[NOTE: There is a short list of bookmarks, or pointers, at the end of thefile for those who may wish to sample the author's ideas before making anentire meal of them. D. W. ]

MOTLEY'S HISTORY OF THE NETHERLANDS, PG EDITION, VOLUME 18. 

THE RISE OF THE DUTCH REPUBLIC

By John Lothrop Motley

1855

1570 [CHAPTER VI. ]

 Orange and Count Louis in France--Peace with the Huguenots-- Coligny's memoir, presented by request to Charles IX. , on the subject of invading the Netherlands--Secret correspondence of Orange organized by Paul Buys--Privateering commissions issued by the Prince--Regulations prescribed by him for the fleets thus created-- Impoverished condition of the Prince--His fortitude--His personal sacrifices and privations--His generosity--Renewed contest between the Duke and the Estates on the subject of the tenth and twentieth pence--Violent disputes in the council--Firm opposition of Viglius-- Edict commanding the immediate collection of the tax--Popular tumults--Viglius denounced by Alva--The Duke's fierce complaints to the King--Secret schemes of Philip against Queen Elizabeth of England--The Ridolphi plot to murder Elizabeth countenanced by Philip and Pius V. --The King's orders to Alva to further the plan-- The Duke's remonstrances--Explosion of the plot--Obstinacy of Philip--Renewed complaints of Alva as to the imprudent service required of him--Other attempts of Philip to murder Elizabeth--Don John of Austria in the Levant----Battle of Lepanto--Slothfulness of Selim--Appointment of Medina Celi--Incessant wrangling in Brussels upon the tax--Persevering efforts of Orange--Contempt of Alva for the Prince--Proposed sentence of ignominy against his name--Sonoy's mission to Germany--Remarkable papers issued by the Prince--The "harangue"--Intense hatred for Alva entertained by the highest as well as lower orders--Visit of Francis de Alva to Brussels--His unfavourable report to the King--Querulous language of the Duke-- Deputation to Spain--Universal revolt against the tax--Ferocity of Alva--Execution of eighteen tradesmen secretly ordered--Interrupted by the capture of Brill--Beggars of the sea--The younger Wild Boar of Ardennes--Reconciliation between the English government and that of Alva--The Netherland privateersmen ordered out of English ports-- De la Marck's fleet before Brill--The town summoned to surrender-- Commissioners sent out to the fleet--Flight of the magistrates and townspeople--Capture of the place--Indignation of Alva--Popular exultation in Brussels--Puns and Caricatures--Bossu ordered to recover the town of Brill--His defeat--His perfidious entrance into Rotterdam--Massacre in that city--Flushing revolutionized-- Unsuccessful attempt of Governor de Bourgogne to recal the citizens to their obedience--Expedition under Treslong from Brill to assist the town of Flushing--Murder of Paccheco by the Patriots--Zeraerts appointed Governor of Walcheren by Orange. 

While such had been the domestic events of the Netherlands during theyears 1569 and 1570, the Prince of Orange, although again a wanderer, hadnever allowed himself to despair. During this whole period, the darkesthour for himself and for his country, he was ever watchful. Afterdisbanding his troops at Strasburg, and after making the bestarrangements possible under the circumstances for the eventual payment oftheir wages, he had joined the army which the Duke of Deux Ponts had beenraising in Germany to assist the cause of the Huguenots in France. ThePrince having been forced to acknowledge that, for the moment, all openefforts in the Netherlands were likely to be fruitless, instinctivelyturned his eyes towards the more favorable aspect of the Reformation inFrance. It was inevitable that, while he was thus thrown for the timeout of his legitimate employment, he should be led to the battles offreedom in a neighbouring land. The Duke of Deux Ponts, who felt his ownmilitary skill hardly adequate to the task which he had assumed, wasglad, as it were, to put himself and his army under the orders of Orange. 

Meantime the battle of Jamac had been fought; the Prince of Condo, covered with wounds, and exclaiming that it was sweet to die for Christand country, had fallen from his saddle; the whole Huguenot army had beenrouted by the royal forces under the nominal command of Anjou, and thebody of Conde, tied to the back of a she ass, had been paraded throughthe streets of Jarnap in derision. 

Affairs had already grown almost as black for the cause of freedom inFrance as in the provinces. Shortly afterwards William of Orange, with aband of twelve hundred horsemen, joined the banners of Coligny. His twobrothers accompanied him. Henry, the stripling, had left the universityto follow the fortunes of the Prince. The indomitable Louis, after seventhousand of his army had been slain, had swum naked across the Ems, exclaiming "that his courage, thank God, was as fresh and lively asever, " and had lost not a moment in renewing his hostile schemes againstthe Spanish government. In the meantime he had joined the Huguenots inFrance. The battle of Moncontour had succeeded, Count Peter Mansfeld, with five thousand troops sent by Alva, fighting on the side of theroyalists, and Louis Nassau on that of the Huguenots, atoning by thesteadiness and skill with which he covered the retreat, for hisintemperate courage, which had precipitated the action, and perhaps beenthe main cause of Coligny's overthrow. The Prince of Orange, who hadbeen peremptorily called to the Netherlands in the beginning of theautumn, was not present at the battle. Disguised as a peasant, with butfive attendants, and at great peril, he had crossed the enemy's lines, traversed France, and arrived in Germany before the winter. Count Louisremained with the Huguenots. So necessary did he seem to their cause, and so dear had he become to their armies, that during the severe illnessof Coligny in the course of the following summer all eyes were turnedupon him as the inevitable successor of that great man, the onlyremaining pillar of freedom in France. 

Coligny recovered. The deadly peace between the Huguenots and the Courtsucceeded. The Admiral, despite his sagacity and his suspicions, embarked with his whole party upon that smooth and treacherous currentwhich led to the horrible catastrophe of Saint Bartholomew. To occupyhis attention, a formal engagement was made by the government to sendsuccor to the Netherlands. The Admiral was to lead the auxiliaries whichwere to be despatched across the frontier to overthrow the tyrannicalgovernment of Alva. Long and anxious were the colloquies held betweenColigny and the Royalists. The monarch requested a detailed opinion, inwriting, from the Admiral, on the most advisable plan for invading theNetherlands. The result was the preparation of the celebrated memoir, under Coligny's directions, by young De Mornay, Seigneur de Plessis. The document was certainly not a paper of the highest order. It did notappeal to the loftier instincts which kings or common mortals might besupposed to possess. It summoned the monarch to the contest in theNetherlands that the ancient injuries committed by Spain might beavenged. It invoked the ghost of Isabella of France, foully murdered, asit was thought, by Philip. It held out the prospect of re-annexing thefair provinces, wrested from the King's ancestors by former Spanishsovereigns. It painted the hazardous position of Philip; with theMoorish revolt gnawing at the entrails of his kingdom, with the Turkishwar consuming its extremities, with the canker of rebellion corrodingthe very heart of the Netherlands. It recalled, with exultation, themelancholy fact that the only natural and healthy existence of theFrench was in a state of war--that France, if not occupied with foreigncampaigns, could not be prevented from plunging its sword into its ownvitals. 

It indulged in refreshing reminiscences of those halcyon days, not longgone by, when France, enjoying perfect tranquillity within its ownborders, was calmly and regularly carrying on its long wars beyond thefrontier. 

In spite of this savage spirit, which modern documents, if they did notscorn, would, at least have shrouded, the paper was nevertheless asagacious one; but the request for the memoir, and the many interviews onthe subject of the invasion, were only intended to deceive. They werebut the curtain which concealed the preparations for the dark tragedywhich was about to be enacted. Equally deceived, and more sanguine thanever, Louis Nassau during this period was indefatigable in his attemptsto gain friends for his cause. He had repeated audiences of the King, to whose court he had come in disguise. He made a strong and warmimpression upon Elizabeth's envoy at the French Court, Walsingham. It isprobable that in the Count's impetuosity to carry his point, he allowedmore plausibility to be given to certain projects for subdividing theNetherlands than his brother would ever have sanctioned. The Prince wasa total stranger to these inchoate schemes. His work was to set hiscountry free, and to destroy the tyranny which had grown colossal. Thatemployment was sufficient for a lifetime, and there is no proof to befound that a paltry and personal self-interest had even the lowest placeamong his motives. 

Meantime, in the autumn of 1569, Orange had again reached Germany. Paul Buys, Pensionary of Leyden, had kept him constantly informed ofthe state of affairs in the provinces. Through his means an extensivecorrespondence was organized and maintained with leading persons in everypart of the Netherlands. The conventional terms by which differentmatters and persons of importance were designated in these letters werefamiliarly known to all friends of the cause, not only in the provinces, but in France, England, Germany, and particularly in the great commercialcities. The Prince, for example, was always designated as MartinWillemzoon, the Duke of Alva as Master Powels van Alblas, the Queen ofEngland as Henry Philipzoon, the King of Denmark as Peter Peterson. Thetwelve signs of the zodiac were used instead of the twelve months, and agreat variety of similar substitutions were adopted. Before his visit toFrance, Orange had, moreover, issued commissions, in his capacity ofsovereign, to various seafaring persons, who were empowered to cruiseagainst Spanish commerce. 

The "beggars of the sea, " as these privateersmen designated themselves, soon acquired as terrible a name as the wild beggars, or the forestbeggars; but the Prince, having had many conversations with AdmiralColigny on the important benefits to be derived from the system, hadfaithfully set himself to effect a reformation of its abuses after hisreturn from France. The Seigneur de Dolhain, who, like many otherrefugee nobles, had acquired much distinction in this roving corsairlife, had for a season acted as Admiral for the Prince. He had, however, resolutely declined to render any accounts of his various expeditions, and was now deprived of his command in consequence. Gillain de Fiennes, Seigneur de Lumbres, was appointed to succeed him. At the same timestrict orders were issued by Orange, forbidding all hostile measuresagainst the Emperor or any of the princes of the empire, against Sweden, Denmark, England, or against any potentates who were protectors of thetrue Christian religion. The Duke of Alva and his adherents weredesignated as the only lawful antagonists. The Prince, moreover, gaveminute instructions as to the discipline to be observed in his fleet. The articles of war were to be strictly enforced. Each commander was tomaintain a minister on board his ship, who was to preach God's word, andto preserve Christian piety among the crew. No one was to exercise anycommand in the fleet save native Netherlanders, unless thereto expresslycommissioned by the Prince of Orange. All prizes were to be divided anddistributed by a prescribed rule. No persons were to be received onboard, either as sailors or soldiers, save "folk of goad name and fame. "No man who had ever been punished of justice was to be admitted. Suchwere the principal features in the organization of that infant navywhich, in course of this and the following centuries, was to achieve somany triumphs, and to which a powerful and adventurous mercantile marinehad already led the way. "Of their ships, " said Cardinal Bentivoglio, "the Hollanders make houses, of their houses schools. Here they areborn, here educated, here they learn their profession. Their sailors, flying from one pale to the other, practising their art wherever the sundisplays itself to mortals, become so skilful that they can scarcely beequalled, certainly not surpassed; by any nation in the civilized world. "

The Prince, however, on his return from France, had never been in soforlorn a condition. "Orange is plainly perishing, " said one of thefriends of the cause. Not only had he no funds to organize new levies, but he was daily exposed to the most clamorously-urged claims, growingout of the army which be had been recently obliged to disband. It hadbeen originally reported in the Netherlands that he had fallen in thebattle of Moncontour. "If he have really been taken off, " wrote Viglius, hardly daring to credit the great news, "we shall all of us have lesscause to tremble. " After his actual return, however, lean and beggared, with neither money nor credit, a mere threatening shadow withoutsubstance or power, he seemed to justify the sarcasm of Granvelle. "Vana sine viribus ira, " quoted the Cardinal, and of a verity it seemedthat not a man was likely to stir in Germany in his behalf, now that sodeep a gloom had descended upon his cause. The obscure and the oppressedthroughout the provinces and Germany still freely contributed out oftheir weakness and their poverty, and taxed themselves beyond their meansto assist enterprizes for the relief of the Netherlands. The great onesof the earth, however, those on whom the Prince had relied; those to whomhe had given his heart; dukes, princes, and electors, in this fatalchange of his fortunes fell away like water. 

Still his spirit was unbroken. His letters showed a perfect appreciationof his situation, and of that to which his country was reduced; but theynever exhibited a trace of weakness or despair. A modest, but loftycourage; a pious, but unaffected resignation, breathed through--everydocument, public or private, which fell from his pen during this epoch. He wrote to his brother John that he was quite willing to go, toFrankfort, in order to give himself up as a hostage to his troops for thepayment of their arrears. At the same time he begged his brother to moveheaven and earth to raise at least one hundred thousand thalers. If hecould only furnish them with a month's pay, the soldiers would perhaps befor a time contented. He gave directions also concerning the dispositionof what remained of his plate and furniture, the greater part of ithaving been already sold and expended in the cause. He thought it would, on the whole, be better to have the remainder sold, piece by piece, atthe fair. More money would be raised by that course than by a morewholesale arrangement. 

He was now obliged to attend personally to the most minute matters ofdomestic economy. The man who been the mate of emperors, who was himselfa sovereign, had lived his life long in pomp and luxury, surrounded bycountless nobles, pages, men-at-arms, and menials, now calmly acceptedthe position of an outlaw and an exile. He cheerfully fulfilled taskswhich had formerly devolved upon his grooms and valets. There was analmost pathetic simplicity in the homely details of an existence which, for the moment, had become so obscure and so desperate. "Send by thebearer, " he wrote, "the little hackney given me by the Admiral; send alsomy two pair of trunk hose; one pair is at the tailor's to be mended, theother, pair you will please order to be taken from the things which Iwore lately at Dillenburg. They lie on the table with my accoutrements. If the little hackney be not in condition, please send the grey horsewith the cropped ears and tail. "

He was always mindful, however, not only of the great cause to which hehad devoted himself, but of the wants experienced by individuals who haddone him service. He never forgot his friends. In the depth of his ownmisery he remembered favors received from humble persons. "Send a littlecup, worth at least a hundred florins, to Hartmann Wolf, " he wrote to hisbrother; "you can take as much silver out of the coffer, in which thereis still some of my chapel service remaining. "--"You will observe thatAffenstein is wanting a horse, " he wrote on another occasion; "pleaselook him out one, and send it to me with the price. I will send you themoney. Since he has shown himself so willing in the cause, one ought todo something for him. "

The contest between the Duke and the estates, on the subject of the tenthand twentieth penny had been for a season adjusted. The two years' term, however, during which it had been arranged that the tax should becommuted, was to expire in the autumn of 1571. Early therefore in thisyear the disputes were renewed with greater acrimony than ever. Theestates felt satisfied that the King was less eager than the Viceroy. Viglius was satisfied that the power of Alva was upon the wane. Whilethe King was not likely openly to rebuke his recent measures, it seemednot improbable that the Governor's reiterated requests to be recalledmight be granted. Fortified by these considerations, the President, who had so long been the supple tool of the tyrant, suddenly assumedthe character of a popular tribune. The wranglings, the contradictions, the vituperations, the threatenings, now became incessant in the council. The Duke found that he had exulted prematurely, when he announced to theKing the triumphant establishment, in perpetuity, of the lucrative tax. So far from all the estates having given their consent, as he hadmaintained, and as he had written to Philip, it now appeared that notone of those bodies considered itself bound beyond its quota for the twoyears. This was formally stated in the council by Berlaymont and othermembers. The wrath of the Duke blazed forth at this announcement. Heberated Berlaymont for maintaining, or for allowing it to be maintained, that the consent of the orders had ever been doubtful. He protested thatthey had as unequivocally agreed to the perpetual imposition of the tagas he to its commutation during two years. He declared, however, that hewas sick of quotas. The tax should now be collected forthwith, andTreasurer Schetz was ordered to take his measures accordingly. 

At a conference on the 29th May, the Duke asked Viglius for his opinion. The President made a long reply, taking the ground that the consent ofthe orders had been only conditional, and appealing to such members ofthe finance council as were present to confirm his assertion. It wasconfirmed by all. The Duke, in a passion, swore that those who daredmaintain such a statement should be chastised. Viglius replied that ithad always been the custom for councillors to declare their opinion, and that they had never before been threatened with such consequences. If such, however, were his Excellency's sentiments, councillors hadbetter stay at home, hold their tongues, and so avoid chastisement. The Duke, controlling himself a little, apologized for this allusion tochastisement, a menace which he disclaimed having intended with referenceto councillors whom he had always commended to the King, and of whom hisMajesty had so high an opinion. At a subsequent meeting the Duke tookViglius aside, and assured him that he was quite of his own way ofthinking. For certain reasons, however, he expressed himself asunwilling that the rest of the council should be aware of the changein his views. He wished, he said, to dissemble. The astute President, for a moment, could not imagine the Governor's drift. He afterwardsperceived that the object of this little piece of deception had been toclose his mouth. The Duke obviously conjectured that the President, lulled into security, by this secret assurance, would be silent; that theother councillors, believing the President to have adopted the Governor'sviews, would alter their opinions; and that the opposition of theestates, thus losing its support in the council, would likewise very soonbe abandoned. The President, however, was not to be entrapped by thisfalsehood. He resolutely maintained his hostility to the tax, dependingfor his security on the royal opinion, the popular feeling, and thejudgment of his colleagues. 

The daily meetings of the board were almost entirely occupied by thissingle subject. Although since the arrival of Alva the Council of Bloodhad usurped nearly all the functions of the state and finance-councils, yet there now seemed a disposition on the part of Alva to seek thecountenance, even while he spurned the authority, of other functionaries. He found, however, neither sympathy nor obedience. The President stoutlytold him that he was endeavouring to swim against the stream, that thetax was offensive to the people, and that the voice of the people was thevoice of God. On the last day of July, however, the Duke issued anedict, by which summary collection of the tenth and twentieth pence wasordered. The whole country was immediately in uproar. The estates ofevery province, the assemblies of every city, met and remonstrated. Themerchants suspended all business, the petty dealers shut up their shops. The people congregated together in masses, vowing resistance to theillegal and cruel impost. Not a farthing was collected. The "sevenstiver people", spies of government, who for that paltry daily stipendwere employed to listen for treason in every tavern, in every huckster'sbooth, in every alley of every city, were now quite unable to report allthe curses which were hourly heard uttered against the tyranny of theViceroy. Evidently, his power was declining. The councillors resistedhim, the common people almost defied him. A mercer to whom he wasindebted for thirty thousand florins' worth of goods, refused to openhis shop, lest the tax should be collected on his merchandize. The Dukeconfiscated his debt, as the mercer had foreseen, but this being apecuniary sacrifice, seemed preferable to acquiescence in a measure sovague and so boundless that it might easily absorb the whole property ofthe country. 

No man saluted the governor as he passed through the streets. Hardly anattempt was made by the people to disguise their abhorrence of hisperson: Alva, on his side, gave daily exhibitions of ungovernable fury. At a council held on 25th September, 1571, he stated that the King hadordered the immediate enforcement of the edict. Viglius observed thatthere were many objections to its form. He also stoutly denied that theestates had ever given their consent. Alva fiercely asked the Presidentif he had not himself once maintained that the consent had been granted!Viglius replied that he had never made such an assertion. He hadmentioned the conditions and the implied promises on the part ofgovernment, by which a partial consent had been extorted. He never couldhave said that the consent had been accorded, for he had never believedthat it could be obtained. He had not proceeded far in his argument whenhe was interrupted by the Duke--"But you said so, you said so, you saidso, " cried the exasperated Governor, in a towering passion, repeatingmany times this flat contradiction to the President's statements. Viglius firmly stood his ground. Alva loudly denounced him for thelittle respect he had manifested for his authority. He had hitherto donethe President good offices, he said, with his Majesty, but certainlyshould not feel justified in concealing his recent and very unhandsomeconduct. 

Viglius replied that he had always reverently cherished the Governor, and had endeavoured to merit his favor by diligent obsequiousness. He was bound by his oath, however; to utter in council that whichcomported with his own sentiments and his Majesty's interests. He haddone this heretofore in presence of Emperors, Kings, Queens, and Regents, and they had not taken offence. He did not, at this hour, tremble forhis grey head, and hoped his Majesty would grant him a hearing beforecondemnation. The firm attitude of the President increased theirritation of the Viceroy. Observing that he knew the proper meansof enforcing his authority he dismissed the meeting. 

Immediately afterwards, he received the visits of his son, Don Fredericof Vargas, and other familiars. To these he recounted the scene whichhad taken place, raving the while so ferociously against Viglius as toinduce the supposition that something serious was intended against him. The report flew from mouth to mouth. The affair became the town talk, so that, in the words of the President, it was soon discussed by everybarber and old woman in Brussels. His friends became alarmed for hissafety, while, at the same time, the citizens rejoiced that their causehad found so powerful an advocate. Nothing, however, came of thesethreats and these explosions. On the contrary, shortly afterwards theDuke gave orders that the tenth penny should be remitted upon four greatarticles-corn, meat, wine, and beer. It was also not to be levied uponraw materials used in manufactures. Certainly, these were very importantconcessions. Still the constitutional objections remained. Alva couldnot be made to understand why the alcabala, which was raised withoutdifficulty in the little town of Alva, should encounter such fierceopposition in the Netherlands. The estates, he informed the King, madea great deal of trouble. They withheld their consent at command of theirsatrap. The motive which influenced the leading men was not the interestof factories or fisheries, but the fear that for the future they mightnot be able to dictate the law to their sovereign. The people of thatcountry, he observed, had still the same character which had beendescribed by Julius Caesar. 

The Duke, however, did not find much sympathy at Madrid. Courtiers andcouncillors had long derided his schemes. As for the King, his mind wasoccupied with more interesting matters. Philip lived but to enforce whathe chose to consider the will of God. While the duke was fighting thisbattle with the Netherland constitutionalists, his master had engaged athome in a secret but most comprehensive scheme. This was a plot toassassinate Queen Elizabeth of England, and to liberate Mary Queen ofScots, who was to be placed on the throne in her stead. This project, in which was of course involved the reduction of England under thedominion of the ancient Church, could not but prove attractive to Philip. It included a conspiracy against a friendly sovereign, immense service tothe Church, and a murder. His passion for intrigue, his love of God, andhis hatred of man, would all be gratified at once. Thus, although theMoorish revolt within the heart of his kingdom had hardly beenterminated--although his legions and his navies were at that instantengaged in a contest of no ordinary importance with the Turkish empire--although the Netherlands, still maintaining their hostility and theirhatred, required the flower of the Spanish army to compel theirsubmission, he did not hesitate to accept the dark adventure which wasoffered to him by ignoble hands. 

One Ridolfi, a Florentine, long resident in England, had been sent tothe Netherlands as secret agent of the Duke of Norfolk. Alva read hischaracter immediately, and denounced him to Philip as a loose, pratingcreature, utterly unfit to be entrusted with affairs of importance. Philip, however, thinking more of the plot than of his fellow-actors, welcomed the agent of the conspiracy to Madrid, listened to hisdisclosures attentively, and, without absolutely committing himself bydirect promises, dismissed him with many expressions of encouragement. 

On the 12th of July, 1571, Philip wrote to the Duke of Alva, giving anaccount of his interview with Roberto Ridolfi. The envoy, after relatingthe sufferings of the Queen of Scotland, had laid before him a plan forher liberation. If the Spanish monarch were willing to assist the Dukeof Norfolk and his friends, it would be easy to put upon Mary's head thecrown of England. She was then to intermarry with Norfolk. The kingdomof England was again to acknowledge the authority of Rome, and theCatholic religion to be everywhere restored. The most favorablemoment for the execution of the plan would be in August or September. As Queen Elizabeth would at that season quit London for the country, an opportunity would be easily found for seizing and murdering her. Pius V. , to whom Ridolfi had opened the whole matter, highly approved thescheme, and warmly urged Philip's cooperation. Poor and ruined as he washimself; the Pope protested that he was ready to sell his chalices, andeven his own vestments, to provide funds for the cause. Philip hadreplied that few words were necessary to persuade him. His desire tosee the enterprize succeed was extreme, notwithstanding the difficultiesby which it was surrounded. He would reflect earnestly upon the subject, in the hope that God, whose cause it was, would enlighten and assist him. Thus much he had stated to Ridolfi, but he had informed his councilafterwards that he was determined to carry out the scheme by certainmeans of which the Duke would soon be informed. The end proposed was tokill or to capture Elizabeth, to set at liberty the Queen of Scotland, and to put upon her head the crown of England. In this enterprize heinstructed the Duke of Alva secretly to assist, without however resortingto open hostilities in his own name or in that of his sovereign. Hedesired to be informed how many Spaniards the Duke could put at thedisposition of the conspirators. They had asked for six thousandarquebusiers for England, two thousand for Scotland, two thousand forIreland. Besides these troops, the Viceroy was directed to provideimmediately four thousand arquebuses and two thousand corslets. For theexpenses of the enterprize Philip would immediately remit two hundredthousand crowns. Alva was instructed to keep the affair a profoundsecret from his councillors. Even Hopper at Madrid knew nothing of thematter, while the King had only expressed himself in general terms to thenuncio and to Ridolfi, then already on his way to the Netherlands. TheKing concluded his letter by saying, that from what he had now writtenwith his own hand, the Duke could infer how much he had this affair atheart. It was unnecessary for him to say more, persuaded as he was thatthe Duke would take as profound an interest in it as himself. 

Alva perceived all the rashness of the scheme, and felt how impossibleit would be for him to comply with Philip's orders. To send an army fromthe Netherlands into England for the purpose of dethroning and killing amost popular sovereign, and at the same time to preserve the mostamicable relations with the country, was rather a desperate undertaking. A force of ten thousand Spaniards, under Chiappin Vitelli, and otherfavorite officers of the Duke, would hardly prove a trifle to beoverlooked, nor would their operations be susceptible of very friendlyexplanations. The Governor therefore, assured Philip that he "highlyapplauded his master for his plot. He could not help rendering infinitethanks to God for having made him vassal to such a Prince. " He praisedexceedingly the resolution which his Majesty had taken. After thispreamble, however, he proceeded to pour cold water upon his sovereign'sardor. He decidedly expressed the opinion that Philip should not proceedin such an undertaking until at any rate the party of the Duke of Norfolkhad obtained possession of Elizabeth's person. Should the King declarehimself prematurely, he might be sure that the Venetians, breaking offtheir alliance with him, would make their peace with the Turk; and thatElizabeth would, perhaps, conclude that marriage with the Duke of Alenconwhich now seemed but a pleasantry. Moreover, he expressed his want ofconfidence in the Duke of Norfolk, whom he considered as a poor creaturewith but little courage. He also expressed his doubts concerning theprudence and capacity of Don Gueran de Espes, his Majesty's ambassador atLondon. 

It was not long before these machinations became known in England. TheQueen of Scots was guarded more closely than ever, the Duke of Norfolkwas arrested; yet Philip, whose share in the conspiracy had remained asecret, was not discouraged by the absolute explosion of the wholeaffair. He still held to an impossible purpose with a tenacity whichresembled fatuity. He avowed that his obligations in the sight of Godwere so strict that he was still determined to proceed in the sacredcause. He remitted, therefore, the promised funds to the Duke of Alva, and urged him to act with proper secrecy and promptness. 

The Viceroy was not a little perplexed by these remarkable instructions. None but lunatics could continue to conspire, after the conspiracy hadbeen exposed and the conspirators arrested. Yet this was what hisCatholic Majesty expected of his Governor-General. Alva complained, not unreasonably, of the contradictory demands to which he was subjected. 

He was to cause no rupture with England, yet he was to send succor to animprisoned traitor; he was to keep all his operations secret from hiscouncil, yet he was to send all his army out of the country, and toorganize an expensive campaign. He sneered: at the flippancy of Ridolfi, who imagined that it was the work of a moment to seize the Queen ofEngland, to liberate the Queen of Scotland, to take possession of theTower of London, and to burn the fleet in the Thames. "Were your Majestyand the Queen of England acting together, " he observed, "it would beimpossible to execute the plan proposed by Ridolfi. " The chief dangerto be apprehended was from France and Germany. Were those countries notto interfere, he would undertake to make Philip sovereign of Englandbefore the winter. Their opposition, however, was sufficient to make theenterprise not only difficult, but impossible. He begged his, master notto be precipitate in the; most important affair which had been negotiatedby man since Christ came upon earth. Nothing less, he said, than theexistence of the Christian faith was at stake, for, should his Majestyfail in this undertaking, not one stone of the ancient religion wouldbe left upon another. He again warned the King of the contemptiblecharacter, of Ridolfi, who had spoken of the affair so freely that itwas a common subject of discussion on the Bourse, at Antwerp, and hereiterated, in all his letters his distrust of the parties prominentlyengaged in the transaction. 

Such was the general, tenor of the long despatches exchanged between theKing and the Duke of Alva upon this iniquitous scheme. The Duke showedhimself reluctant throughout the whole affair, although he certainlynever opposed his master's project by any arguments founded upon goodfaith, Christian charity, or the sense of honor. To kill the Queen ofEngland, subvert the laws of her realm, burn her fleets, and butcher hersubjects, while the mask of amity and entire consideration was sedulouslypreserved--all these projects were admitted to be strictly meritorious inthemselves, although objections were taken as to the time and mode ofexecution. 

Alva never positively refused to accept his share in the enterprise, buthe took care not to lift his finger till the catastrophe in England hadmade all attempts futile. Philip, on the other hand, never positivelywithdrew from the conspiracy, but, after an infinite deal of writing andintriguing, concluded by leaving the whole affair in the hands of Alva. The only sufferer for Philip's participation in the plot was the Spanishenvoy at London, Don Gueran de Espes. This gentleman was formallydismissed by Queen Elizabeth, for having given treacherous and hostileadvice to the Duke of Alva and to Philip; but her Majesty at the sametime expressed the most profound consideration for her brother of Spain. 

Towards the close of the same year, however (December, 1571); Alva senttwo other Italian assassins to England, bribed by the promise of vastrewards, to attempt the life of Elizabeth, quietly, by poison orotherwise. The envoy, Mondoucet, in apprizing the French monarch of thisscheme, added that the Duke was so ulcerated and annoyed by the discoveryof the previous enterprise, that nothing could exceed his rage. Theseruffians were not destined to success, but the attempts of the Duke uponthe Queen's life were renewed from time to time. Eighteen months later(August, 1573), two Scotchmen, pensioners of Philip, came from Spain, with secret orders to consult with Alva. They had accordingly muchnegotiation with the Duke and his secretary, Albornoz. They boasted thatthey could easily capture Elizabeth, but said that the King's purpose wasto kill her. The plan, wrote Mondoucet, was the same as it had beenbefore, namely, to murder the Queen of England, and to give her crown toMary of Scotland, who would thus be in their power, and whose son was tobe seized, and bestowed in marriage in such a way as to make themperpetual masters of both kingdoms. 

It does not belong to this history to discuss the merits, nor to narratethe fortunes, of that bickering and fruitless alliance which had beenentered into at this period by Philip with Venice and the Holy Seeagainst the Turk. The revolt of Granada had at last, after a twoyears' struggle, been subdued, and the remnants of the romantic racewhich had once swayed the Peninsula been swept into slavery. The Moorshad sustained the unequal conflict with a constancy not to have beenexpected of so gentle a people. "If a nation meek as lambs could resistso bravely, " said the Prince of Orange, "what ought not to be expected ofa hardy people like the Netherlanders?" Don John of Austria havingconcluded a series of somewhat inglorious forays against women, children, and bed-ridden old men in Andalusia and Granada; had arrived, in Augustof this year, at Naples, to take command of the combined fleet in theLevant. The battle of Lepanto had been fought, but the quarrelsome andcontradictory conduct of the allies had rendered the splendid victory asbarren as the waves: upon which it had been won. It was no less true, however, that the blunders of the infidels had previously enabled Philipto extricate himself with better success from the dangers of the Moorishrevolt than might have been his fortune. Had the rebels succeeded inholding Granada and the mountains of Andalusia, and had they beensupported, as they had a right to expect, by the forces of the Sultan, a different aspect might have been given to the conflict, and one farless triumphant for Spain. Had a prince of vigorous ambition andcomprehensive policy governed at that moment the Turkish empire; it wouldhave cost Philip a serious struggle to maintain himself in his hereditarydominions. While he was plotting against the life and throne ofElizabeth, he might have had cause to tremble for his own. Fortunately, however, for his Catholic Majesty, Selim was satisfied to secure himselfin the possession of the Isle of Venus, with its fruitful vineyards. "To shed the blood" of Cyprian vines, in which he was so enthusiastica connoisseur, was to him a more exhilarating occupation than to pursue, amid carnage and hardships, the splendid dream of a re-establishedEastern caliphate. 

On the 25th Sept. 1571, a commission of Governor-General of theNetherlands was at last issued to John de la Cerda, Duke of Medina Coeli. Philip, in compliance with the Duke's repeated requests, and perhaps notentirely satisfied with the recent course of events in the provinces, hadat last, after great hesitation, consented to Alva's resignation. Hissuccessor; however, was not immediately to take his departure, and in themeantime the Duke was instructed to persevere in his faithful services. These services had, for the present, reduced themselves to a perpetualand not very triumphant altercation with his council, with the estates, and with the people, on the subject of his abominable tax. He wasentirely alone. They who had stood unflinchingly at his side when theonly business of the administration was to burn heretics, turned theirbacks upon him now that he had engaged in this desperate conflict with. The whole money power of the country. The King was far from cordial inhis support, the councillors much too crafty to retain their hold uponthe wheel, to which they had only attached themselves in its ascent. Viglius and Berlaymont; Noircarmes and Aerschot, opposed and almostdefied the man they now thought sinking, and kept the King constantlyinformed of the vast distress which the financial measures of the Dukewere causing. 

Quite, at the close of the year, an elaborate petition from the estatesof Brabant was read before the State Council. It contained a strongremonstrance against the tenth penny. Its repeal was strongly urged, upon the ground that its collection would involve the country inuniversal ruin. Upon this, Alva burst forth in one of the violentexplosions of rage to which he was subject. The prosperity of the, Netherlands, he protested, was not dearer to the inhabitants than tohimself. He swore by the cross, and by the most holy of holies, preserved in the church of Saint Gudule, that had he been but a privateindividual, living in Spain, he would, out of the love he bore theprovinces, have rushed to their defence had their safety been endangered. He felt therefore deeply wounded that malevolent persons should thusinsinuate that he had even wished to injure the country, or to exercisetyranny over its citizens. The tenth penny, he continued, was necessaryto the defence of the land, and was much preferable to quotas. It washighly improper that every man in the rabble should know how much wascontributed, because each individual, learning the gross amount, wouldimagine that he, had paid it all himself. In conclusion, he observedthat, broken in health and stricken in years as he felt himself, he wasnow most anxious to return, and was daily looking with eagerness for thearrival of the Duke of Medina Coeli. 

During the course of this same year, the Prince of Orange had beencontinuing his preparations. He had sent his agents to every place wherea hope was held out to him of obtaining support. Money was what he wasnaturally most anxious to obtain from individuals; open and warlikeassistance what he demanded from governments. His funds, little bylittle, were increasing, owing to the generosity of many obscure persons, and to the daring exploits of the beggars of the sea. His mission, however, to the northern courts had failed. His envoys had been receivedin Sweden and Denmark with barren courtesy. The Duke of Alva, on theother hand, never alluded to the Prince but with contempt; knowing notthat the ruined outlaw was slowly undermining the very ground beneath themonarch's feet; dreaming not that the feeble strokes which he despisedwere the opening blows of a century's conflict; foreseeing not that longbefore its close the chastised province was to expand into a greatrepublic, and that the name of the outlaw was to become almost divine. 

Granvelle had already recommended that the young Count de Buren should beendowed with certain lands in Spain, in exchange for his hereditaryestates, in order that the name and fame of the rebel William should beforever extinguished in the Netherlands. With the same view, a newsentence against the Prince of Orange was now proposed by the Viceroy. This was, to execute him solemnly in effigy, to drag his escutcheonthrough the streets at the tails of horses, and after having broken it inpieces, and thus cancelled his armorial bearings, to declare him and hisdescendants, ignoble, infamous, and incapable of holding property orestates. Could a leaf or two of future history have been unrolled toKing, Cardinal, and Governor, they might have found the destined fortuneof the illustrious rebel's house not exactly in accordance with the planof summary extinction thus laid down. 

Not discouraged, the Prince continued to send his emissaries in everydirection. Diedrich Sonoy, his most trustworthy agent, who had beenchief of the legation to the Northern Courts, was now actively canvassingthe governments and peoples of, Germany with the same object. Severalremarkable papers from the hand of Orange were used upon this service. A letter, drawn up and signed by his own hand, recited; in brief andstriking language, the history of his campaign in 1568, and of hissubsequent efforts in the sacred cause. It was now necessary, he said, that others besides himself should partake of his sacrifices. This hestated plainly and eloquently. The document was in truth a letter askingarms for liberty. "For although all things, " said the Prince, "are inthe hand of God, and although he has created all things out of nought, yet hath he granted to different men different means, whereby, as withvarious instruments, he accomplishes his, almighty purposes. Theretohath he endowed some with strength of body, others with worldly wealth, others with still different gifts, all of which are to be used by theirpossessors to His honor and glory, if they wish not to incur the curseof the unworthy steward, who buried his talent in the earth. . . . . Now ye may easily see, " he continued, "that the Prince cannot carry outthis great work alone, having lost land, people, and goods, and havingalready employed in the cause all which had remained to him, besidesincurring heavy obligations in addition. "

Similar instructions were given to other agents, and a paper called theHarangue, drawn up according to his suggestions, was also extensivelycirculated. This document is important to all who are interested in hishistory and character. He had not before issued a missive so stampedwith the warm, religious impress of the reforming party. Sadly, butwithout despondency, the Harangue recalled the misfortunes of the past;and depicted the gloom of the present. Earnestly, but not fanatically, it stimulated hope and solicited aid for the future. "Although theappeals made to the Prince, " so ran a part of the document, "be ofdiverse natures, and various in their recommendations, yet do they alltend to the advancement of God's glory, and to the liberation of thefatherland. This it is which enables him and those who think with him toendure hunger; thirst, cold, heat, and all the misfortunes which Heavenmay send. . . . . . Our enemies spare neither their money nor theirlabor; will ye be colder and duller than your foes? Let, then, eachchurch congregation set an example to the others. We read that KingSaul, when he would liberate the men of Jabez from the hands of Nahad, the Ammonite, hewed a yoke of oxen in pieces, and sent them as tokensover all Israel, saying, 'Ye who will not follow Saul and Samuel, withthem shall be dealt even as with these oxen. And the fear of the Lordcame upon the people, they came forth, and the men of Jabez weredelivered. ' Ye have here the same warning, look to it, watch well yethat despise it, lest the wrath of God, which the men of Israel by theirspeedy obedience escaped, descend upon your heads. Ye may say that yeare banished men. 'Tis true: but thereby are ye not stripped of allfaculty of rendering service; moreover, your assistance is asked for onewho will restore ye to your homes. Ye may say that ye have been robbed ofall your goods; yet many of you have still something remaining, and ofthat little ye should contribute, each his mite. Ye say that you havegiven much already. 'Tis true, but the enemy is again in the field;fierce for your subjugation, sustained by the largess of his supporters. Will ye be less courageous, less generous, than your foes. "

These urgent appeals did not remain fruitless. The strength of thePrince was slowly but steadily increasing. Meantime the abhorrence with which Alva was universally regarded had nearly reached to frenzy. In the beginning of the year 1572, Don Francis de Alava, Philip'sambassador in France, visited Brussels. He had already been enlightenedas to the consequences of the Duke's course by the immense immigration ofNetherland refugees to France, which he had witnessed with his own eyes. On his journey towards Brussels he had been met near Cambray byNoircarmes. Even that "cruel animal, " as Hoogstraaten had called him, the butcher of Tournay and Valenciennes, had at last been roused toalarm, if not to pity, by the sufferings of the country. "The Duke willnever disabuse his mind of this filthy tenth penny, " said he to Alava. He sprang from his chair with great emotion as the ambassador alluded tothe flight of merchants and artisans from the provinces. "Senor DonFrancis, " cried he, "there are ten thousand more who are on the point ofleaving the country, if the Governor does not pause in his career. Godgrant that no disaster arise beyond human power to remedy. "

The ambassador arrived in Brussels, and took up his lodgings in thepalace. Here he found the Duke just recovering from a fit of the gout, in a state of mind sufficiently savage. He became much excited as DonFrancis began to speak of the emigration, and he assured him that therewas gross deception on the subject. The envoy replied that he could notbe mistaken, for it was a matter which, so to speak, he had touched withhis own fingers, and seen with his own eyes. The Duke, persisting thatDon Francis had been abused and misinformed, turned the conversation toother topics. Next day the ambassador received visits from Berlaymontand his son, the Seigneur de Hierges. He was taken aside by each ofthem, separately. "Thank God, you have come hither, " said they, innearly the same words, "that you may fully comprehend the condition ofthe provinces, and without delay admonish his Majesty of the impendingdanger. " All his visitors expressed the same sentiments. Don Fredericof Toledo furnished the only exception, assuring the envoy that hisfather's financial measures were opposed by Noircarmes and others, onlybecause it deprived them of their occupation and their influence. Thisdutiful language, however, was to be expected in one of whom SecretaryAlbornoz had written, that he was the greatest comfort to his father, andthe most divine genius ever known. It was unfortunately corroborated byno other inhabitant of the country. 

On the third day, Don Francis went to take his leave. The Duke beggedhim to inform his Majesty of the impatience with which he was expectingthe arrival of his successor. He then informed his guest that they hadalready begun to collect the tenth penny in Brabant, the most obstinateof all the provinces. "What do you say to that, Don Francis?" he cried, with exultation. Alava replied that he thought, none the less, that thetax would encounter many obstacles, and begged him earnestly to reflect. He assured him, moreover, that he should, without reserve, express hisopinions fully to the King. The Duke used the same language which DonFrederic had held, concerning the motives of those who opposed the tax. "It may be so, " said Don Francis, "but at any rate, all have agreed tosing to the same tune. " A little startled, the Duke rejoined, "Do youdoubt that the cities will keep their promises? Depend upon it, I shallfind the means to compel them. " "God grant it may be so, " said Alava, "but in my poor judgment you will have need of all your prudence and ofall your authority. "

The ambassador did not wait till he could communicate with his sovereignby word of mouth. He forwarded to Spain an ample account of hisobservations and deductions. He painted to Philip in lively colors thehatred entertained by all men for the Duke. The whole nation, he assuredhis Majesty, united in one cry, "Let him begone, let him begone, let himbegone!" As for the imposition of the tenth penny, that, in the opinionof Don Francis, was utterly impossible. He moreover warned his Majestythat Alva was busy in forming secret alliances with the Catholic princesof Europe, which would necessarily lead to defensive leagues among theProtestants. 

While thus, during the earlier part of the year 1572, the Prince ofOrange, discouraged by no defeats, was indefatigable in his exertions tomaintain the cause of liberty, and while at the same time the most stanchsupporters of arbitrary power were unanimous in denouncing to Philip theinsane conduct of his Viceroy, the letters of Alva himself were naturallyfull of complaints and expostulations. It was in vain, he said, for himto look for a confidential councillor, now that matters which he hadwished to be kept so profoundly secret that the very earth should nothear of them, had been proclaimed aloud above the tiles of everyhousetop. Nevertheless, he would be cut into little pieces but hisMajesty should be obeyed, while he remained alive to enforce the royalcommands. There were none who had been ever faithful but Berlaymont, he said, and even he had been neutral in the affair of the tax. He hadrendered therein neither good nor bad offices, but, as his Majesty wasaware, Berlaymont was entirely ignorant of business, and "knew nothingmore than to be a good fellow. " That being the case, he recommendedHierges, son of the "good fellow, " as a proper person to be governor ofFriesland. 

The deputations appointed by the different provinces to confer personallywith the King received a reprimand upon their arrival, for having daredto come to Spain without permission. Farther punishment, however, thanthis rebuke was not inflicted. They were assured that the King washighly displeased with their venturing to bring remonstrances against thetax, but they were comforted with the assurance that his Majesty wouldtake the subject of their petition into consideration. Thus, theexpectations of Alva were disappointed, for the tenth penny was notformally confirmed; and the hopes of the provinces frustrated, becauseit was not distinctly disavowed. 

Matters had reached another crisis in the provinces. "Had we money now, "wrote the Prince of Orange, "we should, with the help of God, hope toeffect something. This is a time when, with even small sums, more can beeffected than at other seasons with ampler funds. " The citizens were inopen revolt against the tax. In order that the tenth penny should not belevied upon every sale of goods, the natural but desperate remedy wasadopted--no goods were sold at all. 

Not only the wholesale commerce oh the provinces was suspended, but theminute and indispensable traffic of daily life was entirely at a stand. The shops were all shut. "The brewers, " says a contemporary, "refused tobrew, the bakers to bake, the tapsters to tap. " Multitudes, thrownentirely out of employment, and wholly dependent upon charity, swarmed inevery city. The soldiery, furious for their pay, which Alva had for manymonths neglected to furnish, grew daily more insolent; the citizens, maddened by outrage and hardened by despair, became more and moreobstinate in their resistance; while the Duke, rendered inflexible byopposition and insane by wrath, regarded the ruin which he had causedwith a malignant spirit which had long ceased to be human. "The diseaseis gnawing at our vitals, " wrote Viglius; "everybody is suffering for thewant of the necessaries of life. Multitudes are in extreme and hopelesspoverty. My interest in the welfare of the commonwealth, " he continued, "induces me to send these accounts to Spain. For myself, I fear nothing. Broken by sickness and acute physical suffering, I should leave lifewithout regret. "

The aspect of the capital was that of a city stricken with the plague. Articles of the most absolute necessity could not be obtained. It wasimpossible to buy bread, or meat, or beer. The tyrant, beside himselfwith rage at being thus braved in his very lair, privately sent forMaster Carl, the executioner. In order to exhibit an unexpected andsalutary example, he had determined to hang eighteen of the leadingtradesmen of the city in the doors of their own shops, with the leastpossible delay and without the slightest form of trial. 

Master Carl was ordered, on the very night of his interview with theDuke, to prepare eighteen strong cords, and eighteen ladders twelve feetin length. By this simple arrangement, Alva was disposed to makemanifest on the morrow, to the burghers of Brussels, that justice wasthenceforth to be carried to every man's door. He supposed that thespectacle of a dozen and a half of butchers and bakers suspended in frontof the shops which they had refused to open, would give a more effectivestimulus to trade than any to be expected from argument or proclamation. The hangman was making ready his cords and ladders; Don Frederic ofToledo was closeted with President Viglius, who, somewhat against hiswill, was aroused at midnight to draw the warrants for these impromptuexecutions; Alva was waiting with grim impatience for the dawn upon whichthe show was to be exhibited, when an unforeseen event suddenly arrestedthe homely tragedy. In the night arrived the intelligence that the townof Brill had been captured. The Duke, feeling the full gravity of thesituation, postponed the chastisement which he had thus secretly plannedto a more convenient season, in order without an instant's hesitation toavert the consequences of this new movement on the part of the rebels. The seizure of Brill was the Deus ex machina which unexpectedly solvedboth the inextricable knot of the situation and the hangman's noose. 

Allusion has more than once been made to those formidable partisans ofthe patriot cause, the marine outlaws. Cheated of half their birthrightby nature, and now driven forth from their narrow isthmus by tyranny, theexiled Hollanders took to the ocean. Its boundless fields, long arableto their industry, became fatally fruitful now that oppression wastransforming a peaceful seafaring people into a nation of corsairs. Driven to outlawry and poverty, no doubt many Netherlanders plungedinto crime. The patriot party had long sine laid aside the respectfuldeportment which had provoked the sarcasms of the loyalists. Thebeggars of the sea asked their alms through the mouths of their cannon. Unfortunately, they but too often made their demands upon both friend andfoe. Every ruined merchant, every banished lord, every reckless mariner, who was willing to lay the commercial world under contribution to repairhis damaged fortunes, could, without much difficulty, be supplied with avessel and crew at some northern port, under color of cruising againstthe Viceroy's government. Nor was the ostensible motive simply apretext. To make war upon Alva was the leading object of all thesefreebooters, and they were usually furnished by the Prince of Orange, in his capacity of sovereign, with letters of marque for that purpose. The Prince, indeed, did his utmost to control and direct an evil whichhad inevitably grown out of the horrors of the time. His Admiral, William de la Marck, was however, incapable of comprehending the loftypurposes of his superior. A wild, sanguinary, licentious noble, wearinghis hair and beard unshorn, according to ancient Batavian custom, untilthe death of his relative, Egmont, should have been expiated, a worthydescendant of the Wild Boar of Ardennes, this hirsute and savage corsairseemed an embodiment of vengeance. He had sworn to wreak upon Alva andupon popery the deep revenge owed to them by the Netherland nobility, andin the cruelties afterwards practised by him upon monks and priests, theBlood Council learned that their example had made at least one ripescholar among the rebels. He was lying, at this epoch, with his fleet onthe southern coast of England, from which advantageous position he wasnow to be ejected in a summary manner. 

The negotiations between the Duke of Alva and Queen Elizabeth had alreadyassumed an amicable tone, and were fast ripening to an adjustment. Itlay by no means in that sovereign's disposition to involve herself atthis juncture in a war with Philip, and it was urged upon her governmentby Alva's commissioners, that the continued countenance afforded by theEnglish people to the Netherland cruisers must inevitably lead to thatresult. In the latter days of March, therefore, a sentence of virtualexcommunication was pronounced against De la Marck and his rovers. Aperemptory order of Elizabeth forbade any of her subjects to supply themwith meat, bread, or beer. The command being strictly complied with, their farther stay was rendered impossible. Twenty-four vesselsaccordingly, of various sizes, commanded by De la Marck, Treslong, Adamvan Harem, Brand, and Other distinguished seamen, set sail from Dover inthe very last days of March. Being almost in a state of starvation, these adventurers were naturally anxious to supply themselves with food. They determined to make a sudden foray upon the coasts of North Holland, and accordingly steered for Enkbuizen, both because it was a rich sea-port and because it contained many secret partisans of the Prince. OnPalm Sunday they captured two Spanish merchantmen. Soon afterwards, however, the wind becoming contrary, they were unable to double theHelder or the Texel, and on Tuesday, the 1st of April, having abandonedtheir original intention, they dropped down towards Zealand, and enteredthe broad mouth of the river Meuse. Between the town of Brill, upon thesouthern lip of this estuary, and Naaslandsluis, about half a leaguedistant, upon the opposite aide, the squadron suddenly appeared at abouttwo o'clock of an April afternoon, to the great astonishment of theinhabitants of both places. It seemed too large a fleet to be a merecollection of trading vessels, nor did they appear to be Spanish ships. Peter Koppelstok, a sagacious ferryman, informed the passengers whom hehappened to be conveying across the river, that the strangers wereevidently the water beggars. The dreaded name filled his hearers withconsternation, and they became eager to escape from so perilous avicinity. Having duly landed his customers, however, who hastened tospread the news of the impending invasion, and to prepare for defence orflight, the stout ferryman, who was secretly favorable to the cause ofliberty, rowed boldly out to inquire the destination and purposes of thefleet. 

The vessel which he first hailed was that commanded by William de Blois, Seigneur of Treslong. This adventurous noble, whose brother had beenexecuted by the Duke of Alva in 1568, had himself fought by the side ofCount Louis at Jemmingen, and although covered with wounds, had been oneof the few who escaped alive from that horrible carnage. During theintervening period he had become one of the most famous rebels on theocean, and he had always been well known in Brill, where his father hadbeen governor for the King. He at once recognized Koppelstok, andhastened with him on board the Admiral's ship, assuring De la Marck thatthe ferryman was exactly the man for their purpose. It was absolutelynecessary that a landing should be effected, for the people were withoutthe necessaries of life. Captain Martin Brand had visited the ship ofAdam Van Haren, as soon as they had dropped anchor in the Meuse, beggingfor food. "I gave him a cheese, " said Adam, afterwards relating theoccurrence, " and assured him that it was the last article of food tobe found in the ship. " The other vessels were equally destitute. Underthe circumstances, it was necessary to attempt a landing. Treslong, therefore, who was really the hero of this memorable adventure, persuadedDe la Marck to send a message to the city of Brill, demanding itssurrender. This was a bold summons to be made by a handful of men, threeor four hundred at most, who were both metaphorically and literallybeggars. The city of Brill was not populous, but it was well walled andfortified. It was moreover a most commodious port. Treslong gave hissignet ring to the fisherman, Koppelstok, and ordered him, thusaccredited as an envoy, to carry their summons to the magistracy. Koppelstok, nothing loath, instantly rowed ashore, pushed through thecrowd of inhabitants, who overwhelmed him with questions, and made hisappearance in the town-house before the assembled magistrates. Heinformed them that he had been sent by the Admiral of the fleet and byTreslong, who was well known to them, to demand that two commissionersshould be sent out on the part of the city to confer with the patriots. He was bidden, he said, to give assurance that the deputies would becourteously treated. The only object of those who had sent him was tofree the land from the tenth penny, and to overthrow the tyranny of Alvaand his Spaniards. Hereupon he was asked by the magistrates, how large aforce De la Marck had under his command, To this question the ferrymancarelessly replied, that there might be some five thousand in all. Thisenormous falsehood produced its effect upon the magistrates. There wasnow no longer any inclination to resist the invader; the only questiondiscussed being whether to treat with them or to fly. On the whole, itwas decided to do both. With some difficulty, two deputies were foundsufficiently valiant to go forth to negotiate with the beggars, while intheir absence most of the leading burghers and functionaries made theirpreparations for flight. The envoys were assured by De la Marck andTreslong that no injury was intended to the citizens or to privateproperty, but that the overthrow of Alva's government was to be instantlyaccomplished. Two hours were given to the magistrates in which to decidewhether or not they would surrender the town and accept the authority ofDe la Marck as Admiral of the Prince of Orange. They employed the twohours thus granted in making an ignominious escape. Their example wasfollowed by most of the townspeople. When the invaders, at theexpiration of the specified term, appeared under the walls of the city, they found a few inhabitants of the lower class gazing at them fromabove, but received no official communication from any source. 

The whole rebel force was now divided into two parties, one of whichunder Treslong made an attack upon the southern gate, while the othercommanded by the Admiral advanced upon the northern. Treslong after ashort struggle succeeded in forcing his entrance, and arrested, in doingso, the governor of the city, just taking his departure. De la Marck andhis men made a bonfire at the northern gate, and then battered down thehalf-burned portal with the end of an old mast. Thus rudely and rapidlydid the Netherland patriots conduct their first successful siege. Thetwo parties, not more perhaps than two hundred and fifty men in all, metbefore sunset in the centre of the city, and the foundation of the DutchRepublic was laid. The weary spirit of freedom, so long a fugitive overearth and sea, had at last found a resting-place, which rude and evenribald hands had prepared. 

The panic created by the first appearance of the fleet had been soextensive that hardly fifty citizens had remained in the town. The resthad all escaped, with as much property as they could carry away. TheAdmiral, in the name, of the Prince of Orange, as lawful stadholder ofPhilip, took formal possession of an almost deserted city. No indignitywas offered to the inhabitants of either sex, but as soon, as theconquerors were fairly established in the best houses of the place, the inclination to plunder the churches could no longer be restrained. The altars and images were all destroyed, the rich furniture and gorgeousvestments appropriated to private use. Adam van Hare appeared on hisvessel's deck attired in a magnificent high mass chasuble. Treslongthenceforth used no drinking cups in his cabin save the golden chalicesof the sacrament. Unfortunately, their hatred to popery was not confinedto such demonstrations. Thirteen unfortunate monks and priests, who hadbeen unable to effect their escape, were arrested and thrown into prison, from whence they were taken a few days later, by order of the ferociousAdmiral, and executed under circumstances of great barbarity. 

The news of this important exploit spread with great rapidity. Alva, surprised at the very moment of venting his rage on the butchers andgrocers of Brussels, deferred this savage design in order to deal withthe new difficulty. He had certainly not expected such a result fromthe ready compliance of queen Elizabeth with his request. His rage wasexcessive; the triumph of the people, by whom he was cordially detested, proportionably great. The punsters of Brussels were sure not to let suchan opportunity escape them, for the name of the captured town wassusceptible of a quibble, and the event had taken place upon All Fools'Day. 

 "On April's Fool's Day, Duke Alva's spectacles were stolen away, "

became a popular couplet. The word spectacles, in Flemish, as well asthe name of the suddenly surprised city, being Brill, this allusion tothe Duke's loss and implied purblindness was not destitute of ingenuity. A caricature, too, was extensively circulated, representing De la Marckstealing the Duke's spectacles from his nose, while the Governor wassupposed to be uttering his habitual expression whenever any intelligenceof importance was brought to him: 'No es nada, no es nada--'Tis nothing, 'tis nothing. 

The Duke, however, lost not an instant in attempting to repair thedisaster. Count Bossu, who had acted as stadholder of Holland andZealand, under Alva's authority, since the Prince of Orange had resignedthat office, was ordered at once to recover the conquered sea-port, ifpossible. 

Hastily gathering a force of some ten companies from the garrison ofUtrecht, some of which very troops had recently and unluckily forgovernment, been removed from Brill to that city, the Count crossed theSluis to the island of Voorn upon Easter day, and sent a summons to therebel force to surrender Brill. The patriots being very few in number, were at first afraid to venture outside the gates to attack the muchsuperior force of their invaders. A carpenter, however, who belonged tothe city, but had long been a partisan of Orange, dashed into the waterwith his axe in his hand, and swimming to the Niewland sluice, hacked itopen with a few vigorous strokes. The sea poured in at once, making theapproach to the city upon the north side impossible: Bossu then led hisSpaniards along the Niewland dyke to the southern gate, where they werereceived with a warm discharge of artillery, which completely staggeredthem. Meantime Treslong and Robol had, in the most daring manner, rowedout to the ships which had brought the enemy to the island, cut someadrift, and set others on fire. 

The Spaniards at the southern gate caught sight of their blazing vessels, saw the sea rapidly rising over the dyke, became panic-struck at beingthus enclosed between fire and water, and dashed off in precipitateretreat along the slippery causeway and through the slimy and turbidwaters, which were fast threatening to overwhelm them. Many were drownedor smothered in their flight, but the greater portion of the forceeffected their escape in the vessels which still remained within reach. This danger averted, Admiral de la Marck summoned all the inhabitants, a large number of whom had returned to the town after the capture hadbeen fairly established, and required them, as well as all the populationof the island, to take an oath of allegiance to the Prince of Orange asstadholder for his Majesty. 

The Prince had not been extremely satisfied with the enterprise of De laMarck. He thought-it premature, and doubted whether it would bepracticable to hold the place, as he had not yet completed hisarrangements in Germany, nor assembled the force with which he intendedagain to take the field. More than all, perhaps, he had littleconfidence in the character of his Admiral. Orange was right in hisestimate of De la Marck. It had not been that rover's design either totake or to hold the place; and after the descent had been made, the shipsvictualled, the churches plundered, the booty secured, and a few monksmurdered, he had given orders for the burning of the town, and for thedeparture of the fleet. The urgent solicitations of Treslong, however, prevailed, with some difficulty, over De la Marck' original intentions. It is to that bold and intelligent noble, therefore, more than to anyother individual, that the merit of laying this corner-stone of theBatavian commonwealth belongs. The enterprise itself was an accident, but the quick eye of Treslong saw the possibility of a permanentconquest, where his superior dreamed of nothing beyond a piratical foray. 

Meantime Bossu, baffled in his attempt upon Brill, took his way towardsRotterdam. It was important that he should at least secure such othercities as the recent success of the rebels might cause to waver in theirallegiance. He found the gates of Rotterdam closed. The authoritiesrefused to comply with his demand to admit a garrison for the King. Professing perfect loyalty, the inhabitants very naturally refused toadmit a band of sanguinary Spaniards to enforce their obedience. Compelled to parley, Bossu resorted to a perfidious stratagem. Herequested permission for his troops to pass through the city withouthalting. This was granted by the magistrates, on condition that only acorporal's command should be admitted at a time. To these terms theCount affixed his hand and seal. With the admission, however, of thefirst detachment, a violent onset was made upon the gate by the wholeSpanish force. The townspeople, not suspecting treachery, were notprepared to make effective resistance. A stout smith, confronting theinvaders at the gate, almost singly, with his sledge-hammer, was stabbedto the heart by Bossu with his own hand. The soldiers having thus gainedadmittance, rushed through the streets, putting every man to death whooffered the slightest resistance. Within a few minutes four hundredcitizens were murdered. The fate of the women, abandoned now to theoutrage of a brutal soldiery, was worse than death. The capture ofRotterdam is infamous for the same crimes which blacken the record ofevery Spanish triumph in the Netherlands. 

The important town of Flushing, on the Isle of Walcheren, was first tovibrate with the patriotic impulse given by the success at Brill. TheSeigneur de Herpt, a warm partisan of Orange, excited the burghersassembled in the market-place to drive the small remnant of the Spanishgarrison from the city. A little later upon the same day a considerablereinforcement arrived before the walls. The Duke had determined, although too late, to complete the fortress which had been commenced longbefore to control the possession of this important position at the mouthof the western Scheld. The troops who were to resume this too longintermitted work arrived just in time to witness the expulsion of theircomrades. De Herpt easily persuaded the burghers that the die was cast, and that their only hope lay in a resolute resistance. The people warmlyacquiesced, while a half-drunken, half-wined fellow in the crowdvaliantly proposed, in consideration of a pot of beer, to ascend theramparts and to discharge a couple of pieces of artillery at the Spanishships. The offer was accepted, and the vagabond merrily mounting theheight, discharged the guns. Strange to relate, the shot thus fired by alunatic's hand put the invading ships to flight. A sudden panic seizedthe Spaniards, the whole fleet stood away at once in the direction ofMiddelburg, and were soon out of sight. 

The next day, however, Antony of Bourgoyne, governor under Alva for theIsland of Walcheren, made his appearance in Flushing. Having a highopinion of his own oratorical powers, he came with the intention ofwinning back with his rhetoric a city which the Spaniards had thus farbeen unable to recover with their cannon. The great bell was rung, thewhole population assembled in the marketplace, and Antony, from the stepsof the town-house, delivered a long oration, assuring the burghers, amongother asseverations, that the King, who was the best natured prince inall Christendom, would forget and forgive their offences if they returnedhonestly to their duties. 

The effect of the Governor's eloquence was much diminished, however, bythe interlocutory remarks, of De Herpt and a group of his adherents. They reminded the people of the King's good nature, of his readiness toforget and to forgive, as exemplified by the fate of Horn and Egmont, ofBerghen and Montigny, and by the daily and almost hourly decrees of theBlood Council. Each well-rounded period of the Governor was greeted withironical cheers. The oration was unsuccessful. "Oh, citizens, citizens!"cried at last the discomfited Antony, "ye know not what ye do. Yourblood be upon your own heads; the responsibility be upon your own heartsfor the fires which are to consume your cities and the desolation whichis to sweep your land!" The orator at this impressive point wasinterrupted, and most unceremoniously hustled out of the city. Thegovernment remained in the hands of the patriots. 

The party, however, was not so strong in soldiers as in spirit. Nosooner, therefore, had they established their rebellion to Alva as anincontrovertible fact, than they sent off emissaries to the Prince ofOrange, and to Admiral De la Marek at Brill. Finding that theinhabitants of Flushing were willing to provide arms and ammunition, Dela Marck readily consented to send a small number of men, bold andexperienced in partisan warfare, of whom he had now collected a largernumber than he could well arm or maintain in his present position. 

The detachment, two hundred in number, in three small vessels, set sail accordingly from Brill for Flushing; and a wild crew they were, of reckless adventurers under command of the bold Treslong. Theexpedition seemed a fierce but whimsical masquerade. Every man in thelittle fleet was attired in the gorgeous vestments of the plunderedchurches, in gold-embroidered cassocks, glittering mass-garments, or themore sombre cowls, and robes of Capuchin friars. So sped the earlystandard bearers of that ferocious liberty which had sprung from thefires in which all else for which men cherish their fatherland had beenconsumed. So swept that resolute but fantastic band along the placidestuaries of Zealand, waking the stagnant waters with their wild beggarsongs and cries of vengeance. 

That vengeance found soon a distinguished object. Pacheco, the chiefengineer of Alva, who had accompanied the Duke in his march from Italy, who had since earned a world-wide reputation as the architect of theAntwerp citadel, had been just despatched in haste to Flushing tocomplete the fortress whose construction had been so long delayed. Too late for his work, too soon for his safety, the ill-fated engineerhad arrived almost at the same moment with Treslong and his crew. He had stepped on shore, entirely ignorant of all which had transpired, expecting to be treated with the respect due to the chief commandant ofthe place, and to an officer high in the confidence of the Governor-General. He found himself surrounded by an indignant and threateningmob. The unfortunate Italian understood not a word of the opprobriouslanguage addressed to him, but he easily comprehended that the authorityof the Duke was overthrown. Observing De Ryk, a distinguished partisanofficer and privateersman of Amsterdam, whose reputation for bravery andgenerosity was known, to him, he approached him, and drawing a seal ringfrom his finger, kissed it, and handed it to the rebel chieftain. Bythis dumbshow he gave him to understand that he relied upon his honor forthe treatment due to a gentleman. De Ryk understood the appeal, andwould willingly have assured him, at least, a soldier's death, but he waspowerless to do so. He arrested him, that he might be protected from thefury of the rabble, but Treslong, who now commanded in Flushing, wasespecially incensed against the founder of the Antwerp citadel, and felta ferocious desire to avenge his brother's murder upon the body of hisdestroyer's favourite. Pacheco was condemned to be hanged upon the veryday of his arrival. Having been brought forth from his prison, he beggedhard but not abjectly for his life. He offered a heavy ransom, but hisenemies were greedy for blood, not for money. It was, however, difficultto find an executioner. The city hangman was absent, and the prejudiceof the country and the age against the vile profession had assuredly notbeen diminished during the five horrible years of Alva's administration. Even a condemned murderer, who lay in the town-gaol, refused to accepthis life in recompence for performing the office. It should never besaid, he observed, that his mother had given birth to a hangman. Whentold, however, that the intended victim was a Spanish officer, themalefactor consented to the task with alacrity, on condition that hemight afterwards kill any man who taunted him with the deed. 

Arrived at the foot of the gallows, Pacheco complained bitterly of thedisgraceful death designed for him. He protested loudly that he came ofa house as noble as that of Egmont or Horn, and was entitled to ashonorable an execution as theirs had been. "The sword! the sword!" hefrantically exclaimed, as he struggled with those who guarded him. Hislanguage was not understood, but the names of Egmont and Horn inflamedstill more highly the rage of the rabble, while his cry for the sword wasfalsely interpreted by a rude fellow who had happened to possess himselfof Pacheco's rapier, at his capture, and who now paraded himself with itat the gallows' foot. "Never fear for your sword, Seilor, " cried thisruffian; "your sword is safe enough, and in good hands. Up the ladderwith you, Senor; you have no further use for your sword. "

Pacheco, thus outraged, submitted to his fate. He mounted the ladderwith a steady step, and was hanged between two other Spanish officers. So perished miserably a brave soldier, and one of the most distinguishedengineers of his time; a man whose character and accomplishments hadcertainly merited for him a better fate. But while we stigmatize as itdeserves the atrocious conduct of a few Netherland partisans, we shouldremember who first unchained the demon of international hatred in thisunhappy land, nor should it ever be forgotten that the great leaderof the revolt, by word, proclamation, example, by entreaties, threats, and condign punishment, constantly rebuked, and to a certain extent, restrained the sanguinary spirit by which some of his followers disgracedthe noble cause which they had espoused. 

Treslong did not long remain in command at Flushing. An officer, highin the confidence of the Prince, Jerome van 't Zeraerts, now arrived atFlushing, with a commission to be Lieutenant-Governor over the whole isleof Walcheren. He was attended by a small band of French infantry, whileat nearly the same time the garrison was further strengthened by thearrival of a large number of volunteers from England. 

ETEXT EDITOR'S BOOKMARKS:

Beggars of the sea, as these privateersmen designated themselvesHair and beard unshorn, according to ancient Batavian customOnly healthy existence of the French was in a state of war