[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 16. 

THE RISE OF THE DUTCH REPUBLIC

By John Lothrop Motley

1855

1568 [CHAPTER III. ]

 Preparations of the Duke against Count Louis--Precarious situation of Louis in Friesland--Timidity of the inhabitants--Alva in Friesland--Skirmishing near Groningen--Retreat of the patriots-- Error committed by Louis--His position at Jemmingen--Mutinous demonstrations of his troops--Louis partially restores order-- Attempt to destroy the dykes interrupted by the arrival of Alva's forces--Artful strategy of the Duke--Defeat of Count Louis and utter destruction of his army--Outrages committed by the Spaniards--Alva at Utrecht--Execution of Vrow van Diemen--Episode of Don Carlos-- Fables concerning him and Queen Isabella--Mystery, concerning his death--Secret letters of Philip to the Pope--The one containing the truth of the transaction still concealed in the Vatican--Case against Philip as related by Mathieu, De Thou, and others--Testimony in the King's favor by the nuncio, the Venetian envoy, and others-- Doubtful state of the question--Anecdotes concerning Don Carlos--His character. 

Those measures were taken with the precision and promptness which markedthe Duke's character, when precision and promptness were desirable. There had been a terrible energy in his every step, since the successfulforay of Louis Nassau. Having determined to take the field in personwith nearly all the Spanish veterans, he had at once acted upon thenecessity of making the capital secure, after his back should be turned. It was impossible to leave three thousand choice troops to guard CountEgmont. A less number seemed insufficient to prevent a rescue. He had, therefore, no longer delayed the chastisement which had already beendetermined, but which the events in the north had precipitated. Thus theonly positive result of Louis Nassau's victory was the execution of hisimprisoned friends. 

The expedition under Aremberg had failed from two causes. The Spanishforce had been inadequate, and they had attacked the enemy at adisadvantage. The imprudent attack was the result of the contemptwith which they had regarded their antagonist. These errors were not tobe repeated. Alva ordered Count Meghem, now commanding in the provinceof Groningen, on no account to hazard hostilities until the game wassure. He also immediately ordered large reinforcements to move forwardto the seat of war. The commanders intrusted with this duty were DukeEric of Brunswick, Chiappin Vitelli, Noircarmes, and Count de Roeulx. The rendezvous for the whole force was Deventer, and here they allarrived on the 10th July. On the same day the Duke of Alva himselfentered Deventer, to take command in person. On the evening of the 14thJuly he reached Rolden, a village three leagues distant from Groningen, at the head of three terzios of Spanish infantry, three companies oflight horse, and a troop of dragoons. His whole force in and aboutGroningen amounted to fifteen thousand choice troops besides a large butuncertain number of less disciplined soldiery. 

Meantime, Louis of Nassau, since his victory, had accomplished nothing. For this inactivity there was one sufficient excuse, the total want offunds. His only revenue was the amount of black mail which he was ableto levy upon the inhabitants of the province. He repeated hisdetermination to treat them all as enemies, unless they furnished himwith the means of expelling their tyrants from the country. He obtainedsmall sums in this manner from time to time. The inhabitants werefavorably disposed, but they were timid and despairing. They saw noclear way towards the accomplishment of the result concerning which Louiswas so confident. They knew that the terrible Alva was already on hisway. They felt sure of being pillaged by both parties, and of beinghanged as rebels, besides, as soon as the Governor-general should makehis appearance. 

Louis had, however, issued two formal proclamations for two especialcontributions. In these documents he had succinctly explained that thehouses of all recusants should be forthwith burned about their ears, andin consequence of these peremptory measures, he had obtained some tenthousand florins. Alva ordered counter-proclamations to be affixed tochurch doors and other places, forbidding all persons to contribute tothese forced loans of the rebels, on penalty of paying twice as much tothe Spaniards, with arbitrary punishment in addition, after his arrival. The miserable inhabitants, thus placed between two fires, had nothing forit but to pay one-half of their property to support the rebellion in thefirst place, with the prospect of giving the other half as a subsidy totyranny afterwards; while the gibbet stood at the end of the vista toreward their liberality. Such was the horrible position of the peasantryin this civil conflict. The weight of guilt thus accumulated upon thecrowned head which conceived, and upon the red right hand which wroughtall this misery, what human scales can measure?

With these precarious means of support, the army of Louis of Nassau, asmay easily be supposed, was anything but docile. After the victory ofHeiliger Lee there had seemed to his German mercenaries a probability ofextensive booty, which grew fainter as the slender fruit of that battlebecame daily more apparent. The two abbots of Wittewerum and of HeiligerLee, who had followed Aremberg's train in order to be witnesses of hisvictory, had been obliged to pay to the actual conqueror a heavy pricefor the entertainment to which they had invited themselves, and thesesums, together with the amounts pressed from the reluctant estates, andthe forced contributions paid by luckless peasants, enabled him to keephis straggling troops together a few weeks longer. Mutiny, however, wasconstantly breaking out, and by the eloquent expostulations and vaguepromises of the Count, was with difficulty suppressed. 

He had, for a few weeks immediately succeeding the battle, distributedhis troops in three different stations. On the approach of the Duke, however, he hastily concentrated his whole force at his own stronglyfortified camp, within half cannon shot of Groningen. His army, such asit was, numbered from 10, 000 to 12, 000 men. Alva reached Groningen earlyin the morning, and without pausing a moment, marched his troops directlythrough the city. He then immediately occupied an entrenched andfortified house, from which it was easy to inflict damage upon the camp. This done, the Duke, with a few attendants, rode forward to reconnoitrethe enemy in person. He found him in a well fortified position, havingthe river on his front, which served as a moat to his camp, and with adeep trench three hundred yards beyond, in addition. Two wooden bridgesled across the river; each was commanded by a fortified house, in whichwas a provision of pine torches, ready at a moment's warning, to set fireto the bridges. Having thus satisfied himself, the Duke rode back to hisarmy, which had received strict orders not to lift a finger till hisreturn. He then despatched a small force of five hundred musketeers, under Robles, to skirmish with the enemy, and, if possible, to draw themfrom their trenches. 

The troops of Louis, however, showed no greediness to engage. On thecontrary, it soon became evident that their dispositions were of anopposite tendency. The Count himself, not at that moment trusting hissoldiery, who were in an extremely mutinous condition, was desirous offalling back before his formidable antagonist. The Duke, faithful, however, to his life-long principles, had no intentions of precipitatingthe action in those difficult and swampy regions. The skirmishing, therefore, continued for many hours, an additional force of 1000 menbeing detailed from the Spanish army. The day was very sultry, however, the enemy reluctant, and the whole action languid. At last, towardsevening, a large body, tempted beyond their trenches, engaged warmly withthe Spaniards. The combat lasted but a few minutes, the patriots weresoon routed, and fled precipitately back to their camp. The panic spreadwith them, and the whole army was soon in retreat. On retiring, theyhad, however, set fire to the bridges, and thus secured an advantage atthe outset of the chase. The Spaniards were no longer to be held. Vitelli obtained permission to follow with 2000 additional troops. Thefifteen hundred who had already been engaged, charged furiously upontheir retreating foes. Some dashed across the blazing bridges, withtheir garments and their very beards on fire. Others sprang into theriver. Neither fire nor water could check the fierce pursuit. Thecavalry dismounting, drove their horses into the stream, and clinging totheir tails, pricked the horses forward with their lances. Having thusbeen dragged across, they joined their comrades in the mad chase alongthe narrow dykes, and through the swampy and almost impassable countrywhere the rebels were seeking shelter. The approach of night, too soonadvancing, at last put an end to the hunt. The Duke with difficultyrecalled his men, and compelled them to restrain their eagerness untilthe morrow. Three hundred of the patriots were left dead upon the field, besides at least an equal number who perished in the river and canals. The army of Louis was entirely routed, and the Duke considered itvirtually destroyed. He wrote to the state council that he should pursuethem the next day, but doubted whether he should find anybody to talkwith him. In this the Governor-general soon found himself delightfullydisappointed. 

Five days later, the Duke arrived at Reyden, on the Ems. Owing to theunfavorable disposition of the country people, who were willing toprotect the fugitives by false information to their pursuers, he wasstill in doubt as to the position then occupied by the enemy. He hadbeen fearful that they would be found at this very village of Reyden. It was a fatal error on the part of Count Louis that they were not. Had lie made a stand at this point, he might have held out a long time. The bridge which here crossed the river would have afforded him a retreatinto Germany at any moment, and the place was easily to be defended infront. Thus he might have maintained himself against his fierce but waryfoe, while his brother Orange, who was at Strasburg watching the progressof events, was executing his own long-planned expedition into the heartof the Netherlands. With Alva thus occupied in Friesland, the results ofsuch an invasion might have been prodigious. It was, however, not on thecards for that campaign. The mutinous disposition of the mercenariesunder his command had filled Louis with doubt and disgust. Bold andsanguine, but always too fiery and impatient, he saw not much possibilityof paying his troops any longer with promises. Perhaps he was notunwilling to place them in a position where they would be obliged tofight or to perish. At any rate, such was their present situation. Instead of halting at Reyden, he had made his stand at Jemmingen, aboutfour leagues distant from that place, and a little further down theriver. Alva discovered this important fact soon after his arrival atReyden, and could not conceal his delight. Already exulting at the errormade by his adversary, in neglecting the important position which he nowoccupied himself, he was doubly delighted at learning the nature of theplace which he had in preference selected. He saw that Louis hadcompletely entrapped himself. 

Jemmingen was a small town on the left bank of the Ems. The stream herevery broad and deep, is rather a tide inlet than a river, being but avery few miles from the Dollart. This circular bay, or ocean chasm, theresult of the violent inundation of the 13th century, surrounds, with theriver, a narrow peninsula. In the corner of this peninsula, as in thebottom of a sack, Louis had posted his army. His infantry, as usual, was drawn up in two large squares, and still contained ten thousand men. The rear rested upon the village, the river was upon his left; his meagreforce of cavalry upon the right. In front were two very deep trenches. The narrow road, which formed the only entrance to his camp, was guardedby a ravelin on each side, and by five pieces of artillery. 

The Duke having reconnoitred the enemy in person, rode back, satisfiedthat no escape was possible. The river was too deep and too wide forswimming or wading, and there were but very few boats. Louis was shut upbetween twelve thousand Spanish veterans and the river Ems. The rebelarmy, although not insufficient in point of numbers, was in a state ofdisorganization. They were furious for money and reluctant to fight. They broke out into open mutiny upon the very verge of battle, and sworethat they would instantly disband, if the gold, which, as they believed, had been recently brought into the camp, were not immediately distributedamong them. Such was the state of things on the eventful morning of the21st July. All the expostulations of Count Louis seemed powerless. Hiseloquence and his patience, both inferior to his valor, were soonexhausted. He peremptorily, refused the money for which they clamored, giving the most cogent of all reasons, an empty coffer. He demonstratedplainly that they were in that moment to make their election, whether towin a victory or to submit to a massacre. Neither flight nor surrenderwas possible. They knew how much quarter they could expect from thelances of the Spaniards or the waters of the Dollart. Their only chanceof salvation lay in their own swords. The instinct of self-preservation, thus invoked, exerted a little of its natural effect. 

Meantime, a work which had been too long neglected, was then, ifpossible, to be performed. In that watery territory, the sea was onlyheld in check by artificial means. In a very short time, by thedemolition of a few dykes and the opening of a few sluices, the wholecountry through which the Spaniards had to pass could be laid underwater. Believing it yet possible to enlist the ocean in his defence, Louis, having partially reduced his soldiers to obedience, ordered astrong detachment upon this important service. Seizing a spade, hecommenced the work himself, and then returned to set his army in battlearray. Two or three tide gates had been opened, two or three bridges hadbeen demolished, when Alva, riding in advance of his army, appearedwithin a mile or two of Jemmingen. It was then eight o'clock in themorning. The patriots redoubled their efforts. By ten o'clock thewaters were already knee high, and in some places as deep as to thewaist. At that hour, the advanced guard of the Spaniards arrived. Fifteen hundred musketeers were immediately ordered forward by the Duke. They were preceded by a company of mounted carabineers, attended by asmall band of volunteers of distinction. This little band threwthemselves at once upon the troops engaged in destroying the dykes. Therebels fled at the first onset, and the Spaniards closed the gates. Feeling the full importance of the moment, Count Louis ordered a largeforce of musketeers to recover the position, and to complete the work ofinundation. It was too late. The little band of Spaniards held the postwith consummate tenacity. Charge after charge, volley after volley, fromthe overwhelming force brought against them, failed to loosen the fiercegrip with which they held this key to the whole situation. Before theycould be driven from the dykes, their comrades arrived, when all theirantagonists at once made a hurried retreat to their camp. 

Very much the same tactics were now employed by the Duke, as in theengagement near Selwaert Abbey. He was resolved that this affair, also, should be a hunt, not a battle; but foresaw that it was to be a moresuccessful one. There was no loophole of escape, so that after a littlesuccessful baiting, the imprisoned victims would be forced to spring fromtheir lurking-place, to perish upon his spears. On his march from Reydenthat morning, he had taken care to occupy every farm-house, everybuilding of whatever description along the road, with his troops. He hadleft a strong guard on the bridge at Reyden, and had thus closedcarefully every avenue. The same fifteen hundred musketeers were nowadvanced further towards the camp. This small force, powerfully butsecretly sustained, was to feel the enemy; to skirmish with him, and todraw him as soon as possible out of his trenches. The plan succeeded. Gradually the engagements between them and the troops sent out by CountLouis grew more earnest. Finding so insignificant a force opposed tothem, the mutinous rebels took courage. The work waged hot. Lodrono andRomero, commanders of the musketeers, becoming alarmed, sent to the Dukefor reinforcements. He sent back word in reply, that if they were notenough to damage the enemy, they could, at least, hold their own for thepresent. So much he had a right to expect of Spanish soldiers. At anyrate, he should send no reinforcements, Again they were more warmly pressed; again their messenger returned withthe same reply. A third time they send the most urgent entreaties forsuccour. The Duke was still inexorable. 

Meantime the result of this scientific angling approached. By noon therebels, not being able to see how large a portion of the Spanish army hadarrived, began to think the affair not so serious. Count Louis sent outa reconnoitring party upon the river in a few boats. They returnedwithout having been able to discover any large force. It seemedprobable, therefore, that the inundation had been more successful instopping their advance than had been supposed. Louis, always too rash, inflamed his men with temporary enthusiasm. Determined to cut their wayout by one vigorous movement, the whole army at last marched forth fromtheir entrenchments, with drums beating, colors flying; but already theconcealed reinforcements of their enemies were on the spot. The patriotsmet with a warmer reception than they had expected. Their courageevaporated. Hardly had they advanced three hundred yards, when the wholebody wavered and then retreated precipitately towards the encampment, having scarcely exchanged a shot with the enemy. Count Louis, in afrenzy of rage and despair, flew from rank to rank, in vain endeavouringto rally his terror-stricken troops. It was hopeless. The battery whichguarded the road was entirely deserted. He rushed to the cannon himself, and fired them all with his own hand. It was their first and lastdischarge. His single arm, however bold, could not turn the tide ofbattle, and he was swept backwards with his coward troops. In a momentafterwards, Don Lope de Figueroa, who led the van of the Spaniards, dashed upon the battery, and secured it, together with the ravelins. Their own artillery was turned against the rebels, and the road wassoon swept. The Spaniards in large numbers now rushed through thetrenches in pursuit of the retreating foe. No resistance was offered, nor quarter given. An impossible escape was all which was attempted. It was not a battle, but a massacre. Many of the beggars in their flightthrew down their arms; all had forgotten their use. Their antagonistsbutchered them in droves, while those who escaped the sword were hurledinto the river. Seven Spaniards were killed, and seven thousand rebels. 

 [Letter of Alva to the Council of State. Correspondanee du Duc d'Albe, 158. The same letter is published in Igor, iv. 245, 246. All writers allow seven thousand to have been killed on the patriot side, and--the number of Spaniards slain is not estimated at more than eighty, even by the patriotic Meteren, 55. Compare Bor, iv. 245-246; Herrera, av. 696; Hoofd, v, 176, and Mendoza, 72. ]

The swift ebb-tide swept the hats of the perishing wretches in suchnumbers down the stream, that the people at Embden knew the result of thebattle in an incredibly short period of time. The skirmishing had lastedfrom ten o'clock till one, but the butchery continued much longer. Ittook time to slaughter even unresisting victims. Large numbers obtainedrefuge for the night upon an island in the river. At low water next daythe Spaniards waded to them, and slew every man. Many found concealmentin hovels, swamps, and thickets, so that the whole of the following daywas occupied in ferreting out and despatching them. There was so much tobe done, that there was work enough for all. "Not a soldier, " says, withgreat simplicity, a Spanish historian who fought in the battle, "not asoldier, nor even a lad, who wished to share in the victory, but couldfind somebody to wound, to kill, to burn, or to drown. " The wounding, killing, burning, drowning lasted two days, and very few escaped. Thelandward pursuit extended for three or four leagues around, so that theroads and pastures were covered with bodies, with corslets, and otherweapons. Count Louis himself stripped off his clothes, and made hisescape, when all was over, by swimming across the Ems. With the paltryremnant of his troops he again took refuge in Germany. 

The Spanish army, two days afterwards, marched back to Groningen. Thepage which records their victorious campaign is foul with outrage and redwith blood. None of the horrors which accompany the passage of hostiletroops through a defenceless country were omitted. Maids and matronswere ravished in multitudes; old men butchered in cold blood. As Alvareturned, with the rear-guard of his army, the whole sky was red with aconstant conflagration; the very earth seemed changed to ashes. Everypeasant's hovel, every farm-house, every village upon the road had beenburned to the ground. So gross and so extensive had been the outrage, that the commander-in-chief felt it due to his dignity to hang some ofhis own soldiers who had most distinguished themselves in this work. Thus ended the campaign of Count Louis in Friesland. Thus signally andterribly had the Duke of Alva vindicated the supremacy of Spanishdiscipline and of his own military skill. 

On his return to Groningen, the estates were summoned, and received asevere lecture for their suspicious demeanour in regard to the rebellion. In order more effectually to control both province and city, theGovernor-general ordered the construction of a strong fortress, whichwas soon begun but never completed. Having thus furnished himself witha key to this important and doubtful region, he returned by way ofAmsterdam to Utrecht. There he was met by his son Frederic with strongreinforcements. The Duke reviewed his whole army, and found himself atthe head of 30, 000 infantry and 7, 000 cavalry. Having fully subdued theprovince, he had no occupation for such a force, but he improved theopportunity by cutting off the head of an old woman in Utrecht. The Vrowvan Diemen, eighteen months previously, had given the preacher Arendsoona night's lodging in her house. The crime had, in fact, been committedby her son-in-law, who dwelt under her roof, and who had himself, withouther participation, extended this dangerous hospitality to a heretic; butthe old lady, although a devout Catholic, was rich. Her execution wouldstrike a wholesome terror into the hearts of her neighbours. Theconfiscation of her estates would bring a handsome sum into thegovernment coffers. It would be made manifest that the same hand whichcould destroy an army of twelve thousand rebels at a blow could inflictas signal punishment on the small delinquencies of obscure individuals. The old lady, who was past eighty-four years of age, was placed in achair upon the scaffold. She met her death with heroism, and treated hermurderers with contempt. "I understand very well, " she observed, "why mydeath is considered necessary. The calf is fat and must be killed. " Tothe executioner she expressed a hope that his sword was sufficientlysharp, "as he was likely to find her old neck very tough. " With thisgrisly parody upon the pathetic dying words of Anne Boleyn, thecourageous old gentlewoman submitted to her fate. 

The tragedy of Don Carlos does not strictly belong to our subject, whichis the rise of the Netherland commonwealth--not the decline of theSpanish monarchy, nor the life of Philip the Second. The thread is butslender which connects the unhappy young prince with the fortunes of thenorthern republic. He was said, no doubt with truth, to desire thegovernment of Flanders. He was also supposed to be in secretcorrespondence with the leaders of the revolt in the provinces. He appeared, however, to possess very little of their confidence. His name is only once mentioned by William of Orange, who said in aletter that "the Prince of Spain had lately eaten sixteen pounds offruit, including four pounds of grapes at a single sitting, and hadbecome ill in consequence. " The result was sufficiently natural, but itnowhere appears that the royal youth, born to consume the fruits of theearth so largely, had ever given the Netherlanders any other proof ofhis capacity to govern them. There is no doubt that he was a mostuncomfortable personage at home, both to himself and to others, and thathe hated his father' very cordially. He was extremely incensed at thenomination of Alva to the Netherlands, because he had hoped that eitherthe King would go thither or entrust the mission to him, in either ofwhich events he should be rid for a time of the paternal authority, orat least of the paternal presence. It seems to be well ascertained thatCarlos nourished towards his father a hatred which might lead to criminalattempts, but there is no proof that such attempts were ever made. As tothe fabulous amours of the Prince and the Queen, they had never anyexistence save in the imagination of poets, who have chosen to finda source of sentimental sorrow for the Infante in the arbitrarysubstitution of his father for himself in the marriage contract with thedaughter of Henry the Second. As Carlos was but twelve or thirteen yearsof age when thus deprived of a bride whom he had never seen, thefoundation for a passionate regret was but slight. It would hardly bea more absurd fantasy, had the poets chosen to represent Philip's father, the Emperor Charles, repining in his dotage for the loss of "bloodyMary, " whom he had so handsomely ceded to his son. Philip took a bad oldwoman to relieve his father; he took a fair young princess at his son'sexpense; but similar changes in state marriages were such matters ofcourse, that no emotions were likely to be created in consequence. Thereis no proof whatever, nor any reason to surmise; that any love passagesever existed between Don Carlos and his step-mother. 

As to the process and the death of the Prince, the mystery has not yetbeen removed, and the field is still open to conjecture. It seems athankless task to grope in the dark after the truth at a variety ofsources; when the truth really exists in tangible shape if profane handscould be laid upon it. The secret is buried in the bosom of the Vatican. Philip wrote two letters on the subject to Pius V. The contents of thefirst (21st January, 1568) are known. He informed the pontiff that hehad been obliged to imprison his son, and promised that he would, in theconduct of the affair, omit nothing which could be expected of a fatherand of a just and prudent king. The second letter, in which he narrated, or is supposed to have narrated, the whole course of the tragicproceedings, down to the death and burial of the Prince, has never yetbeen made public. There are hopes that this secret missive, after threecenturies of darkness, may soon see the light. --[I am assured by Mr. Gachard that a copy of this important letter is confidently expected bythe Commission Royale d'Histoire. ]

As Philip generally told the truth to the Pope, it is probable that thesecret, when once revealed, will contain the veritable solution of themystery. Till that moment arrives, it seems idle to attempt fathomingthe matter. Nevertheless, it may be well briefly to state the case as itstands. As against the King, it rests upon no impregnable, but certainlyupon respectable authority. The Prince of Orange, in his famous Apology, calls Philip the murderer of his wife and of his son, and says that therewas proof of the facts in France. He alludes to the violent death ofCarlos almost as if it were an indisputable truth. "As for Don Charles, "he says, "was he not our future sovereign? And if the father couldallege against his son fit cause for death, was it not rather for usto judge him than for three or four monks or inquisitors of Spain?"

The historian, P. Matthieu, relates that Philip assembled his council ofconscience; that they recommended mercy; that hereupon Philip gave thematter to the inquisition, by which tribunal Carlos was declared aheretic on account of his connexion with Protestants, and for his attemptagainst his father's life was condemned to death, and that the sentencewas executed by four slaves, two holding the arms, one the feet, whilethe fourth strangled him. 

De Thou gives the following account of the transaction, having derivedmany of his details from the oral communications of Louis de Foix:

Philip imagined that his son was about to escape from Spain, and to makehis way to the Netherlands. The King also believed himself in danger ofassassination from Carlos, his chief evidence being that the Princealways carried pistols in the pockets of his loose breeches. As Carloswished always to be alone at night without any domestic in his chamber, de Foix had arranged for him a set of pulleys, by means of which he couldopen or shut his door without rising from his bed. He always slept withtwo pistols and two drawn swords under his pillow, and had two loadedarquebusses in a wardrobe close at hand. These remarkable precautionswould seem rather to indicate a profound fear of being himselfassassinated; but they were nevertheless supposed to justify Philip'ssuspicions, that the Infante was meditating parricide. On Christmas eve, however (1567), Don Carlos told his confessor that he had determined tokill a man. The priest, in consequence, refused to admit him to thecommunion. The Prince demanded, at least, a wafer which was notconsecrated, in order that he might seem to the people to beparticipating in the sacrament. The confessor declined the proposal, and immediately repairing to the King, narrated the whole story. Philipexclaimed that he was himself the man whom the Prince intended to kill, but that measures should be forthwith taken to prevent such a design. The monarch then consulted the Holy Office of the inquisition, and theresolution was taken to arrest his son. De Foix was compelled to alterthe pulleys of the door to the Prince's chamber in such a manner that itcould be opened without the usual noise, which was almost sure to awakenhim. At midnight, accordingly, Count Lerma entered the room sostealthily that the arms were all, removed from the Prince's pillow andthe wardrobe, without awakening the sleeper. Philip, Ruy Gomez, the Dukede Feria, and two other nobles, then noiselessly, crept into theapartment. Carlos still slept so profoundly that it was necessaryfor Derma to shake him violently by the arm before he could be aroused. Starting from his sleep in the dead of night, and seeing his father thusaccompanied, before his bed, the Prince cried out that he was a dead man, and earnestly besought the bystanders to make an end of him at once. Philip assured him, however, that he was not come to kill him, but tochastise him paternally, and to recal him to his duty. He then readhim a serious lecture, caused him to rise from his bed, took away hisservants, and placed him under guard. He was made to array himself inmourning habiliments, and to sleep on a truckle bed. The Prince was indespair. He soon made various attempts upon his own life. He threwhimself into the fire, but was rescued by his guards, with his clothesall in flames. He passed several days without taking any food, and thenate so many patties of minced meat that he nearly died of indigestion. He was also said to have attempted to choke himself with a diamond, andto have been prevented by his guard; to have filled his bed with ice; tohave sat in cold draughts; to have gone eleven days without food, thelast method being, as one would think, sufficiently thorough. Philip, therefore, seeing his son thus desperate, consulted once more with theHoly Office, and came to the decision that it was better to condemn himlegitimately to death than to permit him to die by his own hand. Inorder, however, to save appearances, the order was secretly carried intoexecution. Don Carlos was made to swallow poison in a bowl of broth, ofwhich he died in a few hours. This was at the commencement of histwenty-third year. The death was concealed for several months, and wasnot made public till after Alva's victory at Jemmingen. 

Such was the account drawn up by de Thou from the oral communications ofde Foix, and from other sources not indicated. Certainly, such anarrative is far from being entitled to implicit credence. The historianwas a contemporary, but he was not in Spain, and the engineer's testimonyis, of course, not entitled to much consideration on the subject of theprocess and the execution (if there were an execution); althoughconclusive as to matters which had been within his personal knowledge. For the rest, all that it can be said to establish is the existence ofthe general rumor, that Carlos came to his death by foul means and inconsequence of advice given by the inquisition. 

On the other hand, in all the letters written at the period by personsin Madrid most likely, from their position, to know the truth, not asyllable has been found in confirmation of the violent death said to havebeen suffered by Carlos. Secretary Erasso, the papal nuncio Castagna, the Venetian envoy Cavalli, all express a conviction that the death ofthe prince had been brought about by his own extravagant conduct andmental excitement; by alternations of starving and voracious eating, bythrowing himself into the fire; by icing his bed, and by similar acts ofdesperation. Nearly every writer alludes to the incident of the refusalof the priest to admit Carlos to communion, upon the ground of hisconfessed deadly hatred to an individual whom all supposed to be theKing. It was also universally believed that Carlos meant to kill hisfather. The nuncio asked Spinosa (then president of Castile) if thisreport were true. "If nothing more were to be feared, " answered thepriest, "the King would protect himself by other measures, " but the matterwas worse, if worse could be. The King, however, summoned all theforeign diplomatic body and assured them that the story was false. Afterhis arrest, the Prince, according to Castagna, attempted various meansof suicide, abstaining, at last, many days from food, and dying inconsequence, "discoursing, upon his deathbed, gravely and like a man ofsense. "

The historian Cabrera, official panegyrist of Philip the Second, speaksof the death of Carlos as a natural one, but leaves a dark kind ofmystery about the symptoms of his disease. He states, that the Princewas tried and condemned by a commission or junta, consisting of Spinosa, Ruy Gomez, and the Licentiate Virviesca, but that he was carried off byan illness, the nature of which he does not describe. 

Llorente found nothing in the records of the Inquisition to prove thatthe Holy Office had ever condemned the Prince or instituted any processagainst him. He states that he was condemned by a commission, but thathe died of a sickness which supervened. It must be confessed that theillness was a convenient one, and that such diseases are very apt toattack individuals whom tyrants are disposed to remove from their path, while desirous, at the same time, to save appearances. It wouldcertainly be presumptuous to accept implicitly the narrative of de Thou, which is literally followed by Hoofd and by many modern writers. On theother hand, it would be an exaggeration of historical scepticism toabsolve Philip from the murder of his son, solely upon negativetestimony. The people about court did not believe in the crime. Theysaw no proofs of it. Of course they saw none. Philip would take goodcare that there should be none if he had made up his mind that the deathof the Prince should be considered a natural one. And priori argument, which omits the character of the suspected culprit, and the extraordinarycircumstances of time and place, is not satisfactory. Philip thoroughlyunderstood the business of secret midnight murder. We shall soon haveoccasion to relate the elaborate and ingenious method by which theassassination of Montigny was accomplished and kept a profound secretfrom the whole world, until the letters of the royal assassin, afterthree centuries' repose, were exhumed, and the foul mystery revealed. Philip was capable of any crime. Moreover, in his letter to his aunt, Queen Catharine of Portugal, he distinctly declares himself, likeAbraham, prepared to go all lengths in obedience to the Lord. "I havechosen in this matter, " he said, "to make the sacrifice to God of my ownflesh and blood, and to prefer His service and the universal welfare toall other human considerations. " Whenever the letter to Pius V. Sees thelight, it will appear whether the sacrifice which the monarch thus madeto his God proceeded beyond the imprisonment and condemnation of his son, or was completed by the actual immolation of the victim. 

With regard to the Prince himself, it is very certain that, if he hadlived, the realms of the Spanish Crown would have numbered one tyrantmore. Carlos from his earliest youth, was remarkable for the ferocity ofhis character. The Emperor Charles was highly pleased with him, thenabout fourteen years of age, upon their first interview after theabdication. He flattered himself that the lad had inherited his ownmartial genius together with his name. Carlos took much interest in hisgrandfather's account of his various battles, but when the flight fromInnspruck was narrated, he repeated many times, with much vehemence, thathe never would have fled; to which position he adhered, notwithstandingall the arguments of the Emperor, and very much to his amusement. Theyoung Prince was always fond of soldiers, and listened eagerly todiscourses of war. He was in the habit also of recording the names ofany military persons who, according to custom, frequently made offers oftheir services to the heir apparent, and of causing them to take a solemnoath to keep their engagements. No other indications of warlike talent, however, have been preserved concerning him. "He was crafty, ambitious, cruel, violent, " says the envoy Suriano, "a hater of buffoons, a lover ofsoldiers. " His natural cruelty seems to have been remarkable from hisboyhood. After his return from the chase, he was in the habit of cuttingthe throats of hares and other animals, and of amusing himself with theirdying convulsions. He also frequently took pleasure in roasting themalive. He once received a present of a very large snake from some personwho seemed to understand how to please this remarkable young prince. After a time, however, the favorite reptile allowed itself to bite itsmaster's finger, whereupon Don Carlos immediately retaliated by bitingoff its head. 

He was excessively angry at the suggestion that the prince who wasexpected to spring from his father's marriage with the English queen, would one day reign over the Netherlands, and swore he would challengehim to mortal combat in order to prevent such an infringement of hisrights. His father and grandfather were both highly diverted with thismanifestation of spirit, but it was not decreed that the world shouldwitness the execution of these fraternal intentions against the babewhich was never to be born. 

Ferocity, in short, seems to have been the leading characteristic of theunhappy Carlos. His preceptor, a man of learning and merit, who wascalled "the honorable John", tried to mitigate this excessive ardor oftemperament by a course of Cicero de Officiis, which he read to himdaily. Neither the eloquence of Tully, however, nor the precepts of thehonorable John made the least impression upon this very savage nature. As he grew older he did not grow wiser nor more gentle. He wasprematurely and grossly licentious. All the money which as a boy, he wasallowed, he spent upon women of low character, and when he was penniless, he gave them his chains, his medals, even the clothes from his back. He took pleasure in affronting respectable females when he met them inthe streets, insulting them by the coarsest language and gestures. Being cruel, cunning, fierce and licentious, he seemed to combine manyof the worst qualities of a lunatic. That he probably was one is thebest defence which can be offered for his conduct. In attempting tooffer violence to a female, while he was at the university of Alcala, hefell down a stone staircase, from which cause he was laid up for a longtime with a severely wounded head, and was supposed to have injured hisbrain. 

The traits of ferocity recorded of him during his short life are sonumerous that humanity can hardly desire that it should have beenprolonged. A few drops of water having once fallen upon his head from awindow, as he passed through the street, he gave peremptory orders to hisguard to burn the house to the ground, and to put every one of itsinhabitants to the sword. The soldiers went forthwith to execute theorder, but more humane than their master, returned with the excuse thatthe Holy Sacrament of the Viaticum had that moment been carried into thehouse. This appeal to the superstition of the Prince successfullysuspended the execution of the crimes which his inconceivable malignityhad contemplated. On another occasion, a nobleman, who slept near hischamber, failed to answer his bell on the instant. Springing upon hisdilatory attendant, as soon as he made his appearance, the Prince seizedhim in his arms and was about to throw him from the window, when thecries of the unfortunate chamberlain attracted attention, and procured arescue. 

The Cardinal Espinoza had once accidentally detained at his palace anactor who was to perform a favorite part by express command of DonCarlos. Furious at this detention, the Prince took the priest by thethroat as soon as he presented himself at the palace, and plucking hisdagger from its sheath, swore, by the soul of his father, that he wouldtake his life on the spot. The grand inquisitor fell on his knees andbegged for mercy, but it is probable that the entrance of the King alonesaved his life. 

There was often something ludicrous mingled with the atrocious in theseungovernable explosions of wrath. Don Pedro Manuel, his chamberlain, hadonce, by his command, ordered a pair of boots to be made for the Prince. When brought home, they were, unfortunately, too tight. The Prince aftervainly endeavouring to pull them on, fell into a blazing passion. Heswore that it was the fault of Don Pedro, who always wore tight bootshimself, but he at the same time protested that his father was really atthe bottom of the affair. He gave the young nobleman a box on the earfor thus conspiring with the King against his comfort, and then orderedthe boots to be chopped into little pieces, stewed and seasoned. Thensending for the culprit shoemaker, he ordered him to eat his own boots, thus converted into a pottage; and with this punishment the unfortunatemechanic, who had thought his life forfeited, was sufficiently glad tocomply. 

Even the puissant Alva could not escape his violence. Like all the menin whom his father reposed confidence, the Duke was odious to the heirapparent. Don Carlos detested him with the whole force of his littlesoul. He hated him as only a virtuous person deserved to be hated bysuch a ruffian. The heir apparent had taken the Netherlands under hispatronage. He had even formed the design of repairing secretly to theprovinces, and could not, therefore, disguise his wrath at theappointment of the Duke. It is doubtful whether the country would havebenefited by the gratification of his wishes. It is possible that thepranks of so malignant an ape might have been even more mischievous thanthe concentrated and vigorous tyranny of an Alva. When the new Captain-general called, before his departure, to pay his respects to the Infante, the Duke seemed, to his surprise, to have suddenly entered the den of awild beast. Don Carlos sprang upon him with a howl of fury, brandishinga dagger in his hand. He uttered reproaches at having been defrauded ofthe Netherland government. He swore that Alva should never accomplishhis mission, nor leave his presence alive. He was proceeding to makegood the threat with his poniard, when the Duke closed with him. A violent struggle succeeded. Both rolled together on the ground, the Prince biting and striking like a demoniac, the Duke defendinghimself as well as he was able, without attempting his adversary's life. Before the combat was decided, the approach of many persons put an end tothe disgraceful scene. As decent a veil as possible was thrown over thetransaction, and the Duke departed on his mission. Before the end of theyear, the Prince was in the prison whence he never came forth alive. 

The figure of Don Carlos was as misshapen as his mind. His head wasdisproportionately large, his limbs were rickety, one shoulder washigher, one leg longer than the other. With features resembling thoseof his father, but with a swarthy instead of a fair complexion, with anexpression of countenance both fierce and foolish, and with a charactersuch as we have sketched it, upon the evidence of those who knew himwell, it is indeed strange that he should ever have been transformed bythe magic of poetry into a romantic hero. As cruel and cunning as hisfather, as mad as his great-grandmother, he has left a name, which noteven his dark and mysterious fate can render interesting. 

1568 [CHAPTER IV. ]

 Continued and excessive barbarity of the government--Execution of Antony van Straalen, of "Red--Rod" Spelle--The Prince of Orange advised by his German friends to remain quiet--Heroic sentiments of Orange--His religious opinions--His efforts in favor of toleration-- His fervent piety--His public correspondence with the Emperor--His "Justification, " his "Warning, " and other papers characterized--The Prince, with a considerable army, crosses the Rhine--Passage of the Meuse at Stochem--He offers battle to Alva--Determination of the Duke to avoid an engagement--Comparison of his present situation with his previous position in Friesland--Masterly tactics of the Duke--Skirmish on the Geta--Defeat of the Orangists--Death of Hoogstraaten--Junction with Genlis--Adherence of Alva to his original plan--The Prince crosses the frontier of France-- Correspondence between Charles IX. And Orange--The patriot army disbanded at Strasburg--Comments by Granvelle upon the position of the Prince--Triumphant attitude of Alva--Festivities at Brussels-- Colossal statue of Alva erected by himself in Antwerp citadel-- Intercession of the Emperor with Philip--Memorial of six Electors to the Emperor--Mission of the Archduke Charles to Spain--His negotiations with Philip--Public and private correspondence between the King and Emperor--Duplicity of Maximilian--Abrupt conclusion to the intervention--Granvelle's suggestions to Philip concerning the treaty of Passau. 

The Duke having thus crushed the project of Count Bouts, and quelled theinsurrection in Friesland, returned in triumph to Brussels. Far fromsoftened by the success of his arms, he renewed with fresh energy thebutchery which, for a brief season, had been suspended during hisbrilliant campaign in the north. The altars again smoked with victims;the hanging, burning, drowning, beheading, seemed destined to be theperpetual course of his administration, so long as human bodies remainedon which his fanatical vengeance could be wreaked. Four men of eminencewere executed soon after his return to the capital. They had previouslysuffered such intense punishment on the rack, that it was necessary tocarry them to the scaffold and bind them upon chairs, that they might bebeheaded. These four sufferers were a Frisian nobleman, named Galena, the secretaries of Egmont and Horn, Bakkerzeel and La Loo, and thedistinguished burgomaster of Antwerp, Antony Van Straalen. The arrest ofthe three last-mentioned individuals, simultaneously with that of the twoCounts, has been related in a previous chapter. In the case of VanStraalen, the services rendered by him to the provinces during his longand honorable career, had been so remarkable, that even the Blood-Council, in sending his case to Alva for his sentence, were inspired by ahumane feeling. They felt so much compunction at the impending fate of aman who, among other meritorious acts, had furnished nearly all the fundsfor the brilliant campaign in Picardy, by which the opening years ofPhilip's reign had been illustrated, as to hint at the propriety of apardon. But the recommendation to mercy, though it came from the lipsof tigers, dripping with human blood, fell unheeded on the tyrant's ear. It seemed meet that the man who had supplied the nerves of war in thatunforgiven series of triumphs, should share the fate of the hero who hadwon the laurels. 

 [Bor, Cappella, Hoofd, ubi sup. The last words of the Burgomaster as he bowed his neck to the executioner's stroke were, "Voor wel gedaan, kwaclyk beloud, "--"For faithful service, evil recompense. " --Cappella, 232. ]

Hundreds of obscure martyrs now followed in the same path to anotherworld, where surely they deserved to find their recompense, if steadfastadherence to their faith, and a tranquil trust in God amid tortures anddeath too horrible to be related, had ever found favor above. The "Red-Rod, " as the provost of Brabant was popularly designated, was never idle. He flew from village to village throughout the province, executing thebloody behests of his masters with congenial alacrity. Nevertheless hiscareer was soon destined to close upon the same scaffold where he had solong officiated. Partly from caprice, partly from an uncompromising andfantastic sense of justice, his master now hanged the executioner whoseindustry had been so untiring. The sentence which was affixed to hisbreast, as he suffered, stated that he had been guilty of muchmalpractice; that he had executed many persons without a warrant, and had suffered many guilty persons for a bribe, to escape their doom. The reader can judge which of the two clauses constituted the mostsufficient reason. 

During all these triumphs of Alva, the Prince of Orange had not losthis self-possession. One after another, each of his bold, skilfully-conceived and carefully-prepared plans had failed. Villers had beenentirely discomfited at Dalhena, Cocqueville had been cut to pieces inPicardy, and now the valiant and experienced Louis had met with an entireoverthrow in Friesland. The brief success of the patriots at HeiligerZee had been washed out in the blood-torrents of Jemmingen. Tyranny wasmore triumphant, the provinces more timidly crouching, than ever. Thefriends on whom William of Orange relied in Germany, never enthusiasticin his cause, although many of them true-hearted and liberal, now grewcold and anxious. For months long, his most faithful and affectionateallies, such men as the Elector of Hesse and the Duke of Wirtemberg, aswell as the less trustworthy Augustus of Saxony, had earnestly expressedtheir opinion that, under the circumstances, his best course was to sitstill and watch the course of events. 

It was known that the Emperor had written an urgent letter to Philip onthe subject of his policy in the Netherlands in general, and concerningthe position of Orange in particular. All persons, from the Emperor downto the pettiest potentate, seemed now of opinion that the Prince hadbetter pause; that he was, indeed, bound to wait the issue of thatremonstrance. "Your highness must sit still, " said Landgrave William. "Your highness must sit still, " said Augustus of Saxony. "You must moveneither hand nor foot in the cause of the perishing provinces, " said theEmperor. "Not a soldier-horse, foot, or dragoon-shall be levied withinthe Empire. If you violate the peace of the realm, and embroil us withour excellent brother and cousin Philip, it is at your own peril. Youhave nothing to do but to keep quiet and await his answer to our letter. "But the Prince knew how much effect his sitting still would produce uponthe cause of liberty and religion. He knew how much effect the Emperor'sletter was like to have upon the heart of Philip. He knew that the moreimpenetrable the darkness now gathering over that land of doom which hehad devoted his life to defend, the more urgently was he forbidden toturn his face away from it in its affliction. He knew that thousands ofhuman souls, nigh to perishing, were daily turning towards him as theironly hope on earth, and he was resolved, so long as he could dispense asingle ray of light, that his countenance should never be averted. It isdifficult to contemplate his character, at this period, without beinginfected with a perhaps dangerous enthusiasm. It is not an easy taskcoldly to analyse a nature which contained so much of the self-sacrificing and the heroic, as well as of the adroit and the subtle; andit is almost impossible to give utterance to the emotions which naturallyswell the heart at the contemplation of so much active virtue, withoutrendering oneself liable to the charge of excessive admiration. Throughthe mists of adversity, a human form may dilate into proportions whichare colossal and deceptive. Our judgment may thus, perhaps, be ledcaptive, but at any rate the sentiment excited is more healthful thanthat inspired by the mere shedder of blood, by the merely selfishconqueror. When the cause of the champion is that of human right againsttyranny, of political ind religious freedom against an all-engrossing andabsolute bigotry, it is still more difficult to restrain venerationwithin legitimate bounds. To liberate the souls and bodies of millions, to maintain for a generous people, who had well-nigh lost their all, those free institutions which their ancestors had bequeathed, was a nobletask for any man. But here stood a Prince of ancient race, vastpossessions, imperial blood, one of the great ones of the earth, whosepathway along the beaten track would have been smooth and successful, but who was ready to pour out his wealth like water, and to coin hisheart's blood, drop by drop, in this virtuous but almost desperate cause. He felt that of a man to whom so much had been entrusted, much was to beasked. God had endowed him with an incisive and comprehensive genius, unfaltering fortitude, and with the rank and fortune which enable a manto employ his faculties, to the injury or the happiness of his fellows, on the widest scale. The Prince felt the responsibility, and the worldwas to learn the result. 

It was about this time that a deep change came over his mind. Hitherto, although nominally attached to the communion of the ancient Church, hiscourse of life and habits of mind had not led him to deal very earnestlywith things beyond the world. The severe duties, the grave character ofthe cause to which his days were henceforth to be devoted, had alreadyled him to a closer inspection of the essential attributes ofChristianity. He was now enrolled for life as a soldier of theReformation. The Reformation was henceforth his fatherland, the sphere, of his duty and his affection. The religious Reformers became hisbrethren, whether in France, Germany, the Netherlands, or England. Yet his mind had taken a higher flight than that of the most eminentReformers. His goal was not a new doctrine, but religious liberty. Inan age when to think was a crime, and when bigotry and a persecutingspirit characterized Romanists and Lutherans, Calvinists and Zwinglians, he had dared to announce freedom of conscience as the great object forwhich noble natures should strive. In an age when toleration was a vice, he had the manhood to cultivate it as a virtue. His parting advice tothe Reformers of the Netherlands, when he left them for a season in thespring of 1567, was to sink all lesser differences in religious union. Those of the Augsburg Confession and those of the Calvinistic Church, intheir own opinion as incapable of commingling as oil and water, were, inhis judgment, capable of friendly amalgamation. He appealed eloquentlyto the good and influential of all parties to unite in one common causeagainst oppression. Even while favoring daily more and more the cause ofthe purified Church, and becoming daily more alive to the corruption ofRome, he was yet willing to tolerate all forms of worship, and to leavereason to combat error. 

Without a particle of cant or fanaticism, he had become a deeplyreligious man. Hitherto he had been only a man of the world and astatesman, but from this time forth he began calmly to rely upon God'sprovidence in all the emergencies of his eventful life. His letterswritten to his most confidential friends, to be read only by themselves, and which have been gazed upon by no other eyes until after the lapse ofnearly three centuries, abundantly prove his sincere and simple trust. This sentiment was not assumed for effect to delude others, but cherishedas a secret support for himself. His religion was not a cloak to hisdesigns, but a consolation in his disasters. In his letter ofinstruction to his most confidential agent, John Bazius, while hedeclared himself frankly in favor of the Protestant principles, heexpressed his extreme repugnance to the persecution of Catholics. "Should we obtain power over any city or cities, " he wrote, "let thecommunities of papists be as much respected and protected as possible. Let them be overcome, not by violence, but with gentle-mindedness andvirtuous treatment. " After the terrible disaster at Jemmingen, he hadwritten to Louis, consoling him, in the most affectionate language, forthe unfortunate result of his campaign. Not a word of reproach escapedfrom him, although his brother had conducted the operations in Friesland, after the battle of Heiliger Lee, in a manner quite contrary to his ownadvice. He had counselled against a battle, and had foretold a defeat;but after the battle had been fought and a crushing defeat sustained, hislanguage breathed only unwavering submission to the will of God, andcontinued confidence in his own courage. "You may be well assured, mybrother, " he wrote, "that I have never felt anything more keenly than thepitiable misfortune which has happened to you, for many reasons which youcan easily imagine. Moreover, it hinders us much in the levy which weare making, and has greatly chilled the hearts of those who otherwisewould have been ready to give us assistance. Nevertheless, since it hasthus pleased God, it is necessary to have patience and to lose notcourage; conforming ourselves to His divine will, as for my part I havedetermined to do in everything which may happen, still proceeding onwardin our work with his Almighty aid. 'Soevis tranquillus in undis', he wasnever more placid than when the storm was wildest and the night darkest. He drew his consolations and refreshed his courage at the never-failingfountains of Divine mercy. 

"I go to-morrow, " he wrote to the unworthy Anne of Saxony; "but when Ishall return, or when I shall see you, I cannot, on my honor, tell youwith certainty. I have resolved to place myself in the hands of theAlmighty, that he may guide me whither it is His good pleasure that Ishould go. I see well enough that I am destined to pass this life inmisery and labor, with which I am well content, since it thus pleases theOmnipotent, for I know that I have merited still greater chastisement. I only implore Him graciously to send me strength to endure withpatience. "

Such language, in letters the most private, never meant to be seen byother eyes than those to which they were addressed, gives touchingtestimony to the sincere piety of his character. No man was ever moredevoted to a high purpose, no man had ever more right to imagine himself, or less inclination to pronounce himself, entrusted with a divinemission. There was nothing of the charlatan in his character. Hisnature was true and steadfast. No narrow-minded usurper was ever moreloyal to his own aggrandisement than this large-hearted man to the causeof oppressed humanity. Yet it was inevitable that baser minds shouldfail to recognise his purity. While he exhausted his life for theemancipation of a people, it was easy to ascribe all his struggles to thehope of founding a dynasty. It was natural for grovelling natures tosearch in the gross soil of self-interest for the sustaining roots of thetree beneath whose branches a nation found its shelter. What could theycomprehend of living fountains and of heavenly dews?

In May, 1568, the Emperor Maximilian had formally issued a requisition tothe Prince of Orange to lay down his arms, and to desist from all leviesand machinations against the King of Spain and the peace of the realm. This summons he was commanded to obey on pain of forfeiting all rights, fiefs, privileges and endowments bestowed by imperial hands on himself orhis predecessors, and of incurring the heaviest disgrace, punishment, andpenalties of the Empire. 

To this document the Prince replied in August, having paid in themeantime but little heed to its precepts. Now that the Emperor, who atfirst was benignant, had begun to frown on his undertaking, he did notslacken in his own endeavours to set his army on foot. One by one, thoseamong the princes of the empire who had been most stanch in his cause, and were still most friendly to his person, grew colder as tyranny becamestronger; but the ardor of the Prince was not more chilled by theirdespair than by the overthrow at Jemmingen, which had been its cause. In August, he answered the letter of the Emperor, respectfully butwarmly. He still denounced the tyranny of Alva and the arts of Granvellewith that vigorous eloquence which was always at his command, while, asusual, he maintained a show of almost exaggerated respect for theirmonarch. It was not to be presumed, he said, that his Majesty, "a kingdebonair and bountiful, " had ever intended such cruelties as those whichhad been rapidly retraced in the letter, but it was certain that the Dukeof Alva had committed them all of his own authority. He trusted, moreover, that the Emperor, after he had read the "Justification"which the Prince had recently published, would appreciate the reasonfor his taking up arms. He hoped that his Majesty would now considerthe resistance just, Christian, and conformable to the public peace. He expressed the belief that rather than interpose any hindrance, hisMajesty would thenceforth rather render assistance "to the poor anddesolate Christians, " even as it was his Majesty's office and authorityto be the last refuge of the injured. 

The "Justification against the false blame of his calumniators by thePrince of Orange, " to which the Prince thus referred, has been mentionedin a previous chapter. This remarkable paper had been drawn up at theadvice of his friends, Landgrave William and Elector Augustus, but it wasnot the only document which the Prince caused to be published at thisimportant epoch. He issued a formal declaration of war against the Dukeof Alva; he addressed a solemn and eloquent warning or proclamation toall the inhabitants of the Netherlands. These documents are allextremely important and interesting. Their phraseology shows theintentions and the spirit by which the Prince was actuated on firstengaging in the struggle. Without the Prince and his efforts--at thisjuncture, there would probably have never been a free Netherlandcommonwealth. It is certain, likewise, that without an enthusiasticpassion for civil and religious liberty throughout the masses of theNetherland people, there would have been no successful effort on thepart of the Prince. He knew his countrymen; while they, from highestto humblest, recognised in him their saviour. There was, however, no pretence of a revolutionary movement. The Prince came to maintain, not to overthrow. The freedom which had been enjoyed in the provincesuntil the accession of the Burgundian dynasty, it was his purpose torestore. The attitude which he now assumed was a peculiar one inhistory. This defender of a people's cause set up no revolutionarystandard. In all his documents he paid apparent reverence to theauthority of the King. By a fiction, which was not unphilosophical, he assumed that the monarch was incapable of the crimes which he chargedupon the Viceroy. Thus he did not assume the character of a rebel inarms against his prince, but in his own capacity of sovereign he leviedtroops and waged war against a satrap whom he chose to consider false tohis master's orders. In the interest of Philip, assumed to be identicalwith the welfare of his people, he took up arms against the tyrant whowas sacrificing both. This mask of loyalty would never save his headfrom the block, as he well knew, but some spirits lofty as his own, mightperhaps be influenced by a noble sophistry, which sought to strengthenthe cause of the people by attributing virtue to the King. 

And thus did the sovereign of an insignificant little principality standboldly forth to do battle with the most powerful monarch in the world. At his own expense, and by almost superhuman exertions, he had assemblednearly thirty thousand men. He now boldly proclaimed to the world, andespecially to the inhabitants of the provinces, his motives, hispurposes, and his hopes. 

 "We, by God's grace Prince of Orange, " said his declaration of 31st August, 1568, "salute all faithful subjects of his Majesty. To few people is it unknown that the Spaniards have for a long time sought to govern the land according to their pleasure. Abusing his Majesty's goodness, they have persuaded him to decree the introduction of the inquisition into the Netherlands. They well understood, that in case the Netherlanders could be made to tolerate its exercise, they would lose all protection to their liberty; that if they opposed its introduction, they would open those rich provinces as a vast field of plunder. We had hoped that his Majesty, taking the matter to heart, would have spared his hereditary provinces from such utter ruin. We have found our hopes futile. We are unable, by reason of our loyal service due to his Majesty, and of our true compassion for the faithful lieges, to look with tranquillity any longer at such murders, robberies, outrages, and agony. We are, moreover, certain that his Majesty has been badly informed upon Netherland matters. We take up arms, therefore, to oppose the violent tyranny of the Spaniards, by the help of the merciful God, who is the enemy of all bloodthirstiness. Cheerfully inclined to wager our life and all our worldly wealth on the cause, we have now, God be thanked, an excellent army of cavalry, infantry, and artillery, raised all at our own expense. We summon all loyal subjects of the Netherlands to come and help us. Let them take to heart the uttermost need of the country, the danger of perpetual slavery for themselves and their children, and of the entire overthrow of the Evangelical religion. Only when Alva's blood- thirstiness shall have been at last overpowered, can the provinces hope to recover their pure administration of justice, and a prosperous condition for their commonwealth. "

In the "warning" or proclamation to all the inhabitants of theNetherlands, the Prince expressed similar sentiments. He announced hisintention of expelling the Spaniards forever from the country. Toaccomplish the mighty undertaking, money was necessary. He accordinglycalled on his countrymen to contribute, the rich out of their abundance, the poor even out of their poverty, to the furtherance of the cause. To do this, while it was yet time, he solemnly warned them "before God, the fatherland, and the world. " After the title of this paper were citedthe 28th, 29th, and 30th verses of the tenth chapter of Proverbs. Thefavorite motto of the Prince, "pro lege, rege, grege, " was also affixedto the document. 

These appeals had, however, but little effect. Of three hundred thousandcrowns, promised on behalf of leading nobles and merchants of theNetherlands by Marcus Perez, but ten or twelve thousand came to hand. The appeals to the gentlemen who had signed the Compromise, and to manyothers who had, in times past, been favorable to the liberal party werepowerless. A poor Anabaptist preacher collected a small sum from arefugee congregation on the outskirts of Holland, and brought it, at theperil of his life, into the Prince's camp. It came from people, he said, whose will was better than the gift. They never wished to be repaid, hesaid, except by kindness, when the cause of reform should be triumphantin the Netherlands. The Prince signed a receipt for the money, expressing himself touched by this sympathy from these poor outcasts. Inthe course of time, other contributions from similar sources, principallycollected by dissenting preachers, starving and persecuted churchcommunities, were received. The poverty-stricken exiles contributedfar more, in proportion, for the establishment of civil and religiousliberty, than the wealthy merchants or the haughty nobles. 

Late in September, the Prince mustered his army in the province ofTreves, near the monastery of Romersdorf. His force amounted to nearlythirty thousand men, of whom nine thousand were cavalry. Lumey, Count dela Marek, now joined him at the head of a picked band of troopers; abold, ferocious partisan, descended from the celebrated Wild Boar ofArdennes. Like Civilis, the ancient Batavian hero, he had sworn to leavehair and beard unshorn till the liberation of the country was achieved, or at least till the death of Egmont, whose blood relation he was, hadbeen avenged. It is probable that the fierce conduct of this chieftain, and particularly the cruelties exercised upon monks and papists by histroops, dishonored the cause more than their valor could advance it. Butin those stormy times such rude but incisive instruments were scarcely tobe neglected, and the name of Lumey was to be forever associated withimportant triumphs of the liberal cause. 

It was fated, however, that but few laurels should be won by the patriotsin this campaign. The Prince crossed the Rhine at Saint Feit, a villagebelonging to himself. He descended along the banks as far as theneighbourhood of Cologne. Then, after hovering in apparent uncertaintyabout the territories of Juliers and Limburg, he suddenly, on a brightmoonlight night, crossed the Meuse with his whole army, in theneighbourhood of Stochem. The operation was brilliantly effected. A compact body of cavalry, according to the plan which had been more thanonce adopted by Julius Caesar, was placed in the midst of the current, under which shelter the whole army successfully forded the river. The Meuse was more shallow than usual, but the water was as high as thesoldiers' necks. This feat was accomplished on the night and morning ofthe 4th and 5th of October. It was considered so bold an achievementthat its fame spread far and wide. The Spaniards began to tremble at theprowess of a Prince whom they had affected to despise. The very fact ofthe passage was flatly contradicted. An unfortunate burgher at Amsterdamwas scourged at the whipping-post, because he mentioned it as matter ofcommon report. The Duke of Alva refused to credit the tale when it wasannounced to him. "Is the army of the Prince of Orange a flock of wildgeese, " he asked, "that it can fly over rivers like the Meuse?"Nevertheless it was true. The outlawed, exiled Prince stood once more onthe borders of Brabant, with an army of disciplined troops at his back. His banners bore patriotic inscriptions. "Pro Lege, Rege, Grege, " wasemblazoned upon some. A pelican tearing her breast to nourish her youngwith her life-blood was the pathetic emblem of others. It was hisdetermination to force or entice the Duke of Alva into a generalengagement. He was desirous to wipe out the disgrace of Jemmingen. Could he plant his victorious standard thus in the very heart of thecountry, he felt that thousands would rally around it. The country wouldrise almost to a man, could he achieve a victory over the tyrant, flushedas he was with victory, and sated with blood. 

With banners flying, drums beating, trumpets sounding, with all the pompand defiance which an already victorious general could assume, Orangemarched into Brabant, and took up a position within six thousand paces ofAlva's encampment. His plan was at every hazard to dare or to decoy hisadversary into the chances of a stricken field. The Governor wasentrenched at a place called Keiserslager, which Julius Caesar had onceoccupied. The city of Maestricht was in his immediate neighbourhood, which was thus completely under his protection, while it furnished himwith supplies. The Prince sent to the Duke a herald, who was to proposethat all prisoners who might be taken in the coming campaign should beexchanged instead of being executed. The herald, booted and spurred, even as he had dismounted from his horse, was instantly hanged. This wasthe significant answer to the mission of mercy. Alva held no parley withrebels before a battle, nor gave quarter afterwards. 

In the meantime, the Duke had carefully studied the whole position ofaffairs, and had arrived at his conclusion. He was determined not tofight. It was obvious that the Prince would offer battle eagerly, ostentatiously, frequently, but the Governor was resolved never to acceptthe combat. Once taken, his resolution was unalterable. He recognizedthe important difference between his own attitude at present, and that inwhich he had found himself during the past summer in Friesland. There abattle had been necessary, now it was more expedient to overcome hisenemy by delay. In Friesland, the rebels had just achieved a victoryover the choice troops of Spain. Here they were suffering from thestigma of a crushing defeat. Then, the army of Louis Nassau was swellingdaily by recruits, who poured in from all the country round. Now, neither peasant nor noble dared lift a finger for the Prince. The armyof Louis had been sustained by the one which his brother was known to bepreparing. If their movements had not been checked, a junction wouldhave been effected. The armed revolt would then have assumed soformidable an aspect, that rebellion would seem, even for the timid, a safer choice than loyalty. The army of the Prince, on the contrary, was now the last hope of the patriots: The three by which it had beenpreceded had been successively and signally vanquished. 

Friesland, again, was on the outskirts of the country. A defeatsustained by the government there did not necessarily imperil thepossession of the provinces. Brabant, on the contrary, was the heart ofthe Netherlands. Should the Prince achieve a decisive triumph then andthere, he would be master of the nation's fate. The Viceroy knew himselfto be odious, and he reigned by terror. The Prince was the object of thepeople's idolatry, and they would rally round him if they dared. A victory gained by the liberator over the tyrant, would destroy theterrible talisman of invincibility by which Alva governed. The Duke hadsufficiently demonstrated his audacity in the tremendous chastisementwhich he had inflicted upon the rebels under Louis. He could now affordto play that scientific game of which he was so profound a master, without risking any loss of respect or authority. He was no enthusiast. Although he doubtless felt sufficiently confident of overcoming thePrince in a pitched battle, he had not sufficient relish for the joysof contest to be willing to risk even a remote possibility of defeat. His force, although composed of veterans and of the best musketeers andpikemen in Europe, was still somewhat inferior in numbers to that of hisadversary. Against the twenty thousand foot and eight thousand, horse ofOrange, he could oppose only fifteen or sixteen thousand foot and fifty-five hundred riders. Moreover, the advantage which he had possessed inFriesland, a country only favorable to infantry, in which he had beenstronger than his opponent, was now transferred to his new enemy. On theplains of Brabant, the Prince's superiority in cavalry was sure to tell. The season of the year, too, was an important element in the calculation. The winter alone would soon disperse the bands of German mercenaries, whose expenses Orange was not able to support, even while in activeservice. With unpaid wages and disappointed hopes of plunder, the rebelarmy would disappear in a few weeks as totally as if defeated in the openfield. In brief, Orange by a victory would gain new life and strength, while his defeat could no more than anticipate, by a few weeks, thedestruction of his army, already inevitable. Alva, on the contrary, might lose the mastery of the Netherlands if unfortunate, and would gainno solid advantage if triumphant. The Prince had everything to hope, theDuke everything to fear, from the result of a general action. 

The plan, thus deliberately resolved upon, was accomplished withfaultless accuracy. As a work of art, the present campaign of Alvaagainst Orange was a more consummate masterpiece than the, more brilliantand dashing expedition into Friesland. The Duke had resolved to hangupon his adversary's skirts, to follow him move by move, to check him atevery turn, to harass him in a hundred ways, to foil all his enterprises, to parry all his strokes, and finally to drive him out of the country, after a totally barren campaign, when, as he felt certain, his ill-paidhirelings would vanish in all directions, and leave their patriot Princea helpless and penniless adventurer. The scheme thus sagaciouslyconceived, his adversary, with all his efforts, was unable to circumvent. 

The campaign lasted little more than a month. Twenty-nine times thePrince changed his encampment, and at every remove the Duke was stillbehind him, as close and seemingly as impalpable as his shadow. Thricethey were within cannon-shot of each other; twice without a single trenchor rampart between them. The country people refused the Prince supplies, for they trembled at the vengeance of the Governor. Alva had caused theirons to be removed from all the mills, so that not a bushel of corncould be ground in the whole province. The country thus afforded butlittle forage for the thirty thousand soldiers of the Prince. The troops, already discontented, were clamorous for pay and plunder. During one mutinous demonstration, the Prince's sword was shot from hisside, and it was with difficulty that a general outbreak was suppressed. The soldiery were maddened and tantalized by the tactics of Alva. Theyfound themselves constantly in the presence of an enemy, who seemed tocourt a battle at one moment and to vanish like a phantom at the nextThey felt the winter approaching, and became daily more dissatisfied withthe irritating hardships to which they were exposed. Upon the night ofthe 5th and 6th of October the Prince had crossed the Meuse at Stochem. Thence he had proceeded to Tongres, followed closely by the enemy'sforce, who encamped in the immediate neighbourhood. From Tongres hehad moved to Saint Trond, still pursued and still baffled in the samecautious manner. The skirmishing at the outposts was incessant, but themain body was withdrawn as soon as there seemed a chance of its becominginvolved. 

From Saint Trond, in the neighbourhood of which he had remained severaldays, he advanced in a southerly direction towards Jodoigne. Count deGenlis, with a reinforcement of French Huguenots, for which the Princehad been waiting, had penetrated through the Ardennes, crossed the Meuseat Charlemont, and was now intending a junction with him at Waveron. Theriver Geta flowed between them. The Prince stationed a considerableforce upon a hill near the stream to protect the passage, and thenproceeded leisurely to send his army across the river. CountHoogstraaten, with the rear-guard, consisting of about three thousandmen, were alone left upon the hither bank, in order to provoke or totempt the enemy, who, as usual, was encamped very near. Alva refused toattack the main army, but Frederic with a force of four thousand men, were alone left on the hither bank, in order to provoke or to tempt theenemy, who as usual, was encamped very near. Alva refused to attack themain army but rapidly detached his son, Don Fredrick, with a force offour thousand foot and three thousand horse, to cut off the rear-guard. The movement was effected in a masterly manner, the hill was taken, thethree thousand troops which had not passed the river were cut to pieces, and Vitelli hastily despatched a gentleman named Barberini to implore theDuke to advance with the main body, cross the river, and, once for all, exterminate the rebels in a general combat. Alva, inflamed, not withardor for an impending triumph, but with rage, that his sagely-conceivedplans could not be comprehended even by his son and by his favoriteofficers, answered the eager messenger with peremptory violence. "Goback to Vitelli, " he cried. "Is he, or am I, to command in thiscampaign? Tell him not to suffer a single man to cross the river. Warnhim against sending any more envoys to advise a battle; for should you orany other man dare to bring me another such message, I swear to you, bythe head of the King, that you go not hence alive. "

With this decisive answer the messenger had nothing for it but to gallopback with all haste, in order to participate in what might be left of thebutchery of Count Hoogstraaten's force, and to prevent Vitelli and DonFrederic in their ill-timed ardor, from crossing the river. This wasproperly effected, while in the meantime the whole rear-guard of thepatriots had been slaughtered. A hundred or two, the last who remained, had made their escape from the field, and had taken refuge in a house inthe neighbourhood. The Spaniards set the buildings on fire, and standingaround with lifted lances, offered the fugitives the choice of beingconsumed in the flames or of springing out upon their spears. Thusentrapped some chose the one course, some the other. A few, to escapethe fury of the fire and the brutality of the Spaniards, stabbedthemselves with their own swords. Others embraced, and then killed eachother, the enemies from below looking on, as at a theatrical exhibition;now hissing and now applauding, as the death struggles were more or lessto their taste. In a few minutes all the fugitives were dead. Nearlythree thousand of the patriots were slain in this combat, including thoseburned or butchered after the battle was over. The Sieur de Louverwalwas taken prisoner, and soon afterwards beheaded in Brussels; but thegreatest misfortune sustained by the liberal party upon this occasion wasthe death of Antony de Lalaing, Count of Hoogstraaten. This brave andgenerous nobleman, the tried friend of the Prince of Orange, and hiscolleague during the memorable scenes at Antwerp, was wounded in the footduring the action, by an accidental discharge of his own pistol. Theinjury, although apparently slight, caused his death in a few days. There seemed a strange coincidence in his good and evil fortunes. A casual wound in the hand from his own pistol while he was on his wayto Brussels, to greet Alva upon his first arrival, had saved him fromthe scaffold. And now in his first pitched battle with the Duke, thisseemingly trifling injury in the foot was destined to terminate hisexistence. Another peculiar circumstance had marked the event. At a gaysupper in the course of this campaign, Hoogstraaten had teased CountLouis, in a rough, soldierly way, with his disaster at Jemmingen. He had affected to believe that the retreat upon that occasion had beenunnecessary. "We have been now many days in the Netherlands;" said he, "and we have seen nothing of the Spaniards but their backs. "--"And whenthe Duke does break loose, " replied Louis, somewhat nettled, "I warrantyou will see their faces soon enough, and remember them for the rest ofyour life. " The half-jesting remark was thus destined to become a gloomyprophecy. 

This was the only important action daring the campaign. Its perfectsuccess did not warp Alva's purpose, and, notwithstanding the murmurs ofmany of his officers, he remained firm in his resolution. After thetermination of the battle on the Geta, and the Duke's obstinate refusalto pursue his advantage, the Baron de Chevreau dashed his pistol to theground, in his presence, exclaiming that the Duke would never fight. The Governor smiled at the young man's chagrin, seemed even to approvehis enthusiasm, but reminded him that it was the business of an officerto fight, of a general to conquer. If the victory were bloodless, somuch the better for all. 

This action was fought on the 20th of October. A few days afterwards, the Prince made his junction with Genlis at Waveren, a place about threeleagues from Louvain and from Brussels. This auxiliary force was, however, insignificant. There were only five hundred cavalry and threethousand foot, but so many women and children, that it seemed rather anemigrating colony than an invading army. They arrived late. If they hadcome earlier, it would have been of little consequence, for it had beenwritten that no laurels were to be gathered in that campaign. Thefraternal spirit which existed between the Reformers in all countrieswas all which could be manifested upon the occasion. The Prince wasfrustrated in his hopes of a general battle, still more bitterlydisappointed by the supineness of the country. Not a voice was raisedto welcome the deliverer. Not a single city opened its gates. All wascrouching, silent, abject. The rising, which perhaps would have beenuniversal had a brilliant victory been obtained, was, by the masterlytactics of Alva, rendered an almost inconceivable idea. The mutinousdemonstrations in the Prince's camp became incessant; the soldiers werediscontented and weary. What the Duke had foretold was coming to pass, for the Prince's army was already dissolving. 

Genlis and the other French officers were desirous that the Prince shouldabandon the Netherlands for the present, and come to the rescue of theHuguenots, who had again renewed the religious war under Conde andColigny. The German soldiers, however would listen to no such proposal. They had enlisted to fight the Duke of Alva in the Netherlands, and wouldnot hear of making war against Charles IX. In France. The Prince wasobliged to countermarch toward the Rhine. He recrossed the Geta, somewhat to Alva's astonishment, and proceeded in the direction of theMeuse. The autumn rains, however, had much swollen that river since hispassage at the beginning of the month, so that it could no longer beforded. He approached the city of Liege, and summoned their Bishop, ashe had done on his entrance into the country, to grant a free passage tohis troops. The Bishop who stood in awe of Alva, and who had acceptedhis protection again refused. The Prince had no time to parley. He wasagain obliged to countermarch, and took his way along the high-road toFrance, still watched and closely pursued by Alva, between whose troopsand his own daily skirmishes took place. At Le Quesnoy, the Princegained a trifling advantage over the Spaniards; at Cateau Cambresis healso obtained a slight and easy-victory; but by the 17th of November theDuke of Alva had entered Cateau Cambresis, and the Prince had crossed thefrontier of France. 

The Marechal de Cosse, who was stationed on the boundary of France andFlanders, now harassed the Prince by very similar tactics to those ofAlva. He was, however, too weak to inflict any serious damage, althoughstrong enough to create perpetual annoyance. He also sent a secretary tothe Prince, with a formal prohibition, in the name of Charles IX. , against his entering the French territory with his troops. 

Besides these negotiations, conducted by Secretary Favelles on the partof Marechal de Cosse, the King, who was excessively alarmed, alsodespatched the Marechal Gaspar de Schomberg on the same service. Thatenvoy accordingly addressed to the Prince a formal remonstrance in thename of his sovereign. Charles IX. , it was represented, found it verystrange that the Prince should thus enter the French territory. The Kingwas not aware that he had ever given him the least cause for hostileproceedings, could not therefore take it in good part that the Princeshould thus enter France with a "large and puissant army;" because nopotentate, however humble, could tolerate such a proceeding, much less agreat and powerful monarch. Orange was therefore summoned to declare hisintentions, but was at the same, time informed, that if he merely desired"to pass amiably through the country, " and would give assurance, andrequest permission to that, effect, under his hand and seal, his Majestywould take all necessary measures to secure that amiable passage. 

The Prince replied by a reference to the statements which he had alreadymade to Marechal de Cosse. He averred that he had not entered Francewith evil intent, but rather with a desire to render very humble serviceto his Majesty, so far as he could do so with a clear conscience. 

Touching the King's inability to remember having given any occasion tohostile proceedings on the part of the Prince, he replied that he wouldpass that matter by. Although he could adduce many, various, and strongreasons for violent measures, he was not so devoid of understanding asnot to recognize the futility of attempting anything, by his own personalmeans, against so great and powerful a King, in comparison with whom hewas "but a petty companion. "

"Since the true religion, " continued Orange, "is a public and generalaffair, which ought to be preferred to all private matters; since thePrince, as a true Christian, is held by his honor and conscience toprocure, with all his strength, its advancement and establishment inevery place whatever; since, on the other hand, according to the edictpublished in September last by his Majesty, attempts have been made toforce in their consciences all those who are of the Christian religion;and since it has been determined to exterminate the pure word of God, and the entire exercise thereof, and to permit no other religion thanthe Roman Catholic, a thing very, prejudicial to the neighbouring nationswhere there is a free exercise of the Christian religion, therefore thePrince would put no faith in the assertions of his Majesty, that it wasnot his Majesty's intentions to force the consciences of any one. "

Having given this very deliberate and succinct contradiction to thestatements of the French King, the Prince proceeded to express hissympathy for the oppressed Christians everywhere. He protested that hewould give them all the aid, comfort, counsel, and assistance that he wasable to give them. He asserted his conviction that the men who professedthe religion demanded nothing else than the glory of God and theadvancement of His word, while in all matters of civil polity they wereready to render obedience to his Majesty. He added that all his doingswere governed by a Christian and affectionate regard for the King and hissubjects, whom his Majesty must be desirous of preserving from extremeruin. He averred, moreover, that if he should perceive any indicationthat those of the religion were pursuing any other object than liberty ofconscience and security for life and property, he would not only withdrawhis assistance from them, but would use the whole strength of his army toexterminate them. In conclusion, he begged the King to believe that thework which the Prince had undertaken was a Christian work, and that hisintentions were good and friendly towards his Majesty. 

 [This very eloquently written letter was dated Ciasonne, December 3rd, 1568. It has never been published. It is in the Collection of MSS, Pivoen concernant, etc. , Hague archives. ]

It was, however, in vain that the Prince endeavoured to induce his armyto try the fortunes of the civil war in France. They had enlisted forthe Netherlands, the campaign was over, and they insisted upon being ledback to Germany. Schomberg, secretly instructed by the King of France, was active in fomenting the discontent, and the Prince was forced toyield. He led his army through Champagne and Lorraine to Strasburg, where they were disbanded. All the money which the Prince had been ableto collect was paid them. He pawned all his camp equipage, his plate, his furniture. 

What he could not pay in money he made up in promises, sacredly to befulfilled, when he should be restored to his possessions. He evensolemnly engaged, should he return from France alive, and be still unableto pay their arrears of wages, to surrender his person to them as ahostage for his debt. 

Thus triumphantly for Alva, thus miserably for Orange, ended thecampaign. Thus hopelessly vanished the army to which so many proud hopeshad attached themselves. Eight thousand teen had been slain in paltryencounters, thirty thousand were dispersed, not easily to be againcollected. All the funds which the Prince could command had been wastedwithout producing a result. For the present, nothing seemed to afford aground of hope for the Netherlands, but the war of freedom had beenrenewed in France. A band of twelve hundred mounted men-at-arms werewilling to follow the fortunes of the Prince. The three brothersaccordingly; William, Louis, and Henry--a lad of eighteen, who hadabandoned his studies at the university to obey the chivalrous instinctsof his race--set forth early in the following spring to join the bannerof Conde. 

Cardinal Granvelle, who had never taken his eyes or thoughts from theprovinces during his residence at Rome, now expressed himself withexultation. He had predicted, with cold malice, the immediate resultsof the campaign, and was sanguine enough to believe the contest over, and the Prince for ever crushed. In his letters to Philip he had takendue notice of the compliments paid to him by Orange in his Justification, in his Declaration, and in his letter to the Emperor. He had declined tomake any answer to the charges, in order to enrage the Prince the more. He had expressed the opinion, however, that this publication of writingswas not the business of brave soldiers, but of cowards. He made the samereflection upon the alleged intrigues by Orange to procure an embassy onhis own behalf from the Emperor to Philip--a mission which was sure toend in smoke, while it would cost the Prince all credit, not only inGermany but the Netherlands. He felt sure, he said, of the results ofthe impending campaign. The Duke of Alva was a man upon whoseadministrative prudence and military skill his sovereign could implicitlyrely, nor was there a person in the ranks of the rebels capable of, conducting an enterprise of such moment. Least of all had the Prince ofOrange sufficient brains for carrying on such weighty affairs, accordingto the opinion which he had formed of him during their long intercoursein former days. 

When the campaign had been decided, and the Prince had again become anexile, Granvelle observed that it was now proved how incompetent he andall his companions were to contend in military skill with the Duke ofAlva. With a cold sneer at motives which he assumed, as a matter ofcourse, to be purely selfish, he said that the Prince had not taken theproper road to recover his property, and that he would now be muchembarrassed to satisfy his creditors. Thus must those ever fall, hemoralized, who would fly higher than they ought; adding, that henceforththe Prince would have enough to do in taking care of madam his wife, ifshe did not change soon in humor and character. 

Meantime the Duke of Alva, having despatched from Cateau Cambresis abrief account of the victorious termination of the campaign, returned intriumph to Brussels. He had certainly amply vindicated his claim to beconsidered the first warrior of the age. By his lieutenants he hadsummarily and rapidly destroyed two of the armies sent against him; hehad annihilated in person the third, by a brilliantly successful battle, in which he had lost seven men, and his enemies seven thousand; and hehad now, by consummate strategy, foiled the fourth and last under theidolized champion of the Netherlands, and this so decisively that, without losing a man, he had destroyed eight thousand rebels, andscattered to the four winds the remaining twenty thousand. Such signalresults might well make even a meeker nature proud. Such vast andfortunate efforts to fix for ever an impregnable military tyranny upon aconstitutional country, might cause a more modest despot to exult. Itwas not wonderful that the haughty, and now apparently omnipotent Alva, should almost assume the god. On his return to Brussels he instituted asuccession of triumphant festivals. The people were called upon torejoice and to be exceeding glad, to strew flowers in his path, to singHosannas in his praise who came to them covered with the blood of thosewho had striven in their defence. The holiday was duly called forth;houses, where funeral hatchments for murdered inmates had beenperpetually suspended, were decked with garlands; the bells, which hadhardly once omitted their daily knell for the victims of an incrediblecruelty, now rang their merriest peals; and in the very square where solately Egmont and Horn, besides many other less distinguished martyrs, had suffered an ignominious death, a gay tournament was held, day afterday, with all the insolent pomp which could make the exhibition mostgalling. 

But even these demonstrations of hilarity were not sufficient. Theconqueror and tamer of the Netherlands felt that a more personal andpalpable deification was necessary for his pride. When Germanicus hadachieved his last triumph over the ancient freedom of those generousraces whose descendants, but lately in possession of a better organizedliberty, Alva had been sent by the second and the worse Tiberius toinsult and to crush, the valiant but modest Roman erected his trophy uponthe plains of Idistavisus. "The army of Tiberius Caesar having subduedthe nations between the Rhine and the Elbe, dedicate this monument toMars, to Jupiter, and to Augustus. " So ran the inscription ofGermanicus, without a word of allusion to his own name. The Duke ofAlva, on his return from the battle-fields of Brabant and Friesland, reared a colossal statue of himself, and upon its pedestal caused theselines to be engraved: "To Ferdinand Alvarez de Toledo, Duke of Alva, Governor of the Netherlands under Philip the Second, for havingextinguished sedition, chastised rebellion, restored religion, securedjustice, established peace; to the King's most faithful minister thismonument is erected. "

 [Bor, iv. 257, 258. Meteren, 61. De Thou, v. 471-473, who saw it after it was overthrown, and who was "as much struck by the beauty of the work as by the insane pride of him who ordered it to be made. "]

So pompous a eulogy, even if truthful and merited, would be sufficientlyinflated upon a tombstone raised to a dead chieftain by his bereavedadmirers. What shall we say of such false and fulsome tribute, not to agod, not to the memory of departed greatness, but to a living, mortalman, and offered not by his adorers but by himself? Certainly, self-worship never went farther than in this remarkable monument, erected inAlva's honor, by Alva's hands. The statue was colossal, and was placedin the citadel of Antwerp. Its bronze was furnished by the cannoncaptured at Jemmingen. It represented the Duke trampling upon aprostrate figure with two heads, four arms, and one body. The twoheads were interpreted by some to represent Egmont and Horn, by others, the two Nassaus, William and Louis. Others saw in them an allegoricalpresentment of the nobles and commons of the Netherlands, or perhaps animpersonation of the Compromise and the Request. Besides the chiefinscription on the pedestal, were sculptured various bas-reliefs; and thespectator, whose admiration for the Governor-general was not satiatedwith the colossal statue itself, was at liberty to find a fresh, personification of the hero, either in a torch-bearing angel or a gentleshepherd. The work, which had considerable esthetic merit, was executedby an artist named Jacob Jongeling. It remained to astonish and disgustthe Netherlanders until it was thrown down and demolished by Alva'ssuccessor, Requesens. 

It has already been observed that many princes of the Empire had, atfirst warmly and afterwards, as the storm darkened around him, with lessearnestness, encouraged the efforts of Orange. They had, both privatelyand officially, urged the subject upon the attention of the Emperor, andhad solicited his intercession with Philip. It was not an interpositionto save the Prince from chastisement, however the artful pen of Granvellemight distort the facts. It was an address in behalf of religiousliberty for the Netherlands, made by those who had achieved it in theirown persons, and who were at last enjoying immunity from persecution. It was an appeal which they who made it were bound to make, for theNetherland commissioners had assisted at the consultations by which thePeace of Passau had been wrung from the reluctant hand of Charles. 

These applications, however, to the Emperor, and through him to the Kingof Spain, had been, as we have seen, accompanied by perpetual advice tothe Prince of Orange, that he should "sit still. " The Emperor hadespoused his cause with apparent frankness, so far as friendly mediationwent, but in the meantime had peremptorily commanded him to refrain fromlevying war upon Alva, an injunction which the Prince had as peremptorilydeclined to obey. The Emperor had even sent especial envoys to the Dukeand to the Prince, to induce them to lay down their arms, but withouteffect. Orange knew which course was the more generous to his oppressedcountry; to take up arms, now that hope had been converted into despairby the furious tyranny of Alva, or to "sit still" and await the result ofthe protocols about to be exchanged between king and kaiser. His armshad been unsuccessful indeed, but had he attended the issue of thissluggish diplomacy, it would have been even worse for the cause offreedom. The sympathy of his best friends, at first fervent thenlukewarm, had, as disasters thickened around him, grown at last stone-cold. From the grave, too, of Queen Isabella arose the most importunatephantom in his path. The King of Spain was a widower again, and theEmperor among his sixteen children had more than one marriageabledaughter. To the titles of "beloved cousin and brother-in-law, " withwhich Philip had always been greeted in the Imperial proclamations, thenearer and dearer one of son-in-law was prospectively added. 

The ties of wedlock were sacred in the traditions of the Habsburg house, but still the intervention was nominally made. As early as August, 1568, the Emperor's minister at Madrid had addressed a memorial to the King. He had spoken in warm and strong language of the fate of Egmont and Horn, and had reminded Philip that the executions which were constantly takingplace in the provinces were steadily advancing the Prince of Orange'scause. On the 22nd September, 1568, the six electors had addressed aformal memorial to the Emperor. They thanked him for his previousinterposition in favor of the Netherlands, painted in lively colors thecruelty of Alva, and denounced the unheard-of rigor with which he hadmassacred, not only many illustrious seigniors, but people of everydegree. Notwithstanding the repeated assurances given by the King to thecontrary, they reminded the Emperor, that the inquisition, as well as theCouncil of Trent, had now been established in the Netherlands in fullvigor. They maintained that the provinces had been excluded from theAugsburg religious peace, to which their claim was perfect. NetherGermany was entitled to the same privileges as Upper Germany. Theybegged the Emperor to make manifest his sentiments and their own. Itwas fitting that his Catholic Majesty should be aware that the princesof the Empire were united for the conservation of fatherland and oftranquillity. To this end they placed in the Emperor's hands theirestates, their fortunes, and their lives. 

Such was the language of that important appeal to the Emperor in behalfof oppressed millions in the Netherlands, an appeal which Granvelle hadcoldly characterized as an intrigue contrived by Orange to bring abouthis own restoration to favor!

The Emperor, in answer, assured the electoral envoys that he had takenthe affair to heart, and had resolved to despatch his own brother, theArchduke Charles, on a special mission to Spain. 

Accordingly, on the 21st October, 1568, the Emperor presented his brotherwith an ample letter of instructions. He was to recal to Philip's memorythe frequent exhortations made by the Emperor concerning the policypursued in the Netherlands. He was to mention the urgent interpellationsmade to him by the electors and princes of the Empire in their recentembassy. He was to state that the Emperor had recently deputedcommissioners to the Prince of Orange and the Duke of Alva, in orderto bring about, if possible, a suspension of arms. He was to representthat the great number of men raised by the Prince of Orange in Germany, showed the powerful support which he had found in the country. Undersuch circumstances he was to show that it had been impossible for theEmperor to decree the ban against him, as the Duke of Alva had demanded. The Archduke was to request the King's consent to the reconciliation ofOrange, on honorable conditions. He was to demand the substitution ofclemency in for severity, and to insist on the recall of the foreignsoldiery from the Netherlands. 

Furnished with this very warm and stringent letter, the Archduke arrivedin Madrid on the 10th December, 1568. A few days later he presented theKing with a copy of the instructions; those brave words upon which thePrince of Orange was expected to rely instead of his own brave heart andthe stout arms of his followers. Philip having examined the letter, expressed his astonishment that such propositions should be made to him, and by the agency, too, of such a personage as the Archduke. He hadalready addressed a letter to the Emperor, expressing his dissatisfactionat the step now taken. He had been disturbed at the honor thus done tothe Prince of Orange, and at this interference with his own rights. Itwas, in his opinion, an unheard-of proceeding thus to address a monarchof his quality upon matters in which he could accept the law from no man. He promised, however, that a written answer should be given to the letterof instructions. 

On the 20th of January, 1569, that answer was placed in the hands of theArchduke. It was intimated that the paper was a public one, fit to belaid by the Emperor, before the electors; but that the King had alsocaused a confidential one to be prepared, in which his motives andprivate griefs were indicated to Maximilian. 

In the more public document, Philip observed that he had never consideredhimself obliged to justify his conduct, in his own affairs, to others. He thought, however, that his example of severity would have beenreceived with approbation by princes whose subjects he had thus taughtobedience. He could not admit that, on account of the treaties whichconstituted the Netherlands a circle of the Empire, he was obliged toobserve within their limits the ordinances of the imperial diet. As tothe matter of religion, his principal solicitude, since his accession tothe crown, had been to maintain the Catholic faith throughout all hisstates. In things sacred he could admit no compromise. The Church alonehad the right to prescribe rules to the faithful. As to the chastisementinflicted by him upon the Netherland rebels, it would be found that hehad not used rigor, as had been charged against him, but, on the, contrary, great clemency and gentleness. He had made no change in thegovernment of the provinces, certainly none in the edicts, the onlystatutes binding upon princes. He had appointed the Duke of Alva to theregency, because it was his royal will and pleasure so to appoint him. The Spanish soldiery were necessary for the thorough chastisement of therebels, and could not be at present removed. As to the Prince of Orange, whose case seemed the principal motive for this embassy, and in whoseinterest so much had been urged, his crimes were so notorious that it wasimpossible even to attempt to justify them. He had been, in effect, theauthor of all the conspiracies, tumults, and seditious which had takenplace in the Netherlands. All the thefts, sacrileges, violations oftemples, and other misdeeds of which these provinces had been thetheatre, were, with justice, to be imputed to him. He had moreover, levied an army and invaded his Majesty's territories. Crimes so enormoushad closed the gate to all clemency. Notwithstanding his respect for theintercession made by the Emperor and the princes of the Empire, the Kingcould not condescend to grant what was now asked of him in regard to thePrince of Orange. As to a truce between him and the Duke of Alva, hisImperial Majesty ought to reflect upon the difference between a sovereignand his rebellious vassal, and consider how indecent and how prejudicialto the King's honor such a treaty must be esteemed. 

So far the public letter, of which the Archduke was furnished with acopy, both in Spanish and in Latin. The private memorandum was intendedfor the Emperor's eyes alone and those of his envoy. In this paper theKing expressed himself with more warmth and in more decided language. He was astonished, he said, that the Prince of Orange, in levying an armyfor the purpose of invading the states of his natural sovereign, shouldhave received so much aid and comfort in Germany. It seemed incrediblethat this could not have been prevented by imperial authority. He hadbeen pained that commissioners had been sent to the Prince. He regrettedsuch a demonstration in his favor as had now been made by the mission ofthe Archduke to Madrid. That which, however, had caused the King thedeepest sorrow was, that his Imperial Majesty should wish to persuade himin religious matters to proceed with mildness. The Emperor ought to beaware that no human consideration, no regard for his realms, nothing inthe world which could be represented or risked, would cause him to swerveby a single hair's breadth from his path in the matter of religion. Thispath was the same throughout all his kingdoms. He had ever trod in itfaithfully, and he meant to keep in it perpetually. He would admitneither counsel nor persuasion to the contrary, and should take it ill ifcounsel or persuasion should be offered. He could not but consider theterms of the instructions given to the Archduke as exceeding the limitsof amicable suggestion. They in effect amounted to a menace, and he wasastonished that a menace should be employed, because, with princesconstituted like himself, such means could have but little success. 

On the 23rd of January, 1569, the Archduke presented the King with aspirited reply to the public letter. It was couched in the spirit of theinstructions, and therefore need not be analysed at length. He did notbelieve that his Imperial Majesty would admit any justification of thecourse pursued in the Netherlands. The estates of the Empire would neverallow Philip's reasoning concerning the connexion of those countries withthe Empire, nor that they were independent, except in the particulararticles expressed in the treaty of Augsburg. In 1555, when Charles theFifth and King Ferdinand had settled the religious peace, they had beenassisted by envoys from the Netherlands. The princes of the Empire heldthe ground, therefore, that the religious peace, which alone had saved avestige of Romanism in Germany, should of right extend to the provinces. As to the Prince of Orange, the Archduke would have preferred to saynothing more, but the orders of the Emperor did not allow him to besilent. It was now necessary to put an end to this state of things inLower Germany. The princes of the Empire were becoming exasperated. Herecalled the dangers of the Smalcaldian war--the imminent peril in whichthe Emperor had been placed by the act of a single elector. They whobelieved that Flanders could be governed in the same manner as Italy andSpain were greatly mistaken, and Charles the Fifth had always recognisedthat error. 

This was the sum and substance of the Archduke's mission to Madrid, sofar as its immediate objects were concerned. In the course, however, ofthe interview between this personage and Philip, the King took occasionto administer a rebuke to his Imperial Majesty for his general negligencein religious matters. It was a matter which lay at his heart, he said, that the Emperor, although, as he doubted not, a Christian and Catholicprince, was from policy unaccustomed to make those exteriordemonstrations which matters of faith required. He therefore begged theArchduke to urge this matter upon the attention of his Imperial Majesty. 

The Emperor, despite this solemn mission, had become more thanindifferent before his envoy had reached Madrid. For this indifferencethere were more reasons than one. When the instructions had been drawnup, the death of the Queen of Spain had not been known in Vienna. TheArchduke had even been charged to inform Philip of the approachingmarriages of the two Archduchesses, that of Anne with the King of France, and that of Isabella with the King of Portugal. A few days later, however, the envoy received letters from the Emperor, authorizing him tooffer to the bereaved Philip the hand of the Archduchess Anne. 

 [Herrera (lib. Xv. 707) erroneously states that the Archduke was, at the outset, charged with these two commissions by the Emperor; namely, to negotiate the marriage of the Archduchess Anne with Philip, and to arrange the affairs of the Netherlands. On the contrary, he was empowered to offer Anne to the King of France, and had already imparted his instructions to that effect to Philip, before he received letters from Vienna, written after the death of Isabella had become known. At another interview, he presented this new matrimonial proposition to Philip. These facts are important, for they indicate how completely the objects of the embassy, the commencement of which was so pretentious, were cast aside, that a more advantageous marriage for one of the seven Austrian Archduchesses might be secured. --Compare Correspondance de Philippe]

The King replied to the Archduke, when this proposition was made, that ifhe had regard only to his personal satisfaction, he should remain as hewas. As however he had now no son, he was glad that the proposition hadbeen made, and would see how the affair could be arranged with France. 

Thus the ill success of Orange in Brabant, so disheartening to the Germanprinces most inclined to his cause, and still more the widowhood ofPhilip, had brought a change over the views of Maximilian. On the 17thof January, 1569, three days before his ambassador had entered upon hisnegotiations, he had accordingly addressed an autograph letter to hisCatholic Majesty. In this epistle, by a few, cold lines, he entirelyannihilated any possible effect which might have been produced by theapparent earnestness of his interposition in favor of the Netherlands. He informed the King that the Archduke had been sent, not to vex him, butto convince him of his friendship. He assured Philip that he should besatisfied with his response, whatever it might be. He entreated onlythat it might be drawn up in such terms that the princes and electors towhom it must be shown, might not be inspired with suspicion. 

The Archduke left Madrid on the 4th of March, 1569. He retired, wellpleased with the results of his mission, not because its ostensibleobjects had been accomplished, for those had signally failed, but becausethe King had made him a present of one hundred thousand ducats, and hadpromised to espouse the Archduchess Anne. On the 26th of May, 1569, theEmperor addressed a final reply to Philip, in which he expressly approvedthe King's justification of his conduct. It was founded, he thought, in reason and equity. Nevertheless, it could hardly be shown, as it was, to the princes and electors, and he had therefore modified many pointswhich he thought might prove offensive. 

Thus ended "in smoke, " as Granvelle had foretold, the famous mission ofArchduke Charles. The Holy Roman Emperor withdrew from his pompousintervention, abashed by a rebuke, but consoled by a promise. If it weregood to be guardian of religious freedom in Upper and Nether Germany, itwas better to be father-in-law to the King of Spain and both the Indies. Hence the lame and abrupt conclusion. 

Cardinal Granvelle had been very serviceable in this juncture. He hadwritten to Philip to assure him that, in his, opinion, the Netherlandshad no claim, under the transaction of Augsburg, to require theobservance within their territory of the decrees of the Empire. Headded, that Charles the Fifth had only agreed to the treaty of Passau tosave his brother Ferdinand from ruin; that he had only consented to it asEmperor, and had neither directly nor indirectly included the Netherlandswithin its provisions. He stated, moreover, that the Emperor had revokedthe treaty by an act which was never published, in consequence of theearnest solicitations of Ferdinand. 

It has been seen that the King had used this opinion of Granvelle in theresponse presented to the Archduke. Although he did not condescend to anargument, he had laid down the fact as if it were indisputable. He wasstill more delighted to find that Charles had revoked the treaty ofPassau, and eagerly wrote to Granvelle to inquire where the secretinstrument was to be found. The Cardinal replied that it was probablyamong his papers at Brussels, but that he doubted whether it would bepossible to find it in his absence. Whether such a document everexisted, it is difficult to say. To perpetrate such a fraud would havebeen worthy of Charles; to fable its perpetration not unworthy of theCardinal. In either case, the transaction was sufficiently high-handedand exceedingly disgraceful. 

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