hope it may be flung
in my teeth." *

The great league of the Pope and Philip was steadily con-
solidating itself, and there were but gloomy prospects for the
counter-league in Germany. There was no hope but in
England and France. For the reasons already indicated,
the Prince of Orange, taking counsel with the Estates, had
resolved to try the French policy once more. The balance
of power in Europe, which no man in Christendom so well
understood as he, was to be established by maintaining (he
thought) the equilibrium between France and Spain. In the
antagonism of those two great realms lay the only hope for
Dutch or European liberty. Notwithstanding the treason of
Anjou, therefore, it had boen decided to renew negociations
with that Prince. On the death of the Duke, the envoys of
the States were accordingly instructed to make the offer to
King Henry III. which had been intended for his brother.
That proposition was the sovereignty of all the Netherlands,
save Holland and Zeeland, under a constitution maintaining
the reformed religion and the ancient laws and privileges of
the respective provinces.

But the death of Francis of Anjou had brought about a
considerable change in French policy. It was now more
sharply defined than ever, a right-angled triangle of almost
mathematical precision. The three Henrys and their partizans
divided the realm into three hostile camps — ^threatening each

^ Groen y. Prinsterer, ' Arduvee^* &c., I 86.

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1684. HBNBT IIL OF FRANCE. 37

other in simulated peace since the treaty of Fleix (1580)^
which had put an end to the ^^ lover's war " of the preceding
year, — ^Henry of Valois, Henry of Guise, and Henry of
Navarre.

Henry III., last of the Valois line, was now thirty-three
years of age. Less than king, less even than man, he was
one of those unfortunate personages who seem as if bom to
make the idea of royalty ridiculous, and to test the capacity
of mankind to -eat and drink humiliation as if it were
wholesome food. It proved how deeply engraved in men's
minds of that century was the necessity of kingship, when
the hardy Netherlanders, who had abjured one tyrant, and had
been fighting a generation long rather than return to him,
were now willing to accept the sovereignty of a thing like
Henry of Valois.

He had not been bom without natural gifts, such as Heaven
rarely denies to prince or peasant ; but the courage which he
once possessed had been exhausted on the field of Mon-
contour, his manhood had been left behind him at Venice,
and such wit as Heaven had endowed him withal was now
expended in darting viperous epigrams at court-ladies whom
he was only capable of dishonouring by calumny, and whose
charms he burned to outrival in the estimation of his minions.
For the monarch of France was not unfrequently pleased to
attire himself like a woman and a harlot. With silken
flounces, jewelled stomacher, and painted face, with pearls of
great price adoming his bared neck and breast, and satin-
slippered feet, of whose delicate shape and size he was justly
vain, it was his delight to pass his days and nights in a
ceaseless round of gorgeous festivals, toumeys, processions,
masquerades, banquets, and balls, the cost of which glittering
frivolities caused the popular burthen and the popular execra-
tion to grow, from day to day, more intolerable and more
audible. Surrounded by a gang of ^^ minions,'' the most
debauched and the most desperate of France, whose be-
dizened dresses exhaled perfumes throughout Paris, and whose
sanguinary encounters dyed every street in blood, Henry

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38 TH£ UNITED NETHEBLANDS. Chap. IL

lived a life of what he called pleasure, careless of what might
come after, for he was the last of his race. The fortmies of
his minions rose higher and higher, as their crimes rendered
them more and more estimable in the eyes of a King who
took a woman's pride in the valour of such champions to his
weakness, and more odious to a people whose miserable
homes were made even more mberable, that the coffers of a
few court-favourites might be filled. Now sauntering, fuU-
dressed, in the public promenades, with ghastly little death's
heads strung upon his sumptuous garments, and fragments of
human bones dangling among his orders of knighthood —
playing at cup and ball as he walked, and followed by a
few select courtiers who gravely pursued the same exciting
occupation — now presiding like a queen of beauty at a
tournament to assign the prize of valour, and now, by the
advice of his mother, going about the streets in robes of
penitence, telling his beads as he went, that the populace
might be edified by his piety, and solemnly offering up
prayers in the churches that the blessing of an heir might be
vouchsafed to him, — ^Henry of Valois seemed straining every
nerve in order to bring himself and his great office into
contempt.

As orthodox as he was profligate, he hated the Huguenots,
who sought his protection and who could have saved his
throne, as cordially as he loved the Jesuits, who passed their
lives in secret plottings against his authority and his person,
or in fierce denunciations from the Paris pulpits against his
manifold crimes. Next to an exquisite and sanguinary fop,
he dearly loved a monk. The presence of a friar, he said,
exerted as agreeable an effect upon his mind as the most
delicate and gentle tickling could produce upon his body ;^
and he was destined to have a fuller dose of that charming
presence than he coveted.

His party — ^for he was but the nominal chief of a faction,
tanquam unua ex nobis — ^was the party in possession — the
office-holders' party ; the spoilsmen, whose purpose was to rob

" Do Thou, X. 667.

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1584.

THE KING AND HIS 3IIKI0Na

the exchequer and to enrich themselves. His minions — ^for
the favourites were called by no other name — were even
more hated, because less despised than the King. Attired
in cloth of gold — ^for silk and satin were grown too coarse a
material for them — ^with their little velvet porringer-caps
stuck on the sides of their heads, with their long hair stiff
with pomatum, and their heads set inside a well-starched
ruff a foot wide, " like St John's head in a charger," as a
splenetic contemporary observed,^ with a nimbus of musk and
violet-powder enveloping them as they passed before vulgar
mortals, these rapacious and insolent courtiers were the im-
personation of extortion and oppression to the Parisian popu-
lace. They were supposed, not unjustly, to pass their lives
in dancing, blasphemy, duelling, dicing, and intrigue, in
following the King about like hounds, fawning at his feet,
and showing their teeth to all besides ; and for virtues such as
these they were rewarded by the highest offices in church,
camp, and state, while new taxes and imposts were invented
almost daily to feed their avarice and supply their extrava-
gance. France, doomed to feel the beak and talons of
these harpies in its entrails, impoverished by a government
that robbed her at home while it humiliated her abroad,
stniggled vainly in its misery, and was now on the verge
of another series of internecine combats — civil war seem-
ing the only alternative to a voluptuous and licentious
peaca*

'^ We all stood here at gaze,'" wrote ambassador Stafford to
Walsingham, '^ looking for some great matter to come of this
sudden journey to Lyons ; but, as far as men can find, jpar-
Htiwd monteSy for there hath been nothing but dancing
and banquetting from one house to another, bravery in

^ 'L'Estoile^ Eegfiatre Journal de
Henrj HL,* ed. Michaud et Poujoolat,
p. 72, seq,
t M (Wot h lanr habit il ezeade
Toot lanr bien et toat lenr trefor.
Our le mlgnoii qni tont ooneomme,
Ne M tmI plus en gentlUiomine.
MaIs oomme nn pruiee de drep d*or *
Et pour mlenz oontenter

Lenr Jen« lenr pompe, lenr bobanoe,
Et lenr trop prodfgue d^pense,
II fknt tons lee fonrs inventor
Konveanx impots, nonrelles taillea,
QnHl font dn profond dee entndUea
Dee panvres si^ets arra«her,
Qnl trainent lenrs chetives vies
Sons U griffe de oee harpies,
Qni avalent tont sans macber,** Ae.

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THE UKITBD NETHBBLAND&

Chap, n

apparel, glittering like the buil"^ He mentioned that the
Duke of Epemon's horse, taking fright at a red cloak, had
hacked over a precipice, breaking his own neck, while his
master's shoulder merely was put out of joint. At the same
time the Duke of Joyeuse, coming over Mount Cenis, on
his return from Savoy, had broken his wrist. The people, he
said, would rather they had both broken their necks ^^ than
any other joint, the King having racked the nation for their
sakes, as he hath done."^ Stafford expressed much compas-
sion for the French in the plight in which they found them-
selves. " Unhappy people ! " he cried, " to have such a
King, who seeketh nothing but to impoverish them to enrich
a couple, and who careth not what cometh after his death, so
that he may rove on while he liveth, and careth neither for
doing his own estate good nor his neighbour's state harm/'
Sir Edward added, however, in a philosophizing vein, worthy
of Corporal Nym, that, " seeing we cannot be so happy as to
have a King to concur with us to do us any good, yet we are
happy to have one that his humour serveth him not to concur
with others to do us harm ; and 'tis a wisdom for \\b to foUow
these humours, that we may keep him still in that humour, and
from hearkening to others that may egg him on to worse."*

It was a dark hour for France, and rarely has a great
nation been reduced to a lower level by a feeble and aban-
doned government than she was at that moment under the
distaff of Henry III. Society was corrupted to its core.
" There is no more truth, no more justice, no more mercy,"
moaned President L'Etoile. "To slander, to lie, to rob, to
wench, to steal ; all things are permitted save to do right
and to speak the truth." Impiety the most cynical, de^
bauchery the most unveiled, public and unpunished homi-
cides, private murders by what was called magic, by poison,
by hired assassins, crimes natural, unnatural, and preter-
natural, were the common characteristics of the time.^ All

' Steflbrd to WalsiDgfaMD, 24th
Aug., 1584^ in Murdin, it 415^19.
• Ibid.
' Stafford to WalsiDgfaam, wbi nqi.

* 'UEstoOe,' 97, 98: Pttefixe, *Hi8-
toire do Boi Henri le Gnod,' ed. 1816^
p. 29.

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1584. HENBT OF GUISE. 41

posts and charges were venaL Great offices of justice were
sold to the highest hidder, and that which was thus purchased
by wholesale was retailed in the same fashion. Unhappy the
pauper client who dreamed of justice at the hands of law.
The great ecclesiastical benefices were equally matter of
merchandise, and married men, women, unborn children, en-
joyed revenues as dignitaries of the church. Infants came
into the worid, it was said, like the mitre-fish, stamped with
the emblems of place.*

"'Twas impossible," said L'Etoile, "to find a crab so tor-
tuous and backsliding as the government." *

This was the aspect of the first of the three factions in
France. Such was the Henry at its head, the representative
of royalty.

Henry with the Scar, Duke of Guise, the well-known chief
of the house of Lorraine, was the chief of the extreme papis-
tical party. He was now thirty-four years of age, tall,
stately, with a dark, martial face and dangerous eyes, which
Antonio Moro loved to paint ; a physiognomy made still
more expressive by the arquebus-shot which had damaged hb
left cheek at the fight near Ch&teau-Thierry and gained him
his name of Balafr6. Although one of the most turbulent
and restless plotters of that plotting age, he wa^ yet thought
more slow and heavy in character than subtle, Teutonic rather
than Italian. He was the idol of the Parisian burghers. The
grocers, the market-men, the members of the arquebus and
crossbow clubs, all doated on him. The fishwomen wor-
shipped him as a god. He was the defender of the good old
leligion under which Paris and the other cities of France had
fiuiven, the uncompromising opponent of the new-fangled
doctrines which western clothiers, and dyers, and tapestry-
workers, had adopted, and which the nobles of the mountain-
country, the penniless chevaliers of Beam and Gascony and
Guienne, w^e ceaselessly taking the field and plunging
France into misery and bloodshed to support. But for the
Balafr^ and Madam League — as the great Spanish Catholic

1 Pereflze, * L'Estoile,' libisvp. * ' L'Estoile,' vbi wp.

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42 THE UNITED NETHERLANDS. Chap. II

conspiracy against the liberties of France, and of England,
and of all Europe, was affectionately termed by the Paris
populace — honest Catholics would fare no better in France
than they did in England, where, as it was well known, they
were every day subjected to fearful tortures. The shop-
windows were filled with coloured engravings, represent-
ing, in exaggerated fashion, the sufferings of the English
Catholics under bloody Elizabeth, or Jezebel, as she was
called ; and as the gaping burghers stopped to ponder over
these works of art, there were ever present, as if by accident^
some persons of superior information who would condescend-
ingly explain the various pictures, pointing out with a long
stick the phenomena most worthy of notice/ These cari-
catures proving highly successful, and being suppressed by
order of government, they were repeated upon canvas on a
larger sccde, in still more conspicuous situations, as if in con-
tempt of the royal authority, which sullied itself by compro-
mise with Calvinism.^ The pulpits, meanwhile, thundered
denunciations on the one hand against the weak and wicked
King, who worshipped idols, and who sacrificed the dearly-
earned pittance of his subjects to feed the insolent pomp of
his pampered favourites ; and on the other, upon the arch-
heretic, the arch-apostate, the Beamese Huguenot, who, aftar
the death of the reigning monarch, would have the effirontery
to claim his throne, and to introduce into France the perse-
cutions and the horrors under which unhappy England was
already groaning.

The scarce-concealed instigator of these assaults upon the
toyal and upon the Huguenot faction was, of course, the Dute
of Guise, — the man whose most signal achievement had been
the Massacre of St. Bartholomew — all the preliminary details
of that transaction having been arranged by his skill. So
long as Charles IX. was living, the Balafr^ had created the
confusion which was his element, by entertaining and foment-
ing the perpetual intrigues of Anjou and Alengon against their
brother ; while the altercations between them and the Queen-

» De Thou, ix., 269, 270, seq. t Ibid.

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1584. HENBY OF GUISE. 43

Mother and the furious madman who then sat upon the
throne, had heen the cause of sufficient disorder and calamity
for France. On the death of Charles IX. Guise had sought
the intimacy of Henry of Navarre, that hy his means he
might frustrate the hopes of AleD9on for the succession.
During the early period of the Beamese's residence at the
French court the two had been inseparable, living together,
going to the same festivals, tournaments, and masquerades,
and even sleeping in the same bed. "My master," was
ever Guise's address to Henry ; " my gossip," the young
King of Navarre's reply. But the crafty Beamese had made
use of the intimacy only to read the secrets of the Balafir^'s
heart ; and on Navarre's flight from the court, and his return
to Huguenotism, Guise knew that he had been played upon
by a subtler spirit than his own. The simulated affection was
now changed into undisguised hatred. Moreover, by the
death of Alen9on, Navarre now stood next the throne, and
Guise's plots became still more extensive and more open as his
own ambition to usurp the crown on the death of the childless
Henry III. became more fervid.*

Thus, by artfully inflaming the populace of Paris, and —
through his organized bands of confederates — that of all the
large towns of France, against the Huguenots and their chief,
by appeals to the religious sentiment ; and at the same time
by stimulating the disgust and indignation of the tax-payers
everywhere at the imposts and heavy burthens which the
boundless extravagance of the court engendered, Guise paved
the way for the advancement of the great League which
he represented. The other two political divisions were in-
genionsly represented as mere insolent factions, while his own
was the true national and patriotic party, by which alone the
ancient religion and the cherished institutions of France
could be preserved.'

And the great chief of this national patriotic party was
not Henry of Guise, but the industrious old man who sat
writing despatches in the depths of the Escorial. Spanish
1 Perefixe, 28, teq, * De Thou, Perefixe^ vbi eup.

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44 THE UNTTBD KETHEBLANDS. Chap. IL

counsels, Spanish promises, Spanish ducats — these were the
real machinery by which the plots of Guise against the peace
of France and of Europe were supported. Madam League was
simply Philip II. Nothing was written, officially or unoffici-
ally, to the French government by the Spanish court that
was not at the same time communicated to " Mucio" — as the
Duke of Guise was denominated in the secret correspondence
of Philip, — and Mucio was in Philip's pay, his confidential
agent, spy, and confederate, long before the actual existence
of the League was generally suspected.

The Queen-Mother, Catharine de' Medici, played into the
Duke's hands. Throughout the whole period of her widow-
hood, having been accustomed to govern her sons, she had, in
a certain sense, been used to govern the kingdom. By sowing
dissensions among her own children, by inflaming party
against party, by watching with care the oscillations of
France— so that none of the great divisions should obtain
preponderance — by alternately caressing and massacring the
Huguenots, by cajoling or confronting Philip, by keeping, as
she boasted, a spy in every family that possessed the annual
income of two thousand livres, by making herself the head of
an organized system of harlotry, by which the soldiers and
politicians of France were inveigled, their secrets faithfully
revealed to her by her well-disciplined maids of honour, by
surrounding her unfortunate sons with temptation from earliest
youth, and plunging them by cold calculation into deepest de*
bauchery, that their enervated faculties might be ever forced
to rely in political affairs on the maternal counsel, and to
abandon the administration to the maternal will ; such were the
arts by which Catharine had maintained her influence, and a
great country been governed for a generation — Machiavellian
state-craft blended with the more simple wiles of a procuress.

Now that Alengon was dead, and Henry III. hopeless of
issue, it was her determination that the children of her
daughter, the Duchess of Lorraine, should succeed to the
throne. The matter was discussed as if the throne were
already vacant, and Guise and the Queen-Mother, if they

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1684. HBimY 07 NAYABRB. 40

agreed in nothing else^ were both cordial in their detestation
of Henry of Navarre. The Duke affected to support the
schemes in favour of his relatives, the Princes of Lorraine,
while he secretly informed the Spanish court that this policy
was only a pretence. He was not likely, he said, to advance
the interests of the younger branch of a house of which he
was himself the chief, nor were their backs equal to the
burthen. It was necessary to amuse the old queen, but he
was profoundly of opinion that the only sovereign for France,
upon the death of Henry, was Philip II. himself. This was
the Duke's plan of arriving, by means of Spanish assistance,
at the throne of France ; and such was Henry le Balafrd,
chief of the League.^

And the other Henry, the Huguenot, the B^amese, Henry
of Bourbon, Henry of Navarre, the chieftain of the Gkiscon
chivalry, the king errant, the hope and the darling of the
oppressed Protestants in every land — of him it is scarce
needful to say a single word. At his very name a figure
seems to leap forth from the mist of three centuries, instinct
with ruddy vigorous life. Such was the intense vitality of
the B6amese prince, that even now he seems more thoroughly
alive and recognizable than half the actual personages who
are fretting their hour upon the stage.

We see, at once, a man of moderate stature, light, sinewy,
and strong ; a face browned with continual exposure ; small,
mirthful, yet commanding blue eyes, glittering from beneath
an arching brow, and prominent cheekbones ; a long hawk's
nose, almost resting upon a salient chin, a pendent moustache,
and a thick, brown, curly beard, prematurely grizzled ; we see
the mien of frank authority and magnificent good humour,
we hear the ready sallies of the shrewd Gascon mother-wit,
we feel the electricity which flashes out of him, and sets all
hearts around him on fire, when the trumpet sounds to battle.
The headlong desperate charge, the snow-white plume waving
where the fire is hottest, the large capacity for enjoyment of
the man, rioting without affectation in the certaminis gavdia,

* De Thoa, ix. 267.

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46 THB UNITBD 19BTHEBLANDS. Chap. U

the insane gallop, after the combat, to lay its trophies at the
feet of the Cynthia of the minute, and thus to forfeit its fruits;
all are as familiar to us as if the seven distinct wars, the
hundred pitched battles, the two hundred sieges^ in which the
Beamese was personally present, had been occurrences of our
own day.

He at least was both king and man, if the monarch who
occupied the throne was neither. He was the man to
prove, too, for the instruction of the patient letter- writer
of the Escorial, that the crown of France was to be wcai
with foot in stirrup and carbine in hand, rather than to be
caught by the weaving and casting of the most intricate
nets of diplomatic intrigue, though thoroughly weighted with
Mexican gold.

The King of Navarre was now thirty-one years old ; for
the three Henrys were nearly of the same age. The first
indications of his existence had been recognized amid the
cannon and trumpets of a camp in Picardy, and his mother
had sung a gay Beamese song as he was coming into the
world at Pau. Thus, said his grandfather, Henry of Navarre,
thou shalt not bear to us a morose and sulky child. The
good king, without a kingdom, taking the child, as soon as
bom, in the lappel of his dressing-gown, had brushed his
infant lips with a clove of garlic, and moistened them with a
drop of generous Gascon wine. Thus, said the grandfather
again, shall the boy be both merrj^ and bold. There was some-
thing mythologically prophetic in the incidents of his birth.

The best part of Navarre had been long since appropriated
by Ferdinand of Aragon. In France there reigned a young and
warlike sovereign with four healthy boys. But the new-bora
infant had inherited the lilies of France from St. Louis, and
a later ancestor had added to the escutcheon the motto
"Espoir." His grandfather believed that the boy was bom
to revenge upon Spain the wrongs of the House of Albret,
and Henry's nature seemed ever pervaded with Robert of
Clermont's device.

The same sensible grandfather, having diflferent views on

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1581 HEMBY OF NAYABSE. 47

the Bulgect of education from those manifested by Catharine
de* Medici towards her children, had the boy taught to run
about bare-headed and bare-footed, like a peasant, among the
mountains and rocks of Beam, till he became as rugged as
a young bear, and as nimble as a kid. Black bread, and
beef, and garlic, were his simple fare ; and he was taught by
his mother and his grandfather to hate lies and liars, and to
read the Bible.

When he was fifteen, the third religious war broke out
Both his father and grandfather were dead. His mother,
who had openly professed the reformed faith, since the death
of her husband, who hated it, brought her boy to the camp at
Bochelle, where he was received as the chief of the Huguenots.
His culture was not extensive. He had learned to speak the
truth, to ride, to shoot, to do with little sleep and less food.
He could also construe a little Latin, and had read a few
military treatises ; but the mighty hours of an eventful life
were now to take him by the hand, and to teach him much
good and much evil, as they bore him onward. He now saw
military treatises expounded practically by professors, like
his uncle Cond^, and Admiral Coligny, and Lewis Nassau, in
such lecture-rooms as Laudun, and Jamac, and Montcontour,
and never was apter scholar.

The peace of Amay-le-Duc succeeded, and then the fatal
Bartholomew marriage with the Messalina of Valois. The
faith taught in the mountains of Beam was no buckler
against the demand of ^^ the mass or death/' thundered at his
breast by the lunatic Charles, as he pointed to thousands of
massacred Huguenots. Henry yielded to such conclusive
ailments, and became a Catholic. Four years of court-
imprisonment succeeded, and the young King of Navarre,
though proof to the artifices of his gossip Guise, was not
adamant to the temptations spread for him by Catharine de'
Medici. In the harem entertained for him in the Louvre
many pitfalls entrapped him ; and he became a stock-performer
in the state comedies and tragedies of that plotting age.

A silken web of palace-i>olitics, palace-diplomacy, palace-

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48 THB TTinTED NBTHERLANDa Chap. H

revolutions, enveloped him. Schemes and coimter-schemes,
stratagems and conspiracies, assassinations and poisonings ;
all the state-machinery which worked so exquisitely in fair
ladies' chambers, to spread havoc and desolation over a king-
dom, were displayed before his eyes. Now campaigning with
one royal brother against Huguenots, now fighting with
another on their side, now solicited by the Queen-Mother to
attempt the life of her son,' now implored by Henry III. to
assassinate his brother,* the Beamese, as fresh antagonisms,
affinities, combinations, were developed, detected, neutralized
almost daily, became rapidly an adept in Medicean state-
chemistry. Charles IX. in his grave, Henry III. on the
throne, Alen<;on in the Huguenot camp^— Henry at last made
his escape. The brief war and peace of Monsieur succeeded,
and the King of Navarre formally abjured the Catholic creed.
The parties were now sharply defined. Guise mounted upon
the League, Henry astride upon the Beformation, were pre-
pared to do battle to the death. The temporary "war of
the amorous" was followed by the peace of Fleix.

Four years of peace again ; four fat years of wantonness
and riot preceding fourteen hungry famine-stricken years of
bloodiest civil war. The voluptuousness and infamy of the
Louvre were almost paralleled in vice, if not in splendour, by
the miniature court at Pau. Henry's Spartan grandfather
would scarce have approved the courses of the youth, whoso
education he had commenced on so simple a scale. For
Margaret of Yalois, hating her husband, and living in most
undisguised and promiscuous infidelity to him, had profited
by her mother's lesssons. A seraglio of maids of honour
ministered to Henry's pleasures, and were carefully instructed
that the peace and war of the kingdom were playthings in
their hands. While at Paris royalty was hopelessly sinking:
in a poisonous marsh, there was danger that even the hardy
nature of the Beamese would be mortally enervated by the
atmosphere in which he lived.*

iPereflxe,2a I » *l£^moire8 d'Agripp* d^Aobign^*

* Ibid, 38, 39. | ed. 1854. Appendix, xvii. p. 237.

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1584.

HENBT OF NAYABBB.

The unhappy Henry III., baited by the Guises, worried by

Alengon and his mother, implored the King of Navarre to

return to Paris and the Catholic faith. M. de Segur, chief

of Navarre's council, who had been won over during a visit to

the capital, where he had made the discovery that ^' Henry IIL

was an angel, and his ministers devils,'' came back to Pau,

urging his master's acceptance of the royal invitation.^ Henry

wavered. Bold D'Aubign^, stanchest of Huguenots, and of

his friends, next day privately showed Sigur a palace-window

opening on a very steep precipice over the Bayse, and

cheerfully assiu^ him that he should be flung from it did he

not instantly reverse his proceedings, and give his master

different advice. If I am not able to do the deed myself, said

D'Anbign^, here are a dozen more to help me. The chief of

the council cast a glance behind him, saw a number of grim

Puritan soldiers, with their hats plucked down upon their

brows, looking very serious ; so made his bow, and quite

changed his line of conduct.^

At about the same time, Philip II. confidentially offered
Henry of Navarre four hundred thousand crowns in hand,
and twelve hundred thousand yearly, if he would consent to
make war upon Henry III.* Mucio, or the Duke of Guise,
being still in Philip's pay, the combination of Leaguers and
Huguenots against the unfortunate Yalois would, it was
thought, be a good triangidar contest.

But Henry — ^no longer the unsophisticated youth who had
been used to run barefoot among the cliffs of Coarasse — ^was
grown too crafty a politician to be entangled by Spanish or
Medicean wiles. The Duke of Anjou was now dead. Of all
the princes who had stood between him and the throne, thei3

» D'Aubign^ *Memoiree,* p. 67, 68.

•Ibid.

• "The Abpt of Colein told me
that the Prince of Orange had ac-
qnainted him with a practice of the
King of Spain's, which was an offer
made to the King of Navarre of
400,000 A* in ready money, and a
100,000 A* monthly, if he would make
vn&i the French king-^where-

VOL. I. — ^E

unto I ansNX'ered, that I thought it
done with a Spanish mind and cunning
to draw the King of Navarre, as Se-
bastian of Portugal was, to his ruin
and loss of life and kingdom, and by
this means to destroy also the religion
and churches in Ftance," &c. (Herle
to Queen Elizabeth, 22d July, 1584.
S. P. Office MS)

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so THE UNITED KETHBBLANDa Ohaf. U

was none remaining save the helpless, childless, superannuated
youth, who was its present occupant. The King of Navarre
was legitimate heir to the crown of France. " Espoir " was
now in letters of light upon his shield, but he knew that his
path to greatness led through manifold dangers, and that it
was only at the head of his Huguenot chivalry that he could
cut his way. He was the leader of the nobles of Gascony,
and Dauphiny, and Guienne, in their mountain fastnesses, of
the weavers, cutlers, and artizans, in their thriving manu-
&cturing and trading towns. It was not Spanish gold, but
carbines and cutlasses, bows and bills, which could bring him
to the throne of his ancestors.

And thus he stood the chieftain of that great austere party
of Huguenots, the men who went on their knees before the
battle, beating their breasts with their iron gauntlets^ and
singing in full chorus a psalm of David, before smiting the
Philistines hip and thigh.

Their chieftain, scarcely their representative — ^fit to lead
his Puritans on the battle-field, was hardly a model for them
elsewhere. Yet, though profligate in one respect, he was tem-
perate in every other. In food, wine, and sleep, he was always
moderate. Subtle and crafty in self-defence, he retained
something of his old love of truth, of his hatred for liars.
Hardly generous perhaps, he was a friend of justice, while
economy in a wandering King, like himself, was a necessary
virtue, of which France one day was to feel the beneficent
action. Reckless and headlong in appearance, he was in
truth the most careful of men. On the religious question^
most cautious of all, he always left the door open behind him,
disclaimed all bigotry of opinion, and earnestly implored the
Papists to seek, not his destruction, but his instruction. Yet
prudent as he was by nature in every other regard, he was
all his life the slave of one woman or another, and it was by
good luck rather than by sagacity that he did not repeatedly
forfeit the fruits of his courage and conduct, in obedience to
his master-passion.

Always open to conviction on the subject of his faith, he

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1584. HBNBY OF NAVABBEL 5X

repndiated the appdlation of heretic. A creed, he said, was
not to be changed like a shirt, but only on due deliberation,
and under special advice. In his secret heart he probably
regarded the two religions as his chargers, and was ready to
mount alternately the one or the other, as each seemed the
more likely to bear him safely in the battle. The Beamesa
was no Puritan, but he was most true to himself and to his
own advancement. His highest principle of action was to
reach his goal, and to that principle he was ever loyal. Feel^
ing^ too, that it was the interest of France that he should
succeed^ he was even inspired— compared with others on the
stage — by an almost lofty patriotism.

Amiable by nature and by habit, he had preserved the most
unimpaired good-humour throughout the horrible years which
succeeded St. Bartholomew, during which he carried his life
in his hand, and learned not to wear his heart upon his sleeve.
Without gratitude, without resentment, without fear, without
remorse, entirely arbitrary, yet with the capacity to use all
men's judgments ; without convictions, save in regard to his
dynastic interests, he possessed all the qualities necessary to
success. He knew how to use his enemies. He knew how to
use his friends, to abuse them, and to throw them away. He
refused to assassinate Francis Alen9on at the bidding of
Henry III., but he attempted to procure the murder of the
truest of his own friends, one of the noblest characters
of the age — ^whose breast showed twelve scars received in
his service— Agrippa D'Aubignd, because the honest soldier
had refused to become his pimp — a service the King had
implored upon his knees.^

Beneath the mask of perpetual careless good-humour, lurked
the keenest eye, a subtle, restless, widely combining brain,
and an iron wilL Native sagacity had been tempered into
consummate elasticity by the fiery atmosphere in which feebler
natures had been dissolved. His wit was as flashing and as
quickly unsheathed as his sword. Desperate, apparently
reckless temerity on the battle-field was deliberately indulged

> D'Aubign^ 'Memoires,* pp. 38-44

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52 THB UNTTBD NBTHBRLANDa Chap. IL

in, that the world might be brought to recognifle a hero and
chieftain in a King. The do-nothings of the Merovingian line
had been succeeded by the Pepins ; to the effete Carlo-
vingians had come a Capet ; to the impotent Valois should
come a worthier descendant of St. Louis. This was shrewd
Gascon calculation, aided by constitutional fearl^sness. When
despatch-writing, invisible Philips, star-gazing Rudolphs, and
petticoated Henrys, sat upon the thrones of Europe, it was
wholesome to show the world that there was a King left who
could move about in the bustle and business of the age, and
could charge as well as most soldiers at the head of his
cavalry ; that there was one more sovereign fit to reign over
men, besides the glorious Virgin who governed England.

Thus courageous, crafty, far-seeing, consistent, untiring,
imperturbable, he was born to command, and had a right to
reign. He had need of the throne, and the throne had still
more need of him.

This then was the third Henry, representative of the third
side of the triangle, the reformers of the kingdom.

And before this bubbling cauldron of France, where in-
trigues, foreign and domestic, conflicting ambitions, strata-
gems, and hopes, were whirling in never-ceasing tumult, was
it strange if the plain Netherland envoys should stand some-
what aghast ?

Yet it was necessary that they should ponder well the
aspect of affairs ; for all their hopes, the very existence of
themselves and of their religion, depended upon the organiza-
tion which should come of this chaos.

It must be remembered, however, that those statesmen —
even the wisest or the best-informed of them — could not take so
correct a view of France and its politics as it is possible for
us, after the lapse of three centuries, to do. The interior
leagues, subterranean schemes, conflicting factions, could only
be guessed at ; nor could the immediate future be predicted,
even by such far-seeing politicians as William of Orange, at
a distance, or Henry of Navarre, upon the spot.

It was obvious to the Ketherlanders that France, although

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15W. POWBK OF FRANCE. 53

torn by faction^ was a great and powerful realm. There had
now been^ with the brief exception of the lovers' war in 1580,
a religions peace of eight years' duration. The Huguenots
had enjoyed tranquil exercise of their worship during that
period^ and they expressed perfect confidence in the good
faith of the King. That the cities were inordinately taxed to
supply the luxury of the court could hardly be unknown to
the Netherlanders. Nevertheless they knew that the kingdom
was the richest and most populous of Christendom, after that
of Spain. Its capital, already called by contemporaries the
" conipendium of the world," was described by travellers as
^'stupendous in extent and miraculous for its numbers."
It was even said to contain eight hundred thousand souls,
and although its actual population did not probably exceed
three hundred and twenty thousand, yet this was more than
doable the number of London's inhabitants, and thrice as
many as Antwerp could then boast, now that a great propor-
tion of its foreign denizens had been scared away. Parfs was
at least by one hundred thousand more populous than any
city of Europe, except perhaps the remote and barbarous
Moscow, while the secondary cities of France, Rouen in the
north, Lyons in the centre, and Marseilles in the south, almost
equalled in size, business, wealth, and numbers, the capitals of
other countries. In the whole kingdom were probably ten or
twelve millions of inhabitants, nearly as many as in Spain,
without her colonies, and perhaps three times the number that
dwelt in England.

In a military point of view, too, the alliance of France was
most valuable to the contiguous Netherlands. A few r^-
ments of French troops, under the command of one of their
experienced Marshals, could block up the Spaniards in the
Walloon Provinces, effectually stop their operations against
Qhent, Antwerp, and the other great cities of Flanders and
Brabant, and, with the combined action of the United Pro-
vinces on the north, so surround and cripple the forces of
Parma, as to reduce the power of Philip, after a few vigorous
and well-concerted blows, to an absolute nullity in the Low

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54 THE UNITED NETHEELlKDa Chap. IZ,

Countries. As this result was of as vital importance to the
real interests of France and of Europe, whether Protestant
or Catholic, as it was to the Provinces, and as the French
government had privately manifested a strong desire to
oppose the progress of Spain towards universal empire, it was
not surprising that the States General, not feeling capable of
standing alone, should make their application to France.
This they had done with the knowledge and concurrence of
the English government. What lay upon the surface the
Netherland statesmen saw and pondered well. What lurked
beneath, they surmised as shrewdly as they could, but it was
impossible, with plummet and fethom-line ever in hand, to
sound the way with perfect accuracy, where the quicksands
were ever shifting, and the depth or shallowness of the course
perpetually varying. It was not easy to discover the inten-
tions of a government which did not know its own intentions,
and whose changing policy was controlled by so many hidden
currents.

Moreover, as already indicated, the envoys and those whom
they represented had not the same means of arriving at a
result as are granted to us. Thanks to the liberality of
many modem governments of Europe, the archives where the
state-secrets of the buried centuries have so long mouldered,
are now open to the student of history. To him who has
patience and industry many mysteries are thus revealed,
which no political sagacity or critical acumen could have
divined. He leans over the shoulder of Philip the Second at
his writing-table, as the King spells patiently out, with cipher-
key in hand, the most concealed hieroglyphics of Parma or
Guise or Mendoza. He reads the secret thoughts of ^^ Fabius," *
as that cunctative Roman scrawls his marginal apostilles on
each despatch ; he pries into all the stratagems of Camillus,
Hortensius, Mucins, Julius, Tullius, and the rest of those
ancient heroes who lent their names to the diplomatic masque-
raders of the 16th century; he enters the cabinet of the

^ The name usuallj assigned to Philip himself in the Paria-Simaacaj
Gonrespondenoe.

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1584. EMBASSY OF THE STATES TO FRANCK 5$

deeply-pondeiiDg Burghley, and takes from the most private
drawer the memoranda which record that minister's unutter-
able donbtings ; he pulls from the dressing-gown folds of the
stealthy^ softly-gliding Walsingham the last secret which he has
picked from the Emperor's pigeon-holes, or the Pope's pocket,
and which, not Hatton, nor Buckhurst, nor Leicester, nor the
Lord Treasurer, is to see ; nobody but Elizabeth herself ; he
sits invisible at the most secret councils of the Nassaus and
Bameveldt and Buys, or pores with Famese over coming vic-
tories, and vast schemes of universal conquest ; he reads the
latest bit of scandal, the minutest characteristic of king or
minister, chronicled by the gossiping Venetians for the edifi-
cation of the Forty ; and, after all this prying and eavesdrop-
ping, having seen the cross-purposes, the bribings, the wind-
ings, the fencings in the dark, he is not surprised, if those who
were systematically deceived did not always arrive at correct
conclusions.

Noel de Caron, Seigneur de Schoneval, had been agent of
the States at the French court at the time of the death of
the Duke of Ai\jou. Upon the occurrence of that event. La
Mouillerie and Asseliers were deputed by the Provinces to
fang Henry IIL, in order to offer him the sovereignty, which
they had intended to confer upon his brother.* Meantime
that brother, just before his death, and with the privity of
Henry, had been n^otiating for a marriage with the youngw
daughter of Philip II. — an arrangement somewhat incom-
patible with his contemporaneous scheme to assume the
sovereignty of Philip's revolted Provinces. An attempt had
been made at the same time to conciliate the Duke of Savoy,
and invite him to the French court ; but the Due de Joyeuse,
then on his return from Turin, was bringing the news, not only
that the match with Anjou was not favored — which, as Anjou
was dead, was of no great consequence — ^but that the Duke of
Savoy was himself to espouse the Infanta, and was therefore

1 * Verhael van ^t gene de heeren de
la Mouillerie ende van AflBeliers hab-
bengedaanendegebesoigneert, midta-
gaders ventaen in henlnydeni reiae

naer Yrankiyck aen den Cooinck
racckende den last ben gegeven op
myne beeren de Generale Stolen.'
(Royal Archives at the Hague, MS.)

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THE UNITED NETHEBLAKD6.

Ghaf. U

compelled to decline the invitation to Paris, for fear of
offending his father-in-law/ Other matters were in progress,
to be afterwards indicated, very much interfering with the
negotiations of the Netherland envoys.

When La Mouillerie and Asseliers arrived at Rouen, on
their road from Dieppe to Paris, they received a peremptory
order from the Queen-Mother to proceed no farther. This
prohibition was brought by an unofficial personage, and was
delivered, not to them, but to Des Pruneaux, French envoy to
the States General, who had accompanied the envoys to
France.'

After three weeks' time, during which they " kept them-
selves continually concealed in Rouen,'' there arrived in that
city a young nephew of Secretary Brulart, who brought letters
empowering him to hear what they had in charge for the
King. The envoys, not much flattered by such cavalier
treatment on the part of him to whom they were offering a
crown, determined to digest the affi*ont as they best mighty
and, to save time, opened the whole business to this sub-
ordinate stripling. He received from them accordingly an
ample memoir to be laid before his Majesty, and departed
by the post the same night Then they waited ten days
longer, concealed as if they had been thieves or spies, rather
than the representatives of a friendly power, on a more than
friendly errand.

At last, on the 24th July, after the deputies had been thus
24ih July, shut up a whole month. Secretary Brulart himself

^^^ arrived from Fontainebleau.*

He stated that the King sent his royal thanks to the States
for the offer which they had made him, and to the deputies
in particular for taking the trouble of so long a journey ; but

^ Stafford to Walsingham, 29th Aug.,
1584, in Murdin, u. 419, 420.

* * Lettre dea Depute en France an
Prince d'Oranges du 16 JuUlet, 1584,'
(Hague Archiyes Ma) . Tliis letter
to William the Silent was written six
dajB after his death.

3 MS. Letter in Hagae Archives, be*
fore cited.

^ * Rapport &ict par Noel de Caron,
aiant est^ depute de la part de Mes-
seigneurs les Etats generaux yen la
M^jest6 da Roy de France, en Taa-
sembl^ des diets Estats sk Delft, le
5 Ao<]ust, 1584.' (Hague Aichiyes Ma)

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IMl IGNOMINIOUS POSITION OF THB BNVOTa ffj

that he did not find his realm in condition to undertake a
foreign war so inopportunely. In every other r^ard, his
Majesty offered the States ^^all possible favours and plea-

sures."*

Certainly, after having been thus kept in prison for a
month, the ambassadors had small cause to be contented with
this very cold communication. To be forbidden the royal
presence, and to be turned out of the country without even
an official and accredited answer to a communication in which
they had offered the sovereignty of their fatherland, was not
flattering to their dignity. "We little thought," said they
to Brulart, after a brief consultation among themselves, " to
receive such a reply as this. It displeases us infinitely that
his Majesty wiU not do us the honour to grant us an audience.
We must take the liberty of saying, that 'tis treating the
States, our masters, with too much contempt. Who ever
heard before of refusing audience to public personages?
Kings often grant audience to mere letter-carriers. Even
the King of Spain never refused a hearing to the deputies
from the Netherlands when they came to Spain to complain
of his own government. The States General have sent
envoys to many other kings and princes, and they have
instantly granted audience in every case. His Majesty, too,
has been very ill-informed of the contracts which we formerly
made with the Duke of Anjou, and therefore a personal
interview is the more necessary."* As the envoys were
obstinate on the point of Paris, Brulart said "that the King,
although he should himself be at Lyons, would not prevent
any one from going to the capital on his own private affairs ;
but would unquestionably take it very ill if they should visit
that city in a public manner, and as deputies." '

Des Pruneaux professed himself "very grievous at this
result, and desirous of a hundred deaths in consequence."

They stated that they should be ready within a month to

' Beport of Noel de Caron, MS. be-
fore cited.
•Ibid.
•Rid.

« '< Dont le diet Sr. des Epraneauz
estoit en son particulier fort dolent, et
se sonbhaita cent fbis estre mort^" ko»
(MS. Beport before cited.)

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58 ^I^HB UNITED ^KTHKKLAHDS. Chap. JH

bring an army of 3/QOO horse and 13,000 foot into the field
for the relief of Ghent, besides their military operations
against Zutphen; and that the enemy had recently been
ignominiously defeated in his attack upon Fort Lillo, and had
lost 2,000 of his best soldiers.^

Here were encouraging facts ; and it certainly was worth
the while of the French sovereign to pause a moment before
rejecting without a hearing, the offer of such powerful and
conveniently-situated provinces.

Des Pruneaux, a man of probity and earnestness, but
perhaps of insufficient ability to deal with such grave matters
as DOW fell almost entirely upon his shoulders,* soon afterwards
obtained audience of the King. Being most sincerely in favour
of the annexation of the Netherlands to France, and feeling
that now or never was the opportimity of bringing it about,
he persuaded the King to send him back to the Provinces,
in order to continue Ihe n^otiation directly with the States
General. The timidity and procrastination of the court could
be overcome no further.

The two Dutch envoys, who had stolen secretly to Paris,
were indulged in a most barren and unmeaning interview
with the Queen-Mother. Before their departure from France,
however, they had the advantage of much conversation with
leading members of the royal council, of the parliaments of
Paris and Bouen, and also with various persons professing the
reformed religion. They endeavoured thus to inform them-
selves, as well as they could, why the King made so much
difficulty in accepting their propositions, and whether, and by
what means, his Majesty could be induced to make war in
their behalf upon the King of Spain.*

They were informed that, shovld Holland and Zeeland unite
with ihe rest of the Netherlands^ the King "without any
doubt would undertake the cause most earnestly." His
councillors, also-— even those who had been most active in
dissuading his Majesty from such a policy — would then be

' MS. Letter to the States-General I * De Thou, iz. 251.
before cited. ' Ma Yerfaael before cited.

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1684

VIEWS OF THE FRENOH HUGITBNOTa

unanimons in supporting the annexation of the Provinces and
the war with Spain. In such a contingency, with the potent
assistance of Holland and Zeeland, the King would have little
difficulty, within a very short time, in chasing every single
Spaniard out of the Netherlands. To furUier this end, many
leading personages in France avowed to the envoys their de-
termination '^to venture their lives and their fortunes, and to
use all the influence which they possessed at court."'

The same persons expressed their conviction that the King,
onoe satisfied by the Provinces as to conditions and reasons,
would cheerfully go into the war, without being deterred by
any apprehension as to the power of Spain. It was, however,
fitting that each Province should chaffer as little as possible
about details, but should give his Majesty every reasonable
advantage. They should remember that they were dealing
with " a great, powerful monarch, who was putting his realm
in jeopardy, and not with a Duke of Anjou, who had every
thing to gain and nothing to lose." '

All the Huguenots, with whom the envoys conversed,
were excessively sanguine. Could the King be once brought
they said, to promise the Netherlands his protection, there
was not the least fear but that he would keep his word. He
would use all the means within his power ; " yea, he would
take the crown from his head," rather than turn back.
Although reluctant to commence a war with so powerful a
sovereign, having once promised his help, he would keep his
pledge to the utmost, ^^for he was a King of Ma word" and
had never broken and would never break his faith with those
of the reformed religion.'

■ KooQldrie and Awgliora^ 1C& be*
fore dted.

* " Du8 Yerdarende oick bezunder
die van de Religie, die wj gesprokeu
hebben, dat zoo yerre wy conaten deu
Conmck eoo yerre bringen dat hy odb
beloofde te beachermeD, wj Diet en
dorfilea yreesen oft by en zoadt odb
boaden ende zoode gebmjdcen alle
sjne middelen, jae die crone yan zynen
boofde, seggende dat boe wel by zeer

qoalydcen ea, om totter oirlooge te
brengen-nict zonder oirzaecke, mida
bet 68 tegen eeDen alzulckeo machti-
gen Prince, dat bebbende belooft one
te helpen, dat by njet laten en zoude
tzelfile int neerete te houdcD, want by
ea (zoo zy ona yerdaerden) eeDen
(yoninck yan zynen woorde zyn be-
loofte boudende, ende zelyer die yan
der religie seyden otm^ dat by ben
nemmenneer en badde gefidlleert van

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60 THE UNITED NETHEBLAKDS. Chap. H.

Thus spoke the leading Huguenots of France, in con-
fidential communication with the Netherland envoys, not
many months before the famous edict of extermination,
published at Nemours.

At that moment the reformers were full of confidence ; not
foreseeing the long procession of battles and si^es which
was soon to sweep through the land Notwithstanding the
urgency of the Papists for their extirpation, they extolled
loudly the liberty of religious worship which Calvinists, as
well as Catholics, were enjoying in France, and pointed to
the fact that the adherents of both religions were well re-
ceived at court, and that they shared equally in offices of trust
and dignity throughout the kingdom.'

The Netherland envoys themselves bore testimony to the
undisturbed tranquillity and harmony in which the professors
of both religions were living and worshipping side by side
" without reproach or quarrel " in all the great cities which
they had visited. They expressed the conviction that the
same toleration would be extended to all the Provinces
when under French dominion ; and, so far as their ancient
constitutions and privileges were concerned, they were
assured that the King of France would respect and maintain
them with as much fidelity as the States could possibly
desire.*

Des Pruneaux, accompanied by the two States' envoys,
departed forthwith for the Netherlands. On the 24th August,
24th Aug., 1584, he delivered a discourse before the States
1684. Q-eneral, in which he disclosed, in very general
terms, the expectations of Henry III., and intimated very
clearly that the different Provinces were to lose no time in
making an unconditional offer to that monarch. With r^ard
to Holland and Zeeland he observed that he was provided
with a special commission to those Estates.^

It was not long before one Province after the other came

tgenebyhen belooft hadde." (MouQ-
lerie and Asseliera^ Yerhae], &c. MS.
befi>re cited.)

»Ibid.
*Ibid.
' Wagenaar, viil 81. m;.

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1584 EFFORTS TO PROOURB ANNEXATION. 61

to the concltudon to offer the sovereignty to the King without
written conditions, but with a general understanding that
their religious freedom and their ancient constitutions were to
he sacredly respected. Meantime, Des Pruneaux made his
appearance in Holland and Zeeland, and declared the King's
intentions of espousing the cause of the States, and of accepting
the sovereignty of all the Provinces. He distinctly observed,
however, that it was as sovereign, not as protector, that his
Majesty must be recognised in Holland and Zeeland as well as
m the rest of the country.

Upon this grave question there was much debate and much
difference of opinion. Holland and Zeeland had never con^
templated the possibility of accepting any foreign sovereignty,
and the opponents of the present scheme were loud and
angry, but very reasonable in their remarks.^

The French, they said, were no respecters of privileges nor
of persons. The Duke of Anjou had deceived William of
Orange and betrayed the Provinces. Could they hope to see
£Eui;her than that wisest and most experienced prince ? Had
not the stout hearts of the Antwerp burghers proved a
stronger defence to Brabant liberties than the "joyous
entr/' on the dread day of the " French fury," it would have
&red ill then and for ever with the cause of freedom and
religion in the Netherlands. The King of France was a
Papist, a Jesuit. He was incapable of keeping his pledges.
Should they make the arrangement now proposed and confer
the sovereignty upon him, he would forthwith make peace
with Spain, and transfer the Provinces back to that crown in
exchange for the duchy of Milan, which France had ever
coveted. The Netherlands, after a quarter of a century of
fighting in defence of their hearths and altars, would find
themselves handed over again, bound and fettered, to the
tender mercies of the Spanish Inquisition.'

The Kings of France and of Spain always acted in concert,
for religion was the most potent of bonds. Witness the

^ Wagenaar, Bor, xiz. 462. I handel met Fronkiyk' apnd Bor, IL 489

• *Vertoog Tan Gonda tegen den | deq.; Wagenaar, viii 41, £09.

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THB UNITED NETHBBLAND&

Chap. IL

sacrifice of thousands of French soldiers to Alva hy their
own sovereign at Mens, witness the £site of Gknlis, witness
the bloody night of St. Bartholomew^ witness the Antwerp
fury. Men cited and relied upon the advice of William of
Orange as to this negociation with France. But Orange
never dreamed of going so far as now proposed. He was
ever careful to keep the Provinces of Holland and Zeeland
safe from every foreign master. That spot was to be holy
ground. Not out of personal ambition. Grod forbid that they
should accuse his memory of any such impurity^ but because
he wished one safe refuge for the spirit of freedom.

Many years long they had held out by land and sea
against the Spaniards^ and should they now^ because this
Des Pnmeaux shrugged his shoulders, be so alarmed as to
open the door to the same Spaniard wearing the disguise of
a Frenchman ?*

Prince Maurice also made a brief representation to the
States' Assembly of Holland, in which, without distinctly
opposing the negociation with France, he warned them not
to proceed too hastily with so grave a matter. He reminded
them how far they had gone in the presentation of the
sovereignty to his late father, and requested them, in their
dealings with France, not to forget his interests and those of
his family. He reminded them of the position of that family^
overladen with debt contracted in their service alone. He
concluded by offering most affectionately his service in any
way in which he, young and inexperienced as he knew
himself to be, might be thought useful ; as he was long since
resolved to devote his life to the welfare of his country.'

These passionate appeals were answered with equal vehe-
mence by those who had made up their minds to try the
chances of the French sovereignty. Des Pruneaux, meanwhile,
was travelling from province to province, and from city to
city, using the arguments which have already been sufficiently

* "En eon ons nu 't genigt van
zyne aankomst, en dat Ftuneanx de
schouders optrok, dermaate verbaazen,
dat wy bem zely* als een Franaohman

vermond, gingen inhaalen?" (Ibid.)

•Bor, IL (xix.) 488, 9eq,; Wage-
naar, yiil 39, 40.

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1684 SUCCESS OF DES PRUNEAUZ. 63

indicated^ and urging a speedy compliance with the French
Xing^B propositions. At the same time, in accordance with
his instructions, he was very cautious to confine himself to
graieralities, and to avoid hampering his royal master with
the restrictions which had proved so irksome to the Duke of
AnjoiL

" The States General demanded a copy of my speech/' he
wrote the day after that harangue had been delivered, " but
I only gave them a brief outline ; extending myself 25th Aug,
as little as I possibly could, according to the ^^^^
intention and command of your Majesty. When I got here,
I found them without hope of our assistance, and terribly
agitated by the partizans of Spain. There was some danger
of their going over in a panic to the enemy. They are now
much changed again, and the Spanish partizans are beginning
to lose their tongues. I invite them, if they intend to address
your Majesty, to proceed as they ought towards a veritably
grand monarch, without hunting up any of their old quibbles,
or reservations of provinces, or any thing else which could
inspire suspicion. I have sent into Gelderland and Friesland,
for I find I must stay here in Holland and Zeeland myself.
These two provinces are the gates and ramparts through
which we must enter. 'Tis, in my opinion, what could be
called superb, to command all the sea, thus subject to the
crown of France. And France, too, with assistance of this
country, will command the land as well. They are much
astonished here, however, that I communicate nothing of the
intention of your Majesty. They say that if your Majesty
does not accept this offer of their country, your Majesty puts
the rope around their necks." *

The French envoy was more and more struck with the
brilliancy of the prize offered to his master. " If the King
gets these Provinces," said he to Catharine, " 't will be the
most splendid inheritance which Prince has ever conquered." *

In a very few weeks the assiduity of the envoy and of the

*Groen v. Prinsterer, 'Archives,' I « Groen v. Prinsterer, 'Archives/
&C, i 1-3. 114. »

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54 THB UNITED KBTHERLANDa Chap. IL

French party was successfuL All the other provinces had
very soon repeated the offer which they had previously made
through Asseliers and La Mouillerie. By the b^inning of
October the opposition of Holland was vanquished The
estates of that Province — three cities excepted, however — .
determined '^to request England and France to assume a
joint protectorate over the Netherlands. In case the King of
France should refuse this proposition, they were then ready
to receive him as prince and master, with knowledge and
consent of the Queen of England, and on such conditions as
the United States should approve." '

Immediately afterwards, the General Assembly of all the
States determined to offer the sovereignty to King Henry on
conditions to be afttrwarda settled" *

Des Pruneaux, thus triumphant, received a gold chain of
the value of two thousand florins, and departed before the end
of October for France.*

The departure of the solemn embassy to that country, for the
purpose of offering the sovereignty to the King, was delayed
till the beginning of January. Meantime it is necessary to
cast a glance at the position of England in relation to these
important transactions.

' Wagenaar, viii. 49. I « Wagenaar, tUI 61 ; *Beeol. HolL,*

• Ibid.; Bor, IL 496, Hoofd, xxl 945. | 24th Oct, 1584, bl. 661.

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UM. vaaar of skgland. 65

CHAPTER III.

Fiofioj of Ens^and— Schemes of the Pretender of Portogal— Heeitatkm of
the French Court— Secret Wishes of France— Oontradictoiy Views as to
the Opmions of Netherlanders — ^Their Lore for England and Elizabeth —
Prominent Statesmen of the Proyinces — Roger Williams the Welshman
— ^Vlews of Walsingfaam, Bnrghlej, and the Queen — ^An Embassy to Hol-
land decided upon — ^Davison at the Hague— Cautious and Secret Measures
of Buigfalej — Consequent DissaUs&ction of Walshigham — English and
Dutch Su^Mcion of France— Increasmg Affection of Holland fbr England.

The policy of En^nd towards the Provinces had been some-
what hesitating) but it had not been disloyal It was almost
inevitable that there should be timidity in the councils of
EUzabethy when so grave a question as that of confronting
the vast power of Spain was forcing itself day by day more
distinctly upon the consideration of herself and her statesmen.
It was very clear, now that Orange was dead, that some new
and decided step would be taken. Elizabeth was in favour
of combined action by the French and English governments,
in behalf of the Netherlands — a joint protectorate of the
Provinces, until such time as adequate concessions on the
religious question could be obtained from Spain. She was
unwilling to plunge into the peril and expense of a war with
the strongest power in the world. She disliked the necessity
under which she should be placed of making repeated appli-
cations to her parliament, and of thus fostering the political
importance of the Commons ; she was reluctant to encourage
rebellious sulgects in another land, however just the cause of
their revolt. She felt herself vulnerable in Ireland and on
the Scottish border. Nevertheless, the Spanish power was
becoming so preponderant, that if the Netherlands were con-
quered, she could never feel a moment's security within her
own territory. If the Provinces were annexed to France, on
VOL. I.— F

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gg THK .UNITED NSTHBELAHDa OsiLP. IIL

the other hand, she could not contemplate with complacency
the increased power thus placed in the hands of the treach-
erous and Jesuitical house of Yalois.

The path of the Queen was thickly strewed with peril : her
advisers were shrewd, far-seeing, patriotic, hut some of them
were perhaps over Qautious. The time had, however, arrived
when the danger was to he faced, if the whole balance of
power in Europe were not to come to an end, and weak
states, like England and the Netherlands, to submit to the
tyranny of an overwhelming absolutism. The instinct of the
English sovereign, of English statesmen, of the English
nation, taught them that the cause of the Netherlands was
their own. Nevertheless, they were inclined to look on yet
a little longer, although the part of spectator had become an
impossible one. The policy of the English government was
not treacherous, although it was timid. That of the French
court was both the one and the other, and it would have been
better both for England and the Provinces, had they more
justly appreciated the character of Catharine de' Medici and
her son.

The first covert negotiations between Henry and the States
had caused much anxiety among the foreign envoys in France.
Don Bernardino de Mendoza, who had recently returned from
Spain after his compulsory retreat from his post of English
ambassador, was now established in Paris, as representative of
Philip, He succeeded Tassis — a Netherlander by birth, and
one of the ablest diplomatists in the Spanish service — and his
house soon became the focus of intrigue against the govern-
ment to which he was accredited — the very head-quarters of
the League. His salary was large, his way of living magni-
ficent, his insolence intolerable.

" Tassis is gone to the Netherlands,'' wrote envoy Busbecq
to the Emperor, '^ and thence is to proceed to Spain. Don
Bernardino has arrived in his place. If it be the duty of a
good ambassador to expend largely, it would be difficult to
find a better one than he ; for they say 'tis his intention to
spend sixteen thousand dollars yearly in his embassy. I

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16S4. SOHEIfES OF THE PRBTENDBft OF POBTTJaAL. $7

would iiiat all things were in correspondence^ and that he
were not in other respects so inferior to Tassis."*

It is^ however, very certain that Mendoza was not only a
brave soldier, bat a man of very considerable capacity in
civil affitirs, although his inordinate arrogance interfered
most seriously with his skill as a n^otiator. He was, of
course, watching with much fierceness the progress of these
underhand proceedings between the French court and the
rebeUious subjects of his master, and using threats and ex-
postulations in great profusion. "Mucio," too, the great
stipendiary of Philip, was becoming daily more dangerous,
and the adherents of the League were multiplying with great
celerity.

The pretender of Portugal, Don Antonio, prior of Crato,
was also in Paris ; and it was the policy of both the French
and the English governments to protect his person, and to
make use of him as a rod over the head of Philip. Having
escaped, after the most severe sufferings, in the mountains of
Spain, where he had been tracked like a wild beast, with a
price of thirty thousand crowns placed upon his head, he was
now most anxious to stir the governments of Europe into
espousing his cause, and into attacking Spain through the re-
cently acquired kingdom of Portugal. Meantime, he was
very desirous of some active employment, to keep himself
firom starving, and conceived the notion, that it would be an
excellent thing for the Netherlands and himself, were he to
make good to them the loss of William the Silent.

''Don Antonio," wrote Stafford, "made a motion to me
yesterday, to move her Majesty, that now upon the Prince of
Orange's death, as it is a necessary thing for them to have a
governor and head, and him to be at her Majesty's devotion,
if her Majesty would be at the means to work it for him, she
should be assured nobody should be more faithfully tied in
devotion to her than he. Truly you would pity the poor
man's case, who is almost next door to starving in effect.''*

* Biisbecqul 'Epist ad Rnd.' ii. p. 132.
' Stafford to Walsisgbam, Hurdin u. 412-416.

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g8 THB UHITBD UrBTffRBTiANDS. Chap. HL

A starving condition being, however, not the only reqniate
in a governor and head to replace the Prince of Orange,
nothing came of this motion. Don Antonio remained in
Paris, in a pitiable plight, and very much environed by
dangers ; for the Duke of Guise and his brother had under-
taken to deliver him into the hands of Philip the Second, or
those of his ministers, before the feast of St. John of the
coming year. Fifty thousand dollars were to be the reward
of this piece of work, combined with other services ; " and
the sooner they set about it the better,'' said Philip, writing
a few months later, "for the longer they delay it, the less
easy will they find it." *

The money was never earned, however, and meantime
Don Antonio made himself as useful as he could, in picking
up information for Sir Edward Stafford and the other oppo-
nents of Spanish policy in Paris.

The English envoy was much embarrassed by the position
of affidrs. He felt sure that the French monarch would
never dare to enter the lists against the king of Spain, yet he
was accurately informed of the secret negotiations with the
Netherlands, while in the dark as to the ultimate intentions
of his own government.

"I was never set to school so much," he wrote to Wal-
singham (27th July, 1584), " as I have been to decipher the
cause of the deputies of the Low Countries coming hither,
the offers that they made the King here, and the King's mcomer
of dealing with them.'

He expressed great jealousy at the mystery which enve-
loped the whole transaction ; and much annoyance with Noel
de Caron, who "kept very secret, and was angry at the
motion," when he endeavoured to discover the business in
which they were engaged. Yet he had the magnanimity to
request Walsingham not to mention the fact to the Queen,
lest she should be thereby prejudiced against the States.

" For my part," said he, " I would be glad in any thing to

* Philip n. to J. B. Taasis, 16 and 28 I Simanc&s. Negodado de Estado
Maicb, 1685. (Archiyo general de | Flandes. MS.) ^ Murdin vbi Mtpra

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1M4. HESITATION CHf THE FRBITOH OOUBT. g9

farther them, rather than to hinder them — though they do
not deserve it— yet for the good the helping them at this
time may bring oar8dve&"^

Meantime, the deputies vent away from France, and the
King went to Lyons, where he had hoped to meet both the
Duke of Savoy and the King of Navarre. But Joyeuse, who
had been received at Chambery with '^ great triumphs and
toomeys,'' brought back only a broken wrist, without bring-
ing the Duke of Savoy ; that potentate sending word that the
^* King of Spain had done him the honour to give him his
daughter, and that it was not fit for him to do any thing that
mi^i bring jealousy/' ^

Henry of Navarre also, as we have seen, declined the
invitation sent him, M. de S^ur not feeling disposed for
the sudden flight out of window suggested by Agrippa
D' Aubign^ ; so that, on the whole, the King and his mother,
with all the court, returned from Lyons in marvellous ill
humour.

"The King storms greatly,*' said Stafford, "and is in a
great dump."^ It was less practicable than ever to discover
the intentions of the government; for although it was now
very certain that active exertions were making by Des Pru-
neaoz in the Provinces, it was not believed by the most saga-
dous that a serious resolution against Spain had been taken
in Fiance. There was even a talk of a double matrimonial
alliance, at that very moment, between the two courts.

"It is for certain here said,'' wrote Stafford, "that the King
of Spain doth presently marry the dowager of France, and
'tis thought that if the King of Spain marry, he will not live
a year. Whensoever the marriage be," added the envoy, " I
would to GKxl the effect were true, for if it be not by some
such handy work of God, I am afraid things will not go so
wdl as I could wish."^

There was a lull on the sur&ce of aflairs, and it was not
elEisy io sound' the depths of unseen combinations and intriguea

* ICordin, u&itfHpro. ' Murdin, IL 419, 420. » Ibid.

^ Ibid

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70 THE UHITBD K£THBBLANDa Cbap. m.

There was also considerable delay in the appoiatment and the
arrival of the new deputies from the Netherlands ; and Staf-
ford was as doubtful as ever as to the intentions of his own
government.

" They look daily here for the States," he wrote to Wal-
singham (29th Dec. 1584), '^ and I pray that I may hear from
you as soon as you may, what course I shall take when they
be here, either hot or cold or lukewarm in the matter, and in
what sort I shall behave myself. Some badly affected have
gone about to put into the King's head, that they never meant
to offer the sovereignty, which, though the King be not
thoroughly persuaded of, yet so much is won by this means
that the King hearkeneth to see the end, and then to believe
as he seeth cause, and in the meantime to speak no more of
any such matter than if it had never been moved."*

While his Majesty was thus hearkening in order to see
more, according to Sir Edward's somewhat Hibernian mode
of expressing himself, and keeping silent that he might see the
better, it was more difficult than ever for the envoy to know
what course to pursue. Some persons went so far as to sug-
gest that the whole n^otiation was a mere phantasmagoria
devised by Queen Elizabeth — her purpose being to breed a
quarrel between Henry and Philip for her own benefit ; and
^^ then, seeing them together by the ears, as her accustomed
manner was, to let them go alone, and sit still to look on."'

The King did not appear to be much affected by these
insinuations against Elizabeth ; but the doubt and the delay
were very harrassing. " I would to God," wrote ihe English
envoy, " that if the States mean to do anything here with the
King, and if her Majesty and the council think it fit, they
would delay no time, but go roundly either to an agreement
or to a breach with the King. Otherwise, as the matter now
sleepeth, so it will die, for the King must be taken in his
htmiour when he b^ns to nibble at any bait, for else he
will come away, and never bite a full bite while he liveth."*

There is no doubt that the bait, at which Henry nibbled

» MuPdin, il 431. * « Ibid. • Ibid.

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1584

SEOKfit WIBHBd 09 TBJLNOBL

with much aridity, was the maritime part of the Netheirlands.
Holland and Zeeland in the possession of either England or
Spain, was a perpetual inconyenience to France. The King)
or rather the Queen-Mother and her advisers — ^for Henry
himself hardly indulged in any profound reflections on states
a&irs,— desired and had made a sine qtia non of those Pro^
vinces. It had been the French policy, from the beginning,
to delay matters, in order to make the States feel the peril of
their position to the fulL

" The King, differing and temporising," wrote Herle to the
Queen, '^ would have them fall into that necessity and danger,
as that they should offer unto him simply the possession of all
their estates. Otherwise, they were to see, as in a glass, their
evident and hasty ruin," *

Even before the death of Orange, Henry had been deteri-
mined, if possible, to obtain possession of the island of
Walcheren, which controUed the whole country. " To give
him that," said Herle, " would be to turn the hot end of the
poker towards themselves, and put the cold part in the King's
hand.' He had accordingly made a secret offer to William
of Orange, thpough the Princess, of two millions of livres in
ready money, or, if he preferred it, one hundred thousand
livres yearly of perpetual inheritance, if he would secure to
him the island of Walcheren. In that case he promised
to declare war upon the King of Spain, to confirm to the
States their privileges, and to guarantee to the Prince the
earldoms of Holland and Zeeland, with all his other lands ismd
titlea"»

^ Herle to Queen Elizabeth, Ma be-
(bredted.

«lbid.

• ** The French king's inward faiten-
tioQ being discovered in some manner
to them, and his faith holden suspect-
ed, Paul Buys at Delft to this effect
willed me under secrecy and assurance
to say unto your Majesty from him,
that the said French King had two
months since sounded the Prince of
Orange by the Princess his wife, that
in case he could be content to put into
his hands the island of Walcheren, the

said King would immediately declare
Spain his enemy, conflnn to the States
their privileges, and unto the Prince of
Orange the earldoms of Holland and
ZeeUmd, with all his other lands and
titles, and give him over and above
100,000A* yearly of perpetual inheri-
tance, well assured to him and hi%
where he would choose the same ; or,
if he thought better, he should stow
in ready money 2, 000, 000 A* to behave
at hia pleasure.

"But, saith Buys (his scope being
once seen), he shall never be trusted

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72 ^THE UKITBD NETHBBIiA2n)& teiP.IH

It is Buperflaous to say that guch ofEem were only regarded
by the Prince as an affiront. It was^ however, so necessary,
in his opinion, to maintain the cause of the reformed churches
in France, and to keep up the antagonism between that
country and Spain, that the French policy was not abandoned,
although the court was always held in suspicion.

But on the death of William, there was a strong reaction
against France and in favour of England. Paul Buys, one of
the ablest statesmen of the Netherlands, Advocate of Holland,
and a confidential friend of William the Silent up to the time
of his death, now became the leader of the English party,
and employed his most strenuous efforts against the French
treaty — ^having "seen the scope of that court."*

With r^rd to the other leading personages, there was a
strong inclination in favour of Queen Elizabeth, whose com-
manding character inspired great respect. At the same time
warmer sentiments of adhesion seem to have been expressed
towards the French court, by the same individuals, than the
mere language of compliment justified.

Thus, the widowed Princess of Orange was described by
Des Pruneaux to his sovereign, as " very desolate, but never-
theless doing all in her power to advance his interests ; the
Count Maurice, of gentle hopes, as also most desirous of
remaining his Majesty's humble servant, while Elector Truch-
sess was said to be employing himself, in the same cause,
with very great affection."*

A French statesman resident in the Provinces, whose name
has not been preserved, but who was evidently on intimate
terms with many eminent Netherlanders, declared that
Maurice, "who had a mind entirely French, deplored infi-
nitely the misfortunes of France, and regretted that all the
Provinces could not be annexed to so fair a kingdom. I do
assure you," he added, " that he is in no wise English."'

by na, what hazard and extremetj whereof the defence and relief of those

soever we run into ; yet he ezcnsed
the Prince that he was not French in
mind, but for neoeasity and oonni-
Tency, to conserve the churdiea in
Trance, and to breed jealousy and
pique between those great kings.

countries and religion might ensue and
be continued." (Herle to Q. Elizabeth,
MS. utd mip.)

^ Wagenaar, viii. 50.

* Groen v. Prinsterer, * Archiye!^'
Ac. i. 2, 3. • Ibid 16.

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1584. VIEWS AS TO OPINIONS OP NBTHEBLANDEBa 73

Of Count Hohenlo, general-in-chief of the States' anny
under Prince Maurice, and afterwards his brother-in-law, the
same gentleman spoke with even greater confidence. ^^ Count
d'Oloc/' said he (for by that ridictdoos transformation of his
name the Qerman general was known to French and English),
** with whom I have passed three weeks on board the fleet of
the States, is now wholly French, and does not love the
English, at alL The very first time I saw him, he protested
twice or thrice, in presence of members of the States General
and of the State Council, that if he had no Frenchmen he
could never carry on the war. He made more account," he
said, ^^ of two thousand French than of six thousand others,
English, or Germans.''*

Yet all these distinguished persons — ^the widowed Princess
of Orange, Count Maurice, ex-elector Tmchsess, Count Ho-
henlo — ^were described to Queen Elizabeth by her confidential
agent^ then employed in the Provinces, as entirely at that
sovereign's devotion.

^^ Count Maurice holds nothing of the French, nor esteems
them,'' said Heiie, '^ but humbly desired me to signify unto your
Majesty that he had in his mind and determination fitithfuUy
vowed his service to your Majesty, which should be continued
in his actions with all duty, and sealed with his blood ; for he
knew how much his fitther and the cause were beholden ever
to your Highness's goodness."*

The Princess, together with her sister-in-law Countess
Schwartzenburg, and the young daughters of the late Prince
were described on the same occasion ^'as recommending
their service unto her Majesty with a most tender affection,
as to a lady of all ladies." "Especially," said Herle, "did
the two Princesses in most humble and wise sort, express a
certain fervent devotion towards your Majesty."*

Elector Tmchsess was spoken of as " a prince well qualified
and greatly devoted to her Majesty ; who, after many grave
and sincere words had of her Majesty's virtue, calling her

* Ibid. • Letter of Herle, before cited. * Ibid.

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74 ^ITHB nNTTED NBTHEBLANBa Chap. Ill

la fiUe unique de Dieu, and le bien heureuse PrinceBse, desired
of God that he might do her eerviee as she merited/'^

•And, finally, Count HoUock — ^who seemed to " be reformed
in sundry things, if it hold"" (a delicate allusion to the Count's
propensity for strong potations), was said "to desire himibly
to be known for one that would obey the conmiandment of her
Majesty more than of any earthly prince living besides/''

There can be no doubt that there was a strong party in
&vour of an appeal to England rather than to France. The
Ketherlanders were too shrewd a people not to recognize
the difference between the king of a great realm, who painted
his face and wore satin petticoats, and the woman who enter-
tained ambassadors, each in his own language, on gravest
affidrs of state, who matched in her wit and wisdom the
deepest or the most sparkling intellects of her council, who
made extemporaneous Latin orations to her universities, and
who rode on horseback among her generals along the lines of
her troops in battle-array, and yet was only the unmarried
queen of a petty and turbulent state.

"The reverend respect that is borne to your Majesty
throughout these countries is great," said William Herle.
They would have thrown themselves into her arms, heart and
soul, had they been cordially extended at that moment of
their distress ; but she was coy, hesitating, and, for reasons
already sufficiently indicated, although not so conclusive as
they seemed, disposed to temporize and to await the issue of
the negotiations between the Provinces and France.

In Holland and Zeeland especially, there was an enthusiastic
feeling in favour of the English alliance. "They recom-
mend themselves," said Herle, "throughout the country in
their consultations and assemblies, as also in their common
and private speeches, to the Queen of England's only favour
and goodness, whom they call their saviour, and the Princess
of greatest perfection in wisdom and sincerity that ever
governed. Notwithstanding their treaty now on foot by their
deputies with France, they are not more disposed to be

1 Letter of Herle, before dted. * Ibid.

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lUL

THEIB LOTS FOB ENGLAND AND ELIZABETH.

gOTemed by the French than to be tyrannized over by the
Spaniard ; concluding it to be alike ; and even commtUare
nan sortem sed servttiUem."^

Paul Buys was indefatigable in his exertions against the
treaty with France, and in stimulating the enthusiasm for
England and Elizabeth. He expressed sincere and unaffected
devotion to the Queen on all occasions, and promised that no
negotiations should take place, however secret and confident
tial, that were not laid before her Majesty.' ^^He has the
chief administration among the States/' said Herle, ^' and to
his credit and dexterity they attribute the despatch of most
things. He showed unto me the state of the enemy throughout
the provinces, and of the negotiation in France, whereof he
had no opinion at all of success, nor any will of his own jwrt
but to please the Prince of Orange in his life-time."*

It wiU be seen in the sequel whether or not the views of
this experienced and able statesman were lucid and compre*
hensive. It will also be seen whether his strenuous exertions
in favour of the English alliance were rewarded as bountifully
as they deserved, by those most indebted to him.

Meantime he was busily employed in making the English

»Ibid.

Sainte Aldegonde and Villiers &-
Toored the Fraich policy. Sainte Al-
degonde was borgomaster of Antwerp,
bot even in that city, although so many
influential persons looked to France,
the people generally had more confi-
dmce in England. **The accepting
of the French king as prince of these
ooontries," wrote Le Gieur to Walsing-
ham, **is much sought by some that
govern this day here ; but in the ears
of the common people it soundethbut
eTH, though the report be here that
Holland and Zeeland hare almost ac-
cepted him. If it would please her
Majesty to give ear unto it, she could
haye the country cheep enough. Je
juge que Sa M^est^ auroit bon march^
de ce pays." (lie Sieur to WaJsingham,
n Sept 1584. a P. Office MS.)

* Treslong, too, Admiral of Holland
and Zeeland, and Gtovernor of Ostend,
made no secret of his preference for
~ " He avowed himself publicly

her Majesty's faithful servant Enter-
taining hospitably, at his table in Os-
tend, Captain Richards and other Eng-
lish officers who had come with troops
from Flxishing, he pledged a bumper
to the Queen's health, and another to
that of Walsingham, praying that Eli-
sabeth might yet be his sovereign.

"Nevertheless," said he, "I have
letters fh>m Zeeland, by whidi it appears
that that province is about to deliver
itself to the queen-mother of France."

"And begging your pardon," said
Richards, " what towns will you give
them for gjarrison ?"

^No towns at all," answered the
Admiral, *' let them lie on the dykes I" .
After dinner he conducted the Eng-
lish officers over the town, showing
them the fortifications and renewing
his protestations of devotion to her
M^'esty. (Richards to Walsinghamu
9 Sept., 1684, S. P. Office MS.)

> Letter ofHerle, before cited.

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79 TEE UKIZBD HBIHIBLAinXL Chap. IIL

government acquainted with the capacity, disposition, and
general plans of the Netherianders.

''They hare certain other things in consultation amongst
the States to determine of/' wrote Herle, " which they were
sworn not to reveal to any, but Buys protested that nothing
should pass but to your liking and surety, and the same to be
altered and disposed as should seem good to your Highnees's
own authority ; affirming to me sincerely that Holland and
Zeeland, with the rest of the provinces, for the estimation they
had of your high virtue and temperancy, would yield them-
selves absolutely to your Majesty and crown for ever, or to
none other (their liberties only reserved), whereof you should
have immediate possession, without reservation of place or
privil^e."*

The important point of the capability of the Provinces to
defend themselves, about whidi Elizabeth was most anxious
to be informed, was also fully elucidated by the Advocate.
'' The means should be such, proceeding from the Provinces,''
said he, ''as your Majesty might defend your interest therein
with &cility against the whole world." He then indicated a
plan, which had been proposed by the States of Brabant to
the States General, according to which they were to keep on
foot an army of 15,000 foot and 5000 horse, with which they
should be able, " to expulse the enemy and to reconquer their
towns and country lost, within three months." Of this army
they hoped to induce the Queen to furnish 5000 English
footmen and 500 horse, to be paid monthly by a treasurer of
her own ; and for the assistance thus to be furnished they
proposed to give Ostend and Sluys as pledge of payment.
According to this scheme the elector palatine, John Casimir,
had promised to furnish, equip, and pay 2000 cavalry, taking
the town of Maestricht and the country of Limburg, when
freed from the enemy, in pawn for his disbursements ; while
Antwerp and Brabant had agreed to supply 300,000 crowns
in ready money for immediate use. Many powerftd politi-
cians opposed this policy, however, and urged reliance upon

' Letter of Herle, before eked.

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»t4. PBOMimNT 8TATBSMEN OF THE PBOYINGEa 77

France, ''so that this course seemed to be lame in many
parte."*

Agents had akeadj been sent both to England and France,
to procure, if possible, a levy of troops for immediate necessity.
The attempt was unsuccessful in France, but the Dutch com-
munity of the reformed religion in London subscribed nine
thousand and five florins.^ This sum, with other contribu-
tions, proved sufficient to set Morgan^s regiment on foot,
which soon after b^an to arrive in the Netherlands by com-
panies. " But if it were all here at once,'' said Stephen Le
Sienr, " 't would be but a breakfast for the enemy."^

The agent for the matter in England was Be Griyse,
formerly bailiff of Bruges ; and although tolerably successful
in his mission, he was not thought competent for so important a
post, nor officially authorised for the undertaking. While pro-
curing this assistance in English troops he had been very
urgent with the Queen to further the negotiations between
the States and France ;^ and Paul Buys was offended ¥dth
him as a mischief-maker and an intriguer. He complained
of him as having ''thrust himself in, to deal and intermeddle
in the affairs of the Low Countries unavowed," and desired
that he might be closely looked after.*

After the Advocate, the next most important statesman in
the provinces was, perhaps, Meetkerk, President of the High
Court of Flanders, a man of much learning, sincerity, and
earnestness of character ; having had great experience in the
diplomatic service of the country on many important occa-
sions. "He stands second in reputation here,'' said Herle,
" and both Buys and he have one special care in all practises
that are discovered, to examine how near anything may con-
cern your person or kingdom, whereof they will advertise as
matter shall fall out in importance."*

John van Olden- Bameveldt, afterwards so conspicuous in the
history of the country, was rather inclined, at this period, to

^ Letter of Herle, before cited.
• Meteren, xil 217.
3 Le Sieor to WalsiDgham, *l Sept
1684.(aP.OiBoeM&)

< Meteren, xil 217.
•Letter of Herle, MS.
•Ibid,

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78 ^i^HB UHITED KBTHEBLANBSL Chap. TLL

favour the French party ; a policy which was Btrenaously
ftirthered by Villiers and by Sainte Aldegonde.

Besides tiie information furnished to the English govern-
ment, as to the state of feeling and resources of the Nether-
lands, by Buys, Meetkerk, and William Herle, Walsingham
relied much upon the experienced eye and the keen biting
humour of Roger Williams.

A frank open-hearted Welshman, with no fortune but his
sword, but as true as its steel, he had done the States much,
important service in the hard-fighting days of Grand Com*
mander Bequesens and of Don John of Austria. With a
shrewd Welsh head under his iron morion, and a stout Welsh
heart under his tawny doublet, he had gained little but hard
knocks and a dozen wounds in his campaigning, and had but
recently been ransomed, rather grudgingly by his govern-
ment, from a Spanish prison in Brabant. He was suffering in
health from its effects, but was still more distressed in mind,
from his sagacious reading of the sigDS of the times. Fearing
that England was growing lukewarm, and the Provinces
desperate, he was beginning to find himself out of work, and
was already casting about him for other employment. Poor,
honest, and proud, he had repeatedly declined to enter the
Spanish service. Bribes, such as at a little later period were
sufficient to sully conspicuous reputations and noble names,
among his countrymen in better circumstances than his own,
had been freely but unsuccessfully offered him. To serve
under any but the English or States' flag in the Provinces he
scorned ; and he thought the opportunity fast slipping away
there for taking the Papistical party in Europe handsomely
by the beard. He had done much manful work in the
Netherlands, and was destined to do much more ; but he was
now discontented, and thought himself slighted. In more
remote regions of the world, the thrifty soldier thought that
there might be as good harvesting for his sword as in the
thrice-trampled stubble of Flanders.

" I would refuse no hazard that is possible to be done in
the Queen's service," he said to Walsingham; "but I dQ

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15S4. BOGEB WIUiLUfa 79

persnade myself she makes no account of me. Had it not
been for the duty that nature bound me towards her and my
country^ I needed not to have been in that case that I am in.
Perhaps I could have fingered more pistoles than Mr. Newell,
the late Latiner, and had better usage and pension of the
Bpaniards than he. Some can tell that I refused large offers,
in the misery of Alost, of the Prince of Parma. Last of all,
Vordugo offered me very fair, being in Loocum, to quit
the States' service, and accept theirs, without treachery or
betraying of place or man.'' *

Not feeling inclined to teach Latin in Spain, like the late
Mr. Newell, or to violate oaths and surrender fortresses, like
brave soldiers of fortune whose deeds will be afterwards
chronicled, he was disposed to cultivate the ^'acquaintance
of divers Pollacks," from which he had received invitations.
" Find I nothing there," said he, " Duke Matthias has promised
me courtesy if I would serve in Hungary. If not, I will offer
service to one of the Turk's bashaws against the Persians." *

Fortunately, work was found for the trusty Welshman in
the old fields. His brave honest face often reappeared ; his
sharp sensible tongue uttered much sage counsel ; and his
ready sword did various solid service, in leaguer, battle-field,
and martial debate, in Flanders, Holland, Spain, and France.

For the present, he was casting his keen glances upon the
n^otiations in progress, and cavilling at the general policy
which seemed predominant

He believed that the object of the French was to trifle
with the States, to protract interminably their n^otiations,
to prevent the English government from getting any hold
upon the Provinces, and then to leave them to their fate.

He advised Walsingham to advance men and money, upon
the security of Sluys and Ostend.

'^ I dare venture my life," said he, with much energy, " that
were Norris, Bingham, Yorke, or Carlisle, in those ports, he
would keep them during the Spanish King's life." *

' Boger WmSaiDB to Sir F. Walongham, Sept 1584. (a P. OfBoe^ MS.)
• Ibid. » Ibid.

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80 THE UHITHD NEXHBKLIKDS. Qbap. m.

Bat the true way to attack Spain — a meibodsoon after-
wards to be carried into euch brilliant effect by the naval
heroes of England and the Netherlands — the longndghted
Welshman now indicated ; a combined attack, namdy, by sea
upon the colonial possessions of Philip.

" I dare be bound/' said he, " if you join with Treslong, the
States' Admiral, and send off, both, three-score sail into his
Indies, we will force him to retire from conquering further,
and to be contented to let other princes live as well as he." ^

In particular, Williams urged rapid action, and there is
little doubt, that had the coimsels of prompt, quick-witted,
ready-handed soldiers like himself, and those who thought
with him, been taken ; had the stealthy but quick-darting
policy of Walsingham prevailed over the solemn and stately
but somewhat ponderous ju'oceedings of Burghley, both
Ghent and Antwerp might have been saved, the trifling and
treacherous diplomacy of Catharine de' Medici neutralized,
and an altogether more fortunate aspect given at once to
the state of Protestant afbirs.

" If you mean to do anything," said he, " it is more than
time now. If you will send some man of credit about it, will
it please your honour, I will go with him, because I know the
humour of the people, and am acquainted with a number of
the best. I shall be able to show him a number of their
dealings, as well with the French as in other aff&irs, and
perhaps will find means to send messengers to Ghent, and
to other places, better than the States ; for the message of
one soldier is better than twenty boors." *

It was ultimately decided — as will soon be related — to send
a man of credit to the Provinces. Meantime, the policy of
England continued to be expectant and dilatory, and Advo-
cate Buys, after having in vain attempted to conquer the
French influence, and bring about the annexation of the
Provinces to England, threw down his office in disgust, and
retired for a time from the contest. He even contemplated

^ Roger WniittDB to Sir F. Walfltngfaam, Sept 1584. (& P. Office ME)
Ibid.

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1684. WAISINGHAM, BUBQUNDT, AND THE QUEEN. 81

for a moment taking service in Denmark, but renounced the
notion of abandoning his country, and he will accordingly
be found, at a later period, conspicuous in public a£GurB.'

The deliberations in the English councils were grave and
anxious, for it became daily more obvious that the Nether-
land question was the hinge upon which the whole fate of
Christendom was slowly turning. To allow the provinces to
fall back again into the grasp of Philip, was to offer England
herself as a last sacrifice to the Spanish Inquisition. This
was felt by all the statesmen in the land ; but some of them,
more than the rest, had a vivid perception of the danger, and
of the necessity of dealing with it at once.

To the prophetic eye of Walsingham, the mists of the
future at times were lifted ; and the countless ' sails of the
invincible Armada, wafting defiance and destruction to
Englfimd, became dimly visible. He felt that the great
Netherland bulwark of Protestantism and liberty was to be
defended at all hazards, and that the death-grapple could
not long be deferred.

Burghley, deeply pondering, but less determined, was stiD
disposed to look on and to temporize.

The Queen, far-seeing and anxious, but somewhat hesi%
tating, still clung to the idea of a joint protectorate. She
knew that the reestablishment of Spanish authority in the
Low Countries would be fatal to England, but she was not yet
prepared to throw down the gauntlet to Philip. She felt
that the proposed annexation of the Provinces to France
would be almost as formidable ; yet she could not resolve,
frankly and fearlessly, to assume the burthen of their pro**
tection. Under the inspiration of Burghley, she was there-
fore willing to encoiirage the Netherlanders underhand ;
preventing them at every hazard from slackening in their
determined hostility to Spain; discountenancing, without
absolutely forbidding, their proposed absorption by France ;
intimating, without promising, an ultimate and effectual
assistance from herself. Meantime, with something of

* Wagenaar, viiL 50.
TOL. I. — a

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THB UNITED NBTHEBLAND&

Chap. IlL

feline and feminine duplicity, by which the sex of the
great sovereign would bo often manifest itself in the most
momentous affitirs, she would watch and wait^ teasing the
Provinces, dallpng with the danger, not quite prepared as
yet to abandon the prize to Henry or Philip^ or to seize i^
herself.

The situation was rapidly tending to become an impossible
one.

Late in October a grave conference was held in the English
council, '^ upon the question whether her Majesty should
presently relieve the States of the Low Countries."

It was shown, upon one side, that the ^^ perils to the Queen
and to the realm were great, if the King of Spain should
recover Holland and Zeeland, as he had the other countries,
for lack of succour in seasonable time, either by the French
King or the Queen's Majesty."

On the other side, the great di£Sculties in the way of
eflfectual assistance by England, were " fully remembered." •

^^ But in the end, and upon comparison made," said Lord
Burghley, summing up, " betwixt the perils on the one part,
and the difficulties on the other," it was concluded that the
Queen would be obliged to succumb to the power of Spain,
and the liberties of England be hopelessly lost, if Philip were
then allowed to carry out his designs, and if the Provinces
should be left without succour at his mercy.^

A '^ wise person " was accordingly to be sent into Holland ;
first, to ascertain whether the Provinces had come to an actual

iThe report of the coofbreooe Is
in the State Paper Office, \mtten in
Burghlej's own hand. A brieT extract
will giwe a duu-acteristic apecimen of
the Lord Treasurer's style: — **But in
the end, and upon comparison made
betwixt the perils on the one part and
the difficulties of the other, it was con>
eluded to advise her Majesty rather to
seek the avoiding and directing of the
sreat perils, than, in respect of any
oifficulties, to soll^ the King of Spain
to grow to the foil height of his de-

signs and conqoesta^ whereby the perils
were to follow so evident as if pre-
sently he were not by succouring of
the Hollanders and their party im-
peached, the Queen*s Majesty should
not hereafter be any wise able to
withstand the same. And therefore
it was thought good that her Majesty
should send presently some wise per-
son into Holland,'' Ac (HoOand Corre-
spondeDoe, S. P. Office, Oct 10, 1684^

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1B84. AN ENGLISH EMBAflST DEOIDBD UPON. 83

agreement with the KiDg of France, and, if such should
prove to be the case, to enquire whether that sovereign had
pledged himself to declare war upon Philip. In this event,
the wise person was to express her Majesty's satisfaction that
the Provinces were thus to be " relieved from the tyranny of
the King of Spain."

On the other hand, if it should appear that no such con-
clusive arrangements had been made, and that the Provinces
were likely to fall again victims to the ^^ Spanish tyranny,''
her Majesty would then " strain herself as far as, with pre-
servation of her own estate, she might, to succour them at this
time."*

The agent was then to ascertain ^'what conditions the
Provinces would require" upon the matter of succour, and,
if the terms seemed reasonable, he would assure them that
"they should not be left to the cruelties of the Spaniards."

And further, the wise person, "being pressed to answer,
might by conference of speeches and persuasions provoke
them to offer to the Queen the ports of Flushing and Middel-
burg and the Brill, wherein she meant not to claim any
property, but to hold them as gages for her expenses, and for
performances of their covenants."

He was also to make minute inquiries as to the pecuniary
resources of the Provinces, the monthly sums which they
would be able to contribute, the number of troops and of
ships of war that they would pledge themselves to maintain.
These investigations were very important, because the Queen,
although very well disposed to succour them, "so neverthe-
less she was to consider how her power might be extended,
without ruin or manifest peril to her own estate."

It was also resolved, in the same conference, that a pre-
liminary step of great urgency was to " procure a good peace
with the King of Scots." Whatever the expense of bringing
about such a pacification might be, it was certain that a
"great deal more would be expended in defending the realm

1 Holland Correpondenoe. S. P. Office, Oct 10, 1584, MS.

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84 7HB TTNTTBD NETHERLANDS. Chap. Ill

against Scotland/' while England was engaged in hostilities
with Spain. Otherwise, it was argued thdt her Majesty
wonld be ^' so impeached by Scotland in favour of the King of
Spain, that her action against that King would be greatly
weakened."

Other measures necessary to be taken in view of the
Spanish war were also discussed. The ex-elector of Cologne,
''a man of great account in Germany/' was to be assisted
with money to make head against his rival supported by the
troops of Philip.

Duke Casimir of the Palatinate was to be solicited to make
a diversion in Oelderland.

The King of France was to be reminded of his treaty
with England for mutual assistance in case of the invasion
by a foreign power of either realm, and to be informed " not
only of the intentions of the Spaniards to invade England,
upon their conquest of the Netherlands, but of their actual
invasion of Ireland.''

It was ^^ to be devised how the King of Navarre and Don
Antonio of Portugal, for their respective titles, might be
induced to offend and occupy the Eling of Spain, whereby to
diminish his forces bent upon the Low Countries."

It was also decided that Parliament should be immediately
summoned, in which, besides the request of a subsidy, many
other necessary provisions should be made for her Majesty's
safety.

" The conclusions of the whole," said Lord Burghley, with
much earnestness, ^' was this. Although her Majesty should
hereby enter into a war presently, yet were she better to do
it now, while she may make the same out of her realm,
having the help of the people of Holland, and before the
King of Spain shall have consummated his conquests in
those countries, whereby he shall be so provoked with pride,
solicited by the Pope, and tempted by the Queen's own
subjects, and shall be so strong by sea, and so free from all
other actions and quarrels, — ^yea, shall be so formidable to all
the rest of Christendom, as that her Majesty shall no wise be

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15M. DAVISON SENT TO THB HAOUEL 89

aUe, with her own power, nor with aid of any other, neither
hy sea nor land, to withstand his attempts, but shall be
forced to give place to his insatiable malice, which is most
terrible to be thought of, but miserable to suffer/'^

Thus did the Lord Treasurer wisely, eloquently, and well,
describe the danger by which England was environed.
Through the shield of Holland the spear was aimed full at
the heart of England. But was it a moment to linger?
Was that buckler to be suffered to fall to the ground, or to
be raised only upon the arm of a doubtful and treacherous
friend ? Was it an hour when the protection of Protestantism
and of European liberty against Spain was to be entrusted
to the hand of a feeble and priest-ridden Valois ? Was it
wise to indulge any longer in doubtings and dreamings, and
in yet a little more folding of the arms to sleep, while that
insatiable malice, so terrible to be thought of, so miserable to
feel, was growing hourly more formidable, and approaching
nearer and nearer ?

Early in December, William Davison, gentleman-in-ordi-
nary of her Majesty's household, arrived at the Hague ; a
man painstaking, earnest,- and zealous, but who was fated, on
more than one great occasion, to be made a scape-goat for
the delinquencies of greater personages than himself.

He had audience of the States General on the 8th Decem-
ber. He then informed that body that the Queen had heard,
with sorrowful heart, of the great misfortunes which the
United Provinces had sustained since the death of the Prince
of Orange ; the many cities which they had lost, and the
disastrous aspect of the common cause. Moved by the affec-
tion which she had always borne the country, and anxious for
its preservation, she had ordered her ambassador Stafford to
request the King of France to undertake, jointly with her-
self, the defence of the provinces against the King of Spain.
Not till very lately, however, had that envoy succeeded in
obtaining an audience, and he had then received '^ a very cold
answer/' It being obvious to her Majesty, therefore, that

> UB. Report of Burghley, before cited.

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THB UNITED NETHERLANDS.

Chap. IU

the French goveroment intended to protract these matters
indefinitely, Davison informed the States that she had com-
missioned him to offer them '^all possible assistance, to
enquire into the state of the country, and to investigate the
proper means of making that assistance most useful" He
accordingly requested the appointment of a committee to
confer with him upon the subject ; and declared that the
Queen did not desire to make herself mistress of the Pro-
vinces, but only to be informed how she best could aid their
cause.*

A committee was accordingly appointed, and a long series
of somewhat concealed negotiations was commenced. As the
deputies were upon the eve of their departure for France, to
offer the sovereignty of the Provinces to Henry, these pro-
ceedings were necessarily confused, dilatory, and at times
contradictory.

After the arrival of the deputies in France, the cunctative
policy inspired by the Lord Treasurer was continued by Eng-
land. The delusion of a joint protectorate was still clung to
by the Queen, although the conduct of France was becoming
very ambiguous, and suspicion growing darker as to the ulti-
mate and secret purport of the negotiations in progress.'

The anxiety and jealousy of Elizabeth were becoming
keener than ever. If the offers to the King were unlimited^
he would accept them, and would thus become as dangerous
as Philip. If they were unsatisfactory, he would turn his
back upon the Provinces, and leave them a prey to Philip.'
Still she would not yet renounce the hope of bringing
the French King over to an ingenuous course of action. It
was thought, too, that something might be done with the
great malcontent nobles of Flanders, whose defection from the
national cause had been so disastrous, but who had been much
influenced in their course, it was thought, by their jealousy of
William the Silent.

^ Register van de Beeolution der
6taten Qeneral, 8 Dea 1584. (Hague
Ardiiyes ME)

' Qoeen toW.DaviaoD, U Jan. 168(k
(S. P. Office Ma)
«Ibid.

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1M5. CAUTIOUS AND SBOBBT MEASURES OF BURGHLET. 87

ISow that the Prince was dead, it was thought probable
that the Arschots, and Havres, Chimays^ and'Lalaings^ might
arouse themselves to more patriotic views than they had
manifested when they espoused the cause of Spain.

It would be desirable to excite their jealousy of French
influence, and, at the same time, to inspire throughout the
popular mind the fear of another tyranny almost as absolute
as that of Spain. " And if it be objected/' said Burghley,
'^ that except they shall admit the French King to the absolute
dominion^ he will not aid them, and they, for lack of succour,
be forced to yield to the Spaniard, it may be answered that
rather than they should be wholly subjected to the French,
or overcome by the Spaniard, her Majesty would yield unto
them as much as, with preservation of her estate, and defence
of her own country, might be demanded."*

The real object kept in view by the Queen's government
was, in short, to obtain for the Provinces and for the general
cause of liberty the greatest possible amount of assistance
from Henry, and to allow him to acquire in return the least
possible amount of power. The end proposed was a reason-
able one, but the means employed savoured too much of
intrigue.

" It may be easily made probable to the States," said the
Lord Treasurer, "that the government of the French is likely
to prove as cumbersome and perilous as that of the Spaniards;
and likewise it may probably be doubted how the French
will keep touch and covenants with them, when any oppor-
tunity shall be offered to break them ; so that her Majesty
thinketh no good can be looked for to those countries by
yielding this large authority to the French. If they shall
continue their title by this grant to be absolute lords, there
is no end, for a long time, to be expected of this war ; and,
contrariwise, if they break off, there is an end of any good
composition with the Eling of Spain."'

Shivering and shrinking, but still wading in deeper and
deeper^ inch by inch, the cautious minister was fast, finding

»MS.«W«3?. «Ibid.

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88 THB UNITED KETH£BLAl$n)& Obaf. TO.

himself too far advanced to retreat. He was rarely decided,
however, and never lucid ; and least of all in emeigencies,
when decision and lucidity would have been more valuable
than any other qualities.

Deeply doubting, painfully balancing, he at times drove
the imfortunate Davison almost distraught Puzzled himself
and still more puzzling to others, he rarely permitted the
Netherlanders, or even his own agents, to perceive his drift.
It was fair enough, perhaps, to circumvent the French
government by its own arts, but the Netherlanders meanwhile
were in danger of sinking into despair.

" Thus," wrote the Lord Treasurer to the envoy, " I have
discoursed to you of these uncertainties and difficulties,
things not unknown to yourself, but now being imparted to
you by her Majesty's commandment, you are, by your wis-
dom, to consider with whom to deal for the stay of this
French course, and yet, so to use it (as near as you nmy) that
they of the French faction there be not able to charge you
therewith, by advertising into France. For it hath already
appeared, by some speeches past between our ambassador
there and Des Pnmeaux, that you are had in some jealousy
as a hinderer of this French course, and at work for her
Majesty to have some entrance and partage in that country.
Nevertheless our ambassador, by his answer, hath satisfied
them to think the contrary." '

They must have been easily satisfied, if they knew as much
of the dealings of her Majesty's government as the reader
already knows. To inspire doubt of the French, to insinuate
the probability of their not " keeping touch and covenant,"
to represent their rule as "cumbersome and perilous," was
wholesome conduct enough towards the Netherlanders — and
still more so, had it been accompanied with frank offers
of assistance — ^but it was certainly somewhat to " hinder the
courses of the French."

But in truth all parties were engaged for a season in a
round game of deception, in which nobody was deceived.

> MS. last cited.

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1585. CONSEQUENT DISSATISFACTION OF WALSINaHAM. 89

Walgjngham was impatient^ almost indignant at this puerility.
"Your doings, no doubt of it/' he wrote to Davison, "are
observed by tiie French faction, and therefore you cannot pro-
ceed so closely hut it wiU he espied. Howsoever it be, seeing
direction groweth from hence j we cannot hut hlame owsdveSy
if the effects thereof do not fall out to our liking/' '

That sagacious statesman was too well informed, and too
much accustomed to penetrate the designs of his antagonists,
to expect anything irom the present intrigues.

To loiter thus, when mortal blows should be struck, was to
give the Spanish government exactly that of which it was
always most gluttonous — time ; and the Netherlanders had
none of it to spare. '^ With time and myself, there are two
of us," was Philip II.'s fiivourite observation ; and the Prince
of Parma was at this moment sorely perplexed by the parsi-
mony and the hesitations of his own government, by which
his large, swift and most creative genius was so often ham-
pered.

Thus the Spanish soldiers, deep in the trenches, went with
bare legs and empty stomachs in January ; and the Dutch-
men, among their broken dykes, were up to their ears in
mud and water ; and German mercenaries, in the obedient
Provinces, were burning the peasants' houses in order to sell
the iron to buy food withal ; * while grave-visaged statesmen,
in comfortable cabinets, wagged their long white beards at
each, other from a distance, and exchanged grimaces and
protocols which nobody heeded.

Walsingham was weary of this solemn trifling. "I con-
clude," said he to Davison, "that her Majesty — ^with reverence
be it spoken — ^is ill advised, to direct you in a course that is
like to work so great peril I know you will do your best
endeavour to keep all things upright, and yet it is hard — the
disease being now come to this state, or, as the physicians
term it, crisis — ^to carry yourself in such sort, but that it vrill,
I fear, breed a dangerous alteration in the cause."'

> WalaiDgfaam to Dayison, 14 Jan.
1585. (8. P. Office Ma)
s Richards to Walsingham, Sept 9,

1584. (S. P. Office M&)

' Walsingham to Davison. (MSb be*
ibro cited.)

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90 THB UNTTBD NBTHKBLAKDS. Chap. m.

He denoanced with impatience, almost with indignation,
the insincerity and injustice of these intolerable hesita-
tions. " Sorry am I," said he, " to see the course that is
taken in this weighty cause, /or toe wiU neither help those poor
countries ourselves^ nor yet suffer others to do it. I am not
ignorant that in time to come the annexing of these countries
to the crown of France may prove prejudicial to England,
but if France refuse to deal with them, and the rather for thai
we shall minister some cause of impediment by a hind of dealing
underhand, then shall they be forced to return into the hands
of Spain, which is like to breed such a present peril towards
her Majesty's self, as never a wise man that seeth it, and loveth
Iter, but lamenteth it from the bottom of his heart "^

Walsingham had made up hi& mind that it was England,
not France, that should take u^:tbe cause of the Provinces,
and defend them at every hsa/aiA. He had been overruled,
and the Queen's government had decided to watch the course
of the French negotiation, doing what it could, underhand, to
prevent that negotiation from being successful. The Secre-
tary did not approve of this disingenuous course. At the
same time he had no faith in the good intentions of the
French court.

" I could wish," said he, " that the French King were
carried with that honourable mind into the defence of these
countries that her Majesty is, but France has not been used
to do things for God's sake ; neither do they mean to use our
advice or assistance in making of the bargain. For they still
hold a jealous conceit that when Spain and they are together
by the ears, we will seek underhand to work our own peace." "
Walsingham, therefore, earnestly deprecated the attitude
provisionally maintained by England.

Meantime, early in January, the deputation from the Pro-

3 Jan. vinces had arrived in France. The progress of their

^^^^' negotiation will soon be related, but, before its result

was known, a general dissatisfaction had already manifested

itself in the Netherlands. The factitious enthusiasm which

t Walflingfaam to Dayiaoo, MS. before cited. * Ibid.

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1686. ENGLISH AND DUTCH SUSPICION OF FRANCE. 91

had been created in favour of France, as well as the pre-
judice against England, b^an to die out. It became probable
ID the opinion of those most accustomed to read the signs of
the times, that the French court was acting in connivance with
Philip, and that the negotiation was only intended to amuse
the Netherlanders, to circumvent the English, and to gain
time both for France and Spain. It was not believed that
the character of Henry or the policy of his mother was likely
to be the source of any substantial aid to the cause of civil
iiberty or Protestant principles.

"They look for no better fruit from the commission to
France," wrote Davison, who surveyed the general state of
affiurs with much keenness and breadth of vision, "than a
dallying entertainment of the time, — ^neither leaving them
utterly hopeless, nor at full liberty to seek for relief elsewhere,
especially in England, — or else some pleasing motion of
peace, wherein the French King will offer his mediation with
Spcdn. Meantime the people, wearied with the troubles,
charges, and hazard of the war, shaU be rocked asleep, the
provision for their defence neglected, some Provinces nearest
the danger seduced, the rest by their defection astonished,
and the enemy by their decay and confrisions, strengthened.
This is the scope whereto the doings of the French King,
not without intelligence with the Spanish sovereign, doth
aim, whatever is pretended.''^

There was a wide conviction that the French King was
dealing falsely with the Provinces. It seemed certain that
he must be inspired by intense jealousy of England, and
that he was unlikely, for the sake of those whose " religion,
popular liberty, and rebellion against their sovereign,'' he
could not but disapprove, to allow Queen Elizabeth to steal a
inarch upon him, and " make her own market with Spain to
his cost and disadvantage/' '

In short, it was suspected — ^whether justly or not wiU be
presently shown — that Henry III, " was seeking to blear the
eyes of the world, as his brother Charles did before the

^ Dayiaon to TTaLnngfaam, 12 F^b. 1685. (3. P. Office MS.) * Ibid.

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92 THE UNITED KETHKRLAKDS. Gbap. HI

Massacre of St. Bartholomew."^ As the letters received irom
the Datch envoys in France became less and less encouraging,
and as the Queen was informed hj her ambassador in Paris
of the teigiversations in Paris, she became the more anxious
lest the States should be driven to despair. She therefore
wrote to Davison, instructing him '^to nourish in them
underhand some hope — as a thing proceeding from himself —
that though France should reject them, yet she would not
abandon theuL'' *

He was directed to find out, by circuitous means, what
towns they would offer to her as security for any advances
she might be induced to make, and to ascertain the amount
of monthly contributions towards the support of the war that
they were still capable of furnishing. She was beginning to
look with dismay at the expatriation of wealthy merchants
and manufacturers going so rapidly forward, now that Ghent
had fallen and Brussels and Antwerp were in such imminent
peril She feared that, while so much valuable time had
been thrown away, the Provinces had become too much im-
poverished to do their own part in their own defence; and
she was seriously alarmed at rumours which had become
prevalent of a popular disposition towards treating for a peace
at any price with Spain. It soon became evident that these
rumours were utterly without foundation, but the other
reasons for Elizabeth's anxiety were sufficiently valid.

On the whole, the feeling in favour of England was rapidly
gaining ground. In Holland especially there was general
indignation against the French party. The letters of the
deputies occasioned ^^ murmur and mislike " of most persons,
who noted them to contain more ample report of ceremonies
and compliments than solid argument of comforf '

Sir Edward Stafford, who looked with great penetration
into the heart of the mysterious proceedings at Paris, assured
his government that no better result was to be looked for,
''after long dalliance and entertainment, than either a flat

* Davison to Walwngham, ubL rap.

* Queen to Davison, 18 Peb. 1685.
(a P. Office MS.)

3 Davison to Lord Bmig^ley and Sir
P. Walaingfaam, 28 P^b. 1686. (S. P.
OffioelCS.)

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1086. AFFSCnON OF HOLLAIH) FOB ENGLAND. 93

refusal or such a masked embracing of their cause, as would
rather tend to the increasing of their miseries and confusion
than relief for their declining estate." While " reposing upon
a broken reed," they were, he thought, "neglecting other
means more expedient for their necessities."'

This was already the imiversal opinion in Holland. Men
now remembered, with bitterness, the treachery of the Duke
of Anjou, which they had been striving so hard to forget, but
which less than two years ago had nearly proved fatal to the
cause of liberty in the Provinces. A committee of the States
had an interview with the Queen's envoy at the Hague;
implored her Majesty through him not to abandon their cause;
expressed unlimited regret for the course which had been
pursued, and avowed a determination " to pluck their heads
out of the collar," so soon as the opportunity should offer.*

They stated, moreover, that they had been directed by the
assembly to lay before him the instructions for the envoys to
France, and the articles proposed for the acceptance of the
King. The envoy knew his business better than not to have
secretly provided himself with copies of these documents,
which he had ahready laid before his own government.

He affected, however, to feel hurt that he had been thus
kept in ignorance of papers which he really knew by heart.
"After some pretended quarrel," said he, "for their not
acquainting me therewith sooner, I did accept them, as if I
had before neither seen nor heard of them."*

This then was the aspect of affairs in the provinces during
the absence of the deputies in France. It is now necessary
to shift the scene to that country.

1 Davifloii to Borg^ey and Walginghnm ubi wp. *Ibid. ^Ibid.

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94 THE WSOTED NBIHERLANDa

CHAPTER IV.

Beoeption of the Dutch Enyojs at the Loavre — Ignominioiif Result of tbo
EmbaaBy — Secret Influenoes at work — Baiigainhig between the French
and Spanish Courts — Claims of Catharine de* Medici upon Portugal —
Letters of Henry and Catharine — Secret Proposal by France to invado
England — States* Mission to Henry of Navarre — Subsidies of Philip to
Guise — Treaty of Joinville — Philip's Share in the League denied by
Panna — Philip in reality its Chief — Manifesto of the League — Attitude
of Henry m. and of Navarre — The League demands a Royal Decree —
Designs of France and Spidn against England — Secret Literyiew of Men-
dosa and Y illerqy — Complaints of English Persecution — Edict of Nemours
— Excommunication of Navarre and his Reply.

The King, notwithstanding his apparent reluctance, had, in
Sir Edward Stafford's language, '' nibbled at the bait." He
had, however, not been secured at the first attempt, and now
a second effort was to be made, under what were supposed to
be most favourable circumstances. In accordance with his
own instructions, his envoy, Des Pruneaux, had been busily
employed in the States, arranging the terms of a treaty which
should be entirely satisfactory. It had been laid down as an
indispensable condition that Holland and Zeeland should unite
in the offer of sovereignty, and, after the expenditure of much
eloquence, diplomacy, and money, Holland and Zeeland had
given their consent. The court had been for some time
anxious and impatient for the arrival of the deputies. Early
in December, Des Pruneaux wrote from Paris to Count Mau-
rice, urging with some asperity, the necessity of immediate
action.

" When I left you," he said, " I thought that performance
would follow promises. I have been a little ashamed, as the
time passed by, to hear nothing of the deputies, nor of any
excuse on the subject. It would seem as though God had
bandaged the eyes of those who have so much cause to know
their own adversity." *

* Groen v. Prinsterer, * Archives^' Ac I 7.

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1585.

BEOEPnON OP DUTCH ENVOYS AT THE LOUVER

To the States- his language was still more insolent. ^^ Ex-
cuse me, (Gentlemen/' he said, ^^ if I tell jou that I hlush at
hearing nothing from you. I shall have the shame and you
the damage. I regret much the capture of De Teligny, and
other losses which are occasioned by your delays and want of
resolution.'*

Thus did the French court, which a few months before had
imprisoned, and then almost ignominiously dismissed the
envoys who came to offer the sovereignty of the Provinces,
now rebuke the governments which had ever since been
strenuously engaged in removing all obstacles to the entire
fulfillment of the King's demands. The States were just des-
patching a solenm embassy to renew that offer, with hardly
any limitation as to terms.'

The envoys arrived on January 3nl, 1585, at Boulogne,
after a stormy voyage from Brielle. Yet it seems incredible
to relate, that, after all the ignominy heaped upon the last,
there was nothing but solemn trifling in reserve for the pre-
sent legation ; although the object of both embassies was to
offer a crown. The deputies were, however, not kept in pri-
son, upon this occasion, nor treated like thieves or spies.
They were admirably lodged, with plenty of cooks and lacqueys
to minister to them ; they fared sumptuously every day, at
Henry's expense, and, after they had been six weeks in the
kingdom, they at last succeeded in obtaining their first
audience.

On the 13th February the King sent five " very splendid,
richly-gilded, court-coach- waggons " to bring the envoys to the
palace. At one o'clock they arrived at the Louvre, and were

' The deputies were appointed fix)ro
eadi of the United Provinces : Merode,
HinkAert, Stralenf and Cornelius
Aerssens represented Brabant; Chan-
cellor Leoninua, John van Ghent, and
Gerard Yoet were appointed from
Gelderlaod; Noel de Caron was de-
puty for flanders, Arend van Dorp
for Holland, John Valcke for Zee-
land, Rengers and Amelis van Amstel
for Utrecht, Teitsma and Aisma for
Frieebnd, La Moulllerie and La Pr^

for Mechlin. The Prince of Espinoy,
brother of the Marquis of Kichebourg,
but a patriotic Netherlander himself,
was also conmiissioned to be of the
legatioA, and he served at his own ex-
pense. (Wagonaar, viiL 55, 56; *Do8
Pruneaux aux Etats generaux,' 3rd
Dec 1584, Hague Archives, MS.;
• Brief van de Gedeputeerden in Frank-
ryck aan de Staten Gen.' 19th Jan*
1585, Hague Archives, MS.)

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96 ^^HB UKITBD KBTHEBLANDa Ohap. IV.

ushered throagh four magnificent antechambers into the royal
cabinet. .The apartments through which they passed swarmed
with the foremost nobles, court-functionaries, and ladies of
France, in blazing gala costume, who all greeted the envoys
with demonstrations of extreme respect The halls and cor-
ridors were lined with archers, halbardiers, Swiss guards, and
grooms ^^ besmeared with gold,'' and it was thought that all
this rustle of fine feathers would be somewhat startling to the
barbarous republicans, fresh from the fens of Holland.

Henry received them in his cabinet, where he was accon^
panied only by the Duke of Joyeuse— his foremost and bravest
"minion" — ^by the Count of Bouscaige, M. de Valette, and
the Count of ChSteau Vieux.^

The most Christian King was neatly dressed, in white satin
doublet and hose, and well-starched ruff, with a short cloak on
his shoulders, a little velvet cap on the side of his head, his
long locks duly perfumed and curled, his sword at his side,
and a little basket, full of puppies, suspended from his neck
by a broad ribbon. He held himself stiff and motionless,
although his face smiled a good-humoured welcome to the
ambassadors ; and be moved neither foot, hand, nor head, as
they advanced.

Chancellor Leoninus, the most experienced, eloquent, and
tedious of men, now made an interminable oration, fertile in
rhetoric and barren in facts ; and the King made a short and
benignant reply, according to the hallowed formula in such
cases provided. And then there was a presentation to the
Queen, and to the Queen-Mother, when Leoninus was more
prolix than before, and Catharine even more affectionate than
her son ; and there were consultations with Chivemy and Vil-
leroy, and Brulart and Pruneaux, and great banquets at the
royal expense, and bales of protocols, and drafts of articles,
and conditions and programmes and apostilles by the hundred
weight, and at last articles of annexation were presented by
the envoys, and Pruneaux looked at and pronounced them
" too raw and imperative," and the envoys took them home

> MS. Iietter of the Envoyi^ befim dted.

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1M&. lONOlONIOnS BESULT OF THB EMBASSY. 9?

again, and dressed them and cooked them till there was no
substance left in them; for whereas the envoys originally
offered the crown of their country to France, on condition
that no religion but the reformed religion should be tolerated
there, no appointments made but by the States, and no security
offered for advances to be made by the Christian King, save
the hearts and oaths of his new subjects — so they now ended
by proposing the sovereignty unconditionally, almost abjectly ;
and, after the expiration of nearly three months, even these
terms were absolutely refused, and the deputies were graciously
permitted to go home as they came. The annexation and
sovereignty were definitely declined. Henry r^retted and
fflghed, Catharine de' Medici wept — ^for tears were ever at her
command — Chancellor Chivemy and Secretary Brulart wept
likewise, and Pruneaux was overcome with emotion at the
parting interview of the ambassadors with the court, in which
they were allowed a last opportimity for expressing what was
called their gratitude.

And then, on the 16th March, M. d'Oignon came to them,
and presented, on the part of the King, to each of the envoys
a gold chain weighing twenty-one ounces and two grains.'

Des Pruneaux, too— Des Pruneaux who had spent the pre-
vious summer in the Netherlands, who had travelled from
province to province, from city to city, at the King's com-
mand, offering boundless assistance, if they would unanimously
offer their sovereignty ; who had vanquished by his impor-
tunity the resistance of the stem Hollanders, the last of all
the Netherlanders to yield to the royal blandishments — Des
Pruneaux, who had "blushed" — Des Pruneaux who had wept —
now thought proper to assume an airy tone, half encourage-
ment, half condolence.

"Man proposes, gentlemen," said he,* "but God disposes.
We are frequently called on to observe that things have a

' MS. Report of the Envoys.

* "MeesieuTBi lea homines propo-

WBSitf et Dieu est le maitre qui dispose.

Nous voyons tontes choses avoir dif-

ierentz tempa et termes; Proa sent

VOL. I. — H

refosde d'one femme deux fois quj
Temportent la troisieme," &a (^Dos
Pruneaux aux Etats generaux,* 14th
Mar. 1585, Brienne, Ma)

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98 THB UNITED KBTHBBLANDS. Chap. 17.

great variety of times and terms. Many a man is refused by
a woman twice, who succeeds the third time," and so on, with
which wholesome apoth^ms Des Pruneaux faded away then
and for ever from the page of Netherland history.

In a few days afterwards the envoys took shipping at
Dieppe, and arrived early in April at the Hague.'

And thus terminated the negotiation of the States with
France.

It had been a scene of elaborate trifling on the King's part
from beginning to end. Yet the few grains of wheat which
have thus been extracted from the mountains of diplomatic
chaff 80 long mouldering in national storehouses, contain,
however dry and tasteless, still something for human nourish-
ment. It is something to comprehend the ineffable meanness
of the hands which then could hold the destiny of mighty
empires. Here had been offered a magnificent prize to
France ; a great extent of frontier in the quarter where
expansion was most desirable, a protective network of towns
and fortresses on the side most vulnerable, flourishing cities
on the sea-coast where the marine traffic was most lucrative,
the sovereignty of a large population, the most bustling,
enterprising, and hardy in Europe-^a nation destined in a
few short years to bwx>me the first naval and commercial
power in the world — all this was laid at the feet of Henry
Yalois and Catharine de' Medici, and rejected.

The envoys, with their predecessors, had wasted eight
months of most precious time ; they had heard and made
orations, they had read and written protocols, they had wit-
nessed banquets, masquerades, and revels of stupendous
frivolity, in honour of the English Garter, brought solemnly
to the Valois by Lord Derby, accompanied by one hundred
gentlemen "marvellously, sumptuously, and richly accoutred,"
during that dreadful winter when the inhabitants of Brussels,
Antwerp, Mechlin — ^to save which splendid cities and to annex
them to France, was a main object of the solemn embassy
from the Netherlands — ^were eating rats, and cats, and dogs,

> MS. Report^ Wagenaar, yiil 66.

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1585.

BEORBT IMFLT7BKCES AT WORE.

and the weeds from the pavements^ and the grasB from the
churchyards ; and were finding themselves more closely
pressed than ever by the relentless genins of Famese ; and in
exchange for all these losses and all this humiliation, the
ambassadors now returned to tiiieir constituents, bringing an
account of Chivemy's magnificent banquets and long oration^
of the smiles of Henry III., the tears of Catharine de' Medici,
the regrets of M. des Pruneaux, besides sixteen gold chains^
each wei^iing twenty-one ounces and two grains.^

It is worth while to go fc»: a moment behind the scenes.
We hare seen the actors, with mask and cothum and tinsel
crown, playing their well-conned parts upon the stage. Let
OS hear them threaten, and whimper, and chaffer among
themselves.

So soon as it was intimated that Henry III. was about to
grant the Netherland envoys an audience, the wrath of
ambassador Mendoza was kindled. That magniloquent
Spaniard instantly claimed an interview with the King,
before whom, according to the statement of his colleagues.

' Brieven yaa de Gedeputeerden
iiTt Paris, 22nd Feb. 1586; Rapport
van de Handeling gehoaden bj de
Gesanten, Ac ; Brief van do G«zan-
tcn ujt Paris, 11 Maart, 1585. (Hague
Andres Ma) Compare De Thou,
iz. 275, seq.; Strada^ XL 292, seq.;
Heteren, ziL 221, seq.; Le Petit, XL
ziy. 508, seq. ; Wagenaar, viiL 58 ; Bor,
XX. ziz. 528, seq.

1% is remarkable, that in all the oon-
ferenoes between the deputies and the
tninisters of Henry, and in all the
ezpresnons used by the King and his
mother, as recorded by the envoys in
their despatches and reports, no allu-
sion was ever made to the civil war
then brewing m France, nor to the
machinations of the Guises,—^ name
af which family was never mentioned.
The Court excused itseli; as well as it
conld, for its elaborate trifling with
the Netherlands, at so momentous an
epoch, by general reflections upon the
condition of France, and the incon-
venience to the government at that
moment^ of engaging in the enterprize

which it had itself 8(^icited. All the
contemporaneous historians, whether
Protestant or Catholic, French, Fle-
mish, or Spanish, give a very brie?
imperfect) conventional, and generally
mistaken view of these negotiations.

XjC Petit, instead of the meagre
farewell address of the King (which
we have given in the text from the
report of the envoys to their consti-
tuents) does not scruple to invent a
very epigrammatic lUtle speech for
Henry, m which that monarch is made
to complain bitterly of the "violence
done to him by the King of Spain, the
Guise family, and the leaguers," to
regret that he is thereby prevented
fh>m assisting the I^rovinces, on the
ground that *hia shirt is nearer to
him than his doublet," and to hope
that they wiU sustain themselves until
he shaU have got his kingdom quiet,
after which the States may depend
upon his assistance. It is superfluous
to say that this and similar harangues
recorded by various historians are
purely imaginary.

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100

THE UNITBO KBIHBRLAKD6.

Chap. lY.

doing their best to pry into theee secrets, he blustered and
bounced, and was more fantastical in his insolence than even
Spanish envoy had ever been before.

"He went presently to court," so Walsingham was in-
formed by Stafford, " and dealt very passionately with the
King and Queen-Mother to deny them audience, who being
greatly offended with his presumptuous and malapert manner
of proceeding, the King did in choler and with some sharp
speeches, let him plainly imderstand that he was an absolute
king, bound to yield account of his doings to no man, and
that it was lawful for him to give access to any man within
his own realm. The Queen-Mother answered him likewise
very roundly, whereupon he departed for the time, very
much discontented."^

Brave words, on both sides, if they had ever been spoken,
or if there had been any action corresponding to their spirit.

But, in truth, from the beginning, Henry and his mother
saw in the Netherland embassy only the means of turning a
dishonest penny. Since the disastrous retreat of Anjou from
the Provinces, the city of Cambray had remained in the
hands of the Seigneur de Balagny, placed there by the duke.
The citadel, garrisoned by French troops, it was not the
intention of Catharine de' Medici to restore to Philip, and a
truce on the subject had been arranged provisionally for a
year. Philip, taking Parma's advice to prevent the French
court, if possible, from " fomenting the Netherland rebellion,"
had authorized the Prince to conclude that truce, as if done
on his own responsibility, and not by royal order.* Mean-
time, Balagny was gradually swelling into a petty potentate,
on his own account, making himself very troublesome to the
Prince of Parma, and requiring a great deal of watching.
Cambray was however apx)arently acquired for France.

> Walongfaam to Daviaon, ^t ^^^
1685, S. P. Offloe MS. Ck>mpare De
Thou, ix. 276, seq.; Strada, *De Bello
Belgico/ 1668, 11 692, seq.; Meteren,
xil 221, seq, : Le Petit, n. xiv. 608,
ieq,; Busbeqmus, 'EpiBL' jpasnm.

• Philip n. to Prince of Pann% 2iid
Sept 1684, and 16th Jan. 1686. (Ar-
chivo de Simancaa MS. "Sera bien
que la conduyais i trueque de conse-
giur esto con que no parezca orden
mia Bino que lo haceis como de voea*
tro," &C. Comp. Strada, II. 295.

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1586. FRBNOH AKD SPANISH OOUBTS. IQl

Bat, besides this aoqnisitiony there was another way of
eamiBg something solid, by taming this Netherland matter
handsomely to acconnt. Philip II. had recently conquered
PortogaL Among the many pretensions to that crown, those
of Catharine de' Medici had been put forward, but had been
little heeded. The claim went back more than three hundred
years, and to establish its validity would hare been to convert
the peaceable possession of a long line of sovereigns into
usurpation. To ascend to Alphonso III. was like fetching,
as it was said, a claim from Evander's grandmother. Never-
Iheless, ever since Philip had been upon the Portuguese
throne, Catharine had been watching the opportunity, not of
unseating that sovereign, but of converting her claim into
money.

The Netherland embassy seemed to offer the coveted op-
portanity. There was, therrfore, quite as much warmth at
the outset, on the part of Mendoza, in that first interview
after the arrival of the deputies, as had been represented.
There was however less dignity and more cunning on the
part of Henry and Catharine than was at all suspected. Even
before that conference the King had been impatiently ex-
pecting overtures from the Spanish envoy, and had been
disappointed. " He told me," said Henry, " that he would
make proposals so soon as Tassis should be gone, but he has
done nothing yet. He said to Gh>ndi that all he meant was
to get the truce of Cambray accomplished. I hope, however,
that my brother, the King of Spain, will do what is right in
r^ard to madam my mother's pretensions. 'Tis likely that
he will be now incited thereto, seeing that the deputies of all
the Netherland provinces are at present in my kingdom, to
oSer me carte blanche. I shall hear what they have to say,
and do exactly what the good of my own affitirs shall seem
to require. The Queen of England^ too, has been very pres-
sing and ui^nt with me for several months on this subject.
I shall hear, too, what she has to say, and I presume, if the
Eong of Spain will now disclose himself, and do promptly
what he ought, that we may set Christendom at rest."'

* Heoiy m. i Longl^ 11 Jan. 1586, Brienne Ma

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102 -TBS UNITBD KBTBDBRLANDS. Geap. IT.

Henry then instructed his ambassador in Spain to keep his
eyes wide open, in order to penetrate the schemes of Philip,
and to this end ordered him an increase of salary by a
third, that he might follow that monarch on his journey to
Arragon.

Meanwhile Mendoza had audience of his Majesty. ^^ He .
made a very pressing remonstrance/' said the King, ^^con-
cerning the arrival of these deputies, urging me to send them
back at once ; denouncing them as disobedient rebels and
heretics. I replied that my kingdom was free, and that I
should hear from them all that they had to say, because I could
not abandon madam my mother in her pretensions^ not only
for the filial obedience which I owe her, but because I am her
only heir, Mendoza replied that he should go and make the
same remonstrance to the Queen-Mother, which he accord-
ingly did, and she will herself write you what passed between
them. If they do not act up to their duty down there I know
how to take my revenge upon them.'*^

This is the King's own statement — ^his veriest words — and
he was surely best aware of what occurred between himself
and Mendoza, under their four eyes only. The ambassador is
not represented as extremely insolent, but only pressing ; and
certainly there is little left of the fine periods on Henry's
part about listening to the cry of the oppressed, or preventing
the rays of his ancestors' diadem from growing pale, with
which contemporary chronicles are filled.

There was not one word of the advancement and glory of the
French nation ; not a hint of the &me to be acquired by a mag-
nificent expansion of territory, still less of the duty to deal gene-
rously or even honestly with an oppressed people, who in good
faith were seeking an asylum in exchange for offered sovereignty,
not a syllable upon liberty of conscience, of religious or civil
r^hts ; nothing but a petty and exclusive care for the interests
of his mother's pocket, and of his own as his mother's heir.
This farthing-candle was alone to guide the steps of ^^ the high
and mighty King," whose reputation was perpetually repre-
sented as so precious to him in all the conferences between

* Henry in. d Longl^ 11 Jan., 1586, Brienne MSb

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1586. CLAIMS 07 CATHABIirB tTPON POBTUGAL. 103

his miniBters and the Netherland deputies. Was it possible
for those envoys to imi^ine the aknost invisible meanness of
such childish tricks?

The Queen-Mother was still more explicit and unblushing
throughout the whole a£Eair.

^* The ambassador of Spain/' she said, ^^ has made the most
beautiful remonstrances he could think of about these deputies
from the Netherlands. All his talk, however, cannot persuade
me to anything else save to increase my desire to have re-
paration for the wrong that has been done me in regard to
my claims upon Portugal, which I am determined to pursue
by every means within my power. Nevertheless I have told
Don Bernardino that I should always be ready to embrace
any course likely to bring about a peaceful conclusion. He
then entered into a discussion of my rights, which, he said,
were not thought in Spain to be founded in justice. But when
I explained to him the principal points (of which I possess all
the pieces of evidence and justification), he hardly knew what
to say, save that he was astounded that I had remained so
long without speaking of my claims. In reply, I told him
ingenuously the trutf *

The truth which the ingenuous Catharine thus revealed was,
in brief, that all her predecessors had been minors, women, and
persons in situations not to make their rights valid. Finding
herself more highly placed, she had advanced her claims,
which had been so fully recognized in Portugal, that she had
been received as Infanta of the kingdom. All pretensions to
the throne being now through women only, hers were the b^t
of any. At all this Don Bernardino expressed profound
astonishment, and promised to send a full account to his
master of ^Hhe infinite words'' which had passed between
ihem at this interview.'

1 *Lettre do la Beioe i Longl^e,'
16 Jan. 1585. ' Biienne MS.' "II ne
in*a toeo que dire aoltre ohoae, sinon
qu'il s'ebahissott comme j'avois si long
temps deiDoiir6 sans parler de mes
d*£ta dnita, a quel j0 Inj a/ respondu

ingennment la verity, qui est," &c.

s Ibid. " Et orojr qu'il n'j obmae-
tra rien d'infinies paiDlles que se sent
passees de la substance dessua dicie
en la dicte audianoe^" fto.

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104

THB UNITBD KBTHSRI1AND&

Chap. IV.

'^I desire/' said Catharine, ^Hhat the Lord King of Spain
should open his mind franklj and promptly upon the recom-
pense which he is willing to make me for Portugal, in order
that things may pass rather with gentleness than otherwisa''

It was expecting a great deal to look for frankness and
promptness from the Lord King of Spain, but the Queen-
Mother considered that the Netherland envoys had put a whip
into her hand. She was also determined to bring Philip up
to the point, without showing her own game. '^I will never
say," said Catharine — ingenuous no longer — " I will never say
how much I ask, but, on the contraiy, I shall wait for him to
make the offer. I expect it to be reasonable, because he has
seen fit to seize and occupy that which I declare to be my
property."*

This is the explanation of all the languor and trifling of
the French court in the Netherland n^otiation. A deep,
constant, unseen current was running counter to all the move-
ment which appeared upon the surface. The tergiversations
of the Spanish cabinet in the Portugal matter were the cause
of the shufflings of the French ministers on the subject of the
Provinces.

" I know well," said Henry a few days later, " that the
people down there, and their ambassador here, are leading us
on with words, as far as they can, with regard to the recom-
pense of madam my mother for her claims upon Portugal
But they had better remember (and I think they will),
that out of the offers which these sixteen deputies of the
Netherlands are bringing me — and I believe it to be carie
blanche — I shall be able to pay myself. 'Twill be better to
come promptly to a good bargain and a brief conclusion, than
to spin the matter out longer."*

1 * Lettre de la Heine Mere i Long-
We,' 16 Jan. 1685. *Brienne MS.'
" Je desirerois bien que le diet seig-
neur roi d'Ecqpagne s'ouyrit francbe-
ment et prompcement de la recom-
pense qu'U me venet et doict faire
pour le diet Portugal, affin que les
choses passaasent plustot par U douloe-

ment qu'aultrement."

« Ibid. *'Je ne diray jamaiB ce qoe
je demands^ au oontraire, attendnd aes
o£f^ qu*il fault qui eoient raison-
nables, puis qu*il est saisj et ooco-
pateur de ce que je pretends m'appar-
tenir," Ac.

> ^Hemy HL d longl^' 13 Jaa

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1686.

LETTEBS OF HENBT AND CATHABINE.

105

"Don Bernardino/' said the Queen-Moiher on the same
day^ " has been keeping us up to this hour in hopes of a good
offer, but 'tis to be feared, /or the good of ChriMendom^ that
'twill be too late. The deputies are come, bringing carte
Handle. Nevertheless, if the King of Spain is willing to be
reasonable, and that instantly, it will be well, and it would
seem as if Ghxl had been pleased to place this means in our
hands." '

After the conferences had been fairly got under way be-
tween the French government and the envoys, the demands
upon Philip for a good bargain and a handsome offer became
still more pressing.

"I have given audience to the deputies from the Pro-
vinces," wrote Henry, "and the Queen-Mother has done the
same. Chancellor Chivemy, Villequier, Belli^vre, and Brulart,
will now confer with them from day to day. I now tell you that
it will be well, h^ore things go any farther y for the King of Spain
to come to reason about the pretensions of madam mother.
This will be a means of establishing the repose of Chris-
tendom. I shall be very willing to concur in such an ar-
rangement, if I saw any approximation to it on the part of
the King or hia ministers. But I fear they will delay too
long, and so you had better tell them. Push them to the
point as much as possible, without letting them suspect that I
have been writing about it, for that would make them rather
draw back than come forward."'

At the same time, during this alternate threatening and
coaxing between the French and the Spanish court, and in

3585. *Briexme MS.' << Mais il doib-
'vant bien cooBiderer— que but les
ofl^ que me yiennent &ire seize
pdndpaulx deputez des pays bas (les
qoelz m'apportent, i oe que j'entendz
U carte blaDche), j'y auraj considera-
tion, et Tauldroit beaucoup xnieulx
Tenir promptementi une bonne nego-
tiation et brielve conclusion d'iceUe,
que de tenir ainsy les cboses a la
longae,"fta

1 La Beine Mere & Longl^' 13 Jan.
1585. Brienne MS.'

« 'Heniy HI. & Longl^e,' 21 Peb.
1585. ** II seroit tr^s 4 propos, ayant
que les choees allassent plus avant
que le Roy d'Espagne reg^dasse & se
mectre i la raison pour les pretentions
de la royne madame et mere," ^ —
" Les incitant le plus qu'il vous sera
possible, sans toutefois qu'ils puissent
cognoistre que vous en ayant escript,
car cela pourroit estre plustot cause
de les en &ire reculler qu*aultre-
rnent^" Ac. ' Brienne MS.'

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106 THB XTNITED mfrBXBLASW. Chap. IT.

the midst of all the solemn and tedious protocolling of the
ministry and the Dutch envoys, there was a most sincere and
affectionate intercourse maintained between Henry III. and
the Prince of Parma. The Spanish Govemor-Gteneral was
assured that nothing but the wannest r^ard was entertained
for him and his master on the part of the French court
Parma had replied, however, that so many French troops had
ia times past crossed the frontier to assist the rebels, that he
hardly knew what to think. He expressed the hope, now that
the Duke of Anjou was dead, that his Christian Majesty would
not countenance the rebellion, but manifest his good-wiU.

" How can your Highness doubt it," said Malpierre, Henry's
envoy, " for his Majesty has given proof enough of his good
will, having prevented all enterprises in this regard, and
preferred to have his own subjects cut into pieces rather than
that they should carry out their designs. Had his Majesty
been willing merely to connive at these undertakings, 'tis
probable that the afhirs of your highness would not have
succeeded so well as they have done." '

With regard to England, also, the conduct of Henry and
his mother in these negotiations was marked by the same
unfathomable duplicity. There was an appearance of cor-
diality on the surface ; but there was deep plotting, and
bargaining, and even deadly hostility lurking below. We
have seen the efforts which Elizabeth's government had been
making to counteract the policy which offered the sovereignty
of the provinces to the French monarch. At the same time
there was at least a loyal disposition upon the Queen's part
to assist the Netherlands, in concurrence with Henry. The
demeanour of Burghley and his colleagues was frankness itself
compared with the secret schemings of the Valois ; for at
least peace and good-will between the " triumvirate" of France,
England and the Netherlands^ was intended, as the true means
of resisting the predominant influence of Spain.

Yet very soon after the solemn reception by Henry of the
garter brought by Lord Derby, and in the midst of the n^o-

> Malpierre i Heniy IIL,» 16 Fev. 1686. * Brienne Ma*

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1W>.

PROPOSAL ^[T BBANOB TO INYABE BNGLAND.

107

tiations between the French court and the United Provinces,
the French king was not only attempting to barter the
aoYereignty offered him by the Netherlanders against a hand-
some recompense for the Portugal claim, but he was actually
proposing to the King of Spain to join with him in an invasion
of Fmgland 1 Even Philip himself must have admired and
respected such a complication of villany on the part of his
most Christian brother. He was, however, not disposed to
put any confidence in his schemes.

"With regard to the attempt against England,"' wrote
Philip to Mendoza, "you must keep your eyes open — ^you
must look at the danger of letting them, before they have got
rid of iheir rivals and reduced their heretics, go out of their
own house and kingdom, and thus of being made fools of
when they think of coming back again. Let them first exter-
minate the heretics of France, and then we will look after
those of England ; because 'tis more important to finish those
who are near than those afar off. Perhaps the Queen-Mother
proposes tiiis invasion in order to proceed more feebly with
matters in her own kingdom ; and thus Mucio (Duke of
Guise) and his friends will not have so safe a game, and must
take heed lest they be deceived.''

Thus it is obvious that Henry and Catharine intended, on
the whole, to deceive the English and the Netherlanders, and
to get as good a bargain and as safe a friendship from Philip
as could be manufactured out of the materials placed in the
French King's hands by the United Provinces. Elizabeth
honestly wished well to the States, but allowed Burghley and
those who acted with him to flatter themselves with the

* * PfaOip n. to Bernardino de Men-
doza^' 17 Aug. 1586. 'ArohiTO de
Simancas.' A 56, No. 28, MS., in the
*Arduv68 de TEmpire' at Paris.
**£& lo de la impresa de Inglaterra,
le jd abriendo los ojo3 para que eche
de ver el peligro en que se pone, si
antes de desbazer sos emulos y redu-
cir a los bereges o echerlos, se dexa
saoar fuera de su casa j del Reyno y
qnan burlado se podria hallar quando

pensasse bolver. Qae acaben prim*
los bereses de franda, y despues de-
mos tras de Inglaterra, por que mas
importa a todos aoabar los de oerca
que los de lejos, y qui^a la Keyna
madre propone la nueva impresa (de
Inglaterra) por bazer afloxar oon los
bereges de dentro de su Rejno, y assi
puea Mucio y los sujos no ternan oosa
segura mloitras estos estuvieren aqui,
miren bien no se dexen engafiar."

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108 "^^^^ T7NITKD KETHEBLANB& Chap. IT.

chimera that Henry could be induced to protect the Nether-
lands without assuming the sovereignty of thatconunonwealth.
The Provinces were fighting for their existence, unconscious
of their latent strength, and willing to trust to France or to
England, if they could only save themselves from being swal-
lowed by Spain. As for Spain itself, that country was more
practised in duplicity even than the government of the
Jfedici-Valois, and was of course more than a match at the
game of deception for the franker politicians of England and
Holland.

The King of Navarre had meanwhile been looking on at a
distance. Too keen an observer, too subtle a reasoner to
doubt the secret source of the movements then agitating
France to its centre, he was yet unable to foresee the turn
that all these intrigues were about to take. He could hardly
doubt that Spain was playing a dark and desperate game
with the unfortunate Henry III. ; for, as we have seen, he
had himself not long before received a secret and liberal
offer from Philip II., if he would agree to make war upon
the King.' But the Bernese was not the man to play into
the hands of Spain, nor could he imagine the possibility of
the Yalois or even of his mother taking so suicidal a course.

After the Netherland deputies had received their final
dismissal from the King, they sent Calvart, who had been
secretary to their embassy, on a secret mission to Henry of
Navarre, then resident at Chartres.

The envoy conununicated to the Huguenot chief the meagre
result of the long negotiation with the French court. Henry
bade him be of good cheer, and assured him of his best
wishes for their cause. He expressed the opinion that the
King of France would now either attempt to overcome the
Guise faction by gentle means, or at once make war upon
them. The Bishop of Acqs had strongly recommended the
French monarch to send the King of Navarre, with a strong
force, to the assistance of the Netherlands, urging the point

*Herle to Queen Elizabeth, 2and Julj, 1584, S. P. Offioe MS. Vide
ante, p. 49.

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158&

STAXES' MISSION TO SENBY OF KAYABBE.

109

with much fervid eloquence and solid argument. Henry for
a moment had seemed impressed, but such a vigorous pro-
ceeding was of course entirely beyond his strength, and he
liad sunk back into his effeminate languor so soon as the
bold bishop's back was turned.^

The Siamese had naturally conceived but little hope that
such a scheme would be carried into effect ; but he assured
Calvart, that nothing could give him greater delight than to
mount and ride in such a cause.'

" Notwithstanding," said the Bernese, " that the villanous
intentions of the Guises are becoming plainer and plainer,
and that they are obviously supplied ^^th Spanish dollars,
I shall send a special envoy to the most Christian King, and,
although 'tis somewhat late, implore him to throw his weight
into the scale, in order to redeem your country from its misery.
Meantime be of good heart, and defend as you have done your
hearths, your liberty, and the honour of God." •

He advised the States unhesitatingly to continue their
confidence in the French King, and to keep him informed of
their plans and movements ; expressing the opinion that
these very intrigues of the Guise party would soon justify
or even force Henry III. openly to assist the Netherlands.

So far, at that very moment, was so sharp a politician as
the B^amese from suspecting the secret schemes of Henry of
Valois. Calvart urged the King of Navarre to assist the States
at that moment with some slight subsidy. Antwerp was in
such imminent danger as to fill the hearts of all true patriots
with dismay ; and a timely succour, even if a slender one,
might be of inestimable value.

Henry expressed profound regret that his own means were
so limited, and his own position so dangerous, as to make it
difficult for him to manifest in broad daylight the fall affection
which he bore the Provinces.

> De Thou, ix. 298, aeq,

* * Rapport &it par le Sieur Calrarfc,
filant eiA!d envoie vers le roj de Na-
varre de la part des deputez des Etata
Geneiaox diez le toj tres Chretien,'

11 Juin, 1585. (Hagae ArchiTes,
MS.

> MS. Beport of Calvart, before
cited.

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110

THB UmTBD NBTHICRTiANDaL

Chap. IT.

'^ To my sorrow/' said he, '' your proposition is made in the
midst of such dark and stormy weather, that those who have
clearest sight are unable to see to what issue these troubles of
France are tending." ^

Nevertheless, with much generosity and manliness, he pro-
mised Calvart to send two thousand soldiers, at his own
charges, to the Provinces without delay ; and authorised that
envoy to consult with his agent at the court of the Frendi
King, in order to obtain the royal permission for the troops to
cross the frcmtier.*

The crownless and almost houseless King had thus, at a
single interview, and in exchange for nothing but good wishes,
granted what the most Christian monarch of France had
refused, after months of negociation, and with sovereignty as
the purchase-money. The envoy, well pleased, sped as
swiftly as possible to Paris ; but, as may easily be imagined,
Henry of Yalois forbade the movement contemplated by
Henry of Navarre.

"His Majesty," said ViUeroy, secretary of state, "sees no
occasion, in so weighty a business, thus suddenly to change his
mind ; the less so, because he hopes to be able ere long to
smooth over these troubles which have b^un in France.
Should the King either openly or secretly assist the Nether-
lands or allow them to be assisted, 'twould be a reason for all
the Catholics now sustaining his Majesty's party to go over to
the Guise faction. The Provinces must remain firm, and
make no pacification with the enemy. Meantime the Queen
of England is the only one to whom God has given means to
aflford you succour. One of these days, when the proper
time comes, his Majesty will assist her in affording you relief/"

Calvart, after this conference with the King of Navarre,
and subsequently with the government, entertained a lingering
hope that the French King meant to assist the Provinces. " I
know well who is the author of these troubles," said the

dted.
•Ibid.

Beport of Calvart before

* It will be observed that the enyays
here speak of Yilleroj as mentioDixig
the Guises hy name.

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16B6.

SUBSIDIBS 01* PHUJP TO GUISE.

Ill

unbappy monarch, who never once mentioi^ the name of
Gniae in all those conferences, ^^ but, if God grant me life, I
will give him as good as he sends, and make him rue his
conduct''*

They were not aware after how many strange vacillations
Henry was one day to wreak this threataied v^geance. As
for Navarre, he remained upon the watch, good humoured as
ever, more merry and hopeful as the tempest grew blacker ;
manifesting the most frank and friendly sentiments towards
the Provinces, and writing to Queen Elizabeth in the chi-
valrous style so dear to the heart of that sovereign, that he
desired nothing better than to be her '^ servant and captain-
general against the common enemy/'

But, indeed, the French King was not so well informed as
he imagined himself to be of the authorship of these troubles.
Mncio, upon whose head he thus threatened vengeance, was
but the instrument. The concealed hand that was directing
all these odious intrigues, and lighting these flames of civil
war which were so long to make France a scene of desolation,
was that of the industrious letter-writer in the Escorial. That
which Henry of Navarre shrewdly suspected, when he talked
of the Spanish dollars in the Balafir6's pocket, that which was
dimly visible to the Bishop of Acqs when he told Henry III.
that the ^^ Tagus had emptied itself into the Seine and Loire,
and that the gold of Mexico was flowing into the royal
cabinet,"* was much more certain than they supposed.

Philip, in truth, was neglecting his own most pressing
interests that he might direct all his energies towards enter-
taining civil war in France. That France should remain
internally at peace was contrary to all his plans. He had
therefore long kept Guise and his brother, the Cardinal de
Lorraine, in his pay, and he had been spending large sums of
money to bribe many of the most considerable functionaries
in the kingdom.

» " Wiert oock verwittigt dat Z. M.
kittel dagen voer myn vertreck, we-
sende ooder zyne &milieren aeyde —
jeacaj bien qui est rautheur de cea

troubles, mais si Dieu me donne vie,
je lu7 rendrai pareille et Ten fend re>
peotir." (MS. Report of Calvart.)
* De Thou, ubi sup.

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112 THB UNTTBD NETHEBLAimS. Obap, IV.

The most important enterprises in the Netherlands were
allowed to languish, that these subterranean operations of the
"prudent" monarch of Spain should be pushed forward. The
most brilliant and original genius that Philip bad the good
fortune to have at his disposal, the genius of Alexander
Farneee, was cramped and irritated almost to madness, by
the fetters imposed upon it, by the sluggish yet obstinate
nature of him it was bound to obey. Famese was at that
moment engaged in a most arduous military undertaking
that famous si^ of Antwerp, the details of which will be
related in future chapters, yet he was never furnished with
men or money enough to ensure success to a much more
ordinary operation. His complaints, subdued but intense, fell
almost unheeded on his master's ear. He had not "ten
dollars at his command," his cavalry horses were all dead of
hunger or had been eaten by their riders, who were starving
to death themselves, his army had dwindled to a " handful,"
yet he still held on to his purpose, in spite of famine, the
desperate efforts of indefatigable enemies, and all the perils
and privations of a deadly winter. He, too, was kept for a
long time in profound ignorance of Philip's designs.

Meantime, while the Spanish soldiers were starving in
Flanders, Philip's dollars were employed by Mucio and his
adherents in enlisting troops in Switzerland and Germany, in
order to carry on the civil war in France. The French king
was held systematically up to ridicule or detestation in every
village-pulpit in his own kingdom, while the sister of Mucio,
the Duchess of Montpensier, carried the scissors at her girdle,
with which she threatened to provide Henry with a thiid
crown, in addition to those of France and Poland, which he
had disgraced — the coronal tonsure of a monk. The convent
should be, it was intimated, the eventual fate of the modem
Childeric, but meantime it was more important than ever to
supersede the ultimate pretensions of Henry of Navarre. To
prevent that heretic of heretics, who was not to be bought
with Spanish gold, fix)m ever reigning, was the first object of
Philip and Mucio.

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1586. TREATY OF JOINVILLE. 113

Accordingly, on the last day of the year 1584, a secret treaty
had been signed at Joinville between Henry of Guise and his
brother the Due de Mayenne, holding the proxies of their
brother the Cardinal and those of their uncles, Aumale and
Elbeuf, on the one part, and John Baptist Tassis and Com-
mander Moreo, on the other, as representatives of Philip.^
This transaction, — sufficiently well known now to the most
superficial student of history, — was a profound mystery then,
so far as regarded the action of the Spanish king. It was not
& secret, however, that the papistical party did not intend that
the Beamese prince should ever come to the throne, and the
matter of the succession was discussed, precisely as if the
throne had been vacant.

It was decided that Charles, paternal uncle to Henry of
Navarre, commonly called the Cardinal Bourbon, should be
considered successor to the crown, in place of Henry, whose
claim was forfeited by heresy. Moreover, a great deal of
superfluous money and learning was expended in ordering
some elaborate legal arguments to be prepared by venal juris-
consults, proving not only that the uncle ought to succeed
before the nephew, but that neither the one nor the other had
any claim to succeed at all. The pen having thus been
employed to do the work which the sword alone could accom-
plish, the poor old Cardinal was now formally established by
the Guise faction as presumptive heir to the crown.*

A man of straw, a superannuated court-dangler, a credulous
trifler, but an earnest Papist as his brother Antony had been,
sixty-six years old, and feeble beyond his years, who, his life
long, had never achieved one manly action, and had now one
foot in the grave ; this was the puppet placed in the saddle to
run a tilt against the Beamese, the man with foot ever in
the stirrup, with sword rarely in its sheath.

The contracting parties at Joinville agreed that the Cardinal
should succeed on the death of the reigning king, and that no
heretic should ever ascend the throne, or hold the meanest

1 Perefixe, 58, 59 ; Be Thou, ix. I * De Thou, ix. 262, seq.
272.

VOL. L 1

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114 THB UNITKD KETHBRLANDa Oha^ IY..

office in the kingdom. They agreed further that all heretics
should be ^^exterminated" without distinction throughout
France and the Netherlands. In order to procure the neces-
sary reforms among the clergy^ the council of Trent was
to be fully carried into effect. Philip pledged himself to
furnish at least fifty thousand crowns monthly, for the ad-
vancement of this Holy League, as it was denominated, and as
much more as should prove necessary. The sums advanced
were to be repaid by the Cardinal on his succeeding to the
throne. All the great officers of the crown, lords and gentle-
men, cities, chapters, and universities, all Catholics, in short,
in the kingdom, were deemed to be included in the league. If
any foreign Catholic prince desired to enter the union, he
should be admitted with the consent of both parties. Neither
his Catholic majesty nor the confederated princes should
treat with the most Christian King, either directly or in-
directly. The compact was to remain strictly secret — one
copy of it being sent to PhOip, while the other was to be
retained by Cardinal Bourbon and his fellow leaguers.'

And now — ^in accordance with this program — Philip pro-
ceeded stealthily and industriously to further the schemes of
Mucio, to the exclusion of more urgent business. Noiseless
and secret himself, and delighting in nothing so much as to
glide, as it were, throughout Europe, wrapped in the mantle
of invisibility, he was perpetually provoked by the noise, the
bombast, and the bustle, which his less prudent confederates
permitted themselves. While Philip for a long time hesitated
to confide the secret of the League to Parma, whom it most
imported to understand these schemes of his master, the con-
federates were openly boasting of the assistance which they
were to derive from Parma's cooperation. Even when the
Prince had at last been informed as to the state of affidrs, he
stoutly denied the facts of which the leaguers made their
vaunt ; thus giving to Mucio and his friends a lesson in dis^
simulation.*

* Pereflxo ; De Thou, vbi sup. ; Me-
teren, lil 221, seq. Lo Petit, xiv.
508, seq.

« 'Malplerre & Henry HI.,' 27 Av.
1686. * Brienne MS.' " Et luy (Princo
de Parme) donne k entendro que lea

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1585. PARMA DENIES PHHiIFS SHARE IN THE LEAGUE. 115

'* Things have now arrived at a point/' wrote Philip to Tassis,
15th March, 1585, ^^ that this matter of the League cannot
and ought not to be concealed from those who have a right
to know it. Therefore you must speak clearly to the Prince
of Parma, informing him of the whole scheme, and enjoining
the utmost secrecy. You must concert with him as to the
best means of rendering aid to this cause, after having apprised
him of the points which r^arded him, and also that of the
security of Cardinal de Bourbon, in case of necessity." ^

The Prince was anything but pleased, in the midst of his
anxiety and his almost superhuman labour in the Antwerp
si^e, to be distracted, impoverished, and weakened, in order
to carry out these schemes against France ; but he kept the
secret manfully.

To Malpierre, the French envoy in Brussels — ^for there was
the closest diplomatic communication between Henry III. and
Philip, while each was tampering with the rebellious subjects
of the other — to Malpierre Parma flatly contradicted all com-
plicity on the part of the Spanish King or himself with the
Holy League, of which he knew Philip to be the originator and
the chief

'* If I complain to the Prince of Parma,'' said the envoy,
''of the companies going from Flanders to assist the League^
he will make me no other reply than that which the President
has done — that there is nothing at all in it — ^until they are
fairly arrived in France. The President (Eichardot) said that
if the Catholic King belonged to the League, as they insinuate,
his Majesty would declare the feet openly." *

And a few days later, the Prince himself averred, as
Malpierre had anticipated, that ''as to any intention on the
part of himself or his Catholic Majesty, to send succour to
the League, according to the boast of these gentlemen, he had
never thought of such a thing, nor had received any order on

aeigneuFB de la dicte ligue se ikisoient
foTtz d'avoir secours de de<;& — & quoi
il m*a respoadu que jamais le d' Seijg^
Boy Catbolique ne le feroit^ et s'ils
en faifloient oourir le bruit, oe estoit
poor dooner plus d'appuy 4 leura

affaires," Ac

> *Philip n. to J. B. Taasia,* 16
March, 1685. 'Archlvode Simancas,'
MS.

< 'Malpierre i De Oosne,* 27 Ar.
1685, 'BrienneMa'

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116 THE UNITED NETHERLANDS. Chap. IV.

the subject from his master. If the King intended to do any-
thing of the kind, he would do it openlj. He protested that
he had never seen anything, or known anything of the League." *

Here was a man who knew how to keep a secret, and who
had no scruples in the matter of dissimulation, however
enraged he might be at seeing men and money diverted from
his own masterly combinations in order to carry out these
schemes of his master.

Mucio, on the contrary, was imprudent and inclined to
boast. His contempt for Henry III. made him blind to the
dangers to be apprehended from Henry of Navarre. He did
little, but talked a great deal

Philip was very anxious that the work should be done both
secretly and thoroughly. " Let the business be finished before
Saint John's day," said he to Tassis, when sending fifty thou-
sand dollars for the use of the brothers Guise. " Tell Iniquez
to warn them not to be sluggish. Let them not b^n in a
lukewarm manner, but promise them plenty of assistance
from me, if they conduct themselves properly. Let them
beware of wavering, or of falling into plans of conciliation.
If they do their duty, I will do mine."*

But the Guise faction moved slowly despite of Philip's
secret promptings. The truth is, that the means proposed by
the Spanish monarch were ludicrously inadequate to his plans,
and it was idle to suppose that the world was to be turned
upside down for his benefit, at the very low price which he
was prepared to pay.

Nothing less than to exterminate all the heretics in Chris-
tendom, to place himself on the thrones of France and of
England, and to extinguish the last spark of rebellion in the
Netherlands, was his secret thought, and yet it was very diffi-
cult to get fifty thousand dollars from him from month to
month. Procrastinating and indolent himself, he was for ever
rebuking the torpid movements of the Guises.

" Let Mucio set his game well at the outset," said he ; " let

' 'Malplerre k Henrj III.,* 28 Mai, I > 'Philip II. to Tassis.' MS. before
1585. 'BrienneMa' dted.

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1584

PHILIP IH RBAUTT ITS OHIBF.

117

him lay the axe to the root of the tree, for to be wasting time
fruitlessly is sharpening the knife for himself." ^

This was almost prophetic. When after so much talking
and tampering, there began to be recrimination among the
leaguers, Philip was very angry with his subordinate.

" Here is Mucio/' said he, " trying to throw the blame of all
the difficulties, which have arisen, upon us. Not hastening,
not keeping his secret, letting the execution of the enterprise
grow cold, and lending an ear to suggestions about peace,
without being sure of its conclusion, he has turned his fol*
lowers into cowards, discredited his cause, and given the King
of France opportunity to strengthen his force and improve
his party. These are all very palpable things. I am willing
to continue my friendship for them, but not, if, while they
accept it, they permit themselves to complain, instead of
manifesting gratitude.*' '

On the whole, however, the affiiirs of the League seemed
prosperous. There was doubtless too much display among the
confederates, but there was a growing uneasiness among the
royalists. Cardinal Bourbon, discarding his ecclesiastical
robes and scarlet stockings, paraded himself daily in public,
clothed in military costume, with all the airs of royalty.
Many persons thought him mad. On the other hand, Epeig-
non, the haughty minion-in-chief, who governed Henry III.
and insulted all the world, was becoming almost polite.

" The progress of the League," said Busbecq, "is teaching
the Due d' Epergnon manners. 'Tis a youth of such inso-
lence, that without uncovering he would talk with men of

> "Lo que sobre todo oonviene
acordar y encargar a Mucio es que
procure poner bien su juogo & los prin*
cipioe, con acadir & la raiz porque lo
contrario 7 dejarso coDsumir del tiem-
po debalde, podm ser su cuohilla"
(Ibid.)

* *' Mucio no8 quiere hazcr aca cargo
de todas laa dificultades en que alia
Be ban metido, al principio par apre-
Eurarae 7 no guardar bien su segreto,
J despnes por haver se resfriado la
oxecudon de la empresa^ 7 dado o7do8

a la poz, que tras no lee poder ser se-
g^ra la conclusion della, solo el irato
ba aoobardado loa animos de los quo
le signieran, desacreditando su causa
7 dando lugar a que el Be7 de Fran-
da pudiesse reooger sus Itieizas 7 me-
jorar su partido, que son todas tan
palpables — mas no les acceptando que
estan quexoeos en lugar de obb'gados."
Phflip IL to Mendoza, 9 JUI7, 1586.
'Archive de Slmancas MS.' In the
'Archives de TEmpire at Paris.' A. 66.
30.

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118 THB UNITED NETHERLANDS. Chap. IV.

royal descent, while they were bareheaded. 'Tis a common
jest now that he has found out where his hat is." '

Thus, for a long time, a network of secret political combina-
tions had been stretching itself over Christendom. There were
great movements of troops throughout Germany, Switzer-
land, the Netherlands, slowly concentrating themselves upon
France ; yet, on the whole, the great mass of the populations,
the men and women who were to pay, to fight, to starve, to
be trampled upon, to be outraged, to be plundered, to be
burned out of houses and home, to bleed, and to die, were
merely ignorant, gaping spectators. That there was some-
thing very grave in prospect was obvious, but^ exactly what
was impending they knew no more than the generation
yet unborn. Very noiselessly had the patient manager who
sat in the Escorial been making preparations for that Euro-
pean tragedy in which most of the actors had such fatal parts
assigned them, and of which few of the spectators of its
opening scenes were doomed to witness the conclusion. A
shifting and glancing of lights, a vision of vanishing feet, a
trampling and bustling of unseen crowds, movements of con-
cealed machinery, a few incoherent words, much noise and
confusion vague and incomprehensible, till at last the tink-
ling of a small bell, and a glimpse of the modest manager
stealing away as the curtain was rising — such was the spec-
tacle presented at Midsummer 1585.

And in truth the opening picture was effective. Sixteen
black-rebed, long-bearded Netherland envoys stalking away,
discomfited and indignant upon one side ; Catharine de' Me-
dici on the other, regarding them with a sneer, painfully con-
torted into a pathetic smile ; Henry the King, robed in a sack
of penitence, trembling and hesitating, leaning on the arm of
Epergnon, but quailing even under the protection of that
mighty swordsman ; Mucio, careering, truncheon in hand, in
full panoply, upon his war-horse, waving forward a mingled
mass of German lanzknechts, Swiss musketeers, and Lorraine
pikemen ; the redoubtable Don Bernardino de Mendoza, in

* Busbeoqul * Epist ad RucL' 25 April, 1686, p. 164.

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1586. MANIFESTO OF THE LEAGUE. 119

£ront; firowning and ferocious, with his drawn sword in his
hand ; Elizabeth of England, in the back ground, with the
white-bearded Buighley and the monastic Walsingham, all
surveying the scene with eyes of deepest meanii% ; and,
somewhat aside, but in full view, silent, calm, and imper-
turbably good-humoured, the bold B&rnese, standing with a
mischievous but prophetic smile glittering through his blue
eyes and curly beard — thus grouped were the personages' of
the drama in the introductory scenes.

The course of public events which succeeded the departure
of the Netherland deputies is sufficiently well known. The
secret negotiations and intrigues, however, by which those
external facts were preceded or accompanied rest mainly in
dusty archives, and it was therefore necessary to dwell some-
what at length upon them in the preceding pages.

The treaty of Joinville was signed on the last day of the
year 1584.

We have seen the real nature of the interview of Ambas-
sador Mendoza with Henry III. and his mother, which took
place early in January, 1585. Immediately after that confe-
rence, Don Bernardino betook himself to the Duke of Guise,
and lost no time in stimulating his confederate to prompt
but secret action.

The Netherland envoys had their last audience on the
18th March, and their departure aiid disappointment was the
signal for the general exhibition and explosion. The great
civil war b^an, and the man who refused to annex the Ne-
therlands to the French kingdom soon ceased to be regarded
as a king.

On the Slst March, the heir presumptive, just manufac-
tured by the Guises, sent forth his manifesto. Cardinal
Bourbon, by this document, declared that for twenty-four
years past no proper measures had been taken to extirpate
the heresy by which France was infested. There was no
natural heir to the King. Those who claimed to succeed at
his death had deprived themselves, by heresy, of their rights.
Should they gain their ends, the ancient religion would be

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120 THE UNITEP NBTHBBLAKBa Chap. IT

abolished throu^out the kingdom, as it had been in England,
and Catholics be subjected to the same frightful tortures
which they were experiencing there. New men, admitted to
the confidence of the crown, clothed with the highest honours,
and laden with enormous emoluments, had excluded the
ancient and honoured functionaries of the state, who had
been obliged to sell out their offices to these upstart succes-
sors. These new favourites had seized the finances of the
kingdom, all of which were now collected into the private
cofiers of the King, and shared by him with his courtiers.
The people were groaning under new taxes invented every
day, yet they knew nothing of the distribution of the public
treasure, while the King himself was so impoverished as
to be unable to discharge his daily debts. Meantime these
new advisers of the crown had renewed to the Protestants of
the kingdom the religious privil^es of which they had so
justly been deprived, yet the religious peace which had fol-
lowed had not brought with it the promised diminution of the
popular burthens. Never had the nation been so heavily
taxed or reduced to such profound misery. For these reasons,
he. Cardinal Bourbon, with other princes of the blood, peers,
gentlemen, cities, and universities, had solemnly bound them-
selves by oath to extirpate heresy down to the last joot, and
to save the people from the dreadful load under which they
were languishing. It was for this that they had taken up arms,
and till that purpose was accomplished they would never lay
them down.

The paper concluded with the hope that his Majesty would
not take these warlike demonstrations amiss ; and a copy of the
document was placed in the royal hands.'

It was very obvious to the most superficial observer, that
the manifesto was directed almost as much against the reign-
ing sovereign as against Henry of Navarre. The adherents
of the Guise faction, and especially certain theologians in
their employ, had taken very bold grounds upon the relations
between king and subjects, and had made the public very

' Do Thou, ix. 284, seq.

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158«. ATTITUDE OF HBNRT HL AND OF NAVARRK 121

familiar with their doctrines. It was a duty, thej said, ^^ to
depose a prince who did not discharge his duty. Authority
ill regulated was robbery, and it was as absurd to call him a
king who knew not how to govern, as it was to take a blind
man for a guide, or to believe that a statue could influence
the movements of living men."*

Yet to the faction, inspired by such rebellious sentiments,
and which was thundering in his face such tremendous denun-
ciations, the tmhappy Henry could not find a single royal or
manly word of reply. He threw himself on his knees, when,
if ever, he should have assumed an attitude of command. He
answered the insolence of the men, who were parading their
contempt for his authority, by humble excuses and supplica-
tions for pardon. He threw his crown in the dust before their
feet, as if such humility would induce them to place it again
upon his head. Ho abandoned the minions who had been his
pride, his joy, and his defence, and deprecated, with an abject
whimper, all responsibility for the unmeasured ambition and
the insatiable rapacity of a few private individuals. He con-
jured the party-leaders, who had hurled defiance in his face,
to lay down their arms, and promised that they should find in
his wisdom and bounty more than all the advantages which
they were seeking to obtain by war.*

Henry of Navarre answered in a diflferent strain. The
gauntlet had at last been thrown down to him, and he came
forward to take it up ; not insolently nor carelessly, but with
the cold courtesy of a Christian knight and valiant gentleman.
He denied the charge of heresy. He avowed detestation of
all doctrines contrary to the Word of God, to the decrees of
the Fathers of the Church, or condemned by the Councils.
The errors and abuses which had from time to time crept into
the church, had long demanded, in the opinion of all pious
persons, some measures of reform. After many bloody wars,
no better remedy had been discovered to arrest the cause of
these dire religious troubles, whether in France or Germany,
than to permit all men to obey the dictates of their own con^

* Perefixe, 58. ' De Thoo, ix. 28a

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122 THE UNTTBD NBTHBBLANDa Chap. IT.

science. The Protestants had thus obtained in France manj
edicts by which the peace of the kingdom had been secured.
He could not himself be denounced as a heretic^ for he had
always held himself ready to receive instruction, and to be
set right where he had erred. To call him "relapsed" was
an outrage. Were it true, he were indeed unworthy of the
crown, but the world knew that his change at the Massacre of
St. Bartholomew had been made under duresse, and that he
had returned to the reformed faith when he had recovered his
liberty. Religious toleration had been the object of his Ufa
In what the tyranny of the popes and the violence of the
Spaniards had left him of his kingdom of Navarre, Catholics
and Protestants enjoyed a perfect religious liberty. No man
had the right, therefore, to denounce him as an enemy of the
church, or a disturber of the public repose, for he had ever
been willing to accept all propositions of peace which left the
rights of conscience protected.

He was a Frenchman, a prince of France, a living member
of the kingdom, feeling with its pains, and bleeding with its
wounds. They who denounced him were alien to France,
factitious portions of her body, feeling no Bu£fering, even
should she be consuming with living fire. The Leaguers were
the friends and the servants of the Spaniards, while he had
been bom the enemy, and with too good reason, of the whole
Spanish race.

"Let the name of Papist and of Huguenot,*' he said, " be
heard no more among us. Those terms were buried in the
edict of peace. Let us speak only of Frenchmen and of
Spaniards. It is the counter-league which we must all unite
to form, the natural union of the head with all its members.*'.

Finally, to save the shedding of so much innocent blood,
to spare all the countless miseries of civil war, he implored
the royal permission to terminate this quarrel in person, by
single combat with the Duke of Guise, one to one, two to
two, or in as large a number as might be desired, and upon
any spot within or without the kingdom that should be
assigned. "The Duke of Guise," said Henry of Navarre,

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1585.

THE LBAOUK DEMANDS A EOTAL DBOBEE.

123

'^ cannot but accept my challenge as an honour, coming as it
does fit)m a prince infinitely his superior in rank ; and thus,
may God defend the right.''

This paper, drawn up by the illustrious Duplessis-Momay,
who was to have been the second of the King of Navarre in
the proposed duel, was signed 10 June 1585.*

The unfortunate Henry III., not so dull as to doubt that
the true object of the Guise party was to reduce him to insig-
nificance, and to open their own way to the throne, was too
impotent of purpose to follow the dictates which his wisest
counsellors urged and his own reason approved. His choice
had lain between open hostility with his Spanish enemy and
a more terrible combat with that implacable foe wearing the
mask of friendship. He had refused to annex to his crown
the rich and powerful Netherlands, from dread of a foreign
war ; and he was now about to accept for himself and kingdom
all the horrors of a civil contest, in which his avowed an-
tagonist was the first captain of the age, and his nominal
allies the stipendiaries of Philip II.

Villeroy, his prime minister, and Catharine de' Medici, his
mother, had both devoted him to disgrace and ruin. The
deputies from the Netherlands had been dismissed, and now,
notwithstanding the festivities and exuberant demonstrations
of friendship with which the Earl of Derby's splendid embassy
had been greeted, it became necessary to bind Henrjjr hand
and foot to the conspirators, who had sworn the destruction
of that Queen, as well as his own, and the extirpation of
heresy and heretics in every realm of Christendom.

On the 9th June the league demanded a royal decree, for-
bidding the practice of all religion but the Roman Catholic^
on pain of death. In vain had the clear-sighted Bishop of
Acqs uttered his eloquent warnings. Despite such timely
counsels, which he was capable at once of appreciating and of
n^ecting, Henry followed slavishly the advice of those whom

' Declaration da Boy de Navarre
ooQtre leB oalonmies de la Ligne. In
Dupleeaifl-Mornaji 'M^moires et Cor-

respoudance/ ed. 1824, yoL iU. 94 seq,
De Tboo, ix. 320, aeq.

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124

THE UNITED KETHBRLANDa

Chap. lY.

he knew in his heart to be his foes, and authorised the great
conspiracy against Elizabeth, against Protestantism, and
against himself.

On the 5th June Villeroy had expressed a wish for a very
secret interview with Mendoza, on tiie subject of the invasion
of England.

^^It needed not this overture/' said that magniloquent
Spaniard, " to engender in a person of my talents, and with
the heart of a Mendoza, venom enough for vengeance. I
could not more desire than I did already to assist in so holy
a work ; nor could I aspire to greater honour than would be
gained in uniting those crowns (of France and Spain) in
strict friendship, for the purpose of extirpating heresy through-
out Europe, and of chastising the Queen of England — whose
abominations I am never likely to forget, having had them so
long before my eyes — and of satisfying my just resentment
for the injuries she has inflicted on myself. It was on this
subject," continued the ambassador, " that Monsieur de Vil-
leroy wished a secret interview with me, pledging himself —
if your Majesty would deign to unite yourself with this King,
and to aid him with your forces — to a successful result." '

Mendoza accordingly expressed a willingness to meet the
ingenuous Secretary of State — ^who had so recently been
assisting at the banquets and rejoicings with Lord Derby
and his companions, which had so much enlivened the French
capital — and assured him that his most Catholic Majesty
would be only too glad to draw closer the bonds of friendship

^ " La abertura que estos reyes me
havian hecho .... do bavia de en-
gendrar en tina persona de mis prendas
y cora^n de un Mendoza veneno para
procurar venganjas, y no antes desseo
de ayudar obra tan santa, pues que
me podria redundar mayor honra que
de otra ninguna, siendo instrumento
para unir estas coronas con finne
amistadf debaxo de lo qual pudiesse
eztirpcu' las beregias de Europe, dando
priyilegio a esto, con eastigar a la
reyna de Ingaltierra, cayas abomina-
dones creya que jo no tendria olyida-

das, como persona que las bavia tenido
tantos afios adelante los qjoa, y cauaa
de justo resentimicnto per k> que bavia
becbo a la propria mia. Sobre esta
materia dessara el Sefior YiUeroy vene
secretamente conmigo, y entender suyo,
me asegurara, si V. M**. bolgaria de
ayudar con sua fuer^as y juntaree con
este rey, para el efeto." Don Bem""^
de Mendoza a Su Ck^ R .Mag^. (de
(jifrada), Paris, 7 June^ 1586. Arch,
de Simancas, in tbe 'Archivea de VBrn*
pire' at Paris, B. 56. 220. 223, Ma

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1586.

DESIQK3 OF FRANCE AND SPAIN.

125

with the most Christian King^ for the service of God and the
gloiy of his Church.

The next day the envoy and the Secretary of State met,
very secretly, in the house of the Signer Gondi. Villeroy
commenced his harangue by an allusion to the current
opinion, that Mendoza had arrived in France with a torch in
his hand, to light the fires of civil war in that kingdom, as
he had recently done in England.^

** I do not believe," replied Mendoza, " that discreet and
prudent persons in France attribute my actions to any such
motives. As for the ignorant people of the kingdom, they do
not appal me, although they evidently imagine that I have
imbibed, during my residence in England, something of the
spirit of the enchanter Merlin, that, by signs and cabalistic
words alone, I am thought capable of producing such com-
motions."*

After this preliminary flourish the envoy proceeded to com-
plain bitterly of the most Christian King and his mother, who,
after the propositions which they had made him, when on his
way to Spain, had, since his return, become so very cold and
dry towards him.' And on this theme he enlarged for some
time.

Villeroy replied, by complaining, in his turn, about the
dealings of the most Catholic King, with the leaguers and
the rebels of France ; and Mendoza rejoined by an intimation
that harping upon past grievances and suspicions was hardly
the way to bring about harmony in present matters.

Struck with the justice of this remark, the French Secretary
of State entered at once upon business. He made a very
long speech* upon the tyranny which " that Englishwoman"

> " Con el acha en la mano para
^npr^ider ftiego de gueira ciyil, como
havia hecbo an iDgaltierra." HS. just
cUed, 7 June, 1586.

' ' Y que lo8 ignoiantes de francia
no me espantarian, imaginandoee ha-
vene me pegado del tiempo que
estUTe en Ingaltierra algo del spirita
de MerUn, para bacer, oon signoa y

palabras, scmejantes commocionea."
(Ibid.)

' "Havellos haHado tan fiios y Be-
C08." (Ibid.)

* " Respondio me que era bien pro.
poniendo me con grande arenga, la
tirannia con que procedia contra los
catolicos agora de nuevo la de Ingal-
tierra^ offensas que bavia becbo a Y.

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126

THB UNITED NBTHEBLANDfiL

Chap. IT.

was anew inflicting upon the Catholics in her kingdom, upon
the offences which she had committed against the King of
Spain, and against the King of France and his brothers, and
upon the aliment which she had been yielding to the civil
war in the Netherlands and in France for so many years. He
then said that if Mendoza would declare with sincerity, and
" without any of the duplicity of a minister " — that Philip
would league himself with Henry for the purpose of invading
England, in order to reduce the three kingdoms to the Catholic
fedth, and to place their crowns on the head of the Queen of
Scotland, to whom they of right belonged ; then that the
King, his master, was most ready to join in so holy an enter-
prise. He begged Mendoza to say with what number of
troops the invasion could be made ; whether Philip could
send any from Flanders or from Spain ; how many it would
be well to send from France, and under what chieftain ; in
what manner it would be best to communicate with his most
Catholic Majesty; whether it were desirable to despatch a
secret envoy to him, and of what quality such agent ought to
be. He also observed that the most Christian King could not
himself speak to Mendoza on the subject before having com-
municated the matter to the Queen-Mother, but expressed a
wish that a special carrier might be forthwith despatched to
Spain ; for he might be sure that, on an affair of such weight,
he would not have permitted himself to reveal the secret
wishes of his master, except by his commands.*

Mendoza replied, by enlarging with much enthusiasm on
the facility with which England could be conquered by the
combined power of France and Spain. If it were not a very
diflBcult matter before — even with the jealousy between the

M*., y el mismo a est© rey y hermanos,
alimentando la guerre en los payses
bazos, y en franda^ por lusgos alios,
que le dixesse, con llaneza y sin doblez
de ministro, si Y. M<*. holgaria de jun-
tarse y ligarse con este rey, pare hazer
aquella impresa, reduziendo los tres
reynos a la fee Cat**. Rom"», y ponien-
do la corona a la de la reyna de
Escozifti que ere a la que de derecbo

lo tocava, y lo que el rey su amo solo
pretendia, que quedasse a quel reyno
en la neutrelidad, que hasta aqui, que
por ser empresa tan santa, se prometia
que V. M<^. no refusaria el assistir con
BUS fuerzas a ella, que de animo de su
amo me asegureva de estar aparejcdis-
simo pare ella' (MS. just cited, 7
June 1585.) >Ibid.

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1686. INTBBVIBW OP MENDOZA AND TILLBROY. 127

two crowns — ^how much less so, now that they could join their
fleets and armies ; now that the arming by the one prince
would not inspire the other with suspicion; now that they
would be certain of finding safe harbour in each other's
kingdoms, in case of unfavourable weather and head-winds,
and that they could arrange from what ports to sail, in what
direction, and under what commanders. He disapproved,
however, of sending a special messenger to Spain, on the
ground of wishing to keep the matter entirely secret, but in
leality — ^as he informed Philip — ^because he chose to keep the
management in his own hands ; because he could always let
slip Mucio upon them, in case they should play him false ;
because he feared that the leaking out of the secret might
discourage the Leaguers, and because he felt that the bolder
and more lively were the Cardinal of Bourbon and his con-
federates, the stronger was the party of the King, his master,
and the more intimidated and dispirited would be the mind
and the forces of the most Christian King. " And this is
precisely the point,'' said the diplomatist, ^^ at which a minister
of your Majesty should aim at this season." '

Thus the civil war in France — an indispensable part of
Philip's policy — was to be maintained at all hazards; and
although the ambassador was of opinion that the most
Christian King was sincere in his proposition to invade Eng-
land, it would never do to allow any interval of tranquillity
to the wretched subjects of that Christian King.

" I cannot doubt," said Mendoza, " that the making of this
proposal to me with so much warmth was the especial per-
suasion of God, who, hearing the groans of the Catholics of
England, so cruelly afficted, wished to force the French King
and his minister to feel, in the necessity which surrounds
them, that the offending Him, by impeding the grandeur of
your Majesty, would be theii* total ruin, and that their only
salvation is to unite in sincerity and truth with your Majesty
for the destruction of the heretics."*

> " Qae es, en lo que en esta sazon I ta la mira." (MS. jnst cited, *l Jone^
dministro de V. M«^. hade traer pues- | 1685.) * Ibid.

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128

THE UNITED KETHERLANDa

Chap. IV.

Therefore, although — judging from the nature of the French
— ^he might imagine that they were attempting to put him to
Bleep, Mendoza, on the whole, expressed a conviction that
the King was in earnest, having arrived at the conclusion
that he could only get rid of the Guise faction by sending
them over to England. ^^ Seeing that he cannot possibly
eradicate the war from his kingdom,'' said the envoy, " be-
cause of the boldness with which the Leaguers maintain it,
with the strong assistance of your Majesty, he has deter--
mined to embrace with much fervour, and without any decepr
tion at all, the enterprise against England, as the only remedy
to quiet his own dominions. The subjugation of those three
kingdoms, in order to restore them to their rightful owner, is
a purpose so holy, just, and worthy of your Majesty, and one
which you have had so constantly in view, that it is super-
fluous for me to enlarge upon the subject. Your Majesty
knows that its effects will be the tranquillity and preserva-
tion of all your realms. The reasons for making the attempt,
even without the aid of France, become demonstrations now
that she is unanimously in favour of the scheme. The most
Christian King is resolutely bent — so far as I can comprehend
the intrigues of Villeroy — to carry out this project on the
foundation of a treaty with the Guise party. It will not take
much time, therefore, to put down the heretics here ; nor will
it consume much more to conquer England with the armies
of two such powerful Princes.* The power of that island is of
little moment, there being no disciplined forces to oppose us,
even if they were all unanimous in its defence ; how much
less then, with so many Catholics to assist the invaders, see-
ing them so powerful. If your Majesty, on account of your
Netherlands, is not afraid of putting arms into the hands of
the Guise family in France, there need be less objection to

' " Lob de Guisa, teniendo las annaa
en la mano, combaten a los hereges de
aqui, que no puede ser mucho tiempo,
J assi mismo, el que se consumira en
reduzir a Ingaltierra oon Aier^as de
tan poderosiflsimos piincipes, y la de
la isla no de moroento, pare podelloB

contrastor gente no exercitada, si Men
estuyiessen todos unanimos para de-
fendarse, quanto mas, haviendo tantas
Cat*" que ban de acudir & los estran-
geros, yiendo los tan poderosos." (M&
just cited, *l June, 1585.)

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1585.

COMHiAINTS OF EXTGUSH PEBSECITTION.

129

sending one of that houBe into England^ particularly as yon
will send forces of your own into that kingdom, by the reduc-
tion of which the a&irs of Flanders will be secured. " To
e£Eect the pacification of the Netherlands the sooner, it would
be desirable to conquer England as early as October/''

Having thus sufficiently enlaiged upon the sincerity of the
Fr^ich King and his prime minbter, in their dark projects
against a friendly power, and upon the ease with which that
friendly power could be subjected, the ambassador begged
for a reply from his royal master without delay. He would
be careful, meantime, to keep the civil war alive in France —
thus verifying the poetical portrait of himself, the truth of
which he had just been so indignantly and rhetorically deny-
ing— ^but it was desirable that the French should believe that
this civil war was not Philip's sole object. He concluded by
drawing his master's attention to the sufferings of the Euglish
Catholics. " I cannot refrain," he said, " from placing before
your eyes the terrible persecutions which the Catholics are
suffering in England ; the blood of the martyrs flowing in so
many kinds of torments ; the groans of the prisoners, of the
widows and orphans ; the general oppression and servitude,
which is the greatest ever endured by a people of God, under
any tyrant whatever. Your Majesty, into whose hands God
is now pleased to place the means, so long desired, of extir-
pating and totally destroying the heresies of our time, can
alone liberate them from their bondage."*

The picture of these kiugs, prime ministers, and ambas-
sadors, thus plotting treason, stratagem, and massacre, is a
dark and dreary one. The description of English sufferings
for conscience' sake, under the Protestant Elizabeth, is even

' MS. just cited, 1 June, 1585.

* "Ante OQToe qjos no puedo dexar
de anteponer en esta la terible perse-
cucion que passan los Oat^ en In-
galt*, oon mncba sangre de martiref}
derremada oon diversos generos de
tocmentos, los gemidos de los pri-
sonierofi, de loe Tiudas j haerfanos, y
opression general y seryidumbre que
es la mayor qne ha parescldo jamas
VOL. L— K

pueblo de Dios, debaxo de ningnn
tirano^ de euya mano espera solo ser
libertados por las de V. M<*. a quien
Dios ea servido de poner en las pro-
prias la ocasion que tantos ^as ha
procurado para la eztirpacion y total
destmycion de les heregias de n'*
tiempo, el sea servido de remediallos.*'
(Ibid.)

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230 ^I^HB UNITED NBTHBBLANDS. Chap. IT.

more painful ; for it had unfortunately too much of truth,
although as wilfully darkened and exaggerated as could be
done by religious hatred and Spanish bombast. The Queen
was surrounded by legions of deadly enemies. Spain, the
Pope, the League, were united in one perpetual conspiracy
against her ; and they relied on the cooperation of those
subjects of hers whom her own cruelty was converting into
traitors.

We read with a shudder these gloomy secrets of conspiracy
and wholesale murder, which make up the diplomatic history
of the sixteenth century, and we cease to wonder that a
woman, feeling herself so continually the mark at which all
the tyrants and assassins of Europe were aiming — although
not possessing perhaps the evidences of her peril so completely
as they have been revealed to us — should come to consider
every English Papist as a traitor and an assassin. It was
unfortunate that she was not able to rise beyond the vile
instincts of the age, and by a magnanimous and sublime
toleration, to convert her secret enemies into loyal subjects.

And now Henry of Valois was to choose between league
and counter-league, between Henry of Guise and Henry of
Navarre, between France and Spain. The whole chivalry of
Gktscony and Guienne, the vast swarm of industrious and
hardy Huguenot artisans, the Netherland rebels, the great
English Queen, stood ready to support the cause of French
nationality, and of all nationalities, against a threatening
world-empire, of religious liberty against sacerdotal abso-
lutism, and the crown of a King, whose only merit had
hitherto been to acquiesce in a religious toleration dictated to
him by others, against those who derided his authority and
insulted his person. The bold knight-errant of Christendom,
the champion to the utterance against Spain, stood there with
lance in rest, and the King scarcely hesitated.

The League, gliding so long unheeded, now reared its crest
in the very palace of France, and full in the monarch's face.
With a single shudder the victim fell into its coils.

The choice was made. On the 18th of Julv the edict of

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1585. EDICT OF NEMOnB& 131

Nemours was published, revoking all previous edicts by which
religious peace had been secured. Death and confiscation of
property were now proclaimed as the penalty of practising
any religious rites save those of the Boman Catholic Church.
Six months were allowed to the Nonconformists to put their
aflGEiirs in order, after which they were to make public pro-
fession of the Catholic religion, with r^ular attendance upon
its ceremonies, or else go into perpetual exile. To remain in
France without abjuring heresy was thenceforth a mortal
crime, to be expiated upon the gallows. As a matter of
course, all Huguenots were instantaneously incapacitated
from public office, the mixed chambers of justice were abol-
ished, and the cautionary towns were to be restored. On
the other hand, the Guise faction were to receive certain cities
into their possession, as pledges that this sanguinary edict'
should be fulfilled.^

Thus did Henry III. abjectly kiss the hand which smote
him. His mother, having since the death of Anjou no further
interest in affecting to favour the Huguenots, had isth Joiy,
arranged the basis of this treaty with the Spanish 16^6-
party. And now the unfortunate King had gone solemnly
down to the Parliament of Paris, to be present at the regis-
tration of the edict. The counsellors and presidents were all
assembled, and as they sat there in their crimson robes, they
seemed, to the excited imagination of those who loved their
country, like embodiments of the impending and most san-
guinary tragedy. As the monarch left the parliament-house
a fidnt cry of ' God save the King' was heard in the street.
Henry hung his head, for it was long since that cry had met
his ears, and he knew that it was a false and languid demon-
stration which had been paid for by the Leaguers.

And thus was the compact signed — an unequal compact.
Madam Lei^e was on horseback, armed in proof, said a con-
temporary ; the King was on foot, and dressed in a shirt of
penitence.^ The alliance was not an auspicious one. Not

» D© ThoTi, ix. 328, teq, • * L'Estoile,* 186.

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132

THE XnniBD NITHEBLANDa

Chap. IV.

peace^ but a firebrand— /ocem, nonpacem — ^bad tbe King held
forth to his subjects.^

When the news came to Henry of Navarre that the King
had really promulgated this fatal edict, he remained for a
time, with amazement and sorrow, leaning heavily upon a
table, with his face in his right hand. When he raised his
head again — so he afterwards asserted — one side of his mous-
tachio had turned white.*

Meantime Gregory XIII., who had always refused to sanc^

tion the League, was dead, and Cardinal Peretti, tmder the

24th April, name of Sixtus Y., now reigned in his place. Bom

1685. of an illustrious house, as he said — ^for it was a house
without a roof — this monk of humble origin was of inordinate
ambition. Feigning a humility which was but the cloak to
his pride, he was in reaUty as grasping, self-seeking, and
revengeful, as he seemed gentle and devout. It was inevi-
table that a pontiff of this character should seize the oppor-
tunity offered him to mimic Hildebrand, and to brandish on
high the thimderbolts of the Church.

With a flaming prelude concerning the omnipotence dele*
gated by Almighty God to St. Peter and his successors — an
authority infinitely superior to all earthly powers — the decrees
of which were irresistible alike by the highest and the mean-
est, and which hurled misguided princes from their thrones
into the abyss, like children of Beelzebub, the Pope proceeded
to fulminate his sentence of excommunication against those
children of wrath, Henry of Navarre and Henry of Cond^.
They were denounced as heretics, relapsed, and enemies of
28th Aug., God. The King was declared dispossessed of his

1686. principality of Beame, and of what remained to him
of Navarre. He was stripped of all dignities, privil^es, and
property, and especially proclaimed incapable of ever ascend-
ing the throne of France.*

The Beamese replied by a clever political squib. A terse

: ** GoiBladis fkctam dam pato dlcere pacem,
Pac«in non poesnm dloere, dico fiMwm.^
rJMoiU, 18T.
* Matbieo, anno 1686.

• De Thou, ix. 368, wg.

* Do Thou, ix. 369. 'L'BBtdlfl^*
190.

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1685.

EXCOMMUKIOATIOH OF KAYASBE— HIS BEPLT.

133

and spirited paper found its way to Borne, and was soon
affixed to the statutes of Pasquin and Marforio, and in other
public places of that city, and even to the gates of the papal
palace. Without going beyond his own doors, his Holiness
had the opportunity of reading, to his profound amazement,
that Mr. Sixtus, calling himself Pope, had foully and ma-
liciously lied in calling the King of Navarre a heretic. This
Henry offered to prove before any free council legitimately
chosen. If the Pope refused to submit to such decision, he
was himself no better than excommunicate and Antichrist,
and the King of Navarre thereby declared mortal and per-
petual war upon him. The ancient kings of France had
known how to chastise the insolence of former popes, and he
hoped, when he ascended the throne, to take vengeance on
Mr. Sixtus for the insult thus offered to all the kings of
Christendom — and so on, in a vein which showed the Bear-
nese to be a man rather amused than blasted by these papal
fireworks.^

Sixtus v., though imperious, was far from being dull. He
knew bow to appreciate a man when he found one, and he
rather admired the cheerful attitude maintained by Navarre,
as he tossed back the thunderbolts. He often spoke after-
wards of Henry with genuine admiration, and declared that
in all the world he knew but two persons fit to wear a crown —
Henry of Navarre and Elizabeth of England. " *Twas pity,"
he said, " that both should be heretics.'' *

And thus the fires of civil war had been lighted throughout
Christendom, and the monarch of France had thrown himself
head foremost into the flames.

' De Thon, ix. 376-318.
62, 63. *L'EBtoUe; 190. The last-
named writer dedares himself the
author of this famous answer to the
bnU of Sixtus:

"Au susdit ecrit, fait par Tauteur
des presens memoii^ on a fait &ire

du palais de Paris un vojage ^ Rome,
ou f on Ta mis, signifi^ ©t affich^ et
I'a t on insert auz recueils de oe teina
imprimes k la Bochelle, tant la vanitd
et curiosity de ce twns estoit grande."
* De Thou, Perefixe, vbi sup.

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134 IHE XnilTED NETHBBLAl![I)&

CHAPTER V.

Position and Character of Famese — Preparations for Antwerp Siege*- Its
Characteristics — Foresight of William the Silent — Sainte Aldegonde, the
Boi-gomaster — Anarchy in Antwerp — Character of Sainte Aldegonde —
Admiral Treslong — Jostinns de Nassau — Hohenlo — Opposition to the
Plan of Orange — Liefkenshoek — Head-Quarters of Parma at Kalloo —
Difficolty of sappljing the City — Resolts of not piercing the Dykes — Pre-
liminaries of the Siege — Successes of the Spaniards — Energy of Fameae
with Sword and Pen — His Correspondence with the Ant werpers — Progress
of the Bridge — Impoyerished Condition of Parma — Patriots attempt Bota-
le-Buo — Their Misconduct — Failure of the Enterprise — The Scheldt
Bridge completed — Description of the Structure — Position of Alezand^
** and his Army — La Motte attempts in vain Ostend — Patriots gain liefkens-
hoek — Prqjects of Gianibelli — Alarm on the Bridge — The Fire Ships —
The Explosion — Its Results — Death of the Yiaoount of Ghent — Perpetual
Anxiety of Famese — Impoverished State of the Spamards — Intended
Attack of the Kowenstyn — Second Attack of the Kowenstyn — A Landing
effected — A sharp Combat — The Dyke pierced — Rally of the Spaniards

— Parma comes to the Rescue — Fierce Struggle on thd Dyke — The
Spaniards successful — Premature Triumph at Antwerp — Defeat of the
Patriots — The Ship 'War*s End — Despair of the Citizens — Sainte Alde-
gonde discouraged — His Critical Position — His Negotiations with the
Enemy — Correspondenoe with Richardot — Commotion in the City — In-
terview of Mamix with Parma — Suspicious Conduct of Mamix — Deputa-
tion to the Prince — Oration of Mamix — Private Views of Parma —
Capitulation of Antwerp — Mistakes of Mamix — Philip on the Relig^us
Question — Triumphal Entrance of Alexander — Rebuildmg of the Citadel

— Gratification of Philip — Note on Sainte Aldegonde.

The n^otiations between France and the Netherlands have
been massed^ in order to present a connected and distinct
view of the relative attitude of the diflFerent countries of
Europe. The conferences and diplomatic protocolling had
resulted in nothing positive ; but it is very necessary for the
reader to understand the n^ative effects of all this dissimula-
tion and palace-politics upon the destiny of the new common-
wealth, and upon Christendom at lai^e. The League had
now achieved a great triumph ; the King of France had vir-
tually abdicated, and it was now requisite for the King of
Navarre, the Netherlands, and Queen Elizabeth, to draw

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1586. POSTTIOK AND OHABAOTEB OF FABNESE. I35

more closely together than before, if the last hgpe of forming
a counter-league were not to be abandoned The next step
in political combination was therefore a solemn embassy of
the States-Q^neral to England. Before detailing those n^o-
tiations, however, it is proper to direct attention to the ex-
ternal public events which had been unrolling themselves in
the Provinces, contemporaneously with the secret history
which has been detailed in the preceding chapters.

By presenting in their natural groupings various distinct
occurrences, rather than by detailing them in strict chrono-
Ic^cal order, a clearer view of the whole picture will be
furnished than could be done by intermingling personages,
transactions, and scenery, according to the arbitrary command
of Time alone.

The Netherlands, by the death of Orange, had been left
without a head. On the other hand, the Spanish party had
never been so fortunate in their chief at any period since the
destiny of the two nations had been blended with each other.
Alexander Famese, Prince of Parma, was a general and a
politician, whose character had been steadily ripening since
he came into the command of the country. He was now
thirty-seven years of age — ^with the experience of a sexagena-
rian. No longer the impetuous, arbitrary, hot-headed youth,
whose intelligence and courage hardly atoned for his insolent
manner and stormy career, he had become pensive, modest,
almost gentle. His genius was rapid in conception, patient
in combination, fertile in expedients, adamantine in the en-
durance of suffering; for never did a heroic general and a
noble army of veterans manifest more military virtue in the
support of an infamous cause than did Parma and his handful
of Italians and Spaniards. That which they considered to be
their duty they performed. The work before them they did
with all iheir might.

Alexander had vanquished the rebellion in the Celtic pro-
vinces, by the masterly diplomacy and liberal bribery which
have been related in a former work. Artois, Hainault,

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136 THE UNTTBD HETHESLAKD8. Chap. Y.

Douay, Orchies, "with the ricsh cities of Lille, Toumay, Valen-
ciennes, Arras, and other important places, were now the pro-
perty of Philip. These unhappy and misguided lands, how-
ever, were already reaping the reward of their treason.
Beggared, trampled upon, plundered, despised, they were at
once the prey of the Spaniards, and the cause that their sister-
states, which still held out, were placed in more desperate
condition than ever. They were also, even in their abject
plight, made still more forlorn by the forays of Balagny,
who continued in command of Cambray. Catharine de'
Medici claimed that city as her property, by will of the Duke
of Anjou.^ A strange title — ^foimded upon the treason and
cowardice of her fiavourite son — ^but one which, for a time, was
made good by the possession maintained by Balagny. That
usurper meantime, with a shrewd eye to his own interests,
pronounced the truce of Cambray, which was soon afterwards
arranged, from year to year, by permission of Philip, as a
^^most excellent milch-cow;''* and he continued to fill his
pails at the expense of the '^reconciled'' provinces, till they
were thoroughly exhausted.

This large south-western section of the Netherlands being
thus permanently re-annexed to the Spanish crown, while
Holland, Zeeland, and the other provinces, already constituting
the new Dutch republic, were more obstinate in their hatred
of Philip than ever, there remained the rich and fertile terri-
tory of Flanders and Brabant as the great debateable land.
Here were the royal and political capital, Brussels, the com-
mercial capital, Antwerp, with Mechlin, Dendermonde, Vil-
voorde, and other places of inferior importance, all to be
struggled for to the death. With the subjection of this dis-
trict the last bulwark between the new commonwealth and
the old empire would be overthrown, and Spain and Holland
would then meet face to face.

If there had ever been a time when every nerve in Pro-

' Strada» IL 295. ' Le Petit H. 499.

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1688. PBSPABATI0N8 FOB ANTWBBP SIEGK 137

testant Ohrist^idom should be strained to wdd all those
provinces together into one great conunonwealth^ as a bulwark
for European liberty, rather than to allow them to be broken
into steppingHstones, over which absolutism could stride across
France and Holland into England, that moment had arrived.
Every sacrifice should have been cheerfully made by all
Netherlanders, the uttermost possible subsidies and auxiliaries
should have been furnished by all the friends of civil and
religious liberty in every land to save Flanders and Brabant
from their impending fate.

No man felt more keenly the importance of the business in
which he was engaged than Parma. He knew his work
exactly, and he meant to execute it thoroughly. Antwerp
was the hinge on which the fate of the whole country, perhaps
of aU Christendom, was to turn. " If we get Antwerp," said
the Spanish soldiers — so frequently that the expression passed
into a proverb — "you shall all go to mass with us ; if you
save Antwerp, we will all go to conventicle with you."

Alexander rose with the difficulty and responsibilty of his
situation. His vivid, almost poetic intellect formed its
schemes with perfect distinctness. Every episode in his great
and, as he himself termed it, his " heroic enterprise," was
traced out beforehand with the tranquil vision of creative
genius ; and he was prepared to convert his donceptions into
reality, with the aid of an iron nature that never knew fatigue
or fear.

But the obstacles were many. Alexander's master sat in
his cabinet with his head full of Mucio, Don Antonio, and
Queen Elizabeth ; while Alexander himself was left neglected,
almost forgotten. His army was shrinking to a nullity. The
demands upon him were enormous, his finances delusive,
almost exhausted. To drain an ocean dry he had nothing
but a sieve. What was his position ? He could bring into
the field perhaps eight or ten thousand men over and above
the necessary garrisons. He had before him Brussels, Ant-
werp, Mechlin, Ghent, Dendermonde, and other powerful

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138 THE UKITED KETHEBLANDS. Chap. T.

places, which he was to subjugate. Here was a problem not
easy of solution. Given an army of eight thousand, more or
less, to reduce therewith in the least possible time, half-a-
dozen cities, each containing fifteen or twenty thousand men
able to bear arms. To besiege these places in form was
obviously a mere chimsera. Assault, battery, and surprises —
these were all out of the question.

Yet Alexander was never more truly heroic than in this
position of vast entanglement. Untiring, uncomplaining^
thoughtful of others, prodigal of himself, generous, modesty
brave ; with so much intellect and so much devotion to what he
considered his duty, he deserved to be a patriot and a cham-
pion of the right, rather than an instrument of despotism.

And thus he paused for a moment — with much work already
accomplished, but his hardest life-task before him ; still in the
noon of manhood, a fine martial figure, standing, spear in
hand, full in the sunlight, though all the scene around him
was wrapped in gloom — a noble, commanding shape, entitled
to the admiration which the energetic display of great powers,
however unscrupulous, must always command. A dark,
meridional physiognomy, a quick, alert, imposing head ; jet
black, close-clipped hair ; a bold eagle's face, with full, bright,
restless eye ; a man rarely reposing, always ready, never
alarmed ; living in the saddle, with harness on his back —
such was the Prince of Parma ; matured and mellowed, but
still unharmed by time.

The cities of Flanders and Brabant he determined to reduce
by gaining command of the Scheldt. The five principal ones —
Ghent, Dendermonde, Mechlin, Brussels, Antwerp, lie in a
narrow circle, at distances from each other varying from fiie
miles to thirty, and are all strung together by the great
Netherland river or its tributaries. His plan was immensely
furthered by the success of Balthasar Gerard, an ally whom
Alexander had despised and distrusted, even while he em-
ployed him. The assassination of Orange was better to Parma
than forty thousand men. A crowd of allies instantly started

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1586. ITS OHARAOTERISnca 139

up for him, in the shape of treason, faintheartedness, envy,
jealousy, insubordination, within the walls of every be-
leaguered city. Alexander knew well how to deal with those
auxiliaries. Letters, artfully concocted, full of conciliation and
of promise, were circulated in every council-room, in almost
every house.

The surrender of Ghent — ^brought about by. the governor's
eloquence, aided by the golden arguments which he knew so
well how to advance — ^had by the middle of September isth Sept,
put liim in possession of West Flanders, with the ^^^^
important exception of the coast. Dendermonde capitulated
at a still earlier day ; while the fall of Brussels, which held
out till many persons had been starved to death, was deferred
till the 10th March of the following year, and that of Mechlin
tiU midsummer.'

The details of the military or political operations, by which
the reduction of most of these places was effected, possess but
little interest. The siege of Antwerp, however, was one of
the most striking events of the age ; and although the change
in military tactics and the progress of science may have
rendered this leaguer of less technical importance than it
possessed in the sixteenth century, yet the illustration that it
affords of the splendid abilities of Parma, of the most culti-
vated mode of warfare in use at that period, and of the internal
politics by which the country was then regulated, make it
necessary to dwell upon the details of an episode which must
ever possess enduring interest.

It is agreeable to reflect, too, that the fame of the general
is not polluted with the wholesale butchery, which has stained
the reputation of other Spanish commanders so indelibly.
There was no killing for the mere love of slaughter. With
but few exceptions, there was no murder in cold blood; and
the many lives that were laid down upon those watery dykes
were sacrificed at least in bold, open combat ; in a con-
test, the ruling spirits of which were patriotism, or at least
honour.

^ Meteren, jdl 217, seq.

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140 TELE UNITED NETHERLAKDa CoAP. T.

It is instractive, too, to observe the diligence and accuracy
with which the best lights of the age were brought to bear
upon the great problem which Parma had undertaken to
solve. All the science then at command was applied both, hy
the Prince and by his burgher antagonists to the advancement
of their ends. Hydrostatics, hydraulics, engineering, naviga-
tion, gunnery, pyrotechnics, mining, geometry, were sum-
moned as broadly, vigorously, and intelligently to the de-
struction or preservation of a trembling city, as they have
ever been, in more commercial days, to advance a financial
or manufSEU3turing purpose. Land converted into water, and
water into land, castles built upon the breast of rapid streams,
rivers turned ftx)m their beds and taught new courses ; the
distant ocean driven across ancient bulwarks, mines dug below
the sea, and canals made to percolate obscene morasses —
which the red hand of war, by the very act, converted into
blooming gardens — a mighty stream bridged and mastered in
the very teeth of winter, floating ice-bergs, oceaU'tides, and
an alert and desperate foe, ever ready with fleets and armies
and batteries — such were the materials of which the great
spectacle was composed ; a spectacle which enchained the
attention of Europe for seven months, and on the result of
which, it was thought, depended the fate of all the Nether-
lands, and perhaps of all Christendom.

Antwerp, then the commercial centre of the Netherlands
and of Europe, stands upon the Scheldt. The river, flowing
straight, broad, and full along the verge of the city, subtends
the arc into which the place arranges itself as it falls hskck
from the shora Two thousand ships of the largest capacity
then known might easily find room in its ample harbours.
The stream, nearly half a mile in width, and sixty feet in
depth, with a tidal rise and fall of eleven feet, moves, for a
few miles, in a broad and steady current between the provinces
of Brabant and Flanders. Then, dividing itself into many
ample estuaries, and gathering up the level isles of Zeeland
into its bosom, it seems to sweep out with them into the
northern ocean. Here, at the junction of the river and the

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1585. yOBJSSLQBX OF ^VHIiLIAM IHB SILENT. 141

sea, lay the perpetual hope of Antwerp, for in all these creeks
and carrents swarmed the fleets of the Zeelanders, that hardy
and amphibious race, with which few soldiers or mariners
could successfully contend, on land or water.

Even from the b^inning of the year 1584 Parma had been
from time to time threatening Antwerp. The victim'' instinc-
tively felt that its enemy was poising and hovering over head,
although he still delayed to strike. Early in the summer
Sainte Aldegonde, Recorder Martini, and other official per-
sonages, were at Delft, upon the occasion of the christening-
ceremonies of Frederic Henry, youngest child of Orange.
The Prince, at that moment, was aware of the plans of Parma,
and held a long conversation with his friends upon the
measures which he desired to see immediately undertaken.
Unmindful of his usual hospitality, he insisted that these
gentlemen should immediately leave for Antwerp. Alexander
Famese, he assured them, had taken the firm determination to
possess himself of that place, without further delay. He had
privately signified his purpose of laying the axe at once to
the root of the tree, believing that with the fall of the com-
mercial capital the infant confederacy of the United States
would fall likewise. In order to accomplish this object, he
would forth widi attempt to make himself master of the banks
of the Scheldt, and would even throw a bridge across the
stream, if his plans were not instantly circumvented.*

William of Orange then briefiy indicated his plan ; adding
that he had no fears for the result ; and assuring his friends,
who expressed much anxiety on the subject, that if Parma
really did attempt the siege of Antwerp it should be his ruin.
The plan was perfectly simple. The city stood upon a river.
It was practicable, although extremely hazardous, for the
enemy to bridge that river, and by so doing ultimately to
reduce the place. But the ocean could not be bridged ; and
it was quite possible to convert Antwerp, for a season, into an
ocean-port. Standing alone upon an island, with the sea

* Bor, n. adx. ^66.

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142 THB IJNITBD NETHERLANDS. Chap. T.

flowing around it, and with full and free marine communica-
tion with Zeeland and Holland^ it might safely bid defiance to
the land-forces, even of so great a commander as Parma. To
the furtherance of this great measure of defence, it was
necessary to destroy certain bulwarks, the chief of loth june^
which was called the Blaw-garen Dyke ; and Sainte ^^®^
Ald^onde was therefore requested to return to the city, in
order to cause this task to be executed without delay.'

Nothing could be more judicious than thb advice. The
low lands along the Scheldt were protected against marine
encroachments, and the river itself was confined to its bed,
by a magnificent system of dykes, which extended along ils
edge towards the ocean, in parallel lines. Other barriers of a
similar nature ran in oblique directions, through the wide
open pasture lands, which they maintained in green fertility,
against the ever-threatening sea. The Blaw-garen, to which
the prince mainly alluded, was connected with the great dyke
upon the right bank of the Scheldt. Between this and the
city, another bulwark called the Kowenstyn Dyke, crossed the
country at right angles to the river, and joined the other two
at a point, not very far from Lillo, where the States had a
strong fortress.*

The country in this neighbourhood was low, spongy, full of
creeks, small meres, and the old bed of the Scheldt. Orange,
therefore, made it very clear, that by piercing the great dyke
just described, such a vast body of water would be made to
pour over the land as to submerge the Kowenstyn also, the
only other obstacle in the passage of fleets from Zeeland to
Antwerp. The city would then be connected with the sea
and its islands, by so vast an expanse of navigable water,
that any attempt on Parma's part to cut off supplies and
succour would be hopeless. Antwerp would laugh the idea
of famine to scorn ; and although this immunity would be
purchased by the sacrifice of a large amount of agricultural
territory the price so paid was but a slender one, when the

1 Bor, ubi sup. Metoren, xil 216-18.

* Bor, Meteren, ubi avp. Hoofil Yervolgh, 4^ aeq.

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1586. aAINTB ALDEGONDB, BUBGOMASTER. 143

existence of the capital, and with it perhaps of the whole con-
federacy was at stake.^

Sainte Aldegonde and Martini suggested, that, as there
would be some opposition to the measure proposed, it might
be as well to make a similar attempt on the Flemish side, in
preference, by breaking through the dykes in the neighbour-
hood of Saftingen. Orange replied, by demonstrating that
the land in the r^on which he had indicated was of a
character to ensure success, while in the other direction
there were certain very unfavourable circumstances which
rendered the issue doubtful* The result was destined to
prove the sagacity of the Prince, for it will be shown in
the sequel, that the Saftingen plan, afterwards really carried
out, was rather advantageous than detrimental to the enemy's
projects.

Sainte Ald^onde, accordingly, yielded to the arguments
and entreaties of his friend, and repaired without delay to
Antwerp.

The advice of William the Silent — as will soon be related
—was not acted upon ; and, within a few weeks after it had
been given, he was in his grave. Nowhere was his loss more
severely felt than in Antwerp. It seemed, said a contempo-
rary, that with his death had died all authority.* The Prince
was the oidy head which the many-membered body of that
very democratic city ever spontaneously obeyed. Antwerp
was a small republic — ^in time of peace intelligently and suc-
cessfully administered — ^which in the season of a great foreign
war, amid plagues, tumults, fistmine, and internal rebellion,
required the firm hand and the clear brain of a single chief
That brain and hand had been possessed by Orange alone.

Before his death he had desired that Sainte Ald^onde
should accept the office of burgomaster of the city. Nomi-
nally, the position was not so elevated as were many of the
posts which that distinguished patriot had filled. In reality,
it was as responsible and arduous a place as could be offered

> Bor, lieteren, tibi sup, Hoofd Yeirolgfa, 4 acq.
• Ibid. • Rejd, iv. 69.

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144 ^I^HB UNITBD NBTHRBLANBa Chap. T.

to any man's acceptance thronghont the country. Sainte
Aldegonde consented, not without some reluctance. He felt
that there was odium to be incurred ; he knew that much
would be expected of him, and that his means would be
limited. His powers would be liable to a constant and
various restraint. His measures were sure to be the subject
of perpetual cavil. If the city were besieged, there were
nearly one hundred thousand mouths to feed, and nearly one
hundred thousand tongues to dispute about furnishing the food.

For the government of Antwerp had been degenerating
from a well-organised municipal republicanism into anarchy.
The clashing of the various bodies exercising power had
become incessant and intolerable.' The burgomaster was
charged with the chief executive authority, both for peace
and war. Nevertheless he had but a single vote in the board
of magistrates, where a majority decided. Moreover, he could
not always attend the sessions, because he was also member
of the council of Brabant. Important measures might there-
fore be decided by the magistracy, not only against his
judgment, but without his knowledge. Then there was a
variety of boards or colleges, all arrogating concurrent —
which in truth was conflicting — authority. There was the
board of militia-colonels, which claimed great powers. Here,
too, the burgomaster was nominally the chief, but he might
be voted down by a majority, and of course was often absent.
Then there were sixteen captains who came into the colonels'
sessions whenever they liked, and had their word to say upon
all subjects broached. If they were refused a hearing, they
were backed by eighty other captains, who were ready at Bnf
moment to carry every disputed point before the "broad-
council."

There were a college of ward-masters, a college of select
men, a college of deacons, a college of ammunition, of forti-
fication, of ship-building, all claiming equal authority, and all
wrangling among themselves ; and there was a college of
" peace-makers," who wrangled more than all the rest together.
' lieteren, xiL 218. Goiodardini, in voce.

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ISdi. ANABCHY IK ANTWEBP. 145

Once a week there was a Bession of the board or general
coanciL Dire was the hissing and confusion, as the hydra
heads of the multitudinous government were laid together.
Heads of colleges, presidents of chambers, militia-chieftains,
magistrates, ward-masters, deans of fishmongers, of tailors,
gardeners, butchers, all met together pell-mell; and there
was no predominant authority. This was not a convenient
working machinery for a city threatened with a siege by the
first captain of the age. Moreover there was a deficiency of
regular troops. The burgher-militia were well trained and
courageous, but not distinguished for their docility. There
was also a regiment of English under Colonel Morgan, a
soldier of great experience, and much respected ; but, as
Stephen Le Sieur said, " this force, unless seconded with more,
was but a breakfast for the enemy." Unfortunately, too, the
insubordination, which was so ripe in the city, seemed to affect
these auxiliaries. A mutiny broke out among the English
troops. Many deserted to Parma, some escaped to England,
and it was not until Morgan had beheaded Captain Lee and
Captain Powell,^ that discipline could be restored.

And into this scene of wild and deafening confusion came
Philip de Mamix, Lord of Sainte Aldegonde.

There were few more brilliant characters than he in all
Christendom. He was a man of a most rare and versatile
genius. Educated in Geneva at the very feet of Calvin, he
had drunk, like mother's milk, the strong and bitter waters
of the stem reformer's creed ; but he had in after life
attempted, although hardly with success, to lift himself to
the height of a general religious toleration. He had also
been trained in the severe and thorough literary culture
which characterised that rigid school He was a scholar, ripe
and rare ; no holiday trifler in the gardens of learning. He
spoke and wrote Latin like his native tongue. He could
compose poignant Greek epigrams. He was so familiar with
Hebrew, that he had rendered the Psalms of David out of
the original into flowing Flemish verse, for the use of the

> Meteren, xil 218.
VOL. I.— L

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146 THB XJNITBD NKrHERLAin)a Chap. V.

reformed churches. That he possessed the modem tongaes
of civilized Europe, Spanish, Italian, French, and (German,
was a matter of course. He was a profound jurisconsult,
capahle of holding debate against all competitors upon any
point of theory or practice of law, civil, municipal, inter-
Dational. He was a learned theologian, and had often
proved himself a match for the doctors, bishops, or rabbin of
Europe, in highest argument of dogma, creed, or tradition.
He was a practised diplomatist, constantly employed in deli-
• ate and difficult negotiations by William the Silent, who
ever admired his genius, cherished his friendship, and relied
upon his character. He was an eloquent orator, whose
memorable harangue, beyond all his other efforts, at the diet
of Worms, had made the German princes hang their heads
with shame, when, taking a broad and philosophical view of
the Netherland matter, he had shown that it was the great
question of Europe ; that Nether Germany was all Germany ;
that Protestantism could not be unravelled into shreds ; that
there was but one cause in Christendom — that of absolutism
against national liberty. Papacy against the reform ; and that
the seventeen Provinces were to be assisted in building them-
selves into an eternal barrier against Spain, or that the
" burning mark of shame would be branded upon the forehead
of Germany ;" that the war, in short, was to be met by her
on the threshold, or else that it would come to seek her at
home — a prophecy which the horrible Thirty Tears' War was
in after time most signally to verify.

He was a poet of vigour and originality, for he had accom-
plished what has been achieved by few ; he had composed a
national hymn, whose strophes, as soon as heard, struck a
chord in every Netherland heart, and for three centuries long
have rung like a clarion wherever the Netherland tongue is
spoken. " Wilhelmus van Nassouwe," r^arded simply as a
literary composition, has many of the qualities which an ode
demands ; an electrical touch upon the sentiments, a throb of
patriotism, sympathetic tenderness, a dash of indignation,
with rhythmical harmony and graceful expression ; and thus

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16S4. CHARA.OTEB OF SAINTB ALDBGONDB. 147

it lias rang from millions of lips, from generation to g^e-
ration.

He was a soldier, courageous, untiring, prompt in action,
useful in council, and had distinguished himself in many a
hard-fought field. Taken prisoner in the sanguinary skirmish
at Maaslandssluys, he had been confined a year, and, for more
ihan three months, had never laid his head, as he declared,
ipon the pillow without commending his soul as for the last
dme to his Maker, expecting daily the order for his inune-
iiate execution, and escaping his doom only because William
the Silent proclaimed that the proudest head among the
Spanish prisoners should fall to avenge his death ; so that he
was ultimately exchanged against the veteran Mondragon.

From the incipient stages of the revolt he had been fore-
most among the patriots. He was supposed to be the author
of the famous ^^ Compromise of the Nobles,'' that earliest and
most conspicuous of the state-papers of the republic, and of
many other important political documents ; and he had con-
tributed to general literature many works of European
celebrity, of which the ^ Roman Bee-Hive' was the most
universally known.

Scholar, theologian, diplomatist, swordsman, orator, poet,
pamphleteer, he had genius for all things, and was eminent
in alL He was even famous for his dancing, and had com-
posed an intelligent and philosophical treatise upon the value
of that amusement, as an agent of civilisation, and as a coun-
teractor of the grosser pleasures of the table to which Upper
and Nether Germans were too much addicted.

Of ancient Savoyard extraction, and something of a southern
nature, he had been bom in Brussels, and was national to
the heart's core.

A man of interesting, sympathetic presence ; of a phy-
siognomy where many of the attaching and attractive qualities
of his nature revealed themselves ; with crisp curling hair,
surmounting a tall, expansive forehead — ^full of benevolence,
idealism, and quick perceptions ; broad, brown, melancholy

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148 THE UNTTBD NBTHBRLANDS. Chap. T.

eyes, overflowing with tenderness ; a lean and haggard cheek,
a nigged Flemish nose ; a thin flexible mouth ; a slender
moustache, and a peaked and meagre beard ; so appeared
Sainte Aldegonde in the forty-seventh year of his age, when
he came to command in Antwerp.

Yet after all — ^many-sided, accomplished, courageous,
energetic, as he was — ^it may be doubted whether he was the
man for the hour or the post. He was too impressionable ;
he had too much of the temperament of genius. Without
being fickle, he had, besides his versatility of intellect, a
character which had much facility in turning ; not, indeed,
in the breeze of self-interest, but because he seemed placed
in so high and clear an atmosphere of thought that he was
often acted upon and swayed by subtle and invisible influences.
At any rate his conduct was sometimes inexplicable. He
had been strangely fascinated by the ignoble DiAe of Anjou ;
and, in the sequel, it will be found that he was destined to
experience other magnetic or magical impulses, which were
once thought suspicious, and have remained mysterious even
to the present day.

He was imaginative. He was capable of broad and bound-
less hopes. He was sometimes prone to deep despair. His
nature was exquisitely tempered; too fine and polished a
blade to be wielded among those hydra-heads by which he
was now surrounded ; and for which the stunning sledge-
hammer of arbitrary force was sometimes necessary.

He was perhaps deficient in that gift, which no training
and no culture can bestow, and which comes from above
alone by birth-right divine — that which men willingly call
master, authority ; the effluence which came so naturally
from the tranquil eyes of William the Silent.

Nevertheless, Sainte Aldegonde was prepared to do his best,
and all his best was to be tasked to the utmost. His position
was rendered still more difficult by the unruly nature of some
of his co-ordinates.

" From the first day to the last," said one who lived in

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1684L ASIOEAL TRESLONG. 149

Antwerp daring the siege, ^Hhe mistakes committed in the
city were incredible."^ It had long been obvious that a
8i^ was contemplated by Parma. A liberal sum of money
had been voted by the States-General, of which Holland and
Zeeland contributed a very large proportion (two hundred
thousand florins) ; the city itself voted another large subsidy,
and an order was issued to purchase at once and import into
the city at least a year's supply of every kind of provisions of
life and munitions of war.*

William de Blois, Lord of Treslong, Admiral of Holland
and Zeeland, was requested to carry out this order, and super-
intend the victualling of Antwerp. But Treslong at once
became troublesome. He was one of the old " Ix^gars of the
sea," a leader in the wild band who had taken possession of
the Brill, in the teeth of Alva, and so laid the foundation of
the republic. An impetuous noble, of wealthy family, high
connections, and refractory temper — ^a daring sailor, ever
ready for any rash adventure, but possessed of a very mode-
rate share of prudence or administrative ability, he fell into
loose and lawless courses on the death of Orange, whose firm
hand was needed to control him. The French n^ociation
had excited his profound disgust, and knowing Sainte Alde-
gonde to be heart and soul in favour of that aUiance, he was
in no haste whatever to carry out his orders with regard to
Antwerp.' He had also an insignificant quarrel with Presi-
dent Meetkerk. The Prince of Parma — ever on the watch
for such opportunities — was soon informed of the Admiral's
discontent, and had long been acquainted with his turbulent
character. Alexander at once began to inflame his jealoiisy
and soothe his vanity by letters and messengers, urging upon
him the propriety of reconciling himself with the Kling, and
promising him large rewards and magnificent employments in
the royal service. Even the splendid insignia of the Golden
Fleece were dangled before his eyes. It is certain that the
bold HoUander was not seduced by these visions, but there is

I Le Petit, IL 516. ' Le Petit^ II. 500. * Strado, IL 332, seq.

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150 THE tTOTTED NBTHBBLANDa Chap. V

no doubt that he listened to the voice of the tempter. He
unquestionably neglected his duty. Week after week he
remained at Ostend, sneering at the French and quaffing
huge draughts in honour of Queen Elizabeth. At last^ after
much time had elapsed, he agreed to victual Antwerp if he
could be furnished with thirty krom-stevens, — a peculisur kind
of vessel, not to be foimd in Zeeland. The krom-stevens were
sent to him from Holland. Then, hearing that his negligence
had been censured by the States-General, he became more
obstinate than ever, and went up and down proclaiming that
if people made themselves disagreeable to him he would do
that which should make all the women and children in the
Netherlands shriek and tremble. What this nameless horror
was to be he never divulged, but meantime he went down to
Middelburg, and swore that not a boat-load of com should
go up to Antwerp until two members of the magistracy,
whom he considered unpleasant, had been dismissed from
their office. Wearied with all this bluster, and imbued with
grave suspicion as to his motives, the States at last rose upon
their High Admiral and threw him into prison. He was
accused of many high crimes and misdemeanours, and, it was
thought, would be tried for his life. He was suspected and
even openly accused of having been tampered with by Spain,
but there was at any rate a deficiency of proof

"Treslong is apprehended," wrote Davison to Buighley,
" and is charged to have been the cause that the fleet passed
not up to Antwerp. He is suspected to have otherwise for-
gotten himself, but whether justly or not will appear by his
trial Meantime he is kept in the common prison of Middel-
burg, a treatment which it is thought they would not offer
him if they had not somewhat of importance against him."^

He was subsequently released at the intercession of Queen
Elizabeth, and passed some time in England. He was after-
wards put upon trial, but no accuser appearing to sustain the
charges against him, he was eventually released. He never
received a command in the navy again, but the very rich

^ Davison to Burghlej and Walsingham, Feb. 28, 1586. S. P. Office MS.

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1W4L JUSnNUS DB NASSAU.— HOHKNLO. 151

emecures of Grand Falconer and Chief Forester of Holland
were bestowed upon him, and he appears to have ended his
days in peace and plenty.^

He was succeeded in the post of Admiral of Holland and
Zeeland by Justinus de Nassau, natural son of William the Si-
lent, a young man of much promise but of little experience. *

General Count Hohenlo, too, lieutenant for young Maurice,
and virtual commander-in-chief of the States' forces, was apt
to give much trouble. A German noble, of ancient descent
and princely rank, brave to temerity, making a jest of dan-
ger, and riding into a foray as if to a merry-making ; often
furiously intoxicated, and always turbulent and uncertain ; a
handsome, dissipated cavalier, with long curls floating over
his shoulders, an imposing aristocratic face, and a graceful,
athletic figure, he needed some cool brain and steady hand to
guide him — valuable as he was to fulfil any daring project
— ^but was hardly willing to accept the authority of a burgo-
master. While the young Maurice yet needed tutelage,
while " the sapling was growing into the tree," Hohenlo was
a dangerous chieftain and a most disorderly lieutenant.

With such municipal machinery and such coadjutors had
Sainte Aldegonde to deal, while, meantime, the delusive
French negociation was dragging its slow length along, and
while Parma was noiselessly and patiently proceeding with
his preparations.

The burgomaster — for Sainte Aldegonde, in whom vulgar
ambition was not a foible, had refused the dignity and title
of Margrave of Antwerp, which had been tendered him —
had neglected no eflfort towards carrying into effect the ad-
vice of Orange, given almost with his latest breath. The
manner in which that advice was received furnished a strik-
ing illustration of the defective machinery which has been
pourtrayed.

Upon his return from Delft, Sainte Aldegonde had sum-
moned a meeting of the magistracy of Antwerp. He laid

» Strada, IT. 332, $eq, Beyd, iv. 69. Bor. IL xx. 670-694. Wagenaar, yiiL
84-87. Meteren, xH. 218. * Ibid.

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152 THE UNITED KETHERLANDa Chap. V.

before the board the information communicated by
^^ Orange as to Parma's intentions. He also ex-
plained the scheme proposed for their frustration, and urged
the measures indicated with so much earnestness that his
fellow-magistrates were convinced. The order was passed
for piercing the Blauw-garen Dyke, and Sainte Ald^onde,
with some engineers, was requested to view the locality, and
to take order for the immediate fulfilment of the plan. '

Unfortunately there were many other boards in session
besides that of the Schepens, many other motives at work
besides those of patriotism. The guild of butchers held a
meeting, so soon as the plan suggested was known, and re-
solved with all their strength to oppose its execution.

The butchers were indeed furious. Twelve thoasand oxen
grazed annually upon the pastures which were about to be
submerged, and it was represented as unreasonable that all
this good fiesh and blood should be sacrificed. At a meeting
of the magistrates on the following day, sixteen butchers,
delegates from their guild, made their appearance, hoarse
with indignation. They represented the vast damage which
would be inflicted upon the estates of many private indivi-
duals by the proposed inundation, by this sudden conversion
of teeming meadows, fertile farms, thriving homesteads, pro-
lific orchards, into sandy desolation. Above all they depicted,
in glowing colours and with natural pathos, the vast destruc-
tion of beef which was imminent, and they urged — ^with some
show of reason — that if Parma were really about to reduce
Antwerp by famine, his scheme certainly would not be ob-
structed by the premature annihilation of these wholesome
supplies.'

That the Scheldt could be closed iu any manner was,
however, they said, a preposterous conception. That it could
be bridged was the dream of a lunatic. Even if it were pos-
sible to construct a bridge, and probable that the Zeelanders
and Antwerpers -would look on with folded arms while the

>Bor.IL467.
« Bor. IL 467, seq. Meteren, xil 216-218, seq. Hoofd Vonrolgh, 4, seq.

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1586. OPPOSrnOK TO THB PLAN OF OBAKGB. I53

work proceeded, the fabric, when completed, would be at the
mercy of the ice-floods of the winter and the enormous power
of the ocean-tides. The Prince of Orange himself, on a
former occasion, when Antwerp was Spanish, had attempted
to close the river with rafts, simken piles, and other obstruc-
tions, but the whole had been swept away, like a dam of
bnhushes^ by the first descent of the ice-blocks of winter. It
was witless to believe that Parma contemplated any such
measure, and utterly monstrous to believe in its success/

Thus far the butchers. Soon afterwards came sixteen
colonels of militia, as representatives of their branch of the
multiform government. These personages, attended by many
officers of inferior degree, sustained the position of the but-
chers with many Toluble and vehement arguments. Not the
least conyincing of their conclusions was the assurance that it
would be idle for the authorities to attempt the destruction of
the dyke, seeing that the municipal soldiery itself would pre-
vent the measure by main force, at all hazards, and without
r^ard to their own or others' lives.

The violence of this opposition, and the fear of a serious
internecine conflict at so critical a juncture, proved fatal to
the project. Much precious time was lost, and when at last
the inhabitants of the city awoke from their delusion, it was
to find that repentance, as usual, had come many hours too
late.'

For Parma had been acting while his antagonists had been
wrangling. He was hampered in his means, but he was
assisted by what now seems the incredible supineness of the
Ketherlanders. Even Sainte Aldegonde did not believe in the
possibility of erecting the bridge ; not a man in Antwerp
seemed to believe it. "The preparations," said one who
lived in the city, " went on before our very noses, and every
one was ridiculing the Spanish commander's folly.'"

A very great error was, moreover, committed in abandoning
Herenthals to the enemy. The city of Antwerp governed

'Bor. Meteren, Hoofd, ubi sup. Le Petit, II. 600, seq, ' Ibid.

» Le Petir, II. 498, 499.

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154 THB X7NITED NETHERLANDS. Chap. T.

Brabant^ and it would have been far better for the authoritieB
of the commercial capital to Buccoor this small but important
city, and, by so doing, to protract for a long time their
own defence. Mondragon saw and rejoiced over the mistaka
" Now 'tis easy to see that the Prince of Orange is dead,"
said the veteran, as he took possession, in the King's name, of
the forsaken Herenthals.^

Early in the sunmier, Parma's operations had been, of ne^
cessity, desultory. He had sprinkled forts up and down the
Scheldt, and had gradually been gaining control of the naviga-
tion upon that river. Thus Ghent and Dendermonde, Vil-
voorde, Brussels, and Antwerp, had each been isolated, and
all prevented from rendering mutual assistance. Below
Antwerp, however, was to be the scene of the great stru^le.
Here, within nine miles of the city, were two forts belonging
to the States, on opposite sides of the stream, Lillo and Lief-
kenshoek. It was important for the Spanish conunander to
gain possession of both, before commencing his contemplated
bridge.

Unfortunately for the States, the fortifications of Liefkens-
hoek, on the Flemish side of the river, had not been entirely
completed. Eight hundred men lay within it, under Colonel
John Pettin of Arras, an old patriotic officer of much ex-
perience. Parma, after reconnoitring the place in person,
despatched the famous Viscount of Ghent — now called Marquis
of Roubaix and Richebourg — to carry it by assault. The
Marquis sent one hundred men from his Walloon l^on, under
two officers, in whom he had confidence, to attempt a surprise,
with orders, if not successful, to return without delay. They
were successful The one hundred gained entrance into the
fort at a point where the defences had not been put into suffi*
cient repair.

They were inmiediately followed by Richebourg, at the
head of his regiment. The day was a fatal one. It was

loth July, the 10th July, and William of Orange was falling
"®^ at Delft by the hand of Balthazar Gerard. Lief-

> Eeyd, iv. 69.

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158A,

OAPTUBE OF LIEFKENSHOEK

165

kenshoek was carried at a blow. Of the eight hundred patriots
in the place^ scarcely a man escaped. Four hundred were
put to the sword^ the others were hunted into the river^ when
nearly all were drowned. Of the royalists a single man was
killed, and two or three more were wounded. " Our Lord was
pleased/' wrote Parma piously to Philip, that we " should cut
the throats of four hundred of them in a single instant, and
that a great many more should be killed upon the dykes ; so
that I believe very few to have escaped with life. We lost
one man, besides two or three wounded." * A few were taken
prisoners, and among them was the commander John Pettin.
He was at once brought before Richebourg, who was standing
in the presence of the Prince of Parma. The Marquis drew
his sword, walked calmly up to the captured Colonel, and ran
him through the body. Pettin fell dead upon the spot. The
Prince was displeased. "Too much choler. Marquis, too
much choler,'' — said he reprovingly. " Troppa colera. Signer
Marchese, 6 questa."* But Richebourg knew better. He
had, while still Viscount of Ghent, carried on a year pre-
viously a parallel intrigue with the royalists and the patriots.
The Prince of Parma had bid highest for his services, and
had, accordingly, found him a most effectual instrument in
completing the reduction of the Walloon Provinces. The
Prince was not aware, however, that his brave but venal ally
had, at the very same moment, been secretly treating with
William of Orange ; and as it so happened that Colonel
Pettin had been the agent in the unsuccessful negotiation, it
was possible that his duplicity would now be exposed.' The
Marquis had, therefore, been prompt to place his old con*
federate in the condition wherein men tell no tales, and if
contemporary chronicles did not bely him, it was not the first

' ** Y file suestro Sefior servido que
entraSBOD con sola perdlda de un
muerto j 2 o 3 heridos, j que se de-
goUaeen hasta 400 hombres en el
mismo instante, j que se matassen en
lo8 diques muchoEH-de manera que
oreo que ban quedado pocos con

vida." Parma to Philip II., 16 July,
1584. Archivo de Simancas MS.
Compare Bor, IL 469, seq. Meteren,
xil 218yo. Btndsk, IL 804, ieq,

s Meteren, zxl 218.

9 Ibid.

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156 THE UNTTBD NBTHBRLANDS. toAF. V.

time that he had been guilty of such cold-blooded murder
The choler had not been superfluous.

The fortress of Lillo was garrisoned by the Antwerp volun-
teers, called the " Young Bachelors." Teligny, the brave son
of the illustrious "Iron-armed" La None, commanded in
chief : and he had, besides the militia, a company of French
under Captain Gascoigne, and four hundred Scotchmen under
Colonel Morgan — ^perhaps two thousand men in alL

Mondragon, hero of the famous submarine expeditions of
Philipsland and Zierickzee, was ordered by Parma to take
the place at every hazard. With five thousand men — a lai^
proportion of the Spanish effective force at that moment —
the veteran placed himself before the fort, taking possession
of the beautiful country-house and farm of Lillo, where he
planted his batteries, and commenced a regular cannonade.
The place was stronger than Liefkenshoek, however, and
Teligny thoroughly comprehended the importance of main-
taining it for the States. Mondragon dug mines, and Teligny
countermined. The Spanish daily cannonade was cheerfuUy
responded to by the besi^ed, and by the time Mondragon
had shot away fifty thousand pounds of powder, he found that
he had made no impression upon the fortress, while the
number of his troops had been diminishing with great ra-
pidity. Mondragon was not so impetuous as he had been on
many former occasions. He never ventured an assault. At
last Teligny made a sortie at the head of a considerable force.
A warm action succeeded, at the conclusion of which, without
a decided advantage on either side, the sluice-gate in the
fortress was opened, and the torrent of the Scheldt, swollen by
a high tide, was suddenly poured upon the Spaniards. As-
sailed at once by the fire from the Lillo batteries, and by the
waters of the river, they were forced to a rapid retreat. This
they effected with great loss, but with signal courage, strug-
gling breast high in the waves, and bearing off their field-
pieces in their arms in the very face of the enemy.'

> Hoofd, Vervolgh, 7, 8. Strada, H. 304, aeq, Bor., H. 469, aeq, Meteren,
zil218.

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1584. HBAI>QUARTERS OP PARMA AT KALLOO. 157

Three weeks long Mondragon had been before Fort Lillo,
and two thousand of his soldiers had been slain in the trenches.
The attempt was now abandoned. Parma directed permanent
batteries to be established at Lillo-house^ at Oordam, and at
other places along the river^ and proceeded quietly with his
carefully- matured plan for closing the river.*

His own camp was in the neighbourhood of the villages of
Beveren, Kalloo, and Borght. Of the ten thousand foot and
seventeen hundred horse, which composed at the moment his
whole army, about one-half lay with him, while the remainder
were with Count Peter Ernest Mansfeld, in the neighbour-
hood of Stabroek. Thus the Prince occupied a position on
the left bank of the Scheldt, nearly opposite Antwerp, while
Mansfeld was stationed upon the right bank, and ten miles
fieu-ther down the river. From a point in the neighbourhood
of Kalloo, Alexander intended to throw a fortified bridge to
the opposite shore. When completed, all traffic up the river
from Zeeland would be cut off; and as the country on the
land-side, about Antwerp, had been now reduced, the city would
be effectually isolated. If the Prince could hold his bridge
until fiunine should break the resistance of the burghers,
Antwerp would fall into his hands.

His head-quarters were at Kalloo, and this obscure spot
soon underwent a strange transformation. A drowsy placid
little village — with a modest parish spire peeping above a
clump of poplars, and with half a dozen cottages, with storks'-
nests on their roofs, sprinkled here and there among pastures
and orchards — suddenly saw itself changed as it were into a
thriving bustling town ; for, saving the white tents which
dotted the green turf in every direction, the aspect of the
scene was, for a time, almost pacific. It was as if some great
manufacturing enterprise had been set on foot, and the
world had suddenly awoke to the hidden capabilities of the
situation.

A great dockyard and arsenal suddenly revealed them-*
selves — ^rising like an exhalation — ^where ship-builders, ar-

1 Meteren, xii. 21&

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158

THB UNITED NETHERLANDa

Chap. V.

mourers, blacksmiths^ joiners^ carpenters, caulkers, gravers,
were hard at work all day long. The din and hum of what
seemed a peaceful industry were unceasing. From Kalloo,
Parma dug a canal twelve miles long to a place called Steeken,
hundreds of pioneers being kept constantly at work with pick
and spade till it was completed. Through this artificial
channel — so soon as Ghent and Dendermonde had fallen —
came floats of timber, fleets of boats laden with provisions of
life and munitions of death, building-materials, and every
other requisite for the great undertaking, all to be disem-
barked at Kalloo. The object was a temporary and destructive
one, but it remains a monument of the great generaFs energy
and a useful public improvement. The amelioration of the
fenny and barren soil, called the Waesland, is dated from
that epoch ; and the spot in Europe which is the most pro-
lific, and which nourishes the largest proportion of inhabitants
to the square mile, is precisely the long dreary swamp which
the Prince thus drained for military purposes, and converted
into a garden. Drusus and Corbulo, in the days of the Boman
Empire, had done the same good service for their barbarian
foes.

At Kalloo itself, all the shipwrights, cutlers, masons, brass-
founders, rope-makers, anchor-foigers, sailors, boatmen, of
Flanders and Brabant, with a herd of bakers, brewers, and
butchers, were congregated by express order of Parma. In
the little church itself the main workshop was established,
and all day long, week after week, month after month, the
sound of saw and hammer, adze and plane, the rattle of
machinery, the cry of sentinels, the cheers of mariners, re-
sounded, where but lately had been heard nothing save the
drowsy homily and the devout hymn of rustic worship.^

Nevertheless the summer and autumn wore on, and still
the bridge was hardly conunenced. The navigation of the
river — although impeded and rendered dangerous by the

* Hoofd, Bor. Meteren, «W stqp.
Le Petit, 11, 509, seq. Reyd, iv. 58,
69. Strada,IL321, 9egr. y.d.Kampeii,

L 482. Bentivoglie, 'Gueira di Fiaa*
dra,' P. IL L. m.

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1584

DIFEIOULTY OP SUPPLTINa THE CITT

159

forts which. Parma held along the hanks — ^was still open ;
and, so long as the price of com in Antwerp remained three
or fomr times as high as the sum for which it could be pur-
chased in Holland and Zeeland, there were plenty of dare-
devil skippers ready to bring cargoes. Fleets of fly-boats,
convoyed by armed vessels, were perpetually running the
gauntlet. Sharp actions on shore between the forts of the
patriots and those of Parma, which were all intermingled
promiscuously along the banks, and amphibious and most
bloody encounters on ship-board, dyke, and in the stream
itself, between the wild Zeelanders and the fierce pikemen of
Italy and Spain, were of repeated occurrence* Many a
lagging craft fell into the enemy's hands, when, as a matter
of course, the men, women, and children, on board, were
horribly mutilated by the Spaniards, and were then sent
drifting in their boat with the tide — their arms, 1^, and
ears lopped off— up to the city, in order that the dangerous
nature of this provision-trade might be fully illustrated.'

Yet that traffic still went on. It would have continued
until Antwerp had been victualled for more than a year, had
not the city authorities, in the plentitude of their 26th Oct,
wisdom, thought proper to issue orders for its regu- ^^^•
ktion. On the 25th October a census was taken, when the
number of persons inside the walls was found to be ninety
thousand. For this population it was estimated that 300,000
veertels, or about 900,000 bushels of corn, would be required
annually.^ The grain was coming in very fast, notwithstand-
ing the perilous nature of the trade ; for wheat could be
bought in Holland for fifty fiorins the last, or about fifteen
pence sterling the bushel, while it was worth five or six florins
the veertel, or about four shillings the bushel, in Antwerp.'

The magistrates now committed a folly more stupendous
than it seemed possible for human creatures, under such cir-

1 "Bien est Tray qu*a en arrivait
joumdlement aucunes qui amenoient
des homines et des femmes, les uns
taez, les autres sans bras, ny jambes,
mais tout cela n'empescboit point lo

passage pourtant," &c Le Petit, Iv,
600. The historian was in Antwerp
during the siege.

« Bor, UL 500.

' Meteren, Bor, ubi tftip.

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160 THB UNITED KETHBBLANDS. Chap. T:

cumstances, to compass. They established a xnaximtim upon
com.* The skippers who had run their cargoes through the
gauntlet, all the way from Flushing to Antwerp, found on
their arrival, that, instead of being rewarded, according to
the natural laws of demand and supply, they were required
to exchange their wheat, rye, butter, and beef, against the
exact sum which the Board of Schepens thought proper to
consider a reasonable remuneration. Moreover, in order to
prevent the accumulation of provisions in private magazines,
it was enacted, that all consumers of grain should be com-
pelled to make their purchases directly from the ships.'
These two measures were almost as fatal as the preserva-
tion of the Blaw-garen Dyke, in the interest of the butchers.
Winter and famine were staring the city in the face, and
the maximum now stood sentinel against the gate, to pre-
vent the admission of food. The traffic ceased without a
struggle. Parma himself could not have better arranged the
blockade.

Meantime a vast and almost general inundation had taken
place. The aspect of the country for many miles around
was strange and desolate. The sluices had been opened in
the neighbourhood of Saftingen, on the Flemish side, so that
all the way from Hulst the waters were out, and flowed nearly
to the gates of Antwerp. A wide and shallow sea rolled over
the fertile plains, while church-steeples, the tops of lofty trees,
and here and there the turrets of a castle, scarcely lifted
themselves above the black waters ; the peasants' houses, the
granges, whole rural villages, having entirely disappeared.
The high grounds of Doel, of Kalloo, and Beveren, where
Alexander was established, remained out of reach of the flood.
Far below, on the opposite side of the river, other sluices had
been opened, and the sea had burst over the wide, level plain.
The villages of Wilmerdonk, Orderen, Ekeren, were changed
to islands in the ocean, while all the other hamlets, for miles
around, were utterly submerged.'

> Reydf iy. 69. Bor. Heteren, vibi sup. * Beyd, Bor, Meteran.

' Bor, HetereD, Hoonl, Le Petit, Bejd, «&t sti^.

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1584 BESULTS OF NOT PIEBOINa THB DYKES. IgJ

Still, however^ the Blaw-garen Dyke and its companion the
Kowenstyn remained obstinately above the waters^ forming
a present and more fatal obstruction to the communication
between Antwerp and Zeeland than would be furnished even
by the threatened and secretly-advancing bridge across the
Scheldt. Had Orange's prudent advice been taken, the city
had been safe. Over the prostrate dykes, whose destruction
he had so warmly urged, the ocean would have rolled quite
to the gates of Antwerp, and it would have been as easy to
bridge the North Sea as to control the free navigation of the
patriots over so wide a surface.

Wben it was too late, the butchers, and colonels, and
captains, became penitent enough. An order was passed, by
acclamation, in November, to do what Orange had recom-
mended in Jime. It was decreed that the Blaw-garen and
the Kowenstyn should be pierced.* Alas, the hour had long
gone by. Alexander of Parma was not the man to undertake
the construction of a bridge across the river, at a vast expense,
and at the same time to permit the destruction of the already
existing barrier. There had been a time for such a deed.
The Seigneur de Kowenstyn, who had a castle and manor on
and near the dyke which bore his name, had repeatedly urged
upon the Antwerp magistracy the propriety of piercing this
bulwark, even after their refusal to destroy the outer barrier.
Sainte Aldegonde, who vehemently urged the measure, protested
that his hair had stood on end, when he found, after repeated
entreaty, that the project was rejected.* The Seigneur de
Kowenstyn, disgusted and indignant, forswore his patriotism,
and went over to Parma.' The dyke fell into the hands of
the enemy. And now from Stabroek, where old Mansfeld
lay with his army, all the way across the flooded country, ran
the great bulwark, strengthened with new palisade-work and
block-houses, bristling with Spanish cannon, pike, and arque-

* Bor, n. 500.

*Merten8 en Torp. Gkschiedenia
Tan Antwerpen, y. 206. Paoebrocbii,

TOL. I.— M

* Annales Antwerpiensee,' iv. 100, seq,
'Bor, Meteren. Mertens en Torp^
vibi-syp.

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102 ^I^HE UNITED NETHERLANDS. Chap. Y.

bus^ even to the bank of the Scheldt^ in the immediate vicinity
of Fort Lillo. At the angle of its junction with the main
dyke of the river's bank, a strong fortress called Holy Cross
(Santa Cruz) had been constructed. That fortress and the
whole line of the Kowenstyn were held in the iron grip of
Mondragon. To wrench it from him would be no child's
play. Five new strong redoubts upon the dyke, and five
or six thousand Spaniards established there, made the enter-
prise more formidable than it would have been in June. It
had been better to sacrifice the twelve thousand oxen. Twelve
thousand Hollanders might now be slaughtered, and still the
dyke remain above the waves.

Here was the key to the fate of Antwerp.

On the other hand, the opening of the Saftiugen Sluice
had done Pwrma's work for him. Even there, too. Orange
had been prophetic. KaUoo was high and dry, but Alexander
had experienced some difficulty in bringing a fleet of thirty
vessels, laden with cannon and other valuable materials, from
Ghent along the Scheldt, into his encampment, because it
was necessary for them, before reaching their destination, to
pass in front of Antwerp. The inundation, together with a
rupture in the Dyke of Borght, furnished him with a watery
road, over which his fleet completely avoided the city, and
came in triumph to Kalloo.'

Sainte Aldegonde, much provoked by this masterly move-
ment on the part of Parma, had followed the little squadron
closely with some armed vessels from the city. A sharp
action had succeeded, in which the burgomaster, not being
properly sustained by the Zeeland ships on which he relied,
had been defeated. Admiral Jacob Jacobzoon behaved with
so little spirit on the occasion that he acquired with the
Antwerp populace the name of " Run-away Jacob," " Koppen
gaet loppen ; " and Sainte Ald^onde declared, that, but for his
cowardice, the fleet of Parma would have fallen into their
hands. The burgomaster himself narrowly escaped becoming

^ Heteren, ziL 218. Bor, IL 601.

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1S84. PBELIMINjLBIES 07 THB SIBGB. 163

a prisoner, and owed his safety only to the swiftness of his
baige, which was called the * Flying DeviL' *

The patriots, in order to counteract similar enterprises in
fnture, now erected a sconce, which ihey called Fort Teligny,
upon the ruptured dyke of Borght, directly in front of the
Boi^t blockhouse, belonging to the Spaniards, and just
opposite Fort Hoboken. Here, in this narrow passage, close
under the walls of Antwerp, where friends and foes were
brought closely, face to face, was the scene of many a sangui-
nary skirmish, from the commencement of the si^ until its
close.*

Still the bridge was believed to be a mere fable, a chimsBra.
Parma, men said, had become a lunatic from pride. It was
as easy to make the Netherlands submit to the yoke of the
Inquisition as to put a bridle on the Scheldt. Its 'depth,
breadth, the ice-floods of a northern winter, the neighbour-
hood of the Zeeland fleets, the activity of the Antwerp author-
rities, all were pledges that the attempt would be signally
frustrated.'

And they should have been pledges — ^more than enough.
Unfortunately, however, there was dissension within, and no
chieftain in the field, no sage in the council, of sufficient
authority to sustain the whole burthen of the war, and to
direct all the energies of the commonwealth. Orange was
dead. His son, one day to become the most illustrious mili-
tary commander in Europe, was a boy of seventeen, nominally
captain-general, but in reality but a youthful apprentice to
his art. Hohenlo was wild, wilful, and obstinate. Young
William Lewis Nassau, already a soldier of marked abilities,
was fully occupied in Friesland, where he was stadholder,
and where he had quite enough to do in making head against
the Spanish governor and general, the veteran Verdugo.
Military operations against Zutphen distracted the attention
of the States, which should have been fixed upon Antwerp.

"Haraei, 'Ann. Tnm. Belg.,' HI. I • Strada, IL 312, 313. Beyd, iv.
369. Bor, IL 601. Meteren, xiL 218, 58, 59.
teq. • Ibid.

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164 THE UNITED KETHERLANDa Ohap. Y.

Admiral Treslong^ as ve have seen, was refractory^ the cause
of great delinquency on the part of the fleets^ and of infi-
nite disaster to the commonwealth. More than all, the French
negotiation was betraying the States into indolence and hesi-
tation ; and creating a schism between the leading politicians
of the country. Several thousand French troops, under
Monsieur d'Allaynes, were daily expected, but never arrived ;
and thus, while English and French partisans were plotting •
and counter-plotting, while a delusive diplomacy was usurping
the place of lansquenettes and gim-boats — the only possible
agents at that moment to preserve Antwerp — ^the bridge of
Parma was slowly advancing. Before the winter had closed
in, the preparatory palisades had been finished.

Between Kalloo and Ordam, upon the opposite side, a sand-
bar had been discovered in the river's bed, which diminished
the depth of the stream, and rendered the pile-driving com-
paratively easy. The breadth of the Scheldt at this passage
was twenty-four hundred feet ; its depth, sixty feet. Upon
the Flemish side, near Kalloo, a strong fort was erected, called
Saint Mary, in honour of the blessed Virgin, to whom the
whole siege of Antwerp had been dedicated fix)m the b^in-
ning. On the opposite bank was a similar fort, named Philip,
for the King. From each of these two points, thus fortified,
a framework of heavy timber, supported upon huge piles, had
been carried so far into the stream on either side that the dis-
tance between the ends had at last been reduced to thirteen
hundred feet. The breadth of the roadway — ^formed of strong
sleepers firmly bound together — ^was twelve feet, along which
block-houses of great thickness were placed to defend the
whole against assault.^

Thus far the work had been comparatively easy. To bridge
the remaining open portion of the river, however, where its
current was deepest and strongest, and where the action of
tide, tempest, and icebei^, would be most formidable, seemed
a desperate undertaking ; for as the enterprise advanced, this

> Bor, II. 601, aeq. Meteren, xiL 218, Mg. Strada. IL 313, aeq. Benti*
voglio, P. n. L. IIL 288, ^.

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16S4. SnOOESSBS OF THE SPANIABDS. Igg

narrow open space became the scene of daily amphibious
encormters between the soldiers and sailors of Parma and the
forces of the States. Unfortunately for the patriots, it was
only skirmishing. Had a strong, concerted attack, in large
force, from HoUand and Zeeland below and from the dty
above, been agreed upon, there was hardly a period, until very
late in the winter, when it might not have had the best chances
of success. With a vigorous commander against him, Parma,
weak in men, and at his wits' end for money, might, in a few
hours, have seen the labour of several months hopelessly anni-
hilated. On the other hand, the Prince was ably seconded by
his lieutenant. Marquis Richebourg, to whom had been dele-
gated the immediate superintendence of tiie bridge-building
in its minut^t details. He was never idle. Audacious, inde-
fatigable, ubiquitous, he at least atoned by energy and bril-
liant courage for his famous treason of the preceding year,
while his striking and now rapidly approaching doom upon
the very scene of his present labours, made him appear to
have been building a magnificent though fleeting monument
to his own memory.'

Sainte Aldegonde, shut up in Antwerp, and hampered by
dissension within and obstinate jealousy without the walls,
did all in his power to frustrate the enemy's enterprise and
animate the patriots. Through the whole of the autumn and
early winter, he had urged the States of Holland and Zeeland
to make use of the long winter nights, when moonless and
stormy, to attempt the destruction of Parma's undertaking,
but the fatal influences already indicated were more efficient
against Antwerp than even the genius of Famese ; and no-
thing came of the burgomaster's entreaties save desultory
skirmishing and unsuccessful enterprises. An especial mis-
fortune happened in one of these midnight undertakings.
Teligny ventured forth in a row-barge, with scarcely any
companions, to notify the Zeelanders of a contemplated move-
ment, in which their co-operation was desired. It was pro-
posed that the Antwerp troops should make a fictitiouB demon-

* Bentivoglio^ Strada, tibi tup.

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166 IHB UNITED METHKKLANDS. Chap. Y.

stration upon Fort Ordam, while at the same moment the
States' troops from Fort Lillo should make an assault upon
the forts on Kowenstyn Dyke ; and in this important enter-
prise the Zeeland vessels were requested to assist. But the
brave Teligny nearly forfeited his life by his rashness, and his
services were, for a long time, lost to the cause of liberty. It
had been better to send a less valuable officer upon such
hazardous yet subordinate service. The drip of his oars was
heard in the darkness. He was pursued by a nimiber of
armed barges, attacked, wounded severely in the shoulder,
and captured. He threw his letters overboard, but they were
fished out of the water, carried to Parma, and deciphered, so
that the projected attack upon the Kowenstyn was disco-
vered, and, of necessity, deferred. As for Teligny, he was
taken, as a most valuable prize, into the enemy's camp, and
was soon afterwards thrust into prison at Tournay, where he
remained six years — one year longer than the period which his
illustrious &ther had been obliged to consume in the infamous
dungeon at Mens. Few disasters could have been more keenly
felt by the States than the loss of this brilliant and devoted
French chieftain, who, young as he was, had already become very
dear to the republic; and Sainte Ald^onde was severely blamed
for sending so eminent a personage on that dangerous expe-
dition, and for sending him, too, with an insufficient convoy.*

Still Alexander felt uncertain as to the result. He was
determined to secure Antwerp, but he yet thought it possible
to secure it by negotiation. The enigmatical policy main-
tained by France perplexed him ; for it did not seem possible
that so nmch apparent solemnity and earnestness were destined
to lead to an impotent and in£unous conclusion. He was left,
too, for a long time in ignorance of his own master's secret
schemes, he was at liberty to guess, and to guess only, as to
the projects of the league, he was without adequate means to
carry out to a certain triumph his magnificent enterprise, and
he was in constant alarm lest he should be suddenly assailed
by an overwhelming French force. Had a man sat upon the

* Bor, n. 607, 608. Metereo, xiL 218. Strada, U, 319, 820.

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1684. ENBBGY OF FABNESB WITH SWOED AND PEN. 167

-throne of Henry III. at that moment, Parma's bridge-making
and dyke-fortifying — skilful as they were — ^would have been
all in vain. Meantime, in uncertainty as to the great issue,
but resolved to hold firmly to his purpose, he made repeated
conciliatory offers to the States with one hand, while he
steadily prosecuted his aggressive schemes' with the other.

Parma had become really gentle, almost affectionate, to-
wards the Netherlanders. He had not the disposition of an
Alva to smite and to blast, to exterminate the rebels and
heretics with fire and sword, with the axe, the rack, and the
gallows. Provided they would renounce the great object of
the contest, he seemed really desirous that they should escape
further chastisement; but to admit the worship of God accord-
ing to the reformed creed, was with him an inconceivable
idea. To do so was both unrighteous and impolitic. He had
been brought up to believe that mankind could be saved from
eternal perdition only by believing in the infallibility of the
Bishop of Rome ; that the only keys to eternal paradise were
in the hands of St. Peter's representative. Moreover, he in-
stinctively felt that within this religious liberty which the
Netherlanders claimed was hidden the germ of civil liberty ;
and though no bigger than a grain of mustard-seed, it was
necessary to destroy it at once ; for of course the idea of civil
liberty could not enter the brain of the brilliant general of
PhiUp II.

On the 13th of November he addressed a letter to the
magistracy and broad-council of Antwerp. He asserted that
the instigators of the rebellion were not seeking to i3th Nov.,
further the common weal, but their own private i^^^
ends. Especially had this been the ruling motive with the
Prince of Orange and the Duke of Anjou, both of whom God
had removed from the world, in order to manifest to the States
their own weakness, and the omnipotence of Philip, whose
prosperity the Lord was constantly increasing. It was now
more than time for the authorities of the country to have
regard for themselves, and for the miseries of the poor people.
The affection which he had always felt for the Provinces —

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IQS THE UNITED NBTHBBLANDS. Chap. T.

from which he had himself sprang — and the favours which he
had received from them in his youth^ had often moved him to
propose measures, which, before God and his conscience, he
believed adequate to the restoration of peace. But his letters
had been concealed or falsely interpreted by the late Prince
of Orange, who had sought nothing but to spread desolation
over the land, and to shed the blood of the innocent. He
now wrote once more, and for the last time, in all fervour and
earnestness, to implore them to take compassion on their own
wives and children and forlorn fatherland, to turn their eyes
backward on the peace and prosperity which they had for-
merly enjoyed when obedient to his Majesty, and to cast a
glance around them upon the miseries which were so universal
since the rebellion. He exhorted them to close their ears
to the insidious tongues of those who were leading them into
delusion as to the benevolence and paternal sweetness of their
natural lord and master, which were even now so boundless
that he did not hesitate once more to offer them his entire
forgiveness. If they chose to n^otiate, they would find
everything granted that with right and reason could be pro-
posed. The Prince concluded by declaring that he made
these advances not from any doubt as to the successful issue
of the military operations in which he was engaged, but
simply out of paternal anxiety for the happiness of the Pro-
vinces. Did they remain obstinate, their ultimate conditions
would be rendered still more severe, and themselves, not he,
would be responsible for the misery and the bloodshed to
ensue.*

Ten days afterwards, the magistrates, thus addressed — after
communication with the broad-council — answered Parma's
23id Nov., letter manfully, copiously, and with the customary
1584. but superfluous historical sketch. They begged
leave to entertain a doubt as to the paternal sweetness of
a king who had dealt so long in racks and gibbets. With
Parma's own mother, as they told the Prince, the Nether-
landers had once made a treaty, by which the right to wor-

' See the letters in Metoren, ziL 219, Bor, II. 602, 603. Hoofil Yexrolgfa, 60.

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1584. HIS OOBBBSPONDENOE WITH THE ANTWEBPBBS. 169

ship God according to their coDsciences had been secured;
yet for maintaining that treaty they had been devoted to
indiscriminate destruction^ and their land made desolate with
fire and swonL Men had been massacred by thousands, who
had never been heard in their own defence, and who had
never been accused of any crime, ^^ save that they had assem-
bled together in the name of God, to pray to Him through
their only mediator and advocate Jesus Christ, according to
His command." '

The axis of the revolt was the religious question ; and it
was impossible to hope anything from a monarch who was
himself a slave of the Inquisition, and who had less independ-
ence of action than that enjoyed by Jews and Turks, accord-
ing to the express permission of the Pope. Therefore they
informed Parma that they had done with Philip for ever, and
that in consequence of the extraordinary wisdom, justice, and
moderation, of the French King, they had offered him the
sovereignty of their land, and had implored his protection.

They paid a tribute to the character of Famese, who after
gaining infinite glory in arms, had manifested so much
gentleness and disposition to conciliate. They doubted not
that be would, if he possessed the power, have guided the
royal councils to better and more generous results, and pro-
tested that they would not have delayed to throw themselves
into bis arms, had they been assured tiiat he was authorized to
admit that which alone could form the basis of a successful
n^otiation — ^religious freedom. They would in such case
have been wiUing to close with him, toithout talking about other
conditions than such as his Highness in his discretion and
sweetness might think reasonable.

Moreover, as they observed in conclusion, they were pre-
cluded, by their present relations with France, from entering
into any other negotiation ; nor could they listen to any such
proposals without deserving to be stigmatized as the most
lewd, blasphemous, and thankless mortals, that ever cumbered
the earth.

' Letters in Bor, MetereD, Hoofd, ubi svp.

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170 ^I^HB UNITED NBTHBRLANDS. Chap. T

Being under equal obligations both to the Union and to
France^ they announced that Parma's overtures would be laid
before the French government and the assembly of the
States-General*

A day was to come^ perhaps^ when it would hardly seem
lewdness and blasphemy for the Netherlanders to doubt the
extraordinary justice and wisdom of the French King. Mean-
time, it cannot be denied that they were at least lojral to their
own engagements, and long-suffering where they had trusted
and given their hearts.

Parma replied by another letter, dated December 3rd. He

assured the citizens that Henry III. was far too discreet, and

loth Dec., much too good a friend to Philip II., to countenance

^584. ^jiig rebellion. If he were to take up their quarrel,
however, the King of Spain had a thousand means of foiling
all his attempts. As to the religious question — ^which they
affirmed to be the sole cause of the war — ^be was not inclined
to waste words upon that subject ; nevertheless, so far as he in
his simplicity could understand the true nature of a Christian,
he could not believe that it comported with the doctrines of
Jesus, whom they called their only mediator, nor with the
dictates of conscience, to take up arms against their lawful
king, nor to burn, rob, plunder, pierce dykes, overwhelm their
fatherland, and reduce all things to misery and chaos, in the
name of religion.*

Thus moralizing and dogmatizing, the Prince concluded
his letter, and so the correspondence terminated. This last
despatch was communicated at once both to the States-General
and to the French government, and remained unanswered.
Soon afterwards the Netherlands and England, France and
Spain, were engaged in that vast game of delusion which has
been described in the preceding chapters. Meantime both
Antwerp and Parma remained among the deluded, and were
left to fight out their battle on their own resources.

Having found it impossible to subdue Antwerp by his rhe-
toric, Alexander proceeded with his bridge. It is impossible

' Lettersin Bor, Meteren, Hoofil, ti&t avp, * Ibid.

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1684 PBOGBBSS OF THE BRIDGE. 171

not to admire the steadiness and ingenuity with which the
Prince persisted in his plans^ the courage with which he bore
up against the parsimony and n^lect of his sovereign^ the
compassionate tenderness which he manifested for his patient
little army. So much intellectual energy commands enthu-
siasm, while the supineness on the other side sometimes ex-
cites indignation. There is even a danger of being entrapped
into sympathy with tyranny, when the cause of tyranny is
maintained by genius ; and of being surprised into indiffer-
ence for human liberty, when the sacred interests of liberty
are endangered by self-interest, perverseness, and folly.

Even Sainte Aldegonde did not believe that the bridge could
be completed. His fears were that the city would be ruined
rather by the cessation of its commerce than by want of daily
food. Already, after the capture of Liefkenshoek and the death
of Orange, the panic among commercial people had been so
intense that seventy or eighty merchants, representing the
most wealthy mercantile firms in Antwerp, made their escape
from the place, as if it had been smitten with pestilence, or
were already in the hands of Parma.' All such refugees
were ordered to return on peril of forfeiting their property.
Few came back, however, for they had found means of con-
verting and transferring their funds to other more secure
places, despite the threatened confiscation. It was insinuated
that Holland and Zeeland were indifferent to the fate of
Antwerp, because in the sequel the commercial cities of those
Provinces succeeded to the vast traffic and the boundless
wealth which had been forfeited by the Brabantine capital
The charge was an unjust one. At the very commencement
of the siege the States of Holland voted two hundred thousand
florins for its relief ; and, moreover, these wealthy refiigees
were positively denied admittance into the territory of the
United States, and were thus forced to settle in Grermany or
England.^ This cessation of traffic was that which principally
excited the anxiety of Ald^onde. He could not bring him-
self to believe in the possibility of a blockade, by an army of
> BaudartU 'Polemographia,' IL 24. • Ibid.

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172 THB UNTTBD KETHBBLAKDa Chap. T.

eight or ten thousand men, of a great and wealthy city, where
at least twenty thousand citizens were capable of bearing arms.
Had he thoroughly imderstood the deprivations under which
Alexander was labouring, perhaps he would have been even
more confident as to the result.

"With regard to the aflEjEur of the river Scheldt," wrote
Parma to Philip, " I should like to send your Majesty a

16 Jan. drawing of the whole scheme ; for the work is too

1685. yagt to be explained by letters. The more I
examine it, the more astonished I am that it should have
been conducted to this point ; so many forts, dykes, canals,
new inventions, machinery, and engines, have been necessarily
required." '

He then proceeded to enlighten the King — as he never
fiEiiled to do in all his letters — as to his own impoverished,
almost helpless condition. Money, money, men t This was
his constant cry. All would be in vain, he said, if he were
thus n^lected. " Tis necessary," said he, " for your Majesty
fully to comprehend, that henceforth the enterprise is your
own. I have done my work faithfully thus far ; it is now for
your Majesty to take it thoroughly to heart ; and embrace it
with the warmth with which an affiur involving so much of
your own interests deserves to be embraced."*

He avowed that without full confidence in his sovereign's
sympathy he would never have conceived the project. "I
confess that the enterprise is great," he said, " and that by
many it will be considered rash. Certainly I should not have
undertaken it, had I not felt certain of your Majesty's fuU
support." *

But he was already in danger of being forced to abandon
the whole scheme — although so nearly carried into effect —
for want of funds. " The million promised," he wrote, " has
arrived in bits and morsels, and with so many ceremonies,
that 1 haven't ten crowns at my disposal. How I am to
maintain even this handful of soldiers — ^for the army is

' Prince of Parma to Philip XL, 16 Jan. 1685. Arcfaivo de fiiipanoaa HS.
• Ibid. • Ibid.

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158& IMPOVERISHBD CONDITION OF PAKMA. 173

diminished to such a mere handful that it would astonish
your Majesty — I am unable to imagine. It would move you
to witness their condition. They have suffered as much as
is humanly possible." '

Many of the troops^ indeed^ were deserting^ and making
their escape^ beggared and desperate^ into France^ where^
with natural injustice^ they denounced their Ghneral^ whose
whole heart was occupied with their miseries, for the delin-
quency of his master, whose mind was full of other schemes.

" There past this way many Spanish soldiers," wrote Staf-
ford from Paris, "so poor and naked as I ever saw any.
There have been within this fortnight two hundred
at a time in this town, who report the extremity of 9 Jan.
want of victuals in their camp, and that they have ^^^^'
been twenty-four months without pay. They exclaim greatly
upon the Prince of Parma. Mendoza seeks to convey them
away, and to get money for them by all means he can."^

Stafford urged upon his government the propriety of being
at least as negligent as Philip had showed himself to be
of the Spaniards. By prohibiting supplies to the besieging
army, England might contribute, negatively, if not otherwise,
to the relief of Antwerp. "There is no place," he wrote
to Walsingham, "whence the Spaniards are so thoroughly
victualled as from us. English boats go by sixteen and
seventeen into Dunkirk, well laden with provisions."

This was certainly not in accordance with the interests nor
the benevolent professions of the English ministers.

These supplies were not to be r^ularly depended upon
however. They were likewise not to be had without paying
a heavy price for them, and the Prince had no money in his
coffer. He lived from hand to mouth, and was obliged to
borrow from every private individual who had anything to
lend. Merchants, nobles, official personages, were all obliged
to assist in eking out the scanty pittance allowed by the
sovereign.

*,Prixioe of Parma to Philip II., Ac MS. just cited.
• Stftflford to Walsingham, j^^^ in Mnrdin, IL

434.

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174 THE UNITED NETHEBLANDa Chap. T.

^^The million is all gone/' wrote Parma to his master;
^^ some to Yerdugo in Friesland ; some to repay the advances
of Marquis Bichebonrg and other gentlemen. There is not
a farthing for the garrisons. I can't go on a month longer,
and, if not supplied, I shall be obliged to abandon the work.
I have not money enough to pay my sailors, joiners, car-
penters, and other mechanics, from week to week, and they
will all leave me in the lurch, if I leave them unpaid. I
have no resource but to rely on your Majesty. Otherwise
the enterprise must wholly ML*'*

In case it did fstil, the Prince wiped his hands of the repon-
sibility. He certainly had the right to do so.

One of the main sources of supply was the city of Herto-
genbosch, or Bois-le-Duc. It was one of the four chief cities
of Brabant, and still held for the King, although many towns
in its immediate neighbourhood had espoused the cause of
the republic. The States had long been anxious to effect a
diversion for the relief of Antwerp, by making an attack on
Bois-le-Duc. Could they carry the place, Parma would be
almost inevitably compelled to abandon the siege in which
he was at present engaged, and he could moreover spare no
troops for its defence. Bois-le-Duc was a populous, wealthy,
thriving town, situate on the Deeze, two leagues above its
confluence with the Meuse, and about twelve leagues from
Antwerp. It derived its name of 'Duke's Wood' from a
magnificent park and forest, once the favourite resort and
residence of the old Dukes of Brabant, of which some beau-
tiftil vestiges still remained. It was a handsome well-built
city, with two thousand houses of the better class, besides
more humble tenements. Its citizens were celebrated for
their courage and belligerent skill, both on foot and on
horseback. They were said to retain more of the antique
Belgic ferocity which Caesar had celebrated than that
which had descended to most of their kinsmen. The place
was, moreover, the seat of many prosperous manufac-
tures. Its clothiers sent the products of their looms over

* MS. Letter of Panna, before cited.

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1685. PATRIOTS ATTEMPT BOIS-LB-DUO. 175

all Christendom, and its linen and cutlery were equally
renowned.'

It would be a most fortunate blow in the cause of freedom
to secure so thriving and conspicuous a town, situated thus in
the heart of what seemed the natural territory of the United
States ; and, by so doing, to render nugatory the mighty
preparations of Parma against Antwerp. Moreover, it was
known that there was no Spanish or other garrison within its
walls, so that there was no opposition to be feared, except
from the warlike nature of the citizens.

Count Hohenlo was entrusted, early in January, with this
important enterprise. He accordingly collected a force of
four thousand infantry, together with two hundred January,
mounted lancers ; having previously reconnoitered i^ss.
the ground. He relied very much, for the success of the
midertaking, on Captain Kleerhagen, a Brussels nobleman,
whose wife was a native of Bois-le-Duc, and who was
thoroughly familiar with the locality. One dark winter's
night, Kleerhagen, with fifty picked soldiers, advanced to the
Antwerp gate of Bois-le-Duc, while Hohenlo, with his whole
force, lay in ambuscade as near as possible to the city.

Between the drawbridge and the portcullis were two small
guard-houses, which, very carelessly, had been left empty.
Kleerhagen, with his fifty followers, successfully climbed into
these lurking-places, where they quietly ensconced them-
selves for the night. At eight o'clock of the following
morning (20th January) the guards of the gate 20th Jan.,
drew up the portcullis, and reconnoitered. At the 1685.
same instant, the ambushed fifty sprang from their conceal-
ment, put them to the sword, and made themselves masters
of the gate. None of the night-watch escaped with life, save
one poor old invalided citizen, whose business had been to
draw up the portcullis, and who was severely wounded, and
left for dead. The fifty immediately sununoned all of
Hohenlo's ambuscade that were within hearing, and then,
without waiting for them, entered the town pell-mell in the

' Gmodardini, in voce.

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176 THE UNITED NETFKRTiANPa Chap. V.

best of Spirits, and shouting victory I victory I till they were
hoarse. A single corporal, with two men, was left to guard
the entrance. Meantime, the old wounded gate-opener,
bleeding and crippled, crept into a dark comer, and laid him-
self down, unnoticed, to die.

Soon afterwards Hohenlo galloped into the town, clad in
complete armour, his long curls floating in the wind, with
about two hundred troopers clattering behind him, closely
followed by five hundred pike-men on foot

Very brutally, foolishly, and characteristically, he had
promised his followers the sacking of the city so soon as
it should be taken. They accordingly set about the sacking,
before it was taken. Hardly had the five or six hundred
effected their entrance, than throwing off all control, they
dispersed through the principal streets, and b^an bursting
open the doors of the most opulent households. The cries
of "victory !" "gained city !" "down with the Spaniards !"
resounded on all sides. Many of the citizens, panic-struck^
fled from their homes, which they thus abandoned to pillage,
while, meantime, the loud shouts of the assailants reached
the ears of the sergeant and his two companies who had been
left in charge of the gate. Fearing that they should be
cheated of their rightful share in the plunder, they at once
abandoned their post, and set forth after their comrades, as
fast as their legs could carry them.

Now it so chanced — although there was no garrison in the
town — that forty Burgundian and Italian lancers, with about
thirty foot-soldiers, had come in the day before to escort
a train of merchandise. The Seigneur de Haultepenne,
governor of Breda, a famous royalist commander — son of
old Count Berlaymont, who first gave the name of "beggars"
to the patriots — ^had accompanied them in the expedition.
The little troop were already about to mount their horses to
depart, when they became aware of the sudden tumult.
Elmont, governor of the city, had also flown to the rescue, and
had endeavoured to rally the burghers. Not immindful of
their ancient warlike fame, they had obeyed his entreaties.

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15«6. THBIR MISCONDUCT. I77

Elmont, with a strong party of armed citizens, joined himself
to Haultepenne's little band of lancers. They fired a few
shots at straggling parties of plunderers, and pursued others
up some narrow streets. They were but an handful in com-
parison with the number of the patriots, who had gained
entrance to the city. They were, however, compact, united,
and resolute. The assailants were scattered, disorderly, and
bent only upon plunder. When attacked by an armed and
r^ular band, they were amazed. They had been told that
there was no garrison ; and behold a choice phalanx of
Spanish lancers, led on by one of the most famous of Philip's
Netherland chieftains. They thought themselves betrayed
by Kleerhagen, entrapped into a deliberately arranged
ambush. There was a panic. The soldiers, dispersed and
doubtful, could not be rallied. Hohenlo, seeing that nothing
was to be done with his five hundred, galloped furiously out
of the gate, to bring in the rest of his troops who had
remained outside the walls. The prize of the wealthy city of
Bois-le-Duc was too tempting to be lightly abandoned ; but
he had much better have thought of making himself master
of it himself before he should present it as a prey to his
followers.

During his absence the panic spread. The States' troops,
bewildered, astonished, vigorously assaulted, turned their
backs upon their enemies, and fled helter-skelter towards the
gates, through which they had first gained admittance. But
unfortunately for them, so soon as the corporal had left his
position, the wounded old gate-opener, in a dying condition,
had crawled forth on his hands and knees from a dark hole
in the tower, cut, with a pocket-knife, the ropes of the port-
cullis, and then given up the ghost. Most effective was that
blow struck by a dead man's hand. Down came the port-
cullis. The flying plunderers were entrapped. Close behind
them came the excited burghers — their antique Belgic
ferocity now fully aroused — firing away with carbine and
matchlock, dealing about them with bludgeon^ and cutlass,
and led merrily on by Haultepenne and Elmont armed in

VOL. I.— N

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178

THB UNITED NETHERLANDS.

Ghap. V.

proof, at the head of their squadron of lancers. The nnfortn-
nate patriots had risen very early in the morning only to
shear the wolf. Some were cut to pieces m the streets ; others
climbed the walls, and threw themselves head foremost into
the moat. Many were drowned, and but a very few effected
their escape. Justinus de Nassau sprang over the parapet,
and succeeded in swimming the ditch. Kleerhagen, driven
into the Holy Cross tower, ascended to its roof, leaped, all
accoutred as he was, into the river, and, with the assistance
of a Scotch soldier, came safe to land. Ferdinand Truchsess,
brother of the ex-elector of Cologne, was killed. Four or
five hundred of the assailants — ^nearly all who had entered
the city— were slain, and about fifty of the burghers.

Hohenlo soon came back, with Colonel Ysselstein, and two
thousand fresh troops. But their noses, says a contemporary^
grew a hundred feet long with surprise when they saw the
gate shut in their faces.* It might have occurred to the
Count, when he rushed out of the town for reinforcements,
that it would be as well to replace the guard, which — as he
must have seen — ^had abandoned their post.

Cursing his folly, he returned, mavellously discomfited,
and deservedly censured, to Gertruydenberg. And thus had
a most important enterprise, which had nearly been splendidly
successful, ended in disaster and disgrace. To the reckless-
ness of the general, to the cupidity which he had himself
awakened in his followers, was the failure alone to be attri-
buted. Had he taken possession of the city with a firm grasp
at the head of his four thousand men, nothing could have
resisted him ; Haultepenne, and his insignificant force, would
have been dead, or his prisoners ; the basis of Parma's magni-
ficent operations would have been withdrawn ; Antwerp would
have b^n saved.*

» Le Petit H. 606.

* For the enterprifie against Bois-le-
Doc, see Le Petit, iL 505-506 ; £au-
dartii Polemog. il 39 ; Meteren, xii.
222; Strada, iL 326, 327 (who by a
singular lapse of the pen represents
Justinus de Nassau as haying been

killed, <* Reperti inter eoe, qui deside-
rati sunt, Ferd. Truebsesius, et nofhus
Orangii filius,'' Ac. 327 ;) Bor. iL 558;
Van Wvn op Wagenaar, viiL Zi^ seq,;
Letter of Parma to the King, 12 Feb.
1585. (Arohivo de Simancas MS.)

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1685. FAILURB OF THB BNTBEFBIBEL 179

''Infinite gratitude/' wrote Parma to Philip, "should be
rendered to the Lord. Great thanks are also dae to Haulte-
penne. Had the rebda succeeded in their enterprise against
Sdducy I should have been compelled to abandon the siege of
Antwerp. The town, by its strength and situation, is of
infinite importance for the reduction both of that place and
of Brussels, and the rebels in possession of Bolduc would
have cut off my supplies." '

The Prince reconmiended Haultepenne most warmly to
the King as deserving of a rich " merced," The true hero of
the day, however — at least the chief agent in the victory —
was the poor, crushed, nameless victim who had cut the ropes
of the portcullis at the Antwerp gate.

Hohenlo was deeply stung by the disgrace which he had in-
curred. For a time he sought oblivion in hard drinking ; but —
brave bxmSl energetic, though reckless — he soon became desirous
of retrieving his reputation by more successful enterprises;
There was no lack of work, and assuredly his hands were
rarely idle.

" HoUach (Hohenlo) is gone from hence on Friday last,''
wrote Davison to Walsingham, "he will do what he may to
recover his reputation lost in the attempt of Bois-le-Duc;
which, for the grief and trouble he hath conceived thereof,
hath for the time greatly altered him." *

Meantime the turbulent Scheldt, lashed by the storms of
winter, was becoming a more formidable enemy to Parma's
great enterprise than the military demonstrations of his
enemies, or the famine which was making such havoc with
his little army. The ocean-tides were rolling huge ice-blocks
up and down, which beat against his palisade with the noise
of thunder, and seemed to threaten its immediate destruction.
But the work stood firm. The piles supporting the piers,
which had been thrust out from each bank into the stream,
had been driven fifty feet into the river's bed, and did their
duty well But in the space between, twelve hundred and

* MS. Letter of Paima just cited.

s Dayiaon to Walsingham, Feb. 12, 1585. (S. P. Office ICa)

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180 THB T7KITED KETHBBLAND& Chap. Y.

forty feet in width, the current was too deep for pile-driving,
and a permanent bridge was to be established upon boats.
And that bridge was to be laid across the icy and tempestuous
flood, in the depth of winter, in the teeth of a watchful enemy,
with the probability of an immediate invasion from France,
— ^where the rebel envoys were known to be n^otiatingon
express invitation of the King — ^by half-naked, half-starving
soldiers and saQors, impaid for years, and for the sake of a
master who seemed to have forgotten their existence.

'^ Thank God,'' wrote Alexander, ^^ the palisade stands firm
in spite of the ice. Now with the favour of the Lord, we
shall soon get the fruit we have been hoping, if your Majesty
is not wanting in that to which your grandeur, your great
Christianity, your own interests, oblige you. In truth 'tis a
great and heroic work, worthy the great power of your
Majesty." " For my own part," he continued, " I have done
what depended upon me. From your own royal hand must
emanate the rest ; — ^men, namely, sufficient to maintain the
posts, and money enough to support them there." '

He expressed himself in the strongest language concerning
the danger to the royal cause from the weak and gradually
sinking condition of the army. Even without the French
intrigues with the rebels, concerning which, in his ignorance
of the exact state of affidrs, he expressed much anxiety, it
would be impossible, he said, to save the royal cause without
men and money.

" I have spared myself," said the Prince, " neither day nor
night. Let not your Majesty impute the blame to me if we
fail Verdugo also is uttering a perpetual cry out of Friesland
for men — men and money."

Yet, notwithstanding all these obstacles, the bridge was

25 Feb. finished at last. On the 25th February, the day

^^^^' sacred to Saint Matthew, and of fortunate augury

to the Emperor Charles, father of Philip and grandfiather of

Alexander, the Scheldt was closed.*

* MS. Letter of Panna before cited. « Jbi±

' Parma to Philip, 27 Feb. 1585. (ArchiTO de Simancas MS.)

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1565. THE SCHELDT BRIDGE COMPLETED. Igl

As already stated^ from Fort Saint Mary on the Ealloo
side, and from Fort Philip, not far from Ordam on the Brabant
shore of the Scheldt, strong structures, supported upon piers,
had been projected, reaching, respectively, five hundred feet
into the stream. These two opposite ends were now con-
nected by a permanent bridge of boats. There were thirty-
two of these barges, each of them sixty-two feet in length and
twelve in breadth, the spaces between each couple being
twenty-two feet wide, and all being bound together, stem,
stern, and midships, by quadruple hawsers and chains. Each
boat was anchored at stem and stem with loose cables.
Strong timbers, with cross rafters, were placed upon the
boats, upon which heavy frame-work the planked pathway
was laid down. A thick parapet of closely-fitting beams was
erected along both the outer edges of the whole fabric. Thus
a continuous and well-fortified bridge, two thousand four
hundred feet in length, was stretched at last from shore to
shore. Each of the thirty-two boats on which the central
portion of the structure reposed, was a small fortress provided
with two heavy pieces of artillery, pointing, the one up, the
other down the stream, and manned by thirty-two soldiers
and four sailors, defended by a breastwork formed of gabions
of great thickness.

The forts of Saint Philip and St. Mary, at either end of
the bridge, had each ten great guns, and both were filled
with soldiers. In front of each fort, moreover, was stationed
a fleet of twenty armed vessels, carrying heavy pieces of
artillery; ten anchored at the angle towards Antwerp, and
as many looking down the river. One hundred and seventy
great guns, including the armaments of the boats under the
bridge of the armada and the forts, protected the whole
structure, pointing up and down the stream.

But, besides these batteries, an additional precaution had
been taken. On each side, above and below the bridge, at a
moderate distance — a bow shot — was anchored a heavy raft
floating upon empty barrels. Each raft was composed of
heavy timbers, bound together in bunches of three, the

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182

THE UNITED KETHEBLANDa

Chap. V.

spaces between being connected by ships' masts and lighter
spar-work, and with a tooth-like projection along the whole
outer edge, formed of strong rafters, pointed and armed with
sharp prongs and hooks of iron. Thus a serried phalanx, as
it were, of spears stood ever on guard to protect the precious
inner structure. Vessels coming from Zeeland or Antwerp,
and the floating ice-masses, which were almost as formidable,
were obliged to make their first attack upon these dangerous
outer defences. Each raft, floating in the middle of the
stream, extended twelve hundred and fifty-two feet across,
thus protecting the whole of the bridge of boats and a portion
of that resting upon piles.'

Such was the famous bridge of Parma. The magnificent
undertaking has been advantageously compared with the
celebrated Khine-bridge of Julius Ccesar. When it is remem-
bered, however, that the Roman work was performed in
summer, across a river only half as broad as the Scheldt, firee
from the disturbing action of the tides, and flowing through
an unresisting country; while the whole character of the
structure, intended only to serve for the single passage of an
army, was far inferior to the massive solidity of Parma's
bridge ; it seems not imreasonable to araign the superiority
to the general who had surmounted all the obstacles of a
northern winter, vehement ebb and flow from the sea, and
enterprising and desperate enemies at every point.

When the citizens, at last, looked upon the completed
fabric, converted from the "dream," which they had pro-
nounced it to be, into a terrible reality ; when they saw the
shining array of Spanish and Italian l^ons marching and
counter-marching upon their new road, and trampling, as it
were, the turbulent river beneath their feet ; when they
witnessed the solemn military spectacle with which the
Governor-General celebrated his success, amid peals of
cannon and shouts of triumph from his army, they bitterly

' MS. Letter of Parma before cited
Compare Strada, ii. 312 seq,; Benti-
TOglio, P. il and L. ill 988-990 ; Mete-
reD, xii 218 «e;. ; Bor. IL L. xx. 590 aeq.

(with admirable plana^ etchings and
maps); Baudartii Pdemog. il 22, «e^
(with yeiy good engravings.)

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158fi. DBSCBIPnON OF THB STEUCTURB. 183

bewailed their own folly. Yet even then they could hardly
believe that the work had been accomplished by human
agency, but they loudly protested that invisible demons had
.been summoned to plan and perfect this fatal and preter-
human work. They were vrrong. There had been but one
demon — one clear, lofty intelligence, inspiring a steady and
untiring hand. The demon was the intellect of Alexander
Farnese ; but it had been assisted in its labour by the
hundred devils of envy, covetousness, jealousy, selfishness,
distrust, and discord, that had housed, not in his camp, but
in the ranks of those who were contending for their hearths
and altars.

And thus had the Prince arrived at success in spite of
every obstacle. He took a just pride in the achievement,
yet te knew by how many dangers he was still surrounded,
and he felt hurt at his sovereign's neglect. " The enterprise
at Antwerp," he wrote to Philip on the day the bridge was
completed," " is so great and heroic that to celebrate it would
require me to speak more at laige than I like to do, for fear
of being tedious to your Majesty. What I will say, is that the
labours and difficulties have been every day so great, that if
your Majesty knew them, you would estimate what we have
done more highly than you do ; and not forget us so utterly,
leaving us to die of hunger ''^

He considered the fabric in itself almost impregnable,
provided he were furnished with the means to maintain what
he had so painfully constructed.

" The whole is in such condition," said he, " that in opinion of
all competent military judges it would stand though all Holland
and Zeeland should come to destroy our palisades. Their
attacks must be made at immense danger and disadvantage, so
severely can we play upon them with our artillery and
musketry. Every boat is garnished with the most dainty
captains and soldiers, so that if the enemy should attempt to
assail us now, they would come back with broken heads.*'*

' " T no no8 tenia tan olyidadofl, ni
pennitiria dezarnos en tanta neoeasidad
qae no habemos de moiir de bambre,"
Ac (MS. Letter of Parma to Pbilip,

2t Feb. 1585.)

* Parma to PbOip IL, 28 Feb. 158&
(Archivo de Simancas MS.)

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184 THE UNITED NBTEDSBLANDa Chap. V.

Tet in the midst of his apparent triumph he had^ at times^
almost despair in his heart. He felt really at the last gasp.
His troops had dwindled to the mere shadow of an army, and
they were forced to live almost upon air. The cavalry had
nearly vanished. The garrisons in the different cities were
starving. The burghers had no food for the soldiers nor for
themselves. ^^ As for the rest of the troops," said Alexander,
'^ they are stationed where they have nothing to subsist upon,
save salt water and the dykes, and if the Lord does not grant
a miracle, succour, even if sent by your Majesty, will arrive
too late."^ He assured his master, that he could not go on
more than five or six days longer, that he had been feeding
his soldiers for a long time from hand to mouth, and that it
would soon be impossible for him to keep his troops together.
If he did not disband them they would run away.*

His pictures were most dismal, his supplications for money
very moving, but he never alluded to himself. All his anxiety,
all his tenderness, were for his soldiers. '^They must have
food,'' he said. '^ Tis impossible to sustain them any longer
by driblets, as I have done for a long time. Yet how can I
do it without money ? And I have none at all, nor do I see
where to get a single florin."

But these revelations were made only to his master's most
secret ear. His letters, deciphered after three centuries^
alone make manifest the almost desperate condition in which
the apparently triumphant general was placed, and the
facility with which his antagonists, had they been well guided
and faithful to themselves, might have driven him into the
sea.

But to those adversaries he maintained an attitude of serene
and smiling triumph. A spy, sent from the city to obtain
intelligence for the anxious burghers, liad gained admissbn
into his lines, was captured and brought before the Prince.
He expected, of course, to be immediately hanged. On the
contrary, Alexander gave orders that he should be conducted
over every part of the encampment. The forts, the palisades,

* Same to same, 27 Feb. 1585. (ArduYO de Simapcaa MS.) * Ibid

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168S. POSITION OF ALEXANDER AND HIS ARMY. Ig5

the bridge, were all to be carefully exhibited and explained
to him as if he had been a friendly visitor entitled to every
information. He was requested to count the pieces of artillery
in the forts, on the bridge, in the armada. After thoroughly
studying the scene he was then dismissed with a safe-conduct
to the city.

" Go back to those who sent you/' said the Prince. " Con-
vey to them the information in quest of which you came.
Apprize them of every thing which you have inspected,
counted, heard explained. Tell them further, that the siege
will never be abandoned, and that this bridge will be my
sepulchre or my pathway into Antwerp.'* ^

And now the aspect of the scene was indeed portentous.
The chimera had become a very visible bristling reality.
There stood the bridge which the citizens had ridiculed while
it was growing before their faces. There scowled the Ko-
wenstyn — ^black with cannon, covered all over with fortresses
—which the butchers had so sedulously preserved. From
Parma's camp at Beveren and Kalloo a great fortified road led
across the river and along the fatal dyke all the way to the
entrenchments at Stabroek, where Mansfeld's army lay.
Grim Mondragon held the " holy cross " and the whole Ko-
wenstyn in his own iron grasp. A chain of forts, built and
occupied by the contending hosts of the patriots and the
Spaniards, were closely packed together along both banks of
the Scheldt, nine miles long from Antwerp to Lillo, and inter-
changed perpetual cannonades. The country all around, once
fertile as a garden, had been changed into a wild and wintry
sea, where swarms of gun-boats and other armed vessels
manoeuvred and contended with each other over submerged
villages and orchards, and among half-drowned turrets and
steeples. Yet there rose the great bulwark — whose early
destruction would have made all this desolation a blessing —
unbroken and obstinate ; a perpetual obstacle to communica-
tion between Antwerp and Zeeland. The very spirit of the
murdered Prince of Orange seemed to rise sadly and reproach-

' Strada, il 325. 326.

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186

THE UNITED NBTHEBLAKDa

Chif.V.

fully out of the waste of waters, as if to rebuke the men who
had been so deaf to his solemn warnings.

Brussels, too, wearied and worn, its heart sick with hope
deferred, now fell into despair as the futile result of the
French negotiation became apparent The stately and opulent
city had long been in a most abject condition. Many of its
inhabitants attempted to escape from the horrors of starving
by fl3ring from its walls. Of the fugitives, the men were
either scourged back by the Spaniards into the city, or hanged
up along the road-side. The women were treated leniently,
even playfully, for it was thought an excellent jest to cut o£f
the petticoats of the wifortunate starving creatures up to
their knees, and then command them to go back and starve
at home with their friends and fellow-citizens. A great
many persons literally died of hunger. Matrons with large
families poisoned their children and themselves to avoid the
more terrible death by starving.* At last, when Vilvoorde
was taken, when the baseness of the French King was
isMardi, thoroughly understood, when Parma's bridge was

15^5- completed and the Scheldt bridled, Brussels capi-
tulated on as favourable terms as could well have been
expected.*

Notwithstanding these triumphs, Parma was much incon-
venienced by not possessing the sea-coast of Flanders.
Ostend was a perpetual stumbling-block to him. He there-
fore assented, with pleasure to a proposition made by
La Motte, one of the most experienced and courageous of the
Walloon royalist commanders, to attempt the place by surprise.
And La Motte, at the first blow, was more than half successful
29 Maroh Ou the night of the 29th March, with two thousand

1585. fQ^i and twelve hundred cavalry, he carried the
whole of the old port of Ostend. Leaving a Walloon officer,
in whom he had confidence, to guard the position already

1 Strada^ iL 329, 330.

« Ibid. ; Meteren, xiL 22'«»; Le Petit,
u, 511. The burghers were allowed
two jears, during which they were to
decide between the Papacy and per-

petual exile. The municipal libertiei
were to depend upon the pleasure of
the Kmg. The houses of Ctfdu^
Granville and of Count Mansfeld were
to be rebuilt and reftimished.

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1586.

LA. ICOTTB ATTEMPTS IN YAIN OSTEND.

187

gained, he went back in person for reinforcements. Daring
his advance, the same ill luck attended his enterprise which
had blasted Hohenlo's achievement at Bois-le-Duc. The
soldiers he left behind him deserted their posts for the sake
of rifling the town. The officer in conmiand, instead of keep-
ing them to their duty, joined in the chase. The citizens
roused themselves, attacked their invaders, killed many of
them, and put the rest to flight. When La Motte returned,
he found the panic general. His whole force, including the
fiesh soldiers just brought to the rescue, were beside them-
selves with fear. He killed several with his own hand, but
the troops were not to be rallied. His quick triumph was
changed into an absolute defeat.

Parma, furious at the ignominious result of a plan firom
which so much had been expected, ordered the Walloon
captain, from whose delinquency so much disaster had
resulted, to be forthwith hanged, " Such villainy," said he,
"must never go impunished.'' *

It was impossible for the Prince to send a second expedi-
tion to attempt the reduction of Ostend, for the patriots were
at last arouong themselves to the necessity of exertion. It
was very obvious — ^now that the bridge had been built, and
the Kowenstyn fortified — that one or the other was to be
destroyed, or Antwerp abandoned to its &te.

The patriots had been sleeping, as it were, all the winter,
hugging the delusive dream of French sovereignty and
French assistance. No language can exaggerate the deadly
effects from the slow poison of that n^otiation. At any rate,
the negotiation was now concluded. The dream was dispelled.
Antwerp must now fall, or a decisive blow must be struck by
the patriots themselves, and a telling blow had been secretly
and maturely meditated. Certain preparatory steps were
however necessary.

' Parma to Philip IL, 10 Apr., 1686.
(ArchiTO de Bimancaft MS.) Compare
StracUL iL 332, who sajs that three of
the officers were ccmdemoed to be ex-
ecuted, but that all were sobseqnentlj

pardoned on account of the previous
good conduct of one of them. Alex*
ander in his letter informs the King
that he had ordered one to be executed
forthwith, as an example to the others.

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188 THB UNITBD NETHERLANDS. Ohxp. V.

The fort of Liefkenshoek, " darling's comer," was a most
important post. The patriots had never ceased to regret that
precious possession, lost, as we have seen, in so tragical a
manner on the very day of Orange's death. Fort Lillo,
exactly opposite, on the Brabant shore of the Scheldt, had
always been securely held by them, and was their strongest
position. Were both places in their power, the navigation of
the river, at least as far as the bridge, would be compara-
tively secure.

A sudden dash was made upon Liefkenshoek. A number

4 April, of armed vessels sailed up from Zeeland, under com-
1585. mand of Justinus de Nassau. They were assisted from
Fort Lillo by a detachment headed by Count Hohenlo. These
two officers were desirous of retrieving the reputation which
they had lost at Bois-le-Duc. They were successful, and the
" darling " fort was carried at a blow. After a brief cannonade,
the patriots made a breach, effected a landing, and sprang over
the ramparts. The Walloons and Spaniards fled in dismay ;
many of them were killed in the fort, and along the dykes ;
others were hurled into the Scheldt. The victors followed up
their success by reducing, with equal impetuosity, the fort of
Saint Anthony, situate in the neighbourhood farther down
the river. They thus gained entire command of all the
high ground, which remained in that quarter above the inun-
dation, and was called the Doel.*

The dyke, on which Liefkenshoek stood, Ld up the river
towards Kalloo, distant less than a league. There were
Parma's head-quarters and the famous bridge. But at Fort
Saint Mary, where the Flemish head of that bridge rested,
the dyke was broken. Upon that broken end the commanders
of the expedition against Liefkenshoek were ordered to throw
up an entrenchment, without loss of a moment, so soon as
they should have gained the fortresses which they were
ordered first to assault. Sainte Ald^onde had given urgent
written directions to this effect From a redoubt situated
thus, in the very face of Saint Mary's, that position, the

> Le Petit, il 511 ; Strada, ii. 383.

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1685. PATRIOTS GAIN USFEENSHOEK. 189

palisade-work^ the whole bridge, might be battered with all
the artilleiy that could be brought from Zeeland.

But Paima was beforehand with them. Notwithstanding

his rage and mortification that Spanish soldiers should have

ignominiously lost the important fortress which Bichebourg

had conquered so brilliantly nine months before, he was not

the man to spend time in unavailing r^rets. His quick eye

instantly detected the flaw which might soon be fatal. In

the very same night of the loss of Liefkenshoek, he sent as

strong a party as could be spared, with plenty of sappers and

miners, in flat-bottomed boats across from Ealloo. As the

morning dawned, an improvised fortress, with the Spanish

flag waving above its bulwarks, stood on the broken end of

the dyke. That done, he ordered one of the two captains

who had commanded in Liefkenshoek and Saint Anthony to

be beheaded on the same dyke. The other was dismissed

with ignominy.* Ostend was, of course, given up ; " but it

was not a small matter," said Parma, "to fortify ourselves

that very night upon the ruptured place, and so prevent the

rebels from doing it, which would have been very mal-i-

propos.*

Nevertheless, the rebels had achieved a considerable suc-
cess ; and now or never the telling blow, long meditated, was
to be struck.

There lived in Antwerp a subtle Mantuan, Gianibelli by
name, who had married and been long settled in the city.
He had made himself busy with various schemes for victual-
ling the place. He had especially urged upon the authorities,
at an early period of the siege, the propriety of making large
purchases of corn and storing it in magazines at a time when
the famine-price had by no means been reached.* But the
leading men had then their heads full of a great ship, or
floating castle, which they were building, and which they

iStrada, iL 333. Bor, il 596, and
BoDtiTOglio, P. il L. iii. p. 291, aaj
that botii the oommandants were be-
headed. The PriDce himself (Ma
Letter to Philip, 10 April, 1586) re-

lates the loss of the forts, but says no-
thing of the punishment inflicted upon
the culprits.

' MS. Letter of Parma^ Just cited

■ Bor, ii. 500.

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190 THB XmiTED KBTHBBLAKDa Chap. Y.

had pompously named the ^ War's End,' ^ Fin de la Guerre.'
We shall hear something of this phenomenon at a later period.
Meanwhile, Gianibelli, who knew something of shipboilding,
as he did of most other useful matters^ ridiculed the design,
which was likely to cost, in itself before completion, as much
money as would keep the city in bread for a third of a year.

GianibelU was no patriot. He was purely a man of science
and of great acquirements, who was looked upon by the igno*
rant populace alternately as a dreamer and a wizard. He
was as indifferent to the cause of freedom as of despotism,
but he had a great love for chemistry. He was also a pro-
found mechanician, second to no man of his age in theoretic
and practical engineering.

He had gone from Italy to Spain that he might offer his
services to Philip, and give him the benefit of many original
and ingenious inventions Forced to dance attendance, day
after day, among sneering courtiers and insolent placemen,
and to submit to the criticism of practical sages and philoso-
phers of routine, while he was constantly denied an oppor-
tunity of explaining his projects, the quick-tempered Italian
had gone away at last, indignant. He had then vowed
revenge upon the dulness by which his genius had been
slighted, and had sworn that the next time the Spaniards
heard the name of the man whom they had dared to deride,
they should hear it with tears.*

He now laid before the senate of Antwerp a plan for some
vessels likely to prove more effective than the gigantic
' War's End,' which he had prophesied would prove a failure.
With these he pledged himself to destroy the bridge. He
demanded three ships which he had selected from the city
fleet — the * Orange,' the ^Post,' and the 'Golden Lion,' —
measuring, respectively, one hundred and fifty, three hundred
and fifty, and five hundred tons. Besides these, he wished
sixty flat-bottomed scows, which he proposed to send down
the river, partially submerged, disposed in the shape of a
half moon, with innumerable anchors and grapnells thrusting

1 Strada^ il 334, 335.

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1685.

PBOJBOTS OF OIANIBSLLL

191

themselves out of the water at every point. This machine
was intended to operate against the raft.

Ignorance and incredulity did their work, as usual, and
Qianbelli's request was refused. As a quarter-measure,
nevertheless, he was allowed to take two smaller vessels of
seventy and eighty tons. The Italian was disgusted with
this parsimony upon so momentous an occasion, but he at
the same time determined, even with these slender materials,
to give an exhibition of his power.'

Not all his the glory, however, of the ingenious project.
Associated with him were two skilful artizans of Antwerp ; a
dockmaker named Bory, and a mechanician named Timmer-
man;* but GianibelU was the chief and superintendent of
the whole daring enterprise.

He gave to his two ships the cheerful names of the
'Fortune' and the 'Hope,' and set himself energetically
to justify their titles by their efficiency. They were to be
floating marine volcanos, which, drifting down the river with
the ebb tide, were to deal destruction where the Spaniards
deemed themselves most secure.

In the hold of each vessel, along the whole length, was
laid down a solid flooring of brick and mortar, one foot
thick, and five feet wide. Upon this was built a chamber
of marble mason- work, forty feet long, three and a half feet
broad, as many high, and with side-walks five feet in thick-
ness. This was the crater. It was filled with seven thousand
pounds of gunpowder, of a kind superior to anything known,
and prepared by GianibelU himself. It was covered with a
roof, six feet in thickness, formed of blue tombstones, placed
edgewise. Over this crater, rose a hollow cone, or pyramid,
made of heavy marble slabs, and filled with mill-stones,

» Bor, it 596, 697 ; Hoofd Venrolgh,

" Bor, U. 696, 697 ; Hoofd Vervolgh,
91 ; Strada, il 344 seq.; Meteren, xiL
223^0; Baudartu Polemog. ii. 24-27,
with very coiioas illustrative plates;
Bentivoglio, P. il L. iiL 291, 292;
Bofd, iv. 60. (Letter of Parma to

PhiUp, 10 April, 1586. Arch, de Sim.

> Hondius, * Korte BeschrTving ende
' Afbeeldlng vaa de generale Regelen
der Fortificati&' 'SGravenbage, 1624^
fol, cited in Mertens and Toift* Qeocii,
V. Antwerpen, v. 223 seq.

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192 THE UNITED NETHEBLAKDa Chap. V.

cannon balls, blocks of marble, chain-shot, iron hooks, plougb-
coulters, and every dangerous missile that could be imaginecL
The spaces between the mine and the sides of each ship were
likewise filled with paving stones, iron-bound stakes, har-
poons, and other projectiles. The whole fabric was then
covered by a smooth light flooring of planks and brick-work^
upon which was a pile of wood. This was to be lighted at
the proper time, in order that the two vessels might present
the appearance of simple fire-ships, intended only to excite a
conflagration of the bridge. On the ' Fortune ' a slow match,
very carefully prepared, communicated with the submerged
mine, which was to explode at a nicely-calculated moment.
The eruption of the other floating volcano was to be regu-
lated by an ingenious piece of clock-work, by which, at the
appointed time, fire, struck from a flint, was to inflame the
hidden mass of gunpowder below.

In addition to these two infernal machines, or ^^hell-burners,''
as they were called, a fleet of thirty-two smaller vessels was
prepared. Covered with tar, turpentine, rosin, and flUed with
inflammable and combustible materials, these barks were to
be sent from Antwerp down the river in detachments of eight
every half hour with the ebb tide. The object was to clear
the way, if possible, of the raft, and to occupy the attention
of the Spaniards, until the ^Fortune' and the ^Hope' should
come down upon the bridge.

The 5th April, being the day following that on which the
5 April, successful assault upon Liefkenshoek and Saint

1585. Anthony had taken place, was flxed for the descent
of the fire-ships. So soon as it should be dark, the thirty-two
lesser burning-vessels, under the direction of Admiral Jacob
Jacobzoon, were to be sent forth from the neighborhood of
the 'Boor's Sconce' — a fort close to the city walls — ^in
accordance with the Italian's plan. " Run-a-way Jacob," how-
ever, or " Koppen Loppen," had earned no new laurels which
could throw into the shade that opprobrious appellation. He
was not one of Holland's naval heroes, but, on the whole, a
very incompetent officer ; exactly the man to damage the

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1686 ALARM ON THE BBIDGS. 193

best concerted scheme which the genius of others could
invent. Accordingly, Koppen-Loppen began with a grave
mistake. Instead of allowing the precursory fire-ships to
drift down the stream, at the regular intervals agreed upon,
he despatched them all rapidly, and belter skelter, one after
another, as fast as they could be set forth on their career.
Not long afterwards, he sent the two "hell-burners," the
'Fortune' and the 'Hope,' directly in their wake. Thus
the whole fiery fleet had set forth, almost at once, upon its
fatal voyage.

It was known to Parma that preparations for an attack
were making at Antwerp, but as to the nature of the danger
he was necessarily in the dark. He was anticipating an
invasion by a fleet from the city in combination with a
squadron of Zeelanders coming up from below. So soon as
the first vessels, therefore, with their trains not yet lighted,
were discovered bearing down from the city, he was confirmed
in his conjecture. His drums and trumpets instantly called
to arms, and the whole body of his troops was mustered upon
the bridge, the palisades, and in the nearest forts. Thus the
preparations to avoid or to contend with the danger, were
leading the Spaniards into the very jaws of destruction.
Alexander, after crossing and recrossing the river, giving
minute directions for repelling the expected assault, finally
stationed himself in the block-house at the point of junction,
on the Flemish side, between the palisade and the bridge of
boats. He was surrounded by a group of superior officers,
among whom Richebourg, Billy, Gaetano, Cessis, and the
Englishman Sir Rowland Yorke, were conspicuous.

It was a dark, mild evening of early spring. As the fieet
of vessels dropped slowly down the river, they suddenly
became luminous, each ship flaming out of the darkness, a
phantom of living fire. The very waves of the Scheldt seemed
glowing with the confiagration, while its banks were lighted
up with a preternatural glare. It was a wild, pompous, thea-
trical spectacle. The array of soldiers on both sides the
river, along the dykes and upon the bridge, with banners

VOL. I.— 0

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194 ^^BB UNITBD NBTHERLANDa Chap. V.

waving, and spear and cuirass glancing in the lurid light;
the clemon fleet, guided by no human hand^ wrapped in
flames, and flitting through the darkness, with irregular
movement, but portentous aspect, at the caprice of wind and
tide ; the death-like silence of expectation, which had suc-
ceeded the sound of trumpet and the shouts of the soldiers ;
and the weird glow which had supplanted the darkness — all
combined with the sense of imminent and mysterious danger
to excite and oppress the imagination.

Presently, the Spaniards, as they gazed from the bridge,
began to take heart again. One after another, many of the
lesser vessels drifted blindly against the raft, where they
entangled themselves among the hooks and gigantic spear-
heads, and burned slowly out without causing any extensiTe
conflagration. Others grounded on the banks of the river,
before reaching their destination. Some sank in the stream.

Last of all came the two infernal ships, swaying unsteadily
with the current ; the pilots of course, as they neared the
bridge, having noiselessly effected their escape in the skiffi.
The slight fire upon the deck scarcely illuminated the dark
phantom-like hulls. Both were carried by the current clear
of the raft, which, by a great error of judgment, as it now
appeared, on the part of the builders, had only been made to
protect the floating portion of the bridge. The ^Fortune'
came first, staggering inside the raft, and then lurching
clumsily against the dyke, and grounding near Kalloo, without
touching the bridge. There was a moment's pause of expec-
tation. At last the slow match upon the deck burned oat,
and there was a faint and partial explosion, by which little
or no damage was produced.

Parma instantly called for volunteers to board the mysteri-
ous vessel. The desperate expedition was headed by the
bold Koland York,* a Londoner, of whom one day there
was more to be heard in Netherland history. The party
sprang into the deserted and now harmless volcano, extin-
guishing the slight fires that were smouldering on the deck,

' Stowe. 'Chronicle of England,' ed. 1631, p. 700.

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1581 THE FmS-SEOFS. 195

and thmsting spears and long poles into the hidden recesses
of the hold. There was, however, little time to pursue these
perilous investigations, and the party soon made their escape
to the bridge.

The troops of Parma, crowding on the paUsade, and looking
over the parapets, now b^an to greet the exhibition with
peals of derisive laughter. It was but child's play, they
thought, to threaten a Spanish army, and a general like
Alexander Famese, with such paltry fire-works as these.
Nevertheless all eyes were anxiously fixed upon the remaining
fire-ship, or "hell-burner,'' the * Hope,' which had now drifted
very near the place of its destination. Tearing her way
between the raft and the shore, she struck heavily against
the bridge on the Kalloo side, close to the block-house at the
commencement of the floating portion of the bridge. A thin
wreath of smoke was seen curling over a slight and smoul-
dering fire upon her deck.

Marquis Bichebourg, standing on the bridge, laughed
loudly at the apparently impotent conclusion of the whole
adventure. It was his last laugh on earth. A number of
soldiers, at Parma's summons, instantly sprang on board this
second mysterious vessel, and occupied themselves, as the
party on board the * Fortune' had done, in extinguishing the
flames, and in endeavoring to ascertain the nature of the
machine. Bichebourg boldly directed from the bridge their
hazardous experiments.

At the same moment a certain ensign De Yega, who
stood near the Prince of Parma, close to the block-house,
approached I^jtti with vehement entreaties that he should
retire. Alexander refused to stir from the spot, being
anxious to learn the result of these investigations. Vega,
moved by some instinctive and irresistible apprehension, fell
upon his knees, and plucking the General earnestly by the
cloak, implored him with such passionate words and gestures
to leave iJie place, that the Prince reluctantly yielded.

It was not a moment too soon. The clock-work in the
*Hope' had been better adjusted than the slow match in the

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196 THB UNITED NETHERLANDS. Ghap.Y.

^ Fortune/ Scarcely had Alexander reached the entrance of
Saint Mary's Fort^ at the end of the bridge, when a horrible
explosion was heard. The * Hope' disappeared, together with
the men who had boarded her, and the block-house, against
which she had struck, with all its garrison, while a lai^ge
portion of the bridge, with all the troops stationed upon it,
had vanished into air. It was the work of a single instant
The Scheldt yawned to its lowest depth, and then cast its
waters across the dykes, deep into the forts, and far over the
land. The earth shook as with the throb of a volcano. A
wild glare lighted up the scene for one moment, and was
then succeeded by pitchy darkness. Houses were toppled
down miles away, and not a living thing, even in remote
places, could keep its feet. The air was filled with a rain of
plough-shares, grave-stones, and marble balls, intermixed
with the heads, limbs, and bodies, of what had been human
beings. Slabs of granite, vomited by the flaming ship, were
found afterwards at a league's distance, and buried deep in
the earth. A thousand soldiers were destroyed in a second
of time ; many of them being torn to shreds, beyond even
the semblance of humanity.

Richebourg disappeared, and was not found until several
days later, when his body was discovered, doubled around an
iron chain, which hung from one of the bridge-boats in the
centre of the river. The veteran Robles, Seigneur de Billy,
a Portuguese officer of eminent service and high military
rank, was also destroyed. Months afterwards, his body was
discovered adhering to the timber-work of the bridge, upon the
ultimate removal of that structure, and was only recognized
by a peculiar gold chain which he habitually wore. Parma
himself was thrown to the ground, stunned by a blow on the
shoulder from a flying stake. The page, who was behind
him, carrying his helmet, fell dead without a wound, killed
by the concussion of the air.

Several strange and less tragical incidents occurred. The
Viscomte de Bruxelles was blown out of a boat on the Flemish
side^ and descended safe and sound into another in the centre

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1585.

THE EXPLOSION.

197

of the streanu Cat)tam Tucci^ clad in complete armour^ was
whirled out of a fort, shot perpendicularly into the air, and
and then fell back into the river. Being of a cool tempera--
ment, a good swimmer, and very pious, he skilfully divested
Imnself of cuirass and helmet, recommended himself to the
Blessed Virgin, and swam safely ashore. Another young
officer of Parma's body-guard, Frangois de Liege by name,
standing on the Kalloo end of the bridge, rose like a
feather into the clouds, and, flying quite across the river,
alighted on the opposite bank with no further harm than a
contused shoulder. He imagined himself (he said after-
wards) to have been changed into a cannon-ball, as he rushed
through the pitchy atmosphere, propelled by a blast of irre-
sistible fury.^

It had been agreed that Admiral Jacobzoon should, imme-
diately after the explosion of the fire-ships, send an eight-
oared barge to ascertain the amount of damage. If a breach
had been effected, and a passage up to the city opened, he
was to fire a rocket. At this signal, the fleet stationed at
LiUo, carrying a heavy armament, laden with provisions
enough to relieve Antwerp from all anxiety^ and ready to
sail on the instant, was at once to force its way up the river.

The deed was done. A breach, two hundred feet in width,
was made. Had the most skilful pilot in Zeeland held the
helm of the ^ Hope,' with a choice crew obedient to his orders,
he could not have guided her more carefully than she had
been directed by wind and tide. Avoiding the raft which
lay in her way, she had, as it were, with the intelligence of a
living creature, fulfilled the wishes of the daring genius that
had created her ; and laid herself alongside the bridge.

' The chief authorities used in the
foregolDg aooount of this &mous en-
terprise are those already cited on a
previous page, yiz.: the MS. Letters
of the Prinoe of Parma in the Archives
ofSimancas; Bor, il 596, 597; Strada,
iL 334 seq,; Meteren, xil 223' •;
Hoc^ YeiTolgfa, 91; Baudartu Pole-
mographia^ iL 24-27 ; Bentiyoglio, P. il
Ll ia 291; 292; Bejd, iv. 60; Mar-

tens and Torfe Gesch. v. Antw. v. 223
seq.] Papebrochi Ann. Antv. ir. 100
«eg. et al — I have not thought it ne-
cessary to cite them step bj step;
for all the aooountB, with some inevi-
table and unimportant disorepancieSi
agree with each other. The most co-
pious details are to be found in Strada
and in Bor.

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198 TH£ UNITED N£THEBIiAKD& Chap.T.

exactly at the most telling point. She had then destroyed
herself^ precisely at the right moment. All the effects^ and
more than all, that had been predicted by the Mantuan
wizard had come to pass. The famous bridge was cleft
through and through, and a thousand picked men — Parma's
very * ^ daintiest " — were blown out of existence. The Go vemor-
Greneral himself was lying stark and stiff upon the bridge
which he said should be his triumphal monument or his
tomb. His most distinguished officers were dead, and all
the survivors were dumb and blind with astonishment at the
unheard-of convulsion. The passage was open for the fleet,
and the fleet lay below with sails spread, and oars in the
rowlocks, only waiting for the signal to bear up at once
to the scene of action, to smite out of existence all that re-
mained of the splendid structure, and to cany relief and
triumph into Antwerp.

Not a soul slept in the city. The explosion had shook its
walls, and thousands of people thronged the streets, their
hearts beating high with expectation. It was a moment of
exquisite triumph. The ^ Hope,' word of happy augury, had
not been relied upon in vain, and Parma's seven months of
patient labour had been annihilated in a moment. Sainte
Aldegonde and Gianibelli stood in the * Boors' Sconce' on
the edge of the river. They had felt and heard the explosion,
and they were now straining their eyes through the darkness
to mark the flight of the welcome rocket.

That rocket never rose. And it is enough, even after the
lapse of three centuries, to cause a pang in every heart that
beats for human liberty to think of the bitter disappoint-
ment which crushed these great and legitimate hopes. The
cause lay in the incompetency and cowardice of the man
who had been so unfortunately entrusted with a share in a
noble enterprise.

Admiral Jacobzoon, paralyzed by the explosion, which
announced his own triumph, sent off the barge, but did not
wait for its return. The boatmen, too, appalled by the sights
and sounds which they had witnessed, and by the mizriy

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1586.

ITS BESUI/TS.

199

darkness which encompassed them^ did not venture near the
scene of action, but, after rowing for a short interval hither
and thither, came back with the lying report that nothing
had been accomplished, and that the bridge remained
unbroken. Sainte Aldegonde and Gianibelli were beside
themselves with rage, as they surmised the imbecility of
the Admiral, and devoted him in their hearts to the gallows,
which he certainly deserved. The wrath of the keen Italian
may be conceived, now that his ingenious and entirely suc-
cessful scheme was thus rendered fruitless by the blunders of
the incompetent Fleming.^

On the other side, there was a man whom no danger could
appal. Alexander had been thought dead, and the dismay
among his followers was universal He was known to have
been standing an instant before the explosion on the very
block-house where the 'Hope' had struck. After the first
terrible moments had passed, his soldiers found their general
lying, as if in a trance, on the threshold of St. Mary's Fort,
his drawn sword in his hand, with Cessis embracing his
knees, and Gaetano extended at his side, stunned with a
blow upon the head.'

Recovering from his swoon, Parma was the first to spring
to his feet. Sword in hand, he rushed at once upon the
bridge to mark the extent of the disaster. The admirable
fitructure, the result of so much patient and intelligent energy,
was fearfully shattered ; the bridge, the river, and the shore,
strewed with the mangled bodies of his soldiers. He expected,
as a matter of certainty, that the fleet from below would
instantly force its passage, destroy the remainder of his
troops — stunned as they were with the sudden catastrophe —
complete the demolition of the bridge, and then make its way
to Antwerp, with ample reinforcements and supplies. And

* Bor, Hoofil, Meteren, ubi supra.

' Such is the picture minutely paint-
ed by Strada, it 342 ; aud, although
the Prince, in his own letters, written
from the scene of action, and preserved
^ the Simancas Archives, omits the
^^wsidentj yet I am inclined to rely

upon the very ample materials pos-
sessed by the genial Jesuit, in the
shape of private contemporary letters
from Spanish officers engaged in the
war — ^letters, alas, whi<^ have pro*
bably for ever disappeared.

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200 THB UNITED NETHEBLAND& Chap. T.

Alexander saw that the expedition would be snccesriiiL
Momently expecting the attack, he maintained his coorage
and semblance of cheerfulness, with despair in his heart.

His winter's work seemed annihilated, and it was probable
that he should be obliged to raise the siege. Nevertheless,
he passed in person from rank to rank, from post to post,
seeing that the wounded were provided for, encouraging those
that remained unhurt, and endeavouring to infuse a portion
of his own courage into the survivors of his panic-stricken
army.

Nor was he entirely unsuccessful, as the night wore on and
the expected assault was still delayed. Without further loss
of time, he employed his men to collect the drifting boats,
timber, and spar-work, and to make a hasty and temporary
restoration — ^in semblance at least — of the ruined portion of
his bridge. And thus he employed himself steadily all the
night, although expecting every instant to hear the first
broadside of the Zeeland cannon. When morning broke, and
it became obvious that the patriots were unable or unwilling
to follow up their own success, the Oovemor-Q^neral felt as
secure as ever. He at once set about the thorough repairs of
his great work, and— before he could be again molested —
had made good the damage which it had sustained.^

It was not till three days afterwards that the truth was
known in Antwerp. Hohenlo then sent down a messenger,
who swam under the bridge, ascertained the exact state of
a£fairs, and returned, when it was too late, with the first intel-
ligence of the triumph which had been won and lost The
disappointment and mortification were almost intolerable.
And thus had Kun-a-way Jacob, ^ Koppen Loppen.' blasted
the hopes of so many wiser and braver spirits than his own.

The loss to Parma and to the royalist cause in Marquis
Richebouig, was very great. The death of De Billy, who was
a faithful, experienced, and courageous general, was also
much lamented. "The misfortune from their death," said

' Bor, Strada, Meteren, Hoofd, Ben- I Papebrodiii Ann. (MS. Letters oi
tivoglioy Reyd, Mertens and Torpa, | Panna, ubi supra.

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158S. DBATH OF THE YISOOUNT 07 GHSNT. 201

PanDa, ^^is not to be exaggerated. Each was ever ready to
do his duty m your Majesty's service, and to save me much
£fttigue in all my various affitirs. Nevertheless/' continued
the Prince, with great piety, " we give the Lord thanks for
all, and take as a favour everything which comes from His
hand."'

Alexander had indeed reason to deplore the loss of Bobert
dc Melun, Viscount of Ghent, Marquis of Boubaix and Biche-
boorg. He was a most valuable officer. His wealth was
great. It had been recently largely increased by the con-
fiscation of his elder brother's estates for his benefit, a measure
which at Parma's intercession had been accorded by the King.
That brother was the patriotic Prince of Espinoy, whom we
have recently seen heading the l^;ation of the States to
France. And Kichebourg was grateful to Alexander, for
besides these fraternal spoils, he had received two mar-
qoisates throu^ his great patron, in addition to the highest
military offices. Insolent, overbearing, truculent to all the
world, to Parma he was ever docile, aflfectionate, watchful,
obsequious. A man who knew not fatigue, nor fear, nor
remorse, nor natural affection, who could patiently superin-
tend all the details of a great military work, or manage a
vast political intrigue by alternations of brow-beating and
bribery, or lead a forlorn hope, or murder a prisoner in cold
blood, or leap into the blazing crater of what seemed a
marine volcano, the Marquis of Kichebourg had ever made
himself most actively and unscrupulously useful to his master.
Especially had he rendered invaluable services in the reduc-
tion of the Walloon Provinces, and in the bridging of the
Scheldt, the two crowning triumphs of Alexander's Ufa He
had now passed from the scene where he had played so
energetic and dazzling a part, and lay doubled round an
iron cable beneath the current of the restless river.

And in this eventful night, Parma, as always, had been
true to himself and to his sovereign. " We expected," said
he, ^^that the rebels would instantly attack us on all sides

> MS. Letter, 10 April, 1686, alrendy dted.

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202 ^HE UNITED NBTTTBRTiANDa Chap. V.

after the explosion. But all remained so astonished by the
unheard-of accident, that very few understood what was
going on. It seemed better that I — ^notwithstanding the risk
of letting myself be seen — should encourage the people not
to run away. I did so, and remedied matters a little but not
so much as that — ^if the enemy had then attacked us — toe
should not have been in the very greatest risk and peril. I did
not fail to do what I am obliged to do, and always hope to
do ; but I say no more of what passed, or what was done by
myself, because it does not become me to speak of these
things."'

Notwithstanding this discomfiture, the patriots kept up
heart, and were incessantly making demonstrations against
Parma's works. Their proceedings against the bridge,
although energetic enough to keep the Spanish conmiander
in a state of perpetual anxiety, were never so efficient how-
ever as on the memorable occasion when the Mantuan
engineer and the Dutch watchmaker had exhausted all their
ingenuity. Nevertheless, the rebel barks swarmed all over the
submerged territory, now threatening this post, and now that,
and effecting their retreat at pleasure ; for nearly the whole
of Parma's little armada was stationed at the two extremities
of his bridge. Many fire-ships were sent down from time to
time, but Alexander had organized a systematic patrol of a
few sentry-boats, armed with scythes and hooks, which rowed
up and down in iront of the rafts, and protected them against
invasion.

Some little effect was occasionally produced, but there
was on the whole more anxiety excited than damage actuaUy
inflicted. The perturbation of spirit among the Spaniards
when any of these ^ demon fire-ships,' as they called them,
appeared bearing down upon their bridge, was excessive. It
could not be forgotten, that the ^ Hope ' had sent into space a
thousand of the best soldiers of the little army within one
moment of time. Such rapid proceedings had naturally left

' " J no dijo mas aqui do lo I estarme bien tratar dello." (MSw lottef

que entonces paso^ j 70 hico por no | before dted.)

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1685. PBBPETX7AL ANXIBTT OF FABNESE. 203

an uneasy impression on the minds of the survivors. The
fatigue of watching was enormous. Hardly an officer or
soldier among the besi^ing forces knew what it was to sleep.
There was a perpetual exchanging of signals and beacon-fires
and rockets among the patriots — not a day or night, when a
concerted attacfe by the Antwerpers from above, and the
Hollanders from below, with gun-boats and fire-ships, and
floating mines, and other devil's enginry, was not expected.

" We are always upon the alert," wrote Parma, " with arms
in our hands. Every one must mount guard, myself as well
as the rest, almost every night, and the better part of
every day."* *

He was quite aware that something was ever in prepara-
tion ; and the nameless, almost sickening apprehension which
existed among his stout-hearted veterans, was a proof that
the Mantuan's genius — ^notwithstanding the disappointment
as to the great result — ^had not been exercised entirely in
vain. The image of the Antwerp devil-ships imprinted itself
indelibly upon the Spanish mind, as of something preter-
natural, with which human valour could only contend at
a disadvantage ; and a day was not very far distant —
one of the memorable days of the world's history, big with
the fate of England, Spain, Holland, and all Christendom —
when the sight of a half-dozen blazing vessels, and the cry of
" the Antwerp fire-ships," was to decide the issue of a most
momentous enterprise. The blow struck by the obscure
Italian against Antwerp bridge, although ineflfective then,
was to be most sensibly felt after a few years had passed, upon
a wider field.

Meantime the uneasiness and the watchfulness in the
besi^ing army were very exhausting. " They are never idle
in the city," wrote Parma. " They are perpetually proving
their obstinacy and pertinacity by their industrious genius
and the machines which they devise. Every day we are
expecting some new invention. On our side we endeavour
to counteract their efforts by every human means in our power.

1 Parma to Philip, 6 May, 1586. (Arcblyo de Simancas MS.)

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204 THB UNITED HJgrHKKLANDS. Chap. T.

Nevertheless, I confess that our merely human inteUed is
not competent to penetrate the designs of their diabolicdl
genius. Certainly, most wonderful and extraordinary things
have been exhibited, such as the oldest soldiers here have
never before witnessed." *

Moreover, Alexander saw himself growing weaker and
weaker. His force had dwindled to a mere phantom of an
army. His soldiers, ill-fed, half-clothed, unpaid, were fearfully
overworked. He was obliged to concentrate all the troops
at his disposal around Antwerp. Diversions against Ostend,
operations in Friesland and Gelderland, although most
desirable, had thus been rendered quite impossible.

" I have recalled my cavalry and infantry from Ostend,"
he wrote, "and Don Juan de Manrique has fortunately
arrived in Stabroek with a thousand good German folk. The
commissary-general of the cavalry has come in, too, with a
good lot of the troops that had been encamped in the open
country. Nevertheless, we remain wretchedly weak — quite
insufficient to attempt what ought to be done. If the enemy
were more in force, or if the French wished to make trouble,
your Majesty would see how important it had been to provide
in time against such contingencies. And although our neigh-
bours, crestfallen, and nishing upon their own destruction,
leave us in quiet, we are not without plenty of work. It
would be of inestimable advantage to make diversions in
Gelderland and Friesland, because, in that case, the Hol-
landers, seeing the enemy so near their own borders, would
be obliged to withdraw their assistance from Antwerp. 'Tis
pity to see how fv3W Spaniards your Majesty has left, and how
diminished is our army. Now, also, is the time to expect
sickness, and this a£fair of Antwerp is obviously stretching
out into large proportions. Unless soon reinforced, we must
inevitably go to destruction. 1 implore your Majesty to
ponder the matter well, and not to defer the remedy.''*

I ** aanque confleso que nues-

trosiDgenios no alcanzan ni penetran
lo que lo8 Buyos diabolioos hazeD,
porque cierto se veen cosas estranas j
nueyas a lo que aseguran cuantos sol-

dados viejos aqui hay.'' (Panna tx)
PhUip, 26 May, 1585. Arch, de Sim.
MS ^

* Ma Letter, 10 April, 1585, before
cited.

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158& ZMPOYEBISHSD STATE OF THE SPANIABDa 205

His Majesty was sore to ponder the matter well^ if that
had been all Philip was good at pondering; but it was
equally certain that the remedy would be deferred. Mean-
time Alexander and his starving but heroic little army were
left to fight their battles as they could.

His complaints were incessant, most reasonable, but un-
availing. With all the forces he could muster, by withdrawing
from the neighbourhood of Ghent, Brussels, Vilvoorde, and
from all the garrisons, every man that could be spared, he
had not strength enough to guard his own posts. To attempt
to win back the important forts recently captured by the
rebels on the Doel, was quite out of the question. The
pictures he painted of his army were indeed most dismal.
The Spaniards were so reduced by sickness that it was pitiful
to see them. The Italians were not in much better condition,
nor the Germans. "As for the Walloons," said he, "they
are deserting, as they always do. In truth, one of my prin-
cipal dangers is that the French civil wars are now tempting
my soldiers across the frontier ; the country there is so much
richer, and offers .so much more for the plundering." ^

During the few weeks which immediately followed the
famous descent of the ^ Hope' and the ^Fortune,' there had ac-
cordingly been made a variety of less elaborate, but apparently
mischievous, efforts against the bridge. On the whole, how-
ever, the object was rather to deceive and amuse the royalists,
by keeping their attention fixed in that quarter, while a great
attack was, in reality, preparing against the Kowenstyn.
That strong barrier, as repeatedly stated, was even a more
formidable obstacle than the bridge to the communication
between the beleagured city and their allies upon the out-
side. Its capture and demolition, even at this late period,
would open the navigation to all the fleets of Zeeland.

In the undertaking of the 5th of April aU had been accom-
plished that human ingenuity could devise ; yet the triumph
bad been snached away even at the very moment when it
was completa A determined and vigorous effort was soon to

> MS. Letter, Panna to Philip, 6 May, 1585.

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206 ^^B UNITED NETHERLANDS. Chip. T.

be made upon the Kowenstyn^ in the very face of Parma ; for
it now seemed obvions that the true crisis was to come upon
that fatal dyke. The great bulwark was three miles long.
It reached from Stabroek in Brabant^ near which village
Mansfeld's troops were encamped, across the inundated country^
up to the line of the Scheldt. Thence, along the river-dyke,
and across the bridge to Kalloo and Beveren, where Parma's
forces lay, was a continuous fortified road some three leagues
in length ; so that the two divisions of the besieging army,
lying four leagues apart, were all connected by this im-
portant line.

Could the Kowenstyn be pierced, the water, now divided
by that great bulwark into two vast lakes, would flow together
in one continuous sea. Moreover the Scheldt, it was thought,
would, in that case, return to its own channel through Brabant,
deserting its present bed, and thus leaving the famous bridge
high and dry. A wide sheet of navigable water would then
roll between Antwerp and the Zeeland coasts, and Parma's
bridge, the result of seven months' labour, would become as
useless as a child's broken toy.

Alexander had thoroughly comprehended the necessity of
maintaining the Kowenstyn. All that it was possible to do
with the meagre forces at his disposal, he had done. He had
fringed both its margins, along its whole length, with a
breastwork of closely-driven stakes. He had strengthened
the whole body of the dyke with timber- work and pQes. Upon
its river-end, just at the junction with the great Scheldt dyke,
a strong fortress, called the Holy Cross, had been constructed,
which was under the special command of Mondragon.* Be-
sides this, three other forts had been built, at intervals of
about a mile, upon the dyke. The one nearest to Mondragon
was placed at the Kowenstyn manor-house, and was called
Saint James. This was entrusted to Camillo Bourbon del
Monte, an Italian officer, who boasted the blood royal of
France in his veins, and was disposed on all occasions to
vindicate that proud pedigree by his deeds.* The next fort

1 Strada^ IL 346, 346. s De Thoii. yiil 428.

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1585. INTENDED ATTACK OF THE KOWENSTYN. 207

was Saint George's, sometimes called the Black Sconce. It
had been built by La Motte, but it was now in command of
the Spanish officer, Benites. The third was entitled the Fort
of the Palisades, because it had been necessary to support it
by a stockade-work in the water, there being absolutely not
earth enough to hold the structure. It was placed in the
charge of Captain Qttmboa. These little castles had been
created, as it were, out of water and upon water, and under
a hot fire &om the enemy's forts and fleets, which gave the
pioneers no repose.*

" 'Twas very hard work," said Parma, " our soldiers are so
exposed during their labour, the rebels playing upon them per-
petij^y from their musket-proof vessels. They fill the sub-
merged land with their boats, skimming everywhere as they like,
while we have none at all. We have been obliged to build
these three forts with neither material nor space ; making
land enough for the foundation by bringing thither bundles
of hurdles and of earth. The fatigue and anxiety are incredible.
Not a man can sleep at night ; not an officer nor soldier but
is perpetually mounting guard. But they are animated to
their hard work by seeing that I share in it, like one of
themselves. We have now got the dyke into good order, so
far as to be able to give them a warm reception, whenever they
choose to come." *

Quite at the farther or land end of the Eowenstyn, was
another fort, called the Stabroek, which commanded and
raked the whole dyke, and was in the neighbourhood of
Mansfeld's head-quarters.

Placed as were these little citadels upon a slender, and — at
a brief distance — ^invisible thread of land, with the dark
waters rolling around them far and near, they presented an
unsubstantial dream-like aspect, seeming rather like castles
floating between air and ocean than actual fortifications — ^a
deceptive mirage rather than reality. There was nothing
imaginary, however, in the work which they were to perform.

» Strada, IL 8i6, 346. Bor. IL 597, I * Parma to Philip, 6 May, ISSi
598. Archivo de Simancas MS.

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208 "^^^ UNITED KBTHEBLAKD& Ohaf. T,

A series of attacks, some serious, others fictitious, had been
made, from time to time, upon both bridge and dyke ; but
7th May, Alexander was unable to inspire his soldiers with
1585. i^a Q^jj watchfulness. Upon the 7th of May a
more determined attempt was made upon the Kowenstyn,
by the fleet from Lillo. Hohenlo and Colonel Ysselstein
conducted the enterprise. The sentinels at the point selected
— ^having recently been so often threatened by an enemy, who
most frequently made a rapid retreat, as to have grown weary
and indifferent — were surprised, at dawn of day, and put to
the sword. " If the truth must be told," said Parma, " the
sentries were sound asleep/' Five hundred Zeelanders, with a
strong party of sappers and miners, fairly established them-
selves upon the dyke, between St. Greorge's and Fort Palisade.
The attack, although spirited at its commencement, was
doomed to be unsuccessful. A co-operation, agreed upon by
the fleet from Antwerp, failed through a misunderstand-
ing. Sainte Aldegonde had stationed certain members of
the munition-chamber in the cathedral tower, with orders to
discharge three rockets, when they should perceive a beacon-
fire which he should light in Fort Tholouse. The watchmen
mistook an accidental camp-fire in the neighbourhood for the
preconcerted signal, and sent up the rockets. Hohenlo un-
derstanding, accordingly, that the expedition was on the point
of starting from Antwerp, hastened to perform his portion of
the work, and sailed up from Lillo. He did his duty faithfully
and well, and established himself upon the dyke, but found
himself alone and without sufficient force to maintain his
position. The Antwerp fieet never sailed. It was even
whispered that the delinquency was rather intended than
accidental ; the Antwerpers being supposed desirous to ascer-
tain the result of Hohenlo's attempt before coming forth to
share his fate. Such was the opinion expressed by Famese
in his letters to Philip, but it seems probable that he was
mistaken. Whatever the cause, however, the fact of the
Zeelanders' discomfiture was certain. The St. George battery

> In Strada^ H. 349.

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158ft. SECOND ATTAOK OF THE KOWENSTYN. 209

and that of the Palisade were opened at once upon them, the
balls came plunging among the sappers and miners before
they had time to throw up many spade-fulls of earth, and the
whole party were soon dead or driven from the dyke. The
snrviyors effected their retreat as they best could, leaving
four of their ships behind them and three or four himdred
men.

"Forty rebels lay dead on the dyke/' said Parma, "and
one hundred and fifty more, at least, were drowned. The
enemy confess a much larger loss than the number I state,
bat I am not a friend of giving details larger than my ascer-
tained facts ; nor do I know how many were killed in the
boats."*

This enterprise was but a prelude, however, to the great
undertaking which had now been thoroughly matured. Upon
the 26th May, another and most determined attack 26th May,
was to be made upon the Kowenstyn, by the i^se.
Antwerpers and Hollanders acting in concert This time, it
was to be hoped, there would be no misconception of signals.
" It was a determination,'' said Parma, " so daring and despe-
rate that there was no substantial reason why we should
believe they would carry it out; but they were at last
solemnly resolved to die or to effect their purpose."'

Two hundred ships in all had been got ready, part of them
under Hohenlo and Justinus de Nassau, to sail up from
Zeeland ; the others to advance from Antwerp under Sainte
Aldegonde. Their destination was the Kowenstyn Dyke. Some
of the vessels were laden with provisions, others with gabions,
hurdles, branches, sacks of sand and of wool, and with other
materials for the rapid throwing up of fortifications.

It was two o'clock, half an hour before the chill dawn of a
May morning, Sunday, the 26th of the month. The pale
light of a waning moon was faintly perceptible in the sky.
Suddenly the sentinels upon the Kowenstyn — this time not

tiyoglio, p. 11, 1. ilL 294.

* Panna to Philip 11., 26 May, 1586,
'Aich. de Sim. MS.' Compare Bor,
XL 698, 699. Strada» 348, 349. Le
Petit, n. 612. Meteren, zil 224. Ben-

VOL. I.— P

« Parma to Philip IL, 26 May, 1686.
*Arch. de Sim. MS.^

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210 THB UNITED KETHEBLANDa Chap. Y.

asleep— descried, as they looked towards LQlo, four fiery ap-
paritions gliding towards them across the waves. The alarm
was given, and soon afterwards the Spaniards began to
master, somewhat reluctantly, upon the dyke, filled as they
always were with the mysterious dread which those demon-
vessels never failed to inspire.

The fire-ships fioated slowly nearer, and at last struck
heavily against the stockade-work. There, covered with tar,
pitch, rosin, and gunpowder, they flamed, flared, and exploded,
during a brief period, with much vigour, and then burned
harmlessly out. One of the objects for which they had been
sent — to set fire to the palisade — was not accomplbhed. The
other was gained ; for the enemy, expecting another volcanic
shower of tombstones and plough-coulters, and remembering
the recent fate of their comrades on the bridge, had retired
shuddering into the forts. Meantime, in the glare of these
vast torches, a great swarm of gunboats and other vessels,
skimming across the leaden-coloured waters, was seen gradu-
ally approaching the dyke. It was the fieet of Hohenlo and
Justinus de Nassau, who had been sailing and rowing since
ten o'clock of the preceding night. The burning ships lighted
them on their way, while it had scared the Spaniards from
their posts.

The boats ran ashore in the mile-long space between forts
St. Geoi^ and the Palisade, and a party of Zeelanders, Admiral
Haultain, governor of Walcheren, at their head, sprang upon
the dyke. Meantime, however, the royalists, finding that the
fire-ships had come to so innocent an end, had rallied and
emerged from their forts. Haultain and his Zeelanders, by
the time they had fairly mounted the dyke, found themselves
in the iron embrace of several hundred Spaniards. After a
brief fierce struggle, face to face, and at push of pike, the
patriots reeled backward down the bank, and took refuge in
their boats. Admiral Haultain slipped as he left the shore,
missed a rope's end which was thrown to him, fell into the
water, and, borne down by the weight of his armour, was
drowned. The enemy, pursuing them, sprang to the waist in

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168fi.

A LANDING EFFECTED.

211

the ooze on the edge of the dyke^ and continued the contest.

The boats opened a hot fire, and there was a severe skirmish

for many minutes, with no certain result It was, however,

b^inning to go hard with the Zeelanders, when, just at the

critical moment, a cheer from the other side of the dyke was

heard, and the Antwerp fleet was seen coming swiftly to the

rescue. The Spaniards, taken between the two bands of

assailants, were at a disadvantage, and it was impossible to

prevent the landing of these fresh antagonists. The Antwerpers

sprang ashore. Among the foremost was Sainte Aldegonde,' —

poet, orator, hymn-book maker, burgomaster, lawyer, polemical

divine — now armed to the teeth and cheering on his men, in

the very thickest of the fight. The diversion was successful,

and Sainte Ald^onde gallantly drove the Spaniards quite

off the field. The whole combined force from Antwerp and

Zeeland now effected their landing. Three thousand men

occupied all the space between Fort George and the Palisade.

With Sainte Aldegonde came the unlucky Koppen Loppen,

and all that could be spared of the English and Scotch

troops in Antwerp, under Balfour and Morgan. With

Hohenlo and Justinus de Nassau came BeiDier Kant, who

had just succeeded Paul Buys as Advocate of Holland.

Besides these came two other men, side by side, perhaps in

the same boat, of whom the world was like to hear much,

from that time forward, and whose names are to be most

solemnly linked together, so long as Netherland history shall

endure ; one, a fair-faced flaxen-haired boy of eighteen, the

other a square-visaged, heavy-browed man of forty — Prince

Maurice^ and John of Olden-Bameveldt. The statesman had

one

' Moosr. Ste.
of the first"

Thomas James

May,

Aldegonde
Letter of

Capt

Walflbgham, —

1685, a P. Office MS. The
soldier had no remarkable
talent for description, bat he had been
fighting all day on the dyke, and sent
off a roagh aoooont of the bnsiness,
the some night, to England.
* '* The Connt Manrioe, with divers

of the States, was here," sajs Capt
James, in the letter above dted.

There is a doubt as to Olden-Bar-
neveldt*s presence. My authority, in
stating the fact, rested on a contem-
poraneous MS., but the note has un-
luckily been lost The common bio-
graphers of the great advocate, and
the contemporary historians, are silent
as to the fact, if it be one. It is cer-
tain,, however, that many members of

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212

THB UNITED NBTHSBLANDS.

Chap. T.

been foremost to urge the claim of William the Silent's son
upon the stadholderate of Holland and Zeeland^ and had been,
as it were, the youth's political guardian. He had himHelf
borne arms more than once before, having shouldered his
matchlock under Batenburg, and marched on that officer's
spirited but disastrous expedition for the relief of Haarlem.
But this was the life of those Dutch rebels. Quill-driving,
law-expounding, speech-making, diplomatic missions, were
intermingled with very practical business in besi^ed towns
or open fields, with Italian musketeers and Spanish pikemen.
And here, too, yoimg Maurice was taking his first solid lesson
in the art of which he was one day to be so distinguished a
professor. It was a sharp beginning. Upon this ribband of
earth, scarce six paces in breadth, with miles of deep water
on both sides — a position recently fortified by the first general
of the age, and held by the famous infantry of Spain and
Italy — ^there was likely to be no prentice-work.

To assault such a position was in truth, as Alexander had
declared it to be, a most daring and desperate resolution on
the part of the States. "Soldiers, citizens, and all," said
Parma, " they are obstinate as dogs to try their fortune." *

With wool-sacks, sand-bags, hurdles, planks, and other mate-
rials brought with them, the patriots now rapidly entrenched
themselves in the position so brilliantly gained ; while, without
deferring for an instant the great purpose which they had
come to effect, the sappers and miners fastened upon the iron-
bound soil of the dyke, tearing it with pick, mattock, and
shovel, digging, delving, and throwing up the earth around
them, busy as human beavers, instinctively engaged in a most
congenial task.

But the beavers did not toil unmolested. The large and
determined force of Antwerpers and English, Hollanders and
Zeelanders, guarded the fortifications as they were rapidly
rising, and the pioneers as they were so manfully delving ;

the States-G^eral came up in Hohen-
lo's fleet, amd it was not likely that
Barneveldt would stay behind. Hia
presence is distincUy stated by some

one, but the reader ia at liberty to be
incredulous if he choose.

> Parma to Philip IL 6 June. 1581^
* Arch.de Sim. MS.^

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UBL A SHABF OOMBAT. 213

but the enemy was not idle. From Fort Saint James, next
beyond Saint Q^orge, CamiUo del Monte led a strong party
to the rescue. There was a tremendous actioui foot to foot,
breast to breast, with pike and pistol, sword and dagger.
Never since the beginning of the war had there been harder
fighting than now upon that narrow isthmus. ^^'Twas an
affiur of most brave obstinacy on both sides/' said Parma, who
rarely used strong language. ^^ Soldiers, citizens, and all —
they were like mad bulldogs/' ' Hollanders, Italians, Scotch-
men, Spaniards, Englishmen, fell thick and fast. The contest
was about the entrenchments before they were completed,
and especially aroimd the sappers and miners, in whose picks
and shovels lay the whole fate of Antwerp. Many of the
dyke-breakers were digging their own graves, and rolled, one
after another, into the breach which they were so obstinately
creating. Upon that slender thread of land the hopes of
many thousands were hanging. To tear it asund^, to roll
the ocean-waves up to Antwerp, and thus to snatch the
great city triumphantly from the grasp of Philip— to ac-
complish this, the three thousand had come forth that May
morning. To prevent it, to hold firmly that great treasure
entrusted to them, was the determination of the Spaniards.
And so, closely pent and packed, discharging their carbines
into each other's faces, rolling, coiled together, down the slimy
sides of the dyke into the black Mraters, struggling to and fro,
while the cannon from the rebel fleet and from the royal forts
mingled their roar with the sharp crack of the musketry.
Catholics and patriots contended for an hour, while still,
through all the confusion and uproar, the miners dug and
delved.

At last the patriots were victorious. They made good their
entrenchments, drove the Spaniards, after much slaughter,
back to the fort of Saint George on the one side, and of the
Palisade on the other, and cleared the whole space between
the two points. The centre of the dyke was theirs ; the great
Kowenstyn, the only key by which the gates of Antwerp

' Same to aame^ 26 Maj, 1685, Ma

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214

THE UNITED NETHERLANDS.

Chap. V.

could be unlocked, was in the deliverers' hands. They pur-
sued their victory, and attacked the Palisade Fort G-amboa,
its commandant, was severely wounded ; many other officers
dead or dying ; the outworks were in the hands of the Holland-
ers ; the slender piles on which the fortress rested in the water
were rudely shaken ; the victory was almost complete.

And now there was a tremendous cheer of triumph. The
beavers had done their work, the barrier was bitten through
and through, the salt water rushed like a river through the
ruptured dyke. A few moments later, and a Zeeland barge,
freighted with provisions, floated triumphantly into the waters
beyond, now no longer an inland sea. The deed was done —
the victory achieved. Nothing more was necessary than to
secure it, to tear the fatal barrier to fragments, to bury it^ for
its whole length, beneath the waves. Then, after the isthmus
had been utterly submerged, when the Scheldt was rolled
back into its ancient bed, when Parma's &mous bridge had
become useless, when the maritime communication between
Antwerp and Holland had been thoroughly established, the
Spaniards would have nothing left for it but to drown like
rats in their entrenchments or to abandon the siege in despair.
All this was in the hands of the patriots. The Kowenstyn
wi^ theirs. The Spaniards were driven irom the field, the
batteries of their forts silenced. For a long period the rebels
were unmolested, and felt themselves secure.*

"We remained thus some three hours," says Captain James^
an English officer who fought in the action, and described it
in rough, soldierly fashion to Walsingham the same day,
" thinking all things to be secure."' Yet in the very supreme
moment of victory, the leaders, both of the HoUuiders and
of the Antwerpers, proved themselves incompetent to their

* Meteren, zii. 224. Bor, n. 599,
600. Hoofd Vervolgh, 9*7-99, aeq.
Bentivoglio, P. II. L. III. 297, seq,
Strada^ IL 354-367. Baudartii, 'Pole-
mographia,' II. 27-30. Le Petit, U.
514. Capt T. James to Walsingham,
^ May, 1585, a P. Office Ma GUpin

to Walsingham, g May, 1585, a P
Office Ha Parma to Philip II., 26
May and 6 June, 1585, 'Axchivo dt
Simancas Ma*
< Ma Letter before cited.

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1686. THB DYKE PIERCED. 215

position. With deep regret it must be admitted, that not
only the reckless Hohenlo, but the all-accomplished Sainte
Aldegonde, committed the gravest error. In the hour
of danger, both had comported themselves with perfect
courage and conduct. In the instant of triumph, they gave
way to puerile exultation. With a celerity as censurable as
it seems incredible, both these commanders sprang into the
first hexgd which had thus floated across the dyke, in order
that they might, in person, carry the news of the victory to
Antwerp, and set all the bells ringing and the bonfires blazing.
They took with tiiem Ferrante Spinola, a mortally-wounded
Italian officer of rank, as a trophy of their battle, and a boat-
load of beef and flour, as an earnest of the approaching relief.'

While the conquerors were thus gone to enjoy their triumph,
the conquered, though perplexed and silenced, were not yet
disposed to accept their defeat. They were even ignorant
that they were conquered. They had been forced to abandon
the field, and the patriots had entrenched themselves upon
the dyke, but neither Fort Saint George nor the Palisade had
been carried, although the latter was in imminent danger.

Old Count Peter Ernest Mansfeld — a grizzled veteran,
who had passed his childhood, youth, manhood, and old age,
under fire— commanded at the land-end of the dyke^ in the
fortress of Stabroek, in which neighbourhood his whole divi^
sion was stationed. Seeing how the day was going, he called
a council of war. The patriots had gained a large section of
the dyke. So much was certain. Could they succeed in
utterly demolishing that bulwark in the course of the day ?
If so, how were they to be dislodged before their work was
perfected ? It was difficult to assault their position. Three
thousand Hollanders, Antwerpers, EngUshmen — "mad bull-
dogs all,'' as Parma called them — showing their teeth very
mischievously, with one himdred and sixty Zeeland vessels
throwing in their broadsides from both margins of the dyke,
were a formidable company to face.

" Oh for one half hour of Alexander in the field 1 " sighed

* Metereo, Bob Hoold, Strada^ vbi sup.

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216 ^I^^^ UNITED NETHEBLANDS. Ca^P. V.

one of the Spanish officers in coundL But Alexander was
more than four leagues away, and it was doubtful whether he
even knew of the fatal occurrence. Yet how to send him a
messenger. Who could reach him through that vaUey o£
death? Would it not be better to wait till ni^tfall ? Under
the cover of darkness something might be attempted, which
in the daylight would be hopeless. There was much anxiety,
and much difference of opinion had been expressed, when
Camillo Capizucca, colonel of the Italian Legion^ obtained a
hearing. A man bold in words as in deeds, he yehemently
denounced the pusillanimity which would wait either for Parma
or for nightfall. ^^ What difference will it make,'' he asked,
'^whether we defer our action until either darkness or the
G^eral arrives ? In each case we give the enemy time enough
to destroy the dyke, and thoroughly to relieve the city. That
done, what good can be accomplished by our arms ? Then
our disheartened soldiers will either shrink from a fruitlees
combat or march to certain death.'' Having thus, very
warmly but very sagaciously, defined the position in which all
were placed, he proceeded to declare that he claimed, neither
for himself nor for his legion, any superiority over the rest of
the army. He knew not that the Italians were more to be
relied upon than others in the time of danger, but this he did
know, that no man in the world was so devoted as he was to
the Prince of Parma. To show that devotion by waiting witii
folded arms behind a wall until the Prince should arrive to
extricate his followers, was not in his constitution. He claimed
the right to lead his Italians against the enemy at once — ^in
the front rank, if others chose to follow ; alone, if the rest
preferred to wait till a better leader should arrive.^

The words of the Italian colonel sent a thrill through all
who heard him. Next in command under Capizucca was his
camp-marshal, an officer who bore the illustrious name of Pic-
colomini — ^father of the Duke Ottavio, of whom so much was
to be heard at a later day throughout the fell scenes of that
portion of the eighty years' tragedy now enacting, which was

> Strada» n. 357, 358, m;.

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1585. BALLY OF THE SPANIiBDa 217

to be called the Thirty Years' War of Germany. The camp-
marehal warmly Beconded the proposition of his colonel
Kansfeld^ pleased with such enthusiasm among his officers,
yielded to their wishes, which were, in truth, his own. Six
companies of the Italian Legion were in his encampment,
while the remainder were stationed, far away, upon the bridge,
mider command of his son, Count Charles. Early in the
morning, before the passage across the dyke had been closed,
the veteran condottiere, pricking his ears as he snuffed the
i^attle from afar, had contrived to send a message to his son.

" Charles, my boy," were his words, " to-day we must either
beat them or burst." ^

Old Peter Ernest felt that the long-expected, long-deferred
assault was to be made that morning in full force, and that it
was necessary for the royalists, on both bridge and dyke, to
hold their own. Piccolomini now drew up three hundred of
his Italians, picked veterans all, and led them in marching
order to Mansfeld. That general at the same moment, re-
ceived another small but unexpected reinforcement A por-
tion of the Spanish Legion, which had long been that of
Pedro Pacchi, lay at the extreme verge of the Stabroek
encampment, several . miles away. Aroused by the distant
cannonading, and suspecting what had occurred, Don Juan
d'Aquila, the colonel in command, marched without a mo-
ment's delay to Mansfeld's head-quarters, at the head of all
the force he could muster — about two hundred strong. With
him came Cardona, Gonzales de Castro, Toralva, and other
distinguished officers. As they arrived, Capizucca was just
setting forth for the field. There arose a dispute for prece-
dence between the Italians and the Spaniards. Capizucca had
first demanded the privilege of leading what seemed a forlorn
hope, and was unwilling to yield his claim to the new comer.
On the other hand, the Spaniards were not disposed to follow
where they felt entitled to lead. The quarrel was growing
warm, when Aquila, seizing his Italian rival by the hand, pro-

* GharlM^ mon fils, il te (knt vaincre oa oreyer." Le Petit^ II. 61i.

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218 THE UNITBD NBTHBRLANDa Chap. T.

tested that it was not a moment for friends to wrangle for
precedence.

^^ Shoulder to shoulder,'' said he, ^4et us go into this
business, and let our blows rather fall on our enemies' heads
than upon each other's." This terminated the altercation.
The Italians and Spaniards — in battle array as they were —
all dropped on their knees, offered a brief prayer to the Holy
Virgin, and then, in the best possible spirits, set forth along
the dyke. Next to fort Stabroek — whence they issued — was
the Palisade Fort, nearly a mile removed, which the patriots
had nearly carried, and between which and St. Qeorgd, an-
other mile farther on, their whole force was established.^

The troops under Capizucca and Aquila soon reached tiie
Palisade, and attacked the besi^ers, while the garrison,
cheered by the unexpected relief, made a vigorous sortie.
There was a brief sharp contest, in which many were killed
on both sides ; but at last the patriots fell back upon their
own entrenchments, and the fort was saved. Its name was
instantly changed to Fort Victory, and the royalists then pre-
pared to charge the fortified camp of the rebels, in the centre
of which the dyke-cutting operations were still in progress.
At the same moment, from the opposite end of the bulwark,
a cry was heard along the whole line of the dyke. From
Fort Holy Cross, at the Scheldt end, the welcome intelligence
was suddenly communicated — as if by a magnetic impulse —
that Alexander was in the field.*

It was true. Having been up half the night, as usual,
keeping watch along his bridge, where he was ever expecting
a fatal attack, he had retired for a few hours' rest in his camp
at Beveren. Aroused at day-break by the roar of the cannon,
he had hastily thrown on his armour, mounted his horse, and,
at the head of two hundred pikemen, set forth for the scene
of action. Detained on the bridge by a detachment of the
Antwerp fleet, which had been ordered to make a diversion
in that quarter, he had, after beating off their vessels with his
boat-artillery, and charging Count Charles Mansfeld to heed

' StracUs ubi atgp, * Ibid.

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1585. PABMA COKES TO THE BESOXJE. 219

well the brief injunctioii of old Peter Ernest, made all the
haste he could to the Kowenstyn. Arriving at Fort Holy
Cross^ he learned from Mondragon liow the day was going.
Three thousand rebels, he learned, were established on the
dyke, Fort Palisade was tottering, a fleet from both sides was
cannonading the Spanish entrenchments, the salt water was
flowing across the breach already made. His seven months'
work, it seemed, had come to nought. The navigation was
already open from the sea to Antwerp, the Kowenstyn was
in the rebek' hands. But Alexander was not prone to pre-
mature despair. " I arrived," said he to Philip in a letter
written on the same evening, " at the very nick of time." * A
less hopeful person might have thought that he had arrived
several hours too late. Having brought with him every man
that could be spared from Beveren and from the bridge, ho
DOW ordered Camillo del Monte to transport some additional
pieces of artillery from Holy Cross and from Saint James to
Fort Saint George. At the same time a sharp cannonade
was to be maintained upon the rebel fleet from all the forts.*

Mondragon, with a hundred musketeers and pikemen, was
sent forward likewise as expeditiously as possible to Saint
Geoi^ No one could be more alert. The battered veteran,
hero of some of the most remarkable military adventures that
history has ever recorded,' fought his way on foot, in the midst
of the fray, like a young ensign who had his first laurels
to win. And, in truth, the day was not one for cunning
manoeuvres, directed, at a distance, by a skillful tactician. It
was a brisk close contest, hand to hand and eye to eye —
a Homeric encounter, in which the chieftains were to prove
a right to command by their personal prowess. Alexander,
descending suddenly — dramatically, as it were — ^when the
battle seemed lost — ^like a deity from the clouds — ^was to
justify, by the strength of his arm, the enthusiasm which his
name always awakened. Having, at a glance, taken in the

* MS. Letter before cited. "Llegao I fuego." ' Strada, tt^i mpi

a la major coDJuntora del mondoque I ' See 'Riaeof the Dutch Bepablic.'
fue qxiando ae habia comenzado el | vol iL chap, ill, and voL ill chap. iiL

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220 ^^HB UNTTBD NBTHXBLAl!n)& Obap. T.

whole situation, he made his brief arrangements, going firom
rank to rank, and disposing his troops in the most effectiye
manner. He said but few words, but his voice had always a
telling effect

" The man who refuses, this day, to follow me," he said,
^' has never had regard to his own honour, nor has God's cause
or the King's ever been dear to his heart"*

His disheartened Spaniards and Italians — ^roused as by a
magic trumpet^— eagerly demanded to be led against the
rebels. And now from each end of the dyke, the royalists
were advancing toward the central position occupied by the
patriots. While Capizucca and Aquila were occupied at Fort
Victory, Parma was steadily cutting his way from Holy Cross
to Saint George. On foot, armed with sword and shield, and
in coat of mail, and marching at the head of his men along
the dyke, surrounded by Bevilacqua, Bentivoglio, Manriquez,
Sforza, and other officers of historic name and distinguished
courage, now upon the summit of the causeway, now on its
shelving banks, now breast-high in the waters, through which
lay the perilous path, contending at every inch with the
scattered bands of the patriots, who slowly retired to their
entrenched camp, and with the Antwerp and Zeeland vessels,
whose balls tore through the royalist ranks, the General at
last reached Saint George. On the preservation of that post
depended the whole fortune of the day, for Parma had al-
ready received the welcome intelligence that the Palisade—
now Fort Victory — ^had been regained. He instantly ordered
an outer breast-work of wool-sacks and sand-bags to be thrown
up in front of Saint George, and planted a battery to play
point-blank at the enemy's entrenchments. Here the final
issue was to be made.

The patriots and Spaniards were thus all enclosed in the
mile-long space between St George and the Palisade. Upon
that narrow strip of earth, scarce six paces in width, more than
five thousand men met in mortal combat — ^a narrow arena for so
many gladiators, hemmed in on both sides by the sea. The

I Strada» XL 360.

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1586.

FIBROB STBITGQLE OK THE DYKE.

221

patriots had, with solemn ceremony, before starting upon their
enterprise, vowed to destroy the dyke and relieve Antwerp, or
to perish in the attempt. They were true to their vow. Not
the ancient Batavians or Nervii had ever manifested more
tenacity against the Roman legions than did their descendants
agcunst the far-famed Spanish infantry upon this fatal day.
The fight on the Kowenstjm was to be long remembered in the
military annals of Spain and Holland. Never, since the cur-
tain first rose upon the great Netherland tragedy, had there
been a fiercer encounter.* Flinching was impossible. There
was scant room for the play of pike and da^er, and, close
packed as were the combatants, the dead could hardly fall to
the ground. It was a mile-long series of separate mortal
duels, and the oozy dyke was soon slippery with blood.

From both sides, under Capizucca and Aquila on the one
hand, and under Alexander on the other, the entrenchments
of the patriots were at last assaulted, and as the royalists
fell thick and fast beneath the breast- work which they were
storming, their comrades clambered upon their bodies, and
attempted, from such vantage-ground, to effect an entrance.
Three times the invaders were beaten back with heavy loss,
and after each repulse the attack was renewed with fresh
vigour, while within the entrenchments the pioneers still
plied the pick and shovel, undismayed by the uproar aroimd
them.

A fourth assault, vigorously made, was cheerfully repelled
by the Antwerpers and Hollanders, clustering behind their
breast-works, and looking steadily into their enemies' eyes.
Captain Heraugiere — of whom more was to be heard one day
— ^had led two hundred men into action, and now found
himself at the head of only thirteen.' The loss had been as
severe among many other patriot companies, as well as in
the Spanish ranks, and again the pikemen of Spain and
Italy filtered before the iron visages and cordial blows of
the Hollanders.

' *' Mihi tanto aocuratios dicendoiDf"
saja Strada, "qnanto rar6 alias in
Belgto, audadore looo, aot Macioris
altematione victoriae, aut nobilioribus

audentium exemplis, aut prffisentiora
caelitum ope^ dimicatum est, &o,
IL 349.

* Metercn, ubi sup.

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222 THE UNITED NETHBRLANDa Chaj». V.

This work had lasted a good hour and a half, when at last^
on the fifth assault, a wild and mysterious apparition renewed
the enthusiasm of the Spaniards. The figure of the dead
coDMnander of the old Spanish L^on, Don Pedro Pacchi, who
had fallen a few months before at the si^ of Dendermonde,
was seen charging in front of his regiment, clad in his well-
known armour, and using the gestures which had been habitual
with him in life.^ No satisfactory explanation was ever made
of this singular delusion, but it was general throughout the
ranks, and in that superstitious age was as e£fectiye as truth.
The wavering Spaniards rallied once more under the guidance
of their phantom leader, and again charged the breast- work of
the patriots. Toralva, mounting upon the back of one of his
soldiers, was first to vault into the entrenchments. At the
next instant he lay desperately wounded on the ground, hut
was close followed by Capizucca, sustained by a determined
band. The entrenchment was carried, but the furious conflict
still continued. At nearly the same moment, however, several
of the patriot vessels were observed to cast off their moorings,
and to be drifting away from the dyke. A large number of
the rest had been disabled by the hot fire, which by Alexan-
der's judicious orders had been directed upon the fleet.
The ebbing tide left no choice to the commander of the
others but to retreat or to remain and fall into the enemy's
hands, should he gain the day. Had they risked the dan-
gerous alternative, it might have ensured the triumph of
the whole enterprise, while their actual decision proved most
disastrous in the end.

" We have conquered," cried Alexander, stretching his arm
towards the receding waters. " The sea deserts the impious
heretics. Strike from them now their last hope, and cut off
their retreat to the departing ships." ^ The Spaniards were
not slow to perceive their advantage, while the courage of the
patriots at last began to ebb with the tide. The day was lost.
In the hour of transitory triumph the leaders of the expedi-
tion had turned their backs on their followers, and now, after

* Strada, H. 364. ' Strada^ IL 366.

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1685. THB SPANIARDS SUCXTESSFUL. 223

BO much heroism had been exhibited, fortmie too had averted
her face. The grim resistance changed to desperate panic,
and a mad chase began along the blood-stained dyke. Some
were slain with spear and bullet, others were hunted into the
sea, many were smothered in the ooze along the edge of
the embankment. The fugitives, making their way to the
retreating vessels, were pursued by the Spaniards, who swam
after them, with their swords in their teeth, and engaged
them in mortal combat in the midst of the waves.

" And 80 we cut all their throats," said Parma, *' the rebels
on every side remaining at our mercy, and I having no doubt
that my soldiers would avenge the loss of their friends." *

The English and the Scotch, under Balfour and Morgan,
were the very last to abandon the position which they had
held so mafifully seven hours long. Honest Captain James,
who fought to the last, and described the action the same
night in the fewest possible words, was of opinion that the
fleet had moved away only to obtain a better position. " They
put off to have more room to play on the enemy," said he ;
"but the Hollanders and Zeelanders, seeing the enemy come
on so hotly, and thinking our galleys would leave them, aban-
doned their string. The Scots, seeing them to retire, left
their string. The enemy pursued very hotly ; the English-
men stood to repulse, and are put most to the sword. In this
shamefiil retreat there were slain or drowned to the number
of two thousand."' The blunt Englishman was justly indig-
nant that an enterprise, so nearly successful, had been ruined
by the desertion of its chiefs. " We had cut the dyke in three
places," said he ; "6t^ left it most shamefvUy for want of com-
fnandment." •

Poor Koppen Loppen — ^whose blunders on former occasions
had caused so much disaster — was now fortunate enough to
expiate them by a soldier's death. Admiral Haultain had, as
we have seen, been drowned at the commencement of the

' "Y asi lo8 degollaron a todos,
<ri«iando pop una parte y otra a nues-
^ miaerioordia, y yo fiador que ven-
Svon la perdida de los amigoa."

Parma to Philip II., May 26, 1586,
MS.

* Jamea to Walsingham, MS. before
cited. ■ Ibid.

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224

THB UNITED KBTHEBLAKD&

Chap. V.

action.^ Justinus de Nassau^ at its close, was more Bucoessfol
in his retreat to the ships. He, too, sprang into the water
when the overthrow was absolute ; but, alighting in some
shallows, was able to conceal himself among weeds and water-
lilies till he had divested himself of his armour, when he made
his escape by swimming to a boat, which conveyed him to
Lillo. Boelke van Deest, an officer of some note, was so
horribly wounded in the face, that he was obliged to wear a
mask for the remainder of his life.*

Parma, overjoyed at his victory, embraced Capizucca before
the whole army, with warm expressions of admiration for his
conduct. Both the Italian colonel and his Spanish rival
Aquila were earnestly recommended to Philip for reward and
promotion. The wounded Toralva was carried to Alexander's
own quarters, and placed in Alexander's own bed, where he
remained till his recovery, and was then presented — a distinc-
tion which he much valued — with the armour which the Prince
had worn on the day of the battle.' Parma himself, so soon
as the action was concluded, went with his chief officers
straight from the field to the little viUage-church of Stabroek,
where he fell upon his knees and offered up fervent thanks
for his victory. He next set about repairing the ruptured
dyke, damaged in many places but not hopelessly ruined, and
for this purpose the bodies of the rebels, among other materials,
were cast by hundreds into the ditches which their own hands
had dug/

Thus ended the eight hours' fight on the Kowenstyn. " The
feast lasted from seven to eight hours," said Parma, " with the
most brave obstinacy on both sides that has been seen for
many a long day.'" A thousand royalists were killed and
twice as many patriots, and the issue of the conffict was most
uncertain up to the very last.

* This appears from the letter of
Captain James. The other acoounts
describe the death of the Admiral as
occurring in the general rout at the
close of the battle.

« Van Wyn op Wagenaar, viiu 40.

» Strada, IL 364. ♦ IWd. 36t.

* "Y habiendo durado esta fiests,
obra de 7 o 8 bore, con la mas brara
obstinadon de entrambas partes que
se ha Tisto hartos dias ha." Panna
to Philip IL, MS. before dted.

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1585. PBEICATUBE TBIUICPH AT AUTTWEBP. 220

*' Our loss is greater than I wish it was/' wrote Alexander
to Philip : ^^ It was a very close thing, and I have never been
more anxious in my life as to the result for your Majesty's
seryice. The whole fate of the battle was hanging all tiie
time by a thread."* More than ever were reinforcements
necessary, and it was only by a miracle that the victory had
at last been gained with such slender resources. ^^ 'Tis a
large, long, laborious, expensive, and most perilous war,'' said
Pfiuma, when urging the claims of Capizucca and Aquila^
" for we have to &ghi every minute ; and there are no castles
and other rewards, so that if soldiers are not to have promo-
tion, they will lose their spirit."* Thirty-two of the rebel
vessels grounded, and fell into the hands of the Spaniards,
who took from them many excellent pieces of artillery. The
result was most conclusive and most disheartening for the
patriots.

Meantime — as we have seen — Hohenlo and Sainte Alde-
gonde had reached Antwerp in breathless haste to announce
their triumph. They had been met on the quay by groups of
excited citizens, who eagerly questioned the two generals
arriving thus covered with laurels from the field of battle, and
drank with delight all the details of the victory. The poor
dying Spinola was exhibited in triumph, the boat -load of bread-
stuff received with satisfaction, and vast preparations were
made to receive, on wharves and in storehouses, the plentiful
supplies about to arrive. Beacons and bonfires were lighted,
the bells from all the steeples rang their merriest peals, cannon
thundered in triumph not only in Antwerp itself, but subse-
quently at Amsterdam and other more distant cities. In due
time a magnificent banquet was spread in the town-house to
greet the conquering Hohenlo. Immense grati^cation was ex-
pressed by those of the reformed religion ; dire threats were

'" Do lo8 nuestros tambien han
qoedado mas de los que 70 qoisiera —
h* sido pendenda tan refiidar— que
bartas veces ha pueeto harto mas oai-
dado el yer termino en que estaba el
aervido de Y . M. Todo esto ha estado

VOL. I.— Q

oolgado de mi hilo." Panna to Philip
IL MS. before cited.

* '^Gnerra laiga, trabijosa, oo6to6a»
7 ma7 peligrosa, paes sempre se trata
de pelear, 7 que do se haf castillos ni
otroB premios," &o, (Diid.)

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226 ^^^ UinTED KETHEBLANDa Chap. T.

uttered against the Catholics. Some were for hanging them all
out of hand, others for throwing them into the Scheldt ; the
most moderate proposed packing them all out of town so soon
as the si^ should he raised — an event which could not now
he delayed many days longer.

Hohenlo, placed on high at the head of the banquet-tahle^
assumed the very god of war. Beside and near him sat the
loveliest dames of Antwerp^ rewarding his hravery with their
brightest smiles. The Count drained huge goblets to their
health, to the success of the patriots, and to the confusion of
the royalists, while, as he still drank and feasted, the trumpet,
kettle-drum, and cymbal, and merry peal of bell without, did
honour to his triumph. So gay and gallant was the victor,
that he announced another banquet on the following day,
still further to celebrate the happy release of Antwerp, and
invited the fair ladies around him again to grace the board.
It is recorded that the gentlewoman next him responded with
a sigh, that, if her presentiments were just, the morrow would
scarcely be so joyful as the present day had been, and that
she doubted whether the triumph were not premature.*

Hardly had she spoken when sinister sounds were heard in
the streets. The first few stragglers, survivors of the deadly
fight, had arrived with the fatal news that all was lost, the
dyke r^ained, the Spaniards victorious, the whole band of
patriots cut to pieces. A few frightfully-wounded and dying
sufferers were brought into the banqueting-halL Hohenlo
sprang fi-om the feast — ^interrupted in so ghastly a manner-
pursued by shouts and hisses. Howls of execration sainted
him in the streets, and he was obliged to conceal himself for
a time, to escape the fury of the populace.*

On the other hand, Parma was, not unnaturally, overjoyed
at the successful issue to the combat, and expressed himself
on the subject in language of (for him) unusual exultation.
" To-day, Sunday, 26th of June," said he, in a letter to Philip,
despatched by special courier on the very same night, "the

^ Mertens en Torps, v. 242.
* Ibid. Compare Bor, Meteren, Hoofd, et aL, ubi aujk

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1685. DEFEAT OP THE PATRIOTS. 227

Lord has been pleased to grant to your Majesty a great and
most signal victory. In this conjuncture of so great import-
ance it may be easily conceived that the best results that can
be desired will be obtained if your Majesty is now ready to do
what is needful. I congratulate your Majesty very many
times on this occasion, and I desire to render infinite thanks
to Divine Providence." ^

He afterwards proceeded, in a rapid and hurried manner, to
give his Majesty the outlines of the battle, mentioning, with
great encomium, Capizucca and Aquila, Mondragon and
Vasto, with many other officers, and reconunending them for
reward and promotion ; praising, in short, heartily and ear-
nestly, all who had contributed to the victory, except himself,
to whose personal exertions it was chiefly due. "As for good
old Mansfeld," said he, *^ he bore himself like the man he is,
and he deserves that your Majesty should send him a particular
mark of your royal approbation, writing to him yourself plea-
santly in Spanish, which is that which will be most highly
esteemed by him.*'* Alexander hinted also that Philip would
do well to bestow upon Mansfeld the countship of Biart, as a
reward for his long years of faithful service.'

This action on the Kowenstyn terminated the effective
resistance of Antwerp. A few days before, the monster- vessel,
in the construction of which so much time and money had
been consumed, had at last been set afloat. She had been
called the War's End, and, so far as Antwerp was concerned,
the fates that presided over her birth seemed to have been
paltering in a double sense when the ominous name was con-
eye-witnesses, and from a careful com-
parison of contemporary historians.
Vide Bor, II. 699, 600. Meteren, xii.
224. Hoofd Vervolgh, 97-99, seq.
BentivogUo, P. U. L. IIL 297, seq.,
whose brother, the Marchese Hippolito
Bentivoglio, distinguished himself in
the action, and was promoted, in con-
sequence, to a company of lancers by
Parma. Strada, II. 354-367. Bau-
dartii, *Polemographia,' II. 27-30.
Le Petit, II. 614. Wagenaar, viil 80.
Van Wyn op Wagenaar, viil 39, 40,
et aL

• " Doy a V. M. muy mnches vezes
la enora buena y inflnitas gracias a la
Divina," Ao, MS. letter before cited.

• "El buen viejo del conde de
Ifansfeld anduvo como quien es, y
merece que Y. M. se le mande en par-
ticular agradecer, escrlbiendole en
Espafiol regaladamente quo es lo que
mas estimaria," Ac. (Ibid.)

• Ibid. The account of this re-
markable action has been mainly
gathered torn the manuscript letters
of Parma to Philip, written from the
scene itself of some Englishmen, also

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228

THB UNITED NBTHEBLAND&

Chap. V.

ferred. Skie was larger than anything previously known in
naval architecture ; she had four masts and three hehns.
Her bulwarks were ten feet thick ; her tops were musket-proo£
She had twenty guns of largest size^ besides many other pieces
of artillery of lesser calibre, the lower tier of which was
almost at the water's leveL She was to carry one thousand
men, and she was so supported on corks and barrels as to be
sure to float under any circumstances. Thus she was a great
swimming fortress which could not be sunk, and was impervious
to shot. Unluckily, however, in spite of her four masts and
three helms, she would neither sail nor steer, and she proved
but a great, unmanageable and very ridiculous tub, fully
justifying all the sarcasms that had been launched upon her
during the period of her construction, which had been almost
as long as the si^ itself.'

The Spaniards called her the Bugaboo— a monster to scate
children withal.* The patriots christened her the Elephant,
the Antwerp Folly, the Lost Penny, with many similar appella-
tions.' A small army might have been maintained for a
month, they said, on the money she had cost, or the whole
city kept in bread for three months. At last, late in May, a
few days before the battle of the Kowenstyn, she set forth
from Antwerp, across the submerged land, upon her expedition
to sweep all the Spanish forts out of existence, and to bring
the war to its end. She came to her own end very briefly,
for, after drifting helplessly about for an hour, she stuck fast
in the sand in the neighbourhood of Ordam, while the crew
and soldiers made their escape, and came back to the city to
share in the ridicule which, from first to last, had attached
itself to the monster-ship.*

Two days after the Kowenstyn afiair, Alexander sent an
expedition under Count Charles Mansfeld to take posses-
sion of the great Bugaboo. The boat, in which were Coimt

1 Strada, II. 353. Le Petit, H 512.
Boadartii, *Polemog.' XL 30, with an
admirable engrayiDg. Meteren, Bor,
Hoofd, et aL u5i sup.

' " Oaras^jamaiila." Straday vibi sup.
"Baudartiua, Le Petit^ Strada, M
up.
*Ibi4

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im. THB SHIP <WAB*S estd: 229

Charles, Count Aremberg, his Inrother de Barban^on, and
other noble volunteers, met with an accident : a keg of gun-
powder accidentally ezjdoding, blowing Aremberg into the
water, whence he escaped unharmed by swimming, and fiight-
inlly damaging Mansfeld in the face.' This indirect mischief
—the only injury ever inflicted by the War's End upon the
enemy— did not prevent the rest of the party in the boats
from taking possession of the ship, and bringing her in triumph
to the Prince of Parma. After being thoroughly examined
mi heartily laughed at by the Spaniards, she was broken up—
her cannon, munitions, and other valuable materials, being
taken from her — and then there was an end of the War's
End.'

This useless expenditure — against the judgment and en-
treaties of many leading personages — ^was but a type of the
difficulties with which Sainte Ald^onde had been obliged to
contend from the first day of the siege to the last. Every one in
the city had felt himself called on to express an opinion as to
the proper measures for defence. Diversity of humours,
popular license, antm^hy, did not constitute the best govern-
ment for a city beleagured by Alexander Famese. We have
seen the deadly injury inflicted upon the cause at the outset
by the brutality of the butchers, and the manful struggle
which Sainte Aldegonde had maintained against their cupidity
aod that of their friends. He had dealt with the thousand
difficulties which rose up around him from day to day, but
his best intentions were perpetually misconstrued, his most
strenuous exertions steadily foiled. It was a city where there
was much love of money, and where commerce — always timid
by nature, particularly when controlled by alien residents —
was often the cause of almost abject cowardice.

From time to time there had been threatening demonstra-
tions made against the burgomaster, who, by protracting the
resistance of Antwerp, was bringing about the absolute de-
struction of a world-wide trade, and the downfall of the most
opulent capital in Christendom. There were also many popu-

' Strada» U 368. * Ibid.

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230 "^^^ UNITED NETHERLANDS. Chap. T.

lar riots — ^very easily inflamed by the Catholic portion of the
inhabitants — ^for bread. '^ Bread, bread, or peace !" waa
hoarsely shouted by ill-looking mischievoas crowds, that dog-
ged the steps and besieged the doors of Sainte Ald^onde ; but
the burgomaster had done his best by eloquence of tongue
and personal courage, both against mobs and against the
enemy, to inspire the mass of his fellow-citizens with his own
generous spirit. He had relied for a long time on the n^o*
tiation with France, and it would be difficult to exaggerate
the disastrous effects produced by the treachery of the Yalois
court. The historian Le Petit, a resident of Antwerp at the
time of the siege, had been despatched on secret mission to
Paris, and had communicated to the States' deputies Sainte Alde-
gonde's earnest adjurations that they should obtain, if possible,
before it should be too late, an auxiliary force and a pecuniary
subsidy. An inunediate assistance, even if slight, might be
sufficient to prevent Antwerp and its sister cities from £Edling
into the hands of the enemy. On that messenger's return, the
burgomaster, much encouraged by his report, had made many
eloquent speeches in the senate, and for a long time sustained
the sinking spirits of the citizens.'

The irritating termination to the triumph actually achieved
against the bridge, and the tragical result to the great enter-
prise against the Kowenstyn, had now thoroughly broken the
heart of Antwerp. For the last catastrophe Sainte Aldegonde
himself was highly censurable, although the chief portion of
the blame rested on the head of Hohenlo. Nevertheless the
States of Holland were yet true to the cause of the Union and
of liberty. Notwithstanding their heavy expenditures, and
their own loss of men, they urged warmly and earnestly the
continuance of the resistance, and promised, within at latest
three months' time, to raise an army of twelve thousand foot
and seven thousand horse, with which they pledged them-
selves to relieve the city, or to perish in the endeavour.^ At
the same time, the legation, which had been sent to England
to offer the sovereignty to Queen Elizabeth, sent encouraging

i Le Petit» U. 505. ■ Meteres, zil 225.

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U85. DESPAIR OF THB OmZERQ, 231

deq)atches to Antwerp, assuring the authorities that arrange-
ments for an auxiliary force had been effected ; while Eliza-
beth herself wrote earnestly upon the subject with her own
hand.^ *

^^I am informed/' said that Princess, ^Hhat through the
closing of the Scheldt you are likely to enter into a treaty
with the Prince of Parma, the issue of which is very much to
be doubted, so far as the maintenance of your privileges is
concerned. Remembering the warm friendship which has
ever existed between thb crown and the house of Burgundy,
in the realms of which you are an important member, and
considering that my subjects engaged in commerce have
always met with more privilege and comity in the Nether-
lands than in any other country, I have resolved to send you
at once, assistance, comfort, and aid. The details of the plan
will be stated by your envoys ; but be assured that by me you
will never be forsaken or n^lected." *

The negotiations with Queen Elizabeth — ^most important
for the Netherlands, for England, and for the destinies of
Europe — ^which succeeded the futile diplomatic transactions
with France, will be laid before the reader in a subsequent
chapter. It is proper that they should be massed by them-
selves, so that the eye can comprehend at a single glance
their whole progress and aspect, as revealed both by public
and official, and by secret and hitherto unpublished records.
Meantime, so far as r^ards Antwerp, those negotiations had
been too deliberately conducted for the hasty and impatient
temper of the citizens.

The spirit of the commercial metropolis, long flagging,
seemed at last broken. Despair was taking possession of all
hearts. The common people did nothing but complain, the
magistrates did nothing but wrangle. In the broad council
the debates and dissensions were discouraging and endless.
Six of the eight militia-colonels were for holding out at all
hazards, while a majority of the eighty captains were for
capitulation. The populace was tumultuous and threatening,

' Bor, n. 607-609. * See the letter in Bor, XL 608.

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232 '^^^^ UNITBD MJfrHKKTiANDS> Csap. Y^

demanding peace and bread at any prioe. Holland sent
promises in abundance^ and Holland was sincere ; but th^:^
had been much disappointment, and there was now infinite
bitterness. It seemed obvious that a crisis was fast approach-
ingy and — unless immediate aid should come from Holland or
from England — ^that a surrender was inevitable.' La None,
after five years' imprisonment, had at last been exchanged
against Count Philip Egmont. That noble, chief of im
ancient house, cousin of the Queen of France, was mortified
at being ransomed against a simple Huguenot gentleman-^
even though that gentleman was the illustrious "iron-armed"
La Noue — ^but he preferred to sacrifice his dignity for the
sake of his liberty. He was still more annoyed that one
hundred thousand crowns as security were exacted from La
Noue — ^for which the King of Navarre became bondsman —
that he would never again bear arms in the Netherlands ex-
cept in obedience to the French monarch, while no such
pledges were required of himself. La Noue visited the Prince
of Parma at Antwerp, to take leave, and was received with
the courtesy due to his high character and great distinction.
Alexander took pleasure in showing him all his fortifications,
and explaining to him the whole system of the si^, and La
Noue was filled with honest amazement. He declared after-
wards that the works were superb and impr^nable, and that
if he had been on the outside at the head of twelve thousand
troops, he should have felt obliged to renounce the idea of
relieving the city.* " Antwerp cannot escape you," confessed
the veteran Huguenot, "but must soon fall into your hands.
And when you enter, I would counsel you to hang up your
sword at its gate, and let its capture be the crowning trophy
in your list of victories."

"You are right," answered Parma, "and many of my
friends have given me the same advice ; but how am I to
retire, engaged as I am for life in the service of my King?'"

> Le Petit, H. 618. Bor, II. 610- I * Groen y. Frinsterer, 'Aiobive^*
613, seq. &c. L 11-80,

' • Le Petit, IL 6ia

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158& SAINTB ALDBQOmOB DIBOOUBAGED. 233

Such was the opinion of La None, a man whose love foi
the refonned religion and for civil liberty can be as little
doubted as his competency to form an opinion upon great
military subjects. As little could he be suspected— just
coming as he did from an in&mous prison^ whence he had
been at one time invited by Philip II. to emerge^ on condition
of allowing his eyes to be put out^ — of any partiality for that
monarch or his representative.

Moreover, although the States of Holland and the English
government were earnestly desirous of relieving the city, and
were encouraging the patriots with well-founded promises, the
Zeeland authorities were lukewarm. The officers of the Zee-
land navy, from which so much was expected, were at last dis-
couraged. They drew up, signed, and delivered to Admiral
Justinus de Nassau, a formal opinion to the effect that the
Scheldt had now so many dry and dangerous places, and that
the tranquil summer-nights — so different from those long,
stormy ones of winter — ^were so short as to allow of no attempt
by water likely to be successful to relieve the city.*

Here certainly was much to discourage, and Sainte Alde-
gonde was at length discouraged. He felt that the last hope
of saving Antwerp was gone, and with it all possibility of main-
taining the existence of a United Netherland commonwealth.
The Walloon Provinces were lost idready ; Ghent, Brussels,
Mechlin, had also capitulated, and, with the fall of Antwerp,
Flanders and Brabant must £ei11. There would be no barrier
left even to save Holland itself. Despair entered the heart
of the buigomaster, and he listened too soon to its treacherous
voice. Tet while he thought a fi'ee national state no longer
a possibility, he imagined it practicable to secure religious
liberty by n^tiation with Philip II. He abandoned with a
sigh one of the two great objects for which he had struggled
side by side with Orange for twenty years, but he thought it
possible to secure the other. His purpose was now to obtain
a favourable capitulation for Antwerp, and at the same time

> Amlranlt, 'Tie de La Koue/ 280, 281-298; <IUse of the Dutch Republic^'
iiL p. 481, 482. ' Meteren, zil, 226^.

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234 ^K'HE UKITSD KBTHBKLANDB. Chap. T.

to bring about the submisaion of Holland, Zeeland, and the
other United Provinces, to the King of Spain. Here cer-
tainly was a great change of face on the part of one s^ con-
spicuous, and hitherto so consistent, in the ranks of Nether-
land patriots, and it is therefore necessary, in order thoroughly
to estimate both the man and the crisis, to follow carefully his
steps through the secret path of n^otiation into which he
now entered, and in which the Antwerp drama was to find its
conclusion. In these transactions, the chief actors are, on tbe
one side, the Prince of Parma, as representative of absolutism
and the Papacy ; on the other, Sainte Ald^onde, who had
passed his life as the champion of the Beformation.

No doubt the pressure upon the burgomaster was very
great. Tumults were of daily occurrence. Crowds of rioters
beset his door with cries of denunciations and demands for
bread. A large and turbulent mob upon one occasion took
possession of the horse-market, and treated him with personal
indignity and violence, when he undertook to disperse them.*
On the other hand, Parma had been holding out hopes of
pardon with more reasonable conditions than could well be
expected, and had, with a good deal of art, taken advanti^
of several trivial circumstances to inspire the burghers with
confidence in his good- will. Thus, an infirm old lady in the
city happened to imagine herself so dependent upon asses'
milk as to have sent her purveyor out of the city, at the peril
of his life, to procure a supply from the neighbourhood. The
young man was captured, brought to Alexander, from whose
hands he very naturally expected the punishment of a spy.
The prince, however, presented him, not only with his libertr,
but with a she-ass, and loaded the animal with partridges
and capons, as a present for the invalid. The magistrates,
hearing of the incident, and not choosing to be outdone in
courtesy, sent back a waggon-load of old wine and remark-
able confectionary as an ofiering to Alexander, and with this
interchange of dainties led the way to the amenities of
diplomacy.

* Bor, n. 606, 606. HoofiJ, Vervolgh, 108 • Strada, H. 372.

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1686.

mS GBinOAL POSITION.

235

Sainte Aldegonde's position had become a painful one. The
net had been drawn closely about the city. The bridge
seemed impregnable^ the great Eowenstyn was irrecoverably
in the hands of the en^tny, and now all the lesser forts in the
immediate vicinity of Antwerp — Borght, Hoboken^ Cantecroix,
Stralen, Berghen, and the rest — ^had likewise fallen into his
graap. An account of grain, taken on the 1st of June, gave
an average of a pound a-head for a month long, or half a
pound for two months.' This was not the famine-point,
according to the standard which had once been estabUshed in
Leyden ; but the courage of the burghers had been rapidly
oozing away, under the pressure of their recent disappoint-
ments. It seemed obvious to the buigomaster, that the time
for yielding had arrived.

" I had maintained the city,"* he said, "for a long period,
without any excessive tumult or great effusion of blood — a
city where there was such a multitude of inhabitants, mostly
merchants or artisans deprived of all their traj£c, stripped of
their manufactures, destitute of all commodities and means of
living. I had done this in the midst of a great diversity of
humours and opinions, a vast popular license, a confused
anarchy, among a great number of commanders, most of them
inexperienced in war ; with very little authority of my own,
with slender forces of ships, soldiers, and sailors ; with slight
appearance of support from king or prince without, or of
military garrison within ; and imder all these circumstances
I exerted myself to do my uttermost duty in preserving the
city, both in r^ard to its internal government, and by force
of arms by land and sea, without sparing myself in any labout
or peril.

"I know very well that there are many persons, who,
finding themselves quite at their ease, and far away from the
hard blows that are passing, are pleased to exhibit their

' MetereOi 3di. 224, seq,

* Maroix de Ste. Aldegonde, 'Gom-
mentaire sur les AfGures d'AnverBi'
1585. Yide 'Notices Historique et
BibHographiqae but Philippe de

Mamiz,' par Albert La Croix et Fran-
cois van Meenen, BruzeUes, 1858.
'Oeuyres de Philippe de Mamiz, pr^
0^^ d'one Intrwlnction par E^gar
Quinet'

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236 THB UNITED NBTHXBLAHDa Chap. T.

wifldom by sitting in judgment upon others, fonnding their
decision only upon the results. But I demand to be judged
by equity and reason, when passion has been set aside. I
claim that my honour shall be protected against my calum-
niators ; for all should remember that I am not the first man,
nor shall I be the last, that has been blamed unjustly. All
persons employed in public affiurs are subject to sach hazards,
but I submit myself to Him who knows all hearts, and who
governs all I take Him to witness that in the a&ai of
Antwerp, as in all my other actions since my earliest youth,
I have most sincerely sought His glory and the welfeu^ of His
poor people, without r^ard to my own private interests,"^

For it is not alone the fate of Antwerp that is here to be
recorded. The fame of Sainte Aldegonde was now seriouslj
compromised. The character of a great man must always be
closely scanned and scrutinised ; protected, if needful, against
calumny, but always unflinchingly held up to the light
Names illustrious by genius and virtue are History's most
precious treasures, faithfully to be guarded by her, jealously
to be watched ; but it is always a misfortune when her eyes
are deceived by a glitter which is not genuine.

Sainte Aldegonde was a man of unquestionable genios.
His character had ever been beyond the reproach of self-
seeking or ignoble ambition. He had multipUed himself into
a thousand forms to serve the cause of the United Netherland
States, and the services so rendered had been brilliant and
frequent. A great change in his conduct and policy was now
approaching, and it is therefore the more necessary to examine
closely at this epoch his attitude and his character.

Early in June, Richardot, president of the council of Artois,
addressed a letter to Sainte Ald^onde, by command of Alex-
ander of Parma, su^esting a secret interview between the
burgomaster and the Prince.

On the 8th of June, Sainte Aldegonde replied, in favourable
terms, as to the interview ; but observed, that, as be was an
official personage, it was necessary for him to communicate
> Works Ja8t cited.

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1586.

HIS NSGOTIATIONS WITH THB ENEM7.

237

ihe project to the magistracy of the citj. He expressed like-
wise the hope that Parma would embrace the present oppor-
tmiity for making a general treaty with all the Provinces.
A special accord with Antwerp^ leaving out Holland and
Zeeland, would, he said, lead to the utter desolation of that
diy, and to the destruction of its commerce and manufactures,
while the occasion now presented itself to the Prince of
'^ winning praise and immortal glory by bringing back all the
country to a voluntary and prompt obedience to his Majesty/'
He proposed^ that, instead of his coming alone, there should
be a niunber of deputies sent from Antwerp to confer with
Alexander.'

On the 11th June, Bichardot replied by expressing his own
regrets and those of the Prince, that the interview could not
have been with the burgomaster alone, but acknowledging
the weight of his reasons, and acquiescing in the proposition
to send a larger deputation. Three days afterwards, Sainte
Ald^onde, on private consultation with some confidential
personages, changed his ground ; announced his preference for
a private interview, under four eyes, with Parma ; and re-
quested that a passport might be sent. The passport was
accordingly forwarded the same day, with an expression of
Alexander's gratification, and with the offer, on the part of
Bichardot, to come himself to Antwerp as hostage during the
absence of the burgomaster in Parma's camp at Beveren.'

Sainte Aldegonde was accordingly about to start on the
foUowing day (16th of June), but meantime the affair had
got wind. A secret interview, thus projected, was leth June,
regarded by the citizens as extremely suspicious. ^^^^•
There was much bitter insinuation against the burgomaster
— ^many violent demonstrations. "Aldegonde, they say, is
going to see Parma," said one of the burghers, "which gives
much dissatisfaction, because, 'tis feared that he will make
a treaty according to the appetite and pleasure of his High-

^ * Gorrespondance de Bichardot avec
Harnix de Ste. Aldegonde.' Arohivo
de Sinumcas ICS.

9 Bichardot to Mamix, 11 Jxuhb^
1585, MS.

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238

THB UNITED NETHEBIiAin)a

Ohap. T.

ness, having been gained over to the royal cause by money.
He says that it would be a misfortune to send a large number
of buighers. Last Sunday (16th June) there was a meeting
of the broad council. The preachers came into the assembly,
and so animated the citizens by demonstrations of their
religion, that all rushed fix)m the council-house, crying with
loud voices that they did not desire peace but war/'^

This desire was a healthy and a reasonable one; but,
imfortunately, the Antwerpers had not always been so
vigorous or so united in their resistance to Parma. At
present, however, they were very furious, so soon as the
secret purpose of Sainte Aldegonde became generally known.
The proposed capitulation, which great mobs had been for
weeks long savagely demanding at the hands of the bui^o-
master, was now ascribed to the burgomaster's unblushing
corruption. He had obviously, they thought, been purchased
by Spanish ducats to do what he had hitherto been so steadily
refusing. A certain Van Weme had gone from Antwerp
into Holland a few days before upon his own private afiaire,
with a safe-conduct from Parma. Sainte Ald^onde had not
conmiunicated to him the project then on foot, but he had
permitted him to seek a secret interview with Count Mansfeld.
If that were granted, Van Weme was to hint that in case the
Provinces could promise themselves a religious peace it would
be possible, in the opinion of Sainte Ald^onde, to induce
'Holland and Zeeland and all the rest of the United Pro-
vinces, to return to their obedience. Van Weme, on his
return to Antwerp, divulged these secret n^otiations, and so
put a stop to Sainte Aldegonde's scheme of going alone to
Parma. ^^This has given a bad suspicion to the people,'^
wrote the burgomaster to Bichardot, ^^ so much so that I fear

* "Aldegonde dit qu'fl veuH aller,
ce que plusieurs des bourgeois ne
veuillent, 4 cause qu'ils oraindent
qu'il feroit Taccord selon Tappetit et
ToloDt^ de eon Alteze, estant gaign^
par ibroe d'argent. Disant etre mal-
heur qu'il j aillent dooze bourgeois.
— Les predicans ont entr^ au coDseil

le dimanche pass^ et ont teUemoot
anim^ les bourgeois par demontranoes
de leur religion, que lee bourgeois^ Bor>
tant du conseil, crioient a baulte voix
qu'ils ne desiroient paix mais bien la
guerre." MS. letter, without date or
signature, in the '^oxdiives Bojalee de
Bdgique,' 1586i

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168S.

COBBBSPONDBNOB WITH BICHABDOT.

239

to have trouble. The broad council has been in session, but
I don't know what has taken place there, and I do not dare
to ask." ^

Sainte Ald^onde's motive, as avowed by himself, for seeking
a private interview, was because he had received no answer
to the main point in his first letter, as to the proposition for a
general accord. In order therefore to make the deliberations
more rapid, he had been disposed to discuss that preliminary
question in secret. ^^ But now,'' said he to Bichardot, ^^as the
affieiir had been too much divulged, as well by diverse reports
and writings sown about, very inopportunely, as by the arrival
of M. Van Weme, I have not found it practicable to set out
upon my road, without communication with the members of
the government. This has been done, however, not in the
way of consultation, but as the announcement of a thing
already resolved upon."*

He proceeded to state, that great difficulties had arisen,
exactly as he had foreseen. The magistrates would not hear
of a general accord, and it was therefore necessary that a
delay should be interposed before it would be possible for him
to come. He begged Bichardot to persuade Alexander, that
he was not trifling with him. ^^ It is not," said he, ^^ from
lightness, or any other passion, that I am retarding this affitir.
I will do all in my power to obtain leave to make a journey
to the camp of his Highness, at whatever price it may cop'"
and I hope before long to arrive at my object. If I fail, it
must be ascribed to the humours of the people ; for my anxiety
to restore all the Provinces to obedience to his Majesty is
extreme."*
Bichardot, in reply, the next day, expressed r^et, without

'Kamiz to Bichardot, 16 Jane,
1585. Arch, de Sim. MB. "De ce
que sy est pass^ je Tignore, sans ToBer
demander," kc

' " Mais oomme rafEaire a eete par
trop divnlguee, tant par divers rapports
et eorits sem^i mal 4 propos, oomme
par la yeaue de Sf Van Weme, je n*ay

troQV^ disable de me mettre en che-
min, sans le oommuniquer aox mem-
bres, non pas toutefois en forme de
deliberation, mais oomme nne chose
que nous avions resolue." Mamiz to
Bichardotk MS., M 9up.
•Ibid.

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240

THE UNITED NETHBBLAKDS.

Chap. T.

astonishment, on the part of Alexander and himself, at the
I7tii Jane, intelligence thus received. People had such di£Ser-

1585. Qj^^ Qf humour, he said, and all men were not equally
capable of reason. Nevertheless the citizens were warned not
to misconstrue Parma's gentleness, because he was determined
to die, with his whole army, rather than not take Antwerp.
" As for the King," said Bichardot, " he will lay down all his
crowns sooner than abandon this enterprise." ' Van Weme
was represented as free from blame, and sincerely desirous of
peace. Bichardot had only stated to him, in general terms,
that letters had been received from Sainte Aldegonde, ex-
pressing an opinion in fisivour of peace. As for the royalists,
they were quite innocent of the reports and writings that had
so inopportunely been circulated in the city. It was desirable,
however, that the negotiation should not too long be de-
ferred, for otherwise Antwerp might perish, before a general
accord with Holland and Zedand could be made. He b^ged
Sainte Ald^onde to banish all anxiety as to Parma's sentiments
towards himself or the community. " Put yourself. Sir, quite
at your ease," said he. " His Highness is in no respects dis-
satisfied with you, nor prone to conceive any indignation
against this poor people."* He assured the burgomaster that
he was not suspected of lightness, nor of a wish to delay
matters, but he expressed solicitude with regard to the
threatening demonstrations which had been made against him
in Antwerp. " For," said he, " popular governments are full
of a thousand hazards, and it would be infinitely painful to
me, if you should come to harm."*

Thus it would appear that it was Sainte Ald^onde who was
chiefly anxious to effect the reconciliation of Holland and
Zeeland with the King. The initiative of this project to

> Riohardot to Mamix, 17 June,
1585, MS. "Mettra tontes ses coa-
ronnes plutot qu'abandonner oette
ontreprise," kc

* " Bref, Monaieur, mettez voos a
repos. Car son Altesse n'est en rien
mal Bati36aite do youa, ni facile a oon*

^evoir quelqae indigpiation ocmtre ee
pauvre peuple." MSw ubi sup.

* " Car les gouvernemens popo-
laiies sent plains de mil hazards, et il
me deeplairait infiniment que voss
eoaaiea maL" (Ibid.)

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1686. COMMOTION IN THB OITT. 241

indude all the United Provinces in one scheme with the re-
daction of Antwerp came originally from him, and was
opposed, at the outset, by the magistrates of that city, by the
Prince of Parma and his councillors, and by the States of
Holland and Zeeland. The demonstrations on the part of the
preachers, the municipal authorities, and the burghers, against
Sainte Aldegonde and his plan for a secret interview, so soon
as it was divulged, made it impossible to carry that project
into effect.

'* Ald^onde, who governs Antwerp," wrote Parma to Philip,
^^ was endeavouring, eight days ago, to bring about some kind
of negociation for an accord. He manifested a desire to come
hither for the sake of a personal interview with me, which I
permitted. It was to have taken place last Sunday, 16th of
this month, but by reason of a certain popular tumult, which
arose out of these circumstances, it has been necessary to
defer the meeting.'' ^

There was much disappointment felt by the royalist at this
unsatisfactory result. ^^ These bravadoes and impertinent de-
monstrations on the part of some of your people," wrote
Bichardot, ten days later, "will be the destruction of the
whole country, and will convert the Prince's gentleness into
anger. 'Tis these good and zealous patriots, trusting to a
Utile favourable breeze that blew for a few days past, who
have been the cause of all this disturbance, and who are
ruining their miserable country — ^miserable, I say, for having
produced such abortions as themselves." *

Notwithstanding what had passed, however, Bichardot in->
timated that Alexander was still ready to negociate. " And
if you, Sir," he concluded, in his letter to Aldegonde, " con-
cerning whom many of our friends have at present a sinister

* "Do ocho diaa ha procurado Al-
degonda, qui goberna Anveres, travar
a^ua platica de acu^xlo oon aquella
yffia, mostrando desseo de querer venir
d misQio a verse oonmigo, loquel le
permit^ Havia de haverlo hecho este
ultimo domingo 16 del presente, pero
con la eacosa de derto tomulto popu-
lar, que sobre el caso havia suoedido

TOL. L— B

la ha tenido para differirlo." Parma
to Philip II., 20 June, 1585. Arch, do
Sim. Ma

* Bichardot to Mamix, 30 June,
1585. "Ce sont oes bona et zeleux
patriotea qui ruynent leur miserable
patrie, miserable, dis je, d'avoir pn>-
duit tela avortons." Arch, de &ny
MS.

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242 THE UNITED NETHBRLANDa Chap. V.

opinion, — as if your object was to circumvent ns, — are willing
to proceed roundly and frankly, as I myself firmly believe
that you will do, we may yet hope for a favourable issue/'*

Thus the burgon^aster was already the object of suspicion
to both parties. The Antwerpers denounced him as having
been purchased by Spanish gold ; the royalists accused him
of intending to overreach the King. It was not probable
therefore that all were correct in their conjectures.

At last it was arranged that deputies should be appointed
by the broad council to commence a n^ociation with Parma.
Saintc Aldegonde informed Richardot, that he would sth July,
accompany them, if his affairs should permit. He 1585.
protested hb sincerity and frankness throughout the whole
aflair. " They try to calumniate me," he said, " as much on
one side as on the other, but I will overcome by my innocence
all the malice of my slanderers. If his Highness should be
pleased to grant us some liberty for our religion, I dare to
promise such faithful service as will give very great satis-
faction."^

Four days later, Sainte Aldegonde himself, together with M.
de Duffel, M. de Schoonhoven, and Adrian Hesselt, came to
Parma's camp at Beveren, as deputies on the part of the
Antwerp authorities. They were courteously received by the
Prince, and remained three days as his guests. During the
period of this visit, the terms of a capitulation were thoroxighly
discussed, between Alexander and his councillors upon one
part, and the four deputies on the other. The envoys
endeavoured, with all the arguments at their command, to
obtain the consent of the Prince to three preliminary points
which they laid down as indispensable. Religious liberty must
be granted, the citadel must not be reconstructed, a foreign
garrison must not be admitted ; they said. As it was the firm
intention of the King, however, not to make the slightest con-
cession on any one of these points, the discussion was not a
very profitable one. Besides the public interviews at which aU

' Richardot to Marnix, 30 June, 1585.

* Marnix to Richardot, 5 July, 1585. Arch, de Sim. MB.

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1685. INTERVIEW OF MABNIX WITH PARMA. 243

the n^ociators were present, there was a private conference
between Parma and Sainte Aldegonde which lasted more than
four hours, in which each did his best to enforce his opinions
upon the other. The burgomaster endeavoured to persuade
the Prince with all the eloquence for which he was so re-
nowned, that the hearts not of the Antwerpers only, but of
the Hollanders and Zeelanders, were easily to be won at that
moment. Give them religious liberty, and attempt to govern
them by gentleness rather than by Spanish garrisons, and the
road was plain to a complete reconciliation of all the Provinces
with his Majesty.

Alexander, who knew his master to be inexorable upon these
three points, was courteous but peremptory in his statements.
He recommended that the rebels should take into considera-
tion their own declining strength, the inexhaustible resources
of the King, the impossibility of obtaining succour from
France, and the perplexing dilatoriness of England, rather
than waste their time in idle expectations of a change in the
Spanish policy. He also intimated, obliquely but very plainly,
to Sainte Aldegonde, that his own fortune would be made, and
that he had everything to hope from his Majesty's bounty, if
he were now willing to make himself useful in carrying into
effect the royal plans.*

The Prince urged these views with so much eloquence, that
he seemed, in his own words, to have been directly inspired
by the Lord for this special occasion.* Sainte Aldegonde,
too, was signally impressed by Alexander's language, and
thoroughly fascinated — magnetized, as it were — by his cha-
racter. He subsequently declared, that he had often con-
versed familiarly with many eloquent personages, but that he
had never known a man more powerful or persuasive than
the Prince of Parma.* He could honestly say of him — as
Hasdrubal had said of Scipio — that Farnese was even more
admirable when seen face to face, than he had seemed when
one only heard of his glorious achievements.*

' Strada, II. 379. Comp. Bor, IL 606. Hoofii Yervolgh, 109.
■ Strada, ttW svp. • Ibid. « Ibid.

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244

THB UNITED KBTHERLANDS.

Chip. V.

"The burgomaster and three deputies," wrote Parma to

Philip, "were here until the 12th July. We discussed the

30th July, points and form of a capitulation, and thej have

1586. gone back thoroughly satisfied. Sainte Aldegonde
especially was much pleased with the long interview which
he had with me, alone, and which lasted more than three
hours. I told him, as well as my weakness and suffering from
the tertian fever permitted, all that God inspired me to say
on our behalf."^

Nevertheless, if Sainte Ald(^onde and his colleagues went
away thoroughly satisfied, they had reason, soon after their
return, to become thoroughly dejected. The magistrates and
burghers would not listen to a proposition to abandon the
three points, however strongly urged to do so by arguments
drawn from the necessity of the situation, and by representa^
tions of Parma's benignity. As for the burgomaster, he became
the target for calumny, so soon as his three hours' private
interview became known; and the citizens loudly declared
that his head ought to be cut off, and sent in a bag, as a
present, to Philip, in order that the traitor might meet the
sovereign with whom he sought a reconciliation, face to face,
as soon as possible.^

The deputies, immediately after their return, made their
report to the magistrates, as likewise to the colonels and
15th July, captains, and to the deans of guilds. Next day,
1585. although it was. Sunday, there was a session of the
broad council, and Sainte Aldegonde made a long address, in
which — as he stated in a letter to Richardot — ^he related
everything that had passed in his private conversation with
Alexander. An answer was promised to Parma on the follow-
ing Tuesday, but the burgomaster spoke very discouragingly
as to the probability of an accord.

1 " So dieron Iob puDtos j fonna del
acuerdo, con quo tomaron a yr muy
satisfechofl, y cl Aldog^* en particalar
do la larga platica que a solas con el
mas do 3 boras tuve, diziendole lo
que Dioe me inspiro an'" proposito, y
mejor mo permiti6 la flaqueea y tra-

vajo do la terdana." Panna to Philip
n., 30 July, 1586, Arch, do Sim. Ma

• Bor, IL 60«. Hoofii Vorolgh,
109.

' Mamix to Richardot; 15 Joljs
1585, Ma

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1686. SUSPICIOUS OONDUOT OF MARNEL 245

"The joy with which our return was greeted/' he said,
"was followed by a general disappointment and sadness, so
soon as the result was known. The want of a religious tole-
ration^ as well as the refusal to concede on the other two
points, has not a little altered the hearts of all, even of the
Catholics. A citadel and a garrison are considered ruin and
desolation to a great commercial city. I have done what I
can to urge the acceptance of such conditions as the Prince
is willing to give, and have spoken in general terms of his
benign intentions. The citizens still desire peace. Had his
Highness been willing to take both religions under his pro^
tection, he might have won all hearts, and very soon all the
other Provinces would have returned to their obedience, while
the clemency and magnanimity of his Majesty would thus
have been rendered admirable throughout the world.'' *

The power to form an accurate conception as to the nature
of Philip, and of other personages with whom he was dealing,
and as to the general signs of his times, seems to have been
wanting in the character of the gifted Aldegonde. He had
been dazzled by the personal presence of Parma, and he now
spoke of Philip II., as if his tyranny over the Netherlands —
which for twenty years had been one horrible and uniform
whole — ^were the accidental result of circumstances, not the
necessary expression of his individual character, and might
be easily changed at will — as if Nero, at a moment's warning,
might transform himself into Trajan. It is true that the in-
nermost soul of the Spanish king could by no possibility be
displayed to any contemporary, as it reveals itself, after three
centuries, to those who study the record of his most secret
thoughts ; but, at any rate, it would seem that his career had
been sufficiently consistent, to manifest the amount of "cle-
mency and magnanimity " which he might be expected to
exercise.

" Had his Majesty," wrote Sainte Ald^onde, " been willing,
since the year sixty-six, to pursue a course of toleration, the

1 Maniix to Richardot, just cited.

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246 THE UNITBD NBTHERLANDa Chap. V.

15th Julj, memory of his reign would have been sacred to all
1685. posterity, with an immortal praise of sapience, be-
nignity, and sovereign felicity."^

This might be true, but nevertheless a tolerating Philip, in
the year 1585, ought to have seemed to Sainte Ald^onde an
impossible idea.

"The emperors," continued the burgomaster, "who imme-
diately succeeded Tiberius were the cause of the wisdom
which displayed itself in the good Trajan — also a Spaniard —
and in Antoninus, Verus, and the rest.^ If you think that
this city, by the banishment of a certain number of persons,
will be content to abandon the profession of the reformed
faith, you are much mistaken. You will see, with time, that
the exile of this religion will be accompanied by a depopula-
tion and a sorrowful ruin and desolation of this flourishing
city. But this will be as it pleases Grod. Meantime I shall
not fail to make all possible exertions to induce the citizens
to consent to a reconciliation with his Majesty. The broad
council will soon give their answer, and then we shall send a
deputation. We shall invite Holland and Zeeland to join with
us, but there is little hope of their consent."'

Certainly there was little hope of their consent. Sainte
Aldegonde was now occupied in bringing about the capitula-
tion of Antwerp, without any provision for religious liberty —
a concession which Parma had most distinctly refused — and
it was not probable that Holland and Zeeland, after twenty
years of hard fighting, and with an immediate prospect of
assistance from England — could now be induced to resign the
great object of the contest without further struggle.

It was not until a month had elapsed that the authorities
of Antwerp sent their propositions to the Prince of Parma.

12th Aug., On the 12th August, however, Sainte Ald^onde,

1685. accompanied by the same three gentlemen who had

been employed on the first mission, and by seventeen others

' Maniix to Ridiardot, just cited. I mierement le bon Tr^iaxi, aoni Bspa-
' ** Lea premiers empereors apres I gnol, et puis Ant(MUDy Tenia, " tc
T^bere rendirent sages et advisez pre* | (Ibid.) * Ibid.

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1586.

DEPUTATION TO THB PRINCE.

247

besides, proceeded with safe-conduct to the camp at Beveren.
Here they were received with great urbanity, and hospitably
entertained by Alexander, who received their formal draft of
articles for a capitulation, and referred it to be reported upon
to Bichardot, Pamel, and Yanden Burgh. Meantime there
were many long speeches and several conferences, sometimes
between all the twenty-one envoys and the Prince together ;
on other occasions, more secret ones, at which only Aldegonde
and one or two of his colleagues were present. It had been
obvious, from the date of the first interview, in the preceding
month, that the n^ociation would be of no avail until the
government of Antwerp was prepared to abandon all the
conditions which they had originally announced as indispen-
sable. Alexander had not much disposition and no authority
whatever to make concessions.

" So far as I can understand," Parma had written on the
30th July, " they are very far from a conclusion. They have
most exorbitant ideas, talking of some kind of liberty of con-
science, besides refusing on any account to accept of garrisons^
and having many reasons to alloge on such subjects." '

The discusisions, therefore, after the deputies had at last
arrived, though courteously conducted, could scarcely be satis-
factory to both parties. " The articles were thoroughly de-
liberated upon," wrote Alexander, " by all the deputies, nor
did I fail to have private conferences with Ald^onde, that
most skilful and practised lawyer and politician,* as well as
with two or three of the others. I did all in my power to
bring them to a thorough recognition of their errors, and to
produce a confidence in his Majesty's clemency, in order that
they might concede what was needful for the interests of the
Catholic religion and the security of the city. They heard
all I had to say without exasperating themselves, and without
interposing any strong objections, except in the matter of

> " Hasta agora bien I^ de con-
chijTy Began las ezhorvitaDdas que
presentan de querer alguna forma de
libertad de coDsdeiida, j en ningnna
maaer% goarnidOD, alei^mdo mucbas

coeas in su favor.'' MS. letter, 30 Jnlj,
1585.

• "Tan ^Uco letrado y poUtico."
Parma to Philip IL, 26 Aug. 1586^
MS.

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248 T^^^ UNITED NETHBBLANDa Oeap. Y.

religion, and, still more, in the matter of the citadel and the
garrison. Aldegonde took much pains to persuade me that
it would be ruinous for a great, opulent, commercial city to
submit to a foreign military force. Even if compelled by
necessity to submit now, the inhabitants would soon be com-
pelled by the same necessity to abandon the place entirely,
and to leave in ruins one of the most splendid and powerful
cities in the world, and in this opinion Catholics and heretics
unanimously concurred. The deputies protested^ with one
accord, that so pernicious and abominable a thing as a citadel
and garrison could not even be proposed to their constitu^its.
I answered, that, so long as the rebellion of Holland and
Zeeland lasted, it would be necessary for your Majesty to make
sure of Antwerp, by one or the other of those means, but
promised that the city should be relieved of the incumbrance
so soon as those islands should be reduced.

^^ Sainte Aldegonde was not discouraged by thisstatement, bat
in the hope of convincing others, or with the wish of showing
that he had tried his best, desired that I would hear him
before the council of state. I granted the request, and
Sainte Aldegonde then made another long and very ele^nt
oration, intended to divert me from my resolution."^

It must be confessed — ^if the reports, which have come down
to us of that long and elegant oration be correct — ^that the
enthusiasm of the burgomaster for Alexander was rapidly
degenerating into idolatry.

" We are not here, 0 invincible Prince," he said, " that
we may excuse, by an anxious legation, the long defence
which we have made of our homes. Who could have feared
any danger to the most powerful city in the Netherlands
from so moderate a besieging force? You would yourself
have rather wished for, than approved of, a greater facility on
our part, for the brave cannot love the timid. We knew the
number of your troops, we had discovered the famine in your
camp, we were aware of the paucity of your ships, we had

1 *Otra larga y mujr el^;ante ore- I propuesto," Ac
ion diiectiva a desYiar me de ml | MS. just cited.

Ac. Parma to Philip H,
don

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1585. OBATION OF MARNIX. 249

heard of the quarrels in your army, we were expecting daily
to hear of a general mutiny among your soldiers. Were we
to believe that with ten or eleven thousand men you would
be able to block up the city by land and water, to reduce the
open country of Brabant, to cut off all aid as well from the
neighbouring towns as from the powerful provinces of Holland
and Zeeland, to oppose, without a navy, the whole strength of
cor fleets, directed against the dyke ? Truly, if you had been
at the head of fifty thousand soldiers, and every soldier had
possessed one hundred hands, it would have seemed impossible
for you to meet so many emergencies in so many places, and
under so many distractions. What you have done we now
believe possible to do, only because we see that it has been
done. You have subjugated the Scheldt, and forced it to
bear its bridge, notwithstanding the strength of its current,
the fury of the ocean-tides, the tremendous power of the ice-
bergs, the perpetual conflicts with our fleets. We destroyed
your bridge, with great slaughter of your troops. Rendered
more courageous by that slaughter, you restored that mighty
work. We assaulted the great dyke, pierced it through and
through, and opened a path for our ships. Tou drove us off
when victors, repaired the ruined bulwark, and again closed
to us the avenue of relief. What machine was there that we
did not employ ? what miracles of fire did we not invent ?
what fleets and floating cidadels did we not put in motion ?
All that genius, audacity, and art, could teach us we have
executed, calling to our assistance water, earth, heaven, and
hell itself. Yet with all these efforts, with all this enginry,
we have not only failed to drive you from our walls, but we
have seen you gaining victories over other cities at the same
time. You have done a thing, 0 Prince, than which there
is nothing greater either in ancient or modem story. It has
often occurred, while a general was besieging one city that
he lost another situate farther off. But you, while besieging
Antwerp, have reduced simultaneously Dendermonde, Ghent,
Nymegen, Brussels, and Mechlin."'

* The oration is reported by Strada | of Pamese^s papers than will probably
n., 314-376, who had access to more I ever be In the possession of any other

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250

THE TJNITBD NETHERLANDS.

Chap. V.

All this, and much more, with florid rhetoric, the burgo-
master pronounced in honour of Famese, and the eulogy
was entirely deserved. It was hardly becoming, however,
for such lips, at such a moment, to sound the praise of him
whose victory had just decided the downfall of religious liberty,
and of the national independence of the Netherlands. His
colleagues certainly must have winced, as they listened to
commendations so lavishly bestowed upon the representative
of Philip, and it is not surprising that Sainte Aldegonde's
growing unpopularity should, from that hour, have rapidly
increased. To abandon the whole object of the siege, when
resistance seemed hopeless, was perhaps pardonable, but to
offer such lip-homage to the conqueror was surely transgressing
the bounds of decorum.

His conclusion, too, might to Alexander seem as insolent
as the whole tenor of his address had been humble ; for, after
pronouncing this solemn eulogy upon the conqueror, he calmly
proposed that the prize of the contest should be transferred
to the conquered.

" So long as liberty of religion, and immunity from citadel
and garrison can be relied upon," he said, " so long will Ant-
werp remain the most splendid and flourishing city in Chris-
tendom ; but desolation will ensue if the contrary policy is to
prevail."^

But it was very certain that liberty of religion, as well as
immunity from citadel and garrison, were quite out of the
question. Philip and Parma had long been inexorably resolved
upon all the three points.

"After the burgomaster had finished his oration,'' wrote
Alexander to his sovereign, " I discussed the matter with him
in private, very distinctly and minutely."'

writer. It is possible that the harangae
is indebted for some of its dedamatoiy
exuberaDoe to the imagination of the
historian ; bat I have found the Jesuit,
in general, very accurate in transcrib-
ing and translating the diplomatic
documents relating to his hero. A
dicamstantial account of this parti-

cular interview between the Wnce
and Mamix, with a full report of this
oration by the latter, is not among the
Simancas MSS.; and I have tiierefore
relied upon Strada.

» Ibid.

« Ma Letter of 26 Aug. 1586, beto
cited.

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1585. PRIVATB VUfiWU OF PARMA- 251

The religions point was soon given np, Sainte Ald^onde
finding it waste of breath to saj anything more about free-
dom of conscience. A suggestion was however made on the
subject of the garrison, which the prince accepted, because
it contained a condition which it would be easy to evade.

" Ald^onde proposed," said Parma, " that a garrison might
be admissible if I made my entrance into the city merely with
infantry and cavalry of nations which were acceptable — Wal-
loons, namely, and Germans — and in no greater numbers than
Bofficient for a body-guard. I accepted, because, in substance,
this would amount to a garrison, and because, also, after the
magistrates shall have been changed, I shall have no difficulty
in making myself master of the people, continuing the garri-
son, and rebuilding the citadel."*

The Prince proceeded to give his reasons why he was
willing to accept the capitulation on what he considered so
favourable terms to the besieged. Autumn was approaching.
Already the fury of the storms had driven vessels clean over
the dykes ; the rebels in Holland and Zeeland were preparing
their fleets — augmented by many new ships of war and fire-
machines — ^for another desperate attack upon the Palisades,
in which there was great possibility of their succeeding ; an
auxiliary force from England was soon expected ; so that, in
view of all these circumstances, he had resolved to throw
himself at his Majesty's feet and implore his clemency. " If
this people of Antwerp, as the head, is gained," said he,
"there will be tranquillity in all the members."'

These reasons were certainly conclusive ; nor is it easy to
believe, that, under the circumstances thus succinctly stated
by Alexander, it would have been impossible for the patriots
to hold out until the promised succour from Holland and irom
England should arrive. In point of fact, the bridge could
not have stood the winter which actually ensued ; for it was
the repeatedly expressed opinion of the Spanish officers in

1 Ma Letter of 25 Aug. 1585, beforo
rited.
t «< Y pues de la que se usasse oon

este pueblo, como cabeza, ha de re-
Bultar bien j traDquilidad a los miem*
broa que restao," &c. (Ibid.)

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252 THE UNITBD NETHERLANDa Chaf. V.

Antwerp, that the icebeiigs which then filled the Schddt mtusi
inevitably have shattered twenty bridges to fragments, had
there been so many.^ It certainly was superfluous for the
Prince to make excuses to Philip for accepting the proposed
capitulation. All the prizes of victory had been thoroughly
secured, unless pillage, massacre, and rape, which had been
the regular accompaniments of Alva's victories, were to be
reckoned among the indispensable trophies of a Spanish tri-
umph.

Nevertheless, the dearth in the city had been well con-
cealed from the enemy ; for, three days after the surrender,
not a loaf of bread was to be had for any money in all Ant-
werp, and Alexander declared that he would never have
granted such easy conditions had he been aware of the real
condition of aflfairs. '

The articles of capitulation agreed upon between Parma
and the deputies were brought before the broad council on
the 9th August. There was much opposition to them, as
many magistrates and other influential personages entertained
sanguine expex^tations from the English negotiation, and were
banning to rely with confidence upon the promises of Queen
Elizabeth. The debate was waxing warm, when some of the
councillors, looking out of window of the great hall, perceived
that a violent mob had collected in the streets.* Furious
cries for bread were uttered, and some meagre-looking indivi-
duals were thrust forward to indicate the famine which was
prevailing, and the necessity of concluding the treaty without
further delay. Thus the municipal government was perpetu-
ally exposed to democratic violence, excited by diametrically
opposite influences. Sometimes the burgomaster was de-
nounced for having sold himself and his country to the
Spaniards, and was assailed with execrations for being willing
to conclude a sudden and disgraceful peace. * At other mo-
ments he was accused of forging letters containing promises
of succoiu* from the Queen of England and from the authori*

* Le Petite II. 602. « Meteren, XIT. 225, • Le Petit, XL 61 a

* Bor, II. 609.

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1586. CAPITULATION OF AKTWERP. 253

ties of Holland^ in order to protract the lingering torturer of
the war.* Upon this occasion the peace-mob carried its point.
The councillors, looking out of window, rushed into the hall
with dir^ul accounts of the popular ferocity ; the magistrates
and colonels who had been warmest in opposition suddenly
changed their tone, and the whole body of the broad council
accepted the articles of capitulation by a unanimous vote.'

The window was instantly thrown open, and the decision
publicly announced. The populace, wild with delight, rushed
through the streets, tearing down the arms of the Duke of
Anjou, which had remained above the public edifices since
the period of that personage's temporary residence in the
Netherlands, and substituting, with wonderful celerity, the
escutcheon of Philip the Second.* Thus suddenly could au
Antwerp mob pass from democratic insolence to intense
loyalty.

The articles, on the whole, were as liberal as could have
been expected. Tlio only hope for Antwerp and for a great
commonwealth of all the Netherlands was in holding out,
even to the last gasp, until England and Holland, now united,
had time to relieve the city. This was, unquestionably, pos-
sible. Had Antwerp possessed the spirit of Leyden, had
William of Orange been alive, that Spanish escutcheon, now
raised with such indecent haste, might have never been seen
again on the outside wall of any Netherland edifice. Belgium
would have become at once a constituent portion of a great
independent national realm, instead of languishing until our
own century, the dependency of a distant and a foreign me-
tropolis. Nevertheless, as the Antwerpers were not disposed
to make themselves martjrrs, it was something that they
escaped the nameless horrors which had often alighted upon
cities subjected to an enraged soldiery. It redounds to
the eternal honour of Alexander Famese — when the fate of
Naarden and Haarlem and Maestricht, in the days of Alva,
and of Antwerp itself in the horrible " Spanish fury," is re-
membered— that there were no scenes of violence and outrage

* Bentivoglte, P. IL L. HI 292. * Le Petit, tibi sujp. « Ibid.

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254

THE UNITBD NBTHEBLAHD3.

Chap. T.

in the popiUoos and wealthy city, which was at length at his
mercy after having defied him bo long.

Civil and religious liberty were trampled in the dust, com-
merce and manufactiires were destroyed, the most valuable
portion of the citizens sent into hopeless exile, but the remain-
ing inhabitants were not butchered in cold blood.

The treaty was signed on the 17th August. Antwerp was
to return to its obedience. There was to be an entire amnesty
and oblivion for the past, without a single exception. Royalist
absentees were to be reinstated in their possessions. Monas-
teries, churches, and the King's domains were to be restored
to their former proprietors. The inhabitants of the city were
to practise nothing but the Catholic religion. Those who
refused to conform were allowed to remain two years for the
purpose of winding up their affairs and selling out their pro-
perty, provided that during that period they lived " without
scandal towards the ancient religion" — a very vague and unsa-
tisfactory condition. All prisoners were to be released except-
ing Teligny. Four hundred thousand florins were to be paid
by the authorities as a fine. The patriot garrison was to leave
the city with arms and baggage and all the honours of war.*

This capitulation gave more satisfaction to the hungry por-
tion of the Antwerpers than to the patriot party of the Ne-
therlands. Sainte Aldegonde was vehemently and unsparingly
denounced as a venal traitor. It is certain, whatever his
motives, that his attitude had completely changed. For it
was not Antwerp alone that he had reconciled or was endea-
vouring to reconcile with the King of Spain, but Holland and
Zeeland as well, and all the other independent Provinces. The
ancient champion of the patriot army, the earliest signer of
the ^ Compromise,' the bosom friend of William the Silent,
the author of the * Wilhelmus' national song, now avowed his
conviction, in a published defence of his conduct against the

> Bor, II. 610 613. Hoofd Yervoigh,
/11-116. Strada, H. 378-383. Com-
pare, for the histoiy of the sieffe, which
he calls "the most memorable in the
world," Herrera, ' Hist. Qen, del Mun-

do,' P. n., L. xiv., Cap. 13-16, and
L. XV.. C. 1-4 88. 28, 29. See also I>0
Thou, IX., L. 80, and 81. Bentivo-
glio, P. II. L. in.; and the autho-
rities previously cited.

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168ft.

IdSTAKES OF MAHNIZ.

255

caltunniotis attacks upon it, ^Hhat it was impossible, with a
clear conscience, for subjects, under any circumstances, to take
up arms against Philip, their king/'* Certainly if he had
always entertained that opinion he must have suffered many
pangs of remorse during his twenty years of active and illus-
trious rebellion. He now made himself secretly active in
promoting the schemes of Parma and in counteracting the
negotiation with England. He flattered himself, with an infa-
tuation which it is difficult to comprehend, that it would be
possible to obtain religious liberty for the revolting Provinces,
although he had consented to its sacrifice in Antwerp. It is
true that he had not the privilege of reading Philip's secret
letters to Parma, but what was there in the character of the
King — what intimation had ever been given by the
Governor-General — to induce a belief in even the possibility
of such a concession ?

Whatever Sainte Aldegonde's opinions, it is certain that
Philip had no intention of changing his own policy. He at
first suspected the burgomaster of a wish to protract the
negotiations for a perfidious purpose.

" Necessity has forced Antwerp," he wrote on the 17th of
August — ^the very day on which the capitulation was actually
signed — " to enter into negotiation. I understand the arti-
fice of Aldegonde in seeking to prolong and make difficult
the whole affair, under pretext of treating for the reduction
of Holland and Zeeland at the same time. It was therefore
very adroit in you to defeat this joint scheme at once, and
urge the Antwerp matter by itself, at the same time not
shutting the door on the others. With the prudence and
dexterity with which this business has thus far been managed
I am thoroughly satisfied."'

* Strada, U. 379.

' ^ Bleu se ve que necessidad ha
forzado Amberes a las platicas de
coDcierto que aDdan, j el artifido de
AMegonde en baber tentado dilatar el
oegocio^ 80 color de tratai la reducion
de Holanda j Zelaoda juntamente, y
asifu^muy aoertado desbaratarle esta

iutento, y apretarle en lo que de Am-
'beres, de casi no cerrando la puerta a
lo demas, y de la cordura y destreza
con que todo esto se ba guiado» quedo
may enterado y satisfecho." Philip U.
to Panna, 17 Aug. 1585, Arch, de Siia
MS.

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256

THE UHITED KBTHBRLANDSb

Chap. V.

The King also expressed his gratification at hearing from
Parma that the demand for religious liberty in the Nether-
lands would soon be abandoned.

'^ In spite of the vehemence/' he said, '^ which they manifest
in the religious matter, desiring some kind of liberty, they
will in the end, as you say they will, content themselves with
what the other cities, which have returned to obedience, have
obtained. This must he done in all cases without flinching,
and without permitting any modification."*

What " had been obtained " by Brussels, Mechlin, Ghent,
was well known. The heretics had obtained the choice of
renouncing their religion or of going into perpetual exile, and
this was to be the case '^ without flinching " in Holland and
Zeeland, if those provinces chose to return to obedience. Yet
Sainte Ald^onde deluded himself with the thought of a reli-
gious peace.

In another and very important letter of the same date
Philip laid down his policy very distinctly. The Prince of
Parma, by no means such a bigot as his master, had hinted
at the possibility of tolerating the reformed religion in the
places recovered from the rebels, svh silentiOy for a period
not defined, and long enough for the heretics to awake firom
their errors.

"You have got an expression of opinion, I see," wrote the
King to Alexander, ^^of some grave men of wisdom and
conscience, that the limitation of time, during which the
heretics may live without scandal, may be left undefined ; but
I feel very keenly the danger of such a proposition. With
r^ard to Holland and Zeeland, or any other provinces or
towns, the first step must be for them to receive and maintain
alone the exercise of the Catholic religion, and to subject them-
selves to the Soman church, without tolerating the exercise
of any other religion, in city, village, farm-house, or building

^ ''Que por mas doreza que mues-
tran en lo de la religion, deeeando al-
guna libertadf al cabo se reducuran k
oontentarae en esta parte con lo que
las otras yillas que han venido a la

obediencia, porque esto se ha de hacer
asi en todo caso, sin aflqjar, ni per-
mitir otra cosa en ningnna manera.**
Philip to Panna, VI Aug., MB. jnst
cited.

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IMS.

PHTTiTP ON THB BEUGIOUS QUESTION.

257

thereto destined in the fields, or in any place whatsoever ;
and in this r^olation there is to be no flaw, no change, no
concession by convention or otherwise of a religious peace, or
anything of the sort. They are all to embrace the Boman
Catholic religion, and the exercise of that is alone to be
permitted." *

This certainly was distinct enough, and nothing had been
ever said in public to induce a belief in any modification of
the principles on which Philip had uniformly acted. That
monarch considered himself born to suppress heresy, and he
had certainly been carrying out this work during his whole
lifetime.

The King was willing, however, as Alexander had intimated
in his negotiations with Antwerp, and previously in the
capitulation of Brussels, Ghent, and other places, that there
should be an absence of investigation into the private cham-
bers of the heretics, during the period allotted them for
choosing between the Papacy and exile.

"It may be permitted," said Philip, "to abstain firom
inquiring as to what the heretics are doing within their own
doors, in a private way, without scandal, or any public exhibi-
tion of their rites during a fixed time. But this connivance,
and the abstaining from executing the heretics, or from
chastising them, even although they may be living very
circumspectly, is to be expressed in very vague terms."*

Being most anxious to provide against a second crop of
heretics to succeed the first, which he was determined to

* " Ckm todo sentiera yo macho ver
Mta tplenuacia sin limite. Ha de ser
el piimo paso recebir 7 tener sola-
inente el egerddo catolioo^ 7 gubje-
taree & la obediencia de la Yglesia
Eomana^ sin tolerar ni ooDsentir por
^ de capitolacion otro ningun eger-
dcio en ninguna villa, ni granja, ni
parte destinada para el en el campo ni
dentro en los Ingares .... 7 quanto
& esto no ha de haber quiebra ni mu-
^AQza ni conoederles por oonderto
i^gana libertad de ccmscienciafl, nl
religions-fried, ni otra cosa semejante^
lino qne abracen la Cat<» Bom^* con

VOL. L— S

solo el egercicio della," fta Philip II.
to Parma, 17 Aug. 1585. Archivo de
Simancas MS.

* *' Mas bien se podra debazo desto
no inquirir lo qne los hereges bideron
dentro de sus casas 7 los unos en las
de los otros enforma privada 7 sin
escandalo^ ni mnestra de egerddo
publico de sus sectas 7 herrores duran-
te el dicbo tiempo, porque esta dlssi-
muladon, 7 no los egecutar ni castigaT
aunque en lo del mal egemplo yiven
menos recatados que debrian ha d€»
ser en forma bien 1^^" (Ibid.)

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258 THB UNITED KBTHERLAin^a Ceaf, Y.

uproot^ he took pains to enjoin with his own hand upon Parma
the necessity of putting in Catholic schoolmasters and mis-
tresses to the exclusion of reformed teachers into all the
seminaries of the recovered Provinces, in order that all the
hoys and girls might grow up in thorough orthodoxy.*

Yet this was the man from whom Sainte Ald^onde
imagined the possibility of obtaining a religious peace.

Ten days after the capitulation, Parma made his triumphal
entrance into Antwerp ; but, according to his agreement, he
cpared the citizens the presence of the Spanish and Italian
soldiers, the military procession being composed of the
Germans and Walloons. Escorted by his body-guard, and
surrounded by a knot of magnates and veterans, among
whom the Duke of Arschot, the Prince of Chimay, the Counts
Mansfeld, Egmont, and Aremberg, were conspicuous, Alex-
ander proceeded towards the captured city. He was met at
the Keyser Gate by a triumphal chariot of gorgeous workman-
ship, in which sat the fair nymph Antwerpia, magnificently
bedizened, and accompanied by a group of beautiful maidens.
Antwerpia welcomed the conqueror with a kiss, recited a
poem in his honour, and bestowed upon him the keys of the
city, one of which was in gold. This the Prince immediately
fastened to the chain around his* neck, from which was sus-
pended the lamb of the golden fleece, with which order he had
just been, amid great pomp and ceremony, invested.

On the public square called the Mere, the Genoese mer-
chants had erected two rostral columns, each surmounted by
a colossal image, representing respectively Alexander of
Macedon and Alexander of Parma. Before the house of
Portugal was an enormous phoenix, expanding her wings
quite across the street ; while, in other parts of the town, the
procession was met by ships of war, elephants, dromedaries,
whales, dragons, and other triumphal phenomena. In the
market-place were seven statues in copper, personifying the
seven planets, together with an eighth representing Bacchus ;
and perhaps there were good mythological reasons why the

1 Philip II. to Parma> MS. joBt dted.

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1586. TBHTIIPHAL EISTBAKOB OF ALBXANDEB. 259

god of wine, together with so large a portion of oar solar
system, should be done in copper by Jacob Jongeling, to
honour the triumph of Alexander, although the key to the
enigma has been lost.^

The cathedral had been thoroughly fumigated with firank-
moense, and besprinkled with holy water, to purify the sacred
precincts from their recent pollution by the reformed rites ;
and the Protestant pulpits which had been placed there, had
been soundly beaten with rods, and then burned to ashes.^
The procession entered within its walls, where a magnificent
' Te Deum' was performed, and then, after much cannon-firing,
bell-ringing, torch-light exhibition, and other pyrotechnics,
the Prince made his way at last to the palace provided for
him. The glittering display, by which the royalists celebrated
their triumph, lasted three days' long, the city being thronged
from all the country round with eager and frivolous spectators,
who were never wearied with examining the wonders of the
bridge and the forts, and with gazing at the tragic memorials
which still remained of the fight on the Kowenstyn.

During this interval, the Spanish and Italian soldiery, not
willing to be outdone in demonstrations of respect to their
chief, nor defrauded of their rightfal claim to a holiday,
amused themselves with preparing a demonstration of a novel
character. The bridge, which, as it was well known, was to
be destroyed within a very few days, was adorned with
triumphal arches, and decked with trees and flowering plants ;
its roadway was strewed with branches ; and the palisades,
parapets, and forts, were garnished with wreaths, emblems,
and poetical inscriptions in honour of the Prince. The
soldiers themselves, attired in verdurous garments of foliage
and flower-work, their swart faces adorned with roses
and lilies, paraded the bridge and the dyke in fantastic
procession with clash of cjrmbal and flourish of trumpet,
dancing, singing, and discharging their carbines, in all the
delinma c£ triumph. Nor was a suitable termination to the

' Bor, n. 622. Hoofd Yervolgh, I Xn. 225. MerteoB and Torft Y. 268.
117. 8tnida> H. 383, acq. Meteren, ' > Le PeUt IL 619.

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260 THE UNTTBD NBTHBBLANDa Chap. V.

festival wanting, for Alexander, pleased with the genial
character of these demonstrations, repaired himself to the
bridge, where he was received with shouts of rapture by his
army, thus whimsically converted into a horde of fauns and
satyrs. Afterwards, a magnificent banquet was served to the
soldiers upon the bridge. The whole extent of its surface,
from the Flemish to the Brabant shore-— the scene so lately
of deadly combat, and of the midnight havoc caused hy
infernal enginery — ^was changed, as if by the stroke of a wand,
into a picture of sylvan and Arcadian merry-making, and
spread with tables laden with delicate viands. Here sat that
host of war-bronzed figures, banqueting at their ease, their
heads crowned with flowers, while the highest magnates of
the army, humouring them in their masquerade, served them
with dainties, and filled their goblets with wine.'

After these festivities had been concluded, Parma set him-
self to practical business. There had been a great oppodtion,
during the discussion of the articles of capitulation to the
reconstruction of the famous citadel. That fortress had been
always considered, not as a defence of the place against a
foreign enemy, but as an instrument to curb the burghers
themselves beneath a hostile power. The city magistrates,
however, as well as the dean and chief officers in all the
guilds and fraternities, were at once changed by Parma-
Catholics being uniformly substituted for heretics.' In con-
sequence, it was not difficult to bring about a change of
opinion in the broad council. It is true that neither Papists
nor Calvinists regarded with much satisfaction the prospect
of military violence being substituted for civic rule, but in
the first effusion of loyalty, and in the triumph of the ancient
religion, they forgot the absolute ruin to which their own
action was now condemning their city. Ghampagny, who
had once covered himself with glory by his heroic though
imsuccessfal efforts to save Antwerp from the dreadful
'* Spanish fury'* which had descended from that very citadel,

> Strada» H. 387. I Archivo de Simancas M& Sime it

' Parma to PhiUp IL, 30 Sept, 1686, | aame^ 11 Not. 1585. (Hud)

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1686.

BHBUILDING OF THB dTADBL.

261

was now appointed goyemor of the town^ and devoted himself
to the reconstraction of the hated fortress. '^ Champagny
has particularly aided me/* wrote Parma, " with his rhetoric
and clever management, and has brought the broad council
itself to propose that the citadel should be rebuilt. It will
therefore be done, as by the burghers themselves, without
your Majesty or myself appearing to desire it/' ^

This was, in truth, a triumph of "rhetoric and clever
management,'' nor could a city well abase itself more com-
pletely, kneeling thus cheerfully at its conqueror's feet, and
requesting permission to put the yoke upon its own necL
" The erection of the castle has thus been determined upon,"
said Parma, " and I am supposed to know nothing of the
resolution."*

A little later he observed that they were "working away
most furiously at th$ citadel, and that within a month it would
be stronger than it ever had been before." •

The building went on, indeed, with astonishing celerity,
the fortress rising out of its ruins almost as rapidly, under
the hands of the royalists, as it had been demolished, but a
few years before, by the patriots. The old foundations still
remained, and blocks of houses, which had been constructed
out of its ruins, were thrown down that the materials might
be again employed in its restoration/

The citizens, impoverished and wretched, humbly demanded
that the expense of building the citadel might be in part
defrayed by the four hundred thousand florins in which they
had been mulcted by the capitulation. " I don't marvel at
this," said Parma, " for certainly the poor city is most forlorn
and poverty-strickeny the heretics having aU left it"^ It was
not long before it was very satisfactorily established, that the
presence of those same heretics and liberty of conscience for

* MS. Letter of 11 Nov. 1685, bef<»e
cited. '^Bhetorica j buena mafia,"

* Ma Letter, 80 Sept, 1686, before
dted.

* Letter ckf 11 Nov. 1686.

« Stnda, n. 394.

* " Pues es derto esti la pobre yilla
pobriflsima j ftipftyiwu^ifffrfimi, haibiett*
dola dejado los heregee^" Aa KSL
letter last dted.

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262 THE X7NITED NETHERLANDS. Chap. V.

all men^ were indispensable conditions for the prosperity of
the great capital. Its down&U was instantaneous. The mer-
chants and industrious artisans all wandered away from the
place which had been the seat of a world-wide traffic. Oivili-
sation and commerce departed, and in their stead were the
citadel and the Jesuits. By express command of Philip, that
order, banished so recently, was reinstated in Antwerp, as well
as throughout the obedient provinces ; and all the schools
and colleges were placed under its especial care. No
children could be thenceforth instructed except by the lips of
those fathers.* Here was a curb more efficacious even than
the citadel. That fortress was at first garrisoned with Wal-
loons and Germans. ^^ I have not yet induced the citizens,"
said Parma, 'Ho accept a Spanish garrison, nor am I sur-
prised ; so many of them remembering past events (alluding
to the ' Spanish fury,' but not mentioning it by name), and
observing the frequent mutinies at the present time. Before
long, I expect, however, to make the Spaniards as acceptable
and agreeable as the inhabitants of the country themselves."*

It may easily be supposed that Philip was pleased with the
triumphs that had thus been achieved. He was even gratefdl,
or affected to be grateful, to him who had achieved them.
He awarded great praise to Alexander for his exertions, on
the memorable occasions of the attack upon the bridge, and
the battle of the Kowenstyn ; but censured him affectionately
for so rashly exposing his life. '^ I have no words," he said,
^^ to render the thanks which are merited for all that you
have been doing. I recommend you earnestly however to
have a care for the security of your person, for that is of more
consequence than all the rest."^

After the news of the reduction of the city, he again ex*
pressed gratification, but in rather cold language. ''From
such obstinate people," said he, " not more could be extracted
than has been extracted ; therefore the capitulation is satis-

^ Stnrada, IL 389.

« MS. Letter, 11 Nov., 1685.

8 " Ya yo no 8^ palabras con que
daros las graciaa que merece todo lo
que abi haceis, j asi no dire sino que

06 encomiendo mudio que mireis pae
la seguridad de vuestra penona, pues
en esta va mas que en toda" Pmlq>
II. to Parma, 5 Julj, 1686. Aich. de
Sim. MS.

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1585. GBATmOATION 09 PHILIP. 263

factory/'^ What more lie wished to extract it would be
difficult to say, for certainly the marrow had been extracted
from the bones, and the dead city was thenceforth left to
moolder nnder the blight of a foreign garrison and an army
of Jesuits. ^^ Perhaps religious affiiirs will improve before
long/'* said Philip. They did improve very soon, as he
understood the meaning of improvement. A solitude of
religion soon brought with it a solitude in every other regard,
and Antwerp became a desert, as Sainte Ald^onde had fore
told would be the case.

The King had been by no means so calm, however, when
the intelligence of the capitulation first reached him at
Madrid. On the contrary, his oldest courtiers had never seen
him exhibit such marks of hilarity.

When he first heard of the glorious victory at Lepanto,
his countenance had remained impassive, and he had con-
tinued in the chapel at the devotional exercises which the
messenger from Don John had interrupted. Only when
the news of the Massacre of St. Bartholomew first reached
him, had he displayed an amount of cheerfulness equal to
that which he manifested at the fall of Antwerp. " Never,*'
said Granvelle, "had the King been so radiant with joy as
when he held in his hand the despatches which announced
the capitulation."^ The letters were brought to him after ho
had retired to rest, but his delight was so great that he could
not remain in his bed. Bushing from his chamber, so soon
as he had read them, to that of his dearly-beloved daughter,
Clara Isabella, he knocked loudly at the door, and screaming
through the keyhole the three words, " Antwerp is ours,*
returned precipitately again to his own apartment*

It was the general opinion in Spain, that the capture of
this city had terminated the resistance of the Netherlands.
Holland and Zeeland would, it was thought, accept with very
little hesitation the terms which Parma had been offering,
through the agency of Sainte Aldegonde ; and, with the

^ " Sacar mas que lo que se ha sa-
cado," Ac Philip to Parma, 6 Sept,
1585. Arch, de Sim. Md

•Ibid.

' Strada, H. 388, 389.

*Ibid.

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reduction of those two proyinces, the Spaniah dominion over
the whole country would of course become absolute. Secretary
Idiaquez observed, on drawing up instructions for Carlo
Coloma, a Spanish financier then departing on special mission
for the Provinces, that he would soon come back to Spain,
for the Prince of Parma was just putting an end to the whole
Belgic war.^

Time was to show whether Holland and Zeeland were as
malleable as Antwerp, and whether there would not be a
battle or two more to fight before that Belgic war would
come to its end. Meantime Antwerp was securely fettered,
while the spirit of commerce — to which its unexampled pro-
sperity had been due— now took its flight to the lands where
civil and religious liberty had found a home.

NOTE ON MARNIX dk SAINTE ALDEQONDK

As every illustration of the career and character of this emi-
nent personage excites constant interest in the Netherlands, I
have here thrown together, in the form of an Appendix, many
important and entirely unpublished details, drawn mainly from
the Archives of Simancas, and from the State Paper Office and
British MusaBum in London.

The ex-burgomaster seemed determined to counteract the
policy of those Netherlanders who wished to offer the soverdgnty
of the Provinces to the English Queen. He had been earnestly
in fiivour of annexation to France, for his sympathies and feelings
were eminently French. He had never been a friend to England,
and he was soon aware that a strong feeling of indignation—^
whether just or unjust — existed against him both in that country
and in the Netherlands, on account of the surrender of Antwerp,

" I have had large conference with Villiers," wrote Sir Johu
Norris to Walsingham, " he condenmeth Ste. Aldegonde's doings,
but will impute it to fear and not to malice. Ste. Ald^onde,
notwithstanding that he was forbidden to come to Holland, and
laid for at the fleet, yet stole secretly to Dort, where they say he

1 Strada, n. SSa

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XrOTB ON SAINTE ALDEQONDB.

265

is staid, but I doubt be will be heard speak, and then assuredly
he will do great hurt."*

It was most certainly Sainte Aldegonde's determination, so soon
as the capitulation of Antwerp had been resolved upon, to do
his utmost to restore all the independent Provinces to their
and^it allegiance. Rather Spanish than English was his settled
resolution. Liberty of religion, if possible — ^that was his che-
rished wish — ^but still more ardently, perhaps, did he desire to
prevent the country from falling into the hands of Elizabeth.

*' The Prince of Parma hath conceived such an assured hope
of the fidelity of Aldegonde," wrote one of Walsingham's agents,
Richard Tomson, ^' in reducing the Provinces, yet enemies, into
a perfect subjection, that the Spaniards are so well persuaded of
the man as if he had never been against them. They say, about
the middle of this month, he departed for Zeeland and Holland,
to prosecute the effect of his promises, and I am the more
induced to believe that he is become altogether Spanish, for that
the common bruit goeth that he hastened the surrendering of
the towa of Antwerp, after he had intelligence of the coming
of the English succours.'"

There was naturally much indignation felt in the indepen-
dent Provinces, against all who had been thought instrumental
in bringing about the reduction of the great cities of Flanders.
Famars, governor of Mechlin, Van den Tympel, governor of
Brussels, Martini, who had been active in effecting the capitu-
lation of Antwerp, were all arrested in Holland. "From all
that I can hear," said Parma, "it is Ukely that they will be
very severely handled, which is the reason why Ste. Aidegonde,
although he sent his wife and children to Holland, has not
ventured thither himself. It appears that they threaten him
there, but he means now to go, under pretext of demanding to
justify himself from the imputations against him. Although
he tells me freely that, without some amplification of the con-
cessions hitherto made on the point of religion, he hopes for no
good result, yet I trust that he will do good ofices in the mean-
time, in spite of the difficulties which obstruct his effortsl
On my part, every exertion will be made, and not without hope
of some fruit, if not before, at least after, these people have
heoome as tired of the English as they were of the French."'

> Sir John 'Somjs to Walsiogham,
Atig: 24 (O.S.), 1586. 8. P. Office

ica

« Bichard Tomaoa to Sir P. Wal-

siDgham, 29th August, 1585 (o.s.) S. P.
Office, M.a

s Parma to Philip IL Arch, do
8im. MS.

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THE UNITBD KETHEBLAKDa.

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Of this mutual ill-feeling betwe^i the English and the bur-
gomaster, there can be no doubt whatever. The Queen's gov-
ernment was fully aware of his efforts to counteract its ne-
gotiation with the Netherlands, and to bring about their
reconciliation with Spain. When the Earl of Leicester — as will
soon be related — arrived in the Provinces, he was not loDg in
comprehending his attitude and his influence.

"I wrote somewhat of Sir Ald^onde in putting his case,"
wrote Leicester, " but this is certain, I have the copy of his
very letters sent hither to practise the peace not two days before
I came, and this day one hath told me that loves him well, that
he hates our countrymen unrecoverably. I am sorry for it.'"

On the other hand, the Queen was very indignant with the
man whom she looked upon as the psdd agent of Spain. She
considered him a renegade, the more dangerous because his
previous services had been so illustrious. " Her Majesty's mis-
like towards Ste. Aldegonde continueth," wrote Walsingham to
Leicester, ^^and she taketh offence that he was not restrained
of his liberty by your Lordship's order."" It is tmquestion-
able that the ex-burgomaster intended to do his best towards
effecting the reconciliation of all the Provinces with Spain ; and
it is equally certain that the King had offered to pay him weD,
if he proved successful in his endeavours. There is no proo^
however, and no probability that Sainte Aldegonde ever accepted
or ever intended to accept the proffered bribe. On the contrary,
his whole recorded career ought to disprove the supposition.
Yet it is painful to find him, at this crisis, assiduous in his
attempts to imdo the great work of his own life, and still more
distressing to find that great rewards were distinctly offered to
him for such service. Immense promises had been frequently
made no doubt to William the Silent; nor could any public
man, in such times, be so pure that an attempt to tamper with
him might not be made : but when the personage, thus solicited
was evidently acting in the interests of the tempters, it is net
surprising that he should become the object of grave suspicion.

" It does not seem to me bad," wrote Philip to Parma, " this
negotiation which you have commenced with Ste. Aldegonde, in
order to gain him, and thus to employ his services in bringing
about a reduction of the islands (Holland and Zeeland). b

» * Corregpondence of Robert Dud-
ley, Earl of Leycester, in the years
1685 and 1586, edited by John Bruce.*
Printed for the Camden Sodety, 1844.

p. 27, 28, - Dca 1586.

« 'Leycester's Correqwndence^' ^T
finioe p. 36, Dea 15S6.

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NOTE OK SAINTE ALDEGONDB.

267

exchange for this work, any thing which you think proper to
offer to him as a reward, will be capital well invested; but it
must not be given until the job is done." *

But the job was hard to do, and Sainte Aldegonde cared nothing
for the offered bribe. He was, however, most strangely con-
fident of being able to overcome, on the one hand, the opposition
of Holland and Zeeland to the hated authority of Spain, and, on
the other, the intense abhorrence entertained by Philip to liberty
of conscience.

Soon after the capitulation, he applied for a passport to visit
those two Provinces. Permission to come was refused him.
Honest men from Antwerp, he was informed, would be always
welcome, but there was no room for him.* There was, however
— or Parma persuaded himself that there was — a considerable
party in those countries in favour of reconciliation with Spain.
If the ex-burgomaster could g^un a hearing, it was thought
probable that his eloquence would prove very effective.

"We have been making efforts to bring about negotiations
with Holland and Zeeland," wrote Alexander to Philip. " Gelder*
land and Overyssel likewise show signs of good disposition, but
I have not soldiers enough to animate the good and terrify the
bad. As for Holland and Zeeland, there is a strong inclination
on the part of the people to a reconciliation, if some concession
could be made on the religious question, but the governors
oppose it, because they are perverse, and are relying on assist-
ance from England. Could this religious concession be made, an
arrangement could, without doubt, be accomplished, and more
quickly than people think. Nevertheless, in such a delicate
matter, I am obliged to await your Majesty's exact instructions
and ultimatum." '

He then proceeded to define exactly the position and inten
tions of the burgomaster.

" The government of Holland and Zeeland," he said, " have
refused a passport to Ste. Aldegonde, and express dissatis^tion
with him for having surrendered Antwerp so soon. They know
that he has much credit with the people and with the ministers
of the sects, and they are in much fear of him because he is
inclined for peace, which is against their interests. They are,

> — . **qae a tmeqne dello sera
bien empleado lo que vieredes que
combendra ofrecelle para dareelo des-
puea de hecho el efecto."— Philip II.
to Parma, 5th Sept 1685. Arch, do

Sim. MS.

« Bor, rr. 614-320. Hoofd Ver-
volgh, 116.

» Parma to Philip XL SOth Sept
1585. Arch, de Sim. MS.

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THE UNITBD KlffTESBLAJSmS,

Chap. T.

therefore, endeayouring to counteract my negotiatioiis with
hinL These have been, thus &r, only in general terms. I have
sought to induce him to perform the offices required, without
giving him reason to expect any concession as to the exercise of
religion. Me persuadea hivMdf thaJt^ in the end^ there tcill be 8ome
satisfaction obtained upon this pointy and, under this impression he
considers the peace as good as concluded, there remaining no
doubt as to other matters. He has sent his wife to 2ieeland, and
is himself going to Germany, where, as he says, be will do all
the good service that he can. He hopes that very shortly the
Provinces will not only invite, but implore him to come to them ;
in which case, he promises me to perform miracles." '

Alexander then proceeded to pay a distinct tribute to Sainte
Aldegonde's motives; and, when it is remembered that the
statement thus made is contained in a secret despatch, in cipher,
to the King, it may be assumed to convey the sincere opinion of
the man most qualified to judge correctly as to this calumniated
person's character.

" Ste. Aldegonde offers me wonders," he said, " and I have
pronused him that he shall be recompensed very largely; yet,
although he is poor, I do not find him influenced by mercenaiy
or selfish considerations, but only very set in opinions regarding
his religion." '

The Prince had however no doubt of Sainte Aldegonde's sm-
cerity, for sincerity was a leading characteristic of the man. His
word, once given, was sacred, and he had given his word to do his
best towards effecting a reconciliation of the Provinces with Spain,
and frustrating the efforts of England. "Through the agaicy
of Ste. Aldegonde and that of others," wrote Parma, "I shall
watch, day and night, to bring about a reduction of Holland and
Zeeland, if humanly possible. I am quite persuaded that they
will soon be sick of the English, who are now arriving, brokoi
down, without arras or money, and obviously incapable of holding
out very long. Doubtless, however, this English alliance, and
the determination of the Queen to do her utmost against us,
complicates matters, and assists the government of Holland and
Zeeland in opposing the inclinations of their people." '

Nothing ever came of these intended negotiations. The

» Parma to Philip IL, 30 Sept, MS.
just cited.

■ — "en el cual caso ofrece mara-
yillaa, como le he ofreddo 70 de que
Ber& reoompensado mnj laigamente^

aonque si bien es pobre no le ^^
interesado, mas tan solamente pueeto
en la opinion de sn religion." Ibid.
» Ibid.

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1685. KOTB OK SAINTE ALDEGONDE. 269

miradee were never wrought, and even had Sainte Aldegonde been
as venal as he was suspected of being — which we have thus proof
positive that he was not — ^he never could have obtained the
recompense, which, according to Philip's thrifty policy, was not
to be paid until it had been earned. Sainte Aldegonde's hands
were dean. It is pity that we cannot render the same tribute
to bis political consistency of character. It is also certain that
he remained — ^not without reason — for a long time under a cloud.
He became the object of unbounded and reckless calumny.
Antwerp had &llen, and the necessary consequence of its reduc-
tion was the complete and permanent prostration of its commerce
and manufactures. These were transferred to the new, free,
national, independent, and prosperous commonwealth that had
risen in the "islands" which Parma and Sainte Aldegonde had
vainly boped to restore to their ancient servitude. In a very
few years after the subjugation of Antwerp, it appeared by
statistical documents that nearly all the manufactures of linen,
coarse and fine doths, serges, fustians, tapestry, gold embroidery,
arras-work, silks, and vdvets, had been transplanted to the towns
of Holland and Zeeland, which were flourishing and thriving,
while the Flemish and Brabantine cities had become mere dens
of thieves and beggars. It was in the mistaken hope of averting
this catastrophe — as melancholy as it was inevitable — and in
despair of seeing all the Netherlands united, unless imited in
slavery, and in deep-rooted distrust of the designs and policy
of England, that this statesman, once so distinguished, had
listened to the insidious tongue of Parma. He had sought to
effect a general reconciliation with Spain, and the only result
of his efforts was a blight upon his own illustrious name.

He published a defence of his conduct, and a detailed account
of the famous siege. His apology, at the time, was not considered
conclusive, but his narrative remains one of the clearest and
most trustworthy sources for the history of these important
transactions. He was never brought to trial, but he discovered,
with bitterness, that he had committed a fatal error, and that his
political influence had passed away. He addressed numerous
private epistles to eminent persons, indignantly denying the
imputations against his character, and demanding an investiga-
tion. Among other letters he observed in one to Count Hohenlo,
that he was astonished and grieved to find that all his faithfn]
labours and sufferings in the cause of his fatherland had been for-
gotten in an hour. In place of praise and gratitude, he had
reaped nothing but censure and calumny; because men ever

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judged, not by the merits, but by the issae. That common people
should be so unjust, he said, was not to be wondered at, but of
men like Hohenlo he had hoped better things. He asserted that
he had saved Antwerp from another " Spanish fury," and from
impending destruction — a city in which there was not a smgle
regular soldier, and in which his personal authority was so slight
that he was unable to count the number of his masters. If a
man had ever performed a service to his country, he claimed to
have done so in this capitulation. Nevertheless, he declared that
he was the same Philip Mamix, earnestly devoted to the service
of God, the true religion, and the fatherland; although he
avowed himself weary of the war, and of this perpetual offering
of the Netherland sovereignty to foreign potentates. He was
now going, he said, to his estates in Zeeland ; there to turn farmer
again ; renouncing public affairs, in the administration of which
he had experienced so much ingratitude from his country-
men.' Count Maurice and the States of Holland and Zeeland
wrote to him, however, in very plain language, describing the
public indignation as so strong as to make it unsafe for him to
visit the country.'

The Netherlands and England — so soon as they were united in
policy — were, not without reason, indignant with the man who
had made such strenuous efforts to prevent that union. The
English were, in truth, deeply offended. He had systematically
opposed their schemes, and to his prejudice against their country,
and distrust of their intentions, they attributed the fsHH of
Antwerp. Envoy Davison, after his return to Holland, on the
conclusion of the English treaty, at once expressed his suspicions
of the ex-burgomaster, and the great dangers to be apprehended
from his presence in the free States. "Here is some working
underhand," said he to Walsingham, " to draw hither Sainte Alde-
gonde, under a pretext of his justification, which — ^as it has
hitherto been denied him — so is the sequel suspected, if he
should obtain it before they were well setUed here, betwixt her
Majesty and them, considering the manifold presumptions that
the subject of his journey should be little profitable or advanta-
geous to the state of these poor countries, as tending, at the best,
to the propounding of some general reconcilement."' It was
certainly not without substantial grounds that the English and
Hollanders, after concluding their articles of alliance, felt uneasy

» Bor, n. 614. • Ibid.

* Davison to Walsingham, Sept - 1585 S. P. OiBoe HS.

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at the possibility of finding their plans reversed by the intrigues
of a man whom they knew to be a mediator between Spain and
her revolted Provinces, and whom they suspected of being a
venal agent of the Catholic King. It was given out that Philip
had been induced to promise liberty of religion, in case of
reconciliation. We have seen that Parma was at heart in
favour of such a course, and that he was very desirous of inducing
Mamix to believe in the possibility of obtaining such a boon,
however certain the Prince had been made by the King's secret
letters, that such a belief was a delusion. " Martini hath been
examined," wrote Davison, "who confesseth both for himself
and others, to be come hither by direction of the Prince of Parma
and intelligence of Sainte Aldegonde, from whom he was first
addressed by Villiers and afterwards to others for advice and
assistance. That the scope of this direction was to induce them
here to hearken to a peace, wherein the Prince of Parma pro-
miseth them toleration of religion, although he confesseth yet
to have no absolute power in that behalf^ but hath written thereof
to the King expressly, and holdeth himself asdured thereof by the
first post^ as I have likewise been advertised from Rowland York,
which if it had been propounded openly here before things had
been concluded with her Majesty, and order taken for her
assurance, your honour can judge what confusion it must of
necessity have brought forth." *

At last, when Mamix had become convinced that the toleration
would not arrive " by the very next mail from Spain," and that,
in truth, such a blessing was not to be expected through the
post-office at all, he felt an inward consciousness of the mistake
which he had committed. Too credulously had he inclined his
ear to the voice of Parma ; too obstinately had he steeled his
heart against Elizabeth, and he was now the more anxious to
dear himself at least from the charges of corruption so cla-
morously made against him by Holland and by England. Con-
scious of no fault more censurable than credulity and prejudice,
feeling that his long fidelity to the reformed religion ought to be
a defence for him against his calumniators, he was desirous both
to clear his own honour, and to do at least a tardy justice to
England. He felt confident that loyal natures, like those of
Davison and his colleagues at home, would recognize his own
loyalty. He trusted, not without cause, to English honour, and
coming to his manor-house of Zoubourg, near Flushing, he

1 Dayison to Walsingham, Sept 1686.

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addressed a letter to the ambassador of Elizabeth, in which
the strong desire to vindicate his aspersed integrity is quite
manifest.

" I am very joyous," said he, " that coming hither in order to
justify myself against the &lse and malignant impntations with
which they charge me, I have learned your arrival here on the
part of her Majesty, as well as the soon expected coming of the
Earl of Leicester. I see, in truth, that the Lord God is just,
and never abandons his own. I have never spared myself in the
service of my country, and I would have sacrificed my life, a
thousand times, had it been possible, in her cause. Now, I am
receiving for all this a guerdon of blame and calumny, which is
cast upon me in order to cover up faults which have been
committed by others in past days. I hope, however, to come
soon to give you welcome, and to speak more particularly to you
of all these things. Meantime demanding my justification before
these gentlemen, who ought to have known me better than to
have added faith to such villanons imputations, I will entreat
you that my definite justification, or condemnation, — if I have
merited it, — ^may be reserved till the arrival of Lord Leicester." *

m*a onoquet si avant priv^ de son e§-
prit, que je n'aye to^jour8 eu moo seal
but et la gloire de son nom et la con-
seryation de sea eglisea Ce que Je
Toua prie de croire, et tous asseure
qu'en oette resoluiion je desire vi?re
et mourir." Marnix de Sainte Alde-

gonde to Walsingham, May -, 1586,

ih>m Zoubourg. S. P. OiBoe MS.

" The Count Maurice," wrote envoy
and counsellor Wilkes, a year later,
from Utrecht, "is loved and respected
here of the people, for the merits of
his late father; and is (so fio* as I can
judge) like to succeed him in wisdom
and sufficiency. I cannot discern that
thero is any doubt to be had of him,
that he should be led away by any
persuasion to seek his advancemeot
but by her Majesty ; and Sainte Aide-
gonde, contrary to the opinion conceived
of him by her Majesty, is noted here of
aUmen to be a good patriot^ and worthy
to be employed t» the services here, in
respect of his ability and wisdom, how-
beit I perceive (to take away the offence
that may be mustered to Tier Majesty)
they are contented to forbear the vse of his
services." Wilkes to the Lords of Coun-
cil, 20th Aug. 1586. S. P. Office US,

Aldegonde to Davison,
a P. Office MS. (The

> Sainte

2!if!l 1686,
Not. 9

letter is in French.)

Walsingham always entertained a
high opinion of Sainte Aldegonde's
integrity. *'Je pourrois i bon droit
estre taxe," wrote Mamix, in answer
to a letter fh>m Sir Francis, "ou de
stupidity ou d'ingratitude---d*autant
plus qu' en une commune opinion,
mesmes de ceux qui estoyent plus
proches tesmolgns de mes actions, et
avoyent plus de commodity d' en pou-
Toir juger 4 la verite, si ils en eussent
prendre la peine il vous a pleu, en
estant beaucoup plus esloign^ et plus
environn^ de prejugds, maintenir con-
stamment I'impression qu' aviez une
fois conceue de mon integret^. « « «
Et pleut i Dieu que j'cusse pea ayoir
gens de quality et do jugement tela
qu' est y. S. ou spectateurs, ou juges
de mes conseils et proc^ures. Je
m'asseure qu' en lieu do bUme^ que,
ou les ignorans ou les malicieux m'ont
mis sus, j'on eusse rapport^ louange et
gloire. Tant y a que rends graces en-
core pour ce jour d'huy i mon Dieu,
de ce qu' en ces grandes extremity
environn^ de tant de difficult^ il no

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1585. KOTE OK SAINTB ALDEGONBK 273

This certainly was not the langaage of a ealprit. Neverthe-
less, his words did not immediately make a deep impression on
the hearts of those who heard him. He had come secretly to
bis house at Zonboorg, having previously published his memora-
ble apology ; and in accordance with the wishes of the English
government, he was immediately confined to his own house.
Confidence in the intention of a statesman, who had at least
committed such grave errors of judgment, and who had been so
deeply suspected of darker &ults, was not likely very soon to
revive. So far from shrinking from an investigation which
would have been dangerous, even to his life, had the charges
against his honour been founded in fact, he boldly demanded to
be confronted with his accusers, in order that he might explain
his conduct before all the world. "Sir, yesternight, at the
Bhutting of the gates," wrote Davison to Walsingham, — ^trans-
mitting the little note from Mamix, which has just been cited—
"I was advertised that Ste. Aldegonde was not an hour before
secretly landed at the head on the other side the Rammekens, and
come to his house at Zoubourg, having prepared his way by an
apology, newly published in his defence, whereof I have as yet
recovered one only copy, which herewith I send your honour.
This day, whilst I was at dinner, he sent his son unto me, with
a few lines, whereof I send you the copy, advertising me of his
arrival (which he knew I understood before), together with the
desire he had to see me, and speak with me, if the States, before
whom he was to come to purge himself of the crimes wherewith
he stood, as he saith, imjustly charged, would vouchsafe him so
much liberty. The same morning, the council of Zeeland, taking
knowledge of his arrival, sent tmto him the pensioner of Middel-
burgh and this town, to sound the causes of his coming, and to
^^tII him, in their behalf, to keep his house, and to forbear all
meddling by word or writing, with any whatsoever, till they
should further advise and determine in his cause. In defence
thereof, he fell into large and particular discourse with the
deputies, accusing his enemies of malice and untruth, ofiering
himself to any trial, and to abide what punishment the laws
ahould lay upon him, if he were found guilty of the crimes
imputed to him. Touching the cause of his coming, he pretended
^d protested that he had no other end than his simple justifica-
^on, preferring any hazard he might incur thereby, to his
honour and good feme." * As to the great question at issue^

» Daviaon to Walsingham, Nov. -» 1585. (a P. OflOce, Ma)

VOL. I. — T

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Marniz had at last become conscioos that he had been a victim
to Spanish dissimulation^ and that Alexander Famese was in
reality quite powerless to make that concession of religious
liberty, without which a reconciliation between Holland and
Philip was impossible. "Whereas," said Davison, "it was
supposed that Ste. Aldegonde had conmiission from the Prince of
Parma to make some offer of peace, he assured them of the
contrary as a thing which neither the Prince had any power to
yield unto with the surety of religion, or himself would, in
conscience, persuade without it; with a number of other par-
ticularities in his excuse; amongst the rest, aUowing and com-
mending in his speech, the course they had taken with her
Majesty, as the only safe way of deliverance for these afflicted
countries — ^letting them understand how much the news thereof—
specially since the entry of our garrison into this place (which
before they would in no sort believe), hath troubled the enemy,
who doth what ho may to suppress the bruit thereof, and yet
comforteth himself with the hope that between the factions and
partialities nourished by his industry, and musters among the
towns, especially in Holland and Zeeland (where he is persuaded
to find some pliable to a reconcilement,) and the disorders and
misgovernment of our people, there will be yet occasion offered
him to make his profit and advantage. I find that the gentleman
hath here many friends indifferently persuaded of his innocency,
notwithstanding the closing up of his apology doth make but
little for him. Howsoever it be, it falleth out the better that
the treaty wnth her Majesty is finished, and the cautionary
towns assured before his coming, which, if he be ill affected, will
I hope either reform his judgment or restrain his will. I wiU
not forget to do the best I can to sift and decipher him yet more
narrowly and particularly." *

Thus, while the scales had at length fallen from the eyes of
Mamix, it was not strange that the confidence which he now
began to entertain in the policy of England, should not be met,
at the outset, with a corresponding sentiment on the part of th«
statesman by whom that policy was regulated. "Howsoever
Ste. Aldegonde would seem to purge himself," said Davison,
"it is suspected that his end is dangerous. I have done what
I may to restrain him, so nevertheless as it may not seem to come
from muP ' And again — " Ste. Aldegonde," he wrote, " continn-
eth still our neighl>or at his house between this and Middelburg.

1 Dayison to "Walbingham, US. j^t cited. ' Ibid.

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1585. NOTE ON SAINTB ALDBQONBE. 275

jet Tinmolested. He findeth many fkvoarers, and, I fear, doth
no good offices. He desireth to be reserved till the conung of
my Lord of Leicester, before whom he pretends a desired
trial.''*

This covert demeanour on the part of the ambassador was in
accordance with the wishes of his government. It was thought
necessary that Sainte Aldegonde should be kept under arrest until
the arrival of the Earl, but deemed preferable that the restraint
should proceed from the action of the States rather than from the
order of the Queen. Davison was fulfilling orders in attempting,
by underhand means, to deprive Mamix, for a time, of his
Hberty. **Let him, I pray you, remain in good safety in any
wise," * wrote Leicester, who was uneasy at the thought of so
influential, and, as he thought, so ill-afiected a person bemg at
large, but at the same time disposed to look dispassionately upon
his past conduct, and to do justice, according to the results of
an investigation. " It is thought meet," wrote Walsingham to
Davison, "that you should do your best endeavour to procure
that Ste. Aldegonde may be restrained, which in mine opinion
were fit to be handled in such sort, as the restraint might rather
proceed from themselves than by your solicitation. And yet
rather than he should remain at liberty to practise imderhand,
whereof you seem to stand in gi^eat doubt, it is thought meet
that you should make yourself a partizan, to seek by all the
means that you may to have him restrained under the guard of
some well sheeted patriot until the EarPs coming, at what time
his cause may receive examination." *

This was, however, a result somewhat difficult to accomplish ;
for twenty years of noble service in the cause of liberty had
oot been utterly in vain, and there were many magnanimous
spirits to sympathize with a great man struggling thus in
the meshes of calumny. That the man who challenged rather
than shunned investigation, should be thrown into prison, as
if he were a detected felon upon the point of absconding,
seemed a heartless and superfluous precaution. Yet Davison and
others still feared the man whom they felt obliged to regard as a
haffled intriguer. "Touching the restraint of Ste. Aldegonde,"
wrote Davison to Lord Burghley, "which I had order from
Mr. Secretary to procure underhand, I find the difficulty wiU be

iDaviaon to , Nov. ^ 1685, S. P. Office Ma ^^

^ s Minxite of Walsiogham, Nov. ^

1585, a P. Office Ma

8. P. Office Ma
* I^icester to Davwon, Nov. -j 1685,

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276 THB tTNinO KETHKRLAKPa Geap. T.

great in regard of his many friends and fevourers, preoccapied
with some opinion of his innocence, although I have travailled
with divers of them underhand, and am promised that some
order shall be taken in that behalf, which I think will be harder
to execute as long as Count Maurice is here. For Ste, Aide-
gonde^s affection, I find continual matter to suspect it inclined to
a peace, and that as one notably prejudgmg our scope and
proceeding in this cause, doth lie in wait for an occasion to set it
forward, being, as it seems, fed with a hope of * telle quelle
liberty de conscience,' which the Prince of Parma and others of
his council have, as he confesseth, earnestly solicited at the King's
hands. This appeareth, in truth, the only apt and easy way for
them to prevail both against religion and the liberty of these
poor countries, having thereby once recovered the authority
which must necessarily follow a peace, to renew and alter the
magistrates of the particular towns, which, being at their devotion,
may turn, as we say, all upside down, and so in an instant being
under their servitude, if not wholly, at the least in a great part
of the country, leaving so much the less to do about the rest,
a thing confessed and looked for of all men of any judgment
here, if the drift of our peace-makers may take effect." *

Sainte Aldegonde had been cured of his suspicions of England,
and at last the purity of his own character shone through the
mists.

One winter's morning, two days after Christmas, 1586, Colonel
Morgan, an ingenuous Welshman, whom we have seen doing
much hard fighting on Kowenstyn Dyke, and at other places,
and who now commanded the garrison at Flushing, was taking a
walk outside the gates, and inhaling the salt breezes from the
ocean. While thus engaged he met a gentleman coming along,
staff in hand, at a brisk pace towards the town, who soon proved
to be no other than the distinguished and deeply suspected Sainte
Aldegonde. The two got at once into conversation. " He began,"
said Morgan, ^^ by cunning insinuations, to wade into matters of
state, and at the last fell to touching the principal points, to wit,
her Majesty's entrance into the cause now in hand, which, quoth
he, was an action of high importance, considering how much it
behoved her to go through the same, as well in regard of the
hope that thereby was given to the distressed people of these
parts, as also in consideration of that worthy personage whom
she hath here placed, whose estate and credit may not be suffered

i DaTiaon to Burehlev, ^^^ 1685, a P. Office Ma

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1586. NOTE ON SAINTB ALDBOOHDB. 277

to qnail^ but must be upholden as beoometh the lieutenant of
such a princess as her Majesty." '

**The opportunity thus offered," continued honest Morgan^
"and the way opened by himself^ I thought good to discourse
with him to the full, partly to see the end and drift of his
induced talk, and consequently to touch his quick in the sus-
pteted cause of Antwerp." * And thus, word for word, taken
down faithfully the same day, proceeded the dialogue that wintry
morning, near three centuries ago. From that simple record —
mouldering unseen and unthought of for ages, beneath piles of
official dust — ^the forms of the illustrious Fleming and the bold
Welsh colonel, seem to start, for a brief moment, out of the three
hundr^ years of sleep which have succeeded their energetic
existence upon earth. And so, with the bleak winds of Decem-
ber whistling over the breakers of the North Sea, the two dis-
coursed together, as they paced along the coast.

Morgan. — " I charge you with your want of confidence in her
Majesty's promised aid. 'Twas a thing of no small moment had
it been embraced when it was first most graciously offered."

Sainte Aldegonde. — "I left not her prince-like purpose un-
known to the States, who too coldly and carelessly passed over the
benefit thereof, until it was too late to put the same in practice.
For my own part, I acknowledge that indeed I thought some
further advice would either alter or at least detract from the
accomplishment of her determination. I thought this the rather
because she had so long been wedded to peace, and I supposed it
impossible to divorce her from so sweet a spouse. But, set it
down that she were resolute, yet the sickness of Antwerp was
80 dangerous, as it was to be doubted the patient would be dead
before the physician could come. I protest that the state of the
town was much worse than was known to any but myself and
some few pi-ivate persons. The want of victuals was far greater
than they durst bewray, fearing lest the common people, per-
ceiving the plague of famine to be at hand, would rather grow
desperate than patiently expect some happy event. For as they
"vv^ere many in number, so were they wonderftilly divided : some
Wng Martinists, some Papists, some neither the one nor the
other, but generally given to be factious, so that the horror at
home was equal to the hazard abroad."
Morgan. — "But you forget the motion made by the martial

* Sir Thomas Morgan to Sir F. Walan^am, Jan. \ 1585, Q. P. Office MS.
•Ibid.

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278 THE UNITED NETHERLANDa Chap. T

men for patting out of the town such as were simple artificers,
with women and cliildren, mouths that consumed meat, but stood
in no stead for defence."

Sainte Aldegoude. — " Alas, alas I would you have had me guilty
of the slaughter of so many innocents, whose lives were com-
mitted to my charge, as well as the best ? Or might I have
answered my God when those massacred creatures should have
stood up against me, that the hope of Antwerp's deliverance was
purchased with the blood of so many simple souls ? No, no.—
I should have found my conscience such a hell and continual
worm as the gnawing thereof would have been more painful and
bitter than the possession of the whole world would have been
pleasant." «

Morgan continued to press the various points which had
created suspicion as to the character and motives of Mamix, and
point by point Mamix answered his antagonist, impressing him,
armed as he had been in distrust, with an irresistible con-
viction as to the loftiness of the nature which had been so much
calumniated.

Sainte Aldegonde (with vehemence). — "I do assure you, in
conclusion, that I have solemnly vowed service and duty to her
Majesty, which I am ready to perform where and when it may
best like her to use the same. I will add moreover that I have
oftentimes determined to pass into England to make my own
purgation, yet fearing lest her Highness would mislike so bold a
resolution, I have checked that purpose with a resolution to
tarry the Lord's leisure, until some bfetter opportunity might
answer my desire. For since I know not how I stand in her
grace, unwilling I am to attempt her presence without permission ;
but might it please her to command my attendance, I should not
only most joyfully accomplish the same, but also satisfy her of
and in all such matters as I stand charged with, and afterwards
spend life, land, and goods, to witness my duty towards her
Highness."

Morgan. — "I tell you plainly, that if you are in heart the
same man that you seem outwardly to be, I doubt not but her
Majesty might easily be persuaded to conceive a gracious opinion
of you. For mine own part, I will surely advertise Sir Francis
Walsingham of as much matter as this present conference hath
ministered.

" Hereof," said the Colonel — when, according to his promise,
faithfully recording the conversation in all its details for Mr.
Secretary's benefit, — "he seemed not only content but most

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1685. NOTE ON SAINTS ALDEGONDK. 279

glad. Therefore I beseech your honour to vouchsafe some few-
lines herein, that I may return him some part of your mind. I
have already written thereof to Sir Philip Sidney, lord governor
of Flashing, with request that his Excellency the Earl of Lei-
cester may presently be made acquainted with the cause."

Indeed the brave Welshman was thoroughly converted from
his suspicions by the earnest language and sympathetic presence
of the fallen statesman. This result of the conference was credit
able to the ingenuous character of both personages.

** Thus did he," wrote Morgan to Sir Francis, " from point to

point answer all objections from the Brst to the last, and that in

such sound and substantial manner, with a strong show of truth,

as I think his very enemies, having heard his tale, would be

satisfied. And truly. Sir, as heretofore I have thought hardly

of him, being led by a superficial judgment of things as they

stood in outward appearance ; so now, having pierced deep, and

weighed causes by a sounder and more deliberate consideration,

I find myself somewhat changed in conceit — not so much carried

away by the sweetness of his speech, as confirmed by the force

of his religious profession, wherein he remaineth constant,

without wavering — an argument of great strength to set him

free from treacherous attempts; but as I am herein least able

and most unworthy to yield any censure, much less to give

advice, so I leave the man and the matter to your honour's

opinion. Only (your graver judgment reserved) thus I think,

that it were good either to employ him as a friend, or as an

enemy to remove him farther from us, being a man of such action

as the world knoweth he is. And to conclude," added Morgan,

" this was the upshot between us." *

Nevertheless, he remained in this obscurity for a long period.*
When, towards the close of the year 1585, the English govern-
ment was established in Holland, he was the object of constant
suspicion.

"Here is Aldegonde," wrote Sir Philip Sidney to Lord
Leicester from Flushing, " a man greatly suspected, but by no
man charged. He lives restrained to his own house, and for
a^ght I can find, deals with nothing, only desiring to have his
cause wholly referred to your Lordship, and therefore, with the
best heed I can to his proceedings, I will leave him to his
clearing or condemning, when your Lordship shall hear him." ■

* Thomas Morgan to Sir F. Walaing-
Iwm, MS. just cited.

• Bor, IL 610-614. Hoofd Ver-

To)^ 116, in. Wageoaar, yiii. 83, 84
» Sir P. Sidney to Earl of Leicestec
Brit Mus. Galba. C. viil 213. Ma

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280

THE UKITBD NBTHEBLANDa

Chap. Y.

In another letter. Sir Philip again spoke of Sainte AId^;oDde as
^one of whom he kept a good opinion, and yet a suspicious
eye." '

Leicester himself was excessively anxious on the subject,
deeply fearing the designs of a man whom he deemed so mis-
chievous, and bemg earnestly desirous that he should not elude
the chastisement which he seemed to deserve.

" Touching Ste. Aldegonde," he wrote to Davison, " I grieve
that he is at his house without good guard. I do earnestly
pray you to move such as have power presently to commit a
guard about him, for I know he is a dangerous and a bold man,
and presumes yet to carry all, for he hath made many promises
to the Prince of Parma. I would he were in Fort Rammekyns,
or else that Mr. Russell had charge of him, with a recommenda-
tion from me to Russdl to look well to him till I shall arrive.
You must have been so commanded in this from her Majesty, for
she thinks he is in close and safe guard. If he is not, look for a
turn of all things, for he hath friends, I know." *

But very soon after his arrival, the Earl, on examining into
the matter, saw fit to change his opinicms and his language.
Persuaded, in spite of his previous ciMivictions, even &a the
honest Welsh colonel had been, of the upright charactGt- of the
man, and feeling sure that a change had come over tlie feelings
of Mamix himself in regard to the English alliance, Leicester at
once interested himself in removing the prejudibe^ entertained
towards him by the Queen.

" Now a few words for Ste. Aldegonde," said he in his earliest
despatches from Holland ; ^^ I will beseech her Majesty to stay
her judgment till I write next. If the man be as he now seemeth,
it were pity to lose him, for he is indeed marvellously Mended.
Her Majesty will think, I know, that I am easUy pacified or led
in such a matter, but I trust so to deal as she shall give me
thanks. Once if he do offer service it is sure enough, for he is
esteemed that way above all the men in this country for his tcord^
if^ ffiv^ it* His worst enemies here procure me to win him, for
sure, just matter for his life there is none. He would fain come
into England, so far is he come already, and doth extol her
Majesty for this work of hers to heaven, and confesseth, till now
an angel could not make him believe it." *

« Sir P. Sidney to Earl of Leicester,
19th Feb. 1686. Brit lius. Galba. C.
iz. p. 93.

• Leicester to DaTisoD, Nov. ^ 1686^

S. P. Office MS.

* Brace, ' Leycest Coiresp.' p. 33, 34

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1685. KOTB OK SAINTB ALDEGONDS. 281

Here certainly was a noble tribate paid nncoiiBcionsIyy as it
were, to the character of the maligned statesman. ^^ Above all
the men in the comitry for his word, if he give it." What
wonder that Orange had leaned upon him, that Alexander had
sought to gain him, and how much does it add to oar bitter
legret that his prejudices against England should not have been
removed until too late for Antwerp and for his own usefulness.
Had his good angel really been present to make him believe in
that " work of her Majesty," when his ear was open to the
seductions of Parma, the destiny of Belgium and his own sub-
sequent career might have been more fortunate than they
became.

The Queen was slow to return from her prejudices. She be-
lieved— ^not without reason — that the opposition of Ste. Aldegonde
to her policy had been disastrous to the cause both of England
and the Netherlands ; and it had been her desire that he should
be imprisoned, and tried for his life. Her councillors came
gradually to take a more &vourable view of the case, and to be
moved by the pathetic attitude of the man who had once been so
conspicuous.

"I did acquaint Sir Christopher Hatton," wrote Walsingham
to Leicester, " with the letter which Ste. Aldegonde wrote to
your Lordship, which, carrying a true picture of an afflicted mind,
cannot but move an honest heart, weighing the rare parts the
gentleman is endowed withal, to pity his distressed estate, and
to procure him relief and comfort, which Mr. Vice-Chamberlain
(Hatton) hath promised on his part to perform. I thought good to
send Ste. Aldegonde*s letter unto the Lord Treasurer (Burghley),
who heretofore has carried a hard conceit of the gentleman,
hopmg that the view of his letter will breed some remorse
towards him. I have also prayed his Lordship, if he see cause,
to acquaint her Majesty with the said letter." *

But his high public career was closed. He lived down calumny,
and put his enemies to shame, but the fatal error which he had
committed, in taking the side of Spain rather than of England at
80 momentous a crisis, could never be repaired. He regained
the good opinion of the most virtuous and eminent personages in
Europe, but in the noon of life he voluntarily withdrew from
public afifairs. The circumstances just detailed had made him
impossible as a political leader, and it was equally impossible for
him to play a secondary part. He occasionally consented to be

» Bruce, *Leycefit Corresp.,' pp. 31, 34.

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282 THB UNITBD KETHEBLANBa Chap. Y.

employed in special diplomatic missions, but the serious avoca-
tions of his life now became theological and literary. He sought
— in his own words — to penetrate himself still more deeply than
ever with the spirit of the retbrmation, and to imbue the minds of
the young with that deep love for the reformed religion which had
been the guiding thought of his own career. He often spoke with
a sigh of his compulsory exile from the field where he had been
so conspicuous all his lUetime ; he bitterly lamented the vanished
dream of the great national union between Belgium and HoUand,
which had flattered his youth and his manhood; and he some-
times alluded with bitterness to the calumny which had crippled
him of his usefulness. He might have played a distinguished part
in that ix>werful commonwealth which was so steadily and
splendidly arising out of the lagunes of Zeeland and Holland, but
destiny and calumny and his own error had decided otherwise.

" From the depth of my exile — " he said, " for I am resolved
to retire, I know not where, into Germany, perhaps into Sar-
matia, I shall look from afar upon the calamities of my country.
That which to me is most mournful is no longer to be able to
assist my fatherland by my counsels and my actions.'" He did
not go into exile, but remained chiefly at his mansion of Zoubourg,
occupied with agriculture and with profound study. Many nobl«
works conspicuous in the literature of the epoch — were the
results of his learned leisure ; and the name of Mamix of Sainte
Aldegonde will be always as dear to the lovers of science and
letters as to the believers in civil and religious liberty. At the
request of the States of Holland he undertook, in 1593, a transla-
tion of the Scriptures from the original, and he was at the same
time deeply engaged with a Histoiy of Christianity, which he
intended for his literary master-piece. The man whose sword
had done knightly service on many a battle-field for freedom,
whose tongue had controlled mobs and senates, courts and
councils, whose subtle spirit had metamorphosed itself into %
thousand shapes to do battle with the genius of tyranny, now
quenched the feverish agitation of his youth and manhood in
Hebrew and classical lore. A grand and noble figure always:
most pathetic when thus redeeming by vigorous but solitary and
melancholy hard labor, the political error which had condemned
him to retirement. To work, ever to work, was the primary law
of his nature. Repose in the other world, " Repos ailleurs" was
the device which he assumed in earliest youth, and to which he
was faithful all his days.

A great and good man whose life had been brim-full of noble
1 Commentaire sur les Affaires d'Anvora.'

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1685. NOTE ON SAINTE ALDEQONDE. 283

deeds, and who had been led astray from the path, not of virtue,
but of sound policy, by his own prejudices and by the fascination
of an intellect even more brilliant than his own, he at least
enjoyed in his retirement whatever good may come from hearty
and genuine labor, and from the high regard entertained for him
by the noblest spirits among his contemporaries.

"They tell me," said La Noue, "that the Seigneur de Ste.
Aldegonde has been suspected by the Hollanders and the English.
I am deeply grieved, for 'tis a personage worthy to be employed.
I have always known him to be a zealous friend of his religion
and his country, and I will bear him this testimony, that his
hands and his heart are clean. Had it been otherwise, I must have
known it. His example has made me regret the less the promise
I was obliged to make, never to bear arms again in the Nether-
lands. For I have thought that since this man, who has so
much credit and authority among your people, after havmg done
lus duty well, has not failed to be calumniated and ejected from
service, what would they have done with me, who am a stranger,
had I continued in their employment? The consul Terentius
Varro lost, by his £iult, the battle of Cannae ; nevertheless, when
he returned to Rome, offering the remainder of his life in the
cause of his Republic reduced to extremity, he was not rejected,
but well received, because he hoped well for the country. It is
not to be imputed as blame to Ste. Aldegonde that he lost Antwerp,
for he surrendered when it could not be saved. What I now say
is drawn from me by the compassion I feel when persons of
merit suffer without cause at the hands of their fellow citizens.
In these terrible tempests, as it is a duty rigorously to punish
the betrayers of their country, even so it is an obligation upon
us to honor good patriots, and to support them in venial errors,
that we may all encourage each other to do the right." *

Strange too as it may now seem to us, a reconciliation of the
Netherlands with Philip was not thought an impossibility by
other experienced and sagacious patriots, besides Mamix. Even
Olden-Bameveld, on taking office as Holland's Advocate, at this
period, made it a condition that his service was to last only until
the reunion of the Provinces with Spain.'

There was another illustrious personage in a foreign land who
ever rendered homage to the character of the retired Netherland
statesman. Amid the desolation of France, Duplessis Momay
often solaced himself by distant communion with that kindred
aud sympathizing spirit.

« Groen v. Prinsterep, * Archives,' Ac 1. 19, 80.
» WiUems, * Mengelingen,' p. 389.

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284

THE UNITBD NBTHKRTiANDa

Chap. V.

^ Flanged in public annoyanoes,'' he wrote to Sainte Aldegonde,
^ I find no consolation, except in conference with the good, and
among the good I hold you for one of the best. With such men
I had rather mgh profoundly than laugh heartily with others.
In particular, Sir, do me the honor to love me, and believe that
I honor you singularly. Impart to me something from your
solitude, for I consider your deserts to be more fruitful and
fertile than our most cultivated habitations. As for me, think of
me as of a man drowning in the anxieties of the time, but dedrous,
if possible, of swimming to solitude." *

Thus solitary, yet thus befriended, — remote from public em-
ployment, yet ever employed, doing his daily work with all his
soul and strength, Mamix passed the fifteen years yet remaining
to him. Death surprised him at last, at Leyden, in the year
1598, while steadily laboring upon his Flemish translation of
the Old Testament, and upon the great political, theological,
controversial, and satirical work on the differences of religion,
which remains the most stately, though unfinished, monument of
his literary genius. At the age of sixty he went at last to
the repose which he had denied to himself on earth. *^ Repos
ailleurs." •

1 ''Memoirefl and Corresp. de Du-
plenis Mornay," vi 36.

* I am bound to state that there is
a single passage in one of Panna's let-
ters to Philip, which contains a some-
what suspicious allusion to Marnix.
Were it not for the distinct assertion
of Famese, already cited, to the disin-
terested character of the burgomaster,
and to his elevation above meroenanr
considerations, the observation now el'
luded to would be still more painfiiL

Six months after the fall of Ant-
werp, the Prince informed his sove-
reign that Sainto Aldeg^de had not
yet gone to Grermany, but was still in
Zeeland, where they were treating him
with great attention, but conferring
DO authority upon bim. "Those in
power," added Famese, ^ distrust him,
because they see him inclined to
that party, to which, when he can —
unless I deceive myself— he will give
his support If he had not found the
English already introduced, I think
they would have made less of him, and
that he would have accomplished some
Yaluable piece of service. I do not
fail to mvi compUmentSf as well to
yiim^ as to others who may prove use-

ful agents, and to do all I can to keep
them in their good dispositioos, and
in this course I shall ever persist
keeping awake by day and night"

** Desconflando per verie indinado
a la parte a la cual cuando poede, bico
me engafia creo aiudara, y sine hal-
lara inurodiicidoB Ics logleses, crco
becharen menos de el, y que hkaera
algun buen efeta To asi a el, come a
los demas mediofi que me parecen Ber
aproposito, no ctjo de embiar recau-
doe,* ni de proouiar tenerlos en (u
buen proposito, y en la dicha coo-
formidaid lo hire, haciendo siemprp,
desvelandome de dia y de nodie,"
&C., ftc Parma to Philip IL 28th
Feb., 158S. Archivo de Simancaa MS.

* Tbeword*'recMido*'or**TecMk>'*iD«uwi
a complimentary meesure. which mfglit or
might Dot, be aocompanied wiib more soUa
arguments.

It has been seen that PhUtp aQtborlzed Far*
neso to oObt large rewards to MamIx, with the
stlpolatlon that they were not to be conferred
until the service required had been reudered.
On the other hand, the Prince privately as-
sured the King that the man whom they so
much wished to ^n. was not to be wod Dy a
bribe. After scrupnloosly examining the eri-
dence, I can not resist a coodosion fkvoiirable
to the puri^ of Haroix.

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CHAPTER VI.

Policy of England — Diplomatic Coquetry — Batch Enyoys in England—
Oonference of Ortel and Walsingbam — Interview with Leicester —
Private Audience of the Queen — Letters of the States-^neral — HI Effects
of Gilpin's Despatch — Close Bargaining of the Queen and States —
Guarantees required hy England — England's comparative Weakness —
The English characterised — Paul Hentsner — The Envoys in London—
Their Characters — Olden-Bameveldt described — Reception at Greenwich

— Speech of Menin — Beply of the Queen — Memorial of the Envoys—
Discussions with the Ministers — Second Speech of the Queen — Third
Speech of the Queen — Sir John Norn's sent to Holland — Parsimony of
Elizabeth — Energy of Davison — Protracted Negotiations — Friendly
Sentiments of Count Maurice — Letters from him and Louisa de Coligny

— Davison vexed by the Queen's Caprice — Dissatisfaction of Leicester —
His vehement Complaints — The Queen's Avarice — Perplexity of Davison

— Manifesto of Elizabeth — Sir Philip Sidney — His Arrival at flushing.

England — ^as we have seen — ^had carefully watched the
n^otiations between France and the Netherlands. Although
she had — upon the whole, for that intriguing age— -been loyal
in her bearing towards both parties, she was perhaps not
entirely displeased with the result. As her cherished trium-
virate was out of the question, it was quite obvious that, now
or never, she must come forward to prevent the Provinces
from falling back into the hands of Spain. The future was
plainly enough foreshadowed, and it was already probable,
in case of a prolonged resistance on the part of Holland,
that Philip would undertake the reduction of his rebellious
subjects by a preliminary conquest of England. It was there-
fore quite certain that the expense and danger of assisting
the Netherlands must devolve upon herself, but, at the same
time it was a consolation that her powerful next-door neigh-
bour was not to be made still more powerful by the annexa-
tion to his own dominion of those important territories.

Accordingly, so soon as the deputies in France had received
their definite and somewhat ignominious repulse from Henry
ni. and his mother^ the English government lost no time in

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286 ^SB UNITED NETHEBLANBa Chap. YI

intimating to the States that they were not to be left without
an ally. Queen Elizabeth was however resolutely averse
from assuming that sovereignty which she was not unwilling
to see offered for her acceptance ; and her accredited envoy
at the Hague, besides other more secret agents, were as busily
employed in the spring of 1585 — ^as Des Pruneaux had been
the previous winter on the part of France — to bring about an
application, by solemn embassy, for her assistance.

There was, however, a difference of view, from the outset,
between the leading politicians of the Netherlands and the
English Queen. The Hollanders were extremely desirous of
becoming her subjects ; for the United States, although they
had already formed themselves into an independent republic,
were quite ignorant of their latent powers. The leading
personages of the country — those who were soon to become
the foremost statesmen of the new commonwealth — were al-
ready shrinking from the anarchy which was deemed insepa-
rable from a non-regal form of government, and were seeking
protection for and against the people under a foreign sceptre.
On the other hand, they were indisposed to mortgage large
and important fortified towns, such as Flushing, Brill, and
others, for the repayment of the subsidies which Elizabeth
might be induced to advance. They preferred to pay in
sovereignty rather than in money. The Queen, on the con-
trary, preferred money to sovereignty, and was not at all
inclined to sacrifice economy to ambition. Intending to drive
a hard bargain with the States, whose cause was her own, and
whose demands for aid she had secretly prompted, she meant
to grant a certain number of soldiers for as brief a period as
possible, serving at her expense, and to take for such outlay a
most ample security in the shape of cautionary towns.

Too intelligent a politician not to feel the absolute necessity of
at last coming into the field to help the Netherlanders to fight
her own battle, she was still willing, for a season longer, to
wear the mask of coyness and coquetry, which she thought
most adapted to irritate the Netherlanders into a full compli-
ance with her wishes. Her advisers in the Provinces were
inclined to take the same view. It seemed obvious, after the

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1586. DIPLOMATIC COQUETBT. 287

jGEulure in France, that those countries must now become
either English or Spanish ; yet Elizabeth, knowing the risk of
their falling back, from desperation, into the arms of her rival,
allowed them to remain for a season on the edge of destruction
— ^which would probably have been her ruin also — ^in the hope
of bringing them to her feet on her own terms. There was
something of feminine art in this policy, and it was not with-
out the success which often attends such insincere manoeuvres.
At the same time, as the statesmen of the republic knew that
it was the Queen's affair, when so near a neighbour's roof
was blazing, they entertained little doubt of ultimately ob-
taining her alliance. It was pity — ^in so grave an emei^ncy
— that a little frankness could not have been substituted for
a good deal of superfluous diplomacy.

Gilpin, a highly intelligent agent of the English govern-
ment in Zeeland, kept Sir Francis Walsingham thoroughly
informed of the sentiments entertained by the people of that
Province towards England. Mixing habitually with the most
influential politicians, he was able to render material assist-
ance to the English council in the diplomatic game which
had been commenced, and on which a no less important stake
than the crown of England was to be hazarded.

"In conference," he said, "with particular persons that
bear any rule or credit, I find a great inclination towards
her Majesty, joined notwithstanding with a kind of coldness.
They all^e that matters of such importance are to be ma-
turely and thoroughly pondered, while some of them harp
upon the old string, as if her Majesty, for the security of her
own estate, was to have the more care of their's here."*

He was also very careful to insinuate the expediency of
diplomatic coquetry into the mind of a Princess who needed
no such prompting. " The less by outward appearance," said
he, ^^ this people shall perceive that her Majesty can be con-
tented to take the protection of them upon her, the forwarder
they will be to seek and send unto her, and the larger condi-
tions in treaty may be required. For if they see it to come

> Gilpin to Walsingham, ~ March, 1685. 8. P. Office MS.

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288 ^I^HB mnTED NETEOEBLAIIDS. Chap. VL

from herself, then do thej persuade themselyeB that it is for
the greater security of our own country and her Highness to
fear the King of Spain's greatness. But if ihey become
seekers unto her Majesty, and if they may, by outward show,
deem that she accounteth not of the said King's might, but
able and sufficient to defend her own realms, then verily 1
think they may be brought to whatsoever points her Majesty
may desire." ^

Certainly it was an age of intrigue, in which nothing seemed
worth getting at all unless it could be got by underhand means,
and in which it was thought impossible for two parties to a
bargain to meet together except as antagonists, who believed
that one could not derive a profit from the transaction unless
the other had been overreached. This was neither good
morality nor sound diplomacy, and the result of such trifling
was much loss of time and great disaster. In accordance with
this crafty system, the agent expressed the opinion that it
would "be good and requisite for the English government
somewhat to temporise," and to dally for a season longer, in
order to see what measures the States would take to defend
themselves, and how much ability and resources they woidd
show for belligerent purposes. If the Queen were too eager,
the Provinces would become jealous, "yielding, as it were,
their power, and yet keeping the rudder in their own hands."

At the same time Gilpin was favourably impressed with the
character both of the country and the nation, soon to be placed
in such important relations with England. " This people," he
said, "is such as by fair means they will be won to yield and
grant any reasonable motion or demand. What these islands
of Zeeland are her Majesty and all my lords of her council
do know. Yet for their government thus much I must write,
that during these troubles it never was better than now. They
draw, in a manner, one line, long and carefully in their resolu-
tion ; but the same once taken and promises made, they would
perform them to the uttermost."^

Such then was the character of the people, for no man was
better enabled to form an opinion on the subject than wag

» Gilpin to Walsinorham. MS. inst cited. « Ibid

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1685. DUTCH ENVOYS IN ENGLAND. 289

Gilpin. Had it not been as well, then, for Englishmen^-
who were themselyes in that age, as in every other, apt to
'^ perform to the uttermost promises once taken and made/'
and to respect those endowed with the same wholesome cha-
racteristio — ^to strike hands at once in a cause which was so
vital to both nations ?

So soon as the definite refusal of Henry III. was known in
England, Leicester and Walsingfaam wrote at once to the
Netherlands. The Earl already saw shining through the
distance a brilliant prize for his own ambition, although he was
too haughty, perhaps too magnanimous, but certainly far too
crafty, to suffer such sentiments as yet to pierce to the surfSu^.
" Mr. Davison," he wrote, " you shall perceive by Mr. Secre-
tary's letters how the French have dealt with these people.
They are weU enough served; but yet I think, if they will
heartily and earnestly seek it, the Lord hath appointed them
a far better defence. But you must so use the maUer eta thai
they must seek their own goody although we shall be partakers
thereof also. They may now, if they will effectually and
liberally deal, bring themselves to a better end than ever
France would have brought them." '

At that moment there were two diplomatic agents from the
States resident in England — Jacques de Gryze, whom Paul
Buys had formerly described as having thrust himself head
and shoulders into the matter without proper authority, and
Joachim Ortel, a most experienced and intelligent man,
speaking and writing English like a native, and thoroughly
conversant with English habits and character. So soon as the
despatches from France arrived, Walsingham, 18th March^
1585, sent for Ortel, and the two held a long conference. ^

' Leicester to Dayison, A Mar. 1686.
& P. Office Ma "

* Kemorie yan Ortel ft de Ghryze,
%i March, 1686. Hague Archives

It is neoessaiy, once for all, to state
^^ no personage is ever made, in the
text, to say or to write anything except
what, upoQ the best evidence of eye

VOL. I.— U

and ear witnesses, he is known to have
said or written. It is no longer pei^
mitted to historians — as was formerly
the case, from the times of Livy to
those of Cardinal Bentivoglio->to in-
vent harangues, letters, and confer-
ences. Where my narrative, for the
convenience of the reader, is thrown
into a dramatic form, the words — not

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290

SHB UNITED KETHERLANDS.

Chap. VL

Walsingham. — ^^We have just reoeiyed letters firom Lord
Derby and Sir Edward Stafford, dated the ISth March. They
inform us that your deputies-— contrary to all expectation and
to the great hopes that had been held out to them— have
received, last Sunday, their definite answer from the King of
France. He tells them, that, considering the present condition
of his kingdom, he is unable to undertake the protection of
the Netherlands ; but says that if they like, and if the Queen
of England be willing to second his motion, he is disposed to
send a mission of mediation to Spain for the purpose of begging
the King to take the condition of the provinces to heart, and
bringing about some honourable composition, and so forth,
and so forth.

" Moreover the King of France has sent Monsieur de Bel-
lievre to Lord Derby and Mr. Stafford, and Bellievre has made
those envoys a long oration. He explained to them all about
the original treaty between the States and Monsieur, the King's
brother, and what had taken place from that day to this, con-
cluding, after many all^ations and divers reasons, that the
King could not trouble himself with the provinces at present ;
but hoped her Majesty would make the best of it, and not be
offended with him.

'^ The ambassadors say further, that they have had an inter-
view with your deputies, who are excessively provoked at this
most unexpected answer from the King, and are making loud
complaints, being all determined to take themselves off as &8t
as possible. The ambassadors have recommended that some of
the number should come home by the way of England.''

Ortel. — ^^It seems necessary to take active measures at

the sabetanoe merely, but the ipaUri'
ma verba — have been gathered fix>in
aathentic docoments. Letters, speeches,
and the like, are often tran^ted into
the text from various languages-^
Latin, French, Flemish, Spanish,
Italian, German, and — ^where the
sources are Englic^ — ^the spelling,
Mid, in a very slight measure, the dic-
tion, have been put into modem garb.
But the reader may be sure tiiat he is

never made to be present at imaginary
conversations, which, however agree-
able and instractive in works intMi-
tionally fictitious, are quite oat of
place in those which didm to be Mi*
toricaL

In this instance the account of tbo
conference is derived flnom the Report
made by Envoy Ortel to the Stetes
(General, preserved in the Boyal Ar>
chives at the Hague.

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1685. G0K7BBEN0B OF OBTEL AlfD WALSINQHAIC 291

once, and to leave no dnty nndone in this matter. It will be
adyisable to confer^ so soon as may be, with some of the prin*
dpal counsellors of her Majesty, and recommend to them most
earnestly the present condition of the provinces. They know
the afibctionate confidence which the States entertain towards
England, and most now, remembering the sentiments of good-
will which they have expressed towards the Netherlands, be
willing to employ their efforts with her Majesty in this
emergency.'*

Walsingham (with much show of vexation). — " This conduct
on the part of the French court has been most pernicious.
Your envoys have been delayed, fed with idle hopes, and then
disgracefully sent away, so that the best part of the year has
been consumed, and it will be most difficult now, in a great
hurry, to get together a sufficient force of horse and foot folk,
with other necessaries in abundance. On the contrary, the
enemy, who knew from the first what result was to be expected in
France, has been doing his best to be beforehand with you in
the field: add, moreover, that this French negotiation has
given other princes a bad taste in their mouths. Tliia is thp
case ivith her Majesty. The Queen is, not without reason,
annoyed that the States have not only despised her friendly
and good-hearted offers, but have all along been endeavouring
to embark her in this war, for the defence of the Provinces,
which would have cost her several millions, without offering
to her the slightest security. On the contrary, others, enemies
of the religion, who are not to be depended upon — ^who had
never deserved well of the States or assisted them in their
Deed, as she has done — ^have received this large offer of sove-
reignty without any reserve whatever/'

Ortel (not suffering himself to be disconcerted at this unjust
and somewhat insidious attack). — " That which has been
transacted with France was not done except with the express
approbation and full foreknowledge of her Majesty, so far
^k as the lifetime of his Excellency (William of Orange),
of high and laudable memory. Things had already gone so
&f) and the Provinces had agreed so entirely together, as to

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292 "^^^ T7NITBD KETHEBLANDa Chap. YI

make it inexpedient to bring about a separation in policy. It
was our duty to hold together, and, once for all, thoroughly to
understand what the King of France, after such manifold pre-
sentations through Monsieur Des Pruneaulx and others, and
in various letters of his own, finally intended to do. At the
same time, notwithstanding these negotiations, we had always
an especial eye upon her Majesty. We felt a hopeful confi-
dence that she would never desert us, leaving us without aid
or counsel, but would consider that these affairs do not concern
the Provinces alone or even especially, but are just as deeply
important to her and to all other princes of the religion.''

After this dialogue, with much more conversation of a
similar character, the Secretary and the envoy set themselves
frankly and manfully to work. It was agreed between them
that every effort should be made with the leading members of
the Council to induce the Queen '^ in this terrible conjuncture,
not to forsake the Provinces, but to extend good counsel and
prompt assistance to them in their present embarrassments/'

There was, however, so much business in Parliament just
then, that it was impossible to obtain inmiediately the dedred
interviews.

On the 20th, Ortel and De Gryze had another interview with

Walsingham at the Palace of Greenwich. The Secretary

iiarch 20, expressed the warmest and most sincere affection for

1685. i\^Q Provinces, and advised that one of the two envoys
ohould set forth at once for home in order to declare to the
States, without loss of time, her Majesty's good inclination to
assume the protection of the land, together with the mainte-
nance of the reformed religion and the ancient privileges. ^ Not
that she was seeking her own profit, or wished to obtain that
sovereignty which had just been offered to another of the
contrary religion, but in order to make manifest her affec-
tionate solicitude to preserve the Protestant faith and to support
her old allies and neighbours. Nevertheless, as she could not
assume this protectorate without embarking in a dangerous
war with the King of Spain, in which she would not only be
obliged to spend the blood of her subjects, but also at least two

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1585. HilTERYIEW WITH IiBIOESTER. 293

millionB of gold, there was the more reason that the States
should give her certam cities as security. Those cities would
be held by certain of her gentlemen, nominated thereto, of
quality^ credit, and religion, at the head of good, true, and
well-paid garrisons, who should make oath never to surrender
them to the King of Spain or to any one else without consent
of the States. The Provinces were also reciprocally to bind
themselves by oath to make no treaty with the King, without
the advice and approval of her Majesty. It was likewise
thoroughly to be understood that such cautionary towns should
be restored to the States so soon as payment should be made
of all moneys advanced during the war.

Next day the envoys had an interview with the Earl of
Leicester^ whom they found as amicably disposed towards their
ai8t March, cause as Secretary Walsingham had been. "Her
1586. Majesty," said the Earl, "is excessively indignant
with the King of France, that he should so long have abused
the Provinces, and at last have dismissed their deputies so con-
temptuously. Nevertheless,'' he continued, "'tis all your
own fault to have placed your hopes so entirely upon him as
to entirely forget other princes, and more especially her
Majesty. Notwithstanding all that has passed, however, I
find her fully determined to maintain the cause of the Pro-
vinces. For my own part, I am ready to stake my life, estates,
and reputation, upon this issue, and to stand side by side with
other gentlemen in persuading her Majesty to do her utmost
for the assistance of your country."

He intimated however, as Walsingham had done, that the
matter of cautionary towns would prove an indispensable
condition, and recommended that one of the two envoys
should proceed homeward at once, in order to procure, as
speedily as possible, the appointment of an embassy for that
purpose to her Majesty. " They must bring full powers,"
said the Earl, "to give her the necessary guarantees, and
loake a formal demand for protection ; for it would be unbe-
coming, and against her reputation, to be obliged to present
herself, unsought by the other party."

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294 ^^B UNITED NBIHBBIiAin)S. Ohap. TL

In conclusion, after many strong expressions of good-will,
Leicester promised to meet them next day at court, where he
would address the Queen personally on the subject, and see
that they spoke with her as well. Meantime he sent one of
his principal gentlemen to keep company with the envoys,
and make himself useful to them. This personage, being
^^ of good quality and a member of Parliament,'' gave them
much useful information, assuring them that there was a
strong feeling in England in favour of the Netherlands, and
that the matter had been very vigorously taken up in the
national legislature. That assembly had been strongly
encouraging her Majesty boldly to assrmie the protectorate,
and had manifested a willingness to assist her with the
needful. "And if," said he, "one subsidy should not be
enough, she shall have three, four, five, or six, or as much as
may be necessary."

The same day, the envoys had an interview with Lord
Treasurer Burghley, who held the same language as Walsing-
ham and Leicester had done. "The Queen, to his know-
ledge," he said, " was quite ready to assume the protectorate ;
but it was necessary that it should be formally offered, with
the necessary guarantees,* and that without further loss
of time."

On the 22nd March, according to agreement, Ortel and
De Gryze went to the court at Greenwich, While waiting
there for the Queen, who had ridden out into the country,
they had more conversation with Walsingham, whom they
found even more energetically disposed in their favour than
ever, and who assured them that her Majesty was quite ready
to assume the protectorate so soon as offered. " Within a
month," he said, " after the signing of a treaty, the troops
would be on the spot, under command of sudi a personage of
quality and religion as would be highly satisfactory." While
they were talking, the Queen rode into the court-yard,
accompanied by the Earl of Leicester and other gentlemen-
Very soon afterwards the envoys were summoned to her
presence, and allowed to reconmiend the affairs of the Pro-

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X680L PiaVATB AUDIBNOB OV THE QUBSN. 295

vinoes to her consideration. She lamented the situation of
their country^ and in a few words expressed her inclination
to render assistance, provided the States would manifest full
confidence in her. They replied by offering to take instant
measures to gratify all her demands, so soon as those demands
should be made known ; and the Queen finding herself sur-
rounded by so many gentlemen and by a crowd of people,
appointed them accordingly to come to her private apartments
the same afternoon. '

At that interview none were present save Walsingham and
Lord Chamberlain Howard. The Queen showed herself
" extraordinarily resolute" to take up the afiGurs of the Pro-
vinces. ^^She had always been sure/' she said, ^^that the
French negotiation would have no other issue than the one
which they had just seen. She was fully aware what a
powerful enemy she was about to make — one who could easily
create mischief for her in Scotland and Ireland ; but she was
nevertheless resolved, if the States chose to deal wUh her
frankly and generously, to take them under her protection.
She assured the envoys that if a deputation with full powers
and reasonable conditions should be immediately sent to her,
she would not delay and dally with them, as had been the
case in France, but would despatch them back again at the
speediest, and would make her good inclination manifest by
deeds as well as words. As she was hazarding her treasure
together with the blood and repose of her subjects, she was
not at liberty to do this except on receipt of proper securities."^

Accordingly De Gryze went to the Provinces, provided with
complimentary and affectionate letters from the Queen, while
Ortd remained in England. So far all was plain and above-
board ; ^d Walsingham, who, from the first, had been warmly
in fevour of taking up the Netherland cause, was relieved by
being able to write in straightforward language. Stealthy
and subtle, where the object jras to get within the guard of
an enemy who menaced a mortal blow, he was, both by nature

^ ICemorie yan de Qryie k OrteL MS. before dted.

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296

THB UNITED KJfiTHKRLANPa.

Chap. YI

and policy^ disposed to deal frankly with those he called his
friends.

"Monsieur de Gryze repaireth presently/' he wrote to
Davison, "to try if he can induce the States to send their
deputies hither, furnished with more ample instructions than
they had to treat with the French King, considering that her
Majesty carryeth another manner of princely disposition than
that sovereign. Meanwhile, for that she doubteth lest in this
hard estate of their affairs, and the distrust they have con-
ceived to be relieved from hence, they should from despair
throw themselves into the course of Spain, her pleasure
therefore is — though by Bumham I sent you directions to
put them in comfort of relief, ordy as of yowr«cJ^— that you
shall now, as it were, in her name, if you see cause sufficient,
assure some of the aptest instruments that you shall make
choice of for that purpose, that her Majesty, rather than that
they should perish, will be content to take them under her
protection.''

He added that it was indispensable for the States, upon
their part, to offer "such sufficient cautions and assurances
as she might in reason demand."^

Matters were so well managed that by the 22nd April the

States-General addressed a letter to the Queen, in which they

22 April, notified her, that the desired deputation was on the

1686. point of setting forth. "Recognizing," they said,
" that there is no prince or potentate to whom they are more
obliged than they are to your Majesty, we are about to
request you very humbly to accept the sovereignty of these
Provinces, and the people of the same for your very humble
Tassals and subjects." They added that, as the necessity of
the case was great, they hoped the Queen would send, so
soon as might be, a force of four or five thousand men for the
purpose of relieving the siege of Antwerp.*

1 Walangham to BaTiaon, — March,

1686, 8. P. Office MS.

2 Lettre des Etats Generauz doe

ProTincea XTniea 4 la seraoiaaiiiie Reyna
d'Angleterre, 21 April, 1686. Hagot
ArchiTea, MS.

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158ft. LETTERS 07 THE STATES-GENERAL. 297

A similar letter was despatched by the same courier to the
Earl of Leicester.

On the Ist of May, Ortel had audience of the Queen^ to
deliver the letters from the States-General He found that
May 1, despatches, very encouraging and agreeable in their
1686. tenor, had also just arrived from Davison. The
Queen was in good humour. She took the letter from Ortel,
read it attentively, and paused a good while. Then she
assured him that her good affection towards the Provinces was
not in the least changed, and that she thanked the States for
the confidence in her that they were manifesting. '^It is
unnecessary," said the Queen, '^for me to repeat over and
over again sentiments which I have so plainly declared. You
are to assure the States that they shall never be disappointed
in the trust that they have reposed in my good intentions.
Let them deal with me sincerely, and without holding open
any back-door. Not that I am seeking the sovereignty of
the Provinces, for I wish only to maintain their privil^es
and ancient liberties, and to defend them in this r^ard
against all the world. Let them ripely consider, then, with
what fidelity I am espousing their cause, and how, without
fear of any one, I am arousing most powerful enemies."*

Ortel had afterwards an interview with Leicester, in which
the Earl assured him that her Majesty had not in the least
changed in her sentiments towards the Provinces. "For
myself," said he, " I am ready, if her Majesty choose to make
use of me, to go over there in person, and to place life,
property, and all the assistance I can gain fix)m my friends,
upon the issue. Yea, with so good a heart, that I pray ihe
Lord may be good to me, only so far as I serve faithfully in
this cause." He added a warning that the deputies to be
appointed should come with absolute powers, in order that
her Majesty's bountiful intentions might not be retarded by
Iheir own fault*

' Lettre dee Etats an Cte. de Lei- I > Brief yan Ortel aan de State«
<)eBter, 21 April, 1685. Hague Aj> Generaal, 8 Mai, 1585. Hague As'
«i»iv«, Ma J chivea, Ma » Ibid.

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296

THE UNITED NETHEBLAKDa

GsAP. VI

Ortel then visited Walsingbam at his house, Bam-Ehns,
where he was confined by iUness. Sir Francis assured the
envoy that he would use every effort, by letter to her Majesty
and by verbal instructions to his son-in-law, Sir Philip Sidney,
to furth^ the success of the negotiation, and that he deeply
r^etted his enforced absence from the court on so important
an occasion.

Matters were proceeding most favourably, and the all-
important point of sending an auxiliary force of Englishm^
to the relief of Antwerp— before it should be too late, and in
advance of the final conclusion of the treaty between the
countries — ^had been nearly conceded. Just at that moment,
however, "as ill-luck would have it,'' said Ortel, "came a
letter from Gilpin. I don't think he meant it in malice, but
the effect was most pernicious.* He sent the information
that a new attack was to be made by the 10th May upon the
Kowenstyn, that it was sure to be successful, and that the
siege of Antwerp was as good as raised. So Lord Burghley
informed me, in presence of Lord Leicester, that her Majesty
was determined to await the issue of this enterprise. It was
quite too late to get troops in readiness, to co-operate with
the States' army, so soon as the 10th May, and as Antwerp
was so sure to be relieved, there was no pressing necessity
for haste. I uttered most bitter complaints to these lords
and to other counsellors of the Queen, that she should thus
draw back, on account of a letter from a single individual,
without paying sufficient heed to the despatches from the
States-General, who certainly knew their own affiurs and
their own necessities better than any one else could do, but
her Majesty sticks firm to her resolution."'

Here were immense mistakes committed on all sides. The
premature shooting up of those three rockets from the cathe-
dral-tower, on the unlucky 10th May, had thus not only

* "Nu zynde in al desen geoccu-
peertk voert bet ongeluck zeker missive
van den Secretaris Gilpin, ujt Mid-
delbourg, daertoe, hoewel ick njet en

dencke teelve ujt eenidi nuditie hj
hem geschiet te zyn," Aa (Ibid.)
• Ibid.

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1685. . nx EFFBOIS OF GILPIErS DBSPATOH. 299

mined the first assault against the Kowenstyn, but alsa the
second and the more promising adventure. Had the four
thousand bold Englishmen there enlisted^ and who could have
reached the Provinces in time to cooperate in that great
enterprise, have stood side by side with the Hollanders, the
Zeelanders, and the Antwerpers, upon that fatal dyke, it is
almost a certainty that Antwerp would have been relieved,
and the whole of Flanders and Brabant permanently annexed
to the independent commonwealth, which would have thus
assumed at once most imposing proportions.

It was a great blunder of Sainte Ald^onde to station
in the cathedral, on so important an occasion, watchmen in
whose judgment he could not thoroughly rely. It was a
blander in Gilpin, intelligent as he generally showed himself,
to write in such sanguine style before the event. But it was
the greatest blunder of all for Queen Elizabeth to suspend
her cooperation at the very instant when, as the result
showed, it was likely to prove most successful It was a
chapter of blunders from first to last, but the most fatal of all
the errors was the one thus prompted by the great Queen's
most traitorous characteristic, her obstinate parsimony.

And now began a series of sharp chafferings on both sides,
not very much to the credit of either party. The kingdom
of England, and the rebellious Provinces of Spain, were
drawn to each other by an irresistible law of political attrac-*
tion. Their absorption into each other seemed natural and
almost inevitable ; and the weight of the strong Protestant
organism, had it been thus completed, might have balanced
the great Catholic League which was clustering about Spain.
It was unfortunate that the two governments of England and
the Netherlands should now assume the attitude of traders
driving a hard bargain with each other, rather than that of
two important commonwealths, upon whose action, at that
momentous epoch, the weal and wo of Christendom was
hanging. It is quite true that the danger to England was
great, but that danger in any event was to be confronted

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300 ^I^HB UNITED NETHEKLAND& Chap. TI.

Philip was to be defied^ and, by assmning tbe cause of the
Provinces to be her own, which it unquestionably was, Eliza-
beth was taking the diadem from her head — as the King of
Sweden well observed — and adventuring it upon the doubtfdl
chance of war.^ Would it not have been better then — ^her
mind being once made up — ^promptly to accept all the benefits,
as well as all the hazards, of the bold game to which she
was of necessity a party ? But she could not yet believe in
the incredible meanness of Henry III. " I asked her Majesty *
(3rd May, 1585), said Ortel, " whether, in view of these vast
preparations in France, it did not behove her to be most
circumspect and upon her guard. For, in the opinion of
many men, everything showed one great scheme already laid
down — a general conspiracy throughout Christendom against
the reformed religion. She answered me, that thus far she
could not perceive this to be the case ; nor could she believe,'
she said, ^ that the King of France could be so faint-hearted
as to submit to such injuries from the Guises.' *' *

Time was very soon to show the nature of that unhappy
monarch with regard to injuries, and to prove to Elizabeth
the error she had committed in doubting his faint-heartedness.
Meanwhile, time was passing, and the Netherlands were
shivering in the storm. They needed the open sunshine
which her caution kept too long behind the clouds. For it
was now enjoined upon Walsingham to manifest a coldness
upon the part of the English government towards the States.
Davison was to be allowed to return ; " but," said Sir Francis,
"her Majesty would not have you accompany the commis-
sioners who are coming from the Low Countries, but to come
over, either before them or after them, lest it be thought they
come over by her Majesty's procurement."*

As if they were not coming over by her Majesty's most
especial procurement, and as if it would matter to Philip

' Camden, 321. I ' Walmnghmn to Davison, 22 Apt4

<MS. Letter of Ortel, S Uaj, 15S5, 1685, a P. Office MS.
befi»recUed. |

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1585. CLOSE BABaADONa OF THE QUBBK AND STATEa 301

— ^the union once made between England and Holland —
whether the invitation to that imion came first from the one
party or the other 1

" I am retired for my health from the court to mine own
hoose/' said Walsingham, ^^ but I find those in whose judgment
her Majesty reposeth greatest trust so coldly affected imto
the cause, as I have no great hope of the matter ; and yet,
for that the hearts of princes are in the hands of God, who
both can will and dispose them at his pleasure, I would be
loath to hinder the repair of the commissioners/' ^

Here certainly had the sun gone most suddenly into a
cloud. Sir Francis would be loath to advise the commissioners
to stay at home, but he obviously thought them coming on as
bootless an errand as that which had taken their colleagues
so recently into France.

The cause of the trouble was Flushing. Hence the tears^
and the coldness, and the scoldings, on the part of the im-^
perious and the economical Queen. Flushing was the patri-*
mony — a large portion of that which was left to him — of
Count Maurice. It was deeply mortgaged for the payment
of the debts of William the Silent, but his son Maurice, so
long as the elder brother Philip William remained a captive
in Spain, wrote himself Marquis of Flushing and Kampveer,
and derived both revenue and importance from his rights in
that important town. The States of Zeeland, while desirous
of a political fusion of the two countries, were averse from
the prospect of converting, by exception, their commercial
capital into an English city, the remainder of the Provinces
remaining meanwhile upon their ancient footing. The ne-
gociations on the subject caused a most ill-timed delay. The
States finding the English government cooling, affected to
grow tepid themselves. This was the true mercantile system,
perhaps, for managing a transaction most thriftily, but frank-
ness and promptness would have been more statesmanlike at
such a juncture.

> Walsingham to Dftyison, MS. just cited.

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302 ^PBE XTNTTED NETHEaLAND& Coap. YL

"I am sorry to understand/' wrote Walsingham, "that the
States are not yet grown to a full resolution for the deliveriDg
of the town of Flushing into her Majesty's hands. The Queen
finding the people of that island so wavering and inconstant,
besides that they can hardly, after the so long enjoying a
popular liberty, bear a r^al authority, would be loath to
embark herself into so dangerous a war without some sufficient
caution received from them. It is also greatly to be doubted,
that if, by practice and corruption, that town might be re-
covered by the Spaniards, it would put all the rest of the
country in periL I find her Majesty, in case that town may
be gotten, fully resolved to receive them into her protection,
so as it may also be made probable unto her that the promised
three hundred thousand guilders the month will be duly
paid/'^

A day or two after writing this letter, Walsingham sent
one afternoon, in a great hurry, for Ortel, and informed him
very secretly, that, according to information just received, the
deputies from the States were coming without sufficient
authority in r^ard to this very matter. Thus all the good
intentions of the English government were likely to be frus-
trated, and the Provinces to be reduced to direful extremity.

" What can we possibly advise her Majesty to do ?" asked
Walsingham, " since you are not willing to put confidence in
her intentions. You are trying to bring her into a public
war, in which she is to risk her treasure and the blood of her
' subjects against the greatest potentates of the world, and you
hesitate meantime at giving her such security as is required
for the very defence of the Provinces themselves. The de-
puties are coming hither to ofiEer the sovereignty to her
Majesty, as was recently done in France, or, if that should
not prove acceptable, they are to ask assistance in men and
money upon a mere tcditer qtudtter guaranty. That's not
the way. And there are plenty of ill-disposed persons here
to take advantage of this position of a£birs to ruin the interest

> Minute to OnpiD, 1 May, 1685. aP.OffioeM&

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1586. GUABANTEBS BEQUIBBD BT ENGLAND. 303

of the Provinoes now placed on so good a footing. Moreover,
in this perpetual sending of despatches back and forth, much
precious time is consumed ; and this is exactly what our
enemies most desire.'"*

In accordance with Walsingham's urgent suggestions, Ortel
wrote at once to his constituents, imploring them to remedy
this matter. " Do not allow," he said, " any more time to be
wasted. Let us not painfully build a wall only to knock our
own heads against it, to the dismay of our friends and the
gratification of our enemies."'

It was at last arranged that an important blank should be
left in the articles to be brought by the deputies, upon which
vacant place the names of certain cautionary towns, afterwards
to be agreed upon, were to be inscribed by common consent.
Meantime the English ministers were busy in preparing to
receive the commissioners, and to bring the Netherland matter
handsomely before the l^islature.

The integrity, the caution, the thrift, the hesitation, which
characterized Elizabeth's government, were well pourtrayed
in the habitual language of the Lord Treasurer, chief minister
of a third-rate kingdom now called on to play a first-rate part,
thoroughly acquainted with the moral and intellectual power
of the nation whose policy he directed, and prophetically
conscious of the great destinies which were opening upon her
horizon. Lord Burghley could hardly be censured — ^least of
all ridiculed — for the patient and somewhat timid attributes
of his nature. The ineffiible ponderings, which might now
be ludicrous, on the part of a minister of the British Empire,
with two hundred millions of subjects and near a hundred
niillions of revenue, were almost inevitable in a man guiding
a realm of four millions of people with half a million of
iDcome.

It was, on the whole, a strange negociation, this between
England and Holland. A commonwealth had arisen, but
was unconscious of the strength which it was to find in the

' Brief ran Ortel aan de Staaten Generaal, 13 Mai, 1586. Hague Ar-
cWvea Ma • Ibid.

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304

THE UKITED KBIHEBLAin)&

Chap. VX

principle of Btates' union, and of religious equaliiy. It sou^t,
on the contrary, to exchange its federal sovereignty for pro-
vincial dependence, and to imitate, to a certain extent, the
very intolerance by which it had been driven into revolt. It
was not unnatural that the Netherlanders should hate the
Boman Catholic religion, in the name of which they had
endured such infinite tortures, but it is, nevertheless, painful
to observe that they requested Queen Elizabeth, whom they
styled defender, not of "the faith" but of the "reformed
religion," to exclude from the Provinces, in case she accepted
the sovereignty, the exercise of all religious rites except
those belonging to the reformed church. They, however,
expressly provided against inquisition into conscience.^ Pri-
vate houses were to be sacred, the papists free within their
own walls, but the churches were to be closed to those of the
ancient faith. This was not so bad as to hang, bum, drown,
and bury alive nonconformists, as had been done by Philip
and the holy inquisition in the name of the church of Bome ;
nor is it very surprising that the horrible past should have
caused that church to be regarded with sentiments of such
deep-rooted hostility as to make the Hollanders shudd^ at
the idea of its re-establishment. Yet, no doubt, it was idle
for either Holland or England, at that day, to talk of a recon-
ciliation with Bome. A step had separated them, but it was
a step from a precipice. No human power could bridge the
chasm. The steep contrast between the league and the
counter-league, between the systems of Philip and Mucio, and
that of Elizabeth and Olden-Bameveid, ran through the whole
world of thought, action, and life.

But still the negociation between Holland and England
was a strange one. Holland wished to give herself entirely,
and England feared to accept. Elizabeth, in place of
sovereignty, wanted mortgages ; while Holland was afraid

» Points et Articles ooncos et ar-
restea par les etats generaulx de Pay
Bas pour traicter avez la Sereniasime
Beyne d'Angleterre but la souyeralnet^
Hague Archives, MS.

Art n. " Sans qu'icelle pourra estre
chang^ ou aultre Religion es diets
pays exero^ Pourveu toutefois que
personne ne sera recherche en sa 0005
science."

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158fi. BKGLANiyS OOICPARATTVIS WEAENESa 305

to give a part, although offering the whole. There was no
great inequality between the two countries. Both were in-
stinctively conscious, perhaps, of standing on the edge of a
vast expansion. Both felt that they were about to stretch
their wings suddenly for a flight over the whole earth. Yet
each was a very inferior power, in comparison with the great
empires of the past or those which then existed.

It is difficult, without a strong effort of the imagination, to
reduce the English empire to the slender proportions which
belonged to her in the days of Elizabeth. That epoch was
full of light and life. The constellations which have for
centuries been shining in the English firmament were then
human creatures walking English earth. The captains, states-
men, corsairs, merchant-adventurers, poets, dramatists, the
great Queen herself, the Cecils, Raleigh, Walsingham, Drake,
Hawkins, Gilbert, Howard, Willoughby, the Norrises, Essex,
Leicester, Sidney, Spenser, Shakspeare and the lesser but
brilliant lights which surrounded him ; such were the men
who lifted England upon an elevation to which she was not
yet entitled by her material grandeur. At last she had done
with Borne, and her expansion dated from that moment.
Holland and England, by the very condition of their existence,
were sworn foes to Philip. Elizabeth stood excommunicated
of the Pope. There was hardly a month in which intelligence
was not sent by English agents out of the Netherlands and
France, that assassins, hired by Philip, were making their
way to England to attempt the life of the Queen. The
Netherlanders were rebels to the Spanish monarch, and they
stood, one and all, under death-sentence by Rome. The
alliance was inevitable and wholesome. Elizabeth was,
however, consistently opposed to the acceptance of a new
Bovereignty. England was a weak power. Ireland was at
her side in a state of chronic rebellion — a stepping-stone for
Spcun in its already foreshadowed invasion. Scotland was at
ber back with a strong party of Catholics, stipendiaries of
Philip, encouraged by the Guises and periodically inflamed
to enthusiasm by the hope of rescuing Mary Stuart from her

VOL. L— V

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306 THB UNITED NETHEBLAND& Chap. YI

imprisonment, bringing her rivars head to the block, and
elevating the long-suffering martyr upon the throne of all the
British Islands. And in the midst of England itself, con-
spiracies were weaving every day. The mortal duel between
the two queens was slowly approaching its termination. In
the fatal form of Mary was embodied everything most perilous
to England's glory and to England's Queen. Mary Stoart
meant absolutism at home, subjection to Rome and Spain
abroad. The uncle Guises were stipendiaries of Philip, Philip
was the slave of the Pope. Mucio hcui frightened the unlucky
Henry III. into submission, and there was no health nor hope
in France. For England, Mary Stuart embodied the possiUe
relapse into sloth, dependence, barbarism. For Elizabeth,
Mary Stuart embodied sedition, conspiracy, rebellion, battle,
murder, and sudden death.

It was not to be wondered at that the Queen thus situated
should be cautious, when about throwing down the gauntlet
to the greatest powers of the earth. Yet the conunission^rs
from the United States were now on their way to England to
propose the throwing of that gauntlet. What now was that
England?

Its population was, perhaps, not greater than the numbers
which dwell to-day within its capital and immediate suburbs.
Its revenue was perhaps equal to the sixtieth part of the
annual interest on tho present national debt. Single, highly-
favoured individuals, not only in England but in other
countries cis- and trans- Atlantic, enjoy incomes equal to more
than half the amount of Elizabeth's annual budget. London,
then containing perhaps one hundred and fifty thousand in-
habitants, was hardly so imposing a town as Antwerp, and
was inferior in most material respects to Paris and Lisbon.
Forty-two hundred children were bom every year within its
precincts, and the deaths were nearly as many.' In plagae
years, which were only too frequent, as many as twenty and
even thirty thousand people had been annually swept away.'

1 Meteren, ziil 248. The historian was, for a long pmiod, resident in
London at this epoch. ' Ibid.

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158& THE ENGLISH OHABAOTEBIZEEt 3O7

At the present epoch there are seventeen hundred births every
week, and about one thousand deaths.

It is instructive to throw a glance at the character of the
English people as it appeared to intelligent foreigners at that
day; for the various parts of the world were not then so
closely blended, nor did national colours and characteristics
flow so liquidly into each other, as is the case in these days
of intimate juxta-position.

^^ The English are a very clever, handsome, and well-made
people,'' says a learned Antwerp historian and merchant, who
had resided a long time in London, ^^ but, like all islanders,
by nature weak and tender. They are generally fair, par-
ticularly the women, who all— even to the peasant women —
protect their complexions from the sun with fans and veils,
as only the stately gentlewomen do in Grermany and the
Netherlands. As a people they are stout-hearted, vehement,
eager, cruel in war, zealous in attack, little fearing death ;
not revengeful, but fickle, presumptuous, rash, boastful, de-
ceitful, very suspicious, especially of strangers, whom they
despise. They are full of courteous and hypocritical gestures
and words, which they consider to imply good manners, civility,
and wisdom. They are well spoken, and very hospitable.
They feed well, eating much meat, which — owing to the rainy
climate and the ranker character of the grass — is not so
firm and succident as the meat of France and the Netherlands.
The people are not so laborious as the French and Hollanders,
preferring to lead an indolent life, like the Spaniards. The
most difficult and ingenious of the handicrafts are in the
hands of foreigners, as is the case with the lazy inhabitants
of Spain. They feed many sheep, with fine wool, from which,
two hundred years ago, they learned to make cloth. They
keep many idle servants, and many wild animals for their
pleasure, instead of cultivating the soil. They have many
ships, but they do not even catch fish enough for theii
own consumption, but purchase of their neighbours. They
^■Wff very-el^antly. Their costume is light and costly, but
they are very changeable and capricious, altering their fashions

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308 THB UNITHD NETHEBLAKD& Chap. TL

every year, both the men and the women. When they go
away from home, riding or travelling, they always wear their
beet clothes, contrary to the habit of other nations. The English
language is broken Dutch, mixed with French and British
terms and words, but with a lighter pronunciation. They do
not speak from the chest, like the Germans, but prattle only
with the tongue/'*

Here are few statistic€d facts, but certainly it is curious to
see how many national traits thus photographed by a con«
temporary, have quite vanished, and have been exchanged
for their very opposites. Certainly the last physiological
criticism of all would indicate as great a national metionor-
phosis, during the last three centiuies, as is o£fered by many
other of the writer's observations.

" With regard to the women," continues the same authority,
" they are entirely in the power of the men, except in matters
of life and death, yet they are not kept so closely and strictly
as in Spain and elsewhere. They are not locked up, but have
free management of their household, like the Netherlander
and their other neighbours. They are gay in their clothings
taking well their ease, leaving house-work to the servant-
maids, and are fond of sitting, finely-dressed, before their
doors to see the passers-by and to be seen of them. In all
banquets and dinner-parties they have the most honour,
sitting at the upper end of the board, and being served first.
Their time is spent in riding, lounging, card-playing, and
making merry with their gossips at child-bearings, christenings,
churchings, and buryings ; and all this conduct the men wink
at, because such are the customs of the land. They mnch
commend however the industry and careful habits of the
German and Netherland women, who do the work which in
England devolves upon the men. Hence, England is called
the paradise of married women, for the unmarried girls are
kept much more strictly than upon the continent The
women are handsome, white, dressy, modest ; although they
go freely about the streets without bonnet, hood, or veil ; but

> Emanuel van Meteren, •Nedorlandache Historien,* xiil 243.

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158& PAUL HSNTZNBB. 309

the noble dames have lately learned to coyer their faces with
a silken mask or vizard with a plumage of feathers^ for they
change their fashions every year, to the astonishment of many/' *

Paul Hentzner, a tourist from Germany at precisely
the same epoch, touches with equal minuteness on English
characteristics. It may be observed, that, with some dis-
crepancies, there is also much similarity in the views of the
two critics.

"The English,'' says the whimsical Paul, "are serious,
like the Germans, lovers of show, liking to be followed,
irherever they go, by troops of servants, who wear their mas-
ter's arms, in silver, fastened to their left sleeves, and are
justly ridiculed for wearing tails hanging down their backs.
They excel in dancing and music, for they are active and
lively, although they are of thicker build than the Germans.
They cut their hair close on the forehead, letting it hang
down oa either side. They are good sailors, and better
pirates, cunning, treacherous, thievish. Three hundred and
upwards are hanged annually in London. Hawking is the
£ftvourite sport of the nobility. The English are more polite
in eating tiian the French, devouring less bread, but more
meat, which they roast in perfection. They put a great
deal of sugar in their drink. Their beds are covered with
tapestry, even those of farmers. They are powerful in the
field, successful against their enemies, impatient of anything
like slavery, vastly fond of great ear-filling noises, such as
cannon-firing, drum-beating, and bell-ringing ; so that it is
very common for a number of them, when they have got a
cup too much in their heads, to go up to some belfry, and
ring the bells for an hour together, for the sake of the amuse-
ment If they see a foreigner very well made or particularly
handsome, they will say " 'tis pity he is not an Englishman.'"

It is also somewhat amusing, at the present day, to find
a German elaborately explaining to his countrjrmen the
mysteries of tobacco-smoking, as they appeared to his un-

* Emanuel van Meteren, jnst dted. i Gennaniae, Galliae, ADgliae, Italiaa^'

* Paulas HentzneroB, * Itinerarium | Breslae, 1617.

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310 ^I^HB UNITBD KBTHEBLANDa Chap. TL

sophisticated eyes in England. '^ At the theatres and every-
where else," says the traveller, "the English are constantly
smoking tobacco in the following manner. They have pipes,
made on purpose, of clay. At the further end of these is a
bowl. Into the bowl they put the herb, and then setting fire
to it, they draw the smoke into their mouths, which they puff
out again through their nostrils, like funnels,"^ and so on;
conscientious explanations which a German tourist of our
own times might think it superfluous to o£fer to his com-
patriots.

It is also instructive to read that the light-fingered gentry
of the metropolis were nearly as adroit in their calling as
they are at present, after three additional centuries of deve-
lopment for their delicate craft ; for the learned Tobias
Salander, the travelling companion of Paul Hentzner, finding
himself at a Lord Mayor's Show, was eased of his purse,
containing nine crowns, as skilfully as the feat could have
been done by the best pickpocket of the nineteenth century,
much to that learned person's discomfiture.'

Into such an England and among such English the Netha*-
land envoys had now been despatched on their most important
errand.

After twice putting back, through stress of weather, the com-
missioners, early in July, arrived at London, and were " lodged
and very worshipfully appointed at charges of her Majesty in
the Clothworkers' Hall in Pynchon-lane, near Tower-street."*
About the Tower and its faubourgs the buildings were stated
to be as el^ant as they were in the city itself, although
this was hardly very extravagant commendation. From this
district a single street led along the river's strand to West-
minster, where were the old and new palaces, the fiunous
hall and abbey, the Parliament chambers, and the bridge to
Southwark, built of stone, with twenty arches, sixty feet high,
and with rows of shops and dwelling-houses on both its sides.
Thence, along the broad and beautiful Tiver, yrere dotted

^ Paulas Hentznerufl, just cited. < Ibid.

• Stowo's 'Chronid©,' p. 708.

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1685. THE ENVOYS IN LONDON. 311

here and there many stately mansions and villas^ residences
of bishops and nobles, extending farther and farther west as
the city melted rapidly into the country. London itself was
a town lying high upon a hill — the hill of Lud — and consisted
of a coil of narrow, tortuous, unseemly streets, each with a
black, noisome rivulet running through its centre, and with
rows of three-storied, leaden-roofed houses, built of timber-
work fOled in with lime, with many gables, and with the up-
per stories overhanging and darkening the basements. There
were one hundred and twenty-one churches, small and large,
the most conspicuous of which was the Cathedral. Old Saint
Paul's was not a very magnificent edifice — but it was an ex-
tremely large one, for it was seven himdred and twenty feet
long, one hundred and thirty broad, and had a massive quad-
rangular tower, two hundred and sixty feet high. Upon this
tower had stood a timber-steeple, rising to a height of five
hundred and thirty-four feet from the ground, but it had
been struck by lightning in the year 1561, and consimied to
the stone- work.^

The Queen's favourite residence was Greenwich Palace, the
place of her birth, and to this mansion, on the 9th of July,
the Netherland envoys were conveyed, in royal barges, from
the neighbourhood of Pynchon-lane, for their first audience.

The deputation was a strong one. There was Falck of
Zeeland, a man of consummate adroitness, perhaps not of
as satisfactory integrity ; ^^ a shrewd fellow and a fine," as
Lord Leicester soon afterwards characterised him. There
was Menin, pensionary of Dort, an eloquent and accomplished
orator, and employed on this occasion as chief spokesman of
the legation — "a deeper man, and, I think, an honester,"
said the same personage, adding, with an eye to business,
" and he is but poor, which you must consider, but with great
secrecy." 2 There was Paul Buys, whom we have met with
before ; keen, subtle, somewhat loose of life, very passionate,
a most energetic and valuable friend to England, a deter-

1 Meteren, xiil 243. Camden, 57.
« Bruoe'a 'Leycert. Corresp.* 409, ^ Sept 1686.

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312 THE UNITBD NBTHBBLAHDa . Chap. TI

mined foe to France, who had resigned the important post of
Holland's Advocate, when the mission offering sovereignty to
Henry III. had been resolved upon, and who had since that
period been most influential in procuring the present triumph
of the English policy. Through his exertions the Province of
Holland had been induced at an early moment to ftu-nish the
most ample instructions to the commissioners for the satisfisu)-
tion of Queen Elizabeth in the great matter of the mortgages.
^^ Judge if this Paul Buys has done his work well/' said a
French agent in the Netherlands, who, despite the infiunouB
conduct of his government towards the Provinces, was doing
his best to frustrate the subsequent negociation with Eng-
land, ^^ and whether or no he has Holland under his thumb.'' ^
The same individual hcul conceived hopes from Falck of Zee-
land. That Province, in which lay the great bone of conten-
tion between the Queen and the States — the important town
of Flushing — was much slower than Holland to agree to
the English policy. It is to be feared that Falck was not
the most ingenuous and disinterested politician that could
be found even in an age not distinguished for frankness
or purity ; for even while setting forth upon the mission
to Elizabeth, he was still clinging, or affecting to cling, to
the wretched delusion of French assistance. " I regret infi-
nitely," said Falck to the French agent just mentioned, " that
I am employed in this affair, and that it is necessary in our
present straits to have recourse to England. There is — so to
speak — ^not a person in our Province that is inclined that way,
all recc^nizing very well that France is much more sala-
tary for us, besides that we all bear her a certain affectioa
Indeed, if I were assured that the King still felt any good-*
will towards us, I would so manage matters that neither
the Queen of England, nor any other prince whatever except
his most Christian Majesty should take a bite at this country,
at least at this Province, and with that view, while waiting
for news from France, I will keep things in suspense^ and
spin them out as long as it is possible to do."*

* Oroen v. Prinsterer, * Archivea,* Ac. L 14. i Ibid.

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1665. TEEEIB OHABAOTEBa 313

The news from France happened soon to be very condn-
sive, and it then became difficult even for Falck to believe-
after intelligence received of the accord between Henry III.
and the Guises — that his Christian Majesty would be inclined
for a bite at the Netherlands. This duplicity on the part of
60 leading a personage furnishes a key to much of the ap-
parent dilatoriness on the part of the English government.
It has been seen that Elizabeth^ up to the last moment, could
not fairly comprehend the ineffitble meanness of the French
monarch. She told Ortel that she saw no reason to believe
in that great Catholic conspiracy against herself and against
all Protestantism which was so soon to be made public by the
King's edict of July, promulgated at the very instant of the
arrival in England of the Netherland envoys. When that
dread fiat had gone forth, the most determined favourer of
the French alliance could no longer admit its possibility, and
Falck became the more open to that peculiar line of argu-
ment which Leicester had suggested with r^ard to one of
the other deputies. " I will do my best," wrote Walsingham,
" to procure that Paul Buys and Falck shall receive under-
hand some reward." *

Besides Menin, Falck, and Buys, were Noel de Caron,
an experienced diplomatist ; the poet-soldier. Van der Does,
heroic defender of Leyden ; De Gryze, Hersolte, Francis
Maalzoon, and three legal Frisians of pith and substance,
Feitsma, Aisma, and Jongema ;* a dozen Dutchmen together
•—as muscular champions as ever little republic sent forth to
wrestle with all comers in the slippery ring of diplomacy.
For it was instinctively felt that here were conclusions to be
tried with a nation of deep, solid thinkers, who were aware
that a great crisis in the world's history had occurred, and
would put forth their most substantial men to deal with it.
Burghley and Walsingham, the great Queen herself, were
Qo feather-weights like the frivolous Henry III. and his

1 Walaingbam to Dayifion, J^, 1685. a P. Office MS
2 Wagenaar, viiL 90.

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314

TEm UNITBD HBTHBBLAKDS.

Chap. 71

minions. It was pity, howeyer, that the discussions about to
ensue presented from the outset rather the aspect of a hard-
hitting encounter of antagonists than that of a frank and
friendly congress between two great parties whose interests
were identical.

Since the death of William the Silent, there was no
one individual in the Netherlands to impersonate the great
struggle of the Provinces with Spain and Rome, and to con-
centrate upon his own head a poetical, dramatic, and yet
most Intimate interest. The great purpose of the present
history must be found in its iUustration of the creative power
of. civil and religious freedom. Here was a little republic,
just bom into the world, suddenly bereft of its tutelary saint,
left to its own resources, yet already instinct with healthy
vigorous life, and playing its difficidt part among friends and
enemies with audacity, self-reliance, and success. To a cer-
tain extent its achievements were anonymous, but a great
principle manifested itself through a series of noble deeds.
Statesmen, soldiers, patriots, came forward on all sides to do
the work which was to be done, and those who were brought
into closest contact with the commonwealth acknowledged in
strongest language the signal ability with which, self-guided,
she steered her course. Nevertheless, there was at this mo-
ment one Netherlander, the chief of the present mission
to England, already the foremost statesman of his country,
whose name will not soon be efiaced from the record of the
sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. That man was John
of Olden-Bameveld.

He was now in his thirty-eighth year, having been bom at
Amersfoot on the 14th of September, 1547.* He bore an
imposing name, for the Olden-Bamevelds of Gelderland
were a race of unquestionable and antique nobility. His
enemies, however, questioned his right to the descent which
he claimed. They did not dispute that the great grand&iher,

' Naeranus, ' Historie van bet Leven
en Sterven van Johans van Olden-'
Bameyelt, 1648, p. 3. ' Levensbeechrij.

ying Kederelandadier Mannqn en
Vrouwen,' IL 247.

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1585. OLDEK-BABNEYELD DESGBIBBD. 315

Claas van Olden-Bameveld^ was of distingoished lineage and
allied to many illustrious houses^ but they denied that Claas
was really the great grandfather of John. John's father,
Gerritt, they said, was a nameless outcast, a felon, a murderer,
who had escaped the punishment due to his crimes, but hcul
dragged out a miserable existence in the downs, burrowing
like a rabbit in the sand. They had also much to say in dis-
paragement of all John's connections. Not only was his father
a murderer, but his wife, whom he had married for money^
was the child of a most horrible incest, his sisters were prosti-
tutes, his sons and brothers were debauchees and drunkards,
and, in short, never hcul a distinguished man a more imcom-'
fortable and discreditable family-circle than that which sur-
rounded Bameveld, if the report of his enemies was to be
believed.^ Yet it is agreeable to reflect that, with all the
venom which they had such power of secreting, these malig-
nant tongues had been unable to destroy the reputation of
the man himsell John's character was honourable and up-*
right, his intellectual power not disputed even by those who
at a later period hated him the most bitterly. He had been
a profound and indefatigable student from his earliest youth.
He had read law at Leyden, in France, at Heidelberg. Here,
in the head-quarters of German Calvinism, his youthful mind
had long pondered the dread themes of foreknowledge, judg-
ment absolute, free will, and predestination. To believe it
worth the while of a rational and intelligent Deity to create
annually several millions of thinking beings, who were to
struggle for a brief period on earth, and to consume in per-
petual brimstone afterwards, while others were predestined to
endless enjoyment, seemed to him an indifferent exchange for
a faith in the purgatory and paradise of Borne. Perplexed
in the extreme, the youthful John bethought himself of an
iiiscription over the gateway of his famous but questionable
great grandfather's house at Amersfort — nil scire tutissima
fides.* He resolved thenceforth to adopt a system of igno-

' * Gkildea Legende ran den Nieuwen St Jan/ 161 & ' Kaeranns^ p. 5.

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316 THE UNITED ITETHEBLAHDeL Chap. TL

ranee npon matters beyond the flaming walls of the world ; to
do the work before him manfully and fsuthftdly while he
walked the earth, and to trust that a benevolent Creator
would devote neither him nor any other man to eternal hell-
fire. For this most offensive doctrine he was howled at by
the strictly pious, while he earned still deeper opprobrium
by daring to advocate religious toleration. In face of tiie
endless horrors inflicted by the Spanish Inquisition npon his
native land, he had the hardihood — although a determined
Protestant himself-— to claim for Boman Catholics the ri^t
to exercise their religion in the free States on equal terms
with those of the reformed &ith. " Any one," said his ene-
mies, ^^ could smell what that meant who had not a wooden
nose." * In brief, he was a liberal Christian, both in theory
and practice, and he nobly confronted in consequence the
wrath of bigots on both sides. At a later period the most
zealous Calvinists called him Pope John, and the opiniona to
which he was to owe such appellations had already been
formed in his mind.

After completing his very thorough legal studies, he had
practised as an advocate in Holland and Zeeland. An early
defender of civil and religious freedom, he had been brought
at an early day into contact with William the Silait, who
recognized his ability. He had borne a snap-hance on his
shoulder as a volunteer in the memorable attempt to relieve
Haarlem, and was one of the few survivors of tiiat bloody
night. He had stood outside the walls of Leyden in company
of the Prince of Orange when that magnificent destruction of
the dykes had taken place by which the city had been saved
from the &te impending over it. At a still more recent period
we have seen him landing from the gun-boats upon the Kow-
enstyn, on the fatal 26th May. These military adventures
were, however, but brief and accidental episodes in his career,
which was that of a statesman and diplomatist. As pensionary
of Rotterdam, he was constantly a member of the Q^neral

* ^Waertoedit aUes sonde strecken, I nenaen hebben.'* 'Gtddfia Logeodof
konnen bj wel ruycken die geen hoate j p. 33.

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1586. SBOBFTION AT GBSEKWIOH. £17

Assembly, and had already begun to guide the policy of the
new commonwealth. His experience was considerable, and he
was now in the high noon of his vigour and his usefulness.^

He was a man of noble and imposing presence, with thick
hair pushed from a broad forehead rising dome-like above a
square and massive &ce ; a strong deeply-coloured physiog-
nomy, with shaggy brow, a chill blue eye, not winning but
commanding, high cheek bones, a solid, somewhat scornful
nose, a firm mouth and chin, enveloped in a copious brown
beard ; the whole head not unfitly framed in the stiff formal
ruff of the period ; and the tall stately figure well draped in
magisterial robes of velvet and sable — such was John of Olden-
Bameveld.

The Commissioners thus described arrived at Greenwich
Stairs, and were at once ushered into the palace, a residence
which had been much enlarged and decorated by Henry VIII.
They were received with stately ceremony. The presence-
chamber was hung with Gobelin tapestry, its floor strewn with
rushes. Fifty gentlemen pensioners, with gilt battle-axes, and
a throng of buffetiers, or beef-eaters, in that quaint old-world
garb which has survived so many centuries, were in attend-
ance, while the counsellors of the Queen, in their robes of
state^ waited around the throne.

There, in close skull-cap and dark flowing gown, was the
subtle, monastic-looking Walsingham, with long, grave, me-
lancholy face and Spanish eyes. There too, white staff in
hand, was Lord High Treasurer Buighley, then sixty-five
years of age, with serene blue eye, large, smooth, pale, scarce*
wrinkled face and forehead ; seeming, with his placid, sym*
metrical features, and great velvet bonnet, under which such
silver hairs as remained were soberly tucked away, and with
his long dark robes which swept the ground, more like a dig-
nified gentlewoman than a statesman, but for the wintry beard
which lay like a snow-drift on his ancient breast.
The Queen was then in the fifty-third year of her age, and

X Naeramu^ 1-li. < Ley6ii8be8chryyiii&' Ac IL 246-241.

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818 THE XJNITBD KBTHERLAND& Chip. yI

considered herself ia the full bloom of her beauty. Her gar-
ments were of satin and velvet, with fringes of pearl as
big as beans. A small gold crown was upon her head,
and her red hair, throughout its multiplicity of curls, blazed
with diamonds and emeralds. Her forehead was tall, her
face long, her complexion fair, her eyes small, dark, and
glittering, her nose high and hooked, her lips thin, hei
teeth black, her bosom white and liberally exposed. As she
passed through the ante-chamber to the presence-hall, suppli-
cants presented petitions upon their knees. Wherever she
glanced, all prostrated themselves on the ground. The cry of
"Long live Queen Elizabeth" was spontaneous and perpetual;
the reply, " I thank you, my good people," was constant and
cordial. She spoke to various foreigners in their respective
languages, being mistress, besides the Latin and Greek, of
French, Spanish, Italian, and German. As the CommissionerB
were presented to her by Lord Buckhurst it was observed that
she was perpetually gloving and ungloving, as if to attract
attention to her hand, which was esteemed a wonder of beauty.
She spoke French with purity and el^ance, but with a drawl-
ing, somewhat affected accent, saying " Paar maafoi ; paar h
Dieeu vivaant" and so forth, in a style which was ridiculed by
Parisians, as she sometimes, to her extreme annoyance, dis-
covered.^

Joos de Menin, pensionary of Dort, in the name of all the
envoys, made an elaborate address. He expressed the grati-
tude which the States entertained for her past kindness, and
particularly for the good offices rendered by Ambassador
Davison after the death of the Prince of Orange, and for the
deep regret expressed by her Majesty for their disappoint-
ment in the hopes they had founded upon France.

" Since the death of the Prince of Orange," he said, " the
States have lost many important cities, and now, for the pre-
servation of their existence, they have need of a prince and
sovereign lord to defend them against the tyranny and iniqui^'

' Da Manner, ^Mdmoires,' 257.

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1686. SPBBGH OF HBNIN. 319

tons oppression of the Spaniards and their adherents^ who are
more and more determined ntterlj to destroy their country^
and reduce the poor people to a perpetual slavery worse than
that of Indians, under the insupportable and detestable yoke
of the Spanish Inquisition. We have felt a confidence that
your Majesty will not choose to see us perish at the hands of
the enemy against whom we have been obliged to sustain this
long and cruel war. That war we have undertaken in order
to preserve for the poor people their liberty, laws, and
francliises, together with the exercise of the true Christian
religion, of which your Majesty bears rightfully the title of
defender, and against which the enemy and his allies
have made so many leagues and devised so many ambushes
and stratagems, besides organizing every day so many plots
against the life of your Majesty and the safety of your realms —
schemes which thus far the good God has averted for the good
of Christianity and the maintenance of His churches. For
these reasons, Madam, the States have taken a firm resolution
to have recourse to your Majesty, seeing that it is an ordinary
thing for all oppressed nations to apply in their calamity to
neighbouring princes, and especially to such as are endowed
with piety, justice, magnanimity, and other kingly virtues.
For this reason we have been deputed to offer to your Majesty
the sovereignty over these Provinces, under certain good and
equitable conditions, having reference chiefly to the mainte-
nance of the reformed religion and of our ancient liberties
and customs. And although, in the course of these long and
continued wars, the enemy has obtained possession of many
cities and strong places within our country, nevertheless the
Provinces of Holland, Zeeland, Utrecht, and Friesland, are,
thank Otod, still entire. And in those lands are many large
and stately cities, beautiful and deep rivers, admirable sea-
ports, from which your Majesty and your successors can derive
much good fruit and commodity, of which it is scarcely neces-
sary to make a long recital. This point, however, beyond the
rest, merits a special consideration, namely, that the conjunc-
tion of those Provinces of Holland, Zeeland, Utrecht, and

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320 ^I^^B UNrrSD HBTHBBLANDa Chap. VL

Friesland^ together with the dties of Slays and Ofltend, irith
the kingdoms of your Majesty, carries with it the absolute
empire of the great ocean, and consequently an assurance of
perpetual felicity for your subjects. We therefore humbly
entreat you to agree to our conditions, to accept the sovereign
seignory of these Provinces, and consequently to receive die
people of the same as your very humble and obedient subjects,
under the perpetual safeguard of your crown — a people cer-
tainly as faithful and loving towards their princes and sove«
reign lords, to speak without boasting, as any in all Chris-
tendom.

^^So doing. Madam, you will preserve many beautifdl
churches which it has pleased God to raise up in these lands,
now much afflicted and shaken, and you will deliver this
country and people — ^before the iniquitous invasion of the
Spanicuxis, so rich and flourishing by the great commodity of
the sea, their ports and rivers, their commerce and manufac-
tures, for all which they have such natural advantt^s — ^from
ruin and perpetual slavery of body and soul. This will be a
truly excellent work, agreeable to God, profitable to Christi-
anity, worthy of immortal praise, and comporting with the
heroic virtues of your Majesty, and ensuring the prosperity of
your country and people. With this we present to your
Majesty our articles and conditions, and pray that the King
of Kings may preserve you from all your enemies and ever
have you in His holy keeping/'^

The Queen listened intently and very courteously to the
delivery of this address, and then made answer in French to
this effect : — " Gentlemen, — Had I a thousand tongues I should
not be able to express my obligation to you for the great and
handsome offers which you have just made. I firmly believe
that this proceeds from the true zeal, devotion, and affection,
which you have always borne me, and I am certain that yon
have ever preferred me to all the princes and potentates in
the world. Even when you selected the late Duke of Anjou,

* ' Vertoog door de Gedepateerden I ii<*«» Jiily, 1586, voor de KoniDgis
bj monde van der Heere Menin den | gedaan.' Hague Archiyes, MSi

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1686. BBPLT OF THE QUBEN. 321

who was so dear to me, and to whose soul I hope that God
hss been mercifiil, I know that you would sooner have offered
your country to me if I had desired that you should do so.
Certainly I esteem it a great thing that you wish to be
governed by me, and I feel so much obliged to you in conse-
quence that I will never abandon you, but, on the contrary,
aisist you till the last sigh of my life. I know very well that
your princes have treated you ill, and that the Spaniards
are endeavouring to ruin you entirely ; but I will come to
your aid, and I will consider what I can do, consistently with
my honour, in r^ard to the articles which you have brought
me. They shall be examined by the members of my council,
and I promise that I vnll not keep you three or four months,
for I know very well that your affairs require haste, and that
they will become ruinous if you are not assisted. It is not
my custom to procrastinate, and upon this occasion I shall not
dally, as others have done, but let you have my answer very
Boon."^

Certainly, if the Provinces needed a king, which they had
most unequivocally declared to be the case, they might have
wandered the whole earth over, and, had it been possible,
searched through the whole range of history, before finding a
monarch with a more kingly spirit than the great Queen to
whom they had at last had recourse.

Unfortunately, she was resolute in her refusal to accept the
offered sovereignty. The first interview terminated with this
exchange of addresses, and the deputies, departed in their
barges for their lodgings in Pynchon-lane.

The next two days were past in perpetual conferences,
generally at Lord Burghley's house, between the envoys and
the lords of the council, in which the acceptance of the
Bovweignty was vehemently ui^ed on the part of the Nether-
landers, and steadily declined in the name of her Majesty.

" Her Highness,'' said Burghley, " cannot be induced, by
*ny writing or harangue that you can make, to accept the

* Vertoog, Ac. Ma before dtecL Compare Bor, IL 636, seq. Hoofd, Verrolgl^

• 18.

VOL. I. — W

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322 THE UNITBD NBTHKRLAND& Chap. VI

principality or proprietorship as sovereign, and it will there-
fore be labour lost for you to exhibit any writing for the
purpose of changing her intention. It will be better to
content yourselves with her Majesty's consent to assist you,
and to take you under her protection." '

Nevertheless, two days afterwards, a writing was exhibited,
drawn up by Menin, in which another elaborate effort was
made to alter the Queen's determination. This anxiety, on
the part of men already the principal personages in a republic,
to merge the independent existence of their commonwealth in
another and a foreign political organism, proved, at any rate,
that they were influenced by patriotic motives alone. It is
also instructive to observe the intense language with which
the necessity of a central paramount sovereignty for all the
Provinces, and the inconveniences of the separate States'
right principle were urged by a deputation, at the head of
which stood Olden-Barneveld. " Although it is not becoming
in us," said they, " to enquire into your Majesty's motives for
rdusing the sovereignty of our country, nevertheless, we
cannot help observing that your consent would be most pro-
fitable, as well to your Majesty and your successors, as to the
Provinces themselves. By your acceptance of the sovereignty
the two peoples would be, as it were, imited in one body.
This would cause a fraternal benevolence between them, and
a single reverence, love, and obedience to your Majesty. The
two peoples being thus under the government of the same
sovereign prince, the intrigues and practices which the enemy
could attempt with persons under a separate subjection, would
of necessity surcease. Moreover, those Provinces are all
distinct duchies, counties, seignories, governed by their own
magistrates, laws, and ordinances ; each by itself, without any
authority or command to be exercised by one Province over
another. To this end they have need of a supreme power
and of one sovereign prince or seignor, who may command
all equally, having a constant regard to the public weal — con-
sidered as a generality, and not with regard to the profit of

* MS. Report of the Eavoys. Ck>mp. Bor, Hoofd, ttbi aup.

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158&

MEMORIAL OF THE BNYOTa

323

flie one or the other individual Province — and causing
promptly and universally to be executed such ordinances as
may be made in the matter of war or police, according to
various emergencies. Each Province, on the contrary, re-
taining its sovereignty over its own inhabitants, obedience
will not be so promptly and completely rendered to the com-
mands of the lieutenant-general of your Majesty, and many
a good enterprise and opportunity will be lost. Where there
is not a single authority it is always found that one party
endeavours to usurp power over another, or to escape doing
his duty so thoroughly as the others. And this has notoriously
been the case in the matter of contributions, imposts, and
similar matters."^

Thus much, and more of similar cu*gument, logically urged,
made it sufficiently evident that twenty years of revolt and of
hard fighting against one king, had not destroyed in the minds
of the leading Netherlanders their conviction of the necessity
of kingship. If the new commonwealth was likely to remain
a republic, it was, at that moment at any rate, because they
could not fijid a king. Certainly they did their best to annex
themselves to England, and to become loyal subjects of
England's Elizabeth. But the Queen, besides other objec-
tions to the course proposed by the Provinces, thought that
she could do a better thing in the way of mortgages. In this,
perhaps, there was something of the penny-wise policy, which
sprang from one great defect in her character. At any rate
much mischief was done by the mercantile spirit which
dictated the hard chaffering on both sides the Channel at thid
important juncture ; for during this tedious flint-paring, Ant-
werp, which might have been saved, was falling into the
hands of Philip. It should never be forgotten, however, that
the Queen had no standing army, and but a small revenue.

^ RemoDstraDtie der Gedepnteerden
«?n H. M. In the MS. Report before
Cited. Compare Bor, ubi sup.,, who,
M an historian of the States* right and
republican party, seema to have been
unwilling to give currency to the

strong monarchical and centripetal
tendencies, thus expressed by men
subsequently the representatives of
veiy different doctrines; and so omits
these passages altogether from his
abstract of the report

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324 '^^^^ XTNTTED NSTHEBLAND8. Chap. YI

The men to be sent from England to the Neth^land wan
were first to be levied wherever it was possible to find them.
In truth^ many were pressed in the various wards of London,
furnished with red coats and matchlocks at the expense of
the citizens, and so despatched, helter-skelter, in small squads
as opportunity offered. ^ General Sir John Norris was already
superintending these operations, by command of the Queen,
before the present formal negotiation with the States had
begun.

Subsequently to the 11th July, on which day the second
address had been made to Elizabeth, the envoys had many
conferences with Leicester, Burghley, Walsingham, and otbei
councillors, without making much progress. There was per^
petual wrangling about figures and securities.

"What terms will you pledge for the repayment of the
monies to be advanced ?" asked Burghley and Walsingham.

" But if her Majesty takes the sovereignty," answered the
deputies, "there will be no question of guarantees. The
Queen will possess our whole Icuid, and there will be no need
of any repayment."

" And we have told you over and over again," said the Lord
Treasurer, "that her Majesty will never think of accepting
the sovereignty. She will assist you in money and men, and
must be repaid to the last farthing when the war is over ; and,
until that period, must have solid pledges in the shape of a
town in each Province.'

Then came interrogatories as to the amount of troops and
funds to be raised respectively by the Queen and the States
for the common cause. The Provinces wished her Majesty to
pay one-third of the whole expense, while her Majesty was
reluctant to pay one-quarter. The States wished a permanent
force to be kept on foot in the Netherlands of thirteen thousand
infantry and two thousand cavalry for the field, and twenty-
three thousand for garrisons. The councillors thought the
last item too much. Then there were queries as to the
expense of maintaining a force in the Provinces. The envoys

» stow©, 'Chroniole,' 708-109. • MS. Beport.

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158fi. DISOUSSIOHS wiTJa. THB MOnSTEBS. 325

reckoned one pound sterling, or ten florins, a month for the
pay of each foot soldier, including officers ; and for the
cavalry, three times as much. This seemed reasonable, and
the answers to the inquiries touching the expense of the
war-vessels and sailors were equally satisfectory. Neverthe-
less it was difficult to bring the Queen up to the line to which
the envoys had been limited by their instructions. Five
thousand foot and one thousand horse serving at the Queen's
expense till the war diould be concluded, over and above the
garrisons for such cautionary towns as should be agreed upon ;
this was considered, by the States, the minimum. The Queen
held out for giving only four thousand foot and four hundred
horse, and for deducting the garrisons even from this slender
force. As guarantee for the expense thus to be incurred, she
required that Flushing and BrUl should be placed in her
hands. Moreover the position of Antwerp complicated the
negotiation. Elizabeth, fully sensible of the importance of
preserving that great capital, offered four thousand soldiers to
serve until that city should be relieved, requiring repayment
within three months after the object should have been accom-
plished. As special guarantee for such repayment she re-
quired Sluys and Ostend. ^ This was sharp bargaining, but,
at any rate, the envoys knew that the Queen, though cavilling
to the ninth-part of a hair, was no trifler, and that she meant
to perform whatever she should promise.

There was another exchange of speeches at the Palace of
Nonesuch, on the 5th August ; and the position of affiiirs and
the respective attitudes of the Queen and envoys were plainly
characterized by the language then employed.

After an exordium about the cruelty of the Spanish tyranny
and the enormous expense entailed by the war upon the
Netherlands, Menin, who, as iU3ual, was the spokesman,
alluded to the difficulty which the States at last felt in
maintaining themselves.

"Five thousand foot and one thousand horse," he said,
"over and above the maintenance of garrisons in the towns

' MaBeport

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326

TBS UNITED NBTHEBLAKDS.

Chap. Vt

to be pledged as Becnrity to your Majesty, seemed tlie very
least amount of succour that would be probably obtained
from your royal bounty. Considering the great demonstra-
tions of affection and promises of support, made as well by
your Majesty's own letters as by the mouth of your ambas-
sador Davison, and by our envoys De Gryse and Ortel, who
have all declared publicly that your Majesty would never
forsake us, the States sent us their deputies to this country
in full confidence that such reasonable demands as we had
been authorized to make would be satisfied/'

The speaker then proceeded to declare that the offer made
by the royal councillors of four thousand foot and four
hundred horse, to serve during the war, together with a
special force of four thousand for the relief of Antwerp, to be
paid for within three months after the si^ should be raised^
against a concession of the cities of Flushing, Brill, Sluys,
and Ostend, did not come within the limitations of the States-
General. They therefore begged the Queen to enlarge her
offer to the number of five thousand foot and one thousand
horse, or at least to allow the envoys to conclude the treaty
provisionally, and subject to approval of their constituenta^

So soon as Menin had concluded his address, her Majesty
instantly replied, with much earnestness and fluency of
language. '

" Gentlemen," she said, " I will answer you upon the first
point, because it touches my honour. You say that I pro-
mised you, both by letters and through my agent Davison,
and also by my own lips, to assist you and never to abandon
you, and that this had moved you to come to me at present
Very well, masters, do you not think I am assisting you when
I am sending you four thousand foot and four himdred horse
to serve during the war ? Certainly, I think yes ; and I say
frankly that I have never been wanting to my word. No
man shall ever say, with truth, that the Queen of Bnglani

1 DiscouTB da & Menin au nom des
depute des Provinoea uniea pronono^
devant a M. i Nonsuch le 5 d'Aout,

1585. (Hagae AnOuTce, MS.)

< Beponse de la Beine au Disoooif
precedent. (Hague Archiyefl^ MS.)

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1686.

SECOND SPEEOH OF THE QUEEN.

327

had at any time and ever so slightly failed in her promises^
whether to the mightiest monarch, to republics, to gentlemen,
or even to private persons of the humblest condition. Am I,
then, in your opinion, forsaking you when I send you English
blood, which I love, and which is my own blood, and which I
am bound to defend ? It seems to me, no. For my part I
tell you again that I will never forsake you.

" Sed de modo ? That is matter for agreement. Tou are
aware, gentlemen, that I have storms to fear from many
quarters — ^from France, Scotland, Ireland, and within my
own kingdom. What would be said if I looked only on one
side, and if on that side I employed all my resources. No, I
will give my subjects no cause for murmuring. I know that
my counsellors desire to manage matters with prudence ; aed
celaiem hctbeOy and you are to believe, that, of my own motion,
I have resolved not to extend my offer of assistance, at
present, beyond the amount already stated. But I don't say
that at another time I may not be able to do more for you.
For my intention is never to abandon your cause, always to
assist you, and never more to suffer any foreign nation to
have dominion over you.

" It is true that you present me with two places in each of
your Provinces. I thank you for them infinitely, and cer-
tainly it is a great offer. But it will be said instantly, the
Queen of England wishes to embrace and devour everything ;
while, on the contrary, I only wish to render you assistance.^
I believe, in truth, that if other monarchs should have this
offer, they would not allow such an opportunity to escape. I
do not let it slip because of fears that I entertain for any
prince whatever. For to think that I am not aware— doing
what I am doing — that I am embarking in a war against the
King of Spain, is a great mistake. I know very well that
the succour which I am affording you will offend him as
much as if I should do a great deal more. But what care

on diroit inoootinent
que la Bo3me d' Angleterre Touldroit
•mbraaaer et gourmander tout, et

moy je ne veulz que vous aasister et
ayder," &c (Diacoura de la Bo/ne, ^
MS. fibimpra.

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328 "^^^ I7NITRD KBTHBRIiANDa Chap. TX

I ? ^ Let him b^n, I will answer him. For my port, I saj
again, that never did fear enter my heart. We must all die
onoe. I know vary well that many princes are my enemies,
and are seeking my ruin ; and that where malice is joined
with force, malice often arrives at its ends. But I am not so
feeble a princess that I have not the means and the will to
defend myself against them all. They are seeking to take
my life, but it troubles me not. He who is on high has
defended me until this hour, and will keep me still, for in
Him do I trust.

" As to the other point, you say that your powers are not
extensive enough to allow your acceptance of the offar I make
you. Nevertheless, if I am not mistaken, I have remarked
in passing — ^for princes look very close to words — that you
would be content if I would give you money in place of men,
and that your powers speak only of demanding a certain propor-
tion of in&ntry and another of cavalry. I believe this would
be, as you say, an equivalent, secundum quod. But I say this
only because you govern yourselves so precisely by the mea-
sure of your instructions. Nevertheless I don't wish to contest
these points with you. For very often dum Romce disputaiur
Saguntum perU. Nevertheless, it would be well for you to
decide ; and, in any event, I do not think it good that you
should all take your departure, but that, on the contrary,
you should leave some of your number here. Otherwise
it would at once be said that all was broken off, and that
I had chosen to do nothing for you ; and with this the bad
would comfort themselves, and the good would be much dis-
couraged.

^' Touching the last point of your demand — according to
which you desire a personage of quality — ^I know, gentl^nen,
that you do not always agree very well among yourselves,
and that it would be good for you to have some one to effect
such agreement. For this reason I have alwa3rs intended, so
soon as we should have made our treaty, to send a lord of
name and authority to reside with you, to assist you in

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1685. THntD SPEBOH OF THE QUEEN. 329

governing, and to aid, with bis advice, in the better direction
of your afiairs.

" Would to God that Antwerp were relieved ! Certainly I
should be very glad, and very well content to lose all that I
am now expending if that city could be saved. I hope,
nevertheless, if it can hold out six we^ longer, that we shall
see something good. Already the two thousand men of
Qeneral Norris have crossed, or are crossing, every day by
companies. I will hasten the rest as much as possible ; and
I assure you, gentlemen, that I will spare no diligence.
Nevertheless you may, if you choose, retire with my council,
^d see if together you can come to some good conclusion." *

Thus spoke Elizabeth, like the wise, courageous, and very
parsimonious princess that she was. Alas, it was too true,
that Saguntum was perishing while the higgling went on at
Borne. Had those two thousand under Sir John Norris and
the rest of the four thousand but gone a few weeks earlier,
how much happier might have been the result I

Nevertheless, it was thought in England that Antwerp
would still hold out ; and, meantime, a treaty for 12th Aug.,
its relief, in combination with another for permanent ^'^®^"
aasistance to the Provinces, was agreed upon between the
envoys and the lords of council.

On the 12th August, Menin presented himself at Nonesuch
at the head of his colleagues, and, in a formal speech, an-
nounced the arrangement which had thus been entered into,
subject to the approval of the States.* Again Elizabeth,
whose " tongue,'' in the homely phrase of the Netherlanders,
"was wonderfully well hung/'* replied with energy and
iwwiy eloquence.

" You see, gentlemen," she said, " that I have opened the
door ; that I am embarking once for all with you in a war
against the King of Spain. Very well, I am not anxious
about the matter. I hope that God will aid us, and that we

* DiscoxirB de la Boyne, Ac. (Hagae
^bivee, Ma)
'Biaooors da Sr. Menin. (Hague

Arohives, MS.)
» Hoom, Vervolgh, lift.

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330 THB UNTTBD NBTHERLANDa Chap. TL

shall strike a good blow in your cause. Neyertheless, I piay
jou, with all my heart, and by the affection you bear me, to
treat my soldiers well; for they are my own Englishmen,
whom I love as I do mysel£ Certainly it would be a great
cruelty, if you should treat them ill, since they are about to
hazard their lives so freely in your defence, and I am sure
that my request in this regard will be received by you as it
deserves.

'^ In the next place, as you know that I am sending, as
commander of these English troops, an honest gentleman,
who deserves most highly for his experience in arms, so I am
also informed that you have on your side a gentleman of
great valour. I pray you, therefore, that good care be
taken lest there be misunderstanding between these two,
which might prevent them from agreeing well together,
when great exploits of war are to be taken in hand. For if
that should happen — which God forbid — ^my succour would
be rendered quite useless to you. I name Count Hohenlo,
because him alone have I heard mentioned. But I pray you
to make the same recommendation to all the colonels and
gentlemen in your army ; for I should be infinitely sad, if
misadventures should arise from such a cause, for your interest
and my honour are both at stake.

" In the third place, I beg you, at your return, to make a
favourable report of me, and to thank the States, in my
behalf, for their great offers, which I esteem so highly as to
be unable to express my thanks. Tell them that I shall
remember them for ever. I consider it a great honour, that
from the commencement, you have ever been so faitiiM to
me^ and that with such great constancy you have preferred me
to all other princes, and have chosen me for your Queen. And
chiefly do I thank the gentlemen of Holland and Zeeland,
who, as I have been informed, were the first who so singularly
loved me. And so on my own part I will have a special care
of them, and will do my best to uphold them by every pos-
sible means, as I will do 'all the rest who have put their trust
in me. But I name Holland and Zeeland more especially,

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16B5.

THIRD SPBEOH OF THB QUEBK.

331

because they have been so constant and faithful in theii
efforts to assist the rest in shaking off the yoke of the enemy.
"Finally, gentlemen, I beg you to assure the States that I
do not decline the sovereignty of your country from any
dread of the King of Spain. For I take God to witness that
I fear him not ; and I hope, with the blessing of God, to make
such demonstrations against him, that men shall say the
Queen of England does not fear the Spaniards.''^

Elizabeth then smote herself upon the breast, and cried,
with great energy, " lUa que virgo viri ; and is it not quite
the same to you, even if I do not assume the sovereignty,
since I intend to protect you, and since therefore the effects
will be the same? It is true that the sovereignty would
serve to enhance my grandeur, but I am content to do with-
out it, if you, upon your own part, will only do your duty.
For myself, I promise you, in truth, that so long as I live,
and even to my last sigh, I will never forsake you. Go home
and tell this boldly to the States which sent you hither."^

Menin then replied with fresh expressions of thanks and
compliments, and requested, in conclusion, that her Majesty
would be pleased to send, as soon as possible, a personage of
quality to the Netherlands.

" Gentlemen," replied Elizabeth, " I intend to do this, so
80on as our treaty shall be ratified, for, in contrary case, the
King of Spain, seeing your government continue on its pre-
sent footing, would do nothing but laugh at us. Certainly
I do not mean this year to provide him with so fine a
banquet.'"

^ Beponce de Sa M^jest^ (Hague
Arehires, Ma) "Car je jure Dieu
que je ne le ciains pas, et eq>ere
aveoq Tajrde de Dieu fidre telle preuve
ooQtre luy, qu*on dim que la Boyne
^Aiu;)eterre ne oraint pas lee Espeg-

«Ibid.

''Et frappaut BUT sa poitrine diet:
■Wd 9tfe wrqo viri. Ne vous est ce pas
tout ung, enooires que je ne prenne
PM la souverainete, puisque je vous
veolz protecter, et que par la voua

aurez lea meames affectz. U est Tray
que la souverainete serviroit a mojr
pour grandeur. Mais je suis bien con-
tente de ne 1' avoir pas, et que seule-
ment vous (aictes le debvoir reqms de
votre part Oar de ma part je vous
prometz en verity que si long temps
que vivraj, et jusques a mon dernier
souspir, que je ne vous deslaisseraj
pas. Ce que pouvez hardiment asseurer
et rapporter a Messrs. les Estatz."

» "C*est ce que j'entens aussy de
fiure aos^ tost que serous d'aooord.

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332

THB UNITBD HBTHEBLANDa

Chap. Yl

The envoys were then dismissed, and soon afterwaids a
portion of the deputation took their departure from die
Netherlands with the proposed treaty. It was however, as
we know, quite too late for Saguntum. Two days after the
signing of the treaty, the remaining envoys were at the palace
of Nonesuch, in conference with the Earl of -Leicester, when a
gentleman rushed suddenly into the apartment, exclaiming
with great manifestations of anger :

'^ Antwerp has fallen 1 A treaty has been signed with the
Prince of Parma. Ald^onde is the author of it all. He is
the culprit, who has betrayed us ;" with many more expres-
sions of vehement denunciation.^

The Queen was disappointed, but stood firm. She had
been slow in taking her resolution, but she was tmflinching
when her mind was made up. Instead of retreating from
her position, now that it became doubly dangerous, she
advanced several steps nearer towards her allies. For it
was obvious, if more precious time should be lost, that Hol-
land and Zeeland would share the fate of Antwerp. Already
the belief, that, with the loss of that city, all had been lost,
was spreading both in the Provinces and in England, and
Elizabeth felt that the time had indeed come to confront the
danger.

Meantime the intrigues of the enemy in the independent
Provinces were rife. Blunt Roger Williams wrote
in very plain language to Walsingham, a very few
days after the capitulation of Antwerp : —

"If her Majesty means to have Holland and Zeeland,''
said he, "she must resolve presently. Aldegonde hath pro-

Car certos aultrement le B07 d'Es-
paigoe, Yoiant la oontinuation de vostre
goayernemen^ il se ferat que rire de
nooa. Et je ne lui veulx dozmer pour
oeate annee si bon banoquet" (MS.
Report, Hague Archives.)

1 "— is corte daernaar by zyne
Bx<* uyte earner van haere Ma*, door
eenen edelman den ledeputeerden
doen bootscbappen vant verlies ende
overgaen der atadt van Antweipen

aen den vjand op zeker verdrach oAe
tractaet metten Prinoe van Panna
gemaeckt. Daerafif principal aotbeor
ende culpabel werde gebooden den
Heere van St Aldegonde, als de yoon.
edelmann opentlyck ende haeeUcfa
verdaerde, seggende dat de vooro.
Aldegonde ons alien verraden badde^**
Ac rMS. Report of the Envoys. Hague

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1586. Sm JOHN KOBfilS SBNT TO HOLLAND. 333

mised the enemy to bring them to compound. Here arrived
already his ministers which knew all his dealings about Ant-
werp froni first to last. Count Maurice is governed altogether
by VillierSy and Yilli^rs was never worse for the English than
at this hour. To be short, the people say in general, they
will accept a peace, unless her Majesty do sovereign them
presently. All the men of war will be at her Highness'
devotion, if they be in credit in time. What you do, it must
be done presently, for I do assure your honour there is large
ofifers presented unto them by the enemies. If her Majesty
deals not roundly and resolutely with them now, it will be
too late two months hence.'' ^

Her Majesty meant to deal roundly and resolutely. Her
troops had already gone in considerable numbers. She wrote
encouraging letters with her own hand to the States, implor-
ing them not to falter now, even though the great city had
&Uen. She had long since promised never to desert them,
and she was, if possible, more determined than ever to redeem
her pledge. She especially recommended to their considera-
tion General Norris, commander of the forces that had been
despatched to the relief of Antwerp.

A most accomplished officer, sprung of a house renowned
for its romantic valour, Sir John was the second of the six
sons of Lord Norris of Rycot, all soldiers of high reputation,
'^chickens of Mars," as an old writer expressed himself.
" Such a bunch of brethren for eminent achievement," said
he, "was never seen. So great their states and stomachs
that they often jostled with others."^ Elizabeth called their
mother, " her own crow ;"* and the darkness of her hair and
"visage was thought not unbecoming to her martial issue, by
whom it had been inherited. Daughter of Lord Williams of
Tame, who had been keeper of the Tower in the time of
Elizabeth's imprisonment, she had been affectionate and
serviceable to the Princess in the hour of her distress, and

* Capt. Roger Williams to Walsing- I 2 "Martia pulli," Pullc
hgi, I AugoBt, 1686. (S. P. Office ^^^f 1811,11221-229.

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334

THE UNITED NETBEBLANDa

Chap. TI

had been rewarded with her favour in the days of her gran-
deur. We shall often meet this crow-black Norris, and his
younger brother Sir Edward — the most daring soldiers of
their time, posters of sea and land — wherever the buffeting
was closest, or adventure the wildest on ship-board or shore,
for they were men who combined much of the knight-
errantry of a vanishing age with the more practical and
expansive spirit of adventure that characterized the new
epoch.
Nor was he a stranger in the Netherlands. ^^ The gentle-
Letter, 13 man to whom we have committed the government
Aug. 1685. of the forces going to the relief of Antwerp," said
Elizabeth, "has already given you such proofs of his afiiection
by the good services he has rendered you, that without
recommendation on our part, he should stand already recom-
mended. Nevertheless, in respect for his quality, the house
from which he is descended, and the valour which he has
manifested in your own country, we desire to tell you that
we hold him dear, and that he deserves also to be dear to

WAV* " 1

you.

When the fall of Antwerp was certain, the Queen sent
Davison, who had been for a brief period in England, back
again to his post. " We have learned," she said in the letter
which she sent by that envoy, " with very great regret of the
surrender of Antwerp. Fearing lest some apprehension
should take possession of the people's mind in consequence,
and that some dangerous change might ensue, we send you
our faithful and well-beloved Davison to represent to you
how much we have your affairs at heart, and to say that we
are determined to forget nothing that may be necessary to
your preservation. Assure yourselves that we shall never fail
to accomplish all that he may promise you in our behalf"*

Tet, notwithstanding the gravity of the situation, the
thorough discussion that had taken place of the whole matter,

1 Lettre de la Royne aox Etats ge- ^ Lettro de S. M. ooDtenante ere-
Deraulx,^ Aug. 1686. (Hague Archives ^ence pour le Sieur Davison, J^
MSO ® ^ 1585. (Hague Archives, M&) ^"^

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1586.

PABSDCOKT OP KLIZABBTH.

335

and the enormous loss which had resulted from the money-
saving insanity upon both sides, even then the busy devil of
petty economy was not quite exorcised. Several precious
weeks were wasted in renewed chafferings. The Queen was
willing that the permanent force should now be raised to five
thousand foot and one thousand horse — the additional sixteen
hundred men being taken from the Antwerp relieving-force—
but she insisted that the garrisons for the cautionary towns
should be squeezed out of this general contingent. The
States, on the contrary, were determined to screw these
garrisons out of her grip, as an additional subsidy. Each
party complained with reason of the other's closeness. No
doubt the States were shrewd bargainers, but it would have
been difficult for the sharpest Hollander that ever sent a
cargo of herrings to Cadiz, to force open Elizabeth's beautiful
hand when she chose to shut it close. Walsingham and
Leicester were alternately driven to despair by the covetous-
ness of the one party or the other.

It was still uncertain what " personage of quality" was to
go to the Netherlands in the Queen's name, to help govern
the country. Leicester had professed his readiness to risk
his life, estates, and reputation, in the cause, and the States
particularly desired his appointment. " The name of your
Excellency is so very agreeable to this people," said they in
a letter to the Earl, " as to give promise of a brief and happy
end to this grievous and almost immortal war." * The Queen
was, or affected to be, still undecided as to the appointment.
While waiting week after week for the ratifications of the
treaty from Holland, afl&irs were looking gloomy at home,
and her Majesty was growing very uncertain in her temper.

" I see not her Majesty disposed to use the service of the
Earl of Leicester," wrote Walsingham. "I suppose the lot
of government will light on Lord Gray. I would to God the
ability of his purse were answerable to his sufficiency other-

Lettre dea etats geDeraax au Comte
^ Leicester, afln qu*il pleust a son
*xw accepter le commandemeDt de

S. M. pour venir pardega au goayeme*
ment du pays. (Hague Archives MS.)

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336 TH£ UinTBD NBTHEBLANDS. Ghap. YL

wise."* This was certainly a most essential deficiency on the
part of Lord Gray, and it will soon be seen that the personage
of quality to be selected as chief in the arduous and honour-
able enterprise now on foot, would be obliged to rely quite
as much on that same ability of purse as upon the sufficiency
of his brain or arm. The Queen did not mean to send her
favourite forth to purchase anything but honour in the
Netherlands; and it was not the Provinces only that were
likely to struggle against her parsimony. Yet that parsi-
mony sprang from a nobler motive than the mere love of
pelf. Dangers encompassed her on every side, and while
husbanding her own exchequer, she was saving her subjects'
resources. "Here we are but book- worms," said Walsing-
ham, ^^ yet from sundry quarters we hear of great practiceb
against this poor crown. The revolt in Scotland is greatly
feared, and that out of hand."^

Scotland, France, Spain, these were dangerous enemies
and neighbours to a maiden Queen, who had a rebellious
Ireland to deal with on one side the channel, and Alexander
of Parma on the other.

Davison experienced great inconvenience and annoyance
before the definite arrangements could be made. There is
no doubt that the Spanish party had made great progress
since the fall of Antwerp. Roger Williams was right in
advising the Queen to deal '^ roundly and resolutely" with
the States, and to ^^ sovereign them presently."

They had need of being sovereigned, for it must be con-
fessed that the self-government which prevailed at that
moment was very like no government The death of Orange,
the treachery of Henry III., the triumphs of Parma, disas-
trous facts, treading rapidly upon each other, had produced a
not very unnatural effect. The peace-at-any-price party wag
struggling hard for the ascendancy, and the Spanish partisans
were doing their best to hold up to suspicion the sharp prac-
tice of the English Queen. She was even accused of under-
hand dealing with Spain, to the disadvantage of the Provinces;

> WaJamgbam to DaviooD, ^ Sept 1585. (S. P. Office MS.) * Ibid.

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1586. BKBRGY OF DAVISON. 337

80 mnoh had slander, anarchy, and despair, been able to effect.
The States were reluctant to sign those articles with Eliza-
beth which were absolutely necessary to their salvation.

^^In how doubtful and uncertain terms I found things at
my coming hither/' wrote Davison to Burghley, "how
thwarted and delayed since for a resolution, and with what
conditions, and for what reasons I have been finally drawn to
conclude with them as I have done, your Lordship may per-
ceive by that I have written to Mr. Secretary. The chief
difficulty has rested upon the point of entertaining the garri-
sons within the towns of assurance, over and besides the five
thousand footmen and one thousand horse." ^

This, as Davison proceeded to observe, was considered a
sine qua non by the States, so that, under the perilous cir-
cumstances in which both countries were placed, he had felt it
his duty to go forward as far as possible to meet their demands.
Davison always did his work veraciously, thoroughly, and
resolutely ; and it was seldom that his advice, in all matters
pertaining to Netherland matters, did not prove the very best
that could be offered. No man knew better than he the
interests and the temper of both countries.

The imperious Elizabeth was not fond of being thwarted,
least of all by any thing savouring of the democratic principle,
and already there was much friction between the Tudor spirit
of absolutism and the rough " mechanical " nature with which
it was to ally itself in the Netherlands. The economical
Elizabeth was not pleased at being overreached in a bargain ;
and, at a moment when she thought herself doing a magnani-
nious act, she was vexed at the cavilling with which her
generosity was received. "'Tis a manner of proceeding,"
said Wdsingham, "not to be allowed of, and may very well
be termed mechanical, considering that her Majesty seeketh
no interest in that country — ^as Monsieur and the French
King did — ^but only their good and benefit, without regard
had of the expenses of her treasure and the hazard of her
•nbjects' lives; besides throwing herself into a present war

^ Dayiaon to Bnigblej, 24 Sept 1586. (a P. Office Ma)
VOL. I.— X

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338 THE UNITBD NBTHBELAND8. Chap. YL

for their sakes with the greatest prince and potentate in
Europe. But seeing the government of those countries
resteth in the hands of merchants and advocates — the one
regarding profit, the other standing upon vantage of quirks —
there is no better fruit to be looked to from them."*

Yet it was, after all, no quirk in those merchants and
advocates to urge that the Queen was not going to war with
the great potentate for their sakes alone. To Elizabeth's
honour, she did thoroughly comprehend that the war of the
Netherlands was the war of England, of Protestantism, and
of European liberty, and that she could no longer, without
courting her own destruction, defer taking a part in active
military operations. It was no quirk, then, but solid reason-
ing, for the States to regard the subject in the same light.
Holland and England were embarked in one boat, and were
to sink or swim together. It was waste of time to wrangle
BO fiercely over pounds and shillings, but the fault was not
to be exclusively imputed to the one side or the other.
There were bitter recriminations, pcurticularly on the part of
Elizabeth, for it was not safe to touch too closely either the
pride or the pocket of that frugal and despotic heroine.
" The two thousand pounds promised by the States to Norris
upon the muster of the two thousand volunteers," said Wal-
singham, " were not paid. Her Majesty is not a little offended
therewith, seeing how little care they have to yield her satis-
faction, which she imputeth to proceed rather from contempt^
than from necessity. If it should fall out, however, to be
such as by them is pretended, then doth she conceive her
bargain to be very ill made, to join her fortune with so weak
and broken an estate."* Already there were indications that
the innocent might be made to suffer for the short-comings
of the real culprits ; nor would it be the first time, or by any
means the last, for Davison to appear in the character of a
scape-goat.

"Surely, sir," continued Mr. Secretary, "it is a thing
greatly to be feared that the contributions they will yield

* Walangham to Davison, 23 Oct 1685. (9. P. OiBoe MS.) ■ Ibid.

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1686. PBOTBAGTED NBGOTIATIO]ir& 339

will fall not more true in paper than in payment ; which if it
should BO happen, it would turn some to blame, whereof you
among others are to bear your part." ^

And thus the months of September and of October wore
away, and the ratifications of the treaty had not arrived from
the Netherlands. Elizabeth became furious, and those of the
Netherland deputation who had remained in England were
at their wits' end to appease her choler. No news arrived for
many weeks. Those were not the days of steam and magnetic
tel^raphs — ^inventions by which the nature of man and the
aspect of history seem altered — and the Queen had nothing
for it but to fret, and the envoys to concert with her mini-
sters expedients to mitigate her spleen. Towards the end of
the month, the commissioners chartered a vessel which they
despatched for news to Holland. On his way across the sea
the captain was hailed on the 28th October by a boat, in
which one Hans Wyghans was leisurely proceeding to Eng-
land with Netherland despatches dated on the 5th of the
same month. This was the freshest intelligence that had yet
been received.

So soon as the envoys were put in possession of the docu-
ments, they obtained an audience of the Queen. This was
the last day of October. Elizabeth read her letters, 31 oct,
and listened to the apologies made by the deputies ^^®^-
for the delay with anything but a benignant countenance.
Then, with much vehemence of language, and manifestations
of ill-temper, she expressed her displeasure at the dilatoriness
of the States. Having sent so many troops, and so many
gentlemen of quality, she had considered the whole affair
concluded.

" I have been unhandsomely treated," she said, " and not
as comports with a prince of my quality. My inclination
for your support — because you show yourselves unworthy
of so great benefits — will be entirely destroyed, imless you
deal with me and mine more worthily for the future than you
liave done in the past. Through my great and especial affec-

> WalBingbam to DavisoD, 23 Oct, 1585. (a P. Office MS.)

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340 I^HB UNITED KBTHBBLANDa Geaf. Yl

tion for your welfare, I had ordered the Earl of Leioeeter to
proceed to the Netherlands, and conduct your affitirs ; a man
of such quality as all the world knows, and one whom I love,
as if he were my own brother. He was getting himself ready
in all diligence, putting himself in many perils through the
practices of the enemy, and if I should have reason to believe
that he would not be respected there according to his due, I
should be indeed offended. He and many others are not
going thither to advance their own affiiirs, to make them-
selves rich, or because they have not means enough to live
magnificently at home. They proceed to the Netherlands
from pure affection for your cause. This is the case, too,
with many other of my subjects, all dear to me, and of much
worth. For I have sent a fine heap of folk thither — ^in all,
with those his Excellency is taking with him, not under ten
thousand soldiers of the English nation. This is no small
succour, and no little unbaring of this realm of mine,
threatened as it is with war from many quarters. Yet I am
seeking no sovereignty, nor anything else prejudicial to the
freedom of your country. I wish only, in your utmost need,
to help you out of this lamentable war, to maintain for you
liberty of conscience, and to see that law and justice are
preserved."^

All this, and more, with great eagerness of expression and
gesture, was urged by the Queen, much to the discomfiture
of the envoys. In vain they attempted to modify and to
explain. Their faltering excuses were swept rapidly away
upon the current of royal wrath; until at last Elizabeth
stormed herself into exhaustion and comparative tranquillity.
She then dismissed them with an assurance that her good-
will towards the States was not diminished, as would be found
to be the case, did they not continue to prove themselve?
unworthy of her favour."

It was not long, however, before the whole matter wa
arranged to the satisfaction of all parties. It was agreed

' Brief der Gedeputeerden in EDgland aan de Staaten GeoeiBL 1 Ko'«
1585. (Hagae Archivee, 2fS.) • Ibid.

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1685.

FRIENDLY BBNTIMENTS OF OOTTNT HAUBICE.

341

tbat a permanent force of five thousand foot and one thousand
horse should serve in the Provinces at the Queen's expense ;
and that the cities of Flushing and Brill should be placed in
her Majesty's hands until the entire reimbursement of the
debt thus incurred by the States. Elizabeth also— at last
overcoming her reluctance — agreed that the force neces-
sary to garrison these towns should form an additional con-
tingent^ instead of being deducted from the general auxiliary
force.'

Count Maurice of Nassau had been confirmed by the States
of Holland and Zeeland as permanent stadholder of those
provinces. This measure excited some suspicion on the part
of Leicester, who, as it was now understood, was the " personage
of quality " to be sent to the Netherlands as representative of
the Queen's authority. "Touching the election of Count
Maurice," said the Earl, " I hope it will be no impairing of
the authority heretofore allotted to me, for if it will be, I
shall tarry but awhile." •

Nothing, however, could be more frank or chivalrously
devoted than the language of Maurice to the Queen.

" Madam, if I have ever had occasion," he vn-ote, " to thank
God for his benefits, I confess that it was when, receiving in
all humiUty the letters with which it pleased your Majesty to
honour me, I learned that the great disaster of my lord and
father's death had not diminished the debonaire affection and
favour which it has always pleased your Majesty to manifest
to my father's house. It has been likewise grateful to me to
learn that your Majesty, surrounded by so many great and
important affairs, had been pleased to approve the conmiand
which the States-General have conferred upon me. I am
indeed grieved that my actions cannot correspond with the
ardent desire which I feel to serve your Majesty and these
Provinces, for which I hope that my extreme youth will be
accepted as an excuse. And although I find myself feeble

'Beport of the Envoys, MS.; Ar-
ticles of Treaty, kc. MS. (Hague Ar-
chives); Compare Bor, il 664; Hoofd,

Vervolgh, 123.

* Leicester to Davison, Nov. 18^
1685. (a P. Office MS.)

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342

THB UNITED NETHBBLANDa

Chap. VL

enough for the charge thus imposed upon me, yet God will
assist my efforts to supply by diligence and sincere intention
the defect of the other qualities requisite for my thorough
discharge of my duty to the contentment of your Majesty.
To fulfil these obligations, which are growing greater day by
day, I trust to prove by my actions that I will never spare
either my labour or life/"

When it was found that the important town of Flusliing
was required as part of the guaranty to the Queen, Maurice,
as hereditary seignor and proprietor of the place— during
the captivity of his elder brother in Spain — signified his con^
currence in the transfer, together with the most friendly
feelings towards the Earl of Leicester, and to Sir Philip
Sidney, appointed English governor of the town. He wrote
to Davison, whom he called ^' one of the best and most certain
friends that the house of Nassau possessed in England,"
begging that he would recommend the interests of the family
to the Queen, " whose favour could do more than anything
else in the world towards maintaining what remained of the
dignity of their house." ^ After solemn deliberation with his
step-mother, Louisa de Coligny, and the other members of his
family, he made a formal announcement of adhesion on the
part of the House of Nassau to the arrangements concluded
with the English government, and asked the benediction of
God upon the treaty. While renouncing, for the moment,
any compensation for his consent to the pledging of Flushing
— " his patrimonial property, and a place of such great im-
portance"— ^he expressed a confidence that the long services
of his father, as well as those which he himself hoped to
render, would meet in time with " condign recognition." He
requested the Earl of Leicester to consider tiie fiiendship
which had existed between himself and the late Prince of
Orange, as an hereditary affection to be continued to the
children, and he entreated the Earl to do him the honour in

1 Count Maurice to the Queen,—

Oct, 1685. (S. P. Office MS.) The
letter ia in French.

s Maurice de Nassau to DavisoD,
12 Oct 1585, Brit Muai, Oalba^ a
Till 176 ▼ MS. ; same to same, 25 Oct
1585, Galba, 0. Yiil 189 \ MS.

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1685. LETTERS FBOK HDC Am) L0X7ISA DE COLIONY. 343

future to hold him as a son, and to extend to hun counsel
and authority; declaring, on his part, that he should ever
deem it an honour to be allowed to call him father. And in
order still more strongly to confirm his friendship, he begged
Sir PhUip Sidney to consider him as his brother, and as his
companion in arms, promising upon his own part the most
£sdthful friendship. In the name of Louisa de Coligny, and
of his whole femily, he also particularly recommended to the
Queen the interests of the eldest brother of the house, Philip
William, ^^ who had been so long and so iniquitously detained
captive in Spain,'' and begged that, in case prisoners of war
of high rank should fall into the hands of the English com-
manders, they might be employed as a means of effecting the
liberation of that much-injured Prince. He likewise desired
the friendly offices of the Queen to protect the principality of
Orange against the possible designs of the French monarch,
and intimated that occasions might arise in which the confis-
cated estates of the family in Burgundy might be recovered
through the influence of the Swiss cantons, particularly those
of the Grisons and of Berne.

And, in conclusion, in case the Queen should please — as
both Count Maurice and the Princess of Orange desired with
all their hearts — to assume the sovereignty of these Provinces,
she was especially entreated graciously to observe those sug-
gestions regarding the interests of the House of Nassau, which
had been made in the articles of the treaty. '

Thus the path had been smoothed, mainly through the
indefatigable energy of Davison. Yet that envoy was not
able to give satisfaction to his imperious and somewhat whim*
sical mistrcbs, whose zeal seemed to cool in proportion to the
readiness witb. which the obstacles to her wishes were removed.
Davison was, with reason, discontented. He had done more
than any other man either in England or the Provinces, to
bring about a hearty cooperation in the conmion cause, and
to allay mutual heart-burnings and suspicions. He had also,

^ Louisa ie Coligny and Matirioe de Nassau to Earl of Leicester, 19 Oct
1M5. (Brit Mua. Oalba^ 0. r». 180, MS.)

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344 THB UNITBD NBTHBRLANDS. (^ap. Vt

owing to the negligence of the English treasurer for the
Netherlands, and the niggardliness of Elizabeth, been placed
in a position of great financial embarrassment. His situation
was very irksome.

" I mused at the sentence you sent me/' he wrote, " for I
know no cause her Majesty hath to shrink at her charges
hitherto. The treasure she hath yet disbursed here is not
above five or six thousand pounds, besides that which I have
been obliged to take up for the saving of her honour, and
necessity of her service, in danger otherwise of some notable
disgrace. I will not, for shame, say how I have been left here
to myself."*

The delay in the formal appointment of Leicester, and,
more particularly, of the governors for the cautionary towns,
was the cause of great confusion and anarchy in the tran-
sitional condition of the country. ^^ The burden I am driven
to sustain,'' said Davison, "doth utterly weary me. If Sir
Philip Sidney were here, and if my Lord of Leicester follow
not all the sooner, I would use her Majesty's liberty to return
home. If her Majesty think me worthy the reputation of a
poor, honest, and loyal servant, I have that contents me.
For the rest, I wish

* Yirero sine invidia^ mollesqae inglorios annos
Exigere, amicitias et mihi Jangere pares.* "

There was something almost prophetic in the tone whidi
this faithful public servant — to whom, on more than one
occasion, such hard measure was to be dealt — ^habitually
adopted in his private letters and conversation. He
did bis work, but he had not his reward; and he was
already weary of place without power, and industry without
recognition.

" For mine own particular," he said, " I will say with the
poet,

*Crede mihi, bene qui JatuU bene vixit,
Et intra fbrtanam debet qnisque manere soam.' " *

For, notwithstanding the avidity with which Elizabeth had

^ Davison to , 11 Nov. 1685. (S. P. Office M&) ■ Rid.

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1586. DATISON VEXED BY THE QUEENS OAPEIOE. 345

sought the cautionary towns, and the fierceness with which
she had censured the tardiness of the States, she seemed now
half inclined to drop the prize which she had so much coveted,
and to imitate the very languor which she had so lately
rebuked. *^ She hath what she desired/' said Davison, " and
might yet have more, if this content her not. Howsoevei
you value the places at home, they are esteemed here, by
such as know them best, no Uttle increase to her Majesty's
honour, surety, and greatness, if she be as careful to keep
them as happy in getting them. Of this our cold b^inning
doth already make me jealous." ^

Sagacious and resolute Princess as she was, she showed
something of feminine caprice upon this grave occasion.
Not Davison alone, but her most confidential ministers
and favourites at home, were perplexed and provoked
by her misplaced poUtical coquetries. But while the alter-
nation of her hot and cold fits drove her most devoted
courtiers out of patience, there was one symptom that re-
mained invariable throughout all her paroxysms, the rigidity
with which her hand was locked. Walsingham, stealthy
enough v^rhen an advantage was to be gained by subtlety, was
manful and determined in his dealings with his friends ; and
he had more than once been offended with Elizabeth's want
of frankness in these transactions.

" I find you grieved, and not without cause," he wrote to
Davison, "in respect to the over thwart proceedings as well
there as here. The disorders in those countries would be
easily redressed if we could take a thoroughly resolute course
here — a matter that men may rather pray for than hope for.
It is very doubtful whether the action now in hand will be
fiwcompanied by very hard success, unless they of the country
there may be drawn to bear the greatest part of the burden
of the wars."*

And now the great favourite of all had received the
appointment which he coveted. The Earl of Leicester was

» Daviaon to , 11 Nov. 1585. (S. P. Office MS.)

2 Minute to Davison, 19 Nov. 1585. (S. P. Office MR)

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346 ^HE UNITED NETHBBLANDa Chap. TL

to be Commander-in-Chief of her Majesty^s foroee in the
Netherlands^ and representative of her authority in those
countries, whatever that office might prove to be. The
nature of his post was anomalous from the b^inning. It was
environed with difficulties, not the least irritating of which
proceeded from the captious spirit of the Queen, The Earl
was to proceed in great pomp to Holland, but the pomp was
to be prepared mainly at his own expense. Besides the
auxiliary forces that had been shipped during the latter
period of the year, Leicester was raising a force of lancers,
from four to eight hundred in number ; but to pay for that
levy he was forced to mortgage his own property, while the
Queen not only refused to advance ready money, but declined
endorsing his bills.

It must be confessed that the Earl's courtship of Elizabeth
was anything at that moment but a gentle dalliance. In
those thorny r^ons of finance were no beds of asphodel or
amaranthine bowers. There was no talk but of troopers,
saltpetre, and sulphur, of books of assurance, and bills of
exchange; and the aspect of Elizabeth, when the budget
was under discussion, must effectually have neutralized for
the time any very tender sentiment. The sharpness with
which she clipped Leicester's authority, when authority
was indispensable to his dignity, and the heavy demands
upon his resources that were the result of her avarice, were
obstacles more than enough to the calm fruition of his
triumphs. He had succeeded, in appearance at least, in the
great object of his ambition, this appointment to the Nether-
lands ; but the appointment was no sinecure, and least of all
a promising pecuniary speculation. Elizabeth had told the
envoys, with reason, that she was not sending forth that man
— ^whom she loved as a brother — ^in order that he might
make himself rich. On the contrary, the Earl seemed likely
to make himself comparatively poor before he got to the
Provinces, while his political power, at the moment, did not
seem of more hopeful growth.

Leicester had been determined and consistent in this great

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15S6. DISSATISFACTION OF LEICESTEB. 347

enterprize from the beginning. He felt intensely the import-
ance of the crisis. He saw that the time had come for swift
and uncompromising action^ and the impatience with which
he bore the fetters imposed upon him may be easily conceived.
" The cause is such/' he wrote to Walsingham, " that I had
as lief be dead as be in the case I shall be in if this restraint
hold for taking the oath there, or if some more authority be
not granted than I see her Majesty would I should have. I
trust you all will hold hard for this, or else banish me
England withal. I have sent you the books to be signed by
her Majesty. I beseech you return them with all haste, for
I get no money till they be under seal." ^

But her Majesty would not put them under her seal, much
to the favourite's discomfiture.

" Your letter yieldeth but cold answer," he wrote, two days
afterwards. "Above all things yet that her Majesty doth
stick at, I marvel most at her refusal to sign my book of
assurance ; for there passeth nothing in the earth against her
profit by that act, nor any good to me but to satisfy the
creditors, who were more scrupulous than needs. I did com-
plain to her of those who did refuse to lend me money, and
she was greatly offended with them. But if her Majesty
were to stay this, if I were half seas over, I must of necessity
come back again, for I may not go without money. I beseech,
if the matter be refused by her, bestow a post on me to
Harwich. I lie this night at Sir John Peters', and but for
this doubt I had been to-morrow at Harwich. I pray God
make you all that be counsellors plain and direct to the
furtherance of all good service for her Majesty and the realm ;
and if it be the will of God to plague us that go, and you
that tarry, for our sins, yet let us not be negligent to seek to
please the Lord.'"

The Earl was not n^ligent at any rate in seeking to please
the Queen, but she was singularly hard to please. She
had never been so uncertain in her humours as at this

> Leicester to Walsingham, 3 Dec. 1586. (S. P. Office MS.)
s Same to same, 6 Dec. 1685. (a P. Office MS.)

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348 '^^^ XJNITBD yKTHKRTiANDa Chip. TL

important crisis. She knew^ and had publicly stated as much,
that she was '^ embarking in a war with the greatest potentate
in Europe ;" yet now that the voyage had fairly commenced,
and the waves were rolling around her, she seemed anxious
to put back to the shore. For there was even a whisper of
peace-negotiations, than which nothing could have been more
ill-timed. "I perceive by your message," said Leicester to
Walsingham, " that your peace with Spain will go &st on,
but this is not the way." * Unquestionably it was not the
way, and the whisper was, for the moment at least, suppressed.
Meanwhile Leicester had reached Harwich, but the poet
^^ bestowed on him," contained, as usual, but cold comfort
He was resolved, however, to go manfully forward, and do the
work before him, until the enterprise should prove wholly
impracticable. It is by the light afforded by the secret never-
published correspondence of the period with which we are
now occupied, that the true characteristics of Elizabeth, Ihe
Earl of Leicester, and other prominent personages, must be
scanned, and the study is most important, for it was by those
characteristics, in combination with other human elements
embodied in distant parts of Christendom, that the destiny of
the world was determined. In that age, more than in our
own perhaps, the influence of the individual was widely and
intensely felt. Historical chymistry is only rendered possible
by a detection of the subtle emanations, which it was supposed
would for ever elude analysis, but which survive in those
secret, frequently ciphered intercommunications. Philip XL,
William of Orange, Queen Elizabeth, Alexander Famese,
Kobert Dudley, never dreamed — ^when disclosing their inmost
thoughts to their trusted friends at momentous epochs—
that the day would come on earth when those secrets would
be no longer hid from the patient enquirer after truth. Well
for those whose reputations before the judgment-seat of history
appear even comparatively pure, after impartial comparison
of their motives with their deeds.

"For mine own part, Mr. Secretary," wrote Leicester, **I

> Leicester to WalamghazD, 3 Deo. 168S. (B. P. OfBoe Ma)

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1»86. HIS YEHBMENT (X)lCPLAINTa 349

am resolved to do that which Bhall be fit for a poor man's
honour, and honestly to obey her Majesty's commandment.
Let the rest fall out to others, it shall not concern me. I
mean to assemble myself to the camp, where my authority
must wholly lie, and will there do that which in good reason
and duty I shall be bound to d^. I am sorry that her Mqjesty
doth deal in this sorty and is content to overthrow so wiUingly
her own cause. If there can be means to salve this sore, I
wilL If not, — ^I tell you what shall become of me, as truly as
God lives/' ^

Yet it is remarkable, that, in spite of this dark intimation,
the Earl, after all, did not state what was to become of
him if the sore was not salved. He was, however, explicit
enough as to the causes of his grief, and very vehement in
its manifestations. ^^ Another matter which shall concern me
deeply," he said, " and all the subjects there, is now by you
to be carefully considered, which is — money. I find that the
money is already gone, and this now given to the treasurer
will do no more than pay to the end of the month. I beseech
you look to it, for by the Lord ! I will bear no more so
miserable burdens ; for if I have no money to pay them, let
them come home, or what else. I will not starve them, nor
stay them. There was never gentleman nor general so sent out
as I am ; and if neither Queen nor council care to help it, but
leave men desperate, as I see men shall be, that inconvenience
will follow which I trust in the Lord I shall be free of."^

He then used language about himself, singularly resembling
the phraseology employed by Elizabeth concerning him,
when she was scolding the Netherland commissioners for the
dilatoriness and parsimony of the States.

" For mine own part," he said, " I have taken upon me this
voyage, not as a desperate nor forlorn man, but as one as
well contented with his place and calling at home as any sub-
ject was ever. My cause was not, nor is, any other than the
Lord's and the Queen's. If the Queen fail, yet must I trust
in the Lord, and on Sim, I see, I am wholly to depend. I
^ Same to eame, 5 Dec., 1585. (& P. Office Ma) , Ibid.

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350 ^^S UNITED NBTHERLAKD& Chap. TL

can say no more, but pray to God that her Majesty never
send General again as I am sent. And yet I will do what I
can for her and my country."^

The Earl had raised a choice body of lancers to accompany
him to the Netherlands, but the expense of the levy had come
mainly upon his own purse. The Queen had advanced five
thousand pounds, which was much less than the requisite
amoimt, while for the balance required, as well as for other
necessary expenses, she obstinately declined to furnish Lei-
cester with funds, even refusing him, at last, a temporary
loan. She violently accused him of cheating her, reclaimed
money which he had wrung from her on good security, and
when he had repaid the sum, objected to give him a discharge.
As for receiving anything by way of salary, that was quite
out of the question. At that moment he would have been
only too happy to be reimbursed for what he was already out
of pocket. Whether Elizabeth loved Leicester as a brother,
or better than a brother, may be a historical question, but it
is no question at all that she loved money better than she
did Leicester. Unhappy the man, whether foe or favourite,
who had pecuniary transactions with her Highnesa

" I am sorry," said the Earl, " that her Majesty hath so
hard a conceit of me, that I should go about to cozen^ her, as
though I had got a fee simple from her, and had it not
before, or that I had not had her full release for payment of
the money I borrowed. I pray God, any that did put such
scruple in her, have not deceived her more than I have done.
I thank God I have a clear conscience for deceiving her, and
for money matters. I think I may justly say I have been
the only cause of more gain to her coffers than all h^
chequer-men have been. But so is the hap of some, that
all they do is nothing, and others that do nothing, do all,
and have all the thanks. But I would this were all the
grief I carry with me ; but God is my comfort, and on Him I
cast all, for there is no surety in this world beside. What
hope of help can I have, finding her Majesty so strait with

iS^me to same^ 6 Dec., 1585. (S. P. Office MS.)

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1686. THB QUEENS AVARICE. 351

myself as she is ? I did trust that — the cause being hers and
this realm's — ^if I could have gotten no money of her mer-
chants, she would not have refused to have lent money on so
easy prized land as mine, to have been gainer and no loser
by it. Her Majesty, I see, will make trial of me how I love
her, and what will discourage me from her service. But
resolved am I that no worldly respect shall draw me back
from my faithful discharge of my duty towards her, though
she shall show to hate me, as it goeth very near ; for I find no
kve or favour at all. And I pray you to remember that I
have not had one penny of her Majesty towards all these
charges of mine — ^not one penny — and, by all truth, I have
aheady laid out above five thousand pounds. Her Majesty
appointed eight thousand pounds for the levy, which was after
the rate of four hundred horse, and, upon my fidelity, there
is shipped, of horse of service, eight hundred, so that there
ought eight thousand more to have been paid me. No
general that ever went that was not paid to the uttermost
of these things before he went, but had cash for his provision,
which her Majesty would not allow me— not one groat.
Well, let all this go, it is like I shall be the last shall bear
this, and some must suflfer for the people. Good Mr. Secre-
tary, let her Majesty know this, for I deserve God-a-mercy,
at the least." >

Leicester, to do him justice, was thoroughly alive to the
importance of the crisis. On political principle, at any rate,
he was a firm supporter of Protestantism, and even of
Puritanism ; a form of religion which Elizabeth detested, and
in which, with keen instinct, she detected a mutinous element
Against the divine right of kings. The Earl was quite con-
vinced of the absolute necessity that England should take up
the Netherland matter most vigorously, on pain of being
herself destroyed. All the most sagacious counsellors of
Elizabeth were day by day more and more confirmed in
this opinion, and were inclined heartily to support the new
liieutenant-General. As for Leicester himself, while fully

' Leicester to Walsingham, 1 Dec. 1685. ^S. P. Office MS.)

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302 ^I'HB UNITBD NBTHEBLAHDa Gsap. VI

conscious of his own merits^ and of his firm intent to do his
duty, he was also grateful to those who were willing to
befiiend him in his arduous enterprise.

" I have received a letter fh)m my Lord Willoughby/' he
said, '^ to my seeming, as wise a letter as I have read a great
while, and not unfit for her Majesty's sight. I pray God open
her eyes, that they may behold her present estate indeed,
and the wondeTful means thai Ood doth offer unto her. If she
lose these opportunities y who can look for other but dishonour and
destruction F My Lord Treasurer hath also written me a
most hearty and comfortable letter touching this voyage, not
only in showing the importance of it, both for her Majesty's
own safety and the realm's, but that the whole state of religion
doth depend thereon, and therefore doth faithfully promise his
whole and best assistance for the supply of all wants. I was
not a little glad to receive such a letter from him at this time." '

And from on board the ^ Amity,' ready to set sail, he
expressed his thanks to Burghley, at finding him so ^^ earnestly
bent for the good supply and maintenance of us poor men
sent in her Majesty's service and our country's."*

As for Walsingham, earnestly a defender of the Nether-
land cause from the beginning, he was wearied and disgusted
with fighting against the Queen's parsimony and caprioa
'^He is utterly discouraged," said Leicester to Burghley, "to
deal any more in these causes. I pray Gk)d your Lordship
grow not so too ; for then all will to the ground, on my poor
side especially."*

And to Sir Francis himself, he wrote, even as his vessel
was casting off her moorings : — " I am sorry, Mr. Secretary,*
he said, "to find you so discouraged, and that her Majesty
doth deem you so partial. And yet my suits to her Majesty
have not of late been so many nor great, while the greatest, I
am sure, are for her Majesty's own service. For my part, I
will discharge my duty as far as my poor ability imd capacity
shall serve, and if I shall not have her gracious and princely

' Leicester to Walsingham, Y Dec. 1685. (S. P. Office MS.)

* Leicester to Bui^^ey, 9 Dec. 1585. (a P. Office MR) ' n>id.

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1586. PEBFLEZmr 07 DAVISON. 353

support and stipply, the lack will be to us^ for the present,
but the shame and dishonour will be hers/'*

And with these parting wordB the Earl committed himself
to the December seas.

Davison had been meantime doing his best to prepare the
way in the Netherlands for the reception of the English
administration. What man could do, without money and
without authority, he had done. The governors for Flushing
and the BriU, Sir Philip Sidney and Sir Thomaa Cecil, eldest
son of Lord Burghley, had been appointed, but had not
arrived. Their coming was anxiously looked for, as during
the interval the condition of the garrisons was deplorable.
The English treasurer — ^by some unaccountable and un-
pardonable negligence, for which it is to be feared the
Queen was herself to blame — was not upon the spot, and
Davison was driven out of his wits to devise expedients to
save the soldiers from starving.

" Your Lordship has seen by my former letters," wrote the
Ambassador to Burghley from Flushing, '^ what shift I have
been driven to for the relief of this garrison here, ii Nov.
left d V abandon ; without which mean they had all 1S86«
&llen into wild and shameful disorder, to her Majesty's great
disgrace and overthrow of her service. I am compelled,
unless I would see the poor men famish, and her Majesty
dishonoured, to try my poor credit for them/'*

General Sir John Norris was in the Betuwe, threatening
Nym^n, « town which he found " not so flexible as he had
hoped;"* and, as he had but two thousand men, while
Alexander Famese was thought to be marching upon him
^th ten thousand, his position caused great anxiety. Mean*
time, his brother. Sir Edward, a hot-headed and somewhat
wilful young man, who " thought that all was too little for
him," was giving the sober Davison a good deal of trouble.*
He had got himself into a quarrel, both with that envoy and

^ Leicester to Walsinehani, 9 Dec. I 1585. Brit Mua. (Galba} 0. tuL p. 217,
1685. (a P. Office MS.) Ma)

' DaTiaon to Burghley 11 Nov. | s Ibid. 4 Ibid.

VOL. I.— Y

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954 ^l^HB UNITED yBTHKRTiANDa Ohap. YI

with Boger Williams^ by claiming the right to control military
matters in Flushing until the arrival of Sidney. "K si
Thomas and Sir Philip/' said Davison^ ^' do not make choice
of more discreet^ staid^ and expert conmianders than those
thrust into these places by Mr. Norris^ they will do them-
selves a great deal of worry^ and her Majesty a great deal of
hurt."^

As might naturally be expected, the lamentable condition
of the English soldiers, unpaid and starving — according to the
jeport of the Queen's envoy himself— exercised anything but
a salutary influence upon the minds of the Netherlanders and
perpetually fed the hopes of the Spanish partizans that a
composition with Philip and Parma would yet take place. On
the other hand, the States had been far more liberal in raising
funds than the Queen had shown herself to be, and were some-
what indignant at being perpetually taunted with parsimony
by her agents. Davison was offended by the injustice of Norria
in this regard. ^^The complaints which the General hath
made of the States to her Majesty," said he, " are without
cause, and I think, when your Lordship shall examine it well,
you will find it no little sum they have already disbursed
unto him for their part. Wherein, nevertheless, if they had
been looked into, they were somewhat the more excusable,
considering how ill our people at her Majesty's entertainment
were satisfied hitherto — a thing that doth much prejudice her
reputation, and hurt her service." *

At last, however, the die had been cast. The Queen,
although rejecting the proposed sovereignty of the Nether-
lands, had espoused theh: cause, by solemn treaty of alliance,
and thereby had thrown down the gauntlet to Spain. She
deemed it necessary, therefore, out of respect for the opinions
of mankind, to issue a manifesto of her motives to the world.
The document was published, simultaneously in Dutch, French,
English, and Italian.'

In this solemn state-paper she spoke of the responsibility

1 Davison to Bai^g^bley, Ma last dted. 2 Ibid.

8 The Declaration is given in Bor, il 667-671.

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158S. UAmswso or huzabbth. 355

of princes to the Almighty^ of the ancient friendship between
England and the Netherlands^ of the cruelty and tyranny of
the Spaniards^ of their violation of the liberties of the Pro-
yinces; of their hanging, beheading, banishing without law
and against justice^ in the space of a few months, so many of
the highest nobles in the land. Although in tiie beginning
of the cruel persecution, the pretext had been the main-
tenance of the Catholic religion, yet it was affirmed they had
not fidled to ex^-cise their barbarity upon Catholics also, and
even upon ecclesiastics. Of the principal persons put to
death, no one, it was asserted, had been more devoted to the
uident church than was the brave Count Egmont, who, for
his fSemious victories in the service of Spain, could never be
foi^tten in veracious history any more than could be the
cruelty of his execution.

The land had been made desolate, continued the Queen,
with fire, sword, famine, and murder. These misfortunes had
ever been bitterly deplored by friendly nations, and none
could more truly regret such sufferings than did the English^
the oldest allies, and familiar neighbours of the Provinces, who
had been as close to them in the olden time by community of
connexion and language, as man and wife. She declared
that she had frequently, by amicable embassies, warned her
brother of Spain — speaking to him like a good, dear sisto:
and neighbour — that unless he restrained the cruelty of his
governors and their soldiers, he was sure to force his Provinces
into allegiance to some other power. She expressed the
danger in which she should be placed if the Spaniards
succeeded in establishing their absolute government in the
Netherlands, from which position their attacks upon England
would be incessant. She spoke of the enterprise favoured
and set on foot by the Pope and by Spain, against the
kingdom of Ireland. She alluded to the dismissal of the
Spanish envoy, Don Bernardino de Mendoza, who had been
treated by her with great r^ard for a long time, but who
had been afterwards discovered in league with certain ill-
disposed and seditious subjects of hers^ and with publicly

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356 "^^^^ WSnXD KBTHBRLANDa Chap. YI

condemned traitors. That envoy had arranged a plot accord-
ing to which^ as appeared by his secret despatches^ an invasion
of England by a force of men^ coming partly from Spain^
and partly from the Netherlands^ might be saccessfnlly
managed, and he had even noted down the necessary number
of ships and men, with various other details. Some of the
conspirators had fled, she observed, and were now consortii^
with Mendoza, who, after his expulsion from England, had
been appointed ambassador in Paris ; while some had been
arrested, and had confessed the plot. So soon as this envoy had
been discovered to be the chief of a rebellion and projected
invasion, the Queen had requested him, she said, to leave the
kingdom within a reasonable time, as one who was the object
of deadly hatred to the English people. She had then sent
an agent to Spain, in order to explain the whole transaction.
That agent had not been allowed even to deliver despatches
to the King.

When the French had sought, at a previous period, to
establish their authority in Scotland, even as the Spaniards
had attempted to do in the Netherlands, and through the
enormous ambition of the House of Guise, to undertake the
invasion of her kingdom, she had frustrated their plots, even
as she meant to suppress these Spanish conspiracies. She
spoke of the Prince of Parma as more disposed by nature to
mercy and humanity than preceding governors had been, but
as unable to restrain the blood-thirstiness of Spaniards,
increased by long indulgence. She avowed, in assuming the
protection of the Netherlands, and in sending her troops to
those countries, but three objects : peace, founded upon the
recognition of religious freedom in the Provinces, restoration
of their ancient political liberties, and security for England.
Never could there be tranquillity for her own realm untfl
these neighbouring countries were tranquil These were her
ends and aims, despite all that slanderous tongues might
invent. The world, she observed, was overflowing with
blasphemous libels, calunmies, scandalous pamphlets ; for
never had the Devil been so busy in supplying evil tongues

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158&. MANIFESTO OF BUZABBTH. 307

with venom against the professors of the Christian reli-
gion.

She added that in a pamphlet^ ascribed to the Archbishop
of Milan^ just published, she had been accused of ingratitude
to the King of Spain, and of plots to take the life of Alexander
Famese. In answer to the first charge, she willingly acknow-
ledged her obligations to the King of Spain during the reign
of her sister. She pronounced it, however, an absolute fsilse-
hood that he had ever saved her life, as if she had ever been
condemned to death. She likewise denied earnestly the
charge regarding the Prince of Parma. She protested herself
incapable of such a crime, besides declaring that he had
never given her offence. On the contrary, he was a man
whom she had ever honoured for the rare qualities that she
had noted in him, and for which he had deservedly acquired a
hi^ reputation.'

Such, in brief analysis, was the memorable Declaration of
Elizabeth in favour of the Netherlands — a document which
was h hardly disguised proclamation of war against Philip.
In no age of the world could an unequivocal agreement to
assist rebellious subjects, with men and money, against their
sovereign, be considered otherwise than as a hostile demonstra-
tion. The King of Spain so r^arded the movement, and
forthwith issued a decree, ordering the seizure of all English
as well as all Netherland vessels within his ports, together
with the arrest of persons, and confiscation of property.

Subsequently to the publication of the Queen's memorial,
and before the departure of the Earl of Leicester, Sir Philip
Sidney having received his appointment, together with the
rank of general of cavalry, arrived in the Isle of Walcheren,
as governor of Flushing, at the head of a portion of the
English contingent.

It is impossible not to contemplate with affection so radiant
a figure, shining through the cold mists of that Zeeland
winter, and that distant and disastrous epoch. There is
hardly a character in history upon which the imagination

' Declaration, ubi sup.

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358 THB TTNITED KBTHEBLAISrDa Ohap.TI

can dwell with more unalloyed delight. Not in romantic
fiction was there ever created a more attractive incarnation
of martial valour, poetic genius, and purity of heart If the
mocking spirit of the soldier of Lepanto could ^^ smile chivalry
away/' the name alone of his English contemporary is potent
Plough to conjure it hack again, so long as humanity is alive
to the nohler impidses.

^^ I cannot pass him over in silence/' says a dusty chronicler,
^^ that glorious star, that lively pattern of virtue, and the
lovely joy of all the learned sort It was God's will that he
should be bom into the world, even to show imto our age a
sample of ancient virtue." The descendant of an ancient
Norman race, and allied to many of the proudest nobles
in England, Sidney himself was but a commoner, a private
individual, a soldier of fortune. He was now in his thirty-
second year, and should have been foremost among the states-
men of Elizabeth, had it not been, according to Lord Bacon,
a maxim of the Cecils, that ^^able men should be by design
and of purpose suppressed." Whatever of truth there' may
have been in the bitter remark, it is certainly strange that
a man so gifted as Sidney — of whom his £Ekther-in-law
Walsingham had declared, that '^ although he had influence
in all countries, and a hand upon all affitirs, his Philip did
far overshoot him with his own bow "* — should have passed
so much of his life in retirement, or in comparatively insig-
nificant employments. The Queen, as he himself observed,
was most apt to interpret everything to his disadvantage.
Among those who knew him well, there seems never to
have been a dissenting voice. His father, Sir Henry Sidney,
lord-deputy of Ireland, and president of Wales, a states-
man of accomplishments and experience, called him ^^ lumen
familixe aucey* and said of him, with pardonable pride, "that
he had the most virtues which he had ever found in any
man ; that he was the very formular that all well-disposed
young gentlemen do form their manners and life by."*

1 Camden's 'Britannia' (1637) p. 329.
* Life of Sidney, bj Fnlke Greville, Lord Brooke, edited bj Sir K BiTdgee, p. 23L

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1685. Sm VWUP SIDNEY. 359

The learned Hubert Langnet^ companion of Melancthon,
tried fiiend of William the Silent, was his fervent admirer
and correspondent. The great Prince of Orange held him
in high esteem, and sent word to Queen Elizabeth, that
having himself been an actor in the most important affairs
of Europe, and acquainted with her foremost men, he could
'* pledge his credit" that her Majesty had one of the ripest
and greatest councillors of state in Sir Philip Sidney that
lived in Europe."*

The incidents of his brief and brilliant life, up to his arrival
npon the fatal soil of the Netherlands, are too well known to
need recalling. Adorned with the best culture that, in a
learned age, could be obtained in the best seminaries of his
native country, where, during childhood and youth, he had
been distinguished for a " lovely and familiar gravity beyond
his years," he rapidly acquired the admiration of his com-
rades and the esteem of all his teachers.

Travelling for three years, he made the acquaintance and
gained the personal regard of such opposite characters as
Charles IX. of France, Henry of Navarre, Don John of
Austria, and William of Orange, and perfected his accom-
plishments by residence and study, alternately, in courts,
camps, and learned universities. He was in Paris during the
memorable days of August, 1572, and narrowly escaped
perishing in the St. Bartholomew Massacre. On his return,
he was, for a brief period, the idol of the English court,
which, it was said, "was maimed without his company."*
At the age of twenty-one he was appointed special envoy to
Vienna, ostensibly for the purpose of congratulating the
Emperor Budolph upon his accession, but in reality that he
might take the opportunity of sounding the secret purposes
of the Protestant princes of Germany, in r^ard to the great
contest of the age. In this mission, young as he was, he
acquitted himself, not only to the satisfEiction, but to the
admiration of Walsingham, certainly a master himself in

* Sidney Pi^pers, edited by Collins, I 246. * Brooke, ji. 16, Mg^

» Fuller'B * Worthies,' I 499, ed. 1811.

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360 ^I^HE UNITBD KITHKBLAKD& Ohap. Y1

that occnlt scienoe, the diplomacy of the sixteenth cen-
tury. " There hath not been," said he, " any gentleman, I
can sure, that hath gone through so honourable a charge with
as great commendations as he/'^

When the memorable marriage-project of Queen Elizabeth
with Anjou seemed about to take effect, he denounced the
scheme in a most spirited and candid letter, addressed to her
Majesty ; nor is it recorded that the Queen was offended with
his frankness. Indeed we are informed that '^although he
found a sweet stream of soToreign humours in that well-tem-
pered lady to run against him, yet found he safety in herself
against that seUhess which appeared to threaten him in her."'
Whatever this might mean, translated out of euphuism into
English, it is certain that his conduct was r^arded with small
favour by the court-grandees, by whom "worth, duty, and
justice, were looked upon with no other eyes than Lamia's."*

The difficulty of swimming against that sweet stream of
sovereign humours in the well-tempered Elizabeth, was aggra-
vated by his quarrel, at this period, with the magnificent
Oxford. A dispute at a tennis-court, where many courtierB
and foreigners were looking on, proceeded rapidly from one
extremity to another. The Earl commanded Sir Philip to
leave the place. Sir Philip responded, that if he were of a
mind that he should go, he himself was of a mind that he
should remain ; adding that if he had entreated, where he had
no right to command, he might have done more than " with
the scourge of fiuy." " This answer," says Fulke Greville,
in a style worthy of Don Adriano de Armado, " did, like a
bellows, blowing up the sparks of excess already kindled,
make my lord scornfully call Sir Philip by the name of
puppy. In which progress of heat, as the tempest grew more
and more vehement within, so did their hearts breathe out
their perturbations in a more loud and shriU accent ;"* and
so on ; but the impending duel was the next day forbidden by
express command of her Majesty. Sidney, not feeling the

* NannUm, *Regalia,» p. 63. J Brook©, p. 61.

• Ibid. * Brooke, p. 63.

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1586. SIR PHTTiTP SIDNBT. 361

ftill force of the royal homily upon the necessity of great
deference from gentlemen to their snperiors in rank, in order
to protect all orders from the insults of plebeians, soon after-
wards retired from the court To his sylvan seclusion the
world owes the pastoral and chivalrous romance of the
^Arcadia/ and to the pompous Earl, in consequence, an emo-
tion of gratitude. Nevertheless, it was in him to do, rather
than to write, and humanity seems defrauded, when forced to
accept the * Arcadia/ the * Defence of Poesy,' and the * Astro-
phel and Stella,' in discharge of its claims upon so great and
pure a souL

Notwithstanding this disagreeable a&ir, and despite the
memorable letter against Anjou, Sir Philip suddenly flashes
upon us again, as one of the four challengers in a tournament
to honour the Duke's presence in England. A vision of him
in blue gilded armour — with horses caparisoned in cloth of
gold, pearl-embroidered, attended by pages in cloth of silver,
Venetian hose, laced hats, and by gentlemen, yeomen, and
trumpeters, in yellow velvet cassocks, buskins, and feathers —
as one of " the four fostered children of virtuous desire" (to
wit, Anjou) storming " the castle of perfect Beauty" ' (to wit,
Queen Elizabeth, astatis 47) rises out of the cloud-dusts of
ancient chronicle for a moment, and then vanishes into air
again.

^'Having that day his hand, hia hone, his lanoe,
Guided so well that thej attained the prize
Both in the jadgment of our English eyes,
But of some sent by that sweet enemy, France/'

as he chivalrously sings, he soon afterwards felt inclined for
wider fields of honourable adventure. It was impossible that
knight-errant so true should not feel keenest sympathy with an
oppressed people struggling against such odds, as the Nether-
landers were doing in their contest with Spain. So soon as
the treaty with England was arranged, it was his ambition to
take part in the dark and dangerous enterprise, and, being
Bon-in-law to Walsingham and nephew to Leicester, he had a

I Stowe's Continuation of Holinshed, W, 436, seq.

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362 ^HB innTED NBTHEBLAHDa Ohap. YL

right to believe that his talents and character wonld, oq
this occasion, be recc^nised. But, like his "very friend,"
Lord Willoughby, he was "not of the genus Beptilia, and
could neither creep nor crouch,^' ^ and he failed, as usual, to
win his way to the Queen's favour. The governorship of
Flushing 'was denied him, and, stung to the heart by such
n^lect, he determined to seek his fortune beyond the seas.

" Sir Philip hath taken a very hard resolution," wrote Wal-
singham to Davison, "to accompany Sir Francis Drake in
this voyage, moved thereto for that he saw her Majesty dis-
posed to commit the charge of Flushing unto some other;
which he reputed would fall out greatly to his disgrace, to
see another preferred before him, both for birth and judgment
inferior unto him. The despair thereof and the disgrace that
he doubted he should receive have carried him into a different
course." •

The Queen, however, relenting at last, interfered to frus-
trate his design. Having thus balked his ambition in the
Indian seas, she felt pledged to offer him the employment
which he had originally solicited, and she accordingly con-
ferred upon him the governorship of Flushing, with the rank
of general of horse, \mder the Earl of Leicester. In the
latter part of November, he cast anchor, in the midst of a
violent storm, at Bammekins, and thence came to the city of
his government. Young, and looking even younger than his
years — " not only of an excellent wit, but extremely beautiful
of face"^ — with delicately chiselled Anglo-Norman features,
smooth fair cheek, a faint moustache, blue eyes, and a mass
of amber-coloured hair ; such was the author of ^ Arcadia' and
the governor of Flushing.

And thus an Anglo-Norman representative of ancient race
had come back to the home of his ancestors. Scholar, poet,
knight-errant, finished gentleman, he aptly typified the result
of seven centuries of civilization upon the wild Danish pirate.
For among those very quicksands of storm-beaten Walachria

* Expression of Aubrey, cited l^
Gra7, life of Sidney, 61.

> Naunton, * Regalia,* p. 66.

> Walsingham to Davison, 13 Sept
1686. (S. P. OfiQce Ha)

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1686. mS ASBIVAL AT FLUSHINa. 363

that wondrous Nonnandy first came into existence whose
wings were to sweep over all the high plaoes of Christendom.
Out of these creeks^ lagunes^ and almost inaccessible sand-
banks^ those bold freebooters sailed forth on their forays
against England^ France, and other adjacent countries, and
here they brought and buried the booty of many a wild
adventure. Here, at a later day, Bollo the Dane had that
memorable dream of leprosy,^ the cure of which was the con-
version of North Gaul into Normandy, of Pagans into Chris-
tians, and the subsequent conquest of every throne in
Christendom from Ultima Thule to Byzantium. And now
the descendant of those early freebooters had come back to
the spot, at a moment when a wider and even more imperial
swoop was to be made by their modem representatives. For
the sea-kings of the sixteenth century — the Drakes, Haw-
kinses, Frobishers, Raleighs, Cavendishes — the De Moors,
Heemskerks, Barendts — all sprung of the old pirate-lineage,
whether called Englanders or Hollanders, and instinct with
the same hereditary love of adventure, were about to wrestle
with ancient tyrannies, to explore the most inaccessible r^ons,
and to establish new commonwealths in worlds undreamed of
by their ancestors— to accomplish, in short, more wondrous
feats than had been attempted by the Knuts, and BoUos,
Buries, Bogers, and Tancreds, of an earlier age.

The place which Sidney was appointed to govern was one
of great military and commercial importance. Flushing was
the key to the navigation of the North Seas, ever since the
disastrous storm of a century before, in which a great trading
city on the outermost verge of the island had been swal-
lowed bodily by the ocean.* The Emperor had so thoroughly
recognized its value, as to make special mention of the
necessity for its preservation, in his private instructions to
Philip, and now the Queen of England had confided it to one
who was competent to appreciate and to defend the prize.
" How great a jewel this place (Flushing) is to the crown of

1 Goiociardmi, ' Description de tons les Pays Bas,' p. 854.
3 Guiocardini, in voce.

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364 '^^^ UMITED NBTHSBLAHDS. Ceap. TL

England/' wrote Sidney to his Uncle Leicester, " and to the
Queen's safety, I need not now write it to your lordship,
who knows it so well. Yet I must needs say, the better I
know it, the more I find the preciousness of it." ^

He did not enter into his government, however, with much
pomp and circumstance, but came afoot into Flushing in die
midst of winter and foul weather. '^ Driven to land at
Bammekins," said he, '^because the wind b^an to rise in
such sort as our mariners durst not enter the town, I came
firom thence with as dirty a walk as ever poor governor
entered his charge withal."' But he was cordially welcomed,
nor did he arrive by any means too soon.

" I find the people very glad of our coming," he said, "and
promise myself as much surety in keeping this town, as
popular good-will, gotten by light hopes, and by as slight
conceits, may breed ; for indeed the garrison is far too weak
to command by authority, which is pity. ... I think,
truly, that if my coming had been longer delayed, some
alteration would have followed ; for the truth is, this people
is weary of war, and if they do not see such a course taken
as may be likely to defend them, they will in a sudden give
over the cause. . . . All will be lost if government be
not presently used."^

He expressed much anxiety for the arrival of his uncle,
with which sentiments he assured the Earl that the Nether-
landers fully sympathized. "Your Lordship's coming," he
said, "is as much longed for as Messias is of the Jews. It is
indeed most necessary that your Lordship make great speed
to reform both the Dutch and English abuses." ^

> Sir P. Sidxie/ to Earl of Leioeeter, 22 Nov. 1586. BriL Ufsa. Oalba, G
▼iiLp.213,MS. aibid. sibid. ^IbicL

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1585. THB BABL 07 LEIOBSTBB. 3^5

CHAPTER VII.

The Earl of Leiceeter — - His Triumphal Entrance into Holland — English
Spies about him — Importance of Holland to England — Spanish Schemes
for invading England — Letter of the Grand Commander — Perilons
Position of England — Tme Nature of the (contest -- Wealth and S^ength
of the Provinces — Power of the Dutch and English People — Affection of
the Hollanders for the Queen — Secret Purposes of Leicester — Wretched
Condition of English Troops — The Nassaus and Hohenlo — The EarFs
Opinion of them — Clerk and Xlilligrew — Interview with the States —
Government General offered to the Earl — Discussions on the Subject —
The Earl accepts the Office — His Ambition and Mistakes— His Installa-
tion at the Hague — Intimations of the Queen's Displeasure — Deprecatory
Letters of Leicester — Davison's Mission to England — Queen's Anger and
Jeak>us7— Her angiy Letters to the Earl and the States — Arrival of
Davison — Stormy Interview with the Queen — The second one is calmer

— Queen's Wrath somewhat mitigated — Mission of Heneage to the States
—Shirley sent to England by the Earl — His Interview with Elizabeth —
Leicesters Letters to his Friends — Paltry Conduct of the Earl to Davison

— He excuses himself at Davison's Expense — His Letter to Burghley —
Effect of the Queen's Letters to the States — Suspicion and Discontent in
Holland — States excuse their Conduct to the Queen — Leicester dis-
credited in Holland — Evil Consequences to Holland and England — Magic
Effect of a Letter from Leicester — The Queen appeased — Her Letters to
the States and the Earl — She permits the granted Authority — Unhappy
Besults of the Queen's Course — Her variable Moods — She attempts to
deceive Walsingham — Her Injustice to Heneage — His Perplexity and
Distress — Humiliating Position of Leicester — His melancholy Letters to
the Queen — He receives a little Consolation — And writes more cheerfhUy

— The Queen is more benignant — The States less contented than the Earl

— His Quarrels with them begin.

At last the Earl of Leicester came. EmbarkiDg at Harwich,
with a fleet of fifty ships, and attended " hy the Dec. 9, 19,
flower and chief gallants of England'' ^ — the Lords 1686.
Sheffield, Willoughhy, North, Burroughs, Sir Gervase Clifton,
Sir William Russell, Sir Robert Sidney, and others among
the number — the new lieutenant-general of the English forces
in the Netherlands arrived on the 19th December, 1585, at
Flushing. His nephew, Sir Philip Sidney, and Count Maurice
of Nassau, wfth a body of troops and a great procession of

» Stowe, Til.

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366 ^l™B UNITED NETHKSLAima Gbap. TH

civil functionaries, were in readiness to receive him, and to
escort him to the lodgings prepared for him.*

Robert Dudley, Earl of Leicester, was then fifty-four yeare
of age. There are few personages in English history whose
adventures, real or fictitious, have been made more fistmiliar
to the world than his have been, or whose individuality has
been presented in more picturesque fashion, by chronicle,
tragedy, or romance. Bom in the same day of the month
and hour of the day with the Queen, but two years before her
birth, the supposed synastry of their destinies^ might partly
account, in that age of astrological superstition, for the influ-
ence which he perpetually exerted. They had, moreover,
been fellow-prisoners together, in the commencement of the
reign of Mary, and it is possible that he may have been the
medium through which the indulgent expressions of Philip IL
were conveyed to the Princess Elizabeth.

His grandfather, John Dudley, that "caterpillar of the
commonwealth," who lost his head in the first year of
Henry VIII. as a reward for the " grist which he brought to
the mill ' of Henry VII. ; his father, the mighty Duke of
Northumberland, who rose out of the wreck of an obscure
and ruined family to almost regal power, only to perish, like
his predecessor, upon the scaffold, had bequeathed him nothing
save rapacity, ambition, and the genius to succeed. But
Elizabeth seemed to ascend the throne only to bestow gifts
upon her favourite. Baronies and earldoms, stars and garters,
manors and monopolies, castles and forests, church livings
and college chancellorships, advowsons and sinecures, emolu-
ments and dignities, the most copious and the most exalted,
were conferred upon him in breathless succession. Wine,
oil, currants, velvets, ecclesiastical benefices, university head-
ships, licences to preach, to teach, to ride, to sail, to pick and
to steal, all brought "grist to his mill." His grandfather,
"the horse leach and shearer," never filled his coffers more
rapidly than did Lord Robert, the fortunate courtier. Of his

* Bor, ii. 684, 685 ; Hoofii, Venrolgh,
133, 134; Wagenaar, TiiL 112, wj.;
8towe, 711; Streda, il 408, 409.

* Naunton, 34, and note,

* Expreasum of Lord Baoon.

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1586.

THB BABL OF LELOBSHSBL

367

early wedlock with the ill-starred Amy Bobsart, of his nuptial
projects with the Qaeen, of his subsequent marriages and
mock-marriages with Douglas Sheffield and Lettice of Essex,
of his plottings, poisonings, imaginary or otherwise, of his
countless intrigues, amatory and political— K)f that luxuriant,
creeping, flaunting, all-peryading existence which struck its
fibrA into the mould, and coiled itself through the whole
fabric, of Elizabeth's life and reign— of all this the world has
long known too much to render a repetition needful here.
The inmost nature and the secret deeds of a man placed so
high by wealth and station, can be seen but darkly through
the glass of contemporary record. There was no tribunal to
sit upon his guilt. A grandee could be judged only when no
longer a favourite, and the infatuation of Elizabeth for Leicester
terminated only with his life. He stood now upon the soil of
the Netherlands in the character of a '^ Messiah,'' yet he had
been charged with crimes sufficient to send twenty himibler
malefactors to the gibbet. '^ I think," said a most malignant
arraigner of the man, in a published pamphlet, ^^that the
Earl of Leicester hath more blood lying upon his head at
this day, crying for vengeance, than ever had private man
before, were he never so wicked." *

Certainly the mass of misdemeanours and infamies hurled
at the head of the favourite by that " green-coated Jesuit,"
fether Parsons, under the title of * Leycester's Common-
wealth,' were never accepted as literal verities ; yet the
value of the precept, to calumniate boldly, with the certainty
that much of the calumny would last for ever, was never
better illustrated than in the case of Robert Dudley. Besides
the lesser delinquencies of filling his purse by the sale of
honours and dignities, by violent ejectments from land, frau-
dulent titles, rapacious enclosures of commons, by taking
bribes for matters of justice, grace, and supplication to the
royal authority, he was accused of forging various letters to
the Queen, often to ruin his political adversaries, and of

1 < Lejcester's Commonwealth
oeived, spoken, and published

con-
with

most earnest protestation of all datiful
good-will and affection towards the

realm, for whose good only it is made
common to many (by Eobt Parsons)/
4to. London. 1641.

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368 ™S UNITED KBTHBBLAND& Chap. YH

plottings to entrap them into conspiracies, playing first the
comrade and then the informer. The list of his murders and
attempts to murder was almost endless. ^^ His lordship hath
a special fortune/' saith the Jesuit, ^^ that when he desireth
any woman's favotu:, whatsoever person standeth in his way
hath the luck to die quickly.''^ He was said to have poisoned
Alice Drayton, Lady Lennox, Lord Sussex, Sir Nicholas
Throgmorton, Lord Sheffield, whose widow he married and
then poisoned. Lord Essex, whose widow he also married, and
intended to poison, but who was said to have subsequently
poisoned him — ^besides murders or schemes for murder of
various other individuals, both French and English.' "He
was a rare artist in poison,'' said Sir Robert Naunton,^ and
certainly not Caesar Borgia, nor his father or sister, was more
accomplished in that difficult profession than was Dudley, if
half the charges against him could be believed. Fortunately
for his fame, many of them were proved to be false. Sir
Henry Sidney, lord deputy of Ireland, at the time of the
death of Lord Essex, having caused a diligent inquiry to be
made into that dark affidr, wrote to the council that it was
usual for the Earl to fall into a bloody flux when disturbed
in his mind, and that his body when opened showed no signs
of poison.* It is true that Sir Henry, although an honourable
man, was Leicester's brother-in-law, and that perhaps an
autopsy was not conducted at that day in Ireland on very
scientific principles.

HiB participation in the strange death of his first wife was
a matter of current belief among his contemporaries. " He
is infamed by the death of his wife," said Burghley,* and tha
tale has since become so interwoven with classic and l^n-
dary fiction, as well as with more authentic history, that the
phantom of the murdered Amy Bobsart is sure to arise at
every mention of the Earl's name. Yet a coroner's inquest —
as appears from his own secret correspondence with his rela-
tive and agent at Cumnor — was immediately and persistently
demanded by Dudley. A jury was impannelled — every man

^ Lejcester'a ' Commonwealth,' tU nip. ' Ibid. * Nannton, * Regalia,' 43, 4i.
* Sydney Papers, hy Oollinfl, L 48. • Lodge, a 202.

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1596. THB SARL 07 LEI0B8TRB. 369

of tiiem a stranger to him, and some of them enemies.
Antony Forster, Appleyard, and Arthur Bobsart, brother-in-
law and brother of the lady, were present, according to Dud-
ley's special request ; "and if more of her friends could have
been sent,'' said he, " I would have sent them f but with all
their minuteness of inquiry, " they could find," wrote Blount,
^^no presumptions of evil," although he expressed a suspicion
that "some of the jurymen were sorry that they could not"
That the unfortunate lady was killed by a fall down stairs was
all that could be made of it by a coroner's inquest, rather
hostile than otherwise, and urged to rigorous investigation by
the supposed culprit himself.^ Nevertheless, the calumny
has endured for three centuries, and is likely to survive as
many more.

Whatever crimes Dudley may have committed in the
course of his career, there is no douDt whatever that he was
the most abused man in Europe. He had been deeply
wounded by the Jesuit's artful publication, in which all the
Tnisdeeds with which he was fidsely or justly charged were
drawn up in awful array, in a form half colloquial, half
judicial. " You had better give some contentment to my
Lord Leicester," wrote the French envoy from London to
his government, "on account of the bitter feelings excited
in him by these villainous books lately written against him."*

The Earl himself ascribed these calumnies to the Jesuits,
to the Guise faction, and particularly to the Queen of Scots.
He was said, in consequence, to have vowed an eternal
hatred to that most unfortunate and most intriguing Princess.
"Leicester has lately told a friend," wrote Charles Paget,
"that he will persecute you to the uttermost, for that he
snpposeth your Majesty to be privy to the setting forth of the
book against him."* Nevertheless, calumniated or innocent,

' Abstract of the Correspondence que contentement au diet sienr Conte
" ~ - - - de Leetre pour ce qu*il a sy affection

de ces vilains livres fetz centre lay,**
Ac. (* Castlenau-Manyissiere d M. de
Brulart,* Brienne, MS.)

* Charles Paget to Queen of Sooti^
14 Jan. 1585, in Murdin, il 437.

preserved in the Pepyaan Library at
Cambridge, between Lord Robert Dud-
ley and Thomas Blount, an agent of
his at Cnmnor, during the inquest held
on Amy Robsart, published m Craik,
Ronaance of the Peerage.'

• "il sera bon de donner quel-

VOL. I. — Z

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370 ^I^HB UNTTBD NBTHEBLANDa Chap. YU

he was at least triumphant over calumnj. Nothing could
shake his hold upon Elizabeth's affections. The Queen
scorned but resented the malignant attacks upon the reputa-
tion of her fitvourite. She declared ** before Qod and in her
conscience^ that she knew the libels against him to be most
scandalous^ and such as none but an incarnate devil himwelf
could dream to be true/' His power, founded not upon
genius nor virtue, but upon woman's caprice, shone serendy
above the gulf where there had been so many shipwrecks. '^ I
am now passing into another world," said Sussex, upon his
death-bed, to his friends, ^^ and I must leave you to your
fortunes ; but beware of the gipsy, or he vrill be too hard for
you. You know not the beast so well as I do."^

The " gipsy," as he had been called from his dark com-
plexion, had been renowned in youth for the beauty of his
person, being '^ tall and singularly well-featured, of a sweet
aspect, but high foreheaded, which was of no discommenda-
tion," according to Naunton. The Queen, who had the pas-
sion of her father for tall and proper men, was easier won by
externals, from her youth even to the days of her dotagft,
than befitted so very sagacious a personage. Chamberlains,
squires of the bodyj carvers, cup-bearers, gentlemen-ushers,
porters, could obtain neither place nor favour at court, unless
distinguished for stature, strength, or extraordinary activity.
To lose a tooth had been known to cause the loss of a place,
and the excellent constitution of leg which helped Sir Chris-
topher Hatton into the chancellorship, was not more remark-
able perhaps than the success of similar endowments in other
contemporaries. Leicester, although stately and imposing,
had passed his summer solstice. A big bulky man, with a long
red face, a bald head, a defiant somewhat sinister eye, a h^h
nose, and a little torrent of foam- white curly beard, he was
still magnificent in costume. Bustling in satin and feathers,
with jewels in his ears, and his velvet toque stuck as airily as
ever upon the side of his head, he amazed the honest Hol-
landers, who had been used to less gorgeous chieftaina

^ Kaunton, p. 49.

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1686. HIS TBIIJMPHAL ENTBANOE INTO HOLLAND. 371

''Every body is wondering at the great magnificence and
splendour of his clothes,"* said the plain chronicler of Utrecht
For, not much more than a year before, Fulke Greville had
met at Delft a man whose external adornments were simpler ;
a somewhat slip-shod personage, whom he thus pourtrayed :—
'' His uppermost garment was a gown," said the euphuistic
Fnlke, ''yet such as, I confidently affirm, a mean-bom student
of our Inns of Court would not have been well disposed to
walk the streets in. Unbuttoned his doublet was, and of
like precious matter and form to the other. His waistcoat,
which showed itself under it, not unlike the best sort of those
woollen knit ones which our ordinary barge-watermen row us
in. His company about him, the bui^esses of that beer-
brewing town. No external sign of degree covldhave discovered
the inequality of his worth or estate from that multitude.
Kevertheless, upon conversing with him, there was an out-
ward passage of inward greatness" '

Of a certainty there must have been an outward passage of
inward greatness about him ; for the individual in imbuttoned
doublet and bargeman's waistcoat, was no other than William
the Silent. A different kind of leader had now descended
among those rebels, yet it would be a great mistake to deny
the capacity or vigorous intentions of the magnificent Earl,
who certainly was like to find himself in a more difficult and
responsible situation than any he had yet occupied.

And now began a triumphal progress through the land,
with a series of mighty banquets and festivities, in which no
man could play a better part than Leicester. From Flushing
he came to Middelburg, where, upon Christmas eve (according
to the new reckoning), there was an entertainment, every
dish of which has been duly chronicled. Pigs served on their
feet, pheasants in their feathers, and baked swans with their
necks thrust through gigantic pie-crust ; crystal castles of
confectionary with silver streams flowing at their base, and
fair virgins leaning from the battlements, looking for their
new English champion, " wine in abundance, variety of all

" JBor, IL 686. " Brooke's Sidney, 16, aeq.

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372 ^™B UNITED N]EIHEBLAin)& Chap. TE

sorts, and wonderful welcomes " ' — such was the bQl of ftie.
The next daj the Lieutenant-General returned the compli-
ment to the magistrates of Middelbuig with a tremendous
feast Then came an interlude of unexpected fitmine ; for as
the Earl sailed with his suite in a fleet of two hundred vessels
for Dort — a voyage of not many hours' usual duration — ^theie
descended a mighty frozen fog upon the waters, and they lay
five whole days and nights in their ships, almost starved with
hunger and cold— offering in vain a ^' pound of silver for a
pound of bread/'' Emerging at last from this dismal pre-
dicament, he landed at Dort, and so went to Botterdam and
Delfb, everywhere making his way through lines of mus-
keteers and civic functionaries, amid roaring cannon, pealing
bells, burning cressets, blazing tar-barrels, fiery winged
dragons, wreaths of flowers, and Latin orations.

The farther he went the braver seemed the country, and
the better beloved his Lordship. Nothing was left undone,
in the language of ancient chronicle, to fill the bellies and
the heads of the whole company. At the close of the year
he came to the Hague, where the festivities were unusually
magnificent. A fleet of barges was sent to escort him.
Peter, James, and John, met him upon the shore, while the
Saviour appeared walking upon the waves, and ordered his
disciples to cast their nets, and to present the fish to his
Excellency. Farther on, he was confronted by Mars and
Bellona, who recited Latin odes in his honour. Seven beau-
tiful damsels upon a stage, representing the United States,
offered him golden keys ; seven others equally beautiful,
embodying the seven sciences, presented him with garlands,
while an enthusiastic barber adorned his shop with seven
score of copper basins, with a wax-light in each, together
with a rose, and a Latin posy in praise of Queen Elizabetii.^
Then there were tiltings in the water between champions
mounted upon whales, and other monsters of the deep — ^repre-
sentatives of siege, famine, pestilence, and murder — the
whole interspersed with fireworks, poetry, charades, and

» Stowe's Holinshed, iv. 641.

' Sir John Conway to ^ 27 Dec.

1685. (a P. Offioe Ma)

* Ibid. Stowe, ti^* mtp,

« Stowe's Holinshed, iv. 641, sen,.

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1685.

BNailSH SPIES ABOUT HDL

373

harangaes. Not Matthias^ nor Anjou, nor King Philip^ nor
the Emperor Charles^ in their triumphal progresses^ had been
received with more spontaneous or more magnificent demon-
strations. Never had the living pictures been more startling,
the allegories more incomprehensible, the banquets more
elaborate, the orations more tedious. Beside himself with
tapture, Leicester almost assumed the God. In Delft, a city
which he described as ^^ another London almost for beauty
and fairness,"^ he is said so far to have forgotten himself as
to declare that his family had — in the person of Lady Jane
Grey, his father, and brother — ^been imjustly deprived of the
crown of England ; an indiscretion which caused a shudder
in all who heard him.' It was also very dangerous for the
Lieutenant-General to exceed the bounds of becoming
modesty at that momentous epoch. His power, as we shall
soon have occasion to observe, was anomalous, and he was
surroimded by enemies. He was not only to grapple with
a rapidly developing opposition in the States, but he was
surrounded with masked enemies, whom he had brought with
him from England. Every act and word of his were liable
to closest scrutiny, and likely to be turned against him. For
it was most characteristic of that intriguing age, that even
the astute Walsingham, who had an eye and an ear at every
key-hole in Europe, was himself under closest domestic
inspection. There was one Foley, a trusted servant of Lady
Sidney, then living in the house of her father Walsingham,
during Sir Philip's absence, who was in close communication
with Lord Montjoy's brother, Blount, then high in favour of
Queen Elizabeth — " whose grandmother she might be for his
age and hers" — ^and with another brother Christopher Blount,
at that moment in confidential attendance upon Lord Lei-
cester in Holland. Now Poley, and both the Blounts, were,

^''It ia thought that when Charles
V. made his entries here in these towns,
there was not greater ceremonies ; the
people so J07S1I, and throng^ so
great, to see his Lordship, as it was
wonder," Ac. Edward Bmnham to
Sir F. Walsingham, Dec. 27, 1585.
(a ^. Office MS.)

' Leicester to Walsmgham, 26 Dec
1586, in Bruce, p. 31 ; and writing to
Burghlej the next day, he says, "the
other towns I have passed hy are yeiy
goodlj towns, but this is the fidrestof
them all" (S. P. Office Ma)

• Hoofd, Venrolgh, 134.

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374 ^I^HB UNITSD HBTHEBLANDa Chap. YH

in realiiy, Papists, and in intimate correspondence with the
agents of the Queen of Scots, hoth at home and abroad,
although '^ forced to &wn upon Leicest^, to see if they mi^t
thereby live quiet." They had a secret " alphabet," or dph^,
among them, and protested warmly, that they '^honoured
the ground whereon Queen Mary trod better than Leicester
with all his generation ; and that they felt bound to serve her
who was the only saint living on the earth."*

It may be well understood then that the EarFs position
was a slippery one, and that great assumption might be
unsafe. ^^ He taketh the matter upon him," wrote Morgan
to the Queen of Scots, ^^ as though he were an absolute king ;
but he hath many personages about him of good place out of
England, the best number whereof desire nothing more than
his confusion. Some of them be gone with him to avoid the
persecution for religion in England. My poor advice and
labour shall not be wanting to give Leicester all dishonour,
which will fall upon him in the end with shame enough;
though for the present he be very strong."* Many of these
personages of good place, and enjoying ^^ charge and credit"
with the Earl had very serious plans in their heads. Some of
tbem meant ^^ for the service of God, and the advantage of the
King of Spain, to further the delivery of some notable towns
in Holland and Zeeland to the said King and his ministers,"'
and we are like to hear of these individuals again.

Meantime, the Earl of Leicester vras at the Hague. Why
was he there ? What was his work ? Why had Elizabeth
done such violence to her affection as to part with her
favourite-in-chief ; and so far overcome her thrift, as to furnish
forth, rather meagrely to be sure, that little army of English-
men ? Why had the flower of England's chivalry set foot
upon that dark and bloody ground where there seemed so
much disaster to encounter, and so little glory to reap?
Why had England thrown herself so heroically into the
breach, just as the last bulwarks were falling which protected
Holland from the overwhelming onslaught of Spain ? It was
because Holland was the threshold of England ; because the

* Morgan to Qaeen of Soots, in Mardin, iL 495-501. * Ibid. * n>id.

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1586. DCPORTAKOB OF HOLLAND TO BNQLANI). 375

two conntries were one by danger and by destiny; because
the naval expedition from Spain against England was already
secretly preparing; because the deposed tyrant of Spain
intended the Provinces, when again subjugated, as a stepping-
stone to the conquest of England; because the naval and
military forces of Holland — ^her numerous ships, her hardy
mariners, her vast wealth, her commodious sea-ports, close
to the English coast — if made Spanish property would render
Philip invincible by sea and land ; and because the downfEdl
of Holland and of Protestantism would be death to Elizabeth,
and annihilation to England.

There was little doubt on the subject in the minds of those
engaged in this expedition. All felt most keenly the impor-
tance of the game, in which the Queen was staking her
crown, and England its national existence.

" I pray God," said Wilford, an officer much in Walsing-
ham's confidence, ^' that I live not to see this enterprise quail,
and with it the utter subversion of religion throughout all
Christendom. It may be I may be judged to be afraid of
my own shadow. God grant it be so. But if her Majesty
had not taken the helm in hand, and my Lord of Leicester

sent over, this country had been gone ere this

This war doth defend England. Who is he that will refuse
to spend his life and living in it ? If her Majesty consume
twenty thousand men in the cause, the experimented men
that will remain will double that strength to the realm." ^

This same Wilford commanded a company in Ostend, and
was employed by Leicester in examining the defences of that
important place. He often sent information to the Secretary,
^^ troubling him with the rude stile of a poor soldier, being
driven to scribble in haste." He reiterated, in more than one
letter, the opinion, that twenty thousand men consumed in
the war would be a saving in the end, and his own deter-
mination— although he had intended retiring from the mili-
tary profession — ^to spend not only his life in the cause, but
also the poor living that God had given him. " Her High"

1 Thomas WlUbcd to Walflinc^iam, || Dea 1586. (a P. OfBoe U&)

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376 ^I^S UKITBD NBTHSBLANDS. Chap. TIL

ness hath now entered into it/' he said ; ^^ the fire is kindled :
whosoever suffers it to go out, it will grow dangerous to that
side. The whole state of religion is in question, and the realm
of England also, if this action quail Ood grani toe never live to
see that doUfuL day. Her Majesty hath such footing now in
these parts, as I judge it impossible for the King to weary her
out, if every man will put to the work his helping hand, whereby
it may be lustily followed, and the war not 8u£fered to cooL The
freehold of England vnU be worth but little, if this action gwUy
and therefore I wish no subject to spare his purse towards if'

Spain moved slowly. Philip the Prudent was not sudden
or rash, but his whole life had proved, and was to prove, him
inflexible in his purposes, and patient in his attempts to
carry them into effect, even when the purposes had become
chimerical, and the execution impossible. Before the tsiHl
of Antwerp he had matured his scheme for the invasion of
England, in most of its details — a necessary part of which
was of course the reduction of Holland and Zeeland. '^ Surely
no danger nor fear of any attempt can grow to England,"
wrote Wilford, " so long as we can hold this country good."
But never was honest soldier more mistaken than he, when he
added : — '^ The Papists will make her Highness afraid of a
great fleet now preparing in Spain. We hear it also, but it
is only a scare-crow to cool the enterprise here." ^

It was no scare-crow. On the very day on which Wilford
was thus writing to Walsingham, Philip the Second was
writing to Alexander Famese. "The English/' he said,
"with their troops having gained a footing in the islands
(Holland and Zeeland) give me much anxiety. The English
Catholics are imploring me with much importunity to relieve
them from the persecution they are suffering. When you
sent me a plan, with the coasts, soundings, quicksands, and
ports of England, you said that the enterprise of invading
that country should be deferred till we had reduced the isles ;
that, having them, we could much more conveniently attack

* Thomas Wilford to Walsingham, " Dec 1585. (a P. OtAok MS.>
> Wilford to Buighler, ^ Dec. 1585. (a F, OfBce MS.)

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1596.

SPANISH SOHBMES FOB JSVADlNa ENGLAND.

377

England ; or that at least we should wait till we had got
Antwerp. As the ciiy is now taken, I want your advice
now about the invasion of England. To cut the root of the »
evils constantly growing up there, both for God's service and
mine, is desirable. So many evils will thus be remedied,
which would not be by only warring with the islands. It
would be an uncertain and expensive war to go to sea for the
purpose of chastising the insolent English corsairs, however
much they desire chastisement. I charge you to be secret,
to give ihe matter your deepest attention, and to let me
have your opinions at once.'' Philip then added a postscript,
in his own hand, concerning the importance of acquiring a
sea-port in HoUand, as a basis of operations against England.
"Without a port," he said, " we can do nothing whatever."*

A few weeks later, the Grand Commander of Castile, by
Philip's orders, and upon subsequent information received
from the Prince of Parma, drew up an elaborate scheme for
the invasion of England, and for the government of that
country afterwards ; a program according to which the King
was to shape his course for a long time to come. The plot
was an excellent plot Nothing could be more artistic, more
satisfactory to the prudent monarch ; but time was to show
whether there might not be some difficulty in the way of its
satisfactory development.

"The enterprise," said the Commander, "ought certainly
to be undertaken as serving the cause of the Lord. From
the Pope we must endeavour to extract a promise of the
largest aid we can get for the time when the enterprise can
he undertaken. We must not declare that time however, in
order to keep the thing a secret, and because perhaps thus
more will be promised, under the impression that it will
never take effect.' He added that the work could not well

^ "Porqne Bin imerto no se paede
haoer nada." Philip IL to Parma^ 29
Dec. 1585. (Archivo de Simancas Ma)

• Parecer del Comendador Mayor
^Ado a 8. M. sobre la empreea de In-
glaterra, anno 1586. (Archiyo de Si-
IMS.)

•*T al papa se procure sacar promo-
sa de la mas gfniesa aynda que se pn-
diese para cuando se paede haoer la
empreea, sin dedararle el tiempo, por
ree^to del secreto, 7 porqae quiza ad
prometera mas, pensando qae no ha dt
baber efecta'*

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378 THE UNITBD NBTHBRLANDa Chap. TIL

be attempted before August or September of the foUowiiig
year ; the only fear of such delay being that the French
could hardly be kept during all that time in a state of
revolt."^ For this was a uniform portion of the great
scheme. France was to be kept, at Philip's expense, in a
state of perpetual civil war ; its every city and village to be
the scene of unceasing conflict and bloodshed — subjects in
arms against king, and family against family ; — and the
Netherlands were to be ravaged with fire and sword ; aU this
in order that the path might be prepared for Spanish soldiers
into the homes of England. So much of misery to the whole
human race was it in the power of one painstaking elderly
valetudinarian to inflict, by never for an instant neglecting
the business of his life.

Troops and vessels for the English invasion ought, in the
Commander's opinion, to be collected in Flanders, imder
colour of an enterprise against Holland and Zeeland, while
the armada to be assembled in Spain, of galleons, galeazas,
and galleys, should be ostensibly for an expedition to liie
Indies.

Then, after the conquest, came arrangements for the
government of England. Should Philip administer his new
kingdom by a viceroy, or should he appoint a king out of
his own family ? On the whole the chances for the Prince
of Parma seemed the best of any. " We must liberate the
Queen of Scotland," said the Grand Commander, "and marry
her to some one or another, both in order to put her out of
love with her son, and to conciliate her devoted adherents.
Of course the husband should be one of your Majesty's
nephews, and none could be so appropriate as the Prince of
Parma, that great captain, whom his talents, and the part he
has to bear in the business, especially indicate for that
honour."^

Then there was a difficulty about the possible issue of
such a marriage. The Fameses claimed Portugal; so that
children sprung from the blood-royal of England blended

1 " Ko se pueden tener tento tiempo rebueltos." (Ibid.) > Ibid.

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1586.

LETTER OF THE GBAND 0OMMAin)EB.

379

with that of Parma, might choose to make those pretensions
valicL But the ohjection was promptly solved hy the Com-
mander : — " The Queen of Scotland is sure to have no
children/' he said.^

That matter being adjusted, Parma's probable attitude as
King of England was examined. It was true his ambition
might cause occasional uneasiness, but then he might make
himself still more unpleasant in the Netherlands. ^^ If your
Majesty suspects him/' said the Commander, "which, after
all, is unfair, seeing the way in which he has been conducting
himself— it is to be remembered that in Flanders are similar
circumstances and opportunities, and that he is well armed,
much beloved in the country, and that the natives are of
various humours. The English plan will furnish an honour-
able departure for him out of the Provinces ; and the prin-
ciple of loyal obligation will have much influence over so
chivalrous a knight as he, when he is once placed on the
English throne. Moreover, as he will be new there, he will
have need of your Majesty's favour to maintain himself, and
there will accordingly be good correspondence with Holland
and the Islands. Thus your Majesty can put the Infanta and
her husband into full possession of all the Netherlands ;
having provided them with so excellent a neighbour in
En^and, and one so closely bound and allied to them.
Then, as he is to have no English children " (we have seen
that the Commander had settled that point) " he will be a very
good mediator to arrange adoptions,* especially if you make
good provision for his son Bainuccio in Italy. The reasons
in favour of this plan being so much stronger than those
against it, it would be well that your Majesty should write
clearly to the Prince of Parma, directing him to conduct the

' —^ " deshaoe esta sombns qae
oomo no ha de tenerhyos la Bejna
deBaooda." (Ibid.)

' ** T eeta es honrada salida y que
a el le obligaria mucho en ley ie tan
gran caballero ; de mas, como nuevo,
para mantenerse en Inglaterra habia
meneeter el favor de Y. M. T en
eotronizandose el alii, no fidtaria oon-

derto en Hollanda y las Islaa, y podria
Y. M. meter en llena poesesfuon de
todos los estados btyos a la Senora In*
&nta y an marido, dandoles tan buen
yidno y tan obligado ; y el no habiendo
de tener hljoB en Inglaterra, podria
ser buen mediaoero para adopdonea,"
Ac. Parecer del Comeudador Mayor,
ko. (MS. before dted.)

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380

THB UNITED NBTHESLANDS.

Chap. VIL

enterprise" (the English invasion), ''and to give him the
first offer for this marriage (with Queen Mary) if he likes the
scheme. If not, he had better mention which of the Arch-
dukes should be substituted in his place/'*

There happened to be no lack of archdukes at that period
for anything comfortable that might offer— such as a throne
in England, Holland, or France — and the Austrian House
was not remarkable for refusing convenient marriages ; but
the immediate future only could show whether Alexander L
of the House of Farnese was to reign in England, or whether
the next king of that country was to be called Matthias,
Maximilian, or Ernest of Hapsbui^.

Meantime the Grand Commander was of opinion that the
invasion-project was to be pushed forward as rapidly and as
secretly as possible ; because, before any one of Philip's
nephews could place himself upon the English throne, it
was first necessary to remove Elizabeth from that position.
Before disposing of the kingdom, the preliminary step of
conquering it was necessary. Afterwards it would be desir-
able, without wasting more time than was requisite, to return
with a lai^ portion of the invading force out of England, in
order to complete the conquest of Holland. For cdTter all,
England was to be subjugated only as a portion of one general
scheme ; the main features of which were the reannexation
of Holland and '^ the islands," and the acquisition of unlimited
control upon the seas.

Thus the invasion of England was no '^ scarecrow," as Wil-
ford imagined, but a scheme already thoroughly matured. If
Holland and Zeeland should meantime fall into the hands of
Philip, it was no exa^eration on that soldier's part to observe
that the " freehold of England would be worth but little."*

' Pareoor del Ck)mendador Uajor,
Ac. (Ma before cited.)

' Upon that point there was no dif-
ference of opinion. The statesmen
and soldiers of England were unani-
mons. "If I should not,' saidBorgh-
ley, " with all the powers of my heart,
continually both wish and woxk ad-

vancement unto this action, I were an
accursed person in the sight of Ood;
considering the ends thereof tend to
the glory of God, to the safety of tfao
Queen's person, to the preservation of
this realm in a perpetual quietnea^
wherein, for my particular interesL
both lor myself and my posterity, J

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1586.

PBBILOUS POSITION OF ENaLAND.

381

To oppose this formidable array against the liberties of
Snrope stood Elizabeth Tudor and the Dutch Republic. For
the Queen, however arbitrary her nature, fitly embodied much
of the nobler elements in the expanding English national
character. She felt instinctively that her reliance in the
impending death-grapple was upon the popular principle, the
national sentiment, both in her own country and in Holland.
That principle and that sentiment were symbolized in the
^etherland revolt ; and England, although imder a somewhat
despotic rule, was already fully pervaded with the instinct of
self-government. The people held the purse and the sword.
No tyranny could be permanently established so long as the
sovereign was obliged to come every year before Parliament
to ask for subsidies ; so long as all the citizens and yeomen of
"England had weapons in their possession, and were carefully
trained to use them ; so long, in short, as the militia was the
only army, and private adventurers or trading companies
created and controlled the only navy. War, colonization,
conquest, traffic, formed a joint business and a private specu-
lation. If there were danger that England, yielding to
purely mercantile habits of thought and action, might dege-
nerate from the more martial standard to which she had been
accustomed, there might be virtue in that Netherland enter-

have as much interest as anj of mj de-
gree." rBrace, * Leya Corresp.' p. 24.)

Walsingbam had been, straightfor-
vmrd from the first in his adyocacy of
the Netherland cause, which he knew
to be identical with that of England,
and, as we have seen, had been often
indignant at the shufflings practised
bj the Qaeen's government in the
matter. He was sincerely glad that
Leicester had gone to the Provinces
before it was quite too late. **AU
honest and well-affected subjects,'*
said he to the Earl, "have cause to
thank God that you arrived there so
seasonably as you did ; for howsoever
we mislike of the enterprise here, all
England should have smarted if the
same had not been taken in hand."
(Ibid., p. 36.)

As for Leicester himself be was

always vehement upon the subject
After his arrival in the country he was
more intensely alive than ever to the
dangers impending over England, in
case tiie rebel Provinces should be re-
annexed to Spain. " He is senseless,"
said he, **that conceiveth not that if
the King of Spain had these countries
at his commandment — let her Majesty
have the best peace that ever was, or
can be made— and we shall find, as the
world now standeth, that he will force
the Queen of England and England
to be at his disposition. What with
Spain for the west, and what with
these countries for the east, England
shall trafiQo no farther any of these
ways tiian he shall give leave, with-
out every voyage shall ask the chaige
of a whole navy to pass withaL" (Ibid,
p. 82.)

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382 THB UNITED NETHERLANDS. Geap. TIX

prise, which was now to call forth all her energies. The
Provinces would be a seminary for English soldiers.

" There can be no doubt of our driving the enemy out of
the country through famine and excessive charges/' said the
plain-spoken English soldier already quoted, who came out
with Leicester, '^ if every one of us will put our minds to go
forward without making a miserable gain by the wars. A man
may see, by this little progress-journey, what this long peace
hath wrought in us. We are weary of the war before we
come where it groweth, such a danger hath this long peace
brought us into. This is, and will be, in my opinion, a most
fit school and nursery to nourish soldiers to be able to keep
and defend our country hereafter, if men will follow it."'

Wilford was vehement in denoimcing the mercantile ten-
dencies of his countrymen, and returned frequently to that
point in his communications with Walsingham and other
statesmen, "(rod hath stirred up this actiony" he repeated
again, "to be a school to breed up soldiers to defend the
freedom of England, which through these long times of peace
and quietness is brought into a most dangerous estate, if it
should be attempted. Our delicacy is such that we are
already weary, yet this journey is naught in respect to the
misery and hardship that soldiers must and do endure/' ^

He was right in his estimate of the effect likely to be
produced by the war upon the military habits of English-
men ; for there can be no doubt that the organization and
discipline of English troops was in anything but a satisfactoiy
state at that period. There was certainly vast room for im-
provement. Nevertheless he was wrong in his views of the
leading tendencies of his age. Holland and England, self-
helping, self-moving, were already inaugurating a new era in
the history of the world. The spirit of commercial maritime
enterprise — then expanding rapidly into large proportions —
was to be matched against the religious and knightly enthu-
siasm whjch had accomplished such wonders in an age that

^ Thomas Wilford to Walsingham, - Dea 1585. (S. P. Offloe US.)
* Wilford to Burghle7, ^ Dea 1585. (S. P. Offioe MS.)

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1685. TBT7B NATUBE OF THB OQNTESTl 383

was passing away. Spain still personified, and had erer per-
sonified, chiyalry, loyalty, piety ; but its chivalry, loyalty, and
piety, were now in a corrupted condition. The form was
hollow, and the sacred spark had fied. In Holland and Eng-
land intelligent enterprise had not yet d^nerated into mere
greed for material prosperity. The love of danger, the thirst
for adventure, the thrilling sense of personal responsibility
and human dignity — not the base love for land and lucre-^
ware the governing sentiments which led those bold Dutch and
English rovers to circumnavigate the world in cockle-shells,
and to beard the most potent monarch on the earth, both at
home and abroad, with a handful of volunteers.

This then was the contest, and this the machinery by which
it was to be maintained. A struggle for national independ-
ence, liberty of conscience, freedom of the seas, against sacer-
dotal and world-absorbing tyranny ; a mortal combat of the
splendid infantry of Spain and Italy, the professional reiters
of Germany, the fioating castles of a world-empire, with the
militiamen and mercantile-marine of England and Holland
united. Holland had been engaged twenty years long in the
conflict. England had thus far escaped it ; but there was no
doubt, and could be none, that her time had come. She must
fight the battle of Protestantism on sea and shore, shoulder to
shoulder, with the Netherlanders, or await the conqueror's
foot on her own soil.

What now was the disposition and what the means of the
Provinces to do their part in the contest ? If the twain, as
Holland wished, had become of one flesh, would England have
been the loser ? Was it quite sure that Elizabeth — ^had she
even accepted the less compromising title which she refused —
would not have been quite as much the protected as the
'' protectress?"

It is very certain that the English, on their arrival in the
Provinces, were singularly impressed by the opulent and
stately appearance of the country and its inhabitants. Not-
withstanding the tremendous war which the Hollanders had
been waging against Spain for twenty years, their commerce

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384

TH8 UHITSD KBTHERLAND&

Ceap. TH.

bad continaed to thriye, and their resoorces to increase.
Leicester was in a state of constant rapture at the magnifi-
cence which surrounded him, from his first entrance into the
country. Notwithstanding the admiration expressed by the
Hollanders for the individual sumptuousnees of the Lieutenant-
General; his followers, on their part, were startled by the
general luxury of their new allies. '^ The realm is rich and
full of men/' said Wilford, '^ the sums men exceed in apparel
would bear the brunt of this war f ^ and again, '^ if the exoess
used in sumptuous apparel were only abated, and that we
could convert the same to these wars, it would stop a great

gap"*

The favourable view taken by the English as to the re-
sources and inclination of the Netherland commonwealth was
universal " The general wish and desire of these country-
men,'' wrote Sir Thomas Shirley, "is that the amity begun
between England and this nation may be everlasting, and
there is not any of our company of judgment but wish the
same. For all they that see the goodliness and stateliness of
these towns, strengthened both with fortification and natural
situation, all able to defend themselves with their own abili-
ties, must needs think it too fidr a prey to be let pass, and
a thing most worthy to be embraced." ^

Leicester, whose enthusiasm continued to increase as rapidly
as the Queen's zeal seemed to be cooling, was most anxious
lest the short-comings of his own Government should work
irreparable eviL " I pray you, my lord," he wrote to Burgh-
ley, "forget not us poor exiles ; if you do, God must and will
forget you. And great pity it were that so noble provinces
and goodly havens, with such infinite ships and mariners,
should not be always as they may now easily be, at the
assured devotion of England. In my opinion he can neither
love Queen nor country that would not wish and further it
should be so. And seeing her Majesty is thus far entered into

1 Wilford to Walflingham. (MS. be-
fore cited.)

t Wilford to Burghley. (MS. before
cited.)

' Sir Thomas Shiriej to Eari of Lei.
oeeter, »^:^ (a P. Office Ma)

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1686. WEALTH AND STEBNGTH OF THB PBOVINCBa 385

the cause, and that these people comfort themselves ia full
hope of her favour, it were a sin and a shame it should not he
handled accordingly, both for honour and surety." ^

Sir John Conway, who accompanied the Earl through the
whole of his "progress-journey," was quite as much struck as
he by the flourishing aspect and English proclivities of the
Provinces. " The countries which we have passed," he said,
" are fertile in their nature ; the towns, cities, buildings, of
more state and beauty, to such as have travelled other
countries, than any they have ever seen. The people the
most industrious by all means to live that be in the world,
and, no doubt, passing rich. They outwardly show them-
selves of good heart, zeal, and loyalty, towards the Queen
^ur mistress. There is no doubt that the general. number of
them had rather come under her Majesty's regiment, than to
continue under the States and burgomasters of their country.
The impositions which they lay in defence of their State is
wonderful. If her Highness proceed in this beginning, she
may retain these parts hers, with their good love, and her
great glory and gain. I would she might as perfectly see
the whole country, towns, profits, and pleasures thereof, in a
glass, as she may her own face ; I do then assure myself she
would with careful consideration receive them, and not allow
of any man's reason to the contrary. . . . The country is
worthy any prince in the world, the people do reverence the
Queen, and in love of her do so believe that the Grace of
Leicester is by God and her sent among them for her good.
And they believe in him for the redemption of their bodies,
as they do in God for their souls. I dare pawn my soul, that
if her Majesty will allow him the just and rightful mean to
manage this cause, that he will so handle the manner and
matter as shall highly both please and profit her Majesty,
and increase her country, and his own honour." -

Lord North, who held a high conmiand in the auxiliary
force, spoke also with great enthusiasm, " Had your Lord-

' Leicester to Bnrghley, 2t Dec. 1586. (S. P. Office MS.)

« Sir Joha Conway to , 27 Deo, 1685. {Q. P. Office Ma)

YOL. I. — 2 A

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386 ^^^B UNITED NETHERLANDS. Chap. YIL

ship Been/' he wrote to Burghley, " with what thankful hearts
these countries receive all her Majesty's subjects, what multi-
tudes of people they be, what stately cities and buildings
they have, how notably fortified by art, how strong by nature,
how fertile the whole country, and how wealthy it is, you
would, I know, praise the Lord that opened your lips to
undertake this enterprise, the continuance and good success
whereof will eternise her Majesty, beautify her crown, with
the most shipping, with the most populous and wealthy
countries, that ever prince added to his kingdom, or that is
or can be found in Europe. I lack wit, good my Lord, to
dilate this matter." ^

Leicester, better informed than some of those in his employ-
ment, entertained strong suspicions concerning Philip's inten-
tions with regard to England ; but he felt sure that the only
way to laugh at a Spanish invasion was to make Holland
and England as nearly one as it was possible to do.

" No doubt that the King of Spain's preparations by sea
be great," he said ; " but I know that all that he and his
friends can make are not able to match with her Majesty's
forces, if it please her to use the means that God hath given
her. But besides her own, if she need, I will undertake to
furnish her from hence, upon two months' warning, a navy
for strong and tall ships, with their furniture and mariners,
that the King of Spain, and all that he can make, shall not
be able to encounter with them. I think the bruit of his
preparations is made the greater to terrify her Majesty and
this coimtry people. But, thanked be God, her Majesty hath
little cause to fear him. And in this country they esteem no
more of his power by sea than I do of six fisher-boats off Hye"^

Thus suggestive is it to peep occasionally behind the cur-
tain. In the calm cabinet of the Escorial, Philip and his
comendador mayor are laying their heads together, preparing
the invasion of England ; making arrangements for King
Alexander's coronation in that island, and — ^like sensible, iar-

> lord North to Lord Buigbley, 27 Dea 1586. (S. P. Office MS.)
* Leicerter to Burghley, 29 Jan. 1686. (S. P. Office IC)

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1685. POWBB OP THE DUTCH AND ENGLISH PBOPLK 387

Biglited persons as they are— even settling the succession to
the throne after Alexander's death, instead of carelessly
leaving such distant details to chance, or subsequent con-
sideration. On the other hand, plain Dutch sea-captains,
grim beggars of the sea, and the like, denizens of a free
commonwealth and of the boundless ocean — ^men who are at
home on blue water, and who have burned gunpowder against
those prodigious slave-rowed galleys of Spain — together with
their new allies, the dauntless mariners of England — who at
this very moment are " singeing the King of Spain's beard,"
as it had never been singed before — are not so much awe-
struck with the famous preparations for invasion as was
perhaps to be expected. There may be a delay, after all,
before Parma can be got safely established in London, and
Elizabeth in Orcus, and before the blood-tribunal of the
Inquisition can substitute its sway for that of the "most
noble, wise, and learned United States." Certainly, Philip
the Prudent would have been startled, difficult as he was to
astonish, could he have known that those rebel Hollanders of
his made no more account of his slowly- preparing invincible
armada than of six fisher-boats off Eye. Time alone could
show where confidence had been best placed. Meantime it
was certain, that it well behoved Holland and England to
hold hard together, nor let " that enterprise quail."

The famous expedition of Sir Francis Drake was the com-
mencement of a revelation. " That is the string," said Lei-
cester, " that touches the King indeed."^ It was soon to be
made known to the world that the ocean was not a Spanish
Lake, nor both the Indies the private property of Philip.
" While the riches of the Indies continue," said Leicester,
"he thinketh he will be able to weary out all other princes i
and I know, by good means, that he more feareth this action
of Sir Francis than he ever did anything that has been
attempted against him."^ With these continued assaults
upon the golden treasure-houses of Spain, and by a deter-
mined effort to maintain the still more important stronghold

' Leicestor to Borghley, 29 Jan. 1686. (9. P. Office MS.) ' Ibid.

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388 7HB mnTED Netherlands. chip, yu

which had been wrested from her in the NetherlandB,
England might still be safe. '^ This countrj is so full of
ships and mariners/' said Leicester, ^' so abundant in wealth,
and in the means to make money, that, had it but stood
neutral, what an aid had her Majesty been deprived of But
if it had been the enemy's also, I leave it to your consideration
what had been likely to ensue. These people do now honour
and love her Majesty in marvellous sort." ^

There was but one feeling on this most important subject
among the English who went to the Netherlands. All held
the same language. The question was plainly presented
to England whether she would secure to herself the great
bulwark of her defence, or place it in the hands of her mortal
foe ? How could there be doubt or supineness on such a
momentous subject ? " Surely, my Lord," wrote Richard
Cavendish to Burghley, " if you saw the wealth, the strength,
the shipping, and abundance of mariners, whereof these
countries stand furnished, your heart would quake to think
that so hateful an enemy as Spain should again be furnished
with such instruments ; and the Spaniards themselv^ do
nothing doubt upon the hope of the consequence hereof^ to
assure themselves of the certain ruin of her Majesty and the
whole estate."^

And yet at the very outset of Leicester's administration,
there was a whisper of peace-overtures to Spain, secretly
made by Elizabeth in her own behalf, and in that of the
Provinces. We shall have soon occasion to examine into the
truth of these rumours, which, whether originating in truth
or falsehood, were most pernicious in their eflfects. ThQ
Hollanders were determined never to return to slavery
again, so long as they could fire a shot in their own defenca
They earnestly wished English cooperation, but it was the
cooperation of English matchlocks and English cutlasses,
not English protocols and apostilles. It was military, not
diplomatic machinery that they required. If they could

" Leicester to Burghley, (MS. before cited.)
* Richard Oayendiah to Lord Bor^ej, 18 Man^ 1686. (S. P. OfBoe Ma)

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/685. AFFECTION OF THE HOLLANDERS FOB THE QUEEN. 389

make up their minds to submit to Philip and the Inquisition
again, Philip and the Holy Office were but too ready to
receive the erring penitents to their embrace without a go-
between.

It was war, not peace, therefore, that Holland meant by
the English alliance. It was war, not peace, that Philip
intended. It was war, not peace, that Elizabeth's most trusty
counsellors knew to be inevitable. There was also, as we
have shown, no doubt whatever as to the good disposition,
and the great power of the republic to bear its share in the
common cause. The enthusiasm of the Hollanders was
excessive. " There was such a noise, both in Delft, Rotter-
dam, and Dort," said Leicester, " in crying * God save the
Queen !' as if she had been in Cheapside."^ Her own
subjects could not be more loyal than were the citizens
and yeomen of Holland. " The members of the States dare
not but be Queen Elizabeth's," continued the Earl, " for by
the living God I if there should fall but the least unkindness
through their default, the people would kill them. All sorts
of people, from highest to lowest, assure themselves, now
that they have her Majesty's good countenance, to beat all the
Spaniards out of their country. Never was there people in such
jollity as these be. I could be content to lose a limb, could
her Majesty see these countries and towns as I have done."*
He was in truth excessively elated, and had already, in
imagination, vanquished Alexander Famese, and eclipsed the
feme of William the Silent. " They will serve under me,"
he observed, " with a better will than ever they served under
the Prince of Orange. Yet they loved him well, but they
never hoped of the liberty of this country till now."*

Thus the English government had every reason to be satisfied
with the aspect of its affairs in the Netherlands. But the
nature of the Earl's authority was indefinite. The Queen had
refused the sovereignty and the protectorate. She had also

Bruce, * Leyc Corresp.' p. 30, 31, 32,

< Ibid. s Ibid, p. 61, - Jan. 1586.

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390 "^^^ UNITBD NBTHEBLAND& Ghap. YH

distinctly and peremptorily forbidden Leicester to assmne any
office or title that might seem at variance with such a refusal
on her part. Yet it is certain that^ from the very first, he had
contemplated some slight disobedience to these prohibitions.
'^ What government is requisite" — wrote he in a secret memo-
randum of " things most necessary to understand" — " to be
appointed to him that shall be their governor ? First, that
he have as much authority as the Prince of Orange, or any
other governor or captain-general, hath had heretofore."^
Now the Prince of Orange hath been stadholder of each of
the United Provinces, governor-general, commander-in-chief,
count of Holland in prospect, and sovereign, if he had so
willed it. It would doubtless have been most desirable for
the country, in its confused condition, had there been a person
competent to wield, and willing to accept, the authority once
exercised by William I. But it was also certain that this
was exactly the authority which Elizabeth had forbidden
Leicester to assume. Yet it is difficult to understand what
position the Qaeen intended that her favourite should maintain,
nor how he was to carry out her instructions, while submitting
to her prohibitions. He was directed to cause the confused
government of the Provinces to be redressed, and a better form
of polity to be established. He was ordered, in particular, to
procure a radical change in the constitution, by causing the
deputies to the Greneral Assembly to be empowered to decide
upon important matters, without, as had always been the
custom, making direct reference to the assemblies of the
separate Provinces. He was instructed to bring about, in some
indefinite way, a complete reform in financial matters, by
compelling the States-General to raise money by liberal taxa-
tion, according to the " advice of her Majesty, delivered unto
them by her lieutenant."*

And how was this radical change in the institutions of the
Provinces to be made by an English earl, whose only authority

' Bruce, * Leya Corresp.' p. 20, a.d. 1586.
* Leycester'a Instnictiozis, in Bnice, 12-15, December, 1685.

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1585.

8BCBBT PURPOSES OF LEIOBSTEB.

391

was that of commander-in-chief over five thousand half-starved,
unpaid, utterly-forlorn English troops ?

The Netherland envoys in England, in their parting advice,
most distinctly urged him ^^ to hale authority with the first, to
declare himself chief head and governor-general " of the whole
country,^ — ^for it was a political head that was wanted in order
to restore unity of action — not an additional general, where
there were already generals in plenty. Sir John Norris,
valiant, courageous, experienced — even if not, as Walsingham
observed, a " religious soldier," nor learned in anything " hut
a kind of licentious and corrupt government"* — wa^ not
likely to require the assistance of the new lieutenant-general
in field operations, nor could the army he brought into a state
of thorough discipline and efficiency by the magic of Leicester's
name. The rank and file of the English army — not the com-
manders— needed strengthening. The soldiers required shoe^
and stockings, bread and meat, and for these articles there
were not the necessary funds, nor would the title of Lieutenant-
Q^neral supply the deficiency. The little auxiliary force was,
in truth, in a condition most pitiable to behold : it was difficult
to say whether the soldiers who had been already for a con-
siderable period in the Netherlands, or those who had been
recently levied in the purlieus of London, were in the most
unpromising plight. The b^garly state in which Elizabeth
had been willing that her troops should go forth to the wars
was a sin and a disgrace. Well might her Lieutenant-General
say that her "poor subjects were no better than abjects."*
There were few eflfective companies remaining of the old force.
" There is but a small number of the first bands left," said
Sir John Conway, " and those so pitiful and unable ever to
serve again, as I leave to speak further of them, to avoid grief
to your heart. A monstrous fault there hath been some-
where."*

' Adyioe of the Commiadoners to
Leicester, in Bruce, 15-19, jld, 1685.

'Brace's 'Leyc Corresp.,* 222, -

April, 1586.

* Ibid. 23, - Dec., 1585.

* Sir John Conway to

27 Dec., 1586. (S. P. Office Ma)

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I

392 ^^^B^ UNITBD NBTHSRLAKDa Chap. TU

Leicester took a manful and sagacious couiBe at starting.
Those who had no stomach for the fight were ordered to
depart. The chaplain gave them sermons ; the Lieutenant-
Gbneral, on St. Stephen's day, made them a "pithy and
honourable '' oration, and those who had the wish or the means
to buy themselves out of the adventure, were allowed to do
so : for the Earl was much disgusted with the raw material
out of which he was expected to manufacture serviceable
troops. Swaggering ruffians from the disreputable haunts of
London, cockney apprentices, broken-down tapsters, discarded
serving men ; the Bardolphs and Pistols, Mouldys, Warts,
and the like — ^more at home in tavern-brawls or in dark lanes
than on the battle-field — ^were not the men to be entrusted
with the honour of England at a momentous crisis. He spoke
with grief and shame of the worthless character and condition
of the English youths sent over to the Netherlands. " Believe
me," said he, " you will all repent the cockney kind of bringing
up at this day of young men. They be gone hence with shame
enough, and too many, that I will warrant, will make as many
frays with bludgeons and bucklers as any in London shall
do ; but such shall never have credit with me again. Our
simplest men in show have been our best men, and your
gaUant blood and ruffian men the worst xfall others" ^

Much winnowed, as it was, the small force might in time
become more eflfective ; and the Earl spent freely of his own
substance to supply the wants of his followers, and to atone
for the avarice of his sovereign. The picture painted however
by muster-master Digges of the plumed troops that had thus
come forth to maintain the honour of England and the cause
of liberty, was anything but imposing. None knew better
than Digges their squalid and slovenly condition, or was more
anxious to effect a reformation therein, " A very wise, stout
fellow he is," said the Earl, "and very careful to serve
thoroughly her Majesty."* Leicester relied much upon his

> Brace's * Leyc. Corresp.,' 228, — April, 1686.

• Ibid. 136, ?i-^, 1686-6.
• Xsreh

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1585.

WBBTGHED CONDITIOK OF ENaUSH TBOOPS.

393

efforts. ^^ There is good hope/' said the muster-master, '^ that
his excellency will shortly establish such good order for the
government and training of our nation^ that these weak, bad-
famished, Hl-armed, and worse-trained bands, thus rawly left
onto him, shall within a few months prove as well armed,
trained, complete, gallant companies as shall be foimd else-
where in Europe."^ The damage they were likely to inflict
upon the enemy seemed very problematical, until they should
have been improved by some wholesome ball-practice. " They
are so imskilfal," said Digges, " that if they should be carried
to the field no better trained than yet they are, they would
prove much more dangerous to their own leaders and com-
panies than any ways serviceable on their enemies. The
hard and miserable estate of the soldiers generally, excepting
officers, hath been such, as by the confessions of the captains
themselves, they have been offered by many of their soldiers
thirty and forty pounds a piece to be dismissed and sent away;
whereby I doubt not the flower of the pressed English bands
are gone, and the remnant supplied with such paddy persons
as conmionly, in voluntary procurements, men are glad to
accept.''^

Even after the expiration of four months the condition of
the paddy persons continued most destitute. The English
soldiers became mere barefoot starving beggars in the streets,
as had never been the case in the worst of times, when the
States were their paymasters.^ The little money brought
from the treasury by the Earl, and the large sums which he
had contributed out of his own pocket, had been spent in
settling, and not fully settling, old scores. " Let me entreat

to Walflingham, -

Jan.,

» Diggea

1585. (a P. Offioe MS.)

■ Digges to Walamgham, MS. before
cited.

• " My good Lord," wrote Cayendish
toBorghley, *'what English heart can
without shame or g^ef hear the Flush*
ingers reproechMly say, that even in
their hardest estate the soldiers of that
town were always paid at every 16

days' end, whereas the same being now
in H. Majesty's hands, her people
there can get no pay in three months,
80 that they be almost driven either to
starve or beg in the streets. These be
heavy spectedes in the eyes of such
as look for relief at H. Majesty's hands.
My good Lord, the storm of my care-
ful and grieved mind doth carry me I
know not whither," &o. 18 March,
1586. (S. P. Office Ma)

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394 ^^B UNITBD KBTHEBLANDS. Chap. YH

you/' wrote Leicester to WaLnngham, ^^ to be a mean to her
Majesty, that the poor soldiers be not beaten for my sake.
There came no penny of treasure over since my coming hither.
That which then came was most part due before it came. There
is much still due. They cannot get a penny, their credit is
spent, they perish for want of victttals and clothing in great
numbers. The whole are ready to mutiny. They cannot be
gotten out to service, because they cannot discharge the debts
they owe in the places where they are. I have let of my
own more than I may spare.'' ^ "There was no soldi^ yet
able to buy himself a pair of hoaCy* said the Earl again, " and
it is too, too great shame to see how they go, and it kills their
hearts to show themselves among men"*

There was no one to dispute the Earl's claims. The Nassau
family was desperately poor, and its chief, young Maurice,
although he had been elected stadholder of Holland and Zee-
land, had every disposition — as Sir Philip upon his arrival in
Flushing immediately informed his uncle — to submit to the
authority of the new governor. Louisa de Coligny, widow of
William the Silent, was most anxious for the English alliance,
through which alone she believed that the fallen fortunes of
the family could be raised. It was thus only, she thought,
that the vengeance for which she thirsted upon the murderers
of her father and her husband could be obtained. " We see
now," she wrote to Walsingham, in a fiercer strain than would
seem to comport with so gentle a nature — deeply wronged as
the daughter of Coligny and the wife of Orange had been by
Papists — " we see now the effects of our God's promises. He
knows when it pleases Him to avenge the blood of His own,
and I confess that I feel most keenly the joy which is shared
in by the whole Church of God. There is none that has
received more wrong from these murderers than I have done,
and I esteem myself happy in the midst of my miseries that
God has permitted me to see some vengeance. These begin-

' Leicester to Burghley and Walsingham, March 16, 1686. (S. P. Office MSJ
8 Bruce, 167, - March, 1686.

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Lft85.

THB NASSAUB AND HOHBNLO.

395

nings make me hope that I shall see yet more, which will be
not less useful to the good, both in yoar country and in these
isles." ^

There was no disguise as to the impoverished condition to
which the Nassau family had been reduced by the self-devotion
of its chief. They were obliged to ask alms of England, until
the " sapling should become a tree." " Since it is the will of
God," wrote the Princess to Davison, ^^ I am not ashamed to
declare the necessity of our house, for it is in His cause that
it has fallen. I pray yon. Sir, therefore to do me and these
children the favour to employ your thoughts in this regard."^
K there had been any strong French proclivities on their part
— as had been so warmly asserted — they were likely to dis-
appear. ViUiers, who had been a confidential friend of William
the Silent, and a strong favourer of France, in vain endeavoured
to keep alive the ancient sentiments towards that country,
although he was thought to be really endeavouring to bring
about a submission of the Nassaus to Spain. " This Villiers,"
said Leicester, ^^ is a most vile traitorous knave, and doth abuse
a young nobleman here extremely, the Count Maurice. For
all his religion, he is a more earnest persuader secretly to have
him yield to a reconciliation than Sainte Aldegonde was. He
shall not tarry ten days neither in Holland nor Zeeland. He
is greatly hated here of all sorts, and it shall go hard but I
will win the young Count."*

As for Hohenlo, whatever his opinions might once have
been regarding the comparative merits of Frenchmen and
Englishmen, he was now warmly in favour of England, and
expressed an intention of putting an end to the Yillieirs'

^ "Noufl ToyoTiBf Monsieor, les efifets
des promesseB de notre Dieu qai ecait

S^iand il luj plait yenger le sang des
tens, y &at que je confesse que je re-
KDs fort partiGulieremeDt ceste joye
oommone a touto Teglise de Dieu;
ooname ny ayant personne qui eust
woeu plus d'offence de cee maasa-
^^'^^ et m*estime heureuse panni
^^'^ mee malheurs de ce que Dieu a
pennis que j'en aye veu la vengeance.

Ccs commencemens me font esperer
que j'en verrai encores d'autree, qd ne
seront moins utiles aux gens de bien,
et en particulier en votre royaume et en
cos Isles." Princess of Orange to Sir

F. Walsingham, — Jan., 1586. (S. P.

Office Ma)

* Princess of Orange to Davison,
1 Jan., 1586. (a P. Office Ma)

Bruce, 13,

1585-6.

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396 ^^^ T7NITJSD NETHBBLANDS. Chip. YII

influence by simply drowning Villiere. The announcement of
this summary process towards the counsellor was not untinged
with rudeness towards the pupiL " The young Count," said
Leicester, "by Villiers* means, was not willing to have
Flushing rendered, which the Count HoUock perceiving, told
the Count Maurice, in a great rage, that if he took any course
than that of the Queen of England, and swore by no b^gars,
he would drown his priest in the haven before his face, and
turn himself and his mother-in-law out of their house there,
and thereupon went with Mr. Davison to the delivery of it/'*
Certainly, if Hohenlo permitted himself such startling demon-
strations towards the son and widow of William the Silent, it
must have been after his habitual potations had been of the
deepest. Nevertheless it was satisfactory for the new chief-
tain to know that the influence of so vehement a partisan was
secured for England. The Count's zeal deserved gratitude
upon Leicester's part, and Leicester was grateful. " This man
must be cherished," said the Earl ; " he is sound and faithful,
and hath indeed all the chief holds in his hands, and at his
commandment. Ye shall do well to procure him a letter of
thanks, taking knowledge in general of his good- will to her
Majesty. He is a right Almayn in manner and fashion, free
of his purse and of his drink, yet do I wish him her Majesty's
pensioner before any prince in Grermany, for he loves her and
is able to serve her, and doth desire to be known her servant
He hath been laboured by his nearest kinsfolk and friends in
Germany to have left the States and to h^ve the King of
Spain's pension and very great reward ; but he would not. I
trust her Majesty will accept of his ofier to be her servant
during his life, being indeed a very noble soldier."* The Earl
was indeed inclined to take so cheerful view of matters as to
believe that he should even effect a reform in the noble
soldier's most unpleasant characteristic. " HoUock is a wise
gallant gentleman," ho said, "and very well esteemed. He
hath only one fault, which is drinking ; but good hope that
he will amend it. Some make me believe that I shall be

I Bruce, 74, 75, date just quoted. ' Ibid.

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686. THE BARL'S OPINION OF THEM. 397

able to do much with him, and I mean to do my best/ for I
see no man that knows all these countries, and the people of
all sorts, like him, and this fault overthrows all." ^

Accordingly, so long as Maurice continued under the
tutelage of this uproarious cavalier — who, at a later day, was
to become his brother-in-law — ^he was not likely to interfere
with Leicester's authority. The character of the young Count
was developing slowly. More than his father had ever done,
he deserved the character of the taciturn. A quiet keen
observer of men and things, not demonstrative nor talkative,
nor much given to writing — a modest, calm, deeply-reflecting
stuiJent of military and mathematical science— he was not at
that moment deeply inspired by political ambition. He was
perhaps more desirous of raising the fallen fortunes of his
house than of securing the independence of his country. Even
at that early age, however, his mind was not easy to read, and
his character was somewhat of a puzzle to those who studied
it. "I see him much discontented with the States," said
Leicester ; ^^ he hath a sullen deep wit. The young gentleman
is yet to be won only to her Majesty, I perceive, of his own
inclination. The house is marvellous poor and little regarded
by the States, and if they get anything it is like to be by her
Majesty, which should be altogether, and she may easily do
for him to win him sure. I will undertake it/'^ Yet the
Earl was ever anxious about some of the influences which sur-
rounded Maurice, for he thought him more easily guided than
he wished him to be by any others but himself. " He stands
upon making and marring," he said, ^^ as he meets with good
counsel."^ And at another time he observed, "The young
gentleman hath a solemn sly wit ; but, in troth, if any be to
be doubted toward the Kiug of Spain, it is he and his coun-
sellors, for they have been altogether, so far, French, and so
far in mislike with England as they cannot almost hide it." *

And there was still another member of the house of Nassau

"-- — • Ibid. 374, I'i^, 1586.

4 Ibid. H ^^^ 1686.

' Bruce, 61, - Jan., 1586.
' Bruce*8 *Leya Oorreep.,* 61, 62,
jj Jan., 1585-6.

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398 ^^^ UNITBD KBTHERLAND& Chap. YE

who was already an honour to his illustrious race. Count
William Lewis, hardly more than a boy in years, had already
served many campaigns, and had been desperately wounded
in the cause for which so much of the heroic blood of his race
had been shed. Of the five Nassau brethren, his jbther
Count John was the sole survivor, and as devoted as ever to
the cause of Netherland liberty. The other four had already
laid down their lives in its defence. And William Lewis, was
worthy to be the nephew of William and Lewis, Henry and
Adolphus, and the son of John. Not at all a beautiful or
romantic hero in appearance, but an odd-looking little man,
with a roimd bullet-head, close-clipped hair, a small, twinkling,
sagacious eye, rugged, somewhat pufify* features screwed
whimsically awry, with several prominent warts dotting,
without ornamenting, all that was visible of a face which was
buried up to the ears in a furzy thicket of yellow-brown beard,
the tough young stadholder of Friesland, in his iron corslet,
and halting upon his maimed 1^, had come forth with other
notable personages to the Hague. He wished to do honour
heartily and freely to Queen Elizabeth and her representative.
And Leicester was favourably impressed with his new acquaint-
ance. " Here is another little fellow," he said, " as little as
may be, but one of the gravest and wisest young men that
ever I spake withal ; it is the Count Guilliam of Nassau. He
governs Friesland; I would every Province had such another.'**
Thus, upon the great question which presented itself upon
the very threshold — the nature and extent of the authority
to be exercised by Leicester — the most influential Nether-
landers were in favour of a large and liberal interpretation of
his powers. The envoys in England, the Nassau family,
Hohenlo, the prominent members of the States, such as the
shrewd, plausible Menin, the "honest and painful" Falk,* and
the chancellor of Gelderland — "that very great, wise, old
man Leoninus," ^ as Leicester called him, — ^were all desirous

» Bruce, 61, - Jan., 1686.

• Leicester to Bmighley, IStli Feb-
15^6. (S. P. Oflloe M&)

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1686.

GLEBE AND SHiLIGBEW.

S99

that he should assume an absolute governor-generalship over
the whole country. This was a grave and a delicate matter,
and needed to be severely scanned, without delay. But
besides the natives, there were two Englishmen — together
with ambassador Davison — who were his official advisers.
Bartholomew Clerk, LL.D., and Sir Henry KiUigrew had
been appointed by the Queen to be members of the
council of the United States, according to the provisions of
the August treaty. The learned Bartholomew hardly seemed
equal to his responsible position among those long-headed
Dutch politicians. Philip Sidney — the only blemish in
whose character was an intolerable tendency to puns— ob-
served that " Doctor Clerk was of those clerks that are not
always the wisest, and so my lord too late was finding him."^
The Earl himself, who never undervalued the intellect of the
Netherlanders whom he came to govern, anticipated but small
assistance from the English civilian. '^ I find no great stuff in
my little colleague,' he said, " nothing that I looked for. It
is a pity you have no more of his profession, able men to
serve. This man hath good will, and a pretty scholar's wit ;
but he 18 too little for these big fellows^ as heavy as Tier Majesty
thinks them to be. I wotUd she had but one or twOy such as the
worst of half a score be here/'* The other English state-
counsellor seemed more promising. " I have one here," said
the Earl, ^^ in whom I take no small comfort ; that is little
Hal KiUigrew. I assure you, my lord, he is a notable servant,
and more in him than ever I heretofore thought of him,
though I always knew him to be an honest man and an able."^
But of all the men that stood by Leicester's side, the most
faithful, devoted, sagacious, experienced, and sincere of his
counsellors, English or Flemish, was envoy Davison. It is
important to note exactly the opinion that had been formed
of him by those most competent to judge, before events in

> Gray's Sidney, p. 313. Thus:
"Tomer, I hope, will serve my turn
well;" and again, "Mr. Paul Bus
hath too many busses in his head,"

and 80 on. (Ibid. 313, 327.)
' Bruoe's *Leyc Cbrresp.,' 33.
3 Leyoester to Burghley, 18 Feb,

1586. (S. P. Office MS.)

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400 THB UNITED NETHERLANDS. Chap. VH

which he was called on to play a prominent and responsible
though secondctry part, had placed him in a somewhat false
position.

" Mr. Davison," wrote Sidney, " is here very careful in her
Majesty's causes, and in your Lordship's. He takes great
pains and goes to great charges for it." The Earl himself
was always vehement in his praise. " Mr. Davison," said be
at another time, '^ has dealt most painfully and chargeably m
her Majesty's service here, and you shall find him as sufiS«
ciently able to deliver the whole state of this country as aDy
man that ever was in it, acquainted with all sorts here that
are men of dealing. Surely, my Lord, you shall do a good
deed that he may bo remembered with her Majesty's gracious
consideration, for his being here has been very chargeable,
having kept a very good countenance, and a very good table,
all his abode here, and of such credit with all the chief sort,
as I know no stranger in any place hath the like. As I am
a suitor to you to be his good friend to her Majesty, so I must
heartily pray you, good my Lord, to procure his coming hither
shortly to me again, for I know not almost how to do without
him. I confess it is a wrong to the gentleman, and I protest
before God, if it were for mine own particular respect, I
would not require it for 5000?. But your Lordship doth little
think how greatly I have to do, as also how needful for her
Majesty's service his being here will be. Wherefore, good
my Lord, if it may not offend her Majesty, be a mean for this
my request, for her own service' sake wholly."

Such were the personages who surrounded the Earl on his
arrival in the Netherlands, and such their sentiments respect-
ing the position that it was desirable for him to assuma
But there was one very important fact. He had studiously
concealed from Davison that the Queen had peremptorily and
distinctly forbidden his accepting the office of govemor-

' Sidney to Leicester, 22 Nov. 1686.
Brit Mus. Galba, C. viii. 218, MS.

Same to same, - Feb. 1586. (a P.

Office MS.)

2 Leicester to Bm^gfalej, 27 Dec
1685. (a P. Office M&)

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I58e. INTBBYIBW WUH THE STATB& 401

general It seemed reasonable, if he came thither at all,
that he should come in that elevated capacity. The States
wished it. The Earl ardently longed for it. The ambassador,
who knew more of Netherland politics and Netherland
humours than any man did, approved of it. The interests of
both England and Holland seemed to require it. No one
but Leicester knew that her Majesty had forbidden it.

Accordingly, no sooner had the bell-ringing, cannon-explo-
sions, bonfires, and charades, come to an end, and the Earl got
fairly housed in the Hague, than the States took the affair of
government seriously in hand.

On the 9th January, Chancellor Leoninus and Paul Buys
waited upon Davison, and requested a copy of the commission
granted by the Queen to the Earl. The copy was refused,
but the commission was read ; ^ by which it appeared that he
had received absolute command over her Majesty's forces in
the Netheriands by land and sea, together with authority to
send for all gentlemen and other personages out of England
that he might think useful to him. On the 10th the States
passed a resolution to offer him the governor-generalship over
all the Provinces. On the same day another committee
waited upon his " Excellency" — as the States chose to deno-
minate the Earl, much to the subsequent wrath of the Queen
— and made an appointment for the whole body to wait upon
him the following morning.^

Upon that day accordingly — New Year's Day, by the

English reckoning, 11th January by the New Style — ^the

deputies of all the States at an early hour came to his i

,;. ., , 1-11 111- Jail- 1686.

lodgmgs, with much pomp, preceded by a herald "

and trumpeters, Leicester, not expecting them quite so soon,
was in his dressing-room, getting ready for the solemn audi-
ence, when, somewhat to his dismay, a flourbh of trumpets
announced the arrival of the whole body in his principal hall
of audience. Hastening his preparations as much as possible.

1 Resolatien van de Staten G^eral,
a« 1686. (Hague Arohivee, MS., -
Jan. 1586.)

VOL. I.— 2 B

* Ibid. (Compare Bor, IL 686^
8eq,

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402 ^I^HR UNITED MKTffKRLANnR Chap. YU

he descended to that apartment, and was instantly saluted by
a flourish of rhetoric still more formidable ; for ttiat '^ very
great, and wise old Leoninus/' forthwith b^an an oration,
which promised to be of portentous length and serioos
meaning. The Earl was slightly flustered, when, fntunately,
some one whispered in his ear that they had come to offer
him the much-coveted prize of the stadholderate-generaL
Thereupon he made bold to interrupt the flow of the chan-
cellor's eloquence in its first outpourings. '^ As this is a v^
private matter,'* said he, " it will be better to treat of it in a
more private place. I pray you therefore to come into my
chamber, where these things may be more conveniently
discussed." *

" You hear what my Lord says," cried Leoninus, turning to
his companions ; '^ we are to withdraw into his chamber."^

Accordingly they withdrew, accompanied by the Earl,
and by five or six select counsellors, among whom were
Davison and Dr. Clerk. Then the chancellor once more
commenced his harangue, and went handsomely through the
usual forms of compliment, first to the Queen, and then to
her representative, concluding with an earnest request that
the Earl — although her Majesty had declined the sovereignty
— '^ would take the name and place of absolute governor and
general of all their forces and soldiers, with the disposition
of their whole revenues and taxes." *

So soon as the oration was concluded, Leicester, who did
not speak French, directed Davison to reply in that language.

The envoy accordingly, in name of the Earl, expressed the
deepest gratitude for this mark of the affection and confidence
of the States-General towards the Queen. He assured them
that the step thus taken by them would be the cause of still
more favour and affection on the part of her Majesty, who
would unquestionably, from day to day, augment the succour
that she was extending to the Provinces in order to relieve
men from their misery. For himself, th6 Earl protested that

1 Bruoo*8 *Leya Corresp.,' p. 68, - Jan. 1686. « Ibid.

3 Brace, 58, - Jan. 15Rft

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1586. GOYSRNMENT-GBNKBAL OFFBBBD TO THE EABL.

403

he could never sufficiently recompense the States for the
honour which had thus been conferred upon ^^rn^ even if he
should live one hundred lives. Although he felt himself
quite unable to sustain the weight of so great an office^ yet he
declared that they might repose with full confidence on his
integrity and good intentions. Nevertheless, as the authority
thus offered to him was very arduous, and as the subject
required deep deliberation, he requested that the proposition
should be reduced to writing, and delivered into his hands.
He might then come to a conclusion thereupon, most con-
ducive to the glory of Q-od and the welfare of the land. *

Three days afterwards, 14th January, the offer, drawn up
formally in writing, was presented to envoy Davison, according
to the request of Leicester. Three days latter, 17th ij^^ ^^g^
January, his Excellency having deliberated upon the ^
proposition, requested a committee of conference.* ^^
The conference took place the same day, and there was some
discussion upon matters of detail, principally relating to the
matter of contributions. The Earl, according to the report
of the committee, manifested no repugnance to the acceptance
of the office, provided these points could be satisfactorily
adjusted. He seemed, on the contrary, impatient, rather
than reluctant ; for, on the day following the conference, he
sent his secretary Gilpin with a somewhat importunate
message. " His Excellency was surprised," said the secre-
tary, " that the States were so long in coming to a resolution
on the matters suggested by him in relation to the offer of
the government-general ; nor could his Excellency imagine
the cause of the delay."*

' BeeoL Stat Q^neral, i Jan. 1686.

(Hague ArchiFes, MS.) According to
the Earl's own account of his speech,
through the mouth of Davison, he had
mnch more distinctly expressed his
rehiotance to accept the authority
offered, placing his refusal, not on the
ground of unfitness, but on the unex-
pected nature of the proposition, and
upon its "being fhrther than had past

in the contract with her Majesty. **
The account in the text is fi^m the
MS. journal of the Sessions of the
States General, kept ftom day to day
by the clerk of that assembly.

• ResoL Stat Gen. ^-^ Jan. 1586.
» ResoL Stat Gen. ^ Jan. 15Sa
(MSSl)

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404 THB UNITBD NBTHBBLAHDa Chap. Til

For, in truth, the delay was caused by au exoessiye, rather
than a doficieDt, appetite for power on the part of his Excel-
lency. The States, while conferring what they called the
'^absolute'" government, by which it afterwards appeared
that they meant absolute, in regard to time, not to function
—were very properly desirous of retaining a wholesome control
over that government by means of the state-council. They
wished not only to establish such a council, as a check upon
the authority of the new governor, but to share with him at
least in the appointment of the members who were io
compose the board. But the aristocratic Earl was already
restive under the thought of any restraint — ^most of all the
restraint of individuals belonging to what he considered the
humbler classes.

<^ Cousin, my lord ambassador," said he to Davison, ^' among
your sober companions be it always remembered, I beseech
you, that your cousin have no other alliance but with gentle
blood. By no means consent that he be linked in fitster
bonds than their absolute grant may yield him a free and
honourable government, to be able to do such service as shall
be meet for an honest man to perform in such a calling,
which of itself is very noble. But yet it is not more to be
embraced, if I were to be led in alliance by such keepers as
will sooner draw my nose from the right scent of the chace,
than to lead my feet in the true pace to pursue the game I
desire to reach. Consider, I pray you, therefore, what is to be
done, and how unfit it will be in respect of my poor self, and
how imacceptable to her Majesty, and how advantageous to
enemies that will seek holes in my coat, if I should take so
great a name upon me, and so little power. They challenge
acceptation already, and I challenge their absolute grant and
offer to me, before they spoke of any instructions ; for so it was
when Leoninus first spoke to me with them all on New Years-
Day, as you heard — offering in his speech all manner of
absolute authority. If it please them to confirm this, without
restraining instructions, I will willingly serve the States, or

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i68e.

DISOUSSIOl^S ON THB SUBJEOT.

4D5

else^ with such advising iDstructioDS as the Dowager of
Hungary had." ^

This was explicit enough, and Davison, who always acted
for Leicester in the negotiations with the States, could cer-
tainly have no doubt as to the desires of the Earl, on the
subject of ^^ absolute " authority. He did accordingly what he
could to bring the States to his Excellency's way of thinking ;
nor was he unsuccessful

On the 22nd January, a committee of conference was sent
by the States to Leyden, in which city Leicester was making
a brief visit. They were instructed to procure his consent, if
possible, to the appointment, by the States themselves, of a
council consisting of members from each Province. If they
could not obtain this concession, they were directed to insist
as earnestly as possible upon their right to present a double
list of candidates, from which he was to make nominations.
And if the one and the other proposition should be refused,
the States were then to agree that his Excellency should
fredy choose and appoint a council of state, consisting of
native residents from every Province, for the period of one
year. The committee was further authorised to arrange the
commission for the governor, in accordance with these points ;
and to draw up a set of instructions for the state-council, to
the satis£Bu;tion of his Excellency. The committee was also
empowered to conclude the matter at once, without further
reference to the States.*

Certainly a committee thus instructed was likely to be
sufficiently pliant. It had need to be, in order to bend to
the humour of his Excellency, which was already becoming
imperious. The adulation which he had received, the

1 LeioeBter to Dayison, -- Jan. 1686.

(S. P. OiBoe MS.) Dayison answered
in the same straui, assoring the Eari
that he had taken the Estates well to
task for wishing to "prescribe in-
Btmctions after Sieir grant of an au-
thority absolute," and informing him
that they were " very sorry any thing

should fall out might justly distaste
him." Davison to Leicester, — Jan.
1586. Biit Mus. Galba» C. viil p. 4^
MS. - Jan. 1686. See Bruce, p. 69.

2 Resol. Stat. Gen. --- Jan. 1686y

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406 '^^^ UNITBD NETHRRLANDfl. Chap. TO.

triumphal marches, the Latin orations, the flowers strewn in
his path, had produced their effect, and the Earl was ahnoet
inclined to assume the airs of royalty. The committee
waited upon him at Leyden. He affected a reluctance to
accept the ^^ absolute " goyemment, but his coyness could not
deceive such experienced statesmen as the ^^ wise old Leo-
ninus/' or Menin, Maalzoon, Floris Thin, or Aitzma, who
composed the deputation. It was obvious enough to them
that it was not a King Log that had descended among them ,
but it was not a moment for complaining. The governor-
elect insisted, of course, that the two Englishmen, according
to the treaty with her Majesty, shoidd be members of the
council. He also, at once, nominated Leoninus, Meetk^k,
Brederode, Falck, and Paul Buys, to the same office ; thinking,
no doubt, that these were five keepers — ^if keepers he must
have — ^who would not draw his nose off the scent, nor
prevent his reaching the game he hunted, whatever l^t
game might be. It was reserved for the future, however, to
show, whether the five were like to hunt in company with
him as harmoniously as he hoped. As to the other coon-
sellors, he expressed a willingness that candidates should be
proposed for him, as to whose qualifications he would make
up his mind at leisure. '

This matter being satisfactorily adjusted — and certainly
unless the ^une pursued by the Earl was a crown royal, he
ought to have been satisfied with his success — the States re-
ceived a letter from their committee at Leyden, informing
4hem that his Excellency, after some previous protestations,
had accepted the government (24th January, 1586).'

It was agreed that he should be inaugurated Oovemor-
General of the United Provinces of Gblderland and Zutphen,
Flanders, Holland, Zeeland, Utrecht, Friesland, and all others
in confederacy with them. He was to have supreme military
command by land and sea. He was to exercise supreme
authority in matters civil and political, according to the

> BeaoL Stat Gen. ^ Jan. 1686, MSL * Und.

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1586. THB BABL ACCEPTS THB OFFICE. 407

customs prevalent in the reign of the Emperor Charles Y.
All officers, political, civil, legal, were to be appointed by
him out of a double or triple nomination made by the States
of the Provinces in which vacancies might occur. The
States-General were to assemble whenever and wherever he
should summon them. They were also — as were the States
of each separate Province — competent to meet together
by their own appointment. The Governor-General was to
receive an oath of fidelity from the States, and himself to
swear the maintenance of the ancient laws, customs, and
privileges of the country.*

The deed was done. In vain had an emissary of the French
court been exerting his utmost to prevent the consummation
of this close alliance. For the wretched government of
Henry III., while abasing itself before Philip II., and ofifering
the &ir cities and fertile plains of France as a sacrifice to
that insatiable ambition which wore the mask of religious
bigotry, was most anxious that Holland and England should
not escape the meshes by which it was itself enveloped.
The agent at the Hague came nominally upon some mercan-
tile affairs, but in reality, according to Leicester, ^^ to impeach
the States from binding themselves to her Majesty.^ But he
was informed that there was then no leisure for his affairs,
" for the States would attend to the service of the Queen of
England, before all princes in the world." The agent did not
feel complimented by the coolness of this reception ; yet it
was reasonable enough, certainly, that the Hollanders should
remember with bitterness the contumely which they had
experienced the previous year in France. The emissary was,
however, much disgusted, "The fellow," said Leicester,
" took it in such snuff, that he came proudly to the States,
and offered his letters, saying ; " Now I trust you have done
all your sacrifices to the Queen of England, and may yield
me some leisure to read my masters letters." " But they so
shook him up," continued the Earl, " for naming her Majesty

* Qroot Plakaatboek, ir. 81. Bor, II. 686. Wagenaar, yiil 115-117.

, -. .p, S1DM.U8S

• Brace, 47,

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408 THB UNTTBD MBTHBBLAND& Gkap. YU

in scorn— as they took it — ^that they hnried him his letters,
and bid him content himself ; " and so on, modi to the agent's
discomfiture, who retired in greater ** snuflf '' than ever.^

So much for the French influence. And now Leicester
had done exactly what the most imperious woman in the
world, whose favour was the breath of his life, had eEZpressIy
forbidden him to do. The step having been taken^ the prise
so tempting to his ambition having been snatched, and iht
policy which had governed the united action of the States and
himself seeming so sound, what ought he to have done in
order to avert the tempest which he must have foreseen?
Surely fk man who knew so much of woman's nature and of
Elizabeth's nature as he did, ought to have attempted to
conciliate her affections, after having so deeply wounded her
pride. He knew his power. Besides the graces of his person
and manner — ^which few women, once impressed by them,
could ever forget — ^he possessed the most insidious and flatter-
ing eloquence, and, in absence, his pen was as wily as his
tongue. For the Earl was imbued with the very genius of
courtship. None was better skilled than he in the {Erases of
rapturous devotion, which were music to the ear both of the
woman and the Queen ; and he knew his royal mistress too
well not to be aware that the language of passionate idcdatry,
however extravagant^ had rarely fallen imheeded upon her
soul. It was strange therefore, that in this emergency, he
should not at once throw himself upon her compassion without
any mediator. Yet, on the contrary, he committed the
monstrous error of entrusting his defence to envoy Davison,
whom he determined to despatch at once with instructions to
the Queen, and towards whom he committed Ihe grave offence
of concealing from him her previous prohibitions. But how
could the Earl fail to perceive that it was the woman, not the
Queen, whom heriiould have implored for pardon ; that it was
Bobert Dudley, not William Davison, who ought to have
sued upon his knees. This whole matter of the Netherland

« -TV . . * ^ . . _ SI Dec U85

'Brace's *LeTa Corresp. 47, .

' 10 Jan. Ue5

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IMC HIB AKBrnOK Aim iriSTAKES. 409

sovereignty and the heioeeter stadhoUerate, forms a strai^
psychological study, which deserves and requires some minute*
Hess of attention ; for it was by the cb^uacteristics of these
eminent personages that the current history was deeply
stamped.

Certainly, under the peculiar circumstances of the case, the
first letter conveying intelligence so likely to pique the pride
of Elizabeth, should have been a letter from Leicester. On
the contrary, it proved to be a dull formal epistle from the
States.

And here again tiie assistance of the indispensable Davison
was considered necessary. On the 3rd February the ambas-
sador— shaving announced his intention of going to 3 peb.
England, by command of his Excellency, so soon as ^^^^•
the Earl should have been inaugurated, for the purpose of ex-
plaining aXL these important transactions to her Majesty — ^waited
upon the States with the request that they should prepare as
speedily as might be their letter to the Queen, with other
necessary documents, to be entrusted to his care. He also
suggested that the draft or minute of their proposed epistlo
should be submitted to him for advice — " because the humours
of her Majesty were best known to him."^

Now the humours of her Majesty were best known to
Leicester of all men in the whole world, and it is inconceivable
that he should have allowed so many days and weeks to pass
without taking these humours properly into account. But
the Earl's head was slightly turned by his sudden and un-
expected success. The game that he had been pursuing had
fallen into his grasp, almost at the very start, and it is not
astonishing that he should have been somewhat absorbed in
the enjoyment of his victory.

Three days later (6th February) the minute of a letter to
Elizabeth, drawn up by Menin, was submitted to the ambas^
sador; eight days after that (14th February) Mr. Davison
took leave of the States, and set forth for the Brill on his way
to England ; and three or four days later yet, he was still in

1 ReaoL Stat Gen. 3 Feb. 1686^ MS.

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410 THE UNITED KETHEBLANDa Chap. YU

that sea-port, waiting for a favourable wind.^ Thus from the
11th January, N.S., upon which day the first ofiier of the
absolute government had been made to Leicester, nearly forty
days had elapsed, during which long period the disobedient
Earl had not sent one line, private or official, to her Majesty
on this most important subject. And when at last the Queen
was to receive information of her favourite's delinquency, it
was not to be in his well-known handwriting and accompanied
by his penitent tears and written caresses, but to be laid
before her with all the formality of parchment and sealing-
wax, in the stilted diplomatic jargon of those " highly-mjghty,
very learned, wise, and very foreseeing gentlemen, my lords
the States-Gkneral." Nothing could have been managed with
less adroitness.

Meantime, not heeding the storm gathering beyond the
narrow seas, the new governor was enjoying the full sunshine

4 Feb., of power. On the 4th February the ceremony of

158a. iy\Q inauguration took place, with great pomp and
ceremony at the Hague." ^

The beautiful, placid, village-capital of Holland wore much
the same aspect at that day as now. Clean, quiet, spacious
streets, shaded with rows of whispering poplars and mnbrageous
limes, broad sleepy canals — those liquid highways along which
glided in phantom silence the bustle, and traffic, and countless
cares of a stirring population— quaint toppling houses, with
tower and gable ; ancient brick churches, with slender spire
and musical chimes ; thatched cottages on the outskirts, with
stork- nests on the roofs — the whole without fortification save
the watery defences which enclosed it with long-drawn lines
on every side ; such was the Count's park, or 's Graven Haage,
in English called the Hague.

It was embowered and almost buried out of sight by vast
groves of oaks and beeches. Ancient Badahuennan forests
of sanguinary Druids, the "wild wood without mercy" of
Saxon savages, where, at a later period, sovereign Dirks and

1 Reaol. Stat Gen. 6-20 Feb. 1586, Ma
' BeBoL Stat Gen. 4 Feb. 1586, Ma

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1586. HIS INSTALLATION AT THE HAGUE. 411

Florences^ in long snccession of centuries^ had ridden abroad
with lance in rest, or hawk on fist ; or under whose boughs,
in Btill nearer days, the gentle Jacqueline had pondered and
wept over her sorrows, stretched out in every direction between
the city and the neighbouring sea. In the heart of the place
stood the ancient palace of the counts, built in the thirteenth
century by William II. of Holland, King of the Bomans,
with massive brick walls, cylindrical turrets, pointed gable
and rose-shaped windows, and with spacious couit-yard, en-
closed by feudal moat, drawbridge, and portcullis.

In the great banqueting-hall of the ancient palace, whose
cedahi-roof of magnificent timber-work, brought by crusading
counts from the Holy Land, had rung with the echoes of many
a gigantic revel in the days of chivalry — an apartment one
hundred and fifty feet long and forty feet high — there had
been arranged an elevated platform, with a splendid chair of
state for the " absolute " governor, and with a great profusion
of gilding and velvet tapestry, hangings, gilt emblems, com-
plimentary devices, lions, unicorns, and other imposing appur-
tenances. Prince Maurice, and all the members of his house,
the States-Gteneral in full costume, and all the great func-
tionaries, civil and military, were assembled. There was an
elaborate harangue by orator Menin, in which it was proved,
by copious citations from Holy Writ and from ancient
chronicle, that the Lord never forsakes His own ; so that
now, when the Provinces were at their last gasp by the death
of Orange and the loss of Antwerp, the Queen of England
and the Earl of Leicester had suddenly descended, as if from
Heaven, to their rescue. Then the oaths of mutual fidelity
were exchanged between the governor and the States, and,
in conclusion. Dr. Bartholomew Clerk ventured to measure
himself with the "big fellows," by pronouncing an oration
which seemed to command universal approbation. And thus
the Earl was duly installed Governor-General of the United
States of the Netherlands.^

I BesoL Stat Qea. 4 Feb. 1686, MS. Bor, XL 688, 689. Wagenaar, viiL
116, §eq. Holinshed, ir. 647, 8eq. 8towe, 716, »eq.

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412

THE IJNITBD NBZHBBLAHDa

Chap. YIL

But already the first mutterings of the storm were audibleL
A bird in the air had whispered to the Queen that her
favourite was inclined to disobedience. ^^Some flying tale
hath been told me here/' wrote Leicester to Walsingiham,
^Hhat her Majesty should mislike my name of Excellency.
But if I had delighted, or would have received titles, I refused
a title higher than Excellency, as Mr. Davison, if you ask
him, will tell you ; and that I, my own self, refused most
earnestly that, and, if I mi^t have done it, this also."'
Certainly, if the Queen objected to this common form of
address, which had always been bestowed upon Leicester, as
he himself observed, ever since she had made him an earl,'
it might be supposed that her wrath would mount high when
she should hear of him as absolute governor-general. It is
also difficult to say what higher title he had refused, for
certainly the records show that he had refused nothing, in
the way of power and dignity, that it was possible for him to
obtain.

But very soon afterwards arrived authentic intellig^ce
that the Queen had been informed of the proposition made
on New Year's-Day (0. S.), and that, although she could
not imagine the possibility of his accepting, she was indignant
that he had not peremptorily rejected the oflFer.

*• As to the proposal made to you," wrote Burghley, "by the
mouth of Leoninus, her Majesty hath been informed that you
had thanked them in her name, and alledged that there was
no such thing in the contract, and that therefore you could
not accept nor knew how to answer the same."'

Now this information was obviously far from correct,
although it had been furnished by the Earl himself to
Burghley. We have seen that Leicester had by no means
rejected, but very gratefully entertained, the proposition as

* Brace's *Leyc. Gorresp.' 94, -
Feb. 1586. "

< Compare Camden, m. 399, " being
derided by those that envied him, and
the title of Bzcellencj, which of all
Englishmen, be was the first that ayer

uaed, exploded and tripped off the
stage."

* Bnighley (in bis own hand) to
Leicester, ^- 1M«. S. P. Office

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1586. INTIMATIONS OF THE QUEEN'S DISPLEASURE. 413

soon as made. Nevertheless the Queen was dissatisfied^ evei*
without suspecting that she had been directly disobeyed.
"Her Majesty/' continued the Lord-Treasurer, "is much
offended with this proceeding. She allows not that you
should give them thanks, but findeth it very strange that you
did not plainly declare to them that they did well know how
often her Majesty had refused to have any one for her take
any such government there, and that she had always so
answered peremptorily. Therefore there might be some
suspicion conceived that by offering on their part, and refusal
on hers, some further mischief might be secretly hidden by
some odd person's device to the hurt of the cause. But in
that your Lordship did not flatly say to them that yourself
did know her Majesty's mind therein, that she never meant,
in this sort, to take the absolute government, she is offended ;
considering, as she saith, that none knew her determination
therein better than yourself. For at your going hence, she
did peremptorily charge you not to accept any such title and
office ; and therefore her straight commandment now is that
you shall not accept the same, for she will never assent thereto,
nor avow you with any such title." ^

If Elizabeth was so wrathful, even while supposing that the
offer had been gratefully declined, what were likely to be her
emotions when she should be informed that it had been grate-
fully accepted. The Earl already began to tremble at the
probable consequences of his mal-adroitness. Grave was the
error he had committed in getting himself made governor-
general against orders ; graver still, perhaps fatal, the blunder
of not being swift to confess his fault, and cry for pardon,
before other tongues should have time to aggravate hia
offence. Yet even now he shrank from addressing the Queen
in person, but hoped to conjure the rising storm by means of
the magic wand of the Lord-Treasurer. He implored hia
friend's interposition to shield him in the emergency, and
b^ed that at least her Majesty and the lords of council
would suspend their judgment until Mr. Davison should

1 Burghley to Leicester, MS. before cited.

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414 THB UNITED NETHBRLANDa Chap. YIL

deliver those messages and explanations with which, fdUy
freighted, he was about to set sail from the BrilL

" If my reasons seem to your wisdoms/' said he, " other
than such as might well move a true and a faithfril careful
man to her Majesty to do as I have done, I do desire, for my
mistaking offence, to bear the burden of it ; to be disavowed
with all displeasure and disgrace ; a matter of as great re-
proach and grief as ever can happen to any man/' He
b^ged that another person might be sent as soon as possible
in his place — protesting, however, by his &ith in Christ, thafe
he had done only what he was bound to do by his r^ard for
her Majesty's service — and that when he set foot in the
country he had no more expected to be made Governor of
the Netherlands than to be made King of Spain.^ Certainly
he had been paying dear for the honour, if honour it was,
and he had not intended on setting forth for the Provinces to
ruin himself, for the sake of an empty title. His motives —
and he was honest, when he so avowed them — ^were motives
of state at least as much as of self-advancement."' '^ I have
no cause," he said, ^^to have played the fool thus fcur for
myself; first, to have her Majesty's displeasure, which no
kingdom in the world could make me willingly deserve ; next,
to undo myself in my later days ; to consume all that should
have kept me all my life in one half year. But I must thank
GK)d for all, and am most heartily grieved at her Majesty's
heavy displeasure. I neither desire to live, nor to see my
country with it." *

And at this bitter thought, he began to sigh like furnace,
and to shed the big tears of penitence.

^^For if I have not done her Majesty good service at this
time," he said, ^^I shall never hope to do her any, but will
withdraw me into some out-corner of the world, where I will
languish out the rest of my few — too many — days, praying
ever for her Majesty's long and prosperous life, and with this
only comfort to live an exile, that this disgrace hath happened

» Bruce»8 «Leyc. CJorresp.* 96, 97, - Feb. 1686.
•Ibid. " »n)id.

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1686. DEPBEOATOBY LBTTEBS OF LBICESTEB. 415

for no other cause but for mj mere regard for her Majesty's
estate/'^

Having painted this dismal picture of the probable termi-
nation to his career — ^not in the hope of melting Burghley,
but of touching the heart of Elizabeth — ^he proceeded to argue
the point in question with much logic and sagacity. He had
satisfied himself on his arrival in the Provinces, that, if he
did not take the governor-generalship some other person
would; and that it certainly was for the interest of her
Majesty that her devoted servant, rather than an indifferent
person, should be placed in that important position. He
maintained that the Queen had intimated to him, in private,
her willingness that he should accept the office in question,
provided the proposition should come from the States and not
from her ; he reasoned that the double nature of his functions
— ^being general and counsellor for her, as well as general
and counsellor for the Provinces — ^made his acceptance of
the authority conferred on him almost indispensable ; that
for him to be merely commander over five thousand English
troops, when an abler soldier than himself, Sir John Norris,
was at their head, was hardly worthy her Majesty's service
or himself, and that in reality the Queen had lost nothing,
by his appointment, but had gained much benefit and honour
by thus having "the whole command of the Provinces, of
their forces by land and sea, of their towns and treasures,
with knowledge of all their secrets of state." ^

Then, relapsing into a vein of tender but reproachful
melancholy, he observed, that, if it had been any man but
himself that had done as he had done, he would have been
thanked, not censured. " But such is now my wretched case,*
he said, "as for my faithful, true, and loving heart to her
Majesty and my country, I have utterly undone myself For
favour, I have disgrace; for reward, utter spoil and ruin.
But if this taking upon me the name of governor is so evil
taken as it hath deserved dishonour, discredit, disfavour, with

« Bruoe^ 98, - Feb. 1586. Ibid. 100.102, ^ Feb. 1686.

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416 vox UinTBD VlTHBBLAJnXl Chap. TH

all giie& that may be laid upon a man, I most receive
it as deeenred of God and not of mj Queen, whom I have
reverenoed with all humility, and whom I have loved with all
fideUty/'*

This was the true vray, no doubt, to reach the heart of
Elizabeth, and Leicester had always plenty of such shafts in
his quiver. Unfortunately he had delayed too long, and
even now he dared not take a direct aim. He feared to
write to the Queen herself, thinking that his so doing, ^^ while
she had such conceipts of him, would only trouble her,'' and
he therefore continued to employ the Lord-Treasurer and
Mr. Secretary as his mediators. Thus he committed error
upon error.

Meantime, as if there had not been procrastination enough,
Davison was loitering at the Brill, detained by wind and
weather. Two days after the letter, just cited, had been
despatched to Walsingham, Leicester sent an impatient
10 message to the envoy. " I am heartily sorry, with

•• ' all my heart," he said, " to hear of your long stay

at Brill, the wind serving so fair as it hath done thes^ two
days. I would have laid any wager that you had been in
England ere this. I pray you make haste, lest our cause take
too great a prejudice there ere you come, although I cannot
fear it, because it is so good and honest. I pray you imagine
in what care I dwell till I shall hear from you, albeit some
way very resolute."^

Thus it was obvious that he had no secret despair of his
cause when it should be thoroughly laid before the Queen. The
wonder was that he had added the offence of long silence to the
sin of disobedience. Davison had sailed, however, before the
receipt of the Earl's letter. He had been furnished with care-
ful instructions upon the subject of his mission. He was to
show how eager the States had been to have Leicester for
their absolute governor — which was perfectly true— ^and how

* Braoe, 100-102, just cited.
• Leicester to Dayison, - Feb. 1686. (S. P. Office IfE)

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1686. DAYISOIPS MISSION TO BNGLAJn). 417

anxious the Earl had been to decline the proffered honour —
which was certainly fEtlse, if contemporary record and the
minutes of the States-General are to be believed. He i<ras to
sketch the general confusion which had descended upon the
country, the quarreUing of politicians, and the discontent of
officers and soldiers, from out of all which chaos one of two
results was sure to arise : the erection of a single chieftain, or
a reconciliation of the Provinces with Spain. That it would
be impossible for the Earl to exercise the double functions
with which he was chaiged — of general of her Majesty's
forces, and general and chief counseUor of the States — ^if
any other man than himself should be appointed governor,
was obvious. It was equally plain that the Provinces could
only be kept at her Majesty's disposition by choosing the
course which, at their own su^estion, had been adopted. The
offer of the government by the States, and its acceptance by
the Earl, were the logical consequence of the step which the
Queen had already taken. It was thus only that England
could retain her hold upon the country, and even upon the
cautionary towns. As to a reconciliation of the Provinces
with Spain — which would have been the probable result of
Leicester's rejection of the proposition made by the States —
it was unnecessary to do more than allude to such a cata-
strophe. No one but a madman could doubt that, in such an
event, the subjugation of England was almost certain. ^

But before the arrival of the ambassador, the Queen had
been thoroughly informed as to the whole extent of the Earl's
delinquency. Dire was the result. The wintry gales which
had been lashing the North Sea, and preventing the unfor-
tunate Davison from setting forth on his disastrous mission,
were nothing to the tempest of royal wrath which had been
shaking the court- world to its centre. The Queen had been
swearing most fearfully ever since she read the news, which
Leicester had not dared to communicate directly to herself.
No one was allowed to speak a word in extenuation of the

> Bemembrances for Mr. DavisoD, in Brooe, 80-82, Feb. 1686.

VOL. I.— 2 C

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418 ^^^ UHITED KETHERLAND& Chap.YB.

favourite's offence. Bm^hlej, who lifted up his voice some-
what feebly to appease her wrath, was bid, with a curse, to
hold his peace. So he took to his bed — ^partly fix>ixi prudence,
partly from gout — and thus sheltered himself for a season
from the peltings of the storm. Walsingham, more manful,
stood to his post, but could not gain a hearing. It was the
culprit that should have spoken, and spoken in time. '^ Why,
why did you not write yourself?" was the plaintive cry of all
the Earl's friends, from highest to humblest. ^^ But write to
her now," they exclaimed, " at any rate ; and, above all, send
her a present, a love-gift." " Lay out two or three hundred
crowns in some rare thing, for a token to her Majesty," said
Christopher Hatton.^

Strange that his colleagues and his rivals should have been
obliged to advise Leicester upon the proper course to pursue ;
that they — ^not himself— should have been the first to perceive
that it was the enraged woman, even more than the offended
sovereign, who was to be propitiated and soothed. In truth, all
the woman had been aroused in Elizabeth's bosom. She was
displeased that her favourite should derive power and splen-
dour from any source but her own bounty. She was furious
that his wife, whom she hated, was about to share in his
honours. For the mischievous tongues of court-ladies had
been collecting or fabricating many unpleasant rumours. A
swarm of idle but piquant stories had been buzzing about
the Queen's ears, and stinging her into a frenzy of jealousy.
The Countess — it was said — was on the point of setting forth
for the Netherlands, to join the Earl, with a train of courtieis
and ladies, coaches and side-saddles, such as were never seen
before — ^where the two were about to establish themselves in
conjugal felicity, as well as almost royal state. What a pros-
pect for the jealous and imperious sovereign 1 " Coaches and
side-saddles 1 She would show the upstarts that there was
one Queen, and that her name was Elizabeth, and that there
was no court but hers." And so she continued to storm

> Bnioe'a *Leyc. CorreBp.* 113, 114, - Feb. 1686.

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isse.

QXJEBIirS AHGEB AND JEALOUSY.

419

and swear, and tlireaten unutterable yengeance, till aU her
courtiers quaked in their shoes.^

Thomas Dudley, however, warmly contradicted the report,
declaring, of his own knowledge, that the Countess had no
wish to go to the Provinces, nor the Earl any intention of
receiving her there. This information was at once conveyed
to the Queen, " and,'' said Dudley, " it did greatly pacify her
stomach."* His friends did what they could to maintain the
governor's cause ; but Burghley, Walsingham, Hatton, and the
rest of them, were all "at their wits' end,"* and were nearly
distraught at the delay in Davison's arrival Meantime the
Queen's stomach was not so much pacified but that she was
determined to humiliate the Earl with the least possible delay.
Having waited sufficiently long for his explanations, she now
appointed Sir Thomas Heneage as special commissioner to
the States, without waiting any longer. Her wrath vented
itself at once in the preamble to the instructions for this
agent.

" Whereas," she said, " we have been given to understand
that the Earl of Leicester hath in a very contemptuous sort —
contrary to our express commandment given unto him by our-
self, accepted of an offer of a more absolute government made
by the States unto him, than was agreed on between us and
their commissioners — which kind of contemptible manner of
proceeding giveth the world just cause to think that there is
not that reverent respect carried towards us by our subjects
as in duty appertaineth ; especially seeing so notorious a con-
tempt committed by one whom we have raised up and yielded
in the eye of the world, even from the b^inning of our reign.

1 "It waa told her Mqeoty,** wrote
Biomaa Dudley, "that my lady was
prepared presently to oome over to
your ExcelleDcy, with such a train of
ladies and gentlewomen, and snch rich
coaches, litters, and snie-saddles, as
her Majesty had none such; and that
there should be such a court of ladies
as should &r pass her Mq'esty's court
here. This iiiformation (though moat
wlae) did not a little stir her Miyesty
to extreme cboler and dislike of all

your doings there ; saying, with great
oaths, she would have no more courts
under her obeisance than her own,
and would revoke you from thence
with all speed. This Mr. Vice-Cham-
berlain (Hatton) told me in great
secret, and afterwards Mr. Secretary,
and last of all my Lord Treasure."

Bruce*s *Leya Corresp.' 112, - FeU

1686.
• Ibid. » Ibid.

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420 '^^^ UNITSD KBTHEBLAKDa Qbap. TE

as great portion of our favour as ever subject enjoyed at any
prince's hands ; we therefore, holding nothing dearer than our
honour, and considering that no one thing could more touch
our reputation than to induce so open and public a faction of
a prince, and work a greater reproach than contempt at a
subject's hand, without reparation of our honour, have found
it necessary to send you unto him, as well to charge him with
the said contempt, as also to execute such other things as we
think meet to be done, for the justifying of ourselves to the
world, as the repairing of the indignity cast upon us by his

undutiful manner of proceeding towards us And for

that we find ourselves also not well dealt withal by the States,
in that they have pressed the said Earl, without our assent or
privity, to accept of a more absolute government than was
agreed on between us and their commissioners, we have also
thought meet that you shall charge them therewith, acoording
to the directions hereafter ensuing. And to the end there
may be no delay used in the execution of that which we think
meet to be presently done, you shall charge the said States,
even as they tender the continuance of our good-will towards
them, to proceed to the speedy execution of our request."*

After this trumpet-like preamble it may be supposed that
the blast which followed would be piercing and shrilL The
instructions, in truth, consisted in wild, scornful flourishes
upon one theme. The word contempt had occurred five
times in the brief preamble. It was repeated in almost every
line of the instructions.

" You shall let the Earl" (our cousin no longer) " under-
stand," said the Queen, ^^ how highly and justly we are offended
with his acceptation of the government, which we do repute
to be a very great and strange contempt j least looked for at
our hands, being, as he is, a creature of our own." His
omission to acquaint her by letter with the causes moving
him ^^so contemptuoi^ly to break" her commandment, his

1 The Qaeen to Sir Thomas He- I The rest of the document is given In
iieage, |2peb. 1686. (a P. CHBoeMa) ^"^ ^^^ •^•

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1686. HEE AKGRY LBTTEBS TO THE BABL AND STATES. 421

delay in sending Davison ^^ to answer the said contempty** had
much '^ aggravated the fault/' although the Queen protested
herself unable to imagine any ^^ excuse for so manifest a conr-
tempt." The States were to be informed that she "held it
strange" that "this creature of her own" should have been
pressed by them to " commit so notorious a contempt' against
her, both on account of this very exhibition of contempt on
Leicester's part, and because they thereby "shewed them-
selves to have a very slender and weak conceit of her judg-
ment, by pressing a minister of hers to accept that which she
had refused, as though her long experience in government
had not taught her to discover what was fit to do in matters
of state." As the result of such a proceeding would be to
disgrace her in the eyes of mankind, by inducing an opinion
that her published solemn declaration on this great subject had
been intended to abuse the world, he was directed — ^in order
to remove the hard conceit justly to be taken by the world,
"in consideration of the said contempt" — to make a public
and open resignation of the government in the place where
he had accepted the same.^

Thus it had been made obvious to the unlucky " creature
of her own," that the Queen did not easily digest " contempt."
Nevertheless these instructions to Heneage were gentle, com-
pared with the fierce billet which she addressed directly to the
Earl. It was brief, too, as the posy of a ring ; and thus it
ran : — " To my Lord of Leicester, from the Queen, by Sir
Thomas Heneage. How contemptuously we conceive ourself
to have been used by you, you shall by this bearer understand,
whom we have expressly sent imto you to charge you withaL
We could never have imagined, had we not seen it isXL out in
experience, that a man raised up by ourself, and extraor-
dinarily favoured by us above any other subject of this land,
would have, in so contemptible a sort, broken our command-
ment, in a cause that so greatly toucheth us in honour;
whereof, although you have showed yourself to make but little
account, in most undutiful a sort, you may not therefore think

' The Queen to Sir Thomas Heaeage^JTut died.

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422

THB UNTTBD NBTHWRTiANDa

Chap. VH,

that we have so little care of the reparation thereof as we
mind to pass so great a wrong in silence unredressed. And
therefore our express pleasure and commandment is, that-
all delays and excuses laid apart — ^you do presently, upon the
duty of your alliance, obey and fulfil whatsoever the bearer
hereof shall direct you to do in our name. Whereof faQ not,
as you will answer the contrary at your uttermost peril."*

Here was no billing and cooing, certainly, but a terse, biting
phraseology, about which there could be no misconception.

By the same messenger the Queen also sent a formal letter
to the States-General ; the epistle — mutatis mutandis — beii^
also addressed to the state-council.

In this document her Majesty expressed her great surprise
that Leicester should have accepted their offer of the absolute
government, " both for police and war," when she had so ex-
pressly rejected it herself. " To tell the truth," she observed,
"you seem to have treated us with very little respect, and
put a too manifest insult upon us, in presenting anew to one
of our subjects the same proposition which we had already
declined, without at least waiting for our answer whether we
should like it or no ; as if we had not sense enough to be able
to decide upon what we ou^t to accept or refuse."* She
proceeded to express her dissatisfaction with the course pur-
sued, because so repugnant to her published declaration, in
which she had stated to the world her intention of aiding the
Provinces, without meddling in the least with the sovereignty
of the country. " The contrary would now be believed," she
said, "at least by those who take the liberty of censuring,
according to their pleasure, the actions of princes." Thus her
honour was at stake. She signified her will, therefore, that,
in order to convince the world of her sincerity, the authority
conferred should be revoked, and that " the Earl," whom she had
decided to recall very soon,* should, during his brief residence

Bmoe's *Leyc. CoireBp.* 110, _

10 I

1 14

Feb. 1686. a P. Office, ^^=~ Feb.
1586, MS.
t MiDute to tbe States Genial : the

like to the Cloundl of 6tat&— midatts

mtUancUs. (S. P. Office Ma, Fob. -
1586.) »»

' *' Leqoel sommes deliber^ de rap
peller bient6t»" Ag, Ma vbi sup.

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1686.

ABBIVAL 07 DAXWW.

423

there, only exercise the power agreed upon by the origmal
contract. She warmly reiterated her intention, however, of
observing inviolably the promise of assistance which she had
given to the States. " And if," she said, " any malicious or
turbulent spirits should endeavour, perchance, to persuade the
people that this our refusal proceeds from lack of affection or
honest disposition to assist you — ^instead of being founded only
on respect for our honour, which is dearer to us than life — ^we
b^ you, by every possible means, to shut their mouths, and
prevent their pernicious designs."^

Thus, heavily laden with the royal wrath, Heneage was on
the point of leaving London for the Netherlands, on the very
day upon which Davison arrived, charged with deprecatory
missives from that country. After his long detention he had
a short passage, crossing from the Brill to Margate in a single
night. Coming immediately to London, he sent to Walsing-
ham to inquire which way the wind was blowing at court, but
received a somewhat discourt^ing reply. " Your long deten-
tion by his Lordship," said the Secretary, " has wounded the
whole cause ;" adding, that he thought her Majesty would not
speak with him. On the other hand, it seemed indispensable
for him to go to the court, because if the Queen should hear
of his arrival before he had presented himself, she was likely
to be more angry than ever.^

So, the same afternoon, Davison waited upon Walsingham,
and found him in a state of despondency. ^^ She takes his
Lordship's acceptance of the government most haynously,"
said Sir Francis, " and has resolved to send Sir Thomas He^
neage at once, with orders for him to resign the office. She has
been threatening you and Sir Philip Sidney, whom she con-
siders the chief actors and persuaders in the matter, according
to information received from some persons about my Lord of
Leicester."^

Davison protested himself amazed at the Secretary's dis-*

* '^YouB taschiez par tous mojerxa
de doire la boudie et empedier lea
penudeux desselns de tel dangereux
udtmmenta," &c. (Ibid.)

« Braced *Le7C Coiresp.* IIT, 118^

- Feb. 1686,
» Ibid.

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424 ^^HB UNITED KSTHBBLAHD& Chap. TE

course^ and at once took great pains to show the reasons by
which all parties had been inflnenced in the matter of the
government. He declared roundly that if the Queen should
carry out her present intentions^ the Earl would be most un-
worthily disgraced, the cause utterly overthrown, the Queen's
honour perpetually stained, and that her kingdom would incur
great disaster.

Directly after this brief conversation, Walsingham went
up stairs to the Queen, while Davison proceeded to the apart*
ments of Sir Christopher Hatton. Thence he was soon sum-
moned to the royal presence, and found that he had not been
misinformed as to the temper of her Majesty. The Queen
was indeed in a passion, and began swearing at Davison so
soon as he got into the chamber ; abusing Leicester for having
accepted the ofEer of the States, against her many times re-
peated commandment, and the ambassador for not having
opposed his course. The thing had been done, she said, in
contempt of her, as if her consent had been of no conse-
quence, or as if the matter in no way concerned her.

So soon as she paused to take breath, the envoy modestly,
but firmly, appealed to her reason, that she would at any rate
lend him a patient and favourable ear, in which case he
doubted not that she would form a more favourable opinion
of the case than she had hitherto done. He then entered
into a long discourse upon the state of the Netherlands before
the arrival of Leicester, the inclination in many quarters for
a peace, the ^^ despair that any sound and good fruit would
grow of her Majesty's cold banning," the general unpopu-
larity of the States' government, the " corruption, partiality,
and confusion," which were visible everywhere, the perilous
condition of the whole cause, and the absolute necessity o{
some immediate reform.

" It was necessary," said Davison, " that some one person
of wisdom and authority should take the helm. Among the
Netherlanders none was qualified for such a chaige. Lord
Maurice is a child, poor, and of but little respect among
them. Elector Truchsess, Count Hohenlo, Meurs, and the

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1580. 8T0BMT INTEBYIEW WITH THE QUEEN. 425

rest; strangers and incapable of the burden. These considera-
tions influenced the States to the step which had been taken^
without which all the rest of her benevolence was to little
purpose.'' Although the contract between the commissioners
and the Queen had not literally provided for such an arrange-
ment; yet it had always been contemplated by the States^ who
had left themselves without a head until the arrival of the
Earl.

" Under one pretext or another/' continued the envoy, " my
Lord of Leicester had long delayed to satisfy them/' — (and
in so stating he went somewhat further in defence of his ab-
sent fiiend than the facts would warrant), " for he neither flatly
refused it, nor was willing to accept, until your Majesty's
pleasure should be known." ^ Certainly the records show no
reservation of his acceptance until the Queen had been con-
sulted ; but the defence by Davison of the offending Earl was
80 much the more courageous.

" At length, wearied by their importunity, moved with their
reasons, and compelled by necessity, he thought it better to
take the course he did," proceeded the diplomatist, "for
otherwise he must have been an eye-witness of the dismem-
berment of the whole country, which could not be kept to-
gether but by a reposed hope in her Majesty's found favour,
which had been utterly despaired of by his refusal. He
thought it better by accepting to increase the honour, profit,
and surety, of her Majesty, and the good of the cause, than,
by refusing, to utterly hazard the one, and overthrow the
other."*

To all this and more, well and warmly urged by Davison,
the Queen listened by fits and starts, often interrupting his
discourse by violent abuse of Leicester, accusing him of con-
tempt for her, charging him with thinking more of his own
particular greatness than of her honour and service, and then
"digressing into old griefs," said the envoy, "too long and
tedious to write." She vehemently denounced Davison also
for dereliction of duty in not opposing the measure ; but he

' Brace, 120, same date. * Ibid.

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42/6 ^CHB UNITHD KSTHEHLAHDa. OsLkr. YQ.

manfully declared that he neyer deemed so meanly of her
Majesty or of his Lordship as to suppose that she would send
him, or that he would go to the ProTinoes, merely ^^ to take
coimnand of the relics of Mr. Norris's worn and decayed
troops." Such a change, protested Davison, was utterly un-
worthy a person of the Earl's quality, and utterly tmsuited to
the necessity of the time and state.^

But Davison went farther in defence of Leicester. He had
been present at many of the conferences with the Netherland
envoys during the preceding summer in England, and he now
told the Queen stoutly to her fisice that she herself, or at any
rate one of her chief counsellors, in her hearing and his, had
expressed her royal determination not to prevent the accept-
ance of whatever authority the states might choose to confer,
by any one whom she might choose to send. She had de-
clined to accept it in person, but she had been willing that it
should be wielded by her deputy ; and this remembrance of
his had been confirmed by that of one of the commissioners
since their return. She had never — Davison maintained — sent
him one single line having any bearing on the subject. Under
such circumstances, " I might have been accused of madness,"
said he, ^^ to have dissuaded an action in my poor opinion so
necessary and expedient for your Majesty's honour, surety,
and greatness." If it were to do over again, he avowed, and
" were his opinion demanded, he could give no other advice
than that which he had given, having received no contrary
commandment from her Highness."*

And so ended the first evening's long and vehement debate,
and Davison departed, "leaving her," as he said, "much
qualified, though in many points unsatisfied."' She had
however, absolutely refused to receive a letter from Leicester,
with which he had been charged, but which, in her opinion,
had better have been written two months before.

The next day, it seemed, after all, that Heneage was to be
despatched, "in great heat," upon his mission. Davison
accordingly requested an immediate audience. So soon as

> Bnioe, 121, same date. * Ibid. * n>id. 122, nme data

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isse.

THE VBGOSD QNB IS GALMEB.

427

admitted to the presence he burst into tears^and implored
the Queen to pause before she should inflict the contemplated
disgrace on one whom she had hitherto so highly esteemed,
and, by so doing, dishonour herself and imperil both countries.
But the Queen was more furious than ever that morning,
returning at every pause in the envoy's discourse to harp
upon the one string — " How dared he come to such a dedsion
without at least imparting it to me ? " — and so on, as so many
times before. And again Davison, with all the eloquence and
with every soothing art he had at command, essayed to poui
oil upon the waves. Nor was he entirely unsuccessful ; for
presently the Queen became so calm again that he ventured
once more to present the rejected letter of the EarL She
broke the seal, and at sight of the well-known handwriting
she became still more gentle, and so soon as she had read the
first of her favourite's honied phrases she thrust the precious
document into her pocket, in order to read it afterwards, as
Davison observed, at her leisure.^

The opening thus successfolly made, and the envoy having
thus, ^^by many insinuations," prepared her to lend him a
^^more patient and willing ear than she had vouchsafed be-
fore," he again entered into a skilful and impassioned argu-
ment to show the entire wisdom of the course pursued by the
Earl.*

It is unnecessary to repeat the conversation. Suffice to
say that no man could have more eloquently and faithfully
supported an absent friend under difficulties than Davison
now defended the Earl. The line of argument is already
familiar to the reader, and, in truth, the Queen had nothing
to reply, save to insist upon the governor's delinquency in
maintaining so long and inexplicable a silence. And at this
thought, in spite of the envoy's eloquence, she went off again

» Brace, 122, ^ Feb. 1586.

■ Ibid " The beginning of our
comedy was uncommon sharp," said
Dayison, " bat this much I do be bold
to assure you, that if I had not arriyed

as I did, both his Lordship had been
utterly disowned and the cause over-
thrown." Davison to Herle, 17 Feb.
1586. (Brit Mus. Oalba, 0. yiii Z3,
MS.)

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428

THB TTNITED NBTHSBLANDS.

Chap. YIL

in a paroxysm of anger, aboBing the Earl, and deeply oen-
suring Davison for his ^^ peremptory and partial dealing/' ^

" I had conceived a better opinion of you," she said, " and
I had intended more good to you than I now find you worthy
of."

" I humbly thank your Highness," replied the ambassador,
^^ but I take yourself to witness that I have never aflfected or
sought any such grace at your hands. And if your Majesty
persists in the dangerous course on which you are now enter*
ing, I only pray your leave, in recompense for all my travails,
to retire myself home, where I may spend the rest of my life
in praying for you, whom Salvation itself is not able to save,
if these purposes are continued. Henceforth, Madam, he is
to be deemed happiest who is least interested in the public
service."*

And so ended the second day's debate. The next morning
the Lord-Treasurer, who, according to Davison, employed
himself diligently — ^as did also Walsingham and Hatton' — ^in
dissuading the Queen from the violent measures which she
had resolved upon, effected so much of a change as to procure
the insertion of those qualifying clauses in Heneage's in-
structions which had been previously disallowed. The open
and public disgrace of the Earl, which was to have been
peremptorily demanded, was now to be deferred, if such a
measure seemed detrimental to the public service. Her
Majesty, however, protested herself as deeply offended as
ever, although she had consented to address a brief, some-
what mysterious, but benignant letter of compliment to the
States.'

1 Bruce, 123, same date.
' Ibid. 124, same date.

• Ibid. 143,?-^ 1686; but to

10 Mar. '

Walsingham Leicester "owed more,"
acoordiDg to Davison, *' for his constant
friendship and sufferance for his sake
than to all others at court." Davison
to Herle. (Brit. Hub. Galba. C. vilL

* ''Monsieur Davison noos a Uen
au long disoouru et represent^" said
the Queen, ''de quel zele vous aves
^t^'pousses a faire I'ofifre dn goaveme-
ment absolu de oea pays la au Comte
de Lejcestre, aveo tee plus gnuides
signes et demonstrations d'une vehe-
mente et devotionnee a£fection envers
nous, qu'on scaurmt desirer, dont on
nous pourroit i bon droit taxer d*in-
gmtitude, si eussions oubli^ de voos

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1686. QUEEN'S WBATH SOMEWHAT MTTiaATED. 429

Soon after this Davison retired for a few days from the
court, having previously written to the Earl that " the heat of
her Majesty's offence to his Lordship was abating every day
somewhat, and that she was disposed both to hear and to
speak more temperately of him." ^

He implored him accordingly to a " more diligent enter-
taining of her by wise letters and messages, wherein his slacks
ness hitherto appeared to have bred a great part of this
onkindness/'^ He observed also that the ^Uraffic of peace
was still going on underhand ; but whether to use it as a
second string to our bow, if the first should fail, or of any
settled inclination thereunto, he could not affirm/'^

Meantime Sir Thomas Heneage was despatched on his
mission to the States, despite all the arguments and expostula-
tions of Walsingham, Burghley, Hatton, and Davison. All
the Queen's counsellors were unequivocally in favour of sus-
taining Leicester ; and Heneage was not a little embarrassed
as to the proper method of conducting the affair. Every-
thing, in truth, was in a most confused condition. He hardly
understood to what power he was accredited. "Heneage
writes even now unto me," said Walsingham to Davison,
"that he cannot yet receive any information who be the
States, which he thinketh will be a great maimer imto him in
his negotiation. I have told him that it is an assembly much
like that of our burgesses that represent the State, and that
my Lord of Leicester may cause some of them to meet
together, unto whom he may deliver his letters and mes-
sages."* Thus the new envoy was to request the culprit to
summon the very assembly by wliich his downfall and dis-

en remercier bien expressement, et de
V0U3 rendre certalDS dea effects reci-
proques que oela cause en dous d'uDe
entiere affection envere vous, combien
qae pour plusieurs grandes et impor-
tantes considerations ne puissons nous
accorder a I'acoeptation du dit offre.
.... Nous asseurant que si scaviez de
quelle consequence sont les raisons et
considerations qtt^ ne rums jpouvons
comm'tmiquer pour plusieurs respects
^impwiance^ et sur les quelles notre
cepoB est fond^ vous memes seriez ds

noire adviSy et demeureriez contents
du diet refus, lequel sera cause d'aug-
menter encores de tant plus le soin
qu'ayons promis d'avoir du bien et
conversation de ces pays la.-' Minute
of H. Majesty's Letter to the States
General (a P. Office Ma Feb. 1581.)

* Bruce, 124, Jj Feb. 1586.

' Ibid. 125, same date.
3 Ibid.

* Walsingham to Davison, 25 FeU
1586. (a P. Office Ma)

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4ao

THB UNITED NBTHBBLAinXl

Obap. VIL

grace were to be solenmused, as formally as had beea bo
recently his elevation to the height of power. The prospect
was not an agreeable one, and the less so because of his
general want of familiarity with the constitutional fom^ of
the coimtry he was about to yisit. Davison accordingly, at
the request of Sir Francis, furnished Heneage with mudi
valuable information and advice upon the subject.^

' "The goTemment as it is now,"
said he, ** you shall find altered from
the form whereof I delivered jou some
iiotes the last year. The general com-
mandment rests presently in the hands
of my Lord of Leicester, as governor
of the countries for them, over and
besides his lieutenancy from the
Queen. The nature of his authority
reaches to an absolute command ui
matters belonging to the wars, though
in civil things limited to the lawful
power of other governors-general in
times past, as you shall bettor perceive
by the commission and acts them-
selves, which I know my Lord will
not conceid from you. The contribu-
tions towards the war of 200,000 florins,
or 20,000JL the month, agreed to by the
four provinces of Holland, Zeeland,
Friesland, and Utrecht, are to be levied
chiefly on the ordinary means of con-
sumption, or thmgs spent and con-
sumed in the country, which in Hol-
land alone, doth now amount to 90,000
florins monthly, besides the quota of
the other provinces, and over and
above their customs upon all mer-
chandize going out and coming in,
and, besides, all this may be levied in
the other provinces of Gelderland,
Overyssel, Brabant and Flanders.
They are to put into my Lord's hands
the letting and farming of these impo-
sitions yet in force tUl April next,
which, coming short of the general
sum, they have promised to supply by
a contribution extraordinary, such as
tax on land and other things, whereof
my Lord can and will thoroughly in-
form you. The sovereignty, notwith-
standing, remains penes ordinea, which
we call the Estates. These consist of
the whole provinces united, to the
number ordinanly of some eighteen or
twenty persons, each province deputing
gome four or flve^ as the occasion and

time require. These are choeen out
by their provinces, and are sent to the
general assembly upon extraoidinaiy
occasions — as when there is oocaskn
for making some new ordinance, either
for contributions or other oocarrenoe%
concerning the whole generality. Hie
place of their ordinary meeting is the
Hague. The time of their oontmuance
together is not longer than till the
matter in question be resolved, at re-
mitted to a new report, which often
happeneth. These having remained
together upon mv Lord's coming till
he had agreed to the acceptance of the
government were to depart hom^^
about the time of my coming thence
— ^to return within some few days after
for the determining of a new proposi-
tion for the increase of their ordinaiy
contributions, and are by this cime^ I
think, dissolved again. In this case,
your letters to them — if you have any
— ^must tarry a new convocation, ibr to
them only it appertains to answer the
matter of my Lord's election, foras-
much as concemeth the country. The
council of estate, resident with my
Lord, hath been chosen since h&
election to the government composed
of some ten or twelve persons, at the
denomination of the provinces, and my
Lord's election. These you shall find
attending upon my Lord as his ordi-
nary assistants in <dl matters concern-
ing the public government, but to
them it belongeth not to deliver any-
thmg touching this case of my Lord's
without special direction. And thus
much touchmg the form of that go-
vernment, as &j forth as the time will
suffer me to discourse unto you, or
may belong to your present charge,
leaving you for other things to be
more particularly satisfied by Sir Philip
Sidney, Mr. Killigrew, and others <»
your friends, at your arrival th«^"

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i58e.

MISSION OF HENEAQB TO THE STATSa

431

Thus pTOvided with informatioD, forewarned of danger^ fur-
nished with a double set of letters from the Queen to the
States — the first expressed in language of extreme exaspera-
tion, the others couched in ahnost affectionate terms — and
laden with messages brimfuU of wrathful denunciation from
her Majesty to one who was notoriously her Majesty's dearly-
beloved, Sir Thomas Heneage set forth on his mission. These
were perilous times for the Davisons and the Heneages, when
even Leicesters and Burghleys were scarcely secure.

Meantime the &ir weather at court could not be depended
upon from one day to another, and the clouds were perpetu-
ally returning after the rain.

'^ Since my second and third day's audience/' said Davison,
" the storms I met with at my arrival have overblown and
abated daily. On Saturday again she fell into some new
heat, which lasted not long. This day I was myself at the
court, and found her in reasonable good terms, though she
will not yet seem satisfied to me either with the matter or
manner of your proceeding, notwithstanding all the labour I
have taken in that behalf. Yet I find not her Majesty alto-
gether so sharp as some men look, though her favour has
outwardly cooled in respect both of this action and of our
plain proceeding with her here in defence thereof."^

The poor Countess — whose imaginary exodus, with the long

Having given this correct and gra-
phic oa&ne of the government to
which Heneage had thus been de-
spatched, upon such delicate and
perilous business, Davison proceeded
to whisper a word of timely caution in
lusear.

"I cannot but let you know," he
said, " how heartily sony I am that it
is not more plausible to my Lord, and
profitable to that poor country. What
may move her Majesty to take this
course I know not ; but this I protest
unto you before G<)d, that I know not
what other course the Estates or my
Lord might have taken than they
have done, nor how the country may
be saved, if this act be discounte-
nanced and overthrown. To advise

you how to carry yourself I will not
take upon me, and yet dare be bold
to afiOrm this mudi, that your message,
if it be not all the better handled in
your wisdom, cannct but breed utter
dishonour to my Lord, ruin to the
cause, and repentance ere long to her
Majesty's ael^ which will better ap-
pear unto you when you shall be there
to look into their estate. But seeing
God hath so disposed thereof, I will
cast my care upon his providence, and
recommend the cause to Him that
governs alL" Davison to Heneaga
26 Feb. 1686. (S. P. Office MS.)
» Bruce*s *Leya Oorresp.* 14%

IS Mar.

.1686.

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432 ^^^^ UNITBD NBTHBBLAND& Chap. TH

procession of coaches and side-saddles, had excited so much
ire — ^fonnd herself in a most distressing position. " I have
not seen my Lady these ten or twelve days/' said Davison.
" To-morrow I hope to do my duty towards her. I found
her greatly troubled with tempestuous news she received from
court, but somewhat comforted when she understood how I
had proceeded with her Majesty. . . . But these pas-
sions overblown, I hope her Majesty will have a gracious
regard both towards myself and the cause.*' ^

But the passions seemed not likely to blow over so soon as
was desirable. Leicester's brother the Earl of Warwick took
a most gloomy view of the whole transaction, and hoarser
than the raven's was his boding tone.

"Well, our mistress's extreme rage doth increase rather
than diminish," he wrote, " and she giveth out great threa-
tening words against you. Therefore make the best assurance
you can for yourself, and trust not her oath, for that her
malice is great and unquenchable in the wisest of their opi-
nions here, and as for other friendships, as far as I can learn,
it is as doubtful as the other. Wherefore, my good brother,
repose your whole trust in God, and He will defend you in
despite of all your enemies. And let this be a great comfort
to you, and so it is likewise to myself and all your assured
friends, and that is, that you were never so honoured and
loved in your life amongst all good people as you are at
this day, only for dealing so nobly and wisely in this action
as you have done ; so that, whatsoever cometh of it, you have
done your part. I praise God from my heart for it Once
again, have great care of yourself, I mean for your safety,
and if she will needs revoke you, to the overthrowing of the
cause, if I were as you, if I could not be assured therey I would
go to the farthest part of Christendom rather than ever come
into England again. Take heed whom you trust, for that
you have some false hoys about you"^

And the false boys were busy enough, and seemed likely

1 Brac8*a 'Leyc. Gonesp.,' 144. MS. just cited.
2 n>id. 150, 161, ~ March, 1586.

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U8e. SHIRLEY SENT TO ENGLAND BY THE EARL. 433

to triumph in the result of their schemes. For a glance into
the secret correspondence of Mary of Scotland has ah'eady re-
vealed the Earl to ns constantly surrounded by men in masks.
Many of those nearest his person, and of highest credit out of
England, were his deadly foes, sworn to compass his dishonour,
his confusion, and eventually his death, and in correspond-
ence with his most powerful adversaries at home and abroad.
Certainly his path was slippery and perilous along those icy
summits of power, and he had need to look well to his foot-
steps.

Before Heneage had arrived in the Netherlands, Sir Tho-
mas Shirley, despatched by Leicester to England with a com-
mission to procure supplies for the famishing soldiers, and, if
possible, to mitigate the Queen's wrath, had been admitted
more than once to her Majesty's presence. He had fought
the Earl's battle as manfully as Davison had done, and, like
that envoy, had received nothing in exchange for his plausible
pjguments but bitter words and big oaths. Eight days after
his arrival he was introduced by Hatton into the privy cham-
ber, and at the moment of his entrance was received with a
volley of execrations.*

" I did expressly and peremptorily forbid his acceptance of
the absolute government, in the hearing of divers of my
council," said the Queen.

Shirley. — "The necessity of the case was imminent, your
Highness. It was his Lordship's intent to do all for your Ma-
jesty's service. Those countries did expect him as a governor
at lis first landing, and the States durst do no other than
satisfy the people also with that opinion. The people's mis-
like of their present government is such and so great as that
the name of States is grown odious amongst them. There-
fore the States, doubting the furious r^e of the people, con-
ferred the authority upon his Lordship with incessant suit to
him to receive it. Notwithstanding this, however, he did
deny it until he saw plainly both confusion and ruin of that

iBruce'8'LejcCorreep.* 172, ^ March, 168«.

VOL. I.— 2D

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434 THB UNTTBD NBTHBELANDS. Chap. VIL

country if he should refuse. On the other hand, when he
had seen into their estates, his lordship found great profit and
commodity like to come unto your Majesty by your accept-
ance of it. Your Highness may now have garrisons of Eng-
lish in as many towns as pleaseth you, without any more
charge than you are now at. Nor can any peace be made
with Spain at any time hereafter, but through you and by
you. Your Majesty should remember, likewise, that if a man
of another nation had been chosen governor it mi^t have
wrought great danger. Moreover it would have been an indig*
nity that your lieutenant-general should of necessity be under
him that so should have been elected. Finally, this is a stop
to any other that may affect the place of government there."

Queen (who has manifested many signs of impatience
during this discourse). — ^"Your speech is all in vain. His
Lordship's proceeding is sufficient to make me infamous to
all princes, having protested the contrary, as I have done, in
a book which is translated into divers and sundry languages.
His Lordship, being my servant, a creature of my own, ought
not, in duty towards me, have entered into this course without
my knowledge and good allowance."

Shirley. — " But the world hath conceived a high judgment
of your Majesty's great wisdom and providence, shown by
your assailing the King of Spain at one time both in the Low
Countries and also by Sir Francis Drake. I do assure myself
that the same judgment which did first cause you to take
this in hand must continue a certain knowledge in your Ma-
jesty that one of these actions must needs stand much better
by the other. If Sir Frances do prosper, then all is well. And
though he should not prosper, yet this hold that his Lordship
hath taken for you on the Low Countries must always assure
an honourable peace at your Highness's pleasure. I beseech
your Majesty to remember that to the King of Spain the
government of his Lordship is no greater matter than if he
were but your lieutenant-general there ; but the voyage of
Sir Francis is of much greater offence than alL"

Queen (interrupting). — "I can very well answer for Sir

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168e. HIS INTBRVIBW WITH ELIZABETH. 435

Francis. Moreover, if need be, the gentleman careth not if
I should disavow him."

Shirley. — " Even so standeth my Lord, if your disavowing of
him may also stand with your Highness's favour towards him.
Nevertheless, should this bruit of your mislike of his Lord-
ship's authority there come unto the ears of those people —
being a nation both sudden and suspicious, and having been
heretofore used to stratagem — ^I fear it may work some
strange notion in them, considering that, at this time, there
is an increase of taxation raised upon them, the bestowing
whereof perchance they know not of His Lordship's giving
up of the government may leave them altogether without
government, and in worse case than they were ever in before.
For now the atUhority of the States is dissolved j and his Lord-
ship* s government is the only thing that holdeth them together.
I do beseech your Highness, then, to consider well of it, and
if there be any private cause for which you take grief against
his Lordship, nevertheless, to have regard unto the public
cause, and to have a care of your own safety, which in many
wise men's opinions, standeth much upon the good mainte-
nance and upholding of this matter."

Queen. — "I believe nothing of what you say concerning
the dissolving of the authority of the States. I know well
enough that the States do remain states still. I mean not to
do harm to the cause, but only to reform that which his Lord-
ship hath done beyond his warrant from me."^

And with this the Queen swept suddenly from the apart-
ment. Sir Thomas, at different stages of the conversation,
had in vain besought her to accept a letter fmm the Earl
which had been entrusted to his care. She obstinately refused
to touch it. Shirley had even had recourse to stratagem :
affecting ignorance on many points concerning which the
Queen desired information, and suggesting that doubtless she
would find those matters fully explained in his Lordship's
letter.* The artifice was in vain, and the discussion was, on

1 luce's *Leyc. Corresp.' 111-176, ^March, 1686. • Ibid.

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436 ^QK UinrSD NBTHERLAin)& Chap. TVL

the whole, uosatisfactoiy. Yet there is no doubt that the
Queen had had the worst of the argument, and she was far too
sagacious a politician not to feel the weight of that which
had been urged so often in defence of the course pursued.
But it was with her partly a matter of temper and offended
pride, perhaps even of wounded affection.

On the following morning Shirley saw the Queen walking
in the garden of the palace, and made bold to accost her.
Thinking, as he said, ^^ to test her affection to Lord Leicester
by another means,'' the artful Sir Thomas stepped up to her,
and observed that his Lordship was seriously ilL '^ It is feared,''
he said, ^^ that the Earl is again attacked by the disease of which
Dr. Goodrowse did once cure him. Wherefore his Lordship is
now a humble suitor to your Highness that it would please
you to spare Goodrowse, and give him leave to go thither for
some time."

The Queen was instantly touched.

" Certainly — ^with all my heart, with all my heart, he shall
have him," she replied, ^^and sorry I am that his Lordship
hath that need of him."

"And indeed," returned sly Sir Thomas, "your Hig^ess
is a very gracious prince, who are pleased not to suffer his
Lordship to perish in health, though otherwise you remain
deeply offended with him."

"You know my mind," returned Elizabeth, now all the
queen again, and perhaps suspecting the trick ; " I may not
endure that* any man should alter my commission and the
authority that I gave him, upon his own fancies and without
me."

With this she instantly summoned one of her gentlemen,
in order to break off the interview, fearing that Shirley was
about to enter again upon a discussion of the whole subject,
and again to attempt the delivery of the Earl's letter.^

In all this there was much of superannuated coquetry, no
doubt, and much of Tudor despotism, but there was also a
strong infusion of artifice. For it will soon be necessary to

^ Bruce's 'Leyc. Correi^' 176, 176, same date.

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1686. HIS INTBRVIBW WITH BUZABBTH. 437

direct attention to certain secret transactions of an important
nature in which the Queen was engaged^ and which were even
hidden from the all-seeing eye of Walsingham — although
shrewdly suspected hoth by that statesman and by Leicester —
but which were most influential in modifying her policy at
that moment towards the Netherlands.

There could be no doubt, however, of the stanch and stre-
nuous manner in which the delinquent Earl was supported by
his confidential messengers and by some of his fellow-coun«
cillors. His true friends were urgent that the great cause in
which he was engaged should be forwarded sincerely and
without delay. Shirley had been sent for money; but to
draw money from Elizabeth was like coining her life-blood,
drachma by drachma.

" Your Lordship is like to have but a poor supply of money
at this time,'' said Sir Thomas. " To be plain with you, I fear
she groweth weary of the charge, and will hardly be brought
to deal thoroughly in the action."

He was also more explicit than he might have been — had
he been better informed as to the disposition of the chief
personages of the court, concerning whose temper the absent
Earl was naturally anxious. Hatton was most in favour at
the moment, and it was through Hatton that the commu-
nications upon Netherland matters passed; ^^for," said Shir-
ley, " she will hardly endure Mr, Secretary (Walsingham) to
speak unto her therein/'

" And truly, my Lord," he continued, " as Mr. Secretary is
a noble, good, and true friend unto you, so doth Mr. Yice-
Ohamberlain show himself an honourable, true, and faithful
gentieman, and doth carefully and most like a good friend
for your Lordship/'

And thus very succinctiy and graphically had the envoy
painted the situation to his principal. " Your Lordship now
sees things just as they stand," he moralized. ^^ Your Lordship
is exceeding wise. Tou know the Queen and her nature best
of any man. You know all men here. Your Lordship can
judge the sequel by this that you see : only this I must tell

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438

THB TTNTTED NETHBRLAKDS.

Chip. VIL

your Lordship^ I perceive that fears and doubts from thence
are like to work better effects here than comforts and assu-
rance. I think it my part to send your Lordship this as it is^
rather than to be silent."^

And with these rather ominous insinuations the envoy ccm-
eluded for the time his narrative.

While these storms were blowing and "overblowing" in
England^ Leicester remained greatly embarrassed and anxious
in Holland. He had sown the wind more extensively than
he had dreamed of when accepting the government^ and he
was now awaiting, with much trepidation, the usual harvest
And we have seen that it was rapidly ripening. Mecuitime,
the good which he had really effected in the Provinces by the
course he had taken was likely to be neutralized by the sinis-
ter rumours as to his impending disgrace, while the enemy
was proportionally encouraged. " I understand credibly," he
said, "that the Prince of Parma feels himself in great jollity
that her Majesty doth rather mislike than allow of our doings
here, which, if it be true, let her be. sure her own sweet self
shall first smart/''

Moreover, the English troops were, as we have seen, mere
shoeless, shivering, starving vagabonds. The Earl had gene-
rously advanced very large sums of money from his own pocket
to relieve their necessity. The States, on the other hand, had
voluntarily increased the monthly contribution of 200,000
florins, to which their contract with Elizabeth obliged them,^
and were more disposed than ever they had been since the

' Bnioe*8 *Leyc. Comep,* just cited.
« Bruce, 148, ^ Man*, 1586.

8 " They bave, I say, added," wrote
Lord North to Lord Burghley, "to
their first offer as much more, which
amounteth to at least forty thousand
pounds a month." 28 Feb. 1586. (S. P.
Office MS.)

But he seems to hare much orer-
stated the amount The regular con-
tribution of the States was twenty
thousand pounds (or 200,000 florins^
18 it was then always reckoned) a

month, and they had recently granted,
at Leicester's urgent request, an addi-
tional sum of forty thousand pounds
(400,000 florms) ibr four months,
making thirty thousand poonds a
month. It is howerer quite impoasiUe
to ascertain at this day the exact sums
Toted or collected in <the republic for
war^expenses, although there is no
doubt that their efforts were euonnous.
Comp. Bruoe's *Leyc. Coireep.' 13fi^

e Mar.

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158«. LEICBSTKB*S LBTTBBS TO HIS FRIENDa 439

death of Orange to proceed vigorously and harmoniously
against the common enemy of Christendom. Under such
circumstances it may well be imagined that there was cause
on Leicester's part for deep mortification at the tragical turn
which the Queen's temper seemed to be taking.

" I know not," he said, " how her Majesty doth mean to
dispose of me. It hath gricTed me more than I can express
that for faithful and good service she should so deeply con-
ceive against me. God knows with what mind I have served
her Highness, and perhaps some others might have failed.
Yet she is neither tied one jot by covenant or promise by me
in any way, nor at one groat the more charges, but myself
two or three thousand pounds sterling more than now is like
to be well spent. I will desire no partial speech in my
figivour. If my doings be ill for her Majesty and the realm,
let me feel the smart of it. The cause is now well forward ;
let not her majesty suflfer it to quail. If you will have it
proceed to good effect, send away Sir William Pelham with
all the haste you can. I mean not to complain, but with so
weighty a cause as this is, few men have been so weakly
assisted. Her Majesty hath far better choice for my place,
and with any that may succeed me let Sir William Pelham
be first that may come. I speak from my soul for her Ma-
jesty's service. I am for myself upon -an hour's warning to
obey her good pleasure."^

Thus far the Earl had maintained his dignity. He had
yielded to the solicitations of the States, and had thereby
exceeded his commission, and gratified his ambition, but he
had in no wise forfeited his self-respect.

But — so soon as the first unquestionable inteUigence of the
passion to which the Queen had given way at his misdoings
reached him — ^he began to whimper. The straightforward tone
which Davison had adopted in his interviews with Elizabeth,
and the firmness with which he had defended the cause of his

1 Leioester to Borgfale^, 18 Feb. 1586. (S. P. Office MS.)

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440 ^^HE UNITBD NBTHEBLAIIiJa Obap. YIL

absent friend, at a moment when he had plunged himself into
disgrace, was worthy of applause. He deserved at least a
word of honest thanks.

Ignoble however was the demeanor of the Earl towards the
man — ^for whom he had but recently been unable to invent
eulogies sufficiently warm — so soon as he conceived the pos*
sibility of sacrificing his friend as the scape-goat for his own
fault. An honest schoolboy would have scorned to leave thus
in the lurch a comrade who had been fighting his battles so
honestly.

^^ How earnest I was/" he wrote to the lords of the council,
9th March, 1586, '^ not only to acquaint her Majesty, but im-
mediately upon the first motion made by the States, to send
Mr. Davison over to her with letters, I doubt not but he will
truly affirm for me ; yea, and how far against my will it was,
notwithstanding any reasons delivered me, that he and others
persisted in, to have me accept first of this place. .... The
extremity of the case, and my being persuaded that Mr.
Davison might have better satisfied her Majesty, than I per^
ceive he can, caused me — ^neither arrogantly nor contemptu-
ously, but even merely and faithfully — to do her Majesty the
best service." ^

He acknowledged, certainly, that Davison had been in-
fluenced by honest motives, although his importunities had
been the real cause of the Earl's neglect of his own obliga-
tions. But he protested that he had himself only erred
through an excessive pliancy to the will of others. ^^My
yielding was my own fault," he admitted, ^^ whatsoever his
persuasions ; but far from a contemptuous heart, or else Gt>d
pluck out both heart and bowels with utter shame." '

So soon as Sir Thomas Heneage had presented himself, and
revealed the full extent of the Queen's wrath, the Earl's dis-»
position to cast the whole crime on the shoulders of Davison
became quite undisguised.

1 Brace's 'Leya Corresp.,' 162, - March, 1686. a ibid. 163, same data

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1686. PALTRY CONDUCT OF THE BAEL TO DAVISON. 441

"I thank you for your letters," wrote Leicester to Wal-
siugham, ^^ though you can send me no comfort. Her Majesty
doth deal hardly to believe so ill of me. It is true I faulted,
. . but she doth not consider what commodities she hath
withal, and herself no way engaged for it, as Mr. Davison
might have better declared it, if it had pleased him. And I
must thank him only for my blame, and so he will confess to
you, for, I protest before God, no necessity here could have
made me leave her Majesty unacquainted with the cause
before I would have accepted of it, bt^ only his so earnest
pressing me with his faithful assured promise to discharge me,
however her Mqjesty shotUd take it. For you all see there she
had no other cause to be offended but this, and, by the Lord,
he was the only cause ; albeit it is no sufficient allegation,

being as I am He had, I think, saved all to have told

her, as he promised me. But now it is laid upon me, God
send the cause to take no harm, my grief must be the less.
.... How far Mr. Heneage's commission shall deface me I
know not. He is wary to observe his commission, and I con-
sent withal. I know the time will be her Majesty will be
sorry for it. In the meantime I am too, too weary of the
high dignity. I would that any that could serve her Majesty
were placed in it, and I to sit down with all my losses.''^

In more manful strain he then alluded to the sufferings of
his army. " Whatsoever become of me," he said, " give me
leave to speak for the poor soldiers. If they be not better •
maintained, being in this strange country, there will be neither
good service done, nor be without great dishonour to her

Majesty Well, you see the wants, and it is one cause

that will glad me to be rid of this heavy high calling, and
wish me at my poor cottage again^ if any I shall find. But let
her Majesty pay them well, and appoint such a man as Sir
William Pelham to govern them, and she never wan more
honour than these men here will do, I am persuaded." *

That the Earl was warmly urged by all most conversant;

> Brace's *Leyc. Corresp.' 165-16Y, ^ March, 1586. ■ Ibid

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442

THE UNITKD NBTHERLAITOa

Chap. VH.

with Netherland politics to assume the government was a &ct
admitted by all. That he manifested rather eagerness than
reluctance on the subject, and that his only hesitation arose
from the proposed restraints upon the power, not from scruples
about accepting the power, are facts upon record. There is
nothing save his own assertion to show any backwardness on
his part to snatch the coveted prize ; and that assertion was
flatly denied by Davison, and was indeed refuted by every
circumstance in the case. It is certain that he had concealed
from Davison the previous prohibitions of the Queen. He
could anticipate much better than could Davison, therefore,
the probable indignation of the Queen. It is strange then
that he should have shut his eyes to it so wilfully, and
stranger still that he should have relied on the envoy's elo-
quence instead of his own to mitigate that emotion. Had he
placed his defence simply upon its true basis, the necessity of
the case, and the impossibility of carrying out the Queen's
intentions in any other way, it would be difficult to cen-
sure him ; but that he should seek to screen himself by
laying the whole blame on a subordinate, was enough to make
any honest man who heard him hang his head. ^^ I meant
not to do it, but Davison told me to do it, please your Majesty,
and if there was naughtiness in it, he said he would make it
all right with your Majesty." Such, reduced to its simplest ex-
pression, was the defence of the magnificent Earl of Leicester.

And as he had gone cringing and whining to his royal
mistress, so it was natural that he should be brutal and
blustering to his friend.

" By your means," said he,^ " I have fallen into her Ma-
jesty's deep displeasure If you had delivered to her

the truth of my dealing, her Highness never could have con-
ceived, as I perceive she doth Nor doth her Majesty

know how hardly^ I was drawn to accept this place before I
had acquainted her — ^as to which you promised you would not

* Leicester to Davison, with his
comments in reply written in the mar-
gin. Bruoe, 168-171, - March, 1586.

< The words italicized in the text
were underscored by Davison, with
the marginal comment— "Let Sii
Philip Sidney and others witnefla."

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1686.

HE EXCUSES HniSBLP AT DATISON'S EXPENSE.

443

only give her full satisfaction^ but would prociu^ me great

thanks You did chiefly persuade me to take this charge

upon me You can remember how many treaties you and

others had with the States^ before I agreed, for all yours and
their persuasion to take it} .... You gave me assurance U
satisfy her Majesty, but I see not that you have done anything.
.... I did not hide from you the doubt I had of her Ma^

jesty's ill taking it You chiefly brought me into it,^ . . . ,

and it could no way have been heavy to you, though you had
told the uttermost of yoiu" own doing, as you faithfully pro-
mised you would / did very untoillingly come into the

mxxtter^ doubting that to fall out which is come to pass, ....
and it doth bo fall out by your negligent carelessness^ whereof I
many hundred times told you that you would* both mar the good-
ness of the matter, and breed me her Majesty's displeasure.
.... Thus fare you well, and except your embassages have
better success, I shall have no cause to commend them."

And so was the unfortunate Davison ground into finest
dust between the upper and lower millstones of royal wrath
and loyal subserviency.

Meantime the other special envoy had made his appear-
ance in the Netherlands ; the other go-between between the
incensed Queen and the backsliding favourite. It has already
been made sufficiently obvious, by the sketch given of his in-
structions, that his mission was a delicate one. In obedience
to those instructions, Heneage accordingly made his appear-
ance before the council, and, in Leicester's presence, delivered
to them the severe and biting reprimand which Elizabeth
had chosen to inflict upon the States and upon the governor.
The envoy performed his ungracious task as daintily as he
could, and after preliminary consultation with Leicester ; but
the proud Earl was deeply mortified. " The fourteenth day

* " All this whUe there vtbb no note
of anj contraiy commandment" —
Comment of Davison.

« "Abflolntely denied." — Comment
of Davison.

* "Hereof let the world judge." —
Davisoa

* Words underscored by Davison,

with the comment — " You might doubt
it, but if you had uttered so much,
you should have employed some other
in the journey, which I had no reason
to afifect much, preseeing well enough
how thankless it would be." Bruoe^
170.

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444 THB UNITBD NBTHBBLANDa Ghif. TIL

of this month of March/' said he^ '^ Sir Thomas Heneage de-
livered a very sharp letter from her Majesty to the council
of estate^ besides his message — ^myself being present, for so
was her Majesty's pleasure, as he said, and I do think he did
but as he was commanded. How great a grief it must be to
an honest heart and a true, faithful senrant, before his own
face, to a company of very wise and grave counsellors, who
had conceived a marvellous opinion before of my credit with
her Majesty, to be charged now with a manifest and wilful
contempt I Matter enough to have broken any man's heart,
that looked rather for thanks, as God doth know I did when
I first heard of Mr. Heneage's arrival — ^I must say to your
Lordship, for discharge of my duty, I can be no fit man to
serve here — ^my disgrace is too great — protesting to you that
since that day I cannot find it in my heart to come into that
place, where, by my own sufferings torn, I was made to be
thought so lewd a person." ^

He then comforted himself — as he had a right to do — ^with
the reflection that this disgrace inflicted was more than he
deserved, and that such would be the opinion of those by
whom he was surrounded,

^^ Albeit one thing," he said, ^'did greatly comfort me, that
they all best knew the wrong was great I had, and that her
Majesty was very wrongfully informed of the state of my cause.
I doubt not but they can and will dischaige me, howsoever
they shall satisfy her Majesty. And as I would rather wish
for death than justly to deserve her displeasure, so, good my
Lord, this disgrace not coming for any ill service to her, pray
procure me a speedy resolution, that I may go hide me and
pray for her. My heart is broken, though thus far I can
quiet myself, that I know I have done her Majesty as faithful
and good service in these countries as ever she had done her

since she was Queen of England Under correction, my

good Lord, I have had Halifax law — to be condemned first
and inquired upon after. I pray God that no man find this
measure that I have done, and deserved no worse."'

1 Leiceeter to Burghlej, 17 March, 1586. (S. P. OfBce US.) « IbkL

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1686. HIS LETTBB TO BUBGHLET. 445

He defended himself—as Davison had already defended him
— ^upon the necessities of the case.

" I, a poor gentleman/' he said, "who have wholly depended
upon herself alone — and now, being commanded to a service
of the greatest importance that ever her Majesty employed
any servant in, and finding the occasion so serving me, and
the necessity of time such as would not permit such delays^
flatly seeing that if that opportunity were lost, the like again
for her service and the good of the realm was never to be
looked for, presuming upon the favour of my prince, as many
servants have done, exceeding somewhat thereupon, rather
than breaking any part of my commission, taking upon me a
place whereby I found these whole countries could be held
at her best devotion, without binding her Majesty to any
such matter as she had forbidden to the States before — finding,
I say, both the time and opportunity to serve, and no lack but
to trust to her gracious acceptation, I now feel that how good,
how honourable, how profitable soever it be, it is turned to a
worse part than if I had broken all her commissions and com-
mandments, to the greatest harm, and dishonour, and danger,
that may be imagined against her person, state, and dignity/'^

He protested, not without a show of reason, that he was
like to be worse punished " for well-doing than any man that
had committed a most heinous or traitorous ofience," and he
maintained that if he had not accepted the government, as
he had done, "the whole State had been gone and wholly
lost/'* All this — as we have seen — ^had already been stoutly
uiged by Davison, in the very face of the tempest, but with
no result, except to gain the enmity of both parties to the
quarreL The imgrateful Leicester now expressed confidence
that the second go-between would be more adroit than the
first had proved. " The causes why," said he, " Mr. Davison
could have told — ^no man better — ^but Mr. Heneage can now
tell, who hath sought to the uttermost the bottom of all things.
I will stand to his report, whether glory or vtdn desire of title

* Leicester to Burghle7. (If S. last cited.) ' Ibid.

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446 '^^^ UNITED NETHBBLAKBa Chap. TEL

caused me to step one foot forward in the matter. My place
was great enough and high enough before^ with much less
trouble than by this^ besides the great indignation of her

Majesty K I had overslipt the good occasion then in

danger^ I had been worthy to be hanged^ and to be taken for
a most lewd servant to her Majesty, and a dishonest wretch
to my country."^

But diligently as Heneage had sought to the bottom of all
things, he had not gained the approbation of Sidney. Sir
Philip thought that the new man had only ill botched a piece
of work that had been most awkwardly contrived from the
beginning. '^ Sir Thomas Heneage/' said he, ^^ hath with as
much honesty, in my opinion done as much hurt as any man
this twelvemonth hath done with naughtiness. But I hope
in God, when her Majesty finds the truth of things, her
graciousness will not utterly overthrow a cause so behooveful
and costly unto her."'

He briefly warned the government that most disastrous
effects were likely to ensue, if the Earl should be publicly
disgraced, and the recent action of the States reversed. The
penny-wise economy, too, of the Queen, was rapidly proving
a most ruinous extravagance. " I only cry for Flushing," said
Sidney, " but, unless the monies be sent over, there will some
terrible accident follow, particularly to the cautionary towns,
if her Majesty mean to have them cautions."*

The effect produced by the first explosion of the Queen's
wrath was indeed one of universal suspicion and distnist
The greatest care had been taken, however^ tiiat tiie afiir
should be delicately handled, for Heneage, while doing as
much hurt by honesty as others by naughtiness, had modified
his course as much as he dared in deference to the opinions
of the Earl himself, and that of his English counsellors.
The great culprit himself, assisted by his two lawyers, Clerk
and Killigrew — ^had himself drawn the bill of his own indict-
ment. The letters of the Queen to the States, to the council,

' Leicester to Bui^hley. (MS. just dted.)
• Sir P. Sidney to Burghley, 18 March, 1686. (S. P. Office MS.) * Ib^

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1686. EFFECT OP THE QUEEN'S LETTERS TO THE STATEa 447

and to the Earl himself, were, of necessity, delivered, but the
reprimand which Heneage had been instructed to fulminate
was made as harmless as possible. It was arranged that he
should make a speech before the council, but abstain from a
protocol. The oration was duly pronoimced, and it was, of
necessity, stinging. Otherwise the disobedience to the Queen
would have been flagrant. But the pain inflicted was to dis-
appear with the first castigation. The humiliation was to be
public and solemn, but it was not to be placed on perpetual
record.

" We thought best," said Leicester, Heneage, Clerk, and
Killigrew — "according to her Majesty's secret instructions —
to take that course which might least endanger the weak
estate of the Provinces — that is to say, to utter so much in
words as we hoped might satisfy her excellent Majesty's ex-
pectation, and yet leave them nothing in writing to confirm
that which was secretly spread in many places to the hindrance
of the good course of settling these aflfairs. Which speech,
after Sir Thomas Heneage had devised, and we both perused
and allowed, he, by our consent and advice, pronounced to the
council of state. This we did think needful — especially be-
cause every one of the council that was present at the reading
of her Majesty's first letters, was of the full mind, that if her
Majesty should again show the least mislike of the present
government, or should not by her next letters confirm it, they
were all undone — ^for that every man would cast with himself
which way to make his peace." *

Thus adroitly had the " poor gentleman, who could not find
it in his heart to come again into the place, where — by his
own sufferings torn — ^he was made to appear so lewd a person "
— provided that there should remain no trace of that lewdness
and of his sovereign's displeasure, upon the record of the
States.* It was^not long, too, before the Earl was enabled to
surmount his mortification ; but the end was not yet.

' " The Resolution of my Lord, Ac.,
for the speech I should use to the
Council of the States upon the letters
written from H. Majesty in March,

14 March, 1586." Signed by Leicester,
Heneage, Clerk, and Killigrew. (S. P.
Office MS.)
• In the foreign correspondence, of

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448

THE UNITED NKTHKRLAND8.

Chap. VH

The uniyersal suspicion^ consequent on these proceedings^
grew most painful It pointed to one invariable quarter. It
was believed by all that the Queen was privately treating for
peace^ and that the transaction was kept a secret not only
from the States but from her own most trusted counsdlors
also. It would be difficult to exaggerate the pernicious
effects of this suspicion. Whether it was a well-grounded one
or not, will be shown in a subsequent chapter, but there is no
doubt that the vigour of the enterprise was thus sapped at a
most critical moment. The Provinces had never been more
heartily banded together since the fatal 10th of July, 1584,
than they were in the early spring of 1586. They were
rapidly organizing their own army, and, if the Queen had
manifested more sympathy with her own starving troops,^ the

" despatch books," between the States
Oeneral and England, there are no
letters either ftom Queen Elizabeth,
or from Ortell, who was in England
daring the whole of the year 1586, as
agent of Holland and Zeeland, and, at
the dose of the jear, was added to the
number of commissioners sent by the
States General to the Queen. Nor
are there any letters addressed to
Elizabeth or to Ortell, although there
are a few notes (which I have used)
made by the persons to whom was en-
trusted the task of drawing up letters
to be sent by Davison in the middle
of February, 1686, and afterwards.
There are, indeed, no letters of 1586
relative to England or to the Leicester
government, to be found in the archives
of the Hague; nor is there in the
daily register of the sessions of the
States General for 1586 — which I have
examined, page by page, very care-
fully—a trace of the dissatisfaction of
the Queen, or of the angry correspond-
euce which ensued, after the accept-
ance by Leicester of the "absolute"
government All the pieces have been
lost— probably secreted at the period
— so that no one could tell at present,
by consulting the Hague Archives
only, that there had been a quarrel
Bor, Meteren, and other contempo-
nuries, give an account of the trans-

action, in the mahi correct, although
most of them are of opinion that
the Queen's anger was mere pretence,
and that she was desirous of assuming
the sovereignty, in case the Provinces
were deemed by Leicester capable of
maintaining their own cause. This
view as we have seen, was quite erro-
neous.

It is remarkable that between 23
Feb. and 11 April, 1586, the States
General were not in session.

* "I will not trouble your Lord-
ship," wrote Leicester to Bwghley on
the 15 March, 1686, "with anything
that may privately concern myself I
see what the acceptation of my senrioes
is, and how liule it avaUeth to allege
most just reasons in defence of them.
But though I see I am, and must be,
disgpraced, which Grod I h<^ win g^ve
me strength to bear patiently, yet let
me entreat your L'p to be a mean to
her M. that the poor soldiers be not
beaten for my sake. There came no
penny of treasure over since my coming
hither. That which then came was
most part due before it came. There
is much due to them. They cannot
get a penny. Their credit is spent
They perish for ioaiU cf vicfoui^ amd
dothing in great numbers. The whole
and some are ready to mutiny," Atx
S. P. Office Ma

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1686. SUaPIOION AND DISCONTENT IN HOLLAND 449

united Englishmen and Hollanders would have been invincible
even by Alexander Famese.

Moreover, they had sent out nine war- vessels to cruise off the
Cape Verd Islands for the homeward-bound Spanish treasure-
fleet from America, with orders, if they missed it, to proceed
to the West Indies ; so that, said Leicester, " the King of
Spain will have enough to do between these men and Drake." ^
All parties had united in conferring a generous amount of
power upon the Earl, who was, in truth, stadholder-general,
under grant from the States — and both Leicester and the
Provinces themselves were eager and earnest for the war. In
war alone lay the salvation of England and Holland. Peace
was an impossibility. It seemed to the most experienced
statesmen of both countries even an absurdity. It may well
be imagined, therefore, that the idea of an underhand n^o-
tiation by Elizabeth would cause a frenzy in the Netherlands.
In Leicester's opinion, nothing short of a general massacre of
the English would be the probable consequence. " No doubt,"
said he, " the very way it is to put us all to the sword here.
For mine own part it would be happiest for me, though I
wish and trust to lose my life in better sort." ^

Champagny, however, was giving out mysterious hints that
the King of Spain could have peace with England when he
wished for it. Sir Thomas Cecil, son of Lord Burghley, on
whose countenance the States especially relied, was returning
on sick-leave from his government of the Brill, and this
sudden departure of so eminent a personage, joined with the
public disavowal of the recent transaction between Leicester
and the Provinces, was producing a general and most sicken-
ing apprehension as to the Queen's good faith. The Earl
did not fail to urge these matters most warmly on the con-
oideration of the English council, setting forth that the States
were stanch for the war, but that they would be beforehand
with her if she attempted by imderhand means to compass a
'.^eace. " If these men once smell any such matter," wrote

>I.6ioeBtertoBnrghl^,17MMoh,1686. (a P. Ofiaoe MS.) i Ibid.

TOL. I.— 2 E

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450 ^^B UNITED NETHBBLAin)& Chap. TII.

Leicester to Burghley, "be you sure they will soon come
before you^ to the utter overthrow of her Majesty and state
for ever." ^

The Earl was suspecting the " false boys," by whom he was
surrounded, although it was impossible for him to perceive, as
we have been enabled to do, the wide-spread and intricate
meshes by which he was enveloped. " Your Papists in Eng-
land," said he, " have sent over word to some in this com-
pany, that all that they ever hoped for is come to pass ; tiisi
my Lord of Leicester shall be called away in greatest indig-
nation with her Majesty, and to confirm this of Champagny,
I have myself seen a letter that her Majesty is in hand with
a secret peace. God forbid I for if it be so, her Majesty, her
realm, and we, are all undone." *

The feeling in the Provinces was still sincerely loyal to-
wards England. " These men," said Leicester, " yet honour
and most dearly love her Majesty, and hardly, I know, will be
brought to believe ill of her any way." Nevertheless these
rumours, to the discredit of her good faith, were doing in-
finite harm ; while the Earl, although keeping his eyes and
ears wide open, was anxious not to compromise himself any
further with his sovereign, by appearing himself to suspect
her of duplicity. " Good, my Lord," he besought Burghley,
" do not let her Majesty know of this concerning Champagny
as coming from me, for she will think it is done for my own
cause, which, by the Lord God, it is not, but even on the
necessity of the case for her own safety, and the realm, and
us aU. Good my Lord, as you will do any good in the matter,
let not her Majesty understand any piece of it to come from
me."^

The States-General, on the 25th March, N. 8., addressed a
respectful letter to the Queen, in reply to her vehement
j5 chidings. They expressed their deep regret that

i "^ her Majesty should be so offended with the elec-
tion of the Earl of Leicester as absolute go-
vernor. They confessed that she had just cause of dis-

* Leicester to Burghley, MS. last cited. * Ibid. * Ibid.

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1586. STATES BXGIJSE THEIE OONDUOT TO THE QUEEN.

451

pleaBure, but hoped that when she should be informed of
the whole matter she would rest better satisfied with their
proceedings. They stated that the authority was the same
which had been previously bestowed upon governors-general ;
observing that by the word " absolute," which had been used
in designation of that authority, nothing more had been
intended than to give to the Earl full power to execute
his commission, while the sovereignty of the country tvaa re-
served to tJie people. This commission, they said, could not
be without danger revoked. And therefore they most humbly
besought her Majesty to approve what had been done, and to
remember its conformity with her own advice to them, that
a multitude of heads, whereby confusion in the government
is bred, should be avoided.*

Leicester, upon the same occasion, addressed a letter to
Burghley and Walsingham, expressing himself as became a
crushed and contrite man, never more to raise his drooping
head again, but warmly and manfully urging upon the atten-
tion of the English government — ^for the honour and interest
of the Queen herself — "the miserable state of the poor
soldiers." The necessity of immediate remittances in order
to keep them from starving, was most imperious. For him-
self, he was smothering his wretchedness until he should learn
her Majesty's final decision, as to what was to become of
him. " Meantime," said he, " I carry my grief inward, and

> The letter is given in Meteren,
xiL 234. Wagenaar (yiii. 121, note 4)
obsenree^ very correctly, that, when
the States were thus glibly explaining
away the word "absolute," they had
either not read over very carefully the
commission granted by themselves to
Leicester, or trusted that the Queen
would not closely examine that docu-
ment. In this original contract with
the Earl were these words: "Item,
his Exceflency shall have full authority
and absolute power (voUe macht en
abfloluyt geweld) within the Provinces
in the matter of policy and justice (in
't stuck van de politie en justitie)."
Comp. Bor, II. 686. Groot Plakaat
Boek, iv. 81. Meteren, ubi sup.

Bor, Meteren, and many coutem-
porary writers, as well as Wagenaar
and other more modem authorities,
are quite mistaken in representing
the whole angry demonstration made
by the Queen in regard to this accept-
ance by Leicester of the "absolute"
government as a force, and a farce
which had been previously arranged.
We have seen from the private letters
of the period how very genuine was
the ill humour of Elizabeth.

The state-couucil also, on the 27
March, 1586 (N.S.), addressed a letter
to the Queen, of similar tenor to that
written by the States-General. Printed
in Bruce's 'Leyc CJorresp.* Append.
468, 469.

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452 THB UNTTBD NBTHERLANDa Chip. VIL

will proceed till her Majesty's full pleasure come with as litUo
discouragement to the cause as I can, I pray Otod her
Majesty may do that may be best for herselfi For my own
part my heart is broken, but not by the enemy." ^

There is no doubt that the public disgrace thus inflicted
upon the broken-hearted governor, and the severe censure
administered to the States by the Queen were both ill-timed
and undeserved. Whatever his disingenuousness towards
Davison, whatever his disobedience to Elizabeth, however
ambitious his own secret motives may have been, there is no
doubt at all that thus far he had borne himself well in his
great office.

Bichard Cavendish — than whom few had better oppor-
tunities of judging — spoke in strong language on the subject
^^ It is a thing almost incredible," said he, ^^ that the care and
diligence of any one man living could, in so small time, have
so much repaired so disjointed and loose an estate as my Lord
found this country in. But lest he should swell in pride of
that his good success, your Lordship knoweth that God hath
BO tempered the cause with the construction thereof, as may
well hold him in good consideration of human things." ^ He
alluded with bitterness — as did all men in the Netherlands
who were not open or disguised Papists — to the fatal rumours
concerning the peace-negotiation in connection with the recall
of Leicester. " There be here advertisements of most fearful
instance," he said, " namely, that Champagny doth not spare
most liberally to bruit abroad that he hath in his hands the
conditions of peace oflTered by her Majesty imto the King his
master, and that it is in his power to conclude at pleasure—
which fearful and mischievous plot, if in time it be not met
withal by some notable encounter, it cannot but prove the
root of great ruin." *

The "false boys" about Leicester were indefatigable in
spreading these rumours, and in taking advantage— with the

' Leiceeter to Burghlej and Wal- I ' Cavendish to Burghlej, 18 Mard^
■ingham, 15 March, 1686. (S. P. Offioe 1586. (& P. Office Ma)

Ma I *mi

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1686. LEICESTER DISOBBDITBD IN HOLLAND. 453

assistance of the Papists in the obedient Provinces and in
England — of the disgraced condition in which the Queen had
placed the favourite. Most galling to the haughty Earl —
most damaging to the cause of England^ Holland^ and liberty
— ^were the tales to his discredit^ which circulated on the Bourse
at Antwerp, Middelburg, Amsterdam, and in all the other
commercial centres. The most influential bankers and mer-
chants were assured by a thousand chattering — ^but as it were
invisible — ^tongues, that the Queen had for a long time dis-
liked Leicester ; that he was a man of no account among the
statesmen of England ; that he was a beggar and a bankrupt ;
that, if he had waited two months longer, he would have made
his appearance in the Provinces with one man and one boy
for his followers ; that the Queen had sent him thither to be
rid of him ; that she never intended him to have more
authority than Sir John Norris had ; that she could not abide
the bestowing the title of Excellency upon him, and that she
had not disguised her fury at his elevation to the post of
governor-general^

All who attempted a refutation of these statements were
asked, with a sneer, whether her Majesty had ever written a
line to him, or in commendation of him, since his arrival.
Minute inquiries were made by the Dutch merchants of their
commercial correspondents, both in their own country and in
England, as to Leicester's real condition and character at
home. What was his rank, they asked, what his ability, what
his influence at court ? Why, if he were really of so high
quality as had been reported, was he thus neglected, and at
last ^graced ? Had he any landed property in England ?
Had he really ever held any other office but that of master
of the horse ? "And then,'' asked one particular busy body,
who made himself very unpleasant on the Amsterdam Ex-
change, "why has her Majesty forbidden all noblemen and
gentlemen from coining hither, as was the case at the begin-
ning ? Is it because she is hearkening to a peace ? And if it

> Bruce'8 'Leyc. Corresp.' 214-219, - Apri], 1686.

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454 ™^ UNITED NBTHBBLANDa GHiP. TIL

be 80^ quoth he^ we are well handled ; for if her Majesty hath
sent a disgraced man to amuse us^ while she is secretly work-
ing a peace for herself^ when we — on the contrary — had
broken off all our n^otiations^ upon confidence of her Ma-
jesty's goodness ; such conduct will be remembered to the
end of the world, and the Hollanders will never abide the
name of England again." ^

On such a bed of nettles there was small chance of repose
for the governor. Some of the rumours were even more
stinging. So incomprehensible did it seem that the proud
sovereign of England should send over her subjects to starve or
beg in the streets of Flushing and Ostend, that it was darkly
intimated that Leicester had embezzled the funds, which, no
doubt, had been remitted for the poor soldiers.^ This was the
most cruel blow of all. The Earl had been put to enormous
charges. His household at the Hague cost him a thousand
pounds a month. He had been paying and furnishing five
hundred and fifty men out of his own purse. He had also a
choice regiment of cavalry, numbering seven hundred and
fifty horse, three hundred and fifty of which number were
over and above those allowed for by the Queen, and were
entirely at his expense. He was most liberal in making pre-
sents of money to every gentleman in his employment He
had deeply mortgaged his estates in order to provide for these
heavy demands upon him, and professed his willingness " to
spend more, if he might have got any more money for his land
that was. left '/' and in the face of such unquestionable facts
— much to the credit certainly of his generosity — ^he was
accused of swindling a Queen whom neither Jew nor Gentile
had ever yet been sharp enough to swindle ; while he was in
reality plunging forward in a course of reckless extravagance
in order to obviate the fatal effects of her penuriousness.

Yet these sinister reports were banning to have a poison-
ous effect. Already an alteration of mien was perceptible in

1 Bruce'a *Leya Corresp.,' last cited. « *Lejrc Correep,' 216, - April, 1686.
8 Ibid. 214-219.

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1686. EVIL CON8BQUBN0BS TO HOLLAIH) AND ENGLAND. 455

the States-General. " Some buzzing there is amongst them/'
said Leicester, "whatsoever it be. They begin to deal very
strangely within these few days."^ Moreover the industry
of the Poleys, Blunts, and Pagets, had turned these unfavour-
able circumstances to such good account that a mutiny had
been near breaking out among the English troops. "And,
before the Lord I speak it," said the Earl, " I am sure some
of these good towns had been gone ere this, but for my
money. As for the States, I warrant you, they see day at a
little hole. God doth know what a forward and a joyful
country here was within a month. God send her Majesty to
recover it so again, and to take care of it, on the condition
she send me after Sir Francis Drake to the Indies, my ser-
-vice here being no more acceptable."^

Such was the aspect of afiGEurs in the Provinces after the
first explosion of the Queen's anger had become known.
Meanwhile the court- weather was very changeable in England,
being sometimes serene, sometimes cloudy, always treacherous.
Mr. Vavasour, sent by the Earl with despatches to her Ma-
jesty and the council, had met with a sufficiently benignant
reception. She accepted the letters, which, however, owing
to a bad cold with a defluxion in the eyes, she was unable at
once to read ; but she talked ambiguously with the messen-
ger. Vavasour took pains to show the immediate necessity
of sending supplies, so that the armies in the Netherlands
might take the field at the earliest possible moment. "And
what," said she, "if a peace should come in the mean
time?"*

"If your Majesty desireth a convenient peace," replied
Vavasour, " to take the field is the readiest way to obtain it ;
for as yet the King of Spain hath had no reason to fear you.
He is daily expecting that your own slackness may give youi
Majesty an overthrow. Moreover, the Spaniards are soldiersi
and are not to be moved by shadows."*

* 'Leyc. Corresp.,* last died • IbkL

• Bruce** *Ldjc Oorresp.' 194, 196, ~^i 168S. < Rid.

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456

THB UNITSD KBTHSBLANIXL

CtaAP. TIL

But the Queen had no ears for these remonstrances, and no
disposition to open her coffers. A warrant for twenty-four
thousand pounds^ had been signed by her at the end of the
month of March, and was about to be sent, when Vavasour
arrived ; but it was not possible for him, although assisted by
the eloquence of Walsingham and Biu-ghley, to obtain an
enlargement of the pittance. "The storms are overblown,"
said Walsingham, " but I fear your Lordship shall receive very
scarce measure from hence. You will not believe how ihe
sparing humour doth increase upon us."'*

Nor were the storms so thoroughly overblown but that
there were not daily indications of returning foul weather.
Accordingly — after a conference with Vavasour — Buighley,
and Walsingham had an interview with the Queen, in which
the Lord Treasurer used bold and strong language. He
protested to her that he was bound, both by his duty to him-
self and his oath as her councillor, to declare that the course
she was holding to Lord Leicester was most dangerous to her
own honour, interest and safety. If she intended to continue
in this line of conduct, he begged to resign his office of Lord
Treasurer ; wishing, before God and man, to wash his hands
of the shame and peril which he saw could not be avoided.
The Queen, astonished at the audacity of Burghley's attitude
and language, hardly knew whether to chide him for his
presumption or to listen to his arguments. She did both.
She taxed him with insolence in daring to address her so
roundly, and then finding he was speaking even in amaritudine
animce and out of a clear conscience, she became calm again,
and intimated a disposition to qualify her anger against the
absent EarL^

Next day, to their sorrow, the two councillors found that
the Queen had again changed her mind — ^^^as one that had

* This sum added to the C2,00OL
alreadj advanced, made 76,0001 in
all, "which," said Burghley, "her
Mijestj doth often repeat witii great
offence." 'Leya Coiresp.* 19»,

r^. "86.

• Brace's

f8 Mwck

'Leya CoiTe&' 191,

• ibid.m,?i

tOAjpril

', 1586.

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158«.

UAGtIO EFFBCrr OF A LBTTBB FROM LBICESTBB.

457

been by some adverse counsel seduced."' She expressed the
opinion that affairs would do well enough in the Netherlands,
even though Leicester were displaced. A conference followed
between Walsingham, Hatton, and Burghley, and then the
three went again to her Majesty. They assured her that
if she did not take immediate steps to satisfy the States*
and the people of the Provinces, she would lose those coun-
tries and her own honour at the same time ; and that then
they would prove a source of danger to her instead of pro-
tection and glory. At this she was greatly troubled, and
agreed to do anything they might advise consistently with
her honour. It was then agreed that Leicester should be
continued in the government which he had accepted until
the matter should be further considered, and letters to that
effect were at once written. Then came a messenger from
Sir Thomas Heneage, bringing despatches from that envoy,
and a second and most secret one from the Earl himself.
Burghley took the precious letter which the favourite had
addressed to his royal mistress, and had occasion to observe
its magical effect.^ Walsingham and the Lord Treasurer
had been right in so earnestly remonstrating with him on
his previous silence.

"She read your letter," said Bui^hley, "and, in very
truth, I found her princely heart touched with favourable
interpretation of your actions; affirming them to be only
offensive to her, in that she tvas not made privy to them ;
not now mialiking that you had the avthority''^

Such, at fifty-three, was Elizabeth Tudor. A gentle
whisper of idolatry from the lips of the man she loved, and
she was wax in his hands. Where now were the vehement

1 Bruce, 'Leya C3orre«p.\ 198, last
dted.

« This letter was probably yery
tender and personal, for do trace of it
is to be found in the English archivea

» Brace's *Leya CJorresp.' 198, 199,

^, 1586; and, three weeks later,

after the news of the soooess of the
Earl before Grave (to be described in

a sabeequent chapter) bad reached
England, Walsingham observed to
Leicester, ** I do assure your Lordship
I think her Majesty took as much
joy upon the view of your letter, in
seeing you restored to your former
comfort, grounded upon her favour,
as she did in the overthrow of tht

enemy.'

lUa. 280, ^, 1686.

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458 ^HB UNITED KBTHEBLANBS. Chap. TIL

proteetations of horror that her public declaration of prin-
ciples and motives had been set at nought? Where now
were her vociferous denunciations of the States^ her shrill
invectives against Leicester^ her big oaths, and all the
hysterica passioy which had sent poor Lord Burghley to bed
with the gout, and inspired the soul of Walsingham with
dismal forebodings ? Her anger had dissolved into a shower
of tenderness, and if her parsimony still remained it was be-
cause that could only vanish when she too should cease to be.

And thus, for a moment, the grave diplomatic difference
between the crown of England and their high mistinesses
the United States — upon the solution of which the fate of
Christendom was hanging — seemed to shrink to the dimen-
sions of a lovers' quarrel Was it not strange that the letter
had been so long delayed ?

Davison had exhausted argimient in defence of the accept^
ance by the Earl of the authority conferred by the States,
and had gained nothing by his eloquence, save abuse irom
the Queen, and acrimonious censure from the Earl. He had
deeply offended both by pleading the cause of the erring
favourite, when the favourite should have spoken for himself
^ Poor Mr. Davison," said Walsingham, ^' doth take it veiy
grievously that your Lordship should conceive so hardly of
him as you do. I find the conceit of your Lordship's dis-
favour hath greatly dejected him. But at such time as he
arrived her Majesty was so incensed, as all the arguments
and orators in the world could not have wrought any satis-
faction/'^

But now a little hiUet-doux had done what all the orators
in the world could not do. The arguments remained the
same, but the Queen no longer ^^ misliked that Leicester should
have the authority." It was natural that the Lord Treasurer
should express his satisfaction at this auspicious result

" I did commend her princely nature," he said, " in allow-
ing your good intention, and excusing you of any spot of evil

1 Brooe^ *Le70. Gorrap.* 206, \- April, 1S86.

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1586. THB QUBBN APPEASED. 459

meaning ; and I thought good to hasten her resolution, which
you must now take to come from a favourable good mistress.
Tou must strive with your nature to throw over your shoulder
that which is past." ^

Sir Walter Raleigh, too, who had been " falsely and pes-
tilently" represented to the Earl as an enemy, rather than
what he really was, a most ardent favourer of the Netherland
cause, wrote at once to congratulate him on the change in
her Majesty's demeanour. "The Queen is in very good
terms with you now," he said, "and, thanks be to God,
well pacified, and you are again her * sioeet Robin* "^

Sir Walter wished to be himself the bearer of the comfort-
ing despatches to Leicester, on the ground that he had been
represented as an " ill instrument against him," and in order
that he might justify himself against the charge, with his own
lips. The Queen, however, while professing to make use of
Shirley as the messenger, bade Walsingham declare to tho
Earl, upon her honour, that Baleigh had done good offices for
him, and that, in the time of her anger, he had been as
earnest in his defence as the best friend could be. It would
have been singular, indeed, had it been otherwise. "Your
Lordship," said Sir Walter, "doth well understand my
affection toward Spain, and how I have consumed the best
part of my fortune, hating the tyrannous prosperity of that
state. It were strange and monstrous that I should now be-
come an enemy to my country and conscience. All that I
have desired at your Lordship's hands is that you will ever-
more deal directly with me in all matters of suspect double-
ness, and so ever esteem me as you shall find me deserving
good or bad. In the mean time, let no poetical scribe work
your Lordship by any device to doubt that I am a hoUow or
cold servant to the action."*

It was now agreed that letters should be drawn up au-
thorizing Leicester to continue in the office which he held, until

81 March

» Brace, *Leyc. Corresp.' 199, — -, 1586.

* Brooe^a *Le7c. Conreflp.* 193, 194, ^ ^ ^, 1686. « Ibid.

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460 ^^B UNITED KtfTHERLAKDa Chap. VIL

the state-cotincil should devise some modification in his com-
mission. As it seemed, however, very improbable that the
board would devise anything of the kind, Burghley expressed
the belief that the country was like to continue in the Earl's
government without any change whatever. The Lord Trea-
surer was also of opinion that the Queen's letters to Leicester
would convey as much comfort as he had received discomfort ;
although he admitted that there was a great difference. The
former letters he knew had deeply wounded his heart, whib
the new ones could not suddenly sink so low as the wound.*

The despatch to the States-General was benignant, elabo-
rate, slightly diffuse. The Queen's letter to 'sweet Robin' was
caressing, but argumentative.

" It is always thought," said she, ^' in the opinion of the
world, a hard bargain when both parties are losers, and so
doth fall out in the case between us two. You, as we hear,
are greatly grieved in respect of the great displeasure you
find we have conceived against you. We are no less grieved
that a subject of ours of that quality that you are, a creatuit
of our own, and one that hath always received an extraor-
dinary portion of our favour above all our subjects, even
from the banning of our reign, should deal so carelessly,
not to say contemptuously, as to give the world just cause to
think that we are had in contempt by him that ought most
to respect and reverence us, which, we do assure you, hath
wrought as great grief in us as any one thing that ever hap-^
pened unto us.

" We are persuaded that you, that have so long knovm us,
cannot think that ever we could have been drawn to have
taken so hard a course therein had we not been provoked by
an extraordinary cause. But for that your grieved and
wounded mind hath more need of comfort than reproof, who,
we are persuaded, though the act of contempt can no ways
be excused, had no other meaning and intent than to advance
our service, we think meet to forbear to dwell upon a matter

1 Brooe^ 'Leya Corraqp.,* 202, ~^^, 158e.

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1686.

HER LETTBBS TO THE STATES AND THE EARL.

461

wherein we ourselves do find so little comfort, assuring you
that whosoever professeth to love you best taketh not more
comfort of your well doing, or discomfort of your evil doing
than ourself." *

After this affectionate preface she proceeded to intimate
her desire that the Earl should take the matter as nearly as
possible into his own hands. It was her wish that he should
retain the authority of absolute governor, but — if it could be
so arranged — that he should dispense with the title^ retaining
only that of her lieutenant-general It was not her inten-
tion however, to create any confusion or trouble in the Pro-
vinces, and she was therefore willing that the government
should remain upon precisely the same footing as that on
which it then stood, until circumstances should permit the
change of title which she suggested. And the whole matter
was referred to the wisdom of Leicester, who was to advise
with Heneage and such others as he liked to consult, although
it was expressly stated that the present arrangement was to
be considered a provisional and not a final one.^

* Brace, *Leyc. Correep.' 209,
April i' 1686.

. « ^ , . March 80

' Ibid. Queen to Leicester, — -— -'

^ * April 10

1686. (a P. Office MS.) On the day
before, she had addreraed a shorter
letter of similar tenour to the EarL

In her letters of the same date to
Heneage, she congratulated both her-
self and the envoy that be had not
been so precipitate in executing, as
she had been in ordainmg, the con-
.dign and publio chastisement of the
great delinquent Sir Thomas might,
ia the humour in which the Quoen
now found horselij have even ventured
upon a still longer delay, and a more
decided mitigation, of tbe sentence.
Tender, indeed, was the tone, com-
pared with that in which she had so
Ltely communicated her sentiments
to the departing diplomatist, in which
she now expressed her satis&ction
that be had not been hasty in obeying
'*her secret directions touching the
revocation of her cousin the Earl's
government*'

** "We perceive by your letters," she
observed, ** that if the same had been
executed according to our first pur-
pose, it would have wrought some
dangerous alteration in the state there,
and utterly have overthrown the re«
putation and credit of our cousin, no
less prejudicial to our service than
the utter defacing and overthrow of
one whom we ourselves have raised
up, and have always found as greatly
devoted to our service as ever sove-
reign found any subject Though in
his late proceeding touching the abso*
lute government he did greatly forget
himself, yet we would never have pro-
ceeded agamst him so severely had
not our honour been touched. We
are well persuaded that this offence
and error grew not out of any evil
meaning toward us, whose service we '
know he doth prefer even before his
own life. And although we have
assured him so much by our own
letters^ directed to him, yet we think
meet you should labour, by all means,
to comfort him, whose mind — as we
understand fhuu yourself and others-^

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462

THE UNITED NETHBRLANDa

Chap. TIL

Until this soothing intelligence could arrive in the
Netherlands the suspicions concerning the underhand n^o-

is greatly woooded and oTerthrown,
and also to remove any hard opinion
that may be formed ag^dnst him, as a
man quite shaken out of our &Yoar."

Queen to Heneage, April --' 1586.

(a P. OflBce Ma)

She reiterated her instructbns as
to the repairing, as handsomely as
possible, ot the Earl's broken heart,
in a style which was almost pathetia

'*You have been an eye-witness,"
rihe said, " of the great love we have
always borne him above any subject
we have, and therefi>re you can ea^y
guess the grief we shoiidd conceive if
be should miscarry. We doubt not
therefore that you will leave nothing
undone that may salve his wounded
mind, and repair his credit^ if you find
the same decayed."

She was desirous that Sir Thomas
should be the medium through which
the Earl's pardon should be commu-
nicated to the States, as he had
already been the vehicle which had
borne to them her wrath. Although,
therefore, she had written to them-
selves very much at length, she had
yet reserved certain points upon which
they were referred to the envoy for
details. This proceeding she intended
as an especial compliment to Heneage.
** Forasmuch," so she expressed her-
self; " as you have aU-eady yielded the
one part of the scorpion which is to
wound, we think that we should do
you wrong if you shoidd not deliver
some matter of contentment^ whereby
you may cure." (Ibid.)

She then proceeded to handle the
two points contained in the last mis-
sive of the States-General to herselC
Upon the first, namely, that the abso-
lute government conferred on the
Earl was not repugnant to the original
treaty, and was offensive rather in
name than in matter, she reasoned at
considerable length. Her grounds of
objection are, however, suflSciently
well known. She considered that the
acceptance without her permission
savoured of contempt, and that an
implied permission on her part was
an impeachment on the self-denying

nature of her original dedaratiooB.
She had been most anxious, therefiire^
lest "the world should condemn b^,
as guflty of cunning and unprino^
deahng " ; nor had she seen the need
of the extreme haste with whidi the
matter had been conchided, without
previous communication to heraelt

As to the second pomt in the mes-
sage of the States — that the Queen
would be pleased to "stay the revo-
cation of the authority granted" to
Leicester, because of the inmiinent
danger of such a proceeding — her
Mi^esty's benignity, compared wi&
her ferocity but a few short weeks
before, seemed almost incredible.

" You shall proceed, in the answer^
ing of this pomt," said she^ " according
to such res^ution aa shail be taken i^
our cousin Ihe Earl^ upon debating
the matter with you and such otheiB
as he shall call unto him for that pui^
pose." (Ibid.]

Just one lortnight before, the Eail
had been forced to stand, as it were^
in a white sheet, with candle in hand,
before the state-council. His heart
had been broken in consequence, and
he had resolved never again to appear
in that chamber where he had been
made to enact so sorry a part Now
a blank paper was furnished to him-
self and Heneage, which they were to
inscribe with the most flattering ex-
pressions that could be desired from
royal lips.

" You shall use all the persuasions
you may," said Elizabeth, " to reoaove
any opinion that may be conceived by
the council of state to the hindrance -
or prejudice of our cousin the KarTs
former reputation, as though the qua-
lification which we now seek pn>*
ceeded of any mislike that we had of
any honour that hath been or may be
yielded to him. .. .Assure them that
ihey can no way better show the
good-will they bear towards us than
by continuing their former devotion
toward the Earl, of whose love and
devotion towards us, you may teU
them, we make that account aa of no
other subject mora" (Ibid.)

She then alluded to tiie reports

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1586.

SHE PKRMTT8 THE GRANTED AUTHORITY.

463

tiations "with Spain grew daily more rife, and the discredit
cast upon the Earl more embarrassing. The private letters

* thrown abroad" that she had a
secret intentioa of treating for her
own peaoe with the enemy apart, aa
"malidous bruits": — "For as our
fortune," said she, in the most explicit
language which pen could write, "is
80 join^ with theirs, that the good or
evU success of their afiairs must needs
harm or prosper ours, so you may
assure them that we, for our part, are
resolved to do nothing that may conr
cem them without their own knowledge
and good liking.^^ (Ibid.)

The despatch to the States-General
was very explicit on the subject of
the title, but most affectionate in
style.

** "We find by your late letters," said
the Queen, "that you are greatly
grieved through some mislike con-
ceived by us against you, in respect
of the offer to our cousin of Leicester
of the absolute government of the
United Provinces being made without
our privity, and contrary to our ex-
press commandment to the said EarL
We pray you, in this case, to consider
that we .were not rashly carried into
this mislike^ neither could we have
been drawn into so hard and severe
a course, had we not been provoked
by two things that do greatly import
us in honour. The one, that the
Earl's acceptation, contrary to our
commandment, might work in the
opinion of the world, that it pro-
ceeded of contempt; the other, that
we sought to abuse the world, in pre-
tending outwardly that our proceed-
ings with those countries tended only
to relieve them in their distressed
state against such as sought to tyran-
nise thera, when the acceptation of
the absolute government by the Earl,
bemg a creature of our own, and
known to bo wholly at our devotion,
could not but give them just cause to
conceive otherwise of us. A matter
we had just cause to look into, con-
sidering what a number of evfl and
malignant spirits do reign in these
days, that are apt, upon the least ad-
vantage that may be, to deliver out
hard and wicked censures of princes'
doings." Queen to the States-General,

-»1686. (a P. Office MS.)

9 April

The States were then reminded
that, although there was nothing ab-
solutely incompatible in the absolute
government as accepted by Leicester
with the nature of the original treaty,
the Queen had resolutely set her &ce
from the banning against any such
step, because she was " loath to give
the world cause to think that she was
moved by any other respect to assist
them than by the love she bore them
and the commiseration she had for
their aflakstion." (Ibid.)

"And therefore," she continued,
"seeing there was no special matter
contained in the treaty that might
any way give him any authority to
accept the offer, reason would that
before the matter had been proceeded
in, we had been first made acquainted
therewith. For we do not see, for
anything that yet hath been declared
unto us touching certain pretended
dangers, but that the acceptation
thereof might have been delayed until
our pleasure had been first known.
We hope that you have put on that
conceit of us, as we would have been
loath, either in respect of yourselvea
or of our cousin the Earl, to have
proceeded so severely as we intended,
if we had not been justly provoked
thereunto. For yourselves, our love
towards you cannot more plainly
appear than in that we do oppose
ourselves, for your sake, unto one of
the mightiest potentates in Europe,
without regard cither to the expense
of our treasure, or of our subjects'
lives. And as touching the Earl, aU
the world knoweth that he ia one of
our own raising, and we do acknow-
ledge that no man can carry more love
than he hath ever shewed to bear
towards us. And touching the cause
of this our present offence, we do ac-
knowledge our persuasion that the
same proceeded of no evil meaning
towards us, though good intents many
times bring forth dangerous and evil
fhiits. If the offence had not grown
out of a public and open action, none
would have been more ready to have

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464

THB UNITED KETHEBLANDa

Chap. YH

which passed between the Earl's enemies in Holland and in
England contained matter more damaging to himself and to
the cause which he had at heart than the more public reports
of modem days can disseminate, which, being patent to all,
can be more easily contradicted. Leicester incessantly
warned his colleagues of her Majesty's council against the
malignant manufacturers of intelligence. ^^ I pray you, my
Lords, as you are wise," said he, " beware of them alL You
shall find them here to be shrewd pick-thinks, and hardly
worth the hearkening unto." *

He complained bitterly of the disgrace that was heaped
upon him, both publicly and privately, and of the evil con-
sequences which were sure to follow from the course pursued.
" Never was man so villanously handled by letters out of Eng-
land as I have been," said he, " not only advertising her Ma-
jesty's great dislike with me before this my coming over, but
that I was an odious man in England, and so long as I tarried
here that no help was to be looked for, that her Majesty
would send no more men or money, and that I was used here
but for a time till a peace were concluded between her Ma-
jesty and the Prince of Parma. What the continuance of a
man's discredit thus will turn out is to be thought of, for
better I were a thousand times displaced than that her
Majesty's great advantage of so notable Provinces should be
hindered." '

hidden the same than ourselves.
Therefore, we praj you to think that
this mislikeofours hath grown rather
out of grieC in respect of the love we
bear him, than out of indignation, as
one of whom we haye conceived a
sinister opinion, whom we do esteem
as greatly devoted towards us as ever
subject was to prince; and so we
hope you will use him, without either
diminishing any part of that good-will
and love that you have hitherto pro-
fessed towards him, or leaving that
respect that is duo unto him as our
minister, or that he may justly chal-
lenge at your hands, who, for your
Bakes, is content to expose both his
life and fortune unto any peril, which

is not the least cause why we esteem
80 g^reatly of him. And whereas, by
your late letters, you have Bignified
that the commission and authority
granted unto him cannot be revoked
without great peril to the state, we
have given authority to our cousin
the £irl, and to our servant Sir
Thomas Heneage, to confer with you
upon some course to be taken, as we
conceive both our honour may be
saved and the peril avoided. We
pray you to bend yourselves to do
that, as both the one and the other
may be provided for." (Ibid.)

> Leksester to Burgfaley, — April,

1586. (&P. Ofi^MS.)

sBnd.

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1186. UNHAPPY BBSULTS OF THB QUBEITS OOUBSB. 46d

As to the peace-negotiations — which, however cunningly
managed, could not remain entirely concealed — the Earl
declared them to be as idle as they were disingenuous. ^^ I
will boldly pronounce that all the peace you can make in the
world, leaving these countries," said he to Burghley, "will
never prove other than a fair spring for a few days, to be qili
over blasted with a hard storm after." ^ Two days later her
Majesty's comforting letters arrived, and the Earl began to
raise lus drooping head. Heneage, too, was much relieved,
but he was, at the same time, not a little perplexed. It was
not so easy to undo all the mischief created by the Queen's
petulance. The "scorpion's sting" — as her Majesty ex-
pressed herself— might be balsamed, but the poison had
spread far beyond the original wound.

" The letters just brought in," wrote Heneage to Burgh-
ley, "have well relieved a most noble and sufficient servant,
but I fear they will not restore the much-repaired wrecks of
these far-decayed noble countries into the same state I found
them in. A loose, disordered, and unknit state needs no
shaking, but propping. A subtle and feaiful kind of people
should not be made more distrustful, but assured."^ He
then expressed annoyance at the fault already found with
him, and surely if ever man had cause to complain of reproofs
administered him, in quick succession, for not obeying con-
tradictory directions following upon each other as quickly, that
man was Sir Thomas Heneage. He had been, as he thought,
over cautious in administering the rebuke to the Earl's
arrogance, which he had been expressly sent over to administer ;
but scarcely had he accomplished his task, with as much delicacy
as he could devise, when he found himself censured, not for
dilatoriness, but for haste. ^^ FavU I perceive/* said he to
Burghley, "t« found in me, not by your Lordship, but by some
other, that I did not stay proceeding if I found the public cause
might take hurt. It is true I had good warrant for the

Leicester to Burgfalej, MS. last cited.
VOL. I.— 2 F

t Heneage to Borghlej, 1 AprO, 1586. (a P. OiBoe MS.)

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466

THE UNITBD NETffKRLAND&

Chap. YU

manner, the place, and the persons, but for ihe matter noney
for done it must he. Her Majesty's offence must be declared.
Yet if I did not all I possibly could to uphold the cause, and
to keep the tottering cause upon the wheels, I deserve no
thanks, but reproof."^

. Certainly, when the blasts of royal rage are remembered,
by which the envoy had been, as it were, blown out of Eng-
land into Holland, it is astonishing to find his actions
censured for undue precipitancy. But it was not the first,
nor was it likely to be the last time for comparatively sub-
ordinate agents in Elizabeth's government to be distressed' by
contradictory commands, when the sovereign did not know,
or did not chose to make known, her own mind on important
occasions. "Well, my Lord," said plaintive Sir Thomas,
" wiser men may serve more pleasingly and happily, but never
shall any serve her Majesty more faithfully and heartily.
And so I cannot be persuaded her Majesty thinketh^ for
from herself I find nothing but most sweet and gracious
favour, though by others' censiu^s I may gather otherwise of
her judgment, which I confess doth cumber me."*

He was destined to be cumbered more than once before
these negotiations should be concluded, but meantime there
was a brief gleam of sunshine. The English friends of
Leicester in the Netherlands were enchanted with the sudden
change in the Queen's humour ; and to Lord Burghley, who
was not, in reaUty, the most stanch of the absent Earl's
defenders, they poured themselves out in profuse and some-
what superfluous gratitude.'

Cavendish, in strains exultant, was sure that Burghle/s
children, grand-children, and remotest posterity, would rejoice
that their great ancestor, in such a time of need, had been

' Letter to BuTgfale7, Ma last cited.
'Ibid.

• North to Burghley, - April, 1586,

(S. P. Office Ma)

No greater mistake could have been
made than to insinuate, as Leicester's
English correspondents had insinu-

ated, that North was a secret enemj
to Leicester, and had maligned nim in
his letters to influential personages at
home. I haye read muij of North's
unpublished letters to Burghlej and
other statesmen, and thej all speak of
the Ead in strongest language of ad*
miration and attachment,

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1586.

HER YARIABIiE MOODa

467

*' found and felt to be indeed a pater patriaB, a good father to
a happy land/' And, although unwilling to " stir up the old
Adam'' in his Lordship's soul, he yet took the liberty of com-
paring the Lord Treasurer, in his old and declining years, to
Mary Magdalen, assuring him, that for ever after, when the
tale of the preservation of the Church of God, of her Majesty,
and of the Netherland cause, which were all one, should be
told, his name and well-doing would be held in memory also.^

And truly there was much of honest and generous enthu-
siasm, even if couched in language somewhat startling to the
ears of a colder and more material age, in the hearts of these
noble volunteers. They were fighting the cause of England,
of the Netherland republic, and of humaji liberty, with a
valour worthy the best days of English chivalry, against
manifold obstacles, and they were certainly not too often
cheered by the beams of royal favour.

It was a pity that a dark cloud was so soon again to sweep
over the scene. For the temper of Elizabeth at this important
juncture seemed as capricious as the April weather in which
the scenes were enacting. We have seen the genial warmth
of her letters and messages to Leicester, to Heneage, to the
States-General, on the first of the month. Nevertheless it
was hardly three weeks after they had been despatched, when
Walsingham and Burghley found her Majesty one morning in
a towering passion, because the Earl had not already laid
down the government. The Lord Treasurer ventured to re-

> Eichard Cavendish to Bnrghlej,

-April, 1586. (a P. Office Ma)

"It may please you to think with
yourself what a favour the Lord hath
herein bestowed upon you in these
your old and declining years, namely,
fiom your good and happy labours to
adorn your posterity with the note of
this most just and worthy renown,
that Budi a &ther, a grand-fitther, or
ancestor of theirs, in such a needfhl
time, was both found and felt to be
indeed pater patriae, a good fiither to
a happy land. Suspicion of flattery
ought of right to be secluded, where

assured truth doth enforce the con-
elusion. Neither do I write this to
stir up in your Lordship old Adam,
but knowing you well have learned
Christ, I do it only to quicken in you
the joy of well-doing, grounded upon
faith. For if the Lord himself re-
frained not to add unto Mary Magda-
len's well-doing this ornament unto
her name for ever, that wheresoever
the Gospel should be preached, there
should also the memorial of that her
act be had in record, then doubt I not
but that example may well warrant
me," Ac.

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468 THE UNTTBD NBTHBRLANDS. Chap. VIL

monstrate, but was bid to hold his tongue. Ever yariable
and mutable as woman, Elizabeth was perplexing and baffling
to her counsellors, at this epoch, beyond all divination. The
"sparing humour" was increasing fearfully, and she thought
it would be easier for her to slip out of the whole expensive
enterprise, provided Leicester were merely her lieutenant-
general, and not stadholder for the Provinces. Moreover
the secret negotiations for peace were producing a deleterious
effect upon her mind. Upon this subject, the Queen and
Burghley, notwithstanding his resemblance to Mary Mag-
dalen, were better informed than the Secretary, whom, how-
ever, it had been impossible wholly to deceive. The man
who could read secrets so far removed as the Vatican, was
not to be blinded to intrigues going on before his face. The
Queen, without revealing more than she could help, had been
obliged to admit that informal transactions were pending
but had authorised the Secretary to assure the United States
that no treaty would be made without their knowlec^ and
full concurrence. "She doth think," wrote Walslngham to
Leicester, " that you should, if you shall see no cause to the
contrary, acquaint the council of state there that certain over-
tures of peace are daily made unto her, but that she meaneth
not to proceed therein taithout their good liking and priviiyy
being persuaded that there can no peace be made profitable
or sure for her that shall not also stand with their safety ;
and she doth acknowledge hers to be so linked with theirs as
nothing can fall out to their prejudice, but she must be par-
taker of their harm."*

This communication was dated on the 21st April, exactly
three weeks after the Queen's letter to Heneage, in which
she had spoken of the " malicious bruits " concerning the pre-
tended peace-negotiations ; and the Secretary was now con-
firmiog, by her order, what she had then stated under her
own hand, that she would "do nothing that might concern
them without their oum knowledge and good liking"

* Brace's * Leya CJone^' 232, ?_^ isse.

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1686.

SHE ATTEICFTS TO DBOBIYB WAISINaHAlL

469

And surely nothing conld be more reasonable. Even if
the strict letter of the August treaty between the Queen and
iiie States did not provide against any separate negotiations
by the one party without the knowledge of the other, there
could be no doubt at all that its spirit absolutely forbade the
clandestine conclusion of a peace with Spain by England
alone, or by the Netherlands alone, and that such an arrange-
ment would be disingenuous, if not positively dishonourable.

Nevertheless it would almost seem that Elizabeth had been
taking advantage of the day when she was writing her letter
to Heneage on the 1st of April. Never was painstaking
envoy more elaborately trifled with. On the 26th of the
month — and only five days after the communication by
Walsingham just noticed — the Queen was furious that any
admission should have been made to the States of their right
to participate with her in peace-n^otiations.

" We find that Sir Thomas Heneage," said she to Leicester,
"hath gone further — in assuring the States that we would make
no peace without their privity and assent— than he had com-
mission ; for that our direction was — ^if our meaning had been
well set down, and not mistaken by our Secretary — that they
should have been only let understand that in any treaty that
might pass between us and Spain^ they might be well assured
we would have no less care of their safety than of our own."^

Secretary Walsingham was not likely to mistake her
Majesty's directions in this or any other important affair of
state.' Moreover, it so happened that the Queen had, in
her own letter to Heneage, made the same statement which

, . ^ » April ,^^^

1 Qaeen to Leicester, , 1686.

^ 6M«y

(S. P. Office MS.)

Almost the '80106 words were used
in a letter to Sir Thomas Heneage of

2S April ^ _

the same date, -~ — , 1586. (S. P.

6 Mftj

Office MS.) Printed also in Bruce,
p. 241, from a copy in the handwriting
of Heneage in the British Museum.

» "When she chargeth your Lord-
ship," wrote Walsingham to Leicester

(^ May, 1586), " with the acquainting

the council of state there with the
overtures of peace made unto her hj
the Prince of Parma as a &ult, herein
.your Lordship is wronged, for the
&ult is mine, if any were committed.
But in very truths she gave me com-
mandmenl to direct you to acquainl
them ioiihal, though now she doth deny
iL I have received, within these few
days, many of these hard measures."
Bruce's * liya Gorresp.* p. 272.

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470

THB UNTTBD NETHEBLAin)&

Ghap. yn.

she now chose to disavow. She had often a convenient wa;
of making herself misunderstood^ when she thought it desirable
to shift responsibility from her own shoulders upon those of
others; but upon this occasion she had been suffici^itljr
explicit. Nevertheless, a scape-goat was necessary, and un-
happy the subordinate who happened to be within her
Majesty's reach when a vicarious sacrifice was to be made.
Sir Francis Walsingham was not a man to be brow-beaten or
hood-winked, but Heneage was doomed to absorb a fearful
amount of royal wrath.

" What phl^matical reasons soever were made you,'' wrote
the Queen, who but three weeks before had been so gentle
and affectionate to her ambassador, '^how happeneth it thai
you will not remember, that when a man hath faulted and
committed by abettors thereto, neither the one nor the other
will willingly make their own retreat. Jesus ! what availeth
wit, when it fails the owner at greatest need ? Do that you
are bidden, and leave your considerations for your own a&irs.
For in some things you had clear commandment, which you
did not, and in others none, and did. We princes be waiy
enough of our bargains. Think you I will be bound by your
own speech to make no peace for mine ovm matters withottt
their consent f It is enot^h that I iryure not their country nor
themselves in making peace for them without their consent. I
am assured of your dutiful thoughts, but I am utterly at
squares with this childish dealing." ^

Blasted by this thunderbolt falling upon his head out of
serenest sky, the sad Sir Thomas remained, for a time, in
a state of political annihilation. ' Sweet Robin' meanwhile,
though stunned, was unscathed — thanks to the convenient
conductor at his side. For, in Elizabeth's court, mediocrity
was not always golden, nor was it usually the loftiest moun-
tains that the lightnings smole. The Earl was deceived by
his royal mistress, kept in the dark as to important trans^

* Queen to Heneage, ,

(a P. Offioe Ma) Printed also in

isse.

Bruce (p. 24Z\ from a copy in the
handwriting of Heneage in the Brii
Mus.)

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1586. HKE INJTJSTIOB TO HBNBAGEL 471

actions, left to provide for his famishing soldiers as he best
might ; but the Queen at that moment, though angry, was
not disposed to trample upon him. Now that his heart was
known to be broken, and his sole object in life to be retire-
ment to remote regions — India ^ or elsewhere — there to lan-
guish out the brief remainder of his days in prayers for
Elizabeth's happiness, Elizabeth was not inclined very bitterly
to upbraid him. She had too recently been employing herself
in binding up his broken heart, and pouring balm into the
*' scorpion's sting," to be willing so soon to deprive him of
those alleviations.

Her tone was however no longer benignant, and her direc-
tions were extremely peremptory. On the Ist of April she
had congratulated Leicester, Heneage, the States, and all the
world, that her secret commands had been staid, and that the
ruin which would have followed, had those decrees been
executed according to her first violent wish, was fortunately
averted. Heneage was even censured, not by herself, but by
courtiers in her confidence, and with her concurrence, for
being over hasty in going before the state-council, as he had
done, with her messages wid commands. On the 26th of
April she expressed astonishment that Heneage had dared to
be 80 dilatory y and that the title of governor had not been
laid down by Leicester ^^ out of handJ'^ She marvelled
greatly, and found it very strange that " ministers in matters
of moment should presume to do things of their own head
without direction."^ She accordingly gave orders that there
should be no more dallying, but that the Earl should imme-
diately hold a conference with the state-council in order to
arrange a modification in his commission. It was her pleasure
that he should retain all the authority granted to him by the
States, but as abeady intimated by her, that he should
abandon the title of "absolute governor,'' and retain only that
of her lieutenant-general.*

* Brace's * Leya Corresp.' p. 217.

• Qneen to Leicester, , 1686.

0Ma7

(3. P. Office MS.)

3 Ibid.

^ Ibid. See also Queen to Heneage,
same date, (a P. Office Ma; and
printed in Brace, p. 242.)

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472 ^™S UNITEO NETHBRLANDa Chap. TH

Was it strange that Heneage, placed in so responsible :i
situation, and with the fate of England, of Holland, and
perhaps of all Christendom, hanging in great measure upon
this delicate negotiation, should be amazed at such contra-
dictory orders, and grieved by such inconsistent censures ?

" To tell you my griefs and my lacks,'' said he to Wal-
singham, " would little please you or help me. Therefore I
will say nothing, but think there was never man in so great
a service received so little comfort and so contrarious direc-
tions. But Dominus est adjutor in tribulationibus. If it be
possible, let me receive some certain direction, in following
which I shall not offend her Majesty, what good or hurt soever
I do besides." ^

This certainly seemed a loyal and reasonable request, yet
it was not one likely to be granted. Sir Thomas, perplexed,
puzzled, blindfolded, and brow-beaten, always endeavoring
to obey orders, when he could comprehend them, and always
hectored and lectured whether he obeyed them or not — ^ruined
in purse by the expenses of a mission on which he had been
sent without adequate salary — appalled at the disaffection
waxing more formidable every hour in Provinces which were
recently so loyal to her Majesty, but which were now pervaded
by a suspicion that there was double-dealing upon her part —
became quite sick of his life. He fell seriously ill, and was
disappointed, when, after a time, the physicians declared him
convalescent. For when he rose from his sick-bed, it was
only to plunge once more, without a clue, into the labyrinth
where he seemed to be losing his reason.

^^ It is not long," said he to Walsingham, ^^ since I looked
to have written you no more letters, my extremity was so

great But God's will is best, otherwise I could

have liked better to have cumbered the earth no longer,
where I find myself contemned, and which I find no reason
to see will be the better in the wearing. ... It were
better for her Majesty's service that the directions which

' Heneage to Walsingham, - Maj, 1586. (a P. OfBoe MB.)

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1586.

HIS PERPLEXITY AND DISTRESS.

473

come were not contrarious one to another, and that those you
would have serve might know what is meant, else they
cannot but much deceive you, as well as displease you."^

Public opinion concerning the political morality of the
English court was not gratifying, nor was it rendered more
favourable by these recent transactions. "I fear," said
Heneage, " that the world will judge what Champagny wrote
in one of his letters out of England (which I have lately seen)
to be over true. His words be these, *Et de vray, c'est le
plus fascheux et le plus incertain negocier de ceste court, que
je pense soit au monde.' "^ And so "hasting," as he said,
" with a weak body and a willing mind, to do, he feared, no
good work," he set forth from Middelburgh to rejoin Leicester
at Amheim, in order to obey, as well as he could, the Queen's
latest directions.*

But before he could set to work there came more "con-
trarious" orders. The last instructions, both to Leicester and
himself, were that the Earl should resign the post of governor
absolute " out of hand," and the Queen had been vehement in
denouncing any delay on such an occasion. He was now
informed, that, after consulting with Leicester and with the
state-council, he was to return to England with the result of
such deliberations. It could afterwards be decided how the
Earl could retain all the authority of governor absolute, while
bearing only the title of the Queen's lieutenant general.*
"For her meaning is not," said Walsingham, " that his Lord-
ship should presently give it over, for she foreseeth in her
princely judpnent that his giving over the government upon
a sudden, and leaving those countries without a head or

* Heneage to Walsingham, ~ Maj,
1688. (S. P. Office Ma) "

* Ibid

* Heneage to Burghlej, same date.
(S. P. Office MS.) " For her Majesty's
senrices," said he to the Lord Trea^
sorer, as be had said to the Secretary
of State, " it were very oonyenient,
that such as yoa would have serye
you here might know truly what you

mean, and might accordingly have
certain directions what to do. And
surely hitherto, so have not I had,
which is the only cause why I cannot
in this service please you there, which
God knoweth I most care for, if I
could tell how."

* Walsingham to Heneage, ~ May,
1586. (a P. Office Ma) «*

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474

THE UNITED NETHERLAKDa

Chip. TH

director, cannot but breed a most dangerous alteration there."'
The secretary therefore stated the royal wish at present to be
that the '^renunciation of the title" should be delayed till
Heneage could visit England, and subsequently return to
Holland with her Majesty's further directions. Even the
astute Walsingham was himself puzzled, however, while con-
veying these ambiguous orders ; and he confessed that he was
doubtful whether he had rightly comprehended the Queen's
intentions. Burghley, however, was better at guessing riddles
than he was, and so Heneage was advised to rely chiefly upon
Burghley.'

But Heneage had now ceased to be interested in any
Enigmas that might be propounded by the English court,
nor could he find comfort, as Walsingham had reconmiended
he should do, in railing. " I wish I could follow your counsel,"
he said, "but sure the uttering of my choler doth little ease
my grief or help my case."*

He rebuked, however, the inconsistency and the tei^versa-
tions of the government with a good deal of dignity. "This
certainly shall I tell her Majesty," he said, " if I live to see
her, that except a more constant course be taken with this
inconstant people, it is not the blaming of her ministers will
advance her Highness's service, or better the state of things.
And shall I tell you what they now say here of us — I few
not without some cause — even as Lipsius wrote of the French,
'De Gallis quidem enigmata veniunt, non veniunt, volant,
nolunt, audent, timent, omnia, ancipiti metu, suspensa et
suspecta.' God grant better, and ever keep you and help me."'

He announced to Burghley that he was about to attend a
meeting of the state-council the next day, for the purpose of
a conference on these matters at Arnheim, and that he would

1 Same to same. Same date.

8 Ibid. "This I take to bo the
Bubstance of her Hajestj's pleaaure,"
said Sir Francis, "which she willed
both the Lord Treasurer and Mr.
Vice-Ohamberlain, together with my-
self to signify unto you, praying you,
i)r that I tbink my Lord Tr^tsurer

hath best conceiTed her Majestj^
meaning, that you will chiefly ^
upon such direction as you shall re*
ceire from him." (MS. last dted.}

' Heneage to Walsingham, x^
1686. (S. P. Office MS.)

* Ibid.

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1686. HXTMTTiTATINa POSITION OP LBIOBSTBR. 475

then set forth for England to report proceedings to her
Majesty. He supposed, on the whole, that this was what was
expected of him, but acknowledged it hopeless to fathom the
royal intentions. Yet if he went wrong, he was always sure
to make mischief, and though innocent, to be held accountable
for others' mistakes. "Every prick I make," said he, " is made
a gash ; and to follow the words of my directions from Eng-
land is not enough, except I likewise see into your minds.
And surely mine eyesight is not so good. But I will pray to
God for his help herein. With all the wit I have, I will use
all the care I can — first, to satisfy her Majesty, as God
knoweth I have ever most desired ; then, not to hurt this
cause, but that I despair of."^ Leicester, as may be supposed,
had been much discomfited and perplexed during the course
of these contradictory and perverse directions. There is no
doubt whatever that his position had been made discreditable
and almost ridiculous, while he was really doing his best, and
spending large sums out of his private fortune to advance the
ixue interests of the Queen. He had become a suspected
man in the Netherlands, having been, in the beginning of the
year, almost adored as a Messiah. He had submitted to the
humiliation which had been imposed upon him, of being
himself the medium to convey to the council the severe
expressions of the Queen's displeasure at the joint action of the
States-General and himself. He had been comforted by the
affectionate expressions with which that explosion of feminine
and royal wrath had been succeeded. He was now again
distressed by the peremptory command to do what was a
disgrace to him, and an irreparable detriment to the cause,
yet he was humble and submissive, and only begged to be
allowed, as a remedy for all his anguish, to return to the
sunlight of Elizabeth's presence. He felt that her course,
if persisted in, would lead to the destruction of the Netherland
commonwealth, and eventually to the downfall of England ;
and that the Provinces, believing themselves deceived by the

' Heneage to Burghley, j-^» 1586. (S. P. Office Ma)

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476 ^I^HB UNITED NBTHERLAND& Gbap. TH

Queen, were ready to revolt against an authority to which,
but a short time before, they were so devotedly loyaL
Nevertheless, he only wished to know what his sovereign's
commands distinctly were, in order to set himself to tiieir
fulfilment. He had come from the camp before Nymegen
in order to attend the conference with the state-council at
A.mheim, and he would then be ready and anxious to despatch
Heneage to England, to learn her Majesty's final determi-
nation.

He protested to the Queen that he had come upon this
arduous and perilous service only because he considered her
throne in danger, and that this was the only means of pre-
serving it ; that, in accepting the absolute government, he
had been free from all ambitious motives, but deeply im-
pressed with the idea that only by so doing could he conduct
the enterprise entrusted to him to the desired consummation ;
and he declared with great fervour that no advancement to
high oflSce could compensate him for this enforced absence
from her. To be sent back even in disgrace would still be a
boon to him, for he should cease to be an exile from her sight
He knew that his enemies had been busy in defaming him,
while he had been no longer there to defend himself, but his
conscience acquitted him of any thought which was not for
her happiness and glory. " Yet grievous it is to me," said he
in a tone of tender reproach, " that having left all — ^yea, all
that may be imagined — ^for you, you have left me for very
little, even to the uttermost of all hard fortune. For what
have I, unhappy man, to do here either with cause or country
but for you ?"^

He stated boldly that his services had not been ineffective,
that the enemy had never been in worse plight than now,
that he had lost at least five thousand men in divers over-
throws, and that, on the other hand, the people and towns of
the Seven Provinces had been safely preserved. "Since my
arrival," he said, "God hath blessed the action which you

> Leicester to the Queen, y^« 1686. (S. P. Ofl^ Ma)

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1586 mS MELAKOHOLY LETTEBS TO THE QUEEN. 477

have taken in hand, and committed to the charge of me your
poor unhappy servant. I have good cause to say somewhat
for myself, for that I think I have as few friends to speak for
me as any man/' ^

Nevertheless — as he warmly protested — ^his only wish was
to return ; for the country in which he had lost her favour,
which was more precious than life, had become odious to him.
The most lowly office in her presence was more to be coveted
than the possession of unlimited power away from her. It
was by these tender and soft insinuations, as the Earl knew
full well, that he was sure to obtain what he really coveted —
her sanction for retaining the absolute government in the
Provinces. And most artfully did he strike the key.

"Most dear and gracious Lady,'' he cried, "my care and
service here do breed me nothing but grief and unhappiness.
I have never had your Majesty's good favour since I came
into this charge — a matter that from my first beholding your
eyes hath been most dear unto me above all earthly treasures.
Never shall I love that place or like that soil which shall
cause the lack of it. Most gracious Lady, consider my long,
true, and faithful heart toward you. Let not this unfortunate
place here bereave me of that which, above all the world, I
esteem there, which is your favour and your presence. 1 see
my service is not acceptable, but rather more and more dis-
liketh you. Here I can do your Majesty no service ; there
I can do you some, at the least rub your horse's heels — ^a
service which shall be much more welcome to mo than this,
with all that these men may give me. I do, humbly and
from my heart, prostrate at your feet, b^ this grace at your
sacred hands, that you will be pleased to let me return to my
home-service, with your favour, let the revocation be used in
what sort shall please and like you. But if ever spark of
favour was in your Majesty toward your old servant, let me
obtain this my humble suit ; protesting before the Majesty of
all Majesties, that there was no cause under Heaven but his
and yours, even for your own special and particular cause,

* Leicester to the Queen, MS. just dted.

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478

THB UNITSD NBTHBELANDa

Chap. TU

I say, could have made me take this absent journey from you
in hand. If your Majesty shall refuse me this, I shall think
all grace clean gone from me, and I know my days will not
be long." »

She must melt at this, thought ^ sweet Bobin ' to himself ;
and meantime^ accompanied by Heneage, he proceeded with
the conferences in the state-council-chamber, touching the
modification of the title and the confirmation of his authority.
This, so far as Walsingham could divine, and Burghley
fathom, was the present intention of the Queen. He averred
that he had ever sought most painfully to conform his conduct
to her instructions as fast as they were received, and that he
should continue so to do. On the whole, it was decided by
the conference to let matters stand as they were for a little
longer, and until after Heneage should have time once more
to go and come. '^ The same manner of proceeding that was
is now," said Leicester. " Your pleasure is declared to the
council here as you have willed it. How it will fall out again
in your Majesty's construction, the Lord knoweth." '

Leicester might be forgiven for referring to higher powers
for any possible interpretation of her Majesty's changing
humour ; but meantime, while Sir Thomas was getting ready
for his expedition to England, the Earl's heart was somewhat
gladdened by more gracious messages from the Queen. The
alternation of emotions would however prove too much for
him, he feared, and he was reluctant to open his heart to so
unwonted a tenant as joy.

" But that my fear is such, most dear and gracious Lady,"
he said, " as my unfortunate destiny will hardly permit, whilst
I remain here, any good acceptation of so simple a service as
mine, I should greatly rejoice and comfort myself with the
hope of your Majesty's most prayed-for favour. But of late,
being by your own sacred hand lifted even up into Heaven
with joy of your favour, I was bye and bye, without any new

' Leicester to the Qaeen,
1586, MS. last cited.

23 Mar

2 Jane

> Same to 88030^^^^,1686. (S.B
Office Ma)

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1586.

HE BECEIVBS A UTTLB CONSOLATION.

479

desert or offence at all, cast down and down again into the
depth of all grief. God doth know, my dear and dread Sove-
reign, that after I first received your resolute pleasure hy Sir
Thomas Heneage, I made neither stop nor stay, nor any
excuse to be rid of this place, and to satisfy your command.
. . . . So much I mislike this place and fortune of mine,
as I desire nothing in the world so much as to be delivered,
with your favour, from all charge here, fearing still some new
cross of your displeasure to fall upon me, trembling con-
tinually with the fear thereof, in such sort as till I may be
fully confirmed in my new regeneration of your wonted, favour
I cannot receive that true comfort which doth appertain to so
great a hope. Yet I will not only acknowledge with all hum-
bleness and dutiful thanks the exceeding joy these last blessed
lines brought to my long-wearied heart, but will, with all true
loyal affection, attend that further joy from your sweet self
which may utterly extinguish all consuming fear away."*

Poor Heneage — who likewise received a kind word or two
after having been so capriciously and petulantly dealt with —
was less extravagant in his expressions of gratitude. " The
Queen hath sent me a paper-plaister, which must please for
a time," he said. " God Almighty bless her Majesty ever,
and best direct her."^ He was on the point of starting for
England, the bearer of the States' urgent entreaties that
Leicester might retain the government, and of despatches
announcing the recent success of the allies before Grave.
"God prospereth the action in these countries beyond all
expectation," he said, " which all amongst you will not
be over glad of, for somewhat I know."' The intrigues

27M>y
6 June

28 May

7 JOD*

* Leicester to the Queen,
1586. (S. P. Office MS.)

' Heneage to Walsingham,

1586. (S. P. Office MS.)

• Ibid. Ju8t before the envoy had
signified to the States the last ciiange
in the royal humour, the Netherland
council of state had addressed a let-
ter to the Queen. In this document

they had excused the celerity with
whicbi moved by the necessity of the
case, they had conferred the absolute
government upon the £arL This
measure, they said, passed by the
unanimous vote of the Provinces, had
wonderfully elevated the coUapfled
minds of the patriots, and filled the
enemy with extreme consternation.
The renewal of a general authority
had laid an excellent foundation for

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480

THB UNITED HBTHEBLANDei

Chap. YIL

of Grafigni, Champagny, and Bodman, with Croft, Bnrgh-
ley, and the others, were not bo profound a secret as they
could wish.

The tone adopted hy Leicester has been made manifest in

completely reetoring the republic, had
curbed tbe ferocious hearts of the
enemj, had restrained the progress of
a hostile armj exulting in a career of
extraordinary victories, and, with the
blessing of God, had changed the for-
tunes of the war. The prosperity of
the United Provinces had been re-
stored by tho dignity, virtue, and assi-
duous solicinido of the illustrious Earl,
and was daily on the increase. They
had therefore thanked her Msjesty
for accepting so benig^nantly their ex-
cuses for the authority conferred, and
for no longer requiring its diminution.
They expressed the opinion that it
woi^d be perilous — in the fragile con-
dition of &e republic — to ch^ge the
word (vocabulum) absolute govern-
ment, which could only be done at a
special session of the States, called for
that purpose. They feared that, by
such a step, at tho very moment of
restored autliority, they should throw
prostrate all authority, and overwhelm
the commonwealth with confusion.
They declared their determination to
cherish tbe dignity and honour of
Leicester as being, under God and
her Majesty, the foundation of their
existence and their felicity. The
States of the Provinces, and aU indi-
viduals, were agreed iu admiring and
venerating his extraordinary prudence
and assiduity. They acknowledged
that the safety of the whole republic
depended upon the care of the gover-
nor, who, moved by his zeal for the
true religion, and his pity for their
afflicted fortunes, had abandoned his
private interests, his country, and the
presence of his sovereign, to encounter
all the adverse chances of their per-
turbed republic (Bruce, 469'471,
1 May, 1686.)

Six weeks later (June 11, 1686,
K.S.), after receiving the last commu-
nications of the Queen, the council
again addressed her in simUar strain,
entrusting their despatches to Heneage,
who was setting forth according to
her commands. They expressed their

deep afflictioQ that she should again
80 urgently demand the abrogation of
the government-general. Not to oom-
ply with a requisitkm so seriouslj and
repeatedly made, waa^ as they acSaiow-
ledged, a grave ofltonoe. To comply
with it, however, without manifest
perQ to the republic, was impossibia
For the whole cooservatioa of au-
thority depended upon the titio and
office of governor. If that aboold
shake and vacillate^ they feared that
in this very beginnmgof their pros-
perity, whic^ was, through Divine Pro-
vidence^ every day augmenting, aU
things would fell headlong into utter
ruin, to the joy of the common enemy,
to whom the authority conferred upon
the Eail was most formidable. Fat
tiie lieutenancy of the Queen, howevw
great in itself could never suffice to
Sie administration of political afiain,
without the government-general, which
could not be adjoined to the lieuten-
ancy, but must proceed from the su-
perior power residing in the States-
General Again, therefore, they most
earnestly besought her M^'esty to par-
don the error which they had com-
mitted, through immoderate devotion
to herself, and through the necessity
of the times. Her saored breast would,
it was hoped, bo moved to pretermit
tbe proposed revocation, which could
only be accomplished by solemn ooo-
vocation of the orders, and by exposing
the whole alEur to the world, a step
which, on account of the fluctuation
of men's mmds, and the insidious sug-
gestions of the enemy, would be at-
tended with infinite peril They there-
fore most urgently demanded that the
execution of her demand should be
deferred, at least to a more conve-
nient season. For the rest they re-
ferred the whole matter to the report
of Heneage, who was about to return
to England, fhlly instructed as to the
views and wishes of the States. Bruce's
'Leyc. Ooiresp.* 472, June 11, 1686^
N.S. '

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1586. AND WBITES MOBB OHESBFULLT. 481

his letters to the Queen. He had held the same language
of weariness and dissatisfaction in his communications to his
friends. He would not keep the office, he avowed, if they
should give him " all Holland and Zeeland, with all their
appurtenances," and he was ready to resign at any moment
He was not " ceremonious for reputation,'' he said, but he
gave warning that the Netherlanders would grow desperate if
they found her Majesty dealing weakly or carelessly with
them. As for himself he had already had enough of
government. "I am weary, Mr. Secretary," he plaintively
exclaimed, ^^ indeed I am weary ; but neither of pains nor
travail. My ill hap that I can please her Majesty no better
hath quite discouraged me."*

He had recently, however — as we have seen — ^received
some comfort, and he was still further encouraged, upon the
eve of Heneage's departure, by receiving another affectionate
epistle from the Queen. Amends seemed at last to be
offered for her long and angry silence, and the Earl was
deeply grateful

" If it hath not been, my most dear and gracious Lady,"
said he in reply, "no small comfort to your poor old servant
to receive but one line of your blessed hand- writing in many
months, for the relief of a most grieved, wounded heart, how
£Eir more exceeding joy must it be, in the midst of all sorrow,
to receive from the same sacred hand so many comfortable
lines as my good friend Mr. George hath at once brought
me. Pardon me, my sweet Lady, if they cause me to forget
myself. Only this I do say, with most humble dutiftil thanks,
that the scope of all my service hath ever been to content
and please you ; and if I may do that, then is all sacrifice,
either of life or whatsoever, well offered for you."^

The matter of the government absolute having been so
fully discussed during the preceding four months, and the
last opinions of the state-council having been so lucidly

1 Brace's ' Leyc Corresp.* pp. 262, 263, - May, 1686.
* Leicester to the Queen, - June, 1586. (S. P. Office MS.)

VOL. I.— 2 a

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482 THB UHITBD NXTHBBLINDS. CHiLP. YH

expounded in the despatches to be carried by Heneage to
England, the matter might be considered as exhausted.
Leicester contented himself, therefore, with once more calling
her Majesty's attention to the fact that if he had not himself
accepted the office thus conferred upon him by the States,
it would have been bestowed upon some other personage. It
would hardly have comported with her dignity, if Coimt
Maurice of Nassau, or Count William, or Count Moeurs, had
been appointed goTemor absolute, for in that case the Earl,
as general of the auxiliary English force, would have been
subject to the authority of the chieftain thus selected. It
was impossible, as the state-council had very plainly shown,
for Leicester to exercise supreme authority, while merdy
holding the military office of her Majesty's lieutenant-gene-
ral. The authority of governor or stadholder could only be
derived from the supreme power of the country. If her
Majesty had chosen to accept the sovereignty, as the States
had ever desired, the requisite authority could then have
been derived from her, as from the original fountain. As
she had resolutely refused that offer however, his authority
was necessarily to be drawn from the States-Q^ieral, or
else the Queen must content herself with seeing him serve
as an English military officer, only subject to the orders of
the supreme power, wherever that power might reside. In
short, Elizabeth's wish that her general might be clothed
with the privileges of her viceroy, while she declined herself
to be the sovereign, was illogical, and could not be complied
with.*

Very soon after inditing these last epistles to the Provinoes,
the Queen became more reasonable on the subject ; and an
elaborate communication was soon received by the state-
council, in which the royal acquiescence was signified to the
latest propositions of the States. The various topics, suggested
in previous despatches from Leicester and from the council,
were reviewed, and the whole subject was suddenly placed in
a somewhat different light from that in which it seemed to

' Leicester to the Qoeen. US. last cited.

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isse.

THE QUEEN IS MORE BENIGNANT.

483

have been previously regarded by her Majesty. She alliided
to the excuse, offered by the state-council, which had been
drawn from the necessity of the case, and from their " great
liking for her cousin of Leicester/' although in violation of
the original contract. " As you acknowledge, however," she
said, "that therein you were justly to be blamed, and do
crave pardon for the same, we cannot, upon this acknowledg-
ment of your fault, but remove our former dislike. *

Nevertheless it would now seem that her "mistake" had
proceeded, not from the excess, but from the insuflSciency of
the powers conferred upon the Earl, and she complained,
accordingly, that they had given him shadow rather than
substance.^

Simultaneously with this royal communication, came a
joint letter to Leicester, from Burghley, Walsingham, and
Hatton, depicting the long and strenuous conflict which
they had maintained in his behalf with the rapidly varying
inclinations of the Queen. They expressed a warm sym-
pathy with the difficulties of his position, and spoke in
strong terms of the necessity that the Netherlands and
England should work heartily together. For otherwise, they
said, " the cause will fall, the enemy will rise, and we must
stagger." Notwithstanding the secret negociations with the
enemy, which Leicester and Walsingham suspected, and

^ Queen to Ooonoil of State, - Jane,

1586. (S. P. OflEice MS.); much cor-
rected in Burghley's handwriting.

« n)id. " Yet when we look,** she
proceeded, ''into the little proEt that
the common cause hath received
hitherto by the yielding unto him
rather in words and writings a title of
a kind of absolute government, than
any effect of the authority signified by
the words of the grant; for that by
virtue thereof we understand that he
can neither be made thoroughly ac-
quainted with the true state of your
affairs there, requisite for such an
office as you have given him in name,
nor yet receive the due performance of
such contributions of money and other
peceawiefl^ as were speciaUy promised

unto him, before the acceptation of the
government; inasmuch as for the lack
of due satisfaction of the things pro-
mised, he bath been enforced to em-
ploy part of our treasure — sent over
for the payment of such of our pt ople
as by the contract we promiacd to
maintain — to pay and relieve such
other forces as were entertained by the

States besides many oilier like

burdens laid upon our cousiu, con-
trary to our expectation ; all this doth
give us cause to mislike not so much
the title itself as the lack of perform-
ance which the title carries show of —
a matter, yea, of things roost necessary
for your own defence ; a matter that,
without speedy redress, cannot but
breed both immment perU to those
countries and dishonour to us."

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484

THE UinTBD NBTHEBLANDa

osAP. vn

which will be more fully examined in a subeequent chapter,
they held a language on that subject, which in the Secretary's
mouth at least was sincere. ^^ Whatsoever speeches be blown
abroad of parleys of peace/' they said, ^^ all will be but smoke,
yea fire will follow." ^

They excused themselves for their previous and enforced
silence by the fact that they had been unable to communicate
any tidings but messages of distress, but they now con^
gratulated the Earl that her Majesty, as he would see by
her letter to the council, was firmly resolved, not only to
countenance his governorship, but to sustain him in the most
thorough manner. It would be therefore quite out of the ques-
tion/or tJ^m to listen to his earnest propositions to be recaUtd}

Moreover, the Lord Treasurer bad already apprized Leicester
that Honeage had safely arrived in England, that he had
made his report to the Queen, and that her Majesty waa
" very well contented with him and his mission."^

It may be easily believed that the Earl would feel a
sensation of relief, if not of triumph, at this termination to
the embarrassments under which he had been labouring ever
since he listened to the oration of the wise Leoninus upon
New Years' Day. At last the Queen had formally acquiesced
in the action of the States, and in his acceptance of their
offer. He now saw himself undisputed " governor absolute,"
having been six months long a suspected, discredited, almost
disgraced man. It was natural that he should express
himself cheerfully.

" My great comfort received, oh my most gracious Lady,'*
he said, " by your most favourable lines written by your own
sacred hand, I did most humbly acknowledge by my former
letter ; albeit I can no way make testimony oft enough of

' Bargh]e7, Hatton, and Walsing^

ham, to Leicester, — June, 1686. (S. P.

Offioe Ma)

• Ibid. "Her Majesty is not only
minded/* they said, " but, as we per-
ceive, resolutely determined, — yea, par-
soaded fully — ^that it is necessaxy for
your Lordship not only to conlinut in

the govemmeni^ but to hare it more
amply established and perfected to all
purposes for your credit and strength,
and especially with money and men for
maintenance of those countries against
the enemy. We should greatly err,
therefore, if we should at this timt
move her Majesty to recal you."
• Bruce, 307.

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1586.

THB STATES LESS OONTBNTBD THAN THE EABL

485

the great joy I took thereby. And seeing my wounded heart
is by this means almost mode whole, I do pray unto GK>d that
either I may never feel the like again fix)m you, or not be
suffered to live, rather than I should fall again into those
torments of your displeasure. Most gracious Queen, I be-
seech you, therefore, make perfect that which you have begun.
Let not the common danger, nor any ill, incident to the place
I serve you in, be accompanied with greater troubles and
fears indeed than all the horrors of death can bring me. My
•strong hope doth now so assure me, as I have almost won the
battle against despair, and I do arm myself with as many of
those wonted comfortable conceits as may confirm my new
revived spirits, reposing myself evermore under the shadow
of those blessed beams that must yield the only nourishment to
this disease." *

But however nourishing the shade of those blessed beams
might prove to Leicester's disease, it was not so easy to bring
about a very sunny condition in the Provinces. It was easier
for Elizabeth to mend the broken heart of the governor
than to repair the damage which had been caused to the
commonwealth by her caprice and her deceit. The dispute
concerning the government absolute had died away, but the
authority of the Earl had got a "crack in it" which never
could be handsomely made whole.^ The States, during the
long period of Leicester's discredit — feeling more and more
doubtful as to the secret intentions of Elizabeth— disappointed
in the condition of the auxiliary troops and in the amount of
supplies furnished from England, and, above all, having had
time to regret their delegation of a power which they b^an
to find agreeable to exercise with their own hands, became
indisposed to entrust the Earl with the administration
and full inspection of their resources. To the enthusiasm
which had greeted the first arrival of Elizabeth's representative

Queen, - June,

1 Ldoestor to the

1586. (a P. Office MS.)

2 " M7 credit hath been cracked ever
since her M^je8t7 sent Sir Thomas

Heneage hither, as all men can tell
you." Brace's *Leyc. Ck>rresp.' 42\

Oct 4, 1686.

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486

THS UNITED NETHBRLAND&

Obap. YH

had succeeded a jealous, carping, suspicious sentiment. The
two hundred thousand florins monthly were paid, according
to the original agreement, but the four hundred thousand
of extra service-money subsequently voted were withheld, and
withheld expressly on account of Heneage's original mission
to disgrace the governor." '

" The late return of Sir Thomas Heneage," said Lord North,
^^ hath put such busses in their heads, as they march forward
with leaden heels and doubtful hearts." ^

In truth, through the discredit cast by the Queen upon
the Earl in this important affair, the supreme authority was
forced back into the hands of the States, at the very moment
when they had most freely divested themselves of power.
After the Queen had become more reasonable, it was too late
to induce them to part, a second time, so freely with the im-
mediate control of their own aflSsiirs. Leicester had become,
to a certain extent, disgraced and disliked by the Estates.
He thought himself, by the necessity of the case, forced to
appeal to the people against their legal representatives, and
thus the foundation of a nominally democratic party, in oppo-
sition to the mimicipal one, was already laid. Nothing could
be more unfortunate at that juncture ; for we shall, in future,
And the Earl in perpetual opposition to the most distinguiriied
statesmen in the Provinces ; to the very men indeed who
had been most influential in offering the sovereignty to
England, and in placing him in the position which he had
so much coveted. No sooner therefore had he been con-

* " aa to the not paying by the

States of the 200,000 florins a-month,
agreed upon," said Leicester to the
Queen, "I must needs say that they
have paid that 200,000, but that I
stand upon of late with them is
200,000 more, which they long since
agreed upon, and I sent word to your
Mejesty. And herem, indeed, they
have been yery slack; but if your
Majesty will pardon me to speak the
truth of that stay, it grew only wpoTi
Sir Thomas Heneag^s coming with the
message of yavir displeasure; for from

ihat time till (his (hey have nai onig
sought to hinder the agreement, btU to
intermeddle whoQy again with aU ihmgt
which did tyffperiain to my office. To
%vithstand them — ^to be plain — ^I dunt
not, and they have ^^Ued it dili-
gently since to work that conceit into
every man's head," Ac. ko. Leicerter

to the Queen, - June^ 1586, (S. P.

Office MS.)

2 North to Buighley, r-r-^ 158d

(3. P. Office Ma)

SJUMI

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1586. HIS QTTABBBIfi WITH THEM BSGIN. 487

firmed by Elizabeth in that high office than his arrogance
broke forth^ and the quarrels between himself and the repre-
sentative body became incessant.

^^ I stand now in somewhat better terms than I did/' said
he ; ^^ I was not in case till of late to deal roundly with them
as I have now done. I have established a chamber of
finances, against some of their wills, whereby I doubt not to
procure great benefit to increase our ability for payments
hereafter. The people I find still best devoted to her Majesty,
though of late many lewd practices have been used to with-
draw their good wills. But it will not be ; they still pray
God that her Majesty may be their sovereign. She should
then see what a contribution they will all bring forth. But
to the States they will never returriy which will breed some
great mischief, there is such mislike of the States universally.
I would your Lordship had seen the case I had lived in among
them these four months, especially after her Majesty's mislike
was found. Tou would then marvel to see how I have waded,
as I have done, through no small obstacles, without help,
counsel, or assistance." ^

Thus the part which he felt at last called upon to enact
was that of an aristocratic demagogue, in perpetual conflict
with the burgher-representative body.

It is now necessary to lift a comer of the curtain, by which
some international — or rather interpalatial — ^intrigues were
concealed, as much as possible, even from the piercing eyes
of Walsingham. The Secretary was, however, quite aware —
despite the pains taken to deceive him — of the nature of the
plots and of the somewhat ignoble character of the actors^
concerned in them.

' Leicester to Burghle/, ~ June, 1586. (a P. Office MS.)

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488 ^I^BB UKITBO MJCl'HKKTiANPS. Caiip. Tin

CHAPTER VIII.

Forlorn Condition of Flanders — Panna's secret Negotiations with the Queen
— Grafigoi and Bodman — Their Dealings with English ConnaeUoTB —
Duplicity of Famese — Secret Offers of the English Peaoe-Party — Letters
and Intrigues of De Loo — Drake's Victories and their Effect — Parma's
Perplexity and Anxiety — He is relieved by the News from En^and —
Queen's secret Letters to Parma — His Letters and Instructions to Bod-
man— Bodman's secret Transactions at Greenwich — Walsiugham detects
and exposes the Plot — The Intriguers baffled — Queen's Letter to Panna
find his to the King — Unlucky Results of the Peaoe- Intrigues — Unhand-
some Treatment of Leicester — Indignation of the Earl and Walsingham —
Secret Letter of Parma to Philip — Invasion of England recommended —
Details of the Project

Alexander Farnese and his heroic little army had been
left by their sovereign in as destitute a condition as tiiat in
which Lord Leicester and his unfortunate "paddy persons"
had found themselves since their arrival in the Netherlands.
These mortal men were but the weapons to be used and
broken in the hands of the two great sovereigns, already
pitted against each other in mortal combat. That the distant
invisible potentate, the work of whose life was to do his best
to destroy all European nationality, all civil and religious
freedom, should be careless of the instruments by which his
purpose was to be effected, was but natural. It is painful to
reflect that the great champion of liberty and of Protestantism
was almost equally indifferent to the welfare of the human
creatures enlisted in her cause. Spaniards and Italians,
English and Irish, went half naked and half starving through
the whole inclement winter, and perished of pestilence in
droves, after confronting the less formidable dangers of battle-
field and leaguer. Manfully and sympathetically did the
Earl of Leicester — while whining in absurd hyperbole over
the angry demeanour of his sovereign towards himself— re-
present the imperative duty of an English government to
succour English troops.

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1680. FORLORN CONDITION OF FLA2n)BRa 489

Alexander Famese was equally plain-spoken to a sovereign
with whom plain-speaking was a crime. In bold^ almost
scornful language, the Prince represented to Philip the suffer-
ings and destitution of the little band of heroes, by whom
that magnificent military enterprise, the conquest of Antwerp,
had just been effected. "God will be weary of working
miracles for us," he cried, " and nothing but miracles can save
the troops from starving." There was no question of paying
them their wages, there was no pretence at keeping them
reasonably provided with lodging and clothing, but he
asserted the undeniable proposition that they "could not
pass their lives without eating,"^ and he implored his
sovereign to send at least money enough to buy the soldiers
shoes. To go foodless and barefoot without complaining,
on the frt)zen swamps of Flanders, in January, was more than
was to be expected from Spaniards and Italians. The country
itself was eaten bare. The obedient Provinces had reaped
absolute ruin as the reward of their obedience. Bruges,
Ghent, and the other cities of Brabant and Flanders, once so
opulent and powerful, had become mere dens of thieves and
paupers. Agriculture, commerce, manufactures — all were
dead. The condition of Antwerp was most tragical. The
city, which had been so recently the commercial centre of the
earth, was reduced to absolute beggary. Its world-wide trafiSc
was abruptly terminated, for the month of its great river was
controlled by Flushing, and Flushing was in the firm grasp
of Sir Philip Sidney, as governor for the English Queen.
Merchants and bankers, who 'had lately been possessed of
enormous resources, were stripped of all. Such of the in-
dustrial classes as could leave the place had wandered away
to Holland and England. There was no industry possible,
for there was no market for the products of industry. Antwerp
was hemmed in by the enemy on every side, surrounded by
royal troops in a condition of open mutiny, cut off from the
ocean, deprived of daily bread, and yet obliged to contribute
out of its poverty to the maintenance of the Spanish soldiers,

* "No Be puede pasar la yida dn comer." Panna to Philip IL 28 Feh
1686. (Ajchivo do Simancas, MS.)

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490

TBE UNTTBD NBTffRRTiANI>&

Ohap. YBL

who were there for its deetnictioiL Its buig^ers, compelled
to furnish four hundred thousand florins, as the price of their
capitulation, and at least six hundred thousand more^ for
the repairs of the dykes, the destruction of which, too long
deferred, had only spread desolatign over the country without
saving the city, and over and above all forced to rebuild, at
their own expense, that fatal citadel, by which their liberty
and lives were to be perpetually endangered, might now
regret at leisure that they had not been as stedfast during
their si^ as had been the heroic inhabitants of Leyden in
their time of trial, twelve years before. Obedient Antwerp
was, in truth, most forlorn. But there was one consolation
for her and for Philip, one bright spot in the else universal
gloom. The ecclesiastics assured Parma, that, notwithstanding
the frightful diminution in the population of the city, they
had confessed and absolved more persons that Easter than
they had ever done since the commencement of the revolt.
Great was Philip's joy in consequence.' "You cannot
imagine my satisfaction," he wrote, "at the news you give
me concerning last Kaster.'' *

With a ruined country, starving and mutinous troops, a
bankrupt exchequer, and a desperate and pauper population,
Alexander Famese was not unwilling to gain time by simu-
lated negociations for peace. It was strange, however, that
so sagacious a monarch as the Queen of England should sup-
pose it for her interest to grant at that moment the very
delay which was deemed most desirable by her antagonist.

Yet it was not wounded affection alone, nor insulted pride,
nor startled parsimony, that had carried the fury of the Queen

> Parma to Philip IL 19 April, 1586.
(Arch. deSim. MS.)

The ooniemporaiy histDiians of the
oountry do DOt paint more frightful
pictures of the desolation of Antwerp,
and of the obedient Provinces gene-
rally, than those fiimifihed bj the
Prince of Parma in his secret letters
to his sovereign. Compare Bor, IL
984; Meteren, xiiL 263^; Hoofd, Ver-
volgh, 251, et muU. aL

" Grandissima lastizna,** said Famese

of Antwera "ver perdida tan princi-
pal villa, 7 la navigadon de ribera tan
linda j proveohosa no solo para el pais
mas para todo el munda" MS. before
cited.

3 Letter to Philip IL just dted.

'"No podreys pensar el conteoto
que me ha dado el aviso de la fr^uen-
cia que huvo a los sacramentoe la
pasqua pasada," Ac. Philip II. to
Parmai 5 July, 1586. (Arch, de Sm.
MS.)

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1586. PABMA'S NEGOTIATIONS WITH THE QUEEN. 491

to Bach a hei^t on the occasion of Leicester's elevation to
absolute government. It was still more, because the step was
thought likely to interfere with the progress of those n^ocia^
tions into which the Queen had allowed herself to be drawn.

A certain Grafigni — a Genoese merchant residing much in
London and in Antwerp, a meddling, intrusive, and irrespon-
sible kind of individual, whose occupation was gone with the
cessation of Fl^Ddish trade — ^had recently made his appearance
as a volunteer diplomatist. The principal reason for accepting
or rather for winking at his services, seemed to be the possi-
bility of disavowing him, on both sides, whenever it should
be thought advisable. He had a partner or colleague, too,
named Bodman, who seemed a not much more creditable
negociator than himself. The chief director of the intrigue
was, however, Champagny, brother of Cardinal GranveUe,
restored to the King's favour and disposed to atone by his
exubercmt loyalty for his heroic patriotism on a former and
most memorable occasion.^ Andrea de Loo, another subor-
dinate politician, was likewise employed at various stages of
the n^ociation.

It will soon be perceived that the part enacted by Burghley,
Hatton, Croft, and other counsellors, and even by the Queen
herself, was not a model of ingenuousness towards the absent
Leicester and the States-General The gentlemen sent at
various times to and from the Earl and her Majestjr's govern-
ment,— Davison, Shirley, Vavasor, Heneage, and the rest, —
had all expressed themselves in the strongest language con-
cerning the good faith and the friendliness of the Lord-
Treasurer and the Vice-Chamberlain,^ but they were not so
well informed as they would have been, had they seen the
private letters of Parma to Philip II.

Walsingham, although kept in the dark as much as it was
possible, discovered from time to time the mysterious practices
of his political antagonists, and warned the Queen of the

*In the memorable Antwerp fiiiy.
See *Bi8e of the Datch Republic,'
YoL ill chap.

•Bruoe's ^Leja Corresp.* pp. 112,

124, 143, 161, 176, 231. Leicester to
Burghlej, 18 March, 1586. (S, P. Office
Ma)

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492

THB UNITBD NBTHERLANDa

OOAF.YUL

danger and dishonour she was bringing upon herself.^ Eliza-
beth, when thus boldly charged, equivocated and stormed
alternately. She authorized Walsingham to communicate
the secrets — ^which he had thus surprised — to the States-
General, and then denied having given any such orders.*

In truth, Walsingham was only entrusted with such portions
of the negotiations as he had been able, by his own astuteness,
to divine ; and as he was very much a friend to the Provinces
and to Leicester, he never failed to keep them instructed, to
the best of his ability. It must be confessed, however, that
the shuffling and paltering among great men and little men,
at that period, forms a somewhat painful subject of contempla-
tion at the present day.

Grafigni having some merdiandise to convey from Antwerp
to London, went early in the year to the Prince of Parma,
at Brussels, in order to procure a passport^ They entered
into some conversation upon the misery of the country, and
particularly concerning the troubles to which the unfortunate
merchants had been exposed. Alexander expressed much
sympathy with the commercial community, and a strong
desire that the ancient friendship between his master and the
Queen of England might be restored. Grafigni assured the
Prince — as the result of his own observation in England — that
the Queen participated in those pacific sentiments. "You
are going to England,'' replied the Prince, "and you may say
to the ministers of her Majesty, that, after my allegiance to
my King, I am most favourably and affectionately inclined
towards her. If it pleases them that I, as Alexander Famese,
should attempt to bring about an accord, *and if our commis-
sioners could be assured of a hearing in England, I would take
care that everything should be conducted with due r^ard to
the honour and reputation of her Majesty." ^

» Bruoe'a *Loyc Corresp.* 231

^'1686; 272,? May, 1686.

'Bruce's *Leyc. Corresp.* 240,
V April sa

— -— '1686. Ibid. 272, - May, 1686.

' Copia del Papel de Agostino Gra-

figna, anno 1586. (Arch, de Sim. MS.)
< Ibid. "Cbe io, como Alesaandro
Fameae, pratioasai a pioo d* aocordo
con mio Ke, y che li nostri oommeflBi
fasdno sentiti in log^eterra, tenirei
modo che le oose passeriano con ogni
honore k reputaadone di S. M*.," ftc.

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1586.

GBAFIGNI AND BODMAN.

493

Grafigni then asked for a written letter of credence. " That
cannot be/' replied Alexander; "but if you return to me
I shall believe your report, and then a proper person can
be sent, with authority from the King to treat with her
Majesty.'' 1

Grafigni proceeded to England, and had an interview with
Lord Cobham. A few days later that nobleman gave the
merchant a general assurance that the Queen had always felt
a strong inclination to maintain firm friendship with the House
of Burgundy. Nevertheless, as he proceeded to state, the bad
policy of the King's ministers, and the enterprises against her
Majesty, had compelled her to provide for her own security
and that of her realm by remedies differing in spirit from that
good inclination. Being however a Christian princess, willing
to leave vengeance to the Lord and disposed to avoid blood-
shed, she was ready to lend her ear to a negotiation for peace,
if it were likely to be a sincere and secure one. Especially
she was pleased that his Highness of Parma should act as
mediator of such a treaty, as she considered him a most just
and honourable prince in all his promises and actions. Her
Majesty would accordingly hold herself in readiness to receive
the honourable commissioners alluded to, feeling sure that
every step taken by his Highness would comport with her
honour and safety.'

At about the same time the other partner in this diplomatic
enterprise, William Bodman, communicated to Alexander the
result of his observations in England. He stated that Lords
Burghley, Buckhurst, and Cobham, Sir Christopher Hatton,
and Comptroller Croft, were secretly desirous of peace with
Spain, and that they had seized the recent opporttmity of her
pique against the Earl of Leicester^ to urge forward these
underhand negotiations. Some progress had been made ; but
as no accredited commissioner arrived from the Prince of

^ Copia del Papel de Agostino Ora-
flgna, MS. jost cited.

* Papel de Qrafigna, MS. before
cited.

I "Alg^ disgosto contra el Gonde

de liester," £c., fW)m a document en-
titled 'Ix) que en particular siento
Guillemo Bodeman de las intencionea
de Inglaterra^ anno 1586.' (Archivo
de Simancaa, MS.)

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494 THB UNITED NETHBRLANDfi. Chap. YIH

Parma, and as Leicester was continually writing earnest
letters against peace, the efforts of these counsellors had
slackened. Bodman found them all, on his arrival, anxious
as he said, " to get their necks out of the matter ; " ^ declaring
everything which had been done to be pure matter of acci-
dent, entirely without the concurrence of the Queen, and
each seeking to outrival the other in the good graces of her
Majesty.^ Grafigni informed Bodman, however, that Lord
Cobham was quite to be depended upon in the affair, and
would deal with him privately, while Lord Burghley would
correspond with Andrea de Loo at Antwerp. Moreover, the
servant of Comptroller Croft would direct Bodman as to his
course, and would give him daily instructions.^

Now it so happened that this servant of Croft, Norris by
name, was a Papist, a man of bad character, and formerly a spy
of the Duke of Anjou.^ " If your Lordship or myself should
use such instruments as this," wrote Walsingham to Leicester,
" I know we should bear no small reproach ; but it is the good
hap of hollow and doubtful men to be best thought of." • Bod-
man thought the lords of the peace-faction and their adherents
not sufficiently strong to oppose the other party with success
He assured Farnese that almost all the gentlemen and the
common people of England stood ready to risk their fortunes
and to go in person to the field to maintain the cause of the
Queen and religious liberty ; and that the chance of peace
was desperate unless something should turn the tide, such
as, for example, the defeat of Drake, or an invasion by Philip
of Ireland or Scotland.*

As it so happened that Drake was just then engaged in a
magnificent career of victory, sweeping the Spanish Main
and startling the nearest and the most remote possessions of
the King with English prowess, his defeat was not one of the
cards to be relied on by the peace-party in the somewhat
deceptive game which they had commenced. Yet, strange to

» " Sacar el cueUo y salirse a fuera."
Obid.)

IMay

«Ibid.

• Ibid. » Ibid.

" *Lo que en

♦Bruoe»a 'Lejrc. Correap.' 231,

Bodeinaii, ftc. MJ

5. last cited.

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1686. THEIB DEALXKOS WITH BNGUBH OOUKSELLOBa 495

say, they used, or attempted to use, those splendid triumphs
as if they had been disasters.

Meantime there was an active but very secret correspond-
ence between Lord Gobham, Lord Burghley, Sir James Croft,
and various subordinate personages in England, on the one
side, and Champagny, President Bichardot, La Motte, governor
of Gravelines, Andrea de Loo, Grafigni, and other men in
the obedient Provinces, more or less in Alexander's confidence,
on the other side. Each party was desirous of forcing or
wheedUng the antagonist to diow his hand. ^^You were
employed to take soundings off the English coast in the Duke
of Norfolk's time," said Cobham to La Motte : " you remember
the Duke's fate. Nevertheless, her Majesty hates war, and
it only depends on the King to have a firm and lasting
peace."*

" You must tell Lord Cobham," said Richardot to La Motte,
" that you are not at liberty to go into a correspondence, until
assured of the intentions of Queen Elizabeth. Her Majesty
ought to speak first, in order to make her good- will manifest,"'
and so on.

"The ^friend' can confer with you," said Richardot to
Champagny; "but his Highness is not to appear to know
anything at all about it. The Queen must signify her
intentions."^

" You answered Champagny correctly," said Burghley to
De Loo, " as to what I said last winter concerning her Majesty's
wishes in r^ard to a pacification. The Netherlands must be
compelled to return to obedience to the King; but their ancient
privileges are to be maintained. You omitted, however, to
say a word about toleration, in the Provinces, of the reformed
religion. But I said then, as I say now, that this is a condition
indispensable to peace." *

This was a somewhat important omission on the part of De

* Lord Cobham to Sigr. de la Motte,
2 March, 1686. (Arch, de Sim. Ma)

' Ridiardot to La Motte, 23 March,
1586. (Arch, de Sim. MS.)

* Richardot to Champagny, 24
March, 1686. (Arch, de Sim. MS.)

* * Lettera del Sr. Gran Thesoriero
d' Ingleterra a Andrea de Loo, verba-
tim translatata dalla sua lingua in
questra, 6 Marte, 1586. (Arch, de SizO'
MS.)

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496

THE UNITED NBTHERLAND&

obap. ym.

Loo, and gives the measure of his conscientiotisness or his
capacity as a n^otiator. Certainly for the Lord-Treasurer of
England to offer, on the part of her Majesty, to bring about
the reduction of her allies under the yoke which they had
thrown off without: her assistance, and this without leave
asked of them, and with no provision for the great principle of
religious liberty, which was the cause of the revolt, was a most
flagitious trifling with the honour of Elizabeth and of England.
Certainly the more this mysterious correspondence is exa-
mined, the more conclusive is the justification of the vague
and instinctive jealousy felt by Leicester and the States-
General as to English diplomacy during the winter and spring
of 1586.

Burghley summoned De Loo, accordingly, to recall to his
memory all that had been privately said to him on the neces^
sity of protecting the reformed religion in the Provinces. If
a peace were to be perpetual, toleration was indispensable, he
observed, and her Majesty was said to desire this condition
most earnestly.^

The Lord-Treasurer also made the not unreasonable sugges-
tion, that, in case of a pacification, it would be necessary to
provide that English subjects — ^peaceful traders, mariners, and
the like — should no longer be shut up in the Inquisition-
prisons of Spain and Portugal, and there starved to death, as,
with great multitudes, had already been the case.^

Meantime Alexander, while encouraging and directing all
these underhand measures, was carefully impressing upon his
master that he was not, in the least degree, bound by any such
negotiations. "Queen Elizabeth," he correctly observed to
Philip, " is a woman : she is also by no means fond of expenses
The kingdom, accustomed to repose, is already weary of war :
therefore, they are all pacifically inclined." * " It has been
intimated to me," he said, " that if I would send a properly
qualified person, who should declare that your Majesty had

' * Lettera, &a, just cited.
•Ibid.

' " La reyna, por eer muger, y aentir
el gasto que U oombiene haoer, 7

cansarse aquel Reyno acostambrado a
8U reposo," Ac. Panna to Philip H
30 Mar. 1586. (Aioh. de Sim. Ma)

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1686. DUPUOITY OF FABNBSB. 497

not absolutely forbidden the coming of Lord Leicester, such
an agent would be well received, and perhaps the Earl would
be recalled"^ Alexander then proceeded, with the coolness
befitting a trusted governor of Philip II., to comment upon
the course which he was pursuing. He could at any time
denounce the n^otiations which he was secretly prompting.
Meantime inmiense advantages could be obtained by the
deception practised upon an enemy whose own object was to
deceive.

The deliberate treachery of the scheme was cynically en-
larged upon, and its possible results mathematically calculated.
Philip was to proceed with the invasion while Alexander was
going on with the n^otiation. If, meanwhile, they could
receive back Holland and Zeeland from the hands of England,
that would be an immense success.' The Prince intimated a
doubt, however, as to so fortunate a result, because, in dealing
with heretics and persons of similar quality, nothing but
trickery was to be expected. The chief good to be hoped for
was to '^ chill the Queen in her plots, leagues, and alliances,
and during the chill, to carry forward their own great design."*
To slacken not a whit in their preparations, to " put the Queen
to sleep," * and, above ally not to leave the FrcTichfor a moment
unoccupied with internal dissensions and civil war ; such was
the game of the King and the governor, as expounded between
themselves.*

President Bichardot, at the same time, stated to Cardinal
Granvelle that the English desire for peace was considered
certain at Brussels. Grafigni had informed the Prince of
Parma and his counsellors that the Queen was most amicably
disposed, and that there would be no trouble on the point of
religion, her Majesty not wishing to obtain more than she
would herself be willing to grant " In this," said Bichardot,
<^ there is both hard and soft ;" ^ for knowing that the Spanish

> Panna to Philip H, 1£S. last cited.

• Ibid.

' ''Que haya de serbir mu para
eaftiarla en sua tramas, ligas, y adhe-
renoiaa," Aa (Ibid.)

VOL. I.— 2 H

* "Paraadormecerla." (Ibid.)
» Ibid.

• ** En cecy il y a du dur & du moL"
Bichardot to Granvelle, 30 Harsk 1686.
(Arch, de Sim. MS.)

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498

THB UNTTBD NSTHERLAN D&

Chap. Tm

game was deception, pure and simple, the excellent President
could not bring himself to suspect a possible grain of good
faith in the English intentions. Much anxiety was perpetually
felt in the French quarter, her Majesty's government being
supposed to be secretly preparing an invasion of the obedient
Netherlands across the French frontier, in combination, not
with the B6amese, but with Henry III. 80 much in the dark
were even the most astute politicians. '^ I can't feel satisfied
in this French matter," said the President: "we mietn't
tickle ourselves to make ourselves laugh." ^ Moreover, there
was no self-deception nor self-tickling possible as to the un-
mitigated misery of the obedient Netherlands. Famine was
a more formidable foe than Frenchmen, Hollanders, and
Englishmen combined ; so that Bichardot avowed that the
"negotiation would be indeed holy," if it would rest^e
Holland and Zeeland to the King without fighting. The
prospect seemed on the whole rather dismal to loyal Nether-
landers like the old leaguing, intriguing, Hispaniolized pre-
sident of the privy council. " I confess," said he plaintivdy,
" that England needs chastisement ; but I don't see how we
are to give it to her. Only let us secure Holland and Zeeland,
and then we shall always find a stick whenever we like to
beat the dog."*

Meantime Andrea de Loo had been bustling and buzzing
about the ears of the chief counsellors at the English (K)urt
during all the early spring. Most busily he had been endea-
vouring to efface the prevalent suspicion that Philip and
Alexander were only trifling by these informal n^otiations.
We have just seen whether or not there was ground for that
suspicion. De Loo, being importunate, however — "as he
usually was," according to his own statement — obtained in
Burghley's hand a confirmation, by order of the Queen, of De
Loo's letter of the 26th December. The matter of religion

^ II no &ut paB que nous nous
diatouillous pour nous faire rire." (lb.)
Neither Richardot nor Parma himself
could then foresee that within two
months Henry ILL would be proposing

to Philip II. a joint invasion of Eng^
land!

2 " Et nous sera ayse de troover le
baston quand nous voulons battr^ le
chien." (Ibid.)

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158e. SECRET OFFERS OF THE ENGLISH PEAOE-PARTY. 499

gave the worthy merchant much difficulty, and he begged Lord
Buckhurst, the Lord Treasurer, and many other counsellors,
not to allow this point of toleration to ruin the whole affair ;
'^for," said he, "his Majesty will never permit any exercise of
the reformed religion." ^

At last Buckhurst sent for him, and in presence of Comp-
troller Croft, gave him information that he had brought the
Queen to this conclusion : firstly, that she would be satisfied
with as great a proportion of religious toleration for Holland,
Zeeland, and the other United Provinces, as his Majesty could
concede with safety to his conscience and his honour ; ' se-
ondly, that she required an act of amnesty ; thirdly, that she
claimed reimbursement by Philip for the money advanced by
her to the States.*

Certainly a more wonderful claim was never made than
this — a demand upon an absolute monarch for indemnity for
expenses incurred in fomenting a rebellion of his own subjects.
The measure of toleration proposed for the Provinces — the
conscience, namely, of the greatest bigot ever bom into the
world — was likely to prove as satisfactory as the claim for
damages propounded by the most parsimonious sovereign in
Christendom. It was, however, stipulated that the non-con-
formists of Holland and Zeeland, who should be forced into
exile, were to have their property administered by papist
trustees ; and further, that the Spanish inquisition was not to
be established in the Netherlands. Philip could hardly de-
mand better terms than these last, after a career of victory.
That they should be offered now by Elizabeth was hardly
compatible with good faith to the States.

On account of Lord Burghley's gout, it was suggested that
the negotiators had better meet in England, as it would be
necessary for him to take the lead in the matter, and as he
was but an indifferent traveller. Thus, according to De Loo,

1 Ifemorial d' Andrea de Loo del
negotiato alia corte d' Inglaterra nel
mese di Febraio e Marzo, 1686. (Arcbi-
TO de Simancaa, MS.)

2 " Imprimis, che S. W^ 8i contenta
di noD estar altrimentT sol punto della

religione che d* ottenere dal Be quella
tanta tolerantia per la Hollanda 7 la
Zelanda ecu le altre provincie imite,
che potra concedere con sna salya
conBcienza et honore." (Ibid.)
» Ibid. 4, Ibid.

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500

THB UNITED NETHSRLANDa

(^[jLP. ym

the Queen was willing to hand over the United ProvinoeB to
Philip, and to toes religious toleration to the winds, if she
could only get back the seventy thousand pounds — ^more or
less — ^which she had invested in an unpromising speculation.
A few weeks later, and at almost the very moment whoi
Elizabeth had so suddenly overturned her last vial of wrath
upon the discomfited Heneage for having communicated —
according to her express command — ^the fact of the pending
negotiations to the Netherland States ; at that very instant
Parma was writing secretly, and in cipher, to Philip. His
communication — could Sir Thomas have read it — might have
partly explained her Majesty's rage.

Parma had heard, he said, through Bodman, from Gomp«
troller Croft, that the Queen would willingly receive a proper
envoy. It was very easy to see, he observed, that the English
counsellors were seeking every means of entering into com^
munication with Spain, and that they were doing so with the
participation of the Queen.^ Lord-Treasurer Burghley and
Comptroller Croft had expressed surprise that the Prince had
not yet sent a secret agent to her Majesty, under pretext of
demanding explanations concerning Lord Leicester's presence
in the Provinces, but in reality to treat for peace. Such an
agent, it had been intimated, would be well received,^ The
Lord-Treasurer and the Comptroller would do aU in their
power to advance the negotiation, so that, with their aid and
with the pacific inclination of the Queen, the measures pro-
posed in favour of Leicester would be suspended, and perhaps
the Earl himself and all the English woiQd be recalled.'

The Queen was further represented as taking great pains to
excuse both the expedition of Sir Francis Drake to the Indies,
and the mission of Leicester to the Provinces. She was said
to throw the whole blame of these enterprises upon Walsing-

1 " Bien claro echa de rer que van
buscando todoa los quo lea parecen a
proposito para entrar en comuoicacion,
y que lo bazen oon la participacion
de la Reyna." Parma to Philip II.
19 April, 1686. (Arch, de Sim. M&)

2 Ibid.

*' s Y con esto y la indinacioii que
tiene la Beyna & la paz, se sospende-
rian las propodGiones que se baxen en
favor del Gonde de Lestre, y quiza
seria revocado el con todos los In-
gleaea" (Ibid.)

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i58e.

LETTBRS AND INTRIGUES OF DE LOO.

501

ham and other ill-intentioned personages, and to avow that
she now understood matters better ; so that, if Parma would
at once send an envoy, peace would, without question, soon
be made.^

Parma had expressed his gratification at these hopeful dis*
positions on the part of Buighley and Croft, and held out
hopes of sending an agent to treat with them, if not directly
with her Majesty. For some time past — according to the
Prince — the English government had not seemed to be
honestly seconding the Earl of Leicester, nor to correspond
with his desires. " This makes me think," he said, " that the
counsellors before-mentioned, being his rivals, are trying to
trip him up."^

In such a caballing, prevaricating age, it is difficult to
know which of all the plotters and counterplotters engaged in
these intrigues could accomplish the greatest amount of what
— ^for the sake of diluting in nine syllables that which could be
more forcibly expressed in one — was then called diplomatic
dissimulation. It is to be feared, notwithstanding her fre-
quent and vociferous denials, that the robes of the " imperial
votaress" were not so unsullied as could be wished. We know
how loudly Leicester had complained — ^we have seen how
clearly Walsingham oould convict ; but Elizabeth, though
convicted, could always confute : for an absolute sovereign,
even without resorting to Philip's syllogisms of axe and faggot,
was apt in the sixteenth century to have the best of an argu-
ment with private individuals. .

The secret statements of Parma — ^made, not for public eflfect,
but for the purpose of furnishing his master with the most
accurate information he could gather as to English policy —
are certainly entitled to consideration. They were doubtless
founded upon the statements of individuals rejoicing in no
very elevated character ; but those individuals had no motive

* " Esmerando se mucho en excusar
la Reyna assi de la jda de Drake a
laa Indias como de la venida de Leoes-
ter, echando la culpa a Walsingfaam y
a otros mal intencionadoa, y que ya la

Reyna comenzava a oonooerlo," tc
(Ibid.)

* " Que estos, oomo bus oontrarioe^
deven de yrle a la mano," &c (Ibid.)

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502

THE UNITED NETHERLANDa

Chap. YIIL

to deceive their patron. If they clashed with the vehement
declarations of very eminent personages, it mast be admitted^
on the other hand, that they were singularly in accordance
with the silent eloquence of important and mysterious events.
As to Alexander Famese — without deciding the question
whether Elizabeth and Burghley were deceiving Walsingham
and Leicester, or only trying to delude Philip and himself —
he had no hesitation, of course, on his part, in recommending
to Philip the employment of unlimited dissimulation. Nothing
could be more ingenuous than the intercourse between the
King and his confidential advisers. It was perfectly under-
stood among them that they were always to deceive every
one, upon every occasion. Only let them be false, and it wag
impossible to be wholly wrong ; but grave mistakes might
occur from occasional deviations into sincerity. It was no
question at all, therefore, that it was Parma's duty to delude
Elizabeth and Burghley. Alexander's course was plain. He
informed his master that he would keep these difficulties alive
as much as it was possible. In order to ^^put them all to
sleep with regard to the great enterprise of the invasion,"*
he would send back Bodman to Burghley and Croft, and thus
keep this unofficial n^otiation upon its legs. The King was
quite uncommitted, and could always disavow what had been
done. Meanwhile he was gaining, and his adversaries losing,
much precious time. " If by this course," said Parma, " we
can induce the English to hand over to us the places wluch
they hold in Holland and Zeeland, that will be a great
triumph." Accordingly he urged the King not to slacken,
in the least, his preparations for invasion, and, above all,
to have a care that the French were kept entangled and
embarrassed among themselves, which was a most substantial
point.*

Meantime Europe was ringing with the American successes
of the bold corsair Drake. San Domingo, Porto Bico, San-

* "Per endormecerloB por lo que
toca al negodo principal." (Ibid.)
% <* Que lo8 fi^Doeaes se entreteDgan

embara9ado8 entre se, que « pant*
Buatandaliaaimo." (Ibid.)

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1586. DRAKE'S VICTORIBS AND THEIR EFFECT. 503

tiago, Carthageaa, Florida, were sacked and destroyed, and
the supplies drawn so steadily from the oppression of the
Western World to maintain Spanish tyranny in Europe, were
for a time extinguished. Parma was appalled at these tri-
umphs of the Sea-King — "a fearful man to the King of
Spain"* — ^as Lord Burghley well observed. The Spanish
troops were starving in Flanders, all Flanders itself was
starving, and Philip, as usual, had sent but insignificant re-
mittances to save his perishing soldiers. Parma had already ex-
hausted his credit Money was most difficult to obtain in such a
forlorn country ; and now the few rich merchants and bankers
of Antwerp that were left looked very black at these crushing
news from America. " They are drawing their purse-strings
very tight," said Alexander, " and will make no accommoda-
tion. The most contemplative of them ponder much over
this success of Drake, and think that your Majesty will forget
our matters here altogether."' For this reason he informed
the King that it would be advisable to drop all further nego-
tiation with England for the time, as it was hardly probable
that, with such advantages gained by the Queen, she would
be inclined to proceed in the path which had been just
secretly opened.^ Moreover, the Prince was in a state of
alarm as to the intentions of France. Mendoza and Tassis
had given him to understand that a very good feeling pre-
vailed between the court of Henry and of Elizabeth, and that
the French were likely to come to a pacification among them-
selves.^ In this the Spanish envoys were hardly anticipating
so great an effect as we have seen that they bad the right to
do from their own indefatigable exertions ; for, thanks to their
zeal, backed by the moderate subsidies furnished by their
master, the civil war in France already seemed likely to be
as enduring as that of the Netherlands. But Parma— still
quite in the dark as to French politics — was haunted by the
vision of seventy thousand foot and six thousand horse^ ready

I Brace's * Leyc. Conesp.' 19t, I « Parma to PhiKp II. 9 May, 1686,
8^ March (Arch. de Sim. MS.) » Ibid.

S7^' ^^* ^ Ibid. I Ibid.

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504 THE UNITBD NETHERLANDS. Chap. YUC

to be let slip upon him at any moment^ out of a pacified and
harmonious France ; while he had nothing but a few starving
and crippled regiments to withstand such an invasion. When
all these events should have taken place^ and France, in alli>
ance with England, should have formally declared war against
Spain, Alexander protested that he should have learned
nothing new.*

The Prince was somewhat mistaken as to political affairs ;
but his doubts concerning his neighbours, blended with the
forlorn condition of himself and army, about which there was
no doubt at all, showed the exigencies of his situation. In
the midst of such embarrassments it is impossible not to ad-
mire his heroism as a military chieftain, and his singular
adroitness as a diplomatist. He had painted for his sovereign
a most faithful and horrible portrait of the obedient Provinces.
The soil was untilled ; the manufactories had all stopped ;
trade had ceased to exist. It was a pity only to look upon
the raggedness of his soldiers. No language could describe
the misery of the reconciled Provinces — ^Artois, Hainault,
Flanders. The condition of Bruges would melt the hardest
heart ; other cities were no better ; Antwerp was utterly
ruined ; its inhabitants were all starving. The famine through-
out the obedient Netherlands was such as had not been known
for a century. The whole country had been picked bare by
the troops, and the plough was not put into the ground.
Deputations were constantly with him from Bruges, Dender-
monde, Bois-le-Duc, Brussels, Antwerp, Nym^n, proving to
him by the most palpable evidence that the whole population
of those cities had almost literally nothing to eat. He had
nothing, however, but exhortations to patience to feed them
withal. He was left without a groat even to save his soldiers
from starving, and he wDdly and bitterly, day after day, im-
plored his sovereign for aid.^" These pictures are not the
sketches of a historian striving for effect, but literal trans-
cripts from the most secret revelations of the Prince himself

1 Parma to Philip XL, MS. joet cited. I April, 1586; 9 May, 1586: 27 M^r.
« Letters of Parma to Philip II. 19 | 1586, ei al (Arch, do ^m. USS.)

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1586.

PARMA'S PERPLEXrnr AND ANXIBTT.

505

to his sovereign. On the other hand, although Leicester's
complaints of the destitution of the English troops in the
republic were almost as bitter, yet the condition of the
United Provinces was comparatively healthy. Trade, ex-
ternal and internal, was increasing daily. Distant com-
mercial and military expeditions were fitted out, manufactures
were prosperous, and the war of independence was gradually
becoming — strange to say — a source of prosperity to the new
commonwealth.

Philip — ^being now less alarmed than his nephew concern-
ing French affairs, and not feeling so keenly the misery of
the obedient Provinces, or the wants of the Spanish army —
sent to Alexander six hundred thousand ducats by way of
G^noa. In the letter submitted by his secretary recording
this remittance, the King made, however, a characteristic
marginal note : — " See if it will not be as well to tell him
something concerning the two hundred thousand ducats to be
deducted for Mucio, for fear of more mischief, if the Prince
should expect the whole six hundred thousand."^

Accordingly Mucio got the two hundred thousand. One-
third of the meagre supply destined for the relief of the
King's starving and valiant little army in the Netherlands
was cut off to go into the pockets of the intriguing Duke of
G-uise. " We must keep ihe French," said Philip, " in a
state of confusion at home, and feed their civil war. We
must not allow them to come to a general peace, which would
be destruction for the Catholics. I know you will put a good
face on the matter ; and, after all, 'tis in the interest of the
Netherlands. Moreover, the money shall be immediately
refunded."*

Alexander was more likely to make a wry face, notwith-
standing his views of the necessity of fomenting the rebellion

> ** Mirad si es bien dediie algo de
lo6 200B* ducados para Mucio, en caso
que sean menester — ^porque despuea no
86 haga mas de mal, esperando todos
600"." Philip II. to Parnus 14 May,
1686. (Arch, de Sim. MS.)

> " Sustentando los (franceses) el
niido en su case, 7 no les dejando oon-
segair la paz general, que no ha de ser
sine destruccion de los Catholicos," Ac.
(Ibid.)

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506 THE XJNITBD NBTHBELAND8. Chap. VIIL

against the House of Yalois. Certainly if a monarch intended
to conquer such countries as France, England, and Holland,
without stirring from his easy chair in the Escorial, it would
have been at least as well — so Alexander thought — to invest
a little more capital in the speculation. No monarch ever
dreamed of arriving at universal empire with less personal
fatigue or exposure, or at a cheaper rate, than did Philip IL
His only fatigue was at his writing-table. But even here his
merit was of a subordinate description. He sat a great while
at a time. He had a genius for sitting ; but he now wrote
few letters himself. A dozen words or so, scrawled in hiero-
glyphics at the top, bottom, or along the margin of the
interminable despatches of his secretaries, contained the sug-
gestions, more or less luminous, which arose in his mind con-
cerning public affoirs. But he held firmly to his purpose.
He had devoted his life to the extermination of Protestantism,
to the conquest of France and England, to the subjugation of
Holland. These were vast schemes. A King who should
succeed in such enterprises, by his personal courage and genius,
at the head of his armies, or by consummate diplomacy, or by
a masterly system of finance — ^husbanding and concentrating
the resources of his almost boundless realms — might be in
truth commended for capacity. Hitherto however Philip's
tdumph had seemed problematical ; and perhaps something
more would be necessary than letters to Parma, and paltry
remittances to Mucio, notwithstanding Alexander's splendid
but local victories in Flanders.

Parma, although in reality almost at bay, concealed his
despair, and accomplished wonders in the field. The military
events during the spring and summer of 1586 will be sketched
in a subsequent chapter. For the present it is necessary to
combine into a complete whole the subterranean n^otiations
between Brussels and England.

Much to his surprise and gratification, Parma found that
the peace-party were not inclined to change their views in
consequence of the triumphs of Drake. He soon informed
the King that — according to Champagnyand Bodman — ^the

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1586. HE IS BEUEYED BY THE NEWS FROM ENGLAND.

507

Lord Treasurer, the Comptroller, Lord Cobham, and Sir
Christopher HattoD, were more pacific than they had ever
been. These four were represented by Grafigni as secretly
in league against Leicester and Walsingham, and very anxious
to bring about a reconciliation between the crowns of England
and Spain.^ The merchant-diplomatist, according to his own
statement, was expressly sent by Queen Elizabeth to the
prince of Parma, although without letter of credence or
signed instructions, but with the full knowledge and approba-
tion of the four counsellors just mentioned. He assured
Alexander that the Queen and the majority of her council
felt a strong desire for peace, and had manifested much repent^
ance/or what had been done} They had explained their pro-
ceedings by the necessity of self-defence. They had avowed —
in case they should be made sure of peace — that they should,
not with reluctance and against their will, but, on the con-
trary, with the utmost alacrity and at once, surrender to the
King of Spain the territory which they possessed in the
Netherlands, and especially the fortified towns in Holland
and Zeeland ;* for the English object had never been con-
quest. Parma had also been informed of the Queen's strong
desire that he should be employed as negotiator, on account
of her great confidence in his sincerity. They had expressed
much satisfaction on hearing that he was about to send an
agent to England, and had protested themselves rejoiced at
Drake's triumphs, only because of their hope that a peace
with Spain would thus be rendered the easier of accomplish-
ment. They were much afraid, according to Grafigni, of
Philip's power, and dreaded a Spanish invasion of their coun-
try, in conjunction with the Pope. They were now extremely
anxious that Parma — as he himself informed the King — should
send an agent of good capacity, in great secrecy, to England.

1 Parma to Philip IL, 11 June, 1586.
(ArdL de Sim. Ma)

' " La iDclinacion j deseo que tiene
la Beyna y la mayor parte de bu cod-
aejo de la paz, y de acomodarse con
V. M., 7 del arrepentimenio que mued'

iron de h Jiecho." (Ibid.)

3 " Antes, se allanaran en yolrer j
entregar aT. M^. lo qne ocapan j
poseen yen particular laa ftierzas de
Holanda y Zeelanda,'^ &c (Ibid.)

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508 ^HB UNITED NBTHERLAKDS. Ohap. Yin.

The Comptroller had said that he had pledged himself to such
a result, and if it failed, that they would probably cut off his
head.* The four counsellors were excessively solicitous for
the negotiation, and each of them was expecting to gain
favour by advancing it to the best of his ability.

Parma hinted at the possibility that all these professions
were false, and that the English were only intending to keep
the King from the contemplated invasioa At the same time he
drew Philip's attention to the fact that Burghley and hia party
had most evidently been doing everything in their power to obstruct
Leicester's progress in the Netherlands and to keepback the rein-
forcements of troops and money which he so much required.^

No doubt these communications of Parma to the King were
made upon the faith of an agent not over-scrupulous, and of
no elevated or recognised rank in diplomacy. It must be
borne in mind, however, that he had been made use of by
both parties ; perhaps because it would be easy to throw
off, and discredit, him whenever such a step should be con-
venient ; and that, on the other hand, coming fresh from
Burghley and the rest into the presence of the keen-eyed
Famese, he would hardly invent for his employer a budget of
falsehoods. That man must have been a subtle n^otiator who
could outwit such a statesman as Burghley and the other coun-
sellors of Elizabeth, and a bold one who could dare to trifle
on a momentous occasion with Alexander of Parma.

Leicester thought Burghley very much his friend, and so
thought Davison and Heneage ; and the Lord-Treasure had,
in truth, stood stoutly by the Earl in the affidr of the absolute
governorship ; — " a matter more severe and cumbersome to
him and others," said Burghley, " than any whatsoever since
he was a coimsellor."^ But there is no doubt that these
negotiations were going forward all the spring and summer,
that they were moat detrimental to Leicester's success, and
that they were kept — so far as it was possible — ^a profound

^ " Que le corten la cabezo." Panna to Philip II., MS. just dted. * Ibid.

» •Leyc.Coiresp., 268, i-May, 1586.

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1586. QUBEN^S SEGBET LBTTEBS TO PARMA. 509

secret from him, from Walsingham, and from the States-
GreneraL Nothing was told them except what their own
astuteness had discovered beforehand ; and the game of the
counsellors — ^so far as their attitude towards Leicester and
Walsingham was concerned — seems both disingenuous and
impolitic.

Parma, it was to be feared, was more than a match for the
English governor-general in the field ; and it was certainly
hopeless for poor old Comptroller Croft, even though backed
by the sagacious Burghley, to accomplish so great an amount
of dissimulation in a year as the Spanish cabinet, without
effort, could compass in a week. Nor were they attempting
to do so. It is probable that England was acting towards
Philip in much better faith than he deserved, or than Parma
believed ; but it is hardly to be wondered at that Leicester
should think himself injured by being kept perpetually in the
dark.

Elizabeth was very impatient at not receiving direct letters
from Parma, and her anxiety on the subject explains much
of her caprice during the quarrel about the governor-general-
ship. Many persons in the Netherlands thought those violent
scenes a farce, and a farce that had been arranged with
Leicester beforehand. In this they were mistaken ; for an
examination of the secret corredpondence of the period reveals
the motives — which to contemporaries were hidden — of many
strange transactions. The Queen was, no doubt, extremely
anxious, and with cause, at the tempest slowly gathering over
her head ; but the more the dangers thickened, the more was
her own official language to those in high places befitting the
sovereign of England. »

She expressed her surprise to Famese that he had not
written to her on the subject of the Grafigni and Bodman
affistir. The first, she said, was justified in all which he had
narrated, save in his assertion that she had sent him. The
other had not obtained audience, because he had not come
provided with any credentials, direct or indirect. Having now
understood from Andrea de Loo and the Seigneur de Cham-

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610

THB UNITED NBTHERLANDa

Chap. Vm,

pagny that Parma had the power to conclude a peace, which
he seemed very much to desire, she observed that it was not
necessary for him to be so chary in explaining the basis of
the proposed negotiations. It was better to enter into a
straightforward path, than by ambiguous words to spin out to
great length matters which princes should at once conclude.^

"Do not suppose," said the Queen, "that I am seeking
what belongs to others. God forbid. I seek only that which
is mine own. But be sure that I will take good heed of the
sword which threatens me with destruction, nor think that I
am so craven-spirited as to endure a wrong, or to place my-
self at the mercy of my enemy. Every week I see advertise-
ments and letters from Spain that this year shall witness the
downfall of England ; for the Spaniards — ^like the hunter who
divided, with great liberality, among his friends the body and
limbs of the wolf, before it had been killed — have partitioned
this kingdom and that of Ireland before the conquest has
been eflfected. But my royal heart is no whit appalled by
such threats.* I trust, with the help of the Divine hand —
which has thus far miraculously preserved me — to smite all
these braggart powers into the dust, and to preserve my
honour, and the kingdoms which He has given me for my
heritage.

" Nevertheless, if you have authority to enter upon and to
conclude this negotiation, you will find my ears open to hear
your propositions ; and I tell you further, if a peace is to be
made, that I wish you to be the mediator thereof. Such is
the affection I bear you, notwithstanding that some letters,
written by your own hand, might easily have effaced such
sentiments from my mind."*

Soon afterwards, Bodman was again despatched to England,
Grafigni being already there. He was provided with un-
signed instructions, according to which he was to say that the
Prince, having heard of the Queen's good intentions, had

' Queen Elizabeth
Parma, without date.
MS.)

to Prinoe of
(Arch, de Sim.

* '* NoQ resta chel mi corore regale
sia panto sbigottito do qneste minao-
cie,"&c. (Ibid.) ^ Ibid.

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1586.

HIS LETTERS AND INSTBUOTIONB TO BODMAN.

511

despatched him and Grafigni to her court. They were to
listen to any suggestions made by the Queen to her minis-
ters ; but they were to do nothing but listen. If the coun*
sellors should enter into their grievances against his Majesty^
and ask for explanations, the agents were to say that they
had no authority or instructions to speak for so great and
Christian a monarch. Thus they were to cut the thread of
any such discourse, or any other observations not to the
purpose.*

Silence, in short, was recommended, first and last, as the
one great business of their mission ; and it was unlucky that
men whose talent for taciturnity was thus signally relied
upon should be somewhat remarkable for loquacity. Gra-
figni was also the bearer of a letter from Alexander to the
Queen — of which Bodman received a copy — ^but it was strictly
enjoined upon them to keep the letter, their instructions, and
the objects of their journey, a secret from all the world.'

The letter of the Prince consisted mainly of complimentary
flourishes. He had heard, he said, all that Agostino Grafigni
had communicated, and he now begged her Majesty to let
him understand the course which it was proper to take ;
assuring her of his gratitude for her good opinion touching
his sincerity, and his desire to save the effusion of blood, and
so on ; concluding of course with expressions of most profound
consideration and devotion.'

Early in July Bodman arrived in London. He found
Grafigni in very low spirits. He had been with Lord Cobham,
and was much disappointed with his reception, for Cobham —
angry that Grafigni had brought no commission from the King
— ^had refused to receive Parma's letter to the Queen, and
had expressed annoyance that Bodman should be employed
on this mission, having heard that he was very ill-tempered
and passionate. The same evening, he had been sent for by

> TnBtruzione embiada & Gulielmo
Bodeman, 20 June, 1586. (Arch, de
Sim. MS.) **CortaDdo el hilo a la pla-
tica 7 discuiBOS como a todos los demas

que DO haoen a proposito," kc

« Ibid.

' Parma to Quoen Elizabeth,
June, 1686. (Aroh. de Sim. Ma)

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512

THB UKITBD NETHEBLAKDS.

Chap. VUL

Lord Burghley — ^who had accepted the letter for her Majesty
without saying a word — and on the following morning, he had
been taken to task by several counsellors, on the ground that
the Prince, in that communication, had stated that the Queen
had expressed a desire for peace.^

It has just been shown that there was no such intimation
at all in the letter ; but as neither Grafigni nor Bodman had
read the epistle itself, but only the copy furnished them, they
could merely say that such an assertion, if made by the Prince,
had been founded on no statement of theirs. Bodman con-
soled his colleague, as well as he could, by assurances that
when the letter was fairly produced, their vindication would
be complete, and Grafigni, upon that point, was comforted.
He was, however, very doleful in general, and complained
bitterly of Burghley and the other English counsellors. He
said that they had forced him, against his will, to make this
journey to Brussels, that they had offered him presents, that
they would leave him no rest in his own house, but had made
him neglect all his private business, and caused him a great
loss of time and money, in order that he might serve them.
They had manifested the strongest desire that Parma should
open this communication, and had led him to expect a very
large recompense for his share in the transaction. ^^And
now," said Grafigni to his colleague, with great bitterness, "I
find no faith nor honour in them at all. They don't keep
their word, and every one of them is trying to slide out of the
very business, in which each was, but the other day, striving
to outrival the other, in order that it might be brought to a
satisfactory conclusion."^

After exploding in this way to Bodman, he went back to
Cobham, and protested, with angry vehemence, that Parma
had never written such a word to the Queen, and that so it
would prove, if the letter were produced.

^ * Reladon de lo sucedido en Ingla-
terra a G. Bodeman con los sefiores de
aquel consejo/ Ac, 30 July, 1686.

' Ibid. "No hallaba f^ palabra, ni

bonra entre ellos, porque cada uoo
qoeria salirse afuera que de antes estri-
baban quien primero lo podzia acabtf/
(Ibid.)

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1586. BODMAN'S TBANSAOTIONS AT GBEENWIOH. 513

Next day, Bodman was sent for to Greenwich, where her
Majesty was, as usual, residing. A secret pavilion was indi-
cated to him, where he was to stay until sunset. When that
time arrived. Lord Cobham's secretary came with great
mystery, and b^ged the emissary to follow him, but at
a considerable distance, towards the apartments of Lord
Burghley in the palace. Arriving there, they found the Lord-
Treasurer accompanied by Cobham and Croft. Burghley
instantly opened the interview by a defence of the Queen's
policy in sending troops to the Netherlands, and in espousing
their cause, and then the conversation proceeded to the im-
mediate matter in hand.^

Bodman (after listening respectfully to the Lord-Treasurer's
observations). " His Highness has, however, been extremely
surprised that my Lord Leicester should^ take an oath, as
governor-general of the King's Provinces. He is shocked
likewise by the great demonstrations of hostility on the part
of her Majesty."

Burghley. — " The oath was indispensable. The Queen was
obliged to tolerate the step on account of the great urgency
of the States to have a head. But her Majesty has com-
manded us to meet you on this occasion, in order to hear
what you have to communicate on the part of the Prince of
Parma."

Bodman (after a profusion of complimentary phrases). " I
have no commission to say anything. I am only instructed
to listen to anything that may be said to me, and that her
Majesty may be pleased to command."

Burghley. — " 'Tis very discreet to begin thus. But time is
pressing, and it is necessary to be brief. We beg you
therefore to communicate, without further preface, that which
you have been charged to say."

Bodman. — " I can only repeat to your Lordship, that I have
been charged to say nothing."

After this Barmecide feast of diplomacy, to partake of
which it seemed hardly necessary that the guests should have

' ' Reladon de lo suoedido.* Ac. (Arch, de Sim. MS. last died.)
VOL. I.— 2 I

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514 ^I^HB UNITBD KETHEBtiANDa Chap. YIH.

previously attired themselves in such gannents of mystery, the
parties separated for the night.^

In spite of their care, it would seem that the Argus-
eyed Walsingham had been able to see after sunset ; for,
the next evening — after Bodman had been introduced with
the same precautions to the same company, in the same place
— Burghley, before a word had been spoken, sent for Sir
Francis.*

Bodman was profoundly astonished, for he had been
expressly informed that Walsingham was to know nothing
of the transaction.* The Secretary of State could not so
easily be outwitted, however, and he was soon seated at
the table, surveying the scene, with his grave melancholy
eyes, which had looked quite through the whole paltry
intrigue.

Burghley. — ^' Her Majesty has commanded us to assemble
together, in order that, in my presence, it may be made clear
that she did not commence this n^otiation. Let Grafigni be
summoned."

Grafigni immediately made his appearance.

Burghley. — " You will please to explain how you came to
enter into this business.^'

Grafigni. — " The first time I went to the States, it was on
my private affairs ; I had no order from any one to treat with
the Prince of Parma. His Highness, having accidentally
heard, however, that I resided in England, expressed a wish
to see me. I had an interview with the Prince. I told him,
out of my own head, that the Queen had a strong inclination
to hear propositions of peace, and that — as some of her coun-
sellors were of the same opinion — I believed that if his
Highness should send a negotiator, some good would be
effected. The Prince replied that he felt by no means sure
of such a result ; but that, if I should come back from
England, sent by the Queen or her council, he would then
despatch a person with a commission to treat of peace. This
statement, together with other matters that had passed

1 'Relacionde losaoedido^* /be. MS. last cited. > Ibid. > IbicL

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1686. WAUSmaHAH DETEOTS AND BXP0SE3 THE PLOT. 515

between us, was afterwards drawn up in writing by command
of his Highness."

Burghley. — " Who bade you say, after your second return
to Brussels, that you came on the part of the Queen ? For
you well know that her Majesty did not send you."

Grafigni — " I never said so. I stated that my Lord Cobham
had set down in writing what I was to say to the Prince of
Parma. It will never appear that I represented the Queen
as desiring peace. I said that her Majesty wovld lend her
ears to peace. Bodman knows this too ; and he has a copy
of the letter of his Highness."

Walsingham to Bodman. — " Have you the copy still ?**

Bodman. — " Yes, Mr. Secretary."

Walsingham. — "Please to produce it, in order that this
matter may be sifted to the bottom."

Bodman. — " I supplicate your Lorships to pardon me, but
indeed that cannot be. My instructions forbid my showing
the letter."

Walsingham (rising). " I will forthwith go to her Majesty,
and fetch the original." A pause. Mr. Secretary returns in
a few minutes, having obtained the document, which the
Queen, up to that time, had kept by her, without showing it to
any one.^

Walsingham (after reading the letter attentively, and
aloud). " There is not such a word, as that her Majesty is
desirous of peace, in the whole paper."*

Burghley (taking the letter, and slowly construing it out of
Italian into English). " It would seem that his Highness hath
written this, assuming that the Signer Grafigni came from the
Queen, although he had received his instructions from my
Lord Cobham. It is plain, however, that the negotiation was
commenced accidentally.

Comptroller Croft (nervously, and with the air of a man
fearful of getting into trouble). " You know very well, Mr.
Bodman, that my servant came to Dunkirk only to buy and

* 'Relacion de b sucedido,' Ac. MS. I «Leyc. Corresp.' 321, ** ^°°*t 1686,-
before cited. „„^ ao'z «>'">• iKftc * '""^

• »Belacion,» &a Compare Bruce^s 1 ^^ ^^^' iojS^' ^^^®-

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516 THB UNITED NBTHERLANDa Chap. TUl

truck away horses; and that you then, by chance, entered
into talk with him, about the best means of procuring a peace
between the two kingdoms. My servant told you of the good
feeling that prevailed in England. You promised to write on
the subject to the Prince, and I immediately informed the
Lord-Treasurer of the whole transaction." *

Burghley. — " That is quite true."

Croft. — "My servant subsequently returned to the Pro-
vinces in order to learn what the Prince might have said on
the subject."

Bodman (with immense politeness,* but very decidedly).
" Pardon me, Mr. Comptroller ; but, in this matter, I must
speak the truth, even if the honour and life of my father wct9
on the issue. I declare that your servant Norris came to me,
directly commissioned for that purpose by yourself, and in-
formed me from you, and upon your authority, that if I would
solicit the Prince of Parma to send a secret agent to England,
a peace would be at once negotiated. Your servant entreated
me to go to his Highness at Brussels. I refused, but agreed
to consider the proposition. After the lapse of several days,
the servant returned to make further enquiries. I told him
that the Prince had come to no decision. Norris continued
to press the matter. I excused myself. He then solicited
and obtained from me a letter of introduction to De Loo, the
secretary of his Highness. Armed with this, he went to
Brussels and had an interview — as I found, four days later —
with the Prince. In consequence of the representations of
Norris, those of Signer Grafigni, and those by way of Antwerp,
his Highness determined to send me to England."

Burghley to Croft. — " Did you order your servant to speak
with Andrea de Loo ?"

Croft. — " I cannot deny it."

Burghley. — "The fellow^ seems to have travelled a good
way out of his commission. His master sends him to buy horses,
and he commences a peace-negotiation between two kingdoms.
It would be well he were chastised. As regards the Antwerp

' 'Reladon,' Ac. MS. ' "Con buena crianza," &a 'Reladon,' Ac. MS.

• "Mozo." (Ibid.)

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1586. THE IKTBIGnEBS BAFFLED. 517

matter, too, we have had many letters, and I have seen one
from the Seigneur de Champagny, to the same effect as that
of all the rest.

Walsingham. — "I see not to what end his Highness of
Parma has sent Mr. Bodman hither. The Prince avows that
he hath no commission from Spain."

Bodman. — " His Highness was anxious to know what was her
Majesty's pleasure. So soon as that should be known, the
Prince could obtain ample authority. He would never have
proceeded so far without meaning a good end."

Walsingham. — "Very like. I dare say that his Highness
will obtain the commission. Meantime, as Prince of Parma,
he writes these letters, and assists his sovereign perhaps more
than he doth ourselves.^"

Here the interview terminated. A few days later, Bodman
had another conversation with Burghley and Cobham. Re-
luctantly, at their urgent request, he set down in i4th Juij,
writing all that he had said concerning his mission, i^^^*
The Lord Treasurer said that the Queen and her counsellors
were "retwiy to embrace peace when it was treated of sin-
cerely." Meantime the Queen had learned that the Prince had
been sending letters to the cautionary towns in Holland and
Zeeland, stating that her Majesty was about to surrender
them to the King of Spain. These were tricks to make
mischief, and were very detrimental to the Queen.

Bodman replied that these were merely the idle stories of
quidnuncs ; and that the Prince and all his counsellors were
dealing with the utmost sincerity.

Burghley answered that he had intercepted the very letters,
and had them in his possession.

A week afterwards, Bodman saw Walsingham alone, and was
informed by him that the Queen had written an an- 20th July,
swer to Parma's letter, and that n^otiations for the 1586.
future were to be carried on in the usual form, or not at all.
Walsingham, having thus got the better of his rivals, and delved
below their mines, dismissed the agent with brief courtesy. Af-
terwards the discomfited Mr. Comptroller wished a private inter-

■ "Relacion, &c MS.

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518

THE UKITBD KBTHB&LAND6.

Chap. YUL

view with BodmaD. Bodman refused to speak with him
except in presence of Lord Cobham. This Croft refused. In
the same way Bodman contrived to get rid^ as he said, of Lord
Burghley and Lord Cobham, declining to speak with either
of them alone. Soon afterwards he returned to the Provinces.*

The Queen's letter to Parma was somewhat caustic. It was
obviously composed through the inspiration of Walsingham
rather than that of Burghley. The letter, brought by a cer-
tain Grafigni and a certain Bodman, she said, was a very
strange one, and written under a delusion. It was a very
grave error, that, in her name, without her knowledge, contrary
to her disposition, and to the prejudice of her honour, such a
person as this Grafigni, or any one like him, should have the
audacity to commence such a business, as if she had, by mes-
sages to the Prince, sought a treaty with his King, who had so
often returned evil for her good. Grafigni, after representing
the contrary to his Highness, had now denied in presence of
her counsellors having received any commission from the
Queen. She also briefly gave the result of Bodman's inter-
views with Burghley and the others, just narrated. That
agent had intimated that Parma would procure authority to
treat for peace, if assured that the Queen would lend her ear
to any propositions.

She replied by referring to her published declarations, as
showing her powerful motives for interfering in these affairs.
It was her purpose to save her own realm and to rescue her
ancient neighbours from misery and from slavery. To this
end she should still direct her actions, notwithstanding the
sinister rumours which had been spread that she was inclined
to peace before providing for the security and liberty of her
allies. She was determined never to separate their cause
from her own. Propositions tending to the security of herself
and of her neighbours would always be favourably received*

^ ' Reladon de lo suoedido/ &c. MS.
A similar account, with less detail,
of these secret proceedings is in the
State Paper Office, in the Holland
Correspondence, entitled *A declara-
tion of tho manner of treating of peace
underhand to the Earl of Leicester.'

MS. A*> 1586.

* * Carta desdfhula de Ift Beyna de
Inglaterra a Principe de Parma^ 8
July, 1586. (Arch, de Sim. M&)

A copy is also— writt^i m the
Italian language— in the S. P. Office^
Flanders Correspondence, MS.

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1586. QUEEN'S LBTTBB TO PAEMA— HIS TO THE KING. 519

Parma, on his part, informed his master that there could he
no doubt that the Queen and the majority of her council ab-
horred the war, and that already much had been gained by the
fictitious negotiation. Lord-Treasurer Burghley had been inter-
posing endless delays and difficulties in the way of every measure
proposed for the relief of Lord Leicester, and the assistance
rendered him had been most lukewarm. Meantime the Prince
had been able, he said, to achieve much success in the field,
and the English had done nothing to prevent it. Since the
return of Grafigni and Bodman, however, it was obvious that
the English government had disowned these non-commissioned
diplomatists. The whole negotiation and all the nego- 4 Aug.
tiators were now discredited, but there was no doubt ^^®^-
that there had been a strong desire to treat, and great disappoint-
ment at the result. Grafigni and Andrea de Loo had been
publishing everywhere in Antwerp that England would con-
sider the peace as made, so soon as his Majesty should be
willing to accept any propositions.*

His Majesty, meanwhile, sat in his cabinet, without the
slightest intention of making or accepting any propositions
save those that were impossible. He smiled benignantly at
his nephew's dissimulation and at the good results which it
had already produced. He approved of gaining time, he
said, by fictitious negotiations and by the use of a mercantile
agent ; for, no doubt, such a course would prevent the proper
succours from being sent to the Earl of Leicester. If the
English would hand over to him the cautionary towns held by
them in Holland and Zeeland, promise no longer to infest the
seas, the Indies, and the Isles, with their corsairs, and guarantee
the complete obedience to their King and submission to the
holy Catholic Church of the rebellious Provinces, perhaps some-
thing might be done with them ; but, on the whole, he was in-
clined to think that they had been influenced by knavish and
deceitful motives from the beginning. He enjoined it is sept
upon Parma, therefore, to proceed with equal knavery ^^®®-
— taking care, however, not to injure his reputation — and to
enter into negotiations wherever occasion might serve, in ordei

1 Parma to Philip II. 4 Aug. I5S6. (Arch, de Sim. Ma)

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520 ^I'HB UNITED KBTHfiBLANDa (^ap. YUl

to put the English off their guard and to keep back the rein-
forcements so imperatively required by Leicester,^

And the reinforcements were indeed kept back. Had
Burghley and Croft been in the pay of Philip II. they
could hardly have served him better than they had been doing
by the course pursued. Here then is the explanation of tiie
shortcomings of the English government towards Leicester
and the States during the memorable spring and summer
of 1586. No money, no soldiers, when most important oper-
ations in the field were required. The first general of the
age was to be opposed by a man who had certainly never
gained many laurels as a military chieftain, but who was brave
and confident, and who, had he been faithfully supported by
the government which sent him to the Netherlands, would
have had his antagonist at a great disadvantage. Alexander
had scarcely eight thousand effective men. Famine, pestilence,
poverty, mutiny, beset and almost paralyzed him. Language
could not exaggerate the absolute destitution of the country.
Only miracles could save the King's cause, as Famese
repeatedly observed. A sharp vigorous campaign, heartily
carried on against him by Leicester and Hohenlo, with plenty
of troops and money at command, would have brought the
heroic champion of Catholicism to the ground. He was
hemmed in upon all sides ; he was cut off from the sea ; he
stood as it were in a narrowing circle, surrounded by increasing
dangers. His own veterans, maddened by misery, stung by
their King's ingratitude, naked, starving, ferocious, were
turning against him. Mucio, like his evil genius, was spiriting
away his supplies just as they were reaching his hands ; a
threatening tempest seemed rolling up from France; the
whole population of the Provinces which he had " reconciled"
— a million of paupers — were crying to him for bread ; great
commercial cities, suddenly blasted and converted into dens
of thieves and beggars, were cursing the royal author of their
ruin, and uttering wild threats against his vicegerent ; there
seemed, in truth, nothing left for Alexander but to plunge
headlong into destruction, when, lo ! Mr. Comptroller Croft,

" Phflip IL to Parma, 18 July, 1686 (Arch, de Sim. Ma)

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1686. TJNIiXJCrT BESULTS OP THE PBACB-INTRIGUBS. 521

advancing out of the clouds, like a propitious divinity, dis-
guised in the garb of a foe — and the scene was changed.

The feeble old man, with his shuffling, horse-trucking ser-
vant, ex-spy of Monsieur, had accomplished more work for
Philip and Alexander than many regiments of Spaniards and
Walloons could have done. The arm of Leicester was para-
lyzed upon the very threshold of success. The picture of
these palace-intrigues has been presented with minute elabo-
ration, because, however petty and barren in appearance, they
were in reality prolific of grave results. A series of victories
by Parma was substituted for the possible triumphs of Eliza-
beth and the States.

The dissimulation of the Spanish court was fathomless.
The secret correspondence of the times reveals to us that its
only purpose was to deceive the Queen and her counsellors,
and to gain time to prepare the grand invasion of England
and subjugation of Holland — that double purpose which
Philip could only abandon with life. There was never a
thought, on his part, of honest negotiation. On the other
hand, the Queen was sincere ; Burghley and Hatton and
Cobham were sincere ; Croft was sincere, so far as Spain was
concerned. At least they had been sincere. In the private
and doleful dialogues between Bodman and Grafigni which
we have just been overhearing, these intriguers spoke the
truth, for they could have no wish to deceive each other, and
no fear of eaves-droppers not to be bom till centuries after-
wards. These conversations have revealed to us that the Lord
Treasurer and three of his colleagues had been secretly doing
their best to cripple Leicester, to stop the supplies for the
Netherlands, and to patch up a hurried and unsatisfactory, if
not a disgraceful peace ; and this, with the concurrence of
her Majesty. After their plots had been discovered by the
vigilant Secretary of State, there was a disposition to discredit
the humbler instruments in the cabaL Elizabeth was not
desirous of peace. Far from it. She was qualmish at the
very suggestion. Dire was her wrath against Bodman, De Loo,
Grafigni, and the rest, at their misrepresentations on the sub-
ject. But she would " lend her ear." And that royal ear was

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522 '^^^BS WSC.TSD NETHBRLAHSa Cbap. YUL

lent^ and almost &tal was the distilment poured into its
porches. The pith and marrow of the great Netherland
enterprise was sapped by the slow p(Hson of the ill-timed
n^otiation. The fruit of Drake's splendid triumphs in
America was blighted by it. The stout heart of the vain-
glorious but courageous Leicester was sii^ened by it, while,
meantime, the maturing of the great armada-scheme, by
which the destruction of England was to be accomplished,
was furthered, through the unlimited procrastination so pre-
cious to the heart of Philip.

Fortunately the subtle Walsingliam was there upon the
watch to administer the remedy before it was quite too late;
and to him England and the Netherlands were under lasting
obligations. While Alexander and Philip suspected a pur-
pose on the part of the English government to deceive them,
they could not help observing that the Earl of Ldcester was
both deserted and deceived. Yet it had been impossible for
the peace-party in the government wholly to conceal their
designs, when such prating fellows as Grafigni and De Loo
were employed in what was intended to be a secret negotia-
tion. In vain did the friends of Leicester in the NeAerlands
endeavour to account for the neglect with which he was
treated, and for the destitution of his army. Hopelessly did
they attempt to* counteract those " advertisements of most
fearful instance,*' as Richard Cavendish expressed himself,
which were circulating everywhere.^

Thanks to the babbling of the very men, whose chief instruc-
tions had been to hold their tongues, and to listen with all
their ears, the secret negotiations between Parma and the
English counsellors became the town-talk at Antwerp, the
Hague, Amsterdam, Brussels, London. It is true that it was

' Cavendish to Burghley, 18 March,
1686. (S. P. Office Ma)

"Champagny doth not Bpare most
Uberallj to bruit abroad," said Caven-
dish, " that he hath in his hands the
conditions of peace oflTered by her
Majesty unto the King his master, and
that it is in his power to conclude at
pleasure, wherein he affirmeth that
one or two of the chiefest counsellors
about her are to handle the cause

with him. This fearful and mischie-
vous plot cannot but prove the root of
great ruin; for this people, beaten
with tedious, long, and sharp miseries,
is made wonderfol provident andsos*
pidous: saying J IhcU^ if they iww^
suffer (he ^anish yoke onetr, ihey
need no mediator^ for they can easiflf
conclude for themsdvea^ how, vH(h
least mischiefs io became miserat^
again.

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1686.

UKHAinDSOMB TRBATKENT OF LEICESTER.

523

impossible to know what was actoally said and done; but
that there was something doing concerning which Leicester
was not to be informed was certain. Grafigni, during one of
his visits to the obedient provinces, brought a brace of grey-
hounds and a couple of horses from England, as a present to
Alexander, ^ and he perpetually went about, bragging to every
one of important negotiations which he was conducting, and
of his intimacy with great personages in both countries
Leicester, on the other hand, was kept in the dark. To him
Grafigni made no communications, but he once sent him a
dish of plums, "which," said the Earl, with superfluous energy,
" I will boldly say to you, by the living God, is all that I have
ever had since I came into these countries."^ When it is
remembered that Leicester had spent many thousand pounds
in the Netherland cause,* that he had deeply mortgi^ed his
property in order to provide more funds, that he had never
received a penny of salary from the Queen,^ that his soldiers

' ' Leyc. Coireep.* 289, —June, 1586.

« Ibid. 246, 5-^, 1586.

• " I myself have prested," wrote
the Earl to Barghley, " above SOOOiL
among our men here siDce I came, and
yet what need they be in» even when
there is most need of service, all the
world here doth see. Here hath been
as lewd and dangerous mutinies as I
cannot but grieve to think on it," &a
March 29, 1586. (& P. Office MS.)

* On the 14 May, 1586, the States
General resolved, in consequence of
repeated applications on behalf of Lei-
cester, for money for his own personal
expenses by way of salary, that
although the Queen had expressly
agreed, by the contract with the States,
to pay the salary of the governor-
general and other military chie&, they
would themselves very willingly pro-
vide for his salary and maintenance,
according to his petition. They pre-
viously requested Mr. Killigrew, how-
ever, to furnish them information as
to how much monthly allowance her
Majesty was then paying the lieutenant-
general.

On the 16 May, 1586, the committee
of the States appointed to confer with
Mr. Killigrew concerning the amount
of monthly allowance paid to the Earl
of Leicester, reported that Mr. Killi-

grew had openly and roundly declared
that hia Excellency, up to that hour,
had never received one stiver of salary,
and that his Excellency had told him
so, on the word of a prince. "Do
zelve Heere Killigrew hen opentlyk
ende rondelyk heeft verdeert dat Zyno
Ex«« tot op deze ure toe nyet eenen
st3rver voer tractement hadde ont-
fangen van heere Ma^., ende dat dezelve
Zyne Ex«* hem hadde geseyt en parole
de prince, dat van zyn tractement by
heere Ma', nyet een woort was gc-
sproken." Resolutien van de Staten-
general, a^ 1586. Hague Archives MS.

It was subsequently voted by the
States General (4 July, 1586) that the
Earl should receive a salary of 60,000
florins yearly to be drawn from the
general duties upon cloth; and that
in case her Majesty should continue in
her refhsal to contribute to his salary,
the annual ^lowance furnished by the
States should be increased to 100,000
florins.

Ten thousand pounds sterling a year
in the sixteenth century was certainly
a princely salaiy, and it was hardly
beooming in the Queen, who refused
to pay her own fiivourite ** a stiver," to
censure any shortcomings of the States,
who proved themselves so much more
liberal than herselC * Resolutieo,' &ax
tUnsup.

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524 THB UNITBD NETHBRLANDa Chap. Vm

were "ragged and torn like rogues — ^pity to see them,"^ and
were left without the means of supporting life ; that he had
been neglected, deceived, humiliated, until he was forced to
describe himself as a "forlorn man set upon a forlorn hope,"*
it must be conceded that Grafigni's present of a dish of plums
could hardly be sufficient to make him very happy.

From time to time he was enlightened by Sir Francis, who
occasionally forced his adversaries' hands, and who always
faithfully informed the Earl of everything he could discover.
" We are so greedy of a peace, in respect of the charges of
the wars," he wrote in April, " as in the procuring thereof
we weigh neither honour nor safety. Somewhat here is a-
dealing underhand, wherein there is great care taken that I
should not be made acquainted withal."' But with all their
great care, the conspirators, as it has been seen, were some-
times outwitted by the Secretary, and, when put to the blush,
were forced to take him into half-confidence. " Your Lord-
ship may see," he wrote, after getting possession of Parma's
letter to the Queen, and unravelling Croft's intrigues, " what
effects are wrought by such weak ministers. They that have
been the employers of them are ashamed of the matter,"*

Unutterable was the amazement, as we have seen, of Bod-
man and Grafigni when they had suddenly found themselves
confronted in Burghlejr's private apartments in Greenwich
Palace, whither they had been conducted so mysteriously
after dark from the secret pavilion — by the grave Secretary
of State, whom they had been so anxious to deceive ; and
great was the embarrassment of Croft and Cobham, and even
of the imperturbable Burghley.

And thus patiently did Walsingham pick his course,
plunmiet in hand, through the mists and along the quick-
sands, and faithfully did he hold out signals to his comrade
embarked on the same dangerous voyage. As for the Earl
himself, he was shocked at the short-sighted policy of his
mistress, mortified by the neglect to which he was exposed,
disappointed in his ambitious schemes. Vehemently and

» Leyc. Corresp.* 286, -^— ^ 1686. » Ibid. 223, - April 1686,

10 Jon* 21

« Ibid. 290, ^ June, 1686. * Jhid. 321, ?ii^, 1686.

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1580. INDIGNATION OF THB BABL AND WALSINOHAH. 525

judiciously he insisted upon the necessity of vigorous field-
operations throughout the spring and summer thus frittered
away in frivolous negotiations. He was for peace, if a lasting
and honourable peace could be procured ; but he insisted that
the only road to such a result was through a "good sharp
war."^ His troops were mutinous for want of pay, so that he
had been obliged to have a few of them executed, although
he protested that he would rather have "gone a thousand
miles a-foot"^ than have done so ; and he was crippled by his
government at exactly the time when his great adversary's
condition was most forlorn. Was it strange that the proud
Earl should be fretting his heart away when such golden
chances were eluding his grasp ? He would " creep upon the
ground,'' he said, " as far as his hands and knees would carry
him, to have a good peace for her Majesty, but his care was
to have a peace indeed, and not a show of it."* It was the
cue of Holland and England to fight before they could expect
to deal upon favourable terms with their enemy. He was
quick enough to see that his false colleagues at home were
playing into the enemy's hands. Victory was what was
wanted ; victory the Earl pledged himself, if properly seconded,
to obtain ; and, braggart though he was, it is by no means
impossible that he might have redeemed his pledge. "If
her Majesty will use her advantage," he said, " she shall bring
the King, and especially this Prince of Parma, to seek peace
in other sort than by way of merchants."* Of courage and
confidence the governor had no lack. Whether he was capa-
ble of outgeneralling Alexander Famese or no, will be better
seen, perhaps, in subsequent chapters ; but there is no doubt
that he was reasonable enough in thinking, at that juncture,
that a hard campaign rather than a "merchant's brokerage"*
was required to obtain an honourable peace. Lofty, indeed,
was the scorn of the aristocratic Leicester that "merchants
and pedlars should be paltering in so weighty a cause,"* and

> *Leya Corresp.' 254, !J^, 1586.

* Leicester to Biirgblej, 29 March^
1586. (S. P. Office Ma)
» 'Lejc Ck>rTe8p.'.253, *J-^\ 1686.

* Ibid. 251, same date.

» Ibid. 247, f-^\ 1586.

so April

• Ibid, 25*, 1^. 1686

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SSiS ^I^HB XJNITBD KETHEBLAin)& Chap. Ym.

daring to send him a dish of plums when he was hoping half
a dozen raiments from the Queen ; and a sorry business, in
truth, the pedlars had made of it.

Never had there been a more delusive diplomacy, and it
was natural that the lieutenant-general abroad and the states-
man at home should be sad and indignant, seeing England
drifting to utter shipwreck while pursuing that phantom of
a pacific haven. Had Walsingham and himself tampered
with the enemy, as some counsellors he could name had done,
Leicester asserted that the gallows would be thought too good
for them ; ^ and yet he hoped he might be hanged if the
whole Spanish faction in England could procure for the Queen
a peace fit for her to accept.^

Certainly it was quite impossible for the Spanish faction to
bring about a peace. No human power could bring it about.
Even if England had been willing and able to surrender
Holland, bound hand and foot, to Philip, even then she could
only have obtained a hollow armistice. Philip had sworn in
his inmost soul the conquest of England and the dethrone-
ment of Elizabeth. His heart was fixed. It was only by the
subjugation of England that he hoped to recover the Nether-
lands. England was to be his stepping-stone to Holland.
The invasion was slowly but steadily maturing, and nothing
could have diverted the King from his great purpose. In the
very midst of all these plots and counterplots, Bodmans and
Grafignis, English geldings and Irish greyhounds, dishes of
plums and autograph letters of her Majesty and his Highness,
the Prince was deliberately discussing all the details of the
invasion, which, as it was then hoped, would be ready by the
autumn of the year 1586. Although he had sent a special agent
to Philip, who was to state by word of mouth that which it was
deemed unsafe to write,* yet Alexander, perpetually ui^ed by
his master, went at last more fully into particulars than he
had ever ventured to do before ; and this too at the very mo-
ment when Elizabeth was most seriously "lending her ear" to

1 ' Leyc. Corresp^* 264.
« Ibid.

* Parma to Philip IT., 20 April,
1586. (Arch, de Sim. MS.) Also a

paper epigraphed — *Lo que dijo .T. B.
Piata (the agent alluded to in the
text) a Don Juan de Idiaqucz, 2i
June, 1586.' (Arch, de Sim. Ma)

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1586. SECRET LETTER OF PARMA TO PHILIP. 527

negotiation, and most yehementlj expressing her wrath at Sir
Thomas Henei^ for dealing candidly with the States-General.^

The Prince observed that when, two or three years before,
he had sent his master an account of the coasts, anchoring-
places, and harbours of England, he had then expressed the
opinion that the conquest of England was an enterprise worthy
of the grandeur and Christianity of his Majesty, and not so
difficult as to be considered altogether impossible. To make
himself absolutely master of the business, however, he had
then thought that the King should have no associates in the
scheme, and should make no account of the inhabitants of
England.^ Since that time the project had become more
difficult of accomplishment, because it was now a stale and com-
mon topic of conversation everywhere — ^in Italy, Germany, and
France — so that there could be little doubt that rumours on
the subject were daily reaching the ears of Queen Elizabeth and
of every one in her kingdom. Hence she had made a strict
alliance with Sweden, Denmark, the Protestant princes of Ger-
many, and even with the Turks and the French. Nevertheless,
in spite of these obstacles, the King, placing his royal hand to
the work, might well accomplish the task; for the favour of the
Lord, whose cause it was, would be sure to give him success.

Being so Christian and Catholic a king, Philip naturally
desired to extend the area of the holy church, and to come to
the relief of so many poor innocent martyrs in England,
crying aloud before the Lord for help.* Moreover Elizabeth
had fomented rebellion in the King's Provinces for a long
time secretly, and now, since the fall of Antwerp, and just as
Holland and Zeeland were falling into his grasp, openly.

Thus, in secret and in public, she had done the very worst
she could do ; and it was very clear that the Lord, for her
sins, had deprived her of understanding,* in order that his
Majesty might be the instrument of that chastisement which
she 80 fully deserved, A monarch of such great prudence,
valour, and talent as Philip, could now give aU the world to

' MS. Letter of Parma to Philip,
20 April, 1686, before cited.

» " No haciendo caso de loe proprios
delpaifl." (Ibid.)

tires qui sean esdamaodo delante del
divino conspecto," &c. (Ibid.)

* "Que nuestro Seiior por sua pe-
cados le ha quitado de todo punto el

* Tantos pobres y inocentes j mar- i eotendiraienta" (Ibid.)

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528

THE UNITBD NBTHERLANBa

Chap. YUL

understand that those who dared to lose a just and decorous
respect for him, as this good lady had done, would receive such
chastisement as royal power guided by prudent counsel could
inflict.^ Parma assured his sovereign, that, if the conquest of
England were effected, that of the Netherlands would be finished
with much facility and brevity; but that otherwise, on account
of the situation, strength and obstinacy of those people, it
would be a very long, perilous, and at best doubtful business.*

" Three points," he said, " were most vital to the inviision
of England — secrecy, maintenance of the civil war in France,
and judicious arrangement of matters in the Provinces."

The French, if unoccupied at home, would be sure to make
the enterprise so dangerous as to become almost impossible ;
for it might be laid down as a general maxim that that nation,
jealous of Philip's power, had always done and would always
do what it could to counteract his purposes.

With regard to the Netherlands, it would be desirable to
leave a good number of troops in those countries — ^at least as
many as were then stationed there — ^besides the garrisons,
and also to hold many German and Swiss mercenaries in
"wartgeld." It would be further desirable that Alexander
should take most of the personages of quality and sufficiency
in the Provinces over with him to England, in order that they
should not make mischief in his absence.^

With regard to the point of secrecy, that was, in Parma's
opinion, the most important of all. All leagues must become
more or less public, particularly those contrived at or with
Rome. Such being the case, the Queen of England would
be well aware of the Spanish projects, and, besides her militia
at home, would levy German infantry and cavalry, and pro-
vide plenty of vessels, relying therein upon Holland and
Zeeland, where ships and sailors were in such abundance.
Moreover, the English and the Netherlanders knew the coasts,
currents, tides, shallows, quicksands, ports, better than did

1 " Que no se ban a perder el decoro
y respeto a Y. M. oomo lo ha hecho
esta buena dama," Aa (Ibid.)

' "Se acabard con harta facilidad j
brevedad lo de aca (viz. the Nether-
Lands) que de otra manera, por la situ-

acion, fortaleza, 7 obstinadon de estas
gentea, sera negocio largo, peligroso,
y aun dudoso." (Ibid.)

* MS. Letter of Parma to Vm^
last cited.

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1586. INVASION OF ENGLAND RECOMMENDED. 529

the pilots of any fleets that the Kfiig could send thither.
Thus,. having his back assured, the enemy would meet them
in front at a disadvantage. Although, notwithstanding this
inequality, the enemy would be beaten, yet if the engagement
should be warm, the Spaniards would receive an amount of
damage which could not fail to be inconvenient, particularly
as they would be obliged to land their troops, and to give
battle to those who would be watching their landing. More-
over the English would be provided with cavalry, of which
his Majesty's forces would have very little, on accoimt of the
difficulty of its embarkation.^

The obedient Netherlands would be the proper place in
which to organize the whole expedition. There the regiments
could be filled up, provisions collected, the best way of effect-
ing the passage ascertained, and the force largely increased
without exciting suspicion ; but with regard to the fleet, there
were no ports there capacious enough for large vessels. Ant-
werp had ceased to be a seaport ; but a large number of flat-
bottomed barges, hoys, and other barks, more suitable for
transporting soldiers, could be assembled in Dunkirk, Grave
lines, and Newport, which, with some five-and-twenty larger
vessels, would be sufficient to accompany the fleet.

The Queen, knowing that there were no large ships, nor
ports to hold them in the obedient Provinces, would be unsus-
picious, if no greater levies seemed to be making than the
exigencies of the Netherlands might apparently require.

The flat-bottomed boats, drawing two or three feet of water,
would be more appropriate than ships of war drawing twenty
feet. The passage across, in favourable weather, might
occupy from eight to twelve hours.

The number of troops for the invading force should be
thirty thousand infantry, besides five hundred light troopers,
with saddles, bridles, and lances, but without horses, because,
in Alexander's opinion, it would be easier to mount them in
England. Of these thirty thousand there should be six
thousand Spaniards, six thousand Italians, six thousand Wal-
loons, nine thousand G^ermans, and three thousand Burgundians.

^ MS. Letter of Parma to Philip IL last cited.
VOL. I.— 2 K

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530

THE UNIT£D NSTHBRLAKDa

Chap. TUL

Much money would be required ; at least three hundred
thousand dollars the month for the new force, besides the
regular one hundred and fifty thousand for the ordinary pro-
vision in the Netherlands ; and this ordinary provision would
be more necessary than ever, because a mutiny breaking forth,
in the time of the invasion would be destruction to the
Spaniards both in England and in the Provinces.

The most appropriate part of the coast for a landing would,
in Alexander's opinion, be between Dover and Margate,
because the Spaniards, having no footing in Holland and
Zeeland, were obliged to make their starting-point in Flanders.
The country about Dover was described by Parma as populous,
well- wooded, and much divided by hedges ; advantageous for
infantry, and not requiring a larger amount of cavalry than
the small force at his disposal, while the people there were
domestic in their habits, rich, and therefore less warlike,
less trained to arms, and more engrossed by their occupations
and their comfortable ways of life.* Therefore, although
some encounters would take place, yet after the command^
of the invading troops had given distinct and clear orders, it
would be necessary to leave the rest in the hands of God who
governs all things, and from whose bounty and mercy it was
to be hoped that He would favour a cause so eminently holy,
just, and His own.^

It would be necessary to make immediately for London,
which city, not being fortified, would be very easily taken.
This point gained, the whole framework of the business might
be considered as well put together.* If the Queen should fly
— ^as, being a woman, she probably would do— everything
would be left in such confusion, as, with the blessing of God,
it might soon be considered that the holy and heroic work
had been accomplished.^ Her Majesty, it was suggested,

1 "Domestica y rica, y la gente de
ella consiguiente es meoos annigera y
beliioosa, y dada a sua trabajos y co-
modidadea." MS. Letter of Parma,
before cited.

^ " En manos de Dios qui gobiema
todas las coeaa, y de cuya bondad y
miscricordia se debo esperar que fa-
Uoreoera causa ton aanta, iusta. y pro-

pria suya." (Ibid.)

8 "Sara tan &cil de gaoar, lo cual
conseguido, se puede tener por tan
buen entablado el negooco." (Ibid.)

4 "Se aoogiesse, como sienao moger

es de creer con la ajmda de n»

Sefior, podria tener por acabada obra

fan anvA. v YiAmina ^ \rS T .off op nf

tan suya y heroica."
Parma, before cited.

Ma Letter of

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1580.

DETAILS OF THB PROJAOT.

531

would probably make her escape in a boat before she could
be captured ; but the conquest would be nevertheless effected.
Although, doubtless, some English troops might be got toge-
ther to return and try their fortune, yet it would be quite
useless ; for the invaders would have already planted them-
selves upon the soil, and then, by means of frequent excursions
and forays hither and thither about the island, all other places
of importance would be gained, and the prosperous and for-
tunate termination of the adventure assured.^

As, however, everything was to be provided for, so, in case
the secret could not be preserved, it would be necessary for
Philip, under pretext of defending himself against the English
and French corsairs, to send a large armada to sea, as doubt-
less the Queen would take the same measure. If the King
should prefer, however, notwithstanding Alexander's advice
to the contrary, to have confederates in the enterprise, — then,
the matter being public, it would be necessary to prepare a
larger and stronger fleet than any which Elizabeth, with the
assistance of her French and Netherland allies, could oppose
to him. That fleet should be well provided with vast stores
of provisions, sufficient to enable the invading force, inde-
pendently of forage, to occupy three or four places in England
at once, as the enemy would be able to come from various
towns and strong places to attack them.

As for the proper season for the expedition, it would be
advisable to select the month of October of the current year^
because the English bams would then be full of wheat and
other forage, and the earth would have been sown for the
next year — points of such extreme importance, that if the
plan could not be executed at that time, it would bo as well
to defer it until the following October.^

The Prince recommended that the negotiations with the
League should be kept spinning, without allowing them to
come to a definite conclusion ; because there would be no lack
of difficulties perpetually offering themselves,^ and the more

1 " Discuniendo la ida, ganando

plazas de importancia y se puede

tener por asegurado el prospero y felice
fin." (Ibid.) « Ibid.

» " Que la platica de la liga rajra
adelante sin , conduyrse, alargardola
todo lo que se pudiese, pues no faltaran
dificultades que so oficccran." (Ibid.)

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532 THB UNITBD NBTHERLANDa Chap. VHL

intricate an4 involved the policy of France, the better it
would be for the interests of Spain. Alexander expressed the
utmost confidence that his Majesty, with his powerful arm,
would overcome all obstacles in the path of his great project,
and would show the world that he " could do a little more
than what was possible.''^ He also assured his master, in
most extravagant language, of his personal devotion, adding
that it was unnecessary for him to offer his services in this
particular enterprise, because, ever since his birth, he had dedi-
cated and consecrated himself to execute his royal commands.

He further advised that old Peter Ernest Mansfeld should
be left commander-in-chief of the forces in the Netherlands
during his own absence in England. '^Mansfeld was an
honourable cavalier," he said, " and a faithful servant of the
King; and although somewhat ill-conditioned at times, yet
he had essential good qualities, and was the only general fit
to be trusted alone.^

The reader, having thus been permitted to read the inmost
thoughts of Philip and Alexander, and to study their secret
plans for conquering England in October, while their frivolous
yet mischievous n^otiations with the Queen had been going
on from April to June, will be better able than before to
judge whether Leicester were right or no in doubting if a
good peace could be obtained by a " merchant's brokerage."

And now, after examining these pictures of inter-aulic
politics and back-stairs diplomacy, which represent so large
and characteristic a phasis of European history during the
year 1586, we must throw a glance at the external, more
stirring, but not more significant public events which were
taking place during the same period.

« " Y se Uegard a hacer algo mas de lo poeible." (Ibid.) * Ibkl

Bin) OF VOL. I.

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Full text of "History of the United Netherlands : from the death of William the Silent to the Synod of Dort, with a full view of the English-Dutch struggle against Spain, and the origin and destruction of the Spanish Armada"

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